DX LISTENING DIGEST 4-004, January 6, 2004 edited by Glenn Hauser, http://www.worldofradio.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 For restrixions and searchable 2004 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 1214: Wed 1030 on WWCR 9475 Mon 0430 on WSUI 910, webcast 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 1214 (high version): (stream) http://www.w4uvh.net/wor1214h.ram (download) http://www.w4uvh.net/wor1214h.rm (summary) http://www.worldofradio.com/wor1214.html WORLD OF RADIO 1214 (low version): (stream) http://www.w4uvh.net/wor1214.ram (download) http://www.w4uvh.net/wor1214.rm FIRST AIRINGS OF WORLD OF RADIO 1215: Wed 2300 on WBCQ 7415, 17495-CUSB Thu 2130 on WWCR 9475 WORLD OF RADIO ON KSFC SPOKANE KSFC now airing WRN overnights (plus other changes) --- Hi Glenn, I got this from Rich Cuff -- note that this implies that WOR airs in Spokane on Sunday mornings (at 3 a.m. local, unfortunately, but I know you like to keep a complete list nonetheless). So you lose Denmark, but gain Spokane! -- (Kevin Kelly, MA) KSFC in Spokane now appears to be airing WRN NA from 1 AM to 8 AM ET 7 days. There are other changes -- Morning Edition is now only 8 AM - 9 AM ET. I checked their webcast last night, and it matched the WRN North America schedule. Haven't checked other times. See schedule at http://www.kpbx.org/ksfcprog.htm (Rich Cuff via Kevin Kelly, publicradiofan.com) ** ARGENTINA. ARGENTINA EN AM (BANDA AMPLIADA) GRA 6: Amigos de la Lista: A continuación remito los últimos datos compilados respecto a estaciones de Onda Media Argentina que operan mas arriba de los 1600 KHz, deseando que la informacion ofrecida sea de utilidad. Espero que todos hayan tenido un muy buen comienzo de año. Marcelo A. Cornachioni ********************************************************************** BANDA AMPLIADA ARGENTINA EN ONDA MEDIA: Actualización: 05/01/2004 [all e-mail addresses truncated by yahoogroups; gh put in all the accents, he hopes in the right places] 1610 KHz / Radio Éxitos QTH: Zufriátegui 830, 1er Piso, (B1714GDL) Ituzaingo, Buenos Aires. Tel: (011) 4458-4603 E-mail: radioexitos@y... DG: Hernán A. Zabala Cxs: FM Oriente / 94.7 MHz 1610 KHz / Radio Antártida / [inactiva] Cxs: Rtx Radio Excélsior (730 KHz) 1610 KHz / Radio Cántico Nuevo / [inactiva] QTH: Av. Roberto Oliver 1319, (B1839AMO) 9 de Abril, Buenos Aires. Tel: (011) 4272-2943 DG: Alfredo H. Soto 1610 KHz / Radio Cultura / [inactiva] QTH: Bernal -ex Domingo Purita- 2247, (B1826DEC) Remedios de Escalada, Buenos Aires. Tel: (011) 4247-6197 OP: Sociedad de Fomento y Cultural Villa Talleres Cxs: RL88, Radio Lanus FM / 88.1 MHz 1610 KHz / Radio Buenas Nuevas QTH: Dr. Luis Tozzini 40, (X6120DDB) Laboulaye, Cordoba. Tel: (03385) 42-6664 E-mail: buenasnuevas@a... DG: Pedro Saavedra Potencia: 0.5 Kw 1610 KHz / Radio Maranata QTH: Hipólito Yrigoyen s/n esq. Andresito, (N3370) Puerto Iguazú, Misiones. Tel: (03757) 42-2713, 42-2557 QTH-2: Casilla de Correo 45, (3370) Puerto Iguazú, Misiones. E-mail: icn.futuro@h... OP: Iglesia Camino Nuevo DG: Hugo Eidinger Cxs: FM Futuro / 101.7 MHz, Radio Baluarte (SW 6215 KHz) 1620 KHz / Radio Tropicana / (Cadena Vida) / [irregular] QTH: Av. San Juan 2461, (C1232AAG) Buenos Aires. Tel: (011) 4941-7601, 4942-6913, 4942-6916 / 4942-4342 OP: Asociación Civil "Jesús es mi Salvador" DG: Genuario Rodríguez Almeida / Wáshington B. Taroco Cxs: FM 89.1 MHz Obs: Ahora en 1130 KHz 1620 KHz / Radio Italia QTH: General Guemes 5025, (B1603CUE) Villa Martelli, Buenos Aires. Tel: (011) 4709-1172 DG: Juan Berardis 1630 KHz / AM Restauración QTH: Tgrl. Pedro E. Aramburu -ex Debussy- 2948, (B1686FBB) Hurlingham, Buenos Aires. Tel: (011) 4452-0167, 4662-6387, 4662-9032 E-mail: restauracionam@a... OP: Iglesia Pentecostal Piedra Viva DG: Osvaldo Adrián Silva 1630 / AM-1630 Radio Buen Ayre / (Red 92) QTH: Av. Circunvalación -Calle 32- Nº 426, (B1902BKV) La Plata, Buenos Aires. Tel: (0221) 483-8998 E-mail: am1630@r... Web: http://www.red92.com OP: Nuevas Comunicaciones S.R.L. DG: Marcelo Balcedo Cxs: Emisiones Platenses (92.1 MHz) y Mix FM (102.7 MHz) Potencia: 1/5 Kw 1640 KHz / Radio Bolivia / [irregular] QTH: Av. Int. Francisco Rabanal 1465, PA, (C1437FPB) Buenos Aires. Tel: (011) 4919-2994, 4919-3659 DG: Haydee E. Catalano 1640 KHz / Radio Boanerges / [inactiva] QTH: (3300) Posadas, Misiones. Tel: (03752) 45-4425 Cxs: FM 94.5 MHz 1650 KHz / Radio Fortaleza QTH: 12 de Octubre 537, PB, (B1804AAC) Ezeiza, Buenos Aires. Tel: (011) 4232-9739 OP: Iglesia Pentecostal La Estrella Obs: Ex 1520 KHz 1660 KHz / Radio Unidad / [inactiva] QTH: Molina 830, (B1846BEL) José Marmol, Buenos Aires. Tel: (011) 4241-2544 OP: Iglesia Internacional Unidos en el Amor de Jesús DG: Alicia del Carmen Véliz Cxs: FM 94.1 MHz 1670 KHz / Radiomania / [inactiva] QTH (TXR): San Justo, Buenos Aires. E-mail: 1670@s... Obs: Rtxn del Servicio Latinoamericano de la BBC (Londres, UK) 1680 KHz / Radio Getro QTH: Magallanes 3136, (B1824PYB) Lanus Oeste, Buenos Aires. Tel: (011) 4267-2074 OP: Iglesia Jesucristo La Roca Viva DG: Viera Huberuk 1690 KHz / Apocalipsis II QTH: Monseñor Bufano 3386, (B1754BZN) San Justo, Buenos Aires. Tel: (011) 4484-4517, 4484-7617 Web: http://apocalipsis2.freeyellow.com OP: Fundación Cristo la Solución Cxs: FM 90.7 MHz ********************************************************************** Llamados a licitación: (Resolución Nro. 1173-COMFER/03) Nomina de frecuencias correspondientes al servicio de radiodifusión sonora por modulacion de amplitud que se encuentran en estado de concurso abierto y permanente. 1610 / General Lamadrid (Buenos Aires) - 1/0,25 Kw 1610 / Villa Berthet (Chaco) - 1/0,25 Kw 1620 / San Antonio (Catamarca) - 1/0,25 Kw 1630 / Chajari (Entre Rios) - 0,5/0,25 Kw 1630 / Taco Pozo (Chaco) - 1/0,25 Kw 1640 / Bella Vista (Tucumán) - 1/0,25 Kw 1640 / Carmen de Patagones (Buenos Aires) - 1/0,25 Kw 1640 / Charadai (Chaco) - 1/0,25 Kw 1640 / Colonia Mitre (La Pampa) - 1/0,25 Kw 1660 / Paso de los Libres (Corrientes) - 1/0,25 Kw 1680 / Nogoya (Entre Rios) - 5/0,5 Kw 1680 / Puelen (La Pampa) - 1/0,25 Kw ********************************************************************** Se agradece el envío de cualquier dato que tienda a actualizar, modificar o suprimir la información suministrada en el presente listado. Comentarios, consultas y sugerencias que quiera Ud. formular relacionadas con este trabajo, deberá ser dirijida a la siguiente dirección: (Marcelo A. Cornachioni, Alvarez Thomas 248, (B1832DNF) Lomas de Zamora, Buenos Aires, Argentina, Jan 5, Conexión Digital via DXLD) ** AUSTRALIA. RADIO AUSTRALIA`S SUMMER SEASON ISN`T JUST FILLER Last month, you`ll recall we devoted a good chunk of the column to the programming changes at Radio Australia due to the combination Christmas and summer holiday season. Don`t blow off some of these substitutions; they might be different from what you`re used to hearing, but it`s still interesting radio nonetheless. A specific example is the Current Affairs Special airing at 1100 UT in place of Asia Pacific; a recent edition featured a 20-minute documentary looking back on exposure of outback residents to radioactivity from atomic testing in the 1950s, which has become particularly relevant as Australia has identified an outback location for a national radioactive waste disposal site. I suspect this program was originally produced for a domestic audience, but the program easily held my interest – perhaps even better than Asia Pacific usually does. The summer schedule is varied, as some substitutions will last just one week – such as the series called City Lights, a week-long series of independently-produced documentaries (``personal portraits``) on various world cities. Some of the features have aired before; one is an especially ambitious 24-part series, Taim Bilong Masta, originally airing in 1985 and 1986, on Australians who lived in Papua New Guinea. Taim Bilong Masta airs on Radio Australia at 0320 UT, not exactly the best time for shortwave propagation to North America. Of course, Radio Australia webcasts 24/7, so you can find the program this way; another option is the domestic Radio National webcast, Sunday-Thursday 2300 UT (if I`ve done the math properly). This series will run until late January. Another interesting-looking series is a four-part Spirit of Things special entitled Spiritually Incorrect – Religion and Humor, airing Sundays 1200 UT through late January. Each episode will highlight satire from a particular religious tradition and will feature believers with a well-developed funny-bone. So --- just because Radio Australia is taking a summer vacation is no excuse for listening. It appears you have to be more diligent in listening live, versus on-demand, as few of these programs appear to have on-demand links. As usual, the best way to get freshly updated on Radio Australia programming is from John Figliozzi`s programming summaries; you can receive them via e-mail if you`re a member of the swprograms or ODXA e-mail groups. You don`t even have to be a subscriber to swprograms to see these; visit http://www.topica.com/lists/swprograms where you can read all of the messages; look for ``RA Previews`` in the subject line (Richard Cuff, Easy Listening, Jan NASWA Journal via DXLD) ** AUSTRALIA. New schedule for HCJB Australia effective from Monday, Jan. 4: 0100-0300 English NF 15560 KNX 075 kW / 307 deg to SoAs, ex 0130- 0300 on 15555 0300-0330 Urdu NF 15560 KNX 075 kW / 307 deg to SoAs, ex 0100- 0130 on 15555 0800-1100 English(&)on 11750 KNX 050 kW / 120 deg to SoPac remain unchanged 1230-1330 English NF 15405 KNX 075 kW / 307 deg to SoAs, ex 1230- 1700 on 15390 1330-1400 Urdu on 15405 KNX 075 kW / 307 deg to SoAs, ex 1700- 1730 on 15405 1400-1415 Hindi on 15405 KNX 075 kW / 307 deg to SoAs, new transmission in new language 1415-1730 English(&)NF 15405 KNX 075 kW / 307 deg to SoAs, ex 1230- 1700 on 15390 (&) DXPL on Sat 0830-0900 and 1430-1500 (Observer, Bulgaria, Jan 6 via DXLD) ** CANADA. Digital Radio DXed --- L-Band see RADIO EQUIPMENT FORUM ** CHINA. Qinghai PBS 4750 English ID: On 4 Jan at 1415 I tuned to 4750 just to hear what must be the last words of English ID "and (on) shortwave four-one-five-ou" by female. Then back to Chinese program. The station is (presumably) Qinghai PBS, Xining, China. Note that she said "one" instead of "seven", must be a mistake of the announcer. First time I heard English from this station. At 1500 the signal was rather weak with ute-qrm, so no luck for ID then (Jari Savolainen, Kuusankoski, Finland, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CHINA. Here`s another workable frequency for CRI English at 1500: 9785, fair at 1540 Jan 6 \\ stronger 7405 and exactly synchronized, likely from same site in China, but 9785 not for NAm (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CHINA. Frequency changes for China Radio International: 1600-1957 Russian ADD 5905 under VOR Arabic til 1700 and RFI Russian from 1900 1800-1857 Chaozhou NF 6010, ex 6040 to avoid VOA in English 1800-1857 Italian NF 7325# ex 11875 1800-1957 German NF 9615* ex 9620 plus ADD 7170@ 1930-2027 Esperanto NF 9745, ex 9720 to avoid RTTunisia in Arabic \\ 7265 # under strong signal of BBC in Russian * co-channel 1800-1900 Radio Liberty in Ru/Av/Chec/Cher and 1900-1957 VOA in Arabic @ co-ch 1900-2000 R.Free Europe in Moldovian Mon-Fri and 18-20 VOR Commonwealth (Observer, Bulgaria, Jan 6 via DXLD) ** COSTA RICA. A NEW YEAR'S LETTER TO THE [U PAZ] COUNCIL http://www.saverfpi.org/article.php?story=20040101144913375 Thursday, January 01 2004 @ 02:49 PM EST My name is Steven Tingley, a former RFPI Volunteer (Jan.