DX LISTENING DIGEST 3-184, October 19, 2003 edited by Glenn Hauser IMPORTANT NOTE: our hotmail accounts are being phased out. Please do not use them any further, but instead woradio at yahoo.com or wghauser at yahoo.com Items from DXLD may be reproduced and re-reproduced only if full credit be maintained at all stages and we be provided exchange copies. DXLD may not be reposted in its entirety without permission. Materials taken from Arctic or originating from Olle Alm and not having a commercial copyright are exempt from all restrictions of noncommercial, noncopyrighted reusage except for full credits HTML version of this issue will be posted later at [note change] http://www.w4uvh.net/dxldtd3j.html For restrixions and searchable 2003 contents archive see http://www.worldofradio.com/dxldmid.html NOTE: If you are a regular reader of DXLD, and a source of DX news but have not been sending it directly to us, please consider yourself obligated to do so. Thanks, Glenn NEXT AIRINGS OF WORLD OF RADIO 1203: RFPI: Mon 0030, 0630, 1230, Wed 0100, 0730, 1330 on 7445 [nominal times, often late] WBCQ: Mon 0415 on 5105, 7415 WWCR: Wed 0930 on 9475 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 1203 (high version): (stream) http://www.w4uvh.net/wor1203h.ram (download) http://www.w4uvh.net/wor1203h.rm (summary) http://www.worldofradio.com/wor1203.html WORLD OF RADIO 1203 (low version): (stream) http://www.w4uvh.net/wor1203.ram (download) http://www.w4uvh.net/wor1203.rm WORLD OF RADIO ON WRMI: Something else was on Sunday Oct 19 after 1800 on WRMI 15725, (webcast not working) and checking the schedule at http://www.ibcradio.com/radioschedule.htm we see that IBC Radio is now scheduling WOR only on Saturdays at 1800+ UT; presumably from Nov it will be 1900+ (gh) THORD KNUTSSON Some of you may already know that Thord Knutsson, Arctic Radio Club Latin America editor and long time WRTH collaborator, passed away on 8th October after a short illness (Olle Alm, ARC MV-Eko Information Desk, October 2003 via DXLD) ** ANTARCTICA. TERRITORIO ANTARTICO --- 15476 kHz, LRA36 Radio Nacional Arcángel San Gabriel, ubicada en Base Esperanza perteneciente al Ejército Argentino a los 63 grados 24 minutos 0 segundos de latitud sur, y 53 grados, 59 minutos 0 segundos de longitud oeste, en el Territorio Antártico, el próximo lunes 20 de Octubre cumplirá 24 años de actividades emitiendo en onda corta, de lunes a viernes de 1800 a 2100. Actualmente LRA36 funciona con un equipo Electronics modelo AM 10.000 F/HF con una potencia en baja de 3 KW y en alta de 10 KW. 73's GIB (Gabriel Iván Barrera, Argentina, Conexión Digital via DXLD) What are the chances of both coördinates being at zero seconds? Unless deliberately positioned there, or more accuracy assumed than warranted (gh) ** ARGENTINA. 2379.85, Probably Argentina and a harmonic from MW 1190 kHz. Close down without ID exactly at 0300.00 UT (Björn Malm, Quito, Ecuador, SW Bulletin Oct 19, translated by editor Thomas Nilsson for DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ARGENTINA. 3040 harmonic, AM 1520, Monte Grande (2 x 1520), with contemporary music and announcements; finally got an ID after several days: "101.7 y AM 1520" by man. Later a woman with looong dissertation about loving, also gave telephones for call in "4-29-6-...". One ID sounded like "Radio Modeit", but I can [not] figure out the correct spelling. Finally a closing announcement was heard at 0458 "Hasta aquí trasmitió AM 1520, la radio de Monte Grande". I thought carrier was going to disappear, but most surprisingly the channel was not vacated and Argentinian music followed, with distorted audio. A couple of ID's "FM Soldados 89.5" were heard. Audio improved shortly after. Puzzled about this "shared" operation (Horacio Nigro, Uruguay, Oct 15, Conexión Digial via DXLD) Same as 3-182 in Spanish ** ARMENIA [and non]. Re: ``Gavar (still listed by DW as "Kamo") Anyway much better than ``Mount Ararat`` :-)`` Hahahaha!! Made my day!! This needs to be explained by telling the story: Back in 1994 Armenian Radio started to lease airtime to mostly Swiss gospel huxters unter the brand AR Radio International. The first customer was a mission called Mitternachtsruf, and they spread a statement that they use a former KGB transmitter on the Ararat mountain, one of the strongest ones of all. This statement was reproduced here in Germany as "fact", together with the transmission power mentioned somewhere as 1000 kW. And so the shy Kai suggested this matter as topic for a telephone interview on the DX-Aktuell show, the one that was broadcast via Zehlendorf 177: "Yes, do it -- such nonsense!" was the response. And so I timidly talked about the circumstance that the Ararat mountain is actually situated in Turkey, that instead the transmitter location would have to be Kamo, situated east of Yerevan on the Sevan lake, that the output may well be 1000 kW since suitable shortwave transmitters exist there, and finally, these are just broadcast transmitters and any conspiracy theories unnecessary. Sensational disclosures!! Mind you -- all it took me to find out were atlas and WRTH. And now, nine years later? Mitternachtsruf is long forgotten. Word is that the AR Radio Intercontinental transmission ceased recently; earlier one missionary openly stated that he did no longer pay any transmission fees. Kamo was renamed into Gavar (I understand it was indeed renamed, i.e. this being not just a matter of Russian names for places elsewhere in the FSU lacking political correctness). DX-Aktuell was discontinued only a few months after the described interview, the new solid state transmitter at Zehlendorf was five years later inaugurated by the program director responsible for the discontinuation of the program, and just recently I received quite disturbing news about one of those who participated in the very last show, although not as disturbing as in the case of two guests in the control room who died in the meantime (I hope I am correct in assuming that at least all who made in on the tape are still alive). (Kai Ludwig, Germany, Oct 18, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** BIAFRA [non]. I got another odd one at 2143 Oct 18 on 7378.0 which was a diatribe against Nigeria, possibly coming out of Washington DC? The rhetoric was harsh citing that the Nigerian officials were stealing all the money and that the country could never work. They cited a Sovereign National Conference at 2143 and at 2159 signed off with 'Radio Biafra Broadcasting.' (all the best, Spanner McNeil from Montreal, DX LISTENING DIGEST) That would be V. of Biafra International, really 7380, presumably via South Africa, Saturdays only 2100-2200, last reported in 3-168; QSY up for B-03? (gh) ** BOLIVIA. 5952.52, Radio Pio XII, Siglo XX, 0000-0040, October 19. Transmission from a festival or popular party with different songs (Andean, romantic, "tecnocumbias", huaynos, etc). Short talks by male in Aymara. Only a short announcement in Spanish with greetings and ID as: "un saludo a quienes están escuchando a Radio Pio XII", 34443 (Arnaldo Slaen, Argentina, Cumbre DX via DXLD) RADIO PIO XII TOWER BOMBED IN CIVIL UNREST La Paz, Oct 16 (CRU) --- The tower of CP50 Radio Pio XII, which operates on AM, FM, and two shortwave frequencies and has a network of FM repeaters across this Andean country in west-central area South America, was bombed today by unknown parties. The Chinese news agency Xinhuanet reported that Radio Pio XII (Pius XII), owned by the Oblates of Mary Immaculate was attacked in the night, and 20 minutes later, so was the transmitter of television Channel 13. Bolivia is one of Latin America’s most impoverished countries and has undergone pronounced civil unrest bordering on anarchy in recent years. The U.S.-driven campaign to exterminate the coca plant, which Bolivians and particularly the Incas have chewed for eons to cope with the high altitudes and severe cold, provoked rioting in the streets and cities and led to the end of the previous administration. The coca is the sole source of income from many subsistence farmers, and one of the few sources of income in this desperately poor country. The present unrest, triggered by the announced sale of Bolivian natural gas to Chile, an historical enemy of Bolivians, has led to even greater protests and street riots that are seeing the national army and police using live ammunition to control rioters. Death toll estimates range from 50 to 70 as of press time, and the president of Bolivia is so far resisting increasing pressure from the population to have him resign. Radio Pio XII is internationally famous for its campaigns for social justice. Long a champion of the abused tin miners of Bolivia, it has incurred the wrath of several administrations. Some years ago, as reported by a Scandinavian shortwave enthusiast’s website, the station was closed and its staff harassed by the government for its reports on environmental pollution and toxins being dumped by mine operators. Xinhuanet says that military or police agents are the likely perpetrators of the attacks in retaliation against the poorest classes and the leftists whose riots are spreading across the country. In La Paz, food and medicines are increasingly difficult to find and the country is being brought to a standstill. Editor`s Note --- Because my computer access to the Internet has been down a week, I am not able to visit or credit the Scandinavian radio enthusiast whose website has a detailed story on Radio Pio XII, nor I am able to obtain additional information on the transmitter attacks or the rioting that is now being reported even by U.S. news media, traditionally indifferent to the perennial social anarchy in Latin America. At present, my access to the Internet is much limited. I hope to have more details when my Internet access is once again working. Database Siglo Veinte: CP50 Radio Pio XII 710 AM (10,000 watts), 97.9 FM, y 5948 y 5955 khz onda corta. Apartado 434, Oruro. Padre Roberto Durette OMI, dtr. Teléfono: +591-52-53163. Fundada 1967, FM May 14, 2000. Repitidoras FM en Cochabamba, Oruro, Potosí (Mike Dorner, Catholic Radio Update Oct 20 via DXLD) ** CANADA: R. CANADA INTERNATIONAL: 26 OCTOBER 2003 TO 28 MARCH 2004 Arabic 0330-0359 ME 5840ho 6025we 9615we 0430-0459 ME 9505we 11815we 11955au 2015-2044 ME 5995ho 9615au 12015 93.3vol 93.4vol 93.6vol 2215-2244 ME 1233rmc Chinese 1300-1329 China 9585ya 9810ko 11730ya 1430-1459 China 5985ya 9535ya 9810ko 2300-2329 AS 6160ko 9680ya 12045ya 13735sn English 0000-0057 AS 9755ko 11895xi 0200-0257 AS 15150xi 17860xi 0200-0259 AM 6040 9755 11725 1200-1259 AS 9795ya 11730ya 1300-1559 N+CAM mo-fr 9515 13655 17820 1400-1659 N+CAM sa-su 9515 13655 17820 1500-1557 AS 9635xi 11935xi 2100-2159 EU/AF 5850ho 7235sk 7425ar 9770 9805dh 13650 2200-2229 EU/AF 5850ho 6045sk 9770 12005 2300-2329 N+CAM 5960 9590 11865 2330-0059 NAM 5960 9590 French 0000-0059 N+SAM 9755 11865 13640 1100-1259 N+CAM mo-fr 9515 11805 1200-1359 N+CAM sa-su 9515 11805 2000-2059 EU/AF 7235sk 9770 11725fl 13650 15325 2200-2259 AS/AF 9810ko 12045ya 11835as 2230-2259 EU/AF 5850ho 9770 12005 2230-2329 N+CAM mo-fr 9755 13730 2230-2259 N+CAM sa-su 9755 13730 Russian 1600-1629 Russia 5840ho 9555we 11935we 13650ra 1730-1759 Russia 9555mo 11935sk Spanish 0130-0159 AM 9590 9755 11865 2330-2359 CAM 9755 1865 13730 Ukrainian 1630-1659 Ukr. 9555sk 11935sk 1700-1729 Ukr. 9555sk 11935sk ar = Armavir as = Ascension au = Austria dh = Dhabbaya fl - Flevo ho = Horby ko = Korea mo = Moscow ra = Rampisham rmc = R. Monte Carlo sk = Skelton sn = Singapore vol = V. of Lebanon we = Werchatal xi = Xi`an ya = Yamata (via Alokesh Gupta via Wolfgang Bueschel, re-arranged from pdf file [which also shows program titles] by Alan Roe, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** COLOMBIA. 