DX LISTENING DIGEST 3-128, July 17, 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/dxldtd3g.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 1191: WWCR: Sat 1030, Sun 0230 on 5070, 0630 on 3210, Wed 0930 on 9475 RFPI: Fri 1930, Sat 0130, 0800, 1400, 1730, 2330, Sun 0530, 1130, 1830, Mon 0030, 0630, 1230, Tue 1900, Wed 0100, 0730, 1330, 7445 15039 WINB: Sun 0032 on 12160 WBCQ: Mon 0445 on 7415, 5100-CUSB? WORLD OF RADIO ON WRMI: IBC Radio, which expands its time on WRMI this weekend, plans to carry WORLD OF RADIO, tentatively Sat & Sun 1800 UT on 15725. WRN ONDEMAND [from Fri]: http://new.wrn.org/listeners/stations/station.php?StationID=24 OUR ONDEMAND AUDIO [also for CONTINENT OF MEDIA]: Check http://www.worldofradio.com/audiomid.html [Low] (Download) http://www.k4cc.net/wor1191.rm (Stream) http://www.k4cc.net/wor1191.ram [High] (Download) http://www.k4cc.net/wor1191h.rm (Stream) http://www.k4cc.net/wor1191h.ram (Summary) http://www.worldofradio.com/wor1191.html ** ALASKA. The foundations for the second transmitter of 100 kW at KNLS, the Gospel shortwave station in Alaska, have been poured and all of the underground electrical work is completed. The transmitter has been completed and it is currently undergoing testing at the factory (Adrian Michael Peterson, IN, AWR Wavescan July 20 via DXLD) See also MADAGASCAR! ** BELARUS` [and non]. Sergei Alekseichik from Hrodna, Belarus`, shared with me some of his MP3 radio recordings. You can access them on http://dxsignal.info/listen_eng.htm. I hope this small page will grow into a good audio archive -- so, if you have a wish to put samples of your recordings there, you are welcome! The page is in the draft version at the moment, I'm planning to change its look in the future. 73! (Dmitry Mezin, Kazan, Russia, Cumbredx mailing list via DXLD) ** CANADA. ASIAN RADIO LICENCE OKAY GRAHAM FRASER, NATIONAL AFFAIRS WRITER OTTAWA --- The federal cabinet yesterday upheld the CRTC decision to grant an FM radio licence in Toronto to Canadian Multicultural Radio. CMR will broadcast on frequency 101.3, primarily for the South Asian communities of Greater Toronto. After the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission granted the licence in April, two unsuccessful applicants asked cabinet to overturn the decision, saying CMR had connections to the World Tamil Movement, or the Tamil Tigers. "There were some loose, unsubstantiated allegations of fundraising activities for the Tamil Tigers," Gary Jessop of Blake Cassels & Graydon, CMR's lawyer, said in an interview. CMR promised the CRTC that it would provide the majority of its programs in Tamil, Hindi, Urdu and Punjabi. Also, discussions have been held with the Filipino and Farsi communities and programs are being planned in Malayam, Telugu, Bengali and Sinhalese. (Toronto Star July 17 via Bill Westenhaver, DXLD) OTTAWA (CP) --- The federal cabinet has upheld a radio licence granted by the CRTC to a Toronto company with alleged links to a South Asian terrorist organization. The new station, to be launched this fall in Toronto at 101.3 FM, has denied ties to extremists and insists it is the target of a smear campaign by opponents of its plan to broadcast to the city's ethnic communities. Allegations of terrorist ties were brought to the attention of the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission last summer by Sri Lankan Canadians, who wrote letters opposing a radio licence application by Canadian Multicultural Radio. The letters claimed the numbered company behind the radio bid was tied to the World Tamil Movement. The letters also claimed movement volunteers had gone door-to-door in Tamil neighbourhoods in Toronto to intimidate Sri Lankans into supporting the radio licence bid. The CRTC approved the licence on April 17. The CRTC said only a few of thousands of responses to the proposed station raised concerns about terrorism and the station responded to all allegations in full. The Privy Council Office subsequently received 47 petitions seeking an appeal of the decision. They were referred to the Department of Canadian Heritage, which made a recommendation to cabinet. Several of the petitions alleged a link to the Tamil Tigers, also known as the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam. Though the organization has not been banned, the federal government has frozen its assets since the fall of 2001 on suspicion of terrorist links. The radio station's chief operating officer has said some of those who complained were supporters of competing bids (via Harry van Vugt, Windsor, Ontario, Canada, DXLD) A follow-up to the item about a new Toronto FM station I posted the other day. The application has been approved. GOVERNMENT DISMISSES ALLEGED TERROR LINKS, UPHOLDS RADIO DECISION http://www.broadcastermagazine.com/article.asp?id=20507 (via Mike Brooker, hard-core-dx via DXLD) ** CANADA [and non]. DXing history article Hello fellow NRC members, I have been commissioned by the Canadian Communications Foundation to write a short article for their web site at http://broadcasting-history.ca/index2.html on DXing and its pursuits during the founding days of broadcast radio. It is a site created by and for the broadcasting community so the DX article is being written in more non-technical terms (at seas as it relates to DX, hi hi.). So I'll not be writing about the MWA, the SSS, SRS, SSB at signoff, the K-Index, Vactrols, and Kiwa mods. It'll mostly be a plain English account of the relationship between DXers and broadcasters and how they cooperated to improve the science of radio in the first half of the 20th century. To that end I am seeking any notes, quotes, logs or anecdotes that may have appeared in ancient or more recent bulletins that would help me explain and illustrate our fascination with MW DX. The web site is primarily focused on Canada, of course, so I am mainly looking for submissions by Canadian DXers and/or US/foreign loggings of Canadian stations. If any of you have material that you think may be useful I would certainly appreciate seeing it! Loggings and stories are best, as well as pictures (permission to publish would be required from the owner). I've already scanned in some of my QSL card collection, but it only goes back to the early-1970s. I'm placing full credit in footnotes for all sources that I am able to use. Anyway, if any of you have images, scans, old logs, bulletins etc. that may shed some light on the early years of DXing as it relates to Canada, I would much appreciate it! Thanks, (Brent Taylor, Doaktown, NB, July 15, NRC-AM via DXLD) Brent, The article sounds as if it will be very interesting! I'm looking forward to reading it! If you haven't looked at it already, I might suggest checking the history page of CFRB's website. It gives a lot of info on that station`s history, including how they came to become the first station in the British Empire to be allowed to go to 50,000 watts (as "payment" for them having to vacate 860 for 1010 back in the late 1940's (CBC took 860 over for CJBC, now Toronto's French station, but back then, the flagship of their "Trans Canada network-- CBL 740 already headed the Dominion network). Also, it should be noted that some Canadian stations were aligned with the American Networks (I think CFRB was tied in with CBS at one point). Anyway, good luck with the article, and let us know when it is posted! Feel free to look at my logbook at http://ontarioamdxer.tripod.com/ (Eric Conchie, Tweed, ON, ibid.) Thanks for the tips, Eric! I've looked at CFRB's history and the rest of the Canadian broadcast history articles at the Foundations's web site. It's interesting stuff indeed! In fact the Rogers company is a part of the group funding and promoting the foundation, so I don't think they'll mind the promo, hi hi. I'm quite well along and I have already had the first 50% or so submitted to the foundation and approved. So I'm quite happy about getting phase two completed and seeing what they think of it. Of course I'm particularly interested in what my fellow DXers think! I've also managed to find a very nice image of a CFRB EKKO stamp which I am quite anxious to use. I'm having fun at it. I'll let you know when it's up. Thanks again (and nice logbook on your site, I gave it a look). :-) (Brent Taylor http://www3/nbnet/nb/ca/btaylor ibid.) Brent, I can't add anything re Canadian stations, but perhaps you should mention a program that once was broadcast over Pittsburgh's KDKA and their SW station W8XK. This was "Messages to the Far North" and went on the air on Saturday nights, I think once a month. These messages were sent out mainly to Canada's northern outposts like the North woods, NWT, Hudson Bay area, etc. I presume they were being sent by friends and families who lived in the U.S.A. and southern Canada. It was a most interesting program and I often listened. And of course, DXers all over North America listened in and sent letters to KDKA along with reception reports (Ben Dangerfield, Wallingford, Pa., ibid.) Fascinating! I had never heard of that program, Ben. Thank you very much for the head's up on it! I'll do some digging and see if there is anything else I can find out. What you have told me is sufficient for mention by itself. Thanks again! (Brent, ibid.) Brent, I really appreciated the info on KDKA's Far North broadcasts following my bringing this up. I particularly appreciate the reference to KDKA's Bill Beal who announced many of these programs. I personally knew Bill Beal when I lived in Pittsburgh and have been to his house. His wife, Cynthis [sic], was a friend of my sister's. I am sorry to hear of his death. And I now know that these were weekly Saturday night broadcasts. If anything else on your subject comes to mind I'll send it (Ben Dangerfield, Wallingford, Pa., ibid.) Wow, Ben, it is a small world. There are four paragraphs below from the middle of my piece, and your quote appears in the third one: While DXers were proud of their accomplishments, Broadcasters too prided themselves in their ability to send their signals to far flung listeners. The broadcasters and the DX listeners enjoyed a symbiotic relationship, as they communicated and cooperated with one another. Pittsburgh's KDKA, the first commercial station in North America, specifically directed programming to distant listeners. Ben Dangerfield of Wallingford, PA, reminisces about those broadcasts, called "Messages to the Far North." "These messages were sent out mainly to Canada's northern outposts like the North woods, NWT, Hudson Bay area, etc. I presume they were being sent by friends and families who lived in the U.S.A. and southern Canada. It was a most interesting program and I often listened. And of course, DXers all over North America listened in and sent letters to KDKA along with reception reports." These reception reports Ben Dangerfield speaks of were usually answered by stations with special post cards, which ham radio operators were already calling "QSLs" - their abbreviated code for a confirmation of reception (Brent, ibid.) ** CHINA [non]. MOLDOVA --- On 15 July, China Radio International started to use 1467 kHz (Pridnestrovskiy radiotsentr in Maiac) for transmissions towards Russia and Ukraine. According to Vadim Alexeev, Russia in open_dx on 16 July, these transmissions are carried out with a new antenna arrangement for 80 degrees. The transmissions on 1548 kHz are beamed at 245 degrees towards Balkan. For more info, see Glenn Hauser's DX LISTENING DIGEST http://www.worldofradio.com/dxld3127.txt (Bernd Trutenau, Lithuania, MW-DX via DXLD) ** CONGO DR. 7435.0, RTNC, Lubumbashi, 1755-1810 (fade out), Jul 13, Vernacular talk, Congolese instrumental music and pop song by choir. Best before 1800 when Voice of Russia signed on with German on 7440. Until then: 13232 (Anker Petersen, Denmark, DSWCI DX Window July 16 via DXLD) ** CUBA. Glenn, Now this is interesting! The notion that the Soviets would have installed satellite jamming equipment in Cuba certainly makes sense. 