DX LISTENING DIGEST 2-111, July 11, 2002 edited by Glenn Hauser, wghauser@hotmail.com Items from DXLD may be reproduced and re-reproduced only if full credit be maintained at all stages and we be provided exchange copies. DXLD may not be reposted in its entirety without permission. Materials taken from Arctic or originating from Olle Alm and not having a commercial copyright are exempt from all restrictions of noncommercial, noncopyrighted reusage except for full credits HTML version of this issue will be posted afterwards at http://www.worldofradio.com/dxldtd02.html For restrixions and searchable 2002 contents archive see http://www.worldofradio.com/dxldmid.html NOTE: If you are a regular reader of DXLD, and a source of DX news but have not been sending it directly to us, please consider yourself obligated to do so. Thanks, Glenn WORLD OF RADIO #1139: (DOWNLOAD) http://www.k4cc.net/wor1139.rm (STREAM) http://www.k4cc.net/wor1139.ram (SUMMARY) http://www.worldofradio.com/wor1139.html (ONDEMAND) http://www.wrn.org/ondemand/worldofradio.html RFPI BROADCASTS: Sat 0130, 0730, Sun 0000, 0600, on 7445-USB, 15038.6 WWCR BROADCASTS: Sat 0500, Sun 0230 5070, 0630 3210, Mon 0000 9475 WRN BROADCASTS: Rest of world Sat 0800, North America Sun 1400 ** AFGHANISTAN [non]. 7/10/02; 15340; Radio Free Afghanistan in Dari; 1758­1830 GMT sign off, SINPO 13233; music, ID at 1800, news (references to Afghanistan and Pakistan), musical bridge, interview between two F¹s., articles read alternately by F. or M., sign off with names of staff, music. // 15210 khz. SINPO 24333. 12030 & 9845 were not detectable. Coming in well with only minimal QRN in the middle of the day in the U.S. (Mark Taylor, Madison, WI, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ALASKA. KNLS putting in a surprisingly good signal July 11 during the 1300 English hour to EAs on 11565, now completely clear of QRM. The website http://www.knls.org has a nice virtual tour of the facility, and other info, but no sign of the azimuth. Per HFCC A-02 it is 270 degrees, as listed on the original frequency of 11870. So directly off the back would be along this great circle: Bismarck -- Des Moines -- St. Louis -- not far from Nashville, not a coincidence? -- Ft. Pierce. The direct beam runs mostly over ocean, somewhat east of Tokyo and Manila. KNLS` tactic is to make the evangelization as brief and palatable as possible, with a magazine format mixing short secular features, great music from the big band era (public domain?), with pro-Christian entreaties. At 1347:30 came what we were waiting for, DX Tips for Beginners with Carl Mann, lasting about 2:30. This was something technical; the `tips` never deal with DX or station news, I think. This segment doesn`t make it to DX program listings, since its time is unpredictable with the magazine hour, altho it may appear almost every day. Earlier, a feature on English usage dealt with ``The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly``. (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** AUSTRALIA [and non]. Below is a log, reflecting my reception of ABC Northern Territory in 60 mb (30 June-3 July). Stations use three frequencies: 4835, 4910, and 5025 kHz (2130-0830). 4835. Usually is occupied by Radio Mali, but I feel Mali reduced its power recently. So, the beginning of Australian transmission can be heard at equal level. For instance, on 2 July both stations came with comparable strength for the starting 15 minutes (S=3), then Radio Mali moved on top, and at about 2200 there even a trace of Australians disappeared. // 4910 kHz. Tried again on 3 July, but broadcast was blocked by teletype on 4834 kHz. 4910. On 30 June started as scheduled, at 2130, with a sharp sign-on. News in English. SIO 353 initially, then began to fade out. By the end of the hour decreased to 252, at 2210 only traces remained. Heard a quite long ID at 2144, but could only extract some words out of it: "...ABC...Australia...Company...". Similar reception on 2 July. Worse on 3 July, S=2 at the beginning. 5025. Very hard to listen, due to heavy QRM by Radio Tashkent in English. Its broadcast at 2130-2158 comes very well, SIO 454. After 2158, utility station on 5028 kHz covers the frequency. I can hear some broadcasting on 5025, but who knows whether it is Australia or Radio Parakou, Benin. On 3 July, hear a very weak signal (SIO 251) after 2158, national anthem at 2258, s/off at 2300. I'd vote for Radio Parakou, if only it really ends its service an hour later than stated in ILGRadio (Vladimir Doroshenko, Dneprodzerzhinsk, Ukraine, Signal July 9 via DXLD) ** BAHRAIN. A number of high power transmitters are up for coordination by the ITU. Possible use by VOA, BBC, IBB, etc. Location: Isa Town, G.C: 50E28 26N09. This is in northern Bahrain, not far from Manama. 648 1000/250 kW, main lobe 0 to 120 degrees day/night 693 1000/100 kW, main lobe 240 to 0 degrees day/night 711 1000/50 kW, main lobe 110 to 240 degrees day/night The forward directivity given for all three channels is only modest. http://www.itu.int/ITU-R/terrestrial/brtpr/brific/Files/GE75_108.pdf (ARC Information Desk July 8 via editor Olle Alm, DXLD) ** BELGIUM. Sometimes we get news so far ahead of an event that it is forgotten by the time it happen. Thanks to Gayle Van Horn for reviving this one from DXLD 2-040 of March 9, 2002: The Flemish Radio Amateurs have announced a special initiative on the occasion of this year's Flemish National Day on July 11. On that day, Flanders commemorates the Battle of the Golden Spurs in 1302. This means that this year it's the 700th anniversary of the event, and it will be commemorated throughout the year by the Flemish government and a myriad of organisations. The VRA, Vlaamse Radio Amateurs, the Flemish ham association, have gained permission from the Belgian Communications Department for all Flemish ham operators to use the special OS prefix instead of the usual ON, and that's from May 18 to July 11. They are calling on amateurs worldwide, and in particular the Flemish ones abroad, to contact OS stations. On Thursday, the 11th of July there will be a special station on the air: OS4VRA, at 1400-0200 UT on 3620 kHz, from Kortrijk, scene of the battle of the Golden Spurs, seven centuries ago. There is an award for those who make a number of contacts. Details will be announced shortly. We received this information from the radio ham association VRA and will communicate further information when available (Franz Vossen, Radio World March 10 via John Norfolk, OKCOK, WORLD OF RADIO 1139, DXLD) ** BOLIVIA. Logs in DX Camp-Villa Loguercio. Villa Loguercio is a very small town, in a rural zone locate front Lobos Lake, at 116 km to south west to Buenos Aires city. [see also ECUADOR, PERU] 3390.3, Radio Emisoras Camargo, Camargo. 0046-0052 July 9. Transmission in Spanish. Commentary by speaker (female) about health. Greetings at 0050. Andean tropical music. Then, song: "Matador" by "Los Fabulosos Cadillacs" (argentine rock group) 24422. Not heard after 0100 (Arnaldo Slaen, Argentine, in DX Camp-Villa Loguercio, hard-core-dx via DXLD) ** BOLIVIA. 5952.46, Radio Pio Doce, 1036 July 11. Initially man in religious talk. This followed by ID and ads/promos at 1039. Signal was poor but audible with fine tuning. So far I am not too happy with the reception in Clewiston. Of course, there's a weather front 100 miles to the west in the Gulf of Mexico, so all of the popcorn QRN is expected to make conditions poor. I heard Radio Pio Doce this morning with clear audio which is a first for me, so I guess that's a plus of this area (Charles Bolland, KA4PRF, Clewiston FL, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** BOUGAINVILLE. CLANDESTINE to/from PAPUA NEW GUINEA In a Cumbre DX interview with Sam Voron, who has been involved with this station in the past, come the details on the reactivated radio operation first reported in the PNG press. Radio Independent Makumui (RIM), using Radio Free Bougainville's equipment, reactivated on June 12th. They made a number of broadcasts but had a bit of trouble that keep them off for a week or two prior to July 10th. RIM should be on regular now. RIM operates from the self-declared Republic of Mekamui, where Francis Ona is the President of the Mekamui National Congress (MNC). The MNC fears that the PNG elections are a way for the PNG government to reëstablish control over central Bougainville. Hence the reactivatation of the radio station and the declaration of the "No Go Zone" by the Mekamui Defense Force. Mekamui means "holy land" in the local language. RIM is using 3850 kHz AM mode with about 80 watts. It is on the air 0845-1100. 0845-0900 is music and then there are programs in English, pidgin, and vernaculars 0900-1100. RIM operates from the Panguna copper mine site in Bougainville. There has been no PNG government reaction via radio so far such as jamming or the setting up of a radio service to operate around RIM's frequency (via Hans Johnson, Cumbre DX Special July 11 via DXLD) ** BRAZIL. Re harmonics logged, DXLD 2-110: As a reply to this I'd have to mention that while R. Capital is local, the mentioned R. Cultura from Campos is from the state of Rio de Janeiro, so at least 500 km away. I'm not sure where Marialva is and haven't identified any of the other signals yet, so I couldn't tell you how far away those are. Kind regards (Rik van Riel, PR, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** BURMA [non]. Democratic Voice of Burma to SE Asia in Burmese effective July 5: 2330-0030 NF 9850 (55444) via JUL 100 kW / 080 deg, ex 9490 (Ivo and Angel! Observer, Bulgaria, July 9 via WORLD OF RADIO 1139, DXLD) ** CANADA. NEW NEWS FROM CJWI 1610 AM MONTREAL A feature article appeared today in Montreal's English language daily newspaper, The Gazette, about the new CJWI on 1610. In the article, it was confirmed that there will be no spoken language on the station other than French. I sent out a press release to all the media outlets, both French and English, in the city last week, letting them know about the station. It was odd that only one columnist chose to write up anything about it, and even more bizarre that it was in the English media, considering that there will be no English on the station! The programming will be made up of about 60% music. The music will be in different languages, but the talk will not be. Call it a case of bad timing, but after the article featuring the station appeared in this morning's paper, CJWI ran a new announcement, once, just after 4 PM Eastern this afternoon, saying that they were going off the air to make technical adjustments. They haven't been heard again since. The article includes a comment from the station's owner, Mr. Jean Ernest Pierre, that he hopes to have the station in full operation "sometime in August". So that's the latest from here. 9:40 PM Eastern and no sign of CJWI this evening. More as it happens... (Sheldon Harvey, Owner-Radio H.F., Canada's specialist in radio communications http://www.total.net/~radiohf President-Canadian International DX Club, Canada's national radio monitoring club since 1962 http://www.anarc.org/cidx/ July 9, WORLD OF RADIO 1139, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CANADA. 