DX LISTENING DIGEST 4-086, May 31, 2004 edited by Glenn Hauser, http://www.worldofradio.com Items from DXLD may be reproduced and re-reproduced only if full credit be maintained at all stages and we be provided exchange copies. DXLD may not be reposted in its entirety without permission. Materials taken from Arctic or originating from Olle Alm and not having a commercial copyright are exempt from all restrictions of noncommercial, noncopyrighted reusage except for full credits For restrixions and searchable 2004 contents archive see http://www.worldofradio.com/dxldmid.html NOTE: If you are a regular reader of DXLD, and a source of DX news but have not been sending it directly to us, please consider yourself obligated to do so. Thanks, Glenn NEXT AIRINGS OF WORLD OF RADIO Extra 48 [=COM 04-03]: Wed 0930 on WWCR 9475 Mon 0330 on WSUI 910 http://wsui.uiowa.edu WRN ONDEMAND: http://new.wrn.org/listeners/stations/station.php?StationID=24 OUR ONDEMAND AUDIO [also for CONTINENT OF MEDIA, MUNDO RADIAL]: Check http://www.worldofradio.com/audiomid.html WORLD OF RADIO Extra 48 (high version): (stream) http://www.w4uvh.net/worx48h.ram (download) http://www.w4uvh.net/worx48h.rm (summary) http://www.worldofradio.com/com0403.html WORLD OF RADIO Extra 48 (low version) [same as COM 04-03]: (stream) http://www.w4uvh.net/com0403.ram (download) http://www.w4uvh.net/com0403-rm WORLD OF RADIO Extra 48 in MP3, the true shortwave sound of 5070: (stream) http://www.piratearchive.com/media/worldofradio_05-30-04.m3u (d`load) http://www.piratearchive.com/media/worldofradio_05-30-04.mp3 FIRST AIRINGS OF WORLD OF RADIO 1232: Wed 2200 on WBCQ 7415, 17495-CUSB Thu 2000 on RFPI, http://www.rfpi.org repeated 4-hourly thru Fri 1600 Thu 2030 on WWCR 15825 FINAL SUMMER 2004 SCHEDULE FOR WOR/COM/MR ON WEB RADIO This is the FINAL Summer 2004 schedule for World of Radio, Continent of Media and Mundo Radial on Web Radio at Southern Illinois University Edwardsville: WORLD OF RADIO: Monday-Thursday, various times (in automation) CONTINENT OF MEDIA: Monday-Thursday, various times (alternating weeks) MUNDO RADIAL: Monday-Thursday, various times (alternating weeks) All three shows are in rotation on our automation system (Web Radio uses Winamp 3.0 for the automation system). This is due to a sudden change in my schedule at Web Radio`s sister station, WSIE (88.7 MHz). Thanks for your attention (E.B. Stevenson, Acting General Manager, Web Radio, Southern Illinois University Edwardsville, http://webradio.siue.edu/ May 24) WOR/COM ON WBCQ "AFTER HOURS" WEBCAST Hello Glenn, I've been running World of Radio and Continent of Media broadcasts on the WBCQ after-hours webcast for a month or so at 1 AM ET (0500 UT). The most recent WOR and COM are in random rotation with CKUT's International Radio Report and The Shortwave Report from outfarpress.com. I'm planning to give WOR and COM dedicated time slots in the schedule. The "after hours" webcast runs from about 1 AM to 3:45 PM ET daily, i.e. when 7415 is off-air. If there is a better time in this window that you would like me to run your shows I'll be happy to accommodate you and the listener community. The current webcast programming is at http://www.wbcq.com/modules.php?name=Content&pa=showpage&pid=8 Best regards, (Larry Will) How about 1600 UT for WOR, a time it is not available elsewhere? (gh to Larry) I was planning to run WOR weekdays and COM weekends in their own dedicated time slot. 1600 UT it is. I will make the adjustments to the webcast source on Tuesday morning and publish the adjusted schedule on the wbcq.com website when I have the work completed. Regards, (Larry Will, May 31, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 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) ** ALASKA. BOSTON COLLEGE GRANTS TOM BUSCH OF KNOM HONORARY DEGREE FOR WORK AT PIONEER STATION Boston, May 25 (CRU) --- Tom Busch, the engineer fresh from college who was persuaded to build KNOM 780 AM Nome for the Diocese of Fairbanks, has been honored by Boston College today with a honorary degree. Mr. Busch managed the station for several years after constructing it on the far Alaskan tundra at the historic gold boom mining town of Nome on the Bering Sea. He left after three years for an extended career in broadcasting at several Alaskan commercial stations before being persuaded by Father Jim Poole SJ, founder of KNOM, to return to the station to manage it after Fr. Poole retired. Mr. Busch has managed the station for over 25 years since then. KNOM is the oldest Catholic radio station in continuous operation in the 50 American states (Mike Dorner, Catholic Radio Update May 31 via DXLD) ** ALBANIA. 6115.5, Radio Tirana, *0226-0300* May 27, opening ID for English broadcast by a woman announcer and music until 0230 for full ID and times and frequency announcement. Announced wrong start times; pre-daylight change schedule? News followed by Musical program of the Week. Entire program hosted by one woman with production values suffering. Station was off the air last week and back this week slightly above nominal frequency. Fair reception (Rich D`Angelo, PA, NASWA Flashsheet via DXLD) ** ANGOLA. QSL: R Nacional de Angola 4950 2email 35t v/s Maritza Paulo og Engrácia Mota. Jeg forstĺr det dit hen at Departamento133 @ hotmail.com er den korrekte emailadressen for QSL (Arnstein Bue, Trondheim, Norway, SW Bulletin May 30 via DXLD) ** AUSTRALIA. HCJB has greatly changed its schedule effective May 30. Tnx to a tip from Chris Hambly, I checked the website http://www.hcjb.org/Sections+index-req-viewarticle-artid-210-page- 1.html HCJB Australia Broadcast Schedule (A04 Effective from May 30 2004) English Language Broadcasts Reports to: english@hcjb.org.au For mailed reports, please post to: The Voice of the Great Southland GPO Box 691, Melbourne 3001, Australia Please include one (1) International Reply Coupon to help cover mailing costs. Thank you! To East Asia (directed towards China) Morning Release (2230 – 0100 UT): Click to See Programme Schedule 15525 kHz from Kununurra (KNX) 100 kW, 340 degree azimuth Evening Release (1200 – 1430 UT): Click to See Programme Schedule 15435kHz from Kununurra (KNX) 100 kW, 340 degree azimuth To South East Asia (coverage Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand) Evening Release (1000 – 1200 UT): Click to See Programme Schedule 15425 kHz from Kununurra (KNX) 100 kW, 307 degree azimuth To the South Pacific (coverage Eastern Australia, New Zealand, South Pacific Islands) Evening Release (0700 – 1000 UT): Click to See Programme Schedule 11750 kHz from Kununurra (KNX) 50 kW, 120 degree azimuth To South Asia (coverage Indian Subcontinent, Indonesia) Morning Release (0100 – 0230 UT): Click to See Programme Schedule 15560kHz from Kununurra (KNX) 100 kW, 307 degree azimuth Evening Release (1230 – 1730 UT): Click to See Programme Schedule (NOTE: THIS RELEASE WILL BE SUSPENDED FROM 30 MAY 2004 - RESUMING 28 AUGUST 2004) 15405 kHz from Kununurra (KNX) 75 kW, 307 degree azimuth ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Bahasa (Indonesian) Language Broadcasts To South East Asia (coverage Indonesia, Malaysia) Evening Release (1130 – 1200 UT): 15425 kHz from Kununurra (KNX) 100 kW, 307 degree azimuth ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Hindi, Urdu and Other South Asian (Indian) Language Broadcasts THESE BROADCASTS WILL BE RESUMED FROM 28 AUGUST 2004 (via Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) I laboriously clicked on the slow-loading program schedule pages to find DX Partyline: Sat 0730 on 11750, 1100 on 15425, 1230 on 15435 (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** BELARUS. Belarus Radio, Minsk, is currently providing good signals on the 49 mb, 6080 and 6115, for its National Network. Both channels observed here in Melbourne from 2100 until sign-off at 2200. Regards! (Bob Padula, Mont Albert, Victoria, Australia, May 29, DX LISTENING DIGEST) The low power relays of Belaruskaje Radyjo 1 from Hrodna (6040/7110) and Mahilioú (6190/7145) are no longer carrying regional programming. They are carrying the basic BR1 feed which includes a relay of BR Radyjo Stalica at W 0340-0400 & 1500-1540 (Sat 1600). (Bernd Trutenau, Lithuania, May 26, Cumbredx mailing list via DXLD) 7110/7145. After reading info from Bernd Trutenau, Lithuania that the low power relays of Belaruskaje Radyjo 1 from Hrodna (6040/7110) and Mahilioú (6190/7145) are no longer carrying regional prgmng but are carrying the basic BR1 feed (including a relay of BR Radyjo Stalica weekdays at 0340-0400 & 1500-1540 (Sat 1600), I checked the channels at 0300 on May 27. No chance on 6040 and 6190, which are blocked by other stations. However, a station that may have been Belarus was heard opening at 0300 on 7145. The signal was poor, but the channel was open so it was at least in the clear. There was not much distinctive programming, mainly talk with occasional music bridges. I paralleled this with 7110, which is tougher because what appeared to be Ethiopia opened there at 0300 and dominated the channel, and there may even have been a third station there --- I'm not sure. However, at times the same programming as on 7145 was heard on 7110. In fact, but for the QRM the 7110 signal probably would have been better overall than 7145. There was definitely a programming change at 0340 --- things got more upbeat, and at the start there were some chimes that could pass for an IS (but that were not the same as the opening melody that I have heard before on Stalica and that are on the Kernick IS website). Things went downhill after that. The 7110/7145 signals were barely perceptible on May 28 & 29, so I couldn't follow this further. It would be worth checking on good nights, however (Jerry Berg, MA, NASWA Flashsheet via DXLD) ** BOLIVIA. 6025, Radio Illimani is back on the air! 0010-0020 May 31, taquirari music, then YL ID/jingle: "Red Illimani - 70 ańos", then "Ámame" por el grupo Proyección. Worse than in 2002. Less power? All 2s (That's me, Artiom Prokhorov from Moscow with my latest catches made on Sony ICF7600G and its telescopic antenna in a countryside just in some 70 kms South of Moscow, Cumbre DX via DXLD) ** BOLIVIA. 5953, Radio Pio XII "Reporteros populares" with OM/YL in Quechua and Spanish at 2115, then much chicha and cumbia andina music, IDs in Spanish at 0010: "En las noticias de Siglo XII [sic --- XX?] es Radio Pio Doce" then in Quechua: "Siglokama Unciakama a las ocho de la noche Radio Pio Docewan" (that stands for "Up to Siglo (Veinte) and Uncía at eight at night together with Radio Pio XII"). At 0030 live radio quiz ``Qhariwan tutamanta punchay" ("Till the very morning with men") where "cholas, cholitas, seńoras, warmis y warmisitas" had to choose better charango player and singer. Two weeks back I heard a similar quiz where men had to choose between the best lady charango players and singers, great audio, 54554. 5953, Radio Pio XII with ballads and modern romantic songs in Spanish at 2300-0000 May 30, worse audio than on May, 29 (That's me, Artiom Prokhorov from Moscow with my latest catches made on Sony ICF7600G and its telescopic antenna in a countryside just in some 70 kms South of Moscow, Cumbre DX via DXLD) ** BRAZIL. Recordings and comments at: http://www.malm-ecuador.com 6945.11 unID LA, QTH: Sao Paulo area? (Brazil) 168kb + 97kb. 1015 UT 05/2004. unID Brasilian station with strong signal. Listen to my recording and try to identify the station. Săo Paulo area? 27/May/2004 11:14 Saludos Cordiales desde ``La Mitad del Mundo``! (Björn Malm, Quito, Ecuador, DX LISTENING DIGEST) [Later:] 6945.11, Radio Rio Mar, Manaus, Amazonas (Brasil) 72 kb 0958 UTC 05/2004. Rogildo Aragăo has identified my unID Brasilian station at his listening post this Friday morning. Listen to a new recording I did also this Friday morning. 