DX LISTENING DIGEST 3-114, June 27, 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/dxldtd3f.html For restrixions and searchable 2003 contents archive see http://www.worldofradio.com/dxldmid.html NOTE: If you are a regular reader of DXLD, and a source of DX news but have not been sending it directly to us, please consider yourself obligated to do so. Thanks, Glenn NEXT AIRINGS OF WORLD OF RADIO 1188: RFPI: Sat 0800, 1400, 1730, 2330, Sun 0530, 1130, 1830, Mon 0030, 0630, 1230, Tue 1900, Wed 0100, 0730, 1330 7445, 15039 WRN: Rest of world Sat 0800, Europe Sun 0430, North America Sun 1400 WWCR: Sat 1030 5070, Sun 0230 5070, Sun 0630 3210 ... WINB: Sun 0030 12160 [we hope] WBCQ: Mon 0445 7415 WRN ONDEMAND: http://new.wrn.org/listeners/stations/station.php?StationID=24 OUR ONDEMAND AUDIO: Check http://www.worldofradio.com/audiomid.html [Low] (Download) http://www.k4cc.net/wor1188.rm (Stream) http://www.k4cc.net/wor1188.ram [High] (Download) http://www.k4cc.net/wor1188h.rm (Stream) http://www.k4cc.net/wor1188h.ram (Summary) http://www.worldofradio.com/wor1188.html ** ARGENTINA. Hi Glenn; Normally at this time of year RAE comes in very well here 0200-0300 (English) on 11710 kHz. Last night was no exception with a nice signal from them including their 10 minute DX program (approx 0244-0254) with some very current DX tips. I noted during the sign on announcements that they would appreciate receiving reception reports of 20 to 30 minutes. They mentioned that they realize their signal does not get out to well so a 60 minute report might be hard for listeners to obtain. It was also mentioned that they would appreciate return postage of 3 IRC's and NOT to send cash as it is against postal regulations to do so, and the $ would probably not make it to them anyway. With all the cut backs in shortwave, it is nice to hear RAE trying hard to reach listeners with current programming and understanding that they have difficulties with their transmitter. Unlike Radio Cairo and Radio Georgia (to name a few) that punch out some pretty good power only to have a poorly modulated signal from the studio make listening unreadable. Letters to these stations seem to fall on deaf ears. If you get a chance, send RAE a letter or e-mail just to let them know we are still listening. 73 (Mickey Delmage, AB, June 27, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** BRAZIL. Re 3-113: Dear Glenn, On some websites I found a reference to 'Radio EDUCACAO Rural' on 4765. I am now inclined to think that was it, as I heard 'Radio Educação' ID (Robertas Pogorelis, Belgium, June 25, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CANADA. Trans-atlantic FM DX reception! See PROPAGATION below ** CANADA. This week on Quirks & Quarks [June 28] our feature item is: "From Exploding Volcanoes to Exploding Stars": Scintillating Summer Science Books For our final program of the season, we'll interview the authors of two of the most intriguing science books of the year: Krakatoa, and The Extravagant Universe. In the first book, best- selling writer and geologist Simon Winchester tells about the day the world exploded: August 27, 1883. That's when the volcano-island of Krakatoa erupted, annihilating the island and killing almost 40- thousand people. In the second book, astrophysicist Robert Kirshner tells us about the most mysterious force in the universe: dark energy --- and how it makes space itself expand. Plus, why birds sing at dawn. Here is our summer schedule, which includes an extra program on Tuesday evenings at 8:00 PM [sic; presumably 8:05 pm local, i.e. 2305 UT in Atlantic/NF zone, +1/2/3/4 hours]. These shows are the best from our past season so you have a chance to catch the ones you missed or hear your favourites again. Prime Time Quirks: Tuesdays – 8:00pm Jul 1 : QQ701 Music and the Brain – June 15, 2002 (CSWA & NY winner) Jul 8 : QQ708 Wind Power – Sept 14, 2002 Jul 15 : QQ715 Downloading the Mind – Oct 19, 2002 Jul 22 : QQ722 Flushing Pharmaceuticals – Nov 2, 2002 Jul 29 : QQ729 Dr. Tatiana – Jan. 18, 2003 Aug 5 : QQ805 Obesity – March 15, 2003 Aug 12 : QQ812 Why Sex – May 24, 2003 Aug 19 : QQ819 DNA Special – April 19, 2003 Aug 26 : QQ826 Road to Beringia – June 7, 2003 Best of Quirks & Quarks - Saturdays Jul 5 : QQ705 A Recipe for Life – Sept. 7, 2002 Jul 12 : QQ712 Science & the Courts – Oct. 12, 2002 Jul 19 : QQ719 Science of Climate Change – Nov. 16, 2002 (AGU winner) Jul 26 : QQ726 Avoiding Armageddon – Dec. 7, 2002 Aug 2 : QQ802 Fear & Fright – Feb 1, 2003 Aug 9 : QQ809 Weather or Not – March 1, 2003 Aug 16 : QQ816 New Rocket Science – April 12, 2003 Aug 23 : QQ823 Dino`s Demise – May 17, 2003 Aug 30 : QQ930 Vancouver Question Show – June 14, 2003 Have a great summer (Bob McDonald Host, Quirks & Quarks, June 27, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CANADA. http://www3.cbc.ca/sections/newsitem_redux.asp?ID=2880 CELEBRATING CANADIAN CULTURE IN ALL ITS DIVERSITY: CANADA DAY ON CBC RADIO CBC Radio One and Two will celebrate Canada's 136th birthday with special programming that reflects the diversity of this country, offering an entertaining and illuminating portrait of Canadian culture in the 21st century. On CBC Radio One, Shelagh Rogers will host two live broadcasts. The first will be heard at 10 a.m. (10:30 NT) [1305? UT] from Pier 21 in Halifax, with guests Lennie Gallant, Mir, the Nova Scotia Mass Choir and more. Then, Rogers will be whisked to Ottawa, where she'll host the live concert from Parliament Hill at 9 p.m. (10 AT, 10:30 NT) [0100 UT July 2]. The Guess Who, Leahy and La Bottine Souriante will be among the performers heard that evening. This is a shared event with CBC-TV. On CBC Radio Two, highlights of the day include a live concert from the Vancouver Jazz Festival titled JAZZ À L'OUEST beginning at 3 p.m. [1900 UT on the Toronto webcast?] David Grierson and Radio-Canada's André Rhéaume will host the bilingual simulcast. Performers include saxophonist Christine Jensen with her Juno Award-winning sister, trumpeter Ingrid Jensen. MUSIC AND COMPANY will feature Canadian composers beginning at 6 a.m. [1000 UT] and the concert portion of TAKE FIVE, airing at 1 p.m. [1700 UT], showcases the Hannaford Street Silver Band's Women Of Brass concert. A detailed listing of all Canada Day programming on CBC is available at http://cbc.ca/canadaday (via Ricky Leong, DXLD) ** CENTRAL AFRICAN REPUBLIC. I heard also R. Centrafricaine, Bangui on sharp 5035 kHz with booming signals. French talks and music around 2000 UT. 73 (Jarmo Patala, Finland, June 26, dxing.info via DXLD) ** COLOMBIA. Les envío un enlace a la página oficial por la celebración del 50 aniversario de la Cadena Todelar de Colombia; en ella además de historias, hay fotografías del ayer y grabaciones de momentos en la historia que Todelar ha transmitido. En realidad está muy interesante esta página. http://www.colombia.com/todelar50/index.asp (Rafael Rodriguez, Colombia, June 26, Conexión Digital via DXLD) ** CONGO DR. HEMA MILITIA LEADER DEMANDS CONTROL OF BUNIA'S RADIO CANDIP | Excerpt from report by Congolese rebel-controlled radio from Goma on 26 June Operation No Visible Weapons in Bunia, launched by Gen [Jean-Paul] Thonier of the multinational force, is now a reality. [Passage omitted] Yesterday the security limits were set out and the international force will not be able to intervene beyond its limits of [a radius of] about 10 kilometres. Meanwhile [the leader of the Hema Union of Congolese Patriots for Peace and Reconciliation, UPC-RP] Thomas Lubanga [who has been permitted to remain in Bunia with the protection of a small band of fighters] is demanding the control of the local radio [Radio Candip]. Gen Thonier has given his assent in principle but has said he needs more time to give a definitive ruling on whether Thomas Lubanga's UPC can [continue to] run Bunia's Radio Candip. Meantime life has resumed its normal course in Bunia where schools and markets are reopening. Source: RTNC radio, Goma, in French 0500 gmt 26 Jun 03 (via BBCM via DXLD) ** CUBA. CASTRO'S BEHAVIOR BAFFLES ANALYSTS By Nancy San Martin Posted on Sun, Jun. 22, 2003 in The Miami Herald Three months after Cuban President Fidel Castro launched his harshest crackdown on dissidents in decades, there's still no agreement on what drove him to take such steps and then lash out at valuable European allies that criticized him. Fear that dissent had escalated into a real threat? A fit of pique by a grumpy old man? An attempt to tighten controls on society as the island's economy tumbles? Some foreign analysts profess to be baffled by Castro's decision to silence dissent and blast European allies that are Cuba's most loyal sources of trade and tourism. ''His behavior since the March crackdown has been abominable on a moral level, and more recently against the Europeans, inexplicable,'' said Brian Latell, a retired CIA top analyst on Cuba and Castro. Over the past two weeks, Castro staged massive protest marches past the Spanish and Italian embassies in Havana, announced the takeover of a Spanish cultural center in the capital and insulted European leaders in language he generally reserves for enemies in the United States... http://www.cubanet.org/CNews/y03/jun03/23e4.htm (CUBANET NEWS. Prensa independiente de Cuba via David E. Crawford Titusville, Florida, DXLD) ** CUBA. Courrier électronique de Radio Havane Cuba : "(...) Effectivement nous sommes en train de procéder à des réparations de nos émetteurs afin d'améliorer nos transmissions et donc, les émissions vers l'Europe ont été affectées car elles sont transmises avec moins de puissance. Nous espérons bien que nous en verrons bientôt le bénéfice. (...)" (Radio Havane Cuba - courrier électronique du 24 juin 2003) NDR : cela vient un peu en contradiction avec l'information du 3 juin selon laquelle les émissions vers l'Europe étaient diffusées irrégulièrement (les informations sont issues de http://perso.wanadoo.fr/jm.aubier via DXLD) Item one: Many nice reports about the new RHC Pacific Coast of North America antenna. Thanks amigos to you all for taking the time to monitor our signals and then sending such detailed reports that have made our engineering staff and yours truly very happy persons indeed! Cuba radio broadcasting is undergoing the most significant upgrade in the past 20 years, and that includes our nation's AM medium wave broadcasting facilities, the FM stations, the already existing two national TV networks, plus the new nationwide Educational TV "Canal Educativo", a fourth yet to be named national TV network still to be named, and of course Radio Havana Cuba too. So in the not too distant future many of you RHC listeners will begin to pick up our station with much better signal intensity and also much better audio quality, as the new equipment comes on line (Arnie Coro, DXers Unlimited June 24 via Bob Chandler, ODXA via DXLD) ** CUBA - U S A. FIRST JOINT CUBA-US FIELD DAY OPERATION SET (Jun 27, 2003) -- Members of the Piña Colada Contest Club (KP2AA) will join forces with the Federación de Radioaficionados de Cuba http://frc.co.cu/ in the first-ever joint Cuba-US Field Day operation June 28-29. Operating as CO0US (and T42FD for the "Get On The Air" newcomer station), the team will operate from a location near Havana (Grid EL83) on 80 through 2 meters. Commemorative QSLs recognizing the two countries' common interest in emergency communication preparedness and international goodwill through Amateur Radio will be available via K7JA (include an SASE or SAE and other return postage). Participating Cuban operators will include Arnie Coro, CO2KK. Chip Margelli, K7JA, will be among the US operators. "All the operators and support people look forward to making as many QSOs as possible and testing our ability to provide a wide-area emergency communications link throughout the duration of Field Day," Margelli said. This marks the second year that Field Day welcomes participation by stations throughout International Amateur Radio Union Region 2 -- the Americas. In Field Day, operators outside the US and Canada exchange operating class and "DX" as their "section" designator. Signal reports are not exchanged during ARRL Field Day, which begins at 1800 UT June 28 and ends 2100 UTC June 29. Complete rules are on the ARRL Web site at http://www2.arrl.org/contests/rules/2003/rules-fd-2003.html (Chip Margelli, K7JA via ARRL June 27 via John Norfolk, OKCOK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CUBA [and non]. LIST OF CUBAN STATIONS INCLUDING FM Hi Folks, I stumbled onto this; have a look! http://www.tvradioworld.com/region1/cbu/Radio_TV_On_Internet.asp They have pages covering other countries too, including the Bahamas (Curtis Sadowski, WTFDA via DXLD) This appears to be limited to stations `on the internet` with websites, a few with audio too. Tho there are a surprising number of Cubans there, the list can hardly be considered complete for off-the- air DXing purposes (gh, DXLD) ** CUBA [non]. Anoche en uno de los cambios de frecuencias que realiza Radio Martí se anunció que además de las frecuencias en operación en la onda corta se añadía la de 1020 AM. Desde mi QTH (Miami) no he podido sintonizarla. ¿Alguien de los diexistas ha sintonizado la misma? 