DX LISTENING DIGEST 4-083, May 20, 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 1231: Fri 0400 on RFPI, http://www.rfpi.org, repeated 4-hourly thru 1600 Fri 1430 on SIUE WEBRADIO http://www.siue.edu/WEBRADIO Fri 2300 on Studio X, Momigno, Italy 1584 Sat 0800 on WRN1 to Europe, Africa, Asia, Pacific Sat 0855 on WNQM Nashville 1300 Sat 1030 on WWCR 5070 Sat 1830 on WPKN Bridgeport, 89.5, webcast http://www.wpkn.org Sat 2030 on WWCR 12160 Sat 2030 on WBCQ 17495-CUSB [cancelled, or later??] Sat 2100 on DKOS usually, http://www.live365.com/stations/steve_cole Sat 2130 on RFPI, http://www.rfpi.org, repeated 8-hourly thru Mon 1330 Sat 2300 on RFPI, http://www.rfpi.org, repeated 8-hourly thru Mon 1500 Sun 0230 on WWCR 5070 Sun 0300 on WBCQ 9330-CLSB Sun 0630 on WWCR 3210 Sun 1000 on WRN1 to North America, webcast; also KSFC 91.9 Spokane WA, and WDWN 89.1 Auburn NY; maybe KTRU 91.7 Houston TX, each with webcasts Sun 1900 on Studio X, Momigno, Italy 1584 Sun 2000 on RNI webcast, http://www.11L-rni.com Mon 0100 on WBCQ 9330-CLSB Mon 0330 on WSUI 910, webcast http://wsui.uiowa.edu [previous 1230] Mon 0430 on WBCQ 7415, webcast http://wbcq.us Wed 0930 on WWCR 9475 WRN ONDEMAND [from Fri]: http://new.wrn.org/listeners/stations/station.php?StationID=24 OUR ONDEMAND AUDIO [also for CONTINENT OF MEDIA, MUNDO RADIAL]: Check http://www.worldofradio.com/audiomid.html WORLD OF RADIO 1231 (high version): (stream) http://www.w4uvh.net/wor1231h.ram (download) http://www.w4uvh.net/wor1231h.rm (summary) http://www.worldofradio.com/wor1231.html [soon] WORLD OF RADIO 1231 (low version): (stream) http://www.w4uvh.net/wor1231.ram (download) http://www.w4uvh.net/wor1231.rm WORLD OF RADIO 1231 in MP3, the true shortwave sound of 7415: (stream) http://www.piratearchive.com/media/worldofradio_05-19-04.m3u (d`load) http://www.piratearchive.com/media/worldofradio_05-19-04.mp3 DXLD YAHOOGROUP: Why wait for DXLD? A lot more info, not all of it appearing in DXLD later, is posted at our new yg. Here`s where to sign up. http://groups.yahoo.com/group/dxld/ (Glenn Hauser, May 13, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** AFGHANISTAN. USA/AFGHANISTAN. On 8 and 9 May VoA broadcast aired via Kabul on 1296 kHz was well heard in Moscow. The best reception observed at 1800-1930. Special English starts at 1930 (open_dx - Vassily Kuznetsov, Moscow, Russia via Signal via DXLD) ** ANGUILLA. Caribbean Beacon on 6090 --- Full data postcard QSL with written personal thank-you in 105 days. signed by Doris Hussington (I actually listened to this station for a half hour. The longest 30 minutes of my life.) (Jerry Coatsworth, Ont., MARE via DXLD) Dr. Gene is fun when he call other preachers assholes (Ed. Liz Cameron, ibid.) Same question as before (gh) ** ANTARCTICA. 15476.0, LRA36 R. Nacional Arcángel San Gabriel, 1930, May 10, came through quite well with ID at 1928. I noted that the signal was USB + carrier, LSB seemingly missing. Is this a new development? (Harald Kuhl, Göttingen, Germany, May 11, DSWCI DX Window May 19 via DXLD) I think not (gh) ** ARGENTINA. 6214.21, R. Baluarte (presumed), Puerto Iguazú, 0848- 1045, May 16, with weak signal. It was adversely affected by interference from a very large number of utility stations. The station broadcast evangelic program in Portuguese for people living in the border town of Brazil, Foz do Iguaçu. Unfortunately its station ID could not be heard due to poor reception condition (Takayuki Inoue Nozaki, Relámpago DX, Japan, DSWCI DX Window May 19 via DXLD) ** ARGENTINA. Hola Rubén! Si la memória mia funciona, escuché Argentina la primera vez el sábado [May 15] en 6059.95 kHz. La grabación en mi página de web es de lunes. 73 (Björn Malm, Quito, Ecuador, May 19, Conexión Digital via DXLD) La Directora de RAE, Marcela Campos, me ha confirmado la reactivación de RAE a partir de hoy 19 de mayo. Un cordial saludo (Rubén G. Margenet, ibid.) Hola Ruben, 2 reactivaciónes de RAE - una oficial y una "prueba" algún/os días de antemano (cuando yo la capté) 73s (Björn Malm, Quito, Ecuador, ibid.) Lo que has captado, probablemente, es LRA1 Radio Nacional, no RAE, en 6060 Khz. Para aclararte este tema te transcribo la oportuna y amable información facilitada por nuestro amigo Gabriel Iván Barrera de Buenos Aires: "LRA1 SIEMPRE estuvo en el aire y cubriendo las frecuencias de RAE que son las mismas. El robo ocurrió del cableado que era el enlace de RAE con la Planta Transmisora, mientras que LRA1 salió sin problemas porque la conexión que ellos tienen con la Plata es por via aire, y no por via 'cable' como era la de RAE, es allí la gran diferencia". Cordiales saludos! (via Rubén G. Margenet, ibid.) ** AUSTRALIA. John Figliozzi provides a unique service in compiling advance program previews for Radio Australia, not even available from RA itself! These are posted twice weekly in the dxld yahoogroup, the latest being message 475 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** AUSTRALIA. Time for another reminder that RA has failed to come thru with the promised replacement for Feedback, which was cancelled late last year as too popular among the wrong audience demographic (non-Pacificans, non-Asians). ``Early next year``, which May certainly is not, some other show about the media or listener contact was supposed to appear. (Media Report in next item is OK, but it is not a Radio Australia produxion). The recent 60th anniversary of Shepparton got a lot more attention from the local newspaper there than it did on RA itself, if any at all. The person who needs to be politely prodded by increasingly impatient, disappointed listeners is John Westland, Executive Producer of the English service, whose address is probably westland.john@abc.net.au (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** AUSTRALIA. Hi! I was listening to "Media Report" on Radio Australia at 0130 UT (17715 kHz), and they had an interview with one of the directors of HCJB Australia, regarding the application for a new transmitter site and its approval. Interesting stuff, though the reporter couldn't get off the two riffs of "what are you doing to be culturally sensitive to your target regions, where there have been sectarian wars?" and "what if the terrorists decide to attack the transmitter site in order to get rid of the message?" Anyway, according to the Radio Australia schedule, there should be a repeat at 1030 and 1530 UT. There might be some audio here under the show for May 20... http://www.abc.net.au/rn/talks/8.30/mediarpt/default.htm ...but the link is broken at the present time. Good luck! (Michael L. Semon, Lakeland, FL, May 20, DX LISTENING DIGEST) {see 4-084 text} ** AUSTRALIA. CHRISTIAN STATION'S TOWERS APPROVED FOR KUNUNURRA By Holly Nott 19may04 http://www.sundaytimes.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,7034,9604786%255E2761,00.html A CHRISTIAN radio group is a step closer to achieving their goal of broadcasting the gospel to the world from the West Australian outpost of Kununurra. Wyndham-East Kimberley Shire president Barbara Johnson said planning approval for 31 new radio towers to be built just outside Kununurra, in the far north of WA, was granted last night in a 6-3 vote. Melbourne-based company Heralding Christ Jesus' Blessings (HCJB) currently has three shortwave radio transmission towers at Kununurra that broadcast Christian-based programs to 50 million potential listeners in South-East Asia and the Pacific region. However, HCJB's Kununurra manager Mike Moore said the plan had always been to build up to 31 towers to take their message around the world. He said gaining planning approval for the 31 towers had been an "agonising" process that began seven years ago when HCJB first brought land in Kununurra. More than 800 of Kununurra's 5500 residents unsuccessfully petitioned against the original development, with some citing fears of a backlash from Muslim countries in which the Christian programs were broadcast. "(Planning approval) is not the final obstacle but we are certainly pleased that we have finally got there," Mr Moore said today. "But being pleased it has happened doesn't help the agony of the seven years we have just been through. It's been a very long and drawn out process." Mr Moore said it had been difficult negotiating government bureaucracy, community sentiment and other obstacles, such a Native Title. He said the necessary land still had to be acquired from the state government but it had indicated that would occur in the near future. Mrs Johnson said the radio towers had been an emotive issue with some residents worried about the health and aesthetic implications of shortwave radio. "I don't know that Islamic people are going to worry about a few radio towers in a little tiny place in outback Australia," she added. "If people are saying that because they're worried Christian messages will be transmitted into Muslim countries --- well it really is a matter of turning your radio off if you don't like it." Construction of the towers could cost up to $20 million, Mr Moore said. Mrs Johnson said this would provide an economic boost for Kununurra. "We were approving the construction of towers on a piece of land within our shire, so that's where our jurisdiction should have started and finished," Mrs Johnson said (via Artie Bigley, Alokesh Gupta, WORLD OF RADIO 1231, DXLD) ** AUSTRALIA. 11750, HCJB, Kununurra, *0830-0900*, Sat May 1, English, ``DX Party-Line`` which suffers a lot by QRM from a Chinese speaking station. It was much better received when it came directly from Pifo! (Roland Schulze, Mangaldan, Phillipines, DSWCI DX Window May 19 via DXLD) I think the PTB at WRMF have failed to appreciate what a really excellent site they have/had in Ecuador (gh, DXLD) ** AUSTRALIA. Came upon some nice music on 13770, May 20 at 1315, Chinese talk, but at 1320 suddenly into English as the giggly hostess started interviewing Gregg, who is the caretaker/gardener at Voice International HQ (presumably in Buderim, Queensland). He is resident on the one-acre site, making sure everything is secure at night, as there is a lot of expensive equipment in the building. It`s beautifully landscaped with green grass and red flowers. Office space totals about 1000 square meters. Gregg (Shulman?) is a large man with broad shoulders, but gentle, and makes her feel secure due to his presence. He is originally from North Island, New Zealand, but has lived in Australia for 18 years and now has dual citizenship. While the interview was in English, she would translate into Chinese as she went, along with musical breaks. He described the kiwi, even its dimensions in millimeters, as the interviewer seems to be obsessed with statistics; half an hour later they were getting into his testimony; seems he found God about six years ago, and is now very satisfied with his life. Frequency went off about 1357. Very good reception from Darwin (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** BELGIUM [non]. RVI via Krasnodar 15195 heard with tone test 0455 19/5, then a few minutes of their IS until *0500 in Dutch. Very good signal during an opening to Europe that went past midnight local time; several European hams heard working 20 meters at same time. No sign of R. Japan, which was occupying the freq the following night (Chuck Albertson, Seattle, WA, DX LISTENING DITGEST) ** BRAZIL. Radio Municipal de Brasil, escuchada el 20/05, a las 0009 UT, en los 3375.14 kHz. SINPO 3/3. Tenía meses sin captarla (Adán González, Catia La Mar, VENEZUELA, DX LISTENING DIGEST) {i.e. in S. Gabriel da Cachoeira per WRTH 2004} ** BRAZIL. I just received an e-mail from José Joaquim Martins Rodriques (Gerente Administrativo) rbv1300am @ hotmsil.com [sic] informing me that R. Rio Grande do Sul (1300, 6160, 9550 and 11895 kHz) has changed the name to Radio Boa Vontade. I'm sure that this is just another variant of R. Mundial LVB. In any case, their address remains the same as in WRTH 2004 and their phone numbers are 051 3325 7019 and 051 3374 0203. Website is http://www.redeboaventade.com.br (Vaclav Korinek RSA in Dxplorer, May 07 via DSWCI DX Window May 19 via DXLD) ** BRAZIL. 