DX LISTENING DIGEST 2-174, November 7, 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 1155: WWCR: Sat 0700, Sun 0330 5070, Sun 0730 3210, Wed 1030 9475 RFPI: Sat 0130, 0730, Sun 0000, 0600, Mon 0030, 0630... on 7445, 15039 WRN: Rest of world Sat 0900; North America Sun 1500 WBCQ: Mon 0515 7415 WJIE: M-F 1300, daily 0400; Sun 0630, Mon 0700, Tue 0630 or 0700, 7490 ONDEMAND http://www.wrn.org/ondemand/worldofradio.html [from Fri] This week we start providing two different audio files of WOR, high quality, 9.6 MB, 44 kbps; and low for easier downloads, 3.6 MB, 16 kbps. The High file will be up for only one week until replaced by the next edition. Your comments welcome. [High] (Download) http://www.k4cc.net/wor1155h.rm (Stream) http://www.k4cc.net/wor1155h.ram [Low] (Download) http://www.k4cc.net/wor1155.rm (Stream) http://www.k4cc.net/wor1155.ram (Summary) http://www.worldofradio.com/wor1155.html ** AFGHANISTAN [non]. Glenn, Sorry for the short notice but while flipping through "TV Guide" this morning I found that tomorrow, Friday, 08nov2002, at 21.00 - 22.00 CST Discovery Channel is listed as showing "Commando Solo: Afghan Skies". To quote from "TV Guide": "Profiling the 4th Psychological Operations Group, a joint Army / Air Force unit." It will be repeated at midnight (00.00, Sat. CST). If you have satellite tv, "On Sat" shows that it will run on the Discovery West feed (G5, 12) Sat at 00.00 and 03.00 CST. The earlier run, on East feed, is on C4, 21. Enjoy! (Paul Spurlock, Old Hickory, TN, DX LISTENING DIGEST) That`s 0300, 0600 and 0900 UT Saturday (gh) ** AFRICA. SHORTWAVE UPDATE No transmissions have been observed from Malawi since it briefly reactivated a transmitter on 3380/7130 early this year. Other countries and territories in east and southern Africa with no shortwave broadcasting at present include Burundi, Comoros (including Mayotte), Djibouti, Lesotho, Mauritius, Mozambique and Reunion (Chris Greenway, Kenya, Nov BDXC-UK Communication via WORLD OF RADIO 1155, DXLD) Much more under KENYA, UGANDA, TANZANIA ** AUSTRALIA. GOVERNMENT PLANS TO BLOCK PROTEST WEB SITES The federal government plans to stop Australians gaining access to web sites used to organize protests, The Australian daily said on its web site http://www.theaustralian.com.au on 7 November. The Justice Ministry will look at upgrading federal powers to block certain web sites after the regional police ministers agreed that it was "unacceptable for web sites advocating or facilitating violent protest action to be accessible from Australia", the daily reported. The police claim that World Trade Organization protest web sites advocate violence against police and only last week, the Australian Broadcasting Authority, the Internet regulator, decided not to block access to web sites organizing protests for the WTO meeting in Sydney Source: The Australian web site, Sydney, in English 7 Nov 02 (via BBCM via DXLD) ** AUSTRALIA. LIKELY ABC CUT THREATENS ASIA PACIFIC - November 7 2002 At a time when many Australians are searching for information about events in the Asia-Pacific region, ABC radio appears poised to cut funding to a Melbourne-based program that specialises in Pacific rim current affairs. Asia Pacific is a current affairs magazine program jointly funded by Radio National and Radio Australia - the ABC's international broadcaster. The program began life in 1998 and airs nightly at eight o'clock on Radio National. But sources inside the ABC say Radio National is preparing to withdraw its portion of the program's funding, which represents about $100,000 from the total budget of $380,000. It also appears likely that Radio National will no longer broadcast the program, leaving the Parliamentary News Network as its sole domestic carrier. And it will only broadcast the program during times when Federal Parliament is not sitting. The program is beamed to other nations in the region by Radio Australia. Another option being discussed is retaining the program but moving it to an inhospitable timeslot, such as 5.30 am. It is believed that Radio National management think the show's format does not work well in the 8 pm timeslot and have been considering a funding withdrawal for several months. A $100,000 funding cut would equate to the loss of a full-time position as well as a substantial reduction in travel resources - cuts that ABC insiders say will make the program more reactive and diminish its capacity for broader investigative journalism. Asia Pacific undertakes about four major reporting trips within the region each year. The last of these was in August when reporter Trisha Fitzgerald travelled to Jakarta to report on Indonesian politics and obtained an interview with Abu Bakar Bashir - the Muslim cleric suspected of links to al Qaeda. Asia Pacific also played a prominent role in reporting the lead-up events behind coups in the Solomon Islands and Fiji and, in 1999, reporter Di Martin won a Walkley Award for the program with her coverage of events in East Timor. A Friends of the ABC spokesman said the group was shocked by the rumoured changes and called upon RN's management to reconsider. "Never before has the community been so keenly interested in, and needed to understand more about, what is happening in our region," says FABC spokesman Terry Laidler. "It is inexplicable that the ABC would cut a significant, unique program, which provides invaluable information and important insights into our region." Radio National spokesman Nick Bron responded to the rumours by denying any decision had been made regarding the program's future. "At this stage, it's just speculation. We are reviewing our programming for next year and different things are always discussed but no decision has been made on this," he said (The Age, via Artie Bigley, DXLD) ** BOLIVIA. 9624.69 kHz, Radio Fides, 0046-0122+ y 0211-0231*, 6 Nov, transmisión deportiva de la "Copa Sudamericana de Fútbol", entre los equipos Bolivar (BOL) y San Lorenzo (ARG), partido que finalizó 2-1, jingles de "Radio Deportes, la mayor cadena deportiva", "Radio Deportes, un país en sintonia" y "la emoción del deporte en Radio Deportes" & "Radio Deportes, ....40 emisoras....la mayor cadena deportiva", también IDs "Radio Fides". Radio Deportes es el nombre de una cadena nacional deportiva. SINPO: 23442, en // a 6155 (35433). (Gabriel Iván Barrera, Argentina, Conexión Digital via DXLD) ** BOLIVIA. 6054.42, R. San Juan 23 (tentative) 2210-2233 Nov 7. Weak signal at tune-in, with OM in Spanish. A jingle at 2217, then brief talk by OM, and prerecorded announcement by YL. At 2222, some theme music on flute, which was heard several times during the next 10 minutes. In between the flute theme music was alternating talk by a male and female. By tune-out, signal strength had improved to S7, with SINPO of 32232 (George Maroti, NY, Cumbre DX via DXLD) No San; he`s not a saint yet, is he? (gh, DXLD) ** BRAZIL. Desde o dia 12 de outubro, a a Rádio Educação Rural, de Tefé(AM), está operando em sua nova frequência de 4925 kHz, conforme informações de Paulo Roberto e Souza. Confiram ! (Célio Romais, Brasil, Nov 7, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CAMBODIA. MINISTER ON BANNING OF RELAY BROADCASTS FROM US-BASED RADIOS Television Kampuchea (TVK), the Cambodian government-run television station, on 6 November carried an interview with State Secretary for Information Khiev Kanharit. He talks about the ban on FM-105 Sambok Khmum radio station relaying broadcasts by Voice of America and Radio Free Asia. The following is an excerpt from the interview: [Khiev Kanharit] ... The reason is this. In principle, in each country, if a local radio station wants to sell broadcasting hours to a foreign station, it has to go through the government. Otherwise, [changes thought] for example there are Voice of America [VOA] and Radio Free Asia [RFA]. In the past the ministry closed down Roat Theani [Capital City] radio which went into agreement with the Australian radio for live broadcasts without going through the Information Ministry. If we think this is infringing upon the freedom of disseminating information, this is entirely false. For example, suppose tomorrow Taiwan wanted to buy broadcasting hours from one or two [local] radio stations, and then later on Beijing radio, Arab radio and then other radio stations; then 100 radio stations wanting to do this without going through the government. This would cause chaos in the administration and dissemination of information. Moreover, if the radio station happened to belong to the government, it would even cause a clash between governments. For this reason [changes thought] for example French radio, the BBC radio, and so on, before they set up stations here they went through the Foreign Affairs Ministry. In other words, there was an agreement between governments, in principle; and then it was down to the Information Ministry. This is the principle of broadcasting. What was wrong was not a political mistake; it was a mistake in procedures. All local radio stations, before selling broadcasting hours to foreign radios, have to seek permission from the government; this is the first point. The second point, as I said, the freedom of information dissemination is not affected. Sambok Khmum radio station used to be only one kilowatt strong. It can be heard only in Phnom Penh. Even if we ban it, people throughout Cambodia can still listen to VOA and RFA. "So those making this accusation do not understand the law and possibly have some political motives in accusing the Information Ministry for banning Samkok Khmum radio from relaying the broadcasts of VOA and RFA. This is the procedure and the principle in running a state. Thank you. Source: Television Kampuchea, Pnomh Penh, in Cambodian 1200 gmt 6 Nov 02 (via BBCM via DXLD) ** CANADA. Just to let everybody know, CFYI (Mojo 640) Toronto, ON, changed their call letters as of Nov 1 to CFMJ. They always ID as Mojo 640 (Eric Conchie http://ontarioamdxer.tripod.com/ Nov 6, NRC-AM via DXLD) ** CANADA. If I remember correctly, they also did this last year. 73- (Bill Westenhaver, DXLD) From globeandmail.com, Thursday, November 7 RADIO STATION BROADCASTS DAILY PRAYERS OF RAMADAN, by GAY ABBATE It's a radio station that caters to tourists, but for the next four weeks it is helping Muslims across southern Ontario celebrate Ramadan and those of other faiths to learn about the ninth month of the Islamic lunar calendar. Daily during Ramadan, CJRN AM 710 in Niagara Falls is broadcasting a half-hour program of prayers and religious readings, just as it has done for the past five years. Before that, the program aired on other stations for nine years. The program begins broadcasting exactly a half-hour before sunset and ends with a call to prayer that signals the end of the daily fasting period. Devout Muslims are not allowed to eat, drink, smoke or have sexual relations during daylight hours. The program, said David Dancy, president of CJRN 710 Inc., is for people who want to exercise their religion in a non-commercial environment. There are no advertisements or other interruptions at this station, which switched to its new format on Sept. 1. Its signal reaches Western New York. Muslims aren't the only ones who tune in. Put together by Reflections on Islam, a Toronto-based organization active in radio and television, the program is in English, with quotes from the Kor`an, said Ezz E. Gad, the show's producer at Reflections. With prayers and instruction in English, the program helps educate non-Muslims about Ramadan, Mr. Dancy said. "People appreciate it." He does not know how many people listen in because the station does not subscribe to the radio-rating service that reports such figures. What he does know, he said, is that the program helps people learn about each other. "The world is going through such a difficult time right now that understanding is a key to a lot of things," he said. "How can you understand something if you know nothing about it?" During Ramadan, which started yesterday and lasts for four weeks, Toronto residents may have to wait a little longer for a taxicab while Muslim drivers, who make up 40 to 50 per cent of Toronto cab drivers, stop to pray five times a day. Or they may take a day off. Copyright 2002 | Bell Globemedia Interactive Inc. (via Bill Westenhaver, DXLD) ** CANADA. CBC RADIO ONE OVERNIGHT PROGRAMMING Hi Glenn, I checked out the CBC Overnight webpage, at http://www.radio.cbc.ca/programs/overnight/schedule.html and here is the rundown of the programming blocks. Weekday Schedule: 1:05 AM -- Radio Netherlands 2:05 AM -- Radio Sweden & Radio Australia 3:05 AM -- Channel Africa & BBC WS 4:05 AM -- Deutsche Welle & Radio Polonia 5:05 AM -- Radio Australia, Radio Prague, Deutsche Welle and Voice of Russia Weekend Schedule: 1:05 AM -- Radio Netherlands 2:05 AM -- Radio Prague & Voice of Russia 3:05 AM -- Radio Sweden & BBC WS 4:05 AM -- Deutsche Welle 5:05 AM -- Radio Australia Radio Australia's "The Media Report" (actually originating with Radio National) runs in the 2:30 AM slot on Friday mornings. 