DX LISTENING DIGEST 4-042, March 7, 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 1222: Mon 0430 on WSUI 910, webcast http://wsui.uiowa.edu [last week`s 1221] Mon 0515 on WBCQ 7415, webcast http://wbcq.us Tue 0400 on SIUE Web Radio http://www.siue.edu/WEBRADIO/ Wed 1030 on WWCR 9475 WRN ONDEMAND: 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 1222 (high version): (stream) http://www.w4uvh.net/wor1222h.ram (download) http://www.w4uvh.net/wor1222h.rm (summary) http://www.worldofradio.com/wor1222.html WORLD OF RADIO 1222 (low version): (stream) http://www.w4uvh.net/wor1222.ram (download) http://www.w4uvh.net/wor1222.rm WORLD OF RADIO ON WBCQ: Allan Weiner has just notified us that he has added another airing, starting March 14, Sundays at 2330 UT on 9330- CLSB. Thanks! ** AFGHANISTAN. NEW RADIO STATION INAUGURATED | Text of press release by Internews web site on 2 March 2 March 2004: Afghanistan held an opening ceremony on 21 February for Radio Qarabagh, a new community radio facility in the Kabul Province established with the support of Internews. The station will reach at least 250,000 residents of the Qarabagh and surrounding districts and provide listeners with six hours of in-house and Tanin network programming, including information about the elections taking place this year. The Minister of Information and Culture Saeed Makhdom Raheen, spoke at the opening ceremony about the importance of the Qarabagh station and its contribution to civil society and freedom of expression. Acting USAID Mission Director Robert Wilson talked about the importance of freedom of expression for fostering democracy and the rule of law. The "Support for Independent Radio Stations in Afghanistan " project, which is funded by the USAID Office of Transition Initiatives, was undertaken by Internews in February 2003 to provide independent local news and entertainment for the millions of Afghanis whose main source of information is radio. Radio Qarabagh is the eleventh of fourteen independent radio stations established in Afghanistan under this 12- month program. Internews provides training and equipment to the independent stations, funds the development of programming and provides services that ensure the stations long-term viability. Source: Internew web site in English 2 Mar 04 (via BBCM via DXLD) WTFK??? Which is it that no one seems to think a new station`s frequency is of any importance to report? Even non DXers should get this! (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ALBANIA. More on MW relays: see CHINA [non] ** ARGENTINA [and non]. Código Internacional de Señales • Significado de la señal transmitida por cualquier medio (bandera, reflector, radioteléfono) Letras Mensaje A E • - / • Necesito auxilio inmediato, debo abandonar mi barco. AN • - / - • Necesito un médico. B F - • • • / • • - • La aeronave ha efectuado acuatizaje forzoso en c la posición indicada y necesita auxilio inmediato. C B - • - • / - • • • Necesito auxilio inmediato. C B 6 - • - • /- • • • / - • • • • Necesito auxilio inmediato, estoy incendiado. D X - • • / - • • - Estoy hundiéndome H W • • • • / • - - He chocado con una embarcación de superficie. N C - • / - • - • Señal internacional de peligro. . . http://www.cibernautica.com.ar/radiocom/manual/20codi.htm (Utilitarias, Arnaldo Slaen, Conexión Digital via DXLD) Bet you didn`t know DX could stand for ``I am sinking`` ! This page has a lot more strange signals (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** AUSTRALIA. PLANS TO CHOP RADIO NATIONAL http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2004/03/06/1078464697307.html By Peter Wilmoth March 7, 2004 The axing of ABC Radio National has been considered by management to save money, according to a senior ABC executive. The manager told The Sunday Age the idea was first floated last year and is "almost certain" to be revisited by management in budget talks in the next two months. The option of axing the network was floated last year by Sue Howard, the director of ABC Radio, according to the manager, and was part of a draft options paper which went as far as the ABC's director of business services, David Pendleton. According to the senior manager, the idea was shelved for fear of both industrial action by ABC staff and of a strong community backlash. The next few monthly meetings of the ABC executive will be dominated by budget discussions. "It will almost certainly be looked at again," said the manager, who declined to be named. "Sue never liked it, she has very little regard for it." Ms Howard is known to hold the view that the service is dull. "If you want boring as bat shit, go listen to Radio National," she is known to have told colleagues in her division. Radio National features presenters such as Phillip Adams, Robyn Williams, Norman Swann and Ramona Koval. "It is one of the great institutions within the institution, and it is run on a shoestring," said the manager. "It would cause uproar internally and externally if they closed it down." Staff at Radio National were yesterday unaware the service's future was being discussed. The talks about Radio National's future occurred during the tense build-up to cuts in the ABC's spending which brought about the dumping last August of the long-running school show Behind the News, the World at Noon and the corporation's cadet training program in an attempt to save $26 million. Ms Howard and Mr Pendleton, through ABC corporate spokesman Shane Wells, declined to comment yesterday. Mr Wells said there were no plans to close any ABC radio network. "The ABC Board at the end of July last year approved a range of measures to ensure the ABC continues to operate within budget. "Obviously the closure of Radio National was not part of that decision. "The ABC does not speculate on any individual item that may have been considered or discussed as part of the budget approval process." The ABC section secretary of the Community and Public Sector Union, Graeme Thomson, said: "Any manager at the ABC that would even contemplate such an idea should be sacked immediately." The Victorian president of the Friends of the ABC, Terry Laidler, said yesterday that the group had not heard of the possible closure of Radio National. "We'd oppose it stridently," he said. "But we probably wouldn't have to work very hard because it would be final confirmation that the ABC board had lost touch with its audience and had absolutely no understanding of its charter if they even considered such a thing. A spokeswoman for Communications Minister Daryl Williams said: "We're not aware of any such proposal." Opposition communications spokesman Lindsay Tanner said the demise of Radio National "would be a dark day for public broadcasting" and a capitulation to pressure from the Howard Government (via Kim Elliott, Mike Terry, DXLD) To the Editor: I am an American who listens to the programs of Radio National via Radio Australia, shortwave, Sirius satellite radio and the internet. I would gladly pay a subscription fee to the ABC to continue to receive RN's unique mix of intellectually stimulating programming and intelligent discourse, something not much available from radio here or anywhere else. It would be a travesty if Ms. Howard were to have her way. What does she propose as replacement--more radio for idiots? The commercial sector in both our countries already caters more than adequately to that segment of the population. It is my hope that sounder minds will prevail. Sincerely, (John Figliozzi, Clifton Park, NY 12065-7703 USA, letter to the editor of The Age, cc to DXLD) They shouldn't axe Radio National, but they need to re-organize it drastically. In a country of 18 million people, its reach is less than 200,000 - about a third of the far more successful ABC Newsradio. Listening to the network during my visit to Australia last week, and over several months via select programs on the web, the comment that it is out of touch with the styles of modern talk/speech radio is right on the mark. RA will be watching this move closely ; its English programming relies heavily on Radio National for feature programming (Jonathan Marks, 03.06.04 - 9:10 pm, Media Network blog via DXLD) AUSTRALIA - 'BORING' RADIO NATIONAL FACES AXE By Peter Wilmoth, March 7, 2004, The Sun-Herald http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2004/03/06/1078464694799.html [very similar to above story, slightly rewritten] (via Mike Terry, DXLD) ** AUSTRALIA. HCJB Australia A04 schedule ---+---+---+-------+------+------+-+-----+----------+---+---+---+----- FREQ STRT STOP CIRAF ZONES POWR AZIMUTH LANGUAGE ----+----+----+--------+---+---+---+-----+-+-----+-----+-----+------- 11750 0800 1100 51,56,60,62,63 50 120 ENGL 15405 1230 1330 40,41,49,54 75 307 ENGL 15405 1330 1400 40,41,49,54 75 307 URDU 15405 1400 1415 40,41,49,54 75 307 HINDI 15405 1415 1730 40,41,49,54 75 307 ENGL 15560 0100 0300 40,41,49,54 75 307 ENGL 15560 0300 0330 40,41,49,54 75 307 URDU Regards, (Swopan Chakroborty, Kolkata, India, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** BAHRAIN. Main Script for Wavescan, Edition number 479 for airing on Sunday 3/7/2004. WAVESCAN TOPIC (5 minutes) Normally read by Student Volunteer In the earlier part of last year, Radio Bahrain re-activated their shortwave transmitter. It had been off the air for several years. So what is the story of Radio Broadcasting in Bahrain? Here with the answer is Ariel McLeggon. The Middle Eastern country of Bahrain is located in the Persian Gulf and it is made up entirely of islands, more than thirty altogether. Most of these islands are quite barren and the total area is about the same size as, for example, the city of Chicago. This area is very hot in summer, with little rain falling, no more than about three inches a year. However, there are many freshwater springs that provide ample water for the local inhabitants as well as for animals and the irrigation of large farming areas. Underground oil was discovered in 1932 and this gave a remarkable impetus to development in the islands of Bahrain. However, the oil supply has since diminished and Bahrain has turned to oil processing and other forms of commerce and manufacturing. It is stated that Bahrain has the best electricity supply in the Middle East. The capital city is Manama on the main island, Bahrain. The total population numbers around half a million and Arabic is the official language, though there are also many other residents who trace their national origins to India, Pakistan, or Iran. Bahrain also has a long history going way back in ancient times to 2000 BCE when the islands were known as Dilmun. Many other nations have dominated the area over the centuries, including Portugal, Persia, Saudi Arabia, and England. They gained independence in 1971. Somewhere around the year 1920, the first communication station was installed in Bahrain by the Indo-European Telegraph Company and it was on the air for local and international communication under the callsign VTE. The more modern counterpart was Cable & Wireless which verified listener reports with a square folded QSL card. The first radio broadcasting service in Bahrain was on the air from 1941 - 1945 and it is presumed that this was a mediumwave facility. Three years later, a shortwave station was noted on the air with daily programming for an hour or two in three languages. However, it was another seven years before a regular broadcasting service was established in Bahrain and this was inaugurated on July 21, 1955 with 2 kW on 610 kHz. Programming was mainly in Arabic with some English and occasional other regional languages. Over the years, Radio Bahrain has increased its output of programming and today they are on the air with five mediumwave transmitters ranging in power from 1 kW up to 100 kW as well as five FM transmitters. Back in the 1970s, a petroleum company launched its own radio station with just 100 watts on 1230 kHz, and a television station ran the audio channel on 570 kHz for local listeners. There was also a Voice of America relay station in Bahrain for 18 months during the first Gulf War, with 25 kW on 1350 kHz. They subsequently donated a 50 kW mediumwave transmitter to the government radio station. On shortwave, Radio Bahrain took out an experimental relay of their regular mediumwave programming over Radio Kuwait on 6010 kHz in 1991. In August of the same year, Radio Bahrain transferred this programming to their own 60 kW transmitter located at Abu Hayan. This service was on the air for seven years and it was terminated in 1997 as no longer being necessary. However, the shortwave service was reactivated last year and it is now listed as on the air 24 hours daily with two transmitters at 60 kW on 6010 kHz & 9745 kHz with programming in Arabic & English. Thanks Ariel - and interesting history of Radio Bahrain. And by the way, A few years ago, Radio Bahrain was quite a reliable verifier and they issued a QSL card with a map of their islands and a list of all mediumwave & shortwave transmitters (Adrian Michael Peterson, AWR Wavescan March 7 via John Norfolk, DXLD) ** BANGLADESH. 