DX LISTENING DIGEST 4-026, February 12, 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 Extra 45: [Same as COM 03-06, but not previously on most WOR affiliates] Sat 0000 on Studio X, Momigno, Italy, 1584 Sat 0900 on WRN1 to Europe, Africa, Asia, Australasia, webcast Sat 0955 on WNQM, Nashville, 1300 Sat 1130 on WWCR 5070 Sat 1900 on IBC Radio webcast http://www.ibcradio.com Sat 1930 on WPKN Bridgeport, 89.5, webcast http://www.wpkn.org Sat 2130 on WWCR 12160 Sat 2130 on WBCQ 17495-CUSB Sun 0130 on WBCQ 9330-CLSB Sun 0330 on WWCR 5070 Sun 0730 on WWCR 3210 Sun 1100 on WRN1 to North America, webcast; also KSFC 91.9 Spokane WA, and WDWN 89.1 Auburn NY; maybe KTRU 91.7 Houston TX, each with webcasts Sun 1600 on IBC Radio, webcast http://www.ibcradio.com Sun 2000 on Studio X, Momigno, 1584 Sun 2100 on RNI webcast, http://www.11L-rni.com Mon 0430 on WSUI 910, webcast http://wsui.uiowa.edu [last week`s 1219] Mon 0515 on WBCQ 7415, webcast http://wbcq.us Tue 0400 on SIUE Web Radio http://www.siue.edu/WEBRADIO/ Wed 1030 on WWCR 9475 WRN ONDEMAND [from Fri]: http://new.wrn.org/listeners/stations/station.php?StationID=24 OUR ONDEMAND AUDIO [also for CONTINENT OF MEDIA, MUNDO RADIAL]: Check http://www.worldofradio.com/audiomid.html WORLD OF RADIO Extra 45 (high version): (stream) http://www.w4uvh.net/worx45h.ram (download) http://www.w4uvh.net/worx45h.rm (summary) http://www.worldofradio.com/com0306.html WORLD OF RADIO Extra 45 (low version): (stream) http://www.w4uvh.net/com0306.ram (download) http://www.w4uvh.net/com0306.rm ** ANGOLA. Está em curso, no território angolano, debates sobre o processo eleitoral. Também o governo daquela nação africana de fala portuguesa está investindo, em massa, na reconstrução da malha rodoviária. A boa recepção da Rádio Nacional, em 4950 kHz, nos últimos dias, proporcionou ao colunista, em Porto Alegre (RS), a escuta destas boas novas. É fácil: sempre na hora cheia, a emissora apresenta o Jornal da Hora, com as últimas informações do país, África e mundo. A sintonia ocorre sempre após às 2300. Às 0500, vai ao ar o programa Manhã Informativo. Confira você também! (Célio Romais, Panorama, @tividade DX Feb 9 via DXLD) ** BAHAMAS. I've been hearing at times during the last half an hour or so a British accented male giving news about the Bahamas and also lots of local talk about the Bahamian Islands. Still waiting for an ID. Signal was good, even over WPTR at times. Sometimes the signal disappears completely, with WPTR dominating, then all of a sudden this signal briefly dominates WPTR! Could this be ZNS1? (Gary Wilt, Wood-Ridge, NJ, 0509 UT Dec 12, NRC-AM via DXLD) Sounds like it is. Good catch! (Juan Gualda, Fort Pierce, FL, ibid.) I wonder if the pattern is out of whack. ZNS1 Gets out really well through the Carib, Lower Central and Northern South America out to the Pacific, according to my DX 398. Your mileage may vary. I believe the reason they have ZNS-3 in Freeport, Bahamas is to fill in the northerly null of 15-40 Zed-N-S-One, Nassau, Bahamas. 1540 is a two tower arrangement (Ron Gitschier, Jax, FL, PS - Great Catch! Ibid.) Years ago they were not at all uncommon about 15-20 miles west of where you are (Russ Edmunds, Blue Bell, PA, ibid.) Almost immediately after sending out my previous email about the possibility of hearing ZNS1, I just heard an ID "This is the ZNS network". Just now again, the announcer mentioned "This is the Zed-N-S network". This is a new one for me, especially with WPTR being dominant most of the time here. If you need this one, now`s a good time! 73 (Gary Wilt, Wood-Ridge, NJ, 0513 UT Feb 12, ibid.) ** BELARUS. 7090: down till 7090 splatters of Radio Minsk on 7105 (German Ham Radio Bandwatch news of January 2004 via BC-DX Feb 9 via DXLD) ** BHUTAN. BBS TO BROADCAST ON FM | Text of report in English by Bhutanese official newspaper Kuensel web site on 11 February Travellers tuning in to Bhutan Broadcasting service (BBS) radio will enjoy an uninterrupted service covering most part of the country with the introduction of frequency modulation (FM) radio, according to BBS officials. "If the listeners tune in right by adjusting the frequency now and then, they will have an uninterrupted service", said the chief engineer of BBS, Sonam Tobgay. However, he said that the deep gorges and the mountainous terrain at some places may cause disturbances. The airtime will also be expanded to 15 hours from 7 am to 10 pm [0100-1600 gmt], starting from 21 February. The project is funded by the Netherlands [as received; probably Denmark] at a cost of 2.3m Kroners (17.7m ngultrum) [about 392,000 US dollars] under the good governance project. Source: Kuensel web site, Thimphu, in English 11 Feb 04 (via BBCM via DXLD) So will they keep SW to fill in the gaps, and on the air longer too??? (gh, DXLD) ** BOLIVIA. 5952.4v, R. Pio Doce, 9 Feb 0954-1005, Usual daily program prior to 1000, but had a M hosting instead of the usual lady this morning. Ads and program outro to 0959. "Pio Doce" (repeated) singing ID song at 0959, into "Pio Doce Noticias" program at 1000 with M host. Had some actualities. Nice program promo by W at 1003 during the program. Was thinking this might be the morning I was hoping for for many months when WYFR 5950 would be off for maintenance, but unfortunately they popped on at 1005. Still, I'm glad to get some really good details and nice IDs recorded!! By the way, WYFR signed on at 0948 the morning before (Dave Valko, Dunlo PA, Feb 11, Cumbredx mailing list via DXLD) ** BOLIVIA. 4684.30 kHz, Radio Paitití, Guayaramerín. Amigos DXistas, aquí viene SWB MICROINFORMATIVO! Quito 11/Feb/2004 10:56. Radio Paitití has moved from 4682 kHz to this frequency. 73 (Björn Malm, Quito, Ecuador, SWB América Latina, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** BRAZIL. A Rádio Difusora do Amazonas, de Manaus (AM), irradia, de segunda a sábado, das 0945 às 1100, em 4805 kHz, o programa Jornal da Manhã. Nos domingos, vai ao ar entre 1045 e 1130. Conforme Paulo Roberto e Souza, de Tefé (AM), ``leva aos receptores nos mais distantes locais da Amazônia, informações sobre a atualidade nacional, internacional e principalmente sobre o estado. O programa que é retransmitido por diversas emissoras amazonenses, com certeza, já faz parte da história do rádio no Amazonas``. Ele completa: ``cumpre importante papel de informação e integração num estado onde as distâncias são gigantescas. É o rádio mostrando a sua importância.`` BRASIL – Atenção! A Rádio Brasil Central, de Goiânia (GO), já está anunciando em sua programação: no próximo dia 14 termina o horário de verão no Brasil. À meia-noite, os relógios devem ser atrasados em uma hora. BRASIL – Ao que tudo indica, os comunicadores da Rádio Nacional da Amazônia e da Rádio Nacional, de Brasília (DF), estão de folga nas noites de sábados e madrugadas de domingo. Em oito de fevereiro, por volta de 0200, as freqüências de 980, 1130, 6180 e 11780 kHz estavam irradiando o programa Musi Show, gerado no Rio de Janeiro (RJ), com apresentação de Cirillo Reis. A partir de 0200, Rubem Confete entrou no ar com o seu Rio de Toda a Gente e anunciou que estavam transmitindo via Rádio Nacional da Amazônia, em 6180 e 11780 kHz (Célio Romais, Panorama, @tividade DX Feb 9 via DXLD) ** BRAZIL. R. Cultura Ondas Tropicais, 4845.21, Feb 7 1004-1015+, tune-in to NA. Sign-on Portuguese announcements with IDs and into religious music; good (Brian Alexander, Mechanicsburg PA, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CANADA. "New" targeted programming, "new" language from RCI --- Portuguese to Brazil will return, but may not be on shortwave. New language will be "paid for" by cuts to Ukrainian service. Targeted programming for Europe, Africa, India, Mid-East, but not the U.S. (Bill Westenhaver & Sheldon Harvey, CKUT International Radio Report Feb 8, notes by Ricky Leong, via DXLD) O DX Listening Digest, publicado por Glenn Hauser, deu, em primeira mão, na edição de número 4-021, de três de fevereiro: a Rádio Canadá Internacional anunciou que voltará a emitir, em português, em março, via ondas curtas. A emissora pretende atingir a audiência brasileira. Desta forma, a RCI passa a emitir em nove idiomas: inglês, francês, espanhol, árabe, russo, ucraniano, mandarim, cantonês e português. O nosso idioma é o quinto mais falado no mundo. As informações também estão publicadas no sítio da emissora na Internet: http://www.rcinet.ca ``Tudo na vida é questão de tempo``. Foi com esta frase que a apresentadora Edna Torquato anunciou a volta da Seção Brasileira da Rádio Canadá Internacional. Ela participou do programa Contestacion a la correspondência, do Serviço em Espanhol da emissora, levado ao ar, em nove de fevereiro, às 0130, em 11865 kHz. Edna é a mesma que chorou durante a última emissão da Rádio Canadá Internacional, em português, emitida em 22 de março de 1991. Ela contou a Pablo Barrios que, naquela ocasião, ficou sabendo da notícia no exato momento em que iria entrar no ar. Assim, sentiu muita revolta e caiu em lágrimas. Edna disse que não existem, ainda, detalhes da programação. A única certeza é que a emissora iniciará a programação, em português, em março. Aproveitou, ainda, para ler algumas cartas dos ouvintes brasileiros: Sérgio Goulart, Alberto Fetter, Leônidas dos Santos Nascimento, Francisco Jackson e Adalberto Marques de Azevedo. Antes do anúncio, Pablo Barrios reapresentou uma gravação de 1984, onde Edna Torquato apresentava o programa Caixa Postal e Vicente de Mello anunciava as notícias. CANADÁ – O Serviço em Espanhol da Rádio Canadá Internacional acaba de lançar um novo concurso. Os interessados devem responder a seguinte pergunta: quais são os monstros lacustres canadenses? A dica é do Oséias Fantinelli, de Jacutinga (RS) e do Leônidas dos Santos Nascimento, de São João Evangelista (MG). As respostas podem ser enviadas até o dia primeiro de abril para: correo @ cbc.ca. A programação, em espanhol, pode ser acompanhada às 2330, em 9755, 11865 e 13730 kHz. De acordo com o Oséias, esta última freqüência, ao que tudo indica, não está em atuação, nos últimos dias (Célio Romais, Panorama, @tividade DX Feb 9 via DXLD) ** CANADA. Checked 9515 Feb 11 after 1500, and RCI audio was distorted but could not detect any splatter away from frequency on this date, as recently reported; 9515 is not especially strong here. No such problem with \\ 13655, 17820. 