DX LISTENING DIGEST 3-093, May 28, 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 CONTINENT OF MEDIA 03-03! New edition is now available, first broadcast on RFPI 7445, 15039: Thu 2000, Fri 0200, 0830; Sat 2130, Sun 0330, 0930 Also soon via DXing.com: {Stream) http://www.dxing.com/com/com0303.ram (Download) http://www.dxing.com/com/com0303.rm And via our site: (Stream) http://www.k4cc.net/com0303.ram (Download) http://www.k4cc.net/com0303.rm (Summary) http://www.worldofradio.com/com0303.html (not yet available) FIRST AIRINGS OF WORLD OF RADIO 1184: Wed 2200 on WBCQ 7415, 17495-CUSB Thu 2030 on WWCR 15825 Fri 1930 on RFPI 15039 WRN ONDEMAND from Fri: http://new.wrn.org/listeners/stations/station.php?StationID=24 OUR ONDEMAND AUDIO: Check http://www.worldofradio.com/audiomid.html from early UT Thu [Low] (Download) http://www.k4cc.net/wor1184.rm (Stream) http://www.k4cc.net/wor1184.ram [High] (Download) http://www.k4cc.net/wor1184h.rm (Stream) http://www.k4cc.net/wor1184h.ram (Summary) http://www.worldofradio.com/wor1184.html ** ALGERIA. ALGERIAN RADIO LINKS UP SEPARATED FAMILIES IN QUAKE ZONE By JULIANE VON REPPERT-BISMARCK, The Associated Press, 5/26/03 7:39 AM ALGIERS, Algeria (AP) -- Telephone lines were down and cell phone service was spotty. So Dahbia Abderahne found another way to track down her family in Algeria's ravaged quake zone: the radio. Since a powerful earthquake struck the region east of Algiers on Wednesday night, families separated by the destruction have been turning to radio stations and newspapers as a way to get in touch. State-run Chaîne 3, for example, has been taking calls round the clock -- at a rate of about 150 an hour -- from people desperate to contact relatives and friends in the damaged areas. The messages are then broadcast on the air. The Internet site of the El Watan newspaper has also been inundated with e-mails asking about relatives. The paper it was passing the messages to radio and TV for broadcast. At Chaîne 3, some calls are simple condolence messages to devastated communities. Some describe apocalyptic images of crushed buildings and bereaved families. But many of the callers were like Abderahne -- searching for the missing. Most of the calls concerned people in Boumerdes, where about half of the quake's victims died. "I am looking for my family. They live in Boumerdes. I haven't heard from them since Wednesday," Abderahne said Saturday, her tired voice breaking on a mobile phone line. "Could you please tell them to give me a sign of life? Just a small sign." On Saturday, a female newscaster repeatedly asked for the parents of a five-year old boy to come and collect him from Algiers' Belle-Aire clinic, where he had regained consciousness that morning. Not all the messages were sad on Chaîne 3. "This is a message for Yasmina Merdez," said one caller. "I live beside her daughters ... I saw them in the street today. I want her to know her daughters are fine." "Thanks be to God," came the presenter's reply. Thousands of e-mail messages have also poured into the station from all over the world -- France, Britain, Spain and Canada -- as immigrant Algerians ask for news of families left behind in North Africa. El Watan said a TV studio was being set up in Boumerdes solely to receive and distribute messages from inside Algeria and from Algerians living abroad (via Mike Cooper, DXLD) ** AUSTRALIA. PLUG PULLED ON ABC CHANNELS 27may03 THE ABC will cancel its digital channels as part of a $25 million spending cut. ABC managing director Russell Balding told a Senate committee yesterday the national broadcaster had no choice after its funding was not increased in this month's Federal Budget. The ABC wanted an extra $250 million from the Government over three years but got nothing. Mr Balding said the corporation could not afford the $7 million ABC Kids channel and Fly TV youth channel, which it paid for through a one-off reallocation. "There's no current identified ongoing source of funding to maintain those channels beyond the end of the financial year," he told the Budget Estimates hearing. The ABC will also shelve plans to expand Radio National and Triple J coverage. Mr Balding said there were "no more rabbits left in the hat" after overspending on digital technology. He said he had warned the Government several times that programs and services were under threat and that up to 38 jobs were likely to go because of these decisions. The ABC board expected to decide the cuts at its July meeting. "I don't give up . . . I view the triennial funding outcome as a minimum level of funding for the ABC for the next three years," Mr Balding said. "We need additional funding for content . . . it's no good trying to reach all Australians if we don't have content there." The ABC overspent $20 million-$25 million on its digital rollout and now had to find this money in its forward budget. Communications Minister Richard Alston said the ABC had no chance of an increase in the recent Budget. He rejected any blame for the demise of the digital programming, saying the ABC should have planned ahead once it decided to trial the technology. The Federal Opposition said the ABC's announcement was a "digital disaster". "The ABC multi-channels were meant to drive digital uptake in Australia," said communications spokesman Lindsay Tanner. "There is now even less reason for Australians to convert to digital television." © Queensland Newspapers (via Jilly Dybka, DXLD) ABC DIGITAL DEAD; KIDS NET SHUTTERED May 27, 2003 2:01pm SYDNEY --- The Australian Broadcasting Corp. is quitting digital broadcasting and will shutter ABC Kids and youth signal Fly TV, after almost two years and close to zero eyeballs. The decision comes after the government capped the pubcaster's funding at $460 million a year. The ABC, banned from accepting paid advertising, had launched the digital services without extra coin. "Given the paucity of incentives for the public to take up digital television, the ABC considered that a dedicated children's and youth television service could attract funding support from the government," ABC managing director Russell Balding said. "Unfortunately this has not been the case. "This is the first of several hard decisions the ABC will make. Maintaining the comprehensiveness of ABC broadcasting is becoming increasingly difficult with funding today 30% less than it was in 1985/86." Digital TV was introduced in Australia in January 2001. But consumer uptake has been slow because the equipment is expensive and there were few services on offer. The government hopes the advent of digital feevee services at the end of this year will stimulate consumer interest. Copyright (c) 2003 Reed Business Information - US (via Variety via Mike Cooper, DXLD) ** CANADA. I'm hearing CFRX here at the moment on 6070 at 2320. Hard to tell though whether they are on reduced power or not, but definitely on. 5/27/03 (Steve Lare, Holland, MI, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Hello Glenn, Per your question, "Is anyone hearing CFRX 6070", I can reply, "Yes". 6070, CFRX, 1219, May 28, Relay of 1010 AM with promo for the "Edmonton Street Festival" at tune-in, ID as "News Talk 1010". "Ted Wallason (sp?) Show " with news of SARS in Toronto and its economic impact, talks with correspondent from WBZ 1030, Boston MA. regarding SARS concerns in US. Fair signal with fades and "bubble" jammer!! (Scott R Barbour Jr-NH, USA, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CANADA. CBC RADIO REPORTER BEGAN CAREER IN MARITIMES UPDATED AT 4:55 PM EDT Tuesday, May. 27, 2003 Montreal -- Veteran CBC Radio reporter David McLauchlin has died of brain cancer at the age of 55. The network's national reporter based in Montreal, he was known for his features from across Canada and around the world. Most recently, Mr. McLauchlin reported from Afghanistan as part of a documentary series and last year won an award from the Canadian Association of Journalists for a report on the high rates of brain cancer in firefighters. In 1996, he was the only journalist to participate in a healing ceremony that ended the long feud between the Dene and Inuit of NWT. Mr. McLauchlin began his career with CBC Radio in the Maritimes where he was a writer-broadcaster for Information Morning in Saint John. Later, he was field producer for Sunday Morning in Winnipeg and a reporter for Radio News for the Prairies. (c) 2003 Bell Globemedia Interactive Inc. All Rights Reserved (via Mike Cooper, DXLD) ** CANADA. Ross Porter, Canada's top jazz broadcaster, joins CanWest Porter becomes VP Programming of COOL 99.1 FM and soon to be launched cable channel COOL TV [Winnipeg]. . . http://www.newswire.ca/releases/May2003/26/c5720.html (via Mike Cooper, DXLD) Canadian angle on Metropolitan Opera: see USA ** CHINA [non]. Re CRI using Brazil. Well, according to the HFCC, for what it's worth, CRI do indeed use Brazil as a relay: CRI 0100 0200 1234567 14,16 9665 250 BRA B 300303 261003 D RTC CRI 0300 0400 1234567 10-12 9665 250 BRA B 300303 261003 D RTC As you can see this information is supposed to be 'in date' and supposedly correct. Getting detailed information from CRI regarding sites and relays is not that easy. According to HFCC, CRI uses transmitting facilities in the following countries: China, Brazil, Canada, Cuba, Spain (1 transmission from 0200-0400 on 9690), France (ISS), French Guiana, Mali and Russia. I hope this clears up where the confusion is coming from. 73 Sean Regards, Sean D. Gilbert Editor: Shortwave Guide International Broadcasting Editor: WRTH World Radio Tv Handbook - THE Directory of International Broadcasting Email:- wrth.skeds@ntlworld.com Web:- http://www.wrth.com (hard-core-dx via DXLD) ** C I S [and non]. FOREIGN RELAY VIA SHORT WAVE TRANSMITTERS OF THE COUNTRIES OF CIS 30/03/2003 - 25/10/2003 kHz UTC kW Radiostation Armenia 5855 2610-1740 100 TWR [1610-?] 6240 1200-1215 100 TWR 9365 (7550*) 2300-2400 500 RFA 9365 0100-0300 500 RFA 11510 1500-1600 500 RFA 11590 1100-1400 500 RFA 11975 1400-1500 100 VOA 15625 1400-1500 100 RFA 17485 9600-0700 500 RFA [0600-?] Moldova 7460 0230-0315 500 RPD 7480 1800-1845 500 RPD 11530 0800-1600 500 MSP Kazakhstan 5910 1430-1530 200 DVB 9355 1530-1600 200 VOO (Tue, Fri) 11515 1300-1400 2000 RFA 11520 1400-1500 200 RFA 11560 2330-0030 200 RFA 11570 (7455*) 2230-2330 200 RFA 13830 0000-0100 200 RFA 15135 2300-2350 500 DWL 15625 1230-1330 200 RFA 15635 1100-1200 200 RFA 15660 0030-0130 200 RFA 17485 1000-1400 500 DWL 17770 1430-1455 500 DWL 19 m* 1215-1300 500 VOT Tajikistan 4760 0100-0200 100 RFE 4760 1630-1700 100 RFE 4995 1400-1600 100 RFE 5860 1400-1600 100 RFE 5860 1900-2100 100 RFE 6140 1900-2000 200 RFE 7185 0300-0400 100 RFE 7295 0200-0300 100 RFE 7465 1600-1700 200 RFA 9350 0100-0200 200 RFA 9370 1600-1700 200 RFA 11520 0100-0200 200 RFA 11520 (7530*) 1800-2100 500 RFA 11540 (9975*) 2330-0030 200 RFA 13835 1500-1600 200 RFA 15680 (7540*) 2300-2400 500 RFA 15680 (11540*) 1300-1500 200 RFA 15580 (7540*) 1500-2200 500 RFA 15695 (9395*) 2300-2400 200 RFA 15695 1100-1400 200 RFA 15695 (13830*) 0100-0300 200 RFA 15705(11535*) 1400-1500 200 RFA 17495 0300-0700 500 RFA 17510 0600-0700 200 RFA 17525 0300-0700 500 RFA 17525 (11540*) 0030-0130 200 RFA 19 m** 1215-1300 100 VOT Uzbekistan 7430 1500-1530 200 BBC 9445 2315-0200 200 TWR 9445 1115-1630 200 TWR 9865 1330-1445 200 BBC 11850 0100-0400 100 VIL 12065 1330-1425 100 RNW 12065 1430-1600 100 VAT 12075 1430-1625 100 RNW 13745 0100-0130 200 BBC 17540 0100-0200 200 HLR (Fri) 17695 1200-1230 100 RVI 21780 0800-0830 200 BBC 13 m* 1215-1300 100 VOT 16 m* 1430-1515 100 VOT * = From 07/09/2003 ** = different frequencies