DX LISTENING DIGEST 3-051, March 28, 2003 [NOTE: continued in 3-052 issued at same time] 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 later at http://www.worldofradio.com/dxldtd3c.html HTML version of February issues: http://www.worldofradio.com/dxldtd3b.html For restrixions and searchable 2003 contents archive see http://www.worldofradio.com/dxldmid.html NOTE: If you are a regular reader of DXLD, and a source of DX news but have not been sending it directly to us, please consider yourself obligated to do so. Thanks, Glenn WORLD OF RADIO ON WJIE 7490. Sorry about [missing] last week's program. It was a glitch on our part with the war coverage. Your program is aired daily (M-F) at 8:00 AM Eastern, plus the following: 2:00 AM Eastern Monday and Tuesday, 10:00 PM Eastern Saturday, 5:00 AM Eastern Saturday. Thanks, (Doc Burkhart, WJIE, March 28) NEXT AIRINGS OF WORLD OF RADIO 1175: WWCR: Sat 0700, Sun 0330 5070, 0730 3210, Wed 1030 9475 RFPI: Sat 0730, Sun 0000, 0600, Mon 0030, 0630 on 7445 [may be pre-empted for Pacifica anti-war coverage] WJIE: Sat 1000, Sun 0300, Mon & Tue 0700, M-F 1300 on 7490 WBCQ: Mon 0545 on 7415 WRN: Sat 0900 rest of world, Sun 0430 Europe, 1500 N. America WRN [expected times this weekend during the DST changeover] ONDEMAND: http://new.wrn.org/listeners/stations/station.php?StationID=24 OUR ONDEMAND AUDIO: Check http://www.worldofradio.com/audiomid.html [Low] (Download) http://www.k4cc.net/wor1175.rm (Stream) http://www.k4cc.net/wor1175.ram [High] (Download) http://www.k4cc.net/wor1175h.rm (Stream) http://www.k4cc.net/wor1175h.ram (Summary) http://www.worldofradio.com/wor1175.html [already] UNSOLICITED TESTIMONIAL For a long while, I and many others have noted the bias that Glenn brings to his Digests. Expecting facutal reporting on the "world of radio" - like news of a new broadcast station or a change in hardware or something newsworthy regarding the "industry" or activity of radio in general, we read instead a peppering of one-sided "news" items about either religion and politics. True, those "reports" are included with items of fact regarding this or that station. Yet, Glenn's political and religious bias does show in what he includes in his Digests. There are always two sides to the story. While Glenn is free to write anything he likes, I would love to see an equal treetment of political "radio" news if he decides to post such items. But that is not seen. Which is unfair to the unsuspecting reader who might be new to the scene. "Buyer beware" - or in this case, "Reader beware." 73 de (Tomas, NW7US // AAR0JA Hood, posted on SWBC and several other lists) Tomas, Well, you`ve come a long way since once offering to help make DXLD more searchable, wasn`t it? I wonder what in particular in this issue, if anything, set you off. I have a point of view. I do not feel I have to hide it. This does not prevent me from processing and publishing other points of view, along with a great deal of objective information. Sorry you find this to be a problem (Glenn) Glenn, though I haven`t seen DXLD for a looong time I know that you are doing a lot for us SW listeners. It is appreciated, keep on doing it your way. vy73 (Harald Kuhl, Germany, March 28, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Tomas, you are a good guy and I love all you bring to the hobby for all of us on the internet. But I hardly think that anyone needs to be warned about being corrupted by Glenn Hauser. With the daily right wing bombardment we all receive on AM and SW radio, he's surely just one harmless voice for the other side. Let him speak. he has done a lot for the hobbyist with minimal compensation to himself. 73's (Joe, W1DEE, SWBC via DXLD) I will second what W1DEE said. I for one am sick of the right wing stuff on AM radio!!! Go Glenn!!! Thanks de W8BTM (Tim McGraw, SWBC via DXLD) Folks, just a reminder... If I remember correctly (and I do), this list is described as... "A list for serious SHORTWAVE BROADCAST DX listeners. Not for program discussions, ham radio, transcripts of programs, space trivia, weather reports, repetitive announcements or travelogues." If you have problems with that, email ME. Thanks, (Dan Ferguson, SWBC@ topica.com list owner via DXLD) My thoughts, and an apology to Glenn. Glenn, I have and still greatly appreciate your contribution to the hobby. I have always looked to you as one of the premier authorities on current events in the radio world. I have no personal ill feelings toward you and I do not wish to come across as attacking you or to slam your hard work. You provide timely and important information on what is going on in the world regarding radio and communications. Thank you. Thank you, very much. My posting was born out of a frustration and an emotion that stems from my feeling overwhelmed with what seems to be a perponderance of manipulations on my emotions to sway my opinions on various things. Everywhere I turn in these troubled times there seems to be strong and persistant voices trying to convince me to think one way or the other regarding current political and or religious events. I expect that on the airways. I turn on the shortwave radio in part so that I can find differing viewpoints and angles on the news. I love having at my disposal the vast range of options that come with shortwave radio listening. My post regarding the digest was an expression of frustration that when I turn to a resource from an expert (and you ARE an expert!) on what is going on regarding communications and the radio/tv field, it seems to include, with the radio news items, bits and pieces of political op-ed as well. I felt, when I wrote my message, that the op-ed items were "extra" and somewhat one-sided. I was expressing that there are more than one way to view current events (and here I am referring to what I thought were non-radio op-eding). I did not, and do not, attack any particular view that you or anyone has. In my post, I did not have issue with the fact that you have any viewpoint, nor did I indicate that I have issue with any particular viewpoint. I was just expressing that I wish that those digest were a bit more neutral, or at least balanced with an equal amount of the opposing political op-ed. (My choice would be to not include op-ed). I do not mean to say that the majority of the radio news items are political or religious. Nor am I saying that your views are bad - how could I judge something like that? All of this, of course, is my own personal expression of my frustration. So, for all to see: I sincerely apologize, Glenn. I respect you and your work. I do still wish to be able to turn to resources such as yours and find pure radio-related news, without extra op-ed materials. That is just my own problem - others might not have any issue with that. I will keep my frustration to myself. Regarding the indexing and databasing which we discussed: I am fighting a tough economy. As a programmer analyst type, I have really come to rough waters in my industry. Many of my friends have been out of work for at least 17 months. I have been blessed with some work, though spotty. But when I have that work, it is very demanding (since I must compete against many others), and my time is limited for "hobby" programming. I still desire to make the index and database, but it is time-consuming since what I proposed is complex. As the economy regains some stability and my industry stablizes, I hope to finish this project. I really hope it will be of benefit to the whole community. Glenn: I appreciate you and your work. Please accept my apology regarding my post. I hope that you can understand where I am coming from and what it was that I was trying to express. 73 de (Tomas, NW7US // AAR0JA, SWBC topica list via DXLD) -- : Propagation Editor, CQ/PopComm Magazines - Member, USArmy MARS : : http://prop.hfradio.org : Brinnon, Washington 122.93W 47.67N : : A creator of solutions : http://accessnow.com : Perl Rules! : : 10x56526 - FISTS 7055 - FISTS NW 57 - http://hfradio.org/barsc : : A.R.Lighthouse Society 144 -- CW, SSB, RTTY, AMTOR, DX-Hunting : Tomas, OK, thanks for this follow-up. Good luck with getting non-hobby paying work! (gh) Hi, am listening to you now on one of the 40 meter stations (much of my listening is done on radios not having frequency display). BTW, it's a real boost when you mention contributors. My name is usually pronounced with accent on the first syllable, and soft "g", although I don't know what would be an official pronunciation, I believe it's a Swiss name... Take care... (Chuck Ermatinger, St. Louis MO, with a PayPal contribution) ** AFGHANISTAN. /NORWAY 18940, R. Afghanistan via Kvitsøy, New schedule is 1430-1730 (Su 1400-1700) (Anker Petersen, Denmark, DSWCI DX Window Mar 26 via DXLD) ** ANTARCTICA. Zuidpool --- De Chileense zendamateur Mario Reyne Zúñiga uit Santiago (roeptekens: CE3BFE) is in dienst van het Chileens Antarctisch Instituut (INACH). Momenteel is hij gestationeerd op de wetenschappelijke zuidpoolbasis Julio Escudero. Dit onderzoeksstation is gevestigd op het eiland Rey Jorge (King George), dat deel uitmaakt van de Shetlands. Ten gerieve van het wetenschappelijke werk hebben de Chilenen het dorpje Villa Las Estrellas gebouwd, compleet met een school, bank, postkantoor en souvenirwinkel. In verband met het gat in de ozonlaag, werden in de jaren negentig alle schoolkinderen echter teruggestuurd naar het Chileense vasteland. Mario Reyne ZúñNiga komt als CE9A op de volgende frequenties in de ether: 7015, 14015, 21015 en 28015 kHz (morse), 7080, 14150, 21150 en 28505 kHz (enkelzijband) en tenslotte 14070, 21070 en 28070 kHz (digitaal) (undated item at kortegolf.info found Mar 28 by gh, DXLD) ** ARGENTINA. 