DX LISTENING DIGEST 3-084, May 16, 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 later at http://www.worldofradio.com/dxldtd3e.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 NEXT AIRINGS OF WORLD OF RADIO 1182: RFPI: Running late, Sat from 0207; 0730/0900, 1330/1500, 1730, 2330, Sun 0530, 1130, 1830, Mon 0030, 0630, 1230, Tue 1900, Wed 0100, 0700/0830, 1300/1430 on 7445 and/or 15039 WWCR: Sat 0600, Sun 0230 5070, 0630 3210, Wed 0930 9475 WJIE: [maybe] Sat 0930, Sun 1030, 1630 on 7490 and/or 13595 WBCQ: Mon 0445 7415 WRN 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/wor1182.rm (Stream) http://www.k4cc.net/wor1182.ram [High] (Download) http://www.k4cc.net/wor1182h.rm (Stream) http://www.k4cc.net/wor1182h.ram (Summary) http://www.worldofradio.com/wor1182.html MUNDO RADIAL, mayo-junio: WWCR 15825: miércoles 2100, viernes 2115 Radio Nederland Radio Enlace: en segmentos los viernes y domingos AUDIO A PEDIDO: (Bajable) http://www.k4cc.net/mr0305.rm (Corriente) http://www.k4cc.net/mr0305.ram (Texto) http://www.worldofradio.com/mr0305.html UNSOLICITED TESTIMONIALS Hey Glenn, It's been a while since I`ve added my two cents, so here it goes. I've been listening to W O R via S W for 10 years, up until a few months ago when I joined ODXA. Now I get DXLD delivered to my mail box, NEAT. You`re doing a great job --- your news is always fair and balanced; sure, you can be rough around the edges when it comes to stupid, silly, sports, and you can bring down the hammer on those pay- before-you-pray preachers. That`s OK --- I respect a person more, for speaking their mind in the open, than mumbling hidden away someplace. Keep doin` what you`re doin`, `cause it`s working (Daryl Rocker, MVSWLC, Herkimer, NY) Glenn: --Many thanks!! -- And, also, for plugging the NRC bash in Dallas. Your submissions have become a daily necessity for me out here, and please do continue the Political/ancillary pieces (GREG HARDISON) [I`m not sure if the following applies to me personally, but sent to me and many others, for helping with his dissertation --- gh] Muito obrigado, amigo radioescuta! Olá radioescuta, Estou mandado este e-mail a dezenas de amigos que por alguns dias conviveram comigo ou receberam muitas mensagens com pedidos de ajuda para a minha dissertação. As vezes era algum QSL, algum telefone, algum livro, algum folheto, alguma entrevista, algum conselho. Também li os e-mais, logs e boletins que vocês escreveram, acompanhei as listas que moderam, os clubes que representam. Há poucos dias, com a graça de Deus, depois de alguns duros anos de dedicação exclusiva sem ser bolsista, consegui concluir meu mestrado em jornalismo na Universidade de São Paulo, tratando do nosso assunto, da nossa paixão: o rádio. A dissertação "Sintonizando o Mundo: Uma descrição da radiodifusão ao exterior" foi muito bem aceita e creio que aos poucos nossa academia está reconsiderando este fascinante mundo a ser pesquisado, comentado, contextualizado. Ainda fui convidado para o mais rápido possível seguir ao doutorado e não sair do tema "rádio". Espero pois futuramente dar início a novos projetos. Portanto eu gostaria aqui de novamente pedir desculpas pelo tanto que os incomodei e agora, com toda alegria, dizer meu MUITO OBRIGADO! Esta dissertação não teria sequer surgido sem a constante atividade DXista, incentivo e dedicação dos Srs. Não vou citar os nomes com medo de cometer injustiças, mas sem dúvida espero continuar a fazer parte do vosso meio como amigo e eterno aprendiz. (Flávio A. B. Archangelo, "Ark" py2zx@terra.com.br Caixa Postal 1292 - CEP 13202-970, Jundiaí - SP - Brasil, May 13) ** AUSTRALIA. ABC WILL HAVE TO CUT BACK By Cosima Marriner May 15 2003 The ABC's managing director, Russell Balding, yesterday warned jobs could go after the Government rejected the national broadcaster's budget request for increased funding. . . http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2003/05/14/1052885300041.html (via Jilly Dybka, Bill Westenhaver, DXLD) Media Release --- ABC Budget --- 13/5/2003 Statement by Russell Balding - Managing Director The ABC is very disappointed with its funding outcome as outlined in the Federal Budget this evening. We argued in a logical, consistent and candid manner, that without a modest increase in our budget, programs would suffer. The Government has decided to reject that funding request in the full knowledge that it would have a negative effect on ABC programming. The ABC must now assess its position. Hard decisions must be made so that we can maintain core services and continue to be relevant to the Australian public. Some decisions about programming will be made within the next few weeks. The Board will need to consider the ramifications of this budget in the broader strategic context over the coming months. This funding outcome is all the more disappointing in light of the anticipated budget surplus, and the ABC's recent outstanding efforts in the coverage of the war in Iraq and the bushfires. It is precisely in times of national struggle and crisis that the nation needs a properly funded public broadcaster. 13 May 2003 For further information contact: Shane Wells ABC Corporate Media Manager 02 8333 5306 0408 445 098 wells.shane@abc.net.au http://www.abc.net.au/corp FURTHER FUNDING FOR RADIO AUSTRALIA IN BUDGET Australia's national budget has pledged another three years of funding to extend broadcasts by Radio Australia to the Asia Pacific. The international service will get a total of nine million dollars Australian over three years. The money will be used for shortwave transmissions, digital satellite distribution and broadcasts on FM networks in the region. 14/05/2003 04:18:08 | ABC Radio Australia News http://www.abc.net.au/corp/pubs/s853895.htm (both via Kim Elliott, DXLD) ** BIAFRA [non]. QSL Clandestine. 12125, Voice of Biafra. After seeing Jerry Berg's reply and wanting a reply direct (I have one via TDP/Ludo Maes), sent a follow-up to biafrafoundation@yahoo.com Received back a full data e-mail verification, within eight hours of sending. V/s, Chima Osondu says they are on 7830 now (Edward Kusalik, Coaldale AB, May 15, Cumbre DX via DXLD) ** CANADA. CANADIAN SPECIAL PREFIXES Industry Canada has authorized the use of ``Special Event Prefixes`` between May 24th and July 27th to celebrate the 50th Anniversary of the National Library of Canada. The special prefixes are CK for all VE`s, CJ for all VA`s, CY for all V0`s and CZ for all VY`s. The special prefixes will therefore be available for use in the upcoming CQ WPX CW Contest on May 24 and 25th. (May 16 Amateur Radio Newsline via John Norfolk, May 15, DXLD ) Special prefixes permitted for Canadian anniversary event: Industry Canada has authorized the use of a special event prefix for the 50th anniversary of the National Library of Canada. From May 24 until July 27 Canadians may use these optional prefixes: CK for VE, CJ for VA, CY for VO and CZ for VY stations (The Daily DX via ARRL May 14 via John Norfolk, OKCOK, DXLD) ** CHILE. 49 MHz music stations: This link is from Felipe CE3SAD's website. It explains a little about the Chile "Muzak" stations. I visited Felipe in March. (We all hablamos Español, ¿sí?) http://www.qsl.net/ce3sad/6m.html I believe that they are all 1 or 5 kW. They also have very high antennas, similar to regular FM stations. I think they're on top of the same mountain in Santiago that all the broadcast stations are on. Some are wide band and some are medium wide band. They're used in factories, buses, and other places of business (Jeff, K1MOD, Kadet, IL, WTFDA via DXLD) ** CROATIA [and non]. CROATIAN RADIO SERVICE FOR DIASPORA LAUNCHED | Text of report in English by Croatian news agency HINA Zagreb, 15 May: On the occasion of Croatian Radio-Television (HRT) Day, Prime Minister Ivica Racan on Thursday [15 May] officially launched a 24-hour Croatian Radio programme for the Diaspora, called "Voice of Croatia". The programme is financed jointly by the government and the HRT and is intended for Croatian emigrants and national minorities in Croatia, as well as for the international public. The programme is broadcast on short-wave and middle-wave frequencies, as well as via satellite. It will also be available on the Internet. "Voice of Croatia" will contribute to greater understanding between national minorities and the majority population in Croatia and acquaint the international public with events in Croatia, said Racan. Source: HINA news agency, Zagreb, in English 1613 gmt 15 May 03 (via BBCM via DXLD) Yah, yah, but when are they ever going to get around to specifying the new times, languages and frequencies?? Here`s a start, no languages and it doesn`t match the previous info from DTK: (gh, DXLD) The Voice of Croatia on Shortwave Croatian Radiotelevision http://www.hrt.hr/ ********************************** The Voice of Croatia ********************************** http://www.iafc.org.au/croatia.gif THE SHORTWAVE FREQUENCIES --- Starting April 28th 2003 you can listen to Croatian Radio on these frequencies: LOCATION FREQUENCY TIME-UTC EUROPE and MEDITERRANEAN 6165 kHz 04:00-23:00 UTC EUROPE and MEDITERRANEAN 9830 kHz 04:00-17:30 UTC EUROPE and MEDITERRANEAN 13830 khz 04:00-23:00 UTC SOUTH AMERICA 9925 kHz 23:00-04:00 UTC NORTH AMERICA - EAST 9925 kHz 23:00-03:00 UTC NORTH AMERICA - WEST 9925 kHz 03:00-07:00 UTC NEW ZEALAND 9470 kHz 04:00-07:00 UTC AUSTRALIA 13820 kHz 06:00-10:00 UTC Technical support: Zelimir Klasan, OiV, Vlaska 106, Zagreb, CROATIA Tel: +385 1 4646160 ext 223, Telefax: +385 1 4646161 email: Zelimir.Klasan@oiv.hr (via Mike Terry, DXLD) ** CUBA. I took today (May 16th) off to get two new tires and alignment. Was at the store at 7:30 a.m. opening, and out at 8:40, so on to the beach (Ft. DeSoto). There, I noted Progreso on "650" (but clearly off-frequency on the digital car radio reading). Sure enough, it's the long-active mystery 24/7 Cuban carrier on 652.5. Very distorted and FMing, with 660 still on and clean. This confirmed once home on the NRD-535 (Terry L. Krueger, Clearwater FL, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CUBA [non]. TV IS WEAPON OF CHOICE IN US SIEGE OF CUBA By Richard Lapper and Henry Hamman, Financial Times Published: May 15 2003 19:30 | Last Updated: May 15 2003 19:30 Forty-two years ago, José Basulto took up arms to join the unsuccessful Bay of Pigs invasion to topple Cuba's communist government. Today he argues that broomsticks, coat hanger wire and kitchen plungers serve better than bullets. Household materials like these would allow Cubans to receive television from the US. Like a growing number of Cuban-Americans, Mr Basulto, a Cuban-American activist, wants the Bush administration to launch a media blitz into Cuba. . . http://news.ft.com/servlet/ContentServer?pagename=FT.com/StoryFT/FullStory&c=StoryFT&cid=1051390065884 [doesn`t really go into planned May 20 ATV transmission] (via Jilly Dybka, DXLD) ** CZECH REPUBLIC. EIGHTY YEARS WITH RADIO PRAGUE Eighty years of radio broadcasting in Prague, Czechia, is indeed a long and historic era. It was on May 18, 1923, that the first regular broadcasting service was launched in Prague by the Elektra Bulb company, a name that was later changed to Tesla. These early broadcasts originated from a tent erected at the transmitter site of a communication facility located in the suburban area of Kbely (ke-BEE-lee). One listener in England reported hearing test broadcasts on shortwave from this site shortly before the regular mediumwave service was inaugurated. Eleven years later, a 30 kW Marconi shortwave transmitter was imported from England and co-sited with a new mediumwave transmitter at Podebrody (POE-de-BROE-dee), near Prague. This unit was designated with the now familiar callsign, OLR. The first test broadcast from this new unit was heard on July 24, 1936, and a couple of weeks later, it was taken into regular service. In 1938, two new German transmitters were installed, at Podebrody and four years