9515 was better on Feb 12 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Re: RCI 9515 Spurious Transmission -- Assume you are sure this was really RCI? Pretty sure it was RCI due to the received signal strength of the spurs. My present antenna is a 24 ft. sloping wire. Even with this minimal antenna, RCI's 9515 signal strength can get as high as 5 mV here in Sudbury (about 20 mi. west of Boston) when propagation is good. I'm using a Harris R-2368 receiver that has a very wide dynamic range front-end, so I know the spur problem is not being created in my receiving setup. I did speak to them about 9 months ago about --- the then --- poor signal strength and they did mention in passing that they were having problems with the Harris transmitter. My impression is that they reserve their newer ABB transmitters for the paying international customers and use the Harris for the free broadcasts to the US. They are probably not all that well off financially, so I not expecting them to bend over backward to fix the problem. Regards, (Tim Brown, MA, Feb 11, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CANADA [and non]. Correction to DXLD & WOR Hi Glenn, I wanted to let you know that the CKUT Homelessness Marathon is NOT the same as the similar marathon which is being presented on a number of US stations. Here's a piece which appeared in the Feb. 5th Montreal Mirror about the CKUT broadcast: Homeless all-nighter As people retreat to their warm homes next Thursday, Feb. 12, volunteers will be taking to the streets and the airwaves as part of the second annual Homelessness Marathon, hosted by community radio station CKUT 90.3 FM and le Groupe communautaire l'Itinéraire. The least at-home listeners can do, says CKUT community news coordinator Gretchen King, is stay up and stay tuned. "Every night someone is sleeping outside," says King, "so just this one night, stay up." Beginning at sunset (5 p.m.) and continuing until sunrise Friday (7 a.m.), the marathon will be broadcast from Café sur la rue on Ontario and Amherst and transmitted across the country via 24 campus and community stations and the Internet. Every hour a different topic will be explored, from families and homelessness to the role of government policy to addiction. Modelled after - and in conjunction with - the seven-year-old American Homelessness Marathon, the project aims to create a forum for homeless people to voice their concerns and interact with politicians, activists and the public. Last year, homeless people turned up the heat on Michel Prescott, then the city's executive committee member responsible for housing. The marathon will also go live to air in the streets of Toronto and Nunavut and meet up with the sister broadcast in Ohio. Volunteers are still needed to set up listening stations in shelters across the city, says King. For more information, contact CKUT at 398-6788 or visit http://www.ckut.ca/homeless.html The public is invited to call in (1- 866-763-4136) or stop by the café during the broadcast. --- Shannon Devine The link for this piece would be: http://www.montrealmirror.com/meat/front.html but that URL will be replaced tomorrow (Feb. 11) by the new edition. According to the schedule on the CKUT website, the Montreal people will be hooking up with the US people in the 1-2 AM EST hour [0600- 0700 UT], but other than that, the two broadcasts are totally separate. 73- (Bill Westenhaver, QC, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CANADA. CFAV 1570 Radio Nostalgie still in testing mode; Still under-powered, at 1 kW (licensed for 10 kW) (Sheldon Harvey & Bill Westenhaver, CKUT International Radio Report Feb 8, notes by Ricky Leong via DXLD) ** CANADA. CHRISTIAN RADIO STATION VIES FOR VALENTINE'S DAY LISTENERS WITH STATION OFFERING FREE DIVORCE Two Ottawa radio stations are facing off this week over love, sex and divorce. CHRI 99.1 FM, Ottawa's Christian station, will devote all its air time from midnight Thursday to midnight Friday to the need for sexual purity, while 89.9 FM, which calls itself the "Hit station," is offering what it calls a "Valentine's Day Massacre": a free divorce and a night on the town for the winners and their friends. CHRI has enlisted the help of medical experts, clergy, academics and youth to discuss sexual ethics, the reasons for pre-marital chastity and the dangers of pornography, contraception and sexually transmitted diseases. For the promotion on 88.9, estranged couples need only e- mail the station 89 words or less on why they want the station to cover their costs. By yesterday afternoon, it had 100 calls. Two of the callers were huffy and objected to such a contest. The other 98 wanted the free divorce (From the National Post (Canada) 10 February 2003 via Gerald T. Pollard, NC, DXLD) ** CHINA. ABRS CHINA AWARDS THALES NEW SHORTWAVE CONTRACT Following the highly satisfactory delivery and record time commissioning of two 500 kW SW transmitters ordered in December 2001. Thales has now been awarded new contracts for a total of 13 shortwave transmitters of the same type and power class and Thales ALLISS antenna systems. All equipment will be delivered in 2003. The ALLISS antenna is not only flexible but also sturdy enough to withstand extreme weather conditions. The most recent example is a system to be installed in the north of China, an earthquake area where temperatures go down to minus 40 C in winter and up to plus 45 C temperature in summer. Perfect Teamwork is the Key to Success. End of 2002, the Chinese international broadcaster ABRSC contracted Thales Broadcast & Multimedia to deliver 13 shortwave transmitter (type TSW 2500) and the legendary ALLISS, the Thales rotary antenna system. All equipment was to be delivered and installed by end of the following year (2003). Now exactly one year later and just on time, all equipment is ready to go on air. Harsh environmental conditions of the antenna site played an important role in the design criteria. On ABRSC side, work started immediately to prepare the various installation sites. In order to make the most of the time at their disposal, the teams worked around the clock, 7 days a week. At the peak of the activity in December 2003, twelve engineers from Thales companies in Europe, three engineers from the new Thales Beijing Service Center and numerous engineers from ABRSC including station personnel and special delegated project leaders, were working towards the common goal. The teams were communicating regularly in four languages English, German, French, and Chinese (Thales, Mediacenter Newsletter Radio News #10, Winter 2002 / #11, Spring 2003 / #14 Winter 2003 via BC-DX Feb 9 via DXLD) Thanks for the pdf file and information concerning Thales and the installation of 13 (or is it 19) new 500 kW transmitters and antennas at sites within China. Yes, I guess that the one being written about could surely be the site at Kashi-Kashgar, which would be subject to temperatures and weather they write about [but it is NOT in North China as stated, but extreme West China --- gh]. If I remember correctly, four were heard on air at the same time from this site, but of course we cannot say for certain that only four were installed there. It seems a very expensive project if any of them are to be used only as jammers! I think I read somewhere that the IBB were to install additional transmitters at Tinian, so maybe the Chinese are taking this into account? When so many western SW broadcasters appear to be abandoning SW we should still have something to listen to from China! I wonder if any of you have noticed the difference in modulation/audio characteristics from these Thales transmitters/antennas. The Deutsche Welle ones at Nauen all sound different --- perhaps a little "muffled" --- to my ears than those located at Wertachtal. And I have noticed this effect via RFI also when a good signal is audible. But I didn`t notice the effect via Kashi. They sounded very crisp and clear (Noel R. Green-UK, BC-DX Feb 5 via DXLD) Thales is the largest supplier of broadcast transmitters in the world, by far. The digital revolution is underway worldwide. Our customers see broadcasting as one of many ways to reach their viewers [sic]. Here at Thales, we see our world expanding --- to include so many aspects of digital communications! Thales is headquartered at Conflans, France, in the Paris suburbs. We have operating companies in Switzerland, Germany, France, and the U. S. http://www.thales-bm.com (Thales, Mediacenter Newsletter #1, 2002, ibid.) Would it be too much to ask for Thales and other manufacturers of high-powered HF equipment to contractually require that clients will not use the equipment for jamming of other broadcasters, or to facilitate jamming by freeing up older transmitters? Obviously, yes! The almighty franc is all that matters (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CHINA. UnID, 7620, 1030-1105, Noted Chinese music and comments by a man and woman. This frequency was reported in DXLD 3214 of 11/29/03 under "China, Taiwan" which is thoroughly confusing to me. I checked all of the references books that I spent good money on, and could not find this frequency listed in any of them (PWBR, WRTH). So at this point I am going to take a guess and say this is Taiwan broadcasting. Signal was fair. I checked the parallel frequencies listed in DXLD 3214 for this transmission, and all were NIL HRD (Chuck Bolland, February 12, 2004, FL, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Well, the item explains pretty clearly, I think, that these are services from Beijing to Taiwan. When there is contradictory info, the first country in the heading rules. It was originally put under Taiwan, and I corrected that to China (gh) ILG Feb 1, 2004 mentions: 7620 CNR Beijing 5 0955-0005 UT Mandarin/Amoy (Chinese) Beijing 50 kW 162 degrees, zone 44SE CNR 5 CHN CHINA 116E27 39N57 Beijing FCNR Taiwan Service. 73 wb (Wolfgang Büschel, DX LISTENING DIGEST) The reference would better be described as from China to Taiwan. And according to the Nagoya DX web site, 7620 is used by Taiwan service 1st [CNR-5]. This frequency is not listed in the current HFCC list, but is believed to be via Beijing 50 kW 180 degrees. There are two services, viz.: 1st (CNR-5) : 0055-0615 on 15710 11935 11620 0955-0005 on 9380 7620 5925 2nd (CNR-6) : 0355-1230 on 15880 2055-0105 & 1230-1805 on 9170 0355-1200 & 2330-0105 on 11905 2055-2330 on 6165 1200-1805 on 6140 These two services resumed SW broadcasting in late 2003. The language used is reported as Amoy. Frequencies 7620 9170 9380 11905 & 15880 are regularly audible here. China Business Radio (CNR-2) currently has a very strong signal at 1300 on 15500 and is in English with a talk/discussion about books and about Steve Wozniak and PC's. Also included a song by Madonna! I believe this is one of hour long language lessons aired by this network (Noel R. Green [Blackpool, NW England], Cumbre DX via DXLD) ** COSTA RICA. Some notes from The Edge story about what happened to RFPI, referenced here in 4-022: The standoff lasted 5 months; RFPI staff were protecting $400,000 worth of equipment. Finally in early November was forced of the air by machete-wielding university personnel who cut the power cables. However, a UPAZ groundskeeper refused to cut the antenna tower guy wires. RFPI quickly got support from R. Habana Cuba, and Pacifica, and also, listeners aboard yachts cruising in the Caribbean, which RFPI had never known about. Even before this, Maurice Strong was purging members of the faculty and board at UPAZ who didn`t agree with him. After numerous appeals, UN Secretary General Kofi Annan finally responded and instructed staff of the local UN Development Program office to intercede and resolve the standoff. But when UNDP contacted the University, UPAZ refused to negotiate. James Latham says the UN backed off from the dispute. . . http://www.earthisland.org/project/newsPage2.cfm?newsID=539&pageID=177&subSiteID=44 (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CUBA. Hola Glenn, Saludos desde Catia La Mar, VENEZUELA. La señal de Radio Rebelde en 5025 kHz ha mejorado un mundo: ayer 11/02 la capté a las 2338 UT con la emisión de la Mesa Redonda, con SINPO 5/5. El programa tocaba el tema de los 5 presos políticos del campeón mundial en violaciones a los Derechos Humanos --- Estados Unidos de América. ¿Transmisor nuevo en 5025kHz? ¿Quién sabe? (Adán González Catia La Mar, VENEZUELA, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Pot kettle black 5025, R. Rebelde, 0954-1001, Humongous signal here now. They either got a new transmitter or fixed up the old one. Must be at least 50 kW. Pounding in at S-35+!!! Mention of Rebelde during talk by M at 0956. Nice ID over organ music at 0959 "Rebelde, la Habana, la emisora de la Revolución" (Dave Valko, Dunlo PA, Feb 11, Cumbredx mailing list via DXLD) ** CUBA. Hi amigos radioaficionados around the world and in space! Welcome to the weekend edition of your favorite radio hobby program, coming to you from Havana, now also on new short wave frequency from 05 to 07 UT on 9655 kiloHertz, with our East Coast of North America rhombic antenna. Reports of this new Radio Havana Cuba frequency can be sent directly to me: via e-mail to arnie @ rhc.cu or VIA AIR MAIL to Arnie Coro, Radio Havana Cuba, Havana Cuba. A nice new QSL card will be sent to all listeners reporting our new 9655 frequency. Item two: Also related to our new transmitters now testing ... 