DX LISTENING DIGEST 3-160, September 6, 2003 edited by Glenn Hauser NOTE! This issue was delayed in an inaccessible hard-drive, and not retrieved until Sept. 11. In the meantime two more issues were published, 3-161 and 3-162, so info herein pre-dates those issues! 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/dxldtd3i.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 ** AUSTRALIA. ABC STAFFER 'GUILTY' BUT BACK BY BARNEY ZWARTZ September 2, 2003 http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2003/09/01/1062403450346.html A piece about Stephen Crittenden returning to work on ABC Radio. 73- (Bill Westenhaver, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** AUSTRALIA. ANDERSON CRITICISES ABC CUTS --- 04sep03 THE Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) must explain why rural and regional radio services have been targeted for service cutbacks, Deputy Prime Minister John Anderson said today. He said the ABC had decided to replace local and state radio bulletins on weekend afternoons with nationally-produced reports... http://www.heraldsun.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5478,7164487%255E421,00.html (via Jilly Dybka, DXLD) ** AUSTRALIA. THE NEXT WAVE BY FARAH FAROUQUE -- September 4, 2003 http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2003/09/02/1062403507634.html A piece on the introduction of Eureka 147 in Australia. 73 (Bill Westenhaver, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** AUSTRALIA. RESTRUCTURING: ACA PAPER SUGGESTS TOTAL RESTRUCTURING OF VK HAM RADIO The Australian Communications Authority has surprised that nation`s ham radio community with a proposal to totally restructure that nations Amateur Radio service. Jim Linton, VK3PC, has the rest of the story. Radical changes are being proposed for the Amateur Service in the just issued ACA discussion paper entitled ``A Review of Amateur Service Regulation.`` The paper is sure to stimulate debate, particularly its reference to interference experienced by domestic television and radio receivers, and a suggestion that radio amateurs should take full responsibility to resolve these problems. A major purpose of the paper is to discuss the implementation of the changes arising out of the World Radiocommunications Conference held in Geneva this year. These changes include the end of mandatory Morse code tests for amateur licences, amateur callsigns, third party traffic, communications during disasters, and reciprocal and visitor licensing. . . ``...an amateur must not cause interference to other radio communication services. If causing interference to another service, the obligation will be on the amateur to resolve the problem.`` The Australian Communications Authority has set a deadline of October 31st as the last day for hams to file responses to its discussion paper. The 50-page discussion paper can be downloaded from http://www.wiavic.org.au/news or http://www.wia.org.au/vk4 (Q-News via Amateur Radio Newsline Sept 5 via John Norfolk, DXLD) ** BERMUDA. Hurricane: see INTERNATIONAL WATERS ** BOLIVIA. Amigo Glenn, Desculpa por error en la digitación; el horario en la tarde de transmisión de Radio Tacana es de 1700 y no 1500 como está en el anuncio que mandé. OM "...banda de 60 metros, onda corta, Radio Tacana anuncia sus nuevos horarios a partir del día de hoy; debido a instabilidad de la luz, en la noche hemos tenido serios problemas eléctricos, casi nos quema el equipo, a pesar de tener los estabilizadores. Para evitar problemas, entonces en una reunión ya prevista por nuestro director, hemos previsto el horario de 6 de la mañana a 13 horas, una de la tarde para compartir con ustedes y de las 17 horas a 18. Estos son los nuevos horarios de Radio Tacana para todo el país que sintoniza este medio de comunicación, en la noche pues ya no estamos con ustedes..." 73 (Rogildo F. Aragão, Bolivia, Sept 5, DX LISTENING DIGEST) So at UT -4, UT would be 1000-1700, 2100-2200, which was already correct (gh) ** BRAZIL. Caros amigos, Ontem aproveitei um dos momentos que descansava devido a uma forte gripe e fiz uma escuta da irregular e obscura Rádio Cacique em 2370 kHz por volta das 1815 UT com um "interessantíssimo" programa sobre cemitérios. Digo que é obscura porque mesmo sendo da minha cidade, a ouvi pouquíssimas vezes. 73 (Ivan Dias, Sorocaba/SP, Sept 5, radioescutas via DXLD) ** BRAZIL. PODER EXECUTIVO MODIFICA TODO O FORMATO DA "VOZ DO BRASIL" do sítio http://www.tribuna.inf.br BRASÍLIA - A "Voz do Brasil" mudou. Com o novo formato, que entrou no ar na segunda-feira, o bloco inicial, a cargo do Poder Executivo, de 25 minutos, conta com quatro locutores e não dois. Também há comentários a respeito dos diversos temas tratados. As vinhetas da protofonia (introdução orquestral) e da ópera "O Guarani", de Carlos Gomes, também foram modificadas. "Fizemos variações que incluem samba e bossa nova, entre outros, com instrumentos que vão dos timbales aos berimbaus", disse o presidente da Radiobrás, Eugênio Bucci. A "Voz do Brasil" tem uma hora de duração. Os outros 35 minutos divulgam notícias do Poder Judiciário, da Câmara e do Senado. Não se sabe ao certo quantos são os ouvintes do programa oficial transmitido em cadeia obrigatória de rádio e que chega aos 70 anos, mas são próximos dos 10 milhões. "Existem pesquisas que nos trazem números entre três milhões e 20 milhões", afirma Bucci. "Todo o sentido da mudança é atender o direito à informação. Por isso, fizemos um processo de atualização, na busca de uma fórmula contemporânea à democracia". Bucci disse que o programa, por ter quase sete décadas, ainda guardava reminiscência de períodos autoritários. "Ainda desempenhava uma espécie de papel de convencimento ideológico. Tiramos isso. Temos de trabalhar para a informação ao cidadão. Esse é o foco". Para ele, as mudanças podem ser explicadas em dois níveis. No primeiro, as modificações na composição da equipe e, no segundo, no tom e estilo da voz. "Temos a consciência de que há 70 anos a Voz do Brasil é uma instituição nacional. Tudo o que estamos fazendo é para cultivar essa instituição". As variações em "O Guarani" são, nas explicações do presidente da Radiobrás, uma espécie de apropriação antropofágica da ópera, de forma a atualizá-la. "Com isso, acreditamos que vamos nos aproximar também do público jovem". [Informação enviada por Paulo Roberto e Souza, de Tefé (AM), via Célio Romais, Porto Alegre (RS)](via radioescutas via DXLD) ** BRAZIL. Lula promete un estándar de televisión digital 'Made in Brasil" para el 2.006. El populismo imaginativo y constructivo de Lula también tiene un capítulo dedicado a los medios de comunicación. Así se acaba de poner de manifiesto con la presentación de su plan de televisión digital, que se basará, desde el punto de vista técnico, en un sistema específico, diferenciado de los estándares existentes. Desde la óptica del negocio, se plantea con una visión social insólita en otras latitudes. El Sistema Brasilero de TV Digital (SBTVD) está previsto que vea la luz en el año 2.006. En efecto, se trata de una de las primeras promesas formuladas por Lula, antes incluso de llegar a la presidencia de Brasil. La televisión digital como medio de socialización al alcance de todos. Así se resume el sueño para el que Lula prevé contar con un estándar propio, que será desarrollado por las principales universidades del país durante un año y con un coste aproximado de 17 millones de dólares, según informa la web Produ. Lula pretende que su sistema de televisión digital sea el más avanzado y popular del mundo, además del único que, a diferencia de las tecnologías europeas, norteamericanas y japonesas, permita acceder directamente a Internet. En la actualidad, el 85 por ciento de la población brasileña tiene acceso a la televisión, pero sólo el 8 por ciento accede a Internet, según informó el diario argentino Clarín. Con estas premisas, Brasil dejará de lado el patrón japonés de TV digital, que era el que inicialmente se presentaba como favorito. Tampoco se han llevado el gato al agua ni el norteamericano Advanced Televisión System Committee (ATSC) ni el europeo DVB. Precisamente el de Estados Unidos, responsable de la televisión digital en Argentina, es el que más había presionado para hacerse con la concesión, a través de reuniones con autoridades, emisoras y fabricantes. El desafío al que se enfrentan las universidades y empresas implicadas en el proyecto promovido por Lula es de enorme envergadura tanto desde el punto de vista económico (dado que debe resultar rentable y asequible para la mayoría de la población) como desde el técnico (la señal televisiva en Brasil se recibe mayoritariamente a través de las antenas internas de los televisores). Pero Brasil no va a afrontar solo un desafío de semejante envergadura. Sus investigaciones y propuestas encuentran un atento observador en China, país con el que el presidente brasileño podría crear una línea de colaboración tecnológica y comercial en la que trataría de involucrar a otros gigantes "emergentes" del Tercer Mundo, como la India o Sudáfrica. El caso es que Brasil, pese a sus limitaciones por lo que se refiere a la financiación de proyectos de tanto calado, no parte de cero en las investigaciones tecnológicas, y menos aún por lo que se refiere a Internet. De hecho, sus avances en interactividad bancaria y fiscal y en voto electrónico superan, a juicio de los especialistas, a lo desarrollado hasta ahora por iniciativas europeas y norteamericanas (Gabriel Iván Barrera, Argentina, RN Radio Enlace Sept 5 via DXLD) ** CANADA. Dario Monferini and Roberto Pavanello, of PlayDX Italy, have been on a tour of Canada visiting with DX and SWL enthusiasts along the way. If you are interested in their travel history go to http://playdx.altervista.org/html/travel.htm (hard-core-dx Aug 24 via DXLD) In Monferinglish ** CANADA. Hi Glenn, the 10 of August I visited with my companion Roberto, the new studios of CBC Edmonton, thanks the kindness of Mr. Pierre Noël of CBC French Service, Head of Communications Developments in Edmonton. They are really located in a big megastore building at 100th Street, in the city center; what the article is missing is to say in the ... move ... hundreds of employees will lose their job, inclusive the friendly guardman located in the old CBC building in quiet outside city. So not only "jewels" but also some "cuttings" will