later, international radio monitors noted the usage of new callsigns. Instead of, for example, the callsign OLR3A, the identification became DHE3A. The final German announcement of that era went on the air around midday on May 5, 1945. The Podebrody shortwave site was closed in 1996. The shortwave transmitter site at Litomysl (le-TOM-i-sil) near Prague was inaugurated in 1956 with the first of seven transmitters at 100 kW, two of which are still on the air today. [I thought all Czech words have initial stress --- gh] Work at the familiar Velke Kostolany station in Slovakia was begun in 1949. This station was on the air for nearly half a century, and it will be remembered that AWR took out a relay via this site a few years ago with the usage of two of these transmitters. This station was closed in October 1997. Another large shortwave station was constructed near Rimavská Sobota in Slovakia in 1956. This station originally contained several transmitters at 100 kW, though the station was rebuilt in 1982 and four Russian transmitters at 250 kW were installed. AWR has also enjoyed outstanding worldwide coverage from this transmitter site. And so, in summary, we find that Czechia has been on the air shortwave during the past eighty years from a total of five different transmitter sites. Three of these were located near Prague; Kbely, Podebrody & Litomysl, and two of these were located in Slovakia; Velke Kostolany & Rimavská Sobota. We should remember also, that Radio Prague International is also on relay to the Americas from station WRMI, Radio Miami International in Florida. Right this very day, May 18, Radio Prague is remembering its 80th anniversary, and we here at Wavescan honor them for their 80 years of broadcast activity on both mediumwave and shortwave (Adrian Michael Peterson, AWR Wavescan May 18 via DXLD) ** CZECH REPUBLIC. Glenn, The following is an interesting item from Radio Prague dated 15/5/3. Police say a 29 year-old woman will be charged with attempted double murder after she opened fire Thursday morning on two reporters at a radio station in the northern town of USTI and LABEM. One of the reporters , aged 27, was hit in the chest, and is in a serious condition awaiting surgery. The other reporter, aged 25, was wounded in the arm. Police have not released information about a possible motive. The assailant allegedly shot her way into the station through a glass door, and more might have been injured had the attacker's pistol not jammed. The attacker was then sudued by another radio employee, before police arrived. Broadcasting can be dangerous! (Gerwyn Roberts, Maesteg, WALES, DX LISTENING DIGEST) A shooting at a radio station in north Bohemia has left two people injured, one seriously. News MAY 15th, 2003 By: Jan Velinger =================================================================== Shooting at radio station in Usti nad Labem leaves two injured, one seriously ------------------------------------------------------------------- Police say a 29 year-old woman will be charged with attempted double murder after she opened fire Thursday morning on two reporters at a radio station in the northern town of Usti nad Labem. One of the reporters, aged 27, was hit in the chest, and is in serious condition awaiting surgery. The other reporter, aged 25, was wounded in the arm. Police have not released information about a possible motive. The assailant allegedly shot her way into the station through a glass door, and more people might have been injured had the attacker's pistol not jammed. The attacker was then subdued by another radio employee, before police arrived. To unsubscribe or subscribe to the news, please visit one of the following links: Czech version: http://www.radio.cz/subscribe/cesky.html English version: http://www.radio.cz/subscribe/english.html German version: http://www.radio.cz/subscribe/deutsch.html French version: http://www.radio.cz/subscribe/francais.html Spanish version: http://www.radio.cz/subscribe/espanol.html Russian version: http://www.radio.cz/subscribe/rusky.html Radio Prague, Vinohradska 12, 120 99 Prague, the Czech Republic tel (+4202) 2155 2971 , fax (+4202) 2155 2971 http://www.radio.cz/ Notice of Copyright All rights reserved. Radio Prague grants the right to redistribute this information in electronic or in printed form, in whole or in part for non-commercial use only; distribution must include this copyright notice, the date of publication, and Radio Prague's postal or e-mail address *unless specific agreement is reached with Radio Prague* For uses of this material not covered by this notice, please contact us at cr@radio.cz ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Copyright (c) 2003 Radio Prague (Vysilani do zahranici CRo) (via Chris Brand, Hale, Cheshire, England, Radio articles, a radio museum, QSL cards, pertinent international broadcasting information: http://members.tripod.co.uk/chrisbrand1977 ** ECUADOR [non]. Allen Graham, producer of HCJB's "DX Party Line," will be the studio guest on WRMI's "Viva Miami" with Jeff White this UT Sunday, May 18 at 0330 (that's 11:30 p.m. Saturday in Eastern [Daylight] North America) on 7385 kHz. On this program, there will be a major announcement regarding the future of "DX Party Line." The announcement will not be made on "DX Party Line" this weekend because the program was pre-recorded, since Allen Graham is in Miami this week attending a conference (Jeff White, WRMI, May 16, DX LISTENING DIGEST) At this point, I suppose the only ``major announcement`` could be some kind of reprieve or reversal, tease tease (gh, DXLD) ** GABON. Gabon seems to be back on air on 4777 kHz. I heard the broadcast at about 1830 UT. Nice signal, SIO=322 though. A thunder storm near by prevented me from enjoying the music (Matti Ponkamo, Naantali, Finland, Drake R4-C, 15 m of wire, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** GERMANY. 6015.3 kHz, EvangeliumsRadio Hamburg, relaying HCJB programm in Mennonite-Low German (Mennoniten Platt) via transmitter of DTK Jülich, card for snail-mail report, 15d, v/s Wilma Waldner (Ms). Verie from HCJB-Quito saying reception report received, answer is subject to follow (Me comunicaré lo más pronto que es posible) by Iris Rauscher (Ms). (Klaus Elsebusch, Im Isselgrund 17, D-46499 Marienthal/Germany, DL 3 EAY & DE 2 JLS, hard-core-dx via DXLD) ** GREENLAND [non]. AFN outlets in Florida, Puerto Rico, Guam, Hawaii and (probably) Greenland are active on a regular basis, but no one has heard anything from Diego García in a year or more (Gerry L. Dexter, WI, Bandscan America, May Short Wave Magazine, via DXLD) Er, I think he means Iceland. Never any SW activity from AFN Greenland; about time the two countries exchanged names to clear things up (gh, DXLD) ** ICELAND/USA. 13855 kHz USB, AFRTS Keflavik; email-letter for email- report, 8 minutes (!), v/s April Ball, Broadcast Operation Specialist. Veri from Washington/DC (May 13, 2003) 73 and Glück auf! (Klaus Elsebusch, Im Isselgrund 17, D-46499 Marienthal/Germany, DL 3 EAY & DE 2 JLS, hard-core-dx via DXLD) ** INDIA. STILL IN THE PICTURE Although Ms Sushma Swaraj has been out of the information and broadcasting (I&B) ministry for quite some time now, public broadcaster, Doordarshan, is refusing to let go of her. . . http://www.financialexpress.com/fe_full_story.php?content_id=34214 (via Jilly Dybka, May 14, DXLD) ** INTERNATIONAL INTERNET. Hi Everyone, just to let you know that anyone that would like to subscribe, to receive free mp3 programs, 'DXing with Cumbre' and 'SPDXR' and soon an additional media program via email. Please visit :- http://www.geocities.com/nri3 http://www.angelfire.com/myband/tjg http://nrin.hypermart.net for further details, do so now for this week please, thanks (Tim Gaynor, Dxerscalling, May 16, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** IRAN. 9910, Voice of David via IRIB *0228-0245 May 16. Sign-on with haunting flute Interval signal, chimes at 0230, followed with sign-on in Hebrew. ID is given as Kol Dah-veed. Male speaker gives information and web site as http://www.iribworld.com (2x). Followed with newscast and commentary. Heard this the first time back on May 2 from *0228 to 0258* (Edward Kusalik, Coaldale AB, May 15, Cumbre DX via DXLD) ** IRAQ. IT'S SWEEPS MONTH IN IRAQ By G. Beato, AlterNet May 13, 2003 That's good advice, no doubt, but what makes for better radio: inflammatory rhetoric directed at an enemy oppressor, or proscriptive public-service announcements that remind Iraqis of the damage coalition forces have inflicted upon their country? http://www.alternet.org/story.html?StoryID=15881 (via Jilly Dybka, DXLD) ** IRAQ. For an administration that prides itself on message control, the scarcity of U.S.-controlled media outlets in Iraq has been both vexing and dangerous, in the view of some U.S. officials, adding to the postwar chaos and a feeling that the Americans are not on top of the situation. . . http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A40257-2003May10.html (via Jilly Dybka, DXLD) ** IRAQ [non]. Hi guys, Today 16/3/03 checking R. Sumer on 1584 kHz, I noticed that there was no IS or ID around 1900 UT, just a song on the air, and it's a romantic song. Checked on the Hot Bird 13 E the feed of R. Sumer via satellite and it was there with the stuff --- a different broadcast, though!!! So if that's the case, what I hear on 1584 reminds me of the days of the 1991 war in the Gulf when there was a test transmission for what's known now as the Republic of Iraq radio - voice of the Iraqi People. I used to hear almost the same type of songs with no IDs whatsoever!?? Does that mean we will witness a new station on the air soon!?? Furthermore, that feed on the Hot Bird satellite: for whom it may be broadcast?? If it's not on the air on 1584!?? So many Q to be answered! All the best, guys (TAREK ZEIDAN, CAIRO, Egypt, May 16, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** IRAQ [non]. V. of People of Iraq, presumed, subharmonic from Sa`udi Arabia, on 4785 in Arabic around 2030 UT May 15 (Chris Hambly, Victoria, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ISRAEL. Despite failure of negotiations with the Histarut labor federation, which will resume after the Sabbath on Saturday night, the Israel Radio networks which had been strike bound since late Tuesday morning have been broadcasting on Friday since noon, Israel time (0900 GMT). In particular, I am listening to the 1:15 P.M. English newscast on on demand Real Audio via the http://iba.org.il website (Joel Rubin, NY, May 16, DX LISTENING DIGEST) V. of David: see IRAN ** ITALY. While some stations may be cutting back their QSLs to save money, I continue to receive correspondence from stations who seem eager to keep their listener base. Some of them even like to send me presents --- for example Rai, who I do some monitoring work for, has managed to outfit me with a nice little alarm clock, lapel pins, a pewter keychain, a very neat little radio and a fine shirt. It`s almost enough to make one feel guilty. I also hear on a regular basis from R. Tashkent in Uzbekistan. . . [q.v.] (Sue Hickey, Grand Falls- Windsor, NF, May CIDX Forum via DXLD) ** JAPAN. Japan`s only commercial shortwave radio station, NSB, Nihon Shortwave Broadcasting Company, announced a name change effective on October 1st. The new name will be Nikkei Radio Broadcasting Corporation, reflecting the name of the largest shareholder. The Nikkei company is the publisher of a financial newspaper, the Japanese equivalent of the Wall Street Journal. NSB will celebrate its 50th anniversary next year and its slogan, ``Radio Tanpa``, will be changed on that occasion. The current shortwave services from NSB are as follows:- 1st channel 3925 6055 & 9595 kHz 2025 - 1500 UTC daily 2nd channel 3945 6115 & 9760 kHz 2300 - 0900 UTC weekend only In addition to shortwave, NSB also operates a digital radio service by satellite. Some international programs, including Voice of Mongolia