DX LISTENING DIGEST 3-167, September 17, 2003 edited by Glenn Hauser 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 NEXT AIRING OF WORLD OF RADIO EXTRA 44: WINB: Thu 0130 9320 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 WORLD OF RADIO EXTRA 44 (high version): (stream) http://www.w4uvh.net/worx44h.ram (download) http://www.w4uvh.net/worx44h.rm (summary) http://www.worldofradio.com/worx44.html WORLD OF RADIO EXTRA 44 (low version available from 0400 UT Sept 15): (stream) http://www.w4uvh.net/worx44.ram (download) http://www.w4uvh.net/worx44.rm FIRST AIRINGS OF WORLD OF RADIO 1199: Wed 2200 on WBCQ 7415, 17495-CUSB Thu 2030 on WWCR 15825, Sat 1030 on 5070 Sat 0130 on RFPI 7445 Sat 0800 on WRN to rest of world Sat 1800+ on IBC Radio via WRMI 15725 WORLD OF RADIO 1199 (high version, from early UT Thu): (stream) http://www.w4uvh.net/wor1199h.ram (download) http://www.w4uvh.net/wor1199h.rm (summary) http://www.worldofradio.com/wor1199.html [from Thu] WORLD OF RADIO 1199 (low version, from early UT Thu): (stream) http://www.w4uvh.net/wor1199.ram (download) http://www.w4uvh.net/wor1199.rm ** AUSTRALIA [non?]. Voice Hindi changes evening freq from 13635 to 9880 Tuned into Voice-Hindi today evening at 1530 UT to find out that the frequency has been changed from 13635 to 9880 kHz. They are having continuous announcements regarding change of the frequency on their older 13635; regular programming continues on new 9880. Seems like this change is effective for the time period 1100 to 1700 UT. Regds, (Alokesh Gupta, New Delhi, India, Sept 17, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Let`s see, is that the one via Uzbekistan rather than Australia? (gh, DXLD) ** BELARUS`. 3355 / SSB / 18.00 / 06/09 / BLR / Hit FM / 58 / RS 4982 / SSB / 16.45 / 30/08 / BLR / Hit FM / RS 5134 / SSB / 16.45 / 30/08 / BLR / Hit FM / 48 / RS (Ruslan Slavutskiy, Moskovskaya oblast, Rus-DX Sept 12 via DXLD) ** BOLIVIA. 4796.67, Radio Mallku, 0950-1010 Sept 17. Prior to the hour, music. On the hour canned ID by a man, "...Radio Mallku... y mundo...". Then promos and ads. At 1002 more IDs and a woman in long Spanish comments follows. At 1006 music presented. Signal was originally poor to threshold but improved to fair level at 1005 (Bolland Chuck, Clewiston Florida, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CHINA. I'm gathering info on the Chinese "Music Jammer" station that is so strong here on the West coast of the USA. Please visit my newly developed page and check to see if you have any loggings I am missing. I'm looking for active frequencies and times and will update the page as things come in. I'm also intrigued as to if the same music is played daily. I first heard the station February of this year, but didn't start logging until recently when I discovered it was somewhat (?) clandestine :-) The music is really magical and much of the time I have 20 db/s9 signals with modest gear and antennas. http://www.open.org/~rumcd/musicjammer/ Thanks! (Christopher in Oregon, USA, hard-core-dx via DXLD) ** COSTA RICA. ONLINE BIRTHDAY INVITATION -- 15th September 2003 Dear friends and supporters of Radio For Peace International, On Sunday 21st September 2003, we will be celebrating International Peace Day and the 16th anniversary of our first transmissions on short wave from Costa Rica. The celebration will take place from 9am to 2pm at our studios located in El Rodeo, 7 kilometers from Cuidad Colón. You can call us on (506) 249 1821 for more details. We are inviting you to come and share this day with us and with all friends of peace. Throughout the day, we will be transmitting a live birthday broadcast relaying messages from our friends and supporters present in the station and from those who call in from around the world to the rest of the world!! To participate in this, from Costa Rica please call 249 1344 (from 9 am) and from the United States you can call 800 493 5718 (from 6 pm to 9 pm [CST?]). At the end of the day, from all those who call in to participate in this live birthday broadcast special, we will pick out winners of Radio For Peace International t-shirts and short wave radios. If you should wish to contribute to the work of the radio station, you can do so in the following ways: -Donate in person to a staff member on the day -Donate via our web site on www.rfpi.org using the Pay Pal icon using most major credit cards to our main US account (Section 501 (c) USA) -Donate directly to our Costa Rican bank account via check or transfer (call (506) 249 1821 for details) If you wish to join us on Sunday, please bring something to eat and a little extra to share with others. Bearing in mind the current situation at Radio For Peace International (which you can get more information on from our web site on http://www.rfpi.org) it is possible that access may not be straightforward and we therefore recommend that you come prepared for this eventuality. Please bring with you cushions, chairs and fold away tables if you have them easily at your disposal. There are beautiful walks and grounds all around the radio station. We hope you will be able to make it to this important event to share this International Peace Day with friends of peace and listeners from around the world as well as showing your support for 16 years of global peace broadcasting on Radio For Peace International. We appreciate your support and participation! In Peace, Staff, volunteers, friends and supporters of Radio For Peace International (Rfpi-announce mailing list Sept 17 via DXLD) ** CUBA. From DXLD 3-166: "Are the upcoming TV Martí direct satellite broadcasts from such eastern geostationary orbits? (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST)" Doubtful. If it is necessary to mount an antenna on a tower in order to see a satellite close to the horizon, it would be necessary for all receiving locations in Cuba to also be mounted on high vantage points to see those satellites. It makes little sense for the USA to send TV Martí via satellites that are so low on the horizon because the main advantage of DSB is that it can be received via small dishes which can be hidden to terrestrial viewers like government inspectors. 18 inch DBS antennas in Cuba can be pointed at near-vertical angles if the broadcasting satellite is located around 80 degrees West Longitude. Such high angles allow antennas to be disguised as bird baths or hidden in garbage cans. If these antennas were designed to jam the downlink frequencies of the TV Martí service, they would not be parabolic dishes but rather antennas with broader beamwidth. They would not be pointed to the east but at population areas. If these antennas are for jamming, they are most likely aimed at satellites serving the Middle East. Geosync satellites can be seen at up to 81 degrees of longitudinal separation from the subsatellite longitude. Palma Soriano appears to be at about 76 degrees West Longitude. So an antenna here could theoretically see a geosync satellite located as far east as about 5 degrees East Longitude. Palma Soriano is not located in "easternmost Cuba." In fact, Palma Soriano is about 100 kilometers west of the US Guantánamo naval base. If these antennas were used to jam satellites near the horizon, it would seem to be a good economic trade off to locate these antennas at the eastern tip of Cuba around 74 degrees West Longitude rather than on high buildings at 76 degrees West Longitude. If one hypothesizes they are for interception of communications from Guantánamo, why not place the antennas closer to the base? Palma Soriano is capable of seeing all of the Atlantic Ocean satellites from near ground level. It is my understanding the jamming of the programs targeting Iran were on the uplink to the Atlantic Ocean relay satellites, not the uplink to the satellite(s) serving Iran. There would be no reason to mount 6 meter antennas on buildings to accomplish that mission. ~*-.,_,.-*~'^'~*-.,_,.-*~'^'~*-., (Joe Buch, DE, Sept 16, DX LISTENING DIGEST) -*~'^'~*-.,_,.-*~'^'~*-.,_,.-*~'^ ** FRANCE. RFI, Radio France Internationale proposera de revivre son histoire, depuis 1931 jusqu'aujourd'hui. A partir de la fin du mois d`octobre, Jacqueline Papet presentera ``L`histoire de RFI, c`est aussi la vôtre``. La page de l'émission http://www.rfi.fr/Fichiers/evenements/RFI_contee/index.asp Vous pouvez également participer à cette émission en confiant vos témoignages à soit par courriel à jacqueline.papet@rfi.fr ou par courrier à RFI ``Si RFI m`était contée``, BP 9516; 75 762 Paris Cedex 16/ France (Mohamed Kallel, KDXN, Sfax Tunisia; FRG-7700, Sept 16, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** GERMANY. ZENDERPARK HOLZKIRCHEN WORDT AFGEBROKEN Wie het kortegolf zenderpark in Holzkirchen nog wil ontvangen, moet haast maken. Volgens berichten uit Duitsland, heeft de gemeentelijke overheid van de Beierse plaats overeenkomst tot sluiting bereikt met de exploitant van de zendinstallaties. Het International Broadcasting Bureau (IBB) uit de Verenigde Staten neemt de zenders in Holzkirchen nog voor het aflopen van de pachtovereekomst uit de lucht. Spoedig daarna begint de afbraak van het zenderpark. IBB is onder andere verantwoordelijk voor de uitzendingen van de Voice of America (VOA). Een 250 kilowatt zendinstallatie van Continental Electronics relayeert dagelijks van 15.00 tot 18.00 uur UTC het Engelstalige actualiteitenprogramma VOA News Now. (Bron: Kai Ludwig via DX Listening Digest via http://www.kortegolf.info/kg/layout/set/print/content/view/full/412/ maandag 15 september 2003 16:45 via DXLD) ** INDIA. COMMUNITY RADIO GIVES INDIA'S VILLAGERS A VOICE --- Officials Worry Local Stations May Foment Unrest By Rama Lakshm, Special to The Washington Post, Wednesday, September 17, 2003; Page A17 http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A21353-2003Sep16.html (via Kraig Krist, Mike Cooper, Alokesh Gupta, DXLD) ** INTERNATIONAL VACUUM. See CUBA ** IRAQ. SHI'I RADIO REPORTS LAUNCH OF IRAQI BROADCASTING CORPORATION | Text of report by Iraqi Shi'i group's Iran-based radio station Voice of the Mujahidin on 16 September It has been announced in Baghdad and London that a [word indistinct] radio and television corporation, called IBC, has been established. The corporation includes Iraqi investors and media experts. Shahlah Husayn, a spokesman for the corporation, yesterday said that the new Iraqi IBC is targeted at Iraqi viewers and listeners through round- the-clock local and satellite television transmissions. Among the principles adopted by the corporation is not to side with any group, party, sect, religion, [word indistinct] and to be open to all cultures and faiths. The spokesman noted that offices in the Iraqi cities, Europe and the Arab world will team up to present the first professional television programme [words indistinct]. Source: Voice of the Mujahidin, in Arabic 0700 gmt 16 Sep 03 (via BBCM via DXLD) ** ISRAEL. To follow up on the changes to the domestic English broadcasts: The complete mailing address for Mr. Yosef Barel, The IBA Director General is, Mr. Yosef Barel IBA House 161 Jaffa Road Jerusalem 94342 The Director of radio is: Yoni Ben Menachem IBA 15 Tora Mizion Jerusalem 94401 These addresses assume that you're writing from Israel. If you'd ever write to these addresses from the U.S., I'd advise NOT writing the zip code, as I've seen mail first go to California -- even if ISRAEL is written in big letters on the envelope! Clocks will be set back in two weeks The Interior Ministry has announced that summer daylight saving time will end in two weeks, on Thursday night between October 2 and 3. At 1 a.m. clocks will be turned back one hour to midnight. Daylight saving time this year lasts 189 days (via Doni Rosenzweig, DXLD) So all SW transmissions, which are NOT scheduled for the convenience of listeners abroad, including English, where no English-speaking country makes such a shift, will shift one