28/May/2004 9:34 Saludos Cordiales desde ``La Mitad del Mundo``! (Bjorn Malm, Quito, Ecuador, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CHINA [and non?] Additional freqs for China Radio International: 9610 1400-1600 in English 9790 1900-1957 in Cantonese, strong co-ch RFI in French 9795 1200-1500 in English 11670 1200-1257 in Russian 11810 1300-1357 in English, strong co-ch Radio Jordan in Arabic 13760 2000-2100 in English, strong co-ch Voice of Korea in French 15150 1700-1857 in English, strong co-ch Voice of Indonesia in Spanish/German (Observer, Bulgaria, May 26 via DXLD) ** COLOMBIA. Recordings and comments at: http://www.malm-ecuador.com Amigos DXistas! All R@dionet stations in Colombia will end their transmissions from 1 June. All this weekend just American/English pop music with messages between every tune in Spanish about what is going to happen. 850.00 HJKC R@dionet, SF de Bogotá (Colombia) 152 kb. 29/5 2004. 29/May/2004 20:24 Saludos Cordiales desde ``La Mitad del Mundo``! (Björn Malm, Quito, Ecuador, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** COLOMBIA. Hola Glenn, Saludos desde Catia La Mar, VENEZUELA. Los cazadores de armónicos pueden darse banquete con la fortísima seńal de 2239.97 kHz. Captada el 25/05, a las 0342 UT, con SINPO 3/3. Se identifica como La Voz de la Liberación, ``LVL, sin límites``. Menciones de la secta ``Dios es Amor``, sede de la Iglesia Pentecostal en Cúcuta, Norte de Santander. Infiero que la seńal debe venir de ese lugar, Santander. żCuál estación está en los 1120 kHz, en esa zona? (Adán González, Catia La Mar, VENEZUELA, May 26, DX LISTENING DIGEST) WRTH 2004 shows HJTI, Colmundo R. 24, 10 kW on 1120 in Cúcuta (gh, DXLD) ** CUBA. MIDDAY CUBAN BANDSCAN FROM MARCO ISLAND, FLORIDA April 4, 2004 - Paul V. Zecchino Freq. Network Location Bearing 550 R. Rebelde Pinar del Río 570 R. Reloj Santa Clara 156 590 R. Musical La Julia, Habana 600 R. Rebelde Urbano Noris 620 R. Rebelde Colón, Matanzas 170 640 R. Progreso Guanabacoa, Habana 660 R. Progreso Santa Clara 179 670 R. Rebelde Arroyo Arenas 215 approx. 690 R. Progreso Jovellanos 152 710 R. Rebelde Matanzas 730 R. Progreso Nueva Gerona 750 R. Progreso Trinidad, SS 170 sharp 800 R. Progreso Bahía Honda 202 820 R. Ciudad Habana Habana 820 Jammer [Sancti Spíritus/Ciego? -gh] 150 sharp 840 Doblevé Santa Clara 160 sharp 850 R. Reloj Nueva Gerona 225 approx. 860 R. Reloj Colón, Matanzas (probable) 172 good 870 R. Reloj Sancti Spíritus 150 approx. 880 R. Progreso Pinar del Río 218 890 R. Progreso Chambas 148 sharp 910 R. Metropolitana Habana 220 930 R. Reloj Ciego de Ávila 150 approx. 950 R. Reloj Arroyo Arenas 208 960 R. Enciclopedia Matanzas 170 approx. 980 COCO Guanabacoa 188 990 R. Guamá La Palma, Pinar 206 1000 R. Guamá Matahambre 204 1020 R. Guamá Bahía Honda 204 1030 R. Musical La Palma, Pinar weak 1060 R. 26 Matanzas 174 1080 R. Cadena Habana Güines 184 1090 R. Guamá Matambre, HA 194 1090 R. Cadena Habana San Antonio, HA 194 1100 R. Cadena Habana La Salud, HA 192 1120 R. Cadena Habana Artemisa, HA 194 1140 R. Ciudad Bandera Habana 1140 R. Cadena Habana Habana 1140 Jammer 1180 R. Rebelde Villa María 1210 R. Sancti Spíritus Sancti Spíritus 150 1260 R. Enciclopedia Habana 1290 Doblevé Rancho Veloz, VC 172 1310 Doblevé Sagua la Grande 172 1310 R. Enciclopedia Isla Juventud (possibly) 182 1330 R. Jaruco Artemisa, HA 1340 R. Ciudad del Mar Palmira, Cienfuegos 170 1390 R. Jaruco Jaruco, HA 1400 R. Musical Matanzas, MA weak 1470 R. Ciudad Bandera Cárdenas, MA 1540 R. Sagua Sagua la Grande, VC 152 Noteworthy: 640 R. Progreso is a mess without a loop due to interference from WJNA Royal Palm Beach FL, and its newly authorized Running Dogs of Imperialism power increase. Weep not, Líder Máximo will shortly present his brilliant solution to this perfidious abrogation of the peoples` airwaves (NRC IDXD via DXLD) ** CUBA. La emisión de la Revista Informativa de la Noche de RHC, salió el pasado 29/05, desde el estudio 1 de Radio Rebelde. El resumen informativo "24 horas en el Mundo" salió en el inusual horario de las 0300. Ya a las 0400 se emitía la programación regular de Radio Rebelde, por las frecuencias de RHC. Al día siguiente el equipo de RHC volvió a las instalaciones regulares de la emisora. żPor qué? 73's y buen DX (Adán González, Catia La Mar, Venezuela, May 31, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CUBA [and non]. From my SW log; no other explanation really necessary: 9655 R Finland, Pori, Finland. female, Finnish, ID, heard under strong dead RHC cx 0429 UT 9600 R Habana Cuba. Dead carrier, //9550, dead cx, //9820, dead cx with no mod! 0428 UT Note to Fidel: mi amigo, all you have to do to straighten out the constant Habana power failures will be just a few simple little things; all will be well. (1) Call an election, and allow all candidates to participate, with Jimmy Carter and James Baker standing by to check the voting; (2) let whoever wins run the country without resisting, tearing up the ballots, calling in the firing squad, or making one of your 17 hour speeches until they collapse of brain- damage; (3) re-write the Cuban constitution, leaving out all the stuff you got from your teenage copy of "The Wit and Wisdom of Leon Trotsky"; (4) reform the Cuban monetary system; (5) permit an uncontrolled decentralized economy; (6) make peace and amends with Mexico and the United States and god KNOWS how many other countries; (7) turn the Internet back on; (8) let the librarians out of your prisons -- along with about a million other "misguided" persons; (9) dump your chemical weapons in a big pit and let the US Army Corps of Engineers handle the disposal. If I think of anything else, comrade, I'll let you know. Oh, yes: send Jed, George, and Laura a nice Memorial Day card. And -- send Sr. Coro back to radio school. (P. S. You can apply for foreign aid when you're all through, and then the power can stay on. Adiós, Esteban.) (Steve Waldee, CA, cc to DX LISTENING DIGEST) RHC: some transmitters off; 9820 simulcasting R Rebelde, very distorted --- Glenn: More RHC trouble again Friday night: a full report, with two sound clips and technical analysis, added to my tome at: http://home.earthlink.net/~srw-swling/RHC/index.html#TORCIDO Best, (Steve Waldee, CA, May 29, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CUBA [and non]. CUBA SHAPING UP AS IRAQ II --- ADMINISTRATION'S GAFFES ON VERGE OF BEING REPEATED IN 'TRANSITION' Wayne S. Smith - For the Journal-Constitution Thursday, May 27, 2004 The path by which the Bush administration led us into the nightmarish Iraqi quagmire is strewn with arrogance, flawed assumptions, faulty intelligence and downright lies. It seems determined to make the same mistakes all over again with Cuba. The administration listened all too trustingly to a small group of Iraqi exiles. We see the result. A disaster. Now the administration is listening to another tiny knot of hard-line exiles in Miami. . . Finally, the administration is going to have military aircraft transmit radio and television programming to Cuba from international airspace. That will be expensive and also violates the International Communications Convention. Nor will it have any significant effect. Radio Martí has been broadcasting for some 20 years with only occasional jamming [sic!]. It has not changed Cuban public opinion one iota in all that time. For all its bluster, the administration's revamped Cuba policy is even more clearly foredoomed than the Iraqi policy. The latter is fast losing support across the United States. The Cuba policy retains only that of a tiny group of hard-line exiles in Florida. The will of the majority at some point soon will prevail. Wayne S. Smith is a senior fellow at the Center for International Policy in Washington and an adjunct professor at Johns Hopkins University. Wayne S. Smith is the former chief of the U.S. Interests Section in Havana. [excerpts; registration required:] http://www.ajc.com/thursday/content/epaper/editions/thursday/opinion_045b68a004e2201c0093.html (c) 2004 The Atlanta Journal-Constitution (via Mike Cooper, DXLD) ** DENMARK. 5815, WMR appears on the air here around 1600 and stays audible till 0300, all 5s at 1900-0130, at 1600 0 = 2/3. Nothing yet on 15810 (That's me, Artiom Prokhorov from Moscow with my latest catches made on Sony ICF7600G and its telescopic antenna in a countryside just in some 70 kms South of Moscow, Cumbre DX via DXLD) ** DJIBOUTI [non]. Re: A jammer sound on 1431 kHz --- Not heard here for a week or so anymore. Before it was audible until circa 0500 UT so I doubt a bit the transmitter was located in the Middle East as no other stations from that area were coming in at that time, 1:45 h after our local SunRise (Karel Honzik, the Czech Republic (Czechia), AOR AR-7030, 30 m LW, May 26, MWC via DXLD) ** GUATEMALA. 4052, May 29 0320-0420, R. Verdad. Reactivated. During the broadcast the announcer said (in Spanish) that their transmitter problems had been solved, and therefore they were back on the air, and requesting reception reports. Lots of Christian hymns, some talks in spanish and a full ID in Japanese. Elmer Escoto – HND (via HCDX onlinelog via SW Bulletin via DXLD) 4052.47, R. Verdad, After getting an e-mail from the station secretary stating "Radio Verdad just went on the air today, but with only one module because the other worked well only five minutes and broke again. Our power today is from 280 to 300 Watts. We appreciate if you tune our signal and let us know how it is." Found it from 0109 to 0302 with mostly religious music. A couple short announcements by M at 0131, 0209, and 0215 from what I could hear. What was apparently a couple periods of dead air too. Maybe they were testing. Poor signal at tune-in, then dropped off quickly and it never got any better. Best at tune-in, no doubt because of perfect grayline reception 29 May (Dave Valko, PA, Cumbredx mailing list via DXLD) ** HUNGARY. READY FOR LAUNCH: HUNGARIAN BISHOPS DEDICATE FIRST TRANSMITTER OF NATIONWIDE AM NETWORK Budapest, May 25 (CRU) --- The Hungarian Bishops will launch the first station of three in a national network this Pentecost Sunday. Magyar Katolikus Rádió even with this first station will cover 80% of the population of 10 million. Last January, the Bishops Conference was awarded the AM network of Petöfi Radio, one of the several national public radio networks run by Magyar Radio, formally dedicated its first station, Szolnok 1341 AM, last Tuesday, May 25, in a ceremony reported by the German language service of HVJ Radio Vaticano. ``The Church in Hungary will take up broadcasting on its new nationwide radio network on Pentecost Sunday, May 30. The Catholic radio network will be heard over AM radio and is the greatest initiative in Catholic mass media since the Second World War. On Tuesday Cardinal Peter Ordö and Archbishop Istvan Seregely blessed the new radio network. The National Radio and Television Council has granted the Bishops Conference a license for AM frequencies for seven years.