DX LISTENING DIGEST 3-019, February 3, 2003 edited by Glenn Hauser, ghauser@hotmail.com Items from DXLD may be reproduced and re-reproduced only if full credit be maintained at all stages and we be provided exchange copies. DXLD may not be reposted in its entirety without permission. Materials taken from Arctic or originating from Olle Alm and not having a commercial copyright are exempt from all restrictions of noncommercial, noncopyrighted reusage except for full credits HTML version of this issue will be posted afterwards at http://www.worldofradio.com/dxldtd3b.html [note change] HTML version of all January issues now at http://www.worldofradio.com/dxldtd3a.html For restrixions and searchable 2003 contents archive see http://www.worldofradio.com/dxldmid.html For restrixions and searchable 2002 contents archive see http://www.worldofradio.com/dxldmid2.html NOTE: If you are a regular reader of DXLD, and a source of DX news but have not been sending it directly to us, please consider yourself obligated to do so. Thanks, Glenn NEXT AIRINGS OF WORLD OF RADIO 1167: RFPI: Tue 1900, Wed 0100, 0700, 1300 on 15039 and/or 7445 WWCR: Wed 1030 9475 WJIE: M-F 1300 7490... WRN ONDEMAND: http://new.wrn.org/listeners/stations/station.php?StationID=24 [Low] (Download) http://www.k4cc.net/wor1167.rm (Stream) http://www.k4cc.net/wor1167.ram [High] (Download) http://www.k4cc.net/wor1167h.rm (Stream) http://www.k4cc.net/wor1167h.ram (Summary) http://www.worldofradio.com/wor1167.html WORLD OF RADIO ON MEDIASOUND New internet station is testing; WOR scheduled Saturdays 2100 UT, thanks to Alan Maylin, Station Manager. Have you heard MEDIASOUND yet? http://www.mediasound.net ** ANTARCTICA. ANTARTIC ARGENTINE: 15476.2, LRA36, Radio Nacional Arcángel San Gabriel, Base Antártica Esperanza, 2014-2055, January 28. Spanish transmission. Commentary about the polar bear. Weather report: "la temperatura es de un grado, 8 décimas, sobre cero... la visibilidad de 200 metros reducida por niebla... datos suministrados por la estación meteorológica Base Esperanza, dependiente del Servicio Meteorológico Nacional". Folk music. ID: "...por LRA36 Radio Nacional Arcángel San Gabriel... nuestro correo electrónico es LRA36@infovia.com.ar ...", 25552 (Arnaldo Slaen, Argentine, hard-core- dx via DXLD) ** ARGENTINA. 15345 kHz, RADIO ARGENTINA AL EXTERIOR, full data QSL card in German; card is computerprinted and shows the RAE logo and the address, v/s Rayen Braun, Deutsche Redaktion & Marcela G. R. Campos, Directora de RAE. Also enclosed long friendly personal letter by Rayen Braun, reception report form and schedule. The delay in issuing the QSL (Oct 2002) was caused to work-overload by R. Braun, the delay in mailing the QSL (Jan 2003) is perhaps due to the fact that the 'directora' had to add her signature to the QSL? Or due to the fact that they had new money etc. in the new year? Envelope had 21 stamps (most self-adhesive, adding to a total amount of 12,5 $), all carefully cancelled at a special 'Filatelia' counter, in 345 days for a report with 1 IRC to RAE, Casilla 555, C1000 WAF Buenos Aires, Argentinien. (Not all return addresses already gave the new 'WAF'- version of the postcode.) (Martin Schoech, Germany, Jan 2003, Cumbre DX via DXLD) ** AUSTRALIA. HCJB Australia has made the move to 11770 today [Feb. 2], and heard at fair level 0915 past 1000, when ID heard. Has various American religious programmes. Four breakdowns noted during the time I was listening, and a weak Chinese speaking station can be heard co- channel. Maybe Xinjiang PBS, Urumchi? 73 (Noel R. Green [Blackpool - NW England] Cumbre DX via DXLD) Also HCJB heard in Jakarta too. Good signal with SIO 444 on 11755 khz at 1157 UT. Asked for reports to: HCJB Australia GPO Box 6918 [sic --- it`s 691-E --- gh] Melbourne 3001, Australia. (Lim Kwet Hian, Indonesia, Feb 3 hard-core-dx via DXLD) Date? As noted above, they moved to 11770 the day before this! Or did they? (gh, DXLD) Just heard the first regular broadcast from HCJB Australia on 15480 kHz. Program started at 1227 UT with IDs as HCJB Australia --- the Voice of the Great Southland. The first half hour was dedicated to the inauguration of the new site, including a speech of the station director and congratulations from the HCJB offices in the USA, Canada and the UK. Reception on 15480 kHz was good, also announced 11755 kHz was not audible. 73s and good DX (Franz Hailfingen/Germany, hard-core- dx via DXLD) They only have one transmitter going so should not be announcing two frequencies at once (gh, DXLD) HCJB-Australia to Pacific & India ----------------------------------- To Pacific: Changed freq to 11770 from 2nd Feb between 0700-1200 UT; nothing was heard over here in New Delhi as CRI occupies this channel up to 1200. To India: Test broadcasts started from 27th Jan '03 were heard as follows : 27th Jan - 1230 - 1321 UT 28th Jan - 1230 - 1402 UT 29th Jan - 1230 - 1359 UT 30th Jan - 1230 - 1419 UT 1st Feb - 1230 - ?? UT Test broadcasts consisted of music, short devotional talks and regular male voice announcements giving their phone number, e-mail and asking for reception reports. Also heard re-run of their old broadcast to pacific with frequencies announced as 11755, 15130 and 15135 and some old news bulletins. Signals were pretty good. Started regular transmissions from 2nd Feb between 1230-1730 UT. Well heard over here but after 1410 signals were weak due to poor propagation. They had some special programming for their first day of regular broadcast, between 1230-1300 greeting messages from HCJB directors in UK, Canada and USA. Also at 1514 there was an interview with Director of HCJB-Australia. Also heard on 3rd Feb at 1530 but better reception than 2nd Feb. QSL - HCJB Australia - 11755 kHz- 0900-1200 UT 5th Jan Received a f/d QSL letter thru e-mail after 25 hours from english@hcjb.org.au for an e-mailed report. Shows a scanned image of HCJB Australia QSL card with picture of diversion dam at Kununurra in the far northwest of Australia adjacent to which HCJB Australia's property is situated (V/s None). (Alokesh Gupta, New Delhi, India, Feb 3, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** BELARUS`. Hi all - and Olle! Today, Feb 2nd, at 0645 I heard a Russian speaking station on 5256 kHz with quite good strength in USB. Lots of pop music played and a news bulletin and a weather report was heard around 0700. Lots of commercials. I think I heard "Radio Minsk" in the identification. Do you know anything about this "station"? 73 from (Björn Fransson on the island of Gotland, Sweden Feb 2, hard- core-dx via DXLD) Isn't this the same (PTP?)-operation that transmits Minsk local program Radio Stalica on 3345/3355 USB and used to relay R Roks on 4855, etc.? Jari Lehtinen Lahti, ibid.) See DXLD 3-010: Minsk utility ** BELARUS`. Re "Orsha": there are no SW transmitters in this town, this site name is a fake HFCC registration. The transmitters in question are located near Mahilioú, acc. to internal transmitter lists. As for R. Kultura on 7265 kHz, as far as I am informed, there is only the transmitter in Hrodna (2.5 kW) in operation (Bernd Trutenau, Lithuania, Feb 3, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** BRAZIL. 9830, 02/02 1458, Rádio Anhangüera, Goiânia-GO. Muchos anuncios comerciales de los estados brasileños de Tocantins, Goiás y Mato Grosso, música sertaneja, ID, programa "Domingão do Povo" 35443. Este es el primero [segundo] harmônico de la fundamental 4915 kHz. La transmission en esta frecuencia no és en paralelo con 11830, en esta, transmite la Anhangüera en la red CBN. En muchos horarios Rádio Anhangüera tine una programación regional en los 4915 kHz y ahora escuchado en su harmonico de 9830. Un gran saludo, 73 (Samuel Cássio Martins, DXCB, Sao Carlos SP, Brasil, Conexión Digital via DXLD) ** BRAZIL. R. Nacional da Amazônia booming in here on 9665 \\ 11780 at 2100, 2200, and 2300 UT. Not heard on parallel 6180 (Bernie O'Shea, Ottawa, Ontario, Feb 3, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** BRAZIL. Radio Clube do Pará on 4885 seems to start at 0700 UT (4:00 am [sic] local time) on weekdays except Monday (heard quite well at this time here in the middle of Europe). During weekend it seems to relay Radio Bandeirantes at night (heard on Sun 2 Feb before and after 0700). Maybe this schedule is not regular, I will keep an eye on it... GOOD DX, (Karel Honzík, redakce RADIO REVUE, Czechia, hard-core-dx via DXLD) ** BRAZIL. A Rádio Educadora, de Guajará-Mirim (RO), está no ar há 38 anos. Em ondas tropicais, transmite em 3375 kHz. Foi sintonizada, em Tefé (AM), por Paulo Roberto e Souza, nos dias 30 e 31 de janeiro, por volta de 0934, com a apresentação do programa Brasil Caboclo. Na oportunidade, a emissora não recebeu interferências da Nacional, de São Gabriel da Cachoeira (AM), que emite na mesma freqüência. O Paulo conversou com o mais antigo comunicador da emissora, Wilson Charles, que passou o horário de emissões da Educadora em 3375 kHz: primeiramente, entre 0930 e 1300. Após um intervalo, o transmissor é ligado entre 2000 e 0300. E-mail: educadora@o... [truncated] BRASIL - A Rádio Canção Nova, de Cachoeira Paulista (SP), está de cartão QSL novo. A informação foi dada pelos apresentadores do programa Além Fronteiras, que é irradiado, aos sábados, entre 2100 e 2200, em 4825, 5955, 6105, 9675, 9685 e 15325 kHz. E-mail: radio@c... [truncated] BRASIL - A Rádio Bandeirantes, de São Paulo (SP), está prometendo, para os próximos dias, a divulgação de um concurso, entre seus ouvintes. A emissora irá sortear cinco viagens aos Estados Unidos, em parceria com a empresa de aviação Delta Airlines. A dica é do Oséias Fantinelli, de Jacutinga (RS). (Célio Romais, @tiviade DX Feb 2 via DXLD) ** CANADA. Glenn- Just a minor anomaly alert (or maybe I just missed a schedule change), but I'm not hearing RCI on 9755 kHz at the 0200 UT English slot on 2/3/03. 6040 is good with co-channel interference and 11725 is weak. Maybe just propagation or is someone asleep at the switch? 73, (Alan Johnson, Reno, NV, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CANARY ISLANDS. 6715 kHz, Full Gospel Church, Las Palmas. Full data QSL letter signed by Mr Gyusub Chung. Mr Chung informs that the transmitter has 100 Watts and operates in SSB mode. The church is located in Altavista, the highest point in Las Palmas and the building is very beautiful because it used to be a nightclub 23 years ago. Mr Chung also sent me a pamphlet of the church written in Korean (parts in Spanish) where there is a photo of the church. I sent a CD with an audio clip and US$ 1. The reply arrived in 59 days (Marcelo Toníolo, Greenvale, NY (USA), hard-core-dx via DXLD) ** CHINA. Heard on Sunday Feb. 2, 2003, from 1243 to 1330 UT (sign off time) at 9575 with SIO 333, a Chinese program with full of Mandarin songs. I heard they mentioning 'chung yang den min guang bao dienday' (presume). Checked in WRTH 2002, 9575 not listed for CRI. Any ideas, all of you? (Lim Kwet Hian, Jakarta, Cumbre DX via DXLD) Hi Lim, is the typical China Mainland music JAMMING against foreign broadcaster like VoA, Radio Free Asia [Mandarin, Cantonese, Tibetan, Uighur], and others amongst the - US religious stations from the Pacific, and also AIR Delhi broadcasts in Mandarin Chinese and Tibetan [Nepali too??]. 