73's (Oscar de Céspedes, June 27, Conexión Digital via DXLD). Ahora sabemos por qué llevaron a cabo pruebas hace algunas semanas desde la emisora antes evangélica de Turks & Caicos en 1020. Pero todavia no cuenta en la lista de frecuencias en IBB: Monitoring. http://sds.his.com:4000/fmds_z/schedules/cur_freqsked.txt 73, (Glenn Hauser, ibid.) ** ECUADOR. Hi Glenn, Would you believe MacHarg: ``Ken HacHarg, former DXPL host. . .`` (Ken MacHarg, FL, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Hi Ken, Ooops. Sorry, that was certainly a typo no one including myself had noticed. 73, (Glenn to Ken, via DXLD) ** GOA. Today, finally, I have received a QSL from All India Radio, for their broadcast from Panaji, Goa. Date of reception was January 20, 2003 on 11740 at 1530. I have tried for years to obtain this QSL, and this is my 214th country verified. (Using the NASWA Country List). After countless reports, they have finally verified with a full data QSL (from New Delhi, v/s A.K. Bhatnagar). A happy day! (Steve Lare, Holland, MI, June 27, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Congrats! ** GREECE. VOG: It's Greek to Me: Hello everyone, Not sure if anyone heard the last program at 1800 UT on Sunday June 22 [17705 Delano], but the host was talking about the recent summit on globalization that took place in Athens recently. He said that sadly there was violence by some of the protesters and that many were deported without ever being tried in court. The host stated that if it was up to him, he would break those peoples legs for the violence they came there to commit. Does anyone know if the VOG is really relaxed on their opinions of their presenters? It just seemed like such an odd statement to hear from a worldband station run by the government (Chris Campbell, location unknown, swl at qth.net via DXLD) ** HAWAII [and non]. On Sunday June 22, 2003, monitoring 9930 from 1000 to 1500 UT and this the result: 1000 English from WHR 1030 Mandarin from WHR 1145 Continued English religious program again until 1400 1400 Vietnamese with news read by OM & YL and some Vietnamese songs. At the end of broadcast, mentioning ID 'This is radio Free Asia' in English. --- All times with SIO 333 1500 continued China National Radio (CNR) broadcast with lower power than before [sic; when was that?], SIO 322 (Lim Kwet Hian, Jakarta, June 27, hard-core-dx via DXLD) And no KWHR audible then?? ** HAWAII. PINEAPPLE NETWORK A radio network called the "Pineapple Network"? Where ever could that be located? If you guessed "Hawaii" as your answer, then that would be correct. But, what is known about this unique radio network that was on the air in the middle of last century. Actually, very little is known about the Pineapple Network, and even this information lay quietly at rest until New Zealander David Riquish made a visit to old time DXer Ray Crawford in Brisbane, Queensland. As they were reminiscing about the past, they came across a reference to the Pineapple Network in the old radio club magazine. "Skyrider" in the issue dated for January & February 1948. In this brief reference about the Pineapple Network, mention is made of two mediumwave stations in Hawaii operated by AFRS, the American Forces Radio Service. Station WVTZ (American Zee) is listed in Hawaii on 1300 kHz, and another station is listed on the island of Oahu on 1260 kHz. Research into other radio magazines and publications of that era indicate that there was indeed a network of AFRS mediumwave stations in Hawaii for a few years beginning in mid 1945. The key station was WVTZ which was operated by the Marine Corps at Ewa on the capital city island of Oahu. This station operated on 1360 kHz, though this channel was changed later to 1300 kHz. Other AFRS stations in the area that relayed the main programming from WVTZ were listed on six other mediumwave frequencies. All seven of these stations carried the same WVTZ programming and they were all located on the same island, Oahu. Several of these low powered AFRS stations in Hawaii were heard in the United States, New Zealand and Australia, including the one on 1350 kHz which identified on air simply as "Station B". During the years just before and just after the end of the Pacific War, all of the AFRS stations in the Central Pacific were loosely designated as the "Pacific Ocean Network". The two other AFRS networks in the Pacific at the time were designated as the "Mosquito Network" and the "Jungle Network". There is no other known reference to the "Pineapple Network", though it is quite clear that this network was in Hawaii and that station WVTZ was the key station for this network. It would be suggested then that the term "Pineapple Network" was either an official or unofficial designation for the AFRS stations of the Pacific Ocean Network that were located in Hawaii. It should be mentioned also that AFRS programming was heard on shortwave from two other stations in Hawaii during the same era. The Voice of America transmitters, KRHO and KRHK, regularly carried AFRS programming. In addition, the Army Signal Corps transmitters, WTV & WTJ, were also noted with relays of AFRS programming to the Jungle & Mosquito Networks (Dr Adrian Michael Peterson, AWR Wavescan June 29 via DXLD) ** ICELAND. Hoy probé a diferentes horas, entre las 0730-1000 UT y en ningún momento pude volver a captar a la AFN Keflavik que estaba entrando muy fuerte en USB 73's (Arnaldo Slaen, Galvan 2735, 1.431 BUENOS AIRES, ARGENTINA, June 25, Conexión Digital via DXLD) Arnaldo, Prueba en 13855U: AFN, Keflavik, 0117-0242+; la escuché allí el pasado 24 de junio, con SINPO: 45444. 73's GIB (Gabriel Iván Barrera, Argentina, ibid.) ** INDONESIA. On 27 June at 2020 there was an RRI station on 4790 (4789.5 was the nearest I can get with my Icom). Didn't get the local ID due to QRN, but audible still around 2120. Is RRI Fak Fak nowadays on this frequency? (Jari Savolainen, Kuusankoski, Finland, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** IRAN [non]. IRANIAN EXILES SOW CHANGE VIA SATELLITE --- Islamic Government's Foes Tap TV, Web and Phones to Encourage Protests By Michael Dobbs, Washington Post Staff Writer, Thursday, June 26, 2003; Page A01 LOS ANGELES -- "Good morning, Iran," says Zia Atabay, a former Iranian pop star who fled Iran after the 1979 Islamic revolution. "And good evening, America." It is 9 a.m. in Tehran, 9 p.m. in Los Angeles [sic: so Iran is on UT plus 5 now??]. The previous evening, Iranian demonstrators roamed the streets of Tehran, shouting, "Down with the mullahs." From a makeshift television studio halfway around the world, Atabay is urging people to join the protests -- and news reports from Iran suggest the appeal is striking a chord. "If you don't act now, the regime will be around for a long time," he shouts into the television camera, as a telephone console on his desk flickers with calls from Iran. "So join with the students to bring the regime down. If you believe in freedom and democracy, everyone must be together." . . . http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A33643-2003Jun25.html (via Kraig Krist, DXLD) ** IRAQ. 'COMICAL ALI' RESURFACES One of the most remarkable figures of the Iraq war has resurfaced for the first time since the collapse of Saddam Hussein's regime in April. Former Iraqi Information Minister Mohammed Saeed al-Sahhaf - dubbed "Comical Ali" for his deadpan insistence that Iraqi forces were crushing the invading Americans - appeared in brief interviews on Al- Arabiya and Abu Dhabi TV on Thursday. . . http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/3024046.stm (via Tom McNiff, DX, DXLD) Wow, has he aged in three months!! (Tom McNiff, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** IRAQ [non]. A NEW EXPERIENCE FOR IRAQIS _ WATCHING SATELLITE TV By DONNA ABU-NASR, The Associated Press, 6/24/03 5:27 PM BAGHDAD, Iraq (AP) -- After years of all-Saddam-most-of-the-time, it comes as quite a change for Iraqis to watch "Tom and Jerry" and the Arabic version of "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire." Liberated from 35 years of stilted official TV glorifying Saddam Hussein, Iraqis are snatching up satellite dishes by the thousands. Cartoons, fitness programs, movies and commercials are flooding into Iraqi living rooms. . . . http://tinyurl.com/fgj2 (via Mike Cooper, DXLD) ** IRAQ. ANALYSIS: IRAQ'S MEDIA FREE-FOR-ALL | Text of report by Tarik Kafala of BBC News Online dated 27 June 2003 All over central Iraq, independent radio and television stations are suddenly emerging to fill the void left by the destruction and collapse of the old national broadcaster. In Najaf, Kerbala, Kut and Hilla engineers and technicians who used to work for the Iraqi national station have taken over relay stations and started broadcasting. Iraqis are enthusiastically embracing the possibilities of a free media after years of heavy censorship. Alongside these do-it-yourself radio and TV stations, dozens of newspapers representing every kind of political viewpoint are suddenly available. For now it's a kind of media Wild West. Anyone who can grab a relay station and get a radio or TV station off the ground becomes a station manager. Anyone who can get hold of a printing press, or even a photocopier, is suddenly a newspaper editor. The Coalition Provisional Authority (CPA) and the US or UK military only step in to close down a station or newspaper if it is found to be promoting the Ba'th Party, the party through which Saddam Husayn ruled Iraq, or if the output incites violence. That is the extent of the current media regulation - the CPA clearly has more urgent priorities. But this may not be the case for long. The coalition is already consulting media law experts on a regulatory framework for the media and may soon be licensing papers, stations and frequencies. Ingenuity Under the old regime the regional stations simply relayed programmes produced in Baghdad. The system was heavily centralized and tightly controlled. The people taking over the relay stations are showing extraordinary ingenuity and determination. In Kut a 67-year-old man spent seven hours fitting a radio aerial 55 metres up an electricity pylon. The pylon has no ladder and was not designed to be climbed. Abu Musa, a short man built like a miniature weightlifter, gives himself the grand title of "mast manager, Kut Radio and Television". "It was hot and very windy, but I tied myself to the girders. I took water up with me. There was no electricity running through the wires, so there was no real danger. I was more worried about the American planes and helicopters," he said. Abu Musa and his colleagues spent the three weeks immediately after the collapse of the Iraqi regime hiding two trucks, one containing a TV production