`` The Hungarian Bishops Conference reports the formal blessing and dedication of the new station, complete with photographs, at http://193.224.158.212/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=45 The new network, to be known as Magyar Katolikus Rádió (MKR), bears the same name as the three-year-old Magyar Katolikus Rádió–Eger, a regional FM network of four stations in northern Hungary, owned and operated by the Archdiocese of Eger. But the networks will be operated distinctly, although the stations will share some programs, according to Mr. Ferenc Zlinszky, who is deputy editor-in-chief at Magyar Katolikus Rádió–Eger. (See Catholic Radio Update #269, February 23, 2004; the article therein corrects and expands the report that appeared in Catholic Radio Update #268.) The new, national MKR has its own website and e-mail address, announced at the end of the report on the news pages at the website: katradio @ katolikus.hu and http://www.katradio.hu According to the website, broadcasting begins Pentecost over just one transmitter, 1341 AM in Szolnok, in the heart of Hungary. In or by April 2005, transmitters at Lakihegy (Budapest) on 810 AM and Siófok on 1341 AM. Neither the World Radio-TV Handbook of 2002 or the European Medium Wave Guide of 2004 list the three frequencies or indicate power. MKR will also be heard continent-wide over the AMOS-1 satellite on 11303 MHz and via the Internet by means of MP3 and Real Player. The station is reported to be a 24-hour operation, but the website shows the hours to be 4:30 a.m. to a half-hour past midnight, Hungarian time (1 hour ahead of GMT, 2 hours ahead in the summertime). Editor`s Note --- My thanks to Dr. Hansjörg Biener, editor of Medien- Aktuell, for sending me the Vatican Radio report and other information this past week. Database Magyar Katolikus Rádió. Szolnok 1341 AM (power unknown). Magyar Katolikus Rádió Rt., 1062 Budapest, Hungary, Délibáb u. 15-17. Mailing address: 1385 Budapest, Pf. 879. Tel.: 255-3366. E-mail: info @ katradio.hu/ Website: http://www.katolikusradio.hu In April 2005, transmitters will be added at Lakihegy (810 AM) and Siófok 1341. The Lord`s Prayer in Hungarian - Az Úr imádsága magyarul Mi Atyánk, aki a mennyekben vagy, szenteltessék meg a Te neved, jöjjön el a Te országod, legyen meg a Te akaratod amint a mennyben, úgy a földön is. Mindennapi kenyerünket add meg nekünk ma, és bocsásd meg vétkeinket, miképpen mi is megbocsátunk az ellenünk vétkezőknek, és ne vígy minket kísértésbe, de szabadíts meg a gonosztól. Ámen (Mike Dorner, Catholic Radio Update May 31 via DXLD) Thanks to a tip from Laszlo, in DXing.info, the new Hungarian Catholic station "Magyar Katolikus Radio" was heard here on 28 May at 1853 on 1341 kHz. Transmitter in Szolnok, 135 kW (Jari Savolainen, Kuusankoski, Finland, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Magyar Katolikus Rádio (Hungarian Catholic Radio) on 1341 kHz is very strong here. The station seems to start at 0300 UT (tuned in at 0303 and heard an identification). They play mostly classical music at this early morning hour. Transmitter: Szolnok, 135 kW Language: Hungarian Signal strength: S9 + 30dB In fact I noticed a strong carrier on this frequency already ca. 2 weeks ago. I did not want to start an alarm as I have a number of similar disturbing carriers in the MW band in this urban electromagnetic smog area. Well, none of them is S9 + 30dB strong so I was more suspicious this time (Karel Honzik, the Czech Republic (Czechia), AOR AR-7030, 30 m LW, MWC via DXLD) Same here, they put out an enormous signal. Heard them with a testloop consisting of church organ music, religious choruses and IDs in Hungarian on 29.5. from 1945 to 2015 hours UTC. On a Sony ICF2001D placed in a loop antenna rock-solid SINPO 55555. No beep of Lisnagarvey left. Sounds like more than 135 kW. -- 73's (Martin Elbe, Germany, May 31, MWC via DXLD) A recording of the yesterday launched Magyar Katolikus Rádió on 1341 is here (sounding a bit hollow because a nasty local noise had to be filtered out): http://www.radioeins.de/_/meta/sendungen/apparat/040529_a1.ram The website of this station is http://www.katolikusradio.hu/ It should not be confused with the Eger-based FM operation that maintains a website at http://www.mkr.hu/ Without understanding a single word of Hungarian I think it is a picture report of the inauguration/consecration of the Magyar Katolikus Rádió studio site that can be found at http://www.katolikus.hu/szombathely/szombathely-ujd.html Seems this was on May 25, the day before the first test transmissions on 1341 started. Magyar Katolikus Rádió is also transmitted on the Israeli AMOS satellite, at least according to their webpages where 1341 is mentioned as well but no transmitter site specified. I think it needs some further review if 1341 really originates from Szolnok, since still a 5 kW transmitter there is in use by Magyar Radio on 1350, or is it no longer? Anyway it would be technically complicated (if not impossible) to operate 1341 and 1350 from one and the same site, not to discuss how suitable this would be for the listeners, even with tight 4.5 kHz lowpass filtering in use. Observations here so far show that the signal is not very strong, considerably weaker than Marcali- 1188 (the difference is certainly greater than the 5...6 db from the 500 vs. reported 135 kW difference), and the audio is quite soft, apparently with no audio processing in use. But if memory serves right this was the case with the 1998 discontinued Petöfi Radio mediumwave transmissions, too, and I also seem to recall that the heavy dynamic compression on 1188 was added only later (perhaps already at RFE/RL Prague if they maintain a dedicated circuit to Marcali). (Kai Ludwig, Germany, May 31, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** INDIA. AWR Wavescan May 29 included Jose Jacob`s report on his visit to Bangalore. Added were the pronunciations of the transmitters: Each transmitter is named after an Indian river. These high powered units are identified as follows:- BL1 Ganga (GUNG-ga) BL2 Cauvery (CAU-ve-ree) BL3 Yamuna (YUM-un-a) BL4 Krishna (KRISH-na) BL5 Narmada (NAR-ma-da) BL6 Godavari (GOD-a-VAHR-ee) (via gh, DXLD) ** INDONESIA. Seldom heard Radio Nasional RRI Jakarta, Programa Tiga, heard around 1400-1700 UT on May 29th on split frequency of v11860.9 wandering to 11861.0. From 1500 to 1600 many live phone interviews heard in Bahasa Indonesia, followed by smooth music from 1600 to 1700 UT, like Elvis Presley's "Love me tender". (Wolfgang Büschel, Italy 43.50 north, May 29, Cumbre DX via DXLD) ** INTERNATIONAL WATERS [non?]. More tests from The Northsea FriendShipRadio has its first tests last weekend on 16mb, mostly on 17475 kHz. These tests have been reported to be heard during evening hours only in Southern Europe --- Italy and Spain by few listeners. More tests from the good ship MV Sheena will be launched this weekend starting Saturday morning 29th of May. Short testprograms whole day long includes mostly sunshinemusic with few IDs. Come along to The Good Ship, (Maynard Wesley, Chief Manager, May 28, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Has anyone heard this? No replies to us (gh, DXLD) ** ISRAEL. Summer schedule for Kol Israel (from Sep. 22, 2004 one hour later): ARABIC 0300-2115 5915 ENGLISH 0400-0415 9435# 11590 15640* 17600 1010-1020 15640 17535 1700-1715 9435# 15640* 17535 1900-1925 11605# 15615 15640* 17535 FRENCH 0415-0430 9435# 11590 11605 15640* 1000-1010 15640 17535 1530-1545 15640 17535 1930-1945 11605 15615 17535 HEBREW 0000-0325 11585 0330-0400 11590 0400-1755 15760 0500-1000 17535 1030-1400 17535 1800-0400 15760* 1800-0355 9345# 2200-2355 13635 HUNGARIAN 1645-1700 11605 17535 PERSIAN 1400-1525 15640 17525 17535 Sun-Thu 1400-1500 15640 17525 17535 Fri/Sat ROMANIAN 1625-1645 11605 17535 RUSSIAN 1715-1900 9435# 11605 15640* 17535 SPANISH 1020-1030 15640 17535 1500-1525 15640 17535 Sat only 1545-1555 15640 17535 1945-2000 11605 15615 17535 YIDDISH 1600-1625 11605 17535 * till Aug. 31; # from Sep. 1 (Observer, Bulgaria, May 26 via DXLD) ** JAPAN [non]. SRI LANKA: Additional transmission of Radio Japan NHK in Arabic: 1100-1115 on 17595 (55444) via EKA 300 kW / 310 deg (Observer, Bulgaria, May 26 via DXLD) ** KURDISTAN. CLANDESTINE: On 24 May at 1714 (tune-in) noted Voice of Iraqi Kurdistan in Kurdish on 6285. Very strong signal and nice, sharp audio. They had good background music during one talk portion. Sounded very familiar and after a moment I recognized the old ``Johnny Guitar``. Closed down at 1800 after ID and short song (Jari Savolainen, Kuusankoski, Finland, DX LISTENING DIGEST) On 30 May Voice of Iraqi Kurdistan was noted on 6320 in Arabic at 1620. On 24 May they were on 6285 (Jari Savolainen, Kuusankoski, Finland, May 31, DX LISTENING DIGEST) I think this is an official domestic station these days, rather than a clandestine... :) 73s, (Bernd Trutenau, Lithuania, Cumbredx mailing list via DXLD) ** LATVIA. Re DX LISTENING DIGEST 4-085, May 24, 2004 --- I confirm that this is European Music Radio, I listened to this station on May 23, from 1820 to 1841 UT, many IDs, good music, very good signal in Italy, sign-off at 1841 UT (Davide Tambuchi, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 9290, Ulbroka transmission center, Q103 at 1300-1400, all 5s, FRSH at 1400-1600, with all 5s, deep but short fading at 1550 May 30 (That's me, Artiom Prokhorov from Moscow with my latest catches made on Sony ICF7600G and its telescopic antenna in a countryside just in some 70 kms South of Moscow, Cumbre DX via DXLD) ** LIBYA. Re the unidentified Arabic speaking station on 11180 in DX Listening Digest 4-085 reported by Guido Schotmans and Silvain Domen. On 24 May at 2115-2145 I listened to 11180U and noted decent signal with some fading. Talks and music in Arabic. Sounds like they are targeting the "People of Iraq". Two rather long and complicated (to my ears) IDs heard, mentioning "Shaab al Iraq" and "Jamahiriya". I believe this is the station broadcasting from Libya to Iraq. They've been on various frequencies in the 41, 31 and 25 meterbands for the past year or so. Haven't seen the complete ID in writing in the dx- bulletins. 73 (Jari Savolainen, Kuusankoski, Finland, May 25, DX LISTENING DIGEST) On 25 May around 1830 I checked 11180 against the reported Libyan frequencies to Iraq, 9745 and 11660. Found the parallel program on both of these two channels. Mode is AM/USB with more or less suppressed LSB/carrier (Jari Savolainen, Kuusankoski, Finland, ibid.) ** MEXICO. 9705.98, 0343 May 30, Radio Mexico International. Good reception tonight with Mexican traditional vocals. Best on LSB to avoid splatter from WYFR way up on 9715. A shame that they canned their English programs, including DXperience heard around now local Saturday nights (Volodya Salmaniw, Victoria, BC, DX LISTENING DIGEST) So did XERMX get a reprieve or is it still existing on a day-to-day basis??? (gh, DXLD) {apparently QRT as of June 1!} ** MONGOLIA. The Mongolian Radio domestic service is now giving good signals here in Melbourne at its morning sign-on at 2100. Two channels noted on May 24 - 4830 and 4895. There is a long anthem at opening at 2100, with 4830 being considerably stronger than 4895. Local news is presented at 2102 after the identification announcements, in Mongolian. Audio quality is not very good, similar to what could occur if using an incorrectly equalised, narrow bandwidth 0.3 kHz - 2.6 kHz telephone line for part of the feed. Unfortunately, severe sideband interference from ABC Alice Springs 4835 at its sign-on at 2130. Regards! (Bob Padula, Mont Albert, Victoria, Australia, May 25, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** MOROCCO. 15410.59, VOA, (Briech, Morocco listed), 2000 May 28, Noted news and features in English. This broadcast listed on 15410 but actually measured on 15410.594 kHz. Off frequency by 594 Hertz. Is this reasonable error? Signal was armchair. Confirmed receiver accuracy with WWV 15 MHz. Right on (Chuck Bolland, Clewiston, Florida, NRD545/DIPOLE, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Certainly not reasonable for VOA (gh) ** NETHERLANDS. 3930, Radio Delta (Pirate), pop music at 2005 - 2230 onwards, 55555. 3927/28, Radio Spaceman (Pirate) with two OMs and one YL in the studio at 2225, advert info about Pirate meeting in Ballonaso (?) at the end of June, all 5s (That's me, Artiom Prokhorov from Moscow with my latest catches made on Sony ICF7600G and its telescopic antenna in a countryside just in some 70 kms South of Moscow, Cumbre DX via DXLD) ** NEW ZEALAND. 