7185, Bangladesh Betar, 1230 News in English, Very strong Mar 6 (Nobuo TAKENO, NRD-535D with 10meters wire, Yamagata JAPAN, Cumbredx mailing list via DXLD) ** BELGIUM. There are some changes to the RTBF's MW service. The transmitter on 1125 kHz (in Houdeng) now no longer carries Radio 21, but the new station 'Vivacité', which replaces the old 'Fréquence Wallonie'. The other two frequencies, 1233 and 1305 kHz, maintain Radio 21 but this will change too. In a few weeks' time, Radio 21 will be split into two radio stations: Classic 21, which will carry older pop and rock music, and Pure FM, a new youth station. The latter will be carried on 1233 and 1305 kHz. 73 (Herman Boel, Belgium, March 7, MWC via DXLD) RTBF's 1125 transmitter at La Louvière carries no longer Radio 21 but instead VivaCité now. Sources: http://groups.google.com/groups?selm=pan.2004.03.07.11.20.53.774241%40compaqnet.nospam.be&output=gplain http://forum.myphorum.de/read.php?f=8773&i=105937&t=105937 VivaCité is the former, recently relaunched Fréquence Wallonie. I understand that further reshuffling of programs and FM frequencies are in preparation, also involving the current Radio 21 still carried on Liège 1233 and Marche 1305. Concerning the long delay of 1233 and 1305 against the FM outlets of Radio 21 mentioned in the second posting: I dimly recall a mention of these MW transmitters being fed with Radio Trafic by means of DAB ballempfang. Probably this is still the case, and if Radio 21 was put on the DAB slot formerly occupied by Radio Trafic nothing had to be changed at the mediumwave sites at all. (Radio Trafic was a special DAB program of RTBF, discontinued a while ago after RTBF first tried to reach a real-world audience by putting Radio Trafic on these previously silent mediumwave channels. Trafic indeed = traffic, this program aimed at car drivers.) (Kai Ludwig, Germany, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** BELGIUM [non]. Re No RVI on 2 March: Hi Glenn, It took me a few days, but I have now discovered what happened on 2 March when listeners heard RNW instead of RVI at 2200 UT on 11730. Apparently there was a fault with the satellite receiver in Bonaire, so the audio had to be fed on a different circuit. Unfortunately they selected the wrong audio stream :-( So, a one-off mistake. 73, (Andy Sennitt, RN, March 7, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** BRAZIL. 6183.20, Radio Nacional de Amazonia, Manaus, 0845+, March 05. Portuguese. ID at 0846. Ann.: "estamos apresentando o programa Bom Dia Amazonia", TC, 34443 (Arnaldo Slaen, Argentina, Cumbre DX via DXLD) It`s in Brasília, not Manaus --- or did you have the impression the programming was fed from Manaus, as would only be appropriate? (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 9668.18, 26.2, 0525, Rádio Nacional do Brasil was a lot "off frequency". Carnaval program. 3 CB (Christer Brunström, Sweden, SW Bulletin March 7, translated by editor Thomas Nilsson for DX Listening Digest) ** CENTRAL AFRICAN REPUBLIC [non]. 15545, Radio Ndeke Luka, Fondation Hirondelle, 3 Rue Traversière, 1018 Lausanne, Swistzerland. QSL card full data in 3 months, V/S: Nbotte (Arnaldo Slaen, Argentina, Cumbre DX via DXLD) ** CHINA. Glenn: FYI: this morning I'm hearing Guangxi on 5050, very well but weaker on 9820 (1051); this is not at all the stuff that I was hearing on this frequency two days ago. In fact, Guangxi usually comes in pretty well the later I listen toward local dawn. But I usually do not get a trace of it prior to about 2 am local time in the late evening/morning, during the time when I thought I was getting Darwin. Guangxi is in fact almost totally unreceivable on either of my dipole antennas though it does come in on my random wire. When I thought I had Darwin, two days ago, it was coming in on the longer dipole, the one I always use to pick up SE Asian stations from PNG or Indonesia or Australia: where the signal is at a 45 degree sensitive lobe, off the resonant frequency. Maybe I will get a clearer signal of Darwin sometime, and it will be a more convincing report. At any rate, Guangxi was transmitting speaking by a female announcer in what sounded like a Chinese dialect, followed by western-tinged music that nevertheless had what sounded like an oriental instrument played with lots of sliding between tones: sentimental sounding, indigenous pop stuff. Best, (Steve Waldee, San José CA, March 7, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CHINA. The Music Jammer, 9355, 1925 GMT, 444, March 6th. Jamming Taiwan via the WYFR relay site. // 13670 [544], 9455 [333] and 9875 [444]. (Stewart WDX6AA MacKenzie, CA, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ! Highly improbable that China would attempt to jam Okeechobee. In fact, at this hour, 9355 is used by R. Free Asia to East Asia (gh) ** CHINA [and non]. CRI English has been heard for the past few days between 2000 and 2100 on 9855 with a reasonable signal but strong co- channel QRM. CRI via Spectrum Radio, London, has changed its times since March 1. English is now heard at 1600-1800 Mondays to Fridays only, and Chinese is now aired, seven days a week, at 2300-0000, all on 558 kHz. CRI reported last week that it has started broadcasting in Finnish on FM, presumably in Helsinki. It is doing so in partnership with a local company that translates the English program and rebroadcasts it in Finnish (source "Listeners' Garden", February 28). (via Roger Tidy, UK, March 7, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CHINA [non]. Checking the CRI website for references to mediumwave transmissions via Albania revealed that also 1215, the third Fllakë frequency, is involved; so far I found mentions of programs in Albanian 1600-1700, Esperanto 1700-1800 and Romanian 1800-1900. Of course this is impossible to check from here, with Bolshakovo at 245 degrees co-channel. But with this line-up the output on 1395 has to be "only" 500 kW anymore, unless they are able to cut off 1215, retune the transmitter and combine it with another one on 1395 within just a minute or so. [or rather, see below] Schedule noted on 1458 so far: Bulgarian 1700-1800, Italian 1800-1900; Hungarian 2000-2100; Polish 2130-2230, Czech 2230-2330. Conclusion of Bulgarian program, followed by Italian (no xx57 closure times here, so apparently they prepare different play-out versions for SW and the leased MW outlets in Europe): http://www.radioeins.de/_/meta//sendungen/apparat/040306_a1.ram The signal is weaker than it used to be, and the signal strength is the same on all transmissions, so I suspect that a non-directional antenna is in use now. It appears that no Radio Tirana programming of its own goes out from Fllakë anymore. German 1830-1900 (like all foreign language programs not on Sundays) is now on 7185 only: http://www.radioeins.de/_/meta//sendungen/apparat/040306_a2.ram Albanian 2130-2300 that used to be carried via 1458, too, is now on 7295 exclusively, with the same 150 Hertz hum and pops/clicks than German on 7185 has, suggesting that both programs are fed through the same circuit to Cërrik and/or aired by the same transmitter there (Kai Ludwig, Germany, March 7, DX LISTENING DIGEST) I tried Albania 1215 today during the 1800-1900 period, and indeed Romanian was heard in the background of VOR and Virgin. As usual the Albanian carrier was much below the nominal frequency. The buzz went off just after 1900, and a little more than one minute later 1395 came on. After several minutes of open carrier 1395 went off. The frequency of 1395 was also much below nominal. 73s (Olle Alm via Kai Ludwig, March 7, DXLD) It seems that I have to withdraw my assumption that Fllakë cannot run 1000 kW on 1395 anymore. The just arrived A04 schedule for TWR suggests that the first program on 1395 starts not before 1910, so Fllakë still has the chance to combine the transmitter used until 1900 on 1215 with another one to a single 1000 kW on 1395. And the observations from Olle strongly indicate that they indeed do this. The mentioned buzz, i.e. heterodyne, frequently becomes a nuisance for VOR listeners even here in Germany, inside the lobe of the Bolshakovo antenna (in many areas Bolshakovo is first choice for VOR German on mediumwave despite Wachenbrunn 1323, and now this means 1215 for well- known reasons). (Kai Ludwig, Germany, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CUBA. Glenn: I see that the "Estación española de los números" seems to be back on the air again. Is this what Arnie has been working on, rather than changing tubes in the RHC transmitters? Same female voice heard with five-number groups, in Spanish: on 03-05- 04, 0618Z, at 4028.0; and on 03-06-04, 0542Z, on 5883.0. Setenta y tres, (Steve Waldee - retired b'cast station engineer, San Jose, CA, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CUBA [non]. TELEVISION Y RADIO MARTI --- Tomado de la edición electrónica "La Nueva Cuba", Viernes 5 de Marzo, 2004. LA NUEVA CUBA RADIO MARTI --- LA PRESENTE CRISIS NO ES UN HECHO CASUAL NI CIRCUNSTANCIAL SINO UN CRITICO, SENSITIVO Y CRUCIAL PROBLEMA DE SEGURIDAD NACIONAL Los planes de la administración Bush para la transición en Cuba cuentan con Radio Martí como una de las herramientas más sensitivas en la política de Estados Unidos hacia Cuba, una Cuba que tarde o temprano se enfrentará a un proceso político, social y humano de la mayor trascendencia. Pero en Radio Martí las órdenes de los supervisores son canceladas por empleados subalternos; el desarrollo del nuevo perfil de todo noticias se le confía a un reportero y se promueve a una persona con un historial de fracasos reicindentes al frente de sus responsabilidades al tiempo que se impide a jefes de departamento y supervisores a ni siquiera ejercer sus funciones. La Comisión del Presidente para la Transición tiene su propia visión del papel importantísimo y sensitivo que deberán desempeñar los Martís durante todo ese proceso. Pero esa agenda presidencial está siendo torpedeada, saboteada y obstaculizada desde dentro de esa propia institución por un minúsculo grupo de funcionarios y empleados con una larga asociación al equipo de demolición de la Agenda Clinton-Gore para Cuba. Así se entregarán nuevamente las posiciones claves en el departamento de noticias a quienes durante el Clintonanto fueron responsables de las dramaticas caídas de los niveles de audiencia y se conferirán mayores responsabilidades a quienes retuvieron la noticia del secuestro de Elián por cuatro horas. En efecto, mayores responsabilidades en Noticias a quienes no han sido capaces de mantener modestamente al día una decente página de Internet, un hecho que ha sido hasta el cansancio denunciado en este periódico por varios columnistas entre ellos el que les escribe. Pero esas decisiones, movidas para cumplir con compromisos