and Radio China International, are heard on this satellite which provides a high quality audio service with some stationery pictures and messages on the TV screen (Far Eastern DX Report - Toshi Ohtake of the Japan Short Wave Club and this is his second Asian DX Report from Wavescan, AWR, May 18 via DXLD) ** JAPAN [non]. May 16, 2003 No. 58 NHK WORLD e-GUIDE -- Notice from NHK WORLD --- Discontinuation of Special Transmission by NHK World Radio Japan In connection with the recent Iraq War, we have been offering a special Japanese-language service to the Middle East and North Africa. This service will be discontinued following the declaration of the conclusion of major combat operations in Iraq by the US President, George W. Bush, and the virtual halt to the military campaign. The time and date of the discontinuation of the special transmission is as follows: Sun. 18 May, 2003 at 18:00 (UTC) NHK WORLD will always and promptly provide special transmissions in times of emergency (via Bill Westenhaver, DXLD) ** JAPAN. BBC NEWS | Business | Fraudsters sell fake BBC shares http://newsvote.bbc.co.uk/mpapps/pagetools/print/news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/3028169.stm A couple in southern Japan have been arrested after making half a million pounds by selling fake shares in the BBC, reports say. According to the Sankei Shimbun, one of Japan's main national daily newspapers, the two - Hadoko Shoji and his wife Kimiko - have conned some 25 people since August 2002, netting about 100m yen ($860,000; £530,000). But the pair were rumbled when one of their early victims went to the police. The woman had taken the couple at their word when they promised - in October last year - that the "shares from England" would double in less than six months. Once that period had passed with no sign of any return on her 570,000 yen ($4,900; £3,030) investment, she went to the police in her home town of Takamatsu and the two fraudsters were taken into custody. Takamatsu is on the smallest of Japan's four main islands, although thousands more tiny islets litter the country's coastline. .... "We're all human, and the BBC has very strong brand recognition in Japan," he said. "The BBC's not even listed of course, so it should have been easy to disprove. "But it does depict the amazing belief in brands in Japan," he said. The BBC is a public service broadcaster, which is funded by a licence fee. The BBC World Service is funded directly by the Foreign Office, but is editorially independent. Neither are listed on the stock exchange. Story from BBC NEWS: http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/1/hi/business/3028169.stm Published: 2003/05/14 16:07:52 GMT (via Dan Say, swprograms via DXLD) ** KOREA. Hangul Morse Code. I spent time searching the Web and some language publications trying to locate definitive details regarding this type of Morse code. . . http://www.dxing.com/intrigue.htm (Radio Intrigue by Don Schimmel, May 1 via DXLD) ** LESOTHO. The station seems also be back on 60 metres (like Gabon), on 4800 kHz, at about 1845. SIO=232 only, but quite clear. I did not catch any station identification, but I am pretty certain about this station. African languages are strange to my ear, but this one sounded very strange - wonder what it is called? (Matti Ponkamo, Naantali, Finland, Drake R4-C, 15 m of wire, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Sesotho ** MAURITANIA. They have also street address: Av. Gamal Abdel Nasser Nouakchott and email rm@mauritania.mr according to the WRTH 2003 (Reijo Alapiha, Joensuu, Finland, hard-core-dx via DXLD) ** MEXICO. Continuing our new series on 1320 Mexicans, part 3: 1320, XESR, Santa Rosalía, BCS, 1200 May 10. National Anthem, opening announcement, partially readable: "Bienvenido a Radio Cachania a partir de... primera... del dia, con la música... 18 horas... programación... Radio Cachania. Muy buenos dias". Have not logged this one for a few years, although it's probably them that I often hear playing the Mexican NA at this time (John Wilkins, Wheat Ridge, Colorado. Drake R-8, 4-foot box loop, May 13, Corazón DX via DXLD) ** NETHERLANDS. "The Bush administration intends to dominate the world by force, the one dimension in which it rules supreme, and to do so permanently." That's what Noam Chomsky says. He will be the guest on a special edition of the Amsterdam Forum, which will be recorded on Tuesday 27 May. You can send him your comments and questions via the Radio Netherlands Amsterdam Forum website - http://www.rnw.nl/amsterdamforum/chomsky They may be used on the programme [aired following Saturday?]. Regards, Adam Coles, Website Editor, Radio Netherlands, May 15, DXLD) ** NETHERLANDS. Hello from Hilversum, First of all this week, I'm pleased to report that we now offer live streaming in Windows Media format. When you visit our audio page at http://www.rnw.nl/distrib/realaudio/html/english.html you'll see that there's now a choice between a 16 kbps Real Audio Stream or a 32 kbps Windows Media stream. A new and improved On Demand audio service is almost ready for launch. We`re waiting for some last-minute technical work to be completed. Details will be in this Newsletter as soon as it goes live (Andy Sennitt, Media Network newsletter May 16 via DXLD) ** NETHERLANDS. It appears that NOS Radio 1 will be removed from mediumwave (891 / 20 kW and 1008 / 400 kW) effective June 1st: http://www.nozema.nl/radiotv/LandelPubFr_R.html It is subject of discussion at present if and when Radio 10 FM will be forced off mediumwave, too (675 / 120 kW). (Kai Ludwig, Germany, May 16, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** NIGERIA. Can't somebody stop that guy from Germany posting boring stuff about VON every day???? OK, checked their website again today and it seems they are answering my questions one by one. To complete the schedule: Ibo is at 1000-1100 and 1500-1600, Yoruba 1100-1200 and 2000-2100. Looking at the Arabic version of the Arabic service schedule shows that should be 1600-1800. checking 11770 yesterday I heard a fair/weak signal there playing mainly music but interspersed with a few announcements and news at 1700 in Arabic! Some of the music and the accents of the announcers sounded African rather than middle- eastern. Traces of the VON tune and news in French heard from 1757 under VOA in Russian. No more five-minutes newscasts at 1730-1800; maybe those had been there just for a testing period. What else does that mean? There are two broadcasting streams from 0500 to 2300, no space left in the schedule for an eventual relaunch of the German service (Thorsten Hallmann, Münster, Germany, May 15, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Nullo modo (gh) Voice of Nigeria website at http://www.voiceofnigeria.org has some new times for various languages. Seems to indicate the following: 0455-2300 English (on 15120 throughout?) 0500-0700 French 0700-0800 Fulfulde 0800-1000 Hausa 1000-1100 Ibo 1100-1200 Yoruba 1200-1300 Hausa 1300-1500 Swahili 1500-1600 Ibo 1600-1700 ?? 1700-1800 Arabic 1800-2000 French (heard on 11770) 2000-2100 Yoruba 2100-2200 Fulfulde 2200-2300 Hausa Not sure about frequencies. VON website hasn't yet been updated correctly for those. Perhaps worth checking 7255, 9690 and 11770 kHz, as well as 15120 kHz just in case in English isn't scheduled throughout as I assume (Tony Rogers, Birmingham - UK, May 14, BDXC-UK via DXLD) The Voice of Nigeria website at http://www.voiceofnigeria.org has a couple more things of note that I didn't spot yesterday: Under a heading 'Special Projects', the following appears: Public Launch of VON website http://www.voiceofnigeria.org National Press Centre, Abuja, Monday 19th May 2003 and Commissioning of i 2 Nos. Super-Power Transmitters ii VON Training Estate There's also: Foundation-Laying Ceremony of: VON 18-Room Training Hostel Ikorodu, Lagos, Nigeria Thursday 22nd May 2003 Looks like the website will be relaunched next Monday and two new (or refurbished?) transmitters are to be (officially) commissioned? Might explain the recently revamped schedule (Tony Rogers, Birmingham - UK, May 15, BDXC-UK via DXLD) ** OKLAHOMA. I`m fed up with your joining Nightline late. You have a 35 minute hole for the 10 pm news, and it`s about time you learned to live with it. Thursday night the news really ended right at 10:35 but then we got over FIVE AND A HALF STRAIGHT MINUTES OF COMMERCIALS, which came out of the opening of Nightline. I expect you will blame this on extended severe weather info contained in the news. If this bumped commercials out of the news, tough! Make them good some other way at some other time!!! Furthermore the tornadic weather in the Texas panhandle was not even in your coverage area --- leave it to KVII Amarillo until it gets closer to us. Rick Mitchell is always too verbose -- too slow and too repetitive, in conveying tornado watches and warnings, taking up too much time!! Are you an ABC affiliate or are you not? If only I could get ABC direct without your INTERFERENCE. In case they are not aware of your unprofessional conduct in New York, they will not be much longer (Glenn Hauser, Enid, May 15, feedback to KOCO-TV Oklahoma City, copy to Nightline, via DXLD) ** OKLAHOMA [and non]. MOON-BOUNCE RECORD Following his success with UHF TV reception via moonbounce from the US, Tony Mann, Perth, Australia, has now detected European and Middle East UHF carriers, but on higher frequencies. Initial experiments concentrated on channels E22 to E25, but towards the end of February, Tony had detected Dubai E33, Kuwait E39 and Sutton Coldfield [UK] on 43 and 50. The extremely weak video carriers were detected using very sophisticated computer techniques and consequently actual pictures would not be obtainable. For the record, the strongest moon-bounce signal from the US is usually from the 5 mW [not milliwatt, but Megawatt! ERP] transmitter at Muskogee, Oklahoma, on 501.248 MHz (US Channel A19). (Keith Hamer & Garry Smith, DX Television, May Short Wave Magazine via DXLD) ** PAKISTAN. Some of the changes listed in DXLD recently took place on May 14 - Turkish 1630-1700 and Irani 1715-1800 are now using 9340 [ex 9385] and Arabic 1815-1900 is now using 9335. New 11530 [ex 11550] is in // at 1630 and 1815 and former 7550 at 1715 (Noel Green, Blackpool, May 15, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** PAPUA NEW GUINEA. NBC, Port Moresby back on 3290, ID in vernacular at 2000 UT May 15 (Chris Hambly, Victoria, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** QATAR. IRAQI SPIES INFILTRATED AL-JAZEERA NEWS CHANNEL: REPORT Iraqi intelligence agents infiltrated the Arabic satellite news channel Al-Jazeera in an effort to influence its coverage, the Sunday Times reports, quoting documents allegedly obtained in Baghdad. . . http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/s852281.htm (via Fred Waterer, DXLD) ** RUSSIA. Radio station Tikhiy Okean was again on the air for a while, after an almost a sesquiyear break. That was for three days in May, at 0615-0700 on 810 kHz (and in parallel via a FM network). Announced SW frequency 11760 kHz only carried NHK in Russian until 0630, and then there was a silence. MW transmitter covers central and southern part of Primorskiy Kray, as well as some coastal waters (open_dx - Igor Ashikhmin, Primorskiy kray, Russia, Signal May 16 via DXLD) ** RUSSIA. Saint Petersburg, Russia: Special event station RL1A is active until May 31 to celebrate the 300th anniversary of the city of Saint Petersburg. Activity is on 160 to 10 meters using SSB. QSL via RA1AG (ARRL May 14 via John Norfolk, OKCOK, DXLD) ** RUSSIA. ST. PETERSBURG: THREE GLORIOUS CENTURIES In the spring of 1703, Russian troops led by Czar Peter the Great won a quick victory over the Swedes seizing the mouth of the Neva River. To tighten his grip on the recaptured territory, on May 16, 1703, Peter laid a fortress on Zayachy Island calling it St. Petersburg. The small town eventually became the capital of the Russian Empire and one of the world's most beautiful cities. In a grand celebration this May Russia will mark the 300th birthday of its northern capital. The Voice of Russia World Service has prepared a series of programs titled St. Petersburg: Three Glorious Centuries within its weekly feature RUSSIA: PEOPLE AND EVENTS to help you get a better understanding of the city's rich history, cultural and spiritual life. MUSICAL TALES OF ST. PETERSBURG The MUSICAL TALES OF ST. PETERSBURG is a series about the past and present of the great city on the Neva, which is now celebrating its 300th birthday. The program will feature a constellation of outstanding musicians who at various times lived in Russia's northern capital and, of course, the music that filled the city's many palaces and concert halls, high society salons and streets. You will have a chance to roam the scenic expanses of St. Petersburg literally soaking in the rich sonic diversity of its many epochs. The MUSICAL TALES OF ST. PETERSBURG series will be broadcast every week at 0510 UT on Monday, at 0930 on Tuesday, at 0330 and 2130 on Wednesday, at 0230 and 1830 on Thursday, and at 0510 and 1910 on Sunday, beginning January 2003. MUSICAL TREASURES OF ST. PETERSBURG (city's 300th anniversary series) Do you know that Russia's most famous Czar Peter the Great, who turned this country all around, also takes credit for revolutionizing the Russian music, no less? And for being a great bass singer too?! Can you imagine the music Empress Catherine II and her courtiers danced to back in the 18th century? Have you ever listened to music written by Beethoven's rival Eberl? The man was even more famous than Beethoven, and he's now being rediscovered with the help of the city's unique archives. Or do you have any idea about the première of Tchaikovsky's last symphony or the scandal that broke out during the opening performance of Dmitry Shostakovich's 5th Symphony? Tune in to our all-new 12-feature series to be broadcast in 2003 and find out. The new series can be heard in the first edition of Music and Musicians every month at 1710 UTC on Saturday, at 0910, 1810, and 2110 on Sunday, and at 0810 on Monday. The World Service in English will be celebrating its 25th anniversary in October. We would like to know your opinion about our broadcasts and invite you take part in a poll by answering the following questions: 1. When did you begin listening to World Service broadcasts? 2. Why do you listen? 3. What are your favorite programs/broadcasters? 4. What new features would you like us to introduce? Please don't forget to mention your name, E-mail and postal address. The most interesting answers will be read on the air and posted on our website. Write to us at: the Voice of Russia World Service, Moscow, Russia, or E-mail them to us at: letters@vor.ru We look forward to hearing from you. Your opinion is very valuable to us. Thank you for your cooperation. Copyright © 2003 The Voice of Russia (via Maryanne Kehoe, swprograms via DXLD) Hi Glenn, I was just listening to the VOICE OF RUSSIA, World Service and one of their relay stations seldom heard YEKATERINBURG (Sverdlovsk) on 15455 closing down 21 UT. In July 1918 the Russian czar Nicholas II and his family was murdered in this town later buried in St. Petersburg celebrating this its 300th anniversary. 73´s (Jouko Huuskonen, Turku FINLAND, May 16, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** SAUDI ARABIA. The current HFCC charts list Riyadh 9675 500 kW at 0300-0900 and 0900-1600 for 1st Programme in Arabic. The BSKSA has been heard on 9675 on air at around 0620 with positive ID until fade out soon after 0800 on this frequency with positive ID, best during times of non-reception of co-channel Canção Nova-BRZ. It seems a general entertainment programme and carries news at 0730. But it is not // 21505 / 21705 carrying the Main Arabic programme or the HQ Programme on 15380. Could it be the 2nd programme reported irregular on 11854.9 but not heard at this time. There's no trace of the broadcast on 9675 between about 1400 to 1600. 73s, (Noel Green, Blackpool, May 15, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** SAUDI ARABIA [non]. SAUDI OPPOSITION GROUP'S AL-ISLAH SATELLITE TV CHANNEL ON THE AIR Al-Islah, a satellite TV channel operated by the London-based Movement for Islamic Reform in Arabia (MIRA), has begun satellite broadcasts. The channel was observed on 15 May by BBC Monitoring. The broadcasts can be viewed on the Hot Bird 3 satellite, frequency 12.149 GHz, vertical polarization. The TV channel provides the following contact information: Web site: http://www.alislah.info E-mail: TV@islah.org Telephone: (44) 208 4520303 Fax: (44) 208 4520808 A caption on the satellite TV channel states: "Soon on this frequency, the channel which you have been waiting for for a long time. The Al- Islah [Reform] satellite channel. The only channel on which you can express yourself from where you are in the land of the Two Holy Mosques, without fear or worry." A spokesman for Al-Islah told the BBC on 15 May that programming would consist of two to three hours' live broadcasting of talk shows with contributors from around the world, repeated during a 24-hour cycle, as well as news displayed on the screen in text format. Editorial control over the channel rested outside the UK, and it expected to be fully operational within a week, the spokesman added. The French news agency AFP on 14 May quoted MIRA head Sa'd al-Faqih as saying: "The television has started round-the-clock broadcasts... Broadcasting will also start soon on two other satellites." In December 2002 the MIRA launched a 24-hour radio station, the Voice of Reform (Sawt al-Islah), from an unnamed European country to target audiences in Saudi Arabia. The radio's programming includes news, cultural broadcasts and live phone-ins with Faqih and other activists. Source: BBC Monitoring research 15 May 03 (via DXLD) ** SCOTLAND. BBC'S SCOTTISH HQ EVACUATED AFTER BOMB SCARE A SECURITY scare disrupted BBC Scotland's television and radio coverage last night. The corporation's Scottish schedule was thrown into chaos after a man delivered a suspicious package to the organisation's headquarters. Full article: http://www.news.scotsman.com/scotland.cfm?id=548032003 (via Bill Westenhaver, DXLD) ** SOUTH AFRICA. BBC Meyerton on 3255 at 1930, good signal SIO=343. I did not listen to other frequencies for BBC but the program sounded like African service. Family Radio (WYFR) Meyerton on 3230 at about 1945, SIO=232, some QRM and "scratches" from +5 kHz, an obvious RTTY (Matti Ponkamo, Naantali, Finland, Drake R4-C, 15 m of wire, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** SOUTH CAROLINA [non]. First, I must deny all allegations that I am sleeping with Brother Stair. But you can hear his (ex?) wife screech hymns on WSAI 1530 at 2 or 3 in the morning, EDST [0600 or 0700 UT] (Liz Cameron, MARE Tipsheet May 16 via DXLD) ** SRI LANKA [non]. IBC-TAMIL AO3 SCHDULE Tamil programmes for South and Southeast Asia 0000—0100 11570, 1230—1330 7495 (D. Prabakaran, Tamil Nadu, Japan Premium May 16 via DXLD) ** SWEDEN. RADIO SWEDEN--Coming up on Radio Sweden: Thursday: "GreenScan" Friday: Our weekly review Saturday: "Spectrum" Sunday: Another chance to hear "Sounds Nordic" with Dilba, a spooky art exhibition, and hits from the charts SWEDISH RADIO --- Last week the Swedish government fired the chairwoman of public broadcaster Swedish Radio, which includes Radio Sweden. The decision to remove Marika Ehenkrona came after several other board members resigned over a compensation package promised to a new chief executive whose planned hiring was blocked by unions. She is being replaced by Ove Joanson, former Director General of Swedish Radio, who is the choice of the Conservative Party for the post. Under the Swedish public broadcasting system, the Conservatives usually nominate the chairman of the Swedish Radio board, while the chairman of Swedish Television is picked by the Social Democrats and the current chairman of Swedish Educational Broadcasting is from the Liberal Party (SCDX MediaScan May 15 via DXLD) See also POWERLINE COMMUNICATIONS at bottom and under USA ** U K. International Listener VIDEO! If you've clicked on International Listener, you've no doubt seen the page "A Visit to Bush House," which is our exclusive look inside the London headquarters of the BBC World Service. Included are our photographs from my December 5th, 2002 trip inside Bush House, as well as interviews with studio manager Doreen Birkeland, assistant senior studio manager Chris Murphy, newsroom editor Steve Titherington (with a sound file of the full-length interview), senior producer Josephine Hazely from the African languages section (also with a sound file of the full interview), as well as Robin White, editor-in-chief of the quarterly BBC magazine Focus on Africa. And noting the BBC's interest in American news stories like Enron/Andersen, there are exclusive interviews with World Business Report presenter Roger White, business editor Martin Webber and a link to hear a stateside interview with BBC World Service business reporter Mark Gregory. But now I've managed to upload a short video onto that page (it plays on Windows Media Player) featuring BBC Bush House, Broadcasting House and some sights of London! Just click on the button. It should stream for those with broadband connections, but may require a two or three-minute download over a modem. At any rate, let me know whether it works on your computer--this is an experiment! [yes --- gh] Ed Mayberry http://www.internationallistener.com http://home.houston.rr.com/edmayberry Click on "A Visit to Bush House" page (Mayberry, swl via DXLD) ** U K. Hi Glenn, Re DXLD 3-083 U S A [and non]. The China Syndrome, By PAUL KRUGMAN From the New York Times Editorial Page of May 13 and this sentence: ``The BBC is owned by the British government, and one might have expected it to support that government's policies.`` Really! That is news to me. I suggest that Paul Krugman has not got his facts correct. On page 364 of the current WRTVH I read: The BBC is an independent body created by Royal Charter and operated under license and agreement with the Minister exercising functions under the Wireless Telegraphy acts...`` which describes it accurately. Domestically, it is paid for by license fees and externally by grants from the government. Maybe the latter is what causes Mr. Krugman some confusion? It does not support whatever government is in power, but tries to give a balanced point of view. Slightly differently today to what it used to do! I'm sure you knew that though! (Noel Green, Blackpool, May 15, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Yes, but I left it to a Brit to issue the indignant correxion (gh) ** U K. BBC "CONSPIRACY" WEB PAGE I am on another list that sends out mailings about various conspiracy theories. There is a large web site about the Bilderberg group. On this web site was a page about the BBC. (The Day Auntie Died) You may laugh at the conspiracy theorizing. There are some nice pictures of old BBC test patterns and other old BBC related pictures on there. There are links to other BBC related sites too. I just thought the one "old time" BBC site they link to was interesting. Then, the old photos were interesting too. http://www.bilderberg.org/milne.htm (Robyn in Michigan, swprograms via DXLD) Wow! Lots of inside stuff about BBC there; but saltgrainworthy (gh, DXLD) ** U K. Fox News Channel's pro-American stance during the Iraq war is to be investigated by Britain's Independent Television Commission for alleged bias. The action comes after the ITC received nine complaints from viewers. Since the network has its European HQ in London the ITC has the power to remove it from Sky Digital if does not meet the UK's 'due impartiality' rules ("What Satellite TV" via SCDX/MediaScan May 15 via DXLD) ** UNITED NATIONS [non]. SOUTH AFRICA. 