DX LISTENING DIGEST 4-033, February 23, 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 1220: Wed 1030 on WWCR 9475 Mon 0430 on WSUI 910, webcast http://wsui.uiowa.edu WRN ONDEMAND: http://new.wrn.org/listeners/stations/station.php?StationID=24 OUR ONDEMAND AUDIO [also for CONTINENT OF MEDIA, MUNDO RADIAL]: Check http://www.worldofradio.com/audiomid.html WORLD OF RADIO 1220 (high version): (stream) http://www.w4uvh.net/wor1220h.ram (download) http://www.w4uvh.net/wor1220h.rm (summary) http://www.worldofradio.com/wor1220.html WORLD OF RADIO 1220 (low version): (stream) http://www.w4uvh.net/wor1220.ram (download) http://www.w4uvh.net/wor1220.rm FIRST AIRINGS OF WORLD OF RADIO 1221: Wed 2300 on WBCQ, 7415, 17495-CUSB Thu 2130 on WWCR, 9475 ON DEMAND: from early UT Thursday, change 1220 above to 1221 RNI plans to runs different recent archive editions of WOR daily at 1100 UT on webcast via http://www.11L-rni.com MUNDO RADIAL RECEPTION DIFFICULT IN EUROPE THANKS TO BROTHER SCARE Caros Dexistas. Mais algumas escutas desde Almada / Portugal. ESTADOS UNIDOS – 9475, 20/02 2221, WWCR, em Espanhol, Programa "Mundo Radial" apresentado por Gleen Hauser com Infos DX, 31432. (nota: Infelizmente, aqui na Europa, a escuta deste programa de Gleen Hauser nas sua várias edições semanais pela WWCR em Espanhol é muito difícil devido ao potente sinal da THE OVERCOMER MINISTRY via Juelich / Alemanha que emite à mesma hora em 9480) _\\|//_ ( o o ) ---------ooO-(_)-Ooo------ 73 de: (João Alberto Costa, Sony ICF-7600D, Windom c/ 21 mts, Almada - PORTUGAL, Feb 23, radioescutas via DXLD) ** ANTARCTICA. LRA 36 Antartide Argentina STA ARRIVANDO !! 15475.90 kHz --- Ciao! Se vi capita di accendere subito il ricevitore su 15475.9 kHz, vi troverete il segnale di LRA 36 fino alle ore 2200 Italiane [-2100 UT] con un programma speciale per i 100 anni delle ricerche scientifiche della Argentina nel territorio Antartico (Dario Monferini, Italy, Feb 23, Play-DX via DXLD) ** ARGENTINA. RAE FUERA DEL AIRE POR INCENDIO EN PLANTA TRANSMISORA ÚLTIMO MOMENTO: RAE (Radiodifusión Argentina al Exterior) cesó intempestivamente sus emisiones ante un incendio en las cercanías de la planta transmisora de Radio Nacional Buenos Aires, en la zona norte del conurbano bonaerense. En prevención de un colapso del equipamiento técnico las autoridades de la emisora decidieron el apagado de los emisores de onda corta utilizándose un equipamiento de emergencia para la señal de onda media (870 kHz). Cuatro dotaciones de bomberos están combatiendo las llamas aunque desde los micrófonos del Panorama Nacional se solicitaba la presencia de un mayor número de bomberos para sofocar las llamas que amenazarían seriamente las instalaciones de planta transmisora. Fuente: Radio Nacional de Buenos Aires (via CLAUDIO MORALES, Feb 23, Conexión Digital via DXLD) Later: INCENDIO AMENAZA PLANTA TRANSMISORA DE RADIO NACIONAL Un incendio amenaza las instalaciones de la planta transmisora de Radio Nacional de Buenos Aires, en la localidad bonaerense de General Pacheco. Nueve dotaciones de bomberos combaten las llamas que cercaron el predio de la emisora oficial argentina. A raíz del siniestro, las autoridades de la emisora decidieron sacar del aire a la estación de ondas cortas, R.A.E. (Radiodifusión Argentina al Exterior), tras declararse en emergencia la planta emisora. En estos momentos, Radio Nacional de Buenos Aires está transmitiendo con equipos de emergencia sus emisiones de onda media y las dos estaciones de frecuencia modulada. Sin embargo, la rápida intervención de los técnicos de la emisora impidieron que las llamas afectaran el corazón de la planta poniendo a resguardo los emisores. Fuente: Panorama de Noticias de Radio Nacional (via CLAUDIO MORALES, ibid.) A fire was threatening the transmitter site of RAE, as well as LRA domestic services. They were closed down as a precaution, with the AM and FM transmissions moved to backup sites (gh, summary translation) ** BOLIVIA. 4763.3, Radio & Television Chicha, Tocla, Nor-Chichas province, Potosí Department. 2240-2400. February 22. Spanish. Second day on air!!!! They like reception reports and promise a souvenir for all listeners who send them reports. I heard this new station with my dear friend and DXer Marcelo Cornachioni, in a DX Camp in Chascomus, 124 km south of Buenos Aires city. Music (Bolivian folk). At 2323 announcement and ID by male as: "...este carnaval para todos los lugares de nuestras comunidades aledañas... Radio Chicha está transmitiendo...."; other announcement and ID as: "Radio y Televisión Chicha, desde Tocla... estamos en su sintonía en 100.5 MHz y 4760 kHz, banda de 60 metros, onda corta... reiteramos el horario de nuestra transmisión que vamos a difundir en los próximos días: 6 y 30 de la mañana hasta las 9 de la mañana en onda corta. 6 y 30 de la mañana hasta la 1 de la tarde en FM, frecuencia modulada. - Por las tardes, a partir de las 5 hasta las 8 de la noche tanto en FM como en onda corta. La televisión lanzaremos al aire (sic) a partir también de las 5 de la tarde hasta las 10 y 30 de la noche. Nuestra dirección para que usted, señor oyente de esta radio tan flamante, que se ha inaugurado el día anterior, por favor, háganos llegar sus reportes de cómo estaba sintonizando en su hogar, su comunidad, en su pueblo, en su ciudad, en su país a la siguiente dirección: email nicotoja @ yahoo.es celular: 711-60330, repetimos 711-60330 y el teléfono público de este pueblito, Tocla, es el número 26137226, repetimos: 26137226. Estimado oyente, si usted nos hace conocer la edición, la calidad de emisión que recibe en su pueblo, en su comunidad, en su país, en su ciudad, nosotros inmediatamente le estaremos llegando a usted con un recuerdo de Radio Chicha, de Tocla. Estimados oyentes, vamos a proseguir dando rienda suelta a nuestro programa....". SINPO: 34443. S/off at 2400 UT. Schedule on SW: 1030-1700 and 2100- 2400 UT. I can see Tocla on a Potosí map. The town is to south of Potosí city, in the south-east of Potosí department (Hammond maps). (Arnaldo Slaen & Marcelo Cornachioni, Argentina, Cumbre DX via DXLD) Ayer a la noche local, con todo el entusiasmo de la reciente captación de esta nueva emisora boliviana de onda corta, intenté la recepción desde mi QTH en Buenos Aires y noté que entraba bien, pero en 4763.19 khz (o sea que se está "corriendo" ya que fue escuchada inicialmente en 4763.30). Sobre las 2330 UT, la señal era fuerte; tal vez merecía un 3 en el S y no tenía interferencia ni desvanecimiento. Llegaba con música latina y dos identificaciones por el mismo OM que conducía el programa el día anterior. Otro detalle interesante es que se identifica indistintamente como Radio Chicha o Radio y Televisión Chicha. 73's (Arnaldo Slaen, [Feb 23] Conexión Digital via DXLD) ** BRAZIL. 17814.8 R. Cultura, São Paulo SP, 21 Feb 1836-1912, oldies; 25432 (Carlos Gonçalves, Portugal, BC-DX Feb 23 via DXLD) ** BRAZIL. Após o Carnaval a Rádio Difusora, de Taubaté (SP), poderá reativar a freqüência de 4925 kHz. A informação foi dada pela direção da emissora ao associado do DX Clube do Brasil, residente naquela cidade, professor Armando Monteiro de Castro. De acordo com a estação, ``os transmissores estão em manutenção``. BRASIL – De 21 a 24 de fevereiro, o Brasil inteiro pula o Carnaval. Nas emissoras de rádio o trabalho continua, principalmente na cobertura do evento. A Rádio Gaúcha, de Porto Alegre (RS), por exemplo, vai acompanhar o Carnaval do Rio de Janeiro e da capital do Rio Grande do Sul, sempre a partir das 0300. A emissora poderá ser ouvida, em 6020 e 11915 kHz. Os trabalhos serão comandados por Cláudio Brito, André Machado e Marcelo Matuziak. Da mesma forma, no mesmo horário, a Rádio Guaíba estará falando de Carnaval, com João Garcia, em 6000 e 11785 kHz. Outras emissoras também poderão ser acompanhadas, como a Rádio Guarujá Paulista, de Guarujá (SP), que já fala de Carnaval, todos os dias, também a partir de 0300, em 3235 e 5045 kHz. Engrossam a lista as rádios Nacional da Amazônia, de Brasília (DF), Globo, do Rio de Janeiro (RJ), entre outras. BRASIL – A Rádio Educação Rural, de Campo Grande (MS), inicia suas emissões às 0900, em 4775 kHz. Nos sábados, neste horário, o `Compadre Oliveira` apresenta o programa Sabadão Sertanejo. Em 21 de fevereiro, foi ouvida, pelo colunista, em Porto Alegre (RS). Na ocasião, o apresentador, entre outros temas, comentou que ``estava abrindo as portas e as janelas da Educação Rural!`` BRASIL – Para entender um pouco mais o idioma português, a dica é a sintonia do programa Nossa Língua Portuguesa, que a Rádio Cultura, de São Paulo (SP), leva ao ar, entre 2300 e 2330, em 9615 kHz. O professor Pasquale Cipro Neto busca sempre num tema musical as regras que serão explicadas. Confira! (Célio Romais, Panorama, @tividade DX Feb 22 via DXLD) ** BRAZIL. ENCONTRO DA CHINA RADIO INTERNATIONAL COM SEUS OUVINTES Realizou-se em 20 de Fevereiro, na Associação Cultural Chinesa do Rio de Janeiro, o Encontro da CRI com Seus Ouvintes, organizado pela delegação da Rádio Internacional da China em visita à América Latina. Participaram do encontro o vice-diretor da Rádio Internacional da China, a chefe do departamento de língua portuguesa, Yu Huijuan e membros do departamento de espanhol. Ouvintes de ondas curtas do Rio de Janeiro, São Paulo, Minas Gerais e Paraná estiveram presentes ao evento. O encontro foi marcado por homenagens a vários dos especialistas brasileiros que trabalharam no departamento de língua portuguesa, que também estiveram presentes, bem como à cônsul da China no Rio de Janeiro e às entidades culturais chinesas que auxiliaram na organização do encontro. A CRI também homenageou vários ouvintes considerados os mais assíduos, dentre eles o monitor Rubens Ferraz Pedroso, presente ao encontro. Yu Huijuan destacou histórias de relacionamento da CRI com seus ouvintes, como os casos dos ouvintes que se preocuparam com os membros do departamento durante a epidemia de SARS e os que felicitaram a China quando do recente lançamento de missão tripulada chinesa ao espaço (o primeiro ouvinte do mundo a enviar felicitações à rádio foi brasileiro). Foram homenageados também os clubes e os seus representantes presentes ao evento. O DX Clube do Brasil e o Santa Rita DX Clube ganharam uma placa metálica com motivos chineses e um rádio de ondas curtas cada um. Sarmento Campos e Valter Aguiar, representantes do DXCB, entregaram lembrança típica do Brasil em nome do clube. Cassiano Macedo, representando o SRDXC, entregou placa metálica em nome do seu programa Encontro DX (Rádio Aparecida). Todos os participantes receberam brindes da emissora como recordação. O vice-diretor da CRI ressaltou a importância do contato com os ouvintes e destacou o empenho da emissora em manter sua programação em ondas curtas aliada ao site na Internet, CRI Online, que em breve oferecerá cursos de língua chinesa para os interessados. Houve ainda presença de representantes da Radiobrás, com quem a CRI vem estabelecendo projetos de parceria. Após o almoço com tempero tipicamente chinês, ficou entre os participantes a grata sensação de uma emissora que realmente dá importância ao relacionamento com os ouvintes e a certeza de contato renovado com o departamento de português da Rádio Internacional da China (Valter Aguiar, @tividade DX Feb 22 via DXLD) ** CANADA. Um jornal de Quebéc anunciou a busca de produtor e apresentador para a nova programação em português da Rádio Canadá. Ricky Leong informou ao DX Listening Digest, de Glenn Hauser, que ``jamais imaginou ler algo assim``. Segundo o anúncio, os pretendentes devem passar por testes, antes da contratação (Célio Romais, Panorama, @tividade DX Feb 22 via DXLD) ** CHINA. Here is a frequency and test time list of the new powerful 500 kW transmitters and Thales ALLISS revolving antenna systems at Kashi transmitter site monitoring data. But I missed the 500 kW unit entries at Dongfang on Hainan - Hainandao Island. 500 kW entries only appear at Urumqui, Kunming sites, and Kashi of course. 