dxld2117 DX LISTENING DIGEST 2-117, July 23, 2002 edited by Glenn Hauser, wghauser@hotmail.com Items from DXLD may be reproduced and re-reproduced only if full credit be maintained at all stages and we be provided exchange copies. DXLD may not be reposted in its entirety without permission. Materials taken from Arctic or originating from Olle Alm and not having a commercial copyright are exempt from all restrictions of noncommercial, noncopyrighted reusage except for full credits HTML version of this issue will be posted afterwards at http://www.worldofradio.com/dxldtd02.html For restrixions and searchable 2002 contents archive see http://www.worldofradio.com/dxldmid.html NOTE: If you are a regular reader of DXLD, and a source of DX news but have not been sending it directly to us, please consider yourself obligated to do so. Thanks, Glenn WORLD OF RADIO #1140: (ON DEMAND) http://www.wrn.org/ondemand/worldofradio.html (DOWNLOAD) http://www.k4cc.net/wor1140.rm (STREAM) http://www.k4cc.net/wor1140.ram (SUMMARY) http://www.worldofradio.com/wor1140.html NEXT WWCR BROADCAST: Wed 0930 9475 NEXT RFPI BROADCAST: Wed 0700 on 7445-USB, 15038.6 FIRST WOR 1141 BROADCASTS on WBCQ: Wed 2200 17495, 7405, Thu 0415 7415 NOTE: our main site http://www.worldofradio.com may have some down time in next few days. If so, check for latest info at http://www.angelfire.com/ok/worldofradio/anomaly.html UNSOLICITED TESTIMONIAL Glen[n], In another package the Summer Edition of the WRTVH or Listen to the World. I hope you enjoy. I`m looking forward to seeing the review in DXLD as I know how good you are in doing them. I think people don`t realise how good you are in the DX hobby, making life easier for all of us. All the best, (Chris Hambly, Mont Albert North, Victoria, Australia, July 17) Dear Glenn: I Note of thanks for a job well done.Your many years of hard work and dedication to the hobby is well appreciated. I always enjoy hearing from you and tuning in to both shows on a regular basis. I also found that i have provided a link to your site with mine, so please bookmark the following URL: http://home.earthlink.net~nwest025/hobbies.htm Thanks and have a great weekend! 73's! Nbraindude11@aol.com (Noble West, TN) ** AFRICA. Subject: [GRDXC] African Email addresses Could any one in this group help me by sending me the E-mails of African stations which are known to them. The ugabro@infocom.co.ug e- mail address of Radio Uganda is returning mail with error. 73s, Sincerely, (Harjot Singh Brar, GRDXC) This is an extract of my database... ANGOLA R. ECCLESIA ecclesia@snet.co.ao GUINEA R. CONAKRY l.conde@caramail.com (director) KENYA KBC wechebf@africamail.com LIBYA VOICE OF AFRICA africavoice@hotmail.com MAURITANIA R. MAURITANIA rm@mauritania.mr NIGERIA VOICE OF NIGERIA vonlagos@fiberia.com TANZANIA R. FREE AFRICA fra@africaonline [dot something missing – gh] WESTERN SAHARA RASD rasdradio@yahoo.es WESTERN SAHARA RASD c/o ARSO arso@arso.org YEMEN R. REPUBLIC OF YEMEN yradio@y.net.ye ZAMBIA CHRISTIAN VOICE cvoice@zamnet.zm ZIMBABWE VOICE OF THE PEOPLE voxpop@zol.co.zw Roberto Scaglione http://www.bclnews.it (GRDXC via Mike Terry, DXLD) ** AFRICA. Glenn, Thanks for Thorsten Hallmann's interesting report from Cape Town. I would guess the station he heard on 6210 is Radio Fana from Ethiopia rather than Radio Kahuzi from DRC. Here in Nairobi I'm a little closer to Kahuzi than Fana, but the latter is very much stronger. Also, Kenya is definitely no longer active on 4935. The only active SW channel is 4915 kHz (10 kW). Yes, Dar es Salaam has been on 5050 only for quite a while (i.e. not on 5985/7280). Regards, (Chris Greenway, Kenya, July 23, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ARGENTINA. EMISORAS DE ONDA MEDIA EN BANDA AMPLIADA: Listado actualizado al 20 de Julio de 2002. 1610 / RADIO CANTICO NUEVO QTH: Av. Oliver 1319, Barrio 9 de Abril (1842 Monte Grande) Tel: (011) 4272-2943 DG: Alfredo H. Soto 1610 / RADIO EXITOS QTH: España 1189 (1712 Castelar) Tel: (011) 4458-1601 DG: Ana María Menéndez de Montagna 1620 / RADIO TROPICANA QTH: Av. San Juan 2461 (1232 Capital Federal) Tel: (011) 4941-1723, 4941-9280, 4941-7601 OP: Asociación Civil "Jesús es mi Salvador" DG: Genuario Rodríguez Almeida 1630 / AM1630 RADIO BUEN AYRE (RED 92) QTH: Calle 32 Nro. 426 (1900 La Plata) Tel: (0221) 483-0478 E-mail: OP: NCA S.A. 1640 / RADIO BOLIVIA QTH: Av. Int. Francisco Rabanal 1465, PA (1437 Capital Federal) Tel: (011) 4919-3659 DG: Haydee E. Catalano 1660 / RADIO UNIDAD (*) QTH: Molina 830 (Rafael Calzada) Tel: (011) 4241-2544 OP: Iglesia Internacional Unidos en el Amor de Jesús DG: Alicia del Carmen Velil 1670 / BBC AMERICA LATINA (*) E-Mail: <1670@s...> TXR: via RADIOMANIA (San Justo) 1680 / AM GETRO QTH: Av. San Martín 4280, Dpto. 2 (1824 Lanus oeste) Tel: (011) 4286-1735 OP: Iglesia Jesucristo La Roca Viva DG: Pablo J. Mahíquez 1690 / APOCALIPSIS II QTH: Monseñor Bufano 3386 (1754 San Justo) Tel: (011) 4484-4517 OP: Fundación "Cristo la Solución" Nota: (*) Reportada inactiva (DG) Director General o Propietario / (OP) Operada por ... Cabe señalar que otras estaciones que operaban en esta parte del dial, actualmente se han mudado de frecuencia. Ellas son: 1470 / Radio M.E.C. (Caseros) - Ex 1710 KHz 1580 / Radio Restauración (Hurlingham) - Ex 1650 KHz 1600 / Radio Luz del Mundo (Rafael Calzada) - Ex 1610 KHz (Marcelo Cornachioni, Argentina, Conexión Digital July 21 via DXLD) ** ARGENTINA. RADIO LIBERTY La radio que nació para desalentar a los soldados ingleses en la Guerra de las Malvinas se llamó Liberty y su tarea era secreta. Silvia Fernández Barrio y Enrique Mancini fueron convocados por el gobierno militar para sumarse a la estrategia de inteligencia contra las tropas enemigas. Reivindican su papel Si la Segunda Guerra Mundial tuvo a la Rosa de Tokio para desalentar a las tropas aliadas, la Guerra de las Malvinas tuvo a radio Liberty. Catorce civiles participaron de esta estrategia comunicacional cuyo objetivo fue horadar la moral anglosajona. Silvia Fernández Barrio y Enrique Alejandro Mancini fueron dos de los civiles que participaron de la operación, que hoy desean contar aquello que quedó guardado bajo un pacto de silencio o por pura discreción. La primera, quien había sido parte de "60 minutos", trabajaba entonces en el programa de Badia "Sábado de todos"; el segundo, permanecia en el famoso ciclo de noticias de ATC. "Un dia estoy en "Sábado de todos" y me dicen: "Te llaman del comité militar". "¿Qué hice?", fue lo primero que pense -cuenta Fernández Barrio-. "¿Para qué me llamaran?" Me llevan a un lugar y me dicen: "Hemos hecho un estudio de inteligencia, usted es la persona mas confiable, y que sabe inglés. ¿Se acuerda de la Rosa de Tokio?" "Si", contesté. "Bueno, queremos una especie de Rosa de Tokio pero se va a llamar Liberty". Y ahi nace radio Liberty". -¿Eras la más confiable para quién? -Confiable para los argentinos. -Pero el objetivo era que lo escucharan ingleses... -Obviamente. Pero te imaginas que querrían a alguien que no les dijera cualquier cosa a los ingleses. No me preguntes a mí, pero me imagino que en una guerra habrá espías, habrá gente que manda información. Me imagino que sería confiable porque entendían que yo no les iba a jugar para el otro lado. -¿De quién estaba a cargo la operación? -Teóricamente, el encargado de la operación Liberty era el Servicio de Inteligencia del Ejército que se peleaba con el Servicio de Inteligencia Naval. -¿Quiénes lo hacían? -Éramos todos civiles. -¿La línea editorial era militar? -Ellos daban una línea pero después entre el que la escribía y yo, la línea la cambiábamos. Si era una línea cruel o era una línea dura, no la pasábamos así. La pasábamos mucho más suave, no hablábamos nunca ni de muertos ni de cosas feas. Nos tirábamos más a que extrañaran a su país y que no vinieran a unas tierras de las cuales no tenían ni idea. Y eso lo debemos haber hecho entre el 7 y el 14 de junio. -¿Tenías posibilidad de decir: "No, no lo hago"? -Sí, absolutamente. Podría haber dicho que no. -¿Por qué no dijiste que no? -Porque entendí que estaba haciendo algo pacífico y que a lo mejor podía ayudar. Yo creo que cuando tu país está en guerra, no tienes demasiado tiempo para pensar de qué lado te vas a poner. A mí me ponen la marcha de Malvinas y se me caen los lagrimones por lo que viví, por lo que como inocentes criaturas creíamos, por el daño que se le hizo a tanta gente. A mí se me hiela el corazón. Alejandro, el memorioso Las precisiones acerca de Liberty las brinda la prodigiosa memoria del locutor y conductor Enrique Alejandro Mancini, que coordinaba la grabación y aportaba, con material propio, la música irlandesa, galesa, inglesa y hasta de los Beatles, que se incluía en la transmisión. A través de la onda corta, Liberty llegaba hasta Londres, Nueva Zelanda, Australia, aquellas metrópolis que podían identificarse con las tropas inglesas. Y recuerda Mancini que tanto inquietó al Parlamento británico que crearon otra radio, con el mismo objetivo, pero como no tenían una vasta discoteca argentina, pasaban siempre discos de Juan D´Arienzo. -¿Dónde se hacian las grabaciones? -Grabábamos en el piso 14 de lo que es el edificio de Radio Ciudad de Buenos Aires. Se grababa de mañana muy temprano, un rollo de 45 minutos, aproximadamente. Una vez listo lo pasaba a retirar en moto un oficial de policía de la provincia de Buenos Aires, y lo llevaba bajo su responsabilidad a la planta transmisora de Transradio Internacional. Ahí se difundía por distintas frecuencias a las que a veces se sumaban la ondas cortas de Radio Nacional. Siempre se cambiaba de frecuencia, en distinto metraje de onda corta, para evitar la interferencia de la inteligencia británica. -Fernández Barrio, que hablaba inglés, era la locutora. -Ella hablaba muy bien el inglés americano, por lo cual un traductor irlandés le marcaba el tono victoriano, la pronunciación inglesa. Los textos los escribían varios, pero el más importante era un autor de libretos de radio y TV, a veces actor, habitualmente de comedietas televisivas. -¿Qué se decía? -El contenido de la programación era un texto muy sentido, sobre las bajas que tenían los ingleses, donde se manifestaba el pesar por su muerte. Le hablaba, por ejemplo, al padre de un soldado británico caído y le decía que entendía su pesar porque había muerto su muchacho, que él iba a ir hoy a ver el Tottenham pero que no iba a estar más con su hijo que vino a entregar su vida para defender una factoria que estaba a 14.000 kilometros de la metrópoli. Decía que en el cuarto se iban a encontrar sólos los discos, como este, que escuchaba su muchacho, y se pasaba el tema en cuestión que podía ser un tema de los Beatles. Las emisiones de radio Liberty se prolongaron hasta 48 horas después de la caída de Puerto Argentino. Ese día, recuerda Mancini, se hizo una despedida bilingüe, en inglés y en castellano: "Se perdió una batalla, pero no el propósito de recuperar las islas, porque las Malvinas han sido, son y serán argentinas". (Miriam Molero, para diario La Nacion, Argentina, en Internet, Abril 7, via Arnaldo Slaen, Argentina, lista ConDig, Jul 16 via DXLD) ** AUSTRALIA. 2310, Alice Springs, weak 0950-1005 23 July. For an insight into life in Alice Springs: Alice Springs News HTTP://www.alicespringsnews.com.au/ (Bob Wilkner R-75, ground level 10 meter wire, Margate FL, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** AUSTRIA. Innsbruck Aldrans, 6000 kHz [50/10 kW], der ... ORF Steilstrahler fuer Nord-, Ost- und Suedtirol auf 6000 kHz. Nicht nur Herbert Kuhnle in Hoeflein hat die Schliessung damals bedauert. Aber die jungen Herrn "Inschenaeaeeere" wussten es ja besser, von wegen UKW Vollversorgung usw. (wb) Irrtum. Die Abschaltung erfolgte nicht "von wegen UKW Vollversorgung", sondern weil mit der RAS ein System zur Direktversorgung von Suedtirol geschaffen worden war. Die italienische Seite bestand, im Gegenzug, auf die Beendigung der KW-Versorgung. Schuld waren also ausnahmsweise nicht die "Ingeschnaeaeeere", sondern die "Polihiitiker". Wir haetten gern Aldrans fuer den Auslandsdienst bekommen. Das scheiterte an den Leitungskosten. (Heutzutage waere derlei kein Problem, und wir wuerden uns - siehe "Radio Nachbar in Not" oder DRM - alle zehn Finger abschlecken vor Freude ueber diesen Sender an diesem Standort.) Der 50 kW-Sender steht heute als Standby in Moosbrunn und bewirkt natuerlich gar nix mehr (Wolf Harranth-AUT OE1WHC A-DX Jul 16, via BC-DX July 23 via DXLD) ** BOLIVIA. La Cruz del Sur was excellent at 1000 July 23 on 4877; unusual propagation conditions (Chris Hambly, Victoria, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** BOUGAINVILLE. R. Free Bougainville, Clandestine - active on 3850 kHz AM. Fade in around 0945-1107 UT s-off English + Pidgin, difficult QRN the last couple of days!! 100% (Roland Schulze, Philippines, BC-DX July 20 via DXLD) Sam Voron tells me today that the word 'Mekamui' translates as 'holy land' with the station being for the people of Independent Central Bougainville. Sam is happy to confirm correct reception reports. Please send Sam enough return postage or remuneration to cover all of his costs or a little more to cover some of his other costs associated with establishing independent radio stations for the people in war ravaged countries. See his latest volunteer work in the Solomon Islands at http://www.H44A.com (Ian Baxter, AUSTRALIA, July 23, ARDXC via DXLD) See also SOLOMON ISLANDS ** CANADA. Re CJWI 1610, Montreal, still silent: Larry Dolan(?) drove by and found a building with a sign saying CPAM Radio Union.com, pretty sure the antenna is there, a white tower structure on the roof of a 2-storey building at 3733 Jarre ? East at the corner of Leonardo da Vinci, a few blocks west of where we thought it was, Addison Electronics outlet. Law offices in same building. Studio may be there or elsewhere (Sheldon Harvey, QC, International Radio Report July 21 via DXLD) ** CANADA. Arnie Coro`s visit to Canada is off due to visa holdup: see CUBA [non]. He was also going to an informal ODXA gathering during his stopover in Toronto (gh, DXLD) ** CANADA. SPECIAL REMOTES OFFERED FROM WORLD YOUTH DAY by Larry Nolte, program director, New Heart New Voices St. Louis, July 13 (special)– I do a Catholic music radio show on WRYT-AM, St. Louis. I have arranged to go to this coming World Youth Day, July 22nd to 28th for the station as a journalist. I will be producing 10 minute updates daily for broadcast. The segments will consist of interviews as well as news and feature pieces on all aspects of attending WYD as a pilgrim. We hope to cover the music, the Pope's arrival, security and everyday pilgrim experiences. IF all goes well. We've been planning this for a couple months. The segments, one or two a day, will be uploaded to the shows website, http://www.newheartnewvoices.com in both streaming realaudio, for listening and 128 kbps for downloading and rebroadcast. The segments will be in English only. I will be glad to offer these to any Catholic station free of charge that might want to use them. This is a very exciting event and deserves the broadest coverage. Any station manager that wants to make arrangements can email me at lar@newheartnewvoices.com. Details will be available later this week on the website under a "radio" link. (Catholic Radio Update July 15 via DXLD) Glenn, http://www2.delasalle.toronto.on.ca/events/wyd.html Check under "What to bring" at this website for pilgrims. Bring a radio (hope it has FM! -- and WTFK?). New antennas to handle increase in cell phone use. I haven't seen any reference in articles on security about cell phone jamming. 73, (Ivan Grishin, Ont., July 23, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Viz.: ``Battery powered radio. All events will be broadcasts over the radio in seventeen different languages. Since you may not be close to and event, you will be able to hear it on the radio.`` (site above via gh, DXLD) We had an item a month ago on this with frequencies (tho not which languages on which), and mentioned on WOR 1140 (gh) ** COLOMBIA. 6064.5, La Voz de tu Conciencia, 0754 July 23, noted again so maybe has QSY'd back here from 6060 or is this a re- activation after a brief period??? Much stronger signal than previously too. ID 0756 then into religious message, ID again 0801 (Paul Ormandy, Oamaru, New Zealand, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Have seen no reports yet of their actually being on 6060 (gh, DXLD) ** CUBA [non]. PRESS RELEASE FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE VERNON, BC. The delays in processing the thousands of visa applications for the World Youth Day Festival in Toronto appear to be having major consequences for a popular Cuban radio personality. Professor Arnaldo Coro is Chief Engineer at Radio Havana Cuba's English language shortwave radio service. He is known worldwide among amateur radio operators and shortwave radio buffs for his bi-weekly radio programme "DX'ers Unlimited". Professor Coro is in fact so popular that he has been invited to be the keynote speaker at the National Convention of Radio Amateurs of Canada, the national organization representing Canada's 50,000 amateur radio operators. The Convention is this weekend (July 26-28) in Vernon, British Columbia. Professor Coro's flight was to arrive in Toronto on Monday evening en route to Vernon, but the Canadian Embassy in Havana has yet to issue him a visa. The Canadian Embassy had promised convention organizers that a visa would be issued Friday afternoon, just in time for Professor Coro's Monday afternoon flight. However, when a courier from the Cuban Institute of Radio and Television (ICRT) arrived at the embassy on Friday he was left standing in the baking tropical sun outside the embassy grounds for several hours and was given no explanation by Canadian personnel why Professor Coro's visa documents were not ready. On Saturday, senior embassy staff informed convention organizers that the delays were due to a backlog in visa processing because of World Youth Day. However, in an e-mail from Havana to the Convention Organizing Committee, Professor Coro states, "The justification coming from the big Catholic Youth Festival in Toronto overloading their system is not valid here in Cuba, as very few Cubans will be traveling to that event." Flights to Canada are booked solid. If Professor Coro's visa is not issued Monday morning, it will be highly unlikely that he will be able to attend the convention. Professor Coro points out his concerns, "I never thought this kind of thing will happen with Canada, this is a very sad situation that is jeopardizing the relations between our respective amateur radio associations, as I am one of the founders of the Federación de Radioaficionados de Cuba, and one of the nation's best known radio amateurs, so my organization will take this very seriously indeed." "Professor Coro is an internationally respected ham radio operator with radio friends all over the world," said Wilfried Mulder, Radio Amateurs of Canada's convention chairman. "All we want is for his visa to be issued and for him to be on that plane Monday. World Youth Day may be an important event but the whole country shouldn't grind to a halt because of it". Ham radio operators are amateur radio experimenters who are often capable of transmitting radio signals around the globe with very low power. Despite the growth of the internet and cellular telephones, ham radio operators have remained a very important part of emergency communications for everything from major storms and earthquakes to the World Trade Center terrorist incident. - 30 - FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Wilfried Mulder Radio Amateurs of Canada Convention Committee Phone (250) 308-9211, Fax (250) 545-3174, email chairman@r... [truncated] *********************************** Radio Amateurs of Canada, RAC 2002 National Convention, Vernon, BC July 26, 27, & 28 http://www.rac2002.org (via Bob Chandler, VE3SRE, July 22, ODXA via DXLD) [Later:] It is with sadness that I must report that the meeting scheduled for July 31st at the Ontario Science Centre in Toronto with Professor Arnie Coro, CO2KK, Chief Engineer from Radio Havana Cuba has been cancelled. What saddens me is that the cancellation is not because of Arnie or any problems with travel arrangements. The fault lies totally with the Canadian Embassy in Havana, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs mandarins in Ottawa and our politicians for allowing things like this to happen. As well, I would like to apologize in advance for this particularly long e-mail. Its just that I am very upset at the way Arnie was treated by Canadian officials. Arnie was to be in Vernon, British Columbia as the keynote speaker at the Radio Amateurs of Canada national convention that is being held this weekend July 26-28th. Arnie had some "lay-over" time between connecting flights both on the way out to Vernon and on the way back to Havana and so the plan was that Arnie would be staying with me during his Toronto lay-over and we took advantage of his "Toronto time" to arrange the meeting at the Ontario Science Centre with the kind assistance of Alf Hepplestone, VE3ALF who is in charge of the ham radio programme at the OSC. Arnie was not only looking forward to meeting with ham radio operators and shortwave enthusiasts in the Toronto area but we had also planned to do a "side trip" to the Hammond Museum of Radio in Guelph. Arnie was planning to do an edition of his "DX'ers Unlimited" radio programme on his visit to the museum. Arnie, Wilf Mulder VE7OHM and his fellow members of the RAC Convention Committee worked their hearts out on travel arrangements and on Arnie's Canadian visa application. They left nothing to chance. They made sure to send all the paperwork via fax, e-mail and via courier. When at the last minute, the Canadian Embassy in Havana asked for additional information on the purpose of the visit they again sent everything via all three methods. They fully cooperated with the embassy and gave them any information they asked for. Arnie was required to pay a $50 U.S. non-refundable visa application fee to the Canadian Embassy. You must bear in mind that Arnie's salary is paid in non-convertable Cuban pesos. So, it was necessary for him to borrow the money from a relative in order to pay the visa application fee. Arnie was booked on a LACSA flight that was scheduled to leave Havana at 6:30 pm bound for Toronto on Monday, July 22nd and then go on to Vernon the following day. He was advised by the LACSA representative in Havana to arrive by at least 3:00 pm as there was a possibility that the flight was overbooked. About a week ago, the Canadian Embassy had promised to issue Arnie's visa at 1:00 pm on Friday, July 19th. This was a very tight time frame as Arnie's flight was to leave early Monday evening and the embassy was of course closed on the weekend should anything go wrong. The representative from the Cuban Institute for Radio and Television (ICRT) arrived at the embassy gate at 12:30 pm Friday to collect Arnie's documents and ended up standing there in +30 degree C temperatures for over two hours waiting for a response. There was none. And, the Canadian Embassy did not return Arnie's passport as is the normal thing when a country decides not to issue a visa. Wilf was in touch with Canadian Embassy personnel over the weekend and he was told that the problems were due to the overload of visa applications connected with World Youth Day in Toronto. They told Wilf to tell the folks from the ICRT to be at the embassy at 8:00 AM Monday morning. This morning (Monday, July 22nd) Wilf heard from Havana that the embassy was "reviewing" Arnie's visa application and that they would have something to say to the ICRT at 1:30 PM. It was a case of "we won't call you, you call us". At around 2:00 PM, Wilf received a call from an official from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Ottawa who told him that Arnie's visa application had been denied. Wilf asked why and the official said that he could not explain why due to the provisions of the Privacy Act. Wilf immediately e-mailed Arnie to give him the bad news. It seems that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs folks couldn't keep their story straight because the ICRT representative in Havana was told to "come back tomorrow" (Tuesday) at 8:00 AM...of course, long after Arnie's probably overbooked flight had left. I spoke to both Wilf and Arnie today by telephone and all of us are upset at this bureaucratic nightmare. Why did the Canadian Ministry of Foreign Affairs do this? None of us know for sure. When talking with Arnie today both he and I are of the opinion that this is part of some kind of deliberate diplomatic "snub" to the Cuban authorities for some reason or another. Arnie has taught at several universities in Havana over the years and has been involved in training the diplomatic corps. So he is well-versed in the "ins and outs" of diplomacy. The thing that upsets me, if indeed this is part of some diplomatic "snub", is that the Canadian Ministry of Foreign Affairs has "used" the Canadian ham radio community, which prides itself on being non- political, to make whatever political point they were trying to make. Hams simply share a love of the science of radiocommunications and we willingly put our abilities to work for our communities whenever there is a crisis. And because of either bureaucratic bungling or political intrigue we lose an opportunity to hear from a very prominent member of our world-wide community. If you are as upset as I am over this disgraceful treatment of Arnie and the Canadian ham radio community you might want to make your thoughts known to: [truncated] Canadian Embassy in Havana havan@d... Hon., Bill Graham, Minister of Foreign Affairs Graham.B@p... Hon. Allan Rock, Minister of Industry Rock.A@p... Your local MP. 73 (Bob Chandler VE3SRE, July 22, ODXA via DXLD) Wilf Mulder VE7OHM sent me an e-mail today mentioning that he'd been interviewed by CBC Radio Vancouver. He also mentioned that he should be on "Daybreak" at 6:45 AM tomorrow. The CBC folks told him that some of this may hit the national network. I'm not the best "morning person" so can't remember off-hand if "Daybreak" is CBC Radio's Vancouver morning programme or if it`s CBC television's national morning programme. All of this stuff isn't going to bring Arnie to the convention (at least this time), but at least the powers that be will know that radio hobbyists do not like being used as "political footballs". 73 de (Bob VE3SRE, July 23, ODXA via DXLD) As I recall, Daybreak is the CBC Radio One BC morning show that goes to that part of BC outside of metro Vancouver, and Vancouver Island (each of which have their own shows) (Eric Flodén, BC, ibid.) I caught the item on the 4:30 pm CBC Vancouver Regional news via real audio. It was about the third item and very well done. Thank you CBC!! Foreign Affairs is sticking to their story about the problem being because of the backlog due to WYD. Folks in these parts should be able to catch the 5:30 pm news at 8:30 pm eastern daylight time on the CBC website. 73 de (Bob VE3SRE, July 23, ibid.) Can be heard at http://vancouver.cbc.ca/ram/latest-vancouver.ram (Brian Smith, ibid.) Tsk, tsk, Arnie had no problem getting into Oklahoma for previous ham events. Why did they wait so long to get the visa? This week`s DXULs could be interesting, tho he no doubt had pre-recorded some editions. Caught part of the 0140 UT Wed airing when 9820 was weaker than usual, and usual stuff, no rant; try 0340, 0540 if in time (gh, DXLD) ** CHILE. Voz Cristiana intends to test some curtain antennas at Santiago site, Chile, which have recently become licenced after several years of inactivity. The tests are planned to commence at 2230 UT on 17th July and end at 0130 UT on 18th July. The following antennas in Santiago (site code SGO) will be tested with 100 kW, modulation 1 kHz tone: A.=ITU code 158 (AHR 2/4/1), azimuth 45 deg. B.=ITU code 218 (AHR(S) 4/4/1), azimuth 75 deg, slew +/- 30 deg. C.=ITU code 218 (AHR(S) 4/4/1), azimuth 75 deg, slew +/- 30 deg. We test each antenna for just a few mins at a time within the following schedule: 6110 kHz: 2300-2400 9730 kHz: 2330-0100 11930 kHz: 2300-0130 13620 kHz: 0000-0130 15240 kHz: [?]2200-2400 17650 kHz: 2300-2400 We have endeavoured to identify frequencies which will not cause any disturbance to existing routine transmissions. Christian Vision, tel +44 121 522 6087 fax +44 121 522 6083 e-mail andrewflynn@christianvision.com (July 16) I'm not sure if I'll be able to stay awake for all of the SGO tests, but will try to hear. 15240 at 2200, R Australia via TWN is using the frequency, but never very strongly heard here. ... I listened at 2200 last night (17th) on 15240 but heard nothing at all - no trace of SGO and no trace of Australia either. Maybe nothing happened until 2230? (Noel R. Green-UK, BC-DX Jul 18) Despite the test time span is not so comfortable for the European audience, I managed to check the 11930, 15240 and 17650 channels just till 2340 UT. Used the good old Sony 2010, telescopic ant in the living room. Nothing observed at 2200-2300 on 15240 except RA/Taiwan? co-ch. I heard a 1000 Hertz test tone only on 15240 S=8-9, start from approx. 2300 UT, but to about 2315 UT only; not from 2200. Signal strength: 9 of 10 diodes shining on the 2010. At about 2328-2334 UT same 1000 Hertz tone on 17650 kHz, same signal strength like on 15 MHz. Then I went to the dreamland ... (wb) (Wolfgang Bueschel, Germany, BC-DX via DXLD) ** CHILE. 6089.91, R. Esperanza, 0956-1055 July 21. Seems to be a regular here in Oregon after Gene Scott signs off at 0955 (Esperanza is heard underneath Gene's signal on 6090 until his signoff) and until R. Japan signs onto 6090 with Korean at 1058. Nearly continuous music with low level M announcements between some of the music (contemporary SS music, not religious). At 1039 UT, managed to snag a good ID ("En Temuco, Chile.....Radio Esperanza...banda international de...Temuco"). There were other ids at poor levels (compared to the music) during the broadcast (Don Nelson, Oregon, July 21, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CUBA [non]. NEWS FROM WRMI - July 22, 2002 Ten months after discontinuing its broadcasts to Cuba, the Cuban American National Foundation is resuming its shortwave service, "The Voice of the Foundation." A few weeks after the September 11th tragedy last year, the Foundation was forced to suspend its 12-year-old shortwave service due to financial difficulties. The new, more limited "Voice of the Foundation" will be broadcast (in Spanish) each Monday, Wednesday and Friday at 1030-1130 UT on 9955 via WRMI in Miami, beginning July 24th. The Cuban American National Foundation is the largest and most influential Cuban exile organization in the United States. NOTICIAS DE WRMI - Julio 22, 2002 Diez meses después de descontinuar sus transmisiones a Cuba, la Fundación Nacional Cubano Americana está reiniciando su servicio de onda corta, "La Voz de la Fundación." Un par de semanas después de la tragedia del 11 de septiembre el año pasado, la Fundación tenía que suspender su servicio de onda corta -- que ya llevaba 12 años -- debido a dificultades financieras. La nueva, mas limitada "Voz de la Fundación" será transmitida cada lunes, miércoles y viernes a las 1030-1130 TU en 9955 vía WRMI en Miami a partir del 24 de julio. La Fundación Nacional Cubano Americana es la organización de exiliados cubanos mas grande y de mas influencia en los Estados Unidos (Jeff White, WRMI, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CZECH REPUBLIC. TOP CZECH PRIEST ASKS US PRESIDENT TO DELAY CLOSURE OF US RADIO CZECH BROADCASTS | Text of report in English by Czech news agency CTK Prague, 23 July: The Czech Catholic Primate Cardinal Miloslav Vlk has written a letter to US President George Bush saying that it would be useful to preserve the Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty's (RFE/RL) Czech broadcasts at least until the Czech Republic joins the EU, which is expected in 2004. Vlk wrote to Bush in mid-July, Czech Bishops' Conference spokesman Daniel Herman told CTK today. A letter with a similar content has been recently sent by Petr Pithart, the Czech Senate [upper house of parliament] chairman, to the RFE/RL Council of Governors, Pithart's adviser Jaroslav Veis said. The Czech-language section of the US-run RFE/RL is to cease broadcasting on 1 October, after 52 years, the RFE/RL Council of Governors decided in Washington several weeks ago. The RFE/RL broadcasts are no longer necessary in the Czech Republic as it is a democracy. Similarly, the RFE/RL's Polish and Hungarian broadcasts were stopped long ago, Washington says. According to RFE/RL director Thomas Dine, the USA needs money to extend the station's broadcasts to other countries in connection with its fight against terrorism. The director of the Czech broadcasts, Olga Kopecka, said she would try to save the broadcasts. To achieve the goal, she has to gain the necessary sum equivalent to the hitherto US subsidy of 650,000 dollars. Source: CTK news agency, Prague, in English 1040 gmt 23 Jul 02 (via BBCM via DXLD) ** FRANCE. UNIDENTIFIED. Via MWC kreeg ik hetvolgende bericht over 1062 khz: Re Andrew Tett's suggestion that this mystery signal on 1062 kHz could possibly originate in France. This is possible as the signal peaked to the South East from here (Caversham, Berks). From memory, 1062 kHz has been used in France for temporary licences in the past (e.g. R Latina from Villebon during the World Cup from France?). There have also been DRM tests on 1062 from Villebon (near Paris) this year (are they still happening?) After Denmark closed at 2230 UT last night, signal was fairly clear - still with Chinese music with sound like a faulty CD player. Identity is still a mystery - any member in France confirm any current usage of 1062 kHz? (Alan Pennington, Caversham UK, MWC via Maz van Arnhem, BDXC via DXLD) This mystery station playing quick short bursts of Chinese style music audible at present here in Caversham (2130 UT 21 July). It`s audible even on a portable when it fades up and Denmark, the dominant station on the frequency here is nulled. It`s not Italy either which is also audible on 1062 at times. (thanks to tip below from Max van Arnhem/ Dick vd Knaap (via MWC Email list): Thanks to a tip of Dick vd Knaap, the Netherlands I also heard a station on 1062 kHz transmitting Chinese type music and songs without announcements. He reported the station the last few evenings and nights and I also heard this station tonight (21 July). My ALA is beaming SW-NE. Anybody knows more about this station? (Max van Arnhem, The Netherlands, BDXC via DXLD) L'émetteur parisien qui diffusait en continu des signaux DRM depuis le 1er juin diffuse depuis aujourd'hui un programme de chansons qui semblent chinoises sur la fréquence de 1062 kHz. Après un quart d'heure d'écoute, pas la moindre identification (Thierry VIGNAUD - Boulogne-Billancourt (France) http://www.emetteurs.fr.fm via fr.rec.radio via Dimitri Tomarov, July 22, BDXC via DXLD) Translation: The Paris transmitter that has broadcast DRM since the 1st of June, now transmits a programme with Chinese sounding songs on 1062 khz (Max van Arnhem, The Netherlands, MWC via BDXC-UK via DXLD) ** GAMBIA. Subject: [GRDXC] GRTS opens Multimedia site (NON-DX) Dear Friends, Here is an Non-DX interesting item I found on the web from Gambia Radio & TV News. When I visited the site it says: GRTS Online! COMING SOON In just a few hours time... 73s, (Harjot Singh Brar for GRDXC...) --------------------------------------------------------------------- Banjul The Gambia Radio and Television Service (GRTS) will be opening its audio-visual multimedia website on the July 22nd Anniversary of The Gambia Revolution. This website will be located at http://www.grts.gm and will be broadcasting video news over the Internet via streaming Real video technology. The website will also be carrying Daily News from The Gambia in plain text format with some accompanying pictures. Under the management of the new Director General, Mr. Bora Mboge, GRTS, with the help of Unique Solutions, a local multi-media company intends to further expand its' online audio-visual presence to include famous Radio and Television programmes like the popular 'Land of our Heritage' programme. For more details, please contact info@grts.gm or visit http://www.grts.gm (GRDXC via Mike Terry, DXLD) ** GERMANY [and non]. I found the following on the RSGB web site. I expect you know about it already! (Richard Buckby-UK G3VGW, RSGB, Jul 19) Hello to all LF'ers, on Wednesday, 24th of July, the 153 kHz transmitter of Deutschlandfunk in Donebach (JN49ON, 50 km SSE of Frankfurt) will be off air due to scheduled maintenance. By the friendly co-operation of the site personnel and with consent of the regulation authorities, a small group of German LF amateurs has been granted access to one of the 360 metres masts between 0700 and 1500 UT. With a little luck we might be able to achieve about 30 dB more radiation efficiency than at home. We will probably need some time to work out the impedance matching. After that, we intend to operate preferably in CW and Slow-CW modes. As we expect a rather high noise floor from the Frankfurt area, we will bring along a tuned loop for receiving, and we will be QRV on 7030 kHz in CW as well. If nothing else works, please give us a phone call on +49 174 3692499, or send an email note via the reflector or to dj2lf@darc.de or markusvester@aol.com Let's look forward to a successful day, hopefully without thunderstorms or strong noise. 73 The group: Markus - DF6NM, Walter - DJ2LF, Ralph - DL2NDO, Ralph - DK3GH, Roland - DL3NDR, Franz - DL5NER. (RSGB web site via Richard Buckby-UK G3VGW, BC-DX Jul 19 via DXLD) I was not aware of this [amateur radio] test, although it was on discussion with the chief engineer of DTK-Deutsche Telekom, during our sightseeing tour to Donebach site on June 14th, this year. The engineer told us that the two transmitters are silent on July 23 till 25th during daytime, most likely 0610-1555 UT. The CW test on LF will be in the 136-137 kHz range of LF Ham R Band [secondary band usage], not on v153 kHz broadcasting band. 73 wb df5sx 136 kHz (135.7-137.8 in GB). Secondary. Available on the basis of non- interference to other services (inside or outside the United Kingdom). Morse Telephony RTTY Data Facsimile SSTV. 153 DLF DTK Donebach tx. Maintenance break during July 23-26, 2002, according time slots given on the DLF program. Interesting to listen to Nordcap-NOR, ALG and ROU transmitters instead. Abschaltung fuer Generalueberholung 23. bis 26. Juli 2002, dann Noerdliches Norwegen Nordkap, Algerien und Brasov-Bod-ROU hoerbar. Abschaltzeiten werden im DLF Programm angesagt. (DLF Donebach sightseeing tour, BC-DX Jun 14) DTK / DLF Donebach 153 kHz silent since 0610 UT today, seemingly one day earlier than expected. BREAK schedule most likely daily 0610-1547 UT, on 22nd til 26th?? of July, 2002. Seit 0610 UT an diesem 22. Juli ist der LW Sender DTK Donebach 153 kHz abgeschaltet. Offensichtlich beginnen die Generalueberholungsarbeiten schon einen Tag frueher, heute am 22. Juli. Die Unterbrechung der Aussendungen des DLF auf dieser Frequenz duerften bis circa 1555? UT dauern. 73 wb df5sx 153 kHz. Von 1300[0610-] bis 1547 UT war in der Naehe von Hannover nur Radio Romania Actualitata zu hoeren. Ab 1547 UTC Donebach wieder aktiv. 198 kHz. Polskie R war hier gleichstark mit der BBC aufzunehmen (nicht \\ mit 225 kHz). 1600 UTC schaltete Polish Radio ab. Nach Abschalten des polnischen Senders war noch ein schwaches Signal unter der BBC zu hoeren. Zu schwach, um ihn zu identifizieren. (Uwe Volk-D, BC-DX July 22) Ich bin gerade 1556 UT nach Hause gekommen, zu dieser Zeit war Donebach schon wieder on air. Danke fuer Deine Beobachtung, damit habe ich die genaue Abschaltzeit [0610-1547 UT] eruiert bekommen. Morgen und uebermorgen werden die Wartungsarbeiten weitergehen, vielleicht auch noch am 26. Juli, ja wenn die erste Information von Herrn Karl-Otto Wohlfarth (DTK Donebach), E-Mail: arl-Otto.Wohlfarth@telekom.de richtig war. Ich bin extra nach draussen gegangen, mit dem besseren Sony, den ICF 2010 aus 1995 aus den USA. Habe aber tagsueber nichts auf 153 kHz gehoert. Nur die schwach einfallenden Stationen mit S=1-2 auf 171? welches Programm? Tilsit-Bolshakovo? Kai weisst Du das, was hoerst Du?, 198 BBC, 216 Monaco, 225 POL gehoert. Stark - ohne Probleme - hoere ich tagsueber 177, 185, 207, 234, 243, 270 kHz, spaeter dann auch 252 aus ALG und IRL, sowie nachts 279BLR kHz. Ich glaube aber, dass Bod-ROU nicht mehr mit voller Leistung arbeitet, die waren frueher staerker, selbst in Italien war neben Donebach nichts aus ROU aufzunehmen, selbst wenn ich Donebach auf Ferrit-Ant- Minimum zurueck gedreht habe. 73 wb df5sx (all: BC-DX via DXLD) ** GERMANY. Am 29.6.2002 protestierten mehrere hundert Anwohner im Rahmen eines "Valleyer Informationstages" gegen die Sendeanlagen des International Bcing Bureau http://www.ibb.gov Die Station wurde vor 50 Jahren fuer Mittelwellensendungen nach Osteuropa errichtet und beherbergt zur Zeit vier 250 kW-Kurzwellensender. Die Proteste, die in den 90er Jahren immer staerker wurden, fuehrten bereits zur Abschaltung der Mittelwelle (frueher 719/720 kHz, zuletzt 1593 kHz [150 kW]). [we had a report on this in English some time ago --- gh] Bei der Zusammenlegung der Anlagen von Voice of America und R Free Europe/Radio Liberty in die Verantwortung des International Broadcasting Bureau wurde Mitte der 90er schon die Schliessung angekuendigt. Auf dem Protesttag praesentierten Elektrosmog-Experten Ergebnisse von Untersuchungen in Holzkirchen, Moosbrunn und Schwarzenburg. Zusammenfassungen sind auf der Homepage http://www.sender-freies-oberland.de zu finden (Dr Hansjoerg Biener-D, 30.6.2002; ntt, BC-DX via DXLD) ** GUYANA. Disturbed conditions could lead to some unusual reception over the next day or two, particularly on the lower frequencies (especially tropical bands and MW). Possible aurora has also been forecast. Currently hearing V. of Guyana on 3291.25 with fair signal (23 July 2325) in English though suffering sporadic ute interference. Heard last night also from 2350 to past 0100 UT. Not sure if this reception is due to the disturbed conditions? (Alan Pennington, Caversham, UK, AOR 7030+ / beverage, July 23, BDXC-UK via DXLD) ** INDIA. AIR COMPLETES 75 YEARS OF BROADCASTING TODAY Hyderabad, July 22: The All India Radio celebrates 75 years of broadcasting on Tuesday. It started as Broadcasting Corporation of India on July 23, 1927. So far as Hyderabad`s own history of broadcasting goes, it began in Chirag Ali Lane, in 1933, with a one-watt ``toy`` transmitter, set up by a postal clerk. It then went on to become the Deccan Radio in 1938 — under the Nizam, and finally it was merged with the AIR, on April 1, 1950. Hyderabad got its AIR services only from 1950. The Vijayawada AIR station, however, was set up on December 1, 1948, in composite Madras and was inaugurated by the then revenue minister Kala Venkat Rao. Radio has stood its ground through the years as a living medium. Some of the famous old-timers of the AIR (Vijayawada and Hyderabad) spoke to Deccan Chronicle on Monday about their AIR experience. Says flautist and former music producer of AIR N S Srinivasan: ``I joined AIR in 1959. We worked with legends like Devulapally Krishna Sastry and Pingle Lakshmikantam. AIR was part of people`s life.`` He recounts the popularity of radio legends such as Radio Annaiah Ganapati Raghava Rao and Radio Akkaiah (his wife) Kameswaramma. V S N Camphor, a Peshawar refugee, used to narrate a children`s story during a five-minute break before the news at 7.05 pm. ``Children would stop playing and run to listen to his story,`` he says. His wife Sharada Srinivasan, also associated with AIR as a drama artist, recollects, ``During the Diviseema cyclone, AIR staffers visited cyclone-hit areas. We later produced a programme Kanneeti Keretaalu, recording voices of people who had been hit by the cyclone. Listening to this many came forward to help.`` Indiraganti Srikanta Sarma scriptwriter for AIR initially said, ``The ambience was so creative and fulfilling that we produced 15 Sanskrit and Telugu programmes, 14 of which won national awards.`` Special radio broadcasts today All India Radio, Hyderabad, will broadcast special programmes on Tuesday in connection with the completion of 75 years of broadcasting. Special programmes in Hyderabad A Channel: At 7.15 pm — Udayatarangini (`Radio ki 75 Vasanthaalu` — a feature on broadcasting in India). At 8.30 am: Carnatic vocal by M S Subbalakshmi. A special phone-in-programme to collect listener`s views on broadcasting in India along with film songs will be broadcast at 9 am. Listeners can call between 9 am and 10 am on 3232080 or 3232073 to express their views. A Carnatic music programme by G N Balasubrahmanyam will be broadcast at 1.30 pm. ``Radio Natakam`` — a programme based on excerpts of archival plays and opinions of eminent personalities will be broadcast at 8.15 pm. AIR is also broadcasting special programmes on Hyderabad B Channel (217.8 Mtrs, 1377 KHz). Antharangam — a programme on listener`s opinion in connection with AIR`s 75 years will be broadcast at 6.15 pm. A special programme ``Kuch Yaadein - Kuch Baatein — Aap Ke Saath`` will be broadcast at 9.30 pm. (Via Deccan Chronicle, Hyderabad 23 July 2002) http://deccan.com/city/template.shtml# AIR completes 75 years of broadcasting today. Several special programs were heard on AIR in connection with their platinum jubilee, in local languages (Jose Jacob, VU2JOS, Hyderabad, India, dx_india via DXLD) ** INTERNATIONAL VACUUM. I always considered Playboy magazine and its video offspring to be essentially visual media. (Yeah, I know you only read the articles and never look at the pictures. Well I still look at the pictures just to refresh my fading memory.) Today I learned that XM Satellite Radio is going to add the Playboy channel to its program lineup. Playboy on the radio -- now there's something that would bring audiences back to BBC World Service (sneaky obligatory SW reference). People complain that talking on cell phones is distracting and causing accidents. "They ain't seen nothin' yet", as Jimmy Durante used to say. Picture this redneck truck driver hurtling down I-95, pedal to the metal, all glassy-eyed, listening to XM's Playboy channel, while his Vacu-jack machine hums softly to the rhythm of the road. The mind boggles. The following is from the XM press release announcing their third quarter absence of earnings: Programming Enhancements Today, XM announced significant programming enhancements to its 100- channel lineup to take effect on August 26, 2002 based on subscriber feedback involving channel adds, format changes and deletions. XM will introduce an audio books and radio drama channel, a Radio Classics channel, as well as channels dedicated to Electronica, Folk, Easy Listening, Neo Soul and Urban Hip Hop as well as its first premium channel, Playboy Radio, offered to subscribers at $2.99 per month beginning on September 3rd. ~*-.,_,.-*~'^'~*-.,_,.-*~'^'~*-., (Joe Buch, swprograms via DXLD) -*~'^'~*-.,_,.-*~'^'~*-.,_,.-*~'^ Methinks that an audio book channel, like most shortwave listening, (obligatory SW reference), would be more dangerous for drivers than Playboy Radio. A recent study concluded that drivers with Cellular Phones, either hand held OR NOT, lost enough concentration in their driving ability to give them "tunnel vision". I see the same thing happening with spoken word services like those. Such audio items would require an ability to use the theater of the mind, and with most of us not using that gift we developed when mama read us a bedtime story as children, we could loose site of reality while driving, or worse fall asleep at the wheel. Unless you are already conditioned by listening to hours of Ayn Rand on cassette, or vintage radio programs like "Suspense" or "X minus One", or Glenn Hauser's World Of Radio program, this can be hazardous while driving. Now if the Audio Book was say something of a lighter vain, like Eric Idle narrating the Monty Python version of nursery rhymes, then.... OOPs, Playboy IS doing that. Sign me up! ("Big Steve" Coletti, ibid.) ** IRAQ [non]. SAUDI ARABIA. Clandestine V of Iraqi People via (supposed) ARS moved at last from its long-standing 9568v to 9570.0 (BTW, it was silent for some months). Another freq 9563.0 remains untouched, still bringing strong het to 9565 VOA Ukrainian at 2000- 2030 (Vlad Titarev, Ukraine, DXplorer Jul 18 via BC-DX via DXLD) By the way, their third \\ channel is still 11710.3 (Mikhail Timofeyev, Russia, DXplorer Jul 18 via BC-DX via DXLD)) ** ITALY. It seems that AWR Europe will not be constructing the proposed Argenta transmitting stn in Italy after all. There seems no need for it, as they are already getting good coverage from all of their relay sites (Noel R. Green, UK, BC-DX July 19 via DXLD) ** MONACO. 3AC Monaco Radio. Station located close to parliament building on a road cut into the cliffside. Small building with a log periodic antenna and folded dipoles mounted on a tower at the railing of the road (Boulevard de Suisse in the town of Monaco) opposite the building. Unlike other coastal stations both transmitters and receivers are located in the building. Listen for weather forecasts in English and French at 0930 UT on 8806, 13152, 17323 and 22768 kHz (Karl-Erik Stridh, Sweden, WWDXC TopNews July 19 via BC-DX via DXLD) So are we now to conclude the HF antennas for this one are actually inside Monaco? (gh, DXLD) ** MOZAMBIQUE. An item from Agência de Informação de Moçambique (Maputo) July 18, 2002, Posted to the web July 21, 2002 Listeners to Radio Mozambique have been puzzled this week by the national station's disappearance from its habitual spot on the medium wave band of their sets: now they know that this is not due to any technical fault - instead vital pieces of radio equipment have been stolen. As a result, Radio Mozambique's national broadcast can only be heard on FM, thus drastically reducing the station's range. ----------------------------------------------------------------- 73s, (Harjot Singh Brar, Punjab, GRDXC via DXLD) or more specifically: ** MOZAMBIQUE. THIEVES SILENCE RADIO MOZAMBIQUE MATOLA TRANSMITTER Radio Mozambique´s mediumwave transmitter in Matola has been off the air in for the past few days after thieves stole vital pieces of broadcasting equipment. Radio Mozambique engineer Luis Loforte told the press that the thieves broke into the broadcasting centre in the city of Matola on Saturday, and stole three copper bobbins. As a result, Radio Mozambique's national broadcast can only be heard on FM, thus drastically reducing the station's range. Loforte noted that the theft was a "risky" operation, since it involved high voltage power. He therefore concluded that it was the work of people with a good knowledge of broadcasting technology, since they did it in such a way that they succeeded without any damage to themselves, and without being detected. Reporters who visited the site said that the fencing around the premises in Matola is very vulnerable, and that more security guards are needed. Loforte said that it will not be easy to replace the stolen copper, but the station will do its best to get the mediumwave transmitter back on the air before the end of this week. In the meantime, Radio Mozambique listeners in the central and northern provinces cannot hear the national station on mediumwave. Radio Mozambique's provincial stations are unaffected. Radio Mozambique had received the stolen equipment under a cooperation programme between the station and the Japanese government. Replacing it will probably mean a delay in receiving other materials that Japan would otherwise have supplied. This is not the first time that there has been a serious theft at the Matola centre. Earlier cases involved the theft of copper cables used in shortwave broadcasts. The Matola site was originally used by Radio Clube de Mozambique (© Radio Netherlands Media Network July 23 via DXLD) ** NIGERIA. Although the following message has no relation with DXing but came because of DXing. I sent a request for latest sked and V. of Nigeria Airwaves from V. of Nigeria via email. The following message came in reply of that. May be replied if you are interested. Kind regards, (Swopan Chakroborty, Kolkata, India, DX LISTENING DIGEST) You guessed it --- another variation of the banking scam. Do NOT reply and above all do not give them your banking info, or the only money transferred will be your own, to them!!!! (gh, DXLD) ** PALESTINE. VOICE OF PALESTINE RADIO OBSERVED BACK ON AIR 21 JULY Palestinian radio Voice of Palestine from Ramallah on 21 July was observed to broadcast the following announcement: "Voice of Palestine is with you, from you, and for you. This is a radio for all listeners on FM 90.7 MHz." At 1015 gmt, the radio began to carry songs by Lebanese singer Fayruz. The first song was entitled "We are returning". It was the first time the radio was observed since the station went off the air at 1015 gmt on 24 June when Israeli troops entered Ramallah. The station later carried a musical play by Fayruz. Source: Voice of Palestine, Ramallah, in Arabic 0000 gmt 21 Jul 02 (via BBCM via DXLD) ** PAPUA NEW GUINEA. 3395, R Eastern Highlands, Goroka, 1950 July 22, carrier till 1956 then PNG pop song, female announcer in Pidgin at 1958 with id and MW freq. NBC news from Port Moresby at 2000. Last time heard was April 1 (Paul Ormandy, New Zealand, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** PAPUA NEW GUINEA. By the way, Kerema is reported to be without fuel and without electricity for the past two days, due to lack of fuel deliveries. Electricity is reported OFF (fuel gone...) so no 3245 R Gulf. The newspaper reports they may get fuel into the province soon. Cited by one of the PNG newspapers. (Independent as I recall). That third link is... http://www.niugini.com/independent/ And of course there is some news this morning From Today's Post- Courier. 'VOICE OF THE SUNRISE' FALLS SILENT RADIO Bougainville fell silent yet again yesterday after the provincial government's power station pulled the plug on the transmission site because of unpaid bills. This is the second time the station had been closed this year. In February the station was also closed down briefly, again due to financial problems. The announcement of the closure comes at a time when the province's leaders take the first steps to set draft a Bougainville constitution in preparation for a Constituent Assembly and an autonomous Bougainville govt. But Bougainvilleans in remote areas who rely on radio news will be missing out on new developments without R Bougainville, or their "Maus B'long Sankamap" (Voice of the Sunrise), which is their radio station ID. Kubu Power House officials confirmed that power to the transmitter was switched off yesterday due to non-payment of power bills. They would not disclose the amount. "Just last week, our management requested for some funding from the Bougainville administration to keep the station on air while we wait for the remaining K70,000 from this year's appropriation," station officials said. "Radio Bougainville has been struggling to remain on air through its committed staff, who keep on pretending that all is well - until this morning (yesterday)." (via Don Nelson, OR, DX LISTENING DIGEST) I'm not aware of a web site for a PNG newspaper called the Independent, but the two papers I check sometimes are: http://www.postcourier.com.pg/ http://www.thenational.com.pg/ As Don indicated, PNG papers can help provide reasons why some frequency slots are vacant. I appreciate Don's comments, as he must monitor these sources more than I do currently (Guy Atkins, DXplorer Jul 18 via BC-DX via DXLD) Another good PNG morning, with many stations heard, most with G / VG signals. Here's a quick PNG bandscan from metro Denver, from 1100 to 1200 UT on 17 July: 2410 - blocked by local mixing product 3205 - strong carrier, under-modulated M ancr 3220 - VG signal; ended with mx at 1158, s-off at 1200. After 1200, presumed Korea left on the channel. 3235 - Good with tribal drumming at 1143; slop from local mixing product on 3240 3245 - not heard 3260 - VG signal; s/off at 1159, anthem at 1200. 3275 - VG 3290 - local mixing product 3305 - weak carrier only 3315 - VG signal; 1115 with M ancr, island-flavored pop/reggae sounds. 3325 - 2 or 3 mixing here, prob PNG and/or INS/GTM. 3335 - not heard 3345 - not checked 3355 - good 3365 - fair 3375 - not checked 3385 - not heard 3395 - VG 3905 - VG 4890 - VG Gee, this is just like the old days - what a treat! The only negative at this location is that we have local AM stns operating on 1600, 1650, and 1690 and the harmonics and mixing products from these land smack-dab in the 90 mb (John Wilkins, CO, DXplorer Jul 17 via BC-DX via DXLD) ** PERU. From: Radio San Antonio de Padua Callalli-Caylloma-Arequipa rsan_antonio14@hotmail.com Estimados amigos el motivo de la presente es para saludarlos ya a la vez comunicarles que desde hace una semana no hay señal de radio San Antonio ya que como se habrán enterado por los cables internacionales el sur del Perú ha sido de clarado en emergencia debido a los desastres naturales como son el cambio de clima con fuertes nevadas fuertes vientos y bajas temperaturas lo que esta ocasionando enfermedades respiratorias agudas en los niños y ancianos y por otro lado el alto indice de mortandad en los animales como son alpacas, ovinos y llamas que no tiene que comer por lo que a nivel nacional se ha organizado una cruzada de ayuda para todas las zonas afectadas por este fenómeno climatológico por lo que el presente año y el próximo es difícil para toda la gente de esta zona que solo vive de la ganadería ya que por la altura aquí no hay agricultura. Debido a las nevadas se ha que mado un transformador de la luz ,por lo que desde hace máas de una semana todos los pueblos de la zona alta de Arequipa no contamos con fluído electrico y por lo visto todavía va a demorar por lo que estamos haciendo las gestiones ante las autoridades para que nos proporcionen combustible para nuestro generador y así mantener informados a todos los de la zona alta ya que por aquí es la única emisora que mantiene informados a todos los que habitan por las alturas por lo que esperamos que mañana o en el transcurso de la semana estemos saliendo al aire. Ya mas adelante les estaré contando más de talles de esta zona sur del Perú , sin más que decirle por el momento me despido hasta una próxima oportunidad. saludos. Hno Rolando del Carpio Montalvo ([sic] via Chuck Bolland, FL, also sent to many other DXers, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** PERU. Radio Victoria, Lima, 9720.4 khz, 0026-0055 GMT, very good signal, ID as "...Radio Victoria, una radio para tí...", SIO 333 (Daniele Canonica, Switzerland, July 22, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** PERU. 4790 RADIO ATLANTIDA. Iquitos, Perú. 2240 – 2256 Julio 20: Música del grupo español La Oreja de Van Gogh. `` ...5 de la tarde con 43 minutos, 5 con 43 en Atlántida la fabulosa 106.5...`` Prog. Radio Éxitos 106.5 5470.9, RADIO SAN NICOLAS. Rodríguez de Mendoza, Perú. 1110 – 1125 Julio 21: S/on después del Himno Nacional ``...Señoras y Señores desde la provincia más fértil del departamento de Amazonas, Rodríguez de Mendoza, bajo el arrullo del Río San - - - transmite Radio San Nicolás iniciamos nuestra transmisión correspondiente al día de hoy esperamos que a loa largo y ancho de nuestra programación usted se sienta complacido con nuestra música, saludos y noticias, primicias, comentarios y sobre todo la mejor animación...inicia su transmisión Radio San Nicolás ....`` 5500.2, RADIO SAN MIGUEL. San Miguel, Perú. 2256 – 2330 Julio 20: Comunicado del jurado electoral No. 001-1 ``...no lo piense más quédate con San Miguel, la radio ganadora...`` completa ID a las 2305 ``...Una voz peruana en los cielos de América, Radio San Miguel 101.1 frecuencia modulada; 1450 amplitud modulada; 5500 onda corta, para el Perú y el mundo... Radio San Miguel estudio master Jirón Alfonso Ugarte 668 San Miguel de Cajamarca, Perú.....`` Luego música con el grupo Néctar. A las 0000 con el programa Buenas Noches Perú. ``... feliz aniversario Perú, te desea Radio San Miguel, una voz peruana en los cielos de América...`` (Archivo de Audio) 5940. RADIO BETHEL. Arequipa, Perú. 0015 – 0045 Julio 21: Cultos y alabanzas para el día domingo del Movimiento Misionero Mundial de la Ciudad Blanca. A las 0020 un mensaje en inglés del cual alcance a grabar: ``...to you Bethel Radio International 5940 short wave Arequipa, Perú; if you want communication with us, send your letter to the postal address Union avenue 225 Miraflores, Arequipa, Perú. Also you can call us too 051 054 220450 ... we praying for you and remember God is your salvation….`` Luego vino el espacio La Hora de la Transformación con el Reverendo Rodolfo González con el Evangelio de la Santidad...`` Luego a las 0147 capte esta ID: `` Para todo el sur, Latinoamérica y Europa, somos Radio Bethel llevando el mensaje de Dios...`` (Rafael O. Rodríguez R., Santa Fé de Bogotá, Colombia, Conexión Digital via DXLD) ** POLAND. During Radio Polonia's Multimedia Show of the 9th of July, the following was said by way of clarifying the situation there. There is lots of activity at Polish Radio as it is the time for approval of ideas and plans as well as the new budget. The station will stay on shortwave, despite difficulties. Sufficient subsidies from the government, principally the Ministry of Foreign Affairs have been secured. The programme continued to state that, savings must be made on the transmissions and there is no problem broadcasting from territory outside Poland. This clears the way to use either, or indeed both, Rimovska, Slovakia and Julich, Germany for relays. These are anything up to 50% cheaper than the present TPSA transmitters outside Warsaw. (Costs could not be specified, but transmissions are understood to be at least 2/3 of the budget.) There is a new projected agreement that, as of the new year, radical changes will be taking place in the programming and transmission of Radio Polonia. (Jonathan Murphy, County Cork, Ireland, World DX Club email group, via Mike Barraclough, DXLD) ** SAMOA AMERICAN. [Previous item about WDJD being on 580 was] from the radio-tech discussion group. It is also reported that the station advertises 580 in the newspaper (nothing found on the web). Also: "This was an Auction 32 filing, and the FCC had it *originally* listed as 580 kHz. On 10/09/2001 the FCC issued a correction stating it should have been on 585 all along." Curious to find myself quoted verbitim on a Danish DX web site! (Geoff Fairbairn, UK, July 23, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** SIERRA LEONE. 6137.82, R UNSAMIL Freetown. E-mail verification reply back in ten days from Patrick Coker. He acknowledges my RR of R UNSAMIL and also states that my postal reply should be answered. So it seems postal reports are (maybe) getting through. This reply to my reception report of May 20th 02, which I sent a e-mail report follow- up on July the 5th addressed to Station Manager Ms. Sheila Dallas at info@unamsil.org Patrick thanked me for report and hope that I continue listening to their station. v/s Patrick Coker (Edward Kusalik, Alberta, DXplorer Jul 16 via BC-DX via DXLD) ** SOLOMON ISLANDS. Check out http://www.H44A.com Sam's latest international radio crusade is to create a group of local Solomon Island amateur radio operators from local interested folk in Guadalcanal area of the Solomon Islands. To do this they need Solar panels, transeivers, receivers amd the like. However Sam for the moment needs the assistance of someone (with a PC, printer and appropriate software) to create some blank CERTIFICATES for qualifying local Amateur Radio Operators in the Solomon Islands. He needs 2 types of certificates, 9 of each. CERTIFICATE 1 is for a Unrestricted Amateur Radio Licence Qualifying Course. CERTIFICATE 2 is for the Amateur Radio Examiners Qualifying Course. The certificates should show sketches or graphics of antennas between coconut trees and village huts with ground plane verticals (consisting of 4 ground plan radials). If you can please help Sam out please contact me and I'll pass on Sam's Sydney Telephone number. Sam generously devotes much of his time and money to many good causes relating to amateur radio / radio stations and needy people. He also unselfishly QSLs many SW reception reports for DXers (e.g. Radio Free Bougainville), so if you can kindly help out Sam please drop me a note at ausr-@volcanomail.com [truncated] Sam also mentions that his students at the Amateur Radio School of the Solomon Islands can sometimes be heard or contacted on 27.295 MHz LSB, that's channel 29 on the Australian HF CB Band. (Good Luck) Regards (Ian Baxter, AUSTRALIA, July 23, ARDXC via DXLD) See also BOUGAINVILLE ** SOMALIA. 6985kHz or not (?) - that is the question. One for the SW gurus!! Throughout most of June and early July I've been hearing a station of 6985 kHz that makes an appearance around 1500-1530 UT or a little later with an erratic schedule maybe heard 1 to 3 times a week. I've thought it to be Radio Gaalkacyo for the past months, based on the frequency, propagation, language and music. But according to Sam Voron (Sydney, Australia) who established the radio station, it isn't!! Apparently Radio Gaalkacyo has been off air for some months now. So I'm left pondering who on earth is it. To me if it's not Radio Gaalkacyo then it's definitely from that region of Africa as everything else fits. Language and music to me sounds as though it's from the Somalia, Ethiopia, Eritrea, Sudanese area of northern Africa. Sam also mentions that he can hear the same station I'm hearing, but re-affirms that it isn't Radio Gaalkacyo. I remain bewildered. This is one to be investigated. Anyone know who it is then? Regards, (Ian Baxter ausradio@volcanomail.com AUSTRALIA, July 23, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** SRI LANKA. In DXLD 2-102 under CONGO DR we had a reference to Sri Lanka being on 9770: ``Also SLBC Ekala-SLK-CLN is registered there til 1630 UT. 9770 1230-1630 41 EKA 100 350 1234567 3103-271002 CLN SLB SLB (BC- DX)`` --- so I guess the recent report of 9970 is a typo ---- but by the reporter, or by the station when punching up the transmitter frequency?? (gh) ** U K. Most of the first two weeks of BBC Prom Concerts --- but no promises thereafter? -- are being webcast, which in BBC parlance means video as well as audio. We`ve found the video production excellent, actually for domestic broadcast, with carefully planned shots highlighting instruments soloing at the moment, many of them extreme close-ups, such as the piano (or toy piano) keyboard; `cello playing a single note. Subtitles are provided for any lyrics in fornlangs (e.g., ``His long yellow nose rests in his white beard`` -- Shéhérazade.) And host Charles Hazlewood wore a really loud shirt July 22, overlapping TV screens(?) black outlines on white, but the next day it was a modest solid pink. On our Real Player 8, the video can be choppy depending on the connexion speed at the moment, but there is never a video/audio sync problem, and the audio quality does not seem to be degraded by the player having to handle the video as well. Typically 80 kbps. You may not find the video feed link easily, but it`s under `interactive` via the Proms page at http://www.bbc.co.uk/proms/broadcasts/interactive.shtml Most concerts start at 1830 UT (``7:30 pm``), but on Tue July 23 there is an early one at 1800 and a late one at 2100. So we were frustrated when the (video) webcast insisted it would not start until 7:30. Were we going to miss the first half hour? No, the entire video version was delayed half an hour from the BBCR3 live feed, who knows why, and finally started at 1832, so we first heard and then saw and heard again, the opening number, Elgar`s ``In the South`` overture. Strangely my screensaver (currently `snakes`) cannot detect the motion on the RP box and keeps overriding (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U K. MINISTER BACKS PLAN FOR WORLD SERVICE TV CHANNEL Matt Wells and Maggie Brown, Monday July 22, 2002, The Guardian The government is considering a radical plan to invest public money in a television equivalent of the BBC World Service. Foreign Office officials are examining ways of using public and private funding to turn the BBC's struggling international TV news channel, BBC World, into a global player along the lines of the World Service radio network. The use of public money would infuriate rivals such as CNN, but ministers believe World Service TV would be more than just a news channel: its existence would promote "good governance" and help raise Britain's international profile. Dennis MacShane, the junior minister responsible for World Service funding, said: "A World Service television network that was popular and successful would do more to promote British interests abroad than almost anything else I can think of." He said that a television version of the World Service could be broadcast in some of the world's major languages - at the moment, the radio network can be heard in 43 versions including English - with particular concentration on "areas of crisis". The incentive to boost the reach of BBC television is clear: the World Service's radio audience fell by 3 million last year to 150 million after years of growth. Audiences in India and Indonesia have dropped over seven years by 45% to 14.6m. But BBC World - the corporation's existing international news channel - is dogged by crippling losses, which rose from £13.2m in 2000-01 to £15.3m in 2001-02. It does not have the same reputation for speed and impact as CNN, although its impartiality and tone have won recognition around the world since September 11. The BBC is attempting to turn BBC World's fortunes around by bringing it into a "global news" division headed by the World Service director, Mark Byford. Under the plan, which is awaiting approval from the Department of Culture, Mr Byford would take charge of the BBC's international TV, radio and online news services. Under present rules, BBC World TV can not draw on public funding, and must remain separate from the domestic news channel, BBC News 24. Mr MacShane suggested the two could eventually be merged. "It's absurd that News 24 is funded out of the licence fee while BBC World has to be funded from advertising. These are the first areas that we have to look at. We have to see how they could come together." The first opportunity for changing the BBC's funding rules will come at the renewal of the corporation's charter in 2006. The plans are at a very early stage, and no decision about whether to commit any new public money would be reached until officials and the BBC came up with a firm set of proposals. Mr MacShane said BSkyB would be invited to submit ideas on how it could become involved. Mr Byford said the first priority was to make the current BBC World television channel break even by 2006. Asked whether eventually it could be turned into a multilingual service along the radio model, he said: "In the past we have had an Arabic TV service and a Hindi TV service, but they have not worked. Anything is possible, but they cost money." Staff at the World Service would be suspicious of any switch in priority to television. One said yesterday: "It sounds like a mad idea. Radio is so cheap - look at what you get for your money with the World Service. With TV you get much less bang for your buck." The Foreign Office has agreed a generous increase in the World Service's grant of about £180m that amounts to an extra £48m over the next three years, significantly above the rate of inflation. The World Service has earmarked an initial £8m for Afghanistan and the Arab broadcasts, and to expand news and current affairs programmes for Africa, where audience levels are rising. New programmes will focus on development and health issues, including Aids. It will also start an English language business service for China. Its controversial policy of switching broadcasts from short wave to FM will be extended. (© Guardian Newspapers Limited 2002 (via Daniel Say, DXLD) At this point, Parliament still prohibits funding for BBCWS to do television. BBC's international television is, theoretically, at no cost to the British taxpayer or license payer, through the commercial partnerships of BBC World. Unfortunately, international television to many parts of the world has insufficient commercial potential. I would guess BBCWS is anxious to start using television to reach the Arab World and India, at least. But it will take an act of Parliament to do this with government funding. The problem is the fragility of access to satellite transponders. For the Arab World, BBC now has access to Arabsat and Nilesat, the satellites of choice for dish-owners in the region. But if war comes to the region, or the political situation deteriorates, will BBC be evicted from Arabsat and Nilesat? BBC would still be able to reach the Middle East via Hot Bird, but dishes in the region would have to be turned in that direction. And, presumably, BBC would still be broadcasting to the Middle East via shortwave and medium wave. In times of war, people tend to dust off their shortwave radios and resume listening to them (Kim Elliott, DC, swprograms via DXLD) ** UNITED NATIONS [non]. Current schedule: "Our summer frequencies are 7150 khz in the 41 meter band and 17570 in the 16 meter band. If you have any problems, please email me, I'll try to fix things! Judy Lessing, Executive Producer, UN Radio" (via Mike Terry, DXLD) Re 1730- 1745, I suppose (gh, DXLD) ** U S A. A very weak signal audible on 7490, perhaps WJIE again (George Thurman, Chicago, 1500 UT July 22, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Nothing audible here over noise level; should check at night. Yes, at 0510 UT July 23, on 7490, could hear preaching in English, perhaps at slightly better level than previously, so apparently reactivated, tho no ID. Passed the ``is it an image`` test. Still no match for the nearby T-storm noise level and no comparison to other US 7 MHz signals, such as KTBN-7510. If anyone hear WOR at previously scheduled time of 0645, please let me know, and which edition (gh, Enid OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. LEGISLATORS VOTE TO BOOST BROADCASTS TO MUSLIM COUNTRIES | Text of editorial analysis by BBC Monitoring's Foreign Media Unit on 23 July The US House of Representatives has voted to increase American radio and TV broadcasts to Muslim countries and to promote other public diplomacy measures in an effort to counter rising anti-American sentiment in those regions of the world. The Freedom Promotion Act of 2002, passed on Monday 22 July, allocates 135m dollars to expand radio and TV programming from the USA to Islamic nations in the Middle East, Asia and Africa to broaden their access to what the legislators described as "uncensored news and entertainment". The act provides for a total of 255m dollars to be spent over two years to improve State Department communications strategies and finance exchange programmes in journalism training, English language teaching, twin-city partnerships and academic exchanges with predominantly Muslim countries, as well as expanding US international broadcasting. Funds would also help to modernize technology used to distribute information about the United States and increase translation services at overseas posts. "Much of the popular press overseas, often including the government- owned media, daily depict the United States as a force for evil, accusing this country of an endless number of malevolent plots against the world," Henry Hyde, chairman of the House International Relations Committee, said in Monday's debate. The Republican representative from Illinois, who is the chief sponsor of the bill, added: "Even as we strike against the network of terrorists who masterminded the murder of thousands of Americans, our actions are widely depicted in the Muslim world as a war against Islam." There is a need, Hyde said, to ensure that "the truth about our country rises above the cacophony of hate and misinformation that often passes for discourse in many areas of the world". US broadcasting "ineffective and antiquated" In testimony last year before the House International Relations Committee, the Chairman of the Broadcasting Board of Governors, which oversees US international broadcasting efforts, stated that "we have virtually no youthful audience under the age of 25 in the Arab world," Hyde recalled. He went on: "It is increasingly clear that much of the problem lies in our ineffective and often antiquated methods. For example, broadcasts on shortwave radio simply cannot compete with AM and FM channels in terms of accessibility, to say nothing of television, the most powerful medium of all. Shifting our efforts into these and other broad-based media, including the Internet and others, will take time and money, but this reorientation is a prerequisite to reaching our intended audience." According to officials in Congress, the information counter-offensive would involve government-owned Voice of America stepping up its radio broadcasts on AM and using more local FM radio relays, as well as seeking broader access via local TV channels in the Muslim world. Supporters of the act said US public diplomacy specialists should increase their use of the Internet and take a more active part in the public debate in Muslim countries. The legislation still has to be considered by the Senate, but according to Hyde, the State Department supports it. Source: BBC Monitoring research 23 Jul 02 (via DXLD) ** U S A. I was wondering if anyone in the northeast has heard any further news about the Ibiquity Digital experimental station? A construction permit for 1700 kHz was issued for the Ibiquity facility in Warren NJ on April 18th under the call sign WI2XAM (Patrick Griffith, CBT, Westminster, CO, USA, July 21, NRC-AM via DXLD) ** U S A. WEB RADIO - GOING UNDERGROUND? From http://www.slyck.com/newsjuly2002/072002c.html Saturday July 20, 2002 Netizens may soon find Internet radio stations far and few between. A recently established royalty rate may force many smaller web casters to shut their operations down, as already witnessed by KPIG. While KPIG's shutdown may be temporary, many others won't be able to work a deal out with the music industry. With these increased royalty rates, many in the web casting industry are predicting near certain doom for net radio. Paul Maloney, editor of RAIN (Radio and Internet Newsletter), stated for News.com "It's almost certain that unless some emergency legislation goes through, most of the Web casting industry will go away." While the business model of net radio may be in trouble, web casting may continue to be a nemesis for the music industry. The music industry may have received the results they wanted by eliminating legitimate web casting, however a "Phantom Menace" lurks in the shadows of P2P networking. Welcome "Streamer", dubbing itself "Pirate radio for the digital age". This application utilizes P2P technology to allow 56k peers right up to Cable users to establish net radio stations. Recent upgrades to the software have eliminated the web interface and DOS module for a more user friendly windows GUI. The application is still in its infancy, however it shows promise as we were able to connect to several net stations. In all, about 10 stations were operational, with a decent selection of music available. In order to be a viable presence and replacement for the impending doom of net radio as we know it, "Streamer's" population will have to grow to substantial numbers. Ten stations won't cut it, as hundreds, if not thousands of legitimate stations presently exist. With the right promotional effort and press coverage, we may witness net radio's renaissance thought the technology of P2P networking (via Mike Terry, DXLD) ** U S A. CONTROVERSY ARISES OVER PUBLIC RADIO By: Christine Dippold 07/11/02 -------------------------- The Board of Education for the Columbus Public Schools rejected a resolution to end all negotiations with outside parties concerning relinquishing the management of WCBE 90.5 FM yesterday. The board is involved in negotiations to transfer management of the public radio station to Ohio State's WOSU or another entity. Board members debated the controversial resolution, discussing the possibility administrators may have been involved in private negotiations for the public station. "The main reason to pass the resolution now is it is a way out for everybody involved," said board member Bill Moss before the resolution was voted upon. "It appears this Board of Education has been party to a hoax, a deception on the public." Controversy emerged via a recent Columbus Alive article stating a confidential proposal was made in 1998 by WOSU to enter into a management agreement between WOSU and WCBE. Columbus Public School administrators declined the offer. That proposal would have allowed for a future signal trade with the Dispatch Broadcast Group's WBNS 1460 AM, which broadcasts some of OSU's games, and the more powerful WOSU 820 AM, Moss said. The current proposal does not involve WBNS 1460 AM. WCBE is an educational public broadcast radio station licensed to the Columbus Board of Education. The station airs news programs, such as National Public Radio, broadcasts school board meetings and plays a variety of local and world music. The original proposal between WCBE and WOSU called for a collaboration between the stations. "Right now WOSU and WCBE have 55 duplicate program hours," said David Carwile, WOSU's station manager. "We don't want to ask the community to pay twice for the same programming." Carwile said WOSU would like cut down on the duplicate programming and add new programming which would better serve blacks and other minorities. Board member Loretta Heard suggested negotiations remain open, but with an outside committee to oversee the negotiations. "This situation does belong to the citizens of the school district," Heard said. "Let's be honest, we still have an opportunity to do it in an open manner." Other board members were adamant about rejecting the resolution, claiming not enough information was available to simply arrest all negotiations. Board member Jeff Cabot said ending all negotiations would close doors for the board in terms of future decisions over the radio station. "If we reject the resolution tonight, we still have the availability to retain the station as it is now," Cabot said. Moss said some board members were participating willingly in an exercise to "fool the public." "I am disappointed and disturbed by the attitude and appearance of (the board) that this is a 'perfect deal' for the Columbus Public Schools," Moss said. "It appears we have another growing scandal on our hands." Angered citizens shared similar views as Moss. Prior to the meeting, a local group, On the Columbus Plantation, handed out copies of the Columbus Alive article surrounded by pictures of most board members and the word "crooks." Also on the copy was a picture of board President Stephanie Hightower with caption, "Stephanie Hightower is not good for our children." The resolution was rejected, with only two "yes" votes from board members Moss and Heard. The vote evoked heckling from community audience members, who called the board members liars, thieves and conspirators. -------------------------- Story Source: The Lantern (via DXLD) ** U S A. CHERISHING AN OLD-TIME GROOVE, By Sue Anne Pressley STAUNTON, Va. Ray Houser, host of one of the longest-running radio programs in America, takes a seat at the piano, behind the big, black microphone. His old cat, Cooter, is prowling around the edge of the living room, and out past the screen door, there's the sound of traffic whizzing by.... To view the entire article, go to http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A41524-2002Jul21.html (via Tom McNiff, DXLD) ** U S A. Update with Grosse Pointe AM 1170 Hi everyone. I have been out of town the last day in a half, and when I got back today I got a letter from the people who were testing out 1170 for Grosse Pointe. They do not consider themselves to be pirates, but rather they are just experimenting with different antenna patterns and they will be moving to a new frequency soon. They didn't go on because of WQRS, but like I said right now they are just experimenting. Will let you all know if I hear anything (JEFFREY MICHAEL KENYON, MI, July 21, NRC-AM via DXLD) ** U S A. SISTER MARY CATHERINE CALLS INTO EWTN PROGRAM TO REPORT ON MOTHER ANGELICA`S HEALTH Irondale, AL, July 8 (EWTN)— Sister Mary Catherine, Mother Vicar of Our Lady of the Angels Monastery in Hanceville, Alabama called in to EWTN`s Mother Angelica Live program last Tuesday evening to provide a live update on the condition of the Foundress of EWTN. Speaking with the program`s interim host, Father Mitch Pacwa, SJ, Sister Mary Catherine remarked that Mother Angelica is doing well, six months after she suffered a very serious stroke. Sister Catherine said as she stood at Mother`s bedside that first evening, she wasn`t sure Mother would even survive the night. At that time, Mother`s doctor told Sister Mary Catherine ``She`s in God`s hands, but medically speaking, it`s not good.`` Sister Catherine termed Mother`s recovery to date nothing short of a miracle and attributes her vastly improved condition to the thousands of prayers offered worldwide for Mother Angelica. Sister Mary Catherine also commented on Mother`s prognosis, saying that while she has overcome the paralysis, her speech is not yet in order. ``She isn`t able to communicate properly,`` she said. ``She`s able to speak in sentences, but very often in the middle of a sentence, she`s not able to continue.`` Sister Mary Catherine said that Mother Angelica wants to be with her ``EWTN Family`` but knows she is not ready. ``Mother occasionally watches the network and she is very happy with what she sees,`` she said. ``But,`` she continued, ``Mother also knows this is God`s Will and she is accepting this `Cross` as she has so many other crosses during her lifetime. I know her suffering is doing great things for the Church.`` Mother Vicar asked for everyone to continue praying for Mother Angelica`s full recovery and eventual return to EWTN. Michael Warsaw, president of EWTN, said to date more than 365,000 Rosaries, 59,000 Novenas, 194,000 Mass Intentions, 233,000 Holy Communions, 95,000 Holy Hours and 687,000 Lord`s Prayers and other prayers, have been posted in the Spiritual Bouquet for Mother Angelica on EWTN`s website http://www.ewtn.com (Catholic Radio Update July 15 via DXLD) ** U S A. From Radio and Records: RANDY MICHAELS OUT OF CLEAR CHANNEL RADIO DIVISION Michaels, who assumed control of Clear Channel's radio stations following the company's merger with Jacor in 1999, will now oversee Clear Channel's New Technologies Division, focusing on the interactive, wireless broadband and satellite technologies businesses. Clear Channel President/COO Mark Mays will serve as acting CEO of the radio division until a permanent successor to Michaels can be found. John Hogan will continue as COO of Clear Channel Radio. "Randy has been, and continues to be, a great contributor to Clear Channel," Mays says. "Without his vision and foresight we would not have been able to develop the best, most well-positioned, unduplicatable collection of radio stations in the world." (via Dennis Gibson, July 22, IRCA via DXLD) CLEAR CHANNEL LEADS RADIO STOCKS' DROP by David Wilkerson, CBS MarketWatch.com, July 23, 2002 (10:44 a.m.) NEW YORK (CBS.MW) -- Radio station giant Clear Channel Communications' shares plunged 24 percent Tuesday afternoon, dragging the radio sector lower amid concerns about second-quarter earnings. The stock was recently changing hands at $22.68, down $7.29 after the company said Randy Michaels has resigned as chief executive of the radio unit to lead a division dedicated to new technologies. Jordan Rohan, media analyst at Soundview, said Michaels' move only heightened existing doubts about achieving the radio division's earnings target. "(We) have heard that local station GMs within CCU's radio group have become a bit nervous about meeting internal projections," Rohan wrote in a report on Tuesday. "We have yet to find any smoking gun, and believe that it is difficult to extrapolate from one inconclusive data point. That said, the sudden reassignment of ... Randy Michaels casts some doubt on the radio group's performance." Other radio shares dropped sharply as Entercom Communications fell $5.23, or 12.6 percent, to $36.35; Emmis Communications lost $1.98, or 12.4 percent, to $13.95; Radio One dropped $1.70, or 13 percent, to $11.41; and Hispanic Broadcasting lost $1.83, or 9 percent, to $18.89. Viacom, owner of the large Infinity radio group, was down $3, or 9 percent, at $31.55. The company is slated to report second-quarter results Thursday (via Dennis Gibson, July 23, IRCA via DXLD) Oh Boy!! Now Randy will find another aspect of the media industry to ruin (Dave Marthouse, VA, NRC-AM via DXLD) Dave, you know how much I respect you when it comes to all things radio (and how much I envy you having your own "candy store" and living the dream so many of us have or once had) - but I have to disagree, and vehemently at that, with the knee-jerk portrayal of Randy as a one-man Satan of the radio industry. I've been fortunate enough to get to know Randy, in at least a small way, over the last year or so, and it's no exaggeration to say that he would fit in perfectly at an NRC convention. He is an avid MW DXer (he has a longwire at his home outside Cincinnati, which he uses to tune in WSM during the day, and he DXes from his plane, too) with a knowledge of broadcast history, lore and legend that would put most of us to shame. During the Jacor years, at least, Randy revived - almost singlehandedly - the financial viability of AM news-talk radio in America. At stations like WLW, which Jacor took from ratings limbo to #1 in Cincinnati, Randy showed that it's possible to use FM attitude and FM imaging to make AM sound relevant and fun. And did I mention that Randy is an engineer by trade, who rebuilt the original 1927 Western Electric transmitter at WLW - a unit that is still used occasionally as a backup-backup-backup? (It was on the air for Y2K, in fact.) Randy assembled a phenomenal team of engineering talent at Jacor/Clear Channel Radio - guys like Al Kenyon, Jeff Littlejohn and J.T. Anderton who know more about the AM spectrum than anyone else out there, and who have taken literally hundreds of tired facilities that hadn't seen maintenance in decades and rebuilt them to modern standards. None of which is to imply that I approve of a lot of what Clear Channel has done in recent years. Where AM is concerned (and this is the AM list, after all), too many of Clear Channel's stations (like WHTK 1280 here in Rochester) are forced to play seventh-fiddle to their bigger AM and FM sisters, receiving no promotion and no attention. And voice-tracking, which can be a very useful and versatile tool in the right circumstances, has probably been pushed too far in too many CC venues. BUT - and I'll maintain this vehemently in the face of all the message-board gloating we're seeing today - anyone who expects these problems to somehow magically disappear in the wake of Randy's ouster doesn't understand what's really happening at Clear Channel. The business pressures under which Randy had to operate were not of his own making; they came from the big Clear Channel bosses, Lowry Mays and his son Mark, down in San Antonio. With Mark running CC Radio for now, and the Mays family saying the next CC Radio boss will be based in Texas, not Cincinnati, expect the bottom-line mentality to get a lot worse, not better, especially without a leader who understands and loves radio as deeply as Randy. And I don't care who they hire next (unless, perhaps, the team of Vobbe, Bowker and Durenberger moves into the executive suite!) - whoever they get won't understand and love radio as deeply as Randy does and did. I can't wait to see what he does next. -s (Scott Fybush, NY, NRC-AM via DXLD) ** U S A. I found a site with loads of network and local logos, old and new. It looks like some have been lifted from other sites, but it's still a great page. http://members.fortunecity.com/teamfx2000/television/television.htm (Chris Carter, Brookhaven, MS, WTFDA via DXLD) UNIDENTIFIED. En la frecuencia 5170 pude captar una emisora de números y letras a las 2310 UT; la estuve escuchando por varios minutos y repitieron siempre el mismo mensaje: VLBA181 (José Elías, Venezuela, July 22, Conexión Digital via DXLD) ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ RECEIVER NEWS +++++++++++++ The Hammarlund Historian website is under new management at its new address: http://www.hammarlund.info Barry Hauser and Les Locklear, who had provided most of the historical info to the original site, Andy Moorer and Al Parker are now overseers. Les has added to the historical info, Andy has been scanning and uploading manuals, Al P. has been working on a new service section and a new overall look for the site. We hope to have many more Hammarlund manuals available for (free) download, many are already there. The new service section has as it's main feature an article by Ray Vasek, W2EC, on re-capping the SP-600, which has been published in Hollow State News, of which Barry Hauser is the editor. We invite you to take a look at the "new, bright" format and the new features. We hope to be adding to the content and making it a source for answers to many of your Hammarlund questions. 73 de Barry H., Les L., Andy M. and Al P. (oops, lost source via...) PUBLICATIONS ++++++++++++ "The Shortwave Guide" (volume 1) Here's a copy of some correspondence I had with the publisher, Nicholas Hardyman (with his kind permission of course; thanks, Nicholas): Hello Mike, Good to hear from you again, and thank you for your kind comments about The Shortwave Guide. ``One small quibble, a lot of the email addresses on pages 186 to 202 are bouncing, it may be my PC but I doubt it, this happened using WTVH when it was published as well. Not sure what you can do for future editions except to check with the stations direct which will take some time I suppose (assuming you can contact them cheaply anyway!).`` E-mail addresses are a big problem because they change so often that it is hard to keep up with them. We have considered, but rejected, simply putting in web addresses where we have both, on the assumption that the website will last longer and will list the latest e-mail contacts. The solution is indeed to ring every station each year and get the latest e-mail details (although even these will change during the year) but this does take a lot of time. Contacts with international broadcasters is something I am investigating at the moment (Nicholas Hardyman, WRTH, via Mike Terry, DXLD) PROPAGATION +++++++++++ MAJOR STORM ALERT We might be getting some calls during the next couple of weeks from customers with new shortwave radios complaining that they can not hear anything or they think their new radio is defective. But that probably will not be the case. Over the last week we have experiencing exceptionally stormy solar conditions which renders the HF spectrum completely devoid of any signals for extended periods of time. Over the weekend, things went so quiet that I was convinced that my coax cables had gone bad after the X3.3 flare/sudden ionospheric storm on Saturday. And now from CQ Propagation Editor, Tomas Hood, comes the word that things could be even more active over this next week and into next with solar storms/flares the likes of which we haven't seen in years. Larry Van Horn, N5FPW Grove Enterprises Technical Support Department Monitoring Times Assist Editor, Fed File/Milcom Columnist Telephone: V-828-837-9200/F-828-837-2216/800-438-8155 -----Original Message----- From: Tomas Hood - NW7US Sent: Tuesday, July 23, 2002 7:50 AM Subject: Major Storm Alert We are in for an interesting week! Minor to major storm levels of geomagnetic disturbances are expected as early as in the late afternoon on July 24 over North America, with increases in geomagnetic activity starting today (July 23). The next week may see extreme solar flare activity. Region 10039 (Catania sunspot group #35), which produced the X3.3 flare of July 20, struck again on July 23, producing an X4.8 flare with the X-ray flux peaking at 0035Z. This solar flare is a proton- producing flare and the energetic protons are expected to reach the Earth and begin slowly enhancing the radiation in the near-Earth space environment by the end of today (July 23). Region 10039 has rotated fully into view at the southeast limb. This region has the potential to produce occasional X10+ flares. During the X4.8 flare, a large and fast full halo Coronal Mass Ejection (CME) was observed with a leading edge speed above 1700km/s. Although the fastest part of the CME headed eastwards, Earth should receive an impact on July 24, resulting in a severely disturbed geomagnetic field for 12 to 24 hours after the impact. This event is very similar to the eruption of July 20, probably at the origin of the geomagnetic disturbances of yesterday (July 22) around noon (Zulu). But this one will be stronger and more geoeffective. Minor to major storm levels of geomagnetic disturbances are thus expected as early as in the afternoon of July 25 (late afternoon on July 24 over North America). Additional major X-class solar flares from this Region over the next two weeks might produce very active and geomagnetically stormy conditions, the likes of which we have not observed in over 10 years. If Region 10039 holds true to its potential, the spot complex will continue to produce very energetic solar activity about once every 2 to 3 days as it rotates across the face of the Sun. The Region is well-placed for producing large, geoeffective impacts on the earth, and it will remain visible for about another 12 to 13 days. The next week or two could see some considerable solar radiation storms, auroral storm activity, ionospheric storming, and significant geomagnetic storming. Similar historic periods have produced heavy Auroral events, radio blackouts, and so on. These Auroral event have been visible throughout the continental United States and Canada, even into parts of Mexico. New Zealand, Australia, Southern Africa, and South America have witnessed the "Southern Lights" during such events. This type of Aurora might happen as early as July 24. Storms of this magnitude ("superstorms") occur on average once every six years or so. It has now been about 12 years since the Earth was hit by a superstorm. Shortwave (High Frequency) propagation will experience fadeouts, with possible R1 to R2 radio blackouts from July 23 through July 25. Long distance medium wave (AM) band propagation along east-west paths over high and upper middle latitudes is poor to very poor. If we get the Aurora, look for Auroral-mode propagation. 73 de Tomas, NW7US // AAR0JA -- : CQ Propagation Editor, CQ Magazine - - http://prop.hfradio.org : : Brinnon, Washington 122.93W 47.67N -- http://hfradio.org/barsc : : http://hfradio.org http://swl.hfradio.org http://accessnow.com : : 10x56526 - FISTS 7055 - FISTS NW 57 - Member Army MARS & ARRL : : A.R.Lighthouse Society 144 -- CW, SSB, RTTY, AMTOR, DX-Hunting : _______________________________________________ WUN mailing list WUN@mailman.qth.net http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/wun (via Larry Van Horn, MT, DXLD) Official Space Weather Advisory issued by NOAA Space Environment Center Boulder, Colorado, USA SPACE WEATHER ADVISORY BULLETIN #02- 2 2002 July 23 at 12:00 p.m. MDT (2002 July 23 1800 UTC) **** ( CORRECTED ) MAJOR SUNSPOT ACTITVITY **** A major sunspot region has rotated onto the visible face of the sun. This region, designated as Region 39 by NOAA Space Environment Center forecasters, is believed to have been the source of three large coronal mass ejexions on the far side of the sun beginning on July 16. This region will rotate across the visible side of the sun over the next two weeks and is expected to produce more solar activity. Since appearing on the visible side yesterday (July 22) this region has already produced a major flare at 6:35 pm Mountain Daylight Time (MDT) on July 22 (0035, July 23 UTC). Radio blackouts reached category R3 (Strong) on the NOAA space weather scales. In response to the major flare, a geomagnetic storm is possible and is expected to begin between 8:00 pm MDT on July 23 and 8 am MDT on July 24 (0200 - 1400, July 24 UTC). The geomagnetic storm may reach category G2 (moderate) levels on the NOAA space weather scales. Category R3 radio blackouts result in widespread HF radio communication outages on the dayside of the Earth and can also degrade low frequency navigation signals. Category G2 geomagnetic storms can lead to minor problems with electrical power systems, spacecraft operations, communications systems, and some navigational systems. Aurora Borealis / Australis (northern / southern lights) may be seen down into the mid latitudes (New York, Madison, Boise, Vladivostok, Rome, Tasmania, Wellington - NZ, Puerto Montt - Chile) Data used to provide space weather services are contributed by NOAA, USAF, NASA, NSF, USGS, the International Space Environment Services and other observatories, universities, and institutions. For more information, including email services, see SEC's Space Weather Advisories Web site http://sec.noaa.gov/advisories or (303) 497-5127. The NOAA Public Affairs contact is Barbara McGehan at Barbara.-@noaa.gov or (303) 497-6288. (via Ian Johnson, ARDXC via DXLD) A G2-level Geomagnetic storm forecast for 0200 - 1400, JUL 24 02 UTC. Major X4.8 Flare with CME is cause. Aurora likely in mid-latitudes. Elevated solar wind expected. Some fading as well as radio blackouts likely. Trans Global Propagation Via F layers will be affected (Many years on the SW bands From SE England, Karl kruger 73's :-{) July 23, GRDXC via DXLD) ON-LINE NOW - THE NEW IPS WEB SITE Following a preview period over the past month, IPS has now switched over to its new web site. * Where? The home page address of our new site is the same as that of the old - http://www.ips.gov.au * Will I be able to access IPS pages I currently have book-marked? Clicking on book-marked pages from the current site will re-direct you via a transfer page to the new site. To find the location of a previously book-marked page, you can enter the title of the page (not its URL) into the Site Search Engine, located in the Navigation Bar at the bottom of each page. This will re-direct you to the nearest equivalent page on the new site. Alternatively, the Navigation Bar at the top of each page will help you find your way around. * Who do I contact for more information? If you have any problems locating a page from the current site, please e-mail webhelp@ips.gov.au, and advise us of the title (and URL, if possible), of the page you are looking for. We will then advise you of where to look on the new site (Patrick Phelan via Daniel Say, July 21, DXLD) DXERS CALLING +++++++++++++ Hi Everyone, thanks to some good advice from George Maroti, I've now got your favourite DX program available for download in the 'files' section of Audiosend, including, Paul Ormandy SPDXR, World of Radio with Glenn Hauser, Fred Moe and Random Transmissions, and my own 'dxers calling media report'. Dxers Calling Audiosend is designed for listeners who miss the shortwave broadcast and /or when other sites malfunction, and is available at: http://www.yahoogroups.com/group/dxerscallingAudiosend Click on the files section. You can download the files when you're free to do so, you no longer have to wait for the email to arrive. Marie Lamb and DXing with Cumbre and Chris Lobdell's Pirating with Cumbre will be available this Saturday from 0700 UT. If you are a producer and would like to add a program at DXers Calling Audiosend, feel free to post it to me at nri3@yahoo.com.au and I'm also looking for other program makers to put together 10 to 15 minute specials about radio (any subject) which will be heard during Dave N1DK 'Cybershortwave' on alternate weekends Sunday at 1500 UT and here at Audiosend. Dxers calling media news is also looking for alternate producer/program makers. Finally, feel free to invite others to become involved with 'Dxers Calling' and 'Cybershortwave' and Jen's 'MVR Radio' (Mountainview radio 1700 UT alternate Sundays, Fridays, Saturdays). Thanks again, and I hope you find the Dxers Calling group useful, 73 (Tim, Dxers Calling Audiosend and Newsgroup, AUS, via DXLD) TIPS FOR RATIONAL LIVING ++++++++++++++++++++++++ Ellen Johnson, president of American Atheists, and others participated in a discussion on the second hour of WAMU`s Public Interest, Monday, July 22. - ATHEISTS AND SECULAR HUMANISTS Atheism, agnosticism, secular humanism, free-thinkers and skeptics -- the terms are often used interchangeably. Join Kojo for a look at a set of beliefs that are often misunderstood and occasionally vilified. Norman Allen, Executive Director of African-Americans for Humanism Ellen Johnson, President, American Atheists Allen Stairs, Associate Professor of Philosophy and Associate Chair of the Philosophy Department, University of Maryland at College Park It is available ondemand indefinitely via: http://www.wamu.org/ram/2002/p2020722.ram ###