DX LISTENING DIGEST 3-213, November 27, 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 1209: WWCR: Sat 1130, Sun 0330 5070, 0730 3210, Wed 1030 9475 WRMI: Sat 1900 15725 WBCQ: Mon 0515 7415 WRN: Rest of world Sat 0900, Europe Sun 0530, North America Sun 1500 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 1209 (high version): (stream) http://www.w4uvh.net/wor1209h.ram (download) http://www.w4uvh.net/wor1209h.rm (summary) http://www.worldofradio.com/wor1209.html WORLD OF RADIO 1209 (low version): (stream) http://www.w4uvh.net/wor1209.ram (download) http://www.w4uvh.net/wor1209.rm ** ALASKA. Re DXLD 3210, KNLS November 30, 2003 to December 28, 2003 and 0800 9795 English: I tuned 9690 (their currently listed frequency at 0800) around 0750 today [26 Nov] and heard Glenn Miller music on top of D. Welle via Antigua. It went off after a few minutes. I retuned at 0800 expecting that it had been KNLS firing up, but there was no trace of it. However, on tuning up to 9795, I found the station IS and ID in English. So it seems 9795 is in use already! I wonder how well 7365 works in its target area - co-channel Martí via Delano plus Cuba at 0900-1000 (Noel Green, UK, Nov 26, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** AUSTRALIA. This from me, Johno to Dale ARDS re 5050 and the proposed MW stations --- not in the X band but around 1300 thru 1580 etc.. (I can't remember), but something like this. ABA ran overtime on Thur 20/11 and still to reschedule meeting to discuss our application. 5050 still running, but from 1/12 will have half-wave dipole set 1/8th wavelength above our earth plane, so that may stop you hearing anymore. Thanks, (Dale, via John Wright, ripple, Nov 26 via DXLD) Somewhat less cryptically: Received the following from ARDS this morning: Dear Dr Salmaniw, My name is Dale Chesson and I want to thank you for the trouble of sending us the audio clip from our transmissions. It was my voice that you heard. Yes, we are aware of the Chinese station at Nanning, pointing south (!) towards Hong Kong. It causes some interference in Australia too. Our current antenna system consists of two vertical fibreglass dipoles, 1/8th of a wavelength apart. This gives a front-to-back ratio of -50dB. They are electrically 1/4 wave long and physically 9 metres high. The antennas give a h plane beamwidth of approx 110 degrees which I estimate would put you on the northern most extremity of our signal. Our e plane should have an angle in the middle of the beam of about 45 degrees elevation but as we do not receive a strong signal here in Arnhem Land we think this has been reduced to 22 degrees - which is why you are able to receive anything at all. From 1 December we will be replacing our system with a 1/2 wavelength dipole array. This should give our target area in Arnhem Land a good signal but will mean that people such as yourself will probably no longer hear our signal. Once again thanks for the audio clip and I will send a postcard (we do not have QSL cards) to identify that you have received our signal. Many Thanks, Dale, Media Services Manager MOBILE: 0438 873 910 PH: 08 8987 3910 FAX: 08 8987 3912 Box 1671 Nhulunbuy NT 0881 http://www.ards.com.au (via Walter (Volodya) Salmaniw, MD, Victoria, BC, Canada, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ARDS could hardly be more difficult to DX, but I daresay you can`t control SW signals that precisely, so don`t give up (gh, DXLD) ** BELARUS. Radio FM, a commercial pop station from Belarus has been relayed this morning (27 NOV) on 5256 kHz (USB) in Russian. Heard around 0700 UT. News with Belarussian items, weather for Belarus`. No such station is listed in WRTH (Karel Honzik, the Czech Republic (Czechia), AOR AR-7030, 30 m LW, hard-core-dx via DXLD) "Random" relay by the military station in the Minsk region. This is "Radyus FM" (Belarusian spelling; in English: Radius FM), rather than "Radio FM". This is not a commercial station, but a new state radio channel for young people which replaced R. Stalica on CCIR FM in July 2003 when R. Stalica was moved to OIRT FM replacing relays from Moscow. Website: http://www.tvr.by/eng/radiusfm.asp (note - not all frequencies shown). Listed in WRTH 2004 (Bernd Trutenau, Lithuania, DX LISTENING DIGEST) So in Belarussian language, not Russian? (gh) ** BOLIVIA. 4901, Radio San Ignacio, 0005 Nov 20, comentarios religiosos sobre la conciliación y la reconversión de los bolivianos, Conferencia Episcopal de Cochabamba, "Estimados amigos de Radio San Ignacio". 23222 (Manuel Méndez, Escuchas realizadas desde el sur de Cancún, México, Sony ICF SW 7600 G y antena de cable, 4 metros, Cumbre DX via DXLD) ** CANADA. CBC Special: FUELING THE FUTURE http://www3.cbc.ca/sections/newsitem_redux.asp?ID=3155 WORLD'S MOST INGENIOUS MINDS TACKLE THE FUTURE OF ENERGY ON CBC NEWSWORLD, CBC RADIO, CBC TELEVISION AND CBC.ca From Middle East politics to the Kyoto Protocol, from blackouts to the price of gas to how our climate is changing-the issue of energy is one of the most profound and divisive matters facing our world today. FUELING THE FUTURE, with host Evan Solomon, brings together some of the world's leading thinkers to discuss, debate and seek out practical solutions to building a better, more sustainable future. In FUELING THE FUTURE, airing Sunday, Nov. 30 at 8 p.m. ET on CBC Newsworld, the experts, divided into two teams, strive to come up with the most ingenious solutions. Viewers are invited to log on to http://www.cbc.ca/fuelingthefuture to vote for the plan they think best. The results will be announced on CBC News: Sunday, Dec. 7 on CBC Television. FUELING THE FUTURE is an in-depth look at one of today's most fundamental issues. This unique project combines the resources of radio, TV, new media and the book and magazine publishing industries, including: A book titled Fueling the Future: How the Battle Over Energy is Changing Everything, co-edited by Evan Solomon and Andrew Heintzman and published by The House of Anansi Press http://www.anansi.ca A three-part series on CBC Radio One's Ideas. Solomon interviews the foremost thinkers on energy, including Jeremy Rifkin, Geoffrey Ballard and Hunter Lovins, as they explore the problems and promise of hydrogen, renewables and fossil fuels --- often drawing surprising conclusions. (Nov. 26, Dec. 3 and 10 at 9:05 p.m.) A Web site: http://www.cbc.ca/fuelingthefuture Viewers can visit the site to cast their vote for the plan they feel is best, listen to Ideas radio pieces, read excerpts from the book and find out programming and scheduling information. A follow-up report announcing the results of viewer voting on CBC News: Sunday. (Dec. 7 at 10 a.m. on CBC-TV and 12 noon ET on CBC Newsworld) A special edition of Maclean's magazine. FUELING THE FUTURE will examine the future of energy in Canada by asking a group of experts and leading thinkers in the field of energy to work together to design a plan for Canada's future-setting out priorities, defining practical solutions and developing constructive strategies to move forward into a new energy reality. The group of 10 participants will be divided into two teams. Each team's goal will be to come together to draft an energy action plan, each contributing 10 initiatives they want their "government" to undertake. In addition, a panel of three judges, representing three stakeholder groups-business, political and environmental-will provide feedback to the teams on the cost, benefits, risks and viability of the plans. The judges are not energy experts, but understand the needs and desires of their constituencies. In other words, will the plans fly in their worlds? Following the brainstorming process, the teams will present their energy plans to the audience. Viewers will be encouraged to vote for their preferred energy plan on the FUELING THE FUTURE Web site. On Dec. 7, one hour of CBC News: Sunday will air highlights of the special and discuss the competing energy plans the teams developed. Host Evan Solomon will announce the "winning" plan, and the project will be discussed: Was it successful? What are the most crucial elements of our energy future? How does an endeavour like this move to the next level? (via Ricky Leong, DXLD) ** CANADA. Corus Entertainment Inc. - 98.5 FM - First privately owned news radio station --- Paul Arcand to be one of star hosts MONTREAL, Nov. 27 /CNW Telbec/ - At a news conference this morning, Corus Québec president Pierre Arcand and Corus Radio president John Hayes announced the birth of Montreal's first privately owned news and talk radio station on the FM band. Starting January 5, 98.5 FM will fill a void in Montreal's radio landscape by offering listeners a station dedicated to interviews, commentary, and news. The new station, whose name and call letters will be unveiled shortly, is banking on Montreal's favorite radio host, Paul Arcand. The star host renowned for his straight talk and intelligent interviewing style will spur debate over news issues that interest Montrealers. The new station will also bring on board some very well known radio figures such as hockey coach Jacques Demers, sexologist Julie Pelletier, host Gilles Proulx and arts reporter Erick Rémy. Although programming details for this new radio station will only be revealed in the next few weeks, it is already confirmed that the 162 Montreal Expos' matches will be aired on 98.5 FM, along with three pre-season games. "We are very pleased with the confidence the Expos have in us," says Pierre Arcand. "Radio and base-ball go together after all." Broadcasting rights will also be extended to other Corus radio stations such as CFEL-FM 102.1 in Montmagny, CJOI-FM 102.9 in Rimouski, and CFVM-FM 99.9 in Amqui. Star choice will also offer audio access to its subscribers. Other radio stations should eventually join in. "This new station has all the right ingredients to succeed: the clarity of the FM band and the relevance of Montreal's top radio hosts," stated Mr. Pierre Arcand, who emphasized that programming will be varied. Content will appeal to listeners interested not only in political, social, and sports news, but also in lighter topics such as behind-the-scenes glimpses of the artistic community. Interviews, open-line programs, and news bulletins will keep listeners informed on the latest news locally and around the world. The 690 News team will do their part to provide listeners with regular news reports. According to the president of Corus Radio, the leading radio station owner in Canada, 98.5 FM is a clear indication of Corus' commitment to Quebec listeners. "We are strongly committed to developing Quebec's radio scene by offering diversity and quality. And with this new station, I believe we've reached that goal," noted Mr. Hayes. Employees learned of COOL FM's format change this morning. Most of them will be reassigned to the new station. "We intend to build our new station with the help of experienced and talented people, and are delighted to be able to count on our current team," said Pierre Arcand. Starting today and right up until the new programming goes on air, 98.5 FM will be playing Holiday Season music. Corus Entertainment is a Canadian-based media and entertainment company. Corus is a market leader in both specialty TV and Radio. Corus also owns Nelvana Limited, an internationally recognized producer and distributor of children's programming and products. The company's other interests include music, television broadcasting and advertising services. A publicly traded company, Corus is listed on the Toronto (CJR.B) and New York (CJR) Exchanges. Corus' Web site can be found at http://www.corusentertainment.com For further information: CASACOM : Marie-José Bégin, (514) 994-0802; Jacinthe-Pascale Gratton, (514) 286-2145, ext. 3409 (via Ricky Leong, DXLD) ** CANADA. Glenn, some info for anyone sending return postage to Canada. MAILING A LETTER ABROAD WILL COST 15 CENTS MORE IN JANUARY: CANADA POST OTTAWA (CP) - The cost of mailing a card or letter out