DX LISTENING DIGEST 4-101, July 3, 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 1236: Sat 2130 on RFPI http://www.rfpi.org repeated 8-hourly [maybe] Sat 2300 on RFPI http://www.rfpi.org repeated 8-hourly [maybe] Sun 0230 on WWCR 5070 Sun 0300 on WBCQ 9330-CLSB [unconfirmed] Sun 0630 on WWCR 3210 Sun 1000 on WRN1 to North America, webcast; also KSFC 91.9 Spokane WA, and WDWN 89.1 Auburn NY; maybe KTRU 91.7 Houston TX, each with webcasts Sun 1100 on R. Lavalamp http://www.radiolavalamp.org Sun 1500 on R. Lavalamp http://www.radiolavalamp.org Sun 1900 on Studio X, Momigno, Italy 1584 Sun 2000 on RNI webcast, http://www.11L-rni.com Mon 0100 on WBCQ 9330-CLSB Mon 0330 on WSUI 910, webcast http://wsui.uiowa.edu [previous 1235] 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 1236 (high version): (stream) http://www.w4uvh.net/wor1236h.ram (download) http://www.w4uvh.net/wor1236h.rm (summary) http://www.worldofradio.com/wor1236.html WORLD OF RADIO 1236 (low version): (stream) http://www.w4uvh.net/wor1236.ram (download) http://www.w4uvh.net/wor1236.rm WORLD OF RADIO 1236 in MP3, the true shortwave sound of 7415: (stream) http://www.piratearchive.com/media/worldofradio_06-30-04.m3u (d`load) http://www.piratearchive.com/media/worldofradio_06-30-04.mp3 ** ARGENTINA. LRA1, Radio Nacional Buenos Aires began its transmissions on internet from Jul 1st, around 1500 hours. Its site is: http://www.radionacional.gov.ar I think that by now, as preliminary, are tests to improve its transmissions (Gabriel Iván Barrera, Japan Premium, via DXLD) Not including, I assume, the external service, which is what we need (gh, DXLD) ** BRAZIL. 2380, R. Educadora (presumed), 0354-0414, June 29, Portuguese, Ballads and easy-listening music with quick blurbs (IDs?) by OM between selections. Weak but steady signal over static (Scott R. Barbour, Jr., Intervale, R75, MLB-1, RS longwire with RBA balun, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** BRAZIL. 4754.33, R. Educação Rural, Campo Grande, 133 kb. 07/2004. Listen to the nice song-ID. Has been drifting a little bit the last week sometimes up to around 4755.5 kHz. Read also comments from Christer Brunstrom regarding my recording of Brazil on 6190.00 kHz. Recordings and comments at: http://www.malm-ecuador.com 73s (Björn Malm, Quito, Ecuador, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Viz.: "Hi! First they are talking about a reactivation of Radio Nacional de Janeiro. Then ID for "Rádio Nacional da Amazônia" and information about the program "Povos da Amazônia". So it seems that Rádio Nacional da Amazônia has moved up 10 kHz". (Christer Brunstrom via Björn Malm`s site via DXLD) ** BRAZIL. 12210, at 2025, R. Filadélfia, Foz de Iguaçu, Brasil, 2do armónico de 6105, en português (Alfredo Locatelli, Uruguay, Conexión Digital July 3 via DXLD) date? ** CYPRUS TURKISH. 6150v, NORTHERN CYPRUS, Bayrak RTV (presumed), 2248-2300, June 29, Greek?, Alternating talks between OM and YL, music bridges at 2252 and 2254. Very weak, crushed at 2300 by 6145 CRI and 6155 ORF. I don`t think I have ever heard anything at this time/frequency [before] (Scott R. Barbour, Jr., Intervale, R75, MLB-1, RS longwire with RBA balun, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** DEUTSCHES REICH [non]. BLACK ALLIED RADIO PROGAGANDA DURING OPERATION OVERLORD The extensive media coverage of the D-Day anniversary did not mention the rôle of the black propaganda radio stations at the time. This is covered in the final chapter of Elic Howe's The Black Game. A Government report dated 3rd August 1944 evaluated their effectiveness. It detailed the Black radio operations during Operation Overlord as: The radio programmes Soldatsender Calais angeschlossen der Deutsche Kurzwellensender Atlantik (Soldiers Station Calais with the German shortwave station Atlantik) which carried a programme of news bulletins and entertainment for the German forces and adopted the convention of speaking as a German soldiers` station situated somewhere in France. The programme was radiated on three shortwave transmitters and on Aspidistra on the medium wave band. The medium wave broadcast was from 2000 to 0500 whilst the shortwave broadcast began at 1830 and ended at 0800. A staff of 50 radio technicians operated the Aspidistra transmitter at Crowborough as well as two 100 kw shortwave transmitters for U boat crew and other German seafarers. The medium wave (and occasionally) shortwave programme of talks for the opposition movement within the SS which was broadcast irregularly