DX LISTENING DIGEST 3-040, March 10, 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/dxldtd3c.html [note change] HTML version of February issues: http://www.worldofradio.com/dxldtd3b.html HTML version of all January issues: 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 1172: RFPI: Tue 1900, Wed 0100, 0700, 1300 on 7445 and/or 15038.6 WJIE: Tue 0700, 1300, Wed 1300, Thu 1300 on 7490 WWCR: Wed 1030 on 9475 WRN ONDEMAND: http://new.wrn.org/listeners/stations/station.php?StationID=24 OUR ONDEMAND AUDIO: Check http://www.worldofradio.com/audiomid.html from early UT Thursday: [Low] (Download) http://www.k4cc.net/wor1172.rm (Stream) http://www.k4cc.net/wor1172.ram [High] (Download) http://www.k4cc.net/wor1172h.rm (Stream) http://www.k4cc.net/wor1172h.ram (Summary) http://www.worldofradio.com/wor1172.html ** ABKHAZIA. || And I think that this 9490 from Tbilisskaya is the actual reason why the Suxum transmitter in Abkhazia moved up 5 kHz to 9495 recently... || After clashing for how many years? At least five I would say from memory. Anyway this certain clash proved already years ago that Radio Abkhazia is not transmit by the Tbilisskaya station, I think it was Nick Pashkevich who pointed out that these were definitely independent carriers. And on the Tbilisskaya side 9490 used to be the summer counterpart of 5895 (Kai Ludwig, Germany, March 9, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ANTARCTICA. 15476.1v, often, 1930, Radio Nacional Arcángel, Esperanza can be heard very good at the moment. The last days they have suffered from heavy audio distortion. Drifting some Hz up and down, usually between 15476.096 to 15476.178 (Stig Adolfsson, SW Bulletin March 9, translated by editor Thomas Nilsson for DXLD) ** ARGENTINA. From an exhaustive list by frequency of ALL MW stations here, the X-band portion; E-mail addresses truncated: 1610 KHz / Radio Luz del Mundo QTH: Catamarca 2560, (1847) Rafael Calzada, Buenos Aires. Tel: (011) 4219-1150 OP: Ministerio Evangélico "El Amor de Dios" DG: Jorge Antonio Daniel 1610 KHz / Radio Cultura [*] QTH: Bernal -ex Domingo Purita- 2247, (1826) Remedios de Escalada, Buenos Aires. Tel: (011) 4247-6171 OP: Sociedad de Fomento y Cultural Villa Talleres Cxs: RL88, Radio Lanús FM / FM 88.1 MHz 1610 KHz / Radio Cántico Nuevo QTH: Av. Oliver 1319, Barrio 9 de Abril, (1842) Monte Grande, Bs. As. Tel: (011) 4272-2943 DG: Alfredo H. Soto 1610 KHz / Radio Exitos QTH: Zufriategui 830, 1º Piso, (1714) Ituzaingó, Buenos Aires. Tel: (011) 4458-4603 E-mail: radioexitos1610@h... DG: Hernán A. Zabala Cxs: FM Oriente / 94.7 MHz 1610 KHz / Radio Maranata QTH: Hipólito Yrigoyen s/n esq. Andresito, (3370) Puerto Iguazú, Misiones. Tel: (03757) 42-2713, 42-2557 QTH-2: Casilla de Correo 45, (3370) Puerto Iguazú, Misiones. E-mail: icn.futuro@h... OP: Iglesia Camino Nuevo DG: Hugo Eidinger Cxs: FM Futuro / 101.7 MHz Radio Baluarte (SW 6215 KHz) 1620 KHz / Radio Tropicana QTH: Av. San Juan 2461, (1232) Buenos Aires. Tel: (011) 4941-1723, 4941-9280, 4941-7601 OP: Asociación Civil "Jesús es mi Salvador" DG: Genuario Rodríguez Almeida Washington B. Taroco 1630 KHz / AM Restauración QTH: Tgrl. Pedro E. Aramburu -ex Debussy- 2948, (1686) Hurlingham, Buenos Aires. Tel: (011) 4662-6387, 4662-9032 DG: Osvaldo Adrián Silva 1630 / AM-1630 Radio Buen Ayre / (Red 92) QTH: Av. Circunvalación -Calle 32- Nº 426, (1900) La Plata, Buenos Aires. Tel: (0221) 483-8998 E-mail: am1630@r... Web: http://www.red92.com OP: Nuevas Comunicaciones S.R.L. DG: Marcelo Balcedo Cxs: Emisiones Platenses (92.1 MHz) Mix FM (102.7 MHz) 1640 KHz / Radio Bolivia QTH: Av. Int. Francisco Rabanal 1465, PA, (1437) Buenos Aires. Tel: (011) 4919-3659 DG: Haydee E. Catalano 1640 KHz / Radio Bionergis [see below] QTH: (3300) Posadas, Misiones. Tel: (03752) 45-4425 Cxs: FM 94.5 MHz 1650 KHz / Radio Conurbana QTH: (1757 Gregorio de Laferrere) Tel: (011) 4626-9346 1660 KHz / Radio Unidad [*] QTH: Molina 830, (1847) Rafael Calzada, Buenos Aires. Tel: (011) 4241-2544 OP: Iglesia Internacional Unidos en el Amor de Jesús DG: Alicia del Carmen Velil Cxs: FM 94.1 MHz 1670 KHz / Radiomanía [+] QTH: San Justo, Buenos Aires. E-Mail: <1670@s...> Obs: Rtx Servicio Latinoamericano de la BBC (Londres, UK) 1680 KHz / Radio Getro QTH: Magallanes 3136, (1824) Lanus Oeste, Buenos Aires. Tel: (011) 4267-2074 OP: Iglesia Jesucristo La Roca Viva DG: Viera Huberuk 1690 KHz / Apocalipsis II QTH: Monseñor Bufano 3386, (1754) San Justo, Buenos Aires. Tel: (011) 4484-4517, 4484-7617 Web: file://apocalipsis2.freeyellow.com OP: Fundación "Cristo la Solución" Cxs: FM 90.7 MHz (Marcelo Cornachioni, Argentina, Conexión Digital March 9 via DXLD) ** ARGENTINA. RADIO BOANERGES --- Muy importante el listado de emisoras argentinas que nos presenta el colega Marcelo A. Cornachioni en CNX 201. Sin embargo, permítanme agregar que la emisora que se menciona como 1640 KHz / Radio Bionergis QTH: (3300) Posadas, Misiones. Tel: (03752) 45-4425 Cxs: FM 94.5 MHz en realidad se llama Radio Boanerges, tal como recién supo Mika Mäkeläinen, luego de muchas e infructuosas tentativas de contacto con la emisora a través del teléfono, cuyo número sí lo habíamos logrado sacar en claro de una grabación de la señal realizada en Finlandia por Mäkeläinen. Por la grabación y por el indicativo se sabía que la emisora se encontraba en la pcia. de Misiones, pero el nombre de la misma no se había podido verificar antes de coronarse con éxito la insistencia en el teléfono del colega finlandés. El nombre de Boanerges, "hijo del trueno", aparece en el pasaje bíblico de Marcos 3,17 (Henrik Klemetz, Suecia, Conexión Digital via DXLD) ** ARMENIA. V. of Armenia, March 6, 2003, 9960, *2040-2059* Ident signal, anthem, "This is Yerevan" by male announcer, time & freqs of broadcasts, news read by female announcer, "Cultural Panorama". SIO 343 (-.. . Kraig Krist, KG4LAC, March 9, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** AUSTRALIA. HCJB: Last couple of weeks a time of great stability. Maintained SPac release at 25 kW, and almost every night to Asia at 75 kW. Everything seems to be settling down really well. Responses are growing day by day. So far over 300 reception reports from following countries [sic]: Africa, Australia, Austria, Bangladesh, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Chile, China, Denmark, Ecuador, Finland, France, Germany, Holland, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Lithuania, Malaysia, New Zealand, Norway, Pakistan, New Guinea [sic], Puerto Rico, Russia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, US, UK. Slight change to mailing address: remove E from P O Box: HCJB Australia, GPO Box 691, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia 3001 (Dennis Adams, HCJB Australia, DX Partyline March 8, notes by gh for DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** AUSTRALIA. Voice International, March 6, 2003, 13770, 1958 UT with ID, "Leading the Way" and "Answers in Genesis" religious programming. SIO 252 (-.. . Kraig Krist, KG4LAC, March 9, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** AUSTRALIA. Street FM, DXLD 3-039. They are licensed, despite the 'pirate' identity. The license category is LPON - low power open narrowcasting, designed to facilitate special interest programming or niche music broadcasting. Reception is usually limited to a 2 km radius in urban areas. Cheers (Matt Francis, DC, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Glenn, Street FM operate on a narrowcast licence, i.e. 1 watt EIRP, but they have been known to turn the wick up to more power. These licences must conform to new ABA Regs, 4 hour total playlists per week for music and must not be seen to be commercial or community, but offer a format that is different. So they came up with idea of calling themselves 'Streetnation, or Street FM, your Pirate station, or similar, lol. I'm approx. 30 km from Street 87.6 from Surfers, can hear them when they use more power, not when they use the legal 1 WATT EIRP. I don't know why they bother, ACA check output powers from time to time, sure to get busted for too much power, or will they?? Weekend output powers are higher than weekdays, mmmmmmmm..... 73 (Tim Gaynor, Dxerscalling Australia, March 10, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** BENIN. 5025, ORTB Parakou, *0457-0510 March 10, presumed National Anthem at 0457 followed at 0459 by a percussion & flute interval. Then ID and frequencies in French but no news at 0500. Just some talk and local music. Fair signal. 73 (Piet Pijpers, Netherlands, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** BRAZIL. 2480 04/03 0030 R. Arapongas, Arapongas, PR ( Primeiro harmônico de 1240 KHz), programa musical 34333 (Wilson Rodrigues, Itaúna-MG, Yaesu - FRG - 100, antena Beverage de 100 metros, @tividade DX via DXLD) ** BRAZIL. A Rádio Aparecida, de Aparecida (SP), acaba de emitir um novo cartão QSL de verificação. Graças ao empenho do produtor e apresentador do programa Encontro DX, Cassiano Alves Macedo, a empresa Politgron Capacitores Cerâmicos arcou com a confecção da novidade, por meio de apoio cultural. Para merecer o seu exemplar, sintonize o programa Encontro DX e depois envie o seu relatório. O programa é transmitido aos sábados, às 2200, em 5035, 6135, 9630 e 11855 kHz. Endereço: Caixa Postal 2, CEP: 12570-970, Aparecida (SP). BRASIL - A Rádio Alvorada de Rio Branco (AC) permanece emitindo em 2460 kHz, em 120 metros. A emissora foi captada, em Tefé (AM), por Paulo Roberto e Souza, em 8 de março, entre 0233 e 0303. Naquele período, ele ouviu programa evangélico com hinos e contatos telefônicos. A Alvorada está nas ondas tropicais entre 0800 e 0400. O diretor da emissora é José Severiano. Contatos com a emissora pelo endereço eletrônico: severian_jose@b... [truncated] BRASIL - É excelente a recepção do sinal da Rádio Cultura, de São Paulo (SP), no Sul do Brasil. Paulo Roberto Peres Michelom ouviu, em Porto Alegre (RS), em 6170 kHz, em 04 de março, às 0055, retransmitindo a programação erudita da Cultura FM. Segundo ele, a própria identificação levada ao ar informa que a estação ouvida é a Cultura FM. [I often listen to this one on webcast; see CALENDAR –gh] BRASIL - Anote os novos horários do programa de dexismo da Rádio Transmundial, o Amigos do Rádio. Aos domingos, às 2300. Nas quartas- feiras, às 1530 e 2130, em 5965 e 9530 kHz (all: Célio Romais, Panorama, @tividade DX March 9 via DXLD) ** BURKINA FASO. Piet Pijpers in the latest DXLD posting makes reference to possibly hearing Radio Burkina on their old frequency of 4815. The ODXA's Kawartha Lakes Field Office can confirm this. Today, Sunday March 9 at 2214 UT, I caught a woman with talk in French followed by some reggae music. A "Radio TV Burkina" ID was given at 2224 then some afro pops. Perhaps no one in Burkina Faso was listening on 5030, so they changed as everyone had been used to 4815 for years and years (Mark Coady, ODXA via DXLD) Hola qué tal compañeros. Seguidamente os paso una informacion de una emisora africana que desapareció hace un par de meses de la banda tropical. Escuchada los días 7 y 8 de marzo la emisora RADIO BURKINA por la frecuencia de los 4815. La hora en la que comienza a escucharse en el Sureste de España es a partir de las 1800 UT. La programción escuchada es en francés, el SINPO de las 2 escuchas es muy bajo 22222; comprobé también la frecuencia en la que emitia anteriormente 5030 y no se escuchaba nada. Bueno, compañeros, posiblemente se esté escuchando hoy también pero desde donde estoy no tengo receptor por lo que no puedo verificarlo si hoy se escucha. SALUDOS (DESDE CARTAGENA- ESPAÑA, José Hernández Madrid, March 9, Conexión Digital via DXLD) ** CANARY ISLANDS. 