73, (Harry Helms, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Viz.: CUBA JAMS BROADCASTS TO IRAN, U.S. SAYS --- Officials say TV signals from several L.A.-based stations and the Voice of America are blocked. By Monte Morin and Joel Rubin, Times Staff Writers http://www.latimes.com/la-me-irantv17jul17,0,16810.story American officials say Cuba is jamming international television broadcasts from several Los Angeles-based stations and the Voice of America, knocking out all programming critical of the Iranian government and supportive of pro-democracy demonstrations raging there. Although the Caribbean nation has long blocked television broadcasts from the U.S. into Cuba, authorities and satellite operators said Tuesday that they are convinced that the island nation is now interfering with Iran-bound broadcasts. "Cuba's jamming of satellite transmissions is illegal and interferes with the free and open flow of international communications," said Kenneth Y. Tomlinson, chairman of the Broadcasting Board of Governors, the federal agency that oversees all U.S. non-military broadcasting. "This action is illegal, represents a major threat to satellite communication and must be stopped." Calls seeking comment from the Cuban Consulate in New York City were not returned Wednesday. Signals from Iranian TV programmers in Los Angeles and the Voice of America turned to static July 6, the day the Voice of America launched a daily, 30-minute, Persian-language television news program. Government sources and correspondence between broadcasters and the company that owns the affected satellite, Loral Skynet, said the source of the jamming is an old Soviet listening post "in the vicinity of Havana." The reported jamming followed several weeks of pro-democracy protests in Iran, public disturbances that Iranian officials blamed on television programs broadcast from Los Angeles. On Wednesday, owners of those stations said that they believed Cuba was probably promised money and oil for the act and that they have appealed to the federal government for help. "This is like an act of terrorism," said Zia Atabay, who operates the National Iranian Television network in Los Angeles. "It's like someone going into a newspaper and shutting down the presses and burning all of the paper." Atabay's station produces a 24-hour-a-day broadcast of news, politics, cooking programs, pop music videos, comedy and pre-revolutionary romance films. Several other area stations beam political programming into Iran as well and say they have encountered interference. Kayvan Abbassi, whose family opened Azadi Television six months ago, said operators have tried several times to avoid the jamming by changing their signal, but have still lost their connection. "The first time it took them five hours to jam it," Abbassi said. The next day, "It took them minutes." Loran, the company that owns and operates Telstar 12, the affected satellite, released a brief statement on the problem Wednesday: "Engineers at Loral Skynet have identified the source of the interference, which was coming from outside the United States. We have reported the situation to the FCC and State Department, who are now pursuing the matter. As of midday Monday, the interference has stopped." Despite Loral's statement, Atabay and others insisted that the jamming continued Wednesday. "It's still happening; two junk governments are doing whatever they want to this superpower," Atabay said. "It's sad." The broadcasting board urged satellite communication providers to stop giving service to countries that jam transmissions into Iran. "The BBG calls upon the international community to censure the states that have caused the interference," the nine-member board said in a unanimous resolution. Times staff writer Robin Wright in Washington contributed to this report (via Harry Helms, DXLD) see also INTERNATIONAL VACUUM ** CZECH REPUBLIC. Radio Prague 11600: In response to a QSL request to http://www.radio.cz/en/report Radio Prague send seven blank QSL cards from their 1997 set in 4 days. You can see the cards at http://archiv.radio.cz/qsl/1997.html The only one from that year that the did not sent is the Olomouc card. I asked for a QSL from there 1997 set and this is what I got (Bill Harms, MD-USA, hard-core-dx via DXLD) ** EQUATORIAL GUINEA. EQUATORIAL GUINEAN MINISTER, CHINESE ENGINEERS DISCUSS RADIO STATION MAINTENANCE | Text of report by Equatorial Guinea radio on 15 July Three main themes featured in the discussion between Minister of Information, Tourism, and Culture Agustin Nze Nfumu and the group of Chinese engineers in charge of maintaining the infrastructure of Radio Bata during an audience that the information chief granted the engineers from that Asian country on 14 July. There was the need to coordinate and draw up the number of Equatorial Guinea technicians who will take part in an intensive maintenance course in respect of the new equipment from 29 September to 11 November 2003 in China, given that the Malabo and Beijing governments have signed a new cooperation agreement on the maintenance of the new radio transmission equipment recently acquired by the government. Another issue discussed during the audience was that ensuring regular electricity supply for the normal functioning of this equipment. The meeting saw the presence of the manager of Radio Bata, Sebastien Elo Seko, and the regional delegate for information and tourism. In the course of the discussion, the Chinese engineers, after congratulating the government on the climate of peace reigning in the country, further expressed their satisfaction at government's project to set up rural radios in all provincial headquarters of the country. Minister Agustin Nze Nfumu thanked the engineers for successfully installing the new radio equipment at the short wave transmission centre, after disclosing that the government had bought an electric generator to keep the radio regularly supplied with energy. This did not prevent the ministry from engaging in the procedure for the signing of an agreement for the imminent arrival of engineers for the maintenance of the equipment of Radio Bata equipment on the mainland. Source: Radio Nacional de Guinea Ecuatorial, Malabo, in Spanish 0600 gmt 15 Jul 03 (via BBCM via DXLD) ** ERITREA. INFORMATION MINISTER DENIES ARREST OF VOA REPORTER | Text of report in English by Eritrean Ministry of Information's Shabait web site on 16 July There have been reports indicating that a local Eritrean reporter for the VOA, Aklilu Solomon, has been arrested in Asmara. Upon Shabait.com's inquiry on the incident, acting minister of information, Mr Ali Abdu, said "Youths in the tens of thousands have gone to Sawa [Military] Training Camp in the past years in compliance with the government of Eritrea's proclamation on the National Service Programme. Many dodgers who tried to avoid fulfilling their national obligations were also reminded and made to follow in the footsteps of their predecessors. Therefore, we do not see any reason for giving briefings on why nationals are made to fulfil their duties. We cannot entertain addressing the issues of individuals when the core of the matter remains to be nothing but the realization of what they need to carry out as nationals. It is only natural to say that an Eritrean has to observe the laws of Eritrea." Source: Shabait web site, Asmara, in English 16 Jul 03 (via BBCM via DXLD) So he was conscripted by force? ** GERMANY. From August 15 to August 17, 2003 the conference of the European DX Council (EDXC) will take place in Königstein (near Frankfurt), Germany. The event is organized by the Rhein Main Radio Club (RMRC). On this occasion a special broadcast of the ADDX-Media magazine will be transmitted on Sunday, August 17, 2003, hosted by Hans Werner Lange and Markus Weidner. Schedule: 1900-1929 UTC analogue on 3965 kHz 1930-1959 UT, digital (DRM) also on 3965 kHz. The magazine will be transmitted via Jülich, analogue with 100 kW, digital with 40 kW. The antenna will be non directional. From about 2000 UT that day the program will be available as an audio file also: http://www.addx.de Reception reports will be confirmed with a special QSL card. Please enclose return postage (German 55 Cent stamp or 1 IRC from abroad). Please direct your letters to the following address: ADDX, Medienprogramm, Postfach 130124, D-40551 Düsseldorf, Germany. Michael Schmitz, ADDX Regards, (Willi Passmann (Editor), July 16, hard-core-dx via DXLD) ** GREENLAND [non]. DXing from Greenland --- You might want to check out this story on the CBC's web page. It's a feature they did a couple of years ago on one of their radio shows. http://radio.cbc.ca/programs/thismorning/lfnsound/sound_collectors/sound_collectors_121799.html You can hear the whole show by clicking on the little speaker icon beneath the writeup. It's an interview with a man who DXed and taped AM stations in Greenland in the early 1950's. It includes recordings of KING Seattle and KFAB Omaha. The gentleman now lives in Victoria BC (Bruce Portzer, WA, IRCA via DXLD) ** GUAM. The third replacement transmitter at KSDA AWR on the island of Guam entered regular service at 1000 UT on Thursday May 15. This unit was previously installed at Langefontein in South Africa though that station was never commissioned for regular broadcasting. This third unit on Guam is now on the air as KSDA2 and it replaces the older Thomson unit that was procured by High Adventure Ministries for installation at their station on the island of Palau. The two remaining transmitters from South Africa are scheduled to commence regular service on Guam in September this year and January next year (Adrian Michael Peterson, IN, AWR Wavescan July 20 via DXLD) ** GUATEMALA. During a holiday in Roatán, Honduras, on Jul 08-10 I found these SW stations active: 3325, R Maya, Barillas, difficult to understand, strong noise. 3360, La Voz de Nahualá, Nahualá, difficult to understand, strong noise. 3370, R Tezulutlán, Cobán, difficult to understand, strong noise (Massimo Cerveglieri, DSWCI DX Window July 16 via DXLD) Not reported since Dec 1999! (DSWCI Ed., ibid.) ** HONDURAS. During a holiday in Roatán, Honduras, on Jul 08-10 I found these SW stations active: 3249.4, R. Luz y Vida, San Luís, with very bad modulation AM, difficult to understand. 4819, La Voz Evangélica, Tegucigalpa. 4832, R. Litoral, La Ceiba. 