be done, in the name of the BUSINESS. In fact CBC will open a big shop store at the street level to sell CBC souvenirs (Dario Monferini & Roberto Pavanello, DX LISTENING DIGEST) About CBC's consolidation in Edmonton --- Hi Glenn, I just read that Edmonton Journal article in DXLD about how the CBC is consolidating its services in that city in one location later this year. It also appears to be happening in Quebec City, with the new "Maison de Radio- Canada" slated to open in 2004 at Dufferin-Montmorency Ave. and St. Jean St. The building will house French SRC Television/ Radio and English CBC Radio one. 73s (Ricky Leong, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CHILE. The Weekly Documentary --- Ask people anywhere in the world for their reaction to the words 9/11 and most of them will say "the terrorists attacks in New York and Washington" two years ago. However, for millions of others the 11th of September evokes a completely different and even more painful memory. For it was on that day, 30 years ago, that the military in Chile staged a bloody coup, ousting the socialist government of president Salvador Allende. To mark the anniversary, we'll broadcast two documentaries. The first one focuses on the rise of socialism in Chile and the brutal crushing of the democratically elected government and the second poses the question what lessons may be drawn from Chile's experience. The programmes were produced by The Freedom Archives in San Francisco, a non-profit organisation committed to the preservation and distribution of historical audio recordings from the late 1960s to the mid-1990s. The first documentary Chile: Promise of Freedom will air in our documentary slot on 10 and 12 September. Part two will be broadcast a week later, on 17 and 19 September. Broadcast times (UT): Wed: 1000 (Pacific/Asia/Far East), 1130 (Europe/East Coast USA), 1230 (USA WRN), 1330 (Europe WRN), 1500 (Asia/West Coast USA), 1800 & 1930 (Africa), 2100 (Europe); Thu: 0000 (North America), 0400 (USA WRN) & 0500 (North America) Fri: 1100 (Pacific/Asia/Far East/Europe/Eastern USA), 1530 (Asia/West Coast USA), 1900 (Africa), 2130 (Europe); Sat: 0030 (North America) (RN previews via DXLD) ** CHINA. China Roots, a new feature on China Radio International, is an introduction to China's traditional musical culture. The weekly broadcast hopes to introduce listeners to the "roots" of Chinese musical culture, as well as giving you a "route" into that culture. September 6 program focuses on music from minority Korean population in Yanbian --- CRI/English http://pw2.netcom.com/~jleq/cri1.htm (via James Richard LeQuesne, Sept 4, swprograms via DXLD) ** COLOMBIA. 6010.18, LV tu Conciencia, 0903, 5 Sept. This continues to be very strong here around 0900 despite the co-channel QRM. Got canned ID by M with horse whinny SFX as "Escucha la Informa Te estereo 8?.8 FM, el Calaran(?) Radio 1030 AM, y extension La Voz tu Conciencia 6010 onda corta". 73's Dave Valko, PA, Cumbredx mailing list via DXLD) Alcaraván ** FRANCE. NO MORE USE OF THE WORD E-MAIL IN FRANCE A note from France where the government has said goodbye to the term e-mail in favor of the native language term courriel. A word that linguistically sensitive France is now using to refer to electronic mail in all official documents and hopes that the public will adopt as well. France`s Culture Ministry announced a ban on the use of e-mail in all government ministries, documents, publications or Web sites on July 18th. This, as the latest step to stem what it sees as an incursion of English words into the French language. Courriel is a contraction of the two words and is a term that has often been used in French speaking Quebec Canada. The ministry`s General Commission on Terminology and Neology insists Internet surfers in France are broadly using the term ``courrier electronique`` instead of e-mail --- a claim some industry experts dispute. And we thought that you would like to know! (Published reports, via Amateur Radio Newsline Sept 5 via DXLD) Funny that ``Correo-E`` doesn`t seem to be catching on in Spanish (gh) ** GERMANY. 17555 broadcast at 1500 confirmed as R. Rhino International Africa, for UGANDA, henceforth [non] filed there, q.v. ** INTERNATIONAL INTERNET. DEFINING HATE Big Brother may not be watching you, but Auntie is. This week, the UK trade paper Broadcast revealed that BBC Monitoring is starting a pilot scheme to monitor Internet message forums and chat rooms in addition to traditional media for hate messages that could point to new areas of ethnic unrest around the globe. But the definition of hate speech depends on where you live. . . http://www.rnw.nl/realradio/dossiers/html/hateradio030905.html (Andy Sennitt, Media Network newsletter Sept 5 via DXLD) ** INTERNATIONAL VACUUM. Since the demise of Satellite Times, or rather merger into MONITORING TIMES, there has been less and less space devoted to this subject, but I see a very large webpage MT SATELLITE SERVICES GUIDE at http://www.monitoringtimes.com/html/mtssg.html which looks as if it has all the details you could possibly want, if it is kept up to date. Perhaps someone into satellite monitoring can evaluate that, as I see no date on the page, and not all of the internal links work (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** INTERNATIONAL WATERS. HURRICANE WATCH NET, WX4NHC TO ACTIVATE IN ADVANCE OF FABIAN http://www2.arrl.org/news/stories/2003/09/04/2/?nc=1 NEWINGTON, CT, Sep 4, 2003 -- The Hurricane Watch Net and Amateur Radio station WX4NHC at the National Hurricane Center in Miami will activate at 1200 UT Friday, September 5, in response to Hurricane Fabian, now described as a dangerous storm. The HWN operates on 14.325 MHz to gather ground-level storm data from Amateur Radio weather observers and other volunteers. The net relays these reports via WX4NHC to forecasters, who use the information to get a more precise picture of a storm`s potential path and damage potential. Forecast track of Hurricane Fabian, now a category 3 storm. [NOAA/NWS Graphic] [see above url for graphic and links to the watch net and WX4NHC] ``Bermuda is now in the direct track of Hurricane Fabian,`` said WX4NHC Assistant Amateur Radio Coordinator Julio Ripoll, WD4JR, in announcing the activation. The storm is now listed as a category 3 hurricane, with maximum sustained winds of 120 MPH with higher gusts. Forecasters believe Fabian could strengthen further before making landfall on Bermuda early Friday evening. HWN Manager Mike Pilgrim, K5MP, anticipates the net will remain active until 20 meters closes in the evening, likely after the storm has already passed Bermuda. Ripoll says WX4NHC will monitor the Hurricane Watch Net. ``Please do not transmit unless you have an emergency or are requested to do so by net control,`` he advised. In addition to gathering reports from Amateur Radio weather observers via the HWN, WX4NHC also will monitor surface reports from amateur weather enthusiasts and ON-NHC volunteers filed via the Internet. As of 1200 UT today, the National Hurricane Center was describing Fabian as a ``powerful hurricane`` moving slowly to the north- northwest at around 8 MPH. A hurricane watch remains in effect for Bermuda, and the storm was approximately 535 miles south of the island. The NHC says some fluctuations in strength are likely during the next 24 hours. Hurricane force winds extend outward up to 70 miles from the center, and tropical storm force winds extend outward up to 160 miles. ``Large swells and dangerous surf conditions will continue to affect the northern leeward islands, the Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico,`` the NHC said. ``Large swells will also begin to spread along portions of the East Coast of the United States over the next day or two.`` Copyright © 2003, American Radio Relay League, Inc. All Rights Reserved (ARRL via John Norfolk, DXLD) Later: HURRICANE WATCH NET, WX4NHC, SATERN RAMPING UP FOR FABIAN http://www2.arrl.org/news/stories/2003/09/05/4/?nc=1 NEWINGTON, CT, Sep 5, 2003 -- Volunteers on the Hurricane Watch Net, at the National Hurricane Center`s WX4NHC in Miami and with the Salvation Army Team Emergency Radio Network (SATERN) are keeping tabs on Hurricane Fabian. The storm is expected to strike Bermuda late today. Forecast track of Hurricane Fabian, now a category 3 storm. [NOAA/NWS Graphic] [see above URL for graphic and links] WX4NHC Amateur Radio Volunteer Coordinator John McHugh, KU4GY, says The Weather Channel plans to do a segment on ham radio and the National Hurricane center September 5 between 9 and 11 PM Eastern Daylight Time. ``A reporter spent some time with us at the Center a few weeks ago gathering info,`` he said. The HWN and WX4NHC activated at 1200 UT September 5. Operating on 14.325 MHz, the HWN gathers ground-level storm data from Amateur Radio weather observers and other volunteers. The net relays these reports via WX4NHC to forecasters, who use the information to get a more precise picture of a storm`s potential path and damage potential. HWN Manager Mike Pilgrim, K5MP, anticipates the net will remain active until 20 meters closes in the evening. SATERN`s net on 14.265 went on the air at 1700. ``A hurricane warning remains in effect for the Island of Bermuda,`` the National Hurricane Center said today. ``Preparations to protect life and property should have been completed.`` SATERN National Coordinator Pat McPherson, WW9E, says his organization is ready to provide any needed communication during the effort. ``All shelters, commands and units are outfitted with emergency communication equipment in the event they lose power or other communication systems fail,`` he said. ``The SATERN net will remain active as long as necessary to insure the continuity of communications.`` He says Salvation Army emergency disaster services personnel are on full alert. Territorial Coordinator for SATERN on Bermuda Rick Shirran, VE3NUZ/VP9, reports The Salvation Army has readied a large emergency shelter at Cedarbridge Academy in Hamilton. The National Hurricane Center is calling Fabian ``a large and severe hurricane.`` The storm was located about 40 miles southwest of Bermuda as of 1800 UT and moving toward the north at about 17 MPH. A category 3 hurricane, the storm is packing maximum sustained winds of nearly 120 MPH with higher gusts, and hurricane force winds extend outward up to 115 miles from its center. Heavy rains are expected to accompany Fabian, along with coastal storm surge flooding of six to ten feet above normal and ``dangerous battering waves.