DX LISTENING DIGEST 3-142, August 8, 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/dxldtd3h.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 1194: RFPI: Sat 0130, 0700, 1400, 1730, 2330, Sun 0530, 1130, 1830, Mon 0030, 0630, 1230, Tue 1900, Wed 0100, 0730, 1330 on 7445 [nominal times subject to pre-emption or delay] WWCR: Sat 1030, Sun 0230 5070, 0630 3210, Wed 0930 9475 WINB: Sun 0031 12160 WBCQ: Mon 0415 7415 WRN ONDEMAND: http://new.wrn.org/listeners/stations/station.php?StationID=24 OUR ONDEMAND AUDIO [also for CONTINENT OF MEDIA, MUNDO RADIAL]: Check http://www.worldofradio.com/audiomid.html [Low] (Download) http://www.k4cc.net/wor1194.rm (Stream) http://www.k4cc.net/wor1194.ram [High] (Download) http://www.k4cc.net/wor1194h.rm7 (Stream) http://www.k4cc.net/wor1194h.ram (Summary) http://www.worldofradio.com/wor1194.html ** AUSTRALIA. ARDS: I just rang them; per Dale Chesson, radio manager they are on 24 hours a day using 400 watts with a 1 kW transmitter. Two-element array beamed 100 degrees from Darwin. They are making sure that the local shops are stocking short wave radios so that people in the target area will be able to listen. Short wave was chosen because there are only 7,000 people in 30,000 sq km. They wanted everyone to hear the service so short wave was chosen. As funding because available they will put MW transmitters in the major centers. Per Dale, frequencies under 5060 kHz in Australia fall under a domestic broadcast license. This is what they wanted and they asked for as high as frequency as possible, hence being assigned 5050 kHz. Dale would welcome any reports at dale@ards.com.au or by mail to ARDS, Box 1671, Nhulunbuy NT 0881, Australia (Hans Johnson, WY, Aug 7, Cumbre DX via DXLD) I think Johnno mentioned last weekend that he was hearing something here. Definitely a weak signal on 5050 tonight, 1000-1030 period, phonetics sounded like it could easily be an aboriginal or Pacific island language, but had to leave it to catch the NRL replay. Further checking over the weekend; will be a challenging catch for those further away (Craig Seager, Aug 8, ARDXC via DXLD) Well blow me down, this is the station I heard early last week, on 5050 playing music, it`s in the topica posts. None replied to me, but hey I heard something worth while. I even told Craig Seager on the phone; he didn't know. Gee I thought it was the tooheys! GRINNING (Johno Wright, Aug 8, ARDXC via DXLD) ** AUSTRALIA. Update: Voice English off the air --- Update on Voice International from Mr Richard Daniel-Corporate Relations Manager: Hello Alokesh, Thanks for the e mail, we have had major problems to fix at our transmitter site that have caused us to be off the air fir a week or so. We are hoping that it will be repaired by Friday. Please have a listen on Friday and let me know if the signal is good or not. Have a good day, will hear from you at the end of the week. Regrds, Richard Daniel, Corporate Relations Manager Killick St, Kunda Park QLD Australia 4556 Ph: +61 (0)7 5477 1555 Fax: +61 (0)7 5477 1727 Mob: +61 (0)407 155 061 http://www.voice.com.au http://www.voiceil.com.au (via Alokesh Gupta, India, Aug 7, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** AUSTRALIA. Current measured frequencies for Aussie X-banders: 1638 2ME Sydney - 1637.99 (only 10 Hz off) 1665 Sydney - 1664.99 (only 10 Hz off) 1674 Emu Plains - 1673.91 (old time music) 1683 Greek (not sure of location) - 1683.23 1701 Brisbane (Hindi)- 1701.15 (Geoff Wolfe, Cooma, NSW Australia, IRCA Soft DX Monitor Aug 9 via DXLD) ** BRAZIL. 3235, 0600 Aug 7, unID weak station playing back-back music, sounds Latin and even PP so maybe a Brazilian??? No announcement heard on the hour or at 0700 so possibly testing. Exactly on 3235 so doubtful R. Luz y Sonido (Paul Ormandy, New Zealand, DX LISTENING DIGEST) R. Clube de Marília, Brasil, recently reactivated. Suggest people check uniD frequencies by doing a Google search like this: 3235 site:worldofradio.com The top three hits are about this; one says it is on the air all night. 73, (Glenn, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Thanks everyone. Glen[n], your search is a good idea. Cheers, (Paul Ormandy, ibid.) ** BRAZIL. ROBERTO MARINHO --- BRAZILIAN TYCOON WHOSE GLOBO EMPIRE MADE HIM THE MOST POWERFUL MEDIA FIGURE IN LATIN AMERICA Alex Bellos, Thursday August 07 2003, The Guardian In a career that spanned almost eight decades, the Brazilian tycoon Roberto Marinho, who has died aged 98, turned himself from the owner of a small evening paper into the most powerful media figure in Latin America. As president of the Globo empire, he wielded enormous political power, and strongly shaped his country's cultural life. The key to Globo's domination of Brazil, probably unequalled in any other country, is its presence in all media. But it was Marinho's television arm that gave him his greatest influence. TV Globo - founded when its proprietor was already in his 60s - created a new aesthetic of soap operas and populist news bulletins, and became one of the strongest unifying factors in such a large and diverse country. Marinho, who started life as a journalist, cleverly used his political connections to further his business ambitions. He then used his business to influence politics - most shamelessly in the 1989 presidential elections, when TV Globo's propaganda destroyed the chances of the then leftwing candidate Luis Inacio Lula da Silva. Da Silva, who was finally elected president last year, has declared three days of mourning. "Brazil lost a man who spent his life believing in Brazil," he said. Marinho was born 15 years after Brazil declared itself a republic, at a time when the then capital, Rio de Janeiro, was a small, emerging city. His journalist father, Irineu, started the daily newspaper A Noite in 1911 and, when that folded, founded O Globo in 1925. Within a few weeks of the launch, however, he died of a heart attack, and his son inherited the paper, assuming full editorial control in 1931 - at the age of 26. In a politically volatile age, when newspapers were constantly opening and closing, it took luck and skill to stay afloat. Unlike other papers, generally tied to political parties, Globo was independent and cautious, but it did not shy away from political opinion. It was Marinho's main interest, although its financial security was only achieved thanks to reprinting US comics in Portuguese and property speculation. In 1944, Marinho made his first move into the broadcast media, buying a radio station, which he named Radio Globo. The station's political line played a large part in helping the military coup of 1964. Marinho's proximity to the dictatorship helped him in his next project - television. In 1957, he was awarded his first licence, though it was only when he did a controversial deal with Time-Life that he was able to acquire sufficient funds and technical expertise to set up the TV Globo channel, in 1965. His competitors argued that the Time-Life contract went against the Brazilian constitution, which banned foreign shareholding of domestic media. Even though the deal was eventually revoked, and an inquiry found the constitution had been violated, Marinho was acquitted of any wrongdoing. TV Globo began to have real power because of the network it created with local transmission stations. It became the most wide-reaching channel in Brazil - today, the network includes 115 local broadcasters and covers 99.98% of the country. Marinho also insisted that Globo would have much higher production values than any of its competitors, coining the phrase "the Globo standard". He discovered a winning formula of back-to-back soap operas that still dominates the channel. In 1995, he built the vast Projac studios near Rio, where all its drama is filmed. Globo claims to sell its soap operas to more countries than any other television station in the world. Even after decades of rival development, TV Globo is still the market leader in domestic Brazilian television, with 77% of advertising revenues and 54% of the audience share. Despite its successes and its professionalism, however, TV Globo has always been looked at suspiciously because of its cosiness with the military government between 1964 and 1985. In the 1970s, news bulletins were full of propaganda about the dictators' "economic miracle", and the channel ignored the campaign for redemocratisation until there were huge demonstrations in Rio city centre. The nadir of TV Globo's political interference came during the first presidential elections after the dictator ship, in 1989. The clear bias against Lula and in favour of his challenger, a little-known regional politician called Fernando Collor de Mello, was seen by many as swinging the election in Collor de Mello's favour. Marinho, who enjoyed motor racing, boxing, horseriding, swimming, worked hard and kept fit well into his 90s. He would spend the mornings at the Globo newspaper, now Rio's main broadsheet, and the afternoons at the television station. He carried on with new projects as far as his health permitted, launching a tabloid in Rio in 1998 and in São Paulo in 2000. Only a few years ago did he start to gradually hand over power to his three surviving sons. Roberto Irineu got the television; José Roberto the radio; and João Roberto the paper. A fourth son died in 1970 in a road accident. Regularly listed as one of Latin America's richest men, Marinho failed to make the Forbes list of top billionaires this year. Globo has suffered from overstretching itself in cable television and internet ventures, and from Brazil's economic problems. All Marinho's sons are from his first marriage, to Stella Goulart. He married three times and leaves his current wife, Lily de Carvalho, who was Miss France 1938. Roberto Marinho, journalist and businessman, born December 3 1904; died August 6 2003 Copyright Guardian Newspapers Limited (via Bill Westenhaver, DXLD) ** CAMBODIA [non]. Extended broadcasts of Khmer targeted at Cambodian elections and SE Asia will not cease this weekend (9th Aug) and instead will extend through 'til the 30th. These transmissions originate from the P.I., Sri Lanka, & Tinian. 