of the country will rise by 15 cents in January, while first-class domestic mail will cost one cent more. A letter to the United States will need 80 cents in postage. Mail for other international destinations will cost $1.40. Sending a letter within Canada will cost 49 cents. The penny increase is the first for domestic postage since 2001. The cost of domestic mail is tied to the Consumer Price Index. The changes, which go into effect Jan. 12, were first outlined last June and were approved by cabinet earlier this month. Canada Post said that even at 49 cents, Canadian postal rates compare favourably with other industrialized countries. Canada's international postage rates are well below those of other countries, the corporation said. It costs the equivalent of $2.37 to mail a first-class letter to Canada from Great Britain, while a letter from the United States costs $1.16. (from canoe.ca) (Wade Smith, New Brunswick, VE9WGS http://www.qsl.net/ve9wgs/ Nov 27, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CHINA [non]. Keep running across more and more CRI relays via Canada. If it were made public, the complete schedule would be shockingly long. Nov 27 at 1554, CRI English was closing on 13685 at 1556:20 without site ID; this was a couple seconds ahead of Cuba relay on 17720; but the 13685 signal was overshadowed by a much stronger CRI relay, this one in Chinese, on 13675, which just before the transmitter cut off at 1559 included an RCI ID in French (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** COLOMBIA. At first I thought it was the XERMX blobmitter, which I have been checking for periodically in the 10 MHz range; but to avoid giving XERMX a bum wrap, I forced myself to keep listening, for some definite sign it`s XERMX: this time, 2240 UT Nov 27, covering 10310- 10320 and peaking about 10315, but extremely distorted FM and slope tuning necessary around 10317 where I could occasionally make out a few words. From the screaming intonation, not what I would expect from XERMX, but more like a preacher. This went on until 2300 when I was able to recognize a few notes of the Colombian national anthem, then into a commercial sounding DJ show. Never caught an ID, but I wonder if this be La Voz del Llano, which Björn Malm has been reporting as in 3-211 on 10282v and before that on 10262v, which could be the 10th harmonic of an extremely maladjusted MW transmitter, nominal 1020? (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** COSTA RICA. Discussed recently was the absence of TIDGS from 9725, and so it is at the day and evening times I usually tune, but Nov 27 at 1213, there it was with a very good signal, \\ WWCR 5935. 9725 is registered for 24 hour usage, but that`s ``wooden``, still far from that, and other stations are moving in on the frequency (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CUBA. Radio Havana Cuba noted on 11760 kHz at about 2213 in English, but with such a low audio, it was reminiscent of Syria or Libya or even worse, and even with narrow filters, virtually worthless. Radio Sawa with music on 11765 did not help much. I am no engineer and don't pretend to be. However, it would seem that any stations that would go to the expense of broadcasting on the air would want to get their money's worth. With such consistent audio / modulation or other poor signals generated AT THE TRANSMITTER SITE that are terrible, (or, conversely spoil so many adjacent frequencies with spurs) is counterproductive to getting their signal out so it can be received by intended and beyond listeners. In short: clean up your act and do the required maintenance on your transmitters and antennas. (This is not intended as a slam to the small stations in very poor countries who may not be able to afford such maintenance or have troubles getting parts, but more to the international broadcasters who aspire to getting their message out to a wide audience, and have the resources to maintain some decent service). (Roger Chambers, Utica, New York, Nov 26, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Hi Roger, did you mean 2113 UT? English normally runs 2030-2130 on 11760 and/or 9505 (Glenn to Roger) No, I double checked, this was at 2213 (Roger Chambers, ibid.) So besides the audio problem, we have English showing up at unscheduled time: somebody at RHC mixed up the tapes? Permanent change? With RHC you never know, just another anomaly (gh, DXLD) ** CUBA. I created a tiny URL for Steve Waldee`s page about the squealing transmitter: http://www.tinyurl.com/wsby You should do this more often (George Thurman, TX, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CUBA. 7385 jammer is back on (Lou Johnson, Nov 27 0813 UT, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Despite WRMI being in English (gh, DXLD) ** CUBA [non]. Radio Martí está anunciando que a partir del 1 de diciembre comienza una nueva programación y que ampliar’an la duración de sus noticieros a dos horas cada uno. Al finalizar cada bloque de noticias están haciendo ese anuncio, esto es a la hora exacta y cada media hora según pude escuchar esta tarde a las 1900 UT. No tengo más info (Dino Bloise, South Florida, USA, Nov 26, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Necesitaremos aún mas un esquema completo y actualizado de programación, que hasta ahora no se encuentra en su telasitio. Véase además U S A para jamming contra VOA (gh) ** EL SALVADOR. I'm officially on vacation at the moment, but thanks to the Internet we're able to maintain a near-normal service. However, the break from normal routine has given us an opportunity to publish the first in a series of features based on classic Media Network documentaries. Where are the rebels now? Originally broadcast in January 1999, this programme traces some of the people involved in clandestine broadcasting in El Salvador during the civil war of the 1980's. In a two part Web feature, and a half hour audio documentary, they tell their story - and how it all ended in bitterness. http://www.rnw.nl/realradio/features/html/rv031127.html (Andy Sennitt, Media Network newsletter via DXLD) ** FRANCE [non]. France / China. Noted RFI (via Xi`an, China) on 7180 kHz (ex 11610 kHz) in between 1400-1500 UT. 73, (Swopan Chakroborty, Kolkata, India, Nov 27, DX LISTENING DIGEST) French or English? ** GREECE. Re DXLD 3-210, how many transmitters at Avlis? I can confirm that 9420 12105 & 15630 were all on air until 1000 today [Nov.26] and that 17520 & 21530 were on air until 0800. I have not been able to hear listed Delano 11750 0600-0800. So you are correct -- - there is another transmitter on air. The two 100kW units at Avlis would be available until 1100, when one of them is/was used to carry the ERT Macedonia station on 9935 (it is on air at 1100 as listed) changing to 7450 at circa 1700. Has another 250 kW ex-Glória [Portugal] been removed from its packing case? Or have they "borrowed" another [unlisted] IBB transmitter? Usually, I check what the IBB lists for its ERT relays via Kavalla, and find these from early morning to early evening UT... 9420 1200 2100 ERT ERT VAR KAV 11 355 12105 1600 2100 ERT ERT VAR KAV 12 355 15650 1200 1600 ERT ERT VAR KAV 12 095 17520 0400 0800 ERT ERT VAR KAV 11 095 21530 0400 0800 ERT ERT VAR KAV 12 095 15650, changing to 12105 at 1600, carry the Foreign Language service at 1200-2000. What 12105 then carries till 2100 I'm not sure - maybe the Africa Service? And incidentally, when listening to the Foreign Language service I hear that it is no longer called "Orientations" and is announced to be parallel with a MW & FM outlet. Also, many services include a direct relay of BBC news, and can be paralleled with BBC frequencies then on air. These include Arabic [1400 // 15180 13660], Russian[1500 off- line?], Romanian[heard to // 6050 at 1607], Turkish[concluded the transmission at 1656 in // 5875], Serbian [at 1603 // 6050], Bulgarian [off-line? It came at 1754], and Albanian at 1801. The remaining languages not fully checked out yet. Keep up the good work. Best 73s, (Noel Green, UK, Nov 26, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** HAITI. HAITIAN OPPOSITION LEADER, RADIO OWNER SHOT IN SHOWER BY GUNMEN | Robert Lalane, an opposition leader, was shot this morning in the shower by unidentified gunmen who broke into his house. Lalane is the owner of Radio Maxima, which has been repeatedly attacked for its calls for President Jean-Bertrand Aristide to step down. The following is an excerpt from a report by Haitian Metropole radio on 25 November: [Announcer] The leader of the Opposition Front of the North [FRON], Jean-Robert Lalane, was shot at home this morning while taking a shower. According to opposition members in the North, Lalane was shot in his left shoulder. [passage omitted] One of the FRON leaders, Serge Gauthier, attributes this failed assassination attempt on the Lavalas government's plan to eliminate its opponents. Gauthier, who was able to visit Lalane at the clinic, believes that it was a murder attempt. Gauthier speaks as follows: [Gauthier - recording, in Creole] I want to confirm for Radio Metropole that at around 0930 a.m. today, a group of individuals, some of them wearing T-shirts with pictures of President Jean-Bertrand Aristide on them, went to Lalane's house and shot him while he was taking a shower. We believe that this murder attempt is part of the Lavalas regime's plan to murder certain people. [passage omitted]. Source: Radio Metropole, Port-au-Prince, in French 1700 gmt 25 Nov 03 (via BBCM via DXLD) ** HUNGARY. Hola Glenn, Saludos desde Catia La Mar, VENEZUELA. El programa DX de Radio Budapest sale los domingos (lunes universales) a las 0430 UT, por la frecuencia de 6025kHz y tiene una duración de 15 minutos. Al parecer es quincenal (Adán González, Catia La Mar, VENEZUELA, Nov 25, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** INDIA. Radio Broadcasting in India before Radio Broadcasting Began! According to the official records, radio broadcasting in India began on July 23, 1927, when the Indian Broadcasting Company, IBC, inaugurated its first radio station 7BY in Bombay. As time went by, 7BY became the more familiar VUB and the Indian Broadcasting Company was taken over by AIR, All India Radio. However, in the eight year period stretching from early 1920 until regular broadcasting was established in 1927, a dozen or more radio stations were established in several of the major cities in India. All of these stations were experimental in nature, and some were very temporary, lasting no more than a few days. The very first radio broadcast in India was made by Giandchand Motwane (GE-and-chund mot-WAH-nee) from Bombay in 1920. This low powered station was on the air for just one day under the callsign 2KC. In the following year, there was another experimental radio station on the air in Bombay and this was a co-operative venture between the ``Times of India`` newspaper and the Post and Telegraph office in Bombay. The P&T transmitter carried these experimental broadcasts in August 1921 and they were noted more than 100 miles away in Poona. A third, and this time a more substantial station was established in Bombay two years later again and it was on the air with 1.5 kW on 750 kHz. under the callsign 2FV. This station left the air when the government approved station 7BY-VUB was inaugurated in 1927. The fourth experimental station in Bombay was operated by the Walter Rogers Company as 2AX. This station was inaugurated in 1925 and on September 6 of that year, Pastor Robert Hare made a historic broadcast from this station. It was the very first radio broadcast from the Seventh-day Adventist Church in the territories of what was then British India. Station 2AX also left the air when 7BY-VUB was inaugurated two years later. Over in West Bengal, the Marconi Company from England conducted several test broadcasts from different locations in Calcutta. The first concert program was heard at a distance of three miles, and subsequently a discourse