11710.04, 0159-, RAE, Mar 28. Time pips at top of hour with multilingual IDs in Spanish, French, English, German, Portuguese, Italian, Arabic, and Japanese. Into English program. Usual full details of schedule and QSL information. Quite good reception tonight (Walt Salmaniw, Victoria, BC, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ARMENIA. Voice of Armenia, signs on at 2040 with a very good signal for the English service. Programming seemed oblivious to the current war with no mention of the action going on the region. Strange considering the location of Yerevan in relation to Iraq! Discussion ranged from local news to the weekly economic update! Also announces itself as "The Public Radio of Armenia" (Rob Wagner, Vic., Mar 21, EDXP via DXLD) 9965? ** AUSTRALIA. 15480, 1518-1530, HCJB AUSTRALIA, Mar 26. Very weak and partially audible. ID heard at 1518 by male announcer, then a short music piece, 'Send in the Clowns' Male announcer with talks in EE but difficult to get clear copy. S meter reads 0. Interludes of 'Send in the Clowns' is played after each short talk. Reading excerpts from the Bible. Azimuth is 307 degrees and not beamed toward N. America. ID again at 1527 by male announcer. Then female singing the 'Lord`s Prayer'. ID again at 1529 and then to news items. by male announcer (Bob Montgomery, PA, hard-core-dx via DXLD) ** AUSTRALIA. As per message received from HCJB-Australia they will not be changing their frequencies w.e.f 30th March: From: "english" english@hcjb.org.au Sent: Tuesday, March 25, 2003 3:47 AM Dear Mr. Gupta, Thank you for your email of 23rd of March. I spoke to our Program Director and he says since we are a new station and still having a few problems, he will not be changing the schedule in March, as is normal, but waiting a few months. When this is available, we will send you a copy. Regards, QSL Manager (via Alokesh Gupta, New Delhi, India, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** AUSTRALIA. NEW AUSSIE ARAB X-BANDER In recent weeks 1620 2KM Sydney has been sold & replaced by an Arabic Service. According to John Wright the station is owned by Tony and Rita Ishlak. The company is called World Media Network P/L. Address is: 82 Alexander St, Crows Nest, 2065, NSW, Australia. Phone number (02) 9966 4388. They broadcast music and make programmes for Sydney's Arab community. Johno suggests that these people wouldn't know a QSL card from a Jumbo jet... so you might have to advise them what it is all about (David Onley, Myrtleford, Victoria, Australia, Mar 26, Dxing.info via DXLD) ** AUSTRIA. Radio Austria International The "Stiftungsrat" made a decision: on March 26 a so called "compromise proposal" was accepted with 22 to 11 votes, with 1 abstention. Only small parts of Radio Austria International (Logo, station's tune, a daily 15-Minute-English-Journal...) will survive; the program will consist then mainly of relays of the domestic program "Ö1". This program includes English and French news "shortly after 0800" (0700 UT presumed [imminently 0600 UT]). From July the name will be "Radio Österreich 1 International". The amount of 4.5 Mio. Euro yearly, which was needed for Radio Austria International, shall be "decreased step by step to a minimum" stated the ORF Head of the Economic Affairs Dept. Alexander Wrabetz. The result of the vote is published at the end of the Listener's Initiative page: http://www.radio-portal.org/roi/votum.html Greetings from Germany, (Willi Passmann, DJ6JZ, Mar 28, hard-core-dx via DXLD) ** BENIN. 5025, ORTB, Parakou, Heard daily on STP mornings and evenings, but also with some heterodyne QRM from Uganda. It now signs off at 2300* also on weekdays! (Anker Petersen, São Tomé e Príncipe, DSWCI DX Window March 26 via DXLD) ** BRAZIL. 9694.5, R Rio Mar, Manaus AM, 2143-2300*, Mar 02 and 13, own newscast, songs and a sudden ID given with frequency list right before audio was shut down and the carrier taken off the air. 45444. Typically Brazil's best overall 31 m station audible evenings here (Carlos Gonçalves, Portugal, DSWCI DX Window Mar 26 via DXLD)) ** BRAZIL. 5990, Radio Senado de la Nación, Brasília, 1016-1026, March 27, Portuguese transmission. Brazilian romantic songs selection. Announcement by male about a local Senate commission activity. 34422 (Arnaldo Slaen, Argentina, hard-core-dx via DXLD) ?? Something odd here. Come to think of it, I have NEVER seen the name of this station reported in Portuguese (presumably R. Senado da Nação), only Spanish! How come? (gh, DXLD) ** BURKINA FASO. 4815/5030, Rdif. TV Burkina, Ouagadougou got its 60 mb transmitter back on the air early March after two months of repair. I first heard it 2054-2235 on Mar 07 and 08 with French and Vernacular talks, ID 2200 before the news, Afropop and native music, 35433, while 5030 was silent. On Mar 09, *1702, the carrier came on here (switched from 7230) with QSA 3, but there was a whistling tone and very badly modulated audio until 1725 when the tone disappeared and French talk could be heard with good modulation. 25222. But on Mar 10, 12, 13, 14 and 15 I heard it on 5030 instead of 4815 at 1811- 2305 in Vernaculars and French, 35433 (Anker Petersen, São Tomé e Príncipe, DSWCI DX Window March 26 via DXLD) 7230, R Burkina, Ouagadougou, a missing log for some time, 0825-fade out 0900, Mar 13, French for an African tunes and tribal songs program; 15431 (Carlos Gonçalves, Portugal, DSWCI DX Window Mar 26 via DXLD) Also heard 1654-1701*, Mar 9 with Afropop, French ID and announcement of frequency change to 60 mb. Good modulation (Cf. 4815 above). During daytime this channel is also faded out on STP (Anker Petersen, São Tomé e Príncipe, DSWCI DX Window March 26 via DXLD) ** BURUNDI. 6140 still off air Mar 10 as it has been for years and I have my doubts that it will ever come back (Vashek Korinek, RSA via Dxplorer via DSWCI DX Window Mar 26 via DXLD) ** CANADA. CBC DEPARTURE By Aaron Wherry, CanWest News Services TORONTO - A little over a year and a half after he was brought in to revolutionize CBC Radio's programming, Adrian Mills is leaving the public broadcaster. In an internal memo to all English radio staff Monday, CBC Radio vice-president Jane Chalmers announced that Mills would be moving on to "the next phase of his creative journey," though CBC officials refused to clarify the circumstances under which he had departed. "It is with regret that I announce the departure of Adrian Mills, executive director of programming, after six years of remarkable achievements at CBC." Chalmers wrote in the memo. "We will miss Adrian: His humour, passion and his keen mind enriched our lives." Esther Enkin will serve as interim executive director for the time being, Chalmers added. Mills' departure was described by one observer as "reassuring," and it will certainly be applauded by those listeners who became disgruntled with CBC Radio's dramatic changes under his leadership, but one host brought in by Mills said his efforts brought new life to the broadcaster. Mills joined CBC in 1997 as creative head of children's and youth programming after overseeing the same programming at the BBC for three years. In 2000, he assumed additional duties as managing director for cbc.ca. In the fall of 2001, he was appointed executive director of programming for CBC Radio and soon thereafter set to work restructuring and overhauling many of the broadcaster's most noted programs including This Morning and Definitely Not the Opera. Last fall, he oversaw the relaunch of the CBC Radio One morning schedule, including the introduction of flagship shows the Current and Sounds Like Canada. The changes, Mills contended in a July, 2002, interview with the National Post, were instituted to attract a younger, more diverse, audience. "Canada is changing," he said, "and society has changed, so CBC Radio needs to make sure it is as relevant to future generations as it was to previous ones. "I was concerned we could be perceived to be a white anglo network." Focus groups had indicated that young people viewed the network as "radio for older people," he said. "They felt we were perhaps not as intriguing or interesting as they would like." Repeated attempts to contact Mills for this story were unsuccessful. "While I wish him all the best in whatever he decides to do next, I think much of what he did there was wrongheaded and did the CBC and listeners of the CBC no favour," one high-profile media observer countered. "Sometimes when people are hell-bent on change, but don't know what they want, they bring in somebody completely from the outside. The president of the soup company is brought in to run the newspaper, and usually with predictable results." In recent months, the anger felt by some listeners had spilled over into the press, with many column inches devoted to the clash of ideologies - between the "old" CBC Radio of Peter Gzowski and the "new" CBC of Sook Yin Lee, the host of Definitely Not the Opera. Individuals within CBC Radio also began to speak out, though often anonymously, expressing their disdain for Mills' changes. "It was a kind of misguided egalitarianism and a kind of reflexive quest for young audiences in a kind of pandering and unflattering way. Smart, young people will come to good broadcasting, you don't have to put on rock 'n' roll," the observer noted. "It took time to do what he did and it will take time to undo what he did, and they won't want to be perceived as reversing course too dramatically, I wouldn't think. But I hope it means that they're going to go back to basics, that they've found the faith that they lost." Noah Richler, a National Post columnist and host of CBC Radio's Richler on Radio, was one