in the mentioned metre band. (Nikolay Rudnev, Belgorodskaya obl., Rus DX May 25 via DXLD) see also RUSSIA ** COSTA RICA. [RFPI-Vista] RFPI ONLINE NEWSLETTER PART ONE Dear friends and listeners, This month we are going to be sending out three parts to our Vista Online as we have been so very busy and we know that we have missed out a month! The first part that follows this initial section is an article written by Jean Parker who represented RFPI at the AMARC conference in Nepal in February. Here at the station, the Peace Journalism and Progressive Media Through Radio courses are continuing as RFPI works towards adding as many non-embedded journalists to the world's media as possible. Action around the station is intense as June begins, bringing a whole host of new people, students and volunteers into the station. We would like to welcome Emily Morales onto the RFPI staff as Operations Manager this month. She brings us vast business, educational and administrative experience and is a welcome addition to the team. Our Program Director Naomi Fowler went to Nicaragua last month and amongst other things helped deliver a production workshop and give a talk on RFPI in Managua. For the report on her trip, see Part Two of the newsletter coming your way soon! Four staff members from RFPI last month visited and spoke with the Huetar indigenous people in the local area by the radio station. We are going to work with them in setting up a community radio station starting with an experimental weekend of broadcasting next month to generate interest in the community and involve as many people in the area as possible. We also plan to work with them in an oral history project and a project to conserve their language, which is dying out. As you may have heard, Radio For Peace International has started up a 15 minute daily news broadcast focusing on freedom of expression news from around the world as well as events in Central America, a region which seems to be off the radar of most media organizations. It is broadcast Monday to Friday at 2130 UT and it is the beginning of a greater focus on in-house programming regularly coming your way at RFPI. NEEDED!!! Computers/lap tops of 400 MHz or more with a minimum hard drive capacity of 10GB. Studio and hand held microphones, headphones. Fundraising and Contact We wish to invite all our readers, members and listeners to contact us here at RFPI if they have any questions or comments about Vista Online, our programming, or the station in general. If any of you have comments or ideas on how we can improve our service to you, please send us a note via e-mail or traditional mail. We thank you for your continuing support, both financial and moral. We need your contributions to keep an independent voice like ours on the air. RFPI is the ONLY progressive independent voice on shortwave in the world, we have a unique schedule of programming and important visions for future projects and work at the station. Fundraising at RFPI is on a continual basis. If you can offer financial, material or equipment support in any way, please contact us. You can do so via: Radio For Peace Internacional, PO Box 75, Ciudad Colón, Costa Rica, Central America Tel. +506 - 249 1821 Fax. +506 - 249 1095 Web site: http://www.rfpi.org Email: info@rfpi.org For Pay Pal donations with a visa credit, visa debit or mastercard, you can click on the Pay Pal icon on http://www.rfpi.org Here follows Jean Parker's article from Nepal. [q.v.] In Peace, The RFPI Staff (RFPI-Vista mailing list May 27 via DXLD) ** CUBA. 590, Radio Musical Nacional, Santa Clara, Villa Clara; 0100+ May 28, noting tonight (a few days after reactivation but with Rebelde audio) reverting to the original Musical network of classical music, great audio. [non] 530, CLANDESTINE (FLORIDA/CUBA); Per my contact (who is an engineer at Radio Martí at Marathon), the EC-130E "Commando Solo" aircraft MW channel used last Tuesday was 530 kHz. Not sure how that could have cut through Vision Cristiana from the Turks & Caicos, but... (Terry L Krueger, Clearwater, Florida, May 27, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CUBA. CASTRO EXIGE A EEUU QUE RESPETE FRECUENCIAS RADIALES sábado 24 de mayo, 10:59 AM LA HABANA Copyright 2003 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. En medio de un altercado por el uso de las frecuencias radiales entre Cuba y Estados Unidos, el presidente Fidel Castro exigió a la nación vecina que respete el derecho internacional sobre telecomunicaciones, al tiempo que ofrecía planes de educación para alfabetizar por radio a los habitantes de la Florida. Castro reafirmó en la noche del viernes las declaraciones de su cancillería que protestó ante Washington y ante organismos mundiales por la retransmisión el pasado martes de la Radio y la Televisión Martí -- con sede en la Florida y de corte anticastrista -- desde un avión de la Fuerza Aérea norteamericana. "Hacen mal en subestimar a este país", dijo Castro vestido con su uniforme verde olivo durante una de las habituales Mesas Redondas. Castro calificó de "cinismo" y "alevosía" las acciones estadounidenses de usar una nave para enviar las señales, que habitualmente no llegan a la isla por el bloqueo de ondas que aplican los técnicos locales. Según Cuba, Washington le envió una nota diplomática diciéndole que había advertido al piloto José Basulto del grupo anticastrista Hermanos al Rescate, que sería sancionado si con su aeroplano buscaba enviar TV y Radio Martí a la isla, como lo había declarado a la prensa. Sin embargo, el mismo gobierno de Estados Unidos preparaba un gran avión de la Fuerza Aérea "para hacer lo mismo que le habían dicho al otro que era un bandidaje", dijo Castro. "Y los dos volaron a ver si nos confundían", expresó el mandatario. La señal contenía también un mensaje del presidente George Bush en saludo al 20 de mayo, día de la independencia cubana de España, en el cual hacía votos por una pronta "liberación" de la isla. "Nosotros exigimos que se le exija al gobierno de ese país que cumpla con las normas (del derecho sobre telecomunicaciones)", expresó Castro quien indicó que no se desea afectar a emisoras de onda corta de Estados Unidos teniéndola que interferir. En la ocasión Castro anunció la extensión del "Canal Educativo", de reciente creación a todo el país, además informó sobre la creación de uno nuevo para el año entrante. Cuba no tiene pautas publicitarias en sus televisoras, todas en manos del estado. Tras considerar los alcances de la emisora para fines no comerciales el mandatario aseguró que su país cuenta con programas para enseñar a leer y escribir en cinco idiomas. Castro comparó el sistema de educación cubano con el de Estados Unidos y en especial el de la Florida. En este sentido mostró cables de agencias de prensa que dan cuenta de las bajas al presupuesto gubernamental académico en ese estado del sur norteamericano y el impacto sobre las minorías hispanas y negras. Castro destacó que en la Florida faltan más de 6.000 profesores anualmente. Dijo que según el diario Miami Herald, en "más de 142.000 de las escuelas públicas del sur de la Florida no saben leer..." "Nosotros les ayudamos y le enseñamos a leer y escribir a todos esos muchachos", exclamó Castro, "Bush puede seguir bajando el presupuesto". "Si quiere puede bajarlo a la mitad y nosotros le garantizamos por radio y por televisión que esos muchachos aprenden a leer y escribir todos...y estaríamos dispuestos a hacerlo tan gratuitamente como lo podemos hacer con un país cualquiera del tercer mundo, porque allí (en la Florida) hay unos cuantos terceros mundos", expresó el mandatario. (via Héctor García Bojorge, DF, Conexión Digital via DXLD) But wouldn`t Commie propaganda be included in Cuban reading programs for third-world Floridians? This might offend (gh, DXLD) ** ECUADOR [non]. Hi Glenn, I´m a little concerned and worried about how to hear my favourite DX-programme DX Partyline from HCJB, the Voice of the Andes after close down of English broadcasts to Europe and North America in the end of May. Last Saturday May 24 1450 UT I heard few last minutes of DXPL with interview of Jeff White of WRMI-R Miami International. My wish is HCJB will continue with DX-Partyline from Kununurra relay station. Has anybody ever heard WRMI-R Miami International?! 73´s (Jouko Huuskonen, Turku, FINLAND, May 28, DX LISTENING DIGEST) If they didn`t make it clear, it was made clear on Viva Miami that DXPL will continue on Kununurra; seems likely WRMI will be one(?) of the US stations carrying it, but this has not been made public just yet; of course, I hear it all the time --- but WRMI is not intended for Europe (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** EGYPT. 17675, Radio Cairo, 1215, May 28, Sign-on routine noted with ID and frequency schedule, I wasn't able to copy much else due to fading and massive QRM "splatter" via Radio Finland, 17670, to South America with a whopping 500 kW (Scott R Barbour Jr, NH,USA, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** GHANA. RADIO WORLD - Sunday May 25, 2003 SOUND GBC (listen to the programme via audio link on this page) Have you recognised this signature tune? It's an old one from GBC, the Ghana Broadcasting Corporation. Ghana is the place we're going to this week. Recently women from all over the world travelled to the country for a conference on and for women in radio and television. An Mulders was there too. I'm sure some of you will recognise the name from the days when An was a member of the Brussels Calling Team, as we were called then. She met with very interesting women in the world of broadcasting. Paulina Azupwa works for the local station in the Upper East region of Ghana. You will hear how radio in rural areas in Africa is different from what we are used to. Many people are illiterate and radio always has an educational mission. Also the programmes produced by Paulina: SOUND Paulina Azupwa Mrs Paulina Azupwa of the Ghana Broadcasting Corporation, producer at the local station for the Upper East region. We'll hear from other delegates at the conference in Ghana in coming editions of this programme. FRANS VOSSEN Listen broadband: http://www.vrt.be/wm/rvi/rw_HI.asx Listen narrowband: http://www.vrt.be/wm/rvi/rw_LO.asx (from http://www.rvi.be/rvi_master/uk/radio_world/index.html via gh, DXLD) The May 18 show, if any, never appeared on the website (gh) ** HUNGARY. Hello Glenn, In light of my previous report of a Radio Budapest QSL and letter regarding station restructuring, I am surprised to read that others noted I had a "bad" QSL experience. How so? All prior reports were verified. It was just that my very first Radio Budapest report was the last one to be QSLed. I have received various replies from around the world in as little as four days, up to 1 1/2 years and I am just as pleased as punch to find them in my mailbox. I am also fortunate to have QSLs from 4 of the 6 countries Mr. Chambers lists, (Vietnam, Mongolia, Syria, Korea DPR) in addition to several from Africa and Latin America for reports written in English. Sam Barto, NASWA QSL Editor, provided me with much valuable assistance when I took up this aspect of the DXing hobby. First, be patient! Stations are busy producing radio programs. Two, because it is expensive and most stations are cash-strapped, include return postage. Third, be polite and ask nicely. You will sometimes be amazed at what you receive (Scott R Barbour Jr, Intervale, NH USA, May 27, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** INDIA. The unusual relay of AIR Patna via Delhi on 11620 kHz (due to problems of MW transmitter of Patna) which was on air for the past 2 weeks, seems to be over. Just now at 1515 UTC 11620 is noted with External Service programs like in the past. For the last couple of days I had monitored AIR Patna reactive on 621 kHz and there were no announcements about the SW frequency lately. Even at 1130 UTC today I heard the sign on of evening transmission of Patna relayed on 11620. ===== 73 (Jose Jacob, VU2JOS/AT0J National Institute of Amateur Radio Box 1555, Somajiguda Hyderabad 500082, India, dx_india via DXLD) ** IRAN [non]. Had another check on 27 May on 6770 kHz and again found the previously heard unidentified station sign-on at 0124 UT with its military-style drumming. As before, the jamming came in almost immediately. However, this time noted that the jammer jumped from 6770 to 6750 at 0128, with the unidentified station underneath. A very quick check found the same station frequency-hopping as well between 5650 and 5670 kHz to avoid jamming. The latter is, of course, one of the frequencies used by Voice of the Mojahed in the past. Didn't that station disappear shortly after the coalition entered Iraq? Presumably it's back, still from Iraq? (Tony Rogers, Birmingham - UK, AOR 7030+ / LW, BDXC-UK via DXLD) ** IRAN [non]. 