6715 USB, Full Gospel Las Palmas (tentative), 2230 Fri Mar 7, Program in Asian language, hymns, prayers, and a long presentation that had a every indication of being a sermon. Piano music after 2340. SIO 222 with QRM from weak RTTY. Format fits the bill, as does the timing (nothing heard 3/6 or 3/8 on the frequency at the same times), but no clear ID. Similar programming, tougher to copy, on Feb 21, same times (Gerry Bishop, FL, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CHECHNYA [non]. Re. the website of Chechnya Svobodnaya: I cannot find any mention of the radio transmissions there, so it is certainly meant for audiences outside Chechnya. Of course this website is related, it contains many audios and is produced by Voice of Russia (Kai Ludwig, Germany, March 9, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** COLOMBIA. Ya el colega Rafael les ha respondido sus dudas. Personalmente, y como un simple oyente más de onda corta, sólo escuché en dos oportunidades a Radio El Pueblo Responde, quien irradiaba mensajes de desinformación haciéndose pasar por una emisora de la oposición armada. Las demás, Radio Patria Libre y la emisora del ELN nunca las pude sintonizar en la onda corta. Actualmente, entiendo, están todas inactivas, salvo quizás, alguna que opere en la FM. En el pasado, Radio Patria Libre emitía también en FM desde la zona de distención otorgada a las FARC por el anterior gobierno colombiano. Desconozco el actual estado de esas emisiones, las que supongo por razones de seguridad, deben haber cesado en su gran mayoría. 73's GIB (Gabriel Iván Barrera, Argentina, March 10, Conexión Digital via DXLD) ** COLOMBIA. LA VOZ DEL PUEBLO ( EMISORA AMBULANTE ) Saludos colegas diexistas. Espero se encuentren todos muy bien. El siguiente reportaje fue transmitido ayer en la noche por el canal de noticias de Televisión RCN de Colombia. En Salento, La Voz del Pueblo, es la voz de Didier Ospina, con su emisora rodante, revive en el pueblo amores buenos y de arrabal. Su voz es el eco de la alcaldía y de los organizadores de minitecas a mil pesos y de moribundos y medicinas para sus males. En un dia seco, hace dos años, Didier quedó sin trabajo. Así como suele espantar el desamor, buscó la manera de sacudir la falta de empleo. Con un megáfono, un casette, y una silla de ruedas inició su emisora andariega. El dial de La Voz del Pueblo es la plaza de Salento. Los habitantes se reunen a escucharla, excepto cuando llegan las lluvias......entonces Didier siente que La Voz del Pueblo nunca es mas fuerte que la voz de Dios. Nota: La silla de ruedas no es para Didier, sino para llevar en ella todos los implementos necesarios para hacer sus transmisiones. El reportaje me pareció muy curioso y bonito y lo comparto con todos ustedes. El sonido está a la orden. Atte: (José Elías, Venezuela, March 10, Cumbre DX via DXLD) ** CUBA. With the aim of providing national news coverage for Cuban healthcare volunteers working throughout the continent, and also allowing them to exchange messages with family and friends, Rebelde broadcasts between 6:00-9:00 am, and 11:00 pm-12:00 am on short wave to Central America and the Caribbean. Extra hours recently been added (12:00-1:30 pm daily). (Granma article referenced in last issue, via DXLD) So WTFK at 1700-1830 UT??? ** DOMINICAN REPUBLIC. New Old Dominican: I was listening to 4780 this morning (Sunday the 9th) and heard Latin American ballads. A man in Spanish gave an ID at 1129 as "Ésta es Onda Musical de Santo Domingo". This one is not in the 2003 Passport but an old WRTH lists this as the shortwave relay of HIAS 1150 with 1 kw of power from 1000-0300 daily. Anyone have an idea of when this one was reactivated? (Mark Coady, Ont., March 9, ODXA via DXLD) ** DUCIE ISLAND. It seems the Ducie Island DXpedition began a little before 0001z, Sunday March 9th. The callsign they are using is VP6DIA. It was announced late last week the following suggested frequencies will be used: CW - 1826.5, 3507 and 7007 kHz (listen up per instructions) 10102 or 10124 kHz (listen up per instructions) 14020, 18070, 21020, 24900 and 28020 kHz (listen up 9 kHz on all) Up 9 allows other DX to transmit in the DX edge. SSB - 3793 and 7070 kHz (listen up per instructions) 14195 kHz listening up on 14215 kHz (+), allows U.S. General stations to call on 14225 and up 18130 kHz listening up on 18140 kHz 21295 kHz listening up on 21305 kHz 24950 kHz listening up on 24955 kHz 28445 kHz listening up on 28455 kHz(allows U.S. Technicians to call) RTTY - 21080 kHz listening up on 21100-21120 kHz (as a primary band as long as there is demand) 14080 kHz listening up on 14085 kHz (as a second band) 50 MHz - 50110 kHz SSB/CW on operators instruction. A beacon will be there 24 hours. Remember to QSL via JR2KDN: Yuichi Yoshida, 4F Kato Building, 529 Rokugaike, Kita-Ku, Nagoya 462-0002, Japan. The URL address for pilot station's bulletins are at: http://www.qsl.net/aa0mz/ducie2.htm There is also a link there to the official web site which has, among other things,the log. The official web site is at: http://www.qsl.net/wd4ngb/ducie.htm (OPDX March 10 via John Norfolk, OKCOK, DXLD) ** ECUADOR. HCJB A-03 frequency changes: Americas: No changes in English, but some in Spanish. To Mexico in evening 0100-0500 on 9525 ex-9650; in the morning 1300-1500 on 11960 same as for Cuba at 1100- 1300. Europe: 0500 in High and Low German on 9780; Spanish 0600-0630 on 9655. English 0600-0800 on 9860 ex-49m; High German 2000 on 15590 and 17795. Spanish 2030-2130 on 15590 only. English 2000-2200 on 15185. Russian 0330-0430 on 11865. (Doug Weaver, HCJB frequency manager, DX Partyline March 8, notes by gh for DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** EGYPT. EGYPTIAN RADIO & TV UNION (ERTU) ------------------------------- BROADCAST ENGINEERING TENTATIVE PROGRAM SCHEDULE (A 03 ) UTC kHz M PROGRAM TARGET AREA ----------------------------------------------- 0030-0430 11725 25 ARABIC E. N. AMERICA 0045-0200 11780 25 SPANISH N. AMERICA 0045-0200 11755 25 SPANISH C. AMERICA 0045-0200 11790 25 SPANISH S. AMERICA 0200-0330 11780 25 ENGLISH N. AMERICA [NEW, ex-9475 forever] 0200-0000 12050 25 GEN PROG N. AMERICA & EUROPE 0300-0600 9855 31 V.O.T.ARABS N. AFRICA, S. EUROPE & ARAB GULF 0300-0030 15285 19 V.O.T.ARABS ARAB GULF 0350-0700 9770 31 GEN PROG N.AFRICA, S. EUROPE 0350-0700 9620 31 GEN PROG N.AFRICA, S. EUROPE 0350-1200 9800 31 GEN PROG ARAB GULF 0600-1400 11720 25 V.O.T.ARABS N. AFRICA, S. EUROPE & ARAB GULF 0700-1100 15115 19 GEN PROG W. AFRICA 0700-1500 11785 25 GEN PROG N. AFRICA, S. EUROPE 1015-1215 17775 16 ARABIC M. EAST & AFGHANISTAN 1100-0000 11540 25 GEN PROG N. AFRICA, S. EUROPE & ARAB GULF 1100-1130 17800 16 ARABIC C. & S. AFRICA 1115-1215 17665 16 THAI S. E. ASIA 1215-1330 17775 16 ENGLISH S. ASIA 1215-1315 17665 16 MALAY S. E. ASIA 1230-1330 15480 19 PERSIAN TADZHIKSTAN 1300-1800 17675 16 GEN PROG N. AFRICA, S. EUROPE 1320-1450 17665 16 INDONESIAN S. E. ASIA 1330-1430 17775 16 BENGALI S. ASIA 1330-1530 15480 19 PERSIAN IRAN 1300-1600 15220 19 ARABIC W. AFRICA 1430-1530 9780 31 AZERI AZERBAIJAN 1500-1600 15170 19 HINDI S. ASIA 1500-1600 15670 19 PASHTO AFGHANISTAN 1500-1600 7315 41 RUSSIAN W. RUSSIA 1530-1630 11635 25 UZBEKI UZBEKISTAN 1530-1630 15155 19 AFAR E. & C. AFRICA 1530-1730 17810 16 SWAHILI C. & E. AFRICA 1600-1800 15170 19 URDU S. ASIA 1600-1645 15620 19 ZULU C. & S. AFRICA 1600-1800 6230 49 TURKISH TURKEY 1600-1800 9950 31 ALBANIAN ALBANIA 1630-1730 15155 19 SOMALI E. & C. AFRICA 1630-1830 15255 19 ENGLISH C. & S. AFRICA 1645-1730 15620 19 SHONA C. & S. AFRICA 1730-1815 15620 19 INDEBELE C. & S. AFRICA 1730-1900 15155 19 AMHARIC E. & C. AFRICA 1800-0030 9700 31 V.O.T.ARABS N. AFRICA, S. EUROPE 1800-1900 9988 31 ITALIAN EUROPE 1800-2100 9675 31 HAUSA W. AFRICA 1830-1915 9755 31 LINGALA C. & S. AFRICA 1830-1930 15375 19 WOLOF W. AFRICA 1900-2000 9990 31 GERMAN EUROPE 1900-0030 11665 25 V.O.T.ARABS C. & E. AFRICA 1915-2030 15425 19 FULANI W. AFRICA 1930-2030 15375 19 BAMBARA W. AFRICA 2000-2200 11750 25 ARABIC AUSTRALIA 2000-2115 9990 31 FRENCH EUROPE 2030-2200 15375 19 ENGLISH W. AFRICA 2030-2230 15335 19 FRENCH W. AFRICA 2100-2200 9675 31 YORUBA W. AFRICA 2115-2245 9990 31 ENGLISH EUROPE 2215-2330 11790 25 PORTUGUSE S. AMERICA 2300-0030 11725 25 ENGLISH E. N. AMERICA [NEW FREQUENCY!] 2330-0045 15590 19 ARABIC S. AMERICA 2330-0045 11755 25 ARABIC S. AMERICA V.O.T.ARABS - VOICE OF THE ARABS GEN PROG - GENERAL PROGRAMME Regds, (Alokesh Gupta, New Delhi, India, DX LISTENING DIGEST) EGITO - Já é tradição: os últimos minutos da programação em português da Rádio Cairo também são sintonizados às 2320, em 11680 kHz. Dá para acompanhar as principais notícias do dia e o resumo da programação que irá ao no dia seguinte. Aliás, excelente grade de programas, enfocando a música típica e temas como a mulher egípcia, arquitetura e muita da história do país (Célio Romais, Panorama, @tividade DX March 9 via DXLD) ** ERITREA [non]. (Germany / Norway) Yesterday I again tried Voice of Democratic Eritrea on 5925: Carrier on at 1456, at 1459 the recording was started and stopped again, then restarted more or less exactly at 1500. Weak signal while 6140 was weak, too. We are supposed to believe that 5925 originates from Norway now or at least will move there. Well, can we expect a small group which has absolutely no idea about radio production (this clumsy "we have to tell people the truth" stuff is just embarrassing) to deal with two transmission providers at once? Their main service is on 15670 for Eritrea itself, the Saturday afternoon transmission on 5925 is just a supplement for expatriates in Europe. So they would keep 15670 at Jülich and negotiate with Merlin to establish a new transmission on the very same slot they previously bought from Deutsche Telekom? I doubt it, also because the technical parameters on the published list of, uh, special Norkring/Merlin transmissions do not appear to be first-hand information because a source I would consider as well-placed says that Norkring operates the shortwave transmitters at present always at 250 kW. Who actually first said that 5925 would be Kvitsøy now? (Kai Ludwig, Germany, March 9, DX LISTENING DIGEST) It was Wolfgang, but I may have misinterpreted his item, and it was not clear where it came from (gh, DXLD) ** GERMANY [and non]. From complete DW A-03 schedule, we now have transmitter sites, including the English at 2100. So there are two Rwanda frequencies, especially the higher one, which should carry on to NAm in the same direxion: WESTAFRIKA ENGLISCH 2100-2200 9440 31 D WERTACHTAL 11865 25 RRW KIGALI 15205 19 RRW KIGALI But there is only one other WAf service via Rwanda, which by both time and frequency will not help any in NAm; WESTAFRIKA ENGLISCH 0600-0700 9780 31 POR SINES 15275 19 D WERTACHTAL 17860 16 RRW KIGALI For those confined to prime-time, here are the English broadcasts in NAm evenings, then directed only elsewhere: SÜDASIEN ENGLISCH 0000-0100 7130 41 CLN TRINCOMALEE 9505 31 CLN TRINCOMALEE 9825 31 D WERTACHTAL OSTAFRIKA UND NAHOST ENGLISCH 0400-0500 7225 41 RRW KIGALI 11945 25 RRW KIGALI 15410 19 D WERTACHTAL ZENTRAL UND SÜDAFRIKA ENGLISCH 0500-0600 9700 31 RRW KIGALI 11925 25 POR SINES 12045 25 RRW KIGALI 13755 22 MDG TALATA VOL. 15410 19 D WERTACHTAL So here are the rest of the English broadcasts, many of which are also on FM 96 in Rwanda, and DAB 199.36 in Berlin: ENGLISCHES PROGRAMM =================== SÜDASIEN 0000-0100 1548 MW CLN TRINCOMALEE EUROPA 0700-1000 6140 49 D JUELICH EUROPA 0900-1000 15440 19 POR SINES (DRM) OSTASIEN 1000-1030 17615 16 CLN TRINCOMALEE 17715 16 CLN TRINCOMALEE