DX LISTENING DIGEST 3-198, November 3, 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 http://www.w4uvh.net/dxldtd3k.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: RFPI: Wed 0100, 0730 on 7445 WWCR: Wed 1030 on 9475 WRN ONDEMAND: http://new.wrn.org/listeners/stations/station.php?StationID=24 OUR ONDEMAND AUDIO [also for CONTINENT OF MEDIA, MUNDO RADIAL]: Check http://www.worldofradio.com/audiomid.html WORLD OF RADIO 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 UNSOLICITED TESTIMONIALS Glenn: once again, I`d like to make a little donation for your program, in memory of Gigi Lytle. (I`m a few days late getting this to you, this Fall, having spent some time over at Las Cruces, visiting her brother and his family.) I propose to keep on doing this as long as 1) your program exists, 2) I exist, and 3) it`s OK by you. Regards, (Tom McLaughlin, Lubbock TX, Oct 30) ** AFGHANISTAN. AFGHAN WOMEN TAKE RADIO LIBERTIES --- TINY STATION TRANSMITS MESSAGE OF SUPPORT TO A LARGELY ILLITERATE FEMALE POPULACE http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn/A54725-2003Nov2?language=printer By Pamela Constable Washington Post Foreign Service Monday, November 3, 2003; Page A10 MAZAR-E SHARIF, Afghanistan -- Working from a one-room studio with a gas lantern for illumination and two car batteries for power, a group of young Afghan women are transmitting a low-watt, revolutionary message to female listeners in the vicinity of this remote northern city. In addition to popular music, live newscasts, humor and chats on child care, Radio Rabia Balkhi (89.7 FM) airs recorded essays and features on more daring topics such as "women and the constitution," how to seek treatment for mental illness and the right of abused wives to divorce. It also answers listeners' letters, ranging from complaints about poor conditions at women's college dormitories to protests from female doctors that they have not received their hospital salaries. There are also poignant pleas for help from individual women, trapped by tradition with nowhere to turn. One was from an 11th-grade student whose parents forcibly engaged her to a much older, illiterate man after receiving a substantial sum. An announcer read the letter on the air, identifying her only as "M," and offered suggestions for other young women trapped in such situations. "We advise parents not to sell girls for money, and we advise girls to reason with their parents," said Farida Paktin, a radio and television veteran who founded the station in March with financial assistance from a Canadian nonprofit agency. "If that doesn't work, they should seek help from other relatives to ask a court to break off the engagement." Most female listeners have no way to write such appeals, however, because more than 80 percent of women in northern Afghanistan are illiterate. Although Mazar-e Sharif is a large city with a co-ed university, the surrounding region is completely rural, and many village girls and women rarely leave home except to visit relatives or work in the fields. But word of Rabia Balkhi, named for a famous ninth-century Afghan female poet, has spread fast. Although it is on the air only two hours a day and its tiny transmitter reaches less than three miles, its mix of entertainment, news and practical information for women has already drawn a wide audience. A larger women's radio station was opened simultaneously on March 8, International Women's Day, in Kabul, the capital, with funds from Canadian and American donors. A third was inaugurated last week in Herat, a major city near the border with Iran. "Many women in our culture cannot leave their homes at all, so this is the only way to reach them," said Shiqiba Mohid, 25, a reporter for the station. Most residents receive their news and information from local radio and TV, which are state-controlled and bland. "When I go into the bazaars, women tell me they are listening and they want more than two hours a day," she said. In some cases, Rabia Balkhi staffers said, simply presenting an available public service in a non-threatening way, using women's voices, can melt taboos and open up new worlds. One recent program featured a visit to a mental health hospital, with female patients describing feelings of anxiety and suffocation familiar to tens of thousands of Afghan women. Then came a reassuring male doctor's voice, urging women to seek treatment before their symptoms became too pronounced, and an announcer speaking about the mental effects of war and poverty. "People in Afghanistan feel shame about mental illness and don't want people to know a relative is sick," the announcer said. "They keep it hidden, and that makes it worse." After listening to such programs, said Farida Rostankhel, 23, a radio staff member, some conservative family heads in the region, who had refused to let their wives visit hospitals or their daughters attend school, changed their minds. But even though each daily broadcast begins with a recitation from the Koran, Rabia Balkhi's provocative message has already aroused opposition from influential Islamic clerics in the region who view themselves as guardians of Afghanistan's conservative, male-dominated mores. After the station began airing a series of programs on women's divorce rights, a group of senior clergy visited the studio, alleging that the broadcasts encouraged women to leave their husbands and demanding that the series be stopped. Paktin said they had no choice but to comply. "We cannot say anything to the mullahs, or they will put the stamp of infidelism on us," she said. Now, the offensive weekly feature, called "Yesterday's Woman and Today's Woman," has been replaced with news. "There was a misunderstanding, so we canceled it," said Mubina Khairandesh, 25, the station manager. "This is a very traditional society. If we make direct criticisms, it is turned into a religious issue. So we just make indirect criticisms, in jokes and satires." The quick retreat was especially prudent given the more serious harassment encountered last spring by Marya Sazabor, a journalist and poet from Mazar-e Sharif, after she published an article about the role of women in the new constitution. One sentence, later described as a misprint, read, "Sharia [Islamic law] causes women's problems." According to a report issued by the International Crisis Group, a Brussels-based agency that monitors Afghanistan, Sazabor was denounced by Jamiat-i-Islami, the major Islamic party here, as "Afghanistan's Salman Rushdie," suggesting she deserved to die. Only after intervention by the local U.N. office were the threats retracted. Humaira Nematy, a law professor from Mazar-e Sharif and a member of the national independent human rights commission, said the lives of most women in the region remain sharply circumscribed by poverty, illiteracy and male control. "They live in a traditional way, and in the villages 98 percent are illiterate. Men run everything and they can marry four times," she said. Persistent armed clashes among militia factions have exacerbated the problem, Nematy added. "People don't dare send their daughters to school, especially beautiful ones, because some commander may just marry her by force." Perhaps inevitably, the rivalry between the region's two major armed factions, led by Gen. Abdurrashid Dostum and Gen. Attah Mohammad, has touched Rabia Balkhi, though Paktin said the station has so far steered clear of partisan politics. First Dostum gave a speech offering to support the station, but Paktin said she refused. Then some officials from Jamiat-i-Islami, of which Mohammad is the regional commander, offered to buy the station, but they were turned down, too. "What we want most of all is to remain independent," Paktin said. Recently, she said, the local government radio station began copying some of Rabia Balkhi's music and feature programming, to compete for female listeners. "I guess that means we are a success," she said. (c) 2003 The Washington Post Company (via Mike Cooper, DXLD) ** AFGHANISTAN [non]. Re R. Amani, Now scheduled Fridays 1630-1730 on 7350: Confirmed here 1630 sign on October 31st, fair signal, many identifications over dramatic music, bad splash from 7345 (Mike Barraclough, UK, World DX Club Contact via DXLD) ** ALGERIA. Hi, Glenn. This is a longwave log. Hope you don't mind! :) Heard RTA3 on 31.10.2003 at 1820-1900 UT using LW 252 kHz. French vocals and Arabic music with reasonable reception at start but getting worse up to 1900 when RTA3 became unlistenable and I turned off. SINO 4554 at 1820, 3433 at 1840 and 2112 at 1900. Was initially unsure as to the ID of the station but my WRTH 2003 reveals that RTA3 is the only station liable to speak French that uses 252 kHz. Best 73s. (DXDave, Bristol, UK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** AUSTRALIA. Re 3-197, RA Science Show rescheduled: This was *probably* a computer switching error. It's happened at RA before on more than one occasion. Checking the online RA program schedule, Science Show is still scheduled at 1305 and Encounter is at 1505 (John Figliozzi, NY, swprograms via DXLD) ** BOLIVIA. 5942.4 kHz, Radio Pio XII, Siglo Veinte, Oruro (Tentative) from 0943 UT, Andean flute, OM alternating with YL, into guitar, flutes, and choral music, language likely Aymara, a "good morning" greeting, guitar, then "pio --- --- puya," killed, at first intermittently, then totally by WYFR carrier on 5950 kHz, from 0950 on. Weak, though in the clear, SINPO 23333 prior to WYFR. No firm ID, tentative. (I thought this station was bombed about 2-3 weeks ago during unrest) November 3 (Roger Chambers, Utica, NY, Drake SW 8 with 50 foot sloper, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Bombed, but not the SW part: (gh) ** BOLIVIA. SIGNIS PROTESTS RADIO PIO XII & CHANNEL 13 BOMBING La Paz, Oct 21 (Signis) --- Signis, the World Catholic Association for Communication, expressed its solidarity with the communicators of Radio Pio XII in the city of Oruro, part of the ERBOL (Educational Radio of Bolivia) Network, and Channel 13 Televisión Universitaria, both of which have suffered bomb attacks on their broadcast transmitters. ``We support them and all Bolivian communicators who have been subjected to threats and violence while covering the current social conflict. We encourage them to continue to build through their work a culture of peace, justice and respect for Human Rights. We call upon the Bolivian authorities to guarantee the freedom and integrity of the communicators in ERBOL and of all journalists,`` the communiqué said. ``We are extremely concerned by the loss of life and the injuries that have occurred during the confrontations of the past weeks. We demand respect for human life, a `gift that has its source in the Living God,` as Msgr. Jesús Juárez, Bishop of El Alto, and his priests have said. It is imperative that the facts about these deaths are brought to light through the justice system. ``We call upon the Government and the leaders of all political, religious, union and civic institutions to engage in a humble and transparent dialogue to find as soon as possible an agreeable solution to end the violence and the conflicts that can only bring more grief and suffering, especially to the poor of Bolivia,`` Signis added. The statement was signed by Father Peter Malone, president of Signis World; Pedro Sánchez, president of Signis Latin America; and José Rivera, member of the board of directors of Signis Bolivia (via Catholic Radio Update Nov 3 via DXLD) ** BOTSWANA. 