DX LISTENING DIGEST 3-194, October 29, 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 1205: WWCR: Thu 2130 on 15825, Sat 1130, Sun 0330 on 5070, 0730 on 3210, Wed 1030 on 9475 RFPI: Sat 0130. . . on 7445 [may be off the air; see COSTA RICA] WRMI: Sat 1900+ on 15725 WBCQ: Mon 0515 on 7415 WRN ONDEMAND [from Fri]: 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 1205 (high version): [Note: high version lacks the final 25 seconds, propagation] (stream) http://www.w4uvh.net/wor1205h.ram (download) http://www.w4uvh.net/wor1205h.rm (summary) http://www.worldofradio.com/wor1205.html WORLD OF RADIO 1205 (low version): (stream) http://www.w4uvh.net/wor1205.ram (download) http://www.w4uvh.net/wor1205.rm WORLD OF RADIO IN BLACKOUT Hello Mr. Hauser- Tried to tune in WOR on WBCQ 7415 at 2300Z, heard absolutely nothing! (WBCQ is usually 30db over S9) A quick bandscan found NO audible broadcast stations on the 60 or 41 Meter broadcast bands. I only heard 2-3 stations each on 49,31, and 25 Meters. This was using three receivers and two different wire antennas. I've been SWLing a long time, and have never seen such conditions! best regards (Ben Loveless WB9FJO, Michigan, Oct 29, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Could not hear either frequency here either. WINB was barely audible on 9320, where WOR 1205 did not start until 0237 (gh, DXLD) ** ALASKA. HAARP FACILITY TO QUADRUPLE POWER Technical Specialist Richard Lampe, KL1DA, represented the League at the 2003 High Frequency Active Auroral Research Project (HAARP) http://www.haarp.alaska.edu/ RFI meeting September 24 at the HAARP site near Gakona, Alaska. ``Joint funding through DARPA will allow HAARP to quadruple in size from its current 960 kW output to 3.6 MW,`` Lampe says. ``When completed in 2006, HAARP will then be the premier ionospheric research facility with beam-steering capabilities that other similar arrays worldwide don`t have.`` Under terms of its experimental license, HAARP must transmit on a non-interference basis, and Lampe --- who is ARRL liaison to HAARP --- says the staff at the control center immediately shut down the transmitters when harmonics were detected on 75/80 meters during experiments last year. ``Alaska hams monitor the bands and aid HAARP engineers by reporting RFI issues as soon as they happen,`` Lampe said. Other participants at the meeting included representatives from the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association, the US Air Force, the US Navy and on-site staff and research students. (ARRL October 29 via John Norfolk, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ARGENTINA. RAE, 11710.1, nice signal in Portuguese at 0034 Oct 29, with news of Argentina; after 0100 in Spanish, weaker, and deteriorated further by the time English rolled around at 0200 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** BRAZIL. R. Cultura, São Paulo, lucked out with a totally clear frequency in 9615 at 0023 Oct 29, with nondescript music; immediately confirmed by \\ to 17815 which was weaker and fadier, then a Brazilian accented announcement. Nothing on 9610 either, but some ACI from 9620. But at 0100 recheck, 9615 was blocked by DW apparently in Asian language (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** BRAZIL. 4985, Radio Brazil Central, Goiânia, from 0108 UT Oct 28 with regional Latin / accordion pops, musical jingle ID at 0110, YL with talk and ads, SINPO 34333; very weakly heard in parallel on 11815 kHz, with strong Spanish unidentified QRN. Drake SW8 and 50 foot sloper (Roger Chambers, Utica, New York, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** BRAZIL. RÁDIO APARECIDA SPECIAL DX PROGRAM Hi friends, This e-mail is just to let you know that Radio Aparecida (5035, 6135, 9630 and 11855 kHz) will broadcast a special live DX program next Saturday at 2100 UT. There will be 4 kids at the microphones, and I will be one of them. Correct reception reports will be confirmed with a special QSL card. Return postage is helpful. Best wishes! Pedro Several of us on this list have met Pedro de Castro at one of the two NASWA SWL Fests that he's attended (George Maroti, Oct 29, Cumbredx mailing list via DXLD) ** CANADA. ON THE AIR AND MAKING WAVES November 03, 2003 Radio AMY CAMERON http://www.macleans.ca/culture/media/article.jsp?content=20031103_68510_68510 Unless you love Shania, Britney and Christina so much your heart aches every time you scan across the dial, listening to the radio can get tedious. And whether they follow the country, pop or rock formats, stations can reek of the same old, same old. In an effort to reject cookie-cutter sounds on the airwaves, two Canadian stations are breaking ranks to try something old and something new: 580 CFRA Every Sunday night, this Ottawa-based news/talk-radio station hands over the microphone to two middle-aged bald guys discussing rock 'n' roll. Literally. The show, Middle Aged Bald Guys, is a return to the glory days of rock radio. Co-hosts Jim Hurcomb and Al Fleming (who work full-time for Indian and Northern Affairs) choose all the music and welcome celebrity guests, such as Blue Rodeo's Jim Cuddy and Randy Bachman of the Guess Who, to chat about their favourite tunes. "We're a throwback to the '70s when the presentation was more human," says Hurcomb, 51. "It's a crusade. We're out to save the world from bad radio." An added bonus: guest DJs, including former deputy prime minister Herb Gray and NDP Leader Jack Layton. http://www.cfra.com CFHA COMEDY RADIO 103.5 Twenty years ago, Tom Gamblin came up with an idea for a 24-hour comedy radio station. Unfortunately, the cost of such a venture at that time was close to $1 million. But on Oct. 20, from a small office in Saint John, N.B., Gamblin finally hit the air with the first round- the-clock comedy station in Canada -- thanks to technological advancements, radio isn't as expensive as it used to be. "We don't have any guidelines to go by," said Gamblin, 46, on the first day, "so we're just trying something and if it doesn't work, we'll try something else." With only four employees (the station manager is the morning DJ, while the sales rep is also the afternoon traffic reporter), it may be an uphill battle, but Gamblin is willing to give it a go. "It's my first station," he says. "Hope it's not my last." (via Bill Westenhaver, DXLD) see also NEWFOUNDLAND ** CHINA [non]. Tracking the Cuban whistling transmitter (tho there may be more than one?), 5990 was doing it during the CRI relay in Spanish at 0013 UT Oct 29. Undermodulated, but a far cry from the big dead carriers Habana runs much of the time on 9550, 9600, such as at 0025 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** COSTA RICA. Glenn, RFPI is broadcasting live right now. 0330 UT Wed Oct 29. Says they're in a marathon till the end and the armed guards throw them out. They're talking about Strong and his ties to the School of the Americas etc. Say that it's a given they're going to be tossed out. Are dishing out everything they've been able to dig up on Maurice Strong (John H. Carver Jr., Mid-North Indiana, DX LISTENING DIGEST) And posted immediately at Anomaly Alert, which [dear Reader], you check often, don`t you? Among the points: needs a pro-bono lawyer in the US familiar with international law, to help RFPI. It`s a complicated situation, vs. an agency of the United Nations. There will be a march in front of the UFP on November 20, and Friends of RFPI are expected to come to CR to participate (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Glenn, Never mind. At about 0350 they stopped the live portion and went back to the regular schedule. Honest, when I tuned in they said they were broadcasting live till the end. Talk about egg on your face. I'm so embarrassed (John Carver, ibid.) John, Don`t be! Not your fault. I expect there will be more of the same later or tomorrow night. Breaking their silence/gag about Strong, etc. is a significant step. Hmmm, another hour-long program started at 0524 (Glenn, DXLD) Glenn, Don't know how much you got to hear. They did tell one caller that someone had donated land for the station to build on but that they wouldn't release the person's name for fear of what might happen to them. Were afraid that transmitters and equipment might be damaged by UFP during the ouster. Would have to start over from scratch again, begging for money to build studios and transmitter building. Said they might have to go "underground" with the station. Can understand that since they wouldn't have the alleged "protection" of being on UN property anymore. Said they would talk more about that later in the program and then took it off the air. I'm really upset about that (John H. Carver Jr., Mid-North Indiana, 0544 UT, WORLD OF RADIO 1205, DX LISTENING DIGEST) RFPI FACES SHUTDOWN IN A FEW DAYS According to James Latham, UPaz not only plans imminent eviction of RFPI staff from the station location, but also "has plans" for use for its own use of RFPI studios and transmitters, for which UPaz has offered little in monetary consideration. Please send E-mails to info@rfpi.org in support of the station. Contact James jiver1952 @ yahoo.com for details. The "silence" has been broken. I will try to provide further information tomorrow night (Franklin Seiberling, 0430 Wednesday UT Oc 29, WORLD OF RADIO 1205, DX LISTENING DIGEST) RFPI WILL BE FORCED TO RELOCATE ... 10/30/29 - The Copy Exchange - The University for Peace (UPaz) gave little ground to Radio for Peace International in negotiation that took place over the last few months over compensation to RFPI for their $200,000 facilities and for the cost of moving the station. UPaz would only set up an escrow account containing a tiny percentage of what is owed the station - money that RFPI cannot access. RFPI walked away from the talks empty handed, forced to relocate but penniless to do so. UPaz officials stated that RFPI must vacate their facilities by October 31st or face legal action, though it is unclear what form that action might take, since Costa Rican law does not apply to international land, such as UPaz property. Regardless, RFPI does plan to move and is determined to keep their dream alive. Land outside San José has been donated to RFPI, a deed being drawn up to transfer ownership to the station. From a newly established office in San José, capable of containing the studios, RFPI will be able to live stream their programming over the Internet during the three to six month period required to set up the transmitter and tower at the new location. Once the transmitter is established RFPI begin broadcasts again using a studio-to-transmitter link from the San Jose studio. UPaz reportedly is planning to make use of the present RFPI facilities, for which they offered nothing in monetary consideration, for their own purposes (Franklin Seiberling, IA, UT Oct 30, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CUBA [non]. OCB Broadcast Frequency Schedules a.k.a. Radio Martí Effective through 27 March 2004 Schedule effective 30 October 2003 % - Tuesday through Sunday Spanish 0000-0300 UTC 6030 7365 11775 13820 0300-0400 UTC 6030 7365 7405 11775 0400-0700 UTC% 6030 7405 9805 11775 0700-1000 UTC% 5980 6030 7365 7405 1000-1200 UTC 5745 5980 6030 7365 1200-1300 UTC 5745 5980 7365 7405 1300-1400 UTC 5745 7405 11930 13820 1400-1500 UTC 7405 11930 13820 15330 1500-2000 UTC 11930 13820 15330 17670 2000-2200 UTC 9565 11930 13820 17670 2200-2400 UTC 6030 11930 13820 15330 (IBB via WORLD OF RADIO 1205, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** DOMINICAN REPUBLIC. Saludos desde Catia La Mar, VENEZUELA. Después de mucho