at various hours of the day and night on wave-lengths used by official German programmes. Interrogations of a number of prisoners during the week ended 1st July 1944 showed that over 50% had listened to the Calais station. They included men from infantry, armoured and artillery units, both regular and SS. The station was listened to by U-Boat officers and men at sea as well as at base. From prisoners statements it was known that Calais had a large audience among officers and men of the German air force and was even turned on in the messes. Official documents, warning against the station, were captured. Soldatsender Calais became Soldatsender West shortly before the former was liberated. Allied evidence of reception reports for November and December 1944 gave further evidence of the stations impact: A Korvettenkapitan attached to the Officer Commanding Cherbourg listened to nothing but Calais when in France because the sets were too small for anything else and Calais drowned every other broadcast. The officers liked it because it gave news which was suppressed in Germany. Another prisoner of war listened in Copenhagen and was always surprised at the inside news of the German army. A PoW from Berlin said that one great advantage of Calais was that it was on all night when other stations were off the air. It was so cleverly camouflaged that the first reaction of anybody was to say "That can't be an enemy station!" An Allied Intelligence Officer visited a PoW camp in Compeigne in October and found 70% of those he questioned to have been regular listeners. For many of them Calais was a Wermacht or SS station operating inside Germany. It is clear Delmer's operations had a significant effect on the morale of the German army during Operation Overlord (Mike Barraclough, July World DX Club Contact via DXLD) ** ETHIOPIA. Re 4-100: External Service of Radio Ethiopia 1600-1800 UT on 9410.85 kHz. ex-9561v? Yes, but now back, exactly on 9559.8 kHz. 73, (Mauno Ritola, Finland, July 2, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** EUROPE. new PDF edition of the EMWG --- Dear all, The new PDF edition of the European Medium Wave Guide is available at http://www.emwg.info The new edition if very much different from the previous one. More so than with previous versions, the current version is a true "guide". The frequency and country listings have of course remained, but are now accompanied with a short history of the publication, an introduction to medium wave, an overview of ITU codes of countries covered in the EMWG, the already existing link page to the most interesting LW/MW web sites, and -on top of all- a relatively small list of interesting programmes on LW/MW which you can fill in with your favourite programmes. I hope this new type of EMWG will be of use to both the casual listener and the hard-core DXer. Of course, feedback is always welcome. Best regards, (Herman Boel, MWDX via DXLD) ** GABON. STRIKE THREATENED AT AFRICA Nº1 --- The union at Gabon-based Africa Nº1 has sent management an advance warning of a possible strike. The union has a number of grievances which it says management have so far ignored, and is demanding the opening of negotiations under the auspices of the Ministry of Work, otherwise a strike will be decreed. The union is threatening to switch off the shortwave transmitters that also serve as a relay station for Radio France International and Radio Japan. This is the first strike threat at Africa Nº1 since its creation in 1982. # posted by Andy @ 10:58 UT July 2 (Media Network blog via DXLD) ** GERMANY. Sudwestrundfunk Shutdown --- Received a QSL from SWR for 7265 kHz today along with some stickers and station guide. Also a note from Dieter Dangel stating: "Our short wave service will be shut down at the end of the year 2004" (Wayne Bastow, Australia, July 2, ARDXC via DXLD) ** GREECE. Dear Glenn: For the past 3 months, I have been waiting for the Greek Embassy in Paris to update their ERA 5 web page. Nada! So, on June 28, I sent them an e-mail with VOG's A04 frequencies. On July 1, they revised ERA 5's schedule to Europe. See it on: http://www.amb-grece.fr/grece_en_france/era_5.htm Sincerely, (John Babbis, MD, July 2, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** HUNGARY. Question about Budapest`s ``...And the Gatepost`` Does anyone know what the broadcast schedule is for Radio Budapest`s ``...And the Gatepost?