`` Meanwhile, forecasters, weather observers, Amateur Radio Emergency Service teams and disaster relief organizations also are keeping a close eye on Tropical Storm Henri, which could affect Florida. A tropical storm warning for Henri remains in effect for the Gulf Coast of Florida from Englewood Northward to the Aucilla River. Henri has maximum sustained winds of 45 MPH with higher gusts. Forecasters say heavy rain will accompany the storm and could cause flooding if it crosses into Florida and heads northeast up the Eastern Seaboard. The storm was expected to reach the Florida Gulf Coast tonight. Copyright © 2003, American Radio Relay League, Inc. All Rights Reserved (via John Norfolk, DXLD) ** INTERNATIONAL WATERS [and non]. LIGHTHOUSE WEEKEND A BIG HIT Meantime, reports from the around the world indicate that there was allot of activity in this years International Lighthouse and Lightship Weekend operating event. Jeramy Boot, of the GB2RS News Service has the details: Mike Dalrymple, GM4SUC, the organiser of the International Lighthouse / Lightship Weekend reports that a record number of stations - 369 - were established at lighthouses and lightships in 48 countries - another record - over the weekend of the 16th and 17th of August. The official list of participants can be found on the ILLW website. Next year the event will be on the 21 and 22nd of August 2004, and Mike invites individuals and groups to join in with a weekend of enjoying radio from a lighthouse or lightship. Jeramy Boot, G4NJH The International Lighthouse website is in cyberspace at http://illw.net GM4SUC adds that as soon as you have your plans for participating in the 2004 Lighthouse Weekend made to let him know. You can contact Mike by e-mail to GM4SUC@compuserve.com (GB2RS via Amateur Radio Newsline Sept 5 via John Norfolk, DXLD) ** IRAN. 9910, Kol David via IRIB *0230-0256* 9/6. In Hebrew with opening announcement and IDs; mention of website http://www.irib.com - -- then news or actualities with correspondents' reports; many mentions of Israel and Palestine. Ended at 0256 and carrier immediately off. What is the target area and purpose of this broadcast? (John Wilkins, Wheat Ridge, CO, Cumbre DX via DXLD) Propaganda from Iran (IRIB) to Israel, like US propaganda Farda or Sawa programs to the Muslim world. Kol Israel has similar transmissions in Persian language towards Iran. 73 wb df5sx (Wolfgang Büschel, Germany, ibid.) ** IRELAND. Just tried 252 kHz LW. Heard RTE Dublin (Clarkestown) with "RTE Radio One News" 22 UT. I wonder, was this just a test or a regular broadcast? Signal strength with my indoor ALA 1530P-loop was S9. 73´s (Jouko Huuskonen, Turku FINLAND, Sept 6, DX LISTENING DIGEST) RTÉ TRIALS IRELAND'S RADIO 1 ON 252 From ukradio.com Thursday, 4 September 2003 RTÉ is now studying the possibility of transmitting Radio 1 on LW 252 We are advised that tests are currently being carried out so that listeners tuning to that frequency may hear music or chat. The decision whether to proceed awaits an examination by RTÉ of the costs involved and the overall distribution of our services. 1st October is the target start date, subject to the outcome of that examination. At present all four RTÉ Radio services are available to domestic listeners on FM and the Internet. Radio 1 and 2FM are also on Medium Wave. Overseas, RTÉ radio broadcasts its four services on Satellite to the UK and Ireland, Radio 1 is also available throughout Europe on satellite and segments of R1 output are on Satellite and Short wave throughout the world. The transmission of Radio 1 on Long wave provides an exciting opportunity to broadcast to the whole island of Ireland on a single frequency. The service would also be available throughout a large portion of the UK, particularly the midlands. http://ukradio.com/news/articles/52F029002ADE4325B6176A805ADEA96B.asp (via Mike Terry, BDXC-UK via DXLD) ** ISLE OF MAN. MANX RADIO: 'EVOLUTION NOT REVOLUTION' --- It first went on air in June 1964 as a commercial station, long before commercial radio became part of everyday life in Britain.... http://www.iomonline.co.im/ViewArticle2.aspx?SectionID=872&ArticleID=654033 05 September 2003 Manx Radio's new managing director says listeners can expect evolution and not revolution at the station --- Station web site at http://www.manxradio.com/ Anthony Pugh, 50, who lives in Sulby, was this week revealed as the man who will take over from current managing director Stewart Watterson. Mr Watterson will remain at the station, working with Mr Pugh, until his retirement in March. The new managing director is impressed with the station's listening figures, stating: 'The people who have been here over the years have built that up. That doesn't happen overnight.' He said his aim is to implement changes following last December's Tynwald debate on a £400,000 strategic review of the station. It was agreed Manx Radio should focus on its news, current affairs and documentary content. Tynwald agreed a £300,000 payment and increases in the taxpayers' money handed out to the station annually, which will see the level rise from £245,000 last year to £847,000 in two years' time. Mr Pugh said the station has just appointed a new community programme editor, former Mandate presenter Roy MacMillan, and a youth producer will also be appointed. Mr Pugh, who was brought up in Anglesey and moved to the Island just weeks ago, has a long and distinguished career in radio. In 1974 he joined the BBC as a trainee studio manager and moved to Radio 1 to produce when Noel Edmonds, Peter Powell, Bruno Brookes, Adrian Juste and Anne Nightingale were all household names. He later worked with John Dunn and Gloria Hunniford at Radio 2. In the mid-80s he worked for BBC Radio International and, as editor, was instrumental in making the operation profitable and played an important part in developing the BBC's coverage of the Glastonbury Festival. In 1998 he set up an international product team in the BBC's music production department and, within a year, went on to become executive producer, business development and multimedia. Mr Pugh left the BBC in February 2001 to pursue a role as a freelance consultant working mainly with media and multimedia educational companies. He said anyone who came into a station and changed it without good reason would be a 'very foolish person'. Mr Pugh said his role is one of 'evolving the station and not of starting a revolution' but added changes are inevitable (via Mike Terry, DXLD) ** LATVIA. /UK [non]. Laser Radio UK is a British registered broadcasting company (holds a satellite broadcasting license in the UK) which is renting airtime at the Ulbroka transmitter in Latvia and is using this airtime for its own projects or sub-renting to radio projects usually linked with the "free radio scene". On 20 September, Laser Radio UK is going to carry a relay of the Dutch-based Internet station Radio Seagull ("The home of Progressive Rock and Alternative Music") on 9290 from Ulbroka, this is one project in which Laser Radio UK is "involved". (Bernd Trutenau, Lithuania, DX LISTENING DIGEST) On Saturday 20th September, Radio Seagull will be broadcasting on 9290 kHz Shortwave from 1800 to 2200 UT. The transmission will originate from the 100 kW shortwave transmitter located at Ulbroka in Latvia. laserradio@yahoogroups.com (via Mike Terry, DXLD) ** MEXICO. RADIO INSURGENTE: ...El pasado 9 de agosto, miles de indígenas zapatistas esperaron en vano, agotados por el sol, el lanzamiento de las emisiones de la Radio Insurgente que había sido anunciada como el vocero del Ejército Zapatista de Liberación Nacional (EZLN). Luego de más de cuatro horas de espera, el comandante Tacho se presentó ante las miles de personas que acudieron a Oventic, para anunciar que el subcomandante Marcos, líder del EZLN, no pudo acudir al evento "porque se enfermó de la panza de tanto reir". Sin embargo, Tacho reprodujo la grabación del primer programa de Radio Insurgente, conducido por Marcos, y que, según el EZLN, no pudo transmitirse porque la señal fue interferida por el Gobierno. Durante la grabación, apenas audible para miles de indígenas que esperaron pacientemente durante horas la transmisión de la emisora, Marcos arremetió contra los gobernantes que apoyaron la guerra contra Irak. Decenas de simpatizantes europeos del EZLN acudieron a la cita de Oventic el pasado 9 de agosto y se instalaron con tiendas de campaña y sacos de dormir en el césped de esa humilde y pequeña comunidad para no perderse detalles de los acontecimientos, que como ya dijimos terminaron en el fracaso, por lo menos de momento, del inicio de la nueva emisora zapatista (Radio Nederland Radio Enlace Sept 5 via DXLD) ** MEXICO. 6045, XEXQ R Universidad, San Luis Potosí, 1205-1220 with sign on announcement by OM, into classical music (Robert Wilkner, Pómpano Beach FL, Sept 6, Cumbre DX via DXLD) ** MEXICO. Well, after listening over several days, at time ranging from 0400 UT; 0540; 0645; and 1230, and at frequencies from 6186 through 6190, I FINALLY at 0415 this am Friday, 9/5, heard a female announcer say "from Mexico City with 10,000 watts." Then at about 0435 I heard what sounded like narration of a story with musical sound effects. Today, I searched for Mexican Radio, which led me to a site, which led me to this site... http://www.fredcantu.com/mexicoradiotv.htm with a link "Mexico City"... and voilà! 6185 is XEPPM-OC, Radio Educación!!! "It has a permit, not a license, to government or education outlets. It may be commercial free but not always" If you want commercial free music, this is the place to go! Louis Armstrong, New Age, Spanish ballads, Spanish choirs; modern classical --- I've heard it all over the last few days. I think they stick with one "performer" for about 15 minutes at a time. This AM at 12:30 did also hear a man talking, but not news. Wow, I'm so happy I finally figured this out!!! (Gloria Lalumia, Las Cruces NM, Sept 5, hard-core- dx via DXLD) An easier way would be to use a basic reference such as the WRTH; yes, a very good station for nightmusic! But I think it stays on 6185 (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** MONGOLIA. Hi Glenn, I´ve read several reports on Mongolia re- activated in the 60 mb. So I tried to hear them after long period of absence. Excellent reception was a big surprise to me. Does anybody know the power? Mongolian Radio turned their transmitters on 21 UT on (mid-night in Finland) on 4830, 4865 and 4895 kHz. Strong on 4830 and 4895, quite weak on 4865. 