600, CKCL Truro, NS signed off permanently on April 27th, 2001, at 7:05am. Now on FM (The Truro Daily News, 24 April 2001, Internet via Olle Alm) 620, CKCM Regina, SK local programmes 0900-2030, v/s Richard King ckxgmusic@kixx.ca (MR) 790, CFAN Newcastle, NB has been granted a switch to FM 99.3 MHz. (CRTC 2 July 2002 via OA) 940, CJIB Vernon, BC switched to FM on 8 November 2001. (Seventy-five percent of all tuning in Canada now is to FM.) (Station website via OA) 1040, CJMS Saint-Constant, QC has been granted an increase to 10/5 kW (CRTC 22 April 2002 via OA) 1060 C... St-Nicolas, QC has applied to change to 980 kHz (CRTC via OA) 1430, CHKT Toronto ON: QSL letter received after 511 days, for mint stamp. Verie signer Frederick Cheung, Operation Manager, writes: "Greetings, I just join the Fairchild Radio (Toronto) Ltd. a few months ago, and I found your letter sent to us on January 21, 2001 when I went through the old files. It seems that is not replied yet. I know that our former Operation Manager had very busy schedules in the previous years, so he might overlook your letter. If that is the case, please accept my sincere apologies for the long delay. Please find attached with a letter of verification and a copy of the International Language Program Schedule". (Martin A. Hall via MWC e-mail news 18.6.2002) 1490 CKEN Kentville, NS has been granted a switch to FM 94.9 MHz. (CRTC 2 July 2002 via OA) (All: Arctic Radio Club North American News Desk July 8 via editor Olle Alm, HÄRNÖSAND, Sweden, DXLD) ** CHINA. [SWL] Anybody hearing these Chinese stations broadcasting continuous music? I have been noticing some signals broadcasting continuous traditional Chinese music with excellent modulation and quite good strength. I have cited references to these stations being a form of jamming but I cannot hear anything co-channel or adjacent. There may be some cross- modulation from another sender at the same site. Here are the log entries: 13775, 2240 July 8, Continuous traditional music including one which forms part of CRI's sign/off tune. SINPO 45544. 9355, 2150 July 9, Continuous Chinese music with plenty of gongs and cymbals. At 2200 music briefly stops then resumes but sig level is slightly down indicative of perhaps change in beam heading. SINPO 54434 Note: there were no announcements or identification given. Anybody know the possible site(s)? (Robin L. Harwood, Norwood, Tasmania, swl via DXLD) ** CHINA. CHINA ANTI-CULT ASSOCIATION DENOUNCES FALUN GONG SATELLITE "HIJACKING" | Text of report in English by official Chinese news agency Xinhua (New China News Agency) Beijing, 9 July: The China Anti-Cult Association ( CACA) Tuesday [9 July] denounced the hijack of Sino Satellite (Sinosat) by overseas members of the Falun Gong cult. Manipulated by cult ringleader Li Hongzhi, Falun Gong illegally launched radio signals to jam Sinosat's transmission, thus violating international laws and basic rules of civil telecommunications, the CACA said in a statement. Its latest offences had jeopardized public safety and infringed the people's legal rights and interests, and once again exposed the anti- humanity, anti-science and anti-society nature of the Falun Gong cult, the association declared. Moreover, the evil cult had added to its list of crimes by hijacking the satellite, breaching the drive for peace and development both in China and the world at large, CACA noted. The association urged the international community to condemn the offence and launch joint measures to curb further incursions by the Falun Gong cult. CACA had been engaged in combating the cult ever since it was founded, CACA said. The hijack staged by Falun Gong groups abroad indicated that the complex and fierce struggle against the evil cult will last for a long time, it said. The association said that it was firmly resolved to unite people from all walks of life to deal hard blows at the cult and finally eliminate it, and to safeguard social stability, as well as the safety of the people's lives, property and interests. Source: Xinhua news agency, Beijing, in English 1503 gmt 9 Jul 02 (via BBCM via WORLD OF RADIO 1139, DXLD) ** CHINA. 603, Dongfang HAN ?200 kW, relays Voice of Russia in Vietnamese 1200-1255 (same transmitter broadcasts on 684 kHz 1300- 1700) 684, Dongfang HAN also relays Radio France Internationale in French 1300-1400 1116, HAN -- an additional transmitter carries Hainan PBS, parallel 954 and 1107 kHz (possible location: Dongfang) 1296, Kunming YUN also relays Radio France Internationale in Vietnamese and French 1500-1700 (Alan Davies, Indonesia, 26.6.2002, ARC Information Desk July 8 via editor Olle Alm, DXLD) Hainan, Yunnan ** COLOMBIA. According to information received from the station, La Voz de tu Conciencia, from Lomalinda, Meta, expects to be back on the air this weekend or next week on the new frequency of 6060 kHz. Reports are wanted and will be acknowledged by a QSL card. See previous DXLD for address information (Henrik Klemetz, Sweden, July 9, WORLD OF RADIO 1139, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CONGO DR. RADIO OKAPI CONTINUES TO EXPAND Radio Okapi, the radio network operated by UN Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, went on the air in the city of Gbadolite on 10 July. It becomes the eighth city to have a local relay of Radio Okapi, the others being Kinshasa, Kisangani, Goma, Kalemie, Kananga, Mbandaka and Kindu. Transmitters are also projected for Lubumbashi, Mbuji Mayi, Beni and Butembo. David Smith, Chief of Information to the UN Mission, tells Media Network that Radio Okapi, which launched on 25 February, is the biggest radio network in UN peacekeeping history. In addition to FM relays in the major cities, a shortwave transmitter site is under construction in Kinshasa. The station, which will have three 10 kW Marconi transmitters, is due to go on the air in early September. In the meantime, Radio Okapi is already operating on shortwave using three 100 watt transmitters. According to the station's Web site, the frequencies currently used are 6030, 9550 and 10690 kHz (© Radio Netherlands Media Network 11 July 2002 via DXLD) Site http://www.monuc.org/radio/ has audio on demand, but my WMP says `no combination of filters could be found to render the stream`` of some recent French bulletins clicked upon. However, I got `en direct avec le porte-parole` to play, but at half speed, or less... Yes, 10690 is sic --- DXers will be zeroing in on that one, but 6030 is a lost cause; however, those who have heard presumed Okapi on 9550 overriding Habana at times would dispute the 100-watt rating! (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CROATIA. A-02 for Croatian Radio HS-1 on short waves via Deanovec: 0400-2200 6165 100 kW / non-dir 0400-0900 7365 010 kW / non-dir 0400-1700 9830 100 kW / non-dir 0900-2200 13830 100 kW / 305 deg (Ivo and Angel! Observer, Bulgaria, July 9 via DXLD) ** CZECH REPUBLIC. These transmissions [RFE Czech via CRo 6] have already stopped, leaving the frequencies (1071, 1287 and 1233) open rather early in the evening (Bengt Ericson, ARC, 8.7.2000, Information Desk via editor Olle Alm, DXLD) ** DEUTSCHES REICH. SW PROPAGANDA OF THE THIRD REICH A Chicago-based company International Historic Films offers a CD titled Shortwave Propaganda Broadcasts of the Third Reich. The CD features six tracks: 1. GERMAN AMERICAN BUND RALLY, Feb.20,1939. Portions of an evening- long Washington's Birthday rally at Madison Square Garden, New York. Recorded in New York by WOR-Mutual, but not broadcast. 11:00 2. PAUL REVERE, Sept. 9, 1941. Radio propaganda broadcast from Berlin by Douglas Chandler, whose radio pseudonym was Paul Revere. 6:45 3. ROBERT BEST, Sept. 9, 1942. A vicious hate speech from Berlin as this American (from South Carolina) campaigns for Congress (and every other office) in absentia from Nazi Germany. Recorded in Germany. 4:45 4. AXIS SALLY, May 18,1943. Reichsrundfunk Overseas Service in English, Midge at the Mike with Mildred Gillars (known by American G.I's as Axis Sally). 14:54 5. STATION D.E.B.U.N.K, April 29, 1942. German Propaganda shortwave station (in English)-Frequency Marker and Sign-on-music. Recorded in Germany. 1:57 6. LORD HAW HAW, April 30, 1945. William Joyce's last broadcast over crumbling German radio facilities (by transcription) while severely under the influence of alcohol. 10:00 Total Running Time 50 minutes. Price: 14.95 + 5.00 s&h Orders can be made at: http://www.ihffilm.com/cd11038.html (via Sergei Sosedkin - I am not associated with the company and I have not heard the CD/, DXLD) see also GERMANY ** ECUADOR. 3289.9, Radio Centro, Ambato. 1040-1046 July 9. Transmission in Spanish. Messages and local ads: "...somos distribuidores exclusivos en la zona..."; "...para erradicar esta terrible enfermedad (aftosa) ya es ley... es un mensaje de la Asociación de Ganaderos del Ecuador"; "...es la única cooperativa... venga a... la cooperativa de mayor crecimiento regional, frente al Mercado San Juan, en Ambato". Time check: "las 5 horas con cuarenta y cuatro en el territorio ecuatoriano". 33422 (Arnaldo Slaen, Argentine, in DX Camp-Villa Loguercio, hard-core-dx via DXLD) ** ETHIOPIA [non]. 12110, Radio Sagalee Oromia noted July 8th *1730- 1800* with mix of commentaries and Horn of Africa music. Had been reported inactive. However Netsanet Le Ethiopia which was 1700-1800 Weds and Sun on 12110 was not audible July 10th (Mike Barraclough, Letchworth, UK, WORLD OF RADIO 1139, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** FINLAND. Hi folks, Following interesting Scandinavian Weekend Radio-programme will be aired 3rd of August 09:00-11:00 AM UT... 6170 and 11690 (9-10)/ 11720 kHz (10-11). Alpo Heinonen, SWR The History of Finnish Radio: Radio Meteor. DJ Tex Willer presents the history of legendary Finnish Free Radio Radio Meteor. Stories, audioclips, etc. DJ and operator Rick Random will give us a live interview by telephone. You can take part in the show by sending your Radio Meteor -questions and memories beforehand to tex.willer@swradio.ne (Alpo Heinonen, July 11, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** GERMANY [and non]. MARITIME RADIO TELEGRAPHY WORLD WIDE NEWS From http://www.seefunker.de/sfk/CD-E.htm "Maritime radio telegraphy world wide news" is the title of a CD-album of the former German radio officer Sylvester Foecking DH4PB and contains aproximately 2 hours of different Wireless Telegraphy. He has composed this CD from collected information of the "Nautical high school Bremen" and from private sources. The CD starts with a short introduction of the 100 year old history of the Maritime radio telegraphy. It continues with telegraphic news from coast stations all over the world. You´ll find famous names like Norddeich Radio, Scheveningen Radio, Land´s End Radio, Halifax Radio, Washington Radio and Sydney Radio, just to mention a few. You´ll hear from near SOS-, distress and security-messages, iceberg-warning, weather forecast and press release and you´ll see how Maritime radio telegraphy was done in practice. From what you hear you may guess what kind of ability was necessary for a radio operator and what a sensitive ear was needed to select the right information. Today most of the coast stations do not sent messages anymore, at least not with this old method. Today communication via satellite has replaced everything else. Therefore the highlights of the CD are surely the farewell messages of some of the famous coast stations. With