`` I did find the June edition archived on their web site on June 13, so is this program, which is mentioned in their online program schedule simply as being ``monthly,`` on the 2nd Sunday, or does it tend to bounce around? There is a ``DX Mix`` segment which ran for the last 12 minutes of this particular edition. Budapest`s archives no longer has any programs pre dating June 1 (John Norfolk, July 2, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) According to emails I received from Radio Budapest 25 May and 1 June: Gatepost is broadcast weekly: "Hello, Gatepost is on every Sunday edited by Sándor Laczkó. Good listening" and DX Mix is part of Gatepost every 4 weeks: "Hello, Thanks for your letter. You can listen to the DX programme on Fridays at the end of the broadcast, and every 4 weeks in the second part of the Gatepost programme. We wish you good listening. Radio Budapest" [so next "DX Mix" segment of Gatepost is 11 July if it was aired 13 June??] (Alan Pennington, Caversham, UK, ibid.) According to Radio Budapest`s web site, ``...And the Gatepost`` is broadcast monthly, not weekly. I`ll be checking their audio archives further, especially this evening when the Sunday broadcasts comes up later on this evening, but previous checks suggests that the program is not on weekly (John Norfolk, ibid.) ** ICELAND? 9980U, AFRTS, 1507-1515, June 29, English, 2 OM talking about the NFL and ESPN's "Power Rankings". Very weak/poor (Scott R. Barbour, Jr., Intervale, R75, MLB-1, RS longwire with RBA balun, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ICELAND. 9980.0 USB, AFRTS Grindavik, 0238-1200, Jun 24 and 25, new frequency replacing 13855 and confirmed by direction finding. Noted in mid-California at 0430 with ABC news and ID for the American Forces Network, poor reception, but good at 0545. Heard in Massachusetts at 0900-1000 carrying the sports stream with a pretty good signal, // 7507-Puerto Rico, 6350-Hawaii and 7590-Iceland. Also heard, with a different stream, was Florida on 5446.5 and 12133.5. At 1200 re-check, all were gone save for possibly 9980, where there was a very weak and heavily QRMed signal that was not identifiable (Berg, D`Angelo and Ron Howard, CA, DSWCI DX Window via DXLD) Also heard 1230-1500, Jun 25 in Denmark with ``AFN Sports`` by Ken Allen, business news. 1300 ID: ``You are listening to AFN`` and news. Strong signal: 35444 heard // weaker Grindavik 7590 (25233). Heard again same day on recheck 1730-1850 with same signal strength, but a more noisy modulation. On Jun 26 I heard it again 0240-1220 with good modulation and 35444. Former 13855 USB was unheard during each period, thus 9980 is the replacement! (Anker Petersen, DSWCI DX Window via DXLD) ** INDIA. Radio Nostalgia ---------------- Some exclusive photos on fascinating memorabilia on radio history in India. Visit this site: http://www.geocities.com/alokesh05/airnostalgia.html Regds, (Alokesh Gupta, New Delhi, India, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** IRAQ: The first independent radio station in Iraq since the fall of the regime of Saddam Hussain started transmitting under the call sign - RADIO DIJLA. Radio Dijla started its transmission from its studio in Bagdad. The word "Digla" means "river Tigris". It transmits programs through local FM networks. Programming is targetted to the youth in general, with an emphasis on news, current affairs, talk shows, and entertainment based programs. The station was inaugurated 2 months back and catching up in the popularity charts steadily. The station has a staff of 50 strong with 16 of them being journalists. (courtesy: The Times Of India: Kolkata, dated June 16, 2004.) 73s, from (RAJDEEP DAS, DXer, Former Monitor CRI, Kolkata, India, July 3, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** JAPAN. BROADCASTERS QUIETLY ENHANCING ON-DEMAND PROGRAM ACCESS While it seems that many broadcasters are in survival mode, at best, in their shortwave broadcasting, some broadcasters are increasing access to their programming via the Internet. As we`ve been saying for years, listening to international broadcasters via the Internet has plenty of disadvantages when compared to shortwave, but if you time- shift your listening via audiocassette, minidisc or other transportable recordable audio, webcasts do provide added convenience. Two examples of broadcasters who have recently expanded their use of webcast capababilities --- China Radio International and Radio Japan --- are highlighted below. Radio Japan Even though Japan’s economy was one of the two economies that helped to enable the high technology age back in the 1970s and 1980s, Japan has been slower to