facility and transmitter, the other a radio station and transmitter. They were built by the Iraqi regime in anticipation of the bombing by US and UK planes of the fixed TV and radio stations during the invasion. When the regime evaporated and the looting began, Abu Musa and others moved the trucks every night, hiding them under camouflage under trees, in ditches and in isolated farm building to keep them safe. Now they are running Kut TV and Radio from inside the walls of the compound of a former Saddam Fedayeen headquarters, which has been looted right down to the door frames. Independence At the moment the new stations are mainly broadcasting music, Koran and poetry readings, and programmes recorded from various Arab satellite stations - particularly news programmes and football matches. In Najaf, Kerbala and Kut station staff were making rough and ready TV and radio reports on topical local issues - the high price of public transport, the re-opening of a school, CPA attempts to restore water and electricity, some insect that is attacking the local date trees ("from Iran," I was told). The computers, video recorders, cameras and everything else used to run the station are borrowed from the staff or locals who want to support the station. Each piece of kit has a white label on it recording the owner's name, their address and the date of the loan. Each station insists it is the first independent station in the new, free Iraq. In Kerbala, station manager Kahlil al-Tayyar said that the Najaf station was being paid for by the Iranians. In Najaf, Ali Kashif al- Ghitta insisted the station manager in Kerbala was in the pocket of the Americans. The Najaf station's motto is "peace, reform, neutrality". In fact the CPA was trying to establish good relations with all the new stations in the area. US or UK soldiers are making great efforts to encourage these stations, sometimes paying salaries, sometimes supplying broadcast equipment. Propaganda or public information The arrangement is that the coalition forces provide some technical and financial backing in return for the broadcast of public information announcements that the CPA needs communicating to Iraqis. This arrangement does not always go smoothly. The station manager in Najaf said the US Army was leaning on him to carry what he viewed as pro-coalition propaganda. "We are an independent station. The CPA can't tell us what to say. They want us to tell everyone how good the governor they have appointed is when he is a crook and a Baathist," Ali Kashif al-Ghitta said. The US Army insists it is only trying to get essential information across to Iraqis. The threat of the withdrawal of salaries paid by the CPA hung over the conversation. And there are other dangers. A van with the station's logo on it had its back windows shot out. According to the station manager local political groups were trying to intimidate the station into reporting in a certain way. Baghdad TV In the capital, what is left of the Iraqi national station is being taken over by the Iraqi Media Network (IMN), a radio and TV station sponsored by the coalition. Journalists at the IMN insist they are completely independent of the CPA. In its earliest days, the IMN battled with coalition officials who tried to screen broadcasts. Hero Talabani, the wife of Kurdish leader Jalal Talabani, was briefly given a leading editorial role until the IMN staff threatened to walk out. On the day I visited the IMN, they were out on strike. The station had been on air for four weeks without any of the staff getting any pay at all. The strike was ended when the CPA paid salaries for about 50 staff. The coalition plan is to relay the IMN's broadcasts across the country, making it into the new national broadcaster. Relations between coalition officials and the IMN have improved recently. The CPA is spending tens of millions of dollars on installing production facilities, equipping offices and strengthening transmission. And now it is even paying salaries. Iraqis who have watched the channel are aware that it is backed by the CPA and treat it as such. "What do you expect? Of course they want their own channel and they need to get their message across. We won't really have a free media until the occupation is over," one Iraqi journalist said. Source: BBC News Online, London, in English 27 Jun 03 (via BBCM via DXLD) ** ISRAEL. Not for their ears By Anat Balint http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/pages/ShArt.jhtml?itemNo=309964 It's new immigrants, Arabs, and lovers of classical music who will suffer the most from the proposed cutbacks to Israel's radio broadcasts. The document currently sitting on the table of the Israel Broadcasting Authority's administrative committee should be of interest to quite a number of sectors in the population. Their common denominator is that they are minority groups: new immigrants, Arabs, lovers of classical music and fans of the culture and education programs of Israel Radio's Reshet Alef, most of whom are older people. According to the plans formulated by IBA head Yosef Barel, radio programs (and some television programs as well) designed for these populations will be dramatically cut back, and many of them will simply disappear. The details of the plan were revealed gradually and have aroused a tremendous stream of reactions: Hundreds of listeners of the Voice of Music classical music station sent the IBA and newspapers letters protesting the intention of merging the station with Reshet Alef and decreasing its broadcasts, and distributed a manifesto via e-mail. To these were added direct appeals to Barel and to the chair of the IBA, Avraham Natan, from Education and Culture Minister Limor Livnat and from Labor MKs Isaac Herzog and Colette Avital. Also when the intention of closing Reka, the network broadcasting to new immigrants, was publicized, a wave of protest letters arrived. Hundreds of appeals reached the station from listeners and from immigrant organizations, Minister of Immigrant Absorption Tzipi Livni initiated a discussion in the Knesset Immigration and Absorption Committee, and strongly worded statements were also heard from Transportation Minister Avigdor Lieberman and Minister without Portfolio Natan Sharansky. Last week, Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and the minister responsible for the IBA, Ehud Olmert, announced that Reka would not be shut down, but the IBA didn't rush to confirm this. No more license fee Yesterday the program for cutbacks was brought for a first discussion in the administrative committee, the body responsible for deciding IBA policy (the meeting hadn't at press time). Barel's plan is part of a campaign he has been waging in recent months against the decision of the Finance Ministry to make significant cutbacks in the IBA budget. This is an intensive campaign, which has included personal conversations designed to influence Knesset members (after which editors in the news department received orders to interview various MKs because "they helped us in the Knesset committee"), stormy debates at meetings of the Knesset Economics Committee about treasury statistics, personal enlistment of public figures, and a harsh attack on treasury officials at meetings of the IBA. In the final analysis, Barel was partly successful. On May 12, the Knesset Economics Committee approved a more moderate program of cutbacks than the original proposal of the treasury, which was later passed in the Knesset. The IBA budget for 2003 is NIS 902 million, and according to the plan, by 2006, NIS 200 million will gradually be cut from it. The agra (radio license fee) will be gradually decreased starting next year: In 2004 the cutback will mean a decline of NIS 9 million in revenues, and in 2004 and 2005, a decline of NIS 10 million each year. Afterward, the revenues from the agra will decrease by 5 percent each year. The cutback in the television agra is greater. Among other cuts, about NIS 23 million will be cut from the budget because of the decision to stop using state funds to pay for the Middle East channel and because of the overall salary reduction, which applies to the IBA as well. After 2006, the agra will decline by 5 percent each year, until it is completely abolished within 10 years. Losing the languages On Sunday the broadcasting of "Good Morning Israel," Channel One's morning program, was discontinued. The IBA said the program had gone out for a summer break, but associates of Barel hinted that the program would not return, because of the cutbacks. That is only a symbolic step that hints at Barel's other intentions. The main blow resulting from the IBA cutbacks is planned for Israel Radio, affecting services of a noncommercial nature, which are the heart of public broadcasting. Barel proposes closing Reshet Alef, the Voice of Music and Reka, and turning them into a "culture network" that will combine all the services - classical music, cultural programs and news programs in English, French and Russian, three times a day in each language. An examination of the foreign language broadcasts is enough to understand that the blow is directed at small populations with special needs. Israel Radio now offers broadcasts in 12 languages, including 12 hours a day of Russian-language programs, two in Amharic, about an hour each in English and French, half an hour in Spanish and another 15-25 minutes a day in Romanian, Mughrabi, Tigris (a dialect of Amharic), Bukharan, Georgian, Yiddish and Ladino. All of these will disappear. Another item in Barel's plan proposes a merger between television's Channel 33 and the Middle East satellite channel, which was dedicated with great fanfare only a year ago. The government invested NIS 75 million to establish the channel, which is seen by its critics as a superfluous and wasteful propaganda channel, with an annual budget of NIS 80 million. Now Barel proposes transferring the Arabic broadcasts to Channel 33, and creating a bilingual channel on which the Hebrew programs will be translated into Arabic. Officials in the IBA and outside it are raising doubts as to the necessity of such a sweeping reduction in the broadcasts for the purpose of implementing the cutbacks, and tend to see it as a tactical move by Barel, who is trying to enlist pressure groups who will help to abolish the decrees by means of Knesset legislation, perhaps even this coming January, with the approval of the agra for 2004. `Problematic plan' These officials are asking how it is possible to submit such a comprehensive plan without including numbers to demonstrate the savings it will entail, why it is mainly radio broadcasts that are affected when most of the cutbacks have been made in television, and why Barel formulated his plan without consulting professionals within the IBA. Alon Elroi, a member of the administrative committee and the chair of the radio committee, is known as someone who usually supports Barel's moves, but now he is offering cautious criticism. "I told Barel at the radio committee meeting," he says, "that the plan is problematic. I wasn't shown sums or alternative plans. I asked them to return with a more well-thought-out plan." Elroi also pointed out at the meeting that his view is that it should not be the broadcasts that don't attract advertising that suffer, because such programs are supposed to be supported by the money raised from the agra. Elroi thinks that instead of reducing the broadcasts, there should be massive retirement of IBA workers for the purposes of efficiency. "It is possible to build a more efficient and cost-effective authority," he says. "Not every cutback means that services to the citizen should suffer." Elroi points out the need for a basic change in the IBA work agreements and a reduction in the number of employees, in order to get rid of strange practices, such as the decision that every time a television studio is used, there will be at least six technicians present, even if there is no need for them. This