4820 has not been heard for over a month (Mike Barraclough, UK, Nov World DX Club Contact via DXLD) ** BRAZIL. NAS ONDAS CURTAS DA GUARUJÁ !! O sábado, dia 1º de novembro, vai ficar marcado na história do DX Clube do Brasil. Pela primeira vez, uma emissora brasileira, que opera comercialmente, reconheceu a importância das ondas curtas e resolveu abrir um programa para falar sobre o tema. É a Rádio Guarujá Paulista, da cidade de Guarujá (SP). Numa iniciativa do diretor da emissora, Orivaldo Rampazo, o DX Clube do Brasil foi convidado para produzir 30 minutos sobre radioescuta, dexismo e cultura pelas ondas curtas. Resultou no ``Nas Ondas Curtas da Guarujá``, que irá ao ar, às 2330 UT. As freqüências? 3235 e 5045 kHz, em ondas tropicais. O programa vai contar com participações de coordenadores do DXCB, tais como Carlos Felipe da Silva, de São Bernardo do Campo (SP); Célio Romais, de Porto Alegre (RS); Sarmento Campos, do Rio de Janeiro (RJ), Samuel Cássio Martins, de São Carlos (SP); Caio Lopes, de Itajubá (MG), entre outros colegas. O programa adotará um estilo didático, ensinando os primeiros passos ao ouvinte comum que tem interesse em descortinar o maravilhoso mundo das ondas curtas! Contamos com sua audiência e participação! Atenciosamente, (Célio Romais, Porto Alegre (RS), Brasil, Oct 31, Conexión Digital via DXLD) ** BURMA [non]. MYANMAR Democratic Voice of Burma scheduled on 5945 2330-0030 via Julich in B03 (Wolfgang Bueschel, Nov World DX Club Contact via Mike Barraclough, DXLD) Contrary to what wb said in previous issue??? A reminder that in DXLD we tend to put clandestines under BURMA [non] and official broadcasts under MYANMAR, q.v. ** COLOMBIA. R. Melodía, 6140, really nice signal Nov 3, probably the best from Colombia currently, with mariachi music until 0600, but just as I logged it several months ago at this hour, then into talk, and even a preacher around 0605. No more melodies (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 6140 kHz, Cadena Melodía, Bogotá from 1003 UT with Spanish news, frequent TCs UT -5; "El dia en la historia," "El tiempo, with temperatures as 24 in Barranquilla, 8 in Bogotá. SINPO peaked 33333 about 1010, starting to fade by 1015. November 3. (Has this been reported recently? listed as inactive in WRTH) (Roger Chambers, Utica, NY, Drake SW 8 with 50 foot sloper, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 6140, R. Melodía, 2343-0000, Nov. 3, Spanish,nNice mix of Spanish music, OM between selections, lengthy ID at 2357 with numerous mentions of "Melodia I.M.E." and "Bogotá, Colombia". PSA, followed by more music, until the signal was hampered by QRM splatter at 0000 via NHK/R. Japan, 6145 s/on via Sackville relay (Scott R Barbour Jr., Intervale, NH, R-75, MLB-1, RS longwire w/ RBA balun, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CONGO. R. Congo heard on new 6115 October 30th at 1810 with French news, fair on clear channel (Mike Barraclough, UK, World DX Club Contact via DXLD) ** CONGO DR. (Are these shortwave transmitters?) from AllAfrica.com KINSHASA DISTRIBUTING NATIONAL RADIO TRANSMITTERS COUNTRYWIDE UN Integrated Regional Information Networks October 31, 2003, Kinshasa As part of its efforts to help consolidate the peace process, the transitional government of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) has been distributing new radio transmitters countrywide to relay broadcasts of the government-owned station, Radio-Television Nationale Congolaise (RTNC), Vital Kamerhe, minister of information, told IRIN on Thursday in the capital, Kinshasa. Kamerhe had just completed a tour of the country, during which he presented 100-kilowatt transmitters with a 200 km broadcast range to RTNC stations in Kasai Occidental and Kasai Oriental provinces, in south-central Congo; Katanga Province, in southeast Congo; in Goma, Beni and Butembo, in North Kivu Province, as well as Bukavu, in South Kivu Province of eastern Congo; in Kindu, Maniema Province of eastern Congo; and in Kisangani, Orientale Province of northeastern Congo. Kamerhe said that delivery of transmitters would continue to yet- unreached regions of the country. "All of our countrymen should be able to follow the progress of the transitional government on national radio, which will help solidify reunification of the nation," he said. "The country has been reunified on the political and administrative levels. We must also help to bring it together through national radio broadcasts." For more than one decade, most people in interior regions of the DRC have been unable to receive RTNC broadcasts, as the stations' transmitters had fallen into disrepair (via Alan Pennington, BDXC-UK via DXLD) ** COOK ISLANDS [and non]. Guy, many thanks for the 90 minutes of enjoyment! I listened away while doing some of my Sunday chores. Yes, there's something very quaint about these south seas broadcasts. I find that RNZI to some extent, has many of the same properties, and hence perhaps why I enjoy them so much. I agree that there are many parallels with SIBC and some of the PNG stations, and even Radio Vanuatu. Many a morning at Grayland, when reception of Port Moresby is a solid 5-5-5, I've just dozed off enjoying the local programming from the south Pacific (Walt Salmaniw, BC, hard-core-dx via DXLD) ** COSTA RICA. RFPI operations seemed normal on 7445, UT Nov 4, such as Democracy Now starting shortly after 0400, but behind the scenes: STATION LOSES WATER AND PHONE SERVICE 11/03/2003 08:00 PM CST and Costa Rican time - 0200 Tuesday UT - The Copy Exchange - The University for Peace (UPaz) took its first step toward forcing RFPI off UPaz land today by cutting off water and phone service to the station, reported Lames Latham in a phone conversation with The Copy Exchange on a cell phone line. Both Utilities, fed through the university property, and are subject to UPaz control, the water cut off at 11:30 CST and the phone cut off at noon. But then came the rain - buckets of it. By placing a large trash barrel under the rain spout, and collecting rain water it every available wastebasket, some 70 gallons of water were collected, to provide several days worth of water for the undeterred RFPI crew. UPaz also is now toughening its stance on allowing vehicles in and out of the station. A court injunction will be filed in a Costa Rican court Tuesday by RFPI requesting a cease and desist order be levelled against UPaz. In addition, RFPI is pursuing legal action in Costa Rican and international courts to recover the value of the RFPI studios, for which UPaz has offered virtually nothing. A letter sent to RFPI last week from a UPaz lawyer stated that UPaz had no need for the equipment, transmitters, and studios and that "You can take the building with you." That contradicted a statement leaked earlier in the week by a UPaz employee, whose identity we will protect, that UPaz wished to use the RFPI studios for a computer lab. (Franklin Seiberling, IA, Copy Exchange http://copyexchange.com/_wsn/page3.html via DXLD) Let`s get more online e-mail addresses of people to write to to SAVE RFPI. Like the Secretary-General of the UN. sg@un.org annan@un.org inquiries@un.org etc... The United Nations web site http://www.un.org has tons of e-mail contacts with people to reach regarding RFPI situation (anon. Posting Oct 31 at http://www.saverfpi.org via DXLD) Perhaps CR will soon not be so hospitable to foreign residents: ARE YOU READY FOR THE CHANGES THAT ARE COMING? By the A.M. Costa Rica staff A string of changes threatens to alter the way expats live in Costa Rica. The developments have been reported in news stories, but expats have a way of ignoring troubling news until their personal situation is directly affected. Here is a review: http://www.amcostarica.com/ [This is the homepage, and this particular story will no doubt disappear soon, or be archived elsewhere on the site] (via gh, DXLD) ** CROATIA [and non]. English Croatia Today programme now noted 1600- 1630 on 1125 1134. English news bulletin also noted at 0703 on 9470 [via Germany] (Mike Barraclough, UK, Nov World DX Club Contact via DXLD) ** CUBA. WHERE HAVE ALL THE REBELDE HARMONICS GONE? In updating the LA-SW log list for November I noticed that most of the Radio Rebelde harmonics have dropped off the list. Indeed I find that I do not hear any carriers so far this DX season on any of the usual suspect frequencies like 2840, 3600 or 4200. Nor have I seen any recent Rebelde harmonic loggings anywhere. I wonder if anyone is hearing any Rebelde harmonics or maybe the Cuban techs spent the summer revamping the MW transmitters? (Mark Mohrmann, Coventry, Vt USA, Nov 2, VT-DX http://www.sover.net/~hackmohr DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CUBA [and non]. RADIO MARTI / JAMMING November 3 5980 kHz, Radio Marti SINPO 41343 with bubble jammer at 1112 UTC 7365 kHz, Radio Marti, SINPO 31222 with strong bubble jammer at 1115 9805 kHz, strong jammer with nothing heard under it. 5745 kHz, Radio Marti with strong bubble jammer at 1100 (Roger Chambers, NY, Drake SW 8 with 50 foot sloper, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** DEUTSCHES REICH [non]. DANISH GOVERNMENT TO CONTINUE FINANCIAL GRANT TO NAZI STATION IN 2004 The Danish government will continue to give financial support to a controversial Nazi radio station in 2004. That's according to a letter from Culture Minister Brian Mikkelsen to Nazi leader Jonni Hansen. Radio Oasen (Radio Oasis), which broadcasts on FM from a transmitter at Hundige, near Copenhagen, says it will receive a government grant of 78,000 kroner, the same as for 2003. The Minister told public broadcaster Danmarks Radio that under present regulations the government is obliged to provide financial support even for stations that broadcast extremist views. There are plans to introduce new legislation. but it's unlikely to be in force before 2005. Over the last six years, Radio Oasen has received around 400,000 kroner from the Culture Ministry. Denmark is the only country in the world where an openly Nazi radio station receives an official government subsidy. # posted by Andy @ 08:45 UTC (Media Network Nov 3 via DXLD) ** DOMINICAN REPUBLIC. Radio Cristal, 5009.8, caught canned Spanish/ English identification at 2332, ``We are on the air on two frequencies, Radio Pueblo 15-10 AM stereo in Santo Domingo, central Dominican Republic from coast to coast, and Radio Cristal International, our shortwave service 23 years from the central Caribbean, on 5.010 kilohertz 60 metre tropical band`` (Dave Valko, Pennsylvania, Cumbre DX, via Nov World DX Club Contact via Mike Barraclough, DXLD) ** ECUADOR [and non]. HISTORIC EXHIBIT IN ILLINOIS HIGHLIGHTS HCJB WORLD RADIO CO-FOUNDER Posted by: newsdesk on Monday, November 03, 2003 - 02:46 PM HCJB World Radio co-founder Clarence Jones, along with the urban ministry of Paul Rader and the Chicago Gospel Tabernacle, are highlighted in a new online exhibit at the Billy Graham Center Archives on the campus of Wheaton College in Wheaton, Ill. The exhibit, which became available Saturday, Nov. 1, uses photos, drawings, documents, audio clips and motion pictures to tell part of the important story of evangelism in the early 20th century. The interactive exhibit is called, ``Jazz Age Evangelism: Paul Rader and the Chicago Gospel Tabernacle, 1922-1933.