from the local gulf club was heard at a distance of 72 miles. This same transmitter was made available on loan to the Calcutta Radio Club who launched their own radio station in November 1923 under the callsign 2BZ. The Marconi company made another transmitter available to the government in West Bengal who operated their station as 5AF. Both stations in Calcutta, 2BZ and 5AF, were closed when the national government established its own station 7CA-VUC in 1927. Madras, now known as Chennai, was another city in India that received a radio station in this pre-broadcasting era. This early experimental station was operated by the Madras Presidency Radio Club under the callsign 2GR. This station was closed in 1927 due to financial problems and the equipment was donated to the Corporation of Madras who re-opened the station under the international callsign VUM. This station was closed in 1938 when All India Radio established its own station for coverage of Madras and the callsign VUM was transferred from the old club station to the new AIR station. We could also mention that there is a listing in an old radio directory for a station operated by the Crompton Electric Company in Madras and another station in Bangalore, both in the same year 1926, though it is not known as to whether these stations were ever established. Perhaps we could also mention the tiny one watt station that a postal official established at his home in Hyderabad back in the year 1933. And, it would appear that there were a few other early radio stations during this pre-broadcasting era, the details of which have been lost over the years. Maybe there were just four or five in this category, and who knows, maybe the information about some of these other stations may yet come to light (Adrian Michael Peterson, AWR Wavescan Nov 30 via John Norfolk, DXLD) ** INTERNATIONAL VACUUM. WorldSpace is still facing substantial financial problems. Although receiver costs are down to $100, sales are low. The latest solution is to start charging for some services, from the end of 2003. Failing that, part of the company may have to be sold (AIB News via DXLD) ** INTERNATIONAL VACUUM [non]. 26-27 November 2003: Once again, I went up to a local reclaimed stripmine for an evening micro- DXpedition. Conditions seemed to be about normal. The lower Tropical Bands seemed a bit noisy for the end of November. I don't have many loggings simply because I was focused more on getting details for reports for a few stations, and trying (successfully) for the R. Spaceshuttle Int. test. RX: NRD-535D ANT: Beverages of 500' at 170 degrees, and 300' at 40 degrees QTH: Dunlo "Dip" reclaimed stripmine PIRATE (EUROPE). 15810.05 LSB, R. Spaceshuttle International, *0002- 0041, sign-on with anthem-like song. Into classical orchestral music and then instrumental music with many ID, address announcements every few minutes. After 0031, they played unrecognizable Rock music with more announcements. "R. Spaceshuttle Int., free voice of outer space". "RSI, R. Spaceshuttle Int. calling North America". Also mentioned the 19 mb. 0018 apparent live announcement, acknowledging listeners. "Thanks for your report" during live announcement at 0022. Canned echo ID by different M at 0030 and 0039. Seemed to go off in mid-song at 0041; however I didn't realize until later (at 0133) that they switched to USB. Still going at 0135. Weak of course, but clear. The signal faded down just a bit after 0025. Best around 0010-0020 (Dave Valko, PA, Cumbredx mailing list via DXLD) ** INTERNATIONAL WATERS [non]. MV COMMUNICATOR TO BE INSPECTED The owners of the radio ship MV Communicator have announced that maintenance work on the ship, currently anchored in the Dutch fishing port of Ijmuiden, has been completed. A seaworthiness inspection by a Dutch surveyor has been arranged for tomorrow (Thursday 27 Nov) at 1100 UT, and the owners say they are "99.9% sure" that permission will be given to move the ship to a destination in the UK, where they are planning to prepare the vessel for broadcasting. They plan to launch a live 24h radio station, broadcasting a mixture of Hot A.C. and Soft Rock. Updates on the situation, and current photos of the ship, can be found at http://www.mvcommunicator.com # posted by Andy @ 15:33 UT Nov 26 (Media Network blog via DXLD) ** IRAN. Interferida severamente --- por otra estación --- La Voz de la República Islámica de Irán en 9555 kHz, a las 0030 UT, en español (Adán González, Catia La Mar, VENEZUELA, Nov 25, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** IRAQ. IMN-RADIO DIYALA OBSERVED IN BAGHDAD A new station identifying in Arabic as "Iraqi Media Network, Radio Diyala" has been observed in Baghdad on 94.8 MHz. Diyala is a governate neighbouring Baghdad, of which Baqubah, approximately 50 km north-east of Baghdad, is the capital. Source: BBC Monitoring research 26 Nov 03 (via DXLD) ** IRELAND. RTÉ LONGWAVE LAUNCH POSTPONED AGAIN The launch of regular broadcasts on 252 kHz longwave by Irish public broadcaster RTÉ has been put back another three months. Originally planned for 1 October 2003, RTÉ then announced a new target date of 1 Jan 2004. Now the RTÉ Web site says "At present test transmissions are being carried out with a planned launch date scheduled for the end of the first quarter of 2004. This channel will carry the same programming as the RTÉ Radio 1 medium wave service." # posted by Andy @ 13:46 UT Nov 27 (Media Network blog via DXLD) ** JAPAN. NHK World call for letters 'How NHK's International Broadcasts Have Changed My Life' NHK World Radio Japan celebrates its 70th anniversary in 2005, and NHK World TV its 10th. To celebrate, NHK WORLD is inviting overseas viewers and listeners to send in letters for use in its programs and newsletters. Letters are invited on the theme, 'How NHK's international broadcasts have changed my life.' What have NHK's International services brought to your daily life? Was it during the anxieties of war or conflict, or a time when you were eager for more information about Japan and other Asian countries, or some joyous discovery? Let us know whatever they meant to you. | How to contribute | Your letter may be in any format and there are no restrictions of length. Tell us your memories by letter, Fax, or e-mail, together with your name, current address, and age, plus your phone/Fax numbers or e- mail address, in case we need to contact you. Postal Address: NHK WORLD Call for Letters NHK, 2-2-1 Jinnan, Shibuya-ku, Tokyo 150-8001, JAPAN Fax: (from overseas) +81-3-3481-1350 (in Japan) 03-3481-1350 e-mail: info@intl.nhk.or.jp URL: http://www.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/letter70/index_e.html Deadline: 2004, Mar. 30 (NHK World eguide via Swopan Chakroborty, Kolkata, India, DXLD) Er, what if it didn`t change my life? Make something up? ** MALTA. From: RVi Radio World November 23, 2003 http://www.rvi.be/rvi_master/uk/radio_world/index.html What a shock it was to me when I arrived at the office on Thursday morning and opened my e-mail inbox and read this message from Anker Petersen of the Danish Shortwave Club, and I quote: ``The Secretary General of the European DX Council (EDXC) this eveninginformed me that the Managing Director of the Voice of the Mediterranean (VOM) in Malta, Mr. Richard Muscat, just had informed him that Libya no longer can support the VOM financially. There was no mention of this in the English broadcast tonight (Nov 19) at 2000-2100 on 7445 kHz.`` At first I couldn`t believe my eyes, but Anker checked the website of the European DX Council (EDXC) and found this information written by EDXC Secretary-General Luigi Cobisi: ``Voice of the Mediterranean (VOM), the shortwave radio station set up 20 years ago, is to close down on December 31 after the Libyan government informed Malta that ``it no longer sees a function for this kind of station``. The station is a joint venture between the Maltese and Libyan governments who each contribute Lm180,000 a year (about 500,000 USD)to keep it running. The Libyan government has informed the Ministry of Foreign Affairs that it is no longer interested in giving any further contributions to VOM, a spokesman for the ministry said. The Libyan government`s payments have not been regular for the past six years and it still owes Lm980,699 (about 2,758,700 USD, an issue which is being discussed by the ministry. The Libyan Ambassador to Malta was unavailable for comment. The Union Haddiema Maghqudin is in talks with the government to safeguard the interests of employees.`` Well, fortunately, there are not too many full-time employees at VOM, they have a skeleton full-time staff and the others are part-time. Mrs Elsa Romei, producer of the Italian programme of the Voice of the Mediterranean explained this to me at the recent Forum on Multilinguism in International Radio organised by the station: SOUND Elsa Romei (listen to the programme via audio link on this page) [see above] Elsa Romei of the Italian service of the VOM. I don`t know whether you listened to Radio World on November 2 when I broadcast an interview with VOM Director Richard Muscat and asked him about the cooperation between Libyan and Maltese staff at the station. He had this to say: SOUND Richard Muscat It sounds very bitter now. I congratulated Mr Muscat at the time, saying it was heart-warming to hear that there were actually shortwave stations planning to increase their output, adding language services, instead of scrapping them. Little did he know what was going to happen shortly after that interview. It`s all very sad, especially for those who, like me, were in Malta for that Forum at the end of October, extremely well organized by the Voice of the Mediterranean. I do not think I have ever been so well received at any of the many stations I visited in my career. Warm, southern hospitality and generosity is how I would describe it. Richard Muscat and Elsa Romei were awarded a trophy by the delegates of Italradio, the grouping defending Italian in shortwave radio, with a website that has pages in English that you might want to consult. The director and the producer of the Italian programme received the award for their contribution to the promotion of the Italian language by producing programmes in Italian on shortwave (see photo). As a last tribute to the station and the Italian delegation, led by Luigi Cobisi, here`s Miss Elsa Romei again, explaining the importance of the Italian language in Malta: SOUND Elsa Romei And that brings to an end this edition of Radio World. But, who knows, maybe they find funding from other sources, you never know with that sort of thing. Let`s hope that a solution can be found and that people round the world can continue to listen to the programmes from that friendly litte island in the Mediterranean. FRANS VOSSEN (RVi Radio World November 23 via John Norfolk, DXLD) Voici la réponse de la Voix de la Méditerranée concernant un problème dans le flux audio le 16 novembre (réponse envoyée le 26 novembre ) : " ...Malheureusement, nos émissions sur Internet vont se terminer le vendredi 28 novembre pour des raisons indépendantes de notre volonté. Néanmoins, les informations sur le site et les émissions en ondes courtes se poursuivront, du moins pour le moment... " (Voix de la Méditerranée - courrier électronique du 26 novembre 2003) (informations issues de http://perso.wanadoo.fr/jm.aubier via DXLD) ** MEXICO. 2390, R. Huayacocotla, Nov 27, 0049-0103*, instrumental ranchera band music with woman announcer host. One song sounded like a version of an REM song!!! Nice clear ID by M at 0101. M and W announcers at 0101, them a choral song by a group of girls, probably used as a sign-on theme. Deadair from 0103 until the carrier went off at 0105:37*. Nice signal on peaks, but heavy fades dropped it down quite a bit (Dave Valko, PA, Cumbredx mailing list via DXLD) ** MEXICO. 