9450 Radio Bopeshawa (Radio Forward). My letter to their address in Canada (A.K.P.I., P. O. Box 491, Domains Postal Station, North York, Ontario M3C 2T4) was returned after ten days as 'return to sender moved/address unknown' So that postal avenue is closed (Edward Kusalik, VE6EFK, DX'er since 1965, Cumbredx mailing list via DXLD) ** IRAQ. SHIITES PLAN OWN RADIO AND TV SERVICE IN IRAQ According to the Financial Times Hassan Grebawy, head of the Shiite Centre for Public Islam, claims he has received permission from US forces to start radio and TV broadcasts. The stations will be based at the al-Hikmah mosque in a Shiite suburb of Baghdad, and will initially serve a radius of 50km around the capital. Plans are under way to extend the broadcasts to the entire country. 55% of Iraq's population are Shiites. Mr Grebawy has made clear that the broadcasts, to be called "Baghdad Reports" will be introduced with the symbol of Iraqi state television, and will not be friendly towards the US presence. His followers have frequently organised mass demonstrations in Baghdad calling for an end to US occupation. But he produced a letter from the US 1st Brigade, which is responsible for security in Baghdad, giving permission for a radio station. Mr Grebawy says he also has received verbal permission for a TV station. If the letter is genuine, it could indicate that the US appreciates the help of the Shiite hierarchy in Baghdad in helping with the reconstruction of essential services. But, if the content of the programmes is hostile to the US as Mr Grebawy implies - saying this merely reflects the opinion of the man in the street - it could spell problems for the US interim administration further down the line. (Media Network May 28 via DXLD) ** IRAQ. IRAQIS UNHAPPY WITH U.S. SIGNALS INTERFERENCE FROM AMERICANS AMONG CHALLENGES FOR POST-HUSSEIN TV By Peter Slevin, Washington Post Staff Writer, Monday, May 26, 2003; Page A13 http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A38682-2003May25.html BAGHDAD -- Putting Iraqi television back on the air has proved to be no simple matter, from the electrical outages to the makeshift staff assembled in the postwar chaos. Telephones do not work, and news is hard to confirm. And then there is the dispute over the editorial influence of U.S. occupation authorities. The U.S. ambassador to Morocco, Margaret Tutwiler, was dispatched to Baghdad to polish and package the U.S. occupation. But she triggered a rebellion earlier this month when she and a young White House aide in Baghdad, Dan Senor, intervened with strong judgments about programs and said that broadcasts would be reviewed in advance by the wife of a prominent Kurdish militia leader, according to several people involved. Iraqis and U.S.-paid television consultants called it censorship. They protested that the supervision by Tutwiler and Senor violated the concepts of liberty and independence that President Bush said would undergird Iraq's future. Most of all, they objected to the idea that the Americans thought they knew what was best for Iraqi viewers. "Dependence on any governmental body, whether it is Iraqi or non- Iraqi, will lead to another dictatorship and will kill democracy," said Ahmad Rikabi, 33, a foreign-born Iraqi recruited from exile to become a network anchor. "If we really want democracy, we should protect this child that is the Iraqi media." The station is now broadcasting news and documentary pieces. The tempest, at least for the time being, has died down. But the enduring tension over control reflects the network's importance in a country where national television was an instrument of the state for decades before Saddam Hussein was pushed from power by allied troops. In the aftermath of the government's collapse, nothing has arisen to take its place, due to the wartime destruction of broadcasting towers and subsequent looting of production facilities. A foreign official in the U.S. occupation authority said he thinks Tutwiler relied too heavily on Hero Talabani -- wife of Jalal Talabani, who heads the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan -- who "has convinced them all that she is the great arbiter of Iraqi taste." Instead of promoting an Iraqi-run program, the official said, Tutwiler and Senor are "effectively acting like the station manager and the news director." The two Americans opposed Rikabi as anchor and objected to the reading of verses from the Koran, staffers and advisers said. Then there was the time that Senor voiced the opinion that an inexperienced staff member was unprepared to interview the new U.S. reconstruction chief, L. Paul Bremer III. So Senor posed the questions himself as the camera rolled, a reconstruction official said. "If Dan Rather didn't show up for an interview with George Bush," the official asked, "would Ari Fleischer conduct the interview?" A U.S. adviser said "it was not a good idea" to allow Hero Talabani to screen the broadcast, given that her husband has long fought and maneuvered for Kurdish independence from Baghdad's Arab-controlled government. "You can't go to a person who has a known political agenda," he said. "There were lots of people who said this was not a good idea." But the adviser said in Tutwiler's defense that her goal was to make the U.S.-funded program "more professional" at a time when Iraqis remain uncertain about the U.S. occupation and the country's future. Talabani was to "provide a quick check to see whether the tone was right," he said. When many people objected, "the idea was kiboshed." A senior Kurdish official said that Tutwiler visited the Talabanis' elegant rented house in Baghdad several times and that Senor spoke with her frequently by telephone. "It's not censorship; it's advice," said the official, who said he believed that the Americans needed Talabani's help. "The problem with the coalition is they think like a coalition, not like Iraqis." An occupation authority official said that Talabani was one of "many Iraqis familiar with the media" consulted by U.S. advisers responsible for starting the station. The official said the authority is consulted about programming before it airs but does not review specific pieces in advance. Tutwiler has returned to Morocco. Senor said, however, that the U.S. authorities have clear goals. "This is the first time in decades that the Iraqi people have been able to turn on the TV and not be subjected to Saddam Hussein- controlled media," Senor said. "Our priority is to build out infrastructure, develop broadcasting capabilities and develop systems so a free and robust media can flourish in Iraq." To the consternation of network staffers, holdovers from the Hussein era have tested producers' nerves by making their own editorial choices at the remote transmission site, at one point putting the station's prewar logo on the postwar broadcast. On a recent evening, the team raced to piece together two hours of news and features against a deadline imposed by a scheduled electrical outage. It was the day Senor interviewed Bremer. When the power went out early, one Iraqi journalist cracked, "Beautiful. Tell Bremer to give us some electricity to put his statement on the air." Two weeks earlier, the station's satellite dish burned out. The staff borrowed one from the BBC, but it overheated. As a production team was broadcasting the country's first postwar soccer match, someone purposely cut an expensive cable. Technical problems have limited the broadcast range to roughly a 75-mile radius of Baghdad. The equipment is so old that "some of it ought to be in the Newseum in Washington, D.C. It's that old," said an adviser, who like several others asked not to be identified by name for fear of alienating Tutwiler or influential members of Bremer's staff. "It will not be a professional news show yet, but we hope it will be a here-are-the- facts-ma'am show that people can have some trust in." Even before the dispute over editorial influence, everyone agreed that credibility was the goal. But they differed greatly about how to achieve it. On one side were the Iraqis and most of their international advisers. On the other was, most prominently, Tutwiler, a veteran Washington image-maker who has been asked to run the State Department's office of public diplomacy. At the peak of the dispute, one well-placed reconstruction agency adviser marveled that Tutwiler and Senor had achieved "what the White House has been dreaming of for years . . . controlling the evening news." With a measure of admiration mixed with his dismay, he called Tutwiler a "one-woman psychological operations team." Tutwiler -- with the concurrence of Bremer and Talabani, staffers said -- thought it would be a mistake to allow Rikabi to anchor the broadcast, fearing that he would be perceived as a U.S.