`` The Tabernacle was a fixture in Chicago during one of the city’s most turbulent and creative eras. Although its ministry lasted less than a decade, it had a continuing influence on people and institutions, thanks to Rader’s vision for using popular culture and modern technology to present the gospel. The Tabernacle staff -- Clarence Jones among them -- was among the first people to use radio for evangelism. Radio Station HCJB first went on the air from a tiny 200-watt transmitter in Quito, Ecuador, on Christmas Day, 1931. The exhibit includes actual sound clips of some of their broadcasts along with photos of Jones and his wife, Katherine, and a letter he wrote to her. ``We hope this exhibit recaptures some of the innovation and vigor of Paul Rader and the group he brought together,`` said Paul Ericksen, director of the archives. The webpage also contains a searchable online database of four collections of materials about Jones, says Wayne Weber, reference archivist at the center. ``The collections are in the museum located at Wheaton College, but copies of specific items are available to order for a nominal fee,`` he said. The collections include hundreds of photos and documents about Jones and HCJB World Radio -- along with sound clips. To access the Billy Graham Center webpage, visit http://www.wheaton.edu/BGC/archives (HCJB World Radio via DXLD) ** ERITREA. BEHAVIOUR OF OPPOSITION RADIO ON 2 NOVEMBER --- Please note that the Eritrean opposition radio station, Voice of the Eritrean People, was not traced on 9990 kHz at 1730 gmt on Sunday, 2 November. Source: BBC Monitoring research in English 2 Nov 03 (via DXLD) ** ETHIOPIA. Radio Ethiopia heard October 10th on 9561.5 at 1635-1645, Stand by Me, lady in English followed by talk by man, off at 1654 recheck, fair strength but needed to use USB to separate from 9560 (Mike Barraclough, UK, Nov World DX Club Contact via DXLD) ** ETHIOPIA [non]. Radio Voice Of Oromo Liberation. ID as Radio Sagalee Qabsoo Billisumaa Oromoo on 12120, 1700-1730 Monday Nov 3, also scheduled for Thursdays. The program seems to have a different format than the one via DTK on 9820 and the temporarily suspended Voice Of Oromia via TDP. There is a link (not active however) on the TDP website. It shows a different logo than the Oromo Liberation Front uses. So this might be a third Oromo organisation (Silvain Domen, Belgium, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** GERMANY. CAT RECEIVES TV LICENCE DEMAND A cat has been told by German authorities to pay for a licence to watch television. The moggy, called Maxi, was sent a letter by the German Broadcasting Licence Centre (GEZ) demanding he pays for the registration of a TV set and a radio. Pet owner Klaus Goerisch, from Freital, Saxony, said: "My cat Maxi loves animal films, but I am not paying for him to watch telly." GEZ spokesman Christian Kramer said about 13 million letters are being sent to German households every year, reminding people to pay for their licences and sometimes addresses get mixed up. He said: "From time to time, cats or dogs get letters. It just happens and of course Maxi won't have to pay." Story filed: 12:04 Sunday 2nd November 2003 (Ananova via Mike Cooper, DXLD) ** GREECE. Voice of Greece English is now heard 0930-1000 on 12105 15630 and 1930-2000 on 12105 (Mike Barraclough, UK, Nov World DX Club Contact via DXLD) ** HAWAII. Correction: Although I did use zap2it to find the schedules of some of the channel 2s, I used the URL below to view KHON-2's program listings. KHON's home page is a construction zone and leads nowhere. http://205.232.84.29/chan/khon/ (Danny Oglethorpe, Shreveport, LA, WTFDA via DXLD) ** HONDURAS. RADIO COMUNIDAD IN OCOTEPEQUE, HONDURAS, TELLS US MORE Greetings of peace and many thanks for such a good report. Radio Comunidad is an effort of all the people of Ocotepeque and has come to strengthen all the base ecclesial communities of our department. Radio Comunidad broadcasts on 910 AM. We have a transmitter of 2.5 kilowatts on AM. Our mailing address is Ocotepeque, Ocotepeque, Honduras. There is no postal zone. We cover the entire department of Ocotepeque, part of Copán and Lempira. Our director is Father Monico Gómez, who is at the same time our parish priest (Parish of San José). Very soon we will be on FM, but for the moment we get out only on AM. Our broadcast day begins at 5 a.m. and we sign-off at 9 p.m. [UT -6] Our telephone number is (504) 653-3994. Thanks in advance of your answer and may God pour many blessings over all of you. Attentively. The Team of Radio Comunidad San José Ocotepeque Parish Ocotepeque, Honduras (Catholic Radio Update Nov 3 via DXLD) ** IRAN. Voice of the Islamic Republic of Iran heard in English November 3rd 1930-2030 on 6110 and 7320. The other two listed frequencies 11695 and 15140 were not heard but this may have been due to propagation conditions. At the start and end of the broadcast they were still announcing the summer shortwave frequencies. 6110 good signal but co-channel interference, 7320 very good strength on clear channel (Mike Barraclough, Letchworth, UK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** IRAQ. IRAQ'S CPA WEB SITE GETS A NEW URL The Web site of Iraq's Coalition Provisional Authority is now promoting a new and easier to remember URL - http://iraqcoalition.org/ - instead of http://www.cpa-iraq.org/ which, at least for the time being, is still working. # posted by Andy @ 14:21 UTC (Media Network Nov 3 via DXLD) ** IRAQ [non]. IBB-Radio Free Iraq B03 [see also USA] AB RFE RLIQ 200 400 MOR 02 7175 084 AB RFE RLIQ 200 400 KAV 03 7105 105 AB RFE RLIQ 200 400 KAV 09 5965 108 AB RFE RLIQ 400 600 LAM 07 11970 108 AB RFE RLIQ 400 500 MOR 06 9695 067 AB RFE RLIQ 400 600 MOR 09 7115 083 AB RFE RLIQ 500 600 KAV 08 9690 105 AB RFE RLIQ 500 600 MOR 07 5985 083 AB RFE RLIQ 600 700 KAV 10 17740 095 AB RFE RLIQ 600 700 KAV 06 15255 095 AB RFE RLIQ 600 700 KAV 09 11970 108 AB RFE RLIQ 1400 1600 LAM 08 11965 104 AB RFE RLIQ 1400 1500 WOF 07 11725 114 AB RFE RLIQ 1400 1700 WOF 01 9685 102 AB RFE RLIQ 1400 1700 KAV 09 6130 108 AB RFE RLIQ 1500 1700 WOF 07 11835 114 AB RFE RLIQ 1600 1700 LAM 04 11965 104 AB RFE RLIQ 1700 1900 JBR 01 11835 108 AB RFE RLIQ 1700 1800 KAV 03 11725 095 AB RFE RLIQ 1700 1800 LAM 03 9845 108 AB RFE RLIQ 1800 1900 UDO 04 11725 300 AB RFE RLIQ 1800 1900 HOL 01 9785 077 AB RFE RLIQ 2100 2200 MOR 04 11965 019 AB RFE RLIQ 2100 2300 MOR 02 9645 035 AB RFE RLIQ 2200 2300 MOR 04 6015 019 (via DXA via DXLD) ** ISRAEL. KI - general strike --- The Histadrut Labor union has announced a General Strike as of 6 AM Monday morning (Israel Time). http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=JPost/JPArticle/ShowFull&cid=1067676022499 On the Jerusalem Post website, they list the services which would be impacted, if there is a strike. At: http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=JPost/JPArticle/ShowFull&cid=1067676020972&p=1008596981749 They mention: "*Israel Broadcasting Authority will suspend broadcasts on most of its radio stations except Reshet Bet 95.5 FM." The shortwave service has been impacted in different ways, during previous strikes. I have no idea what the impacts will be -- but if you can't receive Israel Radio, this may be the reason why. (The solar storms haven't helped things lately!) (Doni Rosenzweig, Nov 2, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Unheard on 17535 Monday morning, but...? (gh) [Later:] "The nationwide strike that began in Israel at dawn Monday, shutting down government services, banks, the international airport and trains, is over. The strike was slated to be held for only four hours following a national labor court ruling. In accordance with a court imposed four-hour limit on Monday's general strike, workers returned to their jobs mid-Monday morning. The Histadrut is currently deliberating its next steps at their headquarters, including - possibly - violating the Labor court's order." (from http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=JPost/JPArticle/ShowFull&cid=1067676022499 via Rosenzweig, DXLD) ** ISRAEL. 11605 kHz, Kol Israel from 2037 UT with news in French, weather, time pips, into Castellano at 2045. quite good, SINPO 44444, November 3 (Roger Chambers, Utica, NY, Drake SW 8 with 50 foot sloper, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ITALY? 5775, European Music Radio (presumed), 2153-2200* Oct 24, pop music program with snatches of English language talk by a man announcer. No ID noted but did catch Italian Radio Relay Service ID at 2159 closedown. Poor (Rich D`Angelo, Wyomissing PA, NASWA Flashsheet via DXLD) Supposedly the best time to hear it, on Fridays when running 100 kW and later than usual, but obviously insufficient. Presumably the late- Fridays would now be until 2300 UT. True transmitter site remains open to question (gh, DXLD) ** JAPAN [non]. Japan via GUF --- useless. Tried again to hear the new R. Japan relay via French Guiana at 1400 to Oceania on Nov. 2; this time the QRM from the bubble-jammer on 11845 was less severe than when I checked last weekend, but RJ didn't appear at all. Guess it's due to 25 meters being useless for far-distant signals at this hour, with the exception of US and Canadian stations on this band. Also, I wonder as to why NHK chose this time of day to reach Oceania? Maybe the 1400 hour is useful for Central and Western Australia, but it's in the middle of the night in New Zealand and the Pacific Islands. Maybe they should have learned from Swiss Radio Int'l when it used the Montsinery relay to target Oceania at prime-time (0830 UT in English) before that service ended in March of 2001 -- NHK could try a good time slot like maybe 10-11 UT, when English programs are scheduled on direct (Yamata) frequencies (Joe Hanlon in Vincentown, NJ, Nov 2, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Am beginning to suspect the 1400 transmission is not really extant on 11840. Hey, what`s this? Nov 3 at 1415 noted NHK Warudo in English on 17820 going from news to 44 Minutes; trouble is, it`s co-channel to RCI in English! And roughly equal levels, so must be a relay. 17820 does not show in the complete NHK schedule in 3-187, so I suspect this is French Guiana instead of 11840 --- tho such a frequency makes even less sense than 11840 for the Pacific at that hour. With RCI and NHK being such good relay exchange buddies, you`d think they would coördinate their frequency usage one-to-one, if not at HFCC. This cannot stand (gh, DXLD) ** LIBYA [non]. On 21675, presumably via FRANCE, Nov 3 at 1345, sounded like Qur`an recitation, but with heavy reverb and more melodic than usual --- then added heavy drumming and chorus of ``Allah Akbar``. Really neat music, but what would Mohammed think? (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** MALAWI. 