6045.00, XEXQ R. Universidad, San Luis Potosí, 1210 at very poor level, not the signal strength of a month ago. 24 November. Conditions fairly bad for last two days. 60, 90 and 120 meter band noise high. 73 de (Bob Wilkner, Pompano Beach, South Florida, R75 ~ NRD535D ~ Drake R 7, DX LISTENING DIGEST) On Nov 27 I monitored until about 1210 with no sign of it (Glenn Hauser, Enid OK, ibid.) ** MEXICO. RE: [NRC-AM] Southern California 550 mystery solved... Thanks for the info Scott, it's nice to know I'm not the only person in the world hearing this station :-) Wow, I can't believe how far off I was on the callsign. XEKTT is *nothing* like what I thought I had heard. The whole XEKTT/XESURF issue is an interesting one. I guess that if XESURF wants everyone to think that they're really only running 100w, then they'll just have to bear the consequences. Here in the Valley, I still hear XESURF much better than XEKTT - probably because of interference from KUZZ. Guess I should work on logging the 1600 before they go off... (Brian Leyton, Valley Village, CA, DX-398 / 18" Box Loop / RS Loop, NRC-AM via DXLD) It gets even more interesting - from the sound of the AllAccess piece, I think 1600 will stay on even as the 1600 format moves down the dial to 550. And that makes me wonder whether 1600 will end up keeping the XEKTT calls and 550 will end up with new ones after all? Enforcement of such things in Mexico seems to be fairly lax, at least in Baja - when I was in San Diego this past April, I heard XEBG 1550 using "XEMMM 800" IDs. Apparently XEBG picked up the old XEMMM format when 800 became ESPN in the summer of 2002. But here's the kicker - in April, anyway, 800 itself was still legally XEMMM and was *also* ID'ing with the XEMMM calls. (It's since changed to XESPN, but it hadn't yet at that point.) s (Scott Fybush, NY, ibid.) ** NETHERLANDS. MPS CRITICISE RADIO NETHERLANDS CUTS 25 November 2003 http://www.expatica.com/source/site_article.asp?subchannel_id=19&story_id=2583 AMSTERDAM -- Faced with drastic budget cuts, MPs railed to the support of Radio Netherlands on Monday as Media State Secretary Medy van der Laan unveiled her economising and revamp plans for the Dutch media industry. The Dutch world service was shocked in June when an efficiency report recommended the station lose between 57.6 percent and 83.5 percent of its government funding. The latter would deprive the public broadcaster of about EUR 40.1 million and effectively mean the end of the award-winning station. But Radio Netherlands hit back against claims that it was out-of-date, criticising current affairs programme Nova -- which reported on the recommendations -- for focusing on one of several aspects in the report, giving an incomplete and unfair picture of the situation. MPs said on Monday that Van der Laan's cost cuts at the world service were too severe. A parliamentary motion was passed demanding the state secretary only be granted permission to scrap Radio Netherlands tasks if she first discusses the plans with other involved ministries. Despite the motion, the long-term future for Radio Netherlands -- which broadcasts programmes overseas in Dutch, English, Spanish, Portuguese, Indonesian and Papiamento -- was not immediately clear. The station has already embarked on anticipatory cost-cutting measures. Meanwhile, Medy van der Laan said she is prepared to discuss the division of air time between the nation's pubic broadcasters. Air time is currently divided based on membership totals, but MPs believe the system is outdated because the public has become less inclined to take out memberships. It also appears that the time when political parties supported broadcasters based on a type of sectarianism has passed. Discussions over public broadcasting have been stalled for decades in the Netherlands. Various political parties have claimed that Labour PvdA (which supported Vara) and the Christian Democrat CDA (KRO and NRCV) were to blame for the impasse. But in Monday's parliamentary debate over the media budget, the PvdA now appears prepared to debate the matter, an NOS news report said. Both the Lower House of Parliament and the Cabinet now appear willing to examine another system, but Van der Laan said she wanted to wait for a commission report in the Spring of 2004 before making any decisions. She has promised all Dutch broadcasters will survive in the new system. The state secretary's media policy -- which paves the way for large scale savings in coming years by engaging in co-operative relationships --- was generally supported by the parliament. Despite the forthcoming support, Democrat D66 MP Bert Bakker complained that the savings were directed at programme makers, rather than the scrapping of management positions and the improvement of efficiency. Among the state secretary's other plans, public broadcasters might soon be forced to sign performance contracts to allow Van der Laan better ascertain if they are performing adequately. She wants the industry to offer more quality and target specific groups, but keep ratings figures the same. "(But) the state secretary wants everything at the same time. She will have to make choices," Liberal VVD MP Frank de Grave said. Van der Laan wants to see more Dutch drama on television, increased attention on migrants and youths and a greater number of female experts in various documentary programmes. Her aims have met with parliament support (via Kim Elliott, DXLD) ** NEW ZEALAND. Re: RNZI website grid --- Media Watch on National Radio is broadcast on Sundays at 9.06 AM & 10.12 PM local time in New Zealand. Those times correspond with 2006 UT on Saturdays and 0912 UT on Sundays. Both times should be relayed on RNZI. I'll check with the presenter (Russell Brown) to see if he has Media Watch on his website. He fronts the programme from our Auckland studios on Friday mornings. Regards, (Barry Hartley, NZ, Nov 26 via Wolfgang Büschel, DXLD) Later: I had a chat with Media Watch host Russell Brown at work today and he confirmed that there are no sites archiving the programme. However a lot of the programme is transcribed and can be found at http://www.mediawatch.co.nz/ I had a look at the site today and among the archived articles was this one about RNZI from October: http://www.mediawatch.co.nz/default,390.sm;jsessionid=D96901316B5F7AA8B2ECFC1DD87AD4B4.t1 Hopefully sometime in the near future RNZ will get its act together and have programmes like this accessible on the net! Regards, (Barry Hartley, NZ, Nov 27 via Büschel, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Transcript above repeatedly calls it ``RINZI`` !!! but as they said is virtually unknown in its own country (gh) ** PERU. Quito 26/Nov/2003 21:22 Amigos DXistas! Two days ago I sent in information about a unID Peruvian on 6329.14 kHz. 24th nothing but this evening the station was transmitting the same recorded music with "Sonia Morales"(from Áncash) also called "La Internacional" singing "Huayno"-music. Close down 0121 UT without talk/ID. You can listen to Sonia Morales and see a picture of her just by "clicking" this address: http://www.soniamorales.com/ Here you can read about Sonia Morales: http://www.editoraperu.com.pe/edc/03/06/25/spt_.asp (Björn Malm, Quito, Ecuador, SWB América Latina, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Hi Björn, Yes, I heard this station from 0115 to 0122 UT using 6239.2 kHz on 27 Nov with abrupt sign off -- no talking or anthem --- just the music by a female singer. Fair signal here in NY State but utility QRM annoying. 73s- (John Sgrulletta, Mahopac, NY, USA, JRC NRD- 515/K9AY, Cumbre DX via DXLD) Hello John, good to know that the station is coming in also in USA. I have not heard the station in the mornings. 73s from (Björn Malm, Quito, Ecuador, ibid.) ** PERU. Quito 27/Nov/2003 9:30 Amigos DXistas! 2550v kHz Radio Uno, Chiclayo, 27th of November 2003 - 1115 UT. I have had this station the last 2-3 days with religious program in // with Radio Imperio, Chiclayo on 4386.60 kHz. This morning a birthday- greeting program and local IDs. Drifting between 2545 - 2560 kHz. It`s a harmonic from 1280 kHz. Quite good signal. NRD 535 – HF 150. MFJ 616 – MFJ 1025. Ant. 1: "Horizontal Sloped Inverted L" 18 meters Ant. 2: "Horizontal Sloped Inverted L" 36 meters + Magnetic Longwire Balun 73s (Björn Malm, Quito, Ecuador, SWB América Latina, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** PERU. 6185, Radio Oriente, 1057 Nov 23, Anuncios comerciales, Identificación: "Radio Oriente es el eco de tu voz; volveremos mañana con el mismo programa a partir de las 11 horas.`` Programa religioso. ``Saludamos a la comunidad Libertad, del Río Marañón``. Interferencia de Radio Educación, México, en la misma frecuencia. 24322 (Manuel Méndez, Escuchas realizadas desde el sur de Cancún, México, Sony ICF SW 7600 G y antena de cable, 4 metros, Cumbre DX via DXLD) 6188, Radio Oriente, 0947- Nov 26. Music selections followed by TC, ads and promos. Back to music after five minutes of that. TC announced during music. Signal was good. 6188, Radio Oriente, 1120-1125 Nov 27. Noted a man in Spanish comments along promos, TC's and ID "Radio Oriente". Signal at this hour fair. Someone recently reported Radio Oriente on 6185, but still on 6188 according to my NRD545's readout (Bolland, Chuck, Clewiston, Florida, DX LISTENING DIGEST) And to two decimal places? ** ROMANIA. Malísima la señal de Radio Rumania en 9530 kHz, a las 0200 UT. De todas las frecuencias listadas a esa hora, la de 31 metros es la única audible y con un SINPO que llegaba el pasado 24/11, a 23222. Ya ni me molesto en escucharla. 73's y buen DX... (Adán González, Catia La Mar, VENEZUELA, Nov 25, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** SOUTH AFRICA [non]. Heard BBCWS promoting a big pop concert from South Africa, so looked it up at http://www.bbcworldservice.com/aids which eventually led to http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/specials/1329_aids_season/page16.shtml NELSON MANDELA CONCERT Beyonce, Queen and Bono from U2 headline a huge concert in Cape Town, South Africa, to raise awareness of Africa's Aids plight. Joining them will be artists such as Anastacia, Ms Dynamite and a host of African acts for the show, which will take place on 29 November. The concert is part [of] the 46664 initiative, spearheaded by Nelson Mandela. Broadcast LIVE on 29 November 2003. Find out when you can hear it --- that link leads to http://www.bbc.co.uk/cgi-bin/worldservice/psims/ScheduleSDT.cgi which has nothing specific about this programme! Not even when it is on, but I believe they said 1900 UT Saturday. In one online schedule: ``Sat Nov 29 1905-2100 Nelson Mandela Concert --- A special concert from the Green Point Stadium in Cape Town, mounted by the Nelson Mandela Foundation to raise money for HIV research in Sth. Africa. Artists include Beyonce, Bono, Queen, Baaba Maal, Eurythmics and Ladysmith Black Mambaza.`` That timing, of course, will do North American shortwave listeners no good whatsoever. But that`s not all. I was listening to VOA`s Spanish service after 0130 UT Nov 27, and heard a promo for the same SIDA special concert from South Africa, on Worldnet TV and VOA radio, Monday December 1 at 9-10:30 pm EST [UT Tue Dec 2 at 0200-0330]. Any details? Of course not. Does this mean it will be on VOA shortwave, regular or special frequencies? Also presented in Spanish?? (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** TAIWAN. Received a brand new QSL card from R Taiwan Int. for their 75th anniversary. Card was designed by RTI Brazil listener Agnaldo Silva Do Nascimento. 73, (Swopan Chakroborty, Kolkata, India, Nov 27, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** TURKEY. Tuning around 31m, landed on 9655 at 2305 UT Nov 26, seemingly in English but unless listening carefully, would take it for Chinese from the intonation, and slurred silibants! Listened for several minutes and wondered if the VOT announcer is really from China or that`s just her peculiar way of expressiveness. The flutter fading added to the effect (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U A E [and non]. MEDIA BATTLE RAGES ON AIR TO WIN OVER ARAB MINDS DUBAI |By Duraid Al Baik, UAE Editor and Jay B. Hilotin, Staff Reporter | Gulf News 25-11-2003 http://www.gulf-news.com/Articles/news.asp?ArticleID=103776 Three foreign powers are engaged in an airwaves war in the UAE and the Arab world. BBC Arabic of the UK, Radio Sawa of the US and Radio Monte Carlo, France's Arabic radio station, are slugging it out to to win over hearts and minds in the region. BBC Arabic and Radio Monte Carlo have been on the airwaves longer, mostly in low-quality AM and shortwave frequencies. But Radio Sawa's entry two years ago with clear digital radio technology has led to an industry shake-up. "Radio listeners vote with their ears. The youngsters go for the clearest broadcast. Radio Sawa is winning this game because they're offering better quality FM. But as for the credibility of their newscasts, that's another story," said S. Abdullah, a UAE-based journalist. Radio Sawa ("Together") offers an eclectic mix of Arabic and English music and fast-paced, crisp and no-nonsense news bulletins. BBC Arabic is playing catch-up. It started broadcasting in FM recently over Abu Dhabi and Dubai, with the same content broadcast via Nilesat. BBC's Cairo Production Centre was launched along with its new look website http://bbcarabic.com with a landmark series, "Girls' Education in the Arab World" in Cairo on October 9. Cairo Production Centre (CPC) forms the nerve centre of the BBC Arabic service, with six hours of live daily news and current affairs programmes from the region. The team of 30 journalists, including presenters, producers, online journalists and technical staff, cover current affairs across the Middle East, North Africa and Egypt. BBC Arabic has also opened new FM stations in northern Jordan -- heard in Israel and Damascus -- which supplements its FM coverage from Amman. BBC Arabic is also now available on FM in Kuwait, Bahrain and Qatar and in Khartoum and Wad Madani in Sudan. Short-wave frequencies have been introduced into North Africa and the Gulf area, while medium wave transmissions have also been boosted. While BBC has established a reputation for fair reporting among Arab listeners, some critics slam Radio Sawa for being nothing but a mass-produced US propaganda machine. In its news bulletins anchors have no names and do not say where they are broadcasting from. "Sawa's music is good. But listening to its news bulletins is like listening to Israeli radio," said Amin M., 21, a student. He claimed its language is also suspect. For example, Sawa calls Yasser Arafat simply a "leader", instead of president of the Palestinian National Authority. "Sawa is trying to be hip and cool, but they're just biased. They won't be caught dead referring to suicide bombers as martyrs. They tag organisations like Hamas as a terror group, instead of recognising them as a legitimate resistance movement," said Abdullah. "They want to Americanise the Arab youth." Radio Monte Carlo, the Arabic broadcaster of French radio, offers news and a lot of discussions, pop music. It also sounds a little "younger" than the BBC. Audience participation are the staples of both the BBC and Radio Monte Carlo -- taking calls and reading e-mails and letters from listeners and responding on air to questions from all over the region. Sawa's edge, however, is its significant investments in digital technology. An offshoot of the September 11 attacks, Radio Sawa is funded by US Congress. By combining Arab pop music with Western hits, many listeners agree they sound so good together. "I listen to it everyday, even my son likes it. He loves the songs. I hate the news bulletins," said Rasha Al Karim, a working mother. "Propaganda is packaged as news. They also use very bad Arabic." Randa A., a meout [sic] the Arab world and shed their ignorance. TOUGH TURF Tuning in to the war of the airwaves -- BBC Arabic has new FM stations in the UAE (87.9 in Dubai), northern Jordan -- covering Israel and part of Syria -- and supplements FM coverage from Amman. -- BBC Arabic is also available on FM in Kuwait, Bahrain and Qatar and in Khartoum and Wad Madani areas of Sudan. -- Radio Sawa can be heard on FM in Abu Dhabi (98.7 FM), Dubai (90.5 FM), Qatar and Bahrain, the West Bank, Jordan (Amman - 98.1 FM) as well as Kuwait (95.7 FM). -- Radio Sawa hopes to launch targeted programming in colloquial dialects all over the Gulf, from the West Bank and Gaza to Egypt and Sudan. -- The US is also considering proposals for an Arabic-language satellite television network called the Middle East Television Network (MTN), besides broadcasting a Farsi programme targeted at Iran. -- While BBC has established a reputation for fair reporting among Arab listeners, some critics slam Radio Sawa for being nothing but a mass-produced US propaganda machine. However, the US station is currently reaping the benefits of significant investment in digital technology. -- Listeners say Radio Monte Carlo offers news and a lot of frank discussion peppered by pop music and sounds a little "younger" than the BBC (Gulf News via Kim Elliott, Artie Bigley, Horacio Nigro, Alan Pennington, DXLD) ** U K. BBCWS Mandela Concert Nov 29: See SOUTH AFRICA [non]; battle of airwaves in Mideast: see UAE ** U K. [headline missing] By Tom Leonard, The Daily Telegraph, London Greg Dyke, the BBC director general, has attacked American reporting of the war in Iraq and derided news organisations that were prepared to ``bang the drum for one side or the other''. The BBC has been accused of allowing its perceived hostility to the conflict to colour coverage of the war and its aftermath, including the Iraqi weapons of mass destruction dossier story that led to the death of David Kelly, the weapons expert. Mr Dyke, who was speaking after collecting an honorary award at the International Emmys in New York on Monday night, said the Iraq coverage illustrated the difference between the BBC and US networks. ``For any news organisation to act as a cheerleader for government is to undermine your credibility,'' he said. ``They should be balancing their coverage, not banging the drum for one side or the other.'' He cited research showing that of 840 experts interviewed on US news outlets during the war only four opposed the conflict. ``If that were true in Britain, the BBC would have failed in its duty,'' he said. ``Telling people what they want to hear is not doing them any favours. It may not be comfortable to challenge governments or even popular opinion, but it is what we are here to do.'' Mr Dyke said there was an appetite for such news in America, judging by the growth in demand there for BBC news on the World Service, the internet and the television channel BBC World. Amid speculation that US broadcasters are interested in buying a share in ITV and Channel 5 after a change in British media ownership rules, Mr Dyke said that television and radio should not be left to the market. They were not ``just another commodity to be marketed and sold around the world like Starbucks or Coca-Cola''. British broadcasters won four of seven International Emmys at the ceremony. The BBC won three: for the comedy The Kumars at Number 42, an Arena documentary about the Italian film maker Luchino Visconti and for the children's show Legends of the Lost Tribe. Channel 4's programme Without Prejudice won the ``popular arts'' category (Via Harry van Vugt, Windsor, Ontario, Canada) ** U K. BBC BOSSES TO CLAMP DOWN ON STAFF'S FREELANCE WRITING Matt Wells, media correspondent, Thursday November 27, 2003 The Guardian The BBC will today attempt to steal a march on the forthcoming Hutton report by clamping down on the practice of its journalists writing for outside publications. The corporation's board of governors, meeting in Cardiff, will decide on a plan to impose stricter rules on the circumstances in which staff can top up their earnings with articles in newspapers and magazines. Central to the governors' discussion will be a column by Andrew Gilligan in the Mail on Sunday, in which the Today programme reporter linked the then director of communications at Downing Street, Alastair Campbell, with the Iraq dossier row. In his evidence to Lord Hutton's inquiry, Tony Blair said the Gilligan piece gave the story "booster rockets". It was followed by a high-voltage argument between the government and the BBC that culminated in the death of David Kelly, the weapons expert who was later revealed to have been Gilligan's source. Gavyn Davies, chairman of the BBC's board of governors, said at a dinner in Cardiff last night: "I believe that the public would expect the BBC to re-examine its procedures as a result of the experiences of this summer and make any necessary changes to ensure that things are working properly. "One thing that will not change, however, is the BBC's basic approach to journalism. Unless we fearlessly seek to tell the public the truth, we are nothing and we do not deserve to receive the licence fee. Impartiality, accuracy and fairness have always been the BBC's drumbeat. Our commitment to these values has never wavered, and it will not do so now." The practice of BBC journalists writing newspaper and magazine columns has long caused trouble for the corporation. The practice mush roomed under the previous director general, John Birt, who felt it was a helpful extension of the BBC news "brand". But its journalists have increasingly strayed into areas of political debate: John Humphrys writes often in his Sunday Times column about matters relating to Europe and agriculture, and John Simpson discusses foreign affairs in the Sunday Telegraph. Some of the columns are said to be more problematic than others: BBC bosses are long known to have been uncomfortable with Humphrys' pieces because of his position as a presenter on Radio 4's flagship Today programme. The BBC's political editor, Andrew Marr, pens a relatively benign weekly diary in the Daily Telegraph, business editor Jeff Randall has a column in the Sunday Telegraph's city pages, and foreign correspondent Fergal Keane writes regularly for the Independent. A number of BBC journalists contribute to the Guardian: Today's former editor, Rod Liddle, resigned from the BBC when he was forced to choose between his newspaper work and his job at the corporation. The BBC has tried to limit the potential for damage by making journalists submit their work to their line managers before publication, but a controversial column by Liddle on the countryside march was not vetted, and neither was Gilligan's explosive piece on Mr Campbell. One of the problems BBC executives face is the position of senior journalists on freelance contracts. Humphrys and Simpson both fall into that category. It could be hard for the corporation's managers to impose tight restrictions on freelancers, because this could be regarded as an illegitimate restraint of trade. But BBC bosses believe the status quo is not an option, because of the controversy over the Kelly affair. Lord Hutton's report into the weapons inspector's death, due to be published next month or in January, is likely to criticise the BBC. Simpson attacked the plan to restrict freelance work in a Guardian interview earlier this month. He said: "The mountain is starting to rumble, [but] it would be both absurd and quite unreasonable to stop me writing." Marr was more elliptical when he referred to the issue in his Daily Telegraph diary this week. He wrote: "The BBC governors are apparently deciding whether to ban the writing of columns such as this one, on the grounds that wittering on about Chopin and Attlee brings the corporation into disrepute. All I will say is that the Marr finances are evenly balanced: the first proclamation of austerity will mean the food supply for our blameless, respectable and somewhat nervous guinea pig, Mr Snuffles, being instantly stopped. If they could only see the expression in his trusting eye... On their heads be it." Guardian Unlimited © Guardian Newspapers