11760 kiloHertz, Radio Havana Cuba's classic frequency from the very early days we went on the air with the now retired Brown Boveri Swiss made transmitters, is also on the air from 05 to 07 hours UT in English, and using an antenna designed by my mentor, Dr. Jose A Valladares Ph.D, one of Cuba's most prestigious and well known professional radio engineers. Pepe Valladares, as we affectionately call him, designed, way back in 1961 a beautiful wide band dipole antenna, that works from 9 to 18 megaHertz with a very low standing wave ratio. Pepe's dipole, as we have known that antenna for now a bit more than 40 years is proudly standing at the entrance of our Bauta transmitter site, and is now fed by a new transmitter. The wide band dipole is oriented with its main axis 160 degrees to 340 degrees azimuth, providing an excellent coverage of North, Central and South America as well as part of the Caribbean. Again, 11760 kHz is on the air with our English language programs between 05 and 07 hours UT, and also during our early afternoon local Havana time broadcast to the Caribbean and the Southern United States at 21 hours UT [sic, really 2030-2130 --- gh] (Prof. Arnaldo Coro A., RHC DXers Unlimited Feb 7 via Bob Chandler, ODXA via DXLD) ** DJIBOUTI. BBG information: The Dorale station is located on the coast about 10 km west of Djibouti City. Also spelt Doraleh (RTD website): C'est en 1983, avec le concours de la coopération allemande (ex RFA) qu'un centre d'émission pour la radiodiffusion a ét’e installé à Doraleh en banlieue de la ville de Djibouti. Ce centre, désormais avait la capacité de diffuser en onde moyenne, en onde courte, en modulation de fréquence et de produire des émissions radios. According to Thales the station has a three tower directional array. (Olle Alm, Sweden, BC-DX Feb 6 via DXLD) Arta / Dorale site. Arta location seen on http://mappoint.msn.com click "World Map" in "Find a Map" Place name in World Atlas Place Name Djibouti zoom on map click, zoom to +. Arta located west of Djibouti capital City (Wolfgang Büschel, Feb 5, BC-DX via DXLD) Radio Sawa programs are heard quite well under VoR and RAI on 1431 kHz. First noted here at 1730 UT Sunday. Typical Sawa program with ID by full hour. Reception will probably be better later tonite when VoR is signing off (Bengt Ericson, Växjö, Sweden, Feb 3; via Bernd Trutenau, Lithuania, BC-DX via DXLD) Following the award in 2002 to supply a new 600 kW medium wave transmitter for their Djibouti broadcasting centre, IBB/VOA once again contracted Thales Broadcast & Multimedia to deliver a new antenna system for the station. The 3-tower directional medium wave transmitting antenna will be designed for 1431 kHz and 600 kW transmitter carrier power. Thales scope of delivery includes antenna masts and insulation, ground screen and aerial main and secondary feeders. Thales will deliver and take the new antenna into operation in only 6 months time after definitive contract award. (12 Sept 2003) http://www.bbg.gov/reports/02anrprt.pdf (via BC-DX Feb 9 via DXLD) ** DOMINICAN REPUBLIC. Radio 91 on 1820 kHz --- Yes, W8JI, Tom Rauch was the ham I IDed this for a while back from a tape posted. (I trust I wasn't the only one to ID it) This man is one of the most knowledgeable hams I have ever come across and certainly has one of the world`s best antenna setups for 160. A look at his site http://w8ji.com/ will likely be of interest to all. 73 KAZ (Neil Kazaross, IL, NRC-AM via DXLD) ** DOMINICAN REPUBLIC. Radio Cima luego de su Cima Sabor Navideño a finales del año pasado, ha cesado sus emisiones en 4959.87 kHz por las noches, desde mediados del mes de enero. 73's y buen DX (Adán González Catia La Mar, VENEZUELA, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** FINLAND. 14000: Radio Finland broadcast station Pori, IM3: 2 x 11755 - 9510 (German Ham Radio Bandwatch news of January 2004 via BC- DX Feb 9 via DXLD) ** FRANCE. SCOOP THAT WASN'T IS NEW BLOW TO 'BBC' OF FRANCE By Philip Delves Broughton in Paris (Filed: 11/02/2004) France's public broadcasting service was in disarray yesterday, its flagship television programme damaged by a humiliating journalistic lapse and radio employees on strike . . . http://news.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2004/02/11/wfran11.xml (via Bill Westenhaver, DXLD) ** FRANCE. If I understand the announcements being made in newscasts today (Tuesday, Feb. 10), a strike by RFI journalists could affect newscasts beginning at 2300 UT (midnight Paris local time). So far, RFI newscasts have been unaffected (Mike Cooper, Feb 10, DX LISTENING DIGEST) The strike by RFI journalists (who seek parity with reporters for state-run French television) is in full swing. All newscasts are replaced with fill music, as well as some of the 20-minute news blocks that follow the 10-minute newscasts (Mike Cooper, Feb 11, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** FRANCE. Chers auditeurs, A la suite d'un appel à la grève lancé par les syndicats de journalistes, les programmes de RFI et le contenu du site www.rfi.fr sont perturbés. Nous vous prions de nous en excuser. Nous ne manquerons pas de vous tenir informés de la suite de ce mouvement. Les Relations auditeurs/internautes de RFI (courrier électronique de RFI - 11 février 2004, informations issues de http://perso.wanadoo.fr/jm.aubier via DXLD) Les journalistes de RFI ont décidé de se mettre en grève à partir d'aujourd'hui à minuit (NDR : le 11 février), pour des raisons salariales, a annoncé un porte-parole de l'intersyndicale (CGT, CFDT, FO, SNJ). Selon l'intersyndicale, la grève a été votée " sur la base de la réactivation de l'accord Servat ", un accord signé en octobre 1994 à la suite d'une grève à Radio France et permettant une réévaluation périodique des salaires des journalistes en harmonisation avec ceux des autres sociétés de l'audiovisuel public, singulièrement celles de France Télévisions. Interrogé, Patrice Cavelier, directeur général adjoint chargé des ressources humaines et du dialogue social de RFI, a affirmé qu'il n'avait " rien à négocier " parce qu'il n'avait " pas de mandat de la tutelle pour négocier quoi que ce soit ". (Satellifax - 11 février 2004, (informations issues de http://perso.wanadoo.fr/jm.aubier via DXLD) La grève des journalistes de Radio France, commencée le 27 janvier, a déjà coûté 500 000 euros à l'entreprise, a indiqué hier François Desnoyers, directeur général délégué à la stratégie et au développement. Selon M. Desnoyers, qui distingue le "coût financier" du "coût induit" de la grève, "le coût financier direct, c'est la perte de recettes publicitaires, liée à l'impossibilité de diffuser certaines publicités sur l'antenne, quand il n'y pas d'antenne ou quand l'antenne est perturbée ". A cet égard, la direction de Radio France souligne que certaines publicités ont été maintenues sur France Inter, alors que sur France Info " cela devient impossible ", parce que l'antenne est "vraiment quasi totalement perturbée". "Aujourd'hui (10 février), on estime la perte de chiffre d'affaires net à 500 000 euros hors taxes", souligne François Desnoyers. Selon la direction, cette perte n'est "pas négligeable" car les recettes publicitaires représentent 7% d'un budget de 517 millions d'euros. Au- delà, il existe un manque à gagner "pas chiffrable", c'est-à-dire "les annonceurs qui renonceraient à passer des commandes dans les prochaines semaines parce que la période est incertaine" (Satellifax 11 février 2004, informations de http://perso.wanadoo.fr/jm.aubier via DXLD) Le 11 février, Radio France Internationale a rejoint le mouvement de grève qui affecte depuis 15 jours les programmes des stations de Radio France. Les revendications concernent les écarts de salaire entre les journalistes de Radio France et ceux de France Télévision. Aucune négociation n'est engagée avec la Direction de Radio France ce qui laisse présager d'un conflit très long (informations issues de http://perso.wanadoo.fr/jm.aubier via DXLD) ** FRANCE. RADIO FRANCE INTERNATIONALE JOURNALISTS VOTE TO CONTINUE STRIKE | Text of report by Radio France Internationale on 11 February Paris, 11 February: Journalists at Radio France Internationale (RFI) decided "by a huge majority" at a general meeting on Wednesday [11 February] to continue their strike over pay which started at midnight for another 24 hours, a trade union source said. "Out of the 100 or so who voted, there were no votes against and around 10 abstentions," the source said. The strikers are calling for "respect for the public service" and for "the agreements that have been to be respected by the regulatory bodies". This is a reference to the Servat agreement, signed in October 1994 following a strike at Radio France and providing for a periodic review of journalists' salaries in line with those of other public service broadcasters, in particular those working for France Televisions. RFI comes under the joint supervision of the Culture and Communications Ministry and the Foreign Ministry. The Foreign Ministry "has no business interfering in this dispute which is an issue for the management of RFI," the ministry spokesman, Herve Ladsous, said on Wednesday. According to the RFI management, the strike was being observed on Wednesday morning by 67.5% of journalists in the French-language team and by 20 per cent of journalists in the foreign language teams. A trade union representative put the percentage of striking journalists at 75 per cent. A meeting between management and the unions is due to take place in the afternoon. Source: Radio France Internationale, Paris, in French 1327 gmt 11 Feb 04 (via BBCM via DXLD) ** FRANCE. L'Adam, Association de développement de la modulation d'amplitude, annonce le lancement du site référence de la radio AM en France sur http://www.radio-am.com --- Ce site regroupe toutes les informations concernant l'actualité de l'AM, les fréquences, les futurs opérateurs, des fiches techniques et un historique de l'AM en France depuis son lancement dans les années 20 jusqu'à nos jours. Par ailleurs, chaque mois, La Lettre de l'AM peut être consultée tout comme les numéros précédents. Dans les semaines à venir, une multitude de liens sur la radio AM à l'étranger seront activés (Satellifax - 10 février 2004 (informations de http://perso.wanadoo.fr/jm.aubier via DXLD) ** GERMANY. Leo H. Jung silent key --- Glenn, I know you have a good knowledge of German so there is no need to translate! Leo was well known as a keen and knowledgeable swl, for many years he listened to and wrote about radio stations. His web pages are at http://www.darc-saar.de especially his recent activity for collecting and saving all material still available about the activity of 9S4 hams (1947-1949, Saarland, between France and Germany). This is from the weekly DARC newscast: Leo H. Jung, DH4IAB verstarb am 30. Januar nach kurzer Krankheit im Alter von 64 Jahren. Nach dem Studium war Leo Gymnasiallehrer in Wuerzburg. Seine Amateurfunkpruefung legte er mit dem damaligen Rufzeichen DB2UF ab. Im Ruhestand begann DH4IAB als Autor fuer Amateurfunkgeschichte zu schreiben. Vor etwa acht Jahren rief er die QSL-Sammlung Saar ins Leben. Hierfuer sowie fuer seine historischen Beitraege erhielt er im Maerz 1998 die Ehrennadel des Distriktes Saarland verliehen. Thanks for WoR (Andre Schmidt, Germany, Feb 12, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** GERMANY. Re: DW Mailbag schedule --- DW English update. Glenn, this is my UPDATE, according DW Website schedules. 73 wb - - - - 0000-0059 on 9880WER, and 7290CLN 0400-0457 on 9710WER, 9545RRW, and 6180RRW [0500-0600 on 15410UAE, 12045RRW, 11805WER, and 9565RRW; not mentioned on DW website!] 0600-0700 on 15410RRW, 11785WER, 7225SIN, 7225WER, and 6140JUL 0800-0900 on 6140JUL 1100-1159 on 21650A-A, and 17670CLN 1300-1400 on 6140JUL 1600-1700 on 11695WER, 7225CLN, and 6170CLN [1900-1957 on 13780CLN, 13590WER, 11865WER, and 6180RRW; not mentioned on DW website!] 2000-2059 on 15410CLN, 15205WER, 13780CLN, and 13590WER [2100-2200 on 15410RRW, 13780CLN, and 9615WER; not mentioned on DW website!] 