73 (Rick Levandowski, IBB Marianas, http://www.wh0ai.net Aug 7, DX LISTENING DIGEST) R. Free Asia? VOA? Hmmm, his homepage links to this about corruption, racism in the CNMI: http://www.saipansucks.com/about.htm (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CANADA. FLASH: NEW RCI RELAY SITE: HOAX OR TRUTH? My good friend and fellow Victoria DXer, Colin Newell forwarded this URL regarding a new relay station to be erected by RCI on the west coast of Canada. At this time I'm not sure whether this is a hoax, or fact. There are numerous spelling errors in the preamble. Further clarification is needed!!! Here's the URL: http://cbc.am/rci-bc.htm (Walter (Volodya) Salmaniw, MD, Aug 8, Victoria, BC, Canada, DX LISTENING DIGEST) What individual is behind this? A few years ago someone made a *proposal* for such a site like this (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) In the 1980's there were some information circulating about plans to erect a new SW station on Canada's west coast. During the last 15 years RCI faced several financial cut-backs which forced them to stop broadcasting in German and other language services and/or to reduce its output too. The erection of a new SW station needs a lot of money. Maintenance is expensive too. Since the end of the cold war more and more SW stations switched over to lease air time from others because they also faced cut-backs. If it is not a hoax - what will happen to Sackville? Close-down that site, a future like DTK Juelich? But I think it's a hoax! In my opinion CBC would use its own web-site to spread such information. ".am" leads to ARMENIA! The content seems to be "professional made" using the VoA HF Propagation software. But everyone may download it via NIIA/ITS web-site and use or abuse this program. A late April-fool hoax ...? Best wishes from very hot Wuppertal vy 55 + 73 (Manfred Reiff, Germany, hard-core-dx via DXLD) I'm also going to file this one under "H" for hoaxes. The .am Armenian URL is a dead ringer for a bogus site. CBC has never referred to any of its radio networks as "CBC-AM", even before many of CBC's AM stations (CBL-Toronto, CBM/CBF-Montreal, CBO-Ottawa, etc.) moved to FM. What I can't figure is why would someone (a disgruntled DXer in western Canada, perhaps) who appears not to be an amateur teenage nerd when it comes to web design skills, go to all the trouble of creating such a hoax? 73 (Mike Brooker Toronto, ON, hard-core-dx via DXLD) ** CANADA. At the moment Italian DXers Dario Monferini and Roberto Pavanello are touring across Canada. On Wednesday August 13th while in Montréal, they were interviewed by the Spanish presenter Carlos. The 30 minute interview will be aired next Sunday on the RCI Spanish Service (via Joe Talbot, Cumbre DX via DXLD) ** CANADA [and non]. VICTORY AT THE CANADIAN BROADCAST STANDARDS COUNCIL -- I am the complainant (Saul Chernos, Ont., NRC-AM via DXLD) CANADIAN BROADCAST STANDARDS COUNCIL ONTARIO REGIONAL PANEL CKTB-AM re an episode of the Phil Hendrie Show (CBSC Decision 02/03-0383) Decided May 2, 2003 R. Stanbury (Chair), M. Ziniak (Vice-Chair), J. David, H. Hassan, M. Maheu and M. Oldfield THE FACTS The Phil Hendrie Show is a parody talk radio program that originates in the United States. The show features commentary from its host and conversations with both real and fictional callers and guests. It is broadcast in Canada, among other places, on CKTB-AM (St. Catharines, Ontario) at 7:00 pm. On the episode of November 26, 2002, Hendrie provided his thoughts on some recent news stories, one of which concerned the alleged cloning of a human baby by an Italian doctor. Hendrie made the following comments: And an Italian doctor, going against all civilized convention and international law, went ahead and cloned a baby anyway. After everything we`ve been telling you, after everything that we said, some wop made a baby. And not just any kind of a baby, another guinea baby is foisted upon the world and it was cloned. Eww. Little greasy kid. Hendrie went on to deliver his point of view on a few other stories. After a commercial break, he provided an explanation for the comments he had made about Italians: Of course I use the word ``wop``, ``guinea``. I don`t know if you can understand this, but there`s no, really, any real offence intended. And yesterday I was on WOAI in San Antonio. They said to me, I forget what we were asking. Oh yeah, I mentioned that I was fortunate enough in the television show that we`re writing to be working with a guy named Peter Tolan who wrote the movie Analyze This, which was a funny movie. And I said to the guys ``You thought that was a funny movie, didn`t you?`` And they said ``Well, not if you were Italian, they didn`t think it was funny.`` And I said ``You know who the Italians oughta sue? They oughta sue the Mafia.`` Why don`t you try doing that? Why don`t you Italians that don`t like the way you`re portrayed in the media, why don`t you turn around and file a lawsuit against the Gambinos. Try that. They`re the guys that got you in that place in the first place. That`s the whole reason why Italians are looked upon as hoods, is because there are Italian hoods. And I know what you`re gonna say: There`s Irish hoods and Arabian hoods. Yeah, but you gotta admit, man, how many blockbuster movies are made about them? How flashy and colourful and interesting to look at are they compared to the multi multi billion dollar business that the Mafia has run in this country for decades? And besides, the Irish, the Jews, all of us, we have other things we`re able to do. Apparently all Italians are capable of is breaking the law. I`m joking. Hendrie addressed other news stories in a similar manner. For example, he mentioned the case of a Canadian politician who called U.S. President George W. Bush a ``moron`` and said ``Some frog in Canada called Bush a `moron```. He suggested that the incident was not a big deal to Americans since presidents are often criticized and burned in effigy. In another case, after noting that actor Nicolas Cage had divorced Lisa-Marie Presley, he said it was probably because Cage ``couldn`t take the smell.`` The CBSC received a complaint about the Italian comments dated December 12 (the full text of all correspondence can be found in the Appendix to this decision). The listener found the use of the term ``wop`` to describe the Italian scientist to be ``derogatory and racist`` and suggested that the comments about Italians and the Mafia were ``extremely border-line``. The Operations Manager of CKTB-AM responded to the complainant on December 19. In that reply, the Operations Manager explained that the Phil Hendrie Show takes a ``tongue-in-cheek approach`` to ``contemporary social issues`` and ``attempts to uncover North American culture for what it is rather than its facade of political correctness.`` She pointed out that Hendrie`s ``objective is to bait listeners into addressing uncomfortable subjects`` and that listeners can telephone into the show to express their opinions. She also noted that Hendrie portrays many characters on the program, including his own ``guests``, but that listeners are made aware of this fictional aspect. The complainant responded to the broadcaster on December 20, emphasizing that it was the term ``wop`` that concerned him most about the episode. He informed CKTB-AM that he appreciates ``humour that has an edge and challenges conventional norms and political correctness,`` but that the line must be drawn at the use of racist language on the airwaves. CKTB-AM responded a second time on December 20. The Operations Manager stated that, in using the term ``wop``, Hendrie was ``attempting to show his disgust with the doctor`s actions, not making social comment on his ethnic background.`` She also noted that occasionally some Italians refer to themselves as ``wops``. She went on to mention that CKTB-AM aims to encourage ``public dialogue and debate,`` but acknowledges that it will not be able to satisfy all tastes all the time. The complainant sent a further reply to CKTB-AM on January 19, 2003. He reiterated his acceptance of different styles of social commentary, as well as his primary concern of the use of ``racial epithets`` on the airwaves. CKTB-AM reiterated its position, indicating that it had nothing further to add to its previous letters with respect to his complaint. On February 17, the complainant requested that the CBSC refer his complaint to the appropriate Adjudicating Panel. THE DECISION The CBSC Ontario Regional Panel examined the complaint under Clause 2 (Human Rights) of the Canadian Association of Broadcasters` (CAB) Code of Ethics which reads as follows: Recognizing that every person has the right to full and equal recognition and to enjoy certain fundamental rights and freedoms, broadcasters shall ensure that their programming contains no abusive or unduly discriminatory material or comment which is based on matters of race, national or ethnic origin, colour, religion, age, sex, sexual orientation, marital status or physical or mental disability. The Panel listened to a tape of the broadcast and reviewed all of the correspondence. The Ontario Regional Panel concludes that the broadcast of host Phil Hendrie`s comments about Italians is in breach of the Human Rights clause. Racial Epithets That elements of the population have succeeded in creating a number of catchwords, nicknames or appellations intended to apply to identifiable groups (frequently minorities distinguished by their ethnicity, nationality, religion or skin colour) is not one of society`s notable achievements. While there may be some such terms that are positive and admiring in their nature, many, perhaps most, and certainly all of those at issue here, are not. They tend to be epithetic, denigrating, even derisory in nature. Generally consisting of a single word, they are frequently meant to evoke disparaging reactions with respect to the targeted groups they ``define``. At worst, they are ugly and nasty. At best they are condescending, a shorthand reference by the user to others who do not have the ``right stuff``. The CBSC has, in the past, in CKTF-FM re Voix d`Accès (CBSC Decision 93/94-0213, December 6, 1995), acknowledged that [i]t would be unreasonable to expect that the airwaves be pure, antiseptic and flawless. Society is not. Nor are individuals in their dealings with one another. Nonetheless, the airwaves are a special and privileged place and those who occupy that territory are expected to play a more restrained and respectful social role. The issue in the matter at hand is whether the terms ``wop`` and ``guinea`` are, even if epithetic, not so problematic that they pass the ``pure, antiseptic and flawless`` test. In the view of the Panel, they do not. They fall within the category of sweeping racial slurs. They are disparaging terms, utterly without redemptive value. While there may be some dramatic programming circumstances (not encountered here) in which the use of such words may be contextually justified, their appropriateness should be carefully monitored. In any event, they had absolutely no place in the non-dramatic programming at issue here. As this Panel said, with respect to the use of the racial epithet ``wog``, in a relevant decision, namely, CFRA-AM re The Lowell Green Show (Somalia Commission Report) (CBSC Decision 96/97-0238, February 20, 1998): Stripped of the rhetorical overlay for the sake of this preliminary part of the discussion, the Council has no hesitation in finding that the use of the term ``wogs`` to describe persons of Somali origin is abusively discriminatory and has no place on Canadian airwaves. In CHOM-FM and CILQ-FM re The Howard Stern Show (CBSC Decision 97/98- 0001+, October 17-18, 1997), the Quebec and Ontario Regional Panels jointly concluded: The CBSC has no hesitation in finding that, in this case, the expressions ``peckerheads``, ``pussy-assed jack-offs``, ``scumbags``, ``pussies``, ``Frig the French`` and ``Screw the French`` are [...] abusive.`` In the case at hand, the challenged words constitute abusive or unduly discriminatory comment, exacerbated by the remarks that the baby was ``foisted upon the world`` and was a ``little greasy kid``. If, as suggested by the broadcaster, the host was ``attempting to show his disgust with the doctor`s actions, not making social comment on his ethnic background,`` there can be no doubt but that he failed miserably. The Panel concludes that the broadcast by CKTB-AM of the terms ``wop`` and ``guinea``, as well as ``little greasy kid``, on the challenged episode of the Phil Hendrie Show constitutes a breach of the CAB Code of Ethics. ``No Offence, Just Joking`` Coming back after the commercial break, the host tried to dig himself out of the hole he had already made by saying that ``there`s no, really, any real offence intended.`` He said this, though, in the breath following his affirmation that he had used the challenged terms. He did not recognize their impropriety. He did not attempt to withdraw them as utterances in error. To the contrary, he repeated them and confirmed that he had done so, emphasizing this fact by the addition of the words ``of course`` to explain his on-air choice. By saying ``no offence``, perhaps he was emphasizing that he who had spoken the words was not offended. It would have done little to salve the sentiments of those of whom he had spoken. And then, as if to rub a little salt in the wound, he added, ``Apparently all Italians are capable of is breaking the law. I`m joking.