5915 0100-0200 6045 1100-1200 6045 2200-2300 7010 1400-1600 7350 1000-1200 7365 1100-1200 7455 1800-2000 7540 1800-2000 9355 1800-2000 9410 1300-1400 9410 1800-1900 9455 1800-2000 9680 1500-1600 9780 0600-0800 9875 1300-2000 11460 1300-1400 11640 0900-1100 11640 1100-1400 11790 1800-2000 11940 0300-0400 11985 0200-0300 12025 0800-1000 12040 1000-1100 12065 0800-1100 12065 1500-1600 12065 2000-2200 13615 0900-1000 13625 0300-0400 13625 1800-2000 13650 0900-1000 13670 1800-2000 13740 1200-1300 13745 1500-1600 13860 1600-1900 15190 1000-1200 15190 1200-1400 15285 1500-1600 15385 1500-1600 15510 1500-1600 15510 1800-2000 15515 0900-1000 15670 0800-0900 15670 1000-1400 15730 0800-0900 17480 0200-0300 17480 0500-0700 17480 0800-1100 17615 1000-1200 17640 1100-1300 17820 1000-1100 21460 1100-1300 21730 0200-0300 21730 0500-0700 21730 0800-1300 21730 1300-1500 21850 0200-0500 21850 0500-0700 21850 0700-1100. (monitored in December 2003) (wb, Feb 1, BC-DX Feb 23 via DXLD) It remains to be seen when the new HFCC becomes available if the Chinese are making legitimate use of some of the new Kashi and Dongfang 500 kW rigs. A number of Dongfang 100-150 kW transmitters have been scheduled in the past few HFCCs, but none of these has been heard. It is, on the other hand, obvious that Dongfang transmitters are used for jamming. What would be interesting to know is, whether 500 kW rigs are used for jamming when they are not needed for normal services. Also some recently added CRI freqs could be from Kashi, like Arabic on 7160. Each of the RFA frequencies used in the 0300-0700 period has a large pile-up of jammers. I would think that each part of China is covered by (at least) two jammers from different sites (Olle Alm, Sweden, Feb 16, BC-DX Feb 23 via DXLD) See also BRAZIL ** CHINA. CHINA RADIO INTERNATIONAL TO EXPAND URDU SERVICE China Radio International (CRI) plans to expand its Urdu service from one hour to three hours daily. The expansion will take place within the next three months. CRI will then have one-hour Urdu broadcasts in the morning, early evening and late evening. According to Pakistani broadcaster Naveed Chohan, who works at CRI, the Urdu service is gaining popularity due to its news and current affairs programmes. (Source: Paknews.com) # posted by Andy @ 09:31 UT Feb 23 (Media Network blog via DXLD) ** CUBA. Hi Glenn, I was listening to that more powerful R. Rebelde transmitter on 5025. Not only does it have an excellent signal, during darkness hours, but the audio is great, unlike some of the RHC transmitters. I sure hope they maintain it! Well, today, they said they were celebrating the 46th anniversary of the founding of R. Rebelde in the mountains. They didn't say exactly if it was today, or sometime during this week. Perhaps that explains the upgrading of 5025? They also gave greetings to their listeners locally, on the internet, and "Através de la onda corta" in North, Central and South America. Frankly, I enjoy having this big signal there, and, even if a person's Spanish isn't up to par, there is some nice music at night (Tim Hendel, Huntsville AL, Feb 23, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Radio Rebelde is also coming in nice here. 5025 at 0150 on Feb. 22. SINPO 34443 on my Sony 7600GR and some meters of wire around the window indoors (Silvain Domen, Belgium, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CUBA [and non]. Today during my big commute to Jacksonville... I travel from Palm Coast northerly along I-95 passing through St. John's County/St. Augustine's outskirts. From time to time I like to tune in 1170 WSOS as they seem to have a PSSA authorization before sunrise, starting at 6 AM... They play a wide variety of oldies and are in AM stereo. They recently started the format a couple of months or so ago. The past number of days that I've tuned in before sunrise, I've noticed a bad ringing, modem-like sound covering all but the city- grade signal, which circles the tower by about 3 to 4 miles at this low pre-sunrise power. Instead of jumping around with my preset buttons, I tuned away from 1170 and noted the same noise on 1190, and on 1180 a BLASTING flame of a signal on Cuba's station (Radio Rebelde?) that is designed to beat back Radio Martí. Could there be something they're doing to specifically causing that ringing sideband? At first I jumped to the conclusion this was perhaps IBOC artifacts... I don't think it's so, but can't be certain. Observations? Thoughts? I feel sorry for WSOS 1170. Nice little local station, and nicer format. And stereo - I love to hear AM stereo. I know it never caught on, but I like to hear it none the less... (Ron "another tank of gasoline" Gitschier, Jacksonville, FL, NRC-AM via DXLD) The 1180 in Cuba is wider than a barn door. Probably has no idea what the NRSC mask is. That`s probably what's causing your problem. They are do darn powerful, my bet is they radiate at lease a quarter million watts. Last time I flew down to Marathon in the Keys (where the 100 kw Radio Martí is, I could see the four inline towers of Martí, but not hear the signal. Not till I got to within 10 miles did Martí overtake Cuba (Paul Smith, W4KNX, Sarasota, FL, NRC-AM via DXLD) ** EL SALVADOR. 17834.86v, R. Imperial, 0000-0045 2/22, ranchera-type song (probably with religious lyrics), then male announcer speaking 0004-0014; too weak to copy much, but signal came up later with a "religious cumbia" at 0018, then a nice ID at 0028 as "Radio Imperial, 810 AM", then more alternating talk and music; religious talk at 0040 including a reading from Libro de Proverbios. Drifted slighly upwards during monitoring period (John Wilkins, Wheat Ridge, Colorado, Drake R-8, 100-foot RW, Cumbredx mailing list via DXLD) Around 0030 Feb 24, I could detect a carrier just slightly below 17835 (gh, OK, DXLD) ** ERITREA [non]. 15675. Voice of Liberty. 0400 UT. On at this time Sundays only at fair level in presumed Amharic. Not too sure of transmitter site for this one but understand transmission is arranged through TDP. Can anyone advise of site? Regards to all (Ian Cattermole, NZ, Cumbre DX via DXLD) The station announced that it will broadcast the first half hour in Tigrinya, the second half hour in Arabic. There is no official site info available, but the most likely site is Grigoriopol (Maiac) in Moldova. 73s, (Bernd Trutenau, Lithuania, Feb 23, Cumbredx mailing list via DXLD) Just started this week, 0400-0500 UT Suns only (gh) ** ETHIOPIA [non]. SOUTH AFRICA/UAE. 17565, Educational Development Center "Mustaqbal" via Sentech [Meyerton-AFS site] verified an e-mail follow up report in 3 hours with a no data statement: "Thank you for listening to our program and showing interest in it, your description of the program is precise" from Abdoulkader Houssein (AHoussein@e...). Thanks to Bernd Trutenau for the name and contact information. Abdoulkader provides further information: "I am the program assistant for the Interactive Radio Instruction for Somalis project under which the "Mustaqbal" program has being developed by the Education Development Center and the Regional Education Bureau (REB) of the Somali region of Ethiopia known as Region 5. This project is financed by the United States Agency for International Development. This is a pilot program that uses interactive radio instruction (IRI) and multichannel learning methods by EDC to develop engaging, culturally sensitive, and educationally effective lessons. "Mustaqbal" is a reading program and is intended to enhance literacy proficiency for Somali Children in region 5 and in the Horn of Africa where interest in the program is expressed." He notes that Merlin is in charge of the broadcast and since he is not a radio person, he asked for further information about what is a QSL (Rich D`Angelo, PA, DXplorer Feb 21 via BC-DX via DXLD) 17565 EDC. Mustaqbal. Here is a reply received recently. Their schedule is 1202-1232 on 17565 via Meyerton-AFS and also on 17565 from 0630-0700 via Al Dhabayya-UAE. The 0630 is the easier heard here, but suffers severe co-frequency QRM from CNR (Ian Cattermole, NZ, Cumbre Feb 23 via BC-DX via DXLD) Viz.: Thank you for listening to our program and showing interest. The Interactive Radio Instruction for Somalis project under which the "Mustaqbal" program has being developed by the Education Development Center and the Regional Education Bureau (REB) of the Somali region of Ethiopia known as Region 5. This project is financed by the United States Agency for International Development. This is a pilot program that uses interactive radio instruction (IRI) and multichannel learning methods by EDC to develop engaging, culturally sensitive, and educationally effective lessons. "Mustaqbal" is a reading program and is intended to enhance literacy proficiency for Somali Children in region 5 and in the Horn of Africa where interest in the program is expressed. To answer your question, yes the afternoon schedule is correct and we have also a second broadcast in the morning from 6:30 UTC to 7:00 UT on Monday, Tuesday and Thursday brodcasted on the same frequency but from Dhabayya by Merlin. May I ask you how did hear or learn about our program and my contact? Do you know others persons tuning in the program, perphaps somali speaking persons? Thanks, Abdoulkader (EDC, Feb 23 via Cattermole, ibid.) ** HAITI. HAITIAN REBELS DESTROY PRO-ARISTIDE MEDIA OUTLETS Reports from Haiti's second city, Cap-Haitien, now in the hands of rebel forces trying to depose President Aristide, indicate that at least one radio station and one TV station have been destroyed. They are Radio Africa, owned by Nawoom Marcellus, a former parliament deputy from Aristide's Lavalas Family Party, and Tele Konbit, a television station owned by Jose Elysse, an adviser to Aristide. # posted by Andy @ 12:13 UT Feb 23 (Media Network blog via DXLD) ** IRAQ. SURVEY OF VOICE OF IRAQ RADIO'S PROGRAMMING The Voice of Iraq, which transmits from Baghdad on 1179 kHz and broadcasts for 12 hours a day, from 0800-2000 local time (0500-1700 gmt), presents a wide variety of programmes that include detailed newscasts, domestic news, talks with politicians and clergymen, field investigations tackling various topics of interest to Iraqi citizens, panel discussions on various topics, press reviews, reports on those killed by Saddam Husayn's regime, religious lectures, educational programmes, family programmes and other programmes on various topics. The Voice of Iraq carries an announcement describing itself as "an independent radio aimed at presenting genuine information services in the field of news, political and intellectual analyses, and culture, of which the Iraqi people are proud". According to the Voice of Iraq's web site [www.voirqa.com], the radio aims at strengthening unity among the Iraqi people following decades of attempts to stir up sectarianism and acts of killing, oppression and terrorism against the majority of the Iraqi people." The web site adds that the Voice of Iraq "gives special attention to the issue of the Iraqi people's national unity, and encourages close relations among the various ethnic groups, including Arabs, Kurds and Turkomans who should enjoy equal rights without any form of prejudice or discrimination". During its daily English-language broadcast between 1200-1300 gmt, the Voice of Iraq carries a newscast and various programmes aimed at presenting Islam in a serious and scientific manner to English- speaking people in Iraq. Since its inception on 15 July 2003, the Voice of Iraq has not changed its moderate tone when reporting on US forces' activities in Iraq. In its newscasts, the radio usually carries strictly factual reports - containing no commentary - taken from local sources or international news agencies when reporting on the coalition forces' activities and presence in Iraq. The radio has not been observed to use terms such as "the US occupation forces" or "the US-invading forces" when referring to the US