DX LISTENING DIGEST SEPTEMBER 2003 ARCHIVE HOME presents...
DX LISTENING DIGEST SEPTEMBER 2003 ARCHIVE
[final edit for correxions and cross references not yet done in this file] ||||||||||| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||| DX LISTENING DIGEST 3-173, September 30, 2003 edited by Glenn Hauser 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 later at http://www.worldofradio.com/dxldtd3i.html For restrixions and searchable 2003 contents archive see http://www.worldofradio.com/dxldmid.html NOTE: If you are a regular reader of DXLD, and a source of DX news but have not been sending it directly to us, please consider yourself obligated to do so. Thanks, Glenn NEXT AIRINGS OF WORLD OF RADIO 1200: RFPI: Wed 0730, 1330 on 7445 WWCR: Wed 0930 on 9475 WRN ONDEMAND: http://new.wrn.org/listeners/stations/station.php?StationID=24 OUR ONDEMAND AUDIO [also for CONTINENT OF MEDIA, MUNDO RADIAL]: Check http://www.worldofradio.com/audiomid.html WORLD OF RADIO 1200 (high version): (stream) http://www.w4uvh.net/wor1200h.ram (download) http://www.w4uvh.net/wor1200h.rm (summary) http://www.worldofradio.com/wor1200.html WORLD OF RADIO 1200 (low version): (stream) http://www.w4uvh.net/wor1200.ram (download) http://www.w4uvh.net/wor1200.rm FIRST AIRINGS OF WORLD OF RADIO 1201: Wed 2200 on WBCQ 7415, 17495-CUSB Thu 0130 on WINB 9320 (maybe) Thu 2030 on WWCR 15825 Sat 0130 on RFPI 7445 BOB BODELL Glen, sad news out of Oregon. Bob Bodell is dead. I received the news this morning. He had not been to work for a few days. They found him dead in his home. He was the one that taught me how to really listen to shortwave radio and will be missed (Bruce MacGibbon, Gresham, OR, Sept 30, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Bob, as well as Bruce, will be remembered as editors of SPEEDXGRAM ** AFGHANISTAN. KABUL RADIO STARTS BUZZING AGAIN KABUL: Two years ago, Massood Sanjer was reading the news in English for the Taliban's Radio Shariat. Today he is one of Kabul's popular disc jockeys, broadcasting from a studio adorned with posters of Shakira and Destiny's Child. Sanjer works for Arman FM, the nearest thing the Afghan capital has to MTV, with a mix of music, chat and jokes. For a country starved of entertainment through years of war and repressive Taliban rule, Arman FM is like a breath of fresh air. "Once a colleague of mine on Radio Shariat made a mistake translating something," Sanjer recalled. "They locked him up in a container for three days with just one piece of bread and a boiled potato." Sanjer, who put up the posters himself, cannot begin to compare his old and new lives. These days, he says, he can say anything he wants on air. But what makes Arman FM even more exceptional in this conservative Muslim land is that half its presenters are women, Sanjer shares his morning show with Zarlasht Madad, a soft-spoken young women recently voted the station's most popular. Arman FM was the brainchild of Afghan-Australian brothers Saad, Jahid and Zaid Mohseni and their cousin Najib Thamas. But its success since its launch in April has surpassed their wildest dreams. The presenters get 500 letters a day from Kabulis, 100 emails and when the lines are working, 1,500 phone calls, says Saad Mohseni, a former investment banker from Melbourne. "We just wanted to give people what they want," he said. "But the response has been phenomenal, What people want is mostly Indian music, songs from their favourite Bollywood movies, according to the requests which pour in every day, Sanjer says. Western music also gets a look in, especially Shakira's Arabic- influenced pop. Madonna goes down well too. But Mohseni cannot resist a plug for Australian culture. "We play a lot of Kylie Minogue," he said. "She is very popular, and given that she's also from Melbourne we like her." The Mohsenis put up half of the $500,000 to launch Arman; the name means Hope in the Dari language. The other half was supplied by USAID, the development arm of the US government. But Saad Mohseni, who plans to expand to other parts of the country when funding allows, insists the station is run like a business and is already making a profit from advertising. But it also aims to put something back by stimulating Afghans to start recording music again. Auditions are already being held for the 2003 Arman awards for local groups and singers, the winners will get the chance to cut their own CD. One of Arman's strengths is that it allows people to escape their problems and entertains rather than lectures. "Most people believe they don't have to hear about religion on the radio," Mohseni said. "I'm sure on other outlets they can hear more politics and religion, so we concentrate on general information and music." Sometimes though, problems of an entirely different nature do crop up. The station will soon start a kind of "agony aunt" advice show, after a young couple wrote in threatening suicide because the woman's parents were planning to marry her off to someone else. In the early days, Arman was criticised because some of its presenters used the slang Dari of the streets rather than the formal language used by broadcasters in the past. Its irreverent attitude and jokey manner also alienated some people. "The criticism is like a drop in the ocean," Sanjer insists. "It was the first time Afghans listened to a radio station with men and women chatting and laughing, but now they have got used to it. We don't get criticised any more." Judging by the reaction in the streets of Kabul, Arman FM has got it just about right for most people. White-bearded shopkeeper Farouq danced among the bolts of brightly- coloured cloth in his store as he described his love of music. "Arman is very good music radio, without much news, so we can forget our problems while listening to it," he said. "You can see I look old, but I enjoy my life like a teenager." - Reuters (via Mike Terry, DXLD) ** AFGHANISTAN [non]. 15615, APA R. Amani, *1632-1730*, Fridays [only] Sep 12 and 19. Carrier was ready 1630, but audio delayed. Dari until 1702, then Pashto. IDs: "Radio Amani", political talks about Afghanistan and Taleban, mentioned the BBC and Deutsche Welle, Afghan folksongs, 1726-1727 statement in Russian and a Russian song, 1729 Pashto ID, musical interlude and cut off, 45444 (Vashek Korinek, RSA and Anker Petersen, Denmark, DSWCI DX Window Sept 24 via DXLD) ** ARGENTINA. 2760 harmonic, AM 1380 La Voz, QTH? (2 x 1380) 1045 Sept 24. Finalmente identificada con promo por locutora, con música chamameseña sobre programa de los sábados, que difunde este estilo musical, identificando también la emisora como AM 1380, La Voz. QRK 3. Lindo regalo para mi cumple, hoy (Horacio Nigro, Uruguay, set 24, Conexión Digital via DXLD) ** BRAZIL. Mais uma excelente contribuição de Paulo Roberto e Souza, desde Tefé (AM): a atualização dos dados da Rádio Jornal da Transamazônica, que emite desde a localidade de Altamira (PA). Em 5025 kHz, a emissora está no ar entre 0900 e 0300. A direção está a cargo de Ana Cláudia Souza. A direção postal é a seguinte: Rua 1º de Janeiro, 1359, Catedral, CEP: 68371-020, Altamira (PA). Telefone e fax: +55 93 515.1182, +55 93 515.4899 e +55 93 515.4411. Endereço eletrônico: radioetv@valedoxingu.com.br Parabéns Paulo por mais este trabalho voluntário de contato com a emissora! BRASIL - Saiu o novo esquema de transmissões, em ondas curtas, da Rádio Transmundial. Anote: em 11735 kHz, passa a emitir entre 0900 e 1500. Já em 9530 kHz, emitirá das 1500 às 0300. Em 5965 kHz, estará no ar entre 0900 e 2100 UTC. As informações são de Carlos Felipe, apresentador do programa Amigos do Rádio. BRASIL - E o trabalho do Paulo Roberto e Souza, de Tefé (AM), nem sempre recebe boas respostas. Ele entrou em contato com a direção da Rádio Cultura do Pará, de Belém (PA), que emitia em 5045 kHz. Resultado: a emissora não pretende mais transmitir em ondas tropicais. De acordo com uma funcionária, de nome Silvene, a Cultura do Pará está reduzida a uma emissão em FM (Célio Romais, Panorama, @tividade DX Sept 28 via DXLD) ** CAMBODIA. 11940, National Radio Cambodia from Phnom-Penh again inactive (Roland Schulze, Mangaldan, Philippines, Sept 5-9, BC-DX Sept 23 via DXLD) ** CANADA. Montreal Gazette (Sept. 24) profiled journalist who works at CJWI 1610. Was radio announcer in Haiti, faced death threats there. Didn't expect such threats here too. Side note: AM DXers reports CJWI is slightly off-frequency (on the high side) Found at 1610.3 kHz (Bill Westenhaver & Sheldon Harvey, CKUT International Radio Report Sept 28, notes by Ricky Leong, via DXLD) At ``C-PAM 1610``, Jean Numa Goudou (sp?). knows that sometimes death stalks you; star radio journalist at 31, fled Haïti in March after house and car were torched. Is now news show host on north-end Montreal station. Got a call 8 days ago at the station, in Creole, a man identifying as `Lavaltian`? supporter of Aristide`s party complaining he was biased against Aristide, and asked if he knew they also burned their opponents here in Montréal? Not the first unhappy call he got, but a clear, menacing threat. Was one of top radio reporters back in Haïti on R. Metropole, Port-au-Prince`s most listened-to radio station. Now reads news from Haïti on CJWI weekdays 6-9 am ET, rounded up from internet news sites in Haïti. Last month was granted official refugé status; settling into new apartment donated by new friends in Montréal. Earnings doubled what he earned in Haïti to $300 a week. Sends home what he can to mother, brother and sister still in the country (CKUT International Radio Report Sept 28, notes by gh for DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CENTRAL AFRICAN REPUBLIC [non]. Glenn, I miscredited the Radio Ndeke Luka item in Contact you used in DXLD 3171/2 to Joe Talbot; it should have been credited to Edward Kusalik [both Albertans], apologies. I was working to complete the column, and catch the last post to send it to the printers. I had items from both gentlemen I was adding and miscredited the Ndeke Luka one (Mike Barraclough, UK, Sept 30, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CHINA [non]. CLANDESTINE? from USA [HAWAII] to CHINA, 9930, Dafo Hao, 1612 Sep 30 checking out this program. Chinese talk some short English excerpts. No sign of any jamming in Wyoming, wonder if it is jammed by the Chinese? Richard Lam, can you tell us if the program content of this one differs from their other broadcasts? (Hans Johnson, WY, Cumbre DX via DXLD) ** COLOMBIA [non]. FARC station: see VENEZUELA ** ECUADOR. A través del espacio "Aventura DX" (dentro del programa Club de Amigos) del domingo 28 de septiembre de 2003 por HCJB La Voz de Los Andes, Quito-Ecuador, se transmitió la primera realización de la AER-Asociación Española de Radioescucha (Apartado 4031, 28080- Madrid, España). Entre las informaciones emitidas, se destaca el posible cierre de las transmisiones en español de IRIB La Voz de la República Islámica de Irán que podría extenderse a otros departamentos idiomáticos. Pude captarlo en sus dos presentaciones, a las 2245 UT en 15140 Khz y a las 0245 UT en 9745 y 6050 Khz. El espacio duró aproximadamente cinco minutos y fue interrumpido abruptamente a las 2250 y en su repetición a las 0250 por un larguísimo cántico cristiano que se prolongó hasta las 0300, cuando se identificó la emisora. Lo atribuyo a una falla de operación técnica ya que el corte se produjo mientras repetían la dirección electrónica: http://www.aventuradx@a... [truncated] donde pueden dirigirse los comentarios y colaboraciones (Rubén Guillermo Margenet, Argentina, Sept 28, Conexión Digital via DXLD) ** ERITREA [non]. 5925, Voice of Democratic Eritrea, via Jülich, Germany, 1515-1558, Sa Sep 20, Tigrinya talks about Africa, songs from the Horn of Africa, talk often mentioning Eritrea (pronounced as "Ertra" in Tigrinya!), more local songs and a talk about democracy. There was no Arabic program 1530 as scheduled. 45444. 9990, Voice of the Eritrean People, via Kvitsøy, Norway, *1730-1757*, Sun Sep 21, 1729 Merlin I/S, 1730 open carrier, 1732 program began with martial music and ID in Tigrinya: "Ezi dmtsi hzbi Ertra eyu". Ethnic song and ID again, mentioned two wavelengths, news. Ex 7530. 45444 (Anker Petersen, DSWCI DX Window Sept 24 via DXLD) ** ETHIOPIA [non]. 12120, Voice of Ethiopian Medhin, via Samara, Russia, *1830-1905, Sun Sep 21. Carrier was on 1826, 1828 one test tone, 1830 Flute and a man gave ID in Amharic three times: "Yih Ye Ethiopia Medhin Dimts Now", frequency announcement, Horn of Africa song and news. 45454. 12120, Dejen R, via Samara, *1700-1800*, Sat Sep 13, test tones from 1658, opens with a shouting man and flute, 1702 and 1705 Tigrinya ID's "...Dejen Radio...", website: http://www.ethiopiancommunicator.com which asked listeners to send money order to : Liberty Bell Communications Inc., P. O. Box 792, Indianapolis, Indiana 46206, talk about globalisation and the WTO meeting in Cancun, Horn of Africa (HOA) song, mentioned VOA, closed with HOA martial song. 45544 (Anker Petersen, Denmark, DSWCI DX Window Sept 24 via DXLD) 15670, Voice of Ethiopian Salvation, 1602-1605, Su Sep 14, Amharic comments and music, 24432 (Nicolás Eramo, Argentina, DSWCI DX Window Sept 24 via DXLD) ** FRANCE. The 1400 UT English broadcast from RFI put in such a nice signal Sept 30 on 17515 that with its British accent, one could easily mistake it for the BBC until ``here in Paris`` references. A bit of flutter and echo, however (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) RFI Paris heard in French at 1251 on 25820, OM doing an interview, full ID at 1256, then off with good signals (Ron Trotto, Waggoner, Illinois, WDX4KWI, Sept 28, GRDXC via DXLD) English 1200-1230 ** GERMANY. "Clandestines" via DTK/Julich B03 (Tentative!!! based on previous season schedules/days of the week) [all dates 261003 to 280304 u.o.s.] 1= Sun 2=Mon etc... 7=Sat 2330-0030 1234567 Dem. V. Of Burma 5945 1700-1759 1 34 6 V. Of Oromo Liberation 9820 1630-1659 3 6 R. Xoriyo/V. Of The Ogadeni People 9820 1600-1659 1 5 V. Of Ethiopian Salvation 9820 0700-0759 1 V. Of Dem. Path To Ethiopian Unity 17655 1830-1929 4 V. Of Dem. Path To Ethiopian Unity 7220 1500-1559 7 V. Of Dem. Eritrea 5925 1700-1759 2 5 V. Of Dem. Eritrea 9820 0900-0959 7 R. Rainbow/Kestedamena 6180 from 1 Nov 1900-1959 6 R. Rainbow/Kestedamena 11840 from 1 Nov 1330-1430 1234567 New Horizon Radio 9585 1500-1559 1 7 Radio Rhino Int. 17870 1500-1530 3456 Radio Rhino Int. 17870 (compiled from DTK schedule by DXA375-Silvain Domen, Belgium, Sept 30, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** GIBRALTAR. I know you normally don't cover utility stations (unless they "interfere"), but I guess many DX-ers would like to hear such a small territory as Gibraltar. And it is very easy to pick up. All you need is a SSB receiver, a computer and a decoding program. The latter could be JV Com or another you can load down from the Internet. The navy station GYU is heard round the clock on among others 8625.9 kHz. This is 75 Bd/850 RTTY transmissions which you tune about 1.9 kHz below listed frequency in USB mode or about 1.9 kHz above listed frequency in LSB mode. Reports sent to Royal Marine, Communications Centre, HM Dockyard, Gibraltar are likely to be verified. The transmissions consists of ID and channel status information (Karl-Erik Stridh, Sweden, WWDXC BC-DX Sept 29 via DXLD) ** GUINEA. 7125, R Conakry, a daily catch but often plagued with too much fading and usually a lot worse than R Rurale, Labé, 1386 MW. It was heard at 2208-2226, Aug 22, newscast in French. 54433 (Carlos Gonçalves, Portugal, DSWCI DX Window Sept 24 via DXLD) ** GUYANA. 3291.1, GBC, Sparendaam, was a usual catch during late Aug and early Sep, e.g. at 2325-2344 on Aug 23, English, jazz music, songs and a QRM-free signal at times. 53342 (Carlos Gonçalves, DSWCI DX Window Sept 24 via DXLD) ** HAITI. See CANADA: CJWI ** HONDURAS. Re HRMI: By the way, they have been off the air during this weekend. I checked 3340, 5010 and 5890 several times on Saturday, Sunday and Monday (Sep 13, 14 and 15 ), for instance at 1200 when transmissions should start, then again at intervals of two hours (14, 16, 18, 20, 22), but there was nothing to be heard. I will try to call them today and find out what's happening (Élmer Escoto, Honduras, Sep 16, DSWCI DX Window Sept 24 via DXLD) ** INDONESIA. Re 4919.89, RRI Biak: Former schedule: 2000-0030 0730- 1500 (Ed Anker Petersen, DSWCI DX Window Sept 24 via DXLD) 4919.89, RRI-Biak again active. (ex-6153) at 2000 UT Sept 7th, presumably s-on time. "Oleh Jesus Christ", ID and IS at 2030 UT. 35543. Also from 0910 UT onwards til approx. 1200 UT, when covered by co-channel China and India on 4920 kHz, Sept 5/6/7th. From Iran Jaya: 4606.4 RRI Serui regular on air, also 4790 RRI Fak Fak, 4869.98 RRI Wamena, 4870.92 RRI Sorong, v7114.8 RRI Fak Fak, relay of FM program; 9743 RRI Sorong is still active. V of Indonesia Jakarta not heard on Sept 5th till 7th, but on Sept 8th with "Kang Guru Radio English" program on 9680 at 0700-0730 UT (Roland Schulze, Mangaldan, Philippines, Sept 9, BC-DX Sept 23 via DXLD) 4920 RRI Biak, 1230 Sept 27, return to own program after Jakarta news. Over a surprisingly weak AIR Chennai as well as Lhasa. Also at 1048 Sep 17 with ID at end of local news, and at *2002 Sep 14 mid Jakarta relay. 7115 RRI Fak-Fak, no sign yet of their daytime channel here in south- eastern Oz. Reported in the Philippines by Roland Schulze who has a proximity advantage. 7290 RRI unID, 0903 with call to prayer in progress, first noted Aug 30 on a daytime frequency. Probably allowed to overrun its schedule by a sleepy technician. Since then it has either relayed 0800 Jakarta news with prompt s/off at news end or even gone off prior to 0800 as happened Sep 28. TC's in waktu Indonesia Timur. Most likely candidates are RRI Serui (would be ex-7173), RRI Biak, RRI Nabire, RRI Tual or RRI Manokwari. Heard this once for just 8 mins a year ago on Sep 23 2002 at 0829-0837* (David Foster, Australia, DXplorer Sept 28 via BC-DX via DXLD) ** IRAN [non]. 4375.8, Voice of the Communist Party of Iran, *1700- 1800*, Sep 20 and 21, Signed on with "Internationale" and closed with a choir of men singing another socialist song. 1702 Farsi ID by woman: "Seda-ye Hezb-e Komunist-e Irana" and talk about Iran // 3880.6 (SINPO 25333). At 1708 both frequencies suddenly jumped about 5 kHz down to 4370.8 and 3876.0 and both drifted slightly downwards after that. But at 1757 both were back on the original frequencies again. I wonder, if these "jumping" transmitters are the same that are used for the Voice of Mojahed ??? 35343 (Anker Petersen, Denmark, DSWCI DX Window Sept 24 via DXLD) See also KURDISTAN ** IRAQ. RADIO FREEDOM RESUMES BROADCASTING | Text of report by Iraqi Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) newspaper Al-Ittihad on 30 September After an interruption of several weeks due to technical problems, Freedom Radio [Arabic: idha'at al-hurriyah] resumes broadcasting to its listeners. While apologizing for this long interruption, the station resumes broadcasting in a new format as regards broadcast time and quality of output. Freedom Radio will resume transmission on Wednesday 1 October 2003 from 0830-1730 [local time]. The station will broadcast on 96 MHz, FM. Source: Al-Ittihad, Baghdad, in Arabic 30 Sep 03 (via BBCM via DXLD) ** IRAQ. HARRIS CORPORATION RADIO TRANSMITTERS SELECTED FOR IRAQ REBUILDING EFFORT --- PR Newswire - Monday, September 29, 2003 Company Establishes New Iraq Initiatives Office http://www.menafn.com/qn_news_story.asp?StoryId=Cp3EUqbWbrKXnmda1 http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/030929/flm005_1.html MELBOURNE, Fla., Sept. 29 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Radio transmitters and related equipment from Harris Corporation (NYSE: HRS) will be used to help rebuild the communications infrastructure of Iraq, bringing listeners news and entertainment programming from the Broadcasting Board of Governors (BBG) Radio SAWA, Radio Free Iraq, and Voice of America broadcast services. The contract, awarded to Harris under the auspices of the BBG International Broadcasting Bureau, includes Harris Quest(TM)-1 1kW FM radio transmitters, Z10FM(TM) 10kW FM radio transmitters, and Z5FM 5kW FM radio transmitters, along with accessories and additional equipment from Orban, Inc. for various sites in Iraq, including the city of Baghdad. Harris recently created an Iraq Initiatives Office that pools the products and resources of its five communications businesses to address the business opportunities related to the rebuilding of Iraq. "Harris offers a broad spectrum of innovative, assured communications products that are ideally suited for rapid deployment and infrastructure development," said Howard L. Lance, chairman, president and CEO of Harris. "Our products have been deployed in developing nations around the world, and we are addressing the specific needs of Iraq where infrastructure development is lacking or nonexistent." Heading the company's new Iraq Initiatives program is Managing Director Youssef (Joe) Sleiman. Mr. Sleiman, who was born in Lebanon and educated in the U.S., has been with Harris for 26 years in varying domestic and international positions. "Joe has exceptional government contracting experience, as well as a personal understanding of the Middle East," said Bob Henry, senior vice president of Harris. "He is the point man in our efforts to provide a variety of broadcast, microwave, network support, and integrated communications systems for U.S.-funded contracts, as well as programs arising from the rebuilding efforts by the new Iraqi government and by free-enterprise initiatives." Harris Corporation is an international communications equipment company focused on providing product, system, and service solutions for government and commercial customers. The company's five operating divisions serve markets for government communications, tactical radio, broadcast, microwave, and network support systems. Harris provides sales and service to customers in more than 150 countries. Additional information about Harris Corporation is available at http://www.harris.com SOURCE Harris Corporation /CONTACT: Tom Hausman, Harris Corporation, +1-321-727-9131, or tom.hausman@harris.com/ /Web site: http://www.harris.com / (via Artie Bigley, Jilly Dybka, DXLD) see also KURDISTAN ** IRELAND. R2 has been readjusted and is now back on 612. I read this is operated by two 50 kW senders installed in the mid 1970's - not by the old 566 transmitter (Noel R. Green, UK, BC-DX Sept 22 via DXLD) RTE's 612 kHz Athlone transmitter is again radiating off channel at approx. 611.8 kHz today (Wednesday 24th), having briefly reverted to 612 kHz some time yesterday (Tuesday 23rd). So we're back to a howl on the channel this evening. I understand that RTE has two 50 kW 1970s transmitters in use at Athlone for this frequency, so it may be that one or both of the two units is faulty. The signal strength seems very weak at the moment, I'd be surprised if it is radiating anywhere near full power. Does anyone know the email address of RTE's transmitter maintenance department? 73s (Dave Kenny, UK, BDXC-UK via DXLD) What does it howl against on 612.0? (gh) Glenn, Can I rest assure your listeners that RTÉ's 2FM mediumwave transmitter in Athlone was purchased from Japan in 1979 - these were in fact two 50 kw transmitters. The old 1950's vintage went off the air around 1974 when the 500 kw transmitter opened in Tullamore. When 2FM started in 1979 most of the listeners were on mediumwave as FM (or VHF as was known in these parts until the mid 1980s) was a minority hobby. Now FM is the most popular and in recent years mediumwave has opted out from time to time to bring minority interests programmes such as services for asylum seekers etc. It has also be suggested in the recent past, when finances were better, that RTÉ would used the transmitter for a dedicated news/current affairs and sports station along the lines of BBC Radio 5 Live. I came across an interesting website some of your listeners may be interested in as it deals with Ireland's radio history including its shortwave broadcasting experiences. The address is http://radiodx.com/spdxr/irish_mystery.htm Kind regards, (Paul Guckian, Ennis, Co Clare, Oct 1, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** JAPAN. As previously reported, Radio Tampa will be merged with NIKKEI Media Group on October 1. The name of the company will be changed to "NIKKEI Radio Co. Ltd". The name of the station will be changed on April 1, 2004, the 50th anniversary day of Radio Tampa, to "Radio NIKKEI". The logo will also be changed. The program contents will be focused on medical and health, as well as the information for investors. By the way "Tampa" means SW in Japanese, and "NIKKEI" is the abbr. of "Nippon Keizai" (Japanese Economy). (Takahito Akabayashi, Japan, BC-DX Sept 27 via DXLD) ** KALININGRAD. See RUSSIA ** KASHMIR. See PAKISTAN ** KURDISTAN. Clandestine --- I heard (again) Voice of Komala, 4615 kHz, 1850-1857 UT on Sept 29. The hurring and beeping QRM was terrible and I am not sure if the transmission ended at 1857 or not; I could not get any signal after that. I have not been able to find any information on the whereabouts of the transmitter site; does anyone know the QTH? The signals coming from east of Finland were at the moment kinda good, for example I could hear Tajik Radio on 4635 and All India Radio on 60 metres pretty well that night, so I suppose V.of Komala is coming from the East or South-East Asia. Also my antenna (20 metres of wire) pics signals best from those directions on 60 metres (Matti Ponkamo, Naantali, South-West of Finland, Drake R4-C, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Those 4 MHz band Kurdish clandestines are likely to be close to Kurdistan, adjacent countries, if not within it. According to old info at http://www.schoechi.de/crw/crw-kurd.html for 4600 the transmitter location is IRAQ (i.e. KURDISTAN) (gh, DXLD) ** KURDISTAN [and non]. CLANDESTINE 3928.0, Voice of Komala, 1750-1757*, Sep 10, Farsi, ID just before s/off, QRM from jamming. 32322 (Bjarke Vestesen, Radby, Blommenslyst, Denmark) 4027.6v, Voice of the People of Kurdistan, 0135-0330 (fade out), Sep 10 and 23, Kurdish, nonstop Kurdish-Iranian music, ID at 0153 and mentioned e-mail-address, freq.ann, 0155 Qur`an recitations, 0200 fanfare, Arabic news about Iraq and Tikrit, Arab songs; drifting slowly down to 4025.7. 34343 (Petersen and Vestesen, Denmark). Also heard 1630-1640, Sep 20, Arabic talks with short music inserts, poor (Vashek Korinek, RSA) 4085, Voice of Iraqi Kurdistan, 1800-1900, Sep 10, Kurdish, local and western music. 34333 (Vestesen, Denmark) 4250.8, Voice of Strugglers of Iranian Kurdistan (tentative), *0300- 0355 (fade out), Sep 23, Kurdish announcement, Qur`an recitations, mostly talks by a man about Iran and Iranian Kurdistan, songs, 0347 another man gave announcement and talk in Farsi. Ex 4277. Later fade out than 4027v which indicate a more westerly transmitter location. 35343 (Anker Petersen, Denmark, all: DSWCI DX Window Sept 24 via DXLD) ** KURDISTAN [and non]. IRAQ/IRAN. Two main leaders of Kurdish people in Northern Iraq are M. Barzani and J. Talabani. Their parties "Patriotic Union of Kurdistan" and "Democratic Front of Kurdistan" broadcast now as OFFICIAL radios, not clandestines anymore, as "Voice of the People of Kurdistan" 4023 kHz Ku/Ar s-off at 1658 UT, and "Voice of Iraqi Kurdistan" 4085 kHz, Ku/Ar close down time is different, varies from day to day, like 1825 UT on Saturdays. Observations noted on Sept 13 mainly at 1600-1630 UT in range 3800- 4400 kHz: 3880 and 4380 now "Voice of Revolution" in Kurdish, on air earlier at *1456-1559*. 3925 and 4615 at 1620 carrier only, 1615 IS music from Verdi, 1630 "Voice of Komala". 3970 "Voice of Iranian Kurdistan", jammed by Iran. Extended program in Kurdish till 1630 UT. Persian till 1530 UT. 4163 "Voice of ?Independence?" in Ku/Ar, *1545-1655*. 4235 "Voice of Iraqi Toilers" in Ar/Ku, close-down at various times, in August at 1825 UT, in September at 1625 UT. Ex-4265, now moved to 4250, ID like "Voice of Mojahin of Iran", jammed by Iran. In Pe/Ku/Ar, end at 1656 UT (Rumen Pankov, Bulgaria, Sept 14, BC-DX Sept 23 via DXLD) ** LATVIA. After sending a reception report by E-mail, some hours later I received this answer: ``Hello to all listeners to the SW test broadcast of Radio Seagull, Many, many thanks for all your reception reports on tonight`s broadcast on 9290 kHz SW! Until now, we have received over 100 reports from places like Italy, Germany, Austria, Greece, Scandinavia, the UK and Holland. We even had one from New York! It's great to know that you've been able to listen to our broadcast and even better to know that you liked our music. Thanks for all your SINPO's and you nice comments, it's very much appreciated. Don't forget that Radio Seagull is broadcasting on the Internet around the clock in stereo. Visit our website http://www.radioseagull.com for more information about our radio station and how to tune in to our webcast. We from Radio Seagull hope that you enjoyed listening to us. We from our side enjoyed making the shows for you! Thanks go to our presenters Stevie Gordon and Garry Lee, the staff and technicians in Riga and to everyone else who made broadcast possible. We hope to be able to do this again soon. On behalf of everyone connected to Radio Seagull, Cheers, Adrian. Radio Seagull, P. O. Box 24, 8860 AA Harlingen, The Netherlands. E- mail: info@radioseagull.nl website: http://www.radioseagull.com (via Christian Ghibaudo, France, DSWCI DX Window Sept 24 via DXLD) ** LATVIA. 9290, Laser Radio regular relays will start at 1000 UTC on 4 October (Laser Radio website via Seager ARDXC Sep 30 via Cumbredx mailing list via DXLD) ** LEBANON [non]. CLANDESTINE from CIS to LEBANON, Voice of Free Lebanon (Cumbre DX follow up). Per Bernd's tip, I checked the http://www.tayyar.org/radio/RadioLoubnanAl7oriya/index.htm website. The audio programs and schedule here are for M-F only, so that is a reduction from the daily schedule they once had. I looked all over that site but I cannot find anything giving their current shortwave schedule. I took another listen at 1600 to 11645 today Sept 30 and heard nothing. They were not heard on their previous frequency of 11515 either. Sure seems like they are off to me or on a very different shortwave schedule (Hans Johnson, WY, Cumbre DX via DXLD) ** MEXICO. PRUEBAS DAB EN MÉXICO La Cámara Nacional de la Industria de Radio y Televisión, realizará pruebas a los sistemas de radio digital Eureka-147 y En Banda y En Canal (IBOC, por sus siglas en inglés) en FM. Las pruebas simultáneas que se realizarán durante un periodo de aproximadamente tres meses, compararán el desempeño de ambos sistemas en la Ciudad más grande del mundo. El IBOC-FM se probará utilizando un transmisor de 45 kW en transmisión analógica y 4.5 kW de transmisión digital, el equipo será instalando en uno de los edificios de mayor altura dentro de la Ciudad de México. El sistema Eureka-147 se ubicará en el Cerro del Chiquihuite, se utilizará una antena de alta ganancia, transmitiéndose 5 señales diferentes de audio y un canal de datos como es característico en esta tecnología. Uno de los momentos más importantes será durante el desarrollo de la XLV Semana Nacional de Radio y Televisión, en donde se habilitará un salón para la demostración de estos sistemas, además se incluirán otras tecnologías como: la recepción del Sistema de Radio Digital por Satélite (DARS, por sus siglas en inglés) y la demostración del sistema de Televisión Digital en Alta Definición (HDTV, por sus siglas en inglés). Esto permitirá a la Industria de la Radiodifusión en México, autoridades y a la sociedad en general, entrar en contacto y formar su criterio en cuanto a las opciones tecnológicas para el desarrollo de la radio y televisión abiertas (Source? Via Héctor García Bojorge, DF, Sept 29, Conexión Digital via DXLD) WTFK??? ** MEXICO. In case anyone hasn`t already heard, there is a new tropo target in Monterrey NL, according to a press report via Héctor García Bojorge, in the Conexión Digital list: XHMNU-TV 53 with 500 kW from the Universidad Autónoma de Nuevo León, 0700-2300 local time daily. Apparently the power increase went into effect Sept. 25. That`s quite an increase over 0.0 kW in Doug`s database ujpdated Sept 27... :-) 73, (Glenn Hauser, OK, WTFDA via DXLD) ** NEW ZEALAND. A strong case is now to be made for a second transmitter to the NZ government as a consequence of this debacle. (Wolfgang Bueschel, BC-DX via DXLD) Oct 1 NZ time, no 17675 yet (gh) ** NEW ZEALAND [and non]. Arthur Cushen`s QSL collection Hello Anker. In your recent report of the EDXC meeting, you're quoted as saying that Arthur Cushen's QSL collection is one of the four largest in the world and located in Invercargill, NZ. For the record, the Archives of the NZ Radio DX League are currently located at the Hocken Library, in Dunedin, New Zealand. The Archives contain many thousands of QSLs and other radio ephemera from a large number of NZ DXers. In fact, it's estimated that 100,000+ verifications may be in the current collection. Arthur Cushen's QSL collection does not form part of the NZRDXL Archives. It is managed by the Hocken Library together with the NZRDXL Archives because of similarity of material. Whilst Arthur's collection is historically significant, it forms only about 10% of the total material held at the Hocken Library, the bulk of which includes collections from a large number of other NZ DXers. Much more material (an estimated 200,000 + additional QSLs and associated ephemera) is available to be added to the Archives. The Heritage Committee and Administration Committee of the NZRDXL is currently considering proposals to actively manage the NZRDXL Archives. A core part of the project is to catalog and scan for on- line access all current QSLs in the combined Arthur Cushen and NZRDXL Archives collections. This aspect of the project has a budget in excess of Euro 100,000 for which funding will shortly be sought by a newly established non-profit charitable organisation. Work is scheduled to begin in early 2004 as part of a three-year plan. I believe the NZRDXL Archives, even as they are today, are the largest listener based such collection in the world. We're fortunate to have Dr Adrian Peterson (AWR) and Jerry Berg (CPRV) as active members of our Heritage Committee (David Ricquish, NZ, DSWCI DX Window Sept 24 via DXLD) ** NIGER. NIGER SUSPENDS 15 RADIO STATIONS IN REGULATOR ROW The West African state of Niger has ordered 15 privately run radio stations to halt broadcasts after suspending the chief media regulator, who is accused of issuing licences to them improperly. . . http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/s956412.htm (via Artie Bigley, Mike Cooper, DXLD) ** NIGERIA. Glenn, I notice that you still have some information about Salama Radio on your website in "DX LISTENING DIGEST 1-098, July 14, 2001". As a trustee of Harvestime Ministries, an affiliated organisation, I would like to make you aware of the current status of Salama Radio. Dr Jacob Abdalla is still the presiding influence over the radio station and its aims are much the same. However, in August 2002 the operation moved to Jos in Nigeria with the broadcasting being handled by Deutsche Welle in Germany. Currently the station has ceased short wave transmissions due to lack of funds. However, local broadcasts in FM are continuing. I would also like to point out that Ian Simpson and Margaret Perera no longer have any connection with Salama Radio. Jacob Abdalla can be contacted via his email on: admin@salamaradio.org I hope this information is of help to you and that you can update your records accordingly. All the best (Nick Batchelor, Sept 29, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** NIGERIA. 9690, V of Nigeria, Ikorodu, still on here, e.g. 14 Sept 1541-s/off 1558; used for Vernacular programs. 55434. Distorted audio caused perhaps by overmodulation was noted that day. Mornings, 7255 closes at 0956 to be replaced by 9690 at 1000 (Carlos Gonçalves, Portugal, BC-DX Sept 21 via DXLD) 9690, Voice of Nigeria, Ikorodu, *1000-1558*, Sep 14; it seems that only Vernacular programmes are broadcast. Distorted modulation (seemed overmodulated audio). Some days prolonged broadcast until 1559*. 55434 (Carlos Gonçalves, Portugal, DSWCI DX Window Sept 24 via DXLD) ** NORWAY. Sonnet Radio Europe will be testing on SW from the VT Merlin Communications transmitter in Norway operating at 400kW omni- directionally on Dec 16th & 26th at 19:00 Hrs GMT(Z) for one hour. A Pilot programme will be transmitted with a mixture of music from the 70's - today. From February 2004, Sonnet Radio will be transmitting every night from 19:00 Hrs GMT(Z) until 01:00 Hrs GMT(Z) Frequency information will be posted in the coming weeks, more information at the following website: http://www.rtidigital.com/index3.htm [where Dec 12 was shown by mistake] You can email your enquiries to studio@r... (Please note; if you would like your letter read out on air during the tests, please start your subject line with 'AIR'. Many Thanks, we look forward to any QSL / Reception Reports Submitted (Mike Taylor, Sonnet Radio (RTI Digital Limited), Sept 30, shortwavelistening yahoogroup via DXLD) ** PAKISTAN. Re 3-171: Radio Pakistan is today back on its correct frequency of 21465 kHz for its 0800-1104 UT Broadcast. Yesterday's transmission on 21454.98 kHz must have been due to an incorrect punch- up in frequency at the transmitter site (Graham Powell, Editor - Online DX Logbook, Sept 30, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** PAKISTAN. I managed to obtain this information on the current domestic services from the Frequency Management Controller: R Pakistan Current Affair frequencies are 6225 in the morning at 0200-0400 and 5080 in the evening at 1300-1800. Urdu Prog (Aaina) is 5840 at 1615-1700. Haya Allal Falah was changed to 7105 at 0045-0215. Rawalpindi and Islamabad programme at 0600-1115 is on 9340. Balti and Sheena News on 7145 at 1350-1400 and 1420-1428. Kashmiri service previously was being radiated from Pindi 10kw transmitter 1230-1330 has been shifted to API-2 on 7145. Rawalpindi III (Azad Kashmir R) is still operating on 4790 at 0045- 0215 and 1430-1810 with 100 kW. Pindi (= Rawalpindi? Ed) 10 kw is operating on 4790 at 0230-0430, 1230-1330 and 1345-1430 (but inaudible here. DSWCI Ed) Quetta 10 kw is operating on 5025 in the morning and evening hours while during day time at 0600-1145 on 7155. Peshawar 10kw at 1100-1400 is radiating Chatrali service for the Northern part of the country called Chatral. Frequency was - still is? 7320 (Noel Green, England, DSWCI DX Window Sept 24 via DXLD) ** PARAGUAY [and non]. 9905.4, unidentified Station in Spanish from 0215 to 0242 Sept. 25. Lately I have been hearing an station in this time slot (also noted at 1240 with a strong carrier but virtually no audio) on this frequency. The program consists of ranchero to up-beat dance music with very few announcements, at times just a few words in Spanish. Checked 7370 for a parallel, noted a carrier on 7370.1 with little or no audio. Possibly thinking it might be Radio América, ZP20 I fired off my details to Adán Mur requesting if they where transmitting on any of the above frequencies. Here is his reply: ``I regret to inform that you did not hear our HF transmissions, for the reason that the transmitters are off-air, at present, with the purpose of improving the energy supply, and for the conversion of our permission, from experimental, to permanent. We have tested our new transmitter site, in Villeta, on several frequencies, and have had spectacular results; having received reports from twenty different countries! We hope to resume transmissions, soon, on the frequencies 7370, and 9905 kHz. That, of 41 metres, will serve the interior of Paraguay. That, of 31 metres, will serve the MERCOSUR region. To-date, we have experimented on the following HF frequencies: 2300, 7300, 7370, 7385, 7737, 9905, 9983, 15185, 15483, 15485 kHz. The very best results have come from the 41 metre band. My opinion is that you have heard the University Station, in Managua, Nicaragua, which has recently commenced operations on 9905, with a power of 1 kW. As for the frequency 7370, you may well have captured a carrier a Russian/CIS transmitter. ZP20 Radio América/Radiodifusión América is on-air, the 24 hours, on 1480 kHz, serving the metropolitan Asunción area. We also retransmit our programming, via FM stations, in distinct regions of Paraguay. Recently, we have added a live-audio INTERNET service: http://www.radiodifusionamerica.com.py The Web Site will give you many details, as to our broadcasts.`` I didn't know there was a University Station broadcasting on 9905 from Nicaragua. Anybody else hearing this one? (Edward Kusalik, Alberta, Canada, Sept 29, BCLNews.it via DXLD) See 3-171 ** PERU. 4790, Radio Atlántida, Iquitos 1000-1020 "atencíón San Martin ... cinco en la mañana.... Radio Atlántida" blasting in, excellent signal (Robert Wilkner, Icom R 75, Pompano Beach, Florida, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** PERU. Radio El Sol cambio de nombre: Canal N Radio. Av. Madrid 181, Miraflores, Lima 18, Perú. Telf: 241-2100, e-mail: info@c... [truncated]. Esta emisora retransmite el audio del canal de noticias por cable llamado Canal N, perteneciente al diario El Comercio http://www.elcomercioperu.com.pe Interconecta con la BBC en español (titulares) transmite las 24 horas en onda media, y la frecuencia de onda corta (5970 kHz está inactiva por el momento. Actualmente está realizando transmisiones de prueba en los 88.9 MHz de la FM en Lima. 73s Spacemaster (Alfredo Cañote, Perú, Sept 23, Conexión Digital via DXLD) ** QATAR. Qatar Radio, QBS, Doha, 17755, Surprised to see a package from Qatar Radio, RTVC Dept. in the PO box today containing a "Radio Qatar from Doha" booklet (circa. 1991), English service schedule for 27 June, 2003 to First of Ramadan, which of course neglects to mention a single frequency, SW, MW or FM, a personal letter thanking me for my interest in Qatar Broadcasting Service and, most disappointing, "We are sorry about a QSL card because we stopped issuing it." V/S [sic] Jassim Mohammed Al-Qattan, Head of Public Relations, Exchange and Research. This in 441 days for 1 IRC and an English report (Scott Barbour, NH, DXplorer Sept 19 via BC-DX via DXLD) ** ROMANIA. Dear listeners. Our radio station wants to stimulate your curiosity and is trying to offer you a new opportunity to know us better, at home. So, we invite you to participate in a new prize winning contest, directly connected to Christianity`s most important celebration - the Birth of Jesus Christ. We`ve already thought about extending you an invitation under the general heading ``Christmas in Romania``. As usual, you will have to answer a few questions in writing. Stay tuned to RRI, give the correct answers and --- we`ll see you in December in Romania. The competition will be on until November 15 and as usual you wouldn`t like to miss out on quite a few interesting prizes, offered by the Local Councils of Arad and Valcea Counties. The big prizes are two 7- day stays in Romania for two (non inclusive of visa fees and transport fares to Romania) - the winners and one partner of their own choosing, between December 22nd and 28th, in Arad county and Valcea county, respectively. The winners will be given an opportunity to get to see the most interesting places in the two counties and experience, together with their hosts, Christmas as we do it in Romania. Here are the questions: When do Romanians traditionally celebrate Christmas? What`s the name of the river that crosses the county and the city of Arad ? On August 11th, 1999, the city of Ramnicu Valcea was the point of maximum visibility for a major astronomic phenomenon. What was that phenomenon? We would also like to see what you like or...dislike about our programmes, so if you have time, also enclose some recommendations. In case you don`t know how to reach us, here is our address: RRI, 60-64 Gen. Berthelot Street, sector 1 Bucharest, PO BOX 111; fax 0040212232613, e-mail engl@rri.ro Don`t forget; we`re looking forward to your answers which should reach us by November 15th, the mail date. We`ll let you know who the winners are by the end of November. Good luck and don`t forget: if you don`t participate, you`ll miss out on the best opportunity you`ve ever had to see Romania and meet the Romanians at home (via Alokesh Gupta, New Delhi, India, Sept 30, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Also have seen versions in Portuguese, Spanish (gh) ** ROMANIA. 9690 kHz, Galbeni, 0400-0657 UT in Romanian. Today Sunday Sept 28th I came across two spurious distorted signals AGAIN, as in previous month. Galbeni produces spurs 57.64 kHz away on 9632.36 and 9747.64. This is my unidentified WHISTLE signal, which I observed in July and August on 9747 (Wolfgang Bueschel, Germany, BC-DX Sept 28) I forgot to mention that I had also heard Romania via 9747 - Wolfie's unID spurious. This was only possible when DW 9750 was less strong during the recent storm. Some of their transmitters are a waste of electricity - note 11830 and 15105. And I've heard 7225 at 0600-0630 putting out only a loud buzz spreading many kHz LF. The 0600-0657 multi-language transmission was also recently heard on 11970 instead of 11940 - another engineer who had mislaid his spectacles! They would be well advised to send these old units to the great transmitter hall in the sky, and to concentrate on those that really work (Noel R. Green, UK, BC-DX Sept 28 via DXLD) Clarification: I actually heard the signal on 15015, not 15105. All the best (Tim Bucknall, UK, harmonics yahoogroup via DXLD) ** RUSSIA. Bolshakovo 1656 ... 1658 kHz. And just now I copied on 1658a kHz with Voice of Russia with a German programme (\\ 1386 kHz) with a very broken modulation? Any spurious? Or also a "Luxembourg effect"? (Anybody knows a "good" (!) webpage with better details about this effect ?) or my RX works not well ? (Tom - DL8AAM, harmonics, Sept 28) Kaliningrad spurious? looks like Kaliningrad is "doing it" again ;-) (Tim Bucknall-UK, emwg / harmonics Sept 28) Formula: 1386 multiply by 2 = 2772 kHz 2772 minus 1116 kHz = 1656 kHz Mixture of 1386 kHz 600/1200 kW unit, and 1116 kHz 75 kW unit at Bolshakovo, Kaliningrad Oblast. Maybe spur symmetrically on 846 kHz too. 1116 multiply by 2 = 2232 kHz 2232 minus 1386 kHz = 846 kHz (73 wb df5sx Sept 28, Wolfgang Bueschel, BC-DX via DXLD) Bolshakovo 1386 kHz is a 2500 kW unit, currently run with 1200 kW, 1116 kHz is a 150 kW unit, currently run with 75 kW. Another typical mixture from Bolshakovo is 171+1386 = 1557 kHz (Bernd Trutenau, Lithuania, harmonics Sept 29, all via BC-DX via DXLD) ** RUSSIA [non]. Russian International Radio via DTK Jülich, 17705 at 1400-1500: In B-03, to be changed to 9555 at 1500-1600 UT, 115 degrees towards Balkan, Near and Middle East. The service is based on a "strategic partnership" between The Voice of Russia and the Russian Media Group which owns Russkoye Radio. The service will be broadcast on medium wave, short wave and satellite. The head of Voice of Russia expects that the new service could more than double the audience of VOR's Russian language program which is currently 100 million. Russkoye Radio is Russia's number one commercial network which has received an award from President Putin for promoting Russian language and culture (Bernd Trutenau, DXplorer via WDXC-UK Oct CONTACT via Bueschel BC-DX via Cumbre DX via DXLD) ** RUSSIA. Regional state broadcasters in Russia are financed only in part from the federal budget, other parts originate from the respective regional government plus income from advertising. These broadcasters do not have their own transmitters, but are leasing airtime on transmitters owned by RTRN. Since there are "rich" and "poor" regions resp. regional governments, the budgets of the broadcasters vary a lot. Some are broadcasting for many hours and renting a huge network of transmitters, others can afford only a very limited output. In order to cut down in expenses, most stations have meanwhile stopped duplicating programs on MW and SW and are concentrating on FM instead (Bernd Trutenau, Lithuania, DXplorer Sept 15 via BC-DX via DXLD) ** RUSSIA [and non]. R. Natalie celebrates 05.10.2003 seven years from the date of the beginning of broadcast. In this connection R. Natalie plans be on air 3, 4, 5, 6 and 7 October, after 2000 UT on frequency 3916 kHz. It will be possible to be used also Frequency 7473 kHz in different time. Relaying through Power41 is planned. New card QSL can be received for the correct official report 2USdollars or 2 IRC. The new pennant also is ready also; it is possible to receive for 6US Dollars or 5Euro. Transmissions will be also over Radio Europe 7306 USB Saturdays and Sundays during whole October. Order ???????? with own e-mail the address! http://r.mail.ru/cln1956/souvenir.mail.ru (Valentin Jershov, via Dario Monferini, Sept 30, BCLNews.it via DXLD) ** SOMALIA. 7335.00, R Galkayo, 1645-1710, Sep 20, Vernacular talks, announcements, continuous Horn of Africa music from 1658. No specific ID noted but R Galkayo mentioned during the talks. Poor becoming unusable at 1710. Lots of atmospheric noise, so not bad for the reported 0.8 kW (Vashek Korinek, RSA, DSWCI DX Window Sept 24 via DXLD) Also heard tentatively Sep 19 at 1750 with fair signal, but audio level very low and traces of a male voice heard only. But at 1757 he began to sing, and according to Björn Fransson in Sweden it was probably Sam Voron [the announcer] singing the Anthem! (Noel Green, UK, DSWCI DX Window Sept 24 via DXLD) The following interesting information was sent to me in an email from Sam Voron in Somalia. I'd like to share it with you all. 73 from Björn Fransson on the island of Gotland, Sweden --- COPY: Hi Björn, I have been in Garowe the last 2 days to talk with the President of Puntland, Abdulai Yussef during his short stay before he returns to the Somalia Government creation talks in Kenya. I also met the Minister of Information and Telecommunications about Somalia using the human resources in the country to operate a world wide shortwave service which would help bring the country together using all the news sources that have developed around the country. Such an International radio would also give a voice to Africa and to the positive aspect of Islam and to developing nations. The Minister of Information and Telecommunications will approach USA, EU, Russian and other representatives to build such a facility in peaceful Puntland to get on air immediately and which can be expanded into the 4th world wide broadcaster after BBC, VOA and Radio Moscow. The big 800 Watt amplifier is back on line so you can try to listen again. They were using only 15 Watts AM while I was away but I heard them in Garowe which is the Puntland State capital 250 km north of Galkayo. I will most likely leave for Kismayo the following Thursday with a very small chance I might leave this Thursday. Keep listening! Regards, Sam Voron (via Björn Fransson, Sept 30, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** SPAIN [and non]. I was enjoying REE`s classical music show Nuestro Sello via the usually strong signal on 17595, Sept 30 at 1405, but after 1430 Bach et al. were marred by co-channel underneath, with occasional German-sounding words. After REE closed at 1455 this proved to be DW in some South Asian language. Why such an overlap? Some frequency planner believes that the DW signal goes only to S Asia? (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** SUDAN [non]. CLANDESTINE from ERITREA to SUDAN. 6985, Voice of Freedom and Renewal, Voice of New Sudan, 0320 Sep 30 with music, till big clock chimes at 0330. Then multiple IDs in Arabic. Mentioning that this was their morning broadcast (guess they must be on at other times as well still). Man then read the news in Arabic. Via Javaradio Europe. Muddy audio on the Javaradio, but sounds like they were consistently using the complete above ID, not just the Voice of New Sudan as they were using for a while. Into what sounded like Juba Arabic or similar at 0350. I could get a fair amount of words, but just enough non-Arabic to really throw me (Hans Johnson, WY, Cumbre DX via DXLD) ** SWEDEN. Pan European Radio, last transmitting via Sweden on 1179 kHz, announced the new (not the one they used, when they tested from Poland) address as follows: P O Box 16913, Beverly Hills, California 90209, USA. V/s Bert VanSchaick confirmed my reception in an email to: receptionreport@hotmail.com 73 from (Björn Fransson on the island of Gotland, Sweden, Sept 30, DX LISTENING DIGEST) The following email was received from Pan European Radio by Martin Elbe-D (repost from A-DX mailing list): From : pan_european_radio@h... [truncated] Pan European Radio, P.O. Box 16913, Beverly Hills, California 90209 USA Los Angeles, September 28th, 2003, Dear Sir, Madam, We like to thank you for the reception report concerning our test transmission in the 26th / 27th / 28th of September 2003 on the Medium Wave frequency 1179 kHz. The transmitter is located in Sweden and has been putting out 600 Kw and 300 Kw during a number of two hour periods in the above mentioned dates. Pan European Radio is not a radio station, but facilitates stations looking for output possibilities. We have a number of clients who want to use AM, FM or SW facilities. Around the world we have various frequencies available. Your report is hereby acknowledged and will contribute to the final decision to either use or not use the 1179 in our range of frequencies. Once again, thank you very much. Yours, Bert VanSchaick MD ================================= Comment BT: PER has a P. O. Box in the USA, but is a Dutch-based venture, involving known names of the Dutch media scene (Bernd Trutenau, Lithuania, MW-DX via DXLD) ** TAIWAN. Temporary Schedule Changes, RTI --- Please note the following temporary changes to our program schedule, which are effective immediately: 1) News Talk and Stage, Screen and Studio will be temporarily replaced by Instant Noodles and Hakka World, respectively. 2) Discover Taiwan will be hosted by James Ho. 3) New Music Lounge, the popular music program, will be extended to a 30-minute program, which will air on Wednesdays in Hour Two. 4) Confucius and Inspiration Beyond can now be heard on Thursday as part of the Hour One programming. We apologize for any inconvenience, and thank you for listening to RTI! Central Broadcasting System, No. 55 Pei An Road Taipei, Taiwan. R.O.C. http://www.cbs.org.tw (via Daniel Say, BC, Sept 29, DXLD) ** TIBET. 9490, China Tibet People's Broadcasting Co. 1100 9/30. English broadcast, Tibet promo, news, features, music, in the clear and quite readable most days recently (Steve George, MA, 9/30, Cumbredx mailing list via DXLD) ** TURKS AND CAICOS ISLANDS. Ex 1570 MW. Reading the MW column in the April issue of SWN I discovered, thanks to Kyriakos Dritsas, the e- mail address of a former manager of Atlantic Beacon now at R Vision Cristiana. As in the past (1987!) I've never received a reply after several attempts to the station, so I decided to try now again sending an e- mail to Mr. Wendell Seymour. He answered me quickly but saying me that at the time he did not see and answer the reception report, so he was not able to help me. I immediately sent another mail writing that I could send that reception report once again as it was in my computer memory! After that Mr. Wendell wrote me: "I think that I could find an original Atlantic Beacon QSL card, send me the report and I will mail you a QSL card". He understood that I WANTED that verification. So after 50 days I finally got my original Atlantic Beacon QSL card and my 166th EDXC Country verified. If you want to count the time from the first report, look well, it's just 16 years and 2 days! Isn't it a record? As it's true that Mr. Wendell was really nice to answer to my e-mails and to send the QSL card, I must thank Kyriakos Dritsas, Ray Browell and SWN for giving me the main information! (Alessandro Groppazzi, Trieste, Italy, Sep 18, DSWCI DX Window Sept 24 via DXLD) ** UGANDA [non]. R. Rhino International Africa finally made it here, on 17555 via Germany, thanks to improved HF conditions, Tue Sept 30 at *1500-1530*, with WHRA 17560 convenient closing just in time. Seemed to be all in English, with IDs and mission statement, music break in the middle. Invited listeners to phone in their opinions to be broadcast on weekend show. Fading down before closing, and signal was still not that great (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U K. More on UK TV Licensing. Hi Glenn, Further to the interest shown in UK TV licence regulations, here are the conditions copied from the rear of my current licence. Full information is on the TV Licensing website. You need a licence for each unit of accommodation, a house or flat. Mobile homes (caravans) are subject to several restrictions, which would appear to be unenforceable without a high degree of intrusion. -------------------- About Your Licence. What you need a TV licence for - You need a TV licence to install or use any equipment to receive television programme services - for example a television set, video recorder, set-top box, PC with a broadcast card or any other TV receiving equipment. What this licence also allows - Use at the premises (address indicated) by any person working or visiting the premises. Installation/use (A) vehicle, boat or caravan used for touring from place to place (providing the TV is not being used at the licensed premises at the same time) by the persons referred to overleaf and any person visiting them. Use by the persons referred to overleaf, of a TV receiver anywhere providing it is only powered by internal batteries. What the licence does not allow - Premises occupied by you do not include any parts of your premises exclusively occupied by others, such as tenants, lodgers, paying guests and or self contained units on the premises and/or any parts of your premises (except parts of a private dwelling) occupied by others pursuant to contract or other arrangements. Use of a TV in a caravan (other than a caravan used for touring) at the same time as the licensed premises. A black and white licence does not authorise colour installation or use. Conditions of this licence Payment of the licence fee. This licence can be revoked or its terms varied. Our officers may ask to inspect your licence and television equipment at ANY TIME, but you don't have to let them into your home without a SEARCH WARRANT. Your TV licence does not guarantee a good picture. You must not cause interference to any other radio or TV reception with your television receiving apparatus. ----------------- Other information on UK TV and audio licensing - Registered blind people can apply for a 50% discount on their annual TV licence. Hotels have a special licence based on the number of rooms and TV's they have. To play a radio or TV broadcast in a public place like a bar or shop you additionally require a (PRS) performing rights licence. To play recorded music in public, as opposed to relaying an existing station, like a jukebox or disco also requires a licence from (PPL) Phonographic Performance Limited who licence the playing of copyright music. http://www.tvlicensing.co.uk http://www.ceduman.co.uk/licensing/ppl.htm http://www.ppluk.com/ http://www.prs.co.uk 73's (via Andy Cadier, UK, Sept 30, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U K. The BBCWS launches DRM MW to Europe... VT MERLIN COMMUNICATIONS UNVEIL UK'S FIRST HIGH POWER MEDIUM WAVE DIGITAL TRANSMITTER --- PRESS RELEASE 29th September 2003 On the 24th September - Simon Tarrant, Managing Director, VT Support Services and Benny Ammar, Head of Go Digital, BBC World Service jointly unveiled the UK's first medium wave Digital Radio Mondiale (DRM) transmitter. The event took place at VT Merlin Communications site at Orfordness, East Anglia. The new transmitter joins the current analogue BBC World Service transmitters for Western Europe (648 kHz and 1296 kHz) located at the same site. The opening ceremony was attended by 60 guests from around the world, who watched Benny Ammar start the first official transmission. This £500,000 project was the first major investment in new transmission plant since Merlin Communications was acquired by the VT Group in 2001. The DRM digital radio system allows for crystal clear high fidelity reception of radio in the short, medium and long wave bands, and overcomes the problems of interference, fading and poor audio quality often associated with "AM" radio. The transmitter and associated digital equipment were supplied by Canadian Manufacturer Nautel, and German companies Telefunken and Fraunhofer Institute. The transmitter will allow high-quality reception of World Service in the Netherlands, much of Belgium, Luxembourg, and Northern France. During night-time the 1296 kHz signal may also reach Germany. Over the next year, engineers will accurately evaluate the coverage parameters. NOTES TO EDITORS About VT Merlin Communications VT Merlin Communications, part of the VT Group plc, is a leading provider of critical communications services to customers in the space communications, defence and broadcast industries. Our range of critical communications services includes technical support services, facilities management, as well as project and programme management. VT Merlin has extensive experience in the design, build, operation, maintenance and support of facilities worldwide. Customers include The European Space Agency (ESA), BBC World Service, the UK Ministry of Defence (MoD) and QinetiQ. Operating the world's leading short wave network, VT Merlin transmits over 1,000 hours of both short and medium wave broadcasts every day. VT Merlin's global network provides broadcasters with exceptional coverage of the world's most populous regions, and offers capacity to deliver your programmes globally. Currently VT Merlin broadcasts for major international broadcasters including BBC World Service, Australian Broadcasting Corporation, NHK (Radio Japan), Radio Canada International, Radio Netherlands and Voice of America. About VT Group PLC VT Group is an international Government services provider. The Group is divided into two businesses - support services and shipbuilding. Together, these activities employ 10,000 people. Turnover is approximately £600m. VT Support Services - comprising activities in both the military and public sectors - now accounts for over two thirds of turnover. Military support is tri-service and includes training, platform and equipment maintenance and facilities management, while services for the public sector focus on training and education, careers guidance, and secure communications. VT Shipbuilding designs and builds a wide range of vessels for the Royal Navy and navies throughout the world. Smaller boats are also supplied to the commercial market. Specialist marine equipment is provided to both the naval and commercial sectors. Technical notes: A Fraunhofer (German research institute) ContentServer is used to assemble the digital stream at Bush House in London allowing the transmission of data such as web sites, news stories, programme associated data, rds, .jpg pictures alongside the audio service. The data is sent to the transmitter site via satellite (Hotbird 6). A Telefunken Sender Systems Berlin modulator is used to drive the 70 kW (DRM power) 200 kW (AM power) Nautel MF transmitter operating on 1296 kHz. The antenna is a directional antenna focusing a beam across the North Sea towards the Netherlands. For further information about this press release, please contact: Anna Foakes, Marketing Executive, VT Merlin Communications Ltd Tel: +44 (0)20 7969 0000 Email: annaf-@merlincommunications.com [truncated] Web: http://www.merlincommunications.com (via Richard Cuff, swprograms Sept 30 via DXLD) ** U S A. RADIO FREE ASIA Developments. RFA has introduced two new relay sites at USSURIYSK and IRKUTSK for increased coverage of Korean programing. Ussuriysk uses 648 mediumwave 1500-1600, and Irkutsk is on 7210 1600-1700. The TAIWAN relay currently uses 11605 for Vietnamese 1400-1500 and 2330-0030. Seemingly Mandarin service at 2300-2359 UT via Taiwan 7315, 11935, and 11995 have been ceased. Due to decreasing sunspot figures, also the frequency changes on Sept 6th/7th, 2003 marked as J03[til Sept 6th] / S03[from Sept 7th], are included. RFA introduced two new additional broadcast hours in Cambodian programing at 1130-1229 and 2330-0029. But canceled this RFA Khmer service after a two month test in mid August already. Additional tests observed in the Far East on mediumwave 1350 kHz at 1300-1500 UT, location not known, probably from either Ussuriysk-RUS, Poro-PHL, or Taiwan. RFA schedule in A-03, valid til Oct 26th, 2003. RFA currently broadcasts from 1100 to 0700; there are no transmissions between 0700 and 1100. Daily programming includes Mandarin for 12 hrs, Cantonese increase from two to four hrs, Uighur for two hrs, and Tibetan for eight hours. J03=til Sept 6th. S03=from Sept 7th, 2003. RFA uses IBB txs in HOL/H=Holzkirchen Germany, IRA/I=Iranawila Sri Lanka, SAI/S=Saipan & TIN/T=Tinian NoMariana Isls. And Merlin relays TWN/N=Taiwan and UAE=Al Dhabayya-UAE, as well as irk=Irkutsk-RUS and uss=Ussuriysk-RUS relays. 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 A-03 updated schedule of September 20th, 2003. 0000-0100 LAO 12015I 13830 15545T 0030-0130 BURMESE 11540-S03 13680T 13820I 15660 17525-J03 17835S 0100-0200 UIGHUR 9350 11520 11895UAE 11945UAE 15405T 0100-0300 TIBETAN 9365 11695UAE 11975H 15225T 15695 17730 0300-0600 MANDARIN 13670T 13760T 15150T 15665T 17495 17525 17615S 17880S 21690T 0600-0700 MANDARIN 13670T 13760T 15150T 15665T 17495 17525 17615S 17880S 0600-0700 TIBETAN 17485 17510 17720 21500T 21690UAE break 1100-1200 LAO 9355S 9545T 15560I 15635 1100-1400 TIBETAN 7470-S03 11590 13575-J03 13625T 13830-S03 15510UAE 15695-J03 17855H-(from 1200) deleted ***** 1130-1230 CAMBODIAN 13730T 15535I 1230-1330 CAMBODIAN 13645T 15525I 15625 1300-1400 BURMESE 11540-?S03 11765T 13745T 15680-?J03 1400-1500 CANTONESE 9775T 11715S 13790T 1400-1500 VIETNAMESE 9455S 9635T 9930W 11510 11520 11535-S03 11605N 11765T 13775P 15705-J03 1400-1500 KOREAN 7380 11790T 13625T 15625 1500-1600 TIBETAN 7470-S03 11510 11590-J03 11705T 11780UAE 13835 1500-1600 MANDARIN 7540-S03 9905P 11765T 12025S 13690T 15510T 15680- J03. Deleted 11945T. 1500-1600 KOREAN 648uss 9385S 13625T 1600-1700 KOREAN 7210irk 9385S 13625T 1600-1700 UIGHUR 7465 9350I 9370 9555UAE 11780T 13715I 1600-1700 MANDARIN 7540-S03 9455S 9905P 11750T 11795T 12025S 13690T 15510T 15680-J03. Deleted 11945T. 1700-1800 MANDARIN 7540-S03 9355S 9455S 9540T 9905P 11750T 11795T 11995S 13690T 15510T 15680-J03. Deleted 11945T and 17640T. 1800-1900 MANDARIN 7530-S03 7540-S03 9355S 9455S 9540T 11520-J03 11740T 11995S 13680T 15510T 15680-J03. Deleted 11945T, 11955T and 17640T. 1900-2000 MANDARIN 7530-S03 7540-S03 9355S 9455S 9905P 11520-J03 11740T 11785T 11995S 13625T 13680T 15510T 15680- J03. Deleted 11945T, and 11955T. 2000-2100 MANDARIN 7530-S03 7540-S03 9355S 9455S 9850T 9905P 11520- J03 11700T 11740T 11785T 11935T 11995S 13625T 15515T 15680-J03. Deleted 13670T. 2100-2200 MANDARIN 7540-S03 9455S 9850T 9910P 11700T 11740T 11935T 11995S 13625T 15515T 15680-J03 2200-2300 CANTONESE 9355S 9955P 11785T 13675T 2200-2300 KOREAN 7460 9455S 9850T 11670S 12080T 2230-2330 CAMBODIAN 7455-?S03 9490I 9930P 11570-?J03 13735T 2300-2359 MANDARIN 7540-S03 9910P 11785T 13640T 13800S 15430T 15550T 15680-J03. Seemingly Mandarin service via Taiwan 7315, 11935, and 11995 have been ceased. 2300-2359 TIBETAN 7470 7550-S03 9365-J03 9395-S03 9805UAE 9875H 15695-J03 deleted **** 2330-0029 CAMBODIAN 7490I 13735T 2330-0029 VIETNAMESE 9975-?S03 11540-?J03 11560 11580 11605N 11670T 12110I 13735S 15560P (various sources, updated on Sept 20, BC-DX Oct 1 via DXLD) ** U S A. Did anyone else note some odd interference during the WBCQ "Area 51" program on Sunday evening (0000 UT Monday hour 9/29/03) on 5105 kHz? This was during their "Firesign Theatre" hour, and seemed to stop during (or at the start of) the following hour of Allen Weiner's radio-receiver discussion. (The latter was very interesting, by the way; hope he airs repeats you can catch later this week.) I had never encountered interference just like this: it was a periodic noise burst, usually about three seconds long, like a hiss or high- audio-frequency buzz, that happened at intervals. The intervals varied from about 20 seconds to 45 seconds between incidents, with some gaps of over a minute at times. It almost sounded like it was part of the original audio; since the Firesign Theatre plays around with sound effects, when I first tuned in about 10 minutes into the hour's program, I actually thought it was part of the program, something intended to make it sound like poor radio reception. But then it obscured enough of the content that I decided that could not be intentional in the original. Yet it DID stop when the programming changed over to the next hour! Could it have been some digital artifact in the program recording? I know little of digital audio, MP-encoding and the like. If no one else heard it, I suppose it would have to be local RF interference, but it is a new one and the fact that it seemed linked to the program content argues against it being random electrical noise. Very confusing (Will Martin (St. Louis, MO), swprograms via DXLD) ** U S A. 1710, unID pirate. 0130 Man talking in Yiddish; 1030 Religious talk in English, mentioning "Lubavitcher hassidim," i.e. Hassidic Jews adhering to the extreme orthodox Lubavitch sect. No ID's heard over several hours. Stories in that tradition, e.g. about how bad it is for one's daughter to marry a non-Jew. A web search of "1710 kHz" turned up an FCC web page at http://www.fcc.gov/eb/FieldNotices/2003/DOC-237849A1.html noting action against an unlicensed broadcaster in Brooklyn, NY in Jan. '03: "Agents again observed unauthorized radio broadcast on 1710 kHz, and identified the source as 1236-1244 Atlantic Avenue, Brooklyn, NY 11216. The agents obtained access to the roof of 1236 Atlantic Avenue, where they observed a vertical antenna with a coaxial cable leading across the roof into a locked equipment room ... Eliyahu Ezagui, residing at 1227 President Street, was the responsible party...." The FCC assessed a $10,000 fine. Fadeout at local sunrise, consistent with propagation from NY (though maybe from a different address!) to my location (Steve George, MA, 9/30, Cumbre DX via DXLD) ** U S A. Radio K marks 10 years of student-run music September 30, 2003 By Chelsie Hanstad http://www.daily.umn.edu/articles/2003/09/30/6752 Radio K, the University`s student-run radio station, will celebrate its 10th anniversary in October. Over its 10 years in existence, Radio K has helped build a sense of community, both in the University and in the greater Twin Cities, Radio K marketing director Tracy Labernik said. The radio station was first formed in 1993 from two smaller stations already at the University. The first, KUOM, was the oldest radio station in Minnesota and was acquired in the 1920s. Students created the other, WMMR, in the 1940s. WMMR broadcast through a cable into residence halls, Radio K programming director Mark Wheat said. A budget crisis in the mid-1980s caused the Board of Regents to consider selling one of the stations. One student, Jim Musil, said they should not sell. He suggested they run KUOM as a student radio station. The regents combined the two stations, and on Oct. 1, 1993, students took over KUOM. Radio K is now one of the largest college radio stations in the country, with between 2,000 and 3,000 student listeners. It employs five full-time professional staff and 17 part-time student employees. The station also has larger facilities and a greater listening audience than many college stations. ``In the top 10, you might find two or three bigger,`` Wheat said. ``And none raise as much money.`` Twice a year, the radio station holds a pledge drive to raise money to meet its $500,000 operating budget. The most recent drive raised more than $85,000. Radio K often helps bring recognition to local groups. ``It brings attention to artists who normally don`t get it,`` said Danny Sigelman of the Electric Fetus in Minneapolis, a store that sells local bands` CDs. ``It`s an obvious contingent. People will come in and say, `I heard this on Radio K, do you have it?` `` In a time when corporations buy many local radio stations and decide which music to play, Radio K gives local musicians an opportunity to be heard in their hometown, local musician and promoter J.G. Everest said. ``No band really gets big in town without the help of Radio K,`` Everest said. Labernik said Radio K also provides many opportunities for high school students. It hosts an annual battle of the bands for high school musicians. The Breakfast Club is the station`s show for high school students` participation. Radio K is also involved in the timeshare of an FM station in St. Louis Park, Minn., with St. Louis Park High School, Labernik said. The high school uses the station during the day and Radio K uses it nights and holidays when school is not in session. The station also hosts several events for local charities, Labernik said. To celebrate its 10-year anniversary, the station organized a month-long celebration. Thirteen concerts featuring local bands, as well as special on-air programming, will go on through October (Minnesota Daily Sept 30 via Artie Bigley, DXLD) WTF --- K??? ** URUGUAY [and non]. Re 3-172: Glenn, Original info was mine, not from friend Colacce, and was delivered via Conexión Digital. Dorner doesn't mention the original source. That's not really important but what is new to me is the info about Radio Américas. Fqcy? SW? Didn't have that... ``Recently Radio Americas, a powerful shortwave station and AM station operated by Protestants began operations in Uruguay, a small country of about 68,000 square miles on the central Atlantic Coast.`` 73 (Horacio Nigro, Montevideo, Uruguay, Sept. 30, DX LISTENING DIGEST) I bet this was confused with the R. América in PARAguay, and it`s anything but powerful! (gh, DXLD) He is right. Paraguay. Rush of getting it out on Sat a.m. I read Conexión Digital and saw something regarding Nigro's piece, but it did not strike me that it was clear about the pending purchase by the Church. I no longer have that issue (I think), but I remember thinking that this would be interesting if true. I do not know in what issue he reported on that; it was in the middle perhaps of all my computer trouble and certain items were lost out of e-mail and could not be retrieved. Perhaps what I saw was a later report on the developments, but again it was uncertain. Colacce did report the item to me, and did mention that Nigro had written it in CD, too. But he wrote me that HE, Colacce, had read the items in the Montevidean papers; I cannot access the archives of the newspaper that first reported the news, and had no success in finding the information in the other daily. I did find the item on the Uruguayan portal. If I had heard the item from Nigro, or saw it clearly as an actual development reported by him, I would have credited him. But the news came from Colacce on Saturday morning; that was my first reception of a clear item from anyone about the station. Mr. Nigro does not read CRU/RCD as far as I know; I have no contact with him at all. That should set the record straight. There are a lot of questions about this. Exactly who in Italy is funding it is interesting -- the Bishops Conference? Radio Maria? An quasi or independent church agency? Or the Italian office of a church worldwide organization such as Church in Need? Matters like purchases of stations are always delicate; the Latin American Church, in addition, is not noted for openness with the press (Mike Dorner, LA of CRU, Sept 30, DX LISTENING DIGEST) No problem for the credits! It goes just for clarity on the most interesting facts about this item, for now: This stops my queries I have already started here in the Uruguayan radio field. And, secondly agree that the inner story of this transaction between R. Oriental and the Catholic church whatever be their branch is still a matter of dilucidation. Greetings and congrats to both you for work in your respective areas covering media developments (Horacio Nigro, Uruguay, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** URUGUAY. 6042.5, R Sarandí Sport, Rivera, 2239-2305, Aug 30, finally identified in a Spanish program with songs, advertisements, pops and talks on sport. 42331 with the "2" standing for adjacent QRM. (Carlos Gonçalves, Portugal, DSWCI DX Window Sept 24 via DXLD) ** VENEZUELA. Actualmente Venezuela tiene tres señales en onda corta: 4830 kHz. Radio Táchira, reactivada recientemente, lo participó el colega Malm. 4940 kHz, Radio Amazonas, actualmente con señal distorsionada y mucho ruido. 5000 kHz, YVTO, Observatorio Naval Cajigal, su señal es buena y estable. Estas tres señales fueron monitoreadas a las 1140 UT; solamente Radio Amazonas está presentando problemas, incluso su señal se está corriendo hacia 4930, 4945, y 4950. Esperemos que corrijan pronto esta anormalidad (José Elías, Venezuela, Sept 24, Conexión Digital via DXLD) ** VENEZUELA [and non]. Dial full of YV's in Illinois --- With low A and K indices it is amazingly auroral here 35 miles NW of Chicago. The lower 3/5 of the AM dial has some pretty darn good signals from Venezuela and the entire dial seems hit by AU conditions, although as the evening progresses the AU effects are lessening. New tonite are YVKE 550 with a political sounding discussion finally mentioning Caracas and Venezuela several times, and YVMD 900 over/under XEW which is reasonably nulled by E-W BOGs, with "...Ritmo..La onda de alegría" now with Ven. type music. 1110 Carupano was huge earlier as was 750 RCR hammering WSB. YVRQ 910 is in well as are others. There still isn't much high latitude skip and I have yet to hear WQEW 1560 for example. What on earth is the bubble jammer type sound that was hammering WTAM 1100 ?? 73 KAZ (Neil Kazaross, IL, Sept 29, amfmtvdx via DXLD) ** VENEZUELA [and non]. TERROR CLOSE TO HOME -- IN OIL-RICH VENEZUELA, A VOLATILE LEADER BEFRIENDS BAD ACTORS FROM THE MIDEAST, COLOMBIA, AND CUBA --- Nation & World 10/6/03 By Linda Robinson The oil-rich but politically unstable nation of Venezuela is emerging as a potential hub of terrorism in the Western Hemisphere, providing assistance to Islamic radicals from the Middle East and other terrorists, say senior U.S. military and intelligence officials. Bush administration aides see this as an unpredictably dangerous mix and are gathering more information about the intentions of a country that sits 1,000 miles south of Florida... ...The FARC's principal camp in Venezuela is in the Perijá mountains near an Indian village called Resumidero, according to maps and testimony from FARC deserters. The Resumidero base is home to one of the FARC's top leaders, Iván Márquez, and can accommodate 700 people. Márquez commands 1,000 fighters and, according to one deserter's account, oversees the training of hundreds more would-be guerrillas. A clandestine FARC radio station is located about 30 miles away, on the Colombian-Venezuelan border. Resumidero, which has 100 huts and three houses for Márquez and other leaders, is two days' walk from another camp called Asamblea, near the city of Machiques, which is about 35 miles inside Venezuelan territory. That camp, which has 25 houses and even Internet access, is used to train still more more fighters... [Tnx to a tip from Henrik Klemetz, from a much longer article at http://www.usnews.com/usnews/issue/031006/usnews/6venezuela.htm via DXLD) ** VIETNAM [non]. CLANDESTINE from CIS to VIETNAM, 7380, Radio of the Voice of the Degar People via Chita, Russia, e-mail thankyou note from v/s Kok Ksor, President of the Montagnard Foundation Inc (MFI). He says he usually presents the program which is produced by MFI and in turn which is financed by the Transnational Radical Party of which he is a General Council member. There is a connection, though unclear, with Radicale Radio in Italy, plus with an unnamed HQ in London (Merlin?) which Kok Ksor contacts in case of reception problems. Reply in 16 hours from degar@montagnard-foundation.org (David Foster, Australia, DXplorer Sept 28 via Bueschel BC-DX via Cumbre DX via DXLD) ** ZIMBABWE. 5975.0, R 2, 2155-2205, Sep 20, Afro pops and Vernacular announcement, at 2200 TC and NA followed by a rhetoric by Mugabe on the occasion of his vice president's demise. Still noted on at 2250 but gone at re-check just after 2300. This is the only Zimbabwean SW outlet at the moment and the schedule is somewhat irregular, usually on by 0500 and often off by 1900 or 2000 (Vaclav Korinek, RSA, DSWCI DX Window Sept 24 via DXLD) UNIDENTIFIED. 3910, 1850-1910, Sep 21, religious program in U.S. English with address in Detroit, Michigan, Bible quotations and talks. I do not think it is the Irish pirate previously reported here. 35333 (Anker Petersen, Denmark, DSWCI DX Window Sept 24 via DXLD) UNIDENTIFIED. 5833.39 v. to 5834.15 --- Better signal 1000-1130 than 0000 to 0100, weak Sept. 30 at 1000-1112. Does not seem a Cuban Harmonic or Central America. Fades before Guatemala 60 meter band stations (Robert Wilkner, Icom R 75, Pompano Beach, Florida, DX LISTENING DIGEST) UNIDENTIFIED. Re 6069.97, DXLD 3-171: On the same split, 6069.97 kHz, I have CFRB Toronto(Canada). 73s de (Björn Malm, Quito, Ecuador, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ POWERLINE COMMUNICATIONS ++++++++++++++++++++++++ PLC THREAT IN AUSTRALIA I've got permission from Phil Wait to place this report on the Powerline Broadband Conference held by Buddecom in Sydney on 17th September 2003. You can view it at http://homepages.ihug.com.au/~vk5vka/stopbpl.htm Radio Scanner users will be disappointed to know that frequencies up to 100 MHz could be affected if the roll-out goes ahead in a big way. (Which it probably will because lots of money is involved) )-: I also urge you to download this PDF document from the ACA web site http://www.aca.gov.au/radcomm/frequency_planning/radiofrequency_planni ng_topics/bdplcs.htm (Stephen Newlyn, VK5VKA. G'day from the City of Elizabeth, South Australia. Visit the Drake R8 List Home Page http://homepages.ihug.com.au/~vk5vka/draklist.htm Visit my Home Page at http://homepages.ihug.com.au/~vk5vka/ (via aus.radio.scanner via Richard Jary, ARDXC via DXLD) PLC THREAT IN BRITAIN I am forwarding this message from the RSGB about PLT (Power Line Telecoms?) - i.e. internet via electricity cables. This is potentially a very serious issue for DXers as I have heard that trials in the UK a while ago showed that it could cause severe interference right across the shortwave bands.... Sunday 28 September, 2003 IARU SUBMITS PAPER TO EUROPEAN COMMISSION PLT WORKSHOP Listeners may have seen an item on the Internet where the European Commission is calling for input papers for a PLT workshop for national regulators to be held on the 16th of October in Brussels. PLT remains a major threat to HF communications. IARU Region 1 has submitted a detailed paper for the workshop to the European Commission, setting out the problems that PLT creates for HF communications in general, and radio amateurs in particular. The paper argues for sensible emission limits from PLT systems, and backs up its assertions by referencing work done by a number of organisations, including the RSGB, to monitor and assess the trials of PLT that have taken place in a number of countries over the last few years. Although it will not be allowed for amateur radio to be represented in person at the workshop on the 16th of October, the IARU hopes that its paper will carry some weight in the discussions (via Dave Kenny, BDXC-UK via DXLD) BPL AND OTHER SPECTRUM THREATS I'd like to make three points here: 1. Steady, continuing pressure is better than a large single emotional outcry. Why? They, the ones who wish to implement whatever just wait for the storm to blow over, so to speak. 2. Our collective power is votes, not money. Yes, make your well reasoned and hopefully technically sound comments to the FCC, but also write your representatives in Congress. It may also be helpful to write to the ones who are in charge of "oversight" committees. A concerned voter is a registered voter and may not vote for the incumbent if their concerns are not addressed. Final hint: mention/list memberships in relevant clubs, now you are a group and have group power. Strange as it might seem, power perceived is power achieved. 3. Finally the "sky is falling" commentaries occur are too often and too fatalistic. This causes people to throw up their hands and give up. Far too many people do not participate in government at any level anymore because they believe that it won't count. It does count, but don't expect to see instant results. An entity as large as a national government moves slowly. There are checks and balances, Congress will react, if it is properly motivated. Right now Chairman Powell is facing strong backlash from Congress over actions taken earlier this year. 4. We are approaching an election year. Candidates right now are grasping for issues to talk about to gain support for their campaigns. Opportunity knocks once again. Obligatory SWL connection: Our hobby makes us better informed. We know the Japanese tried and abandoned BPL and lost much money in the process. We know the problems some European countries are currently having with BPL. Why? We listen to shortwave radio and talk to each other. 73, (Mark N3IRJ Clark, Sept 25, swl at qth.net via DXLD) BPL COMMENTS I have sent the following letter to all five FCC Commissioners, all 3 congressional representatives and both senators from West Virginia, President Bush and Vice President Cheney. Please feel free to copy it, add your comments and send them on as well. We need to make some noise against this very bad idea before the FCC just sticks it down our throats. A google search for White House, Senate, House of Reprehensive, and FCC will get you the addresses for your respective congress person or senator. Please take the time to forward this on to them. The more contacts they get against this the better chance we have of stopping it. Larry N4SEA Cover letter: I am enclosing a copy of an e-mail letter I sent to each of the five FCC commissioners. The letter expresses my feelings concerning the BPL or Broadband Over Power Line issue. An issue I'm afraid the FCC is only looking at from one side. I would appreciate it if you could take the time to look at this and address it. It does require immediate attention. I also urge you or one of your staff to check out the links in the message to the FCC. They support my arguments against this very bad idea that the FCC seems very ready to put into being. Thank you. Larry R. Fravel, RT 1 Box 143 A, Shinnston, WV 26431-9722, 304-592- 0072 Actual letter: As an amateur radio operator and an internet/computer enthusiast and user I want to state that I am completely and utterly in disagreement with you comments concerning Broad Band over Power Lines (BPL) and its implementation. This so called great opportunity is only a great opportunity to those that would sell and provide the services. The amateur radio community, the short wave broadcast industry, the short wave listeners of the world, and to some extent the AM broadcast band broadcasters and listeners it will be a complete disaster. It has been proven in numerous tests conducted by the ARRL and others that BPL will and does cause harmful interference to licensed radio services to such an extent that in some instances the services become unusable. Now the NTIA has expressed similar concerns regarding this cash cow for the utility companies. As a licensed radio operator I am required by law not to cause harmful interference to any other licensed service, and Part 15 of the FCC regulations require that unlicensed radiators do not cause me or other licensed services harmful. Interference. When a signal between the frequency ranges of 2 MHz to 60 MHz is transmitted along thousands of miles of unshielded wire the wire becomes on giant antenna that radiates that signal in an omni-direction pattern and the signal overrides any other signal weaker than itself. This causes lack of reception of the weaker signal. That means that leg mate amateur radio communications that just might be in the process of providing disaster communications, homeland security communications, or assisting a ship or boat in danger of sinking is interrupted with terrible results. All because someone had to have that "faster download and connection speed". The reverse is also true. The power line wires also become giant receiving antennas and any transmitter that emits a signal greater than the one being carried on the power lines has the potential to interfere with the signal being carried over the power lines. The only difference here is that the signal being transmitted through the air and interfering with the BPL transmission is a licensed radiator and according to FCC regulations the owner of the receiving device has the onus on them to shield their device or replace it with one that will not receive the interference. Are you also going to require that the power companies, businesses, and all home owners replace all power cables throughout the country with coaxial cable, properly grounded of course, in order to help eliminate the interface from licensed radiators? I think not. Cable Television Operators have made the AM Broadcast band almost unusable in most areas of the country because of the high leakage interference and nothing is done about that. It is more "cost effective" (translated cheaper) for the cable company to ignore the problem rather than repair it until they are required to by the FCC - a very rare occurrence. It is next to impossible to get a power company to come out and investigate a case of power line interference without persistent complaints that sometimes take months to get through because "they are under staffed". Are you going to require the power companies the provide the proper staffing levels to handle the complaints? If you do any profit from this so called "Nirvana" will be eaten up in labor costs shortly after the first download is completed. Please refer to http://www.arrl.org/announce/regulatory/et03-104/ and http://www.arrl.org/tis/info/HTML/plc/ BPL is bad for all the reasons listed above and many more. It will cause devastating interference to those that are now licensed to use the radio spectrum. It will also cause the licensed users of the same radio spectrum to interfere with the BPL users. I urge you not to allow this to happen. Technology is a wonderful thing when properly applied and used. BPL is not one of those cases (Larry R. Fravel N4SEA, Rt 1 Box 143 A, Shinnston, WV 26431-9722, Sept 27, MW-DX via DXLD) RECEIVER NEWS +++++++++++++ DEGEN DRM RECEIVERS Review of Pre-production Degen DE1102 (Kaito KA1102 in US): http://radiointel.com/review-degende1102.htm It's interesting to note that Universal Radio will be selling the KA1101 at $64.95. That's $5 below list price on Kaito USA's website http://www.universal-radio.com/catalog/portable/1101.html http://www.kaitousa.com/KA1101.htm Review of the Chinese version of the 1101 (Degen DE 1101) - already mentioned: http://www.passband.com/pages/receivernews.htm and the KA105 which has digital tuning, but I think is only Single Conversion as opposed to the 1101/1102 $44.95. Also $5 below list. http://www.universal-radio.com/catalog/portable/0105.html http://www.kaitousa.com/KA105.htm I also didn't realize that the Grundig YB550PE is now for sale http://www.universal-radio.com/catalog/portable/0550.html (Doni Rosenzweig, NY, Oct 1, DX LISTENING DIGEST) PUBLICATIONS ++++++++++++ DOUG SMITH`S TV STATION DATABASE Has just been updated Sept. 27 in time for fall tropo season(?) USA, Canada and Mexico - nothing like it! http://home.earthlink.net/~w9wi/tvdb/index.htm (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGST) BDXC WEB SITE UPDATES These sections have all been updated recently: Africa frequency lists - by country and frequency. DX Diary. DX Programme Guide. Links. UK Radio Museums. http://www.bdxc.org.uk (Dave Kenny, Sept 24, BDXC-UK via DXLD) OFFLINE DX LOGBOOK The October 2003 edition of the Offline DX Logbook in .pdf format is now available for free download at http://www.shortwave.org.uk This month's edition consists of 14 Pages with over 500 loggings (Graham Powell, Wales, Editor - Online DX Logbook, SWBC topica list via DXLD) PROPAGATION +++++++++++ Geomagnetic activity ranged from quiet to minor storm levels. The period began at quiet to occasionally active levels on 22-23 September. Geomagnetic activity increased on 24-25 September as a coronal hole rotated into geoeffective position producing mostly unsettled to minor storm levels. As the coronal hole high speed flow began to wane on 26 September activity was at unsettled to active levels. Activity form the remainder of the period, 27-28 September was at quiet to unsettled levels. FORECAST OF SOLAR AND GEOMAGNETIC ACTIVITY 01 - 27 OCTOBER 2003 Solar activity is expected to range from very low to low levels with a chance of isolated M-class events. Region 464 has the potential for isolated M-class activity early in the period before it rotates beyond the west limb on 03 October. Region 471 rotated onto the visible disk on 30 September and is most likely old Region 456 (S08, L=222), which was quite active as it rotated beyond the west limb on its last rotation. Region 471 may keep activity levels somewhat enhanced. No greater than 10 MeV proton events at geosynchronous orbit are expected during the period. The greater than 2 MeV electron flux at geosynchronous orbit is expected to reach high levels on 02 - 05 October, 07 - 09 October, and 17 - 26 October. The geomagnetic field is expected to range from quiet to major storm levels during the period. A returning coronal hole is expected on 05 - 08 October and could produce active to isolated minor storm levels. A large coronal hole is due to return on 14 - 22 October and is expected to produce major storm levels. :Product: 27-day Space Weather Outlook Table 27DO.txt :Issued: 2003 Sep 30 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 2003 Sep 30 # # UTC Radio Flux Planetary Largest # Date 10.7 cm A Index Kp Index 2003 Oct 01 125 20 4 2003 Oct 02 115 15 3 2003 Oct 03 110 12 3 2003 Oct 04 105 10 3 2003 Oct 05 100 10 3 2003 Oct 06 100 20 4 2003 Oct 07 100 20 4 2003 Oct 08 95 15 3 2003 Oct 09 95 12 3 2003 Oct 10 95 12 3 2003 Oct 11 95 10 3 2003 Oct 12 95 10 3 2003 Oct 13 100 30 5 2003 Oct 14 105 45 6 2003 Oct 15 110 35 6 2003 Oct 16 112 30 5 2003 Oct 17 112 25 5 2003 Oct 18 120 20 4 2003 Oct 19 125 20 4 2003 Oct 20 125 15 3 2003 Oct 21 130 30 5 2003 Oct 22 130 25 5 2003 Oct 23 130 20 4 2003 Oct 24 130 10 3 2003 Oct 25 135 10 3 2003 Oct 26 135 10 3 2003 Oct 27 130 10 3 (from http://www.sec.noaa.gov/radio via DXLD) ### |||||||||||||| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||| DX LISTENING DIGEST 3-172, September 29, 2003 edited by Glenn Hauser 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. [continued from 3-171:] ** U K. BBC CREDIBILITY CONTINUES UNDER ATTACK from the September 24, 2003 Christian Science Monitor BBC row spurs call for reform --- Admissions of errors in an explosive report leave the state-funded broadcaster open to censure By Mark Rice-Oxley | Special to The Christian Science Monitor LONDON - A BBC reporter's admission of inaccuracies in an explosive broadcast accusing the government of overstating Iraq's weapons capability has added a new twist to a tortuous saga, raising questions about the role and regulation of the British Broadcasting Corp. Andrew Gilligan, who touched off a firestorm in May with allegations that the government misled the country about Saddam Hussein's weapons of mass destruction, confessed last week that he had made several mistakes in the report. Mr. Gilligan stood by the main thrust of his broadcast - that the government exaggerated the WMD threat to make war more palatable to a skeptical public - but apologized for casual errors that, ironically, "sexed up" his own report. Full Story at: http://www.csmonitor.com/2003/0924/p07s01-woeu.html (via Jim Moats, OH, Roger Chambers, NY, Sept 24, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U K. Re British TV Licence --- Fascinating reading in the latest DXLD about the BBC TV license and detector vans. Makes one wonder: Is the license to a location or an individual or family or group of co-residents? I do seem to recall that it is NOT to each individual TV, though it may have been like that in the past. If to a location, what happens when people move? If to a family, what about when a family member temporarily moves to another location and takes a TV (like a kid going to boarding school or college dorm) but is intending to move back home later? How do they handle portable TVs, especially handheld pocket models? What do commercial establishments, like hotels with a TV in each room, pay? Some discounted rate, or the full rate per room? What about something like a sports bar with a whole batch of TVs in one room? How do the detector vans discern the difference between computer monitors or security-video monitors and broadcast-tuning TVs? If a US person temporarily residing in Britain brings over an NTSC TV and VCR or DVD player to play a collection of discs or tapes, is it detectable? Is a license fee required for it, even though it cannot receive British broadcast signals? 73, (Will Martin, MO, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U K. GOVERNMENT ANNOUNCES NEW POWERS TO COMBAT PIRATE BROADCASTERS New powers of arrest were introduced on the 18th of September in an attempt to combat pirate radio stations. The police, working with Radiocommunications Agency investigators, will now be able to arrest a pirate broadcaster or anybody suspected of supporting or facilitating illegal broadcasting. Previously police could only detain someone if they suspected them of giving a false name and address or another criminal act, such as a breach of the peace or assault. The new powers of arrest will also extend to acts of deliberate interference with radio communications and hoax calls, especially false distress calls. The Communications Minister Stephen Timms said: ``These new powers will be an important weapon in the campaign against pirate broadcasters. By interfering with communications services which are vital for public safety, pirates can put lives at risk. They also cause interference with other licensed radio users and can be a social nuisance to those who live near pirate stations.`` Pirates detained under these new powers could face an unlimited fine or up to two years in prison. For other transmitting offences such as unlicensed use of business, marine, or amateur radio the maximum penalty is a £5000 fine and / or 6 months in prison plus forfeiture (Radio Society of Great Britain GB2RS News Script for September 28, posted September 24 on uk.radio.amateur by G4RGA via John Norfolk, DXLD) ** U K. ... "One of religious radio's best-known and best-loved voices has fallen silent," Roger Bolton announced on his Sunday programme last week. What? Was Radio 4 going to say something nice about Garner Ted Armstrong, the American evangelist who believed Anglo-Saxons were one of the lost tribes of Israel and whose apocalyptic sermons on the World Tomorrow went out for years on the North Sea pirate ships and another 300 stations worldwide? No. It was not. The man being referred to was another padre altogether - Jim Thompson, former Bishop of Stepney and of Bath and Wells. He had died in the same week, aged 67. He was given a warm on-air eulogy. National broadcasting's only obituary show, Brief Lives, on Radio 5 Live, that same day also mentioned Thompson and ignored Armstrong..." ... "He supplanted his father, Herbert Armstrong, as the principal voice of the Pasadena-based Worldwide Church of God, which paid a then enormous £300 to Radio London (where John Peel made his British radio debut and Tony Blackburn his name) to carry each daily edition of World Tomorrow in the 1960s" See September 28, 2003 "Radio Waves: Paul Donovan: Shun of God" at http://www.timesonline.co.uk/newspaper/0,,176-829051,00.html for more details (Mike Terry, DXLD) Registration required ** U S A. VOA EDITOR BERNARD KAMENSKE DIES Monday, September 29, 2003; Page B04 http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A15163-2003Sep28.html Bernard H. Kamenske, 75, a champion for journalistic integrity at Voice of America, which he left as chief news editor in 1981 after his much-publicized battle for objective reporting, died Sept. 25 at Suburban Hospital. He had complications from cardiovascular and pulmonary ailments. Mr. Kamenske, who started working at VOA in 1955 and became chief news editor in 1974, was credited with helping establish its charter governing news accuracy and objectivity. He pushed for the adoption of the VOA charter as a law, which he saw as a way to shield the publicly funded overseas information agency from efforts to compromise its journalistic and programming integrity. The charter, which was drafted in 1960, was signed into law in 1976 by President Gerald R. Ford. Mr. Kamenske, who was known as a cantankerous and irascible figure, firmly objected to efforts to politicize the agency. He spoke out against those favoring a more combative, anti-Communist edge in its news broadcasts to citizens living in Communist-controlled countries during the Cold War. "He more than anyone else has kept the sanctity of VOA news -- he sleeps with the First Amendment every night," The Washington Post quoted an unnamed veteran Senate staff member as saying at the time of Mr. Kamenske's retirement. After leaving VOA, Mr. Kamenske joined the CNN Washington bureau as a senior news executive. Bernard Harold Kamenske, who lived in Bethesda, was born in Nashua, N.H. He started working in journalism in 1944 as an Associated Press writer and editor in Boston. He then wrote and edited news reports for Boston radio stations before entering the Army during the war in Korea. While awaiting assignment to Korea as a combat correspondent, he was severely injured at Camp Rucker, Ala., when he was hit by a motorcycle courier. He spent more than three years undergoing experimental and massive reconstructive surgery before joining VOA. A year into his VOA career, Mr. Kamenske was named Latin America editor in the central newsroom. In that capacity, he developed a system of formatting news regionally. He later rose through the ranks and became a shift supervisor for all VOA news operations. He received U.S. Information Agency honor awards in 1963 for his news writing during the Cuban missile crisis and in 1966 for his news coverage of South and Central America. Survivors include his wife, Gloria Cheek Kamenske, of Bethesda; and a sister. © 2003 The Washington Post Company (via Kraig Krist, DXLD) ** U S A. VOA EXHIBITION OPENS IN WASHINGTON NEXT WEEK An exhibition entitled VOA Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow formally opens in the lobby of the Media and Public Affairs Building of the George Washington University on Wednesday 1 October. A collaborative effort by the University, the Radio History Society http://www.radiohistory.org/ and the Voice of America, the display outlines VOA's reputation as an influential international broadcaster by using both historic and contemporary highlights and artifacts. The exhibit emphasises VOA's role in providing reliable and accurate news worldwide in 55 languages, as well as its importance in times of conflict. Highlights include a Cold War era radio from East Berlin designed with a switch to receive only the two government-controlled stations, along with a modern radio that can run on either solar, battery or wind-up technology. Located four blocks from the White House, the George Washington University is the largest institution of higher education in Washington. The Radio History Society is a non-profit corporation that seeks to educate the public about the history and impact of radio and television technology and broadcasting. The exhibit will be opened on 1 October with a short program hosted by George Washington University's Vice-President for Communications, Michael Freedman, and including local media personality Ed Walker and VOA Director David Jackson. The display will be open to the public through 15 December 2003 (© Radio Netherlands Media Network 25 September 2003 via DXLD) ** U S A. CUBANS THANK VOA FOR EXPANDED 'VENTANA A CUBA' Washington, D.C., Sept. 26, 2003 - The Voice of America (VOA) began receiving congratulatory calls from Cuba immediately after moving Ventana a Cuba (Window on Cuba), its Spanish-language radio program, to daily broadcasts on September 15. Many callers said that word had quickly spread among Cubans about the program's new status and that people were very pleased to be able to listen every night without jamming. [see previous report!] The 30-minute radio program features news, information, and interviews with Cubans inside and outside the country on a wide variety of issues, including health, education, human rights, freedom of the press, agriculture, labor policy and international law. "Although our program has a wide audience throughout Latin America, nowhere is it more appreciated than in Cuba, where listeners yearn for reliable and accurate news and information," said VOA Director David S. Jackson. VOA expanded the broadcast from twice a week to nightly in response to letters received from Cuba citing VOA's credibility and the growing numbers of Cubans participating in VOA programs. One listener wrote, "...we have observed a firm preference for VOA among several sectors of the population - the intellectuals, professors, academicians, writers and professionals - who will support any expansion of VOA broadcasting to Cuba." Noted Cuban dissident Oswaldo Payá Sardiñas, who has participated several times, praised the program, saying "Thank you for allowing me to address my people in this, the most direct way, by means of this 'window'." Broadcasters Tony Cano and Mercedes Antezana host the show. VOA's 12 1/2 hours of weekly programming in Spanish also includes the popular 60-minute call-in program Hablemos con Washington (Talk with Washington). More than 60 percent of the mail received by VOA Spanish comes from Cuba. Ventana a Cuba is broadcast every evening from 8:00-8:30 p.m. local time in Cuba via shortwave. It is also transmitted on the VOASAT satellite system to more than one hundred affiliates throughout Latin America. Programs are also available on the Internet at http://www.VOAnews.com/spanish (VOA press Sept 26 via DXLD) If they put exiles on, Ventana may well get jammed. There is no law against that from the dentrocubano viewpoint! (gh, DXLD) ** U S A. MOROCCO, 17895, Studio 7 (VOA Service to Zimbabwe), 1730 Sept 24, fair signal, IDs and music. News about bad inflation in Zimbabwe (Hans Johnson, WY, Cumbredx mailing list via DXLD) ** U S A. NEW SURVEY NUMBERS CONFIRM RADIO SAWA'S GROWTH AND POPULARITY IN THE MIDDLE EAST Washington, D.C., September 25, 2003 - Radio Sawa, the U.S. Government-funded Arabic language station, is the leading international broadcaster in all Middle Eastern countries surveyed, according to an ACNielsen report released today. The station also scores high as a reliable source of news and is popular with all social classes, the survey said. The survey, conducted in five countries in July and August 2003, showed that Radio Sawa, launched in March 2002, has an average listenership of 31.6 percent among the general population 15 years and older. Listener rates in five countries were: Egypt 10.6 percent; Jordan, 30.4 percent; Kuwait, 39.5 percent; Qatar, 40.8 percent and United Arab Emirates (UAE), 36.6 percent. "The success of Radio Sawa reminds us that a significant number of young Arabs will listen," said Kenneth Y. Tomlinson, chairman of the Broadcasting Board of Governors (BBG), which oversees all U.S. international, nonmilitary broadcasting. "Just as people the world over, Arab citizens want accurate news and provocative current affairs programming," he said. "The truth will out." Added Norman J. Pattiz, chairman of the BBG's Middle East Committee: "Radio Sawa proves beyond a doubt that a radio station funded by the taxpayers of the United States, providing accurate, reliable and credible news and information, can attract a huge listening audience in the Middle East." Pattiz, a driving force behind the creation of Radio Sawa, said, "By using proven 21st Century Western broadcasting techniques, Sawa is the foremost example of 'marrying the mission to the market,' the primary focus of the BBG's strategic plan." The survey also showed Radio Sawa: Has achieved market dominance - an average 42 percent listenership - in the important age group between 15-29 in countries where it is broadcast on local FM stations. Egyptian listeners can only receive Radio Sawa on medium wave (AM). (Listening rates by country are: Egypt 20.5 percent; Jordan 40.5 percent; Kuwait 47.7 percent; Qatar 51.6 percent and UAE 49.8 percent.) Attracts an older audience as well as a young audience, with 22.5 percent of listenership among the general population over 30. (Egypt 2.9 percent; Jordan 19 percent; Kuwait 34.3 percent; Qatar 29.3 percent; UAE 26.8 percent.) Is popular among all social classes, with listening rates of 34.6 percent among "elite" listeners, upper social and economic classes including managers and well-educated professionals. (Listening rates are: Egypt 14 percent; Jordan 51 percent; Kuwait 25.8 percent; Qatar 39.8 percent; UAE 39.6 percent.) Is considered a reliable source of news and information by 73 percent of its weekly listeners. (Egypt 87 percent; Jordan 56 percent; Kuwait 84 percent; Qatar 75 percent; UAE 63 percent.) Radio Sawa's audience has a more positive view of the United States than the general population. When asked, "How favorably or unfavorably inclined are you personally towards the United States," 39.3 percent of Radio Sawa listeners replied, "Very or somewhat favorable." That compares with 27.3 percent of the general population. The poll has a margin of error of plus or minus 2.9 percent. ACNielsen conducted the field work for InterMedia, which serves as the BBG's general research contractor. Respondents were questioned in face-to-face interviews in Arabic. Some 5,737 people over the age of 15 participated in the survey, which was divided between men and women representative of key demographic groups in terms of social class, education, employment, size and type of household. Radio Sawa, a 24-hour, seven-days-a-week Arabic-language network, broadcasts objective, balanced, up-to-the minute news and news analysis combined with an upbeat mix of the best Western and Arabic pop music. The station also broadcasts interviews, opinion pieces, sports, and features on a wide variety of political and social issues. Radio Sawa http://www.radiosawa.com originates its programming from Washington and Dubai and is broadcast across the region, using a combination of medium wave (AM) and FM transmitters, digital audio satellite, short wave and Internet. Radio Sawa currently has five customized 24/7 programming streams (Egypt-Levant, The Gulf, Iraq, Morocco, and Jordan/West Bank). Late in 2003, Radio Sawa plans to launch a sixth stream for Sudan. The BBG is an independent federal agency which supervises all U.S. government-supported non-military international broadcasting, including the Voice of America (VOA), Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL); Radio Free Asia (RFA); Radio and TV Martí, Radio Sawa and Radio Farda. The services broadcast in 65 languages to over 100 million people around the world in 125 markets. Nine members comprise the BBG, a presidentially appointed body. Current governors are Chairman Kenneth Y. Tomlinson, Joaquin Blaya, Blanquita W. Cullum, D. Jeffrey Hirschberg, Edward E. Kaufman, Robert M. Ledbetter, Jr., Norman J. Pattiz and Steven Simmons. Secretary of State Colin L. Powell serves as an ex officio member. (From: http://www.payvand.com/news/03/sep/1162.html via Ulis R. Fleming, Cumbredx mailing list via DXLD) ** U S A. I noticed that WORLD OF RADIO on WINB, which was #1200 rather than 1199 a week delayed, UT Thu 0130-0200 on 9320 was followed Sept 25 by a commercial for radios4you.com which sells SW radios, apparently from Hallandale Beach, Broward County, FL, tho no postal address is to be found on the website. Just to be clear, SW-related commercials immediately before or after WOR on some stations have no connexion with WOR, are not endorsed by us, but acceptable. As long as WOR is not interrupted, stations have the option of selling commercial time for related products in return for donating airtime for WOR itself, but such ads have no direct financial benefit for WOR. The closest radios4you comes to connecting with WOR is a link to our SW frequency list at C. Crane: http://www.ccrane.com/shortwave_frequencies.htm If you ever hear a DWM Enterprises (Tiny Tenna) ad next to WOR, however, you can be sure that it is specifically contrary to our wishes (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. 7490/13595, WJIE still not on, no response to my query as to when they would be on. 7354 WRNO --- untraced for a number of months. 9465 WMLK --- per the station, they are still working on getting their 250 kW transmitter on the air (Hans Johnson, WY, Sept 26, Cumbre DX via DXLD) ** U S A. Hello, my name is Morgan Freeman. I worked with Doc Burkhart. He went to Florida to manage one of our AM stations. I am working on improving our quality. We are now delivering signal to the transmitter by subcarrier and we purchased a new remote control, so there should be vast improvements. Reports are wanted so we can define our coverage area, and a special QSL card is available (Morgan Freeman, WJIE, Sept 24, DX LISTENING DIGEST) WJCR is again being heard on 13595 at 1645 Sept 29, good but CODAR swishes. ID at 1700 for WJCR, mentioning both 7490 and 13595, and e- mail wjcrsw@yahoo.com No, I do not find any website like http://www.wjcrsw.com (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) I am up and on the air on 13595. Please publish this request for QSL cards. We will be using the call sign WJCR. So this will be the last time for a QSL card from these call signs. Email me morgan@wjie.org or mail at P O Box 197309, Louisville KY, 40259. I would appreciate it if you would give it a listen. It is on a north south line (Morgan Freeman, WJIE, Sept 29, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ?? I thought this was to be 55 degrees (gh) WJIE [sic] says they reactivated 13595 last Friday. Just checked and found them on at 1855 with a poor signal (Hans Johnson, WY, Sept 29, Cumbre DX via DXLD) ** U S A. CARDINAL COMMENT --- ``We`re not in the business of providing news and information. We`re not in the business of providing well-researched music. We`re simply in the business of selling our customers` products.`` --- Lowry Mays, CEO, Clear Channel Communications, which owns 1,200+ American radio stations (via Mike Dorner, Catholic Radio Update Sept 29 via DXLD) Source? See also OKLAHOMA ** U S A. Checked out the local radio scene in my old hometown, Santa Rosa NM, during my latest visit on Sept. 28. Big news is a new TIS on 1610, apparently in Santa Rosa, tho the site was not found, first noted about 5 miles west on I-40, and holding up well to about 10 miles east, and still audible at Cuervo (where the 530 TIS is long gone, tho the blue road sign for it ``Hear New Mexico -530`` is still in good condition!). There is no ID or anything to indicate where it is, just this loop by a woman, verbatim: ``The New Mexico Department of Transportation District Four`s award- wining team wish you and your family a safe journey to your final destination. Thank you for visiting the Land of Enchantment. Always remember to buckle up and arrive alive; don`t drink and drive.`` Technical quality was good, as befits a new installation, unlike the old 530 network, which was allowed to deteriorate. Surely NM DOT has bigger plans for these things. As I recall, they also have an LPFM network coming. Santa Rosa`s only local AM, KSSR 1340, however, was missing. I dropped in at the site on the east side, and was told a storm may have knocked them off temporarily; FM on 95.9 was operating normally. The operator said the two normally carry separate programming, and the calls are still KSSR on AM and KRSR on FM, altho FM Atlas XIX claims 95.9 is KIVA --- a popular call which has bounced around New Mexico over the years, including a station in Albuquerque for a while. Furthermore, FMA shows 91.9 in Santa Rosa as KNLK, rather than a translator for KANW-89.1 Albuquerque. But the only ID heard at hourtop was for KANW and the very limited range indicate it is still a low-power translator, tho even the listing for KNLK is only 100 watts at -8 meters AAT. BTW, KANW had Whaddya Know (I think) instead of Schickele Mix at noon MT Sunday, tho the latter is still on the grid at http://www.kanw.com and 91.9 Santa Rosa translator is still listed as K220BH. FMA shows two LPFM in Santa Rosa on 103.1 and 106.1, but these were not (yet?) on. The new translator for KLSK-98.1 on 107.1 was confirmed, tho weak. Did not check 107.9, which is in the state listings I checked later, because it is not on the map. KHFM 95.5 translator at Conchas Dam on 105.5 audible on I-40 around Newkirk, classical (Glenn Hauser, NM, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. Philadelphia IBOC: WXTU 92.5 appears to be running the IBOC setup already. So much for doing 'control recordings' before! 92.3 and 92.7 are just white noise at almost half-scale, and I'm aimed about 210 degrees, which is about 45 off WXTU. 92.9 and 92.1 are not affected at this point, although the antenna currently favors WDSD- 92.9. The primary signal on 92.5 is louder, and, subjectively, appears 'better'. Serious distortion kicks in at around 92.55 and 92.45, fading to white noise at 92.67 and 92.34. There are still artifacts at 92.75 and 92.25. Conditions aren't great but there is tropo toward the South and Southeast. I would expect that any sort of decent Es would cut through on the first adjacents with a little help from the antenna direction. It would take stronger tropo signals than I usually see here to get through. Thus, anyone near to any major concentration of stations (as I am) could be in trouble for DX if/when this thing takes hold. I've got more than 20 stations within 10 miles of my location excluding translators and low powers, which could effectively cover 60 channels with either super-strong primary signals or white noise. I'll have to turn the antenna tomorrow and see what happens when I point it NE, where I can peak the first adjacents (Russ Edmunds, Blue Bell, PA (15 mi NNW Philadelphia), Sept 26, NRC FM-TV via DXLD) Later: The white IBOC noise on 92.3 and 92.7 from WXTU changes only minimally with movement of the antenna. Even pointing right at NYC, no sign of WXRK on 92.3; same for WOBM on 92.7. One change with the antenna movement is that there is now a mixture of audio (WXTU's) and noise on both 92.25 and 92.75, whereas last night, aimed about 30 degrees off of WXTU that was all white noise. I've just completed recording some of this. I did double-check and WXTU's transmitter is indeed only 8 miles from me -- it isn't where I'd thought it was (Russ Edmunds, Blue Bell, PA, Sept 27, ibid.) ** U S A. WSAI IBOC follow-up: Glenn, closing the loop in on my reports of IBOC-like noise on 1530, I received a letter from Andrew Costa at WSAI. He speculates that another station on 1520 or 1540 might have been running IBOC, causing the interference. There is no further discussion as to a possible cause. I have not noted any similar noise on 1530 since Sep 6, so can't offer anything else to clarify the mystery (Gerry Bishop, Niceville FL, Sept 23, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. 1650, ``Phat Rock``, Las Vegas NV: My favorite local pirate is still going strong here 14/7 with techno/industrial music and very tight, professional production. It`s in the northwest side of the city and well heard along Highway 95 between the Summerlin parkway and Ann Road exits. Claims to be a 100 mW Part 15 operation. Yeah, right!! (Harry Helms, new editor of Domestic DX Digest, NRC DX News Sept 29 via DXLD) ** U S A. THROWBACK IS COMIN' BACK --- Pirate radio, a Holiday Inn that isn't, lots of cops, and cagey promoters --- BY NICK WEIDENFELD Due to the pirate nature of his radio show, DJ Showtime does a little bunny-hopping around the FCC. So last Sunday, he's on 89.7 FM. On Monday, he's nowhere to be found. Tuesday, around lunchtime, he's bounced over to 89.1 FM and is playing the latest Trina single. She's rapping about ladies getting their own. . . http://newtimesbpb.com/issues/2003-09-25/news2.html/1/index.html A story about tie-ins between south Florida pirate radio and party promoters. Warning: Rough language at times. 73- (Bill Westenhaver, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. A bit of corrected history relating to KFI-TV Just an FYI, the following DX quote from your 4/20/03 edition, [3-070, quoting WTFDA posts] recently called to my attention, contains incorrect information: In any case, CBS decided not to wait any longer as prices for VHF stations rose, so in 1950 it pulled out of its partnership with the LA Times in KTTV (Channel 11) and bought KTSL from Lee. Lee then turned around, took advantage of a moment of financial weakness for his car-dealer rival Earle C. Anthony, and bought KFI-TV 9 from him, turning it into KHJ-TV. In fact Thomas S Lee had died and it was his estate that sold KTSL to CBS. It also sold radio station KHJ and the Don Lee network to General Teleradio, a subsidiary of the General Tire Corp. Teleradio also owned the Yankee Network in New England and WOR New York, which like Lee were partial owners of the Mutual Broadcasting System. Acquisition of the Lee interests gave General control of Mutual. It was General Teleradio, not Lee, which purchased KFI-TV from Anthony in 1951 (not 1950) and renamed it KHJ-TV. The Anthony/Lee relationship had always been a friendly rivalry. Neither ever "took advantage" of the other. Thomas Lee's father, Don Lee, who died in 1934, was set up in the auto business by Anthony in 1906. This occurred when General Motors founder William Durant ordered Anthony to choose between his GM-affiliated Buick dealership and other auto interests (Anthony was handling nine makes in Los Angeles at the time). Lee later swapped the Buick franchise for Cadillac (owned by another Anthony protégé, Charles Howard of Seabiscuit fame) in 1909. The three men were partners in the National Supply Company, whose service stations controlled 25% of the gasoline market in Los Angeles County at the time of its sale to Standard Oil of Calif in 1913 (along with its Chevron trademark). Don Lee's following of Anthony into the broadcast field in the twenties was quite friendly - the two auto magnates helping to jointly mold much of early broadcast history, notably their public refusal to carry hard liquor ads on radio after the repeal of prohibition. The sale of the TV station was not a "moment of financial weakness" but a strategic decision for the aging Anthony. The station was not going to be an NBC affiliate as originally envisioned, had consistently lost money (KFI Radio fortunately was well able to cover them), was faced with major upgrade costs for color television and the TV station had been strike-bound in a union jurisdictional dispute that had nothing to do with wages. With the movie industry not yet ready to share old movies for rebroadcast, there was a dearth of primetime programming for non-network stations. Anthony was simply fed up and unwilling to cave to a New York based union who did not give him the respect that he had always enjoyed from the local LA radio unions. General Teleradio, which already had a contract with the union on its New York operations, offered Anthony a premium price and simply he took it. General shortly after acquired the RKO studios, selling the studio lot to Desilu and using the film library to launch the nightly "Million Dollar Movie" series that made industry history and led to other studios following suit. According to a later general manager of KFI radio, George Hamilton, Anthony did later regret having sold the television station. General Tire years later became involved in international bribery scandals that led to loss of its broadcast license, but that's another story. You can read confirmation of the facts above in numerous places, among them the following http://www.metnews.com/articles/reminiscing112702.htm (Art Landing, Biographer of Earle C Anthony, Sept 24, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. BIG BATTLE AHEAD: BRUDNOY FIGHTS RARE CANCER by Dean Johnson, Wednesday, September 24, 2003 Veteran Boston radio talk show host David Brudnoy has been diagnosed with a rare cancer and has about a 50 percent chance of beating it, he said yesterday. ``It was a jolt out of the blue,'' Brudnoy, 63, said about learning he is afflicted with Merkel cell carcinoma nearly two weeks ago. ``I thought I had a pimple on my forehead and a cyst on my cheek, no big deal,'' he said. ``So I went to the doctor and was told, `This has to be dealt with right now . . . this is a big, big cancer up there.' '' Brudnoy also discussed his new health crisis last night during the final half-hour of his 7-10 p.m. WBZ-AM (1030) talk show. He took no phone calls after his announcement and said that he will no longer discuss his condition on the air with the possible exception of brief monthly updates. . . http://www2.bostonherald.com/news/local_regional/brud09242003.htm (via Bill Westenhaver, QC, DXLD) Another story on Brudnoy: http://www.boston.com:80/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2003/09/24/ radio_talk_show_host_diagnosed_with_rare_skin_cancer (via Bill Westenhaver, QC, DXLD) ** U S A. W5BQU, BYRL H BURDICK, SR, PO BOX 10219, EL PASO TX 79995 My friends call me "Tex." I am 103 years old and have been told that I am the oldest amateur operator in the US. Licensed since October 1930, I am on the air daily. Lately, I have been on 15 meters at 21.314 MHz. plus or minus. Tune around and give me a call. 73, Tex Callsign: W5BQU Class: General Codes: HAI USA Name: BYRL H BURDICK, SR Addr1: PO BOX 10219 Addr2: EL PASO, TX 79995 Country: USA Effective: 10 Dec 1997 Expires: 02 Oct 2005 QSL Mgr: My honey, Juanita. Coordinates: 31 46' 0'' N, 106 25' 28'' W Coordinates: 31.7669 -106.4245 County: El Paso Grid: DM61ss Area Code: 915 Birthday: 25 Sep 1900 QRZ Updated: 2003-04-14 20:38:50 He was on 15 SSB this afternoon !!!!! (Bill Smith, W5USM, Sept 25, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** URUGUAY. CHURCH REPORTED BUYING CX12 RADIO ORIENTAL Montevideo, Saturday morning, Sept 27 (CRU) --- The Catholic Church in Uruguay is buying CX12 Radio Oriental 770 AM in Montevideo, one of the country`s most distinguished and powerful radio stations, with a loan from the Italian Church, Catholic Radio Update/Radio Católica al Día reader and correspondent Horacio Colacce reported today from Paysandú. Involved in the purchase is the inactive shortwave station CXA7 on 11,735 kHz. The Church would begin its broadcasts on December 8th if the purchase is successful. According to Señor Colacce, ``Radio Oriental belongs to the Montecarlo Group (radio, television, cable, etc.) and for a number of years is one of the most powerful and important stations, dedicated to sports broadcasts, principally football.`` CX12 runs 100,000 watts and CXA7 runs 2,500 watts. Shortwave radio is quite active in this South American country of 3.3 million people, of whom 76.5% are Catholic. Recently Radio Americas, a powerful shortwave station and AM station operated by Protestants began operations in Uruguay, a small country of about 68,000 square miles on the central Atlantic Coast. It is not clear whether the Archdiocese of Montevideo is buying the station for itself or the Episcopal Conference of Uruguay is buying the station and will operate it as a national Catholic station. Given the power and frequency, not to mention the shortwave station, CX12 Radio Oriental covers this nation of well-watered plains and rolling hills. Montevideo has about 1.5 million people and is the national capital. Argentina and Buenos Aires lie across the wide Río Plata, and Montevidean stations have wide listenership in the Trans-Platan area of Argentina, including Buenos Aires. The event was reported by Montevidean newspapers on September 4, principally El Observador. An archdiocesan spokesman simply said that negotiations were in progress, that nothing had been finalized. Neither the archdiocesan website http://www.arquidiocesis.net nor the Conference Episcopal de Uruguay (CEU) website http://www.iglesiauruguaya.com mention the pending purchase. Uruguay has only two Catholic stations at present, CXD277 Radio Encuentro 103.3 FM in the suffragan Rio Platense diocese of San José de Mayo, and the 100-watt CV152 Radio Paz 1520 AM in Guichon deep in the interior. Uruguay is said to be a highly secularized country with a church attendance low by South American standards. RADIO ORIENTAL SALE: WHOSE WILL IT BE? Montevideo, Sep 4 (Montevideo.com.uy) --- The Catholic Church clarified today that the purchase of Radio Oriental is not official although it confessed that negotiations are underway with the firm. The information, published today by El Observador, indicates that the Church acquired CX12 and in short time will be in charge of the programming, and the sale will include moving the station`s offices and studios to the archdiocesan building. Other versions indicate that the present programming would continue, directed by Omar Gutiérrez and the sports team. At these hours, the popular host Abel Duarte informed his listeners that he has no official information about the matter, and that that would be the responsibility of the Romay brothers, present owners of the station. For their part, spokesman for the Church told CX14 Radio El Espectador 810 AM that the purchase has not been made official, but corroborated ongoing negotiations (Catholic Radio Update Sept 29 via DXLD) ** VENEZUELA. Hola Glenn, Saludos desde Catia La Mar, VENEZUELA. Radio Táchira ha estado por varias semanas fuera del aire. Antes de su reciente reactivación, el pasado 20/09, Radio Táchira salía del aire a la 0130 UT, aproximadamente y daba paso a Radio Litoral. Luego de la reactivación, la estación ahora cierra a las 0404 (21/09, 22/09) y da sus indicativos (YVOA 1000 kHz), (YV0B 4830 kHz). Me sorprendió una identificación en inglés con una voz femenina, donde se ofrecía el número de teléfono de la emisora. Se escucha muy bien. SINPO variable 5-4. Saludos, Adán González, Catia La Mar, VENEZUELA, Sept 23, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** VENEZUELA. NUEVA Radio MIlitar Venezolana! --- Hola Glenn: Cordiales saludos desde la ciudad de Cumaná en Venezuela. Por medio del presente mensaje hago de tu conocimiento información publicada en el diario "El Nacional", cuyo título es: "RADIO MILITAR DE VENEZUELA ESTÁ EN PERÍODO DE PRUEBAS". En resumen el artículo señala que: ... la emisora saldrá al aire inicialmente por Internet, y pretende constituirse en el canal de informaciones "institucionales" generadas en toda la Fuerza Armada Nacional. El artículo lo firma el periodista Javier Ignacio Mayorca y tiene fecha del dia martes 23 de septiembre de 2003. Por ahora me despido hasta un próximo QSO. Solidariamente, (Julio Trenard, Apartado Postal 41 Cumaná 6101, Venezuela Visita mi página web: http://usuarios.lycos.es/trenard Sept 25, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Y luego en el aire? OM? OT? OC? FM? ** VIETNAM. New schedule for Voice of Vietnam domestic services with extended evening hours for VOV-1 and 2: VOV-1 2155-1700 on 5975, 7210, 9530 kHz + MW VOV-2 0150v-1000 on 9875 kHz VOV-2 2155-1700 on 5925 kHz + MW [means VOV-3??] VOV-4 (minority languages) 2200-1600 on 819, 6020 kHz in various languages 2200- and other times in Khmer on new 747v and old 873 kHz 747v kHz appears to be // 873 kHz in Khmer and Vietnamese 2200-1700. 747 kHz used to be listed for Ho Chi Minh City, so maybe this transmitter has been reactivated. The following are in Hmong and one other unID language: 2200-2300 on 5035v, 6165 kHz 2330-2400 on 5055v, 6165 kHz 0430-0600 on 9650, 9850 kHz 1130-1330 on 5035v, 6165 kHz (Alan Davies, Bali, Sept 24, corrected Sept 25, Cumbre DX via DXLD) ** VIETNAM. 6492, Cao Bang Broadcasting Station (Presumed) finally some decent audio after weeks of trying. 1313 Sept 27 with talk in Vietnamese, horrible audio and buzzing in transmitter (Hans Johnson, WY, Cumbredx mailing list via DXLD) ** VIETNAM [non]. CLANDESTINE - 7380, Degar Voice, 1259-1331 Sept 24. OC to 1300, then opening instrumental music. At 1302, M announcer mentioning, in English, "Montagnard Foundation Incorporation" a couple of times. Couldn't tell if the entire opening announcement was in English or just those words. Thought I heard "Degar Voice" in English, also. Then M went into language with long talk to 1326; transmission ended with same instrumental music until 1329, carrier off 1331. Fair/good signal with almost unnoticeable siren jammer in background and occasional ute chatter (John Wilkins, Wheat Ridge CO, Drake R-8, 100-foot RW, Cumbre DX via DXLD) ** WESTERN SAHARA [non}. CLANDESTINE from ALGERIA to MOROCCO, 7460.3, Polisario Front, Rabuni site, well audible today 23 Sept 2102 and still on at nearly 2145; their static-plagued signal was 35432 at the beginning whereas much improved around 2125, when I supposed it would be blocked by RAI like yesterday 22nd, but no, Rabuni is still alone on the QRG. Shortly after 2100, I'd say lang. was Berber (I believe they still use it at times, like Castilian too), with a few talks, traditional tunes+songs, then Arabic and modern songs being played right now (Carlos Gonçalves, Portugal, BC-DX Sept 23 via Cumbre DX via DXLD) UNIDENTIFIED. Dear Glenn, another riddle, if you don`t mind --- 3910-3912 kHz, 13 Sept, between 1814-1845 UT (and on), me and others at a DX camp on the German-Dutch border were receiving a barely audible signal with a very emotional sporting event (football?) commentary in Spanish. Too weak for ID; is there any Latin American station on this frequency range? Many thanks, (Robertas Pogorelis, based in Leuven, Belgium, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Surely Latin America would not propagate to Europe at that hour. Have you checked out possible MW harmonics from Spain? (gh) No, in fact, I haven't. Would imagine this could have been either from 783 (slightly below) or 558 (slightly above). Would be interesting to identify if it was still there. Many thanks, (Robertas Pogorelis, ibid.) UNIDENTIFIED. 4960 kHz, from 1000 UT, with a strange mix of Latin music, with much drums and bass; YL briefly at 1003, but could not identify language. Then non-stop music with no announcers, some with a hint of Andean flutes, much of it EZL light pop and love ballads. Peaked about 1015 UT, very weak by 1037 UT (Roger Chambers, Utica, NY, Sept 25, Drake SW 8 with whip antenna, DX LISTENING DIGEST) UNIDENTIFIED. 5833.8, 1030-1110 (Bob Wilkner, Pómpano Beach FL, Sept 24, NRD-535, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Latin American? Asian? Details? 5833.78 [v.97] 0950-1032 OM and YL, percussion music, slow transmitter drift upward (Robert Wilkner, FL, Sept 27, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Amigos DXistas! 5833v unID LA (Cuba?) harmonic(?) 29 September 1050 UT --- DXers in U.S.A. have an unID LA-station on 5833v kHz, probably an harmonic. This morning 1050 to 1150 UT I listened to a Spanish speaking station with very weak signal moving slowly from 5833.91 up to 5834.40 kHz when it faded out. Best signal around local sunset here in Quito 1115 UT. I don´t know the QTH but the type of programming and type of Spanish very much seems to be Cuba but it´s only a guess. 73s de (Björn Malm, Quito, Ecuador - SWB América Latina. Sept 29, DX LISTENING DIGEST) UNIDENTIFIED. 6069.97, Sep 22, 0850-0922, Spanish or Portuguese preacher under Voz Cristiana on 6070.06. Also het from 6069.15. Gone by 0940 (Mark Mohrmann, Coventry, VT, NRD 535D, V-Beam 140m @180 deg., DX LISTENING DIGEST) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ COMMENTARY ++++++++++ HAMS & SWLING In DXLD 3-170, you wrote "ARRL does nothing to counter the ham mindset that SWLing is grossly inferior to hamming. At best, SWLing is merely a stepping-stone to becoming a real ham." I have to disagree with you there. That may have been the case years ago, but not now. For example, the last two editions of the ARRL Operating Manual have included a chapter on SWLing and communications monitoring and the October 2003 issue of "QST" has an article on DRM and a schematic for a 455 kHz IF to 12 kHz sound card "downconverter." And recent reviews of HF transceivers with general coverage receive capability routinely make note of their HF receiving performance. If there is any such thing as a "ham mindset" on SWLing, it is found somewhere between total ignorance and utter apathy (Harry L. Helms, W7HLH, Las Vegas, NV DM26 DX LISTENING DIGEST) THIS DAY`S ENGLISH LESSON +++++++++++++++++++++++++ Glenn, Regarding ```I don`t understand your, and others` use of ``resp.`` (gh)``` The obvious origin is the German word "bzw." or beziehungsweise. In some cases it corresponds to English "respectively", but in most cases it doesn't. It is much of a "joker" or "fill in your own words" expression, and as such is very popular among German writers because it relieves the writer of the arduous task of being specific :-) Due to its very nature, the word beziehungsweise is a headache to translators. There are two standard translations: "respectively" or "or", in some cases "and/or". While "respectively" in most cases is totally wrong, the other two may be useful in many cases. A third, very common meaning of the word is "or rather", "that is to say", "more specifically", but German translators seem to be unaware of that approach and stay with "respectively". 73 (Olle Alm, Sweden, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Efectivamente INTRUDER WATCH ++++++++++++++ International Amateur Radio Union Region 2 MONITORING SYSTEM NEWSLETTER http://www.storm.ca/~iarumsr2 September 2003 INTRODUCTION This Newsletter contains news about interference from non-Amateur station ("intruder") heard in the Amateur bands in IARU Region 2 during the month of August, as well as selected news about similar interference in IARU Regions 1 and 3. Notes about interference in bands which are shared with other services are for information only. If you have any comments or questions about these news items, please contact your national Amateur Radio society or the IARU Region 2 Monitoring System Coordinator. NOTABLE INTRUDERS HEARD IN REGION 2 The following intruders were notable in Region 2 during August : 3854 kHz A1A Apparent unidentified beacon "ZQ52". 14000 J3E,U Pirate operators, English with Caribbean accent, Spanish, and unidentified. 14100 J3E,U/L Pirate operators, probably from Indonesia. 24945 A3E Taxi cabs in or near Buenos Aires, Argentina. An unidentified beacon-like signal is being heard in Trinidad and Tobago on about 3854 kHz. The signal sends "ZQ52" in Morse several times, then pauses for several minutes, then repeats the whole transmission. The signal is being heard during a daily net on 3855 kHz at 1030 and 2230 UT. While it is possible that the signal is the 2nd harmonic of a fish net beacon in the 160 m band (1927 kHz?), this has not been proven yet and further observations are required. Pirate radio operators are being heard on 13999.9 and 14000.0 kHz USB in English (with strong Caribbean accents), in Spanish, and in an unidentified language. One of the operators heard regularly in this group has a habit of saying "Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah" with descending voice. (See the Highlights from Region 1 for additional news about the use of 14000 kHz.) Other pirate radio operators are heard regularly on 14100 kHz, some using USB, some LSB, in a distinctive language which is probably Indonesian according to information from Region 3. These unlicensed operators chat, sing, and chant in a most uncoördinated way, with many stations on top of one another, and make it difficult or impossible for Amateurs to hear the NCDXF/IARU beacons from the Far East. The same language and radio manners are heard on other frequencies in the 20 m band, but the use of 14100 kHz is most notable because of the interference to the international beacon network. Chuck Skolaut, KØBOG, MS Coordinator for ARRL (USA), informs us that they have complained to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) about this interference and the FCC has relayed their complaint to the Indonesian authorities. One can only hope for early action by the Indonesians. Another group of unlicensed radio operators, this one driving taxi cabs in or near Buenos Aires, Argentina, has been using 24945 kHz in AM mode (A3E) for many months in support of their business operations. The 12 metre Amateur band (24890-24990 kHz) is allocated exclusively to the Amateur and Amateur-Satellite Services in all three ITU Regions. HIGHLIGHTS FROM REGION 1 In Region 1, Uli Bihlmayer, DJ9KR, MS Coordinator for the Deutscher Amateur Radio Club (DARC, Germany), has assessed the following intruders as the most persistent for the month of August : 7039 kHz Single letter beacons "C" (Moscow) and "D" (Odessa). 7076 50 baud printer "System BEE36/50". 14026 12 channel MFSK "System ALE/MIL-188", mode F7B. 14096 12 channel multiplex MFSK, mode J7D. 14116 12 channel multiplex MFSK, mode J7D. 14241 12 channel multiplex MFSK, mode J7D. Successful action! - The South Korean fishing vessel Chinchu has been heard using 14047.8 kHz USB while sailing off the coast of West Africa, out of their registered port of Abidjan, Ivory Coast. Coördinator Uli heard the ship and contacted the operator, asking for their identity. Uli then explained politely that they were operating in an Amateur band. The ship's operator said they had been using this frequency every Friday and promised that they would not use it anymore. The ship has not been heard since. [Uli's initiative shows what can be accomplished through simple, direct, and friendly action by confronting intruders who have strayed into our bands. Bravo, Uli! - VE3OAT] [But, but, it`s illegal to contact them! --- gh] The logs received by DARC Coordinator Uli include several items about the Indonesian pirate radio operators using the NCDXF/IARU beacon frequency 14100 kHz. These pirates use several other frequencies in the 17 and 20 m bands as well and seem to be heard around the world. Other logs received by Uli record the use of 14000 kHz by pirates speaking Portuguese, English, Spanish, and Arabic. A group of these operators located in Brasil uses this frequency most usually between 1900 and 2200 UT. HIGHLIGHTS FROM REGION 3 "Arasu", VU2UR, IARU MS Coordinator for Region 3, sends this summary of the intruder situation in Region 3 during the month of July : "The practice of not suppressing harmonics and spurious emissions is continuing in Region 3, in the broadcasting services from Radio Pyongyang, DPR Korea. This has given the Radio Amateurs in the Far East lots of problems as the regular harmonics/spurious emissions have occupied several useful frequencies in the 20, 15, and 10 metre bands of Amateur Radio. Apart from this, the regular use of the Amateur frequency of 3560 kHz for various domestic and international broadcasting have been logged by JARL (Japan Amateur Radio League) on all the days in the time slot 1000 to 1630 UT and by NZART (New Zealand Amateur Radio Transmitters) from 0900 to 2100 UT. "Data stations using F7B, G7B, and M7B modes with 8/12 channels have become a common feature. The pulse radar CODAR is as active as ever, covering the frequency slot 24950 to 24995 kHz in the 12 metre band. Occasionally, a few maritime stations show up handling traffic to other ships in our frequencies. "The worst of all are the Indonesian Pirates who are very active in 7, 10, 14, and 18 MHz Amateur bands. The Sri Lankan fishing trawlers are regularly monitored using several frequencies in 7, 10, 14, and 18 MHz and were recently observed to be using 21 MHz Amateur frequency also. These two types of users know only their mother tongue and no other language, except that of QRM Language, as told by Amateurs quite often. "How long does this piracy of Amateur frequencies continue? The authorized users within the limits of their licences are less heard in DX lands than these pirates. The "might" of buying Amateur Radio equipment appears to have given them the "right" to use all the frequencies, as they like. "It is time that all the Authorities concerned with this, directly or indirectly, take a serious note of the chaos in the Amateur bands and evolve suitable measures to control, check and clear these unauthorized users of our hard-earned frequencies." In addition, logs received by Arasu from NZART (New Zealand) indicate daily reception there of the 3rd harmonic from Cuba of a multitone signal centered on 18090 kHz during the hours 0400-0700 UT. [jammer] ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS This Newsletter was produced from information provided by the following organizations and individuals. Their contributions are gratefully acknowledged. Any errors or omissions are entirely the responsibility of the Region 2 MS Coordinator. ARRL (USA) and Coordinator, KØBOG KH6B (IARU) LU5DG (IARU) RAC (Canada) and Coordinator, VE6JY TTARS (Trinidad & Tobago), 9Z4CP IARU MS International Coordinator, ZL1BAD IARU MS Region 1 Coordinator, OD5TE IARU MS Region 3 Coordinator, VU2UR DARC (Germany) MS Coordinator, DJ9KR - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - This Newsletter is published for and distributed to the IARU Region 2 Executive Committee, Region 2 member societies and associated individuals by the IARU Region 2 Monitoring System Coordinator, for their use and information. Permission to use information from this Newsletter in other Amateur Radio publications is hereby granted, provided that proper credit is given. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Prepared by : Martin H. Potter, VE3OAT Co-ordinator of the IARU Region 2 Monitoring System P. O. Box 84, Greely, Ontario K4P 1N4, Canada E-mail : iarumsr2@storm.ca (via Wolfgang Büschel, DXLD) RECEIVER NEWS +++++++++++++ FCC RULES IN FAVOR OF ANTENNAS Today the FCC states that even an HOA can't stop you from installing a TV antenna outdoors. http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/DA-03-2971A1.doc (via Kevin Redding, AZ, Sept 29, NRC-FM TV via DXLD) HOA = covenant? KENWOOD SHIPS FIRST COMMERCIAL PRODUCTION HD RADIO(TM) TUNERS; INTRODUCTION PAVES WAY FOR WIDESPREAD CONSUMER AVAILABILITY AT CES Press Release Source: iBiquity Digital Corporation Thursday September 25, 12:34 pm ET COLUMBIA, Md. and LONG BEACH, Calif., Sept. 25 /PRNewswire/ -- iBiquity Digital Corporation, the sole developer of HD Radio(TM) [sic] technology, announced today that Kenwood Corporation has delivered the first commercial production run of 1,000 KTC-HR100 HD Radio Tuners. IBiquity will be taking tuner pre- orders from broadcasters next week at the 2003 NAB Radio Show. The Kenwood KTC-HR100 Tuners will be used by stations for internal listening and consumer awareness promotions. Additionally, iBiquity will make a select number of HD Radio Tuners available to media for reviewer demonstrations. Shipment from iBiquity of the KTC-HR100 Tuners will coincide with an upgrade in October to the HD Radio software with the new HDC codec. Retail availability of the KTC- HR100 Tuner is anticipated at the International Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in January. "Kenwood was the first consumer electronics manufacturer to enter into a development agreement for the HD Radio technology over four years ago," said Robert Struble, president and CEO, iBiquity Digital Corporation. "Kenwood's continued support these past years has been unwavering, and we are extremely pleased to announce a pre-order program for the KTC-HR100 HD Radio Tuners for broadcasters with expected shipments from iBiquity beginning in October." Bob Law, Sr. Vice President, Kenwood USA, stated, "`First to develop, first to deliver' has been a strategy of Kenwood for HD Radio technology these past four years. We are pleased to provide the first production run of the KTC-HR100 HD Radio Tuners. This is truly an historic day for radio broadcasting and the consumer electronics industry as a whole." "The dedication of our engineering and production organizations at Kenwood has made the KTC-HR100 HD Radio Tuner delivery a success story," said Shoichi Suzuki, Senior Manager, Digital Broadcast System Engineering, Car Electronics Division, Kenwood Corporation. "A primary goal of our company was to be the first to bring this new technology to market, and we have now accomplished this goal. We look forward to continued development and production efforts for next generation HD Radio products." iBiquity Digital's HD Radio technology transforms today's radio experience by allowing AM/FM broadcasters to seamlessly transmit digital signals with superior audio and new data services alongside today's analog-based broadcasts. HD Radio technology will also allow for the development of additional on-demand interactive audio and wireless data services. About Kenwood Corporation (Japan) From mobile navigation systems to DVD, Tokyo-based Kenwood Corporation products span the spectrum of electronics technology. Formed as the Kasuga Radio Company in 1946, Kenwood has been a leader in developing advanced technologies for mobile and home entertainment products, test and measuring instruments, and mobile and amateur radio communications equipment. Distributed in over 120 countries worldwide, Kenwood was Japan's first company to build an FM tuner and the first to develop commercially available SIRIUS satellite radio and HD Radio tuners for the US market. Kenwood continues to develop advanced digital and networking technologies for the coming multimedia age. Since 1961, the company has sold a variety of Kenwood-branded home and car audio products, including receivers, speakers, amplifiers, cassette decks, DVD, CD, navigation, and hard drive music servers in the United States. Kenwood USA Corporation, based in Long Beach, Calif., is the largest subsidiary of Kenwood Corporation (Japan). [Kenwood has never seemed like a Japanese name to me; I wonder why? gh] About Kenwood USA http://www.kenwoodusa.com Founded in 1961, Kenwood USA Corporation is a leading developer and manufacturer of audio and video products for home, car, and personal use. Offering more than 250 products, Kenwood is one of the three largest selling brands of audio and video entertainment products in the United States and is recognized by consumers and the consumer electronics industry for providing superior quality, reliability and value. Kenwood USA Corporation, based in Long Beach, Calif., is the largest subsidiary of Kenwood Corporation (Japan). Further information can be obtained by contacting Kenwood USA Corporation, P.O. Box 22745, Long Beach, CA 90801, by calling 1-800-Kenwood, or by visiting http://www.kenwoodusa.com About iBiquity Digital http://www.ibiquity.com iBiquity Digital is the sole developer and licenser of HD Radio technology in the U.S., which will transform today's analog radio to digital, enabling radically upgraded sound and new wireless data services. The company's investors include 15 of the nation's top radio broadcasters, including ABC, Clear Channel and Viacom; leading financial institutions, such as J.P. Morgan Partners, Pequot Capital and J&W Seligman; and strategic partners Ford Motor Company, Harris, Texas Instruments and Visteon. iBiquity Digital is a privately held company with operations in Columbia, MD, Detroit, MI, Redwood City, CA and Warren, NJ. For more information please visit: http://www.ibiquity.com (from http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/030925/phth030_1.html via Kim Elliott, Sept 26, DXLD) POWERLINE COMMUNICATIONS ++++++++++++++++++++++++ BPL IN JAPAN Here is a link to BPL issues as they seem to be in Japan. http://homepage3.nifty.com/jh5esm/ Mind you, this is only ONE link and any technical information really should be subject to verification. 73, (Mark N3IRJ Clark, swl at qth.net via DXLD) FCCOMMISSIONER WILD ABOUT BPL Addressing the United Powerline Council's annual conference September 22 in Arlington, Virginia, FCC Commissioner Kathleen Q. Abernathy expressed unabashed enthusiasm for BPL and recommended a combination of regulatory restraint and the elimination or substantial modification of existing rules as steps along the "path to Enlightenment." Here is the complete text, form the FCC Digest of 22SE03: REACHING BROADBAND NIRVANA United PowerLine Council Annual Conference Remarks of Commissioner Kathleen Q. Abernathy September 22, 2003 (As prepared for delivery) Thank you very much for inviting me to speak with you. I am very excited about broadband-over-powerline technology. I have seen it in action, and I believe it has a very bright future. It is a real honor to be your keynote speaker at this important juncture for BPL. As a regulator, I am keenly interested in BPL technology for a number of reasons. One of my central objectives as an FCC commissioner is to facilitate the deployment of broadband services to all Americans. I also fundamentally believe that the FCC can best promote consumer welfare by relying on market forces, rather than heavy-handed regulation. The development of BPL networks will serve both of these key goals. It will not only bring broadband to previously unserved communities, but the introduction of a new broadband pipeline into the home will foster the kind of competitive marketplace that will eventually enable the Commission to let go of the regulatory reins. I want consumers to have a choice of multiple, facilities-based providers, including not only cable and DSL, but also powerline, wireless, and satellite services. Such a robustly competitive and diversified marketplace is something I would call broadband Nirvana. We will not get there overnight, but the continuing development of BPL technology is a major step forward. While the long-term objective is a robustly competitive marketplace that is free of regulatory distortions, a more immediate question is: What should the FCC do to help foster such an environment? Sticking with my Nirvana metaphor, I guess the question would be, what is the path to enlightenment? I believe the answer, in short, is regulatory restraint. It is tempting for regulators to take every new technology or service that comes along and apply the same rules that govern incumbent services. After all, regulatory parity and a level playing field are intuitively appealing concepts. But I believe that it would be a huge mistake to carry forward legacy regulations whenever new technology platforms are established. Many of our regulations are premised on the absence of competition, and when that rationale is eroded, we must not reflexively hold on to regulations that no longer serve their intended purpose. In fact, many of our old rules not only become unnecessary as markets evolve, but they can be fatal to new services that need room to breathe. The Nascent Services Doctrine applying more stringent regulations to wireline providers at a minimum must be reconsidered. As other platforms, including BPL and wireless, become more widely available, that will further undermine the justification for regulating incumbent LECs broadband services as if they were the only available offerings. When the Commission completes this rulemaking, I expect that we will eliminate many existing rules and substantially modify others; the central question is the degree of regulation that will remain during the transition to a more robustly competitive market. Finally, it is important to recognize that although the emergence of new platforms like BPL will eliminate the need for many competition- related regulations, other types of regulation may well remain necessary. For example, the FCC must implement public policy goals unrelated to competition, or even at odds with competition. Universal service and access for persons with disabilities are examples of this kind of regulation. These public policy goals generally should be applied to all service providers, to the extent permitted by the Communications Act. The FCC also must intervene to prevent competitors from imposing externalities on one another and to protect consumers where market failures are identified. Although, as I have noted, the Commission was right to refrain from imposing heavy-handed price and service-quality regulations on PCS services when the were introduced, it was also right to adopt strict interference rules to prevent competitors from externalizing their costs. The same principle will apply to BPL. They key point is that, while some degree of regulation is both inevitable and desirable, we should ensure that it is narrowly tailored to the particular governmental interests at stake. I appreciate the opportunity to share these thoughts with you, and I would be happy to answer a few questions if we have time. YOU MAY E- MAIL MISS ABERNATHY AT kabernat@fcc.gov (via Bill Smith, W5USM, Sept 26, and John Norfolk, DXLD) In spite of the numerous comments against BPL (transmitting wideband internet data over power lines, which will destroy the HF radio spectrum), the FCC seems disposed to encourage it anyway. evil! evil! just look up BPL on the web. The noise from the radiated signals trashed the ham bands thoroughly (Source unclear, rec.radio.shortwave via John Norfolk, DXLD) ARRL REBUKES FCC COMMISSIONER`S BPL-RELATED ``BROADBAND NIRVANA`` REMARKS NEWINGTON, CT, Sep 25, 2003--The ARRL has strongly objected to FCC Commissioner Kathleen Q. Abernathy`s suggestion that Broadband over Power Line (BPL) technology will contribute to what she described as ``broadband Nirvana.`` Addressing the United Powerline Council`s annual conference September 22 in Arlington, Virginia, Abernathy expressed unabashed enthusiasm for BPL and recommended a combination of regulatory restraint and the elimination or substantial modification of existing rules as steps along the ``path to Enlightenment.`` In a terse response faxed today on behalf of the League`s 155,000 members, ARRL Chief Executive Officer David Sumner, K1ZZ, asserted that Abernathy overlooked some significant issues in her Nirvana analogy. ``Nightmare is more like it,`` Sumner declared. ``The technical showings submitted by the ARRL and others in response to the Commission`s Notice of Inquiry in ET Docket No. 03-104 clearly establish that BPL is a significant source of radio spectrum pollution. It cannot be implemented without causing harmful interference to over-the-air radio services.`` Sumner told Abernathy that while BPL industry groups, such as the one she addressed this week, prefer to deny the evidence, the FCC is obliged to work to a higher standard. In its remarks, the League characterized BPL as ``a Pandora`s Box of unprecedented proportions`` and said the Commission`s Part 15 rules ``should be modified so as to prevent interference to users of the HF and low VHF spectrum`` from the outset and ``to prevent consumers` reliance on BPL as an interference-free broadband delivery system.`` Abernathy`s speech, ``Reaching Broadband Nirvana,`` never broached the topic of BPL`s potential to interfere with other radio services. Recently, the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA)--which regulates spectrum allocated to federal government users--expressed ``broad concerns`` about interference to government users and launched an extensive modeling, analysis and measurement program for BPL. In his letter, Sumner reminded Abernathy that the radio spectrum is a precious natural resource. ``To squander that resource, simply to add a redundant, unnecessary, and relatively poorly performing `last mile` connection for consumers, is unconscionable,`` He said. Sumner expressed the hope that Abernathy will give the League an early opportunity to explain its BPL concerns to her in person. In her remarks to the UPLC gathering, Abernathy contended that it`s been regulatory restraint rather than heavy-handed regulation that has allowed nascent platforms such as direct broadcast satellite (DBS) to become competitively viable. ``When the Commission completes this rulemaking,`` she said, ``I expect that we will eliminate many existing rules and substantially modify others; the central question is the degree of regulation that will remain during the transition to a more robustly competitive market.`` Abernathy said many of the FCC`s ``old rules`` not only become unnecessary as markets evolve but ``they can be fatal to new services that need room to breathe.`` The FCC provides two routes for individuals to e-mail Abernathy: Via her FCC Web site http://www.fcc.gov/commissioners/abernathy/mail.html or directly at kabernat@fcc.gov The text of her prepared remarks also is available on the FCC Web site at http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/DOC-239079A1.doc The League`s initial 120-page package of comments and technical exhibits is available on the ARRL Web site. http://www.arrl.org.announce/regulatory/et03-104/ There`s additional information and additional video clips on the ARRL ``Power Line Communications (PLC) and Amateur Radio`` page http://www.arrl.org/tis/info/HMTL/plc/ To support the League`s efforts in this area, visit the ARRL`s secure BPL Web site https://www.arrl.org/forms/development/donations/bpl/ To date, more than 4600 comments -- many from the Amateur Radio community -- have been filed in response to the FCC`s BPL NOI and are available for viewing via the FCC`s Electronic Comment Filing System (ECFS) http://www.fcc.gov/cgb/ecfs/ September 24, 2003 Kathleen Q. Abernathy, Commissioner Federal Communications Commission 445 12th Street SW Washington, DC 20554 Dear Commissioner Abernathy: On behalf of the 155,000 members of the ARRL I must express strong objection to your characterization, in your September 22 speech to the United PowerLine Council Annual Conference, of broadband-over- powerline technology as contributing to ``broadband Nirvana.`` Nightmare is more like it. The technical showings submitted by the ARRL and others in response to the Commission`s Notice of Inquiry in ET Docket No. 03-104 clearly establish that BPL is a significant source of radio spectrum pollution. It cannot be implemented without causing harmful interference to over-the-air radio services. The BPL industry prefers to deny the evidence. The FCC is required to work to a higher standard. The radio spectrum is a precious natural resource. The properties of the ionosphere permit intercontinental communication. To squander that resource, simply to add a redundant, unnecessary, and relatively poorly performing ``last mile`` connection for consumers, is unconscionable. I hope you will afford the ARRL an opportunity to explain our concerns to you in person at an early date. Sincerely, David Sumner, Chief Executive Officer Copyright © 2003, American Radio Relay League, Inc. All Rights Reserved (via John Norfolk, DX LISTENING DIGEST) SHORT WAVE, POWER LINE NET AT ODDS NEW TECHNOLOGY COULD DISRUPT HIGH FREQUENCY RADIO -- AND LOSE OUT By Sam Kennedy, Of The Morning Call [Lehigh Valley PA] From The Morning Call -- September 28, 2003 http://www.mcall.com/news/local/all-a1_5net-glitchsep28.story Power line communications, which promises to deliver high-speed Internet through household electrical outlets, is wired with a potentially fatal flaw. The experimental technology could disrupt the high frequency radio transmissions used for everything from national security and emergency response to overseas air travel and space research, according to critics. ''That's scary stuff,'' said Jim Haynie, president of the Amateur Radio Relay League, which represents 163,000 members. ''Somebody has to blow the whistle.'' PPL Corp. of Allentown and roughly a dozen other American electric utilities involved in power line communications argue they have found ways around such problems. They hail the technology as a way to expand high-speed Internet service, or broadband, to millions of homes and businesses, especially those in rural areas. And industry analysts say it could spur competition among all Internet service providers, ultimately leading to savings for consumers. The Federal Communications Commission, which regulates use of the airwaves, has signaled initial support for power line communications. Chairman Michael Powell has said the technology could soon compete with existing sources of high-speed Internet, such as cable modem and DSL offered by phone companies. In April, he described it as ''within striking distance of becoming the third major broadband pipe into the home.'' Left unreported, however, is the threat this high-tech invention poses to a low-tech means of communicating that, although a century old, remains a critical piece of the modern world's communication infrastructure. High frequency radio, also known as shortwave, occupies a relatively small part of the frequency spectrum between AM radio and VHF television. But it's the only part that reliably carries around the globe - enabling someone in Allentown, for example, to broadcast to the Midwest, Baghdad or Beijing. The Amateur Radio Relay League is leading the charge against power line communications, which is also referred to as broadband over power lines, or BPL. When the FCC held a public inquiry on power line communications this summer, amateur radio operators, called hams, submitted roughly two- thirds of the 4,600 comments. But the hams are not alone in their alarm. The National Telecommunications and Information Agency, which represents other federal agencies from the National Weather Service to the FBI that use more than 18,000 high frequency channels, also submitted comments to the FCC. The NTIA asked the FCC to withhold judgment on power line communications until the completion of its own, ongoing research on the new technology. ''The federal government has extensive operations that potentially could be affected,'' the NTIA wrote. Aeronautical Radio Inc., which facilitates high-frequency radio transmissions by airplanes on trans-oceanic flights, told the FCC that power line communications ''has potential greatly to exacerbate interference.'' ''Any noise increase would inevitably diminish the ability of aviation to maintain communications with aircraft operating over oceans and in remote areas of the world,'' the company concluded. Space exploration, too, is at risk, according to the National Academy of Sciences. Astrophysicists have discovered planets beyond our solar system and the birth sites of stars by measuring subtle, naturally occurring radio signals from outer space. But such work, the academy warned in its comments to the FCC, is ''particularly vulnerable to interference.'' ''This is all coming to a head,'' said Robert Olsen, a professor of electrical engineering at Washington State University in Pullman, Wash. Concern about high-frequency radio interference has derailed power line communications in Europe, which experimented with the technology in the 1990s, Olsen said. Of roughly a dozen European companies that tried to offer commercial power line communications service in the 1990s, all but a few have now abandoned the technology, he said. Japan has effectively banned power line communications. ''It's a real thing,'' Olsen said of the threat radio interference poses to the future of power line communications. Why power lines radiate 'noise' When power lines are used to transmit radio signals that are to be converted into Web pages and e-mail, they radiate electromagnetic noise that can drown out high-frequency radio transmissions. If power line communications were widely deployed, the radio interference would be all the greater, according to the Amateur Radio Relay League. Power lines radiate electromagnetic noise for two reasons, according to Ed Hare, a researcher for the Relay League. First, power lines are not shielded. The coaxial cable used for cable modems, by contrast, consists of wire enclosed in a metal tube. And the twisted wire used for DSL is, because of the twist in its two strands, naturally efficient: the strands are so close they basically negate each other's radiation. Secondly, power lines can act like giant antennas capable of inadvertently sending and receiving signals from afar because of the sheer distance they cover while stretching between homes and utility poles. ''It's no surprise there are problems,'' Hare said. ''Electrical wiring was designed to conduct power. It was not designed to conduct signals.'' PPL and its counterparts, however, say they've devised ways to minimize, if not eliminate, the problematic electromagnetic noise. They accuse the hams of fear-mongering that could undercut the best hope yet of expanding high-speed Internet access. A national focus on trial in Emmaus Emmaus, where PPL is conducting one of the largest power line communication trials in the country, is Exhibit A in the debate on the technology. Hundreds of Emmaus residents and businesses log onto the Web and send e-mails by plugging into PPL's test system. The Amateur Radio Relay League based its comments to the FCC, in part, on tests conducted in Emmaus. And the NTIA visited the borough for two days earlier this month to perform its own research. One day last week, Carl Stevenson, a member of the Amateur Radio Relay League, demonstrated how power line communications in Emmaus affect high frequency radio transmissions. First, Stevenson tested a portable ham radio in neighborhoods without power line communications. He moved the dial across the band, stopping to listen to the conversations of hams in California and beyond. Next, he drove into one of the neighborhoods where PPL is testing power line communications. He stood next to a telephone pole with power line communications equipment. Entire swaths of the radio spectrum crackled and hissed. ''It's like a major disaster - spectrum pollution of the worst kind,'' said Stevenson, a radio engineer who works on federal regulatory issues for Agere Systems of Allentown. A PPL official said later the static could have been caused by something other than the power line communications, such as neon signs. 'Where's the outcry?' ''If this is a huge problem, where's the outcry?'' asked Alan Richenbacher, an engineer at PPL. PPL, a leader in power line communications development, has been testing the technology in the Allentown area for a year and a half. To date, the company has received only one complaint about radio interference, he said. ''Doesn't that tell you something?'' Should problems arise, he said, the technology offers numerous solutions: PPL, for example, could reduce the strength of signals traveling across power lines, switch frequencies or relocate its equipment. ''We believe we can coexist in the spectrum,'' said Jeff Norman, a vice president at Main.Net Communications of Kfar Saba, Israel, PPL's partner in the Emmaus trial. The Amateur Radio Relay League, however, says the interference problems are occurring at numerous trials, including those performed by other electric utilities. The spokesman for the United Power Line Council, which represents companies involved in power line communications, accused the Amateur Radio Relay League of exaggerating the problems caused by interference to generate interest in its fund-raising efforts. ''This is an enormous money maker for them,'' Brett Kilbourne said, because many hams will be more willing to donate if they believe their hobby is in peril. ''There is certainly a financial incentive.'' Each side of the debate on power line communications cites arguments steeped in science. The hams and other critics argue the accumulated effect of widespread power line communications would pollute high- frequency radio waves. PPL and its counterparts deny that it would. The federal government is the arbiter that will decide whose science is right. The FCC is expected to propose rules for power line communications early next year. Copyright © 2003, The Morning Call (via Mike Terry, DXLD) IARU SUBMITS PAPER TO EUROPEAN COMMISSION PLT WORKSHOP Listeners may have seen an item on the Internet where the European Commission is calling for input papers for a PLT workshop for National regulators to be held on the 16th of October in Brussels. PLT remains a major threat to HF communications. IARU Region 1 has submitted a detailed paper for the workshop to the European Commission, setting out the problems that PLT creates for HF communications in general, and radio amateurs in particular. The paper argues for sensible emission limits from PLT systems, and backs up its assertions by referencing work done by a number of organisations, including the RSGB, to monitor and assess the trials of PLT that have taken place in a number of countries over the last few years. Although it will not be allowed for amateur radio to be represented in person at the workshop on the 16th of October, the IARU hopes that its paper will carry some weight in the discussions (Radio Society of Great Britain GB2RS News Script for September 28, posted September 24 on uk.radio.amateur by G4RGA via John Norfolk, DXLD) But where was the item posted, Kenneth? (Norfolk) PROPAGATION +++++++++++ CLOUDS OVERHEAD --- FUNDING BILL TARGETS VITAL WORK AT BOULDER LABS September 23, 2003, Boulder Daily Camera, opinion Fall is a hectic time in Congress. The two houses must complete work on seven massive appropriations bills and other legislative proposals before adjournment in November. Among the issues still to be resolved is President Bush's request for $87 billion to fund postwar costs in Iraq. The sheer volume of work increases the possibility of last-minute blunders with long-term consequences. It's an open question whether Congress will stumble into one of those mistakes as it considers next year's budgets for scientific research at federal laboratories in Boulder and elsewhere in Colorado. The U.S. House of Representatives voted earlier this year to cut funding for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and related labs. Instead of the $366 million sought by President Bush, the House approved $306 million - including cuts with direct and substantial impact on scientific research. The Senate has since approved a more substantial appropriation of $394 million, and the issue now awaits resolution in a House-Senate conference committee. The final vote may determine the future of important projects at NOAA, the National Institute of Standards and Technology, the National Center for Atmospheric Research, Colorado State University and the University of Colorado's Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences. Severe budget cuts would threaten important research on climate and severe weather (a timely subject in the vicinity of the U.S. Capitol and elsewhere on the East Coast, where residents are still cleaning up the damage from Hurricane Isabel). Some of the work done in Colorado might enable scientists to predict more accurately the intensity of hurricanes. Researchers at NOAA and related labs also are exploring severe weather more characteristic of the West, including drought, tornadoes and "heavy precipitation events" such as the snowstorm that hit Colorado early this spring. Another program at risk is NOAA's Space Environment Center, a national resource for the study of space weather events, which may absorb major budget cuts for the second year in a row. The core issue in this debate is scientific research, not economic repercussions, but there's no way to ignore the potential impact of severe budget cuts on Colorado. Boulder's federal labs - which include NOAA, the National Institute of Standards and Technology and the National Telecommunications and Information Administration - will contribute $2 billion to the state economy between 2001 and 2005, according to an estimate by the University of Colorado's Business Research Division. Budget reductions of the magnitude proposed by the House could drain hundreds of jobs from the state's scientific workforce. In addition, the House bill contains language calling on NOAA to "review the continued requirements for 12 separate research laboratories, six of which are located in Boulder," and to submit a "laboratory consolidation plan" by March 2004. Why single out the Boulder labs? And why jeopardize important scientific work to save a tiny fraction of the immense federal budget? The research conducted by these labs is of vital, sometimes life-and- death importance to the nation. The least Congress should do is restore the funding levels recommended in the president's budget (via Jilly Dybka, DXLD) SPRAWLING SUNSPOT: There is a remarkable spot on the Sun over this past weekend. The active region, called sunspot 464, is about as wide as fifteen planet Earths lined up in a row!!! Might have some rather good dxing this week!!! Visit spaceweather.com for further info and updates and photo's. Good Listening and DX!!! (Stewart H. MacKenzie, WDX6AA, Sept 27, DX LISTENING DIGEST) QST DE W1AW PROPAGATION FORECAST BULLETIN 39 From Tad Cook, K7RA Seattle, WA September 26, 2003 To all radio amateurs At last, the sun is showing one large sunspot. Sunspot 464 is expanding rapidly, now part of an extended dark area about 13 earth diameters wide. A helioseismic holography image shows a large sunspot currently on the side of the sun that faces away from the earth, often referred to as ``the other side.