7170, United Nations Radio via Meyerton 1705-1725 May 13, French Newscast followed with English Newscast and Interview. Fair, but gradually lost the signal by 1725 hours (Edward Kusalik, Coaldale AB, May 15, Cumbre DX via DXLD) Wow, rather unusual propagation; I thought English was at 1730 (gh) ** U S A. An open letter to all my CyberShortwave Cheerleaders from Dave N1DK: So now what? Well here are the plans: I plan to keep the basic broadcast feature of Live365. This will allow me to upload audio files and be played from their Server. The Old Time Radio portion of this station will continue in almost seamless fashion. Since adding the Golden Age of Radio to our Playlist, we have seen our Total Listener Hours increase from the lower hundreds to over 2500 in April. Even with the Spring weather, we are holding above 2000 TLH's. And what about CyberShortwave? I plan to do a recorded version of CyberShortwave that I will upload to Live365. I will be talking about Radio from DC to Daylight, playing old radio air checks, world type music, and even a Polka every now and again. And you, my CyberShortwave Cheerleaders will still be able to interact with each other, and me, in Internet Relay Chat Channel CyberShortwave via a Starchat Server, as we listen to the recorded netcast. I have not decided on a schedule for the recorded netcast as of yet, so please keep watching my web site, www.n1dk.com for details. It will most likely be the same Day and Time (Sundays at 1500 UT - 11 AM Eastern). Additionally, I have not decided on the length (1 or 2 hours) or the frequency (once per week, twice per month, or every week). In the future should things improve financially, we will have the option of upgrading our Live365 station and resurrect the "Live" version of CyberShortwave. Keep watching my website http://www.n1dk.com for details. Until then, I say Thank you Sincerely, Dave Kirby N1DK You are cordially invited to join me in a celebration of life--and Death. Sunday, May 25th will be our last "Live" netcast on Live365. Recent price increases at Live365, combined with my personal financial situation has made it prohibitive to pay the higher fees to broadcast live. This hurts me because as many of you know, when we first went on the air in August 1999, I made it a point to do the netcast "Live" with interaction from you --- the listener. In this respect, CyberShortwave was truly an innovator, as was the ANARC SWL HAM NET that we ran on 7240 kHz for 11 years. But times change, and we must accept these changes. Over hundreds of hours during the past 4 years, it was always my desire to do a "feel good - flame free" interactive netcast. Despite my feeble "attempts" to be a Radio Announcer, You, my CyberShortwave Cheerleaders were the Star of the show. You were always there, and you never let me down. To this I say, Thank You from the bottom of my Heart. The Voice of the Radio Monitoring Enthusiast --- CyberShortwave Live (Dave Kirby, N1DK, via DXers Calling Audiosend via DXLD) ** U S A. (X-Band) 1680, KTFH, Seattle Washington, 1059-1130 May 15. Program called Radio Solo with dance music and advertisements (Sound Port Stereo Store) ID at the TOH: You're listening to 'The Bridge' KTFH Seattle. QRM from KAVT Fresno. Best heard on the 36" Box Loop (Edward Kusalik, Coaldale AB, May 15, Cumbre DX via DXLD) ** U S A. Wasn't there yesterday, but now on 1620 kHz there is a TIS describing the interstate 94 eastbound detour (quite a mess). Detour is scheduled to be in place the next 10 days. No call letters given, just a tape loop. Transmitter is probably mounted on a trailer with small whip on the south side of Milwaukee, at the intersections of 94/43/894. A similar transmitter here in town had been logged by Shawn Axelrod in Manitoba a few years ago. Sigs about S9+20db a mile and a half away (jw wb9uai milwaukee --__--__-- AMFMTVDX mailing list via DXLD) ** U S A. KFHX, 1620: Just came on the air. Never heard of them before. How did they get past us all? (Kevin Redding, Mesa AZ, May 16, NRC-AM via DXLD) http://www.kfhx.org/ viz.: Welcome to the home of KFHX Radio - AM1620 Music, Talk, Sports Radio for Fountain Hills, Arizona ...and the WORLD! KFHX is the first radio station in Fountain Hills, Arizona, offering a wide variety of programming and personalities. CLICK HERE TO TUNE IN NOW! (Windows Media Player Required Sean Jacobsohn hosts the competition. Saturdays at 10 am he'll be updating Arizona fans on SF Giants baseball. DC and Kingpin host "Let's Talk Diamondbacks" Arizona Diamondbacks Baseball !! Coming Saturdays in May 2003 to KFHX Radio The St. Dominic's Food Bank needs your donations. Food donations can be dropped off at our office location, please call ahead to make sure we're in: KFHX/St. Dominic's Food Bank, 16622 Avenue of the Fountains, Suite 200, Fountain Hills, AZ 85268. Monetary donations can be dropped off at our office or mailed to: St. Dominic's Food Bank. PO Box 17228, Fountain Hills, AZ 85269-7228 program schedule: http://www.kfhx.org/schedule.htm (via gh, DXLD) Well, for one thing, they're not listed at any of the sites I normally use, including the FCC's AM Query page. No application, no CP, no nothing. This is pretty cool. if you go the website & click on the "visit the studio" link, you get a live audio/video stream of the station. I'm listening to Sting, and watching them read the newspaper & wander around the studio right now. Seems like a pretty decent setup for a part-15 (Brian Leyton, Valley Village, CA, NRC-AM via DXLD) Pirate? Part 15? Where is Fountain Hills? (Mike Westfall, ibid.) Sounds like a local Part 15 operation, if I had to guess. If it were licensed, we'd all know it. There are a few of these out there... I heard one in Victorville, CA operating on 660 as "Route 66 Radio" - live jock playing oldies, PAMS jingle at the top of the hour and everything, right down to fake "call letters" which escape me now. Kevin, how well does the "KFHX" signal get to you in Mesa - if at all? s (Scott Fybush, NY, ibid.) Since the address is dot org, that tells me they are a non-profit organization (like the NRC). But the web site leads one to believe they are a regular, commercial station. The call letters KF(ountain)H(ills), (Ari)Z(ona) [sic --- it`s KFHX as in Fountain Hills/Phoenix] are suspect. Possibly it's a TIS station on steroids, but a search of the FCC's TIS area reveals no results. Maybe they are a K/WNRC wannabe??? (Bill in Fort Worth Hale, ibid.) Hey, they must be real, they have the county sheriff on and the Catholic Church is sponsoring them. I have an s-9 +20 on them on the R-1000 and 60' wire. I can hear them on a DX-402, DX-398, ICF-2010 but NOT on a GE SR III. Go figger. Good station with nice music. I talked to one of the guys on air and they are seemingly legit. I would assume part 15 or at least real low power. I hear them about as good as I hear the Station at Arizona State University at 17 miles. Its about the same distance to Fountain Hills, AZ where they claim to be (Kevin Redding, ibid.) Why didn`t you ask them about status, power? (gh) ** U S A. Here in Harrisburg Pennsylvania I am hearing a new station on 1700 but haven't been able to get an ID. They are playing contemporary Christian music. The signal is quite strong and I'd guess that they are no more than fifty or sixty miles away. Anyone know who it might be? (Tom Dimeo, May 16, NRC-AM via DXLD) ** U S A. IBOC STANDARD-SETTING 'TEMPORARILY SUSPENDED' OVER PAC CONCERNS --- HAS RADIO'S DIGITAL ROLLOUT HIT A POTHOLE? Standards-setting activity for IBOC has been temporarily suspended by the steering committee of the National Radio Systems Committee's DAB subgroup. This development, sources said, puts the onus on Ibiquity to continue to tweak PAC or chose another audio coding algorithm. Growing concerns about the performance of Ibiquity's PAC codec on AM at low bit rates has led the steering committee to make this decision. Also as a result of this action, Radio World has learned, some major radio groups are slowing their adoption of IBOC until the codec issue is resolved, according to NRSC sources. In a memo to members of the NRSC obtained by RW Online, the steering committee stated: "The NRSC has long considered flexibility to be an important feature of IBOC digital radio systems, and is concerned that PAC operating at bit rates between 36 kbps and 96 kbps (the maximum coding rate used in the hybrid FM IBOC system) could also have quality issues that may need to be investigated by Ibiquity." NRSC DAB Subcommittee Chairman Milford Smith stressed the performance of the codec at low bit rates is one problem and that the NRSC still supports IBOC. "The overall system is really great and works well." Yet, "Our goal from the start has been to have both an AM and FM solution. We don't think we`ve got an AM solution." Smith and several NRSC sources said the standards-setting process would resume when Ibiquity has demonstrated the problem is resolved. Ibiquity has two choices: continue to tweak PAC or chose another audio coding algorithm such as AAC or MPEG. Ibiquity used AAC previously, and several NRSC sources said they thought the system audio quality with AAC was better than it is with PAC. After a recent private demonstration at National Public Radio, several NRSC sources said they found the artifacts on the system using PAC "unacceptable." In a statement today, Ibiquity responded: "At this time, we concur with their decision to temporarily delay these efforts until the issue is resolved. We have an on-going improvement plan and anticipate resolution of the AM audio quality issue as soon as possible." Kenwood, meanwhile, said it is still prepared to go forward with its receiver launch this summer despite the NRSC action (via RadioWorld OnLine http://www.rwonline.com/dailynews/one.php?id=3148 via Brian Smith, May 16, ODXA via DXLD) I'm just amazed. Really amazed. Everyone thought AM IBOC audio quality was mediocre at best, except iBiquity and WOR. Finally the emperor was found to have no clothes. Next will come the shocking admissions that the interference from IBOC's digital sidebands is excessive! And that IBOC is not resilient in regards to interference tolerance. How do you suppose all the IBOC receiver manufacturers feel now? (Chuck Hutton, NRC-AM via DXLD) ** U S A. Broadcasters run the spectrum --- By Rich Heldenfels Northeast Ohio's radio and television stations are rich in history and diverse in programming and operation. . . http://www.ohio.com/mld/ohio/entertainment/5856596.htm (Akron Beacon Journal May 14 via Jilly Dybka, DXLD) ** U S A. Re: CPRN via NPR Being a fan of classical music, I'm all for efforts to improve its accessibility -- but I wonder how these folks will differentiate their offering from the Classical24 and Beethoven Satellite Network offerings. Another classical station with a satellite feed that is occasionally picked up by others is WCPE out of Chapel Hill, NC. Perhaps the argument is that stations who have invested in NPR membership -- and satellite access -- can thus add classical programming with minimal effort (and presumably cost). Also, this might be an effort by NPR to dissuade stations from picking up PRI membership -- since Classical24 is from Minnesota Public Radio, the organization largely behind PRI. All four of these offerings are widely available as webcasts, easily linked via Kevin Kelly's publicradiofan.com website (Richard Cuff / Allentown, PA USA, May 15, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Echoed (gh) ** U S A. HAM RADIO PUBLICITY: NPR FEATURES ``HELLO WORLD - A LIFE IN HAM RADIO`` Tom Walsh, K1TW, reports over the Internet that National Public Radio featured ham radio in a recent Talk of the Nation segment. Walsh says that the final 15 minutes of the two hour program on April 30th was devoted to the new book ``Hello World - A life in Ham Radio`` and even featured callers including someone who is a QSL manager. Tom says that you can still hear the program. Just taker your web browser to the National Public Radio archives and bring up the April 30 version of Talk of the Nation. Go to the second hour, find the last 15 minutes, turn your speakers up and enjoy. The URL is http://www.npr.org/programs/totn/index.html (K1TW, K1KI, others, May 16 Amateur Radio Newsline via John Norfolk, May 15, DXLD ) ** U S A. Strange antennas capture listeners --- May 11, 2003 HAM RADIO OPERATORS PRACTICE SKILLS FOR DISASTERS AND SECURITY. By Eric Eckert, News-Leader Static poured from the radio speakers as Bill Chambers bellowed into the hand-held microphone. "Calling CQ. CQ. This is Kilowatt, Zero, Sierra out of Springfield, Mo. We're conducting a strange-antenna challenge. Anyone there? Over." . . . http://news.ozarksnow.com/news/0511-Strangeant-52272.html (via Jilly Dybka, DXLD) ** U S A. NATIONAL HURRICANE CENTER`S WX4NHC ANNOUNCES ON-AIR TEST: The National Hurricane Center`s Amateur Radio station, WX4NHC (formerly W4EHW), will conduct its 2003 hurricane season on-the-air station test Sunday, June 1, 1300-2200 UT. The event will mark the first time the NHC uses its new WX4NHC call sign. WX4NHC Amateur Radio Coordinator John McHugh, KU4GY, says the purpose of the annual station test is to check out all of the WX4NHC radio, computer and antenna equipment using as many modes and frequencies as possible. Some RFI monitoring also will be done. ``We will also be testing some new antennas and equipment that are being installed for this coming season,`` McHugh said. ``A few new operators will receive hands-on training.