`` The Code breach was, if anything, exacerbated by those words. They certainly did not serve his declared purpose. Broadcaster Responsiveness In all CBSC decisions, the Adjudicating Panels assess the broadcaster`s responsiveness to the complainant. Although the broadcaster need not agree with the complainant, it is expected that its representatives charged with replying to complaints will address the complainant`s concerns in a thorough manner. In this case, the Panel finds that CKTB-AM`s Program Director carefully attempted to describe the basis for the program that, in her view on behalf of the station, explained, if not justified, the use of the challenged terms. She took the trouble to respond again to the complainant`s dissatisfied reply and even personalized her perception of the issue in good faith to be of assistance, she hoped, in the resolution of the matter. As is apparent, she did not succeed, perhaps in part because there was not, in the Panel`s view, any method of justifying the abusive epithets at the end of the day. Her efforts were, however, serious. In the view of the Panel, she has met the CBSC`s obligations of responsiveness by engaging in a dialogue with the complainant through the exchange of multiple e-mails. Indeed, the complainant himself stated his appreciation for the ``reasonable and appropriate`` dialogue process and insisted on allowing CKTB-AM an opportunity to respond to each of his e-mails before pursuing formal adjudication. ANNOUNCEMENT OF THE DECISION CKTB-AM is required to: 1) announce this decision, in the following terms, once during peak listening hours within three days following the release of this decision and once more within seven days following the release of this decision during the time period in which the Phil Hendrie Show is broadcast; 2) within the fourteen days following the broadcast of the announcements, to provide written confirmation of the airing of the statement to the complainant who filed the Ruling Request; and 3) at that time, to provide the CBSC with that written confirmation and with air check copies of the broadcasts of the two announcements which must be made by CKTB-AM. The Canadian Broadcast Standards Council has found that CKTB-AM breached the clause of the Canadian Association of Broadcasters` (CAB) Code of Ethics dealing with human rights. By broadcasting an episode of the Phil Hendrie Show on November 26, 2002 in which the host used disparaging racial epithets to refer to Italians and their offspring, CKTB-AM aired abusive or unduly discriminatory comment contrary to the terms of Clause 2 of the CAB Code of Ethics. This decision is a public document upon its release by the Canadian Broadcast Standards Council (via Saul Chernos, NRC-AM via DXLD) Some questions immediately (at my age? well, soonly at least) come to mind. Phil Hendrie originates in Los Angeles. I assume CKTB picks it up from a sat feed. A proceeding like this almost begs for the conclusion that CKTB had, or should have had, foreknowledge of the nature of the comments in the show. CKTB management would properly have oversight over the comments of a live, in-studio host who is answerable to station management. However with sat feeds, you are at the mercy of whatever they jam down the pipe for you. Doesn`t this really say that CKTB is responsible for something they had no control over, except to start a policy of (1) taping all shows (2) have station management start screening every show and (3) play them back sometime later. Which will probably never happen. In point of fact however, anyone carrying Hendrie (and I hear him locally on WFLA 970 except when the Devil Rays are playing) _should_ have foreknowledge that he will say something on the edge, as he sometimes does. This is the way radio seems to work today. ALso I can`t believe the only Canadian station carrying this show was CKTB, and they were singled out by the complainant as they were the one in his listening area. Does this not apply to EVERY Canadian/Ontario station carrying this show and if not, why not? Or are there none others? 73 (Bob (just asking, not arguing) Foxworth, FL, ibid.) I think Canadian stations are required to tape everything anyway (Steve Francis, Alcoa, Tennessee, ibid.) These stations may be required to tape everything for archival purposes, to respond to any complaints etc that may happen. These tapes, (logging tapes) would be stored for possible need. I did this in the 70`s at WCBS. We used machines with 10-1/2 inch reels of 1-mil Mylar running at either 15/16 or 1-7/8 ips, which could hold up to an entire days` programming, with correspondingly degraded audio quality. Any station that does NOT do this today is being foolish. What I was speaking of was the scenario that the station would have to tape these shows BEFORE broadcast, and then someone would have to listen to the ENTIRE tape BEFORE broadcast, to censor content. And, these tapes would by necessity have to be broadcast-quality. ``And now...yesterday`s Hendrie Show... coming up!`` Big difference. (Foxworth, ibid.) Quite the contrary. Given the way the FCC enforces its content standards, any station that DOES log its programming is putting itself at risk of a fine. Absent a recording - which is NOT required for US stations (Canada is different in this regard, and does require recordings to be made and kept) - the FCC is extremely reluctant to issue fines or even admonishments against broadcasters. What that means in practice is that anyone wishing to file a complaint about something they hear on WXXX had better have their own tape deck rolling. Otherwise, it`s their word against the station`s, UNLESS the station happens to have a tape that can be obtained by way of a subpoena or similar legal action. So, if you`re a station that carries any sort of controversial programming, why would you put yourself at such a risk? That`s why most such stations, if they tape their shows at all, make it their standard practice to wipe the tape within 24 hours. (The result of this very broken system is that the indecency complaints that DO result in fines very rarely come from ``average`` listeners. Instead, they`re usually generated by advocacy groups that use volunteers to record hours upon hours of Howard Stern or whoever in hopes of finding something that can be used to substantiate a complaint. Oh --- and lest we forget, the FCC has no clearly defined standards about what is and is not indecent, or what the specific fine amounts should be, much less any useful enforcement mechanism to get fined stations to pay their fines in a timely manner. So the actual enforcement of content standards in US broadcasting is about as close to random as it`s possible to get. It makes the FM allocations system look rational by comparison!) Now, in Canada, the CRTC does require logger tapes be made and kept for a certain period of time (at least 30 days, and longer under some circumstances), and it DOES fine stations that don`t do their logging properly. That`s the good news. But the content standards are generally ``enforced`` not by the CRTC but by the Canadian Broadcast Standards Council, whose chief weapon appears to be a requirement that the station in question announce, several times daily, that it`s been reprimanded by the CBSC for whatever programming sin (almost always related to portrayal of a gender or nationality or ethnic group) it`s committed. Seems awfully toothless to me, but perhaps Canadians have a stronger sense of shame than we do south of the border. (On the other hand, THEY can show nekkid people on broadcast TV in the late evening up there... :-) s (Scott Fybush, NY, ibid.) I bow to your contemporaneous knowledge of radio today, while my knowledge of it is dated. Your explanation was quite interesting. I would have thought that in this litigious society that stations would bend over backwards to cover themselves, yet I can now see the argument that ``we just don`t have it`` (aircheck) This type of thinking has a parallel in the IT world where lawyers have discovered that it is easy to subpoena e-mail records (even though there are systems that take snapshots of mail files and can miss pieces of mail that arrive and exit the server between backups). Imagine if Enron said, ``hey, we wipe the backups after 24 hours``. It`s all very curious. I can see Powell with his fat grin, beaming approvingly. As I said, in the 70`s when I was playing the radio game, the thought of forgetting to change the logger tape at mid night would get you an angry visit from the supervisor, at the least (Bob Foxworth, ibid.) These (and later) comments are completely valid. A few thoughts: A seven second delay, as used in phone-in shows here, should solve the problem. Yes, you pay someone to staff the boards, and monitoring is part of their job. A local, live announcer can also make inappropriate comments on air, and if no one else at the station is listening, then the remarks get aired. Yes, it costs money to have a live monitor, but that`s a cost of doing business, just like a fine is perceived (sigh) as a cost of doing business. Now, mistakes do happen. If a host says something inappropriate on the air, and it gets through, the station can do something. It can apologise on the air and retract the statement(s), it can reprimand or fire the host (in my view, certainly not fire on the first offence unless it was a clear incitement to hatred). Whatever. In this case the CBSC put the station in touch with me and the station rep chose to defend the comments as reflecting the humourous nature of the show. So, monitoring in this case would have most likely made no difference whatsoever to the final outcome. CKTB still carries Hendrie, in the same time slot. CKTB probably isn`t the only Canadian station carrying the show. I should have made that point to the CBSC, but maybe the CBSC should have caught that. Maybe they only respond to the terms within the complaints. I caught this incident while DXing. I was jotting down notes anyhow, and included these remarks out of initial outrage. I hemmed and hawed for a few days, did some research re the complaints process, and filed my gripe on the CBSC`s web site. I would probably not have pursued the matter if the CRTC didn`t require taping, but I would have then made a point of taping some later shows to check for any repeats. As it stands, I will probably keep an occasional ear on the show over CKTB, just to see what happens, and I would file further complaints as I feel they are warranted. I will also check to see who else in Canada carries Hendrie. Ironically, perhaps, I agree 100 percent with the position Hendrie expressed on cloning humans -- I see it as a clear wrong. His style (doubling as his guests, expressing extremes, etc...) and use of strong language was defended as a means of encouraging listener response on the issue. I think his basic concept is sound and could work very well on radio, a medium with a terribly underused potential. Hendrie might do very well if he used creativity rather than cheap shots (Saul Chernos, ibid.) I didn`t hear the specific show that we`re discussing, but having been an occasional listener of the Hendrie show for several years, I`ve gone through a transition in my opinion of the show. I think it`s illustrative of the intent behind the show`s concept. When I first heard Phil Hendrie a few years ago on KFI, I fell for it hook line & sinker, though only briefly. It only took me a short time to catch on that the ``guests`` were phony. Mostly that was due to the completely off-the-scale outrageousness of their comments, but you could pretty easily tell that all of the voices were being done by the same person. It was only much later that I found out that Phil was doing all of the voices. What started as being somewhat annoying, became more amusing & entertaining. You have to give the guy credit for having an amazing talent of being able to carry on both sides of a conversation, while keeping the ``straight man`` and the wacko guest straight. And these are really quite distinct, and colorful characters that he`s created. This may sound somewhat arbitrary, but I think it`s important to distinguish just ``who`` was making the offensive comments. One the one hand, Phil has many ``guests`` who make outrageous comments, which are intended to spark outrage among listeners who aren`t privy to the show`s concept, and bait them into calling the show. That`s just part of the satirical nature of the show, and one of the things that makes it entertaining. If you are aware that these are fake people, then you can see it for the satire that it is, and it`s not really any more offensive than Archie Bunker. On the other hand, when Phil himself makes offensive comments, to me that is different. He`s supposed to be the straight guy. You can take what he says seriously. And when he goes & uses his own voice & persona to make offensive comments, that`s something entirely different. It`s not really satire anymore. So while I tend to agree with Thomas, that people today are really just too thin-skinned & sensitive, there still is a limit to how far you can (and should) go. Offensiveness is really a subjective thing, so it`s hard to draw the line. But it`s also important to put things in context. To debate about the offensiveness of a specific word is kind of ridiculous, unless you can put it into the context of how it was used, and who was using it. Bottom line is that I`m always willing to cut someone some slack in this area, particularly where satire is involved. But it`s clear that Phil may have crossed the line on this particular occasion. It`s obvious from his attempt to apologize (or rather, ``explain``) right after the break, that he was very much aware that he had crossed the line. Hopefully he`ll learn his lesson (though it`s hard to see how having the wrist of a Canadian affiliate slapped is going to teach him very much). (Brian Leyton, Valley Village, CA, ibid.) He`s actually Canadian - I recall reading that somewhere, possibly on his web site. I was aware of his concept and what he does. This clearly crossed the line, at least in my view. The CBSC really has tiny teeth. A slap on the wrist, and maybe a wink or two, from an industry body that self-regulates. BTW, why just have to refect a moral standard to youth? What about so-called adults? The way I see it, up here, broadcasters use public space / property and should be accountable to a public body (Saul Chernos, ibid.) You`re entirely right. I don`t know the laws in Canada, but most adults start at age 18, and the 18+ age group contributes to a vast majority of radio listeners. Still, Saul, I think the Genie is out of the bottle here in the U.S. With a mindset of ``let the marketplace decide the bounds``, and a really weak enforcement unit, it`s a wonder we don`t have more problems. Interesting how Canadians handle this. I`ve been saddened by the *large* number of cases of racial and sexual comments made on the US airwaves which are routinely excused as ``we were just kidding``, or ``we slipped.`` The number of cases that are tossed out are incredible. Perhaps the smoking gun to all this was made by one exec who said (when his station was fined), ``it`s just a cost of doing business``. IMHO, the airwaves should hold a better than society standard, and reflect a moral standard to youth. Having said this, and if god wanted to take me a day off and appoint me in charge, if a station would violate these standards I would ask the station to conclude business in the next 90 days and sell to a local owner. Case closed. I would approve of logging tapes, if not for the issue we`re speaking of, but for a forgotten sin in this age of deregulation. On any given night I can hear a station cut off, play at the same time as another, or omit a commercial. The advertisers pay for this time, and in many cases are billed for it because the station looks at what was scheduled vs a log of what was played. If I were an advertiser, and my commercial fell in one of the areas above I would either want another one at no charge, or my bill should reflect that the commercial did not run. What I find interesting, (studying human nature and our society), is that some broadcasters don`t want to be accurate. Some, when confronted with the problem deny it happens, and get mad when it`s proved on the side of the client. Speaking only for myself, I think that when a station does not give an advertiser what they paid for, it`s theft. If I owned a station, I would want to be damn sure that anyone who conducted business with me knew they could trust me 100% (Fred Vobbe, OH, ibid.) Saul, good for you for complaining. If we don`t then we have only ourselves to blame when things slip off into the morass (no pun intended) or vulgarity, insults, and worse. Was it the CBSC that slapped Dr. Laura (OK, the station carrying her show) on the wrist a few years ago? (Eric Flodén, BC, ibid.) Speaking from a larger market perspective, I can say that the stations I know reconcile scheduled spots with the actual data from systems such as Audio Vault. Such systems can verify missed spots, and reconciliation can be done electronically. Spots that did not run are made good, and the invoice specifies out of parameter spots, whether the difference is in run date, out of scheduled time periods, etc. Further, most larger advertisers and agencies require notarized invoices, and this puts a burden on the station to present verified data ``as run`` not ``as scheduled.`` Many advertisers require exact time billing. Stations that are billing off contract generally set themselves up for a fraudulent billing situation. Along with Lack of Candor, this is one are the Commission will review with energy (David Gleason, CA, ibid.) I think that Saul`s post is once again off topic and leftist political, so fellow e-list members please don`t take offense when ``I`` now respond from a right wingers point of view. I heard the particular Phil Hendry show that Saul is talking about. I think Phil is amazingly talented and yes politically incorrect at times. As an Italian I personally was not insulted by his stereotypical comments about Italians. Italians like all white ethnic groups that migrated from Europe in the 19th century had to take their turn and pay their dues, in order to earn respect in their new country. Traditionally in America, respect has always been earned by the newly emigrated ethnic group when said group makes it financially and blends into society as Americans first and whatever their European heritage was second. Every group has had their own version of an organized criminal element. What brought notoriety to the Italian Mafia were the rules and honor that they operated under, unlike most other ethnic groups operating criminal enterprises. Personally my family emigrated from Italy in 1897 and were not involved in any illegal activities. My great grandfather was held as an indentured servant by the Irish controllers in Boston, actually it was more like slavery. Instead of crying about how unfair everything was he just worked hard and made it. Within 30 years of emigrating my family became wealthy through hard work and perseverance. The leftist politically correct crowd has created an environment in western culture where everyone has thin skin and is offended by anything and everything. The end result is a victimization mentality that is destroying the unique American culture and making the attorneys and politicians richer and more powerful. If I ``were`` to take offense at the content of this particular show, it would be due to the fact that he was criticizing white heterosexual males, the only group in American society today that is not protected from criticism by the political correctness movement. Basically American heterosexual white males are currently suffering institutionalized legal reverse discrimination. I hear things on the radio and TV constantly that I think is wrong and hurting society but at the same time I personally feel that the unique 1st Amendment freedom of speech concept in the U.S. must be protected at all costs. The new thing on TV in the U.S. in 2003 is the high level of cursing in dialog and making white heterosexual males look stupid. It seems like the TV show writers spend more time trying to figure out how to inject curse words and anti white heterosexual male comments. Whether it be a comedy, serious drama or even a TV commercial, the white guy is always a moron. 73, (Thomas F. Giella, Meteorologist, C/S KN4LF, Plant City, FL, USA EL87WX, Florida Space & Atmospheric Weather Institute: http://www.kn4lf.com/fsawi.htm ibid.) Saul's final words on his complaint about the Phil Hendrie Show The problem - and a key reason I complained to the Canadian Broadcast Standards Council - is that the remarks slurred an entire ethnic group, and quite crudely. Where do we draw the line? That's a tough question. I drew my line where I believed it needed to be drawn. It was either that, or remain a silent, approving witness. My background is Jewish. My ancestors emigrated to Canada prior to WWI and thus never experienced pogroms or genocide. How would I have responded had I lived under the Nazi regime, as racist fans were flamed, as levels of bigotry rose and morphed into holocaust proportions? I don't know; I wasn't there. In retrospect, I do wish people had stood up against the bigotry before it was too late. (I feel similarly about other holocausts). It's a sad commentary on our society that an entire ethnic group should have to 'make it' before they're 'accepted'. The fact is, many immigrants have made it, through an awful lot of hard work, Yet, the bigotry continues. Of course, bigotry and bad attitude exist on all sides, and come from all groups. No question about it. Two wrongs do not make a right. I've experienced both privilege and rejection because I am a straight white male, and both these responses were wrong. Free speech is provided for, to varying degrees, through amendment rights and other constitutional forms. But, with any rights there are also responsibilities. In Canada, for example, ethnic groups have the constitutional right not to be targeted or discriminated against. There are laws against inciting hatred. It's a balance. This really is getting off-topic. I can feel Fred on my tail. Consider this post, my last on this matter, a reflection of what can be heard on our airwaves, and explaining the thinking that led to my complaint to the CBSC, and thus to my original post to this list. I didn't expect so much response (Saul Chernos, ibid.) ** CHINA. Pessoal, a partir do dia 11/08 a Radio China Internacional ampliará, a sua programção em português, em 1 hora. Vejam em: http://crioracle.cri.com.cn/portugal/pop/comunicado.htm 73, (ADIEL, SP - Capital, Aug 3, radioescutas via DXLD) Glenn, Here's some news about an extension of French broadcasting from CRI, to go with the recent news of extended German and Italian broadcasts. 73- (Bill Westenhaver, Aug 8, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Bonjour, Les émissions en français et en ondes courtes auront dorénavant une durée de 2 heures. 18h30 à 20h30, 20h30 à 22h30: AF 9645 11760 khz, EU 9695 11660 khz (via Union des Ecouteurs Français -- - Radiodiffusions, utilitaires, radio-écouteurs, radioamateurs, techniques... Courriel: tsfinfo@magic.fr Web: http://www.radiocom.org U.E.F.: B.P. 31, 92242 MALAKOFF Cedex, FRANCE via Westenhaver, DXLD) ** GUATEMALA. 4845 R. K'ekchí: Larry Baysinger explains that their large transmitter is off and awaiting parts. They are on their small back up transmitter for now (via Larry Baysinger, Aug 8, Cumbre DX via DXLD) 4845 R. K'ekchí (presumed) 0033 Aug 7, talk in Spanish although the dialect is different than what I'm used to hearing; SIO=344 (Joe Miller, Troy MI, MARE via DXLD) ** IRAQ. Interview with Ahmed al-Rakabi, ex-Iraqi Media Network, is at the start of August 7 The Current on CBC Radio One: http://media.cbc.ca:8080/ramgen/cbc.ca/thecurrent/media/200308/20030807thecurrent_sec1.rm Followed by more related material (via Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** JAPAN. Radio Japan, NHK World --- Special Notice from Radio Japan about Summer Special Program "Konnichiwa! On the Net & Radio" Hello DXers, Middle East & Africa Division of "NHK World Radio Japan", the overseas broadcasting service of Japan Broadcasting Corporation is broadcasting a summer special program, "Konnichiwa! On the Net & Radio" on August 31. The program will be aired in four languages: Arabic, French, Persian and Swahili. We invite all of our listeners to take part in this special occasion. You can hear this special program both on the shortwave and on the Internet. We broadcast live on air on the shortwave, and the audio file will be uploaded on the Internet immediately after the broadcast. Thus, you can hear us with the slightest time-lug. We now open our special Home Page in our Website. For further information, please check: http://www.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/sp ~We are looking forward to your participation!~ 1. Please send your contributions "How do you access to Radio Japan? How often? And what do you find our programs? Are they useful for you?" Please send us your opinion about our broadcast on the themes mentioned above. Even if you are new to Radio Japan, just listen to us and send your opinions or requests. We introduce some of the letters in our special program. We will also phone out to some listeners from our studio. So, please don't forget to write your phone number in your letters. Radio Japan will send a special souvenir to you if your letter has been introduced in our special program. 2. Quiz Please take part in our special quiz either on radio or the Internet. All these questions are related to Japan. The radio quiz will be on air on every Sunday starting from August 10 in our weekly "Listeners' Corner" programme. (August 10, 17, 24) On the Internet, you will find the questions of the quiz in our HP every week starting from August 8. The questions will be updated on August 8, 15 and 22. Please note that we will give you two different versions of the questions: on the radio and on the Internet. You can answer either of them, or both. And on the very day of the special broadcast: August 31, you will hear two more questions. Listen to the special program, and try to answer all five questions. Send your answers on five questions together to Radio Japan immediately after the special broadcast. Those who send more than three correct answers out of five will get Radio Japan's special souvenirs. 3. Get our special QSLs! Why don't you add our special QSLs to your verification cards collection? Four languages sections: Arabic, Persian, Swahili and French, will issue their own QSL cards on the special program. Thus, you will have a chance to receive four different designs of the QSL cards if you send your reception reports after listening to all four language broadcasts. Please address your contributions to our special program: Opinion, Answers of the Quiz, Reception Reports to: Arabic/Swahili/Persian/French Service Radio Japan, NHK, Tokyo 150-8001, Japan Fax number is: 81-3-3481-8222 E-mail addresses: Arabic@intl.nhk.or.jp france@intl.nhk.or.jp Persian@intl.nhk.or.jp Swahili@intl.nhk.or.jp Thank you very much for your interest. We wish you very happy listening! Best 73's and 88's from Radio Japan Middle East & Africa Division, NHK, Tokyo, Japan (via Michael Bethge, WWDXC, August 6, DXLD) ** LIBERIA. ELWA ONLY RADIO STATION ON AIR IN MONROVIA, LIBERIA Posted by: newsdesk on Wednesday, August 06, 2003 - 05:46 PM ELWA Radio is the only station still on the air in the war torn capital city of Monrovia, Liberia, according to a report by Carol Wilson of SIM. Wilson said government and other private stations have all gone silent, and unfortunately ELWA`s shortwave transmitter developed a problem last night so the shortwave service is also off the air for the time being. However, ELWA is still on FM, reaching more than a million Liberians with the gospel. Fuel supplies at the station (and everywhere in the city) are running very low, reported Wilson, and will probably run out by this weekend if additional fuel is not found. Wilson encouraged believers to pray that God would provide diesel fuel to keep the message of the gospel on the air. Nigerian peacekeepers (under the name "ECOMIL") began arriving on Monday, August 4, and were making plans to secure the Freeport and the city of Monrovia. It was reported that they have not yet deployed into the city -- most were still in the vicinity of the airport. ``More than 2000 displaced people are still at the ELWA campus, with very little food,`` Wilson said. It is hoped that opportunities will soon become available for relief groups and for SIM to share food and medicine with them. In spite of the hardship, ``evangelism efforts on the campus are ongoing,`` Wilson added. SIM-Liberia leaders, who were evacuated in July, are considering the possibility of making a visit in the near future, to assess the needs and see how they can help (SIM via HCJB press via DXLD) ** NETHERLANDS. The national lottery --- Getting a commercial radio licence in The Netherlands is a bit like taking part in the national lottery. Is that any way to regulate the broadcasting industry? http://www.rnw.nl/realradio/features/html/licence030807.html (Andy Sennitt, Media Network newsletter Aug 8 via DXLD) ** PAKISTAN. Glenn, some correction of the DXLD 3-141 item. Here is the report of Aug 8th: I checked the 0400-0430 UT time slot this morning August 8. PAK 15485 + 17825 to EAf, only carriers detected, no propagation into Eu from this area. At 0400-0430 UT in the 19 mb: Only seven 'nearby' outlets traced so far: 15115 WOF BBC, 15240 WOF NHK, 15355 HOL IBB, 15410 WER DW, 15605 ISS RFI French, 15640 ISR, 15675 KVI TDP Kurdish. BUT at 0615 UT all three Urdu program channels easily heard in CEu: 0500-0700 UT to ME/NE workers. 11570 (ex-17835) 260 deg, 15100 252 deg, and 17755 kHz 282 deg (ex-21460] too. Thanks Noel for the details. 73 de (Wolfgang Büschel, Germany, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** RUSSIA [non]. RUSSIA/USA: RUSSIAN WORLD TV EXTENDS PROGRAMMES ON US CHANNEL | Text of report in English by Russian news agency Interfax Moscow, 8 August: Beginning on August 15, Russian World TV channel will extend its broadcasts on the MHz free channel [MHz Networks] to six hours a day. "We started broadcasting on MHz one hour a day on 1 August, but on 15 August we will prolong our daily broadcasts on the channel to six hours," a spokesman for Russian World told Interfax on Friday [8 August]. He said the MHz broadcasts significantly increase the audience of the Russian World channel because viewers don't have to subscribe to it separately. MHz is available in Washington, DC as well as in Virginia and Maryland. The channel was created in Russia for broadcasts in the United States and launched in 2002. Russian World programmes are aimed at the Russian community in the United States. The channel purchases news, talk and game shows, educational, sports and children's programmes, cartoons, feature films and documentaries from Russian channels and other sources. Source: Interfax news agency, Moscow, in English 1514 gmt 8 Aug 03 (via BBCM via DXLD) First I`d heard of this. Can someone in the Washington area explain exactly what this MHz channel is? On some local cable systems, and if so what channel, and how basic? Does it specialize in TV from abroad, and if so, whence besides Russia? (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** SUDAN [non]. Sudan (non). Sudan Radio Service on 17630 from 1600 to 1700 UT, on Thursday August 7. Three minutes of African news in English at 1618. ID at 1637, 1641, and 1651. "You are listening to the Sudan Radio Service at 17630 kHz", repeated in various African languages. At 1657 asked in English and other languages to retune to 17660, Off at 1700. Good signal here, S7 to 9. Tuned to 17660 at 1700. Announcements in English outlining the aims of the broadcast. They said that they were financed by Washington, studios are in Washington, transmitters are in the UK (Merlin?) and they broadcast Monday to Friday (Bernie O'Shea, Ottawa, Ontario, DX LISTENING DIGEST) SITE? 17630, Sudan Radio Service is how they are IDing not as Sudan Independent Radio Service. 1616 with talk in English by woman. Sounded like business news, then into a different language at 1618, mention of "Sudan Radio Service" at 1619. Not sure of language, but related to Arabic as language used Arabic words for numbers mentioned as he talked. News in Arabic at 1623 with another ID as "Sudan Radio Service," with words mentioned in English. Good reception today as I continue to listen. [Later:] UNITED KINGDOM --- Sudan Radio Service. Frequency and ID at 1651 in various languages. ID as Sudan Radio Service. Then same song that they were playing many times last week. Sure seems like this is their theme song. This song has a female vocalist and reception was finally good enough to understand that the lyrics are in English some of which I think I understood --- "to my homeland, far across the sea" "all the children, the strong and the weak". 1656: ``The first hour of the Sudan Radio Service is now ending, please tune your radio to 17660 for the second hour.`` Then repeated in the various languages. 1658 guitar IS then off. 1659 same ID on 17660 and good reception. ID in English, then what I guess was Juba-Arabic, then Standard Arabic, and various other languages. Full ID mentioning role of EDC and said that programs were produced in Washington, DC and broadcast from a transmitter in the United Kingdom. Comments were welcome to: srs@edc.org Said schedule was M-F 6-8 PM old Sudan time UT +2. Stressed role of program in education and development. Same announcement then given in Juba and Standard Arabic. English, Arabic, and Juba Arabic are carried every day, other languages are carried once a week (schedule was given.) News at 1615 starting in English. Starting to fade at this point so time to tune out (Hans Johnson, WY, Aug 7, Cumbredx mailing list via DXLD) Sudan Radio Service heard S9 given the following announcement in English, Goba-Arabic! And Arabic. "Good evening, you are listening to Sudan radio service, a new short wave radio service dedicated to peace and development in Sudan. we will be bringing you a variety of interesting programs including programs on health, education and agriculture; we also will be bringing you independent and balanced news. The Sudan radio service is operated by education developing center and funded by the United States Agency for International Development. This program is coming to you from studios in Washington DC and broadcasted on a short wave transmitter based in the United Kingdom. One of the most important objects of this radio service is to provide you with accurate information about the search for peace in Sudan to this ... we will be bringing you balanced news on the peace process with the intention of furthering the cause of peace and reconciliation for all people of Sudan. We'll also be presenting you with cultural programs including music, stories and poetry, we'll be developing education programs and programs about your health, programs about agriculture and how to take care of your livestock, information about local market and the changing economy of Sudan and we will be bringing stories, music and dramas designed to inform and ...., to do this, we need your help; please send us your comments, questions and suggestions. We invite you to provide us with news, information, program ideas and contents. If you are a musician, a storyteller, a poet or anyone with an idea for radio program for Sudan, please e-mail us at srs@edc.org Sudan radio service will broadcast Monday to Friday 0600 to 0800 pm old Sudan time, old Sudan time is GMT+2, the first hour of our broadcast 0600 to 0700 pm will be heard at 17630 KHz, the second hour of our broadcast 0700 to 0800 pm will be heard at 17660 KHz. Every day we will broadcast in the following languages: English, Goba Arabic and Arabic, on Monday you will hear program in Denka, on Tuesday Zandy, on Wednesday Noowher and Moro, Thursday Bary and Friday Sholuk." (Mahmud Fathi, Germany, Aug 6, Cumbre DX via DXLD) Dear DX Friends, Today I got a long, personal reply from Sudan Radio Service (SRS), which is the new name for Sudan Independent Radio Service. SRS is a new service committed to peace and development for Sudan. V/s Jeremy Grace is the Radio Programming Advisor and he told me that on Thursday, 7th of August they started their first ``regular`` broadcast with identification liners and some news in several languages of Sudan, including English, plus music. Broadcasts are 1600-1700 on 17630 kHz and 1700-1800 on 17660 kHz. Jeremy Grace can be reached via e-mail: jgrace@edc.org or srs@edc.org 73 from (Björn Fransson on the island of Gotland in the Baltic Sea of Sweden, Aug 7, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Sudan Radio Service via UK, 17630, *1600-1619, August 8, Horn Of Africa style music at sign-on with ID in English, "You are listening to the Sudan Radio Service on 17630 kHz" repeated in several different languages. Lengthy mission statement/announcement with mentions of "new station for peace and development in Sudan, ... bring you news on health, agriculture and education". Also mentioned via "US government Education Development Center studios in Washington, DC and transmitters in the UK". E-mail srs@edc.org and schedule in local Sudan time (GMT+2,) broadcasting in different languages including English, Arabic and Dinka, for each day of the week, M-F. This message was then repeated in each of the various languages. Music and ID at 1615 followed by a 3 item news bulletin, again repeated in various languages. Fair signal with occasional fades (Scott R., Barbour Jr., Intervale, NH, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. In case anyone is coming to Las Vegas, "Phat Rock 1650" is still being heard very well throughout the northwest side of the city, especially from Summerlin Parkway northward (I live in the Summerlin section of LV, BTW). It claims to be a Part 15 operation, but no way; it must be using a TIS transmitter of 10-25 watts. Their web site is at http://www.phatrock1650.com (Harry Helms, W7HLH, Las Vegas, NV, DM26, Aug 6, ACE pirate radio via DXLD) ** U S A. MEDIA OWNERS MAY HAVE TO SELL IF CONGRESS OVERTURNS NEW FCC OWNERSHIP RULES, VIACOM AND NEWS CORP. COULD BE FORCED TO DIVEST TV STATIONS. By Sallie Hofmeister, Los Angeles Times - Fri, 25 Jul 2003 Two of the nation's largest media companies - Viacom Inc. and News Corp. - could be forced to sell or swap a host of their television stations if Congress overturns new media ownership rules. A spending bill passed Wednesday by the House of Representatives includes a provision to block implementation - for one year - of a recent Federal Communications Commission decision allowing a single company to own stations that reach 45% of the nation's TV households, up from 35%. "We're very disappointed," News Corp. spokesman Andrew Butcher said Wednesday. News Corp.'s Fox group owns 37 stations that reach about 38% of the nation's TV households. Viacom, owner of CBS, is the nation's leading television broadcaster, with 39 stations reaching 39% of all TV households. "Efforts like these will only serve to harm the long-term viability of free, over- the-air broadcasting," said Carl Folta a Viacom spokeswoman. The FCC rule and others affecting the media industry are due to take effect this fall. The Senate has led the charge to roll back the station cap since the FCC relaxed it. Throwing its support behind the FCC, the Bush administration Tuesday threatened to veto any reversal of the FCC rules. Many consumer advocates, along with many Americans, oppose further deregulation of media ownership, and the easing of station caps in particular, because of the potential of reducing the diversity of viewpoints in the marketplace. The potential scaling back of the ownership cap wasn't foreseen by Viacom and News Corp. The companies expanded their broadcast holdings in anticipation of more liberal rules. Viacom's 2000 purchase of CBS put the company in violation of the 35% station cap, while News Corp.'s acquisition of Chris-Craft Industries put it over the limit. Both received FCC waivers allowing them to operate despite the violations. What is more, broadcasters, led by News Corp., won a federal court ruling in early 2002 striking down the 35% cap as unconstitutional and arbitrary. The court instructed the FCC to come up with a new rule that it could justify, resulting in the months of study and debate that took place before the FCC voted for the new station cap in June. If the rules are rolled back, and News Corp. and Viacom do not receive additional waivers, they will be forced to sell assets. News Corp. could meet the 35% cap by selling its six smallest stations, in markets such as Greensboro, N.C.; Memphis, Tenn.; and Austin, Texas. But one company source said News Corp. would lose millions of dollars because any divestiture would be viewed as a forced sale, and therefore would turn into a fire sale. For its part, CBS could satisfy the 35% limit by selling its 13 smallest stations, in markets such as Baltimore, Salt Lake City and New Orleans. Yet both companies also could maintain the same number of stations and still satisfy the 35% limit by swapping stations with other broadcasters. That's because of the way the FCC calculates the total audience that a company can reach through its stations. Typically, a single station's reach is determined by the number of potential viewers in a given market. However, if a company owns two stations in the same market, the reach is counted only once. When NBC added Spanish-language station Telemundo to its existing stations in Los Angeles, for example, its reach as determined by the FCC did not change. As a result, News Corp. could avoid selling its six smallest stations to meet the 35% cap by swapping them for a rival's outlets in markets News Corp. already serves. CBS could do the same. Analysts agreed that the companies have alternatives. "Swapping stations to achieve additional duopolies, which do not count toward increased coverage, provides another alternative, should it be required," Merrill Lynch analyst Jessica Reif Cohen said last week, after the House voted in favor of the station-cap rollback. Broadcasters also may challenge any ownership cap as arbitrary, she added. "We believe Viacom would press the issue on a legal basis," she wrote (via August NRC DX Audio Service whazzup via DXLD) ** U S A. FCC Chief Takes Knocks From The Left And The Right OBSERVERS SAY POWELL'S POLITICAL MISSTEPS HAVE ISOLATED HIM By Heather Fleming Phillips, San Jose Mercury News Washington Bureau WASHINGTON - It's lonely at the top. At least that's how it's been for Federal Communications Commission Chairman Michael Powell over the past five months. He took the helm of the FCC 2 1/2 years ago, and conservatives couldn't have been happier. As the first dyed-in-the-wool, free-market champion running the agency in years, he held out the promise of major deregulation of phone, media and broadband markets. By early this year, though, it became clear things weren't going quite as planned. In February, a fellow Republican commissioner, in something of a palace coup, pushed through new phone competition rules opposed by Powell. Last month, Powell took it on the chin again. After a battle with the two Democrats on the five-member commission, Powell mustered the support of his two Republican colleagues to push through major rule changes aimed at relaxing ownership limits on major media companies. But attacks came from the right and left, and Congress slapped back. The House of Representatives voted two weeks ago to roll back an FCC rule, passed in June on a 3-2 vote, that would let a single broadcast company own more stations nationwide. The Senate is expected to follow suit this fall. ``The left bashes him for going too far, and the right for not going far enough. He's got to be getting incredibly alienated -- he has no friends,'' said Adam Thierer, director of telecommunications studies at the libertarian Cato Institute. ``I suspect he has to be seriously considering moving on in the very short term. And who can blame him?'' After the media ownership debacle, rumors began to swirl that Powell was on his way out. Time magazine reported that Powell had told the White House that he would resign this fall, though an agency spokesman adamantly denied the report. Powell was on vacation last week and unavailable for comment. Abilities hampered A well-respected lawyer with a keen intellect, Powell, the son of Secretary of State Colin Powell, took the FCC's helm amid high expectations. But industry observers say despite his lawyerly talents, the FCC chief has made a number of political missteps that have hampered his ability to achieve his agenda. And Powell, with a reputation for ideological purity, has given little room for compromise on his interpretation of the law. Relationships among the five commissioners are strained. (The president's political party always has a 3-2 majority.) Powell alienated the two Democrats on the panel -- Michael Copps and Jonathan Adelstein -- over the media ownership debate. They had repeatedly asked Powell to hold hearings across the country to solicit additional input. But Powell refused, noting that the agency had already received input from consumers and interested parties. He also denied a request from Adelstein and Copps to delay a vote on the rule changes, a request which is traditionally granted for one month. ``I thought we really had a responsibility to go out and engage the American people,'' said Copps. ``It was a major process error.'' ``We did a little bit of injustice to the spirit of how an independent agency is supposed to run,'' Copps said, referring to Powell's decision not to put the rules out for comment before a commission vote. FCC chief of staff Marsha McBride defended Powell's handling of the issue, saying he was bound by the landmark 1996 law that deregulated the telecom industry and a court decision ordering the agency to justify its rules in an era of 500 cable channels and the Internet. ``We tried to create a framework that was flexible to survive biennial reviews required by law, in a way that addressed the changing media marketplace and took into account the specific criticisms of the court.'' FCC chairmen can usually count on commissioners of the same party for support in key battles. But Powell misjudged Commissioner Kevin Martin, a politically ambitious lawyer himself. The personalities of Powell and Martin clashed, and Martin cut a deal with the two Democrats on phone competition rules. That left Powell and fellow Republican Kathleen Abernathy on the losing side of the issue. Fallout from fight The bruising battle over media ownership has left Powell particularly isolated. ``I think it has undermined his credibility both intellectually and politically,'' said Gene Kimmelman, senior director of public policy and advocacy for Consumers Union. ``I think he has abandoned all the principles that he laid out for his tenure at the FCC. He was going to follow careful antitrust competition policy theory; he was going to be analytical and fact- driven. What he's done on media ownership shows the exact opposite,'' he said. But some observers say the flap on Capitol Hill is simply politics-as- usual in Washington. ``We're in an election cycle and there are a lot of people that have taken a lot of shots at him, but that's the price of being a rising star in a political environment,'' said Scott Cleland, managing director of the Washington research group the Precursor Group. The White House is backing Powell, threatening to veto any measure that would roll back his media ownership rules. Tech support Powell also gets high marks from tech industry lobbyists. Early in his administration, he set out to create a regulatory framework that would promote broadband networks and next-generation technologies. At the same time the FCC approved phone rules that Powell opposed, it adopted a key piece of his tech agenda. It freed the regional Bell phone companies from regulations that had required them to lease to competitors new networks built for high-speed Internet connections. The tech industry had lobbied heavily for the rule change, seeing it as a shot in the arm for investment in broadband networks. Tech lobbyists also praise Powell for his efforts to reform the way spectrum is managed, so that wide swaths of the nation's airwaves will be opened to multiple users, promoting new and innovative services. Now, the sting of the media ownership battle will make it more difficult -- but not impossible -- for Powell to follow through with his agenda for the remainder of his term, which expires in June 2007. At the top of his agenda this fall is a review of regulations being closely followed by the tech industry related to cable modem service (via Fred Vobbe, NRC-AM via DXLD) ** U S A. LOW POWER, HIGH AMBITION --- The below is also at: http://www.sptimes.com/2003/08/07/Business/Low_power__high_ambit.shtml Pinellas and Hillsborough County residents who want their MTV don't necessarily have to subscribe to cable TV to get it. TV viewers in some parts of the Tampa Bay area looking for Canadian news programs or Greek-language soap operas don't need a satellite dish. By LOUIS HAU, Times Staff Writer, © St. Petersburg Times published August 7, 2003 These and other programs typically associated with pay-TV services are available free over the local airwaves thanks to a handful of low- power TV stations with transmitter signals of 150,000 watts or less on a UHF channel. "What we're doing nobody else is doing," says Sotirios Agelatos, who with his brother, Angelos Angelatos, owns and operates W48AY-Ch. 48 in Oldsmar, a broadcaster of foreign-language programming, much of it in Greek. "We have a small voice, but we do a great job." With cable and satellite providers now serving more than three- quarters of all U.S. TV households, low-power stations occupy a small, obscure niche of the TV landscape. But amid recent concerns about the growing consolidation of media ownership, low-power stations stand out because they remain largely free of media-conglomerate control. The eight low-power stations in the Tampa Bay area are a diverse bunch. Some are publicly owned non-profit enterprises, such as WPDS- Ch. 14, which is owned by Pinellas County Schools and broadcasts educational programming and school board meetings, and WSPF-Ch. 35, which is owned by the city of St. Petersburg and shows a variety of public information programming, city government meetings and other public events. Others are for-profit businesses, owned locally or by small businesses that own and operate stations in multiple markets. One such operator is Randy Weigner of Meredith, N.H., who owns eight stations, including WARP-Ch. 20 in St. Petersburg. It has a rare agreement with MTV to broadcast its music-video-only sibling, MTV2. The station also airs infomercials, children's programming and occasional local programming. "You're not making a fortune, which is why you have eight of them," says Weigner. Weigner declined to spell out how much his private company makes on its mini-media empire, although he said WARP's advertising rates range from $5 to $100 per 30-second spot, depending on the number of spots purchased, a fraction of what full-power stations charge. Helping keep costs down at WARP is general manager and chief engineer Mike Gray, the station's sole employee. Gray, who keeps a day job as an information-technology technician for another local company, monitors the station's systems from his home in St. Petersburg. He doubles as a producer for WARP's occasional original programs, such as a weekly blues-music show that ended in April after a four-month run. About twice a week, Gray drives to the station's transmission tower on Gandy Boulevard near the Derby Lane greyhound track in St. Petersburg. There he loads commercials and local programming into the station's video machine, programming the exact day and time those clips will run during the station's MTV2 satellite feed. Gray says he is putting together a new show that will showcase local music acts, although with WARP's tight budget it will be a pay-to-play arrangement: He will ask featured bands to arrange for a local business, such as a music store, to be one of the show's sponsors. Gray, a former New York City radio host, says he wouldn't be able to tolerate the internal politics of a typical full-power TV station beholden to a major network. "With an independent station, we can more or less do what we want," he says. Not all low-power TV stations are one-person operations. WYKE-Ch. 49 in Lecanto has a full-time staff of six and produces programs focused on local sports and politics. The station is a for-profit business but is owned by the Key Training Center, a non-profit organization that serves the developmentally disabled. One of its most popular programs is Your Citrus County Court, a half-hour program each weekday of edited video from the county courthouse in Inverness that shows a steady parade of local residents charged with speeding, drunken driving and other misdemeanors. "If we're late in getting it on the air," says general manager Tom Franklin, "we get phone calls." Low-power TV has been an important means for Spanish-language broadcasters such as Univisión and Telemundo to reach viewers in parts of the country that don't have sufficiently large Latino populations to support a full-power station, according to Laura Santos, vice president and general manager of WTMO-Ch. 40 in Orlando, a sibling of WRMD-Ch. 49 in Tampa. Both are low-power Telemundo affiliates that also produce their own Spanish-language programs. "If it were not for what we do in the community," she says, "there are a lot of people in the community who wouldn't know what's happening." The Federal Communications Commission established low-power TV service in 1982 to provide more opportunities for locally produced and community-oriented programming. Unlike their full-power counterparts, such as major network affiliates and large syndicated stations, low- power stations in large media markets such as the Tampa Bay area aren't guaranteed a spot on local cable systems. As a result, some low-power stations reach their audiences exclusively through their broadcast signal, which typically reaches a maximum range of 20 to 25 miles, versus 50 to 60 miles for full-power stations, according to Mike Sullivan, executive director of the Community Broadcasters Association, a trade group. "We represent more diversity in voices because basically 90 percent of our stations are owned locally or by relatively small companies," he says. But, he adds, "they are not big money makers because they are very small stations." To help improve the economic fortunes of low-power stations, station owners are lobbying for a bill in Congress that would require cable TV providers to carry so-called Class A low-power stations, those whose licenses prevent them from being shoved off their designated channel by a full-power station. Despite the hurdles involved, the specialized appeal of some local low-power stations have helped persuade cable providers to pick them up. Local cable systems carry Tampa's WRMD Telemundo affiliate, the Pinellas Schools' WPDS, St. Petersburg's WSPF, the Key Center's WYKE and the international programming of W48AY in each station's local market. Even with the extra exposure, low-powered stations have tenuous economics. W48AY in Oldsmar barely breaks even, according to the brothers who own it, Sotirios Agelatos, 56, and Angelos Angelatos, 51. (Natives of the Greek island of Chefalonia, the two brothers spell their last names differently.) W48AY broadcasts community-affairs programs it produces, as well as news from foreign sources, such as Canada's CTV, RAI of Italy and Deutsche Welle from Germany. But the bulk of the programming is in Greek, including news programs and soap operas pulled in via satellite from Greece. The station is a family affair: Sotirios is general manager and chief executive, Angelos is program director, and Sotirios' Canadian wife handles public relations and occasionally serves as an on-air host. The two brothers also own WPSO-AM 1500, a Greek-language radio station, and WXYB-AM 1520, which broadcasts foreign-language programming in Serbian, Polish, Hindu, Spanish, German and Italian. The radio stations' profits keep W48AY afloat, Sotirios says. W48AY's next move is to boost its signal from 47,000 watts to about 150,000 watts. Angelos laughs when asked when that might happen. "As soon as we get some money," he says. Bay area low-power TV stations WYKE-Ch. 49, Lecanto WPDS-Ch. 14, Largo WRMD-Ch. 49, Tampa WTAM-Ch.30, Tampa W48AY-Ch. 48, Oldsmar W24BF-Ch.24, St. Petersburg WSPF-Ch. 35, St. Petersburg WARP-Ch.20, St. Petersburg - Source: Broadcasting & Cable Yearbook 2002-2003, TheLPTVStore.com, staff (via Terry L Krueger, Clearwater, Florida, USA, 27.55.83 N, 82.46.08 W, DXLD) Visit my "Florida Low Power Radio Stations" at: http://home.earthlink.net/~tocobagadx/flortis.html ** U S A. Station carrying Phil Hendrie censured: see CANADA UNIDENTIFIED. 1635: Help? Around 6:30pm EDT last night, I had a carrier fading up and down on 1635. At first I thought it was perhaps a mixing product or image, but it faded up and down like a distant signal. Occasionally I could catch snippets of audio, sounded like a talk or sports talk show in English, possibly NY accent? Heard on Sony 2010 w/200 foot BOG aimed SW/NE. Any ideas? 73 and good DX (Bruce WB3HVV Collier, York, PA, Aug 8, IRCA via DXLD) UNIDENTIFIED. 15075: 1023 Aug. 7. Strong, very distorted spur, only audible in FM mode. Latin program with popular music. Announcements in either Spanish or Portuguese language. I ruled out Rebelde on 5025, and heard nothing on 7537.5. Found no parallel audio on 19m, so I doubt it was a mixing product from that band. I've noted RCI spurs on or near this frequency, but this definitely did not sound like a RCI program or relay. Unable to ID. Abruptly off at 1035 (David Hodgson, TN, IC R75, 40m Windom, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ POWERLINE COMMUNICATIONS ++++++++++++++++++++++++ A CALL TO ARMS! I have seen a great deal of discussion on several ham related sites about the threat from BPL or Broadband over Power lines. There is a great deal to be concerned about. For those of you who haven't heard of this threat, and I hope all have heard by now, BPL is a method of delivering internet to end users by superimposing the signal over existing power lines. It operates in RF ranges from the low HF to low VHF spectrum. There is concern for SWL'ers as well as Amateur radio. Imagine, if you will, trying to DX your latest catch while fighting an unrelenting 10 over S9 'popcorn' and squawks and beeps noises. The FCC is accepting comments as to implementing BPL and there are already several test areas. The deadline is Aug. 20. There are several threads that are worth following that can be found at http://www.eham.net or http://www.qrz.com and a comprehensive study and videos available at http://www.arrl.org I suggest we all get involved NOW and learn all we can about BPL and do what we can to save our hobbies! de (W0TLO, John T. Mudd, swl at qth.net via DXLD) CONVENTIONS & CONFERENCES +++++++++++++++++++++++++ IRCA CONVENTION REPORT --- Mike Sanburn - Bellflower, CA Our 40th annual IRCA convention was held as planned at the Best Western hotel in South Portland, Maine. The town was very picturesque with plenty to do and see. No sooner than I opened our meeting room, every bit of table space was covered with bumper stickers, catalogs, and other promotional goodies. A 4-hour sticker trading session took place between some of the dedicated decalcomania members. Our first scheduled event was the studio tour of nearby WGAN 560, WZAN 970, WBAE 1490, WPOR-FM, WYNZ-FM WMGX-FM. We were split into two groups and shown the entire operation. The program director joined in and gave us some technical 'shop talk'. Many took photographs of the station. After we were given some magnets and notepads, we said goodbye and headed off to the 1490 tower site across the street from the University of Southern Maine. The building that once housed WPOR on Baxter Street was now empty. The AM station is now known as "The Bay" playing the music-of-your-life nostalgia format with hosts Gary Owens, Johnny Magnus, and Wink Martindale. L. A. types will remember these guys from the old KMPC-710... We wondered just how much RF went into the Arby's Roast Beef stand next door. An impending thunderstorm never really materialized outside of loud static crashes on the Broadcast Band. Some of us went on to take a photo opportunity at the dual towers of WZAN-970 just south of our hotel location. We had time to take in some of the many fine local eateries. Our next scheduled event that evening featured our first guest speaker, an editor in Pop Comm magazine, DX News, and DX Audio Service, Mr. Bruce Conti. He gave us a thorough presentation on phasing techniques for BCB DX. For the second half of his presentation, we moved outside to the forested rear area of the hotel. Moving amongst the mosquitoes and fireflies we strung out two Beverage antennas at a right angle and connected them through a phasing unit to Bruce's Drake R-8. We quickly discovered that the conditions of this early summer night were very auroral with strong Venezuelan stations noted on 550, 750, and 760. Turks and Caicos 530 and Cuba 670 were also pouring in. A couple of Euro hets were even noted, and some picked up the Montreal X-bander on 1610 through the local Maine turnpike TIS. Nearby stations on 1490 and 560 were completely nulled revealing the DX to be had underneath. Many thanks to Bruce for putting on the demonstration! Our Saturday afternoon business meeting conducted by Phil Bytheway dealt with pressing issues dealing with DX Monitor publication. Reports were read concerning CPC program, finances, publicity, etc. This year's awards were announced. Congratulations to TVA winner Rich Toebe for the fine job he has done publishing the DX Monitor, and to RHA winner Phil Bytheway for all of his tireless efforts. Next on the agenda was our banquet, consisting of prime rib, salad, carrots, and cheesecake for desert. Our second guest speaker, Mr. Bob Bittner, owner/manager of WJIB-740/WJTO-730, spoke about his feeling regarding the recent Senate Bill allowing even greater multiple ownership of stations in a market and the lack of public service in radio today. Finally as always came our annual auction featuring loads of "stuff". Bidding was fast and furious. We grossed $381 for the club selling items such as a Hallicrafters communications receiver, tape recorder, coffee mugs, airchecks, T-shirts, books, CDs, and the always popular antenna weenie. Thanks to Steve Jarvis and Bob Wien for their help with the Maine event, and thanks to everybody who participated. I hope to host one again in a couple of years in Southern California. 73 In attendance: John Adams, OR Dan Benard, NH Bob Bittner, MA (guest speaker) Phil Bytheway, WA Bruce Conti, NH (guest speaker) Dave Gordon, CA Steve Howe, VT Dave Jones, TN Curtis McMenamin, CA Paul Mount-Richards, NJ Nigel Pimblett, AB Jim Reardon, MA Mike Sanburn, CA (host) Brent Taylor, NB Ernie Wesolowski, NE Bob Wien, CA (Nice Pix in PDF --- pb) The official Group Photo ********************************************************************** PRELIMINARY IRCA CONVENTION REPORT --- Bruce Conti - Nashua NH A similar report and photos will be published in the October edition of Popular Communications magazine. Photos are not the ones you see here. --RT The 2003 IRCA Convention got underway Friday afternoon in the hazy, hot, and humid weather with a tour of Saga Communications' Portland Radio Group; 560 WGAN (news/talk), 970 WZAN (talk/sports), 1490 WBAE (Music of Your Life), 93.1 WMGX (Hot AC), 100.9 WYNZ (oldies), and 101.9 WPOR (country). We were split into two groups for the tour. I was in the group led by Sara Dobbins, Promotions/Marketing Director, and 93.1 "MGX Scene" personality. We were introduced to "RJ" Rick Jordan, WPOR Program Director, as he was on the air at Today's Country 101.9 WPOR-FM. RJ explained how music files are "sound coded" so that the entire on-air music selection process is done by computer. For example, a Garth Brooks selection might be coded Garth, male, hat (he wears a cowboy hat), twang. Once the ratio of male to female artists, twang, classic, modern, hat and hatless, etc. is entered, the computer determines the rotation, and the songs are all in order and ready to play by touch screen. RJ was familiar with AM and FM DXing. He played two old WPOR AM jingles for us, resurrected for introducing classic country oldies. RJ told us about the recent upgrade to "Omni 06" processing in the air chain, and the installation of a new digital workstation in one of the production studios - the Pro Tools Control 24, featuring digital plug- ins modeling classic analog compressors. Select one of the old compressors, and its front panel would pop up on the screen. Sara moved us along to see the automated 970 WZAN studio; basically a walk-in closet studio/control room where the syndicated talk and news programs are broadcast on auto-pilot. Then we visited the more elaborate and spacious 560 WGAN studio, the local news flagship of the radio group. Chief Engineer Andy Armstrong wasn't in, so we only got a quick peek at "the racks" of equipment in the air chain between the studios and transmitter links. RJ and Sara indicated that Armstrong would be the person to contact about scheduling DX tests. After collecting souvenir fridge magnets and notepads, some of us departed for a quick photo shoot at the WBAE / WPOR antenna a short distance down the highway from the Portland Radio Group studio and office building. Next on the agenda was dinner. Phil Bytheway, Paul Mount, and I checked out the Outback Steakhouse in South Portland, the only one in the entire state of Maine according to Phil. The next scheduled event was a phasing presentation and demo. I fielded all sorts of questions about antennas, receivers, and phasing, while talking about phasing basics supplemented by various overhead projector graphics. Then we went outside to the woods in back of the convention hotel where two approximately 500-ft long wires were rolled out to the east and south. The MWDX-5 LC-tank passive phasing unit was demonstrated with a Drake R8B receiver. Probably most impressive was the ability to null out 1490 WBAE despite the transmitter site located only four miles or so down the road. We could clearly hear two unidentified stations on 1490, one in Spanish, with WBAE nulled out. Tuning in 750 RCR Venezuela and 760 RCN Colombia was a piece of cake. 1110 Venezuela was also strong although subdued by a WCEC open carrier. Reception conditions were definitely different than what had been typical over the past few weeks. For example, where 640 kHz had been dominated by Radio Guadeloupe, only Cuba was present. Transaltlantic DX was difficult. The A index was up, with auroral conditions indicated by the absence of WWV on 5000 kHz with the Venezuela time station alone on the frequency. There was some audio detected from 891 Algeria during local sunset, but otherwise only hets detected. Although some hets at the low end such as 549, 612, and 621 kHz were strong, once the domestics were nulled, what remained of the transatlantic signals was buried in local thunderstorm noise as a cold front was passing through the region. Host Mike Sanburn had a transmitter hunt scheduled for Saturday, followed by the business meeting, banquet with guest speaker Bob Bittner of WJIB and WJTO, and the auction. Plenty of bumper stickers were on display and being traded among the DecalcoMania group. Thanks to Mike for the opportunity to meet some IRCA members for the first time and demonstrate some east coast DXing. It was some fun! (IRCA Soft DX Monitor Aug 9 via DXLD) SPEND LABOR DAY WEEKEND AT THE NRC CONVENTION John Callarman sends word that it will be held from August 29-31 at the Holiday Inn Select DFW Airport South, 4440 Airport Freeway, Irving, TX 75062. Call the hotel at 1-800-360-2242 or 972-399-1010. The hotel's website is: http://www.ichotelsgroup.com/h/d/HI/hd/dfwso?irs=y Room rates are $69.00 single or double occupancy ONLY. Rate guaranteed Thursday August 28 through Monday, September 1, 2003. Please make reservations by August 15. The hotel is minutes from DFW airport and provides shuttle service to and from the airport. Registration is $45/member, $70 member and spouse. Mail registration to: Bill Hale 6124 Roaring Springs Drive North Richland Hills, TX 76180-5552 Again, register by August 15. Or, go to http://www.nrcdxas.org and click on "Convention." You can register using PayPal! (via IRCA Soft DX Monitor via DXLD) MUSEA +++++ NAMES IN THE NEWS: A WEB PAGE FOR NIKOLA TESLA HISTORIANS In the world of electronics and telecommunications, inventor Nikola Tesla was one of the more mysterious of our early technological pioneers. His experiments and demonstrations caused some to believe he was a genius, while others had to wonder if he was engaged in witchcraft. Much of what he wrote nearly a century ago still evades our understanding. If you`re intrigued by the man and his specific visionary approaches to physics, you can visit his selected writings at http://www.tfcbooks.com/tesla/contents.htm (CGC via Amateur Radio Newsline Aug 8 via JOIhn Norfolk, DXLD) INTRUDER WATCH ++++++++++++++ INTRUDER WATCH: MORE CB`ERS ON 10 METERS Sunspots activity may be down but that`s not keeping rogue CBers and other intruders off the 10 meter band and spectrum nearby. Q-News reports that while normal ham radio activity on the 21, 24 and 28 MHz bands is down, occasional openings of the 10 meter band shows a number of unlicensed long line fishing net beacons in operation. Also being heard is Citizens Band radio type traffic in the band. Q-News also says that CODAR pulse transmissions in the region 24.950 To 24.995 MHz are continuing and are sill unidentified (Q-News via AR Newsline Aug 8 via John Norfolk, DXLD) PROPAGATION ++++++++++++ CUMBRE DX PROPAGATION REPORT A few M class flares over the past week once again. Coronal hole effects kept the solar wind speed elevated and he geomagnetic field disturbed until Aug 2. The earth entered another stream on Aug 6 which is now expected to decline over the next day or so. During these periods the geomagnetic field has been at times in active-storm conditions. Another wind stream will start to affect us about Aug 12- 16. During these times propagation conditions will be poor at mid-high latitudes. The geomagnetic field is currently at minor storm levels in parts of the Australian region. Prepared using data from http://www.ips.gov.au (Richard Jary, SA, Aug 8, Cumbredx mailing list via DXLD) ###