-Mar. 2000). Just wanted to share this letter I e-mailed to the council members today. To the current and former University for Peace Council Members, I am writing to express my extreme disappointment and sadness with what you have done to Radio for Peace near Ciudad Colón, Costa Rica. I volunteered at the station for three months for credit for graduate school at Ohio University, and the experience was beautiful, enriching and most importantly, educational. Your ill-informed, inappropriate actions have hurt a lot of people. Listeners of the station, those who operated it, and also the people of Ciudad Colón who benefited from the foreign volunteers have all been affected by your cold, heartless actions. But my anger is also with the fact that you've taken away a great center of learning for countless potential volunteers. Radio for Peace gave many volunteers, including myself, hands on experience with all aspects of radio, including writing, editing and production. It has helped me tremendously in my career, and in life. RFPI was also a strong beacon of justice, peace and truth. It was an asset to the University for Peace, and the fact that you shut it down is a clear sign of you ignorance, and your weak will to stand up and do what is right. Shame on all of you. May your new year of 2004 be full of bad karma from your ruthless, fascist actions. Sincerely, (Steven M Tingley, st128094 @ ohiou.edu (Save RFPI website via DXLD) ** CROATIA [non]. GERMANY(non): Frequency change for Voice of Croatia via JUL 100 kW / 270 degrees to Australia: 0600-1000 NF 13820*, ex 9470 \\ 9470 JUL 100 kW / 230 deg to NZ till 0800; *strong co-channel CRI in German till 0757 (Observer, Bulgaria, Jan 6 via DXLD) ** ECUADOR [non]. GERMANY(non): Frequency change for HCJB in German via WER 125 kW / non-dir to WEu: 1800-1900 NF 5925, ex 6015 to avoid RFI Persian, re-ex 5970 to avoid CRI German (Observer, Bulgaria, Jan 6 via DXLD) ** HAWAII. 690, Honolulu, KORL 1/1/04, 0612. Noted for the first time with Japanese format, ex Radio Disney on 12/31, Hawaii Time, playing JJ AC music, English announcements, gave callsign and owners name but JJ announcements and singles included "K-Kapan". Per Honolulu Star- Bulletin, station was bought last Fall by H. Hawaii Media, owner of FM stations on Kauai and Maui and the lesee of the programming on KJPN- 1370. Subsequently, KJPN went off the air. The newspaper article did say the station's format will be multi-cultural with mostly brokered programming including EE talk. Though one of the JJ announcements mentioned Pioneer Plaza (a new address?) any reception reports can probably go to the KJPN address of 875 Waimanu Street, Suite 605, Honolulu HI 96813 (Dale Park, HI, IRCA Soft DX Monitor via DXLD) ** INDIA. AIR domestic service 1530 news in English, caught last couple minutes at 1543 Jan 6 on 9425; ``That is all for tonight; good night`` and open carrier 1545. Tired of waiting for something else to come on (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** INDIA. VISUALLY IMPAIRED SONI WILL MAKE HEADLINES ON AKASHWANI Express News Service Thursday, January 01, 2004 Visually impaired Soni will make headlines on Akashwani Ahmedabad, December 31: After a successful attempt to read news on television, the Blind People's Association now plan to go ahead with reading out news on the radio. For the first time, a visually impaired person - Ranchod Soni - will read out regional news on Akashwani on January 4. Soni says, "That a visually impaired person is reading news either on radio or television should not be seen as a personal achievement. We are trying to open avenues for the future generation by proving that visually impaired people are capable of handling all kinds of assignments." "The experiment has been successful on television and by moving on to read news on the radio, we are trying to gain entry into another media," says Soni. Regarding his job, Soni says a sighted news reader gets a routine printout of the news while a visually impaired person gets a Braille printout. "Reading the news is a task full of responsibility. A slight error can lead to a major problem." Soni has also read news on television. Jasubhai B Kavi, principal of secondary and higher secondary school of BPA, says: "By such experiments we are trying to establish that through Braille, a visually impaired person can function as efficiently as a sighted person. Visually impaired people are rarely given the opportunity to show their talent and abilities. Through such examples we are trying to establish that visually impaired persons can be news readers and announcers and anchors for any programme on radio or TV." To view an archive of BlindNews messages go to: http://www.snowbeast.net/blind/ (BlindNews yahoogroup via Paul David, UK, DXLD) ** INTERNATIONAL. RELIGION FOR ADULTS Can you think of one program on domestic North American radio that offers intelligent, dispassionate discussion about religion and spirituality? I can`t. The media here can`t seem to fathom that religions and societies have important influences on one another and that sober discourse on these matters is possible, let alone worthy. Here, religious programming seems to be reserved only for prosyletizing, almost as if it were just another commodity marketing its wares. Fortunately, international radio offers several programs with a more reasoned, ``adult`` approach to this topic. The BBC World Service has `In Praise of God`, which gives insight into various faith practices and devotional exercises, and `Reporting Religion`, which examines religious influences in major news events and analyzes religious and ethical issues. `Heart and Soul` uses a documentary format to look at how beliefs, values, and religion shape lives. Radio Australia is fortunate to have Rachael Kohn. Her long-running `The Spirit of Things` explores contemporary values and beliefs through ritual, art, music, and sacred texts. The brief for this program is wide, ranging from traditional faiths to new age and other unconventional approaches. Her more recently developed program, `The Ark`, uses religious history to examine and challenge long held perceptions. `Encounter` is a series seeking the connections between religion and life all over the world. `The Religion Report` analyzes events shaping the world of religion and how religion, in turn, is shaping the modern world. RNZI broadcasts `Spiritual Outlook`, which deals with spiritual and religious issues in many different faith traditions. When ``Outlook`` is not broadcast, there is usually a documentary series devoted to the same subject area. Even the Voice of Russia has `The Christian Message from Moscow`, focusing on the Russian Orthodox faith and its cultural aspects. Times and frequencies for the current programs discussed in this month’s column are in MT’s Shortwave Guide. Happy New Year and, until next month, good listening! (John Figliozzi, Programming Spotlight, January MONITORING TIMES via DXLD) ** INTERNATIONAL VACUUM. RTE Eireann (Ireland) on WRN English to NA "5-7 Live" is now on the WRN schedule as follows: 1400-1500 UT 1900-1930 UT 2200-2230 UT One presumes that the hour-long 1400 UT edition is from the previous day; I haven't checked this myself. Interestingly the WRN schedule shows this as a seven-day program, yet the program goes to air only Mondays-Fridays. All editions dating back to 22nd October 2003 are available for on- demand web listening at the RTE website; visit http://www.rte.ie/news/57live.html All two hours are available, as are individual stories. Most of RTE Radio 1 programming is available on-demand for a week following original air date (Richard Cuff / Allentown, PA USA, Jan 6, swprograms via DXLD) Some interesting changes in the WRN North America schedule as of 1 Jan. Not sure what it all means, but this is what I've taken note of: 1. Greatly increased use of WRN by RTE -- a doubling and at more "mainstream" times: 9am, 2pm and 5pm ET, with the 9am slot a full hour. This takes place right after their dropping of shortwave. 2. Sharply decreased use by RCI. RCI used to have the very prime 5-6pm ET slot (now split by RTE and Radio Romania International). It's now on at the decidedly unprime 4:30 to 5 am ET and only five days a week and with only Canada Today. None of RCI's feature programs are now carried by WRN. With this as their only time slot, one wonders why they even bother.(Might be a freebie in lieu of anyone else claiming this ungodly half-hour.) 3. Decreased use by RA. This I know to be due to budgetary considerations, but RA is no longer available via WRN at 11am ET (used to be for "Bush Telegraph"). 7 am-8 am ET, 8-8:30 pm (Sat/Sun only), 3:30-4 pm ET and 3 am-4 am remain, with the latter two subject to termination at any time because they are in "preemptible" slots that can go to any others willing to pay for them. 4. DW has cut back to one half hour slot only five days a week (M-F) for Newslink. (10am ET M-F) 5. Glenn Hauser's World of Radio is moved from 10 am to 6 am ET Sunday [see top for one additional station as a result?] 6. Radio Romania International is a new entry occupying some attractive time slots. RRI announces its broadcast as the half hour European program and it goes out on WRN-NA at 11 am and 5:30 pm ET. 7. Something called Eco-Zone with Stephen Sloan occupies a half-hour twice on weekends. This is a bit of a departure from common practice as programs of this type have usually been about five minutes in length and used more as filler between international broadcaster content. Eco-Zone takes over Hauser's old slot (10 am Sun.) and 6:30 am Sat. 8. Other recent additions (over the last few months) include: Radio Guangdong (weekly), Report from Austria (M-F) and Radio Budapest (daily). It would be interesting to speculate what these moves mean -- and if they mean anything significant at all (John Figliozzi, swprograms [sic] via DXLD) I suspected the RRI usage was new, but I thought Radio Budapest had been around for a long time. They've long been available on-demand from WRN. I am wondering if the RCI changes are due to their own satellite investments - they now provide three 24/7 services, two of which are largely English. I'll see if Margot Forbes can shed any insight on the DW decision regarding WRN. Wonder if WRN has been bumping up their fees? (Richard Cuff / Allentown, PA USA, ibid.) Budapest: Yes, but not on WRN-NA. They were added last fall, if memory serves. You're right about the on-demand availability. When I did the MT article for Dec. on WRN, I learned that the on-demand archive option was a separate "service" that WRN offers international broadcasters. So it would seem that RB bumped up their usage of WRN to include the streaming/satellite distribution "service" as well. At times, I wonder whether the folks making decisions about distribution strategy have any idea at all who actually uses the platforms they decide to emphasize or de-emphasize and whether they perceive how affordable, accessible and ubiquitous they are in actuality or are likely to be in the near term. Don't know if WRN has been bumping up their fees, but it seems curious given that DW dropped sw to NA, then deferred on DRM to NA. I think they originally had two or three slots on WRN-NA (for Newslink and some feature programs) both in the morning and the evening. It may be a misinterpretation on my part, but they seem decidedly uninterested in the NA audience. (See comment immediately above re: RCI...applies to DW too, I think.) (Figliozzi, ibid.) I listen to WRN via Sirius, and noticed these changes a few days ago. I knew something was up when the crawl on the Sirius receiver said "Radio Canada International" but all the announcers suddenly had Irish accents! I wonder whose job it is to fix the displayed information, WRN or Sirius? And while I'm complaining, why doesn't WRN update the downloadable PDF schedule on their site at the same time as they update their HTML schedule? The two are out of synch at this time. I sent WRN an e-mail, but have tried that in the past and got no response (Scott Walker in New Cumberland