4865 kHz, Radio Verdes Florestas, 0135 UT May 5 with female host of music program. At 2058, some bridge music played, then male announcer gave canned closing including Radio Verdes Florestas ID, frequencies for medium and tropical bands and ended with location as Cruzeiro, Acre, Brazil. Off at 0100 after some piano music. Poor to fair with much QRM from Roraima on 4875 kHz (John Sgrulletta, Mahopac NY, Cumbre DX via DXLD) ** BULGARIA. Radio Bulgaria Programs Published on September 01, 2003 at 9:55 AM BG Updated on March 31, 2004 at 6:08 PM BG Radio Bulgaria Programme guide from http://www.bnr.bg/RadioBulgaria/Emission_English/scheme.htm Programmes in English UTC kHz local time 02:00** 9700 11700 Washington 22:00 06:30* 11600 13600 London 07:30 11:30* 11700 15700 London 12:30 17:30* 9500 11500 London 18:30 21:00** 5800 7500 London 22:00 23:00** 9700 11700 Washington 19:00 *half-hour broadcast **one hour broadcast Monday 02:00** News; Views behind the news; Folk studio; (Keyword Bulgaria); Walks and talks; (Folk studio) 06:30* News; Answering your letters; (Time out for music) 11:30* News; Answering your letters; (Time out for music) 17:30* News; Events and developments; Sports 21:00** News; Events and developments; Sports Keyword Bulgaria; Time out for music 23:00** News; Events and developments; Sports; Keyword Bulgaria; Time out for music Tuesday 02:00** News; Events and developments; Sports; Keyword Bulgaria; Time out for music 06:30* News; Folk studio; (Walks and Talks) 11:30* News; Folk studio; (Walks and Talks) 17:30* News; Events and developments 21:00** News; Events and developments; Magazine economy; Keyword Bulgaria; Time out for music 23:00** News; Events and developments; Magazine economy; Keyword Bulgaria; Time out for music Wednesday 02:00** News; Events and developments; Magazine economy; Keyword Bulgaria; Time out for music 06:30* News; Keyword Bulgaria; (Time out for music) 11:30* News; Keyword Bulgaria; (Time out for music) 17:30* News; Events and developments 21:00** News; Events and developments; The way we live; Keyword Bulgaria; Time out for music 23:00** News; Events and developments; The way we live; Keyword Bulgaria; Time out for music Thursday 02:00** News; Events and developments; The way we live; Keyword Bulgaria; Time out for music 06:30* News; Keyword Bulgaria; (Time out for music) 11:30* News; Keyword Bulgaria; (Time out for music) 17:30* News; Events and developments 21:00** News; Events and developments; History club; Keyword Bulgaria; Time out for music 23:00** News; Events and developments; History club; Keyword Bulgaria; Time out for music Friday 02:00** News; Events and developments; History club; Keyword Bulgaria; Time out for music 06:30* News; Keyword Bulgaria; (Time out for music) 11:30* News; Keyword Bulgaria; (Time out for music) 17:30* News; Events and developments 21:00** News; Events and developments; Keyword Bulgaria; DX programme; Time out for music 23:00** News; Events and developments; Keyword Bulgaria; DX programme; Time out for music Saturday 02:00** News; Events and developments; Keyword Bulgaria; DX programme; Time out for music 06:30* News; (News briefs); Keyword Bulgaria; (Time out for music) 11:30* News; (News briefs); Keyword Bulgaria; (Time out for music) 17:30* News; Views behind the news 21:00** News; Views behind the news; Keyword Bulgaria; Answering your letters; (Time out for music) 23:00** News; Views behind the news; Keyword Bulgaria; Answering your letters; (Time out for music) Sunday 02:00** News; Views behind the news; Keyword Bulgaria; Answering your letters; (Time out for music) 06:30* News; (News briefs); Keyword Bulgaria; (Time out for music) 11:30* News; (News briefs); DX programme; Time out for music 17:30* News; Views behind the news 21:00** News; Views behind the news; Folk studio; (Keyword Bulgaria); Walks and talks; (Folk studio) 23:00** News; Views behind the news; Folk studio; (Keyword Bulgaria); Walks and talks; (Folk studio) [unknown why some programs are in parentheses ()] DX Programme: Radio Bulgaria`s weekly DX programme for radio amateurs and short-wave fans and DXers, compiled by our DX editor Dimitar Petrov, LZ1AF and Rumen Pankov, assistant-editor in charge of broadcast tips is included in our one-hour broadcasts starting as follows: Friday at 21.00 UTC on 5800 and 7500 kHz beamed to West Europe, at 23.00 UTC and on Saturday at 02.00 UTC on 9700 and 11700 kHz to North America, as well as in the half-hour broadcasts on Sunday at 06.30 UTC on 11600 and 13600 kHz and at 11.30 UTC on 11700 and 15700 kHz to West Europe. Answering Your Letters: Answering Your Letters is a programme, extremely popular with Radio Bulgaria`s listeners the world over. In it, we, the staff of the English service answer listeners' questions, and are always open to all comments and suggestions regarding our broadcasts (via John Norfolk, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CANADA. CKEN 1490 Kentville NS going permanently off the air, replaced by FM -- Broadcasting Decision CRTC 2004-151 Ottawa, 19 April 2004 Maritime Broadcasting System Limited - Kentville, Nova Scotia Revocation of licence 1. In CKEN Kentville -- Conversion to FM band, Broadcasting Decision CRTC 2002-165, 2 July 2002, the Commission approved an application by Maritime Broadcasting System Limited for a broadcasting licence to operate an FM radio programming undertaking at Kentville to replace its AM station CKEN. The new FM station is now in operation. 2. Maritime Broadcasting System Limited has now requested the revocation of its licence for the radio programming undertaking CKEN Kentville. 3. Given the licensee`s request, the Commission revokes, pursuant to sections 9(1)(e) and 24(1) of the Broadcasting Act, the broadcasting licence issued to Maritime Broadcasting System Limited for CKEN Kentville (via Saul Chernos, Ont., May 16, NRC-AM via DXLD) ** CANADA. CKSA LLOYDMINSTER AB GOING PERMANENTLY OFF THE AIR, REPLACED BY FM [That doesn't leave too many AM stations in AB, does it! -- s.c.] Broadcasting Decision CRTC 2004-149 Ottawa, 19 April 2004 Sask-Alta Broadcasters Limited - Lloydminster, Alberta Revocation of licence 1. In CKSA Lloydminster -- Conversion to FM band, Broadcasting Decision CRTC 2002-461, 18 December 2002, the Commission approved an application by Sask-Alta Broadcasters Limited for a broadcasting licence to operate an FM radio programming undertaking at Lloydminster to replace its AM station CKSA. The new FM station is now in operation. [AM was 1080, 50/10 kW] 2. Sask-Alta Broadcasters Limited has now requested the revocation of its licence for the radio programming undertaking CKSA Lloydminster. 3. Given the licensee`s request, the Commission revokes, pursuant to sections 9(1)(e) and 24(1) of the Broadcasting Act, the broadcasting licence issued to Sask-Alta Broadcasters Limited for CKSA Lloydminster (via Saul Chernos, May 16, NRC-AM via DXLD) Here are a couple of swell (as Ernie Cooper might have said) sites about departed Canadian AMers: http://canam.cjb.net/ http://www.geocities.com/xkit/canamg.htm (Steve Francis, Alcoa, Tennessee, ibid.) And as Ernie would have said: "As they say in Marianna Florida, WTYS: We Thank You Sir." (Chuck Hutton, WA, ibid.) Is Lloydminster in AB or SK? On a map it looks like the provincial boundary is the main north-south street (Highway 17) running through the centre of the town. If that's the case you could gain or lose an hour just crossing the street, as the Saskatchewan side does not switch to daylight saving time! 73 (Mike Brooker, Toronto, ON, ibid.) Both. I've been there (spent the night about 2 km inside AB). IIRC there's a line of poles down the median of the street, demarcating the provincial boundary. Also IIRC there's only one municipal government. I think the CRTC just arbitrarily assigned Lloydminster to Alberta since their databases and forms assume each station is in only one province! -- (Doug Smith W9WI, Pleasant View (Nashville), TN EM66, http://www.w9wi.com ibid.) The majority of it is in AB, smells like oil there; it`s an oil town! (N7SOK, ibid.) ** CANADA. Hello all. Can anyone help Jan out with some suggestions on what he might do? Thanks, (Brian Smith, CHWO - AM 740 QSL Manager, NRC-AM via DXLD) ----------------------------- Dear Mr Smith, I just read about the upcoming 30th anniversary of the Ontario DX Association (in DXLD), where I found your name and email-address. I thought of the possibility of getting your assistance... My problem is that I have a report of reception of one of your sister stations in Calgary (CFFR). I've sent them a letter, hoping to get some kind of verification, but without success. Then I've in vain tried to get an email-address to try that way. Do you perhaps know where to send this report of reception of CFFR to get some kind of QSL? Best regards, Jan Edh, Hudiksvall, Sweden (via Brian Smith, NRC-AM) No success here either after two attempts. A non-verifier? (Bruce Conti - Nashua NH, http://members.aol.com/baconti/bamlog.htm ibid.) I read with interest about Jan Edh of Hudiksvall, Sweden request in trying to get a QSL reply for 66 CFFR in Calgary. Well, he may be waiting for some time in trying to get a reply. Apparently, the staff is not all that keen about reports and if any are forwarded to the C.E. for verification. His time is limited so it could be somewhat a dubious task in getting a verification. I know I tried for a verification for a logging outside of Alberta. The only other option is to visit the station itself and drop off the report. Another station is CKMX, 1060/6030 which is reluctant to verify reports. I even tried, after conversations with the station manager/ director, of being their QSL verifier, but they declined my offer. Apparently, they have the situation under control (what that means?) Apparently, prior to my conversation with the Director of Operations, the receptionist mentioned (to me) that they had quite a few overseas letters coming in and wonder what she should do with them (huh!). I told her about reception reports and that the letters were requests for verification replies. I still think she had no idea what I was talking about. That's it in a nutshell for the situation with stations in Calgary. Thank you to Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST and Bob Chandler, VE3SRE for their assistance's with New York Aero Radio. The information they provided has been passed along to the person who requested it (Edward Kusalik, VE6EFK, DX'er since 1965, ODXA via DXLD) ** CUBA. RHC jams itself, a little bit --- In my website article on the audio anomalies heard at various times on Radio Habana Cuba broadcasts, I quoted a friend of mine who made a little joke in an email he sent me on May 7th, in response to my post of an example of horrible audio distortion on RHC's 9820 transmission: he said, in part, "...the Cubans have now become so adept at jamming, as witnessed by what they are doing to R & TV Martí, and have done for the Iranians with their satellite jammer, that surely THEY ARE PRE-JAMMING THEIR OWN RHC BROADCASTS TO THE UNITED STATES!" This was, of course, intended as a joke; but things have a way of coming true. Tonight, I tuned across the upper end of the 31M band while looking for signals to log, as I checked each frequency against the ILG Radio database. I noticed that ILG are now listing the specific frequencies for "Cuban jammers", at the same time and frequencies that R. Martí signals are on the air. It has been noted in the past that sometimes these Cuban jammers stay on the air after the frequencies have been vacated by the "dangerous propaganda" (as they would allege) of Martí, from Florida. So, apparently, ILG felt that they would