DX LISTENING DIGEST 3-086, May 19, 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: Tue 1900, Wed 0100, 0700/0830, 1300/1430 on 7445 and/or 15039 WWCR: Wed 0930 9475 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 WORLD OF RADIO on WJIE: At 1630 UT check Sun May 18 on 13595, WOR was again already in progress, and it was still 1179 as played last week, rather than 1180, 1181, or preferably the latest, 1182. Has anyone heard the scheduled Sat 0930 or Sun 1030 airings on 7490 or 13595? (gh) UNSOLICITED TESTIMONIAL Thanks for the good job you do, it is always a pleasure to read your bulletins. It must take you hours every time to edit them? 73's (Tore Larsson, Sweden, ARC) ** AFGHANISTAN. AFGHANISTAN: ATTEMPTS TO SMUGGLE SATELLITE DISHES FOILED | Text of report by Iranian radio from Mashhad on 19 May An attempt to smuggle equipment for satellite dishes to Herat has been foiled. A report from the Central News Unit in Kabul quoted the head of Herat customs saying that hundreds of satellite dishes had been confiscated on the verbal order of the governor of Herat, Esmail Khan, at Torghondi customs checkpoint on the Afghan-Turkmen border. He said that this order was aimed at preventing the development of corruption in various areas of Afghanistan. By a similar instruction earlier, the governor of Herat, Esmail Khan, placed a ban on cable TV, the setting up of entertainment centres and women singing. Source: Voice of the Islamic Republic of Iran, Mashhad, in Dari 0330 gmt 19 May 03 (via BBCM via DXLD) Backsliders ** AFGHANISTAN. CABLE TV BACK ON IN AFGHAN CAPITAL DESPITE HIGH COURT BAN | Text of report by Afghan news agency Hindokosh Kabul, Hindokosh News Agency, 29 Sowr 1382 [19 May]: Cable television programmes have started in Kabul after a four months gap. Once again the cable television network has commenced its programmes four months after the head of the Supreme Court Mowlawi Fazl Hadi Shinwari banned it. The chief researcher of the Academy of Sciences, Abdol Jabar Abid, commenting on this issue, said: The BBC, CNN and Al-Jazeera television networks broadcast these programmes, and they are beneficial for people, especially for those who need education. Four months ago Minister of Information and Culture Mr Sayd Makhdum Rahin had said that cable television programmes would resume in a legal framework, and would also pay tax to the Ministry of Finance. The deputy justice minister for administrative affairs Mr [Mohammad Ashraf] Rasuli has said that they have not yet succeeded in forming an appropriate framework for cable television programmes. Source: Hindokosh news agency, Kabul, in Dari 1300 gmt 19 May 03 (via BBCM via DXLD) ** AFGHANISTAN/UK. SOLAR POWER BRINGS BBC WORLD SERVICE TO BAMIAN | Text of report by press release from BBC on 19 May Two years after the Taleban destroyed two huge Buddha statues in Bamian in central Afghanistan amid international furore, BBC World Service has erected a solar powered FM transmitter to bring BBC World Service to the predominantly Hazara population of the region. Apart from a few private generators, Bamian has no electrical power which is why BBC World Service chose solar energy to power the new 89.0 MHz frequency. This is the fourth FM frequency BBC World Service has launched in Afghanistan since the Taleban regime fell in November 2001. FM frequencies already transmit BBC World Service in high quality sound to millions of Afghans in the capital, Kabul, Mazar-e-Sharif and Jalalabad in eastern Afghanistan. [WTFK???] "Throughout more than two decades of conflict, Bamian became one of the most neglected regions of Afghanistan. Almost the entire population fled under the Taleban. There was little investment in the area. It has never had a power station or any radio facilities," said Behrouz Afagh, head of Eurasia region at BBC World Service. "Now the population are returning to Bamian. For the first time people in the region can listen to the World Service on FM," he said. The new solar powered FM transmitter will broadcast 24 hours a day with programmes predominantly in Pashto and Persian. BBC World Service has an unparalleled reach in Afghanistan. A recent survey in Kabul found that 82 per cent of Afghans in the capital listen to BBC World Service broadcasts every week. The survey - the first since the Taleban left power - found BBC World Service is the leading broadcaster in Kabul with 88 per cent of Afghans perceiving BBC World Service as a trusted source of information. BBC World Service plans to expand its FM presence in Afghanistan with further FM frequencies in other provincial cities over the coming year. Source: BBC press release, London, in English 19 May 03 (via BBCM via DXLD) ** ARGENTINA. Recuerden que la página web mantenida por el colega santafesino Luciano Gentile, con abundantísima información sobre la radio argentina, puede disfrutarse haciendo "click" en http://www.geocities.com/radioestaciones (Arnaldo Slaen, Conexión Digital via DXLD) ** AUSTRALIA. X Band: Heart n Soul Productions Ltd, 5 Phoenix Street, Castle Hill 2154. Trading name is also a BCB callsign, 2ME. They currently own 57 licences in the extended AM band, and as such, are the largest single owner of such licences in Australia. Recently granted an Australia-wide content licence by the ABA to be used in conjunction with the expanded AM band transmitters. 2ME Sydney 1638 broadcasts in Arabic and English, as a bilingual station targeting Arabic people in NSW. The program is networked to 3ME Melbourne 1647. In 1999 there were plans to extend this to Adelaide. 2ME Address: Suite 6, 5 Macquarie Street, Parramatta 2150. T: 02 9635 1638 Owner Sid Mehri is also the owner of Hygrade Properties Pty Ltd (see #40) whose frequencies are actually used to carry the 2ME and 3ME program. Heart n Soul Productions is also the operator of a second format brand, known as Radio 16 NTC, the Country Music Network. The ID is `The best mix in the country on Radio 16 NTC`. Radio 16 NTC is currently broadcasting on 1611 Tamworth, 1620 Armidale and New England, 1629 Bathurst and 1701 Sydney. Address: 5 Macquarie Street, Parramatta 2150. T: 02 9899 9633 (Tim Gaynor MWOZ via May NZ DX Times via DXLD) ** BOLIVIA. NEW SW/NUEVA OC/NOVA OC --- 18/Mayo/2003 1205 UT 6.586.1v Radio Nueva Esperanza, El Alto, Depto. La Paz, Bolivia Av. Rául Salmón, 92 entre Calle 4 y 5, Zona 12 de Octubre, El Alto - La Paz - Bolivia Tel. (02) 282-5269 ID OM "Desde la República de Bolivia, transmite Radio Nueva Esperanza en 6.585 MHz de onda corta, banda de 49 metros. Anunciando la pronta venida de nuestro Señor Jesus Cristo" Esta rádio já transmite por onda média em 1520 kHz conforme anúncio da rádio e está no WRTH2003. Anúncio na rádio também da Libreria Nueva Esperanza no mesmo endereço. 73's e QRV (Rogildo Fontenelle Aragão, Cochabamba - Bolivia, a.k.a. Quillacollo-Bolivia, Lowe HF-225E - Sony ICF-2001D - LW 50m, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** BOLIVIA. 4796.88, Radio Mallku, Uyuni, 1010+, May 15. Local ads in Aymara & Spanish. ID by female: "Radio Mallku". Other ID and ann.: "Radio Mallku, labrando y construyendo....transmitiendo programas de.....Radio Mallku, emitiendo espacios radiofonicos para la cultura popular...."; Andean music. 24432 (Arnaldo Slaen, Argentina, hard- core-dx via DXLD) ** BRAZIL. 12575, Radio Globo, Río de Janeiro, 1200+, reportada por Adan Mur, en esta frecuencia alimentadora, en modo A3H. Identificación de la emisora, mencionando la frecuencia de los 1220 KHZ. SINPO 45544 (Adán Mur, Paraguay, Conexión Digital via DXLD) maritime band ** CANADA. RCI frequency change starting May 21 for 2200-0000 (World at Six, As It Happens) 6140 starting Wednesday, replacing 13670, to benefit New England, NY, NJ --- 9590, which was expected to do well, was skipping over that region (Bill Westenhaver, RCI, CKUT International Radio Report May 18, notes by Ricky Leong, via DXLD) As requested by John Figliozzi ** CANADA. MANY CANADIANS HAPPY WITH CBC The Gazette, Saturday, May 10, 2003 Your May 3 editorial "State media no solution" was not very complimentary to the CBC. My radio listening time is divided up between the CBC, 40 per cent, Radio-Canada, 15 per cent, the classic station, 15 per cent. Vermont Public Radio, 15 per cent and no radio at all the rest of the time. The noise that is classed as music on the other FM and AM stations is nothing but irritating. This racket coupled with the very invasive advertising makes for a speedy turn-off. I had no idea that cost of running the CBC, as you say in the editorial, was only $33 per person per year. This is really a bargain. You say that there is a very small percentage of Canadians who listen to CBC regularly. I doubt this. I'm sure that many Canadians are happy with the service of the CBC but do not come up on any supposedly accurate popularity polls. I guess these polls make many people like me irrelevant and ready for the dustbin of history (Frank Moller, Westmount, [Letter to the Editor] (c) Copyright 2003 Montreal Gazette via Mike Cooper, DXLD) ** CHINA. The Beijing 50 kW transmitter on 17625 is active again with CNR2 on a reduced schedule, using 17615 (as RFA jammer) 0300-0700 and 17625 0700-1100. The switch from 17615 to 17625 takes from 30 to 60 seconds, typical of older transmitters. On the other hand, CNR2 on 7230 seems not to be a move from 7200 but a programme change at Xi`an, while 7200 Beijing 50 kW also seems to be gone (Olle Alm, Sweden, May 19, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CHINA. CHINESE COMMUNIST PARTY PROPAGANDA NEEDS RETHINK, OFFICIAL SAYS The Chinese Communist Party's head of propaganda has called for a radical overhaul and strategy rethink in propaganda units. Writing in the party journal Qiushi, Li Changchun said propaganda units, including party media organs, must become more market-oriented, and produce newsworthy reports which have more relevance to people's lives. Li said all party propaganda organs, including publishing houses, the media and cultural troupes, must be run like commercial enterprises and should even seek new markets overseas. Li predicted that as China's economy opened up to the world, "hostile Western forces" would keep trying to Westernize and divide China, people's ideas and moral values would become more diversified and could even become distorted. Li warned that China was already suffering from a decline in morality and a lack of faith and trust. He said propaganda units must therefore raise public morale by highlighting the party's achievements in market economic reforms and social prosperity, while exposing and criticizing any problems that had provoked public anger and complaints. The party should also tighten controls over the Internet and prohibit any harmful information, Li added. The following is the text of the article by Li Changchun, member of the standing committee of the Politburo under the CCP Central Committee, entitled: "Use important thinking of 'three representations' to guide propaganda and ideological work", published by Chinese magazine Qiushi (Seeking Truth) web site on 1 May . . . [extremely long article skipped as it would take up almost half of this issue; maybe someone can find the website, and it is in English as noted below --- gh] . . .The significance of succeeding in the party's propaganda and ideological work is enormous and the task is most arduous. Under the leadership of the CCP Central Committee with Comrade Hu Jintao as its general secretary and the guidance of Deng Xiaoping Theory and the important thinking of the "three representations", we must study and implement in depth the spirit of the 16th CCP National Congress, unite as one, rouse ourselves to make the country prosperous, serve as a link between the past and the future, advance with the times, accomplish the important and glorious mission entrusted to us by the CCP Central Committee, and duly contribute to the building of a well- off society in an all-round way and the creation of a new look in the building of socialism with Chinese characteristics. Source: Qiushi, Beijing, in English 1 May 03 (via BBCM via DXLD) ** COLOMBIA. 