4960, R. Buenas Nuevas with very bad modulation AM, difficult to understand (Massimo Cerveglieri, DSWCI DX Window July 16 via DXLD) I wonder if this is R. HRET, Puerto Lempira which used to be heard on 4960.1? R. Buenas Nuevas is also the name of the Guatemalan station heard as late as Jun 2003 on 4799.8 (DSWCI Ed., ibid.) ** HONDURAS. unID 2859.9, weak or absent 0850-1030, strong 0100, "Radio Cutltural..." IDs (Bob Wilkner, R75 NRD 535 R7 ~ Pompano Beach, Florida, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** INTERNATIONAL VACUUM. More WorldSpace channels disappear --- The two Arabic music channels Haneen and Killa Musika seem to have disappeared from Afristar West beam. Killa Musica was there yesterday, but gone today. I'm not sure when Haneen was last on. Radio Congo has also vanished. I have written to the London office to ask what has happened to them, but not received a reply yet. There seems to be less and less to listen to on WordSpace these days (Dave Kenny UK, worldspace-radio yahoogroup via Daniel Say, DXLD)) As I've said before, I'm very new to Worldspace, but one of the things which disappoints me is the lack of stations/imput from northern Europe. The only BBC station is the World Service for west Africa. Europe is not catered for at all. It seems the assumption is made that no one either in northern Europe or from northern Europe is interested in what's going on when they are away from home. WRN 2 carries some European station, but not the BBC and, as far as I can make out from their schedule published on the WS web site, no other news station from Britain. RTE, from Ireland, is on it 3 times a day. Radio bloody New Zealand is on it, but no Radio 4 (David Mixwell, July 15, ibid.) ** INTERNATIONAL VACUUM [and non]. Glenn: The company that determined that VOA and other Persian-language satellite broadcasts were being jammed via Cuba is Transmitter Location Systems of Chantilly VA http://www.tls2000.com 73 (Kim Elliott, DC, July 17, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** IRAN. Satellite jamming: see CUBA, and INTERNATIONAL VACUUM just above ** LITHUANIA. Conflict over 1386 kHz: see RUSSIA ** MADAGASCAR. The organization known as "World Christian Broadcasting Foundation" owns and operates the Alaskan shortwave station, KNLS, at Anchor Point. This same organizaton, WCBF, has been granted approval by the president of Madagascar to build a shortwave station on his island for coverage into the Middle East. However, work on the projected new station in Madagascar will not begin until the second transmitter is on the air in Alaska (Adrian Michael Peterson, IN, AWR Wavescan July 20 via DXLD) Looking for more info on this, I first went to http://www.knls.org where I could find no mention of the Madagascar project, nor even a link to the parent organization WCBF! Then I searched on World Christian Broadcasting and Google found http://www.worldchristian.org which immediately changes to http://wcb.faithsite.com/ --- but again, not a word about Madagascar, even when doing a site search (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** MADAGASCAR. 5010, R TV Malagasy, Antananarivo, 1801-1902*, Jul 07 and 08, French program with talks, songs and a distinctive selection of local tunes so different from the rest of Africa; the broadcast ended with the national anthem and what it seemed to be the station anthem too. On Jul 07 reception was a poor 25331, but on Jul 08 it was noted with a fantastic 45332. Only noise and fading did disturb such a superb signal, and it was the first time I've ever received Madagascar so well. East Africa reception is always tough for us here, particularly towards SE Africa, like Moçambique (Carlos Gonçalves, Portugal, DSWCI DX Window July 16 via DXLD)) ** MOLDOVA. Relays on MW: see CHINA ** PERU. 5486.66, Reina de la Selva 1040-1055 17 July [Wilkner-FL] 5471.87, tentative Radio San Nicolás 1105, noted, needs work, would like full ID, 17 July (Bob Wilkner, R75 NRD 535 R7 ~ Pompano Beach, Florida, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** RUSSIA. The new program from Moscow started at 1900 on both 1215 and 1386 with "Voice of Russia presents the programme Russkoye Mezhdunarodnoye Radio" announcement, and it is quite obvious that this is an attempt to attract young listeners. It would be interesting to learn where these programmes are actually produced since this hardly sounds like the output of the existing ul. Pyatnitskaya studios with Oktava MS219 mikes used at some distance, Mechlabor open reel tape recorders etc. So I guess the origin of these broadcasts should be either a refitted VoR studio or probably, with the reported participation of Radio Rossii in mind, Ostankino instead. By the way, recently there were some discussions about an unID station on 1386 broadcasting noting but music. So let me draw your attention on this from Bernd Trutenau: "Reports of the RBWI channel marker on 1386 kHz (25 kW, Giruliai, 2000-2100 UT) are also welcome." -- A transmitter from the former 1107 network I guess (Kai Ludwig, Germany, July 17, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** RUSSIA. /LITHUANIA. Monitoring shows that the Bolshakovo transmitter on 1386 kHz continues to sign off at 2000, contrary to the new schedule (s/off 2100) that was distributed in the DX press on the last days. The usage of 1386 kHz is being discussed between Lithuania and Russia on high governmental level. The Lithuanian position is that the Geneva Plan 1975 assignment for a 1000 kW transmitter in Kaunas gives Lithuania the right for an exclusive use of this frequency, while the Russian side has been proposing a time sharing model. The talks will continue until a solution is found. Radio Baltic Waves International is license holder for the use of 1386 kHz on Lithuanian territory since March 2002 (Bernd Trutenau, Lithuania, July 17, MW-DX via DXLD) ** RUSSIA. 7436.5, R Veda, Oryol, 0225-0302*, Jul 13, Russian religious, closing with ID by woman: `Radio Veda`, ex R Krishnaloka, 44444 (Torre Ekblom, Finland, DSWCI DX Window July 16 via DXLD) ** SAO TOME. The VOA São Tomé relay has been operating normally since the coup. 73 (Kim Elliott, VOA, July 16, DX LISTENING DIGEST) VOA 4950 kHz was on air as usual. 73, (Guido Schotmans, Belgium, July 16, hard-core-dx via DXLD) Dear Glenn, I visited the IBB transmitter site at the Pinheira Plantation on the east coast of the island of São Tomé four months ago, so this morning I asked the Transmitting Station Manager, Mr. Charles Lewis, about the status. He replied at 1055 hours: "Anker, So far, our operations have not been affected. We do not have any sense of danger to us at this time. Regards, Charles" When I visited him, he told me that out of the total manning at this IBB station of 85, about 80 are Santomean employees. The relations to the local population have always been good. I travelled a lot by car and aircraft during the two weeks I was on these two islands and I only saw one or two military trucks with soldiers onboard, so the Army was not dominant on the roads at that time. The Parliament was closed for holidays. It is located at the coast in the southern part of the capital São Tomé which has a population of just 30,000 inhabitants. Remember that São Tomé and Príncipe is the smallest, independent state in Africa with a total of about 140,000 inhabitants. The Presidential Palace, the Government buildings and the Central Bank are located near the harbour in downtown São Tomé, 1 kilometre from the Parliament. In between, still at the coast, I passed the radio and TV Building of Rádio Nacional on Avenida Marginal 12 de Julho. It is just a large, two store bungalow in a nice garden. From there the radio and TV-programs are produced and transmitted via microlink to various FM and TV transmitters on the hilltops, and for MW 945 kHz down south to the IBB site four kilometres away. The U.S. operate and maintain this transmitter for the Santomean Government together with the VOA transmitters, but has nothing to do with the programs. The international airport is located 3 km north of downtown São Tomé. There is only one direct flight per week from and to Europe and that is by TAP Air Portugal which arrives with an Airbus Monday mornings at sunrise from Lisbon and returns a few hours later. Other flights go to nearby countries with smaller planes. I checked the VOA São Tomé transmissions on SW around 0600 and 1700 today here in Denmark and heard them as follows: 6045 French 0530-0600 SINPO 23322 6095 French 0530-0600 SINPO 22322 // 6045 7290 English 0530-0600 SINPO 15111 (beam 138 degrees) 7290 English 0600-0630 SINPO 35343 (beam 020 degrees) 9830 English 1630-1700 SINPO 32433 // 9850 9830 Port. 1700-1730 SINPO 32433 9850 English 1630-1700 SINPO 12111 // 9830 15730 Swahili 1630-1730 SINPO 25444 This confirms that the VOA transmissions from ST are not affected. On 7290 I heard at 0600 the program "Daybreak Africa" where the VOA from Washington reported that in São Tomé, the coup makers had taken control of the Government buildings, the Radio and TV station, the Central Bank and the International Airport. So far there had been no casualties (Anker Petersen, Denmark, July 17, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** SEYCHELLES [non]. THE FEBA RADIO QSL ODYSSEY AND THE FUTURE OF QSL'S FROM THIS LONG TIME STALWART BROADCASTER. NOW THAT THEY DO NOT OWN TRANSMITTERS Last week, I received a vague no data "good to know you were able to listen" e-mail reply from Angela Brooke, Supporter Relations in the United Kingdom in one day for a report for 9465 FEBA Radio via Moosbrunn, Austria. Angela went on to say FEBA no longer owns its own transmitters and that they could no longer verify listener reception reports. In my reply I indicated that since they bought the transmission time and knew what they were broadcasting, answering reception reports was quite possible for them to undertake. The following day I received a very nice reply from Mike Procter, Head of Specialized English, in Cyprus. He provided a nice confirmation statement mentioning that the broadcast was relayed over ORF in Austria. He went on to ask about how they should look at QSL'ing (e-mail replies, Feba postcard replies, standard QSL cards or just forward reports to transmission agency). I responded that postal QSL cards was the way to go because not all SW listeners had Internet access and transmission agencies may not be responsive which could make listeners look unfavorably at FEBA. I'm hopeful that Mike in Cyprus will become the location for QSL cards for FEBA Radio transmissions. Further communication with both the Cyprus and United Kingdom offices over the next few days yields more on this topic. Mike Procter indicates that to my questions as to whether reports should go to the UK office or to Cyprus that the frequency management and transmitter allocation is done in UK. "Here in Cyprus we would only be able to verify "Spotlight" placngs and not other programs. (The Arabic dept. is also here but I don't think they know how to deal with reception reports)." He wasn't sure "how the folks in UK would respond to reports from outside the intended reception area. Now that we are not a transmitting entity there seems to be ambivalence there." Mike certainly is correct in that assessment. He did promise to pass along my suggestion about providing contact information to Passport to World Band Radio and the WRTH. Also, he indicated that my suggestion of a full data e-mail attachment similar to what HCJB-OZ has used would be considered. From the reluctant UK office came additional information from Angela Brooke. She noted that FEBA Radio is "using several different service providers. In order to simplify broadcasting, the individual programmes (mostly lasting 15 or 30 minutes) are combined into programme blocks of 1 hour or more. Some blocks include programmes in two or more languages. The information listed on our programme schedule gives details of programmes which are expected to be broadcast. What is actually aired can sometimes differ for technical reasons. Our service providers do eventually provide confirmation about the blocks which were actually broadcast, but this does not help with confirming a reception report for a particular programme and this type of confirmation would be more difficult and time-consuming to achieve." Thus since "Feba's purpose is to communicate the Gospel by radio and we concentrate on trying to provide our listeners with a good quality signal" it appears that the UK office continues to be somewhat reluctant to get into the reception report business. Angela notes "the work is funded by donations from churches and individual believers and we have to try to use their gifts wisely. Sometimes difficult decisions have to be made and I am afraid that this is one of them." However, a final piece of correspondence from Angela Brooke shows a softening of the anti-QSL position as she indicated that she understands the disappointment to SW listeners about not issuing