-imposed outsider. Rikabi was born to Iraqi expatriates in Prague in 1969. He spent seven years in Swedish radio and became London bureau chief of Radio Free Iraq, but he never lived in Iraq. The network's staff and the international advisers favored Rikabi, who they felt had paid his dues by spending most of his young life opposing Hussein's government, albeit at a distance. Rikabi and his supporters asked what the alternative was -- someone from Iraq's co- opted television past teaching Iraqis about broadcasting freedom? That dispute was one in a series that angered the Iraqi staff members and some of their foreign advisers. Others involved the Koran, Talabani and a series of man-in-the-street interviews deemed overly critical of the U.S. occupiers. They were held pending on-air replies from the reconstruction team. According to Don North, a Fairfax resident who is an adviser to the television station and formerly worked for NBC and ABC, the Iraqi staff had held an intensive debate about the Koran, with some saying that the broadcast "must absolutely have readings of the Koran" and others that religion and newscast credibility cannot mix. The staff agreed to a series of limited readings. "These are all Iraqi decisions," North said. "This is the last thing I want to do, tell them whether they can have their Koran or not." But Americans at the reconstruction agency said no to the readings. At about the same time, the staff and advisers learned that Hero Talabani was being consulted by Tutwiler and had been invited to review the programs in advance. They threatened to walk out and leaked word to the international news media. Tutwiler & Co. compromised. The parties agreed that Rikabi would stay off the air the first week, that the station would look for additional personalities and that the early programs would be treated as pilots. The Koran would be read, as the station staff preferred. Talabani could offer advice but would not see scripts or tapes in advance. And Senor, several people said, promised no censorship. Correspondent Scott Wilson in Baghdad contributed to this report. © 2003 The Washington Post Company (via Kraig Krist, Jilly Dybka, DXLD) ** IRAQ [and non]. KUWAIT HEARD RELAYING RADIO FREE IRAQ Checking Radio Kuwait today around 1525 UT on 15495 heard the usual programs of Radio Kuwait, a program talking about the new situation in Iraq. But suddenly at 1530 heard the ID "Huna Idha`at Al- Iraq Alhur, Idha`at Europa Al-hura" in English. This is Radio free Iraq, Radio Free Europe!! I'm still listening to it, 1555 UT and still on. I never knew that Kuwait Relays RFI/RFE/RL !?? is that a new thing?? Will keep on listening and let you know. All the best (Tarek Zeidan, Cairo, Egypt, May 28, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Also noted here in Hilversum, continuing with news programme from 1600 UT. Observations continue. This channel is not listed in the daily updated IBB frequency schedule. Presumably the programming is the same as carried on 1548 kHz from Kuwait. A switching error? (Andy Sennitt, Media Network May 28 via DXLD) ** MEXICO. I went back and did some checking; they have a web site which mentions the station. http://www.unam.mx/radiounam/ as XEYU 9600. Also MW station on 860 kHz and FM on 96.1 Rather nifty looking website, but sort of lost as all in SS. Further checking shows that actually David Ross stumbled on to the het. Neither of us managed audio. Way too much splatter from 9595 and according to ILG, never a break (Bob Montgomery, Cumbredx mailing list via DXLD) Audio down here in Louisiana again at 0300 on May 28th, I'll be checking the mini-disc today. It was actually pretty good, a steady "signal" of S9 (Hans Johnson, ibid.) ** NEPAL [and non]. COMMUNITY RADIO AND SOCIAL CHANGE By Jean Parker Does media in armed conflict do more to save lives or do its actions and attitudes cost lives? This, was one of many questions posed by those who attended of the 2003 General Assembly of the World Association of Community Radio Broadcasters, (AMARC), held in Kathmandu, Nepal in February. AMARC, is a worldwide association of community radio stations and producers who understand the importance of community radio in development. The idea of radio being produced by members of the community for that community is used by free press advocates to involve ordinary people in creating and disseminating programs of relevance to them. as opposed to state-sponsored radio or corporate owned networks deciding what the listeners will hear. Throughout the developing world, community radio has been used to provide information to farmers, women's groups, and other marginalized people. It is used to educate children and adults in remote locations, teach and preserve languages. Its ability to inform and educate populations without access to independent information is boundless. The positive place of community radio in peace-building was also discussed along with its responsibility to provide accurate information for people in areas of armed conflict. Since most of the delegates came from places where war is a reality, this discussion was especially relevant. The importance of radio as a medium for communicating with people in rural areas where there is no access to electricity and where most people don't read and write, was an important part of the discussion. Those technically minded, talked about alternative ways to bring power to their radio transmitters and how to stay on the air during emergency power cuts; others discussed the importance of using radio to inform people about accessing clean water and educating their girl children. Other sessions addressed covering sensitive family issues in traditional conservative cultures so that education and positive change can take place. Matters of rape, HIV and sex education are not discussed openly in many cultures. Community radio broadcasters have diverse experiences with government resistance depending on how open their governments are to such independent broadcasting. Countries like Pakistan and Bangladesh where the government has until now been unwilling to grant licenses for community radio stations are a contrast to Nepal and the Philippines where such broadcasts are integral components of many communities. However, even in these locations community radio faces a constant struggle with governments who claim security concerns with the broadcasters because of the close link to social change. But broadcasters say that in many places the community radio station is so popular there would certainly be security concerns if they were shut down. Still, community radio operates within the context of national governments. One group in Bangladesh is addressing government mistrust by combining community radioactivity with amateur radio providing emergency communications during natural disasters. The strategy is working to convince the authorities that non-state radio can be responsible and benefit the community. Most of the world hasn't the luxury of free expression. People depend on state sponsored radio for information and this is particularly dangerous in wartime. Entire populations are manipulated by state-run propaganda machines. People in these places desperately want their own independent media. The premise of community radio is that the airwaves belong to everyone and should be used to promote social change and development. Progress is being made. The discussions and debates about how to sustain community radio in the face of increasing world hostility resulted in creative thinking. The use of "participatory listening groups," where many people gather in one location to hear a broadcast was highlighted as an important innovation. These are especially useful with Internet transmissions. Although the trend is toward low- powered FM radio stations, Internet usage is increasing. Many broadcasters work under extreme conditions with little equipment, irregular access to electricity and in situations of war. Sometimes transmitters are destroyed by opposition groups or hostile governments. Strategies were discussed about how to notify influential colleagues when threats to media freedom occur. Because of the meeting's location, most participants were from Asia and Africa. Women were strongly represented and it was proposed that the next AMARC meeting should be in the Middle East, where independent community radio is practically unheard of. Finally, concerns were raised about the danger that as community radio becomes more accepted around the world it could be co-opted by institutions seeking control of what goes on the air, and once again people would only hear what someone else wants them to hear (RFPI- Vista mailing list May 27 via DXLD) ** PAKISTAN. The updated Radio Pakistan A-03 schedule in DXLD 3-092 has them on 17720 at 1600-1615 when the A-03 schedule that appeared in DXLD 3-050 had them on 17820. Can anyone confirm which they are actually on? (Dan Sampson, Prime Time Shortwave, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** PORTUGAL. 13770 & 11960, RDP via Thales Transmitter. E-mail verification reply in 47 days thanking for my tape report. This was followed in 8 days with a nice package which include a QSL Card of the Lisbon Hills (with transmitter site) complete schedule and a tourist Handbook for Portugal. v/s Teresa Beatriz Abreu (Edward Kusalik, VE6EFK, DX'er since 1965, Cumbredx mailing list via DXLD) ** RUSSIA [and non]. FOREIGN RELAY VIA SHORT WAVE TRANSMITTERS OF RUSSIA. 30/03/2003 - 25/10/2003 kHz UTC kW Radiostation Moscow 7175** 2200-2300 250 CRI 7385 1700-1800 250 BBC 9880* 2200-2300 250 CRI 9920 1500-1530 250 RCI 12035 1830-1930 200 CRI 12060 1900-2100 250 VOM 12090 1200-1600 500 DWL 15530 0345-0430 250 FEB Sankt-Petersburg 7130**** 1600-1700 400 CRI 7130**** 1800-1830 400 CRI 15595*** 1800-1830 400 CRI 17580*** 1600-1700 400 CRI Kaliningrad 7340 2030-2125 160 RNW Samara 5935** 1900-2030 250 IBR 6035 2100-2200 200 FGM 6210 1610-1640 100 VAT 7320 1630-2130 250 CRI 7380* 1930-2200 250 MAR 7560 1700-1800 250 MES (Tue, Wed,Fri) 9475 1600-1630 250 TWR 9825 1730-1800 250 DWL 9835* 1900-2030 250 IBR 9945 2100-2200 200 FGM 11520 1600-1700 200 TAY 12045 0015-0130 250 FEB 12120 1500-1530 250 SAW 12120 1700-1800 250 DER (Sat) 12120 1730-1800 250 ORO (Mon, Fri) 15525 0800-0830 250 DWL 15595 1330-1420 250 DWL 15605 1200-1500 250 FEB 17765 1100-1600 100 WUN 17820 0900-0930 250 DWL Krasnodar 6225 2000-2130 500 DWL 7230 1800-1900 250 DWL 7380** 1500-2200 250 MAR 7430 1700-1815 100 BVB (Mon-Fri) 7430 1700-1900 100 BVB (Sat) 7430 1700-2000 100 BVB (San) 9415 1600-1715 100 IBR 9925 1700-2100 100 RVI 12010* 1500-1930 250 MAR 12035 2000-2100 100 RCI 12060** 0500-0715 250 MAR (Mon-Sat) 12060** 0600-0800 250 MAR (Sun) 12065 0345-0430 250 FEB 12125 1900-1930 200 JRI (Mon-Fri) 12125 1900-2000 200 VBI (Sat) 15195 0500-0800 200 RVI 15195 1700-1800 100 RVI 15455* 0500-0715 250 MAR (Mon-Sat) 15455* 0600-0800 250 MAR (Sun) 15530 1100-1300 250 FEB 15605 0900-0930 200 DWL 17545 1230-1300 200 DWL 17650 1100-1130 200 RVI 17695 1300-1600 200 RVI (Sun) Novosibirsk 9825 1700-1730 500 DWL 11570 0000-0100 100 IBC 11990 1300-1500 200 VOA 12045 2200-2300 200 RFI 12075 1200-1300 500 RFI 13590 1145-1400 100 BVB 15535 2300-0100 500 RFI Irkutsk 7150 2200-2300 250 VOA 7210 1600-1700 250 RFA 7305* 2200-2245 250 VAT 7460 1300-1400 250 HBS 9460 1300-1350 500 DWL 9900 1000-1400 250 DWL 12025 0930-1030 500 RFI 12025 1100-1300 500 RFI 12035 2300-2350 500 DWL 12045 1030-1055 500 DWL 13710 0930-1125 250 RNW 17590 0200-0330 250 VAT 17710 0230-0300 250 BBC 17710 0800-0830 250 BBC Chita 12055 1315-1400 500 VAT 15580 0015-0200 500 FEB Vladivostok 7330 1100-1530 500 BBC 12005 2200-2300 500 RFI 13690 0000-0100 200 DWL 15595 2300-2400 500 RFI 15660 1400-1500 250 VKK (Tue) 17860 2300-2400 250 DWL Khabarovsk 11830** 2200-2245 100 VAT 13820 1030-1125 100 RNW 13695 1330-1425 100 RNW 17590 2330-0025 100 RNW Komsomolsk-na-Amure 9585 1200-1300 250 HBS 15605 2200-2350 250 DWL 17570 0500-0600 250 VOM (Sun) Petropavlovsk-Kamchatskiy 7420 1000-1400 250 DWL 9450 1200-1330 200 IBR 9865 1130-1230 250 RVI 9890 1330-1425 250 RNW 12065 0930-1125 250 RNW 12070 0000-0100 250 DWL 15470 2100-2200 250 VOA * = Till 06/09/2003 ** = From 07/09/2003 *** = Till 27/09/2003 **** = From 28/09/2003 BBC = British Broadcasting Corporation BVB = Bible Voice Broadcasting Network CRI = China Radio International DER = Dejan Radio DWL = Deutshe Welle FEB = FEBA Radio FGM = Fang Guang Ming Radio FRA = Radio Free Asia HBS = Herald Broadcasting Syndicate HLR = Hmong Lao Radio IBC = International Broadcasting Corporation (IBC Tamil) IBR = IBRA Radio JRI = Jakada Radio International MAR = Radio Maryja MES = Mesopotamian Radio & TV MSP = Voice of Mesopotamia ORO = Voice of Oromiya RCI = Radio Canada International RFE = Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty RFI = Radio France Internationale RNW = Radio Nederland Wereldomroep RPD = Radio Payam-e Doost RVI = Radio Vlaanderen Internationaal SAW = Sowt al-Watan (Voice of Homeland) TAY = Radio Tayyar TWR = Trans World Radio VAT = Radio Vaticana VBI = Voice of Biafra International VIL = Voice International VKK = Voice of Khmer Krom VOA = Voice of America VOM = Voice of Mediterranean VOO = Voice of Orthodoxy VOT = Voice of