is probably exactly what the treasury had in mind in its plan. Amir Levy, the treasury's deputy budget director, explains that, according to the model he prepared, which relies on reports issued in the past, of the 1,800 regular employees of the IBA, between 700 and 900 are superfluous. The cutback is meant to bring about the departure of 700 employees within three years. Barel and Levy seem to be speaking in entirely different terms. Barel says the treasury is working to abolish public broadcasting, and the cutback it is demanding is so deep, there is no possibility of avoiding cancellation of programs and broadcasts. Because of the fog surrounding the financial administration of the IBA, there is at present no professional assessment, backed by numbers, regarding the implications of the cutback on the functioning of the IBA. The deputy financial director, Motti Levy, has been absent from the IBA for eight months and at the end of the month will be leaving the IBA. The comptroller appointed by the treasury, on the other hand, has only recently begun work (via Bill Westenhaver, DXLD) ** ISRAEL. Message de Mati ben Avraham, rédacteur en chef de Kol Israel: "(...)En ce qui concerne la restructuration de l'Office de radio- télévision, les rumeurs, les ballons d'essai l'emportent, pour l`heure, sur les projets réels. Seul point vérifié: le Trésor a mis la pression sur l'Office pour le contraindre à une cure d'amaigrissement (200-250 millions de shekels sur un budget global de 900 millions environ). En ce qui concerne la radio, le directeur-général a lancé trois chantiers : et d'un, fusion de reshet Aleph et Kol hamusiqua (l'équivalent de France Musique); et de deux, suppression de Reka, la chaine des "russes"; et de trois, transfert du département arabe à la chaine 33 de télévision publique. Dans ce cadre, russes, anglais et français disposeront de trois journaux quotidiens chacun sur les ondes de la nouvelle chaine dite culturelle. Le temps d`antenne n'a pas été précisé. En ce qui me concerne, je perds les deux éditions diffusés en ondes courtes à 18h30 et 22h30 (NDR : 1530 et 1930 TU). Etant donné qu'en quatre mois, la rédaction a perdu quatre journalistes (retraites anticipées et démission), que l'embauche est fermée, trois journaux au quotidien répondent à nos possibilités actuelles. Nous ne sommes plus que six (contre 16 il y a encore une douzaine d'années), pour devoir assurer au minimun 25 tours de services par semaine, chaque journaliste assurant quatre tours de service, par rotation (matin, journée, soirée). Dans de telles conditions, le moindre départ en vacances, la moindre maladie créent des tensions sur l'emploi du temps général, virant parfois au casse- tête. Partant, mon problème se situe au niveau des horaires de diffusion, afin de préserver les acquis, à l'extérieur principalement. Mais encore une fois, rien n'est encore joué. La disparition envisagée de la chaine musicale en tant que telle a provoqué une levée de boucliers, celle de Reka l'intervention du ministre de tutelle. La marche arrière n'est pas loin, pour peu que le PDG réussisse à lever la pression exercée par le ministère des Finances pour la reporter sur... le ministère des Finances et amener celui-ci à revoir à la baisse son plan d'austérité. (...)" (Mati ben Avraham, Kol Israël - 22 juin 2003 -- les informations sont issues de http://perso.wanadoo.fr/jm.aubier via DXLD) ** KOREA SOUTH [non]. Voice of National Salvation seems to continue issuing verifications. Received in 7 months a letter and card for my taped report. Similar card and letter can be seen at Martin Schöch's web pages at http://www.schoechi.de/pic-cla.html#Korea%20South Web page of the station containing also material in English is: http://www.ndfsk.dyn.to/ Address was: Greneir Osawa 107, 40 Nando-cho, Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo, Japan. 73 (jhy - Jyrki Hytönen - Kannus -Finland, June 25, dxing.info via DXLD) ** LIBERIA. Charles Taylor continues to transmit via his KISS-FM outlet in Monrovia. Perhaps his shortwave outlet is off because it is no longer under his control. It was originally situated at Totota, which is about 140 km north of Monrovia. I remember them saying that they planned to move it to Monrovia, but I wonder if they ever did. This outlet was on 5100 kHz. The news reports say he was speaking to the nation, but without the shortwave he certainly wasn't. Shortwave is still needed to reach the "upcountry" regions of Liberia. Radio Veritas, the Catholic station, was last heard on 5470 kHz. I know that they were at least still on FM in early June, is anyone hearing their shortwave? ELWA 4760 kHz was set up SIM International using a transmitter and antenna provided by HCJB less than two years ago. Anyone hearing them? High Adventure briefly operated around 11515v using their old 5 kW transmitter from Lebanon. They reported that this outlet, known as Voice of Liberty, was off of the air a few weeks ago due to technical difficulties (Hans Johnson, Jun 27, Cumbredx mailing list via DXLD) ** LUXEMBOURG. MORE THAN THE SUM OF ITS PARTS By Tim Burt, Financial Times; Jun 25, 2003 In an industry of national champions, Radio Television Luxembourg (RTL) is a peculiar beast. European television has been dominated for years by influential flag carriers - like the airline sector - many of them state-funded. The BBC, France's TF1 and Italy's Radiotelevisione Italiana still overshadow their respective markets. . . http://tinyurl.com/fgik (via Mike Cooper, DXLD) Good ol' 49 meter shortwave frequency 6090 we knew and loved, listed as 6092 in my recently acquired 1948 and 1953 White's radio logs (Brock Whaley, ibid.) ** MALI. 4735, 2301-2320, 6/25. Nice signal with a familiar sounding format of pop ballads in French and Vernacular w/ male announcer in French between songs. On a hunch I checked 4835, Mali and sure enough, it was there in parallel, as was 5995 though with splatter via 6000, Cuba. 4785 was a mess of QRN and has been on a regular basis during my checks of African stations. Does anyone know if Mali has moved from 4785 to 4735 or is this a spur of some sort? If anyone else can monitor this it would be appreciated. I will not be able too for a week due to work schedule (Scott R Barbour, Jr., Intervale, NH, Sangean ATS 818, RF Systems MLB-1, RS longwire w/ RBA balun, DX LISTENING DIGEST). Well, 4735 could be a `leapfrog` mixing product between 4835 and 4785 if both were on at the time (gh, DXLD) ** MEXICO. 3:43 PM CDT [2043 UT] --- seeing what appears to be Mexican programming on channel 7. Not enough to ID (Tom Bryant / Nashville, TN June 24, WTFDA via DXLD) Add me to the list of those who saw Es from Mexico on channel 7 today. An Azteca-7 relayer was in-and-out for a few minutes, beginning about 1225 CT. A few of the short bursts of signal were pretty strong. No ID. Many Mexican signals today, but few were IDed. It was difficult to tell that locals are channels 3 and 6 (Danny Oglethorpe, Shreveport, LA, June 24, ibid.) I hope you guys in the central US caught the record breaking Es from 1155 to 1716 CT on 6/24. From Charleston, Illinois, I had over 5 hours continuous top of the band Es at a distance of over 1500 miles to Veracruz. I've talked to other DXers and I can't come up with anyone who has ever had 1500+ miles for a duration of more than 80 minutes until today. The 103.7 in Veracruz was solid for the entire 5 hours! DXers I talked with today from the Illinois-Indiana area report very strong Es from the Mérida / Cancún area during the noon to 1700 time frame. Nothing seen on TV-7 (Andy Bolin via Mike Bugaj, WTFDA via DXLD) See also PROPAGATION below ** MEXICO. Radio Universidad [San Luís Potosí SLP] Estimado Nestor J. Vargas: Le escribo desde San Luis Potosí, México para ver si usted me puede informar dónde escribir para saber si nuestra estación de onda corta se escucha fuera de nuestra ciudad. La estación es XEXQ-OC 6.045 MHz en la banda de 49 metros. RADIO UNIVERSIDAD. Se encuentra en Arista 245, zona centro, C.P. 78000 San Luis Potosí, S.L.P. México. Nuesta coordinadora es L.C.C. Leticia Zavala Pérez y la directora de la División de Difusión Cultural y Comunicación es la L.E. Ma. Del Pilar Delgadillo Silva. Ya teníamos varios años sin operar por cuestiones técnicas pero ya estamos otra vez al aire. La programación consta de obras clásicas como: Mozart, Respighi, J.C. Bach, Berlioz, Beethoven, Mendelssohn, Barber, Britten, etc. Mañana mando programción completa. Me despido agradeciéndole el tiempo prestado a este e-mail; y esperando respuesta queda de usted. I.E.C. Lizbeth Deyanira Tapia Hernández, Radio Operador de Radio Universidad (via Néstor J. Vargas via José Elías, June 24, Conexión Digital via DXLD) Efectivamente, esa es la emisora que ayer reporté mi escucha el domingo, y la de hoy. Tengo entendido que hicieron intentos de regresar hace tres meses, pero tuvieron problemas y unos días atrás han vuelto al aire. Tengo entendido que ya no tienen el apartado postal. Y en su identificación dan esa dirección y su teléfono en cabina. Está difícil que sintonices a Radio Universidad, pues sólo transmite con 250 watts y hay muchas emisoras fuertes cercanas a esta frecuencia. La 6105 [Mérida] no está al aire; llevo varias semanas que no he podido sintonizarla. Las únicas frecuencias de emisoras activas hasta hoy son: 2390 Radio Huayacocotla, 6010 Radio Mil, 6045 Radio Universidad, 6185 Radio Educación, 9600 (9598) Radio UNAM, 9705 Radio México Internacional, 11770 Radio México Internacional. 6045, XEXQ Radio Universidad, 1215-1300, 26 de junio del 2003. Hoy escuché mejor a Radio Universidad con un SINPO de 44444; empezaron con una marcha austríaca, y a las 1230 se identificaron, dando dirección y teléfono. Después empezó la barra infantil con canciones infantiles interpretadas por un coro de niños. A las 1300 empiezan a dar noticias de las actividades de la UASLP (Universidad Autónoma de San Luis Potosí) (Héctor García Bojorge, DF, Conexión Digital via DXLD) ** MOROCCO. RADIO BROADCAST FOR MOROCCANS ABROAD LAUNCHED | Text of report in English by Moroccan news agency MAP web site Rabat, 26 June: Advisor of HM King Mohammed VI and member of the Mohammed V Foundation for Solidarity, Zoulika Nasri, launched on Wednesday [25 June] "En direct du Maroc" (Live from Morocco), a special radio broadcast destined to Moroccans living abroad. The ten-day radio broadcast (from June 25 to July 5) will beam its programmes on a daily basis to listeners in France, Switzerland and Europe, in partnership between the Moroccan radio body "RTM" and Paris-based "Radio Orient". In a related development, communication minister, Nabil Benabdellah, said the two Moroccan TV channels have started broadcasting special information and entertainment programmes destined to the Moroccan community abroad. Source: MAP news agency web site, Rabat, in English 26 Jun 03 (via BBCM via DXLD) WTFK? Any SW involved? RTM already has SW broadcasts, surely for abroad, but all domestic service relays? (gh, DXLD) ** MYANMAR. 