2200-2259 on 6225A-A, and 6180CLN [Sun + UT Mon:] 15.Feb 08:05 UTC Mailbag 15.Feb 11:05 UTC Re-broadcast 15.Feb 13:05 UTC Re-broadcast 15.Feb 16:05 UTC Re-broadcast 15.Feb 18:05 UTC Re-broadcast [local FM, DAB, satellite?, internet?] 15.Feb 20:05 UTC Re-broadcast 15.Feb 22:05 UTC Re-broadcast 16.Feb 00:05 UTC Re-broadcast 16.Feb 02:05 UTC Re-broadcast [local FM, DAB, satellite?, internet?] 16.Feb 04:05 UTC Re-broadcast 16.Feb 06:05 UTC Re-broadcast (Wolfgang Büschel, Feb 12, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** GUATEMALA. R. Coatán, 4779.99, Feb 7 *1035-1045+, sign-on with religious music. Opening Spanish sign-on announcements with ID. Weak, poor with sweeper QRM and QRM from Ecuador`s R. Oriental on 4781.36 (Brian Alexander, Mechanicsburg PA, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** INDIA. AIR REQUESTING RECEPTION REPORTS Dear Friends, According to information from All India Radio HQ, they are currently interested in receiving Reception Reports on their External Services targetted towards UK & Western Europe, SE Asia, China and Middle East. The reports may be sent to: spectrum-manager @ air.org.in The Postal Address is: Director (Spectrum Management & Synergy), All India Radio, Room No.204, Akashvani Bhawan, New Delhi-110001 (India). Telefax: 91-11-23421062, 91-11-23421145. QSL Cards will be issued for all correct reception reports. The External Service schedule is available at: http://allindiaradio.org/schedule/fqsch.html and also in http://www.geocities.com/bcdxnet So, those DXers who had difficulties in getting QSL cards from AIR External Services in the past may make use of this opportunity now. Please pass on this message other fellow DXers/DX Clubs/ Magazines/ Reflectors. Good Luck! 73 Jose Jacob, VU2JOS National Institute of Amateur Radio Raj Bhavan Road, Hyderabad 500082, India Telefax: 91-40-23310287 EchoLink: VU2NRO,India To join dx_india reflector which specialises exclusively on Broadcasting in India, send an email to dx_india-subscribe @ yahoogroups.com (via DXLD) ** IRAN [non]. Re: 6420, Voice of the Mojahed, 1550-1600, Persian talk and music with the usual bubble jammer, 31331. No parallels found (Anker Petersen, Denmark, DSWCI DXW Jan 20) This seems to be actually V. of Iranian Revolution. I managed to record it today signing on at 1455. It was also on 4371 and 3875 kHz (Mauno Ritola, Finland, BC-DX Feb 7 via DXLD) 6420.15, Voice of Iranian Revolution, *1454-1525. New frequency heard \\ 3870.5 / 3880.5 / 3885.7 and 4371.0 / 4376.0 - all with Iranian bubble jammer and the two latter frequently jumping 5 kHz to avoid the jammers. Symphonic orchestra opening interval signal and on 6420 the jammer started a few seconds after the I/S. 1459 Kurdish ID: "Dangi ... Iranya Kurdistana" and then the communist "Internationale" was played. 1501 News in Kurdish mentioning Kurdistan and Komalah (The Kurdish Communist Party of Iran). SINPO varied due to jamming: 25333 - 21331. Thanks to Mauno Ritola for first making the ID of the new frequency (Anker Petersen, Denmark, BC- DX Feb 8 via DXLD) ** KALININGRAD [and non]. Hi Glen[n], deal reached on the Russian enclave Kaliningrad, 1.5 million population, and -- the Russian powerhouse LW, MW and SW site Sovetsk (Tilsit) Bolshakovo. 73 wb RUSSIA CLINCHES DEAL WITH EU OVER KALININGRAD EU leaders and Russia's President Putin shake on the Kaliningrad deal. The EU and Russia achieved a breakthrough over the Russian enclave of Kaliningrad, but President Putin stuck to his guns in the matter of the troubled region of Chechnya. EU leaders met with Russian Premier Vladimir Putin in Brussels on Monday and thrashed out a final agreement on access to the soon-to-be surrounded enclave of Kaliningrad. . . http://www.dw-world.de/english/0,3367,1430_A_673467,00.html (DW English, Feb 12 via Wolfgang Büschel, DXLD) ** KOREA NORTH [non]. SOUTH KOREA: DEFECTORS' INTERNET BROADCASTS IN TEST TRANSMISSIONS | Excerpt from report in English by WWCR on 12 February Defectors from North Korea are to begin internet broadcasts on freenk.com starting in April. Before the full service goes ahead a pilot is scheduled to test the service with a broadcast going online from Monday 16 February. [Passage omitted on Yonhap news agency report of 30 January that Free NK will air programmes on Pyongyang's infringement of human rights and the lives of North Korean defectors. The group is is negotiations with Voice of America and Radio Free Asia over the supply of programmes.] Source: WWCR Radio in English 1045 gmt 11 Feb 04 on 9475 kHz (via BBCM via DXLD) Sounds familiar --- hmmm, that was WOR 1219 they were monitoring, altho not mentioned, quoting part of the items in DXLD 4-019. The report was not ``by WWCR`` but by yours truly, and broadcast on WWCR and several other stations (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** LIBERIA. Hi Glenn. Re Liberia item in DXLD 4-025. About the frequencies of Star Radio. I checked the Finnish loggings from 1997 onwards and seems this station was rarely logged in Finland. Just some loggings in late 1997 and early 1998 on 3400 kHz. R. Veritas was logged that time on 3450 and in 2002/2003 on 5470. Jari Savolainen, Kuusankoski, Finland, Feb 12, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** LIBYA [non]. V. of Africa, via FRANCE, 11715, Feb 8 1926-1929 English news, ID, into French news at 1929. Good. Poor, weak on \\ 11635 (Brian Alexander, Mechanicsburg PA, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** MEXICO. XERTA, 4810, Feb 8 0410-0425+, Spanish announcements, contemporary religious music. Weak, poor with noise and sweeper QRM. Due to noise blob on high side, must use ECSS-LSB to hear this station. Completely unreadable in AM or USB mode (Brian Alexander, Mechanicsburg PA, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** MEXICO. 780 Spanish Tijuana? Found a big signal Spanish station on 780 after work on the drive home, calls sounded like XEFF. Listening now at home to get better ID. [Later:] Getting hammered by KKOH Reno, all music with few announcements. ID at 6:07 PM PST, XEFF Ensenada- Tijuana, Mexico. Must not be a powerhouse (Martin Foltz, Feb 10, Corazón DX via DXLD) That would be XESS in Ensenada -- they're in the process of moving from 1450. They're supposed to be running 20/10 kW from a transmitter site between Tijuana and Ensenada, but they are nowhere near as loud as XEKTT(XEPE?)-560, which is running that power from about 15 miles SW of Tecate. The format is nice -- tropical music and "La Tropical 7- 80" slogans. Sure beats listening to Sneer Channel garbage on every channel... P.S. I can't tell if the old XESS-1450 is off yet. They've gotten out terribly for several years now, and there's usually no trace of them here. http://www.inetworld.net/halls/dx/index.html (73, Tim Hall, Chula Vista, CA, ibid.) ** MYANMAR. 5985.85, R Myanmar, 1514-1600* Feb 7, English programming: marching music, into "Here is the news read by _", weather ("Mandalay ... partly cloudy"), government slogans, into non-stop light music, titles read for the music played, sign-off announcement, anthem, many ID's for "Radio Myanmar, Yangon", poor. For me, there is nothing quite as enjoyable as hearing the local weather for Mandalay and the Bay of Bengal directly from this station (Ron Howard, CA, DXplorer Feb 7 via BC-DX via DXLD) ** OKLAHOMA. I had the pleasure of logging the new Enid X-Bander on Sunday night (UT Monday) as they fought it out with WTNI. I did manage some strong reception with lots of "All Comedy Radio" ID's and promos. At 9 PM MST a nice clear ID, "All comedy radio is AM 1640 KMMZ Enid, We're serious about making Oklahoma City laugh". 73 (Mickey Delmage, Sherwood Park, Alberta, Canada, Feb 10, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** OKLAHOMA [and non]. KXOK FILES LAWSUIT AGAINST TV PREACHER 2/12/04 By Robert Barron Staff Writer http://www.enidnews.com/story.php?story_id=56381&c=29 A religion professor who became a familiar sight on KXOK television now is facing a lawsuit by the station for failure to pay his bills. Rex Faulkner, owner of KXOK, has filed a breach of contract lawsuit against Dr. Gene Scott and University Network of California. Faulkner claims Scott owes the station about $150,000. Scott had an agreement with KXOK television to purchase time for a two-year period, said Faulkner. Without notice, Scott stopped paying after approximately six months. Faulkner said he continued running Scott's programming while trying to resolve the situation. "I've tried to contact them and haven't resolved anything. I'm having to litigate to get resolution," Faulkner said. Scott is the sole owner of University Network of California, which is headquartered in Pasadena. "I continued to run the programs for several months trying to live up to my end of the bargain, I'm trying to resolve the situation," Faulkner said. There is no telephone listing for University Network of California in Pasadena, however, Scott is listed on the Web site http://drgenescott.com Comments Duhhh writes: "Hmm, who COULDN'T have seen that coming. Anyone who even watched 5 minutes of that guy could have told you he was a scam. It was ridiculous having that cigar smoking egomaniac being shoved in our face 24/7 anyway. There's a difference between being a Christian and being a cult-like narcissist." ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Bob writes: "A TV charlatan preacher taking a lawyer to the cleaners." (This comment has been edited.) (Enid Eagle Feb 12 via DXLD) ** PAKISTAN. 21430: down till 21430 splatters of Radio Pakistan on 21465 (German Ham Radio Bandwatch news of January 2004 via BC-DX Feb 9 via DXLD) ** PAPUA NEW GUINEA. 3385, R. East New Britain, Been following this since it reactivated. Has a slight peak around an hour and a half before our local sunrise [and when is that at the moment? --- gh], but then drops down right to sign off. You'd think just the opposite would happen. Signal seems fairly strong, but the modulation is kind of weak (Dave Valko, Dunlo PA, Feb 11, Cumbredx mailing list via DXLD) ** PERU. R. Quillabamba, 5024.93, Feb 7 1020-1035+, OA music, Spanish talk, IDs. Fair level but mixing with Rebelde on 5025, both in at fair level. R. Ancash, Huaraz, 4990.93v, Feb 6 0925-0935+, OA folk music, ID, Spanish announcements. Weak, but in the clear. Slightly unstable, varying +/- 10 Hz. R. Melodía, Arequipa, 5906.41, Feb 7 0940-1010+, OA music, Spanish talk, IDs, fair (Brian Alexander, Mechanicsburg PA, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** PHILIPPINES. NEW PEACE RADIO STATION IN THE PHILIPPINES In the Philippines, Minda News reports that a 300 watt community-based "Peace Radio" has started broadcasting in in North Upi, Maguindanao, site of the recent armed fighting between government forces and alleged Abu Sayyaf members. The project is funded by the Canadian International Development Agency-Local Government Support Program (CIDA-LGSP) and implemented by the Notre Dame Foundation for Charitable Activities-Women in Enterprise Development (NDFCAI-WED). Radio Station DXUP broadcasts on 105.5 MHz and can be heard over Cotabato City, North and South Upi, and nearby areas in Maguindanao and Sultan Kudarat. The management has hired 12 licensed technicians and has at least 35 radio volunteers who will produce the programmes. DXUP-FM is not the first such community station. The NDFCAI-WED, through its partner agencies and funding institutions, had already installed community-based radio stations in other conflict areas in Southern Philippines. Read the full story: "Peace Radio" launched in North Upi http://www.mindanews.com/2004/02/09nws-radio.html # posted by Andy @ 09:02 UT Feb 10 (Media Network blog via DXLD) ** PORTUGAL. 