`` Mentioning the name of this method for sensing activity on the sun`s far side always generates email asking, ``what`s that?`` so check http://spaceweather.com/glossary/farside.html for more info. Of course, any email is always welcome via k7ra@arrl.net The emergence of this spot has raised the sunspot count and solar flux higher than predicted a week ago, with solar flux about 20 points greater. Solar flux for the past few days has edged above 130, and the prediction for September 26-29, Friday through Monday is for flux values of 135, 130, 130 and 125. Frantisek K. Janda, OK1HH, of the Czech Propagation Interest Group reports that except for October 13-17, the upcoming weeks will have quieter geomagnetic conditions than have prevailed over the past five months. This is the weekend of the CQ WW RTTY DX Contest, and currently the interplanetary magnetic field points south. This means that earth is susceptible to blasts of energy from the sun. Currently a solar wind is flowing from a coronal hole on the sun, so predicted planetary A index for Friday through Monday, September 26-29 is 15, 30, 20 and 15. Saturday might be a bit rough for the contest, but hope for change. The sunspot count this week turned out to be higher than we thought last week, another example of things changing. The season changed from summer to fall in the Northern Hemisphere on Tuesday, and from winter to spring in the Southern Hemisphere. Around the equinox is a great time for worldwide DX, because all parts of the earth are bathed equally in the sun`s energy. When it is summer in one hemisphere, the maximum usable frequency (MUF) is lower during the day, so 10 through 15 meters are affected. At that same time, the other half of the earth has winter, and the ionosphere over that region is exposed to a lot less radiation from the sun. At the equinox, winter or spring, the MUF is higher and the whole world is affected the same. For more information on propagation and an explanation of the numbers used in this bulletin see the Propagation page on the ARRL Web site, http://www.arrl.org/tis/info/propagation.html Sunspot numbers for September 18 through 24 were 92, 71, 72, 64, 91, 133 and 121, with a mean of 92. 10.7 cm flux was 109.2, 111.1, 111.9, 119.9, 122.6, 124.9 and 133.5, with a mean of 119. Estimated planetary A indices were 40, 32, 25, 21, 18, 17 and 33, with a mean of 26.6. Copyright © 2003, American Radio Relay League, Inc. All Rights Reserved (via John Norfolk, DXLD) CUMBRE PROPAGATION REPORT Flare activity has again been low over the past week. Coronal hole effects have again been the dominant feature causing the earth's geomagnetic field to be at active/minor storm levels Sep 20-21 then declining to unsettled/active for the rest of the period. The A-index today was 30 but is forecast to decline over the next 3 days. MUFs are forecast to be depressed at times on Sep 28-29 and possibly poor conditions extending through until Oct 2. Prepared with data from http://www.ips.gov.au (Richard Jary, SA, Sept 26, Cumbre DX via DXLD) ### ||||||||||||||||| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||| DX LISTENING DIGEST 3-171, September 29, 2003 edited by Glenn Hauser 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 later at http://www.worldofradio.com/dxldtd3i.html For restrixions and searchable 2003 contents archive see http://www.worldofradio.com/dxldmid.html NOTE: If you are a regular reader of DXLD, and a source of DX news but have not been sending it directly to us, please consider yourself obligated to do so. Thanks, Glenn NEXT AIRINGS OF WORLD OF RADIO 1200: RFPI: Wed 0100, 0730, 1330 on 7445 WWCR: Wed 0930 on 9475 WRN ONDEMAND: http://new.wrn.org/listeners/stations/station.php?StationID=24 OUR ONDEMAND AUDIO [also for CONTINENT OF MEDIA, MUNDO RADIAL]: Check http://www.worldofradio.com/audiomid.html WORLD OF RADIO 1200 (high version): (stream) http://www.w4uvh.net/wor1200h.ram (download) http://www.w4uvh.net/wor1200h.rm (summary) http://www.worldofradio.com/wor1200.html WORLD OF RADIO 1200 (low version): (stream) http://www.w4uvh.net/wor1200.ram (download) http://www.w4uvh.net/wor1200.rm UNSOLICITED TESTIMONIALS Dear Glenn, Another goal has been achieved by your WOR no. 1200! Congratulations!!!! Good luck with the next 100 editions --- All the best, (Erik Koie, Denmark) Right on! Regarding your vigilance toward organized religion, and its various abuses of the spectrum. Not many folks realize that organized religion has nothing to do with God! Thanks also for your distribution of my monthly e-ramblings; surely you're reaching everyone I've forgotten by doing so (GREG HARDISON, Sept 24) ** AFGHANISTAN [non]. RUSSIA [to AFG] 15615, APA R Amani, *1632-1730*, Fr Sep 12 and 19. Carrier was ready 1630, but audio delayed. Dari until 1702, then Pashto. ID's: "Radio Amani", political talks about Afghanistan and Taleban, mentioned the BBC and Deutsche Welle, Afghan folksongs, 1726-1727 statement in Russian and a Russian song, 1729 Pashto ID, musical interlude and cut off, 45444 (Vashek Korinek, RSA, and Anker Petersen, Denmark, DSWCI DX Window via BC-DX via DXLD) AFGHANISTAN PEACE Organization brokered via Merlin MNO. 15615 1630-1730 Fri only, via Armavir-RUS, 100 kW 104 degr to AFG. (wb, Sept 23) Thanks to Top DX News, I tried R AMANI "Afghanistan Peace" on 15615 kHz and heard it with sign on at 1631 UT with very good reception. Close down exactly 1730 UT. Signal strength was even S9 +15 dB and transmitter site is Armavir, Russia. What is this station? Who knows more about its background? Is it one of the UN operations? However, enjoyable reception here in Turku. ARMAVIR is an industrial city and transportation centre in the northern foothills of the Caucasus, south-central Russia, situated on the Kuban River, 160 km (100 miles) east of KRASNODAR; : pop.(1990) 162,000. It lies in a rich agricultaral area near the Maykop oil fields. It has machine and tools plants. Thanks to the Oxford Dictionary of the World. 73´s (Jouko Huuskonen, Turku FINLAND, Sept 26, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ANDAMAN ISLANDS [and non]. INDIA, 4760, AIR Port Blair, 21 Sept., 2339-2346, Possible ID by M "Akashvani...", into haunting Indian vocal music at 2341. M briefly again at 2346, then back to music. So this turned out to be Port Blair after all. Does indeed fade earlier than the other Indians. Heard IS at 2358 on 4790 Chennai. 4840 Mumbai already on at 2359 (Dave Valko, micro-DXpedition QTH, PA, 300' Beverage at 170 degrees Cumbredx mailing list via DXLD) ** ARGENTINA. 6214.97, R. Balurate, 21 Sept 2309-0036 Sept 22, Program of LA Pop and Rock music I think called "455 Comunicación". At least that's what the young M announcer said during each short announcement between songs. Mentioned Puerto Argentino often. Also gave phone numbers in Puerto Argentino and Paraguay. Fairly good signal but didn't hear any formal ID. Not even at the ToH (Dave Valko, micro- DXpedition QTH, PA, 300' Beverage at 170 degrees Cumbredx mailing list via DXLD) ** ARGENTINA. 2380 harmonic, LRA15/R. Nacional San Miguel, 0859-0905 Sept 24. Tuned here totally by accident and found this harmonic!!! Wanted 3280 Napo!! End of talk by M at tune-in, canned announcement with music, time ticks right on ToH, then program intro by M "? de la Argentina, (letters) ? Argentina unidad". Somewhat readable (Dave Valko, Dunlo PA, Cumbre DX via DXLD) ** AUSTRALIA. ARDS Seeking Urgent reports from Queensland: Recent correspondence from the Station Manager at ARDS (5050 kHz) indicated that they were unhappy with the reports they were getting on their signal strength in the target area of Arnhem Land. There was talk of increasing the transmitter power to somewhere near 1 kW (currently 400 watts) during September, but he has now indicated that this will not happen in the short term, until they can rectify the problems with antenna directivity into the target area. I sent a report of reception during the evening and early in the morning several days ago, stating that signal strength was weak, and interference from China in the later evening was severe. A further email reply from Dale Chesson, received last night says: ".......NO - our signal here in Nhulunbuy on the eastern edge of Arnhem Land is much the same as yours! It would seem our antenna are producing a beam that is at too low an angle to cover us effectively. We believe the Coral Sea is the place to be to hear our signal! Anyway we'll keep working on it. Do you know of anyone on the coast anywhere north of Brisbane who may be able to listen for us?" So, if any DXers located north of Brisbane can listen and send reports to Dale, he would be most appreciative. Email reports to: dale@ards.com.au Can you also keep me posted of reception in your area? I'm interested in following this up with Dale (Rob Wagner, Vic., 25 Sept., EDXP via DXLD) Listening to ARDS on 5050 during our evenings from 0800 UT reveals much poorer reception in comparison to about a month ago; sunset is now much later and so is fade in times. Also, the Chinese station on the same frequency now fades in much earlier, in addition to this, thunderstorm static now seems to be the norm on the lower bands now providing loud static crashes. At best, ARDS is pushing S-9 when there is no static but China always seems to be there in the background until around 0930 then it seems to just about take over, when there is static then it is difficult to hear anything. During the mornings, I have tuned in from around 2100 but our sun is well and truly risen by then and most activity has faded on 60 metres (Mike Stevenson, Vic., Sept 26, Kenwood R-2000, Sangean ATS-909, 15 metre longwire, 17 metre longwire, bhi NES10-2 DSP speaker, EDXP via DXLD) Reception here in Bunbury W.A. non-existent at the moment, of the 4 or 5 random times I`ve tried from 0800 to 1200 UT over the last week or so, the only signals audible is a strong Chinese station with always a female presenter, an RTTY signal that also seems to be right on 5050 and strange, strong SSB transmissions consisting of only 1 or 2 words every 20 to 30 seconds in a male voice ? (that seems even stranger now I tried to explain it in writing?) When I`ve got more time, I`ll have a more concerted effort of trying to hear it; there should hopefully be a window for me to allow reception before the Chinese lady starts up and/or the RTTY kicks in. The RTTY appears continuous as I don`t 'hear' the RYRYRYRY end part of the transmission (Wayne, Bunbury, Western Australia, YAESU FRG8800, FRT7700, SANGEAN ATS-803A, REALISTIC DX-440, 40 Meter Long-WIre with a Magnetic Balun, Sept 26, ibid.) ** AUSTRALIA [non]. Glenn, while walking with my Sony 7600G portable on Sept. 25 I was tuning around the 19 meter band and happened to hear Radio Australia in Chinese with a good signal (SIO 434) on 15435 at 1424 with English lessons, then ID and website URL; off at 1429. Per Eike Bierwirth's frequency list the transmission is relayed via the Merlin-Singapore site (Joe Hanlon in Mays Landing, NJ, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** AUSTRALIA [and non]. /UZBEKISTAN: New schedule for Voice International in Hindi from Sep. 17: 0100-0400 on 11850 TAC 100 kW / 153 deg 0500-1100 on 13630 TAC 100 kW / 153 deg ex 0500-0800 on same freq 1100-1700 on 13635 DRW 250 kW / 303 deg 1400-1700 NF 9880 TAC 100 kW / 153 deg additional, but no \\ on 13635!!!! (Observer, Bulgaria, Sept 26 via DXLD) ** AUSTRIA. Österreich One has short news bulletins in English and French daily at 0605 relayed on 6155 (Mike Barraclough, England, Oct World DX Club Contact via DXLD) ** BELARUS` [non]. 7210, R. Belarus` (via Ukraine txer). English service opening 1930 Sept 23 (Bob Padula, Vic., EDXP via DXLD) Really? NDXC says site is Kalodziscy, 27.48E, 53.57 N and TDP says it`s in Belarus` at 27.47E 53.58N (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** BOLIVIA. 3309.98, Radio Mosoj Chaski, Sep 24, 0823-0843, nice Andean vocals with announcer between songs in Vernacular, 0838 announcer with ID in passing over instrumental song "...Radio Mosoj Chaski, ?Cochabamba?, Bolivia." Strong signal with tremendous QRN but nice to hear some music from them at a decent level. 4600.30, (Presumed) Perla del Acre, Sep 22, 0937-0950, campo vocals, no ID heard but I did recognize the announcer`s voice. Weak signal (Mark Mohrmann, Coventry, VT, NRD 535D, V-Beam 140m @180 deg., DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** BOLIVIA. 4650.33, R. Santa Ana, 0010-0030 Sept 22, Romantic music program hosted by M announcer, ID at 0010. Caught another ID at 0020 as "Santa Ana la radio". Played 5 songs in a row from 0021 to 0039. M again for another announcement, then back to music. A little better than normal. Glad to ID this (Dave Valko, micro-DXpedition QTH, PA, 300' Beverage at 170 degrees Cumbredx mailing list via DXLD) ** CANADA. CBC RADIO ONE ACHIEVES HIGHEST WEEKDAY BBM RATING IN RECENT HISTORY http://www3.cbc.ca/sections/newsitem_redux.asp?ID=3007 Radio One's Monday to Friday share of 7.2% is the network's highest rating for summer programming in at least the past decade, according to recently released Summer 2003 BBM ratings. Across the network, audience support was also strong with a combined share for CBC Radio One and Radio Two of 10.4%. Overall, these results are on par with last summer's results. The BBM summer survey draws from central areas only but includes Quebec City, Montreal, Ottawa, Toronto, Winnipeg, Edmonton, Calgary, and Vancouver. Within the 8 markets surveyed, the combined weekly reach of CBC Radio One and Radio Two was 1,752,600, or 14% of the population aged 12+, representing an increase of 1% over previous years. Radio One Radio One's total share this summer was 7.3%, consistent with last year's performance. Important share gains were made in several markets. Radio One in Ottawa gained one point among all persons (9%) and held steady within the Anglophone market (12%). In Calgary, Radio One enjoyed a gain of one point to reach 8%. After experiencing share losses in the summers of 2001 and 2002, CBC in Winnipeg rebounded to capture a share of 8% and is now on par with ratings for summer of 2000. Radio One maintained its shares in Montreal with 7% in the Anglophone market and 2% across all audiences. Toronto continues to hold onto its strong 6% share. Local broadcast audience support remains strong. Local morning shows maintained an 11% share, with the Montreal (Anglophone), Winnipeg and Calgary morning shows capturing their highest shares in over a decade. Radio Two Radio Two's share demonstrated strong and constant performance at 3.1%. In the major markets measured, Montreal, Ottawa, Toronto, Edmonton and Vancouver maintained share from last summer. The CBC mandate is to enlighten, connect and reflect Canadians. It is a meeting place for telling stories and engaging in debate. These results confirm that more and more Canadians recognize and value the unique and thoughtful programs that only CBC Radio can deliver (via Ricky Leong, QC, Sept 25, DXLD) ** CANADA. RETHINKING CBC RADIO: A NAKED MEDIUM Watch out for CBC Radio's vice-president, says MICHAEL POSNER. Jane Chalmers is the most powerful woman in the corporation By MICHAEL POSNER Saturday, September 27, 2003 - Page R5 When CBC President Robert Rabinovitch invited Jane Chalmers to lunch 14 months ago, she had no idea what was on his mind. Chalmers was then head of current affairs for network television and had only been in the post for a year -- a change seemed unlikely. "I tried to find out what it was about," she recalls. "But they wouldn't tell me." Over lunch -- at a discreet distance from the CBC's headquarters -- Rabinovitch offered her a major promotion, the job of vice-president of CBC Radio. "Why me?" she asked, at once stunned and honoured. FULL STORY: http://www.globeandmail.com/servlet/ArticleNews/TPStory/LAC/20030927/CBC27//?query=cbc OR http://tinyurl.com/ovjx (via Bill Doskoch, Toronto, CAJ-list via Ricky Leong, DXLD) ** CANADA. NOT AMUSED TORONTO (CP) - An Ontario judge is seeking $3 million in damages from Q107 morning show host John Derringer, the radio station and its owner, for falsely accusing him of being a "disgrace" to the justice system and society over the sentencing of a man who pleaded guilty to possession and distributing child pornography. The lawsuit by Justice Richard Schneider, of the Ontario Court of Justice, is a rare case involving a judge and the media. "It's a very serious libel," said lawyer Julian Porter, who is representing Schneider. "It's improper for a judge to be attacked in this sort of way. Derringer's talk ... was a libellous, untrue rant." In their statement of defence, the defendants say Derringer's remarks were meant "without actual malice and without gross negligence" and were part of a daily segment called Tool of the Day, featuring his comments on people "ranging from royalty to public officials to parliamentary dignitaries." Derringer could not be reached for comment Wednesday. The statement of claim includes a transcript of Derringer's comments on May 29, the day after Schneider sentenced Yong Jun Kim to a conditional sentence of nine months house arrest and 200 hours community service after the 20- year-old pleaded guilty to possessing and distributing child pornography. Also named in the suit is Corus Entertainment Inc., which owns an interest in Q107 Radio (Toronto Star Via Harry van Vugt, Windsor, Ontario, Canada, DXLD) ** CENTRAL AFRICA REPUBLIC [non]. [previously under GERMANY] HDL = Hirondelle Today, Wed Sept 24th 1910-1925 UT, a long talk in French heard on the new 15545 kHz station, coming from Woofferton-UK at 1900-2000. Mentioned many times "... Committee". Signal is very thiny in southern Germany, S=1-2 only. The main lobe is towards West Africa instead. Hello Wolfgang, it helps to live near the target area; the signal here is pretty good. I'm sure that the programme is a relay of Radio Ndeke Luka from Bangui, Central African Republic (see p. 134 of WRTH). My French is non-existent, but I'm sure they announce both FM and SW frequencies. French alternates with vernaculars and it would seem that the transmission is intended for central African regions. The music also sounds like being from the central Africa. Audio got lost between 1934 and 1937 today. I stopped listening at 19h42. There is a link to R. Ndeke Luka on http://www.hirondelle.org Maybe your French is better than mine, have a look. A pure speculation, but perhaps "HDL" is an abbreviation for the Fondation Hirondelle? Hope the above helps, and it was nice to hear from you! 73's, (Vashek Korinek-AFS, dswci Sept 25 via BC-DX via DXLD) 15545 Woofferton Sept 25, 1958-2000 UT HDL French / HCJB German Listen to the short recording of 15545, today Sept 25, 1958-2000 UT HDL French / and additional HCJB Quito German crash start at 1959:10 UTC. 73 wb df5sx R. Ndeke Luka in F/Vn Hello, Wolfgang! This station was monitored today's evening 1906-1950, but I wasn't listening to them at the announced s/on & s/off times (1900-2000). 15545 kHz noted at 55544; program in both French and vernacular, station slogan after ID which I understood as "Indekeluka", but it seems the correct form is as stated in your e- mail, i.e. Ndeke Luka. They announced 100.8 MHz in //. Unstable & weaker QSA around 1950. I guess it was HCJB that took the air 2000 on this frequency. It does seem the content focuses the area of the country in question, but possibly others too... it's a question of listening to during more time. 73, (Carlos Gonçalves-POR, dswci Sept 25, via Wolfgang Büschel, DXLD) Very strong signal in Alberta September 27th, news in French, High Life music and an English section 1947 with ``a radio station from North to South making it from Central African Republic -- FM makes the difference`` (Joe Talbot, Cumbre DX via Oct World DX Club Contact via DXLD) How ironic Thanks for a nice tip, Edward Kusalik in Cumbre DX. I tuned to 15545 on 28 Sep at 1900 and found Radio Ndeke Luka with good signal. Program start was a bit late, but after some difficulties they got it started. French IDs mentioning FM 100.8 and SW 15545. According Edward this is via Woofferton, UK. Radio Ndeke Luka operates in Central African Republic and was once known as Radio MINURCA (Jari Savolainen, Kuusankoski, Finland, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CHINA. Frequency changes for China Radio International: 1130-1227 Thai NF 15260, ex 6140 1230-1327 Lao NF 15260, ex 6140 1330-1427 Thai NF 15260, ex 6140 1600-1657 Arabic NF 7130, ex 17580 ||||| via S.P 500 kW / 145 deg 1800-1827 Persian NF 7130, ex 15595 ||||| via S.P 500 kW / 145 deg 2200-2257 English NF 7175, ex 9880 ||||| via MSK 250 kW / 275 deg (Observer, Bulgaria, Sept 26 via DXLD) ** COLOMBIA. Re 3-170, Colombia vs Ecuador on 5040 Thanks, Glen[n], for your comments. As I do not have a tape, it is hard to be absolutely certain. The anthem was definitely not from Venezuela, and as I had heard Colombia's many more times than the anthem from Ecuador, I thought Colombia, but could be wrong. The programming was not religious in nature, and the music was near certainly more Colombian than Andean. Also the s/on was 1030 UT, vs. 100[0] UT. No sign of any QRN from another station when I heard the religious La Voz del Upano from 0958-1025 UT. This is not an hour when I can usually listen, but I will try to monitor this when I can. In all fairness and honesty, especially as no one else has logged it, I would drop Radio Yopal back to a "tentative log." Thank you for pointing this out, and I will be more careful in the future. You are a stickler for accuracy, and that is good for all of us in the hobby. Keep up the good work (Roger Chambers, NY, Sept 23, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CONGO. (Rep.): 4765, Sept. 27, 1755-1827* fair signal with ID at 1800. Impossible to find out if //5985, to much QRM there. Had 4765 unID a few times with variable closedown +/- 1830 (Thorsten Hallmann, http:africa.coolfreepage.com/africalist Münster, Germany, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CONGO DR. Re log on 7435: Intriguing log of Lubumbashi. Used ute transmitters in the far past. Recall odd fqy's being listed in the 1980 or 1981 WRTH (Bob Wilkner, FL, Cumbre DX via DXLD) ** COSTA RICA. Faro del Caribe untraced on 5054v and 9644v for some time now in Sept. Anyone hearing them? I am getting a weak signal on 5054.6 in the evening, but too weak to tell if it is them or someone else (Hans Johnson, WY, Sept 26, Cumbre DX via DXLD) UNID, 5054.59, Spanish at 0200 Sept 27, but weak. Faro Caribe? (Hans Johnson, WY, Cumbredx mailing list via DXLD) ** COSTA RICA. ...I have two local (that is, Costa Rica) examples to draw from, and both are shortwave stations. There is nothing special about that fact; shortwave stations simply happen to be the stations with which I have talked. In reality, an Internet-only station could use the same software for its work. Back to the examples. First, right up the street from my house is what is supposed to be the world headquarters for Adventist World Radio. I put a slight disclaimer here because the sign on the street announces this, but I didn't discuss it with anyone at the station. In fact, I was at the station for an auction of radio equipment when the following discussion developed. The person I talked to, one of the few that spoke any English, said the station was using a station automation package that runs on Microsoft Windows. He then went on to explain that the system wasn't reliable enough. That is, it would fail and someone would have to reboot a computer -- which pretty much defeats the purpose of station automation. Of course, I bought up the idea of using Linux. To my surprise, he was familiar with Linux and said the station had tried loading it on one of its computers. His big concern, however, was that if the station found a Linux-based solution it would have no support. That is, what if Linux failed? Or a possibly free software package? In his case, he was a one-year volunteer; even if he got up to speed on the solution, he would be gone within a year. The second example is Radio for Peace International. RFPI is located about 20 km from where I live, but the back-haul to its Internet connectivity is supplied by a wireless link whose antenna is about 20 feet from me as I write this. I am much more familiar with RFPI's operation and expect it is typical of many stations. RFPI downloads much of its program material from the Internet -- using a Linux system, of course. Rather than save the material on the computer, RFPI saves it on mini-disks. Broadcasts, then, are done with a live announcer filling in between pre-recorded material. The live broadcast also is recorded on tape for re-broadcast later in the day. In the RFPI example, the only missing link to full automation is some software. That is, the program material already is in a form that could be saved on the computer, and that same computer certainly is capable of doing the editing to add the local content. Why doesn't RFPI make this change? Simple -- it already has something that works. Making this change to full automation would require procedural changes and training. And, when the automation breaks, the station needs someone to bail it out. . . http://www.linuxjournal.com/article.php?sid=7168 (from Helping Broadcast Radio with Linux, by Phil Hughes, via Jilly Dybka, DXLD) ** CUBA. 1900.00, Radio Reloj (harmonic 2 x 950), Sep 20, 0842-0930+, "RR" CW ID, weak talk, still there at 0930, good signal strength but tremendous QRN. 2140.00 (harmonic 2 x 1070) CMKS, Radio Trinchera Antimperialista, Guantánamo, Sep 20/22/24, 0814-0902, finally got the canned ID at 0900 over a three morning period. Over an instrumental version of "Guantanamera", the ID sounded like "Desde... provincia más ?musical? de... Trinchera Antimperialista. La...(?24? ?26?)... su pueblo." Consistently good signal strength every morning. Thanks to Bob Wilkner down in Florida for verifying the // 1070 (Mark Mohrmann, Coventry, VT, NRD 535D, V-Beam 140m @180 deg., DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CZECH REPUBLIC. ESPERAR UNA RESPUESTA DE RADIO PRAGA: TODA UNA VIDA Hace unos meses atrás envié una misiva a Radio Praga, en la cual criticaba algunas omisiones con respecto a un documental consagrado a los 80 años de la Radio Checa. En la carta reclamaba a Radio Praga la "desaparición" (del documental) de la señal de intervalo "La izquierda a la vanguardia", cuyas notas identificaron a la radio checa al exterior por muchos años, y también la omisión de la fecha 1ero. de abril de 1990, día en el cual Radio Praga salió del aire abruptamente y sin explicación alguna. Luego nos enteramos de que la decisión obedecía a una "purga política" dentro del servicio de radiodifusión exterior. Desde el 19 de mayo hasta los corrientes, aunque no se crea, no he recibido respuesta de Radio Praga, a pesar de haber enviado tres veces --- luego de esa primera vez --- la misma carta. Podría asumirse que la carta se "perdió" en el camino o se traspapeló, pero no. ¡La he mandado tres veces! Tal vez la leyeron al aire y yo no escuché el programa...pero no. No he dejado pasar por alto ninguno de los programas dedicados a los oyentes. Conclusión: por lo visto, mi reclamo no le gustó mucho a alguien en Radio Praga. Esa es la única explicación que hallo para tanta desidia e indiferencia. Desde mayo hasta nuestros días han sido incapaces de responder a dos preguntas de un oyente. ¿Será que el argumento para haber ocultado parte de la historia de los 80 años de la Radio Checa, es tan inconsistente como su silencio para conmigo? Amigos de Radio Praga, ustedes no pueden esperar sólo halagos de los auditores. Cuando hay equivocaciones, también deberían asumir con altura su error y hacer una autocrítica. Todos cometemos errores y la grandeza del ser humano está en reconocerlos y enmendarlos; el documental de los 80 años de la Radio Checa cercena (con o sin intención) por lo menos dos elementos muy importantes de la radiodifusión de dicho país europeo, en los últimos 50 años. Ustedes critican bastante eso que erróneamente califican de "totalitarismo comunista", pero al igual que los estalinistas de esa oscura época de la Europa del Este, ustedes "filtran" y dejan "pasar" sólo lo que les agrada. Para ser más precisos, lo que hubo detrás de la Cortina de Hierro durante esos años fue un "totalitarismo estalinista". Ustedes, al igual que Vaclav Havel (quien también se apresura en calificativos imprecisos), saben que el hombre en esta etapa evolutiva jamás ha alcanzado el comunismo. Por consiguiente, lo que cayó en 1989 junto con el Muro de Berlín fue el ESTALINISMO. Este sencillo ejemplo muestra otra media verdad proveniente de sus micrófonos. Como organismo público de radiodifusión, cuya máxima función es deberse a sus oyentes, Radio Praga debería dar una respuesta a la presente misiva. Espero que esta vez el silencio no sea el denominador común. Un escucha impresionado de tanta indiferencia, (Adán González, Catia La Mar, Estado Vargas, VENEZUELA, cc to DXLD) ** DEUTSCHES REICH [non]. LAWYER IN ZUNDEL DETENTION REVIEW LINKS HIM WITH OTHER HOLOCAUST-DENIERS [by] MARLENE HABIB TORONTO (CP) - Holocaust-denier Ernst Zundel testified Tuesday he put $10,000 towards the court costs of a fellow German who believed "Europe should cleanse itself racially." Federal government lawyer Donald MacIntosh asked Zundel during his detention review hearing if he was a close associate of Ewald Althans, another Holocaust-denier who was convicted in a German court in 1995 of charges that included insulting the memory of the dead and insulting the state. Zundel is seeking freedom pending a review of a federal security certificate issued earlier this year that says he's a security risk. The certificate could send him back to Germany to face charges of suspicion of incitement of hatred. Zundel, a publisher whose books include titles on Adolf Hitler, told MacIntosh that Althans was simply "a man who did things for me," including helping him sell his books and videos. But Zundel also admitted he helped underwrite the cost of Althans' defence at his German trial. Zundel added that he had several "observers" report back to him in Toronto, where he was living at the time, about the goings-on in the court case. MacIntosh pointed out that court documents quoted Althans as saying multiculturalism is "filthy" and "stinks" and that "Europe should cleanse itself racially." Zundel also said he stopped associating with Althans after Althans agreed to act as a German government informant. Zundel's first detention review was held in the spring after he was arrested in February in Canada and deemed a security risk. Now 64, the German native and former Toronto resident had been booted out of Tennessee because of U.S. immigration violations. His review before Federal Court Judge Pierre Blais has been underway since May, and government lawyers at the hearings have repeatedly linked Zundel with other Holocaust-deniers. MacIntosh questioned Zundel about what he knew about other members of far-right groups and individuals, including Aryan Nations leader Richard Butler, neo-Nazi Christian Worch and former Canadian Aryan Nations leader Terry Long. Zundel admitted he interviewed Butler in 1983 or 1984, but could recall little of the interview other than that "it became boring" after a point. He also said he communicated with Worch several times between 1989 and 1994. "He helped me with legal papers" because he had some legal experience, Zundel said of Worch, who spent two years in prison for violating a ban on promoting Nazism. At one point in the testimony, Zundel grew impatient with MacIntosh, who referred to descriptions of the men's activities in an Anti- Defamation League article. "Sometimes I feel like a black man being convicted on Ku Klux Klan news clippings," Zundel said, describing the league, which documents and campaigns against anti-Semitism, as "a Jewish hate group." MacIntosh said he was attempting to establish Zundel's relationship with the men and was "entitled to probe what those contacts are" to examine his credibility and potential as a flight risk. One legal observer said the government is trying to convince Blais that Zundel shouldn't be released, pending a review of his status as a security risk, because he's maintaining ties with convicted and well- known white supremacists. Outside the courtroom Tuesday, Anita Bromberg, in-house counsel for B'nai Brith Canada, accused Zundel's lawyer, Doug Christie, of stalling the hearings, and said Jewish people insulted by Zundel's beliefs that the Holocaust never happened are "tired of his games." At the start of the review Tuesday, Blais refused to remove himself from the case despite allegations by Christie that he's biased against Zundel. Blais denied the request Christie made in July, when the defence lawyer accused him of "badgering and accusing the witness of lying" and exhibiting "open hostility" towards Zundel. Blais wouldn't elaborate on his ruling, saying he would later give written reasons to both Christie and federal lawyers. Blais and Christie also butted heads over Christie's attempts to have a surprise witness testify at the hearing. Despite Blais's annoyance that Christie wasn't following proper procedure for entering a new witness, he allowed Dr. Lorraine Day to take the stand. Day, a California doctor who practises alternative cancer treatments, testified that Zundel's tumour in his chest - first reported at a review session weeks ago - was at risk of growing and his health was further being threatened by being locked up at Toronto's Metro West Detention Centre. Day testified that Zundel also needed medication to control his high blood pressure, and that the drug was giving him side-effects like a slow heart rate and memory loss. "He needs exercise, fresh air, and freedom from stress," said Day. "The whole point is we need to have his high blood pressure controlled without the drug." Under cross-examination, Day admitted that while examining Zundel on Monday, she didn't take his blood pressure herself and that she had to rely on charts by doctors at the detention centre to make her diagnosis. Zundel's website was at the centre of a Canadian Human Rights Commission ruling in 2000 that ordered anti-Semitic material removed. He fled to the United States shortly before the ruling came down. His detention review was told his wife, Ingrid, still lives in Tennessee and operates a website under Zundel's name. The hearing was to continue Wednesday. The Canadian Press, 2003 09/23/2003 20:29 EST (AOL Canada News via Fred Waterer, DXLD) JUDGE REFUSES TO REMOVE HIMSELF FROM ZUNDEL HEARING; DOCTOR TO TAKE STAND --- By MARLENE HABIB TORONTO (CP) - The federal court judge overseeing Ernst Zundel's detention review hearing refused Tuesday to dismiss himself from the case despite allegations by the Holocaust-denier's lawyer that he's biased against his client. Judge Pierre Blais denied the request Doug Christie made in July, when the defence lawyer accused him of "badgering and accusing the witness of lying" and exhibiting "open hostility" towards Zundel. Blais wouldn't elaborate on his ruling, saying he would later give written reason to both Christie and federal government lawyers. Also during the hearing Tuesday, Blais and Christie butt heads over Christie's attempts have a surprise witness testify at the hearing. Despite Blais's annoyance that Christie wasn't following proper procedure for entering a new witness, he allowed Dr. Lorraine Day to take the stand. Day, a California doctor who practises alternative cancer treatments, was expected to give a health report on Zundel, who remains in isolation at the city's Metro West Detention Centre. Christie has argued that Zundel's continued detention is harming his health. Earlier this year, the hearing to determine whether Zundel should be out on bail while the government determines if he's a security risk was told the German citizen had a tumour on his chest. Zundel is seeking freedom pending a review of a federal security certificate issued earlier this year that says he's a security risk. The certificate could send him back to Germany to face charges of suspicion of incitement of hatred. Zundel's Web site was at the centre of a Canadian Human Rights Commission ruling in 2000 that ordered anti-Semitic material removed. Zundel fled to the United States shortly before the ruling came down. Now in his mid-60s, he has been in detention since February after being booted out of Tennessee because of U.S. immigration violations. The Canadian Press, 2003 09/23/2003 11:48 EST (via Waterer, DXLD) ** DOMINICAN REPULIC. Hi friends. A note is due to all of you who have helped me with information about radio in the DR. I have received many questions from eager friends who want to now about the book, and it is time to answer. I started the preparation of this book with the help of Teo Veras, one of the main broadcasters in this country. He wanted to prepare this book because of his enthusiasm in radio. So we agreed to work together as he is most always occupied with his work I also had the enthusiasm for radio but in a different way. As I did not have a job or an obligation to work I had time to do the research. And we started. We began in the Archivo General de la Nación (Dominican General Archives) where we started to check all newspapers printed in the country since 1924, when the U.S. troops abandoned our country after eight years of occupation. There have been many mistaken stories published about the real history of radio in the DR, and everybody repeated the same erroneous information. We became even more enthusiastic with our new and unknown findings which urged us to continue. Teo had some friends in Santiago who found for him the early history of radio in the northern part of the country. And the book started to get thick. I already had all about the beginning of electricity in the world with some short biographies of scientists working in the field and the beginning of radio and after. The time came when I finished all of my work plus the early history of radio in the DR. So according to my work I have finished my part, but Teo wants to add more information about the development of FM in our country. I told him that all this won`t find space in the book or we have to leave the world history of radio out. Right now he is working very slowly, according as his work permits him, and I help him when he asks me. I owe my thanks to friends in Sweden, the U.S. and a friend in Argentina, who found for me history of early radio in the countries around South America. Teo has bought a lot of books telling about the beginning of radio in most of Latin America. A reminder to all overseas friends: the book will be written all in Spanish as the intended public is in the DR. I still don`t know how much will the shipping cost be but I presume it will be high due to the quantity of information, the size of the book, weight, quantity of pages, etc., but I will let you know when it is published and I hope it is soon, as I already wish to see it printed (César Objío, Calle Enrique Henríquez 69, Ens. Lugo, Gazcue, Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, Musings of the Members, NRC DX News Sept 29 via DXLD) Teo Veras has a website about radio http://www.teoveras.com.do/pagina_inicio.htm including this note: Se encuentra en fase de preparación la obra sobre "Historia de las comunicaciones y la radio dominicana y de Latinoamérica" Un trabajo cronológico, profundo, objetivo, completo y serio, sobre los orígenes y desarrollo de las comunicaciones en la República Dominicana comparada con los demás países latinoamericanos. Contribuya usted, aceptamos datos y fotos, si tiene algunos favor de comunicarse con nosotros al Tel. (809) 562-2231 o a teo.veras@codetel.net.do Se garantiza la mención en la publicación de la fuente utilizada (via gh, DXLD) ** ECUADOR. 4781.32, Radio Oriental, Sep 22, 1010, Andean vocals, "Swiper" QRM, announcer with ID "...a travez de la... de Oriental... en Tena. Musical guapa... Oriental... la más popular." Fair to good signal (Mark Mohrmann, Coventry, VT, NRD 535D, V-Beam 140m @180 deg., DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ECUADOR. 4781.33, Radio Oriental, Tena 1000-1105 blasting in with musica andina. Tnx Mark Mohrmann. Too close to the previous log of Radio Tacana for comfort. Early fade pattern on CP log, could have been transmitter. If CP is there, should now be buried under the Radio Oriental signal. 24 Sept (Bob Wilkner, Pómpano Beach FL, NRD-535, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** EL SALVADOR. QSL: 17835, R. Imperial. Prepared card and long handwritten letter from Pastor Padre Mendoza in 48 days for follow-up. Mailed from Miami, FL. [My] first QSL from this country in 18 years! (John Wilkins, Wheat Ridge CO, Drake R-8, 100-foot RW, Cumbre DX via DXLD) ** ERITREA [non]. CLANDESTINE from ETHIOPIA to ERITREA, 6350, Voice of Peace and Democracy of Eritrea, 0310 Sept 26, open carrier. 0315 interval signal, good modulation, nice signal. ID mentioning "Democratri Eritray" in presumed Tigrinya and Kunamigna. // 5500. Long talk by man, then another man at 0327 with change in language. IDs and slogans at 0352 and back to open carrier. These transmissions are via the 10 kW Ethiopian transmitters at Mekele. (0357 retune heard with Voice of Tigray Revolution IS.) Via Javaradio Europe (Hans Johnson, WY, Cumbre DX via DXLD) ** ETHIOPIA. 7110, Radio Ethiopia in presumed Amharic at 0340 Sept 26. Nice signal. // weaker 9704. Via Javaradio Europe (Hans Johnson, WY, Cumbre DX via DXLD) ** EUROPA ISLAND. It was announced this past week that the world`s number 6th most wanted entity (Europe 10th and U.S 6th), Europa Island (IOTA AF-009) would be active between November 22nd and December 5th. A team of eight French military operators also plan to operate in the CQ World-Wide CW DX Contest during the last weekend of November. They report that it was a difficult project to secure permission to go to this rare island, however thanks to the persistence of Didier, F5OGL, and his team, they did receive the ``OK`` from the general headquarters to go. The team hopes to have three stations active on 160-6 meters on CW, SSB and the digital modes. The team members for this operation include: Didier/F5OGL, Dany/F5CW, Eric/F5JKK, Stephane/F5KIN, Freddy/F5IRO, David/F0CRS, Chris/TU5AX and possibly another operator. The callsign will not be Announced until the operation begins. QSL cards will be handled by F5OGL and may be sent via the bureau or direct to: Didier Senmartin, P.O. Box 7, 53320 Loiron, France. ADDED NOTE: It was also announced: ``Be aware of the possibility that the operation could be cancelled if the international situation were to unfold, as these operators would have to all go on active duty because of their military jobs.`` (KB8NW/OPDX September 29/BARF-80 via John Norfolk, DXLD) ** FIJI. FIJI BROADCASTERS COMPETE FOR GOVERNMENT CONTRACT MELBOURNE, Australia (Radio Australia, Sept. 24) - Fiji's commercial broadcasters have been told they'll have to demonstrate an ability to provide national coverage reaching the entire rural population if they want to win the government contract for public service broadcasts. Fiji Broadcasting Corporation, which has the current contract, faces competition for the new contract which begins in January. The Fiji Government has invited tenders for the new three-year Public Service Broadcast contract. In its latest newsletter, Infonet - Fiji's Information Ministry - says candidates are expected to demonstrate a high standard of professional broadcasting and the ability to provide national coverage reaching the entire population. The Ministry says the successful contractor will be obligated to provide national development and leadership programs and also focus on cultural heritage, reconciliation, social and community obligations and emergency services. September 24, 2003 Radio Australia: http://www.abc.net.au/ra Copyright © 2003 Radio Australia. All Rights Reserved (Via Harry van Vugt, Windsor, Ontario, Canada, from Pacific Islands Report) Fiji's commercial broadcasters have been told they will have to demonstrate an ability to provide national coverage reaching the entire rural population, if they want to win the government contract for public service broadcasts. . . http://www.abc.net.au/ra/newstories/RANewsStories_952277.htm (via Jilly Dybka, Sept 24, DXLD) ** FRANCE. Glenn, here's the note George Poppin sent to Daniel Bouchent of TDF, who is retiring from his post of overseeing frequency management of Radio France Internationale, along with his rôle with TDF's shortwave transmission facilities (Issoudon, Montsinéry, etc.). (Joe Hanlon in Mays Landing, NJ, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Dear Daniel, What surprising news to hear that all of a sudden you are going to be leaving us on 1 October --- you are going to retire from TDF!! What an honor it has been for me to have been associated with your office since August 1985...just about eighteen years. Thank you for having the confidence in my technical monitoring for TDF. I have learned a lot in those eighteen years. Since hearing your English news broadcast in 1985 until your discontinuance of broadcasts to North America I have received and replied to approximately five to six hundred letters of RFI listeners each year. I would say six hundred replies was the maximum in one year. I have the names and addresses of each RFI listener who asked for your radio frequencies in my outgoing mail log as a reference. Sorry to say today there is only a trickle of letters from RFI listeners compared to yesteryear. Wie schade, as the Germans say, for France whom I admire so much in their historical past, from Bonaparte in Europe to Lafayette in America. Your distinguished service to France in the field of radio is deserving of a medal of honor from France...who else has contributed so much of their personal devotion and dedicated service to their nation in the field of radio? My wife Dottie, whose ancestors come from Mulhouse, and I an 85 year old first generation American Russian salute you, dear Daniel. We hope that your retirement years will be happy, healthy and comfortable. Do not forget to drop us a line occasionally. With kind regards, Most sincerely, George J. and Dottie Poppin in San Francisco (via Joe Hanlon, DXLD) ** GERMANY. DTK T-System change: Evangeliumsradio Hamburg: 1730-1800 6015 JUL 100 kW / non-dir Tue/Wed to CeEu German ||||| cancelled (Observer, Bulgaria, Sept 26 via DXLD) see also DEUTSCHES REICH [non] ** GERMANY [and non]. Kiel-Kronshagen, the 612 kHz site: http://www.senderfotos.de/images/schleswigholstein/kronshagen1.jpg http://www.senderfotos.de/images/schleswigholstein/kronshagen2.jpg The mediumwave antenna can be easily distinguished from the FM/TV masts with no insulators in the guys. See http://209.68.42.62/sender/ 153_spektrum: Note the utility station of German weather service on 147, this signal always leaked through when listening to DLF decades ago when it was on 151, running USB plus carrier in order to protect the utility station. 25740: This could be the low power transmitter operated for demonstration purposes during the IFA fair at Berlin-Britz on this frequency. flevo3: A Telefunken S4001 (100 kW), the same model than installed at Jülich and Berlin-Britz. So this is the Flevo backup unit, used for their DRM tests. The DRM equipment is courtesy of T-Systems, anyway employed by Nozema to take care of maintenance, spare parts supply etc. putbus: The 51 metres tall standard antenna at Putbus. s50: What's this? The transmitter could be a Marconi; Rampisham? wertachtal2: The old transmitters from the seventies, now to be replaced by RIZ (Croatia) equipment (Kai Ludwig, Germany, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Whose site is this with all the photos? ** GERMANY. SPECIAL EVENT. Ric, DL2VFR, informs OPDX that during the month of October look for a special DOK (SDOK) callsign that was issued to the ``Klubstation des Ortsverbandes``, DL0KWH. The SDOK callsign is ``80VOX`` and celebrates the 80th anniversary of starting a regular radio broadcast service in Germany. The program was produced in the historical ``VOX-Haus`` in Berlin and transferred to the transmitting station in Konigs Wusterhausen where it hit the waves worldwide. The club station DL0KWH is situated in the area of the old transmitting site (it will be shown on the QSL card). The club station plans to be busy giving out the SDOK callsign between October 1-31st on all bands and modes. The SDOK callsign is good for The DARC`s ``DLD Award``. Additionally, there is an award called ``Sender Konigs Wusterhausen`` and it also counts for this club activity. The club station`s Web page is at: http://www.qsl.net/dl0kwh (KB8NW/OPDX September 29/BARF-80 via John Norfolk, DXLD) ** GUATEMALA. 4052.47, R. Verdad, 0045* 22 Sept., Just as I tuned in, heard instrumental religious music and the signal went off in mid- song!!! Nice clear signal too!! Oh well (Dave Valko, micro-DXpedition QTH, PA, 300' Beverage at 170 degrees Cumbredx mailing list via DXLD) Earlier sign-off Sunday eves? ** GUATEMALA. R. Cultural untraced on 3300 and 5955 for some time now. Anyone hearing them? The latter frequency especially doesn't propagate too well to WY. 4780, R. Cultural Coatán doesn't seem to be on in the evenings at all, just mornings (Hans Johnson, WY, Sept 26, Cumbre DX via DXLD) ** GUINEA-BISSAU. GUINEA-BISSAU POLICE RAID PRIVATE RADIO TO THWART SATIRICAL SHOW AIRING | Text of report by Portuguese news agency Lusa web site Bissau, 28 September: Guinea-Bissau's private radio station, Bombolom FM, in Bissau was today occupied by the police, with the announcer saying on radio that he could only explain what was happening later on. At the moment there are no details about the situation. Guinea- Bissau has been experiencing some tensions since the coup on 14 September that ousted President Kumba Yala. The police went to Radio Bombolom to prohibit the broadcast of a political-satirical programme and warn the radio authorities that it is necessary to ask the Military Committee for the Re-establishment of Constitutional and Democratic Order for permission to air some programmes. Source: Lusa news agency web site, Lisbon, in Portuguese 28 Sep 03 (via BBCM via DXLD) ** GUYANA. 3290 kHz, Voice of Guyana, from 0833 in English with choral music, OM at 0840 with an Islamic meditation and male vocal, "Good morning, this is the Voice of Guyana .... the time is 4:45; subcontinental music; fair at that time; recheck at 0925 with ID repeated; still present but very weak at 0958. Also presumed between 0100-0200 on the 24th and 25th in English, but no intelligible ID heard either day, quite poor (Roger Chambers, Utica, NY, Drake SW 8 with whip antenna, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** HONDURAS. I have checked 3340 kHz the last couple of days. They are there, in fact, identifying as "La Voz de Misiones". Their former frequency of 5010 is not in use. I finally heard a telephone number for R Misiones Sept 10, so I called. The operator was happy indeed, so he called the director, who in turn called me. I asked them to identify the station from time to time, even using canned IDs, and to give their address on the air, request reports, and give their telephone numbers on the air as many times as they could. After an hour they had received phone calls from all over the country, and couldn't cease sending "saludos" to yours truly thanking me for the report and suggestions. They also tweaked the audio a bit after my suggestion, so after 0200 UT on Sep. 11 (UT) their audio was louder and clearer. The director of the station is Pastor Noe Raudales. He confirmed that 5010 is down due to a bad transmitter, as is 5890. They are now broadcasting through 1480 mediumwave and 3340 shortwave. Their shortwave outlet at 3340 is using 2.5 kW into a dipole antenna. Their schedule is 1200-0500 in Spanish, with occasional announcements in English during the night hours (after 00 UT). They use several canned ID's: "La Voz del Evangelio completo", "Radio Misiones, la radio que comunica Vida", "Llevando el Evangelio completo, Radio Misiones" And the operators ID as "La Voz de Misiones" or "Radio Misiones". They broadcast from Comayagüela, sister city of the capital Tegucigalpa (when I visit there I often do not know whether I am in Tegucigalpa or Comayagüela! hihi). During the night hours (after 0100 UT) most of their music selections are by Honduran performers (Christian musicians, that is). According to Pastor Raudales, they have a stock of QSL cards ready and will confirm reception reports (which they are in awe of) to: Radio Misiones Internacionales, Attn: Pastor Noe Raudales, Apdo. Postal 20583, Comayagüela, Honduras. Should someone want to call them, their studio telephone number is (+504) 238-4933. Pastor Raudales told me they would very much appreciate reception reports from all over, and he was REALLY happy when I told him their signals were being heard abroad. I spoke to him a bit about DSWCI and the Dxing hobby. He said you all will be in his prayers. During the night hours they also identify in English as "HRMI" and "IMF World Missions" and give an address in San Bernardino, California, USA. Future plans: 5010 back on air (probably) by the end of the week, and 5890 later before year-end. They would then be on air through 3340, 5010 and 5890. They will keep me informed of any changes, and I will in turn inform you (Elmer Escoto, Honduras, for DSWCI DX-Window, Sep 11 via DXLD) ** INDIA. 15075, *0415 Sept 22. All India Radio in presumed Gujarati to East Africa. Signal was quite weak but the very noticeable AIR IS was heard until sign-on, followed by male announcer. His voice was at about threshold level at best -- too weak to discern better details. (I think recent world events, including blackouts, certain governments' censoring of the internet, increasing commercialization of the internet & now the Iraqi "government's" censoring of 2 Arab satellite news networks shows that shortwave remains the freest form of broadcasting, despite its technical limitations). (Ralph Famularo, Osaka, Japan, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** INDONESIA From the HQ of RRI, this is the new schedule of Voice of Indonesia as effective from Oct 1, 2003: 1 Arabic 1600-1700 15150 39SE; 39SW; 39NW 2 Spanish 1700-1800 15150 37NW 3 German 1800-1900 15150 27SE 4 French 1900-2000 15150 27SE 5 English 2000-2100 15150 27SE 0200-0300 11785/9525 41NE; SE; NW; SW [ex 0100-0200] 0800-0900 9525 49NE; 58NE; SE 6 Indonesian 0300-0400 11785/9525 54NE; 54NW 1300-1400 9525 49NE; 54NW, 54NE 7 Malaysian 0900-1000 9525 54NW 8 Thai 1000-1030 9525 49SW; NW 9 Mandarin 1030-1130 9525 44NW; SW; NE; SE 10 [missing altho in time order maybe nothing else there] 11 Japanese 1130-1200 9525 45SW; NW; NE 12 Korean 1200-1300 9525 Korea (from: Lim Kwet Hian, Jakarta, Sept 26, Cumbre DX via DXLD) ** INDONESIA. Voice of Indonesia reappeared on shortwave after a couple of weeks' absence on 22 September, including at 0030-0400 on 9525 and 15150 (ex-11785) kHz. 15150 is a poor choice at that time owing to Chinese jamming on the frequency. Current RRI Jakarta domestic frequencies: Pro-3 on 11860, 15125 kHz Pro-4 on 9680 kHz RRI Makassar was heard a couple of times on 6 and 7 August on 9552 kHz around 0200, but has since been silent on that frequency (Alan Davies, Bali, Sept 24, Cumbre DX via DXLD) Not Davis! ** INTERNATIONAL WATERS. I hope I am allowed to publicise a Yahoo group dedicated to Radio London I started on 18 September this year. "This list is for those who appreciate the superb offshore broadcaster which was off the English coast in the mid 1960s. It was for many the greatest radio station ever." RadioLondon266-subscribe@yahoogroups.com We now have 38 members, most I expect over a certain age! Thank you (Mike Terry, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** IRAN [non]. CLANDESTINE from ? to IRAN, 13800, R. International 1629 Sept 24, Merlin interval signal, 1630 Dire Straits theme and ID's by man and woman. No sign of any jamming. Via Javaradio/Europe. 9375, Voice of Southern Azerbaijan Listed as *1630, untraced via Javaradio/Europe. Off or new sked? (Hans Johnson, WY, Cumbredx mailing list via DXLD) V. of South Azerbaijan R., Sep 22 *1531-1543, 23442, 1531 s/on with opening music. ID and opening announce. Talk and local music. (Hashimoto, Japan Premium via Iwata) Ah ha, that explains why I didn't hear them at *1630 (Hans Johnson, WY, Cumbredx mailing list via DXLD) This one was confirmed by the station originating from Azerbaijan (that would be the Gäncä site). Target is the northern part of Iran which is populated mainly by ethnic Azeris and called "South Azerbaijan" by this group and in Azerbaijan (Bernd Trutenau, Lithuania, Cumbredx mailing list via DXLD) ** IRAQ [non]. CLANDESTINE from ? to MIDDLE EAST. Voice of Ashur, 9155: tried for this at 1115 Sept 24 on a Javaradio in Europe and didn't hear a thing. Are they still active or has their schedule changed? I thought it was 0745-1200 on 9155. Also check at 1600 and found nothing. I tried the website Zowaa.com but it didn't load (Hans Johnson, WY, Cumbredx mailing list via DXLD) Later: The website of http://www.zowaa.org still works, but I couldn't find anything recent on the radio broadcasts. zowaa.com just loads a blank page on my browser (Hans Johnson, WY, Sept 26, Cumbre DX via DXLD) Sorry, yes - zowaa.com only loads a blank page, zowaa.org is under reconstruction. On my browser it says: "Zowaa.org has taken a new face to web designing. Ishtar Web Development & Media Group UPGRADES zowaa.org in September." 73s, (Bernd Trutenau, Lithuania, ibid.) ** IRAQ [non]. SAUDI ARABIA to IRAQ, 9563v, Voice of the Iraqi People --- Informed sources in the Middle East tell Cumbre DX that this station is airing a pro Iraqi Governing Council agenda (Hans Johnson, WY, Sept 23, Cumbredx mailing list via DXLD) ** IRAQ. SHUTTING OUT THE ENEMY Iraq's US-backed Governing Council has moved to limit the operations of two Arab satellite TV stations, accusing them of encouraging terrorism and working against a new Iraqi democracy. The partial ban on al-Jazeera, based in Qatar, and al-Arabiya, based in Dubai, has met with condemnation from press freedom groups around the world. Radio Netherlands' Hans-Jaap Melissen is currently in Iraq, and interviewed Iraqi National Congress spokesman Entifadh Qanbar who says the situation had gotten out of hand. . . http://www.rnw.nl/hotspots/html/ira030924.html (Media Network newsletter Sept 25 via DXLD) ** IRELAND. Reflections Europe --- Per the station, here are the powers they are running and the antennas they are using: 3910 500 W Full wavelength dipole + reflector 6295 2 kW 1.5 wavelength colinear 12255 200 W 4 element directional East (via Hans Johnson, Sep 29, Cumbre DX via DXLD) ** IRELAND. Re 612v: I am doubtful about that 'tired sounding' Athlone Transmitter, being commissioned as recently as 1979, Although other correspondents seem to have more detailed knowledge. I still think its the old c. 1950 Athlone (566 kHz) Radio Eireann Transmitter. Some of your 'more mature' U.K/Irish Readers, will surely remember 'The Kennedys of Castleross'. Many Thanks (Ken Fletcher, UK, 2335UTC September 23rd 2003, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ISRAEL. Some changes for Kol Israel: 0300-2115 Arabic 12150 deleted ||||| now on single freq 5915 0415-0430 French 9435, 15640 ||||| ex 0500-0515 on same freqs 1000-1010 French 15640, 17525, 17545 ||||| ex 1000-1015 on same freqs 1010-1020 English 15640, 17525, 17545 ||||| ex 1015-1030 on same freqs 1020-1030 Spanish 15640, 17525, 17545 ||||| new transmission 1000-1025 Yiddish 15655 ||||| cancelled 1025-1040 Ladino 15655 ||||| cancelled 1630-1700 Hebrew 15640, 17545 ||||| new transmission 1700-1715 English 15640, 17545 ||||| ex 1700-1705, re-ex 1630- 1645 on same 1705-1710 French 15640, 17545 ||||| deleted 1710-1715 Spanish 15640, 17545 ||||| deleted (Observer, Bulgaria, Sept 26 via DXLD) ** ITALY. I heard EMR [European Music Radio] this morning (Sunday [Sept 28]) at 0900 UT on 13840 kHz. They had previously said they would be on at 1000 UT but that time seems to be wrong as it was on at 0900 UT today. I presume this is being relayed via IRRS in Italy. 73s (Dave Kenny, UK, hard-core-dx via DXLD) ** ITALY. 7306U, R. Europe is this outlet still active? If so, can anyone let me know when it is? It has been a while since I have heard this one and I'd like to give it another shot (Hans Johnson, WY, Sep 25, Cumbre DX via DXLD) Hello Hans, I noted this 500 watt station on Sunday mornings ONLY, in past 15 years, I guess. The station has a fine thiny signal - technicalwise - in USB mode on exact frequency of course. WRTH shows a 0600-1200v time slot. So for the NAm audience I would recommend to listen towards Europe on SUNDAYS at around 0600-0700 UT in deep winter November til February. Regular reception of 7 MHz Italian stations - also in the 40 ham band - is not a problem at my location in southern Germany, only 800-900 km away. 73 wb (Wolfgang Büschel, Stuttgart, ibid.) It's again on the air with more power from this weekend, on Saturday and Sunday morning, but irregularly (Roberto Scaglione http://www.bclnews.it Sept 26, Cumbre DX via DXLD) Dear Hans, both informations from Wolfgang and Roberto are corrects. Being I am involved in Radio Europe on 7306 kHz USB mode, I am their QSL manager (reports please to Radio Europe, P.O. BOX 12, IT-20090 Limito, Italy). I also have a Dx-program called PLAYDX MUSIC with lot of Dx-talks and Dx-news, and not so much real music, but not at fixed schedule. Radio Europe is a real Pirate station and the owner Mr. Alex Bertini is more than 15 years doing this just for amusing, so he does only if he has time to do it, but usually it is on Saturday and Sunday. From September a new linear is utilized , power max is 1500 Watts, but usually it is around 700-800 Watts. The schedule is 0600- 1200 UT, but it is not fixed. Naturally Hans we may be in touch for TESTS to your area for next coming period, at 2100-0600 UT, all it depends if the "bloody" Vatican Radio will continue to utilize 7305 kHz. Let see in coming 2-3 weeks. Good Dxs! (Dario Monferini, Milano, ibid.) Hey, I`ve got an idea --- why not use some other frequency? (gh, DXLD) ** ITALY. 6060, Rai --- I always thought that this one just carried Rai 1, but when listening at 0200 Sept 25, I noticed that it was actually carrying the IV Canale with a jazz program (I paralleled with the live streams at the RAI website.) Does anyone have a good schedule of which domestic service(s) the SW outlets are carrying? (Hans Johnson, WY, Cumbre DX via DXLD) Rai International doesn't relay regularly any domestic service since May 14, when Caltanissetta transmitter site closed down (Radio 1 and Radio 2 was daytime on 6060/9515 and 7175 with 5/25 kW); however, some programs are available (sometimes also live relay of Radio 2) in 0630- 1300 slot on 9670 and 11800 from Roma Prato Smeraldo. It's possible Roma Prato Smeraldo will close at the end of the year, and no more SW transmission from Italy (...only IRRS) (Roberto Scaglione, Sicily, ibid.) ** JAPAN [non]. SHORTWAVE LISTENING DURING THE JAPANESE OCCUPATION OF CHINA Larry Sitsky - Australian pianist, composer, musicologist and teacher - has been described as "one of the true elder statesmen of Australian music" by former opera singer Patrick Togher. ... Sitsky was born in the Chinese city of Tianjing, a metropolis which the major European powers had carved into various concessions. He grew up in the French concession and went to school in the English concession. .... Under the Japanese occupation of Tianjing, which lasted from 1937 until 1945 during the Sino-Japanese war, it was also a world of uncertainty, where personal liberties were limited and the movements of individuals were vetted closely. The military would regularly conduct house to house searches in the neighbourhood. "If someone knocked on the door and wanted to see what radio you have in the house, you had to let them in. The shortwave was sealed off with red wax. You couldn`t turn the dial to certain stations around the world and if the seal was broken you were in trouble. They would ask to look at what books were on the shelf," he says... http://www.citynews.com.au/news/Article.asp?id=1544 73 (via Kim Elliott, DXLD) ** JAPAN [non]. DX programs from overseas broadcasters Japan Short Wave Club has begun broadcasts to offer DX-related information from overseas broadcasters as follows: 1. Adventist World Radio - "Wavescan" A several minutes' segment is allocated to our club during the first Sunday (in principle) edition of the DX program of AWR "Wavescan". For detailed broadcast schedule, visit the AWR website: http://www.awr.org/ 2. HCJB World Radio etc. - "DX Partyline" And also a several minutes are given to us during the fourth Saturday (in principle) edition of the DX program of HCJB World Radio "DX Partyline." Our DX segments are usually called "Far Eastern DX Report" or "Asian DX News". When you listen to them, please send your reception reports to the following address of our club's headquarters in Sendai. We will issue a verification card for correct reception reports. (Please enclose either 1 IRC or one dollar US bill.) Mailing address of JSWC headquarters: Japan Short Wave Club, P. O. Box 29, Sendai Central, 980-8691 JAPAN FAX: +81-22-227-4194 / E-mail: jswchq@hotmail.com Thank you very much for your kind attention. Source of information: Toshimichi Ohtake, member of Japan Short Wave Club. Written by: Nobuya Kato, Member of JSWC / September 24 2003 (via John Wright, Australia, ripple via DXLD) I heard the first edition on this week`s DXPL. Many of the items dated back to August, so perhaps they wanted to get some important old news out of the way first. Several of the times given for DXPL on WWCR and WINB were also outdated, deleted. See our latest listings (gh, DXLD) ** KUWAIT. On 23 Sep at 2215 tune in I noted a station with continuous English pop music on 1575. Rather strong signal, coming possibly from east or south. VOA Thailand and R Asia were also heard at times under this station. Still audible at 2335. After some songs there was a male announcer in English, starting with what sounds like "105", then voice was cut and new song started. Any ideas? (Jari Savolainen, Kuusankoski Finland, Cumbre DX via DXLD) This is probably the Kuwaiti that used to carry Radio Al-Mustaqbal, for several weeks now just playing continuous music at scheduled Al- Mustaqbal times, i.e. 1100-1400 & 2130-0030 UT. Same story on former Radio Tikrit/Radio Sumer frequency 1584 kHz - just continuous music in their 1900-2100 slot (Dave Kernick, Reading, UK, ibid.) Yes Dave, I guess that is the "CIA" transmitter in Kuwait. Seems they play music recorded from some FM station (105?) and there are bits of original announcements audible. Thanks (Jari Savolainen, Kuusankoski, Finland, Sept 25, ibid.) ** LEBANON [non]. CLANDESTINE from CIS to LEBANON, 11645, Voice of Free Lebanon, untraced for their *1600 Sept 24 via a Javaradio in Europe. New sked, freq, or off? (Hans Johnson, WY, Cumbredx mailing list via DXLD) Their website of http://www.rpliban.org/ is no longer active. If off, it hasn't been too long as there were logs over the summer (Hans Johnson, WY, Sept 26, Cumbre DX via DXLD) The correct website (has daily audio files): http://www.tayyar.org/radio/RadioLoubnanAl7oriya/index.htm It's still in the TDP schedule ("Sawt Lubnan Al-Houriya"): http://www.airtime.be/schedule.html (Bernd Trutenau, ibid.) So is R. Togo Libre, gone for more than two sesquimonths (gh) ** MALAYSIA. RTM Sarawak --- The outlets at Kuching on 4895 and 7270 were noted in // at 1255 with singing and at 1300 Sept 24 with presumed National news. It seemed that Sibu on 6050 was also in // but that the audio kept dropping out and open carrier was heard. 5965, RTM Kuala Lumpur with National news at 1305 Sept 24 // 4895. Mixing with unID co-channel station (Hans Johnson, WY, Cumbredx mailing list via DXLD) ** MALAYSIA. 15295, 0802 Sept 21, V. of Malaysia in English with "World News" consisting mostly of economic items from East Asia and beyond. Signal was the perhaps the best I've ever heard on this frequency. Generally strong with a few moments dipping to "fair" levels. Caught a very clear, "You are listening to the Voice of Malaysia" ID (Ralph Famularo, Osaka, Japan, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** MEXICO. Re: XERTA, I'm not hearing ANYTHING on 4810 either late in the evening or very early in the morning. Suppose they have a directional antenna? Thanks and best regards (BEN Loveless, MI, Sept 26, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Doubt it could be that direxional; perhaps it is back to irregular operation (gh, DXLD) 4810. 0930-1130 no sign of signal (Bob Wilkner, Pómpano Beach FL, Sept 24, NRD-535, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 4810, XERTA missing for a few days. I think we can all agree that this was hardly a new transmitter. I would guess that they had just repaired their old one (Hans Johnson, WY, Sept 27, Cumbredx mailing list via DXLD) ** MYANMAR. 5040.54, Radio Myanmar, 1100-1120, YL, minorities program, no longer // 4725 which seems silent. These two were parallel several months ago (Bob Wilkner, Pómpano Beach FL, Sept 24, NRD-535, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** NAMIBIA. 6060, NBC (Presumed), 1900 Sept 25 with news in English, then promos or ads "Worldwide news". Bad splatters from Europeans. Recheck at 2000, again with English news, now also parallel 6175 was audible. After news, English phone-in program in parallel on both frequencies (Jari Savolainen, Finland, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** NICARAGUA. Unidentified station in Spanish on 9905 heard 0215 to 0242 September 25th, up beat dance music with few announcements. Adán Mur in Paraguay says that the University Station in Managua has recently commenced operations on 9905 with a power of 1 kW (Ed Kusalik, Canada, Cumbre DX via World DX Club Contact via DXLD) How strange -- we had a report of this many months ago, but there was absolutely no confirmation, and much more recently Mur`s R. América in Paraguay was supposedly on 9905 (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** NIGER. 9705, Sept. 28, 2130-2158*, very strong, vernacular similar to Hausa and typical regional music (Thorsten Hallmann, Münster, Germany, DX LISTENING DIGEST) http://africa.coolfreepage.com/africalist ** NIGERIA. 17800 heard regularly in Basingstoke around 0600 to past 1000 (Edwin Southwell, England, Oct World DX Club Contact via DXLD) ** NORWAY [and non]. Amigos, Back somewhere around 1962 or so Dad bought me that ill-fated Hallicrafters S38E with which I learned to speak Spanish with a certain swagger & Cuban accent. One of the reasons I wanted the radio was to listen to Norwegian, which I was then (and still am) learning out of a book. Nowadays it's more like four or five books. The Norwegian shortwave broadcasts came out of a building on Björnstjerne Björnsonsgate in Oslo where Norsk Rikskringkasting had its offices and studios. I used to have a brochure about it. Well, I learned today, while trying to figure out the reason for me having a Radio Denmark shortwave schedule & not having one for NRK, I discovered something that kinda put a perspective on things: As of 31 December 2003, Norsk Rikskringkasting will cease all shortwave transmissions from their Sveiø and Kvitsøy transmitter sites. They already rent time to Radio Denmark, and the info I found on their web site says something like they're cutting back "the number of shortwave transmissions to give more time to other broadcasters." I guess they rent time to other folks too . . . Radio Free Chechnya or something. [NOT that one, AFAIK --- gh] Good thing I have the web now. Otherwise I'd have to listen to Radio Denmark from a Norwegian transmitter site. Or Radio Sweden from the CBC transmitter site up on the little peninsula [isthmus] that hooks Nova Scotia to New Brunswick. Sackville, NB. I toured that site once. The Canadian one. Very neat stuff. Lots of mosquitos. I don't think it'll be the same, downloading the programs on my computer, even if I use Cindy's roadrunner machine. Something about the selective fading and the static crashes in the background, not to mention the polar flutter, just makes it more . . . romantic. And what am I listening to now as I type this? Türkiyenin sesi radyosu. Why? I like the music. Sometimes I can even make out the present progressive tense of a verb. When they read the news. Haber. Maybe after I pick up my youngest from his first "date" (the high school "homecoming" dance) I'll put on the earphones and see if I can hear any weak signals coming through the RTTY on 40m. 73 (Nils R. Bull Young -- W8IJN -- La Estancia de los Guajolotes Sonrientes -- http://w8ijn.tripod.com -- http://members.fortunecity.com/nilsbull "If you can see this, thank a trilobite!" (via QRP-L reflector via Ed Tanton N4XY, swl @ qth.net via DXLD) I have a different perspective on Norse Radio. I once asked them why they only broadcast in English once a week. Their reply was that they didn't think English wasn't a very important language to which I replied that if if it weren't for English language speaking people they would all be speaking German and English language broadcasts would be the least of their problems. Never heard from them again (Bill Krause, Sept. 28, swl at qth.net via DXLD) ** OKLAHOMA [and non]. In case no one else noticed, KGYN-1210 Guymon was absent Sept 23-24, at least. I can be sure of this, since I spent that night in Guymon, drove right by the triple-towers east of town, and zilch. No tower lights either, tho it was not yet quite dark, and some higher tower in the distance was strobbing. Made several checks during the evening and next morning; phone went unanswered. After dark, in Guymon itself, some other stations were audible on 1210, dominated by one in Spanish. I was about to conclude Clear [sic] Channel had already turned KGYN off in preparation for moving the license to OKC (surely not much, if any of the old equipment). However, on Sun Sept 28 around 2200 UT as I was passing thru the Texas panhandle, within groundwave range, KGYN was back on with its own usual block of Spanish programming. Public radio has finally come to the OK and TX panhandles (other than translators here and there), with KTOT 89.5 Spearman-Perryton TX, a satellite of KANZ-91.1 Garden City KS. On the car radio, range is roughly from Woodward to Boise City OK, and all along US 60 NE from Amarillo. Still running in Amarillo are the two KANZ translators on 94.9 and 91.3, tho the latter (actually Washburn) is missing from the FM Atlas XIX map and state listings. The NWS TIS VHF relay is also still running on 1610 in Amarillo (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** OKLAHOMA. Call letter changes: 1640 KMKZ OK Enid, new call: KMMZ (AM Switch, NRC DX News Sept 29 via DXLD) Hardly a surprise as this owner did musical-calls previously with 96.9, which for a while was KMMZ for ``Memories``. 1640 is not yet on the air but should be getting close. I keep an ear on it (Glenn Hauser, Enid, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** OMAN. Radio Oman B'03 Freq Schedule (26 OCT, 2003 TO 28 MARCH, 2004) all entries are daily UTC UTC FREQ STRT STOP CIRAF ZONES LOC POWR AZI ANT LANG ---------------------------------------------------------------------- 6085 0200 0400 39N,40W SEB 100 320 141 Arabic 6085 2000 2200 39SW,48 SEB 100 240 146 Arabic 6190 1800 2000 39SW,48 SEB 100 240 146 Arabic 9515 0400 0600 39N,40W SEB 100 320 141 Arabic 9760 2300 0200 28,39N THU 100 315 218 Arabic 13640 0600 1400 39N,40W SEB 100 320 141 Arabic 13640 2000 2200 28,39N THU 100 315 218 Arabic 13725 1400 1800 48,53 THU 100 220 205 Arabic 13755 2200 2400 28,39N THU 100 315 218 Arabic 15140 1400 1500 28,39N THU 100 315 218 English 15140 1500 1800 28,39N THU 100 315 218 Arabic 15355 0200 0300 48,53 THU 100 220 205 Arabic 15355 0300 0400 48,53 THU 100 220 205 English 15355 1800 2000 48,53 THU 100 220 205 Arabic 15375 1400 1800 39SW,48 SEB 100 240 146 Arabic 17590 0400 0600 48,53 THU 100 220 205 Arabic 17630 0600 1000 28,39N THU 100 315 218 Arabic Locations of txers : THU - Thumrait - 100 kw; SEB - Seeb - 100 kw Regds, (via Alokesh Gupta, New Delhi, India, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** PAKISTAN. 21454.98, 0900 UT Sept 29. Radio Pakistan, Islamabad. Pips, ID and News Bulletin followed at 0905 with local Music. Urdu. Not sure if this is a new frequency or they are on an incorrect frequency for today only. Will need to check again tomorrow (Graham Powell, Wales, Editor - Online DX Logbook http://www.shortwave.org.uk DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** PALESTINE [non]. La Voix de la Révolution Islamique du Palestine sur 3955 kHz de 1930 à 2025 UT, SINPO 45444, le 17-09-2003. L`animateur annonce les adresses de la station qui sont partout dans le monde arabe, un exemple en Syrie: BP 9731, Damas, Syrie; téléphone 0098212014717, email: palestine@irib.com (Mohamed Kallel, KDXN, SFAX Tunisia, FGR-7700, DX LISTENING DIGEST) via IRAN ** PERU. 4485.62, Radio Frecuencia VH, Sep 24, 0929-1005, Andean vocals with announcer between songs. 0959 canned announcement with lots of reverb, back to announcer with live ID in passing "...en Radio Frecuencia V-H la...", only fair signal but much stronger than usual (Mark Mohrmann, Coventry, VT, NRD 535D, V-Beam 140m @180 deg., DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** PERU. First above average conditions I've noted this season for 60 and 90 meter Latin American DX, this morning. There were several low power stations in with fairly good signals including: 4485.6, R Frecuencia, Celendín, 1022 Sep 24, I have not heard this one in a while. Very nice folk music, a joy to listen to. Reception was fair to good with grayline lining up fairly well between Celendín and Nashville. Good audio. ID mentioned by the announcer in passing at 1053, and canned with echo at 1100. Fade down shortly thereafter (David Hodgson, TN, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** PERU. 4835.41, Radio Marañon, Jaen, 1055 ID by OM, seemingly poor modulation. Tnx Björn Malm observation / correction (Bob Wilkner, Pómpano Beach FL, Sept 24, NRD-535, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** PERU. Radio Onda Imperial reactivada! 5055.19 kHz, Radio Onda Imperial, Cusco, el 25 de Septiembre 2003 - 0135 UT. Para mí el primer contacto con Radio Onda Imperial. No tengo ningún conocimiento de esta emisora peruana. Alguien en la lista tiene alguna información? En WRTH está en la frecuencia de 5056 kHz. Una señal bastante débil pero me entregó una identificación cristalina y muy sorprendente: ``Radio Onda Imperial`` algunas veces cuando estuve escuchando un partido de fútbol. No estoy seguro pero pienso que uno de los dos equipos haya sido Colombia (el otro Perú o Chile?). Visite Radio Onda Imperial en esta página de web: http://www.ondaimperial.pe.nu/ Escuche mi grabación en esta página web de SWB: http://homepage.sverige.net/~a-0901/ Emisora peruana reactivada! 5459.00 kHz Radio Panorama, Recopampa, el 24 de Septiembre 2003 - 0000 UT. La primera vez he notado esta emisora aquí en Quito pero se puede encontrarla en WRTH en 5907 kHz. Escuché su programación musical con inmenso placer, un programa conteniendo cumbia, música tropical y Cristian Castro. El título del programa era "Potencia Tropical". Fuerte QRM de Radio Bolívar en 5460.33 kHz. Escúche una grabación en esta página web de SWB: http://homepage.sverige.net/~a-0901/ 73s (Björn Malm, Quito, Ecuador - SWB América Latina, Sept 27, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** PHILIPPINES. Frequency changes for FEBC effective August 17: 0900-1100 Indonesian NF 15175, ex 15095 1100-1145 Bengali NF 15305* ex 15095 ||||| * not 15035 1145-1530 Burmese NF 15305* ex 15095 ||||| * not 15035 2300-2345 Khmer NF 9855, ex 9860 2300-0100 Mandarin NF 12060, ex 11590 2200-2400 (Observer, Bulgaria, Sept 26 via DXLD) ** POLAND. SPECIAL EVENT. A team of SP4KSY club members will be active again as HF650O to celebrate 650 years of Olsztyn City. The station will be active from October 1st to December 31st, on CW, SSB, RTTY and PSK. QSL via SQ4NR, bureau or direct to: Grzegorz Gawel, ul. Herdera 16/14, 10-691 Olsztyn, POLAND. Their Web page is at: http://www.hf650o.prv.pl (KB8NW/OPDX September 29/BARF-80 via John Norfolk, DXLD) ** POLAND. SPECIAL EVENT. The Polish club station, SP6KFA, will use special event callsign SR25JP to commemorate 25th anniversary of Pope John Paul II pontificate. Also, on October 16th, 1978, Cardinal Karol Wojtyla was elected as the Bishop of Rome. This October 16th, he will have completed 25 years of service. Look for SR25JP on all HF bands (CW, SSB, PSK31, RTTY) between October 1-31st. ADDED NOTE: The prefix ``SR`` is a very rare prefix. QSL direct (using address on QRZ.com) or via the PZK bureau to SP6KFA. (KB8NW/OPDX September 29/BARF-80 via John Norfolk, DXLD) ** PORTUGAL. Besides UAE, q.v., more evidence that 13m is perking up again. Sept 29 after 2200 found a good signal in Portuguese Portuguese on 21540, holding up until fadedown around 2230. Was parallel to much weaker 21655, which must have a drastically different antenna azimuth. Unfortunately, it was a total waste of energy, coverage of some stupid ballgame, evidently vs. Holland (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** RUSSIA. Frequency changes for Voice of Russia: 1200-1300 Korean NF 12055, ex 7400 1400-1600 Persian NF 12035, ex 12015 1500-1600 Ru Common. NF 7130* ex 17580 ||||| *from Sep. 28 1600-1700 French NF 7310, ex 9480 1600-1700 French NF 12070, ex 9890 1600-1900 Arabic NF 9470, ex 9710 1700-1800 Italian NF 12070, ex 9470 1700-1800 Arabic NF 7130* ex 15595 ||||| *from Sep. 28 1800-1900 Arabic NF 5950, ex 5935 1800-1900 Greek NF 11870, ex 12065 1800-1900 French NF 7310, ex 7390 1800-2000 French NF 12070, ex 9890 1830-1900 Arabic NF 7130* ex 15595 ||||| *from Sep. 28 (Observer, Bulgaria, Sept 26 via DXLD) ** SAUDI ARABIA. Le 18-09-2003, l'équivalant de 21 Rajab 1421, à 0803 UT sur 21600 kHz avec un SINPO 53444, le service français de la radio de l'Arabie Saoudite annonce ces fréquences en ondes moyenne pour l'Arabie Saoudite: exemple 1422 KHz pour la région de Riyad, son site Internet: http://www.saudiradio.com et les émissions du jour serrant: la lecture du Cor`an, traduction du Cor`an, info flash, la femme dans l'Islam, l'info et la revue de la presse, le monde des enfants, chansons, l'arabe par la radio, éducation islamique, bienvenue dans le Golf et clémence dans l'Islam (Mohamed Kallel, KDXN, SFAX Tunisia, FGR-7700, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** SAUDI ARABIA [non]. CLANDESTINE from NORWAY to SAUDI ARABIA, 15705, MIRA --- A Sa`udi who had called in to this station and gave his name and address over the air has been arrested in Saudi Arabia. The story seems to indicate that he also made anti-Saudi government statements over the station. This per an AP story (Hans Johnson, WY, Sept 24, Cumbredx mailing list via DXLD) ** SOMALIA. Just received e-mail QSL from Sam Voron for my 22 Sep report of R Galkayo, Somalia on 7335. Yesterday, 23 Sep I couldn't trace the station at all 1600-1800 and Sam gave explanation for that: "Yesterday our city power only worked in some areas, not ours, so we used our generator which means we cannot use our amplifier so we only used 100 Watts last night." (Jari Savolainen, Kuusankoski, Finland, Sept 24, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** SOUTH AFRICA. Deleted frequencies for Channel Africa: 0300-0330 English DEL 3230, now on 6035 only 0300-0325 Swahili DEL 3965, now on 6160 only 0330-0355 French DEL 3230, now on 6035 only (Observer, Bulgaria, Sept 26 via DXLD) ** SOUTH AFRICA. 3320 kHz, SABC outlet (presumed) from 0105 UT, in Afrikaans with YL talk, EZL music (a program theme?) at 0107, then an interview program with several male / female speakers and phone calls over the next hour; initially SINPO 32232 with severe RTTY which abruptly disappeared at 0113 UT. Peaked with SINPO 42333 about 0140, on past 0205 tune-out, no ID heard. September 25 (Roger Chambers, Utica, NY, Drake SW 8 with whip antenna, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** SPAIN. Spurious signals of Radio Exterior de España in Spanish from fundamental 11890: 0500-0655 on 12250/12160/12070/11980 and 11800/11710/11620/11530 (Observer, Bulgaria, Sept 26 via DXLD) ** SRI LANKA. 9770, SLBC, R. Sri Lanka, *1230-1243, Sept. 26, English, Transmitter tones, s/on with IS, pips (4+1), announcer with ID and sign-on announcements, then US pops by Santana, Elton John and 3 Dog Night, talks at 1243 but signal had faded substantially by then. Weak but audible, good music/poor vox audio. Very pleased to log this station, tried all last winter to no avail! (Scott Barbour, NH, DX LISTENING DIGEST)) ** SUDAN [non]. CLANDESTINE from ERITREA to SUDAN, 7999.3, Voice of Sudan, 1542 Sept 25 with Arabic talks and local music. Couple of IDs that sound like "Sawt al Shaab al Sudan". Off at 1556 (Jari Savolainen, Finland, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** SUDAN [non]. UNITED KINGDOM, 17630, Sudan Radio Service has started regular programming. 1640 Sept 23 with music and then multiple language IDs at 1645. Short program at 1647 in what I guess was Juba Arabic. I didn't understand much of it but it seemed to be talking about human rights. The music alone is worth tuning in to and I find myself listening to these guys a few times a week (Hans Johnson, WY, Cumbre DX via DXLD) ** SWEDEN. Radio Dellen on the air tonight --- Hello all! Special event station Radio Dellen, Delsbo, Sweden will go on the air at 2200 UT on Thursday, September 25. The frequency is 1602 kHz and we are running about 120 W. We will be on the air until 2200 UT on Sunday, September 29 [sic]. The transmissions are a part of the celebration of Delsbo Radio Club's 30th anniversary. Further details on http://www.rock.x.se/radiodellen.htm Good DX! (Ronny Forslund / The Radio Dellen Team, hard-core-dx via DXLD) I`m a pretty happy man. I just managed after several attempts to hear R DELLEN from Delsbo on 1602 kHz, 2145 UT. Power is only modest 120 W and reception poor to fair. Really nice surprise in my headphones. My receiver is AOR 7030+ and antenna indoor ALA 1530P-loop. 73 de (Jouko Huuskonen, Turku/Åbo Suomi-Finland, Sept 25, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** SWITZERLAND. Hi SRI, PLEASE, PLEASE! check your English on-demand audio. The clock that controls it is off by five minutes and it has been for weeks. You are Swiss; you can at least present a complete program! (Larry Nebron, CA, Sept 25, cc to DXLD) And keep time ** SYRIA [non]. CLANDESTINE from CIS to SYRIA, 12120, Arab Radio, 1500 Sept 24 with ID in Arabic by woman via a Javaradio in Europe. Much, much weaker on // 12085. Music followed. Slogans and IDs by same woman at 1527 and 1530* (Hans Johnson, WY, Cumbredx mailing list via DXLD) ** TAIWAN. New high-power MW frequencies: 1359 kHz carrying Family Radio programmes in Filipino language(s), Indonesian and Vietnamese (and maybe other languages) 1000-, also heard around 2200 in Filipino. 1503 kHz carrying CBS in Mandarin, 1000-1400 (Alan Davies, Bali, Sept 24, Cumbre DX via DXLD) ** UGANDA [non]. Hello Glenn: Apropos 3-170 and the reference to Uganda, the web site of Radio Rhino International - Africa is: http://www.radiorhino.org/ Greetings, (Dennis W. Frado, New York, NY, DX LISTENING DIGEST) KAMPALA --- DP'S SEMOGERERE SPOKE TOO The Monitor (Kampala) September 26, 2003 Former President Milton Obote spoke on Tuesday night at the launch of a short wave radio by exiled Ugandans living in Germany. Mr Obote was hosted for an hour by Mr Godfrey Ayoo, the Director of Radio Rhino International Africa (RRIA). Obote made a 30-minute speech, which marked the official launch of the radio based in the Germany capital, Berlin. His speech was still being relayed on Wednesday. The radio broadcasts on 17.555 short wave frequency. Obote, the President of the Uganda People's Congress (UPC) and twice deposed by the army, has been living in exile in Zambia since 1985. In his speech, Obote as usual, took a swipe at President Yoweri Museveni's regime. He said the regime has committed several human rights violations. The veteran politician also criticised the way Museveni is handling the Joseph Kony insurgency in northern Uganda. He said "Operation Iron Fist" is a total failure. Obote alleged that thousands of people have been massacred in the name of executing the operation. He said RRIA would help UPC expose the sins of Museveni's government. The station also hosted Democratic Party President, Dr Paul Kawanga Ssemogerere on Wednesday evening. Ssemogerere criticised Cabinet's proposal to have the presidential term limit removed. The proposals were presented to the Constitutional Review Commission on Tuesday. Ayoo, a Ugandan political activist who has lived in exile since 1986, said the radio, would give an alternative view on the politics in Uganda. RRIA broadcasts in English from 6-6:30 p.m. on weekdays and from 6 a.m. [sic] to 7 p.m. on weekends. The station's signal is received in east, central and parts of South Africa. The debates can be accessed on RRIA's website, http://allafrica.com/stories/www.radiorhino.org http://allafrica.com/stories/200309260062.html (via Mike Terry, DXLD) ** U S S R. Soviet jammers: There is a nice page at http://www.okupatsioon.ee/english/mailbox/radio/radio.html (Julian Hardstone, Sept 24, hard-core-dx via DXLD) ** U S S R [and non]. Technical Discussion : USSR (Russian) SW transmitters never sold to West ... From what I can gather, high power SW transmitters in the USSR were all based on 'Class B' (push-pull) amplification schemes. Class B amplifiers (for AM modulation) max out at around 60% efficiency. Most 100 kW transmitters in the west (due to the 1970s energy crisis) long moved over to PDM, PSM or a combination of the two schemes used by Thales. The transmitter size was never an issue either -- the transmitters seem to be about 2 or 3 times the cubic volume of their western equivalents. Most of the transmitters lacked anything like the fully programmable automation that became a standard feature in the 1980s. RNZI and several SW relay sites are unstaffed or minimally staffed due to transmitter automation. The USSR pioneered the use of HRS 8 / 8 / 1 curtain arrays, where the west seems to have settled on HRS 6 / 4 / 1 (HRS 12 / 4 / 1 is used by VOA) and HRS 8 / 4 / 1 for directive broadcasting. Yet, I do not expect the Russian SW transmitters to ever be sold in the west. China may innovate here -- myself I have been expecting the Chinese to unveil a HRS 6 / 4 / 1 ALLISS like shortwave transmitter system that is 500 kW capable. I expect the design to be tubeless, period. The west has begun to ditch tube base transmitters on MW and LW (and FM too). The module based amplifier system is not hard to design, and only slightly bulkier (in cubic volume) than tube transmitters. There are enough Chinese EEs to devise such a transmitter system. China does actually need such a transmitter system like ALLISS, as it can aid in jamming. (`mhev` == ``Max Power``, WA, Sept 25, ripple via DXLD) You may be wondering why USSR, in its rare historical appearances nowadays, is alphabetized before UAE, UK and USA --- because the first word is actually UNION (gh) ** UNITED ARAB EMIRATES. Looks like there is some hope for 13m this fall! Acid test is the 1330 English broadcast from Dubai on 21605, which I have not heard for some six months. But on Sept 29 it was audible, if weak, and squeezed between Sa`udi Arabia 21600, and Spain on 21610. At least Dubai is back on 21605.0 rather than 21598 or 21605+. There were a couple of transmitter trip-offs during the period, fortunately only brief ones. News is still a token 4 minutes, including weather. Current feature following is about ibn-Saladin (?) and XIV-century Spain and North Africa; 1348 back to music and Arabic (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Continued in DXLD 3-172! |||||||||||| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||| DX LISTENING DIGEST 3-170, September 23, 2003 edited by Glenn Hauser 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 later at http://www.worldofradio.com/dxldtd3i.html For restrixions and searchable 2003 contents archive see http://www.worldofradio.com/dxldmid.html NOTE: If you are a regular reader of DXLD, and a source of DX news but have not been sending it directly to us, please consider yourself obligated to do so. Thanks, Glenn NEXT AIRINGS OF WORLD OF RADIO 1199: RFPI: Tue 1900, Wed 0100, 0730 on 7445, maybe 15115-USB [nominal times may be delayed] WWCR: Wed 0930 9475 WINB: Thu 0130 9320 WRN ONDEMAND: http://new.wrn.org/listeners/stations/station.php?StationID=24 OUR ONDEMAND AUDIO [also for CONTINENT OF MEDIA, MUNDO RADIAL]: Check http://www.worldofradio.com/audiomid.html WORLD OF RADIO 1199 (high version): (stream) http://www.w4uvh.net/wor1199h.ram (download) http://www.w4uvh.net/wor1199h.rm (summary) http://www.worldofradio.com/wor1199.html WORLD OF RADIO 1199 (low version): (stream) http://www.w4uvh.net/wor1199.ram (download) http://www.w4uvh.net/wor1199.rm FIRST AIRINGS OF WORLD OF RADIO 1200: Wed 2200 on WBCQ, 7415 and 17495-CUSB Thu 2030 on WWCR, 15825, Sat 1030 on 5070 Sat 0130, 0800, 1400, 1730 on RFPI, 7445, maybe 15115-USB Sat 1800+ on WRMI, 15725 WORLD OF RADIO 1200 (high version): (stream) http://www.w4uvh.net/wor1200h.ram (download) http://www.w4uvh.net/wor1200h.rm (summary) http://www.worldofradio.com/wor1200.html WORLD OF RADIO 1200 (low version): (stream) http://www.w4uvh.net/wor1200.ram (download) http://www.w4uvh.net/wor1200.rm WORLD OF RADIO ON WPKN 89.5 BRIDGEPORT CT Rod Richardson, PD, advises that from Sept 20, WOR is no longer a week delayed on WPKN, Saturdays 2:30 pm ET. Welcome news! Also webcast (gh) MUNDO RADIAL, para setiembre-octubre en WWCR 15825: todos los viernes 2115, martes 2130, miércoles 2100. Además: (corriente) http://www.w4uvh.net/mr0309.ram (bajable) http://www.w4uvh.net/mr0309.rm [correcto] (texto) http://www.worldofradio.com/mr0309.html UNSOLICITED TESTIMONIALS Number 1200 --- Congrats on a new milestone....keep it up - 73 and Best of DX (Shawn Axelrod, Manitoba, Sept 22) Visit the AMANDX DX site with info for the new or experienced listener: http://www.angelfire.com/mb/amandx/index.html REMEMBER ON A CLEAR DAY YOU CAN HEAR FOREVER (WORLD OF RADIO 1200) ** ALASKA. HAARP FINALLY ENDS MAXIMUM POWER SIGNALS AFTER 10 DAYS !!! http://www.brojon.org/frontpage.shtml (Brother Jonathan Gazette Sept 22 via DXLD) This site covers HAARP at great length, but it is very hard to know what to believe (gh, DXLD) ** ARMENIA. 4810, 19.9 0355, unID with `románticos`; I thought it could be the `new` XERTA, Mexico. But not! It turned out to be a weak Voice of Armenia! S 2-3 and lots of noises. BEFF (Björn Fransson, Sweden, SW Bulletin Sept 21, translated by editor Thomas Nilsson for DX LISTENING DIGEST, WORLD OF RADIO 1200) ** BOLIVIA. Radio San Miguel se ha corrido de canal. El 20/09, fue escuchada en los 4902.57 kHz, a las 2238, con locutor de guardia y música tradicional. Tal vez se ha movido para evitar interferencias. El 21/09, también se movió, pero esta vez a los 4902.74, a las 2314 (Adán González, Catia La Mar, VENEZUELA Yaesu FT-890/ TH3MK3, Sept 22, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 4902, Radio San Miguel, from 0921 UT, male vocals with strings, OM at 0928, ID by YL, then OM, "Buenos Días, Amigos," fair; still fair at 0948, September 22 (Roger Chambers, Utica, NY, Drake SW8 with whip antenna, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 4902.41[v .67], Radio San Miguel 1000-1015 "Radio San Miguel ...onda corta.. frecuencia de... Noticias San Miguel, Señor y Señores..." Time checks and repeated IDs. 4781.29, Radio Tacana, Tumupasa - rapid OM en español 0955-1015 "...Boliviana ...Santa Cruz...." 22 and 23 Sept. (Robert Wilkner, Pompano Beach, Florida, NRD 535D, Icom R 70, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** BRAZIL. BRASIL - Alguns deputados e senadores brasileiros pretendem acabar com o horário fixo da Voz do Brasil. A idéia é transformar o noticiário em spots de até três minutos, que seriam veiculados em diversos horários pelas cerca de 3.000 emissoras do país. O projeto pode não dar certo uma vez que as pequenas estações não têm condições técnicas para efetuar as mudanças. As informações são do periódico Folha de São Paulo e a dica é do Sarmento Campos, do Rio de Janeiro (RJ). [also via WORLD OF RADIO 1200] BRASIL - A Rádio Guarujá Paulista, de Guarujá (SP), está atenta aos novos ouvintes, no Brasil e exterior. O apresentador Fábio Bueno, no período noturno, pede a todos que reportem a sintonia da emissora. A Guarujá Paulista transmite em 3235 e 5045 kHz. O e-mail é o seguinte: rampazo@radioguarujaam.com.br BRASIL - A Rádio Caiari, de Porto Velho (RO), transmite, em 4785 kHz, entre 0900 e 1400 e entre 1900 e 0400. A direção postal é a seguinte: Rua das Crianças, 4646, Areal da Floresta, CEP: 78912-210, Porto Velho (RO). E-mail: caiari@enter-net.com.br. As informações são do bem informado Paulo Roberto e Souza, de Tefé (AM). (All: Célio Romais, Panorama, @tividade DX Sept 21 via DXLD) ** CHINA [and non]. Just got a QSL-folder from the CRI's English service for 11945 kHz, indicating "... our China National Radio program ...", they wrote that the second channel 13690 kHz in which 11945 kHz was in parallel "not available at this time". Both frequencies carried CNR's "music jammer" that time, looks like they jammed an unID (?) Chinese service from anyone else (which ?). My first QSL from a jammer...hi. Does anyone remember the Russian jamming stations in the past which carried a Morse identification? Is there any webpage about these older ones? Anyone got any QSL from them? Location versus morse ID? 73, (Tom - DL8AAM, hard-core-dx via DXLD) ** CONGO DR. 7435.009, 1.9 1740, probably Lubumbashi with highlife music and announcement in guttural language. Not heard after this date. 2 SA (Stig Adolfsson, Sweden, SW Bulletin Sept 21, translated by editor Thomas Nilsson for DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** COSTA RICA. The Spanish heard on RFPI Sat at 1230+ is actually a new bilingual English/Spanish program, Pueblo Sin Fronteras, which RFPI has scheduled M-F at 1830-1900, plus repeats (Naomi Fowler, RFPI Fiesta Sept 22 via DXLD) ** CUBA. ``I'M PROUD``, SAYS DOCTOR WHO SPIED FOR SECRET POLICE A couple recruited to work as double agents during Fidel Castro's campaign to hunt out dissidents meet David Rennie in Havana The wickedness of Pedro Luis Veliz is not written in his face. Unless forewarned, you would not give the mousy Cuban doctor a second glance… http://tinyurl.com/o80p (Telegraph (Filed: 20/09/2003) via Jilly Dybka, DXLD) Touches on shortwave radio ** DENMARK [non]. Attached please find the B03 schedule - valid until the end of the year. The schedule also goes for NORWAY (xx.00-xx.30). THEY will leave short wave by the end of the year. The decision about Radio Denmark will probably be taken on October 7. The schedule is in HTML format on our web site: http://www.dr.dk/rdk - look for Sendeplan / Schedule. All the best/73, (Erik Köie, WORLD OF RADIO 1200, DX LISTENING DIGEST) R A D I O D E N M A R K October 26 - December 31, 2003 UTC Target (primary coverage in brackets) kHz Tx Beam 12.30-12.55 South East Asia, Australia (west), Russia 11615 K 80 Far East 12070 K 40 Europe, Mediterranean, Canary Islands 13800 S 180 North America (east), Caribbean 18950 S 280 13.30-13.55 Europe 9590 S 180 Far East 11610 K 40 South East Asia, Australia (west), Russia 13800 K 80 North America (east + central), Greenland 17550 S 300 14.30-14.55 Russia, Europe (south east), Middle East (north), South Asia (India) 13800 K 95 North America (east + central), Greenland 17735 S 300 15.30-15.55 Russia, Europe (south east), Middle East (north), South Asia (India) 13800 K 95 Middle East (west) 15735 K 120 North America (west), Greenland 17525 S 315 16.30-16.55 Russia, Europe (south east), Middle East (north) 7490 K 95 Europe (south east), Middle East (west), Africa (east) 13800 K 145 North America (west), Greenland 15705 S 315 17.30-17.55 Europe 7490 S 180 Europe (south east), Middle East (west) - NOT Sundays! 9980 K 120 Europe (south east), Middle East (west), Africa (east) - NOT Sundays! 13800 K 145 North America (east), Caribbean 18950 S 280 18.30-18.55 Europe 7490 S 180 North America (east + central), Greenland 15735 S 300 19.30-19.55 Europe, Canary Islands 7490 S 180 North America (west), Greenland 13800 S 315 20.30-20.55 Europe, Canary Islands 7490 S 180 Africa 9980 K 165 21.30-21.55 Europe, Canary Islands, Africa (west) 7490 S 195 Australia 7560 K 65 22.30-22.55 Far East 7465 K 40 South America, Canary Islands 7560 S 235 23.30-23.55 North America (east), Caribbean 7390 S 280 South America 7465 S 235 South East Asia, Australia (west) 7490 K 80 Far East 7560 K 40 00.30-00.55 South East Asia, Australia (west) 7490 K 80 North America (east), Caribbean 7560 S 280 01.30-01.55 North America (east), Caribbean 7560 S 280 North America (east + central), Greenland 9945 S 300 02.30-02.55 South Asia (India) 7490 K 95 North America (east), Caribbean 7560 S 280 North America (east + central), Greenland 9590 S 300 04.30-04.55 North America (west), Greenland 7465 S 315 Russia, Middle East (north) 7490 K 95 Europe (south east), Africa (east), Middle East (west) 7560 K 145 05.30-05.55 Europe, Africa (north) 7490 K 165 06.30-06.55 Europe 5945 S 180 Africa, Europe (south) 13800 K 165 07.30-07.55 Europe 7180 K 165 Europe, Canary Islands, Africa (west) 9590 S 195 08.30-08.55 Far East, New Zealand 11975 K 35 Australia, Europe (south west), (South America) 13800 S 250 09.30-09.55 Far East, New Zealand 11975 K 40 Australia, Europe (south west), South America 13800 S 250 Middle East (east), South Asia (India) 18950 K 110 10.30-10.55 Europe, Mediterranean, Canary Islands 13800 S 180 South America, Canary Islands, Africa (west) 21765 S 235 11.30-11.55 Europe, Mediterranean, Canary Islands 13800 S 180 Africa 21755 K 165 Address: Radio Danmark, Radioavisen, Rosenorns Allé 22, DK-1999 Frederiksberg C, Denmark RD office telephone: +45 35 20 57 84 (then press ‘9’) - Telefax: +45 35 20 57 81. e-mail: schedule, programme matters: rdk@dr.dk - technical, reports: rdktek@dr.dk The schedule is also available by auto-reply email from: schedule@dr.dk WWW: http://www.dr.dk/rdk or http://www.dr.dk/radiodanmark - including RealAudio 'on demand' of our broadcasts. The two daily news transmissions in Danish only are aired at 12.30 and 18.30 utc. Transmissions inbetween are repeats. The technical letterbox programme, `Tune In` is heard every second Saturday from 12.48 UT until 17.48 UT. Transmissions may be cancelled without warning. Radio Denmark shares the Norwegian transmitters with Radio Norway. They broadcast at xx.00-xx.30, followed by Denmark at xx.30-xx.55, 24 hours a day. Stations: Kvitsoy (K) and Sveio (S) each have two 500 kW transmitters. They are located on the Norwegian west coast near Stavanger and Haugesund at 05.27E 59.04N (K) and 05.19E 59.37N (S). Kvitsoy covers the Eastern Globe, while Sveio covers the Western Globe. [Hemispheres] Radio Denmark replies complete reports by a QSL-card. Although not necessary, return postage is appreciated (1 IRC, 1 Euro or 1 US dollar). Recordings (incl. RealAudio and MP3 email files) are accepted. Tapes, however, are not returned. (via Erik Køie, DR, Sept 22, DX LISTENING DIGESDT) ** DOMINICAN REPUBLIC. Inactiva República Dominicana en 4959.87 kHz (Adán González, Catia La Mar, VENEZUELA Yaesu FT-890/ TH3MK3, Sept 22, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ECUADOR. 5040 kHz, La Voz del Upano, carrier from 0958 UT, YL in Spanish with Santa María meditations, brief orchestral bridge at 1003; continued prayers: ID by YL at 1023 UT; SINPO 33222+, September 22 (Roger Chambers, Utica, NY, Drake SW8 with whip antenna, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Hi Roger, I hesitated to mention this since your Yopal log was pretty definite with the Colombian national anthem, but it occurred to me that ``Upano`` could be mistaken for ``Yopal``. Since no one else has reported Yopal and you have now reported Upano too on 5040, I wonder whether you are still certain it was the Colombian anthem and you had long-inactive Yopal on Sept 11? Any sign of Yopal QRM when you got Upano? 73, (Glenn to Roger, via DXLD) ** ERITREA [non]. BEHAVIOUR OF OPPOSITION RADIO ON 21 SEPTEMBER Please note that the Eritrean opposition radio, Voice of the Eritrean People, did not carry news items on 21 September, saying that it did not have any. Source: BBC Monitoring research in English 21 Sep 03 (via DXLD) ** ETHIOPIA. Heard in Aafar language according to Klingenfuss guide on 11802.5, fair signals. with QRM from Rai on 11800. Hr [?] music, then OM with long talk, then three rings of a bell at 1400 UT Sept 23, into the news. Did not make out ID. But tentative. Still on as I type this (Ron Trotto, Waggoner, IL, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Saw this message just in time to check 11802.5 at 1457. R. Ethiopia with closing announcement at 1459 in Arabic. Transmitter off at 1500. Good signal here in Finland. 73 (Jari Savolainen, Kuusankoski, Finland, Cumbre DX via DXLD) ** ETHIOPIA [non]. 12120, *1700-1800* Sat 13-09, Dejen R, via Samara. Tigrinya Test tones from 1658, opens with a shouting man and flute, 1702 and 1705 IDs "...Dejen Radio...", website: http://www.ehtiopiancommunicator.com [sic], talk about globalisation and the WTO meeting in Cancún, Horn of Africa song, mentioned the VOA, closed with Horn of Africa martial song. 45544 AP-DNK. The website asks for money sent to : Liberty Bell Communications Inc., P.O. Box 792, Indianapolis, Indiana 46206 (Anker Petersen, Denmark, @tividade DX Sept 21 via DXLD) URL no work even if spelling corrected (gh, DXLD) ** HONDURAS. Al parecer Radio M.I. se ha mudado de frecuencia. El 20/09, a las 0317 UT, en los 3324.78 kHz, capté una emisora con un formato parecido. Mucha música religiosa en español. SINPO 2/2. Ya fuera del aire a las 0350 (Adán González, Catia La Mar, VENEZUELA Yaesu FT-890/ TH3MK3, Sept 22, DX LISTENING DIGEST) En 3325 habrá Radio Maya de Barillas, GUATEMALA, porsupuesto religiosa (gh) ** ICELAND. There is an increasing number of logs in the DX press calling the transmissions on 13855U as "AFRTS Iceland" or "AFN Iceland", considering them an extra output of the local AFRTS station in Keflavík which broadcasts on 1530 kHz & FM 104.1 MHz. This is a misunderstanding. The AFRTS/AFN SW transmissions via Grindavík, Iceland are part of the temporary, "global" AFRTS shortwave feeder system for the US Navy fleet, in this case serving ships in the Atlantic Ocean. They are not conducted by the local AFRTS affiliate in Keflavík. It has perhaps been forgotten meanwhile that AFRTS was forced to resume the SW feeds in 1998 after it lost a satellite feeder system for Navy ships, according to unofficial Navy sources quoted in the DX press at that time. These feeds are "internal" Navy feeds, transmitted from US Naval bases (like in Iceland) and exclusively intended for floating Navy vessels. Stationary US military units receive AFRTS programs via satellite resp. local relays on FM, MW, or cable (Bernd Trutenau, Lithuania, DX LISTENING DIGEST) OK; but I don`t understand your, and others` use of ``resp.`` (gh) ** INDONESIA. Voice of Indonesia started Korean service. It is heard at 1200-1300 on 9525 kHz. This time was former Indonesian program. Now Indonesian service was changed to 1300-1400. At the end of Indonesian service, National Anthem can be heard. Many thanks information for Atsunori Ishida. He noted for the first time on September 21 (Juichi Yamada, JAPAN. . .) RRI Biak is now on 4920 kHz. It is heard in local morning and local evening. Thanks information for Atsunori Ishida (Juichi Yamada, JAPAN) According to the homepage of RRI, RRI network is as follows: RRI Cabang Utama: Jakarta RRI Cabang Madya: Bandung, Banjarmasin, Denpasar, Jayapura, Makassar, Medan, Palembang, Semarang, Surabaya, Yogyakarta RRI Cabang Muda: Ambon, Banda Aceh, Bandar Lampung, Bengkulu, Biak, Bukittinggi, Gorontalo, Jambi, Kendari, Kupang, Manado, Mataram, Merauke, Padang, Palangkaraya, Palu, Pekanbaru, Pontianak, Samarinda, Sorong, Sungailiat, Surakarta, Ternate RRI Cabang Pratama: Cirebon, Ende, Fak Fak, Jember, Lhokseumawe, Madiun, Malang, Manokwari, Nabire, Purwokerto, Ranai, Serui, Sibolga, Singaraja, Sintang, Sumenep, Tanjung Pinang, Toli Toli, Tual, Wamana (Juichi Yamada, JAPAN, Jembatan DX Sept 23 via DXLD) ** IRAN [non]. 7750, 10.9 0130, Voice of Mojahed in Farsi, mentioned Iran several times, Iranian music, loud and clear until a jammer started at 0132. S3 BV (Bjarke Vestesen, Denmark, SW Bulletin Sept 21, translated by editor Thomas Nilsson for DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ISRAEL, 11605, Kol Israel from 1923 UT with end of newscast, website address, "Goodnight, shalom from Jerusalem," into trumpet IS at 1925, SINPO 33222, September 22 (Roger Chambers, Utica, NY, Drake SW8 with whip antenna, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** KOREA NORTH. 3959.717, 14.9 1630, KCBS, Kanggye, solemn singing and // to 2850.083, both 2+ SA (Stig Adolfsson, Sweden, SW Bulletin Sept 21, translated by editor Thomas Nilsson for DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** KURDISTAN [non?]. 4027v, 10.9 0135, Voice of People of Kurdistan, nonstop Kurd music for a long time, pompous battle songs, ID at 0153, mentioning Kurdistan and Komala several times, mentioned e-mail- address, freq. ann. And Qur`an-prayers. S3 BV (Bjarke Vestesen, Denmark, SW Bulletin Sept 21, translated by editor Thomas Nilsson for DX LISTENING DIGEST, WORLD OF RADIO 1200) 8170, 18.9 1635, Voice of Iraqi Kurdistan with Turkish-Kurdish pop music, harmonic of 4085 kHz. S2 BV (Bjarke Vestesen, Denmark, SW Bulletin Sept 21, translated by editor Thomas Nilsson for DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** KURDISTAN [non]. KURDISH BROADCASTERS MEET IN GERMANY A conference of Kurdish broadcasters has been held in Gelsenkirchen, Germany, reports the Turkish newspaper Yeniden Ozgur Gundem. The conference was designed to exchange ideas and encourage closer cooperation between the stations. Those present included Brussels- based Denge Mezopotamya, Radio Mezopotamya from Linz, Austria, as well as three local Kurdish stations in Germany: Radiostan from Marburg, Denge Welat from Stuttgart, and Denge Kurdistan from Freiburg. Mirhem Yigit of Denge Mezopotamya, which broadcasts on shortwave 12 hours a day, said that despite the emergence of various Kurdish satellite TV channels, radio remains important. He said the goal of Denge Mezopotamya is to be a national radio. Local broadcasters present expressed their concern that financial difficulties are hampering their efforts, and lead to a high turnover of staff. They urged Kurdish organizations to give sufficient importance to radio broadcasting (© Radio Netherlands Media Network 22 September 2003 via DXLD) ** LATVIA. Re: ``I am afraid the authorities in Latvia will need to do some homework. This frequency, in the main will be too high, for most of the B03 Period at this time, more suitable for an afternoon transmission, say 1300-1600. 2048, Radio Seagull now almost faded out (Ken Fletcher, UK, September 20th 2003, BDXC-UK via DXLD)`` Actually, the frequency 9290 was chosen and coordinated at the B03 HFCC conference on behalf of the Latvian authorities by Britain's most prominent frequency management organisation (you may guess which one I am referring to). ``Further broadcasts are planned (via Bernd Trutenau, Lithuania, DX LISTENING DIGEST) But not every Saturday?? (gh, DXLD)`` The extent of the relays depends fully on the funding (i.e. how much money Laser Radio is willing to spend resp. how many customers they have) (Bernd Trutenau, Lithuania, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** LIBYA [non]. LJB, Tripoli on 17980 today! (1200-1300). Can't work out the maths for that one at all! Audio on LSB only (Tim Bucknall, UK, Sept 22, harmonics yahoogroup via DXLD) via FRANCE presumably ** LITHUANIA. 3330, What BEFF (Björn Fransson, Sweden) hears is nothing of interest but the 5th harmonic of Sitkunai, on 666 kHz. I reported this more than a year ago. SA (Stig Adolfsson, Sweden, SW Bulletin Sept 21, translated by editor Thomas Nilsson for DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** LITHUANIA. LITHUANIA STATION SEEKS U.S. PARTNER Radio Baltic Waves International, a Lithuania-based private AM radio station, said it has been awarded with a license for broadcasting on AM 1386 kHz, using a 1,000 kW transmitter. "RBWI is looking for a U.S. partner interested in broadcasting on our high-power AM channel," said Project Coordinator Rimantas Pleikys. "A sky-wave coverage area includes most of Europe and European part of Russia. Currently we operate 100, 150 and 500 kW AM transmitters. RBWI is ready to negotiate on the issue of installation of a new 1000 kW AM transmitter of our partner. The broadcasting is possible in any language, the daily transmitting duration is unlimited." For information, e-mail to riplei @ takas.lt (Date posted: 2003-09-22, Radio World E-byte via DXLD) ** MALAYSIA. 5979.4, Radio Malaysia Sabah. The best way to get this one for me is to listen to their local news at 1315. Heard today Sept 23 with an ID as above at 1322. News ended at 1327, when short theme was heard. Short instrumental piece played a few times and pulled plug at 1328 (Hans Johnson, Cody WY, Cumbre DX via DXLD) ** MEXICO. Re XERTA`s ``self-inflicted`` interference: I've engineered hi-powered (10 to 50 kW) stereo AM stations using Kahn, Harris, and Motorola C-Quam, and don't see how this can happen. It certainly cannot happen with a standard class AB push-pull high level modulator system using valves; nor do I even see how an Ampliphase transmitter could do this. What *I* have heard quite a few times is a very loud jamming or ute signal that is almost superimposed over the upper sideband frequency region of XERTA, and due to the modulation characteristics of this roaring signal, hard to zero-beat; but surely not a spurious audio signal generated by the XERTA rig. Or am I wrong? (Steve Waldee - retired AM ce, DX LISTENING DIGEST) La estación mexicana de 4810 kHz no se escucha debido a un insoportable ruido en esa frecuencia que muchos llaman UTE (Adán González, Venezuela, Sept 22, DX LISTENING DIGEST) see also ARMENIA 4810, XERTA, 22 Sept. 1000-1010 "las palabras del hijo..." over modulated signal, feel I was wrong on the earlier observation regarding the usb signal. Very long periods of carrier with no audio; transmitter problem? 23 Sept: 4810.83 tentative, strong carrier 1120- 1126 then off (Robert Wilkner, Pompano Beach, Florida, NRD 535D, Icom R 70, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 4810, XERTA, from 0910 UT (poor initially), English ID at 0945 by OM, music of Mexico; hard to pinpoint frequency, at times better on 4806 kHz, fair on September 22 (Roger Chambers, Utica, NY, Drake SW8 with whip antenna, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 4810, XERTA, English E-mail to them seeking their postal address brought quick Spanish reply from charlaxerta@yahoo.com.mx giving QTH as: XERTA, R. Transcontinental de America [presumably the "RTA" in XERTA-JB], Plaza San Juan No. 5, Despacho No. 2, Col. Centro, Centro Historico, C.P. 6050, Mexico D.F. Tel. 55184938 (Jerry Berg, MA, Cumbre DX Sept 23 via DXLD) ** MEXICO [non]. 15045.0, 2020-2345 13 and 14-09, R. Free Cascadia, western USA, English, excited reports from WTO meeting, 15111, AP-DNK (Anker Petersen, Denmark, @tividade DX Sept 21 via DXLD) Glenn, With reference to the comments by Mr. Ludwig re Radio Free Cascadia: Kai Ludwig writes: "I am somewhat surprised about Nick Grace and Martin Schöch issuing a joint statement with RNW." They did no such thing. The statement was written on behalf of Media Network, the Webzine (i.e. me) and not RNW, the organisation. I do not speak for Radio Netherlands management, I am merely an employee. And Mr. Ludwig knows that perfectly well. As to why CRW issued a joint statement with Media Network, we have made no secret of the fact that we work closely together. Media Network has published a number of articles written by Nick Grace of CRW, and will continue to do so. We were two of the media outlets you specifically bracketed together as possibly having a political motive for not covering Radio Free Cascadia. I asked Nick Grace to reply on behalf of both of us. If Mr. Ludwig has a problem with that, I am sorry. He is welcome to write a letter of complaint to Radio Netherlands management if he thinks I have acted incorrectly. 73, (Andy Sennitt, Holland, DX LISTENING DIGEST) I should clarify that my incomplete list of media news organisations which did not mention RFCI, including Media Network, did not mean to imply that all of them did so for political reasons. It`s not really unusual that MN did not mention it; MN in particular is extremely selective in the news items covered, with no attempt to be comprehensive, but instead to post items which may not have appeared elsewhere --- often only one a day, or even less. It does seem somewhat odd that Media Network must be considered a separate entity from RN itself, as we need to be reminded frequently (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Hello CRW readers, in a recent mail I compared the station RFCI with the German 'radios for a special event' ('Veranstaltungsrundfunk') on FM. As it seems this caused some confusion and nobody of you saw the ironic meaning of this classification. [If I I would have used some smileys :-) in the text it would have been easier]. Kai is right, Veranstaltungsrundfunk in Germany is done (temporary) licensed, low power station on FM. RFCI is of course some kind of 'Anti-Veranstaltungsrundfunk' (radio against a special event). If Radio Freies Gorleben does a FM transmission against the transport of old nuclear material into the subterranean caves of Gorleben it is also 'radio against a special event', but not a clandestine. Some comments received here mentioned f.i. 'RFCI is more a clandestine than R Marti/RFE-RL'. Well, that is a question of definition. If you define a 'clandestine station' via the tx-site then it might be true. But if you define it as 'a station that wants to alter the political system of a given state' then the interpretation of CRW might be true. I doubt that it has been the aim of RFCI to get the 'world leadership' ('Clandestine to Earth' (DXLD)). I'd rather assume they wanted to inform/mobilize the anti-globalization-protesters itself and a part of the public opinion. Since we at CRW/CRC edit a newsletter and a webpage about Clandestine Radio we have to stick to some (own) rules of course. That does not mean that these rules are the absolute truth or that we condemN the opinion of other DXers, but of course we will follow our own rules in our own publications. We have several (different) opinions and we have several DX- publications that can publish these (different) opinions. Such a variety is a valuable good and we should keep it that way. yours, (Martin Schoech, Germany, Sept 23, DX LISTEING DIGEST) One of the participants in RFCI, not necessarily representing the opinion of the organization, responded to the previous discussion about whether it`s pirate or clandestine: Now THAT`S funny! Let me get this straight, because we do not answer to some overarching hierarchical structure, itself a recreation of the statism against which we struggle, we are relegated to the belittling label of "pirate" rather than somehow making the cut to graduate to actual "clandestine" status. I suppose I would argue that the anti corporate globalization movement, the movement that brought you the battle of Seattle, that has scuttled two WTO trade rounds in four years costing transnational capitol hundreds of billions in delays, that has personnel in occupied Palestine defending people`s houses and getting killed for it, is a legitimate, if disparate, political entity. I wonder, had we downed that federal helicopter would we have made the grade? What if we are still here ten years from now, then do we make it? Thanks for all the press, Glenn. Everyone appears to have extracted without loss. They did scope one transport volunteer with a particularly hot load but did not make contact. Our feeling is that it was a bad week to draw additional attention to either the FCC or the WTO so they decided to gather information only. We also note NPR's total news blackout on the collapse of the Cancún round Monday --- funny, it was news last week, now not a peep, and they wonder why we build our own stations. We have one half hour posted on radio4all as mp3; hope to get more up but the archive needs to be logged first, may take a while. Got to keep moving, later (via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** NEPAL. "MAOISTS" ON FM | Text of report by Nepalnews.com web site on 19 September Maoists have started FM broadcasts from an unknown place in Bara, Annapurna Post said. The transmission was heard clearly Tuesday [16 September] east of the district. The broadcast was heard in Sapahi, Kohalbi, Rampurba and adjoining villages on 95.1 MHz Source: Nepalnews.com web site, Kathmandu, in English 19 Sep 03 (via BBCM via DXLD) TFK! ** NETHERLANDS. See MEXICO [non] ** NEW ZEALAND. Glenn, Download the RNZI 22/09 Mailbox. The truth is out, the transmitter was hit by lighting! 73 (Larry Nebron, CA, Sept 21, DX LISTENING DIGEST) http://www.rnzi.com/audio/mailbox.ram Website now says: Haere Mai. Welcome! Update on the RNZI Transmitter - The RNZI short- wave transmitter has been off-air since Saturday 30 August. It is now hoped that it will be operational again in the first week in October. We have continued to broadcast on the Internet (www.rnzi.com) Additionally, since 8 September we have been leasing just over four hours of time on one of Radio Australia's transmitters to broadcast the RNZI breakfast session each morning - on 9580 kHz. We will continue to do this until we are back on air. It appears likely that a lightning strike caused a series of major faults in the transmitter. Replacement parts have been ordered and are now on their way to New Zealand. [also via Bernie O`Shea, Ont.] On the Mailbox Adrian Sainsbury said: We hope and pray to be back on air by Oct 1, when replacement parts arrive from Switzerland. Contractors BCL [?] have been working steadily on the problem. Lighting strike was cause of a series of faults. Lightning protector device on the transmitter housing appears to have failed, allowing lighting to cause considerable damage to the transmitter. Attempted to repair the transmitter to allow it to run on low power, but this did not work. Spare parts are very expensive; have an enormous supply on hand, but as a result of the number of faults caused by the lightning, took out a lot of parts for which there were not spares. Had to shop around for the needed parts at the best price, considering current exchange rates, etc. Longer term options: a silver lining. Plans for a new digital SW transmitter in a couple of years. Hope that as a result of this, government will make it possible to buy that sooner rather than later, but still about a year away. Also it may be possible to enter into an agreement for R. Australia to help us in the future if needed. Positive side is that in future RNZI can provide a more reliable service. Unusual that lightning hit the building, rather than the highest point, the towers, where hits are usual. First major hit since the site was opened in 1990 (Adrian Sainsbury, RNZI Mailbox Sept 22, notes by gh for WORLD OF RADIO 1200, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** OKLAHOMA. When did "Double Talk" KOKB/KOKP change to "Double Play Sports"? It's still listed on 100000watts.com as a talk station... [KOKB = 1580 Blackwell, KOKP = 1020 Perry] They changed their name when they moved their Perry stations to Stillwater. They thought they'd "Double-Team" their way into dominating North Central Oklahoma Sports. They talked a lot of smack, telling Stillwater area OSU advertisers that THEY would be the Stillwater OSU Affiliate. Trouble IS, they forgot that Stillwater already HAS an OSU Affiliate (KSPI-FM) and so they LOST their OSU Affiliation on KOKB when they moved to Stillwater. They're trying to get around that fact by using Learfield employees to do OSU Sports stuff on KOKB anyway, and THAT could cost several folks at Learfield their jobs... What is Learfield? It's the Broadcast Group that does OSU's (and many more schools)sports broadcasts... (anonymous Sept 10 and 11 postings on a thread at Oklahoma Radio Board http://www.radio-info.com/mods/posts.php?Cat=&Board=oklahoma via DXLD) ** OKLAHOMA [non]. Little by little, I am getting back the public FM stations I used to be able to pick up off the air in Enid with my big antenna, until the proliferation of local gospel-huxter transmitters. KBVV has blocked 91.1 for many years now, but thanks to a tip from PublicRadioFan.com, I see that High Plains Public Radio, originating with KANZ in Garden City KS, has started webcasting, as I have been urging them to do: http://pubint.sc.llnwd.net:9095/listen.pls Unfortunately it`s only 24 kbps, so not great for music, and the website http://www.hppr.org and the programming have been redesigned since last I looked at them, making it all more public-generic. But HPPR still has a few programs not heard elsewhere, or hard to find: Sat 1500-1630 UT, Western Swing and Other Things Sat 1630-1700 UT, Riders Radio Theater Sat 1700-1900 UT, Silver Rails Sun 1400-1700 UT, Classical Enlightenment Sun 2200-2300 UT, Thomas Jefferson Hour --- HPPR gets produxion credit for this national show, I assume as a result of $$ rather than physical production in Garden City. Also noteworthy is that KUNM Albuquerque, which has a large amount of original programming, especially music, and consequently deprives NM of many otherwise national NPR/PRI shows, has added a 64k mp3 stream to Real and Quick (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** PAKISTAN. Is there any chance that Radio Pakistan on 21465 could be an intentionally radiated 3rd harmonic of 7155? (Tim Bucknall, UK, Sept 22, harmonics yahoogroup via DXLD) Yes, there is a chance (gh) ** PALESTINE [non]. CLANDESTINA VIA IRÃ - Existe, no Irã, uma programação, em árabe, intitulada A Voz da Revolução Islâmica Palestina. Trata-se de uma emissão que luta contra o líder Yasser Arafat. Tem excelente sintonia, aqui na América do Sul, após às 0330, em 9610 e 11875 kHz. É fácil identificar: vão ao ar longos discursos e marchas militares, ao estilo norte-coreano. Confira! (Célio Romais, Panorama, @tividade DX Sept 21 via DXLD) ** PERU. La Voz del Campesino, emisora la cual presumo haber captado, fue monitoreada el 21/09, a las 2328 UT, con SINPO 1/1, en los 6958.12 kHz. RTTY QRM. Demasiada estática. 73's y buen DX (Adán González, Catia La Mar, VENEZUELA Yaesu FT-890/ TH3MK3, Sept 22, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** PORTUGAL. RDP spurs on 15690 & 11793 today (Tim Bucknall, UK, Sept 22, harmonics yahoogroup via DXLD) ** ROMANIA. Re: ``But what frequency is it supposed to be on? Or did you mean 15105?`` Yes, 15105 (which should be found in all reference lists for the A03 season). About half of the Romanian language SW programs of Radio Romania International are home service relays, you find the exact schedule at http://www.rri.ro/ro/live.htm It's in Romanian; all is HS except for transmissions marked "RRI". 73, (Bernd Trutenau, Lithuania, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Was the 15015 typo at the transmitter or at the receiver, Tim? When people hear a station on an incorrect frequency, they should make absolutely clear that it was the station`s mistake, rather than make us guess; besides proofreading own reports (gh) ** UGANDA [non]. CLANDESTINE from GERMANY to UGANDA. 17555, Radio Rhino Intl. *1500 with multiple IDs and slogans. Schedule on website is 1500-1530 Tue-Fri and 1500-1600 Sat/Sun. First day of regular broadcasts, Sept 23, announcer gave outline. Introduction, music, news, two topics, music. Topics: education, corruption, tourism, religion, etc. Then talk by politician, who officially opened the station (Hans Johnson, Cody WY, Cumbre DX via DXLD) ** UKRAINE [and non]. Re: Thanks for the reminder; well, why do the Ukrainians and Bulgarians keep using ``SMF``?? I was explaining what the letters stand for (gh) Well, this is a long story. I think there is nothing to say against the use of the code "SMF", my point was that it should not be "translated" with "Simferopol" (but "Kopani" resp. "Mykolaiv"). Observer is using "SMF" because "SMF" is the code that the HFCC frequency list shows. I am not sure what you mean with "the Ukrainians". As far as I can recall, Radio Ukraine International (e.g. in the person of Alexander Egorov) does not use the term "Simferopol" in its schedules but "Mykolaiv". The site Kopani is located 300 kilometers NW of Simferopol, some 10 kilometers SE of Mykolaiv, which I think does make a difference for DXers that would like to look it up on the map. The code "SMF" was registered with the HFCC/ITU during Soviet times when the transmitter locations were top secret and the Soviet authorities tried their best to disguise them. The code was not changed by the Ukrainian authorities after the country's independence. RUI itself does not have own transmitters, it leases them from RRT, the national Ukrainian transmitter network operator, and it is not RUI that is coordinating SW frequencies at the HFCC conferences, but RRT. Apparently, RRT does not see a reason to change the code. In fact, only few administrations bother to update the codes that are in the HFCC reference table "Global HF Transmitter Sites" (esp. if it comes to deleting dismantled sites). One that did was India which some few years ago replaced its "British" place names with the new official Indian orthography. As for HF sites in the successor states of the former USSR: since the mid-1990s the WRTH is listing the correct names and exact coördinates that are based on the actual transmitter location rather than "external registrations" with he HFCC or ITU. The site Kopani was first published already almost 10 years ago in WRTH1994. Later these details were published also on the Transmitter Documentation Project website (based on the same sources as WRTH): see http://www.tdp.info/ukr.html for UKR and also other ex-USSR states (though the ex-USSR section was not much updated in recent years, more details have been established or confirmed since then). (Bernd Trutenau, Lithuania, Sept 22, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U K. Comment --- WHY BIG HAS NOT BEEN BEAUTIFUL FOR BELEAGUERED BBC Peter Preston, Sunday September 21, 2003, The Observer Small is beautiful, but big can be beastly - a new motto for the BBC after one of the lousiest weeks in its history. More wreath than Reith http://politics.guardian.co.uk/columnist/story/0,9321,1046673,00.html (Guardian via Jilly Dybka, KF4ZEO, DXLD) ** U K. Is this electronic purveyance really the way to finance the BBC? Glenn, I wonder if you have seen this from the UK's TV licensing agency website. It indicates the legal consequences for UK residents who operate a TV without first subscribing to the BBC's licensing scheme. There is also information about the fleets of disguised vehicles and electronic purveyance systems used to catch licence evaders, usually under the cover of darkness. Most of those prosecuted tend to be people on low incomes or those living on pensions or government social security benefits. The licence fee is the same for a single person living in a one room flat as it is for the occupiers of a substantial luxury residence. This revenue is used to finance BBC local and national radio stations and also BBC television channels: Most services are available, depending where you live, in both analogue and digital formats and carries no advertising (Andy Cadier, UK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Viz.: http://www.tvlicensing.co.uk (See media) NEW GENERATION OF TELEVISION DETECTOR VANS HIT THE STREETS TV Licensing launches 10th model of van in UK TV Licensing today (10.30 am, 24 June, Alexandra Palace, London) launches its new generation of detector van, the 10th to be unveiled since they first hit the streets in 1926 and over 50 years since TV detector vans were first rolled out. The new vans, which not only use the most advanced technology available, are also the first to be designed with removable TV Licensing branding - which makes them look like any other white van on the streets. Vanessa Wood, TV Licensing spokesperson said: "These new vans really are a case of 'now you see it, now you don't'. By having the option of being able to remove the TV Licensing logo, licence evaders won't know we're in the area unless we want them to. "50 years ago you could spot the first TV detector vans coming a mile off as the aerial on top was as wide as the van. This is the first time we have used covert vans and they will be only one part of our activities to target licence evaders." Last year TV Licensing caught over 440,000 evaders. The technology developed especially for this new generation of vans means that evaders are even more likely to be caught. Vanessa Wood said: "The new vans are so powerful they can tell if a TV is in use in as little as 20 seconds. And once the television is detected, the equipment - which works from up to 60m away - can pinpoint the actual room that the television set is in. "However, the technology is so secret that even the engineers working on different detection systems worked in isolation - not even they know how the other detection methods work." For the first time the detector vans will use GPS satellite technology to track down targeted addresses. This will enable TV Licensing to precisely target individual evader homes using up-to-the-minute information from its database of 28 million addresses. TV detector vans help TV licensing catch around 1,200 evaders every day. Anyone caught without a licence risks a trip to court and a fine of up to £1,000. It is illegal to use or install television receiving equipment to receive television programme services if you are not properly licensed. For further information about the many ways to buy a licence or the concessions available please call 0870 241 5590 or visit http://www.tvlicensing.co.uk For further information: TV Licensing press office 020 7544 3144/07900 913 434 Notes to Editors Ways to Pay A colour TV Licence costs £116. There are several ways to pay: Credit/Debit Card: Simply call 08705 22 66 66 and pay by credit or debit card. This facility accepts payment from a range of cards including Visa, Mastercard, Switch, Delta and Connect. You can also pay online using your credit or debit card at www.tvlicensing.co.uk Direct Debit: Direct debit is now the most popular and hassle-free way to pay for your licence - more than half of all licence payers now pay this way. Phone 08705 22 66 66 to set up a monthly, quarterly or annual Direct Debit. By Post: Simply send a cheque made payable to TV Licensing to the following address: TV Licensing, Freepost BS6689, Bristol BS1 3YJ. Please write your name, address and reference number on the back. At Any Post Office: Pay by cash or cheque at any post office branch. Just pick up an application form when you're there or ask at the counter for details. PayPoint: Cash payments under the Cash Easy Entry scheme at PayPoint outlets around the UK - call 08457 289 289 (via Andy Cadier, UK, DXLD) Americans in the land of `free` television tend to be aghast at such big-brother tactics. It`s really not that different from our cable TV fees --- except they are optional! (gh) ** U S A. http://www.bbg.gov Media Advisory - Los Angeles U.S. BROADCASTING BOARD OF GOVERNORS HOLDS NEWS CONFERENCE TO UNVEIL SURVEY RESULTS OF RADIO SAWA IN THE MIDDLE EAST; PLANS FOR A MIDDLE EAST TELEVISION NETWORK What: The Broadcasting Board of Governors (BBG), the federal agency that oversees all U.S. nonmilitary broadcasting, will release a new survey showing listenership of Radio Sawa, the Arabic-language station, in the Middle East. The BBG will also discuss plans for the Middle East Television Network, an Arabic-language satellite television station. Speakers: Kenneth Y. Tomlinson, Chairman, BBG (By Videoconference in Washington); Norman J. Pattiz, BBG Governor and Chairman/BBG Middle East Committee Where: The Museum of Television and Radio Boardroom, 465 North Beverly Drive, Beverly Hills, Calif.; 310-786-1000 When: Thursday, September 25, 2003, 9 AM PDT RSVP: Donna Bojarsky, 323-850-3140 (BBG Press release Sept 22 via DXLD; another at a Washington site) ** U S A. WOR was a few minutes late in starting on WBCQ, 7415, UT Mon after 0415, so I found myself listening to an editorial by Ed Bolton, producer (and voicer) of Amos & Andy, endorsing ex-Judge Moore in Alabama for imposing his Ten-Commandment monument upon the people`s secular court. After all, A&A went to church! And the country is doomed if it doesn`t become a theocracy --- well, that wasn`t exactly how he put it. But disgusting (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. New 1996 foot FM tower east of Denver --- There is an interesting story with a neat photo of this tower in today's Denver Post. I tried to cut and paste it but the site is set up to prevent that. However this is an open site that does not require registration. The article is at http://www.denverpost.com/Stories/0,1413,36~53~1616286,00.html or just go to www.denverpost.com/news and it is the 2nd article down. This is the tower that I have been documenting during construction on my N0NNK web site (see link below). (Patrick Griffith, N0NNK CBT CBNT CRO Westminster, CO, USA, NRC FM-TV Sept 7 via DXLD) http://community.webtv.net/AM-DXer/ http://community.webtv.net/N0NNK/ GIANT TOWER IN RURAL ADAMS WORRIES PILOTS --- 1,996-foot structure for radio signals called hazard; county, FAA disagree by Jeffrey Leib, Denver Post Staff Writer One of the tallest communications towers in the nation has been built near Hoyt, worrying some pilots who fear it's a hazard to small planes flying east of Denver International Airport. Adams County commissioners approved the 1,996-foot-high tower after developers agreed to provide free space for county emergency communications equipment... (link above via gh, DXLD) Never mentions WHICH FM stations are supposed to go on it ** U S A. This is a piece about the suspension of a WHAM talk-show host for seemingly racist comments about the mayor of Rochester. (Scott Fybush also refers to the affair in this week's column.) http://www.democratandchronicle.com/news/0923521SO9F_lons23_news.shtml 73- (Bill Westenhaver, QC, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** VENEZUELA. Saludos colegas diexistas. Tal como lo informara el colega Malm, en estos momentos Radio Táchira 4830 se encuentra en el aire, 0305 UT con el programa: Música y Costumbres de Colombia. Hubo una identificación en inglés y castellano. Atte: (José Elías Díaz Gómez, Sept 22, WORLD OF RADIO 1200, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Radio Táchira reactivada el sábado 20/09, a las 2133, en los 4830 kHz. Transmitía el programa "Romances, copla y sabana". SINPO 4/4. Programa religioso a las 2330, ¡cuidado!, podría confundirse con Radio Litoral. Cadena nacional con el presidente Chávez a las 0218. Aún en el aire a las 0302. Totalmente atípico captar a Radio Táchira más allá de las 0200. Escuchada otra vez el 22/09, a la 0148, a pesar de haber estado todo el día fuera del aire. Emitía el programa "Música y costumbres de Colombia". SINPO 5/4. El locutor anunciaba la dirección electrónica: radiotachira@hotmail.com --- los colegas diexistas podrían intentar enviar sus informes a través de esta vía. Está más fuerte que de costumbre... ¿será un transmisor nuevo o repotenciado? (Adán González, Catia La Mar, VENEZUELA Yaesu FT-890/ TH3MK3, Sept 22, WORLD OF RADIO 1200, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** VIETNAM [non]. CLANDESTINE from GERMANY to VIETNAM. 15775, Chan Troi Moi card with "CTM" and antenna on front, full-data (sans site) on back. Address on card is same that I used: Correspondence Section, Radio CTM, P.O. Box 48, Nishi Yodogawa, Osaka 555, Japan; but card was mailed from Sacramento. In 5 months for CD report (Jerry Berg, MA, Cumbre DX Sept 23 via DXLD) ** VIETNAM [non]. CLANDESTINE from CIS to VIETNAM. 15660, Khmer Krom Radio (non) --- checking for this one today Sept 23 at 1450 and only heard a station in Arabic on the frequency (Hans Johnson, Cody WY, Cumbre DX via DXLD) ** YEMEN. 9780.38, 14.9 1800, Radio Yemen, Sana'a, started an English programme, ID, news among others about the Iranian claimed atomic weapon program followed by pop music by Roxette. S3 BV (Bjarke Vestesen, Denmark, SW Bulletin Sept 21, translated by editor Thomas Nilsson for DX LISTENING DIGEST) UNIDENTIFIED. No identificadas: andinas que aún no he podido descifrar... 1) El 20/09, a las 2316 UT, en los 4681.09 kHz, SINPO 2/2, con locutor de guardia y presentación del tema "Dime la verdad", de Marta Sánchez, ex-vocalista de Olé-Olé. [R. Amistad, Guatemala?] 2) El 20/09, a las 2320 UT, en los 5458.99 kHz, con música andina. Modulación deficiente. [R. Emisora Bolívar, Perú? SWG: 5460] 3) Voz femenina incomprensible y muy débil, en los 4635 kHz, a las 2348 UT. SINPO 2/1. (20/09). [Tajikistan?] 4) Locutora con sermón religioso en los 6214.99, a las 2351, SINPO 3/3. Fuerte QRM de radioaficionados. ¿Será una peruana? (20/09). (Adán González, Catia La Mar, VENEZUELA Yaesu FT-890/ TH3MK3, Sept 22, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Ésta será Radio Baluarte, Argentina. No hay radioaficionados en esta banda; ¿marítimas? (gh) UNIDENTIFIED. 15545, HDL, 1900-2000, Woofferton to W Africa: Still same endless tape loop of Merlin Comm. on Monday Sept 22nd. 73 wb (Wolfgang Büschel, Germany, WORLD OF RADIO 1200, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ COMMENTARY ++++++++++ SWL CALLS Mr. Hauser, There is a good website devoted to the Popular Electronics "WPE" SWL calls, http://www.qsl.net/wb1gfh/swl.html Also includes a general history of the program. I would agree that to a licensed ham, they may have seemed frivolous, but it was a big deal to young SWLs back then (many of which went on to ham radio). Also agree about comments in the latest DXLD, that many SWLs are potential hams, and ARRL should indeed recognize and cultivate them as future members. I am an active ham AND SWL, and I'm really surprised by how few hams 'cross over' or 'revert' to shortwave listening, especially when a high performance general coverage SWL receiver is literally at their fingertips in virtually all HF rigs today. Best Regards, (Ben Loveless WB9FJO ex-WPE9JLQ, Michigan, DX LISTENING DIGEST) WPE calls don`t expire, do they? ARRL does nothing to counter the ham mindset that SWLing is grossly inferior to hamming. At best, SWLing is merely a stepping-stone to becoming a real ham (gh) Here's a collection of SWL Call Signs and their owners, not limited to Popular Electronics, or the USA for that matter. http://kc5jk.tripod.com/sitebuildercontent/sitebuilderfiles/swlcs.txt (Pete Costello, DX LISTENING DIGEST) DEATHURBIA Your radio article is -- sad to say -- idiotic. To Whom it May Concern at http://members.aol.com/deathurbia/wireless-broadband.html -- I have no idea who you are; there was no explanation on your long webpage. I am a retired classical music program director (of five large market stations), and chief engineer-manager-commercial voice announcer at many more, with 27 years in the business in the SF bay area. I have some very negative reactions to your article. First, your web page about LPFM and IBOC is so riddled with mistakes and misspellings that it should embarrass you. It's really shocking to an educated reader, and unless your screed is composed by *one* dyslexic person with no editorial assistance, it would betoken some kind of illiteracy. You really *must* proofread your article and fix it up: anyone reading it is so distracted by the terrible mistakes that much of the gist of your message is weakened. Second, the statements you make about digital audio and RF transmission, bandwidth, and other technical matters illustrate the fact that you are completely ignorant of the issues involved: you are merely spreading "urban legend" with such nonsense. Extrapolating from something said by Sony regarding the required digital signal bandwidth under some arbitrary, undisclosed condition to an idiotic claim that a low-deviation digital stereo FM signal of only 20 kHz bandwidth is practical shows that you have no comprehension of FM modulation indices and how FM signals are modulated and demodulated (whether analogue or digital) and their consequential sideband components. Third, your claim that 30% of total records sold being of such musical genres as classical (which you spell "Claisscial", oddly capitalizing it), techno, bluegrass, etc., therefore mandates that thirty percent of broadcasting *should* transmit these musical formats shows a complete lack of understanding of the demographics and statistics (which I might question anyway), and makes some unsupportable social assertions. In addition to my own work for 27 years in broadcasting, I later worked as a buyer in the classical department of a large chain dealer of CDs, and question your numbers based on actual professional experience with industry-wide (and local store) sales statistics. Furthermore, the sheer sales of CDs per capita reflect NOTHING relevant with respect to the "correct" balance of broadcast programming (if there COULD be any such nonsensical concept anyway.) I'll give you just one quick example to prove my point. I used to own more than 13,000 classical LPs, and now have a collection of over 9,000 classical CDs. I have hundreds of operas on CD. Now, my own purchasing habits have had a significant impact on various retailers (as confirmed by at least two of them who reported that I am known by them as one of their most important customers.) I might be "0.xxx %" of total classical sales, an arbitrary number that cannot be pinned down without extensive research, but nevertheless a REAL number. Now, I do know for a fact that no one in my immediate neighborhood buys classical operas on CD; probably no one buys any classical CDs at all. Whereas, I have possibly purchased more than most of the classical customers in my home town *put together*. The anomalously large number of records I have purchased over the last 45 years do not represent anything other than the purchases of ONE person. The large quantity of sales of classics and opera around the geographic area of my house do not indicate a significant demographic cluster of interest; it merely indicates the existence and buying habits of little old me! You cannot take the sales figures of the dealers that have served me, and extrapolate from them "how many classical customers are in the community" and "how much of radio programming should be classical." For, in a very true sense, I *could* represent just ONE person in a field of perhaps ten thousand individuals, none of whom would ever tune in or pay any attention to classical music. So, putting a proportion of classical music on ALL of broadcast radio in my market - - in concurrence to the buying habits of just one voracious collector (me) -- would not reach a real audience of listeners; would not have any significant social impact; would not serve anybody but ME; and surely would be both a waste of precious broadcasting spectrum, and a waste of financial resources. Furthermore, as the former webmaster for one of the world's most prominent classical CD producers (Mark Obert-Thorn) I must inform you that his typical CD issues, released world-wide by UK labels, and received with the wild praise of the leading American and European record critics, often consist of merely 1,000 individual units exported from the UK label **to the entire United States**. Truly, in a given large community such as mine -- San Jose, CA. -- it might be found that the two local Tower Record stores would sell no more than ONE of his individual CD titles in a period of perhaps two to five years. That one CD issue might well be regarded by music critics as an important historical and cultural contribution to the world classical music scene; but individual CD copies were spread so wide and thin that it often might be possible to track almost every single sale across the entirety of the US. Yet people who idolize and are obsessively focused on such musical releases -- people like me -- often mistakenly extrapolate from their own sense of the worth of such material and conclude erroneously that many more persons *could* or *would* investigate them -- if only they were able to. Well, the Internet has now provided that real possibility; and his issues still each sell maybe a thousand copies in the whole country. Everyone who wants one will ultimately get one; and that's that. There are not tens of thousands, hundreds of thousands, or millions of potential customers for his issues; only a thousand customers. Period. It's a sad thing to accept this fact, if you love classical music as I do; but you just have to do it to be able to function in the real world without falling into what I might call irresponsible "Don Quixote" behavior. You must also realize that 100 w FM signals -- especially stereo ones -- as typically used in LPFM stations, which are often not situated in ideal transmission locations, cannot serve much of a significant geographical area. My experience in broadcast engineering has indicated that a typical result would be a primary coverage radius of perhaps 2 to 5 miles. Within that range, whether or not there are competing sidebands of strong stations, a large amount of audio compression would be necessary to overcome receiver noise from such a weak stereo signal: the very thing that destroys the realism of classical music, certain types of jazz or world music, and any intellectual program material that demands sonic realism. If you bother to do the SLIGHTEST amount of research into the technical issues involved in transmitting hybrid IBOC on FM, you will discover that the digital sideband signals might well have little more power than your proposed "salvation" of broadcasting, LPFM stations: and indeed often much less. Please read the article at http://www.broadcastpapers.com/radio/BCA03IBOC.pdf by an engineer from Broadcast Electronics, a transmitter manufacturer: and note that an FM station currently operating in standard modulation with 10 kw would, using IBOC, transmit a 10 kW analogue FM carrier ***and a digital signal of only 63.1 watts***! This is truly an inconsequential signal level compared to the analogue carrier and sidebands, and since scrambling of the digital signal's modulation characteristics is done to remove any discernible periodicity, it is indistinguishable from the broadband shot noise present in the FM baseband; in other words, it's just random high frequency noise when demodulated by a standard analogue FM detector, virtually indistinguishable from the hiss heard between stations at any spot on the dial where there is no discernible signal (ultimately traceable, I might add, to the 3 Kelvin background radiation from the Big Bang, some 14 billion years ago!) Any decent receiver's capture effect will ignore such sideband noise under reasonable clean signal reception conditions (though of course you COULD contrive some worst-case anomalous mobile reception conditions -- or use of lousy, cheap portable radios -- to try to PROVE that the noise would have a degrading interference effect. People have been doing that kind of thing for half a century to attack any kind of technical innovation proposed for radio; relatively recently, a promising concept called "FMX" was killed off by some exaggerated criticisms. Thus, any kind of change is resisted with every possible honest and dishonest argument, depending on whose ox is gored...) Now, I have no objection to proposing LPFM and alternative, niche programming. I love niche music of all types, from Arabic chants (which I have listened to, mesmerized, hour after hour on shortwave) to Hungarian and Rumanian folksong, to Zydeco. But I would ask you to point to one single example of any entity in world broadcasting that presents such material without full subsidization. Please show a single instance where a commercial venture can be self-sustaining and provide a steady stream of such programming. I'm waiting. I was IN the broadcasting business of niche programming for more than a quarter century; was the engineer for funky counter-culture stations like KPIG; was a supporter and enthusiast of Pacifica Radio. And I worked for market-leader, competitive stations in the SF bay area, stations like KNBR or KSOL, doing mass-media programming to the widest possible audience. I have seen both sides of the coin, as it were, and have found it impossible to support my own classical music activities, even in SF stations, so that I did not have to take part time jobs with other popular formats. The most I have ever been able to make from a classical music station was $1600 per month income: NOT what one needs to earn to be able to live respectably in the SF bay area. So I had to work at four or five OTHER stations as an engineering consultant and technician, just so that I could also do classical music programming as a more-or-less glorified hobby. If you can show me ONE instance of -- say -- a Zydeco or serial chamber music or polka broadcasting service being able to hire and support a programming, marketing, engineering, sales, and operations staff with an appropriate market-standard income, then I'll be happy to backtrack. But I haven't seen any such evidence in the years I worked in radio (from the early sixties through the late eighties), and I see even less now. I a copying this letter to Glenn Hauser's DX Listening Digest, as he has had some recent discussion of LPFM that I found interesting and worth commenting on, from the perspective of being a broadcasting professional who had a grounding in realities, not merely illusions and dreams. Sincerely yours, Stephen R. Waldee, technical director of Roper Piano Studio and former broadcasting PD and chief engineer, San Jose, CA. (Sept 21, cc to DXLD) Later: Subject : "Deathurbia" frustration Glenn: Having unburdened myself to "Deathurbia" about their silly web article attacking digital broadcasting, I find -- of course -- that my forty- five minutes of effort to talk sense to them was all wasted: the link for their email contact is non-operative, and my email was almost instantly bounced back to me by AOL. Nor have I been able to find any other working email to this shadow outfit. So you will at least be able to follow my argument, for whatever it's worth, if not them. I was fascinated to discover the low impact of the IBOC digital FM signal and its very small contribution to the entire RF envelope transmitted by a hybrid IBOC FM station. Indeed, the diplexing loss of the IBOC digital carrier is an order of magnitude larger than the resulting signal over the air itself: I just cannot accept the claims of the LPFM do-or-die advocates that this TINY wisp of an apparent white-noise signal will wipe out LPFM; and if I'm wrong, and it DOES do that, it further supports my argument that LPFM is not robust enough to be worth the effort. Times change; people change; whole societies change. It's no longer the world of, say, 1964 when I could go down to Lorenzo Milam's 600 watt FM station in Los Gatos and volunteer to put on a program of Urdu chants. That does not mean that there is a giant conspiracy out to DENY me the opportunity to do just that; it is simply that in the tentative, formative, experimental years of any niche technology that has just emerged into the consciousness of avant-garde enthusiasts, you can do thing that you won't be able to do when the situation matures and evolves... Well, the effort to write this letter did give me the opportunity to listen, in the background, to more than a half hour of music and strange sounding talk from R. Tatarstan: a genuine thrill and a new catch for me, at 11665. It was worth it, and the fact that I was STILL able to hear such rare stuff via the ether -- LPFM, digital, or not -- is proof that there are things to divert you, if you just look for them. Best, (Steve Waldee, CA, Sept 22, DX LISTENING DIGEST) RECEIVER NEWS +++++++++++++ MOTOBRÁS CAR RADIOS Os robustos receptores analógicos da Motobrás também podem ser adquiridos pela Internet. Para conferir os modelos e efetuar a compra, basta ir até o seguinte sítio: http://www.radioshopping.com.br/ Célio Romais, Panorama, @tividade DX Sept 21 via DXLD) ### ||||||||||||||| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||| DX LISTENING DIGEST 3-169, September 21, 2003 edited by Glenn Hauser 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 later at http://www.worldofradio.com/dxldtd3i.html For restrixions and searchable 2003 contents archive see http://www.worldofradio.com/dxldmid.html NOTE: If you are a regular reader of DXLD, and a source of DX news but have not been sending it directly to us, please consider yourself obligated to do so. Thanks, Glenn NEXT AIRINGS OF WORLD OF RADIO 1199: RFPI: Mon 0630, 1230 [maybe], Wed 0100, 0730 on 7445 [nominal times may be delayed] WBCQ: Mon 0415 7415, maybe 5105 WWCR: Wed 0930 9475 WINB: Thu 0130 9320 WRN ONDEMAND: http://new.wrn.org/listeners/stations/station.php?StationID=24 OUR ONDEMAND AUDIO [also for CONTINENT OF MEDIA, MUNDO RADIAL]: Check http://www.worldofradio.com/audiomid.html WORLD OF RADIO 1199 (high version): (stream) http://www.w4uvh.net/wor1199h.ram (download) http://www.w4uvh.net/wor1199h.rm (summary) http://www.worldofradio.com/wor1199.html WORLD OF RADIO 1199 (low version): (stream) http://www.w4uvh.net/wor1199.ram (download) http://www.w4uvh.net/wor1199.rm MUNDO RADIAL, para setiembre-octubre en WWCR 15825: todos los viernes 2115, martes 2130, miércoles 2100. Además: (corriente) http://www.w4uvh.net/mr0309.ram (bajable) http://www.w3uvh.net/mr0309.rm (texto) http://www.worldofradio.com/mr0309.html ** ARGENTINA. 2760, harmonic 0100-0130*, UNID música sin parar, ningún anuncio, baladas, románticos. S/off alrededor de 0130, ayer 0134 con himno nacional argentino e ID por mujer, pero el máximo QSB coincide con el momento de la ID. Armonica de 1380, ¿pero cual?. Llama la atención la temprana hora para el s/off. QRK 1/3, 2 la mayoría del tiempo (Horacio Nigro, Uruguay, set 17/18, Conexión Digital via DXLD) ** BOLIVIA. 4600.30, R. Perla del Acre, 0922 Sept 20 in Spanish, fair despite static, OM with ID 0923, then jingle ID right afterwards, into series of local ads. Finally a break in our local thunderstorms so hopefully I can keep my equipment plugged in for more than one hour at a time. 73's (Phil Marshall, Bradenton, FL, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** BOLIVIA. Hola, Emisora NO Identificada en 4902.6 escuchada a las 0130 UT y con cierre de emisión a las 0200 el pasado 20/09 en idioma español con música y comerciales, con un SINPO=23232 , captada desde Cercs (Barcelona) España, en la DX Camp organizada por la ADXB. (ADXB, Sept 21, DX LISTENING DIGEST) I told them about this: 4902.6, R. San Miguel, 0159-0204* Sept 19. Caught their sign-off routine with ID by YL at 0200, followed by their NA. Surprisingly strong for a Bolivian; SINPO 34333 (George Maroti, NY, Cumbre DX via DXLD) ** COSTA RICA. RFPI is testing 15115 again, presumably in time for their Open House on Sunday Sept 21. Tuned in HCJB DX Partyline about 1250 Sat Sept 20, as Ken MacHarg was somehow turning sliced bread into evangelism, but there was heavy QRM, somewhat distorted, from something in Spanish. At first I was stumped, as was not expecting RFPI to be in Spanish; could it be an internal audio mix at HCJB? No, not parallel 11960. No other parallels found on 15 MHz or even some other bands scanned. But at 1302, switched to English, Voices of Our World, so pretty clear it was RFPI. I then checked 7445 for a parallel, and could almost make it, but Taiwan was on top by then. HCJB is now on 15115 until 1330, so I have again advised RFPI not to use it before that hour! RFPI was in the clear after 1330, and proved to be in USB --- so HCJB was serving as the BFO. Attempted to play WOR 1199 at 1341, but something went wrong so played some other show; and about 1412 a new Mailbag after some months, apparently recorded Tuesday, but cut off at 1428 and nothing further heard until rechecked after 2000 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Was not supposed to be on when HCJB is; we plan to run 15115-USB at 1800-0800 only (James Latham, RFPI, Sept 20, DX LISTENING DIGEST) On the Fiesta call-in at 0136 Sept 22, James guessed 1800-1100 instead. 15115 was not on Sun/UT Mon because of a blown fuse, but James said they would get it up and running in next few days. There were lots of calls, and James seems optimistic about the future of RFPI (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) I discovered RFPI on 15115-USB at about 0145 UT Sept 21. At 0300, after WOR on WWCR, they were gone. At 0145, reception was good, perfectly in the clear, maybe 4, 5, 4. If it were me, I would have used a little less speech compression, but, that is just a personal preference (Tim Hendel, AL, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CUBA [non]. CLANDESTINE from USA to CUBA, 9955: La Hora de Chibás - -- I noticed that the jamming wasn't quite blocking these guys out so I was able to hear their program. Mostly talk, but two ID's at 0038 Sept 21. WRMI ID when program ended at 0045. Per Jeff White, their contact details are: Mario Jiménez, La Hora de Chibás P. O. Box 451132 Miami, Florida 33245-1132 USA. Radio Revista Lux --- the jamming remained low, so I got this one at 0100. ID's at program sign on and a number of short talks in Spanish followed. Quite readable for about 9 minutes then faded quite quickly and pretty hard to read by 0115. Per the Cubapolidata website, the address for this one is PO Box 451132, Miami, FL 33245-1132 (Hans Johnson, WY, Cumbre DX via DXLD) ** CUBA [non]. PAIR HOPE TO AIR CUBAN PROGRAMS FROM NAPLES-BASED TV NETWORK Friday, September 19, 2003, Naples Daily News By THERESA STAHL, tmstahl@naplesnews.com URL: http://www.naplesnews.com/03/09/business/e6831a.htm A new Naples-based Cuban television network wants to herd the scattered flock of Cuban documentaries and dish them up to a satellite that transmits around the world. "We have a ton of programming, but no venue," said Kevin Adell, who hopes to launch the Cubana One Network with Pedro Prado, a Cuban exile. Adell, a broadcaster, and Prado claim the network will be the first Cuban-only, English-language television station in America. More than half of the programs will be historical documentaries and the rest will include news, sports, cooking shows and music videos. "(It's) a mixture of today and tomorrow," Prado said. The two entrepreneurs don't know yet when or where the network will air. This month, they're meeting with three of the six cable carriers in Florida to pitch Cubana One. Prado collected thousands of signatures from people who want to see Cuban television. He is delivering them to people such as Larry Schweber, general manager for Comcast Cable in Southwest Florida. Schweber, who recently met with Adell and Prado, said he needs to see more information before he makes a decision, but he is intrigued by the concept. "We as a company ... (have) refocused on the Hispanic population to meet the demand from both a service and product perspective," Schweber said. The components of the station - including editing, audio tags, promotions and voice-overs - will be put together at Cubana One Network's offices on Fifth Avenue South. From Naples, the content will be sent to Detroit where it will be uplinked to a satellite from which cable companies worldwide can pull down the signal. Adell, 36, said many organizations, such as Cuban-American associations and the University of Miami, are producing documentaries that only see the front of a TV screen for a few minutes on news programs. "We feel like we're not being heard," he said. The documentaries they want to show on Cubana One will be about Cuban music, cars, cigar making, agriculture and baseball. The station, which will be broadcast entirely in English, is very important to Cuban-Americans, Adell said. "It's a celebration of Cuban life, a way to satisfy the needs of the community," he said. For Prado, it's more personal. "My grandkids are here, and I would like for them to know their heritage," he said. Operation Peter Pan Prado came to the U.S. in 1962 when he was 18 years old. He was one of 14,000 unaccompanied children between 6 and 18 years old to leave Cuba over a two-year period. The exodus, coded Operation Peter Pan, was fueled by parents' fears that the Fidel Castro government would take possession of their children and indoctrinate them. Miami was "Never-Never Land." On American soil, Prado joined a Catholic program that aimed to disperse Cuban refugees from Miami and provide airfare and an apartment in "a decent part of the country," Prado said. He was sent to Dallas and worked at an electronic shop making television sets, earning $1.25 hour. He later got a job in hospitality. Working his way up to management, Prado build his resume with some of the biggest names in the hotel industry. In 1987, Prado moved to Naples to manage The Registry Hotel. Today, at 60, he is owner and president of Prado Hospitality Consulting Inc., but he's making a transition to go full time with Cubana One. A bigger audience The network's name comes from the words "Cuba" and "Havana." Cubana One will be nonprofit, like PBS, where companies sponsor the programming. Prado and Adell say they are not concerned about the network's financing. Actually, Adell doesn't worry much about Cubana One's future because this is his sophomore attempt at a nonprofit television network for a niche market. The first one flourished. Three years ago in Detroit, he started The Word Network, an "urban religious channel" geared toward African-Americans. Adell moved to Naples a few months ago and met Prado soon after. Almost immediately they started laying groundwork for a Cuban television network. They decided the network would be broadcast in English because it would give them a bigger market. Plus, two Spanish stations already exist: Telemundo and Univision. Hilda Luisa Diaz-Perera, president of the newly formed Cuban Cultural Center of Collier County, said broadcasting Cubana One in English was the right decision. "That's the best thing about it," she said. "We have no other way to reach the American audience." Diaz-Perera said Americans don't hear the entire truth about what's going on in Cuba because Castro controls what airs on CNN, the only U.S. station in Havana. "Cubana One is going to be a source to get to the American public and (will) let them know the other side of the story." Copyright © 2000 Naples Daily News. All rights reserved. A Scripps Howard newspaper. (via David E. Crawford, Titusville, Florida, DXLD) ** DIEGO GARCIA. Had not heard this from home for a while, but AFRTS is still active, heard at 1630 UT on 1485 kHz (Victor Goonetilleke, on an island DXpedition off Sri Lanka, RKI Worldwide Friendship Aug 30, notes by gh for DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** GERMANY. Some additions re DRM transmitters in Germany: 531 is indeed 24 hours, most likely also 729. The transmitter in use for 729 at Putbus is a Telefunken TRAM-10, installed in a container on the antenna, a 51 metres tall mast of a standard design used on many ex- GDR mediumwave stations for powers up to 20 kW. In the past a mobile transmitter was used at Putbus, later two FM transmitters were added in the actual station building. Meanwhile FM from Putbus was replaced by two new sites on the Rügen island, Sassnitz for Deutschlandradio and Garz for NDR and commercial broadcasters. In the old days Putbus- 729 carried during the summer season Ferienwelle, a program for holidaymakers produced at Rostock. A recording is posted at http://www.dxing.info/audio/germany_east/729_Ferienwelle.rm and quite interesting for those who understand German. 855: This transmitter appears to be on air every day, but more often in AM than in DRM. Earlier this year no DRM tests whatsoever were observed over a longer period, a couple of months if memory serves right, and I again found 855 to be always in AM on my seldom checks since the IFA fair is over (Kai Ludwig, Germany, Sept 20, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** INTERNATIONAL VACUUM. Loral reports that Telstar 4 appears to have suffered a short on the main DC bus. It was insured for $1.4 million (Lou Johnson, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** IRAQ. STATEMENT BY NEW IRAQI BROADCAST CORPORATION STRESSES INDEPENDENCE | Text of report by Nidal al-Asadi in Baghdad entitled: "First Iraqi independent TV channel to be launched soon", published by London-based newspaper Al-Zaman on 16 September The creation of an Iraqi television and radio corporation has been announced in Baghdad and London. It will be called IBC [Iraqi Broadcast Corporation]. This new organization, registered in Iraq, Great Britain and around the world, will have full rights to exploit the IBC name and to use it for television broadcasting purposes. A number of Iraqi businessmen and media experts are behind this project. Shahlah Husayn, the corporation spokeswoman, said in a statement handed to Al-Zaman yesterday, that IBC was targeting Iraqi viewers and listeners through round-the-clock local and satellite television broadcasts. The statement mentions a number of principles adopted by the corporation, such as the principle of staying above any political obedience to a group, party, category, faction, religion or individual. The corporation will be open to all prevailing cultures and religions. It will also endeavour to "introduce cheerfulness after years of gloom and isolation", Shahlah Husayn went on to say that bureaus in Iraqi cities, in Europe and in the Arab world, would join forces to launch the first professional television broadcast which will be independent from any government or authority. She indicated "the door is open for additional investors". The corporation's initial capital is 10m dollars, which can be increased to 30m dollars. She also stressed that in terms of recruitment, priority would be given to Iraqis of both sexes. She also called on artists and programme makers to join this television project which will start experimental broadcasts within the next six months. As for radio broadcasts, these will begin with the official launch of television broadcasts. [WTFK???] The administration of the corporation will be made up of a board of governors, including a chairman and five members. An executive administration will emanate from this body. It will work under the supervision of a council of trustees. The corporation will devise work regulations and the method of recruiting staff members through advertisements that will be published in the media at a later stage. The spokeswoman did not reveal the place from which the broadcasts will be launched, but said that "the broadcast will simultaneously start from various places". She also underlined "the independence of the new television channels and their freedom to deal with Iraqi and Arab issues". Shahlah Husayn concluded her statement by saying, "the [IBC] channels will not only be dealing with news and current affairs, but will also broadcast a variety of programmes and will target viewers of all ages". Source: Al-Zaman, London, in Arabic 16 Sep 03 p 1 (via BBCM via DXLD) ** IRELAND. Glenn, RTÉ's Radio 2 FM mediumwave Transmitter in Athlone is back on air. It is a 100 kW transmitter purchased in 1979 replacing the old Radio Éireann's (the forerunner of RTE) 100 kW transmitter that was used from the 1930's or thereabouts! This transmitter must be saved as it allows 2FM to be picked up in large areas of Britain. Athlone (a town right in the middle of the Country) was also the venue of Ireland's short lived shortwave transmitted in the early years of the State! The Athlone frequency is 612 MW while two 10 kW transmitters exist also in Dublin and Cork cities. The original Athlone transmitter closed down around 1975/76 when the Tullamore 500 kW transmitter commenced broadcasting - there was only one station at the time with FM opt outs. The new 100 kW transmitter (2 x 50 kW) opened in 1979 when the then RTE Radio 2 came on air (now branded as 2FM). (Paul Guckian, Ennis, Co Clare, Ireland, Sept 20-21, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 612 is the one reported off-frequency causing a heterodyne with something (gh, DXLD) I understand this to be the Old '566' Athlone transmitter, it goes back to the days of a part-time Radio Eireann, there were only two other transmitters at that time, for the whole country. Phoenix Park Dublin 1250 kHz 5 kW and same frequency 2 kW Cork. Nothing else!!! and NO Television until 1961. Transmitting times were mostly 1.00 to 2.30 pm and 5.30 to 11.00 pm, with a little extra at week-ends. It must have been commissioned about 1950, I reckon (Ken Fletcher, 2120 UTC = 2220 UTC+1, September 19th 2003, BDXC-UK via DXLD) ** ISRAEL. Nothing new to say on the Kol Israel front, but: The Jewish New Year is on Saturday and Sunday. It starts Friday night. Therefore, there may be some special programming. A Happy and Healthy New Year to all! (Doni Rosenzweig, Sept 21, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ITALY. Dear EMR listener, EMR is on the air this Sunday night via the IRRS on 5775 at 1900 to 2030 UT. The IRRS transmits in reduced carrier SSB mode, which is OK for normal AM Reception in Europe. YOU MAY NEED TO USE A BFO FOR LONG DISTANCE RECEPTION EMR ON AIR DATES on 5775 kHz 2003 Repeat Programmes 21st September 2003 -- to be confirmed 19th October 2003 -- to be confirmed 16th November 2003 -- to be confirmed From November 2003 onwards EMR will be on 5775 and 13840 via the IRRS. All dates and times will be available in October. 73s (TOM Taylor, Cumbre DX via DXLD) DEAR ALL, we just signed off a 30 min test with 100 kW. We will repeat the test again tonight (Sunday) at 1800 UT (1900 BST) on 5775. If you can hear something please let me know. Thanks. THE IRRS 73s (Sept 20, playdx via DXLD) So they have a 100 kW in Milano now?? Or another secret relay site? (gh, DXLD) ** JUAN FERNANDEZ. CHILE: 8900 KHz (USB) es la frecuencia donde es posible reportar a la estación costera chilena CBF, JUAN FERNANDEZ RADIO, que transmite desde la Isla Robinson Crusoe (Archipiélago Juan Fernández), en el Océano Pacífico. La emisora es habitualmente escuchada alrededor de las 1200 UT, cuando se encuentra recibiendo reportes de posición de parte de numerosos buques pesqueros chilenos que navegan por la zona próxima a este conjunto de islas. Cabe agregar que esta banda en realidad pertenece al Servicio Móvil Aeronáutico (Banda de 8 MHz, 8815-9040 KHz), razón por la cual resulta extraño escuchar este tipo de estación costera fuera de las bandas marítimas. Además la escucha ofrece la posibilidad de reportar un "raro" radiopaís ITU, difícil de lograr por otros medios de recepción (Marcelo A. Cornachioni, Argentina, Conexión Digital Sept 20 via DXLD) ** KOREA NORTH. VOK, usually heard in English at 2100 on 7505, and 11335, was inaudible on Sept 19; earlier also missing from one of the frequencies I checked at 1000 (Chris Hambly, Victoria, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** KOREA NORTH. 3249.530, 14.9 1700, Pyongyang Broadcasting Station // med 3320.015, tidpip och anrop "Pyongyang - - imnida". 