`` WX4NHC will operate on HF, VHF and UHF. HF operation will use this schedule: 1300 UT -- 3.911 and 7.268 SSB and VHF/UHF FM; 1400 UT -- 14.325 MHz SSB, VHF 147.000 repeater/UHF 442.350 repeater; 1500 UT -- 144.200 MHz SSB, 14.070 MHz PSK31; 1700 UT -- 14.325 and 21.325 MHz SSB, VHF/UHF IRLP Node 9210; 1800 UT -- 21.325 and 28.525 MHz SSB; 2000 UT -- 14.325 and 144.200 MHz SSB. CW operation will be on 14.035, 21.035 and 28.035 MHz (times will vary). Stations working WX4NHC are asked to provide a signal report, location and brief weather report. Non-hams are invited to submit their actual weather using the On-Line Hurricane Report Form at http://www.fiu.edu/orgs/w4ehw/WX-form1.html QSL cards are available via W4VBQ. Include an SASE with all requests. (ARRL May 14 via John Norfolk, OKCOK, DXLD) ** U S A. Special event set to highlight missing children: A public special event to highlight missing children will be held May 26, 2003, 1500-2000 UTC, on the common in W Brookfield, Massachusetts. The third annual Ham Radio Special Event Station (KB1HGK) is designed to call attention to the more than 2300 children reported missing each day. This event is sponsored by Lyceum Press and Gifts, the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children http://www.missingkids.org/ the National Missing Child Organization and the Center for Missing Adults http://www.nmco.org/ Turley Publications http://www.turleypublications.com/ and the Central Massachusetts Amateur Radio Association http://www.cmara.org Anticipated operation will be on 7.225, 14.250 and 21.325 MHz, with SSTV on 20 meters. Participation by nonhams is invited under the supervision of a licensed operator. Each child operating will receive a special event patch. For more information, visit the Third Annual Missing Children`s Day Ham Radio Special Event Web site at http://www.lyceumpress.com/ham_radio%20special%20event%202003.htm or contact Sheree Greenwood, K1SQ lyceumpress@mindspring.com (ARRL May 14 via John Norfolk, OKCOK, DXLD) ** U S A. FCC Grants Five 60-Meter Channels The granting of just five spot frequencies -- 5332, 5348, 5368, 5373, and 5405 kHz -- at 60 meters was less of a surprise given opposition expressed last fall by the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA). The NTIA had cited a possible need for the requested band by federal government users and proposed the five specific frequencies for amateur use on a secondary basis. The FCC has granted operation on USB (2K8J3E emission) only, with a maximum effective radiated power limit of 50 W relative to a 0 dB gain antenna -- a half-wave dipole. The channels -- each with a maximum permissible bandwidth of 2.8 kHz -- will be available to General and higher class licensees. "While the new amateur privileges at 5 MHz are not as flexible as we had hoped, we recognize that much has changed since the ARRL petition for rulemaking was submitted to the FCC in the summer of 2001," Dave Sumner, GM of ARRL, said. "Federal agencies with homeland security responsibilities have renewed interest in HF radiocommunication." Sumner predicted that, over time, amateurs "will develop a record of disciplined, responsible use of the five channels in the public interest that will justify another look at these rather severe initial restrictions." The FCC said it gave "considerable weight" to the NTIA's concerns in making its decision on the ARRL's 60-meter request. The Commission denied requests by the United PowerLine Council http://www.uplc.utc.org/ (UPLC), a consortium of PLC manufacturers, and the PowerLine Communications Association http://www.plca.net (PLCA) to delay action in the proceeding. Both organizations had said that amateur operation in the vicinity of 5 MHz could affect plans for broadband over future power line (BPL) deployment. "We are pleased that the FCC has underscored the fact that broadband PLC systems must be designed so as to not cause harmful interference to licensed, allocated services," Sumner said. The ARRL had conducted lengthy experimental operations on the band that involved users across the US. The band is primary for several governmental agencies including the military (via Bill Smith, W5USM, DXLD) (ARRL May 14 via John Norfolk, OKCOK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. FCC DECLINES TO GRANT AMATEUR LF ALLOCATION; GIVES FIVE CHANNELS AT 5 MHZ --- SB QST @ ARL $ARLB035 ARLB035 ZCZC AG35 QST de W1AW ARRL Bulletin 35 ARLB035 From ARRL Headquarters Newington CT May 14, 2003 To all radio amateurs The FCC has declined to grant amateurs a sliver-band allocation at 136 kHz ''at this time.'' Also, in a compromise with government users, the Commission decided to give amateurs five discrete 2.8-kHz-wide channels in the vicinity of 5 MHz instead of the 150-kHz band ARRL had requested. In its Notice of Proposed Rule Making a year ago, the FCC appeared inclined to go along with both ARRL requests. The FCC did agree in a Report and Order released May 14 to elevate the Amateur Service, but not the Amateur-Satellite Service, to primary status at 2400 to 2402 MHz. The changes to Part 97 go into effect 30 days after publication in The Federal Register, which has not yet happened. ''We are disappointed that the FCC could not see its way clear to providing even a narrow LF allocation to the amateur service, given earlier encouraging signs and the general trend in other countries,'' ARRL Chief Executive Officer David Sumner, K1ZZ, said of the FCC's decision. The FCC, however, found itself more persuaded by arguments from electrical utilities and other commenters that amateur operation at 136 kHz might interfere with power line communications (PLC) used by electrical utilities to control the power grid. The FCC said a new amateur LF allocation is not justified ''when balanced against the greater public interest of an interference-free power grid.'' The FCC said amateurs wishing to experiment with LF could apply for experimental licenses or operate under existing Part 15 rules on that part of the spectrum. ''We will not jeopardize the reliability of electrical service to the public,'' the FCC concluded. The granting of just five spot frequencies -- 5332, 5348, 5368, 5373, and 5405 kHz -- at 60 meters was less of a surprise given opposition expressed last fall by the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA). The NTIA had cited a possible need for the requested band by federal government users and proposed the five specific frequencies for amateur use on a secondary basis. The FCC has granted operation on USB (2K8J3E emission) only, with a maximum effective radiated power limit of 50 W relative to a 0 dB gain antenna -- a half-wave dipole. The channels -- each with a maximum permissible bandwidth of 2.8 kHz -- will be available to General and higher class licensees. ''While the new amateur privileges at 5 MHz are not as flexible as we had hoped, we recognize that much has changed since the ARRL petition for rulemaking was submitted to the FCC in the summer of 2001,'' Sumner said. ''Federal agencies with homeland security responsibilities have renewed interest in HF radiocommunication.'' Sumner said the ARRL was pleased to see 2400-2402 MHz upgraded to primary. ''The upgrade of the 2400-2402 MHz amateur allocation to primary provides a seamless primary allocation from 2390 to 2417 MHz, in addition to the secondary allocations of 2300-2310 and 2417-2450 MHz,'' he said. Amateurs already have been experimenting with high-speed multimedia operation in the band using IEEE 802.11b protocols. The Report and Order is available on the FCC's Web site, http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/FCC-03-105A1.doc NNNN /EX (via Fabrizio Magrone, Italy, DXLD) (ARRL May 14 via John Norfolk, OKCOK, Jilly Dybka, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. MORE PIRATES FINED: FCC NOTICES FERNANDO ALEJANDRO. Issued a monetary forfeiture in the amount of $10,000 to Fernando Alejandro for operating a radio station on the frequency of 95.1 MHz without Commission authorization. Action by: Chief, Enforcement Bureau. Adopted: 05/08/2003 by Forfeiture Order. (DA No. 03-1535). EB http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/DA-03-1535A1.doc http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/DA-03-1535A1.pdf http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/DA-03-1535A1.txt EMMANUEL FREDERIC. Issued a monetary forfeiture in the amount of $10,000 to Emmanuel Frederic for operating a radio station on the frequency of 87.9 and 89.7 MHz without Commission authorization. Action by: Chief, Enforcement Bureau. Adopted: 05/08/2003 by Forfeiture Order. (DA No. 03-1536). EB http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/DA-03-1536A1.doc http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/DA-03-1536A1.pdf http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/DA-03-1536A1.txt (via Fred Vobbe, NRC-AM via DXLD) More Floridians? Why not specify? ** U S A. FCC GETTING HIP WITH THE PRESENT Top Of The News, Dan Ackman, 05.13.03, 9:15 AM ET NEW YORK - The new cross-ownership rules being floated by the U.S. Federal Communications Commission have been in the works for at least two years now, but the reality in which they operate has been changing for a lot longer than that. The result: many more voices, even if the loudest voices all tend to say the same thing. . . http://www.forbes.com/home_asia/2003/05/13/cx_da_0513topnews.html (via Jilly Dybka, DXLD) LARGE MARIN CROWD DEBATES MEDIA OWNERSHIP By Keri Brenner, IJ reporter More than 500 people packed a public hearing yesterday in San Rafael on the Federal Communications Commission's proposed relaxation of media consolidation rules. . . http://www.marinij.com/Stories/0,1413,234~24407~1388521,00.html (via Jilly Dybka, DXLD) ** U S A. TOUGH CALL WIRELESS COMPANIES DISGUISE TRANSMISSION SITES AMID PUBLIC OUTCRY http://www.zwire.