73´s (Jouko Huuskonen, Turku FINLAND, Rx: AOR 7030+, Ant: Wellbrook ALA 1530P-active loop, Sept 5, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** OKLAHOMA. STORM SHELTERS PROJECT PAYS DIVIDENDS FOR CLUB An Oklahoma ham radio club`s initiative has paid off by helping the community and enhancing public recognition for Amateur Radio. Chuck Kanach, KC5EZS, who`s vice president of the Choctaw Amateur Radio Club http://k5car.tripod.com/carc, says his club proposed last year to locate the precise position of storm shelters in the tornado-prone community to enable them to be found later -- after a storm. CARC, an ARRL-affiliated club, got the okay this summer. Members used their own GPS units and kept in touch via ham radio and cellphone as they used an initial list of 137 addresses from the city to track down, pinpoint and inventory the exact location of each storm cellar. Before they finished, the list had grown by another two dozen. ``We worked in teams of two and were able to locate 154 of these shelters within a six-week period,`` said Kanach, who headed up the project http://k5car.tripod.com/carc/id1.html. When the club finally turned over its list, Fire Chief Loren Bumgarner handed the club another dozen to locate. ``We have also been asked to locate storm shelters for neighboring cities, Kanach said. ``It looks like we will be staying busy for a while.`` The success of the project -- and ham radio`s contribution in the aftermath of last May`s tornadoes in Oklahoma -- has encouraged municipal officials to take ham radio more seriously as an emergency resource, Kanach said. ``I am now on first-name basis with our city`s emergency coordinator,`` Kanach said. ``He knows that we have people in our club concerned about our city and our people. He also knows the type of services we could provide.`` Kanach believes part of the reason for the project`s success--which got local media coverage--was not waiting for the city to ask but taking the initiative to propose the project first. ``The City of Choctaw and everyone we came in contact with now knows about the Choctaw Amateur Radio Club,`` he said (ARRL Letter Sept 5 via John Norfolk, OKCOK, DXLD) ** PUERTO RICO. OFFICIALS MEET OVER PUERTO RICAN BASE PAULINE JELINEK, Associated Press Posted on Wed, Sep. 03, 2003 WASHINGTON - Puerto Rico's delegate to Congress met Wednesday with Pentagon officials to talk about possible future uses for the Navy's Roosevelt Roads base in the event the installation is closed. . . http://www.kansascity.com/mld/kansascity/news/breaking_news/6684042.htm (via Jilly Dybka, DXLD) No mention of radio, but of course would affect lots of military 2-way, and AFN USB (gh, DXLD) ** RUSSIA. There are now three different programmes in Russian called the ``Voice of Russia``. The ID of all begins with ``Radio Company Voice of Russia``. The oldest is called the ``Worldwide Service in the Russian language`` (which includes the well known `Dx Club` programme hosted by Pavel Mikhailov); the second is ``Sadruzhestva`` (``Commonwealth``) beamed to ex-Soviet republics, and the new one is ``Russkaye Mezhdunarodnaye Radio`` (`Russian International Radio``). (Rumen Pankov, Bulgaria, Aug 11, DX News, Sept BDXC-UK Communication via DXLD) ** SAN MARINO. Hearing the ARO T77C on 18140-usb at 2050 UT working W9VOA with fair signals (Ron Trotto, Waggoner IL, Sept 4, ODXA via DXLD) ** UGANDA [non]. [previously under GERMANY] Hi Glenn, The message below was posted to the German A-DX list. It seems that Radio Rhino International Africa is indeed on air via DTK now. Regards, (Michiel Schaay, Netherlands, DX LISTENING DIGEST) The Allerweltshaus transmissions via Jülich are indeed Radio Rhino International-Africa, see enclosed message (Kai Ludwig, DX LISTENING DIGEST) [as in 3-162; so also via Michiel Schaay, DXLD) Once again, no signal here Sept 5. DTK schedule says 1500 UT, but should we be listening at 1800? So it would seem from the rhino website, which shows 1800 GMT in summer, 1700 GMT in winter!! But then in German, the times are shown in MEZ as 1700 and 1600, respectively. Since MEZ is now two hours ahead of GMT, the real GMT should be 1500, and the 1800 time quoted is really Ugandan time! DST is not observed there, but a switch to 1600 MEZ in winter, when it is UT +1, indicates the same UT of 1500 will be maintained. But then there would be no one-hour shift in terms of `GMT`, i.e. UT +3 in East Africa. Seems they are totally confused about timezones. How can an entity engage in international broadcasting without even a basic understanding of this??? Here is the main webpage, sic:: RRIA-NEWS Update: 09/05/2003 07:08:52 Frequency: 17.555 MHz SW Broadcast Time: GMT Summer Time: 1800-1830 Hours, Tuesday - Friday 1800-1900 Hours, Saturday + Sunday GMT Winter Time: 1700-1730 Hours, Tuesday - Friday 1700-1800 Hours, Saturday + Sunday From September 3rd to 14th, 2003 an ongoing trial broadcast may be tuned in and listened to from: weekdays + Weekends. The actual and regular RRIA-Programme begins on September 16, 2003. Tune in and listen to the 2 days launch-messages from Dr. Apollo Milton Obote, President of Uganda Peoples Congress on September 16, 2003 and Dr. Kiiza Bsigye Chairman of Reform-Agenda NRM on September 17, 2003, both will speak from their present locations in exile. Contact: Telephone ++49 162 – 88 5 44 86; Fax ++49 221 – 99 1 29 07 e-Mail mail@radiorhino.org Sendefrequenz: 17.555 MHz Kurzwelle Sendezeiten: MEZ Sommerzeit 1700-1730 Uhr dienstags - freitags 1700-1800 Uhr samstags + sonntags MEZ Winterzeit 1600-1630 Uhr dienstags - freitags 1600-1700 Uhr samstags + sonntags Vom 3. (Sendestart) bis 14. September 2003 wird ein Vorlaufprogramm zu Testzwecken ausgestrahlt: wochentags + Wochenende (reinhoeren) Am 16. September 2003 startet das tagesaktuelle RRIA-Programm. Kontakt: Telefon ++49 - 162 - 88 5 44 86; Telefax ++49 - 221 - 99 1 29 07 e-Mail mail@radiorhino.org Voice of the Voiceless International-Uganda e.V. c/o Allerweltshaus Koernerstr. 77 - 79 D - 50823 Koeln - Germany Tel: ++49 221 5 10 30 02 Fax: ++49 221 5 89 14 80 E-mail: mail@radiorhino.org "And as we walk, we must make the pledge that we shall march ahead. We cannot turn back. There are those who are asking the devotees of civil rights, `When will you be satisfied?` We can never be satisfied as long as our bodies, heavy with the fatigue of travel, cannot gain lodging in the motels of the highways and the hotels of the cities (…) No, no, we are not satisfied, and we will not be satisfied until justice rolls down like waters and righteousness like a mighty stream``. (Martin Luther King, 1964 Nobel Peace prize laureate, assassinated for his struggle) [end] There are some audio files, but the Sept 3 broadcast would not download for me. A report about the inauguration, in German from an unknown source, includes some apparently off-air clips in English. There`s a forum, with no participation so far. Furthermore, the rather lengthy mission statement, mentioning i.a. that broadcasts will be in English: http://www.rhinoradio.org/material/about_rria.htm (Rhino website via Glenn Hauser, DXLD) Seems they also are confused about the month, and how shortwave azimuths work [BBCM item from the Monitor, as in 3-161] The above article is on the rhino website too, minus BBCM remarx: http://www.radiorhino.org/material/texte/monitor_1.pdf (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) and via allafrica.com: http://allafrica.com/stories/200309050060.html (via Jilly Dybka, DXLD) Again only a trace of a signal here at 1530 Sept 6 on 17555 (gh, DXLD) ** U K. DAB - SUCCESS OR DISAPPOINTMENT? DAB is interesting and has generated some strong debates on newsgroups. "In the past 12 months sales of digital radio sets have boomed, with 175,000 sold by the end of May. That figure is likely to rise to 1m by the end of 2004 - according to the Digital Radio Development Bureau - driven by increasingly diverse and affordable models." (The Guardian) However some say "DAB sounds worse than mobile phones, digital radio on Freeview, Satellite, Broadband Internet Radio, Cable & FM" (alt.radio.digital) I was unsure at first but made my choice and spent my money (new affordable technology is always hard for me to resist). I have found the Evoke a great radio and the audio quality quite pleasant, superb on Classic FM which is 160k bps. Hopefully others will increase their bit rate to match, so I conclude its good listening with room for improvement. Just my humble opinion (Mike Terry, England, Sept 6, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U K. NEVILLE-JONES URGED REVIEW OF BBC COVERAGE Julia Day Wednesday September 3, 2003 The Guardian BBC governor and former intelligence chief Dame Pauline Neville-Jones wanted an external inquiry into the BBC's war coverage so the corporation would not to look like the "patsy" of its management, it has emerged. Documents issued by the Hutton inquiry reveal Dame Pauline was the governor who urged BBC chairman Gavyn Davies for "a full review" of "the question of systematic bias on war coverage". . . http://media.guardian.co.uk/print/0,3858,4746273-111608,00.html (via Dan Say, BC, DXLD) ** U S A. Dear Glenn: You may already be aware of this, but if not, this morning on CSPAN2's Book TV program (15 UT) there was a one hour program about a new VOA book by Alan L. Heil. It's titled The Voice of America: A History, published by Columbia U Press. Unfortunately I only caught the last 2 minutes of the program & again unfortunately it isn't repeated again this weekend. However, there is a brief review of the book at http://www.booktv.org Cheers, (Bill, SMSU, 6 Sep 03, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. PANEL FIRES SHOT ACROSS FCC'S BOW Stevens Amendment Maintains Cap on TV Networks' Size By Frank Ahrens, Washington Post Staff Writer, Friday, September 5, 2003; Page E05 The Senate Appropriations Committee dealt another potential setback to the Federal Communications Commission's new media ownership rules yesterday, adding an amendment to a spending bill that