5958.18, La Voz de los Centauros, Villavicencio. May 2003 - 1140 UT. This station is off air during long periods but now activated with good signal. Belongs to CARACOL and drift of some 10- parts up/down. Also heard during the evenings. Enclosed recording of "La Voz de los Centauros" http://homepage.sverige.net/~a-0901/ (Björn Malm, Quito, Ecuador, SW Bulletin May 18, translated by editor Thomas Nilsson for DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** COSTA RICA. Radio América, San José, is now at: http://www.radioamerica780am.com and there has been no change in description of Radio America 850 since January (Tetsuya Hirahara/RNM, May 18, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CROATIA. A foreign service of Hrvatski Radio, besides SW frequencies also broadcasts on 1134 (not // 1125). Heard programmes in Croatian, Spanish: 0230-0300, English: 1800-1803, 0200-0230 (May). Programmes at 1800 is only 3 min duration (Robert Petraitis, Lithuania in an email (9/5-2003), Medium Wave Circle email list) Croatia on 1134 is in English at 1500 (Stefano Valianti, Italy, May 17th ibid) I hear Voice of Croatia in English at 2200-2203 on 1134 with news (Steve Whitt, Yorkshire, UK, May 17th, ibid., all via Mike Barraclough, DXLD) The programme in English at 1500 gmt on 1134 kHz continues until 1530. (Stefano Valianti, Italy, May 18th, Medium Wave Circle email list via Barralclough, DXLD)) Following the change in the schedule of Vof Croatia on 28th April (see email news posting 16 May), I haven't heard any English news so emailed the station to find out if they still carried English. Their reply mentions 1134 kHz mediumwave only, with English at 0600, 1000, 1500, 1800 and 2200 UT:- Dear Mr. Pennington, Thank you for listening to our program. We are a small, but determined team and are hoping to make the time spent with us as fun as possible. You can tune into the English portion of our program every day at 8, noon, 17, 20 and 24 hours CE[S]T on medium waves 1134. Hope you enjoy the program and let us know what you think about it. Yours sincerely, Sandra Kalogjera, editor [English at 2200-2225 UT on 1134 easily heard here in the UK with "Croatia Today" programme. Shortwave 6165 and 13830 didn't carry this English programme at 2200 although these frequencies were in parallel with 1134 in Croatian earlier in the evening, 18 May] (Alan Pennington, BDXC-UK, Caversham UK, via DXLD) ** CUBA. This is Radio Havana Cuba amigos, and let me provide you with a news item related to our station engineering department. The 15120 kiloHertz frequency broadcast to Europe will be off the air for several weeks, as the old antenna system is taken down and the new array is installed... So, for those of you in Europe and also in North America that picked up the 15120 kiloHertz frequency, please receive our apologies, we will try to have the new antenna up as soon as possible amigos !!! (Arnie Coro, CO2KK, RHC DXers Unlimited May 17 via Bob Chandler, VE3SRE, ODXA via DXLD) ?? News to me they had been on 15120 lately, if he is talking about 2030-2130 UT? Last reported on 11760 ex-9505 ex-11760 ex-11670 ex-13 MHz frequencies, tho they did use 15120 in the dim distant past (gh, DXLD) Glenn, Caught the CAm release of RHC again today, May 18. It is still running 2300 to midnight and still on 9550. Looks like it's set in for awhile (John H. Carver Jr., Mid-North Indiana, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CYPRUS TURKISH. 6150,7 11.5 0018 Radio Bayrak International played pop from the 60-ies but very sparse with calls. 2-3. RÅM (Rolf Ahman, Sweden, SW Bulletin May 18, translated by editor Thomas Nilsson for DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ECUADOR. Finally after many years in Quito I have fitted a decent earth connection. A thick 1.90 meter long copper pole down into the earth irrigated with water containing 2 kg salt plus 5 meter long copper cable to my receiver. Really improved reception. [in this issue see also COLOMBIA, PERU, UNIDENTIFIED] 5966.63, La Voz del Upano, Tena. May 14 2003 - 1232 UT. Quite sure this station for some reason relaying "Radio María Ecuador" March 12 0235 UT on 5966.59 kHz (see SWB 1507). Listen to the recording from this occasion (Björn Malm, Quito, Ecuador, SW Bulletin May 18, translated by editor Thomas Nilsson for DX LISTENING DIGEST) Where? ** ECUADOR [and non]. As previewed, this week`s Viva Miami on WRMI is a conversation between Jeff White and Allen Graham, of HCJB and DX Party Line. They went over the process leading to the decision to cut English to Europe and North America; altho he took part in discussions, the decision was made by the management, not Allen Graham. Just this past week, received confirmation from HCJB Australia, on Tuesday after recording this week`s DXPL early, in order to attend a conference in Miami, that they will continue carrying the program DX Partyline; Allen Graham will need some help to keep producing it in Quito, tho, due to his additional duties. He will be allowed to keep producing the program, to air in Australia, on that weekend block, early Sunday morning in the Americas. Another station is offering to air the program if they continue to produce it, for listeners in North America. Doesn`t want to mention station`s name yet. Bottom line is DXPL will continue after May 31, but a few things need to be firmed up with his superiors. Confirmed that Morning in the Mountains will also continue, primarily for missionaries who have no other access to English language programming. Haven`t had a chance yet to let Greg Schatzman, Bob Padula, Luigi Cobisi and other contributors know (notes by gh for DX LISTENING DIGEST) Finally some good news. Perhaps ODXA Perspectives lives again. Thank you Glenn for passing this along. Appreciate it (Brian Smith - ODXA Chairman, via DXLD) OK, here is item seven of the weekend edition of Dxers Unlimited... sad news amigos, DX Party Line, the HCJB short wave hobby program is going to go QRT. Yes, this nice program will no longer be broadcast by the Quito, Ecuador based station, and they are also stopping most of their English language programming to North America... At present I haven't heard if the other radio hobby show from Quito, Ham Radio Today is also going off the air, but it seems like it will be following the same sequence, as it is part of their English language service. But don't worry amigos, DXers Unlimited will stay with you as much as possible, and as always we do try hard to make it better every day... My point of view is that there is certainly a world wide audience for good quality radio hobby programs, and that there are lots of listeners ready to enjoy them !!!! (Arnie Coro, CO2KK, RHC DXers Unlimited May 17 via Bob Chandler, VE3SRE, ODXA via DXLD) ** GUYANA. 3291.2, Voice of Guyana (presumed), 0825-0915+ May 18, non- stop choir vocals until a man spoke at 0839. Mix of talks and different types of music including English lyric pop tunes. Fair signal but very noisy conditions made speech almost impossible to make out. Reactivation? (Rich D`Angelo, PA, NASWA Flashsheet via DXLD) ** HAWAII. In response to the Article `The KAHU-KHBC 1060 kHz Saga` on page 34 in the April 2003 NZ DX Times, Glen Zeigler, a contract engineer on the Island of Hawaii makes a few corrections to the article (Mark Nicholls -Chief Editor) Glen responds: I am a contract engineer on the Island of Hawaii. At one point or another I have worked with all of the stations here and have a fair knowledge of the ups and downs of most stations. Incidently, I knew Alan [Roycroft] since about 1980 when he started to go into retirement. Actually I am probably one of a few engineers that didn`t get the four letter words (so I have been told). For what Alan was or was not he was respected and therefore won his respect. I have made some notations below based mostly on fact. If you have any questions concerning KHBC thru KPUA today, I probably have the answers. Aloha Glen Zeigler || The original CP in 1936 was for KWFB on 1210 kHz in Hilo. It actually signed on, after modification, as KHBC on 1370 kHz with 100 watts on May 1, 1936. Down through the years it changed ownership and frequencies and finally became KPUA on 970 kHz which is now on 670 kHz and is owned by New West Broadcasting. Not really the original station any more. || Glen responds: Not quite correct, according to the Hilo Tribune Herald and the FCC Notice == Hilo Tribune Herald and FCC documents from the era (I have copies in front of me for both) KHBC signed on May 1, 1936 on 1400 kHz at 250w. Also the original licensee was Hawaiian Broadcasting System, Limited later changed to Honolulu Broadcasting Company, Ltd. While the KWFB may be fact there is nothing in the FCC Data Base showing that early assignment. *************************************************************** || And, Buddy Gordon calls himself the Hilo Broadcasting Company. He doesn't exactly claim to be the original station but claims they act like the original one what with all the different format structures and music and being strictly live and local which they certainly are. It is one neat and unique station! Really pulling in the listeners with its new 5 kW transmitter.|| *************************************************************** Glen responds: It is very true Buddy`s station sounds good considering the past performance of KAHU. But in retrospect, while the programming provides more options for the older listener what it really embraces and sounds like the KIPA Rainbow Radio of the early 80's. Does anyone really remember the programming on KHBC? As for the heritage of KHBC, New West is justified in its remarks as the application data and ownership including KWXX-FM (KPUA-FM), KGMD-TV (KPUA-TV) were part of the history starting with KHBC on 1400. I am sure New West could [not??] care who uses the KHBC call sign. But to say they are the original station (that is what the sign says in front of their studio) is misleading (May NZ DX Times via DXLD) ** HAWAII. NEW LAW REQUIRES MOST BOATERS TO HAVE EMERGENCY RADIOS By EDWIN TANJI , City Editor HONOLULU --- Gov. Linda Lingle has signed into law a bill that will require boaters who venture more than a mile from the shoreline to carry emergency radio equipment — including kayak tours that are likely to wander beyond the mile limit. . . http://www.maui.net/~mauinews/lnews0e.htm (via Mike Cooper, DXLD) ** ICELAND. 13855/U 4.5 1700 AFRTS among others with info about CIA. Very strong on my K9AY indicating the signal coming from the West, in such case probably Keflavik, Island. Disturbed at 1830 from "Salama Radio International", whatever that now is on the same frequency with music from Africa in a religious programme. SND (Stefan Bjorn, Sweden, SW Bulletin May 18, translated by editor Thomas Nilsson for DX LISTENING DIGEST) 13855U ICELAND. AFN: E-mail from Trish Huizinga confirms the site as Grindavik. "The xmtr site for both b/cs hrd by you [13855, plus 3903 in Feb 2002, verified in Dec 2002--JB] is located in Grindavik. There is a site there, attached to the base in Keflavik, that sent out our signal by mistake (before properly allowed to do so) last year. That was the 3903 kHz xmsn. We receive the signal from California and place it on our cable stns which can only be picked up in homes on the base. We also send 'the voice line' to the Grindavik location where the sailors here send it out on SW 13855 kHz." In a separate E-mail she says they have no plans for additional fqys right now (Jerry Berg, MA, NASWA Flashsheet via DXLD) ** INDIA. 