2-3 SA (Stig Adolfsson, Sweden, SW Bulletin Sept 21 via DXLD) ** LATVIA. Riga-Ulbroka 9290 is on tonight but here in eastern Germany hardly more than a faint carrier. Best regards, (Kai Ludwig, Sat Sept 20, DX LISTENING DIGEST) PIRATE? 9290, Radio Seagull, NL with nice signal S9_10 , 44434 with nice rock program past 1800. At 1815 with 'Gone to be wild' and following every song with IS, mail address and web, email. Has given these info: http://www.radioseagull.nl (working) and studio@radioseagull.nl Signal and audio is a bit unstable after 1830 with gaps. Nice song selection. R75 as usually used (Zacharias Liangas, Sept 20, Retziki, Greece http://www.geocities.com/zliangas/kchibo.pdf DX LISTENING DIGEST) I tuned to 9.290 MHz at the end of the Monitoring Service Feature on Radio 4. Signal was about SIO 444, at 2000 UT, although audio cut out for about 7 minutes at 2003. Audio restored at approx 2010; however signal started deteriorating sharply after 2020 and is only barely audible, fading out altogether at times, at 2040. I have no doubt that disturbed conditions are partially to blame, although the 'K' Index has been down to 4 for the last 9 hours or so. Signal now slightly improved at 2042; this sometimes happens for a short while before complete fadeout. I am afraid the authorities in Latvia will need to do some homework. This frequency, in the main will be too high, for most of the B03 Period at this time, more suitable for an afternoon transmission, say 1300-1600. 2048, Radio Seagull now almost faded out (Ken Fletcher, UK, September 20th 2003, BDXC-UK via DXLD) The Radio Seagull transmissions on 9290 kHz 20 September were a commercial relay by Laser Radio UK, which is regularly renting airtime at the Ulbroka shortwave station (owned by Latvian State Radio & Television Centre, Latvia's national transmitter operator) via a Latvian broker. More details about the relay service can be found at http://www.laserradio.net --- Get HEARD - with LASER RADIO's SHORT-WAVE RELAY SERVICE Now your radio programmes can reach across Europe and beyond with a POWERFUL Shortwave signal. The Laser Radio Relay Service can broadcast your radio programme via a 100,000 watt transmitter to your listeners at an extremely reasonable charge per hour. Why bother with low power when you can broadcast with HIGH POWER from a fully authorised transmitter that delivers a Strong signal where its needed. Laser Radio continues to feature several music streams, whilst we await the launch of our various AM outlets. On Saturday 20th September our shortwave service will carry Radio Seagull on 9290 kHz from 1800 until 2200. Further broadcasts are planned (via Bernd Trutenau, Lithuania, DX LISTENING DIGEST) But not every Saturday?? (gh, DXLD) ** MEXICO. Glenn: XERTA is perplexing. I was able to hear them pretty well around 0100Z UT Friday, with ID in English and something about being 'on the 37th floor' of a certain building (a little hard to make out clearly) so the signal has some RF punch. But at the moment today - Saturday at 0901 - they are coming in with a strong cx but, as has happened several times in the past two days, there is a heavy interfering ute signal at somewhere between 4810 and 4815, which more- or-less obliterates it with envelope detection. Furthermore, the sound is simply HIDEOUS. It is much worse than any tropical band LA station -- and I can get dozens and dozens of them, all over the continent. Generally they don't sound very bright (I suspect most don't use multiband processing, except the Brazilians, who obviously *do* - and adore their echo chambers!) But they aren't too bad either, and I often just listen to them for the pleasant music, which is not at all like the Latino music played on American radio. However, XERTA is so terrible sounding that if they don't change it, there's no point in being on the air. The first time I heard them the sound was clear but extraordinarily thin on the bottom end, with no distortion whatsoever. Now they have much, much more distortion: a sort of roaring clipping. And the lack of bass just makes them sound like SSB. How can a station that has supposedly - according to the blurb in your DXLD - "un nuevo transmisor y antena" - sound this bad? I still think that they are using basically a dialup phone type circuit (300 to 3k) for the audio; and now there is a horrible hum or perhaps an RF-induced buzz in the audio signal, ahead of a limiter which sucks it WAY up when the music fades out. It is just pitiful. I went to their website, which is incomplete though they have a RealAudio link. Surprisingly, their RA feed sounds great! Heck, they could just connect THAT into the transmitter and get better results than what they're doing now. Is this typical of XERTA in the days when it was on the air? Is this another case of shameful stupidity and tin-eared foolishness redolent of a lack of knowledge of contemporary engineering practices? I shouldn't think so considering how OTHER stations from the LA region sound. If they can make tiny little teapots in Ecuador and Peru sound pretty decent, then why can't some guys in Mexico City do it right? FWIW, I was the c. e. of a prominent SF bay area Spanish language station (KOFY) for 14 years, though I don't speak Spanish well myself, and had many friends who came to the San Mateo area from Guatemala, Mexico, and other LA countries. Some of them were fine broadcasters who moved on to more powerful and successful stations; and we had a pretty darned good sounding, professional station that sounded much "bigger" than its 1kw. So I'm sympathetic to the genre (Steve Waldee, CA, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Well, when I checked the XERTA web stream at 1627 UT Sept 20, there was throbbing bass and not much else, awful. Seems they have quality control issues, to say the least. Station has never amounted to anything more than a curiosity (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Checked out the website, under construction, but has a live audio feed which was // to the shortwave when I checked. The contact details are as follows: Geoline Communications, S.A. de C.V. Joseph Berardi icampos@geoline.net Telephone 525-683-5055 Orizaba #32 San Jeronimo Aculco, Mexico City, NA 10400, Mexico (via Hans Johnson, Cumbre DX Sep 20 via DXLD) 4810, XERTA, R. Intercontinental, 0045-0145 20 Sept. Various styles of LA music and occasional canned IDs by M. ID by M over music at 0115 as: "XERTA, radio emisora ?? internacional, la ?? onda corta radial México, transmite 4810 kilohertz la banda de 60 metros...ciudad de México. XERTA, la voz comercial de Mexico ??". At 0120, ID seemed to mention US and Canada. The next morning, heard again with usual music program and IDs at 1132 by M as "Desde ?? ciudad de México, la voz de XERTA, R. emisora internacional en onda corta comercial(?) en la banda de 60 metros, 4810 kilohertz", followed by another canned ID by W over an instrumental version of "Michelle" by the Beatles as: "En nosotro(?) México ??, XETRA, R. Internacionales...". I'm sure others will have heard these IDs and copied them word for word. Nice signal but audio sounds as though an open mic is placed up next the speaker of an old cassette player!! There's a noticeable buzzing and occasional drop-outs was well (Dave Valko, PA, Cumbre DX via DXLD) Later: 4810, XERTA, while listening to the MD recording, caught this canned English ID by M at 0208 "You're listening to XERTA Radio... tuned to our shortwave frequency, 50,000 watts, on 4,810 kilohertz". Unfortunately due to the poor audio quality, I couldn't copy the entire announcement, 20 Sept. 73's (Dave Valko, PA, Cumbredx mailing list via DXLD) 4810, XERTA, 1136-1210 Sept 20. Presumed with instrumental and vocal music, religious-sounding. M announcer spoke at 1149 but local electrical noise prevented good copy. Past 1210 with no ToH break (John Wilkins, Wheat Ridge, Colorado. Drake R-8, 100-foot RW, Cumbre DX via DXLD) 4810, XERTA, 1026-1037 Sept 17. Thanks to Chuck Bolland tip, I tuned in to hear rap music in Spanish, then a ballad with OM vocals. IDs in English and Spanish at 1035, followed by more music. SINPO 33333 once I switched to LSB (George Maroti, NY, Cumbre DX via DXLD) Decent audio but heavy QRN at 0055-0200 Sep 18, mostly what seemed to be "popular" religious vocals. IDs after every few songs, varying in language -- SP, EG and FR. I followed them for several recent mornings at roughly 0830-1100 and found strong carrier but no audio. However, they were there at 0630 Sep 20 with upbeat SP vocals, IDs -- one in SP at 0634, next one FR at 0727, then SP and EG 0732, then what seemed to be a PSA or religious message (one of a couple I have heard them carry), SP ID again, etc. Still on after 0800, Mexican music, also Andean; also there at 1100 check. But carrier-only during checks at 0800-1000 on Sep 21. Middle of the night LT is the best time to hear them here, as they have a stronger signal and less QRN than in earlier hours. Overmodulated/telco audio makes them tough on the ears, and the audio during the recorded IDs is worse than during the music. Has "live" internet RealAudio while they are on the air, and that audio is fine. English E-mail to them seeking their postal address brought quick Spanish reply from giving QTH as: XERTA, R. Transcontinental de America [presumably the "RTA" in XERTA--JB], Plaza San Juan No. 5, Despacho No. 2, Col. Centro, Centro Histórico, C.P. 6050, México D.F. Tel. 55184938 (Jerry Berg, MA, NASWA Flashsheet Sept 21 via DXLD) 4810, XERTA, Nothing but steady mechanical-like noise here this AM 21 Sept. Wonder if they're having transmitter trouble (Dave Valko, PA, Cumbre DX via DXLD) XERTA, 2330-0005 with excellent signal strength ID slogans by OM, "ciudad de México", vocals and instrumental music. Signal suffers from distortion and seemly total USB hash. Reports of interference from another signal appear false. This seems a USB, self inflicted wound, from their transmitter (Bob Wilkner, FL, Sept 21, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** MEXICO [non]. Re Radio Free Cascadia International --- Hi Glenn, the debate about the Radio Free Cascadia transmissions is quite interesting. Actually not the transmissions itself are a story from a European point of view; instead "the medium is the message" one more time. First, I am somewhat surprised about Nick Grace and Martin Schöch issuing a joint statement with RNW. I wonder why, completely aside from the question whether or not they are entitled to speak for RNW at all? How are editorial decisions at RNW connected with the CRW project? Martin Schöch argues that this was some kind of Veranstaltungsrundfunk (that's what is known in the UK as RSL stations). I think this comparison not really fits because such stations are operated by people favouring the respective events and organizations, but this was obviously not the case here. And temporary FM licences are issued to Veranstaltungsrundfunk stations; they are no pirates like this one. But the debate focused on the term "clandestine": I think this is a problematic issue in general since it implies a judgment to brand a broadcast operation as a clandestine. An obvious example is the VoR-produced Radiostantsiya Chechnya Svobodnaya, I remember how VoR's Pavel Mikhailov distributed a sharp reaction (like: some people with no any idea about these things are searching for a sensation) after these transmissions were labeled as a clandestine. Or to mention the most recent example: I guess the people at the FLoK citizen radio association at Cologne would be quite surprised if they would be told that their Radio Rhino International project is labelled as "clandestine". [see UGANDA] Just 0,02 EUR from somebody who was told that the broadcasting world would be a soap opera and he the mean reviewer of the TV magazine. This referring to what can be seen obviously, of course. Good night! (Kai Ludwig, Germany, Sept 20, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 15045.05, 13.9 1915, unID: OID med ändlöst tal på EE. Piratstationen från WTO i Cancún, Mexico? 1 CB (Christer Brunström, Sweden, SW Bulletin via DXLD) 15045, MEXICO, Clandestine, R. Free Cascadia, Sep 13 0200 - Interesting catch. Male announcer in English and female announcer in Spanish which was over modulated and difficult to get much from her comments. At top of the hour, station ID a few comments by female announcer in Spanish, then cheering and lots of applause and then to male announcer with this speech. Good Afternoon young people. Good afternoon to everyone here. Brothers and Sisters of the world and from Mexico. Especially for the young people and for all those not here and those who are not here listening to us close by and far away. We find ourselves in this place today where just a few hours ago as you all know the resistance in the rebellion for humanity for ?? was born. Revolution greetings to you all and we hope you all are fine but tired from the dance at this rate. This is great as this is a very important fiesta. So that the trial doesn't matter. It does make me daunt though because I can't win. Young students, young people from this planet earth in this country, Mexico, who are trying to continue studying in our universities and they don't accept you. But you don't get discouraged, you look for work and they don't give it to you. And if they do give you a job, they pay you a pittance. And so there is no opportunities in education or in work. And they don't expect you to weight in on your youth. They persecute you for being different. They want us to be already old so that they won't have to worry. They don't want us, they hate us. But they are afraid of us because we are young people who are capable of organizing our values and that's where they are wrong, because we won't be old. Because some die and others take their place so they ??? will stay young. But the government their ease of ventures which has worked all the different kinds of businessmen there are. With our youth is to offer you work behind the condition that you obey them. If you unit you remain in their service. And they pay you just a crumb. And that is how they take advantage of our youthful (via Montgomery, PA, Sept 13, 2003 0200) This is one speech that I managed to get fairly clear in English. After ID and intro in both English and Spanish then went to speeches. First in Spanish and then in English and then another speech at 0236 in Spanish by a female announcer. I transcribed what I heard during the English broadcast of this 5.5 minute speech by one male announcer. This male announcer did not have the monotone that some did. It sort of sounded as if he was translating the speech. Where you see ??? is where the signal faded a bit and was unable to get the exact word at that time. Overall fairly good copy during this time frame. Spelling of Spanish words may not be correct. I don't speak the language (Bob Montgomery, PA, NASWA Flashsheet Sept 21 via DXLD) ** NAMIBIA. Logs of Sep. 20: unID 6060, 1801 telephone talk program presumed in African language. And many African pop music. Fair to weak signal. 1900 R. Rossii signed on co-channel and heavy QRM. Namibian BC?? Thanks Johnson's tips (Nobuo Takeno, Japan, Cumbre DX via DXLD ** NEPAL. Janusz, SP9FIH, informs OPDX that he will probably be in Nepal from November 15th to December 5th. He expects to only be active on the bands between 20-12 meters because the cost of the amateur radio license is rather high (about $50 US per band and 100W transmitter). He will try to concentrate on U.S. propagation as he knows it is a difficult area for U.S. amateurs. Janusz is looking for any advice on what bands and at what times he should operate from during this time of the year (Is there a long path route?). Suggestions are welcome, E-mail to: sp9fih@poczta.onet.pl (KB8NW/OPDX September 22/BARF-80 via John Norfolk, DXLD) ** NETHERLANDS. Alfa Lima International: Yes. we are back again. It has been a while and the change was that we also would not make it this week but after some hard work we will start to test audio around 2230 today (20-sept) or just a bit later. I do not know if I will stay there for a long time as I do not know how modulation will behave. One thing that we did test was Power.. and we have some in stock for you, most likely on two frequency's on 15070 kHz and somewhere between 6250 and 6300 kHz. During program we will keep an eyeball on this place (FRN) Greetings from Alfred Zoer ( Alfa Lima Int ) ------------------------------------- reception reports can be send to the maildrop Alfa Lima Int, Pobox 663, 7900AR Hoogeveen, The Netherlands please enclose one US$ for reply; also Emails are of course very welcome. We will reply with email on email ASAP. Our email address info@alfalima.net Surf to Alfa Lima web --- You'll find our Hobby's --- Chevy's, Motor Bikes, 11 MB Dxing, And of course Short-wave Pirate Radio http://www.alfalima.net _____________________________________ 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 _____________________________________ The group on internet related to building and repairing your own transmitters and radio's. join up!! http://groups.yahoo.com/group/The_Radio_and_Transmitter_Electronics/ (Alfa Lima International via DXLD) ** NEW ZEALAND [non]. On Sept 21 I rechecked http://www.rnzi.com and found the SW relay schedule had been refined (gh) RNZI will lease time on Radio Australia. Listen on 9580 kHz at these times-: Sunday 1900-2115 UT, [Monday 0700-0915 NZST] Monday to Thursday 1700-2115 UT, [Tuesday-Friday 0500-0915 NZST] Friday 1700-2015 UT [Saturday 0500-0815 NZST] RNZI's transmitter is off the air with a serious fault - we regret this interruption to our short-wave service to the Pacific . Our Internet feed is not affected and programmes are available via the real audio live stream and Pacific News is also available for download (via Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** PERU. Dear Glenn, Checking on Chuck Bolland's mystery station, it is definitely R. Santa Mónica in Cuzco. Heard 09.20 at 1020 with ads, ID at 1025 with "Radio Santa Mooooooonica" by OM. Very good at my location (Phil Marshall, Bradenton, FL, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Amigo DXista Charles! I have not heard "San Miguel" IDs here for a very, very long time. What I´m hearing almost every night on 4965.00 kHz is "Radio Santa Mónica" (Cusco). 73 (Björn Malm, Quito, Ecuador, Cumbre DX via DXLD) 4964.98, R. Santa Mónica, 1027 Sept 21, Andean music, 1031 ID, weak. (Nobuo Takeno, Japan, Cumbre DX via DXLD) ** PERU. 5940.14 Radio Bethel, Arequipa, 0448 - 0510, Sep 16, Spanish, Musical program, religious program "Impacto Evangelístico", man announcer, ads, 34333 (Nicolás Eramo, Argentina, Villa Lynch, Prov. Buenos Aires, Argentina, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** PERU. RIO DE JANEIRO, Sept. 12 (Kyodo) Former Peruvian President Alberto Fujimori, living in self-imposed exile in Japan, will host a weekly talk show on a Lima radio station, his office in Lima was quoted by local media as saying Thursday. Fujimori will challenge criticism against him and deliver critiques on Peruvian politics, the local media reported. The show is scheduled for broadcast every Saturday morning. The criticism relates to a massacre in Lima in 1991, while he was president, when a military "death squad" allegedly killed 15 people in a poor neighborhood, and to the killing of nine students and a professor in 1992, also in Lima. Fujimori is alleged to have had full knowledge of the existence of the death squad but he denies all the allegations against him. Experts said they believe the radio show is an attempt to gather support for the 2006 presidential election in which Fujimori has indicated he would like to run. There are rumors of slowly growing support for him among the Peruvian public. Born in Peru to Japanese immigrants, Fujimori fled to Japan in November 2000 as his decade-long government crumbled under a corruption scandal and the Japanese government confirmed him as a Japanese citizen shortly afterward. He has remained in self-imposed exile ever since. Peru is demanding the Japanese government extradite Fujimori for trial but Tokyo has refused to do so, citing his Japanese citizenship and noting Japan has no extradition treaty with Peru (via Mike Cooper, DXLD) ** PERU. RADIO QUE TRANSMITE EL PROGRAMA DE FUJIMORI BATE SU RECORD DE AUDIENCIA LIMA (AP) -- Una radioemisora local logró la mayor sintonía de su historia cuando transmitió "La hora del Chino", el primer programa de Alberto Fujimori, donde el ex presidente criticó la orden de prisión contra uno de sus ex ministros. El gerente de radio Miraflores, Ricardo Palma, dijo el martes que "el sábado, cuando la estación transmitió el programa de Fujimori, aumentó su sintonía en un 85 por ciento, que no se dió en toda su historia, según encuestas de varias empresas particulares. Ojalá sea verdad". Fujimori, apodado "El Chino", [¿porqué no ``El Japonés``??] además de criticar una orden judicial de detención efectiva de su ex ministro de Economía, Jorge Camet, rindió homenaje a militares y policias que combatieron a los guerrilleros de Sendero Luminoso. Palma dijo que "la transmisión de ´La hora del Chino´ es una inversión en publicidad que no me ha costado nada, por la gran audiencia que tuvo". El conductor de "La Hora del Chino", Carlos Raffo, jefe de prensa de Fujimori, dijo que pagó a radio Miraflores 500 dólares por el espacio. (extraido del Boletín Patagónico del 17 de setiembre via Arnaldo L. Slaen, Argentina, lista ConDig, set 18 via DXLD) ** POLAND [non]. Radio Maryja: Received a very nice surprise reply from them. Enclosed some religious picture cards all in Polish, an info sheet about the station and a confirmation letter for report of 23rd of July 2003, on 15445. Verie by Malgorzata Zaniewska (Emmanuel Ezeani, P.O. Box 1633, Sokotom Sokoto state, Nigeria, Sept 21, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ROMANIA. R. Romania 3 is now on 15015 in Narrow FM! 1206 gpks! Any ideas? All the best (Tim Bucknall, UK, Sept 21, harmonics yahoogroup via DXLD) ``Meaning good on peaks``? That's a regular transmission (0700-1800 for Europe, partly Romanian FS, partly Romanian HS). They are using an old 120 kW transmitter which is known for "unexpected audio results". 73s, (Bernd Trutenau, Lithuania, ibid.) But what frequency is it supposed to be on? Or did you mean 15105? ** RUSSIA. La Voz de Rusia celebra el 3 de octubre el Dia Mundial de la Radio de conjunto con las emisoras nacionales Mayak, Mayak 24, Iunost, Radio Rusia y Orfeo, con el respaldo de la Unión Europea de Radiodifusión. El 3 de octubre, La Voz de Rusia presentará programas de nuestra emisora, los colegas de la Unión Europea de Radiodifusión y de las emisoras mundiales líderes. Ustedes serán quienes elijan a los personajes de estos programas. Pues, estamos dispuestos a entrevistar a la persona que los oyentes de La Voz de Rusia indiquen su. [sic] Formule su pregunta a un político, artista, músico famosos, a un historiador o al Santo Padre si lo desea. Y el 3 de octubre, los europeos y los rusos más famosos estarán con ustedes a trav’es de las ondas de La Voz de Rusia (Tomado de http://www.radiomayak.ru/ via Elmer Escoto, San Pedro Sula, Honduras, via Arnaldo Slaen, Conexión Digital via DXLD) ** TIBET. 20/09, 1648, 5240 kHz, Tibet People BS, English program (YL talks), 1651 Chinese music, 1658 schedule and ID. 35343. ICOM-775DSP antenna - Inverted V -- 73! (Dmitriy Puzanov, UN9LEZ, Kazakhstan, Cumbredx mailing list via DXLD) ** UGANDA [non]. RRIA: Two German-language reports aired on their FM slot on Sep. 3 and 12, respectively, are posted together with some of the stuff transmitted on shortwave at http://www.radiorhino.org/htm_material/listen_to.htm (Kai Ludwig, Germany, DX LISTENING DIGEST) See also MEXICO non ** UKRAINE. SPECIAL EVENT. The special event station, EM225G, is celebrating the 225th anniversary of Kherson City, Ukraine (CQ zone 16, KH66hp), from September 19-30th. Activity over the past weekend was on 40/20 meters. Watch around 7076 and between 14200-210 kHz between 0900-1330z. QSL via UR3GM, by the bureau (Box 56, Kiev 01001, Ukraine), or direct to: Igor Pulin, Box 23, Kherson 73022, Ukraine. Bureau QSLs can be requested by sending an E-mail to: itel@ukrincom.net (KB8NW/OPDX September 22/BARF-80 via John Norfolk, DXLD) ** UKRAINE. Hi Glenn, please allow two remarks on your addition in 3- 168:: a) it has been published many times in the DX press over the last years (including DXLD!) that the transmitting site "Simferopol" (on the Crimean peninsula) does not exist. The code "SMF" is one of the "fake" site registrations from Soviet times. In the HFCC frequency table "SMF" stands for the site Kopani aka Mykolaiv. b) state language in the Ukraine is Ukrainian. In Ukrainian, the name "Kharkiv" has no soft sign. 73s, (Bernd Trutenau, Lithuania, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Thanks for the reminder; well, why do the Ukrainians and Bulgarians keep using ``SMF``?? I was explaining what the letters stand for (gh) ** U K. "THE ARCHIVE HOUR: LISTENING TO THE WAR: THE BIRTH OF BBC MONITORING The Archive Hour Listening To The War - The Birth Of BBC Monitoring. Lesley Chamberlain explores the origins and birth of the BBC's monitoring service based on the rich archive of documentary materials, concentrating on the remarkable personal stories of those who listened. Featuring interviews with ex-monitors Sir Ernst Gombrich, Professor of Art History, author of 'The Story of Art', ladimir Rubinstein, broadcaster and political analyst, Lord George Weidenfeld, publisher, Ewald Osers, translator and BBC archives of wartime broadcasts. With the outbreak of war, the BBC hastily set up a Monitoring Service to listen to domestic radio broadcasts in Germany and Russia. It was realised that radio as never before was a vital tool in understanding the enemy's strategy and movements. Oliver Whitley, a bright BBC recruit, duly commandeered a double-decker bus to take a skeleton team to a secret location - a country house near Evesham owned by a Mrs Smith. The human situation in particular was a triumph of duty over personal anxiety. Many of this first team had fled from Hitler so listening to crackly reports of explosions, troop movements and speeches by the Fuhrer certainly was an unenviable task. Rapidly the service became indispensable, producing huge digests of news for London every day, and an expanded typing pool. What the team had to offset their gloom is the unexpected camaraderie of life at Mrs Smith's: the make-do technology (earphones with leads long enough for them to play table-tennis on the floor below), fruit and vegetables from the Vale of Evesham, snow, bicycles, strange billets in surrounding villages, friendship and love. Thus when the BBC decided to move Monitoring to another location they were in uproar! (BBCR4 website via Wolfgang Bueschel, DXLD) Still available via http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/factual/rams/sat2002.ram Or on http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4 go to "Listen Again", on Left hand Side, click this and then "Listening to the War", left hand column, under letter L, click "Listen". 73 de wb df5sx (Wolfgang Büschel, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U K. BBC 'IN DEEP TROUBLE' OVER LICENCE RENEWAL Lisa O'Carroll, Friday September 19, 2003, The Guardian The BBC is in "deep trouble" and faces a tough battle to get its licence fee renewed in the wake of the Hutton inquiry, the head of the independent television commission warned today. And the head of one of Britain's biggest independent TV companies declared that the "game is up" for the board of governors because of the hasty way they handled the row over Andrew Gilligan's controversial Today programme report. Patricia Hodgson, who was one of former BBC director general Lord Birt's closest aides and was instrumental in winning the last licence fee settlement from the government, said she feared the corporation's case was "substantially worse" than last time round. She is a staunch supporter of the BBC but warned that neither management nor the governors can be complacent in their battle to have licence fee funding renewed when the current royal charter expires in 2006. "The BBC position is very substantially worse this time round. We have had seven years of a united and competitive attack on the last settlement [licence fee]. "That's combined with the fact the two major parties are probably feeling pretty sore - the BBC is in deep trouble when it comes to the next charter." The BBC has this week been left increasingly vulnerable to attack after two of its most senior managers - the director general, Greg Dyke, and head of news Richard Sambrook - both admitted to a series of mistakes in the wake of Gilligan's report. Mr Dyke promised a review of BBC journalistic practices while Mr Sambrook admitted further checks should have been carried out on Gilligan's story before it went out. Gilligan, who reported that the government had "sexed up" the Iraq intelligence dossier, also admitted to a catalogue of mistakes, confessing to the Hutton inquiry this week that he had not "carefully and accurately" reported what the dead weapons inspector David Kelly told him. Today, in a heated debate at the Royal Television Society conference in Cambridge, Ms Hodgson warned the BBC could no longer "assume" that Labour would just go along and "tick the box" for licence fee renewal. "I think it has got to look very closely at every single element of the licence fee contract. It has to look at the balance of programmes; the standard of journalism and its commercial activities," she warned. Ms Hodgson's remarks come less than 24 hours after the culture secretary, Tessa Jowell, announced a "root and branch" review of the corporation. The BBC fears at worst that there the licence fee will either not be renewed or will be renewed at a level below inflation - causing an effective drop in income. Others believe it will get its licence fee renewed but it will emerge far from unscathed from the review process, with the board of governors losing some regulatory powers to Ofcom or abolished altogether. Peter Bazalgette, the head of Endemol Television, called for the current system of regulation to be scrapped. He said the Hutton inquiry had shown the governors were management poodles, echoing one governor who in private correspondence during the Gilligan row warned that the board should not be seen to be a management "patsy". Mr Bazalgette said: "This is all about the Hutton inquiry. Can the BBC governors be both cheerleaders and regulators? That up to now has been an esoteric argument that most people didn't understand. After Hutton everyone understands the issue. "Everyone understands that the BBC [board] has long been captured by the people they are supposed to regulate." In reference to a psychological syndrome whereby a kidnap victim becomes sympathetic with their captor, he added: "In fact, they've not been so much captured, they've gone for the full Stockholm Syndrome." Mr Bazalgette defended the BBC's right to do the Gilligan story and said management were right to back the report, but added that the governors were wrong to rush into judgment. "Post Hutton, for the governors the game is up - the system has been exposed as a sham. This has not just been an isolated mistake, it was an accident waiting to happen. "The governors are delivering the BBC into government control." The BBC also came under fire from the former head of ITV, David Liddiment. He described the system of BBC regulation as "dysfunctional", pointing to occasions when the board of governors ordered one thing - such as improved arts coverage on BBC1 - and management did another, in this case scrap Omnibus. The corporation was defended by Professor Stephen Barnet from the University of Westminster, who said the governors couldn't be crucified for doing something they knew instinctively to be right. He said that a time when the corporation was coming under relentless attack by Alastair Campbell and Tony Blair over its war coverage the BBC governors were "merely protecting the institution from an intimidating and bullying government". MediaGuardian.co.uk © Guardian Newspapers Limited 2003 (via Dan Say, DXLD) ** U S A. WINB: No damage from Hurricane Isabel and the station has been able to operate as normal as the power has remained on (Hans Johnson, Cumbre DX Sep 20 via DXLD) ** U S A. Noted the following on a quick car radio band pass between 6:55 and 7:10 p.m. [EDT] Sept. 20th local at Ft. DeSoto, south Pinellas County, as massive rainbands and 40+ m.p.h. wind gusts moved in. 1690, GEORGIA, WSWK, Adel, 6:55 p.m.+, much like the old 1680 WTIR format; nonstop canned/recycling promos for Wild Adventures theme park. "Welcome to Wild Adventures Radio..." by man. Also mentioned http://www.wildadventures.net concerts (Dwight Yokum the next one) and canned/generic Interstate traffic construction update. Closest thing to a legal ID ToH was "92.1 Wild Adventures Radio." Pure waste of energy. 96.7 MHz, FLORIDA (PIRATE) "Flavor FM 96.7", St. Petersburg; the sole regularly-active Pinellas County pirate. Usual urban format with live jock, noted 6:30+ p.m. Most if not all Tampa pirates appear to have been raided/closed over the past few weeks, as not a single one was detected last Saturday (Sept. 13th) on a quick FM bandscan, late afternoon near Busch Blvd. and I-275. (Terry L Krueger, Clearwater, Florida USA 27.55.83 N, 82.46.08 W Visit my "Florida Low Power Radio Stations" at: http://home.earthlink.net/~tocobagadx/flortis.html DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. Staying tuned after Schickele Mix on WAMC Albany NY webstream, I found an apparently reliable time for the hard-to-find Acting Presidential Weekly Radio Address, followed by the Democratic Response: 1608 UT Saturday (Glenn Hauser, OK, Sept 20, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. RESCUE RADIO: HAM RADIO AND HURRICANE ISABEL Her name is Isabel. She is a hurricane that slammed into the United States East coast with gale force winds. Emergency services including ham radio were ready and waiting as we hear in this report: Roaring ashore with winds of more than 100 miles an hour, Isabel made landfall along North Carolina`s Ocracoke Island, crossing the Outer Banks around midday September 18th. On the west end of Ocracoke Island, sustained winds were measured at 80 miles an hour. Storm surge of 12 feet was reported. Bernard Nobles, WA4MOK, is a Section Emergency Coordinator in North Carolina. He says hams mobilized over a large part of the state. . . http://www.arnewsline.org/quincy A NOTE TO THOSE WHO ONLY ``READ`` AMATEUR RADIO NEWSLINE As you are aware, Amateur Radio Newsline is, primarily, an audio news service and this weeks newscast is very audio intensive. While reading gives the basic facts, we advise you to download the audio file to get the most out of the newscast in relation to our coverage of Hurricane Isabel and the role Amateur Radio played and continues to play in storm communications efforts. This is a story told in ``sound`` from the scene that really cannot be reported in any other way (via John Noroflk, DXLD) ** U S A. AMATEUR RADIO RESPONDS EFFECTIVELY TO HURRICANE ISABEL Downgraded to a tropical storm by week`s end, Isabel vented much of her fury on North Carolina and Virginia after coming ashore on North Carolina`s Outer Banks the afternoon of September 18. The flooding it spawned in the Washington, DC, area also meant a two-day holiday for federal workers. Amateur Radio volunteers had been keeping an eye on the storm for several days prior to its arrival, however, and they were ready to assist in providing communication support and weather spotting. The Hurricane Watch Net http://www.hwn.org/ secured its operation September 18 after two full days and nights of dealing with Isabel. ``Many thanks to the dozens of dedicated reporting stations in the path of the storm for their support,`` said HWN Manager Mike Pilgrim, K5MP, ``and most of all to all Amateur Radio operators who patiently stood on the sidelines while helping to maintain a clear frequency on 14.325 MHz during this high-priority operation.`` The HWN worked with WX4NHC http://www.wx4nhc.org/ at the National Hurricane Center to provide ground-level weather information for hurricane forecasters. In North Carolina, ARES member Mike Langley, KD4MTT, spent three days at ARES station NC4EB at the North Carolina Emergency Management`s Eastern Branch headquarters in Kinston -- the primary emergency operation center (EOC) for Isabel. ``Ham radio has been very busy throughout the storm,`` Langley said. He noted that the Eastern Branch EOC operated with a staff of six, with two on duty for two days or more and the others taking turns. ``It`s been a pretty busy process.`` NC4EB participated in the statewide Tarheel Net on 75 meters, which backed up logistical communication between the state and county and local EOCs, and sometimes provided a primary link when government communication systems went down. Langley said telephone and power were ``spotty at best`` in many areas of Eastern North Carolina. ``Right now in the after-action, we`re still maintaining vigilance here passing information back and forth from the different EOCs to Emergency Management and the Red Cross,`` Langley said. Other communication has involved helping state agencies to deploy needed resources, such as chainsaw crews to remove downed trees. The Eastern Branch also monitored the Hurricane Watch Net as well as several VHF and one HF frequency plus e-mail and telephones, he said. In Virginia, Section Emergency Coordinator Tom Gregory, N4NW, said he had plenty of volunteers in the early going but could have used more as the emergency wore on. ``A few did a lot,`` he summed up. The Virginia Beach Hamfest http://www.vahamfest.com/ set for September 20-21 was among the storm`s first victims. Sponsors called off the annual event September 18. Power outages were widespread in Virginia, and Gregory himself was running an emergency generator. Ground already wet from previous rainfall caused trees to topple, too, and that included several that uprooted and landed across Gregory`s driveway. He urged all involved in Amateur Radio emergency communication to install emergency power systems in their homes and on their repeaters. The Old Dominion Emergency Net/Virginia Emergency Net Alpha activated on HF to help support communication between the state EOC and local EOCs. Gregory said the net had checkins from about half of the Commonwealth`s localities. ``Our role was to provide a backup for their landline or whatever communications, but very few of those lost that capability,`` he said of the local EOCs. Areas most drastically affected, including Hampton Roads and Northern Virginia, did need Amateur Radio support and had plenty of volunteers, he said. Amateurs also supported American Red Cross and Salvation Army relief operations in Virginia. Virginia SM Carl Clements, W4CAC, in the Tidewater Area lost commercial power shortly after the storm struck and was powering his equipment with an emergency generator. While he also has no telephone service, his cell phone continues to operate. Clements also lost his HF antennas. Many trees were down in his area, he said, in some cases blocking access. Tidewater Area amateurs deployed at Red Cross shelters set up in schools. ``Amateur Radio is the only way for the shelters to get in touch with one another,`` Clements said. Hams were handling some health-and-welfare traffic for shelter clients. ``It`s a true disaster,`` Clements said. In West Virginia, ARRL Section Manager Hal Turley, KC8FS, said ARES/RACES support of the West Virginia EOC ended September 19. ``All in all, Isabel was kind to us,`` he said. ``As anticipated, the Eastern Panhandle sustained the brunt of the storm.`` Heavy rain caused some flooding, and the state also suffered power outages. The Salvation Army Team Emergency Radio Network (SATERN), handled health-and-welfare inquiries via its SATERN Net on 14.265 MHz and via its Web site http://www.satern.org/ ARES teams in Maryland, Delaware, Pennsylvania and New Jersey also activated for Isabel. The storm made itself known as far north as Southern New England and as far west as Eastern Ohio (ARRL Letter Sept 19 via John Norfolk, DXLD) ** U S A. RADIO FILLS INFORMATION GAP FOR PEOPLE WITHOUT POWER By LARRY BONKO, The Virginian-Pilot © September 19, 2003 | Last updated 8:29 PM Sep. 18 http://www.hamptonroads.com/stories/nw0919rad.html Thank heaven for good old-fashioned radio. With the approach of Hurricane Isabel on Thursday morning, power was lost in thousands of homes in Hampton Roads -- thousands of television-owning households. That meant no Triple Doppler TV forecasts and no updates from The Weather Channel, which had dispatched Mike Seidel to the Virginia Beach Oceanfront as early as Wednesday evening. How did TV-deprived Hampton Roads keep up with the storm and the damage it was inflicting? R-A-D-I-O. As early as 4 a.m. Thursday morning, AM radio station WNIS was on the air with reports of the storm's approach. Later on Thursday morning, when the electricity cut off, local radio stations joined with the three Hampton Roads television stations (WAVY, WVEC and WTKR) to get the story out to residents with battery-equipped radios. WVEC's storm coverage was heard on WCMS-FM and WWSO-FM. ``Let's go now to Channel 13's coverage . . .'' WAVY's live team reporting was fed to WNOR-FM and four other stations. WTKR had hooked up with WKOC-FM. About 2 p.m., WAVY weather reporter Don Slater, aware that he was speaking to a large radio audience, began to provide talking pictures of windswept scenes that residents could not see. ``I realize that a lot of you are listening to us on the radio,'' he said. Jeff Lawson on WVEC also became a TV meteorologist-turned-radio- reporter. ``Don't forget that we're under a tornado watch . . .'' Channel 10 reporter Patty Culhane was heard by radio listeners describing the stormy scene at the Oceanfront as ``getting uglier and uglier.'' Most of us had to picture it. It was theater of the mind. At WWDE-FM, program director Don London said the staff was aware that TV signals might be lost and radio would become the eyes and ears of storm coverage. ``Led by our old warhorse, Dick Lamb, we were prepared to pass along updates and information with no hype,'' London said. On WAVY late Wednesday night, Slater had outlined the projected path of Isabel, saying, ``Tomorrow will not be a fun day.'' It was indeed a horrid day, but made less so by the merging of radio and television (via Mike Terry, Jilly Dybka, DXLD) A rather obvious story ** U S A [and non]. JAMBOREE ON THE AIR 2003 IS OCTOBER 18-19 NEWINGTON, CT, Sep 21, 2003 -- The annual Jamboree On The Air, which combines Amateur Radio and scouting, takes place this year on October 18-19. JOTA offers amateurs an opportunity to offer Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts (Cub Scouts, Brownies and Girl Guides are welcome) a chance to participate in this worldwide scouting tradition --- now in its 46th year --- and share experiences over the air with other scouts. Maxim Memorial Station W1AW will be on the air for at least part of this year`s JOTA. ``W1AW will be active in JOTA on Saturday, October 18, during the afternoon and early evening,`` said ARRL Educational Programs Coordinator Jean Wolfgang, WB3IOS. ``ARRL `Big Project` Coordinator Mark Spencer, WA8SME, will be operating and has already scheduled two groups of scouts to come by during that time.`` Reports to ARRL following JOTA 2002 showed that more than 10,000 Scouts from around the US took part. Wolfgang urges participants to complete a JOTA survey, available on the ARRL Web site`s JOTA Survey for USA Participants page. http://www.arrl.org/FandES/ead/jotalog Begun in 1958 through the efforts of Les Mitchell, G3BHK, the event has spread around the world and includes participation by approximately 500,000 Scouts and Guides in more than 100 countries. Because JOTA is an international event, participating stations must abide by FCC third-party traffic rules. As ARRL Regulatory Information Specialist John Hennessee, N1KB, explains, anytime an unlicensed -- or under-licensed -- individual (the ``third party`` here) participates in a contact with a foreign station, the US must have a third-party traffic agreement in place with that country or the contact may not take place. A list of countries with which the US shares third-party agreements is available on the ARRL Web site http://www.arrl.org/FandES/field/regulations/io/3rdparty.html Some countries make exceptions for events like JOTA, but the US does not, Hennessee notes. Additionally, during third-party contacts, both the call sign of the foreign station and that of the US station must be exchanged at the end of the contact. Participants may want to register their JOTA events on the Youth Skeds Database site http://www.arrl.org/FandES/ead/youthskeds This helps scouting groups to locate JOTA events in their vicinity. JOTA begins Saturday, October 18, at 0001 local time and ends Sunday, October 19, at 2359 local time. Details also appear on page 46 of the September issue of QST. For additional information, contact Jean Wolfgang, WB3IOS jwolfgang@arrl.org While JOTA activity can and does occur anywhere on the bands, these suggested frequencies are offered as a starting point for locating JOTA participants: SSB (Voice) CW (Morse code) 80 meters 3.740*/3.940 MHz 3.590 MHz 40 meters 7.270 MHz 7.030 MHz 20 meters 14.290 MHz 14.070 MHz** 17 meters 18.140 MHz 18.080 MHz 15 meters 21.360 MHz 21.140 MHz 12 meters 24.960 MHz 24.910 MHz 10 meters 28.390 MHz 28.190 MHz * 3.740 MHz is not in the US phone allocation but is available to some countries outside the US. ** 14.070 MHz is generally used for PSK31. Consider operating CW below this frequency to avoid QRMing. Copyright © 2003, American Radio Relay League, Inc. All Rights Reserved (via John Norfolk, DX LISTENING DIGEST) JOTA: http://www.arrl.org/FandES/ead/#scout [note: this is not where the above story was posted] The International JOTA site at http://www.scouting.org/international/jota.html gives 7290 (the so- called ``official`` scouting calling frequency) instead of 7270 but ARRL recommends that 7290 not be used as it is a favorite hangout for AM hams (John Norfolk, DXLD) ** U S A. A question from someone who knows zero about the broadcasting industry: Are ratings the only factor that makes conservative talk radio more profitable than liberal talk radio? Listening to some of the ads that one hears on conservative talk programs while DX'ing, I get the impression some of these advertisers would be willing to pay higher rates than the ratings might otherwise dictate in order to subsidize certain programs for their own personal political reasons. Or, some of them are selling products that would appeal more to a particular demographic -- survivalist gear on the Genesis network on my local WPLC-1050, for example -- that might not have parallels on the liberal talk side regardless of ratings. There may just happen to be more "niche" programs (like Genesis) that can make money on low ratings on the right than on the left. I don't doubt that conservative talk radio has higher ratings, for all the reasons people have mentioned. And someone like Rush Limbaugh, agree with him or not (and I usually don't), is a great radio talent - - basically an old-style Top 40 DJ (which he was on KQV among others if memory serves) with the same shtick but a different type of playlist. But sometimes I wonder whether ratings as such are the whole story. (David Yocis, Sept 17, NRC-AM via DXLD) Listenership, whether proven by ratings in big markets, or sales results, in smaller ones, are the measure of the effectiveness of a radio station to its advertisers. Since radio is a bimodal market model where the listeners get the product for free and accept advertising in return, there is a direct relationship at every level. Talk stations tend to outperform economically... That means they get more of the revenue pie than their ratings percentage would justify. This is due to tow things: talk is a foreground format, so adds are heard. And talk stations run more spots per hour. In fact, many large advertisers have "no controversy" or "no talk" dictates and will not buy on such stations or programs. Others know that listeners hear the spots because there is no "background" listening. Also, the age range that talk appeals to would dictate the type of advertiser, as it does in every format type on radio. Ratings depend on how entertaining the host is. There are essentially no entertaining, ratings-generating liberal hosts on a national basis. The few that exist, like Ronn Owens in San Francisco, are very market- specific (David Gleason, CA, NRC-AM via DXLD) Dave, here is my take. Anyone who has studied entertainment history can see trends. What killed vaudeville, or the drive in, drama on network radio in the evening, etc. You can pick at minute details, but the root cause was that people's lifestyles changed and their interests were tweaked in other areas. That said, I don't think Liberal, Progressive, Conservative, Right Wing, whatever ... is a selling factor. It's how interested people are in the content and the presentation. That said, I've heard some god awful oldies stations, automation from hell, etc. On the other hand, I've heard some very well programmed and decent sounding station. Those are the ones that attract people because they don't come off as sounding like college carrier current stations. Along with the content comes the transmission. If you have the best programming, yet the station sounds like crap, that is one reason for people not to listen. As I told a friend who was having a problem like this, "when you go into a restaurant you expect it to be clean. Same with the doctor's office, or even a lawyers office. Mess and turmoil turn people off and breed negative perceptions. So why think that although you have a lot of to offer you still impress people?" The thing that I tell clients when they say that their AM is dying is, what do you offer? If you have nothing to offer, then why would you expect people to stay? On the other hand, give them what they want, and you can build a very profitable and loyal listenership (Fred Vobbe, OH, NRC-AM via DXLD) ** U S A. For anyone interested, here's a reminder of upcoming DX tests; if anyone has any additions or corrections, please contact me. (BE SURE TO NOTE THE TIME OF THE TEST; THEY ARE IN THE LOCAL TIME OF THE STATION) Saturday, October 4, 2003 - WJTO-730, Bath, ME 12:00-1:00 am ELT. [= EDT = 0400-0500 UT] Please remember, what's listed as being on, say, Monday *may* be what you think of as Sunday night! If you try for (or hear) any of these tests, PLEASE post a message letting me know, and please, drop the station personnel a note, via e-mail or snail mail, thanking them for running the test! Also, for brevity's sake, I didn't post the QSL addresses; if you need these, let me know! Lynn. ircamember@ircaonline.org Visit the IRCA Web Site at http://www.ircaonline.org (Lynn Hollerman, LA, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. RADIO LAW FOLLOW-UP: NEVADA TOLD TO SCRAP NEW RADIO SYSTEM Here`s a follow up on a story we brought to you several months ago regarding a new state wide radio system in Nevada and an oversight by the regulators planning it. As previously reported, the Nevada Highway Patrol had spent $14 million on a contract with Motorola to build a computerized radio system. It was activated back in 2000 but nobody from the state ever applied to the FCC for licenses for the frequencies. As a result, the FCC had told the Nevada Highway Patrol and other state agencies to stop using the 140 frequencies by last June. To comply with the federal order, Nevada has had to scrap a costly radio system that`s less than two yeas old. So on Tuesday, September 9th the Nevada state Board of Examiners voted to spend $16.1 million on new radio gear for the Nevada Highway Patrol (Published news reports via Amateur Radio Newsline Sept 19 via John Norfolk, DXLD) ** URUGUAY. 6140.1, R. Monte Carlo. Sept 21, 0943 News program about Uruguay and S. American situation. 0958 "Monte Carlo" station jingle then clear ID. Fair (Nobuo Takeno, Yamagata, JAPAN, NRD-535D with 10 meters wire, Cumbredx mailing list via DXLD) ** VATICAN [?] SPECIAL EVENT. During the month of October, look for special event station, HF8JP, to be active to celebrate the 25 years of Pope John Paul II pontificate. The station will be active on 80-2 meters CW/SSB and the digital modes. A special QSL will be available via SP8QED (direct or via the bureau). (KB8NW/OPDX September 22/BARF- 80 via John Norfolk, DXLD) ** VENEZUELA. 4830.00, el 20 de Septiembre 2003 2330 UT. Bienvenida Radio Táchira! 73s de (Björn Malm, Quito, Ecuador, Conexión Digital via DXLD) Sporadically active (gh) 4830, R. Táchira, 20 Sept. 2332-2345, End of LA romantic ballad, mentions of onda corta, IDs, TCs, another ID, and possible. phone number. Then live romantic ballad. 2341 M again with at least 4 more IDs. Every station should ID as often!! Very strong but very weak modulation (Dave Valko, PA, Cumbre DX via DXLD) ** VIETNAM [non]. CLANDESTINE from RUSSIA to VIETNAM, 7380, Degar Voice (Presumed). Still can't catch anything sounding like an ID. 1324 talk by man, 1327 instrumental music till 1330*. Thanks to Bernd's tip, I had a look at their website at http://www.montagnard-foundation.org which is pretty informative and includes contact details (Hans Johnson, Cody WY, Cumbre DX via DXLD) UNIDENTIFIED. HDL 15545 from Woofferton to West Africa, 1900-2000 UT. Test from Merlin, strong: "You are listening to a test transmission by VT Merlin Communications, a leading provider of international broadcast services. If you would like to find out more about us, please visit http://www.vtplc.com/merlin." What's "HDL"? I don't know. GOOGLE entries show only the HDL and LDL cholesterols, lipoprotein, triglyceride blood tests etc. and of course Hardware Description Language. CRW had no entries in the past yet... Sheryl from Wisconsin was the first person who reported that last Sunday 14th. IBB Accra shows monitor entries daily[!], 7 days a week, though not a Sunday only transmission, various languages in future. Brokered by Merlin towards West Africa. Maybe one of these mysterious Biafran, Nigerian, or Ghanaian oil state movements ??? 73 wolfy 15545 usage: 1600 VoA Kurdish Kavalla-GRC 1700 VoA Urdu Tinang-PHL 1800 VoA Kurdish Holzkirchen-GER 1900 HDL Various Woofferton-G 2000 HCJB German Pifo-EQA (73 Wolfgang df5sx Bueschel, Sept 21, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ RECEIVER NEWS +++++++++++++ INTEL DETAILS RADIO ROADMAP September 15, 2003, By Mark Hachman http://www.eweek.com/article2/0,4149,1268971,00.asp SAN JOSE, Calif.-Intel Corp.'s dreams of a "radio free Intel" are still alive, although company officials acknowledged the path to that goal will be an arduous one. In a preview of this week's Intel Developer Forum here, officials with Intel's R&D team briefed reporters on its plans to develop radios that are intelligent enough to reconfigure themselves to take advantage of the available spectrum. In fact, Intel has developed a working array of processors that can process whatever wireless algorithms the company can throw at it, Steve Pawlowski, an Intel fellow and co-director of Intel's Communications and Interconnect Labs, said in a presentation Monday morning. But to put it into production will require a team of lawyers as well as scientists. Pushing new products to market in the wireless space requires first jumping over a series of technological and legal hurdles. Before a product can be developed, a company or industry must negotiate spectrum with the Federal Communications Commission and similar bodies around the world. Only then may products be developed, refined and eventually sold into the marketplace. "Spectrum policy is on the threshold of fundamental change," Pawlowski said, noting that the current format hasn't changed "since Marconi." Current regulations forbid new technologies from using unallocated or unlicensed wireless spectra, Pawlowski said. On the other hand, regulatory committees are considering permitting wireless devices to use unlicensed spectrum if they don't radiate over 41 dB of signal strength. In another scenario, devices might be granted access to frequencies normally allocated for emergency services, which could kick off the wireless services if an emergency arose. But the device would need to "know" the available spectrum, Pawlowski pointed out. One risk was that the device could be used near a country's border, where it might trample on the frequency used by another country. In that case, the device would either have to have GPS services installed or be able to sniff the physical IPs of the access points, he said. Intel is currently working on both the 802.15 standards as well as "UWB" or ultrawideband technologies, which uses a broad swath of frequency to communicate data. While UWB holds the promise of high data rates-from 100 Mbps upward to 200 Mbps and above-the bandwidth drops dramatically as a function of distance. At 10 meters, for example, data rates can be a fifth or a sixth of what they might be at close proximity, Pawlowski said. The 802.15 technology is a more immediate goal. Santa Clara, Calif.-based Intel and other companies are meeting in Singapore this week to hammer out the proposed frequencies the technology will use: frequencies of 3.1 to 4.9 GHz for first-generation products, with 4.9 to 6.0 GHz designated for second-generation devices. An additional range of spectrum, from 6.1 to 10.6 GHz, would be allocated for third- generation devices or other purposes. Building the devices will pose its own set of challenges, according to Pawlowski. Wireless devices typically contain digital-signal processors, which process and reprocess the small number of lines of code that embody the wireless algorithms. However, while flexible, DSPs consume much more power than a fixed-function device such as an embedded microprocessor. For testing purposes, Intel developed a scalable mesh of heterogeneous, reconfigurable 486 processors, Pawlowski said. The problem, however, is that the technology still needs three separate radios, which is too expensive, he said. Eventually, Intel will have to develop a radio that can recognize what protocols and frequencies it can access, and have the ability to reconfigure itself to access them-the "Radio Free Intel" vision. Intel's next step will be moving the analog-to-digital conversion, or converting the analog signal to a digital one for processing, as far out of the chip as possible, close to the antenna. The last step? Manufacturing it cheaply enough to succeed in the marketplace, which at Intel means developing the technology in CMOS silicon. Pawlowski said he expects the industry's first 802.15 announcements in two to three years, which means that a reconfigurable radio may be even farther into the future. "If we want to use processes of scale, we can't go changing the recipe in the fab," Pawlowskoi said, referring to the CMOS "recipe" used by Intel's chipsets and microprocessors. Integrating the radios means exactly matching the CMOS process Intel uses in its other products, he said. Copyright (c) 2003 Ziff Davis Media Inc. All Rights Reserved. (via David E. Crawford, Titusville, Florida, DXLD) PUBLICATIONS ++++++++++++ PACIFIC ASIAN LOG [mediumwave] I've recently updated the Pacific Asian Log. Now in its fifth edition, the PAL lists some 3800 medium and long wave broadcast stations throughout Asia and the Pacific. This latest version includes many changes up through August 2003. As with previous editions, it is free of charge, and can be downloaded as a pdf file sorted by location or frequency. You can find it at http://www.qsl.net/n7ecj My thanks to everyone who has sent updates for this latest edition. Comments, additions and corrections are always welcome, and can only add to the completeness and accuracy of the list (Bruce Portzer, Seattle, WA USA, Sept 20, hard-core-dx via DXLD) THIS DAY`S ENGLISH LESSON +++++++++++++++++++++++++ Hi Glenn, Will Martin is correct about the speed of delivery of spoken English by Australians. It's generally faster than most standard British or American accents. New Zealanders tend to speak even faster than most Australians and often roll words into one another. When I worked in Los Angeles, I had to consciously slow my speech down to be understood over the telephone, when giving speeches or at restaurants and in stores. I've kept the slower speech pattern since returning to NZ, and have several times been asked about my 'American' accent! In the UK, the British think I have a 'regional' accent from somewhere very rural in the UK! However, these are all generalisations. To my ears, there are many regional accents across the USA, across Australia (Queenslanders have a distinct accent), certainly across the UK, and even within NZ (from the deep south of the South Island they roll their 'R's' betraying a Scottish heritage), not to mention the South African accents which are increasingly heard here and sit somewhere between South Carolina and Australia in tone:) and the soft Canadian English which is very distinctive. Add 'Indian' English, Caribbean English, Irish English, the fact that many new immigrants to Australia, UK, Canada and NZ have Asian and African inflections to their English, plus Asian English lah, and so many non native English speakers being taught English by Americans, British, Australian and NZ teachers to give so many more inflections and accents, and Will is going to have a lot of fun with different delivery speeds, accents and styles as he explores the radio dial. 'English blong many place' (David Ricquish, Wellington, New Zealand, DX LISTENING DIGEST) COMMENTARY ++++++++++ SWL CALL SIGNS / DYING HOBBY Question... I have always considered callsigns to be identifiers when a transmission was made. Is this correct? What is a SWL call? How do I get one? Are they still issued? 73 de (KD5KWS Kenny Daniel, swl at qth.net via DXLD) Kenny, a call sign is issued by the FCC to licensed Amateur Radio operators, a.k.a. Hams. It is indeed an identifier and is published in a variety of sources. The short-wave call sign is not issued by the FCC and is not to be construed as any sort of radio identifier. They were issued by publications like the now defunct Popular Electronics to subscribers who wrote in for one. They had a prefix of WPE, the "PE" for Popular Electronics, and then the number of the corresponding Amateur Radio call zone. Such as '8' for Michigan, Ohio and West Virginia. This was followed by three letters. Such as, WPE8CXO. The call was for personal ego, it served no other purpose. A sort of PR gimmick by publications to make short-wave listeners feel special by giving them their own personal identifier. Not a bad thing, but not to be confused with an official call sign issued by the FCC. I am not sure if anyone is now issuing them or not. I investigated this topic eighteen months ago and found the records for the former WPE and WDX calls, but the man who formerly worked for Popular Electronics [Hank Bennett] is elderly and is determined to take his set of 3X5 cards to the grave with him. He is unable to issue or keep track of them any more, nor has he in nearly twenty years, but it is his right to do with them as he pleases. There is nothing to stop somebody else from getting legal permission to issue a new call, not using the old prefix, but I doubt the venture would be cost effective. My interest was in trying to recover the original calls because many former holders who are now fifty+ have lost their certificate, or forgotten their call, and I hoped to put together a data base to help them and to reprint a new certificate with their original call. This does not violate any legalities. It turned out to be more work than worth, unfortunately. If you really want a call sign, get busy and earn one by getting your Amateur Radio ticket, Kenny. It is not that difficult and there are plenty of helpful study programs available for little or nothing. A worthwhile effort, a sense of accomplishment and privileges you can not get just by listening. However, not everybody wants to be on the air and transmit, some are very happy just listening, which is perfectly fine (Duane B. Fischer, swl at qth.net via DXLD) If I recall correctly, Popular Electronics would publish this list of SWL callsigns with names and locations in their magazine periodically. For those of us who have forgotten our callsign, it might be possible to dig that up at a library. It's also possible of course, that some collector somewhere has a complete set of these magazines from the fifties and sixties -- and they might be willing to help create a database (Spence Carter, ibid.) There is a place in the USA that gives out SWL calls. CRB Research. They advertise in both Monitoring magazines and they have a web page as well. For $10 they give you a call. They have been around for at least 15 years now. http://www.crbbooks.com The call is generally made up of K or W, followed by your two letter state abbreviation, followed by the call zone number, followed by two letters. Hence my call, then I lived in CA was: KCA6RC Yes, the good old federal boys have no hand in this (thank God), but it does allow the SWL to obtain a unique call to use on his/her QSL cards. Even the ARRL has there collective heads in some anal cavity when it comes to SWL's; they do have a SWL incoming bureau for cards that come in through them. So a call is rather imperative when it comes to Ham QSLing. I obtained my first SWL call (and second) from Popular Electronics back when they were issuing them. But to keep up with the times I obtained new SWL call from CRB. So have many hams and SWLs that I know. Someday maybe someone will wake up in this country and start offering an "official" call service to SWL's, but until then, we gotta do what we gotta do (Bob Combs, KCA6RC (WPE2PJU, WDX6RTC, WN6FOF), New Mexico, ibid.) Spencer, No, that is incorrect. The monthly short-wave report did use the WPE call sign of the person who submitted the log. Popular Electronics never published a subscriber list. I know of over fifty thousand calls, only a handful appeared in the issues from January 1957 until its dissolution in about 1968. DBF (Duane Fischer, ibid.) I don't understand what purpose an SWL call serves, aside from being some way a dying electronics hobby magazine can make a few extra bucks from people interested in a dying hobby (Damon Cassell, ibid.) Truthfully they do not serve any purpose, as purposes go. Other than to make a short-wave listener feel important having a call assigned to their name. Which is fine, nothing wrong with a little ego boost now and then. If they ever did help get a QSL card from an international short-wave station, I suspect those days are long departed. As a Ham with an Extra class license, I QSL anyone who sends me a valid reception report. If from overseas, I do expect a SASE, however. Most who have a QSL card send their card along with a SASE nowadays. Not a requirement, but a nice gesture that often times will evoke a response when just a reception report or QSL card with no SASE goes unattended to DBF (Duane B. Fischer, MI, ibid.) Joe, Yes, SWL callsigns are still issued by several sources. One in particular is CRB Books last I recall out of Commack, NY. Received one from them years ago. You check with them. Also their is a website of Shortwave Amateur Radio Listeners which also issues callsigns. Check the sites below: http://members.shaw.ca/SWARL/ http://users.skynet.be/ONL4299/SWL%20Callsigns.htm http://www.pg7v.net/english/swlreport.asp 73's (Bruce, Valrico, FL, ibid.) What would "Official" do that CRB is not? There is no compelling need for it. It's kinda like vanity license plates --- they are more of a personal desire than a functional necessity. I have nothing against vanity plates nor SWL call signs but see no real reason why anything more than what CRB is doing would ever be necessary. Also the ARRL really does not have to offer any services to the SWL community --- it is a plus that they do --- I don't understand what is "anal" about that?? (Cecil Acuff, WB5VCE, ibid.) See if this helps a little: http://www.qsl.net/wb1gfh/gab.html (Rich. Line, WPE8FLZ, ibid.) I guess the "value" of a SWL call can be taken as to exactly what one plans to do with it if and when one gets it. If all you want out of Short Wave Listening is to listen to the International Short Wave Stations or Utility stations, then the call is meaningless. If you want to only send out QSL requests from the International broadcasters, then a SWL call is meaningless. If you want to participate in SWLing the Ham Bands, then some form of identification to differentiate you from someone else is really helpful. I suppose I could have cards printed that say "Bob Combs, USA" on them. As mentioned in my post a LOT of overseas hams seem to like to take your money and send your card via the "bureau". What do you suppose the ARRL would do if they started getting cards in addressed to individuals? Probably chuck them. I have been SWLing for a long time and find that I still get cards with my old call(s) on them through the bureaus. The 6 bureau (current manager) never even heard of a SWL (even though he has been a ham for 30 years) in "all his years" of transmitting! I suppose if all you ever talk on is 2 meters, that is probably an accurate statement. EQSLs. One cannot participate in the EQSL game without a call of some kind; the servers just aren't set up to take names. Awards. Some paper chasers find that having a call on the medal (DUF4 for example) or on a hugh wall plaque (CISL or Maple Leaf Award) essential. Membership in Amateur Radio Organizations seem to require a "call" even if you are a SWL to participate. Access to some Amateur Radio web sites require a "call: to obtain access to the group. Need I go on? Foreign SWL's in many countries are issued calls as a prerequisite to obtaining a Ham call. I would also take offense at the "dying hobby" statement. While it is true that the FCC in this country seems to have sold out to the American public by selling the bands to the highest bidder, other countries haven't jumped on the bandwagon as of yet. Perhaps International broadcasting will die as a transmitted entity of the short-wave bands, but there are many other groups waiting in the wings to hop on board (Hams included). So the hobby of Short Wave Listening will not die as you seem to think, it will just change its direction. The military cannot and will not give up the HF bands, and if you think they will you had better think again. I could piss all of you off by mentioning that the Amateur Radio Call is nothing more than a government assigned "vanity call" but I won't. Actually CRB is serving their purpose. Those that want calls can obtain them. Those that don't obviously won't participate. My comments on the "anal' qualities of the ARRL are that they are lamenting about the decline in the hobby and not getting any "new blood" to participate. They tend to alienate a lot of people by NOT recognizing openly that most or at least a good number of hams stared as SWL's and many still practice the hobby in addition to being able to transmit. If the mother organization would mellow out and admit that SWL's exist and offer services and membership at some level to them, then perhaps more people would become interested in obtaining the required license, and continue to keep the ARRL coffers full of money. No, the ARRL is not under any commitment to offer the SWL anything, and guess what? They don't. In my long years of SWLing the ham bands and chasing Ham countries, awards and the like, ARRL has offered ONE award that SWL's could get, the "Diamond Jubilee Award", which mind you has a place for the SWL call sign to be affixed! RSGB goes out of their way to include SWL's in their activities and awards (IOTA, etc.) The ARRL counterpart in Canada offers SWL's the use of their outgoing and incoming card bureau. I guess that one could sum up with the comment, that having a call of any kind is a "Wizard of Oz" thing. If you have a diploma you must have a brain. If you hear a clock ticking you must have a heart. Etc. Maybe this helped to understand what a SWL call is all about, maybe not. It really depends on what you plan on doing with it, doesn't it (Bob Combs, KCA6RC, New Mexico, ibid.) Frankly, if we as radio hobbyists and Ham radio operators do NOT get off our butts and get the broadband proposed by the power companies stopped we won't be able to hear what remains on HF! This is serious! We must NOT depend of the ARRL to do this for us, they may, they may not. We can not afford to take that risk! If it goes as planned, HF as we know it will be unusable for the most part. Next year is an election year, politicians do listen! Write them via regular mail, NOT by e-mail. A stack of letters on his/her desk means much much more than e-mail they never see. We must generte public awareness of the massive interference and disruption this broadband through the power lines is going to cause. As far as beacons or utility stations, well most of us could care less about listening to or for them. Remember, just to ID them requires a working knowledge of CW and most hobbyists do not know it. A very small specialized group of listeners love them, but that is a very small percentage of the total radio listeners. Just having 'something' to listen to is not sufficient motivation for most radio buffs to turn on their rx. They need to have something that appeals to them before they warm up the tubes or light up the digital display. I mean, if nothing else, we can always listen to Jupiter. Well, maybe. If the broadband goes through the powerlines we won't be able to hear Jupiter either! DBF (Duane B. Fischer, MI, ibid.) PROPAGATION +++++++++++ GEOMAGNETIC INDICES Phil Bytheway - Seattle WA - phil_tekno@yahoo.com Geomagnetic Summary August 20 2003 through September 16 2003 Tabulated from daily email status Date Flux A K SA Forecast GM Forecast Etc. 8/20 117 20 3 moderate no storms 4 21 112 17 4 no storms no storms 6 22 119 51 6 strong minor 8 23 121 35 5 moderate minor 7 24 120 42 4 strong minor 9 25 116 25 3 minor no storms 8 26 117 22 3 minor no storms 6 27 121 21 3 no storms no storms 7 28 126 16 3 no storms no storms 6 29 119 21 4 no storms no storms 6 30 116 16 4 no storms no storms 10 8/31 114 21 2 minor no storms 5 9/ 1 110 9 2 no storms no storms 6 2 108 14 2 no storms no storms 7 3 106 12 3 no storms no storms 7 4 111 19 3 no storms no storms 7 5 112 21 4 no storms no storms 9 6 108 14 2 no storms no storms 8 7 105 13 2 no storms no storms 6 8 108 7 1 no storms no storms 2 9 99 11 4 no storms no storms 7 10 96 22 5 minor minor 10 11 99 19 3 no storms no storms 8 12 97 18 3 minor no storms 7 13 94 8 1 no storms no storms 4 14 96 11 1 no storms no storms 8 15 95 7 2 no storms no storms 5 9/16 97 4 5 minor minor 9 ********************************************************** (IRCA Soft DX Monitor via DXLD) CUMBRE PROPAGATION REPORT One M1 flare during the week to report, occurring on the 16th around 22 UT. Solar wind speed declined early in the week allowing the geomagnetic field to calm down after Sep 14. However from Sep 16 we entered another wind stream with the geomagnetic field reaching storm levels on Sep 17 & 18. Solar wind speed is gradually declining but still expected to be elevated for the next 1-2 days, coupled with a southward bias this is causing the geomagnetic field to vary between unsettled and minor storm levels. Planetary A-index is still at 40 meaning poor conditions for the MW DXers among us. MUFs have varied between predicted values and being quite elevated at different locations. Degraded conditions are again forecast Sep 23-24 and Sep 29-Oct 1. Prepared using data from http://www.ips.gov.au (Richard Jary, SA, Sept 20, Cumbre DX via DXLD) ### ||||||||| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||| DX LISTENING DIGEST 3-168, September 19, 2003 edited by Glenn Hauser 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 later at http://www.worldofradio.com/dxldtd3i.html For restrixions and searchable 2003 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 WRN ONDEMAND: http://new.wrn.org/listeners/stations/station.php?StationID=24 OUR ONDEMAND AUDIO [also for CONTINENT OF MEDIA, MUNDO RADIAL]: Check http://www.worldofradio.com/audiomid.html NEXT AIRINGS OF WORLD OF RADIO 1199: RFPI: Sat 0130, 0800, 2330, Sun 0530, 1130, Mon 0030, 0630, 1230, Wed 0100, 0730 on 7445 [nominal times may be delayed] WWCR: Sat 1030, Sun 0230 5070, 0630 3210, Wed 0930 9475 WRMI: Sat & Sun 1800+ 15725 on IBC Radio WBCQ: Mon 0415 7415, maybe 5105 WINB: Thu 0130 9320 [this week Extra 44 cut off by 0150!] WRN: Rest of world Sat 0800; Eu Sun 0430; NAm Sun 1400 WORLD OF RADIO 1199 (high version): (stream) http://www.w4uvh.net/wor1199h.ram (download) http://www.w4uvh.net/wor1199h.rm (summary) http://www.worldofradio.com/wor1199.html WORLD OF RADIO 1199 (low version): (stream) http://www.w4uvh.net/wor1199.ram (download) http://www.w4uvh.net/wor1199.rm MUNDO RADIAL, para setiembre-octubre en WWCR 15825: todos los viernes 2115, martes 2130, miércoles 2100. Además: (corriente) http://www.w4uvh.net/mr0309.ram (bajable) http://www.w3uvh.net/mr0309.rm (texto) http://www.worldofradio.com/mr0309.html ** ALGERIA. Radio Algérienne has improved its FM-network with many 10 kW transmitters covering former MW areas. Some MW-stations have been closed: Ain-El-Hammam 693, Djelfa 702, Ain-Amenas 738, Alger 756, Tlemcen 1089, Ain-Salah 1161 and Constantine 1305 kHz (Radio Algérienne's webpage via Bengt Ericson, ARC MV-Eko Information Desk 15 Sept via Olle Alm, DXLD) ** AUSTRALIA. ARDS: See TANZANIA ** AUSTRALIA [and non]. Hi, Glenn! Was just looking at DXLD 3-167 and noted the Apache radio article. Their comments on translation and inserting regular English words in the midst of the native-language speech reminded me of the way we hear Pidgin on RA and other Pacific broadcasts. A long string of rapid syllables with every now and then "democracy", "Prime Minister", and other terms appearing like icebergs in a sea of "blong blong" and similar sounds. Then that reminds me of something else -- the differences in English speakers' speech speeds. I'm finding it harder to understand Australian speech these days; it seems to me that many Australians, including some RA announcers, rattle off the words far faster than the typical British or American speaks English. Do you notice this or am I wrong in that impression? Of course, many South Asian speakers of English just spew out words as rapidly as a tabla drum sounds. I wonder if they learn such rapid speech as infants as part of the various languages they learn, and it shapes their vocal skills. You hear Indian musicians doing vocal tricks, like imitating instruments, that are completely impossible for the average Westerner to perform (I believe). They can rattle off sounds so fast that it amazes me. I'd love to be able to produce such sounds, but I think you have to learn the technique in infancy or early childhood to be able to do it at all. It's like rolling "Rs" in Scottish or the like, also something I cannot do (Will Martin, MO, Sept 18, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** AUSTRALIA [non?]. Received confirmation from Voice Intl - Freq Mgt that Voice Hindi service has added 9880 kHz for the time slot 1400- 1700. (Not 1100-1700 UT). The scheduled hours (UT) for Hindi are now: 0100-0400 11850, 0500-1100 13630, 1100-1400 13635, 1400-1700 9880 (ex 13635) Regds, (Alokesh Gupta, New Delhi, India, Sept 18, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Why don`t you ask them about the transmitter sites? Moreover, why don`t they specify them without investigation? 13635 was indeed Darwin at 1100-1700 per DXLD 3-104 June 12, but had just been canceled and replaced by Tashkent at other times (gh) ** AUSTRIA. AWR Wavescan: See USA [non] ** BENIN. Radiodiffusion Nationale, 7210.27, Sept 12 2130-2302* French talk, variety of Afro pops, French pops. Phone talk, ID, sign-off announcements and national anthem; fair-good (Brian Alexander, Mechanicsburg PA, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** BIAFRA [non]. V. of Biafra International, 7380, Sept 6 2135-2159* tune in to English talk about Nigeria; some vernacular talk. Many IDs. Mentioned coming from Washington DC; fair. Some co-channel QRM. Saturday only; see POLAND (Brian Alexander, PA, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** BOLIVIA. Sept., 17, 2003, 5952, Radio Pio XII with program ``Reporteros populares`` in Quechua, mama Justina and tata (daddy in Quechua) Martin near the mike, phone-ins, great audio 54455! Hello everyone here in Cumbre once again. That's me, (Artyom Prokhorov from Moscow with my latest catches made on Sony ICF7600G and its telescopic antenna in a countryside just in some 70 km South of Moscow, Cumbre DX via DXLD) ** BOLIVIA. 5952.47, (presumed), Emisora Pio XII, Sep 15, 0918, dramatic presentation in presumed Aymara, announcement mentioning "Save The Children", into announcer, nice strong signal (Mark Mohrmann, Coventry, VT, NRD 535D, V-Beam 140m @180 deg. "VT-DX": http://www.sover.net/~hackmohr/ DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** BOLIVIA. UNID, 4902.6 --- There is a Spanish-speaking station here as as I type this up at 0145 Sept 19. I'm just a bit too far and it is a bit weak for me to get too much out of it, any help would be appreciated (Hans Johnson, Cody, WY, Cumbre DX via DXLD) I've got them here, Hans, with S7 signal level, SINPO 34333. Will keep listening for possible ID. They started to sign off at 0200 UT, with YL in Spanish with mention of Ecuador, and ID that I couldn't copy. NA at 0202, off at 0204 UT (George Maroti, NY, ibid.) See Valko`s previous report Sept 13. of R. San Miguel on 4903v (Bob Wilkner, ibid.) Thanks Bob. Now that I've re-listened to my tape, the ID on 4902.6 does sound like Radio San Miguel. It came it pretty strong for a Bolivian (George Maroti, NY, ibid.) They have been on four different frequencies in the last month or so. The signal is very strong and clear; a pleasure to listen (Bob Wilkner, FL, ibid.) Is Radio San Miguel, Riberalta, Bolivia, one day on near of 4905v and other drifting from 4902.3. 73's (Nicolás Eramo, Argentina, ibid.) ** BULGARIA. R. Bulgaria, 5800, Sept 6 *2100-2200* English ID, sked, news, local folk music. Very weak; much better on \\ 7500 (Brian Alexander, PA, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** BURUNDI. RADIO CRACKDOWN IN BURUNDI The authorities in Burundi have ordered the closure of a second private radio station after journalists violated a ban on interviewing rebel officials. The closure was ordered by Information Minister Albert Mbonerane against African Public Radio [RPA] on Tuesday following a phone-in programme with a rebel spokesperson for the National Liberation Forces (FNL), who have refused to hold talks with the transitional government. He was discussing the failure of the peace talks to end the country's decade-long civil war. Mr Mbonerane said that RPA had "incited the population to violence" by broadcasting the rebel spokesmen's reaction. Blackout "Radio Publique Africaine has acted in bad faith thus their banning by interviewing the spokesman of Agathon Rwasa's Palipehutu-FNL, a man who is against Burundi and who until now has refused to negotiate with the government," the statement said. The ban comes only days after the government closed another station, Radio Isanganiro, after it broadcast interviews with rebel officials. Following the closure of Isanganiro, on Saturday, RPA and another private station, Bonesha FM imposed a news blackout to express their solidarity. And instead of broadcasting the usual news bulletin at 1600 and 1630 GMT, they aired special reports on the closure and initiated interactive programmes to gauge people's views on the ban. Correspondents say many Burundians are puzzled by Mr Mbonerane's action, because as a rebel in Germany before the transition period, his interviews were broadcast by private radio stations. Burundi has about seven private local radio stations. The ban, however, has not been extended to international radios broadcasting to Burundi, such as the BBC. Alexis Sinduhije, the RPA manager has called on journalists to defend their own freedom and appealed to the public for support. "The people themselves who are the beneficiaries of this unbiased information must help the journalists in this fight for freedom and true democracy," he said. Story from BBC NEWS: http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/africa/3116538.stm (via Robert Wilkner, FL, DXLD) ** CANADA. CFDR-780 Nova Scotia --- I have a couple of observations. I believe they are running their 50 kW day rig well into the evening and quite possibly 24/7 as they have been VERY strong here lately. If you need this station, you should give it a try. Unless of course you live in Chicago, Reno, or Nome, hi! Secondly, they have been interrupting their usual Country & Western music programming around 2020 EDT nightly in order to carry a Christian program called "Prophecy For Today." After about 2050 EDT they go back to the C&W music with slogan "Kicks Country." Interestingly, on the Prophecy For Today website, they are listed under Nova Scotia as "KIXX-780." Yikes! (Marc DeLorenzo, Marstons Mills, Mass., 18 Sept., NRC-AM via DXLD) ** CANADA. TORONTO ONE TV --- By John McKay TORONTO (CP) - It's a TV station with new car smell. The blue-and- white paint motif is fresh. The lights, cameras, consoles, all brand- spanking new. Many of the 150 employees hustle through the halls and studios on dry runs for Friday night's big launch. Toronto 1 is set to go to air with a state-of-the-art system packed into a refurbished east-end industrial-age factory building. "I'm at the point now where it's like `OK, let's just do it, we're ready, enough of this sitting around.' " says a pumped Barbara Williams, who joined the Craig Media team eight months ago as Toronto 1's vice- president and general manager. But the independent station is launching into a market already heavy with broadcast options. There is also a history of sometimes-bitter rivalry between the broadcast family from Alberta and the Toronto- based TV clique that seemed comfortable with the status quo. Craig spent a lot of money and stepped on a few toes to win the last available over-the-air frequency in the viewer-rich southern Ontario TV market. On-air news personalities were lured from competing networks, including CBC's Ben Chin and CTV's Wei Chen. Global had been trumped in bids to establish a foothold in Alberta, losing to Craig's A Channels in 1996. CHUM was furious when Craig undermined its exclusive partnership with MTV in the U.S. and began to import shows for its MTV Canada digital licence, to MuchMusic's loss. Alliance Atlantis wanted to set up GTTV, or Greater Toronto Television, an all-news service. One of the biggest surprises, though, has been the conversion of the former front-runner in the licence competition, the Toronto Star, which argued it had a better application for its Hometown Television and its 85 per cent Canadian content. The Star even challenged the CRTC decision, delaying Toronto 1's launch for a year. "But all of the applicants for the licence just wanted to win," Williams says. "The fact that the Craigs won, people focused on the fact they were the western ones and that became a bit of an issue. But honestly I think that's long gone." So much so that the Star has now agreed to join Toronto 1 in what is called a "strategic media alliance," with Star reporters on camera in the newsroom and collaboration on coverage of the upcoming municipal election. At the end of the day, Williams says, cooler heads prevailed. The Star, it seems, decided if you can't lick 'em, join 'em. "Torstar was obviously interested in having a television partner and they smartly had to look at the landscape. . .where the opportunities were." Toronto 1 launches on the UHF band [WTFK???] (as well as basic cable) but will also be carried nationally on the Bell ExpressVu satellite service (Ch. 224). Officially, the channel's call letters are CKXT. On the web: http://www.toronto1.ca (Via Harry van Vugt, Windsor, Ontario, Canada) ** CUBA? 2140.00, (presumed harmonic 2 x 1070), Sep 17/18, 0850-1004, 0049-0300*, consistently fair to good signal here, lots of LA music which sounds Cuban or Afro-Cuban to me, interspersed with earnest talk, no ads, no hype, 0900 announcer speaks over "Guantanamera" in the background, +10dB over peaks around 0915. WRTH lists R. Guamá and Cadena CMKS on AM 1070. Needs more work (Mark Mohrmann, Coventry, VT, NRD 535D, V-Beam 140m @180 deg. VT-DX: http://www.sover.net/~hackmohr/ DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CUBA [non]. EAST EUROPE DISSIDENTS TO SUPPORT CUBAN OPPOSITION Friday, September 19, 2003 Posted: 0201 GMT (10:01 AM HKT) http://edition.cnn.com/2003/WORLD/americas/09/18/dissidents.cuba.reut/ PRAGUE, Czech Republic (Reuters) -- A group of former east European dissidents launched on Thursday an initiative to help root out Cuba's communist government, a system they fought to dismantle in their own countries. Former Czech President Vaclav Havel, Poland's Lech Walesa and Arpad Goencz of Hungary, all anti-communist dissidents who rose to presidency in the 1990s, published a statement in regional newspapers saying the time has come to support the Cuban opposition. "Today it is the responsibility of the democratic world to support representatives of the Cuban opposition irrespective of how long the Cuban Stalinists still manage to cling to power," the joint statement said. "The Cuban opposition must experience the same international support as the representatives of political dissent did in the up to recently divided Europe." Havel, who was jailed for almost four years in Communist Czechoslovakia, and others also set up the International Committee for Democracy in Cuba. The committee said in a statement on Thursday its foundation was timed to mark the six-month anniversary of Fidel Castro's latest crackdown on opposition on the Carribean island. The Cuban government arrested and sentenced for up to 28 years 75 dissidents in March, the most severe strike in decades. The wave of repression was aimed against the 2002 Varela Project, a petition for peaceful reforms. The Prague-based committee also includes former United States Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, who was born in the former Czechoslovakia, and statesmen and dissidents from across Eastern Europe. The committee said it wanted to support political prisoners, journalists and various civil society groups and also plans to launch Cuban newscasts over short-wave radios through stations in the Czech Republic, Spain and the Netherlands. The Czech government and civil groups have been supporting Cuban opposition for several years. Castro's government arrested former finance minister Ivan Pilip and a colleague for a month in 2001 after they met dissidents in Cuba (Reuters via CNN.com via Jilly Dybka, DXLD) !! Quite a surprising set of transmitter sites mentioned, Czech Republic, Netherlands and Spain, which have not been associated with anti-Castro broadcasts before. The more the merrier, but Cuba is already bombarded with R. Martí and various WRMI shows (gh, DXLD) ** CURAÇAO [and non]. 1010/1500: Radio Hoyer broadcasts on 4 frequencies. It makes the station the largest on the Netherlands Antilles. Both Radio Hoyer 1 and Radio Hoyer 2 use an FM and an AM frequency. In 1984, history was made when the FM transmitters were installed on top of the Tafelberg. They were the first in the world to fully operate on solar energy and were designed by the technical adviser of Radio Hoyer, Fred Chumaceiro. When Parliament or the Island Council are in session, the debates are broadcast via Radio Hoyer 2 AM. Local sports are broadcast on the AM frequencies. Radio Hoyer is the leader in local, international and sports news in Curaçao. Music also plays an important role in the programming on the FM frequencies. Radio Hoyer can also be heard in Bonaire and via AM in Aruba (from http://www.radiohoyer.com/history.htm via Steve Whitt, MWC via Tore Larsson, Arctic via DXLD) ** ECUADOR [non]. New schedule for HCJB's DXPL via WWCR and WINB: Thu 2000-2030 on 15825 WWCR first airing Sun 0200-0230 on 5070 WWCR Sat 1430-1500 on 12160 WWCR Tue 0900-0930 on 9475 WWCR Sat 1730-1800 on 13570 WINB Wed 0830-0900 on 3210 WWCR (Observer, Bulgaria, Sept 19 via DXLD) Only once did I catch the first airing Thu at 2000, I suspect a mistake; unknown this week, as reception was too poor (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ETHIOPIA. La Voz de la Revolución del Tigray, fortísima, en 5500 kHz, a las 0322 UT, con SINPO 3-3. 17-09. 73's y buen DX (Adán González, Venezuela, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** EUROPE. Here is the plan for POWER 41 to Europe and Northamerica on Saturday, 20th of September 2003: 1700-1930 UT 6245 kHz +/- QRM to Europe, AM, 1 kW 2300-0030 UT 6245 kHz or 6305 kHz to Northamerica, AM, 1 kW You can contact us via the shows via telephone : (0049)(0)1789186052 eMail: power41dx@a... [truncated by yahoogrops] P-mail: Östra Porten 29, 44254 Ytterby, Sweden Have a great reception and enjoy the weekend! 73s from Alex Warner (OP) POWER 41 (via Radio Strike, Sept 19, BCLNews.it via DXLD) ** GERMANY [and non]. Digital Radio Mondiale [MW] Transmitters currently active: 531 Burg, 729 Putbus, 855 Berlin-Britz, 1296 Orfordness [UK] 1600-1915, 2115-2400 (?), 1485 Berlin (3 transmitters). 855 has an irregular schedule. The current schedule of 531 and 729 is unconfirmed, but they seem to be active every night and could be 24h. 1485 seems to be 24h. What you will hear when you receive one of these signals in the AM mode is a jammer-like noise or hiss similar to white noise. Special DRM software is needed to decode the digital signal (Summary by Olle Alm, ARC MV-Eko Information Desk 15 Sept via DXLD) ** GUATEMALA. 4698.7, Yes, Radio Amistad was back on the air briefly as the result of a team of volunteers from Chattanooga, TN (actually, a couple of "hams") who repaired the storm damaged antenna and replaced some defective rectifiers in the transmitter`s power supply. However, shortly afterwards another power line "surge" wiped out the power supply again. Those same volunteers are on their way back down to Lake Atitlán even as I type and should have the little rig back up and running before too long. This time they are going to install a regulated UPS at the transmitter shack to help prevent another wipeout! (Larry Baysinger in Kentucky,Cumbre DX, Sep 19 via DXLD) ** GUINEA. RTV Guinéenne, 7125, 2205-2400* Sept 12. Vernacular, French talk, Afro pops, sign-off announcements with ID and national anthem; fair-good (Brian Alexander, PA, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** HUNGARY. NEW QSL CARDS FOR RADIO BUDAPEST --- Radio Budapest is now issuing new QSL cards, as part of a series showing pictures from the Magyar Radio Archives (Radio-Kurier via EDXP World Broadcast Magazine http://edxp.org used by permission via DXLD) ** ICELAND. 15775, Rikisutvarpid; 1844-1901:45*, 15-Sep; W in Nordic language with news remotes in various languages including English. Mentioned Reykjavik at 1857. Possible sked by M 1859-1900; Woman in language continued and mentioned Island couple of times. "Island" pronounced with short "I" & strong "s" SIO=3+54- (Harold Frodge, MI, MARE via DXLD) ** INDIA. SAHARA TO BEAM NEWS FROM WORLDSPACE [sic] Nivedita Mookerji New Delhi: News is not allowed on private FM radio stations, but there’s no such bar on satellite radio. So, while only All India Radio (AIR) stations are legally permitted to beam news in the FM band, Indian companies joining WorldSpace (the only satellite radio platform available in India) can broadcast news freely. WorldSpace radio`s India beam (AsiaStar) is received all over the country. The reason for permitting news on satellite radio: WorldSpace channels are not uplinked from India, and therefore don’t fall under any Indian guidelines. Taking advantage of the free-regime for satellite platform, Sahara is planning to start a news channel on WorldSpace by the end of this year. It will be the first private Indian player giving news on radio. A WorldSpace official confirmed that a channel on this satellite platform can beam live news from India through a leased line, without any time delay. However, WorldSpace channels on AsiaStar are uplinked from Singapore. With its uplinking happening from outside India, there are no government guidelines for satellite radio. News will be one of the four channels that Sahara is planning, according to group CEO (media and entertainment) Sushanto Roy. The other three will focus on Hindi entertainment, rural development and internal communication, and music for Mumbai Railways. Interestingly, even as AIR has been in talks with the Railways for offering its channel through WorldSpace on Rajdhani and Shatabdi, with no results, Sahara has already got an in-principle nod to offer its satellite radio service to Mumbai Western and Mumbai Central Railways. Extending this service to trains such as Rajdhani and Shatabdi would be the next logical step, Mr Roy pointed out. Also, the company doesn’t rule out entering terrestrial radio when government begins second phase of FM privatisation. As for radio on FM band, recommendations are being firmed up by a high-level committee headed by Ficci secretary general Amit Mitra. The committee is not looking at satellite radio, as a panel member told eFE. The government has asked the expert committee on FM radio to submit its report by September 30. Among other things, the panel is looking at the option of allowing news and foreign direct investment (FDI) in private FM. Currently, only up to 20 per cent foreign institutional investment (FII) is allowed in a private FM radio venture. Once the report is submitted to the information and broadcasting ministry, it will be sent to the Union Cabinet for approval (From : financialexpress.com) (via Alokesh Gupta, New Delhi, India, DXLD) ** INDONESIA. 3231.86, RRI-Bukittinggi Sep 13 1400-1535 34333-34343 Indonesian, Music. ID at 1511 and 1528. 3266.42, RRI-Gorontalo Sep 16 1056-1106 33333-34333 Indonesian, Music. 1100 IS and ID. Local news. 3344.85, RRI-Ternate Sep 13 1322-1355 34433 Indonesian, Music. ID at 1329 and 1335. 3976, RRI-Pontianak Sep 13 1258-1320 43443 Indonesian, Talk and news. ID at 1259 and 1315. 4606.42, RRI-Serui Sep 14 1338-1400* 34333 Indonesian, Music. ID at 1357 and 1359. 1400 s/off. 4753.35, RRI-Makassar Sep 10 1056-1118 33443 Indonesian, Music. 1059 ID and IS. 2000 ID. Local news. 4790, RRI-Fak Fak Sep 11 1156-1206 33333 Indonesian, Music. ID at 1158. 1200 Jakarta news relay. 4869.98, RRI-Wamena Sep 12 1229-1240 33443 Indonesian, ID at 1230. Music. 4870.93, RRI-Sorong Sep 11 1058-1106 34343 Indonesian, ID at 1059. 1100 Local news. 4919.96, RRI-Biak (Presumed) Sep 16 0909-0942 1019-1042 34343-33343 Indonesian, Music. 1028 with IS. 1030 Local news? (Kouji Hashimoto, Yamanashi, JAPAN, Japan Premium via DXLD) Jakarta ID heard on new 4920 at 2000 (Chris Hambly, Victoria, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Presumably via Biak as above (gh, DXLD) ** INTERNATIONAL VACUUM. Don't know if you heard but Loral Space Communications lost Telstar 4 this Friday morning at about 9 AM [1300 UT?]. It was primary for ABC TV and backup for CBS TV. This satellite was to be sold off as part of a bankruptcy sale (Lou KF4EON Johnson, Sept 19, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** IRELAND. For at least the past 24 hours the main RTE 2FM mediumwave transmitter has been off-channel --- approximately 611.78 kHz, causing a severe heterodyne here on 612 kHz. I emailed RTE earlier today about it, but have not had a reply yet. I believe this is quite an old transmitter and RTE have reportedly been considering switching it off to save money, maybe this will happen sooner rather than later. 73s (Dave Kenny, UK, Sept 19, BDXC-UK via DXLD) ** LAOS [non]. Re the brief appearance of Hmong Lao Radio on 15555 via Taiwan --- hardly surprising that did not last, as HCJB Australia took over that frequency during same time period 0100+ (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** LIBERIA. See USA --- WJIE/WJCR ** LIBYA [non]. LIBYA/FRANCE: New schedule for LJB service in Arabic to Iraq: 1202-1302 NF 11890 LSB*, ex 17600 USB \\ 11660 USB 1800-1900 NF 7425 LSB#, ex 7245 USB \\ 11660 USB * co-ch VOA in Spanish till 1230 and R.Japan NHK in Hindi from 1230, both in AM # Sep. 14 on 11890 LSB co-ch Radio Taiwan International also in Arabic but in AM (Observer, Bulgaria, Sept 19 via DXLD) ** MEXICO. 4810, X E R T A, La Voz Comercial de México, 1050-1110, per Charles Bolland tip, "X E R T A, La Voz Comercial de México de onda corta en la banda internacional de 60 metros... X E R T A [music] Radio...? ...onda corta de 60 metros en el corazón de México" [over music]. (Robert Wilkner, Pompano Beach, Florida, R-75, on the ground long wire antenna, Sept 17, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 4810, XERTA, Thanks Bolland Cumbre DX tip. Heard at 1245 with music. There was a very strong open carrier yesterday at 1300 that had me stumped, now I know what it was, same transmitter buzzing on both days (Hans Johnson, Cody WY, Sep 16-17, Cumbre DX via DXLD) 4810, XERTA (presumed), per other loggings, heard the big carrier this morning but didn't know it was them at the time. Was going to record but decided against it. Couldn't detect any audio (Dave Valko, PA, 18 Sept., Cumbre DX via DXLD) 4810, XERTA, Radio Transcontinental de América. Hoy 17 de septiembre del 2003, se ha sintonizado a las 2130 UT con un SINPO de 55555, por la colonia Florida de la ciudad de México, con música e identificación. A las 2138 la ID " XERTA... transmitiendo desde la Plaza de San Juan 5...", dan su dirección completa y de su página "Web" en: http://www.xertaradio.com Hasta en el radio menos sensible se capta con excelente señal y usando solamente la antena telescópica, mucho mejor que las demás emisoras de la Ciudad de México. Saludos (Héctor García Bojorge, DF, Sept 17, Conexión Digital via DXLD) Amigos diexistas: sugieron busquen en 4810 kHz a XERTA "Radio Transcontinental de América". Transmitiendo desde la Ciudad de México con un nuevo transmisor y antena, del los cuales aún no sabemos sus características. Al parecer el anterior director-gerente: Roberto Nájera ha vendido la emisora a un grupo con perspectivas religiosas. Inició sus pruebas el pasado 16 de septiembre y lo que hemos podido corroborar localmente, es que, definitivamente la calidad es muy superior a lo que se escuchó de esta emisora hasta hace unos dos años. 73's (Desde México, Julián Santiago, DF, Noticias DX via DXLD) 4810, XERTA, Mexico City: been sitting on a strong carrier, no audio from 1000 to 1250. 6045, XEXQ R Unversidad, San Luis Potosí, 1203-1250 with YL, then into extended program of classical music, fading (Robert Wilkner, Pompano Beach, Florida, Sept 19, hard-core-dx via DXLD) ** MEXICO. ANIVERSARIO DEL INICIO DE TRANSMISIONES DE LA XEW jueves 18 de septiembre, 12:07 PM Un día como hoy de 1930, la XEW inició sus transmisiones. Pero antes de relatar este hecho, es importante destacar algunos datos históricos sobre la historia de la radio en nuestro país. Durante la primera mitad del siglo pasado, en México, el interés por la radio, comenzó a despertar, surgiendo así como un reflejo de lo que ocurría en otros países, especialmente en Estados Unidos. El ingeniero Constantino de Tárnava, reconocido como el iniciador de la radio en México, en 1919 instaló en la ciudad de Monterrey, Nuevo León, la primera estación experimental en nuestro país. Lo que podría considerarse como el primer programa radiofónico, se transmitió en la ciudad de México el 27 de septiembre de 1921. El aparato emisor fue instalado en el desaparecido Teatro Ideal. La hazaña fue lograda por el técnico Enrique Gómez. Posteriormente, el 18 de septiembre de 1930, la XEW inició sus transmisiones con la frase "La voz de la América Latina desde México". Este suceso marcó una nueva etapa el la industria por su programación, alcance y potencia. Esta estación la fundó don Emilio Azcárraga Vidaurreta y fue instalada por el ingeniero José Ruiz de la Herrán Ipao, convirtiéndose en toda una tradición dentro de la radio del país. Programas radiofónicos fueron y vinieron, así como estaciones; sin embargo, hoy en día contamos con distintas opciones para todo tipo de gustos y preferencias (via Héctor García Bojorge, DF, Sept 18, Conexión Digital via DXLD) ** MEXICO [non]. Radio Cascades Sept 13 03 15045 http://jill.jazzkeyboard.com/radio/cascades.mp3 (Jilly Dybka, KF4ZEO Sangean 909, G5RV, Kingston Springs TN, Cumbre DX via DXLD) 3-minute clip in Spanish. A shorter one is on Mundo Radial for September; see top (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** MEXICO [non]. Re : R Free Cascadia Int not included in CRW ? In his latest DXLD Glenn Hauser has been raising the following questions : = Other media news sources which have ignored R. Free = Cascadia International: BBC Monitoring, Media Network, Free = Radio Network, and perhaps most incredibly of all: Clandestine = Radio Watch. On a number of other lists, I was the only one = posting an item about it, no follow-ups. Are people just not = paying attention, or are some hidden political agendas at work? = (gh, DXLD) At first I'd like to say that CRW should never be 'the judge' if a station is a clandestine radio station or not. Every editor and DXer should have his own opinion. We at CRW know how much DXLD does for the DXers, you can see it every issue of CRW, how useful it is for us. But in the case of R Free Cascadia Int we simply had a different opinion about the status of the station. We see it as a political pirate, not as a clandestine. I will explain that in 3 points : Point 1 : Before we started CRW in 1998 I was very interested in pirate radio broadcasting. In 1994 I started to edit an pirate radio address list 'Piraten.WdB' http://www.schoechi.de/pwdb.html For this list I collected a lot of information about current pirate radio stations (on SW and MW, esp. from Europe and the Americas. When I saw the report about 'R Free Cascadia Int' I knew, I know this name from the pirate radio scene .. and this is what my address list shows : Cascadia Free R on SW from America North from the USA operation planned in 97 Source : FRN-Web http://www.frn.net Address : Box 703 Eugene, OR 97440 USA This means I saw plans for this one in 97 but I never saw a report that this was active. So this station was a pirate for me, not a clandestine. Somewhere in the current news about it there have been reports about this one active as a pirate on FM, that 'helped' my decision not to report about it. Point 2 : Even from the content I do not think this is a clandestine. In Germany we have a category of stations called 'Veranstaltungsrundfunk' ('Radio for a special event'). That's what it is in my opinion. A pirate radio OP has been setting up a station for a political event. Point 3 : In early November 2002 we had the large G8 (?)-meeting in Genoa/Genova-Italy. At that time there was a 'Amisnet News Agency' that did a broadcast via IRRS in support to anti-globalization- protesters. Nobody called that program a clandestine. I think, RFCI is the same category as they were. A final remark once more (we mentioned this several times before) : Of course the editors of CRW have their own political opinions. (And they are contrary - but we see that fact as an advantage). But CRW itself has no political aims, we simply follow the motto (taken from the RFE/RL newsletters) "Freedom of information is ... the touchstone of all the freedoms." (UN Freedom of Information Conference, 1948). If either Nick Grace or I write articles with political opinions these are clearly labelled as a personal opinion, not as the opinion of CRW. The next issue of DXLD will also contain a joined official statement of CRW and RNMN reg. RFCI. This statement, written by N. Grace, will deal more with the content and the background of the station (Martin Schoech-D Sep 18, 2003 for CRW) Viz.: Clandestine Radio Watch and Radio Netherlands Media Network flatly reject the assertion that we ignored Radio Free Cascadia International (RFCI) and withheld information from our readers for reasons based on ignorance and/or "hidden political agendas." A balanced and objective analysis of the station, its programs and objectives clearly shows that RFCI was not a clandestine broadcasting station, as it claimed, but an interesting political pirate, which is beyond the scope of our reportage. The station occasionally criticized the Mexican government, yes, but its broadcasts did not officially represent an opposition political party. It broadcast speeches made by Zapatista leaders but it did not broadcast on behalf of and for the Ejército Zapatista de Liberación Nacional - an indigenous Mexican separatist movement. The station's own Web site states clearly that its organizers' objectives were to oppose capitalism and globalization, as well as to challenge the World Trade Organization (WTO) by supporting the protesters that descended upon Cancun to disrupt ongoing WTO meetings. Interestingly, the Web site even describes their role as one where "We modulate the air as freely as we breathe it, as a challenge to those who would claim ownership and control of the natural elements, peoples, plants and creatures of the Earth." If the definition of clandestine radio is, as Chris Greenway described BBCM's official definition in DXLD 0-119 on Oct 6, 2000, stations "which do not specify their location, which specify an imprecise location... or which falsely claim to emanate from a particular location," then it can be argued that RFCI, allegedly originating from an organic farm somewhere in Mexico, is clandestine. But that's like renting a "blue film" and expecting it to be shot entirely with blue filters while ignoring all the action. BBCM, itself, regularly deviated from their own definition by categorizing the various Kurdish and 1990's Afghan anti-Taliban opposition stations as "clandestine" when, in fact, these stations operated overtly with salaried employees from fixed locations in Northern Iraq and Northern Afghanistan. Such a simplistic classification does not accommodate the fundamental nature of clandestine radio: politics and power. A clandestine station serves to support the strategic interests and tactical operations of an opposition party, secessionist movement, foreign government and/or (foreign and domestic) intelligence service by undermining the popular support and credibility of a target government, region or specific political group through psychological war and covert and overt propaganda. RFCI, therefore, did not pass our "litmus test" and, hence, was not covered in the reports of either organization. There are other venues with broader mandates for such news, including DXLD (Nick Grace, Martin Schoech for CRW and Andy Sennitt for RNMN, Sept 18 via DXLD) ** MEXICO. FARMERS TAKE 'WAR OF IDEAS' TO CANCUN John Vidal | Cancun 12 September 2003 12:45 http://www.mg.co.za/Content/l3.asp?ao=20409 Up to 10 000 of the poorest Mexican farmers and trade unionists marched on the World Trade Organisation's (WTO) opening meeting this week, demanding that small farmers be protected from international big business and that trade rules should not determine issues of food and health. Police used tear gas to repel flag-burning demonstrators from a security fence at kilometre zero, where more than 1 000 heavily armed police and army were waiting with riot shields behind 2m-high fences. American flags were set alight and hurled at the riot police along with other missiles. One man was seriously injured and 20m of the barrier was broken down by a mixture of militants and protesters. "We come peacefully. This is a war of ideas, and not weapons,'' said Juan, a Mexican peasant. The march, led by Mexicans from the Yucatan peninsula near Cancun, and joined by groups from more than 30 countries, "would have been 10 times the size if local people had been able to afford to come'', said a spokesman for Via Campesino, an umbrella body representing millions of farmers worldwide. Protesters were buoyed by messages of support from the clandestine but influential Zapatista group, which runs one-third of neighbouring Chiapas state. Messages from three of their leaders were broadcast on a pirate radio station set up for the conference. Sub comandante Marcos, one of the Zapatista leaders, said that he hoped that the WTO's "train of globalisation'' would be derailed in Cancun. "This is a world war of the powerful who want to turn the planet into a private club. We are the immense majority. The globalisation of those above us is a global machine that feeds off blood.'' Sub comandantes Marcos, Esther and David urged people to reject the development models being offered by the WTO, to disobey governments, and make protest as global as financial capital. The three speeches were considered significant because the Zapatistas lead the international protests against the "neo-liberal" policies of rich countries, and have considerable political and intellectual stature around the world. "They have not spoken for four years to an international audience. It will play very well with the grassroots, the students and intellectuals,'' said commentator Luis Navarro. - © Guardian Newspapers 2003 (via Jill Dybka, MSIS, DXLD) ** MOROCCO. Radio Télévision Marocaine (RTM) seems to have made big changes regarding [MW] networks, locations, frequencies and powers. See their webpage: http://www.rtm.ma/radio/frequences (Bengt Ericson, ARC MV-Eko Information Desk 15 Sept via Olle Alm, DXLD) ** MYANMAR. 4725, Home Service, no sign of this one for quite some time, checking during the 1200 and 1300 hours. 6570, Defense Forces Station no sign of them when checking many times at their *1330 (Hans Johnson, WY, Sep, Cumbre DX Sept 18 via DXLD) ** NAMIBIA. NBC is on shortwave using their daytime frequencies 24 hours a day- 6175 and 6060. The station had been off for a few months but recently obtained new tubes for the transmitters. They have been breaking in these tubes for the last month. NBC plans to also start using their night frequencies as soon as they receive an official go- ahead from the African language service of NBC. These frequencies will be 3270 and 3290, which will be used from 6 PM to 7 AM local (Namibia is UTC +1 or +2 depending on the time of year.) About 2/3's of the country is covered by FM. Farmers remain the big audience for shortwave even though they don't really respond when NBC ask for feedback as to who is listening to the shortwave service. All this per NBC (Hans Johnson, Cumbre DX Sep 20 via DXLD) Made a few logs this afternoon using the Javaradio in Australia: NAMIBIA, 6060, NBC (Presumed), 1920 Sept 19. American smooth jazz and R&B music. 1937 taking phone calls, speaking in English, happening spots for a Friday night. Request for a 50 Cent song (Hans Johnson, WY, Cumbre DX via DXLD) ** NEW ZEALAND [non]. R. Netherlands previews, from Sunday Sept 21: Aural Tapestry --- DAVID SWATLING weaves the threads of art, culture and history and in the process, casts a spell to create his Aural Tapestry! "Douglas Lilburn - Man Alone" Douglas Lilburn was one of New Zealand's most 20th century distinguished composers. In the months following his death in June 2001, producers Roger Smith and Gareth Watkins interviewed a number of his close family, friends and colleagues in an attempt to gain a more personal understanding of this shy and complex man through the eyes of those who knew him. Broadcast times (UTC): Sun 11.00 (Pacific/Asia/Far East/Europe/Eastern USA), 15.30 (Asia/West Coast USA), 19.00 (Africa), 21.30 (Europe), Mon 00.30 (North America); Thu 10.00 (Pacific/Asia/Far East), 11.30 (Europe/East Coast USA), 12.30 (USA WRN), 13.30 (Europe WRN),15.00 (Asia/West Coast USA), 18.00 & 19.30 (Africa), 21.00 (Europe), Fri 00.00 (North America), 04.00 (USA WRN) & 05.00 (North America) (RN weekly previews via DXLD) ** OKLAHOMA. In light of events reported in last issue, KCSC has been awfully slow to remove the following from its website --- http://www.kcscfm.com/garrison_keillor.asp and linked from its opening page: GARRISON KEILLOR BRINGS ``A PRAIRIE HOME COMPANION: THE RHUBARB TOUR`` TO OKLAHOMA CITY`S ZOO AMPHITHEATER Hosted by KCSC/KBCW Classical Radio Garrison Keillor will present a live performance of his signature monologue, ``The News From Lake Wobegon,`` the heart of his weekly radio broadcast show, at 8 p.m., Aug. 30 at the Oklahoma Zoo Amphitheater. Presented at select cities across the country, the Oklahoma City presentation of ``A Prairie Home Companion: The Rhubarb Tour`` is hosted by 90.1 KCSC classical radio station. Each special performance on the tour will be presented solely for each live audience and will have all the elements of Keillor`s broadcast show which listeners can hear on KCSC at 5 p.m. each Saturday and at noon each Sunday. This rare opportunity will give Oklahoma audiences a chance to view Keillor`s variety-show format which features comedy sketches, an acting ensemble, and the Guy`s All Star Shoe Band. ``I am thrilled to have Garrison stop by Oklahoma City again, his third stop in many years,`` KCSC Station Manager Brad Ferguson said. A master storyteller, Keillor weaves tales throughout his monologue about the Chatterbox Café, Ralph`s Pretty Good Grocery, the Sidetrack Tap, the Lake Wobegon Whippets, and all the people who live, love, work and play in the mythical town of Lake Wobegon, Minnesota. The August tour will feature the same actors listeners hear each weekend including Sue Scott, Tim Russell and Fred Newman. More than 4 million listeners on over 550 public-radio stations in the United States hear ``A Prairie Home Companion each week. Keillor is into his 29th season of writing, producing and hosting the popular weekly show. Tickets go on sale June 16 and can be purchased through Homeland grocery stores, tickets.com or by calling 1-800-955-5566. (via Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** PAKISTAN. 7571.01, 2013-2117 Sept 17, Radio Pakistan, Islamabad, with relay of internal service? "Night programme", Urdu male announcer, listeners phoning in, Ad mentioning BBC, Radio Pakistan, tel. 0900 11112, some music; typical "Typewriter" music, TS and ID at 2100 (TS is 8 seconds late), SINPO 43543 up to 54544 (Günter Lorenz, Freising, Germany, Drake R8B, EKD300, EKD500 Grahn GS3-SE+ML-1-S, Cumbredx mailing list via DXLD) ** PAKISTAN. 7145, R. Pakistan (presumed) Sep 13 1250-1330* 23332 Urdu? Female talk and local music. On Sep 13 signed off at 1330 with Pakistan's National anthen. ID(?) heard " ... R. Pakistan ... " by OM. But it is not scheduled for this frequency at R. Pakistan's Web site. (TOKUSA Hiroshi, Kanagawa, JAPAN, Japan Premium via DXLD) Some recent news from Pakistan states ``A Kashmiri service previously was being radiated from Pindi 10 kW transmitter from 1230 to 1330 GMT has been shifted to API-2 on 7145 kHz.`` [source??] This would seem to be what TOKUSA via Iwata Japan Premium heard. The Balti news 1350-1400 and Sheena News 1420-1428 is also reported to be using 7145 via the same Islamabad 100kW transmitter. 73s (Noel R. Green [Blackpool, UK], Cumbre DX via DXLD) ** PAKISTAN. Frequency change for Radio Pakistan in Dari: 1515-1545 NF 5865v, ex 5860 to avoid RL in Kyrghyz \\ 7375.0 (Observer, Bulgaria, Sept 19 via DXLD) ** PALAU. See USA --- WJIE/WJCR ** PERU? 4965, Radio San Miguel. Cusco, 1019-1035 Sept 10 [sic - means Sept 19]. Noted Huaynos music until 1021. At that time a man comments in Spanish briefly. This followed with promos, TC and ID. Again at 1028 a woman and man recite something that sounds religious. Signal was good at initial tune in, but fade to fair by 1035. It was noted that this station is not listed in the 2003 PWBR on this frequency. Hopefully, it will be in 2004? (Bolland, Chuck, Clewiston Florida, DX LISTENING DIGEST) This raises a lot of questions. There is no Peruvian or Bolivian on 4965 in PWBR 2003, so we must refer to more comprehensive listings. It`s probably too late to get this in the 2004. WRTH 2003 does have on 4964.71v a Radio San Miguel in Cusco, which strangely enough is on exactly the same frequency to two decimal places as R. La Merced in La Merced! Shortwave Guide 2003 on 4965 shows instead R. Santa Mónica in Cusco at 0900-0300. Mark Mohrmann`s LA-DX current log has three different Radio San Miguels in Peru, on 5500, 6536 and 6895. And: Radio San Miguel in Bolivia has been jumping around lately, on 4734, 4905 and 4930. In the LA-DX archive of inactive stations is this: 4964.71 PERU * R San Miguel, Cuzco [*0948-0100*](.7-.97) Feb 99 (d)see(th)9929.4 So it`s been off the air for three sesquiyears and was also heard on second harmonic. The question is whether this station has been reactivated, or whether the R. San Miguel in Bolivia has jumped to yet another frequency. Did Chuck get a definite ID not only for R. San Miguel but the one in Cusco? (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Glenn, I did not hear a definite ID for 4965 this morning. However, I hit 4902 earlier, and Radio San Miguel was there from Bolivia. And that was seconds before I tuned to 4965. At this moment I am listening to the tape. I'll let you know if I hear something (Chuck Bolland, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Please cancel my logging of Peru, San Miguel on 4965 for Sept 19, 2003. Needs more work. Thanks (Chuck Bolland, FL, Cumbre DX via DXLD) Maybe R Santa Mónica? 73, (Mauno Ritola, Finland, Cumbre DX via DXLD) ** PHILIPPINES. FEBC FREQUENCY CHANGES Effective September 7, FEBC changes were: NEW 9855 2300-2345 (replacing 9860) NEW 12060 2300-0100 (replacing 11590) NEW 15035 0900-1530 (replacing 15095) NEW 15175 0900-1100 (EDXP World Broadcast Magazine http://edxp.org used by permission via DXLD) 15035! Canadian military won`t like that; inaudible here the morning of Sept 18, but then conditions were still sub-normal, with only a trace of India 15050 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** POLAND [non]. R. Maryja, 7380, Sept 12 2135-2200* tune-in to Polish religious programming; IDs. Sign-off with English announcements and schedule, but pulled plug mid-way thru the sked announcement. This frequency covered by V. of Biafra [q.v.] on Sats (Brian Alexander, PA, DX LISTENING DIGEST) via RUSSIA ** RUSSIA. La Voz de Rusia parece que piensa incursionar en el mundo de la publicidad. ¿Tan dura está la situación financiera de la emisora? Según un anuncio al aire, se ofrece el número de un fax y la dirección electrónica de la emisora, para que los dueños de bienes y servicios puedan aprovechar el gran alcance de la estación. No mencionan para nada las posibles tarifas (Adán González, Venezuela, Sept 19, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** SOMALIA. This evening, Sep 17th, I listened at 1730 on 7335v kHz and found a station which I think (hope!) is Radio Galkayo, the Puntland Somali radio! Unfortunately the reception wasn't too good with splash from BBC, but I could record some talk and two songs that I knew the titles of. A tentative report has been sent to Sam Voron and the station, so hopefully they can confirm if it was --- or if it wasn't --- their station I heard. If not: What was it then? The strength improved until BBC time signal started at 17.58.30 and when BBC started with an interval song it was wiped out. Maybe it also closed half a minute before the hour??? Thrilling thoughts for me anyway! 73 from (Björn Fransson on the island of Gotland, Sweden, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Later: Hi all, Today I am even more excited! I got a very nice and rapid e- mail from Sam Voron and I want you all to share my happiness and joy. Please try to listen tonight, and if you hear his message, please tell me! Best wishes from Björn Fransson on the island of Gotland, Sweden Copy: Hello Bjorn, CONGRATULATIONS YOU HAVE RECEIVED RADIO GALKAYO. QSL-QSL-QSL. All your details in the letter below are correct! In fact I was the DJ from 1730 to 1759 UT. I will be reading your letter on air today and will also sing the national anthem near the beginning because I know you have poor reception near our sign off. There is no postal service here so will keep in touch via the shortwave broadcast to you. You will see a new Somalia amateur radio access point with lots of info about what I am doing here on http://www.radiogalkayo.com Great to meet a fellow radio lover! Regards, Sam Voron (via Björn Fransson, Sept 18, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Hi HCDX-ers, Reception of Radio Galkayo yesterday night was very bad. I got a new letter from Sam Voron (copied), so I hope you all try to listen again tonight around 1730-1800 on 7335 kHz. Good luck! 73 from Björn Fransson on the island of Gotland, Sweden "Hello Bjorn, I am from Sydney, Australia. All my details are on the Somalia call sign list under 6O0A on http://www.radiogalkayo.com I will be in Galkayo, North Somalia till 26 Sept and then I will drop power from the current 800 Watts down to 100 Watts while I will be away from Galkayo for all of October when I will run a one month amateur radio training school in Kismayo, South Somalia before returning to Galkayo on 1 Nov 2003 when I will raise radio Galkayo power back to 800 Watts AM. I read your letter last night on air and tonight I will read your new letter below on the air at 1730 UT. Yours is our first report from Sweden that I can recall. Yes, let the Somali community know what is happening, I believe there are thousands of Somalis in Sweden" (via Björn Fransson, Sept 19, hard-core-dx via DXLD) Radio Galkayo (Presumed) heard on drifting new 7335-7333, alternate female and male chat at around 1725. Audible at scanty S3 peaks, legible a bit if I engage 545-DSP; otherwise signals in general not usable. Monitor location Hurghada, Egypt (Mahmud Fathi, Sep. 17, Cumbre DX via DXLD) Radio Galkayo (presumed) locked carrier on 7334 and few audible peaks, 1719 folk song by male voice, 1728 female chat and what sound like Qur`an narration at 1730 Sept 18 (Mahmud Fathi, Hurghada, Egypt, Cumbre DX via DXLD) Radio Galkayo heard on 7335, no drifting today, almost sure identification now as they air narration of Holy Qur`an 1728-1731 the way they read it in Puntland. Signals are generally very poor, S3~4 at peaks (Fathi Sep. 19, ibid.) One page from the R. Galkayo site referenced above: WHY SO MANY ONLINE RADIO STATIONS IN SOMALI? by Syed, Ahmed Gashan. Email: ajgashan@hotmail.com It is all very tragic once you think of it really. Millions of patrons frustrated with the manner in which the BBC Somali service along with its illegitimate-online sister news magazine IRIN-East Africa (Integrated Regional Information Networks) have been working in tandem in endorsing the Arta-conceived ersatz Transitional National Government of Somalia as a legitimate authority, marginalizing newsworthy issues that interest their clientele, and bombarding their listeners and readers with ludicrous, disingenuous fabrications with regards to the conduct of the Transitional National Government of Somali, as they put it, that has been striving relentlessly towards restoring the Somali statehood to the international community whilst reinstating concord, serenity and stability back into the Somali community, when evidence, thus the activities of those in higher posts point the opposite. The object here is to notify patrons of this old institution and those who must be made privy to the judgement employed by those in charge of daily decision-making process of such preposterous, dishonourable acts that listeners and readers alike will not suffer in silence, rather will employ whatever instrument at their disposal to strike fat cat bosses who remain oblivious to their grievances even though the end result is bound to be catastrophic. . . http://www.radiogalkayo.com/repeating/Why_so.php (via Glenn Hauser, DXLD) Also has audio files page, none audible ** SUDAN [non]. U.K.(non): Good reception in Bulgaria for new Sudan Radio Service in several langsuages*: 1600-1700 Mon-Fri on 17630 (54554) over AWR in Marathi/English 1700-1800 Mon-Fri on 17660 (55555) *English/Arabic/Sudanese Arabic/Shona/Nuer/Dinka (Observer, Bulgaria, Sept 19 via DXLD) ** SWITZERLAND. swissinfo/Swiss Radio International is looking at losing all its government funding by 2006. It would then be left to the Swiss Broadcasting Corporation to guarantee future financing of the news organisation. http://nzz.ch/2003/09/18/english/page-synd4246961.html (via Jilly Dybka) Only mention of SRI in the story SWISS RADIO INTERNATIONAL B03 TRANSMISSION SCHEDULE: Near East-Africa: 0600-French/0630-German/0700-Italian/0730-English on: 9885-Julich/Germany-160 deg 13790-Julich/Germany-200 deg 17665-Sottens/Switzerland-165 deg 0830-English/0900-Italian/0930-German/1000-French on: 21770-Sottens/Switzerland-165 deg 1630-Italian/1700-Arabic/1730-English/1800-French on: 9755-Julich/Germany-115 deg 11810-Julich/Germany-115 deg 15555-Sottens/Switzerland-140 deg 1830-Italian/1900-Arabic/1930-English/2030-German/2100-French on: 9820-Julich/Germany-200 deg 11920-Sottens/Switzerland-165 deg 13660-Julich/Germany-145 deg 17660-Montsinery/F.Guiana-115 deg South America: 2200-French/2230-German/2300-Italian/2330-English on: 9885-Sottens/Switzerland-230 deg 11660-Montsinery/F.Guiana-175 deg (via Roberto Scaglione http://www.bclnews.it Sept 19, DXLD) ** TANZANIA. 5050, R. Tanzania (Dar es Salaam) Partial-data yellow and blue African map card in 1 month after a f/up report was sent for a January 19, 1993 reception! I also enclosed $1.00, and mailed my report to the v/s N. Nyamwocha. I've been trying for this one for over 10 years; my 51st African country verified and 216th country QSL'd. My thanks to George Maroti in NY who reported receiving a QSL from them in July which prompted me to try the f/up again (Steve Lare, Holland, MI, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Using the Javaradio in Australia: 5050, R. Tanzania (Presumed). Trying to get ARDS Australia at 1900. This service was the strongest on the channel with excited talk in presumed Swahili and many mentions of Mohammad, perhaps an Islamic program/talk? I could hear some occasional audio from what have been ARDS but it was very weak (Hans Johnson, WY, Cumbre DX via DXLD) ** UGANDA. See USA --- WJIE/WJCR below ** UKRAINE. Frequency change for Radio Ukraine Inter in English and Ukrainian from Sep. 1 2300-0400 NF 9810 SMF 1000 kW / 303 deg to ENAm, ex 12040 Frequency change for Radio Ukraine Inter in Ukrainian from Sep. 10: 0000-0400 NF 7420 KHR 100 kW / 055 deg to RUS, ex 9620 1300-1700 NF 7420 KHR 100 kW / 055 deg to RUS, ex 9620 (Observer, Bulgaria, Sept 19 via DXLD) SMF = Simferopol`; KHR = Khar`kiv (gh) ** U K. BBC Radio 4 has a special broadcast entitled "The Archive Hour: Listening To The War: The Birth of BBC Monitoring". Program details: "During WWII, the BBC recruited linguistically able German Jews to act as monitors of Radio Moscow and Radio Berlin. Thus the BBC's powerful Monitoring Service was born, which listens in to almost every radio and TV station on the planet. This gripping documentary will appeal to anyone who loves Robert Harris' 'Enigma'." Program airs September 20 at 1600-1700 UT and should be available online at http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio/aod/radio4.shtml (Al Quaglieri, NY, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Al, It`s 1900-2000 UT as in DXLD 3-167 and at http://www.bbc.co.uk/cgi-perl/whatson/search/daylist.cgi?service_id=49700&day=Saturday or rather now, http://www.bbc.co.uk/cgi-perl/whatson/search/daylist.cgi?service_id=49700&DAY=Today (where the times are in BST). Guess you`d better distribute a correxion to your mailing list... 73, (Glenn to Al, via DXLD) ** U K. BBC STAFFER ADMITS ERRORS, APOLOGIZES False Statements Not Corrected, Inquiry Told --- By Glenn Franke, Washington Post Foreign Service, Thursday, September 18; Page A16 LONDON, Sept. 17 -- The BBC radio journalist who reported that Prime Minister Tony Blair's aides had used dubious intelligence data to exaggerate the case for war with Iraq today conceded he made several mistakes in his original broadcasts, including misidentifying his source as a member of Britain's intelligence services. Andrew Gilligan, testifying before a public inquiry, also acknowledged that he had failed to correct several false statements made by the BBC in defense of his reports. And Gilligan apologized for sending an e- mail message to two members of Parliament that identified the confidential source of another BBC journalist's report on Iraq's access to weapons of mass destruction. . . http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A24536-2003Sep17.html (via Kraig Krist, DXLD) ** U K. STRONGER MEASURES AGAINST UK RADIO PIRATES Stronger measures against illegal broadcasters came into force in the UK today. Police, working with investigators from the Radiocommunications Agency, can now arrest a pirate broadcaster or anybody suspected of supporting or facilitating illegal broadcasting. Previously police could only detain someone if they suspected them of giving a false name and address or another criminal act, such as a breach of the peace or assault. The new powers of arrest will also extend to acts of deliberate interference with radio communications and hoax calls, especially false distress calls. The strengthened police powers come as the number of illegal broadcasters in the UK is already falling, and rates of prosecution increasing. On 2002 there were 49 prosecutions. In 2003, up to the end of August there have been 607 operations against 149 pirate broadcasters, of whom 55 have been prosecuted. Convicted pirates face an unlimited fine or up to two years in jail, plus forfeiture of any equipment used to commit the offence (© Radio Netherlands Media Network 18 September 2003 via DXLD) ** U S A. 20000, WWV, Fort Collins CO; 1909-12+, 15-Sep; No pips or announcements; only a rumble in AM, wavering trill in USB and nothing in LSB; 10 & 15 MHz running normally. Same next day. John Wilkins in Wheat Ridge CO tells me they're still on 20 MHz (Harold Frodge, MI, MARE via DXLD) ** U S A [and non]. WJIE is returning to shortwave in a few days, perhaps as early as today. They are very interested in reception reports and will issue a special QSL card. They have changed a few things: The 7490 transmitter will be using the 155 degree antenna now. It may have Spanish on at night. The 13595 transmitter will be on using the 55 degree antenna and will carry "Christian-patriot" programming. Reports can be sent to morgan@wjie.org or dougrumsey@worldprayercenter.org The QSL's may have the old WJCR call and the station may be IDing as such. The paperwork to switch the call to WJIE had never been completed so they are plan on using the old call until then. In other news --- The shortwave is Liberia is off due to lack of fuel although they have gotten enough fuel to run the FM. The shortwave project in Uganda is probably about a year away from being on. They are sending one of the old FEBA transmitters they purchased to Palau. The plan is to program it for English. The remaining FEBA transmitter will be sent to Kentucky where it will be refurbished (Hans Johnson, Cumbre DX Sep 19 via DXLD) Still nothing about this on the website http://www.wjiesw.com where the `latest news` is months old about whether US should get involved in Liberia. No 13595 or 7490 at 0013 check Sept 20 (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) WJIE has decided to beam Spanish language programming to SAm on 7490 from 2200 to 1000 UT and continue English language programming (mostly GCN provided program feeds) and a few evangelists on 13595 kHz to North America from 1000 to 2200 UT [i.e., one transmitter - gh]. They are planning some sort of listener survey, with a special QSL and maybe a prize or two to the most distant listener report (Larry Baysinger in Kentucky, Cumbre DX Sep 19 via DXLD) ** U S A [non?]. The jamming of WHRI 9495 in the early morning 1100 to 1300 is caused by digital RTTY according to Joe Brashier of WHRI. Sure sounds like jamming to me! (Lou KF4EON Johnson, Sept 19, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A [non]. Additional transmissions for AWR's Wavescan via MOS [AUSTRIA], instead of AWR in Arabic: 0430-0500 Sunday on 15470; 0530-0600 Sunday on 15470 1730-1800 Sunday on 17735; 1830-1900 Sunday on 15535 (Observer, Bulgaria, Sept 19 via DXLD) ** U S A [and non]. Hola Glenn, Saludos desde Catia La Mar, VENEZUELA. La nueva emisión diaria de la VOA "Ventana a Cuba", es interferida con jamming. Al menos así pude captarlo el 17 de septiembre pasado. A la 0110 UT, 9885, 9560 y 9735 kHz, estaban todas bloqueadas. Por el contrario, frecuencias de Radio Martí con 15330 kHz, a la misma hora estaban libres de "jamming". Desde luego, con o sin "jamming", Radio Martí me parece un TOTAL DESPERDICIO (Adán González, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Now why would the Cuban commies move the jamming from Martí to VOA? Needs further investigation. I hear Martí still jammed! -- (gh) ** U S A. Checking out scheduled Greenville frequencies (there aren`t many during the daytime, anyway), as H. Isabel moved into eastern NC, Sept 18 at 1630+ the Creole service on 17565 and 15385 was on as usual, as were the R. Martí frequencies 13820, 13630, 11930 and 11845, tho all buried in commie jamming as usual; recheck 1815, the first three still running as scheduled. I can`t be certain that Delano wasn`t backing up Greenville, except that the DL signals would likely be stronger over jamming here between it and Cuba. And the only? afternoon English frequency, 15445 was also on as usual after 1900, with VOA music show, songs about wind! (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. WTJC --- This station is right in the path of the hurricane that is hitting the East Coast of the United States now. They are off the air as the power has failed, but the station has not suffered any damage so far. Worth keeping an ear to as they may returned to the air on greatly reduced power. I have a QSL from them when they were operating at just 50 watts on 9370 during a winter storm a few years ago (Hans Johnson, WY USA, Cumbre DX Sep 18 via DXLD) That reminds me, well before Isabel, as I tuned around, never pausing more than a sesquisecond on 9370 (or WBOH 5920) I am hearing a lot more preaching and a lot less gospel music, which used to be their staple. They sure know how to drive listeners away (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. AMATEUR RADIO OPERATORS READY FOR HURRICANE ISABEL http://www2.arrl.org/news/stories/2003/09/17/101/?nc=1 This close-up view of the eye of Hurricane Isabel was taken this week by the Expedition 7 crew aboard the International Space Station. [NASA Photo] The position and projected path of Hurricane Isabel as of 5 PM EDT September 17. [NOAA Graphic] Chart showing the probability that Hurricane Isabel will pass within 75 statute miles during the next 72 hours. [NOAA Graphic] The MODIS instrument onboard NASA`s Terra satellite captured this bird`s-eye view of Hurricane Isabel at 1415 UTC on September 11, 2003. At the time Isabel was located 530 miles east-northeast of the northern Leeward Islands and was packing maximum sustained winds near 150 MPH. [Image courtesy NASA MODIS Land Rapid Response Team] {see above URL for images, graphics and links} NEWINGTON, CT, Sep 17, 2003 -- The National Hurricane Center says large Hurricane Isabel is expected to make landfall in Eastern North Carolina sometime during the day on September 18. Amateur Radio reports indicated today that it`s already raining on the Outer Banks of North Carolina. The Hurricane Watch Net has activated on 14.325 MHz to gather ground-level weather data for relay to the National Hurricane Center via its WX4NHC Amateur Radio station. With states of emergency declared by the governors of North Carolina and Virginia, Amateur Radio Emergency Service (ARES) teams already are active. NC4EB, the ARES station at North Carolina Emergency Management`s Eastern Branch headquarters in Kinston is up and running fulltime. ``The Eastern Branch operation and several coastal counties have asked for ARES operator assistance immediately,`` said ARRL North Carolina Public Information Coordinator Gary Pearce, KN4AQ. ``Amateurs with ARES training who can travel to Eastern North Carolina before Thursday morning are asked to contact North Carolina Section Emergency Coordinator Bernie Nobles, WA4MOK.`` A hurricane warning remains in effect from Cape Fear, North Carolina, to Chincoteague, Virginia, including Pamlico and Albermarle sounds and the Chesapeake Bay south of Smith Point. ``All preparations to protect life and property should be rushed to completion in the hurricane area,`` the National Hurricane Center said today. Pearce says NCEM`s Eastern Branch office will take the lead in providing support and logistics to counties needing assistance during and after the storm, and NC4EB will be the contact point for traffic to and from affected counties. Starting at 6 PM EDT September 17, hams will staff NC4EO at the emergency operation center in the state capital of Raleigh, where North Carolina Emergency Management will take a backup role, he said. The state EOC ARES operation will share the wide-coverage 146.88 MHz repeater in Raleigh with Central Carolina SKYWARN as the edge of the hurricane crosses the repeater`s eastern coverage area. Isabel carries the threat of isolated tornadoes in Eastern North Carolina as early as Wednesday evening. The Tarheel Emergency Net will shift into continuous operation if needed. Nobles has asked North Carolina amateurs to monitor 3923 kHz. Amateurs elsewhere may listen on EchoLink to monitor repeater activity in northeastern North Carolina via the WX_Talk conference. Bill Morine, N2COP, in Wilmington reports that ARES has been activated in coastal New Hanover County. ``Inland counties have begun making preparations to open shelters,`` Pearce said. ``No ARES communications requests have been received for the shelters yet, as widespread power and communications outages inland are not expected, but that situation could change quickly.`` More information on North Carolina Amateur Radio preparations for Hurricane Isabel is available via the North Carolina Hurricane Isabel Information Web site. As of 5 PM EDT today, Isabel was some 315 miles south-southeast of Cape Hatteras, North Carolina, moving north-northwesterly at almost 14 MPH. Maximum sustained winds are near 105 MPH with higher gusts, making Isabel a category 2 storm. Hurricane force winds extend outward some 115 miles from the center, and tropical storm winds extend outward up to 315 miles. The National Hurricane Center was predicting storm surge flooding of 7 to 10 feet above normal tide levels with large and dangerous battering waves. Rainfall of up to 10 inches, with locally higher amounts, also are likely in association with Hurricane Isabel, the NHC said. Virginia In Virginia, the Virginia Beach Hamfest set for this weekend already has fallen victim to the storm. The hamfest had been set for September 20 and 21 at Virginia Wesleyan College. ``There is no backup plan,`` said Ken Pierpont, KF4OW, who relayed the announcement to ARRL. ``Hope to CU next year.`` Virginia Section Emergency Coordinator Tom Gregory, N4NW, is urging ARES members in The Old Dominion to make sure their radios are working, batteries charged, bags packed, portable antennas ready and EOC stations ready. ``As we prepare for the approach of this intense hurricane, everyone needs to check their readiness,`` Gregory said. ``Remember: If you are called out to provide radio support, take care of your family first, then report as needed.`` Gregory said the latest ARES news and information would be posted on the Virginia ARES Web site. ``If necessary the SM or SEC will activate the Old Dominion Emergency Net (ODEN)--also known as Virginia Emergency Net Alpha,`` Gregory said. The net operates on 3947 kHz (or 7243/7240 kHz alternate). He requested that participants pay close attention to the directions of the net control station. He anticipated that Virginia Emergency Net Alpha would most likely be activated sometime Thursday morning, September 18. ``The net is designed primarily to pass traffic between the state EOC and local EOCs, as well as traffic between the local EOCs,`` he pointed out. WX4NHC Amateur Radio Coordinator John McHugy, KU4GY, says the station will monitor IRLP Stream2 and EchoLink. ``For non-IRLP listeners, we will have `listen live` set to Reflector 9210, so anyone may listen to WX4NHC traffic worldwide in the next few days,`` he said. McHugh said no health-and-welfare traffic would be handled at this time. Maryland-DC Section Further north, ARRL Maryland-DC Section Manager Tom Abernethy, W3TOM, reports that all preparations for Amateur Radio activations in his section have been completed, and most areas are planning a full activation between 6 AM and 9 AM Thursday, September 18. ``The hurricane storm activity for our Washington, DC, area will most likely run from late Thursday afternoon to early Friday morning,`` Abernethy predicted. ``The highest intensity of storm activity is expected about 0200 on Friday morning,`` he said. ``With luck the storm will have blown through by about noontime on Friday and we will see the sun shining by late Friday afternoon.`` Most Maryland/DC section-wide Amateur Radio activity will occur on the Maryland Emergency Phone Net on 3920 kHz and on the Central Region Net on the Davidsonville 147.105 MHz repeater. Local ARES/RACES teams will activate additional repeaters and simplex frequencies as their local emergency plans dictate, he said. Abernethy said he`s got plenty of fresh fuel on hand for his 10 kW emergency generator as well as full fuel tanks on all vehicles ``and chainsaws at the ready.`` He plans to be on the air for the duration of the storm and its aftermath. ``It should be a wild ride,`` he said. Chuck Hodell, N8AND, in Stevensville, Maryland, says those wishing to follow the hurricane as it enters the Kent Island and DC areas can check the APRS weather link to his station. ``The links also now have the area radar, which should clearly show the path the storm is taking,`` he said. West Virginia In West Virginia, Section Manager Hal Turley, KC8FS, reports the state Office of Emergency Service plans to activate the emergency operations center September 18 at approximately 9 AM EDT. State EOC station K8BS will be on the air at least for the next 24 hours. Turley said there is concern that Isabel will cause flooding in West Virginia`s Eastern Panhandle as it passes by Friday, September 19. ``State officials have identified 27 West Virginia counties that may be affected by the effects of Isabel,`` he said. ``Emergency coordinators for those counties are requested to make arrangements to participate in the nets and pass any pertinent information to the state EOC.`` Frequencies are 7235 kHz days and 3865 MHz nights. New Jersey Southern New Jersey SEC Gary Wilson, K2GW, says he`s heard so far from Emergency Coordinators in Burlington, Mercer and Ocean counties. Ocean County EC Bob Murdock, WX2NJ, says ARES is on alert, monitoring ARES net repeaters and National Weather Service broadcasts. He anticipates some gale-force winds and probably flooding, but said there are no plans for evacuations in Ocean County. The Radio Amateur Civil Emergency Service (RACES) at the Atlantic County EOC will activate Thursday at noon. ``All Atlantic County ARES Members are invited to participate,`` said Atlantic County EC Mike Price, N2JVM. Price said the county`s SKYWARN net was standing by on the Atlantic County 146.745 SCARA repeater. SKYWARN groups will activate in New Jersey on a county by county basis and pass information to the NWS. In Northern New Jersey, SEC Steve Ostrove, K2SO, reports liaison has been established with the Red Cross, the Office of Emergency Management, and the Salvation Army Team Emergency Radio Network (SATERN). SATERN earlier announced plans to activate on 14.265 MHz on September 18 at 1400 UTC (10 AM EDT). SATERN National Coordinator Pat McPherson, WW9E, says the net`s primary objective will be to handle necessary emergency and health-and-welfare traffic. National Traffic System Eastern Area National Traffic System Eastern Area Chair Marcia Forde, KW1U, in Edgartown, Massachusetts, asked NTS participants to monitor news of the storm. ``As we face the onslaught of a major hurricane on the east coast, I hope all of you will not only be monitoring the news of the hurricane, but be prepared to be called upon to provide public service should it be required,`` she said. ``Due to the intensity of the storm there could be a large number of health-and-welfare messages into and out of the affected areas.`` She said SECs may contact net managers to activate extra nets as needed. ``In the event of activation, net members should be monitoring net frequencies.`` NASA Keeping Watch NASA reports it`s keeping a close watch on Hurricane Isabel as it churns in the Atlantic. Astronauts aboard the International Space Station--ISS Science Officer Ed Lu, KC5WKJ, and Commander Yuri Malenchenko, RK3DUP, also are capturing video images of the storm. Copyright © 2003, American Radio Relay League, Inc. All Rights Reserved (via John Norfolk, DXLD) ** U S A. HAMS CONFRONTING HURRICANE ISABEL http://www2.arrl.org/news/stories/2003/09/18/2/?nc=1 The position and projected path of Hurricane Isabel as of 11 AM EDT September 18. [NOAA Graphic] Chart showing the probability that Hurricane Isabel will pass within 75 statute miles during the next 72 hours. [NOAA Graphic] {see above URL for graphics and links} NEWINGTON, CT, Sep 18, 2003 -- Amateur Radio volunteers wearing various Hats -- as well as foul-weather gear in some cases -- are dealing with the effects of Hurricane Isabel, which made landfall about 1 PM EDT along the North Carolina coast today. The Hurricane Watch Net remains activate on 14.325 MHz to gather ground-level weather data for relay to the National Hurricane Center via its WX4NHC Amateur Radio station. Amateur Radio Emergency Service (ARES), Radio Amateur Civil Emergency Service (RACES) and SKYWARN teams have been at the ready since yesterday. ARES station NC4EB is on the air from North Carolina Emergency Management`s Eastern Branch headquarters in Kinston, the primary emergency operation center for that state. States of emergency have been declared in North Carolina and Virginia. The storm already is taking a toll in North Carolina. ``Power has been lost in some parts of eastern North Carolina,`` North Carolina Section Manager John Covington, W4CC, reported this afternoon. ``In particular I have received a report that some flooding has occurred in Craven County.`` Bruce Arnold, N8UTY, has activated the county EOC in New Bern. ``People have been asked to evacuate, and some are staying at shelters.`` Unofficial Amateur Radio reports indicated some flooding in eastern North Carolina and as far north as Delaware. Covington says the Tarheel Emergency Net is active on 3923 kHz to facilitate communications among the state EOC in the capital of Raleigh, the Eastern Branch office in Kinston and any active county EOCs. The state EOC ARES operation has been sharing wide-coverage 146.88 MHz repeater in Raleigh to gather local damage reports and information. As of 3 PM, Hurricane Isabel was 50 miles east-southeast of Greenville, North Carolina, after making landfall near Drum Inlet, between Cape Lookout and Ocracoke Island. A hurricane warning remains in effect from Cape Fear, North Carolina, to Chincoteague, Virginia -- including Pamlico and Albermarle sounds--and the Chesapeake Bay south of Smith Point. Maximum sustained winds are near 100 MPH with higher gusts, although the storm is weakening as it moves inland. ``Hams are still doing a good job of submitting surface reports to the National Hurricane Center,`` said Assistant Amateur Radio Coordinator Julio Ripoll, WD4JR, at the NHC`s WX4NHC. An Amateur Radio report told of a wind gust of 105 MPH at Ocracoke Island on North Carolina`s Outer Banks, with sustained winds to 80 miles an hour. Amateur Radio reports indicate sustained winds of 79 MPH at Cape Hatteras and gusts to 98 MPH. In addition, unofficial Amateur Radio reports indicate periods of rain--heavy at times. More information on North Carolina Amateur Radio preparations for Hurricane Isabel is available via the North Carolina Hurricane Isabel Information Web site. Ham radio operators also reported a storm surge of five to six feet at New Bern, North Carolina, on the Neuse River. Storm rainfalls of up to 10 inches, with locally higher amounts, are likely in association with Hurricane Isabel. A threat of isolated tornadoes remains over eastern North Carolina, Eastern Virginia and Southeastern Maryland today. Delaware SM Randall Carlson, WB0JJX, reports from the Delaware state EOC that Amateur Radio operators are set up at other EOCs around the state in anticipation of what Hurricane Isabel might do. In Virginia, the Old Dominion Emergency Net/Virginia Emergency Net Alpha has been activated on 3947 kHz (7240 kHz is the alternate frequency). More information on the response of Amateur Radio operators in Virginia is on the Virginia ARES Web site. The Virginia Beach Hamfest set for this weekend already has fallen victim to the storm. Sponsors cancelled the annual event yesterday. Amateurs also are preparing to support or are already supporting hurricane relief and shelter efforts of the American Red Cross and The Salvation Army as the storm moves northward. Copyright © 2003, American Radio Relay League, Inc. All Rights Reserved. (ARRL via John Norfolk, DXLD) If you are having difficulty finding a live streaming source of news from the affected area of Hurricane Isabel, one of the most reliable sources is from Triangle Radio News.com, at http://www.triangleradionews.com Simply click on the "Listen Live" logo. This will give you access to Newstalk Radio 680 WPTF in Raleigh, North Carolina. This station is broadcasting a special stormwatch broadcast live. I hope this information is of interest to you (Sheldon Harvey, QC, Sept 18, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. BOSTON AM'S IN EUROPE --- Glen[n], When I was in college in Cambridge in the late 50's-early 60's (and working in local radio on FM there), the Boston DJ Arnie "Woo Woo" Ginsberg was playing what then passed for hard rock first on WBOS 1600 and later on WMEX 1510, on evening shifts when the teenage audience was high. Both had nice simple but pretty efficient 2 tower directional arrays oriented east, each with 5 kW, and Ginsberg got lots of mail from Eire and the UK - just regular listeners and not DXers, but that, of course, was during the days before local/commercial radio in both countries, and so Ginsberg was an exotic alternative to the offshore pirates (Ben Dawson, WA, Sept 18, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. Coast to Coast AM Press Release LOS ANGELES, Sept. 17 2003 - Art Bell, the radio personality known for his spontaneous and compelling conversations about all things unexplained, will replace Barbara Simpson as weekend host of Coast to Coast AM - the program he made famous. He will broadcast live on Saturdays and Sundays from his home studio in Pahrump, Nev., beginning Sept. 20. Bell stated, "For me, a return to radio is both mysterious and reassuring." (via Art Blair, Folsom, CA, Sept 17, IRCA via DXLD) ART BELL RETURNS TO WEEKENDS ON OVERNIGHT RADIO SHOW FROM NEVADA Less than a year after retiring, Art Bell is returning as weekend host of the overnight radio talk show he founded about UFO sightings, arcane mysteries and conspiracy theories. . . http://www.lasvegassun.com/sunbin/stories/nevada/2003/sep/19/091910418.html (via Jilly Dybka, DXLD) ** U S A. DIFFERENT FREQUENCIES By Brooke Shelby Biggs, The Nation, September 18, 2003 Clear Channel is destroying radio. At least, that's the popular mantra these days. Radio consolidation - which shifted into high gear with the Telecommunications Act of 1996 and has been fostered by a pro-big- media majority at the Federal Communications Commission - has resulted in the Wal-Martification of radio. Across the nation, stations are being gobbled up by huge chains like Clear Channel, which then monocrop their playlists. It's the same fifty mindless cookie-cutter songs played in an endless, soul-numbing loop, the same conservative talk shows, even the same deejays doing the same shows for simultaneous broadcast in a half- dozen markets nationwide. Jockeys are losing their jobs as the big chains consolidate and centralize their work forces. There, in the distance, is the faint swan song of independent radio. Abandon all hope, ye who flip thy radio dial... Long article at http://www.alternet.org/story.html?StoryID=16804 (via Mike Terry, DXLD) ** U S A. W1AW TO SHIFT 160-METER TRANSMISSION FREQUENCY ZCZC AG60 --- QST de W1AW ARRL Bulletin 60 ARLB060 From ARRL Headquarters Newington CT September 19, 2003 To all radio amateurs Starting Monday, September 29, W1AW will shift its 160-meter code practice and bulletin transmission frequency from 1818 kHz to 1817.5 kHz, starting with the 4 PM EDT (2000 UTC) code practice run. The frequency shift not only brings W1AW's Top Band frequency in line with those the station uses on other bands, it also should help to eliminate possible interference from broadcast station harmonics and birdies -- something that's more likely on an integer (i.e., whole number) frequency. W1AW has been conducting code practice and bulletin transmissions on 1818 kHz since 1982. Prior to that, W1AW transmitted both CW and phone bulletins on 1835 kHz. NNNN /EX (via John Norfolk, DXLD) ** UZBEKISTAN. R. Tashkent, 11905, *2030-2057* Sept 6, English news, commentary, local pops, folk music. Address, ``Radio Tashkent`` IDs. Poor in noise; English also heard at 2130-2158 (Brian Alexander, PA, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Has anyone seen a *program* schedule from R. Tashkent? Ages since I saw one on paper; the two English broadcasts at 1200 and 1330 had different feature content on the same day. Is that also the case with 2030 and 2130? Do they still have a DX program? I promptly found the answers at http://ino.uzpak.uz/eng/other_eng/radio_prog_eng.html The 1200 and 2030 programs are the same; the 1330 and 2130 are the same; and the 0100 has a third lineup. PROGRAM BASED ON LISTENERS` LETTERS, after the news Sat 1200 and 2030; FRIENDSHIP BRIDGES (Radio contest) on the Thu 1330, 2130; and alternating? with the following one on the same broadcasts Sat PROGRAM FOR SHORT-WAVE LISTENERS, alternating? with the above one Sat 1330, 2130, and Fri 0100 0100-0130 9715 7190 1200-1230 17775 15295 9715 7285 1330-1400 17775 15295 9715 7285 2030-2100 11905 9545 5025 2130-2200 11905 9545 5025 The website also has nine mp3 music files, some folksy, some popsy (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) UNIDENTIFIED. He escuchado unas extrañas emisiones en días pasados y desearía que alguien pudiese identificarlas: 1) 17-09, a las 0226 UT, 4162.63, SINPO 2-2. Música árabe. 2) 17-09, 4375.66 kHz, 0231 UT, SINPO 4-3, locutor en lengua muy parecida al árabe. 3) 17-09, 4615 kHz, SINPO 3-2, 0242 UT. Música árabe. (Adán González, Venezuela, DX LISTENING DIGEST) UNIDENTIFIED. Glenn, I heard an unidentified station on the 15th of Sept, on 6.985 MHz when I tuned in at 0325 heard tribal African chant music. Signed on at 0330 with Big Ben clock chimes, then national anthem. OM with talk in a unidentified language. Signal was good until fade out at 0355 (Ron Trotto, Waggoner IL, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Ron, We`ve had numerous reports of V. of New Sudan on 6985 in DXLD, as I confirmed by Google search: 6985 site:worldofradio.com 73, Glenn ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ PUBLICATIONS ++++++++++++ NRC AM LOG 24TH EDITION, 2003-2004 http://www.nrcdxas.org/catalog/amlog (NRC-AM via DXLD) PROPAGATION +++++++++++ LOSS OF REAL-TIME PROP DATA I'm relaying this from the European VHF Reflector. I have also sent a message of support to the following address: SEC.Webmaster@noaa.gov I suspect the more people that voice support the better. It only takes a moment! (Steve / VE7SL McDonald, NRC-AM via DXLD) ....................................................... Hi fellow hams, From SEC, Bolder Colorado, I received this note: ``Thank you for your kind words and for your efforts on SEC's behalf. Every note about how you use SEC data and what it would be like to lose our service will help us in convincing others that we have vital work to do. Thank you so much for your support.`` I just want to make sure that all of us realize which services are getting lost. The consequences not only affect the scientific community - amateur radio is seriously affected too. In Aurora dx communication, for example, we will have no more solar wind data, no more IMF data, no more DX analyses referring to actual scientific information, no more Aurora alarming services etc. etc. - good-bye Aurora amateur propagation studies, good-bye to the following webpages: SEC Portal: http://sec.noaa.gov/ Today's Space Weather: http://sec.noaa.gov/today.html Space Weather Now: http://solar.sec.noaa.gov/SWN/index.html ACE Solar Wind data: http://sec.noaa.gov/ace/ACErtsw_home.html Auroral Activity Report: http://solar.sec.noaa.gov/pmap/index.html Planetary K Index: http://sec.noaa.gov/rt_plots/kp_3d.html and many more scientific information accessed by thousands of radio amateurs .... Is this what you want to have? If not, read the above message from Boulder again ... 73, Volker (DF5AI) (via Steve McDonald, NRC-AM via DXLD) Steve, allow me to pass on some suggestions. For those of you on the list that are SERIOUS DXers, please take these suggestions to heart. The research and reports are important to all of us. The investment is very minimal (Fred Vobbe, NRC-AM via DXLD) ___________________ Frederick, Enclosed below is some directions I wrote to someone from California who was interested in lobbying. They should apply to your state, too. Let me know if I can help further. Brad Here's a quick update on the SEC funding: 1) In July the House of Representatives passed the annual Commerce, Justice and State ("CJS") appropriations bill. This bill continued the approximately 40% cut enacted last year for SEC. 2) In early September the Senate CJS subcommitttee passed its version of the CJS appropriations bill. The committee report contained harsh language saying that that the term "Atmospheric" in "NOAA" does not extend to the "Astral" and that no funding was to be provided for such work. This means SEC would get no funding out of the Senate bill. There are several steps left before funding for next year is finalized: 1) The full Senate Appropriations Committee must pass a bill (later this month, most likely) 2) The full Senate must pass a bill (late September or into October) 3) "Conferees" representing the House and Senate must be appointed by each chamber and these individuals must meet to hammer our a compromise. (Probably October to November) 4) Each chamber must approve the compromise. Given these steps, here are the best leverage points: 1) Members of the Senate Appropriations Committee, before the full committee votes on the bill, and 2) The Conferees before they make an agreement Conferees are usually the appropriate subcommittee chairman and ranking minority member. In the case of the CJS subcommittees, this means in the House Frank Wolf (R) of Virginia and José Serrano of NY (D). In the case of the Senate it would be Judd Gregg of NH (R) and Ernest Hollings of SC (D). Here's how to pursue leverage point 1, above: Your [if you are Californian] Senator Feinstein is on the Senate Appropriations Committee and the CJS Appropriations Subcommittee. This makes her a great contact. I would also urge you to look at the complete Appropriations and CJS Subcommittee member lists to see if your company does business in any of the states with members. For example, if your company does business in Colorado then it is also appropriate to contact Colorado's Senator Campbell who is also on the CJS subcommittee. Any Congress member where your company does business is fair game. I would urge you to contact the Senator's office by phone and talk to the staffer involved with Department of Commerce Appropriations. You should tell this staffer why SEC is important to your firm. You should also follow-up with a letter, addressed to the Senator but with an "Attention" header for the staffer. A second call to make sure that the letter was received and noted is also appropriate. (Senators get lots of mail so making some noise above just sending a letter is necessary to get attention.) This should be done first. Here's How to Pursue leverage Point 2: Ideally, you'd have business in either the Subcommitee Chairman or Ranking Minority Member's state. If not, look again at both the Senate and House CJS Membership lists. Look for Senators or Congresspeople who represent your state or states in which you do business. Contact these people by phone and letter and ask them to contact the Conferees with the request to restore SEC funding. Find the staffer who does Commerce Appropriations. It is also appropriate to contact your local Congressperson and ask him or her to contact the Conferees with the request to restore the SEC funding. The House and Senate Appropriations committee websites are easily found with Google to get the membership lists. See (watch for carriage returns below) http://appropriations.house.gov/index.cfm?FuseAction=AboutTheCommittee.Subcommittees and http://www.senate.gov/~appropriations/subcommittees/commjust/topics.cfm?code=commerce If you have other questions, please let me know. Finally, the first contact point in all cases is the Commerce Appropriations staffer. But the Chief of Staff is also fair game. If you can find out who this person is, and ask for them by name, you'll be ahead of the pack. I'd do this after talking to the Commerce Appropriations staffer. The COS is the main gatekeeper for the Senator or Congressperson and their opinion is critical (Brad --- via Fred Vobbe, NRC-AM via DXLD) QST DE W1AW: PROPAGATION FORECAST BULLETIN 38 ARLP038 From Tad Cook, K7RA Seattle, WA September 19, 2003 To all radio amateurs Last week`s bulletin called for stable geomagnetic conditions over the weekend, which we got. Planetary A indices, a measure of geomagnetic stability for the day, were 11, 11, 7 and 6 for last Friday through Monday, September 12-15. There was a strong solar wind, but a north-pointing interplanetary magnetic field (IMF) kept any destabilizing effects to a minimum. The IMF continued to point north through Sunday, September 14, but then pointed south. This led to the geomagnetic storm and high planetary A index of 37 and 61 on Tuesday and Wednesday, September 16 and 17. The IMF continues to point south, and currently we are entering a stronger solar wind stream. The predicted planetary A index for Friday, September 19 through Monday, September 22 is 35, 25, 20 and 15. For a review of interplanetary magnetic fields, check http://spaceweather.com/glossary/imf.html Solar flux this week was down and average daily sunspot numbers were up slightly. The sun has appeared nearly blank this week, with any sunspots toward the edge of the disk, not pointing radiation at Earth as spots in the center do. See the solar disk for September 16 to observe a nearly blank sun at http://science.nasa.gov/spaceweather/images2003/16sep03/midi512_blank.gif You can substitute the date in the URL to see what the sun was like on other days. Solar flux was lowest in the past couple of weeks at 94.4 on Friday, September 12. Recent daily sunspot numbers were lowest on September 10 at 42. As the solar cycle declines over the next couple of years, we will eventually see long periods with sunspot counts of zero. The last really long period where this was observed was at or near the bottom of the last sunspot cycle. For 38 days, from September 13 until October 20, 1996 there were no visible sunspots. The daily sunspot number was zero for that entire time. During that period, the daily solar flux was below 70 nearly the entire time. The lowest was 66.4 on October 11, 1996. Now this week and the week prior we`ve observed nine consecutive days when the daily solar flux was below 100. There is nothing particularly significant about 100, but we humans notice nice even numbers like this, kind of like waiting and watching for that car odometer to turn over from 99,999 to 100,000 miles. But this nine-day period seems significant, because the last time we had this many days in a row with a solar flux value below 100 was back in 1998, from May 19-31, with 13 continuous days. This was way over on the other side of the peak of cycle 23. Recently this bulletin looked at a prediction for the minimum of the current sunspot cycle. Read about prediction methods used to determine long-term trends in solar cycles at http://science.msfc.nasa.gov/ssl/pad/solar/predict.htm Note that the fall equinox is in a few days, and this is a good time for worldwide DX on the HF bands, even with the low solar activity. Solar flux is currently rising as we progress toward the equinox around September 23, next Tuesday. The current solar flux forecast for the short term shows flux values of 110 for September 19-21, and 115 for September 22-23. Carl Luetzelschwab, K9LA, advises that the Space Environment Center (SEC) in Boulder, Colorado, recently introduced a new operational product to assess the impact of geomagnetic field activity on the F region. It`s called the STORM Time Empirical Ionospheric Model. It provides--in real-time--an F region critical frequency (foF2) scaling factor due to geomagnetic field activity that can be applied to the quiet time foF2 value. The scaling factors are expressed as percentages above or below the quiet time values, and thus can be applied to the MUF output of your favorite propagation software. The model uses the previous 33 hours of geomagnetic field activity as its driver, indicating that the F region doesn`t necessarily respond immediately to elevated K indices. Check out http://sec.noaa.gov/storm for the current plot, historical plots of significant geomagnetic storms, and a discussion of how the model was developed and validated. For more information on propagation and an explanation of the numbers used in this bulletin see the Propagation page on the ARRL Web site, http://www.arrl.org/tis/info/propagation.html Sunspot numbers for September 11 through 17 were 55, 58, 57, 58, 68, 89 and 83, with a mean of 66.9. 10.7 cm flux was 96.7, 94.4, 96.1, 94.7, 97.3, 99.3 and 105.9, with a mean of 97.8. Estimated planetary A indices were 15, 11, 11, 7, 6, 37 and 61, with a mean of 21.1. Copyright - 2003, American Radio Relay League, Inc. All Rights Reserved (via John Norfolk, DXLD) ### |||||||||| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||| DX LISTENING DIGEST 3-167, September 17, 2003 edited by Glenn Hauser 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 later at http://www.worldofradio.com/dxldtd3i.html For restrixions and searchable 2003 contents archive see http://www.worldofradio.com/dxldmid.html NOTE: If you are a regular reader of DXLD, and a source of DX news but have not been sending it directly to us, please consider yourself obligated to do so. Thanks, Glenn NEXT AIRING OF WORLD OF RADIO EXTRA 44: WINB: Thu 0130 9320 WRN ONDEMAND: http://new.wrn.org/listeners/stations/station.php?StationID=24 OUR ONDEMAND AUDIO [also for CONTINENT OF MEDIA, MUNDO RADIAL]: Check http://www.worldofradio.com/audiomid.html WORLD OF RADIO EXTRA 44 (high version): (stream) http://www.w4uvh.net/worx44h.ram (download) http://www.w4uvh.net/worx44h.rm (summary) http://www.worldofradio.com/worx44.html WORLD OF RADIO EXTRA 44 (low version available from 0400 UT Sept 15): (stream) http://www.w4uvh.net/worx44.ram (download) http://www.w4uvh.net/worx44.rm FIRST AIRINGS OF WORLD OF RADIO 1199: Wed 2200 on WBCQ 7415, 17495-CUSB Thu 2030 on WWCR 15825, Sat 1030 on 5070 Sat 0130 on RFPI 7445 Sat 0800 on WRN to rest of world Sat 1800+ on IBC Radio via WRMI 15725 WORLD OF RADIO 1199 (high version, from early UT Thu): (stream) http://www.w4uvh.net/wor1199h.ram (download) http://www.w4uvh.net/wor1199h.rm (summary) http://www.worldofradio.com/wor1199.html [from Thu] WORLD OF RADIO 1199 (low version, from early UT Thu): (stream) http://www.w4uvh.net/wor1199.ram (download) http://www.w4uvh.net/wor1199.rm ** AUSTRALIA [non?]. Voice Hindi changes evening freq from 13635 to 9880 Tuned into Voice-Hindi today evening at 1530 UT to find out that the frequency has been changed from 13635 to 9880 kHz. They are having continuous announcements regarding change of the frequency on their older 13635; regular programming continues on new 9880. Seems like this change is effective for the time period 1100 to 1700 UT. Regds, (Alokesh Gupta, New Delhi, India, Sept 17, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Let`s see, is that the one via Uzbekistan rather than Australia? (gh, DXLD) ** BELARUS`. 3355 / SSB / 18.00 / 06/09 / BLR / Hit FM / 58 / RS 4982 / SSB / 16.45 / 30/08 / BLR / Hit FM / RS 5134 / SSB / 16.45 / 30/08 / BLR / Hit FM / 48 / RS (Ruslan Slavutskiy, Moskovskaya oblast, Rus-DX Sept 12 via DXLD) ** BOLIVIA. 4796.67, Radio Mallku, 0950-1010 Sept 17. Prior to the hour, music. On the hour canned ID by a man, "...Radio Mallku... y mundo...". Then promos and ads. At 1002 more IDs and a woman in long Spanish comments follows. At 1006 music presented. Signal was originally poor to threshold but improved to fair level at 1005 (Bolland Chuck, Clewiston Florida, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CHINA. I'm gathering info on the Chinese "Music Jammer" station that is so strong here on the West coast of the USA. Please visit my newly developed page and check to see if you have any loggings I am missing. I'm looking for active frequencies and times and will update the page as things come in. I'm also intrigued as to if the same music is played daily. I first heard the station February of this year, but didn't start logging until recently when I discovered it was somewhat (?) clandestine :-) The music is really magical and much of the time I have 20 db/s9 signals with modest gear and antennas. http://www.open.org/~rumcd/musicjammer/ Thanks! (Christopher in Oregon, USA, hard-core-dx via DXLD) ** COSTA RICA. ONLINE BIRTHDAY INVITATION -- 15th September 2003 Dear friends and supporters of Radio For Peace International, On Sunday 21st September 2003, we will be celebrating International Peace Day and the 16th anniversary of our first transmissions on short wave from Costa Rica. The celebration will take place from 9am to 2pm at our studios located in El Rodeo, 7 kilometers from Cuidad Colón. You can call us on (506) 249 1821 for more details. We are inviting you to come and share this day with us and with all friends of peace. Throughout the day, we will be transmitting a live birthday broadcast relaying messages from our friends and supporters present in the station and from those who call in from around the world to the rest of the world!! To participate in this, from Costa Rica please call 249 1344 (from 9 am) and from the United States you can call 800 493 5718 (from 6 pm to 9 pm [CST?]). At the end of the day, from all those who call in to participate in this live birthday broadcast special, we will pick out winners of Radio For Peace International t-shirts and short wave radios. If you should wish to contribute to the work of the radio station, you can do so in the following ways: -Donate in person to a staff member on the day -Donate via our web site on www.rfpi.org using the Pay Pal icon using most major credit cards to our main US account (Section 501 (c) USA) -Donate directly to our Costa Rican bank account via check or transfer (call (506) 249 1821 for details) If you wish to join us on Sunday, please bring something to eat and a little extra to share with others. Bearing in mind the current situation at Radio For Peace International (which you can get more information on from our web site on http://www.rfpi.org) it is possible that access may not be straightforward and we therefore recommend that you come prepared for this eventuality. Please bring with you cushions, chairs and fold away tables if you have them easily at your disposal. There are beautiful walks and grounds all around the radio station. We hope you will be able to make it to this important event to share this International Peace Day with friends of peace and listeners from around the world as well as showing your support for 16 years of global peace broadcasting on Radio For Peace International. We appreciate your support and participation! In Peace, Staff, volunteers, friends and supporters of Radio For Peace International (Rfpi-announce mailing list Sept 17 via DXLD) ** CUBA. From DXLD 3-166: "Are the upcoming TV Martí direct satellite broadcasts from such eastern geostationary orbits? (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST)" Doubtful. If it is necessary to mount an antenna on a tower in order to see a satellite close to the horizon, it would be necessary for all receiving locations in Cuba to also be mounted on high vantage points to see those satellites. It makes little sense for the USA to send TV Martí via satellites that are so low on the horizon because the main advantage of DSB is that it can be received via small dishes which can be hidden to terrestrial viewers like government inspectors. 18 inch DBS antennas in Cuba can be pointed at near-vertical angles if the broadcasting satellite is located around 80 degrees West Longitude. Such high angles allow antennas to be disguised as bird baths or hidden in garbage cans. If these antennas were designed to jam the downlink frequencies of the TV Martí service, they would not be parabolic dishes but rather antennas with broader beamwidth. They would not be pointed to the east but at population areas. If these antennas are for jamming, they are most likely aimed at satellites serving the Middle East. Geosync satellites can be seen at up to 81 degrees of longitudinal separation from the subsatellite longitude. Palma Soriano appears to be at about 76 degrees West Longitude. So an antenna here could theoretically see a geosync satellite located as far east as about 5 degrees East Longitude. Palma Soriano is not located in "easternmost Cuba." In fact, Palma Soriano is about 100 kilometers west of the US Guantánamo naval base. If these antennas were used to jam satellites near the horizon, it would seem to be a good economic trade off to locate these antennas at the eastern tip of Cuba around 74 degrees West Longitude rather than on high buildings at 76 degrees West Longitude. If one hypothesizes they are for interception of communications from Guantánamo, why not place the antennas closer to the base? Palma Soriano is capable of seeing all of the Atlantic Ocean satellites from near ground level. It is my understanding the jamming of the programs targeting Iran were on the uplink to the Atlantic Ocean relay satellites, not the uplink to the satellite(s) serving Iran. There would be no reason to mount 6 meter antennas on buildings to accomplish that mission. ~*-.,_,.-*~'^'~*-.,_,.-*~'^'~*-., (Joe Buch, DE, Sept 16, DX LISTENING DIGEST) -*~'^'~*-.,_,.-*~'^'~*-.,_,.-*~'^ ** FRANCE. RFI, Radio France Internationale proposera de revivre son histoire, depuis 1931 jusqu'aujourd'hui. A partir de la fin du mois d`octobre, Jacqueline Papet presentera ``L`histoire de RFI, c`est aussi la vôtre``. La page de l'émission http://www.rfi.fr/Fichiers/evenements/RFI_contee/index.asp Vous pouvez également participer à cette émission en confiant vos témoignages à soit par courriel à jacqueline.papet@rfi.fr ou par courrier à RFI ``Si RFI m`était contée``, BP 9516; 75 762 Paris Cedex 16/ France (Mohamed Kallel, KDXN, Sfax Tunisia; FRG-7700, Sept 16, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** GERMANY. ZENDERPARK HOLZKIRCHEN WORDT AFGEBROKEN Wie het kortegolf zenderpark in Holzkirchen nog wil ontvangen, moet haast maken. Volgens berichten uit Duitsland, heeft de gemeentelijke overheid van de Beierse plaats overeenkomst tot sluiting bereikt met de exploitant van de zendinstallaties. Het International Broadcasting Bureau (IBB) uit de Verenigde Staten neemt de zenders in Holzkirchen nog voor het aflopen van de pachtovereekomst uit de lucht. Spoedig daarna begint de afbraak van het zenderpark. IBB is onder andere verantwoordelijk voor de uitzendingen van de Voice of America (VOA). Een 250 kilowatt zendinstallatie van Continental Electronics relayeert dagelijks van 15.00 tot 18.00 uur UTC het Engelstalige actualiteitenprogramma VOA News Now. (Bron: Kai Ludwig via DX Listening Digest via http://www.kortegolf.info/kg/layout/set/print/content/view/full/412/ maandag 15 september 2003 16:45 via DXLD) ** INDIA. COMMUNITY RADIO GIVES INDIA'S VILLAGERS A VOICE --- Officials Worry Local Stations May Foment Unrest By Rama Lakshm, Special to The Washington Post, Wednesday, September 17, 2003; Page A17 http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A21353-2003Sep16.html (via Kraig Krist, Mike Cooper, Alokesh Gupta, DXLD) ** INTERNATIONAL VACUUM. See CUBA ** IRAQ. SHI'I RADIO REPORTS LAUNCH OF IRAQI BROADCASTING CORPORATION | Text of report by Iraqi Shi'i group's Iran-based radio station Voice of the Mujahidin on 16 September It has been announced in Baghdad and London that a [word indistinct] radio and television corporation, called IBC, has been established. The corporation includes Iraqi investors and media experts. Shahlah Husayn, a spokesman for the corporation, yesterday said that the new Iraqi IBC is targeted at Iraqi viewers and listeners through round- the-clock local and satellite television transmissions. Among the principles adopted by the corporation is not to side with any group, party, sect, religion, [word indistinct] and to be open to all cultures and faiths. The spokesman noted that offices in the Iraqi cities, Europe and the Arab world will team up to present the first professional television programme [words indistinct]. Source: Voice of the Mujahidin, in Arabic 0700 gmt 16 Sep 03 (via BBCM via DXLD) ** ISRAEL. To follow up on the changes to the domestic English broadcasts: The complete mailing address for Mr. Yosef Barel, The IBA Director General is, Mr. Yosef Barel IBA House 161 Jaffa Road Jerusalem 94342 The Director of radio is: Yoni Ben Menachem IBA 15 Tora Mizion Jerusalem 94401 These addresses assume that you're writing from Israel. If you'd ever write to these addresses from the U.S., I'd advise NOT writing the zip code, as I've seen mail first go to California -- even if ISRAEL is written in big letters on the envelope! Clocks will be set back in two weeks The Interior Ministry has announced that summer daylight saving time will end in two weeks, on Thursday night between October 2 and 3. At 1 a.m. clocks will be turned back one hour to midnight. Daylight saving time this year lasts 189 days (via Doni Rosenzweig, DXLD) So all SW transmissions, which are NOT scheduled for the convenience of listeners abroad, including English, where no English-speaking country makes such a shift, will shift one UT hour later (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ITALY. La radio Nationale Italienne RAI, est disponible sur les ondes moyennes MW 1332 kHz en langue française, chaque soir trois minute d'informations de 0007 à 0010 UT, 'RAI nocturne' (Mohamed Kallel, KDXN, Sfax Tunisia; FRG-7700, Sept 16, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** MEXICO. I was rather taken aback this morning when doing a quick check before my intention of going to bed, at around 0845 Z Sept 17. At 4810 there was a huge, powerful signal that was peaking about S9 on my R75 with my 350' N-S dipole, and way above S9 with my 175 foot random wire: it was transmitting Spanish pop vocal music -- a genre I'm not expert about so I could not tell you any particulars or relate it to current indigenous styles -- and interspersed Spanish announcements and produced sounders. At one point I heard a female say -- in what was possibly a canned ID -- "Radio Felicidad"; checking Google I found tons of MW & FM Radio Felicidades so WHICH one was being simulcast on SW is something I haven't been able to determine, not speaking Spanish. The sound quality was very tinny, with peculiar tubby resonance as if the signal came via a regular speech telephone circuit, not an equalized feed. Or it could be a bad radio, hooked into inferior audio and modulation equipment. But it was LOUD, and yet *not* distorted at all. Little selective fading (just long, slow carrier level changes without distorting), no drifting, and a pretty good frequency stability right smack on 4810.0 give or take a couple Hz. I checked your LA logs, some others I have, Glenn's latest DXLD, and the ILG database and found only R. San Martin in Peru, which should not have been on the air at that time (but that means nothing as ILG is not absolutely accurate); but that station is only 3kw. This signal was so strong that it jumped out at me as I tuned down below WWV at 5000 looking for DX. A new station or relay? Unfortunately there was no station break at all at the top of the hour at 0900; just a segué. Sorry to say that I am turning in now and don't have time to research this further (Steve Waldee, CA, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 4810, Radio XERTA, 1000-1045 Sept 17. Spanish, Noted man in comments on the hour, this followed with music. IDs in both English and Spanish at 1036. "XERTA, transmitting to the United States from Mexico...." Signal was good in LSB mode and buried in QRM using USB (Bolland, Chuck, Clewiston Florida, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Chuck, Thanks for the tip. Signal here is 32332 due to what I believe is local QRM here. OM with ballad in SP at 1028. ID at 1035 in EG, and 1036 in SP. Mention of Mexico. SINPO now 33333 here. 73 (George Maroti, NY, Cumbre DX via DXLD) ** MEXICO. 800-XEMMM is changing calls to XESPN soon, if they haven't already. Their format is ESPN Sports (of course) in English (Chris Knight, Fort Lupton, Colorado, Sept 16, Corazón DX via DXLD) Tijuana; WRTH 2003 already has them with ESPN; getting that actual callsign was just too much to resist, mmm (gh, DXLD) ** MEXICO [non]. Other media news sources which have ignored R. Free Cascadia International: BBC Monitoring, Media Network, Free Radio Network, and perhaps most incredibly of all: Clandestine Radio Watch. On a number of other lists, I was the only one posting an item about it, no follow-ups. Are people just not paying attention, or are some hidden political agendas at work? (gh, DXLD) ** MONGOLIA. Hola, Mongolia Radio escuchada desde Terrassa a 25 km de Barcelona el pasado 11 de Septiembre de 2135 a 2215 UT en las frecuencias de 4895 y en paralelo 4830 kHz con mejor señal por la frecuencia de 4895 kHz; su programación fué de música, una entrevista telefónica y recitaron un poema entre música. Saludos cordiales, (Antonio Madrid, Noticias DX, Spain, via DXLD) ** NEPAL. [HISTORY - 2001] NEPAL CRACKS DOWN ON 'ILLEGAL' FOREIGN MEDIA EQUIPMENT --- by Pushpa Adhikari, Indo-Asian News Service Kathmandu, Oct 15 (IANS) Nepal has asked foreign organisations, including the BBC, to seek government approval before "donating" media equipment here which was reportedly being used to broadcast their programmes. "The ministry of information and communications (MIC) has learnt of some frequency modulation (FM) radio stations getting communication equipment from foreign organisations and broadcasting foreign programmes without prior approval of the ministry," a government notice said. Donor countries were reportedly giving FM transmitters to local stations and then re-broadcasting their programmes in Nepali from these stations. "BBC radio is one of the organisations that re-broadcast Nepali language programmes from a Kathmandu-based FM station without officially informing the government as per existing rules," a senior MIC official told IANS. Authorities claim BBC was exploiting Nepali resources illegally and the government was losing revenues that the channel was supposed to pay. Defending the government decision, an official said: "This is not an unfair decision, a similar situation had arisen in India as well. When India asked foreign media representatives to pay royalties many of them fled India but those who remained are following the rules." He also said it was unclear what some of the equipment given by donor countries -- especially Pakistan and the U.S. -- was used for. "Foreign organisations are exploiting our ignorance of latest media technologies and equipment has entered the country under different pretexts. We have information that the equipment may be used for spying and to support terrorist activities, especially after the crisis in Afghanistan." The U.S. is conducting military strikes against Afghanistan to flush out Saudi born Osama bin Laden, the prime suspect in the September 11 terror attacks on American soil. (Indo- Asian News Service Oct 17, 2001 via F.Noronha-IND in CR-India-ML) Could anyone confirm whether this is directed against Radio Sagarmatha, the first community radio-station operating in Kathmandu? One was told that its re-broadcasts of BBC's Nepali news had been getting very popular (F. Noronha-IND Oct 17, 2001 in CR-India-ML) Can't say for sure, but don't think this is about Sagarmatha. There is another station, Radio Lumbini, which has been broadcasting BBC and VOA without permission of the government. There have also been stories of Maoists using radio, but these are unconfirmed to my knowledge. A lot of equipment has come into Nepal from abroad (with and without foreign donor support) for radio because very little is available locally. Government regulation and bureaucracy make it very tempting to circumnavigate rules of import. Often it is hard to sort through the rumours and suggestions to find out what actually might have irked the government. They have recently published several ads warning foreign organisations not to break the rules (I. Pringle, Canada Oct 17, 2001 in CR-India-ML via CRW via DXLD) ** OKLAHOMA. KCSC/KBCW Classical Radio --- From the General Manager September, 2003 Bradford Ferguson Did you sit out in the rain August 30th to watch Garrison Keillor`s Rhubarb Tour stop in Oklahoma City like I did? Did you know that the Prairie Home folks chose the date and location for the performance? Did you read ``GK`s`` comments on the show and the audience at http://www.prairiehome.org? I expected sympathetic treatment for sitting three hours in an open venue that did not allow umbrellas. Perhaps in the ``north`` they can control the weather. We have carried A Prairie Home Companion in its several incarnations since it was first offered nationally in 1981. In fact, KCSC was among the first 20 stations to sign up at that time. In recent years we have struggled to keep up with the escalating cost of the program, but we have subsidized it even when pledges went unfulfilled. After much discussion here, we have decided that since ``GK`` has chosen to bite one of the hands that feeds him, that hand will be withdrawn. We will cease broadcast of A Prairie Home Companion effective October 4th. There are other stations in this vicinity that carry PHC. Fans of the show may tune to and support the program through them. Sincerely, Brad Ferguson, General Manager Programming Notes September, 2003, Kent Anderson With weekend program changes coming in October, I want to alert you to the exciting new locally-originated programming we have planned. The Saturday 5:00-7:00 p.m. time slot will be filled by SATURDAY BLEND. This two-hour block will feature an eclectic mix of music from various styles-classical, folk, early music, acoustic jazz and new age music, and the occasional familiar film score. It will be programmed from KCSC`s own extensive music library, and will present a new sound for the weekend. Details are still being worked out for the Sunday 12:00-2:00 time slot, but we are working on the development of a program devoted to a genre many listeners have requested-music for the concert band. The hope is that the new program can fill the void left when Legh Burns departed Oklahoma a few years ago. More specifics on program host, etc. will be posted as soon as they are available. Thank you for your patience and understanding during this time of transition for a portion of KCSC/KBCW`s weekend program schedule. Kent Anderson, Program Director (kcscfm.com via John Norfolk, DXLD) The offending remarks from prairehome.org: Oklahoma City, Aug. 30 --- Oklahoma City was a nightmare. I have bombed before, but it`s still painful. There was the breakfast speech to the tire dealers in Las Vegas, which I did as a favor to a cousin, and which was the worst speech those tire people ever had to listen to at 7 a.m. But tonight was pitiful. For one thing, it took place on the first Saturday of football season, which, in Oklahoma, is like Easter is in Rome, and anyone who does a show that day deserves his comeuppance. For another, it rained. Hard. It poured so loud the rain on the stage roof sounded like truck traffic on the Interstate. Twenty-five hundred people sat on the ground, in the open, drenched to the skin, and I walked out on stage and did what I could to amuse them and nothing worked. A sick helpless feeling, when you do what you thought was your best, stuff that other audiences liked, but tonight you might as well be speaking Norwegian --- I`ve had dreams like this, in which the audience is dark and silent, a line of trees, and you jump around in slow motion and nothing gets a response. What the poor wet people wanted was a different show. Delbert McClinton would have been a huge hit, or Asleep At The Wheel, or Dwight Yoakum, or a comedian who could get up and do 60 minutes of killer material, but I did not kill, I didn`t even cause momentary swelling. I stood up there and twisted in the wind. The low point was when, in desperation, I started to recite poetry --- poetry! --- and it went over like a stone kite. And then the ultimate humiliation, which is to shake hands with well-wishers who tell you how much they liked it. It brings tears to your eyes. The poor good-hearted people who sit through three hours of sheer misery and then feel obliged to thank you for it. One sinks in shame. It was silent in the van from the venue to the airport. The driver was veering all over the road, changing lanes, and the van`s suspension seemed to be shot. One could see the headline: ``Minnesota Man, 61, Dies In Flaming Wreck After Worst Show of Career.`` And now, heading for Louisville, sipping mineral water, one sits and ponders the meaning of it all. Storytelling, or whatever it is I do, is a fragile vessel and you can`t do it in a heavy rainstorm or next to a freeway or in the midst of a train yard. It doesn`t work. You can do comedy there, because it has a beat to it and the jokes build. But that sort of comedian can`t do 33 different live radio shows a year. It may take him or her a couple years just to hammer together those 60 minutes. I`m not disciplined to do that; I`m a writer, not a performer; I have things I want to say, not necessarily of a killer nature, and if I couldn`t say them, I`d have no interest in being on a stage; I have less urge to perform than the average 10-year-old girl. For me, it`s all about those moments when something spontaneous and true comes out. Tonight, nothing. I was a dermatologist trying to do root canal surgery. Out of my depth. Oklahoma City was the wrong venue in the wrong part of the country. The show doesn`t play well in Texas or Oklahoma: It`s the wrong show, it`s too northern. A chill fell on the crowd when Guy Noir picked up a phone and George W. Bush was on the other end: They didn`t want to hear it. In Seattle, they screeched for pleasure, and in Oklahoma City they went deadly still. He`s the president, and you don`t make fun of him here, not if you are from the North. The venue was a rock`n`roll venue. Lots of security everywhere. Guys with security badges who ask you for your ID as you leave the stage for the dressing room at intermission, even though you`re in a tuxedo and black tie and were on stage five minutes ago, they want to see your backstage pass. They`re serious. Rock`n`roll is big on security, because it unleashes so much craziness, and you never know what meth freaks might do, but with the gentle public radio audience, it`s insane to have two beefy guys on either side of you when you go to shake hands with people. But there the beefy guys are, looming, sullen, threatening, and when you ask them to step away, they say, ``Just doing our job,`` and crowd in even closer to make sure that none of these Unitarians stick a shiv in your ribs. It`s the absolute pits: The fans, having been tortured and rained on, now shake your hand and are glared at by a couple of Terminators, so that, in addition to being a horseshit performer, you are now an arrogant asshole with a retinue of heavies, like a hip-hop star. Well, it can`t ever be any worse than this. One takes comfort from that. Dues must be paid, and dirt must be eaten, and sometimes the rain must fall. It could be worse. On to Louisville, where we`ll play the Palace Theater. The lights will go down, and the audience will be dry, and afterward people will walk up and shake hands, and no goombah will give them the eye (via John Norfolk, DXLD) Tsk, tsk. Tho I sometimes am amused for a few minutes by PHC as I tune around, I never listen to it deliberately; tho it was not likely a direct act by Mr Keillor, I`ve not been too fond of PHC since the necessity of carrying it live was the excuse given for cancelling one of my programs on WUOT. As I recall, KCSC was promoting the hell out of this appearance for many months previous; and I`ve always wondered why both they and KOSU would want to carry it, anyway. Good riddance. A great many posts are on the PHC forum at http://forum.mpr.org/WebX?14@191.UW8Ea6gXjOy^2@.ee894f4 from people who loved the show despite the rain. I wonder if GK read them before posting his rude remarks; or KCSC read them before cancelling PHC (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** OMAN. Radio Sultanat d'Oman est disponible sur les ondes avec une bonne récéption sur 13640 kHz à 0845 UT, SINPO 45344, le 16-09-2003. L`émission été "la langue arabe" une émission pour plus de connaissance de la grammaire. Pour votre information le e-mail de la station: tvradio@omantel.net.om et le site web http://www.omantel.net.om est disponible en anglais et arabe; il est très bien fait pour une station nationale d'un pays du moyen Orient (Mohamed Kallel, KDXN, Sfax Tunisia; FRG-7700, Sept 16, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** PARAGUAY. Finally got around to checking the webstream mentioned in 3-162, http://www.radiodifusionamerica.com.py/listen.xpl of R. América, whose SW frequencies, unfound on the website, are just about impossible to hear even in Argentina, Sept 16 at 1817 UT --- running only 24 kbps, which is plenty with hum and distortion, not 256; guess what, a preacher! Opening page is by José Holowaty, ex-KGEI, with his apocalyptic nonsense. At least the program schedule at http://www.radiodifusionamerica.com.py/menu.htm shows some seemingly secular programs, here adding 3 hours for UT as DST has already started; the Guaraní shows are in all probability religious, but included for those who would like to familiarize themselves with the sound of the language, with no risk of comprehension. This is a generalized schedule, not specifying day of week, but likely to be different on weekends, and subject to change: 0700-0730 30 MINUTOS EN GUARANÍ (ñañe mongeta guaraníme) 0900-0930 AMPLIO PANORAMA DE LAS ÚLTIMAS NOTICIAS MUNDIALES 0930-1000 MÚSICA PARAGUAYA Y COMERCIALES 1500-1545 AMPLIO PANORAMA DE LAS NOTICIAS MUNDIALES 1600-1700 SALA DE CONCIERTOS (música clásica) 1830-1900 PROGRAMA EN GUARANÍ 2100-2140 AMPLIO PANORAMA DE NOTICIAS 2200-2330 PROGRAMA EN GUARANÍ 0200-0700 RADIODIFUSIÓN AMÉRICA (via Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** RUSSIA. Hi! I've read the "BC-DX" # 638, so I'm obliged to make the following explanation: 1. Radio "Voice of Russia" has only TWO OWN programs in Russian: there are "Russian World Service" and "Commonwealth". 2. "Russian International radio" and "Evangelic Readings" just use the "Voice of Russia's" transmitters, leasing a broadcasting time. 73! (Pavel Mikhaylov, Radio "Voice of Russia", Russian World Sce. "CLUB DX" Program via Wolfgang Büschel, DXLD) ** RUSSIA/BELARUS. Re: On 1170 kHz: on Sept 6th (Sat) 1500-1600 "Kala Aturaya" Radio (seems to be from Belarus` --- at 1557 UT s-on stronger IS of Voice of Russia from Krasnodar (Tbilisskoye [sic]) and 1600-1800 V. of Russia in Arabic was dominating (Rumen Pankov, Bulgaria, BC-DX Sep 10 via DXLD) Qala Aturaya (Assyrian Voice) is a weekly programme produced by the International Russian League of Assyrians (LAROS). It is aired Saturdays 1500-1600 for a local audience in Moscow on 612 kHz (Kurkino 20kW) and for Assyrian listeners in the Near East on 1170 kHz (Tbilisskaya 1200kW). Address: LAROS, Arbat ul. 28/1, 121002 Moscow, Russia. Email: assyrianvoice@newmail.ru Qala Aturaya was first aired on 20 January 1993. NB. Qala Aturaya is not carried via Belarus on 1170 kHz: the tx in Sasnovy has a beam towards Southern Central Europe (244 degrees) , e.g. Czech Republic/Austria, and does not reach the Near & Middle East, while the Middle East is in the main target of Tbilisskaya 1170 kHz. Note the spelling "Tbilisskaya" ending on -aya, the form -oye circulating in parts of the DX press is an error (Bernd Trutenau, Lithuania, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** SWEDEN [non]. Radio Ibrahim, est une radio chrétienne en langue arabe qui diffuse chaque soir de 2130 à 2200 UT sur la fréquence 12025; dans l'émission écoutée le 15-09-2003, l'annonce d'ID est comme suit: Radio Ibrahim, code postale 14199, Stockholm, Suéde, le site http://www.radioibrahim.com et l'e-mail pour plus d'information info@radioibrahim.com (Mohamed Kallel, KDXN, Sfax Tunisia; FRG-7700, Sept 16, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** SWITZERLAND. SWISSINFO/SRI COULD LOSE GOVERNMENT FUNDING Swissinfo/Swiss Radio International could lose all its government funding by 2006. It would then be up to the Swiss Broadcasting Corporation to guarantee its future financing. That's one of the possibilities under consideration as the Swiss parliament debates controversial proposals to cut public spending by SFr3.3 billion ($2.4 billion) to avoid massive deficits over the next few years. Switzerland's national debt is currently SFr120 billion, and the government expects this to increase by SFr3 billion a year. So the government has drafted a radical savings plan which represents the biggest spending cut in Swiss history. (Source: NZZ Online). (© Radio Netherlands Media Network 17 September 2003 via DXLD) ** TAIWAN. RTI Temporary Schedule Changes Please note the following temporary changes to our program schedule, which are effective immediately: 1) News Talk and Stage, Screen and Studio will be temporarily replaced by Instant Noodles and Hakka World, respectively. 2) Discover Taiwan will be hosted by James Ho. 3) New Music Lounge, the popular music program, will be extended to a 30- minute program, which will air on Wednesdays in Hour Two. 4) Confucius and Inspiration Beyond can now be heard on Thursday as part of the Hour One programming. We apologize for any inconvenience, and thank you for listening to RTI! Global Exchange - Oct --- Every month, we pose a new question to listeners as part of our Global Exchange segment. If we choose your letter to read on the air, you will receive a souvenir and your answer may be shared in Taipeiwave. October What do you like the most about your country or your culture? Send entries to natalie@cbs.org.tw or to PO Box 24-38/ Taipei, Taiwan (RTI website via Alokesh Gupta, New Delhi, India, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** TANZANIA. Tanzania 5050, R. Tanzania, Africa-map-with-antenna-and- logo card, V/S N. Nyamwocha, for 1999 reception. In 6 weeks after several follow-ups, the last one specifically addressed to this V/S after seeing George Maroti's earlier QSL from him (it's the same card as George's). I sent mint stamp which I think was used. V/S also sent nice handwritten letter, noting that 5050 is a Japanese NEC transmitter installed in 1975, and now carries Kiswahili programming (Jerry Berg, MA, via Cumbredx mailing list via DXLD) ** U K. BBC Radio Four programme ``Listening to the War`` is on Saturday 20th September 1900-2000 UT. Lesley Chamberlain tells the story of the birth of the BBC's monitoring service at the beginning of the Second World War. Ramshackle huts in the English countryside hid an extraordinary collection of devoted public servants, refugees and emigrés from fascism and communism, who donned headphones and listened in to the crackly and hissing broadcasts from around the world. Their reports were crucial in determining the outcome of the war (Mike Barraclough, Letchworth, UK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Listening to the War --- BBC Radio 4 Saturday September 20th 2003 According to the Radio Times BBC Radio 4 Listings (20th to 26th September 2003), this programme about the BBC Monitoring Service and its contribution to the Second World War, will be broadcast at 1900- 2000 UT (8.00 to 9.00 pm Clock Time in UK), this coming Saturday. I just thought this might be of interest (Ken Fletcher, 1855 UT = 1955 UT+1 September 16th 2003, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U K. BBC Radio 3 notes: the Edinburgh Festival each August tends to get overshadowed by the Proms season in London, at least in prime time, but now that the latter is over, BBC R3 are running concerts recorded at Edinburgh in the Performance On 3 slot, weekdays 1830 UT. Also, Composer of the Week has been rescheduled, with a repeat M-F at 2300-2400 UT, much more convenient here (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U K. COASTGUARDS ALL AT SEA OVER CALLS FOR TAXIS By David Sapsted (Filed: 17/09/2003) Those in distress at sea are not the only ones that HM Coastguard are being asked to pick up these days. They have also been getting calls to collect cab passengers from the centre of Birmingham and London. Coastguard stations in Wales and along the South Coast have been receiving the strange requests on Channel 16 - the international distress frequency on 156.8 MHz - because of unusual weather conditions. Licensing authorities are looking into the problem which affected more than a dozen coastguard stations from Anglesey to Kent on Sunday, when conversations between controllers and cabbies disrupted the emergency network for 12 hours. In both Swansea and Dover, Brummie accents dominated the airwaves while, in Milford Haven, the coastguard station was left listening to exchanges between London taxi drivers picking up fares in Marylebone, Mayfair and Paddington. Ray Carson, of Holyhead Coastguard, said the problem was caused by "extremely high pressure". © Copyright of Telegraph Group Limited 2003 (via Bill Westenhaver, DXLD) Tropospheric ** U S A. AMATEUR RADIO RAMPS UP PREPARATIONS TO GREET HURRICANE ISABEL --- http://www2.arrl.org/news/stories/2003/09/16/1/?nc=1 The position and projected path of Hurricane Isabel as of 11 AM EDT September 16. [NOAA Graphic] {see above URL for grahpic and links} NEWINGTON, CT, Sep 16, 2003--Amateur Radio operators along the Eastern Seaboard are gearing up to greet the arrival -- probably on Thursday, September 18 -- of a diminished but still potentially damaging Hurricane Isabel. At this point, the storm is expected to reach landfall along the coast of the Carolinas before veering north toward Western Pennsylvania and Western New York. The Hurricane Watch Net (HWN) on 14.325 MHz and WX4NHC at the National Hurricane Center have announced plans to activate. The HWN will activate Wednesday, September 17, at 1400 UTC (10 AM EDT) and remain up through the storm`s duration. The National Hurricane Center is warning interests from the Carolinas northward to southern New England to closely monitor Hurricane Isabel`s progress. The storm, once a powerful category 5 hurricane, now has been downgraded to a category 2 hurricane with still-dangerous winds of 105 MPH with higher gusts. ``As the hurricane achieves initial landfall, the HWN will focus specifically on storm reports into and out of the immediately affected areas and into the forecast path of the storm,`` said HWN Manager Mike Pilgrim, K5MP. WX4NHC will commence operations September 17 at 2200 UTC (6 PM EDT), although Amateur Radio Coordinator John McHugh, KU4GY, says the startup time could be adjusted as conditions change. At that point, McHugh estimated the storm would be some 300 miles offshore. Pilgrim says it`s essential that health-and-welfare traffic be directed to other nets set up for that purpose. The Salvation Army Team Emergency Radio Network (SATERN) has announced plans to activate on 14.265 MHz on September 18 at 1400 UTC (10 AM EDT). SATERN National Coordinator Pat McPherson, WW9E, says the net`s primary objective will be to handle necessary emergency and health-and-welfare traffic. Local emergency and informational nets also will be a part of the mix, and hams in North Carolina already are getting into the spirit of things. ``There were lots of extra check-ins to the Tarheel Net on Monday night,`` said North Carolina Public Information Coordinator Gary Pearce, KN4AQ. ``Activity always picks up when a hurricane approaches the state.`` As the North Carolina Section`s HF Amateur Radio Emergency Service (ARES) net, the Tarheel Net meets on 3923 kHz nightly at 7:30 PM Eastern Time and on 7232 kHz during daylight hours, if needed. At WX4NHC, McHugh was calling on amateurs within 50 miles of the Atlantic coast from South Carolina to New Jersey to provide weather data to the Hurricane Watch Net. Net participants collect and report observed and measured weather data to the net to relay to the National Hurricane Center via WX4NHC. The net also routinely disseminates public storm advisories as they become available. In the case of the recent Hurricane Fabian, which swept Bermuda, Amateur Radio for a while became the only means of obtaining storm forecasts and updates after power went down over much of the island. ``If you have weather equipment and are in the affected area please try to get that data to WX4NHC, however do not put your self in danger at any time,`` WX4NHC`s McHugh said. He also asked that stations not relay weather information given out by local media, since that information already is ``in the system.`` In addition to monitoring the Hurricane Watch Net on 14.325 MHz, WX4NHC will monitor Reflector 9210 on IRLP as well as the EchoLink system surface reports using the on-line Hurricane Report Form on the WX4NHC Web site. He said amateur weather enthusiasts with weather equipment and ON-NHC Volunteers may report directly to WX4NHC on-line. http://www.wx4nhc.org/WX-form1.html McHugh said these ``surface reports`` are very important as they give hurricane specialists at the National Hurricane Center a clearer picture of what is actually happening on the ground during the storm. North Carolina ARRL Section Manager John Covington, W4CC, this week alerted members in his section to be at the ready. ``I encourage each of you to make personal preparations for the storm,`` Covington said. ``In addition, I hope you will be able to contribute to Amateur Radio disaster communications, if necessary.`` He urged amateurs to make sure their equipment is working, all batteries charged and any emergency generators operational. ``Do this today,`` he said, ``not during the storm!`` Covington also said those having any doubts about their safety should prepare to evacuate. He said the Coastal Carolina Emergency Net on 3907 kHz 1900 EDT will handle health-and-welfare traffic. ``Be aware that most inbound health-and-welfare traffic is very difficult to deliver,`` he said. Covington was among those worrying less about the potential for wind damage than about the possibility of widespread flooding. ``With much of our ground saturated from the heavy rain we`ve had this year, North Carolina should be prepared for the possibility of flooding, even if the storm moves well to the east of us,`` he said. ARRL North Carolina Section Emergency Coordinator Bernie Nobles, WA4MOK, reports that hams will staff the North Carolina Emergency Management Eastern Branch headquarters in Kinston starting at 1 PM EDT today. Repeaters likely will handle communication with North Carolina`s Outer Banks, although HF will remain available as a backup. If Isabel takes a more westerly course, the Tarheel Net will go into full-time operation as needed. Nobles has asked hams to maintain watch on 3923 kHz as the storm approaches, whether or not a formal net is in session. North Carolina Emergency Management Emergency Coordinator John Guerriero, KG4HDT, says the amateur station at the state emergency operations center in the capital city of Raleigh will activate Wednesday, September 17. Pearce said Guerriero is organizing an umbrella of liaison stations to monitor the wide-coverage 146.88 MHz repeater and the Tarheel Net frequencies. Pearce says that on the Outer Banks--expected to be the storm`s first point of contact--Richard Marlin, K4HAT, checked out the repeaters and linked systems that keep hams in touch in that remote area and said everything was working well. Pearce said Marlin, who lives on Hatteras Island, was debating whether or not to evacuate. Residents and vacationers on Ocracoke Island, which has only ferry transportation between the mainland, were among those facing mandatory evacuation orders in North Carolina. Chart showing the probability that Hurricane Isabel will pass within 75 statute miles during the next 72 hours. [NOAA Graphic] {see above URL} Pearce said other North Carolina hams are reporting they`re ready for the storm. ``Inland counties are watching the storm track carefully,`` he said. ``If Isabel turns a little westward, it could bring strong winds and flooding to the interior. Nash, Wake and Johnston counties may also be home to thousands of people who evacuate the coastal areas, and Interstate 40 may be made a `one-way` highway in advance of the hurricane to expedite an evacuation.`` Some states already are considering mobilizing National Guard troops and relief organizations already have organized shelters for evacuees. As of 11 AM EDT, the National Hurricane Center had issued a hurricane watch from Little River Inlet, South Carolina, to Chincoteague, Virginia. That includes Pamlico and Albermarle sounds as well as Chesapeake Bay south of North Beach, Maryland and the tidal section of the Potomac River. The NHC said hurricane warnings may be required later today. As of 11 AM EDT, the storm was 600 miles south-southeast of Cape Hatteras, North Carolina, moving northwesterly at around 8 MPH. ``A general motion toward the northwest or north-northwest is expected during the next 24 hours with some increase in forward speed,`` the NCH said. Hurricane force winds extend outward up to 120 miles from the center, and tropical storm-force winds out to 200 miles. Although it`s now a category 2 storm, the NHC said conditions ``could become favorable for restrengthening prior to landfall.`` The southeastern and mid-Atlantic coasts already have been experiencing large ocean swells and dangerous surf conditions. Copyright © 2003, American Radio Relay League, Inc. All Rights Reserved. (ARRL via John Norfolk, Mike Terry, DXLD) [This has also been released with different wording as W1AW ARRL Bulletin 59] Check VOA Greenville frequencies in case they have to shut down (gh) ** U S A. SENATE VOTE COULD KILL FCC'S NEW MEDIA RULES Sen. Byron L. Dorgan (D-N.D.), right, is hopeful he has enough votes to pass his resolution, which would wipe out all of the new media rules passed by the FCC earlier this summer. [caption] By Frank Ahrens, Washington Post Staff Writer, Tuesday, September 16, 2003; Page E01 The Senate is ready to vote today on whether to overturn all of the Federal Communications Commission's controversial new media ownership rules by taking advantage of a little-used legislative tool for quashing agency regulations. Sen. Byron L. Dorgan (D-N.D.) is hopeful he has enough votes to pass his "resolution of disapproval" scheduled for a 10:30 a.m. [EDT] vote before the Senate today, a forecast shared by at least one of the esolution's chief opponents. The resolution would wipe out all of the new media rules passed by the FCC earlier in the summer, restoring the old ones. It represents the latest of a growing number of legislative, legal and popular challenges to the media rules... http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A15852-2003Sep15.html (via Kraig Krist, DXLD) Later: SENATE VOTES TO BLOCK FCC MEDIA RULES --- Republicans Join Opposition to Easing of Ownership Limits; House Test Ahead By Frank Ahrens, Washington Post Staff Writer, Wednesday, September 17, 2003; Page A01 The Senate voted 55 to 40 yesterday to wipe out all of the Federal Communications Commission's controversial new media ownership rules, the broadest bipartisan repudiation yet of regulations that would free big media companies to get bigger. The Republican-controlled Senate passed a "resolution of disapproval," a little-used legislative tool that allows Congress to overturn federal agency regulations. The resolution was sponsored by Sen. Byron L. Dorgan (D-N.D.), who said the FCC rules would lead to "galloping concentration" in the media industry, with fewer and fewer companies owning more and more newspapers, television and radio stations, and cable channels. . . http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A21792-2003Sep16.html 73, (via Kraig Krist, DXLD) Senate votes to block new media ownership rules PRESIDENT BUSH HAS THREATENED TO VETO ANY MEASURE THAT WOULD BLOCK NEW FCC RULES By Heather Fleming Phillips, Mercury News Washington Bureau WASHINGTON - The U.S. Senate sent a stinging rebuke to the Federal Communications Commission today, voting to overturn new media ownership rules that could put newspapers, TV and radio stations into the hands of fewer owners.. . http://www.bayarea.com/mld/mercurynews/business/6786711.htm (via Jill Dybka, MSIS, DXLD) F.C.C. PLAN TO EASE CURBS ON BIG MEDIA HITS SENATE SNAG September 17, 2003 By STEPHEN LABATON http://www.nytimes.com/2003/09/17/business/media/17FCC.html?ex=1064801712&ei=1&en=22f24241833a22a9 WASHINGTON, Sept. 16 - The Senate approved a resolution today to repeal all of the new regulations that would make it easier for the nation's largest media companies to grow bigger. By a vote of 55 to 40, the Republican-controlled Senate defied the White House and issued a stinging political rebuke of Michael K. Powell, the Republican chairman of the Federal Communications Commission and architect of the rules. Administration officials had spoken to several lawmakers before the vote in an unsuccessful effort to turn it around, Congressional officials said today. Administration officials expressed relief that the vote indicated the measure would not be able to withstand a presidential veto, which the White House has threatened. The sponsors of the Senate resolution acknowledged that it still faced long political odds before becoming law in its current form, although they said they had better chances of repealing significant pieces of the new rules rather than the entire package. House leaders who oppose the resolution have refused to allow it to reach the floor of that chamber. Still, the Senate vote demonstrated broad bipartisan hostility to the new rules and, as one lawmaker said today, a symbolically important vote of no confidence in Mr. Powell. Twelve Republicans and one independent joined 42 Democrats in voting for the resolution. It was opposed by 38 Republicans and 2 Democrats, Zell Miller of Georgia and John Breaux of Louisiania. Speaking of Mr. Powell, Senator Byron L. Dorgan, the North Dakota Democrat and chief sponsor of the resolution, said: "I think he has made a horrible mistake. His leadership at the commission has led the commission to cave in to the special interests as quickly and as thoroughly as I've ever seen." The vote was only the second time in history that the Senate has used a parlimentary procedure known as a resolution of disapproval to, in effect, veto an action by a regulator. It also had broader support than the final tally - four of the five senators absent from the chamber, including three presidential candidates, have said they would have voted for it. Mr. Dorgan and a large group of other senators, ranging from Tom Daschle of South Dakota, the minority leader, to Trent Lott of Mississippi, the former Republican leader, vowed to continue to take steps to repeal the media rules by attaching amendments to other measures headed for floor action. One such amendment, which would repeal the new rule that gives the largest television networks the ability to buy more local stations, has already been approved by a wide margin on a spending bill in the House and is expected to reach the floor of the Senate before it leaves for its recess this fall. That amendment, unlike today's resolution, had strong support from the National Association of Broadcasters, a powerful lobbying group made up of local television and radio stations that is often at odds with the television networks. Both the amendment and the resolution have been strongly supported by an unusual alliance of liberal and conservative organizations, civil rights groups, labor unions and religious organizations. In an unusual political twist, the Senate action was made possible by the Congressional Review Act, a little-known law adopted seven years ago at the urging of Republicans who thought the administration issued too many burdensome regulations and wanted to make it easier for Congress to repeal them. It has only been used once before, in 2001, to repeal the ergonomics regulations adopted under the Clinton administration. Today the measure was being used by both liberals and conservatives to try to undo one of the most deregulatory packages completed under the Bush administration. Mr. Powell had testified throughout the earlier part of his tenure that the Senate and House were always free to set policy that he would follow. But recently he has become more combative with the Senate. In recent days, he has declined repeated requests to be interviewed, including one today. In an article today in Roll Call, a newspaper on Capitol Hill, he called the pending Congressional action "bordering on the absurd." Soon after the vote, he issued a statement saying the resolution would "create peverse results" and was not in the public interest. "This resolution, if passed by the House and signed by the president, would only muddy the media regulatory waters," Mr. Powell said in the statement. "It would bring no clarity to media regulation, only chaos." "What is most important is to have the best policies for the American people," he added. "I hope the House will take a more considered view of the public interest." The vote was the second setback for Mr. Powell in two days, and the latest in a string of defeats since the rules were issued in June. On Monday, a federal appeals court in Philadelphia rejected a request by lawyers from the F.C.C. to move a case challenging the rules to a court in Washington. Earlier this month, the court in Philadelphia blocked the commission from imposing the rules and is viewed by lawyers involved in the case as being less sympathetic to the commission than the court in Washington. The appeals court in Philadelphia will hear the case, brought against the commission by a group of small radio stations, in November. The rules that the Senate voted to overturn would permit one company to own both a broadcast station and a newspaper in most cities. They would also permit a company to own up to eight radio and three TV stations, as well as a cable company, in the biggest markets. And they would enable the broadcast networks to acquire television stations that reach as much as 45 percent of the nation's viewers, up from 35 percent now. The networks have lobbied vigorously for relaxing the station ownership rule and have come up against aggressive lobbying from the affiliates. Many large newspaper companies, including The New York Times Company, have sought to repeal the restrictions prohibiting one company from owning both a newspaper and a broadcast station in the same city. Copyright 2003 The New York Times Company (via Bill Westenhaver, DXLD) ** U S A. DJ'S CHATTER IS ALL IN APACHE Richard Ruelas, Sept. 15, 2003 12:00 AM GLOBE --- It's Lyle Keoke Jr.'s birthday. His sister, Liz, has called up Ricardo Sneezy's all-request Apache-language radio show to dedicate a traditional powwow song to him. Sneezy swings the microphone toward him and sends out the dedication in his native language. Then he hits a button on the CD player, causing tribal drums and chants to blare out of the studio speakers and transmit throughout the reservations of central Arizona. After about a minute, he fades it down. Sneezy knows both he and his audience can only take so much powwow music. Plus, there are a lot of requests to squeeze in. Next up, dedicated to Mr. and Mrs. Lynell Davis from their friends, is When a Man Loves a Woman by Percy Sledge. Hammond organ chords replace the tom-toms. Sneezy, who was born, raised and still lives on the San Carlos Reservation, took over the Indian Trails show on KRXS (97.3) about a year ago. The previous host kept it traditional, lots of chants and accordion-heavy chicken- scratch music. "Nobody went for it," Sneezy says. He opened up the phone lines and the music selection. He pulled a Fats Domino song out of the station's oldies' collection. He brought in a Rod Stewart CD from home, sparking a request for Maggie May. It quickly changed from a show of Native American music to a show of music Native Americans like. That still includes some Native American artists like the Fenders or Jim Felix. But more and more, the song list is not much different from the mix of country and oldies the station plays the rest of the day. Sneezy presses a green button and speaks in the alternately breathy and guttural tongue of his native people. Phonetically, it sounds like this: "Konahona nesta aia shikab. Loshe shiwino Ricardo Sneezy K-R-X-S F-M ninety-seven-point-three, iko." The station serves Globe, but its 50,000-watt signal can be heard throughout central Arizona, including most of the Phoenix area. Next, Sneezy moves onto a spot for Cobre Valley Motors. The copy is written in English on the stand near his microphone. He translates it into Apache as he reads it. There are apparently no Apache words for "'99 Mercury Grand Marquis," so he says that in English. Strands of requests Sneezy's wife, Victoria, and daughter, Rica, answer phones at a modular desk outside the studio. They write requests on yellow Post-It notes and bring them into the studio stuck end-to-end in long strands. Calls are mainly from the San Carlos Apache Tribe near Globe. But the show also draws listeners from the White Mountain Apache Tribe and the Gila River Indian Community outside Scottsdale. They also get requests to and from prisoners in Florence. Loretta is sending out Made in Japan by Buck Owens to the Ward Family. Born on the Bayou goes out to Girly and Rebecca. "It's their birthday," Sneezy says energetically, in English. There's a lot of love sent out. Some belated birthdays. And a few memorials. Sneezy plays a mournful gospel song "in loving memory of Lesley Aaron Nash." "I'll try to ease out of it with maybe some country Western music," he says, off the air. "Or, I know what I can do." He swivels his chair and flips through the stack of CDs behind him. He pulls out one with the greatest hits of Louis Armstrong. He leans into the microphone hanging in front of him. He asks softly, in Apache, if the parents out there have hugged their children or told them they loved them. "If you want to see somebody's good smile, do it and try it and you can get a good smile out of someone." He says the next song is dedicated to his own wife and daughter. He starts the cascading strings of Armstrong's What a Wonderful World He hits the red button to take himself off the air and says, "All right, let's go to Lamont's Mortuary." He flips to the commercial copy in his logbook. "That's one advertisement I don't like to do," he says. "Because Indians when you talk about death, they think you're crazy." He tries to translate the ad so it doesn't offend anybody. "But every time, I have a problem with that. There's still a gray area there." On the air, he tells listeners "you never know when you're going to go. You need to be prepared. You need to preplan and the people at Lamont Mortuary . . . " Sneezy grew up with classic rock and oldies. He listens to Anne Murray and jazz to mellow out after his job as director of surveillance at Apache Gold casino, the largest private employer on the reservation. He initially turned down the job at KRXS because he weighed 400 pounds and worried that he wouldn't be able to climb the stairs to reach the second-floor studio. After a year going up and down the flights twice a week, Sneezy says he has dropped 30 pounds. Halfway through the show, Sneezy has to cut off dedications. "Requests eko stahalso ohiko. No more requests." His show runs two hours - 7 to 9 p.m. on Tuesdays and Thursdays. It's popular enough that the station is considering a third hour. Avoiding controversy Sneezy tries to avoid political songs by Native American artists and avoids discussing controversial issues on the air. "I see a lot of people that just still - they have this cloud over their head," he says. Some of that anger is from long-ago injustices, some from current squabbles within the community. "I'm just trying to put good thoughts into people's minds." The Bob Marley song is ending and it's time for the San Carlos Telecom spot. He cues up Play that Funky Music, White Boy, and goes through the requests. Justin wants to send Beast of Burden by the Rolling Stones to his girlfriend and Ramus wants to dedicate Hard Luck Woman to his mother (Arizona Republic Sept 15 via Mike Cooper, DXLD) ** U S A [and non]. GARNER TED ARMSTRONG DIES AT 73 Evangelist Garner Ted Armstrong has died of pneumonia aged 73. Armstrong and his father, Herbert W. Armstrong, were familiar voices on the British offshore radio stations in the 1960's with their program The World Tomorrow, which was broadcast on 300 stations worldwide. The Worldwide Church of God bought airtime on virtually every offshore station, and helped to keep some of the smaller ones going. However, in 1978 the two Armstrongs fell out when Garner Ted denounced what he claimed were the church's lavish expenses. His father barred him from using church facilities and excommunicated him. He later founded two ministries of his own. Mr. Armstrong leaves his wife, three sons and five grandchildren (© Radio Netherlands Media Network 16 September 2003 via DXLD) EVANGELIST GARNER TED ARMSTRONG DIES Tuesday, September 16, 2003 http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,97424,00.html TYLER, Texas -- Evangelist Garner Ted Armstrong (search), who founded two independent ministries and was once the voice of the religious television program "World Tomorrow," died Monday of complications from pneumonia. He was 73. Armstrong died in a Tyler hospital, said his son Mark. Armstrong founded the Church of God International (search) in 1978 after his father, Herbert W. Armstrong, founder of the Pasadena, Calif.-based Worldwide Church of God, excommunicated him after a dispute. He founded the Garner Ted Armstrong Evangelistic Association in Tyler in 1978, along with the Church of God International. He left the second body after allegations surfaced involving sexual abuse. Armstrong founded the Intercontinental Church of God in 1998. Mark Armstrong called the Intercontinental Church of God the "true" religion, with beliefs rooted in the Bible and the Ten Commandments (search). He said the church sought to eliminate pagan practices that had found their way into modern Christianity. "He unapologetically offended more religious people than just about anybody in the history of radio and television. But when he offended them enough, they would go to their Bibles to find the truth," Armstrong said in an interview Monday night with The Associated Press. Armstrong's work on the weekly "World Tomorrow" began in the late 1950s. The show was seen by millions of Americans on television, while the radio show was broadcast in five languages worldwide on more than 300 stations. After he left "World Tomorrow," Armstrong continued work on a TV program bearing his name. Armstrong is survived by his wife, three sons and five grandchildren (AP via Fox News via DXLD) ** U S A. COLUMBIA RADIO BACK AT FULL POWER By MAXINE SHEN http://www.nypost.com/entertainment/5856.htm September 16, 2003 -- AFTER two years of broadcasting at reduced power, America's oldest FM station - WKCR 89.9 FM - is back to full strength. Broadcasting since 1941, Columbia University's student-run radio station, which lost its transmitter atop the World Trade Center on 9/11, is now airing from its new home in 4 Times Square. Until last Friday, the station broadcast from the roof of a 13-story dorm on campus, reaching about 2 million people in Upper Manhattan. "It was nothing compared to our potential listening audience we enjoyed at the World Trade Center," says Matthew Niederhauser, WKCR's publicity director and jazz deejay. Now the station can reach at least 11 million people in the tri-state area. To celebrate its relaunch, WKCR is hosting music fests celebrating Latino heritage (Oct. 2-4), new music (Oct. 22-24), African music (Oct. 26-28) and Bach (Dec. 19-26). "We're hoping that people are going to get the station they once knew and loved," says Niederhauser. WKCR features a blend of jazz, classical, American, Latin and world music, alongside arts, sports, news and public affairs programming. For program schedule and more info, check out http://www.columbia.edu/cu/wkcr (via Jill Dybka, DXLD) ** U S A. Those of you that are curious about IBOC should go to http://www.wor710.com/Engineering/iboc/audio_samples.htm and listen to the new IBOC codec's audio samples. It's clear they've made progress. I think this audio is good enough that the NRSC will resume standards work and bless iBiquity's system (Charles Hutton, NRC-AM via DXLD) I seem to recall some pretty big differences between some of the demos and real on-air the last time -- in fact I seem to recall some big differences between real on-air and those put up on the wbe and labelled as such (Russ Edmunds, Blue Bell, PA, ibid.) Russ, I recall this same situation as well. My offer is still open to anyone lurking in the list that is pro IBOC. Get me a receiver and I will do a *fair* and practical review for the end user (Fred Vobbe, OH, ibid.) Given WOR's track record of pathological disingenuousness concerning IBOC, I'm willing to make a substantial bet those samples have no connection whatsoever to objective reality (Harry Helms W7HLH, Las Vegas, NV DM26, ibid.) I downloaded WOR's new digital version of Faith Hills song. There are very noticeable clicks and pops in the audio but specially between 26- 34 seconds. This is supposed to be the new codec. I played it back in the new Adobe Audition (Cool Edit Pro). This eliminated the chance that the noise was generated during the live streaming. It's still not that great, but granted it's better than before. But to me, the analog version sounded just as good or better from a fidelity standpoint. Again these samples were pulled from their audio chain and not recorded "off air". Here's the link if you want to listen yourselves. http://www.wor710.com/Engineering/iboc/audio_samples.htm (Paul Smith, W4KNX, Located in Sunny Sarasota Florida, ibid.) I tried the Sinatra cut and the Beatles' "Yesterday"... in each case the direct CD playback (first column on the page) beat the "off-air" versions all to heck. The 6 kHz-limited "analog" version sounds like just what it is -- severely bandwidth-limited. The digital CODEC samples obviously have wider bandwidth, but not that much over my computer speakers. The highs are kind of artifact-y and mushy -- like a heavily-processed (say, 1970s-vintage Volumax!) FM signal. And they are mono, right? "Yesterday" certainly sounded like mono compared with the direct CD playback, where the acoustic guitar was firmly in the left channel. Okay, so it's "better" than "analog" AM, but so what? (Randy Stewart/Springfield MO, ibid.) ** U S A. Someone wrote: ``KWKH [1130] Shreveport, whose pattern I think is outta whack AGAIN.. They are too strong here.`` Per some sources within Clear Channel, KWKH has been doing some significant antenna work in recent months. Their pattern isn't so much outta whack as "restored to its proper state of whack after a long period of whacklessness." KEEL 710 has been undergoing maintenance as well. It was bombing into Dallas like a ton of bricks during the convention; I taped a bit of the very nifty classic country format, including the "listener testimonials," which, when coupled with the Loozyana accent, appeared to be praising a station that called itself "Kay-uhya-kay- aich," except a little swallowed at that. Say what you will about CC in other aspects of its operation, they run a magnificently clean ship engineering-wise, as anyone who heard Mark's WLW pieces on the recent DXAS issues can attest. It's rare to find a CC AM facility operating in anything less than a state of full whack. (That's the technical term. Right, Fred?) -s (Scott Fybush, NY, NRC-AM via DXLD) ** U S A. US [MW] stations heard overseas Ten years ago, 850 Boston was the best US station heard in Western Sahara. From about an hour before Boston sunset until a half hour after sunrise in the desert, it produced a decent signal. I'll grant that being on a split helped it attain that status. I can't speak for how it gets out, or doesn't get out, in its market area, but they sure got across the Atlantic to Africa easily (Gerry Bishop, Niceville, FL, NRC-AM via DXLD) The USAF was in Western Sahara? (gh) 1030 WBZ is the only AM station in Boston that doesn't have nighttime signal issues. Boston's two sports stations 850 WEEI and 1510 WWZN are probably more easily received across the Atlantic than in western Massachusetts. Okay, maybe I'm being a little sarcastic, but suburban sprawl has always been a problem for Boston AM stations, most of which beam east at night to protect stations to the west. La Mega now simulcasts on 890, 1150, and 1400 to attempt to cover suburbia, yet still doesn't have coverage comparable to most FMs (Bruce Conti - Nashua NH, NRC-AM via DXLD) WEEI-850 (ex-WHDH) and WWZN-1510 (ex-WMEX & many other calls) are the two loudest US stations in Europe, based both on what I noted from Ireland in the late '70s and on reports I see in Medium Wave News from the UK. New Yorkers on 660, 880, 1010, 1050, 1130, and 1560 - most of which have transmitters in swamp / salt-marsh type sites - also boom in across the pond. Of course some of the Canadian Maritimers such as VOCM-590 and CJYQ- 930 out of Newfoundland, being a few hundred miles closer, pack even bigger signals. Other Boston stations that make it across the pond, but at somewhat lesser strength, include WRKO-680, WBZ-1030, WMKI-1260, WXKS-1430, and WUNR-1600. WMKI does very well for its 5 kW since it's right on the shore. Even little 1 kW stations such as WESX-1230 Salem and WJDA-1300 Quincy have been logged in the UK. Like WMKI, these are aided by excellent coastal locations. A number of other more distant US stations are also picked up frequently in Europe: high-banders such as WTOP-1500 (DC), WWKB-1520 (Buffalo, NY), and WPTR-1540 (Albany, NY) are prominent. Generally the best inland-originating signals are from the Great Lakes states (aided by some lake gain): WJR-760 MI and WTAM-1100 OH do pretty well. Northern Scandinavia is much different propagationally from most of Europe and North Africa since auroral blockage makes the eastern half of the US difficult DX compared to stations along the Canadian border westward from Minnesota to Washington State. Those signals get through the "doughnut hole" in the auroral zone to reach such famous DXpedition sites such as Lemmenjoki, Finland. Some of the "peanut whistle" low-powered US stations the Finns pull in with their Beverages are heard better there at 4000+ miles than they're heard by normal listeners driving under powerlines on the other end of the stations' own towns. Bruce Conti said that WBZ-1030 can be hard to hear in a noisy part of Nashua, NH. On the other hand, I have a tape of WBZ made by Roger Perkins, W1OJ (ex-K1CZH), in late 1965 from a US Naval ship anchored off Vietnam. Perfectly good copy on that one. It all shows the fickle nature of AM reception: how far reaching it can be with the right combination of propagation, salt-water enhancement, antenna, receiver, and skilled DXer and, on the flip side of the coin, how useless it can be in the face of powerline / digital gizmo noise, concrete & steel buildings, etc. well within a station's intended coverage area (Mark Connelly, WA1ION - Billerica, MA, NRC-AM via DXLD) ** U S A. NEW STATION TO REUNITE 'UNCLE LAR & LI'L TOMMY' September 17, 2003 BY ROBERT FEDER SUN-TIMES COLUMNIST http://www.suntimes.com/output/feder/cst-fin-feder17.html Some of Chicago's biggest radio stars of the '60s and '70s soon could be teaming up to launch a brand new radio station for Clear Channel Communications. Tommy Edwards, the veteran broadcaster and programmer best known for his legendary 14-year run at WLS-AM (890), is expected to sign on as program director and morning personality on Clear Channel's new frequency at 1690 AM on the far end of the dial. If all goes as planned, Edwards will be joined on his morning show each weekday by his former "Animal Stories" partner, Larry Lujack. The prospect of reuniting "Uncle Lar and Li'l Tommy" has been a dream of their Chicago radio fans since Lujack retired in 1987. Also considered likely to have a major on-air role is Ron Britain, the wildly creative genius who reigned as "King B" on the former WCFL and other Chicago stations for 35 years. The new station, recently approved by the Federal Communications Commission and licensed to west suburban Berwyn, could hit the air before the end of the month. Operating at 10,000 watts during the day and 1,000 watts at night, its signal is expected to cover the Chicago metropolitan area. [the CP moving up from Johnson City, southern IL] The station is most likely to target baby boomers over the age of 45 with a music format that combines adult standards and popular hits of the '50s and '60s. After a distinguished career in Chicago, Edwards moved to Los Angeles in 1992 and spent the next 10 years as program director of KCBS-FM. He most recently was director of programming for American General Media, based in Albuquerque, N.M. That put Edwards in close proximity to Lujack, who lives in Santa Fe, N.M. The self-styled "Superjock" Lujack made a brief comeback on Clear Channel's former WUBT in 2000. John Gehron, who was Edwards' and Lujack's boss at WLS, now heads Clear Channel's operations in Chicago. The addition of 1690 AM would boost Clear Channel's Chicago holdings to seven. It now operates one AM station -- WGCI-AM (1390) -- and five FMs -- WGCI-FM (107.5), WKSC-FM (103.5), WLIT-FM (93.9), WNUA-FM (95.5) and WVAZ-FM (102.7). (via Artie Bigley, DXLD) UNIDENTIFIED. Just after 10 pm CDT (11 pm EDT, 0300 UT) last night, I noticed somebody on 1610 just off frequency, playing the slow movement of Mozart's "Eine Kleine Nachtmusik"... it didn't stay in long, never heard any announcements. It looped NE/SW from here -- does the Quebec station play any classical music? (Randy Stewart/Springfield MO, NRC- AM via DXLD) Montreal-1610 plays alot of lively Caribbean music so I doubt it was them. Any chance you had Vatican-1611 "slopping over" onto 1610? (Marc DeLorenzo, Marstons Mills, Mass., ibid.) I thought about that briefly, but there was no 1-kHz het -- this was just slightly off of 1610, maybe a few hundred Hz. And it didn't loop toward the Caribbean so I eliminated Caribbean Beacon as a possibility. Curiouser and curiouser (Randy Stewart/Springfield MO, ibid.) and CJWI has been reported 100+ Hz high (gh, DXLD) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ PUBLICATIONS ++++++++++++ UTE FREQUENCY REFERENCE LIST --- March 1999 This is a searchable frequency list. Enter an item to search for [238-29701 kHz] http://raven.cybercomm.net/~slapshot/utelist.html (via Bruce Valrico, FL, swl at qth.net via DXLD) DRM +++ Glenn, Interesting article in the October 2003 issue of QST. "Digital Radio Mondiale" by Steve Ford includes a circuit for converting 455 kHz IF to 12 kHz. Article also includes useful DRM links. 73, (Kraig Krist, KG4LAC, DX LISTENING DIGEST) DRM CHAIRMAN PETER SENGER RECEIVES LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARD AT IBC 2003 Amsterdam - On September 15th, Digital Radio Mondiale (DRM) Chairman Peter Senger became the first-ever recipient of the European Broadcast Union`s (EBU) Lifetime Achievement Award for Services to International Broadcasting. The award was presented by Radio Netherlands Director General Lodewijk Bouwens at the International Broadcasting Convention (IBC) 2003, where Peter Senger was presenting a lecture on digital broadcasting. Senger has led the DRM consortium since its inception in 1998, and has been Executive Director of Marketing, Distribution and Technology at Deutsche Welle (DW) since 2002. ``Peter Senger is a travelling ambassador for the industry, ensuring that technology in our sector maintains relevant and cutting edge,`` said Bouwens, who is also chairman of the EBU`s International Radio Group. ``He has represented the interests of not only his own station, but of his broadcasting colleagues across the continent. We believe Peter`s outstanding lifetime devotion to this business should be recognised, celebrated and applauded.`` The DRM consortium has 83 members representing 29 countries. In just five years, DRM created the world`s only non-proprietary, universally standardized, digital system (also called DRM) for short-wave, medium- wave/AM and long-wave that uses existing frequencies and bandwidth. DRM`s international debut occurred in June, when 16 leading broadcasters transmitted the world`s first, live DRM programs. Since then, the number of media organizations sending daily or periodic DRM broadcasts has risen to 26. With clear, near-FM quality sound and excellent reception that offers a dramatic improvement over analogue, DRM will revitalize radio in markets worldwide. DRM receivers are expected to be available in shops in 2004. Senger`s work as a high-profile pioneer of digital radio broadcasting began in 1994, when he joined the Steering Board of the World DAB Forum. He represented the interests of international broadcasters in that role until 1998. He was also Chairman of the Module for Satellite Services. At the IFA 2003 consumer electronics show in Berlin last month, Senger and World DAB Forum President Annika Nyberg announced the cooperation of DRM and the World DAB Forum, paving the way for DRM- and DAB-capable consumer receivers. Peter Senger started his DW career in 1965, after completing his studies in Broadcast Engineering in Berlin. For 16 years, he worked at various DW overseas relay stations in Africa, Europe and the Caribbean. In 1981, Senger returned to Germany, where he led DW`s Radio Frequency department for 13 years. In this role, he participated in delicate frequency coordination conferences, when countries in Eastern and Western Europe were cautiously trying to break down the Iron Curtain. From 1995 to 2002, he served as DW`s Chief Engineer and Deputy Technical Director. In this post, he was in charge of new technologies, as well as the planning and operation of the satellite network that transmits DW`s television and radio programs worldwide. In 1998 he was nominated for the Communication Section of the German Space Center ``Deutsches Zentrum für Luft- und Raumfahrt e.V./DLR.`` Over the years, Senger has travelled extensively on behalf of DW and has delivered hundreds of presentations, lectures and press conferences covering a range of industry issues. He has been active in several committees examining the implementation of digital audio broadcasting and satellite radio. Senger is also a member of the board of German TV, a pay-TV service combining the efforts of the public broadcasters ARD, ZDF and DW for program distribution in the North American market. He has led teams analysing the impact of new media and television on international audiences. (DRM press release via DXLD) PROPAGATION +++++++++++ SEC's DIRE SITUATION Dear Friend, The following describes Space Environment Center's unfortunate financial situation. For the coming fiscal year, the House Committee-recommended funding creates a huge shortfall, and the Senate Committee's recommendation implies no support for space weather service at all this year. Possibly a new service would be established elsewhere in the government, but that is uncertain at this point. We thought you would like to know. Ernest Hildner and the staff of SEC U.S. SPACE WEATHER SERVICE IN DEEP TROUBLE --- SUMMARY For Fiscal Year 2004, starting October 1, 2003, the House Appropriations Bill for Commerce, Justice, and State continues Space Environment Center's funding at $5.2 M (a reduction of 40 % below the FY02 level). Worse, the FY04 Senate Appropriations Bill zeroes Space Environment Center and all space weather in NOAA, so services, data and observations, and archiving would all disappear if the final appropriation is at the Senate level. At the House funding level, starting October 1 SEC will rapidly lose about half its staff, negatively affecting its ability to serve the Nation with operational products, data collection, and R&D. Unless the appropriation level for Space Environment Center is restored to the level of the President's FY04 Budget Request, $8.3 million, the Nation's civilian space weather service is in trouble. At the President's requested funding level, Space Environment Center can almost return to FY02 level of services, data, and R&D. BACKGROUND NOAA's Space Environment Center in Boulder, Colorado, provides a range of services to the Nation related to space weather phenomena. Among other activities, the Center is the unique provider of real-time monitoring and forecasting of solar and geophysical events, it conducts research in solar-terrestrial physics, and it develops techniques for forecasting solar and geophysical disturbances. That is, Space Environment Center is the Nation's space weather service, monitoring and predicting conditions in space, much as the National Weather Service does for meteorological weather. SEC jointly operates the Space Weather Operations Center with the U.S. Air Force and serves as the national and world warning center for disturbances that can affect people and equipment working in the space environment. It is the government's official source for alerts and warnings of disturbances. Customers include DoD, NASA, FAA, airlines, operators of electric power grids, communicators, satellite operators, the National Space Weather Program, and commercial providers of value-added space weather services. Partnering with researchers funded by NSF, NASA, and the DoD, Space Environment Center is the place where much of the nation's $100s of millions annual investment in the National Space Weather Program and in space physics research is applied for the benefit of commerce, defense, NASA spaceflight, and individual taxpayers. SEC's appropriation lines can be found in the Department of Commerce, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Office of Oceanic and Atmospheric Research portion of the Budget. In the omnibus appropriations Bill for FY 2003, the SEC received a severe cut to its budget of about 40%, with no explanation for the reduction. One-time funding additions have kept SEC afloat in FY2003. The President's Budget request is $8.3 million for SEC in FY2004 (an amount consistent with its past budgetary levels), but the House Commerce-Justice-State Appropriations Committee provides only $5.2 million, or roughly 40% less than the amount necessary to maintain SEC at its current operational effectiveness. Again for FY04, no explanatory text was included in the Committee Report to explain this reduction, and it far exceeds the 18 % reduction below request meted out to NOAA Research overall and the 1% reduction to National Weather Service's request. The Bill has not yet been acted upon by the full House. The Senate Appropriations Committee explains its termination of space weather in NOAA in the Report accompanying its Commerce-Justice- State Bill as follows. The full text of the Senate Report may be found at http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/cpquery/T?&report=sr144&dbname=cp108& Solar observation. - The "Atmospheric" in NOAA does not extend to the astral. Absolutely no funds are provided for solar observation. Such activities are rightly the bailiwick of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration and the Air Force. Needless to say, there is no evidence to suggest that NASA and the Air Force agree that one or the other, or both, should operate the Nation's civilian space weather service. CONCLUSION Unless SEC's appropriation level is increased in Conference, the best outlook is that Space Environment Center shrinks to less than half its capability (House mark), and the worst is that space weather will disappear from NOAA (Senate mark). In this case, the Nation's space weather service will have to be reconstituted in some other agency, at greater cost and lesser capability, to meet the Nation's needs. ************************************************** Ernest Hildner Director, Space Environment Center Tel: 303-497-3311 Manager, NOAA Space Weather Program Fax: 303 497-3645 325 Broadway, Boulder, CO 80305 http://www.sec.noaa.gov ************************************************** (via Candice L Curtiss, NOAA, Sept 17 via Ian Johnson, ARDXC via DXLD) FORECAST OF SOLAR AND GEOMAGNETIC ACTIVITY 17 SEPTEMBER - 13 OCTOBER Solar activity is expected to range from very low to low levels during the period. No greater than 10 MeV proton events at geosynchronous orbit are expected during the period. The greater than 2 MeV electron flux at geosynchronous orbit is expected to reach high levels on 19 - 23 September and again on 02 - 05 October. The geomagnetic field is expected to range from quiet to major storm levels during the period. A large coronal hole high speed flow is expected to return on 17 - 21 September with major storm levels possible. Another coronal hole is due to return on 01 - 03 October and is expected to produce mostly active conditions with isolated minor storm levels possible. A returning coronal hole on 05 - 08 October is expected to produce active to isolated minor storm levels. :Product: 27-day Space Weather Outlook Table 27DO.txt :Issued: 2003 Sep 16 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 2003 Sep 16 # # UTC Radio Flux Planetary Largest # Date 10.7 cm A Index Kp Index 2003 Sep 17 105 35 6 2003 Sep 18 105 30 5 2003 Sep 19 110 30 5 2003 Sep 20 115 25 5 2003 Sep 21 118 20 4 2003 Sep 22 118 15 3 2003 Sep 23 120 12 3 2003 Sep 24 120 12 3 2003 Sep 25 115 12 3 2003 Sep 26 115 12 3 2003 Sep 27 110 10 3 2003 Sep 28 110 15 3 2003 Sep 29 110 15 3 2003 Sep 30 110 20 4 2003 Oct 01 110 20 4 2003 Oct 02 110 15 3 2003 Oct 03 105 12 3 2003 Oct 04 105 10 3 2003 Oct 05 100 10 3 2003 Oct 06 100 10 3 2003 Oct 07 100 20 4 2003 Oct 08 95 15 3 2003 Oct 09 95 12 3 2003 Oct 10 95 12 3 2003 Oct 11 95 10 3 2003 Oct 12 95 10 3 2003 Oct 13 100 30 5 KN4LF DAILY HF/MF RADIO PROPAGATION OUTLOOK #2003-19 http://www.kn4lf.com/kn4lf5.htm Date Format is YY/MM/DD -- Published Tuesday 03/09/16 At 1500 UTC This propagation outlook is already valid for a 72 hour period. Beginning with today's outlook I will begin publishing it every 72 hours or three days. The next outlook will be published on Friday 03/09/19. PAST 96 HOUR SOLAR, SPACE WEATHER AND GEOMAGNETIC INDICES- Sunspot Groups No sunspot groups currently contain a twisted magnetic field capable of producing isolated very large M class solar flares. Solar Flux Readings- 98 to 94 The daily solar flux reading of 94 that occurred on the 03/09/12 and 03/09/14 was the lowest since 99/05, which was on the rising side of solar cycle 23. SEC Sunspot Number- 68 to 57 X-Ray Solar Flares- C-9 M-0 X-0 X-Ray Solar flare activity continues unusually quiet lately with no M class flares since 03/08/19 and no X class solar flares since 03/06/15. Averaged Background X-Ray Flux- B3.1 to B1.4 Energetic Protons >10 MeV (10+0)- None Geo-effective (Earth Facing) Coronal Mass Ejections (CME)- Two partially geo-effective. Coronal Holes #056 and 057 rotated into geo-effective position beginning on 03/09/13 but closed on 03/09/14. Recurrent Coronal Hole #057 rotated into geo-effective position on 03/09/14. This Coronal Hole was #052 last month and created havoc with the geomagnetic field, producing a Kp of 7 (strong storm) and an Ap of 122 (severe storm). Coronal Hole #059 will rotate into geo-effective position on 03/09/19. In the past 96 hour period the Ap index has been at quiet to unsettled levels, with a range of 5 to 12. In the past 96 hour period the Kp index has been at quiet to minor storm levels, with a range of 1 to 5. Here are some "general" guidelines concerning correlation of propagation indices to actual expected HF/MF propagation conditions. 1.) Dropping indices numbers are better, except for solar flux on HF. 2.) For medium frequencies a solar flux under 150, under 100 better, 70 is best for E layer multi hop. Keep in mind though that the 10.7 cm (2800 mhz) solar flux index is not a "reliable" gauge of ionization in our atmosphere, as the energy of photons at this frequency is to low on the order of one million times. 2a.) For high frequencies a solar flux of 100 is okay, 150 better, above 200 best for F 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 C1 for several days consecutively for 160/120 meters and less then B9 for MF broadcast band. 8.) No current STRATWARM alert. 9.) IMF Bz with a (+) positive sign, indicates a lesser chance of high latitude path auroral absorption/unpredictable refraction or scattering of MF RF signals, when the Kp is above 3. TODAY'S PROPAGATION LESSON #14- 14.) Sporadic-D (Ds) Absorption & Wave Guiding- Sporadic-D (Ds) occurrences have an inter-relationship with brief but intense Sun based and Galactic Cosmic Rays, huge positive cloud to ground lightning strokes and interrelated Sprites and Elves. Very large bursts of Gamma Rays have also been observed to occur in conjunction with Sprites. Sporadic-D (Ds) absorption occurs both at day and night. Much of the night time occurrence of Sporadic-D (Ds) absorption is often masked by lightning QRN, as well as a lack of radio operation during thunderstorm events due to the lightning strike hazard and/or high QRN levels and also due to the operator not being able to recognize the mode due to unfamiliarity with it. It's doubtful that you will read about the Sporadic-D (Ds) phenomena anywhere else other then on this website. While on the topic of lightning and propagation, an ionized lightning channel which normally has a maximum diameter of approximately a silver dollar, can reflect RF much like meteor trails do. I've personally noticed it on the 70 cm band, as a single propagation burst lasting 1/4 to ½ second. 72 HOUR PROPAGATION OUTLOOK- We will see continued active Kp-4 to minor storm Kp-5 geomagnetic conditions through today the 18th, thanks to recurring Coronal Hole #057 and two partially geo-effective Coronal Mass Ejections. Some brief periods of moderate Kp-6 storm conditions are also possible. GLOBAL HF 3000-30000 KC PROPAGATION CONDITIONS EXPECTED- Low Latitude- Good Mid Latitude- Good High Latitude- Fair To Poor GLOBAL MF 300-3000 KC PROPAGATION CONDITIONS EXPECTED- Expect fair then becoming poor "Northern Hemisphere" domestic propagation conditions on east-west paths. *Expect poor domestic conditions on north "TO" south paths in the "Northern Hemisphere" out to approximately 1100 miles. +Expect good domestic conditions on south "TO" north paths in the "Northern Hemisphere" out to approximately 1100 miles. Expect fair then becoming poor "Southern Hemisphere" domestic propagation conditions on east-west paths. +Expect good domestic conditions on north "TO" south paths in the "Southern Hemisphere" out to approximately 1100 miles. *Expect poor conditions on south "TO" north paths in the "Southern Hemisphere" out to approximately 1100 miles. "High latitude" Northern Hemisphere (TA) Trans Atlantic, (TI) Trans Indian, (TP) Trans Pacific and cross equatorial propagation conditions in excess of approximately 3200 miles should be poor. "High latitude" Southern Hemisphere (TA) Trans Atlantic, (TI) Trans Indian, (TP) Trans Pacific and cross equatorial propagation conditions in excess of approximately 3200 miles should be poor. "Mid latitude" Northern Hemisphere (TA) Trans Atlantic, (TI) Trans Indian, (TP) Trans Pacific and cross equatorial propagation conditions in excess of approximately 3200 miles should be fair then becoming fair to good. "Mid latitude" Southern Hemisphere (TA) Trans Atlantic, (TI) Trans Indian, (TP) Trans Pacific and cross equatorial propagation conditions in excess of approximately 3200 miles should be fair then becoming fair to good. "Low latitude" Northern Hemisphere (TA) Trans Atlantic, (TI) Trans Indian, (TP) Trans Pacific propagation conditions in excess of approximately 3200 miles should be good. "Low latitude" Southern Hemisphere (TA) Trans Atlantic, (TI) Trans Indian, (TP) Trans Pacific propagation conditions in excess of approximately 3200 miles should be good. Propagation Forecast Scales- Excellent- +1 db Over S9 Or better Good- S7-9 Fair- S4-6 Poor- S1-3 NOISE (QRN) OUTLOOK- GLOBAL SATELLITE DERIVED LIGHTNING STRIKE DATA (See Where Your QRN Is Coming From) http://aviationweather.gov/gcd/graf/expconus.gif http://aviationweather.gov/gcd/graf/exptropical.gif During the 72 hour outlook period there will be "high" lightning induced QRN levels in low latitude areas of the Northern Hemisphere due to the proximity of the Inter-Tropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ) and tropical cyclones. Northern hemisphere mid latitude regions can expect "moderate to high" lightning induced QRN tied to summer season thunderstorms, cold/warm/occluded fronts and associated extra-tropical cold core low pressure systems and tropical cyclones. Northern hemisphere high latitude regions can expect "low to moderate" lightning induced QRN tied to summer season thunderstorms, cold/warm/ occluded fronts and associated extra-tropical cold core low pressure systems. During the outlook period there will be "high to moderate" lightning induced QRN levels in low latitude areas of the Southern Hemisphere due to the proximity of the Inter Tropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ) and tropical cyclones. Southern hemisphere mid latitude regions can expect "moderate" lightning induced QRN, tied to winter season thunderstorms cold/warm/ occluded fronts and associated extra-tropical cold core low pressure systems. Southern hemisphere high latitude regions can expect "low" lightning induced QRN tied to winter season thunderstorms, cold/warm/occluded fronts and associated extra-tropical cold core low pressure systems. Space Weather Scales- Kp Indices- G5 = Extreme Storm - Kp = 9 G4 = Severe Storm - Kp = 8 G3 = Strong Storm - Kp = 7 G2 = Moderate Storm - Kp = 6 G1 = Minor Storm - Kp = 5 Active - Kp = 4 Unsettled - Kp = 3 Ap Indices- Ap 100-400 Severe Storm Ap 50-99 Major Storm Ap 30-49 Minor Storm Ap 16-29 Active Ap 8-15 Unsettled Ap 0-7 Quiet Correlation Of Kp To Ap Indices- K- 0= A- 0 K- 1= A- 3 K- 2= A- 7 K- 3= A- 15 K- 4= A- 27 K- 5= A- 48 K- 6= A- 80 K- 7= A- 140 K- 8= A- 240 K- 9= A- 400 Standard Disclaimer- Note! I use "RAW" public domain data from the NOAA Space Environment Center, as well as other U.S. government organizations, to produce my "not for profit" propagation forecast outlooks. This data is gathered and made public by the U.S. Government using taxpayer $$$. However the forecast outlooks that I produce from the "RAW" public domain data, is my personal intellectual property. Therefore the propagation outlooks contained herein is copyrighted © 1988-2003 by Thomas F. Giella and the Florida Space And Atmospheric Weather Institute, all rights reserved. Reproduction of information herein is allowed as long as proper credit is given. Also space weather forecasting is still an inexact science. The discussions, forecasts and outlooks are not official but for educational purposes only and are subject to human error and acts of God, therefore no guarantee or warranty implied 73 & GUD DX, Thomas F. Giella, KN4LF, Plant City, FL, USA KN4LF Daily Solar Space Weather & Geomagnetic Data Archive & Daily HF/MF Radio Propagation Outlook http://www.kn4lf.com/kn4lf5.htm KN4LF HF/MF Radio Propagation Theory Notes http://www.kn4lf.com/kn4lf8.htm KN4LF 160 Meter Amateur Radio Resources & More http://www.kn4lf.com/kn4lf.htm Florida Space & Atmospheric Weather Institute http://www.kn4lf.com/fsawi.htm (via NRC-AM via DXLD) ### ||||||||||||||||| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||| DX LISTENING DIGEST 3-166, September 15, 2003 edited by Glenn Hauser 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 later at http://www.worldofradio.com/dxldtd3i.html For restrixions and searchable 2003 contents archive see http://www.worldofradio.com/dxldmid.html NOTE: If you are a regular reader of DXLD, and a source of DX news but have not been sending it directly to us, please consider yourself obligated to do so. Thanks, Glenn NEXT AIRINGS OF WORLD OF RADIO EXTRA 44: RFPI: Wed 0100, 0730, 1330 on 7445 [nominal times often delayed] WWCR: Wed 0930 9475 WINB: Thu 0130 9320 WRN ONDEMAND: http://new.wrn.org/listeners/stations/station.php?StationID=24 OUR ONDEMAND AUDIO [also for CONTINENT OF MEDIA, MUNDO RADIAL]: Check http://www.worldofradio.com/audiomid.html WORLD OF RADIO EXTRA 44 (high version): (stream) http://www.w4uvh.net/worx44h.ram (download) http://www.w4uvh.net/worx44h.rm (summary) http://www.worldofradio.com/worx44.html WORLD OF RADIO EXTRA 44 (low version available from 0400 UT Sept 15): (stream) http://www.w4uvh.net/worx44.ram (download) http://www.w4uvh.net/worx44.rm UNSOLICITED TESTIMONIAL Glenn, when I posted the brief RFCI item to Cumbre I had that nag like I should have been sending it somewhere else, too. Glad that all I heard was well covered by others. Keep up the great work. Much appreciated here, though I sure don't let you know that very often, and that's my fault. 73s (Gerry Bishop, FL) DXLD broke the RFCI story, but I notice a lot of DXers reporting it haven`t had the courtesy to acknowledge this. Even stranger, RFCI appears to be of utterly no interest e.g. in the swl at qth.net list, and in BC-DX. As usual, all reports below under MEXICO [non] (gh) ** ALASKA [non] Re: HARRP connection with NE power blackout, see http://zapatopi.net/afdb.html (Chuck Albertson, Seattle, Wash., DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ALBANIA. 9520 kHz, from 1845 UT Sept 15 with sign on orchestral theme, ID in English, music, program notes, and news. SINPO 43333 (barely fair due to poor modulation, only occasional word easily understood). Drake SW8 with whip antenna (Roger Chambers, Utica, NY, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** AUSTRALIA. HUNDREDS RALLY FOR ABC 15sep03 HUNDREDS of people rallied in Sydney yesterday to support the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, arguing a lack of government funding threatened its independence and programming. . . http://www.theadvertiser.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5936,7265441%255E911,00.html (via Jilly Dybka, DXLD) ** BAHRAIN. 2003-09-14. Dear Friends: A couple of hours ago I returned from a DX Camp in Chascomus with my friends Arnaldo Slaen, Enrique Wembagher and Marcelo Cornacchioni here the result: 9745, Radio Bahrain, Abu Ayan, 1912 -1925, Sep 13, Arabic, Comments and music by man and female announcer, mention Bahrain several times, ID"....Radio Bahrain...", 23322. Location: Chascomus 120 km SW from Buenos Aires Receivers: Sony ICF 2010 Antenna: Longwire 25 m (Nicolás Eramo, Argentina, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** BELARUS`. Hello Mr. Hauser --- Enjoyed QRM free, SIO 444 reception of Radio Minsk English program Sept. 15 at 0200 UT on 7210 kHz. Usually too much amateur QRM during the week, but hams must turn in early Sunday night. 73s (Ben Loveless, WB9FJO, Michigan, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** BULGARIA. A Radio Bulgarie Internationale, on ne semble pas trop croire au retour des émission de 60 minutes à la place de celles qui durent actuellement une demi-heure. La Compagnie Nationale des Télécommunications (BTK) qui assure la diffusion des émissions en ondes courtes et qui est propriétaire des émetteurs, est en passe d'être privatisée et on ignore les tarifs qui seront demandés pour ce service et si la radio pourra payer. En revanche, la radio nationale bulgare et Radio Bulgarie Internationale débuteront dans quelques jours les tests du futur site Internet qui ouvrira prochainement. Les auditeurs pourront y trouver - dans l'ensemble des langues de diffusion - les informations ainsi que des sujets qui auront été diffusés sur les ondes (Radio Bulgarie Internationale - 13 septembre 2003) (informations issues de http://perso.wanadoo.fr/jm.aubier via DXLD) ** BURKINA FASO. 5030 kHz, Radio Burkina, in French from 2233 past 2320 UT Sept 15; music (light Afropop), male announcer, guitar in Sahel style, 2250: drums interval signal, more talk, tentative "CRTM", more drums at 2258. More Sahel style flute music and regional guitar. 2312: drums, then tin drums or another mallet instrument, Sahel style flute (interval signal?), and clear ID of Radio Burkina at 2316. Pretty good signal, overall 32122, frequent static crashes, generally poor with fair peaks. Drake SW8 with whip in Utica, New York (Roger Chambers, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CANADA. Canada, CFVP, 6030, Sept. 13th, 2315, Burton Cummings "These Eyes", Elton John "Good-Bye Yellow Brick Road", Om with tx on Calgary restaurant, equal to co-frequency Radio Marti and sidekick. Fair (Joe Talbot, Alberta, Canada, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CHINA. Re: ITU LW/MW COORDINATION SURVEY http://www.itu.int/ITU-R/publications/brific-ter/index.html See "GE75_110" in the file list (Bernd Trutenau, Lithuania, MWDX Sept 9 via DXLD) Interesting is also the new Chinese 600 kW stations on 1197, 1422 and 1539 kHz all three at Kashgar-Western Xinjiang. Daytime at 140 degrees towards Tibet, nighttime towards AFG, PAK, UZB, TJK, IRN etc., so seemingly foreign broadcast sce ?? (Wolfgang Büschel, Sept 13, BC-DX via DXLD) Since the data of all three entries for Kashi [Kashgar], China are identical I suspect that only one transmitter is planned and that the Chinese want to have a choice of frequencies. Analysis: Location: Kashi in SW Xinjiang province. The coördinates correspond to a location some distance SW of Kashi. Frequencies: 1197, 1422, 1539. Transmitter power: 600 kW. Directional: Day and night, different patterns. Daytime pattern: Main lobe 140 deg, 6000 kW ERP, backlobe 320 deg 1500 kW ERP. The main lobe covers a chain of towns in SW Xinjiang. Nighttime pattern: Main lobe 200 deg, 3000 kW ERP, backlobe 20 deg 750 kW ERP. Power at 320 degrees (towards Europe) approx. 40 kW ERP. The main lobe covers Pakistan, NW India and eastern Afghanistan and obviously is intended for external services to these areas (Olle Alm, Sweden, BC-DX Sept 14 via DXLD) ** COSTA RICA. RFPI`s 16th anniversary is upon us. Normally a special Fiesta on the Air is broadcast; last year it was Sept 16, or early UT 17th, but I have heard nothing about one this year. Under the present circumstances, I expect it would be untenable, as callers would want to know what`s going on, and RFPI is gagged from discussing the situation. But tune in 7445 anyway, in case they mark the occasion in some low-key manner (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Later: Hi Glenn, we are planning an open house on Sunday [Sept 21] and we are not sure yet how we will do on-air broadcasting tomorrow [Sept 16], things are just so crazy here at the moment. We will try to do something; hopefully on Sunday we will have live broadcasting of the open house (Naomi Fowler, RFPI, Sept 15, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Later: INTERNATIONAL PEACE DAY AND RADIO FOR PEACE INTERNATIONAL`S 16TH BIRTHDAY PARTY Come to our celebration of 16 years of global progressive broadcasting! See the work of this unique voice on shortwave! Visit the ONLY voice of the United Nations in the hemisphere! Participate in the birthday broadcast! Peace! Human Rights! Environment! Social Justice! Marginalized voices! Corporate crime watch! Sunday, September 21, 2003 CR: 9:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. USA: 6:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. Bring your lunch and a bit extra! Bring your friends! USA: Call 800-493-5718 AND GO LIVE ON THE AIRWAVES UPEACE RFPI El Rodeo (from an RFPI poster, via DXLD) Strange USA time ** CUBA. D'après le dernier horaire de la station, Radio Havane Cuba a pratiquement supprimé ses émissions à destinations de l'Europe. Les seules qui demeurent sont celles en portugais entre 2000 et 2030 TU sur 17750 et celles en espagnol entre 2100 et 2300, toujours sur 17750. Les émissions en français à 2000 et à 2100 TU [11760] sont dirigées vers "New York" (horaire de Radio Havane Cuba via Gilles Garnier - 09 septembre 2003) NDR: curieusement, ces émissions vers "New York" coïncident avec une réception nettement améliorée en Europe. Il faut certainement voir plutôt dans ce mieux la mise en place des nouveaux émetteurs (informations issues de http://perso.wanadoo.fr/jm.aubier via DXLD) ** CUBA. See 3-156 about the dishes going up in easternmost Cuba, suspected for ``jamming`` Radio Martí. I have been intending to add some comments. It is extremely unusual to install satellite dishes high up on water tanks, less so on existing tall buildings. This combination of factors makes it seem that the Cubans are planning to hit satellites over the Atlantic or very far eastward, very close to the horizon as viewed from Cuba. Perhaps someone more familiar with satellite mechanics can point out some likely candidates, perhaps including those targeting Iran, already jammed by Cuba. Are the upcoming TV Martí direct satellite broadcasts from such eastern geostationary orbits? (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CZECH REPUBLIC. Re 3-159, obit for Tigrid: In case you wonder about the non-Czech name of Mr. Tigrid - of course 'Tigrid' was his pseudonym. The story is, that, while still a boy at school, he was never able to speak correctly the name of the Iraqi river 'Tigris' .. thus he later choose such a name later as his pseudonym (M. Schöch, Germany, Sep 8, 2003 for CRW via DXLD) ** DOMINICAN REPUBLIC. 6025: On Sept. 8 , "Quisqueyanos", the Dominican National Anthem, clearly heard at 0358 (mixing with R. Budapest in Spanish, followed by its IS and multilingual ID's). Although not noted here before, the signal could well be R. Amancecer in Santo Domingo at sign-off. By the way, Quisqueya is the country's historical (aboriginal) name, used mostly in literature or for political and cultural purposes (Victor C. Jaar, Québec, NASWA Flashsheet via DXLD) ** EL SALVADOR. YSDA, 17833.9, Sept. 13th, 2250, OM calling soccer game, just audible below slop from RCI (via Japan) in French on 17835. Poor (Joe Talbot, Alberta, Canada, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** FINLAND. Swedish spoken in Finland is MUCH different from that spoken in Sweden. The Finnish Swedish has a totally different intonation, just like in Finnish, not that "singing" sound like in Swedish Swedish, but always stress on the first syllable. There are also some differences in vocabulary but the most important difference is the sound (Mauno Ritola, Finland, Sept 10, BC-DX Sept 15 via DXLD) ** GERMANY. It seems the residents close to the Holzkirchen station are determined to be rid of it. Just check out this: http://www.sender-freies-oberland.de/e_index.htm The IBB will maybe have to look around for another relay site to make up for its loss. Well, I think the capacity at BIB, LAM, JUL and WER (the T-Systems facilities can be certainly included in view of the cooperation arrangement with IBB Germany) could be sufficient, so probably HOL will be closed and nobody will note due to a smooth move of all transmissions to other sites, like it was done when PALS was closed down. Probably HOL is meanwhile considered as really unnecessary, namely because only antennas for bearings between 30 and 70 degrees or so are available, allowing transmissions into the FSU and multi-hop transmissions into target areas behind... The 4 x 250 kW date from c1981 so may be worth while installing elsewhere? Certainly yes, like it was done with the mediumwave rig which is of similar age and design (Kai Ludwig, Germany, BC-DX Sept 11 via DXLD) Nach Zeitungsmeldungen von Anfang September 2003 soll das fuer die Sendeanlagen des Auslandsrundfunks der USA zustaendige International Broadcasting Bureau zugesagt haben, seine Kurzwellenstation im bayerischen Oberland spaetestens im Juni 2005 aufzugeben. Auf der seit 1951 betriebenen Station Holzkirchen, deren Schliessung von der Buergerinitiative Sender Freies Oberland http://www.sender-freies-oberland.de seit Jahren gefordert wird, sind noch vier 250 kW-Kurzwellensender im Einsatz. Die Mittelwelle wurde bereits 2001 aufgegeben, der Sender steht inzwischen in Kuwait. 1994 war das Sendeende fuer 1995 angekuendigt worden, hatte dann wegen des Jugoslawien-Krieges doch nicht stattgefunden. Nach Angaben des Buergermeisters Josef Huber kostet der Abbruch eine halbe Million Euro. Das Auswaertige Amt habe bereits angefragt, ob die Gemeinde einen Teil der entstehenden Kosten uebernehmen werde. Die Gemeinde Valley moechte das 142 Hektar grossen Gelaende von der Bundesvermoegensverwaltung kaufen und einen Golfplatz samt Golfhotel darauf errichten. Schon drei Investoren haetten sich fuer das Golfplatz-Projekt beworben (newspaper Muenchner Merkur 2.9.2003, von Dr. Hansjoerg Biener ergaenzt; ntt via BC-DX via DXLD) ** GERMANY. Had a look into the GE75_110.pdf file (MW File). The new entry private station Frankfurt/Main 1080 kHz G.C. 08E39 50N08 95 metres high, 5 kW day 7.8 dB, 0.5 night. But compared this entry with the AFN and HR transmitter site coördinates; the installation will only fit to the tall Frankfurt Bockenheim Telecommunications tower of Deutsche Telekom, next to the European Central Bank building and Frankfurt Fair location. I see the antenna pattern of IBB Cape Greco CYP has maxima at 120 NE and 230 degrees to NAf?? (wb, Sept 13) [see also under CHINA, ed.] The new entry private station Frankfurt/Main 1080 kHz G.C. 08E39 50N08 95 metres high, 5 kW day 7.8 dB, 0.5 night. KL: Yes, enquiries are still to be made, but it appears that the idea is now indeed to place a mediumwave transmitter at the Ginnheim telcom tower (which, by the way, will likely become the home of two new FM outlets soon), with a simple antenna wire installation like at Geyer, Regensburg Ziegetsberg, Muenchen Blutenburgstrasse etc. Background: First LPR put 1080 on tender for daytime operation only because a nighttime operation with 500 watts was considered as useless. But any broadcaster away from the notorious Megaradio stated that this limitation to daylight hours would be unacceptable. And so obviously the new plan is to place the transmitter inmidst the city to allow a sufficient nighttime service even with the 500 watts limit. Weisskirchen is too far away for that and obviously for this reason out of the race (Kai Ludwig, Germany, BC-DX Sept 12 via DXLD) ** HUNGARY. Radio Budapest fue captada en los 3974.99 kHz, SINPO 2/2, a las 0330 UT, con el programa DX, el lunes 15/09. El programa DX sale todos los domingos (lunes universales). 73's y buen DX (Adán González, Venezuela, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 250 kW, Spanish to Europe, per SW Guide (gh, DXLD) ** INDONESIA. RRI Jakarta was heard on 15175 at 0900+. This seems to be a move from either 15125 or 15150, where only VOIRI is heard. The signal is only weak at my location, and the HS programme carried is not known (Noel R. Green, UK, BC-DX Sept 10 via DXLD) Why not a mixing product if both 15125 and 15150 are on at the time? (gh, DXLD) ** INTERNATIONAL INTERNET. SOME ADVISE 'EVERYWHERE INTERNET AUDIO' NEW ECONOMY By DON TAPSCOTT The music industry, hurt by a decline in CD sales and the continued free swapping of files on the Internet, took the drastic action last week of filing more than 250 lawsuits against consumers. But whatever catharsis record executives and their lawyers may feel, the courts cannot solve the music industry's fundamental problem. Nor does the answer lie in getting people to pay for each music file they download from the Internet. Instead of clinging to late-20th-century distribution technologies, like the digital disk and the downloaded file, the music business should move into the 21st century with a revamped business model using innovative technology, several industry experts say. They want the music industry to do unto the file-swapping services what the services did unto the music companies - eclipse them with better technology and superior customer convenience. Their vision might be called "everywhere Internet audio.'' . . . http://www.nytimes.com/2003/09/15/technology/15neco.html?ex=1064203200&en=0be85bfc39b4ef2e&ei=5062&partner=GOOGLE (via Jill Dybka, DXLD) ** INTERNATIONAL VACUUM. SATELLITE RADIO IS FINALLY ON THE BEAM 09/12/03 WAYNE THOMPSON About a century ago, Reginald Fessenden, a Canadian engineer, figured out a way to transmit something more useful than Marconi's telegraph code. In 1900, he transmitted his voice for about a mile. Four years later, he discovered amplitude modulation (AM). . . http://www.oregonlive.com/living/oregonian/index.ssf?/base/living/1063281617240920.xml (via Jilly Dybka, DXLD) ** INTERNATIONAL WATERS [and non]. Hurricane Isabel: see USA this time ** IRAN. Il y a quelques semaines (cf information du 17 juillet), la Voix de la République Islamique d'Iran avait envoyé un courrier électronique à plusieurs auditeurs, indiquant que les techniciens souhaitaient arrêter les émissions en ondes courtes. Dans l'émission du courrier des auditeurs du 6 septembre, il a été dit qu'il "n'était plus question" d'arrêter les ondes courtes... Cela tend à confirmer que cette information était bidon et que la station, bien mal inspirée ce jour là, avait peut-être voulu augmenter le nombre de lettres qu'elle reçoit (et qui ne semble pas très important). Il ne se passe d'ailleurs plus une semaine sans que l'on reçoive des courriers électroniques de Téhéran pour nous demander notre avis sur divers sujets (informations issues de http://perso.wanadoo.fr/jm.aubier via DXLD) ** IRAQ. Subject: Soldiers and Shortwave Some in the U.S. military in Iraq apparently have resorted to buying equipment for themselves to augment their survivability. Since the article mentioned a ``shortwave radio`` of undisclosed manufacture, I`ve included a link to the article. http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=34575 An excerpt follows. [omitted; last two paragraphs from below] Regards (``Soliloquy``, rec.radio.shortwave September 14 via John Norfolk, DXLD) The complete article: IN THE MILITARY --- SANTA HELPING UNCLE SAM IN TERROR WAR Reports detail how soldiers shell out own money for gear Posted: September 13, 2003 1:00 a.m. Eastern © 2003 WorldNetDaily.com Among the lessons learned from Operation Iraqi Freedom is that U.S. troops not only valiantly served their country, but they also dug into their own pockets to do so. The Pentagon`s draft report of the conflict details how soldiers spent their own money to get better field radios, extra ammunition carriers and commercial backpacks to replace undersized rucksacks, according to Scripps Howard News Service. An internal Army report similarly documented the trend among ground troops in Afghanistan and Iraq. U.S. and Romanian soldiers from Khandahar Army Airfield provide medical and dental care for Afghani citizens in Dah Masazo Kalay, Afghanistan. ``There were a lot of reports of that prior to the war, people would go out and buy their own gear,`` Patrick Garrett, a defense analyst with GlobalSecurity.org, told the news service. ``The Army ran out of desert camo boots, and a lot of soldiers were being issued regular black combat boots. Soldiers decided that wasn`t for them, so they paid for new boots with their own money.`` Scripps Howard interviewed Senior Airman Joe Harvey, who is based at McGuire Air Force Base in New Jersey, about the personal financial cost of deployment. Harvey said the Air Force provides most aspects of the uniform, including four sets of combat and dress uniforms and provides an annual clothing allowance of $200 to cover all other expenses. ``Of course with all the wear and tear [the uniforms] don`t always last that long,`` Harvey said. ``Now with some of the units if you rip a pair of bdu`s [battle dress uniforms] they will give you a new pair. But for the most part you are responsible for buying any new uniform you need except for boots.`` Beyond basic apparel, soldiers also scrounged for equipment to help them do their duty. Last year, Marine Sgt. Mike Corcoran put $2,000 night-vision goggles, a global positioning system and a short-wave radio on the Christmas wish-list he sent home to his mother. The news service reports Santa didn`t disappoint but sent Corcoran, who has since left the Marines, everything he asked for. The short- wave radio wound up providing intelligence on enemy fighters. (via John Norfolk, DXLD) ** ISRAEL. FUTURE KI ENGLISH CHANGES Staffers at Israel Radio say, that in 'mid October', the Kol Israel English broadcasts will be moved to the REQA network instead of Reshet Alef. The English radio news would broadcast at the following local Israel times: 0630-0645, 1245-1300, 1900-1915 Those of you listen in Israel (whether a resident or just visiting), please mail Mr. Barel and let him know what you think of the time changes and how local reception of REQA compares to Reshet Alef. Mr. Yosef Barel, IBA Director General IBA House Jaffa Road Jerusalem REQA is available on the following frequencies - so you can listen and find out how reception is in the area you are in, even if you don't understand the Russian or Amharic that REQA is currently broadcasting: Akko 1575 AM (MW) Yavne 954 AM (MW) Upper Galilee 94.4 FM Haifa 93.7 FM Tel Aviv 101.2 FM Jerusalem 101.3 FM Beer Sheva 107.3 FM Of course, if the local times change, it would impact shortwave and web broadcasts as well. Since these are domestic broadcasts, the primary concern is the domestic audience. Thanks (Doni Rosenzweig, Sept 15, DX LISTENING DIGEST) KI - Persian.../ Radio Kol Chai --- An article regarding Israel President Moshe Katzav's address to Iranians on Israel Radio's Persian service. http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,96339,00.html "Israel Radio reaches more than 1 million listeners in Iran and can be heard over the radios of shopkeepers in Tehran's markets, said Amir, who translated for Katsav." This URL was mentioned on radiointel.com ==== Radio Kol Chai will be adding a DAILY 1 hour timeslot in English. It will broadcast newsmagazines & Hasidic Pop/Rock Radio shows during the course of the week. Kol Chai http://kolchai.moreshet.co.il (it's a Hebrew site)(via Doni Rosenzweig, DXLD) See also 3-161 ** LAOS [non]. I heard Hmong Lao Radio today. Signal of 15555 [reported new Taiwan relay testing] was not arrival. 17540 was good, heard regional music and announcement by man (Gaku Iwata, Japan, BC-DX Sept 12, via DXLD) ** LIBERIA. 4760, ELWA Radio, 2137-2206, 10/09, English, music at tune-in, long talk re "Liberian Bible Association", recorded speech by OM regarding UN and Liberia's reconstruction, announcements at 2201 followed by Afropops. Fair with propagational fades (Scott Barbour, NH, NASWA Flashshsheet via DXLD) ** LUXEMBOURG. AFAIK, RTL 1440 kHz is sending since last Monday with 1200 kilowatts up to 10 am CEST with its regular German program and additional regional informations for listeners in North-Rhine- Westfalia (e.g. weather-forecast, traffic-informations). I do not know if this is in view of future DRM-broadcasts, but actually I don't think so. I've heard this program in Frankfurt/Main with a very strong signal (0=4) and precisely at 10 am CEST the transmission power was lowered down to the usual daily 300 kW and RTL was barely audible (Heinz Hermann, Germany, A-DX Sept 13 via BC-DX via DXLD) ** MEXICO [non]. CLANDESTINE, 15045.0, Radio Free Cascadia Int`l, Sep 13/14, Good signals here in the northeast on these 2 nights: Sep 13, 0112-0131, English talk on the climate of extreme violence for women in maquiladoras in northern Mexico, 0130 ID "You are listening to Radio Free Cascadia..." into Spanish program "Voces de Libertad", recheck at 0200 with Spanish talk but signal much weaker and gone by 0204. Sep 14, 0209-0238*, 2 Zapatista speeches recorded live at a rally on Aug 9, each immediately followed by an in-studio English translation. 0238 ID "You are listening to Radio Free Cascadia International broadcasting from North America behind (?enemy?) [nead]lines...", followed by apparent sign-off. Very good signal with deep fades. Hopefully this isn't the last we've heard from them on SW (Mark Mohrmann, VT, DX LISTENING DIGESET) 15045 CLANDESTINE (Mexico?). R. Free Cascadia International, heard at various times, poor with ID and E-mail and postal addresses at 0058 Sep 12, better that afternoon at 2150-2245, "peace" programming, IDs, mention of frequency, Cancun, rock music; also at 2025 Sep 13 with full ID by woman, earlier read a report from a listener in China and said would send him and other reporters a QSL. Audio varied from barely perceptible to good, carrier usually fairly decent. Announced would be on Sep 10-14; P.O. Box 703, Eugene, OR 97440 (Jerry Berg, MA, NASWA Flashsheet via DXLD) 2148-2230+, 2300-2314, 0114-0140, Sep 12, vocal followed by ID and frequency announcement by a man in English. A woman followed with a long Spanish language talk. After a protest song, a woman gave the ID: "You are listening to Radio Free Cascadia International on 15,045 kilohertz." She read an article from a website. Retune around 2300 to hear a man talking in English about terrorism. Around 0114 an interview about woman being abused in labor force in Mexico. At 0131 "program Voice de Libertad" began hosted by a man. Poor to fair (at peaks) with very deep fades. However, seemed to be much steadier signal around 0115 although still deep fades. Location? Seems very political in nature and presumably illegal so is "clandestine" the appropriate home or is "pirate" the correct classification? (Rich D`Angelo, PA, NASWA Flashsheet via DXLD) They referred to themselves on air as ``clandestine`` (gh, DXLD) USA (?), Radio Free Cascadia, 15045, Sept. 13th, 1920+, in most of the day at various levels, excellent signal for 15-25 minute periods, then fading below noise. IDs in Spanish and English, 0015 in with Spanish/ English program, solid signal, 100% copy with very good audio, theme from gang 80's movie, anti-establishment song, talk on situations in Central/South America, by 0032 fade out, copy down to zero. Great programming! This frequency used by 80's pirates. Excellent to Very Poor (Joe Talbot, Red Deer, Alberta, Canada. N: 52-16-18 W: 113-48-46. Grid: DO32cg. Rx: Rockwell Collins HF-2050. JRC NRD 535D Kiwa/ Universal Radio Mods. Antennas: 7 Slinky - 92'(28m). 14'(4.26m) x 29'(8.83m) Flag. T2FD Centered On 90m (3300 kHz). 65'(20m) Coil Loaded Sloper. MFJ 1026 With Vertical. 64' (19.5m) Trylon Tower. DX LISTENING DIGEST) Se escuchó con señal pobre por acá durante casi todos los días de transmisión. Incluso no llegó demasiado bien a Chascomus. Parece una interesante experiencia comunicacional. Para el que lo precise, colegas de los Estados Unidos han informado un QTH electrónico y otro postal. Yo escuché solamente un ratito las transmisiones y con muy pobre recepción. Por momentos, apenas distinguía que se hablaba en inglés. Las transmisiones duraban muchas horas y, por lo que pude ver, estaban teñidas de informalidad, por lo cual es muy lógico que se haya identificado de muchas maneras distintas. Habrá manera de conseguir la QSL? No será fácil. Vi que tiene un QTH electrónico e incluso hay por allí una dirección en los EEUU. 73's (Arnaldo Slaen, Argentina, Sept 15, Conexión Digital via DXLD) The original website and e-mail were restored on Sept. 14. For posterity, here`s the posted Spanish version, of website, sic: Un Transmisíon Especial de Radío Cascadia Libre In English [link] email RCLI: rfci@riseup.net RFCI P.O. Box 703 Eugene, OR 97440 EEUU RCLI transmitiremos en la banda onda corta mundial a Mexico, CentroAmerica y SudAmerica de 10 a 14 de Septiembre. Transmitiremos en solidaridad con miles de personas protestando la Organizacion Mundial Comercial (OMC) en Cancún, México, la gente indigena del mundo, y todos los que resistan la represíon y la dominancía global por las corporacíones, gobiernos, y las varias organizacíones capitalistas como la OMC. RCLI retransmitiremos un stream de audío de Cancún y programará en Español y Ingles, incluyendo reportajes en vivo desde Cancún, noticias, comentarios, y la musíca de la revolucíon de las Americas. Dirigiremos la emisíon hacia a México y estarán escuchado en Cuba, Colombía, Ecuador, Brazil, y otras nacíones de America Latina y los EEUU. RCLI es una accíon directa de resistancía y solidaridad. Modulamos el aíre tan librementa como respiramos; luchamos contra los que reclaman control de los elementos naturales, la gente, las plantas y los animales de la Tierra. El Programa de Emisión 12:00 del mediodía - 12:00 de la medianoche en Cancun, México (1700- 0500 UTC [GMT]) en frecuencia 15045 kilohertz. (via Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Muchos DXistas han captado Radio Free Cascadia en 15045 pero parece que solamente yo haya tenido esta identificación: "Radio Rebelde - Radio Libre Internacional". Pueden escuchar una grabación de "Radio Rebelde" 15045.00 kHz en esta página(SWB): http://homepage.sverige.net/~a-0901/ (Björn Malm, Ecuador, Conexión Digital via DXLD) Björn Malm`s recording is actually available now, and it says, ``Está escuchando radio rebelde, Radio Libre International Cascade...`` (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Hola Björn, También logré escuchar su identificación que das; lo que es seguro, el locutor (que escuché), su idioma materno no es el español; pude escuchar la identificación que das, ``Radio Rebelde Libre Cascadia``, o a veces diciendo Cascade [Caskeid], en vez de Cascadia, y hasta su identificación en inglés Radio Free Cascadia International (Héctor García Bojorge, DF, Conexión Digital via DXLD) Anotem: Em 13 de setembro passado (no Brasil), ou 14 de setembro (UTC), sintonizei a partir de 0146 UTC - em 15045 kHz ( SINPO = 2 4 2 2 2 ) - a emissora pertencente ao movimento 'zapatista' (Chiapas, no México). Ao menos dava a entender que se tratava de uma emissora 'zapatista'... A emissora estava transmitindo uma espécie de festa ou assembléia (talvez como contraponto à 'festa' da OMC que estava transcorrendo em Cancún)... ...vinha alguém e tomava o microfone (talvez em uma tribuna armada em campo aberto) e fazia seu discurso. Após discurso, muitos aplausos e 'palavras de ordem'. Ouvi discursos em inglês-americano (com sotaque europeu) de jovens que faziam apologia ao movimento 'zapatista', ao socialismo, contra o capitalismo e criticavam o governo mexicano (chamando os políticos mexicanos de 'gangsters', etc.) Em seqüência, outro vinha e fazia seu discurso. Ouvi discursos em espanhol, igualmente. O teor era o mesmo, sempre criticando o capitalismo e definindo os políticos mexicanos como 'bandidos', etc. Alguém mais ouviu? 73s (Ricardo, Atibaia, SP, SONY 7600G (antena telescópica), radioescutas Sept 15 via DXLD) Notes from my monitoring of RFCI, 15045, on its last day, Sept 14: tune-in at 2005 UT as they were saying they do have plans for future transmissions, but can`t divulge yet. Then a mailbag, reading a number of reception reports, seemingly in full, including some names I hadn`t heard of before, and some I had: Richard A. D`Angelo, Gabriel Iván Barrera, Tomaszko, Jerry Berg --- who didn`t miss an opportunity to plug his book. At 2040-2044 made some statements in solidarity with Radio for Peace International, who are having problems in Costa Rica, and who, RFCI believes, would not mind the use of 15045 at the moment. But RFCI is ``in no way connected with RFPI``. When I retuned at 2115 the signal was gone. Had something happened? I stayed tuned, and finally at 2252 the carrier and a noise came back on, at programming resumed with music at 2254; 2255 ID, and said they had dropped carrier because an aerial vehicle was checking them out, ``and you might hear us go down if it comes back``. But the big news was that the ``Cancún talks have collapsed``, causing great celebration. [BTW, that`s one subject of NPR`s Talk of the Nation on Tuesday.] At 2304 Spanish ID and lema repeated; 2344 anti-FCC free-speech song in English by the Yeasty(?) Girls; 2315 greetings to everyone, WTO meeting collapsed; 2318 Spanish ID as ``Radio Libre International Cascade``, news; 2324 ID and lema again; 2333 English ID; 2340 woman talks about ``fires to the wires`` despite ``aerial infiltration from the rear`` (or something like that, in my scribbled notes); and another FCC song, but off-mike and hard to follow. 2348 ``jubilant here at the collapse of WTO ministerial meetings``. . . After this I was otherwise occupied, but again tonight fade-out was around 0330 UT Sept 15. BTW, early on, RFCI apparently revised their slogan from ``behind enemy lines`` to ``behind enemy headlines``. Apparently a group of people had a great time pulling this off, and gave us however briefly, a much-needed alternative to corporate media. See also TESTIMONIAL at top (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** NIGERIA. Die Stimme Nigerias http://www.voiceofnigeria.org wechselte am 27./28.08.2003 von 15120 kHz auf ihre seit den achtziger Jahren nicht mehr genutzte 16-Meterfrequenz 17800 kHz. Die Ausstrahlungen leiden jedoch unter technischen Mängeln. Gehört wurde die Frequenz morgens gegen 6.30, 8.45 und abends 21.45 bis zum Sendesschluss 23.00 Uhr in Englisch. (D. Kenny 28./29.8., C. Seager, R. Trotto, J. Wilkins 28.8., N. R.Green, D. Valko 29.8. via W. Büschel BCDX) Der Frequenzeinsatz ist recht wechselhaft und entspricht kaum den von der Station selbst gemachten Angaben; weitere mögliche Kanäle sind 7255 kHz, die am regelmäßigsten genutzte Frequenz, 9690 und 11770 kHz. Vor 20 Jahren setzte die Voice of Nigeria 7255, 9690, 11770, 15120 und 17800 kHz ein. Damals gab es auch deutsche Sendungen. Da die 1979 in Betrieb genommenen fünf 500 kW-Sender wegen fehlender Wartung nur wenige Jahre überlebten, wurde ab Mitte der achtziger Jahre ein Notbetrieb auf 7255 kHz aufrechterhalten. Für die Auslandssendungen aus Nigeria wurden 1996 drei neue 250 kW-Sender in den Dienst gestellt. Seit 2001 wurde immer wieder die Wiederaufnahme auch deutscher Sendungen angekündigt (Dr. Hj. Biener, ntt aktuell Sept 14 via DXLD) ** OKLAHOMA. 1520, KOMA, Oklahoma City - 9/14 0546 [EDT] - Good, no trace of WKBW and even was barely over the IBOC from WSAI! First for me in South Carolina. In the truck at almost Newberry, SC (PEW-SC) (Powell E. Way III, W4OPW, NRC-AM via DXLD) Considering the way KOMA was bombing in all night last night and into this morning, I have to wonder if they stayed on day pattern? Normally, they are in around sunset, then die out and with IBOC coming up, 1520 turns into a mess. Of course, I had that het on Friday night, so I've been closely monitoring 1520 every since (Adam Myrow, Memphis TN, ibid.) If they don't I'd NEVER hear them; I CAN hear WWKB or WKBW or whatever the calls are, but they are not listenable. Other than that I didn't really try (Powell, ibid.) KOMA has "forgotten" to switch pattern before. (I think I posted about it one time last year) I can normally hear them at night anyhow in the mix, but they are tremendous when they don't switch. I notice that more stations "forget" to switch on Fri and Sat night (even when running normal programming). Do they get more advertising revenue on weekend nights (when they likely have more listeners)? In KOMA's case I expect their signal can reach more listeners on ND than on their DA beamed out over the plains to the west coast. I notice that some stations (KOAQ 690 for example) seem too strong for listed night power when they run some Sat. Night Oldies show or other presumably popular and decent dollar syndicated weekly program. (I'm not convinced that KOAQ doesn't cheat commonly, but they can really roll in on Sat Nights). 73 KAZ (Neil Kazaross, Barrington IL, ibid.) This morning, OBVIOUSLY KOMA was cheating and it was actually listenable, except when WSAI's IBOC was on. The radio in the Ranger has severe RFI problems, I expect it's coming from the fuel pump. Note that Ford has a recall bulletin on the Explorer, but MY Ranger has a 4 cylinder where in the Explorer it's the 4.0 V-6. I'll check on that and see if the bulletin works on the 2.3 I-4 (Powell E. Way, III, ibid.) ** PORTUGAL. [Besides OMAN reported recently on 13640], beware of co- channel RDP Lisbon 0700-1345 UT, only Sat/Sun in Portuguese. And latter has two very strong spurious signals symmetrically on 13473.5 and 13806.5 kHz. RDP 15525 kHz at 1600-1900 Mon-Fri has also two spurs on 15358.5 and 15691.5 kHz, at a level of S=9 +30 dB and more ... Sept 14 (Wolfgang Büschel, Germany, DX LISTENING DIGEST) You told RDP about the spurs weeks ago, and still not fixed? (gh, DXLD) ** RUSSIA. RUSSIA/BELARUS Voice of Russia, Russian service now has already four programs: 1. Worldwide Service (feature program "DX Club" of Pavel Mikhailov) 0100-0300, 1200-1400, 1500-1600, 1700-1800, 1900-2100 UTC (VOR, Ru WS) 2. Commonwealth: 1300-1900, 2100-? (VOR, Ru CW). 3. Russian International Radio (RIR): 2000-2100 on 5985 (from 1900), 7260, 9405; 1400-1500 on 17705 etc. On MW 0100-0300, 1200-1400, 1700- 1800, 1900-2100 (VOR, Ru RI) 4. Evangelic Readings: 1500-1600 Mo, Tu, Th, Su on 612 (Moscow), 1170 (Belarus`); 2000-2100 daily 612 (Moscow), 1089 (Krasnodar). (VOR, Ru- ER) On 1170 kHz: on Sept 6th (Sat) 1500-1600 "Kala Aturaya" Radio (seems to be from Belarus` --- at 1557 UT s-on stronger IS of Voice of Russia from Krasnodar (Tbilisskoye) and 1600-1800 V. of Russia in Arabic was dominating (Rumen Pankov, Bulgaria, BC-DX Sep 10 via DXLD) + TATARSTAN ** SOMALIA. Radio Galkayo --- Hello, Try to hear our new frequency 7.335 MHz. We use 800 Watts from 7.15 am till 10.30 am local time. 0415 to 0730 UT. 100 Watts from 1 to 3.30 am [sic] local time. 1000 to 1230 UT because our generator is faulty and there is no town electricity in our afternoon. We are back on 800 Watts from 7 pm to 8.55 pm local. 1600 to 1755 UT. These short wave transmissions are also broadcast on 89.6 MHz FM. Regards, Sam Voron at Radio Galkayo, 700 km north of Mogadishu (S. Voron, Somalia, Sep 9, 2003 for CRW via DXLD) Geez, CHU gets creamed again! (gh, DXLD) Radio Galkayo needs the following if anyone is coming to Somalia or able to send by DHL courier. 1. Radio Galkayo is expecting a small standby 5KVA generator but we also need a 16 to 20KVA 220 Volt AC diesel generator to replace our current one. Currently we can not broadcast on high power in the afternoons or when the main town power fails during its normal available time in the morning and evening. 2. There are no double cassette decks without problems here. THREE would help. These are used in both studio program production and in the transmitter room. A second studio room is now available but we have no equipment to put in it hence there is a big daily demand on the one studio program production room and the faulty equipment there. 3. Audio Mixers are showing problems and THREE would help. Regards, Sam Voron at Radio Galkayo, 700 km north of Mogadishu (S. Voron, Sep 9, 2003 via M. Watts, Australia for CRW via DXLD) ** SOUTH AFRICA. SABC STAFF BATTLE LOOMS, 11/09/2003 22:02 - (SA) Pretoria - Employees of the South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) are unhappy about the latest salary increases for top management after the broadcaster showed a loss of R32.4m over the past financial year. . . http://www.finance24.co.za/Finance/Companies/0,,1518-24_1415228,00.html (via Jilly Dybka, DXLD) ** SOUTH AFRICA. UNIDENTIFIED: Saludos desde Catia La Mar, VENEZUELA. El 15/09, a las 0247 UT, en los 3320 kHz, pude captar una estación en holandés. Transmitía una tema de Katrina and the Waves, titulado "Walking on Sunshine", un clásico de los 80. Presentadores con música en inglés y holandés. Parecía una radio juvenil-adulto contemporáneo. Noticias a las 0400, menciones de Cancún, la Policía de Los Angeles y el Referendum en Suecia. Más pop y rock. Ninguna identificación comprensible. ¿Holanda? ¿Suriname? SINPO 2/2. Se desvanecía poco a poco hasta desaparecer a las 0430 (Adán González, DX LISTENING DIGEST) That would be R. Sonder Grense, Afrikaans service of SABC, 100 kW toward NW Cape (gh, DXLD) ** SPAIN. 25 mb distorted spurious - Morning 25 mb log. Today I was successful to investigate the annoying distortion signals in the 25 mb in our band log span of 0600-0700 UT. Noblejas Spain is the Evil One. REE both on air on 11890 kHz 98 degrees towards ME/NE/East Africa, and 12035 kHz 60 degrees, latter to continental Europe. There is a single mixture of both on 12180 kHz, -- but not on 11745. And there are FOUR distorted signals, like small FM signals, 89.5 kHz and 179 kHz away. Symmetrically on 11711, 11802, 11978, 12069 kHz. 11890 close at 06.55:33 UT, and following that, the five unwanted signals disappear also. 73 (Wolfgang Büschel, Germany, Sept 15, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** SWEDEN/MADAGASCAR/NETHERLANDS [non]. B-03 of Teracom Schweden tentative schedule. New is time exchange between RNW Madagascar and Radio Sweden, Hoerby 5955 kHz etc. Very complicated schedule. 5955 0600-0700 RNW via Hoerby-SWE, 350 kW 230 deg log periodic to Canary Islands. 12160 0100-0130 R Sweden via MDG to India, 50 kW, 50 deg (Wolfgang Büschel, Germany, Sept 12, BC-DX via DXLD) ** TAIWAN. Radio Taiwan Int'l from Taipei Taiwan heard tonight with steady signal on 9956.113 kHz rather than scheduled 9955 kHz with Spanish programming at 2130 UT (Graham Powell, UK, BC-DX Sept 13 via DXLD) ** TATARSTAN [non]. RUSSIA. 11665, Voice of Tatarstan via Samara, *0355-0415 Sep 8, tuned in to open carrier at 0355 with IS followed by ID by a man in Tatar, another IS and woman with ID in Russian. After sign on announcements, there was a segment of instrumental music followed by a woman talking in Russian. Later some classical music and more talks. Fair with deep fades (Rich D`Angelo, PA, NASWA Flashsheet Sept 14 via DXLD) RUSSIA: RADIO VATANYM OFFERS TATAR ENTERTAINMENT IN MOSCOW By Sophie Lambroschini Radio Vatanym is Moscow's first Turkic-language radio, broadcasting for the Russian capital's 840,000-strong Turkic-language speakers. RFE/RL speaks with the radio's general director, Ravil Rustiamov. Moscow, 11 September 2003 (RFE/RL) Indeed, you can hear Tatar music on the radio in Moscow! For many of the Russian capital's 840,000 Turkic-speaking inhabitants -- mainly Tatars and Bashkirs -- Radio Vatanym sounds like a home away from home, according to Ravil Rustiamov, the founder and director of the Russian capital's first community-oriented radio station. Radio Vatanym -- or "homeland" in Tatar -- went on the air in June after winning an AM license (1098) with an entertainment radio concept -- mostly music in both Tatar and Russian. Rustiamov says the mix of music and talk is a success with listeners, if phone calls are anything to go by. "They call, order songs, congratulate friends and family," he said. "They say 'hi' to each other, to their acquaintances. Apparently, people phone one another and say, 'Listen to the radio.' Sometimes the elderly, grannies, older men call in and cry, reminisce about their life stories." Indeed, ethnic radio is a largely untapped niche on the Moscow radio market, says Andrey Alekhverdov, editor in chief of the Foundation for Independent Radio Broadcasting, a nongovernmental organization that promotes independent radio. While RFE/RL's Tatar-Bashkir Service is available on shortwave and the Internet, and Radio Druzhba gives many of the former Soviet Union's ethnic groups air time, these stations cater more to those who are looking for news, not entertainment. Radio Vatanym, on the contrary, is putting its money on music and interactive radio and is already doing well financially. Rustiamov: "There are already some advertisements now, from shops that are owned by the Tatar, the Bashkir diaspora. When I opened a station in Tatarstan, for a year I was running it myself. It didn't bring in anything. And now [after] two months, it brings in money. It's not making [a profit], of course, but we're about to break even." Radio Vatanym is ready to broadcast just about anything -- from recipes to daily sermons by the chairman of Russia's Council of Muftis, Ravil Gainutdin. But Rustiamov says his station will stay away from politics. "We have to stay commercial," Rustiamov keeps repeating during an interview, as if it were a protective mantra from the pressures of political lobbies. Rustiamov knows what he fears. In May 2002, he was shot in the head by unknown assailants while in Moscow to file an appeal with the Russian Supreme Court against a decision in which his previous radio station, Radio Dulkin, lost its broadcast license to the influential Tatar-American Investments and Finance (TAIF) group. One of the heads of TAIF was Radik Shaimiev, son of Tatar President Mintimer Shaimiev. Rustiamov suggests the incident may have been connected to the 2000 presidential elections in Tatarstan, during which Rustiamov says he gave air time to Ravkat Altynbaiev, one of Shaimiev's opponents. Today, Altynbaiev is number two in the pro-Kremlin Life party. Rustiamov claims Kremlin support was key in his winning a broadcasting license for Radio Vatanym, even interpreting this initial success as an approbative nod for developing a whole network of local Tatar stations. Among Radio Vatanym's founders are Renat Akchurin, former President Boris Yeltsin's surgeon, as well as his brother Rassim, who is head of a Moscow Tatar organization. Rustiamov says he does not want to be perceived as an opposition radio station, either to Shaimiev or to the Kremlin. So far, he says, there has not been any pressure. Political parties such as Life and the People's Party are paying for air time and Rustiamov says that "whoever is ready to pay will get time, including the authorities in Tatarstan." While Rustiamov concedes that his station has no ambition to speak for any group in particular, he says it can play an important role in strengthening ties in the Tatar community and promoting Tatar culture outside of Tatarstan: "If there's no radio, then why sing? Just to sell a cassette? But radio is like an explosion -- if there's a good song, they'll play it on the radio. But without radio, there's no way out. You're a talented Tatar who can express his culture, but without radio and television you don't stand a chance." Rustiamov says his "next steps" are putting Radio Vatanym on the Internet, going to FM in Moscow, and getting frequencies in cities with compact Tatar and Bashkir communities, such as Yekaterinburg, Perm, Tyumen, and Nizhni Novgorod. Going even further, Rustiamov explains that ethnic radio must develop further if Russia's many ethnic groups -- dominated by Slav and Orthodox culture -- are to continue living in peace. Non-Russians need to feel that Russia is just as much their home: "It's painful for a Tatar who's living in his homeland, say in Orenburg, and his family has lived there, say, since the times of Khan Baty. But there's nothing showing that simply their language has a right to exist -- no radio, no TV. Everything is imported [from Tatarstan]. Or you have to buy a [Tatar] music cassette. But that's like living in the 19th century! So a radio [has] to appear, saying, 'Use your language' or else assimilation [will continue] and [our] people will die out." In fact, Rustiamov claims he has had a hard time finding Tatar-speaking radio hosts in Moscow. "To get radio hosts with fluent Tatar," he says, "I had to fly them in from places like Kazan and Nizhni Novgorod." (c) 1995-2003 Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty, Inc., All Rights Reserved (via Mike Cooper, DXLD) ** UGANDA [non]. Da mein Fax an die von Radio Rhino International angegebene Tel.-Nr. nicht funktionierte, weil offenbar kein Geraet angeschlossen war, schickte ich meinen Bericht direkt per E-Mail an die Telekom Juelich, mit der Bitte um Weiterleitung und erfuhr folgendes: Forwarded message : On 2003-09-08 Ralf Weyl said: =vielen Dank fur den Empfangsbericht. =Radio Rhino International ist ein Service von Allerweltshaus Koln e.V. =Wir werden ihn an unseren Kunden weiterleiten. =Grusse aus Juelich =Ralf Weyl Im "Ankuendigungsprogramm" wurde zwar nur auf Uganda eingegangen, auch, dass in der ersten regulaeren Sendung zwei Uganda interviewt werden, die aus politischen Gruenden das Land verliessen, aber ich stimme auch der Meinung von Wolfgang zu, dass man sich erst einmal die regulaeren Programme etwas naeher anhoeren sollte, bevor man diese Sendungen als Clandestine einstuft. Es wurde in dem Programm, das ich empfing, mehrmals als Stationskennung "Radio Rhino International Africa", nicht aber "Radio Rhino International Uganda" genannt (J. Thiel, Germany Sep 8, 2003 in A-DX via CRW via DXLD) 17555, Radio Rhino International, 1500 - 1503, Sep 13, English, Comments and music, IDs "You are listening to Radio Rhino International" " This is Voice of Freedom and Democracy", 24322, (Nicolás Eramo, Argentina, Location: Chascomus 120 Km SW from Buenos Aires; Receiver: Sony ICF 2010; Antenna: Longwire 25 mts, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 17555, Radio Rhino International Africa, 1501, Sep 14, giving contact details, & ID, Poor signal with severe side band splash from Voice Int. Mandarin program SINPO - 23332 (Swopan Charoborty, Kolkata, India, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Still no signal to speak of here (gh, OK) CLANDESTINE (Uganda). 17555, R. Rhino Int`l Africa (via DTK), two-day E-mail reply for E-mail report including RealAudio clip. Sent 3 page personal letter on RRIA letterhead as Word attachment. V/S Godfrey Ayoo, who first got the idea for RRIA three years ago. He is 41 years old, married with two kids, and considers himself a Ugandan exile, living in Cologne for 4-1/2 years. Comments at length about the situation in Uganda, and suggests checking out http://www.radiorhino.org http://www.upcparty.net and http://www.dpuganda.org for more on the topic. Does not indicate his exact position with RRIA, but appears to be in charge. Says he will also reply to me by postal mail. Interesting. Rerported to mail@radiorhino.org --- reply received from flok15@intertech.de (Jerry Berg, MA, Dxplorer via BC-DX via DXLD) ** U S A. Radio Free Cascadia International: all material about this in previous and current issues is filed under MEXICO [non] ** U S A. From this week`s 'On the Media' --- Voice of America We are often reminded of the privileges we enjoy as Americans, but here's one thing we can't do on native soil - tune in the Voice of America. The U.S. government radio station that was created as a propaganda tool during World War II is prohibited from broadcasting at home. Lifetime VOA staffer Alan Heil has compiled a comprehensive history of the network in a new book, and he joins Brooke to discuss it. . . http://stream.realimpact.net/rihurl.ram?file=realimpact/wnyc/raotm/otm091203h.ra (via Larry Nebron, DXLD) Includes ``An Ode to Spe-cial Eng-lish`` (gh) ** U S A. BOOK REVIEW: VOICE OF AMERICA A HISTORY, BY ALAN L. HEIL, JR Reviewed by Richard A. D`Angelo Published by Columbia University Press ISBN: 0-231-12674-3 540 Pages This book is impressive! Based on preliminary information and the official press release describing the Voice of America, A History, I immediately recognized that this is a very comprehensive work would quickly become a ``must read`` for any/all shortwave radio listeners and historians. Once I obtained a copy, it was apparent that Voice of America, A History by Alan L. Heil, Jr. lived up to the early excitement. For avid fans of international shortwave broadcasting, radio historians, political junkies and Voice of America aficionados, the Voice of America, A History is required reading. As a first job, Alan L. Heil, Jr. Was employed as a journalist for the Newark Evening News in New Jersey in the mid-1950`s. The author worked for the Voice of America (``VOA`` or ``the Voice``) from 1962 until he retired in 1998 where he was able to observe the VOA closely. He held various positions at the Voice, including foreign correspondent, chief of News and Current Affairs, and deputy director of programs. Also, Heil has testify before Congress on issues pertaining to the VOA. His remarkable career puts him in a very unique position to chronicle the Voice`s remarkable transformation from a fledgling shortwave propaganda organ during World War II to a global multimedia giant encompassing radio, the Internet, and 1,500 affiliated radio and television stations across the globe. The Voice of America is the United States` largest publicly funded broadcasting network, reaching more than 90 million people worldwide in over fifty languages. In attempting to be a first class news organization, the Voice faced obstacles unique to an organization that stands, as former director John Chancellor once observed, ``at the crossroads of journalism and diplomacy.`` It was for this reason that many people perceived the Voice as an instrument of American propaganda. However, as a thirty-six year veteran of VOA and its numerous policy wars, Heil firmly believes that the Voice has always sought to deliver accurate, objective, and comprehensive news of the highest journalistic standard, news that reflected America`s diversity and vitality, and that presents not only U.S. policies but also critical debate about those policies. The book recounts numerous stories of the VOA trying ``to get it right`` under the watchful eyes of career and political diplomats and the United States Information Agency trying to help shape the news. Using transcripts of radio broadcasts and numerous personal anecdotes, Heil provides a front-row seat to the greatest events of the past sixty years, from the Cold War and Vietnam to Watergate and the Lewinsky scandals, from Neil Armstrong`s first steps on the moon to ethnic strife in the Balkans and Rwanda, and from the outbreak of HIV/AIDS to the terrorist attacks on September, 11, 2001. Also, Heil relates the story of a perennially underfunded organization struggling against the political pressures, congressional investigations, massive reorganizations, and leadership purges that have attempted to shape and control VOA programming. The book captures the spirit of the Voice of America and its dedicated journalists, engineers and staff over more than 60 years. Blending perspectives of scores of professional international broadcasters and the loyal listeners, the book takes us through the good and bad years at the VOA since its founding in 1942, some seventy-nine days after the attack on Pearl Harbor. The Voice of America is often perceived as America`s official international broadcasting organization but, as the author notes, it is also America`s town crier to the world. The book tells the story of America`s Voice as seen through the eyes of the author. It explores the creation of the VOA Charter, which helped establish editorial independence although there have been significant battles over the years to maintain that independence. Heil approaches his subject by examining the many facets of the Voice`s history, focusing primarily on events that spanned the period from the 1960s forward. He begins by examining how the VOA witnessed and covered the dramatic developments in China in 1989 surrounding Tiananmen Square. Included in the discussion was the heroic announcement about the tragic events leading to Chinese army troops firing on the demonstrators by a Radio Beijing announcer in the English Service that ultimately lead to his arrest and ``re- education.`` High drama with a broadcasters behind the scenes perspective. The author takes us through the early years as the VOA struggled to get it right. The first dozen years, the Voice merely survived before being morphed into an international broadcaster struggling to build a solid reputation. The Cuban missile crisis was an interesting time with the Voice coverage providing the bad news while the policy dominated Radio Swan providing imaginary success stories consistent with the existing US Government policies about the Bay of Pigs invasion. Some of the interesting programming discussion featured a favorite of mine, Music USA hosted by jazz-world icon Willis Conover. The program was launched as the Voice was moved to Washington in 1954. During a career that spanned more than four decades, Conover built a huge following overseas with his mellow voice, simple syntax and slow delivery. Before his death in 1966, he recorded more than 10,000 programs. A good portion of Chapter 13, entitled Music: The Universal Language, is about the impact Conover had on the VOA listening public. The medium of shortwave radio was the primary communications vehicle for the Voice of America in the early days. Chapter 5 is devoted to the Voice`s engineers at its remote shortwave relay stations around the world. The interesting story of losing Liberia but gaining São Tomé as a relay site is disclosed including the technical issues surrounding the development of such a location. Serious shortwave listeners will appreciate the problems and the solutions of providing reliable service to Africa. Two pivotal years in VOA history are discussed in Chapter 10. The first, 1969, was the year of Neil Armstrong`s famous walk on the moon. More people listened to this event live through VOA than any other station thanks, in part, to relay feeds of the Voice by other international broadcasters. Twenty years later, 1989, would prove the value of the VOA once again as coverage of the cascading events in Eastern Europe, highlighted with the collapse of the Berlin wall, again signified the importance of the Voice of America. Finally, Heil examines the challenges facing the Voice of America in advancing the free flow of information around the world. He places a high priority on rebuilding the newsroom staff, which declined from 62 to 49 between 1999 and 2001, because audience research indicates that accurate, reliable news are important factors in building listenership among international broadcasters. He discusses the decline of shortwave in Europe, Japan, Australia, the Middle East and most of the Americas because of technology. Nevertheless, he strongly believes that shortwave radio ``will remain dominant for some years to come in Africa and in areas of East, South and Central Asia.`` He calls for more money if international broadcasters are to meet the demand for news and information noting that shortwave and medium wave service will continue to be important despite other technologies such as FM, TV and Internet. The Voice of America, A History is far from light reading. It is a very comprehensive and thorough examination of the Voice of America from humble beginnings to an organization seeking and obtaining a reasonable amount of editorial independence. The main text of the book is over 450 pages. There are four separate appendices, the VOA Journalist Code dated April 12, 1995, Key Legislation affecting VOA, Tables and Charts, and Statements by Presidents. Also, there are extensive Notes, a comprehensive Glossary of terms, a wide-ranging Bibliography and a helpful Index. The author takes us through the years with an abundance of stories about the events that shaped America`s international broadcasting voice. This recently released, in-depth history of the VOA from its founding until its sixtieth anniversary is a vivid portrait of the people who made it great, depicting a news network that has overcome enormous challenges to steadfastly and faithfully report the most important news stories of our time. Columbia University Press publishes the 540 page, hardcover Voice of America, A History. The book measures 1.40 x 9.18 x 6.34 inches and has a cover price of US$37.50 or £26.00. It is available from Amazon.com and Borders for the cover price. Barnes and Noble carries the book for US$30.00 but you need to add extra for shipping and taxes. After reading Voice of America, A History by Alan L. Heil, Jr. the reader walks away with a better appreciation of the issues that international broadcasters face in delivering their message and the tools utilized to carry out that mission. Reaching millions of people of diverse ethnic, cultural, language and religious backgrounds is a very complex situation to deal with in any case. However, put that combination of complications into the caldron of the international stage while under a political microscope at home and you have a fascinating read. Alan Heil witnessed a lot of history during his tenure at the Voice of America and his ability to relate what he saw and experienced in this book makes for interesting reading. I can highly recommend getting a copy of Heil`s Voice of America, A History. If you have an interest in the Voice of America as a station, or the shortwave broadcasting industry, you will enjoy Heil`s perspective accumulated during his long international broadcasting career. This book belongs in the personal library of all international shortwave broadcasting radio enthusiasts. Thank you Richard A. D`Angelo for a review on the type of book that I`m sure, would be of interest to ALL our readers out there in Radioland. Richard A. D`Angelo is well known for his book reviews and radio articles. Richard writes a lot of feature articles about shortwave stations. These appear in NASWA and the World DX Club. Reading is ``Brain food``, to quote a line or two from Richard ``I learned a lot by reading about others in my formative years. If we don`t pass it on, what good are we doing?`` Hear hear! Ed. (Sept CQ SW News via DXLD) ** U S A [non]. Thales announced today (Sept 12) it has recently been selected to deliver new antennas for a series of highly challenging radio broadcast projects in the Near East. Broadcasting Board of Governors (BBG/VOA), USA, awarded Thales Broadcast & Multimedia a turnkey project to provide short wave curtain antennas and extend the existing station in Kuwait. Following the award in 2002 to supply a new 600 kW medium wave transmitter for their Djibouti broadcasting centre, IBB/VOA once again contracted Thales Broadcast & Multimedia to deliver a new antenna system for the station. The 3-tower directional medium wave transmitting antenna will be designed for 1431 kHz and 600 kW transmitter carrier power. Thales scope of delivery includes antenna masts and insulation, ground screen and aerial main and secondary feeders. Thales will deliver and take the new antenna into operation in only 6 months time after definitive contract award. Thales met yet another medium wave challenge for the turnkey project in Abu Dhabi, where the Emirates Media Incorporation (EMI) contracted Thales Broadcast & Multimedia to execute an important turnkey radio broadcasting project. The antennas for this project included 4-mast directional medium wave antenna system with 3 switchable antenna patterns (300?/ 0?/ +60?. The new station is situated only one kilometre away from the existing Dabiyah medium wave station, in service since 1984. This station was already one of the most powerful in the region, with 2 x 1000 kW medium wave transmitters and a 4-mast directional antenna system. All equipment was delivered by Thales. (From a Thales Broadcast & Multimedia press release via Ben Dawson from the IBC in Amsterdam (13/9-2003 via Ydun`s MW news via DXLD) ** U S A. A Changed Man? -- by JEFF NEAL, LONDON, Ky. http://www.somerset-kentucky.com/reader.cfm?si=1&sd=3600 Steve Anderson once defied the government from his home on Elrod- Martin Road in Pulaski County, via a hate-filled short-wave radio program. On Friday before United States Eastern District Judge Danny C. Reeves, Anderson displayed a different side. ``My actions were wrong ... bad wrong,`` Anderson said. ``What I said was very wrong and I apologize for that.`` The 56-year-old former Kentucky Militia colonel was sentenced to 15 years in prison, followed by four years of supervised release, for the offenses of unlawful possession of a machine gun; using, carrying, brandishing and discharging at firearm during and in relation to a crime of violence; and possession of unregistered firearms. Anderson added that he`d experienced a ``spirit of revival`` since he was apprehended last year, after spending 13 months on the run as a federal fugitive. ``For the wrath of man worketh not the righteousness of God,`` Anderson said, quoting the Epistle of James. Somerset attorney David Tapp, who represented Anderson, felt his client`s words were heart-felt. ``(Anderson) apologized profusely for his actions,`` said Tapp. ``He is sorry for the things he said on his short-wave radio program, which caused a great deal of alarm, and he is very sorry for his actions in Bell County which led to his imprisonment. ``I think the court accepted his apologies and I think the government accepted them as well,`` Tapp added. ``I believe he is sincere.`` Tapp also said Anderson was pleased with the plea agreement, and the sentencing phase. ``There was one issue in relation to the sentencing guideline provisions that we brought up, and the judge ruled against Mr. Anderson,`` Tapp said. ``But when it came right down to it, we were only talking about three months difference. Mr. Anderson had no problem whatsoever with the government`s position.`` Anderson must also forfeit all weapons seized during the government`s investigation and undergo mental-health treatment. However, Anderson will not have to make restitution for any damages done to a Bell County Sheriff Department`s cruiser during a shoot-out which led to his eventual arrest. Anderson also will not face state charges relating to the Bell County incident. Tapp said Anderson could get some credit for good behavior, but added that in the federal system, his client will have to serve at least 85 percent of his sentence. ``I think things went about as well as they could`ve for Mr. Anderson,`` Tapp said. Anderson, who was expelled from the Kentucky State Militia in April 2001 for being ``too extreme,`` gained international notoriety for his ``United Patriot Radio`` broadcasts. A proponent of Christian Identity, a racist and anti-Semitic religious sect that teaches that whites (``Aryans``) are descended from the Lost Tribes of Israel and are God`s chosen people, while Jews are descendants of Satan and non-whites are soulless ``mud peoples``, Anderson became an extremist among extremists. From a clandestine radio station at his heavily fortified home on Elrod-Martin Road, Anderson filled the short-wave airwaves with inflammatory rhetoric against blacks, Jews and immigrants. He also advocated the use of weapons and violence against law enforcement officers. ``Dead men don`t arrest anyone, dead men don`t kick in doors, dead men don`t prosecute anyone … take care of business ... If you`re going to call yourself militia, then be militia,`` he said during a Sept. 2000 broadcast in what was to become a self-fulfilling prophecy. As local and federal lawmen focused their attention on Anderson`s ``compound`` and illegal broadcasts, he became more and more outspoken, at one point making a veiled threat toward a Commonwealth Journal writer. Anderson was such a threat that even the late Pulaski County Sheriff Sam Catron was leery of him. ``If I went to arrest (Anderson), I would not want to do it on his turf,`` Catron once said. ``I think he`s a very dangerous individual.`` On Oct. 14, 2001, Catron`s worst fears about Anderson were confirmed. As Anderson was returning from a white supremacist gathering in North Carolina, he was pulled over by Bell County Sheriff`s Deputy Sheriff Scott Elder. Anderson`s traffic offense was a busted tail light. Elder asked Anderson if he had any weapons, at which point Anderson stepped out of his pickup truck and began peppering Elder`s cruiser with gunfire from his semiautomatic assault weapon. Elder`s 17-year-old girlfriend crouched on the cruiser`s floor miraculously escaping serious injury from more than 20 shots that riddled the vehicle. Elder also escaped uninjured. Anderson later said he thought Elder might overreact and shoot him during the traffic stop, so he fired on the deputy to prevent a chase. Anderson added he could`ve killed Elder because he is ``a crack shot.`` ``I could`ve Swiss-cheesed him,`` Anderson said. Court records indicate Anderson might`ve been on the lookout for terrorists in light of the 9/11 attacks on New York City and Washington, D.C. ``The militia is going to be the last line of defense,`` Anderson said. ``You need a gun behind every blade of grass in this country.`` Anderson, a trained survivalist, fled the scene in his pickup, lost police when he drove his truck onto a rugged unpaved road, and managed to escape into the mountains of eastern Kentucky. When authorities found Anderson`s truck the next day, they discovered six pipe bombs and ammunition inside. A small arsenal of weapons and explosives was discovered during a subsequent search of Anderson`s residence including a machine gun, two bombs, a silencer, a sawed-off rifle, and 25 other destructive devices, according to United States Attorney Greg Van Tatenhove. For more than a year, Anderson was able to elude capture despite a nationwide manhunt. His luck ran out last November 22. Acting on a tip following a November 2, 2002, episode of ``America`s Most Wanted`` which televised Anderson`s story, the North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation and the Bureau of Tobacco and Firearms arrested Anderson without incident in Cherokee, N.C. Anderson told federal agents he set out with a .45 caliber pistol and a survival pack that included maps, packaged military meals and other food. He said he walked and hitch-hiked his way into North Carolina, living off the land when he needed to. ``Camping ... riverbanks ... fish ... rabbits. It`s easy,`` Anderson said. Tapp said yesterday that Anderson began to change while on the run. ``While he was a fugitive, he actually got involved in doing missionary work,`` Tapp said. ``He did a lot of work for the church and was even a missionary on a Sioux reservation in South Dakota. ``I believe he will continue that type of work during his imprisonment ... he has been doing work of that type during his incarceration,`` Tapp added. Anderson told Reeves he would be a witness for Christ behind bars, ``so whatever you give me, praise God.`` Reeves, who said he believed Anderson was a changed man, agreed to honor Anderson`s request that it be recommended Anderson serve his time at the Talledega Correctional Facility in Alabama. ``Mr. Anderson is interested in that facility`s cabinetry and woodworking programs,`` Tapp explained. Anderson, who has worked as a carpenter and an electrician, thanked Reeves. ``God bless you,`` he said. In exchange for Anderson`s plea, the government did agree to drop one weapons charge that would`ve called for a prison sentence of 30 years to life. The case was prosecuted by Pulaski County native Martin Hatfield, an assistant United States attorney. Story created Monday, September 15, 2003 (Somerset KY Commonwealth Journal via DXLD) ** U S A. Re WYFR B-03 on 6855: Have you noted that WYFR intends to use 6855 via 353 degrees, so not for Europe. Is the 7300-7600 kHz band so full in B-03 that they can't work in there? (Noel R. Green-UK, BC- DX Sept 12 via DXLD) May need to go for lower MUF to E. Canada (gh) ** U S A. PUBLIC TV LEARNS TO DO WITHOUT Programs, Staff Cut As Support Declines --- By Paul Farhi, Washington Post Staff Writer, Monday, September 15, 2003; Page C01 When a lighting grid blew out this summer at WHUT, the Washington- based public TV station managed to keep its main studio going by rigging up rented lights. But then on Aug. 29, the station's aging transmitter malfunctioned. For most of the past two weeks, WHUT has been unable to relay its signal to local cable operators. Lights or not, it's become a station that's hard to see. The equipment needs to be replaced, but WHUT can't afford it. Howard University, which operates the station, is cutting its budget. "The funds simply don't exist," says Judi Moore Latta, interim general manager of the nation's only public TV station licensed to African Americans. "We're at bare bones as it is." While WHUT's technical difficulties may be extreme, its financial problems would sound uncomfortably familiar to many of the nation's 349 public TV stations. With pledge week donations lagging, corporate contributions flagging and state support drying up, public stations are growing increasingly threadbare. Layoffs are rampant, and cutbacks in local news, public affairs and cultural programming have become commonplace. More than one public TV manager describes the situation as a crisis. . . http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn/A10749-2003Sep14?language=printer (via Current, and Kraig Krist, DXLD) ** U S A. ECLECTIC SEATTLE RADIO STATION THRIVES WITH BILLIONAIRE PATRON, FANS WORLDWIDE http://www.msnbc.com/news/963631.asp?0cv=BB10 [KEXP, Paul Allen] (via Jilly Dybka, DXLD) ** U S A. Am awaiting a response from WSAI, which may be a few weeks, but I'm sure I'm get an answer, about the self-QRM. The post on the NRC list today (9/14), about SSB or passband usage, is also a good thought, but not a factor. It was full AM on both receivers, and I use the passband on the R8 only when trying to dig out a signal from the noise and interference. I ran the 2010 without the sync detector. It remains, for now, a small mystery. I hope the engineering staff at WSAI can determine what the trouble might have been. I've not noticed it since the Sep 7, 0100 UTC, reception. All in all, when we include that now-pesky Wild Adventures Radio [1690] (nobody needs a 10,000 watt TIS, do they?) it's been an interesting week for radio (Gerry Bishop, FL, Sept 14, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Viz.: Any chance you were using SSB mode, or maybe passband tuning, to reduce adjacent channel QRM? Although most of the IBOC power is in the "IBAC" sidebands at 10-15 kHz from the carrier, there are also IBOC subcarriers directly under the analog audio at 0-5 kHz. This is the so-called "tertiary" sidebands. They are modulated in phase quadrature to make them a "constant envelope" signal. If you receive using a conventional AM envelope detector and a filter that takes in both sidebands (but not beyond 5 kHz), then in theory the digital signal will be completely inaudible. If you do something to upset the balance between the upper and lower sidebands, then it will become audible. I normally use SSB mode and a 4 kHz filter when I DX, and when I tune to WSAI, the digital noise is very noticeable (Barry McLarnon, Ont., NRC- AM via DXLD) ** U S A. Hi, The best source of info on the hurricane, if it passes through the Washington DC area, is WTOP radio. Click on Listen Live to hear the station in Real Audio or Windows Media Player. http://www.wtop.com/ (Tom McNiff, Burke, VA, USA, Sept 15, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. "ACTIVATION PLAN FOR NET OPERATIONS" The Hurricane Watch Net plans to begin operations on our net frequency (14.325 MHz) beginning Wednesday, Sept. 17 at 1400 UT. According to recent advisory and track information, Hurricane Isabel will be within 300 miles of projected land fall someplace along the North Carolina coast at that time. Our main operational goals for Wednesday will be two fold, as follows: 1) to make the storm advisory information on a regular basis to those in the affected area of the forecast path of the storm, and 2) to identify and collect a list of stations in the path of the storm who may be available throughout this event for the purpose of reporting local weather measurements and observations to us for conveyance to the forecasters in the National Hurricane Center. It is essential to contain our scope of reporting stations along and closely to the side of the forecast track, and it is important that you remain silent if not in the specified area. Please honor our request that you should not check in to the net unless specifically requested to do so. We will attempt to handle all communications within the capabilities of our own members, and only when required assistance is needed will we ask for your help. While our mission is specifically to provide storm related information into and out of the storm, please understand we are not involved in Health and Welfare traffic. That traffic will be handled by the SATERN net on 14.265 beginning at 1400 UTC on Thursday, and will be in place throughout the duration of this event. We will likely be reporting other emergency frequencies to be set up by local emergency management nets in the affected area. Please monitor 14.325 for that information as it is made available. As a final reminder, please monitor this web site for storm related advisory updates, graphics displays, and other data made available from the National Hurricane Center. Thanks in advance for your support and cooperation during this extremely dangerous storm. Sincerely, Mike Pilgrim, K5MP Manager (Hurricane Watch Net, http://www.hwn.org via John Norfolk, DXLD) Radio HF Internet Newsletter - SPECIAL EDITION September 15, 2003 / le 15 septembre, 2003 Welcome to this special edition of the Radio H.F. Internet Newsletter. Bienvenue a cette edition special de "Radio H.F. Internet Newsletter". I have decided to circulate this special edition to provide you with reference sources pertaining to Hurricane Isabel, currently a Category 4 Atlantic hurricane. It is currently anticipated to hit the eastern Atlantic coast of the United States later this week, most likely somewhere between South Carolina and New Jersey. This information will not only be useful for this particular storm, but for the monitoring and tracking of future hurricanes throughout this and future hurricane seasons. Sheldon Harvey, Prop., Radio H.F. Editor/Publisher, Radio H.F. Internet Newsletter THE RADIO H.F. INTERNET NEWSLETTER SPECIAL EDITION SEPTEMBER 15, 2003 Edited and Distributed by Sheldon Harvey Greenfield Park, Quebec, Canada Copyright 2003 Radio H.F. Publications E-MAIL: hfnewsletter@yahoo.com WEB PAGE: http://www.total.net/~radiohf THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE’S NATIONAL HURRICANE CENTER http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/ This is the official web page of the National Hurricane Center, based in Miami, Florida. This page will provide updated information regularly on the status of all currently active tropical storms and hurricanes. HURRICANE CITY http://www.hurricanecity.com/ This award-winning concept was created by Jim Williams in late 1997. The idea of this site is to allow the visitor to feel close to the storm without feeling the effects, unless you are in the path of the storm. As soon as a city either in the Caribbean, the United States or Central America is within the strike probabilities, the city with the highest probability will be featured. The information provided in the links is information gathered through years of research. Be sure to click on the links for radar, local radio station audio links, web cams, weather observations, emergency information links and photographs, as they pertain to each individual storm. Most uniquely, during major storms, Williams will broadcast his own on-line live programme, from his own studios, updating current developments. HURRICANE ALLEY http://www.hurricanealley.net/ At Hurricane Alley you will find as much information as possible concerning tropical cyclones worldwide. The site provides you with as much information as there is available on the internet about the most awesome of Mother Nature's storms. HURRICANE TRACK http://www.hurricanetrack.com/ In addition to tracking current storms, this site offers a lot of background information into these storms, plus provides numerous links to other sources about hurricanes to be found on the Internet. CENTRAL FLORIDA HURRICANE CENTER 2003 http://flhurricane.com/ This page is all about tracking storms, warning folks, and preventing injuries and deaths that would otherwise be catastrophic. This page is updated as storms form and they are able to track them. It is important to note that the people at this site are not Meteorologists and this is not an official source of information; however they are greatly concerned and interested in these storms. HURRICANE FREQUENCIES http://www.hurricanefrequencies.com/ Created and updated by Bill Snyder, Los Angeles amateur radio operator AA6KC, this page lists high-frequency hurricane season intercepts that have been gleaned from numerous sources. Times and frequencies are subject to frequent change, and are listed for reference only. Check frequently during hurricane season for updates. This is the original Hurricane Frequencies list, published during every hurricane season since 1991. 2003 HURRICANE FREQUENCIES http://www.ominous-valve.com/hurrlist.txt This is a similar H.F. radio frequency listing hurricane related transmission. It is produced and updated by Hugh Stegman, California amateur operator NV6H. THE HURRICANE WATCH NET http://www.hwn.org/ Amateur radio has been serving the National Hurricane Center since 1965. When the network is active, it can be monitored, on shortwave, on 14325 kHz Upper sideband. This group of amateur radio operators exists - to disseminate hurricane advisory information to marine interests, Caribbean Island nations, emergency operating centers, and other interest for the Atlantic and Eastern Pacific as promulgated by the National Hurricane Center in Miami, Florida. - to obtain weather information from reporting stations and observers who are not part of the routine network for the National Weather Service, or the World Meteorological Organization, and forwarding it to the National Hurricane Center. - to function as a backup communication link for the National Hurricane Center, emergency operating centers, the National Weather Service, and other vital interests involved in the protection of life and property before, during and after hurricane events. - to relay initial damage assessments of hurricane damage to the National Hurricane Center. WEATHER MATRIX http://www.weathermatrix.net/ Weather Matrix is a worldwide organization of over 6700 amateur and professional weather enthusiasts -- meteorologists, storm chasers and spotters, and weather observers from all parts of the globe. Founded in 1996, Weather Matrix is the largest online weather community. The site offers many weather related links and information, as well as specific information relating to hurricanes. DISCLAIMER: The content and comments included in the web sites featured in this newsletter are those of the individuals, groups or organizations responsible for each web site. They do not necessarily represent those of the editor, unless specifically noted. TO REMOVE YOURSELF FROM THE DISTRIBUTION LIST OF THIS NEWSLETTER, SIMPLY CONTACT ME BY E-MAIL. THE DISTRIBUTION LIST IS PRIVATE AND CONFIDENTIAL. RADIO H.F., CANADA'S SPECIALIST IN SHORTWAVE, SCANNING, AMATEUR RADIO, ANTENNAS, ACCESSORIES AND PUBLICATIONS SINCE 1995, BRINGS THIS NEWSLETTER TO YOU, FREE OF CHARGE. CONTACT RADIO H.F. AT: MAILING ADDRESS: RADIO H.F. P.O. Box 67063-Lemoyne St. Lambert, Quebec J4R 2T8 TELEPHONE & FAX: (450) 671-3773 TOLL FREE IN CANADA ONLY: 1-800-463-3773 E-MAIL: radiohf@total.net WEB PAGE: http://www.total.net/~radiohf Previous issues of this newsletter can be found at the following URL: http://www.anarc.org/cidx/radiohf/index.html ===== Sheldon Harvey 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/ (via DXLD) ** U S A. ARRL 2003 FREQUENCY MEASURING TEST SET FOR NOVEMBER NEWINGTON, CT, September 14, 2003 -- Last year`s resurrected ARRL Frequency Measuring Test (FMT) turned out to be so popular, the League is repeating the event this fall. The 2003 FMT has been scheduled for November 20 (UTC). ``The 2003 FMT attracted 137 participants from across the continental US, Canada, Europe and Hawaii,`` W1AW Station Manager Joe Carcia, NJ1Q, reports. ``They were able to measure the transmission frequencies to within a few parts per million.`` Last year`s FMT results are available on the ARRL Web site. http://www.arrl.org/w1aw/fmt/fmtResults.pdf The 2003 test will be conducted using essentially the same format as last year`s FMT, although transmissions will be longer to give stations more time to make a measurement. An article, ``The ARRL Frequency Measuring Tests by Ward Silver, N0AX, in the October 2002 QST covers the basics. [Article at] http://www.arrl.org/w1aw/fmt/0210051.pdf For more information about the equipment that will be in use at W1AW to generate the test signals, take a look at the W1AW Hiram Percy Maxim Memorial Station Web page on the ARRL Web site. http://www.arrl.org/w1aw.html Additional information about the FMT -- including a list of reference articles and updates to test schedules -- is on the Frequency Measuring Test Web page. http://www.arr.org/w1aw/fmt The 2003 FMT will run November 20 at 0245 UT (that`s November 19 at 9:45 PM EST). It will replace the W1AW phone bulletin normally scheduled in that time slot. ``It is recommended that participants listen to W1AW`s transmissions prior to the event to get an idea on conditions to see which band -- or bands -- will be best for measurement purposes,`` Carcia said. The FMT will begin with a QST from W1AW beginning exactly at 0245 UTC and transmitted simultaneously on four amateur frequencies. The approximate frequencies are 3517 kHz, 7028 kHz, 14051 kHz and 21054 kHz. The test will consist of three 60-second key down transmissions, followed by a series of dits, followed by a station identification. The test will last for approximately 15 minutes and will end with a series of Vs followed by station identification. W1AW will identify before, during and after the transmissions. Submitted FMT reports should include the time of reception, frequency measured and signal report, in addition to name, call sign and location. If possible, participants should submit reports on more than one band. All entrants will be eligible for a Certificate of Participation. Those coming the closest to the measured frequency -- as determined by the ARRL Laboratory -- will be listed in the test report and will also receive special recognition on their certificates. All entries must be postmarked by December 19. Send entries to W1AW/FMT, 225 Main St, Newington CT 06111. The first FMT, held in October 1931, employed three transmitting stations -- W1XP at Massachusetts Institute of Technology, W9XAN at Elgin Observatory in Illinois and W6XK at Don Lee Broadcasting System in Los Angeles -- and drew more than 200 measurement reports. Frequency Measuring Tests subsequently became a staple of the W1AW operating schedule until the increasing technical quality of amateur gear and other factors led to their discontinuation in the 1980s. Copyright © 2003, American Radio Relay League, Inc. All Rights Reserved (via John Norfolk, DXLD) ** U S A. WHAT EXACTLY IS A HAM RADIO? --- By Carol Glassman 9/04/2003 Unless you know a "ham addict" or amateur radios have affected you personally in some way, chances are you know very little about their operations or their operators. . . http://www.zwire.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=10107919&BRD=2256&PAG=461&dept_id=455823&rfi=6 (Marco Island Sun Times via Jilly Dybka, KF4ZEO, DXLD) ** U S A. BLINK...AND IT'S (ALMOST) ALL GONE When the book is written someday on the history of FM radio in NEW YORK (wait -- I am writing that book, come to think of it), an entire chapter might well be devoted to the formats that proved to be the biggest turkeys of all time. And when that chapter is written, there's a new candidate for lead entry: WNEW (102.7) and the first incarnation of "Blink." This strange format, which mixed top 40 currents, 70s and 80s R&B oldies, a pink logo that led to the derisive moniker "Barbie Radio" - and, lest we forget, lots and lots of JLo-related gossip, breathed its last at 4 o'clock Friday afternoon (Sept. 12), when Viacom pulled the plug, sending PD Steve Kingston, morning team Lynda (you-know-who's sister) López and Chris Booker, middayer Tim Virgin, afternooner Allison Stewart, night guy Todd Newton, late-night contest winner Post Midnight and most of the rest of the staff packing. (Anyone who had "five and a half months" in the office pool for how long Blink would last can now collect their prize...) Surprisingly, the "Blink" name remained, at least for the moment, as WNEW morphed into a softish AC station that made no bones about its new target audience: "Music Women Love." (First two songs: "Ain't Nothing Like the Real Thing" and "Uptown Girl.") In a press release that erroneously claimed WNEW-FM signed on in 1967 (it was on beginning in 1958, simulcasting the late WNEW 1130), Viacom said Blink's entertainment reports would continue as part of the new format, which targets women aged 30-44. New airstaff and PD? Stay tuned as the saga of this troubled frequency continues... Elsewhere on the Big Apple dial, Columbia University's WKCR (89.9 New York) has regained a big chunk of the signal it lost on September 11, 2001 when its old World Trade Center transmitter was destroyed. On Friday evening, WKCR activated its new transmitter at 4 Times Square, producing an immediate and dramatic improvement over its temporary signal from a Columbia dormitory building; the signal should get even better in a few months when the new master FM antenna at 4 Times Square is completed. On the AM dial, WOR (710)'s Tom Ray checked in to report that the station has upgraded to Ibiquity's new and (reportedly) much-improved audio codec, samples of which can be heard at WOR's engineering site http://www.wor710.com/Engineering/iboc/worhd.htm And since that doesn't seem to be quite enough to keep Tom completely busy, we'll give him a second link - to the site he's created http://www.kerryforprez.us/ promoting the mock presidential candidacy of his chief engineer "Not John" Kerry Richards. (Somebody confiscate that man's keyboard, will ya?) Vermont Public Radio has call letters now for its newest station: the 88.1 signal in Norwich will be WVPC, and even though VPR and neighboring New Hampshire Public Radio applied for the license jointly, VPR will pay NHPR $250,000 to buy out its interest in the station. WVPC will play classical music, becoming the first link in an eventual second VPR network that will free up the primary network to focus on news and information. (And those reports that VPR is also buying NHPR's WEVN 90.7 in Keene? Pay them no attention; there was apparently a typo somewhere in the FCC process, and WEVN is staying with New Hampshire's system.) September's a beautiful time to visit Vermont --- especially, it seems, if you're an FCC field agent. On the heels of Radio Free Brattleboro's run-ins with the Commission, two agents turned up September 3 at Free Radio Burlington, the 87.9 operation that we first noted in this space July 14. Turns out FRB has been on the air for two years, or so it claims, though it was apparently not broadcasting when the agents paid their call. Thus far, FRB seems to be a little more adept at handling the FCC than its cousins in Brattleboro; the 87.9 signal has remained silent while FRB continues its Webcast and station organizers figure out what to do next (Scott Fybush, NE Radio Watch Sept 15 [excerpts] via DXLD) ** U S A [and non]. U.S. X-BAND AT A GLANCE, SEPTEMBER 2003 COMPILED BY TONY KING, GREYTOWN, NEW ZEALAND 1610 CJWI Montreal QUE FF Caribbean music. 1620 WBUB Atmore AL Yet to be heard in US x WPHG & 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/R & hip hop KSMH West Sacramento, CA Rel. ``Catholic Radio KSMH `` WDHP Frederikstad, US Virgins BBC WS to 0900. ID at :59 1630 KCJJ Iowa City IA Hot AC /Classic Rock KKWY Fox Farm WY C&W AP nx `` K--W-Y `` KNAX Ft Worth/Dallas TX SS. Radio Vida/Radio Dos Mil Dos. EE ID :58 WTEL Augusta GA 'Newstalk 1630 WTEL' ex-WRDW 1640 WKSH Sussex WI Disney KDZR Lake Oswego OR Disney KDIA Vallejo CA Talk/religious/life issues WTNI Biloxi MS ``News, Talk, AM1640 WTNI `` ABC News KMKZ Enid OK Construction Permit granted. Pwr FCC approved KBJA Sandy UT SS/Radio Unica EE ID on hour 1650 WHKT Portsmouth VA ``AM1650 WHKT Portsmouth, Radio Disney`` KDNZ Cedar Falls IA Talk/Sport ``The Talk Station`` //KCNZ KWHN Fort Smith AR 'Newstalk 1650 KWHN' KBJD Denver CO Talk.``KNUS-2 `` KFOX Torrance CA Korean/EE ID on hour 1660 KTIQ Merced CA Sporting News Network ``The Ticket`` WWRU Elizabeth NJ PP & SS Radio Única/R. Portugal 10 kW WCNZ Marco Is FL ``Newsradio 1660`` AP nx. WQSN Kalamazoo MI Sports/talk ESPN KRZX Waco TX ``Newstalk KRZX`` (off 0600 UT) KQWB West Fargo ND Standards ``Star 1660 is KQWB AM`` CNN news KXOL Brigham City UT ``Oldies Radio `` (60s rock) KXTR Kansas City KS 'Classical 1660' WGIT Canóvanas PRico SS oldies ``El Gigante`` 1670 WRNC Warner Robins GA Urban Gospel ``1670 The Light`` WTDY Madison WI Sports/Talk. ``Talk Radio 1670 `` KHPY Moreno Valley, CA Radio Católica SS (nites) s/off 0800 UT. EE s/off. 9 kW KNRO Redding CA ``Redding's ESPN Radio 1670 KNRO' 1680 WTTM Princeton NJ Ethnic - South Asian WLAA Winter Garden FL SS ``Alma Latina`` ex-WTIR WDSS Ada MI Disney ex-WJNZ KAVT Fresno CA Disney/SS KTFH Seattle WA ``The Bridge, AM 16-80 KTFH Seattle.`` Ethnic off 0700.. KRJO Monroe LA Gospel. ``Rejoice 1680`` 1690 KDDZ Arvada CO Disney KFSG Roseville CA SS rel. and Asian. EE ID on hour WPTX Lexington Park ``Newstalk 1690 WPTX `` CNN News 1700 WJCC Miami Springs FL SS/Rel/ ``Radio Luz `` WEUV Huntsville AL Black Gospel. 1 kW KTBK Sherman TX Sporting News Radio ``Sports Radio 1310 KTCK`` KBGG Des Moines IA ``The new AM 1700 KBGG``. CNN KQXX Brownsville TX ``Oldies Radio 1700 AM`` 880 watts (Sept NZ DX Times via DXLD) ** ZIMBABWE. The government announced an end to the Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corporation monopoly, saying it was soon going to issue broadcasting licences to those willing to venture into the industry... http://allafrica.com/stories/200309110096.html (via Jilly Dybka, DXLD) UNIDENTIFIED. 4025: Hi Glenn: Does anyone know about this station I heard on Sept 14th on 4025 kHz with Arab style non stop music and sign off with out any ID between 0240 to 0300 UT (CESAR PEREZ DIOSES - CHIMBOTE - PERU, cpds1@hotmail.com DX LISTENING DIGEST) A google search on 4025 site:worldofradio.com produces reports of V. of Iraqi Liberation, V. of Iranian Kurdistan, but I think most recently V. of the People of Kurdistan (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) UNIDENTIFIED. I don't know if this is a spur or actually on the freq: noted on 6320 at 2315 to 2336 French language programming with woman in comments along with jingles etc. Signal was fair Anyone have any ideas? (Chuck Bolland, Clewiston, Florida, Sept 14, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Whenever you have something like this, you should look for parallel below 6200; probably a mixing product like two Sackville transmitters (gh, DXLD) UNIDENTIFIED. PIRATE: 6777.8, 1057-1204, Sep 14, Spanish, Musical program without of IDs, One recording of Piqueteros protest was put on the air, Some audio problems with the audio at begin of this program, the music basically was interpreted by Victor Heredia, Leon Gieco, Alfredo Zitarrosa, Mana, Mercedes Sosa, Jaime Ross, etc, until 1204 the signal was 55555 after this time the signal fade practically, (Nicolás Eramo, Chascomus, 120 km SW from Buenos Aires; Sony ICF 2010, Longwire 25 m, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ### |||||||||||||| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||| DX LISTENING DIGEST 3-165, September 14, 2003 edited by Glenn Hauser 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 later at http://www.worldofradio.com/dxldtd3i.html For restrixions and searchable 2003 contents archive see http://www.worldofradio.com/dxldmid.html NOTE: If you are a regular reader of DXLD, and a source of DX news but have not been sending it directly to us, please consider yourself obligated to do so. Thanks, Glenn NEXT AIRINGS OF WORLD OF RADIO EXTRA 44: WRMI: Sun 1800+ 15725 (via IBC Radio) RFPI: Mon 0030, 0630, 1230, Wed 0100, 0730, 1330 on 7445 [nominal times often delayed] WBCQ: Mon 0415 7415, maybe 5105 WWCR: Wed 0930 9475 WINB: Thu 0130 9320 WRN ONDEMAND: http://new.wrn.org/listeners/stations/station.php?StationID=24 OUR ONDEMAND AUDIO [also for CONTINENT OF MEDIA, MUNDO RADIAL]: Check http://www.worldofradio.com/audiomid.html Audio stored at k4cc.net has been moved to a new site funxioning by 0400 UT Sept. 13. Many thanks to DAVE WHITE for providing this, with expanded bandwidth so older files will not have to be deleted for a while to accommodate new ones. Links on OUR CURRENT AUDIO page have been updated; older links including k4cc will no longer work. WORLD OF RADIO EXTRA 44 (high version only): (stream) http://www.w4uvh.net/worx44h.ram (download) http://www.w4uvh.net/worx44h.rm (summary) http://www.worldofradio.com/worx44.html ** ALASKA [non]. DID A SECRET MILITARY EXPERIMENT CAUSE THE 2003 BLACKOUT? --- By Anonymous, Unknown et al Regretfully, because I am a research scientist, and because I face the possibility of certain repercussions in my field of work for revealing this information to the public, I cannot reveal my true identity. I believe the facts I have presented herein are sufficient to speak for themselves and should convince the public that oversight is needed when experimenting with aspects of the atmosphere that are not well known. Abstract. On August 14, 2003, just a few minutes after the stock market closed for the day, a nine-minute 'event' had brought the entire Northeastern power grid down. It is believed that over fifty million people lost power that afternoon. Since this unprecedented event, blame games have flown back and forth, but no real answers have been provided. It is believed that the event originated in an area in the power grid where there is a bottleneck of power transmission between the eastern U.S. and the Midwest. But what has caused this mess? Outdated equipment, irresponsible power companies, and politicians have all been blamed without any solid evidence to support the accusations. What hasn't been suggested is the possibility that this was a secret government test that served the purpose of fulfilling requirements for sophisticated warfare and security response mechanisms. The Facts Here are the facts. The power grid that was affected was the northeast grid. Not the vulnerable California grid, or the southeastern grid that Washington DC relies upon, and not that strangely isolated Texas oil grid. It was the grid that the northeast U.S. and southeast Canada rely on. A region that a large scale outage would not have a really devastating effect on the economy or military control centers. The event conveniently began a few minutes after the closing bell on Wall Street as to not effect the days trading, but while power usage in the northeast on that hot day was still at peak. The event began in a bottleneck region where only a few percent increase in power flow could cause such a critical failure of the entire grid. The physical cause of the event such as the classic squirrel shorting out a transformer, has not been found; there were no indications of any lightning being present; nor was there any significant solar activity to cause an unexpected surge in the grid. Finally, the HAARP (High Frequency Active Auroral Research Project) was turned on just after 4:00 PM EST on that fateful day. The question is 'Could a secret HAARP experiment have caused the blackout?' Interesting ionospheric effects occurred on 8/14/2003 that would have made the conditions for such a secret military test ideal, including a widespread, highly reflective ionospheric layer being expected (and was likely created by the electron event seen in figure 1), which would allow ideal conditions for signal propagation over long distances. Unfortunately, the ionosonde data that would help show where the effects of HAARP were directed by providing a picture of the ionosphere were not posted on the day of the blackout. The Gakona Ionosonde data is frequently not posted when classified HAARP experiments take place. What we do know is that HAARP was turned on at or just after 4:00 pm EST; it would take a few minutes for the target area to respond (say around 4:05 pm) which would allow a nine minute event to knock the power out at 4:14 pm EST. HAARP, Ionospheric Warfare, and Potential Applications Those of us who work in ionospheric research, and who are concerned with environment risks associated with ionospheric warfare are familiar with HAARP. The basic concept that HAARP relies upon is based on work by N. Tesla when he was attempting to devise a method for the wireless transmission of electrical power, and subsequently picked up in the early 20th century for the purpose of finding a way to modify the weather. It is thought that this technology was used by world leaders such as Stalin, whom during important outdoor events may have used such technology to prevent unwanted rain or fog. These claims were often associated with widespread reports of people feeling mysteriously ill. One of the leading researchers in this field is Dr. Bernard Eastlund, whom to this day accepts money from organizations such the European Space Agency to research potential weather modification applications including the possibility of stopping tornadoes with this type of technology. HAARP is a phased-array ionospheric heater that is capable of focusing large quantities of electromagnetic energy into very localized regions that are very far away from the source. It is entirely possible that the HAARP heaters were directed at the power grid's bottleneck while the grid was operating near peak capacity. The sudden presence of electromagnetic energy could easily force an unexpected increase in the power flow which could in-turn cause a critical failure such as the one seen on August 14, 2003. Despite the claims of HAARP advocates, ionospheric heaters can use the ionosphere to reflect their energy at distances several thousand miles away by using the ionosphere as a 'mirror' much the same way as AM radio signals travel over vast distances. Unlike an AM radio, HAARP can use phase interference to focus its energy on a localized area (such as the weak point on the power grid). The only requirement to achieve geographic precision is that geomagnetic activity be minimal such as it was on the day of the blackout. Also, there was a short duration test about' 20 minutes before the hour. Such a test would serve the purpose of showing the researchers exactly where the beam would focus itself given the current conditions, and would be a necessary step before executing such an experiment. So why would the government do this to us? Well, first of. all, HAARP is sponsored primarily by the Air Force Weather Agency and 'other agencies', and is known to be used as an ionospheric warfare tool. This would be an ideal way to test possible military applications of the instrument. It would be of great military value if :we could cause an entire region to lose electricity almost instantly without dropping a single bomb. Of course, this would need to be tested in a controlled environment where the effects could be thoroughly analyzed (such as on our own soil). It would be done in an area that could most easily handle such a large-scale power outage (such as the northeast US). Also, being in a new age of terrorism, this was an excellent homeland security response test. By having a blackout that covered one quarter of the country we can now see how people would respond, what the strengths and weaknesses of our emergency response systems are, and how quickly we could restore our systems to operating capacity. If this was a military experiment it would certainly have served multiple purposes. I also believe it would have been a strong temptation for anyone with the power to conduct such an experiment to do so. Conspiracy Theories and Reality The blame games that have gone on since the blackout have no hard evidence to back them up. Although it may sound like an episode of the X-files, the facts are clear; HAARP is an ionospheric warfare tool, it is capable of focusing its electromagnetic energy at long distances, it was turned on right at the time the event began, and such a scenario would serve multiple national security interests simultaneously with minimal economic impact. So we must ask ourselves, is considering HAARP as a potential source of the blackout a ridiculous conspiracy theory, or is it the most reasonable explanation given the facts? I am a concerned ionospheric physicist whom has worked with HAARP. I am concerned with the unknown environmental and military implications of this device, and the potential abuses thereof. I am not a conspiracy nut, and I do believe that HAARP is a useful tool that needs to be put into responsible hands where it is not abused and where the public has full access to it's experimental capabilities and data. It is an instrument that is paid for by tax-payers dollars and is currently not in the hands of people who have earned or deserve our confidence and trust. So what really happened on August 14? I'm really not sure, but we must ask ourselves what the most likely scenario's are without ruling out any possibilities; even those that sound like they have no place other than the sci-fi channel. "The Truth is out There", so I leave it for you to decide. The data that is presented was accessed from the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration website at http://www.sec.noaa.gov and from the HAARP homepage at www.haarp.alaska.edu Figure 1. Satellite environment shows that an enhanced flux of high energy electrons which would create preferable reflection conditions for HAARP were present at the time of the event, and geomagnetic activity that could cause problems with the power-grid were non- existent. (at the bottom of the linked page above, select AUG 14, 2003 for Figure 2.) Figure 2. The waterfall chart indicates HAARP was turned on just after 4:00 pm EST on 8/14/2003. The chart shows that frequencies of 5, 10, 15, and 29 Megahertz are present for nearly an hour. The 5 MHz broad- cast frequency is the strongest, and the others are likely to be resulting harmonics (Editor: for archived HAARP waterfall charts and more info about them see http://www.haarp.alaska.edu/mm/wf.html HAARP Fluxgate Magnetometer [for this and other hotlinks see:] http://www.sierratimes.com/03/09/10/article_blackout.htm (via Jilly Dybka, DXLD) Sierra Times is based at: Pahrump, NV! So presumably linked to Art Bell. Repeated references to 4 pm `EST` surely mean `EDT`, i.e. 2000+ UT when the blackout hit. BTW, Friday night Pax repeated Encounters with the Unexplained segment about HAARP, lots of nice shots of the antennas, alarming but unsubstantiated charges. Post hoc, ergo propter hoc (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** AUSTRALIA. Received an email from Dale Chesson at ARDS requesting further reports on their 5050 outlet. Previously, he had indicated that there were plans to increase the TX power sometime in September. I asked him if this was still planned for this month, and the reply came back as: "Not yet. We are trying to determine where the main beam is going because it ain't north-east Arnhem Land!" Hmmmm. Seems to indicate they are not yet happy with reception in the target area when compared with the rest of OZ! Perhaps issues with antenna directivity, gain etc. Please assist Dale by sending regular reports to: dale@ards.com.au (Rob Wagner (VK3BVW), Sept 14, EDXP via DXLD) ** BOLIVIA. I decided to head up to the State Game Lands for an evening LA micro-DXpedition. Laid out a 300' Beverage at 170 degrees. Was out from 2245-0230. Conditions were OK. Brazil was good, Bolivia was above average, and Peru was about as it`s been lately. 4903v, R. San Miguel, 2312-0132 13 Sept., M hosting program of campo music. Long periods of talk often. What sounded like a mention of Peru, and definitely ment of "musica Peruana" drew me into thinking this might be a Peruvian. So I ended up spending a lot of time listening to this!! At 0004, went into presumed political program with M host and airing actualities. Mentioned Politica often. Long ad block at 0030-0036, and program possibly called "Su Frontera" hosted by M and W. At 0103 outro with program name given many times and just about every S.A. country. Came back later and caught ID by M at 0132. Nice signal but radar QRM. Gradually drifting downward slowly from 4903.13 to 4903.01 by 0130. Heard the next morning down on 4902.77. Should make it down below 4900 by about Tuesday!!! (Dave Valko, PA, Cumbredx mailing list via DXLD) see also BRAZIL, HONDURAS, UNIDENTIFIED ** BRAZIL. 6105.01, R. Filadelfia, 2303-0020, Interesting religious program with M talk in PT mentioning Paraguay, Argentinos, palabra, etc. Had a concert with some rough garage-like (presumed) religious music (M and electric guitar only). Sounded like a pirate!! Halleluia's between songs. 2356 at least a minute of time ticks (every 1/2 second!! with a slightly longer minute tick), then ID at 2358 followed by a full ID at 2359. Pretty nice signal. There was another very weak ZY underneath very slowly strengthening during the period. Still going at 0020. 12-13 Sept. (Dave Valko, PA, Cumbredx mailing list via DXLD) ** CANADA. DXing aboard the sternwheeler MV "Empress of the North", ICF-2010, Kiwa Loop, Kiwa Pocket Loop. All dates/times mentioned in my reports are Eastern Local Time for US/Canadian stations and GMT for all others. 1690, CKWX, BC Vancouver - 9/1 2153 EDT - As others have noted, there is quite a spur of CKWX-1130 (actually a mixing product with CFUN- 1410?) on 1690. Noted with good signals as we sailed west out of Vancouver. Image was still there 25-30 miles outside of town, even with the antenna tuned all the way up to 1700 kHz. (TRH-BC) This was a really funky cruise. The ship was brand new, the first sternwheeler to sail from Seattle to Juneau in about 100 years. This was only its 3rd sailing, so there were some bugs to work out. Conditions were mediocre on half of the nights, but very good on the other half. The best place for DXing was the casual eating area on the top deck, which was sheltered on 3 sides by canvas "walls" with plastic windows. One night while DXing, I was invaded by a flock of Yellow Warblers which had accidentally flown into the ship in the middle of a storm. Some of them continued to fly around me for 3 hours as I continued DXing. In terms of programming, it was really refreshing to hear various forms of music on AM in WA, BC, and AK. There were hardly any stations that were mindlessly running the same pathetic talk shows all night, like we get all over the dial down here. Many stations were free format, running different kinds of music throughout the day. 73, (Tim Hall, Chula Vista, CA, IRCA via DXLD) Tim`s travel logs in full are always fascinating reading. This one not yet on his website http://www.inetworld.net/halls/dx/index.html (gh, DXLD) ** COSTA RICA. RFPI BACK UP TO POWER http://copyexchange.com.futuresite.register.com/_wsn/page3.html 09/11/2003 - The Copy Exchange - If you have noticed that RFPI's signal on 7445 is better recently, there's a reason. The station's General Manager, James Latham, was able to increase the transmitter power from 15 kilowatts to 30 kilowatts, starting at 0300 UT Thursday this week. The problem was the lack of a capacitor connected between the transmitter and the antenna, which could block 8 kilovolts of Direct Current applied to the final transmitter tube from reaching the antenna, while allowing the Radio Frequency signal to pass through. The appropriate industrial-strength capacitor had to be ordered in the US and brought to Costa Rica by courier, a process that took several weeks. The blocking capacitor that had been in use for a year, allowing full power operation, burned out in the third week of August. Various temporary measures were attempted. One capacitor that was tried "melted like a marshmallow," according to Latham. Finally, a capacitor was located that would allow RFPI to broadcast at the 15 kilowatt level, and that had been in place since the first week in September. Now listeners can enjoy the strong RFPI signal that the station has produced in the past, and they can rest assured the same problem will not occur again soon - RFPI now has a spare capacitor (via Franklin Seiberling, IA, DXLD) Note URL change; temporary? ** HAWAII. I don't stay up all night these days. I prefer an hour before LSR. Marshall Is is off before that. I have not even logged KAIM since they moved back into Honolulu. They don't get out. KGU does quite well. The best Hawaiians are KMVI-550, KQNG-570, KSSK-590, KPUA- 670, KUAI-720, KGU-760, KNUI-900. KIPA is off and on, operating with low power much of the time. KHLO-850 is better, but nothing like they used to be at the old site. 900 KNUI gets out very well. They are at least S9+ most mornings dominant even with Victoria on the air at 160 air miles away (10 kW). KNUI's 5 kW does well and their Hawaiian pops are unmistakable. They get out better now than KMVI-550 who used to be the strongest Hawaiian, but their signal is not what is used to be. KMVI used to be good on a shirt pocket radio in the 70s. 73s, (Patrick Martin, Seaside OR, NRC-AM via DXLD) See also MARSHALL ISLANDS ** HONDURAS. 3340, HRMI R. Misiones Internacionales, Not there before 0000 13 Sept., but did find it on at 0015 with M hosting music program of soft (religious?) vocals and one or two Ranchera songs. 0100 ID intro for religious programm "La Palabra de Dios para ?? ". Nice signal by 0115 (Dave Valko, PA, Cumbredx mailing list via DXLD) ** INDONESIA. 4870.93, RRI Sorong, 1058* 13 Sept., After music, went into their usual 1100 ToH routine, but pulled the plug during the IS. 4869.96, RRI Wamena, 1123 ID by M during anmnt between songs. W at 1159, music briefly, SCI, then M announcer. Good but faded by 1200 13 Sept. (Dave Valko, PA, Cumbredx mailing list via DXLD) ** JORDAN. This appeared to be back on 11.690 MHz, this afternoon. Looks as though yesterday`s 11.960 was a punch up error. I believe this is unfortunate for listeners in North America, as 11.690 is affected by utility interference there. I can`t trace this here, in the North of England (Ken Fletcher, 2155 UT September 13th 2003, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** LESOTHO. 4800, R.L., 14 Sept. 0255-0500, Afro Hi-life mx to 0258, instru. NA, 0300 into pgm of rel. mx w/deep-voiced M hosting in Sesotho w/short anmnts. 0359-0403 short newscast by dif. M w/ments of Lesotho and president. Back to rel. mx pgm. Decent signal and gradually fading. Nearly gone at 0500 (Dave Valko, PA, Cumbredx mailing list via DXLD) ** MARSHALL ISLANDS [and non]. Here's a Grayland view of things... Marshall Islands, 1098 kHz, definitely signs off before 1200. They do leave their empty carrier on every night. I haven't listened to them at s/off for quite some time, but Bruce Portzer's Asian Pacific Log says they are off at 1030. I couldn't say whether daylight savings time changes that. Their signal is possibly the best of the Pacific island stations. Tahiti-738 might be #1 now that I think of it, but 1098 is pretty close. There's not too much interference with the Beverages, so slop isn't terrible from Grayland. Overall, they don't have an amazing signal. They can't touch stuff like Japan 594 - 747 - 774 or S. Korea 1566. I'm pleasantly surprised you guys can catch traces of Tahiti and Marshall from the midwest and northeast (Chuck Hutton, WA, Sept 12, NRC-AM via DXLD) Tahiti-738 and Tonga-1017 are the best, other than Hawaii in signal. Fiji-558 would be next then Marshall Is 1098, followed by New Caledonia-666. Kiribati-846 used to be strong, but with a local on 840, they have to be strong to hear them now, which I do on rare occasions. 73s, (Patrick Martin, Seaside OR, ibid.) see also HAWAII WRTH lists Marshall s/off at 1000 but we all know how much that is worth. I find no reference anywhere about Marshall using DST and wouldn't expect them to have a reason to do so. Checking a few of Ray Moore's logs of 1098 I find that he's mentioned hearing them with mx after 1100 and also mentioned noticing an open carrier sometimes. Perhaps they stay on a bit later sometimes. WRTH says Marshalls is 25 kW. I recall they used to be 10 kW? When did they upgrade? I'm surprised to notice even a trace of them, but conditions are very good this week and Ray Moore stated that they were his most consistent signal last season (he checks every morning). I will be checking many mornings now since I can be up and out by sunrise this time of year without causing me or my wife to miss much sleep and still easily make it to work on time. The secret to trying to raise audio from TP splits here is to not have interfering adjacent domestic QRM. Yesterday WTAM 1100 was pretty strong at 1055z but there was clearly a decent het. By 1115 WTAM has faded way down and basically is only weak groundwave/residual skywave and can be phased to nothing. Nothing on 1100 towards my west throws any power my way. I did manage to ID KNZZ during a break in their talk and it had some QRM from a religious station (TX or needed CA?) but both are very weak and not much stronger than 1098 was when it peaked at 1116:30 (a day prior it was strongest at 1120 when I stumbled upon it) I noted a weak carrier on 1017 around 1058, (I've seen Tonga to be reported s/off around 1107z) but there's more QRM on 1020 even with KDKA phased. (I've had stronger 1017 carriers before) As for 738 I'd had carriers there in checks during prior years, but nothing that could produce audio. Again on 740 CHWO has faded down to weak groundwave and is easily 100% gone with phasing and KRMG is the dominant on 740 and it isn't very strong at night so there's minimal QRM on 740, especially using LSB. I suspect other midwestern DXers who are not near Toronto or Tulsa can have a decent shot at Tahiti. I've had decent carriers from 846 [Tarawa, Kiribati] in prior years. Being 4 kHz away from strong KOA shouldn't be a terrible problem, but my local WAIT comes on at 1100z with full power so I need to check earlier. A few October's ago, when I had audio from the Aussies on 1638, 1665, and 1683 (the best) and several more X-band carriers, the only X-band stations were in NJ or CA. I couldn't dream of pulling audio thru the mess the X-band has now become unless one of those Aussies raised power greatly. Anyhow, I do feel that I probably have left some TP's on the table, due to not checking for them much more commonly over the years. I'll be more diligent this year. 73 KAZ (Neil Kazaross, IL, ibid.) Kaz: You got it right - Marshall Islands never s/off at 1000 as best I know. They have been heard many times after 1100 from Grayland, but I do not recall them being heard from 1200 on. I'd guess they s/off at 1130 or 1200. I've never, ever heard them cut the carrier - it's always on until sunrise takes them out a few hours later. 846 (Tarawa) has a poor signal these days. Just 5 or 6 years ago they were distinctly better. In fact during one Grayland trip a year or two ago I thought they were absent. Were there any kind of powerhouse on 846, they'd easily dominate 846 over the poor Tarawa signal. Twenty- five or thirty years ago they would have been my vote as the best shot at TP DX from the east coast, but now I wouldn't even put them on the list of targets (Chuck Hutton, WA, ibid.) ** MEXICO [non]. MEXICO, 15045 Radio Free Cascadia International, Cancun, Mexico, 9/12/03 0115-0140, man in English, song in English "What About Free Speech," talk about overthrow the bad people, two men in Spanish discussing tonight's program, rather fadey with QRN from local thunder storms. First time heard (Dave Tomasko, Downers Grove, IL, MARE via DXLD) CLANDESTINE. 15045, R. Free Cascadia, 12 Sept. 2000-2054, Heard again w/usual mx from around the world and speeches in EG and SP. I didn't listen to the tape closely yet, but I did get an ID around 2043 by W as: "This is R. Free Cascadia newswire from the ?? Cancun ?? AM...". Signal about the same as the day before. Did note it all evening on this freq past 0200, and nothing on the other 2 freqs (Dave Valko, PA, Cumbredx mailing list via DXLD) 15045, Radio Free Cascadia International, 1930-2115+ UT Sept 13. Had a program about genetically modified corn 1932-2002 and mentioned corn in Mexico a few times, Then mostly music 2002-2028, switched to Spanish at 2028, back to English at 2112. Positive ID by a male announcer at 2036. SINPO = 35443 (Lee Silvi in Mentor, Ohio, DX LISTENING DIGEST) CLANDESTINE from Mexico(?) to Globe 15045. (Tentative) R. Free Cascadia Intl. 1850-2135 13 Sept. Global anti-globalist, WTO, clandestine with only fair signal at tune-in, but rose over first two hours to solid 55535. Audio on reggae program and plight of maquiladoras fairly good. Very solid ID by female heard at 2133: "Radio Free Cascadia International", and announcement that "our enemies" have shut down email and web site. Gave new email address of rfci@riseup.net repeated with phonetics, but announcer did not do as well with more complicated www address. Hopefully some of you other listeners caught it. I zero- beat frequency down to right on 15045 with Drake R-8 (Rick Barton, Central Arizona, USA Drake R-8, 60' long wire, 75 foot r.w., Cumbredx mailing list via DXLD) CLANDESTINE, 15045, R. Free Cascadia, 2225-2350 Sept 13. Man with talk in Spanish. Eugene, Oregon address and web address given. Mention of Radio ... Libre. 2229 A couple of selections of LA pop music followed by an EZL selection in English and some jazz. Strong signal with a couple of deep fades. SINPO 44334 (Jim Evans, TN, Cumbredx mailing list via DXLD) Usual good signal here on 15045, until fade-down started about 0320 UT Sept 14, gone by 0330; maybe propagating elsewhere. Get them today Sept 14-UT 15 before they quit (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** PARAGUAY. El domingo pasado (el 7 de setiembre se cambio la hora oficial en Paraguay. Ahora es -3 UTC. Transcribo un articulo aparecido en el diario asunceno ABC color del sábado 6 de setiembre Saludos de (Levi P. Iversen, Sept 14, Conexión Digital via DXLD) That`s like starting DST in the Northern Hemisphere on March 7 --- a bit early! ********************************************************************** ESTA NOCHE SE ADELANTA LA HORA EN 60 MINUTOS A medianoche la hora oficial debe ser adelantada en 60 minutos en todo el territorio del país. Este régimen estará vigente hasta tanto una comisión técnica defina el sistema horario definitivo y cuyas conclusiones deberán ser entregadas al Ejecutivo en un plazo no mayor de 20 días. Así explicó ayer en el Palacio de López el secretario general de la Presidencia, Aníbal Saucedo. El adelantamiento de la hora el primer domingo de setiembre fue dispuesto por el ex presidente González Macchi en virtud del decreto Nº 16.530, del 26 de febrero de 2002. Fue en base a una presentación de la Ande, acompañando un estudio sobre la influencia del cambio de la hora oficial sobre la demanda de energía eléctrica del sistema interconectado nacional. Precisa, entre otros fundamentos, que ''es conveniente minimizar la superposición del horario de incremento del consumo residencial de energía eléctrica con la permanencia del consumo comercial, porque ello incrementa los requerimientos adicionales de transmisión y distribución de la energía eléctrica''. (via Levi P. Iversen, Conexión Digital via DXLD) ** TAIWAN. Glenn, Radio Taiwan Int'l from Taipei, Taiwan heard tonight with Spanish programming on steady 9956.113 kHz rather than scheduled 9955 kHz at 2130 UT (Graham Powell, Editor - Online DX Logbook, The most up-to-date Tropical & Shortwave loggings on the Internet are available at http://www.shortwave.org.uk Sept 13, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U K. SOMALILAND WEEKLY ACCUSES BBC SOMALI SERVICE OF BIASED REPORTING | Text of editorial entitled "The BBC Somali Service's biased reporting on Somaliland" published in English by Somali newspaper The Somaliland Times web site on 7 September Under the stewardship of Yusuf Garad, the BBC Somali service's reporting on Somaliland has become so biased it prompted the doyen of Somali studies, I.M. Lewis, to dub it the "Arta faction mouth piece." About four years ago when Yusuf Garad was named the editor of the BBC Somali Service, he became the first Somali to hold such a position. Unfortunately, since the commencement of preparations for the Arta peace conference in early 2000 and the subsequent enthroning of Abdiqasim Salad [Hasan] as president of the now-defunct TNG [Transitional National Government], the Somali Service of the BBC seems to have departed from the BBC's standard policy of fair, objective and accurate reporting. Of particular concern is a pattern of omission and distortion of developments taking place in this country and the harshly anti-Somaliland fervour consistently emanating from the Somali Service broadcasts. Here are a few of the latest sins of omission and commission perpetrated by the BBC's Somaliland Service: On 28 July, the International Crisis Group [ICG] issued one of the few serious reports ever written on Somali affairs since the downfall of Siyad Barre's dictatorship in 1991. A Somalilander living in London had informed the BBC's Somali Service as well Haatuf newspaper in Hargeysa about the ICG report. While a summary of the report was later published by Haatuf and its sister newspapers the Somaliland Times and Arabic Al-Haatef, the Somali Service with a much wider audience, has until now refrained from informing its listeners about the ICG report. The report mainly dealt with the issue of democratization in Somaliland, including a critical review of the electoral processes that the country has witnessed recently. It also contained an extensive amount of analysis and commentary on social, political and security issues of deep concern to Somaliland and Somalia. Obviously, somebody within the Somali Service must have an interest in suppressing information on the peaceful progress made by the people of Somaliland towards democracy, and the growing understanding and sympathy among the international community for Somaliland's demands for recognition. Moreover, the Somali Service still calls Abdiqasim Salad Hasan the president of the TNG as if Salad's term had not expired and the TNG did not cease to exist as of 13 August. Last Wednesday [3 September], Mr Yusuf Garad himself indulged in this habit of portraying Abdiqasim Salad Hasan as the head of a working government while he was being interviewed by the Somali Service on the occasion of his recent return from Mogadishu. By contrast, it is a taboo within the Somali Service to call Somaliland by its name without adding to it such terms as self-proclaimed or self-declared republic. There is also the deafening silence of the BBC's Somali Service about human rights violations in Djibouti, [and] the huge areas of land expropriated by Abdiqasim Salad Hasan's clan militia in southern Somalia. The BBC Somali Service has done great damage to the reputation of the BBC, and something must be done about it before it is too late. Source: The Somaliland Times web site, Hargeysa, in English 7 Sep 03 (via BBCM via DXLD) ** U S A. It seems WWCR`s usage of 9485 as a one-hour `stepup` frequency at 1200-1300 from transmitter 3 was short-lived only in August. The current schedule shows: Transmitter #3 - 100 KW - 40 Degrees FREQ TIME (CDT) TIME (UTC) DATES 12.160 7:00AM- 6:00PM 1200-2300 01 Sep 03-25 Oct 03 5.070 6:00PM- 7:00AM 2300-1200 01 Sep 03-25 Oct 03 And here is the only other transmitter worth listening to: Transmitter #1 - 100 KW - 46 Degrees FREQ TIME (CDT) TIME (UTC) DATES 9.475 4:00AM- 5:00AM 0900-1000 01 Sep 03-25 Oct 03 15.825 5:00AM- 5:00PM 1000-2200 01 Sep 03-25 Oct 03 9.475 5:00PM- 7:00PM 2200-0000 01 Sep 03-25 Oct 03 3.210 7:00PM- 4:00AM 0000-0900 01 Sep 03-25 Oct 03 (via Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Duluth, MN area on 103.7 FM: a relayer of WWCR SW Nashville TN, reportedly with a direxional antenna from north of town, aimed south along US Hwy 53. Monophonic, said to be owned by one Jerry Buchanan, who is not in the local phone book. His neighbor probably alerted him to our visit, as the next afternoon he was off the air, from a house and garage behind a gate with ADT and ``danger --- high voltage`` signs. ``I saw a wire runing across the driveway and didn`t want to approach.`` (Bruce Elving, Sept FMedia! via DXLD) WWCR-1, WWCR-2, WWCR-3 or WWCR-4?? ** U S A. Re 3-164: Just a quick note, KAAY is running about 13 kW at present on its old 50 kw RCA from the 50's. The engineering department used a massive effort to bring the ole girl back to life. The mod transformer went out on the main box (Harris?). Until they get a new or rebuilt one the plan is to put in a 5 or 10 kw Harris MW box for the interim. The 2nd harmonic has got to be a byproduct of wacky output tuning on the old rig (Jerry Kiefer, Daytona Beach, FL, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A [and non]. Notice a new far out-of-band channel coming, 6855 (gh) The following is the Final 26 October 2003 to 28 March 2004 High Frequency Schedule for Family Stations, Inc., WYFR. Freq (kHz) Time (UTC) Az(Degrees) Zone(s) Power 5810 0500-0800 44 27,39 100 5810 0800-1200 160 14 100 5810 2000-2300 44 27,28 100 5950 0300-0800 285 10 100 5950 0945-1300 355 4,5,9 100 5950 2100-0300 355 4,5,9 100 5985 0445-0700 315 2 100 5985 2145-0445 181 11 50 6065 0100-0445 355 4,5,9 100 6085 0945-1400 181 11 100 6085 2245-0100 355 4,5,9 100 6105 0800-1100 142 15 100 6855 0300-0600 355 4,5,9 100 7355 0300-0745 44 27,28 100 7355 1045-1345 315 2 100 7520 0100-0200 142 13 100 7520 0245-0500 44 27,28 100 7520 0500-0800 44 27,28 100 7570 0045-0300 160 15 100 7580 1945-2245 44 27,28 100 9355 0400-0800 44 27,28 100 9355 1845-2300 44 27,28 100 9505 0000-0445 315 2 100 9525 0100-0400 285 10 50 9555 0800-1200 160 16 100 9575 0900-1200 160 15 100 9575 1200-1245 285 10 50 9605 0800-1100 142 13 100 9605 1100-1245 222 12 100 9680 0145-0700 315 2 100 9680 0845-1045 140 13 100 9690 2245-0045 142 13 100 9715 2345-0100 285 10 50 9715 0400-0600 285 10 50 9985 0100-0500 151 15 100 9985 0500-0900 87 37,46 100 11530 0500-0800 44 27,28 100 11565 2000-2145 44 27,28 100 11580 0345-0900 87 47,52,57 100 11665 1945-2300 44 27,28 100 11720 2245-0145 142 13 100 11725 1100-1400 222 11 100 11740 0145-0600 222 11 100 11740 0945-1300 151 15 100 11740 1300-1500 355 4,5,9 100 11740 2145-2345 315 2 100 11825 0045-0300 160 14 100 11830 1045-1700 315 2 100 11855 2145-0500 222 11 100 11865 1345-1700 315 2 100 11885 2300-0145 140 13 100 11970 1145-1345 285 10 100 13695 1045-1500 355 4,5,9 100 15115 1700-1945 87 47 100 15130 1245-1500 285 10 50 15130 1945-2100 355 4,5,9 100 15130 2145-2245 142 13 100 15170 2245-0045 160 15 100 15215 2300-0400 160 16 100 15355 1245-1400 222 12 100 15400 2300-0100 151 15 100 15440 2145-0300 285 10 100 15565 1800-1945 44 27,28 100 15565 2000-2245 87 37,46 100 15665 1600-1700 44 27,28 100 17575 1945-2245 140 13 100 17690 1700-1945 87 37,46 100 17760 1345-1700 285 10 100 17760 1700-2000 44 27,28 100 17790 1545-1700 87 47 100 17845 2300-0045 160 14 100 18930 1545-1845 44 27,28 100 18980 1545-1945 44 27,28 100 21455 1545-2000 44 28 100 21525 1945-2245 87 47,52,57 100 21745 1545-1745 44 28,29 100 The following will be the shortwave schedule for Family Stations, Inc. aired from Taiwan 26 October 2003 to 28 March 2004. Language Time (UTC) Freq(kHz) Target English 0100-0200 15060 S. Asia 1300-1500 11560 S. Asia 1500-1700 6280 S. Asia Hindi 0000-0100 15060 S. Asia 1500-1600 11560 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 (Evelyn Marcy, WYFR, Sept 11, DX LISTENING DIGEST) WYFR BROADCAST SCHEDULE 26 OCT 2003 to 28 MAR 2004 Note: Schedule information showing languages for transmissions carried by WYFR for other broadcasters will have to be obtained directly from the other broadcasters. FREQUENCY SORT FREQ (KHZ)TIME (UTC) LANG AZ ZONE PWR 5810 0504-0600 RUSS 44 27,28,100 5810 0600-0700 FREN 44 27,28,100 5810 0700-0745 SPAN 44 27,28,100 5810 0800-1200 SPAN 160 14 100 5810 2000-2200 ENGL 44 27,28 100 5810 2200-2245 ARAB 44 27,28 100 5950 1000-1245 ENGL 355 4,5,9 100 5985 0000-0200 SPAN 181 11 50 5985 0200-0300 ENGL 181 11 50 5985 0300-0445 SPAN 181 11 50 5985 0500-0600 MAND 315 2 100 5985 0600-0700 CANT 315 2 100 5985 2200-2300 SPAN 181 11 50 5985 2300-0000 ENGL 181 11 50 6065 0100-0445 ENGL 355 4,5,9 100 6085 0000-0100 ENGL 355 4,5,9 100 6085 1000-1400 SPAN 181 11 100 6085 2300-0000 FREN 355 4,5,9 100 6105 0800-1045 PORT 142 13 100 6855 0304-0500 SPAN 355 4,5,9 100 6855 0500-0600 ENGL 355 4,5,9 100 7355 0304-0400 RUSS 44 27,28,100 7355 0400-0500 ENGL 44 27,28,100 7355 0500-0600 GERM 44 27,28,100 7355 0600-0745 ENGL 44 27,28,100 7355 1100-1300 MAND 315 2 100 7355 1300-1345 SPAN 315 2 100 7520 0100-0200 PORT 142 15 100 7520 0300-0400 GERM 44 27,28,100 7520 0400-0500 ARAB 44 27,28,100 7520 0500-0600 ENGL 44 27,28,100 7520 0600-0700 ITAL 44 27,28,100 7520 0700-0745 PORT 44 27,28,100 7570 0100-0200 SPAN 160 15 100 7570 0200-0300 PORT 160 15 100 7580 2000-2245 ENGL 44 27,28 100 9355 0404-0500 GERM 44 27,28,100 9355 0500-0600 SPAN 44 27,28,100 9505 0000-0445 ENGL 315 2 100 9555 0804-1100 SPAN 160 16 100 9555 1100-1200 ENGL 160 16 100 9575 0900-1100 PORT 160 15 100 9575 1100-1200 SPAN 160 15 100 9575 1200-1245 SPAN 285 10 50 9605 0800-1045 PORT 142 15 100 9605 1100-1245 SPAN 222 11 100 9680 0900-1000 PORT 140 13 100 9680 1000-1045 FREN 140 13 100 9690 0000-0045 PORT 142 15 100 9715 0000-0045 SPAN 285 10 50 9715 0404-0500 ENGL 285 10 50 9715 0500-0600 SPAN 285 10 50 9985 0100-0200 SPAN 151 15 100 9985 0200-0300 ENGL 151 15 100 9985 0300-0445 SPAN 151 15 100 9985 0500-0600 ARAB 87 37,46 100 9985 0600-0700 FREN 87 37,46 100 9985 0700-0900 ENGL 87 37,46 100 11530 0500-0600 ARAB 44 27,28,100 11530 0600-0700 ENGL 44 27,28,100 11530 0700-0800 ITAL 44 27,28,100 11565 2000-2100 ARAB 44 27,28,100 11565 2100-2145 GERM 44 27,28,100 11580 0400-0500 PORT 87 47,52,100 11580 0500-0600 FREN 87 47,52,100 11580 0600-0700 ENGL 87 47,52,100 11580 0700-0800 ARAB 160 15 100 11580 0800-0845 FREN 160 15 100 11665 2000-2100 GERM 44 27,28 100 11665 2100-2200 SPAN 44 27,28 100 11720 0000-0100 ENGL 142 15 100 11720 0100-0145 PORT 142 15 100 11725 1100-1200 ENGL 222 12 100 11725 1200-1400 SPAN 222 12 100 11740 0200-0300 SPAN 222 12 100 11740 0300-0400 ENGL 222 12 100 11740 1000-1100 FREN 151 15 100 11740 1100-1300 SPAN 151 15 100 11740 1300-1500 ENGL 355 4,5,9 100 11740 2200-2345 ENGL 315 2 100 11830 1100-1700 ENGL 315 2 100 11855 0000-0200 SPAN 222 11 100 11855 0200-0300 ENGL 222 11 100 11855 0300-0445 SPAN 222 11 100 11855 2200-2300 SPAN 222 11 100 11855 2300-0000 ENGL 222 11 100 11865 1400-1500 SPAN 315 2 100 11865 1500-1600 MAND 315 2 100 11865 1600-1700 ENGL 315 2 100 11885 2300-0145 PORT 140 13 100 11970 1200-1345 ENGL 285 10 100 13695 1100-1200 FREN 355 4,5,9 100 13695 1200-1300 ENGL 355 4,5,9 100 13695 1300-1500 MAND 355 4,5,9 100 15115 1700-1800 FREN 87 4,5,9 100 15115 1800-1900 PORT 87 37,46 100 15115 1900-1945 ENGL 87 37,46 100 15130 1300-1500 SPAN 285 10 50 15130 2200-2245 PORT 142 13 100 15170 0000-0045 PORT 160 15 100 15170 2300-0000 ENGL 160 15 100 15215 2300-0100 SPAN 160 16 100 15355 1300-1400 SPAN 222 11 100 15400 0000-0045 FREN 151 15 100 15400 2304-0000 ENGL 151 15 100 15565 1800-1845 SPAN 44 27,28 100 15565 1900-1945 ENGL 44 27,28 100 15565 2000-2200 ENGL 87 37,46 100 15565 2200-2245 ARAB 87 37,46 100 15665 1600-1645 ARAB 44 27,28 100 17575 2000-2200 ENGL 140 13 100 17575 2200-2245 PORT 140 13 100 17690 1700-1800 PORT 87 47,52,100 17690 1800-1945 FREN 87 47,52,100 17760 1400-1700 ENGL 285 10 100 17760 1700-1800 GERM 44 27,28 100 17760 1800-1900 ITAL 44 27,28 100 17760 1900-1945 PORT 44 27,28 100 17790 1600-1645 ENGL 87 4,5,9 100 17845 2304-0045 SPAN 160 14 100 18930 1600-1800 RUSS 44 27,28 100 18930 1800-1845 FREN 44 27,28 100 18980 1600-1945 ENGL 44 27,28,100 21455 1600-1800 ENGL 44 27,28,100 21455 1800-1900 GERM 44 27,28,100 21455 1900-1945 FREN 44 27,28,100 21525 2000-2100 ARAB 87 47,52,100 21525 2100-2200 PORT 87 47,52,100 21525 2200-2245 ENGL 87 47,52,100 21745 1600-1700 ITAL 44 27,28 100 21745 1700-1745 SPAN 44 27,28 100 WYFR BROADCAST SCHEDULE 26 OCT 2003 to 28 MAR 2004 Note: Schedule information showing languages for transmissions carried by WYFR for other broadcasters will have to be obtained directly from the other broadcasters. TIME SORT TIME (UTC) LANG FREQ (KHZ) AZ ZONE PWR 0000-0045 FREN 15400 151 15 100 0000-0045 PORT 9690 142 15 100 0000-0045 PORT 15170 160 15 100 0000-0045 SPAN 9715 285 10 50 0000-0100 ENGL 11720 142 15 100 0000-0100 ENGL 6085 355 4,5,9 100 0000-0200 SPAN 5985 181 11 50 0000-0200 SPAN 11855 222 11 100 0000-0445 ENGL 9505 315 2 100 0100-0145 PORT 11720 142 15 100 0100-0200 PORT 7520 142 15 100 0100-0200 SPAN 9985 151 15 100 0100-0200 SPAN 7570 160 15 100 0100-0445 ENGL 6065 355 4,5,9 100 0200-0300 ENGL 5985 181 11 50 0200-0300 ENGL 9985 151 15 100 0200-0300 ENGL 11855 222 11 100 0200-0300 PORT 7570 160 15 100 0200-0300 SPAN 11740 222 12 100 0300-0400 ENGL 11740 222 12 100 0300-0400 GERM 7520 44 27,28,100 0300-0445 SPAN 5985 181 11 50 0300-0445 SPAN 9985 151 15 100 0300-0445 SPAN 11855 222 11 100 0304-0400 RUSS 7355 44 27,28,100 0304-0500 SPAN 6855 355 4,5,9 100 0400-0500 ARAB 7520 44 27,28,100 0400-0500 ENGL 7355 44 27,28,100 0400-0500 PORT 11580 87 47,52,100 0404-0500 ENGL 9715 285 10 50 0404-0500 GERM 9355 44 27,28,100 0500-0600 ARAB 9985 87 37,46 100 0500-0600 ARAB 11530 44 27,28,100 0500-0600 ENGL 7520 44 27,28,100 0500-0600 ENGL 6855 355 4,5,9 100 0500-0600 FREN 11580 87 47,52,100 0500-0600 GERM 7355 44 27,28,100 0500-0600 MAND 5985 315 2 100 0500-0600 SPAN 9355 44 27,28,100 0500-0600 SPAN 9715 285 10 50 0504-0600 RUSS 5810 44 27,28,100 0600-0700 CANT 5985 315 2 100 0600-0700 ENGL 11530 44 27,28,100 0600-0700 ENGL 11580 87 47,52,100 0600-0700 FREN 5810 44 27,28,100 0600-0700 FREN 9985 87 37,46 100 0600-0700 ITAL 7520 44 27,28,100 0600-0745 ENGL 7355 44 27,28,100 0700-0745 PORT 7520 44 27,28,100 0700-0745 SPAN 5810 44 27,28,100 0700-0800 ARAB 11580 160 15 100 0700-0800 ITAL 11530 44 27,28,100 0700-0900 ENGL 9985 87 37,46 100 0800-0845 FREN 11580 160 15 100 0800-1045 PORT 9605 142 15 100 0800-1045 PORT 6105 142 13 100 0800-1200 SPAN 5810 160 14 100 0804-1100 SPAN 9555 160 16 100 0900-1000 PORT 9680 140 13 100 0900-1100 PORT 9575 160 15 100 1000-1045 FREN 9680 140 13 100 1000-1100 FREN 11740 151 15 100 1000-1245 ENGL 5950 355 4,5,9 100 1000-1400 SPAN 6085 181 11 100 1100-1200 ENGL 11725 222 12 100 1100-1200 ENGL 9555 160 16 100 1100-1200 FREN 13695 355 4,5,9 100 1100-1200 SPAN 9575 160 15 100 1100-1245 SPAN 9605 222 11 100 1100-1300 MAND 7355 315 2 100 1100-1300 SPAN 11740 151 15 100 1100-1700 ENGL 11830 315 2 100 1200-1245 SPAN 9575 285 10 50 1200-1300 ENGL 13695 355 4,5,9 100 1200-1345 ENGL 11970 285 10 100 1200-1400 SPAN 11725 222 12 100 1300-1345 SPAN 7355 315 2 100 1300-1400 SPAN 15355 222 11 100 1300-1500 ENGL 11740 355 4,5,9 100 1300-1500 MAND 13695 355 4,5,9 100 1300-1500 SPAN 15130 285 10 50 1400-1500 SPAN 11865 315 2 100 1400-1700 ENGL 17760 285 10 100 1500-1600 MAND 11865 315 2 100 1600-1645 ARAB 15665 44 27,28 100 1600-1645 ENGL 17790 87 4,5,9 100 1600-1700 ENGL 11865 315 2 100 1600-1700 ITAL 21745 44 27,28 100 1600-1800 ENGL 21455 44 27,28,100 1600-1800 RUSS 18930 44 27,28 100 1600-1945 ENGL 18980 44 27,28,100 1700-1745 SPAN 21745 44 27,28 100 1700-1800 FREN 15115 87 4,5,9 100 1700-1800 GERM 17760 44 27,28 100 1700-1800 PORT 17690 87 47,52,100 1800-1845 FREN 18930 44 27,28 100 1800-1845 SPAN 15565 44 27,28 100 1800-1900 GERM 21455 44 27,28,100 1800-1900 ITAL 17760 44 27,28 100 1800-1900 PORT 15115 87 37,46 100 1800-1945 FREN 17690 87 47,52,100 1900-1945 ENGL 15115 87 37,46 100 1900-1945 ENGL 15565 44 27,28 100 1900-1945 FREN 21455 44 27,28,100 1900-1945 PORT 17760 44 27,28 100 2000-2100 ARAB 11565 44 27,28,100 2000-2100 ARAB 21525 87 47,52,100 2000-2100 GERM 11665 44 27,28 100 2000-2200 ENGL 5810 44 27,28 100 2000-2200 ENGL 15565 87 37,46 100 2000-2200 ENGL 17575 140 13 100 2000-2245 ENGL 7580 44 27,28 100 2100-2145 GERM 11565 44 27,28,100 2100-2200 PORT 21525 87 47,52,100 2100-2200 SPAN 11665 44 27,28 100 2200-2245 ARAB 5810 44 27,28 100 2200-2245 ARAB 15565 87 37,46 100 2200-2245 ENGL 21525 87 47,52,100 2200-2245 PORT 15130 142 13 100 2200-2245 PORT 17575 140 13 100 2200-2300 SPAN 5985 181 11 50 2200-2300 SPAN 11855 222 11 100 2200-2345 ENGL 11740 315 2 100 2300-0000 ENGL 5985 181 11 50 2300-0000 ENGL 15170 160 15 100 2300-0000 ENGL 11855 222 11 100 2300-0000 FREN 6085 355 4,5,9 100 2300-0100 SPAN 15215 160 16 100 2300-0145 PORT 11885 140 13 100 2304-0000 ENGL 15400 151 15 100 2304-0045 SPAN 17845 160 14 100 WYFR BROADCAST SCHEDULE 26 OCT 2003 to 28 MAR 2004 Note: Schedule information showing languages for transmissions carried by WYFR for other broadcasters will have to be obtained directly from the other broadcasters. LANGUAGE SORT LANG TIME (UTC) FREQ (KHZ) AZ ZONE PWR ARAB 0400-0500 7520 44 27,28,100 ARAB 0500-0600 9985 87 37,46 100 ARAB 0500-0600 11530 44 27,28,100 ARAB 0700-0800 11580 160 15 100 ARAB 1600-1645 15665 44 27,28 100 ARAB 2000-2100 11565 44 27,28,100 ARAB 2000-2100 21525 87 47,52,100 ARAB 2200-2245 5810 44 27,28 100 ARAB 2200-2245 15565 87 37,46 100 CANT 0600-0700 5985 315 2 100 ENGL 0000-0100 11720 142 15 100 ENGL 0000-0100 6085 355 4,5,9 100 ENGL 0000-0445 9505 315 2 100 ENGL 0100-0445 6065 355 4,5,9 100 ENGL 0200-0300 5985 181 11 50 ENGL 0200-0300 9985 151 15 100 ENGL 0200-0300 11855 222 11 100 ENGL 0300-0400 11740 222 12 100 ENGL 0400-0500 7355 44 27,28,100 ENGL 0404-0500 9715 285 10 50 ENGL 0500-0600 7520 44 27,28,100 ENGL 0500-0600 6855 355 4,5,9 100 ENGL 0600-0700 11530 44 27,28,100 ENGL 0600-0700 11580 87 47,52,100 ENGL 0600-0745 7355 44 27,28,100 ENGL 0700-0900 9985 87 37,46 100 ENGL 1000-1245 5950 355 4,5,9 100 ENGL 1100-1200 11725 222 12 100 ENGL 1100-1200 9555 160 16 100 ENGL 1100-1700 11830 315 2 100 ENGL 1200-1300 13695 355 4,5,9 100 ENGL 1200-1345 11970 285 10 100 ENGL 1300-1500 11740 355 4,5,9 100 ENGL 1400-1700 17760 285 10 100 ENGL 1600-1645 17790 87 4,5,9 100 ENGL 1600-1700 11865 315 2 100 ENGL 1600-1800 21455 44 27,28,100 ENGL 1600-1945 18980 44 27,28,100 ENGL 1900-1945 15115 87 37,46 100 ENGL 1900-1945 15565 44 27,28 100 ENGL 2000-2200 5810 44 27,28 100 ENGL 2000-2200 15565 87 37,46 100 ENGL 2000-2200 17575 140 13 100 ENGL 2000-2245 7580 44 27,28 100 ENGL 2200-2245 21525 87 47,52,100 ENGL 2200-2345 11740 315 2 100 ENGL 2300-0000 5985 181 11 50 ENGL 2300-0000 15170 160 15 100 ENGL 2300-0000 11855 222 11 100 ENGL 2304-0000 15400 151 15 100 FREN 0000-0045 15400 151 15 100 FREN 0500-0600 11580 87 47,52,100 FREN 0600-0700 5810 44 27,28,100 FREN 0600-0700 9985 87 37,46 100 FREN 0800-0845 11580 160 15 100 FREN 1000-1045 9680 140 13 100 FREN 1000-1100 11740 151 15 100 FREN 1100-1200 13695 355 4,5,9 100 FREN 1700-1800 15115 87 4,5,9 100 FREN 1800-1845 18930 44 27,28 100 FREN 1800-1945 17690 87 47,52,100 FREN 1900-1945 21455 44 27,28,100 FREN 2300-0000 6085 355 4,5,9 100 GERM 0300-0400 7520 44 27,28,100 GERM 0404-0500 9355 44 27,28,100 GERM 0500-0600 7355 44 27,28,100 GERM 1700-1800 17760 44 27,28 100 GERM 1800-1900 21455 44 27,28,100 GERM 2000-2100 11665 44 27,28 100 GERM 2100-2145 11565 44 27,28,100 ITAL 0600-0700 7520 44 27,28,100 ITAL 0700-0800 11530 44 27,28,100 ITAL 1600-1700 21745 44 27,28 100 ITAL 1800-1900 17760 44 27,28 100 MAND 0500-0600 5985 315 2 100 MAND 1100-1300 7355 315 2 100 MAND 1300-1500 13695 355 4,5,9 100 MAND 1500-1600 11865 315 2 100 PORT 0000-0045 9690 142 15 100 PORT 0000-0045 15170 160 15 100 PORT 0100-0145 11720 142 15 100 PORT 0100-0200 7520 142 15 100 PORT 0200-0300 7570 160 15 100 PORT 0400-0500 11580 87 47,52,100 PORT 0700-0745 7520 44 27,28,100 PORT 0800-1045 9605 142 15 100 PORT 0800-1045 6105 142 13 100 PORT 0900-1000 9680 140 13 100 PORT 0900-1100 9575 160 15 100 PORT 1700-1800 17690 87 47,52,100 PORT 1800-1900 15115 87 37,46 100 PORT 1900-1945 17760 44 27,28 100 PORT 2100-2200 21525 87 47,52,100 PORT 2200-2245 15130 142 13 100 PORT 2200-2245 17575 140 13 100 PORT 2300-0145 11885 140 13 100 RUSS 0304-0400 7355 44 27,28,100 RUSS 0504-0600 5810 44 27,28,100 RUSS 1600-1800 18930 44 27,28 100 SPAN 0000-0045 9715 285 10 50 SPAN 0000-0200 5985 181 11 50 SPAN 0000-0200 11855 222 11 100 SPAN 0100-0200 9985 151 15 100 SPAN 0100-0200 7570 160 15 100 SPAN 0200-0300 11740 222 12 100 SPAN 0300-0445 5985 181 11 50 SPAN 0300-0445 9985 151 15 100 SPAN 0300-0445 11855 222 11 100 SPAN 0304-0500 6855 355 4,5,9 100 SPAN 0500-0600 9355 44 27,28,100 SPAN 0500-0600 9715 285 10 50 SPAN 0700-0745 5810 44 27,28,100 SPAN 0800-1200 5810 160 14 100 SPAN 0804-1100 9555 160 16 100 SPAN 1000-1400 6085 181 11 100 SPAN 1100-1200 9575 160 15 100 SPAN 1100-1245 9605 222 11 100 SPAN 1100-1300 11740 151 15 100 SPAN 1200-1245 9575 285 10 50 SPAN 1200-1400 11725 222 12 100 SPAN 1300-1345 7355 315 2 100 SPAN 1300-1400 15355 222 11 100 SPAN 1300-1500 15130 285 10 50 SPAN 1400-1500 11865 315 2 100 SPAN 1700-1745 21745 44 27,28 100 SPAN 1800-1845 15565 44 27,28 100 SPAN 2100-2200 11665 44 27,28 100 SPAN 2200-2300 5985 181 11 50 SPAN 2200-2300 11855 222 11 100 SPAN 2300-0100 15215 160 16 100 SPAN 2304-0045 17845 160 14 100 (via Evelyn Marcy, WYFR, Sept 12, DXLD) ** U S A. Radio talk personality Rollye James is apparently heard on a small, but growing network of stations, including WLAC, 1510, Nashville, where I heard the last hour of her 3-hour program this past Thursday and Friday nights. It airs from 10:00 to 1:00 EDT, or 9 to midnight Central. Her flagship is in Philadelphia, perhaps WPHT, 1210, where I'd heard her a few months ago during a good skip. One of her liners claims she's on the edge of the lunatic fringe. From what I heard, I'd say her views might be populist, or something on that order, though some might say she gets into conspiracy theory content. Friday nights are devoted to trivia games. She's got an incredible knowledge of obscure oldies. In the past I'd heard Ms. James on KOA, Denver, and on rare occasions she subbed for Art Bell on Coast to Coast. She's quite a character. Keep up the good work (John Wesley Smith, KC0HSB, Hallsville, MO, Sept 13, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. On September 6, around 2000 EDT, it seemed that WSAI had managed, somehow, to QRM itself. There was noise, consistent with that on 1520 and 1540, present on 1530. Not at the same level, but the same white hash noise was there nonetheless. Now, is some other operation running IBOC on 1520 or 1540, or did the IBOC system develop a flaw that was not found in the black box testing? Whatever the cause, the audio was degraded slightly at that time due to the white noise. Similar noise was not audible on 1510 or 1550, which does imply that this did not originate on 1520 or 1540, though sufficient data is lacking to establish that (Gerry Bishop, Niceandmuggyville, FL, NRC-AM via DXLD) When running IBOC digital, the analog bandwidth is narrowed to 5 kHz. You must've been listening on a wideband receiver, thus hearing stuff on either side of the 5 kHz analog signal. Thus the fatal flaw in AM IBOC. The idea was that present analog equipment wouldn't become obsolete. The reality is that most analog AM receivers have a bandwidth much greater than 5 kHz and will receive interference from the digital signal when tuned to the analog center frequency (Bruce Conti - Nashua NH, ibid.) Actually, I had it on 6, 4, and 2.3 settings on the R8, and on the Wide and Narrow settings on 2010. Used both receivers so I could be sure it wasn't just something in the receiver. But nonetheless, an excellent thought that it might have been just too wide a setting. But in this case, that wasn't the problem (Gerry Bishop, ibid.) Then you should contact WSAI. If you were on frequency with the 2.3 kHz IF engaged, then there shouldn't have been any interference from the digital sides (Bruce Conti - Nashua NH, ibid.) Oh, I sent them a letter about it last week. I know they're gathering data about the IBOC system (GB, ibid.) To those who have local stations which are interfered with by the IBOC carrier, I would encourage you to make a tape or MP3 file of it and send it to Paul Jellison. I sent an MP3 demo of IBOC interfering with 1520 and 1540 in Memphis, but we have no local stations. I think samples of local stations being buried or severely disrupted by IBOC would be very good to have on record. It's obvious that what Mr. Jellison is trying to do is collect as much real-world data on the interference caused by IBOC. I've heard the IBOC carrier being turned on and off several times before. For example, last night, it was going on and off every minute. When it was off, I could hear KOMA running a football game and another station also running a football game. I could also hear what sounded like a het! Yes, a het in Memphis. I don't know whether it was the IBOC carrier being still on with no digital noise, or a very weak foreign signal somehow making it this far, but there was a noticeable het on 1520 last night. When the IBOC was on, I could just make out one of the football games. That with 1530 being beat up by a Spanish station (Adam Myrow, TN, ibid.) Probably Sa`udi Arabia 2 megawatts on 1521 ** U S A. Hello G.H., Forgive me if you're already aware of this, but thought I'd share it for what it's worth. I haven't yet heard this week's program. This past Wednesday afternoon, Sept. 10th, 61 Country, WDAF, 610 in Kansas City went away and is now an all sports talker. I think they made the switch around 2:00, though I wasn't listening at that moment. The call may change to KCSP. They're calling it 61 Sports and are airing some blocks of local talk in the daytime and airing Sporting News Radio evenings and overnight apparently. I don't know how long WDAF had been on the air, but they played standards in the first half of the '70's when I became acquainted with them while living in southeast Nebraska. On Valentine's Day 1977 they became 61 Country, featuring such personalities as Jim Tyler, who later worked in Dallas & Chicago, and Dale Summers, now best known as the Truckin' Bozo. 61 Country was a class act. Music was like that of the Real Country format. Their personalities and newscasters generally stayed around quite a long time. Professionalism was top notch. They began simulcasting on the latter half of August on 106.5 FM, Liberty (N. Kansas City), MO, and proclaimed 61 country was on FM as Country 106.5. They claimed to have supersized, going from 5,000 Watts on AM to 100,000 Watts in digital stereo on FM. The AM station reaches well into Nebraska and Iowa as well as Missouri and Kansas, obviously a larger coverage area than any full power FM. Losing 61 Country is a real shame in my opinion. As 61 Country, WDAF was often the highest rated station in Kansas City. It wouldn't surprise me to see the FM station water down the personality of the station to the point where it will lose popularity, then eventually be done away with in the midst of more mergers, consolidations, etc. (John Wesley Smith, KC0HSB, Hallsville, MO, Sept 13, DX LISTENING DIGEST) I did a Google search and found an August 31 Kansas City "Star" article-- http://www.kansascity.com/mld/kansascity/2003/08/31/living/6614922.htm with typically fatuous, anti-AM comments from "WDAF honcho Bob Zuroweste." The article notes that moving the old "61 Country" format to FM "will reduce the rural reach of the country music powerhouse. WDAF has already begun to weed out ag elements and ramp up its music to appeal to a more urban audience." Zuroweste claims the "key elements of 61 Country have all been kept --- but people listen to FM radio more for music than anything else". So they're moving some of their talk programming out of prime time etc. "Let's face it, when WDAF put on the Kansas City Royals, (rival country station) KFKF popped champagne bottles," Zuroweste says. "Because people who want to hear country music want to hear country music. Not baseball. So we want to play country music when they want to hear it --- we eliminated farm reports. Farm reports appealed to people who live in farming communities. Well, WDAF on AM reached people who live in farming communities. WDAF on FM doesn't reach farming communities --- music radio stations on AM are really kind of extinct. WDAF-AM was probably one of the only top-three AM music stations in America. And a lot of the people we polled said they wouldn't listen to WDAF because it was on AM." They did move Paul Harvey to the FM. Zuroweste at first thought "Paul Harvey's not going to make it on the new station," but research proved him wrong, apparently. "I was blown away by his popularity." Well, duh. The WDAF-FM website makes note of the changes by simply saying "FM is for music, AM is for talk." (Randy Stewart/Springfield MO, NRC-AM via DXLD) It's people like this Bob Z character who are ruining what little good is left on AM. From everything that I heard, WDAF had no problems maintaining its share, even despite overwhelming odds posed by FM stations. I especially love the part about: "WDAF-AM was probably one of the only top-three AM music stations in America." Success breeds the need for change, evidently. "If it works, fix it." Evidently running a station that appeals to a regional audience from a cosmopolitan center ("everything's up-to-date in Kansas City") is also a no-no. Rural audiences be damned-- they're just a bunch of damn dumb farmers anyway. When WSM 650 finally does become all-sports, all- right-wing, or whatever other plans the bigwigs have for it (and who cares what its countless loyal listeners all across the country think), a true slice of Americana will be forever buried. That will be a sad day. 73 (Bill Dvorak, Madison WI, ibid.) The same thing has happened with so many stations. 620 Portland is a good example. When they were KGW, they were highly rated. But in the 80s they threw away their history and changed to KINK. It has been one format and call change after another. Now they have taken the old historic KPOJ (1330) calls. I wonder how long they will have those? One of the sad ones was 1400-Berkeley, CA. In the early 80s the FCC was allowing stations to get their 3 call letter calls back. KPAT got their KRE calls back. I QSL'd them, but soon they threw them away, never to have them returned now. Their should be a law against that. But so many have thrown away the history. I talk to quite a few stations and most don't have a clue that they were even on the air a year ago let alone 50 years or more ago. All they care about is $$$$. Nothing else matters anymore. 73s, (Patrick Martin, Seaside OR, ibid.) WDAF had great 12+ numbers, but nearly all the listeners were over 65 as is typical of an AM music station. They were not even in the top 15 in any of the prime sales buying demos, between 18 and 54. So the owners moved the music format to FM, and did one of AM's prime and successful formats, sports and guy talk. WDAF had no history in any audience group that could be sold to advertisers. In fact, while the market is up in revenue by 60% in the last 7 years, WDAF was down nearly half. And it was not the owner. Entercom has wildly successful AM talk and music stations in KC, but they could not sell a format that time buyers did not want. Heritage in radio may be a decade or two. After that, your listeners have moved out of your demo target and forget about you. Looking at something that happened 30 years ago gets you into WGN syndrome: the audience grows older with its listeners, to the point where, eventually, time buyers no longer can justify it. And it, rightfully, dies. And, hopefully, is reincarnated into something better and more relevant. WDAF "looked" good in 12+ overall ratings, but was, in fact, dead and rotting in the ages advertisers will buy: 18-34, 25-54, etc. In no sales demo was the station even in the top 15. It had lost half its billing in the last 7 years, and at the same time, the market grew by half. Sick station. Very sick. If the station was top 3 in 12+, it was because it was #1 65+ and owned that demo. Unfortunately, there are few ad buys for that age group... Old demos are shunned by advertisers. It has been a long time since the WDAF rural audience even existed. The KC metro is a few (9) counties around the core city. WDAF only showed up outside that metro in the Pittsburg and Topeka markets, with tiny numbers in each (and mostly in the ZIP codes that are actually closer to KC). Its role as a rural station was replaced decades ago by local AMs and FMs in every town and crossroads, giving true local service; farmers long ago started getting farm news by internet and weather news by pagers and other new technology. WDAF was fixed because it was not working. In fact, one has to admire the owner for trying for years and years to make it work, losing revenue each year (David Gleason, CA, ibid.) I have no problem with a station making a living and changing with the times that includes changing formats. However if a station was granted a historic call sign from back in the 20s, they should keep those call letters. You only have to ID every hour, so just use slogans like the Latins do. Change your sound, image, or whatever. You can do all of that and still keep the historic call letters (Patrick Martin, Seaside OR, ibid.) They move the calls with the format to the FM. I'm guessing, but I believe they felt leaving the old calls on the AM with a new format would be detrimental as many people would think of the station as an old folks station still even if they reformatted. The FM is doing traditional country, too... Maybe the FM part will help them get a good 35-54 increase, enough to sustain the format. Call letters are not historic if nobody you want to talk to cares. They may be dangerous (Gleason, ibid.) I really feel that radio buys for older demos will change as the boomer generation is almost there. The beginning of the bulge moving thru time is approaching 60 now. They need retirement homes, senior citizens specials, Depends, Denture creme, Doctors, Viagra and a host of all kinds of things that can be marketed both nationally and locally (Paul Smith, W4KNX, Sarasota, FL, ibid.) When NBC got out of radio, they sold WNBC in NY to Emmis. Emmis could have done a WNBC sound-alike (WMBC, etc) if they thought the calls were of positive value. They did not. They thought the calls carried all kinds of negative baggage. They used WFAN, and became the country's highest billing station, while at the same time inventing one of the two most viable AM formats, sports. Anyone who knows a station has more than 30 years history is in their 50's, and not in a particularly savory demo. As to young people, stations are generally in terror of even reminding those listeners that the station is having an anniversary, as it positions the station as old, not fresh. I remember doing a 25th anniversary concert for a station, only to find that the younger listeners (half the listeners were under 35) thought of the station as being old, not for them, for other people, as a result. Last time we did an anniversary celebration! A friend is working on changing the calls of a station that has had the same current ones for 81 years; guess what... Everyone thinks the station is "for their parents." (David Gleason, CA, ibid.) That is indeed the attitude of the marketing folks toward the 55+ demographic: they're brand-loyal for the most part, don't tend to try out new brands, or switch to different brands, like the younger folks do, so what's the point of trying to advertise to that age group? They went through all that years ago and have MADE their choices. Though as Paul suggests, that attitude not only ignores an entire (and ever- larger) segment of the population, it ignores the fact that there IS a whole range of COMPETING products out there targeted AT that age- group. Does this mean the broadcast media isn't an appropriate outlet for advertising those products? (Randy Stewart/Springfield MO, ibid.) 610 will probably be a major success. Sports formats tap into a wealth of sports marketing dollars that only go to sports environments that "regular" formats don't have a chance at. And they deliver prime demo adult males efficiently with little spillage. Even in non-Sports towns like LA, where KXTA gets, maybe, a half-share of listening, they bill like they were top 15. My estimate is that 610 will rival co-owned KMBR-980 in revenue... and KMBR is #2 biller in KC. The combo of a news/talk and a sorts station has been proven to be a winner. Remember, WFAN, often the highest biller in the entire USA, never rises above 14th in the 12+ ratings. But the people they have are choice demos and desirable. Radio has always been about making money, right back to when stores started stations to sell their wares in the 20's. The difference today is that there are sooooo many more stations in every market area that we see more format shifts and lots more segmentation to create distinctive offerings. If you go back in ratings history, you will find plenty of stations that have been in-format and in relatively the same position for over two decades, even without counting ones like the big WCCO and KMOX type of talkers. And having more stations generally makes it harder to make a profit in the smaller markets, but gives the benefit of providing specialty programming like ethnic offerings, Spanish, Christian music and such that did not exist in many places in the 60's and 70's. A lot of us try to get calls that are phonetic equivalents of the name. KOMR for "Amor" in Phoenix being an example. Since, unfortunately, we have to use calls, we look for calls that don't confuse the listener. The coverage is about the same if you consider that next to no one outside the KC metro was listening to WDAF, as they had far better local signals to choose from. And in the current man made noise environment, in populated areas the FM probably does better (David Gleason, CA, ibid.) Let me pose a probably-provacative question to the list, especially those of us who, like David, work for stations: Are call letters obsolete? - Most other countries don't even assign call letters. - Most countries that do don't require stations to give them on the air. - The FCC no longer enforces regulations at a distance - before issuing a NOV, engineers are dispatched to inspect the station. These engineers have no problem identifying which station is in violation without hearing a legal ID. - Stations have "facility IDs" in the FCC Database. These ID numbers survive call changes, ownership changes, even frequency changes. The Commission has even begun using them to refer to stations in public notices. - Many stations are "ashamed" of their call letters - de-emphasize them, run their legal IDs as quietly/quickly as possible, use "fake calls" except at the top-of-hour, etc.. - RDS for FM and XDS and PSIP for TV make it possible to continuously transmit call letters or some other government-assigned identification. Surely some kind of scheme could be developed for automatic ID of AM stations - maybe slow-speed frequency-shift keying of the carrier with Morse Code? (like an intentional version of what KFI is reportedly doing by mistake?) Maybe the time has come to stop worrying about call letters, at least on the air? (Doug Smith, W9WI, NRC-AM via DXLD) Definitely they are obsolete. Arbitron, in the process of studying the start up of the ratings in Mexico (they measure a number of markets there now), determined that the number of stations names a person could remember is nearly double the number of call letter combinations. So for radio, making one's identity clear is enhanced by using names. Calls are arcane, unintuitive and useless (David Gleason) Except for a minority on list here and any other DX-related list, they already have become obsolete de facto. If a station is promoting its identity by means of a slogan as opposed to call letters, as a DX'er, that's good enough for me to identify them or to record them. If one wants to continue to rely on call letters for those purposes, one can, but I have no interest in sitting around for an hour (or more if they slide the calls through during a static crash or a burst of adjacent- channel splatter) listening to a station waiting for the calls if I am already pretty much certain of who they are. While I generally agree with the idea that calls are obsolete, I'd have to take issue with the names being any more meaningful or intuitive because the level of similarity and/or duplication ( not to mention the frequency of their change ) is large. Rather what has happened, I think, is that over time the industry has created this self-fulfilling prophecy by its behavior. This is not making any value judgement on the issue of calls vs. slogans or names. It is proven that people remember best through repetition, so if a station repeats its slogan over and over and hides, obscures or otherwise de-emphasizes its calls, the resultant impact on listeners' memories is predictable. The same was true in the reverse case many years ago. I'm certain that most of us who are of a certain age can remember having no difficulty remembering the details of station call letters in our respective home markets back before there were slogans (Russ Edmunds, PA, ibid.) Well, I wasn't originally going to get into this debate, but I changed my mind. I don't think call signs are outdated. I think they are necessary now more than ever simply because there are so many stations. Let me put it this way. If you are listening to a station in Venezuela, and they ID as "Radio Carúpano," you know exactly who they are because there is only one Radio Carúpano. On the other hand, if you are listening to a station in the United States, and they ID as "magic," that tells you nothing. There are so many stations giving an ID like "magic," or "winner," or "the fan," that it's hard to tell them apart. Even England and Antigua have radio stations calling themselves "magic." For the last few nights, I've been hearing an ESPN station on 860 AM. Once again, that tells me nothing. How many ESPN stations are on 860? If they said something like "this is KMVP Phoenix," I'd know exactly who it is. Even a local commercial would be nice, but I have yet to hear anything but promotions for ESPN. The closest I've heard to a local ad was a bit of a commercial for the renaissance Festival just as they were fading out. We have so many stations in the US and most are carrying network programming, that I don't think it would be possible to have a unique slogan or saying for each. Even foreign countries have that problem. How many times do we see loggings of France Bleu on a certain frequency. We only know what country it is, not what city especially if they operate a syncro transmitter or 2. Another case in favor of call signs was the oldies station on 640 AM I heard for a few nights under WCRV here in Memphis. They would fade in and out and I was able to copy them solid for a few minutes one night. In that time, they gave the ID "oldies 640, KTIB." That was all I needed to look up KTIB on the Internet and determine that I was hearing Thibodeaux, Louisiana. If they had just said "oldies 650," I would have had a much harder time of it since there could be plenty of oldies stations. One last example, on July 22, with WJCE 680 off the air due to a powerful thunderstorm, I heard a very weak station playing country music. Eventually, they gave their call letters as KFEQ. That, of course, is in St. Joseph Missouri. If you check the web, they are still listed as a talk format, so without any mention of KFEQ or St Joseph, I would have never guessed what it was. So, I think call letters are very helpful in searching for a station's location when you hear them pop up for only a short time. It's certainly true about people remembering call letters. When I told my Grandmother that I had received KOA in Denver and KFEQ in St. Joseph, she knew exactly what stations I meant and recalled listening to them years ago. In fact, I didn't even have to say KFEQ. I just said "St. Joseph," and she asked "KFEQ?" And I looked at the FCC database and the "new" WDAF-FM isn't even a full C. It's a feeble C1 with only a 300 foot tower and with the transmitter site substantially SE of KC, I'd would expect rather spotty coverage in city proper. And what does it sound like? The Nashville TN FM's are just beyond horrid. A friend of mine who engineers a non com there says the average modulation is 135+% and the 3 country FM sounded absolutely horrid when I went through during the late spring of 2002 heading out west to storm chase. They were so bad, I went back to WSM for relief! But the VERY worst FM I have ever heard. The FM did not gain ANY share when Journal killed KVOO. The listeners went away. The other country FM, I'm sure was thrilled as they were getting a run for the money. And I expect the sports on AM to be a dismal failure. KC as I said, is 2 small to support two sports stations. It ISN'T NYC! (Powell E. Way, SC, ibid.) You're looking at a backup facility. WDAF-FM has two, one is 19.5 kW/129 m (about 360') and the other 68kw/101m. (about 300') Their main facility is 100 kW/299 m, about 980'. It's (very) roughly 3 miles north and 12 miles east of the 19.5kw backup. (the 68kw backup is on the same tower as the main) (Doug Smith, ibid.) Given the size of the market, the C1 would do it OK. Remember, it is a crippled format, belonging on a niche signal, not a competitive format. As to the sports format, the non-DA signal of 610 is much better than the highly directional night signal of WHB, the competitor. Since nights are critical to sports (scores, pbp, etc), the night advantage and Entercom's experience in AM should put them over the top. Already they took most of the good staff of WHB, so, in essence, they came on the winner. In any case, there are plenty of markets with two sports stations making money. Ratings are not particularly relevant in that format, as much of the revenue comes through sports marketing budgets. I would die for a C1 equivalent for the Recuerdo format I do in LA; it is on two horrible A's and, arrrrrrgh, an AM. And it beats a bunch of full B's in 25-54, too. Folks who want the programming seek it out... but if I had a better signal, it would be a top 10 LA station, billing $35 million (David Gleason, CA, ibid.) I don't see any benefit to the audience at all. An example: a few weeks ago, to do a contract, I had to get the call letters of the Buenos Aires station I program because the American contract had to have it. I don't know the calls. I called the station. No one knew the calls, even the CE. They finally called the government, and had someone look them up... and that took a day or two. Yet the station, which went on the air with its current name and programming in very late April, 2000, was identified well enough to be #1 in the May ratings in the world's 4th or 5th largest city... with no outside advertising. Calls are irrelevant. The rest of the world knows that (David Gleason, ibid.) Dave, not everyone is like us and has digital tuning radios. Not everyone is as savvy as us in knowing that "Classic County 107" is Delphos OH, or that "940 Jams" is Lima OH. When the "common man" dials around and hears the frequency and the city of license, you clearly state where the station is on the dial you tell them where they are at on the band and what community they are listening to. As an emergency responder working with the EAS, Homeland Security, and other organizations, I see the reports and witness that confusion that arises in radio communications. *Some* broadcasters are making it a challenge for people to listen to them. When we had the tornado a few weeks ago, several people reported that they never got a warning about the storm. Reason? The station that they were listening to were in other communities, yet mentioned Lima. (The best Rock for Lima). They were not obligated to say anything about the storm. Therefore, people *thought* they were listening to a Lima station. Oh, and this is legal under present FCC law. When we had the blackout, people could not always depend on their local station because either it was off the air, or it was relaying some content from another broadcaster that sounded like it had no relevance. People in Ohio could give a rat`s ass about people walking in lower Manhattan because the power is out. They want to know why the power is out in Ohio, and what to do. There were stations on the air with information they could use, but the public had a problem in finding the station among all the signals. I know it's hard to believe that such minutia is so important in the overall scope of slogans and names, but I've sat in on a large number of discussions where federal officials are dumbfounded that the public has these problems today, that were not an issue 40 years ago. Perhaps we've ignored history, and placed our priories elsewhere? The fact is, radio has never been so confusing in its history! Good identification solves the problem for those that don't share our hobby. My prediction, when the next power outage happens, you'll see this same confusion again because folks; a) don't have a majority of local radio, and b) there is not a clear identification of what station serves what area (Fred Vobbe, OH, ibid.) High School Football: My point, if I recall, was that very few stations do a lot of local live sports. And my point that a 2.5 hour Friday night FB game does not constitute "a lot." HSFB is a sales device, not an audience device nor is it a format. Some stations make money on it directly, but fewer than you would think. More stations do it as the advertiser's kids are in the school than for the revenue or the ratings (most HSFB is done in non-rated markets, anyway). Which still does not explain why they leave the day power or pattern on! (David Gleason, ibid.) David is right about what he says regarding HSFB. As an owner of a local graveyard station here back in the 80's. HSFB was a no brainer high dollar sale. We always were sold out and had a waiting list. The rates were the highest of any day part, and the best of it was that it was during throwaway time when normally there were few listeners. And yes, we operated under the STFA rules and kicked the CCA transmitter up from 250 watts to a flamethrowing 1 KW during the games (Names changed to protect the guilty). HSFB is a classic example of the kind of service a small local station can provide to its coverage area. It's also what a LPFM can do and make money on with the proper "underwriting" (Commercials by another name. Just don`t mention price).... HSFB probably would not work on the big stations. But that`s why we have the larger and smaller stations. It's also why it was a shame that so many class A FM's were allowed to upgrade to some form of C class and become rimshots, ignoring their city of license (Paul Smith, W4KNX, Located in Sunny Sarasota Florida, http://www.amtower.com ibid.) The name is pretty important. In younger demos (under 45) name is most frequently written next to frequency in ratings (which is a good test of how people identify stations). Mix indicates "a combination of music" and is a very effective name, per perceptual research. Magic is not a favorite, but it works well on female listeners 25-54, and I am neither. A lot depends on how the station defines mix or Magic or "Froggy" on the air. To me, "Froggy" sounds warmer and more fun than "KFRG." And that is the idea, to make the station more real. Calls and frequency do not do that. However, with such a huge percentage of stations today licensed to suburbs and communities in the "market area" the COL [city of license] is not going to be real helpful. I looked at the Traverse City radio market, to pick on isolated area without proximity to big city stations. There are 24 different COL's for the market, ranging from Beaulah to the 7 in TC itself. To further complicate, many are C's with the site pushed into the fringe of the metro, or FM/FM simulcasts to cover the whole metro from rimshots. The LA metro, two counties, has 39 different COLs. All are LA stations as there is no way to break this market into discreet parts... it is one non-stop city. There is a big difference today, where even small markets have multiple options even in remote places in Wyoming (I got 7 clear signals driving a year or so ago around Jackson Hole, WY). Your Delphos station is acting like a Lima station, considers itself home to Lima and sells as Lima. I don't know how you would differentiate without confusing listeners. Z-100 in NY is licensed to Newark. They act like a NYC station, and, for all purposes, are. I do lots of perceptual research. The number of choices are such that many people don't know what they listen to, and dial around for a favorite song. I don't see dial position as a big deal, as most people _do_ know the frequency, but not much else. They see it on the digital dial, and if near 80% of diary mentions include this data, it means that most listening is on digital dial radios. This will only increase. None of the Lima stations is obligated to mention storms unless EAS is activated. That certain stations would establish a news reputation would seem to be logical as a marketing and magnet position; if they don't, 80-90 probably made the market so unprofitable that no one can afford to do it now. I have seen full service AMs go silent when the FCC dropped 5 FMs into a small, isolated market --- example being KYOR, a fine AM in Blythe, CA in the 60's and 70's that died because the market has not enough revenue to support a bunch of FMs and an expensive community station. I believe that, eventually, consolidation will bring one station in each of the bigger clusters that goes after info images. But the whole process is too new in the US to have played out. In other countries with consolidation in place for many, many decades, nearly every operator has determined that they can do one service station out of a group and it will make money and do a good job. Originally, stations saw names showing up better in Arbitron. Everyone wanted to get on the bus. "Mix" may mean many things to a DXer, but not to a local resident where a stations positions that way. To the local person, "mix" defines the blend of the station using the name. No confusion. "Froggy" as part of an on-air image, describes a fun, light hearted country station in many places. The name enhances the image and perception. It means fun in context. It's alright to have fun on the radio; too many stations are sterile. Froggy's that I have heard are usually entertaining. And a big cartoon frog on a billboard is a lot more attention getting than some dumb logo (Gleason, ibid.) 1030 WBZ is the only AM station in Boston that doesn't have nighttime signal issues. Boston's two sports stations 850 WEEI and 1510 WWZN are probably more easily received across the Atlantic than in western Massachusetts. Okay, maybe I'm being a little sarcastic, but suburban sprawl has always been a problem for Boston AM stations, most of which beam east at night to protect stations to the west. La Mega now simulcasts on 890, 1150, and 1400 to attempt to cover suburbia, yet still doesn't have coverage comparable to most FMs (Bruce Conti - Nashua NH http://members.aol.com/baconti/bamlog.htm ibid.) And, for the trivial aspect of this debate, I no longer collect any coffee mugs that don't include call letters or at least something identifiable as one station. Secondly, I just did a Google search for "Magic" and received 24,500,000 hits. Not a one of them on the first page of hits were radio stations. I note also that WDAF dropped the early-morning, 5 am-6 am talk shows, which received high ratings, I believe. They included a gardening show or ask-a-lawyer or ask-a-tax preparer on Fridays, a Wednesday home- repair show (dubbed "The Stupid Show" by host David Lawrence, who's been with WDAF since the early '70's), a trading post call-in, an auto repair show, etc. Good stuff. I miss them. And I can barely hear the rim-shot replacement station on 106.5 here in Topeka. Bad choice - 99.7 would have been a better one, or even my old employer, KUDL-98.1. And as far as farm programming goes, WIBW puts a good signal out east past the KC area, but I imagine the rest of Missouri is going to have to depend on local stations for farm reports; KFRM-550 blankets the western 3/4 of Kansas and much of Nebraska and Oklahoma with excellent programming, so all is not lost for the farmers. I like David's comments. He's right on. Nevertheless, what's missing is the local programming that WDAF provided - I mentioned the early- morning talk shows, for example. I listened to a half-hour of the sports talk show the first day on WDAF, and it was the typical mindless mush heard on all sports talk stations (go ahead, FLAME me!) I've had to listen to whilst DX'ing. Game programming is one thing; trashing players, players' girlfriends, etc. on the air is quite another, and I DON'T CARE to listen to some moron who is able to push seven numerical buttons in order on the air. Having said that, I quite understand why WFAN is now, according to David, the highest-grossing AM around. Pandering to the lowest element has always been profitable, from the "first profession" to ... ahem ... talk radio today. I also miss being able to listen to KNX-1070, a real class operation when I was in LA in the mid '80's, at least. Perhaps KCSP will flop and Entercom will emulate KNX and WBBM et al and give mid-America a real quality station to listen to. (And unless Entercom management is terminally stupid, they'll put in a viable bid for Chiefs' broadcast rights and wrest them away from classic rocker KCFX-101.1, and also transfer Royals' flagship status from KMBZ-980 to 610, which has a much larger listenable night pattern.) -pls. The only prediction I want to make, in case this move to 106.5 is the first step in WDAF's demise, is that jock David Lawrence will survive no matter what. He made the transition from WDAF's chicken rock format of the '70's to "61 Country" in '78 (I believe) seamlessly - while all the other jocks had to leave town overnight, practically. What a guy - no "mindless mush" from him. And I've heard more about his family, on the air, than anyone else I've ever listened to. You get the picture - pls. (Paul Swearingen, Topeka KS, ibid.) UNIDENTIFIED. 4899.97, probably a spur. First noted at 2205 with bits of music. Was going off and on, and was off for several minutes around 2215. Heard again the next morning at 1105 with pop and soul music. Again, went off a couple times. Heard announcements by M at 1131 and W at 1136 but couldn't copy as it was distorted. Went over ToH without any announcements. Couldn't find a // in 49 meters or to any of our local MW stations. Checked after 1300 and didn't hear it. Have no idea who this would be. Anyone else hearing it?? 12, 13 Sept. (Dave Valko, Dunlo PA, Cumbredx mailing list via DXLD) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ RECEIVER NEWS +++++++++++++ CELESTRON POWER TANK Recently purchased a Celestron "Power Tank" rechargeable portable 12V "power station". Has a spotlight (says 800,000 candle power) and smaller light w/red cap to save your night vision, 2 cigarette plug outputs, outputs for 3, 6, and 9 volts, 2 and 10 Amp fuses, an on/off/charge switch, a storage compartment, and terminals to jump start a car. You'd think it would be heavy, but its only 8.4 lbs. After the initial charge, it takes about 8 hours to charge after. Price is typically about $75 US, but I got mine from Adorama through Amazon for $60 (they zap you for $16 S&H though!!). Coming from Celestron, its obviously built to power telescopes, but those of you who like to operate your equipment on battery power in the field should find it very handy (Dave Valko, PA, Cumbredx mailing list via DXLD) PUBLICATIONS ++++++++++++ A SUCCESS STORY MADE IN THE USA Larry Magne Prepares to Publish His 20th Edition of 'Passport' http://www.rwonline.com/reference-room/special-report/04_rwf_passport_1-09.10.03.shtml (via Joe Buch, swprograms via DXLD) ### |||||||| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||| DX LISTENING DIGEST 3-164, September 13, 2003 edited by Glenn Hauser 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 later at http://www.worldofradio.com/dxldtd3i.html For restrixions and searchable 2003 contents archive see http://www.worldofradio.com/dxldmid.html NOTE: If you are a regular reader of DXLD, and a source of DX news but have not been sending it directly to us, please consider yourself obligated to do so. Thanks, Glenn NEXT AIRINGS OF WORLD OF RADIO EXTRA 44: RFPI: Sat 2330, Sun 0530, 1130, Mon 0030, 0630, 1230, Wed 0100, 0730, 1330 on 7445 [nominal times often delayed] WWCR: Sun 0230 5070, 0630 3210, Wed 0930 9475 WRMI: Sun 1800+ 15725 (via IBC Radio) WBCQ: Mon 0415 7415, maybe 5105 WINB: Thu 0130 9320 WRN: Europe only, Sun 0430; North America Sun 1400 WRN ONDEMAND: http://new.wrn.org/listeners/stations/station.php?StationID=24 OUR ONDEMAND AUDIO [also for CONTINENT OF MEDIA, MUNDO RADIAL]: Check http://www.worldofradio.com/audiomid.html Audio stored at k4cc.net has been moved to a new site funxioning by 0400 UT Sept. 13. Many thanks to DAVE WHITE for providing this, with expanded bandwidth so older files will not have to be deleted for a while to accommodate new ones. Links on OUR CURRENT AUDIO page have been updated; older links including k4cc will no longer work. WORLD OF RADIO EXTRA 44 (high version only): (stream) http://www.w4uvh.net/worx44h.ram (download) http://www.w4uvh.net/worx44h.rm (summary) http://www.worldofradio.com/worx44.html ** AFGHANISTAN. Re 3-163: PsyOps transmissions ("Information Radio") in Dari and Pashto is currently reported on 9000 kHz. They are scheduled to be on the air 24h (Bernd Trutenau, Lithuania, Sept 11, Cumbredx mailing list via DXLD) Reported by whom?? IBB's RMS system: http://monitor.ibb.gov/rms (Bernd Trutenau, Lithuania, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** AUSTRALIA. HCJB frequency change from Sept. 15, for SAs morning service at 0100-0330 in English, first half hour in Urdu: 15555 ex- 15420, which was working too well, interfering with RA in Indonesia (Dennis Adams, HCJB-Au, DX Partyline Sept 13 via gh, Alokesh Gupta, DXLD) ** BERMUDA [and non]. HAM RADIO KEPT BERMUDA CONNECTED WHEN ALL ELSE FAILED Amateur Radio became a primary means of contact between Bermuda and the rest of the world as Hurricane Fabian swept across the island September 5, claiming at least four lives and causing extensive property damage in some areas. Authorities in Bermuda this week were assessing its extent. A dangerous category 3 storm, Fabian took out power to some 25,000 homes--about two-thirds of the island--as well as all radio and TV stations. Additionally, generator problems took the government`s emergency FM station off the air for a time. Tony Siese, VP9HK, reports the police operations center was evacuated after the 120-MPH winds took off part of its roof. Siese said the only contact with the outside world for a couple of hours was via hams like himself relaying information on 2 meters to HF operators and getting weather reports from the National Hurricane Center via the Hurricane Watch Net http://www.hwn.org/ on 20 meters. He said that when the government emergency station dreturned to the air, amateurs provided it with updated National Hurricane Center reports from the HWN. Hurricane Watch Net Manager Mike Pilgrim, K5MP, reports his net on 14.325 MHz secured operations September 6 at 0300 UTC ``after a very long and busy day.`` Participating HWN volunteers feed ground-level weather data to forecasters via WX4NHC http://www.wx4nhc.org/ at the National Hurricane Center. WX4NHC also operates with a volunteer staff. The weather data and information help meteorologists to develop more accurate storm forecasts. ``We had excellent assistance and vital communications from five VP9 hams who, unfortunately, had to resort to makeshift antennas and back-up battery power as the storm approached their locations,`` Pilgrim said. WX4NHC Assistant Amateur Radio Coordinator Julio Ripoll, WD4JR, said that while news reporters on Bermuda found themselves uncharacteristically out of touch, ``old-fashioned`` ham radio HF technology got through. As he put it, ``brave Bermuda hams, using car batteries, basic wire antennas and only 50 W of power, were able to send those valued `surface reports` and receive vital hurricane advisories.`` Decent conditions on 20 meters also helped. Also pitching in were Salvation Army Team Emergency Radio Network (SATERN) volunteers. ``The SATERN Net stood by two days at full alert monitoring for information from Bermuda as Hurricane Fabian raged through the island,`` said National SATERN Coordinator Pat McPherson, WW9E. SATERN Territorial Coordinator Rick Shirran, VE3NUZ/VP9, said that with power and telephone service down, ``the only communication that held up during the event was that of the members of the Radio Society of Bermuda via 2 meters, and HF on the Hurricane Watch Net and the SATERN Net.`` Shirran lost part of his own roof and the driven element to his antenna. He got back on the air using a makeshift antenna and power from a car battery. Shirran said it could take more than two weeks to restore power to Bermuda. Telephone service ``remains tentative,`` he said at week`s end. The airport was only open to daylight flights as of September 11. Amateur Radio reports gathered September 7 by Dick Montgomery, N3DV, on the 20-meter Bermuda Net indicated many trees down, damage to docked boats and amateur antennas blown away, but power slowly being restored. National Hurricane Center Director Max Mayfield expressed his sincere thanks to amateurs who supplied critical information during Fabian. ``We never would have known what was going on in Bermuda without your help,`` he said. ``You are a part of the hurricane team, and it is a pleasure to work with you.`` (ARRL Letter Sept 12 via John Norfolk, DXLD) ** BRAZIL. NEW AND IMPROVED VOICE OF BRAZIL http://www.brazzil.com/2003/html/news/articles/sep03/p108sep03.htm After seven decades on the air, the official radio program Voice of Brazil has just undergone its first radical transformation, with changes to its editorial content. According to its producers, the Voice is leaving the office and hitting the street, with reports based on the needs of listeners. After nearly seven decades on the air, the Voice of Brazil (Voz do Brasil), the radio program with the largest audience in the country, received a new face, a new format, and new voices on September 1st. Nine million people listen to the Voice of Brazil every day. The program's reach extends from riverbank communities in the Amazon to offices along the most modern avenues of metropolitan centers like São Paulo. The chief transformation is in the editorial content. The reports, which used to center around the activities and speeches of Federal Government Executive officials, now focus on the citizen. "The Voice of Brazil leaves the office and hits the street, with reports based on the needs of listeners," explains Helenise Brant, the program's new editor-in-chief. "The Guarani," the Voice of Brazil's musical opening theme, received new versions prepared by maestro Sérgio Sá. Together with the musical tags that accompany the news stories, the opening theme, which is part of an opera of the same name written by Brazilian composer Carlos Gomes, will have variations in various Brazilian popular rhythms (forró, samba, choro, bossa-nova, capoeira, and moda de viola), as well as techno and drum and bass. "The transformation of the Voice implied a change in sound," says Sá. "I had problems with the formal aspect of the program, and contributing to make it attractive was very interesting," he recounts. The Voice of Brazil is now presented by four people. Besides the announcers Luciano Seixas and Luiz Fara Monteiro, journalists Kátia Sartorio and Leandro Fortes, both from Radiobrás, are also participating. The two of them will have the function of putting the news in context and making it more objective for the ordinary citizen. It took nearly three months of studies, research, and try-outs to assemble the new format of the news show. This is the second editorial reform that has occurred in the program. In 1999, new musical tags were introduced, the announcing style became a bit less formal, and there were changes in the sections. Now the program is starting a new chapter in its trajectory, which began in 1932, under the Administration of Getúlio Vargas, under the name A Hora do Brasil. The Voice has accompanied 24 Presidents, has already had three different names, and has reported the promulgation of four different Constitutions and eight changes in the currency. Radiobrás and BBC At the end of July, Radiobrás and the BBC of London initiated a partnership that includes two daily five-minute bulletins, with news from BBC correspondents around the world for transmission by the National radio stations of Brasília, Rio de Janeiro, and the Amazon. In the inaugural program, BBC correspondents in France, the United States, England, and Argentina reported on each government's reasons for reforming the social security system and the reactions of public servants. The partnership was introduced by the News Directors of Radiobrás, Gustavo Krieger, and the BBC, Américo Martins. According to the president of Radiobrás, Eugênio Bucci, the agreement is a landmark and a model. "This is just the first step in an institutional partnership which we hope will be long and fruitful. It is a landmark in the public information sector. It is part of our effort at Radiobrás to accomplish our mission, which is to provide Brazilians with quality information," declared Bucci. Minister of Culture, Gilberto Gil, discussed recently the creation of an international TV channel for Brazilian government communication with president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva. Following the conversation Gil said that both he and the President were working on the project, "to open a channel of communication connecting Brazil with the world," and had decided to study the possibility in depth with the Government Communications Secretariat (Secom) and the Government Communications Corporation (Radiobrás). The material for this article was supplied by Agência Brasil (AB), the official press agency of the Brazilian government (Brazzil - Media - September 2003 via Jill Dybka, DXLD) M-F 2200-2300 UT on most stations ** CHILE. 4755, R. Jerualen [sic], 2359, ID ``Radio Jerulan [sic], 90.1 FM Antofagasta e Iquique y el servico [sic] satelital de Voz Cristiana``. Program of Christian music. New SW station, spur, image or new MW station? (Locatellli, Uruguay, Conexión Digital, undated, but probably July or August, via World Radio Report, Sept ODXA Listening In via DXLD) I missed that one; are they trying to say ``Jerusalén``? Does seem like a Voz Cristiana mixing product, but what`s the formula? (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ECUADOR. HCJB has made some program changes and extended the morning-only English service to the Americas by half an hour, now 1100-1330 on 15115, since Sept 8. Precepts now occupies 1300-1330 M-F; Unshackled on Sat; Habitation, a locally-produced music and worship show on Sundays. And: Morning in the Mountains is back, but only for a brief period, a quarter hour instead of a sesquihour, M-F 1200-1215, with news, sports scores and music (Jeff Ingram, HCJB DX Partyline Sept 13 via Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) See also AUSTRALIA ** ERITREA. 7100, V. of Broad Masses, 0355-0411, 13/09, Vernacular, IDs over HOA music at tune-in until 0359 then YL with talks, reggae style music at 0407 with brief YL talkovers. ID "loop?" matches beautifully with clip at intervalsignals.net!! Audible signal under sporadic "ham" chatter and static (Scott R. Barbour, Jr., Intervale, NH, Sangean ATS 818, RF Systems MLB-1, RS longwire w/ RBA balun, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** INTERNATIONAL VACUUM. WORLDSPACE FOUNDATION BECOMES FIRST VOICE INTERNATIONAL --- First Voice International http://www.firstvoiceint.org is the new name for the WorldSpace Foundation. There appears to be more to this than a simple name change, since the Web site says "First Voice International, as part of its transition from WorldSpace Foundation, is currently reconsituting [sic] its board of directors. Please check back in a couple of weeks for the official announcement of the new board." That was on Monday August 25th, which was more than a couple of weeks ago! The change has no consequences for the commercial operations of WorldSpace http://www.worldspace.com itself, as far as I can tell at this point (Andy Sennitt, Media Network blog Sept 12 via DXLD) I see that the Worldspace website is still showing a footprint for Ameristar, with the caption "AmeriStar Satellite is expected to launch at a future date" That launch was postponed a considerable time ago, wasn't it? (RR RadioRob • 9/12/03; 5:21:36 AM, ibid.) ** INTERNATIONAL WATERS [non]. MV Communicator - news update 13 Sept On 4 September Our Engineer arrived for another week on the ship. Janie and Dave joined him in Ijmuiden on 9 September to hold meetings with AVR, Main BV, Jim Iskes and the Harbourmaster. It was decided that she is to go in dry dock for refurbishment and a fresh paint before she returns to the UK. Bert Hendricks and Collegue welded the windows and some power has been restored on board. The sad news is that the CSI Laser 558 transmitters have had all the major parts stolen and cannot be used again. This happened after the removal of the Q transmitter in Pampshaven. The Wheel and Compass have also been stolen in Pampushaven and if you have any information on these items or the transmitter parts please contact us. Inspectors from the Dutch Administration will arrive shortly after the dry dock to present us with a loadline exemption certificate as we prepare to leave. Our friends at Radio Caroline have asked us to feature in the next issue of Caroline magazine with exclusive pictures and information on the struggle to "Save the Communicator". If you would like information regarding this magazine please contact Radio Caroline. http://www.mvcommunicator.com/8326.html Contact details: The Super Station Suite 449 305 Madison Avenue New York NY 10165 USA The official website is at http://www.mvcommunicator.com/ New photographs at: http://www.offshore-radio.de/gallery.htm (via Mike Terry, DXLD) ** IRAN [non]. ANONYMIZER MAKES THE INTERNET A SAFER PLACE FOR IRANIAN CITIZENS --- Source: Anonymizer(R), Inc. 9/12/03 http://www.payvand.com/news/03/sep/1068.html SAN DIEGO, Sept. 11 /PRNewswire/ -- Anonymizer®, Inc., a leading provider of anonymous Web surfing and online privacy protection, today announced new anti-censorship Web proxy services in Iran, enabling people to bypass government filtering and access information sources, including political and religious content. Currently, about two million citizens in Iran have Web access. Anonymizer has provided similar services to other countries, including China, with extremely positive results. Iranian government officials blacklist forbidden sites that, for instance due to political and religious content, are considered dangerous. The United States International Broadcasting Bureau http://www.ibb.gov is funding the effort in their partnership with Anonymizer to utilize their core technology. The way it works is that Anonymizer sends bulk e-mails and daily newsletters to the Iranian citizens addresses that are provided by human rights organizations. The IBB, in support of the Voice Of America Persian Service http://www.voanews.com and Radio Farda http://www.radiofarda.com are sponsoring the effort to provide this easily accessible service. The generic URLs for the anti-censorship services are publicized over the Radio Farda and VOA Persian broadcasts. The URLs are changed when they become blocked by the Iranian Government, so that Iranian citizens can continue to get unfiltered, unblocked local and world news. "The links to the service provided within the emails point to either the VOA or Radio Farda sites, but they can go anywhere on the Internet," said Ken Berman, program manager for Internet Anti- censorship activities at the IBB. "Dissident sites, religious sites, the L.L. Bean catalog -- they are free to explore the Internet as they wish, in an unfettered fashion." "By providing a means for these people to visit the sites that are blocked by their government while remaining anonymous, we're making the Internet a safer place as well as offering the freedoms that they should be afforded," said Lance Cottrell, president and founder of Anonymizer. "This project brings forth the full potential of the Internet bringing free speech and democracy to the world." For more information and to speak with a company representative about this story, please call Paula Dunne at 408-776-1400 or email at paula@contosdunne.com (Payvand's Iran News via Jilly Dybka, DXLD) **IRELAND. RTÉ POSTPONES LAUNCH OF LONGWAVE SERVICE Ray Woodward forwards a press release from Irish public broadcaster RTÉ to the effect that the target launch date for its longwave service has been postponed for three months, and may even not happen. According to the press release: "The decision whether to proceed awaits a review by RTÉ of the overall distribution of our radio services on terrestrial and digital platforms and of the costs involved in a long wave service. That review is ongoing and is expected to conclude in October. The target start date has therefore been revised to the 1 January 2004." Tests will continue, however, and this Sunday there's a special transmission: "This Sunday 14 September sees a significant test of the coverage and potential of the new service. For Sunday afternoon the LW 252 signal will be brought to its full power of 500kw and will carry Radio 1's coverage of the All Ireland Hurling Final at 2pm. It is expected that the transmission of this event will generate interest in the potential of the service and will enable RTÉ to gather data on the reach and quality of the 252 signal. It is envisioned that this test would then be repeated on Sunday 28 September to enable transmission of the All Ireland Football Final." The full text of the press release is at www.rte.ie/about/organisation/releases/pr_longwave_test120903.html (Media Network blog Sept 12 via DXLD) ** IRELAND [non]. Glenn, I have copied and pasted the following information from RTE's website re the All Ireland Hurling and Gaelic Football Finals for your listeners information: RTÉ ALL IRELAND HURLING AND FOOTBALL FINALS 2003 The Frequencies for the All Ireland Hurling and Football Finals have now been arranged and generally are similar to last year, they are in the same frequency bands, with a few minor changes. The schedule will run from 1425 to 1625 GMT Sunday 14th and 28th September 2003. N. America 13785 C & S America 15275 W Africa 17860 NE Africa & Middle East 21590 Far East & SE Asia 7485 (Paul Guckian, Ennis, Co Clare, Ireland, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** JAPAN. Full data QSL card received from Nihon SW Broadcasting Co. Ltd (Radio Tampa), within 11 days after a snail mail report on 9595 kHz. All the emails bounced back. 73's (Swopan Chakroborty, Kolkata, India, Sept 13, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** JORDAN. Hi Graham, I see what you you mean by the frequency change...? error...? Radio Jordan is blasting through on 11960 kHz here in Guernsey Channel Isles. (UK) 1555 UT, (SIO: 555). I notice that they do use this frequency from 0500 to 0710 UT, Arabic to EEu/ME. So my guess, like you, is that someone pulled the wrong switch. Interesting catch though - if it's a mistake... 73 RAO (Robin Banneville, SWBC via DXLD) 11960: Jordan's fairly listenable here, too, in the Pacific NW USA near Seattle. I'm hearing it on the backside of my western Beverage antenna (Guy Atkins, Puyallup, WA USA, 1629 UT Sept 12, swbc via DXLD) Great signal here in south Italy; they used 11960 at 0500 UT in Arabic (Roberto Scaglione, Sicily, 1631 UT Sept 12, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Checked next day around 1330, but no chance with HCJB on 11960 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Glenn, Radio Jordan from Al Karanah, Jordan, noted with its English programme back on its correct frequency of 11690 kHz today (Sept 13th) at 1300 with news bulletin and pop music. It would appears that yesterday`s transmission on 11960 kHz must have been a one off switching error by the station (Graham Powell, Wales, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Sorry --- the Jordan operation was a one day thing. Was back on 11690 kHz. Probably the operator forgot to tune to 11690 yesterday after the Arabic service (Victor G., Sri Lanka, Sept 13, SWBC via DXLD) ** MALTA. See CONVENTIONS & CONFERENCES below ** MEXICO [non]. 15045, Radio Free Cascadia Int., 11 de septiembre del 2003, Alrededor de las 0330 UT [del 12 sept] sintonicé una señal con un espantoso ruido; al fondo se escuchaba como consignas o gritos, incomprensibles. Pasados de las 0400 escuché con un poco de más claridad, música variada; me pareció escuchar canciones de nativos de norteamérica, cantos de protestas, revolucionarias, como por ejemplo de los que cantaban los sandinistas en la década de los años ochenta. En las otras frecuencias mencionadas, no sintonicé nada. Saludos (Héctor García Bojorge, México DF, Conexión Digital via DXLD) CLANDESTINE from MEXICO? to EARTH, 15044.97, Radio Free Cascadia (tentative) reception a bit better today, most of the music is audible, some of the speech, all this 2030-2200 Sept 12 (Hans Johnson, Cody WY, Cumbredx mailing list via DXLD) They weren't there at just before 1700, then were on frequency shortly after 1700. Poor signal for the most part, but improving later on in the hour. English ID heard at 1752 during a peak in the broadcast. Clearly heard a prerecorded broadcast cut into, then a strong hum (poor audio quality) as a M announcer gave a Radio Free Cascadia International ID and the purpose for them being on the air. I believe they also gave the frequency (kilohertz mentioned). First half hour of broadcast was music. Virtually most if not all talking was in English (John Sgrulletta, Mahopac, NY, ibid.) 2215 guitar music and commentary. Similar fades as yesterday. Occasional ute interference, 73's (Bob Wilkner, FL, ibid.) Last night (9/11, 2341+) they were in Spanish at 15044.97, thanks for phone alert from Gerry Bishop. A huge CW signal appeared atop them for awhile; anyone know what that was? Tonight (9/12, 2125+) they were in Spanish, but recheck had English monotone M (reminding me of a vocal version of the old Cuban CW "Boring Man" spy) with his daily report on WTO atrocities, and closer to 15045.05. Modulation is rather low, but clean and QRM free, save for that CW episode. Frequency is odd, almost making me want to believe it really could be from Yuccaville (Terry Krueger, FL, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ?? Further monitoring of RFCI here Sept 12-13 on 15045: at 2315 ID in Spanish; 0015 interviews in English from Cancún; 0048 ID in passing, phone interview with poor audio. 0059 Full ID by YL in English, mentioning audio difficulties, and would have to download material instead of live cellphone calls; broadcasting to Mexico, Central and South America, until Sept. 14, ``from an organic farm, in solidarity. . .``, also mentioned being heard in China, and tonight would be on 15045 until 0500. Usual signal here is 20 over 9. 0130 started ``Voces de Libertad`` program from Los Ángeles, and relayed in Santa Bárbara on 98.7, about the desaparecidas in Ciudad Juárez, song ``Los Líderes Traidores``; still good at 0200, later than last night, but about faded out upon 0300 recheck (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) RFCI forwarded a reception report from China, which must have used a machine translator, if they exist for Chinese-English, plus these details: Name: Tao Jie Country: China Listen place: ChongQing, China Recevier: Tecsun-PL-757 Antenna:TECSUN_AN2000 Date:11/09/2003 UTC: 18:15---18:30 Language: Spainsh Frequency: 15045 KHz SINPO: 33443 (via gh, DXLD) 14960 (spur), R. Free Cascadia International, 2300 Sept 12, Spur at fair level with readable audio. The 15045 fundamental was undermodulated with slight distortion, yet strong carrier. Checked multiples of 85 kHz and could find no other spurs other then the one 85 kHz down form the fundamental. ID in Spanish at 2322 (David Hodgson, TN, harmonics yahoogroups via DXLD) Real Nice reception of Radio Free Cascadia this evening --- 15045. Radio Free Cascadia, Clandestine??? Costa Rica [sic --- not] Sept/12/03 2335-2355 UT, VG Low Audio. Angry Punk Rock Protest Music at 2335-38. More Protest music @2338-42. Female with Nursery Rhyme 3 Little Pigs --- But filled in with Protest anti Government Slogans like "Go to Hell you Materialistic Oppressors" and "Protest to the United Nations" and "Complain to Internal Affairs. More Protest Music at 2347-2352. Nice Long ID by Male Announcer at 2352 UT as "You are Listening to Radio Free Cascadia International on 15.045 Mhz AM. We are Protesting against the World Trade Organization and are for all others who are protesting Oppression. Mentioned Direct Action to Resistance of Solidarity?? (Not Verbatim). Into more Protest Rock Music. Signal best on 20 Meter Dipole. Some Fading but generally VG Signal with Low Audio at times, and Nice Clear Audio at times! Are we calling this Clandestine????? (Robert S. Ross, VA3SW, London, Ontario, CANADA N6A5K1, ODXA via DXLD) 15044.99 Radio Free Cascadia, 2335+, September 12/13. English. Short commentaries by male & female in English. Announcement. Music. At 0100 ID by female as: "...Radio Free Cascadia...", 24322 (Arnaldo Slaen, Argentina, Cumbredx mailing list via DXLD) Readable signal was listened here in Buenos Aires on 15045, from 0016 to 0055 with English comments and music more clear the music than the comments, some fades and ute QRM, and also some ham, mention Cancún and man announcer give and address and probably mention Radio Free Cascadia (Nicolás Eramo, Argentina, UT Sept 13, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Ayer, 12 de septiembre del 2003, escuché un poco mejor la transmisión de "Radio Free Cascadia Internacional", con un ruido y con pocos desvanecimientos. Se escuchó mejor entre 15045 y 15044 kHz. Con música, Alrededor de las 0345 UT, un locutor hablando en español identificó la emiosra "Esta es Radio Libre Cascadia, transmitiendo en contra de la OMC que se esta celebrando en Cancún, México...", y presentaba las canciones que iban a tocar, leyó hasta poemas. A las 0400 el locutor pidió informes de recepción, por que aún estan haciendo pruebas. Y dió dos direcciones para enviar su correo electrónico: radio985@e... [truncated] y su correo postal: RFCI, P.O. Box 703, Eugene, OR 97440 EE.UU También el locutor comentaba que su país ha estado en guerra con varios países. En las ultima horas de transmisión cambiaron al idioma inglés. A las 0502 terminaron sus transmisiones, "Radio Free Cascadia International, Radio Libre Cascadia Internacional, Signing off" Saludos (Héctor García Bojorge, DF, Conexión Digital via DXLD) 15045.00 kHz, 0300 UT with Spanish giving ID as: "Radio Rebelde Libre". I have a recording of an address in Florida [??] and also an e-mail address but I have to check it out tomorrow. Fine signal, LA- music and talking a lot of the "Zapatistas" in México. 73 de (Björn Malm, Quito, Ecuador, Cumbre DX via DXLD) [Later:] Amigos DXistas! 15045.00 kHz "Radio Rebelde Libre Internacional": P. O. Box 703, Eugene OR 97440 U.S.A. E-mail: Radio985@efn.org Recording/ Grabación: http://homepage.sverige.net/~a-0901/ (Björn Malm, Quito, Ecuador, Sept 13, DX LISTENING DIGEST) No recording there of that yet when checked at 1717 UT Sept 13, but I never heard them ID as ``Rebelde``. RFCI was again on 15045 when checked at 1701, rather weak. If like previous days, signal will build as day progresses. Dxing.info did a rewrite about this too: http://www.dxing.info/news/index.dx#rfci (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** NEPAL. MAOISTS LAUNCH FM RADIO STATION ACROSS NEPAL | Text of report by Nepalnews.com web site on 13 September Maoists are launching FM radio station, namely Jana-awaj, across the country and also in Kathmandu Valley from next week onwards, a published report said Saturday [13 September]. The FM (frequency modulation) radio will have three broadcast stations inside Nepal, a news report in Rajdhani daily said, quoting undisclosed Maoist sources. The radio can be heard at 95.1 megahertz in any of the general FM radio sets found in the market, said the report. "The radio will air all activities of Maoists, voices from the villages and news of international revolutionaries, among others." A "test transmission" of FM radio in Swargadwari of Pyuthan and Rolpa [both in mid-western region] was clearly heard in the area, the report said, quoting locals. Source: Nepalnews.com web site, Kathmandu, in English 13 Sep 03 (via BBCM via DXLD) ** NEW ZEALAND. La estación ZLXA, Radio Reading Service, también conocida como "Radio for the Print Disabled", opera en idioma inglés difundiendo programas educativos y de aprendizaje radial durante las 24 Hs por la frecuencia de 3935 KHz. Aquí en Sudamerica la emisora es audible por las mañanas, alrededor hasta su desvanecimiento, de acuerdo a las condiciones de propagación. La emisora verifica con una hermosa tarjeta QSL y material informativo, si junto al reporte se adjunta US$ 1.00 como mínimo, para asegurarse la respuesta. QTH: R. Reading Service, ZLXA, P.O.Box 360, Levin 5500, Nueva Zelanda. E-mail: nzrpd@x... [truncated] Web: http://www.radioreading.org (Marcelo A. Cornachioni, Argentina, Conexión Digital Sept 12 via DXLD) ** OKLAHOMA. FCC ASKS POWER COMPANY TO TRY HARDER TO RESOLVE NOISE COMPLAINTS The FCC has asked American Electric Power Company of Columbus, Ohio, to take a closer look at several power line noise complaints and try harder to resolve them. The cases involve complaints from four Amateur Radio operators in Ohio, Indiana and Oklahoma. ``While we certainly appreciate the considerable effort that AEP afforded this matter, we are puzzled by the lack of results,`` FCC Special Counsel Riley Hollingsworth wrote August 26 in a letter to AEP Senior Vice President Marsha P. Ryan. ``In most cases, a noise source can be located easily by trained personnel using the proper equipment.`` . . . MC CLOUD, HOWARD D, KC5RGC (General) Howard McCloud, KC5RGC, of [6014 E 57TH PL, TULSA, OK 74135-8120] reported power line noise last April and identified its source for AEP as utility lines about a mile from his station. McCloud was not aware that AEP had attempted to correct it, Hollingsworth wrote. ``AEP now apparently maintains that the source of the noise is McCloud`s antenna, even when it is disconnected and on the ground,`` a conclusion Hollingsworth labeled ``patently defective.`` McCloud reports relatively strong noise on HF that continues 24/7. Hollingsworth asked AEP to ``revisit each of these cases`` and to update the FCC within 45 days of any progress in each case. He also referred the power company to ARRL RFI Specialist Mike Gruber, W1MG, for technical assistance in resolving the cases (ARRL Letter Sept 12 via John Norfolk, OKCOK, DXLD) ** PARAGUAY. 6105, R. 1 de Marzo, Asunción, Paraguay. Más info sobre esta frecuencia. Escuchada en esta frecuencia el día 21/08/03 0300- 0330*. Programa "Deporte Total", transmisión deportiva desde la ciudad de Encarnación. Varias Id's. Sobre el cierre se identificó como "Ésta es la Mega Cadena de Comunicación compuesta por... (detalle de las emisoras componentes)...". Cierre abrupto. Captada también el 24/08/03 0300-0330* con las mismas transmisiones deportivas, varias Id's, ads y servicios informativos del departamento de prensa de Radio 1 de Marzo. A las 0330 se hizo cargo de la transmisión una emisora local de FM que se identificó como: "Desde ciudad Presidente Franco transmite Paraná FM 98.5 Mhz." que continuó en el aire hasta las 0503* con música pop latina identificándose cada 30 minutos. Cierre abrupto. Escuchada por última vez el 30/08/03 0315-0320*. Música pop latina. ID "Ésta es la número uno, 98.5 Paraná FM". Ads. Cierre abrupto. Nota: Lo extraño es la claridad de la señal y ninguna de las habituales brasileñas que ocupan esta frecuencia; éstas recién aparecían cuando se apagaba el transmisor paraguayo. He buscado en viejos registros y en ningún lado aparece esta frecuencia registrada por Radio 1 de Marzo o alguna otra emisora paraguaya (Daniel Camporini, Argentina, Conexión Digital Sept 12 via DXLD) ** PERU. LIMA --- El profugo ex Presidente Alberto Fujimori tendrá su propio programa en la radio peruana, en el que analizará desde Tokio la política nacional, según anunció ayer en Lima su portavoz Carlos Raffo. "La Voz del Chino", que se transmitirá todos los sábados en la mañana durante una hora en la emisora limeña Radio Miraflores, pretende ser el inicio de una cadena radial nacional en la que se exponga el pensamiento del ex mandatario, añadió el publicista (El Mercurio, Chile, 12/09/03, via Gabriel Iván Barrera, Conexión Digital via DXLD) Aquí una curiosa información. Programa radial de Fujimori. Radio Miraflores, emite en 96.1 MHz, desde Lima. 73's (GIB, ibid.) FUJIMORI LANZARÁ PROGRAMA RADIAL EN PERÚ Reuters 11 de Septiembre, 2003 http://www.unionradio.com.ve/noticias/internacionales/Notaint2003091120417.htm El ex presidente peruano Alberto Fujimori, refugiado en Japón tras ser destituido en medio de un escándalo de corrupción, lanzará un programa semanal de radio para apoyar su regreso a la escena política y defenderse de las acusaciones en su contra, dijo el jueves su portavoz. "La hora del Chino", en alusión al apodo que usaba Fujimori por sus rasgos orientales, será el nombre de su espacio que saldrá al aire a partir del sábado a través de una emisora radial limeña, informó el portavoz del ex mandatario, Carlos Raffo. El programa será emitido por la radio "Miraflores" y tendrá una hora de duración, dijo el propietario de la radioemisora Ricardo Palma. "Fujimori me llamó un día a las 3 de mañana cuando dormía y pensé que era la broma de algún amigo y me retó a que le dé un espacio", dijo Palma a Reuters. Según Palma, el costo del alquiler de una hora a la semana en su emisora es de entre 500 a 600 dólares mensuales. Fujimori difundirá en su programa al menos cuatro mensajes pregrabados de unos siete minutos cada uno sobre diferentes temas políticos y de "interés nacional"; y será también un vehículo de defensa frente a las acusaciones en su contra, afirmó Raffo. El ex mandatario enfrenta un proceso de extradición acusado de ser coautor de la matanza de 25 personas, entre ellas un niño, a manos de un comando militar que operaba en la sombra, según investigaciones judiciales. Pese a las acusaciones en su contra, Fujimori mantiene un 31 por ciento de popularidad frente al sólo 12 por ciento que ostenta el presidente Alejandro Toledo entre la población peruana, según un sondeo de la encuestadora Apoyo. Sin embargo, un 66 por ciento cree que Fujimori es corrupto y 49 por ciento piensa que ordenó las matanzas. "Fujimori es el principal protagonista del programa", dijo Raffo, tras afirmar que el espacio radial será financiado por "gente amiga" del ex presidente en Perú (via Dario Monferini, Italy, DXLD) IDIOTEZ HUMANAS --- Ciao! non c'è limite alla idiozia umana. In Italia abbiamo Gabrielli; in Perù, Radio Miraflores. However this WEB http://www.radiomiraflores.com/ doesn't work anymore nor the real audio. Probably the station has been bought by the Fujimori gangsters living in LIMA (Dario Monferini, Italy, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** SOUTH AMERICA. SOUTH AMERICAN PIRATES --- Times UT. RADIO COCHIGUAZ will be active this weekend hoisting the pirate flag, on 11430 kHz USB, relaying on this opportunity to RADIO CAROLINE EIFEL, from Germany. Sat, 13 September 2003, 2000-2100, Radio Caroline Sun, 14 September 2003, 0200-0300, Radio Caroline For reports write to: (Pls add return postage) SRS-Germany, Radio Caroline Eifel, Box 1136, 06201 Merseburg, GERMANY. Radio Cochiguaz, Box 159, Santiago 14, CHILE. FFFR, ;-) Cachito, Radio Cochiguaz op. http://www.geocities.com/rcochiguaz (via Radio Strike, BCLnews.it via DXLD) ** UGANDA [non]. Glad to note Radio Rhino International Africa with s/on 1502 UT on 17555 kHz broadcasting in English. This broadcast is beamed to Uganda via transmitter in Germany by DTK. Pretty good reception in spite of splashes from Chinese speaking station on 17560 kHz. Nice IDs like from R Rhino... like this: "This is the Voice of Freedom and Democracy". 73´s (Jouko Huuskonen, Turku, FINLAND, Sept 12, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Media Item: Uganda - Radio Rhino International-Africa From: http://allafrica.com/stories/200309090708.html REFORM AGENDA WELCOMES GERMAN-BASED RADIO New Vision (Kampala) NEWS September 9, 2003 Posted to the web September 9, 2003 By Geresom Musamali, Kampala [portion already quoted by BBCM in 3-163 omitted here; q.v.] . . .RA environment secretary Kagulire Ssebowa and David Kanyerezi, the RA youth league chairman, were present. Ssebowa said the Movement director of information, Ofwono Opondo, confirmed what RA said about the harassment of its supporters. Opondo said on Capital Gang on Saturday said Uganda had very good relations with the African National Congress, South Africa's ruling political party. He said South African-based Besigye's activities were therefore being monitored by the Government of Uganda (via Ulis R. Fleming, Maryland USA, Sept 10, Cumbre DX via DXLD) ** U K. A reminder that the Last Night of The Proms is upon us, Sat Sept 13; details of special SW frequencies from BBCWS were 3-159; 1830-2200 UT; also webcast on BBC Radio 3, with a less formal(?) version on BBC Radio 2; and webcast with video from BBC (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U K. JOHN PEEL'S AUTOBIOGRAPHY In April this year The Guardian reported http://books.guardian.co.uk/review/story/0,12084,929585,00.html that John Peel, who spent five days choosing between offers from HarperCollins and Transworld for his memoirs, finally picked Transworld. The company paid £1.6m as an advance payment of the royalties his book might earn. He will get the money in three or four portions: a tranche on signature of the contract, another on delivery of the manuscript, another on publication in 2005, and possibly a further one on publication of a paperback edition. I have it on good authority that Transworld are still due to publish it in 2005. Pity it`s taking so long (Mike Terry, UK, Sept 13, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. WBCQ is celebrating its 5th anniversary on the air; caught part of Allan Weiner Worldwide. Says Jewish Radio Network, with Rabbi Spivak, keeps expanding, currently scheduled (always in EDT, always converted here to UT): M-F 1600-2000 on 9330; Wed/Thu/Fri 0100-0200 7415; Mon 2200-2230 7415; Sun 1800-2000 7415. Area 51 is a WBCQ production on 5105 Sunday nights, 2200-0400 UT Mons; the time is reserved and not sold. Allan would like to program WBCQ this way 24/7, and would do so if a million dollar grant were forthcoming, part of which would be applied to a worldwide advertising campaign to publicize SW and WBCQ. First hour 2200-2300 presents vintage Jean Shepherd shows, as put together from many sources by Michael Ketter. Some of these do not exist anywhere else; complete and uncut. At 2300-2400 hopes to begin a new astronomy or science show this week. Rest of time 0000-0300 is open for a variety of shows from `BCQ, TimTron, Complex Variables Studios, etc. Tasha Takes Control has moved to Sat [UT Sun?], so immediately following AWWW UT Sat at 0100 on 7415, is now ``Radio Reaxion Theatre``, skits and bits (Allan Weiner Worldwide, WBCQ 7415, UT Sat Sept 13 0000-0100, notes by Glenn Hauser for DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. UNITED PATRIOT RADIO - ANDERSON SENTENCED TO 15 YEARS ON WEAPONS CHARGES --- "He is sorry for the things he said on his short- wave radio program, which caused a great deal of alarm..." From The Associated Press http://www.heraldtribune.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20030912/APN/309121017 LONDON, Kentucky. -- Steve Anderson, a former militia member who shot a deputy sheriff's cruiser and eluded capture for more than a year, was sentenced to 15 years in prison on Friday. Anderson, 55, of Pulaski County, pleaded guilty in May to various federal firearms charges, including illegal possession of a machine gun, carrying and firing a gun during a crime of violence and possessing unregistered firearms. He was sentenced before U.S. District Judge Danny Reeves. As Anderson was driving home from a gathering of white supremacists in North Carolina in October 2001, he was pulled over in Bell County by deputy sheriff Scott Elder because of a broken taillight. Elder saw ammunition in the truck and asked whether Anderson had guns with him. Anderson then riddled the deputy's cruiser with at least 20 bullets. Elder was not hurt and shot back before Anderson drove into the hills of eastern Kentucky. When police searched Anderson's home after the shooting, they found illegal weapons, including a machine gun and silencer, a sawed-off rifle, two homemade bombs and 25 fragmentation grenades, according to a federal indictment. Federal agents arrested Anderson in Cherokee County, N.C. in November 2002. A tipster called investigators after Anderson appeared on the television show "America's Most Wanted." Anderson was once a member of the Kentucky State Militia. The organization 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. David Tapp, Anderson's attorney, told Reeves on Friday that Anderson was remorseful. "He is sorry for the things he said on his short-wave radio program, which caused a great deal of alarm, and he is very sorry for his actions in Bell County which led to his imprisonment," Tapp said. "I think the court accepted his apologies and I think the government accepted them as well. I believe he is sincere." September 12. 2003 6:44PM (via Mike Terry, David Zantow N9EWO, Janesville, WI, DXLD) EX-MILITIA MEMBER APOLOGIZES He fired on deputy; sentence is 15 years By Bill Estep, SOUTH-CENTRAL KENTUCKY BUREAU, Sept 13 http://www.kentucky.com/mld/heraldleader/6760816.htm LONDON - A former Kentucky State Militia member who shot at a deputy and fled into the mountains nearly two years ago apologized yesterday for the attack and for his radio broadcasts of extremist views. Stephen H. Anderson, of rural Pulaski County, said during a hearing in federal court that he'd experienced a "spirit of revival" since he was caught last year. "For the wrath of man worketh not the righteousness of God," Anderson said, quoting the Epistle of James. "My actions were wrong -- bad wrong," he told U.S. District Judge Danny C. Reeves. "What I said was very wrong and I apologize for that." Anderson, 56, was in court to be sentenced on numerous weapons violations, including possession of an illegal machine gun and several homemade bombs. He told Reeves he looked forward to being a witness for Christ behind bars, "so whatever you give me, praise God." Reeves gave him 15 years. Anderson will have to serve at least 85 percent of that time. The judge did give Anderson a break on one set of weapons charges, sentencing him to 60 months instead of the maximum of 71. One other charge -- shooting at the deputy -- carried a 120-month sentence. Anderson's attorney, David A. Tapp of Somerset, had urged the judge to impose the low end of the sentencing range, saying that Anderson had done mission work on a Sioux reservation while on the run, that he had a strong work ethic, and that he candidly admitted his mistakes. Assistant U.S. Attorney Martin Hatfield said he hoped Anderson's new attitude is sincere. But he reminded the judge that two people could have been killed in the attack on the deputy, whose girlfriend was with him in the cruis-er when Anderson opened fire. Reeves said he thought Anderson is a changed man. In addition to sentencing Anderson to 15 years, the judge placed him on four years supervised release after prison, ordered mental-health treatment, and barred him from owning a gun or destructive device. Reeves also said he would honor Anderson's request to recommend that he serve his time at a Talladega, Ala., prison that has training available to further his woodworking skills. Anderson has worked as an electrician and carpenter. "Thank you, sir. God bless you," said Anderson, who was upbeat during the hearing. Before October 2001, he was best-known for a shortwave radio program broadcast from his home, espousing racist, anti-government anti- Semitic and sometimes violent views. Concerned groups said Anderson's programs were among the most vitriolic on the airwaves. The paramilitary Kentucky State Militia kicked Anderson out because of some of his views, members told the Herald-Leader. On Oct. 14, 2001, Scott Elder, then a deputy in Bell County, stopped Anderson's pickup truck -- which was marked as a militia vehicle -- because a taillight wasn't working. Later comments to federal agents, included in court records, indicated that Anderson might have been out on the lookout for terrorists in the wake of the Sept. 11 attacks in New York and Washington, D.C. "The militia is going to be the last line of defense," he said. "You need a gun behind every blade of grass in this country." Anderson riddled Elder's cruiser with bullets from an assault rifle. Elder took cover and was not hurt; his girlfriend was slightly injured. Anderson later said he was a crack shot and could have killed Elder, but fired on the cruiser only to keep the deputy from chasing him because he feared Elder would overreact and shoot him during the traffic stop. "I could have Swiss-cheesed him," Anderson said. He fled the shooting, abandoned his truck in the mountains and set off on foot. He had a .45-caliber pistol and carried a survival pack that included maps, packaged military meals and other food, he later told federal agents. Anderson indicated that he walked and hitchhiked his way to North Carolina, living off the land at times. "Camping. Riverbanks. Fish. Rabbits. It's easy," he said. He didn't say why he went to North Carolina. Police found pipe bombs and several thousand rounds of ammunition in Anderson's truck. At his home, authorities found homemade bombs, more than two dozen grenades ready to be filled with explosive material and with fuses installed, two dozen guns, and thousands of rounds of ammunition. Anderson eluded capture for more than a year. Federal agents finally caught him in North Carolina's Cherokee County in November, living under an alias, after the America's Most Wanted TV program aired information on him and someone phoned in a tip (Lexington Herald- Leader via DXLD) Still nothing posted as of Sept 13 from the Somerset Commonwealth- Review, which also covered the Anderson story, but WKYT adds this brief item: (gh, DXLD) MILITIA MEMBER SENTECNED http://www.wkyt.com/Global/story.asp?S=1440316&nav=4CAKHxna A judge has sentenced a former Kentucky militia member to 15 years in prison on federal weapons charges. Stephen Anderson told the court any sentence would be a blessing because he wants to minister while in prison. He also asked to serve his sentence in Taladega, Florida because the prison there has a wood shop. The judge says it wouldn't be a problem however it's up to bureau of prisons. Anderson spent a year in jail after shooting at a Bell County sheriff`s deputy (WKYT Lexington KY via DXLD) ** U S A. 2180, KAAY Little Rock, AR (2 x 1090), 0753 Sept 13, Fair 2nd harmonic, strong fundamental. Religious programing. ID in Spanish and English at 0800 (David Hodgson, TN, harmonics yahoogroup via DXLD) ** U S A [non]. SIXTY YEARS OF AFN IN EUROPE Review of: AFN Europe 60th Anniversary Ingo Paternoster and John Proven, (LC 02319; ISBN 0-945794-12-6) by Hans Knot http://www.icce.rug.nl/~soundscapes/VOLUME06/AFN60UK.html (via Mike Terry, DXLD) ** U S A. COURT KICKS NEW YORK HAM`S ``POLICE RADIO`` CASE A New York court has dismissed a misdemeanor charge against ARRL member Richard C. ``Dick`` Lalone, KC5GAX, for violating §397 of that state`s Vehicle and Traffic Law. That section prohibits individuals other than law officers from equipping their vehicles with radios ``capable of receiving signals on the frequencies allocated for police use`` without first securing a permit. The section, which also prohibits knowingly interfering with police transmissions, contains an explicit exemption for ``any person who holds a valid amateur radio operator`s license --- and who operates a duly licensed portable mobile transmitter and in connection therewith a receiver or receiving set on frequencies exclusively allocated --- to duly licensed radio amateurs.`` In a nearly 1300-word decision, Judge John J. Hallet said it was clear the legislature never intended the provisions of §397 from applying to licensed Amateur Radio operators, and he dismissed the charge August 5. Susan Terry, KF4SUE, a former New York assistant attorney general, represented Lalone. ARRL President Jim Haynie, W5JBP, ARRL General Counsel Chris Imlay, W3KD, and ARRL Regulatory Information Specialist John Hennessee, N1KB, provided advice or assistance to Lalone (ARRL Letter Sept 12 via John Norfolk, DXLD) Someone asked me recently for a follow-up on this case, which I did not have at the time. I hope he is reading this (gh, DXLD) ** U S A. Yes, I said 700 --- even though the facility being tested will ultimately be using 720. "WV2XOA" is the callsign being used at the moment, and it's running 1000 watts into a single (unfenced!) tower at the end of a gravel road alongside I-81 in Lafayette, about 10 miles south of downtown Syracuse. Dead carrier - except for twice an hour when a voice ID comes on, "Testing on 700 kilohertz, this is station WV2XOA." Checked out the site today - just the tower, a transmitter inside a tent, and a generator perched in a little U-Haul trailer under a canopy. This will eventually be WVOA DeWitt, running ND daytime on 720 from the WOLF-1490 facility on Kirkpatrick Street, and nighttime with SIX towers and 390 watts (!) from this Lafayette site. It makes it to Rochester, just barely... s (Scott Fybush, NY, NRC-AM via DXLD) Scott, Do you think they will run 700 tests at night, or near sunset- sunrise? Or just daytime. And why do you think they would test on 700 when planning to use 720? (Saul Chernos, ON, ibid.) Saul, I hope not. As DE of WLW I would have a problem with that. But it might be there at critical hours. I would suspect they have an Special Temporary Authorization (STA) to operate it daytime only. I can find no record of that call sign on line though. But that is not really surprising. Usually these type of stations are set up to test for ground conductivity and conductivity breaks at a certain site and frequency. 700 is close enough to 720 to produce valid test numbers for their site. And will allow the 720 to operate undisrupted. I have been involved in several of these tests. On 610 in Columbus, and 1150 in L.A. We used a 100 foot Rohn 25 tower series fed and a 5 kw transmitter running at 1 kw. These tests actually eliminated a site in LA that we found was to far out of town to be effective. Even though the "text book" said it should work. You can bet there are guys running field strength readings on that transmitter. I am surprised the tower was unguarded. We kept the site manned while it was operating at all times. Just to keep onlookers from harm and make sure all was well. And the generator had gas and oil. Sort of like field day (Paul Jellison, WLW, ibid.) It looked very field-day-esque (is that a word?) when I stopped by yesterday. Craig Fox, the owner/engineer, has been around the site; he was there when Rick Lucas visited on Sunday. Perhaps he just had to run out and get gas or oil for the generator (Fybush, ibid.) Scott, do the announcements come at predictable times? I hear a carrier on 700 that is perhaps strong enough to produce some audio, but I don't have the patience to listen to noise for hours on end. BTW, I'm about 165 miles from Syracuse. WHEN-620 puts in a solid groundwave signal here (Barry McLarnon, Ont, ibid.) And here as well, at about 80 miles. Try at :00 and :30; the announcement seems to run (with LOTS of modulation!) within a minute of both. Latest word is that WV2XOA is testing only from 9 AM until 5 PM daily s (Fybush, ibid.) WV2XOA is an experimental callsign, they don't tend to end up in the broadcast databases. About the only place I ever see them is in the Public Notices - and some of them don't make it there either. Or, they show up well after the fact. (IIRC an experimental "event broadcasting" station at the Super Bowl showed up on the FCC website in April...) | We used a 100 foot Rohn 25 tower series fed and a 5 kw transmitter To get WAY off topic (grin) reports on some of the ham forums suggest the Rohn company is in financial trouble - which makes one wonder who would supply STL towers and towers for small AM stations (not to mention hams!) if Rohn were to go under... (Doug Smith, ibid.) WV2XOA Syracuse NY noted Sat AM 9/13 with open carrier, IDing only at 1001 and 1031 EDT with "Testing at 700 kHz, this is WV2XOA" Of course, very strong signal here (Fred Nordquist, Clay NY (~ 8 mi north of Syracuse NY, ibid.) ** U S A. Commentary: THE FCC, LPFM, AND THIRD-CHANNEL INTERFERENCE Last week, in resuming these Commentaries after a long interval, I wrote that I felt compelled to do so, despite my age and declining energy of will, because of the stupidity, crassness, and greed abundant everywhere. This week, the topic of LPFM comes up again. When the FCC initiated the low-power FM (LPFM) service in 2001, it was following other nations around the world in response to an international treaty in which the signatories promised to open broadcast radio frequencies to ``the people.`` In opening up the LPFM service, the FCC said that it would be willing to accept applications and license stations that were separated from local full-power stations (of the varying classes) by only three instead of four channels. That means, instead of having an LPFM separated by 0.8 MHz from a local station (for example, on 100.3 FM when the local full- power station was 101.1 FM), it could be separated by only 0.6 MHz (for example, on 100.5 FM when the local station was 101.1 FM). There was an immediate hue and cry from commercial broadcasters, who went to Congress, which passed the law forbidding the FCC to authorize any stations separated by three channels until an objective scientific study could be done. That in effect vitiated 80% of the LPFM applications that had been received. Most of these have been dismissed, including a number of Catholic applications. Here was another instance of a federal regulatory agency being run by the very people it purports to regulate. One commercial broadcaster argued in the trade press that he had invested hundreds of thousands of dollars in constructing his station and following regulations in order to serve the public, to be competed against by LPFM outfits who invested a piddling sum and need not follow most of the regulations he had to follow. Other commercial broadcasters argued that there was no need for LPFM stations; that community needs were being served by them, and that any service an LPFM offered would be so marginal as to make it impossible to survive economically. Here were curious arguments from the commercial crowd: They should not receive any competition from LPFM stations because they had invested so much in their own stations. Whatever happened to American free enterprise and the competitive spirit, the spirit that moves fathers to involve their sons in team sports, to push them out on soccer fields on frosty mornings or to step up to bat in torrid July heat? Apparently American free enterprise and competitive spirit do not apply to American broadcasting. Then the commercial broadcasters argued that, well anyway, what LPFM stations could offer was already being offered by commercial stations. If that is so, then why do they argue against new LPFM stations? If they are already offering what the oncoming LPFM stations will offer, then they will have no real competition! One wonders if they really believe their own arguments. Finally, they argued, trying to cover all bases, if LPFM`s do offer something they do not, then it will be so marginal and attract so few listeners as to be nonviable. Again, one wonders if they follow any logic at all. If the competition will be in fact so marginal, than it is effectively no competition at all! If it is no competition, why are they opposed? The LFPM`s are not being built or supported by public tax money. The sorriest argument came from public radio in general and National Public Radio in particular. The public stations welcomed no more competition from community-based LPFM stations than commercial broadcasters did, even though public radio stations purportedly serve the needs of the community in a way that commercial stations cannot and do not. Worse, National Public Radio argued that third-channel separated LPFM would interfere with the reading services for the blind offered on NPR stations` multiplexed (SCA) channels! This was the sword they waved to Congress and to the FCC, and in public. Liberals have no shame. Every time the liberal Democrats and their leader, President Bill Clinton, wanted to enact another piece of legislation over the face of opposition, they argued that they ``were doing it for the nation`s children.`` Only heaven knows how many laws owe their existence to the trumpeted benefit ``to America`s children.`` But NPR exceeded this temerity. It argued that they were opposing what in effect would become 80% of the LPFM applications out of concern, not for any competition for listeners they, the NPR group, would experience from community-oriented LPFM --- oh, no, nothing like that! --- but for concern for the blind. They could not bear to see the blind not be able to receive their programs of newspapers, magazines and books being read to them because of interference allegedly to be caused by all those new, third-channel separated LPFM! Mind you, they did not argue against LPFM third-channel separation because these might interfere with public radio SCA services in general, but because they allegedly would interfere with services for the blind! There were no such major arguments from commercial FM stations offering SCA services, even though such SCA`s are leased operations and are a profit source for commercial stations. Commercial FM stations whose SCA`s might be interfered with by third-channel LPFMs stand a lot more to lose than public radio stations, who cannot lease out their SCA`s, at least for more than what it costs to put them on the air. Mind you, there *was not* and *is not* a shred of evidence that such would happen. But NPR unscrupulously used the argument of concern for the blind to thwart competition. Last week, Bob Edwards, the NPR ``Morning Edition`` anchor, told the Nashville Tennesseean that NPR personnel were organizing a union because it was impossible to deal with NPR management otherwise. ``A nonprofit thinks it`s doing God`s work, whether it`s NPR, the Red Cross or NATO. They`re doing God`s work and how can you argue with God? --- that`s their attitude.`` That certainly is the attitude of NPR. The management is not above using the blind as a weapon in their arsenal to thwart competition from LPFM stations. Liberals are indeed shameless. Well, in early August, the nonprofit organization hired by the FCC to do the third-channel interference study, the MITRE Corporation, issued its report, finding that LPFM stations can indeed be technically licensed three channels away from local stations, and that any problems caused by the new LPFM stations would occur within only a short distance of the full-power station transmitters. Since most transmitters are located in rural areas or atop high buildings, the interference to some receivers would be equivalent to only the radius of a city block. ``Following that suggestion could engender many more of the tiny, low- wattage noncommercial stations,`` Current, the publication of the public broadcasting industry, sniffed. ``That would give more wannabe broadcasters access to the airwaves but also permit interference that could eat away at the fringes of public radio signals.`` Current`s attitude, certainly that of most of its readers, was ``no matter, they will still cause interference.`` Its description of LPFM applicants as ``wannabe broadcasters`` is a piece of sorry journalism: ``Wannabe`` is a favorite put-down word of journalists when they describe someone whose goals are not in agreement with their own. Current does report that the Prometheus Group, which champions LPFM, and others were enthusiastic, particularly in that the study found out that third-channel separation would not interfere with stations that offered reading services for the blind or other SCA channels, or that programmed quieter, less modulated programming such as classical music, or with other stations over radios except within a ``few meters`` of the transmitter of the LPFM station. A changed mind was that of consulting engineer Doug Vernier, a former public radio station manager. ``There`s, frankly, enough spectrum out there that third-adjacents aren`t going to cause a significant problem to public radio at this point,`` he told Current. ``I wouldn`t have said that several years ago, but I think that we have seen enough proof that radios are good enough today that it isn`t a huge issue. The MITRE study is more proof of the pudding.`` The FCC had asked for comments until September 12, but just this week in response to a request by NPR and its consulting engineering service, it extended the comment period. Nevertheless, one of the FCC bureaucrats told Radio & Records that it would not be doing anything about the MITRE report in the near future. From the FCC`s track record under this Republican administration, we can reasonably conclude that no decisions will be taken that annoy its big corporate friends in any way. As for the third-channel separation opponents, there is little doubt they will remain unreconstructed opponents. If so, we now know them for what they are, the public broadcasters in particular. So much for ``God`s work`` of serving the public and doing what is best for the community. They are out for number one, folks. --- Michael Dorner, editor Note --- Late this past week, the FCC announced that it would quickly open a rulemaking to settle the hundreds of conflicting LPFM applications, reversing its original rule and allowing applicants to come to mutual agreements and eliminate the conflicts by choosing alternate frequencies. Nothing was said about the third-channel matter, since the Commission has extended its deadline for comments, at the request of National Public Radio (Catholic Radio Update Aug 25 via DXLD) ** U S A. EMERGING TECHNOLOGY: DONNA & CRAIG QRT AT THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE Craig and Donna are gone. The electronically assembled speech of the two lasted just one year as the automated voices of the National Weather Service. Taking their place is next-generation called Tom. He is programmed in such a way that the speed and intensity of his computer-generated voice can be adjusted to make severe weather warnings sound more urgent and emotional. More is on the World Wide Web at: http://www.centredaily.com/mld/centredaily/news/6454213.htm (CGC via Amateur Radio Newsline Sept 12 via John Norfolk, DXLD) ** U S A. FCC RULES 'HOWARD STERN' MEETS STANDARD OF A NEWS SHOW By Paul Farhi, Washington Post Staff Writer Wednesday, September 10, 2003; Page C01 http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A51802-2003Sep9.html It's official: "The Howard Stern Show" -- the popular morning radio program that features flatulence humor, lesbian sex talk, and ridicule of minorities and the handicapped -- is a bona fide news show just like "Meet the Press" or "The CBS Evening News." The Federal Communications Commission accorded Stern's show that status yesterday in granting it an exemption from federal equal-time rules, which enable candidates to demand airtime from television and radio stations when their rivals have been interviewed or featured on the air. For weeks, Stern has been trying to interview Arnold Schwarzenegger about his candidacy for California governor. But Stern's employer, Infinity Broadcasting, worried that a Schwarzenegger interview would open the door for the 134 other candidates in the recall election to demand equal time on the program. Faced with a logistical nightmare, Infinity asked the FCC to give Stern a pass. Its seemingly long-shot argument: Stern's program qualified for an exemption because his show has elements of a legitimate news-interview program. Congress long ago exempted news shows from the equal-time rules, under the notion that news coverage stimulates political involvement. Yesterday the commission's mass media bureau ruled in Infinity's favor, saying the news interview segments of Stern's show were news and therefore exempt. It cited a 1984 ruling that granted the TV talk show "Donahue" a similar exemption. At the time, the commission said it would be "unsound" to rule against programs that offered "a unique or innovative approach to interviewing its guests." The ruling will allow Stern to interview Schwarzenegger on his program, which is heard on 44 stations nationwide, including locally on WJFK-FM (106.7). But more broadly, the FCC -- which is controlled by deregulatory-minded conservatives -- signaled that it would go easy on enforcing the equal-time rules, which have been in existence since 1934. The commission said entertainment programs similar to Stern's, which feature some news elements, would qualify for exemptions in the future. "What this means is that every 'morning zoo' disc jockey whose brother-in-law is running for city council can put him on the air without worrying about giving equal time to anyone else," said Andrew Jay Schwartzman, a communications lawyer who heads the Media Access Project in Washington. "They've removed the notion that a bona fide news interview show is supposed to apply to journalists. If Howard Stern is a real journalist, real journalists should be upset." Barbara Cochran, president of the Radio and TV News Directors Association, declined to comment yesterday, saying she wanted to study the ruling. Infinity's Washington lawyer, Steve Lerman, said yesterday that the FCC "made the correct decision," considering the string of news exemptions it has awarded to other programs. Indeed, in its ruling, the FCC noted that since the "Donahue" decision in 1984, it has exempted such shows as "Sally Jessy Raphael," "Jerry Springer" and "Politically Incorrect" from granting equal time. Until yesterday, the FCC hasn't been much of a fan of Stern. Since 1989, the commission has fined him repeatedly for violations of its "indecency" standards, based on his raunchy patter. But Lerman said yesterday: "They didn't draw a distinction based on what they think of Howard Stern personally. They did what they thought was right." © 2003 The Washington Post Company (via Mike Brooker, Toronto, ON, NRC-AM via DXLD) ** U S A. BROADCAST BAND UPDATE by Greg Hardison, Sept 12 CHANGING TIMES: "Radio On The Right" is turning to a different direction within the next six months or so. The announcement came this week, of the impending sale of KPLS-830, from the remnants of what once was an offshoot of the Catholic Church, to RadioVisa, a Los Angeles group chaired by Stephen Lehman. You may recall him as one of the founders of Premiere Networks, which has gone on to some measure of success under the Clear Channel banner. Lehman plans to forge a national Spanish-language network, using KPLS as his flagship --- and it's a field ripe for plowing. The last 2.5 or so decades have seen three notable efforts at such an animal: first, Mutual radio (remember them?) attempted a go at a nationwide Spanish chain back in the late 1970s --- long before the explosive growth of the U.S.-Hispanic populace across our nation's Southern tier; as I recall the plug was pulled within two years. There also was a CBS-Spanish net effort, which mostly emphasized Sports, especially MLB contests. For all I know this may still exist, but if so, their Publicity allocation is zilch. (KTNQ-1020 was, or is, the L.A. outlet). Also, for at least a couple of the early-90's years, we heard RadioCentro in many U.S. markets, trying to be a top-of-hour- News-type chain. This also was ill-fated, but well-funded, by the Mexico City-based group of the same name --- which continues a long- standing successful operation in Earth's largest city helmed at XEQR- 1030. As we speak, the only existing U.S.-national Spanish net is Radio Única, which in just a few years has built an impressive market presence in many of the largest Hispanic communities, especially in the West. Única has had some fiscal woes, though, manifested by some missed loan-interest payments earlier in the year; they also went to a greater musical-programming emphasis as summer began, thus cutting overhead from an expensive news/talk-heavy slate. KPLS is up to 50,000 nondirectional daytime watts, and a fairly decent signal in most local areas --- with documented reception as far East as Illinois and Kentucky; their nighttime spew is 23,000 watts directional, covering most of Orange and L.A. Counties, and doing justice to Ventura and Santa Barbara Counties, as well. Related Programming losses? No more George Putnam weekdays at Noon; my least-favorite loss from this involves Fred Wallin's nighttime Sports show --- give it a listen (10 PM PT) if you can; you'll note that Fred's the only guy who runs a sports show with an almost-musical "beat". Fred's our most underrated sports-talker (NOT referring to Arbitron, here) --- and has been since being shafted by a particularly egregious KABC Program Director, circa 1989. Otherwise, frankly, I'm not too sorry to see it go. That comes from years of producing Talkradio in the '80s and '90s, when Objectivity still had a useful meaning. Elsewhere, the venerable WDAF-610 in Kansas City is biting down on the dust. WDAF has been a full-service country & western-oriented outlet for at least 50 years, with one of the best 5,000 watt signals in North America (heard regularly at night anywhere between Arizona and Georgia). Their format and call letters are migrating to 106.5 FM, licensed to suburban Liberty, MO, and with a signal pretty much limited to areas between Chillicothe, MO and Topeka, KS. Fellow traveler Paul Swearingen, one of Topeka's finest high school educators, confirms the programming switch as of Thursday 9/11 (appropriately enough), with the AM-610 stick now conducting an all- Sports format, and preparing a call-letter change to KCSP; how innovative. Up by the Bay, The Wave is no more. CBS/Infinity has pulled the plug on KKWV-93.3 FM, and it's eclectic mix of "smooth jazz", oldies and the more obscure side of adult contemporary. One would think such a format would work well in the San Francisco market, but again, an apparent lack of marketing has flattened The Wave. Meanwhile, The (Original) Wave, KTWV-94.7, continues it's success in Los Angeles, mixing the semi-contrived "smooth jazz" list with a healthy mix of rhythm & blues oldies (the latter of which is certainly 'music' to my own aging ears!). And in NYC, Infinity's "Blink" is shedding tears and identity; rumour has it that WNEW-FM-102.7 is going to a more "mainstream" Adult Contemporary approach, apeing the success of Clear Channel's WLTW- 106.7. The "Blink" has been heavy on geewhizish celebrity news tidbits, interspersed with a music mix described as anywhere between "innovative" and "strange". Of course, many good people are hitting the unemployment lines there as a result. WHILE WE'RE IN THAT NEIGHBORHOOD: And, noting the recent passing of one more 9/11, do check out this two-year old report from our man Scott Fybush, the guru of Northeastern radio news... http://www.fybush.com/wtc-recovery.html to see how the market scrambled to restore its presence. BUYERS 'N' SELLERS: It seems GE/NBC may be close to cutting a deal to purchase Vivendi's entertainment properties, most notably Universal Studios. One knowledgeable wag, Don Paschal of Los Angeles, has been speculating for years of a possible Clear Channel/NBC alliance. Coule be, could be...certainly a CC/NBC/Universal partnership would be a new 600-pound gorilla in media; one notes the hookup between CC's New York radio stations, and WNBC-TV/4, to provide coverage of the recent massive blackout there. Presumably, the presence of the massive CC/KFI newsroom would prevent the necessity of such a pact with KNBC-TV/4 in Los Angeles, when we have our next 12-point Quake. We shall eventually see. LAWYERS WITH NO LIVES: I can truly see both sides in the ongoing debate between the Recording Industry Association of America, and those who obtain Music from the web without costs. But, c'mon guys, suits against individuals?? According to the Associated Press (via "The Atlanta Journal"), some of those targeted by lawsuits include an elderly man in Texas who rarely uses his computer, a Yale University professor and an unemployed woman in New York who says she didn't know she was breaking the law. The Texan says his Grandchildren were downloading on his machine; and the Yalie claimed to have pulled approximately 500 tunes off the Net. The mother of 12 year old New Yorker Brianna Lahara has settled the RIAA action against her daughter for the sum of $2,000. (In that case, Sylvia Torres asserts that Brianna is no longer involved in such activities, according to AllAccess; the family computer was reportedly used for the downloading of some 1000 titles.) "I am sorry for what I have done. I love music and don't want to hurt the artists I love," said Brianna. Said RIAA Chairman and CEO MITCH BAINWOL, "We're trying to send a strong message that you are not anonymous when you participate in peer-to-peer file sharing and that the illegal distribution of copyrighted music has consequences. And as this case illustrates, parents need to be aware of what their children are doing on their computers. I am pleased we have settled the first of yesterday's announced lawsuits, and it's been signed, sealed, and delivered." --- Both quotes lifted from the superb http://www.allaccess.com website. THE Q CONTINUUM: SDRadio.net informs us that the former mega-rocker KCBQ-1170 is running 5,000 watts day/375 watts night from the nondirectional KPOP-1360 tower site in San Diego. Many folks in northern and eastern SD County, and up the coast to Santa Bárbara, are reporting improved reception. Perhaps Salem/KCBQ should consider making the arrangement permanent, if they can get the nod from Clear Channel/KPOP. Some of you know that KCBQ was traditionally 50,000 VERY-directional watts during daytime hours, and their earlier nighttime signal was reduced from 5,000 to 1,500 watts many years ago. KCBQ could benefit from being heard elsewhere besides downtown San Diego, and in and over the saltwater between Coronado and Tahiti where not too many listeners regularly reside. Could save some serious $$, as well, for $alem. The latter has reaped financial rewards for its last-year sale of KLTX-1390 in L.A., and is of course reaping Godzillions by brokering the two Sunday-night hours, in which we used to hear Ray Briem on KRLA-870. Of course they are... WHAT ARE THEY THINKING?: Robert Gonsett's engineer-oriented e- newsletter reveals that Clear Channel is applying for some sort of 107.9-FM translator in San Marcos --- in northern San Diego County, and very well within the signal area of full-powered Calvary Church outlet KWVE, San Clemente, which transmits from 5500+-foot high Santiago Peak, on the Orange/Riverside County Line. KWVE is a stand- alone station, ownership-wise; Clear Channel is known to have a few additional outlets here and there. I have no intense love or hate for either party, but someone at CC should learn how to read maps! Rep. Howard Berman (D/Van Nuys) has called for an overall investigation into Clear Channel's market-grabbing tactics, but methinks it's more of a publicity play, than anything substantial. Besides, CC-head Lowry Mays has recently intoned that his firm owns "only" a little over 1200 of the Nation's 10,000-plus Radio stations (a fact, but one must note that the 10,000-plus figure includes Public stations). While we're there, CC has forged a marketing relationship with non-commercial KUSC-91.5, which has raised the hackles of independent L.A./S.F. station owner Saul Levine (KSUR-1260, KMZT-FM-105.1, and KTIM-1510 in S.F.) Saul has petitioned the FCC to count such arrangements under the banner of station ownership; if he succeeds, Clear Channel would either have to end the KUSC-pact, or unload one of its profitable L.A. commercial facilities. Saul speaks from experience; he has his own recently-forged agreement with Minnesota Public Radio's SoCal stick, KPCC-89.3. Saul spoke in Burbank last weekend at a gathering hosted by L.A.'s Prime Minister of Radio Information, Don Barrett. The 72 year old, very healthy Levine was asked what the fate of his stations would be upon his inevitable demise. His 27 year old daughter has vowed to carry the torch of independent-ownership --- although she's expressed desires to "go after" the KROQ-FM audience. Will we one day see KMZT- FM go from Bach to Beck, while the young lady fights off myriad multi- million dollar offers for the powerful 105.1 signal?? POWELL SPEAKS: A recent piece in "The Chicago Tribune" featuerd the thoughts of FCC Chairman Michael Powell (known in some circles as Colin's Idiot Son). Among other observations, Mikey fears the disappearance of free-commercial television, to the benefit of pay- Cable and Satellite offerings. Surprise! -- His solution is to allow the mega-TV-broadcasters to own more stations. It's all somewhat reminiscent of identical fears expressed by various pundits back around 1963, when the move to ban Pay-TV was afoot in Washington. You may recall, Pay-TV was not banned, and we do indeed still have free- commercial-TV, to pepper us with infomercials and "reality" shows. Powell says all of his actions as FCC-head have been "pro-consumer". He notes that for the first time, cable viewership has passed such numbers enjoyed by "the big three" and their cultural descendants, in 2003. He says free-TV could be gone by 2013, but made no mentions of the mandate that all U.S. broadcast-television outlets convert to Digital mode by 2006. Odds are, the conversions will take a few years longer, as all American households scramble funds to replace their soon-to-be-antiquated analog TVs with those of the digital breed. Has anyone tabulated the dollars being exchanged through increased purchases of wide-screen ANALOG sets --- that will require Digital Converters, at the very least, within the next few years? Just thought I'd ask. Powell also expressed fears that the U.S. telephone infrastructure could soon see failures similar to those which apparently caused the great Northeast Blackout last month. Good stuff as usual from the Trib! YOUR PLANS FOR 9/20: If you're anywhere in or near Orange County, come join us for a Saturday picnic/get-together at Central Park, off Edwards Av in Huntington Beach. This annual deal is hosted by correspondents Stewart Mackenzie and Bill Fisher, the brains and hearts behind the Southern California Association of DXers. If you ever wanted to know about shortwave listening possibilities, or you want to share some of your own, this is the place to be, September 20 anytime between 8:00 AM and 4:00 PM. Bring your own food, family members, radios 'n' antennas, Arbitron diaries, et al, for some interesting conversation and sea-breeze-fueled temperatures under 110; if food is a no-go, you'll find a friendly little Diner very close to the park entrance. Remember, this is the Edwards Av entrance we're talking about. Until the Next, Peace and Prosperity (GREG HARDISON, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. New pirate? 91.3, Erdenheim, PA "EPR - Erdenheim Public Radio" on the NNW fringe of Philadelphia, about 4 miles south of me -- - ugh! Website: http://www.eprfm.org (Russ Edmunds, Blue Bell, PA (15 mi NNW Philadelphia) , Sept 13, NRC FMTV via DXLD) ** VIETNAM [non]. I've just got round to listening to a recording of the Degar Voice broadcast on 9th September 1301-1327. As usual, it crash-started with the programme already in progress. The very last word of a 15-minute (approx.) talk in Degar (presumed) was "Amen", followed by a short piece of ethnic music and a switch to Vietnamese. So it would appear that these broadcasts are religious in nature... You can hear a clip of this on the Interval Signals Archive at http://www.intervalsignals.net Regards, (Dave Kernick, Sept 12, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ POWERLINE COMMUNICATIONS ++++++++++++++++++++++++ SHORTWAVE OPERATORS FEAR EFFECTS OF TEST Thursday, September 11, 2003, By NICK FALSONE, The Express-Times http://pennlive.com/news/expresstimes/pa/index.ssf?/base/news-7/1063271074318460.xml HANOVER TWP. -- Blair Bates will be the first to complain if a new technology designed to bring broadband Internet service to homes through radio signals hinders his hobby. The amateur shortwave radio operator suspects it will, and has made strides to block PPL Corp. of Allentown from launching a 90-day trial run of the service in the township. Township supervisors have listened to the concerns of Bates and other residents who operate shortwave radios. They opted Tuesday night to allow the trial run, provided PPL addresses any problems that shortwave radio operators might encounter because of the service. PPL officials said the shortwave operators shouldn't be affected. If there was the potential for a problem, the Federal Communications Commission, which regulates radio frequencies, wouldn't have given the company the green light on commercializing the service, they said. The technology is relatively new, and PPL is at the forefront. Dubbed "power line communications," it aims to bring high-speed Internet services to residents who can't get the services because their homes aren't properly equipped. A majority of homes nationwide fall into this category. Power lines are used to transmit Internet signals. Those signals are then sent down to homes near the power lines through high radio frequency. Bates said that method interferes with shortwave radio. He said it could also interfere with AM radio and some network television stations that can be received using an antenna. "It is my opinion that the citizens of Hanover Township should not have to endure this virtual radio jamming," he said. Township Supervisor Frank Colon said there have been a lot of residents commenting on the effects the service would have on shortwave radio since PPL first came to the township with the proposal last month. Bates and Mark S. Miller, another shortwave operator, were the only residents who offered comments during Tuesday night's meeting. Miller said the interference shortwave radio operators are anticipating will have an impact on more than just a hobby. Many of the operators serve as members of emergency communications groups, and are included in emergency management plans in Northampton and Lehigh counties. Shortwave operators also pitched in for emergency services following the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks. "What people don't see is (the operators') role in emergency services," Miller said. "It's much more than someone just sitting down in their basement talking to someone in another country." Alan G. Richenbacher, special projects manager for power line communications at PPL, said the company has no interest in interfering with the shortwave radio operators. Their allegations are untrue, Richenbacher said, adding the FCC would have detected such interference when it tested the service before giving PPL the go-ahead. Another factor supporting the company's position is that there have been no complaints from shortwave operators in other areas where the service has been tested, he said. Emmaus, for example, has had the service in effect for about 18 months. None of the operators in that borough have complained, Richenbacher said. "If (the operators) were unable to practice their hobby, I'm sure they would've let us know," he said. Bates said he won't hesitate to let them know. He said he'll accept the township supervisors' decision for the time being. "I hear all the assurances," he said. "For the good of all concerned, I'm willing to be a guinea pig and have it in my back yard. But if there are any problems, you'll certainly hear from me." Richenbacher said the trial run is expected to start next month. It will be offered to residents in the southern portion of the township. Depending on the reaction of the residents who try the service, the company might attempt to make it a permanent service in the township, he said. If PPL wants to make it permanent, township supervisors would address the issue again, James Broughal, the township's solicitor, said. "It's only 90 days," Broughal said. "They may come back to us and say they're not going to stick around." Copyright 2003 The Express-Times. Used with permission (via Pennlive.com via Artie Bigley, Jilly Dybka, DXLD) RADIO LAW: AMSAT-NA SAYS NO TO BPL AMSAT North America has told the FCC that it wants no part of BPL and it has said it twice. Once in comments filed with the regulatory agency in July and in reply comments in August. In both cases AMSAT tells the FCC that it is against proposals to allow Broadband over Power Line systems to proliferate. Amateur Radio Newsline`s Bruce Tennant, K6PZW, is here with more: In its filings, AMSAT says that it agrees with the American Radio Relay League`s finding that Broadband Over Powerline or BPL is a Pandora`s Box of unprecedented proportions. Once deployed, AMSAT says the consumer`s expectations will be such as to preclude termination of the service. It says that interference problems, both to and from BPL, will inevitably be both widespread and impossible as a practical matter to rectify. AMSAT says it bluntly. Amateur and amateur-satellite services cannot be protected from interference from BPL. Also that BPL cannot be protected from interference from HF and VHF amateur radio stations. The ham radio space agency also maintains that the rules must insure that BPL is not permitted to operate in or near any amateur radio allocation. If BPL is permitted at all, any changes in amateur radio allocations must immediately trigger retroactive modifications to BPL facilities to delete any use of amateur radio frequencies. In addition, spurious emissions from BPL facilities must be substantially attenuated below current Part 15 levels. In the end, AMSAT says that it joins ARRL in respectfully requesting that the Commission take no steps to permit access or in-building Broadband Over Powerline at HF or VHF. At least, not at this time. For the Amateur Radio Newsline, I`m Bruce Tennant, K6PZW, in Los Angeles. The complete text of all AMSAT FCC filings are posted at http://www.amsat.org/amsat/amsat-na/filings/index.html (AMSAT-NA) RADIO LAW: IRTS OBJECTS TO BPL IN IRELAND Meantime, BPL may soon be coming to Erin`s Isle. That`s where Power Line Transmission Ireland has announced that it will begin experiments in broadband over powerline connections in October. Now comes word that IRTS which is that nations Amateur Radio society has been in touch with Irish communications regulators. IRTS has expressed the concern of Irelands ham community that these experiments are now going ahead. It has also requested regulators ensure that BPL can only be permitted in Ireland on a strict non- interference basis with other radio services. (GB2RS) RADIO COMICS: DILBERT ON BPL As the debate grows it begging to look as if everyone has something to say about the issue of Broadband Over Powerlines or BPL. Now, even comic characters are chiming in. Yes, we said comic characters. In this case it is none other than the character Dilbert and from the text that accompanies the strip, the cartoonist is none to happy with the BPL idea. This one you will need to judge for yourself. You can find it in cyberspace at http://www.comics.com/comics/dilbert/archive/dilbert-20030908.html (W9JUV) (Amateur Radio Newsline Sept 12 via John Norfolk, DXLD) RECEIVER NEWS +++++++++++++ DIGITAL RADIO PRICES SET TO TUMBLE Julia Day, Thursday September 11, 2003 The price of digital radio sets is poised to tumble with the announcement that Japanese electronics giant Sony is to enter the market. The cheapest digital radio available at the moment costs £99, but with the first major manufacturer throwing its weight behind the sector, the move towards more affordable sets will accelerate. . . http://media.guardian.co.uk/radio/story/0,12636,1040098,00.html (via Jilly Dybka, KF4ZEO, DXLD) CONVENTIONS & CONFERENCES +++++++++++++++++++++++++ THIRD FORUM ITALRADIO, MALTA http://www.independent.com.mt/daily/newsview.asp?id=20838 Web posted on September 12, 2003 at 9:00:00 AM CET The Voice of the Mediterranean, the international radio station broadcasting from Malta, in its effort to enhance the contacts between listeners and operators of radio stations in Europe and the Mediterranean, in cooperation with the European DX Council and Forum Italradio, will organise the Third Forum Italradio in Malta on 25 and 26 October at the Marina Hotel, St. Julian`s. The forum with the theme Multilingualism and International Radio: A Listeners` and Broadcasters` Forum, is dedicated to multilingualism in international radio. The forum will provide an exchange of experiences between international radio stations in the Italian and English languages, of which Malta represents a most significant example as a country where the two languages live in the archipelago’s culture together with the native language. The broadcasters, coming from different European countries, will share their experiences with the participation of listeners who are members of different European DX Clubs. On the occasion of the Forum, the DX Club Europe will award the Premio Italradio 2003 to the Voice of the Mediterranean, as an example of international cooperation in the Mediterranean. The participants of the forum will visit the new VOM premises in Birkirkara and Campus FM at the University where EDXC will present a digital periodical library (emeroteca) of the multi-lingual newsletters DX of the last three years (Malta Independent via Jilly Dybka, DXLD) PROPAGATION +++++++++++ QST de W1AW -- Propagation Forecast Bulletin 37 ARLP037 From Tad Cook, K7RA, Seattle, WA September 12, 2003 To all radio amateurs SB PROP ARL ARLP037, ARLP037 Propagation de K7RA Daily sunspot numbers took a dive this week, with the average dropping 47 points from last week to 56.1. Solar flux declined a little over 18 points. Sunspot numbers on Tuesday and Wednesday, September 9 and 10, were quite low, 43 and 42. This is quite a contrast from a year ago, when Tuesday and Wednesday of the same week had sunspot numbers of 226 and 213. Coincidentally, last year`s bulletin for the week September 5th through 11th showed a comparison from the year before, when conditions were even better. The 2002 bulletin reports that the solar flux the year before was 42 points higher and sunspot numbers were greater by 34. A nice thing this week was lower geomagnetic indices, which were best on September 7-8. On September 7 the normally high College A index (measured in Fairbanks, Alaska) was all the way down to 2, which is very quiet. Over the local evening time in Fairbanks, the K index was 0 for 18 hours straight! It was either 0 or 1 for a continuous 36 hours. We have been inside a strong solar wind this week, but the interplanetary magnetic field has been pointing north, which protects the earth`s magnetic field and keeps A and K indices low. We are drawing closer to the fall equinox, only about 10 days off. This is a prime time for HF DX, because the solar radiation reaching earth is equal in northern and southern hemispheres. The day is exactly 12 hours long, regardless of whether you are on the equator or at either pole. This weekend is the Worked All Europe SSB Contest. Let`s see how the vast difference in sunspot numbers might affect propagation this week when compared to a year ago. Using the September 10, 2002 sunspot number of 226 with the W6ELprop software, plotting a 20-meter path from Chicago to Germany shows it closes about four and a half hours later than it would on the same date with a sunspot number of 42. At 42, 15 meters has a low probability of opening from 1630-2130z, but with the higher numbers, conditions on 15 meters look excellent from 1300-2330z. On 75 meters, we see the opposite effect. With the lower numbers, peak signal strength is several decibels higher than it would be last year. A good opening this year would be at 2300-0700z, and last year at 2330-0600z. Over the weekend, expect stable geomagnetic conditions. Solar flux should rise above 100, peaking around 120 from September 17-19. David Moore sent in an interesting article about solar wind from SpaceRef.com. You can read it at http://www.spaceref.com/news/viewpr.html?pid=12504 Sunspot numbers for September 4 through 10 were 79, 57, 60, 54, 58, 43, and 42, with a mean of 56.1. 10.7 cm flux was 112.2, 108, 104.9, 107.8, 98.8, 95.9, and 99.3, with a mean of 103.8. Estimated planetary A indices were 19, 16, 12, 10, 9, 19, and 19, with a mean of 14.9. Copyright © 2003, American Radio Relay League, Inc. All Rights Reserved (via John Norfolk, DXLD) ### |||||||||||||||| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||| DX LISTENING DIGEST 3-163, September 12, 2003 edited by Glenn Hauser 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 later at http://www.worldofradio.com/dxldtd3i.html For restrixions and searchable 2003 contents archive see http://www.worldofradio.com/dxldmid.html NOTE: If you are a regular reader of DXLD, and a source of DX news but have not been sending it directly to us, please consider yourself obligated to do so. Thanks, Glenn NEXT AIRINGS OF WORLD OF RADIO EXTRA 44: RFPI: Sat 0130, 0800, 1400, 2330, Sun 0530, 1130, Mon 0030, 0630, 1230, Wed 0100, 0730, 1330 on 7445 [nominal times often delayed] WWCR: Sat 1030, Sun 0230 5070, 0630 3210, Wed 0930 9475 WRMI: Sat & Sun 1800+ 15725 (via IBC Radio) WBCQ: Mon 0415 7415, maybe 5105 WINB: Thu 0130 9320 WRN ONDEMAND: http://new.wrn.org/listeners/stations/station.php?StationID=24 OUR ONDEMAND AUDIO [also for CONTINENT OF MEDIA, MUNDO RADIAL]: Check http://www.worldofradio.com/audiomid.html Audio stored at k4cc.net is inaccessible from Sept. 11 and is being moved to a new site which should be funxioning by Sept. 13 Anyway, availability of Extra 44 is delayed except for: Summary: http://www.worldofradio.com/worx44.html ** AFGHANISTAN. Reception of the PsyOps transmissions ("Information Radio") in Dari and Pashto is currently reported on 9000 kHz. They are scheduled to be on the air 24h Bernd Trutenau, Lithuania, Sept 11, Cumbredx mailing list via DXLD) Reported by whom?? ** ALBANIA, 7160 kHz, 0230 UT Sept 11, flute IS, then dreamy orchestral music, s/on in English. "This is Radio Tirana" repeated twice, into broadcast schedule. SINPO 32222, only an occasional word understandable, quite poor (Drake SW8 with whip antenna. Roger Chambers Utica, NY, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** AUSTRALIA. R. Australia: On Asia-Pacific, just after 1200 UT news on September 11, was an excellent item on the "Stans" of former Soviet Central Asia: Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, and Kyrgyzstan. It summarized current geopolitical situation, noting that most of these states have become more authoritarian and repressive, yet more closely allied with the United States. 3000 US troops currently on the Uzbekistan-Afghanistan border. The "war on terror" gives an excuse for more repression, using the "Islamic Boogie" as rationalization. At 1230, on "Bush Telegraph," discussion of the genetically modified (GM) foods, including input from Doug Powell, from Guelph University, the largest agricultural school in Ontario. Mr. Powell related experiences selling GM and "regular" food being sold side by side in a farm near the university. Both programs are examples of how "public radio" stations such as Radio Australia provide fine programs of important issues receiving little coverage in the daily rag or Network TV news (Roger Chambers, Utica, NY, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** AUSTRALIA. Re 3-162: Will: All I can say is that it depends. There are times when RA is taking a direct feed from Radio National and there are times when RA is running a program that it has recorded from Radio National (or its own programs). One way you can research this yourself is to go to each service's web site http://www.abc.net.au/rn http://www.abc.net.au/ra and compare what each service broadcasts at particular times. In order to do this, you'll need to know that Australian Eastern Time is ten hours ahead of UT in this season. (However, the RA web site allows you to read a schedule conforming to almost any time zone in the world, including Australian Eastern Time.) In any event, at 1000 UT (6 a.m. on the US east coast), it's 8 p.m. in Melbourne. RA's "overnight" schedule conforms very closely to Radio National's, although there are exceptions. I would surmise that this is the case because it is less expensive for RA to do it this way and there is less need to have personnel "riding herd" over the computer system that directs the programming traffic. All that aside, I'm sure RA would be pleased to hear from you and I've taken the liberty of copying your message to Roger Broadbent, who is always interested in the views of listeners wherever they may be (John Figliozzi, swprograms via DXLD) Another helpful way to understand how this is done is to go to Kevin Kelly's "Public Radio Fan" website. Pick programs by name; you can then see when these programs air over various live webcasts. This is handy because the Radio National, Radio Australia, WRN Europe, WRN North America, and CBC Overnight airings of all these programs will then be displayed for you. You can then see what's live, what's delayed, etc. Keep in mind that Radio Australia considers North American and European listening to be "bonus" listening in comparison to its intended audience of the Asia Pacific region. Their dollars, resources, and scheduling priorities are all keyed to enhance the availability and usability to the Asia Pacific audience -- not the North American and European audiences. This is one reason I'm such a fan of on-demand audio. Scheduling issues disappear. Yes, I know "It isn't radio" but it avoids broadcasters having to make tradeoffs to serve one audience over another when such tradeoffs compromise listener satisfaction and carry a monetary cost as well. Consider it this way -- would you rather hear two or more "streams" à la the BBC World Service? Kevin Kelly's website is http://www.publicradiofan.com/ --- click on "Programs by name" to identify specific programs of interest; you'll then be able to see scheduling patterns (Richard Cuff / Allentown, PA USA, ibid.) Listening on demand is not much of an option for Will, since he only uses library computers (gh) ** BOLIVIA. Gonzalo Espinoza Cortés verified my follow up report of Radio Eco San Borja operating on 4702 kHz. He said that the station in at the present not operating due to the death of his brother Freddy Espinoza Cortés in a power plant accident (planta termo eléctrica) on the 6th of August. 73's JHY (Jyrki Hytönen - Kannus - Finland, Sept 11, dxing.info via DXLD) ** CANADA. CBC RADIO ORCHESTRA TURNS 65 --- supposedly the only remaining radio orchestra in North America; the article starts: Things didn't look promising when the Vancouver CBC Radio Orchestra arrived in Tuktoyaktuk. The temperature was minus 30, no one was there to greet them at the airport, and the concert was in a half hour. Instead of a road, there was a train track with a little trolley. So all the musicians loaded their instruments on board and rolled the 200 or so metres into town. When they arrived at the school, it was empty: there wasn't a soul in sight, except for a janitor. He silently swept the floor, initially not noticing the group in front of him. "Where is everyone?" George Zukerman asked. "Oh, you're here," the janitor said. "They're all out fishing on the ice." To let them know the orchestra had arrived, Cam Trowsdale got on top of the school roof with his violin. He started playing -- what else -- the signature tune from Fiddler on the Roof. Across the ice, about 300 men, women and children, along with numerous dogs, heard the tune and came running toward the school. The concert could finally start. . . full story at: http://www.canada.com/vancouver/vancouversun/story.asp?id=19CA5F93-3A99-4B22 -8284-45D4BA107E7F (via Eric Floden, NRC-AM via DXLD) ** CANADA. CJWI-1610 Off Frequency --- CJWI in Montreal has drifted quite far off 1610 --- currently they're about 114 Hz high. Maybe they got their transmitter cheap on eBay. :-) This could be helpful in spotting them for you folks out west (Barry McLarnon, Ottawa, NRC- AM via DXLD) ** CANADA. THE UGLY CANADIAN TORONTO (CP) - It seemed like a good idea - a light-hearted radio contest to find the ugliest place in Canada. Amid the country's vast splendour, there has to be an eyesore here or there. A tire dump or maybe a yard full of dead cars. The contest, on CBC Radio One's Sunday Edition, began last Sunday. And according to CBC, the response has been mostly positive - by a five to one ratio - and there have been some 20 entries so far. However, Wendy Peck of Kenora, Ont., a pretty place on the Lake of the Woods and not likely to be a contender, finds the whole idea of the contest distasteful. In an e-mail to CBC, her MP and to the media, Peck says she objects to a "feature that seems designed only to belittle and ridicule, using appearance as the sole criteria as to whether a town, place, landscape will be collectively disgraced by our national radio service." CBC says Peck's e-mail has been the only serious complaint about the contest, although a few - about four - people have suggested the whole idea is stupid. CBC says it has responded to Peck's concerns, but that she is still not happy. In her e-mail, Peck acknowledges that she may be a voice crying out in the wilderness, "and that I could personally sound like Chicken Little." "That outcome is preferable to standing idly by while the national radio I take such pride in deliberately harms even one Canadian who has done nothing more than love a place that others find unattractive." (Via Harry van Vugt, Windsor, Ontario, Canada, DXLD) Isn`t August over? ** CHINA. Additional transmissions for China Radio International: 0200-0257 Tamil on 13715 and 15145 0300-0357 Nepali on 13715 and 15145 0500-0657 German NF 15245*, ex 15215 *co-ch RL in Tatar Bashkir till 0600 NF 17720*, ex 17690 *co-ch RFA Tibetan from 0600 1300-1357 Hindi on 11765* and 13715 *co-ch RFA Burmese 1800-1857 Cantonese on 9585 and 11895 2200-2230 Esperanto on 9860* and 11700 *co-ch Evangelische Missions Ge on Wed Frequency changes for China Radio International: 0900-1057 English NF 17690, ex 11730 1230-1327 Malay NF 15600, ex 15135 1400-1457 English NF 11765, ex 9700 1400-1457 Sinhala NF 9665, ex 11900 1500-1527 Persian NF 11700* ex 11750 *co-ch RAI Inter Turkish, Greek 1600-1657 Arabic NF 11750, ex 11760 1600-1657 English NF 9570, ex 9565 NF 11900* ex 9870 *co-ch Bulgaria German 1630- 1700-1757 English NF 11900* ex 9670 *co-ch Bulgaria French, English NF 11910, ex 15205 1700-1757 Russian ADD 11960 1730-1827 Hausa NF 13670, ex 13685 1800-1857 Russian DEL 9585 1800-1857 Persian NF 7140, ex 9550 1830-2127 French DEL 11660 1900-1927 Turkish NF 9655, ex 9785 NF 11790, ex 11750 1900-1957 Romanian NF 11750, ex 11740 2000-2057 Russian NF 9730, ex 9795 (Observer, Bulgaria, Sept 12 via DXLD) ** COLOMBIA. 5040 kHz, La Voz de Yopal, Yopal, 1030 UT Sept 11, tuned into Colombian national anthem in progress (Choral with orchestra), Spanish ID and frequency announcements, clearly heard "Yopal" 2 different times, into music. SINPO 22222, better on LSB, but quite poor, fade out by 1045 UT (Drake SW8 with whip antenna. Roger Chambers Utica, NY, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Reactivation after long absence (gh) ** COSTA RICA. RFPI SIGNAL STRENGTH BACK TO NORMAL 09/11/2003 - The Copy Exchange - If you have noticed that RFPI's signal on 7445 is better recently, there's a reason. The station's General Manager, James Latham, was able to increase the transmitter power from 15 kilowatts to 30 kilowatts, starting at 0300 UT Thursday this week. The problem was the lack of a capacitor connected between the transmitter and the antenna, which could block 8 kilovolts of Direct Current applied to the final transmitter tube from reaching the antenna, while allowing the Radio Frequency signal to pass through. Details at ... http://copyexchange.com/_wsn/page3.html (Franklin Seiberling, KC0ISV, Iowa City, Sept 12, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ETHIOPIA. After a long absence, Voice of the Tigray Revolution, Mekelle, Ethiopia was noted again on 5500. This was in parallel with their usual 6350. Heard on 11 Sep at 1800 with good signal (Jari Savolainen, Kuusankoski, Finland, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** FINLAND. 6170, Scandinavian Weekend R, Villat, 0655-1310, Sat Sep 06, monthly program of Finnish pop music with announcements in Finnish and English. QRM Croatia 6165. Best at 1300 with 24232 // 11690 or 11720. 11690, Scandinavian Weekend R, Villat, 0905, Sa Sep 06, pop music // 6170. QRM Voice of Turkey in Arabic (Anker Petersen, DSWCI DX Window Sept 10 via DXLD) 11720, Scandinavian Weekend R, Villat, 1130, Sat Sep 06, good signal here in Germany and announcement in English (Harald Kuhl, DSWCI DX Window Sept 10 via DXLD) In Denmark that frequency was covered by the Voice of Arabs, Cairo in Arabic on 11720 (Petersen, ibid.) ** FRANCE. R. France Int`l has the following [English] changes scheduled Sept. 7: 0400-0430 11910 ex-13610, 0500-0530 15155 ex-11685 (Daniel Sampson, Sept 6, Prime Time SW via DXLD) ** GUATEMALA. R. Amistad, re: 3-156: According to the Domestic Broadcasting Surveys, this station was last reported on the air in Mar 2002 on 4698.9. It was definitely off the air in Nov 2002 when I was in Panajachel just eight kilometres from the transmitter site on the other side of Lake Atitlán. It is a ``repeater`` of R Amistad on 97.6 MHz which also was off the air at that time (Ed. Anker Petersen, DSWCI DX Window Sept 10 via DXLD) ** HONDURAS. 3340, R. Misiones Int'l, 0337-0402, 11/09, Spanish, Re- activated Honduran noted with OM talks and ballads, mentions of "USA" at 0341, possibly IMF World Misiones, San Bernadino, CA address?, YL with solid ID over music at 0400. Poor under static with a few peaks (Scott R Barbour Jr, Intervale, NH, DX LISTENING DIGEST) I have been trying to clear up whether it`s Radio Misiones Internacional or Internacionales. If it modifies ``Misiones``, it would have to be plural, but if it modifies ``Radio Misiones`` it could conceivably be singular. No sign of any website for IMF --- most Google hits lead only to DX reports about it. Latest report in QSL info pages http://www.schoechi.de/ac-hnd.html#R Mision Int gives address as I.M.F. P.O.BOX 6321, SAN BERNARDINO, CA 92412 USA according to C. Brunström, Sweden, Play-DX (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** INDONESIA. 4920, RRI-Biak (Presumed) Sep 6 1027-1102 34333-33332 1030 IS. Local news? and Music. Tnx for information from N-1tuusin Web site. 4919.89, RRI-Biak (Presumed) Sep 7 1025-1044 32332-33332 Indonesian, Music. 1030 IS. Local news. ID? at 1042 as "... Indonesia Biak". (Kouji Hashimoto, Yamanashi, JAPAN, Japan Premium via DXLD) ** INTERNATIONAL INTERNET. ANALYSIS: GOOGLE IS 5 - MANY HAPPY RETURNS | Text of editorial analysis by Chris McWhinnie of BBC Monitoring's Media Services It really is just five years since Google, now the most popular web search engine in the world, moved to its first office in a garage and started a search engine service which was to grow far beyond the founders' wildest dreams. Use grew by word of mouth because users repeatedly found that Google provided better and more successful search results with a simple word search. Derived from the word googol, meaning 1 followed by 100 zeros, the search engine had initially been called BackRub. This was a reference to its checking of results, for confidence, against the number of pages linked to each result and their importance. There was also a function which checked the status of a page for keywords and concepts related to a given subject. These ideas came from research by the founders, Stanford University Ph.D. students Sergey Brin and Larry Page, and they soon put Google ahead of the pack. From 10,000 queries a day in late 1998, daily use grew to 500,000 by mid-1999. By the end of 1999, this was 3 million searches per day. A year later it handled 60-100 million per day. The search engine moved from its beta test period in September 1998. The rapid growth was evident in other ways: by December 1998 it had already been named by PC magazine in its Top 100 web sites. In May 2000 Google was awarded a Webby Award by the San Francisco- based International Academy of Digital Arts and Sciences and a People's Voice Award for technical achievement. A month later it became the world's largest search engine with a one billion-page index. Revenue comes from the keyword targeted advertising (see the column on the right of the main results page) and also from Google's utilization on other sites and on company intranets. Small advertisers can place online advertising with a credit card. The search engine is available via mobile telephones, WAP, Japanese i- mode and many other mobile devices. A recent enhancement is the downloadable Google toolbar. This innovation places the search engine in the internet browser as well as blocking advertising pop-ups. Google's translation and language searches have opened parts of the world and the web previously beyond the reach of the individual. In five years Google has grown to handle some 200 million queries each day from about 74 million users (Nielsen/Netratings). There are 3.5 billion pages indexed and it provides news, shopping, web logs, translation and news group searches. It is the first pages many web users see when they log on. Google now has over 1,000 staff. It outran the dot.com failures and is one of the top ten web sites in the world. It has diversified: Google now runs Blogger, a major provider of online diaries and journals. This content can encompass serious journalism as well as downright opinion and rumour. Perhaps Google will use the blog resources to supplement its news gathering operation, which relies on more conventional news sources. Google's news service was launched in September 2002. It is produced without editorial or journalistic effort by software from 4,500 different news sources. The headlines, pictures and text are all arranged without human intervention, with mixed results. The automatic compilation and selection has also meant that the Google news site is excluded from the current events category of the Media Metrix and Nielsen/NetRating's index, although an expert believed that its ratings would rank Google close to the BBC's News web site. Google also collects information about its users and the information they seek. Technology consultant Bill Thomson told BBC Online in February this year that Google probably knows a lot more about us: "Google probably knew when you last thought you were pregnant, what diseases your children have and who your divorce lawyer is." The world's top search engine places the vast resource of the world wide web at our fingertips. Although there are rivals and Google is only top of the search pile, its success appears to lie in its speed, simplicity and ultimately in the results it returns. Source: BBC Monitoring research in English 10 Sep 03 (via DXLD) ** JORDAN. 11690 kHz (better at 11689.7 due to RTTY), Radio Jordan, from 1534 UT, better in LSB at this time, pop music, fair at best. from 1557, better reception, English news at 1600, weather including temperatures in Jordan Valley, ID x 2 "Radio Jordan, 96.3 FM, time check " ____ past 9," into "The _____ Review." Occasional word(s) intelligible, poor, September 11th (Roger Chambers, Utica NY, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Glenn, Radio Jordan heard today with its English programme on 11960 kHz instead of usual 11690 kHz. Usual phone-in with music & time checks at 1330 UT, News at 1400. Will check tomorrow to see if this is a one off incorrect punch up or a longer term frequency move (Graham Powell Wales, Sept 12, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Tnx, Graham for this tip, I´m just now at 1430 UT listening to R. Jordan in English on new 11960 kHz. Reception is excellent and signal great, even S9 +20 dB!!! (Jouko Huuskonen, Turku, FINLAND, Sept 12, hard-core-dx via DXLD) ** KOREA NORTH. NORTH KOREAN RADIO ANNIVERSARY - SEPTEMBER 9, 1948 Well, actually, the date September 9 in the year 1948 is not really a date that is associated with radio broadcasting in North Korea. Instead, it is the date on which North Korea announced the formation of its own government. However, there is no known date for the commencement of radio broadcasting in the territory that is North Korea and at the time of partition, there were no known radio broadcasting stations on the air. We could ask the question: In this land of more than 20 million people, when and where did radio broadcasting actually begin? This information was never made known internationally at the time and the exact details are still unknown to the international radio world even to this day. A Google search on the internet does not seem to bring to light any significant information, and the listings in Ludo Maes ``Transmitter Documentation Project`` give very little concrete information. The first reference that we have been able to locate for the introduction of radio broadcasting in North Korea is found in the Australian radio magazine, ``Radio & Hobbies`` dated for the month of March 1949. A report by the legendary Arthur Cushen in New Zealand, just six months after their declaration of independence, states that a radio station is on the air in the capital city, Pyongyang. This station was operating on shortwave under the callsign JWM and it was noted on two channels, 4400 & 7775 kHz. The first listing for North Korean radio stations in the World Radio Handbook does not appear until eight years later, in the year 1957. In this listing four channels are given; on mediumwave 785 820 & 1075 kHz with 6250 kHz on shortwave. The hours of on-air operation were quite brief, just a half hour or an hour in duration. Programming in that era was in Korean, with a Foreign Service in Japanese. There was also a daily 30 minute relay from Radio Moscow ‘s Far Eastern Service in Korean. It is known that Radio Pyongyang in North Korea procured two of the transmitters at 250 kW from Schwarzenburg in Switzerland when Swiss Radio International closed that station. Ludo Maes gives the year for this event as 1995, and it is presumed that nowadays these units are indeed on the air in North Korea. The current edition of the World Radio TV Handbook lists 17 mediumwave transmitters on the air in North Korea, mostly very high powered, ranging up to the massive power output of 1,500 kW. For domestic shortwave, 11 transmitters are listed at eight different locations. On the international shortwave scene, these transmitters are shown as in current use:- Kanggye (KUNG-JEE) 5 @ 200 kW Kujang (KOO-JUNG) 5 @ 200 kW Pyongyang (PEEYONG-YUNG) 10 @ 200 kW It is quite probable that a lot of villages throughout North Korea are still receiving radio programming by cable, through a loud speaker installed in the home. Occasionally, QSLs from North Korea do make an appearance into the international radio world. In the AWR collection, we are holding a total of eight QSLs, seven on shortwave and one on mediumwave. A total of four of the regional shortwave locations have been verified. So, to answer the original question, available evidence would suggest that the first radio station on the air in North Korea was a low powered shortwave unit located near the capital city, Pyonyang, and that was installed early in the year 1949, just a few months after their declaration of independence (Adrian Michael Peterson, AWR Wavescan Sept 14 via DXLD) ** KOREA NORTH. 2349.90, KCBS, Sariwon, 1100-1300, Aug 16, Korean, relay PBS // 2850, 3320 (until 1140), 3960, 4450 (from *1200), 6250, 9665 (from 1200), 11679.7, PBS program until 1140, then KCBS program. New frequency with weak carrier and very low powered transmitter. 2850, KCBS, Pyongyang, 1100-1200, Aug 14 and 15, Korean programs heard // 3350.1 (first from *1210 on Aug 14 due to transmitter problems), 3960.3 (First from *1200 on Aug 14 due to transmitter problems) and 11679.7v. Also heard 2115-2215 fade out // 3959.7 (-2200*), 4450 (only *2200-2220*), 6100, 9665.2 and 11679.7. 3025.6, Frontline Soldiers R, *1500, Aug 25, late sign on with Channel 2 in Korean. 34433. 3320, PBS, Pyongyang, 1100-1200 and 2115-2323, Aug 14, 15 and 16, Korean programs heard // 6250.1 (unstable transmitter) and 6398.7 (from *2200). 4450, KCBS, Haeju (?), *2200-2220*, Korean program heard // 2850, 6100, 9665.2 and 11679.7. This frequency used until Aug 01 to be carrying the clandestine programs of the Voice of National Salvation! 6961.8, KCBS Regional station (maybe spurious signal ??), heard from 1100, Aug 20 // 2349.9, 2850, 3959.8, 9665.1 and 11679.8. 9665, KCBS, Pyongyang, 0630, Aug 16, Korean program on new frequency, 35543. Also heard Aug 14 and 15 at 2215-2230, 0200 and 0500 // Kanggye 11680 (All: Roland Schulze, DSWCI DX Window Sept 10 via DXLD) ** LIBERIA. ...Throughout the crisis, ELWA has remained on the air with FM broadcasts going out nearly daily, but on a limited schedule, depending on the availability of diesel fuel to operate the generators. ``Due to the high price of diesel fuel [costing up to US$18 per gallon at the peak of the crisis], the hours were reduced. But only one day passed without a morning or evening broadcast,`` Sacra said. ``The weekend of Aug. 9, ELWA was the only station on the air in Monrovia and carried all the official announcements concerning the turning-over ceremony held on Aug. 11,`` he said. ``The radio’s critical ministry gives people something positive to listen to, encouraging believers to stand firm in their faith, and giving non- Christians the message of hope in Jesus.`` SIM founded the station in 1954 to air the gospel across the country and West Africa. ELWA was destroyed twice by civil war, first in 1990 and again in 1996. The station went back on the air in 1997 with a small FM transmitter. Then in 2000 HCJB World Radio provided a low- power shortwave transmitter, again enabling the station to cover the region. ``Unfortunately, the shortwave transmitter is temporarily off the air,`` Sacra said. Spare parts from the HCJB World Radio Engineering Center in Elkhart, Ind., were expected to arrive on Tuesday, Sept. 2. The ELWA Hospital has also remained open, even during the worst fighting, providing care to the injured and needy, especially those with AIDS, Sacra said. . . http://www.hcjb.org/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=795&mode=thread&order=0&thold=0 (HCJB Press Sept 5 via DXLD) Saw somewhere 4760 reported again (gh) ** MEXICO [non]. RFCI gets publicity among Esperantists: note Elmer uses `x` to show where diacriticals go on preceding letter, difficult or impossible? to find in character sets available. Over consonants it`s circumflex ^ while over vowels it`s like a short in English (gh, DXLD) Karaj geamikoj: Jen interesa novajxo pri radia disauxdigo okaze de la Pintorenkontigxo de Monda Komerca Organizo en Kankun', Meksiko. Kvankam la disauxdigos ne rekte celas aliajn mondopartojn, eble gxi auxskulteblos tutmonde; ja la "mallongonda radio" estas tia!! Mi prenis tiun novajxon de famkonata novajxletero "DX LISTENING DIGEST" kiun redaktas kara amiko, radio-jxurnalisto S-ro Glenn Hauser. Bonsxancon!! Elmer MEKSIKO. Specialeventa Radiostacio: Radio Libera Kaskadia Internacia (e-posxto: radio985@efn.org) RFCI disauxdigos cele al Sud- kaj Mez- Ameriko ek de la 10a - 14a de septembro. Ni diselsendos solidarece kun miloj da homoj kiuj protestas kontraux la Monda Komerca Organizo en Kankun', Meksiko, kaj tra la mondo; indigxenaj popoloj en la Amerikoj kaj tutmonde, kaj cxiuj kiuj rezistas la subpremadon kaj tutmondan dominadon fare de korporacioj, registaroj kaj kapitalismaj organizajxoj kiaj MKO. RFCI disauxdigos el Kankun' hispan- kaj anglalingve, inkluzivante surlokajn raportojn, novajxojn, komentojn kaj muzikojn de rezisto kaj revolucio, cxefe amerikajn. Nia signalo celos Meksikon kaj gxi estos ankaux auxskultebla en Kubo, Kolombio, Ekvadoro, Brazilo kaj aliaj landoj de Latinameriko kaj Usono. "Radio Free Cascadia International" estas rekta ago de rezisto kaj solidareco, defiante tiujn kiuj arogas al si proprecon kaj kontrolon de la naturo, popoloj kaj teraj estajxoj. Disauxdiga Horaro ----------------- Ni intencas disauxdigi cxefe en la hispana lingvo, sed ankoraux ne kapablas provizi vin per specifa lingva horaro. Primara Horaro: 1700- 0500 UTC (11 atm - 11 ptm, Mezamerika horo) sur 15045 kHz Dumtaga alterna horaro: 1700-2300 UTC (11 atm - 5 ptm, Mezamerika horo) sur 17552.5 kHz (variema) Dumvespera alterna horaro: 2300-0500 UTC (5 ptm - 11 ptm, Mezamerika horaro) sur 9310 kHz (variema) Depende de la atmosferaj disvastigxad-kondicxoj kaj aliaj faktoroj, la disauxdigoj eble sxangxigxos 1900-0700 UTC (1 ptm - 1 atm). La bendosxangxoj prenos almenaux unu horon. Fontoj: (El la retpagxo http://www.efn.org/~radio985/RFCI/index.htm pere de la novajxletero DX LISTENING DIGEST N-ro 3-161 de Sinjoro Glenn Hauser [ http://www.angelfire.com/ok/worldofradio/dxld3161.txt]. Elangligis Elmer Escoto, Honduras, DX LISTENING DIGEST) No sign of R. Free Cascadia International here Sept 10, but my anonymous contact says they tested 15045 between 0200 and 0500 UT Thursday Sept 11, when I did not hear them. On Sept 9 and 10 checks, I did notice very occasional 2-way SSB on 15043, seemingly military traffic, users who would not be happy about this. Also, some very weak non-voice utility of some sort centered on 17551. Rechecked 15045 Sept 11 at 1912 UT and they were on with a booming signal, mostly music, but half-heard an announcement in English about testing. 1930 joined something in Spanish with revolutionary chanting; around 2000 music in an Indian language, but few announcements. Big signal, but quite a hum too, obvious during long pauses. Intermittent ``gurgler`` QRM lasting only a few seconds each time, but sometimes obliterating RFCI while it lasted, such as 2008, 2013. RFCI went off without announcement at 2032*. Did not recheck until 2218 when it was on again with program in English, but audio rather distorted, perhaps an internet feed. 2256 into Spanish interview with a (North?) Korean compañero, 2310 more music. Finally caught definite ID in Spanish at 2325, ``La Radio Libre International ``Cascades`` . . . parte norte de las Américas``. 2342 into an unnamed 55-minute program to be mainly about the Chilean 9\11. Still loud at 0025 Sept. 12. At 0058 `Welcome to Democracy Now,` the non-clandestine Pacifica program, but interrupted by gringo giving E-mail and P-mail addresses in English and Spanish: RFCI, P O Box 703, Eugene OR 97440. Apparently went off around 0135, or quick fadeout. After 0230 I waited for it on 9310, but not heard there. Later RFCI told me they did stay on 15045 with 5 kW until 0500* so it was a fadeout. They planned to try 9310 UT Sat but probably not 17552.5. Then on Sept 12 at 1710 check, 15045 is back on with talk in English, but ute QRM. Noted earlier that propagation disturbance had weakened other signals on 19m, this was as expected much weaker than the day before (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) CLANDESTINE, 15044.97, R. Free Cascadia???, at 2003 UT Sept 11, Just tuned in and am hearing what sounds like LA indigenous vocal music. Strong but pretty weak modulation. No other frequency noted. Just checked again (2025) and they're playing some simple flute music. Hope to have a full report later (Dave Valko, Dunlo PA, Cumbre DX via DXLD Hi Dave --- I am hearing a station with music on this frequency but only heard one brief peak between 2130 and 2155 UT. Most of the time at threshold or inaudible (John Sgrulletta, Mahopac, NY, ibid.) 15045 Cascadia? 1900 very weak, deep fades; 2100-2120 Sept 11, clear mentions de Cancún by OM "...military civil society after 9/11 ...after the barricades fell .... struggle against World Trade Organization ...9/11 anniversary of horrible coup thirty years ago...`` Some music, poor modulation, deep fades (Bob Wilkner, Pompano Beach, FL, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Mentions de "...Here in Cancún today" Bad fades but some strong audio every five minutes of so. 73's (Bob Wilkner, FL, Cumbre DX via DXLD) Thanks for the tips, fellas; just tuned in at 2307 and have a decent carrier with a word or two on the peaks, standing by hoping to hear more (Hans Johnson, Cody WY, ibid.) 15044.92 with a S7 carrier here, but very low audio at 2319. Thanks for the tip! (Gerry Bishop, Niceville, FL, Cumbre DX via DXLD) CLANDESTINE, 15044.97, R. Free Cascadia (presumed), 2203 Talk by M with what sounded like "...request...area of the world ?? North America ?? transmission... also ?? the Americas... USB(?)... the address ?? care of... 276 ?? greater range... 45... nations... North America... Latin America...". Then at 2209 immediately into an interview with different M but couldn't copy anything other than a mention of occupation, violence, and America. Went to at least 2230 when the audio was lost. Apparent deadair. At 2240, a W announcer was noted. 2242-2245 M announcer and what sounded like a percussion instrument for a time but the audio was distorted. 2246 definitely instrumental music. 2247 W announcer again briefly and more music. 2248 W talking with another W, "Hello ??. OK we're ??. OK we can, um, can you tell us about what's been going on in Cancún today...", followed by the other W talking aboutt the activities in Cancún, obviously!! At 2250 my tape ran out!! Unfortunately, the last 2 minutes were the best. As I mentioned earlier, the signal seems strong enough, but the modulation varies and is mostly very weak. Anyone hear any ID yet?? (Dave Valko, PA, 11 Sept. Cumbredx mailing list via DXLD) UNIDENTIFIED, 15044.96 Sep 11/12, 2324-0004, female announcer in Spanish, talk broken up by short instrumental tunes every few minutes, 2352 mournful vocal ballad followed by male announcer in Spanish until 0004 tune out during another slow ballad. Only a fair signal with deep fades made program content unintelligible. Bits and pieces of sentences were heard. Occasional short bursts of ute QRM. 2356 someone started sending CW morse code on frequency (Mark Mohrmann, Coventry VT, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** MONGOLIA. 4895, Ulanbataar, 2117 8 Sept., in seemingly Kazakh or Turkmen language. Signal S9, 34233 with main QRN from lightning. Talks over classical music background, and China is referred as 'Helky' Violin play at 2130. Also // 4830 with S7-9 same SINPO. Though not sure, I can suppose the previous unID log of 4830 can be from Mongolia Many thanks to BCDX for this log (Zacharias Liangas, Retziki, Greece, ICOM R75 with 16 m horizontal, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** MONGOLIA. Ausstrahlungen des vom US-amerikanischen Kongress finanzierten Radio Free Asia http://www.rfa.org über die Anlagen des Mongolischen Rundfunks. Derzeit laufen diese als offenes Geheimnis anzusprechenden Sendungen wie folgt: 22.00-23.00 (MESZ 00.00) Uhr 7460 kHz Koreanisch 23.00-24.00 (MESZ 01.00) Uhr 7470 kHz Tibetanisch 23.30-00.30 (MESZ 01.30) Uhr 11580 kHz Vietnamesisch 01.00-03.00 (MESZ 03.00) Uhr 17730 kHz Tibetanisch 06.00-07.00 (MESZ 08.00) Uhr 17720 kHz Tibetanisch 11.00-14.00 (MESZ 13.00) Uhr 7470 kHz Tibetanisch 14.00-15.00 (MESZ 16.00) Uhr 7380 kHz Koreanisch 15.00-16.00 (MESZ 17.00) Uhr 7470 kHz Tibetanisch Radio Free Asia sendet über zahlreiche, auch von anderen US- amerikanischen Auslandsdiensten genutzte Sendeanlagen, sowie über weitere Stationen, die jedoch offiziell weder genannt noch bestätigt werden, um die Regierungen dieser Länder aus dem politischen Schussfeld zu halten (Anker Petersen 9.8., B. Trutenau 15.8., Kai Ludwig 18.8.2003, Dr. Hj. Biener, ntt aktuell Sept 7 via DXLD) ** NEW ZEALAND. I visited the unmanned transmitter site at Rangitaiki when I was in New Zealand in 1998. Only sheep and cows were seen around the transmitters, all of which were remotely controlled from Wellington some 350 kilometres to the South! (Anker Petersen, DSWCI DX Window Sept 10 via DXLD) Interestingly, this is not the first time that New Zealand has been heard on relay from Australia on shortwave, though indeed it is the longest time block ever. Back in the pre-War era, there were several notable occasions when New Zealand on SW was picked up in Australia and relayed SW by VK2ME at Pennant Hills near Sydney. However, on each of these occasions, they were special event broadcasts, such as news about a large earthquake, a broadcast by Admiral Byrd after his 2 years in the Antarctic, and the special South Seas Broadcast in 1933. It will be remembered that VK2ME was re-designated as VLQ for the commencement of "Australia Calling" in December 1939. During the WW2 era, relays of news bulletins from New Zealand were broadcast by "Australia Calling" - Radio Australia to New Zealand Forces in North Africa and in Japan. RNZI-via R Australia Shepparton is not heard here; the only station heard at this location on 9580 during the relay time is Africa No 1 in Gabon in English and French (A. M. Peterson, IN, Dxplorer, Sep 08 via DSWCI DX Window Sept 10 via DXLD) Neither in Denmark RNZI is heard via Shepparton, just Africa No. 1 (Anker Petersen, DSWCI DX Window Sept 10 via DXLD) I wish RNZI was a little clearer about their transmitter fault! Possible faults that could be interpolated from RNZI text: 1. One of their curtain arrays fell over. RNZI does not state that the curtain arrays are in good health. It is not clear if the TCI design has resonant dampers as part of the guy wire system -- these dampers are handy in earthquake country. 2. Initial power transformer -- very basic component, and not redundant in any way in the Tompson-Thales design. Possibly a fatal design flaw here. 3. Matching network was fried. (plausible, hard to fix) 4. PDM + PSM network was fried. (plausible, hard to fix) 5. Switch matrix self destructed in some way (not probable, but not impossible). 6. Was the safety protection damaged in any way? Fixing it could take several days in some cases extra if also damaged. Other bits of PR that would be helpful: Are the tubes OK? At 40,000 USD each (or even 20,000 USD) -- it would be nice to know if they were not damaged (`Max Power`, Seattle WA, ripple via DXLD) ** PAKISTAN. 5080.25, R. Pakistan Sep 5 1520-1534 34333 Urdu, Talk. ID at 1529 (Kouji Hashimoto, Yamanashi, JAPAN, Japan Premium via DXLD) 15065, Radio Pakistan. Sept. 4 at 1559-1615*. SINPO 35343. Time pips for 1600, then ID in English was heard. News followed (NAGATANI Iwao, Kobe, JAPAN, Japan Premium via DXLD) ** PAPUA NEW GUINEA. PNG GOVERNMENT TO UPGRADE RADIO STATIONS PORT MORESBY, Papua New Guinea (PNG Post-Courier, Sept. 10) - Provincial governors in Papua New Guinea have given their support for the upgrading of five State owned radio stations and promised that they would be kept on air at all times. National Broadcasting Corporation managing director Dr Kristoffa Ninkama said this yesterday. He also said he had received letters from the five governors who had given their full support to upgrade NBC radio stations in the country. Dr Ninkama said the provincial capitals which would have their radio stations upgraded include Vanimo, Mt Hagen, Goroka, Lae and Kimbe. He was referring to the recent signing of a K24.81 million project to improve the stations. The project was signed between the Japanese Government and the Foreign Affairs and Immigration Minister Sir Rabbie Namaliu came under the Japanese International Co-operation Agency (JICA). Dr Ninkama said the governors would continue to support the project and ensure that the stations would be maintained at all times. The provincial governments would fund the daily operations of the stations. "Because of these tough economic times we have decided to link FM and Karai throughout the provinces," he said. "If the provincial radio stations are off air, the listeners are able to tune in to FM and AM frequencies." Dr Ninkama said although they might miss listening to their programs on their local stations, they would still be able to listen to the national events happening in PNG. Meanwhile, State Enterprises and Information Minister Arthur Somare recently expressed gratitude to the Japanese Government for their support and assistance to upgrade the radio stations. Mr Somare said: "This is seen as a very important effort, especially where the country entirely depend on radio communication as a main medium of communication to disseminate government¹s development information to its people." The PNG Government recognizes the important role played by NBC in broadcasting development policy programs to create public awareness about the work of the government, he said. September 11, 2003 Papua New Guinea Post-Courier: http://www.postcourier.com.pg/ Copyright © 2003 PNG Post-Courier. All Rights Reserved (Via Harry van Vugt, Windsor, Ontario, Canada, from Pacific Islands Report, and via E. Baxendale, UK, DXLD) ** PERU. FUJIMORI TO HOST WEEKLY RADIO SHOW IN LIMA Friday, September 12, 2003 at 16:00 JST http://www.japantoday.com/e/?content=news&cat=9&id=272345 Former Peruvian President Alberto Fujimori, living in self-imposed exile in Japan, will host a weekly talk show on a Lima radio station, his office in Lima was quoted by local media as saying Thursday. Fujimori will challenge criticism against him and deliver critiques on Peruvian politics, the local media reported. The show is scheduled for broadcast every Saturday morning. (Kyodo News, via Japan Today via Kim Elliott, DXLD) Incredibly lacking in detail ** RUSSIA. 5940.08, Radio Rossii, Magadan, 1040. Noted music and Russian comments from a woman. Noted parallel on 7200 relayed from Yakutsk and 9655 from relayed Irkutsk. At 1044 man talks. Signal on 5940 was threshold while 7200 was poor to fair and 9655 was fair (Bolland, Chuck, September 12, 2003, Clewiston Florida, USA, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** SOUTH AFRICA. S AFRICAN AUTHORITIES INVITE APPLICATIONS FOR RADIO'S BROADCASTING LICENSE | Text of report by South African news agency SAPA web site Johannesburg, 10 September: Communications authorities are inviting interested parties to apply for Capital Radio's commercial broadcasting licence, it was reported on Wednesday [10 September]. The licence would be valid for six years from the date of issue, Independent Communications Authority spokesman Jubie Matlou said on Wednesday. The successful applicant will serve the eastern coastline of KwaZulu- Natal and the Eastern Cape, and will have to pay about 6m rand for assets belonging to the commercial station. These include studio equipment and were looked after by the Department of Communications, Matlou said. Capital Radio was one of the few private radio stations in South Africa in the 1970s that competed with SABC [South African Broadcasting Corporation] radio on the eastern coastline of KwaZulu- Natal and the Eastern Cape. The former Transkei homeland government funded the station which shared offices with the defunct Transkei Broadcasting Corporation in Umtata. Capital Radio went off air in the 1990s and was subsequently closed due to problems of funding as a result of the transformation of state-owned broadcasting services. Source: SAPA news agency web site, Johannesburg, in English 1342 gmt 10 Sep 03 (via BBCM via DXLD) ** SWEDEN. Radio Sweden --- At 1330 on September 11th, Radio Sweden suspended its regular programming and devoted its broadcast to the untimely death of Foreign Minister Anna Lindh. She was stabbed by a man in his 30s in military fatigues in an up-scale department store on Wednesday and died early Thursday morning. She was a strong spokesperson urging support for Sweden to join the Euro in an upcoming referendum. It is yet unclear whether this was a political murder or a more random act. Presumably this program format will continue through today, maybe into tomorrow or the weekend. (heard in a local nature preserve on the Grundig FR200, the wind-up radio I will be reviewing very shortly). At 1130 UT on September 12, Radio Sweden continued its special coverage on the murder of Foreign Minister Anna Lindh. An in depth look at lack of body guards for Swedish politicians, just how could this happen, why no suspect was apprehended, etc. Then it focused on the impact of her death on the Referendum on the Euro set for Sunday, September 14, which the government has said will proceed as scheduled. On Saturday, Radio Sweden will have an in depth debate on the Euro Referendum (taped before Anna Lindh's death). On Sunday, special coverage will continue on this important referendum whether Sweden accepts or rejects the Euro. For those seeing this in time, this broadcast is repeated at 1330 UT on 17840, same frequency as 1130 (Roger Chambers, Utica, NY, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** TAHITI [and non]. Note that I have had threshold audio from Tahiti- 738 every morning I've checked this week and today I had some music on 1098 which I presume was Marshall Is. Conditions are very good to the east and west from here, 35 miles NW of Chicago this week ! 73 KAZ (Neil Kazaross, IL, Sept 11, Corazón DX via DXLD) ** THAILAND. Back in February this year I checked in Thailand the frequencies 4830, 6070 and 7115 a few times. Before Thailand was audible on these frequencies with the domestic service(s) with close down at 1600 which enabled reception in Europe during winter. For about a year or so no domestic service is heard on these frequencies any more. Some time ago 4830 carried a English speaking channel entitled "Radio Thailand Network 3" // to a few MW and FM transmitters. This channel didn't exist long and it disappeared on ALL frequencies. In February I noticed: 4830 off the air. 6070 and 7115 relaying R Thailand External Service as follows: 1100 Vietnamese // 7260 UDO (Udon Thani) 1115 Cambodian // 7260 UDO 1130 Laotian // 6030 UDO 1145 Burmese // 6030 UDO I cannot verify the transmission 1200-1215 in Bahasa Malaysia which is also listed on 6070 and 7115 // 11805 UDO, because I didn't tune in at that time. Before and after these times there was no activity on those frequencies. An exception is still the Royal Palace Station on 6149 suffering from Singapore. Their complicated schedule submitted by Alan Davies is still effective (Uwe Volk, Germany, Sep 06, DSWCI DX Window Sept 10 via DXLD) R Thailand has not been reported heard on 4830 since May 2001, on 6070 since Feb 2002 and on 7115 since Aug 2002, according to our Domestic Broadcasting Survey database (Ed. Anker Petersen, DSWCI DX Window Sept 10 via DXLD) ** U K. PIRATES SET SAIL AGAIN TO HERALD A NEW MUSIC REVOLUTION By Ian Burrell, Media and Culture Correspondent, The Independent 11 September 2003 http://enjoyment.independent.co.uk/music/news/story.jsp?story=442224 One hundred feet above the streets of south London, Danny Blaze gazes out from the balcony of an enormous tower block and takes in the view. "Everything you can see, we cover," he says of a panorama that stretches from the Millennium Dome in the east to the smart suburbs of west London. A further 50 feet skywards, a small antenna is broadcasting the music and message of the pirate radio station Flashback FM, 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Flashback is the sound of the underground - the urban music scene that produced the Mercury Music Prize winner Dizzee Rascal and the previous year's victor, Ms Dynamite, who in a year has crossed to the coffee- table classes. In his acceptance speech, Dizzee Rascal, real name Dylan Mills, accused the music industry of trying to ignore the role played by the pirates. "I came from nothing. I came from the underground, the pirate radio scene," he said. "If you don't acknowledge it, it will creep up anyway." Even though pirate radio is are flourishing in Britain the authorities show no signs of tolerating the stations. The boom is coupled with a growing popularity in mainstream radio. More people than ever (43.7 million, or 90 per cent of the population over 15) are listening to legal stations, for an average of 24 hours each a week. The Government's Radiocommunications Agency raided 209 pirate outfits last year, with 181 based in London and others in Birmingham, Leeds and Glasgow. Yet despite official disapproval, stations continue to multiply. They are also resisting the challenge posed by the growth of digital broadcasting. The average transistor radio is now able to receive signals from up to 320 legal radio stations, and a digital receiver can tune in to up to 300 more. But this vast selection of legitimate music, commentary and chat, ranging from the Asian Network to Xfm, is not catering for many people in Britain's towns and cities. In Birmingham and Wolverhampton, Leeds and Sheffield, Bristol, Luton and, most of all, London, pirate stations are pumping out a musical diet that would baffle many radio executives. They play grime, sub- low, 8bar, four to the floor, desi beats, US garage, UK garage, hardcore, hip-hop, house, bashment, drum & bass and trance, to name just a sample of the genres and sub-genres that mark out the urban music scene. Matt Mason, editor of RWD, a magazine that has been set up to cover the world of the pirates and the music they play, said such stations were uniquely British. "It's something that will always go on because it's about freedom of expression," he said. "Urban music has become easier to make than ever and it is more multicultural than in any other Western country." Next year will mark the 40th anniversary of the moment when Radio Caroline, the floating pirate station, first went on air from the North Sea. Caroline launched the careers of some of Britain's best-known radio stars of the Seventies, including Tony Blackburn and Dave Lee Travis. More modern urban-based pirates have given a start in broadcasting to music business luminaries such as Norman Jay MBE and Gilles Peterson, who sat on the Mercury prize judging panel. Today there are pirate stations to represent every neighbourhood in London as well as most of Britain's biggest towns and cities. But the broadcasting authorities claim they are a menace, stealing electricity from lift shafts and other power supplies and interfering with the signals of legitimate broadcasters. Even the pirates admit the dangers of "sprogging", where a signal splits in two, with the danger of an airline pilot touching down at Heathrow to the sound of drum & bass. The number of operations by the Radiocommunications Agency has increased by 81 per cent from 3,488 raids in 1993-1997 to 6,320 in 1998-2002. But still the pirates will not lower their colours. According to Mr Mason, illegal stations such as Rinse FM (which brought Dizzee Rascal and his "grimy" version of garage music to prominence), Flashback FM, Bassline FM and Freeze FM are giving a platform to the booming culture of "MC-ing" (the British equivalent of rapping). "MC-ing is the ultimate easy thing for kids," he said. "You just need to pick up a pen and paper. The UK MC culture is developing faster than ever. Dizzee Rascal and the So Solid Crew have inspired hundreds of kids." Most areas of London have their own "crews", made of MCs and other music makers, desperate to make their mark. Dizzee Rascal is part of east London's Roll Deep Crew. In north London there is the Heartless Crew, and west London has Black Ops. But the infamy surrounding the south London-based So Solid Crew has given the pirate stations a new relevance by driving the once-thriving UK Garage scene, which spawned the likes of Ms Dynamite, Craig David and Artful Dodger. A succession of firearms incidents and criminal trials involving members of the So Solid Crew led to music venues, record companies and legitimate radio stations becoming wary of garage music, leaving a void for the pirates to fill. Pirate radio is not for acrophobics. Several miles across London from the Flashback antenna, the station's studio has been set up near the top of another tower block. Here, in a kitchen three feet square, the station's DJs broadcast for 24 hours a day from a young woman's flat. She is paid £80 a week for the privilege. In spite of the surroundings, Flashback has been operating for eight years and is run like a business (though it claims to make no profits). Later that evening, in the garden of a pub, 40 DJs, engineers and drivers gather for the station's monthly board meeting, convened by Blaze, the station's "studio manager". He said: "If this was a legitimate business it would be a guaranteed success. If it was supported by the Prince's Trust, I would have an award by now." The DJs are asked to pay a sub of £25 a month, which goes to cover the rent of the studio and the £300 cost of replacing each aerial or "rig" seized by the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI). Blaze does everything he can to avoid antagonising officials. During the meeting, he reprimanded one DJ for allowing a caller to talk about drugs on air. Despite Dizzee Rascal's comments, the mainstream music industry is starting to recognise the importance of the pirates. Last week, the giant Emap media group sanctioned its radio station Kiss FM (itself a one-time pirate broadcaster) to stage a competition to allow illegal DJs to compete for the chance to win a three-month contract and go legit. The contest was won by a group of three 18-year-olds called Haunted House who have worked for the pirate station Mystic FM for the past six years. But the Radiocommunications Agency, part of the DTI, was not impressed. In a notice issued shortly before the competition final, the Agency called on Kiss FM to hand over "information that is effectively evidence of [pirate broadcasters] committing a criminal offence". It threatened to raid the station using "legal powers under the Wireless Telegraphy Act 1949". But Mark Story, managing director of Kiss, said he would "resist through the courts" any attempt by officials to seize the "evidence". Mr Story said that he was thinking of giving jobs to seven of the other contestants. "We want to do this every year," he said. "The standard is really good." HIP-HOP HIJACKERS * BASSLINE FM Broadcasts in London. Style: R&B, hip-hop and bashment * FREEZE FM Broadcasts in London. Style: Garage, drum & bass, R&B * RINSE FM Broadcasts in London Style: Grime, sub-low * CHARGE FM Broadcasts in Essex. Style: Drum & bass, garage * FLASHBACK FM Broadcasts in London Style: Urban * GENESIS FM Broadcasts in Leeds. Style: Reggae, hip-hop * PASSION FM Broadcasts in Birmingham. Style: Garage, reggae, drum & bass * HEAT FM Broadcasts in Birmingham. Style: Garage, drum & bass * ACTIVE FM Broadcasts in Glasgow. Style: House * INFINITY FM Broadcasts in Glasgow. Style: House Buccaneers of broadcasting The man who did most to create Britain's pirate radio culture was Ronan O'Rahilly, a maverick young Irishman from a wealthy family. O'Rahilly, below, founded Britain's first floating radio station, Radio Caroline, which burst on to the airwaves at Easter 1964. The station launched the careers of such broadcasters as Johnnie Walker, Tommy Vance, above right, and even the hypnotist Paul McKenna. In December 1964, a consortium of Texan businessmen set up Radio London (later Big L) on the former World War Two mine-sweeper USS Density in competition with Caroline. It was seeking an audience in the South-east of England, with rising stars such as Ed Stewart and Kenny Everett. Then in 1967 the Labour government did for the Big L (which was also the home of Perfumed Garden, the groundbreaking show of John Peel) and most of the other pirates when it introduced legislation, the Marine Broadcasting (Offences) Act. Only Radio Caroline played on in defiance. After broadcasting through the winter from off the coast of the Netherlands, Caroline too temporarily went off air. But angry and dedicated listeners included students who realised how easy it was to build an AM transmitter, and they set up the first land-based pirates, Radio Free London and Radio Free Caroline. Although they were tracked down and fined, other stations emerged, including Radio Jolly Roger, Radio North-West and Radio Pamela. One station, Radio Jackie, even provoked the authorities with the theme tune "Catch us if you can". The arrival of FM radio led to a new pirate boom in the Seventies and Eighties, compounded by the growth in popularity of contemporary dance music. The most successful was the London-based station Kiss, now owned by the media giant Emap, which was granted a legal licence in 1990. 10 September 2003 23:14 © 2003 Independent Digital (UK) Ltd (via Mike Terry, DXLD) ** U S A. Occasional chex of 7490, 13595 indicate that WJIE has been totally off the air this month. Any news about the situation in Upton, such as the supposedly incoming FEBA Seychelles transmitter? (Glenn Hauser, OK, Sept 12, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. New on 1690: This may be the 51st x-bander, instead of a TIS. WBIT-1470 in Adel has held a CP for 1690 since 1997. All I'm hearing is someone with CNN Headline News. That's WPTX in Lexington Park. I hear them almost every night in Memphis with weak to moderately strong signals (Adam Myrow, TN, Sept 8, NRC-AM via DXLD) Adel did just file for a license to cover, but don't expect them around in Adel for long. They have a recently-granted CP to move north from the Valdosta area to a suburb of Atlanta. s (Scott Fybush, NY, ibid.) Looks like I missed that one. I knew about Johnson City IL moving to Chicago but not the Georgia move. Between that and all the FM moves (97.5, 107.9, 105.3, 100.5, now one of the Athens stations is moving too) all I can think is: "What's that wooshing noise? Oh, that's just Atlanta sucking up every radio station in the South!" (Doug Smith, TN, ibid.) Whatever happened to the original intent of the X-band? First, it was intended to ease crowding by closing down in-band stations five years after the X-bander came on-air. Results: in most cases both stations remain on air after the 5-year deadline. Second, the intention never was (at least I don't think) to move small-town services to big-city markets hundreds of miles away. Yet that is what we are seeing, with 1690 Johnston City IL moving to metro Chicago (over 300 miles) and 1690 Adel GA moving to metro Atlanta (over 200 miles). 73 (Bill Dvorak, Madison WI (still bitter about 1480 Madison continuing on the air 5 years 2+ months and counting after 1670 Madison came on), ibid.) The same as what usually happens, The alleged regulatory agency has its funding cut, and as a result beomces much cozier with the interests it is intended to regulate, and ultimately becomes more of a surrogate for the industry than anything else, hence it caves in regularly to any pressure from that industry (Russ Edmunds, Blue Bell, PA ( 15 mi NNW Philadelphia ), ibid.) M Street Journal is reporting WSWK-1690, Avondale Estates, GA is on with what it calls Surveillance/ Weather/Traffic and a slogan as "Wild Adventures Radio". Can any Atlanta-area DXers confirm this?? (BILL Hale, TX, ibid.) There's a "Wild Adventures" Theme Park in the vicinity of Valdosta, Georgia. I wonder if there's some connection. I'll take a look-see around the dial. (Look-hear?) (Ron Gitschier, Jacksonville (w), Palm Coast (h), FL, ibid.) And just to clarify --- while WSWK is apparently on, it is on from ADEL, near Valdosta, not from AVONDALE ESTATES, which is a suburb on the east side of Atlanta. The Avondale Estates CP has been granted (it'll use one tower of the 1420 site) but has not yet been activated. s (Scott Fybush, ibid.) I was through that area recently twice and not a peep was heard. (Powell E. Way, III, ibid.) What I heard and got recorded was "this is Wild Adventures Radio WDEQ, Adel." Later, they said "stay tuned to 92.1." So, my guess is that WDEQ is the FM call and they don't bother to acknowledge the AM station which is reaching Memphis quite well (Adam Myrow, ibid.) Oh, this one is already a pest here. Has to be from Valdosta, nothing but "Wild Adventures Radio" and promos for the park. LOUD here on 1690. Haven't yet caught a legal ID. The park, of course, is off of "exit 13, Valdosta." They tell us that about every 45 seconds. This one is inland and further from me than Biloxi on 1640, but that station doesn't begin to put this kind of S7+ signal into here (Gerry Bishop, Niceville, FL, (Suddenly waaaay to close to Valdosta, GA), ibid.) WSWK-1690 Adel, GA on with "Wild Adventures Park" info. Continuous promos, "Wild Adventures Radio" non-ID's, weather. Similar to the old WTIR-1660 format except just pimping this one park. Mention 92.1 FM during promos. ID at top of hour as "WDEQ 92.1 FM and WSWK 1690 AM, Adel, Georgia". Not Lexington Park as previously surmised (Greg Myers, Largo, FL, Sept 9, ibid.) No, Lexington Park gives CNN news most of the time with occasional local news. I personally think that WSWK/WDEQ has no business on the air with anything more than 1 or 2 watts if all they do is run continuous commercials for Wild Adventures park (Adam Myrow, ibid.) The correct calls for the FM is WDDQ not WDEQ (GM, Largo, FL, ibid.) Thanks. When they fire those call letters off like that, it's easy to misunderstand them even with a strong signal (Myrow, ibid.) I caught an ID on 1690 at 2016 EDT 9/9/03 "Keep you radio tuned to 92.1 Wild Adventures Radio". No AM ID heard. Endless promos of Wild Adventures Park at Exit 13 on I-75, Valdosta, GA. Near local strength with male and female voices underneath. Heard on a 350' N/S BOG [Beverage on ground]. Switching to my 350' NE/SW BOG produced male female announcers with news analysis over the top of WSWK. ID at 2027 9/9/03 EDT "Southern Maryland's most complete news updates, News Radio 16-90 WPTX" into news from St. Mary's county. I'm also hearing very weak audio on 1710 with both BOGs. Is the Lubavitch pirate still operating or this another clandestine station? I can't quite make out any information but it appears to be an English speaking male. The receiver used is a Collins 51J3 with an MWDX5 phasing controller (Rick Robinson, kf4ar, Hendersonville, NC, ibid.) What is causing the strange pulsing signal - occurring about 1 per second on 1680 slopping over to 1690? Sounds like an unstable transmitter. Back in my Navy days in the 1960's we had a shipboard transmitter called at WRT2 which could put out a KW with CW and sideband and about 750 W AM. If not tuned up correctly it would pulsate and sound just about what I am hearing tonight. Looping SW/NW from here (Tom Jasinski, Shorewood, IL, ibid.) I think the CP on 1690 was running out, so they are probably putting it on to keep the license from being deleted. They are requesting a city of license change to one of the Atlanta suburbs, and will likely be sold as soon as that occurs. The original facility WBIT 1470 has been off the air for a while (Neil Griffin, Bainbridge, GA (about 75 miles from Adel), NRC-AM via DXLD) ** U S A. NAL for WGSR / RJM communications Before the Federal Communications Commission Washington, D.C. 20554 In the Matter of ) File Number EB-02-TP-436 ) RJM Communications, Inc. ) NAL/Acct. No.200332700026 Licensee of WGSR(AM) in ) FRN 0008028938 Fernandina Beach, Florida )Kalamazoo, Michigan ) NOTICE OF APPARENT LIABILITY FOR FORFEITURE Released: July 15, 2003 By the Enforcement Bureau, Tampa Office: I. INTRODUCTION 1. In this Notice of Apparent Liability for Forfeiture (``NAL''), we find RJM Communications, Inc. (``RJM''), licensee of radio station WGSR, Fernandina Beach, Florida, apparently liable for a forfeiture in the amount of twenty-one thousand dollars ($21,000) for willful and repeated violation of Sections 73.1125 and 73.1745(a) of the Commission's Rules (``Rules'') and willful violation of Section 73.3526(c)(1) of the Rules.1 Specifically, we find RJM Communications, Inc. apparently liable for failure to maintain a presence at its main studio, exceeding authorized nighttime operating power, and failure to make available a public inspection file during regular business hours. II. BACKGROUND 2. RJM is the licensee of AM broadcast station WGSR in Fernandina Beach, Florida. WGSR's station license authorizes daytime power of 10 kW and nighttime power of 30 watts. 3. On August 16, 2002, the FCC Enforcement Bureau's Tampa Field Office (``Tampa Office'') received a complaint alleging that WGSR failed to reduce transmitter power at the required times as specified in the station authorization. 4. On September 10, 2002, two agents from the Tampa Office monitored WGSR's signal. Field strength measurements revealed that WGSR did not reduce power at sunset as required by the station authorization. WGSR remained at daytime power until at least 10:00 p.m. Local sunset is 7:30 p.m. in September. 5. On September 11, 2002, the agents again monitored WGSR's signal. Field strength measurements revealed that WGSR did not reduce power at sunset as required by the station authorization. WGSR remained at daytime power until at least 9:03 p.m. 6. On September 12, 2002, the agents inspected radio station WGSR during regular business hours. The agents met with Mr. Joe Fisher, the only person present at WGSR, who assisted the agents during the inspection. Mr. Fisher told the agents that he was employed by Anscombe Broadcasting Group, LTD (``ABG''). ABG has held a local marketing agreement (``LMA'') with RJM since August 1, 2002. Mr. Fisher stated that RJM had no employee at the WGSR studio since August 7, 2002, at which time Mr. Fisher had fired the licensee's only employee. Mr. Fisher stated that he operated the station's transmitter manually and that he was not present at the transmitter site on the evenings of September 10 and 11, 2002, to make the transmitter power adjustments. The agents found the station's transmitter operating at or about the authorized daytime power level. The agents again measured WGSR's field strength during daytime hours and found the signal strength identical to the previous two nights' measurements, thus verifying that the field strength measurements made during nighttime hours on the previous two nights corresponded to the station's daytime power level. Upon the agents' request to see the station's public inspection file, Mr. Fisher was unable to provide any contents of the file. III. DISCUSSION 7. Section 73.1125 requires the licensee of a broadcast station to maintain a main studio at one of the following locations: (1) within the station's community of license; (2) at any location within the principal community contour of any AM, FM or TV broadcast station licensed to the station's community of license; or (3) within twenty five miles from the reference coordinates of the center of its community of license. In adopting the main studio rules, the Commission stated that the station's main studio must have the capability to serve the needs and interests of the residents of the station's community of license.2 To fulfill this function, a station, among other things, must maintain a meaningful presence at its main studio.3 The Commission has defined a minimally acceptable ``meaningful presence'' as full-time managerial and full-time staff personnel.4 The licensee need not have the same staff person and manager at the studio, as long as there was management and staff presence there during normal business hours.5 Although management personnel need not be ``chained to their desks'' during normal business hours, they must ``report at the main studio on a daily basis, spend a substantial amount of time there and ... use the studio as a home base.''6 From August 7, 2002, until at least September 12, 2002, RJM failed to maintain managerial or staff presence at its main studio. WGSR's main studio was staffed with an employee of another company with which RJM had an LMA to provide programming on WGSR. 8. Section 73.1745(a) states that no broadcast station shall operate at times, or with modes or power, other than those specified and made part of the license. On September 10 and 11, 2002, station WGSR operated with daytime power during nighttime hours. 9. Section 73.3526(a)(2) of the Rules7 requires that every permittee or licensee of an AM, FM. TV or Class A TV station in the commercial broadcast services shall maintain a public inspection file containing the material, relating to that station, described in paragraphs (e)(1) through (e)(10) and paragraph (e)(13) of this section. Section 73.3526(b) of the Rules8 requires the public inspection file be maintained at the station's main studio. Section 73.3526(c)(1) of the Rules requires the file be available for public inspection at any time during regular business hours. On September 12, 2002, no public inspection file material was available for inspection during regular business hours at the WGSR main studio. 10. Based on the evidence before us, we find RJM willfully9 and repeatedly10 violated Sections 73.1125 and 73.1745(a) of the Rules, and willfully violated Section 73.3526(c)(1) of the Rules by failing to maintain a presence at its main studio, exceeding authorized nighttime operating power, and failing to make available the public inspection file during regular business hours. 11. Pursuant to Section 1.80(b)(4) of the Rules,11 the base forfeiture amount for failure to maintain a public inspection file is $10,000, for exceeding authorized operating power is $4,000 and for violation of main studio rule is $7,000. In assessing the monetary forfeiture amount, we must also take into account the statutory factors set forth in Section 503(b)(2)(D) of the Communications Act of 1934, as amended (``Act''), which include the nature, circumstances, extent, and gravity of the violation, and with respect to the violator, the degree of culpability, any history of prior offenses, ability to pay, and other such matters as justice may require.12 Considering the entire record and applying the factors listed above, this case warrants a $21,000 forfeiture. IV. ORDERING CLAUSES 12. Accordingly, IT IS ORDERED THAT, pursuant to Section 503(b) of the Act,13 and Sections 0.111, 0.311 and 1.80 of the Rules,14 RJM Communications, Inc. is hereby NOTIFIED of this APPARENT LIABILITY FOR A FORFEITURE in the amount of twenty-one thousand dollars ($21,000) for willful and repeated violation of Sections 73.1125 and 73.1745(a) of the Rules, and willful violation of Section 73.3526(c)(1) of the Rules for failing to maintain a presence at its main studio, exceeding authorized nighttime operating power, and failing to make available the public inspection file during regular business hours. 13. IT IS FURTHER ORDERED THAT, pursuant to Section 1.80 of the Rules, within thirty days of the release date of this NAL, RJM Communications, Inc. SHALL PAY the full amount of the proposed forfeiture or SHALL FILE a written statement seeking reduction or cancellation of the proposed forfeiture. 14. Payment of the forfeiture may be made by mailing a check or similar instrument, payable to the order of the Federal Communications Commission, to the Forfeiture Collection Section, Finance Branch, Federal Communications Commission, P.O. Box 73482, Chicago, Illinois 60673-7482. The payment should note the NAL/Acct. No. and FRN referenced above. Requests for payment of the full amount of this NAL under an installment plan should be sent to: Chief, Revenue and Receivables Operations Group, 445 12th Street, S.W., Washington, D.C. 20554.15 15. The response, if any, must be mailed to Federal Communications Commission, Office of the Secretary, 445 12th Street SW, Washington DC 20554, Attn: Enforcement Bureau- Technical & Public Safety Division and MUST INCLUDE THE NAL/Acct. No. referenced above. 16. The Commission will not consider reducing or canceling a forfeiture in response to a claim of inability to pay unless the petitioner submits: (1) federal tax returns for the most recent three-year period; (2) financial statements prepared according to generally accepted accounting practices (``GAAP''); or (3) some other reliable and objective documentation that accurately reflects the petitioner's current financial status. Any claim of inability to pay must specifically identify the basis for the claim by reference to the financial documentation submitted. 17. Under the Small Business Paperwork Relief Act of 2002, Pub L. No. 107-198, 116 Stat. 729 (June 28, 2002), the FCC is engaged in a two-year tracking process regarding the size of entities involved in forfeitures. If you qualify as a small entity and if you wish to be treated as a small entity for tracking purposes, please so certify to us within thirty (30) days of this NAL, either in your response to the NAL or in a separate filing to be sent to the Technical & Public Safety Division. Your certification should indicate whether you, including your parent entity and its subsidiaries, meet one of the definitions set forth in the list provided by the FCC's Office of Communications Business Opportunities (OCBO) set forth in Attachment A of this Notice of Apparent Liability. This information will be used for tracking purposes only. Your response or failure to respond to this question will have no effect on your rights and responsibilities pursuant to Section 503(b) of the Communications Act. If you have questions regarding any of the information contained in Attachment A, please contact OCBO at (202) 418-0990. 18. IT IS FURTHER ORDERED THAT a copy of this NAL shall be sent by regular mail and Certified Mail Return Receipt Requested to RJM Communications, Inc., 1218 S. Park Street, Kalamazoo, MI 49001. FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION Ralph M. Barlow Tampa Office, Enforcement Bureau (via Powell E. Way III, NRC-AM via DXLD) ** U S A. FCC AGENTS SHUT DOWN 'FREE RADIO BURLINGTON' Two FCC agents, accompanied by two Burlington, VT police officers, yesterday raided Free Radio Burlington and shut down the unlicensed station. The Brattleboro Reformer reports the move came as the FCC offers its final ultimatum to unlicensed broadcaster Radio Free Brattleboro to leave the air or face the consequences. The Burlington station had been broadcasting for two years with a 10-watt signal at 87.9 MHz from a residence in Vermont's largest city, providing local news and syndicated news programs. FRB DJ Patrick Johnson, one of 30 air talents who worked at the station, told the Reformer that the exchange between the FCC agents and station operators was civil, but the agents warned that if the station returned to the air, the agents would be back with U.S. marshals. The Burlington pirate station, unlike the unlicensed Brattleboro station, had never given rise to interference complaints from licensed FMs in the area. Larry Hildes, a civil rights attorney with the Center for Democratic Communications, told Brattleboro Reformer that the FCC "is not being responsible to radio listeners and members of the community. The FCC is acting only in the interests of giants such as Clear Channel." (Alan Freed, Beat Radio, Minneapolis, DX LISTENING DIGEST) http://www.beatworld.com http://www.infoshop.org/inews/stories.php?story=03/09/11/7014155 ** U S A. WDAF 610 Kansas City: Another long-time full service news/sports/music station on AM (in a major city) has flipped format. 610 WDAF Kansas City switched to all-sports at 2PM yesterday. This had been rumored for quite some time and the end was near when about a month ago, the WDAF calls and format(although somewhat modified) went to Entercom co-owned 106.5 KCIY Liberty MO. There was roughly a 30 day simulcast period until the new lineup and programming was put in place. A new set of calls have been applied for but have not yet been granted: KCSP. At least the format wasn't junked altogether but this is almost as revolting as the 710/810 swap in '97! (Mark Erdman, Herington/Salina KS, Sept 11, NRC-AM via DXLD) And another 81-year old call bites the dust, from the Warren G. Harding administration, when almost all stations broadcast on any frequency they wanted as long as it was 360 meters/833 kHz. No, it's not a 3-letter call, but WDAF has been around since at least June 1922 (listed at http://members.aol.com/jeff560/1922am.html) 73 (Mike Brooker, Toronto, ON, ibid.) ** WESTERN SAHARA. 7460.0, National R. of the Saharan Arab Democratic Republic, 2010-0003*, Sep 03 and 06, very weak in Vernacular (maybe Arabic) at 2010 and unusable until R Free Asia in Korean signed off 2300*, then Spanish talk, political speech and pop songs; closed with martial music, 25232 (Anker Petersen, Denmark, DSWCI DX Window Sept 10 via DXLD) 7460, WESTERN SAHARA, R. Nacional, RASD, (presumed), 2027-2103, 09/09, AR, OM with talks, brief HOA style music at 2028, followed by talk between two OM, music again at 2052, then different music between OM talks with rapid-fire delivery until acoustic music at 2102, YL with music at 2103. Weak but audible with a few peaks, constant hiss and static (Scott Barbour, NH, Cumbre DX via DXLD) UNIDENTIFIED. 1503: CA, Los Angeles???? TIS type station with Middle Eastern music behind woman`s voice, message "....on sale for Los Angeles, Pomona, and Orange County. Call 1-800-678-6440 or online at ????.com at 0945 EDT 9/11. I called the number and got the college financial aid office, I think in Ojai. Is anyone else hearing this? A pirate or someone off frequency from 1500? Strange (Drake R8, EWE antenna, Patrick Martin, Seaside OR, IRCA via DXLD) 1503 is a Trans-Pacific frequency. Doesn`t the NZ or Aussie sometimes relay an American sports network?? Was it exactly 1503.00, so unlikely a drift or spur? (gh, DXLD) UNIDENTIFIED. 2140.00, (presumed LA harmonic 2 x 1070) Sep 10, 0817- 0901, Spanish talk, pop vocals, light piano instrumentals, short guitar pieces (sounding Cuban perhaps?). Very weak signal with occasional fair peaks (Mark Mohrmann, Coventry VT, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ PUBLICATIONS ++++++++++++ EiBi BY FREQUENCY Dear friends, all international shortwave transmissions listed on one website - NOW ALSO IN FREQUENCY ORDER!! After receiving several questions, whether my shortwave broadcasting list is available in frequency order, I could not longer withstand and today wrote a program to re-order the time-sorted file frequency-wise. Now identifying unIDs is even easier! You can find the new schedule, as well as the old one, on my website which is reached via http://www.eibi.de.vu/ (preferably use this URL in your bookmarks!!!! --- as it is more unlikely to change than the direct server address at university) or if you do prefer direct links, http://139.18.51.71/~pge98crf/freq-a03.txt for the new frequency-wise list and http://139.18.51.71/~pge98crf/bc-a03.txt for the time-sorted list (as before). For your information, there is also an FM digest for Germany on my website, in case you should be interested. I hope you'll continue to enjoy the hobby! 73, -- (Eike Bierwirth, 04317 Leipzig, DL, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Find the current overall shortwave schedule on http://www.eibi.de.vu/ DRM +++ DRM AT IBC: CONSUMER RECEIVERS, LIVE BROADCASTS, SESSIONS Contact: Siriol Evans, DRM, pressoffice@drm.org Digital Radio Mondiale (DRM) Strides Forward at IBC 2003: New Consumer Receivers, Live Broadcasts and Conference Sessions Amsterdam - Digital Radio Mondiale (DRM) will showcase its newly launched live broadcasts on several receivers, including a second- generation consumer radio available for purchase later this year, at its booth (8.480) at IBC 2003, September 12-16. DRM will also display a preview model of a USB receiver for business travellers. These receivers are the latest in a series of major DRM developments unveiled in the 2 months that have passed since the digital radio system’s international debut during the World Radiocommunications Conference (WRC 03) in June. On June 16th, 16 leading broadcasters made radio history by sending the world’s first DRM broadcasts across the globe. Since then: The number of broadcasters sending live, daily DRM broadcasts or periodic specials has risen to 26. The Chinese government has confirmed that it is currently testing the DRM system for its future use. DRM and the World DAB Forum have announced their cooperation, paving the way for DRM- and DAB-capable receivers in the future. Sony has committed to help expand the markets for digital radio in Europe, pledging its active support in the commercial sectors of both DRM and the World DAB Forum. DRM Chairman Peter Senger will discuss DRM’s future plans in the IBC Conference session Being Heard: DAB, DRM and Satellite Distribution on Monday, September 15th, 14:00 - 15:30 in Room A. Also, Simon Gosby of the BBC World Service will outline DRM implementation in a Sunday, September 14th presentation called Digital Radio: The Future Starts Now: Broadcasting Considerations for a Successful Implementation, 14:00 - 17:00, Room A. DRM is the world’s only non-proprietary, universally standardized, digital system for short-wave, medium-wave/AM and long-wave that can use existing frequencies and bandwidth across the globe. With clear, near-FM quality sound and excellent reception that offers a dramatic improvement over analogue, DRM will revitalize radio in markets worldwide. Various DRM receivers are expected to be available in shops in late 2004. The following have already begun live, daily DRM programs or periodic specials: 531 Digital (Medienanstalt Sachsen Anhalt); ADDX Media Magazine; BBC World Service; bit eXpress campus radio (LIKE, University Erlangen-Nürnberg); China Radio International; Christian Vision; Deutsche Welle; DeutschlandRadio; Georg-Simon-Ohm- Fachhochschule, Nürnberg; Kuwait Radio; My Personal Radio, Berlin; Radio Canada International; Radio France; Radio France Internationale; Radio Free Asia; Radio Netherlands; Radio Sawa; Radio Vaticana; RTL; Swedish Radio International; SWR Suedwestrundfunk Das Ding; TDF Radio; T-Systems Media & Broadcast Stations Juelich and Wertachtal; Voice of America; Voice of Russia and Wales Radio International. DRM’s technical highlights at IBC 2003 will include: BBC R&D (10.411) will display a newly updated version of its professional DRM monitoring receiver, which now includes full diversity reception. It will receive signals transmitted by VT Merlin from Rampisham, England on two short-wave frequencies in parallel, demonstrating how using multiple frequencies can improve short-wave coverage. The two transmissions, which form a synchronised multiple- frequency network, are generated using two prototype BBC modulators. The modulators are fed with a Multiplex Distribution Interface stream (MDI) via satellite from Bush House in London, and synchronised using GPS. Coding Technologies (CT) will present a preview model of its new, USB receiver, which is expected to be ready for distribution in 2004. The small device, connected via USB port to a laptop with the right software, makes for a portable, complete DRM receiver ideal for business travellers. The USB receiver also includes an analog receiver for SW, MW, LW and FM. The product is a development of CT, AFG and Fraunhofer IIS. CT will also display the first, second-generation DRM consumer radio, the DRM Receiver 2010. A joint development by CT, BBC R&D, Mayah and AFG, the DRM Receiver 2010 is smaller and less expensive than the first-generation models. As the first mass-produced DRM receiver, it will be ready for distribution in late 2003. Fraunhofer IIS will present the DRM Fraunhofer Prototype Receiver, the NewsBox DRM Radio. It is a novel DRM receiver prototype designed to fit in a 19" hi-fi tuner rack, developed in the BMBF project, RadioMondo. It plays DRM audio and text, and permits navigation within the new data application NewsService Journaline, conveying categorised news in text form. Fraunhofer will also showcase the professional receiver, Fraunhofer Software Radio and the DRM Software Radio. The DRM Software Radio Project, managed by VT Merlin Communications, is at http://www.drmrx.org Harris Corporation, Broadcast Communications Division (8.291), will demonstrate a DAX 5/6 kW transmitter broadcasting live DRM signals. With its new DAX line, Harris Corporation, Broadcast Communications Division, offers 1 through 200 kW MW transmitters that deliver superb analog performance and can be upgraded quickly, easily and cost effectively. Designed from the ground up to be field- upgradeable for digital audio broadcasting, DAX provides exceptional linearity and bandwidth. These qualities not only help to ensure the most accurate reproduction of the digital signal, but also the cleanest analog sound in its power range. DAX features include: Harris’ patented Digital Adaptive Modulation technology; Digital Adaptive Modulation constantly monitors the transmitter load and dynamically corrects for distortion caused by less-than-ideal antenna loads; redundant and ``hot-swappable`` RF modules for enhanced reliability and serviceability; a wideband design for straightforward frequency changes in the field; an intelligent user interface and optional remote metering, control and diagnostics; and comprehensive fault monitoring and automatic recovery to keep the radio service on air. RIZ Transmitters (5.329) will have live demonstrations of the brand new, RIZ DRM Compact Solution. The demonstration will incorporate the RIZ DRM Exciter and the RIZ 1kW SW Linear Amplifier, which will transmit digital signals to a DRM receiver. The RIZ DRM Exciter complies with ETSI’s DRM system specification. It is ready for use with new, digital-ready transmitters as well as analog AM transmitters, of any producer, enabling them to broadcast digital signals. It is capable of remote, automatic service and channel reconfiguration, as well as UEP (Unequal Error Protection), Hierarchical Modulation and Double Bandwidth (18/20 kHz) support. TELEFUNKEN SenderSysteme Berlin (4.141) will present the second generation of its DRM Modulator, which processes the digital signal for digital transmissions. The DRM DMOD 2, with many new features, was developed in collaboration with T-Systems Media & Broadcast and Fraunhofer IIS. Fitted with a GPS receiver as standard (GPS, Global Positioning System), it allows for acute frequency precision as well as usage with SFN systems (SFN, Single Frequency Networks) in general. With the integrated synthesizer, usage in the frequency range of 9 kHz to 30 MHz is possible, thus it is suitable for all commercial and public radio programs broadcasting under 30 MHz. It offers the possibility to transmit both analogue and DRM signals at the same time. This SCS process (SCS, Single Channel Simulcast) was developed by Sony and transmits all signals in one channel (9 kHz or 10 kHz). An optional audio encoder handles the direct processing of audio signals that can be passed on in analogue or AES/EBU digital format. TELEFUNKEN will provide technical equipment for several live DRM demonstrations at IBC. This includes regular DRM transmissions with T-Systems Media & Broadcast and Deutsche Welle on short-wave from T-Systems’ stations in Juelich and Wertachtal, Germany. It also includes Single Channel Simulcast test transmissions on long-wave from the T-Systems site in Zehlendorf, Germany on 177kHz with a TRAM line transmitter TRAM/P500 L and Modulator DRM DMOD 2. Thales Broadcast & Multimedia (8.171) will showcase live DRM demonstrations at its booth with its Digital Starter Kit (TMW 2010D) for medium-wave broadcasters. The kit, which was successfully used in live transmissions for DRM’s June debut, is based on the latest generation 10 kW medium-wave transmitter of the M2W family with a digital encoder/modulator fully integrated in the transmitter. About DRM The DRM system was developed, tested and standardized in a mere five years by the DRM Consortium. Founded in Guangzhou, China in 1998 and headquartered in Geneva, the consortium has expanded into a group of 83 broadcasters, network operators, equipment manufacturers, broadcasting unions, regulatory bodies and NGOs representing 29 countries. As well as clear, near-FM quality sound and excellent reception, DRM offers broadcasters other advantages. DRM’s universal standardization means that it is applicable worldwide. DRM can integrate audio with data and text, so additional content can be displayed on DRM-capable receivers to enhance the listening experience. DRM applications include fixed and portable receivers, car radios and PC-based receivers. And many existing transmitters can be easily modified to carry DRM signals as well as analogue. DRM audio samples are available online at http://www.drm.org (English) and the DRM Koordinations - Komitee Deutschland web site (German) at http://www.drm-national.de DRM Members Commercial Radio Australia (Australia); Nautel Ltd., Radio Canada International/CBC (Canada); Academy of Broadcasting Science of China (China); RIZ Transmitters (Croatia); HFCC (Czech Republic); ESPOL, HCJB World Radio (Ecuador); Digita Oy, Kymenlaakso Polytechnic (Finland); CCETT, Radio France, Radio France Internationale, TDF, Thales Broadcast & Multimedia (France); ADDX, APR, Atmel Germany GmbH, Coding Technologies GmbH, Deutsche Welle, DeutschlandRadio, DLM, Sender Europa 1, Fraunhofer IIS, Georg-Simon-Ohm - University of Applied Sciences Nuremberg, IZT, IRT, Medienanstalt Sachsen- Anhalt/Digitaler Rundfunk Sachsen-Anhalt, Micronas GmbH, Robert Bosch GmbH, Sony International Europe, SWR Südwestrundfunk, TELEFUNKEN SenderSysteme Berlin AG, T-Systems International GmbH, University of Applied Sciences - FH Merseburg, University of Hannover, University of Ulm, VPRT (Germany); Antenna Hungaria, Communications Authority Hungary (Hungary); Basamad College, Tehran (Iran); Hitachi Kokusai Electric Ltd., JVC Victor Company of Japan, Ltd., NHK (Japan); Libyan Jamahiriya Broadcasting (Libya); Broadcasting Centre Europe (Luxembourg); Asia Pacific Broadcasting Union (Malaysia); Agentschap Telecom, Nozema, Radio Netherlands, Technical University Delft (Netherlands); Radio New Zealand International (New Zealand); Voice of Nigeria (Nigeria); Telenor/Norkring (Norway); Radiodifusão Portuguesa (Portugal); RTRN/The Voice of Russia (Russia); Arab States Gulf Cooperation Council (Saudi Arabia); Government of Catalonia, Universidad del Pais Vasco, (Spain); Swedish Radio International (Sweden); EBU, International Committee of the Red Cross, ITU (Switzerland); Arab States Broadcasting Union (Tunisia); BBC, Christian Vision, QinetiQ, RadioScape Ltd., Roke Manor Research Ltd., VT Merlin Communications, WRN (U.K.); Broadcast Electronics, Inc., Dolby Laboratories Incorporated, Dolby Laboratories Licensing Corporation, Harris Corporation, Broadcast Communications Division, IBB/VOA, IDT Continental Electronics, Kintronic Laboratories, Inc., National Association of Short-wave Broadcasters, Sangean America, Inc.,TCI, a Dielectric Company, Via Licensing Corporation (U.S.A.); and Radio Vaticana (Vatican City). Siriol Jane Evans, Director, Press & Communications pressoffice@drm.org Digital Radio Mondiale http://www.drm.org phone +44 1481 268 246 cellphone +44 7781 127019 (DRM via DXLD) Sony commits to support of DRM: http://www.radioworld.com/dailynews/one.php?id=3875 (via Harry L. Helms W7HLH, Las Vegas, NV DM26, NRC-AM via DXLD) CONVENTIONS & CONFERENCES +++++++++++++++++++++++++ DX EVENT NEAR TORONTO / ALSO SOME SHAMELESS SELF-PROMOTION At the Ontario DX Association's RadioFest get-together the weekend of Sept. 19-21 in the Toronto suburb of Oakville, I will be presenting a look at AM-FM-TV DXing, looking at everything from basics how-to's, to fixed-location and mobile DXing, to antennae and receivers, etc... There's always lots of interesting people, displays, camaraderie, etc... at ODXA RadioFest. Also, a raffle with prizes that include a Sangean ATS909 with FM RDS station readout. This is indeed -- as AM- 740 QSL Manager Brian Smith claims I once said -- "a bitchin' radio." And, food. Yes, food! Nothing like a good meal or two with fellow hobbyists. This year's cuisine has the official stamp of approval from Food Unites Gourmet DXers Everywhere. FUDGE is the DX organization where the barbeque is as sacred as the longwire, and where both kinds of beverage rule. For official information on RadioFest, which also has a strong shortwave and ham radio base, visit to the ODXA web site at http://www.odxa.on.ca/radiofest.html (Saul Chernos, NRC-AM via DXLD) PROPAGATION +++++++++++ PROPAGATION NEWS Solar data for the period from the 1st to the 7th of September, Compiled by Neil Clarke, G0CAS http://www.g0cas.demon.co.uk/main.htm Solar activity was very low except for the 4th and the 7th which was low. The largest solar flare of the period was a C5/SF on the 7th. This event appeared to have triggered a large 19 filament eruption and a coronal mass ejection. Solar flux levels varied between 105 and 112 units, averaging 108. The 90-day solar flux average on the 7th was 125, two units less than last week. X-ray flux levels averaged B2.6 units and varied little. Geomagnetic activity was `unsettled` throughout, the most disturbed day being the 4th with an Ap index of 19 units, with an average of Ap 14 units. The ACE spacecraft showed solar wind speeds increasing from 370 kilometres per second on the 1st to 700 on the 6th. Particle densities varied between 1 and 7 per cubic centimetre but, on the 1st, increased briefly to 22 per cubic centimetre. Bz fluctuated between minus 10 and plus 14 nanoTeslas on the 1st but, later in the period, varied only between minus 2 and plus 3 nanoTeslas. HF propagation was well up to predicted levels. Although the higher HF bands were largely unexciting, reflecting the declining cycle and seasonal factors, even 28 MHz produced some good signals from the VK9XAB expedition in the late morning, and there were strong long- path openings from Australia at breakfast time on several days. VHF aurora was scarce but there were occasional late-season sporadic-E openings to continental Europe on 50 MHz. And finally the solar forecast. This week, the quieter side of the Sun is expected to be facing us, and solar activity is expected to be mostly low. Solar flux levels should be around the 100 mark. Geomagnetic activity should increase around midweek due to a recurring coronal hole. MUFs during daylight hours at equal latitudes should be around 22 MHz for the south and 19 MHz for the north. The darkness-hour lows should be about 10 MHz. Paths this week to India should have a maximum usable frequency of about 25 MHz, with a 50 per cent success rate. The optimum working frequency should be around 18 MHz, with a 90 per cent success rate. The best time to try this path should be between 0800 and 1200 UTC. The RSGB propagation news is also available in a Saturday update, posted every Saturday evening and for more on propagation generally, see http://www.rsgb.org/society/psc.htm (GB2RS Main News script for September 14, posted September 10 on uk.radio.amateur by g4rga via John Norfolk, DXLD) CUMBRE PROPAGATION REPORT Another week with no solar flares to report. Solar windspeed picked up as forecast on Sep 8, but the effects on the geomagnetic field were not as pronounced as they could have been due to the northward bias of the wind. The field reached unsettled to active levels around Sep 9 and 10 but MUFs were mostly unaffected though depressed by 15% at some scattered locations. Conditions are expected to be normal for the next week or so with some change of only fair conditions on Sep 14/15. Prepared using data from http://www.ips.gov.au (Richard Jary, SA, Sept 12, Cumbredx mailing list via DXLD) ### |||||||||||| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||| DX LISTENING DIGEST 3-162, September 10, 2003 edited by Glenn Hauser 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 later at http://www.worldofradio.com/dxldtd3i.html For restrixions and searchable 2003 contents archive see http://www.worldofradio.com/dxldmid.html NOTE: If you are a regular reader of DXLD, and a source of DX news but have not been sending it directly to us, please consider yourself obligated to do so. Thanks, Glenn NEXT AIRING OF WORLD OF RADIO 1198: WINB: Thu 0130 9320 WRN ONDEMAND: http://new.wrn.org/listeners/stations/station.php?StationID=24 OUR ONDEMAND AUDIO [also for CONTINENT OF MEDIA, MUNDO RADIAL]: Check http://www.worldofradio.com/audiomid.html [High] (Download) http://www.k4cc.net/wor1198h.rm (Stream) http://www.k4cc.net/wor1198h.ram (Summary) http://www.worldofradio.com/wor1198.html [Low] (Download) http://www.k4cc.net/wor1198.rm (Stream) http://www.k4cc.net/wor1198.ram FIRST AIRINGS OF WORLD OF RADIO EXTRA 44: Wed 2200 on WBCQ 7415, 17495-CUSB Thu 2030 on WWCR 15825 Note: availability probably will be delayed via worldofradio.com but available via WRN from Fri at the above link Summary: http://www.worldofradio.com/worx44.html IMPORTANT NOTE: This is an abbreviated issue, due to computer problems. It may be a while before we are back up and running with another issue. Our main website http://www.worldofradio.com may not be updated for a while. Our other site http://www.angelfire.com/ok/worldofradio will provide new info and links via the Anomaly Alert at the top of the opening page. Angelfire often disrupts access when there are too many hits; if this happen, try again later, and save what you want rather than multiplying traffic. UNSOLICITED TESTIMONIALS Just tried to look at DXLD and got the following message --- ``The Angelfire site you are trying to reach has been temporarily suspended due to excessive bandwidth consumption.`` One would think that after doing this for many years you would have a reliable, robust website (Hans Johnson, WY, Sept 8) I do, haven`t you noticed? http://www.worldofradio.com --- not a moment of downtime I am aware of with the present host in use for more than a year. Trouble is, both my home computers have been down so angelfire site serves as a backup, as I work from the library. Try later, as everybody is going there for the new DXLD (gh) ** AFGHANISTAN. Sarah Chayes & Afghan Independent Radio --- Afghan Independent Radio is about to go on the air this month. Sarah Chayes, a longtime international reporter for NPR is shepherding the project and reports from the field. by Sarah Chayes A NAME, AN IDENTITY, AN IMAGE, AND MR. TIMOR, Summer 2003 The patient and loyal staff of Afghanistan's first indigenous free radio station have voted to name it Afghan Independent Radio/Afghan Azad Radio, or AIR. They have designed a logo using the ENGLISH AND Pashtu letters for "AIR," EMANATING FROM A TRANSMISSION TOWER. The arrival of Mr. Ismael Timor and Seyid Mahmad Azil, on April 15, catapulted AIR to a new phase in its development. Timor, the team leader, has an IMPRESSIVE background in Afghan broadcasting. He was reporter/producer at Kabul Television, news department, from 1979-86; then he was in charge of the news department. Afterwards, he founded and ran Balkh Radio Television, in Mazar-i-Sherif, from 1987-98, when the Taliban conquered the city. He has conducted focus group discussions, and been involved in human rights investigations. Mr. Timor is a gentle man, highly organized, and dedicated to his work. Under his tutelage, the core radio staff, which had been meeting about once a month to discuss basic concepts, and then almost daily with me, to work on radio techniques such as interviewing substance and style, technical recording, tape logging, editing, etc., launched into a two-week course on the principles of journalism. They were examined and graded on the material. THE LAUNCH, THE PROGRAMMING I still don't want to predict a launch date, but with equipment literally on the road between Kabul and Kandahar as I write, it's certainly firming up. We still need to do a lot of work on the radio building: putting in double glass and soundproofing the studio, building work tables for the mixers, and regular desks for computer work and news writing. That's liable to take a month at least, and will necessarily interfere with the reporting and producing. Based largely on the preparatory discussions that began last year, Timor has developed a program list. AIR staff will produce the following original programs: 1. Kisht aw Karwanda: Cultivation and Field (agriculture) 2. Radioi Safar: Radio Journey (tourism, life in other provinces) 3. Salamatya: Health 4. Ghotai Ghwariji: Buds Opening (small children's show) 5. Badani Rozana: Body Exercising (sports) 6. Tserena: (research) 7. Zwanan aw Ratlunkai: Youth and Future 8. Sheze aw Owsanai Taulana: Women and Contemporary Society 9. De Ownai Mohimi Peshe: Important Things that Happened this Week. (Week in Review) 10. De Islam Wrange: Lights of Islam 11. Gulban: Flower Garden (poetry) 12. Bya Raghawana: Reconstruction 13. Zmuj Chapiryal: Our Environment 14. Tikki: Spots 15. Tassu wposhti Zawab e per muj: You Ask, the Answer is for Us (Questions for leaders.) 16. Radioi Kitab: Radio Book 17. Da Khalku Nazariat: People's Opinions (man in the street) AN APPROXIMATE DAILY RUNDOWN We are planning a broadcast day from 4:00 till 10:00 PM, with the only caveat in the schedule below being 20 minute slots for produced news. Knowing what it takes to put even a 4 or 5 minute produced news story on the air, I tend to think this is a bit ambitious, given the rest of the work our skeleton staff will have to do. So think of this as a draft. 3:59 Alert 4:00 Jingle, AIR id 4:01 Qur'an verse (XXX) 4:04 Jingle, AIR id, introduction of today's program. 4:05 News 4:10 In-depth news ????? 4:30 Short news 4:33 AIR program 5:00 News 5:05 AIR program 5:30 Short news 5:33 Afghan Music Program 6:00 News 6:05 BBC/VOA/Radio Free Europe/Tanin Program 7:00 News 7:05 Repeat in-depth news ????? 7:25 Music 7:30 BBC Pashtu News 8:30 News 8:33 AIR program (repeat from earlier in the week) 9:00 News 9:05 AIR program (repeat from earlier in the week) 9:30 Short news 9:33 Foreign music 10:00 SOC out (sign off) more, not including WTFK! ---: http://publicbroadcasting.net/kpbs/arts.artsmain?action=viewArticle&id=538853&pid=1012&sid=1 (via Kim Elliott, DXLD) ** AUSTRALIA. Are the programs aired on Radio Australia being taken directly from a feed of the local in-country national broadcaster, so that they go out over shortwave at the same time as they are being aired inside Australia? Or are they recorded and sorted for international broadcast at different times? I'd like to lobby RA to move some programs around so there'd be things broadcast that I find more interesting during prime RA-listening time here in the central US, usually 1000 UT on; I find myself awake at that time often, with a good RA signal on 9580 kHz, but no particular interest in the content being broadcast at that time. I look at the RA Previews postings and see all sorts of things I'd like to hear, but they seem to almost always be on at times when there's no RA reception here or too much conflict with other stations and media, or I'm actually asleep. The main exception is The Science Show, Sundays at 1305 UT, so that is my primary weekly RA listening. But if they just take a Radio National feed and put it on SW without modification, there's not much chance they'd tailor the program arrangement even if overseas listeners requested changes. Regards, (Will Martin, MO, Sept 9, swprograms via DXLD) Are you kidding? Especially not for the convenience of long-abandoned listeners in North America --- oops, East Pacific (gh, DXLD) ** BRAZIL. A Rádio Integração, de Cruzeiro do Sul (AC), está fora do ar pela freqüência de 4765 kHz. A informação foi repassada a Paulo Roberto e Souza, de Tefé (AM), no último dia 4 de setembro. De acordo com o pessoal da emissora, esperam por uma válvula para o transmissor que virá dos Estados Unidos até o final do mês. Quando retornar ao ar, em 4765 kHz, emitirá no seguinte esquema: entre 0940 e 1430 e das 2000 às 0300. As coordenadas da emissora são as seguintes: Rádio Integração, Rua de Alagoas, 270, Bairro Escola Técnica, CEP: 69980- 000, Cruzeiro do Sul (AC). Telefone: + 55 68 322 4637. Fax: + 55 68 322 6511. Endereço eletrônico: rtvi@omegasul.com.br (Célio Romais, Panorama, @tiviade DX Sept 7 via DXLD) ** BRAZIL. Por fin pude escuchar R. Cultura Filadelfia, Foz do Iguaçu transmitiendo en 6105.03 kHz, para mi por la primera vez. No sé si es la misma emisora brasilera yo hace algunos días capté en 6105.07 kHz (no identificada) pero supongo que sea la misma. Se identificó a la 0100 UTC. Programación religiosa y solamente en portugués. Nada de español o "1 de Marzo". 73 de (Björn Malm, Quito, Ecuador, Sept 9, Conexión Digital via DXLD) ** CHILE [non]. Hola Glenn, Saludos desde Catia La Mar, VENEZUELA. LA DERECHA, SUS MEDIOS SUBVERSIVOS, UN GOLPE Este 11 de septiempre se conmemoran 30 años del sangriento golpe de estado que derrocó al presidente chileno Salvador Allende Gossens. Tres décadas después, un balance acerca del papel de los medios de comunicación comerciales durante el proceso de desestabilización y luego, del "tiro de gracia" a la democracia chilena, muestra la verdad que muchos desean ocultar acerca de la función de los medios privados en la sociedad burguesa. La tendencia en llamarlos medios de comunicación "de masas" es un espejismo para desviar la verdadera función de estos aparatos de propaganda al servicio del consumismo. ¿Son en realidad propiedad de las masas? ¿O más bien son dirigidos a las masas con un determinado fin? Los medios privados sólo son un instrumento de las clases dominantes para dominar y neutralizar las mayorías nacionales. En consecuencia, a través de los medios privados se expresa un estilo de vida, un modelo de desarrollo, un pensamiento único. Si para obtener una concesión y explotar un medio de comunicación se necesita --- en la mayoría de los casos --- mucho dinero y poder, mal podemos asumir que los medios como reflejo de sus dueños capitalistas, puedan proyectar otra realidad que no sea la del modelo de desarrollo capitalista. Cualquiera otra cosa, lease bien, tendiente a socavar el modelo imperante sera totalmente censurada o tergiversada. En definitiva, los medios privados de una sociedad serán el espejo del pensamiento reinante y dominante: el de la burguesía. Si retomamos el caso chileno, en infinidad de situaciones a lo largo del gobierno de la Unidad Popular, los medios privados de comunicación chilenos no disimularon sus intenciones de acabar --- a como diera Lugar --- con el nuevo proceso político liderado por Salvador Allende. Principalmente, la radio y la prensa escrita fueron las puntas de lanza de la burguesía nacional y de los titiriteros principales (CIA y Departamento de Estado), para crear un clima de "desgobernabilidad" en el Chile de principios de los 70. El problema de estos medios de comunicación chilenos y el dilema de todos los medios de comunicación comerciales a escala mundial, es la balanza entre los intereses económicos y la verdad. Y eso es lo que desacredita per se a los medios comerciales. Cuando la verdad no conviene a los intereses económicos o corporativos de la empresa, ésta se suprime o se tergiversa. La cadena de complicidades es infinita: desde el dueño hasta el más humilde reportero. Y pobrecito aquel que se niegue a seguir "la línea". Seguro se queda sin trabajo. En el Chile de los años 70, en la balanza de los medios chilenos ganó la parte económica, como era de inferirse. La verdad se esfumó. Para muestra un botón: para 1971, el 70 por ciento de la prensa escrita era controlada por la derecha y 105 de las 115 emisoras existentes en Chile, eran de la misma tendencia política. El cerco comunicacional en contra de Allende fue descarado. Claro está, siempre está la excusa de la "libertad de expresión". Bien documentados para la historia están los sabotajes cometidos por las emisoras de la derecha a las cadenzas obligatorias del gobierno de Salvador Allende. Cualquier parecido con Hugo Chávez es mera coincidencia. Por ejemplo, el 24 de octubre de 1972 cinco emisoras se salieron de la cadena nacional obligatoria y cerraron sus transmisiones. Al día siguiente, el 25, Radio Santiago y Nacional de Minería se salieron sorprendentemente de otra cadena y se comenzó a emitir proclamas contra el gobierno. Otras campañas que quedaron para la historia fueron las consignas contra el proyecto de la Escuela Nacional Unificada, propuesto por la Unidad Popular. Por todos lados se leía o se oía: "NO PERMITIRÉ QUE CONVIERTAN A MIS HIJOS EN MARXISTAS". Tristemente célebre fue también la actitud del diario El Mercurio, al publicar avisos subversivos en sus páginas. El 21 de junio de 1973, El Mercurio publicó un anuncio del Partido Nacional (derecha), el cual provocó la suspensión del diario por parte del gobierno. Como si fuese poco, día 25, el Segundo Juzgado de Crimen de Santiago dictó una orden de clausura contra El Mercurio y una multa por 700 mil escudos por haber difundido informaciones falsas acerca de la Empresa de Agua Potable. Sin embargo, los dueños de El Mercurio desconocieron dicho dictamen. Por lo visto, se creían intocables y superiores a cualquier marco jurídico. ¡Vaya medios! Como estos casos, hay muchos más. Evidentemente, la derecha chilena tenía conciencia del poder y penetración de sus medios y los usó para mellar el sistema, causar el caos y conducir al país al golpe militar del 11 de septiembre. ¿Les importaba la verdad? ¿Les importaba la democracia y la justicia social? ¿Cómo pedir sensibilidad social a personas que ven al país y a su población a través de cifras, targets, share, números, puntos, audiencia...en fin, mercancía? ¿Es compatible la verdad con los intereses económicos de un medio de comunicación privado? Lamentablemente, tampoco el proceso chileno disponía de medios alternativos o comunitarios para hacer frente a tan magna avalancha comunicacional. Lo patético de hace 30 años y ahora, es la patente realidad: como refuerzo ideológico del sistema dominante, los medios de comunicación privados solo están para salvaguardar parcelas políticas y económicas de las clases dominantes. Cuando ellos o sus dueños sientan que el sistema puede estar en peligro, accionarán todos los mecanismos posibles y hasta los más violentos para salvar su integridad corporativa, su integridad como clase, como burguesía nacional. Sin duda, a los medios chilenos no les quitó el sueño terminar con la democracia más antigua y estable de América Latina. Y así será en cualquier país donde se pongan en juego sus intereses. Sad but true! (Adán González, Certificado de Locutor: 26950, Catia La Mar, VENEZUELA C.C. Frecuencia R.M. La Voz de Rusia, DX LISTENING DIGEST) essay contest entry? ** CUBA. ALGO PASÓ EN RADIO HABANA CUBA Hoy, a las 2158 UT, estaba sintonizando la frecuencia 11760 kHz para escuchar el programa En Contacto de Radio Habana Cuba a las 2205. Todo iba muy bien, estaba sonando la señal de intervalo de RHC; luego ésta se cortóy comenzóa sonar música salsa. Al rato la música se cortó, quedó la portadora en el aire sin audio, de nuevo volvió la música; ésta se vuelve a cortar y se oye un ruido, de nuevo queda la portadora sin audio, se cae la portadora y había un sonido de jamming, luego un espacio en blanco, solo portadora. Llegamos a las 2205 y nada de RHC y sus programas, En Contacto no salió al aire a la hora prevista; de nuevo la música se oye, pero se cortaba a cada momento. Eran las 2216 y sólo había música en la frecuencia, ningún rastro de programas. Llegamos a las 2221 y sólo música en RHC. Llegamos a las 2230 y sólo música; no hubo identificación a la media hora como se acostumbra. Llegamos casi a las 23 horas y todo sigue igual. Allá la dejé; volví luego a la 0135 UT y la señal de RHC por los 15230 estaba llegando muy bien y pude escuchar en buena forma el programa En Contacto que no pude oir a las 2205. Atte: (José Elías, Venezuela, Sept 7, Conexión Digital via DXLD) Hola José Elías, y saludos a todos. Radio Habana Cuba está efectuando algunos cambios en sus equipos, según tengo entendido. En verdad sus señales en 15230 y 6000 kHz llegan aquí como "pedrada de indio zurdo" :-) Pero sí tienen problemas con el enlace del audio. Yo he intentado varias veces escuchar los programas en Esperanto (jes, ankau mi estas unu el tiuj "'frenezuloj' kiuj parolas Esperanton"!!) que normalmente transmiten a las 1500 UT por 11760 y a veces la portadora sale sin audio, a veces el audio sale de forma intermitente, a veces no hay señal. Sin embargo no he notado esos problemas con las emisiones por 15230 o 6000 kHz. 73 (Elmer Escoto, San Pedro Sula, Honduras, radioescutas via DXLD) RHC does it again --- Sept 9 at 2105, RHC Spanish audible underneath French, presumably VOA, on 17750, virtually zero beat with a slow SAH. Meanwhile there were plenty of open channels on the 16m band (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CZECH REPUBLIC. RADIO FREE EUROPE MOVE FROM CZECH CAPITAL CENTRE POSTPONED | Text of report in English by Czech news agency CTK Prague, 9 September: The US Congress will delay the move of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL) from the centre of Prague because of a lack of funds and is considering ending broadcasts in Croatian and Slovak, the daily Hospodarske noviny writes today. Foreign Minister Cyril Svoboda said during the summer that a location for the radio station has been selected. The government has considered moving the station from its current location on one of Prague's busiest streets as an important preventive measure in light of the 11 September terrorist attacks. RFE/RL is considered a possible target for terrorists. The government offered several locations outside of Prague which the radio's management rejected because of their complicated transport. The rent contract on the current building expires in December of 2004. Transport has been limited around the building and it is guarded by police and soldiers. Source: CTK news agency, Prague, in English 0539 gmt 9 Sep 03 (via BBCM via DXLD) CZECH REPUBLIC/USA: OFFICIALS REJECT REPORT ON DELAY IN RFE MOVE | Excerpt from report in English by Czech news agency CTK Prague, 9 September: The Foreign Ministry and Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL) continue to look for a suitable building to host the radio station, which is to be moved from the centre of Prague, their representatives said today. "The matter is under discussion and suitable buildings are being looked for," RFE/RL spokeswoman Sonia Winterova told CTK today and Foreign Ministry spokesman Vit Kolar made a similar statement. They were reacting to a report published in the Czech financial daily Hospodarske noviny today. According to it, the US Congress will delay the moving of RFE/RL from the centre of Prague because of a lack of funds and is considering ending broadcasts in Croatian and Slovak. It is still true that RFE/RL wants to remain in Prague and if possible, at a place which would be more secure for Praguers and radio employees, Winterova said. She also described as a mistake the information that broadcasts in Croatian and Slovak are to be ended for the sake of economy. [passage omitted] Winterova said that moving the station was expensive and the money should be approved by the US Congress. "As regards time, it is impossible to urge the Congress as it has its own pace, its rhythm and it is beyond our control," she said earlier. According to some estimates, moving the radio will cost about 20m dollars. Source: CTK news agency, Prague, in English 1520 gmt 9 Sep 03 (via BBCM via DXLD) ** FRANCE. CINQ RADIOS D`AUTOROUTE ACCOMPAGNENT LES AUTOMOBILISTES EN CONTINU Difusées sur une seule fréquence, 107.7 FM, ces stations maillent le territoire et ont chacune leur programme. Dépendant des concessionnaires d`autoroutes, elles touchent des million d`auditeurs. Leur spécificité: l`information sur le trafic Those are the headline and subhead in a story under the headings ENTREPRISES --- COMMUNICATION, Page 13 of Le Monde, Aug 17-18, thanks to Mike Cooper for a clipping. No specific info on powers, multiple transmitter sites for each, but a map shows the individual names and routes/regions covered: Autoroute FM, from Paris to Caen, Nantes, Poitiers 107,7 FM, from Paris to Calais, Strasbourg Autoroute Info, Paris to Dijon, Mulhouse, Lyon Radio trafic, in the south including Bordeaux, Bayonne, Toulouse, Marseille, Lyon Trafic FM, Marseille to Nice (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** GERMANY. The posting below says that according to the Oberbayerisches Volksblatt the Valley municipality would have reached an agreement with IBB to close the Holzkirchen transmitters soon: Wer den Sender Holzkirchen-Oberlaindern sehen will, der sollte sich sputen, denn laut dem Oberbayrischen Volksblatt hat sich die Gemeinde Valley mit der IBB geeinigt: der Sender wird noch vor Ablaufen des Pachtvertrages außer Betrieb genommen und abgebaut, d.h. vermutlich schon in Kürze (Andrea W, Sept 7, via Kai Ludwig, DXLD) ** GOA. All India Radio via Panaji, Goa, still noted with their 15 minute newscast in English at 1530-1545 on 11740. This broadcast often starts some seconds late for some reason. EiBi does not seem to show this (though it is in the AIR schedule) and I have written him several times regarding it. After AIR signs off 1545, presumed China National Radio program on the same frequency in Mandarin; this broadcast also starts at 1530 (Steve Lare, Holland, MI, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** GUATEMALA. Llevo tiempo sin captar a Radio Cultural en 3300 kHz, ¿sabe alguien de esta emisora? (Adán González, Catia La Mar, VENEZUELA, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** HONDURAS. Radio Litoral, el 06-09, tan temprano como a las 2337 UT, en 4832 kHz. Coincidía con Malí en los 4835 y luego de las 0000, con otra estación en 4835.46 kHz. Jamás la capté tan temprano (Adán González, Catia La Mar, VENEZUELA, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** INDIA. INDIAN TIME STATION ATA CEASED SW BROADCASTS Dear Friends, My investigations has confirmed that the Standard Time and Frequency transmissions by Station ATA, National Physical Laboratory, New Delhi has ceased its SW operations about 3 years back. They used to operate on 5, 10 and 15 MHz with 2 x 8 kW from Greater Kailash, Delhi. There were voice announcements by male in English every 15 minutes with station identification and IST. Ionospheric data was given every hour. Since 1988, NPL has been transmitting Standard Time and Frequency Signal via INSAT satellite. It is also available via telephone now. They used to issue QSL confirmations for their SW broadcasts and I have 2 in my collection. One is in letter form and other one is a card which was issued in 1978 by them after getting "inspiration" from Dr. Adrian Peterson of AWR. They issued that card after a special station profile on that station was broadcast by him in Radio Monitors International via SLBC, Sri Lanka. More details about their present activities is available from http://nplindia.org/npl/index.htm (Jose Jacob, VU2JOS/AT0J, National Institute of Amateur Radio, Box 1555, Somajiguda, Hyderabad 500082, India, Sept 9, dx_India via DXLD) ** INDONESIA. 3517.2v, RSPK Ngada? 1230 Sep 4. The wandering Indo, noted yesterday on 3516.74, heard here this morning, seeming to vary a few hertz up and down. Seemed \\ to 9680 but not sure. Started deteriorating right after tune-in. Also heard next day (Sep 5) around the same time on 3517.8v, so apparently is slowly moving upward. 4753.42, RRI Makassar, 1218 Sep 4. Noted with Jak program \\ 9680 and 4606.42. Abruptly left the air at 1227 UT, still had not returned by 1300 (John Wilkins, CO, DXplorer Sept 4/5 via BC-DX via DXLD) ** INTERNATIONAL. ITU LW/MW COORDINATION SURVEY This year's survey of MW stations that have been internationally coordinated or are still in the coordination process has now been uploaded on the ITU website: http://www.itu.int/ITU-R/publications/brific-ter/index.html See "GE75_110" in the file list (Bernd Trutenau, Lithuania, MWDX Sept 9 via DXLD) ** IRAN [non]. [Kvitsøy/Sveiø, Norway to Iran] 15790, presumed Radio Sedoye Yaran, *1600 Sept 1, decent signal, opening with a pop instrumental, then announcements by man and woman, but didn't get a definitive ID. The carrier from a big jammer was there before 1600; I mistook it for the station itself, which, however, opened very slightly higher, and was soon nearly obliterated by big jammers, shades of the 50/60s (Jerry Berg, MA, DXplorer Sept 1 via DXLD) Radio Sedoye Yaran or Radio Yaran? There are two US-based Farsi-language satellite stns relayed to ME Via European SW transmitters: Radio Sedoye Iran (="Voice of Iran") and Radio Yaran ("Radio Friends") a.k.a. AFN Farsi Netlink, but as far as I see it, there is no "Radio Sedoye Yaran". A DX publication reported "Radio Sedoye Yaran" earlier this summer, but I think it was a misunderstanding ("Iran" instead of "Yaran" is easy to confuse), and this name started to circulate without correction. On 15790 there is Radio Yaran --- see http://www.speakeasy.org/~afn/SATELLITE%20INFO.txt (Bernd Trutenau, Lithuania, DXplorer Sep 8 via BC-DX via DXLD) 7525, R. Yaran (Friends), via Kvitsøy, Norway, W 1800-2100 Farsi to Iran, ID: "Radio Yaran - AFN". Satellite audio. Anti-Iran Govt. Produced by American Farsi Netlink, CA, USA Broker: Merlin. Replaced by 15740 and 15650 (see CRW 128 July 17, 2003) I believe you are correct. English URL appears to be http://www.bamey.com/engradio.html and altho the station seems to be usually referred to as AFN Radio, at the bottom of the "Profile" it refers to "Yaran Radio." (Jerry Berg, MA, DXplorer Sept 7/8 via BC-DX via DXLD) ** IRELAND. Rather good listening of RTE on 252 kHz I observed past three mornings (around 0230-0330). Mainly talks in English, soft classical and pop-music, ID's like RTE Radio 1, Lyric FM, etc. Average SINPO was 3/2-5-3-5-3/2 (no interference except slight splashes from a harmonic (240 kHz) of the 3rd channel of the local wire network (120 kHz AM), moderate continuous underground noise from remote thunderstorms (static)). It is interesting that Radio Rossii on 261 kHz from Taldom, Moscow was nearly unheard (Alexander Yegorov, Ukraine, WWDXC BC-DX Sept 8 via DXLD) ** KYRGYZSTAN. 4049.9, 3.9 1755, Hit Music Shortwave, Bishkek should be an unID because they played only non-stop music, with a mix of international and domestic music. S 3-4 BEFF (Björn Fransson, Gotland, SW Bulletin, translated by editor Thomas Nilsson for DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** LAOS [non]. TAIWAN, Hmong Lao radio, ULM, in Laotian normally on 17540 via Tashkent, Uzbekistan, has now additional test via Taiwan 15555 kHz. 0100-0200 UT Sept 7 (Wolfgang Büschel, BCDX via DXLD) ** LITHUANIA [and non]. LITHUANIA/RUSSIA --- On 10 September representatives of Telecom authorities from Russia and Lithuania signed a final protocol about the future use of the disputed frequency 1386 kHz. The Russian side states that it will end transmissions from the Bolshakovo transmitting centre in the Kaliningrad oblast on 1386 kHz by 1 November 2007. Starting 1 January 2004, the transmission times from Bolshakovo will be gradually reduced from 8h/daily in 2004 to 4h/d in 2005 and 2h/d after 1 January 2006. Lithuania is entitled to make full use of 1386 kHz in the interim period outside of the Bolshakovo transmission times. After 1 November 2007, the frequency will be exclusively used by Lithuania (Bernd Trutenau, Lithuania, MWDX via DXLD) Does this mean that the superpowered transmitter will be decommissioned, and that Lithuania will use a different (and hopefully less powerful) one to replace it? Regards, (Bjarne Mjelde, Berlevag, Arctic Norway, ibid.) Bolshakovo will end transmissions on 1386 kHz on 1 November 2007, but already from 1 January 2004 Bolshakovo will reduce the daily broadcasting hours to the amount I mentioned below, during the rest of the day this frequency can be used by Lithuania. Acc. to the Geneva Plan, Lithuania is authorized to use up to 1000 kW ND on 1386 kHz. The licensee in Lithuania for this frequency is Radio Baltic Waves International (RBWI), and RBWI is determined to use 1386 kHz for high power transmissions. Currently, Sitkunai is operated on 1386 kHz with 500kW, but can be increased to 650kW any time (Bernd Trutenau, ibid.) ** MEXICO [non?]. CLANDESTINE from ? to EARTH Radio Free Cascadia --- I had a look at their website which included typical far-leftist hyperbole of "broadcasting from behind enemy lines," as well as a link to Radio Insurgente. The parent website is the Eugene (Oregon) Free Community Network. Radio Free Cascadia was a Eugene FM pirate station that was raided by the FCC in 2001, but doesn't seem to have returned to the air. All this per another section of their website. They claim they have been on shortwave before, during the 1999 WTO talks in Seattle. Their contact details are: PO Box 12200 Eugene OR 97440 or radio985@efn.org According to DXLD, they will broadcast from Sept 10-14 during the Cancun WTO talks. . . (Hans Johnson, WY, Sept 9, Cumbredx via DXLD) See previous two issues; RFCI supposed to start today Sept 10 on 15045, alternates 17552.5, evening 9310, all variable (gh, DXLD) ** NETHERLANDS. RADIO 538 ANNOUNCES SOME DETAILS OF CLASSICAL FM BID Dutch commercial broadcaster Radio 538 has announced some details of the classical music station it hopes to operate on FM if it wins the last-remaining major FM licence. It faces competition from a recently- announced bid by Talpa Radio International which plans to use the FM channel for a jazz station. Perhaps the most significant detail of the Radio 538 bid is the proposed on air name: Classic4U. If this suggests a populist approach to classical music, that's exactly the image Radio 538 wants to project. Co-owner Lex Harding describes the presentation on existing classical stations as "boring and sombre", and says Classic4U would concentrate on shorter pieces. But the presenters will be selected for their knowledge of classical music. For example, pianist Wibi Soerjadi has been lined up to present a weekly show in which he will talk to young musicians. Andy Sennitt comments: I personally find the name Classic4U rather too downmarket, but anything that enables more people to become acquainted with classical music can only be applauded. However, if the station confines itself to playing fragments of popular classics outside their musical context it will be missing a huge opportunity. Hopefully there will be room in the evenings for performances of complete works. By hiring the right presenters they should avoid the embarrassment suffered by Radio Seagull in the 1970's, when it experimented with playing classical music. Its presenters often mangled the names of even the most well-known composers and performers, which made it sound as if they were not taking it seriously (© Radio Netherlands Media Network 10 Sept via DXLD) ** NEW ZEALAND [non]. AUSTRALIA, 9580, RNZI. Thanks Marie Lamb Cumbre tip. Sept 8, 1655, Radio National program, 1658 dead air, Radio Australia ID at 1700 and into news. Then into RNZI at 1705 with news, start of show afterwards, mentioning new short wave schedule. Did mention that they would have full explanation of transmitter problem in the show (Hans Johnson, Cody WY, Cumbre DX via DXLD) & see SWEDEN Hello Ian, I am a longtime listener to RNZI and listen to it everyday! During the day, I listen to it on their Internet Radio Service, and at night, on shortwave. Either 17675, or 11820. I work from my home, out of my small office, and love listening to RNZI !!! I've missed listening on shortwave, for two weeks now, and although I did read the short 'description' of their "Serious Fault With The Transmitter", I never read exactly WHAT the problem is. Do you know, or could you find out (through any of your sources in New Zealand) exactly, technically, WHAT the problem is? Why is it taking so very long to fix? Money??? My goodness, if it was a similar problem with a commercial radio station here in 'The States', it would be fixed within one or two days! I would love to learn what their transmitters' problem is. I had written to the station directly, and also to a Mr. Henderson, (I believe that's what his name was), who is supposed to be the main engineer for Radio New Zealand, but haven't received any reply. Would it be possible to get some answers about this 'mysterious quandary'? I miss RNZI 'On The Air'! Thanks, (Irv Ambler, New Fairfield, Connecticut, USA, to Ian Cattermole, ripple via DXLD) ** NORWAY. According to the staff at Kvitsöy, 1314 kHz was running 10 kW from their standby-transmitter a few days, due to work on one of the two 600 kW transmitters being optimized for DRM-operation, when the second 600 kW failed. It's quite common that Kvitsöy operate with only one of the two 600 kW's. The difference in signal between 600 and 1200 kW is not all that significant. However it is less common that they run the old 10 kW Philips transmitter. The longest period on 10 kW was probably a few years ago when Kvitsöy lost all its power. They receive power from mainland, and the sea-cables broke. Only 10 kW can be run on the diesel generator. (This 10 kW unit was commissioned in 1966, used in Trondheim up to 1978 on the frequency 890 kHz. After the closure of the Trondheim site, it was dismantled and moved to Kvitsöy and used as a standby transmitter there.) (Bernt Erfjord, MWC E-Mail News via NRC IDXD Sept 5 via DXLD) ** NORWAY. NRK: "I Know Nothing" (RNW; 07.12.2001): http://www.rnw.nl/realradio/features/html/norway011207.html The SW site at Fredrikstad (DX Listeners Club): http://www.dxlc.com/nordx/fred.html Fredrikstad's final farewell (DX Listeners Club): http://www.dxlc.com/nordx/final_fred.html (Kai Ludwig, Germany, BC-DX Sept 8 via DXLD) ** PARAGUAY. Adán Mur, de Radio América, Villeta, me contó en un correo electrónico que la emisora ahora está en Internet, en vivo, en la siguiente web: http://www.radiodifusionamerica.com.py utilizando una velocidad de transmisión digital de 256 kbps (Arnaldo Slaen, Argentina, Sept 8, Noticias DX via DXLD) ** PERU. Radio Horizonte, el 06-09, a las 2354 UT, con SINPO 3-2, en la frecuencia de 5019.92, con un bloque de cuñas interminable (Adán González, Catia La Mar, VENEZUELA, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** PHILIPPINES. QSL from Radyo Pilipinas in 5 1/2 months, reception on 11720 kHz. Signed by Tanny V. Rodríguez, Station Manager. Enclosed were schedules of English/Filipino services and a sticker. Current frequency schedule is as follows: English: 0200-0330 11885, 15120, 15270 Filipino: 1730-1930 11720, 15190, 17720 Address: Radyo Pilipinas 4th Floor PIA Bldg. Visayas Ave. Quezon City 1100, Philippines (Dmitry Mezin, Kazan, Russia, Signal Sept 7 via DXLD) ** POLAND. COASTAL MARITIME STATION GDYNIA RADIO CLOSE ON DEC 31, 2003 Die polnische Kuestenfunkstelle Gdynia Radio wird am 31. Dezember 2003 ihren Betrieb einstellen. Das geht aus einem QSL-Brief der Station hervor. Zur Zeit arbeiten noch neun Leute dort. Alles begann 1922 nahe Puck fuer militaerische zwecke und wurde von der Marine betrieben. PCK war das militaerische Rufzeichen, SPH das kommerzielle. Als der Hafen von Gdynia 1924 gebaut wurde, kam es auch zum ersten Zwei-Wege Kontakt mit einem fremden Schiff, M/V Kentucky, welches auch das erste fremde Schff war, das in den neuen Hafen kam. Vor dem Zweiten Weltkrieg wurden Sendeanlagen im Vorort Oksywie gebaut. Sie wurden seither benutzt. 1970 wechselte die Empfangsstn in den kleinen Ort Rekowo, suedlich von Puck. Bis Juli 2003 sicherte Gdynia Radio die Kommunikation mit Schiffen. Circa 30 Leute waren bis dato beschaeftigt. 1996 wurde es Teil von GMDSS (Global Maritime Distress and Safety System. Es wurden meteorologische Hinweise und Navigationswarnungen sowie private Telefongespraeche vermittelt. Zur Zeit ist Gdynia Radio wie folgt aktiv: 0400-2200 UT auf Kanal 824 (8788/8264 kHz), Kanal 1216 (13122/12275 kHz), und Kanal 1631 (17332/16450 kHz). Unterschrieben waren diese Infos vom Chef von Gdynia Radio, Herrn Mical Popiel (Joe Leyder, Luxembourg, A-DX Sept 4 via BC-DX via DXLD) ** RUSSIA. Due to expansion of Russian International Radio, the World Service of the Voice of Russia completely lost two hours of broadcasting in Russian: 2000-2100 and 0100-0200. Current schedule of "Club DX" in Russian at VoR: - Mondays at 1345; - Wednesdays at 1245 and 1545 (open_dx - Pavel Mikhaylov, Voice of Russia, Moscow, Russia, Signal Sept 7 via DXLD) ** SOLOMON ISLANDS. I saw this article in today's NZ Herald. It mentions SIBC Honiara in passing:. PAPER AT LAST FLEXES ITS MUSCLE ...While the Government-funded Solomon Islands Broadcasting Corporation tried for the most part to rely on the quality of its journalism as its best protection, there were times when the threats of violence were so overt that its general manager, Johnston Honimae, opted to use the journalist's last defence and broadcast the news of threats in the corporation's regular bulletins... http://www.nzherald.co.nz/storydisplay.cfm?storyID=3522702&thesection= news&thesubsection=world (via Kraig Krist, Sept 9, DXLD) ** SWEDEN. Add to RNZI's very serious transmitter problems (which at least one unattributed report says may last for as long as a month), this less dire -- but no less unwelcome -- development at Radio Sweden. "Because of technical difficulties, our program will sound a little different on Monday. We`ll have our usual news round-up from Gaby Katz, Kris Boswell will be presenting the program and playing music, and Judi Milar will be on hand with a wrap-up of weekend sports. But a breakdown in our digital editing system means we won`t be able to bring you any recorded interviews. We expect to be back with regular programming on Tuesday." --- from Radio Sweden's web site (John Figliozzi, ODXA via DXLD) RADIO SWEDEN -- Coming up on Radio Sweden: Thursday: "GreenScan" Baltic pollution special Friday: Our weekly review Saturday: "Studio 49" eurodebate special Sunday: Our coverage of the Swedish referendum on joining the European Union single currency (SCDX/MediaScan Sept 10 via DXLD) ** TAHITI. This is shaping up to be a good AM season. Let's hope. See below (Saul Chernos, Ont., ODXA via DXLD) [AMFMTVDX] TAHITI 738 IN ILLINOIS THIS MORNING Due to continued very good conditions to the W and WSW I woke up early this morning to do some SRS [sunrise skip] DXing. Conditions were good with KNX and KNBR in quite well. On 760 I think my talk station which was QRMed by XEABC with WJR phased was KFMB (IDed a day ago) as there sports report talked about the Padres as if they were a local team. Anyhow at 1120 UT (0620 CDT) I noted a strong carrier on 738 which had little QRM as KRMG isn't strong on nite pattern and CHWO's remains were phased out. On peaks I heard some music and then bits of a man speaking French. I'll have to call this one tentative until I can hopefully receive it better. The carrier was weakening but still in at 1137 when I quit to get ready for work (Neil Kazaross, IL, Sept 8 via Saul Chernos, ODXA via DXLD) ** THAILAND. Radio Tailandia, 15395, en inglés con SINPO 33533. A las 0056 UT, transmitía noticias deportivas. Captada el 08-09. ¿Esta señal es directa o es de algún repetidor? 73's y buen DX, Saludos, (Adán González, Catia La Mar, VENEZUELA, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Directa desde Udon Thani, Tailandia, denominado repetidor ** UGANDA [non]. Bei den im DTK-Sendeplan unter AWH gelisteten Sendungen handelt es sich wohl um ein neues Clandestine[??] Programm mit Zielgebiet Uganda. Heute lief von 1500-1530 UT auf 17555 kHz ein Programm namens "Radio Rhino International Africa" in Englisch. Gesendet wurde Informationen zum zukuenftigen Programm mit eindeutig politischen Inhalt sowie afrikan. Musik. Der Sendestart fuer die offizielen Sendungen wurde mit Mitte September angegeben. ID "You are listening to Radio Rhino International Africa - This is your Voice of Freedom and Democracy - this is your symbol of your future ... ". 17755 Radio Rhino International Africa. Am Ende der Sendung wurden noch Telefonnummer, FAX & Homepage angesagt. Tel: 0049 - 162 885 4486 --- eine 0162er Handy Nr. Fax: 0049 - 221 991 2927. URL: http://www.radiorhino.org (Patrick Robic, Austria, A-DX Sept 4 via BC-DX via DXLD) D-Info zeigt: Mr. Robert Schaldenat, Maybachstr. 16, Köln 50670, 0221 - 991 29 27 (Wolfgang Büschel, Germany, Sept 5, BC-DX via DXLD) A new Ugandan opposition station is now on the air at 1500 on 17555! It is called Radio Rhino International-Africa. I was tipped off to it by an article in a Ugandan newspaper yesterday. Heard here in Nairobi yesterday (5 Sept) with excellent signals. It announced that the current broadcasts were a "trial" and that regular programming would be launched in mid-September. The broadcast gave telephone and fax numbers in Germany (+49) and They also announced their web site - http://www.radiorhino.org - which I have checked and which says that the tests only began on 3rd September --- and that regular broadcasts will start on 16th September. However, the web site gets in a muddle with the times, which it says Are 1800 GMT in winter and 1700 GMT in winter. Obviously 1800 means Ugandan time, not UT, and it means that the broadcasts are aired at 4 p.m. German LT. Very confusing for listeners in Uganda who understandably know little or nothing of European summer/winter time! Apart from that detail, I think the schedule fits in with a mystery entry in the DTK schedule which was highlighted in DXLD recently, right down to being daily except Mondays. So, it's coming from Juelich (Chris Greenway, Kenya, Sept 6, delayed in 3-160, DX LISTENING DIGEST) FORMER PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE DENIES KNOWLEDGE OF EXILE RADIO STATION | Text of report by Emma Mutaizibwa, "I know nothing of Radio Rhino", published by Ugandan newspaper The Monitor web site on 8 September Kampala: Dr Kizza Besigye, a losing candidate in the 2001 presidential election, has denied that he is scheduled to speak at the launch of a radio station by Ugandan exiles in Germany. On Friday [5 September] The Monitor reported that Besigye, together with former President Milton Obote, would speak at the launch of Radio Rhino International-Africa on 16 September. The RRIA director, Mr Godfrey Ayoo, had claimed that Besigye and Obote would be aired on 16 and 17 September. "I have never heard of or been in touch with anyone by the names of Godfrey Elum Ayoo or any other person acting on behalf of Radio Rhino International-Africa (RRIA)," Besigye said by e-mail yesterday. "I have no knowledge of any launch of such a radio or my joint participation with former President Milton Obote in any radio programme," he wrote. Source: The Monitor web site, Kampala, in English 8 Sep 03 (via BBCM via DXLD) OPPOSITION LOBBY GROUP BACKS ESTABLISHMENT OF EXILE RADIO STATION | Excerpt from report by Ugandan newspaper The New Vision web site on 9 September The [opposition pressure group] Reform Agenda (RA) has welcomed the establishment of Radio Rhino International-Africa (RRIA), a German- based station to broadcast views of Uganda's opposition leaders. RA deputy secretary general, Louis Otika, said during the weekly press conference yesterday that although RA leader, Dr Kizza Besigye, had not yet been contacted by the radio's proprietors, RA welcomed any moves that would give the opposition more voice. Godfrey Elum Ayoo, the RRIA proprietor, recently said the 17.555 shortwave radio would be launched on 16 September, adding that Uganda People's Congress (UPC) exiled leader, Dr Milton Obote, and Besigye would address listeners during the launch. Ayoo said the radio would broadcast between 6:00 a.m.[sic] and 7:00 p.m. [all times local] on weekdays and up to 6:30 p.m. on weekends. "We have not yet bought broadcasting equipment of our own and we do not have any immediate plans to buy such equipment. So if there is an opportunity for us to contribute positively to Uganda's political development using that station we shall take advantage of it," Otika said. [Passage omitted] Source: The New Vision web site, Kampala, in English 9 Sep 03 (via BBCM via DXLD) CLANDESTINE from GERMANY to UGANDA. 17555, Radio Rhino International Africa. Sept 9 *1500 with IDs and slogans in English. "This is your voice for Freedom and Democracy." Then song in English. Mentioned that trial transmissions were about a week old, but that official launch would now be on September 23rd instead of September 16th. Former President Obote would be heard at that time. Mentioned that they had gotten reaction from the USA, Europe, Australia, and Asia. Announcer added that although Ugandans might not have access to the Internet, they could send him a text message to his mobile phone in Germany --- 4901628854486. Announcer said that the broadcasts had caught the government off guard and it did not how to react. Station would attempt to report from all areas of Uganda, especially war zones. Comment on current president of Uganda who intends to remain in power, something that the people should say no to. Those in the army should just leave the army and not support the regime. Nor should the police take orders from the current "dictatorship." (Hans Johnson, Cody WY, Cumbre DX via DXLD) According to the station's website, http://www.radiorhino.org/ Radio Rhino International Africa (RRIA) will switch frequency from current 17555 to 17870 kHz on 26th October. The official launch date has now been delayed by a week to 23rd September. At present trial programmes (via Juelich, Germany) are heard 1500-1530 UT (Tues-Fri) and 1500-1600 UT (Sat-Sun) (not as per website). The station's website now also includes a reception report and audio clip from Jerry Berg in the USA on its Listen to RRIA page (Alan Pennington - BDXC-UK, Caversham, UK, Sept 10, via DXLD) ** UKRAINE. From Sept 10 until October 26 RUI will use new frequency 7420 for broadcasts to Russia (Tyumen) at 0000-0400 and 1300-1700 instead of 9620 because of strong QRM on it. Transmitter: 100 kW in Kharkiv, 55 degrees (Alexander Yegorov, Ukraine, WWDXC BC-DX Sept 8 via DXLD) ** U K O G B A N I. IT'S DAFFY TO BELIEVE THE QUACK OF A DUCK DOESN'T ECHO --- By Steve Connor, Belfast Telegraph, 08 September 2003 http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/story.jsp?story=441486 EXPERTS in acoustics have debunked one of the more esoteric myths of the modern age - that a duck's quack is the only sound that does not produce an echo. The myth has been promulgated as fact by a number of television and radio shows, from Shooting Stars on BBC2 to Steve Wright on Radio 2 and John Peel's Home Truths on Radio 4. Now scientists have definitively shown that the quack of a duck does obey the laws of physics and can, just like any other sound, produce an echo when it bounces off a solid surface. With the help of Daisy the duck and an anechoic chamber - a room with jagged-edged walls where sound cannot be reflected - Professor Trevor Cox of Salford University precisely recorded the exact sounds that constitute a quack. He then recorded Daisy's quack in a reverberation chamber with cathedral-like acoustics. This generated long reflections, causing Daisy's quack to take on a sinister echoey sound, Professor Cox said. "It proved that a duck's quack does, indeed, produce an echo." The recordings were used to create simulations of Daisy performing at the Royal Albert Hall, and quacking as she flew past a cliff face. The conclusion was that a duck's quack definitely echoes, just like any other sound. However, people could be forgiven for thinking that a quack does not echo because of the way that a duck's call tails off at the end, making any echo difficult to discern. "The biggest mystery is why this myth should have arisen at all. One theory is that the envelope of the duck's quack has a gradual decay, which makes echoes difficult to hear," he said. "A duck quacks rather quietly, so the sound coming back is at a low level and might not be heard," said Professor Cox. © 2003 Independent Digital (UK) Ltd (Via Tom Roche, DXLD) ** U S A. SECOND 9/11 COMMEMORATIVE NET WILL FEATURE ARRL PRESIDENT (Sep 8, 2003) -- The second N2LEN 9/11 Commemorative Net will take place Thursday, September 11. The net will link repeaters across the US and around the world via the Internet. ARRL President Jim Haynie, W5JBP, will address the linkup regarding the role of Amateur Radio in homeland security and will urge each amateur to develop emergency communication skills. Haynie addressed the first-anniversary hookup last year to thank all amateurs who volunteered in the aftermath of the September 11 terrorist attacks. As with the 2002 net, this year's cyberspace and ham radio gathering will rely on EchoLink and eQSO Internet software connections as well as repeaters and simplex links around the world. Len Signoretti, N2LEN, says improvements over the past year have made communication even easier and more reliable, and he hopes the second-anniversary net will be an even greater success. The main EchoLink net servers will open at 6 AM EDT on September 11, and the directed net will start at 7 PM EDT. All EchoLink, IRLP and eQSO servers are invited to join. Ken Johnson, KC4YOZ, will provide streaming audio of the 911Net this week through the completion of the net on September 11. An MP3 stream and a Windows Media Player stream will be available [see the main arrl page http://www.arrl.org for links]. For more information, contact Signoretti n2len@aol.com or visit the 911 Net Web site http://www.911net.org/ (ARRL via John Norfolk, DXLD) ** U S A. Hi, Chris! I was listening to DXing with Cumbre this weekend and it inspired me to go over to the 69XX kHz range and check if I could hear any pirates. Lo and behold, there were a couple on right then, and another later at night when I re-checked. At 0045 UT Sep 7 '03 "Purple Nucleus of Creation" on 6950 USB with a decent signal, pretty clear and strong. Later re-check of the same frequency at 0100 UT had a much harsher and interfered-with signal; not sure if this was the same transmitter as earlier. The programming at both these times was some uninteresting babble with the speaker affecting a very annoying drawn-out speech style. Still later re-check at 0109 UT had a much fainter signal; programming then was the old Abbott & Costello "Who's on First?" comedy routine, an historical-radio recording. Also on at 0045 UT and later on Sep 7 '03 on 6925 in AM mode, not SSB, was WHYP (an ID at 0100) with a nice and clear signal. Programming was a discussion of downloading music at initial tune-in and then music later. The 0100 ID specifically used the word "pirate". The speaker mentioned that the transmitter had an 8 kHz response range for higher fidelity. Later, at 0110 UT, a parody ad for a "DX Survivor" program, like a combination of the "Survivor" TV program with a DXpedition. By that time, the signal had deteriorated with increasing noise and interference. Much later, at 0645 UT on Sep 7 '03, on 6925 USB, was KIPM with a monologue of much weirdness; typical KIPM stuff -- I've heard them in the past. The speaker identified himself as "Alan Maxwell" and gave a QSL address of PO Box 69, Elkhorn, Nebraska 68022. Since this was around 2 AM local, I left it on while listening with headphones and fell asleep, so no idea of when it signed off. Receiver is a Grundig Satellit 800 with an external random-wire about 20 meters long. Location is St. Louis, Missouri inside the city itself in a residential neighborhood. I do listen to Cumbre every week and hear your pirate-king segment. Perhaps sometime you could discuss just how pirates decide what time of day (or usually evening) they choose to broadcast. I'm a program listener on SW and usually have the radio on to hear a specific program, like on RN, the BBC, WBCQ, etc. I tend to not even think of tuning around during "prime time" such as late afternoon or early evening since there are enough other things on the air in various media to occupy my time. I get the impression that pirates tend to broadcast at this timeframe. I would be much more likely to hear them if they were on the air at 0300 UT and later; then there are far fewer competing things to keep listeners away. KIPM has been the only late- night pirate I've heard with any frequency, and I'm impressed with the way they stay on for hours. Have they no concern for FCC repression? As to the others, wouldn't they be somewhat shielded from FCC monitors if they were on the air later, when the FCC's budget limits might mean that there were fewer or no FCC monitors working to catch them? I tend to tune around later at night, and then often do remember to check the 69XX kHz frequency range, but seldom hear pirates then. Wouldn't they be better off broadcasting then? I would also think that that frequency range would propagate well across the US at that time. But, as I noted above, the signals deteriorated over the short time from 0045 to 0100 UT -- does this mean that 69XX kHz is actually optimum in the early evening/late afternoon? Or are the homebrew pirate transmitters weakening and failing after a short period of operation? Well, regards, 73, and keep up the good work! (Will Martin, St Louis, MO, to Chris Lobdell, cc to DXLD) Strangely enough, the same stations are reported here: 6925U, PIRATE (USA), KIPM, 0348-0403, 06/09, Program, "He who Shrank", ID and Elkorn drop. Decent signal, as usual (Barbour-NH) 6925, WHYP. Date: 09/07/2003. Time: 0034-0041+ (UT). SINPO: 4/4/3/3/3. Very good signal from Mr. Brownyard on the bx. Songs included "Rock Me Amadeus" at 0034. Ments of working on transmitter to improve signal. ID at 0041 (G-VG. Wood, TN) 6950U, Voice of the Purple Nucleus of Creation. Time: 0043-0046 (UT). SINPO: 3/4/2/2/2. First log of this station. "Space Music." ID at 0045 with POB 69, Elkhorn, NE 68022, USA given as address along with calls for reports with comments on programming. ID at 0046 (f-g, Wood, TN) 6950 SSB, Shadow Radio Date: 09/07/2003. Time: 0056-0103+ (UT). SINPO: 2/4/3/4/2. Excellent choice of music and programming for this show. The strength of the signal was weak, but it was very readable and clear. Songs included: "Da Do Run Run" at 0056, "Mr. Bass Man" at 0105, "One Eyed, One Horned Flying Purple Eater" at 0116, "Monster Mash" at 0118, "Witch Doctor" at 0122 and others. Comedy routines include: "Who's on First" by Abbott and Costello at 0105 and Red Skelton routines at 0125. ID's at 0058, 0112, 0122 as both "Shadow Radio" and "WSDW." Email address of the_shadow6950@hotmail.com given at 0122 (Wood, TN; all: NASWA Flashsheet via DXLD) ** U S A. FCC DELIVERS ULTIMATUM TO rfb By DANIEL BARLOW, Reformer Staff BRATTLEBORO -- Two agents from the Federal Communications Commission told radio free brattleboro on Thursday that it has 10 days to produce a license or U.S. marshals will seize the station's broadcasting equipment. Speaking through the closed door to the station's downtown studio, the FCC agents, accompanied by a Brattleboro police officer, asked station co-founder Larry Bloch to produce a license and allow agents to inspect the broadcasting equipment. Most of the conversation between Bloch, other station DJs and the FCC agents was broadcast live on the air. When station members refused to let the FCC agents into the studio for lack of a warrant, one federal agent slipped a violation notice through the door's mail slot... http://www.reformer.com/Stories/0,1413,102~8860~1612358,00.html (Reformer, Sept 5 via Artie Bigley, DXLD) INDEPENDENT BURLINGTON RADIO STATION FEELS FCC HEAT By DANIEL BARLOW , Reformer Staff BRATTLEBORO -- One day before the Federal Communications Commission gave an ultimatum to radio free brattleboro, field agents shut down a similar unlicensed station in Burlington. Two FCC agents accompanied by two officers from the Burlington Police Department shut down Free Radio Burlington last Wednesday afternoon, according to one of the station's DJs. Like rfb, FRB is an independent, unlicensed station that broadcasts at 10 watts from a house in the city. The station has been on the air for two years and covered local news and a mix of syndicated news programs. Patrick Johnson, a station DJ, said the exchange between the FCC agents and station members was civil, but agents issued a stern warning: If the station returns to the air, the agents would return with U.S. marshals. "They didn't have a warrant, but they (FCC agents) lied to us and said they didn't need one," said Johnson. A call to the FCC in Washington was not returned Tuesday. The station has approximately 30 DJs trained in broadcast, said Johnson, and broadcasts on the unused frequency of 87.9 FM. Unlike rfb, the Burlington station has never received a complaint about its broadcast bleeding into other frequencies, he added, and this was the first visit from the FCC. . . http://www.reformer.com/Stories/0,1413,102~8862~1622138,00.html (Reformer Sept 10 via Artie Bigley, DXLD) ** U S A. EX-RADIO PIRATES ENJOY WIN AGAINST FCC http://www.620ktar.com/news/article.aspx?article_id=212991&cc=012345 It's been five years since the Federal Communications Commission broke Down the door to Radio Mutiny's pirate broadcast studio in West Philadelphia and hacked apart its unlicensed antenna. Now a group led by Radio Mutiny veteran Pete Tridish has exacted revenge on their old nemesis. Last week, they persuaded a federal court to temporarily block the FCC from relaxing restrictions designed to prevent big media companies from monopolizing public airwaves. The delay will give the group, the Prometheus Radio Project, time to Argue that the new regulations decrease the public's ability to get on the air, a difficulty apparent in Philadelphia, which has no public access radio or television. The ruling also galvanized congressional opposition to the regulations, which would allow single companies to own newspapers and broadcast outlets in the same market, and let an individual TV company reach up to 45 percent of the nation's viewers. The FCC says the changes are needed to help broadcasters compete in an industry changed by cable television and the Internet. The court victory is being savored with some trepidation by the folks at Prometheus, who are battling to convince regulators that there is enough room on the nation's radio and TV dials for amateur broadcasters. "I'm always cautious about getting too excited about court victories," Tridish said. "Eventually, the weight of the system always seems to wind up catching up with you." A dose of pessimism is probably to be expected from activists who named their group after a mythological character who stole fire from the gods and gave it to man, only to be punished by eternal torture. Tridish, 33, was born in New York as Dylan Wrynn but took a pseudonym inspired by the petri dish, a container for culturing bacteria, in 1996. That was the year he became one of the founders of Radio Mutiny, a pirate station that broadcast from secret locations in West Philadelphia. Radio Mutiny didn't last long. The station had been on the air for less than a year when there was a knock on the door. "'FCC, open up,'" Tridish recalled the visitors saying. "The girl who went to the door said, 'Yeah, right,' because there were always people coming to the door and making jokes. But then she looked out, she saw some guy she didn't know and a couple of cops. She told them she wouldn't open the door unless they had a warrant, so they went away." After a few months of political theater, and a protest in which pirate disk jockeys broadcast live from Independence Mall, the FCC got a court order, broke down the station's door and shut it down. After that, Tridish said, he put his pirate days behind him and helped Found Prometheus, a nonprofit group run from an office beneath the Calvary United Methodist Church that is trying to help hundreds of low-power FM stations set up legally around the country. In the past two years, Prometheus has had some success, mostly in rural areas underserved by commercial broadcasters. Last year the group helped build KOCZ 103.7 FM in Opelousas, La., a 100-watt station that plays zydeco music, does some local news and is owned by a civil rights group. It had another successful radio "barn raising" in Anne Arundel County, Md., where it helped found WRYR 97.5 FM. Another station start is planned this autumn in Spokane, Wash. Prometheus staffer Hannah Sassaman, 23, said the startups may be unpolished, but are a relief from a fast-consolidating industry (one giant player, Clear Channel, already owns 1,200 stations) in which she believes it is difficult for people with different viewpoints to get their opinions on the air. "They need to be curtailed in how far they can spread their arms over the countryside," Sassaman said. "It will change the way broadcasting sounds in America if it is all centralized out of the big cities." FCC officials said the ownership rules blocked by Prometheus' suit would do nothing to increase the likelihood that a radio market would become dominated by just a few big companies. FCC spokeswoman Michelle Russo said a series of other rule changes have recently expanded the number of licenses for lower-power FM stations. Prometheus' claims were also rejected by the National Association of Broadcasters. "We don't buy into their claim that radio has somehow lost its local flavor. The reality is that the most successful stations today are highly committed to serving their local audiences," said the association's senior vice president, Dennis Wharton. He said close to 4,000 companies own radio stations, and, while the industry has seen a proliferation of stations specializing in formats unavailable a few decades ago, including Spanish-language broadcasting and business news, it's still the most community-oriented of any mass media. "We're still where you turn for announcements about school closings," Wharton said. ___ On the Net: Prometheus Radio Project: http://www.prometheusradio.org/ Federal Communications Commission: http://www.fcc.gov/ (AP via Mike Terry, Mike Cooper, DXLD) ** U S A. WNYC TEST SIGNALS A POTENTIAL REVOLUTION David Hinckley`s column in the NY Daily News Sept 3 said that IBOC tests were ``to be conducted next week`` on WNYC, plus the usual hype about HD Radio, allowing stations to split their signals, etc. Never got around to making clear whether this involves WNYC AM (800-810-820- 830-840 kHz) and/or FM 93.9 +\-. What`s the buzz among New Yorkers and tri-staters? Thanks to Bob Thomas, CT, for the clipping (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. ATLANTA'S WABE WALKS THE CLASSICAL RADIO TIGHTROPE Pierre Ruhe, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution - 8 September 2003 In most American cities, classical music is quietly fading off the radio airwaves. A decade ago, 312 stations beamed Bach, Beethoven and Brahms across the land; today, just half that number play classical music. Many of the survivors restrict it to evenings or weekends, when fewer people listen. Among nonprofit public radio stations, the current battle pits classical music against the news-talk-information juggernaut - and the soft-voiced classics are having an increasingly hard time being heard. The choice has come down to this: Do you want to hear more newsy chatter or more Vivaldi and Mozart? In Atlanta, WABE-FM (90.1) has suffered some erosion of its weekday classical broadcasts in recent years, boosting its news-talk lineup an hour here, an hour there. But Program Director Lois Reitzes declares, "I feel mission-driven to include classical music in WABE's programming. We're one of the only places left." Owned by the Atlanta Board of Education, WABE is managed by a mostly hands-off community board of educators. A big part of its mission is "public service." Yet that notion is only vaguely defined. Reitzes says it gives her autonomy for major programming decisions, with each announcer creating playlists based on a month-by-month framework. As a result, you hear the most popular works, such as Gershwin's Rhapsody in Blue or Beethoven's Fifth Symphony, about once a month on WABE. Dubious focus-group research has dictated that weekday hours are divided according to moods - based on how listeners "use" radio. This basic formatting philosophy holds true not just at WABE but at most classical radio stations in America. No one, it seems, sits and listens to the radio anymore. Radio is now a companion to some other activity, and needs to be adjusted to fit our lifestyles. Thus, short, mostly peppy music fills WABE's mornings. Coming on at 9 a.m., just after NPR's Morning Edition, Reitzes' unique sound and on- air manner are an Atlanta landmark. In breathy, low tones, she's part seductive vamp, part prim music-appreciation instructor, slowly ar- tic-u-lat-ing every syllable. As she modulates her speech, her voice gets drier and more crackly in higher ranges. It's an unusual, memorable voice that tends to polarize listeners. Hewing to the formula, the afternoon guy, John Lemley, gets to play more substantive works: full Mozartean symphonies and romantic tone poems. Like Reitzes, Lemley can sometimes sound really eager to make friends with the listener, but his square, schoolboyish voice is pleasant to hear, and he has good background knowledge and pronunciation. (Even in major markets, some announcers mispronounce foreign words and seem out of their depth.) News and talk programs run from 3 to 8 p.m. - Fresh Air, NPR news and various info-entertainment shows - and debate over expanding this chunk of the radio day is the hottest battleground in the music-vs.- talk war. WABE's evening hours, hosted by Robert Hubert, are the time for longer or darker music. Here's where you'll find an emotionally turbulent Mahler symphony. Hubert's cavernous bass voice and solemn delivery make him sound like a Russian Orthodox priest, without the accent. Bucking the trends While the mix of music is par for the national radio course - there's no contemporary music to speak of - WABE bucks a few national radio trends. Vocal music is permitted, usually with an occasional opera aria. Not long ago, Reitzes broadcast a 20-minute excerpt from Puccini's La Bohème. For weekday morning radio, it was a shocking statement of independence. Complete opera performances - in the form of Saturday-afternoon broadcasts from New York's Metropolitan Opera or, in the off-season, WABE's in-house "The Opera With Arnold Rosenberg" - are, for many listeners, an essential part of the week. Yet even the mighty Met, in live broadcasts since 1931, has come under fire at some public radio stations. Atlanta fans will be reassured by WABE's position: "As long as it's available, we'll take it,'' says Reitzes of the Met broadcasts. "For that I am considered very quaint by some of my colleagues in other cities. But I don't feel we have an alternative to having the Met in Atlanta." So while the classics seem safe at WABE - in Reitzes' hands, at least - there's still a general anxiety in the classical music radio business. Some noncommercial public stations, such as Philadelphia's WHYY and New York's WNYC, have gutted classical programming to make room for popular NPR talk and news shows. "It's not been proven that news/talk raises more money," Reitzes says. "That's the judgment call of the program director." 'Dumbing down' It's no secret that the value of culture in America has long been measured in dollars. While Atlanta doesn't have a commercial classical station, for-profit stations nationwide have been moving away from the serious broadcasting of classical music. A decade ago, of the 312 classical stations nationwide, 45 were commercial; the number of for- profit classical stations has dropped to 32. It's all about the money. Tom Taylor, editor of Inside Radio , a trade publication, notes that among defunct commercial classical stations, "the losses have tended to be in the really large markets, where those FM facilities are worth a lot of greenbacks." He cites several once- classical stations that changed ownership and were switched to pop, including Philadelphia's WFLN, Detroit's WQRS and Miami's WTMI. Then there's the "dumbing down" complaint. Washington's commercial WGMS, the most listened-to classical station in the country, finds success with whipped-cream disc jockeys who serve up excerpts from light classics, film music and perky overtures. In the industry, they call this sort of nondescript music by a pejorative term: "wallpaper." Public radio, following the commercial lead, adopted similar "lite" strategies to attract daytime audiences. But there's an obvious paradox. "The more it sounds like background, the less people will be committed to your station," warns Melinda Whiting, a New York-based radio announcer and editor of Symphony magazine. "After all, you're encouraging them to not pay attention to it; then you ask them to pay for it at fund-raising time. It's a Catch-22. If your strategy is to be as uninteresting as possible, how can you ask for support?" Still, Reitzes concedes, there's no formula for success - or even a working definition of what success means. "It's a dilemma for [radio] programming: This isn't a classroom and it's not a concert hall. We need to please as many listeners as possible while still accomplishing our mission of public service." Again, that ill-defined notion of public service is a moving target. At a May 1 WABE board meeting, open to the public, "some earnest and well-meaning people stood and said they wished to hear [NPR's] The Diane Rehm Show and Talk of the Nation because there's no other place on radio for intelligent talk," Reitzes recalls, adding that the board later stated its support for the current format. Reitzes winces as she relates another suggestion: "Someone else said we should carry more talk radio, and his argument was that if people wanted to hear music ... they could buy CDs." A less draconian solution would involve the other regional public radio service that offers a mixture of classical programming and news/talk. Georgia Public Radio, owned by the state, broadcasts across Georgia. By licensing agreement, however, the GPR signal is barred from overlapping with WABE's - although a few homes in metro Atlanta receive both. In an ideal Atlanta, the ban would be lifted, WABE would boost its classical content and GPR would move heavily into news/talk. But neither organization, at the moment, seems interested in changing the status quo. Public consciousness Many classical music radio fans continue to feel frustrated and embattled. "It's a lot more layered than 'Oh, people don't like classical music anymore,' " says Whiting, the magazine editor. "Classical radio makes money and has more listeners now than it did 30 years ago. It's just that classical can't draw the numbers that the megaconglomerates, such as Clear Channel, generate. And that mind-set trickles down to the public stations." Obviously, WABE plays to different markers of success than commercial stations do. Giant conglomerates such as Clear Channel - which owns more than 1,200 stations nationally (none of them classical), including WKLS-FM (96rock) and five others in Atlanta - are not wrestling with ideals of "public service." But beyond the debate over musical diet - thoughtful programming vs. wallpaper - some people worry that without the free and easy access provided by radio, classical music will recede even faster from the public consciousness. "A classical radio station is vital to the Atlanta Opera," says Greg Patterson, the opera's director of external affairs. "The Saturday Met broadcasts are so important to build awareness for the art form, and good for the health of the opera." Admirably, WABE regularly spins Atlanta Symphony Orchestra recordings and often broadcasts live performances from the ASO and Spivey Hall. It helps build a sense of community among Atlanta audiences and musicians. Among the groups that have felt the power of a local classical station is the all-volunteer ASO Chorus. "The minute Lois mentioned our audition announcement, the phone literally started ringing," says Choral Administrator Jeffrey Baxter. "I told her, 'We'd never have a chorus if you didn't sing our praises over the air.' " For her part, Reitzes is holding the line, determined to keep classical music prominent on Atlanta radio. "Some people," she allows, "might think I'm a fascist in my devotion to classical music." Staff writer Rodney Ho contributed to this article. Copyright 2003 The Atlanta Journal-Constitution (via Andante via Artie Bigley, DXLD) See also NETHERLANDS ** URUGUAY? Dear Mark: I find your LA SW logs quite useful. I wonder if it is possible that I have picked up: 9620.85 URUGUAY CXA6 SODRE, Montevideo [0804-2230](19.60-20.9) Aug 03 B (skd) 24 hrs, 150 watts (r)AM650 CX6 (pasted from your list). It was barely discernible above the noise, playing lush string/piano music of the pop "beautiful music" format, and for about 30 seconds or so, around 0638, was perfectly clear. I did not hear an ID or voice announcement at that time, but around 0641 I could hear faintly a female voice: language undiscernible. Heard on Icom R75, using 350 foot dipole antenna, in San José, California. If I did hear this station -- which I found to be at 9620.6 to 9620.7 as closely as I could tell by zero-beating -- it was slightly higher in frequency than the report given in your log; the ILG Radio database rounds it off to 9620. I believe that I did not pick up CN2 Beijing 2 at 9620, because the female voice did not sound like she was speaking Chinese; the pitch and speed of speaking was much lower and more deliberate than most Chinese that I hear from Beijing, though I don't myself speak that language. If I did get SODRE, it will certainly be the weakest station at the furthest distance I've ever heard, save a few 100 W Hams that I have picked up from time to time (Steve Waldee - retired broadcast station engineer, to Mark Mohrmann, cc to DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** VENEZUELA [non]. Aló Presidente, este domingo 07-09, a las 1750 UT, en 17750, 13750, 13680, 11670 y 11875 kHz. Chávez criticaba la actitud intervencionista del "establishment" estadounidense durante la última mitad del pasado siglo, al recordar el 30 aniversario del asesinato del presidente chileno Salvador Allende (Adán González, Catia La Mar, VENEZUELA, DX LISTENING DIGEST) see also CHILE ** YEMEN. IEMEN, 5990, 02/09 0332, Rádio Yemen, Sanaa, música árabe com instrumentos de cordas, locutora em árabe; emissão em paralelo com 9780 kHz, 34333 (Alberto Irigoy, Buenos Aires, Argentina, @tividade DX via DXLD) ** ZANZIBAR. Radio Tanzania Zanzibar making a good appearance here this afternoon with their 10 minute English broadcast on 11734.1 at 1800-1810. September 8, 2003 (Steve Lare, Holland, MI, DX LISTENING DIGEST) UNIDENTIFIED. 4830. A signal with S5-8 but low and bassy audio. Heard between 1625 and 1658 with many tune ins and testing with NES 10-2 digital canceller. Reception was as 33221. Programming as heard was lengthy talks by OM in unID language, 1635 with a multi vocal song that does not have any relationship with Indian music culture as ILG or other logs stated for today (Zacharias Liangas, 8.9.03, Retziki, Greece, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Maybe Thailand is back? Not sure how late they used to run but midnight there is 1700 UT (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) UNIDENTIFIED. Armónico de la BBC en los 5200.46 kHz, captado a las 0018 UT, el 07-09 y el 08-09. SINPO 2-2. Lo extraño es que la única frecuencia de la cual pueda venir este armónico descendente es la de 15600 kHz (5200 x 3) y dudo mucho de que la BBC use esa frecuencia durante estas horas (Adán González, Catia La Mar, VENEZUELA, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 1/3 harmonics are unknown; possibly instead the 4th harmonic of some Caribbean station on 1300 relaying BBC (gh) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ RECEIVER NEWS +++++++++++++ SHORTWAVE RADIOS ADVERTISED BY J&R For those who want some good news about shortwave for a change, J&R Music World in NYC features three shortwave receivers right smack dab in the middle of its ad in The New York Times this past Sunday, on page 36 of the Arts and Leisure section (back page of the first part of a three part special section on the autumn arts season). The three receivers are portables: the Grundig YB400PE, the Sony ICF-SW7600GR and the Sangean ATS818ACS. So, there's still life in the old girl yet --- and in the US, no less (John Figliozzi, Sept 9, swprograms via DXLD) GLOBAL ACCESS RADIO READY FOR MARKET MINNEAPOLIS, MN. -- (MARKET WIRE) -- 09/09/2003 -- NBS Radio Corporation announced today the release of the Global Access Radio, the first tabletop radio able to access international Shortwave radio via Internet streaming audio. The Global Access Radio is the first stand-alone device that lets listeners tune into radio stations via Internet broadcasts around the world. Until now, people who wanted to listen to broadcasts outside the limited reach of AM/FM radios were limited to Shortwave radios or computer-connected systems. The Global Access Radio removes those barriers and puts literally hundreds of worldwide Shortwave and Internet-based stations -- from news, talk shows, and sports broadcasts, to music -- at the touch of a button. "The Global Access Radio represents a unique breakthrough in radio technology, providing the variety and breadth of Internet radio with the ease of use of a standard radio format," said Walter Fields, President of NBS Radio Corporation. The Global Access Radio has the familiar controls of a traditional radio: tuning, volume, favorite-channel preset buttons, headphone jack, as well as high-quality, self-contained stereo speakers. It also provides a full text display that makes it easy to select programs and setup personal preferences. The Global Access Radio features an internal station database that is automatically updated. With patents and copyrights pending, the Global Access Radio uses computer technology for audio stream management. Any level of Internet connectivity is supported -- by standard telephone line, Ethernet or Wi-Fi standard IEEE802.11. Users need only an Internet service provider (ISP). NBS Radio Corporation is a division of NBS Cables, Inc., a world leader in high-end audio products. Founded in 1989, NBS Cables is a privately held company headquartered in Minnesota. Thomas J. McGoldrick Director NBS Radio Corporation (952) 334-2897 nbscable@nbscables.com Picture at: http://www.marketwire.com/mw/release_html_b1?release_id=57232 73 (via Kim Elliott, DXLD) I came across this press release today for this gizmo. http://www.marketwire.com/mw/release_html_b1?release_id=57232 Don't know if this will take off but the display panel on the radio is hillarious... GO TO: http://www.nbsradio.com/ I could not help but wonder if the US Interest Section in Habana will be giving these out with next years 4th of July goodie bags. It looks like Radio Marti is the new posterboy for readout displays instead of the usual VOA and BBC (Ulis R. Fleming, swprograms via DXLD) This toy looks exactly like a lot of the high-end audio gear you see reviewed and advertised in magazines like Stereophile and The Absolute Sound. I still look at this stuff, but I was an audiophile back when you could buy interesting equipment for less than your house cost... :-) I did not see an estimated retail price listed, but I suppose, being really a piece of computer equipment, if it becomes a real product, it'll eventually cost next to nothing. I suppose the styling is to encourage people to put it in their audio-equipment rack (Will Martin, MO, ibid.) PUBLICATIONS ++++++++++++ This sounds like it could be an interesting book. 73- (Bill Westenhaver, DX LISTENING DIGEST) A COMPELLING LOOK INTO 'MARCONI'S MAGIC BOX' "Nowadays, radio seems like a poor relation of satellite TV or the Internet. But a little more than 100 years ago, the idea of sending signals through the air -- without wires -- would have seemed magical to most people. The magic became real in London in May 1896 when a 22-year-old inventor named Guglielmo Marconi gave the first public demonstration of radio technology. He started a revolution, and the excitement of these early days of radio is wonderfully caught in a new book by Gavin Weightman, " To see this recommendation, click on the link below or cut and paste it into a Web browser: http://www.boston.com:80/news/globe/health_science/articles/2003/09/09/a_compelling_look_into_marconis_magic_box (Boston.com 2003/09/09 via Bill Westenhaver, DXLD) CONVENTIONS & CONFERENCES +++++++++++++++++++++++++ NRC DALLAS 2003 We were lucky to have Wally's familiarity with local broadcasting and media-related figures in the area to call on for this year's convention. We were able to see for ourselves at least five of the most elegant and professional facilities in the nation. And I would like to hear from anyone who took the tours that did not gain some insight on what a 'big-league' facility looks like. Now we know where Mickey resides. Our Saturday afternoon tour of the KRLD studios at the Ballpark in Arlington drew many raves, and as our group gathered around during a live news update including traffic and weather, some of us were holding our breath to be quiet. Our host, Eric Disen, Director of Engineering, was most gracious and honest with some very technical questions. Later he told me it was like speaking to a group of his peers. I don't think any convention can satisfy everyone, no matter how hard the hosts try. There will always be a few who complain or come away asking 'why didn't we go here or there'. To remedy that, just let the hosts know what you'd like to see after the location has been announced to give them as much time to work on the request. Then, after the line-up of tours has been announced and you don't see your 'wants' on the list, no one is twisting your arm to attend. But if you do, you can always set out on your own to visit where you want. But you can't take away the camaraderie felt when folks are gathered around swapping stories or relating DX experiences. And as Wally has already said, 'we are like a family'. My thoughts, (BILL in Fort Worth Hale, Sept 7, NRC-AM via DXLD) PROPAGATION +++++++++++ FORECAST OF SOLAR AND GEOMAGNETIC ACTIVITY 10 SEPTEMBER - 06 OCTOBER Solar activity is expected to range from very low to low levels during the period. No greater than 10 MeV proton events at geosynchronous orbit are expected during the period. The greater than 2 MeV electron flux at geosynchronous orbit is expected to reach high levels on 10 - 11 September, 20 - 23 September and again on 02 - 05 October. The geomagnetic field is expected to range from quiet to major storm levels during the period. Minor storm levels are possible on 10 September due to effects from the CME on 7 September. A large coronal hole high speed flow is expected to return on 17 - 20 September with major storm levels possible. Another coronal hole is due to return on 01 - 03 October and is expected to produce mostly active conditions with isolated minor storm levels possible. :Product: 27-day Space Weather Outlook Table 27DO.txt :Issued: 2003 Sep 09 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 2003 Sep 09 # # UTC Radio Flux Planetary Largest # Date 10.7 cm A Index Kp Index 2003 Sep 10 100 20 4 2003 Sep 11 100 20 4 2003 Sep 12 105 15 3 2003 Sep 13 110 15 3 2003 Sep 14 115 15 3 2003 Sep 15 115 15 3 2003 Sep 16 115 15 3 2003 Sep 17 120 35 6 2003 Sep 18 120 30 5 2003 Sep 19 120 30 5 2003 Sep 20 118 25 5 2003 Sep 21 118 20 4 2003 Sep 22 118 15 3 2003 Sep 23 120 12 3 2003 Sep 24 120 12 3 2003 Sep 25 115 12 3 2003 Sep 26 115 12 3 2003 Sep 27 110 10 3 2003 Sep 28 110 15 3 2003 Sep 29 110 15 3 2003 Sep 30 110 20 4 2003 Oct 01 110 20 4 2003 Oct 02 110 15 3 2003 Oct 03 105 12 3 2003 Oct 04 105 10 3 2003 Oct 05 100 10 3 2003 Oct 06 100 10 3 (from http://www.sec.noaa.gov/radio via DXLD) ### |||||||||||| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||| DX LISTENING DIGEST 3-161, September 7, 2003 edited by Glenn Hauser 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 later at http://www.worldofradio.com/dxldtd3i.html For restrixions and searchable 2003 contents archive see http://www.worldofradio.com/dxldmid.html NOTE: If you are a regular reader of DXLD, and a source of DX news but have not been sending it directly to us, please consider yourself obligated to do so. Thanks, Glenn NEXT AIRINGS OF WORLD OF RADIO 1198: RFPI: Wed 0100, 0730, 1330 on 7445 [nominal times subject to delay or pre-emption] WWCR: Wed 0930 on 9475 WINB: Thu 0130 9320 WRN ONDEMAND: http://new.wrn.org/listeners/stations/station.php?StationID=24 OUR ONDEMAND AUDIO [also for CONTINENT OF MEDIA, MUNDO RADIAL]: Check http://www.worldofradio.com/audiomid.html [High] (Download) http://www.k4cc.net/wor1198h.rm (Stream) http://www.k4cc.net/wor1198h.ram (Summary) http://www.worldofradio.com/wor1198.html [Low] (Download) http://www.k4cc.net/wor1198.rm (Stream) http://www.k4cc.net/wor1198.ram IMPORTANT NOTE: This is an abbreviated issue, due to computer problems. It may be a while before we are back up and running with another issue. Our main website http://www.worldofradio.com may not be updated for a while. Our other site http://www.angelfire.com/ok/worldofradio will provide new info and links via the Anomaly Alert at the top of the opening page. Furthermore, DXLD 3-160 was prepared but in limbo on an inaccessible hard drive; a number of direct contributions are in it and at present not retrievable. Those whose items since DXLD 3-159 are missing from this issue are invited to resend them for possible eventual use. However, most of our E-mail accounts will probably be full more often that not during this period (Glenn) ** ANTIGUA. I was listening last night (Mountain Time) and picked up a couple of interesting stations. When I did the research, I came up with a couple of "discrepancies." Any explanation would be appreciated. Sat AM 9/6 0508 UT on 6195 --- "ragtime piano" followed by German female announcer, heard her say "Deutsche Welle." When I checked EIBI, I came up with the BBC: I did not see any listing for DW at that time, so was I listening to a German broadcast from the BBC, and if so, why did the announcer say "Deutsche Welle"??? Very clear reception (Gloria R. Lalumia, NM, via Wolfgang Büschel, DX LISTENING DIGEST) MY GUESS: I think that's coming from common BBC/DW Antigua relay site. BBCWS English via Antigua ended at 0500 UT on 5975. BUT starts again service on 6195 kHz at 1000 UT. At the end of the previous broadcast the transmitter staff usually switches the unit and antenna tuner matrix automatically to the next frequency; this has been done PROBABLY around 0508 UT. And at 5-6 UT DW German program is using Antigua too, on 6075 kHz, so the German language feed is available there (Wolfgang Büschel, Germany, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ARGENTINA. 11710 kHz, RAE, Buenos Aires, from 0203 UT in English, SINPO 32333, announcing schedules, various mailing and e-mail addresses (given in rapid fire amateur phonetics rivaling Glenn Hauser rattling off frequencies). Also mentioned to enclose 3 IRCs for return postage with reports, and not to send cash. Into program of tango music, and largely economic news of Argentina. Three time pips at 0230 (Roger Chambers, Utica, NY, Drake SW8 with whip antenna, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** BRAZIL. 11780, Rádio Nacional, from 0158 in Portuguese, with Portuguese Pop, ID at 0200, into "Nacional Informa." SINPO 43444, strongly dominating Radio Cairo which faded up briefly underneath in unknown language (Roger Chambers, Utica, NY Drake SW8 with whip antenna, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** BRAZIL. 6069.62, unID Brasil, Sept 2003, 0010 UT. Religious program // with Radio Tupi 6060.18v and 11765.03 kHz (Björn Malm, Quito, Ecuador, translated by SWB-editor Thomas Nilsson for DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** BRAZIL. 9665.04, R. Marumby, 2342 Remote by M w/background noise and ment of Brasil. Canned anmnt. ZY Pop song. Quick anmnt by studio M, then beginning of ZY C&W song and immediately back to the remote. More ZY Pop mx. 2357 what sounded like a canned ID. Live studio M anncr w/ment of Marumby, Brasil, metropolitana, Francisco de Lima. Another canned anmnt similar to ID anmnt earlier, into soft ZY song. 0003 "Marumby" jingle; 6-7 Sept (Dave Valko, Dunlo PA, Cumbre DX via DXLD) So 9665 remains shared between this and RNB depending on time (gh) ** COSTA RICA. 11868.6v, University Network (presumed), 7 Sept 0004. Definitely English preaching, possibly Dr. Gene Scott, but it wasn't as fanatical. For some reason, I didn't check for // (Dave Valko, PA, Cumbre DX via DXLD) ** CUBA. CUBAN AM STATIONS AUDIBLE IN SOUTHWEST FLORIDA - DAYTIME By "El Comentario" Paul V. Zecchino These are currently active, regularly heard stations, hopefully this list may prove of some use to DX'ers in the northern regions. From reliable sources as corroborated by direct observation. R. Progreso: 627.5 Progreso 640 spur; 640 Guanabacoa, Habana; 652.5 Progreso 640 spur; 660 Santa Clara; 690 Jovellanos; 700 Baracoa; 730 La Fé, Isla de Juventud; 740 Camagüey (Sagua de Tanamo); 750 Cienfuegos; 800 Pinar del Río (probable or Bahía Honda); 820 Ciego de Avila; 850 Mayarí Arriba; 870 Sancti Spíritus; 880 Pinar del Río; 890 Santa Clara; 900 Cacocum (more often heard after sunset). R. Rebelde: 540 Sancti Spíritus; 550 Pinar del Río; 560 Ciego de Avila; 580 Mantua, Pinar del Río; 600 Urbano Noris, Holguín; 610 Bahía Honda (night); 620 Colón, Matanzas; 670 Arroyo Arenas; 680 Ciego de Avila; 710 Matanzas; 760 Cienfuegos (night - intermittent). Doblevé: 840 Santa Clara; 1290 La Pastora, Habana; 1310 Sagua la Grande. R. Enciclopedia: 1260 Habana; 1270 Torriente; 1310 (reported by T. "Kilowatt" Krueger) probable location Habana; 1560 (night only) Ciego de Avila; 1570 (night, rare, sometimes 1572.0) location unknown, has been heard personally and by others. R. Musical: 590 La Julia, Habana; 1030 La Palma, Pinar del Río; 1400 Matanzas. R. Cadena: 1080, Güines; 1090 San Antonio de los Baños; 1100 La Salud, Habana; 1120 Artemísa, Habana. R. Guamá: 990 La Palma, Pinar del Río; 1000 Matahambre; 1020 Bahía Honda; 1030 La Palma, Pinar del Río. R. Reloj: 760 Habana; 790 Pinar del Río; 830 Holguín; 850 Nueva Gerona, Isla de Juventud; 870 Ciudad Sancti Spíritus; 910 Bolondrón, Matanzas; 920 Unión de Reyes, Matanzas; 930 Ciego de Avila; 940 Colón, Matanzas; 950 Arroyo Arenas, Habana; 960 Guantánamo (night only); 1270 Camagüey (nights). R. Metropolitana: 910 Habana. Radio COCO: 980 Habana. R. Sancti Spíritus: 1210 Ciudad Sancti Spíritus. R. Jaruco: 1330 Artemísa, Habana; 1390 Jaruco, Habana. R. Ciudad Bandera: 1470 Cárdenas; sometimes simo with 1140 Habana. Also, 1180 is still at least one if not two Rebelde outlets battling endlessly with R. Martí, a complete mess as heard on the shores of this wretchedly paradisaic strip of silicon granules. There are some very low power outlets - for another time - this unworthy scribe is still fondly searching the dials in hope of yet again hearing Radio Entronque Antimperialista's message of love, hope, abundance of happiness in the paradise of the workers. And yes, Radio Sandino is still audible from cruise ships plying the Yucatán Channel every day, right there on 650.00 kHz, yet another stellar achievement in command economy precision unattainable in imperialist circles. An alert from Messrs. Krueger and Crawford concerning new signals on 1060 from Cuba prompted inquiry and discovery. R.Veinte Seis can no longer be heard locally on 1220, 1230, and 1240 above the dogmatic din of Yanqui Imperialist stations broadcasting the lunacies of Limbaugh, the Anti-Hegelian Heresies of Hannity, and O'Reilly's Rightwing rabid running dog rantings. Líder Máximo has devised a solution! Now R. Veintiséis "Radio 26" graces south Florida on 1060 with the voice of truth, freedom, and prosperity. Signal at this location is strong even with local stink bomb on 1070! ID every half hour is YL giving frecuencias. Bearings are 165-170 degrees, consistent with other R.26 outlets. Always newness of joy where Máximo Líder is concerned, fine upbuilding snappy tunes by which to starve (Paul V. Zecchino, Englewood FL; DX-398, R-390's, R-388's, AntiCapitali'ta ICF-2010, long wires and loops, NRC IDXD Sept 5 via DXLD) ** DOMINICAN REPUBLIC. 5009.79, Radio Pueblo, Santo Domingo, 2320- 0005, Sept 4, Spanish. String of musical ad jingles at tune-in of fair signal quality. "Canned" public service announcements to evening comunicados, closing with mentions of Radio Pueblo. Signal improved during male announcers extended station ID at 2330, including full ID, frequency/meter band and mention of transmitting from Santo Domingo, followed by upcoming program info, ending with echo "ésta es Radio Pueblo". "Canned" ID repeated with station promo at 2331 into merengue music. Signal up to 44344 by 2335. Several tunes of vocal and instrumental merengue music. Time check at 2340 into more music program which lasted to 2352. ID repeated into music up to 0000. More of same format including IDs. Great station to log and hopefully verify (Gayle Van Horn, Brasstown NC, Cumbre DX via DXLD) ** GERMANY. 3/9 0330 UT had a station speaking German giving ID as "Deutschlandfunk" on 6190.02 kHz. I have never heard German on that frequency here in Quito before (Björn Malm, Ecuador, via Wolfgang Büschel, DXLD) 6190.02 is Berlin Britz (former RIAS/VoA Berlin transmitter unit from 1951-1980), now 17 kW ONLY. I think, in September the path is open for 49 mb propagation from Germany to South America (Wolfgang Büschel, BC- DX WWDXC TopNews Sept 7 via DXLD) ** GUATEMALA. Hi Glenn, For the last three nights, Radio Buenas Nuevas 4799.7, San Sebastián, has been coming in at a readable level. 9/3/03 0202 - 0305+ SINPO 33333; Brief instrumental version of "The old rugged cross" hymn to M Announcer, QRM from a "sweeper" signal throughout. 9/4/03 0032 - 0215+ SINPO 22332 M with long talk until 0100, band dance music with good ID at 0108. 0040-0101 the signal was nearly obliterated by a digital RTTY like signal and "sweeper" until about 0102. 9/5/03 0233 - 0237 fade out, SINPO 34333, talk by F (Mark Taylor, Madison, WI, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** HONDURAS. 3340, Radio Misiones Internacional, (Tentative) 0035- 0045, Sept. 5, Spanish. Not positive on this one as no discernable ID heard. Lady's religious music vocals at tune-in to brief Spanish text sounding like a devotional. Upbeat vocals followed, with fair quality despite signal fading. SINPO 33433. Promotional style format at 0043, but just too buried to copy. Plan to recheck tonight (Gayle Van Horn, Brasstown NC, Cumbre DX via DXLD) ** IRAQ. UNESCO AFFIRMS NEED FOR A PUBLIC SERVICE BROADCASTER | Text of press release from UNESCO web site dated 2 September Iraq needs a real public service oriented broadcaster that can provide the population with credible news. This is one of the results of a joint UN and World Bank needs assessment mission to Iraq in August, in which UNESCO was represented by Christina Dahlman. "The need for assistance is urgent", she says. "First of all, there is an immediate need for humanitarian information and for professional training of the Iraqi media professionals, who for many years have been used to reporting only on direct orders. But there is also a more long-term need for developing a real public service oriented broadcaster, that can provide the whole of the Iraqi population with credible news about the developments in their country," Dahlman observes. The mission also identified the need for Media Centres to ensure capacity building of Iraqi media professionals. UNESCO, together with other UN agencies, is now preparing the final report of the mission, and in a donors' meeting in Madrid in late October decisions will be taken on eventual follow-up. Source: UNESCO press release, Paris, in English 2 Sep 03 (via BBCM via DXLD) Obviously ** ISRAEL. LOSING OUR VOICE By Hilary Leila Krieger, Jerusalem Post Sep. 4, 2003 http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=JPost/A/JPArticle/ShowFull%26cid=1062646044394 English-language radio broadcasts were put on the chopping block last month. Is this a case of the government cutting off its nose to spite its face? The English Voice of Israel's report on the first day of school is proceeding as smoothly as news reader Reuven David Miller's silky voice, but the editor who put together the broadcast is agitated. "We should be going out to schools and talking to people - I would love to have children's voices," he says. "But for 10 minutes of news, how much can you do?" Last month, the Israel Broadcasting Authority lopped a third of the airtime off his midday show and reduced the evening broadcast from 15 minutes to five before public outcry prompted Communications Minister Ehud Olmert to reinstate the latter show. The changes cap off a decade of program slashing and budget axing that has turned what was once three hours daily of news, commentary, cultural programming, and high-profile interviews into 40 minutes of pared down news reports. Several thousand kilometers away in England, Jeff Cohen has noticed the difference. He remembers the era when VOI could afford to cover stories outside the capital. "Now they're just in Jerusalem struggling with a few people, and the product is much poorer than it used to be." The co-owner of World Radio Network, which distributes radio programming internationally, Cohen sees the recent moves as part of a long pattern of neglect on the part of the IBA. "It appears the English department is just very overlooked. They're the poor relative in the organization. Nobody seems to champion them. They [IBA officials] are not sensitive to the home audience or the international audience." Cohen is not the only one questioning why Israel chooses to squander what could be an effective weapon in its information war arsenal. However, critics contend the project doesn't significantly advance Israel's cause, while even many supporters of the program feel it doesn't deserve to be spared the scalpel when budgets everywhere are being lobotomized. Either way, Israel is missing out on the global trend of increasing English information dissemination when it scales back rather than boosts VOI programming, according to Cohen. He points out that the interest in international English broadcasting is particularly keen in Arab countries. Egypt has recently greatly increased the quality and quantity of its service. Al-Jazeera TV, which recently launched an English Web site, is considering an English TV affiliate. Already Radio Jordan's hourly bulletins provide more frequent news in English than Israel does. Whereas other international news organizations schedule broadcasts with an eye to the international market, Israel's timing could hardly be worse: the 7:00 a.m. show, for starters, hits England at 5:00 a.m. and New York just after midnight, missing both major markets. And while most other large state broadcasters - from China to Slovakia - buy radio hours in foreign countries through WRN to distribute their shows to targeted international audiences, Israel isn't willing to pay for the service. Even so, Cohen estimates hundreds of thousands of listeners hear VOI in English each day through his company's network - in his eyes a boon to Israel's public relations efforts. "We're definitely about hasbara, though nobody will say it out loud," acknowledges the English VOI editor, who spoke on condition of anonymity since the IBA refused to let any of its employees talk to The Jerusalem Post. "We're about information and news. We're not propaganda, but part of hasbara is knowledge and knowing what's going on," in this case from the Israeli perspective. ANDREA LEVIN, executive director of the US-based CAMERA, which combats media bias against Israel, appreciates the help the program gives her organization. "It's better to have lots and lots of streams of solid information. There's certainly a lot of the other kind out there, and people look to this (VOI) as an authentic voice," she says. Noting the big influence radio has in car-bound Americans' lives, she says, "The generally diminishing [English] radio is kind of mystifying because of the general concern over the battleground of ideas. This is the place Israel can take the microphone and not be at the mercy of some other filter. I think it's unfortunate and I hope it can be revived." But critics aren't in mourning. "The argument that the IBA English service provides a crucial hasbara benefit doesn't persuade me. For the most part it preaches to the converted. Unlike, say, the Voice of America, or even the IBA's Farsi service, it does not serve a vital national security interest. If Israel wants to improve its public relations, it needs more able spokesmen presenting Israel's case on CNN and in the op-ed pages around the world," says Post editor-in-chief, Bret Stephens. Gadi Wolfsfeld, professor of communications and political science at the Hebrew University, says that international propaganda efforts have not typically been very productive. "The things that are really going to have an effect are getting better information to CNN or the BBC," he says. Bar-Ilan Prof. Sam Lehman-Wilzig, head of the public communications program in the political studies department, agrees that the impact of such state-sponsored radio on the attitudes of the general public is limited in countries with a free press. "Normally a person will tend to believe his own national media more than anything coming from overseas," he says. But the state-sponsored medium, if perceived as "balanced, straightforward, and honest" in its reporting, can have a great affect on oppressed populations whose own media is not free, he says, hence the increasing volume of Voice of America broadcasts to Arab countries in the wake of September 11. In terms of Israel, however, he contends "it's pretty much a waste of money" to try to use the VOI in English to affect the general Western population, since that population usually takes little interest in international affairs. But he can identify some instances where the radio service might be helpful. For instance, it provides another perspective for influencing editorial writers and for drawing away listeners when an established media outlet's stock falls, such as is currently happening to the BBC. To Lehman-Wilzig, the real benefit of VOI programming is its significance to Diaspora Jewry, as "ammunition to argue with the general population," as a way to stay close to Israel, and as a means for easing some of the frustration that comes from seeing Israel constantly beaten up in the local press. "It's a psychological feeling that they're being attacked and they want to feel like they're doing something." British Chief Rabbi Jonathan Sacks's desire to help the Diaspora community help Israel prompted him to protest to Olmert about the programming cuts - a letter Olmert cited in explaining his decision to reinstate the evening broadcast. "The chief rabbi is passionately committed to ensuring that Israel's case is made in the most accurate and informative way possible to the English-speaking world," says spokesman Jeremy Newmark. "English news radio is an important way that that objective is achieved." In Israel's case, the issue is as much about promulgating information at home as abroad. There are 350 permanent international press offices which employ 800 foreign journalists here, with about 2,500 foreign journalists visiting annually, according to the Government Press Office. If Israel needs to have an effect on CNN and the BBC as Wolfsfeld suggests, the VOI can be part of that effort from its own living room. The international press corps regularly tunes into English news radio for an Israeli perspective on the day's events, according to Charles Enderlin, a Foreign Press Association board member who once worked for Voice of Israel's French service. (The five-minute French and Spanish evening broadcasts have been scrapped as a result of English radio's reinstatement.) David Gilbert is one such foreign journalist. The Middle East correspondent for America's CBS radio, he brings his radio with him out in the field so he can hear the English news. He catches most broadcasts and occasionally incorporates the Israeli perspectives he hears into his pieces. "It's quite obvious that Israeli reporting in different languages gives an Israeli point of view which is often missing in the foreign press," notes Daniel Seaman, director of the Israel Government Press Office. "It makes our job harder," he says of shrinking foreign-language news offerings. "It takes away a very useful tool for the State of Israel." But he adds, "In a country that's having a hard time feeding its citizens, you have to make tough decisions, so I can understand both sides." HIS COLLEAGUE, Foreign Ministry deputy director-general for public affairs Gideon Meir, speaks of the "great import" of the English Voice of Israel at the same time he describes the devastating budget cuts affecting all government agencies, the Foreign Ministry and IBA included. As he puts it, "We're cutting not the meat but the bones. We're down to the bones." Stephens also argues that fiscal restraint is necessary. "When your balloon is falling to earth, sometimes you have to throw even the best champagne overboard. The IBA English-language news might provide a valuable service, but it's hard to justify that service when many painful cuts need urgently to be made." The latest scheduling changes have only an indirect link to budget cuts, with the evening broadcast replaced with the audio version of Channel 1 TV's 7:30 news. At the time, IBA cited fears that it was losing listeners to rival programming, and since English radio lacks a competitive edge and is out of step with the Hebrew mainstream, the program is vulnerable to cuts. "It's more than just the scheduling changes. It seems to be a policy of slow death by attrition. People are retired and the broadcast hours are cut," says one English radio employee. "It's been no secret that over the years, to the extent that the management has even noticed the English news department, they tell us, you're nothing to us but a drain on the budget.'" He continues, "It's hard to have any morale as such when the organization behind you is not only not supporting you but is actively trying to undermine you." Olmert's office insisted that his directive to maintain the full evening broadcast "stems from his understanding of the importance of the English news broadcast," but also listed the program as being at 7 p.m. instead of 8 p.m., when it is actually airing. The IBA would not respond to the employee's charge or anything else, despite repeated phone calls from The Jerusalem Post. The organization also did not release any budget figures. But Nachman Shai, director-general of the United Jewish Communities- Israel who last year resigned as chairman of IBA, recalls that the English news department's budget is "not an expensive budget." He says, "There are a lot of reason for the Israel Broadcasting Authority's budget [problems], but it's not because of the English news department." In the past 15 years, the English department's staff has been reduced from 25 to 10. A top editor says he's lucky if his base salary of NIS 2,500 per month creeps above NIS 5,000 with overtime and other extras factored in. In contrast, the treasury last year recorded 200 IBA personnel who make a base salary of NIS 30,000 monthly, or close to NIS 40,000 with bonuses and overtime. At the same time, recent budget cuts have been more or less across the board, with salaries in all divisions recently cut by 10 percent. The penny-pinching means that departments frequently go without fax and printer paper. There are no hand towels in the bathroom. To Lehman-Wilzig, it comes down more to external realities than internal priorities. Pointing to cuts in education and other social services in Israel, he says, "Everthing's getting cut back. Why shouldn't overseas propaganda be cut back as well?" Listen carefully Effective international propaganda or not, IBA English radio serves a small but loyal Anglo audience right here. The scheduling changes and cuts have left its members increasingly questioning their significance to the powers-that-be. The recent programming changes shortened the midday news down to 10 minutes, broadcast from 1:10-1:20. The 15-minute morning broadcast at 7:00 has stayed intact, but the 15-minute 7:30 broadcast was briefly cancelled in place of a five-minute news bulletin at 8 p.m. Communications Minister Ehud Olmert, who is responsible for the IBA, ordered the organization to reinstate the 15-minute night broadcast after he came under public and private pressure. But the fact that the program was temporarily on the chopping block - following a decade of reduction in service - has made listeners wary. And angry. Kenneth Berg was not the only listener who complained of prejudice in protest letters written to the IBA. "I would appreciate an explanation as to why you have decided to discriminate against English speakers by dramatically reducing English news bulletins," wrote Berg of Netanya, an 80-year-old who immigrated 10 years ago. "Is there any reason why the English speakers are being abused once more by the IBA?" Ruth Krammer wanted to know. "Don't we count?" At least one English Voice of Israel worker thinks the answer is a resounding, "no." "We're like orphans. We have no one who really champions our cause." Many in the Anglo community point to a lack of political representation, with only one American-born member of the Knesset. And the Anglo population is hardly a large Israeli constituency. It is difficult to identify the precise number of Anglo residents, but the Central Bureau of Statistics records about 125,000 immigrants from English-speaking countries since the state's creation until the year 2000. Yet Anglos did succeed in getting the full 15 minutes of the evening news back, though that might have had as much to do with the international English-language community as the local one. Rachael Risby-Raz, an Olmert adviser, notes that her office received "numerous letters - from around this country and indeed the world, including from people such as Dr. Jonathan Sacks, the chief rabbi of Britain." She adds that Olmert was prompted to act because he understands "the importance of the English news broadcast for the English-speaking population in Israel and the fact that the broadcast has a large listening audience." Yet Olmert's office listed the time of the program as being at 7 p.m. rather than 8 p.m. The latter time, when the radio show has been airing since its reinstatement, coincides with English-language television's nightly broadcast. Olmert's timing mix-up and its inconvenience for the target audience indicate how little the management is really attuned to the issue, according to one radio news staffer: "The fact that they have no idea [about the time] shows that no one [there] listens to us." But if Olmert and the IBA don't, Berg, Krammer, and many more do. - H.L.K.--------- (via Doni Rosenzweig, DXLD) ** ISRAEL. RELIGIOUS RADIO STATION GRANTED RIGHTS TO BROADCAST FOR CENTRAL REGION | Text of report by Yehezkel Laing in English published by Israeli newspaper The Jerusalem Post web site on 4 September The Second Television and Radio Authority has chosen the Radio Kol Hai Group as the winner in its tender for the broadcasting rights to the central area for a religious radio station, the Authority said Tuesday [3 September]. It beat out the Ofek Group to win the rights. The Radio Kol Hai (the Living Voice) group already has a station which broadcasts in the Gush Dan region. The new license will allow it to expand its broadcasting range from Ashdod in the south to Hadera in the north, including the Greater Jerusalem area. This will effectively expand its listenership by a factor of three. Radio Kol Hai effectively initiated the tender. About a year ago, a court ruling rejected Radio Kol Hai's demand to expand its present broadcast range. Instead, the court obligated the authority to announce a public tender. The new license is good for four years with two options of renewal, each one after four years for a total period of twelve years. The station plans to begin broadcasting to its expanded range at the beginning of 2004. "Both groups which competed submitted quality bids," said the head of the Second Authority's Directorate, Menashe Semira. "The group that was chosen scored higher in the majority of categories surveyed." Radio Kol Hai began broadcasting to the religious and Haredi public in 1996 on the 93 FM radiowave. The station offers a variety of shows, including a current events programme, Jewish thought, Halachic questions and answers, Torah classes, chesed, as well as consumer and medical magazines. Radio Kol Hai does not broadcast its own hourly news but uses that of Station Ten instead. The owners of the station are the Kardan Group owned by businessman Yosef Greenfeld 75.7 per cent, Yitzhaq Sheinfeld 14.3 per cent and former Mafdal MK [Member of Knesset] Nahum Langenthal 10 per cent. Ofek was backed by three groups Gertler/Davidov, Zilberstein Communications and Radio Techelet of businessman Shlomo Ben-Tzvi who owns the Techelet Jewish content television station and the Makor Rishon newspaper. The group said it wished Radio Kol Hai success in its new endeavour. The Second Authority has thus far refused to issue a license for a religious station to broadcast nationally. Arutz Sheva, the most popular radio station for the religious public, therefore broadcasts from outside Israel's territorial waters. All licensed radio stations in Israel pay a flat four per cent of revenues for their right to broadcast. Source: The Jerusalem Post web site, in English 4 Sep 03 (via BBCM via DXLD) ** JORDAN. 03-09, Radio Jordanie from Amman, 1500 UT sur 11690, les news en anglais, SINPO 44444 (Mohamed Kallel, Tunisia, Sept 5, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** KOREA NORTH. N. KOREA TRYING TO DRAW FIRE FROM MAN GYONG BONG Comment on how the former North Korean numbers broadcasts. Yomiuri Shimbun (Japanese Newspaper) September 7, 2003 Amid mounting criticism over the use of the North Korean cargo- passenger ship Man Gyong Bong-92 for espionage and smuggling, North Korea is trying to show Japan, which is keeping a close eye on the vessel, that it no longer is being used for criminal purposes, according to sources. Public safety authorities said a top official of the pro-Pyongyang General Association of Korean Residents in Japan (Chongryon) flew to Beijing on April 4, July 23 and Aug. 21. It was quite unusual for a senior Chongryon official to visit China, the sources said. The official very likely met with North Korean officials in the Chinese capital to receive directives concerning what kind of activities the pro-Pyongyang organization should conduct, they said. The public safety officials believe North Korean intelligence authorities have stopped using the Man Gyong Bong to give instructions to Chongryon members and instead have started to use the Beijing channel for similar purposes. Until last year, the Man Gyong Bong carried senior North Korean intelligence officials almost every time it entered Niigata. Japanese authorities believe they briefed North Korean agents carrying out illegal activities in Japan and Chongryon officials on board the ship. For example, a pro-Pyongyang North Korean agent in Japan, whose operations were uncovered by the Metropolitan Police Department in January, reportedly was ordered by a senior North Korean agent aboard the ship to try to travel to South Korea to try to persuade a South Korean serviceman to spy for Pyongyang. Also, when the ship entered Niigata at the end of November, a senior intelligence official of North Korea's Workers' Party of Korea who had been refused entry into Japan reportedly met with a top Chongryon official aboard the ship. North Korea used to send instructions to agents in Japan by transmitting encoded messages via shortwave radio. But when Japanese police began to intercept and decipher the messages in the late 1980s, North Korean agents started to use the Man Gyong Bong to relay instructions. "Giving instructions by word of mouth is the safest way to prevent leakage of information. The Man Gyong Bong was well suited for that purpose as it frequently traveled to and from Japan," a senior police official said. But when the ship entered Niigata-Nishi Port on Aug. 25, no senior Chongryon officials boarded the ship. It initially was said that a Chongryon bigwig would come to the port, but none appeared. Meanwhile, it has emerged that the ship was used to illegally export materials that could be used to build weapons of mass destruction. But in the face of strengthened controls by police and port authorities, North Korean agents have been finding other routes for that activity, according to the sources. In April, a Tokyo trading company was found to have tried to export via Thailand to North Korea electronic devices that could be used to enrich uranium. The same month, German authorities also discovered that a German firm had tried to illegally export aluminum tubes that could be used to manufacture gas centrifuges, which are required to enrich uranium. A senior Chongryon official said the recent shift in the role of the Man Gyong Bong came because Pyongyang did not want to make the ship a focus of criticism anymore. The vessel was labeled a spy ship after the summit meeting of Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi and North Korean leader Kim Jong Il in Pyongyang in September last year. Calls to ban the entry of the ship into Japan have been mounting ever since among the Japanese public (via Hans Johnson, Cumbredx mailing list via DXLD) ** MEXICO. 6045, XEXQ, R Universidad, San Luis Potosí 1205-1220 with sign on announcement by om, into classical music (Bob Wilkner, FL, Sept 6, Cumbre DX via DXLD) Definite log of XEXQ here Sept 7 on 6045: tune-in 1203, so if there was NA on the hour, I missed it, but seemed only open carrier, with fast SAH of about 20 Hz, presumably from the Chinee. 1209 two definite IDs by woman as R. Universidad, and 1212 into piano medley of popular classics including Clair de Lune, heard two or three times during the following hour; fading out around 1255, but traces of classical music well past 1300 (Glenn Hauser, Enid OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** MEXICO [non?]. A Special Event Transponder from Radio Free Cascadia email RFCI: radio985@efn.org RFCI will broadcast on the world shortwave band to Central and America, September 10th to 14th. We broadcast in solidarity with the thousands of people who are protesting the World Trade Organization in Cancun, Mexico and around the world, indigenous peoples in the Americas and worldwide, and all others who are resisting oppression and global domination by corporations, governments, and trans- governmental capitalist organizations such as the WTO. RFCI will relay streaming audio sources from Cancun, and will originate programming in Spanish and English, including live reports from Cancun, news, commentary, and music of resistance and revolution, especially from the Americas. Our signal will be directed at Mexico and may also be heard in Cuba, Colombia, Ecuador, Brazil, and other nations of Latin America, and in the U.S. Radio Free Cascadia International is a direct action of resistance and solidarity. We modulate the air as freely as we breathe it, as a challenge to those who would claim ownership and control of the natural elements, peoples, and creatures of the Earth. Broadcast Schedule It is our intention that most of the broadcast be in Spanish, but we are not able to provide a language schedule at this time. Primary Schedule: 1700-0500 UT (12 Noon-12 Midnight Central [Cancun] Time) on frequency 15045 kilohertz Daytime alternate schedule: 1700-2300 UT (Noon-6 PM Central) on frequency 17552.5 kilohertz variable Evening alternate schedule: 2300-0500 UT (6 PM-12 Midnight Central) on frequency 9310 kilohertz variable Depending on propagation and other factors, the broadcasts may run instead between 1900 and 0700 UT (2 PM-2 AM Central). Band changes will require at least one hour. (from http://www.efn.org/~radio985/RFCI/index.htm via DXLD) ** NEW ZEALAND [non]. RNZI LEASES TIME ON RADIO AUSTRALIA RNZI will be back on short-wave thanks to Radio Australia but with a reduced service - From 1700-2115 UTC on Monday 8 September RNZI will lease time on Radio Australia to broadcast the RNZI Pacific Breakfast Show. Join us from 0500 NZST to 0915 NZST Monday to Friday and on Saturdays from 0500-0815 NZST on frequency 9580 kHz, in the 31 metre band. Please note that RNZI Programmes are available via the Internet real audio live stream and the Pacific News is also available for download at http://www.rnzi.com (Adrian Sainsbury, Technical Manager, Radio New Zealand International, P O Box 123 Wellington, Tel: +64 4 474 1430, Fax: +64 4 474 1433, Mobile: +64 (0) 274 504 578 (via Wolfgang Bueschel, John Figliozzi, Alan Pennington, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** OMAN. 03-09 sur 13640 kHz de 1445 à 1300 UT, des chansons locales et à 1300 les news (Mohamed Kallel, Tunisia, Sept 5, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** PAPUA NEW GUINEA. 4890, NBC, from 1047 September 6th, EZL and local country music, in English, TC as "12 to nine", possible English / Pidgin mix, occasional word readable, SINPO 22222 (Roger Chambers Utica, NY Drake SW 8 with whip antenna, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** PAPUA NEW GUINEA. 3365, R. Milne Bay, 7 Sept, 1040 Native song, brief M announcement with mention of "messages", then soft island Pop song and religious-like vocal song. 1052 song announcement by M, TC, mention of island and province. 1053 English health PSA by M and dialog between W and girl. Singing ad. Into island choral song. 1105 M with program notes, " ?? ABC ?? 5.9 ?? kilohertz", and National Broadcasting Commission. 1106 many good nights and mention of Papua New Guinea. Island Pop song. 1113 PSA mentioning Rabaul and another town and phone number as 853-1163, and address also. Promo of "Port Moresby national news", NBC and phone number over Floyd Cramer music (Dave Valko, PA, Cumbre DX via DXLD) ** PARAGUAY??? 6105, Radio Primero de Marzo, Asuncion!!!!!!!!!!!! 1003-1033, September 7. Spanish/Guaraní. Catholic program in Spanish: "...con la lectura de un pasaje de La Pasión, según... cuando Jesus... Es Palabra del Señor"; Catholic songs. Afterwards, the speaker talks in Guaraní language a messagge from: "la Conferencia Episcopal Paraguaya, en busca de un Paraguay..." "Estamos celebrando la Santa Misa, aquí afuera... y el próximo domingo... el nuevo obispo de Concepción... y también el obispo de Tamanda-e". ID:"...a través de Primero de Marzo". 34443. At 1030 UT abrupt s/off and following ID: "Ésta es Radio Cultura Filadelfia... transmitiendo en ondas curtas... anunciando a palavra da Dios... a radio evangelica do Brasil". [sic --- mixture of Spanish and Portuguese, by station or Arnaldo?] ¿Radio Cultura Filadelfia is an evangelic station but rent transmission hours to Catholic transmission by other station? or ¿Radio Primero de Marzo is on SW now? Thanks DXer Dario Camporini, Munro, Argentina, for the tip!!! (Arnaldo Slaen, Argentina, Cumbredx mailing list via DXLD) ** PERU. 6819.77, La Voz de las Huarinjas, Huancabamba, 2343-2353, September 6. Spanish. Tecnocumbias, TC & ID as: "las 6 de la tarde con 50 minutos, la hora a través de la radio La Voz de las Huarinjas... a través de la señal de La Voz de las Huarinjas". A man conducted the program and talked with listeners: "Alo, buenas noches... quien habla..." Greetings for program listeners: "Un saludo especial para Gumersindo... quien se encuentra trabajando en Chota...", 33333 (Arnaldo Slaen, Argentina, Cumbre DX via DXLD) ** PERU. Reactivated Peruvian with new name! 6895.57, Radio La Voz de San Miguel, San Miguel de Faique, provincia Huancabamba, departamento Piura. Aug 27 2003, 0100 UT. "Reactivated with new name" I think is a correct description but I have to say it is a little bit `messy` on the frequency. I haven`t heard "Radio San Miguel" ID for a long time and in April this year "La Nueva Radio Superior", San Miguel de El Faique. For 3-4 days in August "Radio La Voz de San Miguel" IDs were heard on 6895.57 kHz. The DJ announced also MW 1360 kHz, not listed in WRTH. Listen to the recording from this occasion: http://homepage.sverige.net/~a-0901/ Info from "Ventanaperú": Provincia de Huancabamba, cuya capital es Chanchaque. Sus distritos son: El Carmen de la Frontera, Huancabamba, Huarmaca, Lalaquiz, San miguel de El Faique, Sóndor, Sondorillo; con una población total de 125,458 hab. 73 (Björn Malm, Quito, Ecuador, translated by SWB-editor Thomas Nilsson for DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** RUSSIA. OBITUARY --- BORIS BELITZKY Boris Belitzky died on September 3rd. He was 82. A man of high integrity, outgoing heart and sparkling sense of humour, he never complained of ill health despite his advanced age. His death came as a shock to all of us. Boris Belitzky stayed with the English Service for 57 years and from the very beginning until the very end his brilliancy in the profession was beyond doubt. A remarkable translator, radio announcer and observer, he never approached his work with anything but a creative urge. For many years Boris Belitzky was the author and host of "Science and Engineering" - one of the most popular programs on the Voice of Russia. His enticingly intriguing voice, immaculate command of English and profound knowledge in the subject he covered earned him the respect of millions of listeners. Right after graduation from Moscow University in 1942, Boris Belitzky was called up to fight the Nazis. He fought the Nazis in Rumania, Hungary and Austria and for his heroism was awarded numerous orders and medals. In post-war years his achievements were repeatedly marked with government awards. As a high-class interpreter he also worked beyond the confines of the radio. In 1960 he translated at the trial of the spy pilot Francis Gary Powers and in 1961 translated for Yuri Gagarin at a reception given by the Queen of Britain. Boris Belitzky has brought up several generations of translators, announcers and journalists. Everyone who knew him remembers him as a hard-working and well-wishing man of wisdom who could but evoke undisguised love and respect. All of us at the English Service are mourning for him, and the bright memory of our much-loved colleague, Boris Belitzky, will live in our hearts forever. . . Copyright © 2003 The Voice of Russia (via Maryanne Kehoe, swprograms via DXLD) I have met Boris on a number of occasions --- he was a class act (Maryanne Kehoe, swprograms via DXLD) ** RUSSIA. Sakhalin Radio, 11840 USB heard with poor signal, 2045 on 9/6 with Russian programming, time pips across the hour at 2100. Magadan has been audible the past few nights (9/4 and 9/5) on 7320. Fades in beginning 0630, at good strength by 0730 (Chuck Albertson, Seattle, Wash., DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** SOLOMON ISLANDS. 5020 kHz, SIBC from 1053 UT, September 6th light pop music, female announcer, ID as "Solomon Islands Broadcasting Commission from Honiara", into orchestral anthem and off at 1102 UT. Generally poor (Roger Chambers, Utica, NY Drake SW 8 with whip antenna, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** THAILAND. 7255 kHz, from 1107 UT September 6th in unknown Asian language, music, then bells IS melody, English ID, bells repeated, into another 13 minute program in another Asian language, 1129 UT, more bells, then with no break into VOA music interval and news in an Asian language, no change in beam or break noticeable. Poor to fair at times, 32233 with Ham QRN (Roger Chambers, Utica, NY Drake SW 8 with whip antenna, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** TUNISIA. 03-09, Radio Tunis, la chaîne nationale, 1458 UT sur 11730, SINPO 44434, la levé de la prière de l`après midi (l’émetteur se trouve à 20 km de chez moi). (Mohamed Kallel, Tunisia, Sept 5, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** UGANDA. EXILED UGANDAN OPPOSITION LEADERS SAID USING NEW SHORTWAVE RADIO FROM GERMANY | Text of report by Ugandan newspaper The Monitor web site on 5 September Ugandans living in exile have started a shortwave radio station to "give an alternative view on the politics of the country". A Ugandan political activist living in exile said that the radio, based in the German city of Berlin, will be launched on 16 August [tense and date as published] by two exiled politicians, former President Milton Obote and Col Kizza Besigye, a losing presidential candidate in 2001. Col Besigye and Mr Obote will be hosted together in a one-hour talk show, Mr Godfrey Elum Ayoo told The Monitor in a telephone interview from his German base. "They will talk about politics and the need to redirect the democratization process in Uganda," he said. The two leaders will speak on the radio again on 17 August [date as published] from 6 to 6.30 p.m. [presumably meaning Ugandan time, i.e. 1500-1530 gmt]. "It's an opportunity for them to use this platform to reach out to people in Uganda without endangering the lives of journalists working in Uganda," he said. Ayoo said yesterday that Radio Rhino International-Africa (RRIA) will broadcast in English from 17555 [kHz] shortwave. The radio will broadcast from 6 to 6.30 p.m. on weekdays and from 6 a.m. to 7 p.m. on weekends. Ayoo, who is also the director of RRIA, said the station's signal would be received in east, central and parts of South Africa. He said that for proper reception, listeners in Uganda would have to place antennas of their respective radio sets at 145 [as published - possibly a reference to the fact that a signal transmitted from Germany to east Africa would be beamed on a bearing of approximately 145 degrees, roughly southeast, although this is irrelevant to how a listener would adjust their own antenna]. Obote, the president of Uganda People's Congress and twice deposed by the army from State House, has been living in exile in Zambia since 1985. Besigye fled the country in August 2001 in the aftermath of that year's disputed presidential elections. He cited harassment from security agencies. He lives in exile mostly in South Africa. Ayoo said yesterday that the radio would help counter the [ruling National Resistance] Movement [NRM] government's "intolerance to free and independent press in Uganda". "RRIA is a declaration of an airwave campaign in the liberation, protection and promotion of the freedoms of expressions and the rights to information by the press, mass media and the people of Uganda," Ayoo said in an e-mailed statement to The Monitor. He said the radio would cover news on current events, politics, economy, health, education, culture and environment in its daily broadcasts. The activist, who has been living in exile since 1985, said RRIA will counter the NRM regime's 'intimidation, harassment, and forceful closures of private independent radio stations and newspapers and barring of accurate reporting especially on wars and insecurity where the UPDF [Uganda People's Defence Forces] is overtly or covertly involved in and outside Uganda'. "Certainly we shall show that there are things you cannot control and these include the airwaves," he said. [It is possible that these transmissions are using the facilities of the German communications company Deutsche Telekom, which has a record of leasing airtime from its shortwave transmitting station at Juelich, near Cologne, to a variety of exiled political organizations, including those broadcasting to Africa.] Source: The Monitor web site, Kampala, in English 5 Sep 03 (via BBCM via DXLD) NEW OPPOSITION RADIO STATION HEARD BROADCASTING TO UGANDA A new shortwave radio station has been heard broadcasting to Uganda. It calls itself Radio Rhino International-Africa and is clearly opposed to the government of Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni and his ruling National Resistance Movement (NRM). The new station - which describes itself as a "voice of freedom and democracy" - was heard on 5 September with an English-language broadcast at 1500-1530 gmt on 17555 kHz. Reception in east Africa was excellent. The transmission was described as a trial and announced that regular broadcasts would be launched in mid-September. Telephone and fax numbers in Germany were announced for contacting the station, along with a web site - http://www.radiorhino.org This web site says the trial broadcasts began on 3 September and that regular programming is to begin on 16 September. It says the station will be launched by messages from Milton Obote (a former president of Uganda and currently leader of the Uganda People's Congress) and Kizza Besigye (who stood unsuccessfully in the 2001 presidential elections and is currently leader of the opposition group known as the Reform Agenda). (Both men currently live in exile - Obote in Zambia and Besigye in South Africa.) The web site describes Radio Rhino International-Africa as "your voice for freedom, liberty, democracy, justice and equally developed Africa". It says the new radio intends to "break the chains of state concealment of the NRM's man-made gruesome inhuman sufferings on the people" and "unravel the Uganda NRM regime's propaganda of misinformation, lies, concealment and denials of the inhuman effects of its militaristic political ideology". The web site does not disclose details of the station's transmission arrangements. However, it is believed that it is hiring airtime from the German communications company Deutsche Telekom, which has a record of leasing shortwave transmission facilities to a variety of exiled political organizations, including a number broadcasting to Africa, notably Ethiopia and Eritrea. The Ugandan newspaper The Monitor had reported on 18 July that it had received a statement from a Ugandan exile, Godfrey Elum Ayoo, saying that Ugandan exiles living in Germany planned to launch Radio Rhino International-Africa, which would be based in Cologne. On 5 September, The Monitor reported Ayoo, whom it described as the radio's director, as saying that it would be based in Berlin. Sources: BBC Monitoring research 5-6 Sep 03; The Monitor web site, Kampala, in English 18 Jul and 5 Sep 03 (via BBCM via DXLD) ** UGANDA [non]. Thanks to tip from Chris Greenway in Nairobi (who heard the station yesterday 5 Sep at 1500 UT on 17555), just heard sign-on of R. Rhino Intl at 1500 UT Sat 6 Sep on 17555 kHz (via Juelich) in English, targeting Uganda. Broadcast announced as a trial with official launch "middle of September" (16 or 17 Sept according to website). Fair signal here - but best on lsb to avoid splatter from strong Chinese (Voice Intl?) on 17560 (Alan Pennington, UK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U A E. 03-09, Radio Emirate de Dubai à 1440 UT sur 13630 kHz et 13675, très bonne écoute; le spekeur annonce la levé du prière du couché du soleil (Mohamed Kallel, Tunisia, Sept 5, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A/INDONESIA. VOA LAUNCHES NEW TELEVISION NEWS SHOW IN INDONESIA | Text of report by press release by Voice of America on 4 September Washington, D.C., 4 Sept: Monday, 1 September, the Voice of America (VOA) launched a new daily Indonesian television news show, Jurnal VOA, on Metro TV in Indonesia. Jurnal VOA, a 25-minute live and interactive show focusing on the main news stories of the day, will air on Metro TV Monday through Friday from 5.05 to 5.30 am local time. Metro is seen in 39 cities throughout Indonesia, including all the major markets. Jurnal VOA consists of four elements: top international news, an in- depth discussion of one of the top news stories with an outside expert or senior VOA editor interacting with callers throughout Indonesia, a summary of U.S. editorial opinion, and a man-in-the-street question- of-the-day feature called Ragam Suara (Diverse Voices). "This program will be a great addition to VOA's television offerings," said VOA Director David Jackson. "Indonesia is an important country and we're pleased to have Metro TV as our broadcasting partner." VOA currently broadcasts more than 29 hours of news and information via radio, television and the internet at www.VOAindonesia.com. In addition, VOA's Indonesian TV programs include a 30-minute magazine show, Dunia Kita, broadcast via Metro TV on Mondays at 1.30 p.m. and Halo VOA, an interactive discussion, broadcast via satellite on Thursdays at 5.30 a.m. VOA went on the air in 1942 and today broadcasts more than 1,000 hours a week of news, information, educational, and cultural programming to a worldwide audience of 94 million people. Programs are produced in Indonesian and 54 other languages. VOA is funded by the U.S. government. Source: Voice of America press release, Washington, in English 4 Sep 03 (via BBCM via DXLD) ** U S A. COURT DELAYS FCC MEDIA OWNERSHIP RULES By David B. Caruso, Associated Press PHILADELPHIA - A federal appeals court Wednesday issued an emergency stay delaying new Federal Communications Commission media ownership rules that would allow a single company to own newspapers and broadcast outlets in the same city. The 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said a coalition of media access groups called the Prometheus Radio Project would suffer irreparable harm if the new rules were allowed to go into effect as scheduled Thursday. The new ownership rules, which the FCC approved on a party- line, 3-2 vote, also would allow a single company to own TV stations reaching 45 percent of the nation's viewers. Smaller broadcasters and network affiliates are concerned the new limit will allow the networks to gobble up more stations and limit local control of programming. The National Association of Broadcasters, however, contends the changes don't go far enough. The influential industry group filed an appeal last month to block changes to how radio markets are defined and overturn rules that still prevent TV station mergers in some smaller markets. The House, over the objections of the Bush administration, voted overwhelmingly in July to block the FCC. The Senate was to take up the issue this month. 73 and good DX from (Eric Amateur Radio Station N0UIH, IRCA via DXLD) ** VIETNAM. STATE BROADCASTER PLANS DOMESTIC RADIO PROGRAMMES IN CHINESE, JAPANESE President Tran Duc Luong has praised the operations of the Voice of Vietnam radio station, which he visited on 3 September to mark its 58th anniversary. He noted, however, that the need to modernize further was one of the station's greatest challenges. Voice of Vietnam's domestic foreign-language radio service plans to add programmes in Chinese and Japanese in the near future to the existing English, French and Russian language programmes. The following is the text of a report from the Vietnamese radio text web site on 3 September; subheadings added editorially: Vietnamese State President Tran Duc Luong paid a working visit to the Voice of Vietnam radio station [VoV] in Hanoi on 3 September to mark its 58th founding anniversary. At a working session with cadres, the editorial staff and correspondents of the station, President Luong stressed: "It can be said that among the many mass media channels in Vietnam at present, the Voice of Vietnam has attracted the largest segment of the audiences in the country." This was the first working visit by President Luong to the Voice of Vietnam radio station in five years. His last visit was in 1998. At the station, he was very encouraged by the significant development and expansion of the station in term of equipment, editorial and personnel staff, as well as a strong technical team. On behalf of the station's leadership, VoV Director-General Vu Van Hien briefed the state president on activities and achievements recorded by the station over the past years, in particular during the past eight months of this year. The director-general stressed: "Thanks to the special attention of the Party and the confidence of the people, the VoV has been able to catch up with all developments, overcome all challenges and satisfactorily fulfil all the assigned tasks. The VoV has consistently manifested its role as an assault force, honestly reported all political-socioeconomic developments to the public and has actively participated in the struggle against negativism and social vices." After visiting a number of offices at the station, President Luong had a meeting with more than 200 key cadres of the station. Speaking to them, he said: "The Vietnamese people throughout the country, overseas Vietnamese and friends around the world have listened to the VoV since the victory of our revolution and the day when Vietnam regained its independence. The phrase that read: 'This is the Voice of Vietnam, broadcasting from Hanoi, the capital of Vietnam -' has become a familiar, friendly _expression to all listeners who would choose not to miss it. Today, at the explosion of the information technology in the world, the VoV has consistently and firmly retained its very important role in providing accurate news and information to the public, in general, and in contributing to the cause of building and defending the Socialist Vietnamese fatherland, in particular." Need for modernization President Luong stressed: The Communist Party of Vietnam and the state have highly appraised development and progress made by the VoV in improving and strengthening its network for the cause of national renovation at present. The achievements recorded by the station over the past years were great, yet the current national industrialization and modernization require the station to make more efforts to consistently improve its network and to overcome new challenges, the most difficult one is the ability to catch up with modern broadcasting systems. President Luong contended that with its transmission capability covering 90 per cent of the Vietnamese territory, the VoV will be able to retain its strong position in the mass media circle that only a few can match. He urged personnel of the VoV to consistently improve the quality of broadcasting programmes and to strengthen the station's technical bases so as to produce more meaningful materials, promptly report accurate and in-depth information on all domains. The VoV should strive to more effectively disseminate the party's and state's lines and policies, and serve as a firm bridge linking the people with the party. On the other hand, personnel of the VoV should stay close to reality and the people while listening to their feelings and aspirations. The editorial staff and personnel of VoV must strive to report on new factors and progressive models in the social life and activities of various regions and areas, nationality and religious groups and the overseas Vietnamese community abroad. They must also strive to review professional experiences, enrich the theoretical knowledge and participate in building, supplementing and perfecting the party's lines and policies as well as the state law. President Luong believed that with its great achievements and contributions made over the past 58 years, the VoV will advance further to become one of the most important mass media channels of the party and state. New daily news round-up planned On behalf of almost 2,000 cadres, editors, correspondents and the technical staff, Director-General Vu Van Hien pledged that all VoV personnel will make greater efforts to fulfil all the assigned tasks. In the immediate future, the station will broadcast a new daily programme on rounding up current news and political events starting from 7 September. Currently, the VoV broadcasts 191 hours of domestic and external services a day in six channels. It also broadcasts programmes on travel, weather forecast, entertainment for the northern region; a general programme for the Mekong River delta, and programmes in eight different ethnic dialects. The VoV has transmitted its programmes to all regions of Vietnam, and to date almost 90 per cent of the population have listened to these programmes. The VoV has also launched its VoVNews electronic web site on the Internet, thus expanding its network to meet the increasing demands on information by the masses. In recognition of its outstanding achievements, the State of Vietnam has bestowed the VoV with the high distinction of the Resistance Order, First Class; the Labour Order, First Class; the Independence Order, First Class - and in 2001it was bestowed with the Labour Hero Order, the new state high distinction for outstanding performance in the renovation process. Domestic radio programmes in Chinese, Japanese planned Also in the atmosphere of celebrating the VoV founding anniversary, the editorial staff of the External Service Department organized a function to mark the fifth anniversary of the VoV5 channel, on 7 September. Programmes of this channel are designed to serve foreigners living, working and studying in Vietnam and are broadcast in English, French and Russian. Attending the function were representatives of many foreign embassies in Vietnam. The diplomatic corps in Hanoi say that the VoV5 channel has become a friendship bridge linking the VoV with the foreign community in Vietnam, and has provided them with sufficient information on current developments in the country. Australian Ambassador to Vietnam Joe Thawaite said: "I have highly appraised activities, contributions and efforts of the VoV5 channel in improving its programmes. It provides us with updated summaries on current events in Vietnam. I think that in the international arena, the VoV has also been highly appraised, and I hope that the VoV5 programmes will be further improved to meet the increasing information demands in the new stage." The VoV5 programmes were officially broadcast on 3 September 1998. Besides the current English, French and Russian language programmes, the channel planned to broadcast additional programmes in Chinese and Japanese in the near future. Source: Voice of Vietnam text web site, Hanoi, in Vietnamese 3 Sep 03 (via BBCM via DXLD) ** VIETNAM [non]. RUSSIA, 7380, Degar Voice via Chita (Atamanovka), *1302-1327* Sept 2. Sudden sign-on (carrier on at 1300) in mid song, followed with a speech in Vietnamese by male speaker. This was followed with two other commentaries, all dealing with Human Right Violations by Vietnam towards the Degar People. The 'only' ID I heard was at 1320 repeated words --- Degar, Degar --- The program ended with a very rustic, string viola selection and off without any fanfare. This was noted on the 2nd with very strong signals, on the 4th, there was no sign of this broadcast, but on the 6th (with strong signals) at *1300-1326* again sign-on in mid-sentence with the repeat of the broadcast of the 2nd. Again off with out any 'formal' station ID. The sudden sign-ons and the sign-offs indicates possible problems with the audio links, as on the 2nd there was a hum on the audio, but nothing on the 6th (Edward Kusalik, Alberta, Canada, Cumbre DX via DXLD) ** ZANZIBAR. TANZANIA: 6015, Radio Tanzania Zanzibar (presumed), Dole 0338-0350, Sep 05, Vernacular, comments by female announcer, musical program, news program, 23222 (Nicolás Eramo, Villa Lynch, Prov. Buenos Aires. Argentina; Receivers: Icom IC-R75 Kenwood R-2000 Sony ICF 2010 Antennas: T2FD with balun 3.1 V Inverted 15 mts with balun 1.1 V Inverted 11 mts with balun 1.1 Others: MFJ-959B Receiver Antenna Tuner/Preamplifier, DX LISTENING DIGEST) UNIDENTIFIED. 4919.87, 0913 Sept 6. Like Arabic style music. 0930 Talk by man, presumed in Indonesian. 0931 Asian pop music. Fair signal. Indonesian Station ?? (Nobuo TAKENO, Yamagata, JAPAN, NRD535D with 10 meters wire, Cumbredx mailing list via DXLD) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ PROPAGATION +++++++++++ CUMBRE PROPAGATION OUTLOOK Once again things have been very quiet as far as solar flares go. Coronal hole windstreams have again been in effect, with the earth's geomagnetic field at unsettled levels early in the week, and again since Wednesday. MUFs have generally been enhanced, however propagation conditions have been fair-poor over the last few days. Generally good conditions are forecast until Sep 8 when another coronal hole windstream will come into effect. Prepared using data at http://www.ips.gov.au (Richard Jary, SA, Sept 5, Cumbredx mailing list via DXLD) WHERE`S THE ANTIPODE? http://jidanni.org/geo/antipodes/images/world.png Another projection which I have found very useful and interesting is found here: http://www.wendycarlos.com/maps/nadirs.jpg (Walt Salmaniw, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ### ||||||||||| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||| DX LISTENING DIGEST 3-160, September 6, 2003 edited by Glenn Hauser NOTE! This issue was delayed in an inaccessible hard-drive, and not retrieved until Sept. 11. In the meantime two more issues were published, 3-161 and 3-162, so info herein pre-dates those issues! 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 later at http://www.worldofradio.com/dxldtd3i.html For restrixions and searchable 2003 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 ** AUSTRALIA. ABC STAFFER 'GUILTY' BUT BACK BY BARNEY ZWARTZ September 2, 2003 http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2003/09/01/1062403450346.html A piece about Stephen Crittenden returning to work on ABC Radio. 73- (Bill Westenhaver, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** AUSTRALIA. ANDERSON CRITICISES ABC CUTS --- 04sep03 THE Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) must explain why rural and regional radio services have been targeted for service cutbacks, Deputy Prime Minister John Anderson said today. He said the ABC had decided to replace local and state radio bulletins on weekend afternoons with nationally-produced reports... http://www.heraldsun.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5478,7164487%255E421,00.html (via Jilly Dybka, DXLD) ** AUSTRALIA. THE NEXT WAVE BY FARAH FAROUQUE -- September 4, 2003 http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2003/09/02/1062403507634.html A piece on the introduction of Eureka 147 in Australia. 73 (Bill Westenhaver, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** AUSTRALIA. RESTRUCTURING: ACA PAPER SUGGESTS TOTAL RESTRUCTURING OF VK HAM RADIO The Australian Communications Authority has surprised that nation`s ham radio community with a proposal to totally restructure that nations Amateur Radio service. Jim Linton, VK3PC, has the rest of the story. Radical changes are being proposed for the Amateur Service in the just issued ACA discussion paper entitled ``A Review of Amateur Service Regulation.`` The paper is sure to stimulate debate, particularly its reference to interference experienced by domestic television and radio receivers, and a suggestion that radio amateurs should take full responsibility to resolve these problems. A major purpose of the paper is to discuss the implementation of the changes arising out of the World Radiocommunications Conference held in Geneva this year. These changes include the end of mandatory Morse code tests for amateur licences, amateur callsigns, third party traffic, communications during disasters, and reciprocal and visitor licensing. . . ``...an amateur must not cause interference to other radio communication services. If causing interference to another service, the obligation will be on the amateur to resolve the problem.`` The Australian Communications Authority has set a deadline of October 31st as the last day for hams to file responses to its discussion paper. The 50-page discussion paper can be downloaded from http://www.wiavic.org.au/news or http://www.wia.org.au/vk4 (Q-News via Amateur Radio Newsline Sept 5 via John Norfolk, DXLD) ** BERMUDA. Hurricane: see INTERNATIONAL WATERS ** BOLIVIA. Amigo Glenn, Desculpa por error en la digitación; el horario en la tarde de transmisión de Radio Tacana es de 1700 y no 1500 como está en el anuncio que mandé. OM "...banda de 60 metros, onda corta, Radio Tacana anuncia sus nuevos horarios a partir del día de hoy; debido a instabilidad de la luz, en la noche hemos tenido serios problemas eléctricos, casi nos quema el equipo, a pesar de tener los estabilizadores. Para evitar problemas, entonces en una reunión ya prevista por nuestro director, hemos previsto el horario de 6 de la mañana a 13 horas, una de la tarde para compartir con ustedes y de las 17 horas a 18. Estos son los nuevos horarios de Radio Tacana para todo el país que sintoniza este medio de comunicación, en la noche pues ya no estamos con ustedes..." 73 (Rogildo F. Aragão, Bolivia, Sept 5, DX LISTENING DIGEST) So at UT -4, UT would be 1000-1700, 2100-2200, which was already correct (gh) ** BRAZIL. Caros amigos, Ontem aproveitei um dos momentos que descansava devido a uma forte gripe e fiz uma escuta da irregular e obscura Rádio Cacique em 2370 kHz por volta das 1815 UT com um "interessantíssimo" programa sobre cemitérios. Digo que é obscura porque mesmo sendo da minha cidade, a ouvi pouquíssimas vezes. 73 (Ivan Dias, Sorocaba/SP, Sept 5, radioescutas via DXLD) ** BRAZIL. PODER EXECUTIVO MODIFICA TODO O FORMATO DA "VOZ DO BRASIL" do sítio http://www.tribuna.inf.br BRASÍLIA - A "Voz do Brasil" mudou. Com o novo formato, que entrou no ar na segunda-feira, o bloco inicial, a cargo do Poder Executivo, de 25 minutos, conta com quatro locutores e não dois. Também há comentários a respeito dos diversos temas tratados. As vinhetas da protofonia (introdução orquestral) e da ópera "O Guarani", de Carlos Gomes, também foram modificadas. "Fizemos variações que incluem samba e bossa nova, entre outros, com instrumentos que vão dos timbales aos berimbaus", disse o presidente da Radiobrás, Eugênio Bucci. A "Voz do Brasil" tem uma hora de duração. Os outros 35 minutos divulgam notícias do Poder Judiciário, da Câmara e do Senado. Não se sabe ao certo quantos são os ouvintes do programa oficial transmitido em cadeia obrigatória de rádio e que chega aos 70 anos, mas são próximos dos 10 milhões. "Existem pesquisas que nos trazem números entre três milhões e 20 milhões", afirma Bucci. "Todo o sentido da mudança é atender o direito à informação. Por isso, fizemos um processo de atualização, na busca de uma fórmula contemporânea à democracia". Bucci disse que o programa, por ter quase sete décadas, ainda guardava reminiscência de períodos autoritários. "Ainda desempenhava uma espécie de papel de convencimento ideológico. Tiramos isso. Temos de trabalhar para a informação ao cidadão. Esse é o foco". Para ele, as mudanças podem ser explicadas em dois níveis. No primeiro, as modificações na composição da equipe e, no segundo, no tom e estilo da voz. "Temos a consciência de que há 70 anos a Voz do Brasil é uma instituição nacional. Tudo o que estamos fazendo é para cultivar essa instituição". As variações em "O Guarani" são, nas explicações do presidente da Radiobrás, uma espécie de apropriação antropofágica da ópera, de forma a atualizá-la. "Com isso, acreditamos que vamos nos aproximar também do público jovem". [Informação enviada por Paulo Roberto e Souza, de Tefé (AM), via Célio Romais, Porto Alegre (RS)](via radioescutas via DXLD) ** BRAZIL. Lula promete un estándar de televisión digital 'Made in Brasil" para el 2.006. El populismo imaginativo y constructivo de Lula también tiene un capítulo dedicado a los medios de comunicación. Así se acaba de poner de manifiesto con la presentación de su plan de televisión digital, que se basará, desde el punto de vista técnico, en un sistema específico, diferenciado de los estándares existentes. Desde la óptica del negocio, se plantea con una visión social insólita en otras latitudes. El Sistema Brasilero de TV Digital (SBTVD) está previsto que vea la luz en el año 2.006. En efecto, se trata de una de las primeras promesas formuladas por Lula, antes incluso de llegar a la presidencia de Brasil. La televisión digital como medio de socialización al alcance de todos. Así se resume el sueño para el que Lula prevé contar con un estándar propio, que será desarrollado por las principales universidades del país durante un año y con un coste aproximado de 17 millones de dólares, según informa la web Produ. Lula pretende que su sistema de televisión digital sea el más avanzado y popular del mundo, además del único que, a diferencia de las tecnologías europeas, norteamericanas y japonesas, permita acceder directamente a Internet. En la actualidad, el 85 por ciento de la población brasileña tiene acceso a la televisión, pero sólo el 8 por ciento accede a Internet, según informó el diario argentino Clarín. Con estas premisas, Brasil dejará de lado el patrón japonés de TV digital, que era el que inicialmente se presentaba como favorito. Tampoco se han llevado el gato al agua ni el norteamericano Advanced Televisión System Committee (ATSC) ni el europeo DVB. Precisamente el de Estados Unidos, responsable de la televisión digital en Argentina, es el que más había presionado para hacerse con la concesión, a través de reuniones con autoridades, emisoras y fabricantes. El desafío al que se enfrentan las universidades y empresas implicadas en el proyecto promovido por Lula es de enorme envergadura tanto desde el punto de vista económico (dado que debe resultar rentable y asequible para la mayoría de la población) como desde el técnico (la señal televisiva en Brasil se recibe mayoritariamente a través de las antenas internas de los televisores). Pero Brasil no va a afrontar solo un desafío de semejante envergadura. Sus investigaciones y propuestas encuentran un atento observador en China, país con el que el presidente brasileño podría crear una línea de colaboración tecnológica y comercial en la que trataría de involucrar a otros gigantes "emergentes" del Tercer Mundo, como la India o Sudáfrica. El caso es que Brasil, pese a sus limitaciones por lo que se refiere a la financiación de proyectos de tanto calado, no parte de cero en las investigaciones tecnológicas, y menos aún por lo que se refiere a Internet. De hecho, sus avances en interactividad bancaria y fiscal y en voto electrónico superan, a juicio de los especialistas, a lo desarrollado hasta ahora por iniciativas europeas y norteamericanas (Gabriel Iván Barrera, Argentina, RN Radio Enlace Sept 5 via DXLD) ** CANADA. Dario Monferini and Roberto Pavanello, of PlayDX Italy, have been on a tour of Canada visiting with DX and SWL enthusiasts along the way. If you are interested in their travel history go to http://playdx.altervista.org/html/travel.htm (hard-core-dx Aug 24 via DXLD) In Monferinglish ** CANADA. Hi Glenn, the 10 of August I visited with my companion Roberto, the new studios of CBC Edmonton, thanks the kindness of Mr. Pierre Noël of CBC French Service, Head of Communications Developments in Edmonton. They are really located in a big megastore building at 100th Street, in the city center; what the article is missing is to say in the ... move ... hundreds of employees will lose their job, inclusive the friendly guardman located in the old CBC building in quiet outside city. So not only "jewels" but also some "cuttings" will be done, in the name of the BUSINESS. In fact CBC will open a big shop store at the street level to sell CBC souvenirs (Dario Monferini & Roberto Pavanello, DX LISTENING DIGEST) About CBC's consolidation in Edmonton --- Hi Glenn, I just read that Edmonton Journal article in DXLD about how the CBC is consolidating its services in that city in one location later this year. It also appears to be happening in Quebec City, with the new "Maison de Radio- Canada" slated to open in 2004 at Dufferin-Montmorency Ave. and St. Jean St. The building will house French SRC Television/ Radio and English CBC Radio one. 73s (Ricky Leong, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CHILE. The Weekly Documentary --- Ask people anywhere in the world for their reaction to the words 9/11 and most of them will say "the terrorists attacks in New York and Washington" two years ago. However, for millions of others the 11th of September evokes a completely different and even more painful memory. For it was on that day, 30 years ago, that the military in Chile staged a bloody coup, ousting the socialist government of president Salvador Allende. To mark the anniversary, we'll broadcast two documentaries. The first one focuses on the rise of socialism in Chile and the brutal crushing of the democratically elected government and the second poses the question what lessons may be drawn from Chile's experience. The programmes were produced by The Freedom Archives in San Francisco, a non-profit organisation committed to the preservation and distribution of historical audio recordings from the late 1960s to the mid-1990s. The first documentary Chile: Promise of Freedom will air in our documentary slot on 10 and 12 September. Part two will be broadcast a week later, on 17 and 19 September. Broadcast times (UT): Wed: 1000 (Pacific/Asia/Far East), 1130 (Europe/East Coast USA), 1230 (USA WRN), 1330 (Europe WRN), 1500 (Asia/West Coast USA), 1800 & 1930 (Africa), 2100 (Europe); Thu: 0000 (North America), 0400 (USA WRN) & 0500 (North America) Fri: 1100 (Pacific/Asia/Far East/Europe/Eastern USA), 1530 (Asia/West Coast USA), 1900 (Africa), 2130 (Europe); Sat: 0030 (North America) (RN previews via DXLD) ** CHINA. China Roots, a new feature on China Radio International, is an introduction to China's traditional musical culture. The weekly broadcast hopes to introduce listeners to the "roots" of Chinese musical culture, as well as giving you a "route" into that culture. September 6 program focuses on music from minority Korean population in Yanbian --- CRI/English http://pw2.netcom.com/~jleq/cri1.htm (via James Richard LeQuesne, Sept 4, swprograms via DXLD) ** COLOMBIA. 6010.18, LV tu Conciencia, 0903, 5 Sept. This continues to be very strong here around 0900 despite the co-channel QRM. Got canned ID by M with horse whinny SFX as "Escucha la Informa Te estereo 8?.8 FM, el Calaran(?) Radio 1030 AM, y extension La Voz tu Conciencia 6010 onda corta". 73's Dave Valko, PA, Cumbredx mailing list via DXLD) Alcaraván ** FRANCE. NO MORE USE OF THE WORD E-MAIL IN FRANCE A note from France where the government has said goodbye to the term e-mail in favor of the native language term courriel. A word that linguistically sensitive France is now using to refer to electronic mail in all official documents and hopes that the public will adopt as well. France`s Culture Ministry announced a ban on the use of e-mail in all government ministries, documents, publications or Web sites on July 18th. This, as the latest step to stem what it sees as an incursion of English words into the French language. Courriel is a contraction of the two words and is a term that has often been used in French speaking Quebec Canada. The ministry`s General Commission on Terminology and Neology insists Internet surfers in France are broadly using the term ``courrier electronique`` instead of e-mail --- a claim some industry experts dispute. And we thought that you would like to know! (Published reports, via Amateur Radio Newsline Sept 5 via DXLD) Funny that ``Correo-E`` doesn`t seem to be catching on in Spanish (gh) ** GERMANY. 17555 broadcast at 1500 confirmed as R. Rhino International Africa, for UGANDA, henceforth [non] filed there, q.v. ** INTERNATIONAL INTERNET. DEFINING HATE Big Brother may not be watching you, but Auntie is. This week, the UK trade paper Broadcast revealed that BBC Monitoring is starting a pilot scheme to monitor Internet message forums and chat rooms in addition to traditional media for hate messages that could point to new areas of ethnic unrest around the globe. But the definition of hate speech depends on where you live. . . http://www.rnw.nl/realradio/dossiers/html/hateradio030905.html (Andy Sennitt, Media Network newsletter Sept 5 via DXLD) ** INTERNATIONAL VACUUM. Since the demise of Satellite Times, or rather merger into MONITORING TIMES, there has been less and less space devoted to this subject, but I see a very large webpage MT SATELLITE SERVICES GUIDE at http://www.monitoringtimes.com/html/mtssg.html which looks as if it has all the details you could possibly want, if it is kept up to date. Perhaps someone into satellite monitoring can evaluate that, as I see no date on the page, and not all of the internal links work (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** INTERNATIONAL WATERS. HURRICANE WATCH NET, WX4NHC TO ACTIVATE IN ADVANCE OF FABIAN http://www2.arrl.org/news/stories/2003/09/04/2/?nc=1 NEWINGTON, CT, Sep 4, 2003 -- The Hurricane Watch Net and Amateur Radio station WX4NHC at the National Hurricane Center in Miami will activate at 1200 UT Friday, September 5, in response to Hurricane Fabian, now described as a dangerous storm. The HWN operates on 14.325 MHz to gather ground-level storm data from Amateur Radio weather observers and other volunteers. The net relays these reports via WX4NHC to forecasters, who use the information to get a more precise picture of a storm`s potential path and damage potential. Forecast track of Hurricane Fabian, now a category 3 storm. [NOAA/NWS Graphic] [see above url for graphic and links to the watch net and WX4NHC] ``Bermuda is now in the direct track of Hurricane Fabian,`` said WX4NHC Assistant Amateur Radio Coordinator Julio Ripoll, WD4JR, in announcing the activation. The storm is now listed as a category 3 hurricane, with maximum sustained winds of 120 MPH with higher gusts. Forecasters believe Fabian could strengthen further before making landfall on Bermuda early Friday evening. HWN Manager Mike Pilgrim, K5MP, anticipates the net will remain active until 20 meters closes in the evening, likely after the storm has already passed Bermuda. Ripoll says WX4NHC will monitor the Hurricane Watch Net. ``Please do not transmit unless you have an emergency or are requested to do so by net control,`` he advised. In addition to gathering reports from Amateur Radio weather observers via the HWN, WX4NHC also will monitor surface reports from amateur weather enthusiasts and ON-NHC volunteers filed via the Internet. As of 1200 UT today, the National Hurricane Center was describing Fabian as a ``powerful hurricane`` moving slowly to the north- northwest at around 8 MPH. A hurricane watch remains in effect for Bermuda, and the storm was approximately 535 miles south of the island. The NHC says some fluctuations in strength are likely during the next 24 hours. Hurricane force winds extend outward up to 70 miles from the center, and tropical storm force winds extend outward up to 160 miles. ``Large swells and dangerous surf conditions will continue to affect the northern leeward islands, the Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico,`` the NHC said. ``Large swells will also begin to spread along portions of the East Coast of the United States over the next day or two.`` Copyright © 2003, American Radio Relay League, Inc. All Rights Reserved (ARRL via John Norfolk, DXLD) Later: HURRICANE WATCH NET, WX4NHC, SATERN RAMPING UP FOR FABIAN http://www2.arrl.org/news/stories/2003/09/05/4/?nc=1 NEWINGTON, CT, Sep 5, 2003 -- Volunteers on the Hurricane Watch Net, at the National Hurricane Center`s WX4NHC in Miami and with the Salvation Army Team Emergency Radio Network (SATERN) are keeping tabs on Hurricane Fabian. The storm is expected to strike Bermuda late today. Forecast track of Hurricane Fabian, now a category 3 storm. [NOAA/NWS Graphic] [see above URL for graphic and links] WX4NHC Amateur Radio Volunteer Coordinator John McHugh, KU4GY, says The Weather Channel plans to do a segment on ham radio and the National Hurricane center September 5 between 9 and 11 PM Eastern Daylight Time. ``A reporter spent some time with us at the Center a few weeks ago gathering info,`` he said. The HWN and WX4NHC activated at 1200 UT September 5. Operating on 14.325 MHz, the HWN gathers ground-level storm data from Amateur Radio weather observers and other volunteers. The net relays these reports via WX4NHC to forecasters, who use the information to get a more precise picture of a storm`s potential path and damage potential. HWN Manager Mike Pilgrim, K5MP, anticipates the net will remain active until 20 meters closes in the evening. SATERN`s net on 14.265 went on the air at 1700. ``A hurricane warning remains in effect for the Island of Bermuda,`` the National Hurricane Center said today. ``Preparations to protect life and property should have been completed.`` SATERN National Coordinator Pat McPherson, WW9E, says his organization is ready to provide any needed communication during the effort. ``All shelters, commands and units are outfitted with emergency communication equipment in the event they lose power or other communication systems fail,`` he said. ``The SATERN net will remain active as long as necessary to insure the continuity of communications.`` He says Salvation Army emergency disaster services personnel are on full alert. Territorial Coordinator for SATERN on Bermuda Rick Shirran, VE3NUZ/VP9, reports The Salvation Army has readied a large emergency shelter at Cedarbridge Academy in Hamilton. The National Hurricane Center is calling Fabian ``a large and severe hurricane.`` The storm was located about 40 miles southwest of Bermuda as of 1800 UT and moving toward the north at about 17 MPH. A category 3 hurricane, the storm is packing maximum sustained winds of nearly 120 MPH with higher gusts, and hurricane force winds extend outward up to 115 miles from its center. Heavy rains are expected to accompany Fabian, along with coastal storm surge flooding of six to ten feet above normal and ``dangerous battering waves.`` Meanwhile, forecasters, weather observers, Amateur Radio Emergency Service teams and disaster relief organizations also are keeping a close eye on Tropical Storm Henri, which could affect Florida. A tropical storm warning for Henri remains in effect for the Gulf Coast of Florida from Englewood Northward to the Aucilla River. Henri has maximum sustained winds of 45 MPH with higher gusts. Forecasters say heavy rain will accompany the storm and could cause flooding if it crosses into Florida and heads northeast up the Eastern Seaboard. The storm was expected to reach the Florida Gulf Coast tonight. Copyright © 2003, American Radio Relay League, Inc. All Rights Reserved (via John Norfolk, DXLD) ** INTERNATIONAL WATERS [and non]. LIGHTHOUSE WEEKEND A BIG HIT Meantime, reports from the around the world indicate that there was allot of activity in this years International Lighthouse and Lightship Weekend operating event. Jeramy Boot, of the GB2RS News Service has the details: Mike Dalrymple, GM4SUC, the organiser of the International Lighthouse / Lightship Weekend reports that a record number of stations - 369 - were established at lighthouses and lightships in 48 countries - another record - over the weekend of the 16th and 17th of August. The official list of participants can be found on the ILLW website. Next year the event will be on the 21 and 22nd of August 2004, and Mike invites individuals and groups to join in with a weekend of enjoying radio from a lighthouse or lightship. Jeramy Boot, G4NJH The International Lighthouse website is in cyberspace at http://illw.net GM4SUC adds that as soon as you have your plans for participating in the 2004 Lighthouse Weekend made to let him know. You can contact Mike by e-mail to GM4SUC@compuserve.com (GB2RS via Amateur Radio Newsline Sept 5 via John Norfolk, DXLD) ** IRAN. 9910, Kol David via IRIB *0230-0256* 9/6. In Hebrew with opening announcement and IDs; mention of website http://www.irib.com - -- then news or actualities with correspondents' reports; many mentions of Israel and Palestine. Ended at 0256 and carrier immediately off. What is the target area and purpose of this broadcast? (John Wilkins, Wheat Ridge, CO, Cumbre DX via DXLD) Propaganda from Iran (IRIB) to Israel, like US propaganda Farda or Sawa programs to the Muslim world. Kol Israel has similar transmissions in Persian language towards Iran. 73 wb df5sx (Wolfgang Büschel, Germany, ibid.) ** IRELAND. Just tried 252 kHz LW. Heard RTE Dublin (Clarkestown) with "RTE Radio One News" 22 UT. I wonder, was this just a test or a regular broadcast? Signal strength with my indoor ALA 1530P-loop was S9. 73´s (Jouko Huuskonen, Turku FINLAND, Sept 6, DX LISTENING DIGEST) RTÉ TRIALS IRELAND'S RADIO 1 ON 252 From ukradio.com Thursday, 4 September 2003 RTÉ is now studying the possibility of transmitting Radio 1 on LW 252 We are advised that tests are currently being carried out so that listeners tuning to that frequency may hear music or chat. The decision whether to proceed awaits an examination by RTÉ of the costs involved and the overall distribution of our services. 1st October is the target start date, subject to the outcome of that examination. At present all four RTÉ Radio services are available to domestic listeners on FM and the Internet. Radio 1 and 2FM are also on Medium Wave. Overseas, RTÉ radio broadcasts its four services on Satellite to the UK and Ireland, Radio 1 is also available throughout Europe on satellite and segments of R1 output are on Satellite and Short wave throughout the world. The transmission of Radio 1 on Long wave provides an exciting opportunity to broadcast to the whole island of Ireland on a single frequency. The service would also be available throughout a large portion of the UK, particularly the midlands. http://ukradio.com/news/articles/52F029002ADE4325B6176A805ADEA96B.asp (via Mike Terry, BDXC-UK via DXLD) ** ISLE OF MAN. MANX RADIO: 'EVOLUTION NOT REVOLUTION' --- It first went on air in June 1964 as a commercial station, long before commercial radio became part of everyday life in Britain.... http://www.iomonline.co.im/ViewArticle2.aspx?SectionID=872&ArticleID=654033 05 September 2003 Manx Radio's new managing director says listeners can expect evolution and not revolution at the station --- Station web site at http://www.manxradio.com/ Anthony Pugh, 50, who lives in Sulby, was this week revealed as the man who will take over from current managing director Stewart Watterson. Mr Watterson will remain at the station, working with Mr Pugh, until his retirement in March. The new managing director is impressed with the station's listening figures, stating: 'The people who have been here over the years have built that up. That doesn't happen overnight.' He said his aim is to implement changes following last December's Tynwald debate on a £400,000 strategic review of the station. It was agreed Manx Radio should focus on its news, current affairs and documentary content. Tynwald agreed a £300,000 payment and increases in the taxpayers' money handed out to the station annually, which will see the level rise from £245,000 last year to £847,000 in two years' time. Mr Pugh said the station has just appointed a new community programme editor, former Mandate presenter Roy MacMillan, and a youth producer will also be appointed. Mr Pugh, who was brought up in Anglesey and moved to the Island just weeks ago, has a long and distinguished career in radio. In 1974 he joined the BBC as a trainee studio manager and moved to Radio 1 to produce when Noel Edmonds, Peter Powell, Bruno Brookes, Adrian Juste and Anne Nightingale were all household names. He later worked with John Dunn and Gloria Hunniford at Radio 2. In the mid-80s he worked for BBC Radio International and, as editor, was instrumental in making the operation profitable and played an important part in developing the BBC's coverage of the Glastonbury Festival. In 1998 he set up an international product team in the BBC's music production department and, within a year, went on to become executive producer, business development and multimedia. Mr Pugh left the BBC in February 2001 to pursue a role as a freelance consultant working mainly with media and multimedia educational companies. He said anyone who came into a station and changed it without good reason would be a 'very foolish person'. Mr Pugh said his role is one of 'evolving the station and not of starting a revolution' but added changes are inevitable (via Mike Terry, DXLD) ** LATVIA. /UK [non]. Laser Radio UK is a British registered broadcasting company (holds a satellite broadcasting license in the UK) which is renting airtime at the Ulbroka transmitter in Latvia and is using this airtime for its own projects or sub-renting to radio projects usually linked with the "free radio scene". On 20 September, Laser Radio UK is going to carry a relay of the Dutch-based Internet station Radio Seagull ("The home of Progressive Rock and Alternative Music") on 9290 from Ulbroka, this is one project in which Laser Radio UK is "involved". (Bernd Trutenau, Lithuania, DX LISTENING DIGEST) On Saturday 20th September, Radio Seagull will be broadcasting on 9290 kHz Shortwave from 1800 to 2200 UT. The transmission will originate from the 100 kW shortwave transmitter located at Ulbroka in Latvia. laserradio@yahoogroups.com (via Mike Terry, DXLD) ** MEXICO. RADIO INSURGENTE: ...El pasado 9 de agosto, miles de indígenas zapatistas esperaron en vano, agotados por el sol, el lanzamiento de las emisiones de la Radio Insurgente que había sido anunciada como el vocero del Ejército Zapatista de Liberación Nacional (EZLN). Luego de más de cuatro horas de espera, el comandante Tacho se presentó ante las miles de personas que acudieron a Oventic, para anunciar que el subcomandante Marcos, líder del EZLN, no pudo acudir al evento "porque se enfermó de la panza de tanto reir". Sin embargo, Tacho reprodujo la grabación del primer programa de Radio Insurgente, conducido por Marcos, y que, según el EZLN, no pudo transmitirse porque la señal fue interferida por el Gobierno. Durante la grabación, apenas audible para miles de indígenas que esperaron pacientemente durante horas la transmisión de la emisora, Marcos arremetió contra los gobernantes que apoyaron la guerra contra Irak. Decenas de simpatizantes europeos del EZLN acudieron a la cita de Oventic el pasado 9 de agosto y se instalaron con tiendas de campaña y sacos de dormir en el césped de esa humilde y pequeña comunidad para no perderse detalles de los acontecimientos, que como ya dijimos terminaron en el fracaso, por lo menos de momento, del inicio de la nueva emisora zapatista (Radio Nederland Radio Enlace Sept 5 via DXLD) ** MEXICO. 6045, XEXQ R Universidad, San Luis Potosí, 1205-1220 with sign on announcement by OM, into classical music (Robert Wilkner, Pómpano Beach FL, Sept 6, Cumbre DX via DXLD) ** MEXICO. Well, after listening over several days, at time ranging from 0400 UT; 0540; 0645; and 1230, and at frequencies from 6186 through 6190, I FINALLY at 0415 this am Friday, 9/5, heard a female announcer say "from Mexico City with 10,000 watts." Then at about 0435 I heard what sounded like narration of a story with musical sound effects. Today, I searched for Mexican Radio, which led me to a site, which led me to this site... http://www.fredcantu.com/mexicoradiotv.htm with a link "Mexico City"... and voilà! 6185 is XEPPM-OC, Radio Educación!!! "It has a permit, not a license, to government or education outlets. It may be commercial free but not always" If you want commercial free music, this is the place to go! Louis Armstrong, New Age, Spanish ballads, Spanish choirs; modern classical --- I've heard it all over the last few days. I think they stick with one "performer" for about 15 minutes at a time. This AM at 12:30 did also hear a man talking, but not news. Wow, I'm so happy I finally figured this out!!! (Gloria Lalumia, Las Cruces NM, Sept 5, hard-core- dx via DXLD) An easier way would be to use a basic reference such as the WRTH; yes, a very good station for nightmusic! But I think it stays on 6185 (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** MONGOLIA. Hi Glenn, I´ve read several reports on Mongolia re- activated in the 60 mb. So I tried to hear them after long period of absence. Excellent reception was a big surprise to me. Does anybody know the power? Mongolian Radio turned their transmitters on 21 UT on (mid-night in Finland) on 4830, 4865 and 4895 kHz. Strong on 4830 and 4895, quite weak on 4865. 73´s (Jouko Huuskonen, Turku FINLAND, Rx: AOR 7030+, Ant: Wellbrook ALA 1530P-active loop, Sept 5, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** OKLAHOMA. STORM SHELTERS PROJECT PAYS DIVIDENDS FOR CLUB An Oklahoma ham radio club`s initiative has paid off by helping the community and enhancing public recognition for Amateur Radio. Chuck Kanach, KC5EZS, who`s vice president of the Choctaw Amateur Radio Club http://k5car.tripod.com/carc, says his club proposed last year to locate the precise position of storm shelters in the tornado-prone community to enable them to be found later -- after a storm. CARC, an ARRL-affiliated club, got the okay this summer. Members used their own GPS units and kept in touch via ham radio and cellphone as they used an initial list of 137 addresses from the city to track down, pinpoint and inventory the exact location of each storm cellar. Before they finished, the list had grown by another two dozen. ``We worked in teams of two and were able to locate 154 of these shelters within a six-week period,`` said Kanach, who headed up the project http://k5car.tripod.com/carc/id1.html. When the club finally turned over its list, Fire Chief Loren Bumgarner handed the club another dozen to locate. ``We have also been asked to locate storm shelters for neighboring cities, Kanach said. ``It looks like we will be staying busy for a while.`` The success of the project -- and ham radio`s contribution in the aftermath of last May`s tornadoes in Oklahoma -- has encouraged municipal officials to take ham radio more seriously as an emergency resource, Kanach said. ``I am now on first-name basis with our city`s emergency coordinator,`` Kanach said. ``He knows that we have people in our club concerned about our city and our people. He also knows the type of services we could provide.`` Kanach believes part of the reason for the project`s success--which got local media coverage--was not waiting for the city to ask but taking the initiative to propose the project first. ``The City of Choctaw and everyone we came in contact with now knows about the Choctaw Amateur Radio Club,`` he said (ARRL Letter Sept 5 via John Norfolk, OKCOK, DXLD) ** PUERTO RICO. OFFICIALS MEET OVER PUERTO RICAN BASE PAULINE JELINEK, Associated Press Posted on Wed, Sep. 03, 2003 WASHINGTON - Puerto Rico's delegate to Congress met Wednesday with Pentagon officials to talk about possible future uses for the Navy's Roosevelt Roads base in the event the installation is closed. . . http://www.kansascity.com/mld/kansascity/news/breaking_news/6684042.htm (via Jilly Dybka, DXLD) No mention of radio, but of course would affect lots of military 2-way, and AFN USB (gh, DXLD) ** RUSSIA. There are now three different programmes in Russian called the ``Voice of Russia``. The ID of all begins with ``Radio Company Voice of Russia``. The oldest is called the ``Worldwide Service in the Russian language`` (which includes the well known `Dx Club` programme hosted by Pavel Mikhailov); the second is ``Sadruzhestva`` (``Commonwealth``) beamed to ex-Soviet republics, and the new one is ``Russkaye Mezhdunarodnaye Radio`` (`Russian International Radio``). (Rumen Pankov, Bulgaria, Aug 11, DX News, Sept BDXC-UK Communication via DXLD) ** SAN MARINO. Hearing the ARO T77C on 18140-usb at 2050 UT working W9VOA with fair signals (Ron Trotto, Waggoner IL, Sept 4, ODXA via DXLD) ** UGANDA [non]. [previously under GERMANY] Hi Glenn, The message below was posted to the German A-DX list. It seems that Radio Rhino International Africa is indeed on air via DTK now. Regards, (Michiel Schaay, Netherlands, DX LISTENING DIGEST) The Allerweltshaus transmissions via Jülich are indeed Radio Rhino International-Africa, see enclosed message (Kai Ludwig, DX LISTENING DIGEST) [as in 3-162; so also via Michiel Schaay, DXLD) Once again, no signal here Sept 5. DTK schedule says 1500 UT, but should we be listening at 1800? So it would seem from the rhino website, which shows 1800 GMT in summer, 1700 GMT in winter!! But then in German, the times are shown in MEZ as 1700 and 1600, respectively. Since MEZ is now two hours ahead of GMT, the real GMT should be 1500, and the 1800 time quoted is really Ugandan time! DST is not observed there, but a switch to 1600 MEZ in winter, when it is UT +1, indicates the same UT of 1500 will be maintained. But then there would be no one-hour shift in terms of `GMT`, i.e. UT +3 in East Africa. Seems they are totally confused about timezones. How can an entity engage in international broadcasting without even a basic understanding of this??? Here is the main webpage, sic:: RRIA-NEWS Update: 09/05/2003 07:08:52 Frequency: 17.555 MHz SW Broadcast Time: GMT Summer Time: 1800-1830 Hours, Tuesday - Friday 1800-1900 Hours, Saturday + Sunday GMT Winter Time: 1700-1730 Hours, Tuesday - Friday 1700-1800 Hours, Saturday + Sunday From September 3rd to 14th, 2003 an ongoing trial broadcast may be tuned in and listened to from: weekdays + Weekends. The actual and regular RRIA-Programme begins on September 16, 2003. Tune in and listen to the 2 days launch-messages from Dr. Apollo Milton Obote, President of Uganda Peoples Congress on September 16, 2003 and Dr. Kiiza Bsigye Chairman of Reform-Agenda NRM on September 17, 2003, both will speak from their present locations in exile. Contact: Telephone ++49 162 - 88 5 44 86; Fax ++49 221 - 99 1 29 07 e-Mail mail@radiorhino.org Sendefrequenz: 17.555 MHz Kurzwelle Sendezeiten: MEZ Sommerzeit 1700-1730 Uhr dienstags - freitags 1700-1800 Uhr samstags + sonntags MEZ Winterzeit 1600-1630 Uhr dienstags - freitags 1600-1700 Uhr samstags + sonntags Vom 3. (Sendestart) bis 14. September 2003 wird ein Vorlaufprogramm zu Testzwecken ausgestrahlt: wochentags + Wochenende (reinhoeren) Am 16. September 2003 startet das tagesaktuelle RRIA-Programm. Kontakt: Telefon ++49 - 162 - 88 5 44 86; Telefax ++49 - 221 - 99 1 29 07 e-Mail mail@radiorhino.org Voice of the Voiceless International-Uganda e.V. c/o Allerweltshaus Koernerstr. 77 - 79 D - 50823 Koeln - Germany Tel: ++49 221 5 10 30 02 Fax: ++49 221 5 89 14 80 E-mail: mail@radiorhino.org "And as we walk, we must make the pledge that we shall march ahead. We cannot turn back. There are those who are asking the devotees of civil rights, `When will you be satisfied?` We can never be satisfied as long as our bodies, heavy with the fatigue of travel, cannot gain lodging in the motels of the highways and the hotels of the cities (…) No, no, we are not satisfied, and we will not be satisfied until justice rolls down like waters and righteousness like a mighty stream``. (Martin Luther King, 1964 Nobel Peace prize laureate, assassinated for his struggle) [end] There are some audio files, but the Sept 3 broadcast would not download for me. A report about the inauguration, in German from an unknown source, includes some apparently off-air clips in English. There`s a forum, with no participation so far. Furthermore, the rather lengthy mission statement, mentioning i.a. that broadcasts will be in English: http://www.rhinoradio.org/material/about_rria.htm (Rhino website via Glenn Hauser, DXLD) Seems they also are confused about the month, and how shortwave azimuths work [BBCM item from the Monitor, as in 3-161] The above article is on the rhino website too, minus BBCM remarx: http://www.radiorhino.org/material/texte/monitor_1.pdf (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) and via allafrica.com: http://allafrica.com/stories/200309050060.html (via Jilly Dybka, DXLD) Again only a trace of a signal here at 1530 Sept 6 on 17555 (gh, DXLD) ** U K. DAB - SUCCESS OR DISAPPOINTMENT? DAB is interesting and has generated some strong debates on newsgroups. "In the past 12 months sales of digital radio sets have boomed, with 175,000 sold by the end of May. That figure is likely to rise to 1m by the end of 2004 - according to the Digital Radio Development Bureau - driven by increasingly diverse and affordable models." (The Guardian) However some say "DAB sounds worse than mobile phones, digital radio on Freeview, Satellite, Broadband Internet Radio, Cable & FM" (alt.radio.digital) I was unsure at first but made my choice and spent my money (new affordable technology is always hard for me to resist). I have found the Evoke a great radio and the audio quality quite pleasant, superb on Classic FM which is 160k bps. Hopefully others will increase their bit rate to match, so I conclude its good listening with room for improvement. Just my humble opinion (Mike Terry, England, Sept 6, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U K. NEVILLE-JONES URGED REVIEW OF BBC COVERAGE Julia Day Wednesday September 3, 2003 The Guardian BBC governor and former intelligence chief Dame Pauline Neville-Jones wanted an external inquiry into the BBC's war coverage so the corporation would not to look like the "patsy" of its management, it has emerged. Documents issued by the Hutton inquiry reveal Dame Pauline was the governor who urged BBC chairman Gavyn Davies for "a full review" of "the question of systematic bias on war coverage". . . http://media.guardian.co.uk/print/0,3858,4746273-111608,00.html (via Dan Say, BC, DXLD) ** U S A. Dear Glenn: You may already be aware of this, but if not, this morning on CSPAN2's Book TV program (15 UT) there was a one hour program about a new VOA book by Alan L. Heil. It's titled The Voice of America: A History, published by Columbia U Press. Unfortunately I only caught the last 2 minutes of the program & again unfortunately it isn't repeated again this weekend. However, there is a brief review of the book at http://www.booktv.org Cheers, (Bill, SMSU, 6 Sep 03, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. PANEL FIRES SHOT ACROSS FCC'S BOW Stevens Amendment Maintains Cap on TV Networks' Size By Frank Ahrens, Washington Post Staff Writer, Friday, September 5, 2003; Page E05 The Senate Appropriations Committee dealt another potential setback to the Federal Communications Commission's new media ownership rules yesterday, adding an amendment to a spending bill that would prevent the agency from raising its cap on the size of large broadcast television networks. . . http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A27818-2003Sep4.html (via Kraig Krist, DXLD) ** U S A. Rechecked WRVU Friday afternoon to confirm whether Ken Berryhill`s shows were still on --- after 2000 UT, definitely not The Old Record Shop, and then consulting the grid, I see it has been changed, but Ken is still there, moved to Wednesday 1700-1900 UT, where I think they had been some time back (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. CLASSICAL MUSICAL CHAIRS http://www.freep.com/entertainment/tvandradio/wag4_20030904.htm AN L.A. JOB IN GROSSE POINTE: RADIO CLASSICAL MUSIC PROGRAMMER JUGGLES 3 JOBS September 4, 2003, BY JOHN SMYNTEK, Detroit FREE PRESS STAFF WRITER "Pretty nutty, isn't it?" says Dave Wagner, musing about about his work life. A jar of Planter's assorted certainly could stand as a metaphor for Wagner's current occupational trifecta. After all, how many people teach full-time at a university, perform as the music director and organist for a Catholic church and -- stand back -- program a classical radio station half a continent away? Wagner, 54, does all that. Associate professor of music at Madonna University in Livonia. Presider over the choir loft at St. Clement's Church in Center Line. And Internet-linked programmer of KMZT-FM in Los Angeles. The Grosse Pointe resident chalks up freeway mileage for the Livonia and Center Line jobs. But to program the commercial classical station in California, it's mostly a trip up the stairs to his home office. There, in about 45 minutes, he decides what gets played at KMZT, which is phonetically named after one of the station's musical pillars, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. Then from noon to 9 p.m. -- 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. West Coast time -- he fields phone calls on a Los Angeles area-coded cell phone from colleagues at KMZT to solve problems or answer questions. That's something he did by merely sticking his head into an office or studio when he was programmer of Detroit's 105.1, then classical WQRS- FM. It left the airwaves in November 1997, the casualty of a format change. Most remaining classical stations are public and not-for-profit; few commercial stations opt for the classics anymore because of its perceived two perceptions: an aging audience and a general decline of appreciation for fine music among the general populace. Wagner's long reach does get shorter once a month. He flies to Los Angeles to meet with the staff, work the occasional on-air shift and battle L.A. traffic. That augments his ability to give -- in Tinseltown parlance -- good phone. When he started at KMZT in 2001, Wagner recalls, he felt overwhelmed. "I'm saying, 'I don't think this is going to work.' We talked about moving to L.A., but my mom's here, my youngest daughter was still in high school at the time. I'm so plugged in with my family." His wife of 27 years, Penelope Wagner, their three children and a grandchild are all part of the Wagner household. But he told himself: "I already get to play the organ, I get to teach -- I'm gonna try it and see if I really like it." And he does. Between 1997, the end of his 30-year run as a WQRS staffer, and 2001, Wagner had to scramble to keep his radio career and his musical vocation going. For a year or so, he commuted to Cincinnati to work at a classical station there. The Madonna job came at an opportune time in 1998, allowing him and his family to avoid a full-time move to Cincy. But then in 2001, he lost his job as music director at St. Paul's on the Lake Catholic Church in Grosse Pointe Farms because of budget cuts. The St. Clement's post filled that void. That task fills Saturdays, Sundays and some funerals and special services. Then along came Saul Levine, a former Michigander who made a success of law in Los Angeles and is one of the few independent major owners left in American radio. Unhappy with KMZT's ratings, Levine called Wagner and offered him the job. In February 2001, after numerous phone calls, visits and the development of computer technology that made long-distance supervision possible, Wagner signed on. Wagner says the biggest challenge in L.A. is "just staying in the loop. You have to work harder. The little everyday interaction is missing, things like heading off problems sometimes resolved by being there." Levine says Wagner is doing a fine job. "The typical classical programmer, from previous experience, is a recluse to begin with" he says, so Wagner not being there isn't that out of the ordinary. But that's where the reclusiveness ends. By phone and computer, Levine says, "Dave is extremely congenial, open-minded and impressed scores of people with his compatibility." The L.A. radio market features more than 80 signals; KMZT's audience has varied from 1.6 to 2 percent of the audience, according to Arbitron, usually good for about 25th place. Wagner's programming philosophy? Simple, he says. He avoids long-form -- classical pieces lasting more than 10 minutes. And he offers Bach, Beethoven, Brahms and Mozart because "the people who listen to you listen because they're interested in that type of music." It being L.A., there are also doses of film music. A morning Sousa march to get listeners moving and a freeway special of zippy stuff at 4:05 p.m. -- the number of a major L.A. freeway -- work well, he says. And discretion is always the better part of valor. "I've learned," he says, "that what you don't play can't hurt you; what you do play can kill you." (Via Harry van Vugt, Windsor, Ontario, Canada) ** U S A. A FEW MORE SOUR NOTES --- Friday, September 5, 2003; Page A20 In affirmation of and elaboration on Louise Remmey's Aug. 24 Close to Home piece, "Sour Notes for Classical Music Fans": Why, in this information age, when we are saturated with news and opinion from multitudinous sources, do public radio stations devote such a high percentage of their programming to news, opinion and interview shows at the expense of classical music? And why can't we have a drive-time respite from the talking heads and crass commercial announcements that accompany classical broadcasting on the "Good Music Station"? I also have a complaint about shrinking play lists. The repetitiveness with which pop music is played should not be a goal to which broadcasters of classical music aspire, yet it seems that they're moving in that direction. WGMS appears to be affected by this disturbing nationwide trend, but the most egregious example in our listening area is sadly from the station that plays the most classical music, without commercial interruption or much babble: WBJC in Baltimore. During the year I worked in the Baltimore area and listened to WBJC, I heard the "Corsair Overture" by Hector Berlioz nearly every day. That's a great piece, but familiarity can breed contempt. Why don't broadcasters recognize the value that diversity brings to building an appreciation of classical music? STEPHEN E. McLAUGHLIN, Silver Spring (c) 2003 The Washington Post Company (Letter to the editor via Mike Cooper, DXLD) ** U S A. BOB NEWHART SELLING CALIF. RADIO STATION SANTA BARBARA, Calif. (AP) - It`s no joke: Bob Newhart is letting go of his radio station. Station KZBN 1290-AM, also known as ``KBOB,`` is being sold by the actor-comedian to Wendy McCaw, the owner of the Santa Barbara News-Press. ``I`ve owned KZBN since 1995 and I`m proud that we`re one of the most popular nostalgia stations in the country,`` Newhart said in a statement Wednesday. ``I have enjoyed making it possible for KZBN to share the best music and community-focused programming with our loyal audience.`` Newhart, 74, said he had rejected offers from would-be buyers outside the Santa Barbara area and was pleased a local resident will ``continue to operate the station in the best interests of our community.`` The station is well-known for playing Sinatra-era tunes and for the fast-talking disc jockey known as ``The Baron`` Ron Herron. KZBN will be bought by Ampersand Broadcasting LLC, an affiliate of Ampersand Publishing LLC, which owns the News-Press paper. McCaw and Ampersand President Joe Cole said they will retain KZBN`s staff and evaluate its content. They said they plan to start live community programming. ``We`re still early in the process, but I anticipate providing Santa Barbara with strong local news coverage,`` McCaw said in a statement. ``I commend Mr. Newhart for keeping the station in the community.`` The sale of KZBN is subject to federal approval. Terms of the deal weren`t immediately announced. On the Net: http://www.bob-newhart.com/ 09/05/03 16:42 EDT © The Associated Press (via John Norfolk, DXLD) ** U S A. Glenn, Am currently (3:30 pm EDT Sept 4), watching FOX News Channel. Just had a Fox News Alert, that TV Tower for WAAY in AL has collapsed. Injuries reported, but no cause yet reported. Thought your TV DXers might want to know (Gayle Van Horn, NC, DX LISTENING DIGEST) From Waveguide: A television transmission mast undergoing repairs in America collapsed yesterday, killing two men who were several hundred feet up. A third man was critically injured in the accident which occurred in calm weather. Witnesses said the three workers were tied to positions on the 985-foot mast and unable to escape. The cause of the accident is currently under investigation. Police spokesman Wendell Johnson said the three men had been hired to strengthen the tower on a mountain overlooking Huntsville, Alabama. http://www.waveguide.co.uk/latest/news030905.htm#TV%20Mast%20Deaths (via Mike Terry, DXLD) The tower of WAAY-TV channel 31 in Huntsville AL collapsed about 1:00 PM today reportedly killing 3 workers who were on the tower. The WAAY web site reports that they were leasing space on it but it wasn't their tower (Patrick Griffith, NRC FMTV via DXLD) It was, however, behind their studio and they built it (later selling it to SpectraSite and leasing back space). A picture of the tower "before" is up at http://www.fybush.com/featuredsite.html WAAY-TV had a backup tower at the site (their old tower from before the current one was built in 1977), and they were using it at the time of the accident. The accident apparently occurred as SpectraSite workers were removing the channel 31 analog antenna to prepare the tower for a new channel 31/32 combo antenna. 31 was off the air for a few hours after the accident but was reportedly back on tonight. s (Scott Fybush, NY, Sept 4, WTFDA via DXLD) WHNT-19 has streaming video of the tragedy; 3 people died. I'm assuming the strengthening of the tower was in anticipation of DTV upgrades? http://www.whnt.com/Global/story.asp?S=1429311&nav=1VPtHorT (Matthew C. Sittel, Bellevue, NE, ibid.) Here`s WAAY-TV`s own notice about it, with a still of the tangled steel: http://www.waaytv.com/Global/story.asp?S=1429643 On Thursday afternoon tragedy struck close to home here at WAAY-TV. The One Thousand-foot broadcast tower used to send our signal to the Tennessee Valley collapsed, killing three tower workers. Our thoughts and prayers go out to the families and loved ones of those men. The tower, which WAAY-TV leases space on, has been a landmark on Monte Sano for nearly 30 years. I would like to personally thank the Huntsville Police Department, Fired Department and HEMSI for their quick and compassionate response to this tragedy. I also want to thank our competitors in the market. Our friends at Channel 19, Channel 48 and Fox 54 all offered to pitch in any way they could to get us back on the air. We greatly appreciate that gesture. We are fortunate that this television station is uniquely equipped. We have two full power transmitters and two antennas. We were able to immediately switch our broadcast signal over to our original tower and transmitter when our power was restored shortly after the accident on the main tower. In this way we are able to continue to serve our viewers and advertisers across the Tennessee Valley. While there was a terrible loss of life, we are grateful that no WAAY- TV employee was injured. Thank you. Peter O'Brien, Vice President/ General Manager WAAY-TV (via Glenn Hauser, DXLD) CHANNEL 31 ANTENNA TOWER COLLAPSES, KILLS 3 WORKERS Witnesses say victims halfway up 985-foot structure when it fell 09/05/03 By WENDY REEVES Huntsville Times Staff Writer http://www.al.com/news/huntsvilletimes/index.ssf?/base/news/1062783936291420 Huntsville police and federal investigators returned this morning to the site of the collapse of a television antenna tower that killed three men Thursday afternoon. Witnesses told police the workers were halfway up the 985-foot tower at WAAY-TV Channel 31 on Monte Sano when the collapse began about 1 p.m., said Wendell Johnson, police spokesman. The tower collapsed onto itself, and part of it landed to the south in a wooded area, killing two men instantly. The third victim died at Huntsville Hospital. Each had been tethered to the tower, officials said. Killed were Charles Pace, 35, of Tucson, Ariz.; Bryan Buckhardt, 27, of Robstown, Texas; and J.C. Dela Lama, 35, of Hollywood, Fla. "Our heartfelt sympathies go out to them and their families," said Peter O'Brien, general manager at WAAY. The men were employees of SpectraSite Communications of North Carolina, which owns the tower and leases space on it to WAAY and other companies, said a SpectraSite spokeswoman. No other information about the incident was available this morning, but SpectraSite planned to hold a press conference at 3 p.m. today at WAAY, she said. The men were adding support to the tower and putting in equipment for digital cable when the tower buckled below them, said Huntsville Police Sgt. Ed Cain of the Major Crimes Unit, which handles all death investigations. Investigators from the federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration and Huntsville police are treating the incident as an industrial accident, police said. No one at the station was hurt, but the tower missed the building by about 15 feet. Channel 31 reporter Georgi Deerman's hands were still shaking after one of the initial media briefings at the station. "We're OK, but not OK," Deerman said as she and a videographer covered the story. Jerry Tripp, a maintenance worker for Huntsville City Schools, was working at the school system's educational television facility nearby when he heard the collapse. "It was loud," he said. "I thought it was a backhoe ripping up and dragging a big piece of tin across the pavement." At first, he thought something had happened at Monte Sano Elementary School, across Monte Sano Boulevard from the station. Tripp hurried down a ladder and jumped into his truck. When he saw the school was OK, he ran across the street to the TV station. There he encountered the tower crew's pale-faced supervisor. "The man said he just lost three of his men," Tripp said. "Said it was his first accident in 20 years. He was pretty shook up." The tower was used to transmit the main signal for the ABC affiliate; a backup tower allowed the station to resume broadcasting about 4:20 p.m. The accident posed no threat to the school, but parents still called. Jami Tipton, security supervisor for city schools, said students were allowed to go home early and officials tried to get buses to the school early because of the many emergency vehicles in the area. Tripp remembered talking with a co-worker about the extreme height of the towers. "It's high, but then I said I'd climb it for $20." He never did, he said, and now he wouldn't even entertain the idea. "I plan to keep my feet on the ground." Firefighters from Station 4 across the street from Channel 31 found a dog belonging to one of the victims tied to a tree, said Fire & Rescue spokesman Jay Gates. "Apparently, he took it with him to work every day," he said. Gates is taking care of the dog until the owner's relatives are contacted. The accident was the second time someone has died in a tower incident in four years in Huntsville. In February 1999, a California man died when he fell more than 100 feet while working to erect a new tower at the WEUP radio station at 2609 Jordan Lane. SpectraSite was founded in 1997, according to the company's Web site. As of Sept. 30, 2002, SpectraSite owned nearly 8,000 towers and managed more than 12,000 rooftop antenna sites in the United States. Times staff writers Keith Clines and Kenneth Kesner contributed to this report (via Jilly Dybka, DXLD) The mandatory DTV transition has proven to be costly in human lives, as there have been several previous tower collapses under the same circumstances, and no doubt there will be more (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. EX-PRODUCER FOR CHRISTIAN RADIO BOOKED ON PORN By Bartholomew Sullivan. September 5, 2003 A former radio producer for American Family Radio in Tupelo, Miss., has been charged in a federal criminal complaint with making pornographic pictures of his daughter's 11-year-old sleep-over friend. Kerry Dwayne Stevens, a 2 1/2-year employee of the conservative Christian broadcast network, appeared before a federal magistrate in Oxford Thursday. Stevens's wife of 23 years, Teresa Stevens, testified at the hearing before her husband was ordered held without bond. In an affidavit filed with the criminal complaint, FBI Special Agent John Mark Quaka said guests in Stevens's home stumbled upon the computer diskettes displaying young girls in various stages of undress on the evening of Aug. 23. One of the guests contacted Tupelo police, who with the FBI searched Stevens's Tupelo home Aug. 27. Taken in the search were computers, a digital camera and blankets and furniture cushions shown in the photographs. According to Quaka's affidavit, the images depict a then-11-year old friend of Stevens's daughter. American Family Association general counsel Patrick J. Vaughn said Stevens, 47, is no longer employed by American Family Radio (gomemphis.com via Mike Cooper, DXLD) ** U S A. EARLY-MORNING RADIO LISTENERS CAN'T GET TUNE OUT OF THEIR HEADS Because of a computer crash, the Mel Wheeler Inc.-owned station was forced to play Jackson's tune, from the movie "Nutty Professor 2," from 5:30 to 7 Wednesday morning. . . http://www.roanoke.com/roatimes/news/story154765.html (via Jill Dybka, DXLD) ** URUGUAY. IGLESIA CATOLICA COMPRA CX12 RADIO ORIENTAL CX12 Radio Oriental, Montevideo, (MW 770 / OC 11735), actualmente parte del complejo mediático "CX20 Radio Montecarlo/Montecarlo - TV Canal 4/Montecable (TV de abonados)" ha sido comprada por la Iglesia Católica Uruguaya, se ha comunicado hoy. La compra refleja un intento de la Iglesia Católica de contrarrestar la profusión de espacios en medios radiales en manos de otras iglesias. Sus estudios estarán ubicados en un local de la Ciudad Vieja de Montevideo, previos trabajos de demolición y construcción que están previstos. Se anuncia una fecha de inauguración para el 8 de diciembre próximo. Para la financiación de la transacción comercial, la Iglesia ha recurrido a fondos de colaboración de la Conferencia Episcopal Italiana. ¿Mantendrán la Onda Corta sus nuevas autoridades? (Horacio Nigro, Uruguay, set 4, Conexión Digital via DXLD) ** VENEZUELA. Saludos Glenn. Espero te encuentres muy bien. De nuevo en el aire YVTO Observatorio Naval Cajigal, captada a las 1855 UT con buena señal (José Elías, Venezuela, Sept 4, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** WEST BERLIN. LIFE IN GERMANY --- ANNOUNCEMENTS FROM 'MR AFN' --- The American Forces Network has been broadcasting from Germany since World War II. Clive Freeman hears a veteran radio man's memories. New York-born Mark White eases himself into a chair at a downtown penthouse suite and reminisces about Berlin, the city where he's been a popular radio broadcaster for half a century. Known to many Berliners as "Mr AFN", White first saw Berlin in late 1945 after being hired as an announcer by the American Forces Network. AFN's broadcasts in the occupied city had not begun until the August, owing to the chaotic state of the city. . . http://www.expatica.com/germany.asp?pad=197,212,&item_id=33928 (via Jilly Dybka, DXLD) UNIDENTIFIED. Heard unID French station at 0605 on 5030; signal was good, heard lively pop music, followed by long winded talk by male and female (Ron Trotto, Waggoner, IL, WDX4KWI, Cumbre DX via DXLD) What else but Burkina Faso?? ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ MUSEA +++++ INTERVIEW WITH VLADIMIR ZWORYKIN, 1975y I stumbled onto this and thought that the television history buffs in the group might find it of interest. http://www.ieee.org/organizations/history_center/oral_histories/transcripts/zworykin21.html (Curtis Sadowski, WTFDA via DXLD) RECEIVER NEWS +++++++++++++ KAITO KA-1101 AND KA-1102 Glenn, A followup on the release dates of the Kaito KA-1101 and KA- 1102 - which are the US versions of the Degen DE-1101 and DE-1102. Kaito expects arrival of the 1101 shipment around Sept 20th. They expect to receive a sample of the 1102 around the same time. No word on when they'll start distributing it. Radios4you says that they'll -- - probably --- start selling the 1101 about Oct 1. They said Jan 1 is possible for the 1102 (Doni Rosenzweig, Sept 4, DX LISTENING DIGEST) POWERLINE COMMUNICATIONS ++++++++++++++++++++++++ Correction: The story ``BPL Places FCC at Regulatory Crossroad, AMRAD Suggests`` in The ARRL Letter, Vol 22, No 34 (Aug 29, 2003) contained incorrect information. It should have said: ``Ironically, the HomePlug standard substantially notches out the amateur bands -- something ARRL convinced the HomePlug Powerline Alliance to do after amateur complaints sparked a recall of non-HomePlug-standard carrier-current devices that had operated near 3.5 MHz. The new 60-meter band is not notched out, however.`` A spokesperson for HomePlug Powerline Alliance notes that HomePlug had worked with ARRL long before any HomePlug products were on the market (ARRL Letter Sep 5 via John Norfolk, DXLD) Ain`t that just peachy! Who cares about the SWBC bands! (gh, DXLD) RADIO LAW: THE ACADEMY OF MODEL AERONAUTICS SAYS NO TO BPL Back here in the United States, word that the Academy of Model Aeronautics is saying no to the introduction of Broadband Over Powerline or BPL technology. In Reply Comments to the FCC, the 175,000 member aviation hobby group says that it is concerned that BPL deployment could cause harmful interference to users of Radio Controlled systems and pose a safety hazard to aero modeling equipment and spectators. In its filing the AMA says that Broadband Over Powerline holds the potential to severely interfere with radio controlled models which operate in or near the 27, 50, 72 and 75 MHz bands. All of these fall within the 1.7 through 80 MHz spectrum where the FCC proposes to permit BPL to operate. To the AMA this means that Broadband Over Powerline may not yield the benign environment the Commission expects. Also, that it could result in an unanticipated negative impact on Radio Controlled operations. And that`s what it has told the FCC (AMA release via Amateur Radio Newsline Sept 5 via John Norfolk, DXLD) CONVENTIONS & CONFERENCES +++++++++++++++++++++++++ EDXC CONFERENCE 2003 IN KÖNIGSTEIN --- by Anker Petersen DSWCI Short Wave News/ Aug-Sep 2003 About 70 DX-ers, Broadcasters and DRM-specialists from 15 countries in Europe, North America and Asia did attend the 37th annual Conference of the European DX Council at the Dresdner Bank Kommunikations-und Trainings-Center outside the 750 year-old German city of Königstein near Frankfurt am Main. This quiet beauty of scenery was the ideal venue for a Conference which had ``DXing in the digital future`` as its theme. It was very well organized by the local Rhein-Main-Radio-Club in co-operation with the other main DX-Clubs of Germany. It was a great pleasure that no less than 16 DSWCI-members found their way to Königstein: Mariá Gösselová (Czech Rep.), Kaj Bredahl Jørgensen, Stig Hartvig Nielsen and yours truly (Denmark),Robert Kipp, Andreas Schmid, Stefan Schliephacke, Horst K. Schmidt and Markus Wiedner (Germany), Valerio G. Cavallo, Paolo Morandotti and Nader Javaheri (Italy), Toshi Ohtake (Japan), Max van Arnhem (The Netherlands), Tibor Szilagyi (Sweden) and George Brown (Scotland). The Conference was officially opened Friday Aug 15 at 1400 by Dr. Harald Gabler (RMRC), Luigi Cobisi (EDXC Secretary General) and a representative from the Government of Hessen. Furthermore introduction by Dr. Anthon Kuchelmeister (AGDX), Hans van der Remme (ADDX) and a representative from one of the sponsoring firms, Rohde & Schwarz. 2003 is the year of the inaugural broadcasts using the new Digital Radio Mondiale (DRM) modulation technology and we heard high level lectures about this by Professor, Dr. Ing. Wolfgang Skupin (University of Applied Sciences), Mr. Michael Knietzsch (Thales Broadcast & Multimedia GmbH) and Mr. Stephan Meltzer (Coding Tec.) covering the theory, DRM transmitters and DRM receivers. The situation right now is that worldwide standards have been accepted and the first transmitters are broadcasting DRM now. The target is to improve AM on SW and MW, but not to replace FM and DAB. Later on we heard some of these tests on short wave from Jülich, Rampisham, Bonaire and Sackville on two DRM-receivers and the quality was impressive: Like FM and close to CD quality! But we also experienced that the signals dropped completely off, if the signal strength was too weak or there were bad propagation conditions or severe disturbances from adjacent AM broadcasts ! It is either perfect reception or no reception at all. It was admitted that the protests from DX-ers on the wide spectrum noise QRM during the first DRM field tests have forced the engineers to keep the transmitter bandwidths within 10 kHz. DRM receivers are still being developed. The first prototype, sized like a Sony ICF 2001, did cost about 1000 Euro, and the second generation, smaller than a Sangean ATS909, did cost around 700 Euro. When mass production starts in 2004 and 2005, the prices are expected to become lower. Wolf Harranth (Ex ORF) then held a provocative and disillusioned causerie about the Rise and Fall of the Wireless Empire; Looking into the crystal ball: Brave New Virtual World? and the role of the listeners: The Unimportance of Being Earnest. DRM is excellent, but comes too late. SW is not dead! Many international broadcasters have disappeared, but that leaves more free channels for DX of small stations. Then followed the traditional Broadcasters Forum with representatives from Deutsche Welle (Waldemar Krämer), HCJB (DX-Editor Hans Werner Lange, ADDX), IBB (Arto Mujunen), AWR (Dr. Adrian M. Peterson), RVI (Frans Vossen) and ORF (Wolf Harranth). Of particular interest was that the IBB now has 60 automated monitoring systems and about 50 human monitors to check reception of the VOA, RFE/R Liberty, RFA etc. DRM will not replace analogue listening for many years in the developing countries. There are four huge collections of Broadcast QSLs in the world initiated by: 1. The late Arthur Cushen. It can now be seen at a public library in Invercargill, New Zealand. 2. Wolf Harranth: Research and Documentation Center for the History of Radio Communication and the Electronic Media, in Vienna, Austria. 3. Jerry Berg, Connecticut, U.S.A. [CPRV, supposedly at Univ. of Md.] 4. Adrian Peterson, Indianapolis, U.S.A. He has about 35,000 QSLs and showed us several being more than 50 years old. Before an informal dinner party, Andreas Schmid had organized a Pennant Quiz where Stig Hartvig Nielsen became the winner with 32 out of 33 correct answers. The first lecture Saturday morning was by Siegbert Gerhard about the complicated History of German DX Clubs. After that Toshi Ohtake gave his lecture about 50 year history of DX in Japan - which some have heard in Vejers or Kulpsville. Toshi is now editor of a new DX- programme in English via AWR. Stig Hartvig Nielsen then told us about the history and future plans of the World Music Radio - the private station from 1963 that refuses to die and which he now is in charge of. The Danish PTT has authorized the use of 15810 kHz and is expected also to permit the use of a 49 mb frequency soon. A 400 watts transmitter in the central Jutland village of Ilskov will be used initially, but two 10 kW transmitters are expected ready from Nov 2003. 24 hours of broadcasts, 7 days a week, of contemporary and world music are planned for a global, international audience. In the future it is expected that WMR will also be live stream on World Wide Web, on FM around Aarhus, on Satellite, MW and Cable to 700,000 houses. This was followed by a talk by Christopher Laske from the Fraunhofer Institute about their development of a low cost 10 watts DRM transmitter and a low cost (65 Euro) pretuned DRM receiver for the students at Erlangen University. After lunch, Alois Krischke, retired engineer from Rohde & Schwarz and editor of ``SW Antennas``, gave a very detailed review of Transmitting and Receiving Antennas. Udo Deutscher introduced us to a new kind of DX-ing: Scanning of the TV Video frequency spectrum and identify the TV carriers. He demonstrated the carrier noise from local TV stations. Only a dozen of DX-ers worldwide enjoy this special hobby so far. Anker Petersen then analysed the down going number of stations on the Tropical Bands from 1973 till 2003 which now is reduced to one third. The stations have disappeared mostly because of replacement by FM, low technical standard or poor economy. If the trend continues, the last stations will disappear in 2014. We plan to publish this lecture later on in SWN, and it can already now be read on http://www.dswci.org --- click Latest news. Dr. Adrian M. Peterson followed with a Wandering the World with a Radio, telling about his early experiences of DX-ing while working for AWR in Australia, Pakistan and Sri Lanka. Adrian is still writing articles for `Wavescan` from Indianapolis, but the DX-programme is edited in the UK by young Christopher Lewis who also attended the Conference, and broadcast worldwide. Andrew Janitschek, Operations Manager of R Free Asia in Washington then gave an update of their broadcasts which have been increased towards North Korea. He officially inaugurated their first QSL cards. Reports to RFA, ATTN. Ms. Iwanciw, 2025 M. Street, NW, Suite 300, Washington; e-mail: iwanciwt@rfa.org After the traditional EDXC Banquet, a Tombola was held where everyone won prizes --- mostly presents about the 50 years of Deutsche Welle. The first prize --- a Spacereceiver - was won by Valerio Cavallo. Three EDXC Awards for excellent DX-lifework --- handmade by Mr. Alfred Becker --- were given to Wolf Harranth, Waldemar Krämer and Anker Petersen --- a great honour! Sunday morning began with a Flea Market at the lobby and a video film --- in German --- from the inauguration of the new Radiohouse of Deutsche Welle in Bonn. Waldemar Krämer from DW then talked about the role of listeners in frequency planning. Scientific calculations on propagation of shortwave transmissions are always theoretical predictions, and the DX-er or technical monitors may find out that the real world is different. Therefore reception reports cannot be rated highly enough for analog, but also for future DRM transmissions! Former DJ ``Roger Kirk`` who was well-known in the 1960s and 1970s at such pirate and later private stations as Pyrgos Broadcasting, R Northsea International, R Galaxy, R Time and R Victoria, gave a controversial talk about the ``End of Private Radio?``. His message was that the Era of these stations is more or less over, but they did succeed in changing the format of even State-run broadcasters to fluent announcing with jingles and playing the kind of music, the listeners want to hear. Wolf Harranth then gave some more information about the ``Research and Documentation Center for the History of Radio Communication and the Electronic Media``, in Vienna, Austria. It was formerly just called the ``QSL Collection``, but now it has much more than QSLs from broadcasting stations and radio amateurs. Also Club publications, logbooks, WRTH`s and even recordings from radio broadcasts. More details can be read on http://www.qsl.at Nowadays, its four million objects are stored in a large building where visitors can study the history of broadcasting and DX-ing. Wolf Harranth stressed that for historical reasons it is very important that private QSL-collections and Club publications are sent to this Center when they are no longer needed. The Center is officially registered as an international organization. The final point on the agenda was the report from the Secretary General of the EDXC. Luigi Cobisi found that the hobby of DXing is still very much alive, but there are some problems: 1. Some Clubs may not be really organized. 2. Some Clubs are going down in membership. 3. Some Clubs have left the EDXC. The EDXC represents 15 DX-Clubs in 17 European countries with a total of about 5,000 DX-ers. But the EDXC work is based on voluntary work and the annual budget is less than 700 Euros. The Secretary General then mentioned the well visited EDXC Portal on the internet, his monthly newsletters by mail, e-mail, on the website and via HCJB, and now also via the Voice of the Mediterranean in Malta. These broadcasts are verified by QSL. His visits to various Clubs, like the DSWCI AGM in Vajers in May were also mentioned. The DSWCI is regarded as one of the non-British DX-Clubs in Europe which first realised that English is THE international language for DX-ers. According to the present Statutes of the EDXC ``A Dxer from any Member [Club] of the Council shall be elected Secretary General or Assistant Secretary General for a period of three years only.`` Luigi Cobisi and his assistant Paolo Morandotti have been leading the EDXC since January 01, 2001, so the member clubs were invited to present candidates this autumn, and then a voting will take place. During his period as Secretary General, Luigi Cobisi has met about 650 DX-ers and Broadcasters which has been very rewarding. It is very important for the Hobby that Conferences are organized regularly, because the personal contacts are invaluable. The next Conference will be on Malta Oct. 24-26, 2003 where the Voice of the Mediterranean is organizing a Conference about Multilingualism and International Radio --- a listeners` and broadcasters` Forum, and has asked the EDXC to support it with the participation of some European DX-ers. In Pori, Finland, last year there were four offers for future DX Conferences: Germany (just held), Malta (to be held in October), Ireland and Turkey. Unfortunately the options for Conferences in 2004 in Ireland or Turkey have just been withdrawn for various reasons, so right now there is no EDXC Conference planned for 2004! The Secretary General urged the member clubs as soon as possible to consider organizing a Conference next year, because the new Secretary General cannot arrange it. The EDXC is the tiniest European organization with a very small budget. Luigi Cobisi argued that in the future, we need lively members, not DX-Clubs, if the EDXC shall survive. His vision is that the EDXC shall consist of interested individuals instead of DX-Clubs as paying members. Today, it is difficult for small Clubs to participate actively in the EDXC activities, because all their energy is used for their publishing DX-bulletins with the same news in their own languages. Some of these clubs would benefit by merging. Unfortunately these controversial points of view came just before the termination of the EDXC Conference, so the 11 member Clubs present had no chance to discuss it further. On Monday, Aug 18, nine participants (including four DSWCI members) did visit the Deutsche Welle Receiving Station at Bockhacken northeast of Cologne where Mr. Winking and Mr. Steffen Hilbig gave an excellent briefing about their job of monitoring Deutsche Welle shortwave and TV broadcasts, and other broadcasts as agreed upon. For Shortwave they use several Rohde & Schwarz EK 070 and two NRD 545 DSP receivers connected to a variety of antennas on top of the listening bunker, including direction finding antennas having an accuracy of ½ degree, if the signal is strong enough. Programme monitoring takes place elsewhere. There is only 1-2 persons on duty here at any time. The 2003 EDXC Conference in Germany was very technical which cannot be a surprise, but I found it very useful and another possibility to meet old and new DX-friends and Broadcasters. DSWCI member Stefan Schliephacke was on of the winners in the pennant contest made by Andreas Schmid (right) [caption] (Anker Petersen, DSWCI SW News via DXLD) PROPAGATION +++++++++++ ANTIMATTER FACTORY ON SUN YIELDS CLUES TO EXPLOSIONS NASA-GSFC NEWS RELEASE Posted: September 3, 2003 The best look yet at how a solar explosion becomes an antimatter factory gave unexpected insights into how the tremendous explosions work. The observation may upset theories about how the explosions, called solar flares, create and destroy antimatter. It also gave surprising details about how they blast subatomic particles to almost the speed of light. http://www.spaceflightnow.com/news/n0309/03antimatter/ (via Jill Dybka, MSIS, Systems Administrator and Webmaster, American College of Neuropsychopharmacology, Nashville, TN, DXLD) THE K7RA SOLAR UPDATE SEATTLE, WA, Sep 5, 2003 -- Daily sunspot numbers were lower this week than last, and solar flux remained about the same. But the average daily planetary A index dropped by more than half to 14.3. That`s the lowest it`s been since the reporting week of July 3-9, 2003. The best day this week -- in terms of stable geomagnetic conditions -- was Sunday, August 31, when the planetary A index was only 7, and the mid- latitude A index was 5. The eight mid-latitude K indices for that day, reported every three hours, were 1, 2, 1, 1, 2, 1, 2 and 1. This is rather remarkable compared to recent conditions. The forecast for the next few days is for unsettled to active geomagnetic conditions, with the predicted planetary A index for Friday through Monday, September 5-8, at 20, 12, 12 and 15. Predicted solar flux for Friday and Saturday is 115 and 120, then 125 for Sunday through Friday, September 12. On August 29 a solar wind passed Earth around 1500 UTC, but this and subsequent wind from a coronal hole did not cause major disturbances. There were predictions last weekend of possible aurora for September 1 or 2, but the interplanetary magnetic field pointed north, and this protects Earth from disturbances. It is when the field points south that we are vulnerable, and despite a continued solar wind, any geomagnetic upset over the next few days is expected to be minor because of the north-pointing field. Participants in this weekend`s All Asian DX Phone Contest or the North American CW Sprint have nothing to fear. August has ended, and statistics show the average daily sunspot number dropped from 132.8 to 114.3 from July to August. The average daily solar flux declined by a smaller margin, from 127.7 to 122.1. How does August compare with recent history, considering the solar cycle is declining? The average daily sunspot number for August is identical to April`s value, 114.3, and only February and March had lower sunspot averages for 2003. Average daily sunspot numbers by month, from August 2002 through August 2003, were 191.0, 206.4, 153.9, 159.8, 144.8, 150.0, 87.9, 119.7, 114.3, 89.6, 118.4, 132.8 and 114.3. Average daily solar flux by month, from August 2002 through August 2003, was 183.9, 175.8, 167.0, 168.7, 157.2, 144, 124.5, 133.5, 126.8, 116.6, 129.4, 127.7 and 122.1. This looks like a steady decline in numbers. Especially dramatic are comparisons between August 2002 and August 2003. Perhaps we`re coming to the phase in the cycle following the peak when geomagnetic disturbances subside. This would be good for HF operators. Although we want plentiful sunspots, we also need stable geomagnetic conditions, especially in latitudes toward the poles and for propagation over polar paths. Currently the prediction for the bottom of the sunspot cycle is for September 2006 to May 2007. The forecast for solar flux is about the same. Looking further out, a rough estimate shows the flux and sunspot values on the other side of the minimum for December 2007 at about the same level as December of next year, 2004. Between those dates are very low levels of activity, a good time to explore 160, 80, 60 and 40 meters. The cycle prediction is from the August 12 edition of the NOAA Space Environment Center`s Weekly Preliminary Report http://www.sec.noaa.gov/weekly/index.html and Forecast of Solar Geophysical Data and the guide to the Report and Forecast http://www.sec.noaa.gov/weekly/Usr_guide.pdf Sunspot numbers for August 28 through September 3 were 146, 132, 120, 101, 59, 90 and 74, with a mean of 103.1. The 10.7-cm flux was 118.7, 116.3, 114, 109.7, 108.1, 105.7 and 110.5, with a mean of 118.9. Estimated planetary A indices were 18, 15, 17, 7, 14, 12 and 17, with a mean of 14.3. Amateur solar observer Tad Cook, K7RA, Seattle, Washington, provides this weekly report on solar conditions and propagation. This report also is available via W1AW every Friday and an abbreviated version also appears in The ARRL Letter. Readers may contact the author via k7ra@arrl.net Copyright - 2003, American Radio Relay League, Inc. All Rights Reserved (ARRL via John Norfolk, DXLD) ### ||||||||||||||| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||| DX LISTENING DIGEST 3-159, September 4, 2003 edited by Glenn Hauser 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 later at http://www.worldofradio.com/dxldtd3i.html For restrixions and searchable 2003 contents archive see http://www.worldofradio.com/dxldmid.html NOTE: If you are a regular reader of DXLD, and a source of DX news but have not been sending it directly to us, please consider yourself obligated to do so. Thanks, Glenn NEXT AIRINGS OF WORLD OF RADIO 1198: RFPI: Sat 0130, 0800, 2330, Sun 0530, 1130, Mon 0030, 0630, 1230, Wed 0100, 0730 7445 WWCR: Sat 1030, Sun 0230 5070, 0630 3210, Wed 0930 9475 WRMI: Sat & Sun 1800+ 15725 WBCQ: Mon 0415 7415 WRN: Rest of world Sat 0800; Europe Sun 0430; North America Sun 1400 WRN ONDEMAND [from Fri]: http://new.wrn.org/listeners/stations/station.php?StationID=24 OUR ONDEMAND AUDIO [also for CONTINENT OF MEDIA, MUNDO RADIAL]: Check http://www.worldofradio.com/audiomid.html [High] (Download) http://www.k4cc.net/wor1198h.rm (Stream) http://www.k4cc.net/wor1198h.ram [Low] (Download) http://www.k4cc.net/wor1198.rm (Stream) http://www.k4cc.net/wor1198.ram (Summary) http://www.worldofradio.com/wor1198.html [soon] WORLD OF RADIO ON WINB. Trying to confirm the new time of 0130 UT Thu, Sept 4, found absolutely no signal on 12160; then tried 9320, and voilà, there I was, with last week`s WOR 1197. Contrary to what we had been told, WINB has resumed 9320 already for the later evening hours, switching from 12160 at 0100, per one mention on their website http://www.winb.com while another page makes no mention of 9320! A new program schedule by time effective Sept 7 has already been posted, and evidently already in effect, showing the new WOR time, as well as DXPL moved to Sat 1730 on 13570; since both of us have been Overcome, UT Sun 0000-0100! AWR Wavescan remains UT Sun 0100, but now that too will be on 9320, in case Adrian hasn`t heard about this either. These and other changes have been taken into account in the Sept 4 revisions of: DX/SWL/MEDIA PROGRAMS: http://www.worldofradio.com/dxpgms.html RADIO SCHEDULES: http://www.worldofradio.com/radioskd.html MASTER TIME SCHEDULE: http://www.worldofradio.com/wormast.html UNSOLICITED TESTIMONIAL Every so often I get a request like this, so this is a good time to make the point again (gh) Dear Sir: I am writing to you to ask your expert opinion on what are the top three SW receivers on the market in the $800 - $1,500 range. I am interested in purchasing a new receiver and wanted your opinion. Are you aware of any reviews for the top three you list? I got your email address from Monitoring Times magazine, but I remember reading your reviews and such from many years ago. Didn`t you used to be with a radio station in Knoxville, Tenn.? I attended UT there in the 90's, and miss it very much. Anyway, could you also send me information by email on your World Of DX club. I am interested in that also. Thanks in advance for your help, (Steve Gerberding, KA9FPR) Hi Steve, Yes, I was with WUOT in the 1970s and 80s. However, I have a standing policy of not giving receiver or other equipment advice, since I often have no personal familiarity with the equipment in question. I have only done a few receiver reviews myself over the years, when I actually owned the equipment, and they were hardly in the price range you mention. I publish comments and reviews from elsewhere occasionally in DX Listening Digest. These are grouped near the end of certain issues under the heading Receiver News. You can look thru individual issues having this topic, via http://www.worldofradio.com/dxldmid.html -- That covers 2003 issues only; there are links at the home page to previous years. I also used to group the Receiver material into a separate file, but it got to be too much work. You can check the older files thru 2001 at http://www.worldofradio.com/rxtips.txt It may be less trouble to search on the receiver models you are interested in at Google followed by site:worldofradio.com There is no `World of DX Club`. I produce a radio program WORLD OF RADIO, and I have a website where everything I publish may be freely accessed. Regards, Glenn Hauser ** ANGOLA. Radio Nacional de Angola, fortísima, en 4950 kHz, el 02/09, a las 0516 UT. SINPO 3/3-3/2. Con el programa "Mañana [Amanhã] informativa" (Adán González, Yaesu-FT890/ Antena TH3MK3, Catia La Mar, VENEZUELA, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** AUSTRALIA. One of my favourites on R. Australia, Lingua Franca, has been retimed again, and now the only airing, no longer Fri 2332 or Sat 0532, at least during weekends is: UT Sat 0045 LINGUA FRANCA - about language. This week: "Aussie English". Whatever happened to 'how do you do?' or why we greet each other with 'G'day'? Jeremy Jones on patterns of politeness in Australian spoken English. [%] Per John Figliozzi`s previews. Previous issue showed it also at 0620 Wed; not sure if that is before or after the changes go into effect. Anyhow, I keep intending to catch up on shows I`ve missed via the R. National audio archive indicated by [%]. Catch up on some of the other RA changes, at John previews for Sept 5-8: http://www.topica.com/lists/swprograms/read/message.html?sort=d&mid=1714391693&start=18014 (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** AUSTRALIA. CRITTENDEN BACK ON AIR --- By Marcus O'Donnell ABC management has ordered broadcaster Stephen Crittenden back to work although it upheld a finding of `serious misconduct` against him. . . http://www.ssonet.com.au/showarticle.asp?ArticleID=2572&x=18&y=3 (Sydney Star-Observer [gay], via Bill Westenhaver, DXLD) ** BELARUS`. Radius FM, 4982-DSB, via Belarusian military transmitter, 1000 UT Aug 10. Jingles, city`s news, pop music charts,. Russian \\ 5134-BDSB [sic], SIO 343 (Robert Petraitis, Klaipeda, Lithuania, Sept BDXC-UK Communication via DXLD) Last night (2-9-2003 0310z) on 3355 kHz SSB (USB & LSB) another channel with a Russian language broadcasting station. Looks like the usual relay of BC stations by a Belarus` Military station? Anybody is able to ID the station relayed? Nothing on the 5134 kHz which carried these relays (Belarus` BC) some time ago. 3355 kHz is a new channel? or just a channel with other operating times? Any further background info about these relays? about the "service" who does the relay? only the BLR's do this? Or also some other CIS MIL "Services" ? 73, (Tom, DL8AAM, had-core-dx via DXLD) I've often heard Belarus` on 3355 relaying R St. Stalica, Minsk local programme. While we are at it, maybe somebody finds useful to remember that Belarus` local programmes can be still heard on SW on regular basis. The transmitters are mainly 5 kW units, according to WRTH. I noted last week in weekdays (Monday-Friday) the following programs during local time slot 1500-1600 UT (During Summer Time/DST season, at least - time might change as the DST is over) 6040 Radio Hrodna (sounds like Radio Hrodno) 6080 National network 1 OR R St Stalica (One day Stalica was indeed here, broadcast apparently thru whole national network, other day it was BR1. There was no time to find out the logic of system, in a time period of one week it wouldn't be revealed however.) 7110 Radio Hrodna 7145 Radio Mahileu (sounds like Radio Magileu) Hrodna has poor audio quality, and it sounds exactly like good old Soviet time broadcasts, while R Mahileu has a good modulation and a modern programming that reminds of R Rossiya of today, commercials included. 73's (Jari Lehtinen Lahti, Finland, hard-core-dx via DXLD) ** BOLIVIA. 4780.9, R. Tacana, Tumupasa, Depto. La Paz, 2108 Sept. 02, Spanish, program "Sentimento y música", music and talk OM (Mario Yarari) 45444. OM "...banda de 60 metros, onda corta, Radio Tacana anuncia sus nuevos horarios a partir del día de hoy. Debido a instabilidad de la luz, en la noche hemos tenido serios problemas eléctricos; casi nos quema el equipo, apesar de tener los estabilizadores. Para evitar problemas, entonces en una reunión ya prevista por nuestro director, hemos previsto el horario de 6 de la mañana a 13 horas, una de la tarde para compartir con ustedes y de las 15 horas a 18. Estos son los nuevos horarios de Radio Tacana para todo el país que sintoniza este medio de comunicación; en la noche, pues, ya no estamos con ustedes..." RADIO TACANA Nuevo Horario 1ª. Tx 10:00 - 17:00 UT 2ª. Tx 21:00 - 22:00 UT 73 (Rogildo F. Aragao, Quillacollo - Bolivia, Sony ICF-2001D - Lowe HF-225E, LW 50m, WORLD OF RADIO 1198, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** BRAZIL. Gravei há pouco a abertura do programa internacional da R. Nacional do Brasil em português para a África, conforme anunciado anteriormente pelo Célio. Programa em 0500 UT, freqüência 9665 kHz, SINPO 34344. Receptor Icom R75 + Loop Coaxial 90 cm, Formato MP3 de 280 Kb de tamanho: http://planeta.terra.com.br/arte/sarmentocampos/BrasilOC.htm (Sarmento F. Campos, Rio de Janeiro, WORLD OF RADIO 1198, radioescutas via DXLD) I should clarify the schedule for the RNB African service, as in 3- 158. M-F it`s a variety of programming at 1900-2100 UT, repeated at 0500-0700; weekends expanded to 1800-2200 with futebol, 0500-0800 music. Another clarification: in 3-157, the BRAZIL item under 5045: the first paragraph is about R. Guarujá Paulista, newly on 3235 and 5045. The second graph is about a totally different station, R. Guarujá Florianópolis, Santa Catarina, subject of a DXer visit about QSL policy (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) El otro día mandé a la Lista una dirección para escribirle a Radio Guarujá pero no era la que corresponde a la nueva Guaruja Paulista, sino a otra homónima. Aquí va la nota aclaratoria que envió Dario Monferini: "Rádio Guarujá de Florianópolis opera 5980 kHz y no tiene nada que ver con la nueva Rádio Guarujá Paulista 5045 & 3235 kHz. Rádio Guarujá FM de Santos también no tiene nada que ver con esa nueva emisora que se encuentra en Guarujá. Hay 3 emisoras que se llaman Guarujá, pero sólo una opera en 5045 & 3325 kHz." (Arnaldo Slaen, Sept 4, Conexión Digital via DXLD) ** CANADA. MONTREAL (CP) - Eight Quebec radio stations, including the province's leading AM broadcaster, have been sold to private investors after a planned sale to a subsidiary of Quebecor Inc. was turned down by the federal broadcast regulator. The general manager of Montreal's CKAC and another investor will pay $12 million for the stations in a deal announced Tuesday with seller Astral Media Inc. The buyers of the seven AM stations and one FM station are investor Gaetan Morin and Sylvain Chamberland, president and general manager of CKAC-AM and the Radiomedia network. MONTREAL, Sept. 2 /CNW Telbec/ - Astral Media Inc. (TSX: ACM.A/ACM.B) and the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) approved trustee, Paul-Emile Beaulne, have agreed to sell Astral's AM radio stations in the province of Quebec as well as CFOM- FM in Quebec City to a business venture formed by Mr. Gaetan Morin, owner and President of Groupe Morin, a holding company, and Mr. Sylvain Chamberland, President and General Manager of CKAC-AM and the Radiomedia network. Mr. Morin and Mr. Chamberland will be acquiring these radio assets for $12 million. Closing of the sale of these assets is subject to regulatory approvals, and is expected in the first quarter of the 2004 calendar year. "We are very pleased with the efficiency with which we were able to identify a new buyer for these stations," said Ian Greenberg, President and CEO of Astral Media. "We are particularly pleased that there will be continuity in the management of these stations with the participation of Sylvain Chamberland in the transaction, who has been at the helm of CKAC for the past year and a half." Subsequent to the closing of the transaction the following stations will be held by the Morin/Chamberland venture: Morin/Chamberland Venture - New Holdings: CKAC - AM (Montreal) CHRC - AM (Quebec City) CJRC - AM (Hull/Gatineau) CKRS - AM (Saguenay) CHLT - AM (Sherbrooke) CHLN - AM (Trois Rivieres) CKTS - AM (repeater station, Sherbrooke) CFOM - FM (Quebec City) Astral Media is a leading Canadian media company active in specialty, pay and pay-per-view television, radio and outdoor advertising. Astral Media's solid and dynamic presence in the country's major markets rests on its commitment to offer a unique combination of high-quality targeted media for all its audiences (via Harry van Vugt, Windsor, Ontario, Canada, DXLD) More about this: REVITALIZING AM RADIO http://www.canada.com/montreal/story.asp?id=C37D113E-A09B-45EB-A6EF-78D08FDEB445 (via Brent Taylor, NB, NRC-AM via DXLD) ** CANADA. CBC CENTRE WILL BECOME A DESTINATION Paula Simons, The Edmonton Journal, Tuesday, August 26, 2003 CREDIT: Greg Southam, The Journal New CBC studios are under construction at City Centre. Edmonton. City of shopping malls. We put everything in malls: skating rinks and grocery stores, ferris wheels and farmers' markets, churches and dolphins, dentists and libraries. So is there a more fitting place for Edmonton's new CBC/Radio-Canada broadcast centre? The CBC's new studios will open this November in the Edmonton City Centre mall. With its main doors next to Winners and across from Coast Mountain Sports, the new facility fronts right on to the shopping centre. The new broadcast centre will bring together, for the first time in Edmonton, all CBC staff and services: English and French TV, English and French radio in one building and one newsroom. It's the first time the CBC has built studios and offices in a retail space. And the new facilities are designed to take every advantage of their public "interface." For years, the CBC has been located in the southeast of the city. The radio studios are in an industrial park on 51st Avenue, just north of Whitemud Drive, the TV studios on 75th Street in residential Kenilworth. Neither was easy for the general public to run across -- and neither was designed to welcome casual visitors. The TV building looked like a fortress, the radio building like a bunker. They were not what you'd call tourist destinations. All that will change this November. The new CBC facilities will be as open to the public as the old ones were closed. Eric Wagers, one of CBC Edmonton's senior technicians, recently led me on a tour of the construction site. We started in the "interactive" lobby facing the City Centre mall. The floor, Eric tells me, will be dotted with the logos of all the TV and radio services, local and national, English and French. Above each logo will be a parabolic dome. As you stand on the logo, you'll hear the broadcast -- and only that broadcast. The lobby will have six Web stations where visitors can access any CBC or CBC-linked Web site. And there will be TV monitors galore, including a huge one, which Wagers calls a "liquid crystal monster screen." The monitor will swing out into the mall for people to crowd around during major news or sporting events. The glass walls fronting on to the mall, he shows me, are sliding doors. When it's appropriate, the CBC will open the doors, set up bleachers in the mall and broadcast to a live audience at City Centre. The new facilities won't just face into the mall, but out to Churchill Square. From the sidewalk, you'll be able to look right through the glass walls and into the main floor French and English radio studios, where the local program hosts, such as Ron Wilson of Edmonton AM, and Peter Brown of Radioactive, will broadcast their shows. If they're interviewing the premier or chatting with Jann Arden, people will be able to watch. Soundproofing such studios was a challenge, says Wagers. "I was really worried, with all these windows. But the sound is pretty good." Nonetheless, the street-front studios won't be used to record music; that will be done in a truly silent interior studio. Upstairs, on the third floor, the French and English TV studios look right out over the square. From that vantage point, you realize how close to the action the new location will put the CBC. Out the window, you can see City Hall, the Court House, Chancery Hall and Canada Place -- not to mention the art gallery, the Winspear, the Citadel, and the Milner library. The CBC facilities are being designed by HIP Architects, the same firm that's working on the Churchill Square redesign. And the two projects are designed to dovetail. The plan, says Wagers, is to run a fibre-optic cable underground, connecting the studios to the square, so that the CBC will be able to record and broadcast effortlessly from the civic square. What will all this cost us, the taxpayers? CBC Toronto, our public broadcaster, refuses to release the budget for this public project. It's not corporate policy. But millions would be an easy guess. Still, as long as the corporation is spending our money, there's no doubt Edmonton will be the big winner. The splashy, interactive CBC will draw more people downtown and take full advantage of the energy bubbling up from the city centre. Standing in the TV studios, looking down on the construction in Churchill Square, you can imagine a real downtown renaissance. We're not there yet. But the CBC's big investment in the urban core should give us all a little extra hope. (c) Copyright 2003 Edmonton Journal (via Mike Cooper, DXLD) ** CANADA. Hello and welcome to our new season. Quirks & Quarks kicks off its 29th season this week with: BC Is Burning - are we all next? The wildfires in British Columbia this summer have burned with a violence and intensity that firefighters have seldom seen before. But forest scientists think this may be a sign of things to come. Thanks to climate change and our suppression of wilderness fires for the past century, the conflagrations of the future may be bigger and more destructive than they've ever been before. Plus - Hubble wobble points to a planet's hobble. All this and more on Quirks & Quarks, Saturday right after the noon news, on Radio One. Bob McDonald, Host, Quirks & Quarks, CBC Radio One Saturdays at 12:06 online at http://cbc.ca/quirks Science mailing list Science@interact.cbc.ca http://interact.cbc.ca/mailman/listinfo/science (via DXLD) Fan of Q&Q? Suggest you subscribe this list, as we won`t always quote in DXLD (gh) ** COLOMBIA. Cada vez más fuerte el armónico de Radio Mundial, Bogotá D.C., en 2740 kHz, el doble de 1370. Mejor hora: a partir de las 0400 UT. 73's y buen DX (Adán González, Yaesu-FT890/ Antena TH3MK3, Catia La Mar, VENEZUELA, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** COLOMBIA, 6010, L V de [tu] Conciencia (presumed), 0922-0930, Sept. 2, Spanish, Ballads and up-beat music, announcer between songs, booming signal until 0930 sign-on of co-channel HCJB German service, then battle for dominance between the two. Glenn, Best reception in months here in the mountains of NH this AM. Got me all fired up for the upcoming DX season! (Scott R Barbour Jr, NH, Sept. 2, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CUBA. Seguidamente, una información para los cazadores de QSL's: Radio Habana Cuba está otorgando una QSL especial con motivo de estar realizando pruebas en 3 nuevos transmisores de onda corta de 100 kW, los que actualmente están en fase de pruebas. Las frecuencias son: 9550 kHz, 0000-0500 (y otros horarios), con antena dirigida al Área del Caribe (conjunto de dipolos faseados con un patrón direccional muy amplio, que cubre también México y el Sureste de los Estados Unidos de América. 