adopt personal computing and Internet usage than many of the developed economies in Europe and North America. This has been reflected in its slowness to provide webcast audio; until recently, the only English content available via the web from Radio Japan has been the news broadcast that begins each shortwave broadcast. This has recently changed; the weekday newsmagazine, 44 Minutes, is now available on-demand; each day’s edition is archived for one week. You can find a link to the program by visiting the main English language site for NHK, Radio Japan`s parent, at http://www.nhk.or.jp/english/rjweekly/index.html I truly wish Radio Japan tried harder to produce interesting programming. Japan`s culture and economy are truly fascinating phenomena, having visited there years before on business, and the differences between value systems and issues between Japan and its neighbors in the Far East and between Japan and Europe and North America would be very fertile sources of interesting programming; so, too, would be analysis regarding how Japan`s economy is changing following its years of stagnation (Richard Cuff, Easy Listening, July NASWA Journal via DXLD) ** LIBYA. 9605U, R. Jamahiriya?, 2131-2158*, June 28, Arabic, Previously reported Libyan service to Iraq, OM with recorded speech at tune-in with numerous mentions of Iraq, musical bits and talks, presumed lengthy ID at 2146, fanfare and more talks re Iraq and America. Fading by s/off. Poor/fair with 9600 CRI splatter, // 11180U weak but clear (Scott R. Barbour, Jr., Intervale, R75, MLB-1, RS longwire with RBA balun, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** MEXICO. INICIA "RADIO MICHOACÁN" A TRAVÉS DE INTERNET Busca la radioemisora que los migrantes michoacanos puedan tener un vínculo con sus raíces. El gobierno de Michoacán, en el pacífico mexicano, presentó hoy aquí "Radio Michoacán", que comenzó transmisiones hacia Estados Unidos y el mundo a través de Internet para mantener comunicación con la comunidad migrante de esa entidad. "Radio Michoacán" comenzó a transmitir desde el pasado 26 de junio a todo el mundo via Internet, una programación que incluye cápsulas informativas y programas de música regional, folklórica, y contemporánea. La radioemisora [sic] tiene entre sus principales objetivos que los migrantes michoacanos puedan tener un vínculo con sus raíces, reiteró Espinosa en rueda de prensa ofrecida en el Consulado de México en Dallas. La estación es operada por el Sistema Michoacano de Radio y Television (SMRTV), un organismo público que durante 20 años ha ofrecido cobertura de radio y televisión a toda esa entidad (Notimex, El Universal online, Dallas, Texas, EE.UU., jun 29 via Conexión Digital via DXLD) Transmitting to the US?? I didn`t realize there were ``direxional antennas`` for webcasting; and ¿whát`s the URL, Kenet? (gh, DXLD) ** MEXICO. MEXICO PUBLISHES DIGITAL TV PLAN Mexico yesterday released a plan to make digital TV technology available to the entire population by 2021. The Communications and Transport Ministry said in the Official Gazette that "The adoption of the digital television standard will have an impact in the technological, economic and social development of Mexico." Mexico City, Guadalajara and Monterrey along with six border cities will be the first locations where there should be at least two commercial digital channels by 2006. During the 17-year transition period, for every analogue channel a new digital channel will have to be launched, but they will both transmit the same programming. # posted by Andy @ 15:06 UT July 3 (Media Network blog via DXLD) ** MIDDLE EAST. USA/MIDDLE EAST: MEDIA RESEARCH ORGANIZATION STARTS TV MONITORING PROJECT | The Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI) has launched an online resource featuring clips and transcripts of Arabic and Iranian TV channels. The English-language web site at http://www.memritv.org allows users to download clips from several TV channels such as Al-Jazeera, Iran Channel One, Palestinian Authority TV and Al-Manar, along with English-language transcripts on a variety of political and social subjects. MEMRI is an independent non-profit organization analysing Arabic, Persian and Hebrew media. It is based in Washington, DC with offices in London and Berlin, and a media monitoring centre in Jerusalem; and maintains its main web presence at http://www.memri.org Source: BBC Monitoring research 2 Jul 04 (via DXLD) ** NETHERLANDS. 1008 here in Bedfordshire is only about 3 db better than 1395 so not a brilliant signal.