13770, RDPi's special broadcast to Venezuela to relay a major football match report was closed shortly prior to 2130 today 03 Feb due to interference upon the electricity company's (EDP) remote control system, as explained by the RDP HF site over the phone this evening, also adding quite a number of overseas listeners phoned them to complain. This electromagnetical phenomenon has been noticed before, so I think the RDP is really forced to select another suitable HF channel. I shall revert with their new replacement QRG as soon as the same is announced (Carlos Gonçalves, Portugal, BC-DX Feb 4 via DXLD) This explains why there was a subsequent change of frequency, already reported here (gh) It's clear that the old trouble-prone 100 kW units are forcing the RDP to use the two 300 kW transmitter (Carlos Gonçalves, Portugal, BC-DX Feb 9 via DXLD) Again heard the DX Portugal show UT Thu Feb 12 at 0040, and this time all the frequencies were readable, 13770, 13700, 11980, 11655, and after WYFR closed at 0045, 9715 was strongest (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** RUSSIA [and non]. Possibly the transmitter at Yakutsk on 7200 is under maintenance today. When I tuned in at c0745 all was quiet on the frequency, but on re-tuning at 0752 the usual 'warble' like noise was audible again. I next tuned 7200 c0856 and this time there was programming clearly mixing with the noise. The frequency went quiet for about one min at 0858 and when the signal and warble returned, the voice modulation was louder. But what continues to intrigue me is that there doesn`t seem to be any LSB to the signal currently. Hopefully, whatever the problem is, it will be corrected and the transmitter not switched off. I've tried many times to hear YAK on 6150 mornings but have never succeeded - usually all I hear is Bro. Scott [Costa Rica]. Frequency 7345 was heard when Czechia went off c0828, and a good signal peaking up to 7 on the meter - about the same as 7200. I think I could also hear 7140 during a break in Korean programming. Frequency 7230 had a USB RTTY like signal - it seems to have become a popular band for such transmissions. Magadan 7320 was audible at 0747 with a fair signal but QRM from a ute on the lower side. I could detect something on 5940 which might have been Magadan. There was no trace of Arkhangel`sk this morning on 6160. It usually appears as a fluttery carrier, but audio level - when there is some - always seems low. I've noticed similar on 5930 when I hear Monchegorsk - low audio. Maybe something is lost in transmission from these Arctic signals? (Noel R. Green, UK, BC-DX Feb 4 via DXLD) After being asked what the "Asian" station is on 7430 around 2320 - and which I could not find listed - I took a listen to the frequency Friday night [Feb. 6]. I tuned in c2255 and, as expected, heard RFI in Mandarin via listed Novosibirsk. What wasn`t expected was that it continued after 2300 without a break in French - and was still on air at 2320. French should have been on listed Irkutsk 12025 and Vladivostok 12075 but I could not detect either frequency. Of course, they could have been too high to propagate. At c2303 a strong carrier appeared on 7430 and started "Russian" type on/off tones. These stopped at 2315 and programme suddenly started at 2316. The transmission had obviously already begun and no ID was heard. The language was a south-Asian one. My guess is that this is TWR-Sri Lanka ex 9925 and via Tashkent [as listed in the current 'Foreign Relays on SW through facilities in the CIS and the Baltic States' on the NDXC website and on pages 517/518 in the WRTH]. The language listed at 2315 is Kokborok which I have not heard about previously! It isn`t spelled like an Indian dialect so maybe spoken in Nepal or Bhutan? I have not read any reports of these freq changes (Noel R. Green-UK, BC-DX Feb 7 via DXLD) ** SOUTH CAROLINA [non]. The past few days as I have tuned across Brother Stair frequencies I am hearing someone else screaming. Has there been a coup in Walterboro? Is B.S. sick? Back in jail? Even so, megahours of tapes of him are surely available for replay. What`s going on? Well, B.S. was heard again on Feb 12 around 1500 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** SPAIN. 4885, REE, Noblejas, noted with this transmitter spur on 27 Jan, 1940- in French to Africa and ME; this is a result from 12035 kHz in Arabic minus 7150 kHz in French, but the broadcast in Arabic, which was poor on its fundamental, was not not detected; 25342 (Carlos Gonçalves, Portugal, BC-DX Feb 2 via DXLD) Note, while BC-DX is published approximately weekly, the dates given in the credit lines of BC-DX items refer to the date the item was originated, not necessarily the date of the BC-DX issue. In DXLD style, these dates would be put after the name of contributor (or location), while dates after the publication refer to the date of that publication, which is usually later. However, I tire of having to move all these dates to conform to DXLD style, so keep this in mind when reading items from BC-DX (gh, DXLD) ** TURKEY. BROADCAST MEDIA SCENE - SURVEY An audience survey carried out for BBC World Service in Turkey between 27 October and 14 November 2003 indicated a well developed media market for both radio and TV. The survey was based on a sample of 1429 aged between 15 and 64 in six key Turkish cities: Istanbul, Ankara, Izmir, Adana, Erzurum and Samsun. According to the report, there are more than 300 private TV channels and over 1500 commercial radio stations throughout Turkey. TV is the most dominant medium, although radio consumption is high. Household ownership of TV and radio is virtually universal throughout the six cities surveyed and does not differ greatly between these cities. There are television sets in 14 million homes throughout Turkey. State broadcaster TRT operates four national and three international TV channels. The availability of cable and satellite services is greater in the six cities compared with the national average. In 2002, 4.5m homes throughout Turkey had access to cable and satellite. Ownership of cable and satellite is considerably higher in Istanbul than in the other five cities surveyed. State-run radio broadcaster's stations include TRT a cultural/educational network (TRT1), a popular music network (TRT3) and a Turkish folk/classical station (TRT4). The majority of people in the six key cities turn to domestic media for news, particularly domestic television. Eight in ten watch Turkish TV for international news. Turkish radio plays less of a role in news consumption. In comparison, the use of foreign media for news is relatively low. Only a niche group, distinguished by higher education and social grade, use it for both international and domestic news. Internet use in the six cities covered is 27 per cent. Internet use throughout Turkey totalled 4.9 million (6.7 per cent of the population) in 2002 and is growing. Source: BBC Monitoring research in English 12 Feb 04 (via DXLD) ** UKRAINE. DINE CALLS AFFILIATE'S DECISION TO DROP UKRAINIAN BROADCASTS 'POLITICAL' (Washington, DC -- February 11, 2004) RFE/RL President Thomas A. Dine condemned as "a political act" a decision today by the management of Ukrainian radio broadcaster "Dovira" to remove RFE/RL Ukrainian Service programming from its FM schedule, effective February 17, 2004. Dine said, "This is a political act against liberal democracy, against free speech and press, against RFE/RL, and shows, once again, that Ukraine's political leadership is unable to live in an open society and is compelled to "control" the media as if it were the good old days of the Soviet Union." . . . http://www.rferl.org/releases/2004/02/218-110204.asp (RFE/RL Press via DXLD) UKRAINE OPPOSITION SLATES "ATTACK" ON RADIO LIBERTY Ukrainian opposition parties have described the decision by Radio Liberty's only FM rebroadcaster in Ukraine to drop the US-funded station's news bulletins from its schedule as part of a campaign against the free media. The announcement by the Kiev-based Radio Dovira station on 11 February that Radio Liberty's news and current affairs programming was incompatible with Dovira's new entertainment format was an excuse for yet another attack on the freedom of speech, Ukrainian news agencies have quoted opposition leaders as saying. The decision to cease FM rebroadcasting of Radio Liberty "is undoubtedly a political decision of the Ukrainian authorities made at the highest level", according to Viktor Yushchenko, the reformist former prime minister who leads opinion polls ahead of the October presidential election. "The exact names of the people who implemented this decision are irrelevant," Yushchenko was quoted as saying by Oleh Rybachuk, a leading member of Yushchenko's Our Ukraine bloc. "The government describes itself as pro-European, but this ostensibly pro-European government has closed two leading opposition media outlets within the past few weeks," Rybachuk added, according to the Interfax-Ukraine news agency. Earlier this month a court in Kiev ordered to close the popular pro-opposition daily Silski Visti on the grounds that the paper had published anti-Semitic articles. Another opposition party, the Yuliya Tymoshenko Bloc, has described the decision to end Radio Liberty's FM transmissions in Ukraine as an "ill-disguised government order" and "another brutal attack on the freedom of speech". "Persecutions against the free media, manipulation of the pro-government media by the presidential administration, the decision to end Radio Liberty broadcasts and the court ruling to close Silski Visti are part of the government's efforts to `cleanse' the media ahead of the presidential election," the UNIAN news agency quoted the party as saying in a statement. Radio Dovira's decision to drop Radio Liberty's news bulletins from its schedule follows the appointment of President Leonid Kuchma's supporter Serhiy Kychyhyn as Dovira's new boss less than a month ago. Prior to his latest appointment Kychyhyn had founded the leading pro- government newspapers Kievskiye Vedomosti and 2000, according to the Ukrayinska Pravda web site. Radio Liberty Ukrainian Service will now be available only on short wave. Radio Liberty says Dovira's decision was made in breach of contract and describes the move as a clampdown on democracy and freedom of speech in Ukraine. But Dovira said on 12 February it had dropped Radio Liberty news bulletins for purely commercial reasons. The Ukrainian opposition and Western governments have repeatedly voiced concerns over the freedom of the media in Ukraine and the fairness of the upcoming presidential election. Sources: Interfax-Ukraine news agency, Kiev, in Russian 0945 gmt 12 Feb 04 UNIAN news agency, Kiev, in Ukrainian 1050 12 Feb 04 Interfax-Ukraine news agency, Kiev, in Russian 1812 gmt 11 Feb 04 Ukrayinska Pravda web site, Kiev, in Ukrainian, 11 Feb 04 1805 gmt (via BBCM via DXLD) ** U A E. 1170: THALES INSTALLS RADIO STATION FOR EMIRATES MEDIA INC. IN RECORD TIME In June 2003, Thales proudly announced it successfully delivered in less than six months a High-Power Medium-Wave Turnkey Station for Emirates Media Inc., (EMI) a leading news and information media organization in the United Arab Emirates. Working in close collaboration with their local partner Bin Jabr TRS Est and the EMI client team, Thales would finalize the install of the radio station in less than six months, following the date of order, which is recordbreaking time for such a complex project. The turnkey radio broadcasting solution for EMI includes: 800 kW medium wave transmitter, type S7HP (compatible for future upgrades to digital operation in DRM mode) 4-mast directional medium wave antenna system with 3 switchable antenna patterns (300 degr/0 degr/+60 degrees) New building including access road, mains supply, fresh water supply, etc. "Our teams worked hard against the clock," said Willi Tschol, Head of the Radio Broadcasting activities at Thales Broadcast & Multimedia. "Perfect teamwork, creative solutions and flexible interface management made this record-breaking time scale possible." The Thales S7HP line of high power transmitters