3935, Radio Reading, ZLXA f/d card and letter accompanied by background materials on Radio for the Print Disabled service - signer was Brian Stokoe, QSL Manager. E-mailed report to reports @ radioreading.org and Bstokoe @ radioreading.org and received reply in 11 days. Dates on letter and card did not match (letter was correct, card was a day off, but I'll take it with gratitude for a very prompt reply!) Reception from 5/14 at 0839 (Bruce Churchill, CA, Cumbredx mailing list via DXLD) ** NICARAGUA. (23-V-04) I have logged YNOQ-1370 Radio La Pascua with Unión Radio programming, and ID "Unión Rrradio" at 0259 UT. Below there was another station which had music around 0300. 73's – (Christoph Mayer, Jena, Germany, MWC via DXLD) ** NIGERIA. Voice of Nigeria: 7255 "broken" Glenn: On 28 May 2004, 0458 UT: V. of Nigeria, 7255. sign-on; strong carrier; national anthem with so much distortion and bass overload that it was hard to recognize as music, followed by ID and announcements by man in FF; then the regular interval signal, Chopin waltz synthesized. Distortion is severe, either sideband: so much that voice is nearly unintelligible. Their website says: 5 new Brown Boveri transmitters in 1989; 3 new Thomcast AG in 1996: inexcusable. Distortion does not sound to me like mere audio problem; likely a completely fouled up pulse-width modulator or severe nonlinearity or loading problem. No parallels audible; can't judge if merely program signal problem. Station always too bass heavy and on ragged edge of distortion, but now is "broken" - might as well shut it off! (Steve Waldee - retired broadcast station engineer, 1-to-50 kW AM transmitters, SF bay area, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** NORTH AMERICA. WHYP fue escuchada el 25/05, a las 0322 UT, con SINPO 34332. Frecuencia 6925.01 kHz. Rock clásico y James Brownyard anunciaba el correo-e de la emisora. Seńal fuera del aire a las 0333. Esta estación confirma tarde, pero confirma. Siempre es interesante tener una QSLetter o una QSL de alguna pirata norteamericana. Toda una pieza de colección. Hace unos meses atrás Alan Maxwell me dirigió un correo-e en el cual me informaba su retiro de las ondas, debido a que tenía que atender unos asuntos personales. Lamentable decisión, ya que KIPM es una de las piratas estadounidenses más emblemáticas. Sus QSL extragrandes son algo inusual y espectacular en el mundo del diexismo. Según el mismo Alan, la posibilidad de volver en un futuro con sus transmisiones está abierta. Ojalá así sea. 73`s y buen DX (Adán González, Catia La Mar, VENEZUELA, May 26, DX LISTENING DIGEST) I am belatedly filing pirate info such as this under NORTH AMERICA, on the off chance some of them are actually in Canada rather than USA, just as Europeans of uncertain origin are under EUROPE, ditto SOUTH AMERICA (gh) ** PAPUA NEW GUINEA. Glenn: On 27 May 2004, 0945-0955 UT -- 3355.0, R Simbu, Kundiawa: this is the very first time heard so clearly that I was *certain* that it was not Jambi. Man with very lightly accented voice, giving commentary about the prophet Isaiah, Jesus, and other biblical figures. Amazingly clear, compared to usual signal here; oddly most other PNG stations are just above noise threshold and worse than normal. Rx - Icom R75; 108M dipole 1000-1002 UT, 27 May 2004 -- 3385, R. East New Britain, Rabaul. Man with an Aussie-accent delivering English ad for copy shop, followed by long dead pause, then several seconds later woman reading news, mostly Pidgin. This and R. Simbu are the only two PNG stations this morning that are clearly audible; lots of others but just fuzz balls (Steve Waldee, San Jose, California, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ROMANIA. Frequency changes for Radio Romania International: 1700-1757 French NF 11865, ex 11765 \\ 15170 1700-1757 Romanian NF 11765, ex 11865 \\ 9530 (Observer, Bulgaria, May 26 via DXLD) ** RUSSIA. 7390, 1444 May 30, Voice of Russia World Service. Excellent reception in English via Vladivostok with description of Russian toy crafts. Parallel to 12055 at fair to good level via Chita (Volodya Salmaniw, Victoria, BC, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** RUSSIA. I received an electronic survey from the Voice of Russia labeled, DRM - fresh international radio opportunities: "Hello! from all of us, at the sociological centre of the "Voice of Russia" radio company. Could you spare us a minute and answer a few questions? All your answers will be statistically processed and used in generalized form only." I sent them a reply indicating I have had very little experience with DRM and that sets are not readily available in the USA. It will be interesting to see what a survey of listeners will turn up (Rich D`Angelo, PA, NASWA Flashsheet May 30 via DXLD) ** RUSSIA. Regional stations active as of April, 2004: 4795 2100-1700 Ulan-Ude (Selenginsk) 50 kW 5930 0100-2100 Murmansk (Monchegorsk) 50 kW 5940 1700-1300 Magadan (Arman) 100 kW 6060 1900-1500 Yakutsk 50 kW 6085 2100-1700 Krasnoyarsk 50 kW 6100 2100-1700 Kyzyl 5 kW 6150 2300-1500+ Perm 5kW 6160 0100-2100 Arkhangelsk 40 kW 7140 1900-1500 Yakutsk 50kW 7200 1900-1500 Yakutsk 100kW 7320 1700-1300 Magadan (Arman) 100 kW 7345 1900-1500 Yakutsk 50 kW 11650 1505-1900 Perm 5 kW Regional stations irregularly active: 4820 2300-1900 Khanty-Mansiysk 50 kW 4895 2300-1900 Tyumen 50 kW 11840 1700-1300 Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk 15 kW (Nikolai Rudnev, Russia, May-June NASWA Listeners Notebook via DXLD) ** SWEDEN. Radio Sweden International has adjusted its frequency for the morning Swedish service to Australia and Asia, 2100-2130. It's now on 9930, replacing 9925, via Hörby, and providing very strong signals here in Melbourne. The English service to the same area is 2130-2200, and is on unchanged 9880. Regards! (Bob Padula, Mont Albert, Victoria, Australia, May 29, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** UGANDA [non]. Radio Rhino International Africa cancelled transmissions via DTK T-systems: 1500-1530 on 17870 JUL 100 kW / 145 deg Tue-Fri to EAf in English (Observer, Bulgaria, May 26 via DXLD) Closed, or moved elsewhere?? ** U K. Narrator: Quite recently, a radio friend in England made available to ``Wavescan`` a very interesting QSL card. This card verified a reception report dated April 29 in the year 2000 and it was issued by ``Portishead (I think, PORT-iss-HEAD) Radio``. The interesting fact that was printed on this QSL card states that the station claimed to be the largest radio communication centre in the world. And so today here in Wavescan, we take a look at this interesting radio communication station. It was back in the year 1920 that their first maritime transmitting and receiving facility was installed into an old wireless receiving station at a coastal location near Devizes in county Wiltshire on the west coast of England. This station was their first long range maritime transmitting station and the single transmitter was a 6 kW valve unit operating on longwave under the callsign GKT. Four years later, a second longwave transmitter was installed at this same Devizes location. It was also in this same year that a receiving station was installed at Highbridge and this location became the control centre for Portishead Radio for the lengthy period of sixty years. In the year 1926, the first shortwave transmitter was installed into the original site at Devizes and this marked an important turning point in international radio communication. A new facility was constructed at Portishead near Bristol in 1927 and this station was officially opened on July 1, 1928. From this time onwards, regardless of the actual transmitter location, the facility was always known as ``Portishead Radio``. Initially Portishead itself contained three longwave transmitters, though a new shortwave transmitter was installed in 1929. It was at this stage that the original facility at Devizes was closed. Subsequently, three new shortwave transmitters were installed at this location and the longwave units were withdrawn from service. During the war years, beginning in 1939, Portishead introduced one way transmissions for shipping in the Atlantic as a security measure. Over the years, Portishead Radio underwent many major developments that included the usage of several additional transmitting locations. In fact, one of their QSL card lists about a dozen transmitter sites that were in use for varying periods of time. In the year 1948, the transmitter site at Portishead was closed, leaving just three active sites on the air, Leafield, Ongar & Rugby. The Rugby facility was a famous early radio station that was constructed by the Post Office and it was on the air mainly with international communication traffic. There were times though when Rugby was brought into use for the broadcast of radio programming from the BBC London. The callsign range for Portishead Radio began with GKA, and it seems that every letter of the alphabet was in use at some time or another right down to GKZ. The usage of Morse Code was gradually phased out over a period of time until in 1999, almost all communications were in voice mode or with electronic signalling. The final transmission from Portishead Radio, using the Post Office transmitter at Rugby, was on April 30, 2000 in Morse Code. Even though Portishead Radio was a communication station and not a program broadcasting station, yet they were known as a reliable verifier during their more than 80 years of on air service. The AWR collection contains a nice range of Portishead QSL cards in three different styles. The nicest card was their yellow and blue global card identifying their initial callsign, GKA. A later card was a white text card identifying the next sequential callsign GKB. Their final card was a photo folder card, also identifying the callsign GKB. The 75th anniversary brochure issued by Portishead Radio in 1995 makes this statement: Portishead Radio is the most famous maritime station in the world. Their final QSL card in April 2000 makes this statement: Portishead Radio was the largest radio communication station in the world. In view of their long 80 years of service, and the fact that they were on the air from maybe even more than a dozen different transmitter locations, it would seem then that their twin claims to importance and size were indeed quite accurate (Adrian Michael Peterson, AWR Wavescan May 29 via DXLD) ** U K [non]. Bible Voice Broadcasting Network (BVBN) changes via DTK T-systems: 1500-1600 17510 JUL 100 kW / 090 deg Sun SAs in Hindi, ex 1530-1600 1545-1830 15680 JUL 100 kW / 115 deg Sat ME in English, ex 1545-1800 2230-0130 5925 JUL 100 kW / 115 deg Daily to ME in English additional 0000-0100 6010 WER 250 kW / 300 deg Mon-Fri NAm in English additional (Observer, Bulgaria, May 26 via DXLD) ** U S A. REMOVE LIMBAUGH FROM AFRTS I recently heard someone say that instead of a fight of good vs evil, the neocons are making the `war on terrorism` into a fight of not-as- evil vs evil (Don Moore, IA, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Sign the Petition http://www.petitiononline.com/mmfa2/petition.html To: Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld We request that Secretary Rumsfeld remove talk radio host Rush Limbaugh from the American Forces Radio and Television Service (formerly known as Armed Forces Radio). Mr. Limbaugh, whose program is broadcast for one hour per day to U.S. troops overseas, has spent the past four weeks condoning and trivializing the abuse, torture, rape and possible murder of Iraqi prisoners by U.S. guards at the Abu Ghraib prison --- gross misconduct that you have described as ``fundamentally un-American.`` In recent weeks, Rush Limbaugh has: Compared the abuse of Iraqi prisoners by U.S. guards at Abu Ghraib to a fraternity initiation; called the abuse ``brilliant`` and ``effective``; said the guards were just ``having a good time`` and ``blow[ing] some steam off``; likened the abuse to ``a Britney Spears or Madonna concert ... [or] the MTV music awards``; compared pictures of the abuse to ``good old American pornography``; and said ``the reaction to the stupid torture is an example of the feminization of this country.