forces in Iraq. In its 1400 gmt newscast on 16 February, the Voice of Iraq carried the following report: "Paul Bremer, the US civil administrator in Iraq, said on Sunday [15 February] that the United States is still waiting for the UN recommendations on the issue of transferring authority to the Iraqis. He stressed that the transfer of authority will be completed on 30 June, as approved by US President George Bush." The radio also reported: "A source close to the Fallujah district officer has said that the US forces arrested Ra'id Husayn al-Burayshah in his office in Fallujah." It added that "the arrest of the district officer comes three days after the attack on General John Abizaid, commander of the US Central Command, in Fallujah." In its 1100 gmt newscast on 19 February, the Voice of Iraq reported that "seven Iraqis were killed and 40 others, including eight soldiers from the coalition forces, were wounded in an explosion that took place in front of the headquarters of the Polish forces in Hillah. Dozens of small houses near the headquarters of the Polish forces were destroyed." Reporting on the rewards announced by "the coalition authority" to anyone who gives information that would lead to the arrest of officials in the old regime, the radio said: "The US Army has published a new list of wanted people suspected of carrying out armed operations against the coalition forces and civilians. The US deputy commander of military operations in Iraq said that the list carries the names of 32 persons, including leaders of terrorist cells and members of Saddam's regime." Reporting on Saddam Husayn The Voice of Iraq carries various programmes condemning and criticizing the "tyrannical practices of Saddam Husayn's thugs" against the Iraqi people. At 1550 on 15 February, the Voice of Iraq carried a programme entitled "Convoys of Martyrs", which shed light on the "Iraqi martyrs' lives" and on the circumstances that led to their arrest by "tyrant Saddam Husayn's thugs". The programme also talked about the mass graves where hundreds of "Iraqi martyrs" were buried after being arrested, tortured and killed by "Saddam's thugs". On 16 February, the radio commented on the Oil Ministry's investigation into the "defunct regime's violations" with regard to the issue of the oil shares allocated to various companies and individuals, saying that these violations by the old regime "wasted the people's resources in order to only serve its interests and goals". Religious content Religious programmes account for a major part of the radio's programming. Koranic recitations, supplications, prayers and programmes on various religious issues are carried throughout the day. At 1300 gmt on 15 February, the Voice of Iraq said that it aims to present a wide variety of intellectual and religious lectures that would shed light on issues of faith in order to enlighten people about the origin of faith. The radio adds that it has looked for the rich heritage of religious leaders, which includes valuable lectures and sermons, in order to present it to its listeners. The radio then begins broadcasting the first part of a series of religious lectures by Ayatollah Al-Sayyid Ridha al-Shirazi. Source: BBC Monitoring research 22 Feb 04 (via DXLD) ** JUPITER. RADIO STORMS ON JUPITER http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2004/20feb_radiostorms.htm Listen to this story via streaming audio http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2004/images/radiostorms/audio/story.m3u download file http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2004/images/radiostorms/audio/story.mp3 or get help http://science.nasa.gov/info/audio.htm February 20, 2004: Waves crashing on a beach. Woodpeckers peck-peck pecking. Whales calling plaintively across the sea. These are the sounds of Jupiter. There are no whales or woodpeckers on Jupiter. There are no beaches. But Jupiter beams these sounds to Earth anyway. They emerge from the loudspeakers of short-wave radios during Jupiter`s occasional, intense radio storms, caused by natural radio lasers near the planet`s magnetic poles. Many ham radio operators have heard these storms, late at night when Jupiter is high in the sky. Now you can listen, too, online, thanks to a live audio link to the University of Florida Radio Observatory, supported by NASA. Not far from the meandering Suwannee River in central Florida, there is an array of odd-looking antennas: spiral ``tee-pees`` and gangly ``Yagis.`` Every night these are trained on Jupiter, monitoring the planet for radio outbursts in the frequency range 18 to 32 MHz. Sensitive receivers translate Jupiter`s radio waves to audio sounds. During a strong storm, the observatory`s control room echoes with pecks, pops, and crackling swooshes. Choose one of these links to listen: slower speed for modems http://science.nasa.gov/audio/florida/florida0.m3u or higher speed for DSL connections http://science.nasa.gov/audio/florida/florida1.m3u In addition to genuine Jupiter sounds samples http://www.thursdaysclassroom.com/16sep99/sounds4.html you might hear human voices and music from terrestrial radio stations. Try listening for Jupiter on Feb. 22 (midnight - 2 a.m. EST); Feb. 23 (2 a.m. - 4 a.m. EST); and Mar. 1 (3 a.m. - 4 a.m. EST). Those are the dates of some expected storms. Visit SpaceWeather.com http://spaceweather.com for a more complete calendar. Jovian radio storms, first noticed in 1955, are beamed to Earth by radio lasers near Jupiter`s magnetic poles. Lasers on Earth, in labs and classrooms, are man-made from wires, crystals and other electronics. Jupiter`s radio lasers are natural, made of plasmas (ionized gases) and magnetic fields. High speed streams of magnetized plasma flowing downward into Jupiter`s polar regions emit radio waves --- a process known as the ``cyclotron maser mechanism.`` When this mechanism is operating, Jupiter can outshine even the sun as a radio source. The lasers are powered, in part, by Jupiter`s moon Io. Volcanoes on Io hurl electrically conducting gas into Jupiter`s magnetosphere (the region of space controlled by Jupiter`s magnetic field), where it collects in a doughnut-shaped region, the ``Io torus.`` As Io travels around Jupiter, it plows through the torus and makes waves, like the wake of a boat. These ``Alfven waves,`` guided by magnetic forces, carry about 40 trillion watts of power to Jupiter`s polar regions -- more than enough to fuel the radio storms. Jupiter`s Io-controlled radio emissions don`t go in all directions. The radio laser beam has the shape of a wide hollow cone. If Earth is inside the cone, we hear nothing. If Earth is outside the cone, we also hear nothing. But if Earth is in the narrow edge of the cone, we can hear some strong radio bursts. Jupiter rotates once every 10 hours and the cone rotates with it like a lighthouse beam. To catch a radio storm you have to know (1) when Earth will be aligned with the edge of the cone and (2) when Io is in the right position to pour electrical energy into the storm zone. This will happen a few times in the weeks ahead, e.g., on Feb. 22, Feb. 23, and March 1. When you tune in, don`t expect to hear a constant stream of pecking and swooshing. Jupiter`s radio source is intermittent. You might hear nothing but static for an hour. Then, just when you`re ready to give up, the storm will surge: rapid-fire pecks, loud and insistent, wave- like swooshes, gently undulating. It might last for a few minutes, or a few seconds. No two Jupiter storms are alike, and that`s what makes listening fun. Professional astronomers study these storms because they reveal a lot about Jupiter --- especially its rotation and magnetism. Jupiter`s cone-shaped radio beam is attached to the planet`s magnetic field, which emerges from deep inside Jupiter. By tracking the radio beam as it turns, astronomers have managed to measure the rotation rate of the planet`s hidden interior with a precision of milliseconds. Jupiter`s magnetosphere is huge. It`s about 10 times wider than the sun, and its tail, stretched out by the solar wind, extends far beyond Saturn. One day, astronomers expect, this vast magnetosphere is going to flip. The Sun`s magnetic field reverses polarity every 11 years; Earth`s magnetic field flips, too, every 300,000 years on average. This seems to be normal behavior for magnetic dynamos in stars and planets. When will Jupiter`s field flip? Radio listeners might be the first to know. When the magnetic field begins to change, so will Jupiter`s radio beam. Earth will enter the cone at unexpected times, surprising listeners with unscheduled storms. And, maybe, the usual pecks and whale calls will turn into something new --- barks and howls? --- as the vast magnetic field rearranges itself. Listening online is not the only way to tune into Jupiter. NASA also supports an education program for kids (young and old) called Radio JOVE http://radiojove.gsfc.nasa.gov/ Join, and you can buy a radio telescope kit, build your own observatory, and start listening from your own back yard or school yard. Pop. Swoosh. This is too much fun for professionals alone (via John Norfolk, DXLD) Tune In to Jupiter Online --- Radio programming can rarely be described as "otherworldly." But if you are interested in the music of the spheres, there's a story of interest on a NASA Web site about a new online listening experience. The article discusses sounds that can be heard on terrestrial shortwave radios during occasional intense radio storms near the planet's magnetic poles. The outbursts are in the 18 to 32 MHz range. "Many ham radio operators have heard these storms, late at night when Jupiter is high in the sky. Now you can listen, too, online, thanks to a live audio link to the University of Florida Radio Observatory, supported by NASA." The link also has information about possible dates and times for those storms. Info: http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2004/20feb_radiostorms.htm (Radio World NewsBytes Feb 23 via DXLD) ** KURDISTAN [non]. CLANDESTINE: 15675 kHz, Denge Mezopotamya, QSL- card full/data, verie/signer illegible; TDP c/o Ludo Maes, P. O. Box 1, 2310 Rijkevorsel, BELGIUM in total 477 days after re-send the report by snail mail for 1 IRC (Nicolás Eramo, Argentina, Feb 23, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** LITHUANIA. 7560, R. Ezra (via Sitkunai), E-mail report with RealAudio attachment brought next-day E-mail from John Hill saying they were sending a QSL and to get back to them if I didn't get it within a month. It arrived by postal mail in 5 days; certificate-style sheet with full-data and history of the station, similar in design to the "commemorative QSL" from them. Says last transmission of this series was to be Feb 22, but hopes to be back in the summer, perhaps June (Jerry Berg, MA, DXplorer Feb 22 via BC-DX via DXLD) ** MADAGASCAR. Malagasy Republic. 5010, Radio Television Malagasy 02/22 *0254-0303 French/Malagasy Fair/good, 10-note drum xylophone- type IS, anthem, French sign-on by W, news in presumed Malagasy. Noted before but never this strong, great signal in middle of North America. Is this the Nederland relay site and if so, does it count as a separate station? (Earl Higgins, St. Louis MO, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Yes, separate. The WRTH 2004 shows distinct, altho not too distant, geo coördinates. Perhaps this idea got started when, as I vaguely recall, RN availablized its facilities to RTM during some emergency (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** MALAYSIA. Continues to be heard strong with signals on 5965 Malay and 7295 English. Usual signals here in Sri Lanka and doubt any reduction in power. Appears to be on the 24h sked though not heard here in Sri Lanka during daytime 0200-0900a (Victor A. Goonetilleke, 4S7VK, Feb 19, BC-DX Feb 23 via DXLD) ** MEXICO. 