políticos o personales no quedarán impunes ya que no resistirían cualquier investigación del GAO, el instrumento congresional investigativo independiente. Tampoco vamos a permanecer en silencio. Llamaremos a las cosas por su nombre. Los responsables tienen rostro. Como ocurriera con el Dr. Salvador Lew, el primer designado político republicano, el Sr. Pedro Roig, actual Director de los Servicios de Transmisiones parece ya haberse convertido en rehén del grupúsculo de marras. Nuevamente los plomeros han logrado hacer ingobernable a Radio Martí. Quizás ya es hora de que la Casa Blanca ponga fin a una situación no sólo inaceptable sino que pone en peligro las políticas de la administración para Cuba en un año electoral. Hablamos de lo que constituye ya un problema de seguridad nacional y de los responsables de lo que ya se denomina: la crónica ingobernabilidad de los Martís, quienes concientes o inconcientemente; motivados ya sea por agendas políticas, o por un trabajo de la inteligencia enemiga, o de cooperación con ella, o por razones meramente personales están en la posición de llegar a hacer inefectiva la herramienta capaz de llegar a la audiencia cubana y orientar a nuestros hermanos en la Isla en lo que pudieran ser semanas o meses de desasociego, incertidumbre y agonía. La Casa Blanca no se puede permitir una crisis de estas proporciones en estos momentos en los Martís. Si el Sr Roig, un designado republicano, no puede dejar de escuchar a sus amigos demócratas, quienes ya hundieron la histórica audiencia de la emisora en el pasado reciente, quizás deba considerar su renuncia y darle así libertad a la administración a que nombre a alguien que represente los intereses y lo énfasis del presidente en su visión de búsqueda de un cambio democratico en la Isla. Tanto Mel Martínez, con toda seguridad candidato al Senado por el estado de la Florida, como nuestros congresistas federales no sólo están al tanto de tan delicada situación sino que no permanecerán indiferentes ante una situación que pudiera hacer inefectiva a Radio Martí en un momento crucial para los procesos de cambio en Cuba. De cualquier manera, en Washington quienes se preocupan de los temas cubanos en esta administración no están cruzados de brazos y no se mantendrán impasibles ante una situación absolutamente inaceptable dado la sensitiva importancia que los Martís tienen para la seguridad nacional. Por Ares Spinoza, Wáshington, La Nueva Cuba, Marzo 5, 2004 Cordiales 73's (via Oscar de Céspedes, Conexión Digital via DXLD) ** ECUADOR. LA VOZ DEL UPANO REACTIVATES 4870 KHZ, RELAYS RADIO MARIA ECUADOR PART OF TIME Macas, Mar 2 (CRU, based on reports from Adalberto Marques de Azevedo of Barbacena MG, Brasil and in World of Radio, Glenn Hauser, editor) La Voz del Upano in Macas has returned its 4870 kHz shortwave transmitter to the air after a reported absence of several years, according to widespread DX reports. Last weekend, Catholic Radio Update reader Senhor Adalberto Marques de Azevedo of Barbacena, Minas Gerais, Brasil, reported hearing a mysterious Radio Maria on 4870 kHz on Sunday morning and wrote to ask for help in identifying it. ``As stations in Nicaragua, Guatemala, Colombia, Argentina were cited during the program, is it possible to figure out what station was this?`` The only Catholic stations on 4870 kHz was La Voz del Upano, inactive until this past weekend. The time seemed to indicate the Saturday morning live interconnect news and magazine report ``Agenda Eclesial Iberoamericana,`` which features live reports from Radios María across Latin America. The station was first heard on February 28th in New Zealand. The following morning it was heard in Quito by Björn Malm of Quito, with a clear station identification not two hours later by Bob Wilkner in Florida. According to Malm, the station ``Has not been active for some years on this frequency. Last night first with local programming and later relay of Radio María Ecuador in [parallel] with LV del Napo/Radio María 3279.54 kHz. So Radio María now seems to have the same business with Upano as before with Napo.`` Juan José in Spain reported hearing the station and thought it originated from the Galápagos Islands, but the islands belong to Ecuador, and Radio María Ecuador has a transmitter there on 100.7 FM. He reported the station to be coming in like gangbusters (``entrando a cañón``). DXers heard the station this past weekend also in Massachusetts (Jerry Berg), Pennsylvania (Dave Valko), and Wisconsin (Sheryl Paszkiewicz), with prayers, inspirational talks, the Rosary, Gregorian chants, music, and folklore music. Mr. Berg heard the station identify its AM station, 5040 kHz, another of its shortwave frequencies, and local 90.5 FM. Radio María Ecuador has a local transmitter in Macas on 98.9 FM. Obviously, La Voz del Upano is doing what HCVN7 La Voz del Napo 3280 kHz has been doing for a couple of years --- relaying Radio María Ecuador when it is not broadcasting local programs. La Voz del Upano has been authorized for several shortwave frequencies: HCSK7 on 3360 kHz, HCVB7 on 5040 kHz, and on HCVB7 on 6000 kHz. Apparently all of the shortwave stations except 5040 kHz have been dormant. La Voz del Upano is owned and operated in the jungles of eastern Ecuador by the Salesian Fathers, in the Vicariate of Méndez. Database Macas: HCVB7 La Voz del Upano 1540 AM, and 90.5 FM, & HCSK7 en 3360 kHz (2,500 watts) & HCVB7 on 4870 kHz & 5040 kHz (10,000 w), y HCVB7 on 6000 kHz. Nationwide service on 5965 kHz. Repetidoras: Gral. Leonidas Plaza, Limón 90.5 FM; Santiago de Méndez 90.5 FM; Gualaquiza 90.5 FM. El Vicariato de Méndez. Misión Salesiana. Calle 10 de Agosto s/n/ Padre Domingo Barrueco. Casilla 692, Quito. Teléfonos: (07) 505247. E-mail: radioupano@easynet.net.ec 0545-2200 horas. Señora Leonor Guzmán, director. Habían dos servicios distintos, pero se parece que uno, quizás el comercial, está cerrado. Programas en Shuar. Relays Radio María Ecuador at certain times (Mike Dorner, Catholic Radio Update March 8 via DXLD) ** ERITREA [non]. ERITREAN OPPOSITION RADIO EXTENDS BROADCAST DURATION | Excerpt from report by Eritrean opposition radio on 7 March Dear listeners, the [opposition radio] Voice of the Eritrean People, which has been broadcasting for half-an-hour every Sunday to the Horn of Africa and Middle East, has from today, 7 March 2004, extended its broadcast duration to a full hour from 8.30 to 9.30 p.m. [1730-1830 gmt]. [Passage omitted] Source: Radio Voice of the Eritrean People in Tigrinya 1730 gmt 7 Mar 04 (via BBCM via DXLD) ** ERITREA [non]. 15675, 22.2, 0400, The new Voice of Liberty, clandestine for Eritrea was supposed to send here, but nothing at all was heard this early morning. As it can be heard at other places in the world I can imagine it transmits via Russia with antennas beamed southwards to Africa. Only on Sundays (Björn Fransson, Sweden, SW Bulletin March 7, translated by editor Thomas Nilsson for DX Listening Digest) ** FINLAND. 11689.96, 6.3, 0915, Scandinavian Weekend Radio in Finnish and English, lots of IDs, listeners reports from Mogadishu, Somalia! Bad modulation and was a little bit off frequency. S2 BV (Bjarke Vestesen, Denmark, SW Bulletin March 7, translated by editor Thomas Nilsson for DX Listening Digest) ** FRANCE. Nouvelles de l'AM --- Bonsoir, Voici encore quelques nouvelles des ondes moyennes: Radio Nouveaux Talents addresse: Tour Bolloré, 31-32 Quai Dion Bouton, F-92811 Puteaux Cedex, France (le groupe Bolloré est spécialisé dans le pétrole et ses dérivés, mais depuis un an, ils ont créés une société Bolloré Media spécialisée dans la radio et la télévision numérique...) Superloustic: les émissions doivent commencées la semaine prochaine (peut être le 12 mars) depuis Paris sur 999 kHz. Les émissions depuis Marseille 675 kHz sont annoncées pour le début avril (Christian Ghibaudo, France, via Dario Monferini, March 6, DXLD) see also MONACO ** INDONESIA. 4749.98, RRI Makassar, 1354-1405 3/6. Finally ID'ed after several presumed logs; Indian-style vocals to M announcer at 1258; quick ID at 1259:15 as "...programa satu Radio Republik Indonesia Makassar", with talk continuing past 1400; pop vocal music a couple of minutes later. Fair signal (John Wilkins, Wheat Ridge, Colorado. Drake R-8, 100-foot RW, Cumbre DX via DXLD) ** INTERNATIONAL VACUUM. WorldSpace Expands Musical Content Offerings with WorldZone --- New channel offers broader mix of worldwide music to directly appeal to international subscribers [puff alert!] WASHINGTON, D.C. (February 30, 2004) [sic!] WorldSpace Corporation, the pioneer of satellite radio delivery for digital audio radio services (DARS), announced the successful global launch of WorldZone, a mixture of world music from around the globe. The new channel, available as part of the premium subscription offering on the WorldSpace satellite radio system, was created to better address the worldwide audience's different musical tastes and interests. The unique mix of world music that is the signature of WorldZone was created by WorldSpace for debut in America on XM Satellite Radio, Channel 100, in September 2001. "The original content on WorldSpace's satellite radio network is created to directly appeal to and meet the needs of our subscribers," said Noah Samara, Chairman and CEO of WorldSpace. "As the world becomes more connected, our customers want to hear a wider variety of international music not found on terrestrial AM/FM radio. We've answered with WorldZone, which is a true reflection of our dedication to educating and entertaining our subscribers through a compilation of music, interviews and live concerts from artists around the world." WorldZone is programmed by veteran major market personnel and broadcaster Shawna Renee Odour and will include music from various geographical areas including Ireland, Brazil, Pakistan, India, Africa, Latin America, Cuba, Japan and Mexico. WorldZone has strong promotional alliances with Real World Records and WOMAD http://www.worldspace.com/press/releases/2004/02_30_04.html (via Kim Elliott, DXLD) ** INTERNATIONAL VACUUM. WORLDSPACE SATELLITE RADIO LAUNCHES GLOBAL SUBSCRIPTION CAMPAIGN; INITIAL FOCUS ON AMERICAN AND BRITISH EXPATS Wednesday March 3, 12:20 pm ET WASHINGTON, March 3 /PRNewswire/ -- WorldSpace Corporation announced the first multinational satellite radio subscription plan available across the WorldSpace Satellite Radio global footprint, which covers Europe, Asia, the Middle East and Africa. The initial target market for phase one of the global subscription roll out will be American and British Expatriates living and working abroad, including the US Military. WorldSpace is the global digital media and satellite technology company that created the new medium of satellite radio delivery for Digital Audio Radio Services (DARS). Integrating some of the world's most recognized media brands including Fox News, National Public Radio (NPR), Bloomberg, Radio Caroline, talkSPORT, BBC, and Virgin Radio UK, with world class original content programming including music, motivational spoken word and dozens of international channels, the "Home Team Radio/Brits Abroad" subscription offering will be available for $9.99 U.S. with special additional receiver subscription and multi-year incentives. Subscription and receiver sales will be available beginning mid April 2004 on line at http://www.worldspace.com and via phone through WorldSpace Global Customer Service. A complete list of the WorldSpace Satellite Radio subscription offering, retailers and dealers is available on-line at http://www.worldspace.com The programming we will be offering with this package is largely unavailable from the limited terrestrial (AM/FM) radio present in the countries we will be serving," said Andy Ras-Work, COO for WorldSpace. The WorldSpace satellite Radio advantage for U.S. Military stationed within the WorldSpace global footprint outside of the Americas was detailed by Wilson Baker, Jr., Senior