QSLs and that she would share our correspondence "with the Director concerned --- on his return." The director she mentioned was apparently on the road during our e-mail exchange. The final word on all this came in my last e-mail from Mike Proctor in Cyprus who offers additional insights into the matter: "When you stop operating your own transmitters you also lose the infrastructure you have in place to manage them. It was from 'somewhere in this infrastructure' that a staff member acted as QSL secretary in Seychelles." Mike goes on to note, "For the moment we have just one tiny department (in UK) that manages what transmissions are placed where, and one look at our schedules will be enough to show that this is one busy department. My guess is that they just don't have the capacity to handle QSL's right now. I wish it were otherwise, and maybe in the future they'll figure out a way." In his final comments, Mike says, "I am copying our exchange to UK. I think and hope it may be helpful for us (Feba in general) to figure out what - if anything - we can do with reception reports in the post Seychelles era." I'm not sure what this all means but in summary it appears the United Kingdom office is reluctant about becoming the QSL Bureau for FEBA R while the Cyprus office is eager to help out but feels limited in its ability to actually confirm the transmissions. Mike Proctor has been very positive and helpful; perhaps he can help convince the UK office to be the issuers of official FEBA verifications from the various transmitter sites that will be used for broadcasts. It will be interesting to see how this plays out over the next few weeks and months "in the post Seychelles era". (Rich D`Angelo, PA, DXplorer July 8 via BC-DX via DXLD) Surely FEBA realise that QSL-collecting DXers can`t possibly have any genuine interest in their gospel-huxter programming in incomprehensible languages. See also QSL info below (gh, DXLD) ** SOMALIA. MYSTERY "AMERICAN-BASED" FM RADIO SAID HEARD IN MOGADISHU | Text of report by Canada-based Somali Balcad web site on 16 July An FM radio station called DOY [as published] is being heard in Mogadishu. The American-based radio station broadcasts programmes in English and Spanish [as published] on terrorism, US military operations, nuclear weapons and sports. The radio station had been heard previously in Mogadishu before it disappeared for several months. Nobody knows why it has hit the airwaves again, but many people see it as an intimidation tactic in which America hopes to demoralize the Somali people. Source: Balcad web site in Somali 16 Jul 03 (via BBCM via DXLD) WTFK? ** TAIWAN. Invito a todos los amigos a escribir sus palabras para la celebración de 75to aniversario de RTI, pues aquí la emisora celebrará una fiesta a finales de julio en donde nosotros expondremos todas las tarjetas (sean las enviadas por correo ordinario, o las enviadas por internet) de todos los oyentes del mundo en la sala de exhibición. Muchas gracias por tomar tu tiempo en la colaboración. http://www.cbs.org.tw/spanish Un abrazo (Bonnie Cheng, SECCION ESPANOLA DE RADIO TAIWAN INTERNACIONAL, via Nicolás Eramo, July 17, Conexión Digital via DXLD) ** U K. The 109th season of the BBC Proms opens with a tribute to the Russian composer Sergey Prokofiev who died 50 years ago. The combined forces of the BBC Symphony Orchestra and two choruses under Leonard Slatkin perform his dramatic score to Sergei Eisenstein`s film `Ivan the Terrible`. From July 19 [thru mid-September] BBCWS Americas: Sun 0501, 1901 Europe: Sun 2101 W Africa: Sun 1301 You can also watch this performance live, as well as each performance during the first two weeks of the proms at http://www.bbc.co.uk/proms/watch/index.shtml We do hope that Charles Hazelwood will reprise his rôle as presenter for this year`s webcasts. His insights, as well as his wardrobe, were striking! (Ivan Grishin, July ODXA Listening In via DXLD) Otherwise one may listen to all the concerts on BBC Radio 3, far more than BBCWS gives you. Main time for live broadcast is 1830 UT, but there are variations especially when there is a double bill, the first one starting somewhat earlier. The First Night of the Proms, described by Ivan above, is upon us, Friday July 18 at 1830-2045 on BBC Radio 3. Selected concerts, about one a week, some overlapping, are available on demand via: http://www.bbc.co.uk/proms/listen/ Some of the concerts are expected to be repeated during the week following, in the local afternoon (morning here), but based on previous years, these lack the live ambience, as a studio announcer introduces the recorded music instead of the original live announcements. It is also traditional to repeat some of the previous summer`s Proms during Xmas season (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U K. MILLER IN COURT BATTLE OVER LICENCE FEE Ciar Byrne, Wednesday July 16, 2003, The Guardian Sunday Times columnist Jonathan Miller today appears at Guildford crown court in the latest round of his battle against the BBC licence fee, which he claims is in breach of his human rights. Miller will face Ben Emerson QC, who has been hired by the corporation to prosecute him over his failure to pay the £116 licence fee. He will argue that the fee is incompatible with article 10 of the European Convention on Human Rights, which was incorporated into English law by the Human Rights Act, which entitles individuals to a private and family life. "My theory is that the lawfulness of the licence fee has expired without anyone noticing," Miller wrote in today's Daily Telegraph. He argued that this was partly because of the Human Rights Act, and partly because "the reason the BBC licence was ever legitimate in the first place has expired in the white heat of technology". "I can choose from hundreds of channels, with more providers than ever. There is no possible justification for a constantly expanding BBC, paid for by a blanket impost on television sets and even broadband computers," Miller said. "It is like being told to give more and more money to the Guardian to be allowed to read the Sun." Giving evidence to the culture and media select committee yesterday, the BBC's board of governors said the current rate of TV licence evasion in the UK was 7.2%. When the costs of evasion and collecting are combined, the BBC earns 12.7% less from licence fees than it would if 100% of television owners paid up. The corporation aims to reduce this figure to 9% of the total by the end of its current charter period, the governors revealed. Miller's case is one of at least four currently being fought against the licence fee. Jean-Jacques Marmont, a 60-year-old man from Oxfordshire who was prosecuted for licence fee evasion in 1992, has launched proceedings against the BBC representing a group of licence- fee payers In a separate case the so-called "Liverpool six" - five single parents and an asylum seeker - are claiming the licence fee is an unfair tax that targets poorer people. Miller also threw down this challenge to the BBC chairman, Gavyn Davies: "I will buy a licence fee under the following conditions. You must stop prosecuting poor people. And you must open the BBC to a full and open debate in which the rest of the country can share in the discussion of your future." (© Guardian Newspapers Limited 2003 via Daniel Say, DXLD) ** U K. Thunderstorms affect Orfordness mediumwave services We just got word from Merlin Communications that last night's thunderstorms that swept across this part of Europe damaged the mediumwave transmitters at Orfordness which broadcast BBC World Service programmes. Priority was given to getting 648 kHz back on the air. It seems to be operating normally as of 1600 UTC, but as it's always so strong here it's hard to tell whether the station is operating on full power and/or with a different antenna. There have been no DRM transmissions on 1296 kHz today (Andy Sennitt, Media Network blog July 17 via DXLD) ** U K. BBC REPORT GIVES A FUZZY PICTURE Matt Wells and Jason Deans, Thursday July 17, 2003, The Guardian The controversy over the BBC's annual report deepened yesterday as the corporation faced further accusations of obfuscation. Analysts at rival channels claimed the BBC under-reported expenditure on digital services and played down executive bonuses. Rivals were also incensed by its decision to schedule the Fame Academy talent show against ITV1's Pop Idol on Saturday nights, two days after the BBC's annual report said the corporation strived to be "distinctive". The BBC insisted its accounting procedures had been designed to be more transparent, and not to bolster the case for the renewal of its charter in 2006. However, the BBC's decision to change its accounting methods for the second year running has made it difficult to analyse its spending. This year, apparently following a request from the select committee for culture, media and sport, the BBC stripped out costs such as marketing, PR and newsgathering from the channel budgets. These are reported separately - but critics say they should also be totalled up, to make comparisons easier. BBC1's budget, for example, would have topped -L-1bn for the first time, had the accounting procedure not been changed. The cost of expansion into digital broadcasting would be well over -L-400m - far more than the -L-279.9m claimed in the annual report. Details of the full remuneration awarded to Rupert Gavin, chief executive of BBC Worldwide, the corporation's commercial arm, are only revealed in a footnote. This shows he was paid -L-45,000 by an incentive scheme, on top of his separately reported performance bonus of -L-62,000, taking his total pay to -L-407,000. Jana Bennett, the director of television, received a -L-167,000 relocation package when she moved from the Discovery channel in the United States. BBC chairman Gavyn Davies, said this was common in businesses such as Goldman Sachs, where he was formerly chief economist. Critics pointed out, however, that the investment bank, unlike the BBC, is not publicly funded. The tone of the report infuriated MPs on the select committee. Chris Bryant, MP for Rhondda, compared it to an Enron report, but later apologised for the reference to the failed energy firm. Committee chairman Gerald Kaufman said it was full of "euphemistic phraseology" and said the BBC should be brought fully under the remit of the independent regulator, Ofcom. Mr Bryant wrote to Mr Davies apologising for the Enron remark, but added: "I merely wanted to make the point that by making no criticism of the performance of the BBC and by resorting to virtually adulatory language, this year's governors' assessment, as contained in the annual report, undermines their claim to independence." A BBC spokeswoman denied any deliberate move to play down the corporation's spending, but accepted that between -L-15 and -L-20 of every -L-112 licence fee went on digital projects. "It's absolutely wrong to say we've slimmed down our spending figures for charter renewal or anything else." She defended the BBC's digital expenditure: "We don't apologise for incurring these costs. We've been charged by the government with driving digital take up, which is why we got a generous licence fee settlement. We are spending that extra money on digital services, as intended by the government." ITV reacted angrily to the BBC's announcement yesterday that it would put Fame Academy on Saturday nights - leading to a clash with Pop Idol. An ITV spokeswoman said: "Scheduling Fame Academy head to head with Pop Idol is clearly not in viewers' interests. We're disappointed the BBC has deliberately gone down this route." The BBC said it was "locked in" to an early evening slot because of the national lottery draw. Guardian Unlimited (c) Guardian Newspapers Limited 2003 (Via Mike Cooper, DXLD) ** U S A. We've been assigned 5.100 MHz for our 4th frequency. It will be 50 kW / compatible sideband. Al has been running tests, and some simulcasting of 7.415 MHz and 9.330 MHz over the past week. I still don't know what will be programmed on it in the long run, but for now, listeners will hear either Christian Media Network, or the simulcast audio from 7.415 MHz during the evenings. We should have all testing and adjustment completed within about 2 weeks. It's currently running at low power [about 3 KW]. Reception reports can be sent via e-mail to: wbcq@gwi.net I'm trying to get Tasha interested in producing a "WBCQ Highlights" weekly e-mail newsletter. Also, fans of old time radio theater will find episodes of Suspense, The Shadow, Fibber McGee and Molly, X minus 1, Lum and Abner, The Life of Riley, and many others as the summer replacement for "Tasha Takes Control", heard on Friday nights at 9-10 pm Eastern [UT Sat 0100-0200] / 7.415 MHz (Michael Ketter / WBCQ, July 16, WORLD OF RADIO 1191, DX LISTENING DIGEST) See also next item ** U S A. Thanks for the wonderfully useful DX Programs list maintained on the WoR website. I realize that keeping this updated is a lot of work. Here are a few notes about some entries that I've noted over recent months when trying to listen, usually to Cumbre on the weekends. UT SATURDAY 0430-0500 WHRA DXING WITH CUMBRE AF/ME 7580 Not on in May, GCN there instead -- I don't think it's there now either. 