UT hour later (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ITALY. La radio Nationale Italienne RAI, est disponible sur les ondes moyennes MW 1332 kHz en langue française, chaque soir trois minute d'informations de 0007 à 0010 UT, 'RAI nocturne' (Mohamed Kallel, KDXN, Sfax Tunisia; FRG-7700, Sept 16, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** MEXICO. I was rather taken aback this morning when doing a quick check before my intention of going to bed, at around 0845 Z Sept 17. At 4810 there was a huge, powerful signal that was peaking about S9 on my R75 with my 350' N-S dipole, and way above S9 with my 175 foot random wire: it was transmitting Spanish pop vocal music -- a genre I'm not expert about so I could not tell you any particulars or relate it to current indigenous styles -- and interspersed Spanish announcements and produced sounders. At one point I heard a female say -- in what was possibly a canned ID -- "Radio Felicidad"; checking Google I found tons of MW & FM Radio Felicidades so WHICH one was being simulcast on SW is something I haven't been able to determine, not speaking Spanish. The sound quality was very tinny, with peculiar tubby resonance as if the signal came via a regular speech telephone circuit, not an equalized feed. Or it could be a bad radio, hooked into inferior audio and modulation equipment. But it was LOUD, and yet *not* distorted at all. Little selective fading (just long, slow carrier level changes without distorting), no drifting, and a pretty good frequency stability right smack on 4810.0 give or take a couple Hz. I checked your LA logs, some others I have, Glenn's latest DXLD, and the ILG database and found only R. San Martin in Peru, which should not have been on the air at that time (but that means nothing as ILG is not absolutely accurate); but that station is only 3kw. This signal was so strong that it jumped out at me as I tuned down below WWV at 5000 looking for DX. A new station or relay? Unfortunately there was no station break at all at the top of the hour at 0900; just a segué. Sorry to say that I am turning in now and don't have time to research this further (Steve Waldee, CA, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 4810, Radio XERTA, 1000-1045 Sept 17. Spanish, Noted man in comments on the hour, this followed with music. IDs in both English and Spanish at 1036. "XERTA, transmitting to the United States from Mexico...." Signal was good in LSB mode and buried in QRM using USB (Bolland, Chuck, Clewiston Florida, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Chuck, Thanks for the tip. Signal here is 32332 due to what I believe is local QRM here. OM with ballad in SP at 1028. ID at 1035 in EG, and 1036 in SP. Mention of Mexico. SINPO now 33333 here. 73 (George Maroti, NY, Cumbre DX via DXLD) ** MEXICO. 800-XEMMM is changing calls to XESPN soon, if they haven't already. Their format is ESPN Sports (of course) in English (Chris Knight, Fort Lupton, Colorado, Sept 16, Corazón DX via DXLD) Tijuana; WRTH 2003 already has them with ESPN; getting that actual callsign was just too much to resist, mmm (gh, DXLD) ** MEXICO [non]. Other media news sources which have ignored R. Free Cascadia International: BBC Monitoring, Media Network, Free Radio Network, and perhaps most incredibly of all: Clandestine Radio Watch. On a number of other lists, I was the only one posting an item about it, no follow-ups. Are people just not paying attention, or are some hidden political agendas at work? (gh, DXLD) ** MONGOLIA. Hola, Mongolia Radio escuchada desde Terrassa a 25 km de Barcelona el pasado 11 de Septiembre de 2135 a 2215 UT en las frecuencias de 4895 y en paralelo 4830 kHz con mejor señal por la frecuencia de 4895 kHz; su programación fué de música, una entrevista telefónica y recitaron un poema entre música. Saludos cordiales, (Antonio Madrid, Noticias DX, Spain, via DXLD) ** NEPAL. [HISTORY - 2001] NEPAL CRACKS DOWN ON 'ILLEGAL' FOREIGN MEDIA EQUIPMENT --- by Pushpa Adhikari, Indo-Asian News Service Kathmandu, Oct 15 (IANS) Nepal has asked foreign organisations, including the BBC, to seek government approval before "donating" media equipment here which was reportedly being used to broadcast their programmes. "The ministry of information and communications (MIC) has learnt of some frequency modulation (FM) radio stations getting communication equipment from foreign organisations and broadcasting foreign programmes without prior approval of the ministry," a government notice said. Donor countries were reportedly giving FM transmitters to local stations and then re-broadcasting their programmes in Nepali from these stations. "BBC radio is one of the organisations that re-broadcast Nepali language programmes from a Kathmandu-based FM station without officially informing the government as per existing rules," a senior MIC official told IANS. Authorities claim BBC was exploiting Nepali resources illegally and the government was losing revenues that the channel was supposed to pay. Defending the government decision, an official said: "This is not an unfair decision, a similar situation had arisen in India as well. When India asked foreign media representatives to pay royalties many of them fled India but those who remained are following the rules." He also said it was unclear what some of the equipment given by donor countries -- especially Pakistan and the U.S. -- was used for. "Foreign organisations are exploiting our ignorance of latest media technologies and equipment has entered the country under different pretexts. We have information that the equipment may be used for spying and to support terrorist activities, especially after the crisis in Afghanistan." The U.S. is conducting military strikes against Afghanistan to flush out Saudi born Osama bin Laden, the prime suspect in the September 11 terror attacks on American soil. (Indo- Asian News Service Oct 17, 2001 via F.Noronha-IND in CR-India-ML) Could anyone confirm whether this is directed against Radio Sagarmatha, the first community radio-station operating in Kathmandu? One was told that its re-broadcasts of BBC's Nepali news had been getting very popular (F. Noronha-IND Oct 17, 2001 in CR-India-ML) Can't say for sure, but don't think this is about Sagarmatha. There is another station, Radio Lumbini, which has been broadcasting BBC and VOA without permission of the government. There have also been stories of Maoists using radio, but these are unconfirmed to my knowledge. A lot of equipment has come into Nepal from abroad (with and without foreign donor support) for radio because very little is available locally. Government regulation and bureaucracy make it very tempting to circumnavigate rules of import. Often it is hard to sort through the rumours and suggestions to find out what actually might have irked the government. They have recently published several ads warning foreign organisations not to break the rules (I. Pringle, Canada Oct 17, 2001 in CR-India-ML via CRW via DXLD) ** OKLAHOMA. KCSC/KBCW Classical Radio --- From the General Manager September, 2003 Bradford Ferguson Did you sit out in the rain August 30th to watch Garrison Keillor`s Rhubarb Tour stop in Oklahoma City like I did? Did you know that the Prairie Home folks chose the date and location for the performance? Did you read ``GK`s`` comments on the show and the audience at http://www.prairiehome.org? I expected sympathetic treatment for sitting three hours in an open venue that did not allow umbrellas. Perhaps in the ``north`` they can control the weather. We have carried A Prairie Home Companion in its several incarnations since it was first offered nationally in 1981. In fact, KCSC was among the first 20 stations to sign up at that time. In recent years we have struggled to keep up with the escalating cost of the program, but we have subsidized it even when pledges went unfulfilled. After much discussion here, we have decided that since ``GK`` has chosen to bite one of the hands that feeds him, that hand will be withdrawn. We will cease broadcast of A Prairie Home Companion effective October 4th. There are other stations in this vicinity that carry PHC. Fans of the show may tune to and support the program through them. Sincerely, Brad Ferguson, General Manager Programming Notes September, 2003, Kent Anderson With weekend program changes coming in October, I want to alert you to the exciting new locally-originated programming we have planned. The Saturday 5:00-7:00 p.m. time slot will be filled by SATURDAY BLEND. This two-hour block will feature an eclectic mix of music from various styles-classical, folk, early music, acoustic jazz and new age music, and the occasional familiar film score. It will be programmed from KCSC`s own extensive music library, and will present a new sound for the weekend. Details are still being worked out for the Sunday 12:00-2:00 time slot, but we are working on the development of a program devoted to a genre many listeners have requested-music for the concert band. The hope is that the new program can fill the void left when Legh Burns departed Oklahoma a few years ago. More specifics on program host, etc. will be posted as soon as they are available. Thank you for your patience and understanding during this time of transition for a portion of KCSC/KBCW`s weekend program schedule. Kent Anderson, Program Director (kcscfm.com via John Norfolk, DXLD) The offending remarks from prairehome.org: Oklahoma City, Aug. 30 --- Oklahoma City was a nightmare. I have bombed before, but it`s still painful. There was the breakfast speech to the tire dealers in Las Vegas, which I did as a favor to a cousin, and which was the worst speech those tire people ever had to listen to at 7 a.m. But tonight was pitiful. For one thing, it took place on the first Saturday of football season, which, in Oklahoma, is like Easter is in Rome, and anyone who does a show that day deserves his comeuppance. For another, it rained. Hard. It poured so loud the rain on the stage roof sounded like truck traffic on the Interstate. Twenty-five hundred people sat on the ground, in the open, drenched to the skin, and I walked out on stage and did what I could to amuse them and nothing worked. A sick helpless feeling, when you do what you thought was your best, stuff that other audiences liked, but tonight you might as well be speaking Norwegian --- I`ve had dreams like this, in which the audience is dark and silent, a line of trees, and you jump around in slow motion and nothing gets a response. What the poor wet people wanted was a different show. Delbert McClinton would have been a huge hit, or Asleep At The Wheel, or Dwight Yoakum, or a comedian who could get up and do 60 minutes of killer material, but I did not kill, I didn`t even cause momentary swelling. I stood up there and twisted in the wind. The low point was when, in desperation, I started to recite poetry --- poetry! --- and it went over like a stone kite. And then the ultimate humiliation, which is to shake hands with well-wishers who tell you how much they liked it. It brings tears to your eyes. The poor good-hearted people who sit through three hours of sheer misery and then feel obliged to thank you for it. One sinks in shame. It was silent in the van from the venue to the airport. The driver was veering all over the road, changing lanes, and the van`s suspension seemed to be shot. One could see the headline: ``Minnesota Man, 61, Dies In Flaming Wreck After Worst Show of Career.