PA, ibid.) ** IRAQ. FUNDAMENTAL BROADCASTING NETWORK ON AIR IN BAGHDAD The Fundamental Broadcasting Network (FBN), which operates shortwave radio stations in the US, says it is already on the air with Christian programming in Baghdad, using its FM "radio station in a briefcase". According to the FBN Web site [WTJC/WBOH http://www.fbnradio.com/ -- gh], the station is "sending out the Gospel in Arabic along with Bible Reading in Arabic and music." FBN says it has has applied to the Iraqi Government for an official licence, and the Government has accepted the application. The Web site adds that the same type of equipment was assembled for a new station in Perú: "The station had to be built quickly before the Government took back the frequency from the missionary there." [see http://home.ec.rr.com/fbn/projects.htm --- gh] # posted by Andy @ 12:38 UT June 6 (Media Network blog via DXLD) ** ISRAEL. New updated schedule for Kol Israel according to monitoring on Jan. 2-5, 2004: ARABIC 0400-2210 5915 ENGLISH 0500-0515 6280 7545 17600 1110-1120 15640 17535 1800-1815 9435 11585* ||||| *17535 on Jan. 5 2000-2025 6280 11585 15640 FARSI 1500-1625 9985# 11605 17545 Sun-Thu 1500-1600 9985 11605 17545 Fri/Sat FRENCH 0515-0530 6280 7545 1100-1110 15640 17535 1630-1645 11605 17535 2030-2045 11585 15640 HEBREW 0000-0500 7545 0500-1655 15760 0530-0555 7545 0600-1100 17535 1130-1500 17535 1700-0455 9345 2100-2355 11585 HUNGARIAN 1745-1800 11605# 17535 ROMANIAN 1725-1745 11605# 17535 RUSSIAN 1815-2000 9435 11585* ||||| *17535 on Jan.5 SPANISH 1120-1130 15640 17535 1600-1625 11605 17545 Sat only 1645-1655 11605 17535 2045-2100 11585 15640 YIDDISH 1700-1725 11605# 17535 # co-channel Kol Israel Arabic Service Reshet Dalet on Jan. 5!!! (Observer, Bulgaria, Jan 6 via DXLD) ** ISRAEL. The IBA's website now has Reshet Bet live in Windows Media format, as well as the previously available Real Audio format. On- demand Reshet Bet and English broadcasts are still only available in Real Audio format. Available from the IBA website: http://www.iba.org.il/ or the Reshet Bet specific website: http://bet.iba.org.il === GLOBAL JEWISH TV FAILS TO FIND INVESTORS http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/380168.html A planned international television station with Jewish content, Chai TV, is apparently not going to air. It was scheduled to start broadcasting in Israel, Europe, America and South Africa in March, but failed to recruit investors. Six journalists and programmers Chai TV already employed have been dismissed, although the company has yet to be formally disbanded. The station had planned to broadcast news in English and French, mainly on subjects related to Israel, the Middle East, and Jewish communities around the world. (Haaretz Staff, both via Doni Rosenzweig, Jan 6, DXLD) ** LEBANON. Lebanon no longer uses 990 kHz due to Cyprus (R Sawa) being on the same frequency. A friend was at Amchit recently and saw the unused 990 kHz transmitter. Also on site at Amchit is an 837 kHz transmitter which can be used as a reserve for Hamat. Both of these very old transmitters are only 10 kW (Jack FitzSimons via EMWG (3/1- 2004 via Ydun`s MW News via DXLD) ** MEXICO. Re Gerry Bishop's log of XEME Valladolid, Mexico, a non- DXing friend of mine who visits the Yucatán each year snapped a picture of XEME for me on his most recent visit. I just uploaded the photo to my website at http://donmoore.tripod.com/central/mexico/xeme.html The file is about 340K, so be patient. My friend loves Valladolid and says he's going to retire there. Given the current weather in Iowa, I think that sounds like a great idea! (Don Moore, Iowa, Jan 6, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** MEXICO. FCC info on 1630 in Tizayuca and Tijuana: see UNIDENTIFIED ** MEXICO. 6010, XEOI, Mexico City; 1343-1405; OM talked SS with YL stating the correct time; ID at TOH, then Marvin Gaye's "Sexual Healing" briefly, as a sort of theme song, which I thought was cool. This signal was received in Arizona pretty good if they're only putting out 250 watts (according to ILG). (Al Menzl, KD7UYC, AZ, Jan 5, R75 & HighSierra vertical antenna, operating portable in the American southwest, Cumbredx mailing list via DXLD) ** NEW ZEALAND. NEW RADIO NEW ZEALAND INTERNATIONAL WEBSITE In recent years websites have changed from having static content to having more variable content, changing as the underlying information changes. This change in strategy is readily apparent when you take a look at the new Radio New Zealand International website, http://www.rnzi.com launched in mid-December. The front page updates the current frequency, program, and webcast status – along with regional news headlines and information about RNZI itself. As highlighted by John Figliozzi in his RNZI programming update posted at the swprograms list and elsewhere, RNZI, like Radio Australia, has altered its schedule for the summer holidays, so the website program schedule doesn’t jive with what the station is current airing – which is a 24/7 relay of the domestic National Radio service. The current National Radio schedule is at URL http://www.radionz.co.nz/ --- click on the ``What`s on National Radio?`` link to see the current and upcoming schedules for RNZI while its programs are on hiatus. You`ll have to subtract 13 hours to convert the National Radio schedule to UT. RNZI`s ``breakfast program``, running from 1700 UT through 2230 UT (I think), will resume on January 5th; the other RNZI features will return on January 19th (Richard Cuff, Easy Listening, Jan NASWA Journal via DXLD) ** NIGERIA. VON troubles --- Hallo again, just a little report on Voice of Nigeria. On January 3rd full schedule broadcasting began again after 10 days of almost complete absence, and I was highly surprised about a very strong and well-modulated signal on 11770. Yesterday (Jan. 5th) at 1650 a nasty noise appeared during the Arabic service for about 10 minutes, then followed by continuous music with short breaks only, fine signal until sign-off, as usual while playing interval signal at 2000. No French service at all, no sign-on on 7255 heard at 2000. This morning, 15120 carried normal English programming, but distorted again, dull and low audio, and not quite the signal strength expected. In the late 80s, a worker of VON called the station 'epileptic'. It still seems to be, though broadcasting in 8 languages on 5 different frequencies, like in their best days, which were long before the late 80s (Thorsten Hallmann, Muenster, Germany, Jan 6, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** NORWAY. Bernt Erfjord provided some first-hand information about the closure of the Norwegian shortwave transmitters. Here`s a summary: The final Radio Danmark programme actually contained after the news bulletin a collection of bloopers from the news department (apparently a traditional feature). There appeared to be just a slight difference in the end; the first airings were concluded just with a straight announcement instead of the one on a piano music bed, followed by the interval signal. NRK surprisingly produced a special programme for the last transmissions, starting from 1900. This special included the speech by the King of Norway (this year held by Crownprince Haakon, due to his father`s recovery after a hospital treatment) and excerpts of Radio Norway International programming from the very last days in 2001. The earlier transmissions were the usual Alltid Nyheter relay, in the afternoon again containing BBC WS only. Actually the shortwave feed was supposed to be switched from Alltid Nyheter to P1 whenever AN relayed BBC WS, but obviously nobody took care during the Christmas season. Of course Merlin or the BBC had nothing to do whatsoever with these occurences. Actually the transmissions were supposed to cease at 2255, but there was a further one from 2300 to 2355, obviously caused by a misunderstanding at Norkring, interpreting the 2400 deadline as referring to UT instead of CET. Due to a further mistake also a feed was provided by NRK for this ghost transmission, containing some recorded NRK programming (apparently no live feed of any other NRK output) and from 2330 again the final Radio Danmark programme. Herewith the operation of the shortwave transmitters ceased entirely. VT Merlin Communications was notified by Norkring/Telenor already in autumn that airtime would be no longer available after December 31. Obviously other arrangements were brought in force already with the start of the B03 season; by then all (perhaps with only a single exception) transmissions for other customers ceased. Also Democratic Voice of Burma that used Kvitsøy since the early nineties appears to have left already by the end of October, judging from http://www2.starcat.ne.jp/~ndxc/rfa.htm (found while actually researching about Holzkirchen). Now the transmitters are closed but still powered in a mode dubbed "black heating". This way they can be kept operational without further maintenance for some time, contrary to a complete shut-down that would result in the transmitters becoming unusable. If somebody should be interested in leasing a sufficient amount of airtime (not just one hour here and one hour there) or if somebody should be interested in obtaining the transmitters for use at other sites ... The staff at Kvitsøy and Sveio [no crossed o here] will be reduced from 13 to 5 until February. Not affected by the closure of the shortwave service is the 1314 mediumwave operation at Kvitsøy, at present again using only half power between 1630 and 0430, not by switching one transmitter off but instead by running both transmitters at half power (i.e. 300 kW each). For late January or early February DRM tests are scheduled, primarily to determine if the Telefunken S4006 transmitters are DRM-capable, something Telefunken was not able to confirm although the design is very similar to the S4005 500 kW shortwave transmitters (PANTEL family if I do not terribly mess-up something). This time pure DRM will be used, so these tests will of course disrupt the AM service. Contrary during earlier tests on 153 and 675 partly the disputed simulcast mode was used (Kai Ludwig, Jan 6, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** PHILIPPINES. Re: PHILIPPINE COMMUNISTS SET UP RADIO STATION IN CAGAYAN. Hi Glenn, Re WTFK!!!!! Another report I saw suggested this is not a "radio station" as such, but that the programmes will be distributed on cassettes and CD's. There's a group in Zimbabwe doing the same thing. 73, (Andy Sennitt, Holland, Jan 6, DX LISTENING DIGEST) If no transmitter, why call it a *radio* station? (gh) ** SWEDEN. Göteborger Funkamateure um Lars Westerlund wollen am 15. Januar 2004 die Mittelwelle Göteborg 981 kHz für eine Sondersendung reaktivieren. Sie soll ab 17.30 (MEZ 18.30) Uhr UTC an K.G. Eliasson (1884-1951) erinnern, der am 15.1.1924 die ersten regulären Rundfunksendungen aus dem Vallgatan 8 in Göteborg ausstrahlte. Ab 18.00 Uhr soll dann die historische Sendung wiederholt werden. Die Göteborgs Sändareamatörer versprechen für Empfangsberichte eine Sonder-QSL. Weitere Informationen finden sich unter http://www.scandiham.com in Schwedisch. (Jan Edh 18.11.2003) (ntt aktuell Jan 3 via DXLD) ** SWITZERLAND. SWITZERLAND'S FOURTH LANGUAGE HEADING FOR EXTINCTION Rumantsch, the ancient tongue that is Switzerland's fourth official language after German, French and Italian, is gradually dying out, officials and experts say. In the country's 2000 national census just 35,000 people - 0.5 percent of the population - listed Rumantsch as their first language, compared to 40,000 a decade earlier, while a further 60,000 listed it as a second language, according to the Federal Office of Statistics. Back in 1848, when the modern-day Swiss Confederation was born, Rumantsch-speakers represented two percent of the population. Related to both Catalan and Occitan, languages spoken in northeast Spain and southeast France respectively, Romantsch is traditionally spoken in the Grisons canton, or region, of eastern Switzerland. Three radio stations and one television station, including public broadcaster RTR, continue to broadcast in Rumantsch, while the community has four newspapers including one daily. But even in the Grisons, the number of fluent Rumantsch speakers is falling, in favour notably of German - seen as the language of industry and of economic opportunity. Today, of Switzerland's 7.3 million inhabitants, 63 percent speak German, 20 percent French, 6.5 percent Italian, and just 0.5 percent speak Rumantsch, while the remainder - mostly immigrants - speak a non-Swiss language. That means that despite its official status, Rumantsch has gradually receded to 10th position in terms of use, behind Serbo-Croat, Albanian and Turkish. (Source: AFP) # posted by Andy @ 15:09 UT June 6 (Media Network blog via DXLD) ** TAJIKISTAN [non]. Journalist fined for Internet fraud --- Montreal- based reporter must pay $11,000 in U.S.; Convicted of taking money for computers ordered on eBay that were never delivered. . . http://www.canada.com/montreal/montrealgazette/story.asp?id=40C07B42-6064-432E-832E-6C53F26791D1 (via Bill Westenhaver, DXLD) ex-R. Liberty Tajikguy ** THAILAND. 