0500-0530 WHRI DXING WITH CUMBRE 5745 7315 KWHR 17780 The program on 17780 was something else in both May and July. On July 12 the 5745 and 7315 airings were NOT in parallel. Both had dead air at the start time, then 7315 began the program. 5745 had a station ID and contact info, and then DXw/C began from the beginning. 1930-2000 WHRI DXING WITH CUMBRE N&SAm/Carib 9495 Not on July 5th. Had been good in June. 2230-2300 WHRI DXING WITH CUMBRE N&SAm/Carib 9495 Not detectable in May & June or early July. 2300-2330 WBCQ THE REAL AMATEUR RADIO SHOW NAm 7415 Something else is on here instead 7/12/03 UT MONDAY 0230-0300 WHRI DXING WITH CUMBRE 5745 No signal here 6/22/03 0300-0330 KWHR DXING WITH CUMBRE SPac 17510 Gospel music show "Turn Your Radio On" is consistently here instead I've been printing out the list and then making notes on it as I tune and listen, so this is compiled from several past editions' annotations. But I did check these against the latest on-line version and these lines are in there. So maybe you want to make some notes about these entries if the program producers still claim they are valid broadcast times. Regards & 73, (Will Martin, MO, July 17, DX LISTENING DIGEST) I recently entered a number of Cumbre changes which Wolfgang Bueschel sent, presumably derived from the WHR website. (You can search for the program title and get a display of all the airtimes.) Imaginary and inaccurate listings by WHR have been the norm forever, and I have been sorely tempted to delete all DWC listings as a result. I really don`t have the interest to research that myself, knowing that the info will likely be wrong in many cases, anyway. Also, one of the WHRI transmitters is often off the air for weeks at a time, something you would never know from consulting the website (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. Glenn: A new GAO report about U.S. international broadcasting is now available at http://www.gao.gov/cgi-bin/getrpt?GAO-03-772 http://www.gao.gov/highlights/d03772high.pdf 73 (Kim Elliott, IBB, July 17, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. FCC UPDATES, QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS In a recent FCC rule-making, the change from four broadcast seasons a year to two broadcast seasons a year for FCC-licensed International Service was made official. The Commission`s Order will be put in the Federal Register any day now. It will become effective 30 days after being put in the Federal Register. The frequency/hour fee per season will not change, because that is set by Congress. Effectively, the annual fees for HF broadcasters are cut in half because of the official reduction of seasons from four to two. This change will be in effect for the B-03 Season. The next HFCC meeting will be held in Norway the last week of August. The deadline for submitting B-03 requirements to the HFCC is July 18. The following HFCC meeting will take place in the United Arab Emirates the second week of February 2004. Russia is slated to host the conference following that. The FCC has almost completed updating their HF database to include the items that the HFCC requires. The FCC would appreciate if all those broadcasters who can would submit their requirements in the HFCC format. (Prior to his presentation, Tom distributed forms showing the HFCC format.) The Notice of Inquiry regarding power line use for distribution of broadband carrier transmission will be going out soon. See the FCC website. There is concern that this mode may interfere with reception of shortwave (Tom Lucey FCC summary reports of presentations at the NASB 2003 Annual Meeting in Aug NASB Newsletter, July 16 via DXLD) ** U S A. IBB Report and Update (Spectrum Management Division) John Wood/Del Carson/Dan Ferguson/Bill Whitacre John Wood gave an overview and report on the Spectrum Analysis Program. They`ve been heavily involved in preparations for WRC-03, both for USA interests and for Inter-American interests (CITEL). Recommendations were developed regarding additional allocations for broadcasting in the 4-10 MHz range. Much monitoring and scheduling data was analyzed to arrive at a conclusion that around 250 kHz additional would adequately address co-channel collisions, and that around 850 kHz of additional frequency allocations would cover both co-channel and adjacent band collisions. Del Carson of IBB Leasing reported that this year they have their highest leasing budget ever (approximately $13 million), largely due to the conflicts in Afghanistan and Iraq. After the Iraq war, this will probably decline for budgetary reasons. At present, IBB is leasing about 150 hours per day on non-IBB facilities (about 90 hours for RFA; about 60 hours for VoA and RFE/RL). Of the leased time, about 86% of it is shortwave. The main trends Del sees in shortwave are privatization of facilities (many old state-run transmitters now in private hands), a lot more sharing of time on facilities (such as Merlin with VOA, for example), and consolidation (fewer stations overall). The IBB uses satellite distribution mostly for program delivery to local outlets rather than for direct broadcasting. There are not very many consumer satellite receivers at present. Dan Ferguson of IBB Frequency Management told of adding three major services in the past year: a 21-hour-per-day Persian service for Iran called Radio Farda, a Pashtu and Dari Afghan service that`s on shortwave 20 hours per day, and in March the Arabic Radio Sawa service was increased to 24 hours per day on shortwave. Bill Whitacre of IBB Frequency Monitoring related that 60 Remote Monitoring System sites are active. Additionally, they employ a major network of human monitors. They`ve been doing some monitoring work for the HFCC verifying whether or not coordinated transmissions are in fact taking place. This effort has turned up many ``wooden transmitters``---cases where more frequency hours are coordinated than are actually used. The HFCC makes contact with major offenders. Resolving this problem is a process, not a one-shot effort (summary report of presentations at the NASB 2003 Annual Meeting in Aug NASB Newsletter, July 16 via DXLD) ** U S A. WCPE *89.7 Raleigh NC, The Classical Station, is celebrating its silver anniversary on Friday July 18. Thruout the day will air stories and interviews giving a retrospective of its 25 years of broadcasting. Also CD and ticket giveaways; also via C-band satellite relayed by some other stations [such as KCSC 90.1 OK overnight], and internet http://www.wcpe.org (FMedia July via DXLD) ** U S A. The city council decided not to sell the venerable classical music station WRR 101.1 Dallas TX (July FMedia! via DXLD) Fornever? ** U S A. WBIX 1060 Natick MA is a Boston-area business talk station with 40 kW daytime, but with a CP for 50 kW days, 2500 W nights; 24 hour operation is expected by September. It`s local, live most of the time, according to GM Jerry Charm, whi had been GM of classic rocker WZLX 100.7. An exception is a 3 pm program from CBNBC. ``AFAIK, no other station in the country is doing what we`re doing, local and live, unlike the traditional ones that just throw an unending sream of numbers and statistics at you or all syndicated,`` Charm said. Recent guests include MA Governor Mitt Romney to ``a guy from VT producing yogurt from water buffalo milk who`s ready to do a national rollout.`` Once the power increase and expanded hours come about, ``we`ll have a fully competitive signal with all the other AM stations in the city,`` said Charm (July FMedia! via DXLD) ** U S A. WAMC *1400 Albany NY becomes noncommercial. It was WHTR and before that WABY (July FMedia! via DXLD) ** U S A. NY gets all-Russian station: ``People`s Wave Radio``, a.k.a. ``Narodnaya Volna`` said it has launched 24\7 Russian-language programming on WKDM 1380 in New York, offering news\talk and entertainment to Russian-speaking listeners in the tri-state area (July FMedia! via DXLD) ** U S A. An article in the business section of the Minneapolis [Star]-Tribune, contributed by reader John Ebeling, called attention to the independent-minded KSTP stations, which include TV-5 and 45, and KSTP-FM 94.5 and WFMP 107.1 Coon Rapids MN, which had moved from New Richmond WI as WIXK-FM. It mentions how the stations, now owned by Stanley S. Hubbard and family, might be prime targets for takeovers by large, out-of-town media empires, now that the FCC has liberalized ownership rules in TV. The Hubbards are now in the second and third generations of ownership, after founder Stanley E. Hubbard died in 1992. The children and grandchildren, unlike in so many other families, show great business acumen. Indeed, they may be interested in acquiring properties, such as has marked Hubbard expansions in Albuquerque NM and into Rochester and Albany NY. Revenues, however, are down, and Hubbard sold its United States Satellite Broadcasting to DirecTV in 1998 for $1.3 billion. It also let its news-gathering Conus satellite company go belly-up, laying off 130. Stanley S. Hubbard insists the company is not for sale. ``I think it`s been 30 years since we received a real offer. Everybody knows we`re not for sale.`` (July FMedia! via DXLD) ** U S A. The 5-year grace period, by which an AM station could operate both in the regular band and the expanded band of 1610 to 1700 kHz is nearing an end. Stations will have to decide which permit they will keep. Most expanded-band AM stations, according to an M Street study, have migrated from near the top of the AM band, like 1550 kHz. Thus KADZ 1550 Arvada CO is turning in its license in favor of KDDZ 1690. The stations migrating are not the ones that caused interference to other AM stations. Interference continues at the same levels in the lower and middle parts of the dial. Too, the presence of large numbers of radios that tune in the expanded band has taken a long time to come about, which might be instructive for digital audio broadcasters (July FMedia! via DXLD) ** U S A. The steering committee studying IBOC wrote: ``DAB subcommittee members who attended the NPR demonstration do not consider the audio quality demonstrated by the Ibiquity 36 kbps PAC technology to be suitable for broadcast.`` This is seen as unwelcome news for a new system whose rollout was seen as imminent. This puts the onus on Ibiquity Digital Corp. to solve he problem, and soon. Members of the committee also expressed concern about FM, and they have concerns about effects on FM/SCS and data services. Radio World chides Ibiquity to get a handle on what ``better`` audio via IBOC means and get it done, as quickly as possible. It is better to fix this now than wait to dump a problem in the laps of receiver makers and consumers. ``We urge Ibiquity to be as forthright and as open as possible with the industry as it seeks solutions to this problem.`` Clear Channel Communications had planned to transition one AM and seven FMs to ``HD Radio`` this year, which seems to be a modest pace. Uncertain is how the glitch in the digital system would affect the timing of new digital receivers and ICs for the system. Too, there`s concern consumers will find out about the delay and be shaken, especially if some units get into the hands of customers and have to be returned. Also affected would be those who are developing ancillary data procedures for the system. Those sources favor reducing the main audio channel of digital transmissions to 64 kbps in order to accommodate data (July FMedia! via DXLD) Breaking News: IBOC COULD BE IN SERIOUS TROUBLE Media Network has learned that Ibiquity, which developed the IBOC digital AM system adopted by the FCC in preference to DRM, is to part company with three of its top managers. Sources say that the three are E. Glynn Walden, vice president of broadcast engineering; Rick Martinson, vice president of program management; and Gerald Marcovsky, senior legal advisor. The changes, reportedly made for cost reasons, are effective at the end of the month. All have been involved with IBOC development for several years. Walden has been the "face" of digital radio for many in the United States radio industry; he has been involved in the technical development of IBOC technology since 1989 and was the main liaison between Ibiquity and broadcasters, said sources. Martinson was appointed director of digital radio broadcast development in 1996, and Marcovsky joined the company in 1998. Ibiquity had no comment other than to say it continues working on the IBOC system (Andy Sennitt, MN blog July 17 via DXLD) The people at the company`s top level were making serious dollars; the big hidden secret is it doesn't work at NIGHT on AM. Have heard the tests on 1670 and 730 am in the Washington DC Market; the adjacent channel buzz is just part of the problem (Lou Josephs, ibid.) ** U S A. 'BEER FOR HOMELESS' BLASTED By Ben Davey July 2 2003 http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2003/07/02/1056825441944.html A US "charity" that raises money to buy alcohol for homeless people was today attacked by the Salvation Army for adding "fuel to the fire". Gerard Byrne, social program secretary of recovery services with the Salvation Army in Sydney, said the idea was a dangerous stunt. Promoting themselves as a legitimate charity, Beer for the Homeless is the brainchild of talk radio personalities from WGOW-FM Chattanooga, Tennessee, who believe it will reduce begging by treating the homeless more equitably. On their website, the group writes: "Merely because one has no home does not mean that one is somehow a second-class citizen and is no longer allowed the simple pleasures that society allows to those lucky enough to put a roof over their head. "Beer For The Homeless steps up and strikes a blow for equality and human rights. Through this website, we will raise money to purchase and distribute beer to those who want it. Good old fashioned 100% American beer." In response to criticism that their unique philosophy is socially irresponsible, the liquor dispensers defended their brand of charity as being a beneficial, even dignified cause. "We feel that by our actions we are actually helping the homeless. No longer will they have to panhandle and annoy citizens in public asking for money, nor will they take government aid money to use on beer. But Mr Byrne said: "If something like that was introduced here there would certainly be serious concerns from community groups and the government alike." Byrne said that he initially thought the idea was a joke but was shocked when he saw pictures of the group distributing alcohol to homeless people. "It looks like a cynical publicity stunt by the radio station with beer 'babes' employed to hand out the beer," he said. "Since drugs and alcohol are a prominent factor in homelessness, providing them with alcohol is morally and ethically questionable." "It just adds fuel to the fire." The organisation asks for donations via credit card and claims that 70 per cent of all monies raised are used to buy beer, with the remaining 30 per cent spent on transport and website maintenance costs (Sydney Morning Herald, Australia, via Bill Westenhaver, DXLD) Glenn, I took a quick look at the http://www.wgow.com website, but couldn't find any reference to the "beer for the homeless." 73- (Bill Westenhaver, QC, July 17, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Well, a fortnight has passed, so perhaps WGOW have been shamed out of it by now, if this was not in fact a put-on (gh, DXLD) ** U S A. PIRATES OF THE AIRWAVES --- UNLICENSED BROADCASTERS: CIVIL DISOBEDIENCE OR LAW BREAKERS? Not everyone is content with the listening options available on radio today. The Pirate Radio movement has been tetering on the brink of illegality for some time and its proponents seem to feel the risk is worth it. Your About.com Radio Guide recently conducted an email interview with John Anderson who has been reporting on and studying the microradio movement in the United States for the last five years, and maintains a website devoted to free radio and culture jamming at Diymedia.net. John has worked professionally as a radio journalist for commercial stations in Indiana and Wisconsin, and reported on stories for networks like ABC, CNN, and the BBC and is an anchor for the Workers Independent News Service. He is a graduate student at the University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Journalism and Mass Communication. . . http://radio.about.com/library/weekly/aa090602a.htm (via Artie Bigley, DXLD) ** U S A. FEDERAL DISTRICT COURT ORDERS CIVIL JUDGMENT AGAINST RICHARD I. ROWLAND FOR UNLICENSED RADIO OPERATION. The FCC announced that in the US Middle District of Florida, Orlando Division, US District Judge Honorable Gregory A. Presnell granted judgment in favor of US to collect a civil penalty against defendant Richard I. Rowland in the amount of $10,000. News Release. News Media Contact: David Fiske at (202) 418-0500 EB. Contact Lisa Fowlkes at (202) 418-7450, TTY: 1(888) 835-5322 http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/DOC-236551A1.doc http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/DOC-236551A1.pdf http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/DOC-236551A1.txt (via Fred Vobbe, NRC FMTV via DXLD) viz.: The below is certainly the satellite-fed militia radio programming that was reported to me by several previously, from Longwood and listed on my page at 97.1 MHz (Terry Krueger, FL, DX LISTENING DIGEST) NEWS Federal Communications Commission 445 12th Street, S. W. Washington, D. C. 20554 This is an unofficial announcement of Commission action. Release of the full text of a Commission order constitutes official action. See MCI v. FCC. 515 F 2d 385 (D. C. Circ 1974). News Media Information 202 / 418- 0500 Internet: http://www.fcc.gov TTY: 1- 888- 835- 5322 -- DRAFT -- FEDERAL DISTRICT COURT ORDERS CIVIL JUDGMENT AGAINST RICHARD I. ROWLAND FOR UNLICENSED RADIO OPERATION Washington, D. C. - Today, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) announced that, in the United States Middle District of Florida, Orlando Division, United States District Judge, Honorable Gregory A. Presnell, granted judgment in favor of the United States to collect a civil penalty against Defendant Richard I. Rowland. The court ordered judgment against Rowland in the amount of $10,000 plus costs. The judgment is the result of an investigation that began in May of 2000. The Commission`s Tampa, Florida Field Office received a complaint of an unlicensed broadcast station operating in the Longwood, Florida area. Commission agents determined that Rowland operated an unlicensed radio station on the frequency 97.1 MHz from a Longwood, Florida address on numerous dates in the year 2000. Rowland`s unlicensed radio operation led to the seizure by U.S. Marshals and Commission agents of his radio station equipment in 2001. In addition, the Enforcement Bureau imposed a $10,000 monetary forfeiture on Rowland for multiple violations of operating an unlicensed FM radio facility, in violation of Title 47, United States Code, Section 301. After Rowland refused to pay the forfeiture, the Commission filed suit for collection through the United States Attorney in federal district court. The case was brought by the United States Attorney’s Office, Middle District of Florida, Orlando Division. The operation of an unlicensed broadcast station is a violation of Section 301 of the Communications Act of 1934, as amended. Operators of unlicensed stations may be subject to civil monetary forfeitures of up to $11,000 per single violation or per day of a continuing violation not to exceed $87,500 for continuing violations. In addition, unlicensed operators may be subject to criminal sanctions, including a maximum $10,000 fine and up to one year imprisonment for a first offense. - FCC - Enforcement Bureau Contact: Lisa M. Fowlkes at (202) 418- 7450 / TTY 1( 888) 835- 5322 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: July 15, 2003 NEWS MEDIA CONTACT: David Fiske (202) 418- 0500 Above is also at: http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/DOC-236551A1.txt (via Terry L Krueger, Clearwater, Florida, USA, 27.55.83 N, 82.46.08 W Visit my "Florida Low Power Radio Stations" at: http://home.earthlink.net/~tocobagadx/flortis.html DX LISTENING DIGEST; also via Mike Terry, DXLD; also ARRL summarized via John Norfolk, DXLD) ** U S A. New York City ARES obtains distinctive call sign: New York City Amateur Radio Emergency Service (ARES) now has its own vanity call sign, WC2WTC, to commemorate the September 11, 2001, activation following the World Trade Center terrorist attack. ``This special call sign also reflects on those who were affected by the devastation,`` said New York City District Emergency Coordinator Charles Hargrove, N2NOV. ``For those of us who worked at the World Trade Center, this call sign will forever remind us and others why NYC ARES exists -- to aid our community in times of need, with specialized skills in a professional manner.`` Hargrove, who worked at various jobs in the World Trade Center for 16 years, says the WC2WTC call sign will be used during special events, emergency operations or other activities ``that warrant the need for listeners to know that NYC ARES is on the air providing a much-needed service.`` (ARRL July 17 via John Norfolk, DXLD) ** U S A. HOUSE PANEL VOTES TO BLOCK FCC'S NEW MEDIA RULE By Dan Morgan, Washington Post Staff Writer, Thursday, July 17, The House Appropriations Committee moved in a bipartisan vote yesterday to block the Federal Communications Commission from easing a rule that limits ownership concentration in commercial television markets. An amendment approved in a 40 to 25 vote applies to a June 2 FCC decision that would allow networks to acquire stations that reach as much as 45 percent of the national television audience. By preventing the FCC from spending money to carry out its ruling, the committee's action effectively would keep the current limit of 35 percent. The vote followed a broader effort in the Senate to reverse an FCC decision to ease rules that prevent one company from owning television stations and newspapers in the same market. Sen. Byron L. Dorgan (D- N.D.) has signed on 28 Democrats and seven Republicans to support a "resolution of disapproval" that would overturn the agency's ruling. That measure has been placed on the Senate calendar for expedited consideration, but no date has been set for debate. The House committee vote marked the start of a lobbying battle on Capitol Hill between big broadcasters such as NBC and CBS and members of Congress representing small communities who fear that the independence of local stations could be lost in a new wave of consolidation and buyouts. Rep. Zach Wamp (R-Tenn.) yesterday warned of a "Wal-Mart syndrome" affecting local stations. Rep. David R. Obey (D-Wis.), who offered the House amendment, said the FCC rule change threatened the future ability of independent television stations to provide programming consistent with local community values. Defenders of the recent FCC ruling said that critics were exaggerating its impact and that networks had to get bigger to continue providing free broadcast television. The White House supports the FCC ruling. The White House budget office said it would recommend that President Bush veto the fiscal 2004 spending bill for the Commerce, Justice and State departments unless the Obey amendment was deleted. The House committee's action yesterday was also opposed by Rep. W.J. "Billy" Tauzin (R-La.), chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, which has jurisdiction over the FCC. "This is exactly not the way to do this," said Tauzin, who supports the FCC's action. "The Appropriations Committee is the last place you should be making this decision." Tauzin hinted that he might try to delay consideration of the spending bill by the full House floor next week, as had been planned. Republican and Democratic opponents of easing the media concentration rules said Tauzin had made it clear that he would not allow legislation overturning the FCC decision to pass through his committee, even though a majority support it. "If we don't move here absolutely nothing will happen," Obey said. Eleven Republicans joined Democrats in support of the amendment. Many lawmakers used the occasion to express their disapproval of broadcast television trends. Wolf cited "garbage" in television advertising and programming. Rep. Marcy Kaptur (D-Ohio) called commercial television "a garbage pit." The Appropriations Committee vote let stand other parts of the FCC's ruling, such as the easing of limits on media cross-ownership. A Republican amendment that also would have pared back that part of the ruling was defeated on a voice vote. Staff writer Frank Ahrens contributed to this report. © 2003 The Washington Post Company (via Kraig Krist, DXLD) HOUSE PANEL ADDS VOICE TO OPPONENTS OF MEDIA RULE By JACQUES STEINBERG The New York Times July 17, 2003 T he recent decision by federal regulators to loosen media ownership rules, already under fire in the Senate, took another blow in Congress yesterday. This setback was dealt by the House Appropriations Committee, which approved a budget amendment that would make it harder for big broadcasting companies to acquire more television stations. The vote represented a defeat for Michael K. Powell, the Federal Communications Commission chairman, who has led the effort to change the rules. It was also a rebuke to the Republican House leadership and the Bush administration, strong supporters of the commission's efforts. A White House spokeswoman, Claire Buchan, said last night that the "president's senior advisers would recommend a veto" if a bill including the amendment ultimately reached his desk. By a vote of 40 to 25, with 11 Republican members deserting their leaders to join the 29 Democratic committee members, the appropriations committee approved a measure that would effectively block the commission from enforcing a new rule that would permit broadcasters to own stations that reach more total households across the country than they do now. Under that rule, the television networks could own stations that reach as much as 45 percent of the nation's households. The previous rule, which the appropriations committee would reinstate, capped ownership in most cases at 35 percent. If it becomes law, the legislation would have the most immediate impact on two networks CBS, which is part of Viacom, and Fox, a unit of the News Corporation. They own television stations reaching about 40 percent of households. The networks were permitted temporarily to exceed the regulatory limit with the expectation that the cap would be reconsidered. The major networks and the stations they own have lobbied vigorously to ease the 35 percent cap, and they have been joined by other media companies in backing a new commission rule one the House committee did not address yesterday that would make it easier for one company to own a newspaper and a television station in the same market. The amendment's sponsor, Representative David R. Obey, Democrat of Wisconsin, said yesterday that the vote was a victory for those seeking to keep big media conglomerates from getting even bigger and perhaps from squelching smaller voices in the process. "This amendment preserves the needs of local control, so local views have a chance to counterbalance New York and L.A. executives," he said in a statement. "Networks that own larger shares of markets can ignore local concerns, and even punish stations that refuse to air network shows or change their time slots." Like similar legislation passed last month by a Senate committee, Mr. Obey's amendment was a response to complaints from hundreds of thousands of constituents who have descended on Congress in recent weeks. The opponents of greater media concentration represent an unusual political coalition that stretches from the National Rifle Association and some religious conservatives to the National Association for Women and Consumers Union, publisher of Consumer Reports. The battle over the amendment passed yesterday is expected to be a bruising one, and committee leaders said that the full House might take up the measure as soon as early next week. And with the White House threatening to veto any effort to curb the federal commission's authority, stopping the new rules from going into effect still appears to be an uphill struggle. "The fight is far from over," said Ken Johnson, a spokesman for Representative Billy Tauzin, Republican of Louisiana and chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee. Mr. Tauzin is among the commission's most vocal supporters in Congress. "Many of the rules simply don't make sense in a 21st century marketplace," Mr. Johnson said. In the Senate, where opposition to the new commission rules is believed to be even more intense than in the House, a broadly bipartisan group of the Senate Commerce Committee approved legislation on June 19 that would not only restore the 35 percent cap but would also make it harder for a company to own a newspaper and a television station in the same market. The House committee turned back an effort by one member, Representative Anne M. Northup, Republican of Kentucky, to introduce an amendment that would have gone as far as the Senate committee. Supporters of Mr. Obey's amendment feared that Ms. Northup's proposal was too sweeping to win bipartisan approval. Nonetheless, even some opponents of the new rules said they were amazed that the 11 Republicans who defied party leaders included two House subcommittee chairmen, Ralph Regula of Ohio and Ernest J. Istook Jr. of Oklahoma. "The Republican leadership with White House backing is usually very disciplined in holding their Republicans on the party line," Gene Kimmelman, senior director for public policy for Consumers Union, said. "This breathes new life into the effort to overturn the F.C.C. decision." Copyright 2003 The New York Times Company (via Mike Cooper, DXLD) LOCALISM'S LAST STAND By William Safire, Op-ed columnist, New York Times Thursday, July 17, 2003 Posted: 6:50 AM EDT (1050 GMT) http://www.cnn.com/2003/US/07/17/nyt.safire/index.html WASHINGTON -- General managers of 75 stations owned and operated by the Big Four television networks swept into a meeting of the House Appropriations Committee yesterday. Big Media's lobbying purpose was to squelch the bipartisan movement in Congress to nullify the Federal Communications Commission's cave-in to the networks' lust to gobble up more independent stations. Before the vote, the majority whip Roy Blunt, on Tom DeLay's orders, leaned on GOP members to allow the FCC cave-in to be financed. The National Association of Broadcasters, which had been supporting its many independent members against the networks' expansion, flip-flopped in panic because NBC, ABC, CBS and Fox threatened to bolt the lobby. But to everyone's amazement, the networks' power play was foiled. Rep. Frank Wolf of Virginia urged his GOP colleagues to vote their consciences, and an amendment to hold the cap on a huge conglomerate's ownership to 35 percent of the national TV audience was passed by a vote of 40 to 25. Here is what made this happen. Take the force of right-wingers upholding community standards who are determined to defend local control of the public airwaves; combine that with the force of lefties eager to maintain diversity of opinion in local media; add in the independent voters' mistrust of media manipulation; then let all these people have access to their representatives by e-mail and fax, and voilà! Congress awakens to slap down the power grab. Or at least half of it. In Sen. Ted Stevens's rollback-to-35-percent bill approved by the Senate Commerce Committee, an amendment protecting localism had been added to stop the growth of cross- ownership of TV stations and newspapers in single cities. But that amendment won't fly; as the Commerce chairman, John McCain, told me, "The fix is in on cross-ownership." Media General and The New York Times Company are becoming more influential nationally, and The Tribune Company dominates news coverage in Chicago, Los Angeles, Baltimore and Long Island. I scorn all polls except those that support my views. According to this week's Pew Research poll about the FCC plan (to break the ownership barrier and permit media crossover), "By roughly 10 to one (70 percent to 6 percent), those who have heard a lot about the rules change say its impact will be negative." Nearly half of those polled had heard about this issue, despite conflicted media coverage. This growing grass-roots grumbling against giantism is getting through to legislators ordinarily cowed by network-owned station managers or wowed by big-media campaign contributions. Unfortunately, the any- merger-goes FCC chairman, Michael Powell, has derided objections to his diktat as "garbage," and the White House strategist Karl Rove dismisses the depth of voter resentment that Democrats will be able to exploit next year. Catch the way the liberal Representative David Obey of Wisconsin, who put forward the Appropriations measure that passed yesterday, reaches out to social conservatives. He complained about the way prime-time network programming forced local affiliates to air film of Victoria's Secret models in their less-than-full regalia, a sight he does not consider suitable for his 7-year-old. Obey & Co. is stealing traditionalist Republican clothes, scanties and all, and many GOP candidates don't want to offend a core constituency. Eco-cons as well as libertarians may snicker, but Republican Rep. Richard Burr of North Carolina observed that 26 independent NBC affiliates had recently exercised their right to refuse to telecast "Maxim's Hot 100." If independents are gobbled up with the FCC's blessing, more decisions affecting local mores will be made in Rockefeller Center. Is that what George Bush stands for? Yesterday's victory in a House committee was only a skirmish about half the battle, and that only about delaying the funds for the FCC's misbegotten action by a year. Speaker Dennis Hastert could shoot it down in Rules, or block an embarrassing vote on the more comprehensive Burr rollback on the House floor. But public opinion is on the march. Some in-house pollster should awaken President Bush to a bipartisan sleeper issue that could blindside him next year. William Safire is an op-ed columnist for the New York Times (via Richard Cuff / Allentown, PA, swprograms via DXLD) ** UZBEKISTAN. Radio Tashkent International has now its own homepage: http://ino.uzpak.uz (in Uzbek, English, Russian) (Station info via Wolfgang Büschel-D via Bernd Trutenau-LTU, Cumbredx mailing list via DXLD) ** VENEZUELA. Como decimos en criollo aquí en Venezuela: - Cualquier persona que diga que determinado funcionario público está actuando en Casos de Corrupción aún presentando las pruebas correspondientes, pués sencillamente caerá en las "Cómodas Masmorras" de las cárceles del país. Incluso humoristas, y caricaturistas, de hoy en adelante no podran hacer alusión a personajes del estado, so pena de ir a la cárcel. Incluso si este servidor se atreve a protestar con un cacerolazo o una pita en plena vía pública, pués también podría ir preso. ¿Qué le parece? "La Robolución y su forma de impartir justicia en mi país es muy democrática" ¿Qué tal? (Jorge García Rangel, Barinas, Venezuela, Cumbre DX via DXLD) ** VIRGIN ISLANDS US. Calls Assigned to *96.9 in Charlotte Amalie: WTJC-LP (July FMedia! via DXLD) Despite WTJC, without the -LP, already being assinged to 9370 in NC (gh, DXLD) ** WESTERN SAHARA [non]. Emission de 29-06-2003: L`écoute à été effectué de 0600 à 0630 UTc sur 7460 kHz. ``El Idaha el watania lljoumouria elarabia elsahrawia el watania``. Les émissions commencent par des verses du Kor`an + une émission ``tahiyate Sabah``, ce qui veut dire en arabe `le bonjour du matin` avec une rubrique sur la reine Belkis et une commémoration de la mort du poète arabe Nizar Kabani (Mohamed Kallel, July 17, France?, Tunisia? DX LISTENING DIGEST) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ QSLing ++++++ E-MAIL RECEPTION REPORTS Compiled by Ian Cattermole, Blenheim, NEW ZEALAND DX TIMES JULY 2003 These days I send 95% of all reports by e-mail. While many international broadcasters accept e-mail reports most will verify by conventional snail-mail QSL cards. It is therefore important to include postal address for that reason, and also, I believe a common courtesy to let the station know just who you are and where you live. Some verify by a simple e-mail message and recently there seems to be a trend to what they call e-cards which is a printed QSL card sent electronically. Some of these are quite attractive with many colours while others are simple black and white. Advantages of using e-mail reports are of course, cost saving in postage and instant delivery and ease in referring back to a sent report. They must also be a great time-saver to the recipient, especially those who reply by e-mail. Over recent years I have been indexing e-mail addresses which did not appear in WRTV and PWBR publications. Of course some do now appear in later editions. Here is a list of e-mail addresses from my index. COUNTRY BROADCASTER EMAIL ADDRESS AFGHANISTAN. V. of Afghanistan. afbc2001@hotmail.com Radio Afghanistan. radioafg@yahoo.com ARMENIA. Voice of Armenia. armen@arm.r.am AUSTRALIA. Voice International. Dxer@voice.com.au HCJB. english@hcjb.org.au AUSTRIA. TWR-Europe. eurofreq@twr-europe.at AWR transmissions. letters@awr.org AZERBAIJAN. Azbak Radio. root@aztv.baku.az BANGLADESH. Radio Bangladesh. rrc@aitlbd.net or dgbetar@drik.net BELARUS. Radio Hrodna/Minsk. RadioGrodno@tut.by BELGIUM. TDP (Ludo Maes) tdp@tijd.com RTBF. rtbf@rtbf.be BHUTAN. Radio Bhutan. bbs@bbs.com.bt BOLIVIA. All station with e-mail on: http://www.schoechi.de/as-bol.htm BULGARIA. Radio Bulgaria. rbul@nationalradio.bg CLANDESTINE. World Falun Dafa Radio. editor@falundafaradio.org Chan Choi Moi (CTM) ctm@radioctm.com CONGO. Radio Okapi. schleger@un.org COSTA RICA. RFPI. radiopaz@rasca.co.cr [No: info@rfpi.org --- gh] CROATIA. V. of Croatia. zklasan@hrt.hr or D.Pavlic@hrt.hr CUBA. RHC. radiohc@ip.etecsa.cu DOMINICAN REP. R.Amanecer. adra@codetel.net.do or amanecer@tricom.net ENGLAND. BFBS. marina.haward@bfbs.com Bible Voice BC. mail@biblevoice.org GERMANY. RDW. Adelheid.Lucas@dw-world.de (best address) ITALY. RAI. raiway.hfmonitoring@rai.it IRRS. reports@nexus.org JORDAN. Radio Jordan. Zada@jrtv.gov.jo LIBYA. Voice of Africa (ETC) africavoice@hotmail.com MOLDOVA. Radio Moldova. rmi.engl@mail.md NIGERIA. V. of Nigeria. vonlagos@fiberia.com or dgovon@nigol.net.ng PALAU. T8BZ. bentchan@hotmail.com PNG. R. Independent Mekamui. svoron@hotmail.com PERU. R. San Miguel cococabanillas@hotmail.com SAUDI ARABIA. IRAN [sic]. Sawt-al-Islah (Alislah) info@islah.org SOUTH AFRICA. S.A.R.L. armi@intecom.co.za R. Veritas. veriprod@iafrica.com SWEDEN: IBRA info@ibra.se and eva.skog@ibra.se USA. KVOH. mail@highadvenure.net or kathy@highadventure.net WEWN. gtapley@ewtn.com Radio Free Asia. iwanciwt@rfa.org Remnants Hope Ministry. remnantshope@hotmail.com Radio Africa Int. (UMC) dfrantz@tennessee.com [incorrect! Frantz is at WWRB] Radio Sawa. comments@radiosawa.com WJIE (new address) doc@wjie.org Radio Farda. comment@radiofarda.com Gospel For Asia. (GFA) gfaradio@mygfa.org Pan American Broadcasting. info@panambc.com ZIMBABWE. SW Radio Africa mail@swradioafrica.com Additional sources of e-mail addresses are of course WRTV and PWBR and a very good website is http://www.dxer.de/emailliste Sometimes additional e-mail addresses can be obtained by going to a particular stations` webpage For those seeking addresses for Latin American stations a very good site is Eldorado For LA Dxers found at http://www.members01.chello.se/mwm/eldorado.html (Ian Cattermole, Blenheim, New Zealand, July NZ DX Times, alphabetized by gh for DXLD) Although I personally got out of QSL hunting about 15 years ago, many in the hobby continue to do so. It's bad enough when a small Indonesian station doesn't reply, but it spells impending doom for the collection of QSL cards when the international broadcasters drop the service for budget concerns. From a few contacts that I do have in international broadcasting, they were getting frustrated replying to several QSL requests from the same person for the same program - i.e. trying to verify the same broadcast on each frequency and for each repeater transmitter. Although these individuals, some of whom are ODXA members, did not destroy QSL collecting, they have damaged it severely (Mark Coady, ODXA via DXLD) See also SEYCHELLES [non] PUBLICATIONS ++++++++++++ The W5YI Report to QRT The W5YI Report, dubbed ``America's Oldest Ham Radio Newsletter,`` has announced that it's ceasing publication with its July 15 issue. Begun some 25 years ago by Fred Maia, W5YI, as a service to the Richardson (Texas) Wireless Club, The W5YI Report evolved into a twice-monthly paid-subscription compilation of ham radio and -- more recently -- electronics industry and Internet-related news printed on distinctive pink paper. Maia, 68, sold his company, W5YI Group, which included The W5YI Report and the W5YI-VEC, to Larry Pollock, NB5X, in 2000. Maia agreed to continue editing the newsletter for another three years, but now he wants to give it up, although he will continue his monthly column in CQ. Current subscriptions to The W5YI Report will be fulfilled with CQ subscriptions starting with the August issue (ARRL July 17 via John Norfolk, DXLD) DRM +++ For all of us who use analogous receivers we have to get used to this new kind of interference (in former days it was East bloc jamming !). But the good news is that these DRM transmitters now have reached a more acceptable bandwidth than during the first tests where it was usual to hear their ``white`` noise 20-30 kHz on each side of the transmitted frequency. I measured the bandwidth of the broadcasts, using the most narrow bandwidth on my receiver, and in most cases the noise disappeared 6 kHz to each side of the transmitted frequency! In two cases it was 7 kHz. But that is not more than the wellknown sideband QRM from adjacent strong analogous transmitters (Anker Petersen, DSWCI DX Window July 16 via DXLD) Please note: You can now find a list of DRM broadcasts compiled and permanently updated by OM Klaus Schneider, Germany, at: http://www.wwdxc.de/drm.htm (WWDXC via DXLD) What about the official DRM version and the Media Network version? DRM UPDATE -- TECHNICAL AND MARKETING One idea about a secondary application of DRM technology is to provide local service on the higher HF bands that don`t see a lot of use---21 and 26 MHz. This could be accomplished using low power transmissions (500 w-1 kw), and would provide a service comparable to FM in quality. Don gave recognition to Mike Adams for his efforts in arranging for test and demonstration of DRM transmissions, and to Herb Jacobsen for his work in developing a DRM capable transmitter exciter. About six types of DRM exciters are ready for marketing (shortwave and mediumwave). Wide mediumwave usage of DRM is necessary if it is to find sufficient support for practical shortwave application. At WRC-2003, around a dozen DRM transmissions at various frequency ranges will be broadcast into the Geneva area. Several of the participating broadcasters have committed to continuing with DRM transmissions after this special demonstration period. Receiver manufacturers expect to have consumer-type DRM-capable receivers available by the end of 2004. These receivers will be capable of working with other modes (eg. AM/FM), and may be customized to the market in which they will be distributed (i.e. models for Europe may differ in some regard for models intended for sub-Saharan Africa). At this point, Don anticipates that making a DRM-capable receiver will increase the cost by about $50.00 above the cost of a comparable receiver without DRM capability. Specifications and standards for implementing DRM technology are worked out, improved, and available. Some DRM features are still being tested relating to channel width, with simulcast (both analogue and digital simultaneously) approaches, and with automatic selection of the best receive frequency (when multiple options are available). Another aspect still under test is the application of DRM technique to single-frequency networks, such as are commonly already used in Europe for public broadcasting (to cover an entire country with a service using one frequency on multiple synchronized transmitters). Don is pushing within the DRM group for the preparation of a ``how to`` manuel for broadcasters. This would explain at a user`shortwave level how best to make application of DRM technology. The DRM signal has much more energy, proportionally, near the edges of the occupied channel than does a double sideband transmission. This raises the possibility for much more adjacent channel interference by a digital transmission as compared to an analogue transmission. Tests and analytic work show that, for an adequate interference protection ratio, a digital signal must be operated at about 7 db less power level than would be appropriate if it were a regular analog AM transmission being used. That this factor was not observed in the past on-the-air tests, and because some DRM test transmitters were not adjusted to comply with the DRM-specified emission ``mash``, resulted in many complaints by listeners of major interference (excessive occupied bandwidth), for some DRM test transmissions (Don Messer, IBB, summary report of presentation at the NASB 2003 Annual Meeting in Aug NASB Newsletter, July 16 via DXLD) ###