73 wb df5sx (Wolfgang Bueschel, ibid.) 9575 1200 1330 42S,43SW DEL 50 102 0 106 Tibetan IND AIR ** CHINA. THALES AWARDED CONTRACT FOR MORE 500-KW SW TRANSMITTERS | Excerpt from press release in English by French transmitter manufacturer Thales on 28 January Paris, 28 January: The Administrative Bureau of Radio Stations (ABRS) and China Radio and TV Co. (CRTV) of the People's Republic of China have selected Thales Broadcast & Multimedia to supply new shortwave transmitters and a complete rotatable ALLISS antenna broadcasting system. Following the highly satisfactory delivery and record time commissioning of two 500-kW shortwave transmitters type TSW 2500 ordered in December 2001, ABRS has now contracted Thales for the delivery of a total of thirteen high-power transmitters of the same power class, bringing the total number of Thales 500 kW SW transmitters installed in China up to 19 units. Since their introduction on the market, both the TSW 2500 and the powerful Thales ALLISS antenna system have become legends in their own time. All equipment is scheduled to be delivered and taken into operation in 2003. As 2002 was a successful year for shortwave worldwide (field tests, launch of the first consumer world band receiver) 2003 will mark a milestone for Digital AM with the beginning of DRM transmissions. Although the shortwave resurgence is occurring only months before the introduction of regular DRM, Thales already confirmed in 2002 its committed involvement in AM broadcasting with a world premiere showing a DRM-compliant transmitter in live exhibition at IBC 2002 and also with the launch of a DRM Starter Kit. "We are pleased to partner with ABRS on their shortwave programme," said Willi Tschol, Director of the Radio Broadcasting Business Unit within the Thales Broadcast & Multimedia Group. "With the introduction of digital AM in 2003, it is important to set milestones and have the commitment of large broadcasters. This historical contract documents the importance of shortwave for major nations in times of increasing needs in terms of global communications. Leaders at ABRS have confirmed their belief in the future of short-wave broadcasting." ... Contact: Thales Broadcast & Multimedia Veronique Mauduit Marketing & Communications Manager phone: + 33 1 34 90 36 87 Fax: +33 1 34 90 32 27 E-Mail: veronique.mauduit@thales-bm.com Source: Thales press release, Paris, in English 28 Jan 03 (via BBCM via DXLD) Whooppee!!! More crash and bang jammers! Thanks, France!! (gh, DXLD) ** CHINA [non]. QSL: World Falun Dafa Radio Ich hatte dies Woche Glück in der Form, dass mir Falun Dafa Radio eine teildet. K auf meinen Bericht vom 28.12.2002 schickte. RP war ein Dollar. Als anlage sende ich Dir die Karte. Teildet. Deshalb, weil die Frequenz auf der Karte fehlt. Ich hörte auf 9945 kHz. Parallel war auch auf 6035 kHz Empfang möglich (E. Röscher-D Jan 23, 2003 for CRW) The card be seen in the CRW gallery at http://www.schoechi.de/pic-cla.html Falun Dafa Radio, 5925, detaillierte Karte -allerdings ohne Frequenz- und Info in 23 Tagen. RR mit 1 US-$ an Adresse in City of Industry, USA (R. Sonntag-D Jan 26, 2003 for CRW) Falun Dafa Radio : Diese Station bereitet mir große Sorgen. Bereits mein 2. Versuch, einen Brief an diese Station zu schicken, ist gescheitert. Die Post kam als unzustellbar zurück. Meinen letzten Brief schickte ich an die neue Adresse, die ich im Kurier fand: P. O. Box 93436, City of Industry, CA 91715 USA. Die Adresse : Box 117 in Buford ist ja schon länger ungültig. Hat die Station etwa schon wieder eine neue Adresse ????? (M. Lindner-D Jan 30, 2003 in A-DX) Die Adresse stimmt! Steht auch auf: http://www.falundafaradio.org/contact.htm oder versuche mal die Emailadresse: editor@falundafaradio.org die auch dort steht. Für Deutschland und Österreich http://falundafa.de/ (P. Reinersch-D Jan 30, 2003 in A-DX, all via CRW via DXLD) ** COLOMBIA. History of reactivated R. Melodía, 6140.5 is at http://donmoore.tripod.com/south/colombia.html (Don Moore, IA, DX LISTENING DIGEIST) ** EGYPT. Da programação emitida pela Rádio Cairo, em espanhol, destaca-se os seguintes programas: El Cairo Contesta, com respostas aos informes e cartas dos ouvintes; emitido, aos sábados, às 0145, e nas segundas-feiras, às 0115. Para os fãs da música, a emissora apresenta, nas quartas, às 0120, o programa Canción Árabe. Já nas quintas-feiras, às 0115, vai ao ar El Cancionero Egipcio. As emissões ocorrem entre 0045 e 0200, em 11680 e 11790 kHz. Alexandre Deves, de Viamão (RS), observou, entretanto, que devido a algum erro técnico, alguns programas podem ser captados, esporadicamente, em 9475 kHz. A programação em português da Rádio Cairo também pode ser ouvida em 11680 kHz. Mas é apenas por poucos minutos. Ao que tudo indica, devido a um erro técnico do operador, os 10 minutos finais da programação em português, entre 2320 e 2330, vão ao ar em 11680 kHz, freqüência que tem excelente sintonia no Sul do Brasil. Vale conferir! (Célio Romais, @tividade DX Feb 2 via DXLD) ** FINLAND. Ready to listen Voice of Scandinavia! Scandinavian Weekend Radio once again on 5980, 5990 and 6170 kHz on 48 mb. 25 mb frequencies are 11690 and 11720 kHz on 25 mb. Transmission will began today, Friday 31st January at 22 hours UT. More detailed time, programme and frequency schedule is available on our web-page http://www.swradio.net Our Phone-line is open for calls and SMS`s [?] during transmission +358 400 995 559. New 2003 QSL-cards are now available for hunting! Send your reception reports with 2 EUR/ 2 US-$ or 2 IRC ’s to: SWR Reports, P.O.Box 35, FIN-40321 JYVÄSKYLÄ, FINLAND. SWR- The Rock Machine!!!! (DJ Madman, Scandinavian Weekend Radio, Jan 31, DX LISTENING DIGEST) This one really snuk up on us, starting before UT February, and over by the time you read this. But those consulting our MONITORING REMINDERS calendar knew of it in time (gh, DXLD) ** GUAM. TRANS WORLD RADIO SAYS "'DEVASTATION' IN THE PACIFIC AS ITS TRANSMITTERS ARE DESTROYED" ... [somewhat exaggerated --- gh] Trans World Radio's work in North- and South-East Asia has suffered a severe setback following tropical storms in the region in December. Typhoon 'Pongsona' hit TWR's broadcasting station on the island of Guam in the Pacific Ocean on Sunday 8th December. Sustained winds of 150 miles per hour were recorded, with gusts topping 184 mph, essentially flattening parts of the island. According to eye-witness reports the storm 'shredded' the huge steel mesh curtains used to transmit powerful short wave signals from the island, putting three of the five transmitters out of action. Repairs are likely to take several weeks at least. The remaining two transmitters were also damaged but makeshift repairs have brought them back on-line to provide a limited range of programmes. Broadcasts from Guam touch most of the countries on the western rim of the Pacific Ocean and beyond- places like China, Vietnam, Myanmar, Cambodia and Indonesia. Chuck White, TWR's station manager on Guam writes in the TWR newsletter: .. The sound of a typhoon is much like a jumbo jet at full take-off power. It simply roars. And the power of the wind is unimaginable. A local pastor, just having completed a new home, had doors and windows implode, and had furniture sucked out of the house, including his kitchen countertops! Houses of tin and wood construction were mowed flat. Whole roofs could be found scattered across neighbourhoods. Multi-ton shipping containers at the harbour were tossed around like toys. In what proved to be a disaster of its own, the storm caused an inferno at the fuel tank depot at Guam's harbour. Four tanks of aviation and diesel fuel were lost and the fires burned for days causing 'black rain' from the airborne soot. Many gas stations were destroyed, and the rest were closed by lack of fuel. Recovery efforts, including those at TWR's site, were hampered because of transportation problems. Three main grocery stores and many other stores were lost, warehouses were destroyed, and the seaport was disabled. The power grid was smashed with poles and wires down all over the island. The airport suffered $100 million (£60 million) worth of damage, including miles of chain link fence flattened to the ground. The damage to TWR's antennas was breathtaking. Each one consists of a curtain of wires hung from heavy cables strung between two towers. The cables pass through pulleys on each tower and are attached to weights at ground level. The weights are designed to move up and down during high winds to relieve the tension on the cables. Many of the weights have never been known to move, but Typhoon Pongsona lifted them all to their limits. On Antenna 4 a 5000 pound weight was launched out of its track and swung wildly from its cable. This two ton concrete 'hammer' repeatedly smashed into the tower but thankfully the tower appears stable and the damage repairable. Salt water was driven into the transmitter buildings and the resulting damage was massive. Whole sections of the transmitters had to be disassembled to the bare chassis for cleaning, sanding, and restoration. We are accustomed to finding antenna parts scattered on the ground after a storm. After Pongsona, we found them in the trees 500 feet from the antenna field. The young people have been combing the surrounding area for antenna parts and recovered thousands of dollars' worth of parts from the trees, grass, ditches, and rocks around the station. We will reuse what we can, mixing and matching to repair the damage. We have ordered replacement parts but cannot say when they will arrive. It is usually 60 days but obviously we hope it will be much less (CHRIS J WILLIAMS and DAVID O FRENCH sent the TWR Newsletter, Feb World DX Club Contact via Alan Roe, DXLD) ** GUINEA BISSAU. RTP ALLOWED BACK INTO GUINEA-BISSAU Portuguese public broadcaster RTP is to resume its operations in the former Portuguese colony of Guinea-Bissau following high level diplomatic talks in Lisbon on Friday. RTP África was banned from Guinea-Bissau in December last year for "tarnishing" the country's good image abroad. On 30 November, RTP África had broadcast a programme marking the second anniversary of the death of General Ansumane Mané, the former head of a 1998 rebellion who was killed in November 2000, following an attempted coup d'état. Following Friday's talks, the Portuguese government anounced that differences with Guinea-Bissau have now been resolved, and RTP África's broadcasts in and from Guinea-Bissau are to resume immediately. The station broadcasts on FM 88.4 MHz (© Radio Netherlands Media Network 3 February 2003 via DXLD) ** INDIA. Glenn, That station on 15050 kHz that I asked about yesterday turned out to be AIR, India. Besides the broadcast on 15050, there's a parallel on 15770 kHz for a while (Chuck Bolland, FL, Feb 2, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** INTERNATIONAL INTERNET. Escucha la mejor música latina 24 horas en RADIO LATINA INTERNACIONAL con tus DJs Edgardo José, Alma Ivette, Julio Mario e Iván Soto http://www.live365.com/stations/84583 (Amateur Radio Station KD4NSJ Edgardo Reyes, Kissimmee, Florida, swl via DXLD) ** INTERNATIONAL INTERNET. FOREIGN RADIO: SEE THINGS ON A DIFFERENT WAVELENGTH From seattlepi.com Sunday, February 2, 2003 By L.A. HEBERLEIN GUEST COLUMNIST Recent polls around the world are reporting strong disapproval and distrust of the United States. Executive summary: People in the rest of the world think we're acting like punks. However confident we may be in our own righteousness as a nation under attack taking reasonable actions to protect ourselves, we might still be curious why they think that. I have heard the following explanations: They're jealous because we're so rich and powerful. They're lazy cowards who expect the United States to do their dirty work. They hate us because we're a democracy. They're just victims of propaganda. I suppose that one of these explanations may be true. But don't they all sound just a bit dismissive to you? They ignore the criticism without ever really having to listen to it. Because we know we are acting out of decent motives, anyone who questions us simply has to be mistaken. Our confidence brings to mind the proud mother who, seeing her son's marching band go by, exclaims, "Look, everybody's out of step but Johnny!" Or a less amusing and innocent picture: Family and friends sit in a circle, trying to make someone they love understand that he has a problem. He keeps shaking his head, wondering how they all could have turned against him. That might not be a fair image of the United States' current position