are currently broadcasting daily more than 20,000,000 watts of medium wave or long wave power, while the Thales antenna unit expertise extends to more than 250 high power medium and long wave antenna systems and antenna supporting structures worldwide. The new station is situated only one kilometer away from the existing Dabiyah medium wave station, in service since 1982. This station was already one of the most powerful in the region, with 2 x 1000 kW medium wave transmitters and a 4-mast directional antenna system and all equipment was delivered by Thales. Emirates Media Inc. has been broadcasting services from the new station on 1170 kHz since May 8, 2003 (Thales, Mediacenter Newsletter Data Streams #6, Summer 2003 via BC-DX Feb 9 via DXLD) ** U. K. VOLUNTEER NEWSREADERS REQUIRED Due to the present state of the sunspot cycle it has been decided to discontinue the National news reading on 40 metres, 7048 kHz, at 8.00 pm forthwith. It is unlikely that propagation conditions will permit reliable coverage of the UK for the next few years. The 10.00am news bulletin on this frequency will continue as usual from Northern Ireland. Volunteer newsreaders - who need to be RSGB members - are required for 80-metre readings in the Midlands and the South West. G4AAL reads for the Midlands on 3650 kHz at 9.30am, and needs a standby reader to assist him. In the South West the long-serving team who read from Plymouth on 3650 kHz at 10.00am will have to give up at the end of March. One volunteer has come forward to take this schedule on, but more are needed. Newsreading does not involve a commitment every Sunday. If you are interested, please contact the GB2RS News Manager, Gordon Adams, G3LEQ, on 01 565 652 652 or by e-mail at gb2rs @ ntlworld.com (Radio Society of Great Britain GB2RS News Script for February 15 posted on uk.radio.amateur newsgroup February 11 by G4RGA via John Norfolk, DXLD) ** U K [and non]. WHY EUROPE'S PUBLIC BROADCASTERS SHOULD REDISCOVER THEMSELVES --- Commentary by Andy Sennitt, 12 February 2004 The crisis at the BBC in the wake of the Hutton Report has received a lot of coverage worldwide, but it's by no means the only recent event to cast a shadow over public broadcasting in Europe. This week, French television network France 2 was plunged into a crisis of its own over a piece of shoddy journalism that resulted in the resignation of its news director. . . http://www.rnw.nl/realradio/features/html/pub010212.html (Media Network newsletter via DXLD) ** U S A. Re WSHB going silent: While I couldn't find anything on the Church of Christ, Scientist web pages to directly corroborate this, the church did hold a meeting on February 4th to announce the "charting [of] a course for the 21st Century" that, by implication, could see some changes in how the church is run -- as it goes through "a period of assessment and planning". See http://www.tfccs.com/newsandinformation/ This past summer I had the opportunity to pick up some old newsletters from the days of the "Christian Science Monitor World Service" and "MonitorRadio". In its day this was a valuable, US-based shortwave (and PRI distributed) alternative to the VOA and NPR. Kim Shippey is still apparently part of the media operation of the church, and has authored publications as recently as 2003; Steve Inskeep (the host I remember most often) works for NPR (Richard Cuff / Allentown, PA USA, swprograms via DXLD) At its height, this was a fine, fine radio station...to me, on a par with their newspaper which represents among the finest in journalism and journalistic principles. It's just too bad that the economics of the business work against worthy efforts of this type. Of course, in recent years the station was confined to a religious teaching role. I guess it was only a matter of time (John Figliozzi, ibid.) Let us all not forget that it was the Mother Church's decision to go into "Television Broadcasting" and the enormous outlay of cash to buy a Boston TV Station and set up a Satellite Network that caused their demise. The entire church almost collapsed under the debt. If not for that, this SW station would be in great shape and still be a "fine, fine radio station". 10 years ago I listened to a WSHB & Mr. Shippey everyday along with the BBC, VOA, RNW etc. for timely news reports (Jim Strader, Feb 9, ibid.) Good points all. They weren't the only ones to fall into this trap. I still think if you really want to reach "leaders and opinion formers", your best bet is to use the radio. You can supplement that with limited TV use and a web presence. But more and more, I hear "serious people" (whatever that term means to you |g|, I know what it means to me) say that the radio is the best medium for a range of reasons (more personal (i.e.: one to one), reliance on literate content (i.e.: words and language), ideas over images, etc.) It sure seems to work for the conservatives among us (John Figliozzi, ibid.) ** U S A. Dr. Gene Scott sued for not paying bills: see OKLAHOMA ** U S A. The DX block on Sundays UT [0300-0400, DXPL, WOR] via WWCR does not come in here too well also on 5070, as others have noted. 73 (Mick Delmage, AB, Feb 10, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. Testimony of Kenneth Y. Tomlinson, Chairman, Broadcasting Board of Governors before the Subcommittee on National Security, Emerging Threats, and International Relations Committee on Government Reform February 10, 2004 . . .I wish I could take you this afternoon to Alhurra`s broadcast complex in Northern Virginia where in little more than four months a building has been transformed into a state-of-the-art broadcast facility. The set-designs are magnificent—worthy of what the world would expect from the United States. But what is truly extraordinary is the sea of Middle Eastern faces --- newsmen and newswomen --- enthusiastically preparing, midst working carpenters and electricians, to launch the network. I’m told that since October some 900,000 feet of cable has been installed in this facility. Some have said Alhurra will become the most significant development in international broadcasting since the launch of the Voice of America during World War II—and I believe that will be the case. . . . . . As I said when the New York Times first reported about Alhurra: ``The people aren’t stupid. If we are slanting the news, they’ll figure it out. If we establish long-term credibility, people will begin to turn to us with serious questions. What went wrong? What retarded a civilization that was once far ahead of the West? And we`ll be there to answer them.`` . . . . . . The latest initiative we are planning is a new youth-oriented Urdu broadcast to Pakistan where listeners will be served contemporary Pakistani and western music along with news and current affairs features and subjects ranging from education to business to health. We hope this service, called Radio Aap ki Dunyaa [Your World Radio], will begin seven-day-a-week, 12 hours a day of AM broadcasting this spring, and we believe we will soon add FM affiliates in Pakistan. . . http://www.bbg.gov/_bbg_news.cfm?articleID=102&mode=general (BBG Press Feb 12, excerpts from much longer transcript, via gh, DXLD) ** U S A. There is a very clean and powerful signal from a station with a Spanish language religious format heard throughout the Western shore of Brooklyn. I have also heard in in lower Manhattan and Staten Island. It is on 87.5 MHz and has been there every morning that I checked for the past couple of weeks. I have not obtained any identification yet. They play lots of Spanish religious music and have soft-spoken announcers. Does anyone have further information? This is quite an unusual frequency (Dan Srebnick - still driving in Brooklyn, Feb 11, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. CALLING THE TUNES --- 'RADIO PIRATE' BRUCE QUINN PLAYS WHAT HE PLEASES ON HIS INDEPENDENT RADIO STATION Bruce Quinn is on the air from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. weekdays. Legally blind, he was drawn to radio early in life. -- Frank Espich / The Star Bruce Quinn • Personal: 48, married to former WKLU-FM (101.9) disc jockey Mitzi Quinn since January 2002. • Hobby: Collecting music from throughout the world. • In the future: He wants to increase bluegrass selections played on WKLU. • Quote: "We didn't want a 'format'; we wanted to be creative." By Will Higgins, February 12, 2004 Bruce Quinn is a broadcast executive, but he doesn't act like one. He doesn't hire programming consultants, doesn't report to corporate headquarters, doesn't play golf with advertisers, doesn't comb his hair. Yet he's running an FM radio station in one of the larger U.S. markets, Indianapolis, where an estimated $100 million is spent annually on radio advertising. As it is everywhere else today, the radio dial in Indianapolis is dominated by big corporations -- 17 of the top 20 stations are owned by just five large communications companies. Such firms get bigger and richer by buying existing stations for millions of dollars and then forcing their playlists into narrowly defined, cookie-cutter formats that, through test-marketing, are proven to attract a "target audience" -- say, "females 18-34." Quinn, with practically no capital but with much patience and ingenuity, built his station -- WKLU-FM (101.9) -- from scratch. He discovered an unused frequency, applied to the Federal Communications Commission, maneuvered through the governmental red tape, got the construction permit and the license, built the station and started playing music. He did this with about $250,000 that he scraped together from his mother and father, sister and brothers. He could have sold out immediately for millions, but didn't. Instead, he broadcasts. He does a lot of the engineering work with his own hands. He's on the air six hours a day, as "Bruce the Radio Pirate," playing '60s and '70s songs you haven't thought of in years because no other radio station is playing them (or ever played them, for that matter) and also because he likes them: Frank Zappa's "Po- Jama People"? The Beatles' "You Know My Name (Look up the Number)"? Quinn is one of the last of radio's independent operators, its little guys. He is 48. He was drawn to radio early in life. Quinn is legally blind, which meant he couldn't play sports, couldn't even watch TV. But he could listen to the radio and did, a lot. Quinn's station doesn't have great ratings, or even good ratings. His "KOOL 101.9" is Indianapolis' 18th most-listened-to station, according to Arbitron, the ratings company, with less than one-tenth as many listeners as top-ranked WFMS-FM (95.5). It does have a Web site: htp://wklu.com Quinn's station doesn't make much money, either. He says annual revenue is around $400,000. It pays for itself, though. It's debt- free. The only shareholders are Quinn's family, and they're satisfied. The Quinns are educated people, a computer engineer, a psychologist, a researcher in microbiology. When they sell, they'll be millionaires. Quinn says he gets offers all the time. He says just last month he turned down $7 million (He declined to say who made the offer). That's not an unreasonable price, when you consider that last year a similarly obscure Indianapolis station, WXIR-FM (98.3), was bought by The Disney Co. for $5.6 million. Quinn says he'll keep turning down the money. "Where would I go? What would I do?" he says. "This is what I enjoy doing -- being able to play the music you love and making a difference in the broadcasting industry." In the broadcast booth, Quinn puts on "In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida." And later, something by Wishbone Ash. Sunday nights, he notes, the station plays two straight hours of Grateful Dead. Quinn sits back, nods and pronounces his operation "a nice little set- up." If you'd seen Bruce Quinn in 1980, you wouldn't have predicted this. Back then, he was 25. He had attended Butler and Indiana universities