1575, VOA, Ayutthaya, JAN 1, 1154 tune-in to 1200 VOA Burmese program parallel 9890 kHz very good level but weakened before top of hour. 1200-1203 woman speaking but too weak to determine language. In the past I have heard VOA News Now in English at that time. DEC 23 weak audio parallel 9890 kHz 1152. Woman speaking 1201. Note that only the VOA Burmese program is parallel 9890 which is blocked by Radio Netherlands carrier coming on about 1156. Local sunrise here is 1216 now. The window for this one is rapidly closing as I have rarely had audio after JAN 15 (Raymond Moore, Ft. Myers, FL, Equipment: R8, homebrew receiver, 23" spiral loop, 28dB preamp, IRCA Soft DX Monitor via DXLD) As pointed out before, the path is virtually trans-polar, not trans- Pacific. If it`s short-path near the North Pole, Ray`s coastal location would not seem to be any advantage over inland locations further north, but no one else seems to hear this megawatt inside North America (gh, DXLD) ** UKRAINE [and non]. Re: Terrible ringing QRM during RUI broadcast of January 3, 2003 5905 kHz 0000 UT. Here is a link to a 2 minute recording. Any idea on the ringing? Utility? Digital transmission? (Krist) An interesting sound clip, of the sort that I think of every time I read somebody's over-stated critique of DRM audio artefacts, asserting that this digital system fails to deliver good audio. Here on the west coast of the USA, many SW transmissions from Europe -- if receivable at all -- are afflicted with interference levels, like this example, that obscure the intelligibility of the speech. It is hard to tell from this mp3 clip whether or not the superimposed QRM comes from modulation processed onto the carrier along with the audio, or whether it is another carrier or adjacent sideband interference: for at several places, the steady complex tone series of the interference signal is modulated in level by peaks in the RUI program. If this were a completely uncompressed recording such as a WAV file, any compression/modulation effects would not be introduced by the digitized medium; but can one be certain that the mp3 process did not introduce level-modulation artefacting? I certainly can't be certain. Furthermore the level is run all the way to the top, so that the digital audio compression algorithm has to do *something* drastic to the peaks to accommodate the complex, heavily modulated audio envelope. In addition, the radio receiver AGC may be acting on the signals since the feedback voltage in the AGC system will -- with fast AGC setting -- tend to pump like an audio limiter (which is what one hears in this sample.) One way to determine if there are two carriers, or merely one, with this complex signal would be to eliminate AGC feedback completely by either turning off the function, or greatly reducing RF gain, since AGC level will pump the overall volume up and down in the presence of two carriers that are not phase-locked to exactly the same frequency: when the one is stronger than the other, the volume of both will change. Without AGC, it will be easier to tell if the carrier level variations of ONE signal are independent of those of the OTHER signal. So, it's not readily apparent if the noise is IN the RUI transmission, or competing with it from an outside source. Normally a standard AM transmission system, no matter whether derived from high level plate modulation, low level modulation followed by linear amplification, PWM, or phase modulation, would not create such intrinsic noises even if there were defects in the equipment. Logic therefore suggests that the interference is external, another carrier merely close (or on top of) RUI's frequency. The interference transmission does not change much; it could well be a data transmission in a stasis mode (i. e. transmitting only its data carrier modulation). I am not an expert on the various data encoding processes used for HF transmission, though I can say that it does not sound at all like the normal modem-type signals one hears from telemetry links. The distortion products in the RUI audio are significant. The voice is almost grotesquely overloaded and clipped, easily discernible even under the interference signal. Is this typical of RUI? My reception of the station here in San José, on one or two rare occasions, was not even this clear since the signal was obviously weaker than it is in this sound clip; but when I have heard it, the station wasn't significantly worse sounding than, say, R. Bulgaria, though not as intelligible as VOR. Again, this kind of dreadful audio is not pleasurable and surely can only be endured by a trained SWL merely for DXing purposes rather than program listening: another reason to hope that DRM can improve SW transmission for those of us who are NOT capable of listening "through" terrible noise and distortion; i. e., most of the general radio listening public (Steve Waldee - retired AM and FM broadcast station engineer, San José, CA, Jan 6, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U K. BBC WORLD SERVICE HIGHLIGHTS [Americas stream times only here] DISCOVERY --- Wednesdays, 1506 beginning January 7th, repeated Wednesdays 2206 and Thursdays 0206: the science program Discovery features a three-part series, Cancer Battlelines: Andrew Luck-Baker investigates latest developments in the treatment of cancer and the prospect of a cure. ``The researchers and clinicians I spoke to seem to share a cautious optimism,`` he says. ``Surgery, radiation and chemotherapy have been the mainstays of cancer treatment for decades. Now, new generations of anti-cancer therapies and means of detection are graduating from the laboratory and beginning to be tested in the clinic to see if they really will help patients.`` (Richard Cuff, Easy Listening, Jan NASWA Journal via DXLD) ** U S A. Hi Glenn, My New Year's Talk to America is now available at: http://www.voanews.com/TalkToAmerica/article.cfm?objectid=04558F09-09B0-4851-83611AE07C539019&title=Talk%20To%20America%20%2D%20Program%20Archives or just http://www.voanews.com/TalkToAmerica/ and look for Archives (Kim Elliott, VOA, Jan 6, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Or Direct audio link: http://voa-8.chntva1-dc1.genuity.net/mediastore/040101-Kim_Elliot.ram [sic] (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. VOA calendar --- I received one this morning and very nice it is to, the subject is "US art from museums across the United States". If you want one I expect an email will do the trick (Mike Terry, England, Jan 5, DX LISTENING DIGEST) CALENDAR STIRS ANGER OF SOME VOA STAFFERS http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn/A13371- 2003Dec18?language=printer African Americans at the Voice of America are seething over the VOA's 2004 calendar, which features photos of famous American art. January features a painting by 19th century artist William Sidney Mount called "The Musicians." It features a group of whites playing music while a young black man listens outside. But VOA spokesman Joe O'Connell said the idea was "to try to pick as diverse a group" of artists as possible and "to show the American experience, warts and all." The VOA should not be trying to "censor ourselves," he added. Meanwhile, there's chatter that the agency, which has long had mostly white reporters, is making an effort to make sure its newsroom looks very diversified. So when tourists pass by the glass windows and peer into the new newsroom in a few months, they're going to see lots of minorities in desks near the windows -- even if those staffers work in sections that are located some distance away. Cynics are calling it "window dressing." Not so, O'Connell said. "VOA is already diverse, and we don't have to make it up," he said. "The placement of African and East Asia Pacific division staffers is intended to break down historic barriers between the newsroom and the language services and to expand content to those regions." (Al Kamen, In the Loop Dec 19, Washington Post via DXLD) ** U S A [non]. GERMANY(non): Frequency change for VOA in Persian via JUL 100 kW / 100 deg to ME: 1900-2000 NF 9680, ex 12110 (Observer, Bulgaria, Jan 6 via DXLD) ** U S A [non]. CZECH REP. (non): Frequency changes for Radio Liberty: 0100-0200 Russian NF 6170, ex 7235 0400-0500 Ukrainian NF 3985, ex 6170 1400-1500 Turkmen NF 12025, ex 15185 Holzkirchen 1700-1800 Armenian NF 9725, ex 11865 Holzkirchen (Observer, Bulgaria, Jan 6 via DXLD) ** U S A. The Upton, KY, SW station on 7490 is indeed now IDing as WJIE again rather than WJCR, so did their legal call change finally go into effect? Surprisingly good signal and modulation Jan 6 at 1559, claiming also 13595, but as usual nothing there. Strength was no match for KTBN 7505 or CRI 7405 but still very good, making one wonder if they already have FEBA`s 100 kW in operation, but more likely the old 50 is again temporarily working OK. In the half hour before that, what I would call ``praise music``, dense harmonies, and unreadable lyrics which made it rather pleasant if repetitious. From the Genesis network, apparently as breaks mentioned 850 area code for a local church with street address, but no city given! As if the originating station were unaware, or didn`t care that it had an audience outside the local area! After the WJIE ID, at 1600 also ID for WGCX 95.7 Navarre-Pensacola, and WIJD[?], Prichard AL. Then more praise music (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A [and non]. Re DXLD 4-001, LUXEMBOURG "Doctor" Gene Scott. . . I used to engineer radio stations on Mt. San Bruno when Dr. Scott owned a UHF channel with transmitter on that site; he made quite an appearance once "with his $200 haircut" (as a fellow engineer-friend described it) --- and though I am not at all a devotee of the good reverend, I must say that FJE's characterization seems at odds with this webpage: http://www.genescottunivernet.com/books/dissert.htm about Scott's master's and doctoral dissertations (the latter from Stanford University, and concerning theologian Reinhold Niebuhr.) I have happened on the occasional broadcast by Scott on both TV and SW in which he referred to Niebuhr, a huge influence in his life; and frankly, I don't believe that this website is a fraud. However, those who look at it may be STAGGERED at the price for a copy of the dissertation, which seems unprecedented! (Steve Waldee - former SF bay area FM & AM engineer, Jan 6, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. I haven't noticed anybody else mention this recently -- KTNN-660 