in the world. But in case the rest of the world is seeing something it might benefit Americans to understand, perhaps we should spend some time listening to what the rest of the world is saying. Whether right or wrong, aren't you even a little bit curious about how everybody else in the world sees things? I spent most of last year listening to all the interesting radio stations I could find in the world, researching a book on Internet radio. I expected to find great cumbias in Colombia, hot dance music in the Caribbean, floaty mystical rhythms in the Middle East. And I was not disappointed. What I hadn't really imagined was the wealth of informational programming I would discover. Most countries offer an international service, and it is a matter of national pride to make this service in- depth, authoritative and comprehensive. From Germany, Deutsche Well offers news and documentaries on a wide variety of subjects. England's BBC offers more radio documentaries in a week than you have probably ever heard in your life. Radio Netherlands will inform you on subjects from the problems of gays in Nigeria to an in-depth study of melting Arctic icebergs. If you have an Internet connection, listening to the radio is usually as simple as browsing to the Web page of a radio station and clicking on the button that says "Listen Live Now." If your computer lacks the free software required, most stations make downloading it easy. Radio does not require much bandwidth, and spoken voice is even less demanding than music. Almost every country in the world has daily news available in English, and some of the news organizations have huge staffs and budgets that would surprise anyone used to U.S. radio. In Europe, after the three sources mentioned above, you might try Radio France Internationale or Radio Österreich International, the national service of Austria. In Asia, Radio Japan International [sic] has a short news program in English archived for listening any time, as does All India Radio. Radio Television Hong Kong offers a variety of news and public affairs programs, particularly on Radio 3. The Australian Broadcasting Corp. has 15 stations online with a variety of programs, including some of the best coverage you can get of Asia in English. Given current world events, the Korean Broadcasting System might be of particular interest. If you really want a change in viewpoint, tune into the Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting World Service. But you don't have to go that far to see the world differently. Even Voice of Barbados seems to cover a different planet from the U.S. media. You can quickly get to any of these stations using a search engine such as Google; I've also put together an index of their addresses on my Web site, http://www.heberlein.net If you are interested in broadening your viewpoint, one free experiment is to get your news from somewhere outside the United States every day. I can't guarantee what you will find, but I guarantee you will find something you did not expect. Your understanding of the world will change. It's staggering how different the United States looks from the outside. And I can't help believing that if more Americans understood how their country looked to others, it would have to make things better for us all (L.A. Heberlein lives in Seattle) (via Mike Terry, DXLD) ** INTERNATIONAL INTERNET [and non]. Ricky Leong is correct to note solar outages affect shortwave, but at least the listener can quickly deduce the bands are dead by tuning around for a minute or two and noting the absence of the usual power-house signals. It's a frustrating exercise to try to connect to the Internet, then try to reach sites, then try to find a newsgroup posting or wire service story explaining Internet outages are occurring. If radio propagation is poor, I can use the Internet to find out the details. If the Internet is not working, I can't use shortwave to find out why if broadcasters put all their eggs in the Internet basket (Mike Cooper, GA, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** IRAQ [non]. V. of IRAQI PEOPLE. 9750 kHz. 21/01/2003. 2305 UT. Arabic. Good signal, slight QRN. SINPO: 45444. I listened to a Message to Iraqi Soldiers to refuse Saddam's orders. The Station moved from the old frequency (9570), which suffers from QRM and noise, to a new 'quite' frequency (9750). For many years the station is broadcasting on 9570 in spite of the QRM and noise, and now, at this time, it tries to search for a better reception in Iraq. I wonder if it uses a more powerful transmitter for that. I think that the Sa`udi Government want that the station should play a better role in removing Saddam's Regime (A. Chaabane, Tunisia, Jan 22, 2003 for CRW via DXLD) Could this be a punch-up error, digits reversed? Have they stayed on 9750?? (gh, DXLD) 11715 Clandestine, Saudi Arabia, Voice of Iraqi People. 01/31/2003, 2013-2030. OM in Arabic sounding language with several mentions of "Iraq". ID at 2028 as "Voice of Iraq" or "Voice of Iraqi People" in EG and into news in Arabic sounding language. Off in mid sentence at 2029. A very good signal with no QRM, little QRN, and little fading- similar to a MW station at 50 miles (Wood, TN, NASWA Flashsheet via DXLD) ** IRELAND. Radio Limerick One was causing serious interference all over the south of Ireland on 119.9 [MHz] from December 26th. I initially reported this to ComReg. Thereafter an announcement was put out on January 7th by the Commission for Communication Regulation (ComReg), the Irish State communications watchdog claiming signals from Radio Limerick One could cause a plane crash and these signals constituted the worst single interference with aeronautical communications ever observed by the commission. However a RLO spokesman said that no complaint by Cork Airport Control had ever been made to them about their signals. He went on to say that anvil grinders and mallets were used by the local gardai and a ComReg official to smash the RLO broadcasting gear during a raid which put the station off air. They were acting under a warrant obtained in the local court to seize equipment causing the interference. The station says it now operates legally on the internet and that independent relay operators rebroadcast their signal around Limerick (Des Walsh, Ireland, Feb World DX Club Contact via Alan Roe, DXLD) ** JOHNSTON ISLAND. Dia 01 de fevereiro de 2003. 18076 - 0446 - AH3D - CW, ham DXpedition, Ilha de Johnston, 579. Vide notícias abaixo sobre etsa mportante expedição. The following announcement comes from Bernie McClenny, W3UR, Editor of The Daily DX: The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has approved a plan to permanently close a chemical weapons disposal facility on Johnston Island. After the completion of the cleanup facility on Johnston Island is expected to close soon and an administration change will soon put the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) in charge of the overall operations of this U.S. territory. Future DXpeditions to Johnston Island, KH3, may be much more difficult. On top of all of this the Johnston Island Club station KJ6BZ will be dismantled. Finnish operators OH2BH, Martti Laine, and OH2PM, Pertti Simovaara, along with DX editor W3UR, Bernie McClenny have obtained special permission to visit, document and operate from the club station for one week and just before the demolition, which is scheduled just days after the operation. In the spirit of "cleanup," the ham radio team is going to do its best to "clean up the demand" for KH3 for Europe, low bands and WARC bands. The AH3D crew will also "tidy up" on 6 meters and RTTY. The all band CW, SSB and RTTY operation is scheduled to take place from January 27 to February 4. The group will use proven sanitation materials, and the recently launched DXpedition grade Yaesu FT-857 and FT-897 radios with multiple amplifiers. They will use a variety of antennas to spray their signals across the airwaves including a TH11, 3-element 10 meter beam, duo bander for 12 and 17 meters and various wires for the low bands. To help manage the cleanup K6GNX, Dr. Bill Avery, will step in as the team's pilot station. He will act as a point person to relay news between the operating crew and the DX community. Bill can be reached via e-mail to bavery@t... [truncated] This may very well be the last big sweep from Johnston Island for a long time. Those wishing to fill their needed list should monitor the following frequencies: CW 1827.5, 3506, 7006, 10106, 14024, 18075, 21024, 24895, 28024, 50105 SSB 3795, 7082, 14195, 18145, 21295, 24945, 28495, 50105 RTTY 14085 or 21085 QSL via OH2BH, 2003 Johnston Atoll DXpedition, P.O. Box 73, 02380 Espoo, Finland. Mauro Pregliasco, I1JQJ/KB2TJM, 425 DX News Editor E-mail: i1jqj@4... [truncated] http://www.425dxn.org (via Ark, PY2ZX, Feb 2, radioescutas via DXLD) ** KASHMIR [non]. 9890, R. Sedaye Kashmir at 0230: This is an unofficial radio broadcast via transmitters in the CIS, probably Tashkent or Dushanbe. The test tone gives the source away -- the same as IBC Tamil, Democratic Voice of Burma, Voice of Tibet, etc. Since the name of the station is Sedaye Kashmir, Free Kshsmir, it should be anti-Indian. All based on circumstantial evidence! (Victor Goonetilleke, Sri Lanka, DX-plorer via DXLD) ** KOREA NORTH. Pyongyang Blues (excerpt) By William F. Buckley, Jr., National Review, February 10, 2003 We read that an effort by the South Koreans, backed by the United States, is being made to penetrate North Korean ignorance by circulating radios that receive South Korean broadcasts. The radios currently in use in the north receive, like crystal sets, only pre- designated transmissions, in this case, authorized government broadcasters. This means hour upon hour of official propaganda aimed at stressing the need for strenuous military activity as a defensive imperative and as testimony to national integrity. Radios that are sent into the country are emasculated: Solder is used to keep the dial out of reach of external temptresses. I recall a train ride in 1970 from Moscow to Leningrad. We boarded at 7 P.M. and the radio in our private compartment was on. I reached to turn it off, but the knob was not functioning. I called "Ninotchka," who came in and through her surliness managed to convey that the radio station could not be turned off, nor the volume diminished, that it would cease broadcasting whenever it was turned off by the broadcasting station, which turned out to be about 10 P.M. But we discovered from the Orwellian USSR that penetration by external news, however important, could not be counted on to change fixed government policies. This was clearest of all in Berlin. In the Eighties it was estimated that 90 percent of East Berliners got their television news from West Berlin: It had become a practical impossibility to block transmissions from the West. But another decade was needed before glasnost set in, and the Wall came down. In North Korea there isn't that kind of time, and to disengage the North Koreans from 50 years of paranoia and internal terror is going to take more time than we can safely count upon... (via N. Grace, DC, Jan 30, 2003 for CRW via DXLD) CORÉIA DO NORTE - A Voz do Coréia, aos poucos, vai abrindo espaços para os ouvintes em sua programação irradiada no idioma espanhol. Conforme o filósofo Acir da Cruz Camargo, de Ponta Grossa (PR), a emissora acaba de lançar concurso. Para participar, basta pesquisar o seguinte tema: "os grandes feitos do Camarada Kim Jong Il com relação ao fortalecimento do aspecto militar da República Democrática da Coréia e da ideologia da independência". Podem ser enviados ensaios escritos e até mesmo gravação de própria voz em cassetes. De acordo com o Acir, os prêmios não são viagens para aquele país, mas sim "a simples leitura dos textos na programação". Já é um feito, para um país considerado o mais fechado do mundo!!! (Célio Romais, @tividade DX Feb 2 via DXLD) ** KYRGYZSTAN. KYRGYZ RADIO STATION SALAM TO START BROADCASTS TO UZBEKISTAN http://www.uzreport.com/eng/dispnews.cfm?ch=301&dep=34&vrec=8711 Residents of Uzbek regions bordering Tajikistan will be able to listen to broadcasts of the Kyrgyz radio station Salam. The station`s new frequency will allow to cover not only Kyrgyzstan`s Batken region, but also bordering regions of Tajikistan and Uzbekistan, Oshmedia.kg reported. According to Daniyar Sadiyev, the station’s technical manager, radio Salam is one of the projects of Social Fund for International Tolerance. Its main donor is UNICEF (UzReport.com Posted 03.02.2003 00:06 via Artie Bigley, DXLD) So what is the frequency? Why are so many so-called journalists unable to comprehend that this is an essential part of any such story? (gh, DXLD) ** LIBERIA. 