`` Limbaugh`s radio program is broadcast to American troops via the American Services Network, a taxpayer-funded radio and television broadcasting agency that reaches nearly 1 million US troops in more than 175 countries, including Iraq. Both Secretary Rumsfeld and President Bush have rightly denounced the acts that took place at Abu Ghraib - but American service men and women abroad are getting the wrong message when the Department of Defense simultaneously broadcasts Limbaugh`s condoning of what Secretary Rumsfeld has called ``fundamentally un-American`` acts. Limbaugh`s comments directly contradict orders issued by the commander of U.S. forces in Iraq -- which, according to the Washington Post, bar ``military interrogators from using the most coercive techniques available to them in the past`` -- thus undermining the military`s chain of command. The comments may also inflame anti-American sentiment abroad, putting our service men and women at risk. In addition, as Media Matters for America detailed in a May 2 report, Meet the New Rush, Same as the Old Rush, Mr. Limbaugh has recently made several racially-charged and sexist remarks on his broadcast. For example, Mr. Limbaugh said on April 26 that women who protest sexual harassment ``actually wish`` to be sexually harassed. And on March 26, Mr. Limbaugh said, ``A Chavez is a Chavez. These people have always been a problem.`` Given the extraordinary importance of troop morale and unity during this time of conflict, we ask Secretary Rumsfeld to review whether it is appropriate for the U.S. government to broadcast such messages, which may sow seeds of discord in the ranks. We, the undersigned, ask Secretary Rumsfeld to order the American Services Network to cease broadcasting Rush Limbaugh`s radio program immediately, before he further undermines the military`s command structure and endangers our troops. Sincerely, The Undersigned http://www.petitiononline.com/mmfa2/petition.html ------------------------------ [Don`s tagline:] Fact: Today 7.5% of Federal tax money comes from corporations. In the 1950s it was over 25% (New York Times, Apr 13 2004) Radio & Latin American website: http://donmoore.tripod.com Highly Recommended http://www.commondreams.org http://www.tompaine.com (via Don Moore, IA, DXLD) ** U S A. 17775, KVOH, apparently has been taken over by Iglesia de Restauración, Inc. (see DXLD 4-080). Heard carrying Spanish religious music programming // to the website http://www.restauracion.com/ about 35 seconds behind the on-air signal) at 1445 May 17, with this ID at 1500: "This is KVOH, La Voz de Restauración Broadcasting. Ésta es KVOH, La Voz de Restauración Bróádcasting, desde Los Ángeles, California, transmitiendo en la frecuencia 17775, banda de los 16 metros." Good signal, though faded some after 1500 (Jerry Berg, MA, NASWA Flashsheet May 30 via DXLD) ** U S A. 5919.97, 0348 May 30, WBOH. Good reception with inspirational Christian hymns. As always slightly off nominal 5920. Fair amount of static crashes tonight. FBN ID at 0400 including for WTJC 9370 and WBOH 5920, into USA network news. 9370 in parallel and stronger (Volodya Salmaniw, Victoria, BC, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A [non]. United Methodist Church/Radio Africa International cancelled all transmissions via DTK T-systems: 0400-0600 on 13810 JUL 100 kW / 160 deg Daily to NoAf in English 0600-0800 on 15435 JUL 100 kW / 190 deg Daily to NoAf in French 1700-1900 on 15715 JUL 100 kW / 145 deg Daily to EaAf in English 1700-1900 on 17550 JUL 100 kW / 160 deg Daily to NoAf in English (Observer, Bulgaria, May 26 via DXLD) Closed, or moved elsewhere? ** U S A [non]. 3210, WWCR OM in English, weak under Russian hooligan station at 0055 May 29 (That's me, Artiom Prokhorov from Moscow with my latest catches made on Sony ICF7600G and its telescopic antenna in a countryside just in some 70 kms South of Moscow, Cumbre DX via DXLD) ** U S A. FCC MAY SPUR SALE OF AIRWAVES HELD BY SCHOOLS By ANNE MARIE SQUEO Staff Reporter of THE WALL STREET JOURNAL May 25, 2004; Page B1 With consumers clamoring for wireless devices that connect their laptop PCs to the Internet and zap pictures from their cellphones, a battle over a lucrative chunk of spectrum to operate such gadgets is embroiling everyone from cellular pioneer Craig McCaw to the Catholic Church. More than 40 years ago, President John F. Kennedy set aside a hefty portion of the radio waves for educational use by private and public schools, universities and other institutions. But today, teachers increasingly view the Internet, not the airwaves, as their preferred instructional tool. Now the Federal Communications Commission is leaning toward opening up that set-aside educational spectrum for commercial use. ======================= [sidebar:] Some institutions that run educational programs: o Brooklyn (N.Y.) Diocese: history, math o Broward County, Fla., school board: programs in Spanish, English, Portuguese and Creole o California State University: distance learning o South Carolina Educational TV Commission: languages, literature for K-12 Source: WSJ research ======================= What's at stake is the equivalent of prime beachfront property: a piece of spectrum roughly equal in size to all the airwaves owned by the cellular industry. In addition, this particular slice of spectrum is among those being considered internationally for next-generation wireless devices that would allow consumers to get high-speed Internet access whether they're in a speeding car, at the mall, or in front of a home computer. "It's a limited resource and there are a lot of parties clamoring for it," says Kathleen Abernathy, an FCC commissioner who has likened spectrum to gold. The agency has been studying a number of ways to stretch the usage of spectrum, the limited number of electromagnetic frequencies that circle the earth and are used for the transmission of sound, data and television. "As a regulator, we always have to ask ourselves if there's a better way to use this resource." The plan that began circulating among the FCC's five commissioners last week proposes stripping a small portion of the spectrum from the educational institutions and then reallocating it for new uses. It would also allow the educational groups to sell the rest of their spectrum to commercial companies for new uses -- in deals that could potentially be valued at billions of dollars. The FCC expects to rule on the issue in coming weeks, though the proposal could be changed substantially in the interim. Several high-profile educational institutions are fighting back. The Catholic Television Network, an association of 16 Catholic archdioceses around the country including those in New York, Los Angeles and Chicago, is leading a group seeking to stop the FCC from allowing sales. "Education itself is in trouble and the only way out is technology," says Monsignor Michael Dempsey, president of the network, which reaches 500,000 students nationwide. Msgr. Dempsey's Brooklyn, N.Y., diocese, for example, uses its four government-granted channels to beam into schools regular programming that highlights phonics, explorers Lewis and Clark and geometry, among other things. It also provides televised teaching-training courses and outreach programs for troubled families and suicidal people. These channels function much like broadcast television, except that recipients need a special decoder box to pick up the signals because they are carried on a much higher frequency than standard TV. . . http://online.wsj.com/article/0,,SB108543701703420032,00.html?mod=todays_us_marketplace (via Mike Cooper, DXLD) Tho never mentioned by name in the article! --- I guess this refers to the little-known Instructional Television Fixed Service (ITFS) in the 2500-MHz band? (gh, DXLD) ** U S A. MEDIA GROUPS FIGHT BACK AGAINST FCC OVERREACTION Commentary by Ronn Wynn May 24, 2004 NashvilleCityPaper.com It`s taken them quite a while, but the broadcasting industry has begun fighting back against the Federal Communications Commissions overly broad indecency campaign. As usual, FCC head Michael Powell has pursued a personal agenda, greatly warping and altering the agency`s legitimate role as a media watchdog. Since the infamous Janet Jackson breast-baring fiasco at the Super Bowl, Powell has railed nonstop against what he sees as a media obsession with sex and violence and the negative impact this has on youthful viewers and listeners. Unfortunately, his heavy-handed methods, in particular threatening stations with exorbitant fines and issuing public statements implying that the FCC might soon target soap operas and afternoon talk shows, reveal someone more interested in being a de facto censor than seriously addressing content and quality issues. Now the conglomerate media seems to have gotten its spine back. Last month a 24-member group of broadcast organizations like Viacom, Fox and the Recording Industry Association of America and artists` unions and free speech advocates filed a petition asking the commission to reconsider the ridiculous ruling that fined NBC for the one-time utterance of U2 lead singer Bono at the Golden Globes. Anyone watching Bono`s reaction realizes that it was an in-the-moment utterance, hardly an attempt to put vulgarity into prime time. The FCC initially didn`t fine NBC, but changed its decision under pressure from Powell and his commission cronies. Robert Corn-Revere, the group`s counsel, explained the FCC`s strategy in the May 27 Rolling Stone saying that The FCC announced a standard that would allow it to censor all kinds of things anything considered blasphemous, coarse or vulgar. It puts the commission in the role of regulating taste. A separate story in the same publication revealed how several rock radio stations are dropping or re-editing songs for fear of not meeting the new standard. These include Lou Reed`s Walk On The Wild Side, Steve Miller`s Jet Air Liner and even the Who`s Who Are You. It`s absurd, Reed told Rolling Stone. It`s like being censored by a squirrel. It`s done by people who are very pious and stupid. The FCC action is also making First Amendment martyrs and sympathetic figures out of such controversial jocks as Howard Stern, while simultaneously juicing its popularity and public impact. Stern may have been dropped by a handful of Clear Channel stations and fined $495,000 for on-air comments, but his program remains syndicated on 35 stations nationwide and is now enjoying banner ratings. Powell managed to get Stern sympathy from commentators on the left (Al Franken, Michael Feldman) and right (Rush Limbaugh, Neil Boortz), while turning Stern from an apolitical radio host concentrating on frat house humor and interviews with adult film stars into a Bush and FCC basher reaching 18 million people weekdays on air and another four million daily on his Web site. Unquestionably, there`s plenty of bad taste and vulgarity on the nation`s radio and television airwaves. But the FCC bull-in-a-china- shop strategy not only hasn`t helped matters, it`s quite possibly made them worse. By their selective prosecution (for example, ignoring the hideous conduct and offensive content on reality television) and misuse of fines as a weapon, Powell and the FCC have only garnered larger audiences for broadcasters they claim are indecent while helping ruin what`s left of good commercial rock radio. Hopefully, the folks at Viacom, the RIAA and everyone else in this new coalition will take this fight as far as necessary and get the FCC back in the business of regulating business transactions, not programming. Ron Wynn is a staff writer at The City Paper. Read this article online: http://www.NashvilleCityPaper.com/index.cfm?section=40&screen=news&new_id=33299 http://www.nashvillecitypaper.com/index.cfm?section=40&screen=newsprint&news_id=33299 Copyright 2000-2004, The City Paper LLC (via Mike Cooper, DXLD) ** U S A. U.S. COURT OF APPEALS UPHOLDS FCC POINT SYSTEM FOR AWARD OF NONCOMMERCIAL FM FREQUENCIES Washington, May 11 (CRU) --- The United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit released an opinion today in the matter of the American Family Association, Inc., petitioner v. the Federal Communications Commission and United States of America, respondents, in the matter of the FCC`s point system for deciding the award of construction permits for noncommercial FM stations when there are conflicting applications. The Court found for the FCC and upheld the point system. American Family Association (AFA) of Tupelo, Mississippi, headed by the Rev. Donald Wildmon and operator of the national religious network American Family Radio (AFR), had appealed to the Court that the system was inequitable and an ipso facto denial of the freedom of religious speech in the marketplace inasmuch, it claimed, that the point system was stacked in favor of public radio stations and against religious radio stations. Therefore, AFA argued, the system was arbitrary, capricious, and unconstitutional. The FCC had developed the point system in response to the same Circuit Court`s order that the then existing Comparative Standards for Noncommercial Educational Applicants be vacated. The FCC up until 1992 had decided cases of competing applications on the basis of what the Court had declared a ``vague standard.