Limited 2003 (via Daniel Say, DXLD) 'NO EXCEPTIONS' ON FREELANCE BAN Lisa O'Carroll and John Plunkett Thursday November 27, 2003 The Guardian The BBC is to make "absolutely no exceptions" to its new rules barring news anchors and reporters from writing for newspapers. The corporation's board of governors was due to rubber stamp plans to force presenters such as John Humphrys and John Simpson to scrap their lucrative Sunday newspaper columns from next year - and insiders say the corporation is even willing to sacrifice stars in the event that they walk out in protest. "We cannot stake the reputation of the BBC on one or two high profile presenters. If one or two people say 'I'm leaving', we will regret that very much - but we are not going to fudge this this time round. We are mindful that there are some very big, big names involved, but at the end of the day nobody is indispensible," said one source. The corporation will not be making a statement immediately following today's meeting in Cardiff, but it is set to make its decision public before the Hutton inquiry report is published early next year. It was a freelance article by Today reporter Andrew Gilligan in the Mail on Sunday which sparked the Hutton inquiry after the defence correspondent named Alastair Campbell as the man who allegedly "sexed up" the government's Iraq intelligence dossier. In his evidence to the inquiry, Tony Blair said the article - which had gone further than the original Today report - had given "rocket boosters" to the allegation, sparking a furious and protracted row between the BBC and the government. At least half a dozen high profile presenters are expected to be hit by the new rules. Simpson writes for the Sunday Telegraph, while Humphrys writes for the Sunday Times. Others affected include business editor Jeff Randall, who writes for the Sunday Telegraph; Rosie Millard, who writes about property in the Sunday Times; political editor Andrew Marr, who writes for the Daily Telegraph; and foreign correspondent Fergal Keane, who writes regularly for the Independent. BBC Radio media correspondent Torin Douglas could also be effected, as he writes for a marketing magazine. The new clampdown will end a practice that blossomed under the former director general John Birt, who believed the freelance columns were a valuable part of the BBC's "brand extension". And with more than £100,000 being paid to high profile presenters by newspapers eager for "star" columnists, it will be a painful financial experience for some. Today presenter Humphrys, who is one of the highest earners, has already dropped hints about seeking employment elsewhere, but nobody expects him to leave the most prestigious news programme in the country. And many insiders believe the columns would have survived were it not for a few injudicious remarks by Gilligan, who wrote colourful pieces for the Mail on Sunday, occasionally to the chagrin of his colleagues - particularly during the war. But others - including the former head of television, Sir Paul Fox - believe the BBC needs to examine the reasons presenters feel they need to supplement their salaries with lucrative newspaper contracts. "If they need to augment their salaries, the BBC should pay them more. And if they are not given enough airtime for their views, the BBC should find it," said Sir Paul Fox told MediaGuardian.co.uk earlier this year. One medium-profile BBC political presenter was offered £90,000 a year to write a column for the Sunday Times but the BBC refused and instead offered the presenter a £6,000 payrise by way of compensation, a sum the presenter considered fairly derisory. The corporation's head of news, Richard Sambrook, and other executives have had meetings with all senior presenters to discuss the issue. Some feel the BBC should set a cut-off date of spring 2004. Others say the BBC will allow existing contracts to run their course but insist that no new newspaper contracts are signed, although it will allow articles that could be justified as programme publicity. One BBC columnist said: "Whatever they decide to do will take time, because there is no one bog standard contract at the BBC. People's employment varies dramatically, from BBC lifers to people on long term contracts to those on six months. "If they are not allowed to write for outside organisations then that is going to have a serious impact on their earnings, and they are going to want something in return." "It is good for the papers to have such high profile correspondents writing foir them, but is also good for the BBC because it makes clear that Fleet Street rates BBC correspondents as first class journalists." Corporation insiders said the BBC governors wanted to rush through a decision and announce it before the publication of the Hutton report, which is expected in January. "They want to be seen as proactive, not reactive," said one. Staff who would be affected by the change were spoken to by senior BBC news management, including head of news Richard Sambrook, his deputy Mark Damazar and deputy head of newsgathering, Vin Ray. But there was some resistance from presenters who said they had not done anything wrong and could not understand why their opportunities - and their earning power - outside of the BBC were being restricted. There was also anger at the delays and lack of consultation. One staffer described the decision making process as a "shambles." Another high-profile presenter said: "People are nervous and concerned because of the financial implications. How are people going to be compensated?" Paul McLoughlin, the national broadcasting officer for the National Union of Journalists, said: "We have been given a commitment by Greg Dyke that any changes will be discussed with members and the union prior to any implementation. "There are obviously quite specific guidelines already in place, but one of the things we find unfair is that there isn't a level playing field. Unlike a lot of high profile people inside the organisation or on freelance contracts who are given lot of latitude, we find other members are denied those opportunities. "For example if you work in the World Service and ask to do something for an outside body, it is highly unlikely you will be given permission to do that. The guidelines should be fair, clear and applied to all. "If the BBC was to seek to restrict the activities of presenters and others on freelance contracts, then certainly if they are NUJ members they would be seeking to have a premium attached to their contracts. The issue of exclusivity is one which usually attracts a high premium, and we would expect those discussions to be productive." MediaGuardian.co.uk © Guardian Newspapers Limited 2003 (via Daniel Say, DXLD) ** U S A. Re 'Radio Aap Ki Dunya.' [which means???] Glenn, As an exercise I tried a Google web search of "Aap Ki Dunya" with little result. However, "Ki Dunya" had many more references. Limiting to at least some English content yielded some results that hint at a meaning of "The World". References to things like Science Ki Dunya, Show Biz ki Dunya, and various other references of "The world above us", "The world of women", and some menu section heading above shrimp dishes with what could be "Shrimp World", but appearing translated as Shrimp Specialties. Hey, wouldn't that be something if it were The World of Radio :-) (Pete Costello, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Means "Radio, your world". (Swopan Chakroborty, Kolkata, India, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Dear Glenn, The meaning of the Urdu title 'Radio Aap Ki Dunya.' (the 24 hour broadcast of VOA to Pakistan from next year mentioned in DX LISTENING DIGEST 3-211, November 24, 2003) is something like: "Radio Your World" (Jose Jacob, VU2JOS, National Institute of Amateur Radio, Raj Bhavan Road, Hyderabad 500082, India; telefax: 91-40-23310287 EchoLink: Node 133507 VU2NRO url: http://www.geocities.com/vu2jos http://www.niar.org DX LISTENING DIGEST) See also UAE [and non] ** U S A. Press Conference USA this weekend on VOA: On the 75th anniversary of the Romanian Broadcasting Corporation, President Dragos Seuleanu speaks with host Carol Castiel and VOA audience research analyst Kim Elliott, and VOA Romanian Service reporter Horia Puscasiu. Listen for it on Press Conference USA, Saturday on VOA News Now. Hi Glenn: This will be Saturday at 1733 and 1933 UT and available on demand the following week. We'll talk about international broadcasting to and from Romania, among other things. 73 (Kim Elliott, DC, Nov 27, DX LISTENING DIGEST) See also SOUTH AFRICA [non] ** U S A. Hearing IBB in Spanish with bubble jamming, one naturally thinks of R. Martí. But UT Nov 27 at 0122 I was hearing Ventana a Cuba, VOA`s own program [not surrogate service, godforbid] for Cuba, and it was getting bubble-jammed, not too seriously from this vantage point, at about the same level on the four frequencies I ran across: 11990, 11700, 9885, 9560. Surely the Cubans commies would turn off the jammers at 0130, when the next program, Buenas Noches, América started, not for Cuba in particular. Am I kidding? Jamming kept right on, so by starting this Cuban program on the same frequencies as the general program, VOA gets itself jammed for all its Latin American audience (not that far greater blame does not lie with the dentrocubanos for jamming in the first place!). Maybe it was because La Habana was included in a Pan-American weather summary at 0135, along with many other capitals? No (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. WINB, 9930, mixing at about equal level with KWHR, Nov 27 at 1620 check, and only a sub-audible heterodyne apart, while at the beginning of B-03, they were more like 100 Hz apart, an audible heterodyne, with WINB on 9929.9 or so. Was checking out an unconfirmed report that the WINB signal had an FM component (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. Tuning across KJES, 15385, Nov 27 at 2005, in Spanish they were reading something with constant references to Yahweh (or Yavé?), for once without the cacophonous background or a chorus of responses. Real Catholics aren`t obsessed with this sacred name, are they, so what is going on here? Perhaps Elder Jacob O. Meyer is making some inroads in the Southwest (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. DEMOCRATS DECRY 'COMPROMISE' ON FCC RULE By Frank Ahrens, Washington Post Staff Writer Wednesday, November 26, 2003; Page E01 Prominent Senate Democrats were angered by the deal struck late Monday between the White House and Republican congressional leaders that would limit how many television stations networks may own and said they would fight it in Congress next year. At issue was the Federal Communications Commission's "media ownership cap." In June, the FCC relaxed several media ownership rules and raised the television station cap, saying broadcast networks such as CBS and Fox can buy more stations and expand their reach to 45 percent of the national audience, up from 35 percent. Many members of Congress and advocacy groups said the change would allow the big media companies to grow too big, potentially at the expense of local broadcasters. Sen. Ted Stevens (R-Alaska) added a rider to an omnibus spending bill under consideration that would fix the 35 percent cap in federal law. In July, the House passed a spending bill with language identical to Stevens's. The White House, however, backed the FCC's rules and threatened to veto any legislation overturning them. The White House and Senate Republican leaders compromised on a national cap of 39 percent. . . http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A14556-2003Nov25.html (via Kraig Krist, Mike Cooper, DXLD) ** U S A. I'M STILL HERE -- BUT WHERE'S ALL MY PROGRAMMING? Glenn: The other night I began to watch on The Movie Channel a broadcast of Gabriel Pascal's exquisitely-photographed 1946 Technicolor film "Caesar and Cleopatra", a movie treatment of Shaw's 1901 play, with Claude Rains and Vivian Leigh. I felt that this was entirely new territory for me, but when Leigh (as Cleo) made fun of Claude (as Julius) and his inability to pronounce "Ftatateeta", the tongue-twisting name of Cleo's servant, something resonated deep in my memory. A quick check with Google confirmed this. Sure enough, on March 5, 1956, I had seen a televised production of the play, with Claire Bloom and Sir Cedric Hardwick in the main roles, over NBC's "Producer's Showcase". I vividly recalled as a youngster being delighted with the sheer sound of the syllable-explosion "Ftatateeta", the memory of which I hadn't considered for the subsequent 47 years. This little episode leads directly to the problem that a significant minority of American society has now with the mass media. I want to cry out, "Hey, TV people: I'M STILL HERE. **What happened to my programming?!!**" As a boy, I became interested in broadcasting because of its challenging, exciting diversity: it reflected the transitory emotions and needs of the human brain, confronting the activities of life. The main television and radio networks, in those days, ran everything possible, from the rustic pleasures of banjo-and-jug bands and dancing chimpanzees, to Shavian drama. Music lovers could find riveting performances of Louis Armstrong, or Arturo Toscanini, and everything in between -- even Elvis! For the testosterone set, Gorgeous George; for the "homemaker", Arlene Francis. The intellectual elite could effetely snigger along with Clifton Fadiman or Alistaire Cook. What's most important, this panorama passed in front of our eyes and ears during morning, daytime and evening prime time hours. Now, to see "Caesar and Cleopatra", on its once-a-decade "accidental" broadcast (or so it might seem), you have to subscribe to a cable system and use a TiVo or other recording system, unless you are typically awake and intellectually receptive at 3 AM. In fact, I can well imagine that this airing of the film will be my last opportunity in life. Will it *ever* hit the ether again and be sprayed across American skies? But I'm still here, and the fact that I watched this work of art on two occasions, 47 years apart, proves the hypothesis that I've always suspected, when "market advocates" tell me that art doesn't pay the bills: that (1) their value system is purely an arbitrary, artificial construct; and (2) their demographic sampling MAY be inaccurate. First, by assigning an ultimate value to any intellectual property that is based *solely* on "billability" (i. e., whether or not an advertiser can be charged for it), broadcasters are moving along a dangerously wicked, anti-human, and very socially negative direction that leads ONLY to the garbage heap. Another old-time film I saw recently, the 1951 epic "Quo Vadis", illustrates this unforgettably: to divert the criticism of his foully-decadent reign, the Roman Emperor Nero provides "bread and circuses" for the mob, who drool lustfully in their seats in the Colosseum as Rome's allegedly "dangerous" or "subversive" minorities are thrown to the lions. But today's broadcasters have forgot their Gibbon (truth be told, they never read him at all, for they know NO history, not even that of their own television or radio media.) Second, those in charge of broadcast media programming and management ASSUME that (a) the data published by the audience measurement services are scientifically accurate; (b) that there is a direct correlation between the simplistic categories of "content" (as they define them narrowly and stupidly) and the artificial groups that the ratings services divide the complicated human population into; and (c) that the inefficient, inconsequential "left-overs", i. e. the intelligentsia or groups with specialized interest, can be served by the odd piecemeal thrown at them at 3 AM, or relegated to 2 kW UHF channels, or to college radio or LPFM. Or to to 'The Bass-Fishing Channel' on cable or satellite TV, or its ilk: you fill in the special-interest here [ ]. At the same time, they smugly demonstrate that such minority programming doesn't pay, and has therefore been dropped by the mainstream media in order to promote efficiency; but why does this not ALSO demonstrate that, ultimately, it will be dropped from all broadcasting outlets of ANY frequency domain, in the absence of legislation to enforce the existence of *some* non-commercial, specialized content? Surely this has indeed *nearly* happened; otherwise our long-promised "500 channels of TV" would offer wall-to- wall Bruckner concerts, or round-table discussions of Elizabethan poetry, along with the tractor-pulls. Since we see little else *except* the last, with the only 'human diversity' being provided by the *commercials* themselves and their little, occasionally-cute dramas (!), broadcasting's juggernaut moving toward the junk pile confirms Nero, and proves Gresham's Law. WHY did the network leaders of the fifties seem to feel otherwise? What led them to think that they could integrate an intellectual show like "Omnibus" or "Producer's Showcase" into the diversity-drenched programming lineup, and give us personalities that ranged as far and wide as the territory that separates Pinky Lee and Oscar Levant? With nothing but idiosyncratic anecdotal observations to assert, I'd claim that the television and radio we -- I -- enjoyed in the fifties, even as a kid in my formative years (but with an open heart and mind, and with inclinations toward the better things of life) recognized that 'man does not live by bread alone' and that the brain of even a child can crave, and profit by, exposure to almost every form of communications content and entertainment in the proper dose and packaging, even if it may seem to be "over the head" of any particular observer: for, otherwise, how does one learn? And, one continues to learn all the way through one's life -- unless one watches today's TV, or listens to today's radio (Steve Waldee, San José, CA, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. CHRISTMAS COMES EARLIER ON RADIO By David B. Caruso THE ASSOCIATED PRESS Posted on Wed, Nov. 26, 2003 PHILADELPHIA - Radio stations decide there's no such thing as too much Christmas It's not even Thanksgiving yet, but on radios nationwide it's beginning to sound a lot like Christmas. More than two dozen FM music stations ditched regular programing this month in favor of an all-Christmas-music format, with plans to keep the carols coming until Dec. 26. Somewhere between 200 to 300 more are expected to follow suit in the next few weeks, ensuring that listeners from Pennsylvania to Dixie's sunny shore will either get that fix of "Home for the Holidays" they've been craving - or go mad from repetitions of "Grandma Got Run Over By a Reindeer." The changeovers mark a dramatic shift for many of the stations trying them. . . http://www.tallahassee.com/mld/democrat/7349220.htm?template=contentModules/printstory.jsp (via Mike Cooper, DXLD) ONLINE PETITION TO DUMP PHILLY FM STATION'S XMAS PLAYLIST Saw this article in the Nov. 25 Philadelphia Inquirer: Nancy Esbenson of Havertown, PA, is petitioning online to get WSNI "Sunny 104.5" to dump its all-Christmas playlist, which went into effect two weeks ago --- WBEB (101.1) is also playing all-Yuletide tunes in Philly, will she go after them too? Esbenson has been contacted by CBS News and the AP about her campaign. Find out more about her petition effort at: http://www.petitiononline.com/sunny25/petition.html (Joe Hanlon in Vincentown, NJ, DX LISTENING DIGEST) On The CBS Evening News Nov 26 ** U S A. MORE ON WILD 96.5 IN PHILLY Driving on my way home from work, I heard from "Rocco the Janitor" that Wild 96.5 (WPTP), Philadelphia's third hip-hop FM station, has launched their web site: http://www.wild965.com If you go to the station's previous site, http://www.phillypoint.com (for their former name, "The Point", it will redirect you to the new site. For now, the site is just getting started, with stuff about Rocco that you can access; he's just a promo guy since the station is switching to its hip-hop playlist. As for programming: We've heard about "album rock" formats, but could "album rap" be far behind? At midnight on Nov. 25 the station played the ENTIRE (55 minute) Jay-Z "Black Album", the recently- released CD by the rapper, who's planning to leave recording and rapping for business pursuits and developing future hip-hop talent (Joe Hanlon in Vincentown, NJ, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. CAIR-NET: ASK DR. LAURA TO APOLOGIZE FOR 'ANTI-MUSLIM TIRADE' In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful SUPPORT CAIR'S $1 MILLION DURING RAMADAN CAMPAIGN http://www.cair-net.org/asp/millionforislam.asp Scholars says CAIR is able to receive ZAKAT donations. REGISTER ONLINE FOR CAIR'S DC DINNER 11/29 http://www.cair-net.org/asp/2003dinner.asp ----- CAIR ACTION ALERT #406 ASK DR. LAURA TO APOLOGIZE FOR 'ANTI-MUSLIM TIRADE' Dr. Laura: 'This is a class on morals --- What is the point of going to a mosque?' (WASHINGTON, D.C., 11/19/2003) - CAIR today called on nationally- syndicated radio talk show host Dr. Laura Schlessinger to apologize for an "anti-Muslim tirade" on her November 17th program. ("Dr. Laura's" radio program is heard by 12 million listeners on some 270 stations nationwide.) Muslims who contacted CAIR said Schlessinger's remarks crossed the line from legitimate commentary on terrorism to Islamophobic bigotry. The offensive comments came in response to a mother who asked whether her 16-year-old daughter should take part in a Catholic High School class field trip to a local mosque. The purpose of the field trip was to have the students in a "moral themes" class learn how "Muslims are treated" in America. Schlessinger said in her response: "This is a class on morals. What is the point of going to a mosque?...You're joking of course…How many Americans have tortured and murdered Muslims…I think you ought to stand up against this class and this teacher. This is despicable. You tell him you are willing to go to the mosque only if it is one that has done its best to route out terrorists in its midst... instead of complaining... I am horrified that you would let her go... I am so sick and tired of all the Arab-American groups whining and complaining about some kind of treatment... What culture and what religion were all the murderers of 9/11…they murdered us... That's the culture you want your daughter to learn about?" (To listen to Schlessinger's response, go to: http://www.drlaura.com/listen/ Click on November 17, and then on "Dr. Laura 9." There is a charge for access.) "Dr. Laura's anti-Muslim tirade demonstrates a level of hostility toward Islam that should be of concern to her program's audience and sponsors," said CAIR Communications Director Ibrahim Hooper. "It has been our experience that one-on-one interactions with ordinary American Muslims are the best way to dispel Islamophobic stereotypes and promote religious tolerance. It is a pity that Dr. Laura would interfere with that learning process by dissuading a student from visiting a mosque." Hooper noted that Schlessinger also confused Arab-Americans and Muslims in her comments. (Many Arab-Americans are Christian.) In 2002, CAIR sent a letter to Schlessinger asking for a clarification of her on-air claim that there is a "Muslim plan" to take over the world. When Schlessinger's extremist views have been confronted in the past, she has often responded by attacking the source of the challenge, instead of dealing with the substance of the complaints. ACTION REQUESTED: (As always, be POLITE. Hostile comments WILL be used to further defame Islam and Muslims.) Contact Dr. Laura to ask that she apologize for her remarks and engage the American Muslim community in a positive dialogue. CONTACT: Dr. Laura Schlessinger 15260 Ventura Blvd, Suite 500 Sherman Oaks, CA 91403-5307 TEL: 818-461-5403 FAX: 818-461-5440 E-MAIL: manton@premiereradio.com COPY TO: pr@clearchannel.com, lisacdollinger@clearchannel.com, bglicklich@premiereradio.com, cair@cair-net.org - PLEASE ANNOUNCE, POST AND DISTRIBUTE - ----- To SUBSCRIBE to or UNSUBSCRIBE from this list, go to: http://cair.biglist.com/cair-net/ To reach the list moderator, send a message to: cair@cair-net.org ----- CAIR Council on American-Islamic Relations 453 New Jersey Avenue, S.E. Washington, D.C. 20003 Tel: 202-488-8787, 202-744-7726 Fax: 202-488-0833 E-mail: cair@cair-net.org URL: http://www.cair-net.org (CAIR Nov 19 via Fred Waterer, Ont., DXLD) ** U S A. Have not QSL'ed the Lubavitcher station. You could try sending a letter to the Lubavitcher headquarters at 770 Eastern Parkway, Brooklyn (don't know the zip but they probably have a website with info). The station might actually be in Rockland County, around New City where there is a large Hasidic community or might be run by some individual who has no official connection with the parent organization. There are several smaller groups in Nassau Mineola)/ Suffolk (Commack) as well. Since it is a pirate, it probably won't be officially acknowledged (but, beware - if they put you on their mailing list, you'll get solicitations for donations periodically). (Linda Brodsky, Nov 25, amfmtvdx at qth.net via DXLD) ** U S A. JOHNSON ON MSNBC "SCARBOROUGH COUNTRY" FRIDAY, NOV. 28 Ellen Johnson, President of American Atheists, will be on a guest panel on the popular MSNBC news program "Scarborough Country" this coming Friday, November 28, 2003. The show is hosted by former U.S. Congressional Rep. Joe Scarborough; the topic will be the battle over "acknowledging God" and religious displays during the "Christmas" season in the public square, especially in our taxpayer-supported public schools. "Scarborough Country" usually airs at 10 PM ET, but can be moved due to programming changes. The show also repeats throughout the night. Check your local listings, or visit http://www.msnbc.com WHAT & WHO: Ellen Johnson, President of American Atheists on MSNBC "Scarborough Country." WHEN: This Friday, November 28, 2003 scheduled to air at 10:00 PM ET -- check local listings. (American Atheist newsletter Nov 26 via DXLD) Nominally 0300 and 0800 UT Saturday (gh, DXLD) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ PUBLICATIONS ++++++++++++ AIB GLOBAL BROADCASTING GUIDE The new edition of the AIB`s Global Broadcasting Guide will be published in mid-December. This invaluable publication has been expanded and now includes comprehensive data about broadcasters and about companies serving the international broadcasting industry, with contact details and other information. Combined with a complete listing of the world`s international radio and news-based television broadcasters, plus frequency and time details for every English- language international radio station, the Global Broadcasting Guide is an indispensable publication. To order a copy, visit http://www.aib.org.uk and click on our Book Shop. You can also advertise in the Global Broadcasting Guide. Look at the AIB Media Pack on the AIB website or contact Kerr Duffy at adsales@aib.org.uk, t +44 780 305 2740 (AIB News via DXLD) CONVENTIONS & CONFERENCES +++++++++++++++++++++++++ WORLD ELECTRONIC MEDIA FORUM The World Electronic Media Forum will take place in Geneva from 9 to 11 December, debating the role of broadcasting and other electronic media and feeding into the World Summit on the Information Society that takes place immediately after. The AIB is attending this event; details online at http://www.wemfmedia.org/ (AIB News via DXLD) POWERLINE COMMUNICATIONS ++++++++++++++++++++++++ BPL MEETING IN WASHINGTON EXPRESSES CONCERN ABOUT INTERFERENCE The American Radio Relay League (ARRL) -- the association of amateur radio operators in the United States -- called for a meeting on November 7th at the headquarters of the National Association of Broadcasters in Washington. The topic to be discussed was BPL – Broadband over Power Lines -- and its potential for interference to the HF bands. NASB Associate Member George Jacobs attended the meeting on the Association’s behalf, and the following is his report: It was a good meeting. About 25 people attended, including representatives from the following total of 18 organizations: ARRL, NASB, AIR Inc. (an aviation radio concern), the U.S. Army, AMSAT, the North American Shortwave Association (a shortwave listeners/DX club), the NAB, Vertex, Standard, CEA Company, AMRAD, Shaw Pittman (legal firm), the U.S. Department of Defense, MITRE (representing DOD), APCO, NPTSC, the National Science Foundation and Chwat & Co. (ARRL’s P.R. company). I read the NASB BPL comments filed with the FCC, and confirmed that NASB strongly supported the ARRL’s comments. What I consider to be very important were the Government representatives from DOD, MITRE/DOD, U.S. Army and NSF. The Government is funding several studies to determine the effects of BPL on HF communications. They stated that they were attending the meeting as observers, but did not want to discuss any studies that were in progress; they had nothing complete yet to tell us. I asked what concerns might the DOD have about BPL. They said they haven’t decided yet, and probably will not until the present studies are completed. Similarly, the NTIA is in an information-gathering mode. They are sending a very sophisticated van around to take interference measurements over a wide range of spectrum. The Interdepartmental Radio Advisory Committee (IRAC), consisting of all Government agencies involved in communications, is a part of NTIA. IRAC has expressed concern about potential interference being caused by BPL, and they have requested the NTIA study. According to ARRL, the FCC has received about 5000 responses to the BPL proposed rulemaking, of which about 4,975 were from radio amateurs, and which apparently the Commission is not taking all that seriously. They are taking more seriously the comments they received from safety of life services such as AIR Inc. and others. The ARRL rang an alarm bell because they understand the FCC is getting ready to issue a rulemaking procedure (NPRM) for BPL during the first quarter of 2004, for the purpose of establishing technical standards in Part 15 of the Rules. But the League emphasized that this has not as yet been confirmed. ARRL feels very strongly that such an NPRM should not be issued until the various ongoing studies are completed, especially those being conducted by Government agencies. The League also said that in their opinion there is a strong position within the FCC, including its chairman, to go forward with BPL as soon as possible. The fear is that an NPRM procedure may end up with less restrictive radiation and interference standards for BPL than those presently contained in Part 15. A good presentation was made by the ARRL, with samples of BPL interference on the HF bands. The ARRL P.R. consultants reported that there was no evidence yet of financial interest by venture capitalists in BPL. This lack of interest to date was also confirmed by other attendees. The hope here appears to be that if there is no real financial interest in BPL, it may not develop. My impression of the most important result of the meeting was the attendance of the several Government representatives and the report of studies that are being undertaken by DOD and NTIA. I pointed out at the meeting that this might be the best way to convince the FCC to delay its reported NPRM since the FCC sits on the IRAC as an observer. It may well be that that the future of BPL will be decided within the IRAC. Meanwhile it is very important that safety of life private users of HF and other bands gather convincing information that BPL represents a threat to safety in the air, at sea, and homeland security. The ARRL should continue to collect interference data in the amateur and HF broadcast bands, and give top priority to convincing the FCC not to seek an NPRM until sufficient data has been collected both by the private and governmental studies now in progress (George Jacobs, Dec NASB Newsletter via DXLD) DRM +++ Digital Radio Mondiale Every Saturday from 29 November, the weekly programme of dance music station TDP Radio will be broadcast as part of the DRM bouquet at 1100-1200 UT via Flevo on 9850 kHz, omnidirectional for Western Europe. This hour carries RN English on other days. For more information about TDP Radio visit their Web site at http://www.tdpradio.com Due to an Internet problem, the DRM schedule compiled by Klaus Schneider was not accessible via our Web site for a large part of Wednesday. I'm pleased to say that whatever was causing the problem has now been fixed, so the schedule is again accessible via http://www.rnw.nl/realradio/html/drm_schedule.html (Andy Sennitt, Media Network Newsletter Nov 27 via DXLD) RADIO EQUIPMENT FORUM +++++++++++++++++++++ GIANT MANUFACTURER CREATED Merging French know-how with Chinese mass-scale manufacturing capability, consumer electronics group Thomson has agreed a deal with China's TCL to create a joint company that could become the world's leader in the television and video manufacturing industry. The company will be called TCL-Thomson. TCL International Holdings Limited (TCL International) is the leading manufacturer of multimedia and consumer electronic goods in China (AIB News via DXLD) INTERFERENCE TEMPERATURE [or as they say on KOSU, temppachure] FCC begins ``interference temperature`` proceeding: The FCC has begun an inquiry and proposed rule making proceeding focusing on the concept of ``interference temperature`` as a means to quantify and manage interference among different services. The interference temperature model ``takes into account the actual cumulative radio frequency energy from transmissions`` and would ``set a maximum cap on the aggregate of these transmissions,`` the FCC said in a public notice. The Commission`s current primary approach to manage interference is to specify and limit the power output of individual devices. The FCC said the interference temperature approach ``may facilitate more intensive use of the radio spectrum, creating the opportunities for new services and improving the predictability of any interference to existing services. The FCC has not yet released the Notice of Inquiry and Notice of Proposed Rule Making, adopted November 13 as ET Docket 03-237. The Commission will seek comment on various technical rules that would establish procedures and use the interference temperature model on a limited basis in the 6525-6700 MHz band and portions of the 12.75-13.25 GHz band. --- FCC (Nov 28 ARRL Letter, Nov 26, via John Norfolk, DXLD) PROPAGATION ++++++++++++ QST de W1AW Propagation Forecast Bulletin 48 ARLP048 From Tad Cook, K7RA Seattle, WA November 26, 2003 To all radio amateurs SB PROP ARL ARLP048 ARLP048 Propagation de K7RA This is a short propagation bulletin sent out early due to the Thanksgiving holiday. ARRL headquarters will be closed on Friday, the day after the holiday in addition to Thanksgiving Day. Friday is when the new weekly bulletin is normally transmitted. Sunspot numbers, solar flux and A indices for November 20-26 will appear in a subsequent bulletin early next week. Solar flux and sunspot numbers are expected to run slightly lower than now. Solar flux for the past week has been running from 171 to 178, and for the CW weekend of the CQ Worldwide DX Contest (November 29-30), values should run 15 to 20 points lower. After settling down over the next two days, geomagnetic conditions are expected to be quiet, which should be great news for contesters. For a last minute propagation assessment before the weekend, check the NW7US site at http://www.hfradio.org/propagation.html Also, check http://spaceweather.com/ to see which way the interplanetary magnetic field is pointing. If it is pointing north (shown just below the sunspot number to the left side of the page) conditions should be fairly quiet and stable, even if there is a strong solar wind (via John Norfolk, DXLD) ###