would prevent the agency from raising its cap on the size of large broadcast television networks. . . http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A27818-2003Sep4.html (via Kraig Krist, DXLD) ** U S A. Rechecked WRVU Friday afternoon to confirm whether Ken Berryhill`s shows were still on --- after 2000 UT, definitely not The Old Record Shop, and then consulting the grid, I see it has been changed, but Ken is still there, moved to Wednesday 1700-1900 UT, where I think they had been some time back (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. CLASSICAL MUSICAL CHAIRS http://www.freep.com/entertainment/tvandradio/wag4_20030904.htm AN L.A. JOB IN GROSSE POINTE: RADIO CLASSICAL MUSIC PROGRAMMER JUGGLES 3 JOBS September 4, 2003, BY JOHN SMYNTEK, Detroit FREE PRESS STAFF WRITER "Pretty nutty, isn't it?" says Dave Wagner, musing about about his work life. A jar of Planter's assorted certainly could stand as a metaphor for Wagner's current occupational trifecta. After all, how many people teach full-time at a university, perform as the music director and organist for a Catholic church and -- stand back -- program a classical radio station half a continent away? Wagner, 54, does all that. Associate professor of music at Madonna University in Livonia. Presider over the choir loft at St. Clement's Church in Center Line. And Internet-linked programmer of KMZT-FM in Los Angeles. The Grosse Pointe resident chalks up freeway mileage for the Livonia and Center Line jobs. But to program the commercial classical station in California, it's mostly a trip up the stairs to his home office. There, in about 45 minutes, he decides what gets played at KMZT, which is phonetically named after one of the station's musical pillars, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. Then from noon to 9 p.m. -- 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. West Coast time -- he fields phone calls on a Los Angeles area-coded cell phone from colleagues at KMZT to solve problems or answer questions. That's something he did by merely sticking his head into an office or studio when he was programmer of Detroit's 105.1, then classical WQRS- FM. It left the airwaves in November 1997, the casualty of a format change. Most remaining classical stations are public and not-for-profit; few commercial stations opt for the classics anymore because of its perceived two perceptions: an aging audience and a general decline of appreciation for fine music among the general populace. Wagner's long reach does get shorter once a month. He flies to Los Angeles to meet with the staff, work the occasional on-air shift and battle L.A. traffic. That augments his ability to give -- in Tinseltown parlance -- good phone. When he started at KMZT in 2001, Wagner recalls, he felt overwhelmed. "I'm saying, 'I don't think this is going to work.' We talked about moving to L.A., but my mom's here, my youngest daughter was still in high school at the time. I'm so plugged in with my family." His wife of 27 years, Penelope Wagner, their three children and a grandchild are all part of the Wagner household. But he told himself: "I already get to play the organ, I get to teach -- I'm gonna try it and see if I really like it." And he does. Between 1997, the end of his 30-year run as a WQRS staffer, and 2001, Wagner had to scramble to keep his radio career and his musical vocation going. For a year or so, he commuted to Cincinnati to work at a classical station there. The Madonna job came at an opportune time in 1998, allowing him and his family to avoid a full-time move to Cincy. But then in 2001, he lost his job as music director at St. Paul's on the Lake Catholic Church in Grosse Pointe Farms because of budget cuts. The St. Clement's post filled that void. That task fills Saturdays, Sundays and some funerals and special services. Then along came Saul Levine, a former Michigander who made a success of law in Los Angeles and is one of the few independent major owners left in American radio. Unhappy with KMZT's ratings, Levine called Wagner and offered him the job. In February 2001, after numerous phone calls, visits and the development of computer technology that made long-distance supervision possible, Wagner signed on. Wagner says the biggest challenge in L.A. is "just staying in the loop. You have to work harder. The little everyday interaction is missing, things like heading off problems sometimes resolved by being there." Levine says Wagner is doing a fine job. "The typical classical programmer, from previous experience, is a recluse to begin with" he says, so Wagner not being there isn't that out of the ordinary. But that's where the reclusiveness ends. By phone and computer, Levine says, "Dave is extremely congenial, open-minded and impressed scores of people with his compatibility." The L.A. radio market features more than 80 signals; KMZT's audience has varied from 1.6 to 2 percent of the audience, according to Arbitron, usually good for about 25th place. Wagner's programming philosophy? Simple, he says. He avoids long-form -- classical pieces lasting more than 10 minutes. And he offers Bach, Beethoven, Brahms and Mozart because "the people who listen to you listen because they're interested in that type of music." It being L.A., there are also doses of film music. A morning Sousa march to get listeners moving and a freeway special of zippy stuff at 4:05 p.m. -- the number of a major L.A. freeway -- work well, he says. And discretion is always the better part of valor. "I've learned," he says, "that what you don't play can't hurt you; what you do play can kill you." (Via Harry van Vugt, Windsor, Ontario, Canada) ** U S A. A FEW MORE SOUR NOTES --- Friday, September 5, 2003; Page A20 In affirmation of and elaboration on Louise Remmey's Aug. 24 Close to Home piece, "Sour Notes for Classical Music Fans": Why, in this information age, when we are saturated with news and opinion from multitudinous sources, do public radio stations devote such a high percentage of their programming to news, opinion and interview shows at the expense of classical music? And why can't we have a drive-time respite from the talking heads and crass commercial announcements that accompany classical broadcasting on the "Good Music Station"? I also have a complaint about shrinking play lists. The repetitiveness with which pop music is played should not be a goal to which broadcasters of classical music aspire, yet it seems that they're moving in that direction. WGMS appears to be affected by this disturbing nationwide trend, but the most egregious example in our listening area is sadly from the station that plays the most classical music, without commercial interruption or much babble: WBJC in Baltimore. During the year I worked in the Baltimore area and listened to WBJC, I heard the "Corsair Overture" by Hector Berlioz nearly every day. That's a great piece, but familiarity can breed contempt. Why don't broadcasters recognize the value that diversity brings to building an appreciation of classical music? STEPHEN E. McLAUGHLIN, Silver Spring (c) 2003 The Washington Post Company (Letter to the editor via Mike Cooper, DXLD) ** U S A. BOB NEWHART SELLING CALIF. RADIO STATION SANTA BARBARA, Calif. (AP) - It`s no joke: Bob Newhart is letting go of his radio station. Station KZBN 1290-AM, also known as ``KBOB,`` is being sold by the actor-comedian to Wendy McCaw, the owner of the Santa Barbara News-Press. ``I`ve owned KZBN since 1995 and I`m proud that we`re one of the most popular nostalgia stations in the country,`` Newhart said in a statement Wednesday. ``I have enjoyed making it possible for KZBN to share the best music and community-focused programming with our loyal audience.`` Newhart, 74, said he had rejected offers from would-be buyers outside the Santa Barbara area and was pleased a local resident will ``continue to operate the station in the best interests of our community.`` The station is well-known for playing Sinatra-era tunes and for the fast-talking disc jockey known as ``The Baron`` Ron Herron. KZBN will be bought by Ampersand Broadcasting LLC, an affiliate of Ampersand Publishing LLC, which owns the News-Press paper. McCaw and Ampersand President Joe Cole said they will retain KZBN`s staff and evaluate its content. They said they plan to start live community programming. ``We`re still early in the process, but I anticipate providing Santa Barbara with strong local news coverage,`` McCaw said in a statement. ``I commend Mr. Newhart for keeping the station in the community.`` The sale of KZBN is subject to federal approval. Terms of the deal weren`t immediately announced. On the Net: http://www.bob-newhart.com/ 09/05/03 16:42 EDT © The Associated Press (via John Norfolk, DXLD) ** U S A. Glenn, Am currently (3:30 pm EDT Sept 4), watching FOX News Channel. Just had a Fox News Alert, that TV Tower for WAAY in AL has collapsed. Injuries reported, but no cause yet reported. Thought your TV DXers might want to know (Gayle Van Horn, NC, DX LISTENING DIGEST) From Waveguide: A television transmission mast undergoing repairs in America collapsed yesterday, killing two men who were several hundred feet up. A third man was critically injured in the accident which occurred in calm weather. Witnesses said the three workers were tied to positions on the 985-foot mast and unable to escape. The cause of the accident is currently under investigation. Police spokesman Wendell Johnson said the three men had been hired to strengthen the tower on a mountain overlooking Huntsville, Alabama. http://www.waveguide.co.uk/latest/news030905.htm#TV%20Mast%20Deaths (via Mike Terry, DXLD) The tower of WAAY-TV channel 31 in Huntsville AL collapsed about 1:00 PM today reportedly killing 3 workers who were on the tower. The WAAY web site reports that they were leasing space on it but it wasn't their tower (Patrick Griffith, NRC FMTV via DXLD) It was, however, behind their studio and they built it (later selling it to SpectraSite and leasing back space). A picture of the tower "before" is up at http://www.fybush.com/featuredsite.html WAAY-TV had a backup tower at the site (their old tower from before the current one was built in 1977), and they were using it at the time of the accident. The accident apparently occurred as SpectraSite workers were removing the channel 31 analog antenna to prepare the tower for a new channel 31/32 combo antenna. 31 was off the air for a few hours after the accident but was reportedly back on tonight. s (Scott Fybush, NY, Sept 4, WTFDA via DXLD) WHNT-19 has streaming video of the tragedy; 3 people died. I'm assuming the strengthening of the tower was in anticipation of DTV upgrades? http://www.whnt.com/Global/story.asp?S=1429311&nav=1VPtHorT (Matthew C. Sittel, Bellevue, NE, ibid.) Here`s WAAY-TV`s own notice about it, with a still of the tangled steel: http://www.waaytv.com/Global/story.asp?S=1429643 On Thursday afternoon tragedy struck close to home here at WAAY-TV. The One Thousand-foot broadcast tower used to send our signal to the Tennessee Valley collapsed, killing three tower workers. Our thoughts and prayers go out to the families and loved ones of those men. The tower, which WAAY-TV leases space on, has been a landmark on Monte Sano for nearly 30 years. I would like to personally thank the Huntsville Police Department, Fired Department and HEMSI for their quick and compassionate response to this tragedy. I also want to thank our competitors in the market. Our friends at Channel 19, Channel 48 and Fox 54 all offered to pitch in any way they could to get us back on the air. We greatly appreciate that gesture. We are fortunate that this television station is uniquely equipped. We have two full power transmitters and two antennas. We were able to immediately switch our broadcast signal over to our original tower and transmitter when our power was restored shortly after the accident on the main tower. In this way we are able to continue to serve our viewers and advertisers across the Tennessee Valley. While there was a terrible loss of life, we are grateful that no WAAY- TV employee was injured. Thank you. Peter O'Brien, Vice President/ General Manager WAAY-TV (via Glenn Hauser, DXLD) CHANNEL 31 ANTENNA TOWER COLLAPSES, KILLS 3 WORKERS Witnesses say victims halfway up 985-foot structure when it fell 09/05/03 By WENDY REEVES Huntsville Times Staff Writer http://www.al.com/news/huntsvilletimes/index.ssf?/base/news/1062783936291420 Huntsville police and federal investigators returned this morning to the site of the collapse of a television antenna tower that killed three men Thursday afternoon. Witnesses told police the workers were halfway up the 985-foot tower at WAAY-TV Channel 31 on Monte Sano when the collapse began about 1 p.m., said Wendell Johnson, police spokesman. The tower collapsed onto itself, and part of it landed to the south in a wooded area, killing two men instantly. The third victim died at Huntsville Hospital. Each had been tethered to the tower, officials said. Killed were Charles Pace, 35, of Tucson, Ariz.; Bryan Buckhardt, 27, of Robstown, Texas; and J.C. Dela Lama, 35, of Hollywood, Fla. "Our heartfelt sympathies go out to them and their families," said Peter O'Brien, general manager at WAAY. The men were employees of SpectraSite Communications of North Carolina, which owns the tower and leases space on it to WAAY and other companies, said a SpectraSite spokeswoman. No other information about the incident was available this morning, but SpectraSite planned to hold a press conference at 3 p.m. today at WAAY, she said. The men were adding support to the tower and putting in equipment for digital cable when the tower buckled below them, said Huntsville Police Sgt. Ed Cain of the Major Crimes Unit, which handles all death investigations. Investigators from the federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration and Huntsville police are treating the incident as an industrial accident, police said. No one at the station was hurt, but the tower missed the building by about 15 feet. Channel 31 reporter Georgi Deerman's hands were still shaking after one of the initial media briefings at the station. "We're OK, but not OK," Deerman said as she and a videographer covered the story. Jerry Tripp, a maintenance worker for Huntsville City Schools, was working at the school system's educational television facility nearby when he heard the collapse. "It was loud," he said. "I thought it was a backhoe ripping up and dragging a big piece of tin across the pavement." At first, he thought something had happened at Monte Sano Elementary School, across Monte Sano Boulevard from the station. Tripp hurried down a ladder and jumped into his truck. When he saw the school was OK, he ran across the street to the TV station. There he encountered the tower crew's pale-faced supervisor. "The man said he just lost three of his men," Tripp said. "Said it was his first accident in 20 years. He was pretty shook up." The tower was used to transmit the main signal for the ABC affiliate; a backup tower allowed the station to resume broadcasting about 4:20 p.m. The accident posed no threat to the school, but parents still called. Jami Tipton, security supervisor for city schools, said students were allowed to go home early and officials tried to get buses to the school early because of the many emergency vehicles in the area. Tripp remembered talking with a co-worker about the extreme height of the towers. "It's high, but then I said I'd climb it for $20." He never did, he said, and now he wouldn't even entertain the idea. "I plan to keep my feet on the ground." Firefighters from Station 4 across the street from Channel 31 found a dog belonging to one of the victims tied to a tree, said Fire & Rescue spokesman Jay Gates. "Apparently, he took it with him to work every day," he said. Gates is taking care of the dog until the owner's relatives are contacted. The accident was the second time someone has died in a tower incident in four years in Huntsville. In February 1999, a California man died when he fell more than 100 feet while working to erect a new tower at the WEUP radio station at 2609 Jordan Lane. SpectraSite was founded in 1997, according to the company's Web site. As of Sept. 30, 2002, SpectraSite owned nearly 8,000 towers and managed more than 12,000 rooftop antenna sites in the United States. Times staff writers Keith Clines and Kenneth Kesner contributed to this report (via Jilly Dybka, DXLD) The mandatory DTV transition has proven to be costly in human lives, as there have been several previous tower collapses under the same circumstances, and no doubt there will be more (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. EX-PRODUCER FOR CHRISTIAN RADIO BOOKED ON PORN By Bartholomew Sullivan. September 5, 2003 A former radio producer for American Family Radio in Tupelo, Miss., has been charged in a federal criminal complaint with making pornographic pictures of his daughter's 11-year-old sleep-over friend. Kerry Dwayne Stevens, a 2 1/2-year employee of the conservative Christian broadcast network, appeared before a federal magistrate in Oxford Thursday. Stevens's wife of 23 years, Teresa Stevens, testified at the hearing before her husband was ordered held without bond. In an affidavit filed with the criminal complaint, FBI Special Agent John Mark Quaka said guests in Stevens's home stumbled upon the computer diskettes displaying young girls in various stages of undress on the evening of Aug. 23. One of the guests contacted Tupelo police, who with the FBI searched Stevens's Tupelo home Aug. 27. Taken in the search were computers, a digital camera and blankets and furniture cushions shown in the photographs. According to Quaka's affidavit, the images depict a then-11-year old friend of Stevens's daughter. American Family Association general counsel Patrick J. Vaughn said Stevens, 47, is no longer employed by American Family Radio (gomemphis.com via Mike Cooper, DXLD) ** U S A. EARLY-MORNING RADIO LISTENERS CAN'T GET TUNE OUT OF THEIR HEADS Because of a computer crash, the Mel Wheeler Inc.-owned station was forced to play Jackson's tune, from the movie "Nutty Professor 2," from 5:30 to 7 Wednesday morning. . . http://www.roanoke.com/roatimes/news/story154765.html (via Jill Dybka, DXLD) ** URUGUAY. IGLESIA CATOLICA COMPRA CX12 RADIO ORIENTAL CX12 Radio Oriental, Montevideo, (MW 770 / OC 11735), actualmente parte del complejo mediático "CX20 Radio Montecarlo/Montecarlo - TV Canal 4/Montecable (TV de abonados)" ha sido comprada por la Iglesia Católica Uruguaya, se ha comunicado hoy. La compra refleja un intento de la Iglesia Católica de contrarrestar la profusión de espacios en medios radiales en manos de otras iglesias. Sus estudios estarán ubicados en un local de la Ciudad Vieja de Montevideo, previos trabajos de demolición y construcción que están previstos. Se anuncia una fecha de inauguración para el 8 de diciembre próximo. Para la financiación de la transacción comercial, la Iglesia ha recurrido a fondos de colaboración de la Conferencia Episcopal Italiana. ¿Mantendrán la Onda Corta sus nuevas autoridades? (Horacio Nigro, Uruguay, set 4, Conexión Digital via DXLD) ** VENEZUELA. Saludos Glenn. Espero te encuentres muy bien. De nuevo en el aire YVTO Observatorio Naval Cajigal, captada a las 1855 UT con buena señal (José Elías, Venezuela, Sept 4, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** WEST BERLIN. LIFE IN GERMANY --- ANNOUNCEMENTS FROM 'MR AFN' --- The American Forces Network has been broadcasting from Germany since World War II. Clive Freeman hears a veteran radio man's memories. New York-born Mark White eases himself into a chair at a downtown penthouse suite and reminisces about Berlin, the city where he's been a popular radio broadcaster for half a century. Known to many Berliners as "Mr AFN", White first saw Berlin in late 1945 after being hired as an announcer by the American Forces Network. AFN's broadcasts in the occupied city had not begun until the August, owing to the chaotic state of the city. . . http://www.expatica.com/germany.asp?pad=197,212,&item_id=33928 (via Jilly Dybka, DXLD) UNIDENTIFIED. Heard unID French station at 0605 on 5030; signal was good, heard lively pop music, followed by long winded talk by male and female (Ron Trotto, Waggoner, IL, WDX4KWI, Cumbre DX via DXLD) What else but Burkina Faso?? ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ MUSEA +++++ INTERVIEW WITH VLADIMIR ZWORYKIN, 1975y I stumbled onto this and thought that the television history buffs in the group might find it of interest. http://www.ieee.org/organizations/history_center/oral_histories/transcripts/zworykin21.html (Curtis Sadowski, WTFDA via DXLD) RECEIVER NEWS +++++++++++++ KAITO KA-1101 AND KA-1102 Glenn, A followup on the release dates of the Kaito KA-1101 and KA- 1102 - which are the US versions of the Degen DE-1101 and DE-1102. Kaito expects arrival of the 1101 shipment around Sept 20th. They expect to receive a sample of the 1102 around the same time. No word on when they'll start distributing it. Radios4you says that they'll -- - probably --- start selling the 1101 about Oct 1. They said Jan 1 is possible for the 1102 (Doni Rosenzweig, Sept 4, DX LISTENING DIGEST) POWERLINE COMMUNICATIONS ++++++++++++++++++++++++ Correction: The story ``BPL Places FCC at Regulatory Crossroad, AMRAD Suggests`` in The ARRL Letter, Vol 22, No 34 (Aug 29, 2003) contained incorrect information. It should have said: ``Ironically, the HomePlug standard substantially notches out the amateur bands -- something ARRL convinced the HomePlug Powerline Alliance to do after amateur complaints sparked a recall of non-HomePlug-standard carrier-current devices that had operated near 3.5 MHz. The new 60-meter band is not notched out, however.`` A spokesperson for HomePlug Powerline Alliance notes that HomePlug had worked with ARRL long before any HomePlug products were on the market (ARRL Letter Sep 5 via John Norfolk, DXLD) Ain`t that just peachy! Who cares about the SWBC bands! (gh, DXLD) RADIO LAW: THE ACADEMY OF MODEL AERONAUTICS SAYS NO TO BPL Back here in the United States, word that the Academy of Model Aeronautics is saying no to the introduction of Broadband Over Powerline or BPL technology. In Reply Comments to the FCC, the 175,000 member aviation hobby group says that it is concerned that BPL deployment could cause harmful interference to users of Radio Controlled systems and pose a safety hazard to aero modeling equipment and spectators. In its filing the AMA says that Broadband Over Powerline holds the potential to severely interfere with radio controlled models which operate in or near the 27, 50, 72 and 75 MHz bands. All of these fall within the 1.7 through 80 MHz spectrum where the FCC proposes to permit BPL to operate. To the AMA this means that Broadband Over Powerline may not yield the benign environment the Commission expects. Also, that it could result in an unanticipated negative impact on Radio Controlled operations. And that`s what it has told the FCC (AMA release via Amateur Radio Newsline Sept 5 via John Norfolk, DXLD) CONVENTIONS & CONFERENCES +++++++++++++++++++++++++ EDXC CONFERENCE 2003 IN KÖNIGSTEIN --- by Anker Petersen DSWCI Short Wave News/ Aug-Sep 2003 About 70 DX-ers, Broadcasters and DRM-specialists from 15 countries in Europe, North America and Asia did attend the 37th annual Conference of the European DX Council at the Dresdner Bank Kommunikations-und Trainings-Center outside the 750 year-old German city of Königstein near Frankfurt am Main. This quiet beauty of scenery was the ideal venue for a Conference which had ``DXing in the digital future`` as its theme. It was very well organized by the local Rhein-Main-Radio-Club in co-operation with the other main DX-Clubs of Germany. It was a great pleasure that no less than 16 DSWCI-members found their way to Königstein: Mariá Gösselová (Czech Rep.), Kaj Bredahl Jørgensen, Stig Hartvig Nielsen and yours truly (Denmark),Robert Kipp, Andreas Schmid, Stefan Schliephacke, Horst K. Schmidt and Markus Wiedner (Germany), Valerio G. Cavallo, Paolo Morandotti and Nader Javaheri (Italy), Toshi Ohtake (Japan), Max van Arnhem (The Netherlands), Tibor Szilagyi (Sweden) and George Brown (Scotland). The Conference was officially opened Friday Aug 15 at 1400 by Dr. Harald Gabler (RMRC), Luigi Cobisi (EDXC Secretary General) and a representative from the Government of Hessen. Furthermore introduction by Dr. Anthon Kuchelmeister (AGDX), Hans van der Remme (ADDX) and a representative from one of the sponsoring firms, Rohde & Schwarz. 2003 is the year of the inaugural broadcasts using the new Digital Radio Mondiale (DRM) modulation technology and we heard high level lectures about this by Professor, Dr. Ing. Wolfgang Skupin (University of Applied Sciences), Mr. Michael Knietzsch (Thales Broadcast & Multimedia GmbH) and Mr. Stephan Meltzer (Coding Tec.) covering the theory, DRM transmitters and DRM receivers. The situation right now is that worldwide standards have been accepted and the first transmitters are broadcasting DRM now. The target is to improve AM on SW and MW, but not to replace FM and DAB. Later on we heard some of these tests on short wave from Jülich, Rampisham, Bonaire and Sackville on two DRM-receivers and the quality was impressive: Like FM and close to CD quality! But we also experienced that the signals dropped completely off, if the signal strength was too weak or there were bad propagation conditions or severe disturbances from adjacent AM broadcasts ! It is either perfect reception or no reception at all. It was admitted that the protests from DX-ers on the wide spectrum noise QRM during the first DRM field tests have forced the engineers to keep the transmitter bandwidths within 10 kHz. DRM receivers are still being developed. The first prototype, sized like a Sony ICF 2001, did cost about 1000 Euro, and the second generation, smaller than a Sangean ATS909, did cost around 700 Euro. When mass production starts in 2004 and 2005, the prices are expected to become lower. Wolf Harranth (Ex ORF) then held a provocative and disillusioned causerie about the Rise and Fall of the Wireless Empire; Looking into the crystal ball: Brave New Virtual World? and the role of the listeners: The Unimportance of Being Earnest. DRM is excellent, but comes too late. SW is not dead! Many international broadcasters have disappeared, but that leaves more free channels for DX of small stations. Then followed the traditional Broadcasters Forum with representatives from Deutsche Welle (Waldemar Krämer), HCJB (DX-Editor Hans Werner Lange, ADDX), IBB (Arto Mujunen), AWR (Dr. Adrian M. Peterson), RVI (Frans Vossen) and ORF (Wolf Harranth). Of particular interest was that the IBB now has 60 automated monitoring systems and about 50 human monitors to check reception of the VOA, RFE/R Liberty, RFA etc. DRM will not replace analogue listening for many years in the developing countries. There are four huge collections of Broadcast QSLs in the world initiated by: 1. The late Arthur Cushen. It can now be seen at a public library in Invercargill, New Zealand. 2. Wolf Harranth: Research and Documentation Center for the History of Radio Communication and the Electronic Media, in Vienna, Austria. 3. Jerry Berg, Connecticut, U.S.A. [CPRV, supposedly at Univ. of Md.] 4. Adrian Peterson, Indianapolis, U.S.A. He has about 35,000 QSLs and showed us several being more than 50 years old. Before an informal dinner party, Andreas Schmid had organized a Pennant Quiz where Stig Hartvig Nielsen became the winner with 32 out of 33 correct answers. The first lecture Saturday morning was by Siegbert Gerhard about the complicated History of German DX Clubs. After that Toshi Ohtake gave his lecture about 50 year history of DX in Japan – which some have heard in Vejers or Kulpsville. Toshi is now editor of a new DX- programme in English via AWR. Stig Hartvig Nielsen then told us about the history and future plans of the World Music Radio – the private station from 1963 that refuses to die and which he now is in charge of. The Danish PTT has authorized the use of 15810 kHz and is expected also to permit the use of a 49 mb frequency soon. A 400 watts transmitter in the central Jutland village of Ilskov will be used initially, but two 10 kW transmitters are expected ready from Nov 2003. 24 hours of broadcasts, 7 days a week, of contemporary and world music are planned for a global, international audience. In the future it is expected that WMR will also be live stream on World Wide Web, on FM around Aarhus, on Satellite, MW and Cable to 700,000 houses. This was followed by a talk by Christopher Laske from the Fraunhofer Institute about their development of a low cost 10 watts DRM transmitter and a low cost (65 Euro) pretuned DRM receiver for the students at Erlangen University. After lunch, Alois Krischke, retired engineer from Rohde & Schwarz and editor of ``SW Antennas``, gave a very detailed review of Transmitting and Receiving Antennas. Udo Deutscher introduced us to a new kind of DX-ing: Scanning of the TV Video frequency spectrum and identify the TV carriers. He demonstrated the carrier noise from local TV stations. Only a dozen of DX-ers worldwide enjoy this special hobby so far. Anker Petersen then analysed the down going number of stations on the Tropical Bands from 1973 till 2003 which now is reduced to one third. The stations have disappeared mostly because of replacement by FM, low technical standard or poor economy. If the trend continues, the last stations will disappear in 2014. We plan to publish this lecture later on in SWN, and it can already now be read on http://www.dswci.org --- click Latest news. Dr. Adrian M. Peterson followed with a Wandering the World with a Radio, telling about his early experiences of DX-ing while working for AWR in Australia, Pakistan and Sri Lanka. Adrian is still writing articles for `Wavescan` from Indianapolis, but the DX-programme is edited in the UK by young Christopher Lewis who also attended the Conference, and broadcast worldwide. Andrew Janitschek, Operations Manager of R Free Asia in Washington then gave an update of their broadcasts which have been increased towards North Korea. He officially inaugurated their first QSL cards. Reports to RFA, ATTN. Ms. Iwanciw, 2025 M. Street, NW, Suite 300, Washington; e-mail: iwanciwt@rfa.org After the traditional EDXC Banquet, a Tombola was held where everyone won prizes --- mostly presents about the 50 years of Deutsche Welle. The first prize --- a Spacereceiver – was won by Valerio Cavallo. Three EDXC Awards for excellent DX-lifework --- handmade by Mr. Alfred Becker --- were given to Wolf Harranth, Waldemar Krämer and Anker Petersen --- a great honour! Sunday morning began with a Flea Market at the lobby and a video film --- in German --- from the inauguration of the new Radiohouse of Deutsche Welle in Bonn. Waldemar Krämer from DW then talked about the role of listeners in frequency planning. Scientific calculations on propagation of shortwave transmissions are always theoretical predictions, and the DX-er or technical monitors may find out that the real world is different. Therefore reception reports cannot be rated highly enough for analog, but also for future DRM transmissions! Former DJ ``Roger Kirk`` who was well-known in the 1960s and 1970s at such pirate and later private stations as Pyrgos Broadcasting, R Northsea International, R Galaxy, R Time and R Victoria, gave a controversial talk about the ``End of Private Radio?