DX LISTENING DIGEST 2-159, October 15, 2002 edited by Glenn Hauser, wghauser@hotmail.com Items from DXLD may be reproduced and re-reproduced only if full credit be maintained at all stages and we be provided exchange copies. DXLD may not be reposted in its entirety without permission. Materials taken from Arctic or originating from Olle Alm and not having a commercial copyright are exempt from all restrictions of noncommercial, noncopyrighted reusage except for full credits HTML version of this issue will be posted afterwards at http://www.worldofradio.com/dxldtd02.html For restrixions and searchable 2002 contents archive see http://www.worldofradio.com/dxldmid.html NOTE: If you are a regular reader of DXLD, and a source of DX news but have not been sending it directly to us, please consider yourself obligated to do so. Thanks, Glenn WORLD OF RADIO 1151: ON WWCR: Wed 0930 9475 ON RFPI: Wed 0100, 0700 on 7445 and/or 15039 ONDEMAND http://www.wrn.org/ondemand/worldofradio.html (DOWNLOAD) http://www.k4cc.net/wor1151.rm (STREAM) http://www.k4cc.net/wor1151.ram (SUMMARY) http://www.worldofradio.com/wor1151.html WORLD OF RADIO 1152: FIRST AIRING ON WBCQ: Wed 2200 on 17495, 7415 FIRST AIRING ON WWCR: Thu 2030 on 15825 (DOWNLOAD) http://www.k4cc.net/wor1152.rm [from late UT Wed] (STREAM) http://www.k4cc.net/wor1152.ram [from late UT Wed] (SUMMARY) http://www.worldofradio.com/wor1152.html [from Thu?] ** AFGHANISTAN. 6100: see NEPAL ** AUSTRALIA [and non]. Quantum Cryptographic Codes: THE CODE MAKERS GET CRACKING --- October 16 2002 Wars have been won and lost by the cracking of secret codes. Now Australian scientists are involved in an international race to develop the ultimate secret weapon, an uncrackable code. Deborah Smith reports.... http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2002/10/16/1034561163717.html (Sydney Morning Herald Oct 16 via Fred Waterer, DXLD) ** BRAZIL. A Rádio Educadora, de Limeira (SP), é uma das poucas emissoras brasileiras que permanece na faixa de 120 metros. Em contato com este redator, o seu diretor, Bruno Arcaro Bortolan, solicita aos ouvintes que reportem a sintonia da Educadora. A emissora, segundo ele, pretende, em breve, lançar um sítio na Internet, onde será disponibilizado um espaço para os dexistas. A Educadora transmite em 2380 kHz. Contatos pelo e-mail: bab@t... [truncated] BRASIL - Deve ocorrer nos próximos dias a mudança de freqüência da Rádio Educação Rural, de Tefé (AM). A emissora passará a transmitir em 4925 kHz. Durante os trabalhos, a estação ficará fora do ar por 4 ou 5 dias. A mudança estava prevista para o final de setembro, mas problemas com a liberação dos equipamentos e as diferentes alíquotas de impostos causaram o atraso. As informações foram prestadas pelo diretor da emissora, Thomas Schwamborn, ao dexista Paulo Roberto e Souza, que reside em Tefé (AM). (Célio Romais, @tividade DX Oct 13 via DXLD) ** CAMBODIA. Harmonic logs: Sept 1: 35.821.2 2357 Phnom Penh Nat VO Cambodia. Best yet. 4x4 35.821 0040 VO Cambodia H3 4x4 Sept 7: 35.821 0023 Cambodia 4x5, Sept 13: 35.821 0023 Cambodia, talk in vern 4x3.5 QSB Sept 15: 35.821 0059 Het S5, but no audio, has very low modulation All times UT. R7000 and six element beam. 35s 138e (David Vitek, Adelaide, SA, ICDX yahoogroup via Tim Bucknall, harmonics yahoogroup via DXLD) 3 x 11940.3v ** CANADA. 6030, CFVP: I can hear this one throughout the day now. Noted at 1620 Oct 12 with infomercials and at 1940 with usual oldies, ID, and news on Calgary Hitmen sports team (Hans Johnson, Cody WY, Cumbre DX via DXLD) ** CANADA. Hi everyone. I just thought I would let everyone know that next Saturday October 19 from 7:00 to 10:00 P.M. [EDT] there will be a special program on AM 800 CKLW with some of the old air personality and music from the era that they were playing rock and roll. I just thought I would let everyone know and happy DX. (Jeffrey Michael Kenyon, MI, NRC-AM via DXLD) Sat Oct 19 2300-0200 UT Sun Oct 20 ** CANADA. Shelagh Rogers sounds like Canada Murray Whyte, Entertainment reporter READY FOR THE SHOW: Shelagh Rogers show debuts today on CBC. Shelagh Rogers cocks her head to one side, a little suspicious. It's been a long summer, and one that, until the final days before her June departure as host of CBC Radio One's This Morning, CBC's venerable morning show that was slated for cancellation, seemed to leave her fate up in the air. So, is everything okay, Shelagh? ... http://www.thestar.com/NASApp/cs/ContentServer?GXHC_gx_session_id_=676dae6985624a45&pagename=thestar/Layout/Article_PrintFriendly&c=Article&cid=1026146374170 (Toronto Star Oct 14 via Mike Cooper, DXLD) ** CHINA. BBC protests to China over jamming --- Uighurs want an independent East Turkestan By Malcolm Haslett, BBC`s Eurasia analyst The BBC is protesting to the Chinese Government over the jamming of its short-wave broadcasts in the Uzbek language. The Director of BBC World Service, Mark Byford, said the corporation was protesting to China in the strongest possible terms. Although there is no significant Uzbek population in China, the Uzbek language is very close to that spoken by Islamic Uighurs, who make up more than half the population in China's western province of Xinjiang. Uighur groups have long been agitating for independence for Xinjiang, or as they call it East Turkestan. BBC blackout The latest Chinese action has prevented Uzbek speakers, most of them outside China, from hearing broadcasts in their own language. BBC field tests have confirmed regular jamming since 1 September. It consists of a strong radio signal from a Chinese station on three frequencies. Engineers say it consists of the same music, with gongs and string instruments, played over and over again. China has been jamming the BBC's Chinese broadcasts since the suppression of protests in Tiananmen Square in May 1989. Recently, the BBC's English and Chinese internet sites have been blocked for users in China. East Turkestan issue There were regular reports of unrest in Xinjiang throughout the 1990s. The province was torn by demonstrations, mass arrests, sporadic gun battles between rebels and Chinese forces and a number of bombings of buildings and buses. Attacks on civilian targets led the United States in August to include the East Turkestan Islamic Movement to its list of terrorist organisations. The move pleased China but has caused concern among human rights organisations. They say there is evidence that the Chinese authorities are using the current international climate to clamp down further on the legitimate human rights of Xinjiang's Muslim population, including their right to listen to foreign broadcasts. (from http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/2330475.stm with illustrations, BBC News Oct 15 via Sergei Sosedkin, DXLD) ** CHINA. CHINA/UK: BBC WS UZBEK-LANGUAGE BROADCASTS JAMMED BY CHINESE GOVERNMENT | Text of press release by BBC World Service on 15 October The BBC World Service's shortwave broadcasts in the Uzbek language are being jammed by the Chinese government, it was revealed today (Tuesday, 15 October). The BBC confirmed jamming on three separate shortwave frequencies when it followed up unconfirmed reports with field tests in Uzbekistan over the last few weeks. The jamming, which began on 1 September, consists of a strong radio signal from a Chinese speech station on the three frequencies used by the BBC during broadcasts. Although eastern band FM and mediumwave broadcasts are available around the Uzbek capital Tashkent, the action by the Chinese government means that listeners in other parts of Uzbekistan are unable to hear BBC World Service broadcasts. Around 500,000 Uzbeks listen every week to the BBC. Uzbek is also spoken by 1.5 million people in northern Afghanistan and the BBC's Uzbek service is an important part of the BBC's response to events following last year's 11 September attacks. The BBC has been broadcasting in Uzbek since 1994 and currently broadcasts six hours a week. BBC World Service Director Mark Byford says: "We are concerned at the actions of the Chinese authorities who are preventing citizens of another country from hearing Uzbek broadcasts, especially at a time when the thirst for international news and information is increasing. We are protesting to the Chinese authorities in the strongest possible terms." The jamming coincides with reported demonstrations for a separate state by Uighurs, a Muslim minority group living in Xinjiang - the north-west Chinese province nearest to Uzbekistan. The Uzbek language is easily understood by Uighurs. Human rights groups have voiced concern that China has used the US-led war on terror to crack down unfairly on the Uighurs. The region's oil reserves are of great economic importance to China. The BBC's Chinese service broadcasts have been regularly jammed since May 1989, at the time of the Tiananmen Square protests, by deliberately broadcasting a strong radio signal on the same frequencies. The BBC's English and Chinese internet sites are currently blocked for users in China. For further information: BBC World Service Press Office; Telephone: 0207 557 2941. Source: BBC World Service press release, London, in English 15 Oct 02 (via BBCM via DXLD) Ha, nice of them to mention VOA! ;-) As usual, we were jammed first, discovered it first [ours and theirs] and are monitoring it DAILY via our network of Remote Monitoring Systems. It's been going on for MONTHS -- against both VOA and BBC. We first thought it was a 'training exercise' for 'new jammers' or a screw up but when it continued and followed a couple of frequency moves we made, it was clear that something else was going on. Some colleagues at RFA suggested the Uzbek -- Uyghur connection. BTW, just about ALL Chinese jamming has taken for form of co-channel 'Chinese opera' these days. I'm not sure why but I guess it does help the Chinese with the 'denial' game ... 'just innocent interference.' bw (Bill Whitacre, DC, IBB, Oct 15, Cumbre DX via DXLD) ** CUBA. Christer Brunstrom is often listening to RHC especially on Sunday mornings, when they are transmitting the program "World of Stamps" - best reception on 9665 (if it`s on!) and sometimes on 9820 kHz. If the programme ends before 0700 UT they sometimes put on Radio Reloj, Havana programming! Not often Radio Reloj Cuba is on SW, one could say, hi! 73 (Torre Ekblom, Finland, Oct 15, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CYPRUS [non]/RUSSIA. Radio Ibrahim seems to be linked with the Swedish radio mission IBRA Radio. The time slots via Tbilisskaya RUS 1170 kHz are listed as "IBRA Radio" in Russian internal sources. The website http://www.radioibrahim.com has existed since 2001 and is hosted in Sweden, but is registered for J.V. Scan Media Ltd. in Limassol, Cyprus. IBRA Radio uses Tbilisskaya 1170 kHz since a longer time; during the A01 season the relays are listed in Russian sources as 1900-1930 in Turkish, 2000-2115 (Sun/Mon 2000) in Arabic (Bernd Trutenau, Lithuania, Oct 14, DX LISTENING DIGEST) IBRA was mentioned in the 2001 EMWG item I quoted ya. It strikes me that IBRA Radio is not so much heard any more using its own name, but those of various subcontractors (gh, DXLD) ** CZECH REPUBLIC. Radio Prague Extends Use of Mediumwave for Foreign Service Radio Prague has extended its foreign service broadcasts on mediumwave following the cessation of Radio Free Europe's Czech language service on 30 September, and is now broadcasting on 1287, 1233 and 1071 kHz as follows: 1000-1030 Spanish 1030-1100 French 1100-1130 Russian 1130-1200 English 1730-1800 English (Mon-Fri) 1800-1830 German 1830-1900 English (Sat/Sun) (© Radio Netherlands Media Network 14 October 2002 via DXLD) Like they did long before RFE moved there (gh, DXLD) ** EGYPT. Perhaps this has been on the Media Network hitlist for some time, but I just noticed what is labelled as an `unofficial` Radio Cairo site. Actually, it`s on FM 95.4, and apparently unrelated to the shortwave Radio Cairo! But it does have English webcast at certain hours, pop-ups and lots of promotion: http://radiocairo.cjb.net/ I had just realised that it`s been a few years since I have seen a mimeographed English program schedule of the shortwave Radio Cairo, and was looking for something like that on a website. No luck. Has anyone received one lately? Please forward a copy, if current. Tho, of course, it can only lead to frustration when coping with the atrocious modulation on 9475 (Glenn Hauser, OK, Oct 15, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ERITREA/ETHIOPIA [nons]. UAE [Merlin broker via Al Dhabbaya to ETH] 13735, R UNMEE: I have tried for this one infrequently if I am home on a Friday (it's Fri only at 1900), and finally got a useable signal on Oct 11. Carrier came on at 1857, but not much to work with when the programming started at 1900, mostly talk, occasional pop-style music, hard to distinguish much. Signal was somewhat better by 1945 when they started English and had a couple of features, but copy was still difficult. Things improved markedly at 1951 when they gave their Asmara (P.O.Box 5805) and Addis Ababa (P.O.Box 3001) addresses, and then presented an interesting and fully understandable segment about the need to use care in going through areas with mines and unexploded ordnance. Good English ID at 1954 as "That ends today's program from R. UNMEE, the Voice of the United Nations Peacekeeping Mission in Ethiopia and Eritrea. Listen again next week on this station for another program of news from R UNMEE." Brief [unknown] language talk, then vocal music to 2000*. Pleased to hear this (Jerry Berg, MA, DXplorer Oct 13 via BC-DX via DXLD) ** FINLAND [non]. SCHOOLS REVIVING A DEAD LANGUAGE AS SCHOOLS FOCUS ON BASICS, LOVERS OF LATIN RISING Monday, October 14, 2002 Posted: 10:19 AM EDT (1419 GMT) FREDERICKSBURG, Virginia (AP) -- A funny thing happened on the way to higher standards: Schools remembered Latin. ... Classes in Latin, which once attracted only college-bound students, are drawing youngsters from all backgrounds. Sales of Latin textbooks and materials are up, and even elementary schools are starting programs. The number of students taking Advanced Placement exams in Latin is nearly double what it was a decade ago. More at: http://www.cnn.com/2002/EDUCATION/10/14/schools.latin.ap/index.html (via Sergei Sosedkin, IL, DXLD) ** GERMANY. Re DXLD 2-158 CYPRUS: ``October 9 [...] I wonder where was MDR-Info that night? Really no sign of them.`` Certainly referring to 783: Recently the Wiederau transmitter had to be switched off during a couple of nights because "a filter" was built in. Apparently this concerned not the transmitter itself but the antenna output because they can still at any time throw in the Funkwerk Köpenick transmitter from the sixties. This is a really needed lifeboat; at least in the beginning Wiederau had serious problems with the new semiconductor transmitter. The observed silence periods were announced on short notice, of course I tried 783 then but the result here in eastern Germany was not really exciting: Croatia on top, ballgame bawling from Spain underneath and an off-frequency carrier hetting against this duet, likely Syria. All these signals are often audible here underneath MDR info, Wiederau suffers at night from ground-/skywave congestion because only a cheap trideco antenna with equal radiation towards all elevations is in use. Regards, (Kai Ludwig, Germany, Oct 14, DX LISTENING DIGEST) I thought he was referring to 981 kHz, because it was clear for Sawa (gh, DXLD) ** GERMANY. 6085 kHz, BAYERISCHER RUNDFUNK, partial data QSL-card in German and English (including transmitter-site), card shows antennas, v/s J. Berguser (?), in 7 days for a report without rp to Bayerischer Rundfunk, Rundfunkplatz 1, D-80300 München. Return address given : Bayerischer Rundfunk, Technische Information, D-80300 München (large German companies have own zip-codes). 7265 kHz, SÜDWESTRUNDFUNK, full data QSL-card in German (including transmitter-site, very individual and professional!), computerprinted, card show symbols of several SWR programs, v/s Dieter Jangel, Technische Information, including a few stickers, frequency guide for SWR programs on FM and MW, in 4 days for a report without rp to Südwestrundfunk, Neckarstrasse 230, D-70190 Stuttgart. Return address given : Südwestrundfunk, D-70150 Stuttgart (large German companies have own zip-codes). (M. Schoech, Germany, 15 Oct 2002, Cumbre DX via DXLD) ** GREECE [non]. Frequency management of ERA 5 in Athens informed me of some last-minute frequency changes for the Delano relay transmissions in B02: 0600-0800 UT on 11900 kHz (not 12110). 1200-1500 UT on 9825 kHz (not 12110). (ERA-5 via Andreas Volk, Germany, BC-DX Oct 12 via DXLD) But for now the 1200-1500 is still on 11730 (gh, Oct 15, DXLD) ** IRAN. Tentative B-02 schedule for Voice of Islamic Republic of Iran /I R I B/: ALBANIAN 0630-0727 15235 17680 1830-1927 7165 9610 2030-2127 6100 9740 15084v ARABIC 0230-0627 576 9895 0330-1527 13770 0330-1627 15125 15545 0330-2127 1080 0530-1127 612 1230-1627 13820 1530-1927 7285 1630-1927 3985 6025 6065 6200 1730-1927 11905 2030-0327 3985 6025 6065 6200 11905 2130-0127 11710 ARABIC (VOICE OF ISLAMIC PALESTINIAN REVOLUTION) 0330-0427 7250 9505 1930-2027 3985 6025 6065 6200 11905 ARABIC (VOICE OF ISLAMIC REVOLUTION OF IRAQ) 0330-0527 6145 7100 9790 ARMENIAN 0300-0327 7295 0930-0957 9885 15260 1630-1727 6185 7230 ASSYRIAN 1830-1927 936 AZERI 0100-0327 6150 ||| Nov.6-Dec.6 RAMADAN 0330-0527 702 11720 1430-1657 6220 1500-1657 702 BENGALI 0030-0127 765 5965 6005 6085 1430-1527 6090 9885 11850 15415 BOSNIAN 0530-0627 15084v 15235 17680 1730-1827 7295 11660 2130-2227 7235 9710 15084v CHINESE/MANDARIN 1200-1257 9895 11670 13645 15150 2330-0027 7130 7325 9635 DARI 0300-0627 720 9885 0830-1157 11860 1200-1457 5965 ENGLISH 0030-0127 6065 6135 1100-1227 15375 15385 15480 21470 21730 1530-1627 7140 9605 11870 1930-2027 702 6110 7215 11695 15140 2130-2227 9780 11740 GEORGIAN 1700-1757 702 GERMAN 0730-0827 15084v 21770 1730-1827 6180 9500 15084v FRENCH 0630-0727 17590 21645 21770 1830-1927 6180 9565 9805 15084v 2330-0027 6135 7260 HAUSA 0600-0657 17810 21810 1830-1927 7335 9775 HEBREW(KOL DAVID) 0300-0327 6010 6215 ||| ADDITIONAL 0700-0727 21745 ||| ADDITIONAL 1900-1927 6130 7120 7315 HINDI 0230-0257 15165 17635 1500-1527 7195 11640 11950 13745 ITALIAN 0630-0727 15084v 17560 17605 1200-1257 15084 15275 17610 1930-1957 7295 9615 JAPANESE 1300-1327 9510 9750 2100-2127 6125 7180 KAZAKH 0130-0227 7190 9880 1300-1357 11745 13755 15410 KURDISH 0330-0527 612 639 1430-1627 1161 MALAY 1230-1327 15200 15585 17560 PASHTO 0230-0327 765 1098 6095 9525 9605 0730-0827 15440 1230-1327 765 1098 9630 9790 11870 13720 1430-1527 765 1098 7270 1630-1727 1098 3945 6005 6015 7195 PERSIAN 0830-1157 15084v ||| irr 1630-1727 15084v 1930-2027 15084v 2230-2327 15084v ||| irr RUSSIAN 0500-0557 12025 15330 15530 ||| RETIMED, ex 0300-0327 1400-1457 702 1449 9575 9735 1700-1757 6035 7170 ||| RETIMED, ex 1530-1627 1800-1857 6035 7115 7205 7215 7305 ||| RETIMED, ex 1730-1827 1930-1957 7100 7205 ||| RETIMED, ex 1930-2027 SPANISH 0030-0127 6175 9650 9660 0130-0227 6135 6175 9650 9660 0230-0327 5960 0530-0627 15320 17590 2030-2127 6005 9750 SWAHILI 0330-0427 13640 15260 15595 1130-1227 17630 21550 1730-1827 9595 11750 TAJIK 0000-0057 3945 ||| Nov.6-Dec.6 RAMADAN 0100-0227 720 5950 1600-1727 720 5955 TURKISH 0200-0257 7145 ||| Nov.6-Dec.6 RAMADAN 0430-0557 15260 15365 1600-1727 7125 9735 1830-1927 639 702 TURKMEN 0230-0457 1449 1500-1827 1449 URDU 0130-0227 765 1098 6010 6190 7210 1330-1457 765 1098 9655 11640 11950 13595 1530-1727 765 1098 7270 UZBEK 0230-0257 720 5950 1500-1557 720 5955 73 from (Ivo and Angel! Observer, Bulgaria, Oct 15 via DXLD) ** IRAQ [non]. PsyOps broadcasts for Iraq? From today's NY Times- "Congressional officials said the Central Intelligence Agency had already begun covert operations in the Kurdish area of northern Iraq. And military officials said the Pentagon planned to start a psychological operations campaign, which would probably include broadcasts and leaflet drops in coming weeks urging Iraqi military leaders to defect or rise up against Mr. Hussein." (Hans Johnson, Oct 15, Cumbre DX via DXLD) ** IRAQ [non]. 1566 kHz, zu 1647, Twin Rivers Radio (Kuwait), arabisch, ID exakt wie in EMWG (33443) (station heard in Northern Italy) (G. Lorenz, Germany, Oct 4-6(?), 2002 in A-DX via CRW via DXLD) ** IRELAND. New on http://www.longwaveradio.com/News.html A bid by former Radio Caroline and Luxembourg DJ and manager Chris Cary to relaunch Radio Nova on 252 KHz has been rejected by Radio Telefis Eirran, the owners of the Irish transmitter. Radio Nova was a very successful station in the 1980s operating from Dublin. Speaking about the rejection, Mr Cary explained "20 Years ago I severely embarrassed RTÉ and 20 years later they will not let it happen again." He revealed that he was ready to pump £5m into the project. Mr Cary moved to the Island last year and has previously considered building an 800 feet high long wave mast at a farm, near Glen Vine. The facility, used by Atlantic 252 until late last year was reincarnated as TeamTalk 252, a sports station in the Spring, but the company operating it was taken over by a rival wand the transmitter has been silent since July. Owners RTE have received eight serious bids to use the frequency and have been considering several options. They have also reportedly requested additional funding to enable them to launch their own station on the channel which would broadcast a mixture of programming from the RTE channels to the Irish diaspora in the UK. Other bids have been made by operators of Asian, rock music and soul stations in the UK and a talking book channel. IMIB is keen to see the frequency brought back into use, especially by a station as dynamic as Radio Nova, as this will attract more listeners to Long Wave, although we have not considered using it for our own station due to technical shortfalls in 252's performance. the transmitter is located at an inland site in Ireland and was designed to cover Ireland - its signal into the UK is strong, but not in London and the South east which are in the shadow of the Cambrian Mountains in Wales. IMIB's signal on 279 kHz will have an easier path over the Midlands and cover the south east much more easily, making the station very marketable. 11 October 2002 (via Mike Terry, BDXC-UK via DXLD) What`s IMIB? Something to do with Isle of Man? (gh, DXLD) ** ISLE OF MAN. Also new today on http://www.longwaveradio.com/News.html (despite the date) A series of posters and a pamphlet circulated by objectors in the Isle of Man are a simple re-run of unfounded scare stories circulated at the previous planning inquiry. The leaflets claim there is a serious risk of pollution and danger from radio waves, however, extensive tests by medical and other scientific experts under the auspices of the National Radiological Protection Board http://www.nrpb.gov.uk and Cambridge University have failed to find any link between radio waves and claimed medical effects of brain tumours or other cancers. Being non-ionising radiation, radio waves cannot alter the structure of living cells - the only relevant concern has been on the 'pulsed' nature of digital microwave frequencies used by mobile phones which have very different properties to the analogue signals we shall emanate. Long Waves have been in use for a hundred years without any effect noted on mankind and many high power long wave stations are just over a hundred yards from homes - the BBC Radio Four transmitter at Droitwich is a good example. It has been agreed by the NRPB and other bodies that the 'investigation' level is 1000 volts per metre, but this is only found within twenty two metres of our antenna, which will be inaccessible to the general public. The field strength in Ramsey, 9kM away, will be less than 1 volt per metre. Other concerns about pollution, noise and visual impact have all been addressed in great detail by an Environmental Impact Survey which has been in the public domain for six months; a summary of the report can be read elsewhere on this web site (from http://www.longwaveradio.com/EIS.htm 10 September 2002 [sic], via Mike Terry, Oct 14, DXLD) ** ISRAEL. Kol Israel tentative B-02 English 0500-0515 N.America/W.Europe 9,435 N.America/W.Europe 6,280 @ 11,605 Central America/Australia 17,600 1115-1130 N.America/W.Europe 15,640 N.America/W.Europe 17,545 1730-1745 N.America/W.Europe 11,605 N.America/W.Europe 17,545 2000-2025 N.America/W.Europe 6,280 @ 11,605 South Africa 9,435 N.America/W.Europe 15,640 7,520 @@ 13,720 37605 |----| 37680 ( @ ) [sic -- means between two dates? in what calendar??? normally change to 6 MHz last from Dec to Feb, I recall -- gh] When Conditions Meet's Requierment ( @@ ) [sic -- means if needed?] (via Alokesh Gupta, GRDXC via DXLD) The format of this schedule is such a mess that I am hoping for a better version. Note new 5790 will be used for Hebrew (gh, DXLD) ** ITALY [non]. Article that mentions Italian-Americans' shortwave bands removed or shortwave radios confiscated during World war II. http://www.pressofatlanticcity.com/news/cumberland/101502ITALIAN.html 73 (Kim Elliott, DC, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** IVORY COAST. CÔTE D`IVOIRE: BBC, RFI FM RELAYS OFF AIR As of 1600 gmt on 15 October, the FM relays of Radio France Internationale in French, BBC World Service, and Gabonese Africa No. 1 radio remain unheard. BBC Monitoring's Abidjan unit continues to monitor RFI via the World Space receiver with good reception and BBC and Africa No. 1 via shortwave with good reception. Meanwhile, French television networks TV5 and Canal Horizons are back on the air after reports on 5 October of transmitter damage due to attacks by "unidentified saboteurs". Source: BBC Monitoring research in English 15 Oct 02 (via DXLD) ** KOREA NORTH [and non]. Hi Glenn, In this Washingtpon Post article about North Korean espionage in Japan, a process very much like writing shortwave reception reports is described: In Japan, Shin would listen to Radio Pyongyang at midnight on a shortwave radio, copy numbers broadcast on the station, and decipher messages using a book - - Don Quixote -- or a table of random numbers, Pak said. "After he would listen to the radio, he would go to the post office and send a letter to North Korea," she recalled. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A18308-2002Oct12.html (Kim Elliott, DC, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** LEBANON. A new 1 megawatt transmitter was installed in May 2002 at Hamat which is between Batroun and Tripoli. It will operate on 837 kHz (with a directional antenna) and replace the existing transmitter (100 kW?) at Amchit. It was not possible to use Amchit for the higher power because of safe RF levels outside the site. The Amchit MF will close down. I think there is still a 10 kW transmitter in Beirut (at the studio). (Info from Jack Fitzsimons-UK) (via Bernd Trutenau, Lithuania, Oct 15 MWDX yahoogroup via DXLD) ** LEBANON [non]. VATICAN CITY. Voix de la Charité answered my RR with a letter without details and some station informations. V/S was P. Fadi Tabet, R Voix de la Charité, Couvent St. Jean, Rue Fouad Chehab, B.P. 850, Jounieh, Liban; in 38 days (Klaus-Peter Hilger, Germany, BC- DX Oct 10 via DXLD) ** MEXICO. 2390, R. Huayacocotla, 0030-0100. Band music, not quite mariachi, announced by W in Spanish, several IDs by M. Deep fades but good copy at top of the fade cycles, faded out completely before presumed sign-off with het gone shortly after 0100. This was on 10/12 UT; only weak het heard on 10/13 and 10/14 UT (Steve George, MA, Cumbre DX via DXLD) ** NEPAL. Both 5005 and 6100 are audible at nearly same level S7/S8, but 5005 readability is slightly better (P/F), while 6100 is barely audible (noisy). 1516 woman with news. 6100 was killed by YUG later (1530). BTW, no trace of Afghanistan under weak Nepal at around 1516- 1525 (Vlad Titarev, Ukraine, BC-DX Oct 9 via DXLD) ** NICARAGUA. We have several long stories in Spanish, finally getting around to mentioning the identity of the station the Catholics gave to disgraced former Pres. Alemán, and which has been closed by the current government: La Poderosa, on 560. For reasons of space --- we try to keep each DXLD under 100K --- these and other items are being held over (gh, DXLD) ** OMAN. History - Masirah off: last moment of Masirah activities was -21.59:30* UT on 6030 kHz on Oct 7th. NOW CLOSED all Masirah A02 scheduled activities replaced by new site A'SEELA. Call is SLA. This smooth take-over took 2+ month (Vlad Titarev, Ukraine, DXplorer Oct 10 via BC-DX via DXLD) PS: fortunately I've QSLed both AM/HF from BBC-ERS some 10y back... 1413 kHz V/S: Senior Transmitter Engineer (Paddy O.). 7160 kHz: V/s: Tim Mullins, Senior Transmitter Engineer. Alle Masirah A-02 Registration Aktivitaeten wurden durch die neue Sendestn in A'SEELA auf dem Festland uebernommen. Das Kuerzel lautet SLA. Der weiche Uebergang von der alten zur neuen Station wurde in den letzten zwei Monaten durchgefuehrt, gestartet wurde mit der 17790 im Juli, danach folgten die Meterbaender aufwaerts bis zum 49 mb. Die Station ist nunmehr geschlossen. Alle Masirah A-02 Registration Aktivitaeten wurden durch die neue Sendestn in A'SEELA auf dem Festland uebernommen. Das Kuerzel lautet SLA. Die Oman Belegung koennte wie folgt in B-02 lauten (tentatively): 5970 0000 0100 41N SLA 250 63 G BBC MER 6030 1300 1345 39SE SLA 250 290 G BBC MER 6030 1630 2200 38E,39S,39NE SLA 250 300 G BBC MER 6035 1500 1600 41NW SLA 250 50 G BBC MER 6065 0030 0100 41NE SLA 250 85 G BBC MER 6065 0100 0200 41NW SLA 250 50 G BBC MER 6090 1615 2000 40 SLA 250 335 G BBC MER 6140 1400 1615 41S SLA 250 110 G BBC MER 7235 1700 1800 41NW SLA 250 50 G BBC MER 7245 0000 0030 49 SLA 250 85 G BBC MER 9580 0000 0030 49 SLA 250 85 G BBC MER 9670 2030 2115 28SE,39NW SLA 250 305 G BBC MER 9825 2000 2130 29,30SW SLA 250 335 G BBC MER 11685 0230 0300 41 SLA 250 100 G BBC MER 11750 0100 0200 41NW SLA 250 85 G BBC MER 11750 0200 0300 40 SLA 250 335 G BBC MER 11760 0500 0600 39NE,40 SLA 250 320 G BBC MER 11760 0700 1400 39NE,40 SLA 250 320 G BBC MER 11920 1400 1500 41 SLA 250 60 G BBC MER 11955 0100 0300 41N SLA 250 63 G BBC MER 15185 0330 0600 38E,39S,39NE SLA 250 290 G BBC MER 15310 0300 0600 41N SLA 250 63 G BBC MER 15420 0700 1100 40 SLA 250 10 G BBC MER 15420 1100 1300 40 SLA 250 35 G BBC MER 15575 0300 0500 30S,39E,40 SLA 250 20 G BBC MER 17615 2200 2330 42,43 SLA 250 50 G BBC MER 17790 0700 0830 41NW SLA 250 63 G BBC MER 17790 0900 1700 41N SLA 250 63 G BBC MER (BC-DX Oct 15 via DXLD) ** PAKISTAN. Pakistan reverts to old timing system: At the stroke of midnight on Saturday, October 6, 2002, Pakistan reverted back to its old timing system under which it is UTC +5.00 Hrs (Hindu Newspaper) 73 (Jose Jacob, VU2JOS, Box 1555, Somajiguda, Hyderabad 500082, India, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** PAKISTAN. Radio Pakistan nach ID um 1615 auf 7213.86 kHz mit englischem Programm. Inlands- oder Auslandsdienst? (Thomas Lindenthal- D, A-DX Oct 14 via BC-DX via DXLD) So English back to 1600-1615? But: UNID 7213.7 at 1515 unID, vermutlich Englisch, leise, tx, QRM 7215 (24322) (Guenter Lorenz, in Italy, A-DX Oct 8 via BC-DX via DXLD) ** PALESTINE [non]. Voice of Palestine --- Voice of Palestinian Islamic Revolution Voice of the Islamic Republic of Iran (VOIRI) observed on 1161 kHz with a service in Arabic, parallel to 1080, 6200, etc. First noted on 7th October. The frequency 1161 is not included in a schedule of the Arabic service published on web page of IRIB/VOIRI. Maybe VOIRI installed a new more powerful transmitter? Too strong signal for 10 kW of listed power. The Arabic service on 1161 kHz heard from the beginning at 1630 until fading out at 0300, including Voice of Palestine-Voice of Palestinian Islamic Revolution which was at 1930-2030 UT (Robertas Petraitis, Lithuania, Oct 9, 2002 for CRW via DXLD) ** PARAGUAY. Onde ouvir polcas paraguaias? Acertou quem respondeu: na Rádio Nacional do Paraguai! A emissora transmite, nos sábados, o programa Reminiscências, com orquestras ao vivo, por volta de 0000 [quer dizer domingo TU?? --gh], em 9735 kHz. A emissora foi ouvida, em Porto Alegre(RS), em 12 e 13 de outubro, neste horário. Detalhe: a emissora já não conta mais com aqueles problemas de transmissor desregulado (Célio Romais, @tividade DX Oct 13 via DXLD) ** PERU. 6419.2, RADIO TROPICAL. New station from Huancabamba, Piura. Broadcasting in 6419.2 with regular signal and better in LSB. In the first moment I think that maybe it`s harmonic but I heard ``...Radio Tropical a través de los 6420 kHz en la onda corta internacional de 49 metros...``. As slogan ``Radio Tropical, la señal integradora de los pueblos del norte del Perú...``; Mentions of Ernesto Laverde as Owner- Manager and Felicito Campos Campos as Administrator. In 1995 was Radio Imperial in 6420.2 from this city, but the shortwave transmitter was sold to Radio Mi Frontera from Chirinos. I think but not confirm, that the equipment returned to Huancabamba since Radio Mi Frontera is inactive for long time. I send audio file from this station to friend Mika M. (Rafael Rodríguez, Colombia, dxing.info via DXLD) 6419.2 RADIO TROPICAL. Huancabamba, Perú. 2311-0158* Oct. 13 Nueva Estación. Música peruana. Señal con mucho ruido, mejor en LSB. Publicidad política para las elecciones de noviembre 17, entre ellos uno para alcalde de Federico Ibáñez quien es propietario de RD Huancabamba (6536 Khz.). ``...nosotros seguimos con la buena música aquí en su Radio Tropical...`` ``...7 de la noche con 15 minutos en Radio Tropical de Huancabamba...`` Por la calidad de la señal en un principio pensé que se trataba de un armónico, pero luego mencionaron transmisión ``...Radio Tropical a través de los 6420 kHz en la onda corta internacional de 49 metros...``. Hacia 1995 muy cerca de esta frecuencia emitió Radio Imperial desde Huancabamba (6420.2) cuyos equipos fueron vendidos a Radio Mi Frontera en Chirinos pero esta emisora hace mucho esta fuera del aire, no aseguro pero pueden tratarse de los mismo equipos de vuelta a Huancabamba. Mencionan como slogan: ``...Radio Tropical la señal integradora de los pueblos del norte del Perú...`` Como gerente al señor Ernesto Laverde y Administrador Felicito Campos Campos. Lamentablemente no capté dirección correcta pero mencionan continuamente Avenida Ramón Castilla. En correo aparte envío al amigo Nicolas un archivo de audio de esta emisora para que sea colocado el la pagina de grupo. 5384.2 RADIO HUARMACA. Huarmaca, Perú. *1001-1010 Oct. 14 Apertura luego del Himno Nacional: ``A la paz de los nuevos rayos del astro rey y la más firme voluntad y entrega de hacer bien las cosas aquí esta la nueva imagen de Radio Huarmaca con sus ondas media y corta llegando hasta sus hogares e invitándolos a poner su correspondiente cuota de amor, trabajo, acción y recolección a favor del pueblo generoso que nos cobija a nombre de nuestro amigo y gerente Simón Zavaleta Pérez y su plana en general da la bienvenida a todos ustedes y las da las gracias por que a partir de este instante la voz es de la primera estación Radio Huarmaca....`` (Rafael Rodríguez, Bogotá, Conexión Digital via DXLD) Love those florid sign ons/offs! ** PERU. Hello my friends! Early, in the morning, I talked to General Manager of Radio Tarma, Mr. Mario Monteverde, and he told me the new e-mail address: radiotarma@terra.com.pe 73's (Alfredo `Spacemaster` Cañote, Lima, Oct 15, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** PERU. Dear, Glenn! I had a wonderful holiday in DX Pedition with my friend, Hideki WATANABE, a member of RNM. As the Solar activity was moderate, we had a pleasant experience, especially on MW X-band. But, conversely, it was a very hard time on SW, hi. --- PERU. UN-ID. October 12, 1058-1115 on 4260.4 kHz with very poor conditions, heard many huaynito criollo and announcement of folklore festival. Peruvian harmonic? I remember that R. Pampa (Costa Rica) was heard on 4260.66 kHz (1420 kHz x 3), here in Japan on 30/Dec/'00 (Shoji YAMADA, Tokyo, Japan, yamaoyabin@jcom.home.ne.jp RADIO NUEVO MUNDO ** PERU. 5500.2, Radio San Miguel, Jr. Alfonso Ugarte Nº 668, San Miguel de Pallaques, Cajamarca, Perú. QSL letter with complete dates received from e-mail for a reception report of July 8, 2002. I sent my reception report by ordinary mail and received my QSL from email. V/S: José Cabanillas Luna, from the next electronic address: cococabanillas@hotmail.com He wrote a very pleasant letter too. He is a journalist and the station general manager Inelso Cruzado Díaz request him answer my letter. The station hasn`t electronic address and José Cabanillas Luna (nickname: Coco) lives in Cajamarca and sent me the mail from that city. Coco would like to subscribe to our Conexión Digital electronic bulletin!! (Arnaldo Slaen, Argentine, Cumbre DX via DXLD) 5500 kHz, R. San Miguel de Pallaques, lengthy p/d e-mail QSL in 3 mos. for snail-mail report. Using AltaVista, this is a short version of what was said: The e-mail was from Jorge Cabanillas Luna, Lawyer in Journalism by direction of the station manager, Inelso Cruzado Diaz. Mr. Diaz has no e-mail in San Miguel, so he authorized Jorge (nicknamed Coco) who lives in Cajamarca and does have the Internet that "your reception report is true and that the Manager certifies you had tuned to Radio San Miguel, that it transmits from the city of San Miguel, province of San Miguel, department of Cajamarca, Republic of Perú; the 7 of July 2002 between 19:31 to 20:00 and the 8 of July between 19:29 to 20:00 in our frequency of short-wave." Those were the dates of my cassette/reports. They obviously know how to respond to reception reports. They also mention they have been on AM and FM for 6 years, but just started SW on July 2nd of this year. They mention other interesting facts like staff size, the broadcasting situation in San Miguel, etc. They may have even made it a full-data e-mail but I incorrectly reported them on 5055 in my report instead of 5500, so they just left it as "their SW frequency" in the response. A very nice surprise that appears is going to be my only response from the station. 73s- (John Sgrulletta, Mahopac, NY, USA, JRC NRD-515 w/ K9AY/A-D DX-Sloper, Cumbredx mailing list via DXLD) ** RUSSIA. Jari Savolainen-FIN wrote: ``I wonder if you have a frequency listing showing from what site is Russian program on 5965 transmitted from. And what times is it on the air.`` I've been monitoring 4876 unID Russian (reported by Anker Petersen and others). Last nite 2030 noted that it was in \\ with 1089 (Tbilisskaya I guess). Calculated and noted strong Russian (with different program) on 5965. Both 5965 and 4876 signed off at 2100 and I also lost the signal of 1089 at that time. I was thinking possibility 5965 minus 1089 = 4876. But I think both transmitters should be co-located to make this mix happen? So, where is 5965? :) (Jari Savolainen, Finland, BC-DX Oct 9 via DXLD) 4875 or 4876 kHz. 21 Sep. SIO=353...351 1840-1900 VOR Sodruzhestvo program. 1900-2000 VOR Russian \\ 5950 7370 9450 9480 12020 12040 12055. 2000-2059 unknown Russian program. Where does all that come from? Too weak for it ... Compared signals on 4876 and 9480 kHz (both carry VoR Russian sce at about 1930). Broadcast on 4876 kHz is slightly (0.5...1 sec) delayed. Monitoring on 4876 kHz: 1500-1600 R Rossii 1600-1700 VoR, Sodruzhestvo progr 1700-1800 R Rossii 1800-1900 VoR, Sodruzhestvo progr 1900-2000 VoR, Russian sce 2000-2059 R Radonezh??? Didn't hear any ID because of considerable fading, needs further checking (Vladimir Doroshenko, Ukraine,, DXsignal Oct 5 via BC-DX via DXLD) That's great, guys, you have solved a mystery! I can only add that 1089 kHz must carry R Rossii local relay for Krasnodar area before 1600 and at 1700-1800. That very well fits into monitoring data by Vladimir Doroshenko (see at the very bottom of original messages). So, audio on 4876 comes from 1089 kHz. The last hour (presumed as religious station R Radonezh in Vladimir's report) might be the Voice of Russia, too. VoR has a 15-minute Christian feature "Rossiya pravoslavnaya" (=Orthodox Russia) in its 2000-2100 program block on Sundays (Dmitry Mezin, Russia, DXsignal Oct 9 via BC-DX via DXLD) 4876 location mixture, 5965 R Rossii minus 1089 V of Russia in Russian = 4876 location mixture !!! Hi Jari, you are a SMARTIE boy, WELL DONE !!! Yes, that`s a location spurious mixture of - maybe - nearby antenna installations at Tbilisskaya, Armavir Krasnodar site in Caucasus forefield. 5965 R Rossii minus 1089 VOR Russian 4876 location mixture !!! 5965 from Sept 1st, - ex 9490 til Aug 31 (Wolfgang Bueschel, BC-DX Oct 15 via DXLD) ** RUSSIA. Re the two Russians on 5930 and 6160 - is 5930 still coming from Monchegorsk? --- or are the 2 x 20 kW actually at Murmansk? I can hear 5930 when Prague goes off c0657, but very fluttery and with splash from Brother Scott 5935. Audio quality is difficult to judge under these conditions. There is no trace - yet - of Arkhangel`sk 6160. CKZN continues to be well heard on that frequency - now from c0700, which is around local sunrise (Noel R. Green-UK, BC-DX Oct 14 via DXLD) I tire of having to put in the soft signs even the Russians like to omit in Roman transcriptions! So much that I begin to wonder if I remember correctly where they go. By searching on Arkhangelsk I finally found an entry which apostrophised it as fixed above. But I may miss others. Forgive me, or better yet, correct them (gh, DXLD) ** SOUTH AFRICA [and non]. South African commentator provides arguments for a broadcasting system that is publicly funded but journalistically independent from the government, and remarks about U.S. commercial television news. http://www.witness.co.za/showcontent.asp?id=10278&action=full&catid=3 (Kim Elliott, DC, Oct 15, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** SRI LANKA. SLBC noted on 7440 signing off at 0400 UT just now in Hindi. The normal frequency of 7190 was not heard then (Jose Jacob, VU2JOS Hyderabad, India, Oct 14, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Friends, SLBC changed frequency from yesterday in line with a proposal to move out of 7100-7300 !! Also All Asia English is on 15745 replacing 15425. So the changed schedule of SLBC All Asia Service is: 7440 (ex 7190) 0050-0430, 0900-1530 Indian languages 15745 (ex 15425) 0030-0430, 1230-1600(?) English (Thanks to Victor Goonetilleke for the clarifications) (Jose Jacob, VU2JOS, National Institute of Amateur Radio (NIAR), Hyderabad, India, Oct 15, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Why in the world would they need to vacate 7100-7300? Or 15425. Great choice, 15745, with WEWN already there, blasting in here. Per website, that is on 24 hours! Actually, at 1410 UT check Oct 15, I could hear some undercurrent, not sure if SLBC, but more likely WEWN input problem or cross modulation. I expect this conflict would distress Catholic Victor (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) SLBC changed from today to 7440 for All Asia Vernacular Service 0025- 0400, also about 0800-1600, so this is not an error. In line with a proposal to move out of 7100-7300 to leave the band for Amateur Radio in All regions!! Also All Asia English is on 15745 0025-0400, 1225-1530 replacing 15425 from the ex VOA Collins 35 kW transmitter. Hope those two frequencies make it easier to hear Sri Lanka!! (Victor Goonetilleke 4S7VK, BC-DX Oct 14 via DXLD) Less good news for WEWN and their 15745 kHz. Monitored 15745 kHz today here in Denmark and found WEWN pretty weak prior to 1100 UT, but then very quickly picking up and by 1110 very good signal free of any sort of interference. Sri Lanka (tent.) weak under WEWN from s/on 1230. By 1440 SLBC (with plenty of oldies pop music) and WEWN were received at equal strength making reception of the European service of WEWN in Europe pretty useless. I have taken the trouble of informing both stations by e-mail about the unfortunate frequency clash. Let`s see if something happens. S/off time for SLBC on 15745 kHz is 1530 (Stig Hartvig Nielsen, Denmark, Oct 15, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** SRI LANKA [non]. IBC Tamil Radio (UK) and LTTE The LTTE [Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam] has one of the best publicity networks covering Europe, Australia and North America and they have even setup radio and tv satellites. It was widely reported in the recent weeks in the Sri Lankan media how the LTTE has infiltrated BBC. They began to hire a weekly one hour Tamil language slot in Sunrise radio owned by an Indian in London and is now broadcasting in Tamil three days a week to a London based Tamil audience. Similarly stations are broadcasting in Tamil in Paris, and Toronto and they have also setup the International Broadcasting Corporation (IBC) a satellite based 24 hours radio station broadcasting via the Astra satellite and cable channels into the Europe, North America, Middle East, Sri Lanka, India etc. The LTTE has a controlling interest in IBC and broadcast heavy LTTE content from time to time operating their small office with a staff of 15 reaching an estimated Tamil audience of over 600,000. The IBC has been granted broadcasting licence by the British government and so far only one complaint has been lodged with the British licencing regulatory body against the IBC. Canada's main LTTE radio station is Canadian Tamil Broadcasting Corporation (CTBC) which is operated by Kandiah Sivasothy alias 'Iliyabarathy'. Kandiah Sivasothy is from Karinagar, in Jaffna. He was a former employee of the Sri Lanka Broadcasting Corporation (SLBC). Most of the LTTE programs at the station are broadcast by Krishnaligam who originates from Puloliyur in Point Pedro. Recently, Krishnaligam interviewed LTTE supremo's sister who is resident in Canada. The significance the LTTE attaches to all this radio and TV activity can be gauged by a recent LTTE appointment to CTBC and its new production officer. He is Kathiravel Selvakumar alias `Raff' who is a well known LTTE intelligence leader who originates from Prabakaran's home town, Valvettithurai in Jaffna. He is noted for killing many innocent Tamil people and for hanging them on lamp-posts in Jaffna. These were the famous lamp-post executions, which were carried out during the early days of the Tamil `liberation` struggle. Canadian law enforcement authorities are at present gathering evidence from the murdered victims families in Canada with a view of prosecuting this particular Tamil refugee for mass murder. Other LTTE radio stations in Canada are "Geethavani, CTR and ITBC. Geethvani belongs to Nadaraja Rajakumar a former WTM Montreal Leader. The World Tamil Movement (WTM) is categorized by the US State Department as a LTTE front organization. The Sri Lankan political establishment is yet to awaken to these many LTTE strategies abroad and respond to them in any way. No attempt has yet been made to hire channels of the Astra satellite, or to secure other means of broadcasting, in order to transmit the Sri Lankan Tamil language broadcasts of the SLBC in competition to the IBC broadcasts world-wide on a commercial basis. This would give the Sri Lankan state instant and direct access to the Tamil diaspora world-wide and opportunities not only in terms of generating commercial revenue in foreign exchange, eroding the LTTE fund-raising potential, but also the opportunity to carry out psy-ops (D. Prabakaran, India, Oct 1, 2002 for CRW via DXLD) We continue to assume: no relation? (gh, DXLD) IBC Tamil Radio (UK) reacts on recent reports in CRW : Dear Sir, I write as director of programming for IBC Tamil Radio based in London and must state that I and my colleagues read with dismay a report you carried about us that referred to the station as being clandestine and funded by the LTTE. IBC Tamil was originally formed by members of the BBC Tamil service in 1997, who brought with them the concepts of impartiality and editorial independence. IBC Tamil holds a United Kingdom Radio Authority licence that requires adherence to its Codes of Practice. In all respects, IBC Tamil operates openly and is in no way, shape or form a clandestine organisation. We are in the London telephone directory and our name is on a sign outside the building. IBC Tamil exists to entertain, educate and inform the Tamil community in Europe by direct-to-home satellite radio and provide a link with families in Sri Lanka via shortwave transmission at 1230-1330 UTC on 17495 kHz and 0000-0100 UTC on 11570 kHz(7460 kHz in winter). IBC Tamil has been very successful in furthering the integration of Tamil refugees into life in Western Europe and their development. IBC Tamil is a private company whose ownership is a matter of public record. Thank you, Your sincerely, (S. Shivaranjith, Great Britain, Oct 8, 2002 for CRW via DXLD) IBC Tamil Radio (UK) "Tamil Media Ltd., trading as IBC (International Broadcasting Corporation) functions as a Radio Station and has started broadcasting in Tamil since June 9, 1997. This is a 24 hour service, broadcasting to all European countries on Astra satellite, with an hour long daily programme to India, Sri Lanka, Malaysia, Singapore and Australia on short-wave radio, 25mb commencing 1430 GMT." Coverage is primarily of news ("non-partisan") and entertainment, education, and culture. Website includes current news and many pre-recorded recent programs, and is all in Tamil. QSL information for IBC Tamil: IBC Tamil, P. O. Box 1505, London SW8 2ZH, United Kingdom. Tel. +44-171- 787-8000 Fax +44-171-787-8010 E-mail : desk@ibc-tamil.com and radio@ibctamil.co.uk (D. Prabakaran, India, Oct 1, 2002 for CRW via DXLD) ** SRI LANKA [non]. TAMIL LOG SHEET Oct-2002 [Times in IST - Indian St. Time ? -CRW] 0530-0630 IBC - London 11570 kHz 0700-0830 Voice of Tigers 7460 kHz 0600-0700 IBC - London 17495 kHz 0730-0900 Voice of Tigers 7460 kHz (J. Aakthivel, India, Oct 7, 2002 for CRW via DXLD) ** TAJIKISTAN [non]. Re `Radio Voice of Christ`: most likely 1530-1630 via 1251 kHz Dushanbe-TJK. 1251 1530-1600 sm.wt.. Duchanbe 100 kW nondir HCJB 1251 1600-1615 smtwt.. Duchanbe 100 kW nondir HCJB (A-02 schedule) 0530-0700 Fris via UAE Al Dhabbaya 9660, and via FEBA SEY on 15555 in Persian. Also GHI [???] in Persian 17510 at 0330-0430, at 1530-1830 on 15770 and 17510. 1630-1730 9940 Persian via Grigoriopol`-MDA. 1600-1700 15715 HAM High Adventure Min VoHope, Persian via Juelich (Wolfgang Bueschel, BC-DX Oct 15 via DXLD) ** U A E. UAE Radio, Dubai, 21597v was almost listenable Oct 15 at 1330 in English; feature at 1334 seemed to be about Arabic poetry. I rechecked their recently established website http://www.dubaitv.gov.ae/home.asp but the English FM 92.0 link is still dead, ``coming soon`` as it was months ago (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U K. New BBC service is launching soon on Sky Digital, DAB, and the internet. It is called BBC7. It will have classic and new comedy, drama and kids programmes. To hear test of the service try http://www.bbc.co.uk/bbc7 --- I was listening to the test service on Sunday and sounded very good. Keep up the good work; I listen every week (Ian Gilligan, South Yorkshire UK, Oct 15, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U K. Offshore (just): GB2LBL will be on the air from the light- vessel Planet, berthed at the Historic Warships Museum in Birkenhead, over the weekend of the 18th to 20th of October. Members of the Mersey Light-vessel Preservation Society, a registered charity, will be running two stations, one on CW and one on SSB, from 0900 on the Friday until 1600 UT on the Sunday. The general public will be able to visit the ship from 10.00am to 4.00pm local time on all three days. The society is aiming to save the light-vessel from being sold abroad or for scrap and is raising money to buy the vessel to turn her into a Merchant Navy museum. A grant from the Queen's Jubilee Fund has enabled this event to take place. GB2LBL will therefore also be celebrating the Queen's Golden Jubilee and will attempt to contact as many stations in Commonwealth countries as possible. The current frequency of operation will be uploaded to the group's website within minutes of changing frequency, so they can be easily found on the bands. QSL either via the RSGB bureau or direct to M0CMW with an SASE (From The RSGB via Mike Terry, Oct 12, DXLD) ** U S A [and non]. Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison October, 10, 2002 United States Senate 284 Russell Senate Office Building Washington, DC 20510-4304 Dear Senator Hutchison: Continental Electronics in Dallas, Texas has been the pioneer and a major innovator of high and super-power transmitters since the late 40's. However, since 1979 most of the VOA (Voice of America) - IBB procurements have been systematically given to a European manufacturer. The latest of these is the International Broadcasting Bureau's (VOA) unfortunate decision to award the Kuwait Transmitting Station Shortwave Expansion contract to a French firm - Thales Radio Broadcast (TRB). Thales, previously named Thomson-CSF, Thomcast, etc, is jointly owned by the French Government and the Thomson conglomerate. TRB, in effect, is subsidized by the French Government. No American broadcast manufacturer has ever won a job in France, nor are they even allowed to participate in the bidding process. Yet, the IBB continues to ignore our procurement laws and regulations by just handing over one project after another to the French. We are asking you to take whatever action is necessary to correct an injustice perpetrated on the American worker by unthinking government bureaucrats. The recently awarded contract to the French for the Kuwait Transmitting Station Shortwave Expansion Project should be terminated forthwith. Awarding a multi-million dollar contract to foreigners from U.S. taxpayer's funds at a time when our economy and workers are suffering, is not in the best interest of the U.S. government or its citizens. This is an improper decision by U.S. Government employees who are paid by U.S. taxpayers. The decision to award this contract to a foreign company which is not obliged to adhere to the same U.S. labor and contractual laws, naturally has less costs. The decision defies the President, the Congress, and the laws of our land. Further, it is unthinkable to award such a large anti-terrorist contract to a French company when their government openly opposes U.S. policy in that region. The Federal Acquisition Regulation (F.A.R.) Part 3.5 (Improper Business Practices) states that buying-in may decrease competition and result in poor performance. Over the years it has been the modus operandi for this French government-subsidized firm which consistently underbids to keep its workers and plants operating. Another VOA procurement example is the purchase of subsidized foreign steel for IBB projects at giveaway prices, while our own steel industry is laying off its workers. This is in defiance of the National Security Strategy of the United States released September 2002 which specifically states that government procurement practices should "help domestic industries and workers." U.S. manufacturers of radio transmitters and antennas must abide by our government laws and regulations. They hire handicapped workers, employ minorities, pay above minimum wages and give full benefits to their workers equally. Only under unusual circumstances, does the U.S. Government subsidize a domestic manufacturer. We think U.S. engineers are more innovative and U.S. workers work harder than their European counterparts. U.S. employee hours are longer, and our factory workers' wages are less than half of those workers in France and Switzerland. Yet, it is easy to see how subsidized French companies can always offer lower prices. It is commoname [sic] French companies which are our avowed enemies! The fact that trading scales are already weighted in favor of European companies makes it even more important that the U.S. Government ascertains that American businesses receive more favorable consideration when spending its taxpayer money. We appeal to all our esteemed Congressmen, Senators, and their associates, to look into a fiasco occurring at a time when much of the world, especially the French, do not support our President, or our Congress, nor our fellow citizens in the fight against tyranny, injustice, and terrorism. It is un-American, unjust, and immoral to put American workers on unemployment rolls when foreign workers benefit from taxes paid by those very same citizens. Sincerely, Nick Olguin Jack Quinn Ex-VOA, RFE/RL Ex-VOA, RFE/RL. Varian/EIMAC Distribution List: Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison Senator Phil Gramm Senator John McCain Senate Foreign Relations Comm, Senator Joe Biden Senate Sub-Committee on Int'l Ops and Terrorism, Senator Barbara Boxer Rep. Eddie Bernice Johnson Rep. Henry Hyde, Chairman House Int'l Relations Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, House Sub-Comm on Int'l Ops and Human Rights Karl Rove, Presidential Advisor, White House Kenneth Y. Tomlinson, Chairman IBB BBG David Lum, IBB Contract Administrator George Moore, Dir. Engineering IBB William Saffire, NY Times Georgie Ann Geyer, Universal Press Syndicate Glenn Hauser, World of Radio (via DXLD) Recall that Continental has been criticized for its sales of shortwave transmitters to China. China may not use the new Continentals for jamming, but the Continentals free up China's old clunker transmitters for the less high-fidelity task of jamming (gh, DXLD) ** U S A. BOARD SEEKS 517M DOLLARS FOR US INTERNATIONAL BROADCASTING [Excerpt from 2002 report of the US Advisory Commission on Public Diplomacy, (available on US State Department web site) ... As a result of long-term declines in US spending, critical public diplomacy needs are not being met. For example, from 1993 to 2001, overall funding for the State Department's educational and cultural exchange programmes fell more than 33 per cent, from 349m dollars to 232m dollars (adjusted for inflation). From 1995 to 2001, the number of exchange participants dropped from approximately 45,000 to 29,000. The US spends five million dollars in public opinion research overseas - less than the polling costs of some US Senate campaigns. The US spends 25 gigadollars on traditional diplomacy and more than 30bn dollars for intelligence and counterintelligence initiatives. In comparison, the government spends only one billion dollars to inform and persuade international audiences. There are public diplomacy operations in more than 200 missions around the globe, many in critical areas where negative and incorrect perceptions of US foreign policy prevail. The funding levels are clearly insufficient. The Broadcasting Board of Governors spends approximately 94 per cent of its overall budget on radio and only six per cent on television. (The BBG's 517m-dollar request for US international broadcasting services in FY 03 includes 47m dollars for television, 23m dollars for VOA TV, 14m dollars for satellite leases and 10m dollars for TV Martí for Cuba alone - a radio/TV spending ratio of 16 to 1.) While radio continues to be an important instrument of public diplomacy - particularly in countries such as Afghanistan, Nigeria, Ethiopia and China, where listening rates are high - we must invest much more in television where this medium is a primary source of news and information. During the 1990s, Congressional cuts in public diplomacy budgets were driven by fiscal deficits and a general desire of many in Congress to reduce the size of government. In recent years, officials of both parties have continually failed to make public diplomacy a high priority. Reductions in public diplomacy are part of a long-term militarization of foreign affairs in which the share of the national budget devoted to military spending has increased, while the amount committed to international affairs has decreased. This Commission recommends that all categories of public diplomacy be looked at coherently in terms of foreign policy priorities, situational relevance, and comparative assessments of programme value, and then be funded accordingly... [The full text of the report is available on the US State Department web site at http://www.state.gov/documents/organization/13622.pdf ] Source: US State Department web site in English 15 Oct 02 (via BBCM via DXLD) ** U S A. Glenn, Greetings from Southern California once again. Just want to let you know that I and Bill Fisher of SCADS attended the meeting for US International Broadcasting: Challenges and Opportunities in the Middle East, Iran and China at the USC Annenberg School for Communications and Broadcasting Board of Governors Seminar on October 9th from 1 pm to 4:30 pm. The panelists for the Middle East were Norman Pattiz of the BBG, Cheryl Halpern of the BBG, Murray Fromson of USC Journalism Department, Mouafac Harb, news director of Radio Sawa and Ian Lessar, VP Pacific Council on International Relations. Next panel was on IRAN and they were Kenneth Tomlinson, Chairman BBG, Norman Pattiz, founder of Westwood One radio network, Pari Abasalti, broadcaster for KRSI Los Angeles, Gina Nahal, novelist, and Fred Zandpour, associate dean of California State-Fullerton. And the last panel was made up of Edward Kaufman, China Committee of the BBG, Robert Ledbetter, member BBG, Stanley Rosen, political science professor USC and Kenneth Tomlinson, chairman BBG. The three moderators were Geoffrey Cowan, Jonathan Aronson and Michael Parks, all of the USC Annenberg School for Communications. The approximate attendence was about 100 people which included students, the press and us regular type people. The event was taped for replay over the Los Angeles School District TV services. All-in-all it was a great seminar and Bill and I got to talk to most of the speakers. We plan to attend more of the communication seminars at USC (Stewart H. MacKenzie, WDX6AA, Oct 13, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. Regarding Ray Briem. He will be back on talk radio soon. He is currently talking to the folks at KPLS/830AM which is owned is Catholic Family Radio which also has the radio station up for sale! The station contacted Ray first and they would be tickled to have him join with Don Imus and George Putnam on the station. So, I am sure that Ray will soon be back on the air-waves. His new program would possibly be scheduled for Saturday nights in the Midnight to 2 am slot. Will let you know when we get the news he is back on the airwaves! Have a great week of radio listening! (Stewart H. MacKenzie, WDX6AA, "World Friendship Through Shortwave Radio where Culture and Language meet" ASWLC - http://communitylink.ocnow.com/groups/aswlc SCADS - http://communitylink.ocnow.com/groups/scads Oct 13, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. KIMF Piñón, NM. E-mail Dr. James Planck at james@p... [truncated]. On their website http://plancktech.com/ claims: "One of our specialties is the retuning of older transmitters to new frequencies and the conversion of older AM transmitters for use on the HF bands. We also manufacture a line of low cost HF broadcast transmitters up to 50 KW. Planck Technical Services has more than 21 years of experience in engineering, construction, installation and service of broadcast and wireless systems. We have supplied equipment and built more than 200 LPTV stations for organizations such as Trinity Broadcasting, National Minority TV, and Public Broadcasting. Military & Government agencies are also our customers." Nothing is mentioned about KIMF or partner stations in Latin America (Dr. Hansjoerg Biener, Germany, BC-DX Oct 9 via DXLD) ** U S A [and non]. Glenn, Do you know if any of the AFRTS SW frequencies are still active? I haven't heard any for some while (Dave Kenny, UK, Oct 15, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Dave, I got so fed up with the constant interference on them that deleted most from my memory bank; however just checking 12689.5 at 1925 I hear traces of SSB talk, but can`t be positive it`s AFRTS. Will check further (Glenn to Dave, via DXLD) ** U S A. WEWN: clash on 15745: see SRI LANKA ** U S A. 5920 kHz, WBOH- Newport, NC, 0212, Heard the test transmission tape already posted by others. The tape loop was by a female Don't know if anyone noticed, but I taped them for 47 mins and on playing it back, they switched their power output a number of times from 0237 and were still doing so at 0259 when the cassette ended. The signal went from a SINPO of generally 4's across the board to a signal strength of 2. I asked in my report for the power range they were using at the time (John Sgrulletta, NY, Oct 10, Cumbre DX via DXLD) ** U S A. 26450, WLW at 1907 Oct 13 with Bengals football. Heard the same time a few weeks ago with Reds baseball (Hans Johnson, WY, Cumbre DX via DXLD) ** U S A. Re: ``While many have chimed in with a doomsday scenario for AM broadcast DXing in the shadow of IBOC, I still contend that it won't be that bad.`` What is the basis for your optimism? Have you heard any of the IBOC tests so far? I don't believe you have (and please correct me if I'm wrong). The reason I ask is because there is a clear pattern to the comments on this list about IBOC. Those who haven't heard any of the tests are the ones who think IBOC won't be a problem. Those who have heard IBOC- --- Kevin Redding, Pat Martin, Fred Vobbe, Russ Edmunds, myself, etc. --- are the ones who are convinced we will have major problems if IBOC operates at night. It's easy to breezily say that phasing, etc., will be able to cope with IBOC and it won't be a big deal --- if you haven't heard IBOC in action. But those of us who have heard IBOC know reality beats such theory and speculation. I doubt phasing will be much help with IBOC if two or more IBOC transmitters are on an adjacent frequency. IBOC is a broadband noise source, much like lightning QRN from an approaching cold front, and phasing is usually not much help there. The coming generation of DSP- based receivers (like the JRC NRD-545 and Ten-Tec RX-350) offer the promise of being able to differentiate analog and digital signals in the IF chain and to reject the unwanted type. But consumer DSP receivers are still early in their development cycle and will require a major investment by DXers. A lot of us will also get an IBOC receiver as soon as they're available and try DXing digital signals. And none of us who feel IBOC will have a significant negative impact on DXing want to be right in our conclusion. Speaking for myself, I hope my fears are totally overblown and that I look ridiculous a decade from now. Because if my fears are justified, AM DXing will take a major hit, far worse than the end of MM silent periods and the explosive growth in new stations since the mid-1980s. IBOC, I fear, will do more than just make the game more difficult; it will change the rules of the game so that we DXers can't "win." I look forward to reports from DXers when the first IBOC stations begin regular service and I hope some good ideas and techniques for coping with IBOC are quickly developed (Harry Helms, AK6C, Ridgecrest, CA DM15, NRC-AM via DXLD) After listening for 2 days of IBOC from KIXI-880, I can tell you that this white noise is going to be a problem for all DXers. Even the ones that live on the coasts will have to deal with it. I hope it is not adopted and the trouble it causes will get dealt with quick and swift so we will not have to be concerned about it in the future. This is all a bad dream and maybe we will wake up and it will be just that a dream. :). But on a serious note, if stations all over the country adopt IBOC, the hobby as we know it is in real trouble. KIXI-880- Seattle is only S9 here at 150 miles during the day off my Eastern beverage. Not a big signal. Easy to get rid of. Yet the noise on 890 was S7! That was not easy to get rid of. The noise was more troublesome than KIXI's signal! Even after I switched to my EWE antenna that has KWIP-Dallas OR at 100 miles dominant on 880, with KIXI barely audible under them, the white noise on 890 only dropped to S5! So even when there is hardly a signal from a station the white noise is there big time. That is why Kevin and Harry heard the WLW noise all the way across the country when WLW's signal wasn't strong. This noise gets out! No doubt about that. I can just figure someone like KGO (S9+40-50 DB), KNBR (S9+30 DB) and others running IBOC. I shudder at the thought. It will give me nightmares if I think about it. Like I said, we may have to move far away to DX. It will be interesting to find out how much of this noise is heard my DXers overseas. I am sure it will royally screw up the dial worldwide. If not worldwide, a lot of the world where DXers hear US stations, like Norway, Sweden, Finland, Australia, New Zealand, Japan, etc. So many US stations are directional that way. The European DXers are going to love DXing through all the noise. This IBOC plan has far reaching effects. It is not a pretty picture! 73s, (Patrick Martin, Seaside OR, KAVT Reception Manager, ibid.) Partner, its gonna be REALLY ugly. I called my bud in Poughkeepsie today, Jim Nichols and he was talking about the horrendous white noise on 700 to 720. He says to me that I better get my HF gear ready because the noise is so bad. He put the phone to the speaker and I told him that this was EXACTLY the noise I heard during the WLW IBAC test. My friend in Monticello, NY, Chris Cuff, said he can't see how any radio can survive the sideband noise to do ANY DXing. Bros, I can tell you that if IBAC goes night, we are HOSED until we can figure out some kind of DSP, or some chip that will accept one mode and kill the other. That`s the only way. PERIOD. When the noise floor is 20 to 40 over S-9 forget all those TPs and TAs, they are going to be a memory until a work around can be devised. That noise is unbelievable. Phasing will get pointed away from one station to hear IBAC noise from another station. It sounds exactly like a TV tuned to a frequency with no receivable station. And it`s LOUD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! || The coming generation of DSP-based receivers (like the JRC NRD-545 and Ten-Tec RX-350) offer the promise of being able to differentiate analog and digital signals in the IF chain and to reject the unwanted type. || If this can be done, it will be great but if everything is going totally digital, then no manufacturer will develop this because they will not make money with this enough to pay for the development cost. It will take a couple of years to write the algorithms, the software, design the chip circuits, find a chip foundry to run prototypes, test the software and circuitry under many conditions, and by then a lot and I mean a lot of money would be spent. It would be great if it happened, but I don't expect this kind of money and effort to be expended on something that will run a very short time. || But consumer DSP receivers are still early in their development cycle and will require a major investment by DXers. || This is exactly what the manufacturers want and the consumer doesn't want at present. I don't see the demand. Unfortunately the government will create the demand eventually by FORCING us to have to buy this new equipment to hear radio. I believe that this is EXACTLY the wrong approach to take but the corporations have bet lots of money on this and paid their bribes and they will be like Burger King and have it their way. || A lot of us will also get an IBOC receiver as soon as they're available and try DXing digital signals. || I will be one of these. I fear it will be a waste of money but I will be one who buys one. I will buy it not for the engineering quality, nor for the programming, only for the DX and that`s it. No other reason. || And none of us who feel IBOC will have a significant negative impact on DXing want to be right in our conclusion. Speaking for myself, I hope my fears are totally overblown and that I look ridiculous a decade from now. || AMEN! I want to have people pointing their fingers at me saying here`s what you said back in 2002. I want my hobby to survive because I enjoy it. I am sure things will be very different when the time comes and everything is digital but the transition time is going to be very hard on the radio clubs that concern themselves with broadcast radio. IBAC is going to be terribly tough in the transitional time on the DX community. I don't know how DXing will be but its going to have some tough days ahead. I would love to see that chip with the ability to discern analog or digital and disregard the one that is not desired by the end user. If this happens, then its not going to be horrendous but it will be an expense that will be a burden on the common radio user. The analog stuff will still be obsolete no matter what. My advice, don't buy any new radios and TVs until IBAC and DTV get moving into gear. If you buy gear now, its going to be utterly and completely useless. (Kevin Redding, Mesa AZ, NRC-AM via DXLD) I've lurked on the IBOC thread till now, mainly because I consider its adoption either inevitable or unworkable. That's why I didn't waste my time responding to the FCC's notice for public comment. Like the FCC cares about my opinion. If it's inevitable, there's nothing I can do about it and I'll spend much less time doing MW DXing and more time on shortwave and ham radio. I gather that many others, as Rick Kenneally suggests, will do likewise and our hobby will take a severe hit. I will be very disappointed to leave the MW band, but there's always 60 meters and the shortwave pirates for listening. I don't like the graveyard channels much at all, and I rarely DX them. DXing will go the way of the crystal set and Amos n Andy. Specialized equipment and great locations may enable some MW DXers to continue doing what they're doing, but I fall into the majority of NRC members with (mainly) non-specialized equipment and a mediocre location. Any spare $1K lying around will go to my credit card company and not into an R8B. And the last time I had that kind of disposable cash I spent it on a much more versatile ham transceiver. If IBOC proves unworkable or of limited impact, then nothing will change. Passive resistance on the part of broadcasters and consumers, in refusal to buy new equipment, could also make it a flop. It's happened before. Finally, like many others on the list, I have also been dismayed (but certainly not surprised) at the hypocrisy shown by broadcasters and regulators on the interference issue. Block LPFM because of potential interference, but embrace it on AM in the form of industry-sponsored IBOC. A classic case of regulatory capture and a subversion of the FCC's statutory mandate (Communications Act of 1934) to uphold the public interest. IBOC is not intended to improve the quality of the AM service or to rejuvenate AM broadcasting. Its real purpose is to get everybody, from broadcasters to consumers, to spend a bunch of money on new equipment they really don't need or want. As one of the Gilded Age robber barons (William H. Vanderbilt, I think), once said: "The public be damned!" (David Hochfelder, NJ, NRC- AM via DXLD) Group: Check out the NY Radio Message Board http://musicradio.computer.net/wwwboard/ for more on the first WOR-710 IBOC transmissions. Reads like they're a disaster. Is there any reason to think FM will be any better? (Tim Cronin, Worth, IL, WTFDA via DXLD) Although this is off topic, I was up around the Newark/Belleville line Sunday which is about 5 miles, give or take a little, from the WOR towers. The digital garbage was tremendous on 690/700 as well as 720/730. Picture the NYC AM dial if the stations all go IBOC...... (starting at 550) hash/hash/WMCA/hash/hash/hash (maybe some WICC)/hash/WSNR/hash/hash/hash/WNBC/hash/hash/hash/hash/WOR/hash/hash/ maybe WHLI/hash/hash/WABC/hash/hash/hash/hash/WNYC/hash/hash (830......). And nothing gets thru this hash...no transparency to it at all. My experience with the FM version (WNEW-102.7) was that you lose the adjacents (and that's using a MR-78). But WNEW is medium power compared to the 100 kW stuff in most of the country. I wonder how powerful the IBOC buzz would be on one of those babies. Happy listening, (Joe Fela, NJ, WTFDA via DXLD) Posted by Bob Seeburg on October 14, 2002 at 07:28:02: On Friday I first heard this 'hash' across the WOR carrier and assumed it was just a tech prob with the new equipment; however in the three days since then this station's daytime signal has been all but unlistenable. If your radio has any IF bandwith at all this racket of hiss bleeds into everything, the program level seems to be 3-4 db lower and is so frequency limited that it has the same response as a cheapie dial-up remote. Now that I have heard it, it's safe to say that IBOC is a crude Rube Goldberg "hack" and I can't imagine how the standards for broadcast quality could be so degraded as to approve a scheme like this. WOR now has the honor of having the worst full-power signal on the dial (NY Radio Message Board via DXLD) Posted by al germond on October 14, 2002 at 16:12:39: In the past, I've posted a number of items about the so-called "IBOC" system [which it isn't because the digital subcarriers are actually in the sidebands] and deposited a couple of lengthy postings on several midwestern message boards --- e.g.: http://www.showmeradio.com --- which have elicited very little response. I want to have an open mind about "IBOC" but some of the things I've been predicting may be coming true. There's the temptation to compare "IBOC" with WQXR-FM's first limited stereocasting which the New York Times-owned station began on Sept. 7, 1961 using the then just-approved GE/Zenith "pilot-tone" system. There was a lot of angst at the time because audiophiles had been rooting for the late Murray G. Crosby's stereo system which had been given debut tests in 1958-9 under experimental authorizations granted to WGHF/95.1/Brookfield, Conn., [now, ironically, WRKI, the station referred to in the New York Times article about "high definition radio".] and WBAI/99.5/New York. Purists liked Crosby's technique because it was less noisy and offered greater frequency response. The FCC chose the technically similar but separately developed GE and Zenith systems because they would accommodate subsidiary functional multiplex channels -- 67 kHz and now 92 kHz as well -- which the FCC had first allowed FM broadcasters to occupy starting in May, 1955. In 1960, more than a half-dozen competing multiplex systems were tested via KDKA-FM/92.9/Pittsburgh with reception at Uniontown, Pa., and the results were exhaustively analyzed by the National Radio Systems Committee which submitted its findings to the FCC. I well remember those early FM multiplex stereocasts when virtually every piece of equipment at both ends of the communication channel was vacuum tube-operated. While there was some noise and clean reception required strong signals and an outdoor antenna helped in some weak- signal locales, both stereo separation and frequency response was startling -- especially considering the equipment on hand and the program material from tape or disc, some of it recorded only binaurally -- and there was absolutely no degradation or disruption of the monaural main channel signal, aside from having to reduce total modulation somewhat. Periodically, I'll drag out some elderly stereo item such as the H.H. Scott model 335 multiplex adaptor [which when offered sells on eBay for $200 or more] or the Fisher FM-200 tuner to recall some of the burrs in the system. Multiplexed FM stereo is considerably improved today though FM radio in general has been marred by the competitive forces that requires most broadcasters to mutilate their audio frequency response. It's disheartening to learn in actual practice that "IBOC" is apparently trashing the original AM analog signal. Over its eighty year history, WOR has been heralded for progressive AM engineering where high fidelity response -- among the station's many other attributes -- was closely sought after. First, with the 1927 Kearny, N.J., Communipaw Ave., upgrade to 5 kW and then the 1934 Carteret 50 kW "plant", WOR worked closely with AT&T's Western Electric subsidiary nearby to install equipment that was publicly proclaimed to demonstrate excellent AM fidelity. Growing up with WOR, the station was always the exemplar of the best AM could offer even with all of amplitude modulation's faults and limitations. Isn't is more than noteworthy that there's not a single engineer among the present panel of FCC commissioners? This should be a requirement because the FCC regulates technology but then, we are dreaming. Of course. Years ago, the FCC listened to its engineers and followed their advice. We knew who the leading engineers were by name and they listened to us. Now, the FCC is "tuned-in" to industry-backed lobbyists who slip these fast ones of questionable technological merit over us (Germond, NYRMB via DXLD) It's certainly true that radio broadcasting doesn't exist for the benefit of DXers. If IBOC represented a genuine step forward for both the broadcasters and the public, in terms of revitalizing the industry and providing superior services, then we have to accept that progress is being made, even if it's to the detriment of our hobby. But I don't think that is the case. I predict that IBOC will be a huge flop, and the biggest casualties will be the small broadcasters. They're being hoodwinked into believing that they must "go digital" to survive, making investments in new equipment and licence fees that they can ill afford. Few people will buy IBOC receivers, since they will be expensive (receiver manufacturers are not going to take a chance on building them in huge quantities, which is the only to bring the cost down) and they offer little perceived value (slightly improved versions of radio services that listeners can already receive). The broadcasters will get no ROI from their digital investment, and in the meantime will face declining revenues from their analog services, since their quality and coverage has been compromised (partly from their own digital transmissions, but mainly from those of other stations). The result will be a further acceleration of consolidation, as the small players fall by the wayside and are scooped up by the big guys (a.k.a. iBiquity partners). This is not a healthy situation, and it's definitely not in the public interest (but as David says, the FCC has long since abdicated the role of guardian of the public interest). It's not good for us DXers either, but it will be an interesting spectacle to watch unfold. Ironically, in the short term IBOC may give AM DXing a shot in the arm, as we all hasten to our radios to see how much it trashes the band, and try to get our DX licks in before everything gets drowned in the digital buzz (Barry McLarnon, Ont., NRC-AM via DXLD) DIGITAL RAISES THE BAR FOR AM AND FM QUALITY By Raoul V. Mowatt, Tribune staff reporter, October 13, 2002 So you missed your favorite radio program? No problem. It's been automatically recorded for your listening pleasure.... http://www.chicagotribune.com/templates/misc/printstory.jsp?slug=chi%2D0210120405oct13 (Chicago Tribune via Mike Cooper, DXLD) ** U S A. FCC RULING = DEATH TO SATELLITE RADIO? (open forum) From http://arstechnica.infopop.net/OpenTopic/page?a=tpc&s=50009562&f=174096756&m=7550932635 Last week the FCC gave the go ahead for radio stations to add digital broadcasts. This ruling is unlike the mandated switch over to digital television broadcasts, as of now radio stations have the choice on whether or not to adopt the technology. The cost of adding digital will be about $75K and the stations will most likely still offer analog broadcasts. The digital technology developed by iBiquity Digital claims to offer CD quality sound for FM and FM quality for AM broadcasts. To be able to receive digital broadcasts consumers would need to dish out for a new radio which would receive both digital and analog transmissions. The switch also will allow stations to transmit data streams which could provide additional information such as traffic and weather reports as well as allowing a digital radio to display the title and artist of songs. Of course while the industry wants to tout these benefits, many of us are still waiting for enhanced services to show up with older technology such as cable TV. There is also some questions about how jamming the spectrum with these added streams will affect low power analog AM/FM stations. The FCC ruling may leave the satellite radio stations Sirius and XM radio out to dry. Will consumers want to dish out for a separate receiver and monthly charge for satellite radio when they can have "CD quality" with digital broadcasts? The ruling allows for radio stations to begin switching to digital right now, but they only expect 70 stations to be digital by the end of the year. Satellite radio have an opportunity to adjust before a significant number of stations switch over and the technology takes hold. Finally, one aspect of the decision that has not been touched on by news stories so far is how these broadcasts will be protected. It is surprising there are no talks about DRM now radio stations will be offering "CD quality" broadcasts over the airwaves. Was the RIAA caught off guard by the announcement? It will be interesting to see how things play out (via Mike Terry, DXLD) ** U S A. BROADCAST GROUPS BALK AT NET RADIO COMPROMISE Mon Oct 14, 7:58 AM ET Jefferson Graham USA TODAY A compromise on royalties reached last week between Internet radio stations and the music industry -- and quickly ratified by the U.S. House -- could be in trouble in the Senate after two broadcasting organizations expressed last-minute reservations. Sunday's the deadline: Small Webcasters say government-set fees scheduled to go into effect then would bankrupt them. About 600 of 10,000 Net radio operations have gone dark in the past months, according to Radio and Internet Newsletter. A bill that lightens the load on small firms and non-profits is headed for the Senate. But as it did in the House, the bill needs to pass by unanimous consent, a parliamentary maneuver to speed the process. Now two senators have objected after concerns were raised by the National Religious Broadcasters and the National Association of Broadcasters. The original levy was only a fraction of a cent per song per listener. But for Netcasters, most of which have far more fans than money, the fees outpaced revenue. The record industry and Webcasters compromised on a formula based on small Webcasters' revenue. The NAB, whose member over-the-air stations often simulcast on the Web, has called for unspecified changes to the bill. But a changed bill would have to be sent back to the House to resolve differences. Having that bill finished and on President Bush`s desk to sign by week's end would be unlikely. ''Under the guise of seeking changes, they know they're really killing it,'' says Hilary Rosen, the Recording Industry Association of America's chairman. ''The big guys don't like that the small guys are going to be paying proportionally less.'' National Religious Broadcasters CEO Glenn Plummer says even the reduced royalties agreed to by the House ''would be the largest royalty fee ever assessed in history. That's quite a precedent.'' Even without legislation, Webcasters could make private deals with the record industry. But Webcasters tend to play more small-label music, and many deals would have to be reached (via Mike Terry, DXLD) ** U S A. CBS HAS ITS EYE ON 51ST ANNIVERSARY SUNDAY TV DIARY By Sheryl Krieg of The News-Sentinel Television shows come and go, but network icons never do. No, I'm not talking about CEOs or VPs. I'm talking about the symbols that identify the networks we watch. When I see a peacock, I automatically think of NBC. For CBS, it's the Eye, and its 51st anniversary is Sunday. The Eye, first seen during station breaks on Oct. 20, 1951, has undergone changes in color and dimension, but the basic design has remained intact. Designer William Golden first thought of the Eye while he was driving through Pennsylvania Dutch country, where he became intrigued by the hex symbols resembling the human eye drawn on Shaker barns to ward off evil spirits. With help from an 1850s Shaker art book and graphic artist Kurt Weiss, the first Eye logo was drawn. The design began as several concentric eyes, in which the camera zoomed in on the pupil to identify the network, then clicked shut. The first appearance was a still composite photo of the Eye and a cloud formation photographed from an abandoned Coast Guard tower. However, there were no useful cloud-picture stock photos. The cloud formation returned to the sky, but the Eye remained. Another man also was instrumental in preserving the Eye logo. Evidently, a year later, Golden felt he needed to design a new symbol for CBS. Then-CBS President Frank Stanton vetoed the request, and the rest certainly is an important part of TV history (Fort Wayne News- Sentinel Oct 14 via Mike Cooper, DXLD) ** UZBEKISTAN [non]. Jamming: see CHINA ** VENEZUELA. Saludos colegas diexistas. Lo que informamos estuvo a punto de ocurrir. He aquí lo dicho por el Presidente de Venezuela. Nota: No se tome esta información como politica, si no como una relacionada con la televisión y la radio en su afan de informar a la colectividad. Atte: José Elías El 10 de octubre "estuvieron en la franja amarilla" Chávez: Estuve a punto de dar la orden para tumbar la señal de los canales de televisión El presidente Hugo Chávez confirmó una versión que había circulado días antes del 10 de octubre, al revelar que el Gobierno estaba "listo para tumbarle la señal a los canales privados de televisión", ante la sospecha de que estarían involucrados en un complot que buscaba repetir las acciones del 11 de abril, cuando fue depuesto brevemente del poder. Añadió que estaban preparados en Mecedores, donde están las antenas repetidoras, y en otros puntos, "porque ellos tienen sitios escondidos acá en Caracas desde donde pueden transmitir; los tenemos ubicados. No sé si en todos, pero casi todos". Reiteró la advertencia de suspensión a los propietarios de los canales de televisión comercial. Exhortó a no olvidarse de que su salida al aire es gracias a la concesión de la señal electromagnética que el Estado les otorga. "Pero si ustedes no cumplen con la Constitución y la ley, igual se les puede quitar la concesión". De manera que "en cualquier momento que eso esté ocurriendo estos canales pueden ser desactivados o retirados del aire", advirtió Chávez, quien reveló que el 10 "estuvimos ahí en el border line, pisaron la franja amarilla (via José Díaz, Venezuela, Oct 14, Conexión Digital via DXLD) ** WESTERN SAHARA [non]. National Radio of the Saharan Arab Democratic Republic Auf 1550 kHz konnte ich um 2300 UT eine Station mit span. Nachrichten empfangen, gefolgt von einer ID "Radio Nacional de España", und danach kam arab. Musik. Ich vermute hierbei handelte es sich um das National Radio der SADR, die die Nachrichten von RNE übernommen hatten (P. Robich, Austria, Oct 12, 2002 in A-DX via CRW via DXLD) ** YUGOSLAVIA. RSF DISCUSS 1999 BOMBING OF RADIO TELEVISION SERBIA WITH NATO Reporters Without Borders (RSF) met last week with NATO officials, including Assistant Secretary General for defence planning and operations, Edgar Buckley. On the agenda was the controversial bombing of the headquarters of Radio Television of Serbia (RTS) on 23 April 1999, in which 16 employees of the state-owned television station were killed. RSF asked about the choice of RTS as a military target, the proportionality between the strategic gain and the risk for the civilian population, and the question of giving the civilian population warning of an imminent military attack "in sufficient time and by effective means," as the Geneva Conventions stipulate. Buckley said that, like all the sites bombed, RTS was identified as a military target after a long process of discussion between the allies and after consulting with jurists. "The RTS building was chosen solely for military reasons," he told the RSF delegation. According to Buckley, "a NATO military target is not necessarily a target of a military nature." While deploring the civilian losses caused by the bombing, he said both its strategic and tactical objectives were achieved. "We always tried to reduce the risks for civilians as much as possible when taking our decisions. Sixteen dead is too much, and we regret it," he said. Nonetheless, he said the principle of proportionality was respected. NATO has thus far not adopted any compensatory measures for the families of the victims of the RTS bombing and it does not envisage doing so either, said Buckley. RSF fears that the military strike on RTS could constitute a dangerous precedent, opening the way for other actions of this type against news media in future conflicts. The organisation has therefore decided to formally ask the International Committee of the Red Cross to define or elaborate its position on the role of news media and journalists in times of conflict. (excerpted from RSF/IFEX press release). (via RN Media Network 14 October 2002 via DXLD) UNIDENTIFIED. For ca. 2 months now, there's been a station with non- stop music without announcements on 4050. Heard here in Finland fade in around 1500, close down at 1800. I asked Vlad Titarev of Ukraine about this and he monitored the frequency on 14 Oct. At 1450 he heard 1 kHz test tones (like ex-USSR tune up) and at 1453 into music. Vlad says the music is Tadjik pop and folk, English pops and also some Indian film music. No Russian songs at all (so I made a mistake earlier reporting I heard those). And no announcements at all. Transmitter went off sharp 1800 mid-song. Reception in Ukraine was rather good, and also here in Finland the last hour is usually good. So, we have again an unID non-stop music tester. 4050 was used by Kyrgyz Radio in the past, but has been off for some time. Many thanks, Vlad, for your help (Jari Savolainen, Kuusankoski, Finland, Oct 15, DX LISTENING DIGEST) I think it could be helpful get confirm whether the language is indeed Tajik or maybe DARI (which is very similar to Tajik), spoken in Afghanistan. If it is Dari, then Afghanistan would be a possible target. Indian films are reported to be extremely popular in Afghanistan these days; so is Indian film music. However, that goes for other Central Asian countries as well. 73s, Bernd Trutenau, Lithuania, Cumbre DX via DXLD) UNIDENTIFIED. Hi Glenn, Here is an unID I heard yesterday. I was not able to check it today, as I had an appointment early. I was not able to find any information on it from any of the frequency lists I use (Elke Bierwith's, WRTH, Passport, Klingenfuss) or searching DXLD. It was unusual in that it was clearly in lower side band. Unidentified Station: 10/13/02 6055.0 LSB 1228: alternating F/M announcers, occasional musical pieces (sounding like Chinese traditional music). 1228: speech by M in a different language, with voice over by F in broadcast language. (Signal deteriorated to SINPO 14121.) 1258: F announcer, music, M and F alternating, musical bridge, 1300: anthem, 1301: begin repeat of 1230 program. Fade out at 1311. (Mark Taylor, Madison, WI, DX LISTENING DIGEST) One would normally expect to find NSB Tokyo there at that hour, but this doesn`t sound like it (gh, DXLD) ###