5995, Malawi Broadcasting Corporation sent partial data QSL letter from Abraham E. Nsapato, Controller of Transmitters, 60 days after a follow up to my reception report on their transmission on December 20th 1997. Mr. Nsapato states that they are no longer broadcasting on shortwave because the transmitter has broken down. They plan to return to shortwave at an unspecified time following receipt of the necessary parts (Rich Hankison, Kansas, Cumbre DX via Nov World DX Club Contact via Mike Barraclough, DXLD) ** MALAYSIA [non]. CHIN PENG'S MEMOIRS ON THE VOICE OF THE MALAYAN REVOLUTION Chin Peng, the former Secretary General of the Communist Party of Malaya published his memoirs recently. Chin Peng joined the Communist Party just before World War II. After the war, he assumed the leadership position in the party. It was while he was party leader that the 12 year Emergency was declared in all of Malaya (1948 to 1960). For the communists, this amounted to nothing less than a declaration of war by the "enemy". They were soon forced to operate underground. This not only meant that members have to conduct their activities in a clandestine manner. In the environment of anti- colonial liberation wars at that time, it also meant that the communists were to form armed units which would operate from the jungle against government targets. Chin Peng devoted almost one chapter of his memoirs to explain the operation of the CPM clandestine radio station, the "Voice of the Malayan Revolution" or "Suara Revolusi Malaya". Chin Peng had first sought the help of the North Vietnamese to establish his clandestine station in 1963 as the Communist Party of Thailand was already operating their clandestine station, the "Voice of the Patriotic Front" from there since 1961. The Vietnamese agreed to the request, but suggested that Chin Peng seek help from either China or East Germany to provide the transmitting equipment. Chin Peng explained that as the Sino-Soviet split was already fully manifesting itself at that time, it would be prudent to request help from China. China did not agree to the request initially. It would take six years before the Voice of the Malayan Revolution came on air. Chin Peng says that the station commenced broadcasting from a military area in Hunan province in China in November 1969 using a 20 kW transmitter on two "wavelengths". Initially, the station broadcasts in Mandarin, Malay and Tamil with three announcers for each section. Chin Peng claims that the announcers were not members of his party and that the broadcasts were well received by communist members and sympathisers in Malaya and Singapore (hmm, does this mean he received reception reports?). Later on, the station received requests for broadcasts to be aired in various Chinese dialects. Chin Peng did not say what other dialects were added (I had seen a TV clip from that era which featured a broadcast in Cantonese). At its peak, the station employed 30 announcers. China was at this time in the throes of the Cultural Revolution. Despite this, the station received regular deliveries of Malaysian and Singapore newspapers in English and Chinese, as well as "The Times" of London, the Melbourne "Age", "The Economist", "Asiaweek", "Time" and "Pacific Affairs". Amazingly, children of station staff continue to receive academic education even though all other schools were closed in China at this time. The station's broadcast continued without incident until 1980. In that year, Lee Kuan Yew, who was then Prime Minister of Singapore had visited Beijing in what many view as a very successful meeting with Chinese leaders. It turned out that Lee had requested Deng Xiaoping to shut down the station as soon as possible. Vietnam had invaded Cambodia a year earlier. The ASEAN countries had supported the participation of the Khmer resistant movement in the United Nations although the US was against it. ASEAN was trying to lobby support from African and South American countries for its Cambodian resolution and it was felt that it would be a difficult task unless the station stopped operating from China. In the circumstance, Chin Peng could only accede to his host's request. The Voice of the Malayan Revolution aired its last broadcast from China on the evening of June 30, 1981. That is not the end of the station. It commenced broadcasts using a mobile transmitter from the Thai-Malaysian border the following morning using a new callsign - "Suara Demokrasi", the Voice of Democracy. Suara Demokrasi was to broadcast for another few years. On December 2, 1989, the Communist Party of Malaya signed peace treaties with the Malaysian and Thai governments, ending more than 40 years of rebellion. Under the terms of the treaty, the party would be disbanded and the radio station would cease broadcasts within one month. Chin Peng did not say when the final broadcast was aired. Chin Peng's autobiography "My Side of History", edited by Ian Ward and Norma Miraflor is published by Media Masters in Singapore 2003 (Richard Lam, Singapore, Nov 2, Cumbredx mailing list via DXLD) ** MALTA [and non]. RADIO WORLD - Sunday 26 October 2003 Last weekend I attended a symposium on multilinguism in international radio, organised by the Voice of the Mediterranean in Malta (VOM) and the European DX Council (EDXC). It was a most interesting experience, not in the least because Malta is such an exiting place to start with. All people there are multilingual themselves, speaking Maltese and English. It gave me great pleasure to visit the studios of the Voice of the Mediterranean and meet the people who actually produce and present the programmes of this popular shortwave station, now also round-the-clock on the Internet. This station is truly international, as it was set up in 1988 as an independent entity, not part of the public broadcasting scene in Malta, as confirmed by the director of the Voice of the Mediterranean, Mr Richard Muscat. SOUND Richard Muscat [he goes into how VOM is a joint venture between Malta and Libya; Libyans on the staff in Malta produce the Arabic programs; Maltese the rest, and there are plans to introduce Spanish, Chinese, Russian] Mr Richard Muscat, director of the Voice of the Mediterranean. And for once, a good piece of news: a station adding language services, instead of scrapping them. Thank you, VOM! More about the VOM and multilinguism in international radio in next Sunday's edition of Radio World. FRANS VOSSEN [audio links:] Radio World (broadband) Radio World (narrowband) http://www.rvi.be/rvi_master/uk/radio_world/index.html (via DXLD) ** MAURITANIA. 4845, Radio Mauritanie, 0210-0305 Oct 27, man with seemingly never ending talk in Arabic. Vocals from 0245 with ID near top of the hour followed by recitations. Good signal with Ramadan schedule (Rich D`Angelo, PA, NASWA Flashsheet via DXLD) Have heard this several times since my last report, at 0700, when in fact they do make a brief announcement after the Qur`an(?) before closing the frequency (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** MEXICO. FIRST MEXICAN IBOC STATION Holy mole, fellow DXistas! It's on FM, though: http://beradio.com/ar/radio_currents_43/index.htm#mexico (Harry Helms W7HLH, Las Vegas, NV DM26, Nov 3, WTFDA via DXLD) Viz.: MEXICO AIRS IBOC Quincy, IL --- Oct 28, 2003 --- The first IBOC signals to air in Mexico were heard at 2:10 p.m. on Oct. 3 following the installation of a Broadcast Electronics (BE) FMi transmitter system at XHFAJ-FM Radio Alfa. The station is operating under an experimental license on its licensed frequency of 91.3 MHz in Mexico City. XHFAJ-FM is owned by Grupo Radio Centro, the country’s leading radio broadcaster with 13 stations and the program supplier to more than 100 affiliate radio stations across Mexico. The IBOC system is on loan from BE for testing purposes and to demonstrate the technology at the country’s fall broadcast convention. IBOC was compared to Eureka 147, XM Radio and Sirius satellite signals during the Cámara Nacional de la Industria de Radio y Televisión (CIRT) convention held in Mexico City the week of Oct. 5. Attendees listened to XHFAJ-FM’s digital audio through a Kenwood HD Radio receiver, also on loan for the show. BE's HD Radio transmitter system remains in operation at XHFAJ-FM pending further testing and technical consideration by Mexico’s Secretaría de Comunicaciones y Transportes (SCT), which is expected to set national digital broadcast standards in the future. On loan to XHFAJ-FM is a factory BE FMi 402 HD Radio FM transmitter, one FSi 10 HD Radio signal generator and two FXi 60 digital exciters. The BE FMi 402 HD Radio FM transmitter provides 1.5kW into an injector supplied by Shively Labs. XHFAJ-FM’s existing transmitter remains in service for the analog path and provides 16.66kW into the injector. The output from the injector is a combined 15kW analog and 150W digital into a master antenna system, resulting in 90kW ERP analog and 900W ERP digital. BE supplied XHFAJ-FM with two FXi 60 digital exciters. One is feeding the FMi 402 HD Radio transmitter and the other is installed in the analog transmitter, allowing for synchronization of the two broadcasts. The FSi 10 and both FXi exciters are synchronized to a 10MHz master oscillator, which is needed for continuity of service in blended coverage areas (via DXLD) BE = Broadcast Electronics ** MONACO [non]. Radio Monte Carlo heard with "crash" start on 7325 at 1700 Nov. 2 in Arabic with news/commentary and music. At 1730 the announcer "handed over" to Radio France International which had news in French. Assumed this is via RFI facilities. Co-channel with BBC Cyprus at 1730 in Russian (Noel R. Green [Blackpool-NW England], Cumbredx mailing list via DXLD) ** MYANMAR. Radio Myanmar heard on 5985.8, 1550 to 1600 off, light orchestral music, closing announcements by lady in English, fair strength, best on USB (Mike Barraclough, Nov World DX Club Contact via DXLD) See also BURMA [non] for clandestines ** NIGERIA. Despite the title, this long story at http://www.vanguardngr.com/articles/2002/features/fe102112003.html deals with Voice of Nigeria and the man who revived it; excerpts: TAIWO ALIMI: AT DEATH, CARDINAL OKOGIE DECLARED MY WIFE A SAINT By Wale Akinola and Olalekan Bilesanmi Sunday, November 02, 2003 Only a few of them can be found in any society: Those who have achieved so much in their respective callings that they are identified with the callings and the society thinks they are indispensable. Mr. Taiwo Allimi belongs to this group. Once, the former Biafran warlord, Dim Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu, tried to make his case an exception to the general rule, when, at the outset of the civil war and all non- Igbo were asked to leave Eastern Region, he was asked to stay on and be part of the team to manage the secessionist regimes broadcast apparatus. He declined. But there could not have been a better way to recognise the competence of Allimi in a job he accidentally found himself in barely two years earlier. Twice, he was fired from his job by those who felt offended, not by any wrongdoing, but by his astute practice of the job he knows how best to do, and twice the society faulted the skewed judgement and restored him back to the profession in a most dignified manner. Today, Allimi, the Director-General of Voice of Nigeria (VON), has come a long way since 1965 when he became a broadcaster, surviving the ups and downs of life, the intrigues of a profession where envy and attendant risks can be ones undoing. This is a story of a broadcasting icon told by the master broadcaster himself. . . Q. The VON is the external voice of the government, how has it been since he took over its leadership? "When I came into Voice of Nigeria in July, 1999, it was a dead organization. They had no vision, no focus, no programme. All their equipment were dead. Even at the end of 1999, Voice of Nigeria did not have one single computer in its operation. But we thank God we re- engineered the place, set the direction and focus. And we thank God that with the president, the National Assembly, we were able to change Voice of Nigeria from a dead organization into a key player in global broadcasting. Today, Voice of Nigeria broadcasts in several languages. They were limited languages but we have added Yoruba and Egun into language broadcasting. We have trained, for the first time, 125 staff within and outside and essentially we had trained about 72 Nigerians abroad. It is for the future not for me because I will do mine as am doing now and go away. I have put into the voice of Nigeria in the last four years, 17 hours everyday. It has paid off. It is tough convincing the president, the National Assembly, the Ministry of Finance in order to get things done. In any endeavour in life, there is no way you can win 100% of the people. There would be a few that would be grumbling, maybe 2%. But in the Voice of Nigeria, those who grumble belong to the past because they want the past to be part of their lives, to be stealing money, to be promoting leakages. I did not come here for that and I am not looking at anybody`s face. What Voice of Nigeria is to Nigerians is what Voice of America is to Americans, what it is to Nigeria is what BBC is to Britons. I am committed and very passionate about it. Nigeria did not have a voice before I