Window Rock AZ has been dominating the frequency here in southern Missouri nightly for more than a week, after 10 pm Central time [0400 UT]. It's frequently well atop the usual Mexicans here -- are they not going to their night pattern? Anybody needing Arizona should look for country music, PSAs that frequently mention the Navajo Nation, and some VERY exotic-sounding Navajo singing and chanting (Randy Stewart/Battlefield (Springfield) MO, Jan 6, NRC-AM via DXLD) ** U S A. Anyone with an AM Stereo radio can enjoy 1030 WBZ Boston in AM Stereo tonight! Although their format is talk, the commercials and news/traffic sounders sound great in stereo. I've heard that their backup transmitter still has stereo, but not the main one. They must be using the backup for some reason. Let`s hope there was a big problem with the regular one. (that also spits out IBOC sometimes) :) (Jeff Lehmann, Hanson, MA, Jan 6, WTFDA-AM via DXLD) ** U S A. AM Stereo: One On, One Off --- Date posted: 2004-01-06 AS ONE STATION TURNS ON AN AM STEREO SIGNAL, ANOTHER TURNS IT OFF On Dec. 30, AM stereo was set up on WSOS at 1170 kHz in Augustine Beach, Fla. The station, running an oldies format, is owned by 3 Point Media of Florida. According to engineer Alan Alsobrook, it had been stereo previously under different owners. "They lost their stereo processor to lighting some time before they sold it and ran in mono for a year with just a pilot," he said. "When the station was purchased and I relocated the transmitter, I eyed all the stereo equipment, which was all in good shape. Later, as I went through the public file, I found several letters from listeners complaining that the station was no longer in stereo." New studios were already built with stereo capability, and the transmitter was collocated. Alsobrook wonders if this will be "the last new C-Quam station ever on the air in the USA." "I'm curious to see if anyone notices," he told Radio World. (Radio World via DXLD – the one off is WGN; see below) ** U S A. One newspaper reporter who gets it - WGN back in mono Like I said, Robert Feder at the Chicago Sun-Times is about the best of the bunch, even if he is giving a little too much credence to the AM stereo fanatics. And I'm not saying that just because he plugged my website, either... :-) http://www.suntimes.com/output/feder/cst-fin-feder06.html (Scott Fybush, NY, Jan 6, NRC-AM via DXLD) Viz.: NOW HEAR THIS: WGN CANCELS STEREO January 6, 2004 --- BY ROBERT FEDER SUN-TIMES COLUMNIST In 1982, WGN-AM (720) became one of the first AM radio stations in the country to begin broadcasting in stereo -- a development this column facetiously hailed as "the next great leap forward in our quality of life." Twenty-two years later, the Tribune Co.-owned news/talk station has pulled the plug on its stereo broadcasts without so much as a peep or a press release. With the installation of a new Harris 3DX50 transmitter last week, WGN chose not to equip it for stereo. For listeners who have stereo receivers in their cars or elsewhere, it's back to old-fashioned mono. On Monday, Mark Krieschen, vice president and general manager of WGN, confirmed the move and noted that Harris has sold 40 similar transmitters "and from what we hear, not one station has gone stereo." Krischen added that he still believes WGN "sounds crisp and clear with the new transmitter." But angry correspondents to Web sites and online message boards point to many other news/talk stations, including WLS-AM (890), which continue to broadcast in stereo. Even with its new transmitter, they argue, WGN still could broadcast in stereo simply by connecting its existing stereo equipment to the new system. In urging WGN to bring back stereo, they also claimed that even mono listeners benefit by enjoying the "improved quality" of the stereo- processed signal. Speaking of WGN's transmitter: Scott Fybush's nifty Web site devoted to broadcast towers and other technical stuff http://www.fybush.com this month features a rare and fascinating look inside WGN's Elk Grove Village radio antenna site. Included are photos of the station's "doomsday" fallout shelter studio complete with "cabinets full of emergency food and water (vintage 1962), geiger counters and helpful booklets explaining what to do in the event of a nuclear catastrophe." (via Artie Bigley, DXLD) ** U S A. WGN NOON SHOW SENT OUT TO PASTURE The December 24, 2003, edition of the Stark County News, a weekly in Toulon, Illinois, carries a story headlined: "WGN Noon Show sent out to pasture" subhead: "Lake County farmers react", by Greg Koeppen, Lake County Farm Bureau, Submitted by Elizabeth Bruns, Stark County Farm Bureau "After more than 50 years on the air, the WGN Radio Noon Show hosted by Orion Samuelson and Max Armstrong will be sent out to pasture as of January 5th. "This news raised not only the eyebrows but also the ire of many Lake County Farm Bureau members during a recent meeting. "'Orion and Max have been the voice for farmers throughout this area for so many years. We can't afford to not have them tell the story of agriculture,' said Dave Richards, Lake County Farm Bureau Director. "Citing a need to 'compete with programming for a broader audience' WGN Vice President & General Manager Mark Krieschen decided it was time to plow the noon show under. "'We have a story to tell about agriculture. The WGN Noon Show not only helped farmers, but it also helped inform the average consumer what was taking place in agriculture,' said Bill McNeill, Lake County Farm Bureau President. McNeill went on to explain how many people he comes in contact with that have no ties to agriculture, yet listen to the Noon Show to learn about agriculture and become even more informed as consumers. "'We need Orion and Max to help us keep farming alive and in peoples minds,' added McNeill. "Whether informing listeners about market prices and global trade or setting the record straight on Mad Cow and other epidemics, Orion and Max have been an honest and trusting voice to millions. "A recent news wire story indicated the Noon Show still generates more than $1 million a year in advertising revenue to the station. If you would like to express your disappointment with the decision to cancel this quality show after 50 years on the air, letters expressing your concern can be sent to the station at WGN Radio, 435 N. Michigan Ave., Chicago IL 60611. The general manager, Mark Krieschen, can be directly e-mailed at mkrieschen@tribune.com and the CEO, Dennis FitzSimmons, can be emailed at rmusil@tribune.com The program manager, Mary June Roses, can be reached at MaryJuneRose@wgnradio.com Copies can also be sent to Orion Samuelson at orionsamuelson@wgnradio.com and Max Armstrong at maxarmstrong@wgnradio.com " Another niche program that has bitten the dust at the end of 2003 is close to the hearts of NRC'ers who attended the Dallas convention. George Gimarc's "The Lost Tapes" show, heard from 10 p.m. to midnight Sundays on KRLD, aired for the last time on Dec. 28. It has been replaced by KRLD's late night fare during weekdays, the audio feed from CNN's Headline News cable channel. George and his partner had us rolling in the aisles with their entertaining presentation following the convention banquet. Janice and I will miss his KRLD show. Qal R. Mann, Krumudgeon (John Callarman, KA9SPA, Family Genealogist, Krum TX, Jan 6, NRC-AM via DXLD) ** U S A. LIBERAL TALK SHOW LAUNCHED A North Dakota based liberal talk show made a modest national debut yesterday on only a handful of stations. It's not even being carried at its point of origination, KFGO-AM in Fargo. Clear Channel broadcasting, long known for strong conservative stances and talk fare, doesn't seem to be in a big hurry to 'grow' this new baby --- but I suppose it's surprising that they ever allowed such a venture under their umbrella in the first place. Hey --- do you suppose they think it'll bring in a buck or two? That would likely be adequate motivation to give it a whirl. My impression is that like most businesses, CC is willing to go to bed with the devil if there's a profit potential. No, I'm not against profit, but when it's made at the price of disowning ones own philosophies, I question the honor of the firm doing so. OK, OK, so honor doesn't put any money in the bank. So much for scruples. IMHO, chances of success for this venture seem marginal --- but I hope that for the sake of balance on the public airwaves, it and others like it will bloom and prosper. BTW, it's allegedly on the X-M satellite menu. Get all the details in this Bismarck Tribune feature: http://www.bismarcktribune.com/articles/2004/01/06/news/state/sta02.txt (Tom Bryant / Nashville, Jan 6, WTFDA Soundoff via DXLD) Viz.: FARGO BROADCASTER ED SCHULTZ BEGINS NATIONAL TALK SHOW By DAVE KOLPACK, Associated Press Writer ...Schultz, 49, was recruited by Democrats after spending a dozen years as host of "News and Views," a talk show on Fargo's KFGO Radio. A new studio has been built in the Fargo building that houses KFGO and other Fargo stations owned by Clear Channel Communications Inc. of San Antonio. Schultz is continuing his KFGO show in its usual morning slot, 9 to 11:30 a.m. KFGO is not broadcasting Schultz's national show, which will be broadcast from 2 to 5 p.m. on weekdays. [2007-2300 UT] About a dozen stations are carrying the show, mostly in smaller markets, said Amy Bolton, vice president and general manager of Jones Radio Network, a radio programming company based in Englewood, Colo. She hopes to get the program on 40 stations by year's end. Bolton said the program also will be available on XM Satellite Radio, although the network did not list Schultz on its Monday roster of 64 talk hosts. XM has 101 channels, including sports, talk and a variety of music... (via Bryant, ibid.) I predict that you are CORRECT that Clear Cut effort at liberal talk shows will fail --- because when Clear Cut had one of the BEST and highest rated liberals, Jack Cole, on WJNO in South FLorida, the first thing they did was illegally cancel his contract before the end date. Sincerely, (Ex-Talk Radio Ad Salesman Christopher Maxwell, ibid.) Reading between the lines, it appears that the national liberal venture is not necessarily a CC or KFGO project, although it's obviously approved by them as Shultz's contract is with CC. He recently renewed for the biggest bucks ever paid to a ND air personality (Tom Bryant, ibid.) Why No One Should Fear the New Clear Channel 'All Liberal' Talk network --- Short Answer: Because they intend it to fail. Clear Channel is opening this allegedly "Liberal" network in small towns in all the middle "red states" that are overwhelmingly Republican. Clear Channel is setting up "Liberal Talk Radio" for a public failure so they can claim that they HAVE to be "conservative" because it`s allegedly a "market" decision. Then they think they'll be off the hook (Max, ibid.) ** U S A. A POST-BLAIR FIRING AT TIMES RADIO STATION OUTRAGES LISTENERS --- REQUIEM FOR A BACH JOCK by Tom Robbins January 7 - 13, 2004, Village Voice Ex-WQXR morning host Gregg Whiteside (photo: Shiho Fukada) Thanks to Jayson Blair and his devilish delight in concocting news stories, The New York Times suffered a public relations fiasco last year that exceeded even its fiercest critics' dreams. Its own enabling behavior helped cause the episode, the paper acknowledged, but at root, it insisted, it was the victim of a trusted employee gone bad. The same cannot be said of the paper's post-Blair performance with another staff member, a 25-year veteran announcer on the Times Company's classical music station, WQXR, who was summarily fired last August for having made what was termed an "inappropriate" remark off the air to a colleague and friend at the station. Exactly what Gregg Whiteside, the morning voice of WQXR's Bright and Early show at 96.3 FM since 1978, said