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=7976994&BRD=1281&PAG=461&dept_id=7546&rfi=6 (via Jilly Dybka, DXLD) ** U S A. U.S. RADIO STATIONS TALLIED Just how many radio stations are there in the United States? The FCC is out with the latest answer to that frequent question. As of March, there were just over 4,800 AMs, 6,000 commercial FMs and 2,400 noncom FMs, for a total of 13,200. There were about 3,800 FM translators and boosters (From http://www.rwonline.com/dailynews/one.php?id=3084 Date posted: 2003-05-05 via Mike Terry, DXLD) ** U S A. Re: You Know You're An Aging Radio DJ When..... I was a DJ for a while at a small FM station over 20 years ago. At that time of course we were still playing 33 and 45 rpm records as well as carts. I can really relate to: You still have dreams of a song running out and not being able to find the control room door (via Rick Robinson, NRC-AM via DXLD) While I was on the air and for many years afterward I had a recurrent dream that I was on the air, the record would end, and nothing would be cued up. It is good to see others have had this same dream! It must be very common among radio announcers. 73, (David Hodgson, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. WEATHER RADIO USING HUMAN VOICES TO WIN BACK LISTENERS [misleading headline] By Clay Redden, DAILY Staff Writer MONTGOMERY -- If you've had a chance to listen to NOAA Weather Radio recently, you may have noticed something different: It's a little easier to understand. That's because the National Weather Service has gone back to using human voices and is phasing in a new human-sounding computer voice. "We're trying to jazz up Weather Radio just a little bit to get our listeners back," said Dave Wilfing, forecaster with the National Weather Service state office in Calera. "We lost some listeners when we switched over to the mechanical voice." For the past several years, the National Weather Service has used a computerized announcer, nicknamed "Igor" by forecasters, to read the information broadcast over Weather Radio. But Igor's mechanical and monotone voice was difficult for some people to understand. Those people started turning to commercial radio and television stations for their weather information. Forecasters at the National Weather Service office in Huntsville, which reopened earlier this year, said Monday they haven't received any complaints -- including during last week's severe weather outbreak -- about the computerized voice. Wilfing said human announcers and the new human-sounding computer voice now read most of the local and statewide weather information transmitted over 13 Weather Radio stations in North and Central Alabama. However, because of conflicts between the new human-sounding computer voice and the Weather Radio computer, forecasters aren't using the new computerized voice to read severe weather statements nor are they using human forecasters to record the statements. That job is still left to Igor. "When we hit the enter key on the computer to send out a warning, it immediately goes out over Weather Radio," said Wilfing. "No matter how good you are, you can't get it on the air as fast as the computer." That's because Igor, whose voice has been improved and works from a different system from the new voice, is actually tied into the computer system used to write and issue weather warnings. It would take several minutes for a forecaster to record the warning and then broadcast it over Weather Radio. Additionally, the National Weather Service office in Calera issues all warnings for the northern two-thirds of the state and doesn't have the staff to record individual warnings for the 13 Weather Radio stations in its coverage area. Wilfing said it's hoped that the new human-sounding computer voice will take over the responsibility of announcing severe weather warnings later this year. NOAA stations Frequencies of NOAA Weather Radio stations covering Morgan, Lawrence and Limestone counties: Huntsville: 162.400 MHz Florence: 162.475 MHz Cullman: 162.450 MHz Winfield: 162.525 MHz Source: National Weather Service (THE DECATUR DAILY, [AL], May 13, via Mike Cooper, DXLD) ** U S A. CHICAGO HOMELESS SHELTER SEEKS HOME May 15, 2003 By JOHN W. FOUNTAIN http://www.nytimes.com/2003/05/15/national/15HOME.html?ex=1054017416&ei=1&en=16d272765e4f2236 . . .The largest and oldest shelter for the homeless in Chicago, Pacific Garden is also where "Unshackled," a syndicated real-life Christian radio drama broadcast in 147 countries, is taped every Saturday before a live audience. . . Wasn't there a story a few weeks ago about troubles at Pacific Garden Mission? Wonder if the two are related? 73- (Bill Westenhaver, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. NEW OWNERS TUNE IN KEYS RADIO STATIONS New England pair buys WAVK, WWWK By Michael Welber Keynoter Business Writer A new company in New England co-owned by a part-time Key Colony Beach resident has bought two Marathon radio stations, WAVK and WWWK. http://www.keynoter.com/business/20030510s01.html (via Jilly Dybka, DXLD) ** U S A. TV LOGO GALLERY UPDATE All channels are now updated at http://www.egrabow.com/gallery/ I actually lost the .DOC files I used to create last years pages when I switched computers. Instead of starting over with Word and Acrobat, I opened up Photoshop to see what that would look like. The result: you be the judge. Each channel has a JPEG map that is about 900 MBs (dial-up users, be patient). I actually took stats on this one! Better formatting at http://www.egrabow.com/gallery/about.htm Channel 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, Total Logos Confirmed: 47 50 48 41 49 235 Logos Modified: 6 6 9 12 4 37 Logos or Stations Added: 2 3 4 1 2 12 Logos or Stations Deleted: 0 0 0 0 0 0 Logos Unavailable: 2 2 3 1 4 12 Total stations: 57 61 64 55 59 296 "End of message. End of transmission." (Ryan Grabow, Patchogue, Long Island, New York http://www.egrabow.com/dx/ WTFDA via DXLD) ** U S A. Buffalo DTV --- the last time I saw WIVB-DT (I don't have a DTV tuner yet, but I've been borrowing and looking at Rick's) it was signing off cold at 11PM, so extended hours of any sort, even if they're just replaying CBS primetime, are a good thing. I have a theory about how WIVB might have easy access to a replayed feed of CBS HDTV, too: as of a few months ago, WIVB and WNLO have moved their master control from Buffalo to Indianapolis, at a new centralcasting hub at sister LIN station WISH-TV. That hub is also shared by WDTN in Dayton, WLFI in Lafayette and WANE in Fort Wayne. WISH, WLFI and WANE are, of course, on "Indiana Stupid Time," as my friend there calls it. In recent years, WISH has been delaying CBS primetime in summer months so as to maintain an 8-11 PM primetime schedule year-round. When WISH-DT signed on five years ago (they were among the first!), it passed CBS primetime through live year-round; But that caused some consternation for the CBS lawyers in New York, who were worried that the "separate" plays of programming in Indianapolis might count against the number of runs of programming the network was allowed under its agreements with program producers - never mind that at that point, there were perhaps 10 people in town who could watch the DTV. So it came to be that WISH was compelled to spend big bucks on one of the first DTV Profile servers, to ingest the CBS DTV feed and spit it out again an hour later. And as long as that box is sitting there, I wonder if it's being put to other uses too --- like providing a delayed feed for WIVB-DT? (More tales of "Indiana Stupid Time": WANE wanted to keep a constant late-afternoon schedule year-round - so it carries CBS daytime programming live in the summer months, but delays it 23 hours in the winter! In so doing, of course, the station has to edit out all the "CBS Primetime Tonight" and other day/date promos in the network programming --- which turns out to be something approaching a full- time job, albeit made easier by the new digital gear in Indianapolis. WANE and the other "big 3" Fort Wayne stations just began delaying primetime in the summer two years ago - good for Fort Wayners, but not so good for the folks in Ohio and Michigan who watch Fort Wayne TV and now have 9-midnight prime time half the year. It's sort of the opposite problem that the KELO network faces in South Dakota, where viewers in most of the state get primetime from 7 to 10 Central time, but the folks watching satellite KCLO-15 in Rapid City end up with CBS primetime from 6-9 MT, Letterman at 9:35 and Craig Kilborn at 10:35. Given how cheap Profile servers have become, I wonder if they'll ever put one out there to delay KCLO an hour?) s (Scott Fybush, NY, WTFDA via DXLD) ** UZBEKISTAN. [continued from ITALY] I hear on a regular basis from R. Tashkent, who is holding another contest for its listeners --- I won second prize in the last one, a tape which I can`t play because it`s in a different format --- with ``memorable prizes and souvenirs.`` I`ve been pretty well told that there are rooms waiting for me in the country if I plan to visit --- I`ve already started my ``Tashkent or Bust`` fund! (Sue Hickey, NF, May CIDX Forum via DXLD) ** VANUATU. PORT VILA (Oceania Flash) --- After a much-noticed arrival in Fiji in March this year, France’s international broadcaster Radio France Internationale is scheduled to start transmitting in the Vanuatu capital Port Vila, after many years of absence, Vanuatu’s Port Via Presse newspaper reports. The Vanuatu Broadcasting and Television Corp. has earlier this month signed a partnership agreement with RFI, whereby the Vanuatu national radio will get new transmitting equipment, as well as training facilities with RFI. The contract is currently being formalized with RFI in Paris. It also involves transmitting RFI on a separate FM band for the benefit of some 40 percent of French-speaking ni-Vanuatu — out of a total population of some 200,000. For the 60 percent of English-speaking ni-Vanuatu, the British High Commission in Port Vila has earlier this year boosted its transmission capacity with the donation of new equipment to the VBTC for the purpose of relaying the BBC radio World Service both in the capital Port Vila, but also in the only other town of Luganville, Espiritu Santo Island, North Vanuatu. Since the official launching of RFI in neighboring Fiji, the Australian Broadcasting Corp.’s international radio service, Radio Australia, has also “re-launched” its local frequency on FM. A few days later, in April, Radio New Zealand International’s news bulletins reached the Fiji listeners via a local private radio, Z FM. In Fiji, the BBC radio World Service has been relayed for years through a service provided by Communications Fiji Ltd., a company that operates four stations in Fiji — two in English, one in Fijian, one of Hindustani (Marianas Variety, May 15 via E. Baxendale, UK, DXLD) ** VENEZUELA [non]. A station which some believe is the Venezuelan government outlet was heard on 15570 earlier this year, announcing itself as Circuito RNV and taking a leftist line, which would be fit with the tack of the current Chávez government there. Whatever it was, it wasn`t there very long. It is a bit surprising that the Venezuelan government isn`t doing more SW broadcasting in an attempt to make its views heard. For that matter, we wonder why no anti-Chávez clandestine broadcasters have appears as yet (Gerry L. Dexter, WI, Bandscan America, May Short Wave Magazine [UK] via DXLD) GLD`s cribbing from DXLD must have slipped; else he`d know that 15570 was simply R. Habana Cuba with its usual Sunday mid-day relay of Aló Presidente, plus 3 or 4 other frequencies (gh, DXLD) UNIDENTIFIED. ZIMBABWE? [non?]. On 16 May at 1820 tune in, on 4880 there was an interesting station. Lots of static, first heard only some English words and thought it was AIR Lucknow with prolonged program. But later on the signal improved and there was an interview in English (by phone I guess). Lots of talk about Zimbabwe. In that interview they mentioned "PO Box CY789 Harare" and telephone numbers 776992 and 776942. Well, at least that's the way I heard them:). Unfortunately I had to leave my radio for a while, and when rechecking at 1858, the station was gone. Wonder if ZBC is on this frequency now or someone else - who? (Jari Savolainen, Kuusankoski, Finland, dxing.info via DXLD) This is the address of "Grosvenor Trade International (Pvt) Ltd", a trade company that exports Flour and Polywoven bags. Probably it was an interview to Mr. Ngwena and you was >listening to AIR (Roberto Scaglione, hard-core-dx via DXLD) Umm, yes I did check that PO Box at Google, too. Hard to believe that AIR Lucknow would continue after their usual sign-off time with this kind of program. All the other AIR outlets in the 60/90 mb were off (except 4860 Delhi). We'll see the coming days what's on this frequency. 