only some "CQ" and deeply impressive words in morse they said goodbye for ever. This may induce sadness, mainly when the Maritime radio telegraphy was part of your professional life. On the sea and on the shore the radio operators always did their duty. Today this profession has vanished and the communication duties had been taken over from the nautical officers. With his private initiative Sylvester Foecking has saved a part of the history of world-wide telegraphic news. The double CD with registrations from the 70ies and 80ies from all over the world are not only of interest for former radio operators but for all those that feel somehow attached to CW. One could also recommend the homepage of the editor http://www.seefunker.de "Küstenfunkstellen und ihre Rufzeichen/ Coast-stations and their call signs". See also "international" There you can hear coast stations with their original CQ-loops, so that you may already find some interest for this album. Order: Sylvester Foecking, Wormser Strasse 16, D 55276 Oppenheim. email foecking@main-rheiner.de The cost of the double CD is in Europe [unit symbol unknown] 13,00 incl. Postage and handling. We donate 2.50 to "Seefunkkameradschaft Bremen" "Society of Radio Officers Bremen" CD in USA/oversea $13 (all incl). Payment: pse ask. pse no advance payment. Delivery time ca. 14 Days. There is a German or English edition (cover and introduction) (via Mike Terry, DXLD) See also DEUTSCHES REICH ** GUAM [and non]. K57 webcast during Bohannon, July 10 at 1314 had a constant heterodyne, more like 1 kHz than 3 from nominal 567, fading and other QRM --- sure sounds like an offair pickup beyond local range. Is there something in NW Pacific/E Asia on 566 or 568? This of course is in the middle of the local night when skywave is at peak. But you`d think KGUM could cover small Guam itself with no problems; and pickup from some other island or mainland would not be reliable. WROW 590, Albany NY, confirmed with live webcast of Jim Bohannon, UT Wed July 10 from 0207, via the roundabout yahoo broadcast.com link. When I hear a recommendable guest or topic at 0207, 0307 or 0407 I`ll quickly post a MONITORING REMINDER, also for the K57 replay time, in case it funxion (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** INDIA. As mentioned earlier, AIR Home Service has started a daytime National Channel on SW. It is a relay of AIR Delhi FM II programming on 9425 via Bangalore. Programs are in Hindi and English. More details later. ===== 73 (Jose Jacob, VU2JOS, Somajiguda, Hyderabad, July 9, dx_india via DXLD) The new daytime National Service of AIR heard with relay of Delhi AIR FM II as follows today 10th July, 2002 on 9425. Around 0130-0530 UT (7.00 to 11 am IST); Around 0930-1230 UT (3.00 to 6.00 pm IST) More details later ===== 73 (Jose Jacob, July 10, ibid.) AIR FM II relay noted sign on at 0129 UT on 9425. Breakfast News in English at 0300 (Jose Jacob, July 10, ibid.) Effective July 1, All India Radio started transmissions in new language, Kannada to ME: 0215-0300 on 11985 and 15075, both via 500 kW tx in Bangalore (Ivo and Angel! Observer, Bulgaria, July 9 via DXLD) ** INDONESIA. PUBLIC RADIO NETWORK RRI TO BROADCAST ON INTERNET | Excerpt from report by Indonesian radio on 9 July [Presenter] In dealing with the current competitive environment of the information technology sector, RRI [Indonesian public radio network] has carried out some restructuring, said RRI Managing Director Suryanta Saleh in Banjarmasin as reported by Fauzi Husein. [Correspondent] RRI managing director, Suryanta Saleh himself attended the handover from incumbent Sazli Rais to Rahman Hakim. Speaking to journalists, Suryanta said that in dealing with the current competitive environment, RRI had carried out some restructuring including the use of sophisticated information technology systems such as satellite and Internet. These changes will mean that RRI programmes can be accessed immediately from all parts of the world. [Suryanta Saleh] What should be observed is the competition within the media sector, between RRI, private radio stations and other electronic media. Secondly, progress within the broadcast media sector. We know that RRI and TVRI [state-owned television network] are not the only media from which people obtain information and entertainment. Therefore, our efforts should be focused on, as I mentioned earlier, how RRI should carry out media convergence. Then people will be able to access our information direct using the Internet. Currently, RRI not only uses both AM and FM terrestrial transmitters, but it can also be accessed through the Worldspace satellite anywhere in the nine ASEAN countries... Source: Radio Republik Indonesia, Jakarta, in Indonesian 0700 gmt 9 Jul 02 (via BBCM via DXLD) ** INDONESIA. 3231.87, RRI Bukittinggi (presumed) June 27 2108-0021 in Indonesian, poor because of weak signal. Jakarta news relay until 2135, then YL announcer and music. Jakarta news relay at 2159-2212 again. Reactivated (Takasaki, JAPAN via Yokohama-DX...) 3231.88, unID RRI. 1254 June 29 Arabic style music then talk in Indonesian. 1159 RPK, News from Jakarta. Weak signal. Presumed RRI Bukittinggi. Thanks Tip from Takasaki (Nobuo Takeno, JAPAN...) 3231.89, RRI Bukittinggi. 1140-1335 June 28, active again since March 2001, moderate (Roland Schulze, Philippines, via BC-DX...) 3976.1, RRI Pontianak. 1250 June 29, Music and talk by man. ID at 1251 with echo. Good (Nobuo Takeno, JAPAN...) 4000.2, RRI Kendari. IS at 1159 July 10, then local news. The signal was weak under Nei Menggu PBS on 4000 kHz but best time to hear in Japan (Juichi Yamada, JAPAN...) SCI: the Song of the Coconut Islands. RPK: Rayuan Pulau Kelapa. Same as above. 4606.4, RRI Serui. 1130 July 10, local pops, ID at 1159 then into Jakarta news relay without RPK in advance. From 1233 local pops program. At 1302 suddenly changed to Jakarta news relay. Thanks information of this reactivation for Don Nelson (Juichi Yamada, JAPAN; all: Jembatan DX via DXLD) ** INDONESIA. Expecting to hear ELWA on 4760, but at 2100 UT July 11 an RRI ID, and s/off 2119*. What is this? (Chris Hambly, Victoria, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** IRAN [non]. 13470V, V. of Mojahed, July 3 1447-1507, 33443 Farsi, Talk and local music. Shifted frequency 13400, 13460 (Kouji Hashimoto, Japan Premium via DXLD) ** IRAQ. Re DXLD 2-110: What I assume is Iraq is also "heard" on 11787, but I can only hear what Christopher reports too. I have received this report from DSWCI member Ray Merrall: I have turned up some puzzling noises on 9754.6v circa 1400 thru to a fade out c1545 almost every day for over two weeks now. Although extremely weak, there is definite Holy Qur`an chanting and, c1500 I hear a TS which is almost certainly from CNR-2 - but any Chinese programming is even weaker than the HQ transmission. This HQ transmission (was) reported back in mid-June, and at that time I thought it might be ERTU, Egypt; I have a feeling it could well be Baghdad at that time of day (1400 to 1545). The unID reported on v9755 at c0040 has not been heard again. This "signal" is also audible at my location but unidentifiable and, if Iraq and not Egypt, will not offer Christopher any better reception. There were transmissions loudly audible from Iraq last year (?) on various 9 MHz channels - 9755 was one of them - but nothing has been heard recently (via Noel Green, UK, July 11, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ISRAEL. Here's the link to a piece from Thursday's Jerusalem Post re controversy over when daylight shifting time should end. You'll note the crazy proposition by the Justice Minister that daylight time should be suspended for a few days at the High Holidays. Jul. 10, 2002 SHEETRIT SOLUTION: 'YOM KIPPUR TIME' By NINA GILBERT AND NOAH SARNA Justice Minister Meir Sheetrit is proposing a compromise to the controversy over ending daylight saving time earlier than scheduled this year by suggesting that clocks be set back for only 48 hours for Yom Kippur. Sheetrit made his proposal yesterday after the Knesset narrowly approved the preliminary reading of a Shas-sponsored bill that would end daylight saving time on September 13 instead of October 7. Sheetrit said he does not believe there would be any legal or logistical problems with his "Yom Kippur time" idea. Moreover, he said it would be implemented only this year.... http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=JPost/A/JPArticle/Full&cid=1025787758186 73- (Bill Westenhaver, DXLD) ** ITALY. Millions of pirate viewers tapping in illegally to Italy's largest pay-television service may be suffering from shock -- and one unrelated to the country's dramatic exit from the World Cup. Pay-TV service Telepiù, which has an estimated two million illicit viewers, has carried out the electronic equivalent of changing the locks in a bid to wipe out endemic piracy in what has become almost a national sport. Until July 1, Telepiù had more pirate viewers than paying clients, a headache for Rupert Murdoch, whose News Corp Ltd wants to form Italy's sole pay-television operator. At least 3.5 percent of the Italian population were previously tuning in illegally to watch films, soccer and re-runs of "Charlie's Angels" on Telepiù, according to estimates by research groups. Surreptitious viewing was probably even more widespread, informed sources say, as many subscribers paid for the basic Telepiù service but used illegal means to access all channels. To combat piracy, Telepiù decided that on a day in June -- previously labelled "day X" -- it would switch off its old decoder system and activate a new, more secure one, locking out the illicit viewers. That day was June 24. Out of an estimated 5.1 million satellite dishes nationwide, Italy's two pay-TV channels have between them nearly 2.35 million subscribers -- of whom 1.55 million are signed up to Telepiù and 800,000 to rival Stream. A further 500,000 satellite dishes are estimated to be used to tune in to free-to-air programmes from other countries -- for example, northern Italy can receive German TV -- leaving around two million illegal viewers, almost all watching Telepiù. According to research by Italmedia Consulting, the number of pirate households prior to the switch-off was equivalent to 136 percent of those paying, at a minimum, or, at most, 164 percent. By contrast Stream, co-owned by Murdoch and Telecom Italia, says it has never been hacked. Stream uses NDS technology which is identical to that used by Britain's BSkyB, owned by News Corp. and a rare example of a profitable European pay-TV operator. Telepiù also changed from the SECA system, dating from 1996, to Mediaguard technology. News Corp. recently agreed a preliminary deal to buy Telepiù and merge it with Stream in a plan to dominate Italian pay-TV. A clamp-down on piracy would help Murdoch, who plans to take 50 percent of the new monopoly, to generate profits. He is still searching for partners for the other 50 percent. Telepiu said the new Mediaguard system, which is already present in Poland, Spain and France, will thwart pirates (Reuters via SCDX, also via Mike Terry, DXLD) ** JORDAN. Spurious signals of Radio Jordan in Arabic: 1700-2000 on 10000 and 9660 or +/- 170 kHz from fundamental 9830 (Ivo and Angel! Observer, Bulgaria, July 9 via DXLD) ** KASHMIR. 