4810, XERTA, 02/22 0558-0606, Spanish. Good to poor, obviously having transmitter problems, signal kept popping on and off, and when on, varied from good to threshold level. Modulation seemed OK and frequency stable. Pop music, Spanish ID only as "RTA". Still having problems next evening, 02/23 0230 (Earl Higgins, St. Louis MO) ** MYANMAR. 5040.63, R Myanmar, at 1403-1420 Feb 16, seemed to be an English lesson, with slow English, then a series of questions and answers, "Question number 12, how does the dawn come up? The answer is, the dawn comes up slowly", 1420 into vern. Poor and could not make out many words (Ron Howard, CA, DXplorer via BC-DX via DXLD) ** NETHERLANDS [and non]. On its website, the Dutch InfoRadio announces that it is intending to broadcast daily summaries of regional news in Dutch during April-October 2004 via shortwave air time leases in Germany (DTK Jülich -BT) and Florida, USA (WRMI -BT). InfoRadio had announced similar plans for summer 2003, but these transmissions were not started. In addition, in December 2003 InfoRadio has asked the Dutch Broadcasting Regulatory Authority (Agentschap Telecom) to license a small shortwave transmitter for operation on Dutch soil (Bernd Trutenau, Lithuania, Cumbredx mailing list via DXLD) ** OKLAHOMA [and non]. I have just recently been exploring the world of radio on the computer. This has allowed me to hear some of the indigenous language programs of CBC North, and some of the unusual languages from places such as Romania which I can't pick up here. I use a site called Mikes Radio World. Try it! Well, under North America, there is a section for each state. It does not carry every single station in a state, but, it does carry a lot of them, not necessarily the biggest stations. Well, if I looked under Oklahoma, can you tell me of any station which does, or might, carry programs in the Cherokee language? I'm still wanting to hear what this language sounds like (Tim Hendel, Huntsville AL, Feb 23, DX LISTENING DIGEST) The only OK stations likely to have any Cherokee language are the AM/FM pair in Tahlequah, KTLQ/KEOK. They are not on Mike`s list, and I can`t find any current webpage for them; Radio & Records say they were sold last October. Possibly there could be some from Georgia or the Cherokee NC area (Glenn to Tim, via DXLD) ** OMAN. Something needs to happen to improve SW propagation I think. It is a little better than mediocre the last couple of days, but I have heard better. I've also been doing some 'during the night' listening - only for short periods though - in an attempt to hear M.E. stations. I have managed to hear Oman 6085 before and after 0300 - no ID but I'm as sure as I can be that it is this one - and Kuwait 6055 through REE. But the highest bands remain closed at that time making it difficult to determine s-on/off times. Oman in particular is proving difficult to locate. I note there are two different schedules on their web site, and one shows some reduction in SW broadcasting. Neither is correct! As well as 6085, I hear 13640 on air between 0600 and 1400 and 15375 between 1400 and 1800, but no others so far - and I cannot hear any frequencies listed for THU. English and Arabic 1400-1800 is not on air via 15140. The reduced sched shows this frequency at 0600-1000, but I don't hear it then either. I can hear some other under Berlin 6190 around 1800 but cannot ID what it is (Noel R. Green, UK, Feb 20, BC-DX Feb 23 via DXLD) ** PERU. There an interesting article on the current activities of ex- Presidente Fujimori, who is in exile in Japan. The article mentions that he is producing a weekly hour long radio program which is broadcast on sixty stations in Peru. The article is at http://www.nytimes.com/2004/02/24/international/americas/24FUJI.html I did a little search and found his official website. No station or time list that I could find, but it does look like the audio programs can be downloaded. Or perhaps it is some other talks he has done. http://www.fujimorialberto.com/index.php === "What we have here is a form of looting." - George Akerlof, Nobel laureate in economics, speaking about the Bush budget and tax cuts Radio & Latin American website: http://donmoore.tripod.com Highly Recommended: http://www.commondreams.org and http://www.tompaine.com (Don Moore, Davenport IA, Feb 23, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** POLAND. Re 4-032: No 11710 spur on Feb 23, but very terrible BUZZ started on 11820 from 1307 till 1400 UT, \\ 9525 had a clean audio signal (Wolfgang Büschel, Stuttgart, Germany, BC-DX via DXLD) ** ROMANIA. The Brazilians and Portuguese have launched a campaign to save the Portuguese service of RRI, one of five to be deleted from Marchend; the decision to be made already Feb 24 (gh summary translation) Amigos, vamos ajudar o departamento de português da Rádio Romênia Internacional. Vejam o e-mail que recebi desse departamento: Estimado fiel ouvinte e amigo, Recebemos com grande satisfação a sua mensagem e nestes momentos tão tensos para a nossa secção tentamos depositar todos os esforços para salvar os programas em português. Uma decisão definitiva vai ser tomada terça-feira próxima [Feb 24] no Conselho de Administração da Radiodifusão Romena e esperamos que a sua mensagem de solidariedade convencesse os nossos dirigentes que o programa em português pode contribuir ainda para a promoção da imagem objectiva do nosso pais no mundo. Fizemos até agora numerosas diligências para evitar esta situação. A notícia sobre o reatamento das transmissões em português pela Rádio Canadá Internacional poderia constituir um apóio decisivo para a nossa secção. Infelizmente, exceptuando algumas mensagens enviadas pelos nossos ouvintes, nos não conseguimos encontrar no site da Radio Canadá Internacional esta notícia. Mas, navegando no site da Radio Canadá Internacional, encontramos o seu nome. Faça favor, se for possível e souber algo sobre o site que publicou e divulgou a notícia sobre o retorno das transmissões em português, destinadas exclusivamente ao espa,co brasileiro, da Rádio Canadá Internacional ou mesmo os textos publicados na imprensa brasileira sobre este assunto (textos divulgados em formato electrónico!) envíe para a nossa rádio as informações necessárias! Todos nos consideramos que a sua reacção, apoiada pela apresentação clara dos artigos sobre esta boa notícia para a lusofonia, poderia ser-nos útil no âmbito das nossas diligências destinadas a salvar os 45 anos de actividade da Secção Portuguesa da RRI. Esperamos com impaciência uma mensagem sua, uma prova de solidariedade com a nossa secção. Esperamos uma resposta positiva e agradecemos por ter sido um fiel ouvinte da nossa rádio! Cabe ainda mencionar que a decisao final não foi tomada e esperamos ainda um milagre! Cordialmente, em nome dos amigos da RRI, Constantsa Comanici, Secção Portuguesa - Radio Romênia Internacional (via Rubens Ferraz Pedroso, Bandeirantes-PR, Brasil, via Panorama, @tividade DX Feb 22 via DXLD) Prezados Amigos, Com base nas informações prestadas pelo Adalberto, msg 21199 de 09/02/2004, vai alguns links que podem auxiliar a redação portuguesa da Radio Romênia: Pagina da RCI de 02/02/2004 http://www.rcinet.ca/Scripts/default.asp?1=es msg 21161 do Glenn Hauser DXLD-4-021- 03/02/2004 http://www.wordofradio.com/dxld4021.txt Sds (Geraldo, Osaka, Japão, radioescutas via DXLD) Mantenham_a_Seção_de_Língua_Portuguesa_da_RRI! Caro amigo, Nos próximos dias, o Conselho de Administração da Radiodifusão da Romênia vai tomar importantes decisões sobre o futuro da Seção de Língua Portuguesa da Rádio Romênia Internacional. A sua solidariedade é importante para que a RRI continue emitindo em português, em ondas curtas. O DX Clube do Brasil, seus associados e amigos, conta com sua ajuda. Assine a presente mensagem e remeta cópia para os endereços eletrônicos: port @ rri.ro e rri @ rri.ro Faça a sua parte! Você é importante para que o idioma português seja valorizado no mundo atual, especialmente via rádio em ondas curtas! Atenciosamente, Célio Romais, Caio Fernandes Lopes, Equipe de Coordenação do DXCB. <><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><> Ao Conselho de Administração da Radiodifusão Romena, Bucareste, Romênia. Como ouvinte e simpatizante da programação em português da Rádio Romênia manifesto solidariedade com a Seção de Língua Portuguesa, que há 45 anos irradiada, via ondas curtas, o nome da Romênia, seus valores, cultura, folclore, música e notícias aos países de fala portuguesa. É muito importante que o trabalho continue. O português é a quinta língua falada no mundo. É o idioma oficial em sete países. Além disso, existem importantes comunidades de língua portuguesa espalhadas pelo mundo. Já a importância do rádio em ondas curtas é imensa. A audiência das ondas curtas é constituída por pessoas que são formadoras de opinião em seus respectivos países. O país que valoriza as emissões em ondas curtas é comentado no mundo! Atualmente, economias diversas podem ser feitas no âmbito das emissões para o exterior. A informática e outras tecnologias surgiram para ajudar e também reduzir custos. Vivemos uma época em que o rádio pode ser feito de forma simples e com poucos gastos. As gravações em MP3 são exemplo de comodidade e economia. Assim, para uma estação internacional, seria salutar avançar nesta área. Outras formas de economia podem ser buscadas, mas jamais o desligamento dos transmissores! Avaliem a situação! Por tudo isso, solicitamos a vossas senhorias a manutenção da Seção de Língua Portuguesa! Atenciosamente, 1 - Célio Romais, Porto Alegre, Brasil; 2 - Caio Fernandes Lopes, Itajubá, Brasil; (via CFL, DXLD) Salvem a língua portuguesa --- Caros colegas, salvem a língua portuguesa: ajudem a evitar o encerramento das emissões em português da Rádio Roménia Internacional. Consultem o link: http://www.aminharadio.com/salve_lingua.html Ou através da página principal da "Minharadio" http://www.aminharadio.com 73's (António Silva CT1FIY, Portugal, radioescutas via DXLD) ** RUSSIA. Encuentro con Jeff White en Moscú Estimados amigos: Hace poco más de una semana tuve la suerte de conocer personalmente a Jeff White quien se detuvo en Moscú por tres días a su regreso de Dubai, donde asistió a una Conferencia relacionada con la distribución de frecuencias de onda corta. Hasta ese momento nos conocíamos a la distancia. Además de conversar sobre asuntos radiales, junto con Jeff y su esposa hicimos un recorrido turístico por el Kremlin y sus iglesias, visitando también la infaltable Plaza Roja y el Mausoleo donde se encuentra Lenin. Tanto Jeff como su esposa me causaron muy buena impresión y es lamentable que estuviesen tan poco tiempo en Moscú y además en invierno, lo que dificulta los paseos turísticos, pues aquí hay mucho donde pasear. El asunto es que quiero comunicarles que mañana martes en el programa Frecuencia RM emitiré la primera parte de la entrevista que le hice a Jeff. La he dividido en dos partes, para así ponerla también en la variante pequeña de Frecuencia RM que sale para España. Frecuencia RM, no sale a una hora fija. Siempre hay algunos minutos de diferencia, que dependen de la duración de los otros programas que van en el mismo bloque horario. Para España, Frecuencia RM de 10 minutos, sale aproximadamente a las 2145 UT. Para América Latina, los 15 minutos de Frecuencia RM pueden escucharse aproximadamente a partir de las 0230 - 0240 UT. Un fuerte resfriado me tuvo alejado de los micrófonos la semana pasada; por eso no pude emitir esta entrevista el martes pasado. Cordiales saludos, (Pancho Rodríguez, FRECUENCIA RM, LA VOZ DE RUSIA, Feb 23, Conexión Digitakl via DXLD) ** RUSSIA. Re 2/22 Kai Ludwig VOR Report: Dear Glenn: have noticed and have also been alerted to Kai Ludwig's report in the 2/22 DXLD. I am not sure where Kai is coming from since it has been my experience (and that of some other SWL's I know) that VOR is *very* responsive in responding to issues of possible transmission problems as Ol`ga Troshina has a contact at the VOR Engineering Dept. Kai's reasoning that they "never to admit to some problem on their side" I