differentiate the jamming signals from the Martí signals, since -- depending on where one was located in the world -- the two overlapping signals would somewhat differ in strength and discernibility (if you can "discern" in any real way that horrible bubble noise being emitted from Cuba, fueled -- one assumes -- from an almost endless supply of sugar cane, denied to the Cuban populace in a useful form.) Well, as it turned out, R. Martí was on the air at the frequency of 9805, and the Cuban jammer was happily "bubbling away" at the same wavelength, to drown it out. But I noticed that the bubbler was wetting down a nice swatch of bandwidth, from about 9793 all the way up to 9815: in other words, right on top of the higher audio frequencies of the lower sideband of Radio Habana Cuba itself, on 9820! So: no joke; the Cuban bubbler was intersecting with RHC's own English transmission to the USA. As Lawrence Welk might have said, while conducting a bouncy mambo: "Turn Off-a Dah Bubble Machine!" The following thought just occurred to me, while listening to Arnie Coro's DX'ers Unlimited (but not unclipped) show: After BPL is established here in the USA, making RHC's signal sound like a QRP transmitter from Pluto, will Cuba announce to radio listeners in search of faint signals, free of the terrible digital interference from the BPL carriers all across the HF bands, that they should *move to Cuba* to resume their hobby? Imagine the travel brochures: "The island paradise of low-QRM shortwave, Cubissimo Libre: Free Territory, the Americas!" Of course, the requirement for unfettered tuning would likely be (a) turning over all Drake, Icom, Yaesu, Sony, and non-tube late model radios to Arnie Coro (who needs them for "research"); (b) membership and activism in the Cuban communist party; and (c) a blood-oath of undying loyalty to Fidel who, according to his doctor, will live to be 140. See http://www.smh.com.au/text/articles/2004/05/18/1084783511071.html which would mean, of course, at least 63 more years of bubble-jamming to protect the delicate, easily offended ears of the Cuban public. (Steve Waldee, CA, May 19, http://home.earthlink.net/~srw-swling/ dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) I think it`s no accident that many R. Martí frequencies are close to RHC frequencies, which usually predate Martí. Without embargo, the Cuban jammers usually avoid interfering with RHC (Glenn Hauser, DXLD) ** DENMARK. Just tuned into WMR on 5815 at 2105 and it's LOUD! 59+20 peaking to +40dB here. Some QSB at the moment as it is just on twilight here so this is to be expected as propagation moves into night time mode. Heard sung "WMR World Music Radio" ID/Jingle and now playing "Hotel California" by the Eagles - if this is the quality of music that is to be expected, I have a feeling that WMR will find a space in my radio's memory! Good job Stig. Icom IC-756+Miller Vertical at 12m high + H/B Active ATU (Sean D. Gilbert, International Editor - World Radio TV Handbook, May 18, bclnews.it via DXLD) Hola a todos, cuando está amaneciendo en el noroeste de España estoy escuchando las emisiones de prueba de World Music Radio en 5815 con muy buena señal. Antes la había escuchado en 15810 con señal más bien débil, pero es la primera vez que los sintonizo en 5815. Están poniendo buena música inglesa y la señal es 45444, aunque a veces se desvanece algo y me imagino que a medida que se va haciendo de día se irá debilitando cada vez más. En estos momentos, además de escuchar la radio y escribir esto, estoy viendo un magnífico amanecer sobre mi ciudad, cuando son las 0517 UTC y el sol sale tras unas pequeñas montañas. Ya he enviado informe de recepción a esta emisora, sobre sus transmisiones en 15810, y acabo de recibir una Newsletter (Manuel Méndez, Spain, May 19, noticias dx via DXLD) World Music Radio out of Denmark is conducting test on a new Shortwave Transmitter. On the frequency of 5815 at 0100 UT with a fairly strong signal into Florida (Bruce Williams, Valrico, FL, May 18, swl at qth.net via WORLD OF RADIO 1231, DXLD) 5815, World Music Radio, May 18 2356-0111, Pop songs by Elton John, Talking Heads, occasional R&B and reggae songs. World Music Radio jingle ID's every 15 minutes or so. SINPO eventually improved to 34232. Signal strength was adequate, S7-S8 levels. Only summer-like thunderstorm QRN spoiled the reception; this should be much more enjoyable on a quieter evening (George Maroti, NY, Cumbredx mailing list via WORLD OF RADIO 1231, DXLD) At 0314 UT, I'm hearing what I think is World Music Radio on 5815 with a female pop vocal. Lots of static, some of which is local due to thunderstorms in the area. Signal meter is showing a pretty steady S7- S9 signal, but it doesn't sound that way through the speaker. I can definitely make out pop music and whether a male or female is singing, but I'm not getting enough to decipher the tune. Rate it SINPO-35242 at this time. I'll check again later (John Figliozzi, Halfmoon, NY USA (near Albany, 250 km north of NYC), Drake R8A, Alpha Delta DX Sloper, UT May 19, HCDX, via WORLD OF RADIO 1231, DXLD) Dear Dario, Just received PlayDX 1242 this morning --- and thanks very much for mentioning WMR --- but where do you have the times ``1300- 1800`` and ``0600-1300`` from?? This is not true. We are testing continuously 24 hours a day --- but not always of course because it is TEST transmissions, so the transmitters may be switched off every now and then or the music may be interrupted – and there is nothing like fixed broadcasting hours as you suggest. Both transmitters are meant to be on the air 24 hrs a day. Best 73s (Stig Hartvig Nielsen, WMR, May 19, to Dario Monferini, cc to WORLD OF RADIO 1231, DXLD) 15810, 0531, WMR. No useable signal tonight, but a strong carrier lasting much longer than last night. There might be a hint of audio, but it's at threshold at the moment. My commercial Eavesdropper antenna oriented east-west is the only antenna picking anything up. Last night they were audible with music for about 7 minutes from 0421 (Walt Salmaniw, Victoria, BC, May 19, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 5815, 20/05 0256-0400, World Music Radio, Karup, música pop variada com salsa às 0256 e o grupo Journey às 0400, varias identificações através da vinheta "WMR World Music Radio", 35333 (SCM) 73 (Samuel Cássio Martins, São Carlos SP, Brasil, Sony 7600GR, longwire 25 metros, Conexión Digital via DXLD) 5815.00, WMR World Music Radio, 68 kb 0350 UTC 05/2004. Recordings and more comments at: http://www.malm-ecuador.com 20/May/2004 17:09 Saludos Cordiales desde "La Mitad del Mundo"! (Björn Malm, Quito, Ecuador, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Hola Glenn... Saludos desde Catia La Mar, VENEZUELA. World Music Radio, captada el 19/05, a las 2328 UT, en los 5814.98 kHz. SINPO 3/2. Transmitía música Pop de los 80, rock n'roll, raggamuffin'. También captada el 20/05 a las 0052 con una selección de temas de Joe Cocker: "Unchain my heart", "Up where we belong", "Night Train" y "You can leave your hat on". ¿A dónde se pueden enviar los informes de recepción? (Adán González, Catia La Mar, VENEZUELA, DX LISTENING DIGEST) wmr @ wmr.dk ** DOMINICAN REPUBLIC. Otro armónico aplastante es el de Radio 91, La Grande, Radio Bonao, en República Dominicana. Este 20/05, estuvo fortísimo en 1819.90 kHz, a las 0011 UT. Paulina Rubio "Casanova", bachata, Celia Cruz "Sobreviviré" (Adán González, Catia La Mar, VENEZUELA, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ECUADOR. La Voz del Upano, 4869.98, May 16 0955-1015+, tune-in to local ballads. 1001, 1003 several IDs, into religious programming with recitations; fair. La Voz del Napo, 3279.54, May 16 1005-1015+ HC folk music, Spanish announcements, talk; fair (Brian Alexander, Mechanicsburg PA, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ERITREA. V. of Broad Masses noted several times in April on 7180 kHz (I guess it moved here from traditional frequency 7175 kHz). On 9 Apr station was audible at 1658-1833, in parallel with 7100 kHz. Ended at 1833 with National Anthem. Another record in my logbook corresponds to reception on 25 Apr, in Arabic at 1805, SIO 232 (Alexey Kulinchenko, Kazan, Russia, Signal May 19 via DXLD) ** EUROPE. Can do better --- On Saturday 15th May, millions of TV viewers across Europe spent over three hours watching the annual extravaganza that is the Eurovision Song Contest. On Sunday 16th May, many of those same viewers spent some of their time discussing what a fiasco the voting system is. I explain why I believe it's now time for a makeover for the programme. http://www.rnw.nl/realradio/features/html/esc040519.html (Andy Sennitt, Media Network newsletter May 19 via DXLD) {more: 4-084} ** FINLAND. Radio Scandinavia 603 AM update --- The studio and transmitter are under installation. Antenna tuner coming up on Friday. Antenna of longwire will be installated, start of work, startdate May 24, Monday. Tests perhaps Monday evening or Tuesday 25 earliest (Roy Sandgren, Radio Scandinavia 603 AM, http://www.amradio.se May 19 via Bernd Trutenau, Lithuania, MWDX via DXLD) RADIO SCANDINAVIA GETTING READY FOR TEST TRANSMISSION There seems to be no limits on radio optimism in Scandinavia. First we got World Music Radio from Denmark. Now it is time for Radio Scandinavia from the Finnish province of Åland. "The studio and transmitter are under installation", reports radio aficionado Roy Sandgren. "The longwire antenna will be installed soon, and we plan to have all working on Monday, May 24." "Then we should be able to have tests on Monday evening or Tuesday, May 25." The frequency of this new radio station, aiming to bring back good ol' pirate style programming, is medium wave 603 kHz. Transmitting power is limited at first, but the plans are to increase it to several kilowatts of power. Whether this then will be on the old fishing vessel that has been bought in Malmö, Sweden, or on land is yet to be seen. Swedish required --- Radio Scandinavia has been granted an official transmitting licence from Land-skapsstyrelsen, the local government on Åland. While Radio Scandinavia wants to broadcast primarily in English, the licence states that all transmissions must be in Swedish. In a ruling 22 April, Landskapsstyrelsen once more dismissed a request for non-Swedish transmissions, saying that programming in Swedish was "an important condition" for getting the license (hcdx news desk, 20 May 2004 via DXLD) ** GERMANY. 6030 / 7265 SWR SOUTH WEST RADIO IN GERMANY QRT In the 80th year of broadcasting in Stuttgart-Germany the public broadcaster SWR Stuttgart / Baden-Baden will cease both shortwave units FOR EVER, 6030 Muehlacker[former SDR] / 7265 Rohrdorf [former SWF]. Final date June 30, 2004. 