Tibet WUN = University Network (via Nikolay Rudnev, Belgorodskaya obl. 73! Rus DX May 25 via DXLD) See also CIS ** SWEDEN. RADIO SWEDEN -- Coming up on Radio Sweden: Thursday: Ascension Day feature on the Church of Sweden Friday: Our weekly review Saturday: In "Studio 49" the new head of the world's oldest peace organization, and tourism after 9/11 and SARS Sunday: "In Touch With Stockholm" -- Sweden in the 50's We've had a very gratifying response to our appeal for reports about our test broadcasts on 17505 kHz. We immediately received around 30 e-mail reports, and more reception reports are arriving by post. Many thanks to all the listeners who helped out. Despite the recent poor conditions it seems that we actually can use the same frequency (17505 kHz) on two different transmitters at the same time, in two different directions, for our broadcast in English at 1230 UT. We will continue to use this frequency for both 40 degrees to East Asia and New Zealand and 85 degrees to Southeast Asia and Australia. We'll also use 17505 kHz for our three broadcasts in Swedish to East Asia at 1030, 1215, and 1300. Everyone who sent a report will be receiving a Radio Sweden QSL card. Two listeners will also be rewarded with Radio Sweden T-shirts: Mr. Dong Haojun of Huanggu District, China and Mr. Satoru Suzuki of Yokohama, Japan. Please continue to send reports. This is the first time we've used the same frequency in two different directions, and we're still interested in how well it's working (Anders Backlin, Radio Sweden) On May 28 the Swedish parliament approved the plan to pull the plug on analog television here, but extended the deadline in the government's proposal by five months to February 1, 2008. But parliament also wants the government to rethink parts of the package, including the expansion of the digital transmitter network. The parliamentary Committee on the Constitution wants viewers who only want to see licence-fee funded public television to be able to watch without having to sign a contract or pay a subscription fee. The legislation was opposed by the Conservatives and Liberals. (TT) Public television has a much higher position in digital terrestrial television (DTT) than in cable or satellite offerings, and the Conservatives especially are no friends of public TV (all: SCDX/MediaScan May 28 via DXLD) ** U K. 13860, BFBS, received QSL card, and friendly letter in 55 days for taped report. Address: BFBS Worldwide, PO BOX 903, Gerrards Cross, SL9 8TN, England. Mentioned than the transmission originated from the UK. Per letter, they are leaving SW again soon, so get them while you can! (Patrick Martin, Seaside OR, May 27, KAVT Reception Manager, hard-core-dx via DXLD) ?? Already reported here to have quit as of May 18. Has anyone heard them since? (gh, DXLD) ** U K. TORIES HAND OVER BBC DOSSIER The Conservatives say the BBC played down Tory success The Conservative Party has made a formal complaint to the BBC about its coverage of the local elections in May. The party says the broadcaster played down its success and consistently over-estimated the Liberal Democrats' share of the vote. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/2941884.stm (via Jilly Dybka, DXLD) ** U K [and non]. BBC MOST TRUSTED INTERNATIONAL BROADCASTER DURING IRAQ INVASION - REPORT 27/05/2003 According to a survey of European media intake during the US-led invasion of Iraq from pan-European media research company GfK Media, the majority of Europeans turned first to television for news of the war rather than to radio or print media, and public or state-owned broadcasters were the most popular and most trusted forms of media. . http://www.europemedia.net/shownews.asp?ArticleID=16488 (via Jilly Dybka, DXLD) ** U S A. FCC SECRECY ON MEDIA DECISIONS An interesting link about the FCC's coziness with big media: http://www.reason.com/links/links052703.shtml [with lots of additional links] (Harry Helms, W7HLH, Las Vegas, NV DM26, DX LISTENING DIGEST) FCC PLAN TO ALTER MEDIA RULES SPURS GROWING DEBATE --- By Frank Ahrens, Washington Post Staff Writer, Wednesday, May 28; Page A01 Substantial grass-roots resistance to the Federal Communications Commission's plans to relax or eliminate several major media ownership rules has been building in recent weeks, turning a number-crunching bureaucratic process into a growing debate on free speech. On June 2, the five-member commission is scheduled to vote on changes that would allow broadcast networks to buy more television stations and would lift the 28-year-old ban preventing newspapers from buying television stations in the same city. Hundreds of thousands of e-mails and postcards are urging the FCC to put off a decision. . . http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A46442-2003May27.html 73, ( -.. . Kraig Krist, KG4LAC, DXLD) ** U S A. CORPORATE RADIO By Jeff Leeds, 2003, Los Angeles Times With a sinister laugh, an on-air promotion for Viacom Inc.'s WZNE-FM rock station has been tipping listeners in Rochester, N.Y., to the parent corporation's dark purpose. "Our company has a master plan for world media domination," says an announcer. He quickly adds: "We're not part of it." In the age of media consolidation, corporate radio is beginning to wrestle with a brand-new worry - an audience that might actually care who owns the station. A smattering of broadcasters around the country is toying with promotions meant to tap into rock listeners' anti-corporate bent by downplaying station ownership, or by touting independence in the face of big-chain competitors. Such matters are being closely watched as the Federal Communications Commission reviews a proposal to loosen ownership restrictions on television broadcasters and others. Regulators are also considering a new method for defining the boundaries of local radio markets, a move that could complicate future acquisitions. The FCC is scheduled to vote June 2. Radio underwent massive consolidation following passage of a landmark 1996 deregulatory law. Clear Channel Communications Inc., the industry's San Antonio, Texas-based leader, expanded its holdings to about 1,200 stations from just 36, while other companies followed suit. Now, questions about chain dominance are leaking into promotional decisions, particularly among rock broadcasters, many of whom rely on an outsider image to hold young listeners. Larry Rosin, president of Edison Media Research, said he's beginning to see signs that listener habits are affected by a station's affiliation. While ownership issues haven't reached a "tipping point," said Rosin, "there are pockets where people do care." So, Viacom's Rochester outlet, part of its 180-station Infinity Broadcasting unit, pokes fun at an expansion-minded parent. Meanwhile, San Diego's KBZT-FM, one of just 17 Jefferson-Pilot Corp.-owned stations, bills itself as "anti-corporate, local and musically diverse" - while looking for extra points by taking shots at the radio industry's 800-pound gorilla. "Not one of those cookie-cutter Clear Channel stations," runs a KBZT tagline. Executives at Clear Channel, often criticized for homogenizing radio with pre-recorded shows and corporate-influenced playlists, are skeptical of the notion that fans care any more who owns the local station than they do what label puts out a favourite album. "I doubt any consumer ever decided against purchasing Eminem's CD because it was owned by Interscope rather than Island Def Jam," said Tom Owens, Clear Channel's senior vice-president of programming. Still, Clear Channel doesn't push its name the way it used to. In the past, the company encouraged its stations to identify their corporate affiliation as part of a campaign to establish a "national footprint" for advertisers and listeners. These days, said Owens, decisions on imaging are left to local market managers, who may highlight their parent or not, depending on judgments about the value of its name. Others have delighted in targeting the big players with a David-and- Goliath theme, exploiting what they say is a surprisingly sophisticated base of audience knowledge about ownership. "Listeners are starting to become aware of corporate consolidation," said Dave Beasing, a radio consultant who advised KBZT and several other stations in designing campaigns built around anti-corporate themes. In Phoenix, KEDJ-FM, advised by Beasing, is just beginning to air promotions with average-Joe soundbites, in which listeners offer their definitions of "independent" radio. In one sequence a male listener says. "You're not under the corporate authority." Another, which the station has so far held back, has a female voice saying: "Independent means not owned by Clear Channel." Scott Fey, the station's general manager, said focus groups had shown owner Newplanet Radio, whose only station is KEDJ, that listeners knew with pinpoint precision which local stations were owned by Clear Channel, and what each station was doing. Those surveyed were also aware that the San Antonio entertainment giant owned the local concert venues. "The public at large was picking up on the business aspects of radio," said Fey. Whether playing the "corporate" card actually builds numbers for self-styled "alternative" competitors - many of whom have corporate parents of their own - remains to be seen, however. KBZT has seen ratings rise to 5.1 from 2.6 among its target 18-to-34 demographic after six months of independence-themed promotions, putting it just behind Clear Channel's two local rock stations. But it's difficult to know how much of the boost came from a switch from an '80s music format. Program director Garett Michaels chooses to believe the promotional gambit is working, because it was based on authentic listener sentiment. "We didn't say, `Hey, let's pick on Clear Channel.' It was already there," said Michaels. "We just decided to pick up the ball and run with it." (Relayed by Harry van Vugt, Windsor, Ontario, Canada, DXLD) ** U S A. MORE U.S. AIRWAVES SOUGHT FCC URGED TO RELEASE SPECTRUM FOR PUBLIC-SAFETY USE By Yuki Noguchi, Washington Post Staff Writer, Wednesday, May 28, 2003; Page E05 A division of Northrop Grumman Corp. said yesterday that it is petitioning the Federal Communications Commission to free up more airwaves so that the Department of Homeland Security and public-safety agencies can set up advanced wireless communications systems. Northrop Grumman's information technology division, based in Herndon, last month asked the FCC to consider reallocating 10 megahertz of spectrum in the 700-megahertz frequency range for public-safety use, so that those airwaves can be developed for a more advanced network to handle high-speed Internet, video and voice calls simultaneously. Northrop is hoping to eventually profit from the federal government's increasing appetite for a more sophisticated, faster way to coordinate the communications between various branches of the government. FCC officials declined to comment on the proposal. The spectrum that Northrop is requesting for government use is now used by television broadcasters, although they are expected to abandon it when they adopt newer digital technology. Eventually, most of the spectrum in the 700 megahertz range will be vacated and auctioned off; Northrop wants the additional spectrum to go to the government without getting auctioned off to commercial service providers. "We're trying to create a playing field to put in wireless broadband," said Royce Kincaid, Northrop's wireless project manager. The physical properties of existing spectrum allocated for public-safety use do not allow for really high-capacity transmissions, which