of the individuals brought in by Mills. "I believe that he was a good thing and a brave fella, because it takes a lot of gumption to actually try to change a leviathan organization," he said yesterday. "I think he should be given credit for a lot of things that he tried to do and that are still ongoing." Mills was willing to listen to the public, and motivated enough to make changes in the face of tradition, Richler said. "The first guy that makes these changes usually takes the wrath," he said, adding that Chalmers seems to have the same energy and will, hopefully, continue where Mills left off. "The CBC is an organization with extensive and very solid ties to the Canadian public. It's almost more accountable than government is. And I do think that Adrian tried to make these ties more immediate and more sensitive. And in some cases it worked and in some cases it didn't. But nobody was going to do it and he did," Richler said, noting the success of programs like The Current. "But there's tremendous internal resistance to changes like that." Richler said many of the critics who slammed Mills' changes were ignoring some of the CBC's most intelligent content and refusing to accept some of the broadcaster's new voices. "We don't want to lose, with this, the right to try new things, some of which will be mistakes, others not. There's no reason to suspect that this process won't be ongoing. They introduced a new vigour in how they respond to the Canadian public and it would hard to go back on that. "It's an organization that has undergone a very critical self- analysis after 9/11 and I disagree with a number of the critics. I actually think that the CBC is sounding pretty good." National Post CanWest News Service 03-24-2003 (Relayed by Harry van Vugt, Windsor, Ontario, Canada, Mar 25, DXLD) ** CENTRAL AFRICAN REPUBLIC. 7220, R TV Centrafricaine, Bangui, 0700- 1630, Mar 03-11, heard daily in French and Vernaculars, news, ID, Afropops. One of the best heard SW stations on STP during daytime, but frequent transmitter breaks of 2-5 minutes duration were noted. On Mar 15 the President was participating in a summit in Niger, and in the meantime 40 supporters of former Army General François Bozizé, living in exile in Chad after previous Coup attempts, took over control of the country by capturing the presidential palace, the airport, and the radio and television station. When the President returned to Bangui, his aircraft was fired at and he had to land in Cameroon – where he was arrested! On Mar 16, I noticed that 7220 was silent throughout 0945-1745. The radiostation not only ``went into darkness``, but I also felt I really was in the ``Dark Africa``. (Anker Petersen, São Tomé e Príncipe, DSWCI DX Window March 26 via DXLD) ** CHECHNYA [non]. both frequencies of Radio Station Chechnya Svobodnaya - 12025 and 15355 kHz - found empty this morning, 27 MAR, around 0800 UTC. Tried two more times later after noon UTC with the same result... Monitoring of 171 kHz not possible here... Karel Honzik the Czech Republic (Czechia), AOR AR-7030 30 m Long Wire, hard-core-dx via DXLD) R Chechnya Svobodnaya seems to have left the shortwave again, so apparently this was a temporary coverage increase due to the recent referendum. 15355 and 5905 have gone silent instead of returning to R Rossii (Olle Alm, Sweden, 27 March, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CHINA. 6285, Yunnan Broadcasting Station, 2305-2330, Mar 21, new frequency heard // with the usual 6035. The program consisted of non- stop Mandarin instrumental music (Kaj Bredahl Jørgensen, Denmark, DSWCI DX Window Mar 26 via DXLD) ** CONGO. 4765, R. Congo, Brazzaville, 2217-2324, Mar 6, French ID, test program playing Chinese opera !!! (maybe to support the repair sponsor?). The following two test programs were mentioned about every 15 minutes: 0900-0300 4765 and 0300-0900 9610. 0900-1500 7115, 1500-2100 9610, 2100-0300 4765 and 0300-0900 9610. Reception reports were requested to Direction Générale de Radio TV du Congo, B. P. 2912, Brazzaville (New address!). 35444. Also heard 0555-0740 fade out, Mar 7, French ID and test program playing Chinese opera. 35444 heard // 9610 (32432). 4765 was silent on Mar 7 (evening), 8, 9 and 10. The station has been off the air on 4765 since August 2001 except for a few days in February 2002. 5985 and 7115 were never heard during my stay on STP. 9610, R Congo, Brazzaville, 1753-1815* (abrupt sign off in the middle of a speech !), Mar 15, regular program in French, Afropop. No other frequencies of R Congo were heard. 32432 (Anker Petersen, São Tomé e Príncipe, DSWCI DX Window March 26 via DXLD) Reported couple of times within recent weeks, Congo Brazzaville noted again on 28 Mar at 1800 in French on 4765 (Jari Savolainen, Kuusankoski, Finland, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CONGO DR. See ROMANIA ** CROATIA. The Zadar high power [600 kW] transmitter moved from 1134 to 1130; a discussion in a German bulletin board suggests that this took place a few days ago. The carrier is spot on 1130.0, suggesting that the transmitter was deliberately retuned. But why? (Kai Ludwig, Germany, Mar 27, DX LISTENING DIGEST) On March 28 at 0340 I noted Hrvatski Radio first program with a very strong signal on 1130 kHz. It was not heard on 1134, so this one seems to be off channel. (Ronny Forslund, Delsbo Radioklubb, Sweden, hard-core-dx via DXLD) http://hem.passagen.se/drak/ ** CUBA. 9600, R Reloj, La Habana, 0703-0755, news and timechecks each minute, "Radio Reloj, dos, cincuenta y cinco minutos", 0800 OM ID "Transmite Radio Reloj desde La Habana, Cuba " (Samuel Cássio, Brasil, DSWCI DX Window Mar 26 via DXLD)). Previously reported as R Rebelde // 5025 (Ed ibid.) Like RHC, picking up RR audio after hours ** CZECH REPUBLIC. IRAQ PLOTTED RADIO FREE EUROPE ATTACK - CZECH OFFICER --- March 26, 2003 12:00 PM PRAGUE (Reuters) - Iraqi agents plotted an attack on the Prague headquarters of U.S.-run Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty to stop its Arabic-language broadcasts to Iraq, according to a top Czech intelligence officer…. http://www.swissinfo.org/sen/Swissinfo.html?siteSect=143&sid=1721064 (via Jilly Dybka, TN, DXLD) ** CZECH REPUBLIC. Radio Prague A'03 English Broadcast Schedule -------------------------------------------- (March 2003 - October 2003) UTC Freq Target 0700-0727 - 9880, 11600 -North West Europe 0900-0929 - 21745 -West Africa/South Asia 1030-1057 - 9880, 11615 -North Europe/North West Europe 1300-1329 - 13580, 21745 -North Europe/South Asia 1600-1627 - 5930, 21745 -North-West Europe/East Africa 1700-1727 - 5930, 17485 -North-West Europe/Central Africa 2000-2027 - 5930, 11600 -North-West Europe/S & E Asia/Australia 2230-2257 - 11600, 13580 -North America 0000-0027 - 7345, 9440 -North America 0100-0127 - 6200, 7345 -North America 0300-0327 - 7345, 9870 -North America +7385 WRMI 80W22 25N54 0330-0357 - 11600, 15620 -Middle East/South -West Asia Transmitters at Litomysl 16E10 49N48 Live transmission via Internet http://www.radio.cz Local AM transmissions in the Czech Republic 1330-1400, 1930-2000 (Mon-Fri), 2030-2100(Sat/Sun) (European Summer Time) - 1071, 1233, 1287 kHz. Address: Radio Prague, Vinohradska 12, 120 99 Prague 2, Czech Republic (From the printed schedule received via snail mail) Regds, (Alokesh Gupta, New Delhi, India, Mar 28, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ECUADOR. Música Del Ecuador -- I had occasion to get up this morning at 3 AM local time and discovered a program I have missed hearing for a year or two now. Música Del Ecuador is without a doubt the best program of Andean style music on the radio as far as I know. I highly recommend it. It airs on The Voice of The Andes, HCJB, at 0800 UT on 5965 kHz. As far as I know it is aired only on UT Friday. ~*-.,_,.-*~'^'~*-.,_,.-*~'^'~*-., (Joe Buch, DE, Mar 28, DX LISTENING DIGEST) -*~'^'~*-.,_,.-*~'^'~*-.,_,.-*~'^ Joe: Are you sure it was 0800? Their online schedule has it as 0700- 0730 to Europe (John Figliozzi, ibid.) But frequency (and times?) about to change for A-03 (gh, DXLD) ** EL SALVADOR. 17835.18, R. Imperial, 2315 UT 28 March. Not heard at this location since early February. Nice selection of local Tunes with lots of accordion and vocals. Level still low - only S4 here, just above the noise, but quite listenable. Music Modulation much better than the voice modulation (Don Nelson, Oregon, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** EQUATORIAL GUINEA. R. Nacional, Bata, heard with strong signal and excellent modulation on 5003.2, 2039-2110, Mar 21 (Kyriakos Dritsas, Thessaloniki, Greece, DSWCI DX Window via DXLD) At 0250-0425, Mar 22, I heard an UNID on 5005.03 with strong signal and non-stop orchestral music and English songs. No announcements. 