``. His message was that the Era of these stations is more or less over, but they did succeed in changing the format of even State-run broadcasters to fluent announcing with jingles and playing the kind of music, the listeners want to hear. Wolf Harranth then gave some more information about the ``Research and Documentation Center for the History of Radio Communication and the Electronic Media``, in Vienna, Austria. It was formerly just called the ``QSL Collection``, but now it has much more than QSLs from broadcasting stations and radio amateurs. Also Club publications, logbooks, WRTH`s and even recordings from radio broadcasts. More details can be read on http://www.qsl.at Nowadays, its four million objects are stored in a large building where visitors can study the history of broadcasting and DX-ing. Wolf Harranth stressed that for historical reasons it is very important that private QSL-collections and Club publications are sent to this Center when they are no longer needed. The Center is officially registered as an international organization. The final point on the agenda was the report from the Secretary General of the EDXC. Luigi Cobisi found that the hobby of DXing is still very much alive, but there are some problems: 1. Some Clubs may not be really organized. 2. Some Clubs are going down in membership. 3. Some Clubs have left the EDXC. The EDXC represents 15 DX-Clubs in 17 European countries with a total of about 5,000 DX-ers. But the EDXC work is based on voluntary work and the annual budget is less than 700 Euros. The Secretary General then mentioned the well visited EDXC Portal on the internet, his monthly newsletters by mail, e-mail, on the website and via HCJB, and now also via the Voice of the Mediterranean in Malta. These broadcasts are verified by QSL. His visits to various Clubs, like the DSWCI AGM in Vajers in May were also mentioned. The DSWCI is regarded as one of the non-British DX-Clubs in Europe which first realised that English is THE international language for DX-ers. According to the present Statutes of the EDXC ``A Dxer from any Member [Club] of the Council shall be elected Secretary General or Assistant Secretary General for a period of three years only.`` Luigi Cobisi and his assistant Paolo Morandotti have been leading the EDXC since January 01, 2001, so the member clubs were invited to present candidates this autumn, and then a voting will take place. During his period as Secretary General, Luigi Cobisi has met about 650 DX-ers and Broadcasters which has been very rewarding. It is very important for the Hobby that Conferences are organized regularly, because the personal contacts are invaluable. The next Conference will be on Malta Oct. 24-26, 2003 where the Voice of the Mediterranean is organizing a Conference about Multilingualism and International Radio --- a listeners` and broadcasters` Forum, and has asked the EDXC to support it with the participation of some European DX-ers. In Pori, Finland, last year there were four offers for future DX Conferences: Germany (just held), Malta (to be held in October), Ireland and Turkey. Unfortunately the options for Conferences in 2004 in Ireland or Turkey have just been withdrawn for various reasons, so right now there is no EDXC Conference planned for 2004! The Secretary General urged the member clubs as soon as possible to consider organizing a Conference next year, because the new Secretary General cannot arrange it. The EDXC is the tiniest European organization with a very small budget. Luigi Cobisi argued that in the future, we need lively members, not DX-Clubs, if the EDXC shall survive. His vision is that the EDXC shall consist of interested individuals instead of DX-Clubs as paying members. Today, it is difficult for small Clubs to participate actively in the EDXC activities, because all their energy is used for their publishing DX-bulletins with the same news in their own languages. Some of these clubs would benefit by merging. Unfortunately these controversial points of view came just before the termination of the EDXC Conference, so the 11 member Clubs present had no chance to discuss it further. On Monday, Aug 18, nine participants (including four DSWCI members) did visit the Deutsche Welle Receiving Station at Bockhacken northeast of Cologne where Mr. Winking and Mr. Steffen Hilbig gave an excellent briefing about their job of monitoring Deutsche Welle shortwave and TV broadcasts, and other broadcasts as agreed upon. For Shortwave they use several Rohde & Schwarz EK 070 and two NRD 545 DSP receivers connected to a variety of antennas on top of the listening bunker, including direction finding antennas having an accuracy of ½ degree, if the signal is strong enough. Programme monitoring takes place elsewhere. There is only 1-2 persons on duty here at any time. The 2003 EDXC Conference in Germany was very technical which cannot be a surprise, but I found it very useful and another possibility to meet old and new DX-friends and Broadcasters. DSWCI member Stefan Schliephacke was on of the winners in the pennant contest made by Andreas Schmid (right) [caption] (Anker Petersen, DSWCI SW News via DXLD) PROPAGATION +++++++++++ ANTIMATTER FACTORY ON SUN YIELDS CLUES TO EXPLOSIONS NASA-GSFC NEWS RELEASE Posted: September 3, 2003 The best look yet at how a solar explosion becomes an antimatter factory gave unexpected insights into how the tremendous explosions work. The observation may upset theories about how the explosions, called solar flares, create and destroy antimatter. It also gave surprising details about how they blast subatomic particles to almost the speed of light. http://www.spaceflightnow.com/news/n0309/03antimatter/ (via Jill Dybka, MSIS, Systems Administrator and Webmaster, American College of Neuropsychopharmacology, Nashville, TN, DXLD) THE K7RA SOLAR UPDATE SEATTLE, WA, Sep 5, 2003 -- Daily sunspot numbers were lower this week than last, and solar flux remained about the same. But the average daily planetary A index dropped by more than half to 14.3. That`s the lowest it`s been since the reporting week of July 3-9, 2003. The best day this week -- in terms of stable geomagnetic conditions -- was Sunday, August 31, when the planetary A index was only 7, and the mid- latitude A index was 5. The eight mid-latitude K indices for that day, reported every three hours, were 1, 2, 1, 1, 2, 1, 2 and 1. This is rather remarkable compared to recent conditions. The forecast for the next few days is for unsettled to active geomagnetic conditions, with the predicted planetary A index for Friday through Monday, September 5-8, at 20, 12, 12 and 15. Predicted solar flux for Friday and Saturday is 115 and 120, then 125 for Sunday through Friday, September 12. On August 29 a solar wind passed Earth around 1500 UTC, but this and subsequent wind from a coronal hole did not cause major disturbances. There were predictions last weekend of possible aurora for September 1 or 2, but the interplanetary magnetic field pointed north, and this protects Earth from disturbances. It is when the field points south that we are vulnerable, and despite a continued solar wind, any geomagnetic upset over the next few days is expected to be minor because of the north-pointing field. Participants in this weekend`s All Asian DX Phone Contest or the North American CW Sprint have nothing to fear. August has ended, and statistics show the average daily sunspot number dropped from 132.8 to 114.3 from July to August. The average daily solar flux declined by a smaller margin, from 127.7 to 122.1. How does August compare with recent history, considering the solar cycle is declining? The average daily sunspot number for August is identical to April`s value, 114.3, and only February and March had lower sunspot averages for 2003. Average daily sunspot numbers by month, from August 2002 through August 2003, were 191.0, 206.4, 153.9, 159.8, 144.8, 150.0, 87.9, 119.7, 114.3, 89.6, 118.4, 132.8 and 114.3. Average daily solar flux by month, from August 2002 through August 2003, was 183.9, 175.8, 167.0, 168.7, 157.2, 144, 124.5, 133.5, 126.8, 116.6, 129.4, 127.7 and 122.1. This looks like a steady decline in numbers. Especially dramatic are comparisons between August 2002 and August 2003. Perhaps we`re coming to the phase in the cycle following the peak when geomagnetic disturbances subside. This would be good for HF operators. Although we want plentiful sunspots, we also need stable geomagnetic conditions, especially in latitudes toward the poles and for propagation over polar paths. Currently the prediction for the bottom of the sunspot cycle is for September 2006 to May 2007. The forecast for solar flux is about the same. Looking further out, a rough estimate shows the flux and sunspot values on the other side of the minimum for December 2007 at about the same level as December of next year, 2004. Between those dates are very low levels of activity, a good time to explore 160, 80, 60 and 40 meters. The cycle prediction is from the August 12 edition of the NOAA Space Environment Center`s Weekly Preliminary Report http://www.sec.noaa.gov/weekly/index.html and Forecast of Solar Geophysical Data and the guide to the Report and Forecast http://www.sec.noaa.gov/weekly/Usr_guide.pdf Sunspot numbers for August 28 through September 3 were 146, 132, 120, 101, 59, 90 and 74, with a mean of 103.1. The 10.7-cm flux was 118.7, 116.3, 114, 109.7, 108.1, 105.7 and 110.5, with a mean of 118.9. Estimated planetary A indices were 18, 15, 17, 7, 14, 12 and 17, with a mean of 14.3. Amateur solar observer Tad Cook, K7RA, Seattle, Washington, provides this weekly report on solar conditions and propagation. This report also is available via W1AW every Friday and an abbreviated version also appears in The ARRL Letter. Readers may contact the author via k7ra@arrl.net Copyright - 2003, American Radio Relay League, Inc. All Rights Reserved (ARRL via John Norfolk, DXLD) ###