73 wb (Wolfgang Büschel, Stuttgart, May 20, DX LISTENING DIGEST) {or NOT? 4-084} ** GREECE. SPECIAL PREFIXES AND AWARDS SCHEME FOR THE ATHENS OLYMPICS Greek radio amateurs can use the special prefixes SX2004 or SY2004 from the 1st of June to the 15th of November to celebrate the Athens Olympic Games http://www.athens2004.com/ Foreign radio amateurs visiting Greece from the 1st of August to the 15th of September are allowed to use the special prefix J42004. Operators from CEPT countries, including the United Kingdom, do not need to submit any papers for a licence. The Athens 2004 Olympic Games Awards are available for all radio amateurs and listeners who make the requisite number of QSOs with stations in Greece during the period of the 15th of May until the 30th of September. Special prefixes J4, SX and SY count 10 points each, `normal` SV stations count 5 points each and the Radio Amateur Association of Greece`s HQ station SZ1SV counts 50 points. A total of 250 points is required for the Bronze Award, 350 for the Silver and 500 points for the Gold Award. The address for applications is RAAG Award Manager, PO Box 3564, 102 10 Athens, Greece (Radio Society of Great Britain GB2RS Main News Script for May 23, 2004 posted by G4RGA May 19 on uk.radio.amateur via John Norfolk, dxld yahoogroup via DXLD) ** GUYANA. Hi! I was reading somewhere that Voice of Guyana had been missing in action for some short time. Though I didn't wait for an ID, I did hear something on 3291.0 kHz last night here in Florida, with a SINFO of about 25333 at around 0330 UT, which is consistent for Voice of Guyana (Michael L. Semon, Lakeland, FL, May 19, WORLD OF RADIO 1231, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 3291.11, 0515-, Radio Guyana, May 19. Recent reports appear to be incorrect regarding Guyana off the air. Heard with fair signal using USB (LSB spoiled by ute) with weak audio levels including a child. Can't be entirely sure of content, but split frequency pretty classic for Guyana (Walt Salmaniw, Victoria, BC, May 19, WORLD OF RADIO 1231, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 3291.18, RF, GBC noted at 0935 20 May, first time in while, giving medium wave, short wave and FM frequencies, then into sub continental music, excellent signal (Robert Wilkner, Florida, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ICELAND. Re RÚV schedule: To Europe: 1215-1300 15775 *) 1755-1825 13865 *) To North America: 1410-1440 15775 1835-1905 15775 *) 2300-2335 13865 *) The broadcasts marked *) have been heard after May 12 with good reception, but not even a carrier is heard at 1410-1440 on 15775 (or 13865) here in Denmark. I wonder if this really is on the air. Are any DX-er in North America able to hear it ? (Anker Petersen, Skovlunde, Denmark, DSWCI DX Window May 19 via DXLD) ** INDIA [and non]. All India Radio noted with prolonged programme in the 60 mb at least on two frequencies due to the elections in India: 4895 kHz AIR Kurseong normally closing down around 1740 UT, says WRTH. Still heard 21. Another station with similar Hindi programme heard on 4830 kHz and still heard after 2110 was Radio Kashmir, Jammu. After all the Italian born Sonya Gandhi will not be the next PM of India. These two stations were heard yesterday May 18. 73´s (Jouko Huuskonen, Turku, FINLAND, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** INDONESIA. 4869.9, RRI Wamena is still inactive. 4870v, RRI Sorong is heard here irregularly and with lesser power than on ex 4874.6. 4920, RRI Biak has transmitter problems with the modulation during announcements, so it is very difficult to read. Only the music is heard well. Maybe they also soon will be off the air? 4925, RRI Jambi has been inactive the last days (Roland Schulze, Mangaldan, Phillipines, May 4, DSWCI DX Window May 19 via DXLD) ** INTERNATIONAL. TIME SIGNAL STATIONS --- Here's a pretty good list of what is left: http://www.iprimus.ca/~hepburnw/dx/time.htm Though I'm not totally sure of a few of them. There's not much left these days. Note that I have found that HD2IOA is not decommissioned as indicated, I've heard them here in my mornings on 3810, at least in the past couple of months. Also on that list is ATA in India, and as far as I know it too is now off the air (Steve Lare, MI, swl at qth.net via DXLD) ** INTERNATIONAL. EMISORAS MUNDIALES CATÓLICAS EN ONDA CORTA Saludos cordiales queridos colegas diexistas. Espero que se encuentren muy bien. Visitando la siguiente dirección en la web me encontrado con esta pagina verdaderamente interesante: http://www.aciprensa.com/radio/emisoras.htm Atte: (José Elías, Venezuela, DXLD) Mostly in LA, of course; includes some imaginary info, such as Radio Fides, Costa Rica on 9955 and Radio Ecclesia, Angola, relayed by Radio `Nederlandia` on 15 MHz (gh, DXLD) ** IRAN [non]. R. Pedar, via Merlin-Rampisham, on Mon May 17 and Tue May 18, no signal was found at 1730-1830 on 15585 or 17735 here in Denmark! (Anker Petersen, Skovlunde, Denmark, DSWCI DX Window May 19 via DXLD) ** IRAQ. MEDIA IN IRAQ - UPDATED 19 MAY 2004 [NOTE: this large item is now available in its entirety at http://www.w4uvh.net/mediraq.txt We plan to replace it with each month`s new edition; includes list of newspapers, as well as television. Hardly any of it concerns SW. Here is just a portion about new developments, some of which also may already have appeared in DXLD, and radio:] Following the setting up of the Iraq Communications and Media Commission (ICMC) in March 2004 to function as an independent regulator for the broadcasting and telecoms sector, the US-led coalition announced a new independent framework for the country's broadcast media on 15 May. The new public broadcaster will have a board of governors, a financial committee and a director-general who will act as its chief executive officer. Jalal al-Mashta was appointed as the service's first director-general. He has previously worked for the BBC, Swiss Radio and the London-based pan-Arab Al-Hayat daily, among others. There are currently more than 90 TV and radio stations broadcasting in Iraq. The chairman of the Lebanese company that won the contract to reform Iraq's national broadcaster along with US-based Harris Corporation said in early May that uncertainty about the status of coalition reforms after Iraq's return to self-rule on 1 July was jeopardizing the project. In an interview with the Financial Times, Pierre Daher of the Lebanese Broadcasting Corporation said that if Iraq could not guarantee an independent media, he might reconsider his position. On 3 May the editor-in-chief of the US-funded newspaper Al-Sabah resigned and said he was taking nearly all his staff with him to start their own paper, the Associated Press reported. Ismail Zayer complained of American control, saying he and his staff were "celebrating the end of a nightmare we have suffered from for months ... We want independence. They (the Americans) refuse." Zayer said he and the staff who had left would launch a new paper called Al-Sabah Al-Jadid (The New Morning). The Washington Post quoted Zayer as saying he could not accept the plan by US administrator Paul Bremer to keep Al-Sabah within the Iraqi Media Network. Zayer feared that the newspaper would be subject to interference by a future Iraqi government. NEW SATELLITE TV CHANNELS IN IRAQ SINCE 7 APRIL 2004 Turkoman Front "satellite"TV The Turkoman Front has announced the launch of a satellite TV channel in Kirkuk, according to the front's newspaper Turkomaneli on 21 April. Shi'i group SCIRI plans satellite TV, radio Iraq's Supreme Council of the Islamic Revolution (SCIRI) has said that it plans to set up a satellite news network in Iraq, tentatively named Al-Furat. NEW TERRESTRIAL TELEVISION IN IRAQ SINCE 7 APRIL 2004 Terrestrial TV "Nahrayn" to launch 25 May A new terrestrial TV channel named Nahrayn is due to launch on 25 May as part of the Hawa TV and radio network, the Lebanese newspaper Al- Safir reported on 5 May. The venture is financed by an investment company owned by Arab investors, led by an Egyptian businessman. NEW RADIO IN IRAQ SINCE 7 APRIL 2004 New Kurdish radio launched in Al-Sinjar A radio station broadcasting in Kurdish and Arabic has been launched in Al-Sinjar, the Iraqi Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) newspaper Khabat reported on 20 April. POST-WAR BROADCAST MEDIA --- RADIO --- BBC Monitoring can confirm hearing the following broadcasters as of 18 May 2004: FM BAND IN BAGHDAD (MHz) 88.0 - Radio Monte Carlo - Middle East in Arabic and French 88.5 - MBC in Arabic 89.0 - BBC World Service in Arabic 89.5 - Radio Dijlah (Tigris) 90.1 - Iranian Voice of the Mujahidin in Arabic 92.3 - American Forces Network, in English (different stream to 107.8 MHz ) 93.5 - Radio France Internationale in French 94.8 - Iraqi Media Network (IMN)-Radio Diyala 97.1 - Continuous US pop music, no announcements 97.4 - As 97.1 MHz 97.7 - As 97.1 MHz 98.3 - Republic of Iraq Radio (in parallel with 1026 kHz) 100.4 - US Radio Sawa in Arabic 102.4 - Radio Free Iraq (RFE/RL) in Arabic 104.1 - IQ4 Radio Iraq in English and Arabic 107.7 - AFN-Iraq ("Freedom Radio") in English MAIN AM STATIONS INTENDED FOR IRAQ (kHz) 603 - Republic of Iraq Radio (?Koran Programme) 720 - Voice of the Mujahidin in Arabic 756 - Information Radio 909 - Radio Nahrain 1026 - Republic of Iraq Radio (in parallel with 98.3 MHz) 1152 - Dar al-Salam Radio (Iraqi Islamic Party) 1179 - Voice of Iraq in Arabic 1206 - Voice of the People of Kurdistan in Arabic and Kurdish 1305 - Radio Al-Mustaqbal 1314 - (US-run) Radio Free Iraq, via Armenia 1566 - Radio of the Land of the Two Rivers, via Kuwait 1593 - Radio Free Iraq, via Kuwait, in Arabic + VOA in English, Kurdish, Persian Iraqi Media Network, Voice of New Iraq - operated by the Coalition Provisional Authority. Has also identified as Republic of Iraq Radio from Baghdad and Voice of Free Iraq (Sawt al-Iraq al-Hurr). Broadcasts on 98.3 MHz FM in Baghdad, identifying as Iraqi Media Network, Baghdad FM Radio, with a different service on 1026 kHz identifying as Iraqi Media Network-Radio Baghdad. A new station identifying in Arabic as "Iraqi Media Network, Radio Diyala" was observed in Baghdad on 95.0 MHz. Diyala is a governate neighbouring Baghdad, of which Baqubah, approximately 50 km north-east of Baghdad, is the capital. Shamin Rassam, an Iraqi-American, directs IMN's FM radio outlet as well as news bulletins on the mediumwave station, according to the Washington Post. TV BAND IN BAGHDAD (sound frequencies in MHz ) VHF Channel 7 - 194.75 - Al-Iraqiyah (Iraqi Media Network) Television UHF Channel 22 - 484.75 - Al-Iraqiyah (Iraqi Media Network) Television Channel 37 - 604.75 - Al-Iraqiyah (Iraqi Media Network) Television Channel 42 - 644.75 - Patriotic Union of Kurdistan Radio (in parallel with radio transmission on 4025 kHz) Source: BBC Monitoring research 19 May 04 (via DXLD) ** ISRAEL. Very good reception on all bands tonight, emphasizing a very high MUF. AROs were heard from all over on 20 meters, especially from Europe. Best I've heard in a good long time. 15785.1, 0514-, Galei Zahal, May 19. Hebrew call-in show with very bassy DJ speaking with frequent male callers. Fair signal. Fantastic evening for higher frequencies. Normally closed hours ago! (Walt Salmaniw, Victoria, BC, May 19, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ISRAEL. As Volodya noted, late-night openings on higher frequencies are currently happening. This is typical within a month of the summer solstice, when high-latitude paths are mostly are partially in midnight-sun illumination, combined with solar flux currently at its 27-day peak. UT May 20 at 0400, Israel Radio in English was booming in on 15640, and I could confirm the other two weaker frequencies at the moment, 17600 and 11590. Time once again for one of my fortunately rare rants about ``KOL``. Logs of the Israeli external broadcaster it seems more and more frequently are referred to as KOL, as if this were an initialism like RCI, AWR, VOA, etc. But it is NOT. It should not be used by itself any more than it should be in caps, for it is merely the Hebrew word for ``Voice``, Kol. The station is Kol Israel (and I can remember when it was Kol Zion Lagola --- Voice of Zion to the Diaspora). (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ITALY. Rai, Radiotelevisione Italiana is converting all MW transmitters from Radio2 to Radio1, while Radio2 is now only on FM. So, it will be possible to distinguish all the regional transmitters, because on Radio1 at 0720-0730 and 1210-1230, Italian local time, there are the regional services (Massimo Cerveglieri, Italy, May 9, DSWCI DX Window May 19 via DXLD) Since May 15, RAI left open their transmitters as listed in DX-Window no. 245. I can only add that "Notturno Italiano" was heard the night of May 15 to 16 on 657 (Naples) and 900 (Milan) only. Frequency from Rome after 1332 was dropped is announced as 1107, but it was not heard here in Florence. On 1107 Serbia was clearly audible last night. Maybe the power of 1107 in Rome is only for local service. Three more frequencies were relaying the Notturno last night although not announced: 693, 1431 and 1575 kHz. Maybe they had been kept on also after midnight (Luigi Cobisi, DSWCI DX Window May 19 via DXLD) ** ITALY. IRRS, 13840, May 16 1030-1126+ continuous US/Euro-pops, lite instrumental music. 