came here but they have got one now, we are on a website which I created and we are going to down load audio into it in the next three months. For example, it has never happened before, we started it, the president directed that any trip he undergoes, Voice of Nigeria correspondent must accompany him, it has never happened before". . . (Vanguard via Kim Elliott, DXLD) ** PAPUA NEW GUINEA. RADIO STATION CONNECTS PNG’S SEPIK PROVINCE By Colin Taimbari [SW not mentioned, but may impact ex-SW stations] PORT MORESBY, Papua New Guinea (The National, Nov. 3) --- Two Sepik members of parliament have brushed aside comments that the proposed radio station, Central Sepik FM in Maprik, would divide the East Sepik province. Local Maprik MP and Works Minister Gabriel Kapris and Ambunti/Drekikir MP Tony Aimo said the FM station was a major development for the central Sepik area after 38 years of neglect. Mr Aimo said it was only proper and fair that such vital services are not concentrated in Wewak, but distributed to the districts. He said the electorates of Ambunti-Drekikir, Yangoru-Saussia, Maprik and Wosera-Gawi would all benefit from the service. "We, the new breed of leaders, have vision and creativity and as politicians we are delivering and the people are excited. They are happy that they are now seen results. They are now seen developments," he said. The MPs were responding to comments by East Sepik provincial administration press spokesman Bruce Samban, who claimed building the station in Maprik would divide the province, adding that it should be built in Wewak. However, Mr Kapris said such comments are very shallow and uncalled for because the radio would benefit far more people, especially in the rural areas. "There's no hidden agenda to break away (from the rest of East Sepik) and Mr Samban should know that as a former premier," he said. He said equipment for the K300,000 station was already on the ground in Maprik and its 60 meter tower can allow for EM TV and digital mobile telephone services for the five electorates. Mr Kapris said with Papindo building a K1.2 million supermarket in Maprik, people will not travel 3-4 hours to Wewak for shopping or other basic services and risked being robbed or even killed. "So these are real tangible developments for the area after so many years of neglect. It's not about moving the provincial headquarter of East Sepik province to Maprik, that's not our intention," he said. November 3, 2003 The National: http://www.thenational.com.pg/ Copyright © 2003 The National Online. All Rights Reserved (via Paciic Islands Report via E. Baxendale, UK, Nov 3, DXLD) ** PERU. Noviembre 2 - 2003, 5906.3, Radio Melodía, 2230 UT, SINPO 44213, Español. Transmitieron programa musical, intervenciones del locutor identificando la emisión: "Radio Melodíaaaaaaaa". "Cambiaron" la frecuencia de 5995 a 5996.3 November 2 - 2003, 5906.3, Radio Melodía, 2230 UT, SINPO 44213, Spanish. Musical program, DJ with many ID´s like: "Radio Melodiaaaaaa" They "moved" from 5995 to 5906.3 73´s DXSPACEMASTER (Alfredo Cañote, Chaclacayo, Perú, DX LISTENING DIGEST) [sic: I suppose he means 5996.3 thruout, where station is usually heard --- gh] ** POLAND. Radio Polonia announced on their Media Magazine programme October 28th that their agreement with TPSA for use of the shortwave site at Lesczynka was valid until the end of the calendar year. English is now at 1300-1400 on 9525 11820 and 1800-1900 on 5995 and new 7150 (Mike Barraclough, UK, Nov 3, DX LISTENING DIGEST) And then what? ** RUSSIA. NEW MOSCOW RADIO STATION TO BROADCAST SONGS ONLY IN RUSSIAN - AGENCY | Text of report by Russian news agency Ekho Moskvy [No dateline as received] The First Popular Radio station started broadcasting on 18 October. It is the first radio station in Russia to use the western format, the Top-40, its general director Yuliya Yakovleva told Ekho Moskvy. The radio broadcasts at the 102.5 FM frequency which used to belong to the Open Radio station. [Passage omitted] The principle of the Top-40 is "to make a merged rating based on information from all accessible sources, and this will be our guide to action, "Yakovleva said. If a new music composition appears or interest to some songs decreases we will change our selection accordingly, she explained. She added that the First Popular Radio will broadcast only Russian- language songs as "our national popular music has become much better and is extremely popular". Source: Ekho Moskvy news agency, Moscow, in Russian 1402 gmt 3 Nov 03 (via BBCM via DXLD) What a novel idea --- in the US, we have a number of stations which broadcast only in English, and nobody notices (gh) ** RUSSIA. TELEVISION/RADIO BROADCASTING NETWORK TO BE MODERNIZED | Text of report in English by Russian news agency ITAR-TASS Moscow, 3 November: Russia plans to create a multifunctional television and radio broadcasting network. The first stage of Russia's television and radio broadcasting system will be commenced in the beginning of 2004, the head of the Russian Television and Radio Broadcasting Network (RTRS), Gennadiy Sklyar, told a press conference on Monday. He said RTRS has already asked the government to allow it to use the fibre-optic network of the Ministry of Railways in order to cerate a unified cable network for distributing television and radio signals. According to Sklyar, this network is 45,000 kilometres long and covers areas where 85 per cent of the country's population lives. In addition, RTRS will launch two satellites in the next two years to ensure 100 per cent coverage of the country. "The federal centre for the distribution of television programmes we are building now will transmit products at requests of cable channel operators," Sklyar said. The first stage of the project will cost 100m dollars, but further costs will increase several-fold. However no budget money will be used, Sklyar said. "The network will be modernised with the help of credits. We have long been conducting negotiations on this with banks," he added. "The multifunctional interactive network will improve the quality of reception considerably and give Russian people access to new communication services, including programmes upon request and high- speed Internet connections," Sklyar said. He believes the project will justify all costs. Source: ITAR-TASS news agency, Moscow, in English 1518 gmt 3 Nov 03 (via BBCM via DXLD) ** SERBIA & MONTENEGRO. B-03 schedule now posted on the website INTERNATIONAL RADIO OF SERBIA/MONTENEGRO 0000-0030 Spanish S.America/w 9680 0030-0100 Serbian N.America/ce Europe/w 7115 (exc Sunday) 0100-0130 English N.America/ce Europe/w 7115 (exc Sunday) 0030-0130 Serbian N.America/ce Europe/w 7115 (Sundays) 0130-0200 Serbian N.America/ce Europe/ 7115 0200-0230 English N.America/w Europe/w 7130 1330-1400 English Australia 11835 1400-1430 Serbian Australia 11835 1530-1600 Arabic Arabia 11800 1600-1630 Russian Russia 6100 1630-1645 Hungarian Hungary 6100 1645-1700 Greek Greece 6100 1700-1730 French Europe/w 6100 1730-1800 German Europe/w 6100 1800-1815 Albanian Albania 6100 1815-1830 Bulgarian Bulgaria 6100 1830-1900 Italian Europe/w 6100 1900-1930 Russian Russia 6100 1930-2000 English Europe/w 6100 2000-2030 Spanish Spain 7220 2030-2100 Serbian Europe 6100 (except Saturday) 2100-2130 German Europe/w 6100 (except Saturday) 2030-2130 Serbian Europe 6100 (Saturday) 2130-2200 French Europe 6100 2200-2230 English Europe 6100 2330-2400 Chinese China 9580 (Website) Despite schedule now being posted 6100 remains unheard 31st October and 1st November (Mike Barraclough, UK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Re 3-196, International Radio of Serbia & Montenegro: This station has not been heard for some time on its summer frequencies, and is still not being heard on the frequencies listed on the web site reported by Dave. For instance, I tuned 11835 at 1330 on Nov. 2 and heard the Bengali service of the BBC via Kranji. The channel was clear from 1400. 73s from (Noel Green, UK, Nov 3, DX LISTENING DIGEST) International Radio of Serbia and Montenegro heard on 6100, 1930-2000 in English November 3rd, previously unheard in B-03. They suffered interference from the DRM transmissions of Luxembourg on 6095; heard clearly in USB (Mike Barraclough, Letchworth, UK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** SYRIA [non]. Arabic Radio is heard back on 7470 1600-1630 like in B02 (Mauno Ritola, Finland, Nov. 3 via Silvain Domen, Belgium, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** TURKEY. Checked VOT at 1330 Nov 3, the two English frequencies: 15155 audible but not very strong; 15195 in the skirts of Antigua 15190. Used to be better on 17 MHz (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U K. Radio Skeleton, a free radio station from somewhere in SE England, is currently on 1670 kHz (at 2140 UTC on Monday) with one of its occasional broadcasts. Quite a good signal here in Caversham, despite the poor conditions. 73s (Dave Kenny, Nov 3, BDXC-UK via DXLD) ** U K. BBC NEWS --- LOST RADIO SHOWS BACK ON AIR Hours of lost radio programmes have been recovered following an appeal by the BBC in 2001, including some that have not been aired since the 1950s. The treasure trove includes a rare recording of the Beatles, Gregory Peck playing the piano and three lost Hancock episodes. Excerpts from selected lost gems will be heard for the first time in decades on Saturday when a new series of Radio's Lost Property begins on BBC Radio 4. In the early years of TV and radio, shows were often erased, lost or simply not recorded. It just occurred to me at the time that the BBC just might not be saving some of these Joanne Tansley Radio enthusiast Listen to Joanna Tansley's recordings Many of the lost recordings were made by enthusiastic amateurs, such as Joanne Tansley who recorded 60 "missing" programmes. "It just occurred to me at the time that the BBC just might not be saving some of these because they had a bit of reputation at the time for getting rid of some of their stock," she told BBC One's Breakfast. Soon after the appeal by the BBC in 2001, a rare unseen copy of Dad's Army was discovered - and the material kept coming in. Highlights include recordings of the Beatles at the Royal Albert Hall in 1963, Gregory Peck playing the piano, and an entire Kenneth Williams Playhouse comedy series. Also discovered was Radio Five, a Monty-Python-like spoof by Eric Idle. And a missing Archers episode, featuring the very first appearance of Brian Aldridge in 1975, was found. BBC archivist Jonathan Dann said many recordings sent to them are too poor quality to be broadcast but some can be restored to near perfection. He said there were some rare finds including a an early docu-drama on a Zeppelin raid on London. Radio's Lost Property is on BBC Radio 4 on Saturday at 2000 GMT. Story from BBC NEWS: http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/1/hi/entertainment/tv_and_radio/3231905.stm Published: 2003/10/31 17:59:39 GMT © BBC MMIII (via Dan Say, DXLD) ** U S A. Frequency data at Fineware site was updated again as of Nov. 1. Checked to see what he has for WINB regarding your question about timespan for 9930 as I've only listened around 1800. First off, Mark Fine is listing the frequency as 9929.9. He also lists it as active from 1300 to 2300, switching to 9320 at 2300 to 0400. I really hate the times of year when everyone switches time and frequency. Takes so long for things to shake out and settle down. I checked the list I have from Prime Time Shortwave and couldn't even find WINB listed at 1800. Didn't search the entire list. Checked Eibi, but he states that his list is only partially completed. Checked HFCC site the end of the week and they hadn't posted new data there yet. Same with ILG (John H. Carver Jr., Mid-North Indiana, Nov 2, DX LISTENING DIGEST) If you`re the frequency manager for WINB, how about giving us their new schedule. No longer hearing them on 13570 (Glenn to Hans) WINB B03 261003-280304, all to areas 10 and 11. 