44434 (Anker Petersen, Denmark, DSWCI DX Window Mar 26 via DXLD) Despite checks on STP on Mar 03, 04, 08, 09, 10 and 12, I never heard it there! (Anker Petersen, São Tomé e Príncipe, DSWCI DX Window March 26 via DXLD) ** FAROE ISLANDS. Nederlandse zendamateurs zijn tussen 24 maart en 3 april actief vanaf de Faroer, een Deense eilandengroep in de Atlantische oceaan. Het gaat om Rob Snieder uit Voorburg (roeptekens: OY7ET), Ronald Stuy uit Barendrecht (OY7WP) en Dick Grolleman uit Wijhe (OY7QA). De drie zijn lid van het Low Land DX-pedition Team. Het Nederlandse trio wordt vergezeld door de Brit Tom Wylie (OY7TW) en zijn Amerikaanse collega-amateur Bill Boeckenhaupt (OY7WB). De deelnemers aan de reis hebben de beschikking over twee Yaesu FT-1000MPS transceivers, die 24 uur per dag worden bemand. Meer informatie is te vinden op de website van het Low Land DX-pedition Team: http://www.qsl.net/lldxt (Kortegolf.info via DXLD) ** FIJI. Fiji on Shortwave --- Exotic Fiji, with its 333 islands! A tourist haven for those who want to get away from it all. As the tourist brochure states: Fiji is the place for a truly relaxing tropical get-a-way. The swimmer can swim with the harmless manta ray, the surfer can surf the 20 ft high waves, the hiker can hike in the tropical rain forests, and you can seek accommodation in one of the outer resorts at the Octopus Hotel. In colonial days, Fiji was listed on the map as the "Cannibal Isles", and it is reported that many sailing ships avoided these islands during that era. The BBC London reported recently in one of its news bulletins in the World Service on shortwave, that Fiji is now marketing a new food product, called, "Cannibal Chutney". No, don't be concerned, this new product is quite harmless. You see, the last cannibal ceremony in Fiji took place more than 100 years ago. Just as exotic is the shortwave radio scene in Fiji. Back in the year 1930, AWA in Sydney installed a shortwave transmitter in Fiji, rated at considerably less than 1 kW, for use as a communication station. In fact similar units were installed at three other locations in the Fiji Islands for inter-island communication. The main station in Suva was given the callsign VPD which was in use at the time by a shortwave broadcasting station located at Doveritz near Berlin in Germany. This communication station in Fiji was used at times to broadcast radio programming. For example, in 1933 AWA in Sydney arranged a special worldwide program under the title "South Seas Broadcast". The AWA unit in Suva, station VPD, transmitted the Fijian segment on shortwave to station VK2ME in Sydney. Regular broadcasting from VPD2 on shortwave began the following year and a new transmitter was installed in 1936. In fact, it was conjectured that test broadcasts on shortwave from the Sydney factory under the callsign VK2MD were from the new transmitter intended for installation in Fiji. Another new transmitter was installed just prior to the European Conflict. During the Pacific War, Fiji was noted on air under the callsign VPD4 with a relay of the BBC in French. This service was on the air for about 18 months beginning mid year 1940, using the old transmitter now running at about 400 watts. Around the same time period, this station also carried a shortwave relay to Fiji and the Pacific on behalf of AFRS, the American Forces Radio Service. Early in the year 1942, transmitter VPD was taken over by the army and navy for use as a telegraph transmitter. When peace was restored to the Pacific, plans were laid for the construction of a new two storey studio building in Suva, and a new transmitter base at Naulu (nah-OO-loo), in a swampy area 25 miles from Suva. These new facilities were officially opened in 1954. For the new location, the new callsign on shortwave became ZJV, the same as on mediumwave, though a few months later the callsign was changed again, this time to VRH. But alas, in August 1972, the shortwave service in Fiji was dropped in favor of coverage on mediumwave, and subsequently on FM. Over the years, the radio service in Fiji has issued nine different QSL cards, some of which were also available in the earlier years from the AWA address in Sydney. All of these cards are now considered to be quite exotic, and they form a very valuable overview of the history of radio broadcasting in Fiji. (Adrian Michael Peterson, AWR Wavescan Mar 30 via DXLD) ** FRANCE [non]. Avec la nouvelle saison A03, Radio France Internationale utilise de nouveaux relais à l'étranger. Elle diffuse depuis l'île de l'Ascension à 0400-0500 sur 7150, 0600-0700 sur 11665 et 1200-1230 sur 17815 Elle transmet également depuis Kigali au Rwanda à 0600-0700 sur 17770. Elle utilise aussi les émetteurs de Dhabayya aux Emirats Arabes Unis à 0400-0500 sur 13780, 0500-0600 sur 13640, 1700-1800 sur 6010 RFI diffuse également depuis le Tadjikistan à 1600-1630 sur 6020 La station émet aussi depuis Singapour à 1600-1630 sur 6035 Depuis l'Ouzbekistan, RFI transmettra à 1700-1800 sur 9530. Enfin, elle profitera d'un émetteur en ondes moyennes à Taiwan entre 2200 et 2300. (grille de RFI) (les informations sont issues de http://perso.wanadoo.fr/jm.aubier via DXLD) ** FRANCE [non]. FRANCE: RFI DEVELOPS FM TRANSMITTERS AROUND THE WORLD | Excerpt from report by press release by Radio France Internationale on 26 March Since early 2003, RFI [Radio France Internationale, the French external radio service] has now over 100 FM transmitters. New FM transmitters have been set up in Ajlun in Jordan, Arta in Djibouti for RMC M-O, Sambava, Nosy Be and Fort Dauphin in Madagascar, in addition to the 59 transmitters in Africa, 25 in Europe, three in the Middle East, four in Asia Pacific and six in America. FM is RFI's priority today. Among all international radios, RFI is the radio which has the largest number of FM transmitters: BBC has only 60, Voice of America and Deutshe Welle even less than that. FM transmitters RFI in India RFI has signed an agreement with Sky Sat to broadcast RFI 24 hours a day on the cable network of Pondichery. RFI in Afghanistan Change of frequency in Kabul from 95 FM to 89.5 FM. Resumption of RFI programmes in the world RFI in Mali RFI programmes are broadcast in Kidal (Northeastern Mali) on frequency 93.1 MHz by the radio ADRAR, member of the Malian TV Broadcasting Network (TDM). RFI has signed a rebroadcasting agreement with radio Kourou-Kan 92.6 FM which will broadcast in Kita every new bulletin on the hour and 10 hours of daily programmes. RFI in Costa Rica RFI has signed two new rebroadcasting contracts with two Latin- American radio broadcasters: SINART which include a daily programme and two 10-minute news bulletins in Spanish, as well as excerpts from RFI Musique all day long on 105.5 FM and 590 AM. RFI in Guatemala Radio Faro Cultural broadcasts daily on 104.5 FM a RFI programme of 30 minutes in Spanish. RFI in Niger RFI has reached an agreement with partners to the southwest of Niamey: Dallol FM will resume broadcasting on 92.8 FM with 13 hours and a half of daily programmes. Radio Souda will broadcast 8 hours of daily programmes on 104 FM. Radio Fara'a 90.3 FM has strengthened its partnership with RFI by broadcasting five hours of programmes daily. RFI in the USA RFI has signed a contract with the US university of Illinois on broadcasting programmes in French 24 hours a day. RFI is broadcast on 99.7 FM only on the university campus. Advertising campaigns Institutional campaign in France EuroNews from 17 March to 16 April 2003 (108 spots) in French, English and German Paris Premiere from 19 March to 1 April 2003 (101 spots) Canal+ Horizons from 19 March to 1 April 2003 (40 spots) Fashion TV from 20 to 29 March 2003 (20 spots) Source: Radio France Internationale press release, Paris, in French 26 Mar 03 (via BBCM via DXLD) ** GABON. Re 4777, R Gabon, reactivated: It had not been reported on 4777 since July 2000 when it was replaced by 7270 that continued until May 2001. I did not hear any of these frequencies on STP Mar 03-16 despite frequent checks (Anker Petersen, São Tomé e Príncipe, DSWCI DX Window March 26 via DXLD) ** GERMANY. Here is a reply from Deutsche Welle in response to a letter a few weeks ago about their cutting back on short wave broadcasts and making greater use of satellite and internet. Dear Listener/Viewer/User, You recently contacted us about the termination of our English language shortwave broadcasts to North America, Australia and New Zealand. As you may have been informed, DW will focus on expanding the number of radio stations, such as Canadian Broadcasting Corporation or ABC News Radio, who successfully rebroadcast DW-Radio's programs. Listeners in those regions will, of course, still be able to hear us via satellite or by means of our Internet page at http://www.dw-world.de/English I should also like to inform you that our Technical Department will be issuing further information: As a shortwave listener, you are probably aware that, every now and again it is possible to "tune in" to a broadcast which is being beamed to an entirely different corner of the world from the one from where you are. This is, naturally, purely by chance and reception cannot be guaranteed but we think that such information might prove to be of some help to you in "keeping in touch" with our programs should you not have access to the Internet, satellite or organizations distributing our programs in your area. In order to find such frequencies, we have to wait until we start using the new frequencies which will be available to us as from 30th March. Your particulars have been noted and, as soon as we have this information at our disposal, we will send it to you. Regards, DEUTSCHE WELLE ENGLISH SERVICE, Linda Akinyi ***** (via Roger Chambers, Utica, New York, DXLD) ** GERMANY. 7265, Sudwestrundfunk, quite good with GG and EE pops and man in GG with sirens and ID at 0500 UTC 3/27. Into News mostly on Iraq. I was very surprised that this gets out so well listed as on 20 KW. I have not had any luck with the other regional Germans. I am pleased with this. Drake R8 40 foot vertical (Patrick Martin, Seaside OR, hard-core-dx via DXLD) ** GERMANY. Dieter Leupold reported in the very last edition of ROI's DX-Telegramm that Berlin-Britz 6190 [Deutschlandsfunk] will be switched off by the end of this month due to problems with electromagnetic radiation and ´´insufficient exactness´´. The latter remark appears to paraphrase the circumstance that this is an ancient transmitter from 1950, rated at 20 kW but not driven to full power, the officially given figure 17 kW. The signals are not very strong, and the rather shallow modulation decreases the usefulness of this outlet further. Concerning the ´´Elektrosmog´´ matter: This is no new problem at Berlin-Britz. The site is already prohibited from using the vertical incidence antenna (allegedly the only mediumwave antenna with circular polarization in Europe) once responsible for nighttime service on 990, resulting in a dramatically decreased performance of this outlet. Probably one day Berlin-Britz will have to cease medium- and shortwave operations altogether, just like the Dammheide site located inmidst Berlin, too. For now 6005 is not affected and will stay on the air (Kai Ludwig, Germany, Mar 28, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** GUATEMALA. 