tiempo sin señales de vida, República Dominicana ha sido reactivada en la banda tropical. En los 4959.86 kHz, ha sido captada con nueva identificación --- sin duda por razones de temporada --- a CIMA 100, la cual ahora se autodenomina "CIMA SABOR NAVIDEÑO". Transmitía merengues y bachata a las 0336 UT, este 28/10. SINPO 3/2. Escuchada hasta pasadas las 0530 UT. Co-channel: VOA São Tomé (Adán González, Catia La Mar, VENEZUELA, Oct 28, WORLD OF RADIO 1205, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ECUADOR. Radio Quito en los 4918.99 kHz, a las 0343 UT, el 28/10. SINPO 2/2. Identificaciones como "Ecuador Radio". (Adán González, Catia La Mar, VENEZUELA, Oct 28, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ETHIOPIA [non]. Voice Of Democratic Path To Ethiopian Unity 7220 via Julich 1830-1930 Wednesday only. Sudden start, IDs Amharic (Silvain Domen, Belgium, 29 October, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** FIJI. FIJI TELEVISION BIDS FOR RADIO STATION WELLINGTON, New Zealand (RNZI, Oct. 28) - The Fiji Broadcasting Corporation says radio stations may be forced to close down if a proposed takeover is approved. Fiji Television Ltd wants to buy out radio station ZFM in what would be the country's first cross-media takeover. Fiji TV's Chief Executive Ken Clark says a deal has been struck and they are now waiting for the Director of Communications, Ratu Jone Kubuabola, to approve it. But, the head of the FBC, Francis Herman, says it will lead to unfair competition and may lead to stations going out of business. "The advertising market is so small that it could end up with a lot of the stations closing down or phasing out. Money will dictate how the media develops in Fiji and unfortunately, the wishes or the needs of the listeners, the viewers, the patrons will take a back seat to revenue." The proposal is expected to get approval by the government by the end of the year. October 28, 2003 Radio New Zealand International: http://www.rnzi.com/ Copyright © 2003 Radio New Zealand International. All Rights Reserved (Via Harry van Vugt, Windsor, Ontario, Canada, from the Pacific Islands Report page, DXLD) ** FINLAND. YLE-Finland to South America at 02-03: 9785 (in DXLD 3- 191) is the correct frequency, not 9730 (DXLD 3-192). 9785 was heard at fair levels on UT-Oct. 29 at 0240 with religious service in Finnish until 0249, then IS, ID in Finnish and Swedish, then 0250 news in Swedish (from YLE domestic service?) then ID, NA and repeated IS, then signoff before 0300 (Joe Hanlon, Vincentown, NJ, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** INDIA. Bandscanning Oct 29 at 0028 ID I came upon some South Asian music with heavy flutter, not on 9290 but on 9292.0, 0030 6-pip TS and ID as ``Akashvani``; I guess the 9425 transmitter is wandering again. Not \\ 10330 or 11620. Recheck at 0057, gone; recheck at 0200, a much weaker carrier higher up on 9292.9 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** INTERNATIONAL. CLANDESTINE/OPPOSITION/"SPECIAL" BROADCASTS FOR B03. I don't claim this compilation to be 100% complete and/or correct. Updates to follow as more monitoring results come through. Compiled by DXA375-Silvain Domen, Belgium. 28/10/2003. 0000-0100 IBC Tamil 7460 Tamil 0100-0200 Hmong Lao R. 15555 Lao(Wed/Fri) 0300-0500 "Educational Development Council"/Woofferton 9760 -Merlin- 0430-0500 Arabic R. 7510 Arabic 0500-0900 V.Of Mesopotamia 15675 Kurdish -TDP- 0700-0759 V.Of Dem.Path To Ethiopian Unity/Julich 17655 Amharic(Sun) - DTK- 0900-0959 R.Rainbow/Julich 6180 Amharic(Sat) -DTK- 0900-1700 V.Of Mesopotamia 11530 Kurdish -TDP- 1230-1300 R.Free Vietnam 9930 Vietnamese(Mon-Sat) -TDP- 1330-1400 Que Huong R. 9930 Vietnamese(Mon-Sat) -TDP- 1330-1430 New Horizon R./Julich 9585 Vietnamese(High Adventure R.px)- DTK- 1400-1500 V.Of Khmer Kampuchea Krom 11560 Khmer(Tue) -TDP- 1429-1526 Democratic V.Of Burma/Talata Volondry 17495 Burmese -RNW- 1500-1530 R.Rhino Int./Julich 17870 English (Tue-Fri) -DTK- 1500-1559 " " " " (Sat/Sun) 1500-1600 V.Of Democratic Eritrea/Julich 5925 Tigrigna(Sat) -DTK- 1500-1700 "Educational Development Council"/Woofferton 15530 -Merlin- 1600-1630 Arabic R. 12085//12120 Arabic 1600-1659 V.Of Ethiopian Salvation/Julich 9820 Amharic(Sun/Thu) -DTK- 1630-1659 R.Huriyo-V.Of The Ogadeni People/Julich 9820 Somali Tue/Fri 1630-1700 R.International 7520 Farsi 1630-1730 R.Amani 15615 Pashto/Dari(Fri) 1657-1755 V.Of The People/Talata Volondry 7120 -RNW- 1700-1730 R.Sagalee Qabsoo Bilisummaa Oromiyoo 12120(Mon/Thu) -TDP- 1700-1759 V.Of Democratic Eritrea/Julich 9820 Tigrigna(Mon/Thu) -DTK- 1700-1800 Mezopotamian RTV 7560 Kurdish(Tue/Wed/Fri) -TDP- 1700-1800 Dejen R. 12120 Tigrigna(Sat) -TDP- 1700-1800 R.Solidarity(temporarily off the air) 12120 Tigrigna(Sun) - TDP- 1700-1800 "Educational Development Council"/Woofferton 15275 -Merlin- 1700-1800 V.Of Oromo Liberation/Julich 9820 Oromo (Su/Tu/We/Fr) -DTK- 1700-1800 V.Of Komala 7560 Farsi(Sun) -TDP- 1730-1800 V.Of Oromia(temporarily off the air) 12120 Oromo(Mon/Thu) - TDP- 1800-1900 "Educational Development Council"/Woofferton 12015 -Merlin- 1800-2000 V.Of Reform-Al-Islah 15705 Arabic -TDP- 1830-1930 V.Of Ethiopian Salvation-Medhin 12120 Amharic(Sun) -TDP- 1830-1930 V.Of Dem.Path To Ethiopian Unity/Julich 7220 Amharic(Wed) - DTK- 1900-1930 R.Ezra 7560 English(Sun) -TDP- 1900-2000 R.Rainbow/Julich 11840 Amharic(Fri) -DTK- 2000-2100 TDP R. 7560 English(Sat) -TDP- 2100-2200 World Falun Dafa R.-Fang Guang Ming 6035 Chinese -TDP- 2330-0030 Democratic V.Of Burma/Julich 5945 Burmese -DTK- 2330-0030 Democratic.V.Of Burma/Talata Volondry 12055 Burmese -RNW- (Silvain Domen, Belgium, Oct 29, [excerpts: EDC, Arabic R, Islah, WORLD OF RADIO 1205], DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** IRAN. Me llega una solicitud de La Voz de la República Islámica de Irán: enviar un mensaje donde especifique por cuál vía capto la estación. Las respuestas tendrán mucho peso en las negociaciones acerca del futuro de las ondas cortas persas. Desde luego, eso no quiere decir que el peligro sea inminente. Tan sólo debemos limitarnos a hacerle saber a la directiva de la estación de que la audiencia de La Voz... es mayoritariamente de la onda corta. 73's y buen DX... (Adán González, Catia La Mar, VENEZUELA, Oct 28, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** IRAN. Re Masshad 5050: Hi Glenn. Thanks for the info. So it was in Dari on 5050. Can't tell the difference. ID sounded just like Farsi :). Well, my logging time was 1600 UT, so maybe they have some Ramadan changes. Also noted this station on 4000 at 1700 UT on 28 Oct, trying to get an ID but no luck. So Tajik is the language on 4000. Good signal on both frequencies, even during poor conditions. Thanks again. Many thanks for the info to Glenn Hauser and Wolfgang Bueschel. This is the B03 scheduled broadcast of VOIRI in Dari. My 5050 logging doesn't fit with the schedule by time, but this may be a shift during Ramadan. By the way, their transmission in Tajik was also noted here on 28 Oct at 1700 on 4000 kHz (Jari Savolainen, Kuusankoski, Finland, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** MONACO [non]. RMC via RCI in Arabic 0400 on 9755, still clashes with CRI via French Guiana, UT Oct 30, but under the propagational circumstances was barely audible under CRI (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** NETHERLANDS. Subject: Off Target Hi Andy, I see some more faces in the new On Target without captions, pages 1, 5. Care to enlighten us again? 73, (Glenn to Andy Sennitt) OK here we go: Page 1. Top left: Ginger da Silva (standing) and Laura Durnford. Top right: Newsline's Perro de Jong and Josh Mayo Bottom left: Perro de Jong again Bottom centre: Liesbeth de Bakker Bottom right: Dheera Sujan Page 5. Andy Clark is in the centre, facing camera, presenting Amsterdam Forum. The others are studio guests. There are more faces and bios on our Web sites at http://www.rnw.nl/en/html/faces.html 73, (Andy Sennitt, RN, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** NEWFOUNDLAND. CLUBS ESTABLISH VHF TRANSATLANTIC BEACON: The Marconi Radio Club of Newfoundland http://www.ucs.mun.ca/~jcraig/mrcn.html and the Baccalieu Amateur Radio Club of Carbonear have placed a VHF transatlantic beacon on the air. The VO1ZA beacon transmits on 144.400 MHz. ``This beacon has been brewing for a number of years and we`re happy it`s finally on the air,`` said Joe Craig, VO1NA, who built the exciter board and the CW IDer. The transmitter runs 250 W and the power amp previously served the VE1SMU beacon. The antenna is an 11-element Cushcraft Yagi fed with half-inch hardline. The repeater site, in the town of Carbonear, is in the middle of a large field at a turkey farm with a clear view of the North Atlantic Ocean through the mouth of Conception Bay on the southeastern coast of Newfoundland. The antenna is at about 300 feet above sea level. Amateur stations hearing this beacon are asked to report to Joe Craig, VO1NA, vo1na@rac.ca describing in detail what they copied (ARRL October 29 via John Norfolk, DXLD) ** PAKISTAN. Radio Pakistan Frequency Schedule for External Services B-03 From 26-10-2003 TO 27-03-2004 (Rearranged in time order-ds) Timings In UTC Language Frequency Target Areas 0045-0115 Assami Service (English) 9340, 11565 Assam 0115-0200 Bangla (Morning) 9340, 11565 Bangladesh, India 0215-0300 Hindi (Morning) 9340, 11565 India 0315-0345 Tamil (Morning) 15625, 17540 India (South) and Sri Lanka 0400-0430 Gujrati 15485, 17825 East and South East Africa 0945-1015 Tamil (Evening) 15625, 17495 India (South) and Sri Lanka 1015-1045 Sinhali 15625, 17495 Sri Lanka 1100-1145 Hindi (Evening) 9340, 11565 India 1200-1230 Chinese 11570, 15070 China 1200-1245 Bangla (Evening) 11565, 15625 Bangladesh, India 1245-1315 Nepali 11565, 15625 Nepal 1330-1400 Turki 5860, 7375 Afghanistan and countries in Central Asia 1415-1500 Russian 7375, 9385 Russia & Central Asian Countries 1515-1545 Dari 4955, 5860 Afghanistan and countries in Central Asia 1630-1700 Turkish 7550, 9340 Turkey 1715-1800 Irani 5840, 7550 Iran 1815-1900 Arabic 6225, 7550 Middle East and North Africa (http://www.radio.gov.pk/exter.htm, via Dan Sampson, Prime Time Shortwave) Later: Hello Glenn, The other Pakistan schedule sent the External Service; this one is for the World/External service. ** PAKISTAN. Radio Pakistan Frequency Schedule For World/External Services Broadcasting Zones B-03 From 26-10-2003 to 27-03-2004 Name of Service Timing GMT Frequency Broadcasting Zones World Service for South & South East Asia In Urdu 0045-0215 15485, 17895 41,44,45,49-51,54,55,59 1. World Service for Gulf and Middle East, Turkey, Iran & North/West Africa In Urdu [something missing here? Or is the layout mixed up? --- gh] 2. English News & Commentary 1: 0500-0700 11570, 15100, 17835 37-40 2: 1330-1530 11570, 15065 37-40 3: 1600-1615 9320, 11570 37-40 [I think only this is English – gh] English News & Commentary for East & South East Africa 1600-1615 15725, 17820 48s,52,53,57 World Service for West Europe In Urdu 1: 0800-1104 17835, 21465 18,27-29 [English at start and finish] 2: 1700-1900 7530, 9320 18,27-29 Islamabad Program In Urdu 2300-2400 6785 0015-0545 7570 (http://www.radio.gov.pk/worl.html via Dan Sampson, Prime Time Shortwave, DXLD) http://www.primetimeshortwave.com ** PAPUA NEW GUINEA. Media Item: PNG... New Station Coming? From: http://www.thenational.com.pg/1029/column3.htm Make note at the end of the 7th paragraph. Ulis DIVERSITY AND THE PNG MEDIA --- By KEVIN PAMBA IN countries where the size and reach of the media is small, diversity of news and views is limited. The story is the same in countries