1100-1300 9320 1300-2300 9930 2300-0600 9320 (Hans Johnson, Nov 3, Cumbredx mailing list via DXLD) Hmmm, does clash, or should I say, ``share`` with KWHR on 9930 until 1700 --- that could difficultize monitoring of their various Asian clandestine services. Indeed, at 1329 Nov 3, a het of some 100 Hz on 9930, with IDs for both KWHR and WINB heard. Quite a collision, but apparently deliberate. I suppose way over in Asia, WINB won`t bother KWHR much, but KWHR sure bothers WINB in its target area (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. 4920, WHRI, 1209 Oct 27, English gospel music program, ID at 1230, poor, best on 70 degree beverage, 1/2 harmonic of 9840 heard in //, interfering with my receiver of Chennai heard under (Jerry Lineback, KS, NASWA Flashsheet via DXLD) ** U S A [and non]. RADIO LIBERTY/FREE EUROPE B-03 SW Schedules Daily except where indicated. From web site Oct. 27, 2003 [originally each frequency on a separate line even tho three or even four may be in use during the same time span, combined here by gh, in the same order given, not strictly consecutive timespans] Radio Free Afghanistan (Pashto and Dari) 0230-0430 9825 15690 0630-1030 17595 19010 1230-1330 17595 1230-1430 19010 1630-1830 11770 Albanian 2000-2030 7180 9600 11765 Radio Free Iraq [see also IRAQ non] (Arabic) 0200-0400 5965 7105 7175 0400-0600 7115 0400-0500 9695 0400-0700 11970 0500-0600 5985 9690 0600-0700 15255 17740 1500-1700 6130 9685 11965 1500-1900 11835 1700-1800 9845 1700-1900 11725 1800-1900 9785 1900-2000 7235 7245 11765 2100-2300 9645 2100-2200 11965 2200-2300 6015 Armenian 1700-1800 9705 11865 Azerbaijani 0400-0500 9605 1000-1100 15205 17670 21539 1400-1500 11795 15430 17605 1600-1700 9665 1900-2000 9670 Belarusian 0400-0600 6140 7190 9615 1600-1800 7190 9615 15460 1800-2000 6150 7205 9865 2000-2200 6140 7165 South Slavic (Bosnian, Serbian etc) 0000-0100 6115 7115 9725 0830-0900 9565 11730 15215 1400-1430 9555 11885 13650 1700-1800 7115 7245 9695 1830-2000 7155 9705 11750 2100-2200 7175 7265 9680 2300-0000 6115 7115 Georgian 0500-0600 9655 1600-1700 7105 2000-2100 9505 Kazakh 0000-0100 6135 7145 9625 0200-0400 7145 11795 21690 1200-1300 9520 15110 17680 1400-1500 9660 12010 17680 1500-1600 4995 6055 Kyrgyz 0100-0200 7295 0100-0300 9830 15590 0200-0300 5035 1300-1330 11685 15120 17750 1400-1430 12030 15120 17750 1500-1600 9540 11785 13865 1600-1700 7260 9595 9675 North Caucasus 0500-0600 9575 11785 11815 1800-1900 7565 9615 9840 Radio Farda (Persian-Farsi) 0030-0830 9585 0030-0600 9795 0300-0400 9335 0400-0600 12015 0400-0830 15290 0600-0830 17675 0800-1700 13680 0800-1400 21575 1400-1700 9435 15410 1700-1800 11705 11845 1900-2000 6140 1900-2130 9335 11960 2000-2130 9785 Romanian 0400-0430 6030 6130 MTWTF 1600-1630 7165 9725 1700-1730 7165 9725 SS 1700-1800 7165 9725 MTWTF 1900-2000 7170 9725 MTWTF Russian 0000-0200 5985 6095 7155 7220 7235 0000-0100 7175 0300-0600 5955 0300-0500 6105 0300-0400 7155 7255 9635 0300-0900 9520 0400-0800 7220 0400-0900 9680 0400-0600 11980 0500-0600 7270 0500-0700 13810 0600-0800 11875 0600-0900 11885 0700-0900 15205 15250 0800-0900 15370 17845 0900-1100 9355 9725 11930 15410 1100-1400 9805 11885 1100-1300 15120 15215 17805 1100-1400 15370 1300-1400 11725 11895 17730 1500-1800 7220 9520 11805 11885 1500-1700 15130 1500-1600 15370 1600-1800 6105 1700-1800 9505 2000-2300 5955 2000-0000 6105 7220 2000-2200 7265 9620 9845 2000-0000 9520 2200-2300 6095 9865 2300-0000 5985 7155 7175 Tajik 0100-0200 4760 6050 7275 0200-0400 11665 1400-1700 9695 1400-1500 17660 1500-1700 11705 1500-1630 11910 1630-1700 4760 Tatar-Bashkir 0400-0500 7255 9635 MTWTFSu 0600-0700 11730 11855 1600-1700 6180 9505 2000-2100 7245 7295 Turkmen 0200-0300 6160 7295 0200-0400 9680 0300-0400 15470 17865 1400-1500 9565 15185 15345 1500-1600 9530 1500-1700 11875 1500-1600 15160 1600-1800 9770 11740 1700-1800 9625 Ukrainian 0400-0500 6170 7245 9750 MTWTFS 0600-0700 5980 7245 9695 MTWTF 1800-2000 3980 9625 1800-1900 5985 1900-2000 7125 2000-2100 3980 7125 9625 MTWTFSu Uzbek 0200-0400 7190 0200-0600 9725 21770 0400-0600 17655 1600-1800 9835 12020 17610 (RFE/RL website Nov 3 via Bernie O'Shea, Ottawa, Canada, DXLD) ** U S A. KDKA SHORTWAVE It is generally recognized that radio broadcasting began with station KDKA in 1920; and it is also generally recognized that international shortwave broadcasting was inaugurated somewhere around the year 1927. However, it is also interesting to note that the beginnings of shortwave broadcasting can be traced back to the same station KDKA, in the same inaugural year, 1920. In this edition of Wavescan, we look at the full story of Westinghouse shortwave broadcasting by KDKA, at its six different locations over a period of nearly fifty years. It was in August 1916, that Frank Conrad obtained a licence as an amateur radio operator with the callsign 8XK. He built his own equipment and installed it on the top floor of his garage in Wilkinsburg, in suburban Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. All amateur licenses were suspended in 1917 though Conrad was granted a special license as 2WM for government experimental work during World War 1. The ban on amateur radio was lifted on October 1, 1919 and two weeks later Conrad was on the air again, with music broadcasts from his station 8XK. One year later, his amateur music broadcasts were noted in the local newspaper. During the war, the station with a special licence at the Westinghouse factory was designated as 2WE; and in the early part of 1920, Frank Conroy, took his amateur station 8XC to the factory for a special demonstration. Out of these events with Conrad & Conroy, grew the concept of establishing a radio broadcasting station at the factory which was licensed initially as 8ZZ. The notable date for the launching of the new mediumwave station, now known as KDKA, was November 2, 1920. This same program was relayed on shortwave by Frank Conrad from 8XK in his suburban garage as a back-up precaution. Two years later, a 1 kW shortwave transmitter was installed at the factory in East Pittsburgh under the callsign 8XS; and two years later again, the mediumwave and shortwave units were moved out to a new facility at Forest Hills, where the shortwave callsign reverted back to the more familiar 8XK. However, in 1931, both KDKA & 8XK were moved again, this time to another new facility at Saxonburg, another suburban location within Pittsburgh. Here it was that the callsign was regularized in 1939 to the four letter callsign, WPIT. By this time, four shortwave transmitters were in use for the broadcast of the Westinghouse radio programming. Right towards the end of the year 1939, the final split came between mediumwave KDKA and shortwave WPIT, with the transfer of KDKA to another new location again, this time Allison Park in Pennsylvania, and the transfer of WPIT to Hull in Massachusetts. Production staff and studios for the shortwave service were re-located some months later to the home of another Westinghouse mediumwave station, WBZ in Boston. However, during the following year, the other Westinghouse shortwave station, WBOS was transferred from Millis near Boston, to Hull, which is located right at the end of a narrow peninsula opposite Boston. Here it was that the equipment of both stations was integrated and the WPIT callsign was dropped, with the usage now of only the one call, WBOS. For a period of twelve years, station WBOS in Hull carried VOA programming to Europe & Africa. When this term of service was over, the equipment was sold and transferred to shortwave station WRUL which was located further down the coast at Hatherley Beach, near the town of Scituate. There was a disastrous fire at station WRUL in 1967 in which all of the World War 2 equipment was destroyed. This then would mark the final end of the historic shortwave station, 8XK-WPIT, after nearly half a century of international radio coverage. As a postscript, station WRUL in Scituate became WNYW, and then it was bought by Family Radio and re-designated as WYFR, which is on the air these days with fourteen shortwave transmitters at Okeechobee in Florida (Adrian Michael Peterson, AWR Wavescan Nov 2 via John Norfolk, DXLD) ** U S A. DISK JOCKEYS URGE MOTORISTS TO ASSAULT BICYCLE RIDERS By the Associated Press CLEVELAND (AP) Bicyclists are demanding that the nation's largest radio group be punished because disc jockeys at three stations made on-air comments they say encouraged drivers to throw bottles at bike riders or hit them with open car doors. They say the morning show hosts at Clear Channel Communications stations in Cleveland, Houston and Raleigh, N.C., also suggested motorists blast horns at cyclists, and speed past them and slam on their brakes in front of them. DJs encouraging the masses to hurt people in any form is insipid, and should not go unpunished,'' said Edwin D. Reeves, 30, a cyclist and ceramic engineer in St. Louis. Clear Channel, based in San Antonio, owns roughly 1,200 radio stations in the United States. The company won't release transcripts or tapes of the broadcasts, but the three stations apologized on the air, and Clear Channel donated $10,000 and air time to promote bicycle safety. ``We deeply regret that comments made by on-air personalities were misinterpreted. Clear Channel does not condone violence in any form and we are committed to working with the cycling community to improve cycling safety,'' chief executive John Hogan said in a statement. Clear Channel, which said it was coincidental that similar comments came from three stations, said it told the stations to refer questions to corporate headquarters (via Mike Cooper, DXLD) ** U S A. KNX/LOS ANGELES DROPS POPULAR DRAMA HOUR Friday night's broadcast of The War of the Worlds marks an end of an era for the Infinity News station, as the highly rated hour of vintage radio shows sends a Halloween send-off after almost 22 years. VP/Market Manager, News Stations Pat Duffy cited public demand for continuous news coverage, especially during last week's California wildfire crisis, as the reason for the programming change. "The Drama Hour has had a long, great run on KNX but our news listeners should always be our No. 1 concern," Duffy said. Prior to adding the Drama Hour to the 9pm time slot in 1982, KNX for 10 years ran the CBS Mystery Theater (from http://www.radioandrecords.com via Brock Whaley DXLD November 3, 2003) Tsk, tsk; surely there is room for it on another of the sesquidozens of stations in the LA market. But don`t count on it (gh, DXLD) ** U S A. To any and all that sent an e-mail message about reception of the WJNT test to Stan Carter of WJNT: If your e-mail was sent on Monday morning or before, PLEASE re-send it --- his address is slcarter@wjnt.com Stan reports to me that the messages were inadvertently deleted from his computer. Thanks! (Lynn Holleman, Lafayette, LA, Nov 3, NRC-AM via DXLD ** U S A. TURN ON, TUNE IN --- Toward a Progressive Talk Show, by Thomas de Zengotita. Recommended reading in the Nov issue of Harper`s, page 44+. Most Harper`s content, including this, not online, but they will sell you a back issue for $10 or copy an article for $15. Or any decent library should have it (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. WABC-DT Returns to Air --- Two years and six weeks after the World Trade Center was destroyed, New York City once again has DTV service from all the major English television networks. WABC-DT (Channel 45) signed back on the air last Thursday (Oct. 30) from the newly-completed Four Times Square mast, restoring ABC digital service to market #1. ABC was the last of the major nets to get DTV back on the air; CBS and Fox had been operating their digital signals from the Empire State Building even before 9/11, and the ESB would later become home to low- power signals for WNBC-DT and WPIX-DT (WB). (UPN service was restored on a subchannel of Fox's WNYW-DT, and PBS was restored by WNET via a low-power transmitter on the roof of its studio building.) With the arrival of WABC-TV at 4 Times Square, the building begins a new era as a major primary site in New York. In addition to ABC, Univision has signed a lease for space in the building, and is already broadcasting a low-power Telefutura signal there for WFUT-DT (Channel 53). Another hopeful note in the ongoing restoration of full TV service to New York: Pax's WPXN (Channel 31) moved its signal from Eagle Rock Avenue in West Orange, N.J. to Empire last week (Scott Fybush, NE Radio Watch Nov 3 via DXLD) ** VIETNAM [and non]. Voice of Vietnam B03 --- I have been checking Voice of Vietnam to try to establish their current English schedule and have confirmed the following: 1600 - English on 7100 and 9730 1700 - no English heard 1800 - English on 7100, 9730 and 5955* 1900 - English on 7100 and 9730 2030 - English on 7100 and 9730 *The transmission on 5955 is presumably relayed via Moosbrunn, Austria (Dave Kenny, UK, Nov 3, BDXC-UK via DXLD) UNIDENTIFIED. Quito 3/Nov/2003 21:12. Amigos DXistas! Saludos desde "la mitad del mundo"! 