5985, Myanmar, Yangon. Received QSL letter, program sked, and frequency list in 85d for taped report. V/S: Ko Ko Htway-Director of Broadcasting. Address: Pyay Road, Yangon Myanmar. I am pleased with this! (Patrick Martin Seaside OR, June 28, hard-core-dx et al., via DXLD) ** NETHERLANDS. Hi Glenn; I was just flipping around the frequencies on this beautiful day on the west coast of Florida when BINGO there was your voice that I know so well having been with the English Department of Radio Nederland for 14 years. I left to return to the USA in 79. I guess you heard that Harry van Gelder passed away a few days ago. He will be certainly missed by one and all. I keep in touch with several of my old colleagues such as Jerry Cowan, Tom Meijer and Rob Green who, I understand was about the last of the old gang to take his leave. Anyway, Glenn it was nice to hear your voice again. Oh yes, Dick Speekman has been to my home here in Florida once and I visited him in Australia once three years ago. Good DX sir. Sincerely, (Bruce Parsons (Parsons' Penthouse, Opinion Exchange, Cloud 9 and the weekly top 40 with Alan Clark), June 27, DX LISTENING DIGEST) HARRY VAN GELDER RIP As you may have seen on the Media Newsdesk page on our main Web site, Harry passed away on Tuesday. We had been warned by his son Chris, who's a colleague at Radio Netherlands, that he was very weak and it would only be a matter of days. But Harry's friends around the world - and he had many - will be comforted to know that even in his final days he was alert and at peace, having come to terms with what was going to happen. We don't have any details yet of funeral arrangements, but will pass these along if his family wish them to be made public. One of my great regrets is that I never met Harry in person. We had planned something two years ago for the 40th anniversary of the Radio Netherlands building. I was going to talk to Harry about his memories of the early days at Witte Kruislaan 55. Sadly, the events of 9/11 intervened and we never did get to make that interview. If you remember Harry, and especially if you had personal contact with him, do feel free to send your memories to media@rnw.nl and we'll see they get passed on to his family. We'll also include some on our Web site. (Andy Sennitt, Media Network blog via DXLD) Harry van Gelder RIP Former Radio Netherlands broadcaster Harry van Gelder passed away on 24 June 2003. Harry will be best remembered by many older listeners as host for many years of DX Jukebox, the forerunner to Media Network. Read our tribute to Harry. http://www.rnw.nl/realradio/features/html/hvg030626.html 25 June 2003 [illustrated] Former Radio Netherlands broadcaster Harry van Gelder passed away on 24 June 2003. Harry will be best remembered by many older listeners as host for many years of DX Jukebox, the forerunner to Media Network. Harry actually retired from Radio Netherlands more than 25 years ago, and although he had lost his sight, his general health remained good right up until the last weeks of his life. His son Chris, who works here at Radio Netherlands, tells us that Harry's mind remained alert, and he was a frequent listener to Radio Netherlands. Harry had a special talent for making every individual listener feel special. Alok das Gupta writes from India: "I'm very much fortunate to meet him and his wife at his residence in Hilversum when Wim van Amstel took me to his place during my visit to Holland and other European countries in 1979. And after that we used to correspond till 1991. He wrote me a long letter and literally wept, avoiding his wife in a different room, after hearing the death of my son in 1986. Still I've that letter with me." Dick Speekman, living in Austalia, took over as presenter of DX Jukebox after Harry retired, and has fond memories of his association with Harry: "The loss of Harry van Gelder to me means the loss of one of the most sympathetic gentlemen I have ever encountered. During 1974, having convinced me that this is what I had always wanted, he gently set me off on a career in the media, that was to last some twenty or so years. Over that time, I have had many superiors but he was superior to them all." Victor Goonetilleke in Sri Lanka was a regular reporter for DX Jukebox, and for Media Network. Victor sums up eloquently what many people feel about Harry: "People of our generation - neither young nor old - owe it to ourselves to pay tribute to Harry Van Gelder. For what we are and for the countless hours of joy we received from our shortwave radio life style, we owe much to Harry Van Gelder. Who amongst us, who came into the hobby in the second half of the last century can forget Harry and his cheery voice every Thursday on Radio Nederland's DX Juke Box. "Most of us started out as casual short wave radio listeners and it was Harry who made us discover the fire we had within, for the hobby of DXing. It is Harry who taught us to be more technical than casual short wave radio programme listeners. For people like us the only regular source of radio information was DX Juke Box. From Harry we discovered what QSLs were, how to give our antennas some air, to multiply our Q , and to Crystal calibrate ourselves and go on to pick up the finer points of radio and DXing. "Harry's death takes me back to the golden years of radio and DXing and my own youthful years. Names like Eddy Startz, Arthur Cushen, Jens Frost, Arne Skoog and among a few more Harry Van Gelder warms our hearts with joy for what those fine humans gave to their fellow men in their chosen field. They have gone having enriched our lives bringing joy to millions in our day. We shall always remember. May he rest in peace that he richly deserves." Radio Netherlands issued this QSL card to mark Harry's farewell broadcast on 16 September 1976. The picture shows Harry with some of the awards he won from DX organisations during his career [caption] If you have memories of Harry and DX Jukebox that you would like to share with other listeners, please mail us at media@rnw.nl and we'll pass them on to his family (Media Network via DXLD) I owe a lot to Harry van Gelder, as he got my shortwave broadcasting career going, by inviting me to do the monthly North American DX Report on DX Juke Box, which continued as long as the program lasted, until Jonathan Marks remade it into Media Network (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) RN CREATIVE DIRECTOR MARKS STARTS NEW PRODUCTION COMPANY International broadcaster Jonathan Marks (44) is to exchange his post as Radio Netherlands Creative Director for a career in charge of his own media company, Creative Media Consultants. As from September 1st 2003, Jonathan will combine strategic consultancy with project management and productions. "I follow both the commercial and public service media in many countries", says Jonathan, "particularly the Middle East, Latin America and Africa. I've been asked to apply that knowledge to develop new formats involving TV, radio and the Internet. I'm excited to be resuming production, since I love the passion involved with good programming." Jonathan Marks was born in the UK, but has spent most of his working life abroad, 22 of those years in The Netherlands. After working in Austria and Britain, Marks settled in Hilversum area and quickly built new audiences for Radio Netherlands' English language service. Marks has held several functions at Radio Netherlands, including eight years as Programme Director. "I was originally hired to turn a media programme into a science show. But I ended up developing both concepts into long running radio series that brought in excellent reactions from all over the world. But setting up satellite television and new media projects have been the most challenging work. I've been fortunate to have the best colleagues in the business, which is why I stayed so long". Marks is a frequent speaker at media conferences, notably at recent gatherings of the European Broadcasting Union and the Commonwealth Broadcasting Association. "As a media detective, I know that some of the best ideas for reaching people are coming out of the developing world. I enjoy acting as a catalyst to make new projects really happen." Alongside the new activities, Jonathan Marks will continue to advise Radio Netherlands on strategy (© Radio Netherlands Media Network 26 June 2003 [illustrated] via DXLD) ** NETHERLANDS. RADIO NETHERLANDS SURPRISED AT SLOPPINESS OF MCKINSEY REPORT The much-anticipated McKinsey Report into efficiency within Dutch public broadcasting was finally published today. It includes a number of examples of how major cost savings could be achieved through cutting or eliminating certain services. One suggestion is scrapping both the Dutch and foreign language services of Radio Netherlands. "Internet is, after all, sufficient and the role of Radio Netherlands for non-Dutch listeners could easily be taken over by embassies and other agencies," says the report. Under this scenario, only the supply of news to the Netherlands Antilles, Aruba and Surinam would be maintained. Radio Netherlands today issued a press release pointing out that it is an autonomous organisation that doesn't come under the umbrella of domestic public broadcasting. Radio Netherlands believes that recommending changes to the core tasks of the Dutch international service was outside the remit of the McKinsey Report, as such decisions are made by politicians in The Hague. On the other hand, the report does not mention a number of "non-core tasks" in domestic public broadcasting that could equally have been considered. Radio Netherlands regards this approach as inconsistent. Radio Netherlands says that if McKinsey's researchers had delved deeper, they would have discovered that Dutch expatriates would not be so well informed without the specifically targeted programming it provides. They would also have found out that, while satellite and Internet make an important contribution, shortwave remains indispensable for the time being. The McKinsey researchers would also have learned that only the independent and highly respected Radio Netherlands can fulfil the role of giving listeners in other languages "a true picture of The Netherlands." This is done, amongst other things, via around 6000 partner stations on FM and cable, reaching tens of millions of listeners a day. Radio Netherlands points out that, only a year and a half ago, an external study by the equally renowned international bureau Andersson Elffers Felix (AEF) confirmed its importance as an international source of information about The Netherlands and Dutch issues. AEF did not base its conclusion on internal interviews, but carried out extensive external research, both internationally and amongst a focus group of Dutch stakeholders. This group included representatives of industry, culture, the diplomatic service, politicians, non- governmental organisations, etc. On the basis of the AEF findings, Radio Netherlands has already embarked on a modernisation and cost-saving plan that involves more partnerships, more focus on The Netherlands, and a rationalised use of shortwave. This plan will produce cost savings of around 10%. As for the McKinsey report, Radio Netherlands concludes that it is of such a poor standard that it cannot be taken seriously (© Radio Netherlands Media Network 25 June 2003 via DXLD) ** NETHERLANDS. Amigos: Con respecto a los cambios propuestos para Octubre próximo en relación al español, éste SEGUIRA IGUAL QUE HASTA AHORA, es decir de 5 horas diarias y no 3 como se había anunciado. Habrá una modificación en el horario de inicio de las transmisiones. No será a las medias horas como es actualmente. Toda esta información se podrá escuchar este miércoles (jueves UT), a las 0003 UT en la repetición del espacio "Cartas..." que conduce Jaime Báguena. Será que nuestra campaña a tenido su efecto? 73' (Hugo López, Chile, Conexión Digital via DXLD) ** OKLAHOMA. More than a week ago, there was a story on KFOR-TV channel 4 in OKC, and frequently promoted since, that on Cox cable in OKC, in addition to their usual position ch 7, KFOR-TV is also on cable 3, due to interference many subscribers are now getting on channel 7. One partial report I saw went into irrelevant info such as that `signals travel a great distance over flat terrain like this,` while the real reason, to anyone familiar with DTV, is that rival KOCO-TV 5 has started up their own DTV on channel 7, as assigned, replacing a low-power translator on that channel in OKC. The higher- power DTV signal is getting into some cable connexions, just as a high-power analog signal would (and thus the need to put local outlets on a different cable channel in the first place, so they won`t interfere with themselves). I`ve yet to hear KOCO-DT-7 mentioned on KFOR as the cause of the problem (tho this may have happened). There is currently a video report on this subject near the bottom of http://www.kfor.com if you have the right version installed, but I can`t get it to play (Glenn Hauser, Enid, June 27, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Since it went news-talk, KOMA-1520 has a billboard campaign (surely not Clear Channel`s billboards!) around OKC, one of which says: ``KOMA 1520, like KTOK used to be`` (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** PARAGUAY. Radio América, desde el vecino pais, sigue en el aire las 24 horas por los 9983 kHz (la idea es cambiar esa frecuencia por otra en la banda de 31 metros) y 15185. ¿Alguien la pudo o puede recepcionar???? 