1124 finally gave an English ID and Milano address, then English religious program. Good signal but started to deteriorate after 1100 due to local noise level (Brian Alexander, Mechanicsburg PA, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ITALY [and non?]. This mail from IRSS about special transmission arrive to me a minutes ago: "Dear listeners and friends, A short notice to announce a special broadcast taking place on Friday May 21, 2004 via our 100 kW relay on 5775 kHz beamed to Europe, North Africa and the Middle East. Far away listeners in Americas and in Asia may also take advantage of this special extended broadcast and enjoy reception during darkness beyond our regular target areas. This Friday from 2100 to 2200 UT on 5775 kHz we will be featuring a special one-time broadcast of a recent addition to our schedule: Presented by /Robert Wallace/, principal of the world-famous College of Piping in Glasgow, Scotland, *COLLEGE OF PIPING* is a monthly programme of news, views, reviews, interviews, archive recordings, tuition and of course music from the world of the highland bagpipe. The programme regularly features live recordings of highlights from significant piping competitions, results, interviews with, and lessons from leading figures in the piping world, and recordings from the College's comprehensive and unique sound archives. The programme is broadcast regularly via IRRS on the second Saturday, Sunday and Thursday of each month in the usual IPAR (International Public Access Radio) slots. Our broadcasts schedule on 5775 kHz, May 21, 2004 will be as follows: 1900-2000 UT: Reformed Bible Church of Southern California (English) 2000-2030 UT: Universal Life (English) 2030-2100 UT: Free speech radio: a selection of news, music and feature programs from NEXUS-IBA studio 2100-2200 UT: College of Piping 2300 UT : sign-off Please remember that you can hear us daily on 5775 at 1900-2130 UT (20 kW), and each Friday only with 100 kW. Also if you live in West Africa, please check our regular Friday broadcast from 1100-1200 UT on 15665 (100 kW) in Arabic and Spanish on behalf of Radio For Peace http://www.radiokcentrale.it/radio4peace.htm Reception to IRRS-Shortwave broadcasts may also be possible in other areas, including Asia, the Americas, Australia and New Zealand depending on broadcast times propagation conditions. For more details please check: http://www.nexus.org/NEXUS-IBA/Schedules http://www.nexus.org/IPAR and http://www.egradio.org (for our religious broadcasts). All broadcasts from IRRS-Shortwave are in parallel with our streaming audio service at http://mp3.nexus.org You may send reports and comments by email to: reports @ nexus.org and we will forward them to the programmers that you hear on our station. We look forward to hearing from you, With best regards from Milano, 73 de Ron" (via Manuel Méndez, Spain, May 20, Cumbredx mailing list via DXLD) Notice that the 100 kW transmission on 5775 is referred to as a ``relay`` -- a slip admitting that it is not actually from Milano? If no one can get a fix on IRRS`100 kW transmissions, as we have repeatedly urged, perhaps those with precision frequency measurement capability can at least compare the exact frequency of one to the other --- this could at least confirm they are separate transmitters, rather than the 100 powered down to 20 most of the time (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) {Much more in 4-084: ITALY [non], ROMANIA, WESTERN SAHARA [non]} ** KOREA NORTH. 2350v, KCBS, Sariwon, Bangsong, 1500, May 4, Korean, heard // 2850, 3220, 3960, 4450, 9665 and 11680. Weak. 2624, Frontline Soldiers R, Channel 1 (presumed), 1505-1700, Apr 18 and May 4, seldomly on the air! Very weak signals. 3025.5, Frontline Soldiers R, Channel 2, 1505-1700, Apr 18 and May 04, Korean (Roland Schulze, Mangaldan, Phillipines, DSWCI DX Window May 19 via DXLD) ** KOREA NORTH. VOK, 13650.18, new frequency, May 16 1000-1025+ English news, commentary, ID; weak. \\ 9850.01 weak, and \\ 11735.03v fair (Brian Alexander, Mechanicsburg PA, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** KOREA NORTH. A Korean-language broadcast is regularly heard on 19195 kHz - for instance, my logbook shows it on 20 Apr at 0950-1034. SIO was 242. Station usually comes with traditional North Korean content - a lot of patriotic songs and march-style music. But the broadcast is not parallel to Voice of Korea channels, such as 9325, 9335, 9345, 11735, 11680. (Alexey Kulinchenko, Kazan, Russia, Signal May 19 via DXLD) That would be 3 x 6398v, domestic service, surely not landing on exactly 19195 (gh, DXLD) ** LATVIA. Hi Glenn - In your current WoR you wondered how to pronounce Radio Marabu - here's a recording from their previous transmission on 30 Nov 2003 on 9290 kHz. You'll hear that they have the same stress on each syllable, 'Ma'Ra'Bu Kind Regards, (Erik Koie, DK-2840 Holte, Denmark, May 19, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Tnx for the good recording of 9290; they say it several times; to my ear it is definitely not stressed on the second syllable, but debatable whether it is on the first or third, or both (gh, DXLD) ** MALAYSIA. RTM, R. Malaysia Sarawak continues to change its SW schedule every few weeks. 4895 was reactivated in late March or early April, and not long afterwards 7130 extended its hours to all-day operation, with all three frequencies in parallel carrying programming from Kuching in Iban and Bidayuh except that 7130 broke away for schools programming on weekdays at 0100-0300. However, I noted May 4 that 7130 was carrying R. Malaysia Sarawak Rangkaian Nasional in Malay from first check at around 0700 until past 1100. When 4895 faded in around 1000, it was in parallel with 7130 in Malay. The Malay network has not been on SW for many years, and should be quite easy to ID as it often relays news in Malay from Kuala Lumpur on the hour, as 5965v via Kajang. The Kuching Iban/Bidayuh network was still on 7270 as usual (Alan Davies, Bogor/Jakarta, Indonesia via Dxplorer, DSWCI DX Window May 19 via DXLD) ** MEXICO. RMI aún se escapa del virtual cierre: sintonizada el 20/05, a las 0237 UT, en los 9704.93 kHz. Con música instrumental de marimbas y ritmo rumbero. "Transmite RMI, vamos más allá"; "RMI, un presente sonoro". 73's y buen DX (Adán González, Catia La Mar, VENEZUELA, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** MONGOLIA. 4865, Mongolian National R., Dalanzadgad, 2120-2130, May 8, Mongolian announcement, opera, 34333, heard // 4830 and 4895 both stronger. This transmitter is rarely reported heard (Anker Petersen, Skovlunde, Denmark, DSWCI DX Window May 19 via DXLD) ** NEW ZEALAND. John Figliozzi provides a unique service in compiling advance program previews for RNZI, not even available from RNZI itself! These are posted weekly in the dxld yahoogroup, the latest being message 425 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** NEW ZEALAND. RNZI satellite v digital Glenn, An observation re your comment that Radio NZ International should keep the analog transmitter and use satellite delivery for program feeds to the Pacific stations taking the news bulletins. Most of the target area lies in the cyclone belt, and when cyclones [come] near populated areas, it's prudent to take down the satellite dish until after the storm. This is exactly what happened on Niue earlier this year, and the reason why they had a serviceable dish after the storm had passed. During the cyclone, local Radio Sunshine FM was off air for some two days, but listeners with SW radios could still hear RNZI. In the future, expect digital receivers to be as available at good prices as existing sets - they're available in Hawaii, and the Harvey Norman retail chain in Australia is now promoting them - so people living in the islands can obtain them relatively easily already. Reliance on satellite delivery is unsatisfactory in most of the RNZI target area. Political instability (such as in Fiji, Solomon Islands, Bougainville) or economic failure (Nauru simply had no funds or power to run equipment) as well as weather vulnerability all combine to make local rebroadcasting via satellite a fragile existence in the Pacific. RNZI's new digital transmitter will punch into the target area with FM quality signals and greater dependability than the existing analog transmitter can achieve. Listeners beyond the target area - and using analog only receivers - will probably have to listen to on-line streaming, or excerpts via rebroadcasters using analog transmitters. However, there is a period of several years when both transmitters will operate, so DXers will still be able to hear RNZI for some time with analog receivers. Beyond then - who knows? Maybe the 'old' 100 kW analog transmitter will still be around. Warm regards (David Ricquish, Radio Heritage Foundation, Wellington, New Zealand, May 20, DX LISTENING DIGEST) {response in 4-085} ** PAPUA NEW GUINEA. See UNIDENTIFIED 4960 below ** PARAGUAY. 9736.9, R. Nacional del Paraguay, Asunción, heard in Japan 0745-0802, May 15, música paraguaya and several telephone messages from listeners for the Mother's Day (however, it is little late!) A short ID was given at 0755 as "Radio Nacional transmite desde Asunción, Paraguay." At 0816 a Paraguayan living in Chicago, USA, sent a greeting to all friends in Paraguay. At 0818 a canned full ID was announced as "Con la potencia para ... por el mundo. onda corta de Radio Nacional del Paraguay, banda de 31 metros, 9735 kc." and then followed by talk in Guaraní, fair (Takayuki Inoue Nozaki, Japan, DSWCI DX Window May 19 via DXLD) 9737, Radio Nacional de Paraguay, 0120 programa en guaraní y música paraguaya. A las 0300 Identificación en español y en inglés. A las 0358 cierre de las emisiones, Identificación "Radio Nacional de Paraguay, emisora oficial de la República de Paraguay transmitiendo desde Asunción" Himno y cierre. 23222. Mayo 20 (Manuel Méndez, Spain, Noticias DX via DXLD) NOTE: ID in ENGLISH at sign-off 0358 (gh) ** PERU. Radio San Antonio en 4939.98 kHz, a las 0041 UT, el 20/05. SINPO 2/2. Música y locutor de guardia: "Ésta es San Antonio Radio de Atalaya". Total ausencia de Radio Amazonas (Adán González, Catia La Mar, VENEZUELA, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** PORTUGAL. Per previous item, I checked 13660, 13700, 15480 for the RDPI DX program, Wed May 19 at 2330, but only heard various musical bits, and talk I could not associate with DX; by 2350 a show about Timor (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** RUSSIA. Hearing RWM here on 14996.5 LSB at 1242 with time pips. I'm also hearing RWM here this morning at 1301 on 9996.5 LSB. A reminder that they ID in CW at 9 and 39 minutes past the hour. Here is the RWM 'sked' as far as I can determine for an hour: 0000-0008 Tone on frequency 0008-0009 Silent period (?) 0009-0020 CW ID followed by time pips 0020-0030 Encoded info (baudot code ?) 0030-0038 Tone on freq. 0038-0039 Silent period (?) 0039-0050 CW ID followed by time pips 0050-0100 Encoded info (baudot code ?) (Steve Lare, Holland, MI, Drake R7, R8 and R8B, http://www.iserv.net/~n8kdv/dxpage.htm May 19 swl at qth.net via DXLD) ** SAUDI ARABIA. BSKSA, Riyadh, strong but somewhat distorted signal in Turkish on 15275 around 0445 UT May 20; a piece of music including some drum banging, but mostly talk about Islam, what else? The Holy Qur`an service on 15170 was more pleasant listening, but markedly weaker here (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** SUDAN. 4750, R. Peace, Nuba Mountains, 0250-0305, May 11, Vernacular conversation, 0300 fanfare, ID in English: ``We are broadcasting on 4750 kHz in the 60 metre band. This is Radio Peace``, fanfare, ``This is Radio Peace.