2680.14 kHz Radio Melodía "La frecuencia más popular", unknown QTH (Perú??) 3/Nov/2003 - 2355 UT I have not heard anything on this frequency before and I can`t find any "Radio Melodía" listed on this 120-mb frequency or on 670/1340 kHz. Close down 0105 UT, UT -5 and mostly Mexican music and boleros but also some Andean music. Could be a new station. Clear IDs; "Radio Melodía la frecuencia más popular". You can listen to ID, some music and ads with address (perhaps you can find QTH on this, very short, recording?): http://homepage.sverige.net/~a-0901/ [eventually] (Björn Malm, Quito, Ecuador (SWB América Latina), Conexión Digital via DXLD) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ CONVENTIONS & CONFERENCES +++++++++++++++++++++++++ READING INTERNATIONAL RADIO GROUP The next meeting will be on November 22nd, 2.30 p.m to 4.30 p.m., in the Holyrood Room, 3rd Floor, Reading Central Library, Kings Street/Abbey Square. The programme will include a look at shortwave reception in Central Siberia and the history of American Forces Network broadcasts to Europe. All are welcome; for further information email me at mikewb @ dircon.co.uk or telephone 01462 643899. Before and after the meeting several of the group can be found in the Hogshead on the opposite side of the road. The group has now been meeting regularly since 1975 (Nov World DX Club Contact, UK, via Mike Barraclough, DXLD) PUBLICATIONS ++++++++++++ PASSPORT TO WORLDBAND [sic] RADIO 2004 [sic] Just received the new PWBR '04 (ordered pre-publication from Grove) on Saturday, Nov. 1. Spent most of my time with it so far in the receiver-review section. They have a lot of coverage of the new funny- brand Chinese radios that have come out recently or are due out soon (some testing of pre-production samples). I've been wondering about these low-cost radios since I first saw the ad for radios4you.com in Monitoring Times and looked at their website where some of these are advertised for sale, so it was particularly interesting to me. A couple of these are rated quite high and seem to represent a good value-for-money ratio. Reference the earlier discussion about the definition of "network" and info sources about them. One source pointed out was the PWBR "addresses" section. I hadn't gotten around to looking at my '03 PWBR to see what it said, but this one has an explicit distinction between organizations that operate their own radio transmitters and others that are described as "leased-time programs" from private organizations and NGOs; the former are referenced but the latter are NOT listed in PWBR, sadly -- those are the ones I guess I was most interested in. [Whatever became of the ``Disestablishmentarian`` sexion?] I did not do much accuracy-checking on the frequency/time broadcast listings yet. I did note that not all the new Radio Canada Int`l frequencies are listed at their current air times, but I would suppose that it is next to impossible to get such recently-changed data in by publication deadline. (I wouldn't mind if the PWBR came out a month later in order to get more of the end-October schedule & freq changes included; do others feel that this would be too much of a delay or do you agree with this view? Since most purchasers don`t get it for some time, such as a Christmas present or purchase, wouldn't this be OK with the majority of buyers/users?) One thing that surprised me, given that the info on the RFPI conflict has been publicized for some months, is that RFPI's entry in the "addresses" section contains NO mention of the possibility that they nay have to close down or move or change affiliation or anything by the time readers see this data. I would have included at least a sentence saying "at press time, a dispute over RFPI's facilities and host organization may result in there being an address change or revision to broadcasting schedules and operation" and leave it at that, with no space given to the details. That would cover the PWBR's accuracy issue without any specifics that change often in this period of flux. I'm sure that there will be a lot of comments about accuracy of the frequency/time listings from others; there seem to be every year. I`ll look forward to seeing what is mentioned. I think I'll make handwritten notes in the "blue pages" section this year to refer to such. I already started, regarding the RCI info, which I never did in previous years. Might make the book more helpful as a reference. Regards, (Will Martin, MO, Nov 3, swprograms via DXLD) Will and All: I have a few observations on two of the subjects raised. Clear trend for "consumer grade portables" is for these Chinese-made (if not badged) low cost units well under $100 to increasingly dominate the market. With the exception perhaps of Sangean, most of the brands we've come to know over the years are either de-emphasizing analog shortwave or dropping out altogether. Fortunately, some seem to be good performers, especially when the price is considered. On the down side, new portables catering to the market segment formerly occupied by the Sony 2010 or Grundig Satellit 700 do not seem to be on the horizon. I've noted that the changes being made to both program and frequency schedules are becoming increasingly inconsistent. It was always difficult to predict such schedules -- owing significantly to the fact that most stations give little practical advance notice of them -- but it is now such that it would impossible to have a printed reference that is 100% accurate. Changes happen that quickly and that haphazardly (or at least its seems so.) Kudos to PWBR for what it accomplishes and accomplishes so well. As for sale or delivery date of the publication; this is an interesting question. The "B" season -- when both PWBR and, later, WRTH are published -- now lasts only five months. The "A" season lasts seven. So, on the one hand, it would seem that a publication that comes out in April or May would have a longer "shelf life", as it were, than one hitting the stands in November or December. However, the prime Dxing season belongs to the winter months, and that would seem the most useful time period to have the information these books provide in hand. There are other factors, but I present the question here for discussion purposes. I don't believe the question has ever been raised -- at least, I've never heard it seriously discussed (John Figliozzi, NY, ibid.) RADIO EQUIPMENT FORUM [also see PWBR comments above] +++++++++++++++++++++ DAVE'S RADIO RECEIVER PAGE has moved again to: http://www.ticon.net/~n9ewo Glenn, you may have discovered that the "Fortune City" site where my web page was for a good 4 years is gone. I don't have the real reason why they axed it (they will not give that to me), but in general they said it was content. Nothing I can do except activate the backup page. Being this web page generates NO funding to support it (and cannot ask for any on this page either because of the provider rules), we are stuck. If this the way Fortune City operates (censorship) --- good riddance. I will work to add as much as I can over the next weeks to make it as close as I can to the old site. I do have a bit of space to play with and can add a bit more there (but not much do to space limitations) as well as updating the text . Please bear with me at this time. Thank You, (David Zantow, N9EWO, Nov 3, DX LISTENING DIGEST) POWERLINE COMMUNICATIONS ++++++++++++++++++++++++ NEW INTERNET SERVICE GIVES RADIO USERS BAD VIBES --- City's broadband service over electric lines could disrupt shortwave signals, experts worry SARI KRIEGER Sunday, October 26, 2003 Amateur radio users around the country are worried about a new technology coming to Manassas. Broadband service over power lines will be available city-wide in a few months. And while residents will be happily accessing the Internet through a modem plugged into their electrical outlets, amateur or "ham" radio users might lose their beloved and expensive form of communication. The Manassas City Council recently granted a franchise to Prospect Street Broadband, LLC., which will manage the new network. A company called Main.net will provide the equipment, with the city offering use of its existing power lines. Manassas is the first city in the country to fully implement this service. Only pilot programs exit in various cities and towns. Amateur radio is used to relay everything from casual messages to national emergency information to other users across a town, state, country or the world, including during hurricanes and on Sept. 11, 2001. "There's real concern they could wipe out the 20-meter ham band," said Manassas resident and avid amateur radio user John Heartney. David Sumner, Chief Executive Officer of the American Radio Relay League, said when Internet service is available through the city's powerlines, short-wave radio usage will be severely affected. The League sent representatives to Manassas to test this theory with the small BPL pilot program, and found significant interference. Other countries have more experience with the technology. A British Broadcasting Corporation study by technical experts in the town of Crieff, Scotland, shuns the use of BPL, and specifically Main.net BBC technicians made field observations of services from two companies, Main.net and Ascom. They reported that Ascom seemed to make an effort to limit interference with broadcasting bands of the radio spectrum, while no mention was made of any corrective efforts by Main.net. But in general, the BBC White Paper report said BPL causes "severe interference to shortwave broadcast reception," Jeff Norman, vice president of sales for Main.net, disputes the BBC study. He claims the technicians could have manipulated results because they didn't use proper British Regulatory Authority standards. Woodbridge Wireless Club has 190 members, one of a few amateur radio clubs in Prince William County. Member Alex Fraser said he expects the Internet technology to "wipe out quite a few of our bands." Manassas Utility Director Allen Todd said the city hasn't seen any interference so far, and the equipment complies with Federal Communications Commission standards. "We have had our pilot program in operation for 16 months, and