11620, All India Radio - Patna, *0010-0103 May 18, open carrier followed by flue music IS from 0014 until brief opening announcement by a man at 0015. Group singing followed by more talk in Hindi at 0021. Thought I heard Patna mentioned as part of ID at 0030 just before a woman gave the news. Programming was mainly talk with some music selection in second half-hour. Fair signal but broadcast subject to many program breaks presumably studio to transmitter feed problem while was very poor amidst QRM (Rich D`Angelo, PA, NASWA Flashsheet via DXLD) Per dx_india rpt? Usual AIR startup at 0013 May 18, then program of various talk and Indian music, a few brief silent periods. Signal went off at 0055, back a little weaker at 0058, through ToH when there was what could have been an ad, then more mx. Was a pretty good signal at opening, but I could not pick out a Patna ID. Nothing heard on 9595. Anyone else listening at this hour? (Jerry Berg, MA, NASWA Flashsheet via DXLD) ** INDIA. Christian program of Joyce Meyer Ministries called "Life in the World" program is heard on Sundays on AIR Hyderabad A 738 kHz in Telegu at 0215-0228 UT. (Their SW channel is off air then for frequency change). Their site jmmindia.org also lists programs on Vividh Bharathi & Doordarshan TV along with several other cable TV channels. It is a major development as one could not imagine hearing/viewing such Christian programs on AIR & Doordarshan. 73 (Jose Jacob, VU2JOS/AT0J, National Institute of Amateur Radio, Box 1555, Somajiguda, Hyderabad 500082, India, dx_india via DXLD) His truth is marching on (gh) ** INDONESIA. 4604.96, RRI Serui, 1155-1210 May 19. Pop vocal music; 1159 M announcer with ID, followed by SCI to 1200:25, then Jak program beginning with time check "Pukul sembilan belas Waktu Indonesia Barat". Good signal on this new frequency. 4869.96, RRI Wamena, 1205-1240 May 19. Instrumental version of BeeGee's "I Started a Joke"; M announcer at 1207 with ID, then more music. Not // to other RRI's which were running Jak news. Nice signal. (John Wilkins, Wheat Ridge, Colorado. Drake R-8, 100-foot RW, Cumbre DX via DXLD) ** INTERNATIONAL VACUUM. SATELLITE RADIO SYSTEMS STAY WORLDS APART FIRMS HAVE NO DEADLINE TO BECOME COMPATIBLE By Earle Eldridge, USA TODAY With no deadline to worry about, the nation's two satellite radio companies say it could be years before they meet a federal requirement to design radios that can receive broadcasts from both. That's years during which any consumer who wants to switch from one company to the other will have to spend hundreds of dollars for a new radio to receive the new service. As part of a 1997 rule allowing XM Satellite Radio and Sirius Satellite Radio to operate, the Federal Communications Commission required that they work toward compatible radios. But it set no deadline or penalties for non-compliance. Steve Mather, analyst with Sander Morris Harris, says that without deadlines or fines, the companies don't have much incentive. ''A radio that gets both signals makes it easier to turn to the company that has the deal of the month.'' Consumers pay a monthly fee of $12.95 for Sirius or $9.99 for XM Satellite Radio. They also must buy the radio, which can cost from $100 to over $2,000 depending on features. The nationwide services offer about 100 channels, many commercial-free. XM has more than 500,000 subscribers, Sirius 68,000. The goal of the FCC requirement was twofold: to prevent a repeat of the Beta vs. VHS videotape nightmare, and to give consumers a choice. FCC spokesman David Fiske says the agency didn't set a deadline for compatibility because it wanted the companies to ''take the most cost-effective approach.'' XM and Sirius say their engineers have jointly developed an antenna that can receive both signals. And they say they are working toward meeting the federal requirement, but success is at least three years away. The engineers don't meet on a scheduled basis, and the FCC doesn't require progress reports. XM Chairman Gary Parsons says the companies could offer a radio today that receives both broadcasts, but it would be too costly. ''We want to provide choice at a reasonable price,'' Parsons says. Automakers, the biggest drivers behind satellite radio's growth, are unlikely to push the compatibility issue because they have aligned with one service or the other. General Motors, for example, has an agreement that requires XM to pay a fee until 2009 for the exclusive right to put XM in GM cars. GM also gets a percentage of the monthly fee XM subscribers pay. About 250,000 GM owners have satellite radio. Ford Motor has an exclusive deal with Sirius. Rick Lee, GM's executive director for satellite radio services, says surveys show GM customers are happy with XM. ''I've never gotten one call from a consumer who was upset because we don't offer Sirius,'' he says. Lee says if GM customers begin demanding Sirius, the automaker will consider offering it. (c) Copyright 2003 USA TODAY, a division of Gannett Co. Inc. (via Mike Cooper, DXLD) ** INTERNATIONAL VACUUM [non]. WORLD RADIO NETWORK BECOMES A DRM MEMBER Geneva --- World Radio Network (WRN), the London-based international broadcaster and transmission service provider, has joined the Digital Radio Mondiale( (DRM() Consortium. DRM comprises broadcasters, network operators, manufacturers and researchers who have created a digital system (also called DRM). DRM is the world`s only non-proprietary, digital system for short-wave, medium-wave and long-wave with the ability to use existing frequencies and bandwidth across the globe. WRN`s participation brings DRM`s membership to a record high of 81 members from 30 countries. Placing his full support behind DRM, Karl Miosga, WRN`s Managing Director said: ``World Radio Network is delighted to be playing an active part in DRM which represents a combination of digital innovation and close cooperation between broadcasters around the world – two of the founding principles behind WRN. We have been a long-time proponents of the distribution of international, cross-border radio by innovative and sustainable digital platforms, be that the Internet, digital satellite, digital cable or mobile cellphone services in order to reach new listeners around the world. To this list we add DRM because we believe it is going to offer listeners increased choice in radio listening combined with digital audio quality.`` ``Several of DRM`s broadcaster members are also associated with WRN,`` said DRM Chairman Peter Senger. ``The addition of WRN as a member of DRM is a great fit, and we look forward to working together in the future.`` The world`s first [sic] DRM broadcasts will be transmitted across the globe on June 16th, 2003. The precise moment of DRM`s inaugural broadcasts will occur during the International Telecommunications Union`s (ITU) World Radiocommunication Conference (WRC 2003) in Geneva, marked by a reception at the Château de Penthes. . . (DRM Press Release, May 19 via DXLD) But, but --- WRN does not operate any SW transmitters, which is what DRM is all about, so what is the point?? I suppose any organization can join DRM, whether it has any direct interest in the technology or not. More on DRM at bottom (gh, DXLD) ** IRAQ. MORE NEW RADIO STATIONS REPORTED Press reports from Iraq reveal that more and more new radio stations are coming on the air. An Associated Press report says that "Radio of the Iraqi Republic, run by former Information Ministry officials, urges listeners to forget the past and work together for a better future." Another update from Salam [sic] Pax Salam Pax, the Baghdad Blogger, has been to Basra and has now returned to Baghdad. Internet access is still expensive, as he explains: "The people at Electronic Iraq and al-Muajaha kindly agreed to host the images for this post and we will put up the post on their site too. I have warned them that I have a lot of images and as the arabic saying goes: wa qad u'thira man anthar - don't blame someone who has already given you a warning. I really didn't have any other choice, the guys at the internet place wanted to charge 66,000 dinars for uploading 1.2megs of images. thats around $50 by today's rate. you should see how people react when they tell them how much they charge. because of the rise in the value of the dinar even richrich people from foreign find them expensive and start bartering. we buy internet time like we buy tomatoes now: "look if a spend an extra half hour will the rate go down 3000 dinars?" NB: The pictures and mirror sites were not there yet when checked at 1545 UT (RN Media Network May 19 via DXLD) ** IRAQ [non]. TRANS WORLD RADIO AIRS SPECIAL PROGRAMS TO LISTENERS IN IRAQ As military activity shifts from combat to restoring order in war- ravaged Iraq, Trans World Radio recently aired a series of special Arab-language programs designed to offer spiritual encouragement and biblical perspective to listeners in Iraq and the surrounding region. The daily 15-minute broadcasts began in March just before the commencement of the war in Iraq. The programs aired from TWR- affiliated outlets in Monte Carlo and Cyprus, and were produced in partnership with Christian broadcasters Words of HOPE and the Back to God Hour. The series, called "Kingdom of Jesus–A Kingdom of Truth, Peace, Justice and Self-Giving Love," received exciting responses from Muslim listeners in the region. To read more about these programs and TWR's ministry in the Middle East, visit the following link: http://www.gospelcom.net/twr/news/nr.php?nr=59 (TWR E-Snapshots May 2003 via Alokesh Gupta, DXLD) ** IRELAND. Glenn, With reference to item in DXLD 3-078, May 6, 2003: "...TIPPERARY MID WEST RADIO", homepage at http://www.tipperarymidwestradio.com/ the missing program schedules for weekend-listening can be found at http://www.tipperarymidwestradio.com/schedule2.html and http://www.tipperarymidwestradio.com/schedule3.html i.e. Saturday and Sunday respectively. Assuming that a listener finds the Saturday schedule per above, be warned that the current link for Sunday given therein leads to "Bad Gateway" message. Use the second link supplied above instead. And with reference to the Live Stream Audio that can be had by clicking on the "Listening Room" logo on the station's homepage, or sans logo "Tune in Live - CLICK HERE": the source URL for that is not immediately obvious and should the logo-link or other not work, the following will get the audio-stream going. The /screaming/ portion is no typo! http://www.tippnet.ie/screaming/tmw.asx (Finbarr O'Driscoll....Ireland, May 18, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ISRAEL. English is heard again from IBA at 0400 on 17600, May 18 (Chris Hambly, Victoria, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Despite the continuation of the strike, Kol Israel foreign language broadcasts have been back on the air since at least noon Israel Time Friday (according to Joel Rubin). [Later:] The general strike was called off: http://bet.iba.org.il/bet.htm?item=betlanguage23 The Histadrut called off the general strike at 6 a.m., Sunday. Histadrut leaders made the announcement after an agreement was reached in talks Saturday night between Finance Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and Histadrut chairman Amir Peretz. The strike was launched in protest of the government's economic austerity plan which called for cuts of 11 billion shekels. The sides agreed to a four billion shekel cut in wages in the public sector. The 4 billion shekels represent about 80 percent of the treasury's original demand. In return the Histadrut agreed to freeze new wage demands and cost of living increments for two years. The sides have not yet agreed on the plans for cuts in penison funds. Business leaders estimate 3 billion shekels in losses from the strike. 