4779.98, 0225-0232, Radio Cultural Coatán, Mar 28. Fair to good signal, except for swisher, with full ID and sign-off announcements. No NA. Sounded to me like Radio Coatán, rather than Radio Cultural Coatán. Religious sounding programming before sign- off. Very light, dreamy music (Walt Salmaniw, Victoria, BC, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** INDIA. The AIR Vividh Bharathi transmissions on 10330 Khz is now transmitted via Bangalore 500 kw transmitter only. Its schedule is 0025-0435, 0630-1200, 1245-1740. Till 18th March 2003, 4 different transmitters located at Chennai, Delhi, Mumbai and Guwhati running in parallel, were in use. As reported earlier in this dx_india reflector, these transmitters are now heard with tests on 7270, 7170, 7220 and 7190 respectively. It will be interesting to note how reception is now on 10330 compared to earlier days. For the A-2003 period, from 30th March 2003, AIR Delhi Home Service will be making the following change. 7150 0030-0040 (replacing 7170 due co channel interference from Radio Singapore in Tamil) ===== 73 (Jose Jacob, dx_india via DXLD) ** INDONESIA. 3231.90, RRI Bukittinggi, 1205- past 1415, back on the air Mar 08 after five months absence, Bahasa Indonesia dramas and Gamelan music, including relays of RRI Jakarta news ``Warta Berita`` at 1200-1230 and 1400-1412. They relay their FM-program, so this is not a specific SW program. 35543 4870.94, RRI Sorong, 0945-1005, Jan 30, Programa Satu in Bahasa Indonesia, only audible on that day ! 35443. It was gone on my retune at 1055. 4925, RRI Jambi, 1050, Mar 02, program in Bahasa Indonesia. It was off the air Feb 28 – Mar 01 (Roland Schulze, Philippines, DSWCI DX Window Mar 26 via DXLD) ** INDONESIA. 11784.90, Voice of Indonesia, *0100-0200*, Mar 05 and 09, active again here with English // 9525 which sometimes is off the air, by the way. Also announced 15150 was not audible (Roland Schulze, DSWCI DX Window Mar 26 via DXLD) RRI Home Service at 1300 UT through to 1700 on 11860 (new time/ frequency?) March 28. Melody (assumed to be the Song of the Coconut Islands) and ID heard at 1500, 1600 and 1700. BBC-Swahili etc heard on the same frequency after 1600 (Bernie O'Shea, Ottawa, Canada, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** INTERNATIONAL. CHRISTIAN VOICE A'03 Christian Vision – shortwave radio schedules Valid from 30th March 2003 Asia [part? Or all via UAE?] Freq UTC Language Target 7180 1300 - 1800 Indonesian Indonesia 11680 1700 - 2100 English India/Indonesia 11850 0100 - 0400 Hindi India 11935 2330 - 2400 Indonesian Indonesia 13635 1100 - 1700 Hindi India 13665 1500 - 1700 English India/Indonesia 13685 0900 - 1300 English China 1300 - 1500 English India/Indonesia 13770 0900 - 1400 Mandarin China 15165 2200 - 0200 Mandarin China 15365 0900 - 1300 Indonesian Indonesia 17560 1400 - 1800 Mandarin China 17715 0800 - 0900 Mandarin China 17820 0600 - 0900 Indonesian Indonesia 21680 0030 - 0100 Indonesian Indonesia 0430 - 0500 Indonesian Indonesia 0530 - 0600 Indonesian Indonesia Africa [from Zambia, except 15365? -- maybe that is too since it ends in 65!] 4965 1500 - 2200 English Central/Southern Africa 6065 0400 - 0600 English Central/Southern Africa 9865 0600 - 1500 English Central/Southern Africa 15365 2000 - 2300 Portuguese Southern Africa Latin America [from Chile, studios in Miami] 6070 2200 - 1200 Spanish Southern South America 9635 1200 - 2200 Spanish Southern South America 11745 2100 - 1100 Portuguese Brazil 11935 1100 - 1300 Spanish Mexico, Central America 15375 0000 - 1200 Spanish Northern South America 15475 2100 - 0100 Portuguese Brazil 17680 1200 - 2400 Spanish Northern South America 21500 1100 - 2100 Portuguese Brazil 21550 1300 - 1400 Spanish Mexico, Central America Andrew Flynn, Head of Engineering, Christian Vision Tel +44 121 522 6087 Fax +44 121 522 6083 Regds, (via Alokesh Gupta, New Delhi, India, DXLD) ** INTERNATIONAL INTERNET. MICROSOFT PUTS LID ON HOTMAIL REDMOND, Wash., March 25, 2003 (AP) To cut down on junk e-mail, Microsoft Corp. is capping the number of e-mails that users of its free Hotmail service can send each day. By limiting to 100 the number of messages that could be sent in a 24-hour period, Microsoft's MSN division hopes to stop people from using its service to send the unsolicited messages, known as spam.... http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2002/12/17/tech/main533347.shtml (via Peter Costello, DXLD) We ran into this limit on a particularly busy day, but will be delighted to live with it if spam really reduces (gh, DXLD) ** INTERNATIONAL INTERNET / VACUUM. Dear Listener, Welcome to the latest edition of the WRN Newsletter update. Published weekly, the updates will keep you informed of programme highlights so that you can better plan your listening, no matter how or where in the world you listen to WRN's English language networks. With the "War on Iraq" underway, WRN is providing its listeners with a world of diverse views, voices and opinions on the Iraqi conflict. Keep up with the latest news from our programme partners via the WRN website by clicking on http://www.wrn.org/listeners/stations/index.php?CurrentLetter=1 Currently we have daily audio files from Radio Australia, Radio Austria International, Radio Budapest, Channel Africa, China Radio International, Israel Radio, Radio New Zealand International, Radio Polonia, RVi: Flanders International Radio, Radio Slovakia International and Vatican Radio (WRN newsletter Mar 21 via DXLD) Don't forget: In many countries, Sunday 30th represents the end or the beginning of wintertime (depending where in the world you live). The time change represents a chance for us at WRN to make alternations to our networks. The local time that you tune into your favourite programme may also change as well. For the latest schedules visit the WRN website at http://www.wrn.org. The programme highlights in this update take into account the time changes (WRN newsletter Mar 28 via DXLD) ** INTERNATIONAL VACUUM. X M SATELLITE POSTS BIGGER-THAN-EXPECTED LOSS XM Satellite Radio Holdings reported a larger than expected loss yesterday in the last quarter of 2002, but Wall Street focused instead on the company's leap in revenue, to $9 million, from $532,000 a year ago, and projections that it would more than triple its subscriber base to about 1.2 million by the end of the year. XM, which is based in Washington, also said it would begin generating more cash than it is using by the end of next year and would not need more financing to reach that goal. XM's net loss of $161 million, or $1.76 a share, in the last quarter of 2002 was far larger than the consensus estimate of analysts polled by Thomson First Call, which had been $1.38 a share. But XM's shares rose 86 cents, or 15 percent, to $6.77. Barnaby J. Feder (NYT) (via Joe Buch, DXLD) ** IRAN. The Iranians have been jamming R. Farda much more for some days now. They are using jammers of the "pouring water" type that normally are used against the Mojahed frequency jumpers. Are the Mojahed transmitters active, or have they been silenced by the war? (Olle Alm, Sweden, BC-DX Mar 26 via DXLD) The "pouring water" or "chop-chop" jamming of Farda is of the same type that is used on 11575, and a slightly offset carrier is heard. Daytime, 21575 seems not to be jammed - if it is I can't hear it. Similarly, 13680 seemed to be clear of it this morning, but I hear jamming at 1530 --- but no Farda signal! Jamming seems to be selective at times --- or maybe it is just haphazard? 17675 and 15290 were both audibly jammed this morning. Perhaps the renewed intensity has to do with events in the country to the west of Iran? I haven`t heard the Clandestine Mojahed station either - or should I say the jamming. This was an absolute "Pain" in the 9300-9390 range and made frequency selection difficult. Presumably the transmitters were in the central/southern part of Iraq and have had a visit from a flying object? (Noel R. Green, UK, BC-DX Mar 26 via DXLD) ** IRAN [non]. Iraq: After UK troops took the R&TV building in Basra today afternoon, some of the clandestine stations stopped their broadcasts: Voices of Mojahed Revolution and Comm. Party of Iran on 3880, 4380 kHz (V. of Revolution last time heard today at 0230-0330 in Kurdish). KOMALA on 3930, 4615. Iranian Kurdistan 3975. Radio Kurdistan on 4140 vary (Mar 27). (Rumen Pankov, Bulgaria, Mar 28 via Wolfgang Bueschel, DXLD) ** IRAN [non]. 4650v/5350v/5650v/6450v/6750v/6950v/7050v/7070/8250v/8350v/8600v/8850 v/9350v/10250v/10450v and 13450v, Voice of Mojahed, Eastern Iraq, the usual broadcasts in Farsi and the Iranian jamming was not heard on Mar 22 at 0310-0320 or 1550-1600, or on Mar 25 at 1635-1645 on any of these frequencies! Maybe the station has suffered battle damage or Saddam intends to use the transmitters for other purposes? (Anker Petersen, Denmark, DSWCI DX Window Mar 26 via DXLD) 7525, Voice of Iran (?), via Kvitsøy, Norway, 1845-2058*, Mar 24 and 25, New frequency, live Farsi (?) talks about Iraq and Iran, comments to the current military situation and today’s press conferences, phone-ins, ID 1930: ``Inja Iran, seday-e Iran-e Iran``, a few songs often abrupted, signed off with ID: ``…seday-e Iran.