Vice President of the Government Sales Unit (GSU) of WorldSpace Corporation, who is a Viet Nam era and Desert Storm veteran. "As a former member of the military, I know how important a connection to home can be for so many. Familiar songs and voices can go a long way for morale as well as immediate connection to breaking world news. Among our business solutions for governments and corporations, my Team has been working with PX, MX and NX around the world to offer our digital satellite radio receivers for sale to members of the U.S. Military." WorldSpace GSU Solutions are available on the GSA Schedule. Families and friends of troops stationed around the world can purchase and send WorldSpace Satellite radio receivers and subscriptions as gifts by visiting http://www.worldspace.com . . . http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/040303/dcw033_1.html (via Mike Terry, DXLD) ** IRELAND. RTE RADIO ANNOUNCES RE-ALIGNMENT OF ITS TRANSMISSION SERVICES | Text of press release by Radio Telefis Eireann on 2 March RTE Radio has today [2 March] announced changes in the allocation of its frequencies as part of the re-alignment of its transmission services, both at home and abroad. These changes are targeted at delivering the best possible service to listeners, while facilitating necessary improvements to our distribution network. The developments include: the launch of RTE Radio 1 on longwave in March; the temporary closure of Radio 1 on mediumwave; the cessation of RTE 2fm on mediumwave in April; plans for the provision of digital radio services. Through these changes, RTE Radio intends to improve the quality of its broad range of services to listeners. RTE Radio 1 RTE is launching RTE Radio 1 on longwave 252 [kHz] on Wednesday 17 March, St. Patrick's Day. The service will carry throughout the island of Ireland and into large parts of the UK. Programming will include RTE Radio 1's sport and religious choices, currently available on mediumwave. Following tests on longwave 252 [kHz] last September [2003], RTE Radio received valuable feedback and considerable encouragement regarding the service from listeners throughout Ireland, the UK and further afield. Detailed observations on signal strength were posted and comments on the proposed service were very positive. The primary band for all RTE Radio services is FM. This network covers 97 per cent of the country and delivers high quality stereo reception. However, FM carries shorter distances than mediumwave or longwave, and involves many transmitters broadcasting on slightly different frequencies throughout the country. This is the reason why, for example, RTE Radio 1 is found at slightly different places on the dial in different parts of the country. The launch of RTE Radio 1 on longwave 252 (kHz) is an exciting opportunity for radio listeners in all of Ireland, who will now be able to hear Radio 1 on one single, strong frequency. This opportunity also extends to providing a better service to those listening in the UK and parts of Europe where the same output on longwave 252 [kHz] will also be heard. When someone listens to RTE Radio 1 on longwave, irrespective of their location, they will tune into the same frequency. This service is of particular benefit to car listeners to maintain the quality of station reception as they move through different transmission areas. Network maintenance on Tullamore mediumwave mast RTE's Network Division (RTETNL) has identified a need to carry out maintenance work on the Tullamore (567 kHz) mast. This facility is the mainstay of RTE Radio 1's mediumwave output. The work will begin in July and carry through to November, when mediumwave services will again be available. By July, longwave 252 [kHz], including mediumwave sport and religious services, will have been available to Radio 1 listeners for four months. Meanwhile, RTE will conduct an intensive multi-media information campaign for listeners nationwide so they may continue listening to their preferred stations and programmes. The campaign will ensure that affected listeners know of the impending changes and are equipped with the information to find their preferred programmes on either the existing FM service or the new nationwide longwave service. To support this transition, the reception quality of our FM service will be reviewed in early 2004. This will involve seeking feedback from the public to measure the quality of coverage across Ireland. Areas with poorer reception will receive particular attention to ensure maximum coverage. From November, RTE Radio 1 will be available on FM, MW and LW. RTE will continuously monitor the take-up, cost, technical potential and quality of each service to ensure ongoing value to the licence payer and best overall service to listeners. RTE 2fm RTE 2fm is broadcast on both FM and mediumwave at present. The audience for this service on mediumwave is very low and RTE 2fm, as its name suggests, is a contemporary FM station in character. RTE intends to shut the mediumwave service completely in April. Mediumwave broadcasts of RTE 2fm in Dublin ceased in January. The closure of the Athlone mediumwave transmitter that carries RTE 2fm is of particular significance. RTE's use of this site dates back to 1932. The buildings and equipment are of considerable historic value. RTE is committed to continued ownership and use of this site and to Athlone, which last year became the centre for RTE Radio 1's regional production. Digital Radio Digital Radio involves a new transmission system that brings the benefits of digital broadcasting to the world of radio. Throughout Europe strong progress has been made on transmitting DAB (Digital Audio Broadcasting). Retail sales remain slow, though it is assumed, given reasonable time, that these technologies will be standard in more and more radios. RTE believes that it is now timely to begin planning for Digital Radio and intends to move forward in two ways. Firstly, to undertake research to develop content and applications for digital transmission. Secondly, to cost and specify a first phase test DAB service for a limited area. RTE is committed to a thorough exploration of Digital Radio in order to be positioned to keep pace with developments and to lead the future of radio transmission in Ireland and beyond. RTE Radio will communicate with its audience at every stage of these developments. In the meantime, listeners with queries should contact RTE Network on 1850-584-584 or the RTE Information Office on (01) 208 3434. Media contact: Jennifer Taaffe, Senior Press Officer, RTE Radio, (01) 208 2312 / 087 968 2085 taaffej @ rte.ie Source: Radio Telefis Eireann press release, Dublin, in English 2 Mar 04 (via BBCM via DXLD) ** JORDAN. Recently someone was asking if Radio Jordan was still active? Well, they are doing pretty good right now at 1724 UT March 6/04 on 11690 kHz. Tuned into news at 1709; weather at 1712, ID's as Radio Jordan 96.3 FM then into Adult Contemporary pop music. 73 (Mickey Delmage, Sherwood Park, Alberta, Collins HF-2050 7-30 MHz KLM Log Periodic, DX LISTENING DIGEST) I assume it was in English, as usual on 11690? Did you have to take special measures to eliminate the RTTY QRM or was it not a problem where you are? (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Hi Glenn; Yes, in English until 1730, then into Arabic. Yes, the ute was a problem that I first didn't notice until I started tuning about. I just tuned up to 11692 and it was gone. My log periodic antenna probably helped. 73 (Mick Delmage, ibid.) ** KOREA NORTH. 2850.1, KCBS Pyongyang 1238-1305 Mar 6. Typical Korean vocals, choir-style and solo, uninterrupted to 1300, at which time KR talks commenced. Huge signal, S9 +20 dB here, // to 4450 (good) and 3959.73 (poor). (John Wilkins, Wheat Ridge, Colorado. Drake R-8, 100- foot RW, Cumbre DX via DXLD) ** LAOS [non]. Hmong Lao Radio with residence in Saint Paul, MN-15260. Thank you letter and card for my big donation of 1 USD to the United Lao Movement for Democracy, though really reply postage. The letter cost 1.11 USD to send --- and my view of what a a QSL card really is must be expanded quite a bit to consider this reply as such. V/s: Nhia Yong Thao, president (Björn Fransson, Sweden, SW Bulletin March 7, translated by editor Thomas Nilsson for DX Listening Digest) ** MEXICO. Recent logging from central California: 9705, 0514-0520, Radio Mexico Internacional, Spanish, Some nice Mexican instrumental Guitar music. 73 from the "Beaconeers Lair". (Phil, KO6BB Atchley, DX begins at the noise floor! Merced, Central California, 37.18N 120.29W CM97sh, March 5, swl at qth.net via DXLD) I wonder what date? I didn`t see any specific date for closing down in the long story in last issue, but apparently imminent. Get it while you can, if you can! The main website is two years out of date, but the pdf schedule grid is current thru March 2004 at http://www.imer.gob.mx/cartas/rmi.pdf It shows nothing but Spanish. A couple of programs of interest: Fox Contigo, which must be a weekly hour with the president, Sat 1800- 1900, apart from La Hora Nacional, UT Mon 0400. DX 21 is shown Tue and Fri at 2130-2200. Nothing recognizable as a mailbag. Then I checked 9705 UT Sun March 7 at 0535 and heard some jazz/pop music, 0540 into Scheherazade, pretty sure still XERMX typical music mix they have been playing a lot; heavy splatter from WYFR 9715, and 9705 went off around 0600 (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Andy Sennitt picked up the report in 4-041 for Media Network, adds: Andy Sennitt comments: I think I only heard this station once or twice in 30 years, and then during unusual propagation when I was visiting the States. If they imagine that Internet broadcasting is a suitable replacement for shortwave, they must indeed have had a very, very tiny audience. One of the stations which has almost completely phased out shortwave in favour of Internet is Swiss Radio International, now better known as Swissinfo. Over the past few days I have been unable to access any of its news pages or audio. I tried just now and the home page will not load. Sudden Ionospheric Disturbances can cause shortwave signals to disappear, but rarely for several days in a row. At Radio Netherlands we don't kid ourselves, much less our listeners, that our Web site can deliver things it can't. # posted by Andy @ 10:14 UT March 6 (Media Network blog via DXLD) ** MONACO. MC One, début des émissions régulières le 15 mars 2004 (Christian Ghibaudo, France, via Dario Monferini, March 6, DXLD) Is there any programming actually in English, and if not, dare I ask, why is its name in English? (gh, DXLD) ** MONGOLIA. 12085, 29.2 1000, Voice of Mongolia med "Sunday Music Programme". 2-3 CB (Christer Brunström, Sweden, SW Bulletin via DXLD) ** NEPAL. 5005.3, R. Nepal, 1213 Music, 1215 Time pips and music Mar 6 (Nobuo TAKENO, NRD-535D with 10 meters wire, Yamagata JAPAN, Cumbredx mailing list via DXLD) ** OKLAHOMA [non]. KJON, formerly in Oklahoma, on 850, is now testing its new facilities in Texas. It's been on the air all day, at least 9:30 a.m. to now (4:10 p.m.) [CST = 1530-2210 UT] with open carrier and announcement "Radio Station KJON, Carrollton, Texas" every 60 seconds. It's S-9 here in Krum (John Callarman, KA9SPA, Family Genealogist, Krum TX, March 5, NRC-AM via DXLD) KJON used to be in Anadarko, OK, as KRPT, and it was one of the few stations with a regular Indian program, Saturdays at 11 am to noon, which I could barely pull in. This is one of the more extreme cases of outlying stations being sucked into a Metroplex where presumably they will be more profitable, and further pack the AM band, not upon the demand of the urban public for yet another radio station, but to satisfy the insatiable demand for profits by multiple station owners, whilst depriving their original communities of local radio service (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** PARAGUAY. I received some minutes ago an email from Adán Mur, Radio América, Paraguay. He tells me that Radio América is help to a local technical college in Ñemby, for the student`s training. The college made a radio station absolutely independent from Radio America and is on the air in this days in the old frequencies of RA: 1610 and 7370 kHz. Radio Colégio Técnico Municipal Santa Rosa de Lima in on air with 5 watts and bidirectional antennas to 90 & 270 degree. For mediumwave, the antenna is 1/4 wave and shortwave antenna is the 5/8. Transmission hours: 1000 to 2000 UT. Reception reports to: Orlando Torres Radio Colégio Técnico Municipal Santa Rosa de Lima, Ñemby, Paraguay. The email address is: ctmsrl @ hotmail.com 73's & 55's (Arnaldo Slaen, Argentina, March 4, Cumbre DX via DXLD) ** PHILIPPINES. Boy, Radio Pilipinas sure is doing well at the moment on 15190 kHz in Tagalog // 11730 and 11890 which are not so good. They also announced 17720 which is not there. 