people have come out and taken signal level readings," Todd said. "We haven't gotten any negative feedback from it." BPL is treated as an unlicensed service under FCC's rules. If BPL service in Manassas does cause interference as many anticipate, the service must be altered or terminated, according to Part 15, Section 15.5 (c) of the FCC regulations, no matter how much of an investment the city or the companies have made. The FCC has received complaints from shortwave radio users, and has a study in progress to address the issue. "We are looking at the concerns that have been raised," said Bruce Franca, deputy chief of the FCC office of engineering and technology. Franca said most of Manassas' power lines are underground and should not cause interference with amateur radio antennas. And even if interference does occur, he said Main.net can "notch" frequencies, to rectify interference problems. However, Sumner said that notching doesn't always work. Dick Ertman, a southern California resident, and former Lockheed Martin electrical engineer, doesn't trust the FCC. Ertman worked for Lockheed in the Washington, D.C., area on electronic interference issues. "The FCC has gotten into a mode where if someone is willing to pay them enough money, they can figure out a way to do it," Ertman said. Manassas City and corporate officials claim the service will be faster and cheaper than other broadband competitors. But a study by Rahul Tongia, PhD., at Carnegie Mellon University, found the operating cost of BPL amounts to $35 per month, although Manassas officials said they were looking at a preliminary price of about $29.95 per month for residents. "Given the estimated monthly costs of [BPL], it is unclear whether there is a compelling business case for [BPL] based on price for the end-user," according to Tongia's report. Manassas information technology director Larry Bates is one of the area's amateur radio users, and doesn't think BPL will be much of a factor, but he doesn't rule out the possibility. "There is still a potential that it could interfere," he said. Power lines alone can sometimes produce minor interference with shortwave radio signals, but utility companies rectify any problems for the most part, according to Sumner. But BPL "deliberately introduces a broadband radio-frequency signal onto the power lines," he said. "The BPL then radiates from the lines because they are not shielded, and were never designed to carry energy at those frequencies." Brett Kilbourn, director of regulatory affairs and a private council for the United Power Line Council said the United States should jump on the European bandwagon, where BPL has been in use for a while, although some few countries have also banned the technology. The Japan Amateur Radio League News reported in August 2002 that "reception can be seriously disturbed by such radiation". The publication also said the Japanese government concluded "it is too early to allow (BPL) between 2 MHz and 30 MHz due to hazardous effects on high frequency users." But Kilbourn said amateur radio operators haven't complained. "You have to ask yourself, if this is such a big deal, why aren't any of the amateurs complaining." Kilbourn said. Sumner's three editorials in QST magazine, a national publication, and approximately 100 postings in less than a week from operators around the country on an eham.com message board entitled "ham radio has no chance against BPL," beg to differ with Kilbourn. "Our biggest problem is the proponents of the system simply are in denial about the magnitude of the problem," Sumner said. Copyright © 2003 (Potomac News via Jilly Dybka, DXLD) SYSTEM POSES A SPECTRUM OF PROBLEMS SARI KRIEGER Manassas (VA) Journal Messenger Sunday, October 26, 2003 Amateur radio users aren't the only ones affected by broadband over power line technology. The service coming to Manassas that will allow subscribers to access the Internet by plugging a modem into any city outlet might interfere with many types of short-wave radio uses. The technology will be installed city-wide within a few months, making Manassas the first city in the United States to expand its pilot program to a full-scale operation. Concerned radio users from around the country warn about the harmful nature of the technology, which operates over the existing city power lines at a frequency of two to 80 megahertz. Amateur radio operator and electrical engineer John Shea has been voicing his opinion on BPL, including in a letter to United States Senator and democratic presidential candidate John Edwards. Shea and others said BPL will make foreign radio stations inaudible. "If this becomes reality, my grandchildren will never have the opportunity to listen to the shortwave broadcasts from foreign lands," said the North Carolina resident. Woodbridge resident Alex Fraser said many people listen to those shortwave broadcasts. "(BPL) is a pretty bad thing," he said. Colorado resident Ralph D'Andrea worried that some law enforcement and government radio operations will be affected. Dave Sumner, Chief Executive Officer of the American Radio Relay League, said some state and federal agencies and the Red Cross will be affected, as well as other broadcasting, aeronautical, maritime and military users. Sumner also said citizen's band, or CB radios, which operate around 27 MHz, may see interference as well. Manassas Police Chief John Skinner said police, fire and rescue radio normally operate in the 800-900 MHz range, far away from BPL frequencies. "The separation between that spectrum and the low-band 30-50 MHz spectrum is so great, that it is my understanding that there is no potential or interference," said Skinner. Dick Ertman, a former Lockheed Martin electronic interference specialist, said television channels two through six may be affected by BPL, as well as older cordless phones. Some older alarm system equipment, baby monitors and model airplanes may also be affected by BPL interference. ARRL technical expert Ed Hare also said international shortwave broadcast, CB radio, aeronautical, radio astronomy; military and other government use, commercial and business use, police and fire departments, and broadcast television above 54 MHz operate in the BPL range. Hare said there is "significant use" of that spectrum. http://www.manassasjm.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=MJM%2FMGArticle%2FWPN_BasicArticle&c=MGArticle&cid=1031771762771&path=!frontpage (via Kim Elliott, VA, DXLD) PROPAGATION +++++++++++ THREE X-CLASS FLARES! PROPAGATION UPDATE 3-XI-2003 1300Z 3 November 2003 - 1330 UTC At the time of writing this bulletin, there has been three X-class flares in less than 24 hours. The first was an X8.3 flare from region 486 on 2-XI-2003, at 1725Z. Then, today (3-XI-2003) at 0130Z there was an X2.7 flare from region 488, followed at 0955Z by an X4.3 flare from the same region. The CME associated with the X2.7 flare probably will not reach Earth. A radio burst was associated with the X4.3, indicating a possible CME for this flare, as well. However, due to its position, it is doubtful if this CME will impact Earth. At the moment the geomagnetic conditions are quiet, with the The north-south interplanetary magnetic field component (Bz) remaining positive. There is a flow from a small coronal hole in the sun's southern hemisphere that is expected to arrive now. It is hard to know if it has arrived due to the loss of ACE data due to the proton storm. The proton event associated with the X8.3 flare continues, and is extended somewhat by these new flares, masking some of the readings we use. The CME associated with the X8.3 flare will glance us sometime late on 3-XI-2003 to mid 4-XI-2003. We expect a possibly strong geomagnetic storm in the next 24 hours, as a result. The solar 10.7-cm flux is starting to drop, but is still high enough to support propagation on the high HF frequenies. The low bands will suffer somewhat when the Kp index starts to rise later today due to shock expected from the CME, and from the flow from the current coronal hole. Region 486 and 488 are rotating around the western limb of the sun by 5-XI-2003, and things should quiet down somewhat. Until then, some additional flare activity is possible. The coronal hole activity, however, will continue. 73 de (Tomas, NW7US (AAR0JA/AAM0EWA), SWBC via DXLD) MORE HUGE X CLASS SOLAR FLARES Huge and prolific solar flare producing sunspot group #'s 10486 and 10487 will rotate out of view across the Sun's western limb soon, hooray!!! With their disappearance we can expect solar, space and geomagnetic activity to get back to a quieter and more normal level. Unfortunately, though, we will still have to deal with minor Kp-5 to moderate Kp-6 geomagnetic storming with the endless parade of Coronal Holes that are most prevalent on the downward side of a solar cycle. As discussed yesterday sunspot group #10486 produced a huge X8.3 class solar flare between 1704-2039 UTC. It produced a 30000+ KC radio blackout on the sunlight side of the Earth centered on the Americas. Here in Central Florida, USA the blackout began at 1705 UTC and ended at 1833. It also produced another elevated energetic proton level of greater than 10 MeV (10+o) that peaked at 797 pfu. Though #10486 it is no longer geo-effective it still produced a large and very fast (1079 km/s) Coronal Mass Ejection (CME) that will blast our Magnetosphere later today or early UTC tomorrow. It's always a tough forecast with partially geo-effective CME's but here goes. Mid latitudes should see strong K-7 G3 to severe K-8 G4 storming, with high latitudes extreme K-9 G5 storming. Mid latitude visible Aurora is also possible if the Bz becomes negative. At 1806 UTC the Bz is +1.9. At 0130 UTC today sunspot group #10488 produced a huge X2.7 class solar flare followed at 0943 UTC by an even larger X4.3. Though both produced radio blackouts and probable CME's, they are not geo- effective and will probably have no negative impact on Earth's magnetic field. It's too bad that SWLs and hams really could not take full advantage of the really high daily solar flux levels of the past 10 days. As is often the case, large and numerous solar flares push the solar flux to very high levels but then counteract the high numbers with F layer destroying geomagnetic storms. We saw 8 days with the solar flux level above 250 and several brief periods where the solar flux exceeded 300. On 03/10/28 it reached 318, the highest daily solar flux number of cycle 23. The previous highest had been 294 in March 2001. By the way, when activity returns to normal I will begin producing my formal 72 hour HF/MF radio propagation outlook again. For those unfamiliar with it you can see it at http://www.kn4lf.com/kn4lf6.htm 73, (Thomas F. Giella, KN4LF, Plant City, FL, USA, EL87WX, 2129 UT Nov 3, DX LISTENING DIGEST) SOLAR CYCLE I was just getting some info from NOAA's site. According to their data, Solar Cycle 23 started from Solar Minimum around January 1997 and peaked in early 2000 with a secondary peak (almost as high) in late 2001. Solar Minimum is projected to be around January of 2007. So, we're almost half-way to Solar Minimum and the storms are still raging when they should be lessening. There are scientists who now figure that solar cycles should be looked at as being 22, 33, or 44 year long (or even longer) events. You start with a very low minimum in one cycle with a moderate maximum and proceed through a couple of cycles with moderate or high minimums and high maximums and then to a cycle or two with lower maximums and rock bottom minimums until everything returns to normal. Interesting things to think about while we're all waiting for the next storm to subside (Mark Coady, Nov 3, ODXA via DXLD) ###