where there is a concentration of media ownership among few media corporations. Even in the so-called greatest democracy on earth, the United States of America, diversity is suffering as more and more media outlets are being taken over by the few large media networks. Besides take-overs by the big networks, media outlets are forming alliances through affiliations and access to syndicated news and features. This is enabling them to share news and features. For example, one news or feature item generated by a media organisation in a part of the United States, is being shared among the numerous 'sister' organisations or affiliates across that country and even overseas. What is happening in the United States is repeated in other democracies like Australia. Having a number of media organisations in one country does not necessarily mean that there will be a diversity of news and features, as one media critic pointed out. PNG has a small media industry. An event, issue or view that does not get covered in the small media industry here ceases to exist in the local media mindset. For an issue or view to be 'news', it must make it into the news pages and new bulletins of the media outlets here. In terms of the diversity of news and views, PNG is better now than it was ten years ago. It was almost ten years that The National newspaper was born, enabling Papua New Guineans a choice of two daily newspapers instead of one. A year later in 1994, the PNG FM commercial radio group came onto the scene with the launch of their youth-oriented English station, NauFM. This was followed by the launch of their second station in Tok Pisin station with an appeal to the wider grassroots community. In 2000, yet another commercial radio group, Hirad Ltd came on, with the launch of FM Central in Port Moresby. A year later they launched FM Morobe, broadcasting out of Lae to the city and surrounding areas. In the last three years other FM radio networks began operating in Mount Hagen, Kikori, Porgera and yet another in Port Moresby (the Christian radio station, Wantok Light FM). The Sepik area is soon to get two FM radio stations, (Christian and commercial) while Wantok Light FM is planning to extend its reach to the rest of the country via the Short Wave band next year. ******************** The flourishing of FM radio stations since 1994, although not all are commercial, broke the monopoly strangle hold of the only commercial FM station then, the state-owned Kalang FM (now FM 100). This has given more choices to the PNG public. The public is better off now then in 1994 as they have a diversity of FM radio stations to choose from for news and features and other radio programs. In the television sector, PNG has not been fortunate. EM TV, the subsidiary of Australian media magnate Kerry Packer, continues to maintain its monopoly leaving the PNG public with no choice of alternate sources of television news and other programs. In the newspaper sector, the closure of The Independent weekly newspaper earlier this year was a body blow to the sector as it took away one more choice from the public. The closure also denied the niche, weekly newspaper market a choice, that is enjoyed in smaller economies in the Pacific region like Fiji. On the political front, there is really no will to see the media industry grow to give more choice to the public. That lack of political will to see the media sector industry in this country, can be seen with the neglect of the NBC's 19 provincial radio stations. Under the reforms, provincial radio stations were given to provincial governments, with the NBC picking up the responsibility of manpower and management. If there was political will, there would have been a deliberate move by the governments over the years to support more niche market media outlets to open across the country to give more choices to the people that is convenient to them. There seems to be a lack of understanding within the political circles that the more diversified and niche market media outlets there are, the better it is for democracy and development. But then again, this can be just wishful thinking since everything boils down to one thing -- money. And this country does not much of it with its economy struggling to regain what was lost through a series of factors of the years including outright corrupt acts of politicians and bureaucrats (via Kim Elliott, Jilly Dybka, DXLD, and via Ulis R. Fleming, MD, Cumbre DX via DXLD) We had reports about the Wantok Light SW project a few months ago, but nothing more lately (gh, DXLD) ** PORTUGAL. RDP Lisbon CEOC - Centro Emissor de Onda Curta (RDP), São Gabriel, Pegões put out two spurious signals today October 29th, around 0630 UT when Catholic Mass live transmission held. Fundamental 9815 kHz 100 kW at 52 degrees towards Central Europe, scheduled Mon-Fri only at 0600-1300 UTC. Signals 166.9 kHz away, on 9648.1 and 9981.9 kHz Parallel 300 kW outlet on 9755 kHz at 45 degrees is clean. Kind regards (Wolfgang Büschel, Germany, Oct 29, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** SUDAN [non]. 15530, Sudan Radio Service heard October 28th 1515- 1520 News in English about implementation of the Peace agreement, identification and then news in a local Arabic dialect. Good on clear channel (Mike Barraclough, Letchworth, UK, WORLD OF RADIO 1205, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** SWEDEN. RADIO SWEDEN -- Coming up on Radio Sweden: Thursday: Chador, nikab, burka or what? Debate between a veiled student and the School Board Friday: Our weekly review Saturday: "Network Europe" Sunday: "In Touch With Stockholm" focuses on regulating car sales in Europe and old friends talk life and film (SCDX/MediaScan Oct 29 via DXLD) ** UGANDA [non] 17870, Radio Rhino International Africa heard October 28 *1500-1515 Sign on with multiple identifications mentioning their new frequency and slogans "your voice for freedom, your voice for liberty, your symbol for the future, your symbol for hope" over music bridges including If I Had a Hammer and what seemed to be an Irish jig! Discussion between former President Milton Obote, station announcer and a former Ugandan Attorney General followed. Good signal on clear channel (Mike Barraclough, Letchworth, UK, WORLD OF RADIO 1205, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. The KVOH site is 1 km South of the 118 "Simi Valley" freeway. On Saturday Oct 26, the fire briefly burned a small area South of the 118 near KVOH. Since then the fire has been held to the North of the 118. KVOH may be out of danger (Donald Wilson, Oct 29, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. CALIFORNIA WILDFIRES DESTROY CHRISTIAN STATION'S TRANSMITTERS | Posted by: newsdesk on Tuesday, October 28, 2003 - Not even the concrete block transmitter building for Christian radio station KSGN in Riverside, Calif., could escape the ravages of Southern California`s massive wildfires. On Saturday, Oct. 25, the transmitters for KSGN, FM 89.7, were destroyed in what is known as the ``Old Fire`` in the San Bernardino Mountains, putting the station off the air around 12:30 p.m. Transmitter buildings in the same area for two other secular radio stations were also destroyed. ``Using temporary borrowed equipment, we are again on the air but at reduced power, and our Internet stream is back up,`` said Manager Dawn Hibbard. ``Repair of the building and replacing the equipment is expected to take several weeks. Please pray for the safety of the crew working on the mountain.`` Jon Foreman, KSGN`s assistant engineer, said the transmitter building caught fire Saturday morning after hot embers landed on the building`s wooden roof. ``The roof burned and collapsed,`` he said. ``Everything inside the building was destroyed. The fire was so hot that even an aluminum ladder was vaporized!`` The flames destroyed both the main and back-up transmitters and related broadcasting equipment. However, the metal antenna tower and generator are ``still in good shape.`` The transmitter building and its contents were covered by insurance, but the listener-supported station is appealing for donations to help pay for immediate expenses caused by the fire. Foreman said it is too early to make a damage estimate. HCJB World Radio has maintained a close relationship with the station, founded in 1958, for many years. ``KSGN works in tandem with HCJB World Radio, airing Ron Cline`s daily feature, `Beyond The Call,``` Hibbard says. The station also worked with the ministry to provide fix-tuned radios to listeners in Africa. ``Our delight is to extend God`s kingdom by sharing the good news and strengthening the body of Christ here in southern California and around the globe together with HCJB World Radio.`` The Associated Press reported today that at least 17 deaths were blamed on the fires, 15 in Southern California and two in Mexico. Separate blazes were scattered along an arc from the suburbs northwest of Los Angeles to Ensenada, Mexico, about 60 miles south of the border. At least 1,137 homes have been destroyed in California. More than 512,000 acres of brush, forest and homes -- or about 800 square miles, roughly three-quarters the total area of Rhode Island -- have burned in California. (HCJB World Radio/AP Oct 29 via DXLD) Just a quick status report of radio related stuff. Last night Simi fire spread eastward into the Chatsworth area. The TV reporters explained how they had spent the afternoon dropping retardant on the area of Oat Mountain, which has several amateur radio repeaters, as well as microwave relay facilities and other stuff. From the looks of things, they were able to successfully keep the flames from reaching the site, though the entire surrounding area was engulfed in flames. At least that's as of last night when I saw the last report. In the Lake Arrowhead area, they did a report on Strawberry Peak, which is right off hwy 18 in the Rim Forest area. They first played a taped report describing the site (this is a major microwave site for the whole Inland Empire area. I believe it's also an Amateur Radio repeater site). After the taped report, the reporter said that the site had indeed been lost to the fire. I'm not sure how this affects communications in the area, since nowadays so much has gone to fiber. This was a hardened AT&T facility built to survive nuclear blasts and heavy snow, so I imagine that the only stuff that is damaged should be pretty easily repaired. Probably a lot of melted coax... I've been checking KIRN-670, in the hopes that they would go silent and allow me to catch KBOI, which I haven't heard in many years. From the maps I've seen, their tower site should be right in the middle of the burn area of the Simi Valley fire, but so far they've stayed on the air (Brian Leyton, Valley Village, CA, DX-398 / RS-Loop / 18" Box Loop Oct 28 1902 UT NRC-AM via DXLD) At approximately 4:00 AM PST, Oct 26, the Cedar Fire swept through the KECR property in Lakeside Ca. This fire started at 5:30 PM on Oct. 25, approximately 12 miles northeast of our location and has currently spread another 16 miles both west and east of us. Santa Ana winds, single digit humidity, and drought conditions contributed to the speed and force of this fire. Evidence onsite suggests that local fire driven winds reached incredible force. A 5 meter aluminum dish that was stored on its back was completely flipped over and moved 50 feet. 5 of our 7 doghouses were completely destroyed. One tower collapsed. The studio and transmitter buildings did not suffer any damage. Phone lines are down as is the well pump control. We are currently on-air at 850 watts, non-directional through one of two undamaged towers. I'll have some pictures in a day or so. Jeff Zimmer, Family Stations Inc. KECR (From the radio-tech list via Scott Fybush, NRC-AM via DXLD) ** U S A. LEGENDARY CATHOLIC BROADCASTER DIES IN OMAHA Omaha, Oct 7 (CRU) --- George ``Bud`` Armstrong, a Catholic and legendary Top 40 broadcaster in the 1950's, died yesterday and was buried today from St Barnabas Church. He was 76. Mr. Armstrong was part of the famous Storz Broadcasting Co., which pioneered the Top 40 format in the 1950's and 1960's and became widely imitated. Storz, formed by Nebraskan farmer Todd Storz, is credited with saving radio in the years that followed the collapse of network radio and saw many observers wondering if radio would not be completely replaced by television. Young Todd Storz, while serving in the army, spent much of his free time talking with the waitresses in the PX. He noticed that, all day and night, the enlisted men passed their free time in the PX, feeding their nickels into the jukebox, playing the same hit songs over and over. Late at night, when the PX closed, he saw the waitresses do the same. ``I would have thought that the last thing they wanted to hear would be the same songs they had to listen to all day. But no, they dropped their hard-earned nickels into the jukebox to hear those same songs as they cleaned up the place.`` At the time radio stations were offering all kinds of music in block formats, with only one of the blocks dedicated to the ``hit parade.`` When he was discharged, Storz returned to the farm outside Omaha and persuaded his father and brothers to mortgage the farm so he could buy an Omaha radio station, daytimer KOWH 660 AM, the old Omaha World- Herald station, to try out his ideas. In an interview some years later with a now defunct television weekly, Mr. Storz said that the other Omaha broadcasters did not give him six months. They could not have been more wrong. In six months his daytime only station soared in the ratings to beat out the other stations, including the prestigious Woodsmen of the World WOW 590 AM and the clear-channel giant KFAB 1110 AM. Mr. Armstrong joined Mr. Storz at the time. A graduate of Creighton Prep, the Jesuit high school in Omaha, he moved the following year from KOWH to the newly purchased WTIX 1450 AM in New Orleans, which Mr. Storz had bought from a group that had won the permit three years before and built a classical commercial station that did not succeed. Mr. Storz said in the interview that he had always felt that WTIX would be the acid test of his theories. New Orleans, he said, is a multi-ethnic cosmopolitan city and what worked in Omaha might not work there. His fears proved unfounded. WTIX was an overnight sensation; 24 hours of the top 40 hits played by radio personalities and an emphasis on local news and live remote programs caused the station to reach rating peaks of 70% of the listening audience, a feat never equaled. It was Mr. Armstrong who made WTIX succeed, using Mr. Storz's program theories. Local news was always five minutes before the hour; the thinking was that those who did not want to hear news would tune to another station. But since the other stations usually were network affiliates with news on the hour, when they went into news, the listeners would tune back to WTIX, and so they did. Generous contests --- $10,000, a large sum in 1959, was hid in the fork of a live oak in Audubon Park - and each day a new clue was given in verse form. There were lucky house number contests. On one occasion a disc jockey went up to the roof of a commercial building on famed Canal Street and rained dollar bills down onto the jam-packed sidewalks. The police were not amused at the near-riot that followed. In May 1958, Storz bought WWEZ 690 AM, with a superior dial position and 5,000 watts, transferred the call letters there (``The Seventh of May is moving day! The Seventh of May is moving day!``) and gave the 1450 AM station to the city school board to use as an educational station, thus removing a potential competitor who would have been even more competitive operating on the old WTIX frequency. Storz Broadcasting grew; in the following decade, WHB 710 AM Kansas City, WDGY 1130 AM Minneapolis-St Paul, WQAM 560 AM Miami, KOMA 1520 AM Oklahoma City and KXOK 630 AM St Louis were added. Mr. Storz confined himself, apart from WQAM, to the Midwest, and he never entered FM radio. He died of a heart attack at a young age, and when rock music became harder and acid, and alternative radio began to grow, especially on the FM dial, Top 40 radio began to recede. The Storz family held onto the stations for a few years after Mr. Storz's death, and then sold them. To this day Storz is acknowledged as the man who saved radio with his perceptive creation, Top 40 radio. George Bud Armstrong was a key player and his passing made national headlines in the trade press (Mike Dorner, Catholic Radio Update Oct 27 via DXLD) ** U S A. WANT TO BE INTERVIEWED ON THE RADIO? WELL, JUST PAY UP. October 27, 2003 By JACQUES STEINBERG The caller to Joanne Doroshow's office last month described himself as working for Sky Radio Network, a company that produces programming for Forbes Radio, one of the audio channels available to passengers on American Airlines. As the executive director of the Center for Justice and Democracy, a nonprofit organization that casts itself as a champion of consumer rights, Ms. Doroshow was asked if she would be interviewed for a talk show examining the issue of tort reform. When Ms. Doroshow agreed, she said, the caller informed her that it would cost her organization $5,900 to have its point of view heard. When Ms. Doroshow balked, she said, the caller offered to see if it could be reduced to $3,500. "I was furious,'' Ms. Doroshow said. "I thought this was another way corporations are dominating what people hear, and are getting only their side presented because they're willing to pay for it.'' Ms. Doroshow was so angry that she directed lawyers for the center, whose board includes Erin Brockovich and Ralph Nader, to draft a complaint letter to the Federal Trade Commission, which the center intends to submit today. It asks that Sky Radio, which also produces programming for United, Delta, Northwest and several other airlines, be required to disclose prominently that its news-style programs are actually little more than paid advertisements. That the regulation of airline audio programming represents something of uncharted territory was underscored by the reaction of a spokesman for the trade commission. When reached on Friday, the spokesman said he was not sure if airline programming fell under its purview, that of the Federal Communications Commission or the Department of Transportation. In writing to the trade commission, Ms. Doroshow said she wanted to ensure that producers of airline programming - available to three million passengers a month on American Airlines, a unit of the AMR Corporation, according to Sky Radio - were held to the same disclosure standards as Web search engines (which have been directed by the F.T.C. to disclose if a company has paid for high placement) or infomercials (which generally are supposed to announce whether guests have been paid). Marc Holland, the founder and chief executive of Sky Radio, said that Forbes Radio consists of 30 minutes of actual news content (supplied to Sky Radio by Forbes editors) followed by about 90 minutes of public-affairs programming known as "The Business and Technology Report'' that is assembled by Sky Radio. (The company said it had an arrangement for an audio channel on Delta flights that included news programming from National Public Radio.) It is this latter part of programming on the Forbes channel that Ms. Doroshow was invited to appear on, Mr. Holland said. And he is unapologetic about the price she was asked to pay. He said that hundreds of companies - " Oracle, Dell, every tech company, most of the pharmaceutical companies, all the big energy companies'' - have agreed to make their representatives available for interviews, for a similar fee. Last month, the company announced in a news release that it had interviewed its "3,000th client,'' which it said was a tie between an executive from British Petroleum (who had been interviewed about alternative energy initiatives) and a lawyer from McDonald's (who was interviewed about corporate governance). Both had paid to be interviewed, Mr. Holland said. Because Sky Radio must pay the airlines an undisclosed fee for its airtime and does not accept more conventional advertising, the fees paid by its guests are among its only sources of income, Mr. Holland said. The seven-year-old, privately held company projects revenues of about $5 million this year, he said. While Mr. Holland said that an announcer intones at several points in the latter part of the broadcast that "the guests on the show may have paid a fee to appear,'' he acknowledged that no such disclaimer appears in the programming guide in the back of the airline's magazine. The only clue that the Forbes programming is separated from the paid programming is a thin line. Asked if the thin line in the airline magazine was sufficient to distinguish Forbes' independent programming from that of Sky Radio, Monie Begley, a Forbes spokeswoman, said it was. "It's very clear to me,'' she said, before acknowledging: "I don't know if it is for a passenger.'' To be interviewed free, Mr. Holland said, "you have to be a senator. You have to be a president. You have to be a secretary of state. You'd have to be huge. Or you'd have to have influence with us. It's a gift.'' Among the precious few on whom he has bestowed that gift, Mr. Holland said, were former President Jimmy Carter and Madeleine K. Albright, the former secretary of state, whose interviews are prominently displayed this month on the Sky Radio Web site, http://www.skyradionet.com. Of Ms. Doroshow's complaint that she was effectively being shaken down, Mr. Holland added: "Let them take it up with the Better Business Bureau.'' Copyright 2003 The New York Times Company (via Mike Cooper, DXLD) ** U S A. LOW-POWERED RADIO STATIONS PLAN TO BE HEAVY ON LOCAL CONTENT By: Kiss, Tony Posted: Oct. 27, 2003 11:14 p.m. ASHEVILLE - Something new is coming to the Asheville radio airwaves, as two new extremely local FM stations begin operations. One of the stations, WPVM/103.5-FM, began broadcasting Monday and the second, WRES/100.7-FM, will start as soon as all needed equipment is in place and tested, which could be this week. New radio voices Asheville has two new low-powered FM radio stations: WPVM/103.5-FM, operated by Mountain Area Information Network and WRES/100.7-FM, licensed to the Empowerment Resource Center of Asheville/Buncombe County. WPVM is co-hosting a Halloween party with political commentator and author Jim Hightower at 6:30 p.m. Thursday at Asheville High School Auditorium. Hightower will speak and sign copies of his new book "Thieves in High Places." The event is co-presented by Rolling Thunder Asheville, the local political organization. Tickets are $10 adults, $8 those in costume, $5 students. On the Net: http://www.main.nc.us or http://www.wpvm.org Listeners wishing to donate to WRES may send contributions to the station at Box 7495, Asheville, 28802. A Web site is being designed. They're the region's first legal, low-powered stations, a new type of radio service approved by the Federal Communications Commission. Each has a 100-watt over-the-air signal that will be heard only in the Asheville area, although they're also planning to webcast their programming through the Internet. The format at WPVM will be heavy on informational shows, with "an emphasis on local content," said Wally Bowen, executive director of Mountain Area Information Network, which holds that station's license. The station taped Monday night's forum by Asheville City Council candidates sponsored the League of Women Voters and will air it in coming days. Work is under way on downtown studios in the Vanderbilt Apartments building next to the Civic Center. At WRES, the programming will include lots of urban music as well as informational shows, manager John Hayes said. The station is licensed to the Empowerment Resource Center of Asheville/Buncombe County, an agency that provides information on housing, credit counseling and related issues. Studios will be located at 91 Patton Ave. To raise awareness and money, WPVM is co-hosting a Thursday night Halloween party featuring political commentator and author Jim Hightower. "We are fortunate to have him here help us launch WPVM," Bowen said. "Hightower is one of the most articulate and exciting progressive voices in the country today." The arrival of the two stations was applauded by Asheville's public radio station. "For the most part, their programs will be different than what we are doing," said Ed Subkis, general manager of WCQS/88.1-FM. (c) Asheville Citizen-Times, 14 O. Henry Ave., Asheville, NC 28801, The Asheville Citizen-Times is a Gannett Newspaper (via Mike Cooper, DXLD) ** U S A. BACH OFF, YOU NPR SCUM --- BY JOHN SUGG WABE DOESN'T TUNE IN TO WHAT MANY LISTENERS WANT http://atlanta.creativeloafing.com/2003-10-23/fishwrapper.html Move over Beethoven, we've got some rockin' news about some people who want to rattle the boat at WABE-FM (90.1). In fact, those folks want to shake Beethoven, Mozart and pals right off the barge -- at least for part of the day. For months now, one of the more titillating -- and very Atlanta -- tempests in a mint julep pitcher has been over programming at WABE, the venerable (some would say calcified) classical music station. The issue has all of the city's familiar themes -- the ever-present racial fault line, the creaky old Atlanta establishment vs. progressive and intellectual newcomers, the failure of Those Who Run Things to run things in the public's interest (as opposed to their own). And, last but not least, the ubiquitous, smothering embrace of Atlanta's own media beast, the voracious Coxtopus. Atlanta, you see, is anemic unto near death in the public radio department. You can hear more National Public Radio programming, and more stations beaming it, in Augusta or Columbus than in Atlanta. Hell, the backwaters of Mississippi and Alabama are enlightened with oodles more NPR than the South's putative cultural capital, Atlanta. As media activist Heidi Glick puts it: "I'm from Vermont, and I had my choice of three NPR stations. Here, I have no choice, and the one station that should be broadcasting NPR gives us only a very small amount of what's available. It was shocking to me." Glick was so shocked that one day, while standing parental watch at the Waldorf School playground in Decatur, she began commiserating with a friend over the lack of NPR programming. "We decided we were tired of talking and we were going to do something," Glick recalls. A revolutionary was born. A group of activists coalesced, led by Kate Binzen, who like Glick is a full-time mom, and Georgia State philosophy professor Andy Altman. In February, they began attending board meetings of AETC Inc., the nonprofit entity that operates WABE. The station's license is held by Atlanta Public Schools, which in turn contracts management to AETC. "We thought we'd be listened to at least," Altman sighed last week. Binzen finished: "Then we ran into Lois." Lois Reitzes is the grande diva of classical music in Atlanta. She is beloved by fans, who get downright faint each evening awaiting her trademark announcement, delivered in a voice sweetened by the tones of triumph, "Six hours of classics begin now!" The problem, however, isn't exactly Reitzes. There's no doubt that she's passionate about dead European white guys. Compared to the anti-intellectual, politically Neanderthal, just-shy-of-payola crap brought to you by corporate thugs such as Clear Channel and Cox -- Reitzes comes across as an airwave Mother Teresa. NPR fans, however, depict Reitzes as more of a vengeful Valkyrie. They wanted four more hours of news and talk added to the eight hours of non-music daily programming on WABE. What Atlanta does not hear currently are popular NPR programs such as "Talk of the Nation," "The Diane Rehm Show" and "The Connection." Those require real-time broadcast, which would nix some of Reitzes' midday arias and concertos. But after many meetings and polite advocacy, Glick and friends ran into resistance as thick and impenetrable as a Prokofiev symphony [?? -- gh]. "They would like all talk during the day," Reitzes said, her voice slightly quavering at the outrageousness of the idea, adding as both compliment and warning: "They're very well organized." Ultimately, WABE's response to the NPR "radioactivists" was: Drop dead. There are, in fact, two public radio broadcasters in Atlanta. You can hear WABE. In most places inside the Perimeter, you can't listen to Georgia Public Radio because its Federal Communications Commission license (held by the state) restricts it from airing in Atlanta. Meanwhile, the Atlanta School Board -- a group better known for mismanagement than broadcasting acumen -- is one of the few minority- controlled institutions in the nation running a public broadcast station. The school system also owns WPBA Channel 30, one of two public TV stations broadcasting in the Atlanta area. At most public broadcasting operations, the popular radio stations attract more loyal contributors than does television. When the two facilities are combined, as with the Atlanta school stations, the radio station's contributors prop up TV operations. AETC board member Kevin Ross remarked at the May meeting of the panel: "[T]he financial strength of the enterprise AETC manages ... is WABE." In other words, when people call and contribute money during fundraising drives, they may think all they're supporting is the radio station -- but in reality, money is diverted to fund public TV. It's a little bit of bait and switch. And, why do people open their wallets to WABE? Is it classical music or the station's limited NPR offerings that prompt generosity? Even Reitzes confesses, "The listening audience has two tent poles, [NPR's] 'Morning Edition' and 'All Things Considered.'" Between those, when music is aired, the audience numbers wane. The national guru of public radio, David Giovannoni, has been preaching the gospel for years that talk and news draw bigger audiences, and more listeners mean more cash for stations. By that logic, WABE cuts its own support by not increasing NPR programming. If you listen to San Francisco's KQED, Boston's WBUR or Miami's WLRN, you'll get a healthy diet of hip, even edgy, news and talk (as opposed to the toxic sludge on commercial AM radio) during the day, with classical music, maybe jazz, in the evening. But not in Atlanta. The big irony is that most of the NPR programming that isn't aired is paid for in the current fees anted by WABE. And unlike many NPR stations, WABE has virtually no original news programming and little in the way of news staff. One would think that a major conflict over a public treasure would get a little news coverage. One would think that if one didn't live in Atlanta. But one does, and in Atlanta the Cox Evil Empire rules. Cox happens to own WSB-AM (750), the top news-talk station (if you call Neal Boortz's racist-tinged bellowing "talk") on the Atlanta dial. A vigorous slate of smart news and talk on WABE would do what? Um, maybe cut into WSB's ratings? Reitzes, of all people, bolsters that theory. "Please, never let it be said that I drove someone to Rush [Limbaugh] or Neal Boortz, but people who want news and talk are likely to look for it elsewhere than on WABE." So, when the citizen activists -- who dubbed themselves the Atlanta Public Radio Initiative -- started making waves to impact airwaves, the AJC ignored them. The newspaper did, however, last month assign its classical music critic, Pierre Ruhe, to write a gushing testimonial (disguised as a news story) to Reitzes and her melodic programming. Ruhe allowed Reitzes to take gentle pokes at her critics -- but the reporter didn't even call the activists. The AJC also donated op-ed space to WABE general manager Earl Johnson -- but no such courtesy was shown to the other side. The newspaper's only nod to balance was allowing a few critics' letters to get some ink. The AJC "is just dishonest with the public on this," Binzen told me. In the mid-1990s, Georgia Public Radio offered to replace AETC and manage WABE for $1 a year. The deal was stillborn. For the school board, relinquishing black control of the station wasn't palatable. Nor was the idea of losing the contributions generated by WABE that subsidize the board's television station. Keep in mind, the Atlanta establishment is perfectly happy with a paucity of intelligent commentary on the radio. If Georgia Public Radio held WABE's conductor's baton, a sure bet would be that there would be a lot more local radio journalists nosing around Atlanta's sacred cattle herds. Since the abortive state-local merger, not much happened until the radioactivists started hammering for attention. Their tools have been weapons of mass instruction: a website, hundreds of names on petitions and even more hundreds of e-mails and letters urging WABE to provide more NPR and news programming. The nut is that Atlanta's FM dial is maxed out. There's no room for both a classical music station and a NPR-leaning station. A challenge to WABE's license would be a good idea -- but the FCC isn't likely to strip a minority institution of a station. At WABE, the only wisps of compromise have been suggestions such as switching to digital broadcasting, which would allow more stations to crowd onto the dial. However, that would require listeners to buy digital radios -- not a likely scenario in the next several years. One of Atlanta's foremost public broadcasters -- who has worked for the school board's properties and the state's stations -- says: "I commend the grassroots efforts. It shows that people really do care. Their issue is that they want a better format, and anyone who knows anything about public broadcasting knows that they're right. But the bigger issue is bad management at WABE. It's going to take a tidal wave of public pressure to change that." WABE's website is http://www.wpba.org, and the NPR supporters' is http://www.atlantapublicradio.com 10.23.03 Copyright (c) 1996-2003 Creative Loafing Inc. All rights reserved (via Mike Cooper, DXLD) ** U S A. AT THE TONE: TIME LADY' OFF BY 32 SECONDS, LOCAL MAN FINDS CLAYTON TOWNSHIP --- THE FLINT JOURNAL FIRST EDITION Saturday, October 25, 2003 --- By Jeff Johnston JOURNAL STAFF WRITER Clayton Twp. - It simply didn't occur to Rick Frase that his loyal, lifelong acquaintance could ever be wrong. But she was. And is. And until someone somewhere fixes a technical glitch, you can't count on her to give you the time of day. That's right: The time lady - that assured "at the tone the time will be" recording on the other end of the telephone line - is steering you wrong, by more than half a minute, at last count. Something to think about as you set your clocks back tonight. "Her word was gold with me," said Frase, 50, whose, shall we say, interest in knowing the correct time - the precise, official correct time - dates back to childhood. The phone company confirms Frase's observations. "You're right, it is off," admitted SBC customer service representative Robin Dean in Indianapolis after a quick check Thursday. In 31/2 years on the job, she said she'd never before taken a call about the time recording. "I wish I had more information to give you," said SBC spokeswoman Jody Lau after a day of searching for answers. "We're not able to determine who maintains it." A spot-check Friday afternoon showed the time lady still running fast. We'll come back to the time lady. First, meet Rick Frase. He's not the first man to draw a lifelong passion out of thin air via radio. But where others tuned in night baseball games or faraway country music stations, Frase - as a teenager - pulled in WWV from Fort Collins, Colo., on his homemade shortwave radio. Its broadcast? The time - the absolute, USA-approved, gold standard for time, as determined by the National Institute of Standards and Technology's nine cesium-atom clocks that are never, ever wrong - and voiced by the time lady herself. Frase was hooked. In his mid-20s, he drove his '69 Chevy out to see the place. Mecca was "just like a little doughnut shop out there" - one with big dish antennas. He showed up just after closing time, but talked himself in for a tour. "Pretty neat to think that that's where all time is based," he said. Everything else - from winning bets for his wristwatch's pinpoint- accuracy to discovering the time lady's lapse - follows from there. Man and mission Frase, 6-foot-1 with a friendly face and warm handshake, was a salesman before he quit his day job at Stereo Center. He's long since left his shortwave for higher technology. He now builds and repairs computers and sells antiques and collectibles on eBay - 3,500-plus items in 20 countries since 1998, when eBay had a paltry 4 million people signed up, he'll tell you. Wife Becky worked for 23 years at Citizens Bank. The two have no children and three dogs - the latest of which is a cocker spaniel Frase rescued from the pound the day before it was scheduled to die. That was his intent: To find and save the scraggliest, smelliest mutt in the place. The cute puppies, he figured, could take care of themselves. Frase said with a laugh that he'd love to save more dogs, but his wife draws the line at three. Back to that eBay work. There's a tactic in online auctioneering called sniping - bidding in the nick of time, just before the window closes on an item and no one can outbid you. In a world like that, with clocks forever running out, Frase's passion for time suddenly had meaning. Time slips away WWV still faithfully broadcasts, but you don't need to set your watch by it anymore. On the Internet, time.gov will tick off the NIST's time for you, and some clocks and gadgets even sync themselves automatically to signals from Fort Collins. Or, around here, you can "call time" by dialing (810) 234-1212. It's been that way for years. That's the habit Frase got into. And why not? "If you can't trust the time lady, who can you trust?" he asked with a smile. It was about three years ago when things began to go wrong. Frase first noticed when official eBay time, which apparently corresponds to the NIST standard, was off by about 10 seconds from the time-lady-approved reading on his wristwatch. Other things fell out of sync. The news no longer started at 6 p.m. on the dot. But the mismatch with eBay mattered most. "Twenty seconds is enough time for me to lose the auction," explained Frase, who often bids for items on eBay. Drastic action was required: He set his watch to eBay time. "For the first time in my life, I'm synchronizing my watch with something other than (official time)," he said. "I'm still thinking, the time lady - there's no way she can be wrong." So much for blind faith. "She's now 32 seconds fast," said Frase. The how and why Five computer monitors and a scattering of hard drives line shelves at the workstation next to the full-sized van parked in the Frases' garage. Five more monitors sit on the floor under the desk. Frase boots one of his machines and calls up time.gov, which begins to tick away the seconds, minutes and hours on a digital display. Accurate to within 9.7 seconds, it says on the screen - an allowance for transmission speed. Frase updates the Web page. Now the margin of error is 4.3 seconds or less. The counter might even be dead on. He slips a slim silver Timex digital from his wrist and holds it next to the computer display. Bingo - a match. The numbers change in lockstep. Frase has one of those auto-synchronizing clocks in his house, recalibrating every 24 hours so it's never off by more than nanoseconds from NIST time. A comparatively low-tech quartz wristwatch requires a bit more care to stay precise enough for Frase. He keeps it on almost all the time to ensure "thermal stability" - avoiding temperature swings that can throw off accuracy. To this kind of dedication, you have to ask "why?" Frase shrugs. "I just like to have it accurate," he said. When pressed, he'll conjure up scenarios such as knowing whether a store is late in opening for the day, or whether a business's time clock is on target. It was always fun on New Year's Eve, he pointed out. Plus, in his repair work, he's always having to reset the unreliable clocks of older computers. Bottom line, Frase knows he's a rare breed. Even so, he has no illusions that the whole world runs on Frase time. If someone wants to meet him at "about half past," that's fine with him. "I let that go years ago," he said. But by the time she was 30 seconds fast, Frase couldn't let the time lady go unchallenged. Blowing the whistle Early this summer, Frase called the phone company. "The lady I was talking to had never taken a call like that," he said, and neither had her supervisor - who also had no idea who was responsible for the time recording. The time lady just ... was. The library couldn't help, either. Frase hasn't pushed it much further since then, but Flint Journal inquiries on his behalf met similar roadblocks. Waukesha, Wis.-based Electronic Tele-Communications Inc., sells time-and-temperature recording services featuring the time lady - who by the way is the late Jane Barbe of Atlanta, Ga. - to phone companies and other customers nationwide. But Vice President of Technology Services Rudy Spiering couldn't determine whether it's his company that serves Flint. The closest thing to an answer came from a technician who identified himself as James in SBC's special design circuit department. He said 234-1212 is an Ameritech number, and that a repair order was placed Oct. 13. "There was a problem with (the time)," he said, and a technician has been assigned. He declined to say more, citing customer confidentiality. But no one else in the company seems able to confirm even that much. Frase's theory is that the local recording - wherever it's based - has simply slipped through the cracks with whoever is supposed to monitor it. "Just the last few years, she's kind of drifted off," he said. Still, he'd love it if his curiosity got the problem solved. "I could be the guy who saved the world," he joked. Time to dream For someone who sees a 32-second gap in that light, Frase maintains a casual schedule - a night owl who goes to bed by 2 or 3 a.m. and is up at 9 or 10. He's on time for important commitments, but conceded that for other things, including some family events, he gets razzed. "You're still late all the time," his wife tells him. "Yeah," he replies, "but I know exactly how late I am." Frase takes a lesson from his artist brother, Mike, who lives in Flint Township. "Like I am with time, he is with weather," Frase said, and when the Weather Channel's local radar readings didn't show storm movement the way they should have, Mike Frase phoned a technician from the channel in Atlanta. Before long, problem solved. To Rick Frase, that's an inspiration. "If he can fix the weather radar, and I can fix the time," he said, "we'll have it all set." *** http://www.mlive.com/news/fljournal/index.ssf?/base/news-16/1067084475190440.xml (via Kim Elliott, DXLD) ** U S A. HAM RADIO OPERATORS GET TV TIME IN SOUTH DAKOTA Ham radio operators in South Dakota will be featured during an upcoming segment of the South Dakota Public Television program ``Dakota Life.`` The show will highlight how local hams have contributed during emergencies. It will air November 6, 8 PM Central/7 PM Mountain Time. Reruns are scheduled for November 9, 1 PM Central/noon Mountain Time and November 25, 9:30 PM Central/8:30 PM Mountain Time. Visit the South Dakota Public Broadcasting Web site http://www.sdpb.org/ for more information. (ARRL October 29 via John Norfolk, DXLD) ** U S A. MISSOURI CLUBS SCARE UP HALLOWEEN SPECIAL EVENT The Mid-Missouri Amateur Radio Club http://www.mmccs.com/mmarc and the Warrensburg Area Amateur Radio Club http://waarci.homestead.com/ will sponsor a Halloween special event ``FunXpedition`` to Frankenstein, Missouri. Special event W0O (as in ``Woooooo!``) will be on the air from approximately 2100 UTC October 31 until approximately 1500 UTC November 1. The operation will be by several stations at two locations in Frankenstein, CW and SSB, on or about 3.545, 3.700, 3.963, 3.943, 7.045, 7.125, 7.233 and 7.245, 10.110 and 10.125, 14.030, 14.045, 14.312 and 14.330, 21.045, 21.150, 21.345, 21.378, 28.045, 28.200, 28345 and 28.378 MHz. All stations worked will receive a QSL via their FCC mailing address (ARRL October 29 via John Norfolk, DXLD) ** U S A. NHP SYSTEM TO BE SCRAPPED In July we covered the story of the Nevada Highway Patrol which operated its $16 million radio communications system for three years without having obtained Federal Communications Commission approval to use the frequencies. Col. David S. Hosmer, commander of the state highway patrol, said ``We`ve used 10 consultants, our frequency vendors, NDOT, our own communications staff and three outside attorneys that specialize in the FCC, and no one has been able to provide us with a viable frequency plan that is legal.`` The FCC refused to grant retroactive approval to operate on the existing 150 MHz frequencies. Therefore, to avoid nearly $1 billion in possible fines, the NHP will move its radio communications to the system now operated by the Nevada Department of Transportation. To transition to NDOT`s 800 MHz system, the state will have to build 11 mountain-top transmitters to get statewide coverage, and buy equipment for dispatchers and patrol troopers. The highway patrol will be able to use some radios and dispatch equipment. What it can’t use, it hopes to sell at heavily discounted prices, Hosmer said (Rachel Baughn, Communications, Nov MONITORING TIMES via DXLD) ** URUGUAY. 