DX LISTENING DIGEST 2-179, November 17, 2002
        edited by Glenn Hauser, wghauser@hotmail.com

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WORLD OF RADIO 1156:
RFPI: Mon 0030, 0630, Wed 0100, 0700 7445 and/or 15039
WBCQ: Mon 0515 7415; first airing Wed 2300 7415, 17495
WJIE: M-F 1300, daily 0400; Sun 0630, Mon 0700, Tue 0630 or 0700, 7490
WWCR: Wed 1030 9475

ONDEMAND   http://www.wrn.org/ondemand/worldofradio.html

[High]
(Download) http://www.k4cc.net/wor1156h.rm
(Stream)   http://www.k4cc.net/wor1156h.ram
[Low]
(Download) http://www.k4cc.net/wor1156.rm
(Stream)   http://www.k4cc.net/wor1156.ram
(Summary)  http://www.worldofradio.com/wor1156.html

WORLD OF RADIO WEBCASTING

You might recall me telling you last week that it took me 47 minutes 
to listen to the 29-minute programme World of Radio. Well, this week, 
I started listening again via the World of Radio website using the 
highest-quality version. Once again, the breaks (or should they be 
called pauses, since none of the programme was missed) caused 
presumably by buffering were extremely long and of considerable 
nuisance value, causing loss of concentration on the programme. So 
after about 5 minutes of the programme, which took about 10 minutes to 
listen to, I decided to abandon listening via that site, and switched 
to the WRN site instead. This resulted in uninterrupted listening, so 
that the 29-minute programme actually took 29 minutes to listen to via 
streaming audio. So, I reckon I will use the WRN site in future, 
remembering to wait until Friday evening at least to do so.
(PAUL DAVID, Wembley Park, England, swprograms via DXLD)

Paul: Someone might have suggested this before, but why not download 
the program to your hard drive and listen offline? That would likely 
solve the dropout problem. If disk space is a concern, you can just 
delete the file after listening to it (John Figliozzi, ibid.)

Paul seems to be unaware of it, but people in his situation are 
exactly the reason I am now availablizing both high and low versions 
of WOR; why doesn`t he use the low version? I tested the high version 
from k4cc.net site where I upload it, and there were no buffering 
interruptions on my computer (gh)

Another place you can hear WOR if you can't get WBCQ on shortwave at
2300 GMT Wednesday is via the WBCQ live webcast on
http://www.live365.com/stations/18390
They say it's a relay broadcast -- so does that mean someone is
picking it up on a shortwave radio like the old RFPI webcast? (if so
they must be pretty close) (Joel Rubin, NY, swprograms via DXLD)

Pittsburgh, Complex Variables Studio, I think. Probably ideal skip 
distance on 7415 (gh, DXLD)

** AFGHANISTAN. PRESS GROUP CRITICIZES CENSORSHIP, INTIMIDATION BY 
AFGHAN REGIONAL OFFICIALS --- By Ron Synovitz

The Paris-based nongovernmental organization Reporters Without Borders 
says that a year after the collapse of the Taliban regime, many Afghan 
journalists still face the threat of physical attack, even death, if 
they report on sensitive issues. 

The remarks were published on 13 November in a study that highlights a 
series of incidents where provincial governors or regional militia 
commanders have clamped down on Afghan journalists and the Afghan 
nationals who help foreign journalists report critically about the 
commanders. 

Reporters Without Borders says there are many positive signs about 
press freedom within Kabul itself. For example, today's report notes 
that there are now some 150 news publications circulating in Kabul. 
But a spokesman for Reporters Without Borders, Vincent Brossels, told 
RFE/RL that many Afghan journalists are prone to self-censorship out 
of fear of reprisal from allies of government ministers or commanders 
of the regional armed factions across Afghanistan. "One year after the 
fall of the Taliban, especially in Kabul, I think the situation is 
quite positive. But there are still some dangerous aspects for 
journalists, especially outside of Kabul, because the situation in the 
capital and other Afghan towns is very different," Brossels said. 

Brossels said the efforts of Afghan President Hamid Karzai to 
encourage a free and independent press differ sharply from the actions 
of some provincial leaders. Brossels pointed to Herat Province 
Governor Ismail Khan and ethnic Uzbek militia commander Abdul Rashid 
Dostum in the northern city of Mazar-i-Sharif as local leaders who 
Reporters Without Borders believes are actively suppressing 
journalists. "We know that the government of President Hamid Karzai 
has made many efforts toward [establishing] press freedom, especially 
to permit the private press to develop in the capital. But other 
[governing officials in the provinces], like Ismail Khan and Abdul 
Rashid Dostum, or others, have been trying to prevent the development 
of a free press in the country," Brossels said. 

As an example, Brossels noted cases of Afghan journalists being beaten 
by members of regional militias after they have filed reports that are 
critical of regional commanders. "Currently, there is a huge problem 
in Mazar-i-Sharif. When you are trying to investigate about sensitive 
issues like the mass graves of Taliban soldiers, or when you are 
trying to investigate the wrongdoings of local warlords or even 
government ministers, you can be in trouble," Brossels said. 

Delegates from Reporters Without Borders met recently with officials 
in the Afghan Information Ministry to discuss legal changes needed to 
bring Afghanistan's press laws in line with international standards. 
Brossels said those talks have been encouraging. "We've gotten some 
good feedback from [the Afghan Information Ministry], especially about 
the [Afghan] press law. And we hope that soon they will make real 
reforms of the press law, and also of the Criminal Code, to prevent 
the jailing of journalists because of their writings. Because still, 
this threat is [hanging over the] heads of the journalists in 
Afghanistan," Brossels said. 

Reporters Without Borders points out that it is still forbidden for 
many subjects to be written about by Afghan journalists. It says such 
restrictions often lead Afghan journalists to approach with caution 
any story focusing on Islam, ethnic tensions, the alleged crimes of 
regional militia commanders or other threats to Afghan national unity. 
It notes that at least one Afghan newspaper has been closed since the 
fall of the Taliban due to allegations that it had "insulted Islam." 

The group also notes the kidnapping and beating of an Afghan cameraman 
named Najib who had helped a British reporter make a documentary film 
about the deaths of hundreds of Taliban soldiers near Mazar-i-Sharif. 
The documentary blamed the deaths on General Dostum. 

Brossels said there is an enormous difference emerging in the kind of 
reporting done by Afghanistan's state broadcast media compared to the 
private Afghan newspapers and international radio stations that work 
in Afghanistan. "There is a very specific style in the news of the 
government [broadcast] media. And the government is still controlling 
this media. There is not much voice for criticism of the authorities. 
But the opportunity is there now for Afghans to get a few 
international radio stations with programs in Pashto and Dari. It's 
really a big opportunity," Brossels said. 

Reporters Without Borders is also accusing the U.S. military of 
keeping international media, including the Associated Press Television 
Network, out of some zones where U.S. troops have been operating. It 
says U.S. troops or their Afghan allies have suppressed at least six 
journalists and detained one Pakistani newsman. The group also says 
the U.S. military tried to prevent journalists from investigating the 
killings of some 50 Afghan civilians attending a wedding party in July 
when U.S. aircraft targeted villages in the central province of 
Uruzgan. 

Ron Synovitz is an RFE/RL correspondent based in Prague (RFE/RL Media 
Matters Nov 15 via DXLD)

** AUSTRIA. What is with these European Broadcasters????? This kind of 
news is all too common. I wish these people would get a clue, and stop 
dismantling. I find it very hard to believe that every fricken 
government in Europe does not have any money to fund their shortwave 
service. It's getting mighty old! (Vince Ponzio, KA3NRX, Pittsburgh, 
PA, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 

Here some further news items and comments from Christoph Ratzer. 
Summary: ORF expected a loss of 50 million EUR for 2002 but instead 
the outcome of the first three quarters is a profit of 25 million EUR. 
Members of the council states that they are against a rash closure of 
ROI and criticize the ORF management for already preparing the wind-up 
of ROI although there is not any decision to close the service so far.

Re the mention of the Moosbrunn station in one of the first press 
reports: This was basically just a statement that the operation of the 
facilities can be maintained by leasing airtime to other customers. So 
the site is hardly affected by the situation. If ROI really disappears 
Moosbrunn will continue to transmit some ORF programming for a few 
hours per day and otherwise try to sell even more airtime. ORF will 
still have access to the site; it's simply their own. It's not like 
Radio Australia, it's like Radio Norway: The management no longer 
wants to maintain a foreign service (Kai Ludwig, Germany, Nov 17, DX 
LISTENING DIGEST)

Subject: [A-DX] Dem ORF geht es gut!

Hallo A-DXer, Sachen gibt`s... Hier hat uns jemand die besten 
Argumente für den Weitererhalt von ROI frei Haus geliefert.

Nachdem in der - hörenswerten - aktuellen Ausgabe von Intermedia, dem
Medienprogramm  von Radio Österreich International  auch das Thema ROI
behandelt wurde, und Chefredakteur Kerbler sinngemäß ausführte das ROI 
ja deswegen eingestellt werden KÖNNTE weil der ORF so sparen müsse und 
die Zeiten schlecht sind, kann man sich aus den folgenden Meldungen 
sein eigenes Bild machen. Übrigens waren gerade die sinkenden 
Werbeeinnahmen (welche 50% des ORF Budgets ausmachen) der Hauptgrund 
den ROI Chefredakteur Kerbler für die mögliche Schliessung von ROI 
nannte.

Zuerst ein Auszug aus der österreichischen Werbezeitung "medianet" vom
15.11.02, auch in deren Netzausgabe zu finden:

http://www.medianet.at/dynamic.cfm?SID=16024

ORF Zwischenbilanz: Gewinne statt Verluste

Wien. Während seine Branchenkollegen krampfhaft angehalten werden 
``nicht zu raunzen``, setzt Alexander Wrabetz sein schönstes 
``Sunnyboylächeln`` auf: Ihm gehe es gut, weil es dem ORF gut gehe.

Zur Überraschung der Branche und entgegen seiner eigenen Prognose legt 
der Kaufmännische Direktor des ORF einen Periodenüberschuss von 21 
Mio. E für die ersten drei Quartale des heurigen Jahres im medianet-
Exklusivgespräch auf den Tisch: Hatte sich doch das Führungsduo 
Lindner und Wrabetz vom Stiftungsrat ein Budget für 2002 mit einem 
geplanten Jahresverlust von 50 Mio. E genehmigen lassen.

Zuwachs bei Werbeerlösen

``Die werbetreibende Wirtschaft hat nach den großen Umstellungen der 
letzten Monate wieder Vertrauen in den ORF gefasst``, ist Wrabetz 
überzeugt. Und die Zahlen geben ihm recht: Trotz stark rückläufiger 
Werbeausgaben in Österreich konnte der ORF im heurigen Sommerquartal 
sogar gegenüber dem Vorjahr bei den Nettowerbeerlösen zulegen: Mit 
64,1 Mio. E lagen diese im Quartal III/2002 gegenüber 63,4 Mio. E 2001 
deutlich besser als ursprünglich angenommen.

Dazu passend ein Auszug aus einem Artikel der österreichischen 
Tageszeitung "Die Presse", Abendausgabe vom 13.11.02 in der im zweiten 
Absatz der oben erwähnte kaufmännische Direktor Wrabetz zu Wort kommt.