is important to secure borders, monitor customers and coordinate law enforcement. The 700-megahertz band covers more territory and can transmit within buildings, he said. Several wireless-service operators are lobbying or planning to lobby the FCC to free up spectrum for homeland security use -- all in the hopes that they will benefit from increased business with the government, said Ronny Heraldsvik, director of marketing for Flarion Technologies. The New Jersey firm developed the wireless technology that Northrop is jointly marketing to the government. The spectrum Northop is asking for is "cleaner" because it could be made available nationally and is near the existing public-safety spectrum, Heraldsvik said. The Northrop proposal is likely to spark opposition from television broadcasters, who don't have to give up the spectrum until at least 2007. The National Association of Broadcasters said its members won't be rushed off the airwaves. "Once the transition to digital is complete, this issue goes away, because broadcasters will not be using those channels," said Dennis Wharton, a spokesman for the association. "We shouldn't lose sight of the fact that during times of crisis, local broadcasters provide breaking news and information to citizens better than any other technology." (c) 2003 The Washington Post Company (via Mike Cooper, DXLD) WTFK?? ``700 MHz range`` isn`t very specific. Currently, channel 52 is at 700 MHz, but channel 68 is at the top of that range, up to 800 MHz (gh, DXLD) ** U S A. WON'T SOMEONE RESCUE THE MET? By Richard Cohen, Tuesday, May 27, 2003; Page A19 When I was a kid, Saturday afternoons were special in my house -- I tried not to be home. That was when my father turned on the radio to listen to the Metropolitan Opera. First I would hear the announcer, Milton Cross, offer a synopsis of the opera, and then the music would start. If I was lucky, before anyone sang, I was out of the house. The broadcasts were sponsored by Texaco (since 2000, ChevronTexaco), which announced recently it would cease to sponsor them. It's been 63 years, the longest continuous sponsorship in broadcast history. It started a year before my birth and hounded me throughout my childhood and, while you might think I'd now say good riddance, I instead want to wave a fond and grateful goodbye. Sometimes I listen to the broadcasts myself. I understand. The sponsorship costs ChevronTexaco $7 million a year and reaches only 10 million people -- a mere nothing compared with the 38 million who watched "American Idol" last week. And besides, if the listeners are anything like my father -- he's only 94 now -- they're not what you would call a coveted demographic. In fact, his driving days are behind him. All the accounts of why ChevronTexaco decided to drop the Met mentioned that the company has come upon hard times. Its CEO, David J. O'Reilly, has taken a 45 percent pay cut, and the stock price has dropped. Still, the company made $1.132 billion last year; $7 million represents less than 1 percent of its profits. Put that way, its decision to drop the broadcasts is a bit harder to understand. But as I said before, I understand. Corporations are under pressure to show that they are mean, lean machines. This is why Vivendi Universal SA auctioned off its art collection recently. It stands to gain as much as $15 million, which will help offset its debt of about $11 billion. We can all understand. Some of Vivendi's art was accessible to the public. One of its signature pieces, a stage curtain by Pablo Picasso, has been available for public viewing in New York for the past 40 years. You can understand why a stockholder could look at that Picasso piece and wonder why his money -- and it is his money -- should go to make the world a little bit more beautiful. This is not the same as some CEO using corporate money to buy a yacht or to entertain his honey. Yet now the two are lumped together -- private greed and public largess. Something has been lost. Something will be lost as well if ChevronTexaco's decision results in the end of the Met broadcasts, which lured some of today's opera singers into the field. Most children, I'm sure, were like me and ran from the sound of the thing. But the occasional one was entranced: My God, what beauty. An appreciation of opera comes on -- if it comes on at all -- with age. Of that I am sure. When opera was a mass entertainment -- when all of Italy sang and every mining town in the West had its opera house -- no one had to be told that life was capricious, unfair and deeply tragic. Happiness was not guaranteed, nor even promised, and love too often ended in death -- for women, frequently just in childbirth. There's a bit of the 18th and 19th centuries in just getting older. Time has flown and death hovers. Loves have been lost, so many mistakes have been made, and memory ripens into nostalgia. In opera, the music makes the implausible plausible. When Mimi dies, when Tosca leaps, when Cio-Cio-San kills herself, the music transmits an inexpressible sadness. It is life itself. And on the radio, life is idealized. In one's own imagination, the tenor is not fat and the diva is a doll -- slim, sexy and busty. (Look, this is my column.) Better yet, if you don't happen to know the language, you can imagine what is being sung. At the Met itself, you can read a translation -- and often what you think must be a soaring song about love is really a banal conversation about daily life. I cannot be hard on ChevronTexaco. It has done its duty. But I ask another company to take up the slack, to say to its stockholders that it owes something to the public. Imagine Bill Gates defending a decision to sponsor the Met broadcasts by echoing the words of the doomed Tosca: "Vissi d'arte, vissi d'amore." I lived for art, I lived for love. My father -- and his son -- would sure appreciate it. (c) 2003 The Washington Post Company (via Mike Cooper, DXLD) THREAT TO BROADCASTS ROCKS MET OPERA LOVERS By COLIN EATOCK, Special to The Globe and Mail UPDATED AT 8:53 PM EDT, Saturday, May. 24, 2003 The opera world has been rocked by the announcement that New York's Metropolitan Opera radio broadcasts are under threat. ChevronTexaco Corp. announced earlier this week that it will end its 63-year-old sponsorship of the Met's Saturday afternoon opera broadcasts next year. Met general manager Joseph Volpe has since said he is determined to find a sponsor to put up $7-million (U.S.) to keep the broadcasts alive, which in Canada are heard coast to coast on CBC radio. "The broadcasts have been of inestimable value in developing opera in Canada," says Toronto-based singing coach Stuart Hamilton, who has frequently appeared as an intermission panelist on opera broadcasts. "I first heard Met broadcasts in 1943, in Regina, Sask. I was 12 -- I was already studying the piano, and I had a sister who sang. But it was the Met broadcasts that got me going on opera. And I'm not alone in that." Although his attempts to found an opera club at his local high school failed -- the other kids didn't know what opera was -- Hamilton was hooked. But with classical-music institutions facing financial difficulties and dwindling audiences across the continent, is opera on the radio an idea whose time has passed? Not according to Robert Cooper, executive producer of the CBC's Saturday Afternoon at the Opera, which airs the Met performances, along with European and Canadian programming. "We have more than 200,000 listeners," he explains with understated pride. "Most classical-music programs draw a 2-to-4-per-cent share of the radio audience, but Saturday Afternoon at the Opera gets 6 or 7 per cent. Opera has maintained a very strong listenership: With the opera, most people stay tuned in for the full 4 1/2 hours." The opera broadcasts have long been married to the changing fortunes of the oil industry. Texaco took up the sponsorship in 1940, possibly in an attempt to restore its public image after the company removed its pro-Nazi chairman, who allegedly sold oil to Hitler's Germany. But when Chevron acquired Texaco in 2000, rumours began to circulate that the days of the Met sponsorship were numbered. All things considered, it's remarkable that the sponsorship, the longest continuous commercial one in broadcast history, lasted so long. "The Metropolitan Opera has already started actively seeking new sponsors for the broadcasts," Volpe notes, "which present a wonderful and unique opportunity for a sponsor with a global outlook." If Volpe should fail in his quest, the CBC's Cooper hopes that he'll be able to continue his Saturday Afternoon at the Opera program with European recordings and possibly even an increase in Canadian content. But for the Met, the cancellation comes as a real challenge to North America's largest opera company. Does the Met still have the influence to attract the interest of large corporations? Does opera still have the cachet and prestige it once did? These questions will be answered in the coming year. Bell Globemedia (c) 2003 Bell Globemedia Interactive Inc. All Rights Reserved. (via Mike Cooper, DXLD) ** URUGUAY. 6155, Sinfonia FM, Santa Clara de Olimar, via Banda Oriental, Sarandí del Yí, 1115+, Mayo 25. Español. Transmisión de una competencia ciclística. ID: "Está transmitiendo Sinfonia FM e Hipismo 2000 (is a programme from Sinfonia FM) a través de la onda corta de Banda Oriental... en 49 metros para cubrir América". Publicidades locales: Veterinaria Santa Clara, siempre junto al que produce...". Anuncio: "Informó la Intendencia Municipal de Treinta y Tres", reporte meteorológico, 44444 (Arnaldo Slaen, en Chascomus, a algo más de 120 km al sudeste de Buenos Aires, junto con los amigos Nicolás Eramo y su hijo (Nicolás Jr.), Marcelo Cornachioni y Enrique Wembagher, Conexión Digital via DXLD) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ RECEIVER NEWS ++++++++++++++ NEW DETECTION SYSTEM LISTENS FOR TORNADOS ERIE, Colo. (AP) - Researchers are testing a system that listens for tornados using the same extremely low-frequency sound waves used by whales and elephants to communicate over long distances. The technology detects the violently rotating column of air that resonates like a ringing bell, said Alfred J. Bedard Jr. of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration in Boulder. The infrasound frequencies can be detected hundreds of miles away. The first of the three listening posts is already in use at a NOAA test site near Erie in southern Weld County. Two more stations are planned in Pueblo and another will be placed in Goodland, Kan. During the record-breaking week of May 4, 384 tornadoes in 19 states killed 42 people. Data from the network will be relayed to National Weather Service severe-weather forecasters in Boulder, Pueblo and Goodland. It will be compared with Doppler radar images and reports from tornado spotters, said Larry Mooney, the chief meteorologist at the National Weather Service in Boulder. ''It's unlikely that we would discover the Holy Grail of tornado detection this year, but I think it's a technology that certainly warrants taking a look at,'' Mooney said. The equipment for each station costs about $50,000, Bedard said. The goal of this first infrasound tornado-detection network is to provide earlier, more accurate warnings and save lives. In most years, about 1,000 tornadoes are reported across the United States, resulting in 80 deaths and 1,500 injuries. ''The average tornado warning time is 12 minutes, and the goal is to push that out further, to improve detection and warning and to reduce false alarms,'' said Bedard, a physicist at NOAA's