(during the day) Anyone know what the ERP is ? (D. Thorpe, BDXC-UK, July 1 via DXLD) Re power and antenna of Ten Gold, 1010: Registered at ITU Geneve as entered in the Geneva plan 1978 and the International Frequency List: HOL 1008 kHz 500 kW carrier power. 30.4 maximum authorized radiation (dB, in dB relative to 1 kW e.m.r.p. or 300 V c.m.f.). 0000-2400 UTC. 05E25 52N23 Flevoland. 400 kW, actual carrier power of the station. 133 degrees, azimuth of maximum power radiation. 30 maximum authorized radiation (dB, in dB relative to 1 kW e.m.r.p. or 300 V c.m.f.). Radiation reduction every 60 degress in dB below maximum (figures are rounded to full dB) North000 / 60 / 120 / 180 / 240 / 300 degrees, 11 / 0 / 0 / 0 / 4 / 11 dB {that means only about 4 dB power reduction towards U.K., wb.} Lopik 1395 kHz entry shows 500 kW, 27.4 dB maximum authorized radiation. Non-directional, no radiation reduction registered. Neither to Albania and their Central European target! Crazy 1978 Geneva plan entry for Dutch FCC authority! 73 wb df5sx (Wolfgang Büschel, DX LISTENING DIGEST) This was not so "crazy" as it may look; the background in short: the Geneva MW/LW Plan 1975 (1978 was the year when it came into effect; it was signed in 1975) did not deal with and does not protect cross- border broadcasting. The purpose of the waveplan was/is to ensure a full coverage of each country's territory, this was how the assignments were calculated. It was the times of the Cold War and no agreement had been reached otherwise if the conference had discussed stations for international broadcasting. The 500 kW Lopik 1395 registration was made with view of a.o. a 1000 kW Albanian registration in order to protect the coverage of Holland (Bernd Trutenau, Lithuania, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Hi Glenn, Just for the record. Radio 10 Gold, Zeewolde noted with very strong signal on 1008 kHz (400 kW) around 2130 UT in parallel with 1395 kHz. (120 kW) Of course these outlets are not real DX catches here in SW of Finland. BTW, has anybody heard these frequencies in North America, I wonder? 73´s (Jouko Huuskonen, Turku, FINLAND, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** PARAGUAY. RADIO NACIONAL DEL PARAGUAY GOES 24 HOURS According to a news clip in ABCcolor digital, the internet edition of the Paraguayan newspaper ABCcolor, Radio Nacional del Paraguay begins 24 hour operation today, including its SW. In a future the FM will be added to the new sked. Announcers at the station are Carlos Rubén Ojeda, Domingo Germán, Carlos Cuenca y José Valinotti besides station's director Flaviano Díaz. Transmitter site is at Capiatá. Spanish text at http://www.abc.com.py/articulos.php?fec=2004-07-01&pid=119535&sec=9 RADIO NACIONAL DEL PARAGUAY TRASMITIRÁ LAS 24 HORAS Desde hoy, Radio Nacional del Paraguay trasmitirá las 24 horas, en AM y onda corta y próximamente en FM. Según su director, Flaviano Díaz, en AM proponen al oyente música folclórica paraguaya, deportes y las actividades del Estado. El plantel de locutores está integrado por Carlos Rubén Ojeda, Domingo Germán, Carlos Cuenca y José Valinotti, además del mismo director, entre otros. Asimismo, participan los artistas Alberto de Luque, Amado del Paraguay, Los Cumbreños, Alfredo Cartes y su típica, Los Hijos del Paraguay, Lucas Hermosa, Nino Méndez, Los Mensajeros del Paraguay con Reina María, Juan Carlos Oviedo y los Hermanos Acuña. Díaz adelantó que se incorporarán próximamente al staff, Oscar Pérez y Quemil Yambay. Por otro lado, Díaz anunció que el Centro de Comunicaciones y Eventos, habilitado en la planta transmisora de la radio, en Capiatá, prepara la Semana del Folclore, del 15 al 22 de agosto. Así también, el próximo 10 de julio inaugurarán una escuela de fútbol, con el Instituto Privado Teodoro S. Mongelós. Además, se firmará un convenio con la Asociación de Jinetes del departamento Central y la Asociación de Scouts del Departamento Central (Horacio Nigro, Uruguay, July 2, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** PERU. Source for the pirate story in DXLD #4100 is http://www.mtc.com.pe/index June 21, 2004. Within the framework of a campaign called "Informalidad Cero" (Zero Irregularity) the MTC; Ministerio de Transportes y Comunicaciones, are asking the public to inform them about stations believed to be pirates, inviting them to do so either by phone or email. Fines are high for those who advertise on pirate stations, but no prize money is promised to informers, it says in the following ministerial