``. 55454 deteriorating to 45333. For this purpose Norkring transmitters were taken off from R Denmark programs at 1830-1855 on 9980, 1920-1955 on 9980 and 13800, and 2030-2055 on 7490 and 9980. On Mar 25, Voice of Iran was heard as usual on 11575 at *1630-1700 in Farsi with jamming, but programs sounded different (Anker Petersen, Denmark, DSWCI DX Window Mar 26 via DXLD) 7560, Mesopotamian R and TV, Arbil, Iraq, *1700-1800*, Fr 28 Feb, is also broadcast on Fridays (cf. DX-Window no. 215), however this evening the political program was missing, and the full hour consisted of the humming lady with IDs in Kurdish and English, and non-stop Kurdish songs. 44444 (Anker Petersen, Denmark, DSWCI DX Window Mar 26 via DXLD) 9535, Voice of the Islamic Revolution of Iraq, via Sirjan, Iran, *0330-0340, Mar 22, Arabic ID: ``Sawt el-Sawra el-Islamya fi el- Iraq``, patriotic talks to the Shiit muslims in Iraq, muslim prayer, 35333, // 6145 (43443 QRM Deutsche Welle) and 7100 (33433 QRM Arab on 7105) (Anker Petersen, Denmark, DSWCI DX Window Mar 26 via DXLD) 11575, R Voice of Iran (K.R.S.I.), full-data form-letter in 5 weeks. Address: 9744 Wilshire Blvd., #207, Beverly Hills, CA 90212, U.S.A. (Korinek in DXplorer Mar 10). Via TDF Issoudun, France or Kichinev, Moldova ? (Anker Petersen, Denmark, DSWCI DX Window Mar 26 via DXLD) ** IRAN [non]. MOLDOVA. 7460, 0241-, Radio Payam-E-Doost, Mar 28. Presumed logging with Persian sounding music at fair reception (Walt Salmaniw, Victoria, BC, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** IRAQ. IRAQI STATE RADIO REPLACED WITH U.S. PSYOP BROADCAST By Nick Grace, CRW Washington with wire and BBC Monitoring reports Clandestine Radio Watch (CRW) 128 Extra D March 20, 2003 [Mar 20] With the words "The facilities of the Iraqi regime have started to be hit... This is the day we have been waiting for... The attack on Iraq has begun," the United States jammed and then obliterated Baghdad Radio with its own psychological war programming, Reuters reports, in a remarkable move to control the airwaves over Iraq.... http://www.clandestineradio.com/dossier/iraq2003/2003_0320.htm [includes several audio files] (via Dxing.info, DXLD) Hi Nick, well I`m an Egyptian Dxer; been a DXer for the last 18 years or so... I heard the audio file on CRW and to be honest I found nothing stating that this is Info Radio! And the program was only a religious program...and as I remember from monitoring Baghdad in 1991 for NHK that's how they - and any other Mideast station start their programs - even Cairo starts the day with religious programs. So as a native Arabic speaking, I found that file a bit... [icon_rolleyes.gif] (TAREK ZEIDAN, SU-land, dxing.info via DXLD) Hi Tarek, Thanks for taking a listen to the audio file. Indeed, CRW's Takuya Hirayama also listened to it and described the content as being religious despite my belief that al-Qaeda was mentioned. (Sometimes static numbs the mind, hi!) He also listened to the second audio file, which is also on the site, and agrees that an identification is broadcast at 2:35 in the recording. With that said, I believe it's quite significant that the programming that accompanied the first wave of airstrikes on Baghdad and elsewhere was religious, especially if it was the programming that "replaced" Radio Baghdad's feed. In fact, I find religious programming much more significant than psyop "surrender now" type messages. It suggests that the coalition wants to reassure the Iraqi troops and civilians that Operation Iraqi Freedom is not against Muslims and the Iraqi people but against the regime in Baghdad - as President Bush stated during his State of the Union address back in January. Thanks also for your excellent reporting! Your logs and analysis during this time of crisis have been [icon_biggrin.gif] extremely valuable! About me... I've been a DX'er since 1986. Also licensed as KA1UXT and held YB0RMI. Thanks again, (Nick Grace, ibid.) ** IRAQ [and non]. From Iraq: Media behaviour note 0600-1400 gmt 27 Mar 03 --- BAGHDAD REPUBLIC OF IRAQ TELEVISION Domestic TV, Republic of Iraq Television has been unmonitorable by BBC Monitoring since 1500 gmt on 24 March. But there was a report from a BBC correspondent, on 27 March, that Republic of Iraq Television was again available in Baghdad. The status of Youth TV is unknown. A report from the BBC Online news web site on 27 March said that British forces had taken Iraqi state radio and television off the air in the second city of Basrah. The report said transmitters were destroyed by air raids overnight and that the coalition had taken over a number of radio frequencies and were broadcasting their own messages to the people. This could be a reference to US Information Radio, an airborne station, or local transmissions. Republic of Iraq Radio Main Service and Voice of Youth Apart from a report on 27 March of a weak Republic of Iraq Radio Main Service transmission on 603 kHz, believed to be from Ninawah near Mosul , BBC Monitoring has not traced Republic of Iraq Radio Main Service and Voice of Youth on any known or recently used mediumwave frequency: 558, 693, 756, 846, 909, 963, 1044 kHz or shortwave frequency, 11787 or 6175 kHz within the reporting period 1730 gmt 26 March to 1400 gmt 27 March. Iraqi radio services could be available via localized or FM transmissions. Source: BBC Monitoring research 27 Mar 03 (via DXLD) Republic of Iraq Radio Main Service Republic of Iraq Radio Main Service has been unheard since 1500 gmt on 28 March on 6175 kHz. The radio was unheard on all other frequencies. Other radio stations A radio station that identified itself as the "Information Radio" and which carried anti-Saddam reportage, broadcasting on 756 kHz, a medium-wave frequency generally used by Baghdad Radio, was heard with fair to poor reception. Voice of the Youth Radio, a radio station run by Uday Saddam Husayn, continued to be unheard on all known frequencies since 0430 gmt on 25 March. Internet Official Iraqi News Agency website http://www.uruklink.net/iraqnews/ - and all other Iraqi sites hosted on http://www.uruklink.net were inaccessible. Source: (BBC Monitoring research 28 Mar 03 1600-1800 and 2200-2359 UT via DXLD) ** IRAQ [non]. THE PROPAGANDA WAR IN IRAQ Richard Edwards, Tuesday March 25 2003, The Guardian When Major Harry Taylor stands on the frontline and looks into the whites of his enemy's eyes, he reaches not for a rifle, but for his mini-disc and giant speakers. With a set of Arabic tapes, thousands of leaflets and even a special propaganda radio station, he is armed not to take Iraqi lives, but to influence minds. This is psychological warfare - the cutting edge of modern day battle - where brains can overcome brawn. Major Taylor is head of 42 Commando Royal Marines' Psyops - psychological operations - and a master of putting mind over matter. While his colleagues are busy wielding weapons in a firefight, he is blasting out Arabic messages telling them to surrender. "Iraq is a particularly sensitive place for propaganda and there has long been the thought that thousands of soldiers may surrender in great numbers," said Major Taylor. "The psychological side is therefore important and we have already been successful, with dozens of people surrendering because of our tracks and leaflets. "It doesn't work all the time, but it does give people the option of something different from being on the wrong end of an AK47." The psyops team use 50 different types of leaflet, which they drop in their thousands on military and civilian targets. They also have two propaganda radio stations, sets of wind-up radios, halal meat rations and mini-disc messages to win over locals. It works on many different levels, according to Major Taylor. "We use tactical and strategic methods. Tactically, on the first stage, we target the military by dropping leaflets stating the inevitability of their defeat, telling them they will not be destroyed if they play our game and exactly how they can surrender. "On the second wave we show them pictures of Iraqi officers who complied. On the third wave we show them pictures of those people who did not." In particular the leaflets may target specific commanders, telling them they will be accountable for their actions and gnawing away at their will to fight. Equally the leaflets reassure civilians they will not be harmed if they stay away from military targets and advise them to tune into the special radio stations. On the front line, meanwhile, the strategic messages can cater for every environment. The psyops team have a set of hundreds of Arabic words which they string together in sentences. They can range from basic orders to put hands up and surrender, to details of how heavily they are outnumbered and a countdown to the next bombardment. "The main thing is that we are trying to save these people's lives and a huge amount of planning goes into it to make sure we get the messages exactly right," Major Taylor said. "We have to account for political and cultural sensitivities and it is easy to get wrong. That is why every piece of propaganda is signed off right at the very top, by General Tommy Franks, the head of allied forces in the Gulf," he added. Psyops has been used in Kosovo, Bosnia and Afghanistan and in various ways for thousands of years to win over enemy populations. But in Iraq, Major Taylor said, his team have their work cut out against one of the world's masters of propaganda, Saddam Hussein. "It is quite a challenge and a lot of our messages are aimed at correcting the lies he tells - that we will plunder the country and take their women," Major Taylor said. "His propaganda is of the first order and we certainly have a battle on our hands to defeat him at his own game." Copyright Guardian Newspapers Limited (via Bill Westenhaver, DXLD) !! So there is a separate British psyops operation including radio? Name of stations, frequencies, times??? Why don`t these journalists do their jobs with the basics of any story?? Perhaps stations already known but not yet connected with the Royal Marines (gh, DXLD) ** IRAQ [non?]