18.05.03 14:38 (via Doni Rosenzweig, May 18, DXLD) 1900 UT May 18, 17545: Kol Israel in English, news of latest bombing, signal s7~9 333 some QSB on the signal, 1905 talk about the terrorists, talks with Palestinian authorities, by David (Colonel Jon Standingbear, Army Radio Station ADN3U, P. O. Box 44, Beaumont, Calif, 92223-0044, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ITALY. I finally got around to listening to the recording I made of R. Tre Network [6275] from 10 April and was able to copy a number of canned jingle IDs, including this one at 0018 "Radio Tre Network, your station for the 21st century". One other ID that I noted at 0118 mentioned "?, FM, shortwave, satellite, ? radio station, (different male announcer) Radio Tre Network". I found that rather interesting. At least they are 'aware' of shortwave. Now, why would they mention shortwave in an ID announcement?? (Dave Valko, PA, Cumbre DX via DXLD) ** JAPAN. JAPAN and MALAYSIA: Made a curious observation on 5 May: Japanese broadcast of Radio Japan at 1700-1800 uses two frequencies for Europe (6175 and 9750 kHz), and both of them are interfered by the same station in Indonesian or Malay. A schedule search revealed that both frequencies are simultaneously used by the Voice of Malaysia, but schedule taken from http://www.bclnews.it gives different languages at 1700-1900: Indonesian on 6175, Malay on 9750. Probably the latter source is not correct, as WRTH does not show any Indonesian broadcast from Malaysia at this time (Dmitry Mezin, Kazan, Russia, Signal via DXLD) Malaysia has been on those two frequencies forever; how could R. Japan miss them?? (gh) ** KASHMIR [non]. Voice of Jammu & Kashmir Freedom Movement: 5100 (Pakistan - ?). Sent 1 IRC. In 97 days got a pack of 6 "SOS from Indian occupied Kashmir" magazines, 2 grand leaflets, Kashmiri viewcards and letter from Islam ud Din But, where he/she appreciates listening interest and quotes broadcasting schedules in Kashmiri and English. Address: Islam ud Din But, V.O. Jammu & Kashmir Freedom Movement, P.O. Box 102, Muzaffarabad, Azad Kashmir, via Pakistan (Shukrat Rakhmatullayev, Tashkent, Uzbekistan, Signal May 17 via DXLD) ** KOREA NORTH [non]. UPI's Capital Comment for May 13, 2003 From the Washington Politics & Policy Desk Published 5/13/2003 2:22 PM http://www.upi.com/view.cfm?StoryID=20030513-113817-6558r WASHINGTON, May 13 (UPI) -- Capital Comment -- Daily news notes, political rumors and important events that shape politics and public policy in Washington and the world from United Press International. Broadcast news... The House International Relations Committee has approved a proposal authored by California Republican Rep. Ed Royce to increase U.S. broadcasts into North Korea. Royce's amendment expresses the sense of Congress that Radio Free Asia's broadcasts to the Communist stronghold should be increased to 24 hours each day "This amendment developed as a result of our recent visit to RFA studios in Seoul. Those broadcasts are having a positive impact, countering the North Korean government's stream of lies and propaganda," Royce, chairman of the U.S.-Republic of Korea Interparliamentary Exchange since 1999, said. Radio Free Asia is a surrogate news service, created to overcome the North Korean government suppression of free speech and its use of indigenous media as a propaganda tool. Royce's amendment also addresses the crucial problem of inserting radios into North Korea, requesting a report detailing U.S. government efforts to maximize the ability of North Koreans access to foreign broadcasts like RFA. "We are reaching a critical period on the Korean peninsula. In order to ensure his survival, North Korean leader Kim Jong Il keeps a tight reign on information and people -- systemically abuses their human rights," Royce said. "But, things are starting to change because RFA is playing a vital role in countering his lies." Royce represents a sizable portion of the Southern California Korean-American community and is a longtime advocate of increasing U.S. international broadcasting efforts (via Jilly Dybka, DXLD) ** MACEDONIA. 810, Radio Macedonia has started a Foreign Service on MW. The schedule is as follows: 1800 Bulgarian, 1830 Greek, 1900 Albanian, 1930 Serbian, 2000 Radio Dvadesetidva (R. 22) starts with relay of the news from program 1, 2030 Voice of Homeland in Macedonian. The transmission ends at 2400. Deutsche Welle's eveningtransmission starts at 1430 until 1700. Languages are Albanian, Macedonian and Serbian. During 2004 DW and MR will start DRM-tests on 810 kHz acc. to Mr. Ljupco Mancevski, technical director (Bengt Ericson, ARC Info Desk via Olle Alm, DXLD) ** NEW ZEALAND. END OF AN ERA --- Possibly the best known New Zealand street address in SWL/DX circles has lost that link after more than 55 years. On 17 April, RALDA CUSHEN moved from 212 Earn Street, Invercargill to a retirement village. Ralda grew up in Earn Street, and married ARTHUR CUSHEN who lived at the other end of Earn Street in 1946, at the Methodist Church in Earn Street. Soon after, Arthur and Ralda moved into their new home at 212 Earn Street, Invercargill, next door to Arthur`s parents. When Arthur died in 1997, Ralda stayed on in the house but it has now been sold to a young family. We visited Ralda at Easter as she was settling into her new warm and cosy unit. She sends greetings to everyone in the DX League. For those readers wishing to contact Ralda, her new address is Unit 10, Rose Lodge Village, 129 Tweed Street, Invercargill (May NZ DX Times via DXLD) ** NEW ZEALAND. POWER ACROSS THE PACIFIC --- This is the headline of a feature on the Internet website of the Auckland Radio Trust and World Service NZ, encouraging feedback from overseas listeners to their signal on 1476 AM – carrying BBC World Service programmes 24 hours a day. The website states that ``the transmitter at Puketutu Island in the Manukau Harbour was built by Blythe Radio Systems of New Brighton, Christchurch. It is licenced for 48.0 Max dbw which covers much of New Zealand, and North and East into the Pacific Ocean, with the primary coverage area being the North Island from Taupo northwards. The aerial system consists of two masts built at sea level which give directional properties to the signal and were originally used for Radio Hauraki when the offshore station was licensed for operating on land. Amongst the many listeners overseas to World Service NZ on 1476 AM are the crew of the cargo vessel `Baltimar Boreas` which runs from Auckland to Noumea in New Caledonia and the Fiji Islands. The station also has listeners in Rarotonga in the Southern Cook Islands group, and has had reports of the station being heard in Japan.`` The website also says that correspondence from listeners outside of New Zealand is welcomed. Recently agreement was reached for links between the site http://www.worldservice.co.nz/ and the DX League`s website http://www.radiodx.com (May NZ DX Times via DXLD) ** NIGERIA. Federal Radio Cooperation Of Nigeria, Kaduna (per 2003 WRTH); 5-18-03; 4770 kHz; 0523-0534 UT; English; pop music and announcements; lots of noise, barely caught ID "Radio Nigeria" at 0532; SINPO 33131; Icom R71A with 110-foot random wire (John Sandin, Merriam, KS, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** NIGERIA. Today, the day the http://www.voiceofnigeria.org website should be launched officially, nothing was different there compared to last Friday. The wrong Arabic schedule has been removed, now only the Arabic version available, correctly giving 1600-1800. On Sunday, I listened to VON as follows: 15120 English until 1100* unepected closedown. Not heard at 1300, but at 1540 till after 1600, not heard at 1900 (QRM) but very strong after 2000. 11770 signing on at 1557 with very strong signal and news in Arabic. French ID at 1755 announcing 7255 and 11770. Off at 1957 after announcing morning transmission in French being only on 7255. So if this is correct and English is at 15120 all the time, there must be three transmitters. 7255 not heard. 9690 is occupied by Romania. No chance. Thorsten Hallmann, [Tyskland] as usual, May 19, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** OKLAHOMA. One of the last holdouts against NSP 24 hour telecasting, may be about to concede. This week`s print TV Guide shows OETA running all-night, mostly repeats of the previous evening`s prime-time PBS lineup, but not exactly. For instance, POV, which OETA is reluctant to run in primetime, except for one or two cherry-picks per season, is supposed to be on at 1 am (CDT) early Tuesday. Online TV Guide listings agree. I was already counting my chickens --- more chances to tape PBS stuff overnight when it doesn`t conflict with the occasional logjam of good stuff on commercial TV. However, zap2it listings still show a sign-off period, and so do OETA`s own online listings via http://www.oeta.onenet.net/ for the rest of May! Due to its leadtime for print, TV Guide sometimes gets caught by incomplete or changed plans on the part of stations. But it would appear this is at least being considered, if delayed beyond this fortnight. I just noticed this and haven`t had a chance to confirm it myself. But when it happens, that will be the end of Enid Cox Cable off-air pickup of various other channel 13 stations in KS, TX, AR, after signoff when a bit of tropo is enhanced (they still get KETA-13 offair rather than satellite like some other OKC stations --- is OETA still not on Dish or DirecTV?). But that will also give DXers more time to DX OETA`s full power outlets on 13, 12, 11 and 3, plus its statewide UHF translator network, while those channels will become NSP blocked for us. BTW, OETA has a page about DTV, which says KETA-DT starts in May on channel 32 --- not to be seen around Enid, with KXOK on 32! Or will that blow off the blowhard? Analogically speaking, Enid has always been considered part of the OKC market, albewe on the fringe. Hmmm, when tropo is up, as early UT Mon May 19, local KXOK-32 signal gets snowy; at first I thought they were having power problems, but now I suspect it is QRM from KETA-DT! BTW2, even under dead conditions I am getting DTV snow on 28, but nothing listed around here; KFOR-DT OKC is supposed to be on 27, but if there, it`s weaker. Meanwhile KETA-13 was getting torn up by KERA-13 et al., and KWTV-9 had heavy DTV snow from WFAA-DT-9. A few minutes after local midnight early Monday, KETA-13 did sign off as usual, and after a few more minutes of color bars was replaced by a local-quality signal both on antenna and on Cox Cable Enid, from KERA-13 Dallas (Glenn Hauser, Enid, May 18, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Ah...the old "We'll go overnight on cable but not via antenna" trick! TV Guide lists WKAR-23 as going overnight...but actually, it's only on their cable service (and probably only the local tiers, not in extreme outlying areas). WTVS-56 does go overnight via antenna and cable both...and since they're showing big-time movies as long as "Ben-Hur" on Friday & Saturday nights, that just might make more sense! (Kind of a trade-off for us not getting AMC??????) Oftentimes WTVS will put some obscure specials or reruns during 4-6AM. I did remember WKAR's cable service signing off for maintenance about a week or so ago... Q: Are PBS outlets doing the 24-hour thing to be more competitive with DSC, TLC, and the History Channel, which also repeat their prime-time lineup into the wee hours? (Keith K Smith[tm] Lansing, MI, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Good theory, but even in the current local OKC listings for Cox via http://www.newsok.com – actually ``powered`` by zap2it, KETA-C14 still shows a signed-off period between 12 and 5:30 am (gh, DXLD) I believe what you're seeing in the TV Guide, Glenn, is what we see on OETA's cable channel here in the metro OKC area. After OETA's sign- off, Cox Cable picks up PBS off satellite and runs whatever they're running. KETA is still off the air overnight. The Oklahoman's TV guide also shows them off overnight (John Zondlo, Yukon, OK, fmdxweb.com, WTFDA via DXLD) I don't know about the full-power VHFs, but at least some of the LPTV UHFs (15, 28, 36, 46) have been running "OETA" ID bars overnight for a while. I would rather have the bars (Danny Oglethorpe, Shreveport, LA, WTFDA via DXLD) ** PERU. 4415.67v, Radio Cielo, Chiclayo, la provincia de Chiclayo, el departamento de Lambayeque. May 15 2003 - 1120 UT. This Peruvian pirate has been on air a couple of times the last week with quite poor signal. When "Cielo" is heard with much better quality I will attach a short recording. Info from "Ventanaperú": Provincia de Chiclayo, cuya capital es Chiclayo. Sus distritos son: Chiclayo, Chongoyape, Eten, Puerto de Eten, José LeonarOrtíz, Lagunas, La Victoria, Monsefú, Nueva Arica, Oyotún, Picsi, Pimentel, Reque, Santa Rosa, Saña; con una población total de 625,183 hab. 5009.65, Radio Altura, Cerro de Pasco, la provincia de Pasco, el departamento de Pasco. 