73- (Bill Westenhaver, QC, Nov 7, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Five different timeshifts, e.g. 1:05-6 AM in AST/NST zone is 0505-1000 UT ... in PST zone, 0905-1400, as on the two 6160 stations. However, some stations start their own local programming at 5 or 5:30 am, I think (gh, DXLD) ** CANADA. WEEKEND HOT SHEET, SUNDAY NOVEMBER 10, 2002 --- THE SUNDAY EDITION: This week on The Sunday Edition, more in the series Apocalypse When? The Coming War with Iraq. Michael talks with author James Fallows about the world after Saddam Hussein. Also, contrarian Christopher Hitchens on his book, "Why Orwell Matters," and why he left the Left behind. And in Hour Three, historian Michael Marrus looks at "The Protocols of the Elders of Zion." It has been THE work of anti-Semitism, and this month, Egyptian television will begin a 30-part series about it. Why, in our enlightened society, has this book survived? That's The Sunday Edition, right after the 9 a.m. news (9:30 NT) on CBC Radio One. ON STAGE: This week, OnStage presents A Tribute to Otto Lowy, the late and much-beloved host of CBC's The Transcontinental. Soprano Phoebe MacRae and violinist Joan Blackman join the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra under the direction of Bramwell Tovey. Works include Richard Rodney Bennett's The Orient Express Waltz, plus works by Lehar, Dvorak, Elgar and more. That's On Stage, with host Eric Friesen, Sunday night at 8 (9 AT, 9:30 NT) on CBC Radio One. Sunday afternoon at 2 (2:30 NT) on CBC Radio Two. (CBC Hotsheet via DXLD) ** CHILE. Muzak now in on 47.8, 47.83, 47.9, 47.910, 48.3 MHz. All are not parallel. Also some are playing music with English lyrics. Had only been instrumental previously (Jeff Kadet, Macomb, IL, Nov 3 1936 UT, WTFDA via DXLD) Not to rub it in, but 47.910 is now S9 ++ full quieting. The others are in but a lot weaker. (ibid. 2109 UT Nov 3) Same thing here on 47.910 Jeff, @ 3:55 P.M. [2155 UT] (Jerry WW0E, Davenport, Iowa, WTFDA via DXLD) ** CHINA. OPENING CEREMONY OF CHINA'S PARTY CONGRESS TO BE BROADCAST LIVE | Text of report in English by official Chinese news agency Xinhua (New China News Agency); all times local Beijing, 7 November: The opening ceremony of the 16th National Congress of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) will be live broadcast via China's television and radio stations. The party congress will open at 9.00 a.m. Friday [8 November] at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing. Central People's Broadcasting Station will live broadcast the opening ceremony from 8.50 a.m. on Channel 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 and 7. China Central Television Station (CCTV) will beam the ceremony from 8.45 a.m. on Channel 1 to 12. China Radio International will cover the ceremony from 8.55 a.m. in Chinese Standard Chinese and Cantonese, and English, Russian, Spanish, French, Japanese, Korean and Mongolian, among others. In addition, the opening ceremony will also be covered real-time by http://www.xinhuanet.com http://www.people.com.cn and http://www.china.com.cn Source: Xinhua news agency, Beijing, in English 0942 gmt 7 Nov 02 (via BBCM via DXLD) 8:55 am Friday = 0055 UT Friday (gh) ** CHINA. RE: `Ying Lian` can be the words meaning `English practise` (Edwin Lowe, Revesby NSW, Nov ADXN via DXLD) Lian also means a link, to contact, etc., and that seems to make sense: English (language) contact (person or section). (Olle Alm, Sweden, Nov 7, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CONGO DR [non]. CONGO DR 11690 R. Okapi 0602-0630. Program of talk (French) by man and Afro pops. More talk than pops. Frequent mention of "Congo" and "Congolaise" between 0616 and 0619. Rather weak signal with atmospheric noise and fading. SINPO 23222. No parallels heard. First log of this station (Evans, TN, Nov 5, Cumbre DX) On 7 Nov at 0635 heard a strong station on 11690 in French with news about Congo DR and other African countries plus African music. But this station identifies as "Radio Africa International". It is the UMC program via DTK. I think they use this frequency 0600-0800. No chance for Okapi here during that time slot (Jari Savolainen, Kuusankoski, Finland, Cumbre DX via DXLD) ** CUBA. I added the RHC MAILBAG SHOW to the DX/SWL/MEDIA PROGRAMS list. They have been making announcements at the beginning of the program, including some reception reports, some made by Arnie Coro. UT THURSDAY 0140-0150 Havana MAILBOX SHOW NAm 6000 9820 Eu/Med 11705 0340-0350 Havana MAILBOX SHOW NAm 6000 9820 Eu/Med 11705 0540-0550 Havana MAILBOX SHOW NAm 9550 9820 Eu/Med 9830 (Bill Brady, MD, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CUBA [non]. Cuba Free Press, Inc. learned on 05/05/24 [sic] that tethered blimp had been lowered because of the proximity of hurricanes and would not be raised again until the danger of hurricanes passed. This explains the fact that Cuba Free Press`s network of observers inside Cuba, have been not seen not heard TV Martí since 09/05/02. Cuba Free Press, Inc. learned on 09/24/02, that the horizontal angle of transmission of the tethered blimp`s antenna system was only 7 degrees or less than 6.4% of the 110 degree geographical angle that represents the entire island of Cuba from the location of the tethered blimp`s, TV Martí`s TV antenna. Cuba Free Press`s volunteer observers were preparing for the arrival of Hurricane Isadora on 09/20/2002. TV Martí was not heard or seen at any of our observation sites inside Cuba, during these dates. Please note that several volunteers that traveled to Key West, FL, on the morning 09/16/2002, observed the tethered blimp on the surface at TV Martí`s transmitting premises, which may explain why TV Martí has not been seen or heard inside Cuba since 09/05/2002. Courtesy of Cuba Free Press, Inc. (via Oscar, Miami, Nov 7, DXLD) ** EUROPE. Pirate, R. Bandonica, 11469.9, Nov 3 0753-0801* Euro-pops, hip-hop music, IDs, fair (Brian Alexander, PA, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** FRANCE. PARIS PLANS TV NETWORK FOR MUSLIM WORLD http://www.hipakistan.com/en/detail.php?newsId=en13577&F_catID=&f_type =source PARIS, Nov 5: France has decided to concentrate its foreign TV broadcasts on the Islamic world, and rather than set up an entirely new network, it will make use of Euronews, the Lyons- based Pan- European TV service. The Pan-European TV service broadcasts in six languages, notably in the Middle East, Asia and North Africa. The project, which is being developed under the aegis of the French Foreign Affairs Ministry, would allow France to give itself at last its own world broadcast service. France, sources said, needed its own foreign broadcast facility to allow it get its own point of view across, for example, in the recent standoff with the United States over a UN Security Council resolution on a possible attack on Iraq. Indeed, it is the difficulty experienced recently by the French government in getting across its message with regard to the possible US attack against Iraq that prompted authorities at the highest levels to decide to give themselves an international broadcast capability, especially turned towards the Islamic world and the Middle East. At present the Middle East is covered by TV5 Orient, the Francophone channel, whose capacities are relatively modest, especially when compared to the estimated audiences of its rivals: BBC World (222 million households), CNN International (172 million), and Al-Jazira (35 million). As for Euronews, it has a potential audience of 123 million households, which France would like to increase substantially, notably by increasing its broadcasts towards the Middle East and Asia, perhaps in association with TV5, which has estimated that it will need a special budget in excess of 120 million euros (Hi Pakistan Nov 6 via Kim Elliott, DXLD) ** GUATEMALA. Survey from Texas Nov 8: 2360 Radio Maya not heard, 3300 Radio Cultural still off, 3324.8 Radio Maya morning/evenings heard, 3360 Radio LV de Nahuala irregular in evenings, 3380 Radio Chortis untraced last LA-DX log is March. 4052.4 Radio Verdad mornings/evenings heard, 4698 Radio Amistad untraced last LA-DX log is March. 4780 Radio Cultural Coatan morning/evenings heard, 4800 Radio Buenas Buevas morning/evenings heard, 4845 Radio K'ekchi morning/evenings heard, 5955 Radio Cultural irregular in morning/evenings. Stations not heard in years remain unheard here: Radio Tezulutlan 3370/4835, Radio Mam 4825, Union Radio 5980, LV de Guatemala 6180 (Hans Johnson, Rio Hondo TX, Cumbre DX via DXLD) ** HONDURAS Observations: 3250 Radio Luz y Vida noted mornings/evenings but signal seems to be weak. 4819 LV Evangélica untraced, last LA-DX log is June. 4832 Radio Litoral pounds in, used to be a tough catch when they first came on, not any longer. Nov 8 (Hans Johnson, Rio Hondo TX, Cumbre DX via DXLD) ** INDIA. AIR 9950 kHz produces spurious signals AIR Delhi 9950 kHz, 250 kW 1730-2230 UT Hi Glenn, this strong outlet on 9950 towards Europe produces spurs every 50 kHz in the range 9800 to 10200 kHz, 9800, 9850, 9900, 10000, 10050, 10100, 10150, 10200 kHz. This has been traced by many European DXers, lasting at least for a week now. I tried to contact all known AIR e-mail addresses, but all contact failed due of server faults, and over-quota etc. So I asked some Indian private persons to forward the AIR FAULTY REPORT to AIR Technical Department. 73 de wb df5sx - - - - - - Please forward this collision report to: -- AIR Delhi transmitter site. -- and All India R, Director Frequency Assignments. All direct e-mail towards Delhi failed so far. Subject: AIR Delhi 9950 kHz, 250 kW 1730-2230 UT Mon 4th produces four spurious signals nearby. [eight spurs on Tue 5th, Nov, 2002] Dear Sirs, in past week, and also tonight on Nov 4th, the AIR Delhi transmitter of 250 kW on 9950 kHz is accompanied by an output of 4 spurious signals also on 9850, 9900, 10000, and 10050 kHz. Observed also on various places in Central Europe, and featured in the German A-DX Newsgroup. Kind regards, Wolfgang Bueschel DF5SX, Stuttgart Germany. Yesterday, Tue, 5th observed in Germany: AIR 9950 kHz. 9800 disturbed Audio poor 9850 " fair 9900 " well signal "9950" regular S=9 +20 dB 10000 well signal 10050 fair signal 10100 poor 10150 poor 10200 thiny but readable O=1-2 20:15-20.40 UT RX: AR7030 ANT: T2FD (Wolfgang Bueschel, Germany, Nov 6, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** INDIA. Note: AIR External Service is now facing some transmitter problems and so several of their scheduled frequencies are off air currently. ===== 73 (Jose Jacob, VU2JOS, Somajiguda Hyderabad 500082, India, Nov 7, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** INDIA. 6155, AIR Delhi (presumed) 0100-0130 Nov 6. Instead of R. Sarandí del Yí, heard this instead. Devotional type SC vocals for the whole half hour, with only brief talk by YL at 0118. USB + sync required, SINPO 23432. Audible until 0130 sign on by RTE via UK (George Maroti, NY, Cumbre DX via DXLD) ** IRAN. VOIRI English to NAm: they announce 6015 and 6135 at 0030. 6135 is no good due to heavy splash from 6130 VOA. Someone else is on 6015. However, I hear them on unannounced 9580 very well (Bob Thomas, CT, Oct 31, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** IRAQ [non]. IRAN (?) 711, 30 Oct, Iranian ID at 1857 ("djumhuriye islaniye iran"), silence at 1900-1906, then audio appeared again. Broadcast was in Arabic, but not in parallel to other known frequencies of VoIRI Arabic Service (1080, 6025). SIO 333 in peaks. QRM by other Arabic-speaking stations. I observe such a broadcast since 25 Oct, almost every day. (Alexei Kulinchenko, Kazan, Russia, Signal via DXLD) Editor's note: remember an item from Signal No. 64: ...EGYPT and IRAN. 711 kHz: 1852, live talk in Arabic, phone-ins and traditional Arabic mx. ID at 1901, not sure about details, but in my ear it sounded like "Idhaat Shabap-ul Naha min al-Kahira". Well, I turned my ferrite aerial by 90 degrees (to minimize that Egyptian signal), and heard another Arabic voice. It was more traditional, with serious talks and march music. ID "Idhaat-il Ahwal (or Awal ???), Sawt-il Djumhuriyah-til Islamiyah-til Iran" at 1928. Then, after a couple of minutes of silence, music sounded, and a male voice started a hearthly speech, ended by "Sawt-il-Intifadah,... Sawt- il Iraq". Strange frequency of 1406 kHz (or was it my ear's error???) was announced for the first broadcast, while 711 kHz (the right one!) has been given for the second one. ID "Sawt-il Iraq" repeated several times during the broadcast (Dmitry Mezin, Kazan, Russia) (Mauno Ritola, Finland, recently wrote about a mysterious station on 711 kHz in Real DX list, with an ID like "Sawt-ul Iraq at-ta'ar". Henrik Klemetz identified it as The Voice Of Rebbelious Iraq. It's quite possible we all heard the same station, broadcasting from Iranian territory - Ed.) (all: Signal Nov 6 via DXLD) ** ISLE OF MAN. MANX RADIO'S LOSSES "FUTURE HANGING IN THE BALANCE" Manx Radio made a loss of £132,000 in the year to the end of March. http://www.manxradio.com/ The station's annual results will be reported to this month's sitting of Tynwald, when a future broadcasting strategy for the Isle of Man will also be debated. The government financed study, by independent consultants, recommends increased funding for the national broadcaster, which Chairman, Charles Fargher, says must be supported if Manx Radio is to continue in its present role. He is urging members of Tynwald to secure the future of the station, by putting it on a firm financial footing: Manx Radio briefs MHKs. Members of Tynwald have been given a presentation by the Board of Manx Radio, on why the station is in its current difficult financial situation. They were also briefed on why it was considered important for them to support the strategy for the future, outlined in a four hundred thousand pound Tynwald backed review of broadcasting in the Isle of Man. The independent review recommends considerably increased financial support for the government owned operation. A letter to members from Manx Radio's Managing Director, leaked to last Thursday's local paper, made it clear the station suffered considerable losses in the last financial year, and its future was hanging in the balance (via Mike Terry, Nov 7, DXLD) ** ISRAEL. Galei Zahal, 6973.36, Nov 2 0325-0359* Hebrew talk. Local folk music, ballads. Usually signs off around 0300; very good. Heard next night, Nov 3, 0250-0312* with local pops, US Broadway show tunes, US pops, ballads. Also on 15785.64, Nov 2 0414-0430+; signed on around 0410. Local pops, Hebrew talk. Also heard at 1605 check. Weak. Beware of Euro-pirates that operated around this frequency (Brian Alexander, PA, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ITALY [non]. SITE? Due to some internal problems at Radio GAP, they just announced that they had to cancel their scheduled broadcasts on Shortwave this week. Instead, on Nov. 7, Nov 8 and Nov. 9, 2002 Amisnet News Agency will be airing via IRRS-Shortwave on 6280 kHz from 2100-2200 UTC reporting in various languages on the European Global Forum taking place in Florence (Italy). All broadcasts in parallel with http://mp3.nexus.org (Cotroneo, IRRS, Cumbre DX, Nov 6 via WORLD OF RADIO 1155, DXLD) AmisNet special HF Broadcasting from European Social Forum - Florence Italy. The special program will be broadcast 7/8/9 November on 6280 khz (100 kW transmitter from IRRS) at 21.00/22.00 UTC from the European Social Forum - Florence Italy by AmisNet http://www.amisnet.org Please send report to amisnet@amisnet.org Special QSL card will be sent for any report. Wishes, (Andrea Borgnino, Italy, hard-core-dx via DXLD) The event may be in Florence, but the 100 kW transmitter – hardly (gh, DXLD) ITALY [sic]. 6280.20, Amisnet News Agency via IRRS, *2100-2131 7 Nov, Carrier popped on around 2057. M on in EG at 2200 w/ID and Milano Italy addr, phone number, fax number, and ended w/ID "This is I-R-R-S shortwave Milano ??". Then a short period of deadair. Relay began at 2102 w/M in middle of long tlk in poss. IT, although it sounded like SP to 2108. At 2109, switched over to W tlk in SP w/ment of "...politica radio Europea...", camposina, and America. Went into EG at 2112 w/tlk on apparent conflicts throughout the world. Also had a phone interview w/M in EG. Ended the EG segment w/ID "That's all for today. Stay tuned for more news ?? European Global Forum ??". Then went into FR segment. Even though its 100 kw, I was kind of surprised it would come in with a readable signal this early. Was hampered by local buzzing QRM from time to time (Dave Valko, PA, Cumbre DX via DXLD) Sorry but really I don't understand this message of Alfredo Cotroneo, of IRRS, he said no programs will be aired this week, from Radio Gap.....but will be aired programs of AMISTNET NEWS AGENCY (this is the AMARC ORGANISATION in ITALY) so this has nothing to do with Radio Gap, so this will be no direct broadcasts from the meeting but just a "collage" tapes ....filtered ....and controlled.....before to be put over the AIR....surely not the true spirit of the Global Forum Meeting. Concerning the "SITE" matter, the IRRS transmitter is located near TREZZO D'ADDA in the countryside, 30 km east to Milano, so should be better to write "TREZZO D'ADDA" not Milano. The transmitter is remotely controlled by computer system, look like in New Zealand they do with RNZI transmitters (and you don't write WELLINGTON as TX site) .....finally yesterday at 2100-2200 no signals has been traced here in Italy from IRRS, on 6280 kHz. Good listenings, (Dario Monferini, Milano, Nov 7, Cumbre DX via DXLD) ** JORDAN. R. Jordan, 11690, Nov 2 1700-1730* English news, ID. ``Jordan Weekly`` news program. Rap music to sign-off. Stronger than usual over the ever-present RTTY station (Brian Alexander, PA, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Then *1730 Turkey, q.v. Since Oct 25 R Jordan in English at 1400-1730 11690 (Rumen Pankov, Bulgaria, BC-DX Nov 6 via DXLD) ** KASHMIR. Friends, Radio Kashmir, Srinagar is noted with their winter schedule now. The sign on is now at 0120 UTC on 4950 (ex Summer 0025). The special programs for Ramzan from this station are likely to start tomorrow. It was not on this morning. Look out for this month long transmission like last year on 4950 at 2345-0015 (Jose Jacob, VU2JOS, Hyderabad 500082, India, Nov 5, dx_india via WORLD OF RADIO 1155, DXLD) The special Ramazan broadcast from Radio Kashmir, Srinagar started today 7th November 2002 and will continue till December 6, 2002. The timings are 2330-0008 UT on 4950 and 1116 kHz. They sign off at 0008 and the normal transmission starts from 0120 UT. 73 (Jose Jacob, VU2JOS, Somajiguda, Hyderabad 500082, India, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** KENYA. EAST AFRICAN REPORT with Chris Greenway in Nairobi EXPEDITION TO KOMA ROCK One of the radio-related web sites I find impressive is Ludo Maes's Transmitter Documentation Project (TDP) at http://www.tdp.info Among other things, it attempts to list all of the world's known transmitter sites ever used by shortwave broadcasters, with some information going back many decades. The Kenyan section lists four shortwave transmitter sites: Kisumu, Mombasa, Langata and Koma Rock. I know that both Kisumu and Mombasa closed at least 20 years ago (if not much further back), but what about Langata and Koma Rock? The Langata station is relatively familiar to me, being located about seven miles southwest of Nairobi city centre, and just three or four miles from where I work. The TDP listing says that six shortwave transmitters have been installed at Langata at various times over the years (2 x 5 kW, 2 x 10 kW and 2 x 100 kW). I know that at present the station is only used to carry the KBC's Eastern Service on a single frequency (4915 kHz). According to the Kenya Broadcasting Corporation's own web site, this is from a 10 kW unit. If the TDP information is correct, this would be a Marconi transmitter installed at Langata in 1959. And what of the fourth site, Koma Rock? TDP says that one 20kW transmitter and two 250kW senders were installed there (in 1976 and 1984 respectively). I know that the 250 kW units were originally intended for use by a Kenyan external service that in the end never got on the air. But is the Koma Rock site still in existence? This was the question I set out to answer one Sunday back in August. Koma Rock is now a housing estate on the eastern outskirts of Nairobi and so, equipped with map and compass, I headed out there. I had noticed adverts in a local paper promoting the sale of plots of land in Koma Rock, saying they were "adjacent to the KBC", so I was hopeful of finding at least something. In the end, and to cut quite a long story short, I discovered that the KBC site no longer exists. Local residents were able to point me towards roughly where it used to be, and I'm fairly confident that I can now say where it was to within about half-a-mile. But I discovered no remnants of it: no signboards, no buildings and certainly no antenna masts or towers. The area is now in the process of being built up with residential and industrial premises. It seems to have been quite a good choice for a transmitting site: flat, open ground adjacent to a main road. I wonder what happened to the transmitters, in particular those two 250 kW ones? Incidentally, the TDP web site gives the coordinates of the Koma Rock site as 37.09 degrees east, 1.16 degrees south. On my map, that places it well over 20 miles to the east of Nairobi, in fact outside the boundaries of Nairobi Province. My own estimate is that the site is (or, rather, was) at 36.55 east, 1.16 south. That's about seven miles east-northeast of Nairobi city centre. Before I leave the subject of Kenyan shortwave, here's a small piece of good news. The KBC's only remaining shortwave outlet - the Eastern Service on 4915 kHz (from the above-mentioned Langata site) - has extended its schedule. It's on the air Monday-Friday at 0300-0700 and 1300-1910 GMT. In Europe, evening reception during the winter is likely to be marred by co-channel Ghana. However, for early risers (or late-to-bedders) the 0300 sign-on may offer a good chance. Listen for a distinctive flute-and-drum interval signal, followed by the rather mournful Kenyan national anthem. The English phrase "KBC Eastern Service" is used as an ID, even when the announcement is given in an African language. Sunrise in Nairobi varies by only a few minutes either side of 0330 GMT throughout the year, and so the signal is likely to fade out by 0430 GMT or shortly afterwards. Unfortunately, the service doesn't operate at weekends. [this graf: via WORLD OF RADIO 1155] EXPEDITION TO TIMBOROA AND KISUMU On 7th October I attended the official launch of the BBC World Service's FM relay station in western Kenya. My journey there took me on a well-worn route, but one that it is always a joy. Leaving Nairobi (already at 5,500 feet above sea level), I climbed up the escarpment on the eastern side of the Great Rift Valley to over 8,000 feet, before plunging down onto the floor of the valley. Once across the valley it was a climb up the western escarpment until, in time for a picnic lunch, I arrived at Timboroa, 10,000 feet high, just a mile or so north of the equator and the site of the KBC transmitting station which is being used for the BBC relay. The beautiful location of the Timboroa station gives coverage of millions of people living in western Kenya. The station is home to a KBC TV transmitter (10 kW on VHF channel 2), two KBC radio FM transmitters (5 kW each on 88.6 and 91.5) and now the BBC World Service FM relay (3 kW on 88.2). After lunch it was downhill again and by tea time I was in Kenya's third largest city, Kisumu, by the shores of Lake Victoria, where the sultry atmosphere was a contrast to the invigorating highland air I had enjoyed just a few hours earlier. The official launch ceremony of "BBC Kisumu 88.2" was held that evening in the gardens of the British Council. It was a very pleasant occasion, with live link-ups in English and Swahili to the BBC African Service in Bush House, and dancing to a local band. Local dignitaries were joined by the chief guest, the information minister, who spoke warmly of the BBC's role in Kenya (where a third of adults are regular World Service listeners). This is the third BBC WS relay on FM in Kenya (the others serve the Nairobi and Mombasa areas) and the BBC is already planning two more. In neighbouring Uganda, the BBC now says that "almost the whole" of the country can now receive the World Service on FM (Chris Greenway, Kenya, Nov BDXC-UK Communication via DXLD) ** KENYA. From The East African Standard, By Standard Team The Kenya Broadcasting Corporation (KBC) Radio yesterday went off-air for hours triggering a wave of anxiety across the country. The situation was aggravated by the fact that in a move which evoked memories of the 1982 abortive coup, the station did not carry two of its early morning news bulletins. The worrying phenomenon started at midnight and persisted until 8 am. Unconfirmed reports indicated that several parents stopped their children from going to school until the situation became clear. And a statement from the station explained that radio services, including Metro FM, were temporarily off air from between 5 am and 7.45 am owing to a technical hitch. In a signed statement, the KBC Managing Director, Mr Caxton Munyoki, explained that the hitch occurred during the installation of a new switching control gear. "The gear is designed to eliminate persistent failures and functional problems," said Munyoki. He added that the one being replaced was installed in 1960 and had become unreliable. Munyoki said the operation to install the new gear started when the station closed down at midnight and was to continue until 5.00 am when the station was due to resume. He said that a technical problem developed at 5.00 am and frantic investigations started which went on until 7.45 am when the hitch was identified and rectified. Munyoki said the station has embarked on replacing old equipment and the modernisation was successfully carried out for the television studios last year. "KBC management is focused on enhancing its services by replacing all equipment with new reliable ones," he added. He apologised to all the KBC and Metro FM radio listeners throughout the world for the inconvenience as the Kiswahili service is hooked to World Space. Insiders at KBC blamed the hitch on the technicians who did not alert the management to have the Outside Broadcast (OB) facility on stand- by. According to the sources the OB equipment can broadcast throughout the country. Calls inundated the East African Standard switchboard from as early at 6:00 am when the first staffers arrived. Anxious callers sought to find out what was happening fearing that a repeat of the 1982 coup was in the offing. On the morning of the coup, an announcement was made that the Kenya Government had been overthrown after which both Ling'ala and martial music was played interspersed with announcements of the take-over. Ms Helen Njeri, who commutes to Nairobi from Kikuyu, said when she turned on the radio and there was no broadcast, she thought KBC was about to announce a major development about the Government. A caller from Kitale Mr Wycliffe Muluka sought to find out if all was well in Nairobi as KBC had been off air from the time he switched on his radio at 6:00 am. Some of the worried listeners who spoke to the Standard in Kilgoris said they thought something had gone awfully wrong. "I thought the Government had been overthrown or something nasty had happened to the State," said John Gachie, a newspaper vendor in the town. Residents of Kakamega were shocked when they failed to receive KBC and Metro FM radio programmes for nearly three hours which included the news bulletins at 6.00 am and 7.00 am (via Mike Terry, Nov 7, DXLD) ** KOREA NORTH. 19195, domestic service from Pyongyang heard here for some days yet. For instance, noted it 30 Oct at 1021-1151 and later, in Korean, with standard content: speeches and patriotic music. SIO 353. Compared it with Pyongyang external services (9335 and 9345), no parallel at all (Alexei Kulinchenko, Kazan, Russia, Signal Nov 6 via DXLD) ?? unseems harmonic ** KOREA NORTH. D.P.R. Starting Nov 4 V of Korea Pyongyang switched to winter schedule. 0000-0400 6520, 7580 (x13760, 15180), En at 0100. 9325, 11335 (x11845, 15230); En at 0300. 0700-1300 6520 (x9650). 0700-0950 6575, 11335 (x11735, 15245). 1000-1350 and 1300-1450 9850 (x13650), En at 1000. 1300-1750 and 1800-2350 7505, 11335 (x13760, 15245), En at 1300, 1500, 1900, 2100. 1800-2050 6520, 9660 (x9640, 11710). 2100-2400 6520 (x9650). (Rumen Pankov, Bulgaria, BC-DX Nov 4 via DXLD) ** KURDISTAN [non]. Hi Glenn, For the last three mornings (11/5 - 7/02) I have been listening to 11530 khz between 1325 - 1445 +. On 11/5/02 I heard a clear ID for Dengi Mesopotamia ("Voice of Mesopotamia") in Kurdish. SINPO 34333 with signal deteriorating after 1447. Presumably Kurdish music, ID (1407) Mixture of music and call in for remainder of the hour until sign off at 1507. I presume the language was (presumably) Kurdish. The same programming has been on each day, with Arabic from as early as 1325, switching to (presumably) Kurdish at 1400. This is the previous frequency and a shorter schedule from A 02. There were tests noted in DXLD 165, at 1700 UT on 12115 reported by Anker Petersen and BBC monitoring, so there may be two broadcasts or a return to the previous schedule? (Mark Taylor, Madison WI, Nov 6, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** KYRGYZSTAN [and non]. Just got back today (after some delays in Halifax due to 10" of heavy wet snow and high winds) from 5 days of DX'ing in Cappahayden, Newfoundland. Fellow DX'ers on this trip were Jim Renfrew, Rochester, NY, Neil Kazaross of Chicago and our usual ringleader Jean Burnell, now living in Halifax, Nova Scotia. As Jean has recently moved to Halifax, it is possible that this may be our last visit to our usual site. I will have a more detailed log report in about a sesquiweek as I am on a plane again tomorrow to northern China for week (with radio packed of course!), but I wanted to get a few of these logs out. While MW conditions were so-so, SW was generally quite good. We heard, by my count, 15 SW Europirates and numerous UnID Dutch, Greek and Serbian pirates in the 1600-1700 band. Tibet on 4820, 4920, 5240 and 5935 was so strong around 2300 that we could take the headphones off to listen to the local ID's. English news on Kyrgyzstan at 0024 on 4010 was SINPO 44444! Generally reception around 0000 to Central and South Asia was excellent - one of the few stations that we didn't hear though, was Bhutan on 6035. Turkmenistan on 5015, Tadjik on 4635, Kyrgyz on 4795 were all heard well. Quetta, Pakistan on 5027 at *0047 was also a first for me (John Fisher, Kingston, Ontario, Nov 7, ODXA via DXLD) ** LAOS [non]. CLANDESTINE from CIS to ASIA 12070 (Presumed) Hmong Lao Radio 0056 Nov 8 with test tones, 0058 with open carrier. 0100 long flute tones, sort of an IS, and then talk by man in presumed Hmong. One female vocal song after he talked just for a bit and then had him speaking again. Fair signal on a clear channel (Hans Johnson, Rio Hondo TX, Cumbre DX via DXLD) ** LIBERIA. 5470. RADIO VERITAS. Monrovia, Liberia 2210-2301* Nov. 2 Nuevamente escuchada esta emisora con ritmicos temas africanos, el locutor habla cuando aún suenan los temasn musicales lo que hace dificil entender lo que dice pero envia saludos a oyentes. "...This is Radio Veritas from Monrovia for the all people..." En noviembre 3, escuchada con bajo audio y solo audible los temas musicales (Rafael Rodríguez, Colombia, Conexión Digital via DXLD) ** MAURITANIA. At 10:10 p.m. EST on 6 NOV (0310 UTC: 7 NOV), Mauritania-783 is absolutely blasting in here with Koranic chanting. It's at least 10-15 dB better than the CFDR/WBBM/R. Coro mélange on adjacent 780. Ramadan has started and many stations in the Islamic world will be on extended schedules (Mark Connelly, WA1ION, Billerica, MA 25 km / 15 miles NW of Boston, NRC-AM via DXLD) 783, R. Mauritanie, Nouakchott NOV 6 0116-0120 - Loud and clear in peak with discussion between two men in Arabic parallel to 4845 kHz. On late undoubtedly for Ramadan holy month which began this date. [Marc DeLorenzo, MA, NRC International DX Digest via DXLD] ** MEXICO. Spent several hours trying to track down the schedule of XERMX, no luck. Their web page schedule is April 2002 October 2002. I did make a tape the week before October 27th. I reviewed the tape which, although very noisy, allowed me to know that it was not a DX program, but a political interview show. I did not log the recording, likely because it was so noisy, but it was in one of the time/day slots on the old DXPGMS list. So they were not following the schedule even then. I found a number of logs on the web, but none were newer than 1999 (Bill Brady, MD, Nov 7, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** MONGOLIA. 29/10, 2305, 4865 kHz, Mongolian Radio resumed its domestic service broadcasts on this frequency. Three LW parallels found: 164, 209, and 227 kHz (Feodor Brazhnikov, Irkutsk, Russia, Signal via DXLD) I noted a broadcast on this frequency back on 24 April. Frequency value was floating from nominal. I confirm that Khekh Tenger (2nd domestic program in Mongolia) transmits news in Russian every day (at least in week-days) at 0002- 0012. SW frequency is 4850 kHz (Vladimir Kovalenko, Tomsk, Russia, Signal via DXLD) Mentioned LW frequencies belong to the old distribution pattern. A misprint, or they really did not move to 9 kHz multiples? (Alexander Yegorov, Kyiv, Ukraine, Signal via DXLD) ** MOROCCO. Radio Medi 1 is a favourite of mine. I like the mix of exotic Middle Eastern music and Western, mostly French pop music. I`ve heard it on SW and via the internet --- in fact I`m listening to it as I type this. I suppose I like the variety, the unique mix of cultures. Give it a listen via radio (9575 kHz in our afternoons [or 9595] or the computer and see if you don1`t agree (Fred Waterer, Ont., Programming Matters, Oct ODXA Listening In via DXLD) ** NICARAGUA. 5770.00-USB, R Miskut, Puerto Cabezas, 0012 Nov 7, SS OM talks like news, weak to fair (Giampaolo Galassi, Italy, NRD 515 Eska mod 60m LW, Cumbredx mailing list via DXLD) 5770, Radio Miskut (Presumed) Thanks Cumbre DX tip. Checked at 2355 to a weak signal that rapidly got better. Tons of interference though and a tough catch without any ID. Needs more work, but nice to hear them again. Seemed to sign off around 0100. Nov 7/8 (Hans Johnson, Rio Hondo TX, Cumbre DX via DXLD) ** OKLAHOMA [non]. PUBLIC RADIO TO DEDICATE SITE Web posted Wednesday, November 6, 2002 4:09 a.m. CT PERRYTON - High Plains Public Radio will conduct a dedication ceremony of its KTOT Transmitter site outside Perryton on Saturday, according to a news release. Those interested can visit the transmitter site on Ochiltree County Road 3 from noon to 3 p.m. Staff from High Plains Public Radio will be there to give a tour and to answer questions. An informal social will be from 3-5:30 p.m. at the Museum of the Plains, 1200 N. Main St. in Perryton, with a live on-air dedication ceremony at 3:30 p.m. The Top O' Texas Public Radio Project received authorization from the Federal Communications Commission to build the 1,000-foot tower southwest of Perryton earlier this year. Thanks to the new transmitter, High Plains Public Radio, based in Garden City, Kan., now reaches people in Carson, Gray, Hansford, Hemphill, Hutchinson, Lipscomb, Roberts and Ochiltree counties. [not to mention several OK counties!] To get to the transmitter site from Perryton, go south on Highway 70 to Farm-to-Market Road 281, make a right and go 13 miles west. Go south on County Road 3 for 1 miles. Park on the side of the county road and walk to the tower. The directions are the same from Pampa, except that visitors need to go north on Highway 70 and turn left on FM 281, which is still west. For more information, call High Plains Public Radio at (800) 678-7444. (Amarillo Globe-News via Artie Bigley, DXLD) WTFK?! 89.5 ** PAKISTAN. I have received a printed schedule from Pakistan today which indicates home services via Islamabad as follows: API-2: 5915 0045-0215. 9645 0600-1115 [includes English news at 0800-0803 and 1100-1104. I guess this is also what is heard on 21465 & 17835 also]. 6065 Balti News 1350-1400 & Sheena News 1420-1428. 5965 1615-1700 [Islamabad Programme (Aaina)]. API-4: 7105 Current Affairs 0200-0400 & 1300-1800 External Services continues to use high power API-6 on 21460 [0500- 0700] and 21465 [0800-1104]. (Noel R. Green-UK, BC-DX Nov 5 via Cumbre DX via DXLD) ** PERU. Willkamayu: "río sagrado", nombre original del Río Urubamba o Vilcanota. Extraido de http://www.agnostica.com.ar/incasvoca.htm ===== (Arnaldo Slaen, Conexión Digital via DXLD) ** PERU. Dear friend! Last weekend was great for DXing here on the Chilean Pacific coast: New */Radio San Isidro/*, Celendín, Department of Cajamarca, Peru. It replaced Radio Cosmos. 4627 kHz, 1.11.2002, 0100-0300 UT when signal off. Good signal SINPO 33343. Local music and constant station identification in Spanish. Best regards from (Carlos Maldonado, Página: http://www.maldonado.de.vu Santiago, CHILE via Mark Mohrmann, WORLD OF RADIO 1155, DXLD) ** PERU. 5940.1 (Presumed). Radio Bethel: flirted with this twice today, but just couldn't catch an ID. During the 1000 hour with short Spanish Christian talk by man and a lot of easy music. Fair signal but channel is a mess at this time. 2358 a bit better with same kind of programming, caught a mention of Peru at 0013 but that was as close as I got. Faded a bit by 0033 but still there. Nov 7-8 (Hans Johnson, Rio Hondo TX, Cumbre DX via DXLD) ** ROMANIA. RRI Bucharest in English at 2300: I just about heard them. To Europe, 7195 and 9570. To North America, 9510 and someplace on 11 MHz. Too much splash on all to hear clearly, Oct 31. Finally! Nov 1 clear enough to log RRI at 2300, English to WEu on 7195 fair here, and 9570 poor due to co-channel. To NAm 9510 quite good today; some 9505 or CCI 9510; and 11940, splash by 11945 makes it very poor; also low modulation. It`s mostly 9505 interference. Next English to NAm is at 0200. Audio too distorted to hear frequencies. One was middle of 9 MHz and other in 11 MHz area. I`ll have to keep listening. Reception has been dismal on a few I`ve been trying to double check: Romania, RFI, Ukraine (Bob Thomas, CT Nov 2, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ROMANIA. Romanian local radio station Radio Moldova from the city Iasi had returned to its former name Radio Iasi (phonetic: 'yash'). radio Iasi broadcasts now 0355-2000 on 1053 kHz. ID "Aici Radio Iasi, Romania". A relay of Radio Moldova 1st programme from the neighbour Republic of Moldova at 2100-2200 (Mo-Fr) is canceled. So, no more misunderstandings between the listeners with two Radio Moldova's. (Robertas Petraitis, Lithuania in an email (6/11-2002), Ydun`s MW News via DXLD) ** RUSSIA. I hear VOR, 0200 English to NAm on 9765; and 7180 is good through 0400 (Bob Thomas, CT, Nov 2, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** RUSSIA. 29/10, at about 0900, heard Radio Rossii on 5940 and 7320 kHz. It meant that SW transmitters in Magadan oblast are still active. Do they still have local broadcasts in SW, I wonder? At 0910 caught Blagoveshchensk on 6060 kHz, the very beginning of a local broadcast. Radio Rossii was heard at that time with a very strong signal on 6085 kHz. Where does it come from? (Feodor Brazhnikov, Irkutsk, Russia, Signal via DXLD) HFCC B02 table suggests Krasnoyarsk: KRS 6085 50kW 350gr 2200-1800 RRS (Bernd Trutenau, Lithuania, Signal via DXLD) This is Krasnoyarsk. 6085 kHz replaced its former 5290 kHz. In the morning local studio programs (Tsentr Rossii) are heard (Vladimir Kovalenko, Tomsk, Russia, Signal via DXLD) It's sad to read that Krasnoyarsk has moved off 5290 - that was one of my winter frequencies to monitor. I could hear the station during the daytime, with no fade out, at times. There's one BIG station on 6085 here - but, if it really does go off then I can look forward to hearing Krasnoyarsk again! Maybe the Russians think 4 MHz is too low - the problem is that 6 MHz is very full. And BTW, 5290 is allocated on an experimental basis to amateurs in the UK. I haven`t noted any using it yet, but have heard them using other freqs in the 5400 range (Noel R. Green, UK, BC-DX Nov 2 via DXLD) This morning I was finally able to confirm Magadan on 5940-7320-9530. Reception of these three has been poor here for some time, with no propagation along the northern path despite reasonably good signals from Yakutsk on 7200-7345. What I have been hearing later in the day in the noise on 5935 and 6150 is the University Network. When 6150 comes to life again in the afternoon it's from Singapore, which is quite strong when it reaches full propagation. So far it seems that there is no Yakutsk on 6150. Regards (Olle Alm, Sweden, Nov 7, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** SAINT KITTS & NEVIS. Hi, Glenn, As a follow-up to the ZIZ Radio, Saint Kitts, entry on this DXLD 2-168; ZIZ has a new website at: http://www.zizonline.com/ Nice site with streaming media and all... 73 de (Pentti Lintujärvi, Helsinki, Finland Webmaster of 1000 Lakes DX Page http://www.geocities.com/Colosseum/Park/3232/dx.htm DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** SAO TOME. 4960 kHz. 2 Nov. VOA in English. 0350-0405. SIO=453. By the way, sometimes people at relay base forget to change this frequency to 4950 for evening broadcasts, so they continue on 4960, confusing the listeners (Vladimir Doroshenko, Dneprodzerzhinsk, Ukraine, Signal via DXLD) ** SPAIN. REE has only one English transmission to NAm, at 0000 on 6055. Others all in Spanish 0100-0600 (Bob Thomas, CT, Oct 31, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** TAJIKISTAN. PICTURE BULLETIN OF TAJIK RADIO IN DARI 1400 GMT 6 NOV 02 1. 1400 gmt This is the capital of the Republic of Tajikistan, Dushanbe. Greetings. Tajikistan's Radio in Dari begins its first programme at 1830 Kabul time (1400-1500 gmt) everyday. It broadcasts on short-wave 7245 kHz, medium waves 262-462 meter equivalent to 1143- 648 kHz, on 41 meters bands. It lasts one hour. The programme is repeated at 0530-0630 (0100-0200 gmt) in the morning the next day. 2. 1402 gmt Details of the programmes: News, reportage, commentary and interview with an Afghan commander, Mohammad Daud, on the situation in Afghanistan. 3. 1403 gmt Tajikistan's domestic news. 4. 1409 gmt Foreign news: Iran, Russia and Israel. 5. 1412 gmt Tajik song. 6. 1416 gmt Report on the trip of Moldavian president to Tajikistan. 7. 1423 gmt Music 8. 1427 gmt Commentary on Tajikistan's Constitution Day. (Reception poor) 9. 1436 gmt Music (Reception poor) 10. 1440 gmt Interview with an Afghan commander in the northeast of the country, Mohammad Daud, regarding the security situation, the presence of the US forces and reconstruction in Afghanistan. (Reception partly poor, duration 10 minutes) 11. 1450 gmt Afghan and Tajik songs. 12. 1500 gmt End of bulletin. Source: Radio Tajikistan external service, Dushanbe, in Dari 1400 gmt 6 Nov 02 (via BBCM via DXLD) Picture bulletin? Reads like a DX reception report to me. :-) Do they QSL? (gh, DXLD) ** TANZANIA. Radio Tanzania has reactivated the use of 7280 kHz. Unfortunately, transmissions on that frequency continue to be erratic, and it seems only to be scheduled for usage at approximately 0700-1300 GMT, restricting propagation to the region. The parallel 5050 kHz continues to be used at 0200-2100 GMT. Regards from Nairobi (Chris Greenway, Kenya, Nov BDXC-UK Communication via WORLD OF RADIO 1155, DXLD) ** TURKEY. V. of Turkey, *1730-1754* Nov 2. Spanish with news and talk, local music. Poor, mixing with RTTY station (Brian Alexander, PA, DX LISTENING DIGEST) And conveniently after Jordan 1730*, q.v. ** TURKMENISTAN. Turkmen R., 4930, Nov 2 0103-0215+, tentative. Tune- in to choral anthem and into talk in language. Middle-East type vocal sand instrumentals. Weak but in the clear. Reduced carrier USB. Not listed in PWBR [``2003``?]. But is in the WRTH and TBL (Brian Alexander, PA, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** UGANDA. Radio Uganda, whose 60-metre signals had long been regarded as "beacons" in Europe during the evening, has become unreliable on shortwave. In addition to frequent breakdowns, the transmitter for the Red Channel (4976 kHz in the early morning and evening, 7195 during the daytime) is regularly noted with lower power and poorer quality audio when compared to the Blue Channel transmitter on 5026/7110. (Chris Greenway, Kenya, Nov BDXC-UK Communication via WORLD OF RADIO 1155, DXLD) ** U K. BBC CUTS JOBS AND COSTS IN £200M SHORTFALL Ian Griffiths, Thursday November 7, 2002, The Guardian The BBC is being forced to cut costs and lay off staff because of a £200m budget shortfall. News and current affairs programmes are expected to bear the brunt of job losses, but the BBC's board of management has ordered a clampdown on costs across the corporation. Some departments have already been told to impose recruitment freezes. However, big-spending departments are also being forced to introduce job cuts. News and current affairs executives have been told that a recruitment drive planned for the World and 24 hour services must be reversed. Greg Dyke, the BBC's director general, believes that staffing levels are too high and must be reduced to a sustainable long term level. An email is already circulating among news staff calling for voluntary redundancies, the first time that such cuts have been sought for at least two years. One source claimed that even more radical action is being considered. Compulsory redundancies are not being ruled out. The shortfall in the news division is understood to be around £15m. One source said: "Basically, if we were to do everything that we want to do next year, we'd have to find an extra £15m." The source said there were three ways of meeting the shortfall: an increase in the budget from central funds, re dundancies, or a rethink of priorities. The projected shortfall comes on top of an existing overspend in the news budget from the past year, following events such as the September 11 attacks, the war on terrorism, and the Bali nightclub bombing. A BBC spokesman claimed that details of the budgeting problems were being twisted and that the cuts now being sought "were in no way radical". He said the focus was sim ply on efficiency gains, which would be ploughed back in to better programming, adding that the BBC was meeting the government's value-for-money demands. The £200m mismatch in the corporation's finances arises from an arcane BBC accounting privilege which allows it to borrow centrally against the BBC's assets. This cash has been used historically to smooth out budgetary peaks and troughs between one accounting period and the next. In the year ending March 31 2002 the BBC's income was £3.4bn but its costs ran to £3.5bn. Once other items such as tax and interest have been accounted for, the BBC had a deficit of £15.9m for the year. In 2001 that was a surplus of £75.5m. However, close examination has revealed a significant projected overspend over the next two years. Departmental heads have been told that in the current year, ending in March 2003, they will not be allowed to roll over any budget underspend. In the past, a department which has not spent its full budget in the financial year has been permitted to carry the excess forward. Because of spending patterns, millions of pounds can be at stake. BBC insiders are also suggesting that underspending departments will suffer a double penalty. Not only will they lose their budget carry forward, but their 2003-04 budget will be set using the actual spending in the current year as as a base. The BBC is in the second year of a seven-year budgetary plan. However, the analysis of programmes commissioned for years three and four has revealed that the corporation has overspent significantly. The corporation is under pressure to keep its financial house in order. Its objectives for the current year state that it must improve "efficiency in programme production whilst maintaining quality of output". Guardian Unlimited © Guardian Newspapers Limited 2002 (via Mike Cooper, DXLD) ** U S A. VOA LAUNCHES RADIO CALL-IN TO AFRICA ON HEALTH Washington, D.C., Nov. 5, 2002 – The Voice of America’s English to Africa Service today launched a new weekly call-in show on health issues. The 30-minute show, Housecall, builds on that service’s distinguished efforts to promote better health conditions in Africa. Hosted by veteran VOA broadcaster Ashenafi Abedje, Housecall includes as its guests medical doctors and experts who answer listener questions about health issues. Today’s discussion focused on the response of African countries to AIDS. "Many countries in Africa are facing increasing difficulties meeting the health needs of their populations, particularly as their resources are strained by the overwhelming impact of the AIDS pandemic," said VOA Director David Jackson, announcing the start of the new program. Broadcast every Tuesday at 1900 UT, Housecall also will be available on-demand at http://voanews.com/englishtoafrica VOA English to Africa broadcasts 30 hours of targeted programming a week to Anglophone Africa through shortwave, Internet, and a growing list of more than 40 affiliates. These include 24-hour FM stations in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso (102.4 FM); Nairobi, Kenya (107.5 FM); Kigali, Rwanda (104.3 FM); and Freetown, Sierra Leone (102.4 FM). (VOA press release Nov 5 via WORLD OF RADIO 1155, DXLD) ** U S A. Hi Glenn, re DXLD 2-173 USA [non] item of AFN Sicily on 10320. I think this frequency is used by Hawaii. 73 (Jari Savolainen, Kuusankoski, Finland, Nov 6, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A [and non]. RFA schedule in B-02, valid til March 30, 2003. RFA currently broadcasts from 1100-0700; there are no transmissions between 0700 and 1100. Daily programming includes Mandarin for 12 hours, Cantonese for two hours, Uighur for two hours, and Tibetan for eight hours. RFA uses IBB txs in HOL=Holzkirchen Germany, IRA=Iranawila Sri Lanka, SAI=Saipan & TIN=Tinian NoMariana Isls. And Merlin relays TWN=Taiwan and UAE=Al Dhabayya-UAE. Additional transmitter sites have been researched but deleted from this list upon request of RFA to suppress this info, to avoid pressure from China upon the host countries. Are we to assume that China has no way to find out this sensitive info except through DX publications? [gh] RFA B-02 updated schedule of November 6th. 0000-0100 LAO 11830I 13830 15545T 0030-0130 BURMESE 11535 11570 13710S 13815I 15155T 0100-0300 TIBETAN 7470 7560 9570H 11695UAE 15220T 17730 0100-0200 UIGHUR 7485 9365 9580UAE 9690UAE 15270T 17570T 0300-0600 MANDARIN 13625T 13760T 15150T 15665T 17495 17525 17615S 17880S 21540T 0600-0700 MANDARIN 13625T 13760T 15150T 15665T 17495 17525 17615S 17880S 0600-0700 TIBETAN 17515 17540 17720 21570T 21715UAE break 1100-1400 TIBETAN 7470 9365 11540 13625T 15435UAE 15185H-(from 1200) 1100-1200 LAO 9355S 9775T 15555I 15680 1230-1330 CAMBODIAN 11510 13725I 15395T 1300-1400 BURMESE 7550 9355 11795T 12105I 15250T 1400-1500 CANTONESE 9825S 11950T 15255T 1400-1500 VIETNAMESE 9365 9455S 9920Y 9930W 11535 11605N 11760T 13635P 13660I 15470T 21625I 1400-1500 KOREAN 5855 7475 12000T 13790T 1500-1600 TIBETAN 7470 7495 9920 15385UAE 1500-1600 MANDARIN 7540 9905P 11945T 13625T 13670T 13745T 15510T 17565T 1600-1700 UIGHUR 7515 7530 9865UAE 11720T 13725I 1600-1700 MANDARIN 7540 9455S-(fr 1630) 9905P 11850T 11945T 13670T 13745T 15510T 17565T 1700-1800 MANDARIN 7540 9455S 9905P 11850T 11945T 13695T 13745T 15510T 17565T 1800-1900 MANDARIN 7455 7540 9355S 9455S 11745S 11790T 11945T 13695T 15510T 17615T 1900-2000 MANDARIN 7455 7540 9355S 9455S 9875P 11745T 11790T 11945T 13625T 13695T 13745T 15510T 2000-2100 MANDARIN 7455 7540 9355S 9455S 9875P 9885T 11900S 11950T 13625T 13745T 15510T 2100-2200 MANDARIN 7540 9455S 9875P 9885T 11900S 11950T 13625T 13745T 15510T 2200-2300 CANTONESE 9570S 9845P 11740T 11785T 2200-2300 KOREAN 7460 9455T 11775S 11905T 2230-2330 CAMBODIAN 7185I 7530 9930P 15485T 2300-2359 MANDARIN 7540 9905P 11785T 11995S 13800T 15430T 15550T 2300-2359 TIBETAN 6010UAE 7415 7470 7550 9875H 2330-0029 VIETNAMESE 7515 9490 9930P 11580 11605N 11670T 13720S 13865I RFA Vietnamese service increased by using additional transmitters in B-02: 1400-1500 from nine to twelve txs in \\ 2330-0029 from seven to eight txs in \\ (various sources, updated on November 6th, 2002, BC-DX via DXLD) ** U S A [and non]. From Morgan Freeman, WJIE Shortwave WJIE International Shortwave Radio Nov 7, 2002 Dear Broadcast Partner, My name is Morgan Freeman and I am one of the many smiling faces and glad hearts here at WJIE International Shortwave. Twenty years ago I was a young sailor in Beirut, Lebanon and I became a born again Christian. I was a radioman and immediately someone said sarcastically ``Now that you`re a Christian what are you going to do?`` As a headstrong young man I responded by saying ``I `m going to start radio stations for the Lord.`` Fifteen years ago I was sitting in church daydreaming when I leaned over to my wife and said ``Honey, you could put a radio station in a container and ship it any where in the world.`` The most awesome thing that I can imagine is that today we are actually doing just that! Today we are able to put a radio station in a shipping container and move it to some far off place like Liberia or Nigeria and have it broadcasting to the masses in a matter of weeks. Just imagine here in Louisville, Kentucky there are dozens of radio stations. In Abuja, Nigeria a city of 3 million there is only one government owned radio station. So on the whole radio dial there is only one station, the government owned station but soon there will be one more and that will be Christian radio! What makes this even more exciting is that one of these FM stations cost about as much as a new Buick and a shortwave station cost about as much as a new home. We right now are placing these radio stations around the world and beating back the wall of Islam with the Gospel of Christ Jesus and its all possible because of you. We partner with ministries like you and air your sermons and radio programs to the world for free and all we ask in return is that you remember us with your prayers and love offerings. You can read about our ministry at http://www.wjiesw.com You can contact me personally at 502-968-1220 ext 30 or by email at morgan@wjie.org . We are looking forward to partnering with you and broadcasting your program to the world (Morgan Freeman, WJIE International Shortwave mailing list Nov 7 via DXLD) ** U S A. WWRB spur, 5015, Nov 3 0255-0310+, weak spur of 5085 with English religious programming (Brian Alexander, PA, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Presumably mixing with 5050 which would also have to be on ** U S A. FEDERAL AGENTS SEIZE FIREARMS ON KOERNKE'S PROPERTY By Amalie Nash, Staff Reporter, Ann Arbor News, 11-7-2 Federal agents seized radio transmission equipment and weapons off the Webster Township property of imprisoned militia leader Mark Koernke on Wednesday. Dexter-Pinckney Road, in front of Koernke's home, was blocked off for hours as agents with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms searched the property, about a mile northwest of downtown Dexter. Koernke, 45, is serving a 3- to 7.5-year prison sentence for assault with a dangerous weapon, resisting police and fleeing from police in Washtenaw County in 2000. He is not eligible for release until March 2004, according to the Michigan Department of Corrections. U.S. marshals went to Koernke's house on an order from the Federal Communications Commission to seize radio equipment, said Chief Deputy U.S. marshal Darrell Williams. The order charged illegal radio transmissions were broadcast from the home, Williams said. In the past, broadcasts on frequency 90.7 FM could be heard within a radius of 1-3.5 miles of the Koernke home, although no legal stations from Washtenaw County had rights to it, according to the FCC. Koernke had a large satellite dish in the rear of his property with 90.7 FM written across it. An official with the FCC in Washington refused comment Wednesday. Koernke used to broadcast a short-wave radio show where he called himself "Mark from Michigan," but officials didn't know if anything was being transmitted from the home with Koernke in prison. Williams said the equipment was seized "without a hitch." But marshals discovered firearms on the premises and contacted the ATF, said ATF Special Agent Vera Fedorak. The ATF got a search warrant, and several weapons and accompanying paperwork were taken by agents, Fedorak said. She said she did not know the number or type of weapons. Susan Derosia, who lives two doors down from the Koernkes, felt it was unnecessary for police to block the street the way they did. "What they found was nothing new," she said. "There's been guns there for years." She says one of Koernke's sons used to hang out at the Derosia's home - until he left some audio tapes there with anti-government, militia messages. Derosia says she handed the tapes over to the police and forbade him from coming over again. Fedorak said federal gun charges could be filed, but it's unclear who would be charged. As a convicted felon, Koernke is prohibited from owning or possessing firearms, but he has been incarcerated for 18 months. He was arrested March 7, 2000, following a lengthy car chase that began after police mistakenly thought he was involved in a bank robbery in Dexter. Staff reporters Liz Cobbs and Peri Stone-Palmquist contributed to this report. (Rense.com via John W. Smith, DXLD) FEDERAL AGENTS RAID MILITIA ACTIVIST'S PROPERTY From http://www.detnow.com/news/0211070701.html Reported by John Klekamp, Web Produced by Christiana Ciolac U.S. Marshals searched the property of Michigan Militia member Mark Koernke. Federal agents got more than they bargained for when they raided the home of local militia activist Mark Koernke. Mark Koernke has been in prison for more than two years. U.S. Marshals were out Wednesday at his Dexter property from reports from a pirate radio operation and when they were out there, they saw something and alerted the ATF. Deputies shut down Dexter-Pinkney Road as authorities searched the property of jailed militia member Mark Koernke. ATF agents said they found weapons, but they would not say how many. "So far we found a large number of guns and a large quantity of ammunition," said ATF Special Agent Gregory Holley. The federal search warrant was executed after U.S. Marshals had entered the home to confiscate a low powered transmitter used for a pirate radio station, 90.7FM. "The local deputies in this area said there isn't much range to it. You can hear it somewhere within the village area which is somewhere within maybe two mile or so, but it's very short," said Washtenaw County Sheriff Daniel Minzey said. All that can be heard on the frequency now is static. Deputies say Koernke the FM station is used to spread his message about the Michigan militia. Koernke is in state prison doing time for a high- speed chase back in March 2000. Authorities say they have had many encounters with Koernke in the past, even though he is behind bars, they are not done with him yet. "We don't want to say it is illegal or legal, but some of these weapons will be going to the lab for determination to see if they are in violation of the federal laws. At that time if it is so, we will file federal charges," said Special Agent Holley. Authorities say Koernke's wife and two sons live at the property in Dexter. It is not clear who owns the weapons or who was running the radio station (via Mike Terry, DXLD) ** U S A. Re DXLD Sept 17+: Brother Stair`s difficulties are well documented. I`ve always found these programs to be fascinating, but I am sickened by preachers to spend more time condemning others for trivial things. I`ve not heard Preacher Otwell yet, but I intend to give him a listen, s well as the woman who follows. I think Mr. Otwell, if the report is correct, should ask himself how many people he will be wining to Christ by going on about another program. Unless it`s all about money. Jimmy Swaggart learned the hard way about what happens when you get busy building empires and knocking down other ministries, that this stuff comes back to bite you. I wonder if Mr Otwell REALLY wants to be known only as that preacher who bashes the woman after him (Fred Waterer, Programming Matters, Oct DX Ontario Listening In via DXLD) ** U S A. WGGP-LP appears to be the first licensed LPFM station to activate in Florida. Lu Vencl e-mailed several photographs he made recently. The station is at 106.7 MHz and located at the First Baptist Church, Big Pine Key. Per Lu, "Coverage is not bad, about eight miles in the car each direction for a stereo signal." Per http://www.100000watts.com, WGGP-LP - 106.7 Format: - ID: Big Pine Key, FL - Facilities: 98' 100 watts L1 - seven mile radius coverage area - Transmitter: 24 40' 45" N 81 21' 55" W. Visit my "Florida Low Power Radio Stations" at: http://home.earthlink.net/~tocobagadx/flortis.html (Terry L. Krueger, FL, Nov 7, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. Re WSNR, DXLD 2-173: I wonder if the running of an orthodox Jewish-oriented radio program in prime time on "Sporting News Radio" (620 kHz, Newark-NYC) points to the end of this sports talk station in metro NY. They're up against the big chains Infinity-CBS (WFAN, 660) and Disney-ESPN (WEVD, 1050 - Disney purchased this from Forward.com after leasing it for a year. They seem to have kept the call letters. Eugene V. Debs and Abraham Cahan may well be rolling in their graves.) The previous station for Nachum Siegel, WNWS, 1430, Newark, doesn't have a good signal in much of the NYC area. I once tried to receive it in a nursing home just west of the 1964 World's Fair grounds, on a little Aiwa mini-boom-box with digital readout and had no luck. An overnight show of old oldies (1940's and before) is broadcast in parallel on co-owned WPAT (930 Paterson) There are large orthodox Jewish communities within 1-3 km of this nursing home so it isn't a good station for such a program. (Joel Rubin, Queens, swprograms via DXLD) ** U S A. Friday, November 8, 2002 - KTNS-1060, Oakhurst, CA will conduct a DX test from 9:00pm-10:00pm PST (12:00 am-1:00 am EST). The test will consist of "Music of your life" and Morse code IDs. The test will be run at KTNS's full daytime power of 5000 watts and a non- directional antenna pattern will be used. Reception reports may be sent to: Mr. Larry W. Gamble Email: General Manager mtkaat@sierratel.com KTNS-AM 40356 Oak Park Way Oakhurst, CA 93644 (Arranged by Lynn Hollerman for the IRCA CPC.) (IRCA Soft DX Monitor via DXLD) ** U S A. INDIAN TALKERS HONORED FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION HONORS WORLD WAR II COMANCHE CODE TALKERS Featured Guest: Charles Chibitty, Last Surviving Comanche Code Talker Washington, DC -- Today, the Comanche Code Talkers, members of a specialized communications unit of the U. S. 4th Signal Corps which served in World War II, were honored by the Federal Communications their meritorious service utilizing their ancestral Comanche language to create use an "unbreakable code" on the battlefields of the Europe. In a special program, held today in observance of National American Indian Heritage Month, Mr. Charles Chibitty of Tulsa, Oklahoma, a decorated veteran and the last surviving member of the Comanche Code talkers, was the FCC's guest of honor. The Comanche code enabled the United States Army to communicate effectively at all levels of command as it advanced in the Allied liberation of Europe in 1944 and 1945. As American troops fought their way across France, Luxembourg and even into Nazi Germany, the Code Talkers' efforts saved lives in battle and helped secure the freedom of the Allied countries and the rest of the world. Mr. Chibitty shared how he and 16 other young men, who had grown up together and were all members of the Comanche Tribe of Oklahoma, used the Comanche language and their Army-trained communications skills to create a military intelligence code that was never broken by the enemy. He shared anecdotes from their enlistment and training, when they created Comanche code words for "bomber" and "tank" — words that did not exist in the Comanche language. Mr. Chibitty also explained how he and his fellow Code Talkers their code in general combat missions. The FCC program highlighted the significant contributions to our nation's liberties not only of the Comanche Code Talkers, but also those of soldiers of other tribes, including Navajo, Choctaw and Sioux, who served in similar Code Talker units in World War II. American Indian Code Talkers and their languages proved precious to the United States war effort in an era well before modern code encryption techniques. FCC Chairman Michael K. Powell stated that, "Time and again the strength of our Nation is demonstrated when many diverse cultures come together as one. In addition, at important times in our history, a group has stepped forward to utilize their unique cultural background to make a special contribution to the well-being of our country, and this was particularly true in the case of the Comanche Code Talkers during World War II." Powell also stressed the significance of the FCC's recently launched Indian Telecommunications Initiatives, designed to increase access to telecommunications services in Indian Country. - FCC (via Bill Hale, TX, NRC-AM via DXLD) ** U S A. 'Late Show' Tampa Bay -- This is to be aired in the Tampa Bay area as well, useless though it will be. (Terry Krueger) 'Late Show' coming to radio Starting next week, David Letterman fans won't have to rush to their televisions to hear the night's Top Ten list. Fifteen of Infinity Broadcasting's radio stations -- including Tampa's WYUU-FM 92.5 -- will simulcast Letterman's CBS Late Show each weeknight at 11:35 p.m., beginning Monday. Infinity, like CBS, is owned by Viacom. "We feel this is a great opportunity for David Letterman's millions of fans to listen to the show while they're driving in their cars or away from their homes," said John Sykes, chairman of Infinity Broadcasting. © St. Petersburg Times published November 6, 2002 (via Terry Krueger, FL, DXLD) ** U S A. LETTERMAN'S 'LATE SHOW' WILL BE ON RADIO, TOO November 4, 2002, By BILL CARTER One week from tonight, David Letterman's show is moving to radio. Not exclusively, of course. Mr. Letterman's hour-long "Late Show" will still run on CBS every weeknight. But if people happen to be in their cars, beginning at 11:35 p.m. in 15 of the country's biggest cites, they will be able to listen to Mr. Letterman reading his nightly Top 10 list, among other things. [0435 UT Tue-Sat in ET, CT zones, 0535 UT in MT zone if any, 0735 UT in PT zone. And I believe show is 62 minutes long! Not 60 -- gh] In the latest example of a synergistic crossover of two units of the same company - in this case, the Infinity radio stations and the CBS television network of Viacom - Mr. Letterman's show will be simulcast in most of the nation's biggest cities, including New York, Chicago, Los Angeles and San Francisco. In New York, Mr. Letterman's show will play on WNEW-FM. "Late Show" will become the second CBS broadcast to be simulcast on radio. For six years, a group of CBS stations has carried "60 Minutes" on radio on Sunday nights. The Letterman show will not be changed at all for radio - even skits that need to be seen to be truly enjoyed, like "Stupid Pet Tricks." Only the commercials will be different. The radio stations will substitute their own ads for those running on television. John Sykes, the chairman of Infinity Broadcasting, said he had been looking to enhance the programming for the Infinity station lineup when he came up with the idea one night in August. "I always watch Letterman," Mr. Sykes said. "This night I was in another room and Dave was interviewing Al Pacino. I was just listening, and I thought to myself that Dave would be great on radio." Both Leslie Moonves, the president of CBS Television, and Rob Burnett, the head of Mr. Letterman's production company, [WORLDWIDE PANTS] liked Mr. Sykes's suggestion, and agreed to a six-month trial run for the simulcast. Mr. Burnett ran the idea past Mr. Letterman, who approved with one condition. "He was adamant about one thing," Mr. Burnett said. "He insisted that they not change the show in any way, no editing, and they couldn't use it more than once." Nor did the Letterman show demand a fee for the simulcast. Instead, the Infinity stations that carry the show have agreed to expand greatly the total of promotional announcements about Mr. Letterman's show they will broadcast every day. Mr. Letterman has complained about the dearth of promotion his show gets elsewhere in the Viacom empire, and CBS promised earlier this year to fix that situation as part of its deal to keep him from moving to ABC. "We're in this for the promotion," said Mr. Burnett, who estimated the value of the promotion at several million dollars. Infinity owns 183 stations and reaches more than 70 million listeners, with most of its stations concentrated in the largest cities. In New York, for example, Infinity has six stations. Mr. Sykes said he offered the Letterman show to a wide range of Infinity stations. "Whoever signed up first got the show," he said. He added that he hoped to expand the locations beyond the first 15 cities if the experiment is a success. Mr. Sykes acknowledged that some of the content of Mr. Letterman's show might not transfer well to radio, like his regular segment "Stupid Pet Tricks," in which animals perform stunts. But he said, "for the most part his show consists of comedy, conversation and music, and all of that will work well on radio." Oddly, Mr. Burnett said he had actually heard Mr. Letterman's show on radio once himself. Driving through North Carolina on vacation eight years ago, he said, the signal from a television broadcast somehow got crossed with the radio station he was listening to. "It was strange, but I thought it worked really well on radio," Mr. Burnett said, because of Mr. Letterman's verbal dexterity. Mr. Letterman, he added, was unlikely to do anything differently because his show will now be simulcast, other than possibly mentioning it on the air occasionally. "We don't see a downside," Mr. Burnett said. "It's not like people are suddenly going to start running off to their garage so they can listen to the show on radio rather than watch it on television." http://www.nytimes.com/2002/11/04/business/media/04LETT.html?ex=1037616858&ei=1&en=58facafa49fb331a Copyright 2002 The New York Times Company (via Bill Westenhaver, DXLD) ** U S A. How many of you have TV's that display XDS data? I've been looking around here and quite a few are using it in the Wash/Baltimore area. WMAR-2: shows program name WRC-4: shows program name WTTG-5: shows "Fox" and program name WUSA-9: shows "NET 1" and program name WBAL-11: shows program name WJZ-13: shows "NET 1" and program name WFDC-14: shows program name WDCA-20: shows "WDCA" and program name WMPT-22: shows "WMPB" (Maryland Public Broadcasting) WUTB-24: shows program name WETA-26: shows "WETA" WBFF-45: shows "Fox" and program name WBDC-50: shows "WBDC" and program name (or "WB" or "CVC") WNUV-54: shows "WNUV" and program name (or "WB" or "CVC") WMPB-67: shows "WMPB" Richmond has similar situation. Am waiting on a good enhancement to see if the Norfolk area stations use it much. Virginia PTV uses it on its network (WVPT-51 Staunton and all translators show "WVPT"). Maybe we can start a letter-writing campaign to get more stations to show their callsigns? Cheers, (Tim McVey, Nov 5, WTFDA via DXLD) ** URUGUAY. El 6 de noviembre se cumplen 80 años de la radiotelefonia en Uruguay, con la salida al aire de Radio Paradizábal. Esta fue la primera emisión comercial de radio. Una cronologia y algunas fotos se han puesto en el sitio del museo de la radio y las comunicaciones: http://angelfire.com/retro/cx8cc/cronol19201923.htm En la direccion http://cx8cc.cjb.net tambien se puede acceder a la pagina principal. Se incluye un enlace a los primeros "speakers" uruguayos, si buscan a la derecha de la pagina principal. (Horacio Nigro, Uruguay, Nov 5, Conexión Digital via DXLD) ** UZBEKISTAN. Radio Tashkent noted here in Melbourne on new 5885, with Farsi 1830, Arabic 1900, as at Nov-7. This new channel may be a change from 5975, as inaudible there. Actually, not audible on any of the listed B-02 freqs 6025 7105 7285 or 9540 as all those channels occupied by other broadcasters! Good listening to Tashkent! (Bob Padula, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** VENEZUELA. Saludos Colegas diexistas, espero que todos se encuentren muy bien. La siguiente información se corrió ayer como polvora y hoy aparece reseñada en los diarios locales. Y aunque en la información no se habla de las antenas de las emisoras de radio, quiero decirles que las mismas pudieron haber sido afectadas, ya que la mayoría de las antenas de las emisoras FM que se oyen en Barcelona y Puerto La Cruz tienen sus antenas en el mismo cerro Vidoño donde se pensaba realizar este saboteo. Por cierto, desde mi QTH familiar puedo divisar a lo lejos el sitio donde se encuentran estas antenas, y de noche puedo ver las luces rojas de las mismas. Atte: José Elías Díaz Gómez PRESUNTAMENTE PRETENDÍAN DETONAR LAS ANTENAS DE LAS TELEVISORAS NACIONALES --- FRUSTRADO PLAN TERRORISTA Seis sujetos armados fueron detenidos cuando pretendían irrumpir en las sedes de las plantas transmisoras de canales de televisión ubicadas en el cerro Vidoño, supuestamente el atentado lo iban a ejecutar el pasado lunes. Dos hombres que al parecer transportaban los explosivos huyeron del lugar. Los fascinerosos se identificaron como miembros de la brigada vecinal de Montecristo --- Eucebelina Mejías IMPACTO PUERTO LACRUZ.- En horas de la madrugada de ayer, una comisión mixta integrada por funcionarios de Poli Anzoátegui y la Guardia Nacional retuvieron a seis hombres que supuestamente tenían como objetivo detonar las antenas repetidoras de las televisoras nacionales y las señales de CANTV, ubicadas en el cerro Vidoño de Puerto La Cruz. (via Diaz, Conexion Digital) ** VIETNAM/GERMANY [non]. The collision for decades remains unchanged: 1630-1700 UT VOV and DW both in Russian. 7145 1600-2000 to zones 27, 28 VNI 100 kW 320 degrees VTN VOV DW Russian 1600-1700 UT to CIS on 7145 WERTACHTAL: 7145 1500-2100 to zones 29, 30 WER 500 kW 60 degrees. (Rumen Pankov, Bulgaria, Oct 27, BC-DX Nov 6 via DXLD) ** YEMEN. Republic of Yemen R., 9779.63, Nov 2 1837-1900 English. Tune-in to US pop music, English news at 1841 followed by more pop music. English news at 1855. Closing announcements with ID at 1858. NA at 1859 and into Arabic at 1900. Strong but muddy audio making it difficult to understand much (Brian Alexander, PA, DX LISTENING DIGEST) UNIDENTIFIED. At this instant, (0106 UT) I'm picking up a numbers station on 9925, in Spanish and a woman's voice. I've read about them but never heard one before. Just found your site recently, interesting and helpful! Thanks, (Leon Powell, Paris, Texas, UT Nov 6, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Hmmm, Croatia via Germany should be there on 9925 at that hour in English and/or Spanish. Any sign of them? (gh, DXLD) [Later:] Glenn, Continued until 0145, signed off with a two syllable word, my Spanish-English dictionary says 'final' in Spanish is 'por fin', could have been that. five digit sequences. It was a good signal, I gave it 33233, but I could never recognize any other signal on that frequency. I should have waited until the end before e-mailing you, it was kind of exciting, like eavesdropping on spies! (Leon, Nov 7, DX LISTENING DIGEST) +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ RECEIVER NEWS +++++++++++++ MOTOROLA DSP Motorola announced a new chip set which they advertise as obviating the need for digital transmission of radio programming. They have a web site with a comparison of standard analog radio compared to the same signal after processing by their new whiz bang DSP stuff. For my money they both sound like crap, just a little less hiss on the DSP processed signal. http://e-www.motorola.com/collateral/TSP2642_DIS.html (Joe Buch swprograms via DXLD) RA-BF1 The first "slow speed speaking" receiver "RA-BF1" will be on sale in December by Victor Company of Japan (JVC). It features; (1) Automatic "slow speed speaking" for aged people who like to listen more slowly. Using the intervals between each talk, the top part of the talks is prolonged automatically. The entire period is unchanged. Tones are automatically corrected to normal. (2) Audio compressing to make talks more clearly heard, called "hearing glasses". (3) Listening gain to 10 seconds before. The receiver covers AM /FM/Japanese VHF TV channels(1-12). The price will be about $300. The adoption of this technique to the SW rxs is expected to realize the automatic "Special English" maker for foreign listeners. The photograph of RA-BF1 is found on their web page in Japanese. http://www.jvc.co.jp/products/compo/RA-BF1.html (Takahito Akabayashi-JPN, BC-DX Nov 6 via DXLD) THE WONDER OF WOOLIES I thought that I should mention that Woolworths are selling a world band portable for only £6.99. It has 14 bands and three of those are VHF FM. One for band 2 and the other two utility. And of course very good medium wave. Of course there are more spurious signals on the short wave bands than on almost any other small portable. And it`s out of alignment as far as dial calibration is concerned. But this is only the case on the short wave bands and not any of the others. But most stations fall at least within their correctly marked bands even if some appear in all. The radio has no front selection on short wave. But this could be worked on very easily. But the main advantage is that it comes with three batteries in the pack already to go out of the box. It sounds very good and looks good as well, a pleasant silver finish. And there`s a world time scale on the back. At the price it`s a lot better than most simple AM, FM radios and has all the main short wave band represented plus two VHF utilities. I like my one and can take it anywhere (Steven Overall, Nov 7, BDXC-UK via DXLD) This is indeed interesting as I believe it was this group that had a news item about the USA issuing free SW radios to people in Cuba, in hope they listen to Radio Martí or other western broadcasters. I seem to remember that these radios were valued at 10$ each, which is not far off the £6.99 asked by Woolworths, meaning that the 'factory gate' price must be about £2.50. Compare this with the prices of DAB and you are almost into the realms of another kind of ``free radio`` :-) 73's (Andy Cadier, ibid.) PROPAGATION +++++++++++ GEOMAGNETIC INDICES phil bytheway - Seattle WA - phil_tekno@yahoo.com Geomagnetic Summary October 14 2002 through November 4 2002 Tabulated from email status daily Date Flux A K SA Forecast GM Forecast Etc. 10/14 181 18 2 minor minor 5 15 177 14 3 minor minor 6 16 183 10 4 no storms minor 10 17 179 11 3 no storms minor 7 18 173 12 2 no storms minor 6 19 180 12 3 no storms minor 5 20 180 10 3 minor minor 6 21 183 10 2 no storms minor 2 22 169 10 1 minor minor 6 23 164 11 2 no storms minor 6 24 160 34 6 moderate minor 9 25 173 36 2 moderate minor 8 26 158 25 4 minor minor 7 27 157 17 4 no storms minor 7 28 158 16 2 minor minor 7 29 162 14 3 minor minor 6 30 168 17 3 minor no storms 10 10/31 170 18 3 strong minor 4 11/ 1 162 7 2 no storms minor 5 2 165 22 3 minor minor 8 3 169 23 3 minor minor 7 11/ 4 177 18 3 no storms minor 7 ********************************************************************** (IRCA Soft DX Monitor via DXLD) Forecast of Solar and Geomagnetic Activity 06 November - 02 December 2002 Solar activity is expected be low to moderate. Region 177 and Region 180 have M-class potential early in the forecast period. Moderate activity is expected to continue with the return of Region 162 on 13 November. There is a slight chance of a greater than 10 MeV proton event during the forecast period. The greater than 2 MeV electron flux at geo-synchronous orbit is expected to reach event threshold on 22-27 November due to coronal hole effects. The geomagnetic field is expected to be at quiet to active levels with isolated minor storm conditions are possible. Quiet to unsettled levels are expected early in the forecast period. Active to minor storm conditions are possible on 20-23 November and again on 29 November - 02 December due to two returning coronal holes. :Product: 27-day Space Weather Outlook Table 27DO.txt :Issued: 2002 Nov 05 2211 UTC # Prepared by the US Dept. of Commerce, NOAA, Space Environment Center # Product description and SEC contact on the Web # http://www.sec.noaa.gov/wwire.html # # 27-day Space Weather Outlook Table # Issued 2002 Nov 05 # # UTC Radio Flux Planetary Largest # Date 10.7 cm A Index Kp Index 2002 Nov 06 175 12 3 2002 Nov 07 180 10 3 2002 Nov 08 185 10 3 2002 Nov 09 180 10 3 2002 Nov 10 180 12 3 2002 Nov 11 175 12 3 2002 Nov 12 175 10 3 2002 Nov 13 175 10 3 2002 Nov 14 170 10 3 2002 Nov 15 180 10 3 2002 Nov 16 180 8 3 2002 Nov 17 180 8 3 2002 Nov 18 170 8 3 2002 Nov 19 165 10 3 2002 Nov 20 165 20 4 2002 Nov 21 165 25 5 2002 Nov 22 160 20 4 2002 Nov 23 160 15 3 2002 Nov 24 160 15 3 2002 Nov 25 160 10 3 2002 Nov 26 165 12 3 2002 Nov 27 165 12 3 2002 Nov 28 165 12 3 2002 Nov 29 165 15 3 2002 Nov 30 170 20 4 2002 Dec 01 175 15 3 2002 Dec 02 175 15 3 (http://www.sec.noaa.gov/radio Nov 7 via WORLD OF RADIO 1155, DXLD)###