6100, Radio Liberia International, 0606-0632, 2/2/2003. Announcer, in English, with morning devotional, Up-tempo music with talk of day's programming. Continuos Afropop style religious music until 0629, ID and date, more music and talk. Strong signal tho speaker's audio a bit distorted (Scott R Barbour Jr, Intervale, NH, Feb 2, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 6100, R. Liberia International, have heard this before but not at the level at 0725 Jan 26, fire-and-brimstone preaching by African-accented minister to program closing announcement at 0740, with pastor giving church address of P.O. Box 4347, Monrovia, then full station ID, including "You are tuned just right to the SW service of the Liberia Communications Network. This is R. Liberia International, we broadcast live and direct . . . Africa." Then TC and into light religious vocals with some inspirational talkover. Alas, talk audio not as good as music audio, plus "beach waves" background QRM throughout, and ruined by WYFR-6105 s/on at 0755. No sign of UNAMSIL on 6137-9 (Jerry Berg, MA, NASWA Flashsheet via DXLD) ** OKLAHOMA. KOMA-1520 had already converted to news format Sunday evening, after 0100 UT Mon Feb 3, from America`s News Channel, which I used to hear on Wichita 92.7 rimshotter, and seldom, I think on such a major station as KOMA. Remains to be seen what kind of local news operation they manage, but it`s about time KTOK had some competition (Glenn Hauser, Enid, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Saturday AM they had Dick Clark`s "Rock Roll and Remember". Someone was having difficulties with the breaks leading to extended periods of dead air. But there was _nothing_ else to be heard on the channel, except for that huge OC. Later on re-tuned in and heard the new news director with a long ID tape "you're listening to news-talk 1520, KOMA OKC. You first heard of the space shuttle tragedy here on news-talk 1520. KOMA was going to debut as news-talk on Monday morning at 6 am with (two anchors), but because of the breaking news we will run AP audio for the rest of the weekend. If you want to hear the 'previous programming' on KOMA you can tune to 92.5FM..." (Pete Lee, location unknown, Feb 3, NRC-AM via DXLD) ** OKLAHOMA [and non]. Are some of the OKC TV stations now up on satellite? Just noticed Feb 2 that Cox Cable in Enid is running ch 4, 9, 25 and 34 on delay of almost 1 second, which would be more than a single satellite hop, compared to offair reception with antenna. This explains why on the morning of Feb 2 when heavy tropo was in from KS to central TX, KWTV-9 did not have the usual snowy signal caused by WFAA-DT --- and why 5 and 13 OKC did have heavy DX CCI. Also not (yet?) on delay are OKC 14, 43, 52 and 62. I wonder what the routing of the satellite feeds is --- or could they be picking up DTV and converting it to analog. I look for but do not see any DTV snow from KOCO on 7 or KFOR on 27. If on Dish or DirecTV, is it unusual that Cox Cable would have access to those feeds? (Glenn Hauser, Enid, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** OKLAHOMA [non]. One of my most prized possessions is a QSL for a QSO I had with Owen Garriott, W5LFL in December 1983, who was onboard Columbia for the first "ham in space" mission. I also have a QSL for a contact in 1985 with Tony England, W0ORE , who was onboard Challenger for the second such mission. These cards are even more poignant mementos now that both of these shuttles have been lost under tragic circumstances. I can't recapture the excitement of making those QSOs without feeling a tinge of sadness, knowing what came later (Barry McLarnon, Ont., Feb 2, NRC-AM via DXLD) It was the mission of W5LFL that actually got me into ham radio. I'd been a MW DXer and SWLer for many years and had no desire to talk, until Owen made it up there and contacted a few hams in my area. I've now QSOd astronauts working base, mobile and even portable (1/2 watt) VHF. Never worked Challenger or Columbia, though. All my contacts were with Atlantis and Discovery (Brent Taylor in Doaktown, NB, ibid.) ** PHILIPPINES. CHRISTIAN RADIO STATION TO REOPEN IN SOUTHERN PHILIPPINES Tuesday, January 28, 2003, By Noel T. Tarrazona Southeast Asia correspondent, ASSIST News Service ZAMBOANGA CITY (ANS) -- A Christian radio station here that was temporarily shut down for six months will finally be on air starting March 16, this year with the new direction of not only strengthening the Christian Church through broadcast ministry but to bring the message of love to the marginalized sectors of four major provinces and five urban cities in the Southern Philippines. DXAS, one of the radio networks of Far East Broadcasting Company (FEBC) has started its test broadcast since December 2002 and Evangelical Christian communities and Pentecostal churches are looking forward to the full operation of the only Christian radio station in Southwestern Philippines, the region with the most diverse cultures and religion practices.... http://www.assistNews.net/stories/s03010126.htm (via Bruce Atchison, AB, DXLD) WTFK??? It`s on 1116 kHz, 5 kW per WRTH 2003 (gh, DXLD) Let's hope they broadcast messages about loving one's neighbour, no matter what religion he or she practices. Some people are willing to die for their religion. I'd rather live for mine. Yours in Christ's service, (Bruce Atchison, AB, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ROMANIA. R. Romania International, February 1, 2003, 15365 kHz, 1400 UT broadcast to Europe. "This is R. Romania International, Bucharest, Romania" by OM. "Newsreel", news, "The Week", "Calendar", "World of Culture". SIO (until 1427 UT) 353. Also 17790 SIO 252. At 1427 DW ident signal began on 15360 causing severe QRM to 15365. While monitoring R. Romania International I was unaware of events of the shuttle Columbia disaster. Knowing what I now know I will, unfortunately, probably always remember listening to R. Romania International when the disaster occurred. 73, (-.. . Kraig Krist, KG4LAC, Annandale, VA, DX LISTENING DIGEST) I take it RRI did not break in for a flash (gh, DXLD) ** RUSSIA. A short list of meteo stations: Time in minutes of each hour: Mode USB. Frequency: 3117, 5691, 8861, 13267 kHz. Kirensk 00,30; Yakutsk 10,40; Khabarovsk 15,45; Magadan 20,50; Irkutsk 25,55 Frequency: 2867, 6693, 8888, 11318 kHz Syktyvkar 00,30; Kolsovo 05,35; Novosibirsk 10,40; Samara 15,45; Tyumen 20,50. Frequency: 2941, 6617, 8939, 11297 kHz. St Petersburg 05,35; Kiev 20,50; Moscow 10,40; not now audible Rostov 25.55. (VLADIMIR ROZHKOV, Feb World DX Club Contact via Alan Roe, DXLD) ** SRI LANKA. SRI LANKAN PM REPRIMANDED BY PRESIDENT OVER VOICE OF TIGERS Sri Lankan President Chandrika Kumaratunga has formally reprimanded Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe over the importation of a new radio transmitter for the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) and the granting of a licence to its Voice of Tigers radio station. The refurbishment of Voice of Tigers has angered India, and there have been reports that its FM broadcasts can be received up to 70 miles away, well inside India. President Kumaratunga has told the Prime Minister in a letter that in future both she and the Cabinet should be consulted on "sensitive matters", and that the LTTE cannot be given preferential treatment. Chandrika says that as head of state, she had to "keep in mind at all times, the totality of all the elements that constitute the national interest on any particular issue." Kumaratunga has sent a copy of the six-page letter to Norwegian Prime Minister Kjell Magne Bondevik. The Norwegians became involved when the radio transmitter was consigned via the Norwegian embassy in Sri Lanka, thus avoiding import duties. The President said she did not see why the Norwegians should have been brought into this matter, "unless it was to provide a cloak of secrecy, so that the public would never get to know that such equipment for the LTTE had been allowed secretly into the country." Kumaratunga told the prime minister that "I am unable to agree with you that the acquisition of an FM radio transmission facility would enhance the peace process. In fact, it may well have the opposite effect as widespread public agitation over the whole episode reveals. I understand that the LTTE transmissions which commenced on January 16 include LTTE songs and music, and eulogies of the LTTE's martial history. This could have a disturbing effect on the public mood for peace. We must also be sensitive to the legitimate concerns of our neighbours." (© Radio Netherlands Media Network 3 February 2003 via DXLD) ** UKRAINE/RUSSIA. On Jan 27 at 0208 I was listening to news from V. of Russia. Announcer Michael Steadman gave the following item: VOR transmitters will transmit R. Ukraine programs to VOR audiences, and RU transmitters will transmit VOR programs to Ukraine audiences. I am not fully aware of the involvement in this undertaking. I am going to write the stations for further verification of the facts. One of your CIDX Messenger readers, (Mike Parrish, Lexington KY, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U K. CHARLES "GORDON" BENNETT It is with much sadness that we report that Gordon Bennett passed away at 0750 on 1st February 2003. Mike Barraclough writes: Gordon was a knowledgeable and dedicated listener and Dxer. Many members will remember his monthly column in Contact explaining hobby terms and techniques to newcomers and reviewing receivers. I know he also helped many members personally. He based his receiver reviews on hours of using the receiver for actual listening and DXing and often did side by side comparison tests of two receivers. Lowe and AOR lent Gordon receivers for review including prototypes of some Lowe and AOR models. Gordon would feed them back comments from a broadcast DXers point of view which resulted in modifications to their designs. Gordon had to retire from active pursuit of the hobby some years ago due to ill health but still kept in touch with many club members. His distinctive voice on the end of a telephone, generosity and good humour will be sadly missed (Feb World DX Club Contact via Alan Roe, DXLD) ** U K. MICHAEL MURRAY Mike Barraclough made early contact after last month's deadline with news from Michael Murray's mother that Michael was in hospital with what was a seemingly nasty setback. The latest is that Michael is now back home but uncertain as to when he might resume club duties. All readers, I am sure, will hope that Michael will regain strength as the months of hopefully better weather approach. (a.w.) (Arthur Ward, Feb World DX Club Contact via Alan Roe, DXLD) Michael has been a regular attendee at Kulpsville, ANARC before that, and quite a traveler (gh) ** U K. As for the BBC World Service --- what a lousy service on shortwave there is now. Very few frequencies to depend on, 9410 and 12095 are the only regulars. Gone are the good old 3955, 5975, 6195 for a lot of the time, 9920 was it [9915] on 31m, also 15070 and more --- what poor European coverage now ! Thank goodness for satellite but I have