1110 UT. Occasionally reactivated due to the decease of a well-known person, "Sr. Pacheco"? Talk about the deceased and some ads. I have not heard this station for a long time. Nice signal. Listen to the recording from this occasion. http://homepage.sverige.net/~a-0901/ Info from "Ventanaperú": Provincia de Pasco, cuya capital es Cerro de Pasco. Sus distritos son: Chaupimarca, Huachón, Huariaca, Huayllay, Ninacaca, Pallanchacra, Paucartambo, San Francisco de Asis de Yarusi, Simón Bolívar, Ticlayán, Tinyahuarco, Vicco, Yanacancha; con una población total de 132,954 hab. 6520.31, Ondas del Rio Marañón, Aramango, la provincia de Bagua, el departamento de Amazonas. May 2003 - 2300 UT. Has been active for some weeks with decent signal. It is a pity to write "reactivated" when the normal state is irregular for "Ondas del Rio Marañón". Listen to the recording from this occasion. Info from "Ventanaperú": Provincia de Bagua, cuya capital es Bagua y cuenta con los distritos Aramango, el Parco, Bagua; con una población total de 69,334 hab. (Björn Malm, Quito, Ecuador, SW Bulletin May 18, translated by editor Thomas Nilsson for DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** PERU. Radio Panamericana has resumed their website with 50th anniversary logo. Good site to listen to Salsa oldies. Good DXing, (Tetsuya Hirahara/RNM, May 18, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** PHILIPPINES. The following monitoring information was supplied by Geir Stokkeland from listening on location. Comments have been added by Alan Davies. Here are the differences I can find compared to WRTH-03. I've also added some notes from a partly illegible letter sent to WRTH editor from a reader Leo Catajoy in PHL. 567: Naga City, PBS with callsign DWRB (I suspect WRTH is right to list DWRP), agrees with my obs. this is ex-549, freq already updated in WRTH-03 603: Naga City, new callsign DZLL ex-DWLV 621: Virac City, new PBS station DZBC or DZBZ (Catajoy says callsign is DZVC in Virac, ex-DZBU Legaspi C., Albay; PBS website agrees with DZVC Virac and does not list any station in Legaspi City, see http://www.pbs.gov.ph/profile.htm for list of PBS callsigns and addresses but no frequencies) 765: Cebu City, new callsign DYAR ex-DYCB (this agrees with my observation from March '01 so WRTH-04 needs to be updated) 882: Calbayog City, new callsign DYOG ex-DYJR (PBS website agrees with DYOG) 981: He tentatively suggests callsign DYBJ rather than DYBQ 1008: DXXX heard on 1010 kHz 1071: Talisay, Camarines Nte Prov, new station DZSL 1179: Tentative new station in Koronadal, no other details 1242: DXSY heard on 1247 kHz 1260: Lucena City DZEL ex-1053 kHz 1296: Roxas City, Capiz Prov: DYJJ ex-1287 1323: DXAD heard on 1321 kHz 1431: DYKS heard on 1427 kHz 1548: Dagupan City DZST new callsign ex-DWDP; other observers and myself agree that the callsign has changed, but to DZSD, so WRTH-04 needs to be updated) 1584: Talavera DWBR, new callsign ex-DZDF (change has been confirmed in report from Roland Schulze) 1593: Marawi City, new station DXSM (WRTH lists DXSM for Jolo 774 kHz, and PBS website also lists DXSM Jolo; Catajoy says it should be DXFM on 1539 kHz operated by Lanao Radio / TV Broadcasting Corporation) (Geir Stokkeland, Alan Davies, May Artic Radio Club Info Desk via Olle Alm, DXLD) ** RUSSIA. Voice of Russia tells me on May 15: "I guess that you are missing MOSCOW MAILBAG. Joe Adamov, the host of his program, has just returned home from the hospital, and we do not know when he`ll be able to resume work." (Erik Køie, Copenhagen, May 18, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** SWEDEN [non]. IBRA Radio is a Christian radio ministry supported by local Pentecostal churches in Scandinavia and ministering to 110 countries. IBRA Radio is part of the Dagen Group which, besides radio ministry, also publishes a Christian daily newspaper (Nya Dagen) and operates a television ministry (TV-Inter). Other divisions in the Dagen Group include Samspar (insurance) and Mösseberg (rehabilitation). IBRA's 1000 coworkers produce radio programs in 60 languages targeted at 110 different countries, IBRA broadcast 200 hours of programming daily. Mailing address: IBRA Radio, SE-141 99 STOCKHOLM, SWEDEN. E-mail: ibra@ibra.se Web Site: http://www.ibra.org IBRA also has offices in the following countries: Bangladesh, Burundi, Denmark, Cyprus, Estonia, Ethiopia, India, Kenya, Malta, Russia, Norway, Pakistan, Rwanda, Tanzania, Thailand, Turkey and Congo (Dr. Juergen Kubiak, May WWDXC DX Magazine via DXLD) ** TURKMENISTAN. 4930, 16.5 2055, Radio Ashkabad with news in English. Long time ago I last heard something in English from this station. Now it seems they are up running again. I will try a new report. 3-4 CB 4930, 17.5 2030, Radio Ashkabad with English at this time. I guess English is transmitted sometime between 2030 and 2100. 3-4 CB (Christer Brunstrom, Sweden, SW Bulletin May 18, translated by editor Thomas Nilsson for DX LISTENING DIGEST) A small fragment heard: 2038-2045, 4930 kHz in English. Then language changed to presumed Turkmen (open_dx - Thomas Baier, Germany . . .) Russian edition of Signal (No. 97) reproduced the following message from EDXP E-NET. (This is back translation from Russian, so it may be different from the original. - Signal Ed.) 4930, meteo forecast in English (!) at 2049 on 23 April. (EDXP E-NET - Zacharias Liangas, Thessaloniki, Greece) So it may be a regular broadcast, with varying time. Now English is more preferred language in Ashgabat than Russian. Russian inserts present only when some CIS officials visit Ashgabat. (Ed.) A possible simple explanation: news bulletin at 2030-2045 is split to Turkmen (2030-2038) and English (2038-2045). Weather forecast, as I guess, goes out in Turkmen at 2045-2048, then in English at 2048-2050. A similar policy occurs at Kyrgyz Radio (4010, 4795 kHz). (open_dx - Igor Yaremenko, Novosibirsk, Russia; all in Signal via DXLD) ** U K. Apparently the BFBS shortwave relays have left the air from Sunday morning 18 May. The last thing I heard from them was an open carrier on 15795 at 0340-0400- on Sunday. No sign of life on Sunday afternoon or Monday morning. Presumably they now have enough coverage from local FM transmitters (Olle Alm, Sweden, May 19, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A [non]. Re Gospel for Asia, 15170: What is the broadcast schedule for this station? (Bob Combs, New Mexico, hard-core-dx via DXLD) Hi Bob and friends! You can "download" the schedule from http://www.gfaradio.org Best wishes (Arnaldo Slaen, ibid.) No sites, but precisely: http://www.gfaradio.org/docs/schedule.html (gh) ** U S A. FCC CHAIRMAN REJECTS CALL FOR DELAY OF MEDIA OWNERSHIP VOTE By David Ho, Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) FCC Chairman Michael Powell rejected a request from two of his commissioners to delay a decision on overhauling rules governing ownership of newspapers and TV and radio stations. The Democrats on the five-member Federal Communications Commission had asked Powell Tuesday to push back a June 2 vote by a month to give them more time to study an internal agency proposal that recommends easing ownership restrictions. ''I must respectfully decline to postpone,'' Powell said Thursday in a statement. ''There is precedent for granting such a request, but it is not customary to do so over the strong objections of a majority of commissioners.'' Powell said he also needs to meet a timetable set by Congress. The proposed plan would allow companies to own more TV stations in local markets, reaching more U.S. homes. It also would eliminate many restrictions on one company owning combinations of newspapers and TV and radio stations in the same city. Powell and the two other Republicans on the commission favor loosening regulations, an outcome sought by many large media companies that say the rules are outdated and hurt business. Michael Copps, one of the Democratic commissioners, said Powell is rushing to vote on proposals that could change the media landscape in ways not fully understood. ''The chairman's decision not to make these proposals public, nor even to grant a short delay in voting, runs roughshod over the requests of the American people,'' Copps said. ''This is no way to do business when critical issues affecting every American are at stake.'' The FCC is considering whether decades-old ownership restrictions still reflect a market altered by satellite broadcasts, cable television and the Internet. Critics say relaxed rules will lead to more mergers, leaving a few huge companies in control of what people see, hear and read. Powell said he would extend until May 30 the period the agency would accept public comment on its media ownership review. The comment period usually ends a week before a vote. On Wednesday, nearly 100 House Democrats sent a letter to Powell, asking him to publicly justify his agency's plans for overhauling media ownership rules. Consumer groups, musicians, writers, academics and the National Rifle Association have written the agency opposing eased ownership rules or asking that the vote be delayed. Other lawmakers, mainly Republicans, and Commerce Secretary Donald Evans have urged Powell to stay on schedule. On the Net: FCC: http://www.fcc.gov (via Fred Vobbe, NRC FMTV via DXLD) ** U S A. 1680 kHz: Saturday May 10 May TN and I mailed a recording of a unID Spanish station on 1680 kHz. I hoped you wanted to have something to work on at the SWB/ARC convention in Halmstad. Quickly as a lightning a reply came from our member Tore Larsson/TL, who said it probably was WTIR. I have heard that this stationhas changed format to Spanish. This station is as well located in "Orlando" which could be heard on the recording. I relistened to the recording and it seems that Tore is correct; it sounds like "WTIR" and not the prefix "WCUL(??)" which was my guess. Thanks Tore for your fast reaction! Also Henrik Klemetz reacted quickly. Already on Sunday afternoon/ evening SWB got this information from Henrik but unfortunately TN had no time to mail the members until Monday evening. Thank you for this info Henrik! (Björn Malm, Quito, Ecuador, SW Bulletin May 18, translated by editor Thomas Nilsson for DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. Re KFHX-1620 AZ: Kevin Redding wrote: || Well, I dunno if its a real pirate. The Catholic Church runs it and Sheriff Joe Arpaio has a show on the station. || You just cited two very good pieces of evidence that it's a REAL pirate!!! ;-) No doubt it's supposed to be a Part 15 station, but --- like my local "Phat Rock" on 1650 -- there's no way it's running 100 milliwatts and the "five foot antenna (including ground)" limit if you can hear it five miles away. Betcha anything it's running one of those Ramsey 5 or 10 watt AM transmitters --- maybe they aren't even aware they're operating illegally (Harry Helms, W7HLH, Las Vegas, NV DM26, May 17, NRC-AM via DXLD) ** U S A. KSDO-1130 San Diego has been sold and is now running a Spanish format. I haven't listened to the format much yet, but an article in the SD Union this morning says it's a "nueva vida" kind of (Protestant?) religious format, which is basically what XEXX-1420 has been running recently. KSDO had been managed into oblivion by Sneer Channel, who moved all the high rated local and syndicated programming to KOGO-600 some time ago in their usual fashion. Hey, if Sneer Channel sells (or stops managing) just one more station in this market, they won't be breaking the law anymore (at least in San Diego!). 