`` More talk in Vernacular, 24232 (Anker Petersen, Skovlunde, Denmark, DSWCI DX Window May 19 via DXLD) ** SUDAN [non]. ENGLAND - 17660 Sudan R. Service *1500-1510 5/20. Sign-on in English, gave Nairobi address, sked, then into English talks. Fair with not-so-good band conditions today (John Wilkins, Wheat Ridge, Colorado, Drake R-8, 100-foot RW, Cumbre DX via DXLD) ** TAIWAN. Just saw this on the English Web site of Radio Taiwan International: "On May 20th, our regular broadcast to the Philippines from 0200-0300 UTC on 11875 KHz will be cancelled in order to air live coverage in Taiwanese (Fukkienese) of the Inauguration Celebrations of the 11th term president and vice president of the ROC. We regret any inconvenience." (Andy Sennitt, May 19, dxldyg via DXLD) ** U K. Merlin DRM tests to USA, May 24-28: see DRM below the ~~~~~~~ ** U K [and non]. UPDATED SUMMER SCHEDULE FOR BIBLE VOICE BROADCASTING ---------------------------------------------------------------------- All our Shortwave Programs are available for Internet Listening at: http://www.biblevoice.org Select Listen/ Select Language and/or the Broadcaster Name Reception Reports: mail @ biblevoice.org - or mail : P O Box 220, Leeds LS26 OWW U.K. Programmers love to hear from you directly. More programming available at our web site: Visit the new Churches - Or Listen to Christian Perspective News or visit the Features section. There you will find Prophetic Prospective (English - Arabic) / Children's Corner (Stories in: Cantonese, Japanese, French, Greek, Hungarian, Spanish, Tagalog, Hindi, Russian Arabic Please ask us about our free Bible Study Course in English or Arabic - or send your prayer requests to prayer @ biblevoice.org FREQUENCY CHANGES/BROADCAST HOUR CHANGES/NEW PROGRAMS ADDED - MARKED BY ** MIDDLE EAST #1 15680 100 kW from Juelich 19 meter band English/Russian/Hebrew 1545-1615 Monday 1545-1715 Tuesday 1545-1615 1700-1800 Wednesday 1545-1645 Thursday 1545-1615 1700-1800 Friday 1545-1830 Sat ** 1515-1800 Sun #2 13710 250 kW from Wertachtal Arabic/English 22 meter band 1800-1900 Thursday Arabic ** 1800-1915 Friday/ Sunday 1800-1900 Saturday #3 15460 250 kW from Krasnodar Arabic (S Arabia) 19 meter band 0500-0530 Monday and Wednesday ** 0500-0545 Friday #4 17595 125 kW from Wertachtal Arabic 16 meter band (Egypt) 0845-1015 Friday #5 15235 100 kW from Juelich English/Arabic 19 meter band 1615-1730 Monday/Wednesday/Friday Arabic 1700-1730 Tuesday/Thursday Arabic 1700-1800 Sat/Sun English #6 17860 250 kW from Woofferton Arabic 16 meter band (Yemen) 1700-1730 M 1700-1715 T-F #7 13810 100 kW from Juelich Arabic 22 meter band (From April 7 to May 23/04) NEW ** 0600-0630 Wednesday - Sunday #8 5925 from Juelich English 49 meter band (until the end of June) NEW ** 2230-0130 Daily EAST AFRICA Amharic /Tigrinya 13810 100 kW from Juelich 22 meter band 1630-1730 Monday-Friday 1630-1730 Sat/Sun ** CENTRAL AFRICA/NIGERIA 9425 100 kW from Juelich English 31 meter band 1915-1945 Friday 1900-2000 Sat/Sun ** WEST AFRICA/LIBERIA 12050 125 kW Wertachtal English 25 meter band 1945-2015 Friday INDIA #1 7485 250 kW from Tashkent Hindi/English/Bengali 41 meter band 1400-1500 Thursday BENGALI NOW ON AT 1445 UT ** 1400-1500 Friday/Saturday 1400-1500 Sunday ** [NO #2 === gh] #3 9605 250 kW from Dushanbe Hindi 31 meter band 0000-0030 Daily ** #4 7210 250 kW from Dushanbe Bengali/English 41 meter band 0030-0100 Daily 0015-0100 Monday-Friday English 0030-0100 Saturday/Sunday Bengali #5 17510 100 kW from Juelich English/Hindi/Urdu 16 meter band 1530-1600 Daily Tuesdays Urdu 1500-1600 Sundays 1500-1600 ** IRAN 11965 100 kW from Juelich Farsi/English 25 meter band 1800-1900 Sat/Sunday EAST EUROPE/RUSSIA 5970 100 kW from Juelich English/Russian 49 meter band 1815-1830 Mon-Friday 1800-1900 Sat 1800-1930 Sun WEST EUROPE/UK 5905 100 kW from Juelich English 49 meter band 0715-0745 W-F 0700-0815 Sat 0700-0845 Sun ** CHINA English/Vietnamese/Cantonese/Japanese 25 meter band 12065 100 kW from Khabarovsk Mandarin Wednesday 1215 Friday to 12:50 utc* (1235-1250 Japanese) NEW PROGRAM! ** 1200-1245 Monday-Friday 1130-1230 Saturday/Sunday SE ASIA VIETNAM English 49 meter band NEW FREQUENCY 5890 250 kW from Vladistock [sic] ** 1430-1500 Saturday 1430-1500 Sunday ** North America English 49 meter band NEW ** 6010 125 kW from Wertachal 0000-2400 [sic!!!] UT Monday to Friday Mrs. Marty McLaughlin, Bible Voice Broadcasting http://www.biblevoice.org 1-800-550-4670 Contact canada @ biblevoice.org ----------------------------------- Regds, (via Alokesh Gupta, New Delhi, India, DXLD) Geez, what a mess their schedule is, with ambiguities about which languages are on when, and no two days of the week the same. If I wanted to listen to this stuff, I`d be put off by the day-to-day variations (gh, DXLD) ** U S A. LIGHTS OUT FOR EL SOL FM STATION http://www.philly.com/mld/inquirer/news/local/8709944.htm?1c Posted on Thu, May. 20, 2004 Federal authorities seized its equipment in Pennsauken, citing its unlicensed broadcasting. By John Shiffman, Inquirer Staff Writer PENNSAUKEN - Federal authorities yesterday shuttered an FM radio station that they said had been broadcasting illegally from Pennsauken since Christmas, interfering with signals from Philadelphia-area stations. U.S. marshals and technical advisers from the Federal Communications Commission raided El Sol radio station (95.3) and seized broadcasting equipment. Authorities said the owners had dismissed several FCC warnings that the station was operating without a license. The station, which played Latino music, was operated by the Moors, a South Jersey-based organization that considers itself outside the jurisdiction of the United States and not subject to U.S. laws, according to a court filing. In one response to the FCC, station officials asserted that the broadcasts were authorized under the Moors' "Great Seal." They presented documentation that included a so-called License and Construction Permit signed by a "Queen Ali." Donald Vidal, the executive the FCC identified as its primary contact for El Sol, could not be reached for comment. In a statement yesterday, U.S. Attorney Christopher Christie said that "the laws and regulations of the United States apply equally to everyone." "The airwaves are crowded with public and commercial broadcasters, all of which are licensed to prevent interference and radio chaos," he said. David C. Dombrowski, an FCC engineer who investigated the case, determined that the station's broadcasts could be heard up to 15 miles away. In an affidavit, he said the strength of the signal exceeded permissible unlicensed low-power radio limits by more than 20,000 times. The FCC said it had received complaints from several other stations, including WMWX-FM (95.7), a soft-rock station based in Bala Cynwyd that targets women ages 25 to 54. Milford Smith, vice president for radio engineering for the station's parent corporation, Greater Media of East Brunswick, said pirate stations dampened ratings and discouraged advertisers. He said that "the only thing unnerving to we, the legit broadcasters, is the amount of time that tends to elapse between the time a pirate is identified and when the government takes it off the air. In this case, it took about six months." At WEMG-AM (1310) in Philadelphia, which also plays Latino music, workers said listener calls to disc jockeys jumped dramatically yesterday after El Sol was yanked off the air (via Artie Bigley, OH, DXLD) Another version of the above: http://www.courierpostonline.com/news/southjersey/m052004c.htm PENNSAUKEN RADIO STATION SHUT DOWN --- EL SOL HAD NO LICENSE, U.S. SAYS Thursday, May 20, 2004 By RENEE WINKLER, Courier-Post Staff, PENNSAUKEN A radio station run by a group that refuses to recognize government authority and obey laws was shut down Wednesday by federal marshals. The 24-hour station, El Sol, had been operating on 95.3 MHz on the FM band for almost five months without a license and could be heard throughout the Philadelphia area, authorities say. "The number of radio frequencies is very limited," said Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael Chagares. Without proper licensing, "there would be chaos in the radio spectrum," he said. Federal agents seized equipment from the station, which was being operated by a group called the Moors, also known as Al Moroccan Empire, according to U.S. Attorney for New Jersey Christopher J. Christie. The lawsuit could lead to fines and imprisonment if the fines are not paid, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office. The station was being run in the 4600 block of Crescent Boulevard, Route 130 North, by the group, some of whose members are facing federal fraud charges for allegedly creating and passing more than $10 million in phony money orders. The group has claimed U.S. laws do not apply to it because its members are indigenous Americans who have lived on the continent since the beginning of time. Several messages left on the radio station's answering machine were not returned Wednesday. The Federal Communications Commission had warned the station's operators as early as November 2002 that they needed FCC authorization. Without responding to FCC warnings, the station began to broadcast on Dec. 31, 2003, cutting into the signal of an AM broadcast station based in Camden and another FM station, broadcasting on 95.7 MHz (via Artie Bigley, DXLD) TFK! ** U S A. The F.C.C.'s New Rules --- The New York Times May 17, 2004 Opinion, To the Editor: "Eye on F.C.C., TV and Radio Watch Words" (front page, May 10) accurately captures the near-hysteria that has gripped television broadcasters since the Federal Communications Commission's recent decisions. The F.C.C.'s recent brief opinions represent a marked and legally unsupported departure from decades of precedent. With almost no attempt to explain its reasoning, the F.C.C. did away with its long-held position that a "fleeting" broadcast of an indecent word in a nonsexual context was not actionable. And with virtually no legal authority or discussion, the F.C.C. announced that "profanity" also undefined was a new and separate violation of the Communications Act. This is not reassuring action from an agency bound by the Constitution, the Communications Act and precedent. The only positive factor is that it invites reversal by a reviewing court. MICHAEL BOTEIN New York, May 10, 2004 The writer is a professor at New York Law School. Copyright 2004 The New York Times Company (via Mike Cooper, DXLD) ** U S A. IOWA'S THREE PUBLIC RADIO STATIONS COULD MERGE SOONER THAN SOME FOLKS EXPECTED. By DAVID ELBERT, DES MOINES REGISTER BUSINESS EDITOR, 05/19/2004 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- A merger plan that opponents thought they'd buried in bureaucratic posturing is alive and moving again, thanks to John Forsyth, 56, the new president of the Iowa Board of Regents. Forsyth's handling of the situation is why some folks admire him and others fear him. In real life, he is the chief executive of Wellmark Inc., Iowa's largest health insurer. His reputation there is as a smart, tough executive who trimmed fat and built muscle in the Des Moines-based Blue Cross & Blue Shield network that he took over in 1996. A year ago, Gov. Tom Vilsack tapped Forsyth for a six-year term on the Board of Regents, and the nine-member board elected him president in April. The board oversees Iowa's three state universities, and one of Forsyth's first moves as president was to recognize that a window of opportunity was about to close on the public radio stations owned by the three schools, WSUI-AM (910) at the University of Iowa, WOI-AM (640) and FM (90.1) at Iowa State University and KUNI-FM (90.9) at the University of Northern Iowa. All three stations have faced severe cuts in state funding. WOI no longer receives