1529.55 | URUGUAY (tentative) | R. Independencia, CX50, Montevideo, OCT 23 2331 - Spanish shouting, then calmer talk by a woman. Fair signal at times with little 1530 QRM. ID not noted; tentative log based on this unique frequency having been ID'ed in Newfoundland. Report from Mark Connelly - Times / dates = UTC / 2003 Rowley, MA (GC= 70.829 W / 42.745 N) (Stackyard Road / Parker River - Nelson Island wildlife refuge: salt-marsh) Photos at http://members.aol.com/BevAntenna/rowley_ma.htm Drake R8A receiver, Superphaser-2 phasing unit Antenna system: active whip, 50 m wire on ground NRC-AM (NRC-AM via DXLD) ** UZBEKISTAN. The R Tashkent web site seems to be showing winter freqs - see http://ino.uzpak.uz/eng/other_eng/radio_broadcast_eng.html (Dave Kenny?, BDXC-UK, Oct 29, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** VENEZUELA. Radio Amazonas ha sido reactivada con una excelente señal de audio, luego de estar por un tiempo sobremodulada. Captada este 28/10, a las 0341 UT, con SINPO 4/3. Emitía un programa de vallenatos por los 4939.67 kHz (Adán González, Catia La Mar, VENEZUELA, Oct 28, WORLD OF RADIO 1205, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 4940 kHz, Radio Amazonas, s/on at 0945 with anthem, ID, "por Venezuela y el mundo" and into regional plucked strings regional music. Fair, fluttery signal on October 29th. Prior to the CME expected to arrive on the 29th mid day, there was no enhancement on 60 meters from the Andes countries as there was on October 24th between 0900-1100 UT. 4830, Radio Táchira at 1017 UT with usual regional music, ID heard, fair on October 26th. Drake SW8 and 50 foot sloper (Roger Chambers, Utica, New York, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ZIMBABWE. On 29 Oct 1630-1930 UT I did some bandscanning looking for Africans. 90/60 mb was real poor and 41 mb was not good either. But 49 mb gave some nice stations when the Europeans were gradually disappearing. The African stations popped up at times with nice signal levels without any interfering stations. By 1930 all SW bands were mostly dead. [Such as:] 5975 ZBC at 1640. Had a Top 10 countdown, not sure if the DJ spoke English, at least he gave time checks and countdown numbers in English. Not sure either if this is still National FM or some other program. Disappeared after some 10 minutes of listening (Jari Savolainen, Kuusankoski, Finland, DX LISTENING DIGEST) UNIDENTIFIED. Amigos DXistas! 4200.00 kHz, unID LA harmonic from 1050(?) kHz, 0130 UT. Three evenings in a row I have been listening to this harmonic, probably from 1050 kHz. Very stable signal with S 9 on my NRD 535 with the same type of program all the time, at least in the evenings: neutral LA music with well known artists but this evening just "boleros" with IDs/OM or YL every 2-4 songs. 0159 UT ID with "Radio... La Voz de..." and "X" could be one part of the station`s prefix. 73s from (Björn Malm, Quito, Ecuador - SWB América Latina, Quito 28/Oct/2003 21:52, WORLD OF RADIO 1205, DX LISTENING DIGEST) UNIDENTIFIED. 9290.0-SSB: when checking out 9292 INDIA [q.v.], I heard some SSB on the side, so tuned it in. Apparently fishing poachers, since no clear IDs heard, and if they were legal, wouldn`t they communicate in the marine band? However, clear contacts in English between a man who had a stronger signal than his apparent wife Geri (sp?) ashore, after 0200 UT Oct 29, catching my attention with several F-expletives, re `fishing up here`, 0215 mentioning blue fins, then swordfish. However, most of my attention was focused on the PBS Nova show about string theory, rather more interesting fare, so I may have missed some significant details. He gets her attention by whistling into the mike. 0247 discussing albacore; 0251 noticed considerable background noise with the maritime mobile, 0258 discussing a company(?) called Sea Harvest (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) UNIDENTIFIED [non]. Re 9875 from Scott Barbour, Jr. AT 1234-1249: Hi Glenn, [the first one:] 9875 1200-1300 .mtwtf. Alma Ata 200 132 VOICE OF BURMA SE AS A-A 9875 1630-1745 smtwtfs Moscow 250 159 FEBA PERSIAN WAS MSK 73 wb (Wolfgang Büschel, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ PUBLICATIONS ++++++++++++ AFRICAN MEDIUMWAVE GUIDE Hi Everyone, I am pleased to announce the first edition of the "African Mediumwave Guide - AMWG". This publication follows in the footsteps of the EMWG, and the PAL. The AMWG can be downloaded at http://www.angelfire.com/tx5/dxamtexas I have also setup a Yahoogroup at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/amwg I welcome updates and corrections along with comments to the yahoogroup or at niven43 @ yahoo.com Thanks and enjoy ================================================== (James Niven, ex-aussie, Location: Moody, Texas. (Where the mood for DXing is Great) NRC-AM Oct 28 via WORLD OF RADIO 1205, DXLD) DRM +++ Who Is Backing DRM? According to a press release on their website, http://www.drm.org, the DRM system was developed in 1998 by a consortium of companies in China. Its purpose is to create a universal digital system for the AM broadcasting bands below 30 MHz – shortwave, medium wave and longwave. It is headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland, and now has 82 members in 29 countries including broadcasters, network operators, equipment manufacturers, broadcasting unions and regulatory bodies. This august body includes many heavy hitters in the radio world including: Atmel ES2, British Broadcasting Corporation, Deutsche Welle, Hitachi Kokusai, Harris Broadcast, JVC Victor Company of Japan, Merlin Communications International Ltd, Nippon Hoso Kyokai (NHK), Radio(s) Canada, France, Netherlands, Sweden, Vatican, Sangean America, Sony, Telefunken and Thales (UK) – to name a few you might recognize. Having What It Takes! The members are key to the ultimate success of DRM. Long gone are the days when superior technology won the day, becoming a standard and commercial success. One has to just read of Edwin Armstrong`s life and the origins of FM radio in early days of commercial radio. No, instead it takes lots of technical, political, marketing and economic might. Finally, this must be augmented with corporate resolve and determination to make any standard a commercial reality. My initial observation was that although many of these DRM companies such as Sony have a semiconductor division, I did not see any major semiconductor company in the DRM consortium. Atmel does produce excellent semiconductors; however, Philips and Intel are notable by their absence. For DRM to succeed, a major international semiconductor company with world-class analog, DSP and perhaps PC component experience will be required to reduce the DRM system to a very inexpensive integrated circuit and supply it to radio manufacturers (John Catalano, Computers & Radio, Nov MONITORING TIMES via DXLD) RADIO EQUIPMENT FORUM +++++++++++++++++++++ EVALUATING PORTABLES It appears to me that one of the key factors these days in evaluating a portable is how sensitive it is when using it in true portable fashion -- with the whip antenna only, running on batteries, and moving it around or sitting it on various furniture in various rooms or outside. With the shortwave broadcasters aiming their transmissions elsewhere more than here, such as the BBC, I find it harder than before to get any decent reception on a portable, especially during the daytime. Stations that I can hear clearly on my Grundig 800 with an outside random wire are often just too noisy or simply not there on the portables. Even putting in new batteries doesn't fix the situation. I have tried a number of older Sony sets (unfortunately my 2010 is not working so I can't rate it among these), the Grundig YB-400PE, and Radio Shack models (mainly the DX-398 which is a relabelled Sangean ATS-909). What surprisingly seems to work pretty well is a cheapie: the Radio Shack DX-375. (Did you hear Allan Weiner praise this on a recent edition of his radio-ramble program? It uses C cells and battery life is superior to the ones that use AA cells.) I sometimes get a TinyTenna hooked up when I want to try to listen to daytime programs when sitting on the porch, but that usually doesn't fix radio deafness and also violates that whip-only criterion. Evening reception of the major broadcasters still is pretty good on just about all of the ones I have. But in the evening I can sit next to my big radio(s) and don't need the portability! Have any of the current SW suppliers, like Grove or Universal, done a walking around, inside/outside daytime test of all their portable SW products and come up with any meaningful comparisons? I don't recall having seen this specific info in catalogs or ads... Regards, (Will Martin, MO, Oct 28, swprograms via DXLD) PROPAGATION +++++++++++ SCIENTISTS: SOLAR FLARE MAY CAUSE POWER OUTAGES By FAYE FLAM Philadelphia Inquirer Posted on Tue, Oct. 28, 2003 PHILADELPHIA - Scientists Tuesday warned that a massive solar flare could cause power outages and spectacular northern lights shows Wednesday and Thursday. Or not. The latest warning comes less than a week after a similar alert proved overblown. "We don't want to be seen as crying wolf," said Christine Lafon, a spokeswoman for the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics (CFA), which predicted a major geomagnetic storm. Lafon said the latest sunspot eruption was 10 times the size of last week's non-event. The flare occurred on the sun's surface about 6 a.m. Tuesday and was detected by a number of satellites. Beyond its larger size, the latest flare is different in that it occurred in the center of the sun's disk as seen from Earth, sending a blast of material, called a coronal mass ejection, directly toward our planet, said Leonard Strachan, a CFA astrophysicist. The gust of electrically charged gas is traveling at 1,000 miles per second. "Last week's (coronal mass ejection) hit the Earth with only a glancing blow," said John Kohl, another solar astrophysicist at CFA. One expert called this latest event the strongest flare in 30 years. Others are putting it in the top three. This flare is comparable to one that hit in April 2001, Strachan said. That one treated people in darker parts of the Philadelphia region to a spectacular viewing of the northern lights. Normally the Earth's magnetic field deflects charged particles that hit from the sun, channeling them toward the North and South poles, where some can penetrate and interact with the atmosphere to cause the colorful auroras. But the blasts of particles that come to Earth after solar flares often bring magnetic fields of their own, which, if oriented just right, can disrupt Earth's field, creating a temporary hole where the particles can filter in. Then those in lower latitudes get a chance to see the auroras. Geomagnetic storms can also destroy satellites and electronic equipment and short out power grids. A 1989 solar flare smaller than the latest one caused a massive blackout in Quebec. The CFA warns that the storm could even hinder those trying to contain fires blazing in Southern California. Firefighters there are depending on satellite communications since ground-based microwave antennas have been damaged by fire. Solar flares come from rapid shifts in the sun's magnetic field that cause pieces of the field to snap like rubber bands. The flares emanate from dark sunspots. The number of sunspots and solar flares waxes and wanes in an 11-year cycle that peaked in 2001. But last week two new sunspots appeared and then these flares erupted, surprising scientists by coming late in the cycle, like stray snowstorms in April. After satellites pick up flares, scientists at the Space Environment Center in Colorado predict the severity of any possible geomagnetic storm. Last week's flare merited a three on a scale of five. Tuesday's flare gets a four, said Larry Combs, a space weather forecaster at the center. He disputed criticisms of last week's flare warnings, saying the flare had hit with predicted strength and had disrupted some airline communications. He suggested the hype stemmed from confusion in the media. Predicting geomagnetic storms is a little like predicting snowstorms, Strachan said, only less accurate. "We still have a long way to go," he said. © 2003 KRT Wire and wire service sources. All Rights Reserved (via Aberdeen News via Mike Cooper, DXLD) VHF DX PROSPECTS I expect, based on current solar events, that VHF DXing