73, (Tim Hall, Chula Vista, CA, May 17, amfmtvdx via DXLD) This is the first time I've heard of Clear Channel selling one of their AMers since they bought all those hundreds of stations! Have they sold any others? (Steve Francis, Alcoa, Tennessee, ibid.) I understand that they're selling KIIS-AM (1150), Los Angeles. These moves could signal that they're making new purchases (better properties to replace those being sold) or that they need cash (Brian Goodrich, ibid.) They were owning and/or managing a total of 12 stations in San Diego. KSDO was one of the ones they were managing. Basically all they did was loot all of the high-rated programs on KSDO and move them down to KOGO-600. No wonder some people refer to management as "damagement" :) 73, (Tim Hall, Chula Vista, CA, ibid.) ** U S A. STARBOARD BACKING OUT OF WJOB HAMMOND BUY; DROPS SPANISH FROM KSMM IN TWIN CITIES Minneapolis-St Paul, May 13 (CRU) --- According to a report published in the Chicago Sun-Times today, Starboard has decided not to pursue the purchase of historic WJOB 1230 AM in Hammond, Indiana (Chicago) because it is getting adequate coverage from its leased stations WJJG 1530 AM and WCSN 820 AM. The report says that Starboard will forfeit $243,000 for not following through in its purchase of the bankrupt station. The purchase has been controversial from day one; the local newspaper the Northwest Indiana Times reported that the mayor of Hammond and a good many citizens were angry about losing the sole local voice to a religious network operation, and the paper reported the mayor had tried to talk to the FCC about it when he was in Washington on business (Catholic Radio Update #213, February 10, 2003). According to an article written by Christine Harvey in the Northwest Indiana Times, the station dismissed most of what was left of its staff, and the owners, St George Broadcasting, have renewed talks with the previous owner, M&M Broadcasting. Another group, Vazquez Development, LLC, owned by James E. Dedlow and his wife, first cousin of Mayor Duane Dedlow, Jr., is also said to be interested in the station. According to Ms. Harvey`s report, ``It is unclear whether money troubles, local opposition or both caused the WJOB sale to fall through. However, Starboard President Brownrigg told InsideRadio.com last month that after spending $11 million to build its base, the company planned to stop buying stations for now and concentrate on syndication.`` Starboard`s plan to buy WWCA 1270 AM in Gary, Indiana, is not affected by the present matter. The Northwest Indiana Times article can be read at http://www.thetimesonline.com/articles/2003/05/09/news/lake_county/74c4e9131bba109786256d200083a366.txt Database --- Hammond: WJOB 1230 AM (1,000 watts fulltime). 6405 Olcott St., Hammond, IN 46320. Tel.: (219) 844-1230. Being purchased by Starboard Broadcasting, Inc., from St George Broadcasting, Inc. Founded 1928 by the Hammond-Calumet Broadcasting Co. as WWAE 1200 AM, share time with WSBT 1200 AM South Bend, Indiana (Mike Dorner, Catholic Radio Update May 19 via DXLD) ** U S A. WHYY'S TERRY GROSS, HOST OF FRESH AIR, HONORED WITH PRESTIGIOUS MURROW AWARD, FOR `OUTSTANDING CONTRIBUTIONS TO PUBLIC RADIO' PHILADELPHIA, May 16 /PRNewswire/ -- Terry Gross, host of Fresh Air, WHYY's national weekday magazine of contemporary arts and issues, was awarded today the celebrated 2003 Edward R. Murrow Award at the Public Radio Conference in New Orleans. . . http://www.whyy.org/about/pressroom/terrygross.html/ (via Mike Cooper, DXLD) ** U S A. Re DXLD 3-084: This setback for AM IBOC comes just as regular DRM transmissions launch. What will it mean for the eventual launch of AM IBOC? Is it too early to know and too late to do anything about it? The receiver makers must really be confused. How does this square with the earlier glowing reports from the WOR New York chief engineer? Somebody is blowing smoke. What will this mean for possible acceptance of DRM for domestic USA broadcasting? The plot thickens. (Joe Buch, swprograms via DXLD) From: Radio Currents Online http://beradio.com/ar/radio_currents_28/index.htm#nrsc NRSC SUSPENDS IBOC STANDARD-SETTING Washington - May 15, 2003 - The National Radio Systems Committee, a co-sponsored effort of the National Association of Broadcasters and the Consumer Electronics Association, created a DAB subcommittee that has been responsible for evaluating systems for use in the United States. The subcommittee has been focused on Ibiquity Digital's IBOC for some time. The NRSC DAB subcommittee released a letter to its members stating that the groups efforts in setting a standard have been temporarily suspended. The following is excerpted from the memo: As a result of growing concerns over the audio quality of iBiquity’s low bit-rate codec, the NRSC DAB Subcommittee is temporarily suspending its IBOC DAB standards-setting process. This action is being taken, by unanimous approval of the DAB Subcommittee's Steering Committee, in accordance with the Subcommittee's long-standing goal of supporting the development of a digital radio system offering significant improvements over existing AM and FM analog services. These concerns have arisen recently, as a result of both information submitted to the NRSC by iBiquity as well as by demonstrations of the Ibiquity AM IBOC system at the 2003 CES, at NAB2003, and at the studios of National Public Radio (NPR) in Washington, D.C. The NPR event was a private audio demonstration organized by Ibiquity; at that time Ibiquity stated the audio being demonstrated was based on the latest version of Ibiquity's proprietary audio coding algorithm, PAC, and was the version to be implemented in first generation IBOC receivers. DAB Subcommittee members who attended the NPR demonstration do not consider the audio quality demonstrated by the Ibiquity 36kb/s PAC technology to be suitable for broadcast. This demonstration confirms subjective test data produced by iBiquity and reviewed by the NRSC early in 2003 (Ibiquity ultimately withdrew this subjective test data submission from consideration by the NRSC, indicating that improvements to PAC were currently being made). In order to allow time for Ibiquity to resolve any matters relating to its audio coding technology prior to continuation of NRSC standardization, the DAB Subcommittee is temporarily suspending its IBOC DAB standard-setting process. The NRSC will consider resuming standard-setting immediately when Ibiquity has demonstrated to the NRSC that the audio coding problems of concern have been resolved. Ibiquity released the following statement: Due to some specific concerns about the current state of the AM audio quality, the NRSC has temporarily suspended standard setting efforts for IBOC digital broadcasting. At this time, we concur with their decision to temporarily delay these efforts until the issue is resolved. The NRSC has not expressed any concerns about the core system architecture or implementation of IBOC. There are no issues with coverage, reception or functionality. The issue is in the audio coder and has to do specifically with AM audio quality. The resolution will be a software upgrade, and no other changes to the system will be necessary. As such, we have an on-going improvement plan and anticipate resolution of the AM audio quality issue as soon as possible. Ibiquity and its partners continue to support radio's transition to digital broadcasting and look forward to capitalizing on the potential for HD Radio. At issue is the quality of the encoding algorithm currently being used by Ibiquity. The PAC algorithm, while designed for low bit-rate transmission, has apparently been judged to provide insufficient quality by the NRSC subcommittee. At the NAB2003 convention, similar comments were the topic of discussion among convention attendees, particularly for the AM service. Ibiquity previously had used AAC coding in many tests. The PAC algorithm, developed by Lucent, was implemented more recently. Ibiquity is the result of USA Digital Radio and Lucent Digital Radio merging. Several receiver manufacturers had planned to introduce commercially available IBOC receivers this summer. There is no word yet on whether this announcement will affect that rollout (via Joe Buch, swprograms via DXLD) ** ZIMBABWE [non]. Re ``4880 was used many years ago by the SABC, for their internal service in Afrikaans, so maybe a South African-based transmitter?`` Technically, that's plausible. Politically, no way! Mugabe himself was in South Africa yesterday at the funeral of Walter Sisulu. I know DXing is not supposed to be political, but an awareness of the political background should help DXers to discount some possibilities, or point to others. [Later:] Re my earlier comment re 4880: Seems you were right and I was wrong. My apologies. It still seems bizarre to me that a clandestine broadcasting to Zimbabwe is using South African facilities, but since the deal is with Merlin and not with the station itself I guess there are no South African laws being broken (Andy Sennitt, hard-core-dx via DXLD) Some strange bedfellows have resulted from the various reciprocal relays and transmitter leasing deals over the years. Nothing would surprise me anymore. Besides, money often wins out over ideological purity (Craig Seager, hard-core-dx via DXLD) Hi Jari, I had a chat today with my colleague Rocus de Joode of our Programme Distribution Department, and he assures me 100% that the tests on 4880 are *not* from our Madagascar relay. All audio that goes out via our relay stations has to go via the transmission centre in Hilversum, and Rocus would be responsible for arranging the feed. But no such arrangement has been requested or activated :-) I guess it probably is via a Sentech facility. Merlin or Sentech should be able to confirm. 73, (Andy Sennitt, RN, May 19, DX LISTENING DIGEST) UNIDENTIFIED. Re 4870: Lobo's real name is Kent Lavoie (b. 1943, Tallahassee Fl). He scored 16 Hot 100 entries in the USA during the 1970s, and also produced material for others such as Jim Stafford (including "Spiders and Snakes"). After his brush with pop culture, he went on to compose and record jingles for TV and radio. I have a couple of early vinyl recordings; I think only the "greatest hits" type compilations ever made it onto CD (Craig Seager, Bathurst, Australia (60s/70s music aficionado, and occasional DXer, DX LISTENING DIGEST) In case anyone has lost track in this sidebar thread, the station was actually pretty definitely RRI Wamena a shade below 4870 (gh) UNIDENTIFIED. 