`` And now, heading for Louisville, sipping mineral water, one sits and ponders the meaning of it all. Storytelling, or whatever it is I do, is a fragile vessel and you can`t do it in a heavy rainstorm or next to a freeway or in the midst of a train yard. It doesn`t work. You can do comedy there, because it has a beat to it and the jokes build. But that sort of comedian can`t do 33 different live radio shows a year. It may take him or her a couple years just to hammer together those 60 minutes. I`m not disciplined to do that; I`m a writer, not a performer; I have things I want to say, not necessarily of a killer nature, and if I couldn`t say them, I`d have no interest in being on a stage; I have less urge to perform than the average 10-year-old girl. For me, it`s all about those moments when something spontaneous and true comes out. Tonight, nothing. I was a dermatologist trying to do root canal surgery. Out of my depth. Oklahoma City was the wrong venue in the wrong part of the country. The show doesn`t play well in Texas or Oklahoma: It`s the wrong show, it`s too northern. A chill fell on the crowd when Guy Noir picked up a phone and George W. Bush was on the other end: They didn`t want to hear it. In Seattle, they screeched for pleasure, and in Oklahoma City they went deadly still. He`s the president, and you don`t make fun of him here, not if you are from the North. The venue was a rock`n`roll venue. Lots of security everywhere. Guys with security badges who ask you for your ID as you leave the stage for the dressing room at intermission, even though you`re in a tuxedo and black tie and were on stage five minutes ago, they want to see your backstage pass. They`re serious. Rock`n`roll is big on security, because it unleashes so much craziness, and you never know what meth freaks might do, but with the gentle public radio audience, it`s insane to have two beefy guys on either side of you when you go to shake hands with people. But there the beefy guys are, looming, sullen, threatening, and when you ask them to step away, they say, ``Just doing our job,`` and crowd in even closer to make sure that none of these Unitarians stick a shiv in your ribs. It`s the absolute pits: The fans, having been tortured and rained on, now shake your hand and are glared at by a couple of Terminators, so that, in addition to being a horseshit performer, you are now an arrogant asshole with a retinue of heavies, like a hip-hop star. Well, it can`t ever be any worse than this. One takes comfort from that. Dues must be paid, and dirt must be eaten, and sometimes the rain must fall. It could be worse. On to Louisville, where we`ll play the Palace Theater. The lights will go down, and the audience will be dry, and afterward people will walk up and shake hands, and no goombah will give them the eye (via John Norfolk, DXLD) Tsk, tsk. Tho I sometimes am amused for a few minutes by PHC as I tune around, I never listen to it deliberately; tho it was not likely a direct act by Mr Keillor, I`ve not been too fond of PHC since the necessity of carrying it live was the excuse given for cancelling one of my programs on WUOT. As I recall, KCSC was promoting the hell out of this appearance for many months previous; and I`ve always wondered why both they and KOSU would want to carry it, anyway. Good riddance. A great many posts are on the PHC forum at http://forum.mpr.org/WebX?14@191.UW8Ea6gXjOy^2@.ee894f4 from people who loved the show despite the rain. I wonder if GK read them before posting his rude remarks; or KCSC read them before cancelling PHC (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** OMAN. Radio Sultanat d'Oman est disponible sur les ondes avec une bonne récéption sur 13640 kHz à 0845 UT, SINPO 45344, le 16-09-2003. L`émission été "la langue arabe" une émission pour plus de connaissance de la grammaire. Pour votre information le e-mail de la station: tvradio@omantel.net.om et le site web http://www.omantel.net.om est disponible en anglais et arabe; il est très bien fait pour une station nationale d'un pays du moyen Orient (Mohamed Kallel, KDXN, Sfax Tunisia; FRG-7700, Sept 16, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** PARAGUAY. Finally got around to checking the webstream mentioned in 3-162, http://www.radiodifusionamerica.com.py/listen.xpl of R. América, whose SW frequencies, unfound on the website, are just about impossible to hear even in Argentina, Sept 16 at 1817 UT --- running only 24 kbps, which is plenty with hum and distortion, not 256; guess what, a preacher! Opening page is by José Holowaty, ex-KGEI, with his apocalyptic nonsense. At least the program schedule at http://www.radiodifusionamerica.com.py/menu.htm shows some seemingly secular programs, here adding 3 hours for UT as DST has already started; the Guaraní shows are in all probability religious, but included for those who would like to familiarize themselves with the sound of the language, with no risk of comprehension. This is a generalized schedule, not specifying day of week, but likely to be different on weekends, and subject to change: 0700-0730 30 MINUTOS EN GUARANÍ (ñañe mongeta guaraníme) 0900-0930 AMPLIO PANORAMA DE LAS ÚLTIMAS NOTICIAS MUNDIALES 0930-1000 MÚSICA PARAGUAYA Y COMERCIALES 1500-1545 AMPLIO PANORAMA DE LAS NOTICIAS MUNDIALES 1600-1700 SALA DE CONCIERTOS (música clásica) 1830-1900 PROGRAMA EN GUARANÍ 2100-2140 AMPLIO PANORAMA DE NOTICIAS 2200-2330 PROGRAMA EN GUARANÍ 0200-0700 RADIODIFUSIÓN AMÉRICA (via Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** RUSSIA. Hi! I've read the "BC-DX" # 638, so I'm obliged to make the following explanation: 1. Radio "Voice of Russia" has only TWO OWN programs in Russian: there are "Russian World Service" and "Commonwealth". 2. "Russian International radio" and "Evangelic Readings" just use the "Voice of Russia's" transmitters, leasing a broadcasting time. 73! (Pavel Mikhaylov, Radio "Voice of Russia", Russian World Sce. "CLUB DX" Program via Wolfgang Büschel, DXLD) ** RUSSIA/BELARUS. Re: On 1170 kHz: on Sept 6th (Sat) 1500-1600 "Kala Aturaya" Radio (seems to be from Belarus` --- at 1557 UT s-on stronger IS of Voice of Russia from Krasnodar (Tbilisskoye [sic]) and 1600-1800 V. of Russia in Arabic was dominating (Rumen Pankov, Bulgaria, BC-DX Sep 10 via DXLD) Qala Aturaya (Assyrian Voice) is a weekly programme produced by the International Russian League of Assyrians (LAROS). It is aired Saturdays 1500-1600 for a local audience in Moscow on 612 kHz (Kurkino 20kW) and for Assyrian listeners in the Near East on 1170 kHz (Tbilisskaya 1200kW). Address: LAROS, Arbat ul. 28/1, 121002 Moscow, Russia. Email: assyrianvoice@newmail.ru Qala Aturaya was first aired on 20 January 1993. NB. Qala Aturaya is not carried via Belarus on 1170 kHz: the tx in Sasnovy has a beam towards Southern Central Europe (244 degrees) , e.g. Czech Republic/Austria, and does not reach the Near & Middle East, while the Middle East is in the main target of Tbilisskaya 1170 kHz. Note the spelling "Tbilisskaya" ending on -aya, the form -oye circulating in parts of the DX press is an error (Bernd Trutenau, Lithuania, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** SWEDEN [non]. Radio Ibrahim, est une radio chrétienne en langue arabe qui diffuse chaque soir de 2130 à 2200 UT sur la fréquence 12025; dans l'émission écoutée le 15-09-2003, l'annonce d'ID est comme suit: Radio Ibrahim, code postale 14199, Stockholm, Suéde, le site http://www.radioibrahim.com et l'e-mail pour plus d'information info@radioibrahim.com (Mohamed Kallel, KDXN, Sfax Tunisia; FRG-7700, Sept 16, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** SWITZERLAND. SWISSINFO/SRI COULD LOSE GOVERNMENT FUNDING Swissinfo/Swiss Radio International could lose all its government funding by 2006. It would then be up to the Swiss Broadcasting Corporation to guarantee its future financing. That's one of the possibilities under consideration as the Swiss parliament debates controversial proposals to cut public spending by SFr3.3 billion ($2.4 billion) to avoid massive deficits over the next few years. Switzerland's national debt is currently SFr120 billion, and the government expects this to increase by SFr3 billion a year. So the government has drafted a radical savings plan which represents the biggest spending cut in Swiss history. (Source: NZZ Online). (© Radio Netherlands Media Network 17 September 2003 via DXLD) ** TAIWAN. RTI Temporary Schedule Changes Please note the following temporary changes to our program schedule, which are effective immediately: 1) News Talk and Stage, Screen and Studio will be temporarily replaced by Instant Noodles and Hakka World, respectively. 2) Discover Taiwan will be hosted by James Ho. 3) New Music Lounge, the popular music program, will be extended to a 30- minute program, which will air on Wednesdays in Hour Two. 4) Confucius and Inspiration Beyond can now be heard on Thursday as part of the Hour One programming. We apologize for any inconvenience, and thank you for listening to RTI! Global Exchange - Oct --- Every month, we pose a new question to listeners as part of our Global Exchange segment. If we choose your letter to read on the air, you will receive a souvenir and your answer may be shared in Taipeiwave. October What do you like the most about your country or your culture? Send entries to natalie@cbs.org.tw or to PO Box 24-38/ Taipei, Taiwan (RTI website via Alokesh Gupta, New Delhi, India, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** TANZANIA. Tanzania 5050, R. Tanzania, Africa-map-with-antenna-and- logo card, V/S N. Nyamwocha, for 1999 reception. In 6 weeks after several follow-ups, the last one specifically addressed to this V/S after seeing George Maroti's earlier QSL from him (it's the same card as George's). I sent mint stamp which I think was used. V/S also sent nice handwritten letter, noting that 5050 is a Japanese NEC transmitter installed in 1975, and now carries Kiswahili programming (Jerry Berg, MA, via Cumbredx mailing list via DXLD) ** U K. BBC Radio Four programme ``Listening to the War`` is on Saturday 20th September 1900-2000 UT. Lesley Chamberlain tells the story of the birth of the BBC's monitoring service at the beginning of the Second World War. Ramshackle huts in the English countryside hid an extraordinary collection of devoted public servants, refugees and emigrés from fascism and communism, who donned headphones and listened in to the crackly and hissing broadcasts from around the world. Their reports were crucial in determining the outcome of the war (Mike Barraclough, Letchworth, UK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Listening to the War --- BBC Radio 4 Saturday September 20th 2003 According to the Radio Times BBC Radio 4 Listings (20th to 26th September 2003), this programme about the BBC Monitoring Service and its contribution to the Second World War, will be broadcast at 1900- 2000 UT (8.00 to 9.00 pm Clock Time in UK), this coming Saturday. I just thought this might be of interest (Ken Fletcher, 1855 UT = 1955 UT+1 September 16th 2003, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U K. BBC Radio 3 notes: the Edinburgh Festival each August tends to get overshadowed by the Proms season in London, at least in prime time, but now that the latter is over, BBC R3 are running concerts recorded at Edinburgh in the Performance On 3 slot, weekdays 1830 UT. Also, Composer of the Week has been rescheduled, with a repeat M-F at 2300-2400 UT, much more convenient here (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U K. COASTGUARDS ALL AT SEA OVER CALLS FOR TAXIS By David Sapsted (Filed: 17/09/2003) Those in distress at sea are not the only ones that HM Coastguard are being asked to pick up these days. They have also been getting calls to collect cab passengers from the centre of Birmingham and London. Coastguard stations in Wales and along the South Coast have been receiving the strange requests on Channel 16 - the international distress frequency on 156.8 MHz - because of unusual weather conditions. Licensing authorities are looking into the problem which affected more than a dozen coastguard stations from Anglesey to Kent on Sunday, when conversations between controllers and cabbies disrupted the emergency network for 12 hours. In both Swansea and Dover, Brummie accents dominated the airwaves while, in Milford