DX LISTENING DIGEST 4-093, June 16, 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 1234: Thu 1600 on WBCQ after-hours http://wbcq.com Thu 2030 on WWCR 15825 Fri 1600 on WBCQ after-hours http://wbcq.com Fri 2300 on Studio X, Momigno, Italy 1584 Sat 0800 on WRN1 to Europe, Africa, Asia, Pacific Sat 0855 on WNQM Nashville 1300 Sat 1030 on WWCR 5070 Sat 1830 on WPKN Bridgeport, 89.5, webcast http://www.wpkn.org Sat 2030 on WWCR 12160 Sat 2000 on WBCQ 9330-CLSB Sat 2030 on WBCQ 17495-CUSB [maybe] 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 1233] 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 [from Fri]: http://new.wrn.org/listeners/stations/station.php?StationID=24 OUR ONDEMAND AUDIO [also for CONTINENT OF MEDIA, MUNDO RADIAL]: Check http://www.worldofradio.com/audiomid.html WORLD OF RADIO 1234 (high version): (stream) http://www.w4uvh.net/wor1234h.ram (download) http://www.w4uvh.net/wor1234h.rm (summary) http://www.worldofradio.com/wor1234.html [soon] WORLD OF RADIO 1234 (low version): (stream) http://www.w4uvh.net/wor1234.ram (download) http://www.w4uvh.net/wor1234.rm DXLD YAHOOGROUP: Why wait for DXLD? A lot more info, not all of it appearing in DXLD later, is posted at our new yg. Here`s where to sign up. http://groups.yahoo.com/group/dxld/ (Glenn Hauser, May 13, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ALASKA. US AWARDS $23.3 MILLION CONTRACT FOR HAARP PROJECT DRS Technologies, Inc. announced today that it has received a $23.3 million contract, including options, to provide high frequency (HF) radio transmitters for the High Frequency Active Auroral Research Program (HAARP), which supports a US government Arctic research facility being built to study the Earth's upper atmosphere. The $11.5 million base contract was awarded to DRS by BAE Systems PLC. For this award, DRS will manufacture more than 60 Model D616G 10- Kilowatt Dual Transmitters to fulfill the transmitter requirements for the HAARP program. Product deliveries are scheduled to begin in March 2005 and continue for approximately one year. The HF Model D616G Transmitters were designed specifically for the US government HAARP research facility. A primary goal of HAARP is to understand how variations in the sun's radiation affect the performance of radio systems and to improve military command, control, communications and surveillance systems. # posted by Andy @ 15:02 June 15 (Media Network blog via DXLD) ** AZERBAIJAN. (Nagorno-Karabakh). 9677, Voice of Justice: Recently on 14163U I had a SSB contact with ham stn EK3GM located in the Rep. of Mountainous Karabakh. Now I hope to get my second QSL from there. Talking about this disputed territory: Is the Voice of Justice still active? (Harald Kuhl, Germany, DXplorer via DXLD) Yes it is, according to a recent broadcasting source in the capital, Stepanakert. This is a 30 minute, privately produced program that is aired four times a week on 9677 (the ops are aware that this frequency is off-channel, BTW). The broadcasts are entirely in Azeri; the name of this program is "Ädälän Säsi Radiosu" (which in English means "Voice of Justice"). Unfortunately, I do not have the exact skeds at this moment (Bernd Trutenau, Lithuania, ibid.) They are on 9677v with a "destroyed" signal. Readability is poorest even when QRM-free and good prop conditions. Last time I came across them was 1-2 mos. ago at 0500-0530z (Vlad Titarev, Ukraine, ibid.) ** BANGLADESH. BANGLADESH BETAAR HAS A NEW E-MAIL ID : rrc @ dhaka.net THEIR OLD E-MAIL ID "rrc@aitlbd.net" IS NO LONGER VALID. CONTACT DETAILS AS FOLLOWS : Research and Receiving Centre National Broadcasting Authority Bangladesh Betar 121, Kazi Nazrul Islam Avenue, Dhaka-1000, Bangladesh. Tel: 880 2 8625538, 8626175, Fax: 880-2-8612021. Email: rrc @ dhaka.net Regds, (Alokesh Gupta, New Delhi, India, June 13, WORLD OF RADIO 1224, DX LISTENING DIGEST) High Frequency Broadcasting Schedule A04, Bangladesh Betar External Service effective from 03/28/2004 to 10/30/2004. Address: Radio Bangladesh, External Services, Bagladesh Betar, Shahbagh Post Box 2204, Dhaka 1000, Bangladesh. Reports to: Senior Engineer (Research Wing), National Broadcasting Authority, Bangladesh Betar, 121 Kazi Nazrul Islam Avenue, Shahbag, Dhaka-1000, Bangladesh. Fax: +880-2-8612021, E-Mail: rrc @ aitlbd.net Web: http://www.banglaradio.com UTC Language kHz Target Az. 1230-1300 English 7185 South & South East Asia 60 9550 140 1315-1345 Nepali 7185 9550 Nepal 320 1400-1430 Urdu 7185 9550 Pakistan 290 1515-1545 Hindi 7185 9550 India 305 1600-1630 Arabic 7185 Middle East 290 9550 275 1630-1730 Bengali 7185 Middle East 290 9550 275 1745-1815* English 7185 9550 Europe 320 1815-1900 English 7185 9550 15520 Europe 320 1915-2000 Bengali 7185 9550 15520 Europe 320 * = Voice of Islam (M. A. Cornachioni in CONEXION #263; May 15, 2004; via WWDXC-HQ / Targets and Az. By Swopan Chakroborty, WWDXC June via WORLD OF RADIO 1224, DXLD) ** BOTSWANA. 'ANTI-ZIMBABWE RADIO' UNDER SPOTLIGHT Tuesday June 15, 2004 07:08 - (SA) HARARE - Botswana's Communications Minister Boyse Sebetela promised Harare that he would investigate a US-sponsored radio station allegedly broadcasting anti-Zimbabwe bulletins from his country. Sebetela told reporters he only found out about the broadcasts by Voice of America Studio 7 after a meeting with Zimbabwean Information Minister Jonathan Moyo on Sunday. "So we will be going back to Botswana to investigate this issue deeper, so that we get a better understanding of the legal arrangements ... and also to look at the issue of content because that is the greatest concern to Zimbabwe," Sebetela said. "Within a week or two we will dig out all the facts around this very sensitive issue because everything else is secondary. If we can resolve it a lot of things will fall into place." Moyo said he was concerned about the radio station airing anti- Zimbabwe stories on a medium wave frequency allocated to Botswana. "It is a station with a subversive content against ... Zimbabwe, coming to us on a frequency that we believe should not be used for that purpose," Moyo said at a media conference. Sebetela said his country would investigate whether it was legal for VOA Studio 7 to broadcast on the medium wave 909 channel. "We are too small a country to be used as a base for anything," he said. http://www.sundaytimes.co.za/zones/sundaytimes/newsst/newsst1087276121.asp (via Mike Terry, DXLD) ** BURMA [non]. Frequency change for DVOBurma in Burmese via MDC 250 kW / 055 eff. June 11: 1430-1525 NF 17625 (34553), ex 17495 \\ 5910 A- A 200 kW / 132 degrees (Observer, Bulgaria, June 15 via DXLD) GERMANY: Democratic Voice of Burma 9435 at 0008 in Burmese. At 0015 6 June language change to presumably Mon, according to old language sked. Mon is close to Cambodian. Of course, I have never heard Mon before but for comparison purposes RFA in Cambodian can be heard (Liz Cameron, MI, MARE Tipsheet via DXLD) ** CAYMAN ISLANDS. NEW FM STATION LICENSED IN CAYMAN ISLANDS The Information and Communications Technology Authority of the Cayman Islands has issued an FM broadcasting licence to Panorama Productions. The new station, which will broadcast on 96.5 MHz, now holds the ninth radio licence in the Cayman Islands. It is expected to debut within six to eight weeks, with music programming featuring a wide range of adult contemporary, rhythm and blues, popular and Caribbean music. Principals and directors of Panorama Productions are Dave and Angela Martins. Angela Martins, a former Director of Tourism, promised that the station would bring a fresh and exciting dimension to local radio. "Special attention will be given to offering a type of programming that will give a wider choice to both listeners and advertisers in the community," she stated. Dave Martins, who will be the station's Creative Director, said that sections of the programming - entertainment, music and fashion - would be geared towards a Caymanian lifestyle. Randy Merren, owner of Cayman`s first radio station, Z99 FM and of Rooster 101, said he welcomed the competition, but warned of the difficulties of the country sustaining so many stations, especially if a bid by dms Broadcasting for three more stations was successful. (Source: Cayman Net News) # posted by Andy @ 15:24 UT June 14 (Media Network blog via DXLD) ** CHINA. CRI changes --- CRI 17650 switched to French, at least for the 1600-1657 slot. 17490 still in English. I wonder when they finally gonna have a reliable schedule. 1800-1857 11940 15150 Chinese instead of English 1900-1957 12015 11940 9430 Chinese instead of English but... 12080 (alt in DRM) 7295 still in English (Silvain Domen, Belgium, June 15, dxldyg via WORLD OF RADIO 1224, DXLD) ** CHINA. Some changes of China Radio International monitored on June 15/16: 0400-0557 French 17650, ex in English, June 16 0600-0757 Chinese 17650, ex in English, June 16 0800-0957 French 17650, ex in English, co-ch NHK Japanese, June 16 1000-1157 Chinese 17650, ex in English, June 15 1200-1357 French 17650, ex in English, co-ch DW French -1300 Jun 15 1400-1557 Chinese 17650, ex in English, co-ch WHRA from 1500, June 15 1600-1657 French 17650, ex in English, co-ch WHRA English, June 15 1300-1457 Chinese 7250, co-ch Vatican R. Italian 1430-, ex Russian 1400-1557 English 9610, cancelled, no txion on June 15 1500-1557 Russian 7250, co-ch Vatican Radio Italian 1530-1557 English 11520, cancelled, no txion on June 15 1600-1657 English 7250, co-ch Vatican French/English/Slovene/Croatian 1600-1657 English 13730, co-ch ORF-1 in German, ex 1600-1727, June 15 1700-1757 French 15150, ex in English 1700-2157 English 12080 in AM, ex xx00-xx15 and xx30-xx45 in DRM, other in AM 1800-1857 Chinese 15150, ex in English 1900-2057 Chinese 12015, ex in English 1900-2157 English 7295, co-ch VOIROI Albanian til 1927; RRI Serbian 1930-1956, RAI Ar/Port/Sp/Ar 2025-2155 & R. Tirana Alb 2030-2155 No DRM test txion on June 15/16: 17510 0800-0927; 1100-1227; 1400-1527; 1700-1827 15230 0930-1057; 1230-1357; 1530-1657 11700 1830-2057 (Observer, Bulgaria, June 15, revised June 16, via WORLD OF RADIO 1224, DXLD) ** COLOMBIA. Hola Glenn, Saludos desde Catia La Mar, VENEZUELA. La Voz del Guaviare, con excelente señal 4/4, escuchada el 13/06, a las 2052 UT, en los 6034.98 kHz. transmitía un partido de fútbol entre el Deportivo Independiente y el Medellín. Identificaciones como "Fútbol RCN". (Adán González, Catia La Mar, VENEZUELA, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** DJIBOUTI. Radio Sawa Djibouti, 1431 kHz, heard again here last night 2225 to 2237 fadeout EDT [0225-0237 GMT]. Had the usual American pops sung in Arabic style and some Mid East chanting. Announcements by a woman and man in Arabic. Hardly anything else was any good last night from across the ocean but this one seems to keep coming through and is separable from 1430. Listeners in this part of the country should try for this station. Reception seems best at dawn enhancement over there, which is about when I usually get it. Try for it! Take your mind off IBOC for a bit! (Ben Dangerfield, Wallingford, PA [SE cor Pa], June 16, NRC-AM via DXLD) ** DOMINICAN REPUBLIC. Radio Pueblo, 5010 kHz, está fuera del aire desde hace algún tiempo. ¿Problemas de transmisor? 13/06 (Adán González, Catia La Mar, VENEZUELA, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** EGYPT. 15375, Radio Cairo, 2054-2122 Jun 6, nice Egyptian vocal selection followed by a man in English introducing "Arabic by Radio" feature. Some production problems with dead air around 2106. Returned with music followed by 5+1 time pips and ID at 2115 and the news. Poor to fair (Rich D`Angelo, Wyomissing PA, NASWA Flashsheet via DXLD) ** EQUATORIAL GUINEA. Radio Malabo, en los 6250.32 kHz, a las 2114 UT, con SINPO 34433. Con comentarios sobre la Euro 2004. Locutor con llamadas al aire, música africana. Audible gracias a la inactividad de la utilitaria en ese mismo canal (Adán González, Catia La Mar, VENEZUELA, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ETHIOPIA [non]. GERMANY: Voice of Ethiopian Salvation changes via DTK T-systems: 0700-0800 on 21550 JUL 100 kW 145 deg Sun EAf in Amharic, cancelled 1600-1700 on 15670 JUL 100 kW 145 deg Thu/Sun EAf Amharic, ex Thu only (Observer, Bulgaria, June 15 via WORLD OF RADIO 1224, DXLD) {correxion: 4-095, 4-098} ** GEORGIA. Following a decree signed by president Saakashvili on 8 June, Georgia is going to move to another timezone on 27 June. In future, local Standard Time will be UTC +3h, Daylight Shifting Time during the summer months will be UTC +4h. Since the early 1990s, Georgia has been using UTC +4h winter time and UTC +5h summer time. (Bernd Trutenau, WORLD OF RADIO 1224, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Certainly makes mores sense for their longitude; was the previous change to ``distance`` themselves further from Moscow? (gh, ibid.) ** GERMANY [non]. SRI LANKA: Frequency change for Deutsche Welle in Hindi via TRM 250 kW / 015 deg: 1515-1600 NF 6180 totally blocked by DW Musik in DRM mode, ex 6170 \\ 7225, 17595 (Observer, Bulgaria, June 15 via DXLD) ** GUATEMALA. Radio Cultural de Guatemala en los 3300 kHz, con SINPO 34422. Captada a las 0048 UT. Programa "Alabanzas Dominicales" a partir de la 0100 UT. 14/06. 73s y buen DX (Adán González, Catia La Mar, VENEZUELA, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** HONG KONG. A Hong Kong cable broadcaster blew the whistle on thousands of fans' hopes of watching the Euro 2004 soccer championships on pirated TV decoders by switching its transmission code minutes before the first match, reports said June 14. Cable TV, the only company airing the eagerly anticipated tournament, is believed to have dashed the hopes of 100,000 football fans trying to hack in with illegal decoders, the Chinese-language newspaper "Ming Pao" said. Just minutes before kick-off of the opening match between Portugal and Greece on Sunday morning, the code was switched and illegal viewers' screens went blank, the reports said. Hong Kong's markets are notorious for selling pirated copies of anything from CDs to running shoes. Most of the unauthorised decoders were bought from the city's infamous Apliu Street, which sells mainly electronic products -- many of them pirated. Vendors had boasted they could hack the Cable TV signals by replacing the smart cards installed in decoders for 100 Hong Kong dollars (13 US dollars) whenever the broadcaster changed its signal code, according to the "South China Morning Post". (AFP via SCDX/MediaScan June 16 via DXLD) ** HONG KONG. LOCAL HONG KONG RADIO TO PROVIDE LIVE 1 JULY PROTEST COVERAGE | Text of report by Chloe Lai, published by Hong Kong newspaper South China Morning Post web site on 16 June Commercial Radio will set up a temporary studio in Victoria Park for a live broadcast of the July 1 protest. Five commentators will report from the scene and interview celebrities taking part in the march, programme adviser Leung Man-tao said yesterday. "We do not have a political affiliation, nor a position on the march. But we do have some basic values," Mr Leung said. "As the march is an issue with enormous public interest, Commercial Radio is obliged to properly use the airwaves to inform the public about what's happening there. It is a kind of public service." Mr Leung said Commercial Radio could help avoid a repeat of some of the confusion seen at last year's demonstration, by broadcasting information on transport and police arrangements. It will run a six-hour live broadcast from 2.00 p.m. to 8.00 p.m. [local time]. Rival broadcaster RTHK says it is not making any special arrangements for 1 July. Source: South China Morning Post web site, Hong Kong, in English 16 Jun 04 (via BBCM via DXLD) ** INDONESIA. Finally ID my unID. It is RRI Wamena on 1395 kHz. Heard signing on at 2000 with full ID then into typical music program. This one is well heard from my sunset in Townsville, Australia from 0800 UT up until the late evening ~ 1400 +. They play island music and rarely ID even on the hour and rarely give any indication they are an RRI station (Craig Edwards, 29 Sheaoak Drive, Mawson Lakes SA 5095 [sic], June 16, dxing.info via DXLD) ** INTERNATIONAL WATERS [non]. Re: Friendship Radio. Re: "Looks like those who were so sure this is a hoax were mistaken, but did anyone actually hear an ID? (gh)" I can't speak for others, but what I meant by hoax was the claim that this station is on a ship! I'm not that good at propagation, but I'd say that there's a good chance this is a landbased pirate somewhere in NW Europe. Anyone can set up a hobby pirate --- we have loads of them here, as is well known (Andy Sennitt, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Well, I kept trying to make the distinxion between a landbased hobby pirate and something actually at sea; the latter I also doubt (gh) Re: Friendship Radio --- On SRSnews Web, A certain "Alan_G" heard several IDs on June 13 from 0955 on, despite a lot of fading. 73 (Silvain Domen, Belgium, dxldyg via DXLD) Hello babe(s), Here is Maynard from the good ship MV Sheena anchored somewhere on the North Sea! Thank you all reporting our test transmissions (20-30th May on 16 mb 17.475/17.465/17.460 MHz or 11- 13th June on 22 mb 13865 kHz) by e-mails, on different web-pages or e- mailgroups. We shall verify all correct reports came to our box: P. O. Box 2702, 6049 ZG Herten, by special QSL and special audio-surprice! That's offer for these test-transmissions only! First tests have been now done and we shall have a short pause before starting our regular service later. So, stay tune the band, your friend on sea will be there! (We are just doing some repairs and improvements now... and when ready --- back to air.) (Maynard Wesley, Manager, FriendShipRadio, June 16, WORLD OF RADIO 1224, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ISRAEL. RE: IBA TV --- You're correct, the IBA English TV article was not radio related. It was IBA, English and TV related, so I passed it along (Doni Rosenzweig, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Well, in past articles, changes in Israeli English TV news were supposed to have negative repercussions on what was heard on the radio and when (gh, DXLD) ** KOREAS. NORTH AND SOUTH KOREA END PROPAGANDA BROADCASTS | Excerpt from report in English by South Korean news agency Yonhap Seoul, 15 June: North Korea ended its half-century propaganda loudspeaker broadcasts on the border with the South Friday [as received, Monday] night with a call for inter-Korean collaboration against the United States. "A historic moment is coming on the Military Demarcation Line," the North said as it began its final 29-minute broadcast at 11.30 p.m., referring to an agreement with the South to stop such broadcasts along their 4-km-wide, 248-km-long border from 15 June, the date when the Koreas held their first-ever summit in 2000. "We, from one blood and using one language, can no longer live separated and we must put the earliest possible end to the tragedy of national division," the broadcast said. As usual, the broadcast contained condemnation of the United States. "The imperialist United States is the root cause of suffering and misfortune that our people is experiencing," it said. "We should take a firm attitude to oppose pro-US traitorous forces and move forward in the direction of national (inter-Korean) cooperation." The broadcast ended with the emotional closing "Let's meet on the day of national unification... [ellipsis as received] Let's embrace each other, laughing and crying out of joy and emotion, on the day of national unification." South Korea also halted its broadcasts about 10 minutes earlier. "Now, we announce the historic fact that our voice of freedom broadcasts, which we have aired for 42 years since 1962, are being brought to closure according to the results of inter-Korean working- level military contacts," South Korea said in its last 10-minute broadcast just before midnight. "In conclusion, we sincerely thank the (North) Korean People's Army soldiers who have wished for a peaceful reunification of the nation and listened to our voice of freedom broadcasts until now, and we pray for your permanent happiness," it said. [Passage omitted] The Koreas started border loudspeaker broadcasts between the late 1950s and the early 1960s, trying to lure opposing soldiers to defect. While North Korea stressed ideology, South Korea focused on nonpolitical themes such as pop music and weather forecasts. Source: Yonhap news agency, Seoul, in English 0711 gmt 15 Jun 04 (via BBCM via DXLD) SOUTH KOREA HALTS DMZ PROPAGANDA BROADCASTS The Korea Times reports that the South Korean radio programme Voice of Liberty, which has been aired for decades along the border with North Korea, made its farewell broadcast on Sunday. The sign-off came just hours before North and South Korea exchanged radio communications in their first test of an inter-Korean military hotline since the end of the 1950-53 Korean War. At the same time, the Korean Broadcasting System reports that South Korea is set to bring a complete halt late today to propaganda broadcasts that have gone on for 42 years along the demilitarized zone. The Defence Ministry said it would air its final farewell broadcast of "Sound of Freedom" through its loudspeakers along the demilitarized zone for ten minutes up to midnight Monday, in accordance with recent agreements aimed at easing military tensions with North Korea. The ministry said the ten-minute special broadcast would also feature wishes for the well-being of both South and North Korean soldiers. # posted by Andy @ 10:05 UT June 14 (Media Network blog via WORLD OF RADIO 1224, DXLD) Apparently applies both to SW and loudspeakers (gh) ** KOREA NORTH [non]. VOA CONFIRMS DISCUSSIONS WITH FREE NK An article in the JoongAng Daily confirms that the Internet broadcaster Radio Free NK is in discussions with the Voice of America about rebroadcasting Free NK material on VOA's Korean Service. The article quotes Han In-seop, Programme Director of the VOA Korean Service, as saying "Free North Korea and VOA are currently discussing a partnership" for such rebroadcasting. Read the whole article: DEFECTORS FEELING THE HEAT http://joongangdaily.joins.com/200406/13/200406132328082909900090309031.html # posted by Andy @ 12:27 UT (Media Network blog June 14 via DXLD) ** KURDISTAN [non]. TURKEY -- Turkey's state television made its first Kurdish language broadcast on June 9 in a historic move designed to persuade the European Union to open entry talks with Ankara. Under EU- inspired reforms, broadcasting in minority tongues began earlier this week with Bosnian and Arabic, but Kurdish is far more important in Turkey numerically and politically. Underscoring the political sensitivity of the Kurdish issue, Istanbul police detained 25 journalists from pro-Kurdish media on Tuesday as part of a security sweep ahead of a NATO summit in the city later this month to be attended by world leaders. TRT-3 state television aired Wednesday's 30-minute programme in Kurmandji, the main Kurdish dialect spoken in Turkey. It will also broadcast in the Zaza dialect on June 11. The first program featured news highlights, sport, folk music and a short nature documentary, all with Turkish subtitles. Earlier, state radio also carried a program in Kurmandji (Reuters via SCDX/MediaScan June 9 via DXLD) Just as a comparison, Sweden, with a much smaller Kurdish population, has for several years broadcast in Kurmandji as well as in the Sorani dialect of Kurdish. We currently have three programs in Kurdish a week, for a total of 60 minutes. The Monday program is carried on shortwave at 1630-1700 UT on 13580 kHz (George Wood, SCDX/MediaScan June 9 via DXLD) Meanwhile, Ethnic Arabs who sat down to watch Turkey's first television broadcast in their mother tongue on June 8 said they were unable to understand the dialect used. Several dialects of Arabic are spoken in the Middle East, and the colloquial languages can differ significantly. The state has not collected data on non-Turkish speakers since its 1965 census, but ethnologists say as many as 400,000 people in Turkey speak the north Mesopotamian dialect of Arabic, mainly in southeastern Mardin and Siirt provinces (Reuters via SCDX/MediaScan June 9 via DXLD) ** LATVIA. The MW project in Riga on 945 will commence a new series of test transmissions for 2 weeks starting at the end of June. The exact dates will be announced soon. The name of the station will be "Radio 945 AM", it will be on the air 24h with oldies from the 50s and 60s, and programming in Latvian and English. The power will be 2.7 kW, in prime time hours up to 20 kW. Licensee of Radio 945 AM is the Riga- based KREBS TV. Radio 945 AM was launched as "Radio Gold 945 AM" in a first series of tests earlier this year (Bernd Trutenau, Lithuania, June 15, WORLD OF RADIO 1224, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** MEXICO. In re the 1700 kHz Spanish language station I heard early this morning --- I listened through 0108 PDT [0808 UT]. There was no ID at the top of the hour. Several times a female made an announcement, that as far as I could tell, did not include an ID but did mention 'la romántica'. Quite likely a description of the music they were playing. Risto heard them across the bay in Hayward. They are not there at a 10 am check this morning. From the signal strength and lack of IDs I'm guessing a Bay Area pirate (what else is new?). If it is a border blaster it must be very powerful as the signal was stronger here than either 1690 Sacramento or 1680 Fresno. Only 1640 Vallejo had a better signal on the extended band. Conditions actually sounded rather decent last night but I'm still plagued by increasing QRN from this exciting modern electronic world. 73 (Don Kaskey, San Francisco CA, June 14, amfmtvdx via WORLD OF RADIO 1224, DXLD) Border blasters are off tonight --- I noticed XEPE (XEKTT)-560 and XESS-780 were both off when I was driving home. 73, (Tim Hall, Chula Vista, CA, June 13 21:15 PDT, Corazón DX via DXLD) 1700 MYSTERY SOLVED - XEPE-560 HAS BEEN TESTING ON 1700 The wandering knuckleheads are moving again, this time to 1700, where they should have gone in the first place (there has been a standard X- band allocation on 1700 kHz in Tecate for about 5 years). The 560 allocation dates back to the 70s, and if I recall correctly, was just for a 250w or 500w daytimer! I listened to them before 8 pm PDT/11 pm EDT tonight [0300 UT], and it was the same format, same voice-over announcer, just changed the slogan to "Romántica... Amor 1700 AM". I'm just waiting for the ID to make it official. This is clearly them. Oddly, at 8:23 pm PDT / 11:23 pm EDT [0323 UT], the 1700 station was off, and there was a relatively weak OC on 560 and 780. These clowns have been on 4 channels in less than a year --- 1600 to 550 to 560 to 1700. I think they beat the record of XEYQ, which if I recall correctly, moved from 1510 to 1500 to 890 to 640, but not that quickly! 73, (Tim Hall, Chula Vista, CA, All dates/times mentioned in my reports are Eastern Local Time for US/Canadian stations and GMT for all others [NOT!] http://www.inetworld.net/halls/dx/index.html ibid.) I also noticed I didn't get them after 8 PM Pacific, but certainly heard them early this morning with music and liners. At 6:15, the carried an ad for a business in Lamesa, a traffic report, and the jock asked, "¿Qué tal, San Diego?" (Rick Lewis, AZ, June 14, ibid., WORLD OF RADIO 1224) I think we have a new X-band station on 1700, a Spanish-speaker that calls itself "La Romántica, 1700-AM." I first heard it 6/13 at 0802 EDT [1202 UT], stronger this morning at the same hour. I believe it's in Mexico because announcers mentioned "La República" twice this morning, once during a PSA referring to "la ley" (the law). I'd guess it's in BCN or BCS, judging by signal strength, local sunrise, and loop bearing (Larry Godwin, Missoula MT, IRCA Soft DX Monitor via DXLD) Definite ID heard at 10:01 PST as "Equis-eh-epe-eh" La Romántica desde Tijuana. Does anyone have any data yet on power and tower co- ordinates? (Bob Pietsch Foster City, CA, IRCA via DXLD) I know their towers are way SW of Tecate, as they strive to cover San Diego and Ensenada with a loud signal. When then-XEKTT was running both their 1600 and 550 operations at the same time, the old 1600 outlet looped E toward Tecate, but the new 550 (-560-1700) outlet looped almost S of me (I live on the extreme SE edge of Chula Vista, about 12 miles from the ocean). 73, (Tim Hall, Chula Vista, CA, ibid., WORLD OF RADIO 1224) ** MEXICO [and non]. BORDER PATROL: "Reliable" sources say the Ensenada station on 920 is about to blast forth with at least 20,000 watts of power from the communal border-area transmitter site near Rosarito Beach, although Update monitors have heard no sign of this puppy. What we have heard is a strong Spanish-lingo'ed signal on 105.7 FM, apparently emanating from Tijuana or Tecate. Rumours abound in SoCal that this one is "about" to go on the air, but 105.7's been testing at least since mid-May, I assure you! Wonder what KXRS/105.7 in Hemet, California, has to say about this? (GREG HARDISON, Broadcast Band Update June 13, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Full UPDATE is in dxld yahoogroup, message 775 ** NIGERIA. Hi, again a bit of the neverending VON-chaos. 15120 is used quite regularly again since Wednesday June 8th at 0805v-1100* (Sun 13th at 0800 sharp, other days later) and *1450-1900* with programmes in English. Seems to be the Euro-antenna as signals are quite strong all the time. Audio seems to be somewhat harmonized, including live broadcasts (60 minutes at 1700). They say goodbye at 1100 + NA. Long sign-on ceremony at 1450, sign-off at 1900 with interval signal and announcing that they would return at 0445 and now they would continue in French. This is on 7255, at least it was on Saturday. But where are the English morning broadcasts? Not 11770, 15120 or 17800 I believe. I've not heard anything there, except Hausa news at 0730-0745 on 15120 on Wednesday. http://africa.coolfreepage.com/africalist (Thorsten Hallmann, Muenster, Germany, June 13, WORLD OF RADIO 1224, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** RUSSIA. Re 4-092: Radio Blagovest is a Catholic program; more about the background, see: http://www.kanal.narod.ru/english.html (Bernd Trutenau, Lithuania, June 13, dxldyg via DXLD) Catholix must be loosening up with Protestant-like organisms, etc. ** RUSSIA. Some frequency changes for Voice of Russia: 1000-1100 Korean NF 7300 K/A 250 kW / 210 deg, ex 7305 1100-1400 Chinese NF 7300 K/A 250 kW / 210 deg, ex 7305 1200-1300 Urdu NF 15605 MSK 250 kW / 115 deg, additional 1300-1400 Hindi NF 15605 MSK 250 kW / 115 deg, additional 1400-1500 English NF 15605 MSK 250 kW / 115 deg, additional 1600-1800 English NF 9405 IRK 250 kW / 230 deg, ex 7320 1600-1900 Arabic NF 11610 MSK 250 kW / 170 deg, additional 1700-2000 French NF 15465 EKB 250 kW / 275 deg, ex 13825 eff. 6/11 (Observer, Bulgaria, June 15 via DXLD) ** SCOTLAND [non]. Radio Six again on IRRS Thursday June 17: ``SHORTWAVE SERVICE 5775 kHz (51.91m) Also streamed on the Internet via http://mp3.nexus.org/mp3/ 1900--, http://www.college-of-piping.co.uk College of Piping - Principal of Scotland's piping college, Robert Wallace presents the June edition of our programme of news, views, interviews, results and music from the world of the highland bagpipe. Produced by Robert Wallace. A Radio Six International Production (Repeat of Saturday's broadcast) --2000 Close Down" La página web de la emisora es: http://www.radiosix.com/ y en su programación diaria hacen referencia a dicha transmisión (Manuel Méndez, Spain, hard-core-dx via DXLD) via ROMANIA? ** SERBIA & MONTENEGRO [non]. RSM, English to NAm audible at 0000 UT Mon-Sat on 9580, ex-0100 when it was wiped out by CRI English via Cuba. Repeat daily to WNAm 0430 on 9580 (Bob Thomas, CT, June 10, DX LISTENING DIGEST) The clash was for only one week of confusion BOSNIA: 9580 Int'l Radio of Serbia & Montenegro; 0003-0013+, 16-June; News and commentary with lotsa anti-Albania stuff and several IDs throughout. All in English. SIO=554/awfully solid sig if from Bosnia (per Passport). (Harold Frodge, MI, MARE Tipsheet via DXLD) You suspect a NAm relay? I don`t think so (gh, DXLD) ** SPAIN. 15585, REE with another spurious 'distorted' signal around 1200-1230 UT: on both 15497 and 15673 kHz. 73 wb (Wolfgang Büschel, Germany, June 15, DX LISTENING DIGEST) [More, 4-096} ** TAIWAN. A compter du 15 juin, Radio Taiwan International remplacera sa fréquence de 9955 kHz pour l'émission en français de 2000 TU par 9645 kHz. Cela pourrait toutefois s'avérer un mauvais choix, car cette fréquence est actuellement utilisée par le service européen de Radio Vatican ainsi que par Radio Chine Internationale en français vers l'Afrique. 13/06 : c'est finalement la fréquence de 9635 kHz qui a été retenue (informations issues de http://perso.wanadoo.fr/jm.aubier via DXLD) ** U K [non]. Re: BBC WORLD SERVICE FROM BONAIRE Glenn, this item in DXLD 4-092, credited only to Bob Padula/EDXP, is word for word the item we published in the Media Network Weblog on 11 June! Since you are normally so careful with original source attribution, I thought I would just point this out :-) 73, (Andy Sennitt, Radio Nederland, June 14, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) I think BP`s policy is that, u.o.s., info comes direct from stations and is not otherwise specifically credited. I always prefer to go to the original source where known, but with info piling up backlogged I sometimes take secondary sources I encounter first (gh) ** U K [non]. Frequency change for R. Ezra in English via ARM 250 kW / 290 deg to WEu/NAf/ME eff. June 13: 0900-0930 Sun NF 17590 (55544), ex 17490 to avoid CRI in English (Observer, Bulgaria, June 15 via DXLD) ** U K [non non]. Frequency change for Bible Voice Broadcasting Network (BVBN) in Arabic to ME: 1700-1730 Mon and 1700-1715 Tue-Fri NF 17730 via WOF 250 kW / 126 deg, ex 17860 (Observer, Bulgaria, June 15 via DXLD) ** U K [non]. Re: ``This is the first BVB QSL received with transmitter sites written in (Scott R. Barbour, Jr., Intervale, NH, R75, MLB-1, RS longwire with RBA balun, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) By you or by anyone?`` By me. I have no idea what others receive in the mail. Apologies for the oversight (Scott Barbour, NH, DX LISTENING DIGEST) I thought you might have been keeping up with QSL reports on this one in various lists and publications (gh) ** U S A. Re DXLD 4-092: There is an airing of Radio Timtron Worldwide, not in the DX programs list, UT Sundays 0300 on 9330, according to the wbcq.com program guide. It also says that ``recorded episodes on Saturday afternoons at 2 PM ET on 17495`` on the page dedicated to RTW, but that time is not listed in the master time list (John Norfolk, DXLD) ** U S A [non]. U.K.: Frequency change for WYFR via RMP 500 kW / 062 deg eff. June 11: 1700-1800 Arabic NF 13700 (55544), ex 11695 \\ 13720 (7 sec. deley) 1800-1900 English NF 13700 (52442), co-ch CRI in Chaozhou, ex 11695 (Observer, Bulgaria, June 15 via DXLD) ** U S A. New schedules for WHRI Angel 1/2: Angel 1 0000-1000 on 7315 1000-1300 on 9495 1300-1700 on 15105 co-ch RRI English 1300-1357; BBC Hausa 1330-1415 1700-2200 on 15665* 2200-2400 on 9495 Angel 2 0000-1300 on 7535* 1300-1500 on 11670* co-ch RFI Serbian 1400-1457 1500-2100 on 13760 co-ch VOK En/Fr/Ko/Sp/En/Fr; CRI English 1800-2057 2100-2400 on 13770* Mon-Fri 2200-2400 on 9430* co-ch CRI English till 2257 *former WSHB freqs DX-ing With Cumbre changes: A = Angel 0500-0530 Sat 7535 A-2, ex 5745 1930-2000 Sun 15665 A-1, ex 9495 0730-0800 Sat 7535 A-2, ex 5745 1430-1500 Sun 17560 A-5, deleted 0630-0700 Sun 7535 A-2, ex 5745 2030-2100 Sun 13760 A-2, ex 5745 (Observer, Bulgaria, June 15 via DXLD) The above item skirts the issue of which sites are actually in use at which times. I think the `former WSHB frequencies` are in fact from the WSHB facility in SC, while the others are still from Noblesville, tho we may expect those at some point also to switch to SC (gh, DXLD) {none from Noblesville: 4-094} ** U S A [non]. CZECH REP.(non): Frequency changes of Radio Liberty: 1400-1500 Kyrghyz NF 15225, ex 11845 1400-1500 Russian NF 9595, ex 11895 and NF 15130, ex 15215 (Observer, Bulgaria, June 15 via DXLD) ** U S A. THE MARCH OF HISTORY: The last known usage of a "flattop" wire antenna for AM transmission has ended in the United States. On June 4, KYPA/1230 (the former KGFJ) in Los Angeles switched lines to feed a transmitter diplexed into a tower belonging to sister station KBLA/1580, on Alvarado Street in the Silver Lake district. The signal is marginally improved with the addition of an actual tower-based ground-radial system; the station is brokered by owner Arthur Liu's Multicultural Broadcasting, to "Radio Korea"; they in turn produce a fulltime, full service Korean language format. The old site, atop the Odd Fellows Hall at the corner of Washington Blvd and Oak St downtown, was first used in the mid 1920's, and had been used continuously since. The station is most fondly remembered in its many years as KGFJ ("Keeping Good Folks Joyful"), L.A.'s prime Rhythm-'n'-Blues facility for 35-plus years beginning in the late 1950's, pumpin' 'em out in AM Stereo until going all "motivational talk" as KYPA, circa 1995 (GREG HARDISON, Broadcast Band Update June 13, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Full UPDATE is in dxld yahoogroup, message 775 ** U S A. For almost three years a pirate has operated on 660 kHz, as well as 91.3 FM, in the California High Desert city of Victorville calling itself ``KRSX``. The FCC has finally caught up with the operator, Stan ``Cool Daddy`` Mayo and fined him $20,000 as well as taking the station off the air. Probably one of the best-run and most- visible stations in the area, ``Route 66 Radio`` as he called it with an oldies format, was listed in the phone book, had a studio in the business area of town, and handled quite a commercial load. Mr. Mayo claimed the operation was legal under the FCC`s Part 15 low power rules, but an FCC visit found the signals running at `thousands of times the legal Part 15 field strength``. Evidently a legal competitor on 1590 thought so much of the operation, they have changed call letters to KRSX to cash in on the notoriety (Bill Hale, AM Switch, June 14 NRC DX News via DXLD) ** U S A. ACTIVISTS TO LAUNCH PIRATE RADIO STATION http://www.theoaklandpress.com/stories/060104/loc_20040601042.shtml Of The Daily Oakland Press If a planned, two-week "pirate radio" broadcast can be pulled off, Ferndale could become ground zero in a growing national debate about the role of community radio in a crowded, megaconsolidated market. That's the hope of community activist Tom Ness, who publishes the monthly Jam Rag music magazine and runs the Green House, a local community political center. Ness and his partner, Greg Farnum of Auburn Hills, have enlisted the help of supporters and fellow community activists to form WNFC-FM, with the idea of launching a two- week, 24-hour unlicensed broadcast with a 100-watt transmitter. "Ultimately, we're doing this because we want to change the unfair rules," he said. The rules he's referring to are the Federal Communications Commission's policy on licensing so-called low-power FM (LPFM) stations that use 100-watt transmitters. In 2000, U.S. Sen. John McCain introduced a bill to establish licensing guidelines for small, LPFM stations with the FCC. With the FCC's support, the bill eventually passed but not before the National Association of Broadcasters and National Public Radio attached a rider establishing safeguards against interference with the signals of larger stations. Specifically, the rider inserted language establishing a third adjacent channel restriction, meaning if a station exists at 93.1 on the FM dial, the closest an LPFM station can set up would be at the third-nearest frequencies --- either 93.7 or 92.5. That restriction effectively bars LPFM stations from taking root in saturated radio markets like Detroit. "That top 50 (radio market) exception is something that turned it into an exclusion," said Farnum. While the two say plans are gaining momentum, exact frequency, date of launch and location of the transmission have yet to be determined. "We have some pretty good ideas on the frequency. The date depends on getting enough community support. Š I'm pretty sure it's going to be two months yet," Ness said. The goal is to put the local back into radio programming in an age when the FCC has relaxed rules governing the consolidation of ownership of media outlets. According to the FCC, just 350 LPFM stations are in existence nationwide, out of 13,476 licensed AM, FM and FM educational stations. Ness, in a recent issue of Jam Rag, wrote: "There seems to be no end of space on the dial for mindless commercials and the same 10 songs heard in every city in every state across the country. Surely there must be a sliver --- one tiny spot on the dial --- available for Ferndale citizens to use. It is so clearly and obviously in our public interest, necessity and convenience," repeating the FCC's own mission statement. Farnum talks of an oft-cited example in Minot, N.D., where local authorities, seeking to alert residents to a chemical spill in December 2002, were unable to publicize warnings on any of six radio stations operated by radio giant Clear Channel because each station was running automated programming with no local employees staffing the stations at the time. Ness and Farnum say the stage will be set to involve local bands and church groups and to air school district issues, debates, community announcements and more. Despite his own political leanings --- he ran for the U.S. Senate as a Green Party candidate in 2000 --- Ness said the station will be nonpartisan. "I can promise the world that we are not going on the air until we have a proportionate breakdown of conservative and liberal voices," he said. "We've just got to get to know each other, but we have a couple of months before we go on the air, so there's time." Of course, the project is not without its risks. FCC fines for broadcasting without a license include seizure of transmitting equipment, fines of up to $11,000 and possible criminal fines, imprisonment or both. "I think it's illegal," said Ferndale Police Chief Michael Kitchen, who said he's heard rumblings that the station will go live as soon as June 20. "The FCC's monitoring it, and we are, too," he said. "The FCC will tell us what to do, and we'll do it." Daily Oakland Press radio columnist Art Vuolo said Radio Free Ferndale faces an uphill battle simply in selecting a noninterfering frequency. "I wish them lots of luck because I'm in Novi and there is nowhere on the dial," he said. "No matter what frequency you pick and you think there is no station, it is not open Š so I don't know how they're going to pull it off." Congress recently commissioned its own independent study that found complaints from the National Association of Broadcasters and National Public Radio about signal interference are largely baseless. The FCC in February recommended to Congress that it relax the third adjacent channel restrictions, a move McCain is said to recommend in an upcoming bill. (A spokeswoman for McCain could not be reached.) "Four years ago, broadcasters masqueraded their concern about competition from new low-power FM stations in grossly exaggerated claims of interference," McCain said in a statement in February. "Today, the FCC has stripped the broadcasters of this disguise by concluding that these stations would cause virtually no interference and recommending the removal of certain limits on such stations." Ness said project backers are proceeding, knowing full well the risks involved. "The bottom line is, if it takes $10,000 to facilitate a major policy shift in Washington, it's well, well worth it," he said. Click here to return to story: http://www.theoaklandpress.com/stories/060104/loc_20040601042.shtml (via Artie Bigley, DXLD) ** U S A. Enhancements made to REC broadcast tools to address media concentration --- Ownership information added to our FM and AM query tools. REC Networks is testing a new version of the very popular AM and FM Query programs. The new versions now feature enhanced ownership data showing licensee information. In addition, doing a search by city or geographic location will generate a Media Concentration report that will not only displays the station and ownership information but also points out the major corporate owners using icons and then gives a total of the holdings of each corporate owner within the protected service area for non- reserved band FM stations and within 100 km for AM stations. To access the FM Query, visit: http://www.recnet.com/fmq For the AM query, visit: http://www.recnet.com/amq Major owners that show in the Summary Report include: ABC/Disney (not all data is entered yet), Bonneville, Citadel, Clear Channel, Cox Radio, Cumulus, Emmis, Entercom, Entravision, Journal Broadcasting, Liberman/LBI, Lotus Broadcasting, Multicultural, Radio One, Saga Communications, Salem Media, Spanish Broadcasting System, Viacom and Univisión Radio. In addition, non-commercial broadcast holdings from American Family Association, Calvary Chapel, Educational Media Foundation, Family Stations and Way-FM are also tracked. In addition to the changes made to the AM and FM Query, ownership information has been added to the "FM Dialscape" section of the REC LPFM Channel Search tool at: http://www.recnet.com/lpfm Correction to Seattle allotments case story --- Incorrect community name was given. In our 6/8 story "FCC sets aside controversial FM allotment decision", we incorrectly stated that KMIH(FM) was located on "Merritt Island". We meant to state that KMIH(FM) is located on Mercer Island, WA, a suburb of Seattle. Merritt, Washington is a small town in Central Washington along US Highway 2. REC apologizes for any inconvenience caused (REC 6/13/2004 via DXLD) ** U S A. JEFFERSON CO. [MT] INVESTS IN EMERGENCY RADIO SYSTEM [LPFM] By CAROLYNN BRIGHT - IR Staff Writer - 06/16/04 As the Boulder Complex fires swept from Basin toward Montana City in the summer of 2000, Jefferson County officials could only hope area residents were watching television or listening to local radio reports to stay abreast of the latest evacuation orders. Just to make sure, though, sheriff's deputies took to the maze of roads that twist through the county — sometimes directly into the path of the flames --- warning everyone they found about the potential danger to their homes, and, possibly, their lives. Those left behind to man the county offices answered the telephone calls that flooded into the sheriff's dispatch center from area residents who didn't know where to turn for up-to-date information. It became clear to county officials that they needed a more reliable, uniform system for getting vital information to residents of the county, said Sally Buckles, disaster and emergency services coordinator for the county Tuesday. So, with the assistance of a Homeland Security Grant and other federal funds totaling about $66,800, Jefferson County invested in air waves as a method of solving the problem — seven low power FM radio stations, to be more exact. According to Buckles, the county applied to the Federal Communications Commission for the permits in June 2001 and received the go-ahead in November 2002. To date, the Montana City and Whitehall stations have been installed, while stations that will serve Elk Park, Basin, Boulder and Cardwell are expected to be on the air by mid-August. Officials anticipate that the Jefferson City/Clancy site will be operational by the end of the year. "The primary reason for these radio stations is to provide emergency information to all areas of the county," Buckles said, explaining that could include information about road closures, storm warnings, boil orders and evacuations. Other non-emergency information — such as announcements about county events, school functions, changes in bus schedules and more — may be broadcast over the station as well, she said. In fact, she said, county officials took advantage of the Whitehall station (106.5) before the primary election to remind voters to bring identification to the polls. "The goal is to make these stations useful to the community, and therefore, residents will already know where to tune their receiver in case of an emergency," she said. Buckles said some of the areas are looking at expanding their use of the stations into certain types of entertainment. She added that regularly scheduled children's programming, continuous music segments and weekend church services may be possible uses for the stations. County officials also hope the stations can be used to promote tourism in Jefferson County and "get more tourists passing by to stop and shop in Jefferson County," Buckles said. The final programming format has not been established, Buckles said, and it probably won't be until all of the stations are operational and the control system is functioning. Each station will have a range of about a 10-mile radius from its antenna to a typical car radio. Buckles said car radios are optimal receivers in emergencies because they are battery operated, have an outdoor antenna and can be relied upon even when the power is down. The DES transmitters will have a battery backup and emergency power. The system will be connected and controlled by high-speed Internet so that emergency information can be entered directly from any location — people with access to input information will be restricted to the DES coordinator, the sheriff and county commissioners. "It seems to be working well so far," Buckles said. "We're getting more and more people interested in it." Buckles said the grant money didn't cover all the expenses of purchasing the equipment and installing the system, but she is confident the project will come together. For more information or to donate money or labor to the project, contact Buckles at (406) 225-4035. Helena Independent Record - June 16, 2004 via REC Networks (via DXLD) ** U S A. Re: LOGGINGS: ``2 KCBI ID Boise 06/11 2157 CBS programming`` It`s KBCI, not KCBI. Which reminds me, I`ve always figured KBCI was a rather lame attempt to resemble (graphically) the original calls KBOI after ownership separated from the radio station. Am I correct? Does the C look almost like an O on their logo? 73, (Glenn Hauser, amfmtvdx at qth.net via DXLD) Yes you are, the original KBOI building had large letters around 4 ft high on the front in bronze (or some metal like it). When they sold the station they figured it was easier to just cut a section out of the "O" to make it a "C" so they applied and got the calls KBCI! 73 (Frank Aden, N7SOK, ID, ibid.) ** U S A. RADIO STATION MIXES GENRES IN MILLERSVILLE [TN, PIRATE??] By Zach Mills, Staff Writer -- News Examiner photo by Mable McReynolds John Deering talks into the microphone in Fun 100 FM’s studio. The new radio station, which is located in Deering’s home, serves Millersville but reaches parts of Goodlettsville and Hendersonville. [caption] MILLERSVILLE - In a low raspy voice, John Deering spoke into the microphone mounted on the wall of a downstairs room at his home in Millersville. Although he was off the air at the time, Deering pretended to address listeners of his new radio station, Fun 100 FM. ``We play everything from Mozart to Motown,`` said Deering, who started his radio career in Nashville as a 19-year-old in 1961. Fun 100 FM officially signed on Monday, May 31, but has been in the testing process for over a half year, Deering said. ``We`ve had this thing on the air for about 8 months to get the right antenna match,`` Deering said. The radio station consists of a morning show, which Deering hosts, an afternoon show, and one show at midnight. Deering said listeners can expect to hear jazz, blues, bluegrass, gospel, Latino rock and Caribbean music. . . http://www.gallatinnewsexaminer.com/news/stories/20040614/radio.shtml (via Artie Bigley, DXLD) WTFK? LPFM? ** U S A. AIR-HEAD AMERICA: This noble idea of some Talkradio balance is about to fall off the highwire. The AA regional offices in Los Angeles and Chicago have closed; L.A./AA market head Bob Visotcky is off to San Diego to sell Real Estate. Wags are all over it, saying no one is listening, et al. --- yet a recent Arbitron ratings book from NYC shows AA flagship WLIB/1190 outperforming venerable talk-leader WABC/770 in some key demographic groups, definitely garnering the attention of advertisers. Let us also note that WLIB/1190 has barely ever made ANY showing in the Ratings, in its 54 year history. Showcase AA host Al Franken says he is now an "involuntary investor", working for free to help aid the fledgling efforts. Certainly, is it not obvious that the whole AA thing was (is?) horribly mismanaged? These folks first announced their plans in February 2003; they had over one year to find someone from the Radio biz who actually possessed the knowledge required for a successful startup. Can we speculate that with the downsizing and consolidation that has infected Radio almost to the point of terminal status, that just such a person MAY have been available to the AA brain trust all along? Perhaps the fact that these two disparate entities never combined forces represents a cruel twist of fate. More likely, someone just didn't wanna spend the money! Knowing the overall state and set of philosophies pervasive throughout American business in general, and Radio in particular, my wager goes to the latter category (GREG HARDISON, Broadcast Band Update June 13, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Full UPDATE is in dxld yahoogroup, message 775 ** U S A. June 15, 2004 INFINITY BROADCASTING AND AMERICA ONLINE TO PRESENT "BILL CLINTON CONNECTS WITH AMERICA" ON THURSDAY, JUNE 24 In An Interview After Publication Of My Life, Clinton To Talk About His New Book And Take Questions From Infinity Radio Listeners And AOL® Members Across The Country Exclusive Audio Excerpts From My Life Read By Clinton To Air On Infinity Stations And The AOL® Service Prior To Book's Release Beginning On Friday, June 18 Infinity Broadcasting and America Online, Inc., will present BILL CLINTON CONNECTS WITH AMERICA, a one-hour, live interactive town hall with former President Clinton, on Thursday, June 24 (6:00-7:00 PM, ET [2200-2300 UT]) on Infinity and AOL® for Broadband and AOL. In an interview following the publication of My Life, Clinton will talk live about his experiences leading up to and during the White House years, as well as answer questions from Infinity listeners and AOL members across the country. CBS News' Harry Smith, co-anchor of THE EARLY SHOW, will serve as moderator of the event, which will be broadcast on select Infinity news and news-talk radio stations (complete list of participating stations attached). AOL® for Broadband members will have exclusive access to live video of the event. AOL will also make portions of this exclusive content available publicly on the Web at http://www.aol.com As part of the exclusive agreement, Infinity stations will broadcast select excerpts from My Life read by the author starting on Friday, June 18. Beginning on the same day, all AOL members also will be able to access the audio excerpts on demand, as well as other audio and video content related to the book and Clinton's life. Published by Alfred A. Knopf, My Life is one of the most eagerly awaited books of recent time. The book goes on sale on June 22 with a first printing of 1.5 million copies. "This is a rare opportunity to be able to provide Americans a chance to speak directly with the former President," said Steve Rivers, President of Programming, Infinity Broadcasting. "Listener-driven interviews of this caliber engage the audience in an up-close and personal conversation. Infinity has had tremendous success with this type of candid format and look forward to a unique and entertaining dialogue." "We are thrilled that our members will be able to send President Clinton questions for him to answer live online, and listen to audio excerpts from his new memoir," said Jim Bankoff, Executive Vice President, AOL Programming. "This is just the kind of exclusive content and great original programming that our members - both high- speed on AOL® for Broadband and dial-up on AOL - have come to expect, whether they are music lovers, movie fans, news hounds, or sports junkies. In fact, we recently revamped our books area to better serve our legions of book-loving members with in-depth content, exclusive excerpts and interactions with some of today's best-selling authors." Infinity Broadcasting is one of the largest major-market radio operators in the United States, with stations covering the news, modern rock, oldies, country, FM talk, classic rock and urban formats. Infinity owns 185 radio stations, the majority of which are in the nation's top 50 markets and reach more than 76 million listeners a week and is also home to 27 of the country's leading sports franchises amongst the NFL, MLB, the NBA and NHL. America Online, Inc. is a wholly owned subsidiary of Time Warner Inc. Based in Dulles, Virginia, America Online is the world's leader in interactive services, Web Brands, Internet technologies and e-commerce services. The Following Infinity Broadcasting Radio Stations Will Broadcast Select Excerpts of My Life beginning on Friday, June 18, as well as "CLINTON CONNECTS WITH AMERICA" on Thursday, June 24 (6:00-7:00PM) New York WINS-AM Los Angeles KNX-AM Chicago WBBM-AM San Francisco KCBS-AM Dallas KRLD-AM Philadelphia KYW-AM/ WPHT-AM Houston KIKK-AM Boston WBZ-AM Detroit WWJ-AM Minneapolis WCCO-AM St. Louis KMOX-AM Pittsburgh KDKA-AM San Antonio KTSA-AM Las Vegas KXNT-AM Austin KJCE-AM Greensboro WSJS-AM Hartford WTIC-AM Fresno KMJ-AM. (via Pete, KZ1Z, NRC-AM via DXLD) Drudge tries to make an issue here ** U S A. Of course, on many a channel one encounters laughter instead of the real world (or the manipulated `reality` served up by unscripted trash). But augmented or manufactured laughter at jokes or situations that aren't remotely funny --- as is so common in network sitcoms --- can in itself be numbing and depressing. It's like listening to a roomful of crazy people laughing at random, at nothing, all dead between the ears. Faked happiness, meanwhile, is rampant, in the phony bonhomie of local anchor teams that all love one another so much (and particularly adore the loud dolt who does sports and the fey nerd who does weather) and in the elation displayed by happy customers in commercials for products that many of us know firsthand are junk (Tom Shales, Washington Post via Catholic Radio Update June 14 via DXLD) ** URUGUAY. Hallo, Omdat er de laatste dagen goede condities op de middengolf gemeld werden richting Latijns Amerika heb ik een paar nachten de MD laten draaien op 1470 kHz. Gisteren had ik de ALA in de verkeerde richting staan en toch stond er reeds wat op de opname. Vorige nacht was het raak. Stukken met vrij sterke audio. Om 0310 UTC viel de ID "Radio Cristal del Uruguay". Mijn eerste Uruguay station op de middengolf! 73, (Guido Schotmans, Belgium, June 16, BDXC via DXLD) ** UZBEKISTAN. Subject: MNO tests; Re 15755 under UK ``How can you be sure the site is UK? (Glenn Hauser)`` Did I say the site is in the U K.? Merlin is a UK based organisation; that's why I put it under UK. 73 (Silvain Domen, DXLD) UK [non?] would have been better (gh) Since June 9th MNO Merlin tests heard on various days on either 15385, 15705, or 15755 kHz, transmitter Tashkent-UZB. 1200-1259 UT. Target area is VTN, LAO, and CBG. At same time slot Voice of Tibet is usually on air approx. 1212-1300 (Wolfgang Büschel, June 13) SORRY, MNO tests did last only on June 9th til 14th (Wolfgang Büschel, June 14, DXLD) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ UNSOLICITED TESTIMONIALS ++++++++++++++++++++++++ I want to tell you, and radio station WSUI in Iowa City, how much I enjoy your SW program, played here Sunday nights. I am lucky to be able to receive your program on a local AM station! 73 and good listening (Bob Lucas, W0DXZ, June 13) Listening to your show on 5.070 MHz at 1000 UT, I was amazed at the juvenile way that you described Hal Turner`s show. ``The white wing``, followed by a childish titter, then the usual array of epithets designed to disparage people with other views, so common in liberal language. We all know that Pro-Life people are referred to as Anti- Abortion, and gun aficionados are Gun Nuts, dedicated Christians are referred to as fanatics, but I never seem to hear you refer to any of the left persuasion as being Anti-Life, Anti-Second Amendment, Anti- Religion, etc. You sir are a nit wit, having confined far too much time doing asinine and insubstantial shortwave review shows whose principle audience won`t exist for another 100,000 or so years, when the signals travel to some as yet undiscovered galaxy or solar system and fall upon the ears of people not inured to liberal speak. Despite you very childish prattle about Hal Turner and your frequent derision towards others that hold views not as narrowly defined as yours, Hal was right on a great many things. Although I often found Hal to be a curmudgeon, and sometimes even needed to change frequency to get away from some of his extended rants, he did also discuss things that neither the mainstream media nor you would cover. He covered the story of the rape and murder of several whites in Kentucky. http://www.newsmax.com/archives/articles/2002/11/15/190420.shtml ``Two Kansas brothers were sentenced to death Friday after being found guilty of murdering four people in December 2000. Lawyers for Reginald and Jonathan Carr sought a life sentence for the two, but failed in their attempt to spare the Carrs from the death penalty. `` ``The woman who survived the Dec. 15, 2000, shooting that left her four friends dead told the court, ``The sentence imposed on them will be a much kinder sentence than they imposed on me, my friends, and family.`` When the jury delivered its verdict Thursday, Mark Befort, a brother of one of the victims, sarcastically wished Reginald Carr a ``happy birthday,`` followed by an expletive, as he was being led away. Carr`s response was laced with profanity.`` Go to the Department of Justice and research the truth of hate crimes. Blacks are far more likely to commit hate crime against whites than visa versa. Oh, and by the way, you won`t find them under ``Hate Crimes``, you need to look at the actual statistics of White on Black and Black on White crimes. The rate of White on Black crimes is so low that it is almost off the bottom edge of the chart. Blacks, 15% of the population, commit 60% of the violent crimes. The above, TRULY a hate crime, was not adequately covered by the mainstream media. It did not fit their juvenile profile of story manipulation, i.e., no white wing extremists, no Christian zealots, etc. You too fall into the lame category of being incapable of being able to discuss the detriments of the left, you are too far left to realize that they have their serious faults as well. Animal Rights groups destroying research labs and releasing possibly infected animals, environmentalists destroying SUV dealerships and burning down a ski resort to stop its expansion, etc, etc, etc,. Hal was right on the issue of illegal aliens (oh, pardon me, undocumented immigrants), imagine the ability to prance into another country and demand medical care, paid for at the expense of taxpayers, draining resources from the indigenous population. But you sit, week after week, childishly deriding the groups that you do not support. What an idiot. What a waste of airtime and electricity. (Jim S.) Dear Jim, Thanks for your unsolicited testimonial. That sure was fun to read. Are you afraid to give your full name? It`s hardly deserving of a reply but I do want you to know that ``far white`` (not ``white wing``) was an unintentional slip of the tongue. I was about to go back and correct it until I realized how apropos it was. Sure, there`s far too much crime, and blacks commit a disproportionate amount of it. You fail to note that there`s a lot more black-on-black than black-on-white crime --- but why insist on viewing everything thru a racial lens as Turner and you do? There would be a lot less crime, black and white, if `liberal` causes such as improving public education were given much higher priority. You really shouldn`t assume I endorse all acts of violence you attribute to liberals/the left. Thanks for being in my insignificant audience (gh) Dear Glenn, Pshaw. Please don`t believe that I am part of your insignificant audience. Shit happens, the FRG-100 or FT-840 dial turns, the computer distracts me, and before you know it, I have been subjected to abhorrent material. Not just yours, mind you, but rabid preachers declaring that President Reagan is in hell (not limited to ultra white wing conservatives, c.f. http://www.washingtontimes.com/national/20040608-114726-8654r.htm but liberal cartoonists as well), or that Catholics are in a secret cabal to overthrow the world (if you believe that anti-Semitism is rampant, try listening to the anti-Catholic tirades). The problem that I have had with your show is the rather overt voice inflections designed to influence the audience, or at least to let them know your viewpoints. But hell, it is your show, I don`t expect objectivity, therefore I don`t listen to it. Even this: ``You really shouldn`t assume I endorse all acts of violence you attribute to liberals/the left`` is biased in its structure. These things are violence committed by people that identify with the left, they certainly aren`t white wing concerns. Anyway Glenn, thanks for writing back. I know that you aren`t soliciting more listeners, but maybe I`ll give your show another listen, after all, the radio is to my left. Regards. Jim Honorificabilitudinitatibus (now you see why I don`t use my last name) CONVENTIONS & CONFERENCES +++++++++++++++++++++++++ IRCA CONVENTION, BOISE ID, JULY 23-25 Hotel: Rodeway INN, 1115 North Curtis Rd, Boise ID 83706 (1-208-376- 2700 or 1-800-272-5993). Rates: $59.95 plus 12% tax or $67.14. Starts: Friday 9 AM, ends: Sunday afternoon after Bar-b-que. Tentative tours: KIDO/KFXD and KBOI. Convention fee: $25.00, can also be paid via Paypal at: N7SOK @ aol.com Auction items: send to Frank Aden, 4096 Marcia Pl., Boise ID 83704. E-mail inquires: send to: IRCA2004 @ aol.com Make your plans NOW (Phil Bytheway, IRCA DX Monitor via DXLD) WTFDA 2004 - OMAHA, NE, JULY 30-AUGUST 1, 2004 The WTFDA annual convention takes a stop in Omaha, NE July 30 - Aug 1, 2004, hosted by Matt Sittel and Michael Hawk. This year's $28 convention fee brings you a tour of skip-magnet KMTV, technical talks, the annual banquet, and on-site antenna and radio demos. The convention site is centrally located at the Park Plaza Regency Lodge. More information is available at http://www.amfmdx.net/WTFDA2004/ or write Matt Sittel at mcsittel @ cox.net or 15013 Eureux St, Bellevue, NE 68123 (IRCA Soft DX Monitor June 17 via DXLD) RADIO STAMPS ++++++++++++ RESEARCHING EKKO AND OTHER VERIFICATION STAMPS In response to Doug Nyholmn's questions about EKKO stamps in the Western DX Forum last issue, very little information exists on radio verification stamps, except for two articles which have appeared in Popular Communications Magazine (April, 1986 and March, 1995) and a cover story which appeared in the June 4, 1997 issue of Antique Radio Classified. As it turns out, I am in the process of conducting initial research into the area of radio verification stamps with the hope of eventually authoring a book on the subject. Briefly, an article entitled "The New Radio Stamp Fad" appeared in the February, 1925 issue of Radio News Magazine. The classic magazine cover of that particular issue pictured a broadcast band listener donning a set of head phones listening to DX, while at the same time placing EKKO stamps in his album. Two months later, the EKKO Company of Chicago, Illinois ran an ad in the April, 1925 issue depicting their special radio stamp album which could be purchased for $1.75 ($2.50 in Canada). It is estimated that over 700 stations in the U.S., Canada, Cuba and Mexico were represented on stamps printed by the American Banknote Company for use by EKKO. However, there were stations that did not participate in the EKKO program and issued their own stamps. Some of these stations included WHAS, WSM, WSB, WJKS, WTIC and KFI. Another lesser known Chicago company which produced verification stamps complete with an album was P.M. Bryant. Unfortunately, very little information exists on their venture into the radio DX field, but I am working on it. In addition to the postage-like stamps issued by EKKO and Bryant, other stations such as KMOX and KGO utilized embossed, gold-colored, gum-back circular foil. In addition to verification stamps, I am also looking into the various stations which have issued special QSL cards and membership cards to DX'ers such as the KDYL "Night Owls Club", the WDAF "Nighthawks -the Enemies of Sleep", and the CKMO "Midnight Prowlers". If any IRCA member has examples of these types of items I would love to hear from them. The subject of the early days of AM BCB DX is a fascinating one. Unfortunately, much of the paper ephemera related to the subject such as QSL cards, applause cards, postcards, membership cards and verification stamps are gone forever. After eighty years, I suppose most of these items wound up in land fills, were incinerated or were eaten by insects while buried in a dirty attic or basement. I am always searching for these long forgotten items, especially from the time period of 1920 through 1940 when AM BCB Dxing was a popular hobby. Once I can gather a sufficient amount of accurate historical information and examples of such items, I will be that much closer to putting a book together for all to enjoy. Good DX....73. (Harry Schools, K3HS, 1606 South Kewkirk Street, Philadelphia, PA 19145, Eastern DX Forum, IRCA Soft DX Monitor June 19 via DXLD) PUBLICATIONS ++++++++++++ WEB SITES FOR AM DX STUFF Compiled by: Rich Toebe E-mail: richtoebe @ jps.net Regional Radio Sites The Capital Gold Dial Guide covers stations in the area around Albany. Along with lists of stations and accompanying links, there is information on towers and transmitters, radio and TV memorabilia, and more. There's even a section called "DX Monitor". Find this site at http://www.capitalgold.org Someone in the Philadelphia area loves talk radio... enough to create a web site tracking all of the talk shows in the Philly area and surrounding. It's called Philly Talk Radio Online; check it out at http://www.phillytalkradioonline.com/index.html There's more than AM radio here, but a great site to follow the goings on in Virginia Broadcasting is VARTV.com. Find it at (what else) http://www.vartv.com If you are looking for radio news out of Utah, and especially Salt Lake City, then this site is for you... SaltLakeRadio.com and UtahRadioNews.com have merged. There are lots of current news stories about the radio industry, station guides and links to articles in the local newspapers, including the "Radio Dial" column by Lynn Arave from the Deseret News. Have a look-see at http://www.utahradionews.com/ RadioEmporium.net bills itself as "The Southwest's #1 Radio Site"-it covers AZ, NM, NV, UT, CO, TX and OK. Call sign histories can be found here, as well as logos, news stories, forums, and other features. It's located at http://radioemporium.net/ http://www.sdradio.net/ is the site to look to for San Diego radio news and information, and is kept current; the March 11 2003 news begins with the story that KSDO-1130 is changing formats from News- talk to Spanish Christian "Radio Nueva Vida", and many comments about the Mighty 1090's debut. BenMac.com is the source to go to for information on the media in Birmingham, Alabama. There are lists of stations (and links) and news articles featured, and links to radio articles from the Post-Herald, Birmingham's newspaper. There's a lot of material on advertising, complimenting radio industry news. Go to http://www.benmac.com/bmc/ Interested in following news of the radio industry? Here's a site that lists the industry news without requiring subscription or registration. Just a quick glance at Radio Daily News showed that CNBC Business News Radio is just beginning on a number of stations, and that it was discovered that Swaziland's state-run radio's Iraq correspondent was not actually reporting from the scene, but "broadcasting from a broom closet". There are many links to radio columnists and other radio sites as well. Check it out at http://www.radiodailynews.com/ Radio Publications New Radio Star website is a radio news oriented site, as the name implies. Find it at http://www.newradiostar.com/ It covers the industry as well as radio personalities. Radio Ink has a listing of what the magazine considers to be the "50 Best Radio Web Sites". The #1 site is an AM station: WGNRadio.com. To read the rest of the list, point your browser to http://www.radioink.com/thisyear50best.asp (Update: link broken 3/15/04 RT) Eric Floden contributed this link: "for anyone interested in reading about (and linking to broadcasts of) Park Radio (Canadian Rockies -- Banff & area), you can visit http://www.friendsofbanff.com/radio.htm from this site, here is their Mission: "Park Radio will tell the story of Banff National Park to the visiting public: from the rise of the Canadian Rockies, to the plants and animals who came to inhabit the mountains from the evidence of pre-historic life 11,500 years ago, to the modern adventurers who explore the mountains today of our quest to understand the mountain landscape and our place in it. Park Radio will also provide basic information to help visitors better enjoy their stay: weather and trail reports, where to get information, public safety messages and information about park events and facilities. Park Radio will use a variety of programming to enlighten and entertain visitors: Stories, interviews, quizzes, documentaries, trivia, music, sound effects and on-location stories and their motto is: The Official Radio Station of Banff National Park Other Radio Sites El Dorado for LA DXers is a web page that is devoted to Latin American DX. Acting as a repository of information from various sources about Central and South American stations, the site contains lists of stations and verification signers and also has useful information about national holidays. Click on: http://members.chello.se/mwm/eldorado/index.html St. Pierre et Miquelon is probably the most exotic location in North America. A small archipelago, just off the southwestern coast of Newfoundland, and part of France. You can check out RFO's (Réseau France Outre-mer) website at http://www.rfo.fr/st_pierre_et_miquelon_ie15m.php click on "Qui Sommes Nous?" for information about the station. Clicking on "Notre Radio" brings up "Journal" webcasts for all of the RFO stations. The site is in French, and if you can decipher it, there's a wealth of information, with pictures, about the islands, their history, and the stations. At RFO's home page, there's a world map; roll your mouse over the territory's name, and see the dots on the map, showing their locations, change to yellow. A free geography lesson, courtesy of http://www.rfo.fr/index_ie15m.php Zona Latina "is the site for media and marketing in Latin America." There's a section devoted to radio, heavily comprised of links to stations throughout Central and South America, the Caribbean and Mexico. Regional and national networks are noted here. There are also links to other sites covering information of interest to the listener or observer of the radio scene "south of the border", as well as Spanish and Portuguese language stations and networks in the USA. Go to http://www.zonalatina.com/Radio.htm Bruce Portzer found "The Tick", now that Clear Channel has taken over WWV (hi). You have to hear it at http://www.mindspring.com/~lownoise/wwv.html (Update: you'll be directed to http://www.grantassoc.net/wwv.html now 3/15/04 RT) Ray Bauernhuber alerted us to the IEEE's History Center website, which features a List of Milestones in the history of electronics. A lot of radio history is detailed here, including Marconi's early wireless experiments, the first reception of Transatlantic radio signals, the first directional antennas, KDKA, and more. Benjamin Franklin's work in London between 1757 and 1775 is also on the list. Check it out at http://www.ieee.org/organizations/history_center/milestones_list.html There's been some discussion about Cross Field antennas recently. They are being tried out in Egypt, Australia and the Isle of Man, and in the US by WK4XVQ - 1520 as an experimental license held by WKVQ-1520 Eatonton GA for daytime use. There is an article posted on AntenneX's website dealing with the subject. Read about it at http://www.antennex.com/preview/cfa/cfa.htm Another article on CFA's, called "Is This Antenna For Real?" by veteran radio engineer Cris Alexander can be accessed by logging on to http://www.hbci.com/~wenonah/cfa/ Mike Hardester writes: If you happen to hear a station mention an area code and prefix, you can enter that information, and the site indicates the city/state to which that area code and prefix are assigned. It isn't a reverse phone number look up, and it may already be known, but if not, it's a handy little site to use to narrow down a station's area: http://www.primeris.com/fonefind/ Nick Hall-Patch clued me in on a site for DX Tuners. According to the Swedish-based site, "DX-Tuners provide access to a truly global network of remotely controlled shortwave and VHF/UHF receivers for radio enthusiasts across the world all from the comfort of your own home via the Internet." There is even a MW Beverage antenna in Hylteberga, Sweden, 430 meters long (just over 1410 feet) and aimed at a bearing of 270 degrees, linked to the site. There are other projects there, including a Icom PCR-1000 modified to receive DRM digital transmissions. Go to http://www.dxtuners.com/ and have fun! Looking for a listing of Radio Disney stations? If you go to the Radio Disney website, you can only get them by location, one at a time. Patrick Griffith put together a list from their site and keeps it up to date as a service to DX'ers. Find it at http://community-2.webtv.net/N0NNK/RADIODISNEY/index.html (IRCA Soft DX Monitor June 19 via DXLD) RADIO EQUIPMENT FORUM +++++++++++++++++++++ SUBSTITUTE TO THE REAL AUDIO PLAYER Audio clips from our radio hobby have been exchanged among DXers via Real Audio or MP3 files, besides the ability to listen to streaming media from radio stations worldwide present on the Internet. The realaudio has been a useful tool since it provides good audio for our mw and sw DX catches, because of its light "weight". The audio clips are recorded first as .wav and then converted into .ra or .rm with the Real Producer. As you know they are freeware. But recently, specialists have found security holes in the Real Audio Player. Real Networks has launched a fixing update, but this program also adds garbage to our computer system. Now there is a substitute for Real Player which also supports Quick Media and Media Player codecs, and is a DVD player. This is the Real- Alternative. Check more at http://www.k-litecodecpack.com/ latest version is 1.23 (Horacio Nigro, Uruguay, June 12, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Any drawbacks to this? You have experience with it? (gh) GROUNDING TIPS Does the gauge of the wire running from receiver to ground rod matter? Thanks for your input (Steve Bass, Columbus, Ohio, swl at qth.net via DXLD) Steve, For receiving, the answer is, possibly/probably. Now I'll clarify. Wire has a given amount of inductive/resistive losses per foot. Due to a feature called "Skin effect" RF travels primarily over the outer surface of the wire, this effect increases with an increase in frequency. So RF grounding effectiveness will decrease with a decrease in wire diameter. The wire that runs from my "ground bar under the radio bench is tied to the FIRST ground rod via about a 4 foot length of 4 gauge copper wire. So I'm pretty certain my resistive losses are quite low. Due to wire costs the succeeding ground rods are tied together to the first rod via 10 gauge copper wire, not the best, but sufficient to my needs. BUT, there is another dragon that rears its ugly head in grounding! This is wavelength of the ground wire. As the length of a ground wire gets longer and approaches a quarter wavelength the "impedance (reactive plus resistive component)" goes up significantly, until at a quarter wavelength (roughly 8 feet at 28 MHz) the impedance is very high for RF. In other words, if you have a wire from the radio to ground that is 8 feet long you have NO RF ground at all for 28 MHz, while you still have a DC or safety ground. That is why VHF gear is seldom grounded other than for safety reasons. Instead antennas that need no RF ground, such as groundplanes, dipoles etc are always used at VHF and above. However, there is another feature of "Wavelength". Impedance goes to a MAXIMUM at a quarter wavelength then starts to drop again as you pass a Quarter wavelength, hitting a MINIMUM at a half wavelength, when it starts to rise again till it hits 3/4 wavelength (Odd wavelengths = High impedance, even = lowest impedance). These features are what makes it possible to create a "Wavetrap" using nothing more than an open or shorted length of coax. Now you ask, how does this enter into the overall grounding picture? Picture this in your mind. You have a ground bar under your radio bench. (you do, don't you?) IF this groundbar (and your radio) can be tied to a GOOD ground rod installation that is perhaps within 4 feet you "probably" have a pretty good RF ground for your station below 28 MHz (mine does). HOWEVER, most people can't meet that requirement. What do you do? Instead of a single ground rod, imagine a series of rods, perhaps 4, spaced 4 feet or more apart These are "daisy chained", one to the next with GOOD solid, low resistance connections. OR, a separate wire is run from the ground bar under your bench to each ground rod. This WILL provide a good RF ground across the spectrum, from VLF right up through 30 MC. Why? Because while one or more rods "MAY" be a quarter wavelength (or odd number there-of) from your receiver and thus have no effect, other rods WILL either be under a quarter wavelength or around an even number of wavelengths (low impedance). Now, as wire length gets longer, calculations get a little hairier, but this is a good general rule. An additional feature of this arrangement is that the parallel grounds make for a lower ground resistance (better effectiveness). Another point. IF you cannot get a GOOD regular ground, a group of wires cut to a quarter wavelength for the various bands, connected to your ground bar (receiver) and just run around the baseboard of your home can provide an effective counterpoise that will often help a lot. For a number of years I lived in an apartment, all antennas in the attic and one POOR ground rod outside my window. I had counterpoise wires for all bands 80-10M tacked along the baseboards. It stopped a problem I had with the HF rig "crashing the computer" and for awhile I even ran over 300 Watts on all bands (Galaxy 5 transceiver) 160-10M into those attic antennas with no "RF in the shack problems "no RF biting my lip, crashing the computer etc (though I got into all telephones). That was before RF exposure became a big deal. 73 de (Phil KO6BB Atchley, Merced CA, REAL Radios "Glow In The Dark", swl at qth.net via DXLD) It is 'important' to consider whether it is a receive only ground or one that will be used with a transmitter. Although the majority of what Phil said is correct, for most receive only applications with a single receiver, it is of questionable value. Especially with newer solid state receivers. You definitely can notice the difference in noise reduction and improved receive sensitivity/ability in an older vacuum tube receiver. I have read hundreds of opinions of how to ground the station, receivers, transmitters, antennas and so forth. They have come from the so called 'experts' to the casually familiar. One theme dominates, absolutely nobody can agree! The end result of asking what Steve Bass asked is generally more confusion than clarity. No criticism of Phil implied/intended here, but unless the reader of what Phil wrote has a good understanding of electronics, he/she is probably wondering what the heck he said. There is no simple and easy answer. What works in one situation may not work in another. Perhaps it would help if people understood that there are different types of grounds. The one most are familiar with is the electrical ground, for safety via the wall outlet. The round prong. Followed by the ground for lightning or static discharge protection. (The only protection from a lightning strike, is don't be there! The exception being a commercial radio/TV tower installation.) There is also the ground used by some radios in conjunction with the antenna. The most important is the ground for safety reasons. You do not want anything other than major appliances using the power company ground system grounded inside your home during an electrical storm. Lightning can, and does, hit the earth and travel through it. If you have appliances connected to an outside ground rod, the lightning current will enter your home via that ground rod and destroy the appliances. Disconnect all radios, stereo gear, TV receivers and so forth during electrical storms from their antennas and an outside ground. Lighting can, and does, enter via both means! Now hear this! The storm does NOT have to be in your immediate proximity! If it is within ten miles there is a real risk of a static discharge doing major damage. There is far more damage done by such static discharges than by actual lightning strikes! You can have a portable radio sitting on a table with no connections to anything. No power cord to an outlet, no external antenna and no wire to a ground system. If lightning strikes nearby the discharge is sufficient to destroy the radio! I have been told many many times by antenna installers over the years that the better the antenna is grounded, the more likely it is to be struck by lightning. Lightning always takes the most conductive path to ground. So you are darned if you do and darned if you do not! The bottom line? Make very sure that your home owners insurance is paid! Be sure you have adequate insurance to cover replacement of the contents in the unfortunate event of a fire or other disaster. Most people are way under insured on the contents. All the ground rods, surge suppressors, poly phasers and so forth will not save you if lightning hits your home direct. Only very expensive commercial installations are capable of shunting this amount of current to ground and saving the building and its contents. Homes simply do not have this kind of protection. Use common sense and take the proper precautions. They will save your equipment from damage by a static discharge. Which is much more likely than a direct hit by lightning (Duane Fischer, W8DBF, MI, ibid.) WORLD OF TELEPHONES, BUT FIRST, MAPS ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Many web users know of the road map sites exemplified by Map-quest, Maps On us, MapBlast! And Mapsco. The GPS manufacturer Garmin offers an interesting alternative at http://garmin.com/cartography with a number of maps under the ``MapSource Map Viewer 1`` (at the upper right). The very last map is a world map; drill down to distances of less than a mile. Obviously data in some areas of the world is lacking, but it is interesting to poke around in cities while listening to the local stations via the net. There are a number of reasons why it is useful to look up area code and exchange numbers. In North America, long distance caller ID identifies the state or province. The radio station call is mumbled, and the advertisers don`t bother to include the town/city name in the spot. And so it goes. For some months now, Google has included the cheap trick of recognizing a NANPA.com formatted number and returning search results, but areacode search sites tell so much more. We like http://areacode-info.com for a number of reasons: there is a ton of data here about anything and everything in the NANP [North American Numbering Plan]. Under ``Plans`` click on ``Local Calling Areas`` and enter the area code and exchange. The results return the rate center, switch, LATA; the bottom line is, you can ID wires versus cellular phones, local area codes and reverse lookups. Other sites that may be useful are http://areacode.com and, to make it easy to dial international calls, http://countrycallingcodes.com (Tom Sundstrom, Net Notes, June NASWA Journal via DXLD) PROPAGATION +++++++++++ SPEED LIMIT FOUND FOR SOLAR STORMS Mon Jun 14,10:13 AM ET By Robert Roy Britt Senior Science Writer, SPACE.com http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=96&ncid=753&e=10&u=/space/20040614/sc_space/speedlimitfoundforsolarstorms Potentially disruptive solar storms can't reach Earth in less than half a day, scientists have determined. That means operators of vulnerable satellites, airline officials and power grid managers can expect several hours of warning for any electrical disturbance shot from the Sun. Warnings are provided by NASA's sun-watching SOHO spacecraft and other observations. When space storms approach, engineers put some satellites into sleep mode, airlines are rerouted away from polar regions where more radiation leaks through the atmosphere, and major electrical lines are safeguarded against overloads. The worst Sun storms are called coronal mass ejections (CMEs). They're made of charged particles flung from intense magnetic fields on the solar surface. CMEs are sometimes but not always generated at the sites of solar flares, which are in turn associated with sunspots. Initial radiation from a solar flare, including X-rays, travels to Earth at the speed of light. But the charged particles of a CME, which expand into space like a growing cloud, present greater hazards to the electrical systems aboard Earth-orbiting satellites. Radio transmissions on Earth can be disrupted and entire power grids can be tripped, though such events have proved rare. There are many factors behind the damage potential of any CME, including whether it is directed squarely at Earth, how strong it is, and whether its magnetic field is oriented the same or opposite to that of Earth. How fast it moves also contributes to its strength upon arrival. "The faster the CME, the more potentially destructive it can be, so for a worst-case scenario, we now know we have at least 12 hours to take preventative measures," according to Nat Gopalswamy of NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center. Some CMEs take two days to traverse the roughly 93 million miles between Sun and Earth. The most powerful solar flare in modern times occurred last Nov. 4. It was not directed at Earth, so its associated CME took about 24 hours to arrive and the effects were limited. But it was the fastest CME on record, moving at 6 million mph (2,700 kilometers per second). It would have hit within 15 hours had it been aimed at the planet. Two back-to-back strong flares a few days before, in late October, kicked up CME blasts that each arrived in about 19 hours. Scientists were surprised at the speed of travel. But no one knew if there were any limits. Gopalswamy's team examined records going back to 1859, presenting their results earlier this month at a meeting of the American Astronomical Society. The researchers conclude a CME's top speed is related to a limit on the amount of energy available to propel it off the Sun. The propulsion mechanism involves twisted magnetic fields that snap, flinging energy into space. Their strength is in turn controlled by the size of "active region" that generate flares and CMEs. These active regions contain sunspots, which are cooler, darker, and act as caps on the magnetic energy. When the cap is released, the storms spew into space somewhat like soda released from a shaken bottle. The active region that generated the November 2003 storm was 17 times larger than the entire surface of Earth. It was the biggest seen in the current solar cycle. The 11-year cycle is now ramping down toward a minimum of activity, expected in 2007 or 2008. This article is part of SPACE.com's weekly Mystery Monday series (via Andy Sennitt, dxldyg via DXLD) FORECAST OF SOLAR AND GEOMAGNETIC ACTIVITY 16 JUNE - 12 JULY 2004 Solar activity is expected to be at very low to low levels with isolated moderate activity possible from Region 634 and a second active region rotating into view on the southeast limb. There is a slight chance for a greater than 10 MeV proton events during the first half of the forecast period. The greater than 2 MeV electron flux at geosynchronous orbit is expected to reach high levels on 17 – 18 June, 27 – 29 June and 07 - 08 July, due to recurrent coronal hole high speed streams. The geomagnetic field is expected to range from quiet to active levels. Unsettled to active conditions are possible on 16 – 17 June, 26 – 28 June, and 06 - 07 July as generally weak, recurrent coronal high speed streams rotate into a geoeffective position. :Product: 27-day Space Weather Outlook Table 27DO.txt :Issued: 2004 Jun 15 2211 UTC # Prepared by the US Dept. of Commerce, NOAA, Space Environment Center # Product description and SEC contact on the Web # http://www.sec.noaa.gov/wwire.html # # 27-day Space Weather Outlook Table # Issued 2004 Jun 15 # # UTC Radio Flux Planetary Largest # Date 10.7 cm A Index Kp Index 2004 Jun 16 110 15 3 2004 Jun 17 110 15 3 2004 Jun 18 110 12 3 2004 Jun 19 110 10 3 2004 Jun 20 105 10 3 2004 Jun 21 105 10 3 2004 Jun 22 105 10 3 2004 Jun 23 100 10 3 2004 Jun 24 100 10 3 2004 Jun 25 100 12 3 2004 Jun 26 95 15 3 2004 Jun 27 90 15 3 2004 Jun 28 90 15 3 2004 Jun 29 90 8 3 2004 Jun 30 90 8 3 2004 Jul 01 90 15 3 2004 Jul 02 90 10 3 2004 Jul 03 90 8 3 2004 Jul 04 90 10 3 2004 Jul 05 85 10 3 2004 Jul 06 85 15 3 2004 Jul 07 85 12 3 2004 Jul 08 85 10 3 2004 Jul 09 90 10 3 2004 Jul 10 95 5 2 2004 Jul 11 100 10 3 2004 Jul 12 105 10 3 (http://www.sec.noaa.gov/radio via WORLD OF RADIO 1224, DXLD) ###