990: According to ITU coordination details, AIR wants to increase from current 300/50 kW to 300/100 kW. http://www.itu.int/ITU-R/terrestrial/brtpr/brific/Files/GE75_108.pdf (ARC Information Desk July 8 via editor Olle Alm, DXLD) Presumably meaning day/night powers respectively (gh, DXLD) ** KOREA SOUTH. Re DXLD 2-109: The Radio Korea International changes took place at the start of the A02 season. The European evening broadcast from Skelton is at 2100-2130 on 3955, not 2130-2200; checked it July 9th (Mike Barraclough, Letchworth, UK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** LATVIA/USA. RFE/RL HEAD SAYS RIGA SUITABLE HOME FOR US RADIO | Text of report in English by Baltic news agency BNS Riga, 8 July: Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL) president Tom Dine on his visit to Latvia last weekend said the public Latvian Television (LTV) headquarters in Riga was one of the most realistic options for a new home to the radio, LTV news programme Panorama reported Sunday [7 July] evening. Dine, who was in Riga for the summit of NATO candidate states, also visited the LTV multi-storey building which has plenty of vacant space. His first impression was that both the location and area were suitable for accommodation of the RFE/RL staff of 650 people. He also agreed that Latvia would benefit greatly if the RFE/RL would move to Riga. "Imagine that Riga would have professional journalists of at least 60 different nationalities, who are analysts and experts in various international subjects. Secondly, every year we pay into the Czech State Treasury 41m US dollars in salaries as well as bills," said Dine. Latvian Prime Minister Andris Berzins also supports the proposal to move the radio to Riga but the Latvian government would not pay the moving expenses, something which the Czech government has also refused to do so far, reported the LTV. "If the Radio Free Europe management makes the decision [to move to Riga], we will start talks with them... I do not think we would pay any moving costs from the state budget," the Latvian premier said in the interview to Panorama. According to the television news programme, RFE/RL supervisory council will meet in two weeks to decide on a new home for the radio. So far no more than three options have been proposed. The offer to move RFE/RL to Riga was made by the Latvian premier this May after it was suggested to him by the public Latvian Television (LTV) head Uldis Grava, who had previously worked RFE/RL. Berzins said the move would boost Latvia's prestige and economy and also help the public television to fill its currently "underpopulated" 20-storey building in Riga. After 11 September terrorist attacks on the US last year, the Czech government announced it cannot guarantee safety of RFE/RL in its current premises in Prague centre therefore the radio had to start looking for a new home. Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty was founded by the US congress, broadcasting in Central and Eastern Europe, the Caucasus, Central Asia and the Middle East. The radio reaches an audience of 35 million listeners, broadcasting news and analytical shows every day. Source: BNS news agency, Tallinn, in English 0644 gmt 8 Jul 02 (via BBCM via WORLD OF RADIO 1139, DXLD) ** LUXEMBOURG [and non]. 6090 is being heard today - July 10 - at 0640 tune in. The signal is very strong, peaking at 20dB over 9 but with constant fading and distortion - DW 6075 is much the same as this. Some side splash from BR 6085 is also audible from time to time, depending upon bandwidth used. Announcements are for RTL Radio in German - oldies programme which 1440 MW used to broadcast. Propagation once again appears to be disturbed today, which may account for some of the fading being noted. But, overall, the signal is much as I remember it pre-1994. So that's where "our" summer has gone - on holiday to Germany! The temperature is struggling to reach 20C here with cloudy skies and rain showers. Best 73's (Noel Green, UK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 6090 was already on when first checked at 0555. Right now (0700) the signal is here at Dresden not really satisfying, noticeably weaker than München 6085 and Wertachtal 6075. So much for the moment. [Later, 1034 UT?] Still a similar situation here at Dresden: Some peaks but mostly quite poor signal (poor in regard of a nominal output of 500 kW), indeed the signal strength is similar to Mühlacker 6030. Yes, the audio is not perfect, a dynamic compression is evidently in use but the whole thing sounds "smeary" without presence. But this needs some further listening later at home (Kai Ludwig, Germany, July 10, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Yes, I checked the Luxembourg frequency 6090 at 0710 UT too. Poor signal from LUX, like our local 20 kW SWR Muehlacker 6030 station, the modulation 'smells' like it is muffled. Here is the ranking for the 0700 UT time slot: [sorted by signal strength at Stuttgart-GER] 5955 Flevo HOL S=9 +60 dB 6075 DW WER S=9 +60 dB 6085 BR Munich S=9 +60 dB ++Powerhouse ! 5975 Voice of Hope, DTK Juelich S=9 +20 dB 6045 TWR DTK Juelich S=9 +20 dB 6140 DW DTK Juelich S=9 +20 dB 6005 DLR Berlin Britz S=9 +10 dB 5985 RVI, DTK Juelich S=9 6155 ORF Vienna S=9 6030 SWR Muehlacker S=8-9 6090 LUX S=8-9, no OPTIMOD, poor modulation from 0740 increasing to S=9 in peaks 6190 DLF Berlin Britz S=8 6165 Croatia S=6-8 deep fading 6025 HNG, S=5 6120 FIN S=4 73 wb df5sx (Wolfgang Büschel, Stuttgart, July 10, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 6090; BCE-test via RTL-facilities; German language; 0616 Oldies f. e. Beach Boys; TA and ID "RTL Radio", 0621 Yesterday's news (Start of TELSTAR 1 a.o.), Arlo and Woody Guthrie ment., 0624 Song by Nancy Sinatra "These boots are made for walking"; SINPO 33443; better to copy in LSB-mode because of very strong QRM from 6085 kHz (BR 2). 55 and 73 de Klaus/DL 3 EAY and DE 2 JLS. Logging(s) from Klaus Elsebusch, Im Isselgrund 17, 46499 Marienthal, Germany. DL 3 EAY and DE 2 JLS, DSWCI-No. 3385; KWFR-No. 1005; Coordinates: Lat. 51.73 N, Long. 06.74 E Transceiver: ICOM IC 751 A Receiver: LOWE HF 150 mod. and GRUNDIG Satellit 700 Antennae: 20 m Longwire, indoor, Azimut 0 deg., 15 m Longwire, indoor, Azimut 180 deg., Loop-Antennas AMA 3 D and 11, outdoor. Accessoires: YAESU FRT 7700 (Elsebuch, hard-core-dx via DXLD) Radio Luxemburgo, 6090 khz: no escuchada ninguna señal hoy por la madrugada a 0600+ al menos, aquí en Buenos Aires. Solamente, débil señal de Rádio Bandeirantes sobre la misma frecuencia. Mucho ruido y nada de DX. 73's GIB (Gabriel Iván Barrera, Argentina, Conexión Digital via DXLD) I preferred to sleep at 0600; that`s well after sunrise in Luxembourg, and would not expect much multi-hop nightpath propagation to ensue. Besides, there`s DGS co-channel (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) I tried to get something after 0600 UT here in Toronto but I had extremely strong signal on 6090 from one of those religious stations (Piotr Balcerzak, ODXA via DXLD) Tried to listen to the special test from Luxemborg On July 10 with no luck. I set the alarm for 0600 UT (0200 local time) and as expected the frequency was totally blocked by religious programming. Tried again at 1000 UT and 6090 was still blocked. Tried at 1100 to find a very weak signal on 6090 but presumed WSHB in French on 6095 made it impossible to hear 6090 AM made. Tried 6090 in USB with no luck as it was quite weak. I sure hope they try again in the future, possibly on a clear frequency (Lee Silvi, Mentor, Ohio, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Yo tampoco pude captar Luxemburgo. Intenté sobre las 07 UT y hacia las 0830 ya con menos espectativas. Lo que llegaba a esta última hora era University Network, desde The Valley, Estados Unidos, con una interminable predica en los 6090. Saludos (Arnaldo Slaen, Conexión Digital via DXLD) Gracias por cedernos la isla británica de Anguilla (gh, EE UU) Chris Hambly from Melbourne heard 6090 at 0700 over Anguilla, 0900 Anguilla, and Luxembourg gone... bugger I was working... but got QSL... but well tough... (Johno Wright, ARDXC via DXLD) De haber algo, será con potencia reducidísima, ya que no escucho a las 1700 UT sino una emisora en un idioma parecido a farsi (dirigida la emisión pues hacia Irán o Afganistán). Escucho las emisoras alemanas en 6085 y 6075 sin mayor problema. Hace media horita había algo casi imperceptible, en alemán, debajo de la emisora mencionada. De ser Luxemburgo, no serían 500 kW, sino 5, o incluso menos. Estoy en el norte de Suecia. [Luego:] Faltando unos 10 minutos para las 18 horas UT, se produjo el fade-in en mi localidad nor-escandinava de la "RTL-Radio", en alemán, en los 6090, aunque siempre muy interferida por la emisora, no sé si la VOA, que emite en idiomas farsi, dari y pashtún, al parecer para Afghanistán. La señal no corresponde a la de un transmisor de 500 kW. Talvez sea más fácil la sintonía en cuanto se depeje un poco la frecuencia (Henrik Klemetz, Conexión Digital via DXLD) Listening now (6.25 pm UK time), it`s relaying RTL Oldies. It`s a strong transmitter. Stong signal, slight interference. 73s (Mike Terry, Bournemouth UK, July 10, ODXA via DXLD) Well, the Luxembourg test gave excellent reception conditions here in Europe till about 1115 UT when the signal started going weak. There was no sign of the Bayerischer Rundfunk who is usually on 6085. Strange. Anyone have suggestions? Best Wishes and God Bless 73 (Christopher Lewis, UK, ARDXC via DXLD) We're listening to it from several locations in Europe via our RMS network. Unfortunately, the signal is mostly buried by 'splash' from BR on 6085. Here's a RealAudio sample from Antwerp from less than an hour ago: http://europe.ibb.his.com/RMSPlayer/cgi-bin/PlayerCGI.acgi?brd=RTL&loc=ANTW&lng=TEST&frq=6090&day=&btm=1600&etm=1630&sound_da=yes [couldn`t get it even after fixing broken link --- gh] Shameless plug: See http://monitor.ibb.gov/rms for more info on IBB's RMS network. bw (Bill Whitacre, DC, IBB, swprograms via DXLD) Coming in with strong signal here in UK as I type (at 1730 UT) - playing "oldies" music (such as "Tragedy", "In the Year 2525" and the Beach Boys with "California Girls" playing right now ...) (Alan Roe, Teddington, UK, ibid.) As it is [splashed] in downtown London where we have a RMS. Unfortunately, the further east you go, the worse the BR 'splash' from 6085 gets -- this includes samples I've listened to from Antwerp, Vienna, Malmö, Helsinki, Belgrade, Skopje, Zagreb, Sofia and Bucharest. Now if I can hear it at home tonight playing music from the 60's/70's, I'll be transported back about 30 years when I used to listen to it nightly! Trouble is, I'll start tuning up to 6205 in hopes of hearing RNI too! ;-) bw (Whitacre, ibid.) RTL's shortwave test transmission on 6090 kHz was heard with fair reception quality in Central Portugal on 10th July between UT 1702- 1734. SINFO rating 34433; only slight interference from Bayerischer Rundfunk 6085. Good readability of signal. Receiver used: old Grundig Satellit 3400 Professional (location: basement). Antenna: 15 metre vertical wire climbing the external wall of a block of flats. I wonder how was the reception for example in Finland (Mika Palo, Tomar, Portugal, DXing.info via DXLD) I listened spasmodically from 1300 to 1700 UT and continuously from 1715 to close at 