"Diese Entscheidung ist sicher noch nicht gefallen", meinte
Wirtschaftskammer-Generalsekretär und VP-naher ORF-Stiftungsrat 
Christian Domany am Dienstag auf Anfrage der "Presse". Über das 
geplante Aus für das ORF-Kurzwellenradio "Radio Österreich 
International" (RÖI) muß das oberste Gremium des ORF, der Stiftungsrat 
im Dezember entscheiden. Bis dahin erwartet sich Domany von der 
Geschäftsführung die Erarbeitung von "entscheidungsreifen Unterlagen". 
"Ich will genau wissen, wo der Markt und wer die Zielgruppe ist sowie 
in wie weit das Internet das Service von RÖI übernehmen kann." Am 
Montag hatte sich bereits SP-Stiftungsrat Karl Krammer gegen ein 
übereiltes Zusperren des Senders ausgesprochen und kritisiert, daß
die Geschäftsführung die Schließung des Senders betreibe ohne den 
Beschluß des Rates abzuwarten.

Dem widerspricht der kaufmännische Direktor des ORF Alexander Wrabetz: 
Zwar sei die RÖI-Schließung Teil des Finanzplanes 2003, der dieser 
Tage zur Begutachtung an die Räte ergehe, "der Beschluß ist aber Sache 
des Stiftungsrates". "Wenn der Stiftungsrat anderer Meinung ist, muß 
der Plan umgeschrieben werden." Bis dahin setze der ORF jedoch keine 
irreversiblen Schritte.

Weiterhin guten Empfang aus Salzburg! (Christoph Ratzer, A-DX via Kai 
Ludwig, DXLD)

** CANARY ISLANDS. 6715U, Full Gospel Las Palmas Church, 2253-2329 
(possible sign off) Nov 15, male preacher with sermon in Korean 
followed by religious vocals and hymns. Fair signal but occasional 
overrun by RTTY QRM. At 2329 after brief piano segment, the station 
was covered by RTTY. When noise subsided, the station was gone. Report 
sent to pulse@121.net bounced (Rich D`Angelo, PA, NASWA Flashsheet via 
DXLD) 

** CHINA. PRESS FREEDOM IS NONE OF YOUR BUSINESS Thu Nov 14 12:27AM ET

BEIJING (Reuters) - China's state media trumpeted the 16th Congress of 
the Communist Party as the most open ever, but some things just never 
appear to change. Pressed by Reuters about whether the first plenum of 
the new Central Committee would be held on Thursday afternoon or 
Friday morning, an official at the congress press centre snapped: 
"It's none of your business."

The week-long congress, due to end on Thursday, has been shrouded in 
secrecy, with Chinese journalists warned of imprisonment if they leak 
information.

The Chinese people were just as in the dark as journalists about the 
secret leadership reshuffle, which will see Jiang Zemin retire as 
party chief and hand the post to Vice President Hu Jintao, head of a 
younger generation of leaders. As votes were cast to elect the new 
Central Committee, the country's top state television channel CCTV 1 
aired a children's show featuring a man dressed as an enormous chicken 
(via Tom Roche, DXLD)

** COLOMBIA. "BOMBAZO" EN RCN  Cristián Herrera, Redactor, La Opinión

A las 11:15 de la noche de ayer un carrobomba estalló frente a las 
instalaciones de la cadena radial RCN, en la calle 5 con avenida 0, 
del barrio Lleras Restrepo de Cúcuta. La explosión, que se sintió en 
casi toda la ciudad, provocó alarma y conmoción.

Minutos antes del atentado, nueve individuos intentaron tomarse la 
casa fiscal del comandante de la Policía, pero la escolta respondió el 
ataque. Cerca a las instalaciones de RCN tiene su residencia el 
comandante de la Policía y en el frente funciona una emisora que 
pertenece a la curia arquidiocesana.

Los sospechosos se desplazaron en dos taxis que fueron robados en las 
horas de la tarde. Como la toma no se llevó a cabo, los terroristas 
procedieron a accionar la bomba que detonó frente a las instalaciones 
de la cadena radial.

Sus oficinas quedaron totalmente destruidas al igual que la emisora de 
La Misericordia, de la Diócesis de Cúcuta. Según testigos, los autores 
del atentado llegaron en los dos taxis y en uno llevaban el artefacto 
con más de 40 kilos de explosivo.

En el lugar se vivieron momentos de terror y miedo, la gente corría 
despavorida al saber que podría haber otra bomba. El otro automotor 
fue dejado al lado del carrobomba, lo que hizo pensar a las 
autoridades que se trataba de un vehículo con igual poder explosivo y 
destructivo.

Luego de una intensa revisión, las autoridades pudieron establecer que 
el vehículo fue robado en las horas de la tarde, pertenecía a la 
empresa Cotranscúcuta, y el conductor dejado en El Rodeo.

Dos heridos

En el atentado resultaron dos personas heridas, uno fue el celador de 
la emisora y el otro un agente de la Policía. Un vecino, que vive a 20 
metros de las oficinas, afirmó que los hombres llegaron y comenzaron a 
disparar; cuando el vigilante intentó reaccionar le hicieron dos 
disparos. Doscientos metros a la redonda fueron destruidos ventanales, 
puertas y enseres dentro de las casas.

En 1997, RCN fue objeto de otro atentado, y sus instalaciones también 
fueron destruidas. Una de sus periodistas resultó herida.

Alonso Vellojín, secretario de Gobierno, se hizo presente anoche en el 
lugar y repudió el hecho. "En las próximas horas nos encargaremos de 
hacer un consejo de seguridad para tomar las medidas necesarias y 
replantear un nuevo plan de seguridad", dijo el funcionario.

El coronel Carlos Alberto Barragán Galindo, comandante saliente de la 
Policía, indicó que este fue un hecho terrorista cometido por parte de 
los grupos al margen de la ley en represalia por el accionar de las 
autoridades.

Según testigos, luego de cometido el hecho los agresores huyeron en 
una camioneta Luv blanca que minutos más tarde fue abandonada y 
baleada en el barrio Nuevo Horizonte.

Las autoridades anunciaron que intensificarán los operativos para dar 
con el paradero de los culpables (La Opinión, Cúcuta, Nov 14, website 
http://www.laopinion.com.co via Henrik Klemetz, DXLD)

Same news item as in La Opinión from RCN Televisión,
http://www.canalrcn.com/noticias/nacional.htm

CARRO BOMBA EN RCN RADIO. 

Cúcuta, Colombia, 14 Noviembre (RCN) - Un carro bomba con 40 kilos de 
amonal, estalló en las instalaciones de RCN radio, en el barrio Lleras 
de Cúcuta, al norte de Colombia, en el departamento de Norte de 
Santander. La explosión destruyó casi toda la edificación, además de 
causar daños en una emisora cristiana y la casa Fiscal del 
Departamento de Policía.

El suceso se produjo a las 11:15 p.m. de la noche del miércoles, 
después de ser abandonado por desconocidos un taxi, presuntamente 
miembros del Ejercito de Liberación Nacional (ELN), como lo manifestó 
el comandante de la Policía de la zona, Carlos Alberto Barragán.

La bomba dejó dos heridos, un miembro de la Policía y el celador de la 
estación radial. Las autoridades buscan a los sospechosos, gracias a 
los testimonios de los testigos, quienes permitieron una elaboración 
rápida de los retratos hablados (via Henrik Klemetz, Sweden, Nov 14, 
DXLD)

** COLOMBIA. Acá hay uno [armónico] permanente en 2200 (2 x 1100) 
desde Planeta Rica de Emisora Ideal que ha alcanzado USA; en las 
últimas semanas está Radio Super de Cali en 4800 (4 x 1200). Incluso 
escuché La Voz de tu Conciencia en 12022 y LV del Guaviare en 12070 
(Rafael Rodríguez, Colombia, Conexión Digital via DXLD) 

** CONGO DR. 11690 3.11 1930 Radio Okapi med mest non-stop musik samt 
en "Okapi"- jingle. 2 CB 
11690 14.11 1900 Radio Okapi. "Okapi"-jingle, nyheter och sedan ett 
program om barnens situation. 2 CB (Christer Brunström, Sweden, SW 
Bulletin via DXLD)
11690 13.11 1915 Radio Okapi här också, men mycket svag vid denna tid. 
FF-prat. Inget ID, så den är egentligen OID. S 2. BEFF (Björn 
Fransson, Sweden, SW Bulletin via DXLD)

CONGO-KINSHASA. R. Okapi, noted as follows on Nov 9, 0415-0425: 6030, 
barely audible; 9550, weak under another weak station (probably 
Havana) but improving; 11690, not strong but the best frequency by 
far, on a clear channel (Vashek Korinek, RSA, DX-plorer via DXLD) 

** COSTA RICA. VISTA ONLINE November 2002 - Vol.1, Issue 1 [excerpts]
-------------------------------------
Welcome to Vista Online, the first edition of our e-newsletter aimed 
at bringing you news and information about Radio For Peace 
International.

Internet Woes

As many of our members and listeners are aware, RFPI suffered a small 
set back last month when our high-speed Internet connection was 
disabled causing some disruption to our radio programming and work in 
general.

Due to the loss of our high-speed Internet connection, we have been 
unable to provide to our listeners some of the programming that has 
made RFPI the station that it is. The two programs that have been most 
affected by this have been our extremely popular Democracy Now! with 
Amy Goodman, and Free Speech Radio News. Although we have periodically 
been able to bring you these programs over the past few weeks, the un-
reliability of our dial-up Internet connection has meant that new 
editions of these programs have been few and far between.

We are happy to report, however, that our Internet problems will soon 
be a thing of the past! Thanks to generous donations by Democracy 
Now!, Free Speech Radio News, and Pacifica Radio, we have received the 
funding necessary to set up a new, direct high-speed Internet 
connection. We are hopeful that this new system will be up and running 
in two or three weeks, and as soon as it is, we will resume 
broadcasting our outstanding programming.

Thank you to all our listeners and members who wrote to us with both 
moral and financial support, and a BIG thanks to Democracy Now!, Free 
Speech Radio News, and Pacifica Radio!

Power Troubles No More!

In more good news, we are also happy to report that our electricity 
problems have also been solved thanks to generous donations from you, 
our members and listeners.

Early this month, we learned that our electricity would soon be cut by 
the Costa Rican power company due to financial difficulties. Faced 
with a bill of $6,000 US that we did not feel we could pay, a call for 
support was issued over the airwaves to help keep RFPI on the air.

Within a few days, a number of listeners and members responded to our 
fundraising request and we are happy to report that we have received 
above and beyond our funding needs. 

We would like to thank Tin Jo Restaurant here in San Jose for their 
generous donation. If you are live here in Costa Rica, or if you are 
ever in the San Jose area, a visit to the Tin Jo Restaurant on Calle 
11, between Avenidas 6 and 8, is well worth the effort as their 
Indian, Chinese, Thai and Japanese cuisine is the best in the area
(RFPI via DXLD)

** CUBA [and non]. FIDEL'S FUNNIEST HOME VIDEOS TO AIR IN U.S. 
   Nueva York, Reuters, Yahoo News, La Nueva Cuba, Noviembre 11, 2002

Just days after Steven Spielberg warm and fuzzy summit with Fidel 
Castro in Havana, a set of smuggled home videos of the Cuban leader 
could sour his take on Hollywood. 

Starting Monday, Spanish-language newscast Noticias 41 will begin 
airing "The Secret Life of Castro," a 10-part series that offers the 
first-ever glimpse into the carefully guarded life of Cuba's president 
and perpetual revolutionary. 

Univisión TV stations in New York, Miami (its station there, WLTV, 
produced the documentary) and Puerto Rico will run the series, which 
delves into the family life of the 76-year-old Castro, who has led 
Cuba for 43 years. 

The videos were reportedly shot by Castro's own adult children and 
fell into the hands of an estranged girlfriend of Fidel's son, Antonio 
Castro Soto del Valle. The girlfriend, Dashiell Torralba, arranged for 
Univision to get the tapes after she left Cuba, claiming that the 
broadcast is a way to even the score with Castro's wife and Antonio's 
disapproving mother. 

A casually attired Castro (the signature military fatigues are 
evidently for official appearances only) is shown to keep his family 
in relative comfort and privilege. The family home, Punto Cero, 
features a wine cellar with individual bottles worth up to $400. The 
videos are intercut with interviews with Torralba and other former 
members of Castro's inner circle, including sister Juanita Castro and 
daughter Alina Fernández. 

The Noticias 41 report begins airing Monday night at 11 p.m. It will 
continue Tuesday-Friday and Nov. 18-22. Copyright © 2002 - LA NUEVA 
CUBA NOSTROMO PUBLISHING CORP. All Rights Reserved. (via Oscar, DXLD)

** CYPRUS TURKISH. As it seems to me, the audio is clean and they are 
only slightly high in frequency. Were it not for the megasplash from 
6155, reception on 6150 would be useful at times (Olle Alm, Sweden, 
Nov 16, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

CYPRUS? 6150, Nov 15 2321 and earlier: I do not know if R. Bayrak is 
transmitting but there is a musical program with some modulation 
errors under strong QRM from a multi echoed CNR at same frequency 
(Zacharias Liangas, Retziki, Greece, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 

** CZECH REPUBLIC. FORMER COMMUNIST OFFICIAL CHARGED WITH SHUTTING OFF 
BROADCASTS DURING 1968 INVASION. 

A former high-ranking communist official, Karel Hoffmann, was Charged 
on 1 November with treason for his alleged role in the 1968 Warsaw 
Pact invasion of Czechoslovakia, AP and CTK reported. Prosecutor 
Dagmar Machova said Hoffmann is accused of having ordered Czechoslovak 
state radio and television to stop broadcasting during the invasion, 
thus preventing statements by the country's leaders condemning the 
invasion from reaching the public. Hoffmann was in charge of 
communications at the time the pact's troops invaded Czechoslovakia. 
Machova said Hoffmann, 78, faces up to 15 years in prison if 
convicted. ("RFE/RL Newsline," 12 November via RFE/RL Media Matters 
Nov 15 via DXLD)

** ECUADOR. An announcement was made on the show today (November
16) that next week there would be a special one hour show, a mixture 
of "Saludos Amigos" and "DX Partyline" to be called "DX Amigos." The 
hosts of the popular mail bag show on HCJB will join (or be joined) by
Allen Graham from DX Party Line, and take phone calls. I did not catch 
the number though it may be announced more this week and / or be on 
their web site.

Presumably, that will be on at 0100 UTC on the 23rd (Saturday evening 
here in eastern North America) and I suppose, it will last an hour. 
(9745 kHz). The announcers will be on live for all the regular
broadcasts that day, except for the evening broadcast to Europe.
(Roger Chambers, Nov 17, ODXA via DXLD)

Why would it be at 0100? DXPL is now at 0000 UT Sun (gh, DXLD)

** ETHIOPIA [non]. 15275, CLANDESTINE (Ethiopia) Radio Solidarity, 
*1600-1629* Nov 13, brief instrumental music opening followed by a 
woman announcer with ID and News in Tigrean language. Flute music at 
1606 followed by long talk commencing at 1608. During a vocal 
selection beginning at 1626, the carrier was terminated before the 
song was complete. Poor to fair with noisy conditions (Rich D`Angelo, 
PA, NASWA Flashsheet via DXLD) 

** GERMANY. Story of DW`s move, in their Radio Training Centre 
magazine called "Dialogue" 
http://www.dwelle.de/rtc/dialog/dialog2002e/02-03.htm 

BYE BYE COLOGNE! by Frank Lemke

For almost 40 years, Cologne has been the home of Deutsche Welle and 
the RTC. In 2003 this will change when DW moves to Bonn, the former 
provisional German capital. 

The decision to move 27 km south is connected to the German 
unification process. In 1991, the German Parliament voted to move the 
seat of government to Berlin. At the time, however, construction was 
already underway in Bonn for a new building on the banks of the Rhine 
for German parliamentarians. With the government’s decision to move to 
Berlin, the Bonn building was threatening to become redundant . The 
government decided to go ahead with construction and instead make it 
the new home of the Deutsche Welle. DW had in fact been looking for 
new premises because of asbestos contamination in its Cologne 
building. 

Neptune, the river god, had other ideas, and flooded the building site 
two years in a row. In the mid-90’s, it became questionable whether 
DW’s new headquarters would ever be completed. Construction is almost 
finished now, however, and it looks as if we will be working in Bonn 
from 2003 onwards. 

The RTC will have a brand new, digitised infrastructure, with well-
equipped studios and newly-furnished offices and seminars – in short, 
all the trimmings of a fully-fledged Training Centre. The Rhine and 
its wooded banks are just next door and are perfect for short breaks 
for participants and trainers. There will be a restaurant and a coffee 
bar in the building, and the international flair contributed by DW 
staff members from some 50 different countries will be as prevalent in 
Bonn as it has been in Cologne. 

We will be exchanging our current skyscraper for a set of four-storied 
buildings. With the exception of the studios, the new premises will 
not be air-conditioned – a relief in our rather temperate climate! We 
will finally be able to open the windows and breathe some fresh air. 
The buildings are rather stretched out; in the case of the RTC, we 
will have to walk about 400 metres from the main entrance to our 
section, but a bit of exercise won’t do any harm. On the contrary! 

As the move approaches, we are trying not to become too nostalgic at 
the thought of leaving Cologne. Change is unavoidable and sometimes 
even offers advantages. Our donor ministry, the Federal Ministry of 
Economic Cooperation and Development, will be within walking distance, 
for example. And Bonn’s policy to attract UN organisations will soon 
turn the city into Germany’s centre for international development. 
This will certainly offer a conducive working atmosphere for the RTC 
(via Daniel Say, swprograms via DXLD)

** GERMANY. Re Gospel for Asia: ``Not sure why Hans heads this 
Germany.`` 15680 is Wertachtal. Probably all the following frequencies 
are related: 

15680 1430 1530 41,43,49 75 217 1234567 271002 300303 DTK 250kW 
15425 1530 1630 40,41 90 217    1234567 271002 300303 DTK 250kW 
11680 2330 0030 41,43,49 75 217 1234567 271002 300303 DTK 250kW 
11680 0030 0130 40,41 90 217    1234567 271002 300303 DTK 250kW 
 9490 0030 0130 40,41 90 217    1234567 011202 300303 DTK 250kW 
 9765 2300 0030 41,43,49 75 217 1234567 011202 300303 DTK 250kW (Kai 
Ludwig, Germany, Nov 17, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Some supposedly UAE (gh)

** GOA. INDIA. AIR Panaji noted signing off on 11825 rather than the 
scheduled 11835 at 0415 UT today Sunday. 11835 is scheduled at 0315-
0415 in Hindi to West Asia. For detailed schedule of AIR Panaji go to:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/dx_india/files/AIR%20Panaji 
73  (Jose Jacob, VU2JOS, dx-india via DXLD)

** INDIA. The B-2002 schedule of AIR is now available from their 
offical site: http://www.allindiaradio.org/schedule/fqsch1.html
73 (Jose Jacob, VU2JOS, dx_india via DXLD)

Previous seasons` had lots of time conversion errors; let`s hope they 
got them right this time; if not, Jose`s own site should be accurate. 
A quick check of the External Service sections, GOS listings (English) 
seems to show correct times. See also GOA; KASHMIR (gh, DXLD)

** INDONESIA. I have been trying to listen to RRI`s extended 
broadcasts during the month of Ramadan. So far only one station has 
been heard: 
4925, 13.11.2002, RRI Jambi, 1853- Nov 13 with lagu-lagu popular dan 
Warta Berita di RRI Jakarta on the TOH. Very strong signals with my 
Sony ICF-7600GR and ALA1530 (Jarmo Patala, Finland, dxing.info via 
DXLD)

ISLAMITISCHE VASTENMAAND

Deze week begon de islamitische vastenmaand ramadan. Gelovige moslims 
vasten overdag en het sociale leven concentreert zich in de avonduren. 
Veel radiostations uit de islamitische wereld verlengen daarom hun 
uitzendtijden. 

Kortegolf luisteraars profiteren van die extra uitzenduren. Zo zijn er 
de komende weken ruimere mogelijkheden om Indonesische zenders op de 
tropenbanden te ontvangen. Bijvoorbeeld twee regionale stations van 
Radio Republik Indonesia (RRI) op Sumatra. RRI Padang gaat de hele 
avond door op 4003.2 of 4000 kHz. Hetzelfde geldt voor RRI Jambi op 
4925 kHz. Het einde van de ramadan wordt rond 6 december verwacht 
(Michael Schaay, kortegolf.info via DXLD)

** IRAQ. RADIO - INTERNET OFFER IRAQIS RARE PEEK AT OUTSIDE WORLD  
   Baghdad | By Michael Slackman | 17-11-2002

Nearly every night, Murtadha Eqabi manages to escape from the control 
that the Iraqi government tries to exert over everything the college 
student hears and sees. He turns on a radio.

Tuning in to foreign news broadcasts is a ritual Eqabi shares with his
father inside their small apartment here. They listen to the news 
broadcast in Arabic by French-run Radio Monte Carlo, getting 
information the regime tries to keep from them.

"Despite the fact that there are severe sanctions on our country, we 
do have connection with the outside world," said Eqabi, an archaeology 
student at Baghdad University. "I listen to the news. It is part of 
our life."

President Saddam Hussain remains determined to restrict what Iraq's 22
million citizens know about the world beyond their borders.

His people are cut off by trade sanctions and censorship, both of 
which limit access to technology, and they are force-fed government 
news accounts that frequently differ greatly from what much of the 
world hears.

Satellite television is banned. Some foreign radio broadcasts are 
jammed. All internal media are state-controlled.

These days that kind of strict control is especially important for 
Saddam's regime as it works to maintain order in the face of a 
possible U.S.-led attack. Anything that might chisel away at the 
appearance of unity in Iraq makes the leadership nervous.

A new U.S. government programme, Radio Sawa - which mixes Western and 
Arabic music with short bursts of news and is very popular among young 
people - is one target of the regime's electronic scramblers.

"What they fear most now is domestic unrest," said a European diplomat 
based in Baghdad. "They need to feel and look unified. For months they 
have been working on that."

In trying to maintain that order, the regime has realised that it 
needs to balance its reflexive leaning toward censorship with a rising 
public appetite to live in the modern world. To say the regime is 
becoming soft would be an overstatement.

But it is recognizing the value of making people happy, or at least 
happier than they were. It recently issued a broad amnesty freeing 
almost every prisoner from jail. It has lifted taxes on travelers. It 
is making it easier for dropouts to return to school.

And it has given the people the Discovery Channel.

Iraqi television now offers, for a fee and to a select group only, new
choices that include Discovery and a movie channel that serves up 
Hollywood fare, including recent broadcasts of "The Hunt for Red 
October" and "The Spanish Prisoner."

The regime also has provided wider access to the Internet and the use 
of e-mail.

It first permitted Internet access for government ministries two years 
ago, but even top officials were not permitted to send e-mail from 
their offices. They had to go to a special government office.

Internet access to all mail-related Web sites, such as Hotmail and 
Yahoo, is still blocked, but individuals can buy government monitored 
e-mail accounts to use at home. On the Internet, Iraqis can access 
most Western media, but sites tied to groups opposing the Iraqi 
government are blocked.

At a cost of about $75 for three months of Internet access, plus 
additional fees for e-mail, both services are beyond the reach of most 
Iraqis. Many rely instead on Internet cafes, where they can surf the 
Web and send e-mail for the equivalent of about 50 cents an hour.

Ida Mustafa is the director of the first Internet center at Baghdad
University. Her job is to collect fees (25 cents an hour for 
students), offer advice on how to use the Internet and make sure no 
one is finding his or her way to banned sites.

Even before the students sit down, they must register their intent to 
use the Internet with their college and list several "keywords" they 
plan to search out.

"You are free to search whatever you like," Mustafa  said, adding: "We 
have monitoring. Later I check for forbidden sites."

Mustafa's centre is in the library on the campus outside downtown 
Baghdad. The room is small, with just eight machines, and very quiet. 
The centre has become so popular that students are restricted to two 
hours of access each week. There is no sense of playfulness here.

Students recently were researching school topics, such as "inertia 
rockets" and "radiation detection." Ask them about the Internet and 
they offer a touch of defiance.

"It is a way around sanctions," said Ebtisam Fadel, 31, a postgraduate
student who was researching "video image compression."

Many Iraqis may have First World expectations, a hangover from what is 
seen as the nation's modern golden age - before the 1980-88 war with 
Iran and Iraq's 1990 invasion of Kuwait - when the ruling Arab Baath 
Socialist Party poured money into education and infrastructure.

But the 1970s are long gone, and Iraq is in Third World shape due in 
part to international sanctions. For most people, that means the only 
escape comes in the form of scratchy radio waves.

It seems that everyone is listening. Yadulah Nouri Ali, 61, lives with 
10 family members in a crumbled apartment bloc and can barely come up 
with the $5 a day they all need to survive. He has listened to BBC, 
Radio Monte Carlo and, he admits, Voice of America.

Shukur Jassim, 52, works for the Ministry of Information and sells 
books in an open-air market to make some extra cash. "Every night 
before I go to sleep, I listen to VOA, BBC and Monte Carlo," he said.

At Baghdad University's downtown campus, where students study liberal 
arts, everyone who was asked described an avid interest in radio 
broadcasts from abroad. Vian Amjad, 23, who is majoring in German 
language studies, tunes in daily at midnight to listen to Radio Monte 
Carlo with her mother, brother, uncle and grandmother.

"We are listening mainly to hear about political problems," she said. 
"We are following the news. Sometimes there is news about Iraq 
mentioning that countries are against the military option. We get 
happy and feel relieved."

With so many people listening to contradictory news reports - as 
Baghdad says one thing and the West another - a logical question is 
which side do people believe.

In Baghdad, where criticising the government can lead to prison time, 
that question elicits either a predictable endorsement of the regime 
or feigned confusion. Radio Monte Carlo "is the same as Baghdad 
radio," Amjad said before she and her cousin giggled and looked away. 
"Why?"  © Los Angeles Times-Washington Post News Service (via Mike 
Terry, DXLD)

** KASHMIR. INDIA. 4950, Srinagar, 2332 Nov 14, with imam praying. 
Signal closed at 23.32.54. On 15.11 at 0010 with S5 (Zacharias 
Liangas, Retziki, Greece, DX LISTENING DIGEST) See also INDIA

** KOREA NORTH. KRE technical data  

Technical parameters for North Korean shortwave transmitters, 
unfortunately not in full readable without knowledge of Japanese (and 
a browser able to show Japanese characters):

http://homepage1.nifty.com/OkaLab/DXing/VOK.html
http://homepage1.nifty.com/OkaLab/DXing/KCBS.html
http://homepage1.nifty.com/OkaLab/DXing/PBS.html
http://homepage1.nifty.com/OkaLab/DXing/Others.html

No idea if this is original data but it sounds plausible: 6070/6100 
kHz the Brown Boveri transmitter at Kanggye, back-up feeder 3250 from 
Pyongyang, regular foreign service outlets all from the Kujang centre. 
Also some of the information about FM outlets is new, just to mention 
Pyongyang 93.8 with KCBS programming (Kai Ludwig, Germany, Nov 17, DX 
LISTENING DIGEST)

Thanks for this link, Kai! My system shows and prints it all correctly 
in Japanese, but this does not help too much. Anyhow, a quick look 
does not reveal anything that looks wrong or contradicts my own 
findings from a few years ago. Mr Oka must have superb sources if this 
information is original (Olle Alm, Sweden, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

** KUWAIT. 17885, Radio Kuwait, 7 Nov, 1022, SINPO 45333. Reading of 
Islam basics in English (!). Formerly the frequency carried Radio 
Pinoy broadcast, intended for guest workers of Philippines origin. 
Probably the program I heard was a special one for Ramadan (Dmitry 
Mezin, Kazan, Russia, Signal via DXLD)

** LAOS [non]. 12070, CLANDESTINE, Hmong Lao Radio, 0132-0200* Nov 15, 
program of traditional music with brief talk by a man announcer in 
presumed Hmong language between selections. Apparent ID and sign off 
announcement at 0159 followed by brief IS of flute music until carrier 
cut. Poor to fair in strength but in the clear (Rich D`Angelo, PA, 
NASWA Flashsheet via DXLD) 

** LITHUANIA. Re R. Vilnius via 666 kHz at 1900-1930: this is not an 
"extra" transmission for listeners in Europe, but Lithuanian HS (LR1) 
which every evening carries a repeat for local listeners of the 
English morning transmission on SW. Lithuanian Radio 1 goes out on FM 
and 666 kHz (Bernd Trutenau, Lithuania, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 

** MEXICO. Glenn, Interesting bit of Information for your next edition

4880.1, Radio Transcontinental de América, XERTA Acknowledgment/Date 
letter along with 2-PPC's, stamped received via the assistance of 
Héctor García Bojorge from Radio Mil, who visited the station with my 
report in September. I initially wrote to Roger Chambers, who was good 
enough to forward my tape report while attending the Conference in 
Mexico back in August. Roger stated it could be rather difficult 
stating that Pepe Gonzales and his wife Lucha Olivares (Hosts, 
attending the Conference in August) both seemed to feel, as did almost 
every one else, that it would be next to impossible to get a QSL from 
them. Pepe did give a talk on that topic, briefly, on how difficult, 
indifferent, etc. it seems that Radio Transcontinental could be. In 
the letter they acknowledge my tape recording and that it agrees with 
the programming of that hour (which is good enough for me). They also 
thanked me for the postcard from Canada. Unfortunately there was no 
verie signature either on the cards or the letter. Their studio office 
address is: Plaza San Juan No. 5-2, Centro Histórico, C.P. 06000 
MEXICO. e-mail: xerta@radiodifusion.com Web site: 
http://www.misionradio.com Reply took 31/2 months from the time the 
report was sent to Roger Chambers. My SASE was used. Total of Five 
years trying. Special Thanks to both Roger Chambers, of New York and 
to Héctor García Bojorge of Radio Mil for their assistance (Edward 
Kusalik-Alberta, CANADA, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

** MONGOLIA. Re: ``Three LW parallels found: 164, 209, and 227 kHz. 
(Feodor Brazhnikov, Irkutsk, Russia) ...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)``

That was not a misprint. LW frequencies of Mongolian Radio do adhere 
to old frequency distribution pattern (Igor Ashikhmin, Primorskiy 
kray, Russia, Signal Nov 13 via DXLD)

** OKLAHOMA. Recent changes in Oklahoma radio: greetings; well, it 
seems when it rains it pours. WKY has accepted an offer from the 
Citadel group for WKY 930 AM, legendary station which has been choking 
with lame programming from the lamer Clear Channel outfit. Also KMMZ 
96.9 FN out of Enid was soft oldies, now evidently being LMA`d by same 
Citadel group and playing country Christmas songs. From now The Bull 
formerly K-bull but 104.9 is still playing the over repetitive (pardon 
the expression) same old bull*&%$. From what I hear the AM dial will 
be full of sports from 1000 AM and 1210 AM [moving in from Guymon] 
will go news when the lame outfit shuts down 1220 AM from Midwest City 
and covers news on 1210 AM. WKY deserves the legendary status that it 
has in this community and I hope that these outfits from foreign 
lands, Las Vegas, knows how to bring this sleeping giant back. 

And speaking of giants, KOMA AM 1520 is rumored to go all news/talk 
after the first of the year; as long as it is credible and not bring 
in a lot of lame hosts from the Clear Channel outfit and even sorrier 
spin doctors, they should do better than KTOK. Thanks for your time as 
always (Bill Eckart, OK, http://www.geocities.com/billeckart Nov 14, 
DX LISTENING DIGEST) 

CITADEL LMAS 96.9, FLIPS TO CHRISTMAS TUNES

Champlin Broadcasting [Enid], owner of KMMZ 96.9 (Memories 96.9), has 
entered into a Local Marketing Agreement with Citadel Broadcasting. 
Citadel has flipped the Soft AC/Oldies format to All-Christmas music 
under moniker of "The Bull's Country Christmas." Citadel also owns 
KQBL (K-Bull 104-9). Permanent plans for the station remain uncertain. 
(OKCityRadio.com Nov 14 via DXLD) Yes, `Country Xmas` Nov 17 afternoon

** PARAGUAY. 7737, 14/11 0328, R. América, Villeta, SS, Hino 
religioso, OM com leitura bíblica. A melhor recepção desta emissora 
até o momento. 24232 SCM (Samuel Cássio Martins, Brasil, @tividade DX 
via DXLD)

** PERU. Re: R. Corazón de Huandoy, DXLD 2-177: Bueno, la cuenta da 
que es aproximadamente 952-954 kHz y sus correspondientes 3, 4 y 6 
armónico; Aunque a veces estos toman fuerza, es poco probable que 
alguien fuera del Perú pueda escucharlos (Rafael Rodríguez, Colombia, 
Conexión Digital via DXLD) see also COLOMBIA

** PERU. RUEGO ME DISCULPEN por el error de tipeo que he cometido en 
el LOG...MUCHAS GRACIAS. DICE 9975 Radio San Antonio 01:00 34423 S 
DEBE DECIR 3375 Khz MUCHAS GRACIAS Y DISCULPEN SPACEMASTER. 

DEAR FRIENDS !!!!!! EXCUSE ME PLEASE!!!! I made it in the recent LOG. 
It says: 9975 Radio San Antonio 01:00 34423 S. IT SHOULD BE: 3375 
(SPACEMASTER, Conexión Digital via DXLD)

** PERU. 6114.67, Radio Unión, Lima, 0519-0533, Nov 16, Spanish, 
Musical program, ads, (acceptable modulation), ID "Radio Unión, la 
emisora más potente del Peru", 24342 (Nicolás Eramo, Villa Lynch, 
Prov. Buenos Aires, Argentina; Receivers: ICOM IC R-75, Kenwood R-
2000, SONY ICF 2010. Antennas: T2FD V Inverted 15 mts V Inverted 12 
mts V Inverted 20mts, MFJ 959B Receiver, Antenna Tuner/Preamplifier, 
DX LISTENING DIGEST)

** RUSSIA. 18900, Voice of Russia, 6 Nov, 1000 and later, SINPO 35333, 
in Korean. Radio Bulgaria promised to carry out some tests on this 
frequency, but I didn't notice them yet (Dmitry Mezin, Kazan, Russia, 
Signal Nov 13 via DXLD)  Don`t recall VOR using this band before; or 
could it be 2 x 9450? (gh, DXLD)

** RUSSIA. There is a Voice of Russia English frequency that is coming 
in well here on the East Coast; it's 11820 which is intended for 
Europe, airing at 07-10 UT with 200 kW from St. Petersburg (per PWBR 
2003). Commonwealth Update was heard at 0811, Moscow Mailbag with Joe 
Adamov was heard at 0911. A good bet to try since all the other 
frequencies used for Australasia are coming from the Russian Far East 
sites, and those are best bets for reception on the US West Coast. 
(Joe Hanlon in Philadelphia, USA, Nov 16, EDXP via DXLD)

** SINGAPORE. 7235, Warna PBS, 1512 Nov 17. Nice pop and melayu deli 
songs, S9 42443, QRM by monitor (carrier at 37) (Zacharias Liangas, 
Retziki, Greece, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 

** U K. BBCWS foreign correspondent turns to brewing favourite beer
http://www.observer.co.uk/foodmonthly/story/0,9950,834739,00.html
(Guardian via Mike Terry, DXLD)

** U K. RIGHT OF THE BEEB  http://www.transdiffusion.org/

The perception of the BBC as run by and for "liberal lefties" (or, if 
you're a particularly rude right-winger, "Marxist pinkos") is a strong 
and abiding one in certain segments of British life. Rod Liddle was 
recently forced to resign as editor of Radio 4's Today programme after 
he had criticised the Countryside Alliance march in London, a 
demonstration dominated by Tory supporters. He had said that one might 
forget why one had voted Labour in 1997 until one saw the foxhunting 
lobby in full force.

It is true that the BBC does not paint an antiquarian picture of 
British life - while it is concerned above all with providing 
something for everybody in the UK, most of its output unequivocally 
reflects modern culture and society, on whatever level and for 
whatever audience. But this is not remotely the same as "left-wing", 
and indeed, if one looks through the BBC's wider history one can see 
that it has often been a generally traditional, small "c" conservative 
broadcaster, whose many examples of innovation have often been opposed 
to its abiding official culture.

If the BBC were still the traditional conservative broadcaster that 
many of us grew up with, it might have managed to stay on the side of 
the Daily Mail and its ilk, but it would have largely lost the support 
of many other significant sectors of the population. The changes it 
has made in recent years have cost it a lot of cultural capital among 
the political, social and cultural conservative right, but it had to 
make the changes. Otherwise it would have been completely out of touch 
with its audience and the general cultural tide in the country, and 
would have been heading towards privatisation.

Even in the late 1980s and early 1990s, Radio 4 was broadcasting 
programmes like "The Countryside In ..." series, "Down Your Way" and 
certain others defining and evoking "Englishness" in terms that you 
would never get now. I have no problem with that worldview in its own 
time and context, but the world has changed (even the Countryside 
Alliance don't think in those terms - their rhetoric is couched in a 
more aggressive, hard-line, quasi-Thatcherite style).

The greatness of the BBC's archives is, of course, down in large 
respect to the light they shed on 80 years of social and cultural 
history. But the point that the right-wingers miss is that, when it 
still made sense (and arguably *after* it had ceased to make sense) 
the BBC still presented the archaic view of England and Britain 
beloved of papers like the Daily Mail and Daily Telegraph. It did not 
simply give itself over entirely to the liberal-left position.

If it now reflects a more "modern, inclusive" Britishness and a less
"traditional, exclusive" identity than at any time in its history, it 
is because of wider changes. The Blair government has had an effect, 
but so has the opening of British radio and television to wider, more
international, and often overtly commercial and consumerist influences 
in the wake of the 1990 Broadcasting Act and successor legislation.

The BBC reflects arguably more often than it leads. In this case, it 
might not actually have made its recent changes had the pre-1990 
broadcasting environment remained largely unaltered, but it has 
responded excellently on all fronts to the changing world around it.

If you were to put together a list of charges that might have been 
raised against the BBC in former times, you would find that they would 
have frequently offended the very same "liberal-lefties" who the right 
now accuse of having "taken over" the Corporation. You could start off 
with the effective censorship of all jazz from the airwaves under 
Reith, and his absurdly puritan policy on Sunday broadcasting. You 
would certainly have to recall the stuffy inward-looking culture it 
reflected in the late 50s, totally unrepresentative of the consumer 
boom of the day reflected by ITV and Radio Luxembourg.

After the welcome liberalism of the Hugh Greene era, you would have to 
sadly note the sacking of Kenny Everett from Radio 1 in 1970 over a 
harmless joke, as Charles Curran asserted hardline moralism as a 
reaction against the new cultural tide of the 1960s. You might move on 
to Radio 1's former policy of banning records on absurdly flimsy 
premises, recalling in particular the ban on XTC's "Respectable 
Street" in 1981 for a reference to Sony, which is hurtled through at 
such a high speed that a casual radio listener could not have heard 
it, certainly not on medium wave. I certainly wouldn't have noticed it 
if I hadn't read the lyrics before hearing the song.

Such an account of the BBC's more socially and culturally conservative 
side, throughout history, would culminate in the banning of Frankie 
Goes To Hollywood's "Relax" (1984) and George Michael's "I Want Your 
Sex" (1987) for what now seem like harmless sexual references when 
compared to certain songs on the current Radio 1 playlist. It is true 
that, after that, the list of reasons for liberal-left people to 
disapprove of the BBC, while right-wing reactionaries would support 
it, largely peters out.

But, whatever the more right-wing newspapers and politicians might 
tell you, the changes are not really the BBC's work. It isn't the BBC 
itself these people hate, it's modern British culture, and they're 
just taking it out on the most obvious moving target they can think 
of. One might call it the "whatever happened to Housewives' Choice, oh 
and isn't that Steve Wright frightfully vulgar?" mentality.

Ventures like 1Xtra - the BBC's new digital radio station devoted to 
what is often called "urban" music (a term this writer dislikes 
intensely) infuriate the reactionary right. There is a direct and 
understandable reason for this - they represent the official sign of 
approval from the establishment towards the cultural developments they 
hate.

The reactionary right know that the existence of a black / "urban" 
music station funded from the licence fee is a sign of how far this 
music has worked its way into British culture. What they want more 
than anything else is to push it "back where it comes from" (the 
cultural equivalent of repatriation of immigrants).

When the Radio 1 hip-hop DJ Tim Westwood was on Capital Radio, I don't
recall him being anything like the hate-figure for the right that he 
is now. In a sense, it's a sign of how important the BBC still is - if 
the BBC broadcasts something, it shows that this thing is accepted 
within British culture, and so that inspires those who want this thing 
sent out of the country to new heights of apoplexy.

There is one other important element here. The fact that 1Xtra 
listeners and Radio 3 listeners fund each other's programmes is one of 
the last remaining signs of 1945-79 collectivism. Ever since the 1986 
Peacock Report, which advocated the privatisation of Radios 1 and 2, 
it has been obvious that ideologues of the right would love to see the 
licence fee abolished or, at the very least, reduced considerably.

When they are feeling more positive towards the BBC, they do at least
advocate a subscription system where people would pay only for the 
channels they watch or listen to, but of course this would remove the 
collectivist element, and by extension it would also remove part of 
the point of the BBC's existence.

The greatest irony of all, however, is that the changes the BBC has 
made which the Murdoch press denounce as "dumbing down" - turning BBC1 
into more of an entertainment channel and less of an all-round "formal 
national broadcaster", putting a lot of licence fee money into a 24-
hour news channel, giving more live coverage of the Queen Mother's 
death and fewer recorded tributes, the list goes on - have mostly been 
in response to the dramatic effect that Sky has had on British 
television.

I think it should be common knowledge that Sky is also a Murdoch 
company. The modern British political right have an uncanny ability to 
contradict themselves at every turn. Their view of the BBC is an 
outstanding example of this tendency. --  (Robin Carmody, Portland, 
Dorset, Op-Ed? Letter to the editor? Via Mike Terry, DXLD)

** U K [and non]. US GIANT TO MAKE GRAB FOR CAPITAL RADIO  
   By Damian Reece  (Filed: 17/11/2002) http://www.telegraph.co.uk

Clear Channel, the world's biggest radio company, has drawn up plans 
to acquire at least two of Britain's biggest commercial stations, 
including Capital Radio. It is selling all its smaller British radio 
interests to clear the way for these ambitious bids.

Clear Channel, valued at $24bn, owns 2,000 radio stations in the US 
[no, it doesn`t; only 1200+ --- gh]. It is pressing ahead with the UK 
acquisitions following last week's confirmation that the 
Communications Bill will relax media ownership rules. A bid for
Capital would cost up to £500m, although the company is currently 
valued by the stock market at £380m.

"We are selling our minority stakes but this does not mean we have 
lost interest in UK radio," Roger Parry, chief executive of Clear 
Channel International, told The Telegraph.

"Clearly we want scale and there is no point buying just one business. 
You have to have a coherent strategy to allow you to consolidate the 
industry. Any buyer considering a UK play has to include Capital high 
on their list of potential candidates. It is the largest and the most 
visible," he said.

"The slide rule has been well and truly worn out working out what 
assets are worth".

Capital, whose most famous presenter is its breakfast show host Chris
Tarrant, saw its shares fall 18 per cent last week after it reported a
near-halving of annual pre-tax profits to £14.6m caused by a slump in
advertising.

"It is no secret we would be loathe to pay more than 10 to 12 times 
future cash flow and Capital is trading at that level. But that is the 
cash flow of the business being managed now. With our outdoor 
advertising business there would be some synergies [or a boost to cash 
flows]," said Parry.

Parry said Clear Channel would not pre-empt the new legislation by 
bidding before the Bill became law, probably next summer.

Clear Channel will this week confirm the sale of its minority stakes 
in several radio businesses, including Switch Digital, which is being 
sold to the Wireless Group and Carphone Warehouse.

Two weeks ago Clear Channel sold its radio advertising sales house to 
the Guardian Media Group, which also bought Clear Channel's 32 per 
cent stake in Jazz FM in July.

Other potential targets for Clear Channel include GWR and Emap. Parry 
said a deal to buy GWR, the company behind Classic FM, would depend on 
agreement being reached with Viscount Rothermere, chairman of the 
Daily Mail and General Trust, which owns 26.7 per cent.

"If he wants to sell then it is a candidate. If he doesn't then it's 
not," said Parry.

An acquisition of Emap would be more complicated as it would involve
breaking up the business and separating its core magazines division 
from its radio and television assets.

"We think UK radio is very attractive because it is so very 
dysfunctional. There are too many radio companies. You are moving 
toward a single ITV company but there are still eight or nine radio 
companies," said Parry (via Mike Terry, DXLD)

A shorter version:
http://reuters.com/news_article.jhtml?type=humannews&StoryID=1753145
(via Artie Bigley, Brock Whaley, DXLD)

** U S A. From http://www.nytimes.com/2002/11/16/opinion/16ELLI.html
   November 16, 2002

Is There an Audience for Public Diplomacy?  By KIM ANDREW ELLIOTT

ARLINGTON, Va. - Public diplomacy - the current and gentler term for
international propaganda - has lately been the subject of task force 
reports and articles in Foreign Policy and Foreign Affairs, and both 
houses of Congress will be considering relevant legislation early in 
their next session. One of the first applications of the new thinking 
on public diplomacy is State Department mini-documentaries about the 
lives of Muslim Americans, currently broadcast as commercials on 
Indonesian television. The State Department is trying to emphasize 
American values and their wide applicability, as well as the 
accomplishments of Americans.

I have been doing international broadcasting audience research for 25 
years, and I am not aware of any persons huddled by their radios to 
hear about the achievements and values of the United States or any 
other country.

People do listen to foreign broadcasts if they are in countries where
information is controlled by the government. They listen to the 
stations that best provide a credible substitute for the news they are 
not getting from their domestic media.

During most of the postwar years, Radio Moscow was the behemoth of
international radio. Yet its audience was normally a small fraction of 
that of the major Western stations. This is because Radio Moscow 
transmitted propaganda.

Britain spent much less than the Soviet Union on international 
broadcasting and still spends less than the United States. But its BBC 
World Service has the largest audience and most prestige of any 
international radio station. This is largely because the BBC World 
Service has with rare exceptions remained independent of British 
government control.

The American radio stations - Voice of America, Radio Free 
Europe/Radio Liberty, and Radio Free Asia - have generally adhered to 
their news missions and have earned good reputations among their 
audiences. There is, nonetheless, a persistent ambiguity to American 
international broadcasting. The BBC is prohibited from broadcasting 
editorials; V.O.A., by contrast, is officially required to broadcast 
United States government editorials.

Almost all of the recent reports, articles, bills and speeches about 
public diplomacy put international broadcasting in the same basket as 
public diplomacy. Public diplomacy, however, manages information to 
put the United States and its policies in the best light. In my 
experience, this is exactly the type of pro-government reporting that 
audiences seek to escape by tuning to foreign broadcasts.

American decision-makers may wonder why on earth they should provide 
money to a radio or television station that merely tells the truth. 
For the answer, let us consider the Arab target audience. Arabs are 
largely opposed to American policies toward Israel and Palestine and 
to any possible American invasion of Iraq. No amount of spin will make 
a dent in the public opinion of the Arab world.

However, Arabs will listen to a radio station or watch a television 
channel that provides news that is more comprehensive and reliable 
than what they get from their domestic media. Well informed, they can 
make up their own minds about current events. They will be grateful to 
the United States for providing such a service.

The independent journalism of such an American station would be an 
example of how democracy works. Arab audiences will hear debate in 
Congress, among pundits and in assembly halls. Sometimes it will be 
raucous, but that's part of its attraction. They may wish for such 
open differences of opinion in their own countries.

Sooner or later they will hear a viewpoint, perhaps from a member of
Congress, perhaps from an American newspaper editorial, that is not so 
far from their own. They will understand that such an opinion may not 
be the Bush administration's foreign policy, but it is American, and 
something that will help them relate to America. Then audiences in the 
Arab world and elsewhere may understand America a bit more and dislike 
it a bit less. All told, it might be enough to make a difference.

(Kim Andrew Elliott is an analyst in the Office of Research of the 
United States International Broadcasting Bureau, which includes the 
Voice of America). (via Mike Terry, DXLD)

** U S A. The request at wbcq.com for donations in the name of "WBCQ 
Kansas" is gone. We first broke this story on Saturday November 9. No 
answer was ever received from anyone associated with WBCQ as to 
whether WBCQ Kansas is a legitimate part of the WBCQ operation. We'll 
keep our eye on this issue (Daniel Srebnick, http://swradio.us Nov 17, 
DX LISTENING DIGEST)

** U S A. WOR Digital: Just wanted to say 'hi' to all IRCAns. It's 
been a while since I have been on the list. The big news here, and 
everywhere, is WOR's digital signal. It blocks out up to three 
adjacent channels. This is by plan. You should read the technical 
white papers at Ibiquity.com. In our case, the world from 690 through 
730 gets blottoed (technical term) at my QTH about 50 miles from 
their tower site. They turn it on in the morning when they feel like 
it and turn it off sometime before sunset. These signals, on skywave 
at night, would be one royal mess. Here's a spin on it you may not 
have thought of: 

Smaller stations will be put at a disadvantage if they can not afford 
digital exciters and other expensive appropriate-to-digital 
transmission gear (like broadbanding their antenna). The smaller 
stations will be dealt their last death blow from the Clear Channels 
of the world who will either buy them up in distress or simply watch 
them die. Small stations are financially hurting as it is, and will 
not be able to afford to upgrade to digital. I see digital as an 
arrogant move to help big business. I'm not sure if the Motorola idea 
is viable. If IBOC is allowable, at least the smaller stations should 
be able to remove their NRSC filters and revert back to wideband 
operation. Anyway, the DXer is going to get it in the nose with 
noise and splatter. Does anyone remember the "Theme from Shaft" 
effect? 

(Ibiquity IBOC digital sounds like 'Attack of the Killer Bees'") Why 
try to "improve" a medium that still proves to be wonderful and robust 
after over 80 years of use (good old AM radio)? I'd love to see anyone 
come up with another system that requires nearly no equipment or 
satellite transmission to send signals thousands of miles with 
regularity....I'm still at CBS TV and an active CW ham (callsign 
N2KZ). If you are interested in a QSO, please let me know. 73 de (N2KZ 
Karl Zuk near NYC, Nov 16, IRCA via DXLD)

During the 2002 NAB Convention, KIXI - 880 Mercer Is (Seattle) was
testing IBOC. At 150 miles away to the SW, I get an S9 signal on KIXI,
with their main lobe to the W/NW. Where a station like KIRO-710 is at
S9+15 or so. When KIXI tested IBOC I found the "white noise" on 890
about S7 and on 870, S5. Why the difference in signal between 890 &
870? I don't really know except 870 does have KFLD-Pasco WA I get fair
during the day at about S5. KFLD was above the noise. On the other 
hand, a very weak CJDC (mostly carrier) I get in the Summer was 
totally buried by the S7 white noise on 890. When KIXI was not using 
IBOC 870 and 890 were totally clean.

I was told that in the metro Seattle area the IBOC noise was so bad
KHHO-850-Tacoma (30 miles South of Seattle) could not be received
clearly within 10-15 miles from the KIXI TX site the IBOC noise was so
bad. The IBOC signal caused all sorts of cross modulation across the
dial the closer you were to the KIXI site. That QRM was there 10 miles
out. 73s, (Patrick Martin, Seaside OR, IRCA via DXLD)

** U S A. 
RADIO LAW: COURT STRIKES DOWN DESCRIPTIVE VIDEO FOR THE BLIND 

Bad news for the visually impaired. A Federal appeals court says that 
the FCC overstepped its authority in ordering broadcaster to provide 
descriptive video to accommodate the blind. Amateur Radio Newsline's 
Bruce Tennant, K6PZW, reports: -- 

On Friday, November 8th the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of 
Columbia Circuit threw out Federal Communications Commission rules 
requiring television programs to include these oral descriptions of 
the action on the screen. In rendering its decision, the court said 
that Congress did not give the FCC the power to order the creation of 
this service. The court maintained that Congress only authorized and 
ordered the commission to produce a report on how best to accommodate 
the needs of the visually impaired. Nothing more and nothing less. And 
that it definitely did not direct the agency to create a federal 
mandate that a descriptive audio service be made mandatory. Under 
video description, a narrator describes the action during natural 
pauses between dialogue. The description is available on the secondary 
or SAP audio channel which is usually used for second language 
broadcasting. 

The Motion Picture Association of America had challenged the rules in 
court. It claimed that the FCC was not authorized to issue them. Now, 
the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit says 
that it agrees. For the Amateur Radio Newsline, I'm, Bruce Tennant, 
K6PZW, in Los Angeles. -- Blind advocacy groups are criticizing the 
court decision. They say its a setback for those who are visually 
impaired (Published reports, Amateur Radio Newsline Nov 15 via DXLD) 

** U S A [non]. ESTADOS UNIDOS VIA CHILE - A Voz Cristã transmite o 
programa Altas Ondas, nas sextas e sábados, às 1600 UT, pela 
freqüência de 21500 kHz, em 13 metros. O Altas Ondas possui os 
seguintes quadros: "Correspondente Dexista", com as principais 
notícias do mundo das ondas curtas; "Distante Conhecido", com
respostas aos informes de recepção dos dexistas; "As escutas do Samuel 
Cássio", com áudios interessantes enviados pelo colega; "DX 
Interview", com Carlos Felipe entrevistando algum dexista brasileiro; 
"DX File", com a divulgação de algum áudio interessante que faz parte 
da história do veículo; "Sintonia Fina", com dados técnicos do 
dexismo, escrito por Rudolf Walter Grimm. Também pode ser ouvido, no 
mesmo horário, pela Internet, no seguinte sítio:  
http://www.vozcrista.com
(clicar em "áudio e vídeo", no lado esquerdo). O programa possui um 
endereço eletrônico exclusivo para o recebimento de informes de 
recepção: altasondas@v... [truncated] Endereço postal: Voz Cristã, 
Caixa Postal 2889, Miami, Flórida, 33144, Estados Unidos. (Célio 
Romais, Brasil, @tividade DX Nov 17 via DXLD)

That`s fine, seems like the DX segments have increased, but in between 
them you have to put up with nauseatingly unctuous evangelism. The 
only conceivable way to listen to this would be ondemand or on tape to 
skip past the nonsense (gh, DXLD)

** UZBEKISTAN. Broadcast jamming: Privet Martin, Below is my personal 
opinion, but nevertheless it may be put to CRW as well. Recently, many 
DX listeners and station officials (such as people from VOA and BBC) 
discussed the continued jamming of Uzbek-language broadcasting by 
Chinese authorities. They presume that Uzbek language can be easily 
understood by Uighur people, which is a national minority in Western 
China. Then, Uzbek broadcasts from Western radios may disturb 
stability in that region of China, they say. 

Well, but I still wonder: Kazakh and Kyrhgyz languages are 
understandable for Uighurs as well. To my ear, Kazakh is even more 
close to Uighur than Uzbek is. But those languages are not subject to 
jamming at all. I do not exclude the possibility that initiative of 
jamming comes from Uzbekistan government. Possibly they have no 
technical possibility to do this, so maybe some agreement with Chinese 
authorities has been established. Regarding possible FM relaying in 
Tashkent, Uzbekistan capital (is it really carried out?), they may 
keep a good play for Western diplomatic missions, to show that "we do 
not violate the information freedom". Remember, Eastern rulers are 
very sly... Anyway, that's only a hypothesis (Dmitri Mezin, Russia, 
Nov 3, for CRW via DXLD) 

** VENEZUELA. Saludos colegas diexistas. La situación en venezuela es 
muy tensa por la situación que se conoce a nivel mundial. Hoy me acaba 
de llegar otro correo que dice lo siguiente:

90.7 FM en directo con todo lo que ocurre en la Plaza Altamira 

Si usted quiere enterarse de las actividades y acontecimientos diarios 
de la Plaza Altamira, puede sintonizar 90.7 FM, emisora que transmite 
las 24 horas. Desde donde se encuentre en la ciudad, podrá tener 
acceso de los acontecimientos en pleno desarrollo. Los invitamos pues, 
a mantenerse en sintonía con la Plaza Altamira, para que pueda 
enterarse de los llamados, manifiestos y proclamas que los Oficiales
disidentes den en la Plaza La Libertad. 

Por cierto colegas diexistas, ya tengo el sonido de 90.7 FM y parte de 
lo que se transmite a traves de la misma. Atte: José Elías, Venezuela, 
Nov 17 `4:00 pm`, Conexión Digital via DXLD) Only local impact

** VIETNAM [non]. Clandestine to Vietnam from Russia: 11560, Voice of 
Khmer Krom Radio, Nov 12. *1400-1430. Initially sign-on with I.S., 
with opening announcements in Cambodian, followed with news clips and 
programming. Station was interfered by WYFR (via Taiwan Reply, Radio 
Taipei International ID on the Hour) in English. This interference 
could have been a punched error for 11550, but whatever it was, it 
caused quite a problem on this date. Checked the following day, no 
sign of WYFR either on 11550 or 11560 (Edward Kusalik, Alberta, 
CANADA, Cumbre DX via DXLD)

UNIDENTIFIED. One of my best programs is DX Partyline on weekends. I 
have a nice reception via 9745 however, there is a whooping sound on 
the back of the moderator. Its like a bubbling noise similar to a 
"store alarm" I wonder what`s that noise. Regards to all (Héctor 
(Luigi) Pérez, San Juan PR, hard-core-dx via DXLD) Mideast jammer 

UNIDENTIFIED IDENTIFIED. One of my reporters in TN has a couple of 
unID beacons 500+. Wonder if you know where they are: 
510.4 HMY Lexington OK (carrier is at 512 kHz) 
513.4 ONH Jefferson City MO (carrier is at 515 kHz) 
Both have been heard here in MI as well -- the one from Lexington is a 
common one here. You're welcome! 73 (Ken Zichi, MI, DX LISTENING 
DIGEST)

UNIDENTIFIED IDENTIFIED: 4930 station at 1100+: I got information, the 
station was R. Turkmenistan (Y. Uemura, Japan, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 
Not a Latin American as hypothesized

UNIDENTIFIED. Re 27105: Good Afternoon Mr. Hauser, I just noticed your 
questions to my posting of the unID on 27105 kHz.  in the 11/14/02 
Cumbre DX listings. Thank you for your interest. I have always enjoyed 
your shows and used to subscribe to your hard copy newsletters. I 
shall answer your questions below:

1. Question: Do you have any reason to believe this is not a few miles 
from you on ground wave? Answer: I do not know. I have never taken 
interest in the CB bands so I am not familiar with the signal 
characteristics and ground wave effects of a CB transmission. I am 
picking up the transmission in the AM mode. My first thought was 
somebody had bought a LP transmitter kit or modified a baby monitor 
and was broadcasting music to their garage or basement or it might be 
a relay of some kind to a MW station. After I finally caught on that 
it was a standard CB channel, my thought is that it might be somebody
keying the microphone and playing records. The first few times I heard 
the broadcasts, there was a noticeable "clunk" between songs. The last 
few times the transitions between songs has been smoother. I am 
curious why this transmission does not include any IDs. I have picked 
up "pirate" stations for years. One thing that the ones that transmit 
regularly have in common is they almost always give some type of ID--
sometimes many more IDs than a licensed station. Since there is a lack 
of IDs, I still lean toward the transmissions being likely somebody 
playing around with sending up signals around their house. 

2. Question: Is there any fading? Answer: Most of the signal seems 
evenly modulated. I cannot hear if there are any peaks and valley in 
the audio. However, the weak signal could be masking fading.

3. Question: Is there any "skip" on nearby CB frequencies when you 
hear it? Answer: The closest frequency I have heard presumed CB'ers 
during the broadcast is 27465 kHz and 27555 kHz. The transmissions 
tend to be around 0200Z and I have heard them for up to 40 minutes. I 
have never heard any continuous music anywhere near this frequency.

4. Question: Where in TN are you anyhow? Answer: The reception 
location is in Upper East TN.

My opinion is the transmission is probably somewhere around the 
receiving location. I do not have a high dollar receiver and usually 
pick up the transmission with the built in antenna. Various reports 
have been posted to several shortwave sites, including CumbreDX, 
without any other responses. I hope that this answers your questions, 
if not please contact me. 73 (Joe Wood, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

RECEIVER NEWS
+++++++++++++

HAM RADIO BUSINESS: KENWOOD TO RESTRUCTURE 

Some big changes at a company considered one of ham radios "big three. 
Ken Butler, W1NNR, tells about the news coming from Kenwood: -- 

Kenwood Corporation is merging five U.S. based subsidiaries. As part 
of the restructuring, Kenwood will combine home and car audio marketer 
Kenwood U-S-A, its repair company Kenwood Service, Kenwood 
Communications and Kenwood Systems with their parent Kenwood Americas. 
The merged entity will simply be called Kenwood. As part of the 
merger, Kenwood will expand its U.S. based home and car audio 
engineering team. The communications business which includes Amateur 
Radio products will continue to maintain its own sales and marketing 
staff. The consolidation won't shut down any offices or warehouses and 
the company plans to add people in an engineering capacity. Ken 
Butler, W1NNR. -- The changes here in the United States are a are part 
of a total Kenwood corporate restructuring announced earlier this year 
(ARNewsline from press release, Nov 15 via DXLD) 

PROPAGATION
+++++++++++

GROUPS TO AGAIN ATTEMPT TRANSATLANTIC VHF CONTACT

From November 17 through November 21, two groups of amateurs from 
Germany, Canada and Ireland will attempt to make two-way transatlantic 
contact using VHF in conjunction with the Leonid meteor shower. The 
effort will be in accordance with the quest for the Brendan Trophies
http://www.irts.ie/brendan.htm offered by the Irish Radio Transmitter
Society.

The Brendan Trophies will go to each of the operators of the two 
Amateur Radio stations that first establish two-way communication 
between Europe and North or South America on 2 meters. One group will 
be based at Kells on the Irish coast (using a call sign not yet 
announced), while the other will operate from Admiralty House Museum 
and Archive in Mt Pearl, Newfoundland, some eight miles west of St 
John's and use the call sign VO1BZM.

The two teams will attempt to use the ionized meteor trails to reflect
FSK441 signals across the Atlantic. Traveling to Ireland will be 
Nicolas Exner, DK5DQ, and Volker Muehlhaus, DL5DAW. They will 
collaborate with Tony Baldwin, EI2FSB/EI8JK, and Tony Moore, EI7BMB. 
On the Canadian side, Harry Schleichert, DL2DAO, will join a team from 
the Society of Newfoundland Radio Amateurs (SONRA) 
http://www.sonra.ca/

The Newfoundland site is not far from Signal Hill National Historic 
Site of Canada, where Marconi received the first transatlantic signal 
in 1901.

The Leonids occur when Earth passes through the orbit of comet Tempel-
Tuttle. The resulting meteor shower is expected to peak November 18-
19. A 1999 effort to complete a transatlantic 2-meter contact between
Newfoundland and Scotland on CW was unsuccessful. Additional 
information will be posted on the VHF Transatlantic Experiment 2002 
Web site http://www.dx144.de (Paul Piercey, VO1HE, ARRL Letter Nov 15 
via DXLD)

METEOR SPECTACULAR OVER UK MAY BE CENTURY'S BEST  
 
Usually the Leonids result in interesting propagation effects. Here's 
more on this story (an extract) from The Sunday Times
http://www.timesonline.co.uk (do a search and then register). .

Jonathan Leake and Judith O'Reilly, November 17 2002

THE biggest visible shower of shooting stars for decades is due to 
light up the sky above Britain tomorrow night. The shower, known as 
the Leonid meteors, is expected to reach a peak in the early hours of 
Tuesday morning. The meteors - fragments from the tail of a comet - 
are predicted to appear at the rate of about 1,000 an hour.

The Leonids, visible at the same point in the sky as the constellation 
of Leo, are fast- moving dust particles. They leave bright trails 
across the sky as they are incinerated by friction with the upper 
atmosphere which they enter at speeds of about 160,000mph.... (much 
more on the web site). (via Mike Terry, DXLD)

TUNE IN THE LEONID METEORS ON TV OR RADIO TOMORROW NIGHT  
The ionizing effect of shooting stars boosts your reception
Visit  http://www.msnbc.com/news/835527.asp?0bl=-0&cp1=1#BODY

(Picture) (A spectrogram recorded in Portugal shows the effect of a 
Leonid fireball explosion on a carrier signal from a shortwave-radio 
station in the 15 MHz broadcast band. Click to hear radio "whistlers" 
recorded by NASA during the Leonid meteor shower).

THOUGH NOT widely known outside the circle of serious meteor 
observers, you can always detect shooting stars on a regular FM radio 
or a television set.

When a meteoroid whizzes through Earth's upper atmosphere, it leaves
in its wake a trail of ionized gas. Radio stations operating on the FM 
band broadcast by virtue of line-of-sight reception (the curvature of 
the earth normally prevents such signals from being heard much beyond 
the horizon).

These signals can be briefly heard across rather great distances when
bounced off the trail left behind by a meteor. Typically a meteor 
drags a long cylinder or column of ionized air behind it that can be 
several miles or more in length and appear at altitudes of 60 to 90 
miles (95 to 145 kilometers) above the earth. 

The ionization effect tends to decay rather rapidly. However, the 
larger the meteoroid particle, the more persistent the meteor trail 
and the longer the duration that the trail can reflect a distant radio 
signal.

        HOW TO LISTEN

On the FM band, you stand the best chance of success by monitoring
the low end of the band, below 91.1 MHz. That's because most low-power
stations are found there, generally free of local interference from 
the higher-power commercial stations that are found farther up the 
dial.

"I think the FM broadcast band would be best for most people, if they
can find a clear frequency, preferably near the low end of the band," 
says longtime amateur radio operator Shelby Ennis (W8WN) of Kentucky. 
"A small external antenna would help."

Tune to a blank spot on a specific frequency. From altitudes of 60 to
90 miles, meteors are capable of reflecting signals from stations 
1,000 miles or more away. So exactly what are you trying to hear?

        WHAT TO LISTEN FOR

A bright meteor can cause a distant radio station to suddenly come
blaring in loud and clear for a fraction of a second (referred to by 
radio amateurs as a "ping"). Or, depending on how long the trail of 
ionized gas persists, you may continue to hear the station's signal - 
albeit much weaker - for perhaps 10 to 20 seconds or more.

You'll have better success if you can turn off the stereo and "mute"
functions on your FM radio. Radios with an indoor antenna are OK, but 
you'll do much better with an antenna that is mounted outdoors.

Another radio amateur who monitors meteor showers on radio, Ilkka
Yrjölä (OH5IY) of Kuusankoski, Finland, notes that "indoor antennas 
pick up noise from household electronics, and FM radio signals may 
actually be severely attenuated by the walls, though one may receive 
all the local stations just fine. An outdoor antenna is something to 
have, or if the conditions are no good, drive a car to a park, or 
outside the city to a relatively clear spot, and listen to FM from 
there."

Ennis agrees on this final point. "Some have done well just sitting
in their car, watching the sky and monitoring the FM band that way."
You can try listening anytime after the Leonid radiant comes above
your local horizon (generally after 11 p.m. local time).

For those in New England and the Canadian Maritimes, this is around
the time of the first predicted Leonid outburst. As such, it might be
worthwhile to try to listen during the two hours or so surrounding 
this first peak, regardless of the actual geometry of the radiant's 
location.

However, the very best time to listen is when the radiant is roughly
halfway up above the horizon as seen from a point halfway between you 
and the station transmitter. From a given location, the Leonid radiant 
is at this height at around 3 a.m. local time when it is in the east-
southeast sky, and again around 9 a.m. when it's in the west-
southwest.

You should try tuning to a station located in a direction
perpendicular to the radiant. So, if you are listening when the 
radiant is up in the east-southeast sky, the better listening 
directions are to your north-northeast and south-southwest; when the 
radiant is in the west-southwest sky, try for stations to your north-
northwest and south-southeast.

People in North America's Mountain time zone are particularly
favored, since the Leonid radiant will be at or very near the proper 
height above the east-southeast horizon around the time when the 
second outburst of meteor activity is expected to occur.

Again, you stand the best chance of success if you try tuning your
receiver to a blank spot on the FM dial that is at or below 91.1 MHz.
Unfortunately, prospective listeners who live in or near large cities
may run into a problem analogous to visual observers trying to find a
location free of light pollution - namely, there might not be any 
blank spots to be found on the FM dial. If you find that this is the 
case in your area, don't despair. Try watching for meteors on your TV.

        TELEVISED EVENT

Basically, television is nothing more than FM radio with pictures 
[video is amplitude-, not frequency-modulated –gh]. Of course, in this 
case we are not talking about a TV set that is hooked up to a local 
cable outlet or a satellite dish! We're talking about using an old-
fashioned TV antenna, either mounted on your roof or at the very least 
a smaller external antenna (such as "rabbit ears").

Look for a vacant channel between channels 2 and 6. Along with
occasionally hearing the audio from a distant station suddenly 
bursting forth, you may actually see a picture for a few moments, or 
some lines across the screen as the TV set tries to lock up on a 
sudden signal, especially if the meteor's ionization trail is 
particularly dense.

One thing you might want to keep in mind if you're listening to your
radio while simultaneously watching the sky: Not every meteor that you 
see visually will result in a ping of reception.

More often than not, you'll probably be hearing activity without
actually seeing any meteors. The reason is that the majority of the 
meteors that induce enhanced reception are streaking through the 
atmosphere many hundreds of miles away, near or beyond your horizon.

On a typical non-Leonid night, listening for meteor activity on radio
means waiting to hear an occasional ping coming through between 
lengthy intervals perhaps lasting many minutes. But if the Leonids 
attain predicted rates of 1,000 per hour or more, the shower could 
translate into almost continuously hearing a distant station whose 
signal will seem to vary dramatically in intensity as it bounces off 
numerous meteor trails.

Joe Rao serves as an instructor and guest lecturer at New York's
Hayden Planetarium. He writes about astronomy for The New York Times 
and other publications, and he is also an on-camera meteorologist for 
News 12 Westchester in New York. © 2002 Space.com. All rights reserved 
(via Mike Terry, DXLD)

Best with lower-power stations below 91.1 MHz??? That`s total 
nonsense. There are loads of high-power stations below 91.1 --- and I 
suppose they meant below 92.1, i.e. the so-called noncommercial band 
(in US terms, clearly the angle of this article). You just need to 
find a frequency anywhere on the FM band with little or no marginal 
groundwave signal, and no adjacent channel interference, an 
increasingly difficult task unless you`re far away from cities. 
Stations above the educational bnad have a higher probability of being 
IDed, not playing lengthy classical music, but with frequent 
commercials giving local clues, and jingles. Furthermore you don`t 
have to be a licensed ham to DX meteor scatter FM, as this seems to 
assume! (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

GRAND FINALE --- THIS IS YOUR LAST CHANCE TO SEE A LEONID STORM.
By Joe Rao  http://skyandtelescope.com

On the morning of November 17, 1966, skywatchers in western North 
America were spellbound by an awesome flood of Leonid meteors peaking 
around 5 a.m. Mountain Standard Time. It was probably the greatest 
meteor shower of the 20th century. At New Mexico State University 
Observatory, A. Scott Murrell used a camera tracking the stars to 
capture this 10- to 12-minute exposure with a 50-mm f/1.9 lens and 
Kodak Tri-X (ISO 400) film. The bowl of the Little Dipper is at 
bottom. Photo by A. Scott Murrell/NMSU; courtesy Sky & Telescope.

(Want to watch this meteor shower? "Observing the Leonids" will tell 
you when to look and how to observe.)

As most Sky & Telescope readers know, the Leonids are the dross of 
Comet 55P/Tempel-Tuttle. A meteor stream is like an enormous highway 
of moving particles, strung out along the entire elliptical path of 
the comet, and we become aware of only those particles that actually 
encounter our planet (a comparatively tiny target - a mere dot in 
space). The geometry of the encounter makes them appear around 
November 18th each year from the direction of the Sickle of Leo, hence 
the name "Leonids." We normally see no more than about 10 meteors per 
hour.

But that's just an average Leonid shower. Every third of a century, 
for several Novembers in a row, there is the chance that the Leonids 
will put on a truly prolific showing. There can be hundreds or even 
thousands of shooting stars per hour. In fact, we are in this window 
of potential Leonid storms right now. Each time Comet Tempel-Tuttle 
sweeps through the inner solar system and passes nearest to the Sun, 
it spews new sets of particles into space that quickly elongate into 
long, narrow, extradense ribbons of debris. Such ribbons of meteoroids 
likely have a complex structure and almost certainly contain denser 
sheets or clusters, each perhaps spawned by an individual outburst on 
the comet nucleus. A typical dust trail must be at least several 
astronomical units (Earth-Sun distances) long to have been encountered 
for several years running, but it is probably only a few Earth 
diameters thick.

Leonids appear ultrafast compared to the meteors of other showers, for 
this stream's particles enter our atmosphere at 71 kilometers per 
second (near the theoretical speed limit for particles belonging to 
our solar system). Because of their tremendous speeds, Leonids can be 
extremely bright and are often tinged with hues of blue or green. 
Roughly half leave luminous vapor trains - some hanging in the air 
five minutes or more.

The curtain on the current Leonid saga rose in November 1998, just 
eight months after Comet Tempel-Tuttle passed perihelion. On the night 
of November 16-17 that year, practically the whole world witnessed a 
remarkable and unexpected 18-hour bombardment of brilliant fireballs, 
at times numbering up to a few hundred per hour. In 1999 fewer 
fireballs were seen, but they were replaced by a true storm of more 
typical Leonids with rates reaching one per second over Europe, 
Africa, and the Middle East. A very good display (but no storm) 
appeared in 2000. Then in 2001, not one but two Leonid storms
materialized.

And now, in 2002, we prepare for what indeed will be the grand finale. 
It's one final opportunity to see Leonid displays capable of producing 
rates in excess of 1,000 per hour - one last chance, for probably a 
very long time, to see a Leonid storm.

As it nears the Sun every 33 years, the icy nucleus of Comet Tempel-
Tuttle ejects a flurry of small particles, which spread out along its 
orbit over time. Earth crosses this stream of comet crumbs every 
November, creating a "shower" - and rarely a "storm" - of meteors in 
our atmosphere. These frames come from an animation; click on the 
image to download a 2-megabyte QuickTime movie (via Mike Terry, DXLD)

WRC-03
++++++

IARU ADMINISTRATIVE COUNCIL CONTINUES WRC-03 PREPARATIONS

Preparations for next year's World Radiocommunication Conference (WRC-
03) dominated discussions during the annual meeting of the 
International Amateur Radio Union (IARU) Administrative Council. The 
gathering, November 7-8 in San Marino, reviewed WRC-03 agenda items of 
importance to amateurs, including harmonization of amateur and 
broadcasting allocations in the vicinity of 7 MHz. Several of those 
attending the San Marino session will head directly to the 
International Telecommunication Union (ITU) Conference Preparatory 
Meeting in Geneva November 18-29 (see below).

The Administrative Council reviewed and refined IARU strategy for WRC-
03. Other WRC-03 agenda items of concern to the amateur community 
include possible revision of Article 25 of the international Radio 
Regulations. Article 25 includes the current requirement to 
demonstrate Morse code proficiency. In San Marino, the Council 
reaffirmed its policy supporting the removal of Morse code testing as 
an ITU requirement to obtain an amateur license to operate on 
frequencies below 30 MHz.

In other business, the IARU Administrative Council noted the growing 
use of power lines for high-speed data communications and expressed 
concerns that radiation from power line communications--sometimes 
called PLC or PLT--could interfere with Amateur Radio reception. The 
Council resolved to urge member-societies to recognize the importance 
of studies now under way and to share information on investigations 
conducted in their respective countries.

The Council also reviewed and updated a working document on the 
present and anticipated future Amateur and Amateur-Satellite spectrum
requirements. The document reflects progress made by member-societies 
in achieving amateur access in the low-frequency bands--135-200 kHz.

The Council adopted the theme "Amateur Radio supporting technology
education in the classroom" for World Amateur Radio Day. World Amateur
Radio Day, April 18, 2003, marks the anniversary of the founding of 
the IARU in 1925.

Attending the Council meeting were IARU President Larry Price, W4RA; 
Vice President David Wardlaw, VK3ADW; Secretary David Sumner, K1ZZ; 
regional representatives Lou van de Nadort, PA0LOU, Tim Hughes, G3GVV, 
Ole Garpestad, LA2RR, Pedro Seidemann, YV5BPG, Rod Stafford, W6ROD, 
Fred Johnson, ZL2AMJ, Peter Naish, VK2BPN, and K. C. Selvadurai, 
9V1UV; and recording secretary Paul Rinaldo, W4RI.

The Council recognized van de Nadort, who's retiring as Region 1 
Chairman, and Hughes, who's stepping down as secretary, for their long 
and devoted service to their region and as Administrative Council 
members. The next IARU Administrative Council will be September 6-8 in 
Taipei, Taiwan, following the IARU Region 3 Conference.

WRC-03 ISSUES TO GET FIRST WORLDWIDE AIRING AT CPM

Amateur Radio will be represented as preparations for World
Radiocommunication Conference 2003 (WRC-03) take a big step forward
November 18. That's when the WRC-03 Conference Preparatory Meeting 
(CPM) http://www.itu.int/ITU-R/study-groups/rcpm/index.asp convenes 
for two weeks in Geneva.

ARRL Chief Executive Officer David Sumner, K1ZZ, described the CPM as 
"a mini-WRC-03."When we come out of the CPM, we'll have a good idea of 
where things stand in terms of Amateur Radio issues," Sumner said. 
Both events are sponsored by the International Telecommunication Union 
(ITU) http://www.itu.int/home/index.html

As he did at WRC-2000, Sumner will represent Amateur Radio interests 
at the CPM as International Amateur Radio Union (IARU) 
http://www.iaru.org/ secretary. IARU President Larry Price, W4RA, will 
lead an IARU team that includes Wojciech Nietyksza, SP5FM, in addition 
to Sumner. Among amateurs serving on national delegations will be ARRL 
Technical Relations Manager Paul Rinaldo, W4RI, and IARU Vice 
President David Wardlaw, VK3ADW, of Australia.

The CPM represents the first worldwide airing of the various agenda 
items that will come up at WRC-03 next June and July. At the CPM, 
Sumner explained, approximately 1000 delegates from around the world 
will pore over some 500 pages of a draft CPM Report.

Sumner says that only a small portion of the paper pile --- such as 
the question of a worldwide 300-kHz allocation in the vicinity of 7
MHz --- directly affects Amateur Radio, however. The CPM is held, 
Sumner explained, so that administrations "won't be starting out with 
a blank sheet of paper" when WRC-03 rolls around. A separate agenda 
item at WRC-03 that's not entirely unrelated to the 7-MHz issue is the 
consideration of allocations for international broadcasting in the 
vicinity of from 4 to 10 MHz.

Other amateur issues include a request to allocate up to 6 MHz of 
spectrum for so-called synthetic aperture radars (SARs) from 420 to 
470 MHz to be operated under the Earth Exploration Satellite Service 
(Active). The ARRL and the IARU oppose SARs in the most active 
portions of the amateur 70-cm band. CPM delegates also will deal with 
the amateur allocation in the vicinity of 5 GHz, which is facing 
growing competition from so-called Radio Local Area Networks (RLANs) 
and other unlicensed services.

Article 25, which -- among other things -- deals with the requirement 
to demonstrate proficiency in Morse code to operate below 30 MHz, has 
been another high-profile issue for amateurs. It's virtually certain 
that a Morse examination will no longer be a requirement. But the 
updated Radio Regulations could include language making clear that 
administrations may continue to require code tests if they wish.

Meanwhile, volcanic activity in Ecuador has led to the postponement of 
the Inter-American Telecommunication Commission (CITEL) PCC.II meeting 
that was set to take place November 11-14. ARRL Technical Relations 
Specialist Jon Siverling, WB3ERA--on the US delegation for the event--
said volcanic ash had closed the airport. An IARU delegate also will 
attend the session, once it's rescheduled.

"It's a very important meeting to prepare for WRC-03, and we hope they
reschedule it as soon as possible." Siverling said this week, adding 
that CITEL now hopes to hold the meeting in mid-December (ARRL Letter 
Nov 15 via DXLD)        ###