`` Six years later, the FCC asked for suggestions for a new system on which to decide the awards in such cases. Consequently, the FCC adopted a new point system, subject of the present Court decision. Essentially, the applicant having the most points receives the construction permit; if both applicants are tied, the one with the fewest existing licenses gets the license. If both have the same number of points and the same number of existing licenses, then the one with the fewest outstanding license applications wins. The FCC investigates applicants for fraudulent filings and for acceptability. Finally, the winning applicant must maintain the station in the same form for which they received points for at least four years of the eight years` license term. The point system awards two points for ``local diversity of ownership,`` meaning that the applicant does not own or have any significant interest in any form in a broadcast station in the same locale; one to two points for the ``best technical proposal``; three points if the applicant is an ``established local entity,`` meaning that the owner is a local organization or institution, or the members of the board of directors are local; and two points if the applicant is a ``state-wide educational network,`` provided that the network does not qualify for diversity of ownership points. ``Diversity of ownership`` means that the applicant does not own any nearby or same-location radio stations. Further, the applicant must not provide a third or more in equity or debt or more than 15% of programming to another local or nearby station. ``Established local entity`` points are awarded to those applicants who advance the cause of localism in the community, who live there and know the community well. The local applicant must have been in existence for a minimum of two years. This requirement prevents national outfits for coming to town, recruiting local people for a board, and setting up a local organization for the sole purpose of immediately applying for a noncommercial license. Further, the applicant who has a local campus or of whom 75% of its board members live within 25 miles of the community is considered, all things being equal, local. The ``state-wide educational network`` points are awarded to educational entities who do not qualify for local entity points and have authority over 50 elementary or secondary schools, or are higher education institutions that serve at least five full-time campuses. In both cases, the entities must offer programming that furthers those schools` curriculum. The FCC said that these points were justified in that large statewide organizations may in fact lack local diversity but nevertheless control stations that serve many schools and campuses within a state. Finally, those applications that are technically superior receive points provided that they cover 10% more population than their competitor (in which case they receive one point) or 25% more population than their competitor (in which case they receive two points). AFA objected to the point system because, unlike National Public Radio (NPR) and Public Radio International (PRI), which do not own any stations themselves but are program production networks, American Family Radio (AFR) not only produces its network programs for affiliate stations but in fact actually owns 113 of those stations. Thus, it is neither eligible for local diversity points or for statewide network points. According to the Court decision, AFR is one of eight ``centralized national chains . . . devoted primarily to religious programming.`` NPR and PBS do not own or have any financial interest in any of their approximately 700 and 349 respective affiliates, while AFR and the other seven do. Further, AFR and similar network affiliates will not be eligible for established local entities credits. The Court upheld the local diversity and local entity point awards, agreeing with the FCC ``that local entities best understand the educational needs and academic standards of their communities and are the best authorities for selecting programming to meet those needs.`` Further, the Court said, ``There is a rational connection between local accountability and education, since it is reasonable to expect that locals are in the best position to judge their own educational needs. That rational connection, together with local entities` strong traditional role in NCE [non-commercial educational] broadcasting, makes the agency`s explanation rational.`` The State of Oregon, arguing on behalf of Jefferson Public Radio, based at Southern Oregon University, told the Court that points ought to be awarded for production of local programming, not control of local programming. But the Court replied that there is no reason to expect that in every case the amount of local programming produced is commensurate with the need to fill up the broadcast day, and that local interests should not be penalized if in fact they turn to extra- local sources for some programming production. The Court said that the FCC is not trying to encourage local production of programming, but to encourage local control. The Court returned to the AFA objections to points awarded to state- wide educational networks. It said that the FCC correctly reasoned that the large schools ``ensure that educational programming is available throughout a specific area in a coordinated and organized manner most appropriate to that area, and especially to schools,`` thus offering ``distinct benefits.`` Second, only large schools would be generally eligible for these particular points because smaller schools are more likely to qualify for local diversity and local entity point awards. Third, large schools offer more focused educational benefits that national organizations and schools cannot. But the Court noted that the specific qualifying measures of the numbers of campuses defined by the FCC were neither supported in affirmation or denial by the litigants but, in view of the matter, the Court would defer to the Commission yet reserved the right to revisit the matter if warranted. Finally, the Court dealt with the Constitutional issues raised in the appeal. AFA argued that the point system is unconstitutional because it restricts the freedom of speech of religious broadcasters. AFA said that the point system is content-based, that it favors nonreligious speech such as that broadcast over NPR and PBS affiliates. AFA argued that because of this, the FCC regulations should be given heightened scrutiny, not rational basis scrutiny. The Court did not accept this argument, pointing out that the very nature of broadcasting, in which there are only a very limited number of usable frequencies, which are far exceeded by the number of people who want to use them, justifies the rational basis scrutiny. It said that the system here is analogous to that in cross-ownership rules that the Supreme Court subjected to minimal scrutiny, and refused to upgrade the scrutiny because ``it is not the province of this court to determine when a prior decision of the Supreme Court has outlived its usefulness.`` The Court statement regarding AFA`s claim that the point system is based on ``content,`` that is, gives a preference to nonreligious over religious speech, was concise and exhaustive: ``The FCC`s stated purpose in promulgating the point system was, among other things, to promote a diversity of views. The diversity of credit does that by advantaging applicants who do not already own licenses in given geographical areas. The localism credit supports the same goal by ensuring that applicants in many different regions have a voice in selecting NCE programming. The attribution rules advance the cause of localism by advantaging truly local stations over affiliates under the control of centralized organizations. Finally, the state-wide educational credit furthers diversity by advantaging educational organizations who might not otherwise have a voice on the radio, just as having an NCE Broadcasting spectrum at all diversifies radio and television programming as a whole. Simply put, `[b]y placing a value upon diversity` the FCC `did not necessarily . . . value one speaker, or one type of speech over another; it merely expressed its intention that there continue to be multiple speakers.``` The Court went on: ``AFA argues that the point system is content-based . . . in that it `reflects favoritism` . . . for the secular viewpoints expressed by public radio and television networks over the views broadcast by religious networks. We are somewhat unclear on how AFA has inferred this nefarious motive from the rule. Nothing on the face of the point system inherently favors nonreligious speakers. Organizations are equally eligible for points whether or not they are religious. Religious groups may be established local entities, may be diverse, and may have superior technical capability. Religious schools, so long as they have five campuses or serve at least 50 elementary or secondary schools, are eligible for the state-wide educational credit on the same footing as state or nonreligious educational networks.`` ``It is true, but irrelevant, that the affiliates of some sorts of nonreligious organizations, like the NPR and PBS networks, are more likely to get licenses than the religious affiliates of centralized organizations like AFA. That preference results only because such public affiliates are more decentralized and therefore (in the FCC`s view) will advance the content-neutral goals identified by the FCC better than the affiliates of centralized organizations like AFA will. . . . There is nothing content-based about preferring decentralized broadcasters to centralized ones, given the FCC`s motive.`` In addressing AFA`s claim that the point system unconstitutionally infringes on the First Amendment right to free exercise of religion, the Court found the statement ``unclear`` and unjustified. ``We see no such inference [of religious discrimination].`` It cites an earlier decision that ``laws and regulations that incidentally burden religion do not violate the free exercise clause.`` Further, the point system that AFA finds disadvantageous to religious centralized broadcasting networks ``appears also to disadvantage nonreligious centralized broadcasting networks.