Haven, the coastguard station was left listening to exchanges between London taxi drivers picking up fares in Marylebone, Mayfair and Paddington. Ray Carson, of Holyhead Coastguard, said the problem was caused by "extremely high pressure". © Copyright of Telegraph Group Limited 2003 (via Bill Westenhaver, DXLD) Tropospheric ** U S A. AMATEUR RADIO RAMPS UP PREPARATIONS TO GREET HURRICANE ISABEL --- http://www2.arrl.org/news/stories/2003/09/16/1/?nc=1 The position and projected path of Hurricane Isabel as of 11 AM EDT September 16. [NOAA Graphic] {see above URL for grahpic and links} NEWINGTON, CT, Sep 16, 2003--Amateur Radio operators along the Eastern Seaboard are gearing up to greet the arrival -- probably on Thursday, September 18 -- of a diminished but still potentially damaging Hurricane Isabel. At this point, the storm is expected to reach landfall along the coast of the Carolinas before veering north toward Western Pennsylvania and Western New York. The Hurricane Watch Net (HWN) on 14.325 MHz and WX4NHC at the National Hurricane Center have announced plans to activate. The HWN will activate Wednesday, September 17, at 1400 UTC (10 AM EDT) and remain up through the storm`s duration. The National Hurricane Center is warning interests from the Carolinas northward to southern New England to closely monitor Hurricane Isabel`s progress. The storm, once a powerful category 5 hurricane, now has been downgraded to a category 2 hurricane with still-dangerous winds of 105 MPH with higher gusts. ``As the hurricane achieves initial landfall, the HWN will focus specifically on storm reports into and out of the immediately affected areas and into the forecast path of the storm,`` said HWN Manager Mike Pilgrim, K5MP. WX4NHC will commence operations September 17 at 2200 UTC (6 PM EDT), although Amateur Radio Coordinator John McHugh, KU4GY, says the startup time could be adjusted as conditions change. At that point, McHugh estimated the storm would be some 300 miles offshore. Pilgrim says it`s essential that health-and-welfare traffic be directed to other nets set up for that purpose. The Salvation Army Team Emergency Radio Network (SATERN) has announced plans to activate on 14.265 MHz on September 18 at 1400 UTC (10 AM EDT). SATERN National Coordinator Pat McPherson, WW9E, says the net`s primary objective will be to handle necessary emergency and health-and-welfare traffic. Local emergency and informational nets also will be a part of the mix, and hams in North Carolina already are getting into the spirit of things. ``There were lots of extra check-ins to the Tarheel Net on Monday night,`` said North Carolina Public Information Coordinator Gary Pearce, KN4AQ. ``Activity always picks up when a hurricane approaches the state.`` As the North Carolina Section`s HF Amateur Radio Emergency Service (ARES) net, the Tarheel Net meets on 3923 kHz nightly at 7:30 PM Eastern Time and on 7232 kHz during daylight hours, if needed. At WX4NHC, McHugh was calling on amateurs within 50 miles of the Atlantic coast from South Carolina to New Jersey to provide weather data to the Hurricane Watch Net. Net participants collect and report observed and measured weather data to the net to relay to the National Hurricane Center via WX4NHC. The net also routinely disseminates public storm advisories as they become available. In the case of the recent Hurricane Fabian, which swept Bermuda, Amateur Radio for a while became the only means of obtaining storm forecasts and updates after power went down over much of the island. ``If you have weather equipment and are in the affected area please try to get that data to WX4NHC, however do not put your self in danger at any time,`` WX4NHC`s McHugh said. He also asked that stations not relay weather information given out by local media, since that information already is ``in the system.`` In addition to monitoring the Hurricane Watch Net on 14.325 MHz, WX4NHC will monitor Reflector 9210 on IRLP as well as the EchoLink system surface reports using the on-line Hurricane Report Form on the WX4NHC Web site. He said amateur weather enthusiasts with weather equipment and ON-NHC Volunteers may report directly to WX4NHC on-line. http://www.wx4nhc.org/WX-form1.html McHugh said these ``surface reports`` are very important as they give hurricane specialists at the National Hurricane Center a clearer picture of what is actually happening on the ground during the storm. North Carolina ARRL Section Manager John Covington, W4CC, this week alerted members in his section to be at the ready. ``I encourage each of you to make personal preparations for the storm,`` Covington said. ``In addition, I hope you will be able to contribute to Amateur Radio disaster communications, if necessary.`` He urged amateurs to make sure their equipment is working, all batteries charged and any emergency generators operational. ``Do this today,`` he said, ``not during the storm!`` Covington also said those having any doubts about their safety should prepare to evacuate. He said the Coastal Carolina Emergency Net on 3907 kHz 1900 EDT will handle health-and-welfare traffic. ``Be aware that most inbound health-and-welfare traffic is very difficult to deliver,`` he said. Covington was among those worrying less about the potential for wind damage than about the possibility of widespread flooding. ``With much of our ground saturated from the heavy rain we`ve had this year, North Carolina should be prepared for the possibility of flooding, even if the storm moves well to the east of us,`` he said. ARRL North Carolina Section Emergency Coordinator Bernie Nobles, WA4MOK, reports that hams will staff the North Carolina Emergency Management Eastern Branch headquarters in Kinston starting at 1 PM EDT today. Repeaters likely will handle communication with North Carolina`s Outer Banks, although HF will remain available as a backup. If Isabel takes a more westerly course, the Tarheel Net will go into full-time operation as needed. Nobles has asked hams to maintain watch on 3923 kHz as the storm approaches, whether or not a formal net is in session. North Carolina Emergency Management Emergency Coordinator John Guerriero, KG4HDT, says the amateur station at the state emergency operations center in the capital city of Raleigh will activate Wednesday, September 17. Pearce said Guerriero is organizing an umbrella of liaison stations to monitor the wide-coverage 146.88 MHz repeater and the Tarheel Net frequencies. Pearce says that on the Outer Banks--expected to be the storm`s first point of contact--Richard Marlin, K4HAT, checked out the repeaters and linked systems that keep hams in touch in that remote area and said everything was working well. Pearce said Marlin, who lives on Hatteras Island, was debating whether or not to evacuate. Residents and vacationers on Ocracoke Island, which has only ferry transportation between the mainland, were among those facing mandatory evacuation orders in North Carolina. Chart showing the probability that Hurricane Isabel will pass within 75 statute miles during the next 72 hours. [NOAA Graphic] {see above URL} Pearce said other North Carolina hams are reporting they`re ready for the storm. ``Inland counties are watching the storm track carefully,`` he said. ``If Isabel turns a little westward, it could bring strong winds and flooding to the interior. Nash, Wake and Johnston counties may also be home to thousands of people who evacuate the coastal areas, and Interstate 40 may be made a `one-way` highway in advance of the hurricane to expedite an evacuation.`` Some states already are considering mobilizing National Guard troops and relief organizations already have organized shelters for evacuees. As of 11 AM EDT, the National Hurricane Center had issued a hurricane watch from Little River Inlet, South Carolina, to Chincoteague, Virginia. That includes Pamlico and Albermarle sounds as well as Chesapeake Bay south of North Beach, Maryland and the tidal section of the Potomac River. The NHC said hurricane warnings may be required later today. As of 11 AM EDT, the storm was 600 miles south-southeast of Cape Hatteras, North Carolina, moving northwesterly at around 8 MPH. ``A general motion toward the northwest or north-northwest is expected during the next 24 hours with some increase in forward speed,`` the NCH said. Hurricane force winds extend outward up to 120 miles from the center, and tropical storm-force winds out to 200 miles. Although it`s now a category 2 storm, the NHC said conditions ``could become favorable for restrengthening prior to landfall.`` The southeastern and mid-Atlantic coasts already have been experiencing large ocean swells and dangerous surf conditions. Copyright © 2003, American Radio Relay League, Inc. All Rights Reserved. (ARRL via John Norfolk, Mike Terry, DXLD) [This has also been released with different wording as W1AW ARRL Bulletin 59] Check VOA Greenville frequencies in case they have to shut down (gh) ** U S A. SENATE VOTE COULD KILL FCC'S NEW MEDIA RULES Sen. Byron L. Dorgan (D-N.D.), right, is hopeful he has enough votes to pass his resolution, which would wipe out all of the new media rules passed by the FCC earlier this summer. [caption] By Frank Ahrens, Washington Post Staff Writer, Tuesday, September 16, 2003; Page E01 The Senate is ready to vote today on whether to overturn all of the Federal Communications Commission's controversial new media ownership rules by taking advantage of a little-used legislative tool for quashing agency regulations. Sen. Byron L. Dorgan (D-N.D.) is hopeful he has enough votes to pass his "resolution of disapproval" scheduled for a 10:30 a.m. [EDT] vote before the Senate today, a forecast shared by at least one of the esolution's chief opponents. The resolution would wipe out all of the new media rules passed by the FCC earlier in the summer, restoring the old ones. It represents the latest of a growing number of legislative, legal and popular challenges to the media rules... http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A15852-2003Sep15.html (via Kraig Krist, DXLD) Later: SENATE VOTES TO BLOCK FCC MEDIA RULES --- Republicans Join Opposition to Easing of Ownership Limits; House Test Ahead By Frank Ahrens, Washington Post Staff Writer, Wednesday, September 17, 2003; Page A01 The Senate voted 55 to 40 yesterday to wipe out all of the Federal Communications Commission's controversial new media ownership rules, the broadest bipartisan repudiation yet of regulations that would free big media companies to get bigger. The Republican-controlled Senate passed a "resolution of disapproval," a little-used legislative tool that allows Congress to overturn federal agency regulations. The resolution was sponsored by Sen. Byron L. Dorgan (D-N.D.), who said the FCC rules would lead to "galloping concentration" in the media industry, with fewer and fewer companies owning more and more newspapers, television and radio stations, and cable channels. . . http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A21792-2003Sep16.html 73, (via Kraig Krist, DXLD) Senate votes to block new media ownership rules PRESIDENT BUSH HAS THREATENED TO VETO ANY MEASURE THAT WOULD BLOCK NEW FCC RULES By Heather Fleming Phillips, Mercury News Washington Bureau WASHINGTON - The U.S. Senate sent a stinging rebuke to the Federal Communications Commission today, voting to overturn new media ownership rules that could put newspapers, TV and radio stations into the hands of fewer owners.. . http://www.bayarea.com/mld/mercurynews/business/6786711.htm (via Jill Dybka, MSIS, DXLD) F.C.C. PLAN TO EASE CURBS ON BIG MEDIA HITS SENATE SNAG September 17, 2003 By STEPHEN LABATON http://www.nytimes.com/2003/09/17/business/media/17FCC.html?ex=1064801712&ei=1&en=22f24241833a22a9 WASHINGTON, Sept. 16 - The Senate approved a resolution today to repeal all of the new regulations that would make it easier for the nation's largest media