report (source as above), dated June 2, 2004. (Henrik Klemetz, July 2, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Nada menos que 93 operaciones de incautación y decomiso de equipos tanto de estaciones de radio como de televisión en el país ha realizado el Ministerio de Transportes y Comunicaciones (MTC) dentro del plan denominado Informalidad Cero. La actividad no solo se ha centralizado en Lima, sino también en Puno, San Martín, Áncash, Arequipa y otras ciudades del interior del país. El MTC invocó, sobre todo, a los anunciantes a no contratar publicidad en estos medios, ya que quienes lo hagan pueden recibir multas que van desde los 1.600 soles hasta el 1'120.000 soles. Si conoce de una estación informal, denúnciela al 433-7800, anexo 2655 o escriba a jrocha @ mtc.gob.pe (via Henrik Klemetz, July 2, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** PERU. 3172.69, Radio Municipal, Panao, Pachitea, Huánuco, 71 kb. 1000 UTC 2/7 2004. Just 15 seconds but with everything: Name, frequencies and full QTH. Recordings and comments at: http://www.malm-ecuador.com 73s (Björn Malm, Quito, Ecuador, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** PORTUGAL [and non]. http://www.telefonia.no.sapo.pt/africa.htm is a very interesting, detailed page on vintage radio receivers, QSLs plus bits and pieces on stations from Portugal and Portuguese overseas colonies and territories. This is all in http://www.telefonia.no.sapo.pt with much info on past and present Portuguese stations as well as many other articles, including a petition to the RDP not to put an end to its radio museum, the country's only of the kind (Carlos Gonçalves, Portugal, DSWCI DX Window via DXLD) ** SPAIN. English speaking Spanish stations -- JACK FITZSIMMONS forwards a Radio World feature on English language radio stations along the Spanish Mediterranean coast. The coast is home to tens of thousands of expatriates and a holiday destination for millions more English speaking tourists. Spectrum FM, which covers the Andalucian coast, claims to be the biggest and best of the English language broadcasters and has six FM transmitters. It was launched in December 1997 by the Boss family, US entrepreneurs. Several competitors have come and gone since the station launched and Spectrum is now in talks with stations across Spain with a view to expanding the network. The target audience is 30 to 55 year old English speakers. A Spanish research bureau Infortecica estimated the regular audience at over 20,000 but was unable to count resident Britons and British tourists. The station plays a mix of music from the 1970s, 80s and 90s with some speciality programmes normally on the weekends. They have extensive sports coverage including live English commentary on all Málaga CF football games. Virtually all programming comes from the Costa del Sol office with two half hour opt outs daily for local news covering the Costa del Sol, Costa Almeira and Costa Blanca. Advertisers include property companies, insurance companies, airlines and golf courses. There is little or no input from external sources other than BBC World Service News. Their website is http://www.spectrumfm.net and they transmit on 88.2 92.6 92.7 105.1 and 105.5 I checked the idealspain.com website and they show several other English speaking stations in Spain: . B.FM broadcasts to the Costa del Sol on 95.5 in association with HFM and the Capital Radio group. . Canal Andalucía Turismo broadcasts in English. . Central FM claims to be the Costa del Sol`s most listened to English station with interactive programming and the largest active database of clients. . Coastline Radio broadcasts from Nerja on the Costa del Sol. . Global Radio is based in Puerto Banus, Marbella. . Power FM covers the Canary Islands broadcasting 24 hours a day in English. . Rem FM is based in San Pedro, Costa del Sol. . Sunshine Radio broadcasts to the Canary Islands on 101.5 (July World DX Club Contact via DXLD) ** SUDAN. 