1843 UTC with political speech (Mickey Delmage, Sherwood Park, Alberta, Collins HF-2050 7-30 MHz KLM Log Periodic, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** SOMALIA. 6961, often, 2015, Radio Shabele, heard almost every evening, but more or less lousy. I have heard the ID only once and then given as a website address. Finish up the transmission the last minutes with songs from the Holy Kor`an and then no final announcements at all, but closedown 2100. S 2-3 and a lot of utility- QRM. Now on exactly 6960 kHz (Björn Fransson, Sweden, SW Bulletin March 7, translated by editor Thomas Nilsson for DX Listening Digest) ** U K. RADIO WAVES for 7 March 2004 By Paul Donovan, From The Sunday Times: No matter what you're talking about - gardening, economics, murder - you're telling a story. Every sentence should lead to the next sentence. If you say a dull sentence people have a right to switch off. Broadcasting is the control of suspense. Not my wise words - if only - but those of Alistair Cooke, who last week announced that he had written his last Letter From America. He posted the first one in 1946 and then practised what he preached for 58 years. He did so with an elegance of language and depth of insight that was a weekly wonder. The fact that you suddenly have to use the past tense will sadden millions of us who listen to him on Radio 4 in this country and the BBC World Service everywhere else. But he is 95, and has not concealed in recent talks the infirmities of age - the fall, the bump on his head, being bed-ridden. He no longer flies, rarely leaves his Fifth Avenue apartment, and the doctors have ordered it. Sunday mornings on Radio 4 will never be the same again. For the next three months, Radio 4 will put out repeats of his letters, just as it did last weekend when he fell ill. The one today - first broadcast, as always, at 8.45 pm on Friday, then repeated at 5.45 am yesterday and finally, the slot with the biggest audience, at 8.45 am this morning - is his own choice out of the 2,869 he composed. First aired in December 2001, it moves, with seemingly effortless verbal gear-change, from Philip Larkin to Leonard Bernstein, the meaning of the word "Messiah" to Osama Bin Laden, and takes in Tiger Woods en route. Three months before that, he had to record his talk three days after the devastation of his adopted city on 9/11. The words he used - talking about Mons, the Blitz, Hieronymus Bosch and white ghostly ash - conveyed a sense of pain and sorrow as deeply as anything else that week. They are etched in the memory. After the repeats, the BBC is unsure. Letter From America, as Cooke's biographer Nick Clarke says, is a "unique piece of broadcasting folklore". As such it is irreplaceable. But the need for understanding between an increasingly militaristic and uncompromising USA and the rest of the world has never been more acute. Regular coverage of that country must continue. Cooke, like any commentator, was not infallible: at the time of his 2,000th letter in 1987, he said it was "inconceivable" that George Bush (the elder) could ever succeed Ronald Reagan as president. But it is always a mistake when journalists try to be prophets, and nobody has done more to explain how America ticks. Always with Cooke you learn something new. Always he is able to humanise, to put things in context, to place his topics on a historical canvas. He has done much more than his letters. He reported on the Abdication Crisis in 1936 for NBC. He went to Mississippi in 1938 to record Boll Weevil Blues and other songs of cotton plantation workers. He spent 25 years as The Guardian's main man in the USA, where I first saw his name on the front page the day after Kennedy's assassination. He has broadcast on jazz and popular music and made a 13-hour television series, America. But Letter From America, originally commissioned for 13 weeks, has been the thread running through his career, the high point of conversational writing so many attempt and so few achieve (via Mike Terry, Paul David, DXLD) ** U K. NOT ENOUGH COOKES --- Mar 4th 2004 Britain's best-known radio voice hangs up his headphones ALISTAIR COOKE delighted listeners just as he frustrated his BBC bosses, who thought his weekly 15-minute talks were well past their prime in both form and content. But now his fans and critics will have to turn their attention elsewhere. After 2,869 editions of "Letter from America", on every important subject in post-war history, Mr Cooke, aged 95, says he is too old to continue. Both the old world and the new claimed Mr Cooke for their own. His transatlantic accent left Americans thinking he was British, and vice versa. But in most ways--not least his reinvention of himself--he was more American than British. The son of an iron-fitter, he was born in Salford and brought up in his parents' guesthouse in Blackpool. He got a scholarship to Cambridge, then a fellowship in theatre to Yale and Harvard, swapped Alfred for Alistair, became an aesthete, an American citizen and a confidant of Charlie Chaplin's. Mr Cooke's talks, which began in 1946 by describing his return to America by sea with 2,000 GI brides, exemplified the trinity of journalistic virtues: factually correct, well thought-out and elegantly expressed. They were a blast of nostalgic thoughtfulness from a more leisurely age. Admittedly, they became patchy towards the end. The reporting zeal that had enabled him to witness such events as Robert Kennedy's assassination was shackled by age. There were too many anecdotes, usually but not always interesting. His views on race and sex seemed gratingly old-fashioned to some. To both British and American fans, he represented what was best about the BBC, but not much of that is left. The days of unhurried radio talks and graceful prose are, sadly, gone. Replacing him is unlikely to work. Mr Cooke survived into the era of the sound bite because of his stature. Any lesser figure trying to do what he did would stick out more like a sore thumb than a broadcasting giant. See this article with graphics and related items at http://www.economist.com/world/europe/displayStory.cfm?story_id=2478911 (via Bill Westenhaver, DXLD) ** U S A. Those unable to attend the SWL Winter Fest, in Kulpsville PA, should be able to hear a lot of programs from there March 12-13 on WBCQ. Allan Weiner says many of his programmers will do their shows live from the fest, including his own Allan Weiner Worldwide, UT Sat 0100-0200 on 7415. Depending on the time, these could be on any of the WBCQ frequencies, 5105, 7415, 9330; and 17495, especially Saturday during the daytime (Glenn Hauser, March 7, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. We are in danger of going off the air at WBCQ and need your support. If you enjoy our show, please send a contribution to us. Make all checks and money orders out to WBCQ and send them to me at: Steve P.O. Box 396 New York, NY 10002 (Steve Coletti, Different Kind of Olides Show, March 6, DX LISTENING DIGEST) UT Sun 0100-0200 on 7415 ** U S A. WWRB update --- Greetings to all!!! WWRB will not be on the air during the day lite hours Monday thru Wednesdays. WWRB is in the process of reconfiguring our 045 Degree Rhombic antennas radiation angle (take off angle) from its current setting of 46 degrees at 12 MHz (local coverage) to as low as 8 degrees at 12 and 15 MHz (DX coverage). To accomplish this change WWRB must raise our 045 degree Rhombic`s radiating elements (cables) to approximately 160 feet above ground level from the current 67 feet above ground level. This change is not difficult as WWRB antennas are suspended by Radio Towers as high as 190 feet above ground level; it is time consuming but not difficult. To comply with FCC Radio Frequency worker exposure guidelines, we will suspend operations Monday - Wednesday daytime until we are finished. When finished we will use aircraft flying at various altitudes and distances around the WWRB transmitter facilities. Using a Calibrated HF receiver, GPS and a Data logger to perform the flight inspection measuring the antenna in actual operation. This will confirm the following: 1. Azimuthal alignment 2. Radiation angle 3. Beam width 4. Half Power Points 5. Side Lobes 6. Back Lobe Our new clients are requiring Overseas reception. The 46 degree radiation angle is not conducive for DX reception so we make the change to 8 degrees boosting our signal in the 045 degree target area. Regards to all (Dave Frantz, WWRB, March 6, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. Glenn, This guy had a program on WWCR. Regards, (Ulis Fleming, DX LISTENING DIGEST) M-F 1300-1400 on 9985; his legacy is the USA Radio Network, source of the most slanted `news` (gh) RADIO NETWORK FOUNDER MARLIN MADDOUX DIES JAIME S. JORDAN, Associated Press FROM: http://www.dfw.com/mld/startelegram/news/state/8108744.htm DALLAS - Marlin Maddoux, the founder of USA Radio Network and host of the Point of View radio talk show, died Thursday of complications from heart bypass surgery. He was 70. Maddoux also founded International Christian Media and the National Center for Freedom and Renewal. "He's been very important as a thinker in the area of conservative Christian values," said Bob Morrison, news director at USA Radio Network. "He was doing conservative talk radio before it was cool, before Rush Limbaugh made it popular ... It's not very often you see that in talk shows, that someone's doing an approach that's specifically for the conservative Christian. It certainly has a big following around the country." Maddoux died at Baylor Medical Center in Irving, Morrison said. Maddoux's wife of 49 years, Mary, and other relatives were by his side. Maddoux began Point of View in Dallas in 1972. He founded USA Radio Network, a for-profit company, in 1985. The network now has more than 1,300 affiliated radio stations across the nation. Point of View has more than 360 affiliates. Morrison said Maddoux was most respected for integrating Christian principles into all facets of life. "Marlin was never ashamed to say his world view was coming from his understanding of the world view from the Bible," Morrison said. "Any view he took he believed was informed by the biblical world view. He believed those two things went together - that you couldn't do anything, from raising family to running a business, without seeing it through the lens of Christian world view." Among the topics Maddoux has discussed are homeschooling, abortion and most recently same sex marriage. Penna Dexter listened to Maddoux for years before becoming his co-host about 7 1/2 years ago. He affected her even then, she said. "He was able to give me and a lot of Christians the ability to think about issues from a biblical point of view," Dexter said. "He was a brilliant man, a man who could go to the core of an issue. He was also a man who could make a joke. I cannot tell you how much I'll miss him." Dexter said Maddoux's death was announced halfway through Thursday's two-hour show, which began at 2 