`` In regard to the points awarded to state-wide educational networks, the Court said that not only religious organizations but also ``nonreligious multi-state and regional school systems`` are disadvantaged. One such is Jefferson Public Radio, which intervened on the side of AFA in the case. ``Even setting aside that nonreligious organizations also face burdens from the rule, the burden the point system foists on religious organizations is relatively modest,`` the Court added. ``There is nothing inherently related to religion in the point system`s criteria. The system favors decentralization and diversity. . . .[N]othing inherent in their religious character forces them to structure their networks in this way. If AFA were to free its affiliates from its control, those affiliates could more easily compete with NPR`s and PBS`s affiliates under the system.`` The entire 24-page decision can be viewed and downloaded at http://pacer.cadc.uscourts.gov/docs/common/opinions/200405/00-1310b.pdf (Mike Dorner, Catholic Radio Update May 31 via DXLD) ** U S A. Of Catholics and Minor Corrections --- Collectively, the program block is ``High Ground Radio,`` not ``Higher Ground,`` as I`d said earlier. The brokering group is the Minnesota Production Network. There`s now a promo on WLOL, 1330_AM, announcing various Catholic programs. I didn`t catch any sched info, but the most likely possibility is that the two groups will share the station (Max Swanson, MN, May 24, DX LISTENING DIGEST) RELEVANT RADIO MAKES SWITCH FROM KSMM & WMIN IN TWIN CITIES TO WLOL, INTRODUCES NEW PROGRAM Minneapolis-St Paul, May 25 (CRU & Starboard) --- Starboard Broadcasting`s Relevant Radio made the switch of its network programming today from KSMM 1530 AM and WMIN 740 AM in the Twin Cities to its newly purchased WLOL 1330 AM. ``I know you share our excitement about our stronger, clearer, around-the-clock signal in the Twin Cities (1330 AM WLOL)!`` wrote Anne Moyer, public relations and promotions manager at Relevant Radio. ``We were blessed with a very smooth transition to this new frequency this week.`` Last week, Catholic Radio Update reported, on the basis of reports appearing in the local and national radio press, that the switch would take place on Monday, May 24, and would affect only KSMM. Everyone got it wrong; the change over took place on Tuesday. Miss Moyer added, ``I did want to note that 1330 AM launched as Relevant Radio on Tuesday, May 25th, not Monday the 24th (as mistakenly indicated by reports in the Pioneer Press and Upper Midwest Broadcasting). I thought you`d be interested to know that the WLOL call letters were selected not only for their legendary status in the Twin Cities, but in honor of Our Lady of Lourdes. This move to 1330 AM WLOL gives us a showcase position on the local AM dial with the signal power to achieve our mission --- helping people bridge the gap between their faith and everyday life --- and we are thrilled that all of the 700,000-plus Catholics living in the Twin Cities will now hear Relevant Radio loud and clear!`` At the same time, Relevant Radio representatives were in Rome at the invitation of some Midwestern bishops as they made their ad limina visits to Rome. ``This is an exciting opportunity that I believe Divine Providence has given us,`` said Mark Follett, Founder and CEO of Relevant Radio. ``Our mission in Rome will be to help the Bishops remain connected with the faithful of their dioceses by speaking directly to them from the Eternal City.`` Listeners to Relevant Radio were encouraged to tune in during the week to hear interviews and special reflections from the Bishops. Relevant Radio also used the occasion to launch ``Rome to Home,`` a new feature designed to help Catholics better understand the connection between the Holy Father and their day-to-day faith life. In a further move to increase network offerings, Starboard announced that ``We`re also pleased to announce the debut of a new local program. Tune in to Relevant Radio 1330 AM on Friday, May 28th at 9:00 a.m. for the debut of ``CityWinds.`` This brand new one-hour show is hosted by Relevant Radio 1330 AM station manager Paul Sadek and features people and personalities from around the Twin Cities, as well as a review of the week`s top stories with reporters and editors from the Catholic Spirit. ```City Winds` is just one more way Relevant Radio is bridging the gap between faith and everyday life here in the Twin Cities!`` said the network in a second press release. The visit ad limina, one of the oldest traditions in the Catholic Church, dates back to when Bishops regularly traveled to the Vatican to venerate the tomb of the Holy Apostles Peter and Paul and meet with the successor of Peter, the Holy Father. In the modern era, Bishops journey to Rome every five years and make a ``state-of-the-union`` presentation to the Holy See on the accomplishments, initiatives and challenges facing their dioceses. Archbishop Dolan extended the original invitation to the Relevant Radio delegation, which will include Follett and other network executives. Among the others making their ad limina pilgrimage are Cardinal Francis George, Chicago, Illinois; Bishops David Zubik, Green Bay, Wisconsin; Dale J. Melczek, Gary, Indiana; Joseph L. Imesch, Joliet, Illinois; Robert C. Morlino, Madison, Wisconsin; and Thomas G. Doran, Rockford, Illinois. ``Our mission is to help Catholics bridge the gap between their faith and everyday life,`` said Mr. Follett. ``This will be the longest bridge we have attempted to build, connecting Rome — the very center of the unity of the Church — with home, where our listeners live their faith amidst the circumstances of daily life. This connectedness is the essence of what we are all about here at Relevant Radio,`` he said. More than 26 million people throughout the upper Midwest and Northeast can now hear Relevant Radio. In just one year, it has grown to 14 stations (four in top-25 markets), 11 affiliates and streaming audio webcast at http://www.relevantradio.com The number of Catholic radio stations on the air reduces to 90, because WMIN is no longer broadcasting Catholic programs; as reported last week, the loss of KSMM is offset by the gain of WLOL. In the same manner, the number of Catholic radio stations authorized or pending drops to 124 (Mike Dorner, Catholic Radio Update May 31 via DXLD) ** U S A. OFFICE POLITICS GIVE LIBERAL RADIO A ROCKY START May 31, 2004 By JACQUES STEINBERG http://www.nytimes.com/2004/05/31/business/media/31air.html?ex=1086977226&ei=1&en=7cb2edb18d11577c http://www.nytimes.com/2004/05/31/business/media/31air.html?ex=1087015534&ei=1&en=08c829a80cfdf7c9 http://www.nytimes.com/2004/05/31/business/media/31air.html?pagewanted=print&position= Even by the chaotic standards of a new media company, Air America Radio's first two months of broadcasting have been convulsive. The fledgling talk-radio network has replaced five top executives, been taken off the air in two of its top three markets and lost several crucial producers. By late April, current and former executives said last week, the company was perilously close to running out of money. It has since received an infusion of cash, though it has not disclosed how much or from whom. The roiling in Air America's front office has undercut its continuing assurances that it has the financing and leadership to survive past the presidential election in November, in pursuit of its goal of establishing a permanent liberal counterpart to Rush Limbaugh and his radio cohort on the right. In a sign that the privately held company's financial woes have not fully abated, Al Franken, the network's best-known star, said in an interview last week that he had agreed not to draw a salary, however temporarily, making him "an involuntary investor.'' "We had some bad management,'' Mr. Franken said. "Then we got some good management.'' Still, Mr. Franken, his tongue only partly in cheek, added, "It's a little fuzzy to me exactly who's in charge.'' The turmoil has shed light on the network's corporate culture, laying bare a mismatched collection of managers and investors, including Democratic Party fund-raisers, Internet entrepreneurs and radio veterans who, as it turned out, did not get along especially well. Even as the network was finding an audience with its blend of humor and commentary, many of the principals' business relationships were dissolving in a flurry of charges and countercharges. The most serious concerned how much money Air America actually had on hand when it went on the air on March 31. In early March, the network's chief executive, Mark Walsh, said that the company had raised more than $20 million, enough to keep it broadcasting for months, if not years, before making a profit. At the time, Mr. Walsh said that the network's primary backers included Evan M. Cohen, a venture capitalist who was the network's chairman, and Rex Sorensen, a business partner of Mr. Cohen's who was the chairman of Progress Media, the parent company of Air America. But in an interview on Friday, Mr. Walsh said: "I was misled about that number.'' Mr. Walsh refused to say who had misled him, but he said that he had resigned in April because "the company wasn't transparent'' and "I was unable to decipher how it was being operated.'' Less than a month later, Mr. Cohen and Mr. Sorensen, who had previously operated radio stations together in Guam and Saipan, resigned under pressure from the company's other investors. David Goodfriend, who served as general counsel and later as acting chief operating officer of Air America, resigned about a week ago, having done his best, he said, to hold the company together in the wake of the departures of Mr. Cohen, Mr. Sorensen and Mr. Walsh. (Separately, Dave Logan, executive vice president for programming, also left, in late April.) Jon Sinton, the president of Air America and one of the few top executives who remains from the day it went on the air, underscored Mr. Walsh's comments by saying, in a separate interview, that he, too, had been misled about the company's resources and that a cash crunch had ensued as a result. "Financing wasn't as available for operational issues as we'd thought it was,'' he said. Reached on Friday, Mr. Cohen declined to comment on the state of the company's finances under his watch. Despite the intrigue concerning its management - and the abrupt pulling of its programming last month from stations in Chicago and Los Angeles, in a contract dispute - there are early indications that, where it can be heard, Air America is actually drawing listeners. WLIB-AM in New York City, one of 13 stations that carry at least part of Air America's 16 hours of original programming each day, even appears to be holding its own with WABC-AM, the New York City station and talk radio powerhouse that is Mr. Limbaugh's flagship. For example, among listeners from 25 and 54, whom advertisers covet, the network estimates it drew an average listener share (roughly a percentage of listeners) of 3.4 on WLIB in April, from 10 a.m. and 3 p.m. on weekdays, according to the company's extrapolation of figures provided by Arbitron for the three months ended in April. (Arbitron, which does not provide ratings in monthly increments, said the network's methodology appeared sound, although such figures were too raw to translate to numbers of listeners.) By contrast, according to Air America's figures, WABC-AM drew an average share of 3.2 during the same period in April for the same age group. That time period includes the three hours in which Mr. Limbaugh was pitted head to head against Mr. Franken. Phil Boyce, the program director of WABC, cautioned against drawing conclusions from preliminary data. "If they end up doing that well when the final number is out, which is two more