1296, SNBC, Reba, MAY 26, 0153, Morning prayers, solo Arabic tenor with reed instrument backing, fair steady signal, slightly off frequency (1295.99) in the clear, heard no ID but believe it to be this as WRTH indicates 1500 kW but hours at 0300-0700? So time seems off. Only an RF carrier after 0200 (Erik Stromsted, W1ZBT, Pepperell MA; Yaesu 1000MP, Palomar preselector, terminated long wires aimed northeast, southeast and south, NRC International DX Digest via DXLD) ** SWEDEN. [Note: R. Sweden is referred to thruout as ``SRI``, apparently confused with Switzerland. It should not be RSI, either, as the R. Sweden IDs do not mention ``International`` --- gh] I sent a letter and reception report to Radio Sweden last month and also commented on their new programming and programme changes as well as welcoming the new Head of the English Service. I was very pleasantly surprised to receive an email from Mark Cummins who is the new Head of SRI's English Service. I made comment to him that he sounded very Australian and sure enough he is. Originally from Brisbane in Queensland, his parents are still living there and apparently complaining to him that they can never seem to be able to listen to their son with their shortwave radio (Mark says it is probably more from a lack of technical know how rather than propagation, SRI is currently heard at 2130 on 9880 with very good signals). Mark says he has been in and out of many radio and TV jobs in the past, eventually settling in Sweden 10 years ago, coming from Japan. He has just recently taken over the English Department at SRI from Nidia and you can hear him doing many programmes including the "In Touch With Stockholm" mailbag program which can be heard every 1st Sunday on the month. Mark is currently requesting and asking listeners from all over the world to write to Radio Sweden, 105 10, Stockholm, Sweden or email at english @ sr.se or log onto the web site at http://www.sr.se/rs/ and tell him what you like about Sweden and Radio Sweden, what you would like to hear about Sweden and what changes or programmes you would like to hear from Radio Sweden. Mark Cummins is a goer and really wants to bring SRI into the modern world and he wants to know what us listeners would like to hear. At least he and Radio Sweden is trying; they want to be here for the long run on shortwave and want to please their listeners which I think is really great, especially considering the current climate of declining interest and participation by both listeners and international broadcasters along with the major cutbacks or closures due to greedy budget constraints. Please get in touch with Mark Cummins at SRI, he is a great guy and wants to do his best for both SRI and its listeners. Best regards! (Michael Stevenson, Port Macquarie, N.S.W., Australia, July 2, EDXP via DXLD) & who says R. Sweden is not already in the modern world??? (gh, DXLD) ** SYRIA [non]. 13650, LV de Siria Libre, *1800-1819+, Jun 27, árabe, apertura de transmisión con Himno, e ID "Sawt Suriyya al-Hurr", luego música sinfónica, a 1803 comentarios por locutor y lectura del Cor`án. Comentarios politicos, nuevamente a 1817 ID "Huna Sawt Suriyya al- Hurr". Música por cantante y luego siguen los comentarios por locutor. SINPO: 25332 (Gabriel Ivan Barrera, Argentina, Conexión Digital via DXLD) ** U K. BBC World Service highlights [Americas stream times only] There aren`t too many summertime traditions in shortwave, but one of them is the summertime Henry Wood Promenade Concert series, beginning with weekend concerts beginning July 17th, though air times available to North America aren`t the best: Sundays at 0501 and 1901; it`s possible that the Europe 2101 time might be somewhat useful. Weekday concerts begin on July 22nd, but are similarly inconvenient for North American listeners – Thursdays 2100 UT. This is also the timing for the European frequencies, again dicey for North American listeners. Good news for those having web access is that all of the concerts are aired on the domestic BBC Radio 3 service and should be available on- demand for varying amounts of time. Interestingly, the July 22nd concert features a work specifically commissioned by the World Service and composed by Zhou Long, considered a leading Chinese-American composer of today. Saturdays 0306, 1306 and 2306, July 10th: Pick of the World gets into the Proms mood early, as Mark Lowther, presenter of How to Listen, brings insights into the music being performed at the Proms. If World Update is part of your early weekday morning routine (as it is for me), you might be especially interested in the July 24th edition – it`s hosted by Dan Damon, who hosts most days of World Update and who shares some of his personal interests as he highlights other programming for this series. Saturday, July 3rd, and Sunday, July 4th, 1300 UT: Live coverage of the women`s final (Saturday) and men`s final (Sunday) from the Wimbledon tennis championships as part of special editions of Sportsworld. Barry Millns, Alex Capstick and the Sportsworld team have plenty of Wimbledon-related coverage leading up