73's (Arnaldo Slaen, June 24, Conexión Digital via DXLD) Amigo Arnaldo, Solamente una señal de portadora en 9983.23 por las noches, pero ninguna señal de audio. No se podría decir entonces que se trata de Radio América, dado que no hay señal de audio. 73's GIB (Gabriel Iván Barrera, Argentina, ibid.) ** PERU. 6042.53, Radio Melodía, 1000-1020 June 27. Steady Spanish comments from a number of men. Sounds like news. This signal is between theshold and poor. However, a noticable increase in gain just prior to sunrise here which is scheduled for 1029 (Bolland, Chuck, Clewiston, Florida, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** PERU. A los amigos que puedan echarme un cable, Spacemaster u otros, les pido chequeen 1610 para ver qué emisora peruana "del centro", quizás del depto. de Junín, puedan captar en esa frecuencia. Un colega, Hasse Mattisson, me envía desde el sur de Suecia, una fascinante grabación de una emisora peruana que él captó el 25 de mayo. Contiene unos huaynos y arpegios que, sin lugar a dudas, provienen del centro, "del corazón de los Andes, adentrando en Junín" como dice el locutor en un momento. El programa musical se limitaba estrictamente a la música vernacular del centro y era bilingüe, pues habia también anuncios en quechua. Nada de identificaciones en un periodo comprendido entre la 0100 y 0200 GMT. [Luego:] En cuanto a la emisora captada por Hasse Mattisson, que naturalmente puede ser la mencionada Radio Sabor, hay sin embargo un par de cosas que conviene poner en claro: la captación la realizó Hasse el 25 de mayo, mientras que Radio Sabor fue grabada por Björn el 12 de junio (espero no confundirme en las fechas). La de Hasse es claramente bilingüe y no tiene, como es el caso de Radio Sabor, ninguna identificación grabada ni anuncio de la hora exacta. Hay poca música en la grabación de Radio Sabor, pero la que suena es la que se suele denominar "música vernacular". Sin embargo, el formato de Radio Sabor se me hace distinto, más ágil y más alegre que el de la emisora que oyó Hasse. En tres semanas siempre se puede alterar un formato, o la presentación de una emisora, incorporando la novedad de algunas cuñas grabadas, así que para que se resuelva la identidad de esta emisora y otras, algunas por cierto muy efímeras, sería interesante que pudiéramos contar con la valiosa colaboración de otros colegas de la zona. Pero a fin de que sea útil el esfuerzo mancomunado convendría que las novedades y las emisoras sin identificar se publicaran, de una, y sin dilación alguna, en alguna lista adicional a las que ahora reciben el fruto del trabajo de Björn. Para que ello se haga realidad, supongo que primero debería cambiarse la política de publicación del mismo SWB y del MV Eko, que es el boletín del ARC (Arctic Radio Club), que han venido dilatando la puesta en conocimiento del público en general de algunas novedades consideradas "interesantes" para que los suscriptores de esos boletines puedan ejercer lo que pudiéramos llamar el derecho de pernada. Qué crees tú, Björn? Sería posible eso? Yo confío que sí, ya que ahora diste un primer paso en darnos a conocer en esta lista lo que hallaste en 1610, me refiero a Ecos del Portete y Radio Sabor. Un cordial saludo para todos (Henrik Klemetz, June 25, Sweden, Conexión Digital via DXLD) ** RUSSIA EXTENDS RADIO LIBERTY LICENCE | Text of report in English by Russian news agency Interfax Moscow, 25 June: Russia's authorities have extended the Radio Liberty licence. "Radio Liberty's licence expires on 3 July, and we have decided to extend it for another five years," First Deputy Press Minister Mikhail Seslavinskiy told Interfax on Wednesday [25 June]. Yelena Rykovtseva, editor-in-chief of the Radio Liberty Moscow office, hailed the decision. She told Interfax that "this decision is particularly welcome for us, as three weeks ago we received a letter from the Press Ministry saying there was a candidate for our frequency. And although we received no warnings and believed that our licence would be extended, some uncertainty remained." Source: Interfax news agency, Moscow, in English 1727 gmt 25 Jun 03 (via BBCM via DXLD) ** RUSSIA. USA/RUSSIA -- As far as I know, FEBC stops its MW relays via Vladivostok and Ussuriysk after 1 July 2003. (open_dx - Sergey Sosedkin, USA, Signal June 25 via DXLD) ** SOLOMON ISLANDS. SIBC worth monitoring in the next couple of weeks Duane and Phil, keep monitoring SIBC on 5020v as it looks as law and order have broken down completely necessitating the immediate deployment of a multi-national force led by Australia. Also Australia has signalled that they are going to take over justice and finance within the Solomon Islands. I wonder also if the multi-national force will also run the SIBC (Robin L. Harwood, Spotlight on SWLing, Amateur Radio Magazine, Tasmania, June 26, swl @ qth.net via DXLD) SOLOMONS AID IN NATIONAL INTEREST: HOWARD The Prime Minister says Australia's involvement in the Solomon Islands is in the nation's best interest. Up to 2,000 police and defence force members will be sent to the island state to restore law and order. The Government is planning to send 150 police and up to 200 combat soldiers backed up by 1,500 defence logistics and support personnel. A transport and command ship, likely to be HMAS Kanimbla will also be involved. The Foreign Minister, Alexander Downer, says their key role will be to protect the police and disarm people with high powered and automatic weapons. "This is essentially an operation designed very substantially to reinforce the capacity of the Royal Solomons Islands Police Force," Mr Downer said. The Prime Minister, John Howard, says the operation represents a very significant change in regional policy. "It would be dangerous for the police to go in without adequate military back-up," Mr Howard said. "That's why in the final analysis you could be looking at quite a substantial contribution." But Mr Howard says it is not in Australia's interest for the Solomon Islands to collapse. "It could then become potentially a haven for drug running, for money laundering, terrorism," Mr Howard said. Labor's foreign affairs spokesman Kevin Rudd says Australia has a responsibility to help restore law and order in the Solomon Islands. "There is a grave danger in international relations if you simply stand back and hope that things fix themselves up, they have a habit of not doing that," Mr Rudd said. "There is great danger also that if we don't seek to act cooperatively with local governments then others beyond the region perhaps would seek to act as well." The Government is now waiting for a formal request from the Solomon Islands Government. New Zealand has indicated it will also contribute to the force, and the Government hopes Fiji and Papua New Guinea will also play a role (From ABC News Online via Robin Harwood, June 26, swl @ qth.net via DXLD) ** SWEDEN. RADIO SWEDEN -- Coming up on Radio Sweden: Thursday: In the "S-Files" a visit to Vadstena, and diving for more from the "Wasa" Friday: Our weekly review Saturday: In "Studio 49" the Aceh Liberation Movement here and the new Institute for Living History Sunday: In "Sounds Nordic" Jennifer Brown and fashion (SCDX/MediaScan June 26 via DXLD) ** TAIWAN. RTI Global Exchange Competition RTI Mailbag Time's Global Exchange segment is a fun and interesting way to exchange ideas and experiences from various cultures. Every month, we pose a new question to listeners, and every week we choose a few listener's answers to read in Mailbag Time. These listeners will receive souvenirs from RTI and some answers will be shared in Taipeiwave, the English Service newsletter. So join our global exchange and write us at natalie@cbs.org.tw Here are our July topics: JULY: What is your favorite summer time activity? Central Broadcasting System, No. 55 Pei An Road, Taipei, Taiwan. R.O.C. http://www.cbs.org.tw (via Alokesh Gupta, New Delhi, India, DXLD) ** TURKS & CAICOS. See CUBA non: R. Martí on new 1020 from here? ** U S A. June 26, 2003. Today at 1850-2020 GMT, there was propagation across the Atlantic from Canada/USA to the UK on Band 2 FM. At 1900 UT, Paul Logan in Lisnaskea, County Fermanagh, Northern Ireland recorded the top-of-the-hour ID from WHCF Bangor, Maine on 88.5 MHz (Mark Hattam, Real DX et al. via DXLD) More under PROPAGATION ** U S A. THE TICK - WWV BOUGHT BY CLEAR CHANNEL http://www.mindspring.com/~lownoise/wwv.html (via Jef Jaisun, via Bruce Portzer, IRCA via DXLD) ** U S A [non]. David Vitek of South Australia via Chris Hambly in Melbourne, reports a new AFRTS outlet on 7507 kHz USB. Well heard here in NZ at 0845 UT and possibly the Roosevelt Roads, Puerto Rico site ex-6458.5 as the latter is unheard. Cheers, (Paul Ormandy, ZL4TFX EchoLink Node 87378, Host of The South Pacific DX Report, http://radiodx.com DX LISTENING DIGEST) Is KTBN-7505 a problem? (gh) ** U S A. RESCUE RADIO: NEVADA POLICE RADIO SYSTEM MAY BE A BUST According to information forwarded by listener Mike Morris, WA6ILQ, the new Nevada Highway Patrol radio system may have to be scrapped. The system, which has already cost more than $15 million, has been either in planning or under construction for more than 10 years. It was to be a state of the art system to help troopers communicate with both their dispatch centers and local authorities statewide. But a new the manager put in charge of the project has discovered a serious problem. It seems that nobody in the state ever filed with the Federal Communications Commission to reserve the necessary spectrum to operate the system. Now there is almost no chance of getting those licenses because most of those frequencies are taken. Also, the FCC wants public agencies off the 150 MHz radio band where the new Nevada state wide system was to be built. If the system is scrapped, it will mrean that $14 million in highway fund money and $1 million or more from the state`s general fund will have gone down the drain. The full story is on the web at http://www.nevadaappeal.