2580.00 harmonic // 1720.0 harmonic [fundamental: 860] Voces de Occidente, Buga (Colombia) Oct 3 2003 1115 UT. When this one pops up it is usually with very good signal and also on several harmonics: 1720 and 2580 kHz. 2680.18 (Harmonic?) unID RCN, unknown QTH (Colombia) Oct 10 - 1035 UT. ID as "HJJX RCN, SF de Bogotá" listed on 770 kHz but also heard with local ID unfortunately not on the tape recording. A very uncertain "Radio El Sol". [possible fundamentals: 1340, 670] (Björn Malm, Quito, Ecuador, SW Bulletin Oct 19, translated by editor Thomas Nilsson for DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** COSTA RICA. 5055± Faro del Caribe, 0131-0137, Oct. 16, SINPO=33432. Música cristiana en español. OM habla entre tema y tema. Audio distorsionado. "Estamos presentando Música del recuerdo" con antiguas melodias cristianas (Elmer Escoto, Honduras, Conexión Digital via DXLD) ** CZECH REPUBLIC [and non]. Re: ``Other foreign relays of Radio Prague GERMAN 1730-1757 **5990 250 kW WeEurope... (via Andreas Volk-D, ADDX Oct 9, 2003 via BC-DX via DXLD) B-03?`` Yes, no doubt, since 1730 is at present 1630, on the very same 5990 but via Rimavská Sobota. Quite interesting that it is to move to Tbilisskaya. I wonder whether or not the reasons are merely on the technical side (Rimavská Sobota is still too close to Germany to avoid skipping in winter), having in mind that AWR left Rimavská Sobota because they considered it too expensive? By the way, the new Radio Prague schedule is already posted on their website (Kai Ludwig, Oct 18, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Radio Praha - a foreign service of the Czech Radio hires 3 foreign transmitters for its B'03 schedule (26 OCT 2003 - 28 MAR 2004): 0000-0030 11665 kHz Spanish 245 dgr. ASC Ascension 250 kW 1630-1700 5850 kHz Russian 291 dgr. NVS Novosibirsk 200 kW 1730-1800 5990 kHz German 290 dgr. KRD Krasnodar 250 kW The following MW transmitters will cease operation October 31, 2003: 558 kHz - Lipno / Blizna (regional program Ceske Budejovice) 558 kHz - Broumov / Rozmital (regional program Hradec Kralove) 846 kHz - Ostrava-Svinov (regional program Ostrava) 900 kHz - Brno-Komarov (program CRo 2 Praha) So hurry up if you want to send your reception report on regional transmissions. Schedules of regional transmissions: CRo Ceske Budejovice, U Tri lvu 1, 370 29 Ceské Budejovice: 0400-1900. Web: http://www.rozhlas.cz/cb CRo Hradec Kralove, Havlickova 292, 501 01 Hradec Králové: 0400-2100. Web: http://www.rozhlas.cz/hradec CRo Ostrava, Dr. Smerala 2, 729 91 Ostrava: 0400-1900. Web: http://www.rozhlas.cz/ostrava Ostrava-Svinov on 846 kHz is on the air 0700-1500 UT only! CRo = Cesky Rozhlas = Czech Radio (Karel Honzik, the Czech Republic (Czechia), Oct 19, MW-DX via DXLD) ** DENMARK [non]. Attached, please find the Radio Denmark B03 sched. as of October 26, 1 UT. I still haven't heard the final decision about the Radio Denmark future, but my feeling is that it will close down on Dec. 31 at 22.30-22.55 UT. Kind Regards, (Erik Køie, DR Radio, Oct 18, DX LISTENING DIGEST) We already published the first version of this advance schedule some weeks ago; hope this one has actually changed (gh) RADIO DENMARK, OCTOBER 26 - DECEMBER 31, 2003 UTC Target (primary coverage in brackets) kHz Tx Beam 12.30-12.55 South East Asia, Australia (west), Russia 11615 K 80 Far East 12070 K 40 Europe, Mediterranean, Canary Islands 13800 S 180 North America (east), Caribbean 18950 S 280 13.30-13.55 Europe 9590 S 180 Far East 11610 K 40 South East Asia, Australia (west), Russia 13800 K 80 North America (east + central), Greenland 17550 S 300 14.30-14.55 Russia, Europe (south east), Middle East (north), South Asia (India) 13800 K 95 North America (east + central), Greenland 17735 S 300 15.30-15.55 Russia, Europe (south east), Middle East (north), South Asia (India) 13800 K 95 Middle East (west) 15735 K 120 North America (west), Greenland 17525 S 315 16.30-16.55 Russia, Europe (south east), Middle East (north) 7490 K 95 Europe (south east), Middle East (west), Africa (east) 13800 K 145 North America (west), Greenland 15705 S 315 17.30-17.55 Europe 7490 S 180 Europe (south east), Middle East (west) - NOT Sundays! 9980 K 120 Europe (south east), Middle East (west), Africa (east) - NOT Sundays! 13800 K 145 North America (east), Caribbean 18950 S 280 18.30-18.55 Europe 7490 S 180 North America (east + central), Greenland 15735 S 300 19.30-19.55 Europe, Canary Islands 7490 S 180 North America (west), Greenland 13800 S 315 20.30-20.55 Europe, Canary Islands 7490 S 180 Africa 9980 K 165 21.30-21.55 Europe, Canary Islands, Africa (west) 7490 S 195 Australia 7560 K 65 22.30-22.55 Far East 7465 K 40 South America, Canary Islands 7560 S 235 23.30-23.55 North America (east), Caribbean 7390 S 280 South America 7405 S 235 South East Asia, Australia (west) 7490 K 80 Far East 7560 K 40 00.30-00.55 South East Asia, Australia (west) 7490 K 80 North America (east), Caribbean 7560 S 280 01.30-01.55 North America (east), Caribbean 7560 S 280 North America (east + central), Greenland 9945 S 300 02.30-02.55 South Asia (India) 7490 K 95 North America (east), Caribbean 7560 S 280 North America (east + central), Greenland 9590 S 300 04.30-04.55 North America (west), Greenland 7465 S 315 Russia, Middle East (north) 7490 K 95 Europe (south east), Africa (east), Middle East (west) 7560 K 145 05.30-05.55 Europe, Africa (north) 7490 K 165 06.30-06.55 Europe 5945 S 180 Africa, Europe (south) 13800 K 165 07.30-07.55 Europe 7180 K 165 Europe, Canary Islands, Africa (west) 9590 S 195 08.30-08.55 Far East, New Zealand 11975 K 35 Australia, Europe (south west), (South America) 13800 S 250 09.30-09.55 Far East, New Zealand 11975 K 40 Australia, Europe (south west), South America 13800 S 250 Middle East (east), South Asia (India) 18950 K 110 10.30-10.55 Europe, Mediterranean, Canary Islands 13800 S 180 South America, Canary Islands, Africa (west) 21765 S 235 11.30-11.55 Europe, Mediterranean, Canary Islands 13800 S 180 Africa 21755 K 165 Address: Radio Danmark, Radioavisen, Rosenorns Allé 22, DK-1999 Frederiksberg C, Denmark RD office telephone: +45 35 20 57 84 (then press ‘9’) - Telefax: +45 35 20 57 81. e-mail: schedule, programme matters: rdk@dr.dk - technical, reports: rdktek@dr.dk The schedule is also available by auto-reply email from: schedule@dr.dk WWW: http://www.dr.dk/rdk or http://www.dr.dk/radiodanmark - including RealAudio 'on demand' of our broadcasts. The two daily news transmissions in Danish only are aired at 12.30 and 18.30 utc. Transmissions in between are repeats. The technical letterbox programme, ``Tune In`` is heard every second Saturday from 1248 until 1748 UT. Transmissions may be cancelled without warning. Radio Denmark shares the Norwegian transmitters with Radio Norway. They broadcast at xx.00-xx.30, followed by Denmark at xx.30-xx.55, 24 hours a day. Stations: Kvitsoy (K) and Sveio (S) each have two 500 kW transmitters. They are located on the Norwegian west coast near Stavanger and Haugesund at 05.27E 59.04N (K) and 05.19E 59.37N (S). Kvitsoy covers the Eastern Globe, while Sveio covers the Western Globe [Hemispheres]. Radio Denmark replies complete reports by a QSL-card. Although not necessary, return postage is appreciated (1 IRC, 1 Euro or 1 US dollar). Recordings (incl. RealAudio and MP3 email files) are accepted. Tapes, however, are not returned (via Erik Køie, DR Radio, Oct 18 DXLD) ** DOMINICAN REPUBLIC. 5009.8, R. Pueblo/R. Cristal Internacional, at 2332 caught this English ID during a canned Spanish/English ID by M: "We are on the air on two frequencies, Radio Pueblo 15-10 AM stereo in Santo Domingo, central Dominican Republic from coast to coast, and Radio Cristal International, our shortwave service 23 years(?) from the central Caribbean ? on 5,010 Kilohertz 60 meter Tropical band". (Dave Valko, Dunlo PA, 6 Oct. [sic – with much later items dated Oct 19], Cumbre DX via DXLD) ** ECUADOR. 3380.07, C.R.I. Centro Radiofónico de Imbabura, Ibarra, Oct 16 2003 - 0115 UT. Religious program with OM. Close down 0155 with ID "Super 12-30". This station is on air at sporadic occasions on SW, maybe only 3-4 days a year. Has always been on the same split 3380.07 kHz. Relay of the MW transmitter but sometimes music programs exclusively for SW. After closedown the carrier was still there, probably all night. Considerably better signal than before but maybe depending of my new antenna! Listen to a recording from this occasion at: http://homepage.sverige.net/~a-0901/ (Björn Malm, Quito, Ecuador, SW Bulletin Oct 19, translated by editor Thomas Nilsson for DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ETHIOPIA [non]. OPPOSITION RADIO STATION ANNOUNCES FREQUENCY CHANGES | Text of report by Ethiopian opposition radio on 19 October The Voice of the Democratic Path for Ethiopian Unity [clandestine opposition radio station] will from next Sunday, 15 Tkmt 1996 [26 October 2003], make broadcasting frequency changes. Listeners, we will thus be broadcasting our programmes on Sundays on 17655 kHz in the 16 metre band instead of on 21550 kHz in the 13 metre band. Our programmes on Wednesdays will be broadcast on 7220 kHz in the 41 metre band instead of on 15565 kHz in the 19 metre band. Source: Voice of the Democratic Path of Ethiopian Unity in Amharic 0700 gmt 19 Oct 03 (via BBCM via DXLD) ** GERMANY. Re: ``Otherwise noteworthy is Nauen being involved in the 6075 operation for the first time, shown for the 0200-0400 and 1800- 2000 periods.`` I`m curious how this will sound on my location – 49m could do it by ground wave, while 31m is too high and not audible. Let´s see. Thanks for the information anyway (Andreas Erbe, Germany, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Well, already in the Rhine-Main-Area 9545 is audible and at Cologne it is even better than 6075. Not to speak about Paris; there it is so good that I was already asked by a broadcast engineer from where it originates. Nauen was not exactly what he was expecting. 9545 is here at Elsterwerda, 120 km south from Berlin, dead of course, but I already had groundwave reception of it, on a train ride. Interesting the fluttery reception, very similar to a weaker FM signal. The row of 4/6 curtains belonging to the KWZ site used to be a mighty view from the train (probably well-known also to "westerners" because this regards the Berlin -- Hamburg line), but not so anymore; on the mentioned ride about a year ago I made the disturbing discovery that the curtains were eliminated. A glimpse of the new ALLISS, far away behind the trees, that's all to be seen now. Some pictures from Nauen are here: http://home.wtal.de/uvolk/nauen_de.htm The large transmitter hall of the Muthesius building could well house modern 500 kW transmitters, but the ALLISS design was favoured due to its lower costs. There is a picture of one of the many utility transmitters used there until 1990. The two tubes on display belong to the current S4105 transmitters. Very nice of course the console with RTW level meters, bringing up my memories how I stood there back in 1998 when the fifth RTW still showed live on the Funkwerk Köpenick 100 kW rig some 1.5 km away in the KWZ plant (the 500 kW rigs there were already silenced by then) and how we discussed that the warm audio of the Köpenick is more pleasant than the harsh-metallic one of the PDM rigs, although the Optimod settings defined by DW were to blame for much of this sound. And I felt that many visitors considered me an employee... So much for now, good night, (Kai Ludwig, Germany, Oct 18, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** HONDURAS. ORGANIZACIONES DX DE HONDURAS Asociación Hondureña Radio Banda Once Metros y Radio Amateur A.H.R.B.O.M.