to the finals. Sundays, 0432 and 1132: Letter is the successor to Letter From America and embodies a similar theme to that legendary program, with individuals from a panel of international broadcasters reflecting on the political, cultural or social developments in their region. Mondays 0232: World Business Review has recently received a new look; Lesley Curwen discusses the biggest economic and business stories of the past week with experts from around the world. Mondays 1406, repeated Tuesdays 0006 effective July 5th: Legacies of Rebellion is a four-part series looking back on the Sandinista revolution in Nicaragua 25 years after the civil war and political strife of the early 1980s. Host Mike Lanchin meets up with many of the key actors and the ordinary people from the days of the revolution, in an effort to see how they have changed and to see what has taken the place of the revolutionary zeal of the times. Mondays 1506, repeated Tuesdays 0106: Dialogues, with Barbara Myers (ex-Outlook) interviews international figures in health and medicine. In the conversation, Myers seeks to find out what motivates these individuals and how their professional and personal lives are intertwined. One of the early July editions features an interview with Graeme Cunningham, a psychiatrist and former alcoholic of Ontario, Canada. Weekdays, 0345, 1345 and 2345, beginning July 5th: Among the July features in the book-reading series Off The Shelf is a 5-day reading of Living History, Hilary Rodham Clinton`s memoirs --- with Hilary doing the reading. The two weeks beginning with July 12th feature Absolute Friends, the latest novel by John le Carré, read by the author. Alice Hoffman`s The Probable Future is read for the next two weeks; this story is set in Massachusetts and borrows from the history of witchcraft in Massachusetts. Wednesdays 1545, repeated Thursdays 0145, effective July 7th: Heaven and Hell is a four-part series in the Heart And Soul programming block that looks at perceptions of heaven and hell from different religious and philosophical standpoints. Is hell a distinct place or a state of indescribable suffering? Sunday, July 11th, 1032 and 1532: In Praise of God interview Asma Gull Hasan, an American-born feminist who views Islam as an ethnically diverse and tolerant faith, capable of supporting women`s rights. She also articulates a theological, futuristic vision of Islam which allows individuals to have a direct relationship with God. Mondays 1432, repeated Tuesdays 0032, effective July 12th: Don`t Touch That Dial is a series of six programs in the Music Feature program slot. Don`t Touch That Dial is hosted by disk jockeys from around the world with the hottest local sounds from their region. DJs from Athens, Lagos, Madrid, Buenos Aires, Port of Spain and Durban will take turns spinning the tunes. Sunday, July 18th, 0101 and 0501: Play of the Week features Anton Chekhov`s The Duel, a little-known and witty novella, which looks at the mores of life in the Russian Caucuses, and specifically a morally bankrupt former art student. Monday, July 19th, 0106: The Ticket features a special program from Athens on the eve of the Olympics, featuring specially commissioned concert music, archaeological treasures, Greek movies and the hip music clubs of Athens. Mark Coles hosts; this is one of the few programs (other than Sportsworld, Newshour and Play of the Week) that runs for a full hour (except for the news). Mondays 1532, repeated Tuesdays 0132 and Sundays 2332, effective July 19th: a new six-week series of the science quiz show Inspration goes to air. This is a lighthearted look at inventions and innovations, hosted by Chris Stuart. Wednesdays 1406, repeated Thursdays 0006, effective July 21st: Love is a new four-week series about the course that love takes through our human existence – from the needs of a newborn baby through the cherished memories of older age. The series is hosted by anthropologist Dr. Helen Fisher. Wednesdays 1506, repeated Thursdays 0106, effective July 21st: The Ancient Olympics is a four-part series chronicling the original Olympic Games as they were held in Greece beginning in 776 BC. Jonathan Edwards, himself an Olympic gold medalist triple-jumper, looks back through the games, their origins and traditions, and the role of gamesmanship in the time of the ancient games. Fridays, 1406, repeated Saturdays 0006, effective July 23rd: Olympic Games that Changed the World is a four-part series in the Sports International time block that looks at the major