think is grossly unfair since Kai could have made a report to VOR and they would have promptly investigated it (or barring that, he could have contacted me as I rep VOR in the USA on the swprograms and ODXA lists) and I would have promptly handled his inquiry. I have contacted Olga for a clarification and should have one soon which I will pass along to you. Best wishes and 73 de MARYANNE (still in Atlanta, GA, Kehoe, Feb 23, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** TOGO. During some UT evenings last week I noted a carrier on 5046.6. The modulation is real weak, difficult to get any details. Sounds just like what Radio Togo used to be before it dissapeared from this frequency some months ago (Jari Savolainen, Kuusankoski, Finland, Feb 23, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** TOKELAU. AMSTERDAM COMPANY INSTALLS HIGH-SPEED INTERNET ON TOKELAU Dot TK, the Amsterdam-based exclusive registry agent for Internet domains of the South Pacific island of Tokelau (.tk), announced today that it has successfully completed the installation of the first high- speed Internet connection on Fakaofo, one of the three atolls of Tokelau. People in Tokelau live their lives differently from anyone else in the world. That’s not surprising, considering the nearest populated island is a 42-hour boat ride away. The spirit of the island is to divide all the goods equally amongst its 1500 inhabitants. In the spirit of the Free Domain Name registration concept of Dot TK, the 500 people living on Fakaofo can use the Internet at no cost at Tokelau’s first local Internet café. For the people of Fakaofo, this was the first time they would see a Web page. So surfing the Web is a new activity for the people of Fakaofo, opening the door to a wealth of information for the world’s smallest country. This connection will introduce possibilities for distance learning and access to telemedicine, but above all, it’s another means of communication. Inhabitants of Tokelau are not allowed to view adult-related content since it goes against their religious beliefs. "Since our journey to the islands in September of 2003, we have been in constant contact with the people there and with Intelsat, the satellite provider. Today we can finally announce that we have established a stable link between Los Angeles, USA, and Fakaofo, on a speed that is similar to a normal DSL or cable modem connection, says Joost Zuurbier, one of the founders of Dot TK." The Internet connection was not always so fast. When the connection was first enabled, the people of Fakaofo had a speed of only 9,600 bits per second. This has now increased 40 times to 384,000 bits per second. The funds needed for this project are raised by the Foundation Tokelau, a special fund that is dedicated to raising money for the islands in return for the licence rights to domain names that are trademarks of Fortune 500 companies. Dot TK has set aside many of the Fortune 500 company trademark names in the hopes that these companies will come forward and register these names for a fee. This fee goes toward the Tokelau Internet Project with the goal of providing high- speed Internet access to all three of Tokelau’s atolls. Dot TK Web site http://www.dot.tk/ # posted by Andy @ 15:43 UT Feb 23 (Media Network blog via DXLD) ** U S A. Tho the WWCR website`s transmitter schedules page has not yet been updated, it appears they have gone ahead with 9985 for WWCR- 3, not only on Sunday 1300-1600 including Ragam 1400-1600, as reconfirmed Feb 22, but also the rest of the week, for something in English was noted very strong around 1430 UT Monday Feb 23 on 9985, and nothing on 12160. It also appears WWCR will be totally off the air for Leap Day, as the schedule jumps from Feb 28 to March 1 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. BILL MOYERS SAYS HE'S READY TO LEAVE 'NOW' by Lisa de Moraes, The TV column, Washington Post Friday, February 20, 2004; Page C07 http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A56329-2004Feb19.html Bill Moyers will step down as host of PBS's two-year-old public affairs series "Now" after the November elections. He will begin to scale back his participation in the show as soon as this summer in order to write a long-promised book about Lyndon B. Johnson. PBS is in discussions with the executive producer of "Now," which hails from WNET in New York, about the program's future, PBS President and CEO Pat Mitchell said in a statement. She was not available for comment, a representative said. "The Johnson book has been back there like a piece of lint in my mind for a long time," Moyers told The TV Column. Moyers, who worked for LBJ both before and during his presidency, said he wrote the first 10 paragraphs of the Johnson biography about a year ago while visiting Dallas, when he found himself near the Texas School Book Depository, from which the shots were fired that killed President John F. Kennedy in 1963. "That's as far as I got; I put my notebook back. A few weeks ago [Doubleday publisher] Steve Rubin calls and said, 'You took this contract two years ago and wouldn't let me give you an advance. . . . I notice you are going to be 70 soon.' " (Doubleday has published some of the companion books to Moyers's PBS documentaries, including "Joseph Campbell and the Power of Myth," which was on the New York Times bestseller list for more than a year.) Moyers has hosted "Now" since it premièred in January 2002, capping a 32-year career in public broadcasting that began with the program "Bill Moyers' Journal." After a stint at CBS, he returned to PBS in the late '80s. The list of programs he has produced for public TV includes "World of Ideas," "In Search of the Constitution," "God and Politics" and "The Power of the Word." PBS developed "Now" as a response to the September 2001 terrorist attacks on the Pentagon and World Trade Center. When Mitchell announced the program, she said she wanted to add something that would respond to viewers' increased interest in more serious and in-depth news discussion. Moyers, who for a few weeks after 9/11 had anchored a nightly program about the aftermath of the attacks, was tapped to anchor. "I said three years ago publicly that I planned to leave PBS in the year 2001," Moyers noted. "Then 9/11 happened and they asked me to do a series for three weeks, and then they asked me to do 'Now' and one year became two years," he told The TV Column. "I don't feel 70 years old but I do see fewer grains of sand in the upper part of the hourglass. I had planned to leave on the 5th of June" -- his 70th birthday -- "but PBS has designated 'Now' as an important part of their election coverage . . . and asked could I stay through the election, and I said I would." Moyers says he will cut back his participation in the show in June. For the past several months, the program has been co-anchored by former public radio host David Brancaccio. "We've got a great new co-host who just arrived. . . . Hopefully PBS will say they want to keep it going with David," Moyers said. Mitchell said in her statement that she was discussing the show's future with executive producer John Siceloff, who came from ABC News to do the PBS series. She told the Associated Press yesterday morning that she was "deeply committed" to "Now." (via DCRTV via DXLD) ** U S A. GORE, NOT AL: Writer Gore Vidal becomes a host on WBAI the next two Sundays at 11 am [1600 UT]. Vidal, who has had the occasional criticism over the years of US government policies, will talk about subjects expected to include the ``American empire.`` The shows are exclusive to WBAI and there is said to be a possibility Vidal could sign on for more (David Hinckley, NY Daily News Feb 19 via Bob Thomas, CT, DXLD) ** U S A. JACKSONVILLE, FLORIDA 1160 AM (CALLAHAN, FL) PROBLEMS - LEGAL I understand that the license for 1160 WEWC Callahan, Florida (transmits out of two towers in Jacksonville, FL) has elapsed earlier this month. As of a day ago, it's still on the air. Allegedly two of the principals of Circle Broadcasting of America are in Federal Prison or have served time in the recent past, disqualifying them from holding a broadcast license. I haven't heard of this in the news and will need to look into this allegation further. I met a party interested in buying the station the other day who spilled out the facts of the matter. I have heard this from two different station owners/operators as well. Don't know what the true facts are first hand, so I'm going to see what I can get over the internet. How do you learn if someone has served time in Federal Prison on the internet? This may be an interesting situation where I'd like to learn about the process. If you are convicted does the license remain in effect until it expires, or is there a window where you're allowed to divest the station license? (Ron Gitschier, Jacksonville, FL, Feb 20, NRC-AM via DXLD) A conviction does not necessarily result in a loss of license - that's a separate proceeding. I suppose if the Commission feels the offense isn't serious enough, they won't revoke the license. At renewal, the licensee is required to certify: "Licensee certifies that, with respect to the licensee and each party to the application, no adverse finding has been made, nor has an adverse final action been taken by any court or administrative body in a civil or criminal proceeding brought under the provisions of any laws related to the following: any felony; mass media-related antitrust or unfair competition; fraudulent statements to another governmental unit; or discrimination." It doesn't say the renewal won't be granted if you say you can't agree to that statement though. You can attach an exhibit explaining the "no" answer. For a copy of a broadcast renewal form (for WAPI-1070 which has filed a pretty much routine renewal), see: http://svartifoss2.fcc.gov/cgi-bin/ws.exe/prod/cdbs/forms/prod/cdbsmenu.hts?context=25&appn=100681675&formid=303&fac_num=16900 -- (Doug Smith W9WI, Pleasant View (Nashville), TN EM66, http://www.w9wi.com ibid.) ** U S A. WBT "nuclear war shelter". Glenn, The material in DXLD 4-032 about AM stations and national emergencies reminded me of this item from the Charlotte "Observer" newspaper that I submitted to the NRC a while back. . . . http://www.nrcdxas.org/articles/WBTBombShelter.html Back in the late 1960s, the area around the WBT transmitter site was isolated, heavily wooded, and spooky. Now it's all condos and office parks (Harry Helms, W7HLH, Las Vegas, NV DM26, Feb 23, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. I need to correct, or update, something I told you regarding WSM. I told you that I was astonished, one Sunday morning at 8:00 AM Central to hear Elder Jacob Meyer and his Congregation of Yahweh (or whatever he calls it) on WSM. Well, I forgot to check for a couple of weeks, and, when I did, it was wrong. Don't know if Meyer couldn't afford WSM or if they objected to his theology, maybe both (Tim Hendel, Huntsville AL, Feb 23, DX LISTENING DIGEST) I checked the Assemblies of Yahweh Radio Log, which is undated, on Feb 23, and did not find WSM listed, but a few other stations including these major ones, times presumably Central: KAAY 1090 Little Rock Sat 12-12:15 am [might mean Sunday] WLAC 1510 Nashville Sat 8:30-9 pm WWL 870 New Orleans Sat 10-10:30 pm KXEL 1540 Waterloo Sun 11-11:30 pm (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. VERY LOCAL RADIO By JONATHAN D. SALANT Associated Press Writer WASHINGTON (AP) -- Low-power FM radio stations serving highly specific audiences in small areas don't interfere with broadcasts by large stations, federal regulators said Friday. They said Congress should lift restrictions limiting the number of tiny stations that broadcast to neighborhoods instead of cities or regions. The low-power stations "do not pose a significant risk of causing interference to existing full-service FM stations," the Federal Communications Commission said in the report ordered