EUROPA 1000-1100 6140 49 D JUELICH 15440 19 POR SINES (DRM) SÜDOSTASIEN 1100-1200 15110 19 CLN TRINCOMALEE 17820 16 CLN TRINCOMALEE EUROPA 1100-1200 6140 49 D JUELICH 15440 19 POR SINES (DRM) EUROPA 1200-1300 15440 19 POR SINES (DRM) EUROPA 1200-1600 6140 49 D JUELICH SÜDASIEN 1600-1700 1548 MW CLN TRINCOMALEE 6170 49 CLN TRINCOMALEE 7225 41 CLN TRINCOMALEE 17595 16 D WERTACHTAL EUROPA 1600-1700 6140 49 D JUELICH EUROPA 1700-1900 6140 49 D JUELICH OSTAFRIKA UND NAHOST 1900-2000 6180 49 RRW KIGALI 7225 41 RRW KIGALI 11965 25 CLN TRINCOMALEE 13590 22 D WERTACHTAL 15390 19 RRW KIGALI ZENTRAL UND SÜDAFRIKA 2000-2100 9780 31 CLN TRINCOMALEE 15205 19 D NAUEN 17810 16 D WERTACHTAL OSTASIEN 2200-2300 9720 31 CLN TRINCOMALEE 15605 19 RUS KOMSOMOLSK SÜDOSTASIEN 2300-0000 9890 31 CLN TRINCOMALEE 17860 16 RUS VLADIVOSTOK Here are the ONLY remaining usages of Antigua: DEUTSCH 0600-0800 9690 31 ATG ST. JOHN'S 11985 25 ATG ST. JOHN'S DEUTSCH 0800-1000 9690 31 ATG ST. JOHN'S DEUTSCH 2200-0000 15410 19 ATG ST. JOHN'S DEUTSCH 0000-0200 11960 25 ATG ST. JOHN'S DEUTSCH 0200-0400 6075 49 ATG ST. JOHN'S DEUTSCH 0400-0600 6075 49 ATG ST. JOHN'S Strangely enough, target areas for German language broadcasts are not given in this version, nor are any azimuths. However, there is no longer any German in our mornings, which had been via Sackville. Usage of that site is limited to: DEUTSCH 2200-0000 11690 25 CAN SACKVILLE DEUTSCH 0000-0200 9640 31 CAN SACKVILLE DEUTSCH 0200-0400 9640 31 CAN SACKVILLE DEUTSCH 0400-0500 9640 31 CAN SACKVILLE And the only usage of Bonaire is: DEUTSCH 0400-0600 11970 25 ATN BONAIRE Everything else is transmitted from the Eastern Hemisphere (well, except Sines). The schedule also gives detailed satellite info, and this transmitter site info: Sendestellen der DW (Dt.-Telekom und Relaisstationen) ------------------------------------------------------------------- Stationen: Wertachtal (10E41/48N05) KW 13 X 500 kW Nauen (12E54/52N38) KW 4 x 500 kW Juelich (06E22/50N57) KW 1 x 100 kW Kigali/Rwanda (30E07/01S53) KW 4 x 250 kW UKW 1 x 2 kW Sines/Portugal (08W45/37N57) KW 3 x 250 kW St. John's/Antigua (61W48/17N06) KW 2 x 250 kW Trincomalee/Sri Lanka (81E10/08N44) KW 3 x 250 kW MW 1 x 400 kW Außerdem sendet die Deutsche Welle über Sender in Albanien Fllaka (1458 kHz) 500 kW Tirana (UKW 106,0 MHz) 1 kW Armenien Kamo/Yerevan (1350 kHz) 1000 kW Belgien Wolvertem (1512 kHz) 25 kW Bulgarien Sofia (UKW 95,7 MHz) 1 kW Deutschland Berlin (VHF/DAB 199,36 MHz) 1 kW Jugoslawien/Kosovo Prstina (UKW 88,6 MHz) 0,2 kW Kanada Sackville (KW) 250 kW Kasachstan Alma Ata (KW) 500 kW Madagaskar Talata Volonondry (KW) 200 kW Makedonien Skopje (810 kHz) 100/500 kW Moldawien Grigoriopol (999 kHz) 500 kW Niederl. Antillen Bonaire (KW) 250 kW Russland Irkutsk (KW) 250/500 kW Komsomolsk/Amur (KW) 250 kW Krasnodar (KW) 200/500 kW Moskau (693 kHz) 10 kW Moskau (KW) 500 kW Novosibirsk (KW) 500 kW St.Petersburg (1188 kHz) 10 kW Petropavlovsk/Kamtchatka (KW) 200/250 kW Samara (KW) 200/250 kW Vladiwostok (KW) 200 kW Tadschikistan Dushanbe (972 kHz) 1000 kW (via Alokesh Gupta, extracted and interpreted by gh for DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** GERMANY. (Germany) Here are some pictures of the Mainz-Wolfsheim site after the demolition of one of the masts: http://www.df4wp.de/files/swr1.jpg http://www.df4wp.de/files/swr2.jpg http://www.df4wp.de/files/swr3.jpg http://www.df4wp.de/files/swr4.jpg Quite poor quality but anyway it is obvious that 1017 should be now omnidirectional from a single mast, probably like Mühlacker using a new 100 kW Nautel transmitter. Older pictures with the scrapped mast still there, also giving a hint of the transmitter building: http://www.sender-tabelle.de/Fotos/Westdeutschland/Wolfsheim_X.jpg http://www.sender-tabelle.de/Fotos/Westdeutschland/Wolfsheim2_X.jpg http://www.sender-tabelle.de/Fotos/Westdeutschland/Wolfsheim3_X.jpg http://www.sender-tabelle.de/Fotos/Westdeutschland/Wolfsheim4_X.jpg (Kai Ludwig, Germany, March 9, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** HAWAII. KAHU 1060 kHz in Hilo has been sold and has been off for several days. Monday March 10, 2003 at 5:AM HST (1500 UT) it will return as KHBC under new ownership. The first hour will be Japanese programming than into the Mynah Bird show. Power is 5 kw. New owner is Buddy Gordon, former General Manager of Big Island Radio, owners of KIPA 620, KKON 790, and several FM stations on the island of Hawaii. Buddy was "removed" from his position and so branched out on his own taking several of the BIR crew with him. He's a decent chap and was a very good friend to Alan Roycroft for many years. Aloha, (Chuck Boehnke, Hawaii via Mark Nicholls via David Onley, March 10, ARDXC via DXLD) ** HUNGARY. A Rádio Budapest vai transmitir em espanhol, a partir de 30 de março, no seguinte esquema: de 2130 às 2200, em 6025 e 9650 kHz. As informações foram dadas no programa Correo del Ayre, que é emitido, aos domingos, de forma quinzenal, ou seja, a cada semana, se reveza com o programa Revista de DX-ismo. A emissora também informou que o lote de cartões QSLs saiu com alguns erros, que serão corrigidos no futuro (Célio Romais, Panorama, @tividade DX March 9 via DXLD) ** IRAQ [non]. 11291.9991 4.3 1935, unID with carrier (AM- ftransmission). On the spectrum analyzer I couldn`t see anything but I could hear weak Arabic music and singing, completely pressed down by the carrier. I haven`t heard anything earlier on this frequency but ``Information Radio`` shall be broadcasting here. Most of all of the USA-supported radio broadcasts aimed towards Iraq, contrary to what people believe, are transmitted from landbased stations on a suitable skip distance from Iraq. The airborne radio traffic is mainly in the TV- and FM-bands (Commando Solo) from modified C-130 Hercules air crafts. SA (Stig Adolfsson, SW Bulletin March 9, translated by editor Thomas Nilsson for DXLD) There's an interesting site at: http://www.psywarrior.com/index.html An US Army veteran of Psychological Operations has gathered lots of information on PSYOPS, past and present. Including scripts of Information Radio currently targeting Iraq. 73 de (Pentti Lintujärvi, Helsinki, FINLAND, Webmaster of dxlinks.info http://www.dxlinks.info/ hard-core-dx via DXLD) Includes quite a collection of leaflets and translations (gh) ** IRAQ [non]. NEW BROADCAST HEARD - "VOICE OF THE LIBERATION OF IRAQ" A new radio broadcast identifying itself as the Voice of the Liberation of Iraq (Arabic: sawt tahrir al-iraq) has been observed by BBC Monitoring. This broadcast was heard on 1206 kHz mediumwave and in parallel on shortwave 4025.3 kHz with programming in Arabic from 1830 to 2030 gmt on 7 March. It is possible that the broadcast is relayed via the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) radio station Voice of the People of Kurdistan, based in Sulaymaniyah, which is observed on both these frequencies at other times. The broadcast gave no contact details. Warning to Iraqi soldiers not to destroy oil fields On 7 March the Voice of the Liberation of Iraq broadcast began at 1830 gmt with the following announcement read by a male presenter: "A call to all the workers at Iraqi oil fields and installations, and all persons assigned to mining and blowing up these sites: "Brothers: We have already warned in a previous call all administrators, officials and participants in planting explosives in oil fields, wells and installations, and urged them not to implement orders to blow up these sites that may be issued to them by the Iraqi authorities as soon as the war breaks out against the dictatorial regime in Iraq. "We stress again that the oil wells and government installations belong only to the Iraqi people, and any deliberate damage to these sites will be considered as a capital crime against the whole of the Iraqi people and the coming generations. "The next regime and government in Iraq will put on trial all those who participate in the execution of those orders as war criminals, and they will be severely punished. "As for those who stand by their people and homeland, do not participate in the regime's crimes and cooperate with the international coalition forces and the anti-dictatorial rule opposition forces in Iraq, they will be pardoned for the previous crimes they have committed against their people and will be assigned appropriate positions in the post-dictatorship era in Iraq. "Brothers: The coming stage is one of destiny and it is critical. The ruler's regime in Iraq, his entourage and those who are close to him are feeling the end of their rule and authority in Iraq approaching. They will not hesitate to perpetrate another crime against the Iraqi people and their wealth and revenues to leave the country in ruins after their eagerly-anticipated departure. "Brothers: Do not participate in any of those sabotage operations and choose an appropriate time to avoid committing crimes against your people and country. "By planting mines and explosives in oil wells, installations and refineries, the regime is committing another crime that will be added to the dictatorial regime's crimes, which will not be forgiven. Those crimes reflect the ruling clique's determination to persist with its criminal policy against the Iraqi people and others. The broadcast also contained, among other things: military music; a talk defending US policy on Iraq in the light of President Bush's recent address in which he said that the various constituents of the Iraqi population will be able to live in harmony in a federal, democratic country; the following appeal by a female presenter, addressing military personnel: "You have a last chance to save yourselves, namely, by abandoning your arms and leaving the military units. Do not turn yourselves into fuel for a war in which you have no interest. Leave the dictator of Iraqi and those who support him to their fate at the first opportunity available to you. Do not hesitate."; another appeal read by a female presenter: "O brother officer: Remember that you have a future in post-criminal Saddam Iraq. Do not stain your final page with the blood of the sons of your Iraqi folk. Break away from the chains of dictatorship, repression and domination. Liberate Iraq."; a report read by a male presenter on a plan by a group of Iraqi intellectuals to launch a campaign in London on 8 March urging Saddam Husayn to resign and leave the country to avert the anticipated war; a report by a female presenter, citing "various sources" as saying that the US military operation against Iraq will begin within a week; a call by a male presenter urging Iraqi armed forces personnel to rebel against the regime. Appeal to Iraqi troops to rebel On 8 March the Voice of the Liberation of Iraq broadcast was heard again at 1830 gmt, beginning with the following announcement by a male presenter: "This is the Voice of the Liberation of Iraq [Arabic: huna sawt tahrir al-iraq], the voice of democracy, equality and liberation. The voice of peace, tolerance and coexistence, voice of the civil society and voice of the various ethnic groups, religions and rites in Iraq. Voice of the Liberation of Iraq radio broadcasts daily on mediumwave 1206 kHz and shortwave 4025 kHz, in two sessions, morning and evening from 1830 gmt." The broadcast contained repeated appeals to "the sons of the Iraqi armed forces" to rebel against the rule of Saddam Husayn and to refrain from attacking "those who come to liberate you and rescue you from dictatorship". Another commentary said in part: "International efforts are being made today in order to change this regime which has become a danger not only against its own people but against the peoples of the region and stability and security in the world. All Iraqis must benefit from these efforts, which will rescue this people. Iraqis' efforts must be unified today within the framework of the aspirations of Iraqis to a democratic and federal Iraq which would end forever the tragedies of Kurds, Sunni and Shi'i people in Iraq and all the ethnic groups, religions and rites in Iraq without distinction." The broadcast at one point quoted a British newspaper report that "British officers have been told to expect a war as of 17 March". Source: BBC Monitoring research 7-8 Mar 03 (via DXLD) ** IRAQ [non]. This week`s RVI Radio World is about clandestine stations here, including some audio clips: http://www.rvi.be/rvi_master/uk/radio_world/index.html (via Glenn Hauser, March 10, DXLD) ** ISRAEL. Announced on Sunday, 1115 GMT news: If an emergency is declared in expectation of an invasion of Iraq, reshet aleph will merge into reshet bet. The 0500 GMT, 1115 GMT and 1730 GMT English news programs currently heard on Reshet Aleph would be heard on the R.E.K.A. (or R.E.G.A. http://kol-rega.co.il Immigrant Absorption Network) and presumably also on the Reshet Heh international network (Joel Rubin, NY, swprograms March 9 via DXLD) Immigrant Absorption Network, REKA is a Hebrew acronym; all 3 spellings exist on the internet.) I'm not sure how this would affect shortwave (Rubin, rec.radio.shortwave via Mike Terry, DXLD) (The 2000 GMT broadcast would not be affected by this because it originates at the overseas service, Reshet Heh.)