will become rather "alive" and exciting in the next few days. Besides the current high flux numbers which supports F-layer openings on low VHF, I expect Aurora-mode propagation starting tomorrow at about 1500Z, 29 October 2003, onward (Tomas Hood, OR, 2043 UT Oct 28, amfmtvdx at qth.net via DXLD) EXTREME SOLAR ACTIVITY REPORTED One of the most powerful solar flares in years erupted from giant sunspot 486 on Tuesday the 28th of October at approximately 1110 UTC. According to the Space Weather website http://spaceweather.com/ the blast measured X17 and, as a result of the explosion, a severe S4- class solar radiation storm took place. The explosion also hurled a coronal mass ejection, or `CME`, towards earth. When it left the sun, the cloud was travelling at 2125 kilometres per second, or almost 5 million miles per hour. A coronagraph image of the sun, taken at 1218 UTC on the 28th of October, is shown on the Space Weather website. It shows the coronal mass ejection billowing directly towards earth. This may or may not trigger auroras. Several CMEs, for example, have swept past earth in recent days without causing widespread displays --- it all depends on the orientation of the magnetic fields within the electrified cloud of gas. The current CME is no exception: it might cause auroras, or it might not. This CME is likely to sweep past earth on Wednesday the 29th of October, as this GB2RS news bulletin is being compiled. Neil Clarke`s regular GB2RS solar report was compiled before news of this latest massive solar flare became known, but includes more detail of the increasing solar activity in the week up to the 26th of October. You can hear his report at the end of the GB2RS main news. [Transcript of this report follows.] SOLAR DATA FOR THE PERIOD FROM THE 20TH TO THE 26TH OF OCTOBER, Compiled by Neil Clarke, G0CAS http://www.g0cas.demon.co.uk/main.htm What a week! Solar activity was moderate on the 20th and 21st and high on the remaining days. In total 21 M-class and four X-class solar flares occurred. The large sunspot group mentioned last week continued to rotate across the face of the sun. However, on the 23rd a new and even larger sunspot group rotated into view. Both these groups were responsible for all the solar flare activity. The largest solar flare of the period was an X5/1B on the 23rd from the group that was in the process of rotating into view. The solar flux rose dramatically from 135 on the 20th to 298 by the 26th. The figure of 298 is probably solar flare related and a more realistic figure would be around 245. The average was 191. The 90-day solar flux average on the 26th was 121, that`s six units up on last week. X-ray flux levels increased from B6.5 units to C4.9. The average was C1.6 units. The above figures are exceptional considering we are now about two years past sunspot maximum and how quiet the sun has been over recent months. A large number of sudden ionospheric disturbances and coronal mass ejections took place and some of the CMEs were earth-directed. Geomagnetic activity was at sub-storm levels until the 22nd due to a recurring coronal hole. The 23rd was quiet with an Ap index of 7 units, but from the 24th, activity increased again due to the arrival of the coronal mass ejections. The average was Ap 24 units. Solar wind speeds measured at the ACE spacecraft declined from 780 kilometres per second to 350 by the 26th. Particle densities increased from 1 particle per cubic centimetre to 76 by the 24th. Bz varied between minus and plus 10 nanoTeslas until the 23rd. On the 24th the earth passed through a region of the coronal mass ejection that contained almost exclusively northward-directed interplanetary magnetic fields. Northward-directed magnetic fields close off the `valves` and prevent solar wind energy from entering the earth`s magnetosphere. As a result, auroral activity became exceptionally quiet, despite a raging disturbance outside the domain of the earth`s magnetic field. This is not uncommon for solar disturbances, but is generally not as common to such a dominating degree. Bz fluctuated to plus 35 nanoTeslas, and only one very brief fluctuation to minus 20 nanoTeslas. Such healthy figures would normally bring a smile to the faces of HF operators. Sadly, the benefits were more than cancelled out by geomagnetic disturbances. Saying that, HF band conditions were good at times. Thankfully, Bz remained northward for most of the CQ World Wide contest. If the Bz had been southward, then it would have turned out to be a total disaster. Auroral propagation at VHF was very limited for the same reasons. And finally the solar forecast. This week the quiet side of the sun is expected to rotate into view. Solar activity is expected to be mostly low. Solar flux should decline and by next weekend be around the 110s. Geomagnetic activity is expected to be unsettled for the next couple of days but then decline to quiet levels for the remainder of the week. MUFs during daylight hours at equal latitudes is expected to be around 31 MHz for the south and 28 MHz for the north. The darkness hour lows should be around 10 MHz. Paths this week to India should have a maximum usable frequency, with a 50 per cent success rate, of about 34 MHz. The optimum working frequency, with a 90 per cent success rate, should be around 23 MHz. The best time to try this path should be between 0900 and 1400 UTC. The RSGB propagation news is also available in a Saturday update, Posted every Saturday evening and for more on propagation generally, See http://www.rsgb.org/society/psc.htm (Radio Society of Great Britain GB2RS News for November 2, posted on uk.radio.amateur October 29 by G4RGA, via John Norfolk, DXLD) AGU'S SPACE WEATHER ONLINE JOURNAL NOW LIVE! Date: Tue, 28 Oct 2003 16:26:07 -0500 The first publication devoted to the emerging field of space weather was launched today. The new online journal, Space Weather: The International Journal of Research and Applications, is live at http://www.agu.org/journals/spaceweather Here`s a glimpse of what you`ll find inside Space Weather`s debut issue: * Cosmic Ray Hazards to Aircraft * Profile of the U.S. Community Coordinated Modeling Center * New International Living with a Star Initiative Unites the World’s Space Agencies For complete coverage of the latest space weather research, news, and information, log on today. Online access to Space Weather is FREE through 31 March 2004. Paid subscriptions begin 1 April 2004. If you are interested in contributing to Space Weather, manuscripts can be submitted online at http://spaceweather-submit.agu.org/ Space Weather is published by AGU and co-sponsored by the National Science Foundation (NSF) and the International Space Environment Service (ISES). (via gh, DXLD) POWERFUL SOLAR FLARE ERUPTS NEWINGTON, CT, Oct 28, 2003 -- The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration`s Space Environment Center (SEC) http://sec.noaa.gov/ reports a powerful solar flare erupted today from vicinity of the huge region 486 sunspot at 1110 UTC. This resulted in a severe category R4 radio blackout with an associated strong category S3 solar radiation storm. Instruments on the SOHO satellite detected the event, the SEC said. ``The SOHO/LASCO instruments also observed a full-halo coronal mass ejection (CME) with this activity, which is Earth-directed,`` the SEC said, adding that region 486 is the second largest observed during this solar cycle. The SEC has predicted a geomagnetic A index of 50 or greater for October 29 (UTC) and an A index of 100 for October 30 (UTC). The noon solar flux October 28 at Penticton Observatory in British Columbia was a whopping 257. The geomagnetic K index was expected to reach 4. SpaceWeather.com http://www.spaceweather.com/is calling the flare ``one of the most powerful solar flares ever recorded.`` Brilliant auroras could appear when the fast-moving cloud of gas and particles sweeps past Earth. That could happen as early as tonight. Residents of high-latitude locations such as the Northern United States from Northern New England to the Northwest as well as New Zealand, Scandinavia, Alaska, Canada could be treated to auroras, but these could show up in lower latitudes as well. SEC says it expects a severe category G4 geomagnetic storm with periods of extreme category G5 levels possible as a result of this activity. The solar radiation storm also is expected to continue at strong levels for the next 48 hours. ``Further major eruptions are possible from these active regions as they rotate across the face of the sun over the next few days,`` the SEC said. ``Agencies impacted by solar flare radio blackouts, geomagnetic storms, and solar radiation storms may experience disruptions through this period.`` These could include spacecraft operations, electrical power systems, HF communications, and navigation systems. For more information visit the Propagation page on the ARRL Web site http://www.arrl.org/tis/info/propagation.html Copyright © 2003, American Radio Relay League, Inc. All Rights Reserved (via John Norfolk, DX LISTENING DIGEST) QUICK UPDATE... PROPAGATION At the moment, most of the HF spectrum is "closed" to propagation. Some folks are saying, "Wow, that flare sure has shut down the bands." Actually, it is not the solar flare that messed up the bands, today. So far, there has been no major flaring today (just one moderate flare, early). Flares cause radio blackouts that might last a few hours, at best. Today's outage is due to the passage of one of the fastest moving coronal hole mass ejections on record. It caused the highest Kp index - a level 9 geomagnetic storm. Since it hit us, the Kp index has remained at or higher than 7. This is a severe geomagnetic storm. During a geomagnetic storm, the ionosphere experiences "recombination" - much like what happens at night. The maximum usable frequencies fall - sometime no HF propagation is possible, because the ionosphere is completely recombined... this is what is happening at this moment. Most of the HF spectrum is "shut down." 73 de (Tomas, NW7US Hood, (AAR0JA/AAM0EWA), Oct 29, 2027 UT, swl at qth.net via DXLD) At least an X10 or X11 class flare just occurred, peaking at 2049Z 29- X-2003, adding to the already dead HF conditions due to the CME passage and the Kp >= 7. This one is a short-lived flare. Quick recovery is expected. I don't know, yet, what CME might be associated, if any. Details, soon. 73 de (Tomas, NW7US (AAR0JA/AAM0EWA) Oct 29 2049 UT, ibid.) GEOMAG STORM LOGS FROM BOSTON Here are some logs and observations around local noontime on 29 Oct 2003. The geomag storm definitely hit. Conditions on all bands are bad. See logs. Plus the noise floor seems raised, possibly due to rain outside, or geomag storm. I'm located just west of Boston, Massachusetts. WWV check at 1648 UTC (11:48am local eastern) 20000 nothing 15000 het 10000 nothing 5000 nothing (expected this time of day) 2500 nothing (expected this time of day) So no WWV channel listenable to get solar terrestrial indices at 18 minutes past the hour. Thanks goodness for computers and internet. Signals in 15 MHz band were present but weak with fluttery signal strength. "Strong" signals (S8+, R8 preamp on, 90 random wire) were on: - 15180 with middle eastern pop music(?) at 1654 UTC - 15190 with EE woman and recipe (BBC?) - S9+ - 15205 man - UNID - S9+ - 15240 BBC? Nelson Mandela and sports? (S7) I stopped trolling the band at 15240. I jumped to 15825 and heard WWCR "only" S9+ (fast fades below S8) with EE religious. 13845, also WWCR, "only" S8+ with music at 1659 UTC. Then I checked usual loud US stations. 12160 at 1659 usually WWCR, barely heard (