by Congress in 2000. Nor do the stations interfere with special narration services for the visually impaired, the FCC said. Commercial broadcasters and public radio stations complained that low- power stations would interfere with their signals. Congress responded by setting strict buffers on the radio dial between the low-power stations and existing broadcasters, which in effect severely limited the number of tiny stations. However, lawmakers also told the FCC to study interference. Proponents of the small stations say low-power radio helps bring diverse voices to the airwaves as a counterbalance to the increased consolidation of commercial stations. There are about 300 low-powered stations on the air. Many are licensed to churches. Other license-holders include school districts, youth organizations, highway departments, environmentalists and fans of folk music. By comparison, the nation's largest chain, Clear Channel, owns 1,200 stations. The FCC originally proposed licensing as many as 1,000 low-power stations, which have a range of four to seven miles and operate at between 10 and 100 watts. Conventional FM stations can go up to 100,000 watts and be heard more than 50 miles away. An official of the Media Access Project, a telecommunications law firm supportive of low-power radio, hailed the FCC study. "After significant expense by the taxpayers, the scientists have reported on the same laws of physics that have always existed," deputy director Cheryl Leanza said. "These tiny radio stations are no threat to the current broadcast system. It is now time for Congress to take action based on that analysis." A spokesman for the National Association of Broadcasters dismissed the study as flawed. "Local radio listeners should not be subjected to the inevitable interference that would result from shoehorning more stations onto an already overcrowded radio dial," spokesman Dennis Wharton said. ------ On the Net: Federal Communications Commission: http://www.fcc.gov (APn 02/20 1858 via Mike Cooper, DXLD) ** U S A. RANDOM RADIO THOUGHTS Cris Alexander, CSRE, Crawford Broadcasting Company Changes By the time this makes it to press, the AM major change window will be closed. It will be interesting to watch the database over the next month or so and see what new stations and other changes have been filed in our state. As the time for the window approached (and just before it, the effective data of the minor change application freeze), a number of rather interesting applications were filed. Some were filed no doubt as a result of engineers taking a hard look at existing facilities to see what upgrades may be possible by way of major changes and finding that "minor changes" could achieve the same or a better end. That was the case with Crawford's KLDC (800 kHz, 1 kW-D/7W-N, DA-1). As we began looking for ways to improve the coverage of this daytimer, we found that we could slide it up one notch to 810 kHz, increase the daytime power to 2.2 kW with a new directional pattern, and add real nighttime service with 227 watts. The proposed new daytime operation will be from the existing site near U.S. 85 at Weld County Road 6, north of Brighton, and will utilize the existing three towers with new parameters. The new nighttime operation will be from the KLZ site near 84th and York. We plan to use KLZ's east tower (#2) as the center tower in a new three-tower dogleg for KLDC, adding two 200-foot towers at the site. Diplex filters will be needed all the way around, but this looks to be a very doable project. With an RMS of 149 mV/m, the proposed nighttime operation meets the 141 mV/m minimum for full class B designation and will thus be protected from interference. The RSS night limit, by the way, is about 6 mV/m on 810 kHz, so that 227 watts will provide most all of Denver metro with a nighttime interference- free signal. KCUV has filed an application to move from its current site near C470 and Santa Fe to a new site on "DA Row" northeast of Thornton. The proposed new operation will be 10 kW day and 1.5 kW night using a total of five towers (three day and four night with two common towers). The proposed new site will be close enough to the KHOW directional antenna that KCUV will probably have to run before/after measurements on the KHOW array. The 80- and 90-degree towers proposed will be short enough at KHOW's frequency that it is unlikely they will reradiate enough to cause them any problems (SBE Denver Feb Newsletter via DXLD) ** U S A. Re: A y O --- The slogan for KNAX-1630 is Radio 'A' y 'O' (Radio 'A' and 'O', standing for Alpha & Omega), La Voz de la Verdad. I reported this in 2002, but I guess no one picked up on it (John Wilkins, CO, NRC-AM via DXLD) John Wilkins is ahead of the curve in identifying Spanish-speaking stations in the West, and I admit I failed to pick up on it when he first reported it. I knew it had not been parallel KNTO-1440 for some time, of course, but noted no slogan in the latest NRC Log listing. "Radio A y O" makes the most sense to me. I had intended to thank Glenn Hauser for drawing this interpretation to our attention following my "stabs in the dark." During the time I listened, by the way, the "La Voz de la Verdad" portion of the slogan was heard only at the near-TOH ID. I'll have to check again (I was in the car at the time) but I thought I heard only a Spanish-language ID, with no English calls. "Kah-Enny-Ah-Equis." And I'm embarrassed that, in summarizing the Spanish-speaking AM stations in the Dallas-Fort Worth market that broadcast religious or gospel programming, I left out KDFT in Ferris on 540. Since it went full-time, it's been harder to hear any other SS station on this frequency when night-dominant XEWA is nulled. XETX has been taped here, but XEHS, moved here during the past year, is still needed here (Juan Callarman, KA9SPA, Family Genealogist, Krum TX, ibid.) ** U S A. And before we leave Albany behind, we hear listeners there will begin hearing announcements today promoting a frequency swap to take place next week: on March 1, the religious programming now heard on WDCD (96.7 Clifton Park) will move to 1540 Albany, while the WPTR calls and oldies "Legends" format will move from 1540 to 96.7. This will be the second go-round for WDCD on 1540; Crawford Broadcasting simulcast its religious programming on the AM side for several years before launching "Legends" there. More bad news for VERMONT's best-known unlicensed broadcaster: Vermont's U.S. attorney has filed a lawsuit on behalf of the FCC to shut down Radio Free Brattleboro (107.9) and to seize the 10-watt station's equipment. RFB responded with a filing asking the federal courts to prevent the FCC from shutting down the station until it can have its case heard in the courtroom. In NEW HAMPSHIRE, a legal LPFM is about to hit the airwaves. February 29 is the target sign-on date for WCNH-LP (94.7 Concord), which will program classical music for the Granite State's capital city under the leadership of Harry Kozlowski, former PD at WJYY/WNHI across town. MASSACHUSETTS listeners welcomed a familiar voice back to the airwaves last week. David Brudnoy's still not up to the task of talking for three hours nightly, but he appeared for an hour of his usual WBZ (1030) shift last week to let listeners know that he's regaining his strength and is back in the classroom at Boston University. Brudnoy's been off the air at 'BZ since late September. Another Bay State talk voice has resurfaced: former WBUR "Connection" host Christopher Lydon was filling in last week on Minnesota Public Radio's "Midmorning," and he's rumored to be in the running as the new permanent show host. Is there any broadcast engineer in southern New England who hasn't known for years about toxic waste issues at the transmitter site of RHODE ISLAND's most powerful AM station? Probably not - at least judging by the number of them who asked us if we were glowing after visiting the site years ago - but that didn't stop the current operators of WALE (990 Greenville) from claiming to have been taken by surprise by environmental issues at the six tower Burrillville site. The Providence Journal reports that Cumbre Communications has filed Chapter 11 bankruptcy to avoid closing on its $2.35 million deal to buy WALE from North American Broadcasting, itself in bankruptcy. Cumbre officials tell the paper that North American concealed the environmental problems at the site, including a $15,000 fine a decade ago for improper storage of hazardous waste. Under a settlement deal, North American will set aside $400,000 of the money it's still owed by Cumbre to be used for cleanup costs at the property. And who's now in control of Cumbre? The company's former president and CEO, Jaime Aguayo, has sold his 79 percent interest in the company to Peter Arpin, whose ADD Media also owns nearby WARL (1320 Attleboro MA). (Cumbre is also still claiming that it plans to change the call letters of 990 to WMAX, which will still come as a surprise to the Michigan station that has those calls and presumably has no intention of giving them up.) One more problem for North American: the FCC last week upheld a $4,000 fine against its remaining station, KFNX (1100 Cave Creek AZ), for failing to power down from 50 kW to 1 kW at sunset. Elsewhere in the Ocean State, we've been remiss in failing to note a big power increase application: WADK (1540 Newport) wants to add two more towers to its existing site north of town, using the three-tower array to run 20,000 watts at night. It would need all that power just to overcome the huge signal WPTR in Albany puts into New England, and it still wouldn't cover much beyond Newport after dark. (WADK would stay at 1000 watts, non-directional, by day.) That's it for another week --- except for our usual housekeeping notes. First, a reminder that while we don't ask you for a password to read NERW, this isn't a free product, either. Many of you have already sent in subscription payments for 2004, and to all of you we say "thank you." If you haven't, what are you waiting for? Your contribution - of any amount - makes it possible for us to keep NERW, now in its tenth year, coming to you week after week after week...and if you sign up at the $60 level, you even get a free 2004 Tower Site Calendar. For all the details - and easy credit card/PayPal payment links - just click here (Scott Fybush, Northeast Radio Watch excerpts, Feb 23 http://www.fybush.com/nerw.html via DXLD) ** U S A. THE OLDEST STATION IN THE WORLD: And another item on memories. Back several weeks ago, we presented the story here in Wavescan of what could be the oldest radio station in the world, station KUOA in Siloam Springs, Arkansas. The program producer at this station, Matt Reddin, discovered the script of this program on a website, radiodx, in New Zealand and he made contact with us, requesting a live 20 minute interview over the phone. As a result of these events, radio station KUOA is seeking registration as a Heritage Site, as the oldest radio station in the world (Adrian Michael Peterson, AWR Wavescan Feb 29 via John Norfolk, DXLD) ** U S.A. RADIO AMATEUR FOUNDATION FILES AMATEUR SERVICE RESTRUCTURING PETITION WITH FCC http://www.qsl.net/k4vu/ February 18, 2004 (Florence, AL) The Radio Amateur Foundation, an unincorporated grass roots organization comprised of devoted radio amateurs with no pecuniary interest in the service, filed a petition today with the Federal Communcations [sic] Commission. The petition is a comprehensive plan for progressive and thoughtful restructuring of the Amateur Service under FCC Part 97, the rules governing the Amateur Service in the United States and it`s [sic] possessions. The petition lays out a comprehensive plan for the restructuring of the Amateur Service. The 59 page document lays out a progressive plan that includes modifications to the existing Technician Class license privileges to provide restricted MF and HF access, and promotes it as the entry-point into the Amateur Service. It also promotes the retention of the five word per minute telegraphy requirement for the General and Amateur Extra Class licenses, promotion of Advance Class licensees to Amateur Extra, Novice Class licensees to Technician, refarming of the HF amateur spectrum, revamping of the amateur testing process, new integrity assurance measures for VECs, modification to the vanity call sign system and a 300 kHz wideband digital window on 29 MHz that would be available to all license classes. The petition has yet to be assigned a rule-making (RM) number by the FCC and has yet to be placed for public comment. The group, organized and led by Robin Gist, K4VU, was organized in response to the petition put forth by the American Radio Relay League, Inc. Hams from all over the United States participated in the petition`s development. ``As amateurs, we feel that the ARRL has become complacent, misguided and possibly even corrupted by pecuniary interests.