2104. Reception was variable in the earlier slot, mostly slight to moderate Strength. from 1715 your signal slowly became stronger, as unfortunately did adjacent channel 6085 ARD-Munich. Your Peak Strength was at about 1800-1830; however you remained stronger than during the day, up to the last 15 minutes or so, (2050) when you began to be affected by 'Residual' Coronal Hole Effects (From the Sun) http://www.spaceweather.com Yes, certainly there is a problem with 6085; I don`t think this transmitter was the full 100 kW it now is when you were regularly using 6090 prior to 1994. Certainly 'nostalgic' to hear you again on Short Wave. 73 (Ken Fletcher, Prenton, BIRKENHEAD, Merseyside UK (Near LIVERPOOL) 10th July 2002, report to Lux via BDXC-UK via DXLD) Glenn, Further to recent postings RTL's "Oldiesender" is putting a strong signal on 6.090 AM into Cornwall (far SW England). Unfortunately there is very severe splatter from 6.085. I rate it 42433 - time is 20:17u on the 10th July. It's great to hear it back - I have missed the Oldiesender since it was replaced on 1.440 by Radio Peking (Nicholas Mead, July 10, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Here is a quick reply to my reception report tonight. I can still hear a good signal but more fade and QRM now. Dear Mike, Thank you very much for your valuable contribution in this test. QSL will be sent to you by RTL Radio http://www.rtlradio.de Future will be the evaluation of digital service DRM http://www.drm.org on shortwave. Next tests will be driven soon, but no exact schedule is made up to now. Kind regards Eugène Muller, Broadcasting Center Europe S.A, an RTL Group company Tel:+352 42142 7703 Fax. +352 42142 7709 email: eugene_muller@bce.lu http: //www.bce.lu (via Mike Terry, UK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** MONACO [and non, FRANCE]. Hi Glenn, zoom this site: http://www.cyber-monaco.mc/cyber/flash/monaco.htm but I think also, such log-periodic antennas of 3AC could never work on Monte Carlo downtown harbour site. See BELOW a copy of the contact mail with the most well known expert Thierry Vignaud, who established many websites on the RFI, RMC transmitter sites, longwave, shortwave Allouis and Issoudun sites, R Andorra, etc. See his well known website: http://www.emetteurs.fr.fm 73 de wb df5sx Re: Subject: 3AC - Monaco Radio, Inside Monaco soil??? please help A 17:43 09/07/2002, vous avez écrit : Bonjour dear Thierry, may you can help me: ? where is the exact location of the txs and antennas of 3AC / 3AF maritime station? Is that location on the mountains above Monte Carlo like Fontbonne Mont Angel, etc., where the RMC and TWR facilities are seen. Or is the tx center in south west Monte Carlo near the Harbour/beach of Quartier de Fontvieille??? Technique : Direction Générale : Gildo Pastor Center, 7 rue du Gabian, Quartier de Fontvieille Hi, Sorry but I don't know. I have founded a website : http://www.monaco-radio.com/ Perhaps that you get more information directly from them at monaco-radio@monaco-telecom.mc Q. Is your website http://home.worldnet.fr/~tvignaud/am/e1/fr-e1.htm not working anymore ??? My former provider Worldnet has closed down the first of June and now you can see my website at http://www.emetteurs.fr.fm ``One must ask, is the tx site for this one really inside Monaco? (gh, DXLD)`` I don't think that it was possible to put a SW station in Monaco; it's a very very small territory. All the broadcast and TV transmitters are located on the French territory due to a special law dated from 1945. Best regards, Thierry VIGNAUD - Boulogne-Billancourt (France) http://www.emetteurs.fr.fm (via Wolfgang Bueschel, DXLD) ** MONGOLIA. Pessoal, Recebi uma carta da Voice of Mongolia, seção japonesa, confirmando a minha recepção do dia 07/03/2002. Além da confirmação, recebi um outro texto, escrito em japonês, que traz a foto de um antílope no alto da página e no verso várias outras fotos de outros animais. Porém, o que mais me surpreendeu foi que veio um osso junto com as cartas. Alguém saberia me explicar o siginificado desse osso? Suponho que seja do antílope que citei, mas não tenho certeza. 73's a todos, (Marco Antonio Archanjo, Brasil, July 10, radioescutas via WORLD OF RADIO 1139, DXLD) This may be a first. VOM enclosed a *bone* with his QSL (gh, DXLD) ** NEW ZEALAND. Frequency change on the latest RNZI website. 1106-1305 (ex-9515) 9850 325 degrees Daily. To W Pacific, Bougainville, East Timor, Asia. Note frequency change from Friday 12 July. 73 de Wolfgang df5sx (Büschel, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Adrian Sainsbury of Radio New Zealand International advises that as of Friday, July 12, the station will replace 9515 with 9850 kHz between 1105 and 1305 UT. The change is prompted by attempts to get a better signal into Asia (John Figliozzi, July 10, DX LISTENING DIGEST) And should be better in NAm, out from under Sackville (gh, WORLD OF RADIO 1139, DXLD) ** NICARAGUA. 690, YNRH Radio Hermanos, address: de Banexpo ½ cuadra al este, Matagalpa. DG: Mons. Leopoldo José Brenes. Slogan: "Radio Hermanos - Voz y Sentir de la Diocesis de Matagalpa" stn 820, YNOL Radio Ondas de Luz, address Barrio Largaespada, Managua. Tel/fax +505 222 2250. Slogan: "La Misionera del Aire" stn 830, YNRZ Radio Zinica, address: Barrio Central (or Ap. 6), Bluefields. Tel +505 822 2771, fax +505 822 2456. E-mail: rzinica@ibw.com.ni Slogan: "Radio Zinica - en el alegre corazon costeño" stn 950, YNCC Radio Rumbos de Rivas, address: Carretera Hacia San Jorge, Rivas. 2,5 kW. E-mail: radiorumbos_950am@yahoo.com stn 960, YNRV La Voz del Trópico Húmedo, address: Costado Norte de la Iglesia Católica. 1100-0300. DG: Fernando Corea Valladares. Slogan: "La Voz del Trópico Húmedo - Pequeñita - Pero - Poderosa" stn 980, YN.. Radio Redención Internacional, address: Calle Edgar Lang, Managua. New station. Belongs to Radio América, 1220 kHz. E-mail: maugepc9@cablenet.com.ni Sch: 1200-0400. stn (Arctic Radio Club Central America column, July via editor Tore Larsson, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Note above, Ondas de Luz, which once was a nice split DX signal in NAm when on 825; and R. Zinica, which a few years ago was on 49m. And Voice of the Humid Tropics! The secret is out (gh, DXLD) ** NIGERIA [non]. Salama Radio (1900-2000 UT, 15250 kHz, 500 kW), studio and transmitter in the UK, broadcasts are beamed to Nigeria. Main language is Hausa, but station also has broadcasts in Fulfulde and other, even more exotic, languages. You may hear many pieces of African music on its waves. Sometimes, at 1930, Brian Edwards, of Calvinist Church, reads his sermons. Reception is very good (Vasily Gulyaev, Astrakhan, Russia, Signal July 9 via WORLD OF RADIO 1139, DXLD) ** OMAN. ITU coordination details of the new BBC MW transmitters in Oman are as follows: Location: A'Seela, G.C: 59E27 21N57. This is some 60 km south of the easternmost tip of Oman, near the town of Al Ashkarah (Ashkirah). 702 800 kW, main lobe 290 to 340 degrees day/night 1413 800 kW, main lobe 320 to 110 degrees day/night http://www.itu.int/ITU-R/terrestrial/brtpr/brific/Files/GE75_108.pdf (ARC Information Desk July 8 via editor Olle Alm, DXLD ** PAPUA NEW GUINEA. 3260, R Madang, 0939 July 11, reactivated with election returns in mix of English & Pidgin. Fair signal (Paul Ormandy, Oamaru, New Zealand, DX LISTENING DIGEST) See also BOUGAINVILLE ** PAPUA NEW GUINEA [non]. Re DXLD 2-104, inquiry about Gordon Darling: Gordon has been back in the UK for several years now living in Sussex. I get news of him occasionally, usually through a mutual friend. He is no longer involved in the radio hobby (Mike Barraclough, Letchworth, UK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** PERU. 5500.2, Radio San Miguel, San Miguel, Cajamarca Department. 2351-0020 July 8. Transmission in Spanish. Very nice instrumental folk music. The program is conducted by male. Greetings. Huaynos. Announcement and ID as: "y bien, estamos en esta noche en Radio San Miguel...". Time check: "7 de la tarde con 16 minutos en todo el Perú". Communicate and messages. Complete ID as: "Radio San Miguel, transmitiendo desde San Miguel, departamento de Cajamarca, en la banda de 60 metros, banda tropical". 24532 (Arnaldo Slaen, Argentine, in DX Camp-Villa Loguercio, hard-core-dx via DXLD) ** QATAR. From Variety Posted: Sun., Jul. 7, 2002 [book review] Public service broadcasting? Al-Jazeera, the Arab television station, aims for impartiality but it is still imbued with the prejudices of its audience, says Douglas Davis SUNDAY TELEGRAPH (LONDON) Abstract: AL-JAZEERA: HOW THE FREE ARAB NEWS NETWORK SCOOPED THE WORLD AND CHANGED THE MIDDLE EAST by Mohammed el-Nawawy and Adel Iskandar, Westview Press, pounds 16.99, 228 pp pounds 16.99 (pounds 1.99 p&p) 0870 155 7222 THE WORLD might not be quite ready for a full-blown biography of Al- Jazeera, the Arabic-language CNN wannabe, but in the process of describing the beginnings of this precocious five-year-old television satellite station, the Egyptian-born authors offer a valuable... (via Mike Terry, DXLD) BTW, I have a feeling this never got into DXLD, but I saw a report that the US has a new and growing base in Qatar, of all places. No doubt there will be communications facilities included (gh, DXLD) ** RUSSIA. Voice of Russia deleted 15560 via MSK 250 kW / 130 deg for transmissions: 1200-1400 in Russian and 1400-1500 in English (Ivo and Angel! Observer, Bulgaria, July 9 via DXLD) ** RWANDA. MEDIA TRIAL: 'PROPAGANDA' RADIO INFLUENCED THE RWANDA GENOCIDE, WITNESS MAINTAINS Internews (Arusha) July 9, 2002 By Mary Kimani Arusha --- Expert witness Alison Des Forges, a Rwandan historian and Human Rights Watch advisor, today maintained before the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) that Radio Television Libre Des Mille Collines (RTLM) played a key role in the 1994 genocide in Rwanda.... http://allafrica.com/stories/200207090349.html (via Dave White, DXLD) ** SAMOA AMERICAN. 585: ITU coordination details of the new station intended for this frequency: Location: Tafuna, power: 5 kW, G.C: 170W46 14S21, antenna height: 80 m. http://www.itu.int/ITU-R/terrestrial/brtpr/brific/Files/GE75_108.pdf (ARC Information Desk July 8 via editor Olle Alm, DXLD) ** SEYCHELLES [and non]. UAE(non): Additional freq for FEBA Radio in Persian: 0530-0700 Fri only on 9660 (55444) via DHA 500 kW / 345 deg \\ 15555 (34543) via SEY 100 kW / 352 deg (Ivo and Angel! Observer, Bulgaria, July 9 via DXLD) ** SOUTH CAROLINA. Response from Brother Stair`s E-mail account: My original message had been: Has the prophet been set free yet? I pray thee the charges be dropped. Hallelujah. But I see nothing in the papers. I've killed my television. What is happening on the case, and is the prophet set free at last? Response from Brother Stair's e-mail account (Sister Stair?): Not yet. The Two breach of trust (financial) charges were dropped. The other two charges remain. Keep praying for him (via Robert Arthur, July 9, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** SWAZILAND. 954 kHz: ITU coordination is being sought for 100 kW on this frequency. http://www.itu.int/ITU-R/terrestrial/brtpr/brific/Files/GE75_108.pdf (ARC Information Desk July 8 via editor Olle Alm, DXLD) ** SWEDEN. RADIO SWEDEN --- Remember this week we're broadcasting Monday to Friday from the Baltic island of Gotland, and the annual week of political lectures and seminars centered around Visby's Almedalen Park. Some of the coming highpoints: Wednesday: We focus on the Center Party. We'll also do a little food tasting and we'll meet an up-and-coming rock band, home grown on Gotland and our feature is "Money Matters" Thursday: We focus on the ruling Social Democrat Party, and "GreenScan" looks at Gotland, which prides itself of being the leading eco-municipality in Sweden Friday: Our weekly review, looking back on the Political Week in Almedalen Saturday: Our monthly current affairs magazine "Sweden Today" Sunday: In "Sounds Nordic" another chance to hear about pop-opera with Fredrik Kempe and Stockholm Live Day (SCDX/MediaScan July 10 via DXLD) ** UKRAINE. UKRAINE'S BAN ON BROADCASTS IN RUSSIAN CAUSING CONCERN - diplomat. 9/7 Tass 347 By Irina Shatalova MOSCOW, July 9 (Itar-Tass) - Russian senior diplomat said Tuesday the Russian authorities were concerned by a resolution of the Ukrainian National Council for Broadcasting obliging the country's broadcasting companies to switch all their programming over to the Ukrainian language in the next twelve months. Alexander Yakovenko, an official spokesman for the Russian Foreign Ministry, said: "We honor Ukraine's desire to develop its national culture and the Ukrainian language, but the move limits the opportunities of receiving programs in the native tongue for millions of Russians living in Ukraine, as well as for numerous Ukrainians for whom Russian is the native tongue". He also stressed that the order to cancel all programming in Russian meant a violation of the bilateral cooperation in the humanitarian sphere and international requirements for protection of ethnic minority rights, specified in the International Pact of Civil and Political Rights and the U.N. resolutions on minority rights. Yakovenko mentioned that the Russian government was taking into account the interests of Ukrainians living in Russia to getting information in their native tongue. The Year of Ukraine, underway here now, was largely targeted toward that, he said. The Russian and Ukrainian departments in charge of information policy had recently stepped up their contacts, Yakovenko said. "We hope that the Ukrainian authorities will heed our concerns on the issue," he said. -0-kle/dro (via David R. Alpert, area code 818, DXLD) ** U K. RELIGIOUS BROADCASTING IN THE UK From Waveguide Monday July 08, 2002 The Church of England said yesterday that worship on television has suffered an "unprecedented" decline over the last two years. A church group which has been monitoring religious output on television and radio said there had been a "marked decrease" in "liturgical and inspirational" programmes. The Religion in Broadcasting group analysed the number of hours and the scheduling of religious programming for 20 months. It found that the amount of "inspirational" broadcasting, including programmes such as the BBC's long-running Songs of Praise and ITV's My Favourite Hymns, dropped from about 25 to 20 hours a month, and religious services fell from about 20 to 10 hours. Television increasingly concentrated only on religious festivals, it said (via Mike Terry, DXLD) ** U K. 'CRITICAL TIME' FOR DIGITAL RADIO A senior industry executive has exclusively told Inside Radio that the next 6 months are 'critical' to the success of digital radio in the UK. Simon Cole, the chief executive of UBC Media, spoke to Inside Radio after commenting in the national press that the government should actively support and market digital radio. "The next 6 months are absolutely critical for the future of Digital Radio," Simon told Inside Radio earlier this week, "because for the first time the consumer will be offered the right devices, at the right prices, with the right services on them." "If we can prove the model in the next 6 months then we have very little to worry about." Earlier this week, UBC announced a deal that will see Classic Gold launch on digital radio across London, increasing its potential audience to over 29 million. The digital carriage deal will make the format the third largest on digital multiplexes. UBC Media which owns Classic Gold, already has significant digital radio interests including Oneword, and is also part of the MXR consortium, which carries Classic Gold on its regional multiplexes. The agreement signed today with the Digital Radio Group (DRG), means that the new service will include eight hours a day of local London programming and will feature news and information on London, to be provided by a yet to be announced partner. Launched on 25 January this year, the DRG multiplex includes a mixture of analogue and digital-only services, such as Choice FM, Liquid, the Arrow and Ritz 1035. The DRG is owned amongst others by GWR, the Wireless Group, Asian Sound and The Carphone Warehouse (via Mike Terry, DXLD) ** U K. COMEDY ON THE BBC WORLDSERVICE Hi! I have another argument/rationale you can use when you respond to the often-repeated requests for radio comedy programs on the World Service: Radio comedy often depends on the audience being able to hear clearly and understand every word, or often just one specific particular word, in a joke punchline or pun or other verbal humor. You cannot rely on that with shortwave, and I believe also on Internet audio. On shortwave, it is inevitable that a burst of noise, a sudden fade, or some other interference will destroy the reception of that one vital word or phrase. Internet audio is also subject to dropouts and buffering problems that will mess up the understanding of that particularly important bit of audio. This is due to the innate animosity of the universe, a trait longtime shortwave listeners have grown used to, when the once-an-hour ID of some rare and marginally- heard station is the bit obscured by a lightning crash or a deep fade. Those of us who still listen to the BBC on shortwave here in North America are used to this sort of thing happening on your once-strong signals, along with the frequent transmitter dropouts on 15190 kHz during our mornings. I, too, along with the person whose letter you read in last week's WRITE ON, remember hearing "The Goon Show" on the BBC years ago. I also remember never being able to understand it! It wasn't until I discovered an LP record of Goon Show humor that I was able to make out enough of it to find it really funny. Before, it was just mystifying. This also leads into a comment about another letter you read, praising the variety of accented English variants in the speech of people participating in various BBC programmes. I believe that you there in Britain find the English speech of South Asians far more clear and understandable that we do here in North America. You probably hear such speech every day in the normal course of life. I, myself, find much of the speech of such people that I hear on various BBC programmes to be terribly difficult to understand. Whether it be a scientist interviewed on Science In Action, Discovery, One Planet, etc., or a filmmaker or reviewer on On Screen, etc., most of such speech is often a blur to me. I'd far prefer you transcribe their words and have an in-studio announcer read them in as neutral a standard accent as possible. Also, maybe you can process some peoples' speech to a different frequency range to make it clearer? For example, in this week's "Go Digital", I can clearly understand the female presenter's voice, but the deeper voice of the man she was interviewing was practically undecipherable. Regards, (William Martin, Saint Louis, Missouri USA, July 10, to BBC writeon, cc to DXLD) I agree that you need perfect reception to appreciate fast-paced and idiomatic comedy, but such is now the norm via webcasts. I often listen to BBC Radio 2, 3 or 4 hours at a time with nary a glitch. I sometimes listen to the comedy strip, typically M-F at 1730-1800 UT on 4, and even so, many of the shows are hard to appreciate (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U K [and non]. BBC deleted the following freqs for ME: 13645 DHA 500 kW / 045 deg 0445-0700 in English 21735 RMP 500 kW / 085 deg 0445-0700 in English 21735 RMP 500 kW / 085 deg 0700-1000 in Pashto/Persian/English 73 from (Ivo and Angel! Observer, Bulgaria, July 9 via DXLD) ** UNITED NATIONS [non]. Updated A-02 schedule for UN Radio via Merlin Communications as of July 1: 1700-1715 Mon-Fri French NF 7150*MEY 100 kW / 076 deg, ex 6125 17705 SKN 300 kW / 180 deg 21490 MEY 500 kW / 342 deg 1715-1720 Mon-Fri Music 21490 MEY 500 kW / 342 deg 1725-1730 Mon-Fri Music NF 7150*MEY 100 kW / 005 deg, ex 6125 1730-1745 Mon-Fri English NF 7150*MEY 100 kW / 005 deg, ex 6125 NF 17570 ASC 250 kW / 065 deg, ex 15105 17710 SKN 300 kW / 125 deg 1830-1845 Mon-Fri Arabic 15585 RMP 500 kW / 115 deg 17565 SKN 300 kW / 180 deg * totally blocked by Radio Ukraine International in Ukrainian (Ivo and Angel! Observer, Bulgaria, July 9 via WORLD OF RADIO 1139, DXLD) ** U S A [non]. OBSERVER #200 / 12-07-2002 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- OBSERVER is an edition of RADIO BULGARIA compiled by Ivo Ivanov & Angel Datzinov. Items here may be reproduced if it is mentioned "OBSERVER-BUL". All times in UT ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Summer schedule of RFE/RL as of July 10: ALBANIAN 1900-1930 792 7165 11875 15140 ARABIC 0100-0300 9730 9865 12030 0300-0400 1314 9730 9865 11910 0400-0600 9730 9865 12030 1400-1500 1314 9825 13755 15170 17740 1500-1600 1314 9825 11805 15170 17740 1600-1700 9825 11805 15170 17740 1700-1800 9575 11805 17610 1800-1900 9705 11805 17610 2100-2300 7155 9615 ARMENIAN 0200-0300 6170 7275 1400-1500 9785 1600-1700 9620 11895 AVARI 0415-0430 9850 11760 15355 1715-1730 9810 11925 17630 AZERI 0300-0400 9680 0900-1000 15510 17665 21520 1300-1400 15145 15255 17710 1500-1600 15385 1800-1900 11865 BELORUSSIAN 0300-0500 612 1188 6170 7295 9635 1500-1700 612 9565 11725 15215 1700-1900 612 7190 11730 15480 1900-2100 612 1188 9530 9750 11865 BULGARIAN 0600-0630 11975 1000-1030 15115 1400-1600 15115 CHECHEN 0430-0445 9850 11760 15355 1730-1745 9810 11925 17630 CHERKASSI 0445-0500 9850 11760 15355 1745-1800 9810 11925 17630 DARI 0400-0500 11705 13790 15705 17560 17670 0730-0800 15345 17775 19010 21815 0900-1000 15220 17865 19010 21680 1300-1400 15265 15355 15370 17685 17740 1730-1800 9845 11705 12030 15210 15340 1930-2000 7285 9575 15190 15340 2230-2300 7430 9690 11990 13805 FARSI 0430-0730 9510 15525 17835 0730-0830 9510 15515 17835 1400-1700 15495 15530 17610 21775 1800-2000 5860 9875 9885 1900-2200 7175 11710 GEORGIAN 0400-0500 9595 1500-1600 17725 1900-2000 11690 KAZAKH 0100-0200 7170 9665 11845 1100-1200 11870 15195 17670 1300-1400 12140 13795 15455 1400-1500 4995 15355 15455 1500-1600 4995 13795 15355 2300-2400 7250 9625 9660 KYRGHYZ 0000-0200 6170 7295 9715 1200-1230 11930 15120 17615 1300-1330 11930 15205 17865 1400-1500 5860 11845 15345 1500-1600 5860 11960 11980 15340 PASHTO 0300-0400 11705 13790 15705 17560 17670 0700-0730 15345 17775 19010 21815 1000-1100 15220 17865 19010 21680 1200-1300 15265 15355 15370 17685 17740 1700-1730 9845 11705 12030 15210 15340 1800-1830 9845 12030 15210 15340 2200-2230 7430 9690 11990 13805 ROMANIAN 0300-0330 7210 9595 Monday to Friday 1500-1530 9505 11950 1600-1630 9505 9725 1630-1700 9505 9725 Monday to Friday 1800-1900 