is still unclear. Reportedly, the offending remark was anti-Semitic in nature. But what is uncontested is that, unlike Blair's fictions, which he intentionally foisted upon a believing readership, Whiteside's words were never heard by the public. Nor, like so many other wayward media commentators found guilty of making prejudiced remarks, did he even aim them at his listening audience. Instead, they were words uttered on an off-air microphone that somehow filtered through the walls of a jerry-built studio constructed on the Times' third-floor editorial offices. The booth had been moved there just months before from WQXR's main studio and offices on lower Fifth Avenue. The reason for this relocation, according to staffers, was to better allow Times-ian accuracy when Whiteside, broadcasting from the main studio, introduced his colleague, newsman Sam Hall, with the words: "Here now, from the newsroom of The New York Times . . . " Off-color language and offensive jokes are hardly unknown in a newsroom, even that of the august Times. But whatever Whiteside's offending words, they fell on the ears of someone nearby who later complained. The complaint, in turn, was routed to the Memphis (!) headquarters of the Times Company's broadcast group. Termination, managers decided, was the only solution. The abrupt firing set off a storm of protest by loyal listeners who raked the paper for choosing political correctness over quality and loyalty. They wrote petitions, letters, and even graffiti on the sidewalk outside the Times' West 43rd Street headquarters. They filled Internet protest sites with anguished messages in which they tried to explain why the loss of Whiteside's smooth basso voice, introducing works from Bach to Wagner, nattering on about sports and the weather, mattered so much to them. Some registered their rage, demanding reinstatement and threatening boycotts. "Has The New York Times sunk this low?" asked listener William Feingold. "QXR should be put off the air for this." Another fan, Dolores Crawford McLaughlin, wrote: "I am appalled that the powers that be have fired him. And if something isn't done about it, I will never listen to your radio station again." Listener Robert Schneider said Whiteside "was the best announcer you had. And short of him being convicted of a crime, you had no right to terminate him without explaining why to his faithful and devoted listeners." Some were plaintive. "WQXR was our station since 1939; we hardly ever moved the dial," wrote Harry Casewitz. "Gregg Whiteside was our attraction these last many years. His knowledge of music, his humor early in the day, were a great start for any day," he added. "I've listened to QXR all my life," sighed Barbara Hoffman, a classical music writer. "These Gregg-less mornings just aren't the same." Listener Matthew Culen nicely summed it up this way: "He has been our radio friend for decades." Just why the loss of a radio DJ --- albeit one on a highbrow station with a quarter-century on the airwaves—should spark such an outcry is one of those peculiar New York stories. Maybe it has something to do with the way New Yorkers drift daily past so many nameless faces, thus making a faceless name with a familiar voice a reassuring anchor in a cold world. Or it may have to do with the way his voice filled the dark and solitary early hours when Whiteside first came on the air (his show started at 5:30 a.m.). Or perhaps it was simply that the voice was comfortingly there for so long. "In a city where a block changes overnight, he was a constant," said Ross Neher, a Soho artist who was so upset by Whiteside's removal from the air that he looked up the broadcaster's name in the phone book to leave a message of sympathy and support. But whatever their reasons, more than four months after Whiteside went off the air, his former listeners are still mourning his loss, punching out unanswered e-mails to WQXR managers, and demanding that someone, somewhere get to the bottom of what happened. Hence this column. Partly, it is the murkiness behind Whiteside's firing that has stoked much of the fans' anger. WQXR station manager Tom Bartunek, who dropped the ax, won't discuss it, ducking calls last week to his office. The Times, the station's owner, also won't say. Immediately after the firing last summer, a Times spokesman named Toby Usnik issued a terse statement: "Mr. Whiteside is no longer on the staff of WQXR because of inappropriate comments he admitted making." Asked last week about the matter, Usnik offered to take written questions, and then, having received them, provided only this brief note: "Our past statement stands. We have nothing further to add on the subject of Mr. Whiteside." Whiteside himself talks openly—and only—about the pain of separating from his morning microphone in the studio booth. "It wasn't just a job, it wasn't just a career, it was my life," he says. "I couldn't even recognize my name without 'WQXR' attached to it." A former actor, he is passionate and dramatic, the qualities that endeared him to his audience. Before taking up radio, he traveled the world, working on the stage in Australia and serving in the Peace Corps in Korea. He was a child care counselor in New York, when, on a whim, he called WQXR and asked to be considered as an announcer. He was hired and, he believed, he had found his calling. He recorded ads for the Metropolitan Opera (which still air), and broadcast live from Avery Fisher Hall and Vienna. He now has what he calls his "prisoner of war speech" for those who ask him about the final episode: "I worked for WQXR for 25 years. I love my listeners. If I could have gone back and cut out that 60 seconds of whatever I said I would do so. I would apologize abjectly and profoundly to whoever was offended." Beyond that, however, he will not go. The reason, as he has explained to friends, is that after being fired without severance and being told to clean out his locker, give up his keys, and leave the studio, he initially vowed to fight. Prudence and family needs (he and his wife have a 15-year-old son who is a piano and violin virtuoso) soon took precedence over valor, and he later accepted a financial settlement which included a firm nondisclosure agreement. Such stipulations are standard fare, the price of fair compensation being silence. Whiteside later told friends that when station manager Bartunek called him into his office on August 12, he assumed it had to do with upcoming shows. Upon arrival, however, Whiteside was asked if he had ever said anything that could be considered anti-Semitic. In a burst of candor that did little to preserve his rights to challenge the accusation, the announcer responded that he and Hall often bantered off the air. "I could have said anti-anything, anti-anyone. It could have been 100 different things," he reportedly told the managers. It was, he explained later to his friends, the way he loosened up, got ready for the next round. "I'm an actor," he said. "It's what we do when the curtain is down. It's a way of getting the chemistry going." Such rants never included ethnic slurs, he insisted, but they were "often wild, probably outrageous," he said. "But to say something intentionally to hurt someone? I wouldn't, couldn't ever do that." (via Bill Westenhaver, DXLD) ** U S A. DC pirate at 93.5 DC Pirate Located - 1/5 - DCRTV hears that Channel 9/WUSA reporter Dave Statter has tracked down the pirate that's been broadcasting on 93.5 FM. Statter does confirm that the unlicensed radio station is in DC, but won't publicly reveal its location. According to 9's Sunday night newscast, the outlet's operating from the basement of an apartment building in the northwest part of the city. It took less than an hour of searching to find it by using the car radio and scanners. There is an antenna mounted on the roof of the apartment building. The operator of the radio station identified himself as Carlton Joseph who says he has been promoting Caribbean music and culture in DC for a number of years. Joseph showed Statter the little booth used as a studio. Joseph admits that they are not licensed but have an application on file and a lawyer working on the process. Joseph says in the meantime he is serving the needs of the community. Statter also interviewed Von Martin, longtime host of Caribbean music on WPFW. Martin says that commercial radio fails to serve this audience and he is not surprised by this turn of events. The station has been operating for about two months or so. In December, DCRTV reported that the pirate has been IDing itself as WEFM. The urban, rap, and West Indies music outlet seems to come in best from downtown DC, south along I-395, to the Springfield area. A "202" phone number was given for requests (via Bruce, amfmtvdx at qth.net via DXLD) I heard this last week while parked near Reagan National Airport eating lunch! He has one heckuva signal --- in Washington! Hello, anybody home at the FCC? Gotta think 93.9 WKYS, which is urban, can't be too happy about this. 73, (Bruce WB3HVV York, PA, ibid.) ** U S A. W1AW 2004 WINTER OPERATING SCHEDULE Morning Schedule: Time Mode Days ------------------- ---- --------- 1400 UTC (9 AM EST) CWs Wed, Fri 1400 UTC (9 AM EST) CWf Tue, Thu Daily Visitor Operating Hours: 1500 UTC to 1700 UTC - (10 AM to 12 PM EST) 1800 UTC to 2045 UTC - (1 PM to 3:45 PM EST) (Station closed 1700 to 1800 UTC (12 PM to 1 PM EST)) Afternoon/Evening Schedule: 2100 UTC (4 PM EST) CWf Mon, Wed, Fri 2100 " " CWs Tue, Thu 2200 " (5 PM EST) CWb Daily 2300 " (6 PM EST) RTTY Daily 0000 " (7 PM EST) CWs Mon, Wed, Fri 0000 " " CWf Tue, Thu 0100 " (8 PM EST) CWb Daily 0200 " (9 PM EST) RTTY Daily 0245 " (9:45 PM EST) VOICE Daily 0300 " (10 PM EST) CWf Mon, Wed, Fri 0300 " " CWs Tue, Thu 0400 " (11 PM EST) CWb Daily Frequencies (MHz) ----------------- CW: 1.8175 3.5815 7.0475 14.0475 18.0975 21.0675 28.0675 147.555 RTTY: - 3.625 7.095 14.095 18.1025 21.095 28.095 147.555 VOICE: 1.855 3.990 7.290 14.290 18.160 21.390 28.590 147.555 Notes: CWs = Morse Code practice (slow) = 5, 7.5, 10, 13 and 15 WPM CWf = Morse Code practice (fast) = 35, 30, 25, 20, 15, 13 and 10 WPM CWb = Morse Code Bulletins = 18 WPM CW frequencies include code practices, Qualifying Runs and CW bulletins. RTTY = Teleprinter Bulletins = BAUDOT (45.45 baud) and AMTOR-FEC (100 Baud). ASCII (110 Baud) is sent only as time allows. Code practice texts are from QST, and the source of each practice is given at the beginning of each practice and at the beginning of alternate speeds. On Tuesdays and Fridays at 2330 UTC (6:30 PM EST), Keplerian Elements for active amateur satellites are sent on the regular teleprinter frequencies. A DX bulletin replaces or is added to the regular bulletins between 0100 UTC (8 PM EST) Thursdays and 0100 UTC (8 PM EST) Fridays. In a communications emergency, monitor W1AW for special bulletins as follows: Voice on the hour, Teleprinter at 15 minutes past the hour, and CW on the half hour. FCC licensed amateurs may operate the station from 1500 UTC to 1700 UTC (10 AM to 12 PM EST), and then from 1800 UTC to 2045 UTC (1 PM to 3:45 PM EST) Monday through Friday. Be sure to bring your current FCC amateur license or a photocopy. The W1AW Operating Schedule may also be found on page 94 in the January 2004 issue of QST or on the web at, http://www.arrl.org/w1aw.html Copyright © 2004, American Radio Relay League, Inc. All Rights Reserved (via John Norfolk, DXLD) UNIDENTIFIED [and non]. Re the 1630.88 carrier: This is the essential part of the 1630 kHz data at the FCC: KOME Day CP CLOVIS CA 10.0 kW N 36 50 36.00 W 119 41 16.00 KOME Night CP CLOVIS CA 1.0 kW N 36 50 36.00 W 119 41 16.00 KCJJ Day LIC IOWA CITY IA 10.0 kW N 41 36 3.00 W 91 30 4.00 KCJJ Night LIC IOWA CITY IA 1.0 kW N 41 36 3.00 W 91 30 4.00 KKWY Day LIC FOX FARM WY 10.0 kW N 41 7 22.00 W 104 48 7.00 KKWY Night LIC FOX FARM WY 1.0 kW N 41 7 22.00 W 104 48 7.00 WRDW Day LIC AUGUSTA GA 10.0 kW N 33 31 0.00 W 82 0 36.00 WRDW Night LIC AUGUSTA GA 1.0 kW N 33 31 0.00 W 82 0 36.00 KNAX Day LIC FT. WORTH TX 10.0 kW N 32 47 56.00 W 97 17 43.00 KNAX Night LIC FT. WORTH TX 1.0 kW N 32 47 56.00 W 97 17 43.00 KNAX Day CP FT. WORTH TX 10.0 kW N 32 48 35.00 W 97 7 24.00 KNAX Night CP FT. WORTH TX 1.0 kW N 32 48 35.00 W 97 7 24.00 XEUT-AM Day TIJUANA BN MX 10.0 kW N 32 32 1.00 W 116 57 59.00 XEUT-AM Night TIJUANA BN MX 1.0 kW N 32 32 1.00 W 116 57 59.00 XEFRCT Day TIZAYUCA HG MX 10.0 kW N 19 50 30.00 W 98 58 45.00 XEFRCT Night TIZAYUCA HG MX 1.0 kW N 19 50 30.00 W 98 58 45.00 All stations are standard Class B non-DA X-banders. CP is Construction Permit status and the station may be testing technically OR it may have Program Test Authority --- which for all practical purposes the same as licensed. The FCC staff is never in a hurry to get the license done once PTA is granted. |g| The double entry for KNAX is there because both authorizations are valid. It looks like they are relocating their Tx site. If you have an accurate bearing from a known location you can compare it with bearings calculated from your location to the Lat/Long coords. Above by using the FCC calculator (use great circle method only for AM). http://www.fcc.gov/mb/audio/bickel/distance.html I doubt if you can get any more information directly from the FCC unless the EB (Enforcement Bureau) office in (?) Atlanta is aware and investigating, and even then I suspect they will be looking for info rather than giving it (Phil Alexander, CSRE, Indianapolis, Jan 6, NRC- AM via DXLD) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ PUBLICATIONS ++++++++++++ EMWG MEDIUMWAVE LIST - Just in case you had not yet heard the news... Dear all, First of all best wishes for the New Year! I have just uploaded the brand new edition of the EMWG onto the web site. It can be downloaded as a PDF file. Some extra information for the curious ;-) : * The PDF file can be opened with Acrobat Reader 3.x or higher but was actually made with version 6. * From now one there will be two PDF versions per year. The first one will be issued in January, the second in (early) July. You will easily be able to identify each version by the name of the file. The current file is called EMWG-2004A.pdf where 'A' stands for first or January version and 'B' will stand for the second or July version. * There are 81 pages in the current file, filled with up-to-date information. * The EMWG PDF edition was created with OpenOffice 1.1 (I do not use M$ stuff). * I will try and see whether I can expand the PDF version with some extras that cannot be found on the on-line version. Those extras should be available as from the next version (you'll have to wait and see but suggestions are welcome). * Of course the on-line version remains available with the very latest changes included. Today both versions are identical but as of next week this may already change. You could therefore conclude that the PDF version is best for regular MW listeners, while the on-line version is best for hard-core MW DXers. * I have tried to make the EMWG as accurate as possible but it is not certified error-free of course. There are still areas covered by the EMWG that are difficult to get correct information from. Should you have any corrections, don't hesitate to write me. Finally two things: * I would like to thank all of you who have contributed information to this list. Your contributions are very much appreciated not only by me but by all users of the list. * Please also have a look at the two other wonderful free publications: the AMWG and the PAL. Web information on both publications can be found in the link list of the EMWG (Herman Boel, Belgium, EMWG, Jan 2, BC-DX via DXLD) RADIO EQUIPMENT FORUM +++++++++++++++++++++ IBOC-AM DX COMMENTS FROM A SKEPTICAL FORMER ENTHUSIAST Glenn: I have no doubt that the nuances of every technical shortcoming of IBOC, described in the closing section of the DXLD (4-003) of 5 January 2004 are absolutely true, and are correctly described: they seem to ring true to me, a former AM station engineer with more than 27 years' experience in broadcasting. However, the small coterie of rabid AM DXing enthusiasts might take heed from some skeptical comments from those of us who don't agree with the quest to retain the absolute status quo of MW broadcasting. I myself was a fanatical AM DX chaser from the mid-fifties throughout the sixties; I gradually ceased listening and by 1980 haven't paid any heed to broadcast band DXing, since 99 out of 100 stations on the dial have nothing after dark that would interest me as a listener. Merely snagging a carrier and its modulation as an exercise are no longer important to me, though the traditional group of AM DXers seem not to have transitioned through various phases of the activity to the state of mind that I, for one, now have about it. When I was an avid DXer, stations were programming things that interested me; so I could stay on a signal for a half-hour, with enjoyment, to try to snare a clear ID. Today, the plethora of satellite programming services with a limited array of standardized programming fare have made it easy and cheap for radio broadcasters simply to turn on a feed from ESPN or Coast to Coast AM, so as one sweeps the band at night, these programs predominate. When I got a powerful new radio a bit more than a year ago, I tried AM DXing as a lark, and gave up in two days. Sports and pop music do not interest me, and I can hear Coast to Coast AM from local stations or the web in clearer fidelity. So that leaves out most of the signals I can detect. The mere exercise of logging a seemingly infinite quantity of individual transmitters for these identical programs is not an intellectual challenge for me. Back in the sixties, I could listen to nationwide DX and hear, from Los Gatos, California, all seven CBS o-and-o stations presenting their own unique local originations of American Airlines' "Music Til Dawn", each show with different music and hosts -- all to my taste. I could hear radio drama, from KABC-Los Angeles and other stations. I could hear idiosyncratic talk shows. I sometimes picked up late-night rebroadcasts of network fare, delayed and transmitted at odd hours: I well remember hearing Ben Grauer's fascinating show "Toscanini: The Man Behind the Legend" from Phoenix, delayed many hours after its Sunday evening NBC feed. I heard entertaining ethnic country music from Texas, Louisiana, and many other southern stations: stuff that was never played on my local country station, KEEN in San José, with DJs having real regional accents and folksy local appeal: a delightful glimpse into other far-off communities. Occasionally I could pick up sophisticated local talk shows from New York or Chicago, as well as the very homey and heart-warming late night talk from Salt Lake City. The late night talk host Ray Bream on KABC-Los Angeles would occasionally put in a call to Vladimir Posner at Radio Moscow. And there were also humorists on the air, like KGO's beatnik host "Big Al" Collins. It was a bewildering variety of diverse voices and entertainment, with a fresh experience every night, across the entire dial. Why would I bother, or care, to tune around now in the wee hours? Would I want to do this only to build up a log of x-banders, or useless 1 to 5 kW regional signals carrying the same damned ESPN- 2 audio feed? It isn't important to me. So, adding the "buzzsaw" hash of IBOC carriers, drowning out adjacent channels, is merely one more nail in the coffin of late night AM, filling up that one remaining empty spot on the periphery of the coffin lid. Despite the angst of the ideological idealists who cling to the status quo of the AM band as the all-analogue domain they would prefer, my own experience as an amateur astronomer tells me that worrying about this, writing pitiful little letters of complaint, and signing petitions will have next to no effect. Slightly more than one generation ago, I could set up a six inch aperture telescope in the Santa Clara valley and see deep-sky galaxies, star clusters, and nebulae. Now, I am lucky to be able to see more that a couple of the brightest planets, and a handful of stars. Light pollution has destroyed visual or photographic amateur astronomy here, despite the valiant efforts of Lick Observatory and the Dark-Sky Association. The Lick astronomers have had to resort to extremely narrowband filters, and ultimately to relocate their observing to other sites by building new observatories elsewhere. Local amateur astronomers now think nothing of making three or four hundred mile trips to find dark skies in northern California or Nevada. There was nothing possible for a small handful of astronomers (both professional and amateur) to do to stem the tide of population growth, nighttime advertising, and the demands of the police forces for better night vision to deter crime. I am not at all surprised that WOR Radio in New York is at the vanguard of IBOC development and implementation. Having been the engineer for Rick Buckley's AM outlet in San Francisco, and having worked directly with him, I know for certain that he thinks progressively and any new broadcast technique, such as FMX or IBOC, would be of great interest to him. However (and not wanting to sound critical of the man) I would admit that, to me, Mr. Buckley does not seem interested in what I would call the very finest of technical nuances -- and he certainly would be less interested in the worries of a small handful of amateur DXers or radio engineers than he would be focused on the broad industry trends. Thus, at KKHI we dabbled with Dolby encoding, or FMX, neither of which were found acceptable to the FM medium in the long run. I think that in a management-driven industry like American broadcasting (where the engineers are at the bidding of owners, 99% of which are NOT technically-savvy) this is the normal state of affairs. The critiques of a small group of highly sensitive but narrowly focused hobbyists are not irrelevant; but radio management will evaluate them with a mixture of input that gives more weight to financial considerations, industry prestige, and opportunities for promotion. Again, this is a fact of life and whining about it won't change it one whit. I would suggest that the following will occur (basing my prognostication on a lifetime of study of American broadcast developments): IBOC will gradually fold into the medium and even work its way into nighttime transmissions, with certain small measures added to try to correct the worst problems that may be encountered each step of the way. Ibiquity or a competitor's idea of digital transmission will eventually convert AM radio to this hybrid analogue- digital form of transmission and -- of course -- AM DXing will be severely impacted if not totally prevented. AM broadcast stations will behave more like local FM stations in this regard; distant listening will be impossible for most of the public. Under the circumstances, the AM DXer will be forced to adapt. I would suggest that he or she start working RIGHT NOW to make the changes. Take the attitude that this is GOING to happen; grit your teeth; and mutter to yourself, "I'll be damned if I'll let the bastards win!" Then start changing the filters in your radios; acquiring huge narrowband tunable loop antennas; and other processing gear to eliminate as much as possible of the IBOC detritus in the guardband between channels. You will have to make an order of magnitude improvement in your equipment and techniques, and maybe you'll squeeze another few years out of the hobby. If that fails, then do what the amateur astronomers have long been forced to do, and go on DXpeditions to distant places, erecting directional Beverages pointed AWAY