any direct appropriation from ISU. WSUI and KUNI could soon find themselves in the same situation. Monday, the U of I announced a $45,000 cut from its campus station. That's led to a lot of anguish. WOI general manager Bill McGinley had a good idea last fall, when he suggested the three stations explore uniting a statewide Iowa Public Radio network. Managers at KUNI and WSUI were about as receptive to the idea as Donald Rumsfeld is to suggestions that he resign. McGinley pushed forward anyway. He persuaded the three university presidents to agree to hire a consultant to assess the situation and see what, if any, services the three stations might share. They were in the process of starting to do that when Forsyth was elected president. At the same time, WSUI was about to start interviewing for a general manager, to replace one that retired last year. Forsyth looked at both situations and said: Wait a minute. This is a once-in-a-decade opportunity. Let's not be too hasty. He told U of I President David Skorton to put the job search on hold. Then, he told all three university presidents to hold off on hiring a consultant until they can broaden the inquiry. The question initially posed for a consultant was: How could the stations cooperate more? Forsyth said the questions should be: "How do we best position public radio in Iowa for the future? What role do the regents play in that? And how do we do that in the most cost-effective way?" The consultant, he said, needs to look at all of the options: ^^ Does it make sense to create a statewide network? That's what Minnesota did years ago, and it has allowed that state to create nationwide programming such as "Prairie Home Companion," "Sound Money" and "The Splendid Table." ^^ Does it make sense to create a coordinated Iowa news network for daily reporting of stories of statewide interest? ^^ Does it make sense to make Iowa's public radio stations an arm of Iowa Public Television? IPTV already has the administrative structure needed to run a statewide broadcast network. The bottom line is combining the management of the three stations under a single unit would free more resources for programing than would any sharing of services. For starters, there would be one general manager and one program director instead of three of each. That's four positions that could be used to create new innovative programs, or to cover statewide news stories. (via Bill Smith, TX, W5USM, May 19, DXLD) ** U S A. A golden opportunity to log an extremely directional Los Ángeles area station is coming. KYPA, which is probably the last station using a flat top antenna, will soon be diplexing off KBLA (their city of license is Santa Mónica). See http://www.fybush.com/site-020313.html for a picture of KBLA's six tower array and see http://www.fybush.com/site-020327.html for a picture of KYPA's flat top. During installation of the required filters and antenna tuning units, KBLA will be 10 KW ND, and that may last as long as a month or two. This may all start in a week to ten days if everything goes well. At night their licensed directional pattern sends most of their signal goes out to sea in a southwestern direction. (Dennis Gibson, CA, May 19, IRCA mailing list via DXLD) WTFK??? KBLA 1580, 50000/50000 U4, Única; KYPA 1230 1000/1000 (2003- 2004 NRC AM Log via DXLD) ** U S A. Subject: More on the KSPN move ---I found the following article at http://www.pe.com/sports/baseball/angels/stories/PE_Sports_Local_shutout30.a3e23.html but you have to register to get into that site. It doesn't add much to what we already know. There's nothing new on the FCC site yet either. It's interesting that they bring up the same issue regarding the Dodgers. I can't understand why it is that we have so many sports stations in LA & OC, and they still have trouble finding anyone who wants the play-by-play. Of course they all have directional patterns that leave out Orange County & the Inland Empire (Brian Leyton, Valley Village, CA, DX-398 / RS Loop / 18" Box Loop, NRC-AM via DXLD) viz.: ---- SHUT OUT BY STATIC --- INLAND SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA BASEBALL FANS FRUSTRATED BY POOR RADIO RECEPTION 12:23 AM PDT on Friday, April 30, 2004 By JONATHAN SHIKES / The Press-Enterprise The bases are loaded. The Angels' Tim Salmon, 3 for 3 already tonight, is at the plate. The count is 3 and 2. Here's the pitch, and... Static. As a new baseball season warms up, there is an old question on the minds of Inland fans: Why is AM radio reception - from Temécula to Rancho Cucamonga, Moreno Valley to San Bernardino - so bad? More than 100 people e-mailed The Press-Enterprise in response to a recent request for feedback on the subject. Replies came from every corner of Inland Southern California. Scott Carlson of Riverside listens to Anaheim Angels games on KSPN AM Radio 710 - the team's flagship station out of Los Ángeles. But every evening, the play-by-play is drowned out by "a solid wall of noise that starts at the same time every night in the middle of every night game, effectively ruining my baseball evening," Carlson wrote in his e-mail. In Redlands, the same thing is happening to Joan Wiley. A Dodgers fan since the team moved to Los Ángeles in 1958, Wiley said by e-mail she's "disgusted" by the way announcer Vin Scully's voice fades out on KFWB AM 980 in the evenings. "With all the modern technology that is available in this day and age, why can't we hear the ballgames after the sun goes down?" she asked. It's a situation "we are acutely aware of," said Angels spokesman Tim Mead, and something the team wants to fix. On Thursday, KSPN announced that it will spend $4 million to $5 million to move its tower and transmitter from North Hollywood to Irwindale by Opening Day 2005. "We hope the clarity becomes much more improved," Mead said by phone, adding that KSPN's new transmitter on its current site should help the signal in the interim. How far east these upgrades will boost the signal remains to be seen. The basic problem is that most AM radio stations - even 50,000-watt giants like KSPN and KFWB - are required by 70-year-old Federal Communications Commission rules to drastically reduce their signals when the sun goes down. AM radio waves, which carry far into the atmosphere when the sun is down, reflect off a layer of the ionosphere at night, bouncing back to earth, hundreds or even thousands of miles from where they were broadcast. "We share our 710 frequency with other stations in the West and across the country, so if we broadcast the same signal at night, we would probably interfere with those stations," said Norm Avery, head engineer for KSPN, by phone. Other stations, including AM 1090, which broadcasts San Diego Padres games from a tower in México, have to reduce their power only in certain directions. For this reason, 1090's broadcasts encounter less interference with other signals, station engineer Bill Lipis said. Only one or two stations per frequency - known as clear channel stations - are licensed by the FCC to broadcast at full power at night. "So when the sun goes down, you might be able to hear a radio station that is thousands of miles away but not one that is only 15 miles away," said Thomas Richards, a broadcast engineer at Cal State San Bernardino. That's a familiar - and infuriating - phenomenon for Inland sports fans. "I think it's ridiculous that I live in an area close enough that I could actually go to a game, but I can't hear the team on the radio," wrote Dan Case, a Dodgers fan from Murrieta. "In fact, I find I can hear the games where they play San Francisco in the evenings better by tuning in KNBR 680 than I can on KFWB 980." KNBR in San Francisco has a clear channel license. The only solution, aside from moving their towers, is for the teams to find broadcast affiliates further inland, according to the Angels and the Dodgers. "We had a potential deal in (the Inland area), but it's not easy," Mead said. "The local stations want us to pay for the time, but we want people to make money by selling their inventory of commercial spots." Other stations don't want the games because they don't fit into their format or are broadcast during the competitive drive-time hours, Mead said. Nevertheless, the Angels are looking for an Inland affiliate. Dodgers spokesman John Olguín said the team lost an affiliate in San Bernardino last year, but that they are always looking to upgrade their affiliates or add more. "We picked up KPRO 1570 in Ríverside late in the calendar this year, closer to spring training than we would have liked," he said by phone. "And we have KMET 1490 in Hemet. The Inland area is important to us." Still, many fans feel neglected (via Brian Leyton, CA, May 13, NRC-AM via DXLD) ** U S A. IN CANNES, MICHAEL MOORE SAYS '9/11' FACES EXILE --- By Desson Thomson Washington Post Staff Writer Monday, May 17; Page C01 http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn/A32050-2004May16?language=printer CANNES, May 16 -- Filmmaker Michael Moore, director of the politically charged "Fahrenheit 9/11," whose July 4 release has been blocked by Walt Disney, publicly lamented Sunday that time is running out for him to show the film in time for the presidential election. He also suggested that fear of provoking the White House is scaring off any potential new distributors. The film, which is in competition for the prestigious Golden Palm award here, makes strong contentions about President Bush's links to powerful families in Saudi Arabia, including that of Osama bin Laden, and also criticizes the president's decision to go to war in Iraq. Although the movie has been sold to markets around the world, its fate in America remains uncertain. Disney, which owns the film through its specialty division, Miramax Film Corp., blocked the film's intended release for July 4. Speaking at a public round table here, convened by Variety, Moore took issue with recent Disney statements that the studio had dropped the film a year ago. Disney money was flowing to the film until recently, he said. The decision to stop the film's July release, he continued, was made in late April when a "low-level executive" saw it and reported misgivings to Disney chief executive Michael Eisner. Miramax owners Bob and Harvey Weinstein are currently negotiating with Disney to buy the rights and release the picture independently or through a third party. Reached by phone Saturday, Miramax spokesman Matthew Hiltzik said Miramax "looks forward to an amicable resolution. We're grateful that Walt Disney is offering Bob and Harvey the chance to buy the film." Should those talks fail, Moore is hoping that other distributors will step in. But his insistence that any present or future distributor must release it on July 4 or, failing that, before the election, has scared off some potential distributors, he said. Moore took issue with media reports that he was engineering this purported imbroglio for free publicity. "No filmmaker wants to hear, six weeks before its release, that their distributor is not going to release their movie," he said. He pointed out that when Disney balked in previous years over releasing two controversial movies -- "Kids" and "Dogma" -- the Weinsteins bought the rights for each and released them independently. Both movies, he said, underperformed at the box office. Moore scoffed at Eisner's contention that the film was dropped to avoid controversy in a political year, pointing out that the company continues to support such politically conservative figures as Sean Hannity, Rush Limbaugh and Pat Robertson through some of its media outlets. Moore also claimed that an unnamed individual with ties to the Republican Party had intimidated Mel Gibson's Icon Productions, which had agreed to distribute the movie before Miramax took over. Icon subsequently backed out, so Harvey Weinstein stepped in and took over. When Disney blocked the release, Moore found himself without a summer date, or even a distribution deal in the United States, he said. Worldwide rights for the film have been sold through other distributors almost everywhere except Hong Kong and Taiwan, Moore said. "So everyone else in the world can see this movie except Americans." Although he said he was reserving further comments about the Disney matter while negotiations continue, Moore warmed to the task of excoriating President Bush about the war in Iraq, frequently amusing a packed audience of American and European entertainment media. Moore referred to himself as "a patriotic American who believes in the actual, real principles" of what the United States stands for, including the idea that "you do not invade another country until they're attacking you." Screenings for the movie in Cannes are scheduled for Monday. Additional showings have been added due to overwhelming demand. (c) 2004 The Washington Post Company (via Mike Cooper, DXLD) ** U S A. U.S. DIGITAL HOPES LESS IS MORE FOR VIEWERS OF ITS PAY-TV SERVICE By ELLEN SHENG, DOW JONES NEWSWIRES May 18, 2004 6:15 p.m.; Page B3A NEW YORK -- Steve Lindsley wants you to kiss the cable guy goodbye. Mr. Lindsley is the chief executive of U.S. Digital Television, which recently launched a new kind of pay-TV service that he hopes will attract price-conscious customers who want an alternative to cable and satellite. For $19.95 a month, subscribers get a package of 20 to 30 channels, depending on where they live. The offerings range from ESPN, Discovery Channel and the Food Network to the major broadcast networks in standard and high-definition formats. To get the service, a customer would hook up their regular TV antenna to a $99 USDTV set-top box that is sold by Wal-Mart Stores Inc. and other retailers. With this gear, viewers can capture USDTV's offerings, which are carried on spectrum that broadcast stations don't use. USDTV's main selling point is its low price. "There are millions of more value conscious customers who don't want hundreds of channels," Mr. Lindsley said. USDTV -- which has launched in Albuquerque, N.M., Salt Lake City and Las Vegas -- attracted more than 2,000 subscribers during its first month of operation in March, Mr. Lindsley said. The company plans to be in 30 markets by year end and ultimately aims to be in all the major markets, executives said. Mr. Lindsley has set eyes on the Midwest region next, then California, the South and finally the East Coast. Mr. Lindsley came up with the concept behind USDTV when he was a station manager for KSL, the NBC affiliate in Salt Lake City. KSL, like stations around the country, was required by the Telecommunications Act of 1996 to convert to digital-TV broadcasts from the analog signals it had been using for decades. To encourage the switch to digital, the U.S. government awarded broadcast stations 19.4 megabits of bandwidth with which to upgrade to digital and high-definition broadcasts. Stations have been required to spend millions of dollars to make these upgrades. Once 85% of the U.S. population can receive digital broadcasts, the government plans to take back the old analog spectrum. While the conversion to digital can yield nifty new features for consumers, it is costly for broadcast stations, and the rewards are uncertain. "Digital TV is a big expense for broadcasters around the country," said John Greenwood, station manager at KWBQ in Albuquerque, which is one of USDTV's broadcast partners. "Here is a mandate to put HD on, but without any revenue opportunity." Enter USDTV. The company is partnering with broadcast stations to transmit its package of programming on the unused part of the spectrum that the broadcasters were granted by the government for digital service. This generates revenue for the broadcast stations and gives USDTV a conduit into consumers' homes. Teaming up with USDTV "gives us a chance to begin to break even," Mr. Greenwood said. KWBQ is one of many stations around the country that would welcome an opportunity to make money from their investment in digital. Smaller, independent stations, such as Christian broadcasters, often don't have plans for HDTV and have more unused spectrum to lease. Not surprisingly, USDTV's business model has caused some grumbling among cable operators. Providing another pay-TV service wasn't the government's intention in giving broadcasters extra spectrum, said Pete Abel, spokesman for Cebridge Communications, a St. Louis cable operator with almost half a million customers across 16 states (via Mike Cooper, DXLD) ?? What is this ``unused spectrum`` bit??? Each analog TV station has a different designated channel for the transition to DTV. Of course each of those may be broken up into several channels. Is that what this is talking about? (gh) ** U S A. 169.505 MHz: Wireless mike from local Pentecostal church about a block away. Loud and flawless signal. The fun begins every Thursday at 2300. I live within walking dx of three other churches, all of whom use wireless mikes. Stay tuned (Liz Cameron, Belleville MI, 13 May, MARE via DXLD) ** VENEZUELA. Armónico de Radio Ideal, Maiquetía, Venezuela, (1130 AM) fortísimo en 2259.98 kHz. Llegando a un SINPO 3/3, a las 2232 UT, el 19/05 (Adán González, Catia La Mar, VENEZUELA, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ZANZIBAR. 6015, R. Tanzania Zanzibar, 0300, May 12, Swahili opening announcement and Qur`an recitation after National Anthem and pips on the hour, clear frequency, 23332 (Martien Groot, Nethelands, DSWCI DX Window May 19 via DXLD) ** ZIMBABWE [non]. 4880, Short Wave Radio Africa, London, via Talata Volondry (?) [other reports say Meyerton, RSA --- gh], 1730-1900*, May 18, back from 6145, talks in mixed English/ Shona and Ndebele e.g. about elections in Zimbabwe, Afropops, 1837 English ID and announcement 4880 as the winter frequency; most of the time BCQRM from the usual Spy Number Station plus occasional noise QRM sounding like jamming, but this was rather a digital utility transmission, 34343 (Anker Petersen, Skovlunde, Denmark, DSWCI DX Window May 19 via DXLD) UNIDENTIFIED. 4960, 1052-1115, May 15, testing of transmitter, tune in to open carrier, decent level, carrier intermittently on and off. 1104 garbled English and cutting in and out, seemed to be the news (``.. in California .. in uniform . . . allegedly video taped``), could not make out much and only on for very brief periods. If this is CRN [Catholic Radio Network, Papua New Guinea], then they will probably be well heard here. On May 16 I received the following from CRN: "The transmitter is not yet installed. We are waiting for the missing part from Australia for the antenna. The estimate time for the installation could be around 25-30 of May 2004. I will let you know when it is on air. Then transmitter will be rebroadcasting CRN Papua New Guinea programs 24 hours a day." That being the case, who did I hear with open carrier and breaking up audio in English? (Ron Howard, Monterey CA, DSWCI DX Window May 19 via DXLD) UNIDENTIFIED. 5/17 UT, I was listening to something on 5788 relaying the BBC. It had a nasty hum about it, and it signed off abruptly at 0459 UTC without ID. Any idea of what it might be? I haven't heard it since. Thanks! (Michael L. Semon, Lakeland, FL, May 19, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Maybe spur from something on 49m --- did you try to match it for stream and synchrony with regular BBC channels? (gh) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ CONVENTIONS & CONFERENCES +++++++++++++++++++++++++ INTERNATIONAL RADIO CLUB OF AMERICA CONVENTION 2004, BOISE ID, JULY We have decided to move the deadline up to 7/1. We have already heard that 2 more are coming; if you are send me a note! 73 Frank Aden, N7SOK, May 20, IRCA mailing list via DXLD) DRM +++ DRM BROADCASTERS USERS MANUAL This extensive document has just been published this week; I am sure many of you will find this of interest. Download it from http://www.drm.org/BUM/globbum.htm DRM tests from the UK to North America: From next Sunday evening (local time in North America, of course, Monday in the UK!) we will be running a series of test transmissions to see how well DRM signal from the UK to North America works. Times are 0200-0230 UT, running Monday 24th until Friday 28th May inclusive. Frequency is 6040 kHz, although we may change to 6140 kHz dependent on your feedback. On one of these days, probably Tuesday night (local time) I hope to run a first ever test: a "broadcast web site". There won't be any audio, but we will transmit a web site carrying weather maps, information and pictures. To view this you need to click on the service label in the GUI of the software once you have a signal. The whole site will take about 8 minutes to download. Please can you post feedback about these transmissions on the forum at http://www.DRMrx.org Many thanks in advance, James Briggs DRM Projects Co ordinator, VT Merlin Communications Ltd, Rampisham Transmitting Station Dorset, DT2 0HS, UK (via Al KA5JGV, San Antonio, TX, (rec.radio.shortwave) via Mike Terry, May 20, dxldyg via DXLD) RADIO EQUIPMENT FORUM +++++++++++++++++++++ UNIVERSAL RADIO 2004 COMMUNICATIONS CATALOG The new 104 page 2004 Universal Radio catalog is now available. It is available free on request. Click here for more Universal Catalog info. http://www.universal-radio.com/catalog.html (Dxing.com May 20 via gh, DXLD) WiFi vote at FCC See slashdot for details http://slashdot.org Posted by CmdrTaco on Tuesday May 18, @11:05AM from the will-this-work dept. compgenius3 writes "The FCC unanimously voted today to allow wireless providers to use the frequencies between television stations to broadcast WiFi in rural areas. Broadcasters argue that this will cause interference on television stations but the FCC chairman says otherwise." (via Bob Foxworth Amfmtvdx, via WORLD OF RADIO 1231, DXLD) Here a link to filed Comments from RecNet opposing the petition. It will clear up some of DXer's concerns.. http://www.recnet.com/fcc/04-37.pdf (SuperCFL, AMFMTVDX mailing list via WORLD OF RADIO 1231, DXLD) This was more about BPL, but still (gh, DXLD) AIR FORCE RADIOS JAM GARAGE DOOR OPENERS Thu May 20, 7:23 AM ET http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/B/BRF_DOORS_JAMMED?SITE=MAPIT&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT or http://tinyurl.com/3aey7 EGLIN AIR FORCE BASE, Fla. - A new military radio system is jamming remote-control garage doors in communities near this Florida Panhandle base. During testing last week of the $5.5 million two-way radio system at Eglin, homeowners in Niceville, Valparaiso and the Crestview area reported that their garage door openers failed to work. Air Force officials said Tuesday the contractor, Motorola Inc., will try to minimize the problem. Technicians will run the system at slightly different frequencies from those used by garage door openers when another test is conducted Friday through Monday. "I want my garage door opener to work, too," said Col. Russell F. Miller, commander of the 96th Communication Group. Lauren Van Wazer, a spokeswoman for the Federal Communication Commission, said if the Air Force has been running the system within its licensed frequencies --- the Air Force said it has --- then users of garage door openers may have to change theirs. A similar radio system has been requested for Pensacola Naval Air Station and other nearby installations, according to a Navy spokesman (via Pete Costello, Mike Cooper, yahoonews via Bill Westenhaver, DXLD) WTFK?? How can they write a story about conflict of radio frequencies, without even mentioning what they are?? (gh) 310 MHz band (Brock Whaley, DX LISTENING DIGEST) PROPAGATION +++++++++++ 27-DAY MAGNETIC ACTIVITY FORECAST FROM OTTAWA, MAY 20-JUNE 15 http://www.spaceweather.gc.ca/forecast27days_e.shtml (via Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ###