DX LISTENING DIGEST 4-088, June 5, 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 1232: Sat 2000 on WBCQ 9330-CLSB [confirmed] Sat 2030 on WBCQ 17495-CUSB [dead air instead, again!] Sat 2030 on WWCR 12160 [confirmed] Sat 2130 on RFPI, http://www.rfpi.org repeated 8-hourly thru Mon 1330 [unconfirmed by 2145] Sat 2300 on RFPI, http://www.rfpi.org repeated 8-hourly thru Mon 1500 Sun 0230 on WWCR 5070 Sun 0630 on WWCR 3210 Sun 1000 on WRN1 to North America, webcast; also KSFC 91.9 Spokane WA, and WDWN 89.1 Auburn NY; maybe KTRU 91.7 Houston TX, each with webcasts Sun 1900 on Studio X, Momigno, Italy 1584 Sun 2000 on RNI webcast, http://www.11L-rni.com Mon 0100 on WBCQ 9330-CLSB Mon 0330 on WSUI 910, webcast http://wsui.uiowa.edu [previous 1231] Mon 0430 on WBCQ 7415, webcast http://wbcq.us Mon 1600 on WBCQ after-hours http://wbcq.com repeated weekdaily Wed 0930 on WWCR 9475 WRN ONDEMAND: http://new.wrn.org/listeners/stations/station.php?StationID=24 OUR ONDEMAND AUDIO [also for CONTINENT OF MEDIA, MUNDO RADIAL]: Check http://www.worldofradio.com/audiomid.html WORLD OF RADIO 1232 (high version): (stream) http://www.w4uvh.net/wor1232h.ram (download) http://www.w4uvh.net/wor1232h.rm (summary) http://www.worldofradio.com/wor1232.html WORLD OF RADIO 1232 (low version): (stream) http://www.w4uvh.net/wor1232.ram (download) http://www.w4uvh.net/wor1232.rm WORLD OF RADIO 1232 in MP3, the true shortwave sound of 7415: (stream) http://www.piratearchive.com/media/worldofradio_06-02-04.m3u (d`load) http://www.piratearchive.com/media/worldofradio_06-02-04.mp3 CONTINENT OF MEDIA 04-04 (low): (stream) http://www.w4uvh.net/com0404.ram (download) http://www.w4uvh.net/com0404.rm (summary) http://www.worldofradio.com/com0404.html 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) ** ARGENTINA. Radio Guaviyú --- Amigos de la lista. AM 1610 KHZ: El pasado 25 de mayo pude reportar en mi QTH la nueva emisora de caracter "no oficial" activa en la frecuencia de 1610 KHz desde la localidad de Gregorio de Laferrere, Partido de La Matanza. Según varias identificaciones que pude grabar, la emisora se identifica como RADIO GUAVIYU (no "Guaruyu"), y anunciaba el teléfono 4457-8712, sin mencionar QTH de transmisión. Investigando en Internet, pude averiguar que "Guaviyú" corresponde al nombre de unas conocidas Termas ubicadas en la Republica Oriental del Uruguay, un lugar visitado por turistas uruguayos y argentinos, y con una interesante oferta hotelera. Tendrá algo que ver el nombre de esta emisora con esa localidad uruguaya ??? (Marcelo A. Cornachioni, Lomas de Zamora, Argentina, May 26, Conexión Digital via DXLD) ** ARGENTINA. Hi Glenn, RAE Buenos Aires noted with very poor signal in German and tango music on 9690.1 at 2143 UT. 21-22 UT in German, says WRTH 04. Strong adjacent channel-QRM both sides. The 19 mb outlet 15345 kHz is almost hopeless b/o RTV Marocaine, Nador (not Briech). I checked my logbook. RAE on a15345 kHz logged with program in Spanish May 13 at 2232 UT. 73´s (Jouko Huuskonen, Turku, FINLAND, June 4, DX LISTENING DIGEST) {b/o = because of?} 15345, ARGENTINA, R. Nacional, 2206-2232, May 30, Spanish, Numerous IDs at t/in by OM and YL, numerous LA musical selections. Fair (Scott Barbour, NH, June 5, dxldyg via DXLD) ** AUSTRALIA. Hi, Glenn! I'm not sure if I mis-heard or if you mis- spoke on the R. Australia schedule-change item in WoR #1232 that I listened to Wednesday via WBCQ. The item about this in DXLD was interesting enough that I printed out that fragment of the newsletter, specifically that they were changing their broadcasts to an arrangement that put one of the programs ("Innovation") that I have long been wanting to hear regularly into a local-morning slot (1130 UT) where I *could* hear it if I was awake. But I think that I heard you say that this change was putting Margaret Throsby into that half-hour "Bush Telegraph" slot at 1130. The DXLD entry says that she was going into the 1610 UT BT slot. I'll try to re-hear that part this weekend and listen to what exactly was said. Unfortunately, what does this change accomplish? It puts "Innovation" into the same timeslot Monday mornings opposite RN's "Research File"! Arrgh! :-) At least, there are more airings of the RN program to hear at other times... 73, (Will Martin, MO, June 4, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Yes, I got the 1130 change wrong on WOR 1232; thanks for pointing that out. Read more carefully than I did the original info in 4-084. I can confidently say that what RN may be doing was the furthest thing from the mind of whatever Radio Australian decided upon this change (gh) ** AUSTRALIA. Glenn, Greetings from HCJB Australia. I noticed your comments regarding finding the times for DX Partyline on the hcjb.org website. ``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)`` Before I read your comments [in 4-086], I had decided it would be better that all the information related to DX Partyline be updated, and so updated the relevant pages on the hcjb.org site. These are: DXPL Welcome page: http://www.hcjb.org/modules.php?op=modload&name=Sections&file=index&req=viewarticle&artid=173 DXPL Schedule and Frequencies: http://www.hcjb.org/Sections+index-req-viewarticle-artid-174-page-1.html Apologies for the process not being so streamlined for yourself. I realise that some of the other information on these pages is out of date, but I have updated all frequency and time information and will attempt to keep this up to date on an ongoing basis. (When I was in Quito, 6 months ago, I did ask for these pages to be updated, but I`m not sure what has happened there.) Sorry! If anyone should want to receive information about frequency and time updates for HCJB Australia, they can contact me and I will be happy to email them any upcoming schedule and frequency changes, and advise them when programme schedules are changed. I am the person who updates the schedules on the hcjb.org website. Currently I do update Mark Nicholls (NZ Radio DX League), and a number of Dxers in India who have requested updates. I would be very happy to receive any reports on reception from listeners, but these should also go to english @ hcjb.org.au Trust we can better serve you our listeners in the future (Dave Yetman, Frequency Manager/IT Manager, HCJB Australia, dyetman @ hcjb.org.au + 64 3 3323539, Christchurch, New Zealand, June 5, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** AUSTRALIA. RADICAL RESTRUCTURE OF AUSTRALIAN AMATEUR RADIO I have just received a fascinating 16 page document from the Australian Communications Authority ("our FCC") entitled "Outcomes of the Review of Amateur Service Regulation" (May 2004) Catchy name eh? Anyway this seems to be the final decision and this WILL come to pass. The main points are a total change of the classes of licence.Current Limited, Intermediate and Unrestricted (Full Call) will all be rolled into one new licence class called Advanced Amateur Radio operator. They get NO CHANGE to the current conditions --- still 400 watts, same modes same bands. Athough now the 400 W applies to ALL MODES, where before it was 400 W some modes, 120 W other modes. Current Novice and Novice Limited are now "Standard" operators. They get 100 watts all modes on 3.5-37, 7.0-7.3, 14-14.35, 21-21.45, 28.0- 29.7, 52-54, 144-148, 430-450, MHz. Also 1.2, 2.4 and 5.6 GHz Now here`s the interesting bit: A NEW 3rd class of licence called FOUNDATION --- They can use 10 W PEP Voice and CW only. 3.5-3.7, 7.0-7.3, 21-21.45, 28-29.7, 144-148, 430-450 MHz They may ONLY use commercially produced and unmodified transmitting equipment (no homebrew) altho antenna experimenting is allowed. The exam will be basic multi choice on safety, operations and regulations (NOT ELECTRONIC THEORY) and a practical "hands on" exam on operations of transmitters and receivers. This licence has no age limits, and once passed it lasts forever (no re-testing) Sounds like a good test for any SWL/DXer or CBer interested in trying your hand at Ham, but can`t be bothered learning theory or morse. Learn the regs and a bit of theory, show you can use a radio, set mode, frequency, power level, etc., and you're on the air! A few other points. -CW is no longer part of ANY licence exam -3rd party traffic and linking Amatuer equipment to Public telecommunications network (phones) will be allowed now within guidelines; these were both forbidden up to now. -Advanced operators can apply to ACA for increase to 1.5 kW subject to meeting certian conditions. -A new 4 letter callsign suffix will become available VK#abcd but keeping to the plan of the number being your state and the letters reflecting licence type. Full details at http://www.aca.gov.au/aca_home/licensing/radcomm/amateur_review/amateur_review_disc_paper.htm 73 de (Jem Cullen, VK2JEM, http://www.qsl.net/vk2jem DX LISTENING DIGEST) See also NEW ZEALAND ** AUSTRALIA. OTH RADAR The Australian version of the Russian woodpecker, the Jindalee Operational Radar Network (JORN) based near Alice Springs in the Northern Territory, is to be upgraded to improve the detection of boats and aircraft to Australia`s north. The upgrade is designed to improve the detection of small objects and incoming missiles. The original Alice Springs operational and research station together with operational stations at Laverton north of Kalgoorlie in Western Australia and Longreach in Queensland provide coverage over much of Indonesia to Australia`s north. The system has only recently been delivered years late and hundreds of millions of dollars over budget. In addition, the government has signed agreements with the peoples of the Torres Strait between New Guinea and the Australian mainland to set up trial surface wave radar transmitter and receiver sites on these islands. The trial will take place over a period of up to three years and is designed to give a 24-hour wide-area surveillance of aircraft, ships and boats travelling in the Torres Strait. The government says that it will improve Australia`s capacity to detect and intercept immigration, quarantine and fisheries offenders; assist with search and rescue operations; and provide early storm warnings. The transmitter will be on what is known as Pumpkin Island and the 440 metre receiver will be sited on Dauan Island (Greg Baker, Manuka, Australia, Bandscan Australia, June SW Magazine [UK] via DXLD) ** BRAZIL. Qual o veículo que abre espaço para o povo indígena transmitir sua cultura? O rádio em ondas curtas! É o que ocorre, no estado do Amazonas, conforme informações do biólogo Paulo Roberto e Souza, desde Tefé (AM). É o programa Amazonas Indígena, emitido pela Rádio Cultura, de Manaus (AM), pela freqüência de 4845 kHz, de segundas a sextas-feiras, entre 2300 e 0000. Está a cargo da Fundação Estadual de Política Indígena. O programa traz informações sobre os povos indígenas, suas lutas, músicas e projetos (Célio Romais, Panorama DX, May 25 via DXLD) ** CUBA. Quer viajar a Cuba com todas as despesas pagas? Muito fácil: basta participar do concurso promovido pela Rádio Havana Cuba, em parceria com o Grupo Hoteleiro Gran Caribe, Transportes Aéreos do Continente Americano (TACA) e o Instituto Cubano do Livro. Basta responder ao seguinte questionamento: que importância você concede ao escritor cubano Alejo Carpentier no âmbito das letras universais? O felizardo irá participar das atividades realizadas em comemoração ao centenário de nascimento do escritor. Outros dez ouvintes também serão premiados com obras de Carpentier. As respostas devem ser enviadas até o dia 10 de novembro de 2004. Serviço: Rádio Havana Cuba, Apartado Postal 6240, Havana, Cuba. Endereço eletrônico: radiohc@enet.cu (Célio Romais, Panorama DX, May 25 via DXLD) ** CUBA. Radio Havana Cuba schedule received email today. Reformatted from table in Microsoft Word. RADIO HABANA CUBA - HORARIOS, BANDAS Y FRECUENCIAS. ZONAS GEOGRAFICAS FRECUENCIAS HORARIOS TRANSMISIONES EN ESPAÑOL EN LA MAÑANA 11705 1100-1500 CARACAS 11760 1100-1500 NUEVA YORK 6000 1100-1500 NORTE, CENTRO Y SUDAMÉRICA 9550 1100-1500 CARIBE 15230 1100-1500 BUENOS AIRES 12000 1100-1500 BUENOS AIRES EN LA TARDE 15120 2100-2300 ROMA 15230 2100-2300 AMERICA DEL SUR 9550 2100-2300 CARIBE EN LA NOCHE 9600 0000-0500 CARACAS 11760 0000-0500 NUEVA YORK 9505 0000-0500 AMÉRICA CENTRAL 5965 0000-0500 MEXICO 15230 0000-0500 BUENOS AIRES 9820 0000-0100 CHICAGO 6000 0000-0100 WASHINGTON 9550 0200-0500 CARIBE 11875 0300-0500 CHILE 9655 0300-0500 CHILE MESA REDONDA INFORMATIVA (lunes a viernes) 6000 2300-0100 WASHINGTON 11875 2300-0100 NUEVA YORK ALÓ PRESIDENTE (Programa dominical del Presidente de Venezuela Hugo Chávez Frías) [duration varies, to 1830 or so? --- gh] 11705 1400 CARACAS 13680 1400 CENTROAMERICA 11670 1400 ANTILLAS 13750 1400 ESTADOS UNIDOS 11875 1400 CHILE 17750 1400 RÍO DE JANEIRO TRANSMISIONES EN INGLES 11760 2030-2130 NUEVA YORK 9505 2030-2130 ANTILLAS 9820 0100-0500 CHICAGO 6000 0100-0500 WASHINGTON 9550 0500-0700 CARIBE 9820 0500-0700 PACIFICO 9550 2300-2400 CARIBE 9655 2400-0002(?-ds) CARIBE [see note below] TRANSMISIONES EN FRANCES 11760 2000-2030 NUEVA YORK 11760 2130-2200 NUEVA YORK 9505 2200-2230 CARIBE 9550 0000-0100 CARIBE 9550 0130-0200 CARIBE TRANSMISIONES EN PORTUGUES 15120 2000-2030 EUROPA 17705 2200-2230 BRASIL 17705 2300-2330 BRASIL 15230 2300-2400 BRASIL TRANSMISIONES EN GUARANI 17705 2230-2300 SUDAMERICA 17705 2330-2400 SUDAMERICA TRANSMISIONES EN QUECHUA 17705 0000-0030 SUDAMERICA TRANSMISIONES EN CREOLE 9505 2130-2200 CARIBE 9505 2230-2300 ANTILLAS 9550 0100-0130 CARIBE TRANSMISIONES EN ESPERANTO (Sólo los domingos) 9820 0700-0730 PACIFICO 11760 1500-1530 NUEVA YORK 11760 1930-2000 NUEVA YORK 9600 2330-2400 AMERICA 9505 2330-2400 AMERICA NOTA: HORA DE CUBA = - 0500 UTC EJEMPLO: 1100 UTC = 0600 AM HORA DE CUBA [isn`t Cuba on DST of UT -4 as usual??? Fortunately, RHC transmissions stay on the same UT anyway --- gh] (Lourdes López, Head of Correspondence Dept., RHC via Dan Sampson, Prime Time Shortwave, 5/25, dxldyg via DXLD) It's been confirmed from personal monitoring that this [9655] is not 2200-0200 so it's probably for 0500-0700 as is already on the PTSW schedule (Daniel Sampson, PTSW via DXLD) ** CUBA. Due to a juxtaposition of dates and events, I must say that my facetious remarks about RHC, quoted at the end of your extensive coverage of the fire, DO make me seem extremely callous; needless to say, my comments and the others about their "dead" carriers with no modulation, or programming around 28 May with terrible distortion, were penned without knowledge of the fire. In fact, this bizarre event seems to me to provide the opportunity to wrap up my entire saga, so I have added some final comments and a partial rough translation of some of your news quotes on my web-page discussion of the up-and-down quality variations of the Cuban international SW broadcasts: see http://home.earthlink.net/~srw-swling/RHC/index.html#FIRE (Steve Waldee, CA, June 5, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Besides Steve`s take on all this, by all means check this page if the original Spanish didn`t do it for you. The machine translation has some amusing twists, as usual (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CUBA. INTERRUMPEN FRECUENCIA DE LA PODEROSA 670 AM (MIAMI) EXTRAIDO DE "CUBANET" MARTES 25 DE MAYO DEL 2004 POLITICA / Interrumpen frecuencia de La Poderosa 670 am - CubaNet News - Noticias de Cuba / Cuba News ========================================================= SANTA CLARA, 24 de mayo (Javier Machado / www.cubanet.org) - Un poderoso retransmisor de Radio Rebelde puesto en marcha este 21 de mayo en la frecuencia 670 am cubre la señal de La Poderosa en toda la región central del país. El día anterior el transmisor central de Radio Rebelde estuvo fuera del aire, lo que permitió que la señal de Radio Martí inundara con su programación todo el territorio, lo que hace pensar que los técnicos podían estar trabajando en la instalación del nuevo transmisor de la emisora paradigma de la radiodifusión cubana. Inmersa en la llamada batalla de ideas, la radio tiene una influencia decisiva en la información del cubano, que busca afanosamente alguna señal extranjera para obtener versiones diferentes de los hechos y fenómenos que ocurren en el mundo. Al parecer el Instituto de Radio y Televisión (ICRT) tiene un interés especial por esta frecuencia donde hasta el lunes en la noche se podía sintonizar La Poderosa 670 am. Quizás la causa del bloqueo de su señal se deba al interés creciente que muestran los residentes en el centro del país por la programación de esta emisora, especialmente porque se escuchaban muchas voces amigas criticando constantemente al sistema y denunciado las violaciones de los derechos humanos en Cuba. Programas como los del Movimiento Democracia, donde se permite que varios líderes de ese movimiento radicados acá, expresen sus ideas y denuncias, era algo muy mal mirado por la nomenclatura, especialmente porque el Movimiento Democracia ha ganado en carisma y en adeptos, creciendo cualitativa y cuantitativamente en estos años. Hace algún tiempo Radio Rebelde bloqueó la señal de Radio Mambí "La Grande" y desde hace años lo hizo también en la frecuencia donde transmitía Radio Martí. Ahora la única alternativa en banda de AM es la programación de WQBA 1140 am, donde los aficionados al béisbol escuchan a Felo Ramírez y Ñiky Quintana transmitiendo los juegos de los Marlins de la Florida. Cordiales 73's (via Oscar de Céspedes, Conexión Digital via DXLD) ** CUBA [non]. PROGRAMACION DE RADIO MARTI http://www.martinoticias.com/rm_sch_spa.html SOBRE FRECUENCIAS DE RADIO MARTI http://www.martinoticias.com/frequencies.htm Cordiales 73's (Oscar de Céspedes, May 27, Conexión Digital via DXLD) ** DENMARK. Greetings Mr. Hauser --- Heard World Music Radio (presumed) on 5815 at 0155Z June 3 with uptempo pop music. Receiver lost the sync lock and signal faded out at 0200Z, using Grundig Sat. 800/ham dipole antenna. First time I've heard them on either frequency. Best Regards (Ben Loveless, WB9FJO ex-WPE9JLQ, Michigan, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ECUADOR. Glenn, This QSL might be too specialist for your digest but feel free to include it. This was heard at Tiwai, South Island New Zealand. Hearing elusive short wave signals is one thing, hearing medium wave signals from afar is a different class. Regards David Dear Mr Norrie, It's always a pleasure to receive feedback from places as beautiful (and distant) like New Zealand. Your report is accurate, it is our station that you received in New Zealand. We're a radio station from Guayaquil, Ecuador, transmitting in the 1350 AM band. Our programing includes 2 news sections (morning and noon) and variety (music, talk shows, community reports), feel free to check our website: http://www.teleradio.am To check the audio, enter the "real audio" button where we upload the signal from 6 AM to 12 PM (Ecuador time) Also for more information on our country and city, please visit: http://www.guayaquil.gov.ec and http://www.guayas.gov.ec New Zealand is a beautiful country and it's a pleasant surprise for us to have news and reports of audience from such a distance. Feel free to communicate with us via e mail, we'll be glad to respond soon as posible. Regards, Daniel Nogales, Manager, Teleradio 1350 AM, La Estacion 101.3 FM -- Ya escuchaste 101.3 FM, la estación? La mejor música, 100% éxitos, todo el tiempo... (via David Norrie, New Zealand, DXLD) ** FRANCE. RADIO FRANCE INTERNATIONALE GETS NEW CHAIRMAN | Excerpt from report by French news agency AFP Paris, 2 June: Antoine Schwarz has been elected chairman of Radio France Internationale (RFI) by the Higher Broadcasting Council (CSA), the CSA said in a statement on Wednesday [2 June]. [passage omitted] The council said that "the experience and skills of Mr Antoine Schwarz", as well as the responsibilities he exercised "in the broadcasting field, both in the News Legal and Technical Service (which has since become the Media Development Department) and at Radio Monte Carlo (RMC) where he was chairman of the Radiodiffusion Finance Company (SOFIRAD), were appropriate to the post of chairman of Radio France Internationale". His election follows the appointment of Jean-Paul Cluzel as chairman of Radio France on 12 May. Source: AFP news agency, Paris, in French 1417 gmt 2 Jun 04 (via BBCM via DXLD) ** GERMANY. I was told that the gossip about a shut-down of the SWR transmitters on 6030 and 7265 is not just wild speculation, although no official documents exist so far. Anyway SWR has already shut down an AM transmitter: Heidelberg-Dossenheim is no longer on air, recently confirmed by listening observations from the area (711 was found to be no longer an overpowering local signal at Heidelberg). Good night (Kai Ludwig, Germany, May 24, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** GREENLAND [non?]. Subject: IBCRadio Whitley Streiber's web page at http://www.unknowncountry.com states that Dreamland is carried on shortwave on 7,330 kHz by IBC. IBC's webpage claims to be on 7,330 kHz 24 x 7. http://www.ibcradio.com/shortwave-radio.htm Has this been heard by anyone, anywhere? (Daniel Srebnick, 28 May, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Has Whitley ever tried to confirm it? (gh) ** HONG KONG. US SENATOR SAYS HONG KONG FREEDOMS THREATENED | Text of report by Radio TV Hong Kong audio web site on 3 June An American lawmaker has expressed concern that freedoms here are being threatened. He is Senator Sam Brownback, chairman of the Asia- Pacific sub-committee of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. His comments follow the resignations of three radio talk-show hosts who said they quit under pressure. Senator Brownback outlined his concerns on RTHK [this radio]. [Brownback] What you're seeing, it seems to me, is a series of steps that are increasing pressure on basic, fundamental liberties that the people of Hong Kong have enjoyed, should enjoy and yet are being taken away from them. Sometimes openly, sometimes surreptitiously, but this is not a good trend and it doesn't bode well for Hong Kong or China or US relations with China. Source: RTHK Radio 3 audio web site, Hong Kong, in English 1100 gmt 3 Jun 04 (via BBCM via DXLD) ** INTERNATIONAL WATERS [non]. FriendShip Radio --- Some background information of which you are probably unaware - operating as you do in the sensible and intelligent part of the DX world. Over the past 9 or 10 months there have been repeated tales of new offshore radio stations. To wit: 1. 576 "The Force" 2. The MV Marianas anchored neared the Galloper Bank in the North Sea 3. A new radio ship transmitting test tones from the North Sea on 531 kHz (test tones were heard - certainly not from the North Sea, almost certainly from the Faroes transmitter on that fx) 4. Rainbow Radio (actually a land based pirate) 5. Radio Caroline to return from a new ship on 12th April 2004 (they were even touting for staff) - (and possibly some more that I have forgotten) - all of them lies. and now FriendShip Radio Which gives you the context of the "FriendShip Radio" story. It is suggested that the IP address from which "Maynard Wesley" comes has been used before for hoaxes of this nature - but I can't confirm that personally. The point of all this? Some of it was done to discredit a former member of the Radio Caroline organisation - but I'd assume that the rest of it is pointless mischief making. So any reports that you get of this nature should be taken with a very large pinch of salt! (Nicholas Mead, UK, June 4, DX LISTENING DIGEST) OK. DXLD readers should be aware that it is a work in progress, scooping up news from everywhere, and from unknown, unsolicited sources. Take it for what it is worth; we cannot confirm everything before publication nor require two or three sources first. Just because it appears here does not mean it has gh`s imprimatur of veracity. Always read the credit/source lines (Glenn Hauser, DXLD) ** ISRAEL. Reshet Alef / Satellite Radio --- The Reshet Alef website mentions that there is now a new MW Reshet Alef transmitter in the Galil, in northern Israel. It is at 1458 kHz and covers the Galil and Golan. This is the same frequency which is used at another transmitter which covers the Jerusalem area. http://aleph.iba.org.il/ ---- This article was forwarded to me: http://www.globes.co.il/serveen/globes/docview.asp?did=801912&fid=942 COMMUNICATIONS MINISTRY PREPARES SATELLITE RADIO BROADCASTING BILL The Ministry of Communications hopes that the bill will be passed quickly, before stations from other countries use up the available satellite frequencies. Guy Hadass 3 Jun 04 12:24 The Ministry of Communications sent a draft satellite radio broadcasting bill to various entities yesterday. The draft states that the minister of communications will have the authority to award radio broadcast licenses and determine the license terms. The Council for Cable and Satellite Broadcasting will set the regulations covering broadcast content only for private subscribers, while the Second Broadcasting Authority Council will set the corresponding regulations for broadcasts to the general public. The bill will set the terms for digital radio broadcasts via satellite and received throughout the country. Satellite radio stations can finance broadcasts from advertising, subscriptions, or a combination of both. The Ministry of Communications hopes that the bill will be passed quickly, before stations from other countries use up the available satellite frequencies. No law currently regulates nationwide commercial radio broadcasts. The Second Broadcasting Authority Law only regulates the granting of licenses for regional commercial radio stations. There is a shortage of frequencies under the current system for radio broadcasting, and satellite radio broadcasting will allow for the operation of more stations. Published by Globes [online] - http://www.globes.co.il on June 3, 2004 (Via Doni Rosenzweig, DXLD) ** ITALY. Re list of MW closings: Makes me wonder what happened with RAI Sender Bozen on 1602? Off mediumwave, still on 1602 or probably on Bozen-657 and the 1449 transmitters at Bruneck, Brixen and Meran now? By the way, I was told that Sender Bozen transmits true orgies of cue signals, some of them sounding similar to a fax like the cue tones on my recording of 846's swan sung. And, Wolfgang, I gather that 189 from Caltanissetta is still on although it was supposed to close on May 18? (Kai Ludwig, Germany, May 24, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** KIRIBATI. Kiribati Returns to the air Shortwave (Please note, the correct pronunciation for Kiribati is not like it is spelled. The correct pronunciation is KIHR-ee-BAHS.) * Intro music: Janeresture.com/kiribati_music/ * Narrator: Several email radio bulletins recently have highlighted the fact that there is a distinct possibility that Radio Kiribati in the exotic Pacific will again be heard on the shortwave bands, apparently with the intent to return to their former channel 9825 kHz. This information sparked our interest in looking at the shortwave scene in Kiribati, and this is what we found. The small independent nation of Kiribati is located in the South Pacific half way between Hawaii & Australia. This small country of less than 300 square miles, a little more than 800 square kM, is made up of islands that were known under other names in earlier times. Kiribati today with its 33 main islands is made up of the following islands and island groups:- Gilbert Islands 16 islands Phoenix Islands 8 including Canton Island Line Islands 8 including Christmas Island & Fanning Island Ocean Island 1 The total poulation of Kiribati is a little more than 100,000 and the capital city is Tarawa (TA-ra-wa) with 65,000 people. The city of Tarawa is itself a coral atoll made up of several small coral islands. The commercial centre is on Betio (bet-EE-oh); the government offices are on Bairiki (bye-REE-kee); and the international airport is on Bonriki (bon-REE-kee), all as part of the capital city Tarawa. The original settlers in Kiribati were the Austronesians, and in the 1400s the Samoans invaded the islands, followed by the Spanish, then the British, and then the Japanese. These islands became independent on July 12, 1979. The Australian dollar is their national currency; and English is the official language though Gilbertese or Kiribati is spoken locally. The local government moved the International Date Line way out east a few years ago so that they could become the first country in the world to welcome in the new millenium on January 1, 2000. Along with Tuvalu (TOO-va-LOO) and other low lying Pacific islands, the very existence of Kiribati is threatened by the rise of ocean levels due to global warming. Back in the wireless era, four stations were established in what is now Kiribati for inter-island and maritime communication. These stations were VQK on Ocean Island, VQM & VSZ on Tarawa Atoll, and VQN on Fanning Island. Then, during the Pacific War, three mediumwave stations were established in the territories of Kiribati for the benefit of American forces. These stations were WXLH on Makin Atoll, WXLF Tarawa, and WVUU Christmas Island. British Forces also operated a station on Christmas Island nearly 20 years later. The first attempt at local broadcasting in Kiribati occurred in 1952 when a small scale sporadic radio service went on the air, apparently as an amateur operation. Two years later, a regular though still quite small radio service was established in the home of the engineer and it was noted in Australia & New Zealand on the shortwave channel 6050 kHz. A small radio station was built one year later, in 1955, and this facility housed two transmitters, 500 watts on shortwave and 30 watts on mediumwave 844 kHz. A large new mediumwave station was built on Bairiki Island in 1970 and a 10 kW mediumwave transmitter was installed and this unit has been on the air ever since. On shortwave, many different transmitters, broadcast & communication, at several different locations have carried a program relay during the past half century. These units have been on the air under three different callsigns, VSZ, VTW & T3K1. The most exotic of all of these radio services in Kiribati was the shortwave relay to the mediumwave station on Christmas Island. This service was first noted in 1980 and it was in use for a couple of years until a transmitter malfunction rendered the Christmas Island station inoperable. This shortwave service served a double purpose, as a program relay and for direct reception in distant islands. The power output for this relay service was always quite low and it varied according to which transmitter was in use. The latest news tells us that Kiribati may be reviving their shortwave service on 9825 kHz for direct reception in the outer islands. Perhaps we will have the opportunity of hearing once again their exotic sign on signal, the turbulent waves of the restless ocean crashing onto the seashore of a distant Pacific Island (Adrian Michael Peterson, AWR Wavescan June 6 via DXLD) ** KOREA NORTH. STRANGE N KOREAN TRANSMISSION HEARD IN MIDDLE OF NIGHT US west coast time Glenn: Here is a shortened version of what I just posted on my "Anomalies" page: http://home.earthlink.net/~srw-swling/anomalies.htm#DPRK WHAT is this strange transmission on many N. Korean frequencies? I monitor the tropical bands from 120m up to 60m almost every late night/early morning when there is not severe lightning activity in the western states. And so, I hear many North Korean (DPRK) stations. The audio quality on most of these stations varies about as widely as the problematical, erratic transmissions of R. Habana Cuba. The "normal" propaganda transmissions, often heard by me in the wee hours in the 31m band, have decent sound and intelligible voices. Sadly, one can hear and understand virtually every word of the English programs, paeans to "the leader forever, Kim Jong Il, the great Sun of the 21st century." But the lower-frequency transmissions in the tropical bands are often terrible; inexplicable. On so many frequencies, night after night, I hear something similar to the particular Pyongyang transmission I have recorded below: for instance, heard at various times on 3350, 3480, 3560, 4405, 4450, and 4557. Sometimes all I hear is something very much like this sound, with no discernible program modulation; at other times they are also transmitting speech or even music, along with the "junk". WHAT could this be? Is it a jamming signal? If so, why also play their own programming along with it? I carefully check the frequencies and usually there is no on-channel propaganda transmission from R. Free Asia, South Korea, or the Voice of America on those particular channels; just the loud, obnoxious, strong DPRK transmissions. Audio Recordings of KNDF Pyongyang - 1 June 2004, 1058 UT: DPRK.mp3: First half of this sound clip was recorded in standard AM demodulation; the second half, starting at 32 seconds elapsed time, was received with ECSS mode, switching from upper to lower sideband. There was no difference between the sidebands. Best, (Steve Waldee - retired broadcast station chief engineer, San José, CA, June 2, DX LISTENING DIGEST) I have no idea about the strange sounds, but many of the frequencies you mention were formerly V. of National Salvation outlets, clandestine from North to South, until DPRK unilaterally terminated them in expectation that ROK would reciprocate. Then the transmitters resumed but with non-clandestine programming (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** MALTA. The history of broadcasting in Malta, especially over the past three decades, cannot be really described as glorious. Various attempts have been made to restore professionalism and accountability to broadcasting and another attempt is being made through the restructuring of Public Broadcasting Services and the launch of a so-called national broadcasting policy. The proposals are many but in the declarations made so far there has been near total absence of references to the part to be played by the Broadcasting Authority. Which gives rise to pertinent questions: Is the authority taken for granted? Is it set for an overhaul? Do the political parties consider the authority simply a rubber stamp to what they decide? The Broadcasting Authority is established by the Constitution "to ensure that, so far as possible, in such sound and television broadcasting services as may be provided in Malta, due impartiality is preserved in respect of matters of political or industrial controversy relating to current public policy...". Yet, from what has been said so far, it seems the government of the day may end up with additional powers, financial and otherwise, that should fall within the province of the authority and which may themselves, as proposed, contravene the spirit if not the letter of the Constitution and of the Broadcasting Act. One of the radical measures proposed is the setting up of an "editorial board" appointed by the government. Why the government and not the authority? The same can be said about programme schedules, which it is now proposed, should be "approved" by the government presumably because the government is paying for them through utilisation of some of the licence fees. This sum is to be restricted to Lm500,000. And in the case of advertising, which PBS will have to rely on to a greater extent than heretofore, any "surplus" remaining after meeting the cost of a programme reverts to the government! At this rate we may be in danger of establishing a "partisan" station to be used or misused by those in office. The spirit behind the constitutional provisions is that nothing is to be broadcast unless it has the approval of the authority and "that in exercising its function, the broadcasting authority shall not be subject to the direction or control of any other persons or authority". Will this remain so? Will the situation prevailing at PBS after the restructuring and the implementation of the new policy mean that the unfortunate "news manager" and the newsroom will be subject to scrutiny and approval by the chief executive officer, by the proposed "editorial board", by the board of directors of PBS and by the Broadcasting Authority. This can only be described as top-heavy and, frankly, unworkable if not wholly absurd. It would be wise to hold talks now with the Broadcasting Authority to exchange views and to establish how practical and how acceptable are the latest proposals, in the light of the Constitution and the Broadcasting Act. And such talks should also be widened to look into the set-up and functions of the Broadcasting Authority itself. It is about time it should no longer be formed of people directly appointed by the two main parties in power. Enough damage has been done to broadcasting because of political diktat (Valetta Times, May 25 via Bob Padula, DXLD) ** MEXICO. Note in the following the IMER is closing two MW stations to save 4 megapesos, but mentions in passing this will be added to saving 2 megapesos at XERMX (gh) CRISIS EN EL IMER: CIERRAN OFICINAS EN CAMPECHE Y COLIMA miércoles 26 de mayo, 10:00 AM Convoca el sindicato a una asamblea general mañana, en oficinas del DF México, D.F., 25 de mayo (apro).- Por medio de una ``decisión unilateral``, refirieron los trabajadores, la directora del Instituto Mexicano de la Radio (Imer), Dolores Béistegui de Robles, decidió cerrar las estaciones XETEB de Campeche, y XEBCO, de Villa Álvarez, Colima. ``Se ha decidido cerrar ambas estaciones con base en un proyecto radiofónico de orden personal; este proyecto consiste en cerrar ambas estaciones para lograr un ahorro de 4 millones de pesos los que, aunados a los 2 millones que se ahorrarán de Radio México Internacional, serán empleados para invertir en otras estaciones, particularmente en la frontera`` señaló en un comunicado el Sindicato Nacional de Trabajadores del Imer. En junta sostenida con Béistegui, la representación sindical exigió cuentas y mostró su desacuerdo por lo que llamaron ``una decisión unilateral, arbitraria e injusta``, y pidieron también que diera marcha atrás a la intención de deshacerse de las dos radiodifusoras. Como respuesta, se enteraron que la funcionaria ``tenía un proyecto personal de radio, y que para ese proyecto habría que pagar un precio, y correspondía pagarlo esta vez a los compañeros de Colima y Campeche. ``Que los trabajadores serían liquidados para el próximo 31 de mayo, no importándole las consecuencias que esto pudiera generar, al grado que si algún trabajador no estaba de acuerdo, se le impediría la entrada al centro de trabajo. También, que el sindicato tenía la opción de convencer a los afectados a aceptar su retiro o lo haría por vía de los tribunales; que sabía que ese era un pleito tardado de seis meses o más; que nos cansaría y entonces tendríamos que venir a pactar.`` Los sindicalizados impugnaron también que en lugar ``de quitar el trabajo a los compañeros, por qué no hacía una revisión salarial de sus funcionarios, quienes reciben jugosos salarios, o evitara la contratación de servicios externos, como ocurrió en el caso de la producción y presentación del CD de música ranchera en francés, con un costo de 35 mil pesos, trabajo que se puede hacer con personal del Imer. O como el caso de Ciudad Acuña, donde desde noviembre del 2003 tiene rentada una oficina que permanece abandonada, con un costo de 8 mil 500 pesos mensuales, cantidad que sería suficiente para proveer de papel higiénico, agua de beber y material de limpieza a todas las estaciones foráneas que carecen de esos insumos.`` Dispuestos a no permitir ``que funcionarios carentes de conciencia y compromiso social atropellen impunemente sus derechos e instituciones``, los trabajadores realizarán una magna asamblea al mediodía de este miércoles 26 de mayo, en las oficinas del Imer en Mayorazgo (via Héctor García Bojorge, DF, Conexión Digital via DXLD) ** MEXICO. The above implies IMER is upgrading its border stations, and XERF 1570 Ciudad Acuña, Coahuila is certainly the main one, authorized for 250 kW in its commercial heyday but of late very much less. I suspect power is creeping up again, however, as it was worthy of its slogan ``La Poderosa 15-70`` when heard in Santa Rosa, promoting a show ``La Victrola``, Wednesdays at 2000-2200 local (UT Thursdays 0100-0300). Sounds like one worth checking (Glenn Hauser, NM, DX LISTENING DIGEST) DESPEDIDA - XERMX --- Sólo para anunciarles que el día de hoy 1 de junio de 2004, Radio Mexico Internacional, XERMX-OC, 9705, 11770 kHz sale del aire; no nos queda más que agradecer a toda la gente que nos ha escuchado, nuestro más grande y profundo agradecimiento a nombre de todos los que trabajamos aquí. Lic. Oscar E. García (via Héctor García B., DF, June 2, Conexión Digital via DXLD) Says XERMX has finally closed down for good as of June 1. This may have been one of the very last loggings, tho in 4-087 we had one an hour later from Mick Delmage. Still, an occasional check of 9705 could not hurt (gh, DXLD) 9705, XERMX, Radio México Internacional, 0205 June 1, Música clásica y mexicana, Identificación: "RMI Radio México Internacional, 9705 kHz". "Música original RMI". Señal débil y con interferencia. 23222 (Manuel Méndez, Spain, Cumbre DX via DXLD) ** NEW ZEALAND. What's wrong with their existing transmitter? Well, I assume nothing. This is a Thomson TRE2315 with pulse duration modulation, no ancient plate-modulated rig (not to speak about the circumstance that even such transmitters can be used for DRM purposes as it is established practice at Junglinster and Taldom). It is my impression that there is only one major problem with this unit: It is RNZI's only transmitter. Apparently they drew some conclusions after this sole transmitter was knocked off for six weeks in last autumn, and "digital" is a proven buzzword when it comes to impress and persuade the "decision makers". (Kai Ludwig, Germany, May 24, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** NEW ZEALAND. RNZI DRM v satellite, Re 4-084/4-085: I think it's a broader issue than the size of satellite dishes and who can service them. RNZI exists simply to project a New Zealand view to a specific target zone of listeners extending from French Polynesia in the east to Papua New Guinea in the west. It achieves this primarily through partnerships with local MW and FM stations who rebroadcast news bulletins and other programs to their local listeners. Satellite dishes and receivers are different from station to station, with some using your BUD's, some using smaller ones. Technical expertise also varies from station to station, which means that pointing the dish correctly at the satellite isn't always achieved. Maintenance of towers, dishes and micro-wave relay systems is difficult in tropical zones, and again, local technical expertise varies across the twenty-plus individual nations involved. On some islands, the satellite dish is owned by and co-sited with state telephone and communications services - the first place to close down in times of unrest. Satellite delivery is not guaranteed because as well as cyclones felling them, dishes can also be ordered down by government dictat or by armed groups. Political instability, intolerance of free media _expression, civil war and economic failure have become depressingly familiar in a growing number of Pacific states. It's relatively easy to stop the message by removing a dish or instructing a state run station to not carry a foreign news bulletin. Legal threats and intimidation of station personnel are also not unknown in the Pacific. These are significant reasons for maintaining a SW capability, and protecting the means of delivery into the target zone. If satellite dishes go down, and local stations are silenced, portable SW receivers ensure that the NZ view can still be successfully received. With a DRM transmitter, RNZI upgrades from 15 year old equipment which can no longer guarantee that independent SW reception because of potential equipment failure and difficulties obtaining parts as the transmitter reaches the end of its lifespan. DRM delivery for rebroadcast upgrades to FM quality (unlike the fluctuating quality in SW reception I heard on local FM stations in Samoa recently) and via a portable SW receiver. In storm situations, provided the transmitter is still capable of functioning, high quality DRM rebroadcasts can be maintained. With satellite dishes, this is not always the case. and with existing analog transmissions, this is also not always the case, as reception is erratic. Of course, a station can still be prevented from carrying a foreign news bulletin or commentary which local politicians disfavor, it's just a little harder as there's no dish to destroy.. But, from a purely practical viewpoint of assured future SW delivery (no matter what happens to satellite dishes or local stations) and improved local rebroadcast, the RNZI decision to move to DRM is sensible for its target zone and audience. From a DX viewpoint in North America or Europe, the analog broadcasts will continue for some time after the DRM transmitter for the Pacific service comes on and may even be redirected at North American, Asian and European listeners with additional program options and more convenient listening times. Warm regards (David Ricquish, Wellington, NZ, May 26, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** NEW ZEALAND. CW DROPPED AS REQUIREMENT FOR NZ HAMS AS AT JUNE 17 MED have announced the official date from which NZ Limited licence holders may operate on HF bands --- Thursday 17 June 2004. Licence holders are not required to change their call signs, but may do so if they wish. The official announcement which confirms the change that was published in the New Zealand Gazette last month can be seen on the Ministry web site for details: http://www.med.govt.nz/rsm/int/wrc/wrc-2003-outcomes/amateur-morse.html (via Paul Ormandy, ZL4PW, Host of The South Pacific DX Report http://radiodx.com June 3, DX LISTENING DIGEST) See also AUSTRALIA ** PAKISTAN. Re: 15100 varies like the others? (gh) This transmission at 0800-1104, like other World Service transmissions, are via the two 250 kW transmitters at Rewat. It isn't unknown for them to 'drift' off frequency but usually they operate on or very close to nominal frequency. The same cannot be said for the five 100 kW transmitters at the same dual site. But, when it's possible to hear them, the various external services carried via API-1 & 3 do seem to be close to nominal on most days currently. And reports I see of the other three seem to indicate the same. As far as I am aware there are no deliberate frequency deviations in operation (Noel Green, UK, June 4, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** PALESTINE. WEST BANK AND GAZA: AL-AQSA RADIO REPORTEDLY RESUMES TRANSMISSION | Excerpt from report by pro-Hamas Palestinian Information Centre web site on 28 May Gaza 28 May: Al-Aqsa Islamic radio has resumed broadcasting from the Gaza Strip a month after it ceased transmission after it was subjected to a Zionist attack by US-made Apaches early this month. The radio started broadcasting Islamic songs on the same FM wavelength on Friday evening [28 May] and will continue round the clock. Al-Aqsa Radio Director Ra'id Abu-Dayr said that following the station's bombardment, its administration considered itself faced with a big responsibility towards its listeners and the [Palestinian] people in order to convey the Islamic media message via Al-Aqsa Radio. [Passage omitted: oratory]. Source: Palestinian Information Centre web site in Arabic 28 May 04 (via BBCM via DXLD) ** PANAMA. Our member HM, Hasse Mattisson, made a business trip to Panamá City some time ago and has supplied some clippings from the Panamá City phone book. Below follow some pieces of information from these clippings: 650 HOS22 R Mía, Panamá. Web: http://www.radiomia.com mia @ sinfo.net 710 HOQ51 KW Continente, Panamá. Web: http://www.kwcontinente.com Email: kwcontinente @ cableonda.net 740 HOR44 La Exitosa de Chorrera, address: Av. Las Américas, La Chorrera 760 HOXO LV del Istmo, Panamá Email: atrd @ panama.c-com.net 1060 HOJ60 R Voz de Panamá, Panamá "La Autentica". Email: vozdepanama @ hotmail.com 1160 HOWK R Metrópolis, Panamá. Email: radiometropolis @ hotmail.com 1470 HO.. R La Primerísima, Panamá. Email: rlprimerisima @ latinol.com 1510 HOA95 Hosanna Radio, Panamá. Address: Edificio Rapiventa, Piso 1, Calle Erick del Valle, El Cangrejo,Panamá. Email: hosannaradioytv @ hotmail.com 1570 HOE35 LV del Trópico, Colón, address: Calle 7, Av. Del Frente. Colón. Hasse Mattisson, ARC (via Tore Larsson, ARC's LA News Desk May 26 via DXLD) ** PAPUA NEW GUINEA. 4960, June 5, 1013-, Catholic Radio Network (CRN) heard with continuous talk from tune-in at 0955 at poor to fair level. No definite ID at TOH, but did hear Vatican Radio IS at 1005 over cochannel with modern pop music station (Radio Federación? Vanuatu? Radio Cima, DR?). Audio clip of George Bush 'United States Army' at 1007:45. Signal definitely improving. At 1019, the Latin suddenly faded up dominating the channel. CRN either dropped out completely, or faded way down. Catchy Spanish dance tune at fair to good level. It's grayline to Santo Domingo, and shortly for Sucúa, Ecuador. I'm assuming the LA will dominate the frequency for the next half hour or so, and then fade, leaving CRN in the clear (Walt Salmaniw, Victoria, BC, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 4960, CRN, 0958-1300 June 4, first noted just above threshold level with male & female talk in English. "Hail Mary, Full of Grace" prayers by two people in unison at 1001. Flute music, then PNG sing-sing style of music at 1004. Signal improved to fair over the next half hour, with apparent BBC relay of two Brit-accented announcers to 1027, mentioning "Media(?) World News" and "BBC" and also "Radio New Zealand" at 1028. Vatican Radio interval signal at 1029, followed by xylophone and drums. Many mentions of Papua New Guinea by male & female announcers 1030-1032. Signal continued to improve slowly to Vatican Radio IS again at 1040. Devotion prayer reading 1045, Vatican IS at 1059, then clear ID by female "This is the Catholic Radio Network of Papua New Guinea" at 1059:50, followed by song "Thy Loving Kindness" and instrumental tunes. ID again at 1110 in English followed by mention of Rabaul, but the female announcer switched to Tok Pisin at this point. By 1130 CRN's signal had improved to very good, with a mix of male announcer in Tok Pisin and contemporary religious music to dead air from 1200:40 to 1201:08. Religious tunes continued uninterrupted to 1245, when a recorded mass or devotional segment from the Vatican was introduced by two male announcers. If this very good signal continues, it will be easily audible on the East Coast of the USA... better try for CRN before Wayne Wilson of TE-PNG tweaks the antenna system! (Guy Atkins, WA, Cumbre DX via DXLD) CRN Vanimo now on the air, 4960 --- Catholic Radio Network, at Vanimo, using 4960, is now operational, having commenced initial commissioning transmissions during the local PNG evening on June 4. It is running 24-hrs, carrying relays of the CRN FM network from Port Moresby and other programming. Here in Melbourne, it's providing good reception throughout our darkness hours from 1300 until past 2100, and reception in Japan is similarly good during darkness hours. Technical monitoring reports should be sent to the Engineering Construction Manager, Mr. Wayne Wilson, in Port Moresby, at wwilson @ tepng.com I am working closely with Wayne on technical issues of coverage outside of the local service area, so would you kindly also forward copies of monitoring reports to me. There is some concern that coverage is reaching much further than anticipated, and we will be assessing daytime coverage (Bob Padula, Mont Albert, Victoria, Australia, BDXC-UK via DXLD) Tsk "The transmitter power is 1 kilowatt and the antenna is an omni- directional Delta with high angle radiation. The service is intended to cover the immediate area out to 300 kilometers or so. At night the coverage will be greater but during the day a bit less," says Engineering construction manager Wayne Wilson to DXing.info. The shortwave station in Vanimo receives the network program from Port Moresby via satellite and also has a small local studio. The program is transmitted locally on a 300-watt FM transmitter and simultaneously on shortwave, Wilson explains. Vanimo is part of a nationwide network being developed by the Catholic Church. The Catholic Radio Network of Papua New Guinea (CRN PNG) has been established by the Catholic Bishops Conference of Papua New Guinea and Solomon Island (CBC PNG and SI). The first FM transmitters were launched in July 2003, and currently the network includes five FM transmitters around the country. More stations both on FM and on shortwave are planned. Reception reports can be sent to Engineering construction manager Wayne Wilson by email (DXing.info, June 4, 2004 via DXLD) Subject: Catholic Radio Network, PNG: update The initial 24-hr tests from CRN 4960 have been audible worldwide. Propagation to the Americas is from around 0930 until local dawn at the receiver site, with co-channel Ecuador! Propagation to the west has been noted right across Europe, the Middle East and Africa, from fade-in during the early evening (about 1600) until fadeout at around 2000. Good signals north into Asia and Japan, and across the Pacific! Reception in the Indian sub-continent is problematical, due to co-channel Ranchi from *1130-1730v*. Note that this is a 1 kW facility, using a POD330 Delta antenna supplied by PEI, and this antenna configuration is is essentially a trial. This is vertical incidence. The higher-powered 10 kW installations for the NBC facilities on 3 MHz use delta-fed phased dipoles, each with four masts. Port Moresby 4890 9675 uses 100 kW. As an aside, the station does not wish its SW service to be regarded as a "radio DX hobbyist target". At the moment, it does not have the capability to process and issue formal QSLs. At this stage, the facility is still in the commissioning phase, and we are looking carefully at signal effectiveness across the primary service area, which is essentially along the north coast of PNG. Technical reports can be sent to Wayne Wilson at wwilson @ tepng.com with a copy to me at bobpadula @ engradio.org Regards! (Bob Padula, Melbourne, June 6, DX LISTENING DIGEST) {4-089!} ** PAPUA NEW GUINEA. AUSTRALIAN AID AGENCY CLEARS PNG PROVINCIAL RADIO'S POWER BILL | Text of report by Papua New Guinea newspaper The National web site on 2 June The Australian aid agency AusAID has last week paid off [a] 23,000 kina power bill for Radio Chimbu. The radio station was immediately back on air with its usual programmes, including live broadcasts of the Chimbu Regional by-election. Electricity supply to the station was cut in March this year. Radio Chimbu station manager John Bare yesterday thanked AusAID for bailing them out. Mr Bare said Radio Chimbu is the only vibrant media outlet in the province. He said counting of votes for the Chimbu by- election, which starts today, would be broadcast live from the central tally room so supporters of candidates would know how their candidates are performing. The radio station would start live coverage of the counting tomorrow. Electoral staff yesterday confirmed that counting would start tomorrow. Chimbu provincial returning officer Mr Openakali said yesterday that preparations and arrangements are under way for the counting to begin tomorrow, preferably at the Dixon Oval. Source: The National web site, Port Moresby, in English 2 Jun 04 (via BBCM via DXLD) ** PERU. PERU REVIEWS 'SLAVE' ANTHEM http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2004/06/01/1086037749810.html The Anthem We are free; let us always be so, And let the sun rather deny its light Than that we should fail the solemn vow Which our country raised to God. For a long time the Peruvian, oppressed, Dragged the ominous chain; Condemned to cruel serfdom, For a long time he moaned in silence. But as soon as the sacred cry of Freedom! was heard on his coasts, He shook off the indolence of the slave, He raised his humiliated head. Peru today named a group of 10 experts to assess if the national anthem, composed 183 years ago, still strikes the right note. Justice Minister Baldo Kresalja asked the panel - including a retired general, academics and a musician - to see if the anthem "reflects the feeling of the population and unity of the nation and to study the text of its verses", a resolution published in the official gazette said. The hymn, sung on all official and military occasions and in schools up and down the country, ends with the rousing exclamation Viva Peru! (Long Live Peru!). It was composed in 1821 when the Andean nation declared independence from Spain. But there has long been controversy about the first verse, believed to have crept in in 1913 from slave chants. Critics say the line "long oppressed, Peruvians dragged a painful chain, condemned to cruel servitude, long they howled in silence", portrays citizens as servile. The resolution said historians agreed there were "substantial errors and an apocryphal verse". The experts must present a report and the debate will be opened to the public. Lawmakers have in the past sought to scrub the offending verse and reinstate the original: "Now the sacred cry of the free has silenced the din of chains which we heard for three centuries of horror and the world heard in astonishment." Peru was an important centre of Spain's Latin American empire for three centuries. Reuters (Sydney Morning Herald via Chris Martin, Brisbane, ARDXC via DXLD) ** POLAND. 11820, R. Polonia, *1159-1215, June 5, English, IS, YL Sign-on announcements, Brutal audio quality and bad transmitter hum. Surprised to hear a clear "This is Radio Polonia, broadcasting from Warsaw" canned ID and program intro, "Insight" at 1204, then back to poor audio. Signal gradually improved to hear talk of European Parliament and EU. I assume the signal got better as the transmitter warmed up? (Scott Barbour, NH, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** PORTUGAL. Reapresentamos, novamente, o esquema de emissões do programa de dexismo da RDP Internacional – Rádio Portugal: nas quartas-feiras, às 2340, em 9715, 13660, 13700, 15295 e 15480 kHz. Também nas sextas-feiras, às 1640, em 15445, 15525, 13770, 21655 e 21800 kHz, conforme informações de João Gonçalves Costa, desde Almada, em Portugal (Célio Romais, Panorama DX, May 25 via DXLD) ** RUSSIA. VOR, 15595: We have had during the past week numerous nights of higher than normal MUF's, and for me the beneficiary seems mostly to be VOR. It is a shock and surprise to receive the station the way I used to in 1961 from a 750-foot fencetop wire strung through an apricot orchard in beautiful Los Gatos, California (in the heart of the 'old' Silicon Valley, with only two isolated buzzing tech centers, the widely separated Lockheed and IBM, flanking large stretches of agricultural fields: heaven, compared to 2004). I am listening at this moment (0400 UT, 25 May) to the TOH news on VOR, presumably as flung by the Petropavlovsk facility. It is being received at about the same steadiness, and nearly the strength, of the San José local 5 kW BC stations within five miles of my house. The signal is SO exceptionally clear and quiet -- I'd estimate that my S/N ratio, with wide AM filter, is probably 45 dB from the peaks of volume to the noise floor! -- that I can listen for sonic nuances. I am struck by the remarkable, distinctive, characteristic "Radio Moscow" tone quality that I remember so well from forty years ago. I wonder if it is entirely possible that the SAME wood-panelled rooms are being employed, as in days of yore? There is a glow, a bloom of rich resonance around voices, with lots of short-duration acoustical reflections, that creates an ambient halo that is so very different from the plangently dead American or BBC announce studio sound (with all resonance sucked into Sonex foam; non-parallel walls; and probably spring-loaded rooms on rubber isolators.) The reception I am gifted with tonight is simply the anomalously rare perfection that stands out in memory for decades. I not only marvel at the tonal character of the miking, but can tell that *some* form of processing is being applied that "gates" the signal level at a certain low amplitude, shutting off the faintest background sounds. I would imagine that this is being done right in the mike channels of their mixing console. Carl Watts and Joe Adamov are simply in the room with me. My wife, no fan of SWL'ing, just came into my garage radio shack to take a load of clothes from the drier. She thought I was listening to one of the San Francisco talk stations, and her eyes widened when Joe Adamov started talking about the number of employees at Voice of Russia. "THAT'S coming all the way from RUSSIA?" she marvelled. Normally, the noisy, scratchy signals I struggle to endure send her rushing away from my shortwave enclave to protect her hearing. I should add that my radio is connected to a pair of largish stereo speakers, both with 10" woofers, driven by a decent amp. Normally for SW listening, I "dumb down" this behemoth reproducer, using heavy noise reduction, filtering, narrow IF bandwidth, and rolling off tone controls. Not tonight! It's high fidelity sound, from across the Pacific (or however the signal bounces to me on the California coast), that reminds me of that sense of transcending great distances that got me hooked on SW as a teenager. We don't experience this vivid reality by SW very often these days; now that it has occurred once again, tonight, it will surely make the BPL onslaught to come seem all the more tragic... [Later:] I am continuing to listen, almost in a state of shock, to tonight's exceptional propagation and quiet background noise level during this VOR transmission in the 19M band. At present, a Russian singer named Yulya Maletsova (?) is being interviewed, and speaks flawless, fluent English. Then she sings with guitar accompaniment an old catchy American jazz song, "Ev'rything's All Right", that I haven't heard in decades. Leave it to a Russian station to play an AMERICAN tune that no one here in the US remembers or would bother with... But at 0500 right after the electronic chimes simulate the mighty Mussorgsky "Great Gate of Kiev" anthem, Carl only manages to intone "This..." before the carrier is dropped, the station moving on to other frequencies, bringing an end to this amazing time- transporting experience. The AGC releases; the noise rushes back up; and once again I am in modern shortwave-land. Sigh (Steve Waldee http://home.earthlink.net/~srw-swling/ dxlyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** SAINT HELENA. Dear Glenn: I wanted to send along a ``thankyou`` for your work. Last November, in DXLD 3-207, you publicized the effort of Mr. Robert Kipp of Langen, Germany. He was going to visit St. Helena and if anyone who had not received a verification for a reception report for the 1999 broadcast of Radio St. Helena would let him know, he would in turn let the new station manager know. The manager would hopefully issue a belated verification. I sent all pertinent information and after waiting a total of four and a half years, I received a full data QSL card and letter of apology, both signed by Ralph H. Peters, the new station manager. (This was after my own efforts during that time which included sending emails and followup reports.) Mr. Peters had no explanation why so many people had not received their QSLs. He did not specify the numbers involved. He did not specify whether my original or followup reports had been received. (I sent my original report by registered mail.) The items I received were sent by airmail, postmarked on 23 April and received on 19 May. Thanks again, Glenn. A bow and a tip of the old headphones to Mr. Kipp for going that extra mile, which makes this hobby so interesting. Also, I no longer have a computer so I apologize for not using email. Best wishes, (William R. Wilkins, Springfield, MO, 27 May, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 11092.5, R St. Helena verified with a full data Map Card indicating final transmission in 1,666 days from Ralph H. Peters, Station Manager. Thanks to efforts of Robert Kipp and DSWCI for helping making belated verifications possible. This is my second QSL for this broadcast with initial reply coming from retired Station manager Tony Leo in 944 days. The final broadcast in October 1999 resulted in 730 reception reports (Rich D`Angelo, PA, DSWCI DX Window June 2 via DXLD) ** SLOVAKIA. RSI, 5930, f/d (tho time as only "0100") "Radio Bratislava" building in 22 days for an e-mail report. Details on card look computer generated. I wonder if e-mail reports via RSI's website are automatically answered via computer, and not seen by human eyes (Scott Barbour, NH, June 5, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** SRI LANKA. Glenn: Listening to Sri Lanka on 15748 from 0030 till after 0130 GMT with a great signal and easy listening, if you like their "eclectic" music selections from the 40's onwards. Some dedications to listeners in South India, but no formal announcements and just music, music, music. 9770 also heard, but much weaker. SLBS was so much stronger than adjacent NZ on 15720. Please keep up the great work you are doing (Tom Sliva, New York, NY, May 27, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** SUDAN [non]. NEW AMERICAN-FUNDED PEACE RADIO FOR SUDAN ADVERTISED ON KENYAN RADIO | Text of advertisement broadcast on Kenyan KBC radio on 1 June [In English] A new radio for Sudan: Sudan Radio Service for Peace and Development. [In Arabic] For peace and development. [In English] Hear Sudan Radio Service Monday through Friday on your shortwave radio. From 6 to 8 in the morning tune in to 11665 kHz from 8 to 9 in the morning tune in to 15325 kHz and from 6 to 9 in the evening tune in to 17660 kHz. Sudan Radio Service brings you independent news and programmes on health, civic education, agriculture and much, much more. Sudan Radio Service is a project of Education Development Centre, an American NGO. For peace and development. Source: KBC radio, Nairobi, in English 1559 gmt 1 Jun 04 (via BBCM via DXLD) ** SWEDEN. RADIO SWEDEN--Coming up on Radio Sweden: Thursday: "Nordic Lights" Friday: Our weekly review Saturday: "Network Europe" Sunday: "In Touch With Stockholm" As reported last week in Radio Sweden News, Swedish Radio, Swedish Television and the Swedish Educational Broadcasting Company look to be heading for a labor conflict strike after negotiations broke down between management and unions. The union accuses management of abusing employment agreements when it comes to freelancers and other non- contractual workers. If an agreement isn't reached between the two sides, the first stage of the strike could begin at 1400 UT Thursday. The conflict will probably affect our Radio Sweden programs. Union members will be restricted in what work they will be allowed to carry out. Programs may be rather basic or may not make it onto air. There is a good chance that we will not be able to update our website (RealAudio recordings, however, should continue unabated.) Please note that mediators could enforce a two week postponement of the industrial action. Radio Sweden management has sought an exemption for some programming in immigrant languages as well as Radio Sweden's Swedish service (SCDX/MediaScan June 2 via DXLD) ** TAIWAN. USA-Radio Free Asia --- Radio Free Asia has increased its usage of the Taiwan relay, with these additional frequencies since June 1: 9920 - for Mandarin 2100-2200, and this is noted with good signals here in Melbourne 11665 - for Mandarin 1800-1900 The Taiwan relay is also used for Vietnamese broadcasts, on 11605, 1400-1500 and 2330-0030. Regards! (Bob Padula, Mont Albert, Victoria, Australia, June 4, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** TAJIKISTAN. FM RADIO STATIONS AUDIBLE IN TAJIK CAPITAL ON 3 JUNE 2004 | The following FM radio stations were audible with good reception in Dushanbe on 3 June 2004. All were in the 87.0-108.0 range. 102.2 Radio Sado-i Dushanbe (Tajik state radio) 103.7 Ruskoye Radio 2; Russian radio; music and news 104.5 Asia FM - commercial station - mainly music 106.0 Vatan - commercial station, mainly music, with very brief news 107.0 Asia Plus; commercial station - mainly music; regular news bulletins. Source: BBC Monitoring research in English 5 Jun 04 (via DXLD) ** THAILAND. 6765U, Bangkok Meteological Radio, May 27 1224-1310, 44444. Weather information in English and Thai (ISHIZAKI Kyoshiro, Japan, Japan Premium via DXLD) ** U K. NEW BBC DIRECTOR-GENERAL STARTS ON 22 JUNE A deal has been struck between the BBC and commercial TV company Channel 4 which means that its Chief Executive Mark Thompson can leave early, and take up his role as BBC Director-General on 22 June. His arrival date means he will have time to look over the BBC's charter review document before it is submitted to the Department of Culture, Media and Sport at the end of the month. In return, the BBC has issued a statement saying it "is grateful to the Channel 4 Board for agreeing to the early release of Mark Thompson to enable him to join the BBC as its Director-General on 22 June. The BBC has agreed to reimburse Channel 4's one-off search fee incurred in their recruitment of a new Chief Executive." # posted by Andy @ 19:59 UT June 4 (Media Network blog via DXLD) ** U K. LOVE THE BRITS, HATE THE BBC By Tanya Barrientos, Inquirer Columnist Philadelphia Inquirer | 05/29/2004 | Unconventional Wisdom | http://www.philly.com/mld/inquirer/8789037.htm?1c I drive to work at 9 a.m., at the ebb of the morning rush, right after Charlie Gibson and Diane Sawyer call it a day on Good Morning America, happily listening to my car radio. Well, not so happily anymore. For as long as I can remember, I counted on the repeat of Morning Edition on public radio to ease me into the office. A bit of world news, a quick national overview, and a taste of arts and culture delivered by the melodic voices of current cohosts Steve Inskeep and Renée Montagne. When I gave up coffee a while back, I also gave up shock-jock therapy. No Howard Stern for me. No Imus in the Morning. I can't stomach their peppery opinions before noon. I want my breakfast update served without pulp. So I thought I'd be in heaven when WHYY-FM (90.9) switched its schedule in January and began broadcasting the BBC Newshour during my commute. British accents! Global viewpoints! Daily gossip about the old-school royals, the new-school royals, and the third cousins once removed from the royals! I love Emma Thompson. I read Nick Hornby. I've watched every episode of Prime Suspect that's run on public television. I even own the entire first season of the vintage Brit TV series Upstairs, Downstairs on DVD. For a Guatemalan-born gal raised in West Texas, I'm a heck of an Anglophile. Naturally, I thought an entire hour of the BBC would be my cup of tea. Except, as it turns out, I hate it. Go ahead, call me stupid. Call me shallow. If you're feeling English, call me daft. But I can't bear the program I thought I would adore. Oh sure, the accents are pretty, and the war coverage is terrific. But beyond that, the show is sluggish, pompous and boring. For six months I've gritted my teeth and continued to listen, ingesting the show like medicine. (Mary Poppins, where are you?) But I've also tried to put my finger on the precise problem I have with the program. As a journalist, I thrive on news. I spend my day informing myself about happenings around the world. I'm firmly in favor of Americans' being more globally aware. But there is something annoying about the mix of dispatches coming from the oh-so-proper BBC correspondents. Reports from Ireland. India. China. Zambia. Nigeria. Zimbabwe. Bulletins from Australia. Uganda. Sri Lanka. Sierra Leone. Stories from nations that, for the most part, used to belong to the British Empire. That's the problem. Under the guise of providing a well-rounded report of world events, the British Broadcasting Corp. concentrates almost entirely on the places it used to own. Get over it, mates! The map has been redrawn. If you must feed me obscure tidbits from far-flung locales, why not Norway, Peru or Venezuela? I telephoned Christine Dempsey, director of radio programming at WHYY, to see what sort of reaction she's received. "It's very popular," she said. So popular, the ratings shot up about 20 percent. So popular, "after six weeks we had a 70 percent increase in the calls for membership during that hour." I'm clearly in the minority. So be it. I'll take my medicine. And when Newshour gets to be too pedantic, I'll switch over to Tom Joyner on WDAS-FM (105.3) for a refreshing dose of pedestrian American humor (via Dan Say, swprograms via DXLD) ** U S A. Hi Glenn, The 2003 BBG annual report is now available at http://www.bbg.gov/bbg_press.cfm 73 (Kim Elliott, DC, June 3, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. World Harvest Radio programming heard over WSHB! Around 0420 UT today, I heard contemporary gospel music on 7535, a frequency long used by WSHB in Cypress Creek, South Carolina. At 0500, I heard an ID for WSHB, WHR's "Onward Christian Soldiers" IS, then into "DX' ing with Cumbre." This development was so unexpected, that I didn't check the WHR web site yet (Jim Moats, OH, June 5, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) WHRI 1 and 2 have changed their schedule: WHRI 1 00-13 7315 13-17 15105 17-22 15665 22-24 9495 WHRI 2 00-12 7535 12-15 11670 15-21 13760 21-24 13770 Others (KWHR, WHRA) so far unchanged. 73, EiBi (Eike Bierwirth, Germany, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) But Jim said he heard a WSHB ID on 7535 along with WHR programming! So that`s the mysterious buyer found for the ex-Christian Science station? Or was it really Noblesville, IN transmitter now on 7535? That is what http://www.whr.org/index.cfm/fa/frequencies shows; no mention of an ``Angel 6 and 7``. What a waste that would be! But WSHB was already a waste since news format was abolished (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. WWRB update --- We are finished with the modifications to our 045 degree Rhombic antenna. Reports from the target area indicated our signal is equal to and in many cases stronger than brand X. We are sending out our Listener club certificates by the 'bushel' basket' !! These Certificates are our QSL card. Reception reports to WWRB, Box 7, Manchester, TN 37349. Please all reports by land mail!! We no longer fool around with E mail as we get 1500 to 2000 spams a day. We do not have time to sort them so we are turning off our e mail. We are pleased to announce the acquisition of an Instrument Flight Research (IFR) RD-301 A Airborne Weather Radar test simulator. This equipment will allow our on site Avionics Repair Facility to repair, maintain, calibrate and certify airborne weather radar systems aboard aircraft (Dave Frantz, WWRB, May 26, DX LISTENING DIGEST) We have leased two transmitters to a world wide bible broadcasting group. They plan on using 12172 and 9320 from 12:00 pm to 6:00 pm Eastern time [1600-2200 UT] Monday & Tuesday, perhaps Saturdays. They will be broadcasting the King James Bible and music all day long beaming to North America daytime, and Europe, Middle East and Africa prime time nighttime. Final details being worked out. We are pleased to announce the addition of two Ministry Airtime sales associates to the WWRB staff. They will be working with various upstart [sic] Ministries providing Airtime, Guidance, and programming development. We have quite a waiting list. We are very selective in who we provide airtime to. Multiple WWRB broadcasters have been provided notice of programming cancellation. We have provided them with plenty of time to find new stations (Dave Frantz, WWRB, May 27, by e-mail, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. WBCQ After Hours --- Current featured after-hours programming on the WBCQ webcast [LINKED] includes the following. Check this page often as programming is subject to change without notice. We hope you like what we have to offer! Weekdays 1:00AM ET - 0500 UTC - Adventures of Superman 1:30AM ET - 0530 UTC - X Minus One 2:00AM ET - 0600 UTC - The Shadow 2:30AM ET - 0630 UTC - The Saint 3:00AM ET - 0700 UTC - Martin & Lewis 3:30AM ET - 0730 UTC - Burns & Allen 4:00AM ET - 0800 UTC - The Lone Ranger 4:30AM ET - 0830 UTC - Gunsmoke 5:00AM ET - 0900 UTC - WBCQ Archives 9:00AM ET - 1300 UTC - Lost Discs Radio Show 10:00AM ET - 1400 UTC - Tasha Takes Control 11:00AM ET - 1500 UTC - Allan Weiner Worldwide 12:00PM ET - 1600 UTC - Glenn Hauser's World of Radio 12:30PM ET - 1630 UTC - International Radio Report 1:00PM ET - 1700 UTC - Lenny Bruce 1:30PM ET - 1730 UTC - WDCD 2:00PM ET - 1800 UTC - You Are What You Think 3:00PM ET - 1830 UTC - Juliet's Wild Kingdom Weekends 1:00AM ET - 0500 UTC - Hour of Slack 2:00AM ET - 0600 UTC - Allan Weiner Worldwide 3:00AM ET - 0700 UTC - WBCQ Archives 7:00AM ET - 1100 UTC - The Michael Ketter Show 8:00AM ET - 1200 UTC - Adventures of Superman 9:00AM ET - 1300 UTC - The Shadow 9:30AM ET - 1330 UTC - The Saint 10:00AM ET - 1400 UTC - Martin & Lewis 10:30AM ET - 1430 UTC - Burns & Allen 11:00AM ET - 1500 UTC - The Lone Ranger 11:30AM ET - 1530 UTC - The Avengers 12:00PM ET - 1600 UTC - Continent of Media 12:30PM ET - 1630 UTC - The Shortwave Report 1:00PM ET - 1700 UTC - Pirate Radio 2:00PM ET - 1800 UTC - The Captain's Bags 3:00PM ET - 1830 UTC - Juliet's Wild Kingdom We strongly support the United States of America's first amendment right to free speech. The programming presented on the after hours webcast does not present the viewpoint of the staff, owners or management of WBCQ or Becker Broadcast Systems. The programming provided on the after hours webcast may be inappropriate for children and some adults. Please listen responsibly. Your comments on the after hours webcast are welcome. Please contact cosmikdebris at rfma.net http://www.wbcq.com/modules.php?name=Content&pa=showpage&pid=8 Copyright © by WBCQ - Becker Broadcast Systems All Right Reserved. Published on: 2004-05-07 [sic] (171 reads) (via DXLD) ** U S A. Re the latest posted DX Program list. Checked WBCQ UT Sunday, 2130, 9330 for Radio Weather. Wasn't there. At 2100 there is a program called Faith Factor, done by the same guy that does Radio Weather. At 2130 there was a program called Science Rocks again by the same guy that does Radio Weather. I think the guy`s name is Rod Emory, Emery or Embury? Wonder how many more shows this guy has on the air? Somebody's got a big bank account. Science Rocks is a separate program and the guy mentioned yet another program that he does with his wife and father. Didn't catch the name of that one. Hope this is of help to you (John H. Carver Jr., Mid-North Indiana, May 30, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Rod Hembree. Found this about him on the WHR website June 5 whilst looking for info on the alleged WSHB acquisition: http://www.whr.org/index.cfm/fa/whatsnew (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. NEW YORK VOLMET === Just got the new June M.T. Story on page 34. They pulled the funding. I guess Halliburton was not involved (Brock Whaley, GA, June 2, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. WGN RADIO CELEBRATING 80TH ANNIVERSARY TODAY [June 1] H Everyone, WGN Chicago is having their 80th anniversary celebration today. In addition to quite a bit about this on air (including quips that veteran Chicago broadcaster Lyle Dean was only 34 years old when he signed the station on for the first time), they've set up a history website at http://wgngold.com Some of the stuff they've been playing on the air today from the archives has been a hoot, especially the time Milt Rosenberg (the soft spoken University of Chicago academic host of the cerebral evening talk show "Extension 720") sang a blues song on his program. P.S. On the WGNGOLD website, take a look at the schedule for the first broadcast in 1924 from 3-6 A.M. Central Time they had a special DX broadcast to New Zealand and Australia (Curtis Sadowski, June 1, WTFDA-AM via DXLD) ** U S A. Classical KRTS in Houston to get the axe Hi, Glenn--- Not a surprise; the ratings for KRTS have been horrible. Press release: ------------------------------------------ http://www.businesswire.com/cgi-bin/f_headline.cgi?day0/241455153&ticker=roia|roiak Radio One Agrees to Acquire KRTS-FM; 100 kW Station Located in the Houston, TX Market WASHINGTON -- (BUSINESS WIRE) -- May 24, 2004--Radio One, Inc. ("Radio One" or the "Company") (NASDAQ:ROIAK and ROIA) announced today that it has agreed to acquire the assets of radio station KRTS-FM, located in the Houston, Texas market for approximately $72.5 million in cash. Following the completion of this acquisition, likely during the third quarter of 2004, the Company expects to change the call sign and format of the station. The Company will announce the specifics of these changes at a later date. Commenting on this acquisition, Radio One president and Chief Executive Officer Alfred C. Liggins, III stated, "This acquisition is a huge win for Radio One. This station represents one of the last high-powered, independently owned radio stations in the Houston market. We are very excited to be able to enhance our competitive position in one of our, and the radio industry's, largest and best markets." ---------------------------------- Another one bites the dust, a victim of changing listening tastes and demographics, I guess. At least we still have non-comm KUHF, which has a substantial amount of classical programming (Stephen Luce, Houston, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. WITH SALE TO CHAIN, CLASSICAL STATION TO SWITCH FORMATS http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/ssistory.mpl/ae/music/classical/2589916 HoustonChronicle.com -- http://www.HoustonChronicle.com | Section: Classical music May 24, 2004, 11:45PM By DAVID KAPLAN Copyright 2004 Houston Chronicle Houston's only commercial classical music radio station may soon be playing a different tune. Radio One, the biggest U.S. radio broadcaster focusing on black and urban listeners, agreed to buy Houston's KRTS-FM, a classical music station, for $72.5 million. The sale would give Radio One its third station in the city. Radio One said it plans to change the call letters and format of KRTS, and the acquisition is expected to close in the third quarter, Radio One said in a prepared statement. Radio One's other two other Houston stations are KBXX-FM, which has an urban format, and KMJQ-FM, which plays urban adult contemporary music. The new format for the station has not yet been determined, said Linda Vilardo, general counsel at Lanham, Md.-based Radio One. Radio One, which owns 68 stations in 22 markets, is trying to expand in areas with a large number of black listeners. With 494,496 black residents in 2000, Houston ranked fifth among U.S. cities, census data shows. KRTS is owned by Mike Stude, who bought the station in 1987. He was not available for comment. In a prepared statement, he noted how dramatically the business has changed, with classical music available online and via satellite. The University of Houston's KUHF-FM also broadcasts classical music, along with news from National Public Radio. KLEF-FM, founded in 1964, was Houston's premier classical station until 1986, when the station's second owner, Entercom, changed the call letters to KJYY-FM and began to play light rock. KLEF listeners were outraged, according to an article in the Houston Post. The station donated its record library to KUHF, which changed its format from jazz to classical to fill the void. KLEF's call letters were acquired by a 3,000-watt Seabrook station that went classical. Stude, chairman of the Houston Symphony Society, bought KLEF, changed its call letters to KRTS, moved it to Houston and boosted its power to 100,000 watts. KRTS noted that a portion of the proceeds of the sale will be used to establish a foundation supporting arts and music education for Houston children. Bloomberg News and Chronicle classical music critic Charles Ward contributed to this article (via Artie Bigley, May 25, DXLD) ** U S A. `ADULT SWIM` PUTS CARTOON NETWORK IN THE FAST LANE By Christy Lemire NEW YORK — A milkshake, a container of fries and a ball of hamburger meat walk into a bar ... Actually, they don’t, because that would require too much effort. They’d rather sit around all day, bickering in their run-down rental house in South Jersey. Sometimes they take a dip in the above-ground pool that belongs to their next-door neighbor, Carl, whose tank tops highlight his hairy back and gold chains. This may sound like a drug-induced hallucination, but it`s the premise of ``Aqua Teen Hunger Force,`` one of the more popular programs on Cartoon Network`s ``Adult Swim`` block, which airs Saturdays through Thursdays, 11 p.m.-5 a.m. The fact that an animated show about a fast-food value meal has gained a cult following is a testament to the strength of the lineup, and the effectiveness with which the cable channel cross-promotes its programming. The best-known series are Fox network castoffs: ``The Family Guy,`` Seth MacFarlane`s twisted take on sitcom suburbia, and ``Futurama,`` Matt Groening`s satire set 1,000 years from now. But quirky, often surreal promos draw attention to the network`s original shows, including ``Aqua Teen,`` ``Harvey Birdman, Attorney at Law,`` about an ambitious superhero lawyer who always ends up defending cartoon characters, and ``Sealab 2021,`` a mutation of the 1972 cartoon ``Sealab 2020,`` about a high-tech underwater compound run by scientists who only look like bright-eyed do-gooders. Saturday nights are devoted to Japanese anime. It`s an eclectic mix of sharp writing, inventive subject matter and diverse visual styles that began nearly three years ago, but was in the plans since the channel`s conception in 1992. . . http://www.gwinnettdailyonline.com/GDP/archive/article149A1C560F62478AB578E96C2DFF1C29.asp (via gh, DXLD) Never mentions Space Ghost! ** URUGUAY. re: CXA6. I was in contact with Björn about the station and somehow what he learned from Horacio was forwarded to you and not also to me, so I was happy to read his observations in the quotes given in DXLD 4-087! Then I checked his page and see that my wife's least favorite picture of her husband is now gracing (?) his excellent website. My crude translation of Horacio's reply tends to suggest that he feels it is less likely to be CXA6 that I heard, than REE (which of course does play classical music.) Horacio tends, or tended not in the past, to hear CXA6 late at night, which he ponders might have been due either to their schedule, or to being in a night skip zone. Well: my signal of REE's various frequencies is almost always excellent. And checking the latest premium database supplied by ILG Radio, REE had signed off at 9620 an hour, and an hour and twenty-three minutes, earlier than the two times that I monitored the frequency and believed strongly I had heard CXA6. Indeed, in the dozens and dozens of occasions I've listened to the REE broadcasts all over the bands -- from the Costa Rican relays in the 90M band, to the absolutely spectacular powerhouse signals I get here during the day in the 19M band -- most of the time the reception is "program listening quality": i. e., a very clear signal, every syllable of the announcements precisely heard -- so that I can discern the characteristic Spanish accent compared to the Spanish spoken by (say) Cuban, or central or south American broadcasters -- and virtually all those transmissions are accomplished with superb modulation depth, usually (I must also add) with rather distinctive heavy bass audio compression (perhaps using an Optimod or other multi-band processor with the bottom spectrum accentuated.) I am very sensitive to such nuances, as an old broadcast transmitter engineer as well as an audio processing specialist. On the contrary, the transmission that I am more than reasonably certain was CXA6 differed from this entirely: the modulation was extremely low and inconsistent, in the case of the Mozart having virtually no compression, so that only the loudest notes of the pianos in the cadenza rose above the noise; while REE uses VERY steady compression even with classical music. The alleged CXA6 transmission also had very low modulation, consistent with reports of conserving their resources that I quoted in my article. Finally, the signal was not only being heard when REE was off the air at that frequency, but also was so weak that extreme efforts had to be made to discern it, using narrow bandwidth and one sideband only, plus excessive amounts of noise filtering. REE's transmissions never pose these difficulties. Now, the one caveat about REE signals reaching me here via 9620 is that the beam azimuth is not directed at the Pacfic coast, but rather at central and S. America. I just looked at my logs of REE reception, which are sparse since I get the station SO regularly in the bands from 41M to higher wavelengths that I seldom even bother to write down the date and time; it is simply one of the most reliable SW services I receive. The tendency is to assume that an anomaly is unrepeatable and therefore unverifiable and "not proved"; but I hear so many hams working 100w transceivers all the time -- including one I heard just a few months ago from the Canary Islands in the 80M band -- that as far as I am concerned, sooner or later if conditions permit, and if a frequency is open, such a signal can be snared by the patient listener who simply takes the time to check those frequencies. Thus I heard several occasions of transmissions that I argue might be CXA6, not merely the one that I document in my anomalies article. It all really depends on "the burden of proof" demanded -- and I have my own definite and perhaps somewhat idiosyncratic views about that, articulated in my article of speculations and thoughts on SW DX'ing: http://home.earthlink.net/~srw-swling/personal.htm Best, (Steve Waldee - a too-credulous naive DX'er, or a risk-taking braggart; or perhaps a guy who just has a good radio and a lot of time on his hands?! You be the judge..., San José CA, DX LISTENING DIGEST) I took Horacio`s previous remarks to say that it was 6125 he can`t hear at night, while 9620 SODRE is audible after Spain closes at 0500 or 0600 (gh, DXLD) ** URUGUAY. SODRE's SW power is 350 watts Glenn, please pass this info to Mr. Steve Waldee: 9620, SODRE, active on 9620, relaying CX6, 24 h, tho QRMed by RNE at night; 6125, relaying CX38-1050/CX26-1290, but not heard at late night, e.g. 0200 (either not on or skipping over me), tho MW is on until 0300. Low power, probably under 1 kw (Nigro-Uruguay, Conexion Digital) and... I went to SODRE studios yesterday -Jun 1-, with a reception report from a Norwegian DXer who heard CX6 on mediumwave (650). I helped him to get a QSL from them with success. They have a QSL printed on a (humble, would say miserable) sheet of paper, postcard sized, but a paper, not cardboard, tho it is full data. The design and text comes from the dates -1989- when "Radioactividades", the media programme at SODRE I co-founded with other members of the ex-DX Club del Uruguay, helping with this matter. I had a good time with Technical manager: José A. Cuello, who completed and signed the QSL. I found a bit of decidia in answering and confirming reports from overseas listeners, and noticed that he had some trouble filling the blanks, due to unpractice of that routine. He confirms that power of SW transmitters is 350 watts, both 9620 and 6125 (using a pair of 813 tubes) DX-friend and DX-plorer Arnaldo Slaen-Argentina has measured the 31 mb frequency as 9620.8; it is active. Mr. Cuello confirmed that 6125 is intended to relay CX26 (1050) during its entire transmission period, so should be closing at 0300. The thing is that I can't hear it... closing so late. Propagation, skip zone??? I will help DXers with their reports in case a good audio is accompanying the written text. This can be made via E-mail via .doc and mp3 or realaudio files. Regarding the other Uruguayan 6155 "Banda Oriental", Sarandi del Yi, I haven't heard them for many months. Will try to phone them. Another station 6045 Radio Sport, has tiny modulation, and I have heard them only during local daylight. 6010, Emisora Ciudad de Montevideo has been heard only during local morning, midday and early afternoon. Good modulation. Uruguay is UT -3 6140, R Montecarlo usually hrd on 49mb daylight - I have experimenting some problems from them, trying to get a QSL -mediumwave- to the same Norwegian DXer. Programme director is Sr. Leonardo Trentini. 11735, R Oriental, not heard for months, although was reported by me via the 6140 Montecarlo frequency, last Feb. Sorry I don't have exact sked times for the active stations. 73 (Horacio Nigro, Montevideo, Uruguay, June 4, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Well: one good datum, one bad. Yes, I probably heard CXA6; no it's not 150 Watts. So this is not by any means the weakest signal at this particular distance that I've snared, related to measured transmitted power. Rhetorical question is, though: how do they measure it? Is this TPO? (One presumes.) Antenna gain and/or directionality not taken into account; so, even 350w TPO into a low gain radiator, not directed anywhere toward the American Pacific coast, could still be perhaps one of the weakest signals I've ever copied --- at this point the whole issue dissolves into layers of fine detail of the sort that make it really impossible to create meaningful superlatives! Best, (Steve Waldee, CA, June 5, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** VENEZUELA. Inactiva desde hace muchos meses: Radio Táchira 4830 kHz. Captada los últimos días de enero con la programación de Ecos del Torbes. Lleva ya un par de semanas fuera del aire Radio Amazonas, 4939.66 kHz. 73s y buen DX (Adán González, Catia La Mar, VENEZUELA, June 3, DX LISTENING DIGEST) UNIDENTIFIED. LA ENIGMÁTICA ESTACIÓN DE 4960 kHz... Hola Glenn, Saludos desde Catia La Mar, Venezuela. La misteriosa estación de 4960, fue captada de nuevo el 01/06, a las 0332 UT, con SINPO 3/2. Transmitía rancheras y había intermedios de palabra hablada con dos locutores. Aquí sí pude oír claramente: "Ésta es 107.7 MHz FM Stereo" (correción a mi pasado informe que afirmaba la de 107.3 MHz). Demasiado ruido. El problema es que no lograr hallar una pista de dónde se origina la señal. Este 02 y 03/06 brilló por su ausencia (Adán González, Catia La Mar, VENEZUELA, June 3, DX LISTENING DIGEST) UNIDENTIFIED. I was listening on 5955 (better on 5954) last night (24th May) at 1030 and heard a Spanish station - signal was pretty decent. Lots of items by a male announcer with a couple of seconds of music at times. Occasionally another male like a reporter. At about 1040 sounded like a couple of adverts. Mention of Managua and plenty of mañana's. At 1055 announcer said "gracias por atención" then into a female announcer. At 1058 off air in mid sentence. May be a relay of an AM/FM station. I didn't get an ID - any one know what this is. Oh and I use a Sangean so I can only resolve to 1 kHz. Thanks, (Wayne Bastow, Australia, ARDXC via DXLD) ? My Sangean resolves to 40 Hz (gh) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ UNSOLICITED TESTIMONIALS See SAINT HELENA; SRI LANKA ++++++++++++++++++++++++ PUBLICATIONS ++++++++++++ PIZZA RADIO GUIDE Some of the Little Caeser's Pizza takeouts are stapling a 2004 Radio Guide to their boxes. This edition lists approx. 80 large cities in the U.S. and then lists the local stations and formats. Another way of obtaining includes sending $1 to STN Radio Guide, P. O. Box 880, Novi, MI 48376 (MARE Tipsheet May 27 via DXLD) ###