73 (Jari Savolainen Kuusankoski Finland, ibid.) Hi Glenn, Re: UNIDENTIFIED. 4870 steady signal here, but noisy conditions. Nothing but music, "Me and you and a dog named Blue," and Abba's "Fernando." The title of the first song Hans heard is actually "Me and you and a dog named Boo", sung by a band called Lobo. Not that it really matters, but I know you like to keep things accurate in DXLD :-) 73, (Andy Sennitt, Holland, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ PUBLICATIONS ++++++++++++ DOMESTIC BROADCASTING SURVEY #5 NOW AVAILABLE The Danish Shortwave Club International has just finished updating its DBS and the fifth edition is now on sale by e-mail as pdf-files. It contains about 1725 entries of domestic shortwave stations including the tropical bands, and clandestines. Please have a look on http://www.dswci.org and click Domestic Broadcasting Survey for more details. Best 73, (Anker Petersen, DSWCI, May 16, DX LISTENING DIGEST) It`s a really exhaustive publication, by frequency from tropical bands to 29 MHz, excluding external services; also a listing by frequency of such stations which have been deleted in the last few years (gh) EUROPEAN MEDIUMWAVE GUIDE I am pleased to announce that contrary to the Domestic Broadcasting Survey and several other publications, the European Medium Wave Guide (EMWG) is still available free of charge as both a PDF file and an online edition. Both versions will be greatly updated in the next few weeks. You can consult and download this publication at www.emwg.info And while you're at it, don't forget EMWG's counterpart for Asia and the Pacific, the PAL, which is also available free of charge, at http://www.qsl.net/n7ecj 73 - (Herman Boel, Author of the European Medium Wave Guide EMWG web site: http:www.emwg.info personal homepage: http:users.pandora.behermanb located in Aalst, Flanders (Europe), hard-core-dx via DXLD) SHORTWAVE AS MUSIC ++++++++++++++++++ More re shortwave as an increasingly prevalent musical "instrument": "German experimental musican Holgar Czukay will perform solo, using samplers, guitar, French horn and a short-wave radio set, which he sees as a 'strange synthesizer' - 'sometimes a little bit [of an] unpredictable instrument, looking for surprises.'" . . . http://www.sptimes.ru/archive/times/867/features/a_9395.htm "(Wilco's) masterpiece (disguised as an obese albatross) came with Yankee Hotel Foxtrot, a concept album that likens short wave radio (Yankee Hotel Foxtrot is a code from Mossad, Israels intelligence agency) to human relationships." . . . http://www.smokymountainnews.com/issues/05_03/05_14_03/art_wilco.html Human relationships? 73 (Kim Andrew Elliott, Producer and Presenter, Communications World, Voice of America, May 16, DX LISTENING DIGEST) RECEIVER NEWS +++++++++++++ WEB-CONTROLLED RECEIVER There is an interesting Web-controlled receiver which can be found at http://194.165.225.6/sfors/index.html It is an SRT CR-91 owned and made available on the Web by Orexis Communication AB of Umeå, Sweden. It receives in all popular modes AM, USB, LSB and a number of bandwidths. Sign in with your own chosen password, select your frequency and mode and enjoy listening. Bear in mind that this is shared by many listeners. A chat box is visible on the screen which enables anyone signed in to share messages with other listeners in real time. The frequency 7630 USB has been quite active since the start of recent activities in Iraq. There are messages to and from what appears to be an aircraft carrier and at least two ground based forces, one British, the other American. It makes for some interesting listening. None of these communications could be heard at my listening post. The Web receiver being in Sweden and closer to the monitored zone definitely gives it an edge. Listening to the ever popular 11175 kHz with the Web receiver and your own receiver at the same time often fills in the gap of the missing reply from the distant aircraft. The Web receiver has a delay of approximately 10 seconds, which takes some getting used to (Robert Ellis, Beaconsfield QC, Worldwide Utility Column, May CIDX Messenger via DXLD) POWERLINE COMMUNICATIONS ++++++++++++++++++++++++ BROADBAND VIA POWER CABLES --- The Swedish state-owned power company Vattenfall has signed an agreement with Song Networks to provide broadband to households via power lines. Initially the service is to be offered to apartment dwellers in the Greater Stockholm area. Vattenfall says it will price the service to compete with ADSL, which is currently the most popular broadband service in Sweden (TT, whatever that is, via SCDX/MediaScan May 16 via DXLD) See also SWEDEN, USA CONVENTIONS & CONFERENCES +++++++++++++++++++++++++ WTFDA 2003 ANNUAL CONVENTION WESTERN NEW YORK July 10-13, 2003 Batavia-Buffalo-Rochester-Toronto! The suspense is over! WTFDA 2003 is a reality - and it's all over beautiful Western New York. First things first: hotel information. Our home for WTFDA 2003 will be the Days Inn of Batavia, N.Y., right alongside exit 48 of the New York State Thruway (I-90), 40 minutes from downtown Rochester and 40 minutes from downtown Buffalo. They're holding 30 rooms for us at a rate of $72/night (plus 11% tax) per room, with a maximum of four people per room. You must make your reservation no later than June 10 to get this rate - so book now! Call the Days Inn directly at (585) 343-6000 and tell them you're with WTFDA. Your planning committee, which includes Scott Fybush, Jim Renfrew, Jerry Bond, Greg Coniglio, Rick Lucas and Guy Falsetti, has plenty of fun in store for you: On Thursday, July 10, we're making tentative plans for early arrivals to take a day trip across the border to Toronto, Ontario, where the mighty CN Tower puts out some of the region's strongest signals. If you expect to be arriving in time for this trip, or need more information, please contact Scott Fybush right away! Later in the evening, we'll have dinner in Batavia for others who have arrived early. On Friday, July 11, we head to Buffalo to see the mighty KB Radio and much more! In the evening, Jim Renfrew will open his home just minutes from our host hotel - and the many acres of farmland behind his house - for plenty of DXing. (We're working on arranging a big skip opening; stay tuned!) On Saturday, July 12, we hope to offer a tuner clinic in the morning. In the afternoon, we'll head to Rochester, where we'll see several newly-renovated broadcast facilities before returning to Batavia for our banquet and annual meeting at the hotel. (Wait till you see the size of our meeting room!) On Sunday, July 13, the meeting room will be open in the morning and early afternoon as WTFDA'ers prepare to head out on the road. How do you get to Batavia? Western New York offers plenty of transportation options: By air: The Buffalo-Niagara International Airport, just 35 minutes from our host hotel, has service from all major airlines as well as Southwest, AirTran and Jet Blue. The Greater Rochester International Airport, about 40 minutes to the east, has major airline service as well as Jet Blue. Members of your host committee can arrange transportation from either airport to the hotel - just be sure to let us know in advance! By train: Amtrak provides service from Chicago, New York, Boston and points beyond to its stations in Buffalo and Rochester; we can get you the rest of the way as long as you let us know ahead of time. By bus: Greyhound offers service directly to Batavia, just minutes from the hotel. From there, it's an inexpensive taxi ride - or we can pick you up. By car: The Days Inn is just seconds from exit 48 of the New York Thruway. Batavia is about seven hours' drive from Boston, New York City or Washington; just four hours or so to Cleveland. We'll have many more details in the months to come, including information about how to register for the convention and information about activities for spouses/families. In the meantime, please make those hotel reservations as soon as possible - and let us know you're planning on coming! Contact the host committee in care of Scott Fybush by e-mail at wtfda2003@fybush.com, snail-mail at 92 Bonnie Brae Ave, Rochester NY 14618, or by phone at 585-442-5411 (10 AM - 10 PM Eastern, no collect calls please!) We can't wait to see you for a great WTFDA convention here in Western New York! Info forwarded by Saul Chernos, who plans to attend (NRC-AM via DXLD) EURORADIO 2003 The Ross Revenge -- 1983-2003 (From Barry Crompton) France Radio Club and Offshore Echo's annual event has a new date and a new venue, for this commemoration of 20 years of Radio Caroline's famous ship Ross Revenge. Euroradio 2003 takes place in Calais, France on Saturday 13 September 2003, at the Hotel Georges V in the centre of Calais. Euroradio starts at 2.00pm local time features a selection of offshore radio videos playing during the afternoon. We'll also be talking to our special guests. The Offshore Echo's Boutique will be open during the event, featuring a wide range of offshore radio related merchandise. In the evening there is a special Euroradio dinner, with fine French cuisine including wine, at the Georges V restaurant. The Hotel Georges V is situated in the Rue Royale, Calais's main street, and close to numerous bars, restaurants and shops. Guests Peter Chicago Associated with Radio Caroline for many years during her offshore days, firstly as engineer on the Mi Amigo, when he was persuaded to jump ship from RNI. Chicago worked as transmitter engineer on the Ross Revenge and was on board during the infamous 1989 raid. Nowadays he works in broadcast engineering. Paul Graham A veteran of numerous offshore and free radio projects, Paul has worked in Irish radio, as well as deejaying on the Ross Revenge, during the time she started to drift. He now works in radio consultancy. Mike Barrington An engineer and deejay on the Mi Amigo, Mike later worked on the Ross Revenge as a engineer. He was also involved with radio engineering for land based free radio station Radio Sovereign, and the MV Communicator. He is now Marine engineer on Sealand. Dennis Jason If you've seen photo's of the Ross Revenge, taken from the top of the 300 foot mast, you may also see part of the foot, of the man intrepidly climbed the mast to take the picture. Dennis Jason, as well as being a deejay, is an accomplished photographer. Euroradio 2003 costs ?35 including dinner, or just ?10 for the afternoon (without dinner). [Euros?] For Bookings and further information contact: Web: http://www.offshoreechos.com/euroradio2003 E-mail: Euroradio@offshoreechos.com Post: Offshore Echo's [sic], PO Box 1514, London W7 2LL Full details of travel, hotels and Calais maps will be sent with bookings (via Mike Terry, DXLD) PROPAGATION +++++++++++ PROPAGATION REPORT Solar wind speed declined early in the week on May 10 giving a brief easing of conditions but increased again aruond 06UT on May 11. The sequence of coronal holes appears to be set to continue for some time giving rise to elevated wind speeds and variable propagation conditions. Things were a bit quieter on May 15 but generally geomagnetic conditions have ranged from active to minor storm levels with no immediate sign of this trend changing. This has led to depressed MUFs at times. Solar flare activity has continued to be almost non existent. Things are a bit quieter on the geomagnetic front tonight but the disturbed conditions may continue for some time. Prepared using data from http://www.ips.gov.au (Richard Jary, SA, May 16, Cumbredx mailing list via DXLD) ###