``, says Gist. ``Most amateurs who have a sense of value for the service felt that the League`s petition was at best ill-conceived, and at worst, pathological. We`ve worked very hard to come up with a better, more sensible alternative.`` However, Mr. Gist feels that amateurs have become complacent themselves and bear some of the responsibility for this happening. ``Amateurs have sat by and watched this happen, with only complaints, and without action. I most definitely accept my part of the blame as well.``, admits Gist. ``Time after time, members of the ARRL have just rubber-stamped their respective director`s re-election, even though they have not approved of their actions. The true democratic process erodes when any elected official in any system reaches the point of arrogance that comes from the belief that he is not truly accountable to his electorate. At that point, anything can happen at the highest levels. In our case, we feel the ARRL leadership has lost touch with the true needs of those they represent. This time, the League crossed the line. I truly believe that many of them felt that the would not be held accountable for anything.`` Mr. Gist also asserts that abandoning the ARRL by resignation in protest is not a good idea. ``If you don`t believe in what your national representative is doing, don`t quit --- make him accountable, and work to throw him out! In contrast, if you support his decisions, get behind him. If you believe in America, you don`t (usually) renounce your citizenship and move to another country just because you don`t like what you`re [sic] government is doing. You get behind alternatives, and work through the system to change it. The same is true in the case of Amateur Radio. For better or worse, the ARRL is our national representative, and until there is an alternative, we must work to ensure that they represent our interests. If you believe in the Amateur Service, but don`t like what is happening to it, get behind and spend a little time supporting another candidate for director. If there is no other candidate for your director to run against, consider putting yourself up for the position. In this day, we all just complain and take no action, usually hiding behind the assertion that one has no spare time to really do anything about it. Well, if it means enough to you, you`ll make time. Walk your talk. If you truly believe in your message, folks will get behind you. You may win, or you may not. But if you make a serious, earnest challenge, if will have a positive effect.`` Mr. Gist asserts that, if he continues to reside in his native Southeastern Division, he will run for director. However, work obligations may move him to other points in the country. ``If we cannot put forth a more suitable contender for the next director election, I will run against Frank Butler (W4RH) myself, provided that I am still residing in the division. It is nothing personal against Frank --- I think he`s a heck of a nice guy. However, I do believe that he has let down his constituents by signing off on the League`s petition. To his credit, he is a man of good character, and does admit openly to endorsing it. Other directors have not been so forthcoming to their constituents, and have been hiding behind the fact that their individual votes were not recorded in the minutes of the executive meeting. I have also heard rumors of actual abusive statements attributed to directors in response to their constituents` [sic]. Also, lets [sic] give credit where credit is due. K5UR of the Delta Division reportedly voted against the petition. Rick is an active contester, DXer and VHF enthusiast, so it seems consistent with the story.`` ``Personally``, adds Mr. Gist, ``This incident has motivated me to actually restart my ARRL Life Membership. Many of the folks who worked so hard on our petition do not feel the same way about the League as I do. I, for one, would like to see a better ARRL. The only way to do that is to work to make it better by doing what you have to do from the inside. However, I do believe that there is ample room for another national organization. An alternative view is always a good thing.`` ``At a more fundamental level, it is up to us as experienced amateurs to bring the new folks along, not to judge them and treat them like outcasts because they have yet to learn the code. If we just sit back in our know-code/don`t-know-code cliques, it will just perpetuate itself. We must be the first to welcome newcomers to our service, let them in on our knowledge and little secrets for this and that. If we as `old timers` don`t act as good elmers, then they may never understand why we find certain aspects of the hobby so valuable and sacred. If we continue to judge newcomers --- for whatever reason --- they will only return the same in kind, and nothing positive will be gained. In contrast, maybe we also --- as ``old farts`` --- have something to learn from them as well. But again, nothing positive will come from closing our minds and hearts.`` To view the petition put forth by the Radio Amateur Foundation, go to http://www.qsl.net/k4vu/ARS-RESTRUCT0F.pdf The petition was written and signed by: K4VU, AG4RQ, W8VOM, WB4SQ, W7RJR, K0LAA Robin Gist, K4VU is 39, has been a ham since 1978, and has been an Extra Class licensee since 1980. He`s into contesting, VHF/UHF hilltopping and going on mostly small scale DXpeditions (He will be operating as V31RG in April 2004, on 160-6, mostly CW and RTTY). ``Amateur Radio taught me a great many things, but the most important thing I learned was that people are people, no matter how you slice and dice it. Thanks to ham radio, I figured that out at an early age, while many others still struggling with that notion.`` Robin Gist - K4VU - k4vu @ qsl.net (via John Norfolk, DXLD) ** VIETNAM. Winter/Summer change for VTN outlets is on Oct 16 / Feb 15. A-04 changes [Feb 15, or March 28?] 11630 replaces 7280 13740 replaces 9730 9725 (x1800-2130 x5955, x5970) 1700 En, 1730 Vietn, 1830 Fr, 1900 Ru, 1930-2030 Vietn. [site list:] CAN Cantho VTN 10N05 105E46 CK2 Xuanmai VTN 20N43 105E33 HAN Hanoi VTN 20N59 105E52 HBA Ha Bac VTN 21N16 106E12 HCN Ho Chi Minh VTN 10N51 106E38 HSB Ha Son Binh VTN 21N20 105E45 HUE Hue VTN 16N25 107E40 VNI Sontay VTN 21N12 105E22 (VoV leaflet via Rumen Pankov, Bulgaria, BC-DX Feb 19 via DXLD) ** ZIMBABWE. ZIMBÁBUE - Na página da ZBC aprecem, sem distingüir os horários em que estariam no ar, as seguintes freqüências em ondas curtas: 3306, 4828, 5975, 7175, 3396, 5012, 6020, 7285 (Arnaldo Slaen, Conexion Digital, Argentina, via @tividade DX via DXLD) Not all on UNIDENTIFIED. Re 4-032, 9350/9390: KHBN program, but nothing heard on Feb 21-23 (Wolfgang Büschel, BC-DX via DXLD) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ LANGUAGE LESSONS see also OKLAHOMA ++++++++++++++++ TUNING IN TO HOME IN COMFORT OF NEW YORK By JOSEPH BERGER February 23, 2004 The global village is breaking into its global parts. Walk around the immigrant quarters of Jackson Heights or Flushing in northern Queens, and televisions are tuned to shows from other countries. In Jong Ro Barber Shop, on Union Street in Flushing, customers waiting for $17 haircuts watch soap operas from South Korea on the tidy shop's Samsung television, riveted by melodramas with the same languid pace, low-rent sets and overwrought music of American soaps, but in a language that lets them feel at home. "I do watch American TV, but for an emotional outlet I need Korean TV," said Soo Oh Choi, the shop's owner, speaking through a translator. In Jackson Heights, Aashish Patel and half a dozen compatriots gathered this month at a local motel for a Super Bowl party of sorts, complete with beer and potato chips. The world-class game they watched until dawn was not football, but cricket between India and Australia beamed from abroad. "We feel we are in India like that," Mr. Patel said. Hundreds of thousands of immigrants in New York and millions more across the United States receive these foreign channels. UHF long ago expanded into the ethnic market with Spanish-language channels and stations like KTV in New York, which has been broadcasting Korean programs since 1995. But the number of international channels has mushroomed in the past five years because of the feverish competition between satellite and cable companies. Immigrants who arrived in the 1950's and 60's often used television to learn American idioms and mores; baseball alone was a master teacher. But some scholars worry that the availability of international channels makes it too easy for immigrants to continue to cling to their homelands. Neal Gabler, senior fellow at the Norman Lear Center for the Study of Entertainment and Society at the University of Southern California, said that although the phenomenon of foreign channels produces many benefits, it chips away at the "common cultural references" that have allowed for whatever melting is supposed to take place in the American pot. "The things that unite us will be lost in another competing identity," Mr. Gabler said. The satellite provider Dish Network offers 50 international or foreign-language channels, including Polish and Portuguese. Across the country, Time Warner Cable offers 37, including channels in Arabic, Russian, German, Greek, Persian, Filipino and Vietnamese. In New York City alone, more than 90,000 of Time Warner's customers get the international channels. These channels are laying another set of bridges between immigrants here and their native lands, joining jet planes, cheap long-distance calling and the Internet. Immigrants can follow the same catastrophes and laugh at the same homespun jokes as their kin and friends overseas. Relative newcomers can relax in front of a television without being baffled by English. They can also immerse their children in their native tongues, narrowing the generational distance typical in immigrant families. Pyong Gap Min, a Korean-born professor of sociology at Queens College who speaks English fluently, watches Korean soap operas and movies almost every night with his wife. "It's very special to me," he said. Still, he worries that some immigrants may be using television to isolate themselves. "In a foreign environment they live comfortably, enjoying Korean food, going to Korean churches, working in Korean businesses and now seeing Korean television," he said. "This frees them from learning American English and American customs." But other immigrants think such concerns are unwarranted. "During the day you're surrounded by American culture," said Mudassar Khan, 27, a Pakistani who runs an electronic appliance store in Jackson Heights. "The only time you feel Pakistani culture is when you're home watching TV." Even before cable and satellite television became widely available, Puerto Ricans, Mexicans and other Hispanics watched television in Spanish over UHF networks based in the United States, like Telemundo and Univisión. These networks proved that a mix of soap operas, entertainment, game