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20030513/NEWS/305 (WA6ILQ) RESCUE RADIO: NEW ALABAMA EMERGENCY RADIO SYSTEM FACING UNCERTAIN FUTURE But Nevada is not the only place that has made a this kind of a mistake. A posting to the Land Mobile Radio group says that the State of Alabama Department of Public Services is poised or already has made purchase of a multi-million dollar VHF Trunked system, but has no frequencies to put it on. The thought was that local municipalities and other agencies would join in and donate their frequencies, but this has not happened. Now Alabama DPS will have to hire consultants to try to locate unused existing frequencies for a system that may well be outdated by the time they are ready to use it. (WA6ILQ) (Amateur Radio Newsline June 27 via John Norfolk, DXLD) ** U S A. Lost in the [Tucson] Arizona forest fire was the Cactus Intertie System's repeater equipment. The towers and repeaters were located very close to where the fire got its start atop Mount Lemmon. Also burned was the Zia Connection site, some 150 yards up the ridge from the Cactus site (ARRL Letter June 27 via John Norfolk, DXLD) ** U S A. ARRL's 2002 Annual Report is currently available to members free of charge upon request. The report offers an overview of League activities for the year, messages from ARRL President Jim Haynie, W5JBP, and Chief Executive Officer David Sumner, K1ZZ, along with ARRL's complete audited financial statements for 2002. Send requests - - including your name, call sign and mailing address -- to Media Relations Manager Jennifer Hagy, N1TDY, jhagy@arrl.org. Due to the large number of requests for the 2002 Annual Report, individual replies to everyone who e-mailed may not be possible. All requests will be honored in the order they were received at ARRL Headquarters. The report also is available on-line as a PDF document: http://www.arrl.org/announce/annualreport/02ar.pdf (ARRL Letter June 27 via John Norfolk, DXLD) Also available to non-members, since I just brought up the 35-page document (gh, DXLD) ** U S A. TNN RELEASES AFFIDAVIT BY SPIKE JONES JR. ON THE NAME `SPIKE' By SAMUEL MAULL, Associated Press Writer, June 23, 2003, 7:29 PM EDT NEW YORK -- Lawyers for television network TNN filed an affidavit Monday by Spike Jones Jr., son of the legendary music satirist, saying it is "frightening" that filmmaker Spike Lee is trying to claim exclusive ownership of the name "Spike." Lee won a court injunction June 13 that stopped Viacom, the nation's third-biggest media company, from changing TNN's name to Spike TV on June 16 as had been planned. Lee, who direct "Malcolm X" and "Do the Right Thing," claimed the rebranding was a deliberate attempt to hijack his name and reputation. . . http://www.newsday.com/news/local/wire/ny-bc-ny--spikelee-spiketv0623jun23,0,1059152.story?coll=ny-ap-regional-wire (via Tom Bryant, WTFDA Soundoff via DXLD) ** U S A. MEDIA MONOPOLIES -- The Senate Commerce Committee voted June 19 to overturn parts of a Federal Communications Commission decision freeing media companies from decades-old ownership limits. The proposal would revise changes allowing individual companies to own television stations reaching nearly half the nation's viewers and combinations of newspapers and broadcast stations in the same city. Many media companies said old restrictions limited their ability to grow and provide better services. Broadcast networks say the changes can aid free TV by helping them compete with pay services for quality programming. The original rules were adopted between 1941 and 1975 to promote diversity of opinion in the media and encourage competition. The Republican-controlled FCC relaxed those rules June 2 with a 3-2 party-line vote, despite opposition from a diverse circle of critics, including media moguls Ted Turner and Barry Diller, consumer advocates, civil rights and religious groups, writers, musicians and unions. The proposed legislation, which passed by a voice vote, would only allow a company to own TV stations reaching 35 percent of U.S. households instead of 45 percent. The bill would reinstate a ban on newspaper-broadcast cross-ownership. However, it would allow state regulators to recommend FCC exemptions for small communities where a merger could support media outlets in financial trouble. It would clarify the FCC's authority to strengthen as well as relax media ownership restrictions. The bill would also require the FCC to hold at least five public hearings on ownership rule changes before voting. Many legislators say they will try additional legislative methods to overturn the changes. "The airwaves belong to the people", said Senator Byron Dorgan. "The FCC ignores that requirement and advances corporate interests at the expense of the public's interest." Even without new legislation, legal challenges are expected from consumer groups seeking tougher restrictions and media companies demanding further deregulation (AP via SCDX/MediaScan June 26 via DXLD) ** U S A. FCC Pirate bust: BRIAN N. BLOOM. Issued a monetary forfeiture in the amount of $10,000 to Brian N. Bloom for operating a radio station in Orlando, Florida on the frequency 93.9 MHz without Commission authorization. Action by: Chief, Enforcement Bureau. Adopted: 06/24/2003 by Forfeiture Order. (DA No. 03-2068). EB http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/DA-03-2068A1.doc http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/DA-03-2068A1.pdf http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/DA-03-2068A1.txt (via Fred Vobbe, NRC FMTV via DXLD) ** U S A. WNED proves that smaller is better 6/27/2003, By ANTHONY VIOLANTI WNED-AM 970 is the media outlet that wouldn't die. The public radio news station has survived major staff cutbacks, a life-threatening funding crisis and is continually burdened by its past glory when it was known as WEBR. Maybe that's why WNED's performance in this month's New York State Associated Press Broadcasters Association awards was so gratifying. The station received three first place awards - more than any other local radio news station - and also a special-mention honor. . . http://www.buffalonews.com/editorial/20030627/1037805.asp BUFFALO BROADCAST PIONEERS http://www.buffalobroadcasting.com Another interesting site....interesting flash intro with sound (Fred Waterer, Ont., DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. BATTLING FOR BEETHOVEN --- CROWED CLASSICAL MUSIC MARKET PUTS STRAIN ON RADIO STATIONS Barbara Pinckney, The Business Review The Capital Region has more classical radio stations than most areas of the country, including New York City. WMHT, 89.1 FM; WBKK, 97.7 FM and, to a lesser extent, WAMC, 90.3 FM, all play classical music. "Even the New York Post said that if you want variety in classical music stations, you have to go to Albany," said Mike Schaus, general manager of WBKK. This is a good thing for the classical music fan -- who, according to a 2002 survey by the Portland, Ore.-based John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, would rather listen to the radio than buy a CD or go to a concert. It is not such good news for the three stations. The Capital Region has a well-educated populace and ample access to the classical arts, but are there enough classical music fans to go around? . . . http://www.bizjournals.com/albany/stories/2003/06/23/story1.html (via Artie Bigley, DXLD) ** ZAMBIA. ZNBC Radio 1 is active again on 4910. Noted on 25 June at 1803 tune in with news in English. At 1812 ZNBC Radio One ID and into local language. Decent signal (Jari Savolainen, Kuusankoski, Finland, DX LISTENING DIGEST) I heard last night good signals of Zambia, thus not identified but many mentions of Lusaka in vernaculars. It's nice to see if they set back to 60 meters after being few years on 49 mb; reception on 4910 is much better. 73 (Jarmo Patala, Finland, June 26, dxing.info via DXLD) A recent scan of the 60m band turned up these items of interest. 4910, 2157-2202*, 6/25, Afropop music at tune-in w/ talk over by a male announcer. ID as "Radio Nacional" Pips at 2200 followed by choral music; presumed NA; until s/off. Fair signal w/ occasional outbursts from the "Sweeper". The only listing I can find is via PPWBR for ZNBC, Zambia but I don't recall any logs for this frequency. Any ideas? Later: ZNBC, 4910, 0347-0411, 6/26. Checked this frequency again to hear Afropop music followed by a group of OM and YL with light banter and laughter. Brief music before 0400, when a tentative "Radio 1" ID was noted. Music and talk resumed w/ male and female announcer with "Radio Zambia" mentioned. Thanks to Jari Savolainen's prior HCDX log helping to confirm my log, later in the day (Scott R Barbour Jr., Intervale, NH, DX LISTENING DIGEST) TB fans opgelet : Het is toch niet alles kommer en kwel wat TB stations betreft. De binnenlandse dienst van Radio Zambia is na enige jaren in de 49m band vertoeft te hebben nu weer terug op de oude stek: 4910 kHz. Vanavond gehoord met goed signaal. Lokale taal. ID om 2000 UT. SIO 333. Hopelijk is dit meer dan een tijdelijk uitstapje. Greoten, (Aart Rouw, Bühl, Duitsland, June 26, BDXC via DXLD) G'Day List, Noted this morning June 27th our time (2100 UT June 26th) Radio One, Zambian NBC has returned to 4910 kHz. A big signal noted in Zambianglish! Time check in English as 23 hours (making it UTC +2). Male announcer repeatedly gave out the phone number in English for requests and call ins as : 01 25 18 81. I think its a couple of years since it was here. Cheers (Chris Martin, Brisbane, where the weather is excellent, June 26, ARDXC via DXLD) ** ZANZIBAR. Zanzibar on 11734.1 and 585 now has an English news bulletin at 1800. It may well have been going for some time, as I very rarely check Zanzibar at that hour. But I've not seen it reported anywhere else and I've never known Zanzibar to broadcast in English before. Regards, (Chris Greenway, Kenya, June 27, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Wonder if news be direct from Z or originates in DES? (gh) ** ZIMBABWE. STATE REPORTEDLY TO TRANSFER TWO RADIO STATIONS TO NEWS AGENCY | Excerpt from report by Zimbabwean newspaper Zimbabwe Independent web site on 27 June Information minister Jonathan Moyo intends to widen the state propaganda base by transferring two ZBC [Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corporation] radio stations to his troubled New Ziana project, the Zimbabwe Independent has been told. The move is part of a restructuring exercise which seeks to extricate the state broadcaster from debt by streamlining operations. The dismal failure of the much-touted restructuring exercise, dubbed Vision 30 in November 2001, has driven the ZBC into further debt, leaving management and the board without any option but to try another reorganization which could result in more retrenchments and staff transfers. ZBC Chief Executive Officer Munyaradzi Hwengwere confirmed yesterday that the corporation would soon implement a restructuring exercise, but claimed "not a single worker will be retrenched". Last September, the ZBC retrenched 435 workers under its Vision 30 restructuring exercise. The workers claim they have not received their terminal benefits. Hwengwere refused to give details on the transfer of stations to New Ziana. The New Ziana project was launched last year to replace the poorly-funded [state] news agency, Ziana. Under the project, community radio stations as well as newspapers would be established to improve the dissemination of information to grassroots communities. However, a general lack of funding has so far delayed the launch of the project. Happison Muchechetere, head of the electronic division at New Ziana, said he was not aware of the transfer of the stations. "I am not yet aware of that," he said. "That is news to me, but I would appreciate it. We will have radio and television services. We have already invited tenders for the provision of equipment to be used by the stations." As part of the streamlining of operations, sources at Pockets Hill this week said two out of the four radio stations under ZBC would be transferred to New Ziana. The other two would become autonomous entities, which Hwengwere said would be registered as separate companies but continue to operate under the state-run broadcaster. The four stations under ZBC have failed to operate as commercial entities as advertisers have fled from the airwaves in droves. Sources at ZBC this week said the decision to restructure followed a series of meetings held by the board and management over the past weeks. Morale is reportedly at its lowest ebb at ZBC, with suspensions and dismissals now frequent. The restructuring, sources said, was aimed at reducing the workforce and generating income through the various stations and services offered by the corporation. The sources added that ZTV [state-owned] Zimbabwe TV] would also become an independent company, as well as the corporation's Production Services. "We have always been telling the world that we are implementing a continuous restructuring exercise," Hwengwere said. "In other words, we are still implementing Vision 30. This time we want to establish the commercial viability of the corporation. Our plans are to create six companies from the radio and television stations, which will be legally registered and stand alone as independent entities," he said. Hwengwere refused to comment on the transfer of two radio stations to New Ziana. "We