from the dreaded IBOC stations. But, whatever you do, don't worry about it: this is the Pyhrric nature of "progress". (Steve Waldee, retired AM, FM broadcast engineer and FORMER broadcast band DXer, Jan 6, DX LISTENING DIGEST) TERRESTRIAL DIGITAL RADIO DEBUTS By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS Published: January 6, 2004 Filed at 3:41 p.m. ET CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa (AP) -- After years of preparation, digital radio receivers finally go on sale nationwide Wednesday, pairing CD-quality audio in over-the-air broadcasts with text information such as song titles, weather and news alerts. The launch officially began this week in Cedar Rapids, where one station is already broadcasting in digital. http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/technology/AP-Digital-Radio.html?ex=1074422836&ei=1&en=8cf860380d9568a8 (via Rich Cuff, swprograms via DXLD) WOR HAS NEW YORK'S FIRST COMMERCIALLY AVAILABLE HD RADIO HD [sic] RADIO RECEIVERS REACH STATIONS --- by Thomas R. Ray, III More stations that have converted to HD Radio can hear their digital signals now that the first commercial receivers have arrived at facilities. Tom Ray, corporate director of engineering for Buckley Broadcasting/WOR(AM) in New York, has installed a radio in his vehicle and shares his impressions of the digital audio quality and coverage. NEW YORK --- Santa arrived at the WOR studios a little early this year. As a matter of fact, he looked a lot like a FedEx guy. But in his bag, what wonders he carried! A Kenwood KDC-722 radio with Kenwood KTC-HR100 HD Radio tuner. Since WOR installed an Ibiquity IBOC exciter and became New York's first digital AM radio station on Oct. 11, 2002, we have had an Ibiquity reference receiver to listen to WOR-HD. That radio, however, is not conducive to portability. It weighs about 35 pounds. It is at least 30 x 17 x 7 inches. It runs on 120 volts AC. It would not fit in any dashboard I know of; and having to pull around a generator on a trailer hitch to power it didn't excite me. The Kenwood, however, did. I think I can safely say that I am the proud owner of the only commercial digital radio in New York, at least as I write. . . http://www.radioworld.com/reference-room/iboc/01_rw_hd_kenwood_2.shtml (Radio World Jan 2 via Glenn Hauser, DXLD) DIGITAL RADIO DX IN CANADA! Canadian Digital Radio has been DXed. After all the hype --- but no receivers in sight --- I FINALLY found a digital radio here in Canada and bought it. Radio Shack had 2 models. Both are puny portables --- 3 1/4 X 2 1/4 ". The one I got cost C$99 - -- and doesn't even have a speaker! (Just a 5 mW headphone output). The more expensive model was basically the same but with MP3 capability, which I don't care for. Despite the small size, it looks kinda cool and space-age. The model was an "Adapt DR-101-LF", made by a company called Personal Telecom in Korea. It tunes the L Band (1452- 1492 MHz) and FM. As many have noted with digital TV, and have forecast with digital radio, it's a brave new world! You almost have to be a DXer to use this radio. I'm guessing the average consumer will be very frustrated --- at least with how the tuner is set up. In the L Band, there are 23 "channels". Each channel has 5 "programs". That makes 115 programs. The L Band is eventually supposed to replace the 218 channels on the AM & FM bands. The Channels are labelled LA to LW (the L standing for L-Band) --- although going by the IDs, and by Industry Canada, it looks as though they are actually called Channel 1 to Channel 23 here in Canada, at least for now. When tuning across the band, you here dead silence. If you stay on a channel long enough, you might be lucky to hear a station pop up - if you happen to have the antenna in the right spot as you scan by. Once you get a channel, the 1st program automatically appears (giving stations on Program 1 an advantage). There is NO indication of program number on this radio - just the channel number. To figure out the 5 programs you go by the text IDs. When you have a channel tuned in, pushing the channel up button suddenly tunes programs instead of channels. I can see this driving the average consumer crazy. For example, I found signals on Channels LC, LD, LF, LH and LI. If I turn on the radio with the intent of getting to the LF group of stations, I tune through channel LA, then channel LB, then on channel LC it locks in to 680 NEWS, and when I go to advance to channel LD, instead it tunes to CHFI, then cycles through the 5 programs on channel LC. To even get to channel LD I have to hit another button and move the cursor over the channel number again and then continue. However, if I tune fast enough, I can get from channel LA to channel LF without locking it to the channel LC programs. If you don't whip by fast though, forget it. This might just be a quirk of this radio, others might be better. Basically, it makes it harder to tune to your favourite stations because now you have to sort of tune twice instead of once (channels - then programs). Something else really annoying is that if you lose reception on a channel, and move the antenna back into a good reception area, the tuner still takes time to lock --- and then when it does it automatically jumps to Program 1, not the last program you were listening to --- very annoying if 10 seconds ago you were listening to Program 4. This will cause average consumers fits as they have to constantly retune the radio. Meanwhile if you switch to FM on the very same receiver, the stations boom in loud & clear no matter where you put the antenna! If this receiver is any indication of the non-robustness of digital radio, it will never fly. Newer receivers may be better, but with the reception of this receiver, right now DAB can never compete with FM -- - no way, period. Why listen on DAB with frequent dropouts or "darth- vader" type effects when I can switch to FM and here a crisp clear signal 100% of the time? The CBC group of stations is ridiculously hard to receive. You need a coat-hanger and a chair - yet I can literally SEE the CN Tower out the window. The DAB side has an RDS type display. Same stuff as FM RDS but with a 16-character ID plus other things like databit rate, DAB mode, and "version number". The FM side on this receiver doesn't have RDS. Gee, if it had that then average consumers would NEVER use the DAB mode (unless they wanted to hear the AM stations with better fidelity and RDS). My gut feeling is that DAB will take several decades to replace AM & FM as proposed - or maybe never in my lifetime. It's just an expensive novelty. Here's what I got folks - all from the CN Tower 33 miles away --- n the 1452-1492 MHz L-Band: DLS is the "Dynamic Label" like song & artist, etc. Channel LC (3) 1456.304 MHz Toronto: DAB Mode II Version 1.1 Time 1 hour slow 680 NEWS Pty= NEWS 128 kbps Mono "All News Radio . 680 News" CHFI Pty=N/A 192 kbps Stereo "Toronto's Soft Rock 98.1 CHFI" 1050CHUM Pty=N/A 192 kbps Stereo "Oldies 1050CHUM.com" or 104.5 CHUM.FM Pty=N/A 192 kbps Stereo EDGE 102 Pty=N/A 192 kbps Stereo "From all of us to all of you... Happy Holidays!" Channel LD (4) 1458.048 MHz Toronto: DAB Mode II Version 1.1 Time 1 hour fast CFRB Pty=Talk 128 kbps Mono no DLS MIX 99.9 Pty=N/A 224 kbps Stereo no DLS THE FAN Pty=N/A 128 kbps Mono no DLS EZ.ROCK Pty=N/A 224 kbps Stereo no DLS JAZZ FM Pty=Jazz 224 kbps Stereo no DLS Channel LF (6) 1461.536 MHz Toronto: DAB Mode II Version 1.1 Time 4 minutes fast CBC Radio 1 Pty= Informarion 224 kbps Stereo "CBC Toronto You are listening to Radio One" CBC Radio 2 Pty=Adult =Hits 224 kbps Stereo no DLS RC Premiere Pty=Information 224 kbps Stereo no DLS RC Culturelle Pty=Adult Hits 224 kbps Stereo no DLS Channel LH (8) 1465.024 MHz Toronto: DAB Mode II Version 1.1 Time 1 hour fast CHIN Pty= N/A 224 kbps Stereo no DLS CHIN.FM Pty=N/A 224 kbps Stereo no DLS Mojo 640 Pty=N/A 224 kbps Stereo "From all of us to all of you... Happy Holidays!" or "fog, min tmp 6C" Q107 Pty=N/A 224 kbps Stereo "fog, min tmp 6C" 92.5JACK Pty=N/A 224 kbps Stereo "Playing What We Want. 92.5 Jack FM" or Channel LI (9) 1466.758 MHz Brampton (city of licence): DAB Mode II Version 1.1 Time 1 hour fast CJYE Pty= N/A 096 kbps Mono no DLS *** no audio *** CJMR Pty=N/A 096 kbps Mono no DLS *** no audio *** CIRV Pty=N/A 224 kbps Stereo no DLS CIAO Pty=N/A 224 kbps Stereo no DLS CFMX Pty=N/A 224 kbps Stereo no DLS Official callsigns are apparently assigned to individual programs, not channels. For example, CJYE is CJYE-DR. I don't have a full listm, so I don't know what happens with AM/FM sister stations, ex.: CHUM and CHUM-FM --- are they CHUM-DR and CHUM-FM-DR ??? I'll report on new stations as they hit the air. I expect the band will be affected by tropo a lot, even more so than UHF. I also expect a lot of weird effects like rain scatter to become more important in the L-Band. Once more stations come on the air from other Southern Ontario cities I'll get a feel for real DXing (so far Windsor is on the air at 200 miles distant). I'd also be interested to what digital stations the UK DXers have heard, if anything. Cheers, (William Hepburn, Grimsby, Niagara, ON, CANADA, VEM3-ONT22, Jan 4, WTFDA via DXLD) PROPAGATION +++++++++++ The geomagnetic field ranged from quiet to minor storm levels. Activity was at quiet to unsettled levels early in period. On 31 December – 01 January, a coronal hole driven high speed stream produced unsettled to minor storm levels. Activity decreased on 02 January to quiet to active levels. A large transequatorial coronal hole rotated into a geoeffective position on 03 January and produced unsettled to minor storm levels on 03 – 04 January. FORECAST OF SOLAR AND GEOMAGNETIC ACTIVITY 7 January - 2 February 2004 Solar activity is expected to be at very low to low levels with a chance of isolated M-class activity. Region 536 is expected to produce C-class flares and possibly an isolated M-class event through 14 January. The new region currently rotating onto the east limb is likely to have the potential for isolated M-class flares for the first half of the period. Activity during the second half of the period is expected to be at low levels. There is a slight chance for a greater than 10 MeV proton event from 536, and perhaps from new Region 537 as in rotates onto the disk. The greater than 2 MeV electron flux at geosynchronous orbit is expected to reach high levels on 07 – 14 January, 17 – 19 January and again on 28 – 29 January due to recurrent coronal holes. Geomagnetic activity is expected to range from quiet major storm levels. Unsettled to major storm levels are possible early in period due to the large coronal hole driven high speed stream. Two smaller recurrent coronal holes are expected to return on 16 – 17 January and 27 – 28 January, and are expected to produce active to minor storm level activity. :Product: 27-day Space Weather Outlook Table 27DO.txt :Issued: 2004 Jan 06 2211 UTC # Prepared by the US Dept. of Commerce, NOAA, Space Environment Center # Product description and SEC contact on the Web # http://www.sec.noaa.gov/wwire.html # # 27-day Space Weather Outlook Table # Issued 2004 Jan 06 # # UTC Radio Flux Planetary Largest # Date 10.7 cm A Index Kp Index 2004 Jan 07 120 35 6 2004 Jan 08 125 25 5 2004 Jan 09 130 25 5 2004 Jan 10 135 25 5 2004 Jan 11 135 25 5 2004 Jan 12 130 20 4 2004 Jan 13 125 10 3 2004 Jan 14 120 10 3 2004 Jan 15 120 10 3 2004 Jan 16 125 15 3 2004 Jan 17 130 20 4 2004 Jan 18 135 15 3 2004 Jan 19 130 10 3 2004 Jan 20 125 10 3 2004 Jan 21 120 5 2 2004 Jan 22 115 10 3 2004 Jan 23 115 10 3 2004 Jan 24 115 10 3 2004 Jan 25 115 5 2 2004 Jan 26 115 10 3 2004 Jan 27 120 15 3 2004 Jan 28 120 25 5 2004 Jan 29 120 15 3 2004 Jan 30 120 25 5 2004 Jan 31 125 25 5 2004 Feb 01 125 20 4 2004 Feb 02 125 20 4 (http://www.sec.noaa.gov/radio via WORLD OF RADIO 1215, DXLD) ###