shows and news in a native language can draw a profitable audience. By the late-1980's, recalled Barry Rosenblum, president of Time Warner Cable of New York and New Jersey, his company was hearing from Greek, Korean and Indian businessmen who also wanted to start channels that would package programs from overseas, supplemented with news of their New York ethnic neighborhoods. For roughly $9.95 a month above the price of a standard cable package in the New York-New Jersey region, Time Warner offers two Chinese, two Indian and two Korean channels, and individual channels in Italian, Russian, Arabic, Greek and Japanese and a catch-all Latin American channel. It also offers a separate package of about 15 channels from Spain and Latin America. The satellite dishes sprouting over the roofs of Queens testify to the growing popularity of a younger technology. A division of EchoStar Communications, Dish Network, which has been broadcasting foreign channels since 1996, now offers 50 channels. DirecTV, controlled by Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation, offers 45 Spanish-language channels and several channels originating in China, Taiwan and Hong Kong. Stephanie Campbell, its senior vice president for programming, said "we are definitely looking to expand" into other ethnic niches as the company develops more satellite capacity. Both companies declined to say how many customers they had for their ethnic channels. Michael Schwimmer, senior vice president for programming of Dish Network, pointed out that foreign television stations are eager to broadcast in the United States. "Networks are always looking for eyeballs," he said. "Traditionally they look in their own country, but if they can get eyeballs outside the country and a company like EchoStar can help them do it economically, they'll want to do business with us." Some channels are beamed directly from abroad to providers here and then quickly distributed to home televisions. Others are repackaged here by local entrepreneurs from either satellite feeds or videotapes. The foreign broadcasts are usually delayed, timed to American hours and cleansed of advertising for products that immigrants here cannot buy. Cricket games, broadcast live by Dish Network with an eye on its South Asian audience, are a separate paid offering. Mr. Rosenblum of Time Warner does not accept the criticism that ethnic channels impede assimilation. "My sense is that nobody sits down and just watches the Greek channel or the Indian channel," he said. "They're part of packages widely available to people, so it gives people a connection to where they're from, but it doesn't cut them off from where they are." Mr. Choi, the Korean barber who is fond of Korean soap operas, said he also likes to watch golf, basketball and the programs on Animal Planet. Mr. Khan, the electronics store owner, who immigrated here as a teenager 12 years ago and graduated from Bryant High School in Queens and Baruch College, said he mostly watched American television. Still he orders the Dish Network's South Asian package of Indian and Pakistani channels for his parents, Mohammad and Sanjeeda Khan, with whom he lives. They like to watch Pakistani news, a Pakistani soap opera called "Lab-e-Derya" and two popular Indian serials about working women, "Jassi Jaissi Koi Nahin" and "Kkusum." (The spoken forms of Pakistan's Urdu and India's Hindi are closely related.) He often watches the soaps with them and has noted the differences from American television. "When a guy gets married, he usually lives in the same house with his parents," Mr. Khan said, citing one example. "In the English soap operas, the kids move out." Anil Merchant, who came here 19 years ago from Bombay, keeps the television in his beauty salon on 74th Street in Jackson Heights tuned to an Indian TV channel that broadcasts a stream of MTV-like songs expressed in sinuous dance numbers, and he also likes to keep up with the doings of Indian politicians. "This goes into the small towns and interior in India," he said of the Indian channel. "CNN doesn't cover it." "We don't know John Kerry," he said. "We heard about him, but we're more interested in Indian politics." (source? Via Kim Elliott, DXLD) POWERLINE COMMUNICATIONS ++++++++++++++++++++++++ P-MAIL PROTESTS ABOUT BPL The FCC does care. However it depends on input from we out here in the heartlands to give them input. Have you written to anyone at the ARRL or the FCC or your Congressman/Congresswoman or Senator? If not, why not? I suggested this many weeks ago, and I was not the only one who did so. Way too many of us complain, but do not a thing to promote change. We are too lazy to write a letter and address it and stamp it and mail it. As said numerous times, e-mail does not have a physical presence. You can't see it on your desk when you walk in the room like 'real' mail stacked up! We are too lazy to call a toll free number for our state and federal representatives, let alone actually have to pay for the call ourselves. So what should we expect? The single greatest problem in this country is freedom. Too much of anything is never a good thing. It has promoted apathy and the "Let George do it" syndrome. We need to use our freedom to protect ourselves, to speak out to the people where it can do some good and to fight for our rights. Not let somebody else do it for us, because we have other things to do. Why should we expect others to do it for us anyhow? What makes you think they will fairly represent our real interests to begin with and not serve themselves? Which is precisely what the ARRL does. Yes, I am an ARRL member. Yes, they hear from me when I agree and when I disagree with what they are proposing too. When we as radio hobbyists sit on our hands, we are going to get flattened like a pancake that tried to outrun a steam roller! We do not need to sling insults and make threats, but we do need to present valid arguments and keep hammering away. We only lose when we let those in power beat us with our own lack of motivation and using the weapon we have they can ever defend against, our right to vote them in and OUT! They work for us and sometimes we need to remind them of that fact (Duane Fischer, W8DBF, swl at qth.net via DXLD) BPL AND WHOM TO CONTACT IN CONGRESS Duane is 100% correct. Unless you become proactive, you can kiss our spectrum goodbye. Those who desire to co-opt the spectrum for their personal gain probably think we can all move to internet broadcasts, IRLP, cell phones, and satcom for all our communications needs. Even Congress and the FCC seem to have a rather short memory about the recent northeastern blackout or terrorist activities. The five FCC commissioners are all political appointees (and not generally answerable directly to the electorate): 2 Republicans, 2 Democrats, and the Commissioner (Michael Powell) who is appointed by the President's party. If you do write them, remember that they are NOT communications experts --- they are politically connected attorneys who generally have had little or no background in radio comm prior to their appointments. Write to the elected reps on the relevant committees: Beside filing petitions and comments, one way to pressure the FCC is through the Senate and House Committees & Sub-Committees that appoint them and oversee their actions. It is in the Senate committee that the commissioners are confirmed. If YOUR Congressperson or Senator is on one of the relevant committees/subcommittees, then you might have some luck getting their staff to forward your letter to them. While there is a lot of interest in "Telecommunications" by many committees & sub- committees, I believe the following are the primary ones involved: Senate: Committee: "Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee" Sub-Committee: "Communications" House: Committee: "House Energy and Commerce Committee" Sub-Committee: "Telecommunications and the Internet" ---- The annual directory/handbook of Congress (both houses) and its committees and sub-committees is only $14 - something anyone with interest in the goings on in Washington should have. Unfortunately, as we approach election time, many of the committee meetings are pretty sparsely attended. Many committee meetings do not have a quorum for action, so the sessions act as nothing more than photo-ops for the members. I did watch the 5 FCC Commissioners being 'sweated' (actually, most questions seemed to be rather 'soft pitches') by a Senate committee meeting about the Super-Bowl half-time show. The event resulted in nationwide media coverage, so most of the committee was there for their 'five minutes of fame' and photo-ops while in questioning the commissioners. ------- A sad editorial: The elected reps who are currently campaigning for their party's nomination for President have basically been MIA for almost all of their congressional duties since November 2003. ====== Frank ._._. (swl at qth.net via DXLD) FCC ISSUES PROPOSED RULES FOR BPL SYSTEMS (Feb 23, 2004) --- The Federal Communications Commission released a Notice of Proposed Rule Making this afternoon on Broadband Internet delivery over power line systems, commonly known as BPL. The NPRM proposes rules concerning BPL systems (ET Docket No. 03-104) and a possible amendment of Part 15 rules regarding new requirements and measurement guidelines for BPL (ET Docket No. 04-37). According to the introduction of the document, the FCC is ``cognizant that the possibility of widespread operation of Access BPL raises interference concerns and that we must protect licensed radio services from any harmful interference that might occur.`` The NPRM can be viewed on the FCC site http://www.fcc.gov/ or downloaded in Microsoft Word format http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/FCC-04-29A1.doc or as an Adobe PDF file http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/FCC-04-29A1.pdf (ARRL via John Norfolk, DX LISTENING DIGEST) UNSOLICITED TESTIMONIAL +++++++++++++++++++++++ I liked the idea of presenting Continent of Media when WOR takes a break. That is a good solution, now that we don't have RFPI (Tim Hendel, Huntsville AL, Feb 23, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Re: [SWL] DX Listening Digest 4-032; WOR 1220; DX Programs And here is another fine example of a valuable contribution! Have you remembered to send Glenn a thank you as of late, if ever? Yes, he gets some compensation for his work, but I doubt the amount of compensation comes anywhere near the amount it should be for the work he puts forth. We have fewer and fewer people making major contributions of information to the radio hobby on all levels, so we need to remember to thank them to encourage them to continue. Thank you Glenn. Carry on (Duane W8DBF Fischer, swl at qth.net via DXLD) Hi Glen[n] ---- Is this the same Glen Hauser who was a member of FRENDX in the mid-70's?? I noticed your name when I stumbled on the DXing web Page. I still have my old Hammarlund HQ-180A that my grandfather (Dr. F. Earle Hall, Winchendon, Mass) gave me in the early 1970's. I stopped DXing and dropped out of FRENDX when I went away to Syracuse U in 1980. I've moved quite a bit then, but have now finally bought a house and would like to get back into Shortwave. I would like to know - if you have the time to tell me --- where I can find a part for my Hammarlund. The "Send/Cal/Receive" button is stripped and doesn't work as it's missing a piece a the end of the switch (inside of radio). I had a friend who knows radios check it out and he found the name, etc. in the Hammarlund Guide. It's "Switch S-4" and the Code/Serial Number for it is "K26452-1". Any idea where I can buy these through the mail or online? Either way, great to see your name and to know you're still DXing. Hope it hasn't changed "too much" in the last 20 years or so (Mark Hall, Portland, Maine, Feb 23, via DXing.com via DXLD) Can someone help him to find this switch? Not I (gh, DXLD) ###