to add an FM oscillator (Veronica Kit, very good quality) to the satellite rig so as to hear it around the house and garden (and somewhat further if need be). (Des Walsh, Emerald Isle, Feb World DX Club Contact via Alan Roe, DXLD) ** U K. RADIO WAVES: PAUL DONOVAN: ANYBODY THERE? From The Sunday Times (more on web site): February 02, 2003 One candle on the cake. A year ago today, the first of the BBC's digital radio stations was born: Five Live Sports Extra, which by law is a part-time service acting as an overflow for the BBC's sports rights in football, cricket, rugby, tennis and Formula One, arrived with little fanfare. It was subsequently joined by 6 Music, 1Xtra, BBC Asian Network and BBC 7. But how many will be at the party? How many people are actually listening? Trying to answer that is almost impossible. Nobody knows, because nobody is doing any measuring and nobody wants to speculate. You can get estimates of casualties in a nuclear war more readily than estimates of listeners to digital radio, even though all five of those BBC stations were set up with and are run on public money (£21m this year). "It is just too early to say," says Rachell Fox, the BBC's expert. "Nobody wants to guess and then get it spectacularly wrong." The commercial sector's national digital radio stations - of which there are also five: Oneword, Planet Rock, PrimeTime, Life and Core, with its chart hits - are similarly shy. "While stations such as Core were claiming 100,000 listeners and more a year ago, they are now being quite coy because they expect to sign up to Rajar, the audience- measuring body, later this year," says Mandy Green, the spokeswoman for this company. "If Rajar shows they have only got 10,000 and they've been claiming 10 times that, it looks bad. All the national stations are being cautious." So the only reliable figures at present are for online use. Every week, for example, Core gets 7,000 text messages from listeners, and the BBC's digital radio output is listened to on the web on 220,000 separate occasions. But there will be some "robust" listening figures later this year. Oneword joined Rajar last month and its first ratings will be out in May, as they will be for two smaller digital outfits, Kerrang! and Smash Hits. There are now 135,000 digital radio sets in Britain - the £99 Evoke, car radios, hi-fi tuners, everything. When that has risen to 1m, which pundits expect around Christmas 2004, the BBC will submit its own five stations for ratings measurement and a new era will begin. Without such audience figures, things are hard for commercial digital stations, as they are unable to sell airtime to advertisers. "Our advertising revenue is negligible, and we are running at a loss of about £800,000 a year," reveals Ben Budworth, the managing director of Oneword. Two national digital stations (Bloomberg and ITN) and one London one (Ministry of Sound) closed down about two months ago. But digital radio is here to stay, and Radio Times has at last recognised that by carrying its listings... (more on web site) (via Mike Terry, DXLD) ** U K [non]. I just received this message from Tom Taylor at the European Music Radio on EMR@blueyonder.co.uk EMR had planned to broadcast a Sunday during January from IRRS, Milano, Italy, but that obviously failed. Now it seems that they are going to broadcast the February programme via Ulbroka, Latvia. Tune in and hear their own explanation! Best 73, (Anker Petersen, Denmark, Feb 2, DX LISTENING DIGEST) NEXT TRANSMISSION FROM EMR A DATE NOT TO MISS NEXT EMR BROADCAST IS THE 9TH OF FEBRUARY 2003 ON 5935 KHZ AT 1500 UTC TUNE IN AND SEND FOR YOUR NEW LOOK EMR QSL (VERIFICATION CARD) GOOD LISTENING 73s EMR (via Petersen, DXLD) ** U K [non]. Re Laser Radio on WBCQ 9335: Hopefully we will get to hear the DX segment that Laser Radio does (Petro G, Atlanta, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. STATEMENT BY KENNETH Y. TOMLINSON CHAIRMAN, BROADCASTING BOARD OF GOVERNORS (BBG) ON PRESIDENT BUSH’S FY 2004 BUDGET REQUEST The budget process forces us to establish priorities --- and clearly President Bush`s FY `04 budget to Congress places the war on terrorism as international broadcasting’s top priority. Thirty million dollars in start-up funds for an Arabic-language satellite television network represents an important step toward reaching the people in the Arab world with accurate news and the message of freedom and democracy. Communicating directly with the world’s most populous Muslim state, Indonesia, makes the same good strategic sense. The budget will also allow us to expand audience development there, and in strategically placed countries where we will be placing programs on local stations and broadcasts on the channels our audiences use and move beyond shortwave technology. Considering the economic climate of the times, international broadcasting fared well in terms of the FY `04 budget request. The President is asking for an appropriation of $563.5 million --- a 9.5 percent increase over our FY `03 request. The landscape of U.S. international broadcasting was not left unchanged by the budget process. The budget means an end to most Voice of America (VOA) and Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL) broadcasting to the democracies of Eastern Europe where free speech is practiced and where the process of joining the NATO alliance is under way. The closing of these services, whose employees have so gallantly served the cause of freedom, will bring a moment of sadness to many of us who saw victory in the Cold War as a direct result of these radios. But we should remember at the same time that the goal these services struggled and sacrificed for has been achieved, and they should take great pride in the role they played in this historic mission. The budget will also require that we reduce spending in non- broadcasting areas. A 5 percent, or $3.9 million, reduction in management will result in administrative streamlining and cost reductions throughout the agency. The total loss of 36 positions for VOA and 46 positions for RFE/RL, as well as 16 positions in IBB and administrative positions in RFE/RL, will be accomplished, where possible, by retirements, reassignments, and abolishing vacant positions. Unfortunately, it appears we also will face reduction-in-force to achieve these budget goals. It is always difficult to accept significant change. September 11, 2001, changed the way we must approach international broadcasting—and the President’s budget reflects that change. This institution’s task now is to draw upon our previous success in the Cold War, to go forward with the new war of ideas as we offer democracy, tolerance, and self-government as the positive alternative to tyranny, fanaticism, and terror. An extraordinary challenge lies ahead. FY 2004 BUDGET FACT SHEET: BROADCASTING BOARD OF GOVERNORS THE PRESIDENT’S FY 2004 BUDGET REQUEST The FY 2004 budget request to Congress includes $563.5 million for the Broadcasting Board of Governors (BBG), which oversees all nonmilitary U.S. international broadcasting. Programming increases are targeted at the Middle East and Southeast Asia to bolster efforts in the War on Terrorism. - $30 million to initiate the Middle East Television Network – a new Arabic-language satellite television network that, once operational and fully funded, will have the potential to reach vast audiences in the region. - $3.4 million to double Voice of America’s (VOA) Indonesian radio programming (from 2.5 hours to five hours daily), and increase television programming to five hours a week. - $2.9 million to expand BBG audience development and placement efforts critical in our redirection to local media markets. Programming reductions are focused on Eastern and Central Europe as well as administrative and management costs. - A reduction of $8.8 million from the FY 2003 request level would eliminate BBG broadcasting in nine languages and make cuts in others. Staff reductions associated with these cuts would affect 36 positions at VOA and 46 staff positions at Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL). - VOA would no longer broadcast in Bulgarian, Czech, Estonian, Hungarian, Latvian, Lithuanian, Polish, Slovene, Slovak, Romanian. - RFE/RL would no longer broadcast in Bulgarian, Croatian, Estonian, Latvian, Lithuanian, Slovak. - VOA Ukrainian radio will be reduced from two to one hour per day. A total of three positions will be eliminated. - VOA’s Armenian service will be reduced from six to two positions. VOA will provide content to RFE/RL’s Armenian broadcasts. - RFE/RL Romanian broadcasting to Romania will be eliminated; however RFE/RL Romanian broadcasting targeted to Moldova will continue. - RFE/RL’s South Slavic Service will be reduced through the elimination of all Croatian broadcasting. - RFE/RL will reduce operational costs of its Armenian, Georgian, Serbian, and Ukrainian services. Management and administrative streamlining would result in a base reduction of $3.9 million. - The International Broadcasting Bureau (IBB) will reduce costs by $2.6 million and eliminate 16 positions. - RFE/RL will reduce operational costs by $1.1 million and eliminate six positions. - Radio Free Asia (RFA) will reduce operational costs by $230,000. (IBB Feb 3 via DXLD) And so, the abandon-your-friends trend moves along... (gh, DXLD) ** U S A. I've been checking the new WWKB [1520 Buffalo NY] this week. They're not going to give CHUM or CKOC any serious competition for the oldies market in Southern Ontario. Reception of KB here is very poor. In fact it's brutal. It's not only because of CHIN-1540 slop. You would think they would send some of their 50 kW this way. Who do they have to protect to the north? I get better daytime reception of Buffalo-area graveyarder WLVL-1430 than I do of WWKB. 73 (Mike Brooker Toronto, ON, Feb 1, NRC-AM via DXLD) They are DA-1 (U3) and the NRC pattern book shows why you are not getting a great signal. Toronto is near the western edge of their northern lobe. They do send a lot of juice to the north, but just not in your direction (Pete Taylor, Tacoma, ibid.) There's also an issue with groundwave/skywave cancellation - up there at the top end of the AM dial, that first skywave hop lands as close in as Buffalo and Toronto, and there's skywave as late as 10 AM and as early as 2 PM deep in winter on 1520. I expect KB to be a much more pleasant listen here in Rochester come summer... s (Scott Fybush, ibid.) ** U S A. I think that it might be common knowledge that Bob Bittner hosts a weekly show over AM Stereo WJIB 740 Cambridge, MA (prerecorded) Sundays about 10:30 AM Eastern, "Let's Talk About Radio". It's a 30 minute show. I enjoy listening whenever I'm back home in Massachusetts (Ron Gitschier, Jacksonville, FL, Feb 3, NRC-AM via DXLD) I'll have to add him to our list. Too bad it's not on SW or syndicated nationally in some form. Too bad the legal costs of starting a SW station are so prohibitive. When you put it to a spreadsheet, it's almost 68/32 in lawyer/consultant/FCC fees (Fred Vobbe, ibid.) Hardly cost effective in order to get a half hour weekly program on SW! There are several stations which would carry it for a small charge (gh, DXLD) Check in with The Steve LeVeille Broadcast on 1030 WBZ Boston. He often has in-studio guests covering the topic of radio, and would certainly be open to impromptu discussion about radio with phone callers during open forum segments most nights. The Steve LeVeille Broadcast is Monday - Friday mornings 12 - 5 a.m. And what about WJIB? Is the talk show about radio still running Sundays on 740 WJIB Cambridge? (Bruce Conti - Nashua NH, NRC-AM via DXLD) ** U S A. Off-frequency 1450.25 is KQYX Joplin MO. Caught a clear ID after a local ad from 2329-2330 EST. Oh well.. I was hoping for something more exotic, even though this is a new GY log for me and nothing to sneeze at. I also had an Oklahoma mention in an ad right on 1450 so perhaps KGFF