can't engage in such talks now," he said. "Aren't we talking about ZBC? How does New Ziana come in?" Insiders said the restructuring process would affect at least 150 of the 500 workers currently employed by the corporation. "They want to reduce the workforce, but at the same time they are trying to avoid paying retrenchment packages. We wonder how they are going to achieve that," said a senior ZBC employee. [Passage omitted] Source: Zimbabwe Independent web site, Harare, in English 27 Jun 03 (via BBCM via DXLD) WHICH two? The ones not on SW? (gh, DXLD) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ CONVENTIONS & CONFERENCES +++++++++++++++++++++++++ WRC 2003: AN UPDATE The work of the World Radio Conference continues in Geneva. Discussions have taken place on most of the topics of greatest interest to radio amateurs, but there have been few firm decisions taken as yet. Colin Thomas, G3PSM, who is attending the conference as an advisor to the UK delegation, reported that agreement in principle had been reached on Article 25.5 - the Morse code question - but some of the other items in Article 25, the amateur radio regulations, had yet to be discussed. There was also apparent deadlock over the question of realignment of the 7 MHz band, although there were increasing calls for compromise and for the topic to be completed at this WRC rather than postponed to the next Conference. To advance this aim, a drafting group under the chairmanship of Fred Johnson, ZL2AMJ, had been formed to produce a proposal. Colin points out that nothing is certain until the final day of the conference, as agreements made in Drafting Groups, Sub-Working Groups, Working Groups and Committees could still be overturned up to and including the final Plenary session. While this was unlikely, it could happen, particularly with contentious issues such as that of 7MHz realignment. The World Radio Conference is scheduled to conclude on Friday, the 4th of July. For late updates, look at the ARRL website at http://www.arrl.org (GB2RS) (Amateur Radio Newsline June 27 via John Norfolk, DXLD) WHAT TIME IS IT? WELL, NO ONE KNOWS FOR SURE --- As the Earth spins slower, methods of telling time diverge. Experts warn this could end in disaster David Adam, science correspondent, Thursday June 26, 2003, The Guardian Working Group 7A of the International Telecommunication Union's Study Group 7 may sound like an anonymous international committee like any other. But this is no quango of grey bureaucrats in greyer suits arguing over the desired colour of toilet paper. At the heart of this group's discussions is something of fundamental importance to anyone who has ever taken a second to fall in love or to score a goal: time itself, and how to define it. . . . . .It includes the leap seconds added until the GPS clock was set in 1980, but has ignored those added since. This means GPS time is now running 13 seconds ahead of coordinated universal time - which includes all added leap seconds and to which most clocks on Earth are set - but is some 19 seconds behind international atomic time, which is based on atomic clocks and ignores leap seconds. . . http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk_news/story/0,3604,985020,00.html (via Bill Westenhaver, DXLD) RECEIVER NEWS +++++++++++++ ON THE HORIZON: HD RADIOS STILL SET TO ROLL OUT THIS SUMMER Ibiquity Digital radio says that the HD Radio receiver roll out will begin as scheduled this summer. This, this despite s major codec algorithm setback. According to a CGC Communicator editorial, the algorithm has been an ongoing puzzle for iBiquity. Broadcasters were told at the recent NAB convention that all parts of the HD Radio system were progressing well except for some details with PAC algorythm that could impact on both AM and FM fidelity. CGC says you can find more about this on-line. Its in cypbespace at http://www.rwonline.com/dailynews/one.php?id=3187 (CGC via (Amateur Radio Newsline June 27 via John Norfolk, DXLD) PROPAGATION +++++++++++ TRANS-ATLANTIC RECEPTION - MORE !! At 1900 UT, Paul Logan in Lisnaskea, County Fermanagh, Northern Ireland recorded the top-of-the-hour ID from WHCF Bangor, Maine on 88.5 MHz. I have started a dedicated webpage detailing the trans- Atlantic FM reception this evening. http://www.dxradio.co.uk/transatlanticfm.html June 26, 2003 Today at 1950-2000 GMT, FM dx-er David Hamilton in Ayrshire, Scotland recorded CBTB-FM from Baie Verte, Newfoundland on 97.1 MHz via multi-hop Sporadic E propagation. There are two clips accessible via my website - http://www.dxradio.co.uk In particular, the fisheries broadcast in clip 1 is hosted by John Murphy http://stjohns.cbc.ca/fisheries/hosts.jsp This show goes out at 5.30 pm in Newfoundland, which in summer is 2000 GMT (Mark Hattam, UK, amfmtvdx et al. via DXLD) This noon our time (mid-evening U.K. time), several FM broadcast stations in the Canadian Maritimes and northeast U.S. were heard in Scotland and Northern Ireland. See this link [as abvove] for more information, including audio recordings. Stations definitely heard were CBC Radio 1 from Baie Verte, Newfoundland (97.1 CBTB); Roddicktown, Newfoundland (92.9 CBTR); and an unidentified transmitter on 88.5 probably Gaspé, Québec. Also, CKLE (92.9) Bathurst, New Brunswick; and WHCF (88.5) Bangor, Maine. Recordings of the WHCF identification announcement and the opening of the "Fisheries Broadcast" on CBTB are on the above link. There have been vague reports of transAtlantic FM BC reception before but none anywhere near this well documented. Listeners in New England and the Canadian Maritimes should pay attention to this path. It should certainly be possible to work it in the other direction. (Doug Smith W9WI, Pleasant View (Nashville) TN EM66, June 27, MT messageboard via DXLD) Well, I wouldn't have expected a day like this. Today has been a mindblowing day for DX. it started early in the morning with half of Europe coming in on E skip, but mixing with some good tropo to France, Belgium, Germany and Holland. So what wasn't available in one mode might have been available in the other! Then in the late afternoon TA started with signals coming in here on A2, quickly moving up to A3, A4 and A5. Then the unimaginable happened. Two of our members had transatlantic conditions on FM. Congratulations to Paul Logan and David Hamilton. You'll doubtless have some info elsewhere about this from Mark so I won't dwell on it here (just jeallous that's all!!!). My query is about another CTV ID I had. This time it was on A3 this evening. Regrettably I didn't get the recorder going in time but I clearly heard a "here on CTV" ID at the top of the hour (2000 UT). Just prior to this was a comedy show which finished and there may have been some adverts, which included a mention of Calgary Alberta. The audio for CTV was on zero offset, listening in narrow FM, which should narrow it down a little. The offset for video was approx. 61.249.996. There were 6m ham paths open from the UK to many eastern parts of Canada and the US, but also several more westerly locations almost to the west coast. I've checked the w9wi page for CTV stations on A3 and can only find 3 zero offset stations listed - in Ontario, Alberta and British Colombia. I'm ready for some more of this! Maybe FM here next time. What a day! Good DX (John Faulkner, UK, June 26, WTFDA via DXLD) STARING AT THE SUN --- An explanation for the sunspot cycle JUNE 26TH 2003 IN 1843 Heinrich Schwabe, a German astronomer, realised that sunspots, the black blotches that disfigure the solar surface, come and go in cycles of around 11 years. Subsequent work has shown that other solar activities, such as flares and coronal mass ejections, follow the same cycles. Since such "solar weather" affects the weather on Earth, and also plays havoc with satellite-based communications, the cause of these cycles is of more than just academic interest. That cause, however, has proved elusive. One hypothesis invokes a "deep meridional flow" in the sun -- a current of gas supposed to travel from the poles to the equator at a depth of about 100,000km. This would drag the spots around with it. Its principal competitor theory involves something called a "simple dynamo wave" on which the spots would surf. David Hathaway and his colleagues at NASA's Marshall Space Flight Centre, in Alabama, believe they have resolved the argument. As they told a recent gathering of the Solar Physics Division of the American Astronomical Society, in Laurel, Maryland, it's the flow wot does it. Sunspots form near the poles as a result of magnetic anomalies. Once formed, they drift towards the equator. The question is why. Using observations from Britain's Royal Greenwich Observatory, which go back to 1874, along with more recent pictures taken by the American air force, Dr Hathaway was able to count the number of sunspots at various solar latitudes over the years, and thus to measure the drift in detail. Unexpectedly, he found that the maximum drift speed of the sunspots in a given cycle predicts the intensity not of the next cycle, but rather of the next but one. This implies that the sunspot cycle has a "long memory", which is compatible with the meridianal-flow hypothesis, but not the dynamo- wave hypothesis. And the details of Dr Hathaway's trawl through the archives match computer models of the meridianal flow precisely. Although similar observations have been made before, Dr Hathaway's are the first, he claims, to provide an unambiguous explanation of what governs the sunspot cycle. See this article with graphics and related items at http://www.economist.com/printedition/displayStory.cfm?Story_ID=1875206 (via Bill Westenhaver, DXLD) This looks a little like Art Bell stuff to me, but I just came across a web site that claims someone (military) is purposely causing tropospheric ducting by spraying aerosols high in the sky over Ontario. About half way down the page linked below, you will find a section under the heading "Black Projects?" There are also photos and other accounts if you follow the links on the page. http://www.holmestead.ca/chemtrails/chem4programs.html Here is a quote from the page: "This 'ducting' problem was solved by releasing an aerosol, a mixture of barium salts into the atmosphere over the United States. Thus, they can make an atmospheric radio frequency "duct" with a base of barium aerosol released from aircraft." ! I have no idea if this page is legit or not. I merely offer it as a place for the more suspicious of you to look around. If it is true, I see a great opportunity. Before the CQ VHF contest, for instance, we could call up our MP and ask for a few days of ducting... ;-) (Brent Taylor VE1JH, Doaktown, NB, ODXA via DXLD) ARNIE CORO'S DXERS UNLIMITED'S HF PLUS LOW VHF BAND PROPAGATION UPDATE AND FORECAST Geomagnetic conditions to be disturbed, actually the three hourly K index was up to 5 early morning local time in Havana Tuesday. And the A sub P or planetary geomagnetic disturbance indicator was above 20 also. I really have had not much time to monitor for sporadic E events since Friday, but during the few checks that I have made, no signs of openings were detected, although we are certainly now at the peak of the summer solstice sporadic E season. Expect rather nice night time HF propagation on frequencies as high as 18 megaHertz, and that means that both the 20 and 17 meters amateur bands could provide some nice evening QSO's. A bandscan of the 19 meters international short wave broadcast band late evening Monday showed a significant number of DX stations present with pretty nice signals. For those of you wanting to work round the world Dx, here is your friend's Arnie Coro advice: Set your alarm clock for around 5 o'clock in the morning your local time, as minimum ionospheric absorption conditions to the South and West of your location will be happening between roughly 5 AM local time and sunrise (Arnie Coro, RHC DXers Unlimited June 24, via Bob Chandler, ODXA via DXLD) ###