0500-0700 en inglés. 9600 kHz, 0000-0500 con antena dirigida a 127 grados de acimut (Caracas) 11760 kHz, 0000-0500 con antena dirigida hacia el Este de los Estados Unidos de América (acimut 020 grados, centro del haz en el corredor W’ashington, Nueva York, Boston). Esta frecuencia desde fines de Agosto, la continúan con inglés entre 0500-0700 en forma experimental. Como información adicional, RHC ha reanudado tras reparación de su transmisor, las emisiones en 11875 kHz, la que luego de casi dos décadas de servicio momentáneamente sale al aire a 0400-0500. (Fuente: Arnie Coro Antich, Cuba, Asesor Técnico, Dirección de Radio Habana Cuba en email personal) Personalmente, estuve monitoreando estas frecuencias, pero el pasado 1/9/03 solamente la escuché hasta las 0300. Luego de ese horario, solamente continuaba en el aire la frecuencia de 15230 con sus antenas dirigidas especialmente hacia Buenos Aires, frecuencia que sale en // a las 3 anteriormente citadas. 73's GIB (Gabriel Iván Barrera, Argentina, Conexión Digital via DXLD) Algo digamos muy extraño pasa aqui en la Florida; no es para nadie un secreto que Miami es la ciudad de ultramar donde mas hermanos Cubanos habitan despues de la Habana. No hay una frecuencia que sea confiable para sintonizar a RHC en español en esta área como sucede con las transmisiones en inglés para New York y el centro de los EEUU. Aun con los nuevos transmisores que están anunciando, no encuentro una señal que valga la pena. Técnicamente hablando, pensaba que por la cercanía con la Habana deberíamos sintonizar al menos los 6000 kHz fuertes aqui. Esto NO sucede; esta frecuencia está llena de ruidos y la emisora a penas se escucha. Quisiera ver alguna explicación de los técnicos de la emisora a esta situación (Dino Bloise, ibid.) Tsk tsk Qué tal Gabriel. En relación a tu información, acabo de chequear las frecuencias que están activas en este momento de Radio Habana Cuba y mi resultado es el siguiente: 9550 --- señal muy baja con ruidos é interferencias. 9600 --- no se oye nada. 11760 --- no se oye nada 15230 --- frecuencia no mencionada, pero por aquí la estoy escuchando en forma regular. 11705 --- frecuencia no mencionada, pero el domingo pasado a las 1330 UT estaba con señal muy buena. Atte: (José Elías, Venezuela, Conexión Digital via DXLD) I also checked 11760 after 0500 UT Sept 3, but nothing (Glenn Hauser, OK, WORLD OF RADIO 1198, DX LISTENING DIGEST) The 2030 UT broadcast in English (to Europe?) on 11760 puts in a beautiful signal here (Chris Hambly, Victoria, UT Sept 3, DX LISTENING DIGEST) English version of the above: Radio Habana Cuba is offering a special QSL card for reports about 3 new transmitters on SW's. This are 9550, 9600 & 11760, and according to its schedule, they are on air from *0000-0500*. Heard this three transmitters on September 1st, with SIO 252, 353 & 242 respectively, and all in // to 15230 with SIO 454 in Spanish. When I check this frequencies, I noted on Sept 1, abrupt s/off at 0300, then, continue only on 15230; 11760 is testing currently at 0500-0700 in English. All the news, according to a personal e-mail from Arnie Coro to me (Gabriel Barrera, Japan Premium via DXLD) Now back to the real world: ** CUBA. THREE MORE JOURNALISTS START HUNGER STRIKE | Text of press release by Paris-based organization Reporters Sans Frontieres (RSF) on 3 September Reporters Without Borders expressed great concern today about a hunger strike begun by three independent Cuban journalists - Manuel Vázquez Portal, Juan Carlos Herrera Acosta and Normando Hernández González - in Boniatico prison, in the eastern city of Santiago de Cuba, to protest against their conditions of detention. Since they started the protest on 31 August, they have been transferred to another prison in an unknown location. "This is the second hunger strike in the space of a month by journalists jailed in Cuba," the press freedom organization said. "They are being held in very bad conditions. Most have been sent to prisons hundreds of kilometres from their families, sanitary conditions are dreadful, food inadequate and medical care for ailing prisoners is minimal." It called on the authorities to immediately tell the families where they had been transferred to and to allow them to visit as soon as possible. Vázquez Portal, of the Grupo de Trabajo Decoro news agency, Hernández González, of the CPIC agency, and Herrera Acosta, of the APLO agency, as well as three political prisoners, began the hunger strike to protest against what they called "unfair" and "inhuman" treatment in Boniatico prison, including solitary confinement, no access to TV or the press, their distance from their families, dirty conditions and bad food. Yarai Reyes, wife of Hernández González, said the food was often rotten, they had no electricity in their cells and were being refused any medical care. Herrera Acosta's wife, Ileana Danger Hardy, said the journalists were also protesting against the disciplining of one of them. The three journalists, along with one of the political prisoners, were taken to the new prison on 1 September. Reyes said the aim was to separate them from other prisoners and force them to end the hunger strike. She said she was "extremely worried" that reprisals might be taken against them. Three other jailed independent journalists - Mario Enrique Mayo, Adolfo Fernández Sainz and Iván Hernández Carrillo - began a hunger strike on 15 August to demand the right for chronically ill prisoners to receive proper medical treatment and suitable food. They ended the protest on 25 August when the authorities agreed to give Enrique Mayo a proper diet. Fernández Sainz reportedly lost 15 kg. Source: Reporters Sans Frontieres press release, Paris, in English 3 Sep 03 (via BBCM via DXLD) ** CZECH REPUBLIC. Richard Reynolds, Guildford, comments about Tony Rogers` inter-modulation and uses the example of ``5055 kHz R. Prague: 6200 x 2 = 12040 minus 7345 = 5055, at 0219 UT. Sounds easy, but R. Prague uses these two frequencies for English, Czech and Spanish services and there would also be phase distortion due to the difference in propagation of these two frequencies.`` (Open to Discussion, BDXC-UK Mailbox, Sept Communication via DXLD) ?? Since the 5055 mix emerges from the transmitter and antenna, rather than being produced in the ionosphere, or receiver, the difference in phase between the two intended frequencies would be irrelevant. The mix is propagating independently (gh, DXLD) ** CZECH REPUBLIC [and non]. PAVEL TIGRID DIES IN PARIS The former Czech culture minister, writer, journalist and dissident in exile Pavel Tigrid has died in Paris at the ago of 85. The former Czech president Vaclav Havel said he had received the news with a heavy heart, describing Mr. Tigrid as a good and brave man who had left behind a precious legacy. Culture minister Pavel Dostal described him as a legend of Czech journalism. Pavel Tigrid emigrated from his homeland twice: once during the Nazi occupation and again after the communists took power in 1948. During the war he worked as a journalist for the London based Czechoslovak government in exile, and in later years he worked for Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty. He returned to Czechoslovakia after the fall of communism in 1989. Veteran writer, politician and broadcaster Pavel Tigrid dies aged 85 The Czech Republic woke up to some sad news on Sunday (August 31st) - the death at the age of 85 of the veteran writer, politician and broadcaster Pavel Tigrid. Tigrid spent much of his life in exile, and many Czechs remember him for his broadcasts on the BBC during the Second World War, and later Radio Free Europe during the Communist era. For full version, please go to: http://www.radio.cz/en/article/44731 Radio Prague, Vinohradska 12, 120 99 Prague, the Czech Republic tel (+4202) 2155 2971 , fax (+4202) 2155 2971 http://www.radio.cz/ Notice of Copyright --- All rights reserved. Radio Prague grants the right to redistribute this information in electronic or in printed form, in whole or in part for non-commercial use only; distribution must include this copyright notice, the date of publication, and Radio Prague's postal or e-mail address *unless specific agreement is reached with Radio Prague* For uses of this material not covered by this notice, please contact us at cr@radio.cz (via Chris Brand, UK, DXLD) ** DOMINICAN REPUBLIC. Radio Pueblo, desde Santo Domingo, transmitía música rock en español --- parecía religiosa --- el 01/09, a las 2234 UT. SINPO 3/3, 5009.79 kHz (Adán González, Yaesu-FT890/ Antena TH3MK3, Catia La Mar, VENEZUELA, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** FINLAND. Scandinavian Weekend Radio, 6170, 1000 UT Aug 2, info about changing of anennas, rock music, English, Finnish, Sio 343 (Robertas Petraitis, Klaipeda, Lithuania, Sept BDXC-UK Communication via DXLD) And thus a timely reminder of their next monthly broadcast, which should last 24 hours starting at 2100 UT Fri Sept 5; details at http://www.swradio.net or specifically http://www.swradio.net/fin/tietoja.htm (Glenn Hauser, WORLD OF RADIO 1198, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** FRANCE. A partir de la fin du mois d'octobre, Jacqueline Papet proposera de revivre l'histoire de RFI. Du "Poste colonial" inauguré en 1931 à aujourd'hui, ce sont plus de 70 ans d'histoire au rythme de l'actualité du monde que vous pourrez entendre et (éventuellement) revivre en écoutant RFI. Vous pouvez également participer à cette émission en confiant vos témoignages à Jacqueline Papet. Une histoire qui sera contée en 20 épisodes de 20 minutes à partir de la fin du mois d'octobre 2003. Cette histoire de plus de 70 ans qui s'inscrit dans l'histoire tout court est comme celle-ci faite de moments dramatiques et de périodes de détente, d'espoir et de désillusions. La radio extérieure française s'est appelée "Poste colonial", "Paris ondes courtes", "Paris Mondial", "Voix de la France", "Service des émissions vers l'étranger", "Direction des relations extérieures", "Direction des affaires extérieures et de la coopération" et enfin, depuis 1975, "Radio France Internationale". Elle a parlé de nombreuses langues - bulgare, danois, espéranto, finnois, grec, hongrois, italien, japonais, macédonien, néerlandais, norvégien, slovaque, slovène, suédois, tchèque, yiddish - qui ont laissé la place aujourd'hui à d'autres langues adaptées à de nouveaux auditeurs, 19 langues, précisément. Il a fallu vivre la Seconde Guerre mondiale, le conflit indochinois, le drame algérien, les dictatures d'Espagne, du Portugal et de Grèce, les excès du communisme , la guerre dans les Balkans et d'autres conflits encore avec toutes les souffrances que l'on peut imaginer. Mais les émissions vers l'étranger ont toujours été aussi une source d'information et une respiration pour tous les "désinformés" de la terre (site de RFI via Union des Ecouteurs Français via Frank Parisot dans http://fr.groups.yahoo.com/group/ondescourtes/ - 01 septembre (informations issues de http://perso.wanadoo.fr/jm.aubier via DXLD) ** GERMANY. No sign of AWH via DTK on its supposed first day of operation, Sept 3 at 1500-1530 on 17555. Propagation OK as Israel was in on 17545, 17535. Sept 4 at the same hour, there was an extremely weak and unstable carrier on 17555 --- ionospheric Doppler? (Glenn Hauser, OK, WORLD OF RADIO 1198, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** GERMANY [and non]. The 693 DRMer is heard here too as a disturbing hiss under the BBC. 729 has been active again for some time and mostly is covering everything else on the channel. When 855 is active reception of other stations is difficult. 531 is heard at times and is not as loud as 729. 1485 also has an annoying background hiss. 1296 is broadcasting in DRM for one or two hours until 2400 and is covering everything else. The problem with DRM is the high energy content and the fact that every watt put into the signal ends up as noise when received in the AM mode. As the energy density is rather constant over the whole bandwidth the noise level affecting adjacent channels is high (Olle Alm, Sweden, BC-DX Sept 2 via DXLD) BBC Reception Advice - reception@b... [truncated] has sent the following reply in response to my complaint about the ongoing DRM interference on 693 kHz (it was really bad again last night): Dear Mr Kenny, Thank you for your Email about recent interference to R5Live on 693 kHz during the hours of darkness. Circumstantial evidence suggests it may be due to some short-term digital AM radio transmissions timed to coincide with an international radio exhibition in Berlin, Germany. These transmissions are scheduled to finish Wednesday 3 September. Concerned about the effect these transmissions may have had on reception of our services, we have passed your comments onto DRM (the organisation with overall responsibility for organising tests of this type) in order that the problem can be assessed and ways sought to minimise the likelihood of a recurrence. Thank you for letting us know of your experiences. I hope that this is helpful. Thank you once again for contacting us. Best regards, Teresa O'Gara, BBC Reception Advice (via Dave Kenny, BDXC-UK via DXLD) See also DRM at IFA report below ** GERMANY. Im neuen BR - Bayerischer Rundfunk Munich - Senderverzeichnis 2003/2004 steht der KW-Sender Ismaning als Titelbild im Vordergrund; eine grosse Detailaufnahme eines Reusen-Ausschnitts der KW-Sendeantenne. Der Text dazu klingt eher nach klassischer Kurzwelle wie z. B. Versorgung der Straende rund ums Mittelmeer, Empfangsberichte aus aller Welt. DRM wird im Dokument nicht erwaehnt (nur kurze Begriffserklaerung im ABC). In der letzten Ausgabe (09/2002) war hier ja noch von Einstellung und spaeterer Wiederaufnahme mit Option DRM die Rede. http://www.br-online.de/br-intern/technik/sv_2004.pdf (1.8 MB) (Wolfgang Reiswolf, Germany, A-DX Sept 2 via BC-DX via DXLD) ** GHANA. GBC is currently operating on 4915 only. This follows the breakdown of the Radio 1 transmitter (on 4915) because of a burnt-out valve. They have transferred he Radio 2 transmitter to 4915, thus stopping all broadcasts on 3366 and 6130 kHz. The programming of Radio 1 and Radio 2 was subsequently merged into a single service (in English) and local languages) on 4915. Eventually they would like to repair the broken-down transmitter, but that all depends on getting the necessary funds. (confirmed by Chris Greenway on 9 August in response to an enquiry from Mauno Ritola quoting an original report from Charles Wompiah in Ghana)(DX News, Sept BDXC-UK Communication via DXLD) ** GREECE. TURKISH RADIO STATION IN GREECE CLOSED http://www.cascfen.org/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=775 Turkish Daily News - A radio station, broadcasting in Turkish in the town of Komotoni (Gumulcine), Greece, is undergoing a legal struggle after being closed by the Greek Radio Television Institution. The radio station, Yildiz FM, has been broadcasting mainly to western and eastern Thrace and western Bulgaria. General broadcasting director Kenan Mustafa said that Yildiz FM is the only radio station that broadcasts beyond the Greek boundries. "I have been trying to bring the problems of Turkish people living in western Thrace as European Union citizens to the agenda, via the radio. Unfortunately, in December 2002, the decision for closure was taken due to a lack of legal documents. Later, we learned that the radio was closed because of complaints of Greek politicians against us," said Mustafa, adding that they have applied to the State Council for the cancellation of the decision. The State Council is reported to be currently making a decsion on the issue. Mustafa said that even if the council confirms the closure, his station will continue broadcasting, in Greek if necessary. Posted on Wednesday, September 03 @ 19:25:33 CDT by adm CASCFEN © 2002-2003. Please credit CASCFEN while using materials from this web site and feel free to republish a part or full of this material (via Artie Bigley, DXLD) ** GUYANA. GBC, 3291.09, Aug 30 0120-0300+ English, GBC ID. Variety of lite instrumental music, local island music, reggae music, steel drum music. YL announcer. Not on the air at 0700 check but heard at 0840 tune-in on 3291.25 with Hindu music, birthday wishes. Fair level but noisy conditions making reception difficult at times (Brian Alexander, Mechanicsburg PA, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 3290, V. of Guyana, 0906-0917, September 2, English, Birthday wishes at tune-in and a PSA to "..love one another.." "Voice of Guyana, Guyana Broadcasting Corporation" ID, ad for Western Union, then "Early Bird" program, sponsored by Kentucky Fried Chicken (as it was this past winter); announcer introduced local music circa 1967. Fair with mild QRN (Scott R Barbour Jr, NH, Sept.2, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** HONDURAS. La estación de 3340 kHz, se identificaba como Radio M.I., el pasado 30/08, a las 0341 UT, SINPO 4/3. Era audible hasta pasadas las 0430 UT (Adán González, Yaesu-FT890/ Antena TH3MK3, Catia La Mar, VENEZUELA, DX LISTENING DIGEST) HRMI, 3340, Aug 30 0305-0435+, Spanish religious programming with contemporary Christian music, 0401 ID as ``Radio Misiones Internacionales``. Fair; barely audible on \\ 5010 (Brian Alexander, Mechanicsburg PA, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Theory: they prefer 5010, but sometimes peak the transmitter on 2/3 of that, 3340 instead, because of all the co-channel on 5010 (gh, DXLD) ** INDONESIA. 4000.17, RRI Kendari, 1156-1202 9/2. Vocal music; M announcer at 1159, then SCI; Jak program at 1201 // 4753.45 but not // 9680. Good signal. 9680, RRI Jakarta, 1300+. News relay not heard lately at 1200 or 1300. On Sep 2 noted Japanese program at 1300; on Sep 3 was in Bahasa Indonesia at 1300 with tourist feature on Sumatera Utara. At the same time, 4753.4 had SCI at 1259, then Jak news program at 1300, not // 9680 (John Wilkins, Wheat Ridge, Colorado, Drake R-8, 100-foot RW, Cumbre DX via DXLD) ** IRAQ [and non]. Re 3-158: The September 4th edition of Radio Polonia's Multimedia programme had some information on the relays of Polish Radio in Iraq. Currently Polish Radio Programme 1 is being received in Iraq by satellite and is being broadcast in the canteen on one of the four bases. They plan soon to add further loudspeaker relays at the other bases and have established a studio to insert local programming and contribute to Polish Radio Programme 1. They are looking to establish FM radio stations in the Polish controlled sector in Iraq to carry the programmes. Funding has also been provided for all Polish troops to be given radio receivers so they can listen to the broadcasts. Reception of Radio Polonia at 1230-1300 on 11820 was fine, good strength and no technical problems apart from a somewhat tinny audio but parallel 9525 suffered from low and distorted modulation and the familiar rumbling noise (Mike Barraclough, Letchworth, UK, Sept 4, DX LISTENING DIGEST) POLISH PRESS AGENCY OPENS IRAQ ONLINE SERVICE | Text of report in English by Polish news agency PAP Warsaw, 3 September: The Polish Press Agency PAP [on] Wednesday [3 September] opened an online Iraq service http://www.irak.pap.pl with info on events in the country, and especially in the Polish- administered central-southern stabilization zone. Earlier today Polish stabilization forces officially took command of Iraq's central- southern region. PAP's Iraq service will include current news, pictures, situation maps, charts and tables, the information sent in from a special PAP mission in Iraq. Source: PAP news agency, Warsaw, in English 1420 gmt 3 Sep 03 (via BBCM via DXLD) ** IRELAND. I have just been reading the Annual Report of Radio Telefis Éireann (RTÉ). It appears that consideration is being given to the possible closure of the following MW transmitters: RTE Radio 1 Cork 729 kHz, RTE Radio 2 Dublin 1278 kHz, RTE Radio 2 Athlone 612 kHz. Don`t forget that the working title of Radio 2 is Radio 2 FM (Ken Fletcher, BDXC, 1 Aug, MW Report, Sept BDXC-UK Communication via DXLD) ** ISRAEL. KOL ISRAEL INTERNET AUDIO http://israelradio.org and http://wrn.org now carry the 0400 UT and 1900 UT broadcasts on demand. The israelradio.org webpage text has not yet been updated to show this. israelradio.org still has the 1900 UT live webcast. The IBA's website carries the latest relayed English broadcast. It does not carry the 1900 UT Israel Radio International broadcast. http://bet.iba.org.il/PopUpEnglish.html Once again, the Kol Israel English broadcasts are at 0400 UT, 1010 UT, 1700 UT and 1900 UT. The 1900 UT broadcast is the only Israel Radio International broadcast. The other broadcasts are all relays of local (Israel) broadcasts. Subtract 4 hours from the above times to get Eastern Daylight Time (Doni Rosenzweig, Sept 3, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ISRAEL [non]. The offshore station Arutz Sheva Radio (Radio Channel 7) has reactivated its transmitter on 1539 kHz. Heard Sun-Thu 1600- 1800 in French, 1800-2000 English, Sat 1700-2000 Russian (Rumen Pankov, Bulgaria, Medium Wave Report, Sept BDXC-UK Communication via DXLD) Predates report of increased English? ** ITALY. Dave Kenny heard R. Capri during sporadic E activity earlier in the summer; based on the beautiful Italian island, station has a stylish website with artistic photos and minimal text. Broadcasting in French and English as well as Italian, there are audio links, and `No Snob music` is the station slogan, whatever that might mean in practice. http://www.radiocapri.it/radiocapri.htm (Chris Brand, Communication Webwatch, Sept BDXC-UK Communication via DXLD) Beware: audio launches automatically, no matter what you may already be listening to. I disdain sites which do that (gh, DXLD) ** ITALY. EUROPEAN MUSIC RADIO 49 METRES 5775 KHZ SATURDAY NIGHT Dear EMR listener, It is time now for EMR to repeat last week`s transmission which had poor conditions and a weak signal. The repeat will be on Saturday night [Sept 6] at 1900 UT on 5775. EMR will be on the air every 3rd Sunday night of the month until April 2004 on the same channel from the 21st of September 2003. Starting in September 2003 EMR will be introducing a new jingle Package and programme schedule. All correct reports via E-mail will be verified with a free QSL card via post. EMR E-mail: emr@blueyonder.co.uk There may be some transmissions on 13840 sometime before April 2004. GOOD LISTENING AND GOOD RECEPTION 73s (TOM Taylor, EMR, Cumbre DX et al. via DXLD) ** LATVIA. /UK [non]. Laser Radio UK is going to resume transmissions via Ulbroka, Latvia (100 kW) on Saturday 20 September (1800-2200 UT) on 9290 (Andrew Yates/LaserRadio in laserradio yahoogroup, 3 Sep 2003 via Bernd Trutenau, Lithuania, Cumbredx mailing list via DXLD) ** LIBYA [non]. V. of Africa, 15205, Aug 24 1926-1932 English program about the concepts of the Revolution Committee`s Movement. No regular English news heard; poor-fair, \\ 15315 (Brian Alexander, Mechanicsburg PA, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** MALAYSIA. 7295, Radio Malaysia, 1004-1036, Sept. 2, English, Dance/ pop music with "Boys of Summer" cover by the Ataris, positive ID at 1011 then announcer with "Woody Woodpecker" zinger and phone numbers for call-in contest between songs. Callers had 60 seconds to (based on what I could make out) ID various artists, music by Madonna introduced at tune-out. Weak but in the clear with propagation fading and mild QRN. Nice to ID this one after weeks of "tentative" logs (Scott R Barbour Jr, NH, Sept.2, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** MEXICO [non?]. EXCLUSIVE: The World Trade Organization is about to meet in Cancún, México, but the opponents to globalization have been there the previous week organizing ``Contra-Cumbre`` protests and Independent Media Center coverage; more at http://cancun.mediosindependientes.org/ We are informed that there will be special shortwave broadcasts Sept 10 thru 14, on this approximate schedule: Primary: 1700-0500 UT on 15045 Daytime alternate: 1700-2300 on 17552.5 variable Evening alternate: 2300-0500 on 9310 variable Depending on propagation and other factors, the broadcasts may run instead between 1900 and 0700 UT. Band changes will require at least one hour. Note: We are assured this has NO connexion with RFPI, but a frequency near RFPI`s currently inactive channel was apparently chosen deliberately (Glenn Hauser, WORLD OF RADIO 1198, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** MEXICO. Hola amigos, Gracias a Julián Santiago Díez de Bonilla, quien me avisó el domingo 31 de agosto, que Radio México Internacional no se estaba sintonizando en la frecuencia habitual de 9705 kHz, si no en 9277 kHz; con señal fuerte y distorsionado. También detecté que en 10133, se escucha, con menos potencia e igual de distorcionado. Ayer lunes 1 de septiembre lo sintonicé en 9300, igual de potente y distorcionado. así como en 10110 kHz con muy baja potencia y sonido. Tampoco puedo sintonizar su frecuencia de 11770 kHz. ¿Que está pasando en la IMER? Saludos (Héctor García Bojorge, DF, Sept 2, Conexión Digital via WORLD OF RADIO 1198, DXLD) The 9 MHz transmitter did exactly the same thing a few years ago (gh, WOR 1198, DXLD) Querido Héctor, está pasando algo de feo, que no debería ocurrír en una emisora estatal de un estado tán importante y seguido en todo el Mundo como es México. Lo siento mucho pero es lo que pienso, latinoaméricano que vive en Europa y que, cada véz que hace DXismo por la noche buzca a RMI: casi siempre, a parte raras, muy raras veces, cacería negativa. Mucho mejor Educación 6185 kHz. Radio Huaya en los 120 metros un sueño; ahora buscando Insurgente en los 49 metros. ¡Que vida dura a del DXista, ¿verdad?! (Francisco Luis Clemente, Udine, Italia, Radiorama/AIR, Conexión Digital via DXLD) ** MEXICO. MEXICAN SHORTWAVE SCENE Radio UNAM is not transmitting on shortwave. In past months they did many tests, and they improved their signal a lot, but still with very low power, until they finally burned out a tube. They are waiting on a replacement (rebuilt?) to be able to continue with their test transmissions. Radio UNAM -- particularly the engineers -- have always had an interest in continuing to transmit on shortwave, but they don't have sufficient resources to get a new transmitter. XERTA has had a lack of economic resources, so much that the owner has sold it to a religious organization. XERTA built its own transmitter, which never worked very well. They have never gotten all the parts they need to be able to continue transmitting. For the moment they only have a web page where you can hear their "religious" programming online. Besides, this station does not have an official license to broadcast on the frequency they have used (4810) from the Ministry of Communications and Transportation. Candela FM, 6105, has been transmitting this year. The last time I heard them was about three months ago with a very good signal in the mornings. The station says it has continued to broadcast. As far as Radio Insurgente, I have no news of any DXer having heard the station. On August 8th they said they had not begun broadcasting because the government wouldn't permit it, and locally with loudspeakers their programming and messages could be heard. As far as I'm concerned, in those three days (Aug. 8, 9, 10, 2003) there were no broadcasts on 5800 or any nearby frequencies. Future SW station Radio Tapachula from Tapachula, Chiapas, has obtained permission to broadcast on the frequency of 6120 kHz with the call letters XETS-OC. They hope to begin transmissions in about 2 or 3 months (We understand that Radio Tapachula used to use this frequency back in the 1940's.) Best regards. Héctor García Bojorge (original in Spanish, translation by Jeff White, Sept 3, Cumbredx mailing list via DXLD) Not that long ago --- I remember it from the 60s or 70s. But a Google search on XETS onda corta got one hit: ``El 1 de enero de 1946 aparece en Tuxtla la XEON de la que se afirma, es la pionera, aunque hay quien dice que antes lo fue la XETS de Tapachula que transmitió en onda larga y onda corta.`` (from EN CHIAPAS HAY 44 RADIODIFUSORAS, 38 PERTENECEN AL GOBIERNO DEL ESTADO - No se sabe si son concesionarias o permisionarias - HUGO ISAAC ROBLES GUILLEN, http://www.ecn.org/estroja/tiemp6-2.htm via DXLD) ** NEW ZEALAND. RNZI Still off air at 1100 UT Wednesday! vy73 de wb (Wolfgang Bueschel, Sept 3, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Website check 2020 UT Sept 4: still off (gh, DXLD) ** NORWAY. NORWEGIAN LONGWAVE PROJECT SUFFERS SETBACK Plans to build a new longwave station in Norway have suffered a setback. Svenn Martinsen of Northern Star International Broadcasters http://www.northernstar.no/ tells Media Network that Northern Star have just had a message from transmitter operator Norkring. The message says that in view of general environmental considerations, and the decline of AM in Norway, including the bleak prospects for the Sveio shortwave site, Norkring does not consider it possible to make further plans for AM 216 from Sveio. However, Mr Martinsen says the project will continue as Norkring is prepared to operate a longwave service from a different location if one can be found (© Radio Netherlands Media Network 3 September 2003 via WORLD OF RADIO 1198, DXLD) ** PERU. 4975, Radio del Pacífico, 0946-1003, Sept. 2, Spanish, end of intro, "...San Antonio..." presumed religious program, ballad then male with long talk, mentioning "Buenos Aires", prayer then announcers with address for Puerto Rico. Announcer at 1000 with passing mention of "Radio Pacífico" and "Lima" during talks. Fair with increasing QRN by 1000. 4995, Radio Andina, 0936-0946, Sept. 2, Spanish, Up-beat music, either a long song or played continuously, with breaks for announcer with "Radio Andina" IDs. Fair/poor with static bursts (Scott R Barbour Jr, NH, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** PERU. HELLO MY DX FRIENDS! A DX LOG I WOULD LIKE TO SHARE ... 73s SPACEMASTER [originally in time order, rearranged by gh who excerpted Perú only; last figure 30 and 31 for dates in Aug] 3172.6, R. Municipal Panao, Huánuco, Perú 0040 44423 S (relay RPP) 31 4386.5, R. Imperio, Lambayeque, Perú 0502 4423 [sic] S 30 4426 , R. Bambamarca, Cajamarca, Perú 0103 44413 S 31 4746.8, R. Huanta 2000, Ayacucho, Perú 2102 54432 S 31 4774.9, R. Tarma, Perú 0107 54513 S 31 4826.4, R. Sicuani, Cuzco, Perú 0111 44423 S 31 4835 , R. Marañón, Jaén, Cajamarca, Perú 2120 44423 S 31 4856.0, R. La Hora, Cuzco, Perú 0112 43423 S 31 4890 , R. Macedonia, Arequipa, Perú 0503 54423 S 30 4890.2, R. Macedonia, Arequipa, Perú 0114 44323 S 31 4940 , R. San Antonio, Villa Atalaya, Perú 0116 44433 S 31 4965 , R. Santa Monica, Cuzco, Perú 0117 54433 S 31 4974.7, R. del Pacífico, [Lima], 0505 44423 S 30 4995 , R. Andina, Huancayo, Perú 0118 44423 S 31 5019.9, R. Horizonte, Chachapoyas, Perú 1632 24232 S 30 5024.9, R. Quillabamba, Cuzco, Perú 1634 33423 S 30 5029.9, R. Los Andes, Huamahuco, Perú 1636 24323 S 30 5110.0, R. Victoria, Lima, Perú 2129 24412 S (harmonic) 31 [of what?? No, must be image from 6020 minus 910] 6020.2, R. Victoria, Lima, Perú 0506 55523 S 30 6115.0, R. Unión, Lima, Perú 1637 44423 S 30 6173.8, R. Tawantinsuyo, Cuzco, Perú 1639 24423 S 30 6188.0, R. Oriente, Yurimaguas, Perú 1640 44423 S 30 6193.4, R. Cuzco, Perú 1641 24422 S 30 6249.3, Voz de Andahuaylas, Perú 2003 24412 S/Q 30 9504.8, R. Tacna, Tacna, Perú 1642 44423 S 30 S: Spanish P: Portuguese (Alfredo Benjamin Cañote, QTH: Chaclacayo, Icom IC-R71A, Antenna: 10 meters long, Copper Wire, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** POLAND. See IRAQ ** QATAR. This is Aljazeera's English website: http://english.aljazeera.net/HomePage (Mike Peraaho, DX LISTENING DIGEST) One of the slants was missing in 3-158 /HomePage optional ** RUSSIA. En la noche de hoy Martes, a la 0143 UT estuve sintonizando con muy mala señal a La Voz de Rusia en la frecuencia de los 9965 kHz con el boletín de noticias. Pude escuchar con dificultad que anunciaron las frecuencias 7350, 6185 así como muchas otras que no logré entender. Lo cierto del caso es que las sintonicé al momento y no se escuchaba nada por las mismas. ¿Que pasa con La Voz de Rusia? Ya no es la emisora que solíamos escuchar por muchas frecuencias con señal poderosa; será que la están dejando morir poco a poco y se han olvidado de repotenciar sus equipos para sacarla de la onda corta? Al programa Frecuencia RM, del querido amigo Francisco Rodríguez, no lo he podido captar más. Luego a la 0146 se comenzó a transmitir un programa religioso (José Elías, Venezuela, Conexión Digital via DXLD) ** SWEDEN. RADIO SWEDEN -- Coming up on Radio Sweden: Thursday: "Northern Lights" Friday: Our weekly review Saturday: "Network Europe" Sunday: "In Touch with Stockholm" (SCDX/MediaScan Sept 3 via DXLD) ** SWITZERLAND [non!]. Clare Pinder, in beautiful Cumbria, says, ``I had an exciting few days this month as I had a visit from another pen friend whom I met through `Grapevine``, the programme of Swiss Radio. He has been writing since the 1980s and lives in new Zealand. He worte to say tht he had booked a holiday for himself and his wife which included a week in Sweden, a boat trip on the Rhine and other trips in Europe befroe coming to the UK and returning to his home in Palmerston. They stayed with us in Appleby for three days. Funnily enough I found it difficult to tune int to Radio new Zealand whilst they were here, but once they had gone, the station was heard loud and clear --- although on being asked to retune to 9885 kHz at 0700 following the close of 11820, I found myself listening to R. Prague.`` (Open to Discussion, BDXC-UK mailbox, Sept Communication via DXLD) ** TIBET. 9490, Tibet PBS, Lhasa (presumed), 1127-1136, Sept. 2, English?/ Tibetan, Announcer in presumed English at tune-in with what sounded like the request, "Please write to us at..." Male and female announcer at 1130 with presumed ID over music then talks. Weak, fading out by 1136 (Scott R Barbour Jr, NH, Sept. 2, WORLD OF RADIO 1198, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** TOGO. Radio Togo sin señales de vida en 5047v, a las 2239 UT, 01/09. ¿Será que la nueva brasilera de 5045 kHz la anula? (Adán González, Yaesu-FT890/ Antena TH3MK3, Catia La Mar, VENEZUELA, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** TOGO [non]. SOUTH AFRICA? 21760, R. Togo Libre? 1303 9/4. News in French; suddenly left the air at 1305. Is Radio Togo Libre still here? Via Meyerton? (John Wilkins, Wheat Ridge, Colorado. Drake R-8, 100- foot RW. Cumbre DX via DXLD) As I recall Channel Africa itself has a French broadcast abutting this one, maybe running overtime? But TDP doggedly maintains RTL in its client schedule, which appears not to have been updated for three months now, so further chex are in order: M-F 1300-1400 21760; Sun 2000-2100 12125 (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** UKRAINE. RUI, 12040, Aug 30 0000-0100 English news, commentary, local pops; announcing 9810. Weak to fair. No sign of them on either frequency at 0300 (Brian Alexander, Mechanicsburg PA, DX LISTENING DIGEST) The move to 9810 was not until UT Sept 1 as Kraig notes ** U K. Late last week, when I was checking out something on the BBC website, I found by accident a link to the page on the radio programme "Just a Minute": http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/comedy/justaminute.shtml At the bottom of the page, there's a link marked "An unofficial guide to Just a Minute." That takes you to the following fan page about the show: http://www.geocities.com/deanbedford/jam.html That page not only has info about the history of the show, but it also has statistics about how often various guests have appeared and, last but not least, transcripts of more than 400 episodes of "Just a minute," with apparently more transcripts being added as time goes on. The gentleman who puts this site together (from his e-mail address, he's in New Zealand) is obviously quite a fan of the show, to say the least. 73- (Bill Westenhaver, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Impressive! --- or, obsessive ** U K. Fantastic plug for Caroline on Radio 2 tonight and "Loving Awareness" announced to the nation --- superb. I hope thousands do a search and find great radio at http://www.radiocaroline.co.uk/ There is a real alternative --- still (after almost 40 years)! (Mike Terry, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Refers to second of 2-parter on pirate radio at 1930-2030 UT Tue, The Radio Revolutionaries --- unfortunately, no sign of either part on the Listen Again BBCR2 Player (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U K. This just in from the BBC. I have my doubts that we will be able to hear any of the frequencies for the special broadcast, but you never know.... SF THE LAST NIGHT OF THE PROMS Romanian soprano Angela Gheorghiu and the American violinist Leila Josefowicz join forces with the BBC Symphony Orchestra, BBC Singers and the BBC Symphony Chorus under the baton of Chief Conductor Leonard Slatkin for the exuberant Last Night Of The Proms. This will be broadcast live on Saturday 13th September 1840-2200 GMT on special short-wave frequencies to Europe, North Africa, West Africa and the Middle East. An edited version of the concert will be broadcast to all regions on Sunday 14th September at the following times: West Africa | Sun 1301; Europe | Sun 2101; East & South Africa | Sun 1802; Middle East | Sun 1101; South Asia | Sun 1501; East Asia | Sun 1501; Americas | Sun 0501 rpt 1901 ********************************************************************** Special Short-Wave Frequencies for The Last Night of the Proms Live: Central, NW and NE Europe (to the south coast of France, including Scandinavia and Western Russia, but not Spain/Portugal, S Italy, or SE Europe from Hungary southwards): 1830-2000 GMT: 12020 kHz 1945-2200 GMT: 9595 kHz Spain, Portugal, S Italy, N & W Africa, SE Europe (incl. Hungary, Romania, Slovenia and all points SE), Middle East: 1830-2000 GMT: 13755 kHz 1945-2200 GMT: 9860 kHz Also you can listen to the Proms online --- assuming of course you have a fast enough internet connection and that you aren't behind a firewall which blocks Real Player programs. http://www.bbc.co.uk/proms/ (Sandy Finlayson, swprograms via DXLD) I surely have been, almost every day, enjoying them immensely; the Last Night will also have a video webcast (Glenn Hauser, DXLD) ** U K. RADIO 4 RESURRECTS HITCHHIKER'S GUIDE John Plunkett, Friday August 29 2003, The Guardian It has been 25 years since the adventures of Arthur Dent, Zaphod Beeblebrox and Marvin the paranoid android became an overnight sensation on BBC Radio 4. Now the characters of Douglas Adams' cult sci-fi novel, The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, are set to return to the airwaves in a series of brand new adaptations for the BBC. After years of negotiations over the rights to the best-selling books, the second in the five-strong Hitchhiker series - The Restaurant at the End of the Universe - is expected to air on Radio 4 next year. The new adaptations come two years after Adams died, aged just 49. From their humble beginnings on Radio 4, the Hitchhiker books became a global bestsellers, selling 14 million copies worldwide. They were transformed into a BBC2 TV series, records, a computer game and several stage adaptations. The books have long been tipped to be turned into a Hollywood movie but so far without result. The latest director to be linked with the project is Jay Roach, who directed Mike Myers in the Austin Powers films. According to legend, Adams had the idea for the series "while lying drunk in a field in Innsbruck". They recount the intergalactic travails of Arthur Dent after his escape from "an utterly insignificant little blue-green planet" - Earth. There were four sequels in all. The Restaurant at the End of the Universe was followed by Life, the Universe and Everything; So Long, and Thanks for All the Fish; and Mostly Harmless, which was published in 1992. The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy was nominated as one of the Britain's 100 best-loved books in BBC2's The Big Read event. Independent radio production company Above The Title is making the new adaptation. Adams, who had struggled as a sketch writer on such shows as Radio 4's Weekending, was about to leave the country when The Hitchhiker's Guide was commissioned by Radio 4 in 1978. He had previously written with Ringo Starr and Monty Python's Graham Chapman, and also enjoyed a stint as a script editor on Doctor Who. Adams went on to write two sci-fi detective books starring Dirk Gently and, with zoologist Mark Carwardine, he wrote Last Chance To See, about rare and endangered species. One of the last projects Adams was involved in was h2g2, an interactive web encyclopaedia inspired by the Hitchhiker's Guide. Copyright Guardian Newspapers Limited (via Bill Westenhaver, DXLD) ** U K. BRIAN PERKINS, VOICE OF RADIO 4, STEPS DOWN Matt Wells, media correspondent, Thursday September 4, 2003 The Guardian Brian Perkins, whose silken tones have smoothed the edges of the most unpalatable news stories, is stepping down from Radio 4's microphones after a newsreading career spanning four decades. The BBC said yesterday Perkins was retiring from the BBC's staff but hoped he would continue as a freelance presenter. His departure is a loss. From the Today programme's bulletins through the afternoon shipping forecast to the midnight news, Perkins' voice has come to symbolise Radio 4's calm authority. He started as a broadcaster 40 years ago in his native New Zealand before joining the BBC in London in 1965. He went back to New Zealand in 1969 to play double bass for the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra, returning to the BBC in 1978. Perkins told the BBC staff newspaper, Ariel, yesterday: "I never had any ambition to climb the management ladder and I've had a very happy time in presentation. Over the years people have come and gone, but I just carry on doing what I've always done." A replacement has yet to be announced but David Anderson, Radio 4's presentation editor, pointed yesterday to a trend for more regional voices, citing a "perceptible change" from five or six years ago. In the 1980s, Perkins appeared on Noel Edmonds' Radio 1 show as the butler in a series of comic sketches, but his cult status was confirmed with the remorseless but reverential lampooning to which he is subjected by the impressionist show Dead Ringers, which portrays him as a mafia boss who takes over the BBC. A favourite line is: "This is Radio 4, I'm Brian Perkins. I'm the daddy." Perkins is bemused by the attention. "I can't understand why I have been plucked out to be lampooned in this sinister way," he joked. Laurence Howarth, a writer for the show, paid tribute to him yesterday. "We have done him right from the start. He's the heart of the show, one of the cornerstones, so this news is almost unthinkable." Guardian Unlimited © Guardian Newspapers Limited 2003 (via Dan Say, DXLD) Another version: HOW 40 YEARS OF RADIO JUST WENT SAILING BY http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,2-803597,00.html (via Mike Terry, BDXC-UK via DXLD) Thanks, Mike, for the Times angle on this story: you beat me to it as I was going to post the Guardian version. Actually, as so often with these newspaper stories, there seems to be some factual differences between the two accounts. According to the Grauniad, Brian Perkins is currently a BBC staffer, and therefore is leaving because he will soon reach their retirement age of sixty. However, Jon Culshaw maybe need not despair, as he has said he intends to continue working for Radio Four as a freelancer. As to Peter Donaldson, well, I can even remember when he started on Radio Two! I shall miss both these fine-voiced gentleman in an age of very coarse accents on the street (though probably not coming from Radio Four listeners), but it will be good to hear more of the equally mellow tones of Four's distaff side. And there will still be my namesake, Vaughan Savage! Happy listening (MARK SAVAGE, BDXC-UK via DXLD) ** U K. MAN DIES IN 50-FOOT FALL FROM WATER TOWER From RadioAnoraksUk@yahoogroups.com "Hullbridge man Simon Laver 24 sadly fell to his death apparently trying to install a pirate radio station on a water tank in Thundersley, Essex, England. Story from Southend Evening Echo Sept 2nd 2003 --- Respect to all local fm pirates : Y2k / Premier / Renegade / Charge / Hot" [??] (I couldn't find the story on the internet edition of the newspaper, but I did find the following item elswhere, no mention of pirate activity here though, but what else would he be doing up a water tower in the in the middle of the night? - Mike) "A 24-year-old decorator has fallen 50ft to his death while climbing a water tower in the middle of the night. Simon Laver of Hullbridge, Essex, is thought to have been with two other people when the accident happened at Thundersley. Police said Mr Laver was not authorised to climb the water tower but there were no suspicious circumstances surrounding his death. A police spokesman said officers would prepare a report for an inquest and were continuing to investigate the circumstances of the incident. "Mr Laver fell to his death during an unauthorised climb of the water tower," said the spokesman. "There are no suspicious circumstances and the matter has been passed on to the coroner for investigations" http://www.ananova.com/news/story/sm_815299.html (via Mike Terry, DXLD) ** U S A. ANALYSIS: POLITICAL DEBATE HOTS UP OVER US INTERNATIONAL BROADCASTING | Text of editorial analysis by BBC Monitoring Media Services on 3 September 2003 A recent US government review has assessed various new American international broadcasting projects launched in the last two years, among them Radio Sawa in the Middle East, Radio Farda in Iran and the Afghanistan Radio Network. These new services, as well as all other US government and government- sponsored international broadcasting services, are the responsibility of the US Broadcasting Board of Governors (BBG). In its July 2003 report to the House of Representatives committee on international relations, the General Accounting Office (GAO) praises the efforts of the BBG to increase the size of listening and viewing audiences in markets of US strategic interest. These new initiatives, the report says, have adhered to the BBG's core strategy "of identifying a target audience and tailoring each broadcast product to market circumstances and audience needs". However, the report warns that the new approach lacks "measurable programme objectives and related performance goals" designed to gauge its success. The report calls on the BBG to address a number of concerns, primarily "how many language services it can carry effectively (with the number rising nearly 20 per cent over the past 10 years) and what level of overlap and duplication in Voice of America and surrogate broadcast services would be appropriate under its new approach to broadcasting". On the overlap issue, the report notes: "Despite a clear articulation of US international broadcasting's resource challenges, the Board and Congress have not been able to substantially reduce the total number of language services or a reported 55 per cent overlap in VOA and surrogate language services." Challenges and solutions The BBG's own strategic plan, on which work began in July 2001, identified various challenges facing US international broadcasting, and a series of proposed solutions to address these challenges. The main challenges, as set out by the BBG, included: - Identifying a target audience is essential to a broadcasting strategy - yet only a few BBG language services have set targets. - Broadcasts are frequently hampered by poor audibility. Placement, where available, is sometimes hindered by poor partner station choices with poor broadcast times. - Audience awareness of BBG programmes is generally low across the world. - The BBG must use multimedia to its advantage. While radio is the backbone, TV is usually dominant and there has been substantial growth in Internet use in many markets. - The diversity of the BBG - organizations with different missions, different frameworks and different constituencies - makes it hard to bring all the separate parts together into a more effective whole. And among the proposed solutions were: - Create a worldwide US international broadcasting system. - Realign the BBG organizational structure. - Launch the Middle East Radio Network and make it a success. - Pioneer anti-terrorism broadcasting. - Upgrade existing shortwave transmitter and support systems to ensure backbone of US surge capability. - Develop a rapid-response capability - low-power, portable AM and FM. BBG response The Broadcasting Board of Governors has broadly welcomed the GAO report as "fair and accurate", while expressing reservations at some of the findings. For example, it does not accept that there is duplication between VOA and surrogate language services, arguing that VOA and Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty each have "distinct missions and programme philosophies". The BBG's new priority initiatives, such as launching the Middle East Television Network and expanding the VOA Indonesian service, will have hefty price tags attached. The Middle East TV Network, which is due to launch later this year, is planned as the Arabic equivalent of an American network, with news, entertainment, public affairs and children's programming. It will be available via direct-to-home satellite to the entire Arabic-language speaking world. Media analysts say the network is seen as Washington's response to popular pan-Arab news channels such as Al-Jazeera and Al- Arabiyah. The Middle East TV Network alone will cost 62m dollars to set up, plus 37m dollars annually for operational costs, according to BBG estimates. With the BBG and the State Department sharing an annual budget of about one billion dollars for public diplomacy activities designed "to inform, engage and influence" foreign audiences, the political debate about the funding of and priorities for US international broadcasting seems set to escalate. Source: BBC Monitoring research 3 Sep 03 (via DXLD) ** U S A. WBCQ, Maine, new 5105 at 2340-2400+ Aug 23, oldies program, IDs, strong, very good \\ 7415. Also Aug 30 on 5105.05 with Christian Media Network, not \\ 7415 (Brian Alexander, Mechanicsburg PA, DX LISTENING DIGEST) A rally will be held outside the home of racist radio talk-show host Hal Turner [WBCQ] in response to the call for white supremacists to counter the Immigrant Workers Freedom Ride that will be in Liberty State Park next month. . . http://www.infoshop.org/inews/stories.php?story=03/09/01/9156832 (via Jilly Dybka, DXLD) Hello Glenn, I have three WBCQ program notes that you might be interested in --- Starting on Sunday, September 7th, WBCQ will feature "The Firesign Theater Hour" at 8 - 9 pm Eastern / Sunday - 5.105 MHz [0000-0100 UT Monday]. This will be a regular feature heard on "Area 51" (heard from 6 pm to Midnight Sunday [Sun 2200-0400 UT Mon]), and is being done in much the same way as we handle "Radio Caroline" and "The Jean Shepherd Show. It will feature the complete works of the Firesign Theater, along with specials and interviews relating to them. The show's creation is the idea of Allan Weiner, who feels that it is time to bring these grandfathers of modern comedy to the short-wave community. Starting on Monday, September 8th, Rabbi Spivak and the EVM Jewish Radio Network expand their programming on WBCQ to include Monday through Friday from Noon till 4 pm Eastern on 9.330 MHz. This will bring their total number of weekly hours on WBCQ to 25.5. Also: Anyone interested is receiving a WBCQ program schedule via e- mail can send to: schedule@wbcq.us This is a completely automated database system that responds immediately and includes all 4 of WBCQ's frequencies. Well, I hope that you had a good Labor day weekend (we got rained out here), and that all is well with you. Thanks, as always for all of you help and support. Take care, (Michael Ketter, WBCQ, Sept 3, WORLD OF RADIO 1198, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Such as: Broadcast Schedule for 5.105 MHz M-F 3:45 - 4:00 PM EDT 1945 - 2000 UT Sign On - Planet World News M-F 4:00 - 5:00 PM EDT 2000 - 2100 UT The Voice Of Reason M-F 5:00 - 6:00 PM EDT 2100 - 2200 UT Allan Weiner Worldwide M-F 6:00 - 7:00 PM EDT 2200 - 2300 UT Radio Caroline M-F 7:00 - Midnite EDT 2300 - 0400 UT The Christian Media Network M-F 12:00 - 12:05 EDT 0400 - 0405 UT Sign Off Saturday: 3:45 - Midnite EDT 1945 - 0400 UT Available Time Slot Sunday: 6:00 - Midnite EDT 2200 - 0400 UT Area 51 (via gh, WORLD OF RADIO 1198, DXLD) ** U S A. The current fortnight`s Ask WWCR features Kim Elliott, gh, and Larry Van Horn on the subject of where SW is at now, and where will it be in the future? Audio linx in various formats at http://www.wwcr.com or see DX PROGRAMS link at top for SW times (Glenn Hauser, WORLD OF RADIO 1198, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. WRVU REORGANIZES, PUTS COMMUNITY DEEJAYS ON HOLD http://www.vanderbilthustler.com/vnews/display.v/ART/2003/09/02/3f540dbc1266a (The Vanderbilt Hustler via Charles Gossett Jr, DXLD) WRVU came to our attention as the non-SW webcasting outlet for Ken Berryhill`s music shows also heard on WWCR in the same city. The last we checked, WRVU had stopped webcasting, but we just confirmed it`s active again. I see in the current WRVU grid that his shows are (were?) scheduled: Fri 2-3 pm CDT Ken`s Country (the second half being Classics), and 3-4 pm The Old Record Shop, i.e. 1900-2100 UT. Looks as if these shows may be endangered; must try to catch this week if the stream work. The links on the grid merely lead to his E-mail address, altho a password-prompt pops up! But WWCR still hosts a page about his shows, 6 years old: http://www.wwcr.com/wwcr_old_record_shop.html (Glenn Hauser, OK, WORLD OF RADIO 1198, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. NBC/VIVENDI U.S. television network NBC won Vivendi Universal's marathon show- business auction on September 2 with a proposed merger to create a new entertainment industry giant worth more than $40 billion. NBC, a unit of General Electric Co., clinched exclusive negotiating rights to finalize a deal that would give it a major film studio, more cable channels and theme parks to vault the No. 1 U.S. broadcast network closer to the ranks of such global titans as Walt Disney Co. and Viacom Inc. If the deal is completed, the new company, to be called NBC-Universal, would include Vivendi's Universal Pictures, the Hollywood studio behind "The Hulk" and "The Mummy," and cable television networks USA and Sci-Fi Channel, with NBC's broadcast network and cable channels CNBC and Bravo. NBC Chief Executive Bob Wright would head the new company. Under the terms set out so far, GE would take 80 percent of NBC-Universal while Vivendi would keep 20 percent. Shareholders in the Vivendi Universal Entertainment unit would also receive a $3.8 billion "cash consideration." After four days of marathon sessions over the Labor Day holiday weekend, Vivendi chose NBC over a rival group led by Edgar Bronfman Jr., who sold the Universal assets to Vivendi in 2000. Two years later, he offered a package that included more than $13 billion in cash, sources familiar with the matter said. In an auction that lasted more than three months, NBC fought off competition from some of the media industry's biggest players including media giant Liberty Media Corp., Hollywood's Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Inc. and media group Viacom. (Reuters via SCDX/MediaScan Sept 3 via DXLD) Had Viacom won the auction, we might have seen the Sci-Fi Channel injected with Viacom's considerable Star Trek assets (George Wood, SCDX/MediaScan Sept 3 via DXLD) ** U S A. COURT BLOCKS MEDIA RULES FCC's Ownership Caps Were Slated To Change Today By Frank Ahrens, Washington Post Staff Writer, Thursday, September 4, 2003; Page A01 An appeals court yesterday blocked a change in federal rules that would have loosened restrictions on media consolidation beginning today, granting at least a temporary victory to those who argue that the new regulations would give television networks too much power and reduce local programming... http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A23038-2003Sep3.html (via Kraig Krist, DXLD) COURT DELAYS FCC MEDIA OWNERSHIP RULES Federal Appeals Court Delays Implementation of New FCC Media Ownership Rules ------ for full info go to: http://www.abcnews.go.com/wire/Politics/ap20030903_2101.html (Tom Bryant / Nashville, Sept 3, WTFDA Soundoff via DXLD) FEDERAL APPEALS COURT HALTS IMPLEMENTATION OF FCC OWNERSHIP RULES By DAVID B. CARUSO, The Associated Press, 9/4/03 3:21 AM PHILADELPHIA (AP) -- In a break for small media companies fearful of industry consolidation, an appeals court blocked new federal rules that would relax restrictions on how many TV stations a company can own and lift a ban on owning newspapers and broadcast outlets in the same city. Critics of the Federal Communications Commission rules say the industry overhaul would create a media landscape in which control over what people see, hear and read is in the hands of a few giant companies. In an emergency stay, the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals sided with a coalition of media access groups that claimed its members could suffer irreparable harm if the rules went into effect Thursday as scheduled. "Given the magnitude of this matter and the public's interest in reaching the proper resolution, a stay is warranted pending thorough and efficient judicial review," a three-judge panel concluded Wednesday. The court did not comment on the merits of the Prometheus Project's complaint. The proposed media shakeup, which would allow a single company to own TV stations reaching 45 percent of American viewers, has stirred fierce debate among an array of groups across the political spectrum. While the Bush administration has fought hard for the overhaul, many influential Republicans are among its most vocal opponents, saying the rules would stifle competition. Sen. Byron Dorgan, D-N.D., who, along with Mississippi Republican Trent Lott has been leading a group of senators trying to undo all the FCC changes, said the court's ruling "will give a boost to our efforts." "The ruling recognizes what I hope most of the Senate recognizes: These rules are inappropriate," Dorgan said in an interview. The new ownership rules were approved in June by the majority- Republican FCC on a party-line, 3-2 vote. However, the House voted overwhelmingly in July to block the FCC and the Senate is to vote next week on a resolution of disapproval for the rules changes, a seldom-used maneuver also called a "congressional veto." To succeed, the resolution needs majority approval in the Senate and House and President Bush's signature or enough votes to override his veto. Smaller broadcasters and network affiliates are concerned the FCC rules will allow the networks to gobble up more stations and limit local control of programming. Supporters say the changes will help broadcasters grow and compete in a market changed by cable television, satellite broadcasts and the Internet. An attorney for the Prometheus Project, Samuel L. Spear, praised the decision. He said his clients, who are mostly advocates of low-power community radio stations, believe their ability to broadcast will be hurt by the growth of media conglomerates. "It just allows the big media companies to grow bigger and to monopolize the industry more," Spear said. The ruling followed a two-hour hearing in which the attorneys for the FCC argued that the rules could go into effect as scheduled without any long-term damage to the groups fighting it. An FCC spokesman said the agency was disappointed by the decision and would continue to defend the new rules in court. The ownership rules face other challenges. The National Association of Broadcasters said the changes don't go far enough. The influential industry group filed an appeal last month to block changes to how radio markets are defined and overturn rules that still prevent TV station mergers in some smaller markets. Blair Levin, a former FCC official who is an analyst with the Legg Mason investment firm, said a delay in the implementation of the new rules will likely have little immediate impact on media companies. Newspapers and stations that had been contemplating mergers allowed by the looser ownership rules put most of their plans on hold following signals from Congress that it would try to stop the regulations from taking effect, he said (via Mike Cooper, DXLD) ** U S A. LAYOFFS HIT RADIO PIONEER AS NEW TECH FALTERS By Robert J. Terry, Baltimore Business Journal Sep. 1 http://famulus.msnbc.com/famuluscom/bizjournal09-01-010040.asp?bizj=BAL IBiquity Digital Corp., the Columbia-based developer of digital radio technology, quietly laid off about 35 people last month as lingering sound quality concerns forced the company to delay its commercial launch. The layoffs accounted for about one-fourth of iBiquity's work force. Digital radio receivers manufactured by Kenwood were supposed to be hitting the market but the launch has been pushed back to the end of the year, CEO Robert Struble said. He downplayed the significance of the delay and said it would have no effect on the company's cash position. But the developments are notable because, as the sole government- approved developer of digital radio technology, iBiquity has positioned itself as the catalyst behind one of the most profound changes in broadcasting. The radio industry is being led to a digital future, largely by iBiquity, and observers have begun to question whether the company is up to the task. "We're on track, and focused on the commercial launch," Struble said. "For us, 2003 was always about just getting on the shelves. "We've lost time, but we are full speed ahead again," added Frank A. Adams, an iBiquity board member and managing general partner of Grotech Capital Group in Timonium, one of the company's investors. In recent weeks, iBiquity has changed a key part of its audio architecture, an 11th-hour shift that has drawn questions from some broadcasters and engineers. But a national standards group has endorsed the switch of the system's "codec," a device that uses hardware and software to determine the best way to transmit the top-quality audio signals promised by digital radio technology. The switch made a technical group developing the old codec expendable, iBiquity executives determined. Several senior managers were let go as well. Struble characterized the developments as a "minor bump in the road" that has been fixed to the satisfaction of the company's many stakeholders: The broadcasters transitioning to digital systems, the components makers who will sell equipment to pick up the digital signals and the audio and electrical engineers who expect pristine, CD-quality sound as well as interactive features such as personalized traffic reports. IBiquity, formed three years ago as a joint venture between Lucent Digital Radio and USA Digital Radio to develop what would become "HD Radio," has raised almost $150 million in capital to date from broadcasters, electronics companies and venture capital firms. IBiquity's old codec was developed by Lucent engineers. The company today finds itself transitioning from an organization focused on technology development to one focusing on sales and marketing. "We thought we were there back in February, until this technical problem," Grotech's Adams said. But that hasn't necessarily mollified broadcasters making significant investments in new technology ahead of consumer demand. "The early-adopter stations are very concerned and not just with the AM issues, but it appears to have slowed [iBiquity] down in all respects," said Laura Behrens, senior analyst with San Jose, Calif.- based GartnerG2, a technology research firm. "There's a point at which you have to be able to put the thing in front of people." Struble said more than 200 stations have struck deals with iBiquity to license its digital radio technology, and about 50 are broadcasting digital signals. The Federal Communications Commission late last year approved iBiquity's technology, known as in-band on-channel, or IBOC, as the U.S. digital broadcasting system. The technology enables broadcasters to transmit digital signals over the same frequencies used for analog broadcasts -- and the codec plays a key role in how well the digital signals share the bandwidth with analog signals. An estimated 800 million analog radios, including 200 million car stereos, will transition to digital technology in the coming years, according to industry estimates. The National Radio Systems Committee (NRSC) suspended its standard- setting process in May because of what it felt was poor sound quality on the AM dial. Milford Smith, chairman of an NRSC subcommittee overseeing digital audio and a vice president with East Brunswick, N.J.-based broadcaster Greater Media Inc., said the new sound quality is a "giant improvement over the old." Copyright 2003 American City Business Journals Inc. (via Jilly Dybka, WORLD OF RADIO 1198, DXLD) ** URUGUAY. 6140, Radio Montecarlo, Montevideo, 1400-1415, reportada de lunes a viernes con un programa especial preparado por la RAI, para esta Radio Oriental y Radio Carve y retransmitida en la onda corta de CX4. El espacio consta de 5 bloques o segmentos de 5 minutos cada uno, en idiomas italiano, portugués y español, con noticias y actualidades. Se irradia también a las 2200 UT, anunciándose la frecuencia de 11735 para esta transmisión y 9535 para la emisión de las 0200 UT. Norberto Pugliese nos comenta que la emisora es totalmente inaudible en estas dos últimas QRG`s y transmisiones (Norberto Pugliese, Argentina via Arnaldo Slaen, Sept 3, Conexión Digial via DXLD) Onda corta de CX4, no la tenía, cual es? (Horacio Nigro, Uruguay, ibid.) Perdona, Horacio y disculpen amigos. Error propio. Me refería a la onda corta de Montecarlo, por los 6140, que es la única frecuencia, en definitiva, en la que pudo captar este programa el clega NP (Arnaldo Slaen, ibid.) ** VENEZUELA. Hola Glenn, Saludos desde Catia La Mar. Inactivas en Venezuela: Radio Táchira (4830) y YVTO (5000 kHz). (Adán González, Yaesu-FT890/ Antena TH3MK3, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Later: YVTO ha sido reactivada este 02/09. Pude captarla a partir de las 2238 UT, aproximadamente, en 5000 kHz. SINPO 5/4. La diferencia es que ahora no está sobremodulada como en otras ocasiones. Se abren las apuestas, estimados colegas diexistas, para ver cuánto dura esta reactivación. Ojalá pase de una semana. 73's y buen DX (Adán González, Sept 3, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** VENEZUELA. Armónico muy débil de Radio Ideal, "la emisora romántica de Venezuela", en 2259.98 kHz, segundo armónico de 1130. Escuchado el 02/09, a las 0445 UT. Es una de las tantas emisoras tomadas por la secta "Dios es amor". Antes se ubicaba en Maiquetía, Estado Vargas. Ahora transmite desde el oeste de Caracas, si no me equivoco. ¿Qué dice el WRTH? (Adán González, Yaesu-FT890/ Antena TH3MK3, Catia La Mar, VENEZUELA, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Caracas ** VIETNAM [non]. CLANDESTINE, 7380, Degar Radio not heard this morning 9/4 1300-1330. Checked old frequency of 7115 and there was a Chinese station (VOA?) not previously noted there. Did Degar move freq again? (John Wilkins, Wheat Ridge, Colorado. Drake R-8, 100-foot RW. Cumbre DX via DXLD) UNIDENTIFIED [non]. Here`s the item I was searching for regarding the unID on 6072+; it was just in 3-157; we also had reports recently of this slightly above 6070 (gh) KOREA NORTH. 6072.34, R. Pyongyang, A het long before 1100 30 Aug, then 1101 M announcer briefly followed by the R. Pyongyang IS. Fairly strong but weak modulation and QRM from 6070 (Dave Valko, PA, Cumbredx mailing list via DXLD) UNIDENTIFIED. 7160, 1211 UT July 25, continuous R. Caroline recordings (Dave Gascoyne, Staplehurst, Kent, Alternative Airwaves, Sept BDXC-UK Communication via DXLD) There it goes again ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ RECEIVER NEWS +++++++++++++ GAS VS ICOM I always love filling up my VW next to a guy with a gas guzzler SUV and even at near $2 a gallon, still less than $20 for a fill up (gets me 500 miles) while he coughs up near $90. I guess I am missing something. 5 fill ups of an SUV could get you a nice shiny new ICOM R75 (Bob Montgomery, Levittown PA, Sept 2, swprograms via DXLD) DRM +++ Now I can offer my own report from the DRM presentation at the IFA fair: There were two pieces of the Mayah 2010 DRM receiver, prototypes that were ready just in time. The set needs a 12 volt supply and must consume quite a lot of power; a place on the case where the DSP circuitry must be placed becomes quite hot, so it is hardly feasible to operate this receiver with battery power. Reception: The local LW/MW outlets could be received of course, but not much on shortwave, Sines 15440 and Jülich 6140 provided reception with frequent interruptions only. And this with an antenna outdoors. A look at the DRM outlets themselves: Zehlendorf 177: This frequency was tested in an AM/DRM simulcast mode. Roughly speaking a DRM signal is carried in the upper sideband with a "mirror" in the lower sideband of an AM signal plus carrier. Demodulating this signal with a diode (no SSB demodulation modes) would give only the AM component of the signal as audio output. So much for the theory. In practice a floor of white noise is still audible, the level varies from set to set; I heard that the results are especially poor on cheap radios. And this for a DRM component of only 11 kbit/s, basically sounding like AM but with a noticeable lack of transparency and so being of poorer quality than the AM signal would deliver if it would be undisturbed. In my opinion this mode is simply nonsense. It appears that some broadcasters are interested in this mode to broadcast digital in order to broadcast digital, but without losing the existing AM audience. Word is that Deutschlandradio seriously considers doing so on 177. The simulcast mode tests with Voice of Russia on 603 were already over by yesterday. Zehlendorf 693 and Berlin-Frohnau/Schäferberg/Rüdersdorf 1485: These frequencies had 20 kbit/s monaural audio. Music sounded not bad, but there were still quite distinctive artifacts on speech. The quality could be described as sufficient for small loudspeakers of portables. Berlin-Britz 855 and 25470: The latter frequency was a temporary 100 watt test outlet. Both had stereo audio of 23 or 25 kbit/s. This is of course no full two channel signal but so-called low complexity stereo. It appears to be questionable if stereo with such bitrates makes much sense. Re. 855, the Telefunken TRAM 25 transmitter installed at Britz for DRM is now operated at full power after the splatter problems extensively reported two years ago could be solved. Now they use the TRAM 25 for both DRM tests and AM broadcasts; previously still the Nautel was used for AM. (Actually it would make sense to use the Nautel for 990 now, but it appears that still one of the PDM tube transmitters drones here, unless they removed the audio highpass that used to be typical for 855 from the Nautel rig.) Burg 531: Transmits 16.5 kbit/s audio, some pictures ("multimedia content") and a separate audio book channel with a special voice codec at a mere 2 kbit/s. Well, you can understand what is being said, but that's about all. Shortwave: The most stable reception was provided by Sines -- but with a 16QAM robust mode and an audio bitrate of only 14.5 kbit/s, not enough to match the "close to FM quality" promotion claim. Reception of the 64QAM transmissions from Jülich, Wertachtal and Junglinster was fragile and subject to interruptions; Flevoland could be caught only temporarily. And IBB Briech: 9.5 kbit/s, the same bitrate than a GSM phone -- are they serious? DAB (Eureka-147 system): During the IFA various additional programs were aired via DAB in Berlin, including what appeared to be the "Digital 1" bouqet from the UK transferred to and retransmitted at Berlin as it is. I found the audio quality not convincing; it is notable that as many programs as possible were squeezed into the bouquet by reducing the bitrate, and all music-orientated programs use heavy soundprocessing. This has nothing to do with CD quality. From the receivers shown, a very small portable is especially notable, a price of 250 EUR was mentioned for this rig. But I was told that the performance of this set is poor; it turned out to be a problem to receive even the VHF transmissions inside Berlin. DVB-T (terrestrial Digital Video Broadcasting): I found the picture quality of the DVB-T transmissions at Berlin quite disappointing; a colleague said that this looks like a RealVideo internet stream. The cheapest DVB-T receiver available at a large store in Berlin sells for 109 EUR at present, noticeably less than a Sangean ATS 909 (179 EUR). So equipment expenses are no problem, but the picture quality is hardly sufficient for high quality TV sets. Apparently four TV programs are a bit too much for a single TV channel. So much for now (Kai Ludwig, Germany, Sept 4, DX LISTENING DIGEST) more above: GERMANY CONVENTION & CONFERENCES ++++++++++++++++++++++++ THE ERKRATH - RADIODAY ON SATURDAY SEPTEMBER 13TH 2003 That Saturday we organise the meeting for radio makers and listeners again in the rooms of the observatory. The event is scheduled from 12.00 noon to 20.00 hours [UT +2] in the rooms of the Observatorium of Sternwarte Neanderhöhe at D-40699 Erkrath. From Düsseldorf railway station one can get there with train S 8, direction Wuppertal/Hagen. You leave at stop Hochdahl-Millrath and walk the road in direction of the train to small way on right hand named Hausmannsweg. After a few hundred meters you see the observatory. By car you leave Autobahn A 46 at exit Haan West to Erkrath; in the town the way is marked "Observatorium". See map at http://www.radiocaroline.de/ The thematics of this year: SHORTWAVE - MEDIUMWAVE - LONGWAVE Shortwave: Radio Marabu introduces themselves to their audience Mediumwave: the Netherlands after the new frequency allocation, Radio Caroline takes a balance. Longwave: MusicMann 279 from the Isle of Man. Special guest: Paul Alexander Rusling, chief executive of the Isle of Man International Broadcasting plc. This new station for Europe is in talk for many years. What happened there really, will the station come on air, why today investing in longwave radio? Paul Rusling will give answer to such questions on a specially technical interesting project with pictures and videos, not without a look back to the MV Communicator of Laser 558! The entrance fee is 7.- [euro?] (3.50 for Caroline Support Group members). Preliminary registration or requests please to: Jan Sundermann, Millrather Weg 74, D-40699 Erkrath, Germany or call Freddy Schorsch at 0211 - 248813 (later than 20.00 h) (via Mike Terry, DXLD) PROPAGATION +++++++++++ FORECAST OF SOLAR AND GEOMAGNETIC ACTIVITY 03 - 29 SEPTEMBER 2003 Solar activity is expected to range from very low to low levels during the period. There is a slight chance of isolated moderate activity from old Region 431 (S13, L= 194) when it returns on 04 September. No greater than 10 MeV proton events at geosynchronous orbit are expected during the period. The greater than 2 MeV electron flux is expected to reach high levels on 05 - 07 September, 10 - 12 September and again on 20 - 22 September. The geomagnetic field is expected to range from quiet to major storm levels. A coronal hole high speed stream is expected to produce active to minor storm conditions on 03 - 05 September. Minor storm levels are possible from a smaller high speed stream on 08 - 09 September. Later in the period a third coronal hole high speed stream is expected to return with active to major storm levels possible on 17 - 21 September. :Product: 27-day Space Weather Outlook Table 27DO.txt :Issued: 2003 Sep 02 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 2003 Sep 02 # # UTC Radio Flux Planetary Largest # Date 10.7 cm A Index Kp Index 2003 Sep 03 110 25 5 2003 Sep 04 120 20 4 2003 Sep 05 125 15 3 2003 Sep 06 130 12 3 2003 Sep 07 130 12 3 2003 Sep 08 130 25 5 2003 Sep 09 130 20 4 2003 Sep 10 130 20 4 2003 Sep 11 130 15 3 2003 Sep 12 125 15 3 2003 Sep 13 120 15 3 2003 Sep 14 115 15 3 2003 Sep 15 115 15 3 2003 Sep 16 115 15 3 2003 Sep 17 120 35 6 2003 Sep 18 120 30 5 2003 Sep 19 120 30 5 2003 Sep 20 118 25 5 2003 Sep 21 118 20 4 2003 Sep 22 118 15 3 2003 Sep 23 120 12 3 2003 Sep 24 120 12 3 2003 Sep 25 115 12 3 2003 Sep 26 115 12 3 2003 Sep 27 110 10 3 2003 Sep 28 110 10 3 2003 Sep 29 110 25 5 (http://www.sec.noaa.gov/radio via WORLD OF RADIO 1198, DXLD) ### |||||||||\ |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||| DX LISTENING DIGEST 3-158, September 2, 2003 edited by Glenn Hauser 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 later at http://www.worldofradio.com/dxldtd3i.html For restrixions and searchable 2003 contents archive see http://www.worldofradio.com/dxldmid.html NOTE: If you are a regular reader of DXLD, and a source of DX news but have not been sending it directly to us, please consider yourself obligated to do so. Thanks, Glenn NEXT AIRINGS OF WORLD OF RADIO 1197: RFPI: Wed 0100, 0730, 1330 on 7445 [nominal times subject to delay or pre-emption] WWCR: Wed 0930 on 9475 WINB: Thu 0130 on 12160 [see ECUADOR] WRN ONDEMAND: http://new.wrn.org/listeners/stations/station.php?StationID=24 OUR ONDEMAND AUDIO [also for CONTINENT OF MEDIA, MUNDO RADIAL]: Check http://www.worldofradio.com/audiomid.html [High] (Download) http://www.k4cc.net/wor1197h.rm (Stream) http://www.k4cc.net/wor1197h.ram (Summary) http://www.worldofradio.com/wor1197.html [Low] (Download) http://www.k4cc.net/wor1197.rm (Stream) http://www.k4cc.net/wor1197.ram FIRST AIRINGS OF WORLD OF RADIO 1198: Wed 2200 on WBCQ 7415, 17495-CUSB Thu 0130 on WINB 12160 [maybe; or repeat of last week`s] Thu 2030 on WWCR 15825, Sat 1030 on WWCR 5070 Sat 0130, 0800 on RFPI 7445 Sat 1800+ on WRMI 15725 UNSOLICITED TESTIMONIAL This is Tom from Northern California. I love your show. I've been listening for the past 17 years. Keep up the great service (Tom) See also RECEIVER NEWS World O' Radio, on the other hand, is one of the most intelligible programs on RFPI. Glenn must be giving James a good, quiet tape with proper dynamic range every week (or however often) because he cuts through the noise and QRM much better than most of RFPI's pre-recorded stuff (I O Snopes, Aug 14 FRN Grapevine) ** AFGHANISTAN. LEADERSHIP BANS NEW PRIVATE RADIO STATION IN EASTERN AFGHAN PROVINCE | Text of report by Afghan newspaper Erada on 31 August A new privately-owned radio station has recently started broadcasting on trial basis after receiving a legal permit. However, a few days later it was banned by the order of the leadership of the Nangarhar Province. There is a rumour in Nangarhar Province that the head of Radio and Television of Jalalabad has told the governor of Nangarhar that people do not listen to the programmes of the government-funded radio station now that the new privately-own ratio station has been established. The residents of Jalalabad say that instead of banning a privately- owned radio, the two radios should compete against each other in broadcasting sector. Source: Erada, Kabul, in Pashto 31 Aug 03 (via BBCM via DXLD) WTFK? VIEWERS ACCUSE AFGHAN HERAT TV OF CENSORING PROGRAMMES | Text of report by Afghan news agency Herat News Centre Herat News Centre, 1 September: Television is considered one of the most important means of mass communication. This medium has the main role of spreading cultural values and daily news. It should be said that if not only this but all other means [of communication] become exclusive, then they would not be able to fulfil their duties in a proper way. In addition, another obstacles in this regard is unjustified censor which prevents people from getting more information. We have interviewed some fellow citizens with regard to this issue: Jalil Ahmad, one of our fellow citizens, said the following about this issue: I believe that the programmes of Herat TV are monotonous. The situation in Herat is different in comparison with other provinces. We need to keep the status of being pioneers and we should think of some more initiatives and improvements. Unfortunately, we see the directors of the TV programmes censoring broadcasts. This in fact not only reduces the quality of the programmes but also result in losing viewers and supporters. Ahmad Zubair, a student, says: In the first days of victory, I was very happy that Herat TV was functioning again and I would follow up the programmes with enthusiasm and eagerness. However, the programmes were not so interesting. But I would tell myself that it was the first days and it would gradually become better. Unfortunately, no changes have been introduced to the programmes. Their only initiative to censor the news and movies. It has been long since I have stopped watching (Herat) TV programmes. Gholam Ahmad, a shopkeepers in Shahr-e Naw, in this regard says: The point, which surprises me, is the fact that Herat TV is censoring the Deutsche Welle news [service] and the Iranian movies. They censor the movies to the extent that one cannot understand the beginning and the ending. I do not watch any other programmes of this TV, except the internal and external news. Because other programmes do not have good quality and they are not interesting at all. On the other hand, we should not be proud of the fact that the Herat TV is better than the televisions stations in other cities such as Kandahar, Mazar-e Sharif, Jalalabad and so forth. The city, which is famous for its cultural and scientific riches, should be different from other cities. The point worth mentioning is that our colleagues tried to contact Mr Bahra, the head of TV station, by phone but he refused to answer our questions in this regard. Source: Herat News Centre, Herat, in Dari 0001 gmt 1 Sep 03 (via BBCM via DXLD) Backsliders LOCAL TV STATION BEGINS BROADCASTING IN HERAT PROVINCE | Text of report by Afghan news agency Herat News Centre A local TV station has recently begun broadcasting programmes in Ghowrian District [Herat Province]. The programmes of this TV station, produced by local people, are being managed and directed by a number of youths in the district. First this TV station will broadcast programmes that are in the people's interest. However, Herat TV station has made some comments lately. Since the launch of this small TV station, Herat TV station has not extended any sort of cooperation to them. Now that this station is active, Herat TV station is making comments and limiting their programmes [as received]. This station is still in a very primary and simple form, but the direct broadcast of this station from [Ghowrian] bazaar has nevertheless attracted public attention. In fact, in such a situation and in such a remote area like Ghowrian it is a great and admirable task. However, journalists have still not been permitted to visit the mentioned (TV station) system. Ghowrian District is the first district in Afghanistan to come up with such an initiative. Source: Herat News Centre, Herat, in Dari 0001 gmt 1 Sep 03 (via BBCM via DXLD) ** ALBANIA. Radio Tirana heard with good signals on 9540 during their English program to Europe at 2130, but what has happened to their North American Service on 7160/6160? Rarely heard anymore (Tom Sliva, NYC, Sept 1, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** AUSTRALIA. Flew over HCJB Kununurra this morning on the way to the Bungle Bungles. I know - it was a Cessna C210L. I'm going to try hiking out there sometime in the next day. Missed a photo because I didn't realise it was there until we passed over. It has HCJB painted on the roof and I think the "Heralding Christ..." etc. also painted on the roof (Wayne Bastow, Aug 29, Sept ADXN via DXLD) ** AUSTRALIA. Effective September 3, Radio Australia's two daily 30 minute transmissions in Vietnamese are now via the Darwin relay, replacing Kranji (Singapore) and Taiwan. 2330-0000 11820 (replacing 15110 Taiwan) 0530-0600 17855 (replacing 17865 (Kranji) (Bob Padula, EDXP used by permission, via DXLD) ** AUSTRALIA. ABC TO CURTAIL ITS LOCAL RADIO NEWS BULLETINS By Andrew Webster, September 3, 2003 The ABC announced last night that it will soon scale back its weekend radio news bulletins. From September 13, Victorian listeners will lose up to a dozen Melbourne-produced bulletins and summaries --- on Saturday and Sunday between 1 and 10 pm --- in a shake-up that will concentrate production in Adelaide and Perth. The ABC said the changes, which will affect bulletins produced in all capital cities, are part of a strategy for dealing with recently announced budget cuts... http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2003/09/02/1062506855725.html (via Jilly Dybka, DXLD) ** BELARUS`. Radio Minsk coming in with fair strength in English at 0200 on 7210. 5970 is in parallel, but generally covered by other cochannel stations (Tom Sliva, NYC, Sept 1, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** BRAZIL. RÁDIO NACIONAL DO BRASIL EM ONDAS CURTAS PARA A ÁFRICA Transmissão de programa em Ondas Curtas para África: Rádio Nacional do Brasil, Faixa de 31 metros. Freqüência: 9665 kHz Começamos a transmitir diariamente para o continente africano em ondas curtas em 1º de agosto. Inicialmente, montando uma programação especial utilizando o material produzido pela Rádio Nacional AM e FM e pela Rádio Nacional da Amazônia. O programa possui duas horas e vai ao ar duas vezes ao dia nos horários das 16h às 18h (inédito) e das 2h às 4h (reprise) - horários de Brasília. Estamos também trabalhando na criação de um programa piloto produzido especialmente para os Países de Língua Portuguesa (Brasil, Portugal, Moçambique, Angola, Guiné Bissau, Cabo Verde, Timor Leste). Esse é um projeto mais complexo, cujo objetivo é formar uma rede de informação entre todas as nações envolvidas, de forma que todos os países produzam e recebam material. Para tanto, será necessário formar acordos de parcerias para criarmos uma rede de correspondentes. Em parceria com o Departamento de Radiojornalismo estamos produzindo reportagens especiais sobre temas de interesse dos ouvintes africanos e brasileiros que são veiculadas no programa Repórter Nacional e na Voz do Brasil e retransmitidas para África. Além da programação das emissoras da Radiobrás, diariamente produzimos boletins com informações, principalmente, dos países de língua portuguesa, países africanos e Brasil especialmente voltados para os ouvintes da Rádio Nacional do Brasil. Programação: De Segunda à Sexta-feira: Primeira Transmissão: 16h -18h, Retransmissão: 2h-4h [UT - 3!!] - Giro Afro: 3 boletins de 3 minutos distribuídos ao longo da programação com informações dos países de Língua Portuguesa, África e Brasil; - Alô Doutor: entrevista com diferentes médicos que a cada problema falam sobre problemas de saúde e doenças como malária, aids, tuberculose, vitiligo etc. O entrevistado explica de maneira didática as causas e efeitos das doenças e ainda dá dicas de prevenção e tratamento; -Momento três: especial com 3 canções, geralmente brasileiras, escolhidas pela produtora Heloísa Mendonça. A cada programa ela seleciona um tema, que pode ser uma homenagem a algum cantor/compositor ou mesmo um aspecto em comum dessas canções. Nas últimas edições, Heloísa apresentou às Terezas cantadas por nossos artistas, falou sobre o a aniversário de Pixinguinha, apresentando versões de diferentes intérpretes; - Entrevista: produzimos ou selecionamos entrevistas feitas durante os programas Revista Brasil e Voz do Brasil com diferentes personalidades que falam de política, saúde, educação, cultura. Também estamos produzindo entrevistas exclusivas para a Rádio Nacional do Brasil; - Memória Musical: programa de uma hora com importantes artistas da música popular brasileira que falam sobre carreira, projetos e selecionam 10 músicas que marcaram e influenciaram seus trabalhos; Sábado e Domingo - Primeira Transmissão: 15h - 19 Transmissão ao vivo de jogos de Futebol, com entrevistas e comentários esportivos. No momento estamos transmitindo os principais jogos do campeonato brasileiro. - Segunda Transmissão: 2h - 5h : Musicais. Contatos: Lia Rangel ( Lia@r... ) [truncated] Chefe da Divisão de Notícias Internacionais, Radiobrás, 61 327 4124 73s! (via Célio Romais, Porto Alegre (RS), Brasil, Coordenação do DX Clube do Brasil, radioescutas via DXLD) ** BRAZIL. Recebi informação de Shirleide Barbosa, da Rádio Nacional da Amazônia, informando que a responsável pelas transmissões da Rádio Nacional do Brasil para a África é Lia Rangel. BRASIL - A Rádio Guarujá Paulista, de Guarujá (SP), acaba de enviar a primeira confirmação para um dexista brasileiro! Em Pontes e Lacerda (MT), José Moacir Portera de Melo recebeu, após espera de apenas 13 dias, carta QSL com dados completos, adesivo e cartão de visitas do diretor Orivaldo Rampazo. A Guarujá Paulista recentemente passou a emitir em 3235 e 5045 kHz. O endereço eletrônico da direção da estação é o seguinte: rampazo@radioguarujaam.com.br. BRASIL - A programação da Rádio Guaíba, de Porto Alegre (RS), também tem preocupação com o meio ambiente. Aos domingos, a estação apresenta, às 1230, o programa Guaíba Ecologia. A apresentação é de Vinícius Sinott. Em ondas curtas, a Guaíba pode ser ouvida em 6000 e 11785 kHz. Confira! BRASIL - Revista Brasil é o programa da Rádio Nacional da Amazônia, emitido de segundas a sábados, entre 1100 e 1300, em 6180 e 11780 kHz. Leva ao ar informações dos correspondentes da Radiobrás espalhados por todo o Brasil. Neste 1º de setembro a Rádio Nacional da Amazônia completa 26 anos de existência! BRASIL - Desde Tefé (AM), Paulo Roberto e Souza informa que tentou apurar, por telefone, mais informações sobre a Rádio Educadora 6 de Agosto, que emite desde Xapuri (AC). De acordo com ele, a emissora está presente no dial pela freqüência de 3255 kHz, mas é levada ao ar identificação informando que seria em 3355 kHz. Além disso, a Educadora 6 de Agosto não possui prefixo e nem está cadastrada no sítio da Anatel. Um apresentador da emissora, Leônidas, não soube explicar o porquê disto tudo. Entretanto, informou que a emissão, em ondas tropicais, é levada ao ar, entre 0930 e 0300. O telefone da emissora é o seguinte: + 55 68 5423063. Endereço: Rua Pio Nazário, 31, CEP: 69930-000, Xapuri (AC). Não possui endereço eletrônico. BRASIL - Em Registro (SP), Márcio Martins Pontes tem notado problemas no transmissor da Rádio Alvorada, de Londrina (PR), que emite em 4865 kHz. Aparece apenas uma portadora, sem áudio. BRASIL - A Rádio Nacional da Amazônia emitirá, em breve, nas sextas- feiras, o programa Rádio Justiça - Revista. A produção será da Assessoria de Imprensa do Supremo Tribunal Federal. O acordo entre Radiobrás e STF foi assinado em 27 de agosto. O programa terá como objetivo traçar um panorama da Justiça brasileira utilizando linguagem acessível ao leigo. O espaço é um primeiro passo para a futura Rádio Justiça, que o STF pretende criar, em freqüência modulada, adiante, em Brasília (DF), com uma rede de retransmissoras no país (Célio Romais, Panorama, @tividade DX Sept 1 via DXLD) ** CANADA. Out in Nova Scotia, CKEC (1320 New Glasgow) is getting ready to celebrate its 50th anniversary this fall. The official anniversary date is December 22, but the station is planning an early on-air celebration on October 10; anyone who's been associated with the station is invited to drop them some e-mail at d.freeman@ckec.com and share their memories (s Fybush, NE Radio Watch Sept 2 via DXLD) ** CHINA: THREE DIGITAL TV CHANNELS START TEST BROADCASTS IN BEIJING | Text of report in English by official Chinese news agency Xinhua (New China News Agency) Beijing, 1 September: Three digital television channels started trial operations [on] Monday [1 September] in Beijing. The trial was a prelude to the digital broadcasts nationwide, said Zhang Haitao, deputy director of the State Administration of Radio, Film and Television. China has outlined a long-term blueprint for the development of digital television. By 2005, it should have more than 30m subscribers and would hold a dominant position by 2010. Analogue television, which currently predominates, will be stopped in 2015, according to official sources. The channels featuring soap operas, shopping guides and music will run for about three months and more channels will become available later. Viewers would only have to buy a special receiver to get digital signals, said Ma Chaojun, an official of the Beijing Bureau of Radio, Film and Television. With the digital technology, viewers can have access to many more programmes, high-quality visual and audio effects as well as personalized and interactive services on TV. Source: Xinhua news agency, Beijing, in English 1521 gmt 1 Sep 03 (via BBCM via DXLD) ** COSTA RICA. [RFPI-Vista] ACTION: RADIO FOR PEACE INTERNATIONAL STRUGGLES TO CONTINUE BROADCAST Negotiations begin, but threats to silence the voice of peace on international airwaves continue Representatives of Radio For Peace International (RFPI) met on August 18 with University for Peace representatives in the first of several negotiating meetings to be held between the two organizations. The conflict first surfaced when, on July 21, a University for Peace attorney accompanied by armed guards delivered a two-week eviction notice to the station and padlocked the entrance gate. Radio for Peace International owns the buildings and broadcast facilities which have been located on the campus of the University for Peace since 1987. Radio for Peace International is the only radio station broadcasting on shortwave with a message of peace and social justice. The broadcasts include United Nations Daily News. The original deadline has been extended while the negotiations take place. The goal of the negotiations is to arrive at an acceptable arrangement between the two organizations which would allow for RFPI to continue its broadcasts with as little disruption as possible. The University for Peace is a United Nations mandated institution located on international land in Costa Rica. University for Peace cofounder, former Costa Rican President Rodrigo Carazo Odio, invited RFPI in 1985 to build and manage its own office and studios on the university's Costa Rica campus. RFPI constructed studios and transmitters and has been broadcasting messages of peace and social justice since that time. RFPI STILL NEEDS YOUR SUPPORT! RFPI appreciates the ongoing campaign of listeners and supporters for their crucial dedication and commitment. A wave of letter writing, petition sending and raising awareness MUST continue to engage the world in the station's struggle. The United Nations Office of the Secretary General needs to hear from you. Please continue to send letters and e-mail to Kofi Annan's office at annan@un.org and orsg@un.org urging his office to intervene. Contact your local media, widely disseminate this release, continue to bring the struggle to light by making every effort for this cause of free speech and justice. Continuing international attention on events at Radio for Peace International is vital for the survival of the only progressive voice on short wave, YOUR global community radio station!! For more information contact: (Costa Rica) James Latham, General Manager, + 506 249 1821 (US) Jean Parker, Member Board of Directors, 303-355-9935 E-mail - mail to:info@rfpi.org http://www.rfpi.org/ For further background and previous news releases visit http://www.rfpi.org _______________________________________________ RFPI-Vista mailing list RFPI-Vista@boinklabs.com http://www.boinklabs.com/mailman/listinfo/rfpi-vista (Sept 2 via DXLD) ** CUBA. Nette amélioration de la réception de Radio Havane Cuba en français, notamment à 2130 TU sur 11760 et à 0000 et 0030 sur 9550 kHz. Arnie Coro, présentateur de l'émission DX du service anglais avait indiqué récemment que 3 nouveaux émetteurs avaient été mis en place. Questionné, le service français répond ceci dans un courrier électronique du 30 août: "Je pense que malheureusement c'est le fruit du hasard parce qu'on ne nous a pas encore fait savoir que l'installation des nouveaux émetteurs est terminée." (informations issues de http://perso.wanadoo.fr/jm.aubier via DXLD) ** ECUADOR [non]. On WINB, DXPL changes to Sat 1730 on 13570 from Sept 6 (Hans Johnson, via Allen Graham, HCJB DX Partyline Aug 30 via DXLD) ex-UT Sun 0000 on 12160 - so much for the DX block. WOR is being moved to 0130 UT Thu on 12160: possibly the new edition availablized an hour or two earlier; otherwise, the previous edition (gh) ** EL SALVADOR. 17835, 2315 31 Aug with pop music, bad het and audio breaking up (Jilly Dybka, TN, KF4ZEO, Cumbre DX via DXLD) 17835.1v, Radio Imperial, Sept 1-2, 2350 with music in Spanish. 2356 heard "su programa . . . Radio Imperial." 0000 another ID and then what sounded like a Christian program. Fair signal, rechecked at 0020 and heard much deeper fades. Back to music at 0030. Might still have been on at 0110, but Radio Japan on 17835 in English at this time pretty much wiped them out (Hans Johnson, Cody WY, Drake R8 90' longwire, Cumbredx mailing list via DXLD) Hans, Thanks for the Radio Imperial tip. They're still there as I type this (0122 UT). ID heard at 0115, followed by talk by a male in Spanish. Frequency here is 17835.04 (George Maroti, NY, ibid.) Thanks to a tip from Hans Johnson I am hearing Radio Imperial at 0140 UT on 17835. Signal is fair, OM with ID at 0145 (Ron Trotto, Waggoner, IL, Sept 2, AM-SW-DXing yahoogroup via DXLD) Yes, I noticed a carrier the day before, but on 17835 instead of previous 17833v (gh, DXLD) ** FRANCE. The host of the long-running "Couleurs tropicales," a weekday program of African and Caribbean music on RFI's French service, announced today that beginning October 27, there will be only one 20-minute program daily, instead of the current schedule of two 20-minute programs Monday through Friday. Before RFI started airing a newscast every half-hour, the program's predecessor, "Canal Tropical," ran a full 50 minutes every day. Host Claudy Siar offered no explanation for the impending cutback, though he hinted that African listeners might get more (Mike Cooper, Sept 1, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** GERMANY. Hi Glenn, Regarding the recent item under Germany: could the Allerweltshaus broadcasting initiative perhaps be related to the recently announced Radio Rhino International-Africa (RRIA) from Ugandan Godfrey Elum Ayoo? Regards, (Michiel Schaay, Netherlands, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Possibly ** GERMANY. DRM (and MP3) was developed by the Fraunhofer Institute in Erlangen/Germany. The nearby University of Erlangen-Nuernberg is the site of a DRM transmitter operating 24 h on 15822.5 kHz with 100 W. The campus radio is called "BitExpress" and it repeats music and word programs continuously. Students of this university are working on a simple and basic DRM receiver board using an HF mixer with audio output decoded by the soundcard of any PC. This seems to be a cheap solution if feasible. There are many other DRM transmitters active; a complete list may be found at http://baseportal.com/baseportal/drmdx/main including BBC, DW, RN, RCI etc. and several 24h SW transmitters (André Schmidt, Lautert/Germany, Sept 1, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Perhaps some notes on the German usage of 692/693 are of interest: Once 692 was used for Deutschlandsender / Stimme der DDR with 250 kW through a single mast and so nondirectional from Wachenbrunn. With the Geneva schedule this frequency was moved to Berlin, the Wachenbrunn transmitter was then used for some time by Radio DDR 1 on 1044, but the co-channel operation with Wilsdruff gave poor results (no proper synchronization), so the 250 kW unit finally settled on 882 with Stimme der DDR programming again. 1044 was instead operated only with a 20 kW transmitter (the one moved from the closed Erfurt site to Wachenbrunn) anymore, and because even then congestion problems remained this outlet was moved to 1089. In 1990 there was finally a last frequency change to 1431 in order to make 1089 available for Weimar which had to leave 999 because it was to be used from Hoyerswerda-Zeißig and Wöbbelin by RIAS now. (Yes, a quite complicated story...) So 693 was relocated to Berlin to be used again with 250 kW for Berliner Rundfunk from the Mahlsdorf/Uhlenhorst site. I have no reliable information about the antenna pattern, but anyway since 1988 it was nondirectional under any circumstance because by then only a single mast and two trideco antennas remained there, a second pipe mast had to be dismantled and brought to Wachenbrunn to be installed there as reflector mast for 882 since it became necessary to establish a screening due to interference complaints from Yugoslavia. When Berliner Rundfunk mediumwave transmission ceased Antenne Brandenburg, previously carried on 1359 until 7 PM only, was put on 693. After the final wind-up of GDR radio the new Ostdeutscher Rundfunk Brandenburg (ORB) took over this frequency but used instead of Mahlsdorf/Uhlenhorst the 40 kW Tesla transmitter at Königs Wusterhausen (ex and later again 603) to save operational costs. Alongside with the Antenne Brandenburg programming continued by ORB there were also some special broadcasts, to mention are especially Serbocroatian programmes for refugees from Yugoslavia. But finally ORB considered mediumwave transmissions unnecessary and left 693 by the end of July 1993. About a year later 693 operations from Berlin returned with RadioRopa- Info programming, but with 5 kW only. But RadioRopa-Info left also 693 again when they terminated the usage of Litomysl (5980/5975). Finally Deutsche Telekom offered Voice of Russia as an existing customer (Wachenbrunn 1323) this Berlin outlet, and so the transmitter was fired up again with the VoR feed. But since no official licence was issued 693 was put on tender again and allocated to Megaradio. So finally a new 603 outlet was established for VoR at Zehlendorf at the same time when another new transmitter for Megaradio on 693 was installed there. Transmissions from Mahlsdorf/Uhlenhorst ceased forever when the 5 kW transmitter on 693 was switched off there after some time of VoR simulcast on both 693 and 603. Now 693 was operated for Megaradio from Zehlendorf with higher power again. Contradictory statements were made about about the transmitter power; all I can say about this so far is that the signal appeared to be a bit weak for 200 kW, but without knowing anything about the antenna configuration it makes hardly sense to speculate about the kW figures. The rest of the story is well known: Megaradio went bankrupt, and now the idle 693 frequency is used for DRM tests. And herewith back in the present: The PS code on Berlin 104.1 is actually _100%DAB but many receivers, including the ATS 909, are not able to display special characters. This applies also to the new 89.0 RTL which shows up on these sets as 89_0_RTL instead of 89.0_RTL And IFA-Radio on 97.2 (plus DAB) broadcasts between 6 AM and 9 PM only (Kai Ludwig, Germany, Sept 1, DX LISTENING DIGEST) see also DRM, below and POWERLINE COMMUNICATIONS ** INDIA. In addition to excellent signals most evenings on 10330, All India Radio can also be heard with good signals on 13620 after 0300 at this location (Tom Sliva, NYC, Sept 1, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** INTERNATIONAL VACUUM. New satellite TV services to NAm: see ISRAEL, KUWAIT ** IRAQ. POLISH RADIO STUDIO TO START SENDING REPORTS SOON | Text of report by Polish radio on 1 September [Announcer] When the Poles take over their sector in Iraq, a Polish radio studio will begin operating in earnest in Iraq. Andrzej Zak told us today that the studio is nearly complete. [Zak] We are to prepare normal dispatches. We'll try to provide the broadest possible information about what is going on in the Polish stabilization zone, what the Polish soldiers are doing and what is happening with people who work here. However - and this is an equally important task - we are to create conditions for the reception of Polish radio in Iraq. [Announcer] We will link with the studio in Iraq several times a day every day in current affairs programmes of Polish Radio First Programme. Source: Polish Radio 1, Warsaw, in Polish 1005 gmt 1 Sep 03 (via BBCM via DXLD) Are they talking about an FM transmitter in Iraq? Or picking up SW there transmitted from Poland, with input from the studio in Iraq?? (gh, DXLD) ** IRELAND. At last RTÉ themselves have mentioned their use of Long Wave 252 kHz: Same statement on at least 3 webpages including http://www.rte.ie/radio/tuning.html EXCITING NEWS FROM RTÉ RADIO -- NEW SERVICE ON LONG WAVE 252 RTÉ are planning to launch RTÉ Radio 1 services on LW 252. At present test transmissions are being carried out with a planned launch date of 1st Oct. 2003. This channel will carry the same programming as the RTÉ Radio 1 medium wave service (via Alan Pennington, Aug 31, BDXC-UK; and via Mike Terry, DXLD) Also: http://www.rte.ie/radio/worldwide.html ** ISRAEL. English heard well at 0400-0415 on 9435 with news. Much news about strikes and economic problems in the country (Tom Sliva, NYC, Sept 1, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ISRAEL. CHANNEL 2 TV TO BEGIN BROADCASTING IN NORTH AMERICA ON 1 SEPTEMBER | Text of report in English by Israeli Globes business information web site on 31 August Channel 2 News will be broadcast on The Israel Network in North America as of 1 September. The news programmes will be broadcast live at 1 p.m. EST [1700 gmt] and 8 p.m. EST [2400 gmt]. [sic --- apparently means EDT if the gmt times be correct --- gh] Channel 2 News will join Israel Broadcasting Authority's (IBA) "Mabat" news programme, which The Israel Network has been broadcasting since it first went on the air. The Israel Network broadcasting of Channel 2 News was made possible by an agreement between the two parties. The Israel Network has content agreements with IBA, IBA Educational Television, Second Broadcasting Authority (Channel 2) franchisees Reshet Television, Tel-Ad Jerusalem Studios and the cable sports, nature and culture, children's and Hop! channels. The Israel Network also buys content from private producers. The Israel Network was founded in 2001 to provide television broadcasts to Israelis residing in Canada and the US. The Israel Network is owned by IVP (owned by The Israel Network Director-General Shlomo Wolpert), Kardan Communications, Marlaz Communications and New Regency Productions, owned by Arnon Milchan. Source: Globes web site, Rishon Leziyyon, in English 31 Aug 03 (via BBCM via DXLD) ** ISRAEL. A responsável pela programação em espanhol da Kol Israel é Liliana Guilman. A informação é de Julio Trenard, desde Cumaná, na Venezuela. Segundo ele, o contato com a emissora pode ser feito no seguinte endereço eletrônico: AllegraA@iba.org.il (Célio Romais, Panorama, @tividade DX Sept 1 via DXLD) ** JAPAN. 9595, Radio Tampa, 1402-1430, Aug 30, playing phone in programme & Japanese music dedications. Actually Radio Veritas Asia Bengali programme was suddenly off the air for about 20 minutes & R Tampa became audible. 73s, (Swopan Chakroborty, Kolkata, India, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** KOREA NORTH. 15180 - Voice of Korea being heard regularly from 0000 to 0300 with English from 0100 to 0155; also at 0000 on 11580 (which is a new frequency for me). Poor to Fair signals. No mention of frequencies after sign on in English as is usual (Tom Sliva, NYC, Sept 1, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** KURDISTAN. TURKISH ARMY RADIO IN N IRAQ URGES REBEL KURDS TO SURRENDER | Text of report by Turkish news agency Anatolia on 1 September Mosul: Guven Radyo [Radio Trust], which broadcasts in Iraq, is calling on the members of the terrorist PKK/Kadek [Kurdistan Workers' Party/Congress for Freedom and Democracy in Kurdistan] organization to benefit from the Rehabilitation Law. Guven Radyo, which belongs to the Turkish security forces and which broadcasts in northern Iraq on FM 96.3, is carrying programmes aimed at informing the members of the terrorist organization about the Rehabilitation Law. In the programmes, those who have benefited from the law are also calling on the terrorists and urging them to surrender to the security forces, just like them. Source: Anatolia news agency, Ankara, in Turkish 0911 gmt 1 Sep 03 (via BBCM via DXLD) ** KUWAIT SPACE CHANNEL LAUNCHES SERVICE TARGETING NORTH, SOUTH AMERICA | Text of report in English by Kuwaiti news agency Kuna Kuwait, 31 August: Information Undersecretary Shaykh Faysal al-Malik al-Sabah said on Sunday [31 August] that starting from today [in the] afternoon, Kuwait Television would launch its fifth channel directed to Kuwaiti and Arab viewers in the two Americas. The 24-hour channel will air through Arabsat-2 via Telstar-5 and Telstar-12 and will target Kuwaiti students and Arabs in North and South America, in addition to promoting Kuwaiti views. The programmes on KTV 5 will be aired according to the US East Coast local time, New York. Viewers will be able to watch Kuwaiti and Arab shows in addition to programmes selected from KTV 1 and KTV 3. Games of the local football season will be aired live and repeated later at a more suitable time for Kuwaiti students. The 8 a.m., 3 p.m. and 9 p.m. news bulletins were approved to be aired on KTV 5. Source: Kuna news agency, Kuwait, in English 1700 gmt 31 Aug 03 (via BBCM via DXLD) ** MEXICO. 6045, Radio Universidad [de SLP] is regularly heard here as of late. Sign on is variable, it can be 1200 spot on or up to several minutes after. Classical music programming is what they air, after anthem, opening announcements, and IDs. The co-channel Chinese is usually there but only is usually weaker that Universidad. The latter has a strong carrier, but modulation is pretty low (Hans Johnson, Cody WY, Aug-Sept, Drake R8 90' longwire, Cumbre DX via DXLD) ** MONGOLIA. Voice of Mongolia heard with sign on at 1000 in English on 12085, followed by News and talk on economic cooperation with Russia. Poor signals with much interference, but distinct I.S. always heard (Tom Sliva, NYC, Sept 1, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** NAMIBIA. BUSHMEN CATCH THE AIRWAVES --- 01/09/2003 22:15 - (SA) http://www.news24.com/News24/Africa/News/0,,2-11-1447_1410316,00.html Windhoek - Namibia's Broadcasting Corporation (NBC) will start a new radio channel for its ancient Bushman community, Information and Broadcasting Minister Nangolo Mbumba said on Monday. Mbumba said the channel for the 30 000 strong Bushman community would be launched as part of the government broadcaster's restructuring process. "The San radio service will start as soon as a transmitter tower is erected at Tsumkwe", 650km north-east of Windhoek, programme director Claudia Ikela said. In July the British-based Minority Rights Group International had released a report saying that Namibia's Bushmen, also known as San, have experienced a deterioration in their economic and political rights since independence 12 years ago. The report criticised the Namibian government for not formally recognising the existence of the the southwest African country's 30 000 San outside the former "Bushmanland" in northern Namibia. Bushmen are hunter-gatherers, hunting with bows and arrows and eating edible roots and berries. They were the original inhabitants of southern Africa, appearing as a separate and identifiable group more than 20000 years ago (via Jilly Dybka, DXLD) WTFK??? One might dream of SW, suitable for covering a small but widely dispersed population, as in Arnhem Land (gh) ** NEW ZEALAND. Checking 17675 at 0045 UT 1 Sept. and found that RNZI transmitter was still down. This message appears on the RNZI web site http://www.rnzi.com "RNZI's transmitter is off the air with a serious fault - we regret this interruption to our short-wave service to the Pacific. Our Internet feed is not affected and programmes are available via the real audio live stream and Pacific News is also available for download." (John Figliozzi, NY, DX LISTENING DIGEST) RNZI still missing as of 0630 on 9/2. Their Web site says the transmitter is still off the air, but now gives no due date/time for a return to air (Chuck Albertson, Seattle, Wash., DX LISTENING DIGEST) I spoke to one of the technical people at RNZI today (Tues) and the problem is that they have not yet found the cause of the problem at the transmitter. Technical staff arrived at the site soon after the station went off air about midday NZ time Saturday. At this stage there is no info on when transmission will resume. The tech people are patiently going through eliminating each component until they find the culprit. Hope this information helps (Robin Bromby, Sydney, Australia, Sept 2, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** NIGERIA. Hi Glenn, on 31 Aug V of Nigeria in English was noted with switch over from 15120 to 17800 at 1958 UT. 73 (Jari Savolainen, Kuusankoski, Finland, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** PERU. 9504.85, Radio Tacna, Tacna, 1055-1120, August 25. Spanish. Local ads: "cuando compras Aguas de Cusco..."; ID: "Radio Tacna!!!!"; other ID as: "Es Radio Tacna, la radio de la sintonía mayoritaria"; TC: "son las 6 con 2 minutos"; news. 43433 (Arnaldo Slaen, Argentina, Cumbre DX via DXLD) ** POLAND. See IRAQ ** QATAR: AL-JAZEERA TV LAUNCHES ENGLISH-LANGUAGE WEB SITE The Doha-based Al-Jazeera satellite channel on 1 September reported the launch of its English-language news web site. The report said: "The Al-Jazeera Satellite Channel has launched a news site in English on the Internet to keep in touch with a larger number of people who are interested in news items that Al-Jazeera provides, in addition to more in-depth analysis of developments and varied interests." It added: "Those responsible for the site seek to have it cover news selected with accuracy from many sources dealing with politics, economy, culture, science and information in a comprehensive manner. Special attention will also be given to our correspondents in the various parts of the world." Al-Jazeera's English web site is at http://english.aljazeera.net The station's Arabic web site is at http://www.aljazeera.net Source: Al-Jazeera TV, Doha, in Arabic 0545 gmt 1 Sep 03 (via BBCM via DXLD) AL-JAZEERA RELAUNCHES ENGLISH WEB SITE The Arab satellite TV news station Al-Jazeera re-launched its English- language Web site on Monday. The site can be reached at http:/english.aljazeera.net and has its own staff of nearly 50 western and Arab journalists. A temporary version of the site went online on 24 March to cover the war in Iraq, but was soon brought down by hackers. The Arabic site also was unavailable for long periods during the war. Susi Sirri, news co-ordinator and spokeswoman, said the site aims "to fill a niche for English speakers who want to get the other side of the story, the Arab perspective." "We are following Al- Jazeera's model: opinion and counter-opinion. That is the motto of the (organization)," Sirri said in a telephone interview from Qatar (© Radio Netherlands Media Network 2 September 2003 via DXLD) ** ROMANIA. L'émission "Courrier des auditeurs" du vendredi 5 septembre (avec rediffusion le samedi et le dimanche) consacrera un volet sur les émetteurs de Radio Roumanie Internationale. 5 fonctionnent encore (NDR : et non plus 6 comme indiqué dans l'information datée du 15 août) sur les 12 qui existent, et cette situation durera, selon l'ingénieur des fréquences, encore un an à peu près, jusqu'à ce que 4 émetteurs Harris soient achetés et installés. Ces 4 nouveaux émetteurs remplaceront les 5 actuellement en service (d'après un courrier électronique de Ligia Mihaiescu, R. Roumanie Internationale - 28 août 2003) NDR: les informations données par l'ingénieur des fréquences semblent erronées ou incomplètes. Un seul exemple : à 1700 TU, RRI émet sur 11820, 11940 et 15380 en anglais; au même moment, le service roumain est entendu sur 11830, 15105 et 15335. Enfin, l'émission en turc a été devinée sur 9590 kHz. Donc 7 fréquences réellement entendues (peut- être plus en vigueur à un moment donné). Les 5 émetteurs dont il est question ne concerneraient-ils pas uniquement les émissions en langue étrangères ? A noter que la récente disparition de certaines fréquences (touchant notamment les émissions en français) a probablement un lien avec le passage de 6 à 5 émetteurs (informations issues de http://perso.wanadoo.fr/jm.aubier via DXLD) ** SIERRA LEONE. Radio UNAMSIL, 6140, verified with a nice two-page frequency only letter from v/s Sheila Dallas, Station Manager and Executive Producer, at UNAMSIL Headquarters in Freetown in 89 days who sent along a program schedule and a very nice tee shirt. She described the transmitter as a 1 kW Harris make that covers an estimated 85% of the country's 4 million people. They seem pleased with the results considering the difficult terrain of Sierra Leone. She notes reception reports from more than 100 persons scattered around the world. The FM signal is making it into neighboring Guinea, Liberia and Gambia. Needless to say, I am very pleased to have received this package (Rich D`Angelo, PA, Sept ADXN via DXLD) More like 6139 or 6138 ** SOLOMON ISLANDS. I bought a new set to both talk on and listen on, being the Yaesu FT980, Amateur as well as General Coverage Receiver/ Transceiver. I can only say it is a work of art, a beautifully quiet receiver with aqua blue digital readout and lots of nice buttons for better reception. The likes of a Notch Filter, a very effective Noise Blanker as well as Variable IF bandwidth control. You see, the joy of being an Amateur Operator is not only do you get to log Shortwave Stations, but in fact you have one of your very own to transmit to the world on with an output of 100 watts. The antenna I use is a 40M Delta Loop, which can also be utilized Harmonically for other SW and Ham bands. With this in mind, I was lucky enough to make contact with one of only two Native Ham Operators in the Solomons on the 25th of August on the frequency of 7.103 MHz. His callsign is Hotel 44 Mike Delta, H44MD, and his name is Moffatt. He was using a Kenwood TS430 Transceiver, putting out about 80 Watts, and his antenna was a 40 metre long piece of wire in the shape of a triangle, known as a Delta Loop. I was receiving him at signal strength 7, readability 5 for the duration of our conversation that spanned some 30 minutes from 5-50pm in the afternoon. I worked Moffatt again the next day at the same time with the same good results for signals and readability. I can only say that it is a wonderful feeling to make contact with people thousands of miles away with a meagre 100 watts. If all our SW stations only put out 100 watts, you can soon imagine how hard it would be to receive them. Moffatt is the only Ham in Guadalcanal and one of only two men out of 21 who sat for the Ham exam recently. This of course was due to the work of Mr Sam Voron who went to the Solomons and set up a Ham Radio School, a very worthwhile project indeed (Michael J. Charteris (VK4QS), Ipswich QLD, Yaesu FT980, 40m Delta Loop, 100 Watts, Sept ADXN via DXLD) ** SOMALIA --- Radio Galkayo, Aug 2003 Looks like this town Galkayo may become the centre command for a multi African peace keeping force as agreed to at the conference of Somali leaders in Kenya who are forming a government for Somalia. Am doing two half hour English programs at the end of the 2 Somali language broadcasts on 6.980 MHz AM on short wave radio. It is being heard well in Ethiopia and has been heard in South Africa. I was able to hear it from Sydney earlier. It operates 1000-1230 and 1600-1730 UT daily. The radio wants to expand the English if the peace keepers come. In the English we have included Swahili, Omoro and yesterday we broadcast news in Arabic so everyone is preparing to be ready for the international visitors if they come. [..] Our first student from outside this town specially came from Mogadishu to join the radio school and he is now studying Ham radio full time. He will become the technician at a new community radio station to be privately set up in Mogadishu on FM and as soon as possible on short wave. He is learning from scratch; his reasonable English means he will do quite fine. He follows everything well (S. Voron VK2BVS, 6O0A in Somalia Aug 4, 2003 via M. Watts, Australia for CRW Aug 31 via DXLD) RADIO GALKAYO - HISTORY & AMATEUR RADIO Hello from Galkayo, Somalia, [..] When the Radio Galkayo community short wave broadcast station is not broadcasting it is used as the home of the Amateur Radio Training School of Somalia. Radio Galkayo uses 6.980 MHz AM at 1000-1230 and 1600-1730 starting in Somali. The last half hours are in English with a sprinkling of a few other International languages. The English program also contains a 5 minute daily amateur radio course on the air called learning radio on the radio. 1993- Radio Galkayo starts with the first ham radio training courses conducted by Sam Voron VK2BVS in 1993 and 1994. Anyone who wants no money and no food is welcome to come and learn radio. These people off the street have now kept that station on air for 10 years. 18 August 2003 will be the 10 year birthday of that service. Somali Volunteers have since got jobs with the 3 different telephone companies and Internet cafe as they opened over the years to do business in the town. They still come each day to make programs and broadcast keeping the station on the air in a country that had no and still has no effective national government. 1994- Rotary in Boulder with half Australian Government funds upgrade the equipment donated by Australian volunteer Sam Voron in 1993 and send Sam back as a volunteer to Somalia to instal the new equipment and train Somali volunteers in its use. Oxfam Canada with Canadian Government funding identified Radio Galkayo as one of the few community radio stations in the country and has been allocating yearly funds to send Somali volunteers for further training in the media and journalism to increase the human resourse capability in the country during these 10 years of need. Currently the leaders of Somalia are meeting in Kenya to form a government and thousands of African peace keeping troops will be stationed in Somalia. BBC has said that Galkayo will be the central base of those operations. As the most peaceful region and being in a central position this means that Radio Galkayo is now looking to expand its English program to cater for the needs of the International force and the NGOs and humanitarian organisations that knowledge of the safety of this region of Somalia will attract. The training underway in the latest Amateur radio course will not be able to meet the high demand for knowledge in radio communications and broadcasting when the new government is established and finds that people with such knowledge will be needed in every town to meet broadcasting and communications needs. Therefore all students are also being trained as teachers so that they can form Amateur Radio training Schools through out Somalia. A Federal system of Government has been decided on at the conference. Galkayo is in the Puntland State. There is currently no other State formed in Somalia. The Puntland State was formed on 1 August 1998. All organisations such as the United Nations request its permission before undertaking activities in North East Somalia. The Ministry of Information, Telecommunications and Culture in the Puntland Government have signed a document allowing amateur radio training, examining and licensing to be carried out by Sam Voron and when formed these powers will be transferred to the national Somalia Amateur Radio Society. It is necessary to up date that Government agency with details of all call signs allocated. The national society will therefor be conducting training, exams and issuing call signs on behalf of that Government agency. All Amateur call signs including visitor amateur radio licences will be issued free of charge and for life unless cancelled by the Government. Anyone with an overseas amateur radio call sign will be issued a Visitor Somalia amateur licence no matter what level of ham licence they have. This is described as a courtesy to overseas visitors. For Example someone from the UK who has done a 2 day foundation class amateur will be able to get the Visitor Somalia licence which is valid inside Somalia only and has the same conditions as the Somalia unrestricted amateur radio license. However Somalis who do the license qualifying course for the same license in Somalia must reach the level of the Australian unrestricted amateur radio license. Visitors can only receive the licence on arrival in Somalia. It can not be sent in advance; however, once issued, it is for life and visitors can use it every time they come to Somalia. Visitors can email or telephone Somalia to be met at the airport with their visitor visa and visitor amateur license all prepared. While I am here such visitors can email me at svoron@hotmail.com On my departure I will outline any change of email address (Sam Voron, VK2BVS, 6O0A in Somalia Aug 5, 2003 via M. Watts, Ausralia for CRW Aug 31 via DXLD) REPORT TO OXFAM CANADA AND ROTARY BOULDER, WEST AUSTRALIA. REGARDING RADIO GALKAYO, SOMALIA. FROM- SAM VORON, AUSTRALIAN VOLUNTEER TECHNICIAN and English language program announcer. 10 Aug 2003. As we near the 18 Aug 2003 which marks 10 years of operation of Radio Galkayo and its volunteer staff I want to let Oxfam, Canada and its supporters know how far sighted they were in identifying the benefits of building up the human capacity of these people in the field of community broadcasting and media over the most difficult years in a country with no effective national government. I also want to thank Rotary Boulder in West Australia who in 1994 provided high power short wave transmitting equipment that is still in use today. I have been here almost 3 months and have decided to extend my stay by a further 3 months. Yesterday FM transmissions for the Galkayo area were added to the nation wide AM short wave transmissions here at Radio Galkayo. This will allow those travelling in cars around the Galkayo area, those in Galkayo suffering interference from near by 2-way radios and those with am/fm only receivers to listen to the programs. An additional 3 hours will be transmitted in a morning FM program starting this week. Meanwhile those in the remote corners of the country or in towns with no radio station will still be served by the stations short wave AM radio transmissions. Yesterday the station was connected to the town`s 220 Volt electricity supply after almost 10 years of Diesel generator operation. Currently the stations board of directors and staff are revising all regulations in relation to the operation of the station and financial procedures. The English service staff under training has been expanded with a view of increasing the number of hours of that broadcast should the African peace-keeping force move into Galkayo which BBC has said would be their centre of operational control for the country. With moves at the peace conference in Kenya to establish an effective national government the staff at Radio Galkayo are gearing up to be ready to play their role. Oxfam, Canada efforts over recent years in providing the wide scope of training from computer usage, to radio programming content to management skills and more have been praised by the staff here and has greatly contributed to the growing professionalism of these volunteers. These people are now an established part of the country`s network of news exchange and staff exchanges. I am currently providing training to qualify students for the Somali amateur radio operators licence here at Radio Galkayo. This is the same training I conducted in 1993 and 1994 which launched Radio Galkayo. The course is free and open to anyone. We already have the first students from outside Galkayo attending, one from Mogadishu and another from Bossaso. If you know others that would benefit in Somalia or overseas they would be welcome to join this course which goes for 3 months and which can be started anytime new students join. The course covers International radio regulations, worldwide amateur two-way radio communications, hobby radio broadcasting and the technical theory of radio transmitters, receivers, antennas, power supplies, electronic circuit and block diagrams, radio propagation, interference situations and their cure, etc. Regards, Sam Voron, Sydney, Australia volunteer in Galkayo, Somalia. (S. Voron, VK2BVS, 6O0A in Somalia Aug 10, 2003 via M. Watts, Australia, for CRW Aug 31 via DXLD) ** SOUTH AFRICA. In a fast-moving world DX-ers will slowly have to adopt to these totally new names. All credits to Time World Watch Newsletter for this information. We had the fall of communism, then several changes in India and now these. Perhaps lucky for us, the shortwave and mediumwave bands are not really crammed by local stations in the Republic if South Africa. But a change it surely is (Johan Berglund, Vabacksvägen 10, Trollhättan, Sweden, Sept 1, hard-core-dx via DXLD) TIME World Watch Newsletter, September 1, 2003 ================================================================= T I M E M A G A Z I N E www.timeeurope.com | www.timeasia.com | www.time.com SOUTH AFRICA: All Change, Please One of the first things most African nations did at independence was to change their colonial-era place names to African ones. Not so in South Africa, where, to help keep the peace in the early days of black rule, most cities, towns and streets retained the old names of apartheid. When the mayor of Pretoria, Smangaliso Mkhatshwa, recently suggested renaming the city Tshwane, the area's name before the arrival of white settlers, white residents protested that the change would be costly and, according to a petition drawn up by students at the University of Pretoria, "show contempt for history." But a name change, says the mayor, is backed by many of Pretoria's black residents, who resent living in a city named for Andries Pretorius, a leader of the Afrikaners' march of settlement. Here's a look at other South African places where new names have been adopted or proposed . OLD: Pretoria NEW: Tshwane Expect fierce resistance but eventual change OLD: Johannesburg NEW: Egoli The Zulu name is already used informally OLD: Transvaal NEW: Gauteng Sotho word meaning "Place of Gold" was adopted in 1995 OLD: Pretoria NEW: Tshwane Expect fierce resistance but eventual change OLD: Kruger National Park NEW: Mandela National Park Controversial at home, but may be popular with the tourists OLD: Cape Town NEW: Ikapa Despite pressure from hard-line nationalists, the change is unlikely (via Berglund, ibid.) What about the very name of the country? We have been expecting it to change to AZANIA, but is that just too radical?? For a while adopted it in RIB/DXLD; did our part. Except in the national domain: za! Or does that stand for Zuid-Afrika in Afrikaans?? (Glenn Hauser, DXLD) ** SOUTH AFRICA. SABC POSTS R32.5M LOSS http://www.bday.co.za/bday/content/direct/1,3523,1423647-6078-0,00.html (via Jilly Dybka, DXLD) ** SWITZERLAND. EXPATRIATES FOCUS ON SWITZERLANDS FINANCIAL ROLE "Another point of discussion will be the revision of the Swiss broadcasting law, and how the end of short-wave broadcasting by swissinfo/Swiss Radio International as of the end of next year will affect the Swiss abroad." http://www.swissinfo.org/sen/swissinfo.html?siteSect=105&sid=4172139 (swissinfo August 29, 2003 8:25 AM via Kim Elliott, et al., DXLD) ** TAIWAN. RADIO SHIP 'GODDESS OF DEMOCRACY' SCRAPPED IN TAINAN 2003/9/2 TAIPEI, Agencies http://www.chinapost.com.tw/detail.asp?onNews=1&GRP=A&id=20340 Taiwan yesterday began to scrap the radio ship "Goddess of Democracy" which has been in mothballs after it was blocked from beaming messages of freedom and democracy to China in 1990 following Tiananmen Square massacre, officials said. The demolition work scheduled to take about 70 days kicked off following a ceremony at Anping, a harbor in the southern Tainan county, said Wu Meng-wu, the owner of the 1,200-ton ship. "This is a blow to those who have been pushing for freedom and democracy in China," an angry Wu told AFP in a telephone interview. Wu was ordered to scrap the ship in March after he lost a lawsuit filed by the Anping Harbor authorities, who insisted the ship must be removed to make way for harbor expansion and that Wu must pay at least NT$2 million (about US$58,650) in harbor-related fees. Wu agreed to begin dismantling his ship by Sept. 10 but he denied he owed the authorities any fees. Wu claimed that after he bought the ship, the government promised to help him take care of it. Wu purchased the ship for US$550,000 from the France-based Chinese Shipping Association, a group set up in Paris by exiled Chinese dissident leader Yan Jiaqi, after pressure from Beijing scuttled the group's bid to broadcast freedom and democracy messages to China in April 1990. He later turned the ship into a floating museum displaying photographs and information about the bloody suppression of Chinese pro-democracy activists at Beijing's Tiananmen Square on June 4, 1989. Wu said he had spent nearly NT$100 million (US$2.93 million) on the ship. However, Wang Tien-chu, chief of the Anping Harbor Bureau, said the ship must be removed. "To tell the truth, it is nothing but an abandoned ship. It has not received an updated certificate of sailing worthiness," he said. "Mr Wu may have some complaints towards me. But what can I do? What I can do is to implement official policies, although I do respect what he has done for the mainland's democracy movement," Wang told AFP. Copyright © 2002 The China Post. All rights reserved (via Dan Say, Jilly Dybka, DXLD) ** UGANDA. PARLIAMENT BLOCKS ARMY FROM OPENING OWN RADIO STATION | Text of report by Ugandan newspaper The New Vision web site on 1 September Despite a spirited fight by Defence Minister Amama Mbabazi at parliament on Thursday [28 August], the MPs blocked the controversial 200m shillings radio for the UPDF [Uganda People's Defence Forces] in the Defence Ministry's 300bn shillings budget. The MPs overwhelmingly disagreed with the concept, saying the armed forces could do with the available radio stations like Rhino FM in Gulu, radio Veritas in Teso, Radio Uganda and the traditional army 'barazas' (assemblies). Debating the defence and internal affairs committee budget report for the final time, the MPs recommended that the 200m shillings be used to facilitate the army shop and welfare activities. Mbabazi, who had earlier told the MPs that the army command deemed the radio a vital project, later retracted saying that it was not envisaged this financial year. "We have found the need to have it. I don't want to go into a prolonged debate on the matter because it is not now," Mbabazi told the MPs. The MPs criticised state minister for defence Ruth Nankabirwa and army spokesman Maj Shaban Bantariza for allegedly saying shopping for the transmitters was on. The MPs passed the defence 313bn shillings budget with queries about the army's ability to defeat LRA [Lord's Resistance Army] rebel insurgency. Source: The New Vision web site, Kampala, in English 1 Sep 03 (via BBCM via DXLD) GOVERNMENT REOPENS SOROTI RADIO STATION | Text of report by Ugandan newspaper The Monitor web site on 1 September The minister of state for information, Mr Nsaba Buturo, on 30 August reopened Kyoga Veritas FM. Government closed the radio in June, accusing it of airing alarmist information about the rebel attacks in Teso. On the reopening, Buturo directed the radio station never to broadcast any news about security in the area unless it is sanctioned by Soroti Resident District Commissioner Mr Edward Masiga. Masiga is the chairman of Soroti District Security Committee that recommended the closure of the radio on 22 June. Buturo told the radio management, headed by Bishop Erasmus Desderius Wander, to be stingy with the truth in order to cater for security interests of the state. "The truth as you see it may have implications on other interests. So you must be economical with the truth in your newscasts. I hope that you will always consult the RDC before you report a security matter to maintain stability of the country," Buturo told Bishop Wandera. He said his ministry will soon come up with a new bill on the right to access public information. He said that soon he will call a meeting with all radio stations in the country to discuss how to report the LRA [Lord's Resistance Army] war. "There are people whose minds are not perfect. They go around soiling government's name that closing this radio was harassing the Catholics. That is not the case," he said. The reopening of the radio caused excitement among the internally displaced people and residents of Soroti town. Bishop Wandera thanked government for reopening the radio. "We did the right thing to tell the truth about the LRA invasion that saved so many lives, but this did not auger well with the wish of government," Bishop Wandera told The Monitor. The bishop, however, expressed doubt whether the radio would continue broadcasting news relating to security in the area. Source: The Monitor web site, Kampala, in English 1 Sep 03 (via BBCM via DXLD) ** UKRAINE. Glenn, Well I was wrong. For RUI's new use of 9810 kHz at 0000 UT it was a great beginning. Using 60 foot sloper antenna running North to South. Also using 4.50 kHz filter. September 1, 2003 9810 kHz 0000 UT 9810 RUI S9 +27 dB to S9 +44 dB, slight QRM from R. Habana Cuba on 9820 kHz. 0015 UT 9810 RUI S9 to S9 +44 dB, slight QRM from RHC on 9820. 0030 UT 9810 RUI S9 +20 dB to S9 +44 dB, slight QRM from RHC on 9820. 9805 R. Farda not causing QRM to RUI. 0045 9810 RUI S9 +20 dB to S9 +47 dB, slight QRM from R. Farda on 9805 and RHC on 9820. 0300 UT RUI S9 +27 dB to S9 +40 dB, slight QRM from R. Farda on 9805 and R. Habana Cuba on 9820. 0315 UT RUI S9 to S9 +40 dB, slight QRM from R. Farda on 9805 and RHC on 9820. 0330 UT RUI S9 to S9 +30 dB, slight QRM from R. Farda on 9805 and RHC on 9820. 0345 UT RUI S7 to S9 +27 dB, moderate QRM from R. Farda on 9805 and slight QRM from RHC on 9820. RUI check September 2, 2003. We're having terrible local thunderstorms. Therefore, I'm using a Sony ICF-SW7600G, the built-in antenna and battery power. 0000 UT RUI SINPO 45343. 0015 UT RUI SINPO same as 0000. 0030 UT RUI SINPO 44242 QRM R. Farda on 9805. Thunderstorms right overhead. I had to turn off receiver. I will monitor again, if no thunderstorms, September 3, 2003. 73, (Kraig Krist, VA, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** UNITED ARAB EMIRATES. Dubai heard with good signals during their English transmissions on 13675 from 0300. Parallel 12025 also heard, but much poorer and interference. Heard opening with news till 0310 followed by "Beautiful Arabia," interesting travelogue on life in the Arabian peninsula (Tom Sliva, NYC, Sept 1, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U K. LONDON UNDERGROUND IS IN TALKS WITH NTL ABOUT INSTALLING A DIGITAL RADIO NETWORK ON THE TUBE Salvation is at hand for Tube commuters bored by the small print on carriage advertisements and being stuck in tunnels. London Underground is in talks with cable company NTL about installing a digital radio network on the Tube. Passengers with portable radios will be able to tune in to a range of radio stations, and NTL is also considering using the signal to send video data to handheld computers. Discussions are at an early stage, but Capital Radio is said to have expressed interest in the venture. Whether witty DJs will be able to offer distraction from travelling conditions unfit for cattle is another matter. . . http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,6222-765992,00.html (via Mike Terry, DXLD) ** U K [and non]. We shouldn't suffer digital interference on 693 kHz from Germany just because Radio 5 is available via other sources (eg internet, Sky etc). I can only listen to Radio 5 in the car or on the beach on mediumwave. Hopefully the UK authorities will attach as much importance to foreign interference to Radio 5 as they did with the (alleged) interference to European stations from Radio Caroline (in 1964) and Radio North Sea Int`l (in 1970). According to Radio Netherland's Media Network, the DRM transmission on 693 from Berlin is scheduled 24 hrs 29 Aug to 3 Sept with a power of 60 kW omni-directional http://www.rnw.nl/realradio/html/drm_schedule.html (Alan Pennington, Caversham, UK, BDXC-UK via DXLD) see also GERMANY NO interference here on the south coast. I'm surprised the DRM transmission is affecting reception given the relatively low power compared to Radio 5's ERP. Anyway only for a few more days :-) (Dave, amstereofan, ibid.) This is just the "start" of the future on MW in Europe --- will be sufficient 3-4 stations will use DRM on Europe --- and we will hear just DDDDDRRRRRRRROOOOOOMMMMMMM all over the band. Last night Monday I listened on 693 and with my surprise Rai Milano is off all night, so at 0200 UT I get clearly the DRM noise with my loop to north east --- and BBC with my loop to north west --- naturally with lot of noise !! even here in Milano (Dario Monferini, Italy, Sept 2, MW-DX via DXLD) ** U K. BBC OPENS ITS DOORS (TV CENTRE AND BUSH HOUSE) As part of the London Open House Weekend 2003, BBC Television Centre and the BBC's Bush House on The Strand in London will throw open their doors for a day public tours. London Open House is a city-wide event, celebrating the capital's diverse architecture and offering free entry into over 500 fascinating buildings. On Saturday, September 20, the tour leaders at the BBC's W12 broadcasting hub will give members of the public the chance to experience first-hand the artistic and creative vision of architect Graham Dawbarn. Dawbarn came up with the idea for the innovative building design while in the pub and scribbled it on the back of an envelope. Television Centre is the world's first purpose-built television studio complex and a distinctive mural by painter John Piper and TB Huxley-Jones's celebrated sculpture of Helios, the Greek god of the sun, are also among the highlights of the 1960 building. The 50-minute tours also follow in the footsteps of television favourites, with trips into the famous studios where programmes such as Blue Peter, Top Of The Pops, Never Mind The Buzzcocks and Absolutely Fabulous are made. Visitors will also have the chance to get up close to the famous yellow three-wheel van from comedy classic Only Fools And Horses, and the architecturally unique Tardis, as featured in Doctor Who. Tours run every 10 minutes from 10:00 to 17:00 on a first come, first served basis. BBC Bush House, The Strand, London WC2B, will also be running 30- minute tours from 10:00 to 16:00 on Saturday, September 20, again on a first come, first served basis. http://www.waveguide.co.uk/latest/news030901.htm#BBC%20Opens%20Its%20Doors (via Mike Terry, DXLD) A CHANCE TO VISIT BUSH HOUSE If you're in London on 20 September, you will have the opportunity to visit Bush House, home of BBC World Service, as well as BBC Television Centre. The buildings will be open as part of London Open House, a city-wide event, celebrating the capital's diverse architecture and offering free entry into over 500 fascinating buildings. Bush House will be running 30-minute tours from 10.00am to 4.00pm on Saturday 20 September on a first come, first served basis. More details of the BBC's participation can be found in this BBC press release http://www.bbc.co.uk/pressoffice/pressreleases/stories/2003/09_september/01/london_openhouse.shtml Information about London Open House is available at http://www.londonopenhouse.org (© Radio Netherlands Media Network 1 September 2003 via DXLD) ** U S A. IN DEFENSE OF AMR AND REEM --- Dr. Khaled M. Batarfi Father, may his soul rest in peace, was a fan of American foreign policy. For him, the last great American President was Eisenhower, who ordered Israel, Britain and France out of occupied Egyptian towns in 1956. Since then, America, for him and his generation, equaled Israel itself, if not worse. He first began to modify his stand during the first Gulf War of 1990. This was not the result of US actions or policies, but rather of the demonstration of its democracy. I remember him relaying with amusement the anti-war views he heard on the Voice of America, asking with some confusion: How can American radio talk this way about their president? When I told him the radio was owned and funded by the government, his amusement --- and respect --- increased. ``A nation that is independent and free enough to say to their leaders a brave NO deserves my respect. A system that allows such debate and differing stands without fear of oppression is closer to Islam than any Arab dictatorship,`` he often said. When I wanted to study for a doctorate in journalism in America, he agreed only because of his admiration for its democracy and freedom. . . http://www4.arabnews.com/?page=7§ion=0&article=31164&d=31&m=8&y=2003 (via Kim Elliott, IBB, DXLD) ** U S A. I noticed that WWRB are not carrying Tom Valentine's Radio Free America any longer. Looks like it is on WHRI's 5745 on Sunday evening; I think this is new. Valentine's program is generally acknowledged as the first 'patriot' program on shortwave; he says he started in 1988 (Hans Johnson, Cody WY, Sep 1 Cumbredx mailing list via DXLD) ** U S A. Tried tuning in Radio Prague on 8/31 at 0300 UT on 7385 and got IBC (International Broadcasting Corp.) airing "Dreamland with Whitley Streiber talking about alien visitors, intergalactic abductions, and Carlos Castenadas. Streiber's website is http://www.unknowncountry.com IBC is new to me. Their website http://www.ibcradio.com is hoping to find investors (John Calabro, Melrose, MA, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Change of programming on WRMI ** U S A. PUBLIC POLICY SHOWS ENDS ON OREGON PUBLIC BROADCASTING http://wizzer.advance.net/cgi-free/getstory_ssf.cgi?o0037_BC_OR--SevenDays&&news&newsflash-oregon (via Mike Cooper, DXLD) ** UZBEKISTAN. Radio Tashkent is being heard best on 15295 here from 1200 to 1230 in English with parallel 17775 also audible, but not as strong as heard earlier in the summer (Tom Sliva, NYC, Sept 1, DX LISTENING DIGEST) UNIDENTIFIED. 6072.29, 1001-1010, August 31, Far East Asian language. S/on. Anthem or march, announcement by female and news or talk, 33333 (Arnaldo Slaen, Argentina, Cumbredx mailing list via DXLD) I saw a report somewhere that V. of Korea (North) Japanese service was varying around here, but can`t seem to find it again (gh, DXLD) UNIDENTIFIED. Re: 8621.0 ---: unID, 1120, LSB Chinese? 3 lts/num group (28/08/03) (AJP) (any info?) This station is also on 5924 at around 1200z, also on LSB. Signal lately has gone down as the Vietnamese domestic station on 5925 is becoming more dominant (Robin Harwood, Tasmania, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ PUBLICATIONS ++++++++++++ UPDATE FOR THE CRW CLANDESTINE RADIO QSL GALLERY No, unfortunately not many new pictures, but --- You can now see all Clandestine Radio QSLs from the CRW Clandestine Radio QSL Gallery as a Thumbnail! Go to http://www.schoechi.de/pic-cla.html and click on 'Thumbnail'. (But it needs some time to load all 378 pictures) Any new pictures are welcome. But please contact me (CRW editor) regarding the format etc. before sending something to me! (M. Schöch, Germany, Aug 28, 2003 for CRW via DXLD) POWERLINE COMMUNICATIONS ++++++++++++++++++++++++ There appears to be again a serious threat for broadcasting below 30 MHz from the Powerline Communications side also in Europe. The European Commission issued a working document, meant for discussion with representatives of member state authorities on a workshop to be held on October 16: http://europa.eu.int/information_society/topics/telecoms/regulatory/pu bliconsult/powerline_communications/index_en.htm The document suggests in a footnote on page 8 a fieldstrength limit of 55.5 db/µV at a distance of 3 metres from power lines. Herewith only the strongest local stations could be still received within buildings, anything else (I think including shortwave broadcasting in general) would be drowned out (Kai Ludwig, Germany, DX LISTENING DIGEST) RECEIVER NEWS +++++++++++++ DX-402 DISCONTINUED I just wanted to pass on that the Radio Shack DX402 is being discontinued and is selling for $74. Keep up the great service (Tom, Northern California, Sept 1, DX LISTENING DIGEST) RECEIVER NEWS / DRM / CONFERENCES +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ MAYAH DRM 2010 In response to my query to MAYAH Communications, I received the attached brochure by e-mail, along with word that the receiver will go on sale after the IBC Show in Amsterdam (which is scheduled for Sept. 12-16) with a target price of around 700 euro ($768 US at today's exchange rate). This DRM Receiver is the 2nd generation receiver for the Digital Radio Mondiale (DRM) standard. It is the result of a joint development effort of MAYAH, Coding Technologies, Himalaya and AFG. The receiver is based on standard components and different to the first generation, it is smaller and lower cost. A DSP module performs all the DRM specific decoding functions. The software of the DSP module can be updated via the USB interface. The USB interface also provides the data from data application for further processing with a PC. The receiver can decode mono and stereo audio signals. The full stereo signal is available at the headphone outputs. The display indicates station name, used frequency, field strength and the number of service components of the received DRM signal. Additional information transmitted will be displayed if available. The station can be selected by directly entering the frequency using the numeric keypad. Beside the DRM standard the receiver also supports reception of analogue AM programs in the MW, LW and SW bands as well as FM programs. DRM 2010 Technical Data Size 21 x 7 x 13 cm Outputs Stereo Headphone and Stereo Line, both 3.5 mm jacket Control USB for data services and updates Power Supply External, 100 - 240 VAC, 47-67Hz DRM Modes Channel coding/modulation All channel coding / modulation as specified in DRM all code rates, EEP and UEP, Standard and Hierarchical modulation (SM, HMSym and HMMix). MSC (64QAM and 16QAM), SDC (16QAM and 4QAM) Long and short cell interleavers Transmission structure All robustness modes (A,B,C and D) All spectral occupancies (4.5, 5, 9, 10, 18 and 20 kHz) Source Decoding AAC and AAC+SBR mono, stereo (via John Figliozzi, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Also illustrating the radio, similar to a black YB-400 in appearance, Geez, doesn`t even mention frequency coverage and what about SSB, or would that be too confusing to have two different USBs? (gh, DXLD) see also GERMANY WORLD DAB FORUM AND DIGITAL RADIO MONDIALE (DRM) AGREE TO COOPERATE OVER FUTURE OF DIGITAL RADIO Leading organisations send strong signal to digital radio broadcasters and manufacturers 30 August, 2003 IFA, Berlin - Two leading lights in the digital radio community have struck an agreement to collaborate on the development of their systems, paving the way for the digital radios of the future. The World DAB Forum and the Digital Radio MondialeTM (DRMTM) Consortium announced their co-operation today, during a press conference at the IFA consumer electronics event in Berlin, Germany. The two organisations, which have many members in common, have agreed to co-operate in fostering conditions that are favourable for both digital systems. It is anticipated that this close collaboration will pave the way for a new genre of future digital radios on the market, enabling listeners to receive any digital radio service without having to worry about the underlying transmission system. Annika Nyberg, President of The World DAB Forum, said: ``The relationship we have forged with DRM is good news for digital radio broadcasters, manufacturers and - most importantly - listeners. DRM and its members have a tremendous amount to offer in terms of technology and ideas. This promises to be an exciting chapter in the history of digital radio.`` ``Since DRM`s international debut in June of this year, broadcasters are now transmitting live, daily DRM programmes. The next step is for consumers in markets worldwide to have access to DRM`s excellent audio and reception quality,`` said DRM Chairman Peter Senger. ``DRM is a market-driven system, so we are committed to strategic alliances that will increase listeners` options across the globe. We are delighted to collaborate with the World DAB Forum.`` About The World DAB Forum The World DAB Forum is an international, non-governmental organisation whose role is to promote the awareness, adoption and implementation of DAB Digital Radio worldwide. Its members include public and commercial broadcasters, receiver manufacturers and other companies and bodies committed to converting the technology behind DAB Digital Radio - the Eureka 147 system - into a commercial marketing success. http://www.worlddab.org About Digital Radio Mondiale (DRM) On June 16th, 2003, 16 leading broadcasters made radio history by sending the world`s first DRM broadcasts across the globe. Since then, the number of stations transmitting live, daily DRM programmes and periodic specials has risen to 27. DRM programmes now reach Europe, the USA, Canada, the Middle East, Australia and New Zealand. DRM is the world`s only non-proprietary, digital system for short- wave, medium-wave/AM and long-wave with the ability to use existing frequencies and bandwidth across the globe. DRM provides clear, near- FM quality sound and excellent reception quality. The DRM system was developed, tested and standardised in a mere five years by the DRM Consortium. Founded in Guangzhou, China in 1998 and headquartered in Geneva, the consortium has expanded into a group of 82 broadcasters, network operators, equipment manufacturers, broadcasting unions, regulatory bodies and NGOs representing 29 countries. http://www.drm.org For more information contact: Rebecca Dorta, World DAB Forum +44 (0) 207 288 4642 Siriol Evans, DRM pressoffice@drm.org Siriol Jane Evans, Director, Press & Communications Digital Radio Mondiale http://www.drm.org phone +44 1481 268 246 cellphone +44 7781 127019 (via DXLD) CONVENTIONS & CONFERENCES +++++++++++++++++++++++++ WRC 03 "It Seems to Us . . ." A WRC MAKES HISTORY By David Sumner, K1ZZ, ARRL Chief Executive Officer, September 1, 2003 Editor's note: Typically, only ARRL members get to read the "It Seems to Us ..." editorials that run each month in QST. We're posting this editorial that appears in the September 2003 issue of QST in the hope that both ARRL members and nonmembers might appreciate it and find it informative. . . … When the Summer 2009 schedule takes effect on March 29 of that year, 7100-7200 kHz will no longer be available to broadcasters. Instead, for the first time in decades, radio amateurs in Regions 1 and 3 will be able to use this frequency range and those of us in Region 2 should be free of the interference from high-powered broadcasting stations that has plagued us for as long as most of us can remember. The conference was not able to resolve the problem completely -- the status quo prevails at 7200-7300 kHz -- but it is undeniable that when WRC-03 ended, the amateur service was a lot better off at 7 MHz than when it began. Amateurs in Regions 1 and 3, and especially in Europe, are the biggest beneficiaries; their 40-meter band will double in size. Here in Region 2, anyone who has ever listened to 40 meters at night can readily appreciate how nice it will be to say goodbye to the broadcasters in that 100 kHz. Nighttime 40-meter phone operation has never been for the faint of heart. For those of us in the 48 contiguous states to be heard, we must find a slot in between AM transmitters running hundreds of kilowatts into huge antennas. Listening from Europe or Asia for 40- meter phone signals from the U.S. requires good equipment and a high threshold of pain. Where it's permitted, operating phone below 7100 kHz is no picnic, either; the band is much too narrow for anything resembling a clear frequency to be available. Nowhere else in the congested amateur HF bands are the problems of interference between amateurs as great as they are here. At last, some relief is on the horizon. So we have the first half of the loaf. What about the second? As you will read when you come to page 40, getting broadcasting cleared from the first 100 kHz was difficult. Many broadcasters came to the conference confident that they would not have to move; after all, they never had. A number of fixed and mobile service representatives -- mostly military -- lobbied strongly for no reduction in the utility of their allocations around 7 MHz. Persuading both groups to take the second step at WRC-07 will not be easy. If broadcasting is shifted up there is an impact on the fixed and mobile services, who will also be under pressure to relinquish spectrum for broadcasting expansion elsewhere between 4 and 10 MHz. We will have to justify our requirements all over again, using the post-2009 scenario as the new baseline. We will have to counter the argument, "Let's see how much improvement results from what WRC-03 has already done for amateurs before we do any more." . . . http://www.arrl.org/news/features/2003/09/01/1/ (via Jilly Dybka, DXLD) IX ENCUENTRO DX MEXICANO Amigos de las ondas cortas. Deseo se encuentren bien en compañía de los suyos y que en sus actividades les esté yendo cada vez mejor; aquí en el lejano norte de México ya empieza a sentirse la frescura del otoño. En la escuela hemos iniciado el nuevo ciclo escolar con buen ambiente de trabajo y mucho ánimo, esto me ha impedido por algunas semanas escuchar la radio y practicar el diexismo; las primeras semanas son muy intensas ya que lo que se haga o deje de hacer en el inicio del ciclo de hecho determina facilidades o dificultades para el trabajo en el resto del año. Mis alumnos cursan el sexto grado, son pocos y aunque son de nivel económico-social medio-bajo y más bajo aún, más un buen número de ellos que provienen de hogares incompletos, esperamos obtener buenos adelantos y éxitos. He llevado al aula una computadora un poco antigua y otros implementos que estarían por ahora fuera del alcance de mis alumnos, y ellos muestran gran interés en estas y otras actividades. Más adelante planeo trabajar con ellos algo sobre la radio y el diexismo. Les estoy enviendo algunas fotografías del pasado IX Encuentro Diexista --- en una de ellas me encuentro con la Lic. Ana Cristina del Razo, ex directora de Radio México Internacional y gran amiga y participante en los Encuentros Diexistas Mexicanos; te invito a ver más fotos de ese evento y a visitar mi página diexista, y la de mi pueblo y su región, si no lo han hecho, en los enlaces ubicados en la parte inferior de este mensaje. En este IX Encuentro Diexista Mexicano tuvimos por primera vez la participación de personal de Radio Habana Cuba y Radio Internacional de China. Como siempre ha sido, hubo una gran cantidad de damas presentes y de familias completas en la reunión. El organizador, Martín Herrera Jiménez procuró en gran parte que el aspecto económico no fuera tan desgastante para los asistentes. Yo viajé en autobus, en ida y vuelta, más de 4500 kilómetros, y me pareció corto el camino para ir a ese evento. La estrella del evento fue la nueva tecnología digital DRM para la transmisión de las ondas cortas. El siguiente X Encuentro será en el precioso puerto de Veracruz, en el Golfo de México, el verano del año 2004. Hasta la próxima. Profr. Miguel Angel. http://mx.geocities.com/profesor_miguel/ascension.html y http://mx.geocities.com/diexismo73/dx.html son mis páginas. y mis fotos: http://mx.f1.pg.photos.yahoo.com/profesor_miguel (Encuentros DX, viajes, etc.) (Mensaje desde Mexico del Profesor Miguel Angel Rocha Gamez, via Arnaldo Slaen, Conexión Digital via DXLD) EUROPEAN DX COUNCIL CONFERENCE This year's European DX Council conference, organized by the Rhein Main Radio Club, took place in the Town of Königstein, which lies roughly 15 kilometres outside of the city of Frankfurt, Germany. It was held in the training and communications center of the Dresdner Bank. One of the main areas of interest and discussion was DRM-Digital Radio Mondial. We were introduced to this system in more detail, how it works and what its benefits will be. We were given an opportunity to listen to several DRM shortwave test transmissions from Deutsche Welle and Radio Canada International via Sines, Portugal. I was impressed with the FM quality of the transmissions. There was no signal degradation, only occasional dropouts. The receivers were modified units being fed through a computer, using a special program. There was a chance to purchase a modified AOR or a Sangean ATS 909 receiver. Also present at the conference was Dr Adrian Peterson of Adventist World Radio, who gave a very interesting presentation titled "Wandering the World With a Radio", charting his history in DXing. He also gave us a chance to see the QSL cards he has gained over the years. Toshimischi Ohtake of the Japan Shortwave Club made a presentation about the club’s 50+ years of activity. We were shown the number of those listening to shortwave in Japan, as well as the levels of interest in shortwave over the years in Japan, showing where there had been peak interest times, i.e .in early 1980's. Anker Petersen of the Danish Shortwave Club International gave a talk about activity on the tropical shortwave bands, showing a rather sharp decline in their use. Where some countries had slowly cut their tropical transmissions, other countries had gained transmitters in these bands, Brasil being one of these as shortwave is a more practical method of reaching those in far off areas. Wolf Harranth of Radio Austria International gave a speech on DRM and the future of DXing. Stig Hartvig Nielsen gave a talk on World Music Radio and its history. We were told of its past transmission locations and its various activities over the years, including its relays over transmitters in South Africa. Waldemar Kramer of The Technical Advisory of Radio Deutsche Welle talked to us about the rôle that listeners play in the frequency planning section. Andrew Janicek of Radio Free Asia made a presentation of that radio station`s activities including the increase in some of its language services to various parts of the world. DXers will be pleased to learn that RFA have produced a series of QSL verification cards showing the faces of various people who have had contact with RFA, such as the Dalai Lama. These will be available from the Washington office. Also present at the conference was of course the organizer, Dr. Harald Gabler, C. Laske, S. Gerhard, U. Deutscher, M. Horsreiner, Charly Hardt, and R. Kirk, all making speeches (Christopher Lewis, UK, Sept Australian DX News via DXLD) See/hear also this week`s RVi Radio World NATIONAL RADIO CLUB, DALLAS, LABOR DAY WEEKEND Kudos all around! Mr. "s" wrote: "Back home in Rochester - and what a fun weekend it was! Wally, John and Bill did a SUPER job keeping us all busy with more activities than you could shake a ten-gallon hat at." To which I, now back home in Krum, express my delight at the turnout and that everything seemed to fall into place --- including my biggest worry -- that the number of people wanting to go on the tours would match the number of seats available in carpool vehicles. I want, particularly, to tip my hat to Wally Wawro, whose media contacts in the Dallas-Fort Worth market resulted in tours that educated us on the current state of the radio and television art (and bottom line) and two memorable presentations in the hotel auditorium following the banquet. Wally also had the painstaking and time- consuming chore of wiring the myriad of components required to put WNRC on the air, then disassembling the components and, with assistance, carting one vanload of equipment from the hotel to WFAA from where it was borrowed; and a second vanload home, where his personal equipment will be separated from the transmitter, antenna and other items that will be shipped back to Fred Vobbe for eventual transport to Batavia, N.Y., next year. The media contacts who conducted the tours seemed genuinely glad to have us there. They answered all our questions and may have been surprised at how knowledgeable some of us were. (Not me; the station where I worked last 22 years ago was still locked in the technologies of the '60s.) A couple of our tour guides attended our banquet and the marathon auction that followed the business meeting and the program. In fact, Dave Stewart of HBC participated in the competitive auction as a buyer of some of the stuff heavy load of stuff our members contributed. (Again, Wally was the keeper of the loads of auction stuff that came in before this year's convention goers brought their donations to the gathering.) Swearingen and veteran DX auctioneer Phil Bytheway of Seattle enticed higher and higher bids as John and Linda Bowker kept score. The grand finale of the auction was a donation from TM Century of a "National Radio Club" jingle on which the name of the high bidder will be sung by one of the seven-voice jingle crews. (Each cut TM Century sells to a broadcaster goes for $500, just so you know what we're talking about.) The auction brought in $707.60 for the club treasury, far more than I'd expected given the last minute problems that kept Clarke Ingram from attending! I started this message early this afternoon and fell asleep at the computer terminal, jerking awake long enough to get to a bed for a solid three-hour nap. But I put in nowhere near the intensified labor that Wally did, as our window of time in the salon where the station was set up was short. I saw early arrival David Jones lending a major hand to Wally on the equipment move-in and saw Frank Styron giving a great assist with antenna installation and equipment breakdown. I'm sure there were others who pitched in, but there were other errands I was running so I did not see them all. Without Wally Wawro`s input, his liaison with the hotel, and his connections with the broadcast industry in the Dallas-Fort Worth market, our convention this year would have been nowhere near the success feedback is telling me it was. One element future convention hosts need to understand is that a major element of the National Radio Club is another service that Fred Vobbe provides, the DX Audio Service. The monthly tapes Fred puts together provides a source of information that is professionally done and of interest to all DX'ers, but that is extremely important to many blind radio fans. DXAS members have been attending NRC conventions for more than 10 years, and they participate in all the convention activities. I was privileged to carry three blind club members plus one wife in my car as we embarked on a daylong tour Saturday that covered TM Century, the leading producer of radio station jingles; ABC-Disney, in which we were allowed in the control room as Radio Disney aired live (or at least a few seconds of open mike live); Hispanic Broadcasting's evolving studio building which houses four FM and two AM stations; and KRLD's beautiful facilities housed at the Ballpark at Arlington. Our DXAS brethren were as intensely interested and probably absorbed more of the presentations at each of the tour sites as we sighted NRC'ers. How many of us are aware that at least two of our blind DX'ers own and operate radio stations --- one in Brookneal, Virginia, and the other in Alexandria, Louisiana. I knew about Brookneal because I've met Dave Marthouse at past conventions, but wasn't aware of Mark and Lida Jones of Alexandria until this DFW convention. The observations of our DXAS clientele leads me in two directions --- first to note that it was the observant care Ernie Wesolowski takes to make certain that our blind members are able to participate fully in club activities (one of our blind members won the tough DX quiz put together by Bill Hale) --- and to note that in DX News and on our list, we sighted DX'ers find little information about the persona and personalities of these members and the importance in their lives of the DX Audio Service. It would, I think, be valuable for an occasional DX News piece to introduce these fellow members to those of us who meet them only at the conventions. WNRC gives some of our blind members an opportunity to get behind the microphone and rock. Some of the most entertaining radio that occurred during the convention came when the mike was open for Mike Lantz and Dave Marthouse. (I could not observe all the WNRC operation, so do not know if Larry Stoler got on the air this year, but he, too, did a great air job at WNRC in Lima last year.) I learned many important things about life Saturday during the tour, and the smallest part of it was all the electronic techniques that have happened in broadcasting since I left the field in 1981. I am a big fan of Fred Vobbe, in case you couldn't tell, the driving force behind WNRC, DXAS and, as we're all aware, this list. I'm also a big fan of Paul Swearingen, whose longevity as publisher of DX News is unsurpassed and getting unreachable; and of John and Linda Bowker, who can be counted on to handle the registration desk and the auction accounting, as well as record one of his DX Travelogs every convention Sunday morning. These people love this hobby and they love this club. I am a big fan of Scot Fybush, whose understanding spouse postponed the birth of their daughter for a week so he could attend the convention. He was a great spokesman for the club during a portion of the last hour of the Gary McNamara Friday night on WBAP, but McNamara missed a bet by not having the instinct to start off with Scot and open the phone lines for access to him. Last year's scheduled hour on WBZ that turned into five hours of entertaining information could have happened on WBAP if the instinct was there. Unfortunately, many talk show hosts these days are so full of themselves, their agenda must dominate. And I'm a big fan of Ernie Wesolowski, whom one member at the convention this year called "The glue that holds this club together." We recognized Ernie's behind-the-scenes value to the club by dedicating the convention's official program to him. I suppose I'm going into such detail here because I think it's important for those who would host a convention to know about these backbone people who are the infrastructure, the meat and potatoes, the framework around which a convention is built, and the tours and speakers and any other creative touches the host committee could add are the flavoring that makes their convention that much more memorable. Regarding 2005, one of the attendees at Dallas, Chris Cuomo, expressed an interest in submitting a bid for his location, Birmingham, Alabama. He had bid for Birmingham in the past but competing locations had been chosen instead. Perhaps Chris' attendance at past conventions and Les' media connections might make a good host team. This is not an endorsement, but a suggestion that could be pursued to build a bid for 2005. Note that the NRC board would prefer to make a decision that could be announced at the 2004 convention, so it's not too early to explore such concrete elements as location and costs, airline service, program (including speaker or speakers) and broadcasting related tours. Past convention attendance might not be absolutely necessary; Bill Hale and I have been to past NRC conventions, but for Wally, this was his first. The tours and program Wally arranged seem to compare favorably to past conventions, if I judge the attendees' responses accurately. I have a hunch that next year's convention in Batavia, New York, will be even better than this year's, and I predict attendance will be heavier because of the concentration of members in the northeast. Barring catastrophe, I'll be there --- and I'm certain I'll go wherever it's held in 2005. So, 2005 convention bidders, start making plans now, because the decision isn't based upon "this looks like a nice place to go, let's try it." (John Callarman, Krum, Texas, Sept 1, NRC-AM via DXLD) ### end of DXLD 3- |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||| end of DX LISTENING DIGEST SEPTEMBER 2003 ARCHIVE