for four years, but had no degree. And no address, really -- he was crashing on the living room sofa of his cousin's apartment in Bloomington. He worked part time in the kitchen at a Howard Johnson's. His poor vision prevented him from getting a driver's license. His hair was long and tangled. He clearly had a passion for radio, but his passion seemed to take him in a fruitless direction: He operated a "pirate" radio station. He illegally connected a complex assortment of electronics so he and some pals could get together in his cousin's apartment and party and send out over the airwaves whatever they wanted. They sang. They told jokes. Mostly they played music, a bizarre mix of punk rock, big band, bluegrass, classical, Irish drinking songs . . . "It would be the Hallelujah Chorus and then the Ramones," says Graham Shepfer, who was there. "No boss, no regulations, no management telling you what to do, no playlist. It was great." There was no money in it, either, but that didn't seem to matter. Jolly Roger Radio, as Quinn called it, had a sort of doctrine -- the belief that the airwaves were for The People and not just the millionaires who could afford to buy radio stations. Jolly Roger may have been somewhat anarchistic, but it was not mean-spirited; it was not even obscene. It was illegal, though. You can't broadcast without a license. The FCC discovered Quinn's illegal broadcasts in December 1980. The penalty wasn't stiff -- Quinn had to pay a $250 fine. The hard thing was, no more playing Mr. Radio. It's what Quinn had always wanted to do. Pirating seemed the only way. He twice tried to get a job at a traditional radio station but failed, he says, because of his bad eyes. Over the next several years, with help from an unlikely source -- George Sklom, his FCC tormentor, Quinn went legit. He started his own station in Attica, and then one in Monticello. Then, in 1993, in Indianapolis, in the league of millionaires. Quinn did not lose himself, did not go Hollywood. WKLU-FM is headquartered in a nondescript old house next to a nondescript new strip mall in Brownsburg. The place was a pet shop when Quinn bought it and required fumigation. Quinn did the engineering work himself. Quinn lives across the street from the station in a modest condominium. His wife of two years, Mitzi, a former WKLU deejay, lives in Columbus and is in the process of launching a radio station there. Quinn does not spend lavishly on salaries. He hires veterans, but for part-time wages. His morning man is Jay Baker, for years a key cast member of the nationally syndicated "Bob & Tom Show," which originates on one of the highly rated local stations, WFBQ-FM (94.7). His public affairs director is Irma Lee White, who has worked at radio stations since 1963. Libby Zabriskie, who has 27 years in the business, including a stint with "Bob & Tom," handles late afternoons. Like the others, she plays what she wants. She also does regular phone interviews with Carmine Appice, the drummer for Vanilla Fudge. "This is how radio used to be," she says. "I can't imagine what you'd have to do to get fired around here." (via Kim Elliott, DXLD) [sidebar:] U S A. HOW A 'PIRATE' WENT LEGIT By Will Higgins February 12, 2004, Indianapolis Star http://www.indystar.com/articles/6/119853-8596-047.html Pirate radio stations are fairly common today. Last year, the Federal Communications Commission office that polices the Northeast and Midwest shut down 103 pirates. Typically, they're reported by legitimate broadcasters. Twenty years ago, pirates were much rarer, the necessary equipment harder to come by. "You could say Bruce Quinn was sort of a pioneer," says Joe Monie, who directs the FCC's Northeast regional office. After Quinn's pirate radio station in Bloomington was discovered in 1980, he retreated to Delphi, where his elderly grandmother lived. He took her out of a nursing home, where she was miserable, and brought her back to her house and cared for her there until she died in 1988. There was down time, of course, and Quinn used it to study the FCC. The FCC man who had caught him, George Sklom, had taken a liking to Quinn and helped him. "I remember his music was out of the ordinary," says Sklom, now retired and living in Port Charlotte, Fla. "And he had a relatively sophisticated system to try and thwart us. He showed a lot of promise. And he was a pretty nice kid. When I told him it wasn't so hard to do things right, he was receptive. He didn't have many resources, but he was willing to do the leg work." Sklom showed Quinn maps of existing broadcast frequencies. Quinn studied them. He's legally blind, but if he holds an object 2 inches from his face, he can make out what it says. He learned the complex radio license application process. He studied broadcast maps. He found an unused frequency. Quinn started small. First he launched a station in Attica, and then one in Monticello. Then, in 1993, in Indianapolis, he joined the league of millionaires with WKLU-FM (101.9). (via Mike Terry, Artie Bigley, DXLD) I vaguely recall that Quinn`s Jolly Roger Radio was a SW pirate (gh) ** U S A. MIAMI GAY RADIO OUTLET MAKES FORMAT PAY -- By Deborah Wilker MIAMI (Hollywood Reporter) - When WPYM-FM took to the airwaves on the last day of December 2001, the rhythmic-dance music outlet owned by Atlanta-based Cox Radio Inc. didn't set out to do much more than reflect the pulsing South Beach club scene. With few commercials and endless blocks of hopped-up top 40 remixes and underground club hits, "Party 93" quickly found its way into bars, cars and gyms -- a format tailor-made for clubgoers and fitness buffs who comprised the station's core audience. Then, just a few months into its run, WPYM took a turn. Interspersed between such songs as Razor N' Guido's "Do It Again" and the latest Madonna remix and ads for Cadillac and Budweiser came a slate of new promos for such events as the Gay and Lesbian Film Festival, Fort Lauderdale's Gay Pride Parade and AIDS fund-raisers like Miami's world-renowned White Party. What was striking, though, was not that WPYM had recognized that many of its listeners were gay but the matter-of-fact way the station addressed it ... ... The station also is far more profitable than it ever was as WTMI, the region's long-running (and only) classical outlet. Although classical enthusiasts were outraged by the format switch, it's unlikely that continuing protests will ever return the station to Bach and Beethoven. . . http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/nm/20040211/en_nm/media_gay_dc_ (via Bill Westenhaver, DXLD) ** U S A. BILLBOARD STUNT URGES VOTE ON SCOTT PETERSON/ RADIO STATION SEEKS INNOCENT OR GUILTY TALLY ON DEFENDANT Michael Taylor, SF Chronicle Staff Writer Wednesday, February 11, 2004 While it's no surprise that a media circus descends on high-profile trials, the latest stunt -- radio station billboards asking you to phone in your opinion on Scott Peterson's guilt or innocence -- is pushing the envelope, some experts say. Peterson has yet to be tried in San Mateo County Superior Court, but a San Francisco radio station has posted giant billboards visible from Highway 101, not far from the courthouse, with the legend: "Man or Monster?" They feature a photo of Peterson in his jail uniform and ask viewers to vote innocent or guilty by calling a toll-free number. "In terms of taste and decency, this is over the line," said Tom Rosenstiel, director of the Project for Excellence in Journalism in Washington, D.C. "It's grotesque." "There's a presumption of innocence in this country, legally and morally," Rosenstiel said. "One of the reasons the public has come to increasingly disbelieve and distrust the media is precisely because they believe we exploit the news for profit. This is clear in survey after survey. So there's every reason to think this will just add to the sense that we don't operate in the public interest." In addition to the two billboards near the 101 freeway, the radio station, KNEW, had another billboard on a flatbed truck parked outside the courthouse in Redwood City one day last week, with a similar plea for viewers to call in and vote. . . http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2004/02/11/BAGCM4U0UP1.DTL (via Bill Westenhaver, DXLD) ** U S A. Looking for data, always looking for data, I went to Sporting News Radio's website. There's no affiliate list, just an link to email SNR, and have them email back with info about the nearest SNR to me. Is theirs a short affiliate list? Why would they not want to brag about all their affiliates? No doubt there's something I'm missing here (Gerry Bishop, FL, NRC-AM via DXLD) So far as I know, they've never had one on their website, even when they were in much better shape than they are now (Russ Edmunds, PA, ibid.) I emailed SNR once, trying to confirm a suspicion I had with a logging, but they never responded. I've heard that some networks don't like to publish affiliate listings because it makes it easier for competitors to poach their affiliates. Personally, I don't understand how that would be the case - I'm sure that potential poachers would have plenty of other ways that they could get the information they'd need. I'd think that the convenience of their listeners should take precedence over such concerns, but hey, what do I know? (Brian Leyton, Valley Village, CA, ibid.) I've been told the same a few times - in fact I think someone a few years ago at SNR told me this, too. The list they gave me (I dealt with someone there who was very nice but who's name I've since lost) is now three years old and wildly out of date (Saul Chernos, Ont., ibid.) Re: Sporting News Radio Ashamed? I'll ask our GM at WNNR 970 to bring the subject up the next time he's on the horn with Sporting News Radio's affiliate relations manager. I think the affiliate poaching thing has some credence. I recognize the thought too, hey, the information could come from numerous other sources (Ron Gitschier, Palm Coast, FL, ibid.) Gerry, I had a similar experience a few years ago. I wound up emailing them to ask for a list of affiliates or a list of affiliates on a particular channel. I explained that I was a radio hobbyist who "collects" distant stations. Well, someone responded with a list of unreasonable targets, like stations in California, to try for. I never did get a straight answer (Dave Hochfelder, ibid.) ** U S A. Re DXLD 4-024: 1630 mystery tone station --- While probably not the "mystery tone" station reported in the February 9th DXLD, NOAA Weather for Cleveland, KHB59 on 162.55 MHz is being relayed on 1630 kHz. First noted in the last week of January (Greg Neide, Euclid OH, Feb 10, 2004, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. MARS - A DIFFERENT PERSPECTIVE By Dino Papas, KL0S/AAT3BE/AAA9TC, Colonel, U.S. Army Retired / Army MARS National Training Coordinator Kudos to Larry Van Horn (Closing Comments October 2003) for continuing to take to task the U.S. Armed Forces Military Affiliate Radio System (MARS) programs. Larry's unique position as a retired sailor, author, assistant Monitoring Times Editor, utilities monitor and non-MARS member allow him to make outside assessments of the progress MARS has made over the years and express them to a wide audience. Let me present the readership of Monitoring Times another perspective of the MARS program. As a retired soldier with 26 years of active service, a ham for 34 years, and Army MARS operator, I can offer that the program is continuing to prosper and transition to significantly different missions and horizons. . . http://www.monitoringtimes.com/html/mtclosing.html (Feb Monitoring Times via DXLD; link will be replaced in March) ** VIETNAM [non]. Silvain, in your latest non-official schedule, you have two broadcasts for R. Free Vietnam, but aren`t there actually two different unrelated stations by that name? (Glenn to Silvain Domen) Hi Glenn, You're right about there being (or used to