(Mike Terry`s comment? via DXLD) Kol Israel announced their plans, if and when a "State of Emergency" is announced, prior to a war. They did not mention shortwave relays or Reshet Hey on the 'domestic' broadcast which I heard. Hopefully someone who listened to the Reshet Hey broadcast can tell me if they said anything... I'll send some emails to try and get more info. Only three networks will be broadcast. Reshet Bet will be broadcast on Reshet Bet, Reshet Alef and Reshet Gimel frequencies (domestically). (They did NOT mention anything about using Kol Hamusica (Voice of Music - classical music) frequencies... I have no idea what the situation will be there.) Reshet Dalet (Arabic), will remain unchanged. All of the foreign language broadcast which are normally on Reshet Alef, will be broadcast on Reka (the station which normally has Russian and Amharic). Reka domestic frequencies are- 954 AM / 101.2 FM Jerusalem Tel Aviv 107.3 Beer Sheva 93.7 Haifa 94.4 Galilee The TIMINGS of the domestic English broadcasts will be as follows- All Times Israel Time 0800 1315 1930 0000-0010 (they announced it as 2400- 2410, midnight -- Someone else told me that he heard 2300 on an earlier broadcast... I'll try to confirm this.) --- I have been told that Israel changes to Summer time at: 2300 UTC on Thursday March 27 --- There is a new TV Channel, called the, "Israeli History Channel." It is available in the US via satellite and they claim, should be available via cable providers in the US. A description of the Channel and satellite reception details are available on their website. http://www.israelhistorychannel.com (Daniel Rosenzweig, March 9, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Hi All, The below is in answer to this article sent to me by Mike Terry - thanks Mike! Have a good day. Mike Shalom from Israel, the Immigrant station here is called REKA - Reshet Klita V'Aliya - which means The Immigrant and Absorption Network, as you so correctly state. Kol Rega (Which is a play on the Hebrew words "Every Moment") but really stands for Radio Galil Amakim. This is the area that the station broadcasts to - the Galillee and the Amakim. Amakim comes from the word Emek, which means Valley. So the station broadcasts to the Galillee and the Northern Valleys of Israel. This is a local commercial radio station, and has nothing to do with Absorption or Immigrants. Now with the Hebrew lesson over, I can also tell you, that in the case of a US Invasion of Iraq, and if there will be a State of Emergency here in Israel, both the Army Radio station (Galei Zahal) and the Israel Broadcasting Authority (IBA), will NOT broadcast together, as they did in 1991. They will only broadcast joint news bulletins. As for television, as soon as (and I hope we don't get to this stage!) any scuds are fired at Israel, an Instruction film on what to do, as far as putting on gas masks etc, will be broadcast on all channels (both local and foreign) on the cable and satellite platforms. There was quite a storm here recently, because the film would come up even over stations like CNN and Sky News, blocking these stations for the duration of the film. After the cry of "blocking any outside source except for Israeli Information etc", it was decided that anyone who wants to exit the Instruction film, and watch CNN etc, can do so, by pressing a certain button on the remote control twice. Let's hope we don't get to that ...... Shalom from Israel (Mike Brand, March 10, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** JORDAN. It was my toughest QSL ever: I took about 20 years to have Radio Jordan QSLed, though I didn't send many reports: about 7 or 8 in all those years. In 2001 I received a QSL card and a couple of stickers in a few weeks; report was sent as plain letter, unregistered, and without IRCs or money. I really don't know why they replied, or why they didn't in the past. The card was an old one, with yellowed and slightly mouldy paper, and this says much about the number of QSLs they're sending out... It's a rare verifier, so it's worth trying again and again, until your letter arrives to a person in a good mood, willing to take the time to find a card in some obscure cellar. Hope this helps; 73 (Fabrizio Magrone, Forlì, Italy, hard- core-dx via DXLD) ** KYRGYZSTAN. 4010, 27.2 1655, Hit FM with Indian ``hits``. Lots of talk (5-6 minutes) at the hour, then continuing music of the same style. Probably transmitter problems wiped out the station for a while. New check at 1745 religious with music in English. QSA 2-3 JE (Jan Edh, SW Bulletin March 9, translated by editor Thomas Nilsson for DXLD) ** MONACO. RMC, Radio Monte-Carlo, transformée en... hôtel! Accor et le groupe monégasque Michel Pastor on été retenus parmi 7 candidats pour la réalisation d'un projet hôtelier sur l'ancien site de RMC, situé au centre de Monaco. RMC cède donc la place à Accor. ("Happy Monaco" interactive, via R. Priou/Amitié Radio, via Roland Paget - 10 mars 2003 --- les informations sont issues de http://perso.wanadoo.fr/jm.aubier via DXLD) ** PERU. 4965, R Santa Mónica, Cusco, 0035 March 6, high-altitude harp-led vocals, female zinger 0038 "R Santa Monica, La Número Uno!" M DJ with accurate TCs as at 0042 and more IDs. Good in 4960 splash; dropped off in mid-sentence 0100. Tnx Sgruletta tip (Jay Novello, R8A, 250m mini-beverage pointed due south, Wake Forest, NC, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** RUSSIA [non]. Some further notes on Voice of Russia via German transmitters: I do not think that Deutsche Welle is involved in these transmissions, so they are no airtime exchange between DW and VOR. Instead I think that VOR indeed pays real money; when I spoke with VOR editors back in 1995 they said that negotiations about a further use of Wachenbrunn were just concluded. At least the Russian forces paid hard currency for the Burg 261 transmitter, and this was also the reason why Radio Volga closed down already by the end of July 1994: At this point the withdrawal of the Russian forces from Germany was almost completed, basically only the troops for the ceremonies were still in Germany, and so it was decided to do without paying another 80,000 DEM monthly fee to Deutsche Telekom (Kai Ludwig, Germany, March 9, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** SPAIN. RADIO LIBERTY - THE DEMISE OF PLAYA DE PALS? From Radio World Newspaper 3.1.03 http://www.rwonline.com/reference-room/special-report/01_Rwf_playa_3.shtml RADIO LIBERTY FANS WONDER WHETHER ONE OF THE WORLD'S GREAT SHORTWAVE STATIONS WILL REALLY BE DISMANTLED --- by David L. Hollyer A leading Spanish newspaper recently reported that the governments of Spain and the United States had reached a political agreement for the cancellation of the lease contract under which the U.S. government has maintained and operated the facilities of Radio Liberty at Playa de Pals. The Spanish Senate approved a motion to dismantle the antennas and structures that occupy the 1-1/2 kilometers fronting the Pals beach. The City Council of the town of Pals declared that 90 percent of that terrain would be declared a "green area." The fate of the historic facility remains in doubt. Russian service For more than 40 years, the Radio Liberty shortwave transmitters at Playa de Pals, on the Costa Brava in Spain, pumped out broadcasts of news and information around the clock to listeners in the former Soviet Union and people of that area who could understand Russian or one of the associated languages. Their targets included most of Central Asia via second hop. The brainchild of the late Colonel S.Y. McGiffert, chief engineer of Radio Liberty, the site at Playa de Pals, about 75 miles north of Barcelona, was selected in the late 1950s after he and an engineering team investigated many kilometers of beachfront locations in Spain. It was chosen as the best possible spot for banging in a shortwave signal into the Soviet Union. The colonel demanded a site with ocean in front of it to provide maximum reflection area for the transmitting for the transmitting antennas. He got everything he wanted in the Playa de Pals location. He also got an 82-acre chunk of land, arguably one of the best pieces of beachside real estate in all of Spain. And thereby hangs a tale. The colonel had powerful connections in Washington that helped him negotiate for the site and eventually obtain a lease on it despite protests of envious development interests that were already aware of the emergence of the Costa Brava as a major tourist mecca. McGiffert never did things halfway. He hired gilt-edge engineering firms to design the antenna arrays, towers and support structures. Work to lay out roads and build the office/transmitter building started on the site. Installation of four Continental Electronics 250 kW transmitters was begun by engineers from Continental Electronics, assisted by staff technicians. An additional stand-alone 100 kW Telefunken transmitter was installed. Antenna Groups "A" and "C" were completed first and situated between the antenna switchhouse and the sea. "A" and "C" Group towers were constructed by Brown-Boveri Co. The towers were freestanding, several hundred feet high. Strung between them were the antenna arrays. Made up of cage-type radiating elements, they were backed up by a reflector grid. In Group A, the two antennas covered the 9, 11, 15 and 17 MHz bands, while in Group C the two antennas covered the same ranges. The configuration consisted of three bays in line, each bay with four stacks. Remote switching permitted using the upper and lower antenna elements or both to achieve vertical "slewing" to change from a low take-off angle to a higher take-off angle. Vertical "slew" angles were changed in accordance with the ionospheric layer height at the time of transmission. Horizontal "slewing" or steering of the beam from center to 11 degrees either side of center was accomplished remotely by cutting in delay lines. The design was elegant and state-of-the-art. Standing tall When I arrived in Playa de Pals in the fall of 1961, Group B antennas near the