companies to grow bigger. By a vote of 55 to 40, the Republican-controlled Senate defied the White House and issued a stinging political rebuke of Michael K. Powell, the Republican chairman of the Federal Communications Commission and architect of the rules. Administration officials had spoken to several lawmakers before the vote in an unsuccessful effort to turn it around, Congressional officials said today. Administration officials expressed relief that the vote indicated the measure would not be able to withstand a presidential veto, which the White House has threatened. The sponsors of the Senate resolution acknowledged that it still faced long political odds before becoming law in its current form, although they said they had better chances of repealing significant pieces of the new rules rather than the entire package. House leaders who oppose the resolution have refused to allow it to reach the floor of that chamber. Still, the Senate vote demonstrated broad bipartisan hostility to the new rules and, as one lawmaker said today, a symbolically important vote of no confidence in Mr. Powell. Twelve Republicans and one independent joined 42 Democrats in voting for the resolution. It was opposed by 38 Republicans and 2 Democrats, Zell Miller of Georgia and John Breaux of Louisiania. Speaking of Mr. Powell, Senator Byron L. Dorgan, the North Dakota Democrat and chief sponsor of the resolution, said: "I think he has made a horrible mistake. His leadership at the commission has led the commission to cave in to the special interests as quickly and as thoroughly as I've ever seen." The vote was only the second time in history that the Senate has used a parlimentary procedure known as a resolution of disapproval to, in effect, veto an action by a regulator. It also had broader support than the final tally - four of the five senators absent from the chamber, including three presidential candidates, have said they would have voted for it. Mr. Dorgan and a large group of other senators, ranging from Tom Daschle of South Dakota, the minority leader, to Trent Lott of Mississippi, the former Republican leader, vowed to continue to take steps to repeal the media rules by attaching amendments to other measures headed for floor action. One such amendment, which would repeal the new rule that gives the largest television networks the ability to buy more local stations, has already been approved by a wide margin on a spending bill in the House and is expected to reach the floor of the Senate before it leaves for its recess this fall. That amendment, unlike today's resolution, had strong support from the National Association of Broadcasters, a powerful lobbying group made up of local television and radio stations that is often at odds with the television networks. Both the amendment and the resolution have been strongly supported by an unusual alliance of liberal and conservative organizations, civil rights groups, labor unions and religious organizations. In an unusual political twist, the Senate action was made possible by the Congressional Review Act, a little-known law adopted seven years ago at the urging of Republicans who thought the administration issued too many burdensome regulations and wanted to make it easier for Congress to repeal them. It has only been used once before, in 2001, to repeal the ergonomics regulations adopted under the Clinton administration. Today the measure was being used by both liberals and conservatives to try to undo one of the most deregulatory packages completed under the Bush administration. Mr. Powell had testified throughout the earlier part of his tenure that the Senate and House were always free to set policy that he would follow. But recently he has become more combative with the Senate. In recent days, he has declined repeated requests to be interviewed, including one today. In an article today in Roll Call, a newspaper on Capitol Hill, he called the pending Congressional action "bordering on the absurd." Soon after the vote, he issued a statement saying the resolution would "create peverse results" and was not in the public interest. "This resolution, if passed by the House and signed by the president, would only muddy the media regulatory waters," Mr. Powell said in the statement. "It would bring no clarity to media regulation, only chaos." "What is most important is to have the best policies for the American people," he added. "I hope the House will take a more considered view of the public interest." The vote was the second setback for Mr. Powell in two days, and the latest in a string of defeats since the rules were issued in June. On Monday, a federal appeals court in Philadelphia rejected a request by lawyers from the F.C.C. to move a case challenging the rules to a court in Washington. Earlier this month, the court in Philadelphia blocked the commission from imposing the rules and is viewed by lawyers involved in the case as being less sympathetic to the commission than the court in Washington. The appeals court in Philadelphia will hear the case, brought against the commission by a group of small radio stations, in November. The rules that the Senate voted to overturn would permit one company to own both a broadcast station and a newspaper in most cities. They would also permit a company to own up to eight radio and three TV stations, as well as a cable company, in the biggest markets. And they would enable the broadcast networks to acquire television stations that reach as much as 45 percent of the nation's viewers, up from 35 percent now. The networks have lobbied vigorously for relaxing the station ownership rule and have come up against aggressive lobbying from the affiliates. Many large newspaper companies, including The New York Times Company, have sought to repeal the restrictions prohibiting one company from owning both a newspaper and a broadcast station in the same city. Copyright 2003 The New York Times Company (via Bill Westenhaver, DXLD) ** U S A. DJ'S CHATTER IS ALL IN APACHE Richard Ruelas, Sept. 15, 2003 12:00 AM GLOBE --- It's Lyle Keoke Jr.'s birthday. His sister, Liz, has called up Ricardo Sneezy's all-request Apache-language radio show to dedicate a traditional powwow song to him. Sneezy swings the microphone toward him and sends out the dedication in his native language. Then he hits a button on the CD player, causing tribal drums and chants to blare out of the studio speakers and transmit throughout the reservations of central Arizona. After about a minute, he fades it down. Sneezy knows both he and his audience can only take so much powwow music. Plus, there are a lot of requests to squeeze in. Next up, dedicated to Mr. and Mrs. Lynell Davis from their friends, is When a Man Loves a Woman by Percy Sledge. Hammond organ chords replace the tom-toms. Sneezy, who was born, raised and still lives on the San Carlos Reservation, took over the Indian Trails show on KRXS (97.3) about a year ago. The previous host kept it traditional, lots of chants and accordion-heavy chicken- scratch music. "Nobody went for it," Sneezy says. He opened up the phone lines and the music selection. He pulled a Fats Domino song out of the station's oldies' collection. He brought in a Rod Stewart CD from home, sparking a request for Maggie May. It quickly changed from a show of Native American music to a show of music Native Americans like. That still includes some Native American artists like the Fenders or Jim Felix. But more and more, the song list is not much different from the mix of country and oldies the station plays the rest of the day. Sneezy presses a green button and speaks in the alternately breathy and guttural tongue of his native people. Phonetically, it sounds like this: "Konahona nesta aia shikab. Loshe shiwino Ricardo Sneezy K-R-X-S F-M ninety-seven-point-three, iko." The station serves Globe, but its 50,000-watt signal can be heard throughout central Arizona, including most of the Phoenix area. Next, Sneezy moves onto a spot for Cobre Valley Motors. The copy is written in English on the stand near his microphone. He translates it into Apache as he reads it. There are apparently no Apache words for "'99 Mercury Grand Marquis," so he says that in English. Strands of requests Sneezy's wife, Victoria, and daughter, Rica, answer phones at a modular desk outside the studio. They write requests on yellow Post-It notes and bring them into the studio stuck end-to-end in long strands. Calls are mainly from the San Carlos Apache Tribe near Globe. But the show also draws listeners from the White Mountain Apache Tribe and the Gila River Indian Community outside Scottsdale. They also get requests to and from prisoners in Florence. Loretta is sending out Made in Japan by Buck Owens to the Ward Family. Born on the Bayou goes out to Girly and Rebecca. "It's their birthday," Sneezy says energetically, in English. There's a lot of love sent out. Some belated birthdays. And a few memorials. Sneezy plays a mournful gospel song "in loving memory of Lesley Aaron Nash." "I'll try to ease out of it with maybe some country Western music," he says, off the air. "Or, I know what I can do." He swivels his chair and flips through the stack of CDs behind him. He pulls out one with the greatest hits of Louis Armstrong. He leans into the microphone hanging in front of him. He asks softly, in Apache, if the parents out there have hugged their children or told them they loved them. "If you want to see somebody's good smile, do it and try it and you can get a good smile out of someone." He says the next song is dedicated to his own wife and daughter. He starts the cascading strings of Armstrong's What a Wonderful World He hits the red button to take himself off the air and says, "All right, let's go to Lamont's Mortuary." He flips to the commercial copy in his logbook. "That's one advertisement I don't like to do," he says. "Because Indians when you talk about death, they think you're crazy." He tries to translate the ad so it doesn't offend anybody. "But every time, I have a problem with that. There's still a gray area there." On the air, he tells listeners "you never know when you're going to go. You need to be prepared. You need to preplan and the people at Lamont Mortuary . . . " Sneezy grew up with classic rock and oldies. He listens to Anne Murray and jazz to mellow out after his job as director of surveillance at Apache Gold casino, the largest private employer on the reservation. He initially turned down the job at KRXS because he weighed 400 pounds and worried that he wouldn't be able to climb the stairs to reach the second-floor studio. After a year going up and down the flights twice a week, Sneezy says he has dropped 30 pounds. Halfway through the show, Sneezy has to cut off dedications. "Requests eko stahalso ohiko. No more requests." His show runs two hours - 7 to 9 p.m. on Tuesdays and Thursdays. It's popular enough that the station is considering a third hour. Avoiding controversy Sneezy tries to avoid political songs by Native American artists and avoids discussing controversial issues on the air. "I see a lot of people that just still - they have this cloud over their head," he says. Some of that anger is from long-ago injustices, some from current squabbles within the community. "I'm just trying to put good thoughts into people's minds." The Bob Marley song is ending and it's time for the San Carlos Telecom spot. He cues up Play that Funky Music, White Boy, and goes through the requests. Justin wants to send Beast of Burden by the Rolling Stones to his girlfriend and Ramus wants to dedicate Hard Luck Woman to his mother (Arizona Republic Sept 15 via Mike Cooper, DXLD) ** U S A [and non]. GARNER TED ARMSTRONG DIES AT 73 Evangelist Garner Ted Armstrong has died of pneumonia aged 73. Armstrong and his father, Herbert W. Armstrong, were familiar voices on the British offshore radio stations in the 1960's with their program The World Tomorrow, which was broadcast on 300 stations worldwide. The Worldwide Church of God bought airtime on virtually every offshore station, and helped to keep some of the smaller ones going. However, in 1978 the two Armstrongs fell out when Garner Ted denounced what he claimed were the church's lavish expenses. His father barred him from using church facilities and excommunicated him. He later founded two ministries of his own. Mr. Armstrong leaves his wife, three sons and five grandchildren (© Radio Netherlands Media Network 16 September 2003 via DXLD) EVANGELIST GARNER TED ARMSTRONG DIES Tuesday, September 16, 2003 http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,97424,00.html TYLER, Texas -- Evangelist Garner Ted Armstrong (search), who founded two independent ministries and was once the voice of the religious television program "World Tomorrow," died Monday of complications from pneumonia. He was 73. Armstrong died in a Tyler hospital, said his son Mark. Armstrong founded the Church of God International (search) in 1978 after his father, Herbert W. Armstrong, founder of the Pasadena, Calif.