DX LISTENING DIGEST 4-098, June 27, 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 1235: Mon 0100 on WBCQ 9330-CLSB Mon 0330 on WSUI 910, webcast http://wsui.uiowa.edu [previous 1234] Mon 0430 on WBCQ 7415, webcast http://wbcq.us Mon 0900 on R. Lavalamp http://www.radiolavalamp.org Mon 1600 on WBCQ after-hours http://wbcq.com repeated weekdaily Wed 0930 on WWCR 9475 WRN ONDEMAND: http://new.wrn.org/listeners/stations/station.php?StationID=24 OUR ONDEMAND AUDIO [also for CONTINENT OF MEDIA, MUNDO RADIAL]: Check http://www.worldofradio.com/audiomid.html WORLD OF RADIO 1235 (high version): (stream) http://www.w4uvh.net/wor1235h.ram (download) http://www.w4uvh.net/wor1235h.rm (summary) http://www.worldofradio.com/wor1235.html WORLD OF RADIO 1235 (low version): (stream) http://www.w4uvh.net/wor1235.ram (download) http://www.w4uvh.net/wor1235.rm WORLD OF RADIO 1235 in MP3, the true shortwave sound of 7415: (stream) http://www.piratearchive.com/media/worldofradio_06-23-04.m3u (d`load) http://www.piratearchive.com/media/worldofradio_06-23-04.mp3 DXLD YAHOOGROUP: Why wait for DXLD? A lot more info, not all of it appearing in DXLD later, is posted at our new yg. Here`s where to sign up. http://groups.yahoo.com/group/dxld/ (Glenn Hauser, May 13, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ARGENTINA. 3180.8, Radio Restauracion, Llavallol, 22/06 0858, Religioso en español (estudios bíblicos), sin identificación y reportada como no identificada por nuestro amigo brasileño (Samuel Cassio M., Brasil) De acuerdo a los aportes y contribuciones de los colegas José Bueno, desde España y Ruben Guillermo Margenet, Enrique Wembagher y Marcelo Cornachioni, desde la Argentina, se trataría del armónico de la emisora bonaerense 1060, R. Restauración, Llavallol, Av. Alte. Francisco Segui 1059, 1836 Llavallol, BA, Teléfono +54 11 4293 1144. Detalles de la captación de Radio Restauración, Lavallol-Buenos Aires, realizada por primera vez desde Rosario en la onda corta el pasado 16 de junio de 2004: 2120.54 kHz, 2135 UT 1 armónico [sic --- segundo -- -gh] (1060 x 2) SINFO=35333. Muy efusiva predicación religiosa (del tipo pentecostal) con ininterrumpida música de fondo. Extravagante teatralización del predicador relatando sus experiencias de \"ex- pecador\". También el día 21 de junio pude captar a Radio Restauración en la siguiente frecuencia: 3180 kHz, 1110 UT en la 2 armónica [sic – tercera --- gh] (1060 x 3) SINFO=35243 con el slogan \"La Radio que acompaña y da vida, Radio Restauración AM 1060, tiene todo lo que vos estás necesitando. Programa escuchado: \"...Usted está escuchando \'Bienvenido Espíritu Santo\' perteneciente a la Iglesia Internacional \'Vivimos en el Amor de Jesús\'...\". Varias veces mencionaron \"Lavallol\". El QTH de la emisora está ubicado en la Avenida Almirante Francisco J. Seguí 1059, Lavallol, Ciudad de Buenos Aires. Verificado un mapa de Buenos Aires, frente al QTH se encuentra la Plaza Irlanda (Rubén Guillermo Margenet, Argentina, Conexión Digital June 25 via DXLD) ** AUSTRALIA. The Australia Outpost Radio Service is an HF network monitored by the Royal Flying Doctor Service. The network exists to provide emergency communications to these people and, in addition, a `phone patch service is also available. USB is used and radios are restricted to a maximum power output of 100 watts. In the Northern Territory the following frequencies are in use. From Darwin (VJY) 2360, 4010, 6840, 7975. Alice Springs (VJD) monitors 2020, 5410, 6950. In Western Australia there are five monitoring stations. Derby (VJB) who listen on 2792, 5300 and 6945. Port Headland (VKL) stand by on 2280, 4030 and 6960 while Carnarvon (VJT) are on 2280, 4045, 6890. Meekatharra (VKJ) listen to 2280, 4010, 4880, 11466. Kalgoorlie (VJQ) is slightly busier and they have 2656, 5360, 6825, and a duplex pair at 8144 and 7550. The only monitoring post in South Australia is at Port August (VNZ) and they have 2020, 4010, 6890, 8165. Queensland boasts three stations at Cairns (VJN), Mount Isa (VJI), and Charleville (VJJ). Between them they listen on 2020, 2260, 4980, 5110, 5145, 6845, 6890, 6965, 7465, 8165. Finally, VJC at Broken Hill, NSW listen to 2020, 4055, 6920. In addition to these, land and marine radiophone channels are on 4354 simplex and the following duplex channels: 6552/6221, 13476/12329, 17356/16483, 22822/22126. All are USB. OUTPOST SERVICE Motorists [enginists] are adventurous in Oz and they are not hesitant in getting into their cars, campers and trucks and getting out to see their country. Being sensible outdoor types they would fix Outpost radio equipment in their vehicles and use some of the frequencies allocated to the Outpost Service. This caused a certain amount of conflict and as a result, in 1993, a pragmatic Australian Government allocated frequencies for the use of mobiles travelling in the remote regions. The Australian National 4WD Radio Network Incorporated (VKS-737 Radio Network) was established to provide a service that is constantly being updated and expanded. Position reporting and safety logging are part of the daily routine for control operators. The VKS-737 network has bases at Adelaide, Alice Springs, Cairns, Charters Towers, Derby, Darwin, Newcastle, Sandstone and St. Mary`s in Tasmania. All the radio bases can be remotely controlled. To use the system one has to pay an annual membership fee. Clubs, societies and organisations that are affiliated to VKS-737 pay a slightly reduced amount. Regular weather reports including fire warnings are broadcast daily as are road condition reports. With some police departments and National Parks vehicles and offices carrying VKS-737 sets, the access to emergency services has never been better for the outback traveller. Daily schedules are held and this allows motorists to report their position and their forthcoming travel plans. All in all, the system proves a valuable and reassuring safety net for wanderers in the wild areas of Australia. Frequencies: Channel 1 5455 Channel 2 8022 Channel 3 11612 Channel 4 14977 Channel 5 4995 (Ben Hogan, SSB Utilities, July Short Wave Magazine (UK), via DXLD) Note some of these frequencies are also used by high-power US out-of- band broadcasters, which could well interfere: 6890, 7465; and some 60 mb tropical band frequencies would thus seem to be unavailable for broadcasting in or around Australia: 4880, 4980, 4995 (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CANADA. About RCI's improvements to SW in Americas --- I just listened to last week's Maple Leaf Mailbag, and I got the distinct impression that the purported service improvements to the western and central parts of the continent consist of the rediscovery of the 268- and 272-degree beam headings at 0000 UT. Cheers, (Ricky Leong, Montreal, June 26, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CANADA. 5775, SITE?, R. Japan, 0016-0036, June 22, English, Rough copy of YL with interview of OM re US June 30 handover of sovereignty to Iraq. "Kaleidoscope" program at 0031 re 75 year old YL and mentions of World War II. Poor with fades and severe prop. QRN. A check at Radio Japan`s website shows the interview was part of the program "44 Minutes" though no NHK/R. Japan 5775 frequency there, or on any lists I have. Thought it might be IRRS, Italy relaying Dan Robert's "ShortWave Report" but an archive check at Dan's website shows nothing from Radio Japan. Any ideas? (Scott R. Barbour, Jr., Intervale, NH, R75, MLB-1, RS longwire with RBA balun, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) What else but yet another Sackville mixing product: NHK from 6145, leapfrogging 5960 lands on 5775, 185 kHz separation (Glenn, ibid.) ** CENTRAL AFRICAN REPUBLIC [non]. GREAT BRITAIN - 15470 kHz, R. Ndeke Luka (Relay via GB), personal full data QSL-sheet (transmitter site not mentioned) plus no data picture postcard (Bangui, été 2002), v/s. A. Bolk (?). In 9 days for a report in French with 1 USD to Fondation Hirondelle, 3 Rue Traversière, CH 1018-Lausanne, Switzerland. Advise to visit http://www.hirondelle.org (M. Schoech, Germany) June 2004, Cumbre DX via DXLD) ** CUBA [non]. Escuchando la programación de Radio Martí entre las 1200 y 1300 UT, escuché voz de Locutora anunciar lo siguiente: Entre las 1400 y las 0400 UT Radio Martí podrá ser escuchada en la frecuencia de 1620 AM. Esperé hasta las 1400 UT para sintonizar esa frecuencia, pero a pesar de mis esfuerzos no pude recepcionar señal alguna desde mi QTH Miami. ¿Alguno de ustedes desde las diferentes áreas geográficas del Caribe o Norte de América del Sur han captado esa frecuencia? Revisando el WRTH encuentro en la sección Centro América Caribe y Méjico dos Paises con esa frecuencia República Dominicana e Islas Vírgenes con muy baja potencia de 1 kW para Vírgenes. Esperemos dilucidar el origen de esta nueva frecuencia en prueba de Radio Marti. Cordiales 73's (Oscar de Céspedes, June 26, Conexión Digital via DXLD) RADIO MARTI EN 1620 AM --- En la noche del Sábado, pude finalmente sintonizar a Radio Martí en su nueva frecuencia de los 1620 AM. He podido precisar que esa nueva frecuencia será empleada solamente los Sábados y Domingo entre las 1400 UTC y las 0500, claro está que los dias Domingo Radio Martí termina sus emisiones a las 1100 UT. [no, a las 03 TU del lunes == 11 pm EDT --- gh] Pude escuchar entre las 0430 UT y las 0500 a la Periodista María Márquez en una entrevista a Tito Rodríguez Olmos en relación a los servicios de Salud en Cuba. Consideraba que a las 0500 cesarían las emisiones por los 1620 AM, según lo anunciado, sin embargo en el momento de redactar estas notas 0523 UT continuaba la emisión con el programa cómico "La República de la Siguaraya. Para mi escucha fue empleado un receptor General Electric, modelo Super Radio III y antena incorporada. Cordiales 73's (Oscar de Céspedes, FL, June 27, Conexión Digital via DXLD) Entonces puede decirnos de qué dirección venga la señal, Islas Vírgenes? Las pruebas anteriores en 1620 casi cierto vinieron desde Vírgenes. Desde Miami debe ser posible anular la señal para averiguar porlomenos que venga del este de Cuba. Y que no se capta más a la programación acostumbrada de WDHP en inglés (Glenn Hauser, ibid.) ESTIMADO GLENN: Según lo que puedo concluir es de las Islas Vírgenes USA; según la información ellos trasmiten dias Sábados y Domingos desde las 8 de la mañana hasta la media noche (hora local de Cuba) en los 1620. Ya habia sido reportada en Abril por unos colegas de Italia. Cordiales 73's (Oscar de Céspedes, FL, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Óscar points out that WDHP 1620 was reported carrying R. Martí on April 25, in dxing.info (and around that date in DXLD) (gh, DXLD) Recordings and comments at: http://www.malm-ecuador.com All evening saturday last night WHDH with Spanish and relay of Radio Martí. 0059 UT ID both for Radio Martí and WHDH [sic]. Amigos DXistas! Listen to WDHP with relay of Radio Martí: 1620.00 WDHP "Radio Martí" Frederiksted (US Virgin Islands) 138 kb 0058 UTC 27/6 2004. 27/Jun/2004 11:13 73s from "La Mitad del Mundo"! (Björn Malm, Quito, Ecuador, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Yes, that certainly confirms the relay, at the time recorded, just about to go into béisbol game. R. Martí must be pretty desperate to be using a 1 kW MW station a few hundred miles from the nearest point in Cuba. Or is it operating illegally at 10 kW day power? Still, not much. Wait till the dentrocubanos start jamming it --- that could impact mainland 1620 stations. Signal must be pretty insignificant compared to the four SW frequencies at any given time, and 1180 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** DOMINICAN REPUBLIC. Hi Glen[n], Do you have any info (call, name & address) on an X band HI station heard here in Carlisle UK? Details: - Heard on 1640 between 0255 and 0303 UT June 25. Noted with light back- to-back Spanish songs, fanfare and OM with ID sounding like "...Radio Bufay, 16-40 kHz ....República Dominicana...", National Hymn and close. Signal here was weak/fair. Any help appreciated. 73's (Barry Davies, UK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** EGYPT. 11725, R. Cairo in English. 2325 6/23/04. Fair with usual distorted audio. (M) with commentary re creation of Palestinian state as "only solution" to problems in ME, ID and program note at BofH into ME music (Jim Clar, NY, NASWA Flashsheet June 27 via DXLD) ** ERITREA [non]. Behaviour of Eritrean opposition radio on 27 June | Please note that the Eritrean opposition radio, Voice of the Eritrean People, was not heard on 27 June on 15595 kHz. Source: BBC Monitoring research in English 27 Jun 04 (via DXLD) Per Silvain`s schedule under INTERNATIONAL below it was Sunday 1730-1830 via Skelton (gh, DXLD) ** ERITREA [non]. Voice Of Democratic Eritrea, (Demtsi Democrasiyawet Eritrea) on new 15715 1500-1600 Saturday. Tigrigna and Arabic. Signature tune, and ID at 1530 At 1545 Bible Voice Broadcasting came on air on their new 15715 (ex- 15680). This also comes via T-Systems Julich! (Silvain Domen, Belgium, June 26, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Actually, this change ex 15670 took place already 1 May, according to the DTK schedule (Bernd Trutenau, Lithuania ibid.) Not heard before. So this is an additional transmission? Still listed and observed on 5925 1400-1459 Sat and 15670 1700-1759 Thursday, their usual slots (Silvain Domen, Belgium, ibid.) Yes, 15715 is an additional transmission since 1 May. Also I got confused and wrote incorrectly "ex 15670". There is one transmission to Europe (Sat 5925) and two transmissions now to East Africa (Thur 15670, Sat 15715). 73s, (Bernd Trutenau, ibid.) Thank you Bernd! These kind of stations can be confusing indeed. It's time for a holiday. Have a nice weekend (Silvain Domen, ibid.) ** ETHIOPIA [non]. Ethiopian opposition stations --- About the mix-up of Ethiopian/Eritrean clandestines/opposition stations. DTK never list the names of certain opposition stations. But monitoring had revealed this one to be Voice Of Democratic Path To/For Ethiopian Unity. (Yih Finote Demokrasi Ye-Ethiopia Andinet Dimts New) I went to check in my data and CRW info for this one, and it is the only one with a morning broadcast as well. So it really is this one that's been cancelled and not Voice Of Ethiopian Salvation. B02 0700-0800 21550 JUL 100 kW / 145 deg Sun 1830-1930 11840 JUL 100 kW / 140 deg Wed A03 15565 1830-1930 47,48 NAU 125kW 135deg Wed 300303-261003 B03 7220 1830 1929 Wed 261003 280304 JUL 17655 0700-0759 Sun 261003 280304 JUL A04 0700-0800 21550 Sun (this one is no longer on the latest DTK list) 1830-1930 15565 Wed (Silvain Domen, Belgium, June 25, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Two remarks: 1. The name of the program is "Voice of Ethiopian Unity" as stated on their website http://www.finote.org 2. The latest A04 DTK schedule (18 June) shows the 1830-1930 transmission both on Wed and Sun, so what actually happened is that the Sun 0700-0800 transmission was retimed 1830-1930 and is on 15565 like on Wed (Bernd Trutenau, Lithuania, ibid.) ** EUROPE. GREECE, Foni Tis Hellandas, 15630, 2115 GMT, Spanish, 333, June 24th, Two OMs with a sports event, possible Soccer. Same event on 15760 via Israel. ISRAEL, Kol Israel, 15760, 2100 GMT, Spanish, 333, June 24th, OM announcer with a sports event, possible Soccer. Also on 15630 via Greece (Stewart WDX6AA MacKenzie, CA, swl at qth.net via DXLD) Were the two coverages in parallel, or two separate Spanish broadcasts? Strange that either country would run Spanish on their domestic service relays (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** INTERNATIONAL. [crwatch] S. Domen's list "non-official" broadcasts ------------------------------------------------------ DXA375-Silvain Domen Antwerpen-Belgium (CEST/UTC +2) All times given in UTC Date sent: Sat, 19 Jun 2004 20:06:53 +0200 ------------------------------------------------------ My complete updated lists for A04 of stations I consider to be "non- official" etc. One can argue the "clandestine" status of some of these stations, this list reflects my personal opinion. [The list was modified by M. Schöch-CRW; two entries have been deleted. Many others stations are not clandestines but they are still "non-official" (seen from the target-country of these broadcasts - CRW]. It is possible that some stations are not on air anymore. I keep them in the list till I have 100% certainty about that. [That is why this list is a bit unusual. It can be seen (in parts) as a list with the 'latest known schedule'.] As usual you can find this list at http://www.schoechi.de/crw/domen.html (CRW via DXLD) Here`s Silvain`s original version: ** INTERNATIONAL. "NON-OFFICIAL, OPPOSITION, PRIVATE AND TARGET" broadcasts --- Compiled from monitoring and info distibuted via: BC-DX, BCLNEWS.IT, DXLD, EDXP, EiBi, HFCC, Nagoya DX Circle ClandestineRadio.Com & Clandestine Radio Watch Frequency brokers, stations and organisations: DTK: T-Systems, fka Deutsche Telekom EDC: Educational Development Council GFC: General Radio Frequency Center MNO: Merlin Communications RNW: Radio Netherlands SEN: Sentech TDP: Transmitter Documentation Project VAT: Vatican Radio Disclaimer: I don't insist that all these are "clandestines". UTC, freqs and sites subject to change. Free to copy and distribute. June 26, 2004 DXA375-Silvain Domen, Belgium. *Arabic Radio (Syria) A04 ID: Hurreeyah Hur ar-Arrabeeyah smtwtfs 0430-0500 7510 RUS ? A smtwtfs 1600-1630 7470 RUS ? A smtwtfs 1600-1630 12085 MDA ? A *Degar Voice-Radio Montagnard (Vietnam) A04 --t-t-s 1300-1330 v-7125/7250/7350/7420 (MNO) RUS Chita V *Dejen Radio (Ethiopian Commentator) A04 ------s 1700-1800 12120 RUS Samara Tigrigna (TDP) *Democratic Voice Of Burma A04 ID: Democratic Myanmar a-Than smtwtfs 1430-1530 5910 KAZ Almaty Bu (GFC) smtwtfs 1430-1530 17625 MDG Talata Volondry (RNW) smtwtfs 2330-0030 9435 D Julich Bu (DTK) *Hmong Lao Radio A04 ID: Xotvooj Cua Tsa Kom Cua Ngem Ah Cua ---w-f- 0100-0200 15260 TWN Taipei La (MNO) *IBC-Tamil A04 smtwtfs 0000-0100 7460 RUS Novosibirsk Tm smtwtfs 1500-1600 7480 RUS Novosibirsk Tm *Mustaqbal (EDC/Somali minorities in Ethiopia) A04 -mt-t-- 0630-0700 15370 AFS/UAE? So (MNO) -mt-t-- 1200-1230 15370 AFS Meyerton So (SEN) *New Horizon Radio (via High Adventure/Bible Voice) A04 ID: Chan Troi Moi smtwtfs 1330-1430 17595 D Julich V (DTK) OFF??? *Que Huong Radio-The Country Radio A04 ID: Que Huong Radio -mtwtfs 1330-1400 9930 HWA Naalehu-HI V (TDP) *Radio Amani (Afghanistan Peace Association) A04 -----f- 1630-1730 15615 RUS Armavir Pashto/Dari *Radio Ecclesia (Angola religious) A04 smtwtfs 1900-2000 7205 AFS Meyerton Pr (MNO/SEN) *Radio Ezra (World Karaite Movement) A04 s------ 0900-0930 17590 RUS Armavir E *Radio Free Syria (The Reform Party Of Syria) A04 ID: Sawt Syria al-Hurra s------ 1800-1859 13650 D Julich A *Radio Free Vietnam (California, USA) A04 ID: Dai Phat Thanh Viet Nam Tui Do --t-t-- 1600-1700 9930 HWA Naalehu-HI V *Radio Free Vietnam (New Orleans-LA, USA maildrop) A04 ID: Dai Viet Nam Tui Do -mtwtf- 1230-1300 9930 HWA Naalehu-HI V (TDP) *Radio Huriyo-Voice Of the Ogadeni People (Somalia) A04 ID: Radio Xoriyo (Radio Freedom) --t--f- 1630-1700 15670 D Julich So (DTK) *Radio International A04 ID: Radio Anternacional-e sm-w-f- 1630-1700 13800 MDA Grigoriopol Fs (MNO) --t-t-s 1630-1715 13800 MDA Grigoriopol Fs (MNO) *Radio Ndeke Luka (Fondation Hirondelle/C. African Rep.) A04 smtwtfs 1830-1930 15470 G Woofferton F/Sango (MNO) *Radio Of The Saharan Arab Democratic Republic A04 ID: (A) al-Idhaat al-Wataniyah li-Jumhuriyah al-Arabiyah al-Sahrawiyah al-Dimokratiyah (Sp) Ésta es el Radio Nacional de la República Árabe Saharawi smtwtfs 0600-0900 7460 ALG? A/Sp smtwtfs 2000-2300 7460 ALG? A smtwtfs 2300-2400 7460 ALG? Sp *Radio Payam E Doost (Bahai faith) A04 s-twtf- 0230-0315 7460 MDA Grigoriopol Fs (MNO) s-twtf- 1800-1845 7480 MDA Grigoriopol Fs (MNO) *Radio Pedar (Channel One - Los Angeles, CA) A04 -mtwtf- 1730-1830 15585 G Woofferton Fs (MNO) OFF??? *Radio DMR/Pridnestrovye A04 (from the breakaway Dniester Moldavian Republic) -mtwtf- 1600-1620 5960 MDA E/F/G/R *Radio Reveil Paroles De Vie (Switzerland religious) A04 ----t-- 1830-1900 15675 D Julich F *Radio Rhino International (Uganda) A04 --twtfs 1500-1530 17870 D Julich E (DTK) OFF!!! *Radio Voice Of Hope (Sudan) A04 smt---s 0430-0500 12060 MDG Talata Volondry E/Vern. (RNW) smt---s 0430-0500 15320 MDG Talata Volondry E/Vern. (RNW) *Radio Voice Of Iran (KRSI - Los Angeles, CA) A04 ID: Radyo Seda-ye Iran smtwtfs 1530-1730 v-17525/17510/11520 UZB/F? Fs OFF??? *Radio Voice Of Kasmir A04 ID: Radio Sadayee Kashmir smtwtfs 0230-0330 6100 IND U/Kashmiri smtwtfs 0730-0830 9890 IND U/Kashmiri smtwtfs 1430-1530 6100 IND U/Kashmiri *Radio Voice Of Oromia (Ethiopia) A04 ID: Radio Sagalee Oromiya -m----- 1730-1800 12120 RUS Samara Oromo (TDP) *Radio Voice Of Oromo Liberation Front (Ethiopia) A04 ID: Radio Sagalee Qabsoo Bilisummaa Oromoo -m--t-- 1700-1730 12120 RUS Samara Oromo (TDP) *Sudan Radio Service (EDC/Sudan) A04 -mtwtf- 0300-0500 11665 G Woofferton E/Vern. (MNO) -mtwtf- 0500-0600 15325 G Woofferton E/Vern. (MNO) -mtwtf- 1500-1800 17660 G Woofferton E/Vern. (MNO) *SW Radio Africa (Zimbabwe) A04 smtwtfs 1600-1900 4880 AFS Meyerton Shona/Ndebele/E (SEN) *Voice Of Biafra International A04 ------s 2100-2157 7380 AFS Meyerton Igbo/E (MNO) *Voice Of Charity (Lebanon religious) ID: Sawt Al-Mahabba smtwtfs 0430-0500 11715 I S.M. Galeria A (VAT) *Voice Of Democratic Eritrea A04 ID: (Tig) Demtsi Democrasiyawet Eritrea (A) Sawt Eritrea al-Dimuqratiya ------s 1400-1500 5925 D Julich Tigrigna/A (DTK) ------s 1500-1600 15715 D Julich Tigrigna/A (DTK) ----t-- 1700-1800 15670 D Julich Tigrigna/A (DTK) *Voice Of (Democratic Path To/For) Ethiopian Unity A04 ID: Yih Finote Demokrasi Ye-Ethiopia Andinet Dimts New s------ 0700-0800 21550 D Julich Am (DTK) OFF!!! s--w--- 1830-1930 15565 D Julich Am (DTK) *Voice Of Ethiopian Salvation/Medhin A04 ID: Yih Ye-Ethiopia Medhin Dimts New s------ 1830-1930 12120 RUS Samara Am (TDP) s---t-- 1600-1700 15670 D Julich Am (DTK) *Voice Of Khmer Kampuchea Krom A04 ID: Vitthayu Samleng Khmer Kampuchea Krom --t---- 1400-1500 15660 RUS Vladivostok Ca (TDP) *Voice Of Liberty (Eritrea) A04 s------ 0400-0500 15675 RUS Samara Tigrigna (TDP) *Voice Of Mesopotamia A04 ID: Dengi Mezopotamiyah smtwtfs 0500-1600 11530 MDA Grigoriopol Ku (TDP) *Voice Of Oromo Liberation (Ethiopia) A04 ID: Sagalee Bilisummaa Oromoo s-tw-f- 1700-1800 15670 D Julich Oromo/Amharic (DTK) *Voice Of Orthodoxy (France religious) A04 -m--t-- 1530-1600 9355 KAZ Almaty R (GFC) *Voice Of The Eritrean People A04 ID: Ezi Demtsi Hazbi Eritrea s------ 1730-1830 15595 G Skelton Tigrigna (MNO) [see ERITREA above] *Voice Of The People (Zimbabwe) A04 smtwtfs 1657-1755 7120 MDG Talata E/Shona/Ndebele (RNW) *Voice Of Tibet (GFC - all freq variable) A04 1210-1300 11640/TJK 15385/UZB 15505/UZB 15615/UZB 15635/UZB 15645/UZB 15660/TJK 15680/TJK 15705/UZB 15755/UZB 17505/UZB 17525/UZB 17545/UZB 17745/UZB 17765/UZB 17800/UZB 21520/UZB 21545/UZB 21550/UZB 21560/UZB 21590/UZB 21720/UZB 1430-1515 7465/UZB 7470/UZB 7525/UZB 12025/UZB 17520/UZB 17540/UZB 17765/UZB 17800/UZB 21650/UZB 21720/UZB *World Falun Dafa/Dafa Hao/Fang Guang Ming A04 --twtfs 0230-0300 17510 HWA Naalehu-HI Ch smtwtfs 1500-1600 9930 HWA Naalehu-HI Ch +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ (Silvain Domen, Belgium, June 26, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** INTERNATIONAL WATERS [non]. FRIENDSHIP RADIO friendshipradio @ hotmail.com 13865.08A, Jun 24, 2143-2155. Heard two Sex Pistols songs when I tuned in, then talk by DJ. Either went off at 2155, or signal faded out. E-mail from station confirmed it was them. SIO 232 (George Maroti, NY, Free Radio Weekly via DXLD) ** IRAQ. Many of the US forces in Iraq are using 10408 USB with Automatic Link Establishment and transmissions on 5809 have also been monitored (Ben Hogan, SSB Utilities, July Short Wave Magazine (UK), via DXLD) ** ISRAEL. Was doing a bandscan of the 19 meter band this evening (6/26) and was surprised to hear Galei Zahal in HB on 15785 at 0039 UT. (They were absent from their usual 6973). The program consisted of hip-hop/rap and R & B music ... seemed to be hosted by a woman. She gave ID's and, while I was tuned in, she had a conversation with a (M) in studio, I believe, but it may have been via telephone. Many "Shaloms" were exchanged and there were mentions of "Tel Aviv" and "Bet El." Is this a (usual) seasonal change? According to WRTH, they don't move to 19 meters until 0400 (Jim Clar, Rochester, NY, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) No, but at midsummer 15 MHz can hold up all night better than 7. UT June 27 around 0100 I did not find 15785, but IBA Hebrew 15760 was in nicely with tunes in English (gh, DXLD) ** LITHUANIA. You may find some audio clips of Radio Baltic Waves on my site, http://travelradio1.tripod.com They were recorded during my stay in Vilnius on 5 June. I haven't had much spare time, therefore only listened at 0300-0500 UT; frequency was 612 kHz. By the way, at 0700 RBW started relaying Russian International Radio (open_dx - Vladimir Kazgunov, Liepaja, Latvia, Signal via DXLD) ** MALAYSIA. 15295, Voice of Malaysia in Arabic. 1833 6/16/04. P-F with fading. (M) with talk, IDs and frequent mentions of "Kuala Lumpur." Prayer or inspirational message at 1840. Drums and chimes into anthem-like music followed by (presumed) sign-off announcement at 1855. Signal gone at 1858. First time I have logged this station at this time and on this frequency (Jim Clar, NY, NASWA Flashsheet June 27 via DXLD) ** MEXICO. THREE TIJUANA-AREA AM STATIONS ARE CHANGING FREQUENCIES This week our email inbox was much abuzz with reports of Mexican AM stations changing frequencies. The reason for the changes is that the FCC and the SCT (Mexico's FCC) have reached an agreement on how interference from Mr. Bonilla's three AM stations is to be resolved. CGC's consulting office has seen copies of the actual SCT authorizations, so here, authoritatively, is what is going on with respect to the Bonilla frequencies and power levels: XEKTT from 560 to 1700 kHz, 10 kW fulltime XESS from 780 to 620 kHz, 5 kW fulltime XESDD from 920 to 1030 kHz, 5 kW fulltime XEKTT has already moved to 1700 kHz but is reportedly having trouble loading such a short wavelength into their very tall tower. XESS' operation on 620 kHz has been intermittent; more will be said about this station in an upcoming Communicator. Finally, XESDD has reportedly not been on the air on 920 kHz due to a frequency conflict within Mexico, and so far the station has not lit up on 1030. Enquiring minds are asking why Mr. Bonilla would switch one of his Mexican stations to 1030 kHz when he already operates a 1040 kHz station (KURS) in San Diego. The mutual sideband interference should be interesting. In other news, the U.S. and Mexico have reportedly agreed to reduce or adjust XEMO(AM)'s parameters to bring that station's operation into compliance with the U.S./Mexican AM agreement. XEMO operates on 860 kHz. No details of that settlement are available at this time (From the CGC Communicator via Dennis Gibson, June 25, NRC-AM via DXLD) ** MEXICO. 4810, XERTA, fairly good at 0840 Jun 27 with religious music and talk, LSB necessary to avoid noise blob on the high side. Programming available under "Transmisión en Vivo" at http://www.misionradio.com/index_archivos/Page508.htm is // the on-air programming and about 8 seconds behind (Jerry Berg, Lexington MA, NASWA Flashsheet June 27 via DXLD) ** MEXICO. Re 4-097, XHCSA-2: The time listed should be 1010 CT. [1510 UT] San Cristóbal and Tuxtla Gutiérrez are very close (maybe 20-30 miles apart), but the terrain is mountainous. After checking Doug's Data and Fred Cantú's site, it is worth noting that *both* San Cristóbal and Tuxtla have relayers of Televisa's XEW-2 and XHGC-5 networks, while no Azteca relayers are listed for Tuxtla. In the city of Tehuacan PUE, no official relayers are listed for XEW and XHGC, yet Azteca-7 and Azteca-13 relayers are listed. I have on tape IDs of XEW and XHGC relayers with Tehuacan PUE listed as location. (A photo of the XEW relayer's ID is on one of my web pages.) San Cristóbal has 97.67 kW of power. In order for the two short-spaced channel 2s to operate, the one in Tuxtla is likely in a valley (Danny Oglethorpe, Shreveport, LA, June 24, WTFDA via DXLD) The risks of logging DX Every since the first DXers began keeping logs of their DX, there has been a risk that what they heard was actually some other station. That problem has intensified over the years, especially since satellites have become widely used to distribute radio and TV programming to local broadcasters (or should I say, to local transmitters, many of which are now automated operations?). It is certainly a risk in many situations to log a station based on what the DXer hears or sees. Christopher S. Dunne's photograph of Super Canal 3 in Guatemala trying to cover the continuously supered XEW logo with their own logo reminds me of how easy it would be for a station to use XEW programming without covering the XEW logo. Then what? The DXer would think he had Mexico... Although DXing is just a hobby, most of us want a hobby and a club that has some criteria for logging stations. At the same time, I enjoy DXing the TV stations from Mexico, and most aspects of Mexico TV are NOT clear-cut and simple. My criteria for adding a station to my log totals are these: Supered text IDs, ID slides or animation, local news, local ads, and known logos, combined with some research to make sure the network or programming which was received matches what is listed on websites (when available). I generally check Doug's Data and network and station sites. Unfortunately, none of this is fool-proof, and the risk remains. This is when experience can be helpful. However, past experience does not always prevent errors, either; especially in new situations. Some of you probably already know what I'm going to say next. I did not add KHON-2 Honolulu via F2 to my log last October. I did not add the channel 2 relayer of Telefutura in Florida to my log a few weeks back. I can't explain why XHCSA-2 has transmitters 20-30 miles apart, how they can work in such proximity, etc. But I will likely add XHCSA- 2 Tuxtla Gutiérrez to my log totals in the future. Even though both IDs are up at the same time on the tape, with the Tuxtla signal floating on the San Cristobal signal, I'm going to take a wait-and-see attitude for a while. XHCSA-2 San Cristobal is a regular ID here via Es. In fact, I saw three IDs from San Cristobal the same morning Tuxtla was IDed. Mexico/Latin America TV ID tips and TV DX photographs: http://members.tripod.com/~nladxer/TMTVDXPindex.html NEW LATIN AMERICA AND MEXICO LOGO PAGES These pages are not as pretty and fancy as Ryan's, but maybe they will be good enough for the few who might need them. Latin America number logos: http://www.geocities.com/doglethorpe/numberlogos.html Latin America name, letters, symbol logos: http://www.geocities.com/doglethorpe/logoletters.html Mexico non-network station logos: http://www.geocities.com/doglethorpe/mexlogos.html Let me know about the errors, etc. (Danny (Shreveport, LA) Oglethorpe, June 26, WTFDA via DXLD) ** MEXICO. THE MEXICO FM DIRECTORY (WTFDA, 2004) I`ve been taking a close look at The Mexico FM Directory, that much needed by-frequency guide (unfortunately, not in conjunxion with any actual Mexican FM DX...) and I offer these suggestions for the next edition: With a full page for each state map, all the FM towns should be shown. It`s surprising that some major ones are missing, such as the state capitals of Tamaulipas (Ciudad Victoria) and Quintana Roo (Chetumal). It is helpful to group frequencies in metro areas, as we may not be familiar with small adjacent cities of license. On the Aguascalientes map page, ``all maps in this directory are 1:1 scale; thus the varying size from one page to another.`` I guess that means they are all on the same scale. Well, the Ags map is one that is obviously not at the same scale as the others! Ags is really much smaller than Baja California on the facing page, for instance. How in the world did Monclova, Coahuila, also show up on the Nuevo León map? The introduction mentions formats, but I see no indication of such in the listings. While formats can be guessed from some of the slogans, in many cases they cannot be. Group ownership would also be helpful, as most Mexican stations are members of a handful of major players, often mentioned in IDs and promos. Most annoying to me is the lack of accents in many cases. Some words have them where required, some don`t. Example: Tuxtla Gutiérrez gets its accent, but Ciudad Juárez does not. Even the Mexican sources may not be consistent in this, but there are strict and absolutely regular rules in Spanish about where accents are required. I offer to proofread the next edition for accents and spelling, as I am also familiar with Mexican geography, tho some of the smaller Aztec/Maya place names can be problematical. As for the data in the frequency listings, I spot no glaring errors, tho I can`t say I am as familiar with the Mexican FM scene as I once was. The key to listings mentions ``watts/P.R.A.``. That must mean ``potencia radiada en antena``, i.e. ERP, but are they all? Most of them look like ERP, e.g. 100000, but it used to be the case, especially away from the US border zone, that transmitter powers were listed; there could be a mixture. Oh, the introduction says ``power at transmitter``, which implies these are not ERP. The usual confusion about this reigns. I compared the population figures (source unknown) to the latest Rand McNally atlas, and most of them there are somewhat higher (latest available census info). I`m glad someone finally brought out such a publication, and make these suggestions only to make the next edition even better. 73, (Glenn Hauser, WTFDA via DXLD) ** MONGOLIA. 10-minute news bulletin in Russian, prepared by the Voice of Mongolia, goes on the air via radiostation Khekh Tenger - according to live air announcement, time is 0650-0700 UT. The bulletin is aired daily except Sunday in FM band (in Ulaanbaatar), as well as even [sic] days of the week in SW 4830, 4895, and 7260 kHz. 4865 kHz is missing in the announcement - despite this, it is also used for Russian news bulletin. I've caught the bulletin on Fri 25 June - then, even days of the week are Mon/Wed/Fri, or...? Mongolian transmitters on 4830, 4865, and 7260 kHz come on the air at 2100, while 4895 kHz becomes active some hours later. All frequencies are active until 1500 (open_dx - Feodor Brazhnikov, Irkutsk, Russia, Signal via DXLD) ** NETHERLANDS [and non]. ``Euro 2004? What`s that, football?`` Hahahahaha, yes! By the way, a Stuttgart-based commercial station called Big FM had kind of a special promo action: No sex until the German team wins a victory! But there was no victory, the coach withdrew (causing even the BBC to present breaking news about "Voeller"), and the action was given a quiet burial by being deleted from the website without any further comment (Kai Ludwig, Germany, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Glenn, yes these are football (soccer) competition matches. Very popular sports transmissions in Europe. In Germany some 14 Million people [of 80 Mill., 49 percent of the total TV watcher market], is looking regularly at these transmissions on TV. Similar figures in England and in France too. There is very less traffic on the highways and streets while these broadcasts last. Life stands still outside. EURO competition is like a Football WorldChampionship, only strong Brazil and Argentine teams are missing here. 73 wb (Wolfgang Büschel, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Last I heard ``Euro`` was the new monetary unit, and of course refers to anything European. ``Euro 2004`` is so vague, it could apply to anything, without the word ``football`` in it. Just like ``World Cup`` is assumed to refer to soccer, when it could be any competitive event. It`s even worse in Spanish, shortened to ``Mundial`` (gh, DXLD) Re: RNW football special. Hi, checked it at 1910 UT: No delay observed 6035 kHz to southern Europe 9485 kHz to SE Europe and eastern Mediterranean 9700 kHz to SW Europe/NW Africa 7380 kHz to Central Europe, remarkable delay, but shorter than a single second. 17735 kHz to eastern North America, same delay as 7380. All three channels, two seconds behind 6035: 13665 kHz to Far East/East Asia 13845 kHz to Spain/NW Africa, Africa, Middle East, S & SE Asia, Pacific (3 transmitters) 21580 kHz to South America (very poor signal here in Europe) 73 wb (Wolfgang Büschel, Germany, June 26, dxldyg via DXLD) Concerning my site speculations for the RNW "Euro 2004" transmission: 7380 started with 760 Hz tones and has a long delay compared with 6035, so is no doubt operated by RTRS, and the signal characteristics indeed seem to point at Bolshakovo. 6035 itself appears to be Flevo. 9485 and 9700 are both equally weak; the audio appears to have a small delay against 6035, but this is hard to say with these poor signals. Wertachtal-13845 is of course very weak here. No signal at all on the remaining frequencies. Monitoring by Olle and Wolfgang showed that 6035, 9485 and 9700 were in synch and all using DCC [digital carrier compression??], so these three were the Flevo usage. Meanwhile I also noted that 17735 is otherwise scheduled for English to North America (earlier I only counted available transmitters without taking a look at the frequencies...), so this is a clear case, too (Bonaire). What remains is the question about 13665 and 21580. There is a good chance that this was / these were unusual site(s), too, if not just Jülich (Kai Ludwig, June 26, DX LISTENING DIGEST) No doubt Andy Sennitt could clear up all the site speculation. Why not publish the sites in the first place? Surely RN has nothing to hide about this, unlike some other stations (gh) ** NORWAY. To World of Radio -- May be freely distributed. We refer first to the internet presentation at http://www.northernstar.no/ask.html This email does not relate to the AM project of Northern Star though, but deals with an idealist museum radio project near Bergen, Norway. The background is that LKB (call sign) Bergen Kringkaster entire site (formerly the property of NRK) has been bought by the municipality of Askoy and the new owner is looking for interest and sponsors to restore the site. Some of the main points in focus are: Is it possible to make the 20 kW Telefunken transmitter used on 890 kHz work again? It has not been used since November 1st, 1978. (A newer 10 kW Philips from 1965 may be possible to bring back.) Is it possible to make a 1 kW Marconi used on 1115 kHz work again? It has not been used since spring of 1966. From the 40s we think. Is it possible to make a 250 watts Western Electric used on 1466 kHz work again? From the late 40s. It has not been used since November, 1978. The two 150 metres masts combined into a "T"-aerial have been taken down, but all the sections remain, stored at the site. The guy wires as well as the central wire of the masts seem to have to be renewed. The feeder cable to the masts must be renewed. We think the earthing may be intact. Thankful for any input, (Svenn Martinsen, Norway svennam @ c2i.net June 27, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** PAPUA NEW GUINEA. 4960, 0910-0915 June 26, Catholic Radio Network with holy rosary reading; fair level at tune in. Improving signal at 1001 recheck with Vatican news, and good, clear level at 1050 with Christian contemporary guitar music and vocals (Guy Atkins, Modded RA6790GM & R75, Kiwa MAP / ERGO / DSP-59+, 450 & 700 ft. Beverage antennas, Cumbredx mailing list via DXLD) ** PARAGUAY. Adán Mur, from Villeta, told me in an email some days ago that the local technical college's station transmits now on 1610 kHz (with 5 watts), 107.9 MHz (with 25 watts) and short wave!!! on 9905 kHz (with 5 watts). The station broadcasts music (rock, heavy metal, etc.), messages and some commentaries. 73 (Arnaldo Slaen, Argentina, June 26, Cumbredx mailing list via DXLD) ** PERU. Recordings and comments at: http://www.malm-ecuador.com Amigos DXistas! Regarding my two unidentified LA stations on the 49 meter band I now have ID on both but still one with unknown QTH. 5930.27 Radio Melodía, Arequipa (Perú) 53 kb. 0030 UT 25/6 2004. 5949.78 CPN Radio, unknown QTH (Perú) 101 kb. 1130 UT 26/6 2004. 24/Jun/2004 14:00 73s from "La Mitad del Mundo"! (Björn Malm, Quito, Ecuador, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** SAN MARINO. Hi Glenn, Dario Monferini, on vacation to Rimini Beach, informed me that: San Marino RTV, the official station of San Marino Republic (102.7 and 103.2), differentiated the two frequencies. San Marino RTV on 102.7, and San Marino RTV Classic on 102.3 (Fabrizio Carnevalini, fmdxITALY Group, June 26, http://it.groups.yahoo.com/group/fmdxITALY DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** SLOVAKIA. Another reprieve for Radio Slovakia International on shortwave was achieved: new deadline is August 1st. Slovensky Rozhlas and the foreign ministry agreed to install a common study group responsible for developing a proposal how the foreign service should be operated in future. On the side of Slovensky Rozhlas the editor-in- chief of RSI, the economical director and also director general Jaroslav Reznik will participate. The proposal of this study group will be presented to the ministry of finance. This acc. RSI's German service on June 27. Recording: http://www.radioeins.de/_/meta/sendungen/apparat/040626_a1.ram (Kai Ludwig, Germany, June 27, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** SUDAN. 4750, Radio Peace, 0237-0316 Jun 27, tuned in to the Spotlight program in English. Nice ID and frequency announcement at 0244 by a man: "We are broadcasting on 4,750 kHz in the 60 meter band. This is Radio Peace." After a brief musical interlude there was another ID: "This is Radio Peace." Another religious program followed in an African language. At 0259 another station identification: "You are listening to Radio Peace on 4,750 kHz in the 60 meter band. More religious programming in an African language. Poor to fair reception. (Rich D`Angelo, PA, NASWA Flashsheet June 27 via DXLD) ** SYRIA. NEW MIDDLE EAST OUTLET --- an e-mail from Lt. Col. Rana Roy (India) indicates that Al Jazeera TV has established a terrestrial outlet on Channel E2. The new transmitter is thought to be located in northern Syria close to the Iraqi border (Keith Hamer & Garry Smith, DX Television, July Short Wave Magazine (UK) via DXLD) ** TATARSTAN. RUSSIA. For unknown reason, the first broadcast of the day "On Tatarstan Wave" has been moved to its traditional winter frequency 15105 kHz. Time is 0400-0500 (Ildus Ibatullin, Kazan, Russia, Signal June 27 via DXLD) ** U K. Woofferton photos --- Some photos taken recently at the Woofferton transmitter site are online at: http://www.cig.canon-europe.com/album/sharerec.html?id=C158D07D1D1DFCAB8D11E03C4114D44D&locale=en_GB This shared album will expire in 30 days. [21 July] (Mike Barraclough, June 27, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U K. RUGBY MASTS DEMOLITON NOBBLED BY BUNNIES --- Tee hee..... http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/coventry_warwickshire/3823335.stm Rabbits delayed the destruction of eight British Telecom radio masts which have dominated the Warwickshire skyline for nearly 80 years. They chewed through wires which had been layed [sic] to trigger the explosions to bring the structures down. The 820-ft structures near Rugby provided communication links around the world since 1926, but became obsolete. Local homes were evacuated ready for the operation, which eventually took place on Saturday night. 'Unfortunate delays' Emma Tennant, from BT, said: "The first three came down according to plan, very smoothly and in the right direction. "There were unfortunate delays, but all in all everything went extremely well." The masts, which are a familiar sight on the M1 and A5, are where the famous BBC time pips originated. Four masts will remain at the site for the foreseeable future. Two of them support the aerial which transmits the time signal for the National Physical Laboratory's atomic clock. The clean-up operation following the demolition is expected to take six weeks (BBC June 20 via Steve Whitt, mwc via DXLD) ** U S A. Peacock Project on WBCQ The Peacock Project is a group of Internet broadcasters that have banded together to present a variety of music eras, styles and talk over WBCQ on Saturday nights at 8 PM Eastern time, which is Midnight Universal Time, Sunday. We have named ourselves in tribute to one of our group, Rob Peacock, who suddenly passed away in January, 2004. Each week a different host will present a program that is unique to his own musical preference and personal presentation. The Peacock Project begins July 3rd on 7415 kHz. The first weekend of every month will feature Dave Kirby's look back at Old Time Radio and some non-English language versions of American songs. The second weekend is The Voice of Savage Henry, a 1960's and 70's "Garage Band" rock show hosted by Steve Evanchuck, KG8KO. Tim Gaynor is heard directly from Australia on the 3rd week with something I haven't heard yet, but I'm told it is fantastic. The 4th week is my turn as we present our "Different Kind Of Oldies Show" on a reduced schedule. Four times a year there is a 5th Saturday to the month and July has one. On those fifth weekends it is time for ``Hollow-State Hound``, a show scheduled to feature big band music with Mike ``The DX Hound``. All the netcasters have been interest in buying air time on WBCQ to present their shows, but none have been able to afford it on their own on a regular basis. With my current employment situation I was also planning to give up my show. The Peacock Project concept exposes the programs to the major audience yet it spreads down the financial burden. The broadcasters got together in a odd way, and going on WBCQ's 7415 kHz frequency is like going home to where it all started. A few years ago there was a group of ham radio operators who were also listeners to shortwave broadcasters and utility stations. Under the umbrella organization of the Association Of North American Radio Clubs, (ANARC), they would join into a ham traffic net every Sunday morning on 7240 kHz to compare their station loggings. While the net still has a lot of good memories for those who joined in or only listened in, the group eventually disbanded. For whatever reasons there may have been, attendance fell off and it was both decided to discontinue the net and to also move to an Internet Relay Chat channel that was already in existence. Listening tips could be given in real time as the station was on the air to members that were logged in. Even in the time of the net's activity, e-mail was used as a method of sending loggings from non hams to the hams in the net for announcement on the air. To a few die hard members like Dave Kirby, N1DK, the discontinuance of the radio net was only a minor setback. Dave began doing weekly reports by way of the Cyber Shortwave real audio file that was available to download by anyone. It was at the suggestion of member Pete Costello that Dave began to do his presentations as a live interactive program by way of sending sound via live365.com and receiving typed comments back from listeners by way of the IRC chat channel. As loggings and SWL news taped off even more, Dave began doing more music and off topic bantering. This led the powers that be at the chat room to ask Dave to create his own chat room for the show. The kick in the butt turned out to be a blessing as now the door was opened for others who wanted to do interactive radio to use Dave's #cybershortwave chat room. I began to use it as did Jen in Denver, Rob outside of Toronto and Steve E. With our new venture on WBCQ we hope that you will enjoy the diversity of programming we'll be presenting to you. (author is no doubt Big Steve Cole) from: http://home.nyc.rr.com/dkos/peacock_project.htm (via John Norfolk, dxldyahoogroups via DXLD; also Steve Coletti) ** U S A. 7505, KTBN, 0154-0235 Jun 22, still here with English language religious fare, ID at 0200. The doom and gloom announcement about the station being in danger of going off the air for lack of response was noted at 0230. Good (Rich D`Angelo, Wyomissing PA, NASWA Flashsheet June 27 via DXLD) ** U S A [non]. USA/? 9980 USB, AFN, 27 June, 0509-0530, English, SINPO 34343, decreasing gradually. Male/female talk (including 'this day in history'), ID at 0512 "This is Sports (?) Overnight America". Indeed, a sports story followed then. Tuned thanks to a tip of Noel Green in Cumbre DX list. Where is the transmitter located? (Dmitry Mezin, Kazan, Russia, Signal via DXLD) Iceland is speculated ??? 7590, AFN, 1918 June 26, using USB. 'Program 51%' with Jennifer Bobby interviewed. Then ID 'You are listening to AFN'. S3 max (fair reception) while in AM mode. On 27 is // 9980 (low but strongly QRMed) (Zacharias Liangas, Thessaloniki, Greece, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 9980U, "USA", Armed Forces Network via unknown location, 0238-0316 Jun 24, Sports Byline USA program with usual short segments where the commercials usually go featuring Everyday Science, Home Entertainment Update and Career Clinic on American Forces Network. AP Network News at 0300 followed by countless mini-segments including Timeline foe June 23rd. No real ID but many of these short features are standard AFN program fare and are listed on their website. Fair signal (Rich D`Angelo, PA, NASWA Flashsheet June 27 via DXLD) ** U S A [and non]. SILICON VALLEY AM BANDSCAN 2003-2004 Here's your chance to take a cheap (audio) tour of the Bay Area! My sabbatical year is drawing to an end, so I have compiled a collection of radio station recordings from my temporary home, the Silicon Valley in the San Francisco Bay Area. The Silicon Valley AM Bandscan 2003- 2004 contains a total of 260 station identifications and other announcements from 208 different AM stations in the Bay Area and the U.S. West Coast, including also a few Canadian and Mexican stations. Don't expect rarities - this is a result of occasional listening, not serious DXing. I wanted to collect good-quality recordings of the top- of-the hour station identifications whenever possible. The purpose is educative; to make it easier for you to identify the stations when you are DXing the U.S. West Coast. Therefore, in addition to the recordings (in MP3 format), the listing gives also slogans and formats. Enjoy the sounds of the Bay, and please post your comments on the DXing.info Community, especially if you have additional information about the stations in question, such as their slogans and changing formats, as well as about stations missing from the list. In the DXing.info Community thread I have also pointed out a bunch of recent changes on the local AM dial, including new stations, formats and calls. During the following two months I will be mostly on the road, and online only occasionally, which is why updating the DXing.info News section is temporarily done in a different way: in July and August you can find the latest radio news in a new temporary forum, but from September things should get back to normal, and the latest news returns to its normal page, which also serves as an access point to the news archive. You can keep on emailing me about radio news and everything else, but expect delays in responding. 73 Mika Makelainen, Palo Alto, US / Vantaa, Finland - and on the road in between PS. If your email software doesn't support embedded links, here they are in plain text: Silicon Valley AM Bandscan: http://www.dxing.info/logs/usa_silicon_valley_bandscan.dx Notes on the Bandscan and news about the listed AM stations: http://www.dxing.info/community/viewtopic.php?t=1472 Temporary news page: http://www.dxing.info/community/viewforum.php?f=27 The regular news page and news archive: http://www.dxing.info/news/ (Mika Mäkeläinen, CA, Latin MWDX yg, et al., via DXLD) ** U S A. Job opening for DXers? Signal Finder may have a position requiring the skills and experience of many on this list. If you're interested in relocating to south Florida, here's your chance! http://www.rwonline.com/reference-room/special-report/03_rw_pirate.shtml (Harry Helms W7HLH, Las Vegas, NV DM26, June 23, NRC-AM via DXLD) Must be tracking down FM pirates (gh, DXLD) "Grey said that at any time, as many as 60 broadcasters are on the air illegally in Miami-Dade and Broward counties in South Florida, some with power levels as high as 2,000 to 3,000 watts." ?? Just how many legal broadcasters are in that area? 3 kw? How hard can it be to find that one?? (jw K9RZZ, ibid.) DFing those stations, in urban areas, can be hard. Some are low antenna height, or the antennas are in the wood attics of buildings. So trying to pin point them among the multipath, and see an antenna can be hard. Some employ some stealth antennas at times (Fred Vobbe, OH, ibid.) I dunno ... a buddy and I found a 10w FM pirate in the city using just a portable radio. Eventually we narrowed it down until we saw the coax coming out of the window while we were parked behind the house in the alley. Wouldn't you know the operator happened to be taking out the trash just then .... "Looking for something??" he said ... "yeah, a radio station" and his jaw just dropped !! :^] But, we were fans of the station, not someone out to shut them down. (jw K9RZZ, ibid.) ** U S A. PRESIDENTIAL PURSUITS --- 'FAHRENHEIT 9/11': MOORE'S BUSH TREATISE COOKS --- By Ann Hornaday, Washington Post Staff Writer, Friday, June 25, 2004; Page C01 Not since "The Passion of the Christ" has a movie from outside the Hollywood mainstream made a review so superfluous. By orchestrating a hype campaign every bit as finely tuned as Mel Gibson's, filmmaker Michael Moore has made "Fahrenheit 9/11" required viewing, not just for the thousands of like-minded activists who have vowed to make the documentary a box office hit this weekend, but for anyone who wants to be culturally literate. In other words, most people reading this already know whether they're going or not. The question is whether "Fahrenheit 9/11" will be worth the trip. In many ways this is Moore's best film; he exercises restraint that has been notably lacking in such documentaries as "Roger & Me," "The Big One" and the Oscar-winning "Bowling for Columbine." . . . [MORE] http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn/A4192-2004Jun24?language=printer (via Mike Cooper, DXLD) ** VENEZUELA. RN VENEZUELA INFORME DEVUELTO --- Hola amig@s, en estos momentos acabo de llegar del apartado postal y me encontré el informe de recepción enviado a RADIO NACIONAL DE VENEZUELA devuelto; me dicen que el apartado postal fue cancelado por el usuario. La dirección enviada fue RADIO NACIONAL DE VENEZUELA, APDO 3979, CARACAS 1010 (VENEZUELA). LA NUEVA DIRECCION ENCONTRADA EN SU WEB ES: Final Calle Las Marías, entre Chapellín y Country Club. La Florida. Caracas, Distrito Capital. Venezuela. Zona Postal 1050 El informe que le envié es del 24 de abril y se lo he vuelto a enviar por e-mail a la siguiente direccion rnv@r.... [truncated] Ya sin nada más se despide de vosotros vuestro colega de Cartagena, España (JOSE HERNANDEZ MADRID, bclnews via DXLD) They have been announcing the box on the Cuba relays, and are still? (gh, DXLD) ** VENEZUELA. Radio Amazonas, 4940 p/d light green card, stamped & signed by Ángel M. Pérez (Director). Includes a nice form letter in Spanish/English from Jorge García Rangel with info about the Amazonas state. 5 colorful stamps on envelope. In about 3 months for $1, CD recording, & Spanish report (Andrew Yoder, PA, June 24, Cumbredx mailing list via DXLD) Luego de estar más de un mes fuera del aire, Radio Amazonas volvió al éter el pasado 24 de junio. Fue captada en los 4939.66 kHz, a las 0218 UT, con un programa de música vallenata. Cierre inusual a las 0235 UT. SINPO 3/3. 73s y buen DX (Adán González, Catia La Mar, VENEZUELA, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** VIETNAM. 5925, V. of Vietnam, Xuan Mai, f/d "Map/Logo" card, without site, from the Hanoi office in 132 days for $1, English report and a completed VOV Listener Survey. I would like to think my answering their survey aided in Hanoi verifying this regional outlet. (Scott R. Barbour, Jr., Intervale, NH, R75, MLB-1, RS longwire with RBA balun, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** VIETNAM [non]. Degar Voice background: http://www.radioradicale.it/degar/en.html Since July 2003 Radio Radicale started a radio program, which followed principles and traditions of its decennial history in support of a broader diffusion of knowledge and freedom of information and that, in an ambitious way, not only goes beyond the Italian geographical borders, as it is already possible thanks to the broadcasting of radio programs through the internet, but also goes beyond its traditional broadcasting in Italian language. This web page is aimed at informing about this initiative, but first of all is a web page which provides a service to those who live under a perennial information embargo imposed by the Vietnamese Government, that denies the most basic human rights to the Montagnards, as for example the right to freely preach their faith and to freely express their opinions. The access through the internet to the audio files is possible also from Vietnam, even if it is highly dangerous for those who do so, and will allow also the Montagnard community in the US to have access to a radio program in their native language. In fact, Voice of the Degar is a Radio program produced by the representatives of the Montagnard (Degar) indigenous people who fled to the US to escape the repression of the Hanoi Government; The Montagnards are a people who have been leaving for thousands of years in the Central Highlands of Vietnam and that over the last century found itself trapped in the Indochina Wars which were fought among the French first, and the Americans later, and the Vietnamese Communist and Independence Movement. Since then the Montagnard population decreased from 3 million to a current estimate of 700 – 800 hundred thousands. Genocide is committed in front of us. The meeting with the Transnational Radical Party (TRP) at the UN in 2001 has given the right to speak to the Montagnards inside the international institutions and allowed their leading representative, Mr. Kok Ksor, Member of the General Council of the TRP, to take the floor at the UN Commission on Human Rights. For this reason the TRP today risks to be expelled from the UN, in fact, Mr. Kok Ksor is considered a terrorist from Hanoi due to his constant and weel documented denounce of human rights violations suffered by the Montagnard people. Radio Radicale takes the initiative to give back to Mr. Kok Ksor and to its organization , the Montagnard Foundation the right to speak also where since almost 30 years, words of hope and freedom cannot be heard: the Central Highlands of Vietnam. Vietnam. Thanks to short-wave radio programs, broadcasted from sites located out of Vietnam in accordance with international norms, Mr. Kok Ksor is allowed every week to speak to his supporters who live surrounded by the Vietnamese security forces in the Central Highlands of Vietnam who are estimated around 300-400 thousands people. The Vietnamese Government has already tried, at various times, to block the radio broadcastings of Voice of the Degar through jamming, which is carried out thanks to costly radio operations which are used by various non democratic Governments to "shut the mouth" dissident groups who try to feed the hope of those who are oppressed. As of today the broadcastings of Voice of the Degar are still in place and are well received in Vietnam and in the whole Indo-China region. Thanks also to the growing support gathered by the Committee for the Protection of the Montagnard people, the radio broadcastings of Voice of the Degar have been recently strengthened and enlarge in their outreach. To allow the Montagnards to continue the production and broadcasting of Voice of the Degar it is very important to pledge a financial contribution to: Committee for the Protection of the Degar People c/o Radicali Italiani. Radio Radicale is already working to give voice to other peoples and individuals who are oppressed by authoritarian regimes and in the next weeks will announce these further initiatives (via Bernd Trutenau, Lithuania, dxldyg via DXLD) ** VIRGIN ISLANDS US. WDHP 1620 relaying R. Martí weekends: CUBA non ** WESTERN SAHARA [non]. unID [via IRRS????] 5775, Radio Fortis or forty, 1951 June 26, IDs in between Arabic songs. At 1954 programing in Spanish, info on station. From what I understood R Forti is a pro Saharan coöperative. IRRS on June 27 is transmitted with audio gaps. S10 as steady signal (Zacharias Liangas, Greece, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ``Radio Forti`` was a misunderstanding by the original reporter. What they are really saying is ``Radio For Peace`` (gh, DXLD) ITALY - 15665 kHz, R for Peace (Relay via IRRS), personal no data E- mail answer in English. v/s. Gabriella. In 6 days for a report in Spanish to radioforpeace@libero.it Advise to ``visit our site`` http://www.radiokcentrale.it (M. Schoech, Germany) June 2004, Cumbre DX via DXLD) Why do you file this under ITALY --- do you know that is really the transmitter site? (gh, DXLD) 15664.58, ITALY-? Presumed R. for Peace (Sahara program), definite IRRS English ID at 1059 Jun 25 (Fridays only), into Arabic talk, but weak and I didn't stay with it. Has it ever been established that this transmitter actually is in Italy? (Jerome Berg, MA, NASWA Flashsheet June 27 via DXLD) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ POWERLINE COMMUNICATIONS ++++++++++++++++++++++++ FCC TURNING BLIND EYE IN BPL PROCEEDING, ARRL CHARGES http://www2.arrl.org/news/stories/2004/06/24/1/?nc=1 NEWINGTON, CT, Jun 24, 2004 --- The ARRL says the FCC apparently has already made up its mind about broadband over power line (BPL) and ``wants no bad news`` about the technology. In reply comments filed June 22 on the FCC`s Notice of Proposed Rule Making in ET Docket 03- 47, the League called on the Commission to take ``a fresh look`` at BPL before enabling its deployment. Again asking the FCC to put the proceeding on hold for a year, the League recommended that the Commission in the meantime require BPL providers to conduct FCC- monitored interference testing with all stakeholders. The ARRL charged that while an overwhelming majority of comments oppose BPL due to interference concerns, the FCC continues to rely on what the League called ``vacuous assurances that BPL would not cause harmful interference.`` Test data and a growing record of unresolved complaints indicate otherwise, the ARRL said. ``ARRL is of the view that this proceeding has been prejudged and will, in the end, be decided not on the technical issues that should control the outcome of this proceeding, but on the politics of the matter,`` the League commented. ``Given the evidence on the Commission`s table, it cannot now authorize BPL at the radiated emission levels proposed, and without substantial restrictions.`` Among those restrictions, the League recommended keeping BPL altogether away from all Amateur Radio allocations, should the FCC decide to authorize BPL under its proposed rules. As an alternative, the FCC should guarantee that an interfering BPL system can be shut down immediately in the face of a valid complaint, ``not after a BPL provider has taken months to discover that the interference cannot be resolved.`` Where There`s Smoke . . . To date, the ARRL contended, the FCC has seemingly ignored the League`s BPL technical studies as well as the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) Phase 1 BPL study that clearly demonstrate BPL`s interference potential. Five additional technical evaluations accompanied the ARRL`s reply comments. ``The Commission is obligated by the Administrative Procedure Act to look for fire where it is shown a good deal of smoke,`` the League said. ``Here there is far more than smoke in the record.`` Any decision in the BPL proceeding ``must be supported by substantial evidence,`` the ARRL asserted. To bolster its case, the ARRL pointed to the Boeing Company`s comments. Boeing told the FCC that Commission-proposed interference mitigation techniques ``are inadequate to protect safety of life aeronautical HF communications services.`` The aircraft manufacturer urged the FCC to ``carefully investigate these issues`` before adopting rules to authorize BPL networks in spectrum used by aeronautical HF radio services. ``To permit BPL on the current record is to risk the lives of passengers and crew aboard aircraft,`` the ARRL rejoined. ``The Commission simply cannot jeopardize the lives of passengers and crew of aircraft solely to rush to judgment on an untested competitive broadband alternative which uniquely has an established interference potential.`` The ARRL also cited the comments of the Missouri State Highway Patrol, which note a lack of comprehensive testing to validate FCC assertions of BPL`s low interference risk. The law-enforcement agency called the FCC-suggested interference mitigation techniques ``reactive, not proactive`` and said interference to its low-band VHF systems could prevent communication during a crisis ``where injury or death might be the result of a reduction in communications ability.`` NTIA: Studies vs Comments The League said the results of both its studies and the NTIA`s ``are entirely consistent.`` Referring to the NTIA Phase 1 analysis, the ARRL said it`s ``quite reasonable to assume that the interference potential of BPL systems to fixed HF Amateur Radio stations is on the order of 460 meters (approximately 1509 feet) from the nearest BPL device.`` No proposals address BPL interference mitigation for mobile stations, the ARRL noted. While commenting extensively on --- and in some instances agreeing with --- the NTIA`s late-filed comments, however, the League said they depict an agency that must ``balance dual and, in this case, conflicting roles`` as the White House telecommunications policy advocate. The NTIA`s comments, the ARRL asserted, reflect the Administration`s broad overall policy, not the interference potential of BPL. The League questioned the NTIA`s contention that BPL is a ``win-win`` situation and that its potential public benefits and alleged capability to minimize power line noise argue for ``accepting a degree of interference risk.`` ``Not so,`` the ARRL countered. ``Licensed radio services operating in the sensitive HF environment should not have foist upon them a substantial interference risk from unlicensed devices or systems whatsoever.`` The NTIA suggested that BPL deployment would lead to improvements in the associated low and medium-voltage power distribution systems, thus reducing power line noise. ``Replacing one interference source with another in the same bands is not in any way beneficial,`` the ARRL responded. Unresolved Complaints The ARRL also took the FCC to task for neglecting to acknowledge or respond to a mounting number of interference complaints, most from amateur licensees living in BPL field trials areas. ``The Commission has, as of this writing, adjudicated not a single one and has ignored repeated requests from licensed radio amateurs for even a confirmation of receipt of their complaints!`` the ARRL emphasized. BPL noise in some instances has precluded amateur operation, the League said. Earlier this month, the ARRL filed a well-documented and supported complaint on behalf of Jim Spencer, W0SR, in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. The League suggested such BPL complaints deserved careful analysis, but not the Commission`s cold shoulder. ``What ARRL is unwilling to tolerate is the continuation of the Commission`s sweeping of these complaints `under the rug,` which is exactly what has happened in this proceeding,`` the League commented. The Commission must put its zeal over BPL aside and ``take a fair look at them before any action is taken in this proceeding.`` The League also questioned why BPL interference complaints to the FCC were ending up in the Commission`s Office of Engineering and Technology instead of the Enforcement Bureau. Proposed Rules Provide Little Protection The ARRL didn`t spare BPL operators. ``The level of accountability demonstrated to date by operators of BPL test sites is dismal and unacceptable,`` the League said. It expressed little confidence in utilities that have failed to resolve power line noise complaints from amateurs to do any better with BPL complaints. Based on the current record, the ARRL argued, proposed radiated emission levels for BPL are too high. ``The Commission has not proposed any rules which would predictably and reliably protect HF and low-band VHF radio systems from interference,`` ARRL concluded. ``The interference resolution mechanisms that are adopted should be real, rather than merely illusory.`` For additional information, visit the ``Broadband Over Power Line (BPL) and Amateur Radio`` page on the ARRL Web site. To support the League`s efforts in this area, visit the ARRL`s secure BPL Web site. Copyright © 2004, American Radio Relay League, Inc. All Rights Reserved (via John Norfolk, dxldyahoogroup June 24 via DXLD) WHITE HOUSE RELYING ON NTIA TO MAKE BPL INTERFERENCE ISSUE GO AWAY NEWINGTON, CT, Jun 25, 2004 --- In a June 24 speech at the US Department of Commerce http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2004/06/20040624-7.html President George W. Bush expressed support for that department`s efforts to address the interference potential of broadband over power line (BPL). His comments --- and recent remarks by others in the Bush administration--suggest the White House is putting its faith in recommendations of the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA)--a Commerce Department branch --- to find fixes for BPL`s interference potential. The NTIA`s Phase 1 BPL report href="http://www.ntia.doc.gov/ntiahome/fccfilings/2004/bpl/index.html acknowledges that the technology can cause interference. The agency`s subsequent comments http://www.ntia.doc.gov/ntiahome/fccfilings/2004/BPLComments_0604200.htm in the BPL proceeding at once touted the technology and recommended additional interference-mitigation measures for BPL providers to implement. ``And one of the problems we`ve got here is that the Commerce Department has had to develop technical standards that will make sure that our broadband can go across power lines without unnecessary interference,`` Bush said, referring to the NTIA study. ``So it`s a technological problem. It`s a technological issue. It turns out that sometimes the competition of broadband and electricity just doesn`t go too good across one line.`` Bush said the Commerce Department ``is helping to sort through these issues.`` At the same time, Bush reiterated his support for BPL --- which he called ``a fantastic innovation`` --- as part of the technological mix necessary ``to get broadband to more Americans.`` Following a Bush speech April 26 that advocated changing technical standards to encourage BPL deployment in the US, ARRL President Jim Haynie, W5JBP, appealed to the president to withdraw his support for the technology and focus his attention on ``more suitable technologies`` such as wireless broadband. Responding on behalf of the White House earlier this month, Commerce Secretary Donald L. Evans told Haynie that the administration ``recognizes the interference risks`` associated with BPL. ``If those risks are not addressed,`` Evans wrote, ``we risk harm not only to amateur radio operators, but also to the more than 59,000 federal frequency assignments that may be impacted by BPL.`` Referencing the NTIA`s Phase 1 BPL study, Evans said the NTIA and the FCC were working closely together to ``develop mechanisms to mitigate potentially harmful BPL interference.`` ``While the Administration supports expeditious deployment of BPL services,`` Evans concluded, ``we are equally committed to ensuring that we are responsible and sensitive to valuable incumbent systems.`` Haynie received similar assurances from White House Senior Director for Technology Richard Russell during a May 20 visit by an ARRL delegation. In an on-line forum June 24 on the Bush Administration`s ``Innovation Agenda,`` Russell mentioned BPL briefly in one response, describing it as ``special electrical plugs which allow consumers to receive broadband transmitted through power lines, from any outlet in their home.`` Responding to an inquiry regarding President Bush`s support for BPL, Russell referred to the president`s Commerce Department address. ``Personally, I am energized about Broadband over Power Lines,`` Russell said. ``The Department of Commerce has made over 10 million measurements that will help address interference issues associated with BPL. By addressing these issues, we hope that Broadband over Power Lines can be rolled out responsibly and create another broadband channel into the home.`` Evans` reference to ``59,000 federal frequency assignments`` and Russell`s to ``over 10 million measurements`` both refer to NTIA`s BPL study. Haynie has said that while the League supports bringing broadband service to Americans at lower cost, BPL is ``an inappropriate technology with far greater disadvantages than advantages.`` Bush also spent considerable time discussing the prospects of wireless broadband delivery. However, he expressed concerns about available spectrum for such technology and cautioned against ``crowding out important government functions`` and ``the Defense Department`s capacity to defend America.`` Copyright © 2004, American Radio Relay League, Inc. All Rights Reserved (via John Norfolk, dxldyg via DXLD) RADIO EQUIPMENT FORUM +++++++++++++++++++++ OPINION: CAM-D IS BETTER THAN IBOC --- by Leonard Kahn RW Special Report 06.02.04 Now is the time for all good broadcasters to come to the aid of their country and their industry. This statement may appear to be an exaggeration, but I truly believe that the IBOC system threatens both the AM and FM industries and thus threatens free radio broadcasting. Furthermore, it is no stretch that while our country is at war and that our homeland is subject to further attack, supporting technology that interferes with AM radio that is essential to alerting Americans of an attack is clearly not in the public interest. The real question is: What can station owners, GMs, engineers, PDs, talent and everyone else who makes a living in radio broadcasting do to come to the aid of free broadcasting and our country? Simple: write a short (or long) letter to the FCC and then give the commission your comments re the impact of IBOC on AM broadcasting. Even though you have until June 14 to send the commission your comments (Docket 99-325), the sooner you get your comments in, the sooner people who watch for such filings will react to your views. Please e-mail me at radio221@aol.com so I can spread your words to other people that want to save broadcasting. Better approach As you may know, I have been opposed to the original and the revised IBOC systems for over 10 years, long before Kahn Communications Inc. developed the Cam-D System, so you can be certain that I would be opposing the wideband IBOC system even if Cam-D had never been invented. Cam-D's slim spectrum not only makes you a better spectrum neighbor, it increases your coverage, drops power-line buzz, reduces fading and is capable of the best-ever AM stereo. It works night and day. It's not afraid of the dark. Also, your listeners can see your music information, name of artist, tune and where "viewers" can get a copy. It can also give weather reports, road conditions, stock market prices and scores of your local teams. And most important, Cam-D allows you to provide three channels to the government so it can protect us at locations even beyond your present best coverage. Another important use of the Cam-D's scrolling visual display system is that it provides service to the 29 million hearing-disabled Americans. Since Cam-D's narrow spectrum allows high- and low-powered stations to coexist, a hearing-disabled person will not be denied warnings of dangerous local storms. KCI is developing battery-powered Cam-D radios incorporating flashing lights to alert users of emergencies, such as storms and early warnings of military attacks. Finally, you do not have to argue against the digital age, you just want the best of both analog and digital worlds without infuriating the American public by making their property, their radios, useless - thus destroying the main advantage AM and FM radio has over all of its incompatible competitors, the 800 million radios Americans rely upon every day of the year. There really is an IBOC system that is truly in-band and is in the public interest. Write today. Kahn is president of Kahn Communications Inc. (Radio World via DXLD) Eureka now competing with DRM for the AM digital market: (Kim Elliott, DX LISTENING DIGEST) COMBINING THE QUALITY OF DISTURBANCE-FREE DIGITAL RADIO WITH THE RANGE AND GLOBAL POPULARITY OF AM http://www.eureka.be/ifs/files/ifs/jsp-bin/eureka/ifs/jsps/publicShowcase.jsp?fileToInclude=ProjectProfile.jsp&docid=2709287 Despite the technical advances of digital FM radio, offering increased choice and crystal clear, disturbance-free radio reception, AM (medium and long-range) radio is still the most common medium used to broadcast news and entertainment around the world. Now EUREKA project E! 2390 DIAM has combined the benefits of digital radio with the range and popularity of AM. Following on from the work of the EUREKA project E! 1557 NADIB which defined the technical standard necessary to achieve digital audio quality for AM bands, the phase 1 of the DIAM project has developed a platform digital AM receiver, the second phase will allow to develop an affordable chip for the consumer market. "We devised a chipset powerful enough yet small enough to minimise silicon use and energy consumption, and can now combine digital AM as well as analogue AM and FM in a single receiver," says Dr Ben Altieri, CEO of IPiTEC Advanced DSP, an Italian subsidiary of the project's lead partner Atmel. Pierre Vasseur, Director of Advanced Techologies and Marketing of the French partner Thales Broadcast and Multimedia, describes how investing in the EUREKA project outside Thales' core business area allowed it to get a return on a previous decade of investment in the digitisation of the AM bands. "Helping to develop a chipset and a receiver opens up the market for our radio transmitter core business. If the digital radio system is successful, broadcasters will have to either upgrade their transmitters or invest in new ones. This will not only secure our existing market but should increase it by 50%." Vasseur regards DIAM as an incredible step forward. "We have completed long-distance trials from Europe, Canada and Australia, bringing FM- quality sound and data services to regional, national and international broadcasting via the existing digitised AM channels." Massive market There is a massive potential market with about two billion analogue AM receivers around the world today, including India and China where long-range, low-cost and low-power radio is ideal for general communication and for distance learning in such huge countries. "We've already had a tremendous response and the Chinese government hopes to have digital radio in place in time for the 2008 Beijing Olympics," says Vasseur. "As we have established a long-term relationship with Chinese receiver manufacturers we hope that they will use the DIAM chipset!" "Without EUREKA, DIAM wouldn't have happened. It's much more flexible than other funding schemes and allows you to do the work you want to do without getting bogged down in bureaucracy." --- Dr Ben Altieri, IPiTEC Advanced DSP, Italy EUREKA has enabled DIAM to be perfectly positioned for success, the partners collaborating with the major receiver manufacturers to bring the first affordable digital AM radio receivers onto the market in 2003 and early 2004. "Without EUREKA, DIAM would not have happened," claims Dr Altieri. "It's much more flexible than other funding schemes and allows you to do the work you want to do without getting bogged down in bureaucracy." (via Kim Elliott, DXLD) I thought Eureka was on L-band for good reason: it requires so much bandwidth. So how could this work on MW? (gh, DXLD) AH, THE SOUND, BUT OH, THE BUMPS ON THE ROAD TO DIGITAL RADIO By Rob Pegoraro The Washington Post Sunday, June 27, 2004; Page F07 http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn/A7340-2004Jun26?language=printer Digital radio broadcasts, after years of dreaming and development, are finally arriving on the air. And at first, this technology might not seem terribly enticing: The hardware needed to tune in these new signals is laughably expensive and few stations transmit in digital anyway. But its sharper, clearer sound is an improvement for what it leaves out: Digital FM eliminates analog FM's scratches and pops and much of its background hiss. The results are not quite CD quality -- the way a song is compressed for broadcast makes digital FM's sonic fidelity closer to that of an MP3 file. With jazz or classical, the greater clarity is easy to notice; voices and heavily produced pop music can sound almost the same in digital and analog. On AM, there's no mistaking digital for analog. The routine buzzing static is gone, replaced by a clear, crisp, if sometimes brassy sound that sounds not too different from high-quality Web radio. It makes these frequencies good for something besides traffic reports and baseball games -- you can actually enjoying listen to music on AM. More fascinating yet, digital radio -- which its developer, Columbia-based iBiquity Digital Corp., is marketing as "HD Radio" -- can deliver data as well as music and voices. It can carry a brief description of each station, the title and artist of the current song and, someday, text alerts about news or traffic updates. And this technology is being deployed in an impressively elegant manner: A station's digital broadcast seamlessly shares the same frequency as its analog signal, allowing a receiver, like a cell phone, to hop from one to the other as needed. This is unlike digital TV -- where a massively awkward transition from one set of analog frequencies to a new batch of digital channels is underway. It's also unlike satellite radio, where a new broadcast technology brings you a much wider range of programming for a monthly fee. HD Radio is free, but it doesn't put any more stations on the air. I gave this technology a listen over three long days of driving earlier this week, both around the District and up Interstate 95 to Philadelphia -- the closest city where I could tune into digital AM music programming. One major impression was boredom: In the Washington area, only WAMU (88.5 FM), WETA (90.9 FM) and WHUR (96.3 FM) offer digital broadcasts, I found a single digital FM station in Baltimore, and the Panasonic radio in the car loaned by iBiquity picked up one FM and AM station each in Philadelphia. The Federal Communications Commission's Web site lists only 117 stations across the entire country conducting any digital broadcasts. IBiquity maintains its own database of stations with digital plans (for some reason, readable only in the Internet Explorer and Opera browsers) at www.hd-radio.com. I also couldn't help noticing how digital FM's increased quality is paid for with decreased range. On a drive northwest along interstates 270 and 70, WHUR's digital signal first started to drop back into analog in the northernmost reaches of Montgomery County, becoming increasingly unreliable until it disappeared around Hagerstown. But the station could still be heard in analog -- if not well -- 20 miles farther up the road. The downside of this surfaced on the trip back, when I tried tuning into WETA's digital broadcasts. Because its digital and analog signals were a few seconds out of sync, the evening news broadcasts kept skipping forward and back each time the radio jumped from digital to analog and back. That's the paradox of digital FM: In general, it functions only where analog broadcasts already work fine. Digital AM, on the other hand, was a revelation. Hearing an old swing band tune on Philadelphia's WPEN (950 AM) had me rolling down the window to crank up the volume, something I can't remember ever doing before with AM. But digital AM's reception was even shakier than digital FM's. Driving underneath a cluster of electrical wires or a sufficiently long overpass -- or simply going through some intersections in the center of Philadelphia -- routinely cut out the crisp stereo sound and dumped me back into scratchy old AM. I couldn't help wondering how much better HD Radio might sound at home, where none of those factors applies. But the only digital-radio receiver on the market is a $1,000 Panasonic car stereo. Other car and home receivers are due later this year; iBiquity says that HD Radio compatibility should add $100 to $150 to a radio's manufacturing costs, a sum that it expects to drop by half every year in the years to come. Like a lot of new consumer-electronics technologies, HD Radio feels like a project more than a product. Many of its capabilities have yet to be deployed -- for instance, I didn't find any stations that sent out song-title data. It may take years for stations to upgrade their transmissions (an expense iBiquity spokesman Gil Chorbajian estimated at $75,000 to $100,000 a pop), and some may never bother. HD Radio's basic workings are still being tweaked; next year's receivers may perform significantly better than this year's models. Then again, they might not: The Recording Industry Association of America is making a belated, misguided attempt to persuade the Federal Communications Commission to mandate copy controls in HD Radio receivers. That's a lot of uncertainty to hang on HD Radio. But if things go right, this could well earn a spot on non-audiophiles' shopping lists -- next year (via Mike Cooper, DXLD) DIGITAL TV TIME DELAY Each digital TV tuner has a slightly different processing circuit that produces a slightly different delay in presentation. You will see this in stores displaying several different models of DTV tuners. It will be impossible to get the pictures and audio into sync. This became a problem at CBS when we tried to demonstrate DTV at conventions or in office suites. If you want to be synchronous, you are required to have the exact same equipment, not a mix and match. The delay also makes live cuing a nightmare, similar to the problems now seen in radio when using digital processing equipment. Watch what happens when a network tries to combine a "pool" feed of an event with their own content and there is a significant digital time difference between sources. Audio is relatively easy to conquer, but video needs to be run through a server or other device. It's a mess. My least favorite digital device is the time chopper many talk radio stations are now using to dice time out of an hour to gain more time for advertising spots. Everyone starts to sound like digital Mickey Mouses [sic]. As an audience, we are not supposed to notice, but some stations have become unlistenable. It seems to attack male voices more than women's voices, for some reason. The management bean counters at these stations love the processing. They can increase their income dramatically when given extra minutes to run ads during each hour. Analog works so well, and now we are planning its obsolescence. Is Max Headroom still looking for work? He will fit into the new digital world seamlessly (Karl Zuk, NY, N2KZ, June 9, WTFDA via DXLD) Yeah, this has been a big problem. Watch the network morning newscast, when they interview someone in another city. You'll notice a pregnant pause between when the anchor asks a question and when the interviewee begins to answer it. Sometimes when the person on remote is professional air talent, they'll try to anticipate when the interviewee will finish talking, and start answering before the question is over, hoping to eliminate the gap. If the "asker" stumbles, the "askee" is likely to talk over the top of them. Pretty confusing. [this has always been a problem with satellite links, let alone digital delays --- gh] The ATSC standard calls for a "presentation time stamp", designed to ensure your digital TV spits out the sound at the same time as the video (because unlike analog, in digital there is only one transmitter so the sound *is not transmitted at the same time as the picture*). You have to store the sound packets, and then release them to the speaker at the right time.) I suppose this could be used internally to automatically control the delay of a synchronizing device to ensure multiple feeds come out in time. Of course, that would require that one *use* the PTS on satellite feeds, something that is not currently standard practice. We used to worry about a few nanoseconds of time discrepancy between feeds; now our equipment can automatically compensate for a few microseconds, but we're seeing errors measured in seconds! (We're using GPS-derived timecode to synchronize things at WSMV. Karl, is that pretty much a universal practice in your experience?) (Doug Smith, TN, WTFDA via DXLD) SOVIET TV SETS You just had a discussion about Soviet TV sets [4-097, CUBA]: They were not uncommon in the GDR. A popular model was a B&W portable called Yunost (like Radio Mayak's youth channel). Pictures are here: http://robotron.informatik.hu-berlin.de/studienarbeit/files/hardware/zubehoer.html This page deals with home computing in the GDR. Below the Yunost TV sets you also find a mention of cassette tape as memory; I think I already wrote about program code being transmit on GDR radio by simply copying such cassette tapes on 15 inch-per-second studio tape and broadcast them as if it would be regular audio tapes. In the seventies also a heavy-weighted color TV called Raduga ("Rainbow") was imported into the GDR: http://www.fotocommunity.de/pc/pc/mypics/6441/display/132422 I am not aware of frequent picture tube implosions, but these sets were infamous for a risk of catching fire, connected with a high power consumption and a quite fragile high voltage wiring. Kind of counterpart to the Raduga TV sets were the Soviet studio cameras of GDR TV. I think the first ones, used from the start of color TV in 1969, must have been almost as heavy as the famous RCA TK- 47, although being a Plumbicon camera (I think with the tubes called Gletticon because they didn't originate from Philips) with a very distinctive comet trail effect (something I actually like). But it was still propaganda when publications stated that GDR TV relies primarily on Soviet cameras since already in the first half of the seventies the first Fernseh KCU 40 and Philips LDK-3 appeared; at least the first mentioned model was obtained via some third party because Fernseh GmbH would not deliver their products directly into the East. Regards, (Kai Ludwig, Germany, June 26, DX LISTENING DIGEST) FCC RULES ON ANTENNAS The FCC just issued an important ruling which re-states that FCC regulations supercede local regulations. This impacts everything from use of antennas in residential areas to Florida attempting to "regulate" pirate radio: http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/DA-04-1844A1.doc (John Broomall, GA, June 26, WTFDA via DXLD) CONVENTIONS & CONFERENCES +++++++++++++++++++++++++ RADIO MEETING - DXERS INVITED – CINCINNATI, JULY 30 Christian Community Broadcasters is holding a free seminar on LPFM on Friday, July 30, in metro Cincinnati - DXers are invited. Meet small local community broadcasters. Share your expertise on coverage and interference with new broadcasters who do not understand propagation and why most of their coverage disappears unexpectedly at times. Here are complete details (including directions) on our FREE LPFM Success Seminar in metro Cincinnati: http://www.ccbroadcasters.com/seminar-cincy.htm (John Broomall, Christian Community Broadcasters, (678) 880-0676; FAX: (413) 480-9675, WTFDA via DXLD) PROPAGATION +++++++++++ NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC The July 2004 issue of National Geographic has a pretty good article on solar phenomena, including dates of some spectacular coronal mass ejections that undoubtedly affected DX. It could be interesting to check log notes for dates mentioned (Mark Connelly, WA1ION - Billerica, MA, USA, NRC-AM via DXLD) ###