entrance were under construction by Spanish firm Miguel Mateu. These were for operation on 6, 7, 11 and 15 MHz. Work on Group D antennas, at the far end of the beach, had not yet started, because the spot for their installation was swampy. It had to be "dewatered," or pumped more or less dry, for a year before the massive cement foundations for the guy anchor could be poured. We employees kidded the resident civil engineer, the late "Toby" Taylor, that he was trying to pump the Mediterranean dry. Eventually, the dewatering work was finished and the pouring of the massive cement bases for the ground anchors was completed. The erection of the steel support towers for the radiating elements and the reflector grid was begun. It took months. Back at the station, work advanced on the audio control room and internal wiring. Part of the building was devoted to offices and the remainder to the technical installation. The facilities were great. They included a good restaurant, with meals partially subsidized and affordable. As most employees didn't have automobiles, busses brought them to the site from centralized pick-up points in nearby Palamos and Palafrugell, where most of the Spanish employees lived. Eventually work was completed on the Group D support towers, built by CIFA of Milan. And they were tall. The tallest of four guyed towers stood over 540 feet, close to the height of the Washington Monument. One pair of the guyed towers supported the antenna elements, while the other pair suspended the reflector grid. The structure was designed cleverly so that both the antenna and the reflector were held up by cable, which ran on pulleys. Whenever the breeze blew - and this was often, at the beach - the front antenna array would tend to belly in. Tied to the ends of the support cables was an elaborate system of counterweights in frames at the base of the towers. The reflectors were equally counterbalanced. In a stiff breeze, both the antenna elements and the reflector grid would belly in, becoming concave. But thanks to the counterweighting, they would maintain their critical separation space and hence keep an excellent standing wave ratio, even during periods of heavy wind. There were three antennas in this group. D1 operated on 7 MHz; D2 on 9 and 11 MHz; D3 worked on 15 and 17 MHz. D1 consisted of one bay having four stacked horizontal cage dipoles backed by a screen reflector. D2 and D3 consisted of two bays, each having eight stacks of horizontal cage dipoles backed by a screen reflector. D2 and D3 could be slewed vertically to three positions. Through remote electrical switching, the antenna elements could be combined to provide three vertical take-off angles: a low of 4 degrees, a medium of 8 degrees and a high angle of 12 degrees. Take-off angles were selected to accommodate any ionospheric height for a specific Russian target. The antenna could be "slewed" or steered laterally plus or minus 12 degrees off center by introducing a delay line between the bays. What a magnificent antenna. It represented the most sophisticated and versatile antenna design available, which even today has not been improved upon. Phaseout In preparing this story, I would be remiss if I didn't acknowledge the assistance of my colleague Valenti Carbonell, a consulting engineer in Palamos, Spain. Over the years, he filled many engineering positions at the transmitter site. Whenever I've forgotten a detail or needed information on the antennas, Valenti, with his encyclopedic knowledge of the antennas, provided an assist. Over the years there were technical changes at the site. A 250 kW General Electric transmitter was installed. The 100 kW Telefunken was retired and a Marconi 250 kW installed. The voice-quality program line used to bring in program material from Munich gave way to better program lines and eventually to a satellite system, which delivered programs from the International Broadcast Bureau in Washington. I left Playa de Pals in 1964 to work at Radio Liberty headquarters in Munich. Thirty-one years later, in the spring of 1995, I was summoned out of retirement to take a job at Playa de Pals to replace the retiring manager. It was to be a short-time assignment as managing director. The facilities and assets of Radio Liberty were being turned over to the IBB, a government umbrella agency, which controlled the Voice of America, Radio Free Europe, Radio Liberty, Radio Free Asia and Radio Martí. My stay lengthened into six months, during which time a team from Washington came in to cut the staff drastically, terminate bus transportation and subsidized meals. It was a process to cut costs and staff dramatically. A new IBB manager arrived and took over management duties. The station continued in service until May 25, 2001, when the government terminated operation of Radio Liberty, abruptly stopped broadcasting and sent the staff home. IBB claimed that their former shortwave listeners were now well-served by local FM and satellite broadcasts and that shortwave transmissions had outlived their usefulness. The station was mothballed, with the specter of dismantling in the offing. As I write, some changes have taken place. The U.S. Congress has apparently had second thoughts about the cancellation of the lease contract and the dismantlement of the Playa de Pals transmitter site. It has gone back to Radio Nacional, the Spanish government agency that holds the lease, to request that the lease cancellation and the dismantlement be rescinded and that permission be granted to reactivate the transmitter site and use it for broadcasting to the Muslim population, presumably in Central Asia. Up to now, no decision has been taken to allow that to happen. Meanwhile, powerful Catalan political forces strongly oppose any such cancellation. Having had that beautiful beach property almost within their grasp, they understandably are reluctant to have it slip through their collective fingers. At least one informed source in Spain feels the station is off the air forever. Radio Nacional apparently intends to transfer the real estate to either the national or provincial government, and the Playa operation has lost all of its operating permits, of which there are three (national, provincial and city). The political problems to re-obtain these licenses may be insurmountable. In the meantime the facility's fate is in limbo. Those who admire the site, myself included, would hate to see the destruction of such a valuable facility. If the U.S. government is able to make its case and put this site back into operation to continue its war of words, Pals may yet light up its transmitters again and pump its broadcasts to a Muslim population. The outcome is unclear and bets go either way. As the Spanish might express it, quien sabe? Who knows? (The author was managing director for Spain of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty). (via Mike Terry, DXLD) ** SUDAN [non]. On 10 Mar at 1529 on 7999.3 heard the Clandestine station Voice of Sudan. First tune-in music and at 1530 Arabic ID (see DXing.info/news) and frequency announcement in MHz. Some ute-qrm, but decent signal (Jari Savolainen, Kuusankoski, Finland, dxing.info via DXLD) ** TAIWAN. 7330, Radio Taipei Int'l; 1317-1400+, 8-Mar; W in English & W in Chinese with feature on lottery winners; Coffee Corner program. Continued in Chinese at 1354 past 1400. This frequency not on current web sked; maybe from Florida? SIO=3+33+/LSB helps with CHU (Harold Frodge, Brighton MI, Cumbre DX via DXLD) Doubt it ** UKRAINE. Glenn, R. Ukraine Int. March 9, 2003, 7375, approximately 0130 UT "Hello From Kiev". Missed words are due to either QRM and/or fading. Based on hearing the mailbag program again it sure sounds like RUI will, eventually, leave SW. Tanya: That was a folk dance tune opening Radio Ukraine International's Saturday program "Hello From Kiev" and I hope our listeners liked it. Now, let`s get down to the letters. The first one is from Victor Oxley, Waterford First, England. This is what he writes, "There has been a lot of talk about reducing shortwave transmissions around the world. Please resist this temptation. Over the next few years it is important that you continue to educate the world of the activities of your country. For many of us it is the only way we can learn about your country's activities thru your shortwave broadcasts.`` Andrew: We can assure you Mr. King [sic] that we won't disappear from shortwave band for the next few years. But, time won't stand still, you know, we're got to move on, abreast of technical progress. As far as we know the National Radio Company plans to switch complete satellite broadcasting, but we don't know any details. Tanya: But, before it happens all our studios have to be reequipped so that we can release the programs in the digital format. ...studio...must...tape recorded. Andrew: I guess it's gonna take them quite a few years with the funding of the National Radio Company cut by 30% this January. Tanya: But, realize...as long as one of the old tape recorders runs all listeners can enjoy Radio Ukraine International programs (-.. . Kraig Krist, KG4LAC, March 9, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U K. Another recently published good book is "Radio: A True Love Story" by Libby Purves. She is a lifetime radio addict who has worked for years in national and local radio and has no intention of working on TV. Having spent her childhood abroad she is supporter of shortwave. She speaks fondly of the "dear old" BBS World Service themes "Imperial Echoes" and "Lilliburlero". I found this extract particularly poignant: "I am sick to my heart, now, at the news that Auntie is gradually giving up on shortwave because more people listen on the internet. How can they, in the illimitable phoneless wastes of sea or jungle, desert or scrub? How can they if they are poor, or their phone is cut off? How can we have this gift, the free mysterious movement of radio waves, and not use it to the fullest?" Well said, Libby! (Mike Terry, March 10, BDXC-UK via DXLD) ** U K. Some of you listen to the BBCWS. This is a general BBC threat, arising out of a WS dispute, not just affecting the WS (Daniel Say, BC, March 10, swprograms via DXLD) BBC FACES STRIKE THREAT OVER WORLD SERVICE SACKINGS X-URL: http://media.guardian.co.uk/radio/story/0,12636,911465,00.html Owen Gibson, Monday March 10, 2003, The Guardian (London, UK) The BBC is facing the prospect of crippling strike action in the middle of a war in Iraq as the row over the sacking of two World Service producers continues to escalate. Following a meeting on Friday of the BBC's 60 NUJ chapels, union members voted unanimously to ballot for strike action across the corporation. The NUJ general secretary, Jeremy Dear, told the meeting that "the worst rogue employers in the private sector rarely behave so appallingly and flout all the rules of natural justice in such a cavalier fashion". "This is not just a matter that affects two individuals in one part of the BBC, it is a matter that should rightly concern us all right across the corporation," he added. Union officials, who will ballot members next week, said while they could not pre-judge the result there was a strong feeling among members that the sackings set a worrying precedent. The ballot process is likely to take around a month. "Two members have been sacked without recourse to a fair procedure and with no right to state their case, no right of reply, no right to appeal, no prior warning and no disciplinary hearing," said Mr Dear. "Our members' crime? Complaining about bad management including allegations of institutional racism and