-based Worldwide Church of God, excommunicated him after a dispute. He founded the Garner Ted Armstrong Evangelistic Association in Tyler in 1978, along with the Church of God International. He left the second body after allegations surfaced involving sexual abuse. Armstrong founded the Intercontinental Church of God in 1998. Mark Armstrong called the Intercontinental Church of God the "true" religion, with beliefs rooted in the Bible and the Ten Commandments (search). He said the church sought to eliminate pagan practices that had found their way into modern Christianity. "He unapologetically offended more religious people than just about anybody in the history of radio and television. But when he offended them enough, they would go to their Bibles to find the truth," Armstrong said in an interview Monday night with The Associated Press. Armstrong's work on the weekly "World Tomorrow" began in the late 1950s. The show was seen by millions of Americans on television, while the radio show was broadcast in five languages worldwide on more than 300 stations. After he left "World Tomorrow," Armstrong continued work on a TV program bearing his name. Armstrong is survived by his wife, three sons and five grandchildren (AP via Fox News via DXLD) ** U S A. COLUMBIA RADIO BACK AT FULL POWER By MAXINE SHEN http://www.nypost.com/entertainment/5856.htm September 16, 2003 -- AFTER two years of broadcasting at reduced power, America's oldest FM station - WKCR 89.9 FM - is back to full strength. Broadcasting since 1941, Columbia University's student-run radio station, which lost its transmitter atop the World Trade Center on 9/11, is now airing from its new home in 4 Times Square. Until last Friday, the station broadcast from the roof of a 13-story dorm on campus, reaching about 2 million people in Upper Manhattan. "It was nothing compared to our potential listening audience we enjoyed at the World Trade Center," says Matthew Niederhauser, WKCR's publicity director and jazz deejay. Now the station can reach at least 11 million people in the tri-state area. To celebrate its relaunch, WKCR is hosting music fests celebrating Latino heritage (Oct. 2-4), new music (Oct. 22-24), African music (Oct. 26-28) and Bach (Dec. 19-26). "We're hoping that people are going to get the station they once knew and loved," says Niederhauser. WKCR features a blend of jazz, classical, American, Latin and world music, alongside arts, sports, news and public affairs programming. For program schedule and more info, check out http://www.columbia.edu/cu/wkcr (via Jill Dybka, DXLD) ** U S A. Those of you that are curious about IBOC should go to http://www.wor710.com/Engineering/iboc/audio_samples.htm and listen to the new IBOC codec's audio samples. It's clear they've made progress. I think this audio is good enough that the NRSC will resume standards work and bless iBiquity's system (Charles Hutton, NRC-AM via DXLD) I seem to recall some pretty big differences between some of the demos and real on-air the last time -- in fact I seem to recall some big differences between real on-air and those put up on the wbe and labelled as such (Russ Edmunds, Blue Bell, PA, ibid.) Russ, I recall this same situation as well. My offer is still open to anyone lurking in the list that is pro IBOC. Get me a receiver and I will do a *fair* and practical review for the end user (Fred Vobbe, OH, ibid.) Given WOR's track record of pathological disingenuousness concerning IBOC, I'm willing to make a substantial bet those samples have no connection whatsoever to objective reality (Harry Helms W7HLH, Las Vegas, NV DM26, ibid.) I downloaded WOR's new digital version of Faith Hills song. There are very noticeable clicks and pops in the audio but specially between 26- 34 seconds. This is supposed to be the new codec. I played it back in the new Adobe Audition (Cool Edit Pro). This eliminated the chance that the noise was generated during the live streaming. It's still not that great, but granted it's better than before. But to me, the analog version sounded just as good or better from a fidelity standpoint. Again these samples were pulled from their audio chain and not recorded "off air". Here's the link if you want to listen yourselves. http://www.wor710.com/Engineering/iboc/audio_samples.htm (Paul Smith, W4KNX, Located in Sunny Sarasota Florida, ibid.) I tried the Sinatra cut and the Beatles' "Yesterday"... in each case the direct CD playback (first column on the page) beat the "off-air" versions all to heck. The 6 kHz-limited "analog" version sounds like just what it is -- severely bandwidth-limited. The digital CODEC samples obviously have wider bandwidth, but not that much over my computer speakers. The highs are kind of artifact-y and mushy -- like a heavily-processed (say, 1970s-vintage Volumax!) FM signal. And they are mono, right? "Yesterday" certainly sounded like mono compared with the direct CD playback, where the acoustic guitar was firmly in the left channel. Okay, so it's "better" than "analog" AM, but so what? (Randy Stewart/Springfield MO, ibid.) ** U S A. Someone wrote: ``KWKH [1130] Shreveport, whose pattern I think is outta whack AGAIN.. They are too strong here.`` Per some sources within Clear Channel, KWKH has been doing some significant antenna work in recent months. Their pattern isn't so much outta whack as "restored to its proper state of whack after a long period of whacklessness." KEEL 710 has been undergoing maintenance as well. It was bombing into Dallas like a ton of bricks during the convention; I taped a bit of the very nifty classic country format, including the "listener testimonials," which, when coupled with the Loozyana accent, appeared to be praising a station that called itself "Kay-uhya-kay- aich," except a little swallowed at that. Say what you will about CC in other aspects of its operation, they run a magnificently clean ship engineering-wise, as anyone who heard Mark's WLW pieces on the recent DXAS issues can attest. It's rare to find a CC AM facility operating in anything less than a state of full whack. (That's the technical term. Right, Fred?) -s (Scott Fybush, NY, NRC-AM via DXLD) ** U S A. US [MW] stations heard overseas Ten years ago, 850 Boston was the best US station heard in Western Sahara. From about an hour before Boston sunset until a half hour after sunrise in the desert, it produced a decent signal. I'll grant that being on a split helped it attain that status. I can't speak for how it gets out, or doesn't get out, in its market area, but they sure got across the Atlantic to Africa easily (Gerry Bishop, Niceville, FL, NRC-AM via DXLD) The USAF was in Western Sahara? (gh) 1030 WBZ is the only AM station in Boston that doesn't have nighttime signal issues. Boston's two sports stations 850 WEEI and 1510 WWZN are probably more easily received across the Atlantic than in western Massachusetts. Okay, maybe I'm being a little sarcastic, but suburban sprawl has always been a problem for Boston AM stations, most of which beam east at night to protect stations to the west. La Mega now simulcasts on 890, 1150, and 1400 to attempt to cover suburbia, yet still doesn't have coverage comparable to most FMs (Bruce Conti - Nashua NH, NRC-AM via DXLD) WEEI-850 (ex-WHDH) and WWZN-1510 (ex-WMEX & many other calls) are the two loudest US stations in Europe, based both on what I noted from Ireland in the late '70s and on reports I see in Medium Wave News from the UK. New Yorkers on 660, 880, 1010, 1050, 1130, and 1560 - most of which have transmitters in swamp / salt-marsh type sites - also boom in across the pond. Of course some of the Canadian Maritimers such as VOCM-590 and CJYQ- 930 out of Newfoundland, being a few hundred miles closer, pack even bigger signals. Other Boston stations that make it across the pond, but at somewhat lesser strength, include WRKO-680, WBZ-1030, WMKI-1260, WXKS-1430, and WUNR-1600. WMKI does very well for its 5 kW since it's right on the shore. Even little 1 kW stations such as WESX-1230 Salem and WJDA-1300 Quincy have been logged in the UK. Like WMKI, these are aided by excellent coastal locations. A number of other more distant US stations are also picked up frequently in Europe: high-banders such as WTOP-1500 (DC), WWKB-1520 (Buffalo, NY), and WPTR-1540 (Albany, NY) are prominent. Generally the best inland-originating signals are from the Great Lakes states (aided by some lake gain): WJR-760 MI and WTAM-1100 OH do pretty well. Northern Scandinavia is much different propagationally from most of Europe and North Africa since auroral blockage makes the eastern half of the US difficult DX compared to stations along the Canadian border westward from Minnesota to Washington State. Those signals get through the "doughnut hole" in the auroral zone to reach such famous DXpedition sites such as Lemmenjoki, Finland. Some of the "peanut whistle" low-powered US stations the Finns pull in with their Beverages are heard better there at 4000+ miles than they're heard by normal listeners driving under powerlines on the other end of the stations' own towns. Bruce Conti said that WBZ-1030 can be hard to hear in a noisy part of Nashua, NH. On the other hand, I have a tape of WBZ made by Roger Perkins, W1OJ (ex-K1CZH), in late 1965 from a US Naval ship anchored off Vietnam. Perfectly good copy on that one. It all shows the fickle nature of AM reception: how far reaching it can be with the right combination of propagation, salt-water enhancement, antenna, receiver, and skilled DXer and, on the flip side of the coin, how useless it can be in the face of powerline / digital gizmo noise, concrete & steel buildings, etc. well within a station's intended coverage area (Mark Connelly, WA1ION - Billerica, MA, NRC-AM via DXLD) ** U S A. NEW STATION TO REUNITE 'UNCLE LAR & LI'L TOMMY' September 17, 2003 BY ROBERT FEDER SUN-TIMES COLUMNIST http://www.suntimes.com/output/feder/cst-fin-feder17.html Some of Chicago's biggest radio stars of the '60s and '70s soon could be teaming up to launch a brand new radio station for Clear Channel Communications. Tommy Edwards, the veteran broadcaster and programmer best known for his legendary 14-year run at WLS-AM (890), is expected to sign on as program director and morning personality on Clear Channel's new frequency at 1690 AM on the far end of the dial. If all goes as planned, Edwards will be joined on his morning show each weekday by his former "Animal Stories" partner, Larry Lujack. The prospect of reuniting "Uncle Lar and Li'l Tommy" has been a dream of their Chicago radio fans since Lujack retired in 1987. Also considered likely to have a major on-air role is Ron Britain, the wildly creative genius who reigned as "King B" on the former WCFL and other Chicago stations for 35 years. The new station, recently approved