months, I'll give them a congratulations," Mr. Boyce said. While the network is awaiting the release of similar figures from Arbitron for other cities, KPOJ-AM, the Clear Channel station that carries its programming in Portland, Ore., informed Air America executives by an e-mail message in late April that its ratings appeared to have tripled last month, according to the station's informal survey. (A station executive, Mary Lou Gunn, did not return a telephone message left at her office on Friday.) The network, which is also carried on the satellite radio providers XM and Sirius, has found an audience on the Internet. In its first week, listeners clicked on the audio programming on the Air America Web site more than two million times, according to RealNetworks, the digital media provider. "It's clear the audience is there,'' Mr. Franken said. The conventional wisdom in the radio industry had been that, unlike the conservatives who dominate commercial talk radio, liberals could not entice and hold listeners. "This shows there's an appetite out there,'' said Tom Taylor, editor of Inside Radio, an industry newsletter whose publisher is owned by Clear Channel. "There's a good chance they'll right the ship businesswise and keep going forward.'' In addition to Mr. Franken, the Air America lineup includes Janeane Garofalo, an actress and comedian, and Lizz Winstead, a former head writer of "The Daily Show'' on Comedy Central. Air America's stumble outside the studio in its early weeks was partly a function of the ambitious task it had assigned itself. While Mr. Limbaugh quickly found a niche on AM radio beginning in the late 1980's - he is now heard on more than 600 stations - he began syndicating his program at a time when AM radio was thought to be dying, thus presenting him little competition. Now, in an era of media consolidation, AM and FM stations alike are thriving. Few are for sale (Air America had initially hoped to buy five, but has yet to buy one), and few have enough air time available for lease or barter to accommodate Air America's block of programming. But interviews with more than a dozen people currently or formerly affiliated with Air America made clear that the network had been hobbled by the failure of its early principals - some of whom had been drawn to the venture by ideology, others for business reasons - to forge common ground. The idea for a liberal talk-radio network was first hatched by Sheldon and Anita Drobny, venture capitalists from the Chicago area who had a lot of experience raising money for the Democratic Party but no real radio expertise. They were led to Mr. Sinton, who has 30 years experience in the radio business, and Mr. Franken, who has made a cottage industry of writing best-selling books that skewer the right. In Air America's current incarnation, Mr. Sinton, the president, reports to the network's new chief executive, Doug Kreeger, an early investor whose entrepreneurial efforts have included founding a chain of outerwear stores (Kreeger & Sons) and investing in a New York restaurant (City Bakery). For chief operating officer, the company has selected Carl Ginsburg, a former news producer at NBC and CBS. Ms. Drobny is its chairwoman, Mr. Sinton said. Mr. Sinton said that the company was seeking to expand the number of stations carrying its programming - which includes Burlington, Vt.; West Palm Beach, Fla.; and Sacramento - to new markets in Colorado Springs, Santa Cruz, Calif., and Reno, Nev. It is also seeking new outlets in Chicago and Los Angeles, having settled its contractual dispute with the owner of the stations where it had first leased air time. Mr. Sinton and Mr. Franken refused to say how much money the network had now, but said they had received assurances that the network would have no problem staying on the air through November, and beyond. "No one is promising things they can't promise,'' Mr. Franken said. "But it appears to me that from the other people that are stepping up, the financing will be in place.'' He added: "Imagine how we're going to do when we know what we're doing.'' Copyright 2004 The New York Times Company (via Jim Moats, Don Thornton, Mike Cooper, DXLD) ** U S A. VOICE OF EXPERIENCE --- WGMS'S DIANA HOLLANDER THOUGHT EPILEPSY WOULD TRANSFORM HER LIFE. SHE WAS RIGHT. By Jennifer Frey Washington Post Staff Writer Wednesday, May 26, 2004; Page C01 http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn/A56033-2004May25?language=printer (via Mike Cooper, DXLD) ** U S A. I know you like to keep up radio stations carrying Classical Music. I thought you would find this of interest. It is about Houston`s` Commercial Classical station [KRTS being extinguished]. http://www.businesswire.com/cgi-bin/f_headline.cgi?day0/241455153&ticker=roia|roiak (George Thurman, TX, May 24, DX LISTENING DIGEST) That page apparently expired (gh, May 30) {see 4-088} ** U S A. FCC MOVE COULD SHUT DOWN HIGH SCHOOL RADIO MERCER ISLAND STATION TO CHALLENGE DECISION By BILL VIRGIN, SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER REPORTER The Federal Communications Commission has granted permission to an Oregon broadcaster to transfer the license for one of its FM stations from The Dalles to Covington -- a move a student-run station at Mercer Island High School has said would effectively put it out of business. Mid-Columbia Broadcasting Inc.`s plan to relocate the transmitter for KMCQ-FM (104.5) to South King County, filed three years ago, involved several broadcasting companies proposing to swap or move frequency allocations among multiple cities in Oregon and Washington. The Covington move had been opposed by the Mercer Island School District, which operates KMIH-FM (104.5), as well as by the Peninsula School District, which operates a translator on that frequency for a station it operates, KGHP-FM. . . http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/175579_kmih29.html (via Artie Bigley, DXLD) HIGH SCHOOL RADIO STATIONS ALIVE AND WELL http://www.cnn.com/2004/EDUCATION/05/25/high.school.radio.ap/ (via Artie Bigley, DXLD) ** VENEZUELA [non]. CUBA, 13750, 1459 May 30 [Sunday only], Radio Nacional Venezuela. Relay of Venezuela via Cuba at very good level, with telephone feed audio in Spanish. Parallel to 11875 (fair) (Volodya Salmaniw, Victoria, BC, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** VIETNAM [non]. CANADA: Changes for Voice of Vietnam via SAC 250 kW / 268 deg: 0400-0427 in Spanish on 6175 additional transmission 0430-0527 in Vietnamese on 6175 ex 0400-0457 (Observer, Bulgaria, May 26 via DXLD) ** ZANZIBAR. Hi Glenn, I noticed in a recent DXLD a report of Zanzibar being heard on 6015. Thinking they might again be active on 11734.1, I've been checking the frequency periodically. Nothing has been heard here (Steve Lare, Holland, MI, May 26, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 6015, Presumed RTZ, checked this after seeing a recent report of their reactivation. Frequency is heavily QRMed before sked *0300 by Sweden- 6010, but they close at 0259 and thereafter a weak carrier is heard here, and definite Arabic chanting thereafter (Jerry Berg, MA, NASWA Flashsheet May 31 via DXLD) I heard them late March with mentions of Zanzibar (Sheryl Paszkewicz, WI, Flashsheet editor, ibid.) UNIDENTIFIED. Hola Glenn, Saludos desde Catia La Mar, VENEZUELA. El pasado 30/05 se pudo escuchar en 4960 kHz, a las 0432 UT, con SINPO 3/2-3/3, una estación que se identificaba como "107.3 STEREO, La Voz de la U????". Sólo pude escuchar una sola identificación en más de 3 horas de escucha. Transmitía música ranchera, reggaetón y salsa. Aún audible después de las 0711. Descarto a Cima 100, ya que ésta última siempre está corrida de canal y la estación de este reporte está en el canal exacto. żColombia?, żPerú?, żotra isla del Caribe? (Adán González, Catia La Mar, Venezuela, May 31, DX LISTENING DIGEST) UNIDENTIFIED. From rec.radio.shortwave: LJGiddy wrote: Have listened to the mysterious sounds at 10.512. They seem to be audible at any hour. I have heard them at all hours of the day and night. I have no idea what they are but the do sound interesting. There is also a similar but not the same type of noise on 10.580. Does anyone know the origin of this noise it almost sounds like RTTY while you quick adjust the BFO back and forth. It could be something common. A quick google search didn`t produce anything of interest. Maybe someone out there knows. LJ --------------------------- The signal you hear on 10.580 MHz might be the so-called `squeaky wheel`. This signal usually exists in the lower bands (3-4 MHz) though. What`s on 10.512 MHz is called `Backwards Music`. `The Squeaky Wheel` doesn`t seem to be as strong a signal as `Backwards Music` Read about these signals at http://dspace.dial.pipex.com/brogers/page3.html (Jeff Seale, Louisville, KY) ---------------------------- I emailed the guy who runs that site. This is the reply I got from him: Thanks for your email and report. You are quite right, it is the Backward Music Station or Whalesong as it is also known. This signal has been about some while now --- well before HAARP incidentally. The Backward Music Station, or Whalesong has been reported on three frequencies in the past couple of weeks. 10372 kHz, 10512 kHz & 11363 kHz. 10512 is undoubtedly the strongest, a cracking signal into Southern England. One of the most curious features of the signal is that after a period of silence, several separate signals all appear within a short period of each other. These will continue for 24 hours a day for days or weeks and then vanish. Despite all the theories, we don`t really know what this signal is all about. It does seem to be associated with maritime frequencies, possibly naval - and it would seem on signal strength that it is not originating from the USA. US monitors report poor signal strength on this signal, a more likely origin would seem to be Europe. I don`t believe it is some sort of malfunctioning equipment, it is there for a purpose. Thanks again for the report, (Good listening, Brian, Southeast UK) --------------------- Also see Steven Yates` website http://www.qsl.net/aa5tb/unusual.html for some very interesting signals. /ed) (all via SW Bulletin May 30 via DXLD) UNIDENTIFIED [non]. 11180: see LIBYA ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ POWERLINE COMMUNICATIONS ++++++++++++++++++++++++ FCC Set to End Our Right to Listen to Foreign Broadcasts . . . and More --- A BUZZFLASH GUEST CONTRIBUTION by Gloria R. Lalumia Shortwave radio is in many ways the last of our untarnished resources. As Americans, we have always been taught and told that it is our freedom that makes us strong and separates us from everybody else. When it comes to news and information, our desire to have the freedom to choose from a wide array of media and media channels is no different. Shortwave radio represents a cost-effective and easily accessible means for all Americans to get global news straight from the source, a claim that no other technology can make. If this access was denied or impeded in any way, and Americans left with less media choices or channels, then our right to freedom of the press would be unfairly and unacceptably compromised... --Eton/Grundig Corporation statement on FCC`s Broadband-Over-Powerline Policy, November 14, 2003 * * * The Bush Administration`s love of all things that pollute is about to take its toll on the radio spectrum as the FCC is poised to open the floodgates of broadband transmission via existing power lines. And although I, as a shortwave radio listener, am fearful of losing my access to foreign broadcasts, the ramifications of broadband-over- powerline extend into many other areas of the radio spectrum and communications industries. . . http://www.buzzflash.com/contributors/04/05/con04238.html (via Artie Bigley, DXLD) Long compendium of BPL reports ###