p.m. EST. The radio show did not take calls. A public memorial service is being planned. In addition to his wife, Maddoux is survived by four children and 10 grandchildren. Maddoux also has wrote several books, including "America Betrayed," "What Worries Parents Most," "Free Speech or Propaganda?" and "A Christian Agenda: Game Plan for a New Era." (via Ulis Fleming, DXLD) ** U S A. RADIO LAW: FCC SAYS IT TIME FOR LOW POWER BROADCAST RADIO The FCC says that Congress should lift the restrictions it has placed on the introduction of low power FM broadcast stations. Amateur Radio Newsline`s Bruce Tennant, K6PZW, is here with the rest of the story: In a February 20th statement, the FCC said that its inquiry shows that low power FM stations serving highly specific audiences in small areas do not interfere with the operations of large broadcasters. Also, that they will not keep audiences from hearing the higher power commercial stations as the industry claims. When the FCC first suggested creating the low power or community radio option. commercial broadcasters and public radio stations complained. The argued that low power stations would interfere with reception of their signals Congress responded by setting what amounted to an RF no- man`s land between the low power stations and existing broadcasters. This severely limited the number of tiny stations that the Commission could license. Lawmakers also told the FCC to study the potential for interference. The agency spent several years doing just that. It has now concluded that stations running between 10 and 100 watts pose little risk to commercial stations whose power levels can be upward of 100,000 watts effective radiated. Currently, there are about 300 low powered FM stations on the air. Most are licensed to churches, school districts, youth organizations, highway departments, environmentalists and the like. By comparison, the nation`s largest commercial broadcast radio chain, Clear Channel Communications owns 1,200 stations so far. For the Amateur Radio Newsline, I`m Bruce Tennant, K6PZW, in Los Angeles. A spokesman for the National Association of Broadcasters termed the FCC report as flawed (FCC via ARNewsline March 5 via John Norfolk, DXLD) ** U S A. HEARD ANY GOOD NEWSPAPERS LATELY? Los Angeles Daily News, Friday, February 27, 2004 By Dennis McCarthy A local newspaper is like an old pal, stopping by every day to fill us in on the news in our community and what's going on in the neighborhood. But what happens if we can't read our local newspaper anymore? In Los Angeles, more than 140,000 people have visual impairments that make it impossible for them to read a newspaper. To them, this newspaper is just a piece of paper with no words, no meanings, no information to keep them in touch. The Braille Institute and Recording for the Blind and Dyslexic produce some wonderful reading texts and library books, but neither can respond fast enough to keep the visually impaired in touch with the world on a daily basis. Listening to radio and TV news fills in some of the void, but they can't touch a local newspaper for depth and breadth of what's going on in their community. Tell them who was born, got married or died yesterday. What the price of a quart of milk is this week, or what Garfield is up to today. No, there's no alternative to the daily newspaper if you want to find out what's happening outside your front door when you can't see anymore. Which is why Jolie Mason and her small band of volunteers are some of the most important people in this city. For the last 10 years, this remarkable woman -- who is visually impaired herself and gets around with the help of a guide dog -- has been delivering the morning newspaper to the city's sight-impaired population. With the help of some dedicated, sighted volunteers, she started the Los Angeles Radio Reading Service out of her San Fernando Valley home. Its slogan is: "Heard any good newspapers lately?" Every morning, volunteers, like retired dentist Max Flehinger, read the Daily News front page, local columns, editorial page, comics, food ads and individual sections to the visually impaired who have a special radio that picks up the subcarrier signal on KCSN-FM (88.5). "We're trying to give our listeners the things in a newspaper, like your column, the comics, and food ads, they can't get anywhere else," Flehinger said. "We want to give them back the feel for the newspaper they can't read anymore." Jolie's been moving her newspaper-reading service around the Valley the past 10 years to anyplace that offers her volunteers free room for a desk, a couple of chairs, and some audio equipment. The dream has always been to find a permanent home. And thanks to some generous, dedicated people in this Valley, the dream is within reach. Next week, the Los Angeles Reading Service will move into its new offices behind the See's Candy store in the Northridge Fashion Center. The mall management made the space available for free, and people like Chatsworth general contractor Doug Fidler and Boy Scout Adam Silver, working on his Eagle Scout project, donated their time and sweat for more than a year to turn an empty room into a recording studio. "Having the extra space and equipment to expand is going to allow us to reach even more visually impaired people in this city," said Jolie, who returned from an East Coast visit recently to pick up her new guide dog, Ella. But there's one drawback to getting the studio up and running next week. Jolie and her volunteers learned recently the reading service would have to pay $6,100 for the electrical connection from the mall's main power source to their unit. They don't have $6,100. Nelkane Benton, director of the community relations department for radio station KLOS and TV station KABC -- which helps support the reading service -- said the two stations will pay half the electrical hook up cost. "Jolie and her reading service remind me of the story of the little engine that could," Benton said Friday. "This is the little radio station that needs to be." A nonprofit organization called Community Partners, which is an umbrella agency for small charities, has taken the Los Angeles Reading Service under its wing and is handling all donations to help the reading service get up and running at its new location. For more information, call Janet Elliott at Community Partners, (213) 439-9640 (via Christine Rogers, Blind News mailing list via Paul David, UK, DXLD) ** U S A. AFTER BEING YANKED BY CLEAR CHANNEL, HOWARD STERN PREDICTS HIS BROADCAST DEMISE The Associated Press 3/6/04 1:35 PM NEW YORK (AP) -- Shock jock and self-proclaimed "King of All Media" Howard Stern believes his reign on the radio is coming to an end. "The show is over," he announced Friday morning on his nationally syndicated radio program. "It's over." It's not -- at least not yet. But Stern predicted that a Federal Communications Communication crackdown on indecency on the airwaves will force his salacious show off the dial. "I'm guessing that sometime next week will be my last show on this station," said Stern, adding that he expected the FCC to hit him with a whopping indecency fine. "There's a cultural war going on. The religious right is winning. We're losing." A telephone call to Infinity Broadcasting, which syndicates Stern's show, was not returned Saturday to discuss Stern's comments. On Friday, Stern devoted the first 2 1/2 hours of his show to his anticipated demise, a change of pace from the usual fare of naked women and toilet humor. Clear Channel Communications yanked Stern from stations in San Diego, Pittsburgh, Rochester, N.Y., Louisville, Ky., and Fort Lauderdale and Orlando, Fla. on Feb. 25. The company said the suspension would last until the Stern show met its programming guidelines. "This time they have to fire me," Stern said. "I'm through. I'm a dead man walking." On Thursday, Clear Channel paid a record $755,000 fine levied last month by the FCC for indecent material aired by several of its stations. (via Mike Cooper, DXLD) ** U S A. LEFT ON YOUR DIAL By JOHN MAINELLI March 3, 2004 – EXCLUSIVE, NEW YORK POST http://www.nypost.com/seven/03032004/entertainment/19564.htm The long talked-about liberal talk radio network has finally found an affiliate in New York - WLIB-AM, The Post has learned. Air America, as the network will be known, is also expected to announce that outspoken comedian Janeane Garofalo will join pit-bull humorist Al Franken in its line-up. The left-leaning network is backed mainly by well-heeled Democrats who want a counter-balance to conservative powerhouses like Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity and Michael Savage. The network could be up and running later this month or early April. Backers of the network are eager to get on the air as quickly as possible in order to play a role in the upcoming presidential elections. WLIB (1190 AM) currently mixes Caribbean music with black-targeted talk shows after budget cuts forced it to drop its all-talk format three years ago. Air America and its parent, Progress Media, just moved onto a floor shared by WLIB and sister station WBLS at 3 Park Ave. WLIB, owned in part by former Manhattan Borough President Percy Sutton and run by his son, Pierre, broadcasts a strong signal over New York City, Westchester and a nice chunk of eastern New Jersey. It is not known whether WLIB will be purchased outright or leased. The line-up will pit the new network's talkers directly against the biggest names in radio. Franken is expected to air at noon and go toe- to-toe with Rush Limbaugh, who has a 15 million-listener head start. South Florida liberal Randi Rhodes will follow Franken and be up against Sean Hannity (WABC), Bill O'Reilly and Bob Grant (both on WOR) in New York. She told her West Palm Beach listeners this week that she plans to "bury" Hannity and Grant. Garofalo is the network's choice for 8 to 11 p.m., Post sources say. Robert Kennedy, Jr. will host a weekend slot. The network has also leased time on stations in Los Angeles and Chicago and is negotiating in other big cities (via Don Thornton, DXLD) ** U S A. CATHOLIC HOOSIER HOTSHOTS IN INDIANAPOLIS GET EARLIER LAUNCH THAN EXPECTED FROM FM OWNER Indianapolis, Mar 6 (CRU) --- Inter Mirifica, the Catholic radio group in Indianapolis, got the gift of an earlier launch than expected from Hoosier Broadcasting, owner of WSPM 89.1 FM in Cloverdale, when Hoosier terminated the classical music format on February 24th and turned the station over to Inter Mirifica, the day before Lent. The official launch was to have been last Monday, March 1st. In a press release dated February 24th, found at a newly discovered website, http://www.catholicradioindy.org Bob Teipen, president of Inter- Mirifica, the group responsible for the station said, "After five years of searching, we have been blessed with the opportunity to bring this programming to Indiana." Inter Mirifica has been working long before launch date to inform the archbishop and priests of the Archdiocese of Indianapolis about the station. Shortly before launching, the Vicars Generals were brought to the station for a tour and get-acquainted session. WSPM is the 82nd Catholic radio station on the air. The switch of formats was explained to listeners of WSPM Radio Mozart 89.1 FM at the Radio Mozart website by Hoosier Broadcasting. ``Our format of classical music was dropped due to economic reasons. The costs of equipment, rent, utilities and programming fees runs into several hundreds of thousands of dollars a year. During 2003, Radio Mozart received less than $10,000 in listener donations. We were not able to secure any grant money for 2004. The number and dollar amount of business underwriters of Radio Mozart had dropped substantially.