-A. Se organizó en diciembre de 1978/ El 22 de dic de l980 el Gobierno Central le ortorga su Personería Jurídica por medio de la Resolución No. 20. Su pagina Web es http://www.geocities.com/ahrbom2000 RADIO CLUB VALLE DE SULA. R.C.V.S. Fundado en la Capital industrial San Pedro Sulan Cortes, el 2 de Febrero de 1995. Es un club oncemetrista -- radiocomunicación Su correo electrónico es radioclubvalledesula@yahoo.com.es contactos via correo lento: Apartado Postal 2378, San Pedro Sula, Corteé, HONDURAS C.A. HONDURAS DX CLUB H.D.X.C. Es el primer de radio escuchas de la onda corta que se organiza en Honduras. Club con sede en la ciudad Norteña de El Progreso, Yoro. Su correo electrónico es hondurasdxclub@yahoo.com.mx contactos via correo lento: Apartado Postal 376, C.P. 01-1804-01, El Progreso, Yoro. Honduras C.A. Lema: PAZ Y BIEN A LAS NACIONES EMISORAS INTERNACIONALES EN HONDURAS RADIO VOZ EVANGÉLICA DE HONDURAS, HRVC Transmite por los 4820, banda de 60 metros. Es la emisora pionera evangélica y es la primera emisora cristiana en transmitir via satélite. Fue fundada el 8 de Dic. de l960. Transmite desde la Capital Tegucigalpa. Hace unos meses reinició operaciones en onda corta y tiene una cadena de ocho emisoras con el mismo nombre todas transmitiendo en A.M. RADIO LUZ Y VIDA Transmite por los 3250 kHz, banda de 90 metros. Transmite desde San Luís, Santa Bárbara. Fue fundada el 27 de febrero de l979. Es la primera emisora en transmitir por la banda de 90 metros. Es emisora evangélica. RADIO MISIONES INTERNACIONALES. H.R.N.I. [sic --- HRMI] Esta emisora reinició sus operaciones en onda corta hace un mes aproxinadamente. Trasmite desde la capital Tegucigalpa por los 5010 kHz, banda de 60 metros. Su aniversario lo efectúan el l4 l5 y l6 de junio; fue fundada en l997. Es emisora evangélica. RADIO LITORAL H.R.L.W. Transmite por los 4830 kHz, BANDA DE 60 METROS, en idiomas español, misquito, garifuna e inglés. Irradia su señal desde el Puerto de la Ceiba, Departamento de Atlántida. Es una emisora evangélica. Estimados colegas radio escuchas de la onda corta, espero continuar enviando otras informaciones adicionales luego. Favor si no desea recibir mis informes, hágamelo saber. Cualquier contacto via correo tradicional efectuarlo a HONDURAS DX CLUB Apartado Postal 376 C.P. 01-1804-01 El Progreso, Yoro, Honduras C.A. HASTA LUEGO COLEGAS, BUENOS DX. PAZ Y BIEN A LAS NACIONES. (Asley Aguilar, Oct 17, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** HONDURAS. 4832, R. Litoral, 0413-0432, Oct. 16, SINPO=25332. Español. Charla por OM sobre Jesús, musica cristina. La mejor recepción de esta emisora en un largo tiempo (Elmer Escoto, Honduras, Conexión Digital via DXLD) ** INTERNATIONAL. Nominally Ramadan will start on 27 October and end on 25 November. The beginning of a new month is commonly defined, however, by physical observation by the religious authorities of the new moon. Thus the calculated dates may be off by a day or two and may even vary from country to country. In practice this is most important for the beginning and end of Ramadan, the month of fasting and for the feast of 'Id al Adha (Olle Alm, Arctic Radio Club, Oct, via DXLD) ** INTERNATIONAL VACUUM. SIRIUS CLAIMS "TOPLESS RADIO REPRESENTS WATERSHED IN BROADCASTING" --- Friday October 17, 4:27 pm ET NEW YORK and LOS ANGELES, Oct. 17 /PRNewswire/ -- Move over, "Naked News," Pamela Anderson, speaking on the "Howard Stern Show" in New York this morning, revealed she'll be doing her upcoming Sirius satellite radio show "Club Pam" topless. The hour-long weekly show, which premieres live October 24 at 5:00 PM EDT, broadcasts live from Anderson's bedroom in Los Angeles. In addition to partial nudity, Anderson's show will feature personal advice, anecdotes, interviews, call-ins, and bedtime stories. Originally, Anderson was thinking of wearing pasties on Stern. She says, "Well, I thought I'd wear jeans and a T-shirt with pasties underneath ... you know, when we do the show, we could do it topless, 'cause I want to do topless radio, and I thought 'Well ... but then it'd be too contrived,' like as if I made the whole thing up ... and I thought ... 'you know what, just forget it. Put the Vivian Westwood on and be a grownup.'" But as for her own show, she promised, "we're gonna do it topless." Source: Sirius Radio http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/031017/laf060_1.html (via Mike Terry, DXLD) ** IRELAND. Hi Glen[n], No doubt you get loads of e-mails but here is one with a big thank you for mentioning Ozone Radio and in particular myself Mike Evans last week. I record your show via World Space and it it sent in on cassette tape to Dublin Ireland, needless to say the listeners seem to be responding to this low power pirate radio station obviously you cannot give us any praise for this relay but it has certainly livened up our 2 to 4 hours of Sunday morning narrow casting. We are now running the station as follows all times in BST 0800 until 0900 on 6200 and then from 0900 until 1245 on 5925. The signal difference between the two frequencies is that the first comes into my Suffolk East Anglian QTH as S7 and the latter frequency S9 + 15 dB. Receiver here is in fact a Kenwood TS450 and the antenna a T2FD. Once again thank you for the mention. Regards (Mike Evans, for Radio Ozone International, Oct 19, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ISRAEL. ISRAELI PIRATE RADIO LAW ON CABINET AGENDA -- 10:30 Oct 19, (IsraelNN.com) The weekly cabinet meeting began a short time ago. One of the items on the agenda is the proposed Pirate Radio Station Law, making it llegal to pay for advertisement on a pirate (illegal) station. According to he law, anyone advertising on a station would be hit with a stiff fine. The supporters of the law, Shinui party ministers, are confident that by eliminating income from sponsors, the illegal stations will be compelled to close. Shinui ministers insist their agenda is not targeting the many Orthodox radio stations or Arutz-7, but aimed at eliminating the radio broadcast interference with airport control towers, the result of the illegal broadcasts. Ministers Benny Elon and Effie Eitam have expressed their opposition to the proposed law. http://www.israelnn.com/news.php3?id=51297 (via Mike Terry, DXLD) ISRAELI MARINE OFFENCES ACT ON THE WAY After half listening / half watching the news on Israel TV last night, I suddenly sat up straight when I heard the following : Israeli Justice Minister Yossef "Tommy" Lapid , is planning on introducing legislation that will make it illegal to advertise on a pirate radio station. As we all know, this is part of legislation that has already been passed in Europe in 1967 and 1974. Lapid has yet to add that it is illegal to WORK for such a station, as is with the MOA's of Britain and Holland. The bill, when introduced in the coming days, is aimed at getting rid of the tens of religious pirate radio stations that broadcast around Israel, of which some of them interfere with the Ben Gurion Airport control tower. This has put at risk, several landings of aircraft in the past few years, as these stations literally blot out all communication between the landing aircraft and the control tower. But more important, this will be a death blow to the worlds last offshore radio station - Arutz 7. Arutz 7, unlike most of the landbased religious stations, depends wholly (or mostly) on advertising to survive. Lapid, and his party Shinui (Change) are known for it's anti Ultra- Orthodox (religious) platform, and this is just another of its attempts to make its stamp on Israeli society, to make it more "secular", after years of religious legislation has been forced on the Israeli public. I will report back when there are more details (Mike Brand, Israel, 19 October 2003 08:32 via Mike Terry, DXLD) ** KOREA SOUTH. 6215.00 kHz. Sent this mail to various lists: Amigos DXistas! unID 6215.00 kHz this morning 1130-1135. A strong carrier 1125 and I kept on listening. AM-mode and 1130 a song with YL followed by a woman talking for 5 minutes in an Asian (?) language. Close down 1135. I have not heard anything like that before on the frequency. Very strange! You can listen to the recording at SWB: http://homepage.sverige.net/~a-0901/ I also sent a question to our member Olle Alm/OA who informs me that his sound card in his computer does not work. Thanks Olle anyhow for your answer! Thanks also to Arnaldo Slaen, Argentina who contributed with opinions in the mailing list "Conexión Digital". From our member Björn Fransson/BEFF this reply regarding 6215 kHz: "Hello! Curiously enough I also heard a strange unID station on 4600 at 1700-1709 Oct 5. It repeated letters and figures like a real spy transmitter. I sent out an inquiry of its identity at HCDX and got the answer that it is a Korean transmitter, heard ocasionally! The same as yours? 73 from Björn on Gotland" Thanks Björn for your mail. As you can see below in "The Spooks Newsletter" also the frequency 4600 kHz is mentioned so maybe we heard the same station. Info can be found at: http://www.cvni.net/radio/nsnl/nsnl31vs.html It happens mow and then a strange station is heard, like the one on 6215 or 4600 kHz. When I searched for information on Internet I found a nice site working mostly with odd radio signals. You can also join the "Spooks" mailing list by writing down your e-mail address here: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/spooks "Spook" writes about among others 6215 kHz: "South Korean station 6215 kHz, South Korean female numbers in distorted AM. Started with a Korean pop song, followed by Korean female numbers. Ended with 'That is all. Thank you' in Korean. 6215 kHz is still active, and usually starts at H+00 or H+30 at mid-night in East Asia. Similar transmissions are very occasionally heard on 4600, 5450, 5715, and 6715 kHz" (Björn Malm, Quito, Ecuador, SW Bulletin Oct 19, translated by editor Thomas Nilsson for DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** LEBANON [non]. More about Mashreqya Radio. I checked their home page http://www.carmelnews.org - thanks to all the people who corrected the website for me - and there is some interesting stuff. 1) they didn't mention anything about the FM frequency of 99.9 MHz. 2) here's the address for that station according to the introduction of the program "Club Mashreqya" --- there's an audio file of one of the editions with the announcement of the following address: Mashreqya Radio P. O. B 52341 - Limasol Zip code 4062, Cyprus 3) they announce as well some Fax # : London ++ 44 207 681 1659 Paris ++ 33 1 530 109 11 USA - Washington ++ 1 202 47 80 261 and they announce the website : http://www.carmelnews.org 4) checking their web I found that they announce the following program schedule: according to the time of the eastern Mediterranean ( Lebanon and Syria time) from 7.30 till 15.00 and again a repeat of the program from 15.00 till 6.00; according to UT from 0630 till 1400 and repeat of the program from 1400 till 0500 UT! [there is more than a one-hour difference! gh] also the times of the transmission according to the USA EST! According to my monitoring I'm positive they sign on at 0430 UT. I hear them everyday before leaving to work! and sign off at 1300 UT! I never heard the repeat of their transmission; maybe they mean online, as I'm listening to them through the audio stream on the site (it's 1800 UT now) and they are on with some political analysis criticizing Arabic countries including Egypt, Syria, Lebanon and Iran and Arabic songs in between. 5) they have some audio files for some previous recorded programs like Club Masreqya, "Hasad" which means harvest in Arabic" and political analysis and the most interesting thing is having a program called "Nahryin" which means 2 rivers in Arabic. It's a program talking about Iraq. I reckon that was a special program during the Anglo/American attack on Iraq as I remember that during that time BBCM announced some news about a station on 756 kHz criticizing Saddam Hussien! 6) the two main announcers of the station: OM called Wesam and YL/XYL called Abeer. They host all the programs of the station. That's all for now my dear Dxers...more to come soon :) all the best 73s de (Tarek Zeidan, Cairo, Egypt, Oct 19, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** MALTA [non]. V. OF THE MEDITERRANEAN B'03 FREQ SCHEDULE (26 OCTOBER 2003 TO 27 MARCH 2004) Time in UTC Mon to Sat: 6110 kHz SW 0630 – 0700 Arabic 6185 kHz SW 1700 – 1730 Italian 1730 – 1800 English 7440 kHz SW 2000 – 2100 English** 2100 – 2200 Arabic ** Except on Friday Friday: 7440 kHz SW 2000 – 2200 Arabic Sunday: 15560 kHz SW 0500 – 0600 Japanese 9630 kHz SW 0800 – 0900 Italian 0900 – 1000 English 1000 – 1100 Maltese 1100 – 1200 French 1200 – 1300 German 7440 kHz SW 2000 – 2100 English 2100 – 2130 French 2130 – 2200 German [sites not given?! From past experience, some are Rome, some Moscow, and the Japanese is via Russian Far East site, if it exist --- gh] (via Alokesh Gupta, New Delhi, India, DXLD) ** MEXICO. Still tracking the XERMX blobmitter, replacing normal operations on 9705. Oct 19 at 1330 it had drifted down to the 9950- 9965 range instead of 9970, bad news for some Pacific missionary station on 9955. But XERMX itself was blasted away at 1400 by WEWN on 9955; one could barely detect traces of México under that behemoth (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** NETHERLANDS. Glenn, re: http://forum.digitalspy.co.uk/board/t/92496/ds.html Since you chose to publish only this single forum item and not the extensive and constructive dialogue that follows on the same page, am I to assume that you have a "political agenda"? Or were you just not paying attention? :-) 73, (Andy Senitt, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Definitely not paying attention, as I never looked at the site, just published Mike Terry`s item referring to it. Now I have, and find your replies, for starters, and those who want to read the full interchange may do so (gh) I understand that you have strong feelings about this. Unfortunately, the financial restrictions imposed on us by the Dutch government mean we have had to make difficult decisions. We opted to go for quality over quantity. If we continued to broadcast for the same number of hours to all our target areas, more cuts would have to be made in the area of programming. As it is, we have had to cut our shortwave transmission hours by 40% across the four languages in which we broadcast. Although we have had to eliminate repeats of programmes, most of our existing production has been maintained. The lunchtime transmission to Europe was a luxury we can no longer afford. The available audience at that time is limited, at least on weekdays. Our English broadcasts to all other target areas are outside working hours. We do sincerely regret the inconvenience to the people who prefer to listen at that time. But as for your claim that we "believe that there is no future for international broadcasting to Europe in the HF bands", you could not be more wrong. The UK is a special case because it is geographically close to the Netherlands, and therefore mediumwave makes more sense in the evenings. We did have an evening shortwave service to the British Isles, but this provided a better signal off the west coast of Ireland than it did in London! But for Dutch expatriates elsewhere in Europe we will still have a substantial shortwave service, and don't forget that we are a leading proponent of DRM, which we believe has the potential to give a new lease of life to shortwave. Nobody has worked it out precisely, but we did some rough caculations and we reckon that DRM will cut transmission costs by at least 50%. And since transmission costs account for a large slice of our budget, that's significant. But apart from that, there are obviously environmental advantages too. Lower power (so less RF in the immediate vicinity), lower consumption of fuel to power the generators, etc. Finally, don't forget that you can now listen to all our weekly feature programmes online at any time of your choosing for the whole of the week, and we are expanding our Internet service to a continuous stream. Yes, it's a pity we've been forced to cut back on shortwave, but please don't give up on us! Just for the record, the present Dutch government is a coalition of Christian Democrats, Conservative Liberals and Social Liberals. I don't think any of them would like being described as "ultra-right- wing". But these budget cuts have nothing to do with the political complexion of the government, and everything to do with the dire state of the Dutch economy. As public broadcasters in a country where the TV licence has been abolished, much of our funding now comes from general taxation, so we are competing for funding with schools, hospitals and so on (Andy Sennitt, digitalspy forums via DXLD) Originally posted by Corin: ``Since you have changed your login id from your personal name to the name of the show, does this indicate a possibility that Media Network may yet return to the airwaves? (Thursdays are not just the same anymore.) And when the economy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands does regain its composure, can we ever hope to see an improved budget for RNW to expand its broadcasting hours? I fear that now the cuts in broadcasting hours have been made, they will be seen as a fait accompli in better future times.`` There are no plans at the moment to re-start Media Network as a radio show, but we never say never. It never occurred to me that someone would read hidden messages into a choice of log-in name :-) I think you are being unduly pessimistic about the future prospects for Radio Netherlands. This organisation is stronger and more durable than any Dutch government we've had in the 56 years of our existence. We do actually have lot of support in The Hague, and in the country, but we're facing difficult economic times. The trades unions have just agreed to a wage freeze in return for the government backing away from plans to cut certain welfare benefits, so this government does listen to reasoned arguments. So who knows what the future holds? It is not our intention that we will no longer have a listener feeback programme. What happened was simply that the programme departments were faced with the need for an immediate cut in airtime, and not everything could be fitted in immediately, given that we did not want to cancel any of our major news and feature programmes. Mike Shaw and all the staff of the English department very much value listener feedback, and you can rest assured that discussions are already underway about creating and scheduling a replacement for Sincerely Yours. We just can't do everything immediately, given that some colleagues are leaving and others are moving to different jobs within the organisation - a process which will not be completed until the spring. All the public broadcasters here in the Netherlands are shedding jobs and making hard choices at the moment. Nobody's happy, but as as Basil Fawlty might have put it, it looks like we're stuck with it :-( (Andy Sennitt, Radio Netherlands, ibid.) ** NEW ZEALAND. RNZI coming in well on 6095 in its new extended schedule, around 1310 UT Oct 19 with Pacific news; one could easily have mistaken it for RA, but not \\ 6020. Still holding up at 1400, but then fading and gone by 1445 recheck (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** PERU. 9504.9v, R. Tacna, 17 Oct, 1004, While listening to a station on 9504.88, this popped on at exactly 1007:14 with talk by M. A couple IDs including a nice full ID by M mentioning "canción", "...frecuencia ...banda internacional...", and "Provincia de Tacna". Frequency was drifting up and down rather quickly. Suspect the other station I was listening to was a fading ZY (Dave Valko, Dunlo PA, Cumbre DX via DXLD) see also UNIDENTIFIED ** PERU. 4634v, unID LA Oct 16 2003 - 0000 UT. Strong signal and pretty lousy audio. I think it might be Radio Naylamp, Lambayeque (Perú) earlier heard several times on different frequencies with distorted audio. After the music followed a sport program with football from Lambayeque. Naylamp has lately, during recent weeks, occasionally been received on 4335v kHz. Up to 0000 UT nonstop Ecuadorian rocolera-music. 5996.59, (tentative) Radio Melodía, Arequipa, Oct 18 2003 - 2355 UT. Melodía seems to have left 6042.60 kHz where it has been for quite a long time. Did not wait for ID though (Björn Malm, Quito, Ecuador, SW Bulletin Oct 19, translated by editor Thomas Nilsson for DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** PHILIPPINES. CONSTRUCTION PLANS FOR PBS (RADYO NG BAYAN) IN 2004 Philippines special http://www.pbs.gov.ph/projects.htm via OA Construction of Transmitter Building for DZRK Radyo ng Bayan Tabuk. The provincial government of Tabuk, Kalinga provided the Philippine Broadcasting Service with a two (2) hectare for our transmitter building. The construction of the transmitter building will enable our station to have a wider coverage area. Construction of a satellite studio for DZAG Radyo ng Bayan Agoo in San Fernando, La Union. The Don Mariano Marcos Memorial State University provided spaces for the studio/offices of Radyo ng Bayan Agoo. San Fernando being the Regional center for Region 1 is the most ideal for PBS to be able to serve its listener. Repainting of Tower, Improvement of grounding system and Conversion into folded unipole of DXRP Radyo ng Bayan Davao. Based on the frequency, the station is using the tower height of DXRP must be 369 ft instead of 240 ft. Since the area is not adequate, the next best thing is converting the tower into folded unipole. With this system our coverage area will definitely widen. Construction of recording room for Radyo ng Bayan Davao. The station does not have its own recording studio, with a recording studio of their own, they can produce their own plugs, dramas, etc. Renovation of studio building of DWRB Radyo ng Bayan Naga. It had been ten years since the station was constructed. The roofing had to be totally changed. The walls, studios had to be renovated and re-painted. Re-roofing, Repainting, Construction of recording booth, construction of storeroom and garage for DYOG Radyo ng Bayan Calbayog. No renovation had been done since its initial operation. The service vehicle is subjected to the elements. Perimeter Fence for antenna tower of DYOG. To protect our tower from people stealing our grounding system Renovation of Studio and Transmitter building for DXDC Radyo ng Bayan Tawi- Tawi. The ceilings had to be replaced. The doorjambs are dilapidated. The whole building must have a make over. Construction of generator house for DZEQ Radyo ng Bayan Baguio. Presently, the generator of DZEQ has no housing and is subjected to the elements. 9. Repainting of AM tower and re- tensioning of guy wires of DZEQ. The tower is rusting so are the guy wires. Renovation of studio/ Transmitter building for DWRM Palawan. Roofing and ceilings had to be replaced, and the whole building had to be termites treated. Repainting of tower, transmitter building and ATU housing for DWFR Radyo ng Bayan Bontoc. The tower is rusting, the transmitter building needs renovation. Perimeter Fence for Transmitter building DWFR Radyo ng Bayan Bontoc. Our transmitter building is located on top of the mountain and has to be protected from intruders. Perimeter Fence for DZAG studio/ Transmitter building. Since there are two VSAT antennas in the area, fencing is necessary for the protection of the equipment. PBS Manila AM stations D Z R B (Radio ng Bayan) or the people's radio is the voice or pulse of the citizenry. it is situated at 738 kHz on the AM band with a power of 50 kW under the Bureau of Broadcast Services (BBS) or Philippine Broadcasting Service (PBS), Office of the Press Secretary. As the government's flagship radio station it serves as a medium of development communication, a conduit between the government and the people, aiming to mobilize all sectors of society towards development and nationalism. D Z S R Sports Radio (918 kHz with 50 kW power) is the government arm in the dissemination of information regarding the sports program of government. The station reports and covers all the important local, national and even international sports events wherein the Filipino athletes compete for the country. Aside from the sports broadcasting, DZSR also plays an active role in significant national undertakings including presidential coverage, public affairs and other national undertakings. D Z R M Radio Manila (1278 kHz with 10 kW power) one of the radio stations under the Philippine Broadcasting Service (PBS). The main thrust of the station focuses on disseminating information on health, education, welfare and culture. The station counts among its listeners from middle managers, housewives, students, teachers, school heads, civic leaders, farmers, jeepney drivers, household helpers, out-of- school youth and others. While other PBS stations gives emphasis on news and public affairs, sports and business, DZRM is the education station. Go to http://www.pbs.gov.ph/profile.htm for station history, list of stations (no frequencies) and more (Olle Alm, ARC MV-Eko Information Desk, October 2003 via DXLD) ** SEALAND. SEALAND THE MOVIE IS SNAPPED UP by James Howell, Colchester Evening Gazette, 17th October 2003 A BUSINESSMAN who took over an ageing fort in the North Sea and declared it an independent principality is to have his story told in a major Hollywood blockbuster. Warner Bros has snapped up the screenplay to Sealand, the story of former British Major Roy Bates who moved his family to the abandoned World War Two anti-aircraft platform off Harwich in the 1960s. A-list actors Mel Gibson and Russell Crowe are already being touted as potential stars to play the parts of Roy, and his son Michael, a part- time cockler who is the current Prince of Sealand, the smallest country in the world. Film-makers will have no shortage of action to choose from as the Bates family have dealt with everything from a hostage ordeal and legal battles with the British Government to allegations of collusion with Colombian drug barons, the Russian Mafia and internet terrorists. Prince Michael said today: "The deal has been signed and we are talking to Warner Bros now. "Obviously there is always a waiting list to get top actors because they are often booked up for several projects well in advance of any filming starting, ~ but I've heard that people like Russell Crowe and Mel Gibson are being talked about for this film. "They'll probably come up with Christopher Biggins to play me." The script was penned by American writer Sean Sorensen, who optioned the life rights to the Bates family with money he won on a television gameshow. Nick Wechsler, Nan.a Greenwald and Robert DiNozzi of Industry Entertainment, an, arm of Warner Bros, will produce the film. Greenwald said: "Nick and I thought this was a terrific and unique story about one man's fight for personal freedom." SEALAND FACTFILE ROY Bates moved Into the derelict fort on Christmas Eve 1966 with wife Joan and his children. He set up a pirate radio station, Radio Essex, and claimed because the fort lay outside British territorial waters he was exempt from UK law. In 1968 Roy and son Michael were accused of possessing Illegal [garble]. The Judge In the trial ordered the Jury to find the Bates family not guilty. Mr Bates declared Sealand a principality and came up with a plan to run Sealand as an offshore tax haven. A group of Germans invaded the platform. They abseiled down from a helicopter and took Michael, then 27, hostage His father staged a daring counter-attack with a small band of followers and sent the Germans packing. When an office in Madrid was raided by police, It was claimed criminals were using fake passports from the Principality of Sealand. Prince Michael now effectively runs Sealand as his parents have retired to Spain. He flatly denies any Involvement with these activities but admits there is no way to stop criminals from forging Sealand passports and documents. See more archive details at: http://www.thisisessex.co.uk/cgi-bin/htsearch?config=essex&restrict=&exclude=&method=and&sort=score&words=sealand+17+October+2003 The official website can be reached through http://www.sealandgov.com (radioAnoraksUk@yahoogroups.com vi Mike Terry, DXLD) ** SEYCHELLES [non]. FEBA RADIO - BROADCAST SCHEDULE 26 October 2003 to 28 March 2004 (B03) Tx Site Codes - ARM Armavir Russia ASC Ascension Island IRK Irkutsk Russia DHA Dhabayya MSK Moskva Russia ERV Yerevan Armenia NVS Novosibirsk Russia KIG Kigali Rwanda SAM Samara Russia MEY Meyerton South Africa TAC Tashkent Uzbekistan Day 1 = Sunday (ITU Convention) Days Frequency Metre Site Time UTC 1234567 Languages kHz band code NORTH INDIA, NEPAL, TIBET ------------------------------------------------------------------- 0030-0115 s...... HINDI 7265 41 TAC 0030-0045 .mtwt.. BANGLA 7265 41 TAC 0030-0045 .....fs BHOJPURI 7265 41 TAC 0045-0115 .m.wtfs HINDI 7265 41 TAC 0045-0100 ..t..... CHATTISGARHI 7265 41 TAC 0100-0115 ..t.... HINDI 7265 41 TAC 0100-0115 smtwtfs HINDI 7110 41 NVS 0115-0130 smtwt.. MARATHI 7110 41 NVS 0115-0130 .....f. URDU 7110 41 NVS 0115-0130 ......s PUNJABI India 7110 41 NVS 1200-1230 smtwtfs TIBETAN 15170 19 DHA 1300-1330 ....t.. KUMAUNI 11695 25 SAM 1300-1330 ......s PUNJABI India 11695 25 SAM 1300-1315 .mtw.f. PUNJABI India 11695 25 SAM 1300-1315 s...... KANGRI 11695 25 SAM 1315-1345 s....f. GUJARATI 11695 25 SAM 1330-1345 .mtwt.s GUJARATI 11695 25 SAM 1315-1330 .m..... BHILI 11695 25 SAM 1315-1330 ...w... MARWARI 11695 25 SAM 1315-1330 ..t.... BRIJ 11695 25 SAM 1300-1330 s...... NEPALI 9485 31 TAC 1300-1330 .....f. BHOJPURI 9485 31 TAC 1300-1330 ......s. CHATTISGARHI 9485 31 TAC 1300-1315 .m.w... MUNDARI 9485 31 TAC 1300-1315 ..t.... NEPALI 9485 31 TAC 1300-1315 ....t... CHATTISGARHI 9485 31 TAC 1315-1330 .m.wt.. ORIYA 9485 31 TAC 1315-1330 ..t.... MAGHI 9485 31 TAC 1330-1345 smtwtfs BANGLA 9485 31 TAC 1400-1415 smtwt.. URDU India 9485 31 ARM 1400-1500 .....fs HINDI 9485 31 ARM 1415-1500 smtwt.. HINDI 9485 31 ARM SOUTH INDIA, MALDIVES, SRI LANKA ------------------------------------------------------------------- 0030-0100 s...... TAMIL 7365 41 ERV 0100-0130 s...... KANNADA 7365 41 ERV 0030-0115 ..tw... TAMIL 7365 41 ERV 0030-0130 .m..t.. TAMIL 7365 41 ERV 0030-0100 .....fs TAMIL 7365 41 ERV 0115-0130 .....fs KANNADA 7365 41 ERV 0115-0130 ..t.... TULU 7365 41 ERV 0115-0130 ...w... KONKANI 7365 41 ERV 0100-0115 ..t..fs BADAGA 7365 41 ERV 0130-0200 smtwtfs TELUGU 11890 25 DHA 1400-1430 .mtw... MALAYALAM 7340 41 IRK 1400-1445 s...tfs MALAYALAM 7340 41 IRK 1445-1500 s...tfs TELUGU 7340 41 IRK 1430-1500 .mtw... TELUGU 7340 41 IRK 1500-1515 smtwtfs ENGLISH Slow 7340 41 IRK 1515-1600 smtwtfs ENGLISH 7340 41 IRK 1600-1615 smt.... SINHALA 7340 41 IRK 1600-1615 ....tfs DHIVEHI 7340 41 IRK 1600-1615 ...w... MALAY 7340 41 IRK PAKISTAN, AFGHANISTAN, IRAN ------------------------------------------------------------------- 0200-0215 .m...fs URDU Pakistan 9450 31 NVS 0215-0230 .m...fs PUNJABI Pakistan 9450 31 NVS 0200-0230 s.t.... PUNJABI Pakistan 9450 31 NVS 0200-0230 ...wt.. URDU Pakistan 9450 31 NVS 0230-0245 s...... URDU Pakistan 9450 31 NVS 0230-0245 ....t.. POTHWARI 9450 31 NVS 0230-0245 .mtw.fs HINDKO 9450 31 NVS 0200-0215 s.....s SINDHI 6145 49 DHA 0200-0215 .mtwtf. SIRAIKI 6145 49 DHA 0215-0230 s..wtfs BALUCHI 6145 49 DHA 0215-0230 .mt.... BRAHUI 6145 49 DHA 0200-0215 smtwtfs PASHTO 11995 25 DHA 0215-0245 smtwtfs DARI 11995 25 DHA 0245-0300 smtwtfs HAZARAGI 11995 25 DHA 0630-0800 .....f. PERSIAN 9660 31 DHA 1630-1730 smtwtfs PERSIAN 9875 31 MSK 1730-1745 s.....s BALUCHI 9875 31 MSK 1730-1745 .mtw... TURKMEN 9875 31 MSK 1730-1745 ....t.. AZERI 9875 31 MSK 1730-1745 .....f. LURI 9875 31 MSK 1400-1415 smtwtfs English Slow 9445 31 NVS 1415-1500 sm..tf. URDU Pakistan 9445 31 NVS 1415-1515 ..tw..s URDU Pakistan 9445 31 NVS 1500-1515 sm..tf. BALTI 9445 31 NVS 1530-1600 smtwtfs PASHTO 9415 31 ARM 1600-1630 smtwtfs DARI 9415 31 ARM 1630-1645 smtwtfs HAZARAGI 9415 31 ARM 1645-1700 smtwtfs UZBEK 9415 31 ARM MIDDLE EAST ------------------------------------------------------------------- 0400-0530 smtwtfs ARABIC 15525 19 SAM 0500-0530 .....f. SINHALA 6125 49 DHA 0530-0630 .....f. MALAYALAM 6125 49 DHA AFRICA, ETHIOPIA, SUDAN ------------------------------------------------------------------- 1515-1530 smtwtfs NUER 11885 25 MEY 1530-1545 smtwtfs DINKA 11885 25 MEY 1545-1600 smtwtfs MAKONDE 11885 25 MEY 1600-1630 s...tfs AMHARIC 11885 25 MEY 1600-1630 .mtw... GURAGENA 11885 25 MEY 1630-1700 smtwtfs AMHARIC 11885 25 MEY 1700-1730 smtwtfs OROMO 6180 49 DHA 1730-1745 s....fs AMHARIC 6180 49 DHA 1700-1730 smtwtfs SOMALI 11690 25 KIG 1730-1800 smtwtfs TIGRINYA 11690 25 KIG 1830-1900 smtwtfs FRENCH (West+Cent Af) 15125 19 ASC ------------------------------------------------------------------- Schedule Engineer, FEBA Radio, Ivy Arch Road, WORTHING BN14 8BX, UK. WEBSITE: http://www.feba.org.uk/schedule B03bs02 dated 08.10.03 rww (FEBA Website via Alokesh Gupta, New Delhi, India, Oct 19, DXLD) ** SPAIN. From this address you can retrieve the official document renewing the licenses for all private MW stations in Spain until the year 2012. You can find the callsign (indicativo) of the license, the name of the company owner (licenciatario), the license site and province (localidad & provincia): http://www.boe.es/boe/dias/2002-12-20/pdfs/A44967-44969.pdf (M. Molano, Salamanca via MWDX 12.9.2003 via ARC via DXLD) ** TAHITI. Heard Tahiti ATC at 0946 on 5643 usb with good signals, working Qantas 25 (Ron Trotto, WDX4KWI, Waggoner, IL, Oct 19, GRDXC via DXLD) ** TONGA. I heard Tonga on 1017 this morning, apparently on late for coverage of the Rugby World Cup. The signal wasn't great, with plenty of adjacent channel splatter, but the Tongan national anthem at sign off was the clincher. Today they signed off at about 1350. Normally they go off too early for me to have a shot at them at sunrise, so this could be a good chance for others in the same situation (Nigel Pimblett, Medicine Hat, Alberta, Oct 18, IRCA via DXLD) Ditto 5020v? ``Stupid ball games`` can benefit the DXer (Andy Sennitt, Media Network blog via DXLD) ** U K. RADIO JACKIE --- THE HISTORY From small beginnings on the 'pirate' Helen Broadcasting Network, to its own transmitter and a regular radio service for over fifteen years, Radio Jackie became the 'pirates` pirate'. Where they led others followed. With entertaining programmes and a good quality signal covering most of South London, this was the most reliable of all the land based 'Sunday' stations. http://www.geocities.com/heartland/estates/4915/jackie.html Almost never failing to appear, Jackie began as a weekly, half hour broadcast on the Helen Network and following the closure of the network in April 1969, began to broadcast using its own transmitter on the Helen frequency of 1525 khz. As Jackie moved from the confines of houses to mobile transmissions, (from farms, fields and parks in the south west London area) power was increased to 50 watts and improved broadcasting aerials, now strung between two trees and a better earth connection, meant an improvement in reception for most listeners. Jackie changed wavelength around 1969, first to 255 metres then to 227 metres, 1331 kHz (latterly 1332 keeping in line with the shift in European frequencies in the late 70's.) where (apart from the occasional change of frequency during 'holiday and special broadcasts') the station remained until the mid-eighties. Radio Jackie was also the first FM pirate with Saturday night transmissions from February 1971 on 94.4 FM, later joining the famous London Transmitter of Independent Radio which broadcast four nights a week. After several high powered extended Christmas broadcasts, (favoured because the Radio Interference Department were less active over the holiday season(!) ) Radio Jackie engaged the services of a London lawyer who found a loophole in the Wireless Telegraphy Act. In 1983, for almost two years, Jackie broadcast 24 hours a day and became a legend on the London medium wave. When the loophole was finally plugged in 1984 (following a plethora of stations also starting up) Jackie was finally raided and closed for good. In 1996 the station applied for a legitimate broadcasting licence, which was to become available for their former transmission area but this was eventually denied --- until now Great opening speech by the Chairman ended with the words: "...please tell your friends, spread the word, Radio Jackie is back" followed by the track "Solid as a rock". Dave Owen on air now, welcome back Dave All emotive stuff (Mike Terry, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U K. MSF is in its annual maintenance period (06 Oct to 20 Oct) so it is on and off all over the place at the moment! Don't trust the time on your radio controlled clock! This from their website: The MSF Annual Maintenance Period in 2003 The MSF 60 kHz transmitter system at the BT Rugby Radio Station will be shut down for maintenance for the following period: From 0800 UTC Monday 6 October 2003 to 0800 UTC Monday 20 October 2003. Usually during annual maintenance periods it is likely that the service will be interrupted, although these outages will be kept to a minimum. The service is restored overnight between 2000 BST and 0800 BST whenever possible. Time on the web NPL does not currently display the time on its web pages as the uncertainty in the network transmission delays can cause an error of a few seconds in the displayed time. A Network Time Protocol (NTP) internet time service will be available shortly and information will be posted here as it is updated. Home of the nation's atomic time scale, UTC(NPL), NPL is the focus for time and frequency measurements in the UK. Our responsibilities are both international, in contributing to the international time scale UTC, and national, in providing the UK time scale related to UTC against which time and frequency broadcast signals in the UK can be monitored. Funded by the National Measurement System Policy Unit at the Department of Trade and Industry, the NPL follows a three year National Measurement System Programme for Time and Frequency Measurement. The NMS is the UK infrastructure that delivers world- class measurement science & technology, providing traceable and accurate standards of measurement for use in trade, industry, academia and government. The MSF Signal Follow the link on the left hand side of this page for information about the 60 kHz signal transmitted from Rugby which broadcasts the national time standard for the UK. Find out how this signal is supplied, how large an area it covers, or if there are any problems with the signal. The Measurement of Time When does British Summertime start? How have people recorded time for the last 2000 years? When were atoms first used to keep time? Information about these and other questions, plus suggested general interest reading material, children's books and relevant scientific journals can be found by following the "Measurement of time" link on the left. Contact: time@npl.co.uk for more information. National Physical Laboratory, Teddington, Middlesex, UK, TW11 0LW © Crown Copyright 2003. Reproduced by permission of the Controller of HMSO. http://www.npl.co.uk/time/ (via Mike Terry DXLD) ** U S A. THIRTY YEARS WITH FAMILY RADIO SHORTWAVE DWCD 87: Family Radio, To God be the Glory, 40 secs At the present time, Family Radio WYFR on shortwave in Florida is broadcasting a lengthy series of special programs in honor of their 30th anniversary. It was on October 20, 1973 that Family Radio took over the large and historic shortwave station situated at Scituate (SIT-you-ate) in Massachusetts and began to feed it with their Gospel programming. The story of their station goes back a long way, almost to the very beginning of shortwave broadcasting. The early origins of this station can be traced back to New York City in 1927 when Walter Lemmon obtained a shortwave licence for a station with the callsign W2XAL. At the time, this shortwave station took a tandem relay from the mediumwave station WRNY. In the following year, the shortwave outlet was sold to a commercial company, Aviation Radio. However, three years later, Walter Lemmon was again granted the license for this station and he transferred it to Boston where the callsign was changed from W2XAL to W1XAL. Five years later, in the year 1936, Walter Lemmon purchased a large property at Hatherly Beach, near Scituate, for the purpose of installing a large international shortwave station. His first transmitter at this new location was a 20 kW unit under the same callsign, W1XAL. A second unit, W1XAR was added shortly afterwards. In 1939 the callsigns at Hatherly Beach were regularized, first to WSLA & WSLR, and then to WRUL & WRUW. Soon after a spate of government service with VOA programming for Europe, Africa & Latin America, the station was sold a couple of times, with one callsign change, and finally Family Radio took over on October 20, 1973 with the callsign WYFR. Over the years several additional transmitters were installed at WRUL, including WDJM from Miami and WBOS from Hull. After a disastrous fire in 1967, the station was rebuilt with five new transmitters. Four years after Family Radio procured the station, they began to transfer the transmitters from Hatherly Beach to their new property near Lake Okeechobee in Florida. The first transmitter at the new location was activated on November 23, 1977; and subsequently a total of 14 transmitters were installed at this very large facility. The final broadcast from WYFR at the Scituate location ended at 2052 UTC on November 16, 1979. These days, Family Radio is on the air worldwide with 24 hours of programming in eleven languages from their fourteen transmitters in Florida as well as from a series of relay transmitters in Europe, the Middle East and Taiwan. They also operate a home service network of FM and AM stations across the United States totaling somewhere around one hundred stations. On this occasion here in Wavescan, we honor Family Radio on the occasion of the 30th anniversary of their shortwave broadcasting which began in 1973 from a now historic radio site on the eastern shore of the North American continent (AWR Wavescan Oct 19 via John Norfolk, DXLD) ** U S A. RADIO ACTIVISTS TAKE ON FCC'S NEW RULES By Leon Lazaroff, Chicago Tribune, Thu, Oct. 16, 2003 PHILADELPHIA - Working out of three dimly-lit rooms in the basement of a stone church in Philadelphia, a handful of young people in jeans are threatening to overturn a Federal Communications Commission decision backed by many of the country's largest media companies. It's unlikely that executives at Fox, CBS and NBC or the country's most prominent radio and newspaper chains had ever heard of the Prometheus Radio Project, a group of community radio advocates, until early September. That's when a lawyer from the Media Access Project, a public interest law firm in Washington, successfully persuaded a federal appeals court in Philadelphia to issue a stay of new FCC rules that make it easier for media companies to buy other media outlets. Having long since ended their days of operating a ``pirate'' radio station, the low-paid staffers of the Prometheus Radio Project now find themselves in the improbable position of being the lead petitioner in a lawsuit that could force FCC Chairman Michael Powell to abandon the new rules. Because the Media Access Project cited Prometheus Radio in its petition to the Philadelphia court, the radio activists headline a potentially landmark case. ``Everyone is watching the court case, because in one motion, everything that the FCC approved could be completely wiped out,'' said Blair Levin, a media analyst for Legg Mason Inc. and a former FCC chief of staff. Hundreds of briefs in the case are expected to be filed by the Oct. 21 deadline. Final briefs must be submitted by Dec. 16, with oral arguments tentatively scheduled for early January. As was expected in June when the FCC issued the rule changes, some argued that the commission went too far while others said it hadn't gone far enough. Since the rules cover so many areas of media ownership, some companies fall on both sides of the argument, depending on a particular point. Others plan to say the FCC got it just right. While television networks applauded the FCC's decision to increase to 45 percent from 35 percent the number of homes that can be reached by any one broadcaster, they are likely to ask the court to remove the restrictions altogether. The same goes for much of the newspaper industry. Prior to the June vote, the FCC, except in a few cases, banned newspapers from buying television or radio stations in their markets. Under the new rules, that ban could be lifted for newspapers operating in markets with nine or more local television stations. In its court filing, the Newspaper Association of America plans to argue that any cross-ownership restrictions are unconstitutional. (Tribune Co., owner of the Chicago Tribune, favors the removal of cross-ownership barriers. Tribune's ownership of WGN-Ch. 9, WGN-AM 720 and the Chicago Tribune predated any such restrictions.) Shortly after the new rules were published in early July, groups of local television affiliates, the national networks, minority broadcasters and public interest lawyers each filed lawsuits in four separate federal appeals courts, including the District of Columbia, challenging various aspects of the rules. To streamline the process, the four lawsuits were combined, and through a lottery, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 3rd Circuit in Philadelphia was selected to hear the case. ``Yeah, it's exciting,'' said Prometheus' Pete Tridish, who still uses the pseudonym taken when he helped set up a small but illegal radio station six years ago in a West Philadelphia apartment. ``We've always tried to draw attention to the dangers to a democracy of having a single company own the largest media outlets in a single market.'' San Antonio-based Clear Channel Communications Inc., which owns more than 1,200 radio stations or about 9 percent of all U.S. radio outlets, is one large media company that has made no excuses for its many acquisitions. Andy Levin, a Clear Channel lobbyist based in Washington, charges that Media Access Project and Prometheus overstate radio concentration. The new FCC rules, he says, would actually make it harder for radio station owners to acquire new stations in the same market. ``We think the court ruling is ironic, because radio is the least concentrated of all media,'' Levin said. While Congress has expressed its disapproval of parts of the FCC's new rules, it remains unclear whether both the House and Senate will vote on or even debate the entire package. For that reason, the last, best hope for opponents of the FCC's new rules may be to persuade a panel of three judges at the 3rd Circuit to reverse or even throw out the new rules. Conversely, the panel could affirm part or all of the FCC's rule changes, or send them back to the FCC for more work. ``I don't think any court has substantially dealt with all of these issues before,'' said Andy Schwartzman of the Media Access Project, who argued the case before the Philadelphia court. Tridish's leap into the battle for the airwaves came in 1997 when he joined with a group of friends and local activists to purchase a 20- watt radio transmitter. Calling themselves Radio Mutiny, the station's ever-changing and expanding list of on-air programmers wanted to have some fun but also wanted to point out that it had been more than 20 years since the FCC had issued a license to operate a radio station of less than 100 watts. During its sesquiyear of operation, the station amassed a loyal listenership among the varied neighborhoods surrounding the University of Pennsylvania. But being a ``pirate'' station, it also attracted the enforcement arm of the FCC. One evening in the summer of 1998, Radio Mutiny was shut down. ``The FCC guys came to our place with a cop and a warrant and took away our transmitter,'' recalled Tridish, 33, who grew up as Dylan Wrynn and graduated from Antioch College in Ohio. His pseudonym was inspired by the petri dish. ``But they had a sense of humor about it - - they announced to everyone listening that this was the end of Radio Mutiny.'' While some at the pirate station wanted to rebuild, Tridish and a few others took the suggestion of lawyers from the Media Access Project that they become advocates for low-power community radio. Rather than continue to endure the stressful demands of running from the law, Tridish helped form Prometheus, adopting the name of the Greek god who empowered the human race through a number of gifts, including fire. ``There was a realization that community radio shouldn't just be for the reckless,'' he said. ``Plus, we were done with hiding.'' Soon after forming, Prometheus obtained a $20,000 grant from the New York-based List Foundation, and with help from Media Access Project, received $50,000 earlier this year from the Ford Foundation. It's enough, Tridish said, to pay himself and two others $250 a week, purchase office supplies and rent space from Calvary United Methodist Church. Prometheus' early efforts helped persuade the FCC under former President Bill Clinton to loosen the allocation of radio licenses for stations under 100 watts. However, because large urban-based radio stations still take up most room on the dial, only low-power stations in rural areas have been able to receive new licenses. As a result, Tridish and a collective of engineers and carpenters regularly hold radio ``barn-raisings,'' three- or four-day gatherings in which they build an entire under-100-watt station. They recently returned from a trip to Opelousas, La. Over the spring, when it became clear that FCC Chairman Powell and the two other Republicans on the commission's five-member board would remove many restrictions on media ownership, Schwartzman of Media Access Project began talking with Tridish about formally petitioning the federal court. ``We thought it would be great to have the case here in Philadelphia and out of Washington, D.C.'' Tridish said. ``Far too much federal policy is made in D.C.'' When he appeared before the Philadelphia court last month, Schwartzman pressed Prometheus' basic message, arguing that the FCC's new ownership rules would impede ``diversely owned and operated broadcasting stations.'' The court's stay shocked the FCC and the many media corporations that had lobbied since the mid-1970s to remove ownership restrictions. Until the 3rd Circuit makes its ruling, any plans that media companies might have had to acquire new media outlets must remain on hold. Not surprisingly, observers say the court has adopted an unusually accelerated timetable for this case. Sitting on a beat-up couch at Prometheus' headquarters, Tridish emphasized that television, radio, newspapers and the Internet must be looked at as a whole. ``Ownership matters,'' he said. ``If you don't have varied owners everything ends up sounding the same.'' http://www.siliconvalley.com/mld/siliconvalley/news/editorial/7030324.htm (via Mike Terry, DXLD) ** U S A [and non]. RADIO LISTENING FROM BLYTHE I thought you might be interested in my radio observations during a recent trip to Blythe, California. Feel free to print or broadcast any of them that you want. I went in October, and, after a two day bus ride, could only stay four days, because my friend had to leave town on an unexpected errand, thus, two days back on the bus. Wow, lots of sitting! Blythe, California lies on the Colorado River, about 80 miles north of the Mexican border. It is right across from Ehrenburg, Arizona, and about fifteen miles west of Quartzite, Arizona. According to Blythe's Chamber of Commerce, their population is around thirteen thousand. The other two towns I just mentioned are much much smaller. Blythe is the most lacking in local radio of any place I have ever visited in the US, though perhaps more radio-deprived places do exist, I have not been there. All my radio observations were made on a G.E. super radio and a Sony ICF-SW1000-T shortwave radio with built-in recorder. Due to my short visit, things such as calls and frequencies, usually a vital part of radio reporting, will be missing, but I hope to give you my impressions anyway. Blythe is lacking in any local AM stations. The closest AM station is [KLPZ per NRC AM Log] on 1380, in Parker, Arizona, about forty miles up the Colorado, I am told. This station seemed to have a lot of local announcements and ads until about 10:00 AM, when they went into, what else, Rush! The next strongest station was on 820, a Spanish language station from Mexico. There were about five fairly strong Mexicans. The ones whose I.D.'s I caught were in Mexicali, though I never caught the I.D. on 820, the strongest one. [XEMVS Mexicali 3.5/0.5 kW ND per SCT] The strongest signals from Phoenix could be heard on the Super Radio, 550, 620, 1100, but were not really listenable on any other radios. KFI, 640, and KBRT, 740, from the Los Angeles area could also be heard with enjoyable levels on the Super, though not on anything else. Night time radio was the usual jumble. I suppose, up until 20 years ago, or so, lots of stations could have been herd with good listenable signals. Now, even KFI had junk under it at night. My favorite night time listening was KTNN, 660, the voice of the Navajo nation, with mix of English and Navajo languages, and country music mixed with native chanting. KCBS, 740, was the best news source at night, being freer of the junk than KNX. KNX was audible during the day, but, even on the Super, wasn't very listenable. Of course, KCBS, San Francisco, was only a night time signal. Strangely enough, the FM band was fuller between 88 and 92 MegaHertz than above 92. This is because there were several satellite fed translators, and those satellite fed stations can only operate below 92 MHz. There was some kind of entertainment station in Spanish, which is, I think, only available on satellite, and which has a sort of bilingual format. I should have spent much more time listening to that, but I didn't. There were a couple of those ubiquitous Christian relays, which I didn't observe much. There was one local Blythe Christian station, I think on 91.5. I didn't notice if they actually carried any local programming. [K218DS, *North* Blythe, translator of KNLB 91.1 Lake Havasu City AZ, per FM Atlas] The only commercial station at all in Blythe was on FM, and I didn't get its call or its exact frequency, but it was around 99 MHz [KJMB 100.3 per FM Atlas]. I heard a few local commercials, and my friend said they occasionally air local news, but I didn't hear any. Judging from its commercial content and lack of any live personnel, even in drive time, it sounded as if this station was not doing too well. Otherwise, a few Arizona stations were heard with moderate strength on the Super, only when I took it outside of my friend's mobile home. Much to my dismay, there was no NPR. This presented real withdrawal symptoms to me, as I get most of my news from NPR. I did occasionally pick up KAWC from Yuma, but reception was not reliable. Thus my turning to KCBS at night. I was surprised, however, at how good shortwave reception seemed to be in Blythe, even on my little Sony, with only its whip. RFPI on 7445 gave good reception, as did most of the domestics. I was able to hear Marion's Attic on WBCQ and World of Radio on WWCR, 5070, at 02:30. I didn't think 5070 would be as strong in California at that early hour, perhaps they aren't in the summer, I was there in October. I got some good signals from Radio Australia and Radio Japan, of course, and I wish Radio New Zealand had been on the air, as I am sure signals from there would have been great! All in all, I found my radio experience in Blythe to be very interesting, though certainly limited. A good shortwave radio and antenna, and maybe a good FM antenna would certainly be something I would want to have if I lived there (Tim Hendel, Huntsville AL, Oct 17, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** URUGUAY. 6045.18, Radio Sport, Montevideo //890 khz, 1000-1015, October 19. Spanish. Transmission basquet match: Bohemios vs Aguada. Short local ads: "Prestobarba de Gillette......", 24432. Best reception on LSB mode (Arnaldo Slaen, Argentina, Cumbre DX via DXLD) ** VATICAN. UPDATING THE VOICE OF THE VATICAN © Copyright 2003 by The Irish Catholic, Ireland`s Leading Catholic Newspaper, and republished with the kind permission of Mr. Simon Rowe, the editor. This article originally appeared in the June 4, 2003, issue. An interesting website with thoughtful essays about Catholicism and the matters of the day, the website of The Irish Catholic brings an Irish and European point of view, and is worth bookmarking and frequent visits, at http://www.irishcatholic.ie by Edward Pentin Vatican radio is revamping itself in a bid to reach a wider audience. Edward Pentin spoke to station boss Sean Lovett about what it is trying to do. ``We have such a dearth of understanding right now; we know so much but we understand so little,`` laments Sean Patrick Lovett in his third floor office overlooking Rome`s Castel Sant` Angelo. As the director of the English Language programme at Vatican Radio, it is Lovett`s task to bring Vatican news and comment to a large worldwide audience. It is a mission fraught with challenges but driven by a passion for the medium of sound. ``I don`t need to know statistics; I don`t need to know how many children died of AIDS in Africa last year,`` he explains. ``What I need is to understand why this is happening and what I can do to make some contribution to alleviating, to solving that issue.`` South African-born Lovett believes there is currently a ``hole`` in Catholic communications, an overload of information that has lessened the impact of the content. ``With the written word we can go into more detail,`` he explains, ``but do we remember it?`` Radio, he believes, is radically different. ``It hits you emotionally - you don`t remember the details but you remember the issue. You have a feeling that somehow you should be involved.`` Lovett`s conviction in this regard has strengthened after 26 years of working for Jesuit-run Vatican Radio, and through his other two jobs: as a freelance consultant in communications, and as a lecturer in media communications at Rome`s Gregorian University. In 1982 he became Vatican Radio`s youngest and first lay director of a language programme. But perhaps most significantly, Lovett was employed at Vatican Radio during the Cold War and its eventual end. For most of its 72 year history, the Pope`s radio station served many people who were not allowed to practise the Faith in communist countries, and for whom balanced reporting was hard to come by. It was a time when Vatican Radio defined itself very much as the ``voice in the Catacombs,`` says Lovett. ``We were the only ones reaching out to eastern Europe.`` Indeed, so effective was its outreach, the Bulgarian Government saw it necessary to place a spy in one of the offices. But with the fall of the Berlin Wall, the radio`s raison d`être vanished, and for over ten years the station suffered a kind of identity crisis. It was not until the Jubilee Year that an opportunity came to redefine itself, the uniqueness of the event hastening Vatican Radio`s transformation. The result was to retain its vast short-wave programming in 40 languages, but also to give the English and Italian language programmes a live channel beaming 12 hours a day to Rome on the FM wave band, and to the world via satellite. Live programming with talk-shows, interviews, liturgical programmes, news and music programmes are all part of what is called ``One-O-Five Live,`` a project spearheaded by Lovett to give the station a more contemporary feel. The name One-O-Five corresponds to the FM frequency. Although Vatican Radio already has its own official website, the One-O-Five Live team also decided to set up a website of its own so that people all over the world could listen to the FM programming. And barely one year on, the One-O-Five Live site, which has both Italian and English pages, attracts around 2,000 visitors a day. ``We`re thrilled the site`s been such a big success,`` says Stephen Banyra, 43, the site`s webmaster. ``We receive letters from people who tell us they`re non-Church goers or they`re Jewish or they`re from various Christian denominations,`` Banyra explains, adding that all correspondence is replied to. The Curia have only criticised the site on one occasion, when it demanded an interview regarding economic fallout from the Boston sex abuse scandal in the United States be taken off the website because there were ongoing sensitive discussions with Cardinal Law at the time. There is, in fact, a freedom to the station which other broadcasters do not have. ``People think we`re constricted because we`re the Vatican,`` says Sean Lovett. ``But actually we have amazing freedom. We`re not advertising generated so we don`t have to be pleasing certain people all the time. We`re very aware of our uniqueness and the spiritual and political dimension,`` he adds. ``There`s no other radio in the world that has to hold up those two columns. Every word you say, even if you say it`s going to rain tomorrow, has a spiritual dimension because it`s the Pope`s radio station. And because the Vatican is a sovereign state, there is a political dimension.`` So is he happy with the fruits of One-O-Five Live so far? He pauses before chuckling to himself. ``I`ll be happy when we`re broadcasting 24 hours a day; I`ll be happy when we truly become a point of reference to other Catholic and non-Catholic journalists, not just radio stations.`` As the interview comes to an end, Sean Lovett recalls one of his favourite stories of an Italian nun who spoke on the radio about her hospice in Rome for unmarried pregnant women. While on air, she made an appeal to anyone thinking of having an abortion to firstly visit her hospice. ``She called us the following day to say that she had just seen a young girl in the city who had her appointment at the abortion clinic that morning and instead of going there, she went to the hospice. Her intention was to have the baby. So I know there`s one person living today thanks to a radio broadcast,`` says Lovett emphatically. ``I know because we`ve stayed in touch and I know the child`s name.`` The One-O-Five Live website is at http://www.105live.vaticanradio.org/ VATICAN RADIO ONE-O-FIVE-LIVE: ``So much information, so little understanding``. Such is our relationship, in this media age, with much of the world in which we live. We`re swamped with news and facts that are often sensational or superfluous - without substance, meaning or significance. But shouldn`t our faith, which gives value and inspiration to our lives, help us to look deeper into the issues to really understand and discern their significance? That`s what we try to do at Vatican Radio. We`re not a two-dimensional voice of an ancient institution. Rather, we endeavor to bring you in-depth analysis of our world viewed through the eyes of faith in Jesus Christ. We challenge the secular and relativist thinking of our time, seek to inspire through the deepest dimension of our lives, the spiritual, and present opportunities on how to get involved and make a difference. And it`s all available on shortwave radio, by satellite, and now online. With the free RealOne player, you can access the best of our programming at the following web address: http://www.105live.vaticanradio.org (via Catholic Radio Update Oct 13 via DXLD) ** VIRGIN ISLANDS US [and non]. Death of someone who had an interesting life, much of it involving radio. http://www.rsgb.org/news/gb2rs.htm Amateur radio DXpedition pioneer Danny Weil, VP2VB, has become a 'Silent Key'. He died on the 3rd of October in San Antonio, Texas, at the age of 85. Born in England, Danny eventually settled in the USA and became an American citizen. He left England in 1954 in a home-made boat called the 'Yasme' on a solo round-the-world voyage. Danny 'discovered' amateur radio in the Virgin Islands, teaching himself radio theory and the Morse code and taking out the VP2VB licence. Over the next nine years, he visited dozens of countries, activating many of them for the first time and making hundreds of thousands of contacts with DXers throughout the world (RSGB via Mike Terry, DXLD) UNIDENTIFIED. 4990.91, Whoever this is signed on around 0900 this day 17 Oct. Signal is strong enough, but modulation is extremely low. Can only get bits of audio. Apintie?? Ancash?? (Dave Valko, Dunlo PA, Cumbre DX via DXLD) Both were known for varying around 4991 (gh) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ PUBLICATIONS ++++++++++++ PERRY-CASTAÑEDA LIBRARY MAP COLLECTION A hint for a very nice map site where you can find maps in exquisite colours from all over Latin America, both rural - and town maps: http://www.lib.utexas.edu/maps/americas.html (Björn Malm, Quito, Ecuador, SW Bulletin Oct 19, translated by editor Thomas Nilsson for DX LISTENING DIGEST) PROPAGATION +++++++++++ CURRENT CONDITIONS - WEEK OF 18 OCT 2003 Propagation has been degraded for the last few days as a result of an active to stormy geomagnetic field. This increased geomagnetic activity is due to a coronal hole that is located at the right place on the sun's corona such that the plasma spewing out of it is reaching our Earth's Magnetosphere, rather than missing us. And, the Interplanetary Magnetic Field component of this elevated solar wind has been mostly negative in its orientation in relationship with the Earth's magnetic field lines. This makes our geomagnetic field weaker, and more easily disturbed. When the geomagnetic field becomes weak and disturbed, it has an influence on the chemistry of the ionosphere such that the ions begin to recombine with atoms and particles, much like the recombination that takes place during the nighttime darkness. So, the maximum usable frequencies are lowered. But, at the same time, the D layer might remain ionized enough to continue to absorb the lower frequencies. This combined to "close" the window on higher HF frequencies. While solar activity has been low (very few flares, and none of them large, as well as a lower number of sunspots and a moderate 10.7-cm solar flux reading), the coronal hole activity has become active again after a few weeks of quiet. The beginning of October was pretty nice. Moderate solar activity with higher flux readings, but very low coronal hole activity and lower solar wind speeds with mostly a positive component of the IMF. But, we're going to continue to see periods of increased geomagnetic storms for the remainder of the Fall season, and somewhat beyond. Specifically, the next week should see a slight increase in solar activity, with flux levels slightly above 100, and only a slight decrease, if any, in geomagnetic activity. A high-speed solar wind stream is influencing the Earth and will continue to do so for the next 6 or 7 days. 73 de Tomas, NW7US (AAR0JA/AAM0EWA) (via swl at qth.net via DXLD) VERY LARGE SOLAR FLARE IN PROGRESS --- Sunday, October 19 2003 We are currently experiencing a solar flare that began within the past half hour. It looks like it might be huge X class flare and we are also experiencing a related shortwave fade out on sunlight side of the earth. Here in Plant City, Florida east of Tampa at 1650 03/10/19 UT I can detect absolutely no skywave radio signals on any of the shortwave bands. 73, (Thomas F. Giella, KN4LF, Plant City, FL, USA, hard-core-dx via DXLD) ###