7165 11715 Monday to Friday RUSSIAN 0000-0100 6095 5985 7120 7170 7220 9520 0200-0300 6000 6105 7155 7220 7245 9520 0300-0400 6000 6105 7155 7220 9520 11725 0400-0500 6000 7220 9520 9760 11725 11885 0500-0600 7220 9520 9705 9760 11885 17730 0600-0700 9520 9705 11815 15130 17730 17810 0700-0800 9520 9705 11815 11860 15130 17730 17810 0800-1000 11860 15280 17730 17810 1000-1100 11860 11875 11885 15130 15145 17730 17810 1100-1200 11885 13745 15130 15145 15205 17730 1200-1300 11885 13745 15130 15145 15205 15215 1400-1500 9595 11725 11770 11885 11895 15215 1500-1600 7220 9520 11770 11895 13755 1600-1700 7220 9520 11770 11885 13755 1900-2000 6105 7115 7220 9520 9615 11885 2000-2100 5955 6105 7115 7220 7260 9520 9705 2100-2200 5955 6105 7220 7245 7260 9520 9715 2200-2300 5985 6095 7220 7245 9520 9665 2300-2400 5985 6095 7120 7170 7220 9520 RUSSIAN CE.AS 0400-0415 9850 11760 15355 1700-1715 9810 11925 17630 SERBOCROATIAN 0230-0330 1197 0730-0800 9555 11970 15260 1300-1330 9625 11795 17605 1600-1700 1188 1197 6040 7115 11925 1730-1900 1188 9625 13635 15245 2000-2100 5970 7165 7245 2130-2200 1188 2200-0100 1188 1197 6130 9635 11730 TAJIK 0100-0200 4760 9760 11660 0200-0400 9760 11660 15520 1400-1500 15145 15370 17855 1500-1630 9790 15145 15370 1630-1700 4760 9790 15145 15370 TATAR-BASHKIR 0300-0400 9815 11820 0500-0600 9725 15425 1500-1600 11995 15245 1900-2000 9650 11925 TURKMEN 0200-0300 864 7295 9555 15295 0300-0400 7175 9555 15295 1400-1500 13815 15265 17690 1500-1530 13815 15160 17690 1530-1600 864 13815 15160 17690 1600-1800 13815 15160 17885 UKRAINIAN 0300-0400 6065 7115 9710 Monday to Friday 0500-0600 7115 7165 11815 Monday to Friday 1700-1800 9855 11895 15115 1800-1900 7115 11660 11835 1900-2000 7145 11660 11835 Sunday to Friday UZBEK 0100-0200 864 0200-0400 9785 12015 15445 0400-0600 12015 17630 21770 1600-1700 9840 11980 15335 1700-1800 9595 11815 11980 73 from (Ivo and Angel! Observer, Bulgaria, via DXLD) ** U S A. VOA Language Services: with years they began and ended if applicable: http://www.voa.gov/index.cfm?tableName=tblVOAHistory&articleID=10009§iontitle=VOA%20History (via gh, from a tip in July World DX Club Contact) ** U S A [non]. New schedule for Voice of Hope/High Adventure Ministries to ME, DTK changes: 0430-0600 15715 JUL 100 kW / 115 deg English ex 0400-0600 0700-0900 21590 JUL 100 kW / 115 deg Arabic 0900-1000 21590 JUL 100 kW / 115 deg English CANCELLED 1500-1630 15715 JUL 100 kW / 115 deg English ex 1500-1600 1630-1700 15715 JUL 100 kW / 115 deg Persian ex 1600-1700 1700-1900 15715 JUL 100 kW / 115 deg Arabic ex 1700-1800 1900-2000 15715 JUL 100 kW / 115 deg English ex 1800-2100 Remnants Hope Ministry in English: 0800-0900 13810 JUL 100 kW / 250 deg Sat CANCELLED 1200-1300 6110 JUL 100 kW / 290 deg Sat/Sun CANCELLED (Ivo and Angel! Observer, Bulgaria, July 9 via DXLD) Brother Stair detractors. Wonder if they are still on US stations (gh, DXLD) ** U S A [and non]. Well over 10 years ago, Gene Scott used to run channel 38 in San Francisco, along with channel 30 in the Los Angeles area (don't remember the calls). 38 was carried on my cable system. The programming on the "University Network" was basically closeups of him wearing funny hats and sunglasses under his reading glasses, with him either reading from scripture or just going on rants. When he was losing his licenses for the UHF stations, he set up a mechanical monkey to run and referred to it as the FCC. I think he used a rubber mallet on the thing too. There would also be musical interludes (even HE had to take a break, hi), with videos shown; sometimes a choir singing-- once he showed the transmitter site for the Caribbean Beacon, with a 360 degree view. He never ran SS on TV, and I've never heard him in SS on SW. While I last logged 1610 from CA back in the early 80s, I seriously doubt if the stations on 1610 and 690 deviate from his SW stations today. I think he just needed to get away from FCC influence when he brought the 690 / 1610 stations on line. (He lost his license because he wouldn't reveal his contributors to the FCC, he claimed.) (Richard Toebe, July 9, NRC-AM via DXLD) ** U S A. WRMI SCHEDULE EFFECTIVE JULY 8 Days are local days in the Americas; times are UT MONDAY-FRIDAY/ To the Caribbean and Latin America on 9955 kHz 1000-1030 La Voz de la Junta Patriótica Cubana (español) 1030-1200 Viva Miami (English/español) Note: This transmission from 0900-1200 UT is temporarily not aired on Tuesday and Thursday. To North America on 7385 kHz Note: The following are Tuesday-Saturday UT 0200-0230 Radio Praga (español) 0230-0300 Viva Miami (English, Friday) 0300-0330 Radio Prague (English) 0330-0400 Wavescan (English, Friday) SATURDAY/SABADO To the Caribbean and Latin America on 9955 kHz 0900-0930 Viva Miami (English) 1030-1100 La Voz del Escambray (español) To the Caribbean and Latin America on 9955 kHz 2300-0000 Foro Militar Cubano (español) The following are Sunday UT 0000-0030 Conversando entre Cubanos (español) 0100-0200 Radio Revista Lux (español) To North America on 7385 kHz 0200-0230 Radio Praga (español) 0230-0300 Drive-in Double Feature (English) 0300-0330 Radio Prague (English) SUNDAY To the Caribbean and Latin America on 9955 kHz 0900-1000 Foro Militar Cubano (español) 1000-1030 Radio Guiteras - La Voz de Jóven Cuba (español) To North America on 15725 kHz 1200-1300 Viva Miami (English) To the Caribbean and Latin America on 9955 kHz 2300-0000 Radio Revista Lux (español) The following are UT Monday 0000-0015 Radio Vaticano (español) 0030-0130 Radio Oriente Libre (español) 0130-0200 Conversando entre Cubanos (español) To North America on 7385 kHz 0200-0230 Radio Praga (español) 0300-0330 Radio Prague (English) (from http://www.wrmi.net/page714011.htm --- non-gospel programs only excerpted by gh for DX LISTENING DIGEST; also via John Norfolk) ** U S A. PUBLIC BROADCASTERS PICK UP STATIC ON CAPITOL HILL Media: Officials fail to avoid a partisan debate over their programming as they seek funding for digital technology. By EDMUND SANDERS TIMES STAFF WRITER July 11 2002 WASHINGTON -- Public broadcasters asked Capitol Hill for half a billion dollars Wednesday to help it meet a government-mandated transition to digital technology. The complete article can be viewed at: http://www.latimes.com/la-fi-pbs11jul11.story (via Bill Westenhaver, DXLD) ** U S A. GODDARD RADIO STATION FACES CLOSURE July 7, 2002 From The Rutland Herald, Rutland, Vermont By ROBIN PALMER, Staff Writer PLAINFIELD – A radio station that has served the central Vermont community for nearly 30 years is expected to go off the air later this month, ending an era and upsetting a group of volunteer programmers and listeners. Goddard College’s WGDR will close on July 26 unless college administrators and trustees make a decision that will allow the station to stay on the air.... http://rutlandherald.nybor.com/Archive/Articles/Article/49569 (via Mike Terry, DXLD) WGDR was, once upon a time, a WORLD OF RADIO affiliate (gh) ** U S A. RADIO GAMES Is the school district`s public radio swap about more powerful broadcasts of the Blue Jackets and OSU sports? Confidential documents obtained by Alive show deals between WCBE, WOSU and WWCD have been discussed in secret for years --- by Bob Fitrakis Is it all about sports? Columbus School Board member Bill Moss believes that’s the hidden agenda behind WOSU`s proposal to manage WCBE, the school district’s public radio station. Moss fears a potential signal swap could be intended to secure a better frequency for Dispatch Broadcast Group sports station WBNS, radio home of Buckeyes, and put the FM home of the Blue Jackets on an improved broadcast tower. Public records obtained by Columbus Alive, including confidential communications between Columbus school administrators and Washington attorney Ernest T. Sánchez, suggest that Moss may be right. Though the school board began officially accepting local management agreement proposals just this spring, in an effort to outsource the management of WCBE, documents show that deals with WWCD and WOSU have been discussed in private for the last four years. Former Columbus Public Schools administrator Sherry Bird Long was in frequent communication with Sánchez during the three-year period prior to her resignation in April 2001. (At the time of her resignation, Bird Long was being investigated as part of a contract-steering scandal; she later pleaded guilty to a felony charge.) ... [very long story of intrigue:] http://www.columbusalive.com/2002/20020704/070402/07040203.html (via Artie Bigley, OH, DXLD) ** U S A. Some months ago, the St. Louis community/alternative radio station KDHX (for Double Helix), suspended webcasting for the usual reasons, uncertainty about the royalty situation. Last week I tried them again and they were back, so I checked program schedule and entered a number of shows onto MONITORING REMINDERS. Since I was listening at a time not specified as (streaming audio!), I assumed that this wasn`t really strict. Then when I tried to hear the Thursday 1400 show, Great American Music, I got a `not available` message, so proceeded to remove all the shows I had entered on the calendar, but added a couple which do claim to be streamed: Friday 1500-1800 UT Songwriter`s Showcase. And Saturday 1500-1700 Down Yonder, bluegrass. Most of the shows allegedly streamed now are talk (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. I told a few people in my area in an E-mail last night to watch out for the 1170 in Grosse Pointe, but I haven't heard it since Monday, and I just checked now and they are not on. At any rate, that is all that I knew with that, and I will let you know if I hear anything more (Jeffrey Michael Kenyon, MI, July 10, NRC-AM via DXLD) ** U S A. TV STATION KMOL SET TO AGAIN BE WOAI By Jeanne Jakle , Express-News staff writer Web Posted : 07/03/2002 12:00 AM http://news.mysanantonio.com/story.cfm?xla=saen&xlc=748644 KMOL, San Antonio's first television station, will revert to its original call letters, WOAI, on or before Jan. 1, the NBC affiliate's owners said Tuesday. After the change, subject to formal approval by the Federal Communications Commission, KMOL will be the city's only TV station with call letters beginning with a "W." "We are headed back to the future," said William Moll, president of television for San Antonio-based Clear Channel Worldwide, which owns both KMOL-TV, Channel 4, and radio station WOAI. He referred to the fact that KMOL, the city's first TV station, initially began broadcasting on Dec. 11, 1949, as WOAI, sister to the already established WOAI-AM radio. Southland Industries owned both properties back then. They were sold in 1965 to Crosley Corp., which later became AVCO. WOAI-TV changed to KMOL-TV in 1975. That happened after ownership was split. The radio portion was turned over to businessmen Lowry Mays and Red McCombs, founders of Clear Channel Worldwide. TV and radio joined hands once again last October, however, when Clear Channel Worldwide acquired KMOL from Rupert Murdoch's News Corp. "The name WOAI is also synonymous with news and information in San Antonio," KMOL Vice President and General Manager Don Perry said Tuesday. Generally, TV and radio stations west of the Mississippi begin with the letter "K." KENS, Channel 5, the CBS affiliate, is the only other TV station in the market with a sister radio station with