`` In fact, the end of Radio Mozart was the end of the fourth attempt to bring classical music on FM to Indianapolis. In 1950, Butler University`s Jordan College of Music put WAJC on the air with a classical format that lasted until 1993, when it sold the station, operating on the commercial frequency of 104.5 FM, to Susquehanna Broadcasting for millions of dollars. In 1960, a group of scientists and doctors at Eli Pharmaceuticals put WAIV 105.7 FM on the air, which lasted until the 1970`s. In the 1990’s Continental Broadcasting bought WSYW 107.1 FM in suburban Danville and converted the station to classical music, but that did not last a decade. WSPM was the latest effort, and has lasted not more than two or three years. ``Without financial support to operate a classical music format we had to change to another source of income. No one is more disappointed than the staff of Hoosier Broadcasting that our classical music format was not successful in getting the financial support it needed to remain on the air,`` said Hoosier Broadcasting (Mike Dorner, Catholic Radio Update March 8 via DXLD) ** U S A. Still another pirate (well, it's been pretty quiet so...) I headed down to the beaches area yesterday (9 a.m., March 6) and noted a huge open carrier with a bit of 60 cycle cable bleed but stereo on 96.3 Megs. Stumbled upon it from around the 22nd Ave. N. exit on I-275 while scanning and lane weaving at high speed (usual mode of driving). Pieces of it were still there near the Skyway approach. Upon the return home, audio was finally present (seriously overdriven) with mostly nonstop Jamaican dancehall, especially heavy on the Sean Paul. I didn't have the Dfing equipment with me (how foolish -- it's usually in the car anywhere I go, though doubt this late I would have had the energy to try to find it anyway), but it peaked on the Interstate between 31st Ave. S. exit and the I-375 spur. So from there, it's a matter of grid DFing the neighborhoods to the east/west. Slight traces made it as far north as a few blocks south of my house. Gotta be in the 50-75 watt range with this coverage. Visit my "Florida Low Power Radio Stations" at: http://home.earthlink.net/~tocobagadx/flortis.html (Terry L Krueger, Clearwater, Florida, USA, 27.55.83 N, 82.46.08 W, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. 1700, KBGG Des Moines, Iowa, 2/29 0258. Spanish music; EG/SP ID at 0259:52; the SP ID mentioned "25000 wats de potencia" and the slogan "La Ley 1700 AM". Don't know if Spanish all the time now or just part-time. The power, of course, is only 10,000 watts day, 1000 nite (John Wilkins, Wheat Ridge, Colorado. Drake R-8, 100-foot RW, Cumbre DX via DXLD) ** URUGUAY. 9620.64, 29.2, 2130, SODRE, Montevideo. Finally with reportable strength! A nice piano concert was followed by announcements in a "cosy tempo". Then followed by Ravel´s "Bolero"! Announcements with a "harp-signal" 2155, but nothing on the hour. Instead a violin concert until 2220. Let's see if this is enough for a report. A dream station for me since the early 80-ies ... Q2 HR (Hans Ostnell, Sweden, SW Bulletin March 7, translated by editor Thomas Nilsson for DX Listening Digest) ** URUGUAY. Los funcionarios del SODRE están en conflicto porque no cobran sus salarios. Están manifestando a través de unos bloques de 15 minutos por hora en las emisiones de la TV y de las 3 emisoras de AM y la de FM, donde se explica los motivos del conflicto. Pero hay otras distorsiones en la programación y esto se debe a que algunos funcionarios, como los operadores no llegan a tiempo porque no tienen dinero para pagarse la locomoción para llegar a la radio!!! Increíble. Esperamos que se solucione pronto este conflicto por el bien de nuestra radiotelefonía (Victor Castaño, Uruguay, Conexión Digital March 6 via DXLD) ** URUGUAY. 6155, R. Universo, Castillos, is still a future plan, but ongoing. On holidays, I accidentally met the station owner (Juan Brañas) one day while shopping at the Brazilian side of the city of Chuy, (Brazil/Uruguay border). He said to me that they occasionally had been testing with 17 watts. I never heard them. They are finishing the process of moving all transmitter plant to a village near Castillos, named Chafalote with the goal of getting better MW coverage of the city and the department. I knew that from my visit on last Feb 2003. They expect firing on SW on mid March 2004. CWA155 R. Banda Oriental in Sarandí del Yi seems inactive on 6155, but the project of Universo is a separate venture (Horacio Nigro, Uruguay, Mar 7, DSWCI DX Window via DXLD) UNIDENTIFIED. Glenn: Here is one I can't figure out. While tuning thru the tropical bands I heard a man speaking in Spanish on top of CHU at 3330 (on 03-7-04 just before 1000Z.) Here's what I did to try to isolate it from CHU: 1. Turned on automatic tone notch, which removed most of the steady CHU tones, making the Spanish talking more perceptible. 2. Switched to SSB. Strangely, on LSB the Spanish voice disappeared -- along, of course, with CHU's time pips. I would have assumed, naturally, that this Spanish talking was being transmitted by CHU too; but at the top-of-minute time checks, the normal CHU English announcer talked *right over* the Spanish voice, which did not cease. 3. Switched antennas. I found that with my N-S dipole the signal of the Spanish voice was hugely attenuated (the dipole was well off resonance so the pattern of pickup is not exactly predictable) while CHU pips were clearly audible. Then I switched to the random wire: both heard very well. Finally I switched to the fence antenna, which is a 107m dipole that is oriented NE-SW. The Spanish language talking *completely disappeared* while CHU was clear as a bell and unattenuated. Therefore I am concluding that the Spanish signal is NOT in CHU's transmission. As I listened, despite not being able to understand the talking, I perceived repetitive patterns of words and phrases, as if repetitive prayers. I checked the Mohrmann list and found Ondas del Huallaga, Huánuco, Perú; but it was reported on 4 Feb to be centered at 3329.57. I tried to tune around to get the best pitch of both signals, and they concurred at 3330. At 3329.57 the Spanish voice was way off pitch. ILGRadio database indicates that Huallaga is transmitting in AM mode, not SSB. I also checked to make sure this was not a harmonic or crossmod from my two local Spanish language stations in San José. Finally I checked the YLE tropical band log. Nothing specified on 3330; closest was R. Cultural at 3300, which -- according to ILG -- was on the air and // at 5955: but nothing heard on either frequency. I listened for more than fifteen minutes and began to suspect that my first assumption that the voice as in Spanish was wrong; it might be in a vernacular, or a local variant of Portuguese (if there are any.) I do not have a good enough ear for those languages to tell with so much of a jumble. I did make a tape and can play it back later looking for clear spots. It seemed to me that by 1015 there was more of a variation in the wording of the Spanish (?) and that it was less repetitious. At this point I gave up. Any ideas? P. S. Just as I was going to tune off and send this email, I did hear the word "espíritu". (Steve Waldee, CA, March 7, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Could be harmonic from some LA station on 1110. But I would not rule out Huallaga, which varies both sides of 3330, per PWBR ``2004``. Hope you can get an ID (Glenn, DXLD) UNIDENTIFIED. 4740.1, 1349-1400* 3/7. SE Asian vocal music; M announcer at 1359, too weak to determine language; off at 1400*. Somebody else reported hearing this a few days ago (John Wilkins, Wheat Ridge, Colorado. Drake R-8, 100-foot RW, Cumbre DX via DXLD) 4740.1, UNID, 1220, Feb 24, repetitive chanting, 1230 into Vernacular, poor/weak signal. Could not tell much about the type of language. (Ron Howard, CA, DSWCI DX Window via DXLD) Could it be Son La, Vietnam? Heard in Finland 1300-1401*, Mar 04, music and closing ann sounded like Vietnamese (Mauno Ritola, Finland, ibid.) Schulze, Philippines, heard Son La on 4741.3 until 1359* on Feb 7 according to DX-Window no. 240 (DSWCI Ed., ibid.) UNIDENTIFIED. 6 March, 5014.42, seemingly Peru, Ecuador station with garbled IDs, "flauta andina", OM with "radio ..." (Bob Wilkner, R-75, Pompano Beach, Florida, DX LISTENING DIGEST) UNIDENTIFIED. Hallo Glenn, during this week I've heard every night signing on at 2230 UT an unidentified religious station on 7340 kHz. Broadcasts are in English directed to "the Iraqi people" as they say. No Interval Signal or announcement at the beginning od during the broadcast I followed till 2316 (but the program continued until ?); fair signal on Monday and Tuesday, then really strong here in Italy. Any idea? No trace on the last up-to.dated ILG list of Febr. 1st. VoR is on the same frequency (new) with World Sce in English between 2000 and 2200, bur then they switch off the transmitter. Thank you very much for the help (Alessandro Groppazzi, Trieste, Italy, SWL and DXer until 1980, RX Kenwood R5000, ANT RF System DX One Pro, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Alessandro, Sounds like the same thing others have reported in the 0030-0330 period on 6025, which has been identified as Bible Voice Broadcasting Network, probably via Germany (Glenn to Alessandro, via DXLD) Glenn, I thought the same after reading your DXLD 4-041. At the moment (2251 UT March 6) they are regularly on the air on 7340, but today signal is fair (Alessandro Groppazzi, ibid.) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ PUBLICATIONS ++++++++++++ TVRADIO WORLD Shortwave Website http://www.tvradioworld.com/directory/shortwave_radio/ Mr. Hauser, have you seen this website before? If not I am surprised some SWL from British Columbia did not tell you about it. Take care, (Bruce MacGibbon, Gresham, OR, March 5, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Certainly a spotty and incomplete listing; for example, under South America, only five countries have entries, but some excellent links such as this for PERU: http://www.hard-core-dx.com/nordicdx/andes/peru/index.html I was about to look up R. México International`s website, anyway, so used the link here, see above (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) BLACK PROPAGANDA Glenn, I should like to comment on Mike Barraclough's piece about German black propaganda [4-041]. West's book "Truth Betrayed" is indeed interesting but, unfortunately, it is unreliable in some respects. For example, West reports that the British press were banned from mentioning German clandestine stations such as the New British Broadcasting Station (NBBS) and that this ban was lifted only once. This is entirely erroneous, as anyone visiting the British National Newspaper Library will quickly find out. West also states, as Mike points out, that, the British jammed the NBBS. This has not been verified. West's source for the claim is that BBC monitors reported such jamming on a number of occasions. However the people doing the monitoring in those early days were recruited because of their ability to listen and summarize, and not because they had any interest in, or knowledge of, radio. It is unlikely, I would suggest, that they would have been able to distinguish between jamming and other forms of QRM. Indeed, I suspect that few people in early 1940 had even heard of jamming. However, the NBBS did indeed claim on a few occasions that it was being jammed, but this was probably just part of its propaganda. If the British had indeed jammed such broadcasts one would expect to be able to find documentary evidence for such a practice in the National Archives. I have found no such evidence, despite having spent many hours doing research there during the past year or so, although I have established that the British made a few efforts to jam some of the broadcasts beamed to their colonies. Unless such documentary evidence is found, I would suggest that we cannot say definitively that the British jammed Germany's black clandestines beamed to the UK (Roger Tidy, UK, March 7, DX LISTENING DIGEST) VOCES DE AMERICA LATINA Quito 7/Mar/2004 17:22. Amigos DXistas! You are welcome to visit http://www.malm-ecuador.com and listen to "Latest Recordings". All recordings are compressed from around 800 kb down to less than 200 kb (most cases) so you will have no problem listening or downloading the files (Björn Malm, Ecuador, DX LISTENING DIGEST) BM is uploading more and more files, many of them MW stations in Ecuador and neighboring countries (gh, DXL)D POWERLINE COMMUNICATIONS ++++++++++++++++++++++++ 3 FILINGS URGE LONGER BPL COMMENT PERIOD http://www.eham.net/articles/7820 3 different filings in February -- 2 with the FCC, and 1 with key Congressional legislators -- have urged an extension of the comment period for the FCC's proposed rule on Broadband Over Powerlines (BPL). All 3 filings stress the need to allow enough time for review and evaluation, by the FCC and commenting parties, of 2 pending technical studies of BPL interference. The studies, which are scheduled for completion this spring, are being conducted by the NATIONAL TELECOMMUNICATIONS AND INFORMATION (NTIA) and an independent consulting firm, under contract to ARRL. The proposed rule on BPL was issued, in FCC Docket 04-37, on FEBRUARY 12. The Written Comments deadline has been set as: (A) the date on which the proposed rule is published in The Federal Register; PLUS (B) 45 days. As a practical matter, this formula will probably yield a date in late April. On FEBRUARY 17, a letter requesting more time was filed with the FCC by NATIONAL ANTENNA CONSORTIUM (NAC) and THE AMHERST ALLIANCE. The NAC/Amherst letter, filed in both 04-37 (the BPL proposed rule Docket) and 03-104 (the BPL Notice Of Inquiry Docket), urges the FCC to set a new Written Comments deadline: (A) the first date on which both of the pending technical studies have been released to the public; PLUS (B) 2 months (60 days). As a practical matter, this formula will probably move the Written Comments deadline from April to June – and the Reply Comments deadline from May to July. On FEBRUARY 24, a separate Motion For Extension Of Time was filed by NICK LEGGETT N3NL of Virginia. The Leggett Motion urges the FCC to add 6 months (180 days) to the otherwise applicable comment period. As a practical matter, this formula will probably move the Written Comments deadline from April to October -- and the Reply Comments deadline from May to November. On FEBRUARY 29, 20 parties sent a letter to key Congressional legislators, urging them to urge the 5 FCC Commissioners to grant the NAC/Amherst deadline extension request of February 17. Heading the list of signatories were NAC, Amherst, the NORTH AMERICAN SHORTWAVE ASSOCIATION (NASWA), CQ AMATEUR RADIO MAGAZINE and CQ COMMUNICATIONS. The total list of 20 signatories includes several frequent visitors to http://www.eham.net INSTITUTIONS: NATIONAL ANTENNA CONSORTIUM, per Don Schellhardt (CT) THE AMHERST ALLIANCE, per Melissa Lear (NY) NORTH AMERICAN SHORTWAVE ASSOCIATION (NASWA), per Richard D'Angelo (PA) CQ AMATEUR RADIO MAGAZINE, per Richard Moseson W2VU (NY) CQ COMMUNICATIONS, per Richard Ross K2MGA (NY) PROVIDENCE COMMUNITY RADIO, per Wesle AnneMarie Dymoke (RI) MICHIGAN MUSIC IS WORLD CLASS! CAMPAIGN, per Tom Ness (MI) JAMRAG MAGAZINE, per Susan Ness (MI) GREEN PARTY OF MICHIGAN, per Marc Reichardt (MI) TUNE TRACKER SYSTEMS, per Dane Scott Udenberg (WI) WILW RADIO, per William C. Walker (KS) INDIVIDUALS: Reverend Robert P. Chrysafis KC8GPD (NJ) W. Lee McVey, P.E. WE6M (FL) Paul W. Smith, P.E. W4KNX (FL) Kenneth A. Larrison W4KEN (FL) Paul B. Walker, Jr., On Air Talent (MS) Richard Lea (LA) John J. Stewart AA5KV (LA) Robert Atkinson K5UJ (IL) Brad Johnson, C.E. KO6KL (CA) 73's, CALLSIGNPENDING aka Don Schellhardt NAC URL: http://www.antenna-consortium.org Amherst URL: http://www.amherstalliance.org There are no comments on this article: Post One (via Dave Hammer, MVDXC, DXLD) THE BPL FIGHT: THE 11 METER CB ANGLE Over the past several months we have been hearing about the potential interference to Amateur Radio that`s expected if the FCC proceeds with the rollout of Broadband over Powerline Internet access. But ham radio is not the only service in the 2 through 80 MHz spectrum where BPL will operate. Shortwave broadcasters are concerned that their audiences will disappear if they cannot be heard over BPL generated noise. Also, a number of emergency communications networks have told the FCC that their vital communications will negatively impacted as well. The one service that nobody has talked about is 11 meter Class D CB radio. An unlicensed service at 27 MHz with millions of radios crammed into 40 overcrowded channels with many operators running far more power than legally allowed. This week, Amateur Radio Newsline`s Mark Abramowicz, NT3V, looks at CB, BPL and the collision between the two that may not be to far away. If those who want to bring us Broadband Over Powerline thought amateur radio operators were going to be a nuisance to their plans, they may have an even bigger headache on the horizon. Citizens Band radio operators could prove to be the biggest threat to BPL. The FCC defines CB as a private radio service that doesn`t require users to have a license. It hasn`t for years. The FCC pretty much gave up regulating the spectrum. It asks users to enjoy their radios but to stay within the five-watt power limit of most of the radios. But since the FCC gave up trying to keep track of those operating on 27 MHz, problems have mushroomed. A class of CB operator has emerged who likes to use high-power amplifiers to talk with people several states away. How powerful? If you check out some of the CB websites, you`ll find amplifiers being sold that push the envelope well beyond the legal limit - say 500 watts, 1000 watts, even 5000 watts and higher. Many contemporary electronic appliances, because of poor RF shielding, are susceptible to interference caused by overmodulated CB signals. The FCC could find itself in a real quandary if the BPL industry demands help in going after those who push the limit and disrupt their systems. Imagine the complaints. Because the FCC can`t go to a database to help it find abusers or offenders, it`s going to be a difficult --- if not impossible --- task to track these illegal operators. Will the industry end up funding the FCC`s enforcement effort? That would be unprecedented. Let`s be clear: Not all CB operators are outlaws. Many use their 11 meter radios for personal communications on trips, on hikes, on fishing expeditions. And, yes, the truckers are still big users of the spectrum. But if you search the worldwide web, you will find CB sites with postings from folks who boast of their radio exploits and their amplifiers and contests. The websites, of course, take no responsibility for the information or material posted in forums or message boards. They describe them as strictly for entertainment or educational purposes. Some education the BPL industry is sure to get; perhaps a crash --- or will that be clash --- course in CB radio. For now, we`ll have to watch and wait. CBers say they`re watching, too. And some of them are vowing no one will stop them from operating as they please. Stay tuned. For the Amateur Radio Newsline, I`m Mark Abramowicz, NT3V, in Philadelphia To get an idea as to the power that some of the highly illegal competition grade CB stations run, take your web browser to http://www.bigradios.com and follow the numerous links from there (ARNewsline March 5 via John Norfolk, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Follow-up to the Cincinnati Enquirer BPL story: Friday, March 5, 2004 HAM OPERATORS DREAD POWER-LINE WEB ACCESS By Mike Boyer, The Cincinnati Enquirer Ham radio operator Joe Phillips, of Fairfield, and his fellow members of the American Radio Relay League, worry that Cinergy's high-speed Internet service delivered over power lines will interfere with their radio signals. [caption] The Enquirer/ MICHAEL SNYDER Cinergy Corp.'s launch next week of high-speed Internet service delivered over power lines has ham radio operators fearful of possible radio interference. The utility, which is teaming with Current Communications Group in a joint venture to launch the service in Cincinnati, said amateur radio operators' concerns are unfounded. "There's a lot of misinformation out there," said Alex Pardo of Cinergy, which is teaming with Germantown, Md.-based Current in the rollout of technology known as broadband over power lines. The technology allows subscribers to plug a special computer modem into any electrical outlet and receive data and voice services at speeds equal to or better than competing broadband services. Federal Communications Commission Chairman Michael Powell has championed the technology, saying it could increase availability and lower the cost of broadband. The Newington, Conn.-based American Radio Relay League, a national association of ham radio operators, last July told the FCC the technology "is a Pandora's Box of unprecedented proportions'' citing what it called "severe interference potential from BPL (broadband over power lines)." Current Communications said it would begin deploying the service next week in the Hyde Park-Mount Lookout area. Fairfield ham operator Joe Phillips, Ohio section manager for the ham association, conceded the issue may seem like a "snoozer for everybody" but ham operators. But, he said, ham operators, including about 7,500 in Southwest Ohio, are concerned that interference from increased radio waves along unshielded power lines could interfere with all types of radio transmissions, such as emergency agencies, the National Weather Service and other public and private entities. Said Pardo, "We know some providers of the technology have created interference with amateur radio transmissions, but Current's technology isn't one of them." Jay Birnbaum, vice president and general counsel for Current, said the radio interference emitted from power lines with Current's technology is no more than that from personal computers, DVD players and other electronic devices in homes. "We're talking about emissions that are just a billionth of a watt," he said, that can't be measured within about 30 feet of a power line. Current has adopted the so-called home-plug technical standard, which includes a filtering process called "notching" to eliminate interference. The FCC has said it was aware of concerns about possible interference. "After careful consideration, however, we believe that these interference concerns can be adequately addressed." Ed Thomas, chief of FCC's engineering and technology office, said proposed rules would require the power-line equipment to have the ability to mitigate harmful interference by shifting frequencies. A grassroots group of 710,000 licensees nationally, the ham radio operators have traditionally been vocal about protecting their radio- frequency turf. Thomas noted in an earlier FCC comment period on rules for the new technology that more than 5,000 comments were received, many from individual ham operators around the country. "Everybody's concerned about interference to licensed operators," he said. "But our job is to do what's in the public interest to enable new technology while protecting the rights of ham operators." Ham operators cited comments last year to the FCC from the chief information officer of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, Barry West, who said interference from BPL technology could interrupt FEMA radio systems. But in a Jan. 8 letter, acting FEMA director Michael Brown said the agency had "not concluded that there is a material interference problem." Phillips said operators worry that widespread use of the technology could turn power lines into large antennas emitting interference over wide areas. The FCC disagrees. "In general, we believe that a properly designed and operated BPL system will pose little interference hazard," a spokesman said (via Sean Conly, ODXA via DXLD) ###