by the Federal Communications Commission and licensed to west suburban Berwyn, could hit the air before the end of the month. Operating at 10,000 watts during the day and 1,000 watts at night, its signal is expected to cover the Chicago metropolitan area. [the CP moving up from Johnson City, southern IL] The station is most likely to target baby boomers over the age of 45 with a music format that combines adult standards and popular hits of the '50s and '60s. After a distinguished career in Chicago, Edwards moved to Los Angeles in 1992 and spent the next 10 years as program director of KCBS-FM. He most recently was director of programming for American General Media, based in Albuquerque, N.M. That put Edwards in close proximity to Lujack, who lives in Santa Fe, N.M. The self-styled "Superjock" Lujack made a brief comeback on Clear Channel's former WUBT in 2000. John Gehron, who was Edwards' and Lujack's boss at WLS, now heads Clear Channel's operations in Chicago. The addition of 1690 AM would boost Clear Channel's Chicago holdings to seven. It now operates one AM station -- WGCI-AM (1390) -- and five FMs -- WGCI-FM (107.5), WKSC-FM (103.5), WLIT-FM (93.9), WNUA-FM (95.5) and WVAZ-FM (102.7). (via Artie Bigley, DXLD) UNIDENTIFIED. Just after 10 pm CDT (11 pm EDT, 0300 UT) last night, I noticed somebody on 1610 just off frequency, playing the slow movement of Mozart's "Eine Kleine Nachtmusik"... it didn't stay in long, never heard any announcements. It looped NE/SW from here -- does the Quebec station play any classical music? (Randy Stewart/Springfield MO, NRC- AM via DXLD) Montreal-1610 plays alot of lively Caribbean music so I doubt it was them. Any chance you had Vatican-1611 "slopping over" onto 1610? (Marc DeLorenzo, Marstons Mills, Mass., ibid.) I thought about that briefly, but there was no 1-kHz het -- this was just slightly off of 1610, maybe a few hundred Hz. And it didn't loop toward the Caribbean so I eliminated Caribbean Beacon as a possibility. Curiouser and curiouser (Randy Stewart/Springfield MO, ibid.) and CJWI has been reported 100+ Hz high (gh, DXLD) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ PUBLICATIONS ++++++++++++ UTE FREQUENCY REFERENCE LIST --- March 1999 This is a searchable frequency list. Enter an item to search for [238-29701 kHz] http://raven.cybercomm.net/~slapshot/utelist.html (via Bruce Valrico, FL, swl at qth.net via DXLD) DRM +++ Glenn, Interesting article in the October 2003 issue of QST. "Digital Radio Mondiale" by Steve Ford includes a circuit for converting 455 kHz IF to 12 kHz. Article also includes useful DRM links. 73, (Kraig Krist, KG4LAC, DX LISTENING DIGEST) DRM CHAIRMAN PETER SENGER RECEIVES LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARD AT IBC 2003 Amsterdam – On September 15th, Digital Radio Mondiale (DRM) Chairman Peter Senger became the first-ever recipient of the European Broadcast Union`s (EBU) Lifetime Achievement Award for Services to International Broadcasting. The award was presented by Radio Netherlands Director General Lodewijk Bouwens at the International Broadcasting Convention (IBC) 2003, where Peter Senger was presenting a lecture on digital broadcasting. Senger has led the DRM consortium since its inception in 1998, and has been Executive Director of Marketing, Distribution and Technology at Deutsche Welle (DW) since 2002. ``Peter Senger is a travelling ambassador for the industry, ensuring that technology in our sector maintains relevant and cutting edge,`` said Bouwens, who is also chairman of the EBU`s International Radio Group. ``He has represented the interests of not only his own station, but of his broadcasting colleagues across the continent. We believe Peter`s outstanding lifetime devotion to this business should be recognised, celebrated and applauded.`` The DRM consortium has 83 members representing 29 countries. In just five years, DRM created the world`s only non-proprietary, universally standardized, digital system (also called DRM) for short-wave, medium- wave/AM and long-wave that uses existing frequencies and bandwidth. DRM`s international debut occurred in June, when 16 leading broadcasters transmitted the world`s first, live DRM programs. Since then, the number of media organizations sending daily or periodic DRM broadcasts has risen to 26. With clear, near-FM quality sound and excellent reception that offers a dramatic improvement over analogue, DRM will revitalize radio in markets worldwide. DRM receivers are expected to be available in shops in 2004. Senger`s work as a high-profile pioneer of digital radio broadcasting began in 1994, when he joined the Steering Board of the World DAB Forum. He represented the interests of international broadcasters in that role until 1998. He was also Chairman of the Module for Satellite Services. At the IFA 2003 consumer electronics show in Berlin last month, Senger and World DAB Forum President Annika Nyberg announced the cooperation of DRM and the World DAB Forum, paving the way for DRM- and DAB-capable consumer receivers. Peter Senger started his DW career in 1965, after completing his studies in Broadcast Engineering in Berlin. For 16 years, he worked at various DW overseas relay stations in Africa, Europe and the Caribbean. In 1981, Senger returned to Germany, where he led DW`s Radio Frequency department for 13 years. In this role, he participated in delicate frequency coordination conferences, when countries in Eastern and Western Europe were cautiously trying to break down the Iron Curtain. From 1995 to 2002, he served as DW`s Chief Engineer and Deputy Technical Director. In this post, he was in charge of new technologies, as well as the planning and operation of the satellite network that transmits DW`s television and radio programs worldwide. In 1998 he was nominated for the Communication Section of the German Space Center ``Deutsches Zentrum für Luft- und Raumfahrt e.V./DLR.`` Over the years, Senger has travelled extensively on behalf of DW and has delivered hundreds of presentations, lectures and press conferences covering a range of industry issues. He has been active in several committees examining the implementation of digital audio broadcasting and satellite radio. Senger is also a member of the board of German TV, a pay-TV service combining the efforts of the public broadcasters ARD, ZDF and DW for program distribution in the North American market. He has led teams analysing the impact of new media and television on international audiences. (DRM press release via DXLD) PROPAGATION +++++++++++ SEC's DIRE SITUATION Dear Friend, The following describes Space Environment Center's unfortunate financial situation. For the coming fiscal year, the House Committee-recommended funding creates a huge shortfall, and the Senate Committee's recommendation implies no support for space weather service at all this year. Possibly a new service would be established elsewhere in the government, but that is uncertain at this point. We thought you would like to know. Ernest Hildner and the staff of SEC U.S. SPACE WEATHER SERVICE IN DEEP TROUBLE --- SUMMARY For Fiscal Year 2004, starting October 1, 2003, the House Appropriations Bill for Commerce, Justice, and State continues Space Environment Center's funding at $5.2 M (a reduction of 40 % below the FY02 level). Worse, the FY04 Senate Appropriations Bill zeroes Space Environment Center and all space weather in NOAA, so services, data and observations, and archiving would all disappear if the final appropriation is at the Senate level. At the House funding level, starting October 1 SEC will rapidly lose about half its staff, negatively affecting its ability to serve the Nation with operational products, data collection, and R&D. Unless the appropriation level for Space Environment Center is restored to the level of the President's FY04 Budget Request, $8.3 million, the Nation's civilian space weather service is in trouble. At the President's requested funding level, Space Environment Center can almost return to FY02 level of services, data, and R&D. BACKGROUND NOAA's Space Environment Center in Boulder, Colorado, provides a range of services to the Nation related to space weather phenomena. Among other activities, the Center is the unique provider of real-time monitoring and forecasting of solar and geophysical events, it conducts research in solar-terrestrial physics, and it develops techniques for forecasting solar and geophysical disturbances. That is, Space Environment Center is the Nation's space weather service, monitoring and predicting conditions in space, much as the National Weather Service does for meteorological weather. SEC jointly operates the Space Weather Operations Center with the U.S. Air Force and serves as the national and world warning center for disturbances that can affect people and equipment working in the space environment. It is the government's official source for alerts and warnings of disturbances. Customers include DoD, NASA, FAA, airlines, operators of electric power grids, communicators, satellite operators, the National Space Weather Program, and commercial providers of value-added space weather services. Partnering with researchers funded by NSF, NASA, and the DoD, Space Environment Center is the place where much of the nation's $100s of millions annual investment in the National Space Weather Program and in space physics research is applied for the benefit of commerce, defense, NASA spaceflight, and individual taxpayers. SEC's appropriation lines can be found in the Department of Commerce, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Office of Oceanic and Atmospheric Research portion of the Budget. In the omnibus appropriations Bill for FY 2003, the SEC received a severe cut to its budget of about 40%, with no explanation for the reduction. One-time funding additions have kept SEC afloat in FY2003. The President's Budget request is $8.3 million for SEC in FY2004 (an amount consistent with its past budgetary levels), but the House Commerce-Justice-State Appropriations Committee provides only $5.2 million, or roughly 40% less than the amount necessary to maintain SEC at its current operational effectiveness. Again for FY04, no explanatory text was included in the Committee Report to explain this reduction, and it far exceeds the 18 % reduction below request meted out to NOAA Research overall and the 1% reduction to National Weather Service's request. The Bill has not yet been acted upon by the full House. The Senate Appropriations Committee explains its termination of space weather in NOAA in the Report accompanying its Commerce-Justice- State Bill as follows. The full text of the Senate Report may be found at http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/cpquery/T?&report=sr144&dbname=cp108& Solar observation. - The "Atmospheric" in NOAA does not extend to the astral. Absolutely no funds are provided for solar observation. Such activities are rightly the bailiwick of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration and the Air Force. Needless to say, there is no evidence to suggest that NASA and the Air Force agree that one or the other, or both, should operate the Nation's civilian space weather service. CONCLUSION Unless SEC's appropriation level is increased in Conference, the best outlook is that Space Environment Center shrinks to less than half its capability (House mark), and the worst is that space weather will disappear from NOAA (Senate mark). In this case, the Nation's space weather service will have to be reconstituted in some other agency, at greater cost and lesser capability, to meet the Nation's needs. ************************************************** Ernest Hildner Director, Space Environment Center Tel: 303-497-3311 Manager, NOAA Space Weather Program Fax: 303 497-3645 325 Broadway, Boulder, CO 80305 http://www.sec.noaa.gov ************************************************** (via Candice L Curtiss, NOAA, Sept 17 via Ian Johnson, ARDXC via DXLD) FORECAST OF SOLAR AND GEOMAGNETIC ACTIVITY 17 SEPTEMBER - 13 OCTOBER Solar activity is expected to range from very low to low levels during the period. No greater than 10 MeV proton events at geosynchronous orbit are expected during the period. The greater than 2 MeV electron flux at geosynchronous orbit is expected to reach high levels on 19 – 23 September and again on 02 – 05 October. The geomagnetic field is expected to range from quiet to major storm levels during the period. A large coronal hole high speed flow is expected to return on 17 – 21 September with major storm levels possible. Another coronal hole is due to return on 01 – 03 October and is expected to produce mostly active conditions with isolated minor storm levels possible. A returning coronal hole on 05 – 08 October is expected to produce active to isolated minor storm levels. :Product: 27-day Space Weather Outlook Table 27DO.txt :Issued: 2003 Sep 16 2211 UTC # Prepared by the US Dept. of Commerce, NOAA, Space Environment Center # Product description and SEC contact on the Web # http://www.sec.noaa.gov/wwire.html # # 27-day Space Weather Outlook Table # Issued 2003 Sep 16 # # UTC Radio Flux Planetary Largest # Date 10.7 cm A Index Kp Index 2003 Sep 17 105 35 6 2003 Sep 18 105 30 5 2003 Sep 19 110 30 5 2003 Sep 20 115 25 5 2003 Sep 21 118 20 4 2003 Sep 22 118 15 3 2003 Sep 23 120 12 3 2003 Sep 24 120 12 3 2003 Sep 25 115 12 3 2003 Sep 26 115 12 3 2003 Sep 27 110 10 3 2003 Sep 28 110 15 3 2003 Sep 29 110 15 3 2003 Sep 30 110 20 4 2003 Oct 01 110 20 4 2003 Oct 02 110 15 3 2003 Oct 03 105 12 3 2003 Oct 04 105 10 3 2003 Oct 05 100 10 3 2003 Oct 06 100 10 3 2003 Oct 07 100 20 4 2003 Oct 08 95 15 3 2003 Oct 09 95 12 3 2003 Oct 10 95 12 3 2003 Oct 11 95 10 3 2003 Oct 12 95 10 3 2003 Oct 13 100 30 5 KN4LF DAILY HF/MF RADIO PROPAGATION OUTLOOK #2003-19 http://www.kn4lf.com/kn4lf5.htm Date Format is YY/MM/DD -- Published Tuesday 03/09/16 At 1500 UTC This propagation outlook is already valid for a 72 hour period. Beginning with today's outlook I will begin publishing it every 72 hours or three days. The next outlook will be published on Friday 03/09/19. PAST 96 HOUR SOLAR, SPACE WEATHER AND GEOMAGNETIC INDICES- Sunspot Groups No sunspot groups currently contain a twisted magnetic field capable of producing isolated very large M class solar flares. Solar Flux Readings- 98 to 94 The daily solar flux reading of 94 that occurred on the 03/09/12 and 03/09/14 was the lowest since 99/05, which was on the rising side of solar cycle 23. SEC Sunspot Number- 68 to 57 X-Ray Solar Flares- C-9 M-0 X-0 X-Ray Solar flare activity continues unusually quiet lately with no M class flares since 03/08/19 and no X class solar flares since 03/06/15. Averaged Background X-Ray Flux- B3.1 to B1.4 Energetic Protons >10 MeV (10+0)- None Geo-effective (Earth Facing) Coronal Mass Ejections (CME)- Two partially geo-effective. Coronal Holes #056 and 057 rotated into geo-effective position beginning on 03/09/13 but closed on 03/09/14. Recurrent Coronal Hole #057 rotated into geo-effective position on 03/09/14. This Coronal Hole was #052 last month and created havoc with the geomagnetic field, producing a Kp of 7 (strong storm) and an Ap of 122 (severe storm). Coronal Hole #059 will rotate into geo-effective position on 03/09/19. In the past 96 hour period the Ap index has been at quiet to unsettled levels, with a range of 5 to 12. In the past 96 hour period the Kp index has been at quiet to minor storm levels, with a range of 1 to 5. Here are some "general" guidelines concerning correlation of propagation indices to actual expected HF/MF propagation conditions. 1.) Dropping indices numbers are better, except for solar flux on HF. 2.) For medium frequencies a solar flux under 150, under 100 better, 70 is best for E layer multi hop. Keep in mind though that the 10.7 cm (2800 mhz) solar flux index is not a "reliable" gauge of ionization in our atmosphere, as the energy of photons at this frequency is to low on the order of one million times. 2a.) For high frequencies a solar flux of 100 is okay, 150 better, above 200 best for F layer multi hop. 3.) Solar flux of at least 100 for E valley-F layer ducting mechanism. 4.) Previous 24 hour Ap index under 10, under 7 for several days consecutively is best. 5.) Previous 3 hour Kp index under 3 for mid latitude paths, under 2 for high latitude paths, 0-1 for several days consecutively is best. 6.) Energetic protons no greater then 10 MeV (10+0) for 160/120 meters and no greater then (10-1) on MF broadcast band. 7.) Background x-ray flux levels less than C1 for several days consecutively for 160/120 meters and less then B9 for MF broadcast band. 8.) No current STRATWARM alert. 9.) IMF Bz with a (+) positive sign, indicates a lesser chance of high latitude path auroral absorption/unpredictable refraction or scattering of MF RF signals, when the Kp is above 3. TODAY'S PROPAGATION LESSON #14- 14.) Sporadic-D (Ds) Absorption & Wave Guiding- Sporadic-D (Ds) occurrences have an inter-relationship with brief but intense Sun based and Galactic Cosmic Rays, huge positive cloud to ground lightning strokes and interrelated Sprites and Elves. Very large bursts of Gamma Rays have also been observed to occur in conjunction with Sprites. Sporadic-D (Ds) absorption occurs both at day and night. Much of the night time occurrence of Sporadic-D (Ds) absorption is often masked by lightning QRN, as well as a lack of radio operation during thunderstorm events due to the lightning strike hazard and/or high QRN levels and also due to the operator not being able to recognize the mode due to unfamiliarity with it. It's doubtful that you will read about the Sporadic-D (Ds) phenomena anywhere else other then on this website. While on the topic of lightning and propagation, an ionized lightning channel which normally has a maximum diameter of approximately a silver dollar, can reflect RF much like meteor trails do. I've personally noticed it on the 70 cm band, as a single propagation burst lasting 1/4 to ½ second. 72 HOUR PROPAGATION OUTLOOK- We will see continued active Kp-4 to minor storm Kp-5 geomagnetic conditions through today the 18th, thanks to recurring Coronal Hole #057 and two partially geo-effective Coronal Mass Ejections. Some brief periods of moderate Kp-6 storm conditions are also possible. GLOBAL HF 3000-30000 KC PROPAGATION CONDITIONS EXPECTED- Low Latitude- Good Mid Latitude- Good High Latitude- Fair To Poor GLOBAL MF 300-3000 KC PROPAGATION CONDITIONS EXPECTED- Expect fair then becoming poor "Northern Hemisphere" domestic propagation conditions on east-west paths. *Expect poor domestic conditions on north "TO" south paths in the "Northern Hemisphere" out to approximately 1100 miles. +Expect good domestic conditions on south "TO" north paths in the "Northern Hemisphere" out to approximately 1100 miles. Expect fair then becoming poor "Southern Hemisphere" domestic propagation conditions on east-west paths. +Expect good domestic conditions on north "TO" south paths in the "Southern Hemisphere" out to approximately 1100 miles. *Expect poor conditions on south "TO" north paths in the "Southern Hemisphere" out to approximately 1100 miles. "High latitude" Northern Hemisphere (TA) Trans Atlantic, (TI) Trans Indian, (TP) Trans Pacific and cross equatorial propagation conditions in excess of approximately 3200 miles should be poor. "High latitude" Southern Hemisphere (TA) Trans Atlantic, (TI) Trans Indian, (TP) Trans Pacific and cross equatorial propagation conditions in excess of approximately 3200 miles should be poor. "Mid latitude" Northern Hemisphere (TA) Trans Atlantic, (TI) Trans Indian, (TP) Trans Pacific and cross equatorial propagation conditions in excess of approximately 3200 miles should be fair then becoming fair to good. "Mid latitude" Southern Hemisphere (TA) Trans Atlantic, (TI) Trans Indian, (TP) Trans Pacific and cross equatorial propagation conditions in excess of approximately 3200 miles should be fair then becoming fair to good. "Low latitude" Northern Hemisphere (TA) Trans Atlantic, (TI) Trans Indian, (TP) Trans Pacific propagation conditions in excess of approximately 3200 miles should be good. "Low latitude" Southern Hemisphere (TA) Trans Atlantic, (TI) Trans Indian, (TP) Trans Pacific propagation conditions in excess of approximately 3200 miles should be good. Propagation Forecast Scales- Excellent- +1 db Over S9 Or better Good- S7-9 Fair- S4-6 Poor- S1-3 NOISE (QRN) OUTLOOK- GLOBAL SATELLITE DERIVED LIGHTNING STRIKE DATA (See Where Your QRN Is Coming From) http://aviationweather.gov/gcd/graf/expconus.gif http://aviationweather.gov/gcd/graf/exptropical.gif During the 72 hour outlook period there will be "high" lightning induced QRN levels in low latitude areas of the Northern Hemisphere due to the proximity of the Inter-Tropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ) and tropical cyclones. Northern hemisphere mid latitude regions can expect "moderate to high" lightning induced QRN tied to summer season thunderstorms, cold/warm/occluded fronts and associated extra-tropical cold core low pressure systems and tropical cyclones. Northern hemisphere high latitude regions can expect "low to moderate" lightning induced QRN tied to summer season thunderstorms, cold/warm/ occluded fronts and associated extra-tropical cold core low pressure systems. During the outlook period there will be "high to moderate" lightning induced QRN levels in low latitude areas of the Southern Hemisphere due to the proximity of the Inter Tropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ) and tropical cyclones. Southern hemisphere mid latitude regions can expect "moderate" lightning induced QRN, tied to winter season thunderstorms cold/warm/ occluded fronts and associated extra-tropical cold core low pressure systems. Southern hemisphere high latitude regions can expect "low" lightning induced QRN tied to winter season thunderstorms, cold/warm/occluded fronts and associated extra-tropical cold core low pressure systems. Space Weather Scales- Kp Indices- G5 = Extreme Storm - Kp = 9 G4 = Severe Storm - Kp = 8 G3 = Strong Storm - Kp = 7 G2 = Moderate Storm - Kp = 6 G1 = Minor Storm - Kp = 5 Active - Kp = 4 Unsettled - Kp = 3 Ap Indices- Ap 100-400 Severe Storm Ap 50-99 Major Storm Ap 30-49 Minor Storm Ap 16-29 Active Ap 8-15 Unsettled Ap 0-7 Quiet Correlation Of Kp To Ap Indices- K- 0= A- 0 K- 1= A- 3 K- 2= A- 7 K- 3= A- 15 K- 4= A- 27 K- 5= A- 48 K- 6= A- 80 K- 7= A- 140 K- 8= A- 240 K- 9= A- 400 Standard Disclaimer- Note! I use "RAW" public domain data from the NOAA Space Environment Center, as well as other U.S. government organizations, to produce my "not for profit" propagation forecast outlooks. This data is gathered and made public by the U.S. Government using taxpayer $$$. However the forecast outlooks that I produce from the "RAW" public domain data, is my personal intellectual property. Therefore the propagation outlooks contained herein is copyrighted © 1988-2003 by Thomas F. Giella and the Florida Space And Atmospheric Weather Institute, all rights reserved. Reproduction of information herein is allowed as long as proper credit is given. Also space weather forecasting is still an inexact science. The discussions, forecasts and outlooks are not official but for educational purposes only and are subject to human error and acts of God, therefore no guarantee or warranty implied 73 & GUD DX, Thomas F. Giella, KN4LF, Plant City, FL, USA KN4LF Daily Solar Space Weather & Geomagnetic Data Archive & Daily HF/MF Radio Propagation Outlook http://www.kn4lf.com/kn4lf5.htm KN4LF HF/MF Radio Propagation Theory Notes http://www.kn4lf.com/kn4lf8.htm KN4LF 160 Meter Amateur Radio Resources & More http://www.kn4lf.com/kn4lf.htm Florida Space & Atmospheric Weather Institute http://www.kn4lf.com/fsawi.htm (via NRC-AM via DXLD) ###