be) two Radio Free Vietnam's. The Louisiana based R. F. Vietnam was also a TDP thing but reported to be via Russia and CIS. Nothing seems to be heard from them after A03. Their site on nttp://www.radiofreevietnam.com is down. I also tried some Vietnamese expats portalsites like : http://www.vnisoft.com/cgi-bin/links/otherlinks.pl http://www.saigonbao.com/baochi-1.html http://www.quangminh.org/links/ninth.htm ...not listed on these three (the CA based one is) http://vietpage.com/archive_news/politics/2003/Feb/28/0300.html This has info about them, but it is copied from clandestineradio.com info up to 2002. It's indeed puzzling that TDP has only one 30 min. (Mon-Sat) broadcast listed, whereas KWHR lists an extra 1h (Tue/Fri). I sent an email to the Louisiana group to ask if they are still using SW. I also mailed World Harvest Radio's frequency manager Joe Brashier to inform if the second broadcast is also by the CA based station. I'll let you know if or what they reply. Below is a copy of my file of the Louisiana based station. I see that I even logged them in 2002. My info stops with their omittance from the TDP frequency list. 73 Silvain ---------------------------------------------- (c) Radio Free Vietnam (2) -Organization: Vietnamese activists in New Orleans, USA. -Broadcasts from: UZB/RUS (TDP) -Languages: Vietnamese -Identification: Dai Viet Nam tui do -Active Since: August 1, 2001 -Contact Address: P.O. Box 29245, New Orleans, LA 70189, USA -Email: rfvla@aol.com -Related Sites: http://www.radiofreevietnam.com -Schedule and monitoring: A01: 1400-1430 15230 (Mon-Fri) (On TDP) B01: 1400-1430 11850 (Mon-Fri) (Dexter-USA CRW 87) A02: 1400-1430 15235 (Mon-Fri) (Hashimoto-Japan, Domen-Belgium in CRW 105) A03: 1400-1430 11850 (Mon-Fri) (On TDP) B03: 1400-1430 11850 (Mon-Fri) (In ILG, but not reported anymore. Also off TDP) [Later:] Hi Glenn, I received a reply from Radio Free Vietnam at rfvla @ aol.com So they are the ones that were via UZB and theirs is the 1230 UT slot via KWHR. But they say they are from Washington but use a Louisiana address... ? The Tue-Thu broadcast must be the California based one then. Joe Brashier from WHR was quite brief and formal in his reply ------------------ Dear Mr. Domen: Thank you for interesting to listen to the shortwave station. A couple of years ago, we broadcast from Uzbekistan into Vietnam. Since August 01, 2001 we started broadcasting from Hawaii. The control room is in Belgium. But we are not based in California. They are different from us. We are from Washington, D.C.: 31 meter band or 9,930 kHZ, at 1230 UT, from Monday to Friday. Sincerely, Ky-Son Vuong Chief Director P.O. Box 29245, New Orleans, LA 70189 (504) 254-2304 -------------- They are two different programs from 2 different organizations and neither are from Louisiana. Joe Brashier World Harvest Radio -------------- The following is (hopefully) the correct info on the two stations via KWHR. Radio Free Vietnam (California based) ID: Dai Phat Thanh Viet Nam Tui Do --t-t-- 1600-1700 9930 HWA Naalehu-HI V Radio Free Vietnam (Washington based. New Orleans maildrop) ID: Dai Phat Thanh Viet Nam Tui Do -mtwtfs 1230-1300 9930 HWA Naalehu-HI V (TDP) (Silvain Domen, Belgium, Feb 11, DX LISTENING DIGEST) UNIDENTIFIED. 2/11/04, 5500, 0340 GMT, ??? Tuned in to spoken audio, language unknown, continuing until the apparent end of program at 0348 but the carrier stayed on. After a couple of minutes of dead air, very weak audio resumed with a flute instrumental. Spoken audio, still very weak, resumed at 03:59:30 GMT. Thanks, (Jerry Lenamon, Waco TX, Satellite 800 with 70 m beverage at 345 degrees, DX LISTENING DIGEST) That would be V. of Tigray Revolution, Mekelle, Ethiopia, as in 4-013 from 0400; and V. of Peace and Democracy, anti-Eritrean clandestine, via the same transmitter at 0340 (gh) UNIDENTIFIED. 7036.00, 0854 Feb 12, unID Possibly Asian, poor signal, playing back-back tracks, midst dominant ham QRM. Female announcer at 0857 then music till 0900 and apparent news. Sounded Japanese/Korean. Needs more work (Paul Ormandy, ZL4PW, DX LISTENING DIGEST) UNIDENTIFIED. 1200-1300 UT heard an unID signal, like machine gun "WOODPECKER" on 17484.1 to 17506.2 kHz wide range. Originate from HARC Alaska? Or Australian woodpecker ?? (Wolfgang Büschel, BC-DX Feb 9 via DXLD) You mean HAARP? I don`t think it has been accused of transmissions like this (gh, DXLD) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ PUBLICATIONS ++++++++++++ NEW DX-PEDITION WEBSITE While still partially under construction, we feel confident enough to present our new site: http://www.kongsfjord.no Logs from all KONG DX- peds are presented in pdf-format, also there is some information about the location and a few pictures. More to come! Regards, (Bjarne Mjelde, Berlevag, Arctic Norway, hard-core-dx via DXLD) RADIO EQUIPMENT FORUM +++++++++++++++++++++ RADIO SHACK GUIDE TO SHORTWAVE RADIO The ads from Radio Shack say ``If you have questions, we have answers``. Well, here is how Radio Shack will try to answer you if you have questions about shortwave radio! Check out the list of stations and frequencies on the page. I wonder where this came from? http://support.radioshack.com/support_tutorials/communications/swave-0.htm NOTE: This page will be appearing in the March edition of the Radio HF Internet Newsletter I thought you might like to take a look at it now though (via Sheldon Harvey, Greenfield Park, Quebec, Radio HF, DXLD) What a travesty! A very incomplete list, but a great many of the stations in the list no longer exist, have changed their name and/or frequency, and there are typos to boot, like BBC on 14400. Looks like it`s at least a sesquidecade old, tho © 2003! There are many active SWLs who could have provided an accurate list, not to mention consulting any recent SW publication, but did Shack seek them out? Of course not! http://support.radioshack.com/support_tutorials/communications/swave-6.htm (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) OSWALD VILLARD, Jr., 87; IMPROVED RADAR`S SIGHT Another obituary appeared in the NY Times, Feb 8, page 23 of the YT section (via Gerald F. Kercher) Dear Glenn, Dr. Villard attended a SW radio get-together a few years back that I attended also. It was in California but I cannot recall the year. I think it was an ANARC convention. I still have the card he gave me. I thought he was about my age and presumed that his father was the one who had done the research work I heard about during the war! Maybe he was a speaker at the affair (Gerald F. Kercher, Quaker Hill CT, 8 Feb, DX LISTENING DIGEST) POWERLINE COMMUNICATIONS ++++++++++++++++++++++++ FCC MOVES IN ON HIGH SPEED INTERNET Meanwhile a lesser known proposal of the FCC that was approved today, is a plan to send high-speed internet over existing power lines. Supporters say `broadband over power lines`, or BPL, will provide high-speed internet for the first time to remote areas. But the technology will likely be rolled out in more densely populated areas, in competition with other high-speed offerings, including wireless internet providers and the Federal Emergency Management Agency. Also, radio enthusiasts feel the system may cause widespread interference in short-wave bands uniquely suited for international communication. Leigh Robartes has more. . . http://www.fsrn.org/news/20040212_news.html (various audio options, a 4- minute item on Feb 12 Free Speech Radio News starting 11:41 into the program, via DXLD) PROPAGATION +++++++++++ PROPAGATION NEWS FROM RSGB Solar data for the period from the 2nd to the 8th of February, compiled by Neil Clarke, G0CAS. http://www.g0cas.demon.co.uk/main.htm Solar activity was generally very low to low but late in the period increased to moderate, when an M1/SF solar flare occurred. The solar flux increased from 99 on the 3rd to 116 by the 8th. The average was 106 and the 90-day solar flux average on the 8th was 121, the same level as last week. X-ray flux levels varied little and averaged B1.9 units. The geomagnetic field was unsettled to active throughout. The most disturbed days were the 2nd and 6th, when the Ap index was 21 units. The average was Ap 15 units. The ACE spacecraft saw solar wind speeds decline from 690 kilometres per second to 350 by the 8th. Particle densities were low throughout. Bz varied between minus and plus 10 nanoTeslas on the 2nd and between minus and plus 7 nanoTeslas for the remainder of the period. Geomagnetic activity was never high enough to give rise to VHF aurora outside high latitudes, but was nevertheless sufficient to take the edge off propagation on the higher HF bands on several days. Even there, though, there were brief bright periods, with Australia and the Far East being worked from Britain on 28MHz around 0900UTC on the 6th. And finally the solar forecast. This week the quiet side of the sun is expected to be rotating into view. Solar activity should be mostly low, although a small M-class solar flare may take place particularly during the next few days. The solar flux is expected to decline and by next weekend be around the 100 mark. Due to a small coronal hole geomagnetic activity could be rather disturbed around midweek, but otherwise activity should be at unsettled levels. MUFs during daylight hours at equal latitudes should be around 29 MHz for the south and 26 MHz for the north. The darkness hour lows are expected to be about 8 MHz. Paths this week to South America should have a maximum usable frequency, with a 50 per cent success rate, of around 31 MHz. The optimum working frequency, with a 90 per cent success rate, should be about 21 MHz. The best time to try this path should be between 1100 and 1800 UTC. The RSGB propagation news is also available in a Saturday update, posted every Saturday evening and for more on propagation generally, see http://www.rsgb.org/society/psc.htm (Radio Society of Great Britain GB2RS News Script for February 15 posted on uk.radio.amateur newsgroup February 11 by G4RGA via John Norfolk, DXLD) ARNIE CORO'S HF PROPAGATION UPDATE AND FORECAST QUESTION... sent in by a listener in Puerto Rico... Arnie, how long will it take for solar cycle 23 to reach its minimum... ANSWER.. amigo Jose, solar scientists are predicting the end of cycle 23 sometime between the years 2006 and 2007... but let me add that solar cycles don't come to an abrupt screeching tires halt... what happens is that the cycle that is ending and the one that is starting will co-exist for a while... and observers can see sunspots from the old cycle and sunspots from the new one at the same time...Now amigo Jose, let me add that the period between now and the year 2009 will provide us with rather low solar activity, making reception of the bands above 20 megaHertz less and less frequent... So, if possible, try to install an external antenna for improving reception between 5 and 15 megaHertz so that you may continue to enjoy short wave listening during the solar minimum years. [ellipses, really crutches, as published] And now amigos, as always at the end of the show, here is Arnie Coro's HF propagation update and forecast...HF conditions are expected to degrade by Thursday when the effects of the high speed solar wind coming from a coronal hole will be starting. Solar flux was hovering around 120 units, and will probably start to move down by the end of the week. Expect openings short opening on 28 and 24 megaHertz, and longer band openings on the 21, 18 and 14 megaHertz amateur bands. Best daytime reception on the international short wave broadcast bands is going to be on 16 and 19 meters and around sunset, 25 and 31 meters will provide good reception (Arnie Coro, CO2KK, RHC DXers Unlimited Feb 10 via Bob Chandler, VE3SRE, ODXA via DXLD) OTTAWA 27 - DAY MAGNETIC ACTIVITY FORECAST, FEB 5 --- MARCH 3 http://www.spaceweather.gc.ca/forecast27days_e.shtml Most active Feb 12, most quiet Feb 20 & 24 (via gh, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ###