DX LISTENING DIGEST 2-128, August 13, 2002 edited by Glenn Hauser, wghauser@hotmail.com Items from DXLD may be reproduced and re-reproduced only if full credit be maintained at all stages and we be provided exchange copies. DXLD may not be reposted in its entirety without permission. Materials taken from Arctic or originating from Olle Alm and not having a commercial copyright are exempt from all restrictions of noncommercial, noncopyrighted reusage except for full credits HTML version of this issue will be posted afterwards at http://www.worldofradio.com/dxldtd02.html For restrixions and searchable 2002 contents archive see http://www.worldofradio.com/dxldmid.html NOTE: If you are a regular reader of DXLD, and a source of DX news but have not been sending it directly to us, please consider yourself obligated to do so. Thanks, Glenn WORLD OF RADIO #1143: (ON DEMAND) http://www.wrn.org/ondemand/worldofradio.html (DOWNLOAD) http://www.k4cc.net/wor1143.rm (STREAM) http://www.k4cc.net/wor1143.ram (SUMMARY) http://www.worldofradio.com/wor1143.html WWCR BROADCASTS: Wed 0930 9475 RFPI BROADCASTS: Wed 0700 on 7445-USB, 15038.6, 1300 on webcast WORLD OF RADIO #1144: FIRST BROADCASTS ON WBCQ: Wed 2200 17495 and 7415; UT Thu 0415? 7415 FIRST BROADCASTS ON WWCR: Thu 2030 15825, Sat 0500, Sun 0230 5070 FIRST BROADCASTS ON RFPI: Sat 0130, 0730, Sun 0000, 0600 7445-U 15039 ON THE WEB, available by early UT Aug 15: (DOWNLOAD) http://www.k4cc.net/wor1144.rm (STREAM) http://www.k4cc.net/wor1144.ram (SUMMARY) http://www.worldofradio.com/wor1143.html [available later] UNSOLICITED TESTIMONIAL Dear Glenn, I sent you an unID a couple of weeks ago. You sent me a reply that it was probably an image produced by a mixing on my receiver internal frequencies and the primary frequency of WEWN. I have since gotten it again, and I am sure you are right. Thank you for your thoughtful solution of my situation. I am sure you get a lot of e mails from DXers all over the world. You could easily have ignored mine with no reply. Your effort taught me something that I certainly would not have thought of. I appreciate it (Mark Taylor, Aug 11) ** AFGHANISTAN [and non]. Radio Afghanistan replied and verified by letter (17 stamps issued in 1989 were on the envelope) after 2 months for my reception report on Norway 18940 kHz. Verification signer was Mr. Mir Amanullah Sharifi, Head of planning and Foreign Relations. He confirmed that the transmission on 18940 kHz was over "one of the helper", and also that former 4774 kHz SW transmitter was completely destroyed in the war and now no SW transmitter in Afghanistan. The recent address is: Ministry of Information & Culture, General Presidency of Radio & TV, Planning & Foreign Relations Department, General Managing of Foreign Relations, P.O.Box 544, Kabul, Afghanistan. Note "P.O.Box 544, Kabul", which was used by "Voice of Shari'ah", and former "Radio Afghanistan", is still ALIVE! (Takahito Akabayashi, Japan, BC-DX Aug 10 via DXLD) ** AFGHANISTAN/GERMANY. DW-TV STARTS DAILY NEWS SLOT IN DARI AND PASHTO | Text of press release by Deutsche Welle on 13 August Ten minutes of world news daily for viewers in Afghanistan: Since Monday 12th August 2002 Afghan TV is again broadcasting regular news from all over the world - for the first time since the end of the Taleban regime. The news broadcasts are produced by the German international broadcaster DW-TV and is recorded with Afghan presenters. The recorded broadcast is transferred via satellite to Kabul where DW-TV has also installed all the necessary equipment at Afghan Television in Kabul. DW-TV broadcasts the daily 10 minutes of world news at 7.30 p.m. local time (5 p.m. CET) [1500 gmt] in the two languages of the country, Dari and Pashto. Furthermore, every week DW-TV will produce about one-and- a-half hours of additional programming for Afghan Television, among other programmes TransTel documentaries from the areas of sport and research. These broadcasts - also in Dari and Pashto - will be sent to Kabul by courier. With this project DW-TV is opening a window to the world for the people of Afghanistan after many years of isolation. There are no restrictions whatsoever by the Afghan government on the political content of the news broadcasts. However, noted television director Christoph Lanz, DW-TV "will adopt a culturally sensitive approach with the pictures and sound it shows". All the services of DW-TV are free of charge. The cooperation between the two TV stations is initially planned for one year. Lanz commented: "Deutsche Welle regards its commitment as emergency help until Afghan TV can manage to produce the world news itself". Deutsche Welle (DW) is Germany's international broadcasting service with German and foreign language radio and TV programmes. DW-TV offers 24 hours commercial-free programming, news, documentaries, sports, cultural and current affairs in German and English. The publicly funded institution in Germany is one of the five largest international broadcasting services in the world. You can access DW on the Internet: http://www.dw-world.de Henning Knudsen, Deutsche Welle Programme Distribution Communications Coordinator, D - 50588 Cologne Phone: +49-221-389-2731 Fax: +49-221-389-2777 e-mail: Henning.Knudsen@dw-world.de Source: Deutsche Welle press release, Cologne, in English 13 Aug 02 (via BBCM via DXLD) ** ARGENTINA. It seems the broadcast feeder listed as 5240 on Mohrmann`s excellent page http://www.sover.net/~hackmohr/sw.htm has moved up 1 kHz: 5241-LSB, Radio Continental, 0345-0400 Aug 13, religious program in Spanish, followed by full station ID at 0356, at 0357 the station went on to read some cards sent in by listeners. Reception done in Curitiba, Brazil, using an Icom R75 and a T2FD antenna of 15 meters in length. Full or partial reproduction of this log is allowed. Regards, (Rik van Riel, PR, hard-core-dx via DXLD) ** AUSTRALIA. Good reception tonight (11 Aug) of VL8A Alice Springs 4835 kHz (Mali has been off 4835 the past few days) heard // weaker VL8T Tennant Creek on 4910. Best reception at 2130 UT when they switch from 120 mb with ABC news in English. Fading fast by 2200 as it gets light down under. (Katherine VL8K not audible as is swamped by Tashkent on 5025) (Dave Kenny, AOR 7030+ / longwire, Caversham, UK, Aug 11, BDXC-UK via DXLD) ** BENIN. 7210, Cotonou heard both August 8th and 12th, from 2200 with fair/good signal. Frequency is perfectly clear. Closedown at 2300 with national anthem (Thorsten Hallmann, Muenster, Tropical Rainforest, Aug 13, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** BOLIVIA. 6537.2 RADIO L.V. DEL CAMPESINO. Sipe. 1025-1050 Agosto 11 Predicación en vernacular, probablemente Quechua; luego música vernacular y mencionan grupos como Integración Andina, Los Guaguas del Altiplano. En español solo daban la hora; luego de las 1030 capté una pequeña frase en español ``...recibimos una pequeña cartita desde Finlandia, Vantaa...`` Luego los detalles de la carta en vernacular por lo cual no logré identificar de quien era. También reproducieron parte de una grabación recibida. Considero que el reporte era del colega Mika Makelainen. ``..11 de agosto 20 minutos en todo Bolivia para las 7 de la mañana, 20 minutos para las 7 de la mañana...`` (Rafael Rodríguez, Bogotá, Aug 13, Conexión Digital via DXLD) ** BOUGAINVILLE. Another airmail letter from Roland Schulze, Mangaldan the Philippines arrived today. 3850 station again on air from Aug 6th. But he swears 100%, never heard the call "Radio Independent Makumui". (Wolfgang Bueschel, Aug 12, BC-DX via DXLD) ** BRAZIL. A Rádio RGS, de Porto Alegre (RS), transmite em 6160 kHz. É Emissora que pertence ao grupo "Legião da Boa Vontade". Alguns programas são produzidos em Porto Alegre, entre 0900 e 1700. Diretora de Programação: Vera Quednau. Diretor: Valdenir Ferreira. Telefone: (51)3337.6416. Endereço: Avenida São Paulo, 722, 3º Andar, CEP: 90230- 160, Porto Alegre(RS). E-mail: radiorgs1300am@ig.com.br (Célio Romais, Aug 12, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** BRAZIL. 5990, Radio Senado (?): Excellent Signal between 2130 and 2200, then QRM. 6140 Radio Aparecida (?): bit dull but easily audible after 2200 (Thorsten Hallmann, Muenster, Tropical Rainforest, Aug 13, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** BRAZIL. 3245, R. Clube, Varginha. Aug 1, I received an electronic QSL letter full data written in Spanish!!!!! I sent my letter by ordinary post a week ago. The V/S Mariela Silva Gomes tell me this is the third reception report they received this year. The e-mail address is sistemaclube@varginha.com.br (Arnaldo Slaen, Argentina, DSWCI DX Window Aug 14 via DXLD) ** CANADA. [The RDS thread, previously under USA, GERMANY, continues] Hello, Glenn! My present car (Chev Malibu, from 2001) has a stock radio which has RDS built-in. This is obviously fairly recent, because a friend of mine had a similar car (Pont GrandAM from 1999), whose radio looked very much like this, but it had no RDS. As you must know, RDS only applies to FM stations. Here in the Toronto area, there's at least two stations which do use it. One is a rock station and the other is an MOR station, CHFI, on 98.1 They transmit the song title and artist maybe once every 10 seconds in my estimate (i.e., once you tune into the station it takes an average of 5 seconds for the word INFO to light up). Once one presses the button labeled INFO, the radio displays the song title a bit at a time (capital and lower case) and the artist's name (all in capitals). Depending upon the fit, you may see the end of the song title and the beginning of the artist's name on the same 'screen' (but words are not broken up). Once you've pressed the INFO button, the INFO word does not light up again until the information transmitted is different from the one that's just been displayed, or you go to another station and then come back. They also identify ads, but in this case, mercifully, the ad consists of only one to three words which identify the product, as if the ad wasn't clear enough... RDS also enables stations to modify the radio display, showing CHFI (station letters) and/or 981 (or CHFI 98), instead of 98.1, or any other letter/number combination, I guess. There's also a time setting function in all of this, and I believe that it's part and parcel of the RDS system. You can press buttons in a particular way and the radio will wait until it senses that the station has sent the time, and will then set the time by it, as the clock is part of the radio. This would be fine and dandy if stations did keep accurate time. I've noticed that some stations do send the time. Of these, only a few use the feature that alters the radio display. And of these, only the two I mentioned actually go all the way to showing names of tunes. Of the stations that do send the time, I have found locally not a single one that managed to send the right time. Some were off by minutes, one was sending AM instead of PM and another had not bothered to change from standard to summer time. On these radios, there's also a Traffic function, which is supposed to work similarly, and will further search for stations that broadcast traffic info. We have no traffic here ;-))), so I've found no stations that use it locally. So if your car doesn't have one, get to your GM dealer and ask for a demo. Best regards, (Carlos Coimbra, Toronto, Aug 11, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CANADA. GLENN GOULD RADIO SPECIAL http://www3.cbc.ca/sections/newsitem_redux.asp?ID=2384 ECCENTRIC? GENIUS? LEGEND? CBC RADIO EXPLORES THE LIFE & MUSIC OF GLENN GOULD WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 25 Who was Glenn Gould? CBC listeners are invited to answer that question as honestly or as playfully as they like when CBC Radio Two marks the 70th anniversary of Gould's birth, and the 20th of his death, on September 25, 2002. Hosted by Shelagh Rogers, CBC Radio Two's VARIATIONS ON GOULD is an affectionate and lighthearted take on Canada's eclectic genius. Early activities commence July 28, with CBC Radio One's Richardson's Roundup featuring a Gould short story contest. CBC Radio Two programming highlights include dramas, documentaries, special guests, stories and concerts leading up to the anniversary day. On September 25, beginning with the opening aria from his famous 1955 recording of Bach's Goldberg Variations, and ending with the closing aria from his last, the day will include more than 14 hours of programming dedicated to discovering Glenn Gould. CBC Radio Two's VARIATIONS ON GOULD day events are complemented by CBC Television's Opening Night special on Gould's 70th at 8 p.m. on September 24th and a variety of new media activities on CBC's ArtsCanada Web site. In addition, CBC is partnering with Doubleday and Sony Music Canada to create concerts and public events. Mark Wednesday, September 25 in your calendar, and watch for media releases announcing special programs and events in the days and weeks ahead (via Ricky Leong, DXLD) ** CANADA. Hi Glen[n] - WTIC 1080 (Hartford, CT) went off the air for transmission work on Monday, August 12 from 0105 UT - 0400 UT (planned, I fell asleep). I figured I would try to DX around 1080 to see what I could find. I did not receive any other station on 1080 but on 1070 I started receiving a station at 0150 UT (and listened until 0310). I never can receive a station on 1070 am as WTIC blocks out the frequency. The station I heard was CBA, a CBC affiliate, Moncton, NB - 525 miles away as the crow flies. This was the first station east of Quebec in Canada I ever picked up in my southern New England residence. Sincerely, (Dean Bonanno, Durham, CT, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CANADA. Another off-frequency station that I've noticed for a long time is CJVA-810 in Caraquet NB --- they bomb in here night after night. I don't think they ever switch to their directional night pattern. If you hear a growl on WGY, that's CJVA --- they're about 20 Hz low in frequency. Does anyone know offhand what the regulatory requirements are for AM carrier frequency accuracy? (Barry McLarnon, Canada [Ottawa?], NRC-AM via DXLD) ** CANADA. Glenn, could you briefly explain what the following means? Regards, Ricky Leong, QC, DX LISTENING DIGEST) [Previous item in Portuguese is herewith almost translated:] Since August 3, the [Spanish] Latin American Service of RCI no longer depends on the traditional voice of Hector Moreno. At the end of the program, he said he was retiring. He recalled his great times, and cried, along with his colleagues in the studio. A ** inusitado ** [not in dictionaries, maybe typo] and emotional moment on SW, heard by Oséias Fantinelli, de Jacutinga, Rio Grande do Sul. It`s worth remembering that when RCI`s Portuguese programs ended, the announcer who said goodbye was also emotional and wept (via gh, DXLD) ** CATALUNYA. I visited the IBB complex in 2000 with the EDXC Conference, and it was evident that the Spaniards living in the coastal housing areas just outside the gate were suffering from heavy electronic disturbances (``Their refrigerators spoke Kazakh!``). (Anker Petersen, Denmark, DSWCI DX Window Aug 14 via DXLD) ** COLOMBIA. 5590.4, RADIO NUEVA JUVENTUD. Pasto, Nariño. 0120-0200 Agosto 11. Música de Héctor Lavoe. ``...continuamos a través de Nueva Juventud...`` Continúa en el aire esta pirata desde el sur de mi país. Ahora un poco corrida de su anterior frecuencia 5588.2, a mi parecer con mejor audio y señal más clara. 6226.2 UNID Probable Colombia. 2210-2250* Agosto 10. Transmisión de rosario para luego la santa misa. No capté ninguna identificación y parecía transmitir desde una iglesia ya que se escuchaba un sub eco propio de recinto cerrados. Mi impresión es que se puede tratar del armónico de una emisora parroquial como la que apareció en 1997 a través de los 6201.1 que transmitía desde Granada, Antioquia. De la cual hay una reseña en Dateline Bogota 1997-1998 (Rafael Rodríguez, Bogotá, Aug 13, Conexión Digital via DXLD) 4 x 1556.55? (gh, DXLD) ** COLOMBIA. 6060.2, La Voz de tu Conciencia, Aug 02, 03, 07, 0630- 0820, playing mostly Colombian style dance music in between announcements, reading biblical texts from Corintios Book. There is currently no QRM from Rome/Caltanissetta. 24432 (Samuel Cássio, Brazil and Noel Green, UK, DSWCI DX Window Aug 14 via DXLD) On Aug 7 during the installation of newly elected President Álvaro Uribe Vélez in Bogotá who is a hardliner against the rebellions, the Presidential Palace was attacked with mortars, and during riots 115 persons were killed. On Aug 8 President Alvaro declared reduced state of emergency in Colombia in up to 270 days which includes the right to force certain limitations on the media (Danish Press via DSWCI DX Window Aug 14 via DXLD) In order that you can follow the developments, here is an updated list from our Domestic Broadcasting Survey on Colombian stations which have been heard on SW during the past 12 months: B 5019,7 1 Ecos del Atrato, Quibdó, Cochó Caracol Network: 1000-0500 S, ID: ``Esta es Ecos del Atrato HJIC 1400 en AM, HJCL 5020 ``, ``Rádio Net, Colombia`` APR02 B 5588,2 - R Nueva Juventud, Pasto Sa 0200-0500 S MAY02 B 5955 5 La Voz de los Centauros, Caracol Network: 0900-2300 S, d - 5957,6 MAR02 Villavicencio A 5975 5 R Macarena, Villavicencio 24 h S, run by Cadena Radial Auténtica, d 5974,8 - 5975,2; r on harmonic 11950v MAY02 A 6034,9 5 La Voz del Guaviare, San José del 1000-0300 S MAY02 Guaviare B 6060.2 5 La Voz de tu Conciencia, r 0630-1130 S // R Alcaraván 1530 MW; ex 6064.5 AUG02 Lomalinda, Puerto Lleras B 6115 10 La Voz del Llano, Villavicencio 0900-0400 S, sl: ``La Voz del Llano y punto``, d 6114,9 - 6115,1 APR02 B 9635 20 R Dif. Nacional de Colombia, (Su 1100-)1700-0500 S, alt fq to 4955. Also ID: ``La Voz de la Santa Fé de Bogota Cultura``, poor modulation FEB02 (Anker Petersen, DSWCI DX Window Aug 14 via DXLD) ** CONGO DR. RADIO IN STRIFE-TORN DRCONGO TOWN OF BUNIA HEARD AGAIN AFTER FIGHTING SUBSIDES Radio Candip, broadcasting from Bunia in the northeastern Democratic Republic of Congo, was heard on the morning of 12 August for the first time since 5 August. It was broadcasting on its regular shortwave frequency of 5066 kHz. However, the radio did not broadcast its usual morning news bulletin in French at 0515 gmt. Instead it carried various public announcements, noting that calm had been restored to the town and appealing to the public to resume their normal activities. (On 11 August the French news agency AFP reported sources in the Rwandan capital Kigali as saying that Ugandan troops and dissident members of a DRCongo rebel group had taken control of Bunia after several days of fighting. "Ugandan troops stationed in Bunia intervened to prevent an escalation of clashes that flared up [on] 6 August in the town, and chased away fighters of the main wing of [rebel] Congolese Rally for Democracy - Liberation Movement (RCD-ML), the sources said." AFP reported the sources as saying that since 9 August Bunia had been under the control of a "dissident fringe" of the RCD-ML called the Union of Congolese Patriots, UPC.) Sources: Radio Candip, Bunia, in French 0515 gmt 12 Aug 02; AFP news agency, Paris, in English 1855 gmt 11 Aug 02 (via BBCM via DXLD) ** CUBA [and non]. Just wondering if anyone had any frequencies and times for any numbers stations? I have a friend who is begging me to let him hear. Regards, (Chris Campbell, swl via DXLD) Chris, Good luck. it's 50% by chance when you hear them. A good place to start is: http://www.spynumbers.com/db.html They have a database there of loggings. I usually just stumble on them by luck (Ulis Fleming, ibid.) Chris, You may find the 'spooks' QTH reflector list interesting. The list seems pretty active. You can look through the archives at: http://mailman.qth.net/pipermail/spooks/ 73 (Frank, ibid.) ** CZECH REPUBLIC. Glenn, I'm now watching Czech TV (in Czech) with live reporting about the flooding. http://www.ct1.cz/ (It may be at capacity). The latest Radio Prague program in English is also available on demand at their website: http://www.radio.cz/en/ 73, (Ivan Grishin, Ont., 1509 UT Aug 13, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Beware the former; when I tried, it started to launch some video player, and crashed everything I was running (gh, DXLD) Glenn, Yet another example of the pitfalls of Internet broadcasting: Tried to get the live feed from Radio Prague this afternoon to catch up on news of the floods hitting the Czech Republic (and the rest of central Europe) and, you guessed it, the server was maxed out. This is not to be critical of Radio Prague --- it costs them plenty to provide Real Audio/Media Player feeds (both for hardware and software licensing), the costs go up with the number of feeds, and they have to plan for normal usage. But Net-based broadcasting really breaks down when, as on Sept. 11 last, the demand for access far outstrips the supply of feeds available. No shortwave transmitter ever broke down because too many people were listening to it, however! Grumpily yours, etc. Chuck Albertson, Seattle, WA, Aug 13, DX LISTENING DIGEST) See also GERMANY! ** EUROPE [non]. A View from Europe, commentary by Harvey Thomas, is now scheduled on WWCR, Sun 1710-1715 on 12160, in addition to the less convenient times of Sat 1110 on 15825, Sun 1010 on 5070 (gh, from WWCR`s printed schedule dated 01 August, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** FINLAND. Scandinavian Weekend Radio: I will listen carefully to the presentation in Pori next Saturday! By the way, on Aug 12 I received their large, special QSL celebrating the 2 Years anniversary in July. It has full data and is numbered 291 and signed by Frank. On the colourful backside are drawings of him and the others in The Show Show Team: Häkä, RJ, Lasol, Madman, Goestea, Pasi, Trevor, Esa and Tepa (Anker Petersen, Denmark, DSWCI DX Window Aug 14 via DXLD) ** FRANCE. From September private stations will be allowed on the Medium Wave. At the moment there are 37 candidates: Category A (community station): Littoral AM - Radio Source de Vie Paris - Equi-radio - Fréquence K - Radio Maria France - Radio Bonheur - Pulsar Radio - Radio Midi-Pyrénées Category B (Local or regional programms without relay of national networks): Latitudes AM - Sud Radio - J FM - Exo 7 - La La Radio - Radio Cannes – Cool Radio - One AM - Ekaïna MRL - Radio Talk Show [no Category C shown – gh] Category D (national network – thematic programme): Superloustic – Radiopéra - Francilia - Radio Orient – Ciel AM – Radio Livres – Radio Nouveaux Talents – Radiorama – Radio Publique – La Radio du Temps Libre – B FM – M FM – Capytol – La Radio de la Mer – Radio Talk Show – Air AM – Beur FM Category E (national network) : RMC Info - AM ``E`` (belongs to Europe 1) But only 6 to 10 will be allowed in Sep by Conseil Supérieur de l`Audiovisuel (C.S.A.) to broadcast in France. Tests will be held in Paris, from Sep 16 to 30 made by a Private Telecom Company (ID-Cast) on the frequency of 981 kHz, with two transmitters of 1 and 5 kW. 981 kHz was the former frequency used by Ciel AM Radio, last summer, but I don't know if the programm will be Ciel AM or a musical programme (Christian Ghibaudo, Nice, France, DSWCI DX Window Aug 14 via DXLD) ** GERMANY. Re Paul Santos` report of DW`s 2300 broadcast, sites: ENGLISH 2300-2345 9815 WERTACHTAL 500 075 SAS/SEAS ENGLISH 2300-2345 12000 TRINCOMALE 250 090 SAS/SEAS ENGLISH 2300-2345 17560 KOMSOMOLSK 250 213 SAS/SEAS ENGLISH 2300-2345 21790 PETROPAVL. 250 247 SAS/SEAS (via Wolfgang Bueschel, BC-DX via DXLD) Postage Stamp for Deutsche Welle. To commemorate its 50th anniversary --- DW went on the air on May 3, 1953 --- the German international broadcasting service will be honoured with a special postage stamp next year. A date for the unveiling of the DW motif has not been set, but a competition for the best design is already in progress (DW Newsletter 2/2002, via Alokesh Gupta, India, WWDXC TopNews, Aug 13 via BC-DX via DXLD) ** GERMANY. Bayerischer Rundfunk, Munich Ismaning is off the air on 6085 kHz. Yesterday 11 August evening and today 12 August morning. On 11 August morning the 6085 kHz was occupied by DRM transmission. What this means? (Alexander Yegorov, Ukraine, Aug 12, BC-DX via DXLD) http://www.rnw.nl/realradio/html/drm_latest.html shows only DRM Juelich 5975* tests at 1305-1455 UT. Nothing of 6085 kHz be found so far. ``*Starting 12 August 2002, Juelich is using different beams in alternate weeks. In the week of 12 August, the beam will be 60 degrees (Berlin), reverting to 290 degrees on 19 August, and continuing on the same pattern thereafter.`` 6085 carried usual BR programs. Music and content radio transmissions around 1100 UT on Aug 12th (Wolfgang Bueschel, Germany, DX LISTENING DIGEST) No DRM transmissions via Ismaning 6085 kHz. Bayerischer Rundfunk denied any DRM tests. Der BR verneint jegliche DRM Tests auf 6085 kHz, 73 wb df5sx, (Wolfgang Büschel, DXLD) Viz.: ----- Original Message ----- From: TechInfo@brnet.de Sent: Tuesday, August 13, 2002 9:37 AM Subject: Antwort: 6085 Ismaning off air Hallo Herr ..., vielen Dank fuer Ihre e-mail und Ihr Interesse an unserem Programm. Der BR führt definitiv keine DRM-Tests durch. Vermutlich stammen die gemessenen Signale von RTL auf 6090 kHz. Wir wissen aber noch nicht genau, ob RTL in der genannten Zeit auch gesendet hat. Mit freundlichen Gruessen, Manfred Schmitz (DL8EAN) ------------------------------------------------------------------- Bayerischer Rundfunk, Neue Technologien, Techn. Information 80300 Muenchen Fax: 089/5900-3199 Faxpolling: (Frequenzen) 089/5900-4032 e-Mail: techinfo@br-mail.de Internet: http://www.br-online.de/br-intern/technik ------------------------------------------------------------------- Bayerischer Rundfunk denied any DRM tests on 6085 kHz. But the 100 kW (decreased 500 kW Telefunken unit) transmitter had some problems on August 11th, till August 12, 2002, at around 0730 UT and as replacement the old ancient reserve unit of 10 kW was in use instead. (Wolfgang Bueschel, Aug 13, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Viz.: ----- Original Message ----- From: "Günter Lorenz" Sent: Tuesday, August 13, 2002 9:18 AM Subject: Ismaning 6085 off air Hier die Antwort vom BR zum Ausfall der 6085... Sehr geehrter Herr Lorenz, vielen Dank für Ihre E-mail und Ihr Interesse an unserer Kurzwelle. Bis 12.08.02 ca. 9.30 Uhr gab es Störungen auf der großen Kurzwelle (10 KW), so dass vorübergehend die kleine Kurzwelle eingeschaltet werden musste. Diese strahlt jedoch nur mit 10 KW Leistung ab. Mittlerweile sollten Sie jedoch unsere Programme auf der Kurzwelle 6085 KHz wieder einwandfrei empfangen können. Mit freundlichen Grüßen (Ines Bergmoser, Bayerischer Rundfunk Technische Information, Rundfunkplatz 1, 80300 München, E-mail: TechInfo@brnet.de Homepage: http://www.br-online.de/br-intern/technik (via Bueschel, Aug 13, DXLD) ** GERMANY. By the way, there could be a chance you heard in a news outlet about today`s flood in Saxonia? It still rains heavily here. Really awful! Kind regards, (Kai Ludwig, Germany, Aug 13, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Kai - I hope you are still above the water level. BBC TV news has been showing pictures of floods in Austria, Czech Rep and Germany - and Dresden was mentioned. All due to a very large low pressure weather system covering much of eastern Europe (Noel R. Green, Blackpool, UK, Aug 13, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Yes, unlike Dresden Hauptbahnhof station... When I went to work this morning there was a traffic jam before Dresden, but it did not made me distrustful. And when it was announced that the train would not stop at Dresden Mitte, Dresden Hauptbahnhof and Dresden-Strehlen, I became curious, and well, Dresden-Reick is not so much further away from our office building than Dresden-Neustadt. So I stayed in the train - and was together with all other passengers really baffled after we passed the Elbe river: There were just further rivers where streets used to be. And the sight at Dresden Hauptbahnhof was almost unbelievable, see here: http://kailudwig.bei.t-online.de/dre1308.htm Our train was evidently the last one to pass the station, afterwards the line was closed completely. It's quite a surprise that the 15,000 volts power supply for the overhead cables on the right side of the station (these are the through tracks; the ones on the flooded lower level terminate there) could be kept so long with this flood. Away from the overhead cables only the signal system (surprisingly) and the emergency lighting in the hall still worked, the main power supply was down, leaving the partly flooded hall in an eerie twilight. At work we just searched for the best way to leave Dresden before the situation worsened further, we were anyway advised that a failure of our main power supply and/or telephone and IP network lines must be expected. I finally decided to walk to Dresden-Neustadt again, and I indeed had to pass a flooded street (no big issue, it were just some 15 centimetres of water, and it is summer). Of course the railway traffic was quite chaotic, but finally I arrived here again since the Berlin -- Dresden line is clear; the service is just severely delayed due to the jam caused by the circumstance that no train could continue beyond Dresden-Neustadt. But Dresden -- Leipzig is disrupted, too, if my information is correct even twice. During the day there was also no passenger traffic from Dresden towards Chemnitz, and there is also no train service to Prague at present. Quite a disaster! I hardly expect the situation at Dresden to normalize earlier than by the end of this week. So I will of course stay here tomorrow, and then - let's see. Do not think I would forget about radio over this: I noted no disruptions so far; all Dresden-based stations were on air whenever checked. The transmitters are in safe areas (FM in the suburb Wachwitz, dozens of metres above the Elbe river, AM out in the countryside at Wilsdruff on a hill) but not so the studio sites, but either all STL cable circuits still work or substitute links were thrown in. On the programming side is it remarkable how the Saxonian branch of NRJ failed to broadcast appropriate information about the situation. NRJ Sachsen is infamous for being an unprofessional outfit, and today they proved this in a really "impressive" way. Kind regards, (Kai Ludwig, Germany, Aug 13, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Bob Padula`s itinerary put him in the flood area (Chris Hambly, Victoria, Aug 14, DX LISTENING DIGEST) See also CZECH REPUBLIC ** GUINEA. RTV Guineenne 7125 kHz - received a friendly e-mail VL from Issa Conde issaconde@yahoo.fr 3 weeks after sending a CD, US$1-00 and a French report for a March 2001 log. I have been trying to verify this one for many years! (Paul Ormandy, NZ, August 13, Host of The South Pacific DX Report http://radiodx.com DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** HUNGARY. Luigi Cobisi's European DX Council report mentions that rumors of the closing of some Eastern European language services at Radio Budapest have been denied by local sources. They report that a commission of the Hungarian Parliament is considering ways to find more funding for the foreign broadcast services, but that is all. (HCJB DX Partyline Aug 10, notes by Marie Lamb for W9WZE via DXLD) ** ICELAND. 3903, AFN Keflavik. Today Aug 5 after 4 months I received a big envelope with a computermade letter. The envelope gave the adress: Sigurdur Jonnson, Chief Engineer, Navmediacenbcst Det Keflavik, PSC1003 Box 25, FPO AE 09728-0325. The letterhead was from the Naval Media Center, Broadcasting Detachment, PSC 1003 Box 25, FPO 09728. The letter was signed by P. Huizinga (a typical Dutch name!), JOCS(SW) USN, Officer in Charge and reads: Congratulations!! It has been confirmed that you did pick up our frequency on 3.903 khz USB mode. We received several letters confirming the interception of our signal and each time we are astounded by the distances our signal has traveled. We hope you accept this letter with our radiostation logo and our Naval Media Center Command emblem as a sign of appreciation from us for the time you have taken to contact us (Max van Arnhem, Netherlands, DSWCI DX Window Aug 14 via DXLD) Congratulations to Torre and Max ! Now we are the three only in the World who have this station on 3903 verified, as far as I know – and all DSWCI-members! (Ed. Anker Petersen, ibid.) ** ICELAND. Vor einigen Monaten sendete U.S. Navy Bcing / AFN Keflavik fuer einige Tage auf 3903 USB. Jetzt kam ein teil-detaillierter Antwortbrief mit bunten Stationslogos. Man war ueberrascht ueber die Reichweite des Signals. v/s P. Huizinga, Officer in Charge JOCS (SW) USN (Harald Kuhl, Germany, A-DX Aug 7 via BC-DX via DXLD) ** INDIA. Friends, India is celebrating its Independence Day on August 15, 2001. Look out extended broadcasts in the morning on that day from AIR stations on 6 and 7 MHz etc. with running commentary of the parade. With Independence Day greetings, ===== 73 (Jose Jacob, VU2JOS, Somajiguda, Hyderabad, India, Aug 13, dx_india via DXLD) ** INTERNATIONAL VACUUM. Hi Glenn, Re the comment from Kai Ludwig: Your readers outside Europe may not be aware of the scenario. Radio Caroline originally went on Astra at 19.2 degrees East in analogue, when BSkyB still operated in analogue mode there. However, Sky gradually closed down their analogue services, and is now 100% digital. But the Sky digital service comes from a different orbital position, 28.2 degrees East. Radio Caroline wanted to move to that satellite, but found it was too expensive. It was able to go digital at 19.2 E, where it can cover Europe, but very few people in the UK - apart from satellite enthusiasts with steerable dishes - can receive it in the UK. I guess they see WorldSpace as a way of solving that problem - with the benefit of much wider coverage. But I share Kai's doubts about how many people will pay a subscription. UK listeners already have a plethora of stations playing the sort of music Caroline does. It must therefore look to the 'anorak' market, which has dwindled over the years. Personal experience has taught me that many in the DXing/Free Radio community are not prepared to put their money on the table when it comes to the crunch. My hunch is that Radio Caroline is looking to subscriptions to fund its continuing presence on WorldSpace. I would expect the total number of people who cough up to number in the hundreds rather than the thousands. That will not attract serious advertisers. I feel they would be better advised to stay free to air, which is also more in the spirit of WorldSpace (Andy Sennitt --Speaking for myself, and not my employer --, Aug 11, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** INTERNATIONAL VACUUM. It will be interesting to read about the audio quality of the XM and Sirius satellite services. On a quick search I found that these systems use like Worldspace low bitrates, 64 kbit/s or even less, see: http://www.mediageek.org/2002_06_01_archive_index.html http://www.rwonline.com/reference-room/satellite-radio/2_rw_xm_codec.shtml Kind regards, (Kai Ludwig, Germany, Aug 11, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** INTERNATIONAL VACUUM. I asked a friend of mine about the reportedly distorted YLE transmissions via the Deutsche Welle transponder on Eutelsat Hotbird. He is not able to check it but does not believe that this is an actual overmodulation of the subcarrier; instead he assumes that the cause is audio overshooting prior to the circuit (ISDN?) to Berlin. He also regrets that Deutsche Welle shows little interest in establishing a DVB service on Astra which could reach a quite large audience, contrary to the analogue subcarriers which are no longer of much use. Just compare this with the big fuss they made about the recently established DVB feed to North America. And he has this finding: Since a few weeks ago there is a third RNW channel on the Dutch Canal Digitaal Astra bouqet, labelled "RNW3" but not containing program audio yet. Will this channel carry the new German service of RNW? Just kidding (Kai Ludwig, Germany, Aug 11, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ---Ursprüngliche Nachricht--- Wenn Deutsche Welle, wovon ich ausgehe, den analogen Uplink selbst oder über Deutsche Telekom in Berlin betreibt, wird es wohl nicht an der Zuführung liegen, wenn der FM-UT zu viel Hub (?) macht. Prüfen will ich das lieber nicht - mein Flachmann ist gerade so schön auf Astra ausgerichtet. Glaube ich aber nicht, denn dann würde man benachbarte Unterträger stören. Vermutlich eher eine analoge Übersteuerung vor der ISDN (?) Zuführung nach Berlin. Schade übrigens, daß die Welle so wenig Wert auf Astra-DVB legt. Nicht nur, daß die seit langem durch die Franzosen kostenlos realisierte TV-Verbreitung quasi ignoriert wird - die paar zusätzlichen Euro für die Radios sollten wohl nicht das Problem sein, wenn man - und nur mit Astra-DVB - Holland, Spanien und die Nicht-TPS-Abonnenten des frz. Satellitenmarktes erreichen kann. Davon einmal abgesehen, dürften auch die meisten TPS-Hotbird-Gucker mit 60er Schüssel und Mietbox wenig von analog oder digitalen Schmalträgern (SCPC) haben. Übrigens: Auf Satellit Astra 19,2 E steht seit wenigen Wochen eine Kennung "RNW3" mit Audio 192 kbps, wo aber noch kein Programm kommt. Wie die anderen beiden auch, im Digitalpaket von Canal Digitaal NL... Gruß (Andreas --- , via Kai Ludwig, DXLD) ------ ** INTERNATIONAL VACUUM [non]. Glen[n], Have you ever heard of the following: A flash of light knocked out a computer which was not on, halted my processor in another computer-both have very expensive ups and surge, the microwave clock reset to zero, a battery powered short wave radio went silent to which i had to power off and on several times....it was a clear evening, no power issues reported, the light came from above my garage, my neighbors saw the flash but we experienced most of the problems. It was a silent whitish flash.. Great website..... ccm (Cedric Miller, Aug 12, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Cedric, If this just happened, it sounds like a stray Perseid, at the peak of the meteor shower. As for the strange effects you associate with it, I don`t know. I suppose it`s possible a fireball exploding nearby would have some EMF impact (Glenn, reply to Cedric, via DXLD) ** IRAN. many broadcasters are cutting back on shortwave broadcasting and starting to shift to options like the internet. One station in particular is bucking this trend. Quote of the Month ``Mohammad Kazem Anbarlui, an editorial-board member at the hard-line `Resalat` daily, said that the ministries of Intelligence and Security and of Foreign Affairs should have declared Friedman persona non grata and not accepted his journalist credentials. Anbarlui continued, ISNA reported on 3 July: `Of course, in view of the fact that we are the freest nation and have the most democratic state in the world, we have nothing to fear. However, it has to be seen what our nation gained in exchange for this generosity.... Why is it necessary to show such kindness to an American spy in Tehran under the guise of a journalist?``` (RFE/RL Iran Report on the visit of NY Times journalist Thomas Friedman) This month I look at the Voice of the Islamic Republic of Iran Following events in Iran is much like following events in the old Soviet Union or the People`s Republic of China. Many stories circulate about how the country, or at least the government is becoming more liberal, tolerant, then just as many stories appear about journalists and activists being arrested, newspapers and journals being shut down. It`s hard to know exactly what is going on there. Some of the reports about the leadership remind me of reports about the old Soviet leaders. When Yuri Andropov became Soviet leader there were a number of stories about how he was more liberal, he even enjoyed Jazz! In reality, when he wasn`t on life support, he was one of the more reactionary Soviet leaders. The reports of his softer side turned out to be more wishful thinking than anything else. Our window into Iran is the Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting. As with the old Radio Moscow, or any other station for that matter, the content should be taken with a grain of salt. It`s quite obvious (to this listener anyway) that IRIB has definite themes that they are trying to hammer home. Palestinian (and Kashmiri) combatants are always activists. Israelis are always Zionists or Zionist aggressors. Israel is almost never mentioned, except as an illegal state. The IRIB website is interesting, and a little disturbing. There is an animation, showing an Israeli soldier shooting doves of peace over the Dome of the Rock in Jerusalem….the photo morphs into photo montages of frightened, bloodied and in some cases dead Palestinians, then Sadat, Carter and Begin shaking hands all the while the Israeli soldier continues to shoot. Each shot only increases the number of doves, until a large dove drags a Palestinian flag across the screen. Under this animation is the slogan Victory is Near! Clicking on this takes you to another animation from bottom to top of a US flag (stars are bombs and the stripes are running, as if bloody) some Arab folk (moderate leaders?) and then Sharon as a large buzzard or vulture. A Palestinian flag then drops down toppling Sharon and covering the other images. You can also link to lots of stuff about the Intifada. Interestingly there seems to be more about the Intifada and Palestine than there is about Iran itself on the website. You can listen to a weeks archived broadcasts over the net. I listened to the most recent one. A typical broadcast seems to open with the Interval Signal followed by ID and a march (National Anthem?). This is followed by frequency information and a (hauntingly beautiful) recitation in Arabic from the Koran, which was then apparently translated into English by a YL. Continuity announcer was same YL --- sounding remarkably like the woman I used to hear on WYFR, Karen (Johnston?). On the day I heard them, the program opened with Challenger of History….an interesting choice of events were covered from the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand to the birth anniversary of a (to me) obscure Iranian-born Arabic scholar. The first of two news bulletins was aired, introduced by a cheesy piece of intro music. The Iranian government is indignant at US interference in Iran`s internal affairs…hypocrisy of US accusation of Iranian terrorism, when US backing ``Zionist`` terrorism. Zionist forces vs. Palestinian activists. Colin Powell in South East Asia. 300 Taliban prisoners are being tortured and starved in camp in Afghanistan near US base. 83 killed at Ukrainian air show. Fire at gas depot in Turkey, 4 killed. More floods in India, Nepal and Bangladesh. Ferry accident in India, 29 bodies recovered. Political Commentaries came next. These included: Yemeni Foreign Minister in Teheran US inviting 6 Iraqi Opposition groups to Washington (a remarkably even-handed discussion --- guess they don`t like Washington or Baghdad) Palestinian Refugees – A Narrative of Repression An ``interesting`` perspective on the history of Palestine/``Illegal State of Israel``. Israel founded by ``Zionist terrorist gangs.`` ``Sharon believes Palestinians in the areas of the `1948 Occupation` should be expelled, followed by those in the area of the `1967 Occupation```. Music Press Review Iran-Azerbaijan co-operation. EU diplomatic visits demonstrate importance of the Islamic Republic in the world, evidence of independence of EU foreign policy from Washington. An article from Malaysia was quoted, about the need for the Muslim world to work with the non-Muslim world, Iranian president an example. ``Where is the unity of the Muslim world at times other than those when a Palestinian child is shot point-blank by an Israeli soldier or settler`` An interview with some guy along these lines: Arms business most unholiest of all…being used against Palestinians and Kashmiris…US and Britain key culprits. US and Britain supply arms to Palestinians` oppressors, but when ``a few arms`` are provided to Palestinian ``activists`` it is support for terrorism. Unholy matrimony of the world`s oppressors. Israel, India, Russia, formerly South Africa was part of this under apartheid. And of course, don`t forget America. Broadcast wrapped up with the program Insight into the World of Islam ``Plight`` of 500,000 Muslims in Australia…high unemployment, lack of Muslim teaching facilities, religious learning opportunities, employment discrimination the influence of Zionist media in Australia has impaired Australia`s view of Islam Two letters from Australia were read; asked for 7 volume book about Islam; second letter praised the Koran readings from IRIB. Earlier news bulletin was repeated, bringing program to an end. IRIB is hard to hear on shortwave…the internet is certainly a bonus. According to a recent article IRIB is the 4th most prolific broadcaster in terms of hours of transmission after BBC, VoA and CRI. There are a couple of other sources of information about Iran. You can sign up for the Radio Free Europe weekly email Iran Report. Also the IRNA Islamic Republic of Iran News Agency has an interesting website (Fred Waterer, Programming Matters, Aug ODXA Listening In via DXLD) ** ISRAEL. RE the IBA's radio webcasts, I received the following reply from the webmaster@iba.org.il "I checked the files and found no reason for the problem you describe. Please let me know if the problem persists." --- FYI - It isn't a local cache thing -- no one on that PC had listened to Friday morning's news. Just to confirm that it definitely isn't a local thing -- have other people noticed that some of the IBA English, French, or Spanish) radio broadcasts on http://bet.iba.org.il are missing? Thanks ---- (Daniel Rosenzweig, Aug 12, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ITALY. Dear Glenn, sorry to be a bit late --- as usual? But a pirate station is owned often in a --- pirate way. Sunday 11 August Radio Europe 7306 kHz USB resumed its programs at 0630-1100 UT after 3 weeks of inactivity due to some personal problems of the owner Mr. Alex Bertini. So he phoned to me yesterday, and confirmed 100% he will be able to do the special broadcast next Friday 16 August on 7306 kHz USB at 2100- 2200 UT with 500 watts of power. Repeated Saturday 17 August on 7306 kHz USB at 2100-2200 UT with 500 watts of power. Program will be featuring special messages and jokes for the 50th ANNIVERSARY of JAPAN SHORT WAVE CLUB (JSWC); languages will be English and Japanese. Naturally reports will be verified with Special QSL card and a copy of each report will be sent to the JSWC in Japan who will edit additional QSL card. For this reason 3 IRCs or 3 $ are requested, being the costs to mail copies of reports to JSWC. E-mail report are welcomed, but will be replied only with an internet message, so just a virtual QSL reply --- to radioeurope@iol.it All reports must be sent to: Radio Europe, P.O.BOX 12, IT-20090 LIMITO (MI), ITALY I hope the information will be in time for edition DXLD 2-128. I will not go to "puppet meeting" EDXC 2002 in Finland. And we (me and Alex Bertini) will not produce special program for EDXC 2002 meeting. Good activities and THANKS for your PERFECT information (Dario Monferini, Milano, Aug 11, DX LISTENING DIGEST) JAPAN: See ITALY ** KOREA NORTH. 11776.3v, V of Korea, 1320-1335+ Aug 3 - Usual talks and choral mx \\ 11710.06. Best in USB to avoid Dr. Gene on 11775. Had drifted down to 11776.1 or so after 15 mins (John Wilkins, CO, DXplorer Aug 3 via BC-DX via DXLD) So a spur? ** KURDISTAN. TURKEY: On Aug 3 the Parliament in Ankara carried a resolution on a Democratic Package which included for the first time the acceptance of the Kurdish language which 14 million or 22% of the total population speak, as a national language. The Kurds are also allowed to open their own radio and TV stations. Time will show what this means for domestic broadcasting within Turkey and for foreign broadcasts to the Kurds including from Clandestine stations. The total Kurdish population in Turkey, Iran, Iraq, Syria and the southern CIS is about 30 million (Anker Petersen, Denmark, DSWCI DX Window Aug 14 via DXLD) ** KYRGYZSTAN. This morning from 0000 I noted Kyrgyz Radio on new 4795 // 4010 in Kyrgyz until 0030 and then in Russian. An UNID was heard on 4940 -2345-0030- playing Russian and other pop music with no announcements. Good signal, poor audio quality. The frequency was slightly off channel. This one was heard far too late to be Yakutsk (Olle Alm, Sweden, Aug 13, DX LISTENING DIGEST) BTW, I recently headed this KYRGYZIA. Is KYRGYZSTAN definitely the preferred version now, and/or is KYRGYZIA considered incorrect or outdated? (gh, DXLD) ** LEBANON [non]. VATICAN CITY. Thanks to Anker Petersen for the tip: Here's a Lebanese station called SOUT AL MAHABA, that's V. of LOVE in Arabic, transmitting via Vatican Radio on 11715 around 0430 UT, after the Arabic transmission of Vatican Radio, starting with an ID "IDHAAT SOUT AL MAHABA MIN LEBENON", followed by the address P.O. Box 850, Juniyah - Lebanon. Also they mentioned using the freq 9565, but it's not audible. The program is mainly gospel like what do you know about Jesus, and gospal songs. Also they mentioned home page http://www.radiocharity.org.lb/ (Tarek Zeidan, Egypt, BC-DX Aug 7 via DXLD) Yes 11715 is scheduled til 0500 UT: 11715 0355-0500 38E, 39 SMG 100 kW 113 degr CVA VAT (BC-DX via DXLD) 11715, Voice of Charity, Lebanon via Santa Maria di Galeria, Jul 30, Aug 2, 4 and 6, *0430-0456*, Arabic religious programme produced in Lebanon and broadcast by the Vatican R. in exchange for the use of an FM-transmitter in Lebanon. Fanfare, several ID's: "Huna Idhaat Sout al-Mahaba", an man announced ``...coming from Lebanon we transmit on 2 SW frequencies 11715 and 9565.`` (9565 was not heard. Ed). The announcer gave address as: Idhaat Sout al-Mahaba, P. O. Box 850, Juniyah, Lebanon, e-mail: email@radiocharity.org.lb and website http://www.radiocharity.org.lb Then a woman praised the Lord and played Gospel songs. 34444. During winter it is one hour later and on 9635 or 9645 (Guibaudo, Petersen and Zeidan, DSWCI DX Window Aug 14 via DXLD) The website says that this Catholic organisation was established in Lebanon in 1984. The radiostation broadcasts in the following languages: Arabic (20 hours per day), French ``La Voix de la Charité`` (3 hours per day), English (1 hour per day), Armenian (1 hour per week), Sinhalese (1 hour per week), Tagalog (1 hour per week), African and Indian dialects, Amharic and occasionally the traditional liturgic languages of Syriac, Latin and Greek. The broadcasts are on the air 24 hours a day and done by 15 employees and more than 50 volunteers. It belongs to the World Family of Radio Maria (Ed. Anker Petersen, DSWCI DX Window Aug 14 via DXLD) ** MADAGASCAR. Jari, From here I did not had the chance to hear this ID as "MBS 95.4" on 5010 before 1900 or after, otherwise I would have reported it !!! Good Luck (Mahendra Vaghjee, Mauritius, hard-core-dx via DXLD) ** MALI. Glenn, ORTM, Bamako, Mali first noted back on 4834.98 kHz tonight (August 12th) at 1945 UTC with ID and News Bulletin. At present there is still no sign of the second 60 metre band frequency of 4784.38 kHz (Graham Powell, Wales, DX LISTENING DIGEST) On August 12th, 4835 was active again, heard at 2200 with good signal. 5995 was also audible: fair signal at 2130. 9635, last heard August 6th, was back this morning at 0800. Weak signal, but the transmitter is audible very regularly if it's in normal operation (Thorsten Hallmann, Muenster, Tropical Rainforest, Aug 13, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** MEXICO. Emisoras no identificadas en Querétaro en FM. Los fines de semana salgo a dar clases a la ciudad de Querétaro. Desde el mes de julio he estado sintonizando dos emisoras en la banda de FM con muy baja potencia; sólo las he podido sintonizar estando en el centro de dicha ciudad, al parecer están al aire las 24 horas y ambas con una transmisión puramente musical, música continua, sin ninguna identificación de la emisora. La primera en la frecuencia de 101.9 MHz con música ambiental, de oficina o de relajación. Y la otra en 102.7 MHz con música pop inglés de la década de los 80's. Saludos (Hector García Bojorge, DF, Aug 13, Conexión Digital via DXLD) ** NETHERLANDS [non]. RN in English at 1430-1625 is on 12075, no longer on 12070. Heard and measured Aug 2 and 3. There is a steady moderate whistle, which can be defeated with LSB or synchronous detexion, LSB. On Aug 2, 12065 was announced at 1500; Aug 3, no frequencies were announced. This is important for people who key in frequencies (David Crystal, 19125 Israel, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Media Network RN schedule updated Aug 8 shows: 1430-1625 Tashkent 12075 131 100 English South Asia (via gh, DXLD) ** NEW ZEALAND. RNZI frequency schedule 1 Sept to 27 Oct: 1650-1750 11725 1750-2050 15160 2050-0458 17675 0500-0700 15340 0700-1100 11675 1105-1305 15175 (E. Timor) (overnight) 6095 [if needed] (From Adrian Sainsbury, Mailbox, via Joel Rubin, swprograms via DXLD) ** OKLAHOMA [and non]. If there is a KUAL-LP in Enid on 104.7, how can there be another KUAL in Baxter, Minnesota? As detailed here: http://www.mwpersons.com/Stations/WJJY/index.html (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** OMAN. Thought I'd try a little weak signal DXing tonight: Radio Sultanate of Oman heard here at 0200 on 15355 8/12. In presumed Arabic, with recitations of the Kor`an at 0205, which lasted till 0232 or so. Some talk after that, and there was some very interesting flute music interspersed with talk up until brief interval signal just prior to 0300, then ann. by a woman, then brief Koran recitations till about 0305, then English news read by a man announcer. Not much of a signal here, but audible nonetheless. I hadn't bothered to try to hear them in a very, very long time. 73, (Steve Lare, Holland, MI, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** PAKISTAN. R. Pakistan was on 17525 this morning, almost synchro with Voice of Russia (Olle Alm, Sweden, Aug 13, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** PAKISTAN. 4790.02, R Pakistan, Aug 10, 0115-0125, Vernacular talk. 25222. If it was Azad Kashmir R, it had moved from longtime 4790.4 which is the Islamabad transmitter using 100 kW. With this weak signal, it may be from the 10 kW transmitter at Rawalpindi which uses first to sign on at 0130 during summer. It is normally heard on exactly 4790 (Anker Petersen, Denmark, DSWCI DX Window Aug 14 via DXLD) ** PARAGUAY. Re: R. América escuchada --- y verificada --- en Canadá!: Estimado Tony: Puedes verificar esto; yo he monitoreado ambas frecuencias durante toda la semana y nada. Sólo un día me pareció escuchar algo en los 15185 kHz pero inaudible. Dicen estar haciendo test las 24 horas. Cordiales 73s (Nicolás Eramo, Argentina, to Tony Jones, Paraguay, via DXLD) Lo mismo aquí. Ni siquiera una onda portadora. 73, (Tony Jones to Eramo, via DXLD) ** PERU. 6536, RD. HUANCABAMBA. Huancabamba. *1158-1210 Agosto 11. Aperturando emisiones. `` ...En Huancabamba surge como un crepúsculo la voz de las grandes mayorías, Radiodifusora Huancabamba 820 amplitud modulada, 100.1 frecuencia modulada estéreo y vía satélite(sic) 6535 kHz... Radiodifusora Huancabamba la poderosa, para que más...`` (Rafael Rodríuez, Bogotá, Aug 13, Conexión Digital via DXLD) ** PERU. 5996.7, Radio Melodía, Arequipa, 0916-0928, August 11. Spanish transmission. Music program conduced by male. Latin music: tropical, salsa and huaynos! ID: "Melodía... la voz del pueblo". Greetings: "nuestro saludo especialísimo... nos vamos rumbo a..., nos falta poco para irnos a descansar...". Other ID as: "Melodía, la emisora que los acompaña las 24 horas del dia". 34433 (Arnaldo Slaen, Argentine, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 6117.4v, Radio Unión, Lima, 0940-0950, August 11, reactivated. Music program. Andean music and very nice huaynos. Ann. "El folclor suena mejor en Unión". Greetings: "...también saludos a nuestros amigos de Unión..." ID FM station: "103.3 La Rompe". Audio distorsionated. 34443 (Arnaldo Slaen, Argentine, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 9720.4, Radio Victoria, Lima, 0929-0935, August 11. Religious program in Spanish: "Aleluya, aleluya, aleluya... danos tu bendición a esta hora...." 24442 (Arnaldo Leonel Slaen, Casilla de Correos 1159 C1000WAL Buenos Aires, Argentina, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** PUERTO RICO. On 1660 kHz, medium wave, can be captured a Puerto Rican radio station. Its name: "La Gigante, la cadena de mayor crecimiento en Puerto Rico". With boleros and romantic music at 2200 UT. Phone numbers: 6332420, 2521730. Very good signal. Greetings (from Catia La Mar, Vargas, VENEZUELA, Adán González, Aug 13, DX LISTENING DIGEST) WGIT ** ROMANIA. Romania was always something of a maverick state. Romania refused to support the invasion of Czechoslovakia in 1968. It maintained relations with Israel. Readers may recall the cheers that greeted the Romanian Olympic team in 1984 when the nation refused to join the soviet led boycott of the Los Angeles Olympics. Ceausescu entered into a plan to pay off the nations debt…driving most of the population into poverty and despair. The people finally had enough. In 1989, after disturbances in the Hungarian minority region of the country, there was an uprising. Ceausescu attempted to flee the country. He was dealt with rather dramatically and finally when he was summarily tried and died of acute lead poisoning, along with his wife, at the hands of a firing squad. Exciting programming was heard, it was off the cuff, and joyous. They interviewed anyone they could find, mostly foreign journalists to comment on the remarkable events. They requested listeners to send them some of the most basic items, as the studios were barren. Normalcy returned to the station…today Romania has a varied and interesting program line up. Some have suggested that the ``revolution`` of 1989 was less an uprising than a cleverly disguised coup. Nevertheless, there is no doubt things have changed. Instead of a heavy political diatribe, you are more likely to here a report on business opportunities. ``The English Service, which is part of the Open Radio programme of RRI, broadcasts eight 56-minute programmes daily and a 17-minute newscast every morning. These programmes target practically all English-speaking areas: Western and Northern Europe, North America, South-East Asia and the Far East, the Pacific Area and Africa. ``The team of the English Service produces a wide range of feature programmes complementing the news, reports, commentaries and features supplied by the News Room and the Feature Department. By our programmes we aim to make known Romanian realities in all areas, Romania`s history and contribution to world civilisation, and Romanian foreign policy actions in a global context. ``We also look at bilateral relations as part of special programmes like Partners in a Changing World. The interviews with outstanding foreign personalities round off the picture of Romania`s relations with the respective countries. As we attach great importance to our relationship with listeners, a recent trend in our programming are live, phone-in shows, which invite listeners to share their opinions with us and with other listeners on a wide variety of contemporary topics. ``Tune in and you won`t be sorry: our programmes are a reliable and ``listener-friendly`` source of information about Romania.`` (RRI website) http://www.rri.ro/engl/default.htm (Fred Waterer, Ont., Programming Matters, July ODXA Listening In via DXLD) ** RWANDA. 6055, R. Rwanda audible regularly from 2200 but with varying format: Aug. 8th: talk format, possibly English, very weak audio. Aug 12th: nonstop western pop/oldies, fine audio, good signal. Closedown at 2100 after short announcement and 5 minute national anthem! (Thorsten Hallmann, Muenster, Tropical Rainforest, Aug 13, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** SOUTH CAROLINA. Report on Brother Stair: I've heard the second mild reference on his own program to his having been in jail. During the reference, it was stated that many of the people on his farm have "fallen away." (See 2 Thes. 2:23 which predicts that in the end times there will be a "falling away first." See also John 6:66, which talks about the same phenomenon although using different words.) Based on this admittedly mild and "in passing" reference, I think the emergency facing Brother Stair and his empire is quite severe, and that he's putting up the best possible external appearance of serenity on the inside. I wish I knew what percentage of his flock have left him compared to what percentage have stayed with him. This is further consistent with the fact that over 95% of his radio show still consists of old material recycled, whereas before he was arrested the ratio was more like 80% old stuff and 20% current material. He's no doubt busy either with his defense or an escape plan! In response to one of Brother Stair's "radio checks," as he calls them, where listeners are urged to call in to give the time and frequency, often for a free gift, I did call in and requested a free CD. He's given me free tapes and newsletters and articles. But never an actual CD. I am quite skeptical and am quite anxious to see if he follows through. The CD is supposed to be his interview with the guy named Cohen (a Jew converted to Christianity) who wrote a book called "The Anti-Christ and a Cup of Tea," which "proves" that the current Prince of Wales and Duke of Cornwall is "the" Anti-Christ mentioned in Revelation 13:18 (of 666 fame). So, needless to say, I'm looking forward to this, in large part because I am skeptical he's actually going to send out free CDs (Robert Arthur, Aug 13, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** SYRIA. I missed listening between 1500 and 1530 today but have been trying since about 1845. CRI was then using 13610 for Mandarin and tentatively there was another broadcast in the background. Syria was definitely heard in German at 1808, and is clear on this 13610 channel at 1830 after CRI closed. German is sched 1805-1905. There is no signal audible at all on 12085 - checked from 1845 past 1930 (Noel Green, England, Aug 12, DX LISTENING DIGEST) [another version of above:] The al Watan transmission was missed yesterday (Aug. 12), but I started checking for the Syrian foreign service around 1745. 12085 was not on air at that time either, and was not heard up to 2200. And a check today on 12085 at 0630 reveals no signal. So, what has happened??? At 1745 (Aug.12) I found CRI was using 13610 for a broadcast in Mandarin until 1830 - exactly! However, there was another audible below, but it could not be copied. But I did hear Syria in German appear at 1808. This was in the clear from 1830, and was followed at 1905 by French and at 2005 by English. There was a break at 2005-2010 when another English broadcast began. The signal on 13610 was initially very strong - 9+20dB - but was down to about 9 by 2100+. Audio levels were mostly very low and distorted and accompanied by noise. I did hear one English ID mentioning Damascus and Syria but couldn`t copy anything else. At times it was difficult to even distinguish the language. What a waste of time! Syria is not using 13610 to carry its Arabic daytime service - and has not done so for some time. [Later:] I have been monitoring Syria on 13610, and it opened at 1600 with their Foreign Service. It was extremely difficult to identify the language at first, but gradually audio levels improved to reveal Turkish - as Kai intimated. This closed at 1700 and was replaced with Russian - I'm not exactly sure what time this language began as audio levels had again dropped nearly to zero, but think approx. 1703. Audio level gradually improved - if that's the correct word - so that the language could be identified, and the service was still in progress when CRI's Mandarin programme opened at 1730. This signal is much stronger, but Syria can be heard below. So the Damascus FS is confirmed as 1600 Turkish, c1700 Russian, 1805 German, 1905 French, 2005-2105 English, 2110- English. I assume the latter will be until 2210. What happens after then remains to be verified. No transmission from Syria has been heard on 12085. Yes, I remember Syria being listed on 9950, but find it difficult to recall if/when it was actually in use. [prompted by the 12085/12115 station, which is still filed under UNIDENTIFIED below, as this report from Noel continues] (Noel R. Green, Blackpool, UK, Aug 13, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** TAIWAN. Hi Glenn, Based on what I read in DXLD on the net, I heard the following: Noted a broadcasting station on 8300 kHz at 1200-1215 plus. I heard this might be a clandestine from Taiwan called the New Star. The details are a woman in comments. Language sounds Chinese. Signal was threshold with QRM from Spanish ute on same frequency. Today is August 13, 2002 (Chuck Bolland, Clewiston FL, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** TAIWAN. A summer fill in? Tales of Dutch Formosa CBS Radio Taipei International`s first ever series of radio dramas ``Tales of Dutch Formosa`` will be aired every Friday starting Aug. 16. These radio dramas are dramatic interpretations of true historical events from the Dutch occupation of Formosa, now called Taiwan. http://www.cbs.org.tw/english/news/2002/news0811-02.htm Prof. Llyn M. Scott and Mr. Norman Szabor are the authors of the dramas. Prof. Llyn M. Scott also act as the director. Our host Andrew is the producer and engineer. Our regularly scheduled programming, both Hour 1 and 2, for Fridays of Aug. 16, 23, 30 and Sep. 6 will be cancelled. We are sorry for any inconvenience caused. Make sure you tune in then! For more on ``Tales of Dutch Formosa``, please click here! Central Broadcasting System, No.55 Pei An Road Taipei, Taiwan. R.O.C. http://www.cbs.org.tw (via Daniel Say, BC, Aug 13, DXLD) TALES OF DUTCH FORMOSA INTRODUCTION Tales of Dutch Formosa is a four-part docu/drama series partially funded by the Cross Cultural Centre of Fu Jen Catholic University and supported by CBS, Radio Taipei International. The programs are based on historical accounts in letters and journals written by representatives of the Dutch East Indies Company or VOC (Verenigde Oost-Indische Company) and the Dutch Reformed Church of the Netherlands who were stationed in Formosa between 1624 to 1662. This treasure of contact literature from Dutch archival and other sources was consulted in English primarily through publications by William Campbell, Leonard Blussi, Natalie Everts, and Evelien Frech; in addition to Marc Hutsebaut, Editor in Chief, Mappamundi, for The Authentic Story in Taiwan. Ann Heylen, researcher at the Catholic University of Leuven in Belgium, personally contributed her expertise regarding untranslated materials. Each thirty-minute drama concludes with a fifteen-minute historian interview conducted by Dr. Heylen (via Say, swprograms via DXLD) ** TAIWAN [and non]. RTI/CBS is planning to hold listeners’ club meetings in Southeast Asia. Please fill out the questionnaire and tell us what you think ... http://cbssp.cbs.org.tw/englisha/Lists/EastAsiaMeeting/overview.htm (via Daniel Say, BC, Aug 13, DXLD) ** UKRAINE. RUI now (from 8 August) is not available from both Mykolaiv and Kyiv sites; only Kharkiv is operating (also on 6020 and 15520 kHz). (Alexander Yegorov, Ukraine, Aug 12, BC-DX via DXLD) In addition to the transmitters in Nikilayev, which were switched off before, on Aug 8, the following changes took place: 1) All Kiev SW txs (Brovary) are switched off. 2) MW tx in Kiev on 549 kHz is switched off. 3) The power of LW tx on 207 kHz is reduced to 50%. 4) Only three Kharkov transmitters are still working on SW - 6020, 7320, 7410, 11950, 12045, 13590. 5) In Kiev on MW there is only the relay of BBC on 612 kHz. (Alexander Yegorov, Ukraine, BC-DX Aug 10 via DXLD) Alexander Yegorov reports that on 8 Aug again all SW txs in Brovary and Kopani were again switched off, on the air are only the three Taranivka transmitters on 6020, 7320, 7410, 11950, 12045, 13590 kHz (Bernd Trutenau, Lithuania, BC-DX Aug 9 via DXLD) Yesterday, Aug 12, two transmitters in Kyiv resumed work on 6020, 9950, 11840 and 15520 kHz. Temporary transmitter in Kharkiv on 6020 and 15520 kHz now is off the air. Also 549 kHz in Kyiv was available again (Alexander Yegorov, Ukraine, WWDXC TopNews, Aug 13 via BC-DX via DXLD) ** U K. GOVERNMENT OFFICIALS ACCUSED OF HACKING BBC JOURNALIST'S COMPUTERS The BBC has investigated allegations that Downing Street illegally hacked into its computer system in order to influence critical news items before they were broadcast. Journalists at the BBC's west London newsroom were alarmed that Downing Street staff appeared to know about the contents of their reports in advance. They reported their concerns to their editors who, in turn, investigated the possible breaches of computer security. The BBC was unable to prove that Government officials had hacked into its system but John Simpson, the BBC's world affairs editor, says staff were "morally certain" it had happened. Shortly afterwards the BBC replaced its newsroom computer system with a more secure one. Mr Simpson says that one correspondent noticed that when he wrote a script on the newsroom computer for the next news bulletin "he would be rung up by Downing Street before it was broadcast and lobbied on a point or two". Mr Simpson does not identify the journalists involved but claims that the tactics were part of widespread attempts by the Government to pressure the BBC and other broadcasters into more favourable coverage of its policies. A Downing Street spokesman said: "This story is utterly ridiculous, complete drivel." Source: http://www.telegraph.co.uk - Telegraph || Via the EJC Media News Digest of 12 August 2002 Media News is archived at http://www.ejc.nl/mn/searchnews.asp and searchable on keyword. Visit the European Journalism Centre website at http://www.ejc.nl for information on training activities, EJC publications and useful tools for journalists. (via George Lessard, CAJ-list via Ricky Leong, DXLD) ** U K. QUIZ OUR FRONT-LINE REPORTERS Have you ever wondered what journalists have to go through to bring you the news? Ever thought of what life on the road is like in some of the world's most dangerous hot spots? Or how journalists keep their cool and remain impartial? Now BBC World Service gives you the opportunity to find out, in a special online forum. You can quiz the BBC's defence correspondent Jonathan Marcus, who has extensive experience of reporting from the front line, in a special forum from the USA. Jonathan has covered stories for the BBC from the Gulf, the Middle East, the Balkans and Eastern Europe. He was live on the air as the terrorist attacks of 11 September unfolded, and says the subsequent war on terrorism was one of the hardest stories he's ever had to report. Jonathan Marcus will be joined by Lisa Mullins and Quill Lawrence from the BBC/WGBH programme 'The World'. All three will share tales of getting the story under adverse conditions. Selected emails will be used as part of the LIVE Question and Answer session on Thursday 15 August in Nantucket, USA. A video recording of the event will be available on the Talking Point website after the talk has finished. || HOW TO CONTACT THE PROGRAMME If you have a question for Jonathan, Lisa or Quill visit the special WEB PAGES at http://bbcnews.com/talkingpoint and look for the 'Reporter's Life' Forum button on the right hand side. (BBC via Richard Cuff, swprograms via DXLD) ** U S A. SPECTRUM: Glenn, I heard the "last program" last weekend, and what they said was that the studio building they are presently using has been sold, and that they can't afford to move yet again. They'll spend the next few weeks deciding whether or not to continue, and will be playing reruns instead for the next few weeks. Glenn, for a long time now, I've felt that the Spectrum crew has been running out of steam. No fresh ideas, and generally just boring programming, unlike their earlier years when they had interesting weekly segments, and some great guests (including yourself!). The last two years or so has seen little new blood or ideas. Mostly the shows are call-ins with the same people calling and droning on and on. Used to be that the call ins were limited to once a month. Unfortunately, one of the hosts sounds seriously ill with congestive heart failure and complications of diabetes. Probably another reason for the show`s lack of steam. Believe it or not, a few months ago, a good segment of the show was devoted to a discussion of cats! Sorry state! Even so, with so few media shows left, I tried to listen in every weekend (Walt Salmaniw, BC, Aug 12, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. Programas especiales en WRMI: Nuestro colaborador de Argentina Rubén Guillermo Margenet regresa a WRMI con dos ediciones especiales de su programa "Con Frecuencia" en los próximos días. El sábado, 17 de agosto a las 1000-1100 UT en 9955 kHz, se transmitirá un programa especial dedicado al Día de la Independencia en Corea y al 40 aniversario de la creación de la sección española de Radio Corea Internacional. Este programa fue originalmente transmitido el año pasado en la emisora local FM Uruguay en Rosario, Argentina para celebrar el 39 aniversario de la sección española de Radio Corea. El programa se repitirá el lunes, 19 de agosto de 0900-1000 UT en 9955. El 27 de agosto marca 82 años de la radiodifusión en Argentina, y Rubén Guillermo Margenet tendrá otro programa especial de "Con Frecuencia" transmitido vía WRMI el sábado 24 de agosto de 1000 a 1100 en 9955, y el programa se repitirá el siguiente lunes, agosto 26 a las 0900 a 1000 en la misma frecuencia. Este programa también fue transmitido originalmente en agosto del año pasado en FM Uruguay para celebrar el 81 aniversario de la radiodifusión en Argentina (Jeff White, WRMI, Aug 13, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. I previously reported that WCBS News Radio 880 in NYC was broadcasting Grundig Shortwave Radio advertisements during prime drive time hours. Well, I heard the Shortwave Radio ad again this morning, however, I heard something new later in the day. At lunch time, near 12:30 PM EDT, WCBS ran a commercial for DXtra shortwave radio control software. I was again surprised. To think the WCBS demographic includes enough potential customers for (1) Grundig Shortwave Radios and (2) Shortwave Radio control software I guess should not be unexpected. However, to hear the Grundig ad was a surprise; to hear DXtra is quite amazing (Pete Costello, NJ, Aug 12, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. KD0HG who works for CC Denver and is on a ham radio AM board says WLW is testing IBOC this week. KD0HG rewrote his text for me to send to the lists: 50,000 watt WLW, 700 kHz in Cincinnati has just begun testing digital audio via IBOC both day and evenings until 11-12 PM [EDT? = 0300 or 0400 UT]. It's my understanding the test will be this week only. The digital stream was switched on at 10:30 PM this past Saturday, August 9. Digital audio is being transmitted at 9200 baud with audio bandwidth limited to 5 kHz for the purpose of the testing. The digital side bands on the carrier are reportedly audible to some degree on 700, +/- 10 to 20 kHz. This is only a test of this evolving technology; one of the things they are evaluating is how they might or not be interfering with the first and second-adjacent channels of 700 (680, 690, 710, 720) on long ground wave and sky wave. At some point you put the spectrum analyzer aside and put the thing on the air for real world testing. I would expect they're also looking at any adverse reception effects on their analog AM signal. In any event, people interested in hearing what an IBOC-equipped AM station really sounds like can hear it for the next several days and evenings on WLW. It's unclear if IBOC as it presently is will ever be embraced and implemented by AM broadcasters, so this may be an opportunity to hear another interesting moment in radio history. Regards, -Bill, KD0HG (via Powell E. Way III, Aug 12, NRC-AM via DXLD) WOR is supposed to be testing IBOC this month as well (Patrick Griffith, CBT, Westminster, CO, USA, ibid.) I wonder if they will get any complaints about poor audio quality?? I think they still have that trucking show on at night that still plays some music. No wonder they shut it off then, cause the truckers WOULD complain of poor audio on their music. But I see even limited use of the Clear Channel freguencies for truckers shows as satellite radio is really being marketed to long haul truckers now. They even have some of their own channels aimed at them. I also wonder if WOR is also IBOC at the same time?? (Paul Smith, W4KNX, Sarasota, FL, ibid.) When combined with WLW, that makes for a VERY interesting adjacent- channel test of iBiquity's system (which, for marketing purposes, will henceforth be known - and I am not making this up - as "HD Radio"). There is considerable reason to believe that the engineering folk at Clear Channel wanted a WLW-WOR test specifically to create a worst-case adjacent-channel scenario to prove that the system needs more work before it's ready, quite literally, for prime time. I may need to spend the next six months camped out on 705 kHz, hi... -s (Scott Fybush, Aug 12, ibid.) I thought Clear Channel was one of the corporations lobbying to get IBOC digital on the air? After investing so heavily into the purchase of radio stations, Clear Channel wants to be the first to go digital. (Bruce Conti - Nashua NH, ibid.) ** U S A. DIGITAL RADIO COMPANY CUTS DEALS FOR CHIPS, RADIOS Monday August 12, 7:00 AM EDT By Ben Berkowitz LOS ANGELES, Aug 12 (Reuters) - IBiquity Digital Corp., whose technology will serve as the basis for most digital radio broadcasting, on Monday announced a number of deals for compatible radios and the chips that will power them. Columbia, Maryland-based iBiquity, backed by most of the nation's major radio broadcasters, also announced a new brand name for its technology, "HD Radio." Radio stations in six major markets, including New York and Los Angeles, will begin digital broadcasts later this year, though consumer radios that can actually receive the broadcasts will not be available until spring 2003. The company said leading car stereo manufacturer Kenwood Corp. (6765) would make 17 of the 23 radios it plans to release in 2003 compatible with digital radio broadcasts. Besides Kenwood, iBiquity also announced a deal for compatible radios with Visteon Corp., a major manufacturer of radios for auto companies, though units from Visteon are not expected until 2004. Both the Kenwood radios and the Visteon radios will be powered by a chipset developed by Texas Instruments Inc., a deal also announced on Monday. "Our challenge has been to get all the elements of the soup together, if you will," iBiquity Chief Executive Bob Struble told Reuters. The company, backed by the likes of Clear Channel Communications Inc., Viacom Inc. (VIAb) and J.P. Morgan Partners, will derive revenue from licensing its technology to radio manufacturers and the stations that want to broadcast AM and FM in digital format. "The aim is really to have HD be sort of like the 'Intel Inside' that you see at end of every PC commercial," Struble said. He said the U.S. Federal Communications Commission is in the process of standardizing on the company's technology as the basis for digital radio broadcasting in the United States, with such approval expected by the fall. He also said it would be easy for digital broadcast radio to co-exist with satellite radio, as provided by XM Satellite Radio Holdings Inc. and Sirius Satellite Radio Inc., both of which offer subscription services with 100 channels of all-digital radio. "It's not a very difficult thing to integrate these technologies," he said. IBiquity recently licensed the intellectual property of a company called Command Audio, which developed technology for on-demand delivery of audio programming and information. Struble said that company's technology would be integrated into the second generation of HD Radios, around 2004. ©2002 Reuters Limited. (via Excite via Tom McNiff, VA, DXLD) ** U S A. Off KIDO's website: Two of Idaho's longest-broadcasting radio stations are making the biggest change in their histories. Newsradio 630 KIDO and Classic Country 580 KFXD are switching frequencies Monday, August 12, 2002. Classic country fans should twist their dials from 580 to 630. KFXD promises that its new signal will cover the rural areas where classic country music listenership is strongest. Except for the new frequency, everything is the same, including KFXD morning personality Mitch in the Morning. KIDO recently celebrated its 80th birthday as the first radio station on the air in Idaho. It's been broadcasting continuously at A.M. 630 from towers south of Boise since the early 1950's. Since then, Boise has grown from a small town to a major city. Northwest Boise, Meridian, Eagle and Columbia Village in southeast Boise were rural areas with few people in 1950. Since then, growth in those areas has outgrown KIDO's signal, which must be directional so it doesn't interfere with signals of other radio stations at 630 around the country--particularly after sunset and before sunrise. KFXD, which is licensed to Nampa, broadcasts from towers south of Meridian. The station has been on the air since the late 1920's. The signal was changed in the early '50's to cover Nampa and Caldwell as well as Boise. Even its night signal clearly reaches northwest and southeast Boise. The transmitter has been recently upgraded to be stronger and sound brighter and clearer. KIDO and KFXD will switch frequencies Sunday at midnight. When they wake up Monday morning, newsradio listeners will want to tune their radios from a.m. 630 to a.m. 580. The programming remains the same. Jon Duane and Chris Kelly 5:30 till 9:45 a.m., Paul Harvey at 9:45 a.m., Rush Limbaugh 10:00 a.m. till 1:00 p.m., Dr. Laura Slessinger 1:00 till 4:00 p.m., Doug Raper 4:00 till 7:00 p.m., Dr. Dean Edell at 7:00 p.m., and Art Bell 8:00 p.m. till 4:00 a.m. (© 2002 Clear Channel Communications via Robert Wien, Aug 12, IRCA via DXLD) What these weasels aren`t telling the Idahoans explicitly is that those who prefer newstalk are entitled to the inferior signal. And with a facilities swap, what point is there in tracing the history of one particular station? This goes for countless other markets (gh, DXLD) In driving through Eastern Oregon I find both signals 580 and 630 to be basically the same on groundwave, even though 630 pulls their signal in a bit to the SW and NW. Why the big deal on the switch I don't know. Now the signal of 580 might be better to the East. That I don't know. 580 is received here on the Oregon coast days weak to fair. 630 is blocked with Edmonds WA and Coquille OR. However I do hear 630 during the day in the winter often. Frank Aden in Boise might know more. 73s, (Patrick Martin, Seaside OR, IRCA via DXLD) 580 is considered overall to have better coverage that 630. They did switch at 12 am with about a minute of dead air. I taped the last 3 hours and first 3 hours on a stereo VHS tape! 73 (Frank Aden, Boise ID, ibid.) ** U S A. Independent station owner hangs tight on AM band LARRY MCCORMACK / STAFF Ron Youngblood plays classic soul from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. each day at WVOL-AM 1470. [caption] By A. TACUMA ROEBACK Staff Writer At tiny, 5,000-watt WVOL-AM 1470, John Heidelberg stands as its citadel: an anomaly in the era of the corporately controlled radio station. He's outnumbered and outgunned by the more gloried FM stations that have emerged in the Nashville market to compete for the urban-music listener. Those stations have a clearer sound and a stronger signal, attract more advertisers and have deeper coffers, leaving WVOL to rely on history and strategy for survival. ''Owning a stand-alone station just by itself is a monumental task in today's radio world,'' said Heidelberg, who has owned 51-year-old WVOL since 2000. For Heidelberg, that task includes flying a blimp over Interstate 65 with his station's call letters, conducting contests as a way of finding out who his listeners are, and other creative means.... http://www.tennessean.com/business/archives/02/08/21031732.shtml?Element_ID=21031732 (via Charles Gossett Jr, DXLD) ** U S A. PAST PRIME TIME / ONCE-DOMINANT TV GUIDE, NOW IN ITS 50TH YEAR, SCRAMBLES IN A SHIFTING MARKET http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2002/08/12/DD143167.DTL&type=printable (via Mike Cooper, DXLD) ** U S A. Glenn, you, I and others here also remember Hank Bennett for the years of great work he did as editor of the Shortwave Broadcast Section of the monthly Newark News Radio Club Bulletin. It was a class act, and done without the aid of a computer. As I recall, SWL monitor registrations began around 1958-59 as the personal project of a ham and DXer whose name escapes me. I believe he had FCC permission to issue unofficial callsigns with the prefix WR[zero]. Buried somewhere in my stuff is the certificate he issued to me. When Pop'tronics took over the program, they converted the previously issued calls to the WPE prefix. These call assignments continued until 1 SEP 1970. I have the letter that Hank sent out announcing his separation from PE and that all WPE calls would be converted, upon application and for a fee of 25 cents, to WDX callsigns. The deadline for these conversions was 31 DEC 1972, after which any WPE calls still outstanding were considered void and re- issued as WDX calls to new applicants. Back in the heyday of DX clubs and magazines, I thought SWL calls were a neat idea. Today, with all the unorthodox special callsigns being issued to amateur radio stations, they seem too easy to confuse with ham calls. 73, (John Cobb, Roswell, GA WR[zero]4AJ / WPE4AJ / WDX4AJ, Aug 13, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Altho I too was initially taken in by this scam, I eventually realised that callsigns for *listening* were absolutely pointless and ludicrous --– a thinly disguised ``be like a ham`` mentality. Since they have no official standing, anyone can make up any monitoring callsign they like. Paying somebody else to make one up for you is like giving him a license to print money. And this still goes today as some monitors long for something meaningless and alphanumeric besides their own name to be known by (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** VENEZUELA. Hi Glenn! I hope you are OK. I have some items for you: Radio Nacional de Venezuela is celebrating its 66th anniversary in August. Radio Nacional has 4 channels: on 630 kHz, Radio Nacional Informativa, with politics and other topics; on 1050 kHz, traditional music; on 91.1 MHz, an 18-hour classical music broadcast; and they are announcing the international channel on 9545 kHz [used to be 9540 -- gh], but this frequency is not on the air. In the early 90's, there was a project on Medium Wave, which was called "La Voz de Venezuela", a radio station with 500 kW transmitters in Paraguaná (Falcón State). The radio station was supposed to broadcast programmes in English, Spanish and other languages to Central America, the Caribbean and the northern part of South America. What really happened: the project was never carried out and those transmitters on 1240 kHz where used as a mere relay of 630 kHz. Nowadays, 1240 is off the air (from Catia La Mar, Vargas, VENEZUELA, Adán González, Aug 13, DX LISTENING DIGEST) UNIDENTIFIED. 12115/12085: Thanks for some excellent information on this station. FYI, the song that Tarek Zeidan refers to, the one they open with, is online in streaming Real Audio format at http://gamal.topcities.com/songs/watani1.html It is indeed a stirring song, and I don't even speak Arabic! Will forward any relevant info received here, but so far nothing :-( 73, (Andy Sennitt, Holland, Aug 12, DX LISTENING DIGEST) The recent news concerning the Saut Al Watan operation on 12115 and 12085 is very intriguing, and both Wolfie and Olle have done some good detective work on the subject. I've been searching Syrian web sites to see if I can find more, but have failed so far. Does anyone have an up to date Syrian SW schedule? The new WRTH SW Guide shows 12085 active at c0445-c1545 in Arabic and then a different shade of Green? at 1600- 1700 in Spanish or is it Russian --- I can't define. But the language at 1600 sounds Arabic to my ears. Passport show 0600-1700 in Arabic and the a FS from 1800, and Anker via the DSWCI also shows 0600-1700. Passport has the FS on 13610 at 1600-0030 while the new WRTH SW Guide has it 1700-c0000. I haven`t been paying the station much attention due to the terrible audio, but should now have time to do so after weekend. According to Ludo Maes, the station has 4 x 500 kW THO installed in 1982, but I cannot remember ever hearing four channels simultaneously on air. 12085 and 13610 have been used for a long time without a change. What seems intriguing is that the Saut al Watan transmission is meant for Syria - yet it operates on 12085 and their own SW service shuts down to accommodate it! Why 12085 - there are other frequencies it could use. Or, did the al Watan operators discover that 1500 is the current sign off time for Damascus on 12085 - is it? Let us hope the operators soon make a mistake and ID themselves! (Noel Green, England, Aug 12, DX LISTENING DIGEST) See also SYRIA [later:] Sout al Watan again appeared at 1500 on 12085 and 12115. Both carriers were on air when checked at 1450, and tones started on 12115 - only - about two minutes later. No tones or any other IS procedure was heard on 12085 - it went straight into programme. The two transmitters were only a few seconds apart today. On checking 12085 at 1528 I found this one had gone off air, but 12115 continued until c1530. Signals were not very strong - only peaking to about 5 to 7. As Kai remarks - if the station engineer checks his clock and starts the tape at 1500 then both transmitters would be as nearly in sync as possible. The delayed start might be unintentional (Noel R. Green, Blackpool, UK, Aug 13, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Re: The new WRTH SW Guide shows 12085 active at c0445-c1545 in Arabic and then a different shade of Green? at 1600-1700 in Spanish or is it Russian - I can't define. The "main" WRTH for 2002 shows Turkish for this slot. Anyway "hum with traces of whatever program audio" would be a proper entry... I also think that hardly ever more than two transmitters were on simultaneously. Remember the morning transmission on 9950: That's a frequency previously used by Damascus, too. The use of both 12085 and 9950 really does not look like a coincidence. Another thought: Also with the independent program play-out it should be no problem to keep the delay between both outlets below two, three seconds. Either they do it intentionally for some purpose, or they make already the first big mistake (Kai Ludwig, Germany, Aug 13, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 9950, New anti-Syria Clandestine Sout al Watan - Voice of Homeland, via Krasnodar, Russia ??? Also heard Aug 13 with 35444. Carrier signed on 0322, but no test tones. Abrupt sign on 0329.35 with the same programme as heard the day before on 12085 and 12115. It sounded like the same transmitter which is used on 12085 (Anker Petersen, Denmark, DSWCI DX Window Aug 14 via DXLD) 12085, Sout al Watan - Voice of Homeland, via Krasnodar, Russia ???, daily since Aug 08, *1500v-1530v*. Carrier signs on around 1455, but no test tones are heard. Aug 12, 1515, ID in Arabic by YL and OM as described above (Bueschel, Green, Petersen & Zeidan, DSWCI DX Window Aug 14 via DXLD) 12115, Sout al Watan - Voice of Homeland, via Samara, Russia ???, daily since Aug 08, *1500v-1530v*. SINPO in Denmark on Aug 12 was 35434 on 12085 and 45444 on 12115 (Anker Petersen, Denmark, DSWCI DX Window Aug 14 via DXLD) see also SYRIA; for now in this location is BBCM`s first report on this, as they have also been working it: SYRIA. UNIDENTIFIED RADIO STATION TARGETS LISTENERS IN SYRIA An unidentified Arabic radio station, possibly the radio station of a Syrian opposition group broadcasting from abroad, has been observed transmitting on short-wave. The broadcasts - which are relayed daily for half an hour between 1500 and 1530 gmt - are heard on the following frequencies: 12085 and 12115 kHz. The station does not identify itself and no frequencies or times of broadcasts are given. The programme presenter only said once in four days towards the end of the broadcast: "Goodbye, we will meet you at the next session." The broadcast always starts with a patriotic song "Watani habibi", meaning my beloved homeland. This song praises Arab unity and pan- Arabism. Then the two programme presenters, a man and a woman, interrupt the song and make a call to people in Syria, naming a number of Syrian cities and regions and all the governorates of the Syrian homeland. The call says: "We announce to you that we will meet you soon, we are here to meet you and we are here for you". The following is an outline of the contents of the daily half-hour broadcasts from 8 to 12 August inclusive: 8 August: 1. - Patriotic song "Watani habibi" 2. - Call to all the people in all the governorates of the beloved Syrian homeland 3. - Song by famous Egyptian singer Muhammad Abd-al-Wahhab 4. - Second part of an article by a Syrian researcher, a legal expert who lives in Switzerland, on the blunders of the Syrian security services and right to compensation for damages as a consequence of these blunders, such as illegal and arbitrary arrests and torture. The presenter says that this article was published in the Lebanese paper Al-Nahar. 5. - The same old Egyptian song by Muhammad Abd-al-Wahhab is repeated. The broadcast is abruptly interrupted during this song without a closing announcement or signoff. 9 August: 1. - Patriotic song "Watani habibi" 2. - Above song is interrupted to relay the same call to Syrians in all the governorates of the Syrian homeland 3. - Reading from the Koran 4. - Patriotic song: "Watani habibi". 5. - Readings from the Koran Please note that the station broadcast readings from the Koran for about 15 minutes as 9 August was a Friday, the Muslims' holy day. 6. - Song. The broadcast is interrupted abruptly once again without any closing announcement or signoff. 10 August: 1. - Patriotic song: "Watani habibi". 2. - Call to all Syrians in Syria 3. - Part of the article by a Syrian researcher, a legal expert who lives in Switzerland, on the blunders of the Syrian security services and right to compensation for damages as a consequence of these blunders, such as illegal and arbitrary arrests and torture. 4. - Song by Egyptian singer Muhammad Abd-al-Wahhab. The broadcast is interrupted abruptly, once again, during this song without a closing announcement or a sign-off. 11 August: 1. - Patriotic song: "Watani habibi". 2. - Call to all Syrians in Syria 3. - Song by Muhammad Abd-al-Wahhab 4. - Songs by the famous Syrian singer Sabah Fakhri 5. - The presenter made the following announcement towards the end of the broadcast: "Goodbye, we will meet you at the next session." 6. - Patriotic song: "Watani habibi". Once again the broadcast is interrupted abruptly without a signoff. 12 August: 1. - Patriotic song: "Watani habibi". 2. - An introduction to the Syrian town of Qanawat originally called Kanatha, meaning canals. Reception became worthless during this programme. A contribution to Glenn Hauser's DX Listening Digest e-mail newsletter refers to this radio as Sawt al-Watan (The Voice of the Homeland). This has not been established as no identification has been heard so far. The newsletter also reported that this radio relays on 9950 kHz the daily broadcast between 0330 and 0400 gmt which is then repeated between 1500 and 1530 gmt. Source: BBC Monitoring research 13 Aug 02 (via DXLD) ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ HARMONICS +++++++++ Mark Hattam has Kindly Updated our all time harmonics Log Book in time for the forthcoming F2 season http://www.dxradio.co.uk/harmonics.html (Tim Bucknall, harmonics yahoogroup Aug 11 via DXLD) RECEIVER TIPS +++++++++++++ One of my pet peeves is the way the Passport to World Band Radio staff tout the SE-3 as the miracle cure-all for the lousy audio and other shortcomings of kilobuck receivers. Something is clearly wrong with your evaluative criteria when you assign five stars to something like the Watkins-Johnson WJ-8711A ($5295) and the Ten Tec RX-340 ($3950) yet their reviews say things like "synchronous detection not sideband- selectable, so it can't reduce adjacent channel interference (remediable by the Sherwood SE-3)." Sorry folks, if I pay over $4000 for a receiver I shouldn't have to shell out an extra $550 for a SE-3 so I can acceptable audio and synchro detector performance. Those are design shortcomings unacceptable in receivers at those price levels. I don't understand how you can assign such receivers five stars while "deducting" stars from lower-priced receivers with the same shortcomings---remediable by the Sherwood SE-3, of course! (Harry Helms AK6C Ridgecrest, CA DM15, Aug 11, NRC-AM via DXLD) ###