again. There's also some C&W music in the mix and I'd swear I've heard bits of Spanish as well. 73 KAZ Barrington IL (Neil Kazaross, Feb 2, NRC-AM via DXLD) ** U S A. Sunday, February 16, 2003 - WRCR-1300, Spring Valley, NY will conduct an equipment test from 12:00 to 1:00 am ELT [0500-0600 UT]. The station will broadcast Morse code IDs, station promos, and AC music. Power will be 500 watts, mostly NW, protecting WAVZ - New Haven, CT. Reception reports may be sent to: Alex Medakovic, Owner WRCR-AM Nanuet Mall, Suite 2126 75 West Route 59 Nanuet, NY 10954 (Arranged by the NRC CPC via IRCA Soft DX Monitor via DXLD) ** U S A. 1670 KHPY CA, Moreno Valley: according to phone call to station, they are on 1000 until 0100 [EST? So 1500-0600 UT]. Heard 1/16 at 0830 with ID and oldies music, mixing with Redding, CA then faded out as Redding took over. According to station they will be on till 0100 on a temporary basis (Gary Jackson, Sacramento, CA 95823, IRCA Soft DX Monitor via DXLD) Same, +1/18 2214 [EST] in fair with fading, song "Seasons in the Sun," called DJ at toll free 800-959-1670 and was told 1530 is silent. Thanks to RW in Azusa for tip that they're on. Daytime is poor, too much 1650 slop. Good to hear this, now a favorite with wide variety of rock oldies. Not sure of air date. Gave local request number 909-247- 1530 as well as 800 one. It's the only directional X-band station I've heard about. I think most of signal was from skywave (Gary Larson, Burbank, CA 91504, ibid.) Just called owner of 1670 KHPY, D. L. Van Voorhes and reported reception of a couple nites ago. Said airdate was 1/16 at 7 AM and was told to use Box 909, Moreno Valley CA 92556. They're still on Sunnymead Bl. And use 2 numbers of 909-247-1530 and 800-959-1670 for requests. Called air per. WD a nite or two ago to comment on oldies music. I asked where towers are and he said Redlands; I mentioned San Timoteo Canyon Rd and was told yes, it`s there. I figure it`s near that road and Frontage Rd. Was also told of possible sale of station. KHPY is in fair now at 6:57 PM as I write, with oldies. Spoke to Robby, DJ on air and asked for an add. Hollies song to play plus something by Gary Lewis & The Playboys from 60s (Larson, IRCA SDXM via DXLD) ** U S A. IS IBOC GOOD FOR ALL LISTENERS? By Frederick R. Vobbe, January 27, 2002 Audio: http://www.nrcdxas.org/audio/IBOC_Story.mp3 A couple weeks ago I had the honor of starting a two-week vacation, visiting family out of town, but I had the dishonor of doing some listening to radio in northwest Ohio. It wasn't the station's formats that was the problem, it was what one station was transmitting! That is, IBOC. It so happened that my travel plans took me south, right into a serious ice storm. I did what everyone in west-central does when you want to know what the weather is doing. I tuned to 1190, WOWO out of Fort Wayne, Indiana. Unfortunately, I had to listen to the weather reports through a terrible hiss from 1200, WCHB in suburban Detroit. I'm pretty tolerant of noise, however my dear wife was clearly annoyed at the racket, so I had to turn off my car radio and winged it. Thanks WCHB for being a trashy neighbor. On my way back up later in the week, I though I would take out my radios and Sony mini-disc and give you a taste of what IBOC does. First of all, I used several radios for the tests. A stock GE Super Radio III, a Sony ICF-2010, a Radio Shack 12-604, and my in dash Delco car radio that came standard in a 2001 Buick Century. There was no difference on any of the radios. They all worked well when IBOC was not present, and when IBOC was on a station, the adjacent channels were trashed. This was exactly the same as when I was travelling to North Dakota and trying to listen to WGN in Chicago on 720, when WOR on 710 was testing IBOC. But that was when I was in La Porte, IN driving towards Chicago in the afternoon. The recordings you are about to hear were made at sunrise, and sunset, as WCHB only operated their IBOC during daytime hours, Detroit time. However, I suspect that the first night they were on well past daytime hours, as I recall that post-sunset hours start at 5PM local time. Let's establish a signal level. Here is how WOWO-1190 sounds in Lambertville, Michigan while WOWO is on night pattern, lower power, and WCHB has the IBOC off. [Audio Track: IBOC-01, :10 seconds] Now let's use the stock ICF-2010 and see if we can get WOWO during the day. I'm using this radio as I would to just listen for my entertainment. The radio is positioned so the back faces WOWO, and the front faces WCHB. Now let's tune the radio to 1200. [Audio Track: IBOC-02, :35 seconds] 1. This is WCHB on 1200. - Now, let's punch in 1210. 2. This is probably Philadelphia, as when I grew up in Toledo I could always get Philly. Let's see if narrow band helps us. Nope, I'm afraid not. 3. Now back to 1200. - and down to 1190 where we should hear just a trace of monkey chatter from WCHB due to sidebands, but WOWO should be clear. 4. Listen carefully for the man's voice. That is the mighty WOWO with 50kw daytime. 5. Now we're back on 1200. By playing with the position of the radio I was able to take down the level of interference from WCHB, and we could hear WOWO's basketball game. [Audio Track: IBOC-03, :10 seconds] Now let's hear what happens at sunset. We're still tuned to 1190, WOWO in Fort Wayne. You can hear the IBOC interference; listen what happens when WCHB goes to night facilities and dumps IBOC. [Audio Track: IBOC-04, :20 seconds] Simply amazing that a technology that will save AM radio does so much harm! The recording speaks for itself. As a 30-plus year engineer, and a citizen of the United States, I can't express how much IBOC trashes the AM band. Let's hope citizens complain, congress listens, and the FCC reacts, and puts IBOC in a tomb that it never will be reincarnated (Fred Vobbe, OH, NRC DX Audio Service Feb 2 via DXLD) ** U S A. NAB: 733 US TV STATIONS BROADCASTING IN DIGITAL The National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) in the United States says that a total of 733 US television stations are now broadcasting in digital. In a press release, the NAB says that DTV signals are now being transmitted in 179 markets that include 96.69% of US TV households. In addition, 70.76% of the more than 106 million US TV households are in markets with five or more broadcasters airing DTV, and 36.55% are in markets with eight or more broadcasters sending digital signals (© Radio Netherlands Media Network 3 February 2003 via DXLD) Misleading figures ** U S A. City of Dallas is accepting sealed bids today believed to be in the range of $40 million for the frequency of classical WRR-FM, 101.1. Results could be announced later today. WRR might then move to somewhere around 89 MHz (Mark Sills, TX, via George Thurman, DXLD) So I looked in the paper: NOTHING STATIONARY AT CLASSICAL STATION TALK OF DALLAS TRADING WRR-FM'S SIGNAL HAS MANY ASKING WHY? 02/02/2003 By AL BRUMLEY / The Dallas Morning News http://www.dallasnews.com/entertainment/columnists/abrumley/stories/020203dnartbrumley.3d1dc.html Here we go again. WRR-FM (101.1), the classical music station owned by the city of Dallas, once more finds itself the center of unwanted attention. This time the city's not talking sale, though. Instead, the idea is either to swap signals with another station or let another company run WRR in what is known as a "local marketing agreement" (LMA). The deadline for proposals was Friday. Among the companies that submitted applications are ABC Inc., Susquehanna Radio Corp., Service Broadcasting Corp. and Hispanic Broadcasting Corp. Make no mistake: the 101.1 frequency is about as juicy as it gets. It covers nine counties and reaches all the way down to Waco. You'd better believe Susquehanna would love to get "The Bone" KDBN-FM (93.3) on that frequency, as would Service Broadcasting with KRNB-FM (105.7). Dallas Mayor Laura Miller said in an interview last week, though, that she is firmly committed to maintaining WRR's reach should the City Council decide to swap signals. "We would never swap frequencies and have a lesser product," she said. Which raises the obvious question: What's the point of swapping equal signals? Well, there is no point, and the fact is, none of the signals that will be offered up will match WRR's coverage. But that's where Arbitron comes in. A panel recently formed by Ms. Miller to study WRR recommended in one of its first moves that the station subscribe to the ratings service so it could analyze where the majority of its listeners live. A source close to the panel, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said that if most of WRR's audience lives north, and the city swaps with a signal that's strong in the north, that would be considered equitable. Presumably, then, classical-music fans in South Dallas would have to get bigger antennas. Greg Davis, WRR's general manager, said he's worried that moving to a signal with less coverage would make it nearly impossible to increase the station's revenues. He also noted that WRR funds many grass-roots arts organizations in the city, which would suffer if the station loses money. Then there's the question of WRR's revenue performance and whether it could be improved under an LMA. Ms. Miller says the committee believes the station should be billing $7 million-$8 million a year. According to Duncan's Radio Market Guide, the station billed $4.5 million in 2001, the latest figures available. By comparison, KING-FM in Seattle billed $3.6 million, WCRB-FM in Boston billed $7.5 million, and WGMS in Washington, D.C., billed $10 million. All three broadcast classical music. As for the station's worth, it depends on whom you ask. Most industry people interviewed say it's worth at least $100 million. But of course that figure would be less if the city gets another signal as part of a deal. Ms. Miller insisted that if all the bidders try to low-ball the city, the deal's off. The good news in all this is that everyone involved seems committed to having a classical-music station in Dallas. What's confusing is why every few years the city gets itchy about WRR. The station pays its own way, it doesn't cost the taxpayers a dime, and no other city can say it cares so much about the arts that it actually owns a classical-music station. (And let's not forget that $1 million that WRR recently lent the Dallas Convention & Visitors Bureau.) Could WRR be making more money? Yes. But how about trying a little consulting first, before moving the station to a signal that effectively blocks out half the city? WRR-FM (101.1) is a precious commodity. If the city of Dallas dismantles it, people will look back on that decision with wonder and disbelief (Dallas Morning News Feb 3 via DXLD) ** U S A. RADIO STATIONS WANT PIRATES TO SAIL AWAY By Eliot Kleinberg, Palm Beach Post Staff Writer Monday, February 3, 2003 http://www.gopbi.com/partners/pbpost/epaper/editions/monday/local_news_e3d3edfde4a8113e1001.html DELRAY BEACH -- South Florida FM radio stations are being tormented by unlicensed "pirate" stations that illegally transmit on frequencies so close they interfere with signals. While the Federal Communications Commission won't confirm it, the stations say they have reported the pirates, and some have been shut down. But station executives and engineers complain they're up against the low cost of operating the stations, the unwieldy process of shutting them down and financial restraints that hinder the FCC's response. "The FCC has broadcasters jumping through so many hoops" to get a license, said Barbara Marshall, station manager at Port St. Lucie station WFLM-FM 104.7. "To have somebody just buy a piece of equipment and interfere with that signal whenever they feel like it is just unbelievable." The pirates have interfered with at least nine stations whose signals come into Palm Beach, Martin or St. Lucie counties: WFLM; WQCS-FM 88.9, Fort Pierce; WXEL-FM 90.7, Boynton Beach; WLRN-FM 91.3, Miami; WZZR-FM 94.3, Port St. Lucie; WTZA-FM 94.9, Miramar; WLDI-FM 95.5, West Palm Beach; WRMF-FM 97.9, West Palm Beach; and WHYI-FM 100.7, Hollywood. In all, 88 of the 400 pirate radio stations the FCC has shut down nationwide since 1997 have been in South Florida. An FCC spokesman would not give the stations' base locations or say which legitimate stations are affected. Possible reasons for South Florida's glut of pirates: the many ethnic groups that present untapped audiences, Florida's transient population and the state's reputation for attracting people who live outside the lines. Or it may simply be the region's flat terrain, which lets signals go all the way to the horizon. Some pirates actually operate in vans or move bases to avoid detection. "They're little transmitters that you can put up in your attic or apartment or home, and you're in business," WLRN general manager John LaBonia said. Some transmitters cost as little as $5,000, he said. The FCC seized equipment from three of the 88 South Florida operations shut down since 1997. Penalties can range from equipment seizure to $11,000 in fines for a first offense. Repeat offenders face up to $100,000 in fines and up to a year in prison. But before a pirate can be shut down, the FCC must bring in the U.S. attorney, a federal judge and, sometimes, U.S. marshals, Carr said. On top of that, the operator has to be caught transmitting. The FCC enforcement staff is often stretched thin, said Dennis Wharton, spokesman for the National Association of Broadcasters, which represents about 7,700 licensed radio and television stations. "Unless you can get a judge that can appreciate the importance, often they slap them on the wrist and they're back on the air in days." One operator, James R. Leger of Lake Worth, was ordered in June to pay $10,000 for "willful and repeated operation of radio transmitting equipment without a license," an FCC order says. The agency would not discuss Leger's case nor say on which frequency he operated. Leger is unlisted and the telephone number for his attorney in the FCC case is disconnected. Since January, WLRN has had to contend with a "hip-hop" station somewhere in Delray Beach that operates at 91.5, compared to WLRN's 91.3. The Delray Beach station transmits mostly in morning and evening "drive time," the critical time when commuters are in their cars. The strength of the transmission suggests the station is operating at 500 watts or less, up against WLRN's 100,000-watt signal. LaBonia said WLRN has about 40,000 listeners from Boca Raton to Boynton Beach. Based on about two dozen telephone calls and e-mails from irritated listeners, the interference appears limited to the immediate Delray Beach area, LaBonia said. Interference may be minor but in some cases it drowns out WLRN altogether, he said. "These guys are so arrogant," LaBonia said. "They're saying, 'We're going to operate. Come and get us.' " Boynton Beach-based WXEL-FM 90.7 has wrestled for three years with a station in Fort Lauderdale, operating at 90.9, that mostly interferes with the southern end of its range, in central and southern Broward County. But station manager Jerry Carr said he's heard the station bleeding into WXEL's frequency in the station's own Congress Avenue parking lot. The station is also mostly hip-hop but appears to have switched in the last few weeks to Caribbean music. Carr said a separate pirate based in West Palm Beach operates off and on at the same spot on the dial. The station interfering with WXEL, called "the 9-0," employs 2,500 watts, a tenth of WXEL's 25,000 watts, "but it's enough," Carr said. Fort Pierce public station WQCS-FM 88.9 is dealing with a West Palm Beach-based pirate at 88.7, manager Jim Holmes said. "Ours is particularly blue," Holmes said. "It's 'F' this, and 'F' that. It's real hard-core street music." Public stations may be especially vulnerable only because they are traditionally at the low end of the dial, and many of the low-power transmitters operate on low frequencies, Holmes said. But WFLM-FM, at 104.7, has a pirate at 104.6. The station hasn't a clue where the pirate is operating. And WRMF-FM 97.9 has pirates on either side, one in Miami at 98.1 and one west of Fort Lauderdale at 97.7, engineer Rick Rieke said. The Fort Lauderdale station appears to favor Caribbean music, while the Miami one seems to be playing songs in Yiddish, he said. Rieke said he hasn't reported the two because "They've been there so long the FCC is (already) aware of their existence." The FCC uses "triangulation" -- selecting two known points, drawing a line between them, and mapping the angles at which a signal crosses that line -- to pinpoint the transmitter, WXEL's Carr said. The agency frowns on stations tracking down the pirates themselves. But last year WXEL got tired of waiting and sent Director of Engineering Michael Maville hunting with his own equipment. Maville traced the signal to a Fort Lauderdale home, even spotting an antenna tied to a tree, Carr said. The FCC later told him only that the person had been shut down and did not provide the operator's name. But he said it was back on in a week. Public station listeners, in particular, may tire of static and switch stations, sometimes during critical pledge drives. Or confused listeners believe the unseemly programming is coming from the legitimate stations. "There's not a day that goes by," Carr said, "that we don't get a call, (saying), 'How dare you use language like that. Why are you playing rap music?' " (Staff researcher Michelle Quigley contributed to this story). (via Mike Terry, Alan Pennington, Andy Sennitt, Artie Bigley, Terry Krueger, DXLD) No need to ask WTFK here!!! Wow, what a coincidence, five DXLD contributors all reading the Palm Beach Post today! (gh) ** U S A. On trying to get the FCC`s attention when it comes to stations violating the rules, good luck! I tried to get the FCC to do something a few years ago about a local AM of mine that was flagrantly violating several rules, including running day power/pattern at night, throwing out sidebands 50 kHz either side of their frequency, and generating spurs all over the dial (these were actually spurs generated by the station, not by my receivers). Basically, after several tries, the FCC told me, in effect, to shut up and leave them alone. The station was finally sold two years ago, and the first thing the new owners did was buy a new transmitter and get the night antenna pattern working again. I talked to the new engineer, who told me everything I had suspected about the previous owners` neglect was true. And the FCC didn`t care a whit (Phil Boersma, Spring Lake MI, NRC DX News Musings Feb 3 via DXLD) ** U S A. RADIO STATION BECOMES 'TALK OF TOWN' By Matt Moline Special to the [Topeka] Capital-Journal http://www.cjonline.com/stories/020303/kan_olsburg.shtml OLSBURG -- Olsburg's new radio station, KANV-FM 91.3, had folks buzzing Saturday at the Kaffe Hus restaurant. "It's been the talk of the town," said waitress April Burklund. "The comment was, 'Oh, where's it coming out of?' And nobody knew." Understandably, Olsburgians had reason to ask for a reality check. Although the station began regular broadcasts Jan. 7, folks in this tiny Pottawatomie County municipality are still looking for the tower and transmitter -- hard-to-hide objects in Olsburg, which has a population of 192. Nevertheless, KANV is no phantom of the airwaves. The 6,000-watt signal is getting into town just fine -- a new broadcast service of KANV's flagship station, KANU-FM, the public radio station headquartered at The University of Kansas in Lawrence. The Olsburg station was established to provide a reliable KANU signal to listeners in the Manhattan area, and to provide station coverage for the first time in north-central Kansas. KANU media manager Phil Wilke explained that KANV's tower and transmitter are in Junction City -- 30 miles southwest of Olsburg -- although the new station is officially licensed to Olsburg by the Federal Communications Commission. "When we made the application in the 1990s, we put the city of license as Olsburg," Wilke said. "But as the FCC license process moved forward, a new engineering study found a better transmitter spot in Junction City, which would boost the height of the tower and perhaps signal strength. But the license application still says Olsburg." KANV is the second KANU satellite station to go on the air this year, following on the heels of the April 27 debut of KANH-FM in Emporia. Both satellites are known as "repeater" stations, which rebroadcast the KANU signal originating from Lawrence and do not provide any original programming that would require local studio facilities or staff. Still, Olsburg is likely to get a civic boost every time a KANU announcer identifies the town as the official headquarters of KANV to the listening audience, estimated by station officials at 70,000 per week. "Well, Olsburg is really pretty famous already, famous for our Swedish supper the first weekend in December," said Burklund, whose own name sounds vaguely Scandinavian. On the other hand, Olsburg Grocery Store clerk Jennifer Frye says the town can use all the free publicity it can get. "Yeah, it was quite strange to me this morning when these two men came in discussing the radio station," Frye said. "I couldn't imagine a radio station in 'no man's land,' and one said he had read about it somewhere, and the other guy said, 'It must be a misprint.' And that was about it." Matt Moline is a free-lance writer in Manhattan (via Artie Bigley, DXLD) ** U S A. LOTS OF STATIC OVER RADIO By Roy Bragg Express-News Staff Writer Web Posted : 02/02/2003 12:00 AM While no one was looking, a global media empire was built behind the Quarry Market on East Basse Road. Now that it's in place, everyone has taken notice. All is calm inside the native limestone walls of Clear Channel Worldwide's corporate headquarters, where company founder Lowry Mays, along with sons Randall and Mark and a battalion of executives, has built a large and profitable company in a tanking economy. While ad revenues are tepid and stock prices are down, Clear Channel is poised to strike when the economy regains its footing. Outside, however, a growing number of people are worried about how the company exerts power over the radio and music industries. From Los Angeles to Washington, singers, songwriters, senators, concert promoters and music industry leaders fear the San Antonio company, calling it everything from "Cheap Channel" to "The Great Satan." .... [long, illustrated article:] http://news.mysanantonio.com/story.cfm?xla=saen&xlb=180&xlc=937884 [sidebar:] CLEAR CHANNEL TIMELINE http://news.mysanantonio.com/story.cfm?xla=saen&xlb=180&xlc=937977 (both via Artie Bigley, DXLD) ** U S A. 65-YEAR-OLD RADIO TOWER TO BE REPLACED Thursday, January 30, 2003 CARLA SMITH ThisWeek Staff Writer http://www.thisweeknews.com/thisweek.php?edition=common&story=thisweeknews/013003/gvw/News/013003-News-221105.html As soon as the frigid weather breaks, construction will begin on a new radio tower for 820 WOSU-AM, located on the Ohio State University Golf Course at the corner of Tremont and Kenny roads. The new tower will replace the existing, now deteriorating, 65-year- old structure located near the golf course's club house, said David Carwile, station manager. An official start date of the project has not been set, but it's expected to begin in mid to late February. "We will be demolishing the old and the timing depends on when we have the new components in place," he said. "We will let residents know when we have notice." Carwile said a new tower is necessary because of the deterioration of concrete base piers holding the legs of the tower. After many repairs over the years, further patching of the base is no longer feasible, he said. "We looked at options for replacing only the piers, but the tower age and grant money availability for full replacement made it more cost- effective to build a new tower," he said. The new tower will be of the exact height as the one it replaces, he said, and will be located in the same area as the existing one in order to generate AM signals. In consideration of the nearby neighborhoods, the tower will not only look the same but retain the current low-intensity aircraft beacon system, rather than strobe lighting used on most new structures. Carwile said the construction will create disruptions in the station's daytime listening area and the station will be required to operate from its nighttime transmitter in the southwest corner of the city until construction is complete. "Because the signal from our nighttime transmitter won't be as strong in some areas, we know some listeners may receive poor or no reception during the construction period," he said. Carwile is asking residents to be patient when construction begins. He said the station will do everything possible to speed the process along. "A replacement is something we had to do," he said. "It's like putting a new roof on a house." (via Artie Bigley, DXLD) ** U S A. Six-year old ham: http://news.statesmanjournal.com/article.cfm?i=56021 (Salem OR via Artie Bigley, DXLD) ** VENEZUELA [and non]. La siguiente información aparece en el semanario Quinto Dia, cuya dirección es: http://www.quintodia.com.ve en la columna Sebastiana sin Secretos. Hay un avión de guerra R3 israelí, auspiciado por el gobierno venezolano, equipado con equipos de rastreo electrónico que permite capturar toda señal electrónica, incluyendo las de televisión y radio, aún las clandestinas en varias bandas. Ese material es llevado a la isla de Aruba donde es procesado (via José Elías Díaz Gómez, Cumbre DX via DXLD) ** VIETNAM. VOICE OF VIETNAM PROGRAMME SCHEDULE Daily: News & Current Affairs Mon: Press Review | Vietnam Land & People Tue: Press Review | Culture & Society Wed: Letter Box Thu: Press Review | Talk of the Week | Vietnam Economy Fri: Press Review | Rural Vietnam | Literature & Arts Sat: Weekly Review | Music Sun: Sunday Show (via PATRICK TRAVERS - Schedules received on 7th January 2003, Feb World DX Club Contact via Alan Roe, DXLD) ** VIETNAM [non]. Program content of Chân Tròi Mói sounds clandestine Chân Tròi Mói by Wendel Craighead, Kansas, January 28, 2003 Chân Tròi Mói on 15,715 at 1330 to 1430 UT sure sounds like a clandestine to me. Their broadcast in Vietnamese on 20 January was typical: 1330 UT Instrumental theme music, and a woman spoke briefly. 1331 Vietnamese vocal (woman) and instrumental music. 1332½ A woman said, ``Day là daì phat thanh Chân Tròi Mói...``; and announced they were broadcasting on 19 meters, 15,715 kHz., at 8:30 to 9:30 PM. 1333 A man read world news, mentioning: Iraq; American forces to the Gulf; UN refused permission to search Sadaam`s home; chemical weapons; etc. 1340 A woman interviewed a Vietnamese man. He mentioned: the Vietnam economy is not good; the communist regime is bad for the people; human rights don`t exist in Vietnam; etc. The line between a clandestine station and a religious station --- just as between a clandestine and a pirate ---is sometimes blurred; some religious programs contain a lot of social and political comment. But I`ve listened to Chân Tròi Mói many times and have heard nothing ``religious``, nor have my Vietnamese friends who listened to my tapes of these programs --- no sermons, hymns, or gospel songs. It`s always news, interviews, and commentary from a definitely anti-Vietnamese- government position. I am not often able to listen after 1400, but when I have, the content has been similar --- usually a woman speaking about Vietnam. I may not have listened every day of the week, so perhaps it has a religious program on certain days (Wendel Craighead, KS, Jan 28, 2003 for CRW via DXLD) ** ZAMBIA. Radio Zambia has been coming in from after 0345 UT on 6265 many evenings recently. Most recently; 2/3/03 0358-0420, American pop music, cock crow, ID and probable news headlines in vernacular at 0400. Very pleasant local music after 0400, as noted in earlier DXLDs (Mark Taylor, Madison, WI, DX LISTENING DIGEST) UNIDENTIFIED. Hi out there, especially Nordic DX-ers, Tonight (Feb 3rd) I heard an Arabic station on 1584 kHz between 1845 and 2030 UT, playing "oriental" music and identifying in Arabic. It sounded like a test programme with many announcements about "kHz" and like that. ID sounded like: "Radio Ciklin" or similar. Stress on last "i". Please help! 73 from (Björn Fransson on the island of Gotland, Sweden, hard- core-dx via DXLD) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ RECEIVER NEWS +++++++++++++ KENWOOD R-2000 INFORMATION RESOURCE PAGE I'd like to invite everyone on the list to come visit my new Kenwood R2000 Communications Receiver Information Resource page. I have included the R2000 manuals (both owner's and service), schematics, parts, mods, accessories, email and newsgroups links, factory authorized service centers, sales links, etc. Find it all here: http://www.qsl.net/kc7bum/ Also, if you have anything you'd like to contribute to the page, please let me know. This page has been solely a labor of love, with no compensation for me at all. Regards, (Rob Williams KC7BUM, Portland, Oregon, Webmaster: * ARP Odyssey Information Resource Page http://www.overacker.com/ody/index.html * Kenwood R-2000 Information Resource Page http://www.qsl.net/kc7bum/ via hard-core-dx via DXLD) PUBLICATIONS ++++++++++++ PRIME TIME SHORTWAVE My Prime Time Shortwave website which has been existence over four years now has a new easy to remember URL, http://www.primetimeshortwave.com Here you will find up-to-date shortwave schedules for the international broadcasters. Schedules are available in country, time and frequency sorts. Schedules are available in ascii, html, DBase, Excel and Pilot-DB PalmOS formats. Daniel Lyddy provides the Pilot-DB files and Mickey Delmage of CIDX provides the DX media program guide files. You will also find links to the international broadcasters and other notable radio related websites. There is also a UT to local time conversion table for North America. Visually impaired users will find the ascii file for the time sort of English shortwave schedules at http://www.primetimeshortwave.com/time.txt and for the country sort at http://www.primetimeshortwave.com/country.txt Good listening, (Daniel Sampson, ODXA via DXLD) THE SECRET WIRELESS WAR A newly released video with two one hour films produced by Grindelwald Productions. The first film is entitled Beyond Bletchley Park It explores how the World War Two secret German wireless signals were intercepted, deciphered at Bletchley Park, acted upon by our own intelligence and subsequently dispersed back into the field in occupied Europe. This is done by interviewing some of the people involved and visiting the wartime sites used for the operations. Bob King was one of over 1500 radio amateurs from around the country who was a volunteer interceptor of morse transmissions and talks about his work and shows some of the radio equipment he used. He starts off with a poem written by a fellow interceptor: "I must go back to the set again to the superhet and the phones, And switch off the broadcast music, the announcers measured tones, And search again on the shortwaves with loud calls bleeding, For the dim sounds of the morse code that a far foes sending, I must go back to the set again for the time has come to seek, In the QRM and the QRN for my allotted squeak, And all I ask is a steady note through the ether speeding, At a fair strength, in a quiet spot, at a nice speed for reading." David White was another volunteer interceptor and shows us round the Bletchley Park Wireless Museum. Geoffrey Pidgeon talks about the production of MK7 Spy Sets for agents to transmit information back to the UK whilst Will Neal, and Maurice Richardson tell about the manufacture of the Special Liaison Units, vehicles built as mobile transmitter/receiver units which transmitted and received intelligence from and to Bletchley Park. Will was involved in relaying the intelligence to General Patten during the Allied advance into Europe. The second film in entitled Black Propaganda. This follows the development and content of the World War Two secret British black radio broadcasts against the Germans. Again the sites involved are visited including the studios at Milton Bryan where the broadcasts were recorded and one of the transmitter sites. Those interviewed include Phil Luck who worked as a transmitter engineer, Ingram Murray, whose father became a member of the Political Warfare Executive who ran the propaganda operation which used leaflets and newspapers to undermine German morale as well as both black and white propaganda operations and Stephen Halladay who was in charge of the Milton Bryan site. The story is told chronologically with translations of Sefton Delmar's Der Chef operations and recordings of his later Soldatsender West station as well as details of the installation of the high power Aspidistra site. The video ends with a short recording of a recent ceremony at Milton Bryan unveiling a plaque commemorating the work of the Political Warfare Executive during World War Two. The interviews and visits to the sites involved make this a fascinating video and piece of oral history. It can be ordered for 14 pounds 99 pence including post and packing from Grindelwald Productions, P.O. Box 38, Princes Risborough, Buckinghamshire HP27 9YL. It is available in NTSC format for the US and Canada at 20 pounds or 33 US dollars. Web: http://www.grindelwald.co.uk but there is no online ordering available (Feb World DX Club Contact via Alan Roe, DXLD) CONVENTIONS & CONFERENCES +++++++++++++++++++++++++ EUROPEAN DX COUNCIL CONFERENCE The 2003 European DX Council Conference will be held from August 15th to 17th at the Dresdner Bank Group¹s Communication and Training Centre in Konigstein. The 750 years old city of Konigstein is 20 minutes from Frankfurt City Centre. Conference themes and panels will include: . Tropical bands DXing - Anker Petersen and Willi Passman . Shortwave Stations in Germany: Julich and Nauen . DRM and the future of DXing: Wolf Harranth . Low Cost Radio, DRM for everyone: Fraunhofer Institute . Internet Radio: Rudolf Sonntag and Markus Weidner . Free Radio, FM DX, Satellite DX and Worldspace. . A visit to the American Forces Network Frankfurt station is planned. Waldemar Kramer of Deutsche Welle, who are celebrating their 50th anniversary this year, will be at the Conference. For further information contact Dr. Harald Gabler, Limburger Str. 3, 61462 Konigstein, Germany, email DrGabler@t-online.de (Feb World DX Club Contact via Alan Roe, DXLD) PROPAGATION +++++++++++ Today was extraordinary for HF propagation into Melbourne across our midday period on 6, 7, and 9 MHz. After an absence of several years, many signals arrived from Asia and Africa in the period 0000-0300 UTC, marking the reappearance of the mysterious and enigmatic "Midday Asia and Africa Mode". Yes, they have been a long time coming, and as past years, they appear during the downwrds slope of a new solar cycle, like now! I will put up a report in a day or so, which includes many gems; 6050 Miri 0305 6175 Kuala Lumpur 0300 6190 Meyerton 0300 7215 Luanda 0145 6035 Al Dhabiyya 0015 7215 Meyerton *0330 9730 Yangon 0315 9530 Hanoi 0000 9750 Kuala Lumpur superb signal *0300 7270 Kuching 0045 Singapore 7170 7235 continuous 2300-0300; Singapore 6000 2300-0000; Kuala Lumpur 7295 continuous 2300-0300; Singapore 6150 0000-0100. Extraordinary propagation via daylights paths, believed to be multi-mode, no intermediate ground contact, via refraction from the top of Sporadic E clouds over Australia and Pacific, Es/F2 combined. Above noted from home here in Mont Albert, despite heavy power line noise! Regards! (Bob Padula, Melbourne, Feb 2, EDXP via DXLD) ###