. The UK is now broadcasting on AM as well (Kelly O`Donnell, Qatar, NBC Today 1453 UT March 28, note by gh for DX LISTENING DIGEST) Details?! ** IRAQ [AND NON]. PSYOP TV IN BAGHDAD, BRITISH RADIO IN UMM QASR Here are some news from the radio propaganda front. The US Psychological Operation in Iraq now includes also TV broadcasts. This was announced today in a press briefing by Brig. Gen. Vincent Brooks here at Camp as-Sayliyah base near Doha, Qatar - which is where I am at the moment, reporting for the YLE TV & Radio (The Finnish Broadcasting Company). The TV broadcasts cover entire southern Iraq, up to and including Baghdad. Also the PSYOP radio station is more widely available. According to a source at the CENTCOM forward headquarters here at Camp as-Sayliyah, Information Radio broadcasts can be heard better than before the war broke out, as the planes are now flying all over Iraq, and not just in the Southern no-fly zone, which was the case until eight days ago. Brig. Gen. Vincent Brooks has told repeatedly in the briefings that Information Radio now broadcasts 24 hours a day on five frequencies, without giving any more details. There have been news or speculation about different platforms being used aside from the Commando Solo aircraft, but I do not have a confirmation about this for the moment. It was also announced in the briefing today that the British troops have set up a radio station in Umm Qasr broadcasting to the people living in Basra. Basra itself is still controlled by the regime of Saddam Hussein, although it is surrounded by coalition (mostly British) troops. Here in Qatar news about this radio station first surfaced yesterday, but without any more details. Earlier, the coalition had knocked out the Iraqi radio station in Basra. A British media officer later informed me that there are actually two transmitters, one on FM and the other on the AM band, but he did not know - or was not willing to tell - the frequencies at this point. I will keep you posted here as further information is received. Also, I ran into a news report claiming that Information Radio can be heard on 100.4 MHz here at Camp as-Sayliyah. This is not the case, but in stead there is a BFBS relay transmitter audible on that frequency. Background info can of course be found at http://www.dxing.info/articles/iraq.dx but I will not be able to update the article before I return to Finland around April 2 (Mika Mäkeläinen, Qatar, dxing.info Mar 28 via DXLD) ** IRAQ. Bombing in Baghdad The bombing in Baghdad that started about half an hour ago has affected the digital feed of the Iraqi Satellite Channel. The sound and picture now keep breaking up - but it's still on the air, so apparently the TV building has not been hit. Andy Sennitt Iraqi music The Iraq Satellite Channel is playing some of those music videos in praise of Saddam. MTV it ain't, but I have to say that I've always had a liking for Iraqi music. Out of all the Arab countries, I've always liked their songs best from a purely melodic point of view. I'm no expert on these things, but there seems to be a western influence in their music, which maybe crept in during the years of British occupation. I made a couple of screenshots which I'll post on the Radio Netherlands Web site tomorrow. I really hope they don't try to silence the Iraq Satellite Channel. Very few people inside Iraq can actually see it, and I can't imagine it's a threat, merely an irritation, to the coalition. Andy Sennitt Iraq Satellite Channel I am watching the The Iraq Satellite Channel via DSL as I type this. They're carrying an "interview" in English with two westerners, an American man and a woman who is not a native speaker of English. The presenter, in military uniform, is translating whay they say into Arabic. It's pure propaganda - he just ended by wishing them a "good stay" in Baghdad and said "You will stay to see the Iraqis win - I hope!". They're now showing film of anti-war protests in the West with gentle music behind. The quality of the picture is fantastic. Whatever you think of the rights and wrongs of the war, you have to admire the resourcefulness of the engineers who have managed to produce such a technical achievement. Having said that, now the sound has gone faint, and I think the coalition are trying to block the audio as the Defence Minister (I think) is speaking. But the fact that I can see it at all is amazing. Andy Sennitt (March 27 entries from his new weblog http://radio.weblogs.com/0121781/ -- reverse order? via DXLD) ** IRAQ [non]. 9715, Information Radio, heard tentatively 0030-0031, Mar 23, Arabic news by man and woman about coalition forces at Basra, but then disappeared, 25222. 11292 was not audible here (Anker Petersen, Denmark, DSWCI DX Window Mar 26 via DXLD) Today I was trying to get Iraq. So I remembered that while monitoring it in 1991 they used to go to off band frequencies so I said I'll give that a try; but on 4500 kHz at 1800 I picked up a weak station with a familiar voice but no IDs as they started playing Arabic hip/hop hits so I stayed waiting and listening to that awful music but it was worth it 1815 and ID "You are listening to your Source of information. Radio Information" [as translated, I assume --- gh]. The guy I refereed to is the guy whom I mentioned is working as well in R. Tikrit. That's why I said his voice was familiar. Now they are giving out an announcement how to treat a POW from the coalition troops, treat him well, etc. Followed by another hit. Tried 9715 but as well the Russian section of DW is booming in, 11292: As usual a very very weak signal but nothing clear. A new catch for this one, for me at least! (Tarek Zeidan, Cairo, Egypt, Mar 28, DX LISTENING DIGEST) On a tip off from Tarek Zeidan in Egypt via Wolfgang Bueschel, tuned in a station on 4500 at 1850, Arabic music, announcements by lady and then a man 1853 with many mentions of Iraq and then back to Arabic music. Good signal with slight fading. Tarek says is identifying as Radio Information and was saying how coalition forces treat POW's well at 1815. New channel for the US psyops station presumably. Like Tarek I noted earlier that 9715 was silent (Mike Barraclough, Letchworth, UK, March 28th, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Hi Tarek, Great job indeed. When I've seen your info just before 2000 UT I tried 4500. Sig was very weak here but I heard it --- for the first time. Other channels are occupied most of the time so tnx again. Super 73 (Pascal Perriot - Tours, France, dxing.info via DXLD) Tarek Zeidan in Cairo found Information Radio on 4500 kHz this evening. It's coming in well in The Netherlands. I have put a 2 minute audio clip online. you'll find the link at the bottom of this page: http://www.rnw.nl/realradio/features/html/iraq-psywar.html (Andy Sennitt, Radio Netherlands, hard-core-dx via DXLD) ** IRAQ. During a trip out to Limekilns [NSW DXpedition site] for Antenna maintenance yesterday (22/3) John Schache and I heard Iraq on 11787, huge signal around 0600 with Arabic music. Unfortunately, it was mostly carrier & modulation level was terrible (Craig Seager, ARDXC via DXLD) Well not very often my luck holds out....but with DW on 11785 and the powerhouse to Australia on 11795... Baghdad was getting hammered (that`s not unusual), however at 0600 depsite its low audio...heard the AA ID "Huna Baghdad"....clear as a bell, then more yak yak got hammered from 0604 to 0625 then reappeared for a few minutes then gone and maybe forever......my Arabic speaking neighbour impressed. He thought it would have been simsmetal Baghdad by now. Johno using a TRIO...and no Jem no trani's..... (Johno Wright, Australia, Mar 23, ARDXC via DXLD) Despite the bombing of the radio and TV building in Baghdad last night, Republic of Iraq Radio Main Service has been received this morning on 11787. The signal was good. I noticed that Iraq Satellite channel on Hot Bird 13 degrees east (TPS) was interrupted at 1200 UT. So let's keep on monitoring ... (Pascal Perriot - Tours, France, Mar 26, dxing.info via DXLD) Radio Baghdad on 11787 kHz --- it is Egypt on 11785. The Baghdad transmitter radio "is broken" (Union des Écouteurs Français, Mar 28, hard-core-dx via DXLD) Radio Republic of Iraq Inter-l last time was heard on Mar 23rd at 0800 with news in Arabic, on 11787 kHz (Rumen Pankov, Bulgaria, Mar 28 via Wolfgang Bueschel, DXLD) A 7-minute audio clip of harangues interspersed with patriotic songs and many IDs can be heard on the Interval Signals Archive website at http://www.intervalsignals.net (follow the IRAQ link in the left-hand column). Recorded off-air from 6175 at 0615 28th March 2003; the audio quality gradually improves, so stick with it! Regards, (Dave Kernick, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** IRAQ [non]. The latest catch. 1900 UT March 28, I picked the Iraqi Republic Radio - the voice of the Iraqi people. With the news and ID on a new frequency, 4785. First time to hear it on this freq. Used to hear it mainly on 11710 and 9570, if I'm not wrong. Still remember when this station started in 1991: they used to play only songs for 2 hours no IDs at all I was really confused about this one till they came up with this confusing ID. ``Idha`at algomhuriya al Iraqiya - sout al shaab al iraqi``. Around that time the ID of the official Baghdad radio was the same. Till Baghdad changed its ID to ``Idha`at jomhuriyat AL IRAQ``. it may not catch your ears the difference but around that time. It was really REALLY confusing. All the best...more to come (TAREK ZEIDAN, Cario, Egypt, Mar 28, DX LISTENING DIGEST) That would be the clandestine from Sa`udi Arabia on the semi-harmonic of 9570. When they are on 9750 instead, the semi-harmonic falls on 4875 (gh, DXLD) ** IRAQ [non]. On 28 Mar at 1947 the V. of Iraqi Liberation was noted on 4020.5 [ex-4025v] in parallel with 1206 in Arabic. On 28 Mar at 2020 they are on 4030.3 still in parallel with steady 1206 (Jari Savolainen, Kuusankoski Finland, DX LISTENING DIGEST) see also KURDISTAN ** IRAQ [and non]. REPORTING THE WAR: THE BROADCASTERS' DILEMMA --- Commentary by Andy Sennitt, 28 March 2003 http://www.rnw.nl/realradio/features/html/media030328.html (via DXLD) ** IRAQ. For most Iraqis, limited to news from state-run media, every day brings fresh victories over invading U.S. and British forces. Daily television news bulletins show downed U.S. strike helicopters, captured U.S. soldiers and "heroic" resistance by Iraqis in battle. President Saddam Hussein broadcasts to the nation, exhorting his troops and calling on all Iraqis to stand firm and defeat the enemy. Ministers promise more casualties among the "infidel invaders" advancing towards Baghdad. Iraqi viewers do not see the vivid international footage of the relentless bombardment of their capital. Nor were they shown pictures of the first U.S. and British tanks rolling into the south of their country late last week, spearheading a U.S.-led drive to overthrow Saddam and disarm Iraq of alleged weapons of mass destruction. In the propaganda war being fought out by both sides on the sidelines of the military action, the Iraqi media is playing to national pride and patriotism. There is a constant feed of military music, repeats of the latest Saddam footage, Muslim prayer and readings from the Koran, Islam's holy book. Muslim clerics have special programmes to rally the masses against a "war on Islam", drawing on sayings by the Prophet Mohammad on "martyrdom" and jihad (holy struggle) against the invaders (Reuters via SCDX/MediaScan Mar 26 via DXLD) ** IRAQ [and non]. ANALYSIS: IRAQI TV SOLDIERS [verb] ON | Text of editorial analysis by BBC Monitoring Media Services on 27 March Iraqi TV facilities in Baghdad were among targets repeatedly hit on the night of 25-26 March by US-led forces. As well as the bombardment from the air, cruise missiles also hit Iraqi TV installations. The external service, Iraq Satellite Channel, was disrupted on several occasions on the 26th and was off the air for over thirteen hours before spluttering back onto the airwaves at 0657 gmt on 27 March. On 27 March a BBC correspondent in Baghdad reported that the Iraqi domestic TV channel had also returned to the air. Meanwhile the BBC news web site reported on 27 March that British forces had taken Iraqi TV in Basrah off the air. Referring to the Baghdad air raids, UK Defence Secretary, Geoff Hoon, insisted that there was "no direct attempt to take Iraqi TV off the air". The International Federation of Journalists condemned the bombing of Iraqi TV, saying it was not credible to claim this was a legitimate military target. "This is clearly an action taken to frustrate the use of television by the regime to communicate with the people of Iraq," said Aidan White, IFJ General Secretary. "It is part of the psychological war in which journalists and media staff are the victims." Recalling the precedent set by NATO in its bombing of Radio- Television Serbia during the Kosovo war in 2000, the IFJ added: "Once again, we see military and political commanders from the democratic world targeting a television network simply because they don't like the message it gives out." In the week since the war on Iraq started, Iraqi electronic media had continued to broadcast despite the bombardment of Baghdad. They highlighted war-related developments, including anti-war demonstrations worldwide, and patriotic songs in praise of Iraq and Saddam Husayn. But the official media also limited the details available to Iraq's citizens. So Iraqis, who mostly lack access to satellite services, got little information about the progress of the war. Iraqi TV avoided carrying live news conferences by Iraqi officials, as broadcast by pan-Arab TV channels, such as Al-Jazeera, Abu Dhabi TV and the new all-news channel from Dubai, Al-Arabiyah. It did, however, carry morale-boosting speeches by Saddam Husayn telling Iraqis of fresh victories, and also broadcast offers of rewards to anyone who shot down American aircraft or captured airmen or soldiers. When Iraqi TV screened footage on 23 March of dead US soldiers and captured POWs, outrage followed among public opinion in the US and countries supporting the US-led war. After remarks by US Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld that it would have been highly desirable to end Iraq's ability to communicate, and his warning to civilians to move away from broadcast facilities in Baghdad. Direct attacks on Iraqi TV look increasingly likely. However, makeshift Iraqi TV services keep returning to the air and contingency arrangements appear to have been made for mobile transmitters, makeshift studios and satellite uplinks to keep delivering the images and messages of the leadership. The TV's mere presence on the airwaves, as long as it continues to show programmes supporting Saddam Husayn, is at least symbolic of the Iraqi Government's grip on the infrastucture in Baghdad. Pan-Arab channels' war coverage draws millions With ownership of satellite TV dishes banned in Iraq, and only a tiny minority of wealthy Iraqis able to afford a state-run subscription service to international channels, most Iraqis did not see the vivid footage of the relentless bombardment of their capital shown on the pan-Arab TV channels, the best known being Al-Jazeera. News agencies report that Al-Jazeera crews often got preferential treatment by Iraqi authorities to broadcast scenes from sites bombed in US-British air raids. Al-Jazeera said its number of viewers jumped 10 per cent since the war began, bringing its worldwide audience to 44 million. And on 25 March Al-Jazeera launched a new English- language web site - http://english.aljazeera.net - which was quickly hit by hacker attacks . But Al-Jazeera's rivals in the battle for hearts and minds, the most prominent being government-run Abu Dhabi TV and Al-Arabiyah, a new all-news channel backed by Saudi money and based in Dubai, also attracted tens of millions of viewers. "Back in 1991, there were no Arab networks, which meant CNN was tops... Now, most of the Arab networks are playing to the Arab street and indulging audiences by airing pictures they know will appeal to the masses," Abdullah Schleifer, director of the Adham Centre for Television Journalism at the American University in Cairo, told Reuters news agency. And BBC correspondent Paul Harper commented: "There are signs that traditional channels closely controlled by Arab governments are trying to adjust their rather staid formats to meet the challenge. Arab viewers are grateful they're no longer dependent on the Americans to watch events as they unfold - but graphic, instantaneous images of the fighting may also be a big factor in fuelling widespread Arab opposition to the war." The war of words and pictures will continue, even after hostilities cease. Within Iraq, new or realigned electronic media will probably emerge as the political sands shift. Source: BBC Monitoring research in English 26 Mar 03 (via DXLD) ** IRAQ. Today 28/3/03 around 6.45 UTC watching the Iraqi Satellite channel I noticed a new echo while they were reading the news....a new studios...? new location..? all the best (Tarek Zeidan, Egypt, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ISRAEL. Glenn Hauser mentions on his DX Listening Digest, that on one of the schedules, both English and French are at 1530 UT... Looking at israelradio.org and looking at the local time it should be broadcast, English should've been listed as 1630 UT. I'll double check that... if I'm wrong, I'll get back to you. [Later:] Moshe Oren did confirm that the English should be at 1630 UT (Doni Rosenzweig, Mar 27, DX LISTENING DIGEST) KI shifted to DST today 1 hour later for all transmissions (Mar 27) (Rumen Pankov, Bulgaria, via Wolfgang Bueschel, DXLD) CLOCKS GO FORWARD TONIGHT By Mazal Mualem Daylight saving [sic] time begins tonight. At 1 A.M., clocks should be moved forward one hour. Daylight saving time will be in effect for 188 days, until October 3. This date was set by law in July 2000 and will remain effective until 2004. It was considered an historic compromise between the ultra- Orthodox parties, which wanted to shorten the period of daylight saving time, and the the secular parties, which wanted it lengthened. Last summer, then-interior minister Eli Yishai of Shas attempted to change the date so that daylight saving time would end before Yom Kippur and make the fast easier. The attempt met with heavy criticism and Shas withdrew a draft law it had hoped to pass. Current Interior Minister Avraham Poraz of Shinui plans to work toward lengthening daylight saving time when the period fixed by law expires (Ha`aretz Mar 27 via Bill Westenhaver, DXLD) CONTINUED as DXLD 3-052!