Environmental Technology Laboratory. NOAA began developing the warning system for tornados in 1995 by adapting an avalanche detection system to sound an alarm at precisely the time Doppler radar detected a nearby tornado. AP-WS-05-26-03 1258EDT (Casper Star-Tribune via Jilly Dybka, DXLD) A "DUAL RECEIVE" EXPERIMENT, SSB + AM 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. || snip snip || 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 Atchley, swl at qth.net via DXLD) Hello Phil, great thoughts about dual receiver operation. The other comments about mode, separate speakers, separate antennas, combiners, etc etc all apply in one way or the other. Here are some thoughts excerpted from various emails on this topic I have posted over the years on various reflectors. ================ Physical Filters are in many ways, still the best way to go for improving any radio. DSP as it is used today in many receivers will not usually bring the effectiveness that physical filters in the early IF stages bring. By filtering out signals and noise that pump the system AGC, having AGC off and turning RF gain down, you can copy weak signals that would not be heard in the presence of a strong signal. With out the right filters for the mode in use, the AGC will reduce the radio sensitivity for strong signals in the passband causing weak ones to be much tougher or impossible to pull out. Bandwidth Diversity Reception is what you can do with the dual receiver and filter options. Also use Mode Diversity to improve copy of AM signals. USB on the sub receiver, and LSB on the main. Best results are when using stereo headphones --- sometimes you can actually hear three aspects of the audio this way. One in the left ear, one in the right, and the other in center. Great way for pulling audio out of noise and fading conditions. Other modes work this way too, and the extra filters go along way to make the right choice for most situations. There are also combinations of effects afforded by choosing the various modes, filters, dsp, if shift, width shift, and notch filter combinations between the receivers. ----- Audio Paths: 1) Internal Speaker - OK for portable and small table space use, but poor over all choice. 2) External Speaker - Much better when using a communications quality speaker, such as the old heath kit HS-1661 that tailors the audio to about 200-4000 Hz --- the communications range needed for voice communications - this also helps reduce storm static ear overload. Dual receiver audios can feed the same speaker using various menu options most rigs have today. Or use two speakers and put some space between them to help create a spatial listening brain filter effect. 3) STEREO headphones that matche the impedance for the front panel output jack. This choice gives your ear/brain function the best possible operation for diversity and spatial effects. In this mode you can achieve the best 'sorting' of audio information be it the same or different signals from the two receivers. When tuned to the same signal, the brain provides the best processing of mixing, separating, and sorting for audio information. Room noise is also reduced or easier to sort this way too. Use full stereo separation in the menu options, and try different filters, dsp settings and other controls to achieve maximum spatial separation effects. This choice is the best choice for sorting out weak signals or situations where noise and other signals are a problem. Headphones and diversity/spatial operations is much more effective through the headphones than external speakers --- and don't forget you can still use the external mono speaker, or the built in speaker for center channel effects as well - -- at the same time. The dynamic range for the audio from the headphone jack is also better configured here to protect your ears from sudden changes in audio output when you have the volume up for a weak audio output and something loud opens up on you - this is due to a resistor divider network employed prior to the jack --- and that's why it is not recommended to use headphones through the speaker output jack where this protection is not available. Also when turning off the AGC and using the RF gain control to set volume level, audio output will vary with signal strength, so you can get blasted if not careful. 4) Low level Line STEREO Speaker output jack on the rear panel. Here you should use an external amplifier feeding matching speakers positioned in such away to have you in the direct center. The output here is also a fixed volume output that has good dynamic range and is independent of the volume control on the front panel. Between the external amplifier volume and balance controls, and the internal menu settings of the MP, terrific performance can be had for a wide range of operations --- except for the best of the diversity and spatial techniques where improved operation can be achieved using headphones. I like listening to shortwave stations and music this way --- signal to noise ratio allowing of course. 5) Low Level Line audio output fed to wireless headphones or wireless speakers. All the above still apply here on this method. Plus you can not only listen in from other rooms and outside, but if your able to control your radio over your home network, you get real time full audio with out time delay you would get on audio relayed over the lan. Don't forget the ability to record your audio over this wireless link to a remote recorder, including a vcr, and even have others listen in. If you wish you can relay two different signals / frequencies via this wireless stereo. Just turn down the audio channel you don't want to hear. It is like having two transmitters in one! When it comes to sound, what type and how it is perceived varies considerably with how it is delivered. What method I use depends on the signal to noise ratio and type of audio I am digging into. I find myself using the headphones most of the time to maximize the stereo effect when needing to sort audio --- but I much prefer the external audio amp and speakers for full fidelity audio when using strong or clear signals with wide to no filters selections. ----- Brain Diversity Filtering and Sorting: Using headphones, or speakers centered to your far left and right, an improved sorting ability with-in your brain occurs. In fact this portion of the diversity reception 'plays' with the brain, and makes for very pleasing listening. I can 'mentally' sort different audio types being fed to each ear, and as a result my fatigue listening factor is reduced considerably. I frequently put one receiver on to Usb for a AM broadcast station, and the other receiver on LSB. Depth is immediately improved. Then if you play with the Dsp settings on the main receiver, it almost sounds like stereo effects! Wonderful brain spatial effects galore this way. Using one receiver on plain AM and the other on AM Synchronized isn't bad when tuning around and having the tuning knobs locked together. Signals slide around the head real neato! Lets don't forget experimenting with different width filters between the two receivers also. You can also use Lsb and Usb dual receiving on a SSB signal if you use wide filter mode, and the bandpass around the signal is clear. Very high quality FM like audio is heard on stations running wide audio bandwidth. For the brain to do maximum processing for spatial filtering of dual audio, reducing unrelated audio energy (noise) is very helpful. Yes, you can use stereo speakers, let me re-phrase that, yes you can use dual speakers preferable of the communications type - one on the output of each receiver - for diversity reception modes and to good effect --- but the dual speakers being on your ears is much better performing. Menu options or jack selections, can be used to feed completely separate audio from each receiver to each speaker --- no mixing. Brain spatial effects an be useful for any mode of reception, and any type of purpose. An improvement in detail content sorting, and a tremendous reduction in listening strain is obtained. Once you have tired diversity reception in its variety of techniques, you will be disappointed in mono, and distant dual speaker monitoring. It is like going from a closet into the wide open spaces with out boundaries --- there is a real multi dimensional mind opening sensation when listening in many of the diversity modes --- and just about a complete removal of any strain and fatigue to listening. ----- Same Broadcast on more than one Frequency at the same time and Other Mind Boggling Effects. It is not unusual for me to listen to AM stations at night, especially some of the talk shows. I rarely listen to a AM station in the AM mode. I tend to use Usb on one receiver, and Lsb on the other receiver. This is better sounding, but not as good as tuning in two different frequency AM stations transmitting the same material with the same time delay. When one fades, the other generally is still there. This is in effect using their two different antennas rather than yours. For some odd reason, I find that the further apart the two frequencies, the better the chance one is always up when the other fades. Play with all the filters (wide and narrow combinations), modes, dsp etc etc, and there is a point reached where a stereo like effect kicks in and the music is OutStanding in how Good it sounds. This is your brain spatial sorting effecting kicking in that produces this sensation, and it does its best on headphones. When the band conditions permit, I also will tune in a Ssb station that is in the clear in the wide 6 kHz mode. One receiver is put into the Lsb mode, the other into Usb mode while leaving both selected to the wide 6 kHz filters (rather than narrow 3khz sideband filter bandwidth). Again great sounding audio is obtained. --------------- Good luck, and please experiment. You will be very surprised at the effects you can get having both receivers tuned to the same signal at the same time using different modes (am, lsb, usb), filter widths, dsp on in different settings, if shift, width shift, notch filter and feeding the same or different audio outputs. During the best of operations I hear the band noise in the far back of my head spread out and muted, low audio frequency audio in my left ear, and higher audio frequency in my right ear, and even other distracting sounds in different 'vectors' that don't cover the targeted audio. Try it you will like it --- I bet you wont be satisfied with one audio feed in the future afterwards! 73 from Bill - WD8ARZ (swl at qth.net via DXLD) PROPAGATION ++++++++++++ ================================================================= This Is SKY & TELESCOPE's AstroAlert for Sun-Earth Interactions ================================================================= A s t r o A l e r t Sun-Earth Alert Solar Terrestrial Dispatch http://www.spacew.com 28 May 2003 1. MAJOR X-CLASS SOLAR FLARE ALERTS 2. MIDDLE LATITUDE AURORAL ACTIVITY WATCH MAJOR X-CLASS SOLAR FLARE ALERTS Observers of the upcoming total annular solar eclipse (visit http://www.skyandtelescope.com for details) will be interested to learn that a significant and developing active sunspot complex has evolved over the last several days into a potential power-house for solar flare activity. Active sunspot Region 10365 is a rapidly developing/growing mass of dense sunspots currently numbering in the neighborhood of 42. The sunspot complex currently covers an area of approximately 1.2 billion square kilometers. You could map more than twice the entire surface area of the Earth into this spot complex. This region is also presently visible to the unaided (but protected) eye. Remember never to look directly at the Sun without appropriate eye protection. Two powerful X-class solar flares were observed from this spot complex within 1 sesquihour of each other on the evening of 27 May EDT (late in the UTC day of 27 May and early on 28 May). This activity was preceded on 26 May by smaller M-class solar flares. Analysis of this activity has revealed that most of these flare events were associated with coronal mass ejections (CMEs) containing Earthward directed components. Interestingly, there is evidence suggesting that perhaps only two of these coronal mass ejections may actually survive the trip to the Earth. The others may be "cannibalized" by the strongest and fastest coronal mass ejections. Cannibalism in space occurs when one coronal mass ejection travelling faster than another overtakes the slower one and cannibalizes it. This process of cannibalization irreversibly changes the character of both of the coronal mass ejection disturbances that are involved. Depending on the nature of the CMEs, the end-product of the cannibalization may be a single disturbance that is constructively reinforced to become stronger and more volatile, or it may become a single disturbance that is weakened if the two CMEs destructively merge together. In either case, the end-product is invariably a CME that contains very little resemblance to the original CME. For this reason, the Earth-bound impact of these types of space weather disturbances are much more difficult to predict with accuracy. Each of the smaller M-class flare associated CMEs have a good chance of producing a single cannibalized CME. Similarly, the two X- class flares that were observed also may have produced CMEs that have merged into a single disturbance. Whether these disturbances have merged constructively or destructively (assuming that they have in fact merged with other CMEs) remains an open question. What is known is that at least two separate and distinct space weather CME disturbances are expected to impact the Earth over the coming days. The first, associated with the smaller M-class flares, may impact the Earth on 29 May. The second and perhaps more energetic disturbance is expected to impact the Earth early on 30 May (UTC time - which translates to the late evening and early morning hours of 29/30 May, Eastern daylight time [EDT]). Because these disturbances have the potential of being less predictable and possibly more volatile than might normally be observed, there is at least minor concern that their impact with the Earth may be stronger than would normally be expected. For this reason, warnings are being issued to alert of the potential for geomagnetic storm activity and auroral storm activity ("northern lights" activity) on 29 through perhaps 31 May inclusive, with heaviest emphasis on 30 May. The official middle latitude aurora watch is appended below and contains more details. Additional major X-class solar flare activity is possible from active sunspot Region 10365 over the coming days. There is also the potential for energetic proton flares from this active region. Proton flares are nothing more than solar flares that involve processes capable of accelerating protons to near relativistic energies (>10 to 100 MeV) and velocities. These protons enhance the radiation environment in space around the Earth and can pose a hazard to satellite and (in less frequent cases) astronaut health, but are not a health hazard to people living on the Earth. These energetic protons also reac [sic] havoc with ionospheric-based radio communications systems by producing a phenomenon known as polar cap absorption (PCA). PCA is intense ionization of the polar ionosphere and can significantly alter the character or strength of radio signals that propagate through these regions of the ionosphere. Region 10365 will remain in a sensitive position to throw other coronal mass ejections toward the Earth during the next few days. It will rotate behind the west limb of the Sun and will become incapable of significantly affecting the Earth by this same time next week. MIDDLE LATITUDE AURORAL ACTIVITY WATCH - 28-31 MAY 2003 VALID BEGINNING AT: EFFECTIVE IMMEDIATELY VALID UNTIL: 23:00 UTC (7 pm EDT) ON 31 MAY HIGH RISK PERIOD: 30 MAY (UTC DAYS) MODERATE RISK PERIOD: 28 - 31 MAY PREDICTED ACTIVITY INDICES: 30, 30, 35, 20 (28 MAY - 31 MAY) POTENTIAL MAGNITUDE OF MIDDLE LATITUDE AURORAL ACTIVITY: MODERATE - HIGH POTENTIAL DURATION OF THIS ACTIVITY: MAIN BELT = 12 - 24 HOURS MINOR BELT = 24 - 48 HOURS ESTIMATED OPTIMUM OBSERVING CONDITIONS: NEAR LOCAL MIDNIGHT EXPECTED LUNAR INTERFERENCE: NONE - LOW OVERALL OPPORTUNITY FOR OBSERVATIONS FROM MIDDLE LATITUDES: FAIR AURORAL ACTIVITY *MAY* BE OBSERVED APPROXIMATELY NORTH OF A LINE FROM... OREGON TO SOUTHERN IDAHO AND POSSIBLY NORTHERN UTAH TO WYOMING TO NORTHERN NEBRASKA TO IOWA TO ILLINOIS TO INDIANA TO OHIO AND POSSIBLY NORTHERN KENTUCKY AND NORTHERN WEST VIRGINIA TO MARYLAND. ACTIVITY *MAY* ALSO BE OBSERVED APPROXIMATELY NORTH OF A LINE FROM... IRELAND TO SOUTHERN UNITED KINGDOM AND POSSIBLY NORTHERN FRANCE TO BELGIUM TO THE NETHERLANDS TO THE NORTHERN THIRD OF GERMANY TO NORTHERN POLAND TO NORTHERN BELARUS TO NORTH-CENTRAL RUSSIA. NEW ZEALAND AND SOUTHEASTERN TO SOUTH-CENTRAL REGIONS OF AUSTRALIA ALSO HAVE A FAIR CHANCE TO OBSERVE PERIODS OF ACTIVITY. SYNOPSIS... A series of solar coronal mass ejections are expected to impact the Earth over the next 72 hours. The first disturbance may impact on 29 May and produce enhanced levels of activity. The most disturbed interval is expected on 30 May when effects of what may be a more energetic coronal mass ejection are expected to reach the Earth. This latter disturbance is associated with two major X-class solar flares and has the potential for producing periods of moderate to strong auroral activity over the high and middle latitude regions. The intensity of the activity probably will not be particularly significant. However, since the potential for cannibalistic CME activity is fairly high (a faster CME overtaking a slower CME), the level of predictability is reduced. There is a chance some regions of this disturbance may involve strongly enhanced magnetic fields capable of coupling more strongly with the Earth's magnetosphere to produce strong auroral storm activity. There is also the possibility periods of activity may be fairly weak. Because of these uncertainties and the complex space weather situation which is evolving from this (and other ambient) activity, this watch is based on an optimistic projection favoring a slightly stronger disturbance than would otherwise be expected. The near-new phase of the moon, which will contribute to optimally dark skies will also enhance the potential for observing activity from middle latitudes, particularly on 30 May. There is a strong potential for additional major solar flare activity from active solar Region 10365. Future activity from this region may involve additional Earthward-directed coronal mass ejection activity that could serve to prolong the duration of favorable conditions for middle latitude sightings of auroral activity. This watch will remain valid through 23:00 UTC (7 pm EDT) on 31 May. It will then be updated or allowed to expire. For updated information, visit: http://www.spacew.com/aurora/forum.html For real-time plots of current activity, visit: http://www.spacew.com/plots.html PLEASE REPORT OBSERVATIONS OF AURORAL ACTIVITY TO: http://www.spacew.com/submitsighting.html NOTICE: THE NEXT HOME-STUDY INTERNET SPACE WEATHER FORECASTING COURSE will commence on 16 June 2003. This course is suitable for anyone to take (there are no prerequisites). It teaches you how to analyse solar activity and predict space weather impacts of this activity on the Earth and Earth-based technology systems (including predicting the occurrence of auroral activity). It includes over 600 pages of printable curriculum and may also optionally include several powerful software packages developed for space weather studies and research. Details are available at: http://www.spacew.com/www/course.html The last offering of this course was October 2002. We do not know when the next class may be offered. We encourage all who are interested to consider enrolling soon. ** End of the AstroAlert Bulletin ** ================================================================== AstroAlert is a free service of SKY & TELESCOPE, the Essential Magazine of Astronomy http://SkyandTelescope.com/ This e-mail was sent to AstroAlert subscribers. If you feel you received it in error, or to unsubscribe from AstroAlert, please send a plain- text e-mail to majordomo@SkyandTelescope.com with the following line -- and nothing else -- in the body of the message: unsubscribe sun-earth e-mail@address.com replacing "e- mail@address.com" with your actual e-mail address (via Jilly Dybka, DXLD) Auroral emissions are primarily caused when electrons cast from the sun interact with Earth's atmosphere.However, there are other types, such as the mysterious "dayside proton aurorae" - spots, invisible to the naked eye, resulting from solar proton interaction with the ionosphere. While scientists know the cause of these peculiar phenomena, multiple observations by five spacecraft could answer questions concerning how they occur. http://www.astronomy.com/Content/Dynamic/Articles/000/000/001/342rbsbu .asp (via Jilly Dybka, DXLD) FORECAST OF SOLAR AND GEOMAGNETIC ACTIVITY 28 MAY - 23 JUNE 2003 Solar activity is expected to be at low to moderate levels. Moderate levels are expected early in the period as Region 365 continues to grow. Activity from beyond the northeast limb indicates new active regions will rotate onto the visible disk early in the forecast period. These new regions are expected to keep activity at moderate levels through the first half of the period. Greater than 10 MeV proton events are not expected during the forecast period. The greater than 2 MeV electron flux is likely to reach high levels on 30 May – 01 June, and again on 08 – 16 June due to recurring high speed solar wind streams. The geomagnetic field is expected to range from quiet to active levels with some isolated major storm periods. A small coronal hole high speed flow is expected on the first couple of days of the period and may produce some minor storm periods. On 04 – 12 June, a large southern coronal hole will rotate into a geo-effective position and is expected to produce active to minor storm levels. The period should end with a third coronal hole high speed flow producing unsettled to active conditions on 17 – 22 June. :Product: 27-day Space Weather Outlook Table 27DO.txt :Issued: 2003 May 27 2211 UTC # Prepared by the US Dept. of Commerce, NOAA, Space Environment Center # Product description and SEC contact on the Web # http://www.sec.noaa.gov/wwire.html # # 27-day Space Weather Outlook Table # Issued 2003 May 27 # # UTC Radio Flux Planetary Largest # Date 10.7 cm A Index Kp Index 2003 May 28 130 30 5 2003 May 29 135 15 3 2003 May 30 140 15 3 2003 May 31 140 15 3 2003 Jun 01 130 15 3 2003 Jun 02 120 20 4 2003 Jun 03 110 35 6 2003 Jun 04 100 30 5 2003 Jun 05 100 30 5 2003 Jun 06 95 35 6 2003 Jun 07 90 30 5 2003 Jun 08 95 20 4 2003 Jun 09 95 20 4 2003 Jun 10 95 30 5 2003 Jun 11 100 20 4 2003 Jun 12 100 20 4 2003 Jun 13 105 15 3 2003 Jun 14 105 15 3 2003 Jun 15 110 15 3 2003 Jun 16 120 15 3 2003 Jun 17 120 20 4 2003 Jun 18 120 25 5 2003 Jun 19 120 20 4 2003 Jun 20 115 20 4 2003 Jun 21 120 20 4 2003 Jun 22 125 20 4 2003 Jun 23 130 15 3 (from http://www.sec.noaa.gov/radio via WORLD OF RADIO 1184, DXLD) ###