discrimination. For that they were summarily dismissed. Even in cases of theft, violence, sexual harassment or racism, people have a right to a fair hearing," he added. The two producers, Adli Hawwari and Dr Abdul Hadji Jiad, who work for the BBC Arabic Service, were sacked last month by the BBC, which said it had spent up to £1m over the past five years defending "vexatious" and "frivolous" complaints about alleged discriminatory treatment. Mr Hawwari, who is of Palestinian descent, and Dr Jiad, an Iraqi, claimed their sacking was tantamount to "ethnic cleansing" but the BBC said it had run out of patience with the pair after 17 tribunals, 20 appeals and more than 51 days in court. "The NUJ demand is simple - the BBC has flagrantly violated the agreed procedures and therefore the two sacked journalists must be reinstated," said the NUJ in a statement. The BBC claimed it was left with no choice but to dismiss the two men, saying they had a long history of making "spurious and malicious complaints against colleagues", which had affected staff health and morale. But NUJ officials, who also claim the support of broadcasting union Bectu, said whatever the rights and wrongs of the case, the BBC was guilty of "driving a horse and cart" through its own guidelines. (via Daniel Say, swprograms via DXLD) ** U S A. PIRATE. March 6, 2003, 6955, 0204 UT, Techno pop music (IMO opinion this is awful "music". I'd rather listen to Soviet propaganda, North Korea, the news from R. Habana Cuba and the RAI female English news reader all at the same time!). At 0209 UT a male announcer said, "This is WMPR". The male announcer also said either "Get Dirty" or "Ten Thirty". Techno pop music played again. SIO 454 (-.. . Kraig Krist, KG4LAC, March 9, DX LISTENING DIGEST) March 9, 2003, 6950, 0041-0108*. The 1975 Patti Smith version of "Gloria". ID given at 0049 by male announcer speaking very slow making it difficult to understand. I heard "Radio ... International", perhaps "Radio Sydney International"? Announcer did have, what sounded to me, like an Australian accent. Also heard him say "mo jo mission". SIO 232. 73, (-.. . Kraig Krist, KG4LAC, March 9, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. 13595, 04-03-2003, 0000, WJCR-Willerstow [??], Kentucky, inglés, ID e pregação bíblica - 43333 (Adalberto Marques de Azevedo, Brasil, Conexión Digital via DXLD) You mean WJIE, ``Louisville``? ** U S A. 23660, WYFR Family Radio; 1353-59+, 9-Mar; EE religious program to ID at 1359. Fair-to-zilch; 2 x 11830 SIO=555- (Harold Frodge, Brighton MI, Cumbre DX via DXLD) ** U S A [non]. VÓZ CRISTÃ [via CHILE]. A partir desta segunda-feira, 10 de Março de 2003, a Vóz Cristã começa a transmitir em português para o Sul da África. A transmissão irá ao ar entre 2000 e 2300 UT em 15355 kHz. Outra novidade é mais uma freqüência para o Brasil, 15475 kHz entre 2100 e 0100 UT. A emissora pede informes de recepção para estas transmissões. Informações de Edson Bruno, Vóz Cristã (Samuel Cássio Martins, São Carlos SP, Brasil, @tividade DX March 9 via DXLD) ** U S A. KDHX FM 88.1, St. Louis Community Radio Glenn, I was browsing your site and saw KDHX mentioned in a couple of places. Just wanted to send an e-mail to say thanks for the links, and to let you know that all of KDHX's shows are now webcast, with the exception of three. These three shows are "The Pop Life" Wed. at 2 pm CST, "Great American Music" Thurs. at 9 am CST, and "The Science" Fri. at 10 pm CST. Our whole schedule is available on-line at this address: http://www.kdhx.org/schedule.htm Thanks for the listing! (Dan Adelman, KDHX, March 10, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. PEACE CORRESPONDENT 'DEMOCRACY NOW!' HOST AMY GOODMAN IS MAKING HER VOICE HEARD ON IRAQ By Michael Powell, Washington Post Staff Writer Monday, March 10, 2003; Page C01 http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn/A2307-2003Mar9?language=printer (via Mike Cooper, DXLD) ** U S A. TWO SIDES OF THE DIAL TACKLE WAR TALK RADIO STATIONS AIR OPPOSING VIEWS By ALLAN TURNER, Copyright 2003 Houston Chronicle It's hard to think of Montrose's somnolent, tree-lined Lovett Boulevard as a political war zone. But with the United States eyeball- to-eyeball with Iraq, the street has become Houston's ideological ground zero -- home to radio stations that have become broadcast bastions for the pacifist left and the hawkish right. Separated by less than a city block, KPFT-FM, a listener-supported champion of "progressive" causes, and KPRC-AM, a heavyweight of right- wing talk programming, have marshalled thousands for rallies and marches that aired views on war with Iraq. Though they maintain a cordial collegiality, the stations are at odds by their very nature... http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/story.hts/metropolitan/1811471 (via Artie Bigley, DXLD) ** U S A. Thread on `cheating`, AM stations on late I should've posted something when Saul tipped me off about WBKZ, but I was pressed for time. I caught a nice ID at about 1933. The interesting part was a program promo: "plays the best music in northeast Georgia... tune in, each weekday from 6 pm to 8 pm, on your superstation WBKZ, Z-88". According to the FCC AM Query, they have no night authorization and should be shutting down this month at 1845. In fact, they should not be on as late as 8 pm at any time of the year. Quite a few stations cheat, but they usually aren't that blatant about it! (Barry McLarnon, Ont., March 7, NRC-AM via DXLD) This could be perfectly legal operation. If they have a legal 500-watt PSSA, and if local sunset there is 1845, they could be OK at 2000 and perhaps as late as 2045. PSSA's, when the FCC granted them, were good for varying amounts of time after local sunset, depending on the protections required, but also, importantly, varying in length on a month-to-month basis, taking into account the LSS times at the station or stations being protected. I'm not saying this *is* the case, but rather that it very well could be (Russ Edmunds, Blue Bell, PA, ibid.) Point taken. I did check the AM Log, and found no PSSA or PSRA listed for WBKZ. Of course, there's no way of knowing how many stations have special authorities that are not listed in the Log. If the FCC really has been sloppy enough not to keep records of them, then I think the only way out of this mess is for the FCC to request all AM stations to submit documentation showing they have been issued a PSSA or PSRA. Those deemed to be valid would go into the CDBS database and become a matter of public record, and after a certain period of time, that would be considered to be the official record of each station's operating parameters. Then the search engine should be improved so that it would show all of the details of the schedule (times, powers, antenna patterns) that a given station is allowed to follow under normal, non-emergency conditions. Yes, I admit that I'm dreaming :-) In any case, I wasn't suggesting that this particular station be reported for cheating - I just found it amusing that they would have a program schedule that seemed to go beyond the limits of what would be permitted. It would make it a bit hard for them to plead that their automation failed or whatever. The fact that cheating does happen (not to mention honest mistakes) is much more of a plus than a minus as far as I'm concerned! (Barry McLarnon, ibid.) Anymore, I try to either wait until 2+ hours after LSS at the station to 'decide' what I think they're doing, barring something extremely obvious. I did complain to one station - Lebanon PA on 940 - suggesting that that sort of thing really wasn't very upstanding (since they were a religious station ) and, not long afterwards, it was toned down considerably. I haven't checked them much since (Russ Edmunds, Blue Bell, PA, ibid.) KSOK 1280 (KS) cheating and information KSOK in Arkansas City KS has likely been cheating all week. Monday and Tuesday they ran their JRN MOYL format and IDed very infrequently. They have not yet gone to classic country format. The NRC log shows them as 100 watts night power but 100000watts.com has no night power listed. I'm certain they are cheating from their strength and the fact that I've never heard them before this week in spite of numerous attempts. Tonite they have their local girls HS BKB game on. 73 (KAZ, Barrington IL, ibid.) The FCC database shows NO nighttime power for KSOK; licensed or 'planned'. (Bill Hale in Fort Worth, ibid.) I'd like to weigh in on the "Cheating" comments that seem to be popping up more often lately. I know it's often our first tendency to yell "Cheat" when we hear a station we don't think should be in there at night. But IMHO, to automatically say they're cheating is to sell short the wonders of propagation that make our hobby so much fun! What would be more useful and fun would be to record that station across the time period when it's supposed to switch. if you hear no change, not even a momentary carrier dip, you may have a case... A recording is also excellent documentation for a formal complaint. We're advised the best (and easiest?) place to start with a complaint is the Broadcasters' Association in the state where the station is located. Many of them take very seriously a documented formal complaint against a member station --- especially since they know you could go to the FCC on your next stop. A link to many State broadcast Associations will be found at: http://www.radiolinks.net/Organizations/USA/State_Associations/ Information on switch times may be found at: http://www.amfmdx.net/amdx/srss.html Happy hunting! (Mark Durenberger, CO, DX Audio Service Columnist, ibid.) Alas, since in many cases, we do not know whether a given station is authorized for PSSA or not, nor for what facilities, we are somewhat undercut by the FCC's not having that info available. What we also don't/can't know is the oft-cited issue of some transmitters not being able to fully achieve the flea-powers assigned. So in one sense a station may be cheating, yet it may be trying the best that it can (Russ Edmunds, Blue Bell, PA, ibid.) You're absolutely right, Russ. And part of your comment may prove my point, in a mild sort of way. If I don't KNOW that they're supposed to switch, then I probably shouldn't automatically accuse them of cheating. :-)) (Mark Durenberger, ibid.) I totally agree and disagree. There surely are cases where a station appears at night for a while, and the reason is something other than cheating. Could be they have PSSA's and that wasn't taken into account. Could be propagation. Could be the FCC database is incomplete, and the situation isn't what was thought. I'd make damn sure (in other words get some sort of second opinion) before going to the authorities. But there are a lot of stations that we KNOW are cheating, either due to the fact that they are heard very often, or are positively known to have very low night power and were heard late at night. Those guys are assuming no one will ever catch them. I'd have no reluctance to call the FCC about them, although I'd always give them one call to straighten up first. By the way, how many of you have ever called a station and told them they seemed to be cheating? I bet there are a few. What were the results? I've called one station in my life, and they seemed to stop cheating. At least no one reported them at night anymore, and I assume that they decided the game was over (Chuck Hutton, WA, ibid.) I've always refrained from calling a radio station a cheater. For example, in the last post about 1480 WSAR, I indicated that it might be on day facilities late, but with good reason as a weather emergency was in progress. One time I had crystal clear reception of 1410 KQV all night, a station that is normally extremely difficult to receive. I sent a reception report, not to indicate that I caught it cheating, but instead simply to let the staff know about the unusual reception. It turned out that KQV was operating under an STA after one of the antennas was damaged by lightning. Rather than reporting radio stations as cheaters, DXers should welcome them as opportunities (Bruce Conti - Nashua NH, http://members.aol.com/baconti/bamlog.htm ibid.) First, let's assume innocent till proven guilty. As several others have pointed out, unusual conditions/weather/circumstances could be responsible. Second, cheaters mean more DX opportunities. Cheat all you want as far as I'm concerned (Dave Hochfelder, NJ, ibid.) I tend to agree with David. Many loggings would be impossible without "cheaters" and often propagation can make stations appear guilty, when they are not. For instance, last night I did overnight captures of 910 khz. KLCN in Bytheville, AR runs 85 watts at night and usually is "in" though at very weak levels. Last night`s captures had them from 0200 until 0500 [EST?] with great signals...overpowering WFVR in Valdosta, GA (which is usually the blowtorch on this frequency). I know from past phone calls to the station that they are unlikely to be "cheating", yet propagation last night allowed an 85 watt signal to dominate a 5000 watt station that is closer to my location. The only way I'd even consider reporting a cheater would be a station that did it night after night, and was causing interference to other stations I was attempting to DX. (selfish, yes!) I can understand stations who have cheaters on their frequencies complaining. I cannot imagine turning in a High School football cheater for instance. For many stations, it is the difference between profit and loss for an entire year. 73, (Les Rayburn, N1LF, NNN0HSI Navy MARS/SHARES, Helena, AL, ibid.) Since KLCN has been reported all over the Northeast at all hours of the night recently, and on a crowded channel, I'd be inclined to believe they're not running 85 watts. But, that said, here's another thought - there have been numerous cases where, when notified by DX'ers that a station seems to be still on day power, station personnel have subsequently found either improperly set timers, malfunctioining timers, malfunctioning switches, etc., etc. to be at fault, while the station actually did believe they were and intedned to be in compliance. Are those stations cheating ? Technically/legally, yes, but if the concept of the word implies intent, then the answer changes.... (Russ Edmunds, Blue Bell, PA, ibid.) Since when are DXers some kind of enforcement agency? Or "fink" agency? Do we all call the cops every time we see someone running a stop sign or speeding, much more important offenses as loss of life may happen as a result? (I've been a cop, an engineer, a DJ and PD and climbed a tower or two in my time.) Cheating does happen and right now someone is cheating somewhere. It might be a DX catch we could never get otherwise. And, they could be legal with a STA or some other authorization we know nothing about as the FCC has never been that swift keeping things up to date. We all know that! So why not just DX "cheating" when it happens and quit worrying? I'm just a "lurker" so please excuse my intrusion! I will put on my flak suit now (Chuck Boehnke, Keaau, Hawaii, ibid.) No flak from here, although there are some which become so habitual and so flagrant that I could be sorely tempted. WYLF-850-NY comes to mind - they've been at it about 6 nights a week for nearly 4 years! Otherwise, I fall into that group that wants to make sure we all hear it before anybody reports it... (Russ Edmunds, Blue Bell, PA, ibid.) It is indeed a love/hate sort of thing. We love the first logging but hate it after that (Pete Taylor, Tacomaaina (Chuck will understand), ibid.) I don't understand all this fuss about cheating. Seems to me these are opportunities to log stations not otherwise heard, sort of like DX specials. And as Bruce observed, you can't be sure there isn't some other reason for being on late or with higher power. I would be more concerned if a DXer cheats to obtain a verification from a station he didn't really hear as has happened in the past. Now that's cheating as well as being a disservice to honest DXers! (Ben Dangerfield, Wallingford, PA, ibid.) If federally licensed stations won`t play by the rules, they should be fined and/or have their licenses cancelled. It`s as simple as that. I have no sympathy for stations powering up illegally to carry stupid ballgames, even if they are a big money-maker. If that`s the only way they can stay in business, they should go out of business. Whatever nighttime facilities the license authorises, that`s it. They should live with it, or do it on FM where day and night coverage are more or less the same. There is a reason for requiring lower power, directional antennas at night. There is already far too much co- channel interference, and such illegal operations only exacerbate the problem. Before someone jumps on me, I admit to being much more lenient about harmonics, except in extremely rare cases where they cause harmful interference to some authorized fundamental (Glenn Hauser, OK, NRC-AM via DX LISTENING DIGEST) In other words, you would have no problem with stations powering up illegally to carry stupid ball games if they omit the fundamental and transmit strictly on harmonic frequencies?? ;-) (Harry Helms, AK6C/7, Las Vegas, NV, NRC-AM via DXLD) I believe Mr. Spock would refer to that as illogical human thinking. Since I know that you've DX'ed harmonics for decades, I know why you feel as you do, but it's still totally inconsistent. Personally, I'd rather spend my hobby time DX'ing than doing the FCC's job for it (Russ Edmunds, NJ, ibid.) So you guys jump on me anyway. I should have added harmonics *which are unintentional*. That makes all the difference, plus the fact that they usually aren`t interfering with anything, except maybe other harmonics. My point of view is actually totally consistent, not that total consistency is a desirable trait. Or rather, these are two quite separate matters. All the FCC needs to do is monitor this list and a few others if they want leads on cheaters. So is everybody who reports one `doing their job`? 73, (Glenn, ibid.) Russ Edmunds wrote: "Unintentional harmonics" differ, exactly how, from unintentionally staying on at night with day power/pattern, in light of Ron G's recent post ??? To state the obvious(?), once a broadcaster has been notified (either by a listener or by the Feds) that it is out of compliance, it will get into compliance if it was unintentional and desires to follow the rules. If it keeps happening, we can assume it is intentional. Don`t get me wrong; by all means DX cheaters to your advantage if you can. Nor am I suggesting that everyone should file complaints against them. That is the FCC`s job, and I agree they aren`t doing it. Bottom line is, one person`s DX is another`s QRM. Or, as some have so candidly admitted, one person`s DX is QRM the next time it happens. 73, (Glenn Hauser, ibid.) Perhaps I'm alone on this, but I take great pride in making sure WLIO, and WLIO-DT, and WBOH [?? That`s the new SW station in NC on 5920 --- gh] are well within the guidelines of the rules. I take it personally if the station, or one of my people operate outside the letter of the law. Why should I do the right thing when others cheat? Well, it the law. And the second part of this, to me, when it's reported to the feds, and they don't act, I think the law should be repealed. If they don't act on illegal acts, then what good is it to have a law? Or is it a Blue Law (i.e.: "In Kentucky it is illegal to carry ice cream in your back pocket. BBB-94 page 129). I'm not looking for Gestapo tactics on each and every station that violates the law, and yes.... these stations do offer a chance for DX, but if nobody follows the law, then what good is it to have a law? (Fred Vobbe, March 9, NRC-AM via DXLD) [Earlier:] Glen[n]: I see that you have wandered into the pack of jackals. |grin| I've often addressed this topic with people at the FCC, and other engineers in the field. The short of this is that anyone that works for the FCC does not have the time to read our lists, nor do I know of anyone at the Commission who expresses an interest in DX. They also have "assignments" from superiors, so even if they did read the lists, they would not have the authority or the ability to take it upon themselves to right the wrong. Logically it would seem like the right thing to do. Anyone knows that dealing with the FCC is like trying to teach nuclear physics to a 2-year old. They don't have time nor patience to listen to a citizen, DXer, or radio listener. The only way they listen is when someone from a large broadcast corporation or an attorney for a broadcast concern is asked to look into the situation. That in itself is proof of problems at the government level. The best you can do is report them, and report them again, and again, and hope that someone takes the issue up. The way the new FCC now looks at cheaters is that, "if it's not causing irreparable damage, and the broadcaster being harmed doesn't complain, there is no violation of law." It's like the healthy fellow that parks in the handicapped area in front of a store when he is the only customer there at the time. Is he breaking the law? Yes. Did he hurt anyone? Technically no. I say new FCC because I feel; government has become bloated with apathetic bureaucrats that have lost focus that they are there to serve the people, and not their pockets. In the old FCC there would have been FCC inspections, and hell to pay if a station violates the rules. It all comes down to our society's new view of what is law for one, is not law for me... and consequences for actions is subjective and not a rule (Fred Vobbe, NRC-AM via DXLD) I do. Fred Broce, the Atlanta FCC Chief, who tells us he is ready to retire "at any moment now" and he knows of this list. I expect he'll join when he retires. He's a ham and interested in MW DX (Powell E. Way, ibid.) Big 'if'. They may want to, but do not have the budget to do so, and their Congressional bosses pretty much have directed what to enforce and what to not enforce. BTW, I was referring to DX'ers actually reporting these stations to the FCC directly. And as a further BTW, what makes you think that the FCC *isn't* monitoring this list? (Russ Edmunds, Blue Bell, PA, ibid.) I doubt that anyone from the FCC is monitoring. It's like someone working in the insurance business coming home and spending time on websites and E-mail lists that deal with insurance. I'm sure they leave the work at work. That said, if I had the time to look through the subscriber base I'm not sure I would want to know if someone from the FCC is watching, or for that matter Industry Canada, CRTC, Congress, FBI, etc. Personally, I don't care. Then again, if I worked for a regulation agency and wanted to spy on a list, I sure would not sign up to it as fredv@fcc.gov I would probably take out a Hotmail account as "rfburnes" or something. |g| (Fred Vobbe, ibid.) This may be true of some parts of the FCC but not all parts. The FCC is fortunate to have as it's Special Counsel for Law Enforcement a licensed and active ham, Riley Hollingsworth, K4ZDH. Since taking the position in 1998, Riley has cleaned up 2 longtime cesspools on the ham bands, 3.895/7 MHz and 14.313 MHz. Riley has been known to get on some of the worst offending frequencies himself and establish a dialog with the offenders. He has also personally visited and inspected the homes of violators such as teenager Andy Ruppe of Morganton, NC, who was bootlegging ham calls on the 11 meter CB band and 10 meter ham band. Imagine Andy's surprise when he got home from school to find that Riley and his father had been having a long chat about his radio operations. Not only are hams and wannabes the target of the FCC and Riley's scrutiny, but utility companies too. Anyone who is an ARRL member can view FCC letters sent to violators of FCC regulations which include power utilities. Utility companies who fail to fix problems brought to their attention, such as noisy transformers, get letters from the FCC. On the current ARRL web site are the latest letters from the FCC to violators. Included in this is a letter from the FCC to the village of Ladd, IL, concerning noisy equipment and the village's responsibility to repair such equipment and the consequences if the equipment is not fixed. http://www.arrl.org/news/enforcement_logs/2003/0222.html?nc=1 I'm sure somewhere on the FCC web site, letters to commercial stations are available. The ARRL only publishes those with interest to the ham community. Any member of the radio community, licensed ham or not, is more than welcome to contact the FCC regarding any violation of FCC rules. I urge anyone who feels strongly enough about "cheaters", harmonics, freebanders, or that arcing transformer down the block that the power company refuses to fix, to send email to Riley Hollingsworth. rholling@fcc.gov I'm sure you will get a reply, maybe not from Riley personally, but from someone in the enforcement division (Rick Robinson, KF4AR, Hendersonville, NC, ibid.) What you say here is true, but to me, Riley puts in a little more effort than the average F.C.C. staffer. From dealings I have had with the Mass Media and Enforcement branch, I have found them to be very apathetic. I'm not putting them down, but you have to understand that there is a big difference between me mentioning that WXXX is not doing pattern change at the correct time, and say Paul letting the commission know that Bridgeport-1530 is on after sunset non- directional and taking out WSAI. To use Riley as an example, there is a difference between me pointing out that a station is not using their NRSC mask and they are over modulated, and someone reporting that their repeater is being jammed or that someone is cursing on 80 meters. I wish each of our FCC field offices had a "Riley" available to resolve issues, but he is an exception to the norm. Most FCC people I know are over burdened and not supported by management, and even those in upper management express frustration that they can not focus on all the problems. The agency lacks professional engineers, and is under funded for the role they play..... which is why there is so much foolishness in the industry today. I smell a story here. What would be interesting to do is for a group of us to each find violations that should be reported, and then on a specific date file the complaint. It would be interesting to see what office, and what employee, is able to resolve the complaint. I suspect that our mileage may vary. Any takers? (Fred Vobbe, ibid.) My only experience with writing Riley was a good one. Our next door neighbor in Charlotte installed an "Invisible Fence" for their rotweiler. These devices appear to operate in the 160 kHz portion of the spectrum. The "fence" controller emitted spurs every 16 kHz from 160 kHz up to about 8 MHz where they started to fall off in intensity. This ruined my LW, MW and HF ham radio below 8 MHz with almost S9 noise. After 3 phone calls to the company and 2 letters with no reply, I enclosed a copy of a letter to the FCC in the 3rd letter to the fence company. I had documented all calls with date, time and individual I talked to and provided copies of my previous letters. About a week later, I came home one day from work to find a note and a business card from the fence company in my door. The note thanked me for bringing the faulty controller to their attention and told me not to hesitate calling them if the new controller had problems. It also emitted spurs but nowhere near the level of the other controller and it was satisfactory in my opinion. About 3 weeks later, I got a nice letter from the FCC stating they had gotten in touch with Invisible Fence and wanted to know if the situation had been resolved. Your mileage may vary, but my experience was a good one (Rick Robinson, Hendersonville, NC, ibid.) It's not that they don't reduce power just for ballgames, it is that many of those sports cheats simply leave day power on from sunset 'til the time the game ends, if not longer. Some, like semi-local WLBK 1360 will run their normal format on day power from sunset until the time the game starts as well as cheating for the game. Others leave day power on with regular format for a couple of hours after the game ends. Some sports cheats realize that they are abusing the law and are more careful about it. I've had stations pop up out of nowhere with the pre-game show or the start of the game and disappear immediately at the end of the game or post game show. However, a greater problem is stations that simply cheat nightly and add to our QRM jungle. While this provides DX opportunities for some, it blocks frequencies and DX catches for others and is not legal ! It also likely QRM's legitimate operations in their fringe areas of coverage and can result in less listeners. 73 KAZ (Neil Kazaross, IL, ibid.) I've probably mentioned on this list before that my FIRST memory of a daytimer broadcasting a basketball game at night came before 1950, when I was in Corvallis, Oregon, and heard what was then KWRN, Renton, Washington, a 250-watter on 1220, with a basketball broadcast. I don't know if they were the "pioneer" in this regard, but the phenomenon is more than half a century old (John Callarman, Krum TX, ibid.) As follow-up to the cheating/harmonics discussion: Two of the most fun experiences I ever had were related to harmonics, and I wouldn't have heard these stations as well (or as often) otherwise. In 1962, then- KFIF in Tucson had a harmonic. I was ten at the time, and didn't know what a harmonic was or that it was on 3100, but I did know that it was always at the upper edge of a certain RTTY transmission. I also found it interesting because KPMC, the 1560 in Bakersfield, where I lived, made reception of KFIF difficult for me on the Hallicrafters set I was using, plus 3100 propagated for more hours than 1560. And this station employed two jocks who had formerly worked in Bakersfield, so it was a pleasure to hear. It lasted for several months, and, legalities aside, until I heard the harmonic, I didn't know about the station on the fundamental frequency, so it was a nice discovery (even if it didn't help the RTTY station!) The second was in 1993 or 1994. I heard about this on World of Radio (thanks, Glenn), and for a couple of months, was able to hear XELO in Juárez on their harmonic of 2020, a station I couldn't hear locally on its fundamental. They played English-language top 40, with a high-energy Spanish presentation. I missed this one when it was gone. I'm not for illegal operation, but these are two of my favorite memories from my years as a radio enthusiast, and I'm glad about the experience (Rick Lewis, ibid.) Hmmm, 2020 would not be a harmonic of 800... (gh, DXLD) ** VIRGIN ISLANDS US. 1620, WDHP Fredrikstad, 0035 March 10, old time country a la "Heartaches by the Number", phone in from a police inspector on St Lucia listening in; nice ID 0059: "You are listening to WDHP, 1620 AM, simulcasting with WAXJ, 103.5 FM, in the United States Virgin Islands. Our transmitters are in Fredrikstad and our studios at number 79A Catherine Cokely (?). We are in St. Croix. WDHP, 1620 AM, and WAXJ, 103.5 FM." Strong and clear and atop channel (Jay Novello, R8A, 250m mini-beverage pointed due south, Wake Forest, NC, DX LISTENING DIGEST) UNIDENTIFIED. 3218.8, 7.3 1930, with Middle East/North African music. Hardly any talk and impossible to understand. Could be heard in AM- mode (QSA 2) but not in SSB and impossible to determine exact frequency. Best on the African antenna. JE/RFK (Jan Edh + Ronny forslund, SW Bulletin March 9, translated by editor Thomas Nilsson for DXLD) UNIDENTIFIED. 4845, 0430-0443* March 10, male in Spanish, frequent mention of 'Radio Nacional, seemed he was off for a minute or so at 0436. Close down was rather abrupt. Relay? Later I did look for loggings of Radio Fides but only found the 6155 frequency mentioned which I did check at the time but was 100% blocked by UNID. Didn't sound religious, so improbable it was 'Radio K`ekchí though not impossible of course. The point is: I never hear a signal on this frequency at this time of the morning with use of the Spanish language. Must be at least 4 years ago. Poor signal (Piet Pijpers, Netherlands, DX LISTENING DIGEST) UNIDENTIFIED. 4890: Often 2330 unID Spanish heard during a 3 week period - I have more than 20 hours of taperecording without any ID. Weak and some QRM on the frequency does not make it any easier. TBV (Tore B Vik, Norway, SW Bulletin March 9, translated by editor Thomas Nilsson for DXLD) 4890, 7.3 2355, unID with religious programming which made no sense, might be TV audio. No announcement on the hour. QSA 1-2 but heavy QRM. JE/RFK (Jan Edh + Ronny Forslund, SW Bulletin March 9, translated by editor Thomas Nilsson for DXLD) Glenn, Sobre a UNID 4890 e Rádio Bethel, conversei com H. Klemetz estes dias sobre isto. R. Bethel continua em 5940, te envio audio da identificação ouvida. 5940 05/03 0408 R. Bethel, Arequipa, SS, mx, ID. No mesmo horário foi ouvida a UNID em 4890, nenhuma relação entre os programas. 73 (Samuel Cássio Martins, São Carlos, SP, Brasil, March 9, DX LISTENING DIGEST) While out on a Europirate micro-DXpedition, I heard a few things of interest: UNIDENTIFIED. 6150.74, 9 March 0436 long slow Pop ballad-like song. 0441 into another Whitney Houston-like ballad. 0445 W anncr in possibly FR, but impossible to copy. Then went into another ballad. Signal too weak and way too much 6150 slop QRM. Fading as well. Who could this have been?? (Dave Valko, PA, Cumbre DX via DXLD 9 March) Bayrak? UNIDENTIFIED. 6400.7v, Clandestine?? 9 March 0414 impassioned speech by M in Afro-sounding lang. 0420 children singing, then W speaking. Not jammed. Weak strength w/pulsing UTE QRM. Drifted down to 6400.62 by 0420. Fading quickly too. Any ideas?? (Dave Valko, PA, Cumbre DX via DXLD 9 March) UNIDENTIFIED. 18175: Heard in Lincolnshire with SINPO 55555 1650 UT on 18175 AM broadcast station IDs as Sounds Like 'Radio Raseed' with long sounding ees. Mostly playing western type pop music, making announcement 'Musica Radio' probably Russian language but not sure. Time signals, news, etc. but cannot find listed anywhere and also well out of band. Any ideas?? (Richard Lowis, March 9, dxing.info via DXLD) One which does not work out to be a harmonic; tho a Greenville feeder has used this frequency not too long ago ultimately for Communications World. Could have been a test using some IBB program audio? (gh, DXLD) [Later:] Mike Barraclough tells me he thinks this is a strange frequency corruption of signals from Radio Rossii - I will try to check true frequency against the one I heard. Does seem like a good bet - but lost to know how it appears here - thought my set was better !!! (Richard Lowis, From Louth Lincolnshire. England - Have JRC NRD 525, 30 metre longwire N - S. Been into dxing since 1960s, ibid.) ###