the same call letters, KENS-AM. 07/03/2002 (via Artie Bigley, DXLD) ** U S A. WITH BY-THE-NUMBERS RADIO, REQUESTS ARE A DYING BREED July 11, 2002 By LAURA M. HOLSON LOS ANGELES, July 10 - Few executives better reflect the changes in the music industry these days than Tom Poleman, program director for Z-100 (WHTZ-FM), the top pop radio station in New York City and one of 1,200 stations owned by the conglomerate Clear Channel Communications. Mr. Poleman rarely plays his favorites. Instead, he spends each day crunching numbers in his office in Jersey City, reviewing spreadsheets and computer-generated data chronicling what listeners will want to hear... http://www.nytimes.com/2002/07/11/business/media/11RADI.html?ex=1027417082&ei=1&en=cf1881619a3c3038 (via Bill Westenhaver, DXLD) ** U S A. NEW NOAA WX BROADCASTS SOUND LIKE HUMANS Weather Turns Mellow As Radio Voices Recast New Software Delivers More Human Tone By Michael E. Ruane Washington Post Staff Writer Thursday, July 11, 2002; Page B01 Nobody liked Igor, who was also known as Sven. He sounded slightly Teutonic, slurred his sing-song speech and felt like someone you might want your kids to avoid. If he sounded inhuman, he couldn't help it. He was. And it cost him. As of yesterday, Igor/Sven, as he was nicknamed by many local listeners of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration weather radio system, is out of a job. The unloved computer voice that has weirdly recited forecasts and warnings over NOAA weather radio in our area for the last four years - - he could never properly pronounce the word Dulles -- has been canned. His replacements are Craig and Donna, who sound like soft-rock deejays and are at least semi-human: Their speech is made up of human voice fragments called phonemes, reassembled by a computer. Locally, they debuted yesterday morning from the National Weather Service's Baltimore-Washington office, after senior forecaster Chris Strong gave them final lessons in proper local pronunciations: stuff like Puh-TOW-mick, An-AH-pole-is, FAW-keer and NAW-fuk were potentially difficult, officials said. Earlier, Donna had a slight problem with the word degrees, as in 90 degrees. It came out "degrease." But she'll learn and be popular, especially among mariners, the Weather Service said. The automated voices are the latest effort by NOAA's National Weather Service to get weather information to the public as quickly as possible. The Weather Service has been broadcasting weather via special weather radio since the 1950s. You need a receiver that picks up the service to listen. Many marine radios pick up the broadcasts, and inexpensive weather radios are becoming increasingly popular, the Weather Service said. Originally, the broadcasts were done with tape-recorded human voices, said Joann Swanson, the Weather Service expert who headed the new voice project. And forecasters could always go live in an emergency. "In the old days, you had a human being who would rip and read off the Teletypes," she said. But that could be tedious, time-consuming and labor-intensive. About four years ago, during a period of broad technological improvement, the service concluded that automating weather radio would produce faster and labor-saving reports. In early 1998, the agency turned to technology that could render the broadcasts via a computer that read text and then spoke in an imitated human voice. It was fast and modern, and it bombed. "A lot of people felt that this was a dehumanization," Swanson said. The reports came in a computerized voice officially nicknamed "Perfect Paul." To many listeners, he quickly became Igor, Sven or Arnold. People complained that the voice had a foreign accent. Gradually, technology emerged in which an actual human voice was recorded and then disassembled by computer software into the 40 or so phonemes, or subsyllables, that make up human speech, Swanson said. The software was able to read text and reassemble the phonemes into the corresponding human speech. The Weather Service studied companies that made such products, polled listeners via the Internet and assembled focus groups to judge the candidates. The Weather Service selected a product called Speechify, made by Boston-based SpeechWorks International Inc. Speechify produced the voices that the Weather Service nicknamed Craig and Donna, after two Weather Service employees involved in the project. Yesterday, the Sterling office was broadcasting with both voices. Craig and Donna sounded tentative, with a slight tremor. That seemed inevitable: They were new, and Jim Travers, the meteorologist in charge of the office, said further pronunciation adjustments were probably inevitable. But they had done well. "I listened to it . . . and I was just enthralled," he said. "It's a huge improvement." ================================================================== http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A52160-2002Jul10.html (via Steve Ely, alt.talk.weather et al. newsgroups, via John Norfolk [hmmm, am I saying your name right?]; also via Tom McNiff, Mike Terry, DXLD) I kind of liked "Perfect Paul." Once you get past the ads and promos [2:37], you can hear the new voices at NOAA weather radio. Miami will be interesting to listen to during the hurricane season. Click on http://broadcast-weather.net/noaa.html for NOAA Weather Radio Live - Hurricane, Tornado, Winter Storms, Flash Floods Weather Broadcasting. Good listening, (Tom McNiff, Burke, Virginia, US, July 11, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Grrr, I sat thru that incredibly informal and leisurely promo for 2:37, after clicking on one of the cities available at random, Marion IL, and THEN, ``connection could not be established to Paducah``! No apparent way to skip it (gh, DXLD) ** VENEZUELA. A major anti-Chávez demonstration is scheduled for Thursday the 11th, perhaps surpassing the one in April which led to his brief overthrow... (gh, WORLD OF RADIO 1139, DXLD) MAÑANA DÍA CRUCIAL PARA LA DEMOCRACIA VENEZOLANA Mañana Jueves se va realizar una Gran Marcha denominada ``Marcha por la Libertad``, donde se le va solicitar al Presidente de la República que renuncie de una buena vez. Lo particular de esta marcha, que a diferencia de las otras, la misma llegará hasta el mismo Palacio Presidencial de Miraflores, cosa que no fué posible el pasado 11 de Abril cuando las turbas armadas del oficialismo, asesinaron a tiros a 18 personas inocentes cuando protestaban de manera pacífica con pitos, cacerolas y banderas. Ya en la prensa venezolana se comenta que dicha manifestación está tan bien organizada, que es posible que supere la del 11 de abril que fue la más grande en la historia política de este país, cuando se cree que alcance a más de Un Millón de personas. Aunque se han tomado todas las medidas posibles de seguridad por parte de la Policía Metropolitana de Caracas, ayer el Presidente ordenó acuartelamiento a todas las guarniciones militares del país, así como también se vió en la capital la llegada de tropas de paracadistas en camiones militares leales al Presidente procedente de la Guarnición de Maracay, Estado Aragua, la más importante de Venezuela. Ya se sabe que el Presidente no estará en el día de mañana en el Palacio de Miraflores, sinó en Maracay rodeado con sus militares leales. Esta actitud del primer mandatario evidencia su temor de su posible salida, pero que no está dispuesto a realizar. Veamos que sucederá, pero mañana será un día histórico para Venezuela, a lo cual los invito a visitar la web http://www.auyantepui.com donde encontrará la sección de medios de comunicación, así como también sintonizar a las pocas emisoras venezolanas en la onda corta. Sin duda nuestro país será noticia en el mundo entero, esperemos que para bien. Que dios nos acompañe! ===== Quedo atentamente, (Econ. Jorge García Rangel E-mail: jorge.garcia@rocketmail.com July 10, WORLD OF RADIO 1139, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** VENEZUELA. Saludos colegas diexistas. Para todos un feliz Jueves. La siguiente información fué transmitida en el boletín de Noticias del Circuito Radio Venezuela. Tres hombres armados tomaron esta madrugada nuestra emisora hermana: Venezuela Tricolor, en Barquisimeto, Estado Lara. Los presuntos rebeldes se identificaron como miembros de un denominado Frente Armado de La Revolución. Sin embargo voceros de la oposición larense, señalan que se trata de integrantes de los llamados Circulos Bolivarianos que apoyan al gobierno de Chávez. Estos desconocidos luego de someter al personal de la emisora Venezuela Tricolor, colocaron una cinta con un mensaje que salió al aire. Los cuerpos policiales de Lara, interrogan a los trabajadores de la emisora a fin de dar con la identidad y paradero de los sujetos. Nota: Transcripción fiel del sonido del noticiero de Radio Venezuela. Atte: (José Elías, Venezuela, July 11, Conexión Digital via DXLD) ** VIETNAM [non]. TAJIKISTAN(non): Radio Free Vietnam in Vietnamese now on air: 1400-1430 Mon-Fri on 15235 via DB 200 kW / 125 deg, ex TAC 200 kW / 131 deg (Ivo and Angel! Observer, Bulgaria, July 9 via DXLD) i.e. same frequency but site changed from Tashkent, Uzbekistan, to Dushanbe, Tajikistan (gh, WORLD OF RADIO 1139) ** ZIMBABWE [and non] POLICE RAID FAILS TO SILENCE VOICE OF THE PEOPLE On 4 July Zimbabwean police, accompanied by officers from the Broadcasting Authority of Zimbabwe, raided the Harare studios of Voice of The People (VOP) and took away 133 tapes and files. A spokesperson for VOP's lawyers told local journalists that the police were looking for the transmitter the VOP was using to transmit its programmes. He said that by law, the police must return everything they seized. "We are waiting for a decision on whether to apply to the court for a speedy return of the confiscated equipment or appeal against the harassment to which VOP staff were subjected," he said. The Broadcasting Services Act 2001 bars anyone from broadcasting without a valid licence. However, in legal terms, VOP is not a radio station, but a production company which hires airtime on the Radio Netherlands Madagascar Relay Station, and beams the programmes back into Zimbabwe on shortwave. A spokesperson for VOP told Radio Netherlands that the raid had not affected its ability to produce material, and normal broadcasts are continuing (© Radio Netherlands Media Network July 10 via WORLD OF RADIO 1139, DXLD) ### WOR 1139 / AFGHANISTAN non / ALASKA / AUSTRALIA +non ABC / BAHRAIN / BELGIUM ham / BOLIVIA / BOUGAINVILLE / BRAZIL / BURMA non / CANADA CJWI / CANADA CKCL/CKCM/CFAN/CJIB/CJMS/CHKT/CKEN / CHINA / COLOMBIA / CONGO DR / CROATIA / CZECH REPUBLIC / DEUTSCHES REICH / ECUADOR / ETHIOPIA non / FINLAND / GERMANY +non / GUAM +non / INDIA / INDONESIA / IRAN non / IRAQ / ISRAEL / ITALY / JORDAN / KASHMIR / KOREA SOUTH / LATVIA / LUXEMBOURG +non / MONACO +non / MONGOLIA / NEW ZEALAND / NICARAGUA / NIGERIA non / OMAN / PAPUA NEW GUINEA +non / PERU / QATAR / RUSSIA / RWANDA / SAMOA AMERICAN / SEYCHELLES +non / SOUTH CAROLINA Stair / SWAZILAND / SWEDEN / UKRAINE / UK BBC/ITV / UK UBC/DRG / UK BBCWS / UNITED NATIONS non / USA non RFE/RL / USA VOA / USA non VOH/HAM / USA +non DGS / USA WRMI / USA Public / USA WGDR / USA WCBE/WOSU/WWCD / USA KDHX / USA Grosse Pointe 1170 / USA KMOL/WOAI / USA WHTZ/CC / USA NOAA / VENEZUELA / VIETNAM non / ZIMBABWE +non