4335.34, UNID LA SS, unknown QTH. May 14 2003 - 0110 UT. See comments at 5728.39 kHz. 5728.39, UNID LA SS, unknown QTH. May 13 2003 - 0100 UT. Most of the time a quiet female DJ and simultaneously in the background an instrumental version of a well known tune by Simon/Garfunkel. Also check the logging of the same station at 4335.34 kHz. Radio Naylamp, Lambayeque is a station which can be heard both here and there on the scale but the programme format does not match with what I have heard earlier. UT -5 and close down 0140 UT. Listen to the recording from this occasion -- at http://homepage.sverige.net/~a-0901/ [No, these do not both work out to be harmonics of a common fundamental --- gh] 6585.41, UNID LA SS, probably Perú or Bolivia. May 2003 – 0100 UT. Religious station with Indian language. Fast talking gentlemen, religious songs and "banda del pieblo", that is brass-band. I have heard one definitive geographic name: "Santa Cruz". Several times also mentioning of "La Esperanza" and it might be the name of a location. In "Provincia de Santa Cruz, dpto de Cajamarca" there is a "La Esperanza". Or maybe it is Bolivia? I have heard a very uncertain ID sounding "fonetically" as "Radio Lider Frank". In any case very exciting and maybe something new? Very stable in frequency and close down 0200 UT (Björn Malm, Quito, Ecuador, SW Bulletin May 18, translated by editor Thomas Nilsson for DX LISTENING DIGEST) UNIDENTIFIED. Dear Glenn, A question on the African station on 6315 that I received on Saturday 17 May 1816-1833 UT, with a weak signal and considerable transmitter hum. I know that the Voice of Tigray Revolution and the Voice of Peace and Democracy of Eritrea have been reported on this frequency. However, I am not sure if the format of the program I heard matches any of these stations. The language sounded similar to Arabic but was certainly NOT Arabic (Tigrigna?? But see next). It was a transmission of a football match with the team `Olympic Bamaco` from Mali playing (`Olympic Bamako`, `Al Mali` mentioned many times). Many mentions of `Brahima Kone` and `Konate`; I searched the web, and these appear to be football players from Côte d`Ivoire (could this be the other team?). Also many mentions of `Al Mubarrak`. At 1824 UT the football transmission was interrupted by a female announcer. Next, the Kor`an reading followed (first singing, then brief translation). At 1827 – a music pause and a short comment by the same female announcer, mentioning Mali. Then the football transmission continued. Would the Tigray station interrupt for the Koran reading? I doubt it, as 80 percent of the Tigray population is Christian. I guess the Eritrean clandestine would not do this either (and would they transmit football at all?). Thanks for any help! (Robertas Pogorelis, [Lithuania?], May 18, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Hmmm, did you rule out an image from 7225 or 7215? Could also be a mixing product between two inband 49m stations (gh) UNIDENTIFIED [non]. On 18 May at 2100 on 9270 I can hear Voice of Greece in Greek. Distorted audio and vibrating carrier but parallel can be heard on 9420. 73 (Jari Savolainen, Finland, hard-core-dx via DXLD) Well, this is an interesting frequency. First I thought that VOG on 9270 could be my receiver mix-up. But when talking with Alf Aardal of Norway, he also heard it. After 2100 I made some random checks and at times I think there was another station under VOG. Just after 2300 I noted that VOG on 9420 was off and had also disappeared from 9270. But the vibrating carrier was still there and now another station audible with some music and female talk on 9270. So, it seems they were there all the time under the VOG. As I had to use SSB (my receiver couldn't handle in the AM mode the nearby ute traffic), it is difficult to say what language was spoken. Needs further checking. 73 (Jari Savolainen, Kuusankoski, Finland, ibid.) [Later:] Once more about this unID 9270, don't get bored :). Just came to my mind the Turkish harmonic on 5562. It's origin must be 927. So this 9270 could well be 10 x 927. Harmonic, just like Mauno suggested. Have to check 9270 tonite against 5562. 73 (Jari, ibid.) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ RECEIVER NEWS +++++++++++++ THE NEW ``ULTIMATE AM RECEIVER`` Granted, it's actually a full featured transceiver, but when you read the specs of the receiver section for this baby, it's hard to believe that it won't also be the ultimate tool for AM BCB DXing! It even has AM Sync Detection! It's the new Icom IC-7800 and it's soon to be available. More details here: http://qtc-japan.net/2001/03_news&topics/ic-7800new.pdf P.S. In A/B tests between my Icom 746 and my Drake R8B, it was even money. So imagine, this bad boy. I'd say we may have a new king! 73, (Les Rayburn, N1LF, IRCA via DXLD) A "DUAL RECEIVE" EXPERIMENT, SSB + AM Hello all. I've been trying out a new (??) mode of listening to fading stations and so far it's been producing some interesting results. Not sure yet if it's an "improvement or not, but "seems" a little better. I know that everyone on this list has heard the results of fading on a shortwave station, it goes with the territory. I'm sure that 'most' of us have used either ECSS or a Synchronous detector when we listen to a station that is either fading badly or has an adjacent channel causing a lot of QRM. It can make a big difference. HOWEVER, I've been toying with something a little different. This Yaesu VR-5000 has two separate internal receivers (not just two VFO's). The main receiver can be used in any mode/bandwidth. The "sub" receiver can only be used in either the AM (fixed bandwidth) or narrow FM modes. The two receivers can either be tuned separately or locked to tune together. Each receiver has it's own volume control. Now, what I've been toying with on fading signals is locking the two receiver VFO's together, putting the main set on either LSB or USB (whichever is best) and the sub on AM. This produces some interesting results. 1. By carefully tuning the set (in SSB the main tunes in 20 Hz steps, the sub (AM mode) in larger increments) I can obtain either zero beat or very close to it. By juggling the two volume controls I can get a satisfactory "mix" of sound with the overall reduction of fading (SSB receiver) and wider audio bandwidth (AM receiver). 2. If not perfectly "Zero Beat", music gets a kind of "Chorus" or "Phasing" sound (guitarists are familiar with this) while voice gets a definite "whuff-whuff-whuff" sound. This is primarily due to the 20 Hz tuning steps. A SSB receiver that tunes in 1 Hz steps would for all practical purposes eliminate that. 3. I'll bet that those with premium transceivers having a "Sub receiver" (such as a 756 Pro, Yaesu 1000D etc) that tuned in 1 Hz steps could carry this experiment further and obtain better results. Anyone else want to experiment with this and see what results they get? If you don't have a receiver with "dual watch" two receivers fed into one audio channel would also work, though it'd be a bigger headache tuning them. 73 de (Phil KO6BB Atrchley, swl via DXLD) MAGIX MUSIC CLEANING LAB "MAGIX music cleaning lab is the most powerful audio software for compiling, cleaning and mastering audio recordings of all kinds". Yes, this is the words from the manufacturer about his product. Persons good at identifying radio stations probably use this type of product. I bought "MAGIX music cleaning lab" for about 40 dollars and have tested the programme. There are a lot of possibilities to digitally manipulate and improve a recording. I believe a DX-er has an enormous use of what is called "Time Stretching/Resampling/Pitch Shifting editor". This means that you can at the same time digitally lower the speed without changing the pitch and change a male bassy voice to a more female version. The address to MAGIX is: http://www.magix.com (Björn Malm, Quito, Ecuador, SW Bulletin May 18, translated by editor Thomas Nilsson for DX LISTENING DIGEST) DRM +++ MY EXPERIENCES WITH DRM[tm] RECEPTION IN NEW ZEALAND Compiled by Chris Mackerell, Wellington With the start of ``live`` broadcasts from Radio Netherlands and Deutsche Welle next month, the Editor has twisted my arm into writing a few words about my experimenting with DRM reception over the last few months. For those new to the technology, Digital Radio Mondiale, DRM for short, is a method of broadcasting on AM (longwave, medium and shortwave) radio using digital signals rather than analogue - it`s like listening to an audio stream on the Internet, but broadcast on medium or shortwave radio rather than via the net. DRM offers the potential for totally noise and fading free shortwave reception. In addition it has the ability to carry stereo signals, and multimedia broadcasts, including extra information such as pictures and subtitles. Screen capture of multi-media DRM broadcast (Courtesy Michael Dressen, Germany) [original article illustrated] For the last few years I`ve found that I`ve spent less time on DXing and shortwave listening and more time tinkering around with computers, the internet, and internet radio. When I became aware of the development of DRM I thought it would be a good way to combine my long standing interest in DXing and shortwave listening with my interest in computers and the net. At the moment there are no commercially available consumer-grade receivers for DRM reception. To receive DRM broadcasts at the moment you need a modified receiver together with a computer to decode the signal. The modifications required to receive DRM involve the installation of an additional IF module to provide an IF output signal suitable to be fed into a PC soundcard, together with modifications to the receiver`s IF bandwidth to allow for the 12 kHz bandwidth of a DRM signal. I had originally thought about modifying my AOR AR-7030 for DRM reception, but in the end I decided to purchase a DRM-ready Yaesu FRG- 100 from SAT-Service Schneider in Germany. They also sell a very small DRM IF module for installation into other receivers. FRG-100/DRM is fitted with a 12 kHz IF output and has bandwidth filter changes to receive DRM broadcasts. In my receiver I`ve had the wide AM filter bank used for DRM --- this results in AM Wide being *really* wide when used for normal AM transmissions. This has turned out of making it a really nice little receiver for general shortwave listening. In addition to a modified receiver, a suitable program is required on your PC to decode and listen to DRM broadcasts. I purchased the ``DRM Software Radio`` program from Merlin Communications, which I run on a dual processor 733 MHz Pentium III computer running Windows XP/Pro. There are freeware packages available for decoding DRM signals, but due to licencing of the coding algorithms used you need to compile them yourself on a Windows PC. I don`t have the required compiler so I have been unable to try the freeware software. Having taken the plunge I eagerly awaited the arrival of my new receiver. It duly arrived, and has been installed in my DX shack. I am listening from Tawa, a suburb of Wellington, the capital city of New Zealand. It`s a residential area with houses filled with TVs, computers and other noise-generating electronics. My house is no exception! My antenna is a 30 metre wire in the garden. This feeds my receiver through a JPS ANC-4 noise reduction unit to help cut down some of the local noise from my PC and the rest of the house. The very first day I got the receiver home and set it up I was able to get some of the best DRM reception I`ve heard. Radio Netherlands were running some test transmissions from Bonaire for RNZI and I got home about 10 minutes before the start of the broadcast! I frantically connected everything up, tuned the receiver, fired-up the software on my PC, and much to my amazment superb quality audio came out of my PC speakers! Since then I`ve been able to receive DRM tranmissions from Deutsche Welle via Sines, Portugal, Radio Netherlands via Bonaire, and the BBC via Rampisham in the UK and Sackville in Canada. These have all been test broadcasts, and the results have been variable. SAT-Service Schneider DRM IF Module Yaesu FRG-100/DRM [caption] This is new technology and it has a long way to go yet. True, there is no static or fading, but instead you get dropouts and distortion at times, very similar to listening to an internet radio station via a dialup connection a year or so ago. Having said that, I think how much that technology has improved dramatically over a very short time, and I can`t help thinking the same will happen with DRM. I`ve had the chance to listen to some DRM samples from RTL test tranmissions to Europe on 6095 kHz. These are really superb and show how good the DRM signal can be. Samples from these can be found on my website, together with my own recordings. Is DRM going to be ``DX-able``? Well, the DRM software can decode a station ID from a DRM signal that is totally drowned out by a normal AM broadcast, but, no, I don`t consider it will be a DX medium for a long while yet, if ever. It doesn`t have that challenge of picking an ID out of the noise after hours of frustrating listening! It`s an ``all or nothing`` medium. I do think it will be very good for those people who like shortwave listening. Some of the audio can be xcellent. A lot of DXers are very concerned about digital broadcasting and its impact on other signals. My experience so far is that existing AM shortwave broadcasts have caused far more disruption to the DRM test signals I`ve been trying to listen to than vice-versa! What happens when DRM becomes more common, and spreads to the medium-wave band, remains to be seen. I can`t help thinking that if the BBC went back and used a frequency like its old 15070 kHz for a world-wide DRM broadcast they would be on to a winner all round. FM quality stereo shortwave with pictures could be just around the corner... If you want to know more about DRM you can email me at chris@radiodx.com, or visit some of the web links listed below. My DX Shack FRG-100/DRM on the left [caption] Screen shot of DRM test Transmission by Radio Netherlands from Bonaire, Netherlands Antilles on 15400 kHz 0430 13th April 2003 by Chris Mackerell in Wellington, NZ. [caption] Internet Links about DRM: My own DRM page, including audio samples: http://www.owdjim.gen.nz/chris/radio/DRM/DRM.html Latest DRM broadcast information from Radio Netherlands: http://www.rnw.nl/realradio/html/drm_latest.html The DRM Software Radio site (includes excellent forums about DRM): http://www.drmrx.org/ SAT-Service Schneider – DRM equipment suppliers: http://home.t-online.de/home/sat-service/sat/DRM/DRM.htm The official DRM Consortium site: http://www.drm.org/ The DRM logo is a trade mark of Digital Radio Mondiale Association and is used with permission. DRM logo © DRM Association 1998. (NEW ZEALAND DX TIMES MAY 2003 via DXLD) DRM UPGRADED STANDARDS From: Radio Currents Online - May 05 - May 18, 2003 --- Geneva - May 7, 2003 - As the June 16 date of Digital Radio Mondiale's (DRM) first broadcasts draws near, the on-air system has received another universal standardization plaudit. The European Telecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI) has elevated its September 2001 Technical Specification (TS) of the DRM system to a higher level, ETSI Standard (ES). The new document is published as ETSI ES 201 980 V1.2.2 (2003- 4), Digital Radio Mondiale (DRM); System Specification. Simultaneously, ETSI has published the datacasting standard for DRM as ETSI TS 101 968 V1.1.1 (2003-04), Digital Radio Mondiale (DRM); Data applications directory (via Joe Buch, DXLD) [see also INTERNATIONAL VACUUM] PROPAGATION +++++++++++ UNBELIEVABLE SKIP PHENOMENON, BUT IT HAPPENED In my 50 years of fascination with e-skip I have never experienced what happened yesterday 5/14. You might want to get a map to check out this event. At 0925 I checked for e-skip. My antenna was pointing just south of west, approximately 260 degrees, where I had received Mexico up into the mid FM range on the previous day. I started flipping channels and got classic e-skip on channel 3. I mean classic, with variations from perfect to minimal reception within seconds. At 0930 the station was identified as WLBT, Jackson, MS which is approx. 170 miles to the south of my location in Oxford. During good tropo WLBT will override my local channel 3 in Memphis, but not that morning. When I aligned my antenna with the WLBT transmitter, Memphis was received. When I returned my antenna to west, I got classic e-skip from WLBT. The other VHF from Jackson, channel 12 was not received at all. At the time of this phenomenon we were experiencing rain, with occasional lightning in Oxford, but to the west Arkansas was essentially covered in a blanket of rain and thunderstorms. Later after the weather over Arkansas had passed things were back to normal and I was receiving Memphis on Channel 3 with the antenna in the exact position that I had received the skip from WLBT. Without a doubt this was a skip, but a rain cloud phenomenon rather than e-skip. Again the reception was classic and I was shocked that it was from WLBT. Have I had my head in the sand for fifty years or is this unusual? If it is unusual and with this information can any one question the effect of rain clouds on propagation? Lets talkk about it! (Conway Dabney, Oxford, MS, WTFDA via DXLD) I got WCBI 4 Columbus once this way, I never get it by tropo. I had some heavy lightning here, and it only stayed on for a few seconds after a close strike. BTW, it's also about 170 miles from here. (Chris, ibid.) This short reception of WCBI-4 is like the lightening scatter I've seen. However, Conway's several minutes of WLBT-3 is odd. Airplane flutter can also do some strange things, but not for five minutes (unless maybe the plane is circling over and over). I had KBEJ-2 Fredericksberg (250+ miles) by airplane scatter one morning an hour or so after a tropo signal from KBEJ had faded out. It behaved a lot like Es. I think the KBEJ signal was still nearby, but my equipment just wasn't able to pull it in without the help of the airplane. Conway's reception is different from anything I've seen. BTW, when I see lightening scatter, I disconnect my antennas (Danny Oglethorpe, Shreveport, LA, ibid.) My hunch: a nice bit of tropo scatter. I've had FM's come in for a minute or two, strong one second, faint the next. Then gone completely. Often during dead conditions. Signals from 200+ miles... (Saul Chernos, Ont., ibid.) This reflected reception of WLBT lasted for an extended period of time. The reception was just as good and erratic when I had to leave as when I first noticed it and I was watching and trying to figure out what was happening for at least 45 minutes (Conway, ibid.) Reference the Conway Dabney report of WLBT at 170 miles with what appeared to be Es type fading. This is already shaping up to be a most unusual year (more tornados reported in USA during first 14 days of May than any COMPLETE month of May on record) and perhaps by coincidence (although I doubt it) an unusual amount of early-season Es including some pretty short stuff which of course indicates abnormally high density in the E layer. On that subject, if you have been of the habit of checking only channels 2-6 for Es, I strongly urge you to continue through high band as a matter of NEW habit this year! ... The ideal graphic representation of Es assumes the abnormally dense area capable of refracting/reflecting VHF signals is in a straight line - such as: XXXXXXXXX which when combined with an incoming skippable (new word) signal results in XXXXXXXXXXXXXX O O O O O O O O O (you) (distant transmitter) However, if there is a significant WIND SHEAR about, creating turbulence in the E layer beyond whatever it takes to create Es, then the ideal and illustrative E layer can look like this X X X X The turbulence creates a "dimple" in the E layer XX over at least a small region. As the ANGLE which the signal approaches the abnormally dense layer is almost always the ANGLE at which the signal leaves the layer (they are RECIPROCAL), then we can have X X YX XY Y X Y Y Y Y Y Y Y (you) (not distant) Of course there can be dozens, hundreds of variations of this - the important point being that straight, flat line, Es "clouds" can assume a number of physical dimensions which are NOT - flat, straight lines. That there might be a connection, in the physics sense, between the abnormally high number of (turbulent) tornados in the upper south and Midwest and the type of reception Conway reports is fodder for discussion. Conway's description of "fading from perfect to minimal in seconds" does NOT suggest lightening scatter to me; any I have noted is more like MS reception with significant periods of NO SIGNAL in between "perfect" and "perfect." On a hunch I checked the amateur 50 MHz (6 meter) "reflector" reports for the same date and period of time. I note that around one hour earlier a station to his north was reporting "Very strong signals for a few minutes, then nothing" from another who was around 200 miles away. There is nothing that exactly fits his time frame (nothing at 9:25 AM on the 14th of May) but then I would expect hams who might have observed this happening at 50 MHz to pretty much ignore the effect given that 200 mile is hardly an earth shattering "routine distance" for any reasonably well equipped six meter station. Bottom line? Doug said it in this month's VUD - "Hang on, this could be an exciting ride" (or something to that effect - I paraphrase). (Bob Cooper in New Zealand, WTFDA via DXLD) My take on this reception is that it is either not ionospheric in nature, or less likely, backscatter. The ionization density would have to be extreme for this to be direct reflection from the E region, given that Conway was pointing in a different direction from the station. This would indicate that the ionization was so strong that signals could be reflected back, which would have indicated blanket Es up to 80 MHz, and likely widespread reports of 144 and 220+ MHz Es in the southern part of the US. Openings of this magnitude are long lasting and widespread. The other important thing to keep in mind is that windshear theorized to cause Es at 100 km altitude is completely separate and generated by different events than "turbulance" and shear that occurs in the troposphere (0-18 km). I really don't have a solid theory, but I'd lean towards a tropospheric reception for several reasons: 1) The ionsopheric possibility seems far fetched given the relative lack of other reports and distances involved 2) There are many unknown variables here: - How pure is the pattern of Conway's antenna? - Was the bearing coincident with a null of that semi-local? - Did the received station's altitude vary from other stations nearby the reception area? - etc 3) The fact that there were storms and showers in the area. This could add another dynamic of breaking up enhancement or ducting formation. One thing is for sure - it's fun to theorize about this. :) (Mike Hawk, ibid.) Hi amigos radioaficionados! This is the weekend edition of your favorite radio hobby program. I am Arnie Coro in Havana, now ready to share with you about seventeen minutes of on the air and on the web time. Item one: AT LAST --- yes AT LAST the solar coronal holes activity has subsided, and the associated geomagnetic field disturbances and geomagnetic storming are now over. The daily planetary A index is now near 10 units, and that should produce much better HF propagation conditions during the next three to five days IF, and again, I say IF no more coronal hole generated solar wind comes into the picture !!! The solar flux is now near 100, and the actual sunspot number is hovering also around 100. And now amigos just before the end of the show, here is Arnie Coro's Dxers Unlimited HF and 6 meters propagation update and forecast. Solar flux near 100 units and holding steady for the next two to three days. The sunspot number count is also near 100, and fortunately, as I was typing the script of the show at around 17 hours UTC, the last A index recorded was around 10 units. Let's hope that the continuos solar coronal hole activity comes to a halt, as those coronal holes have disrupted short wave radios for a very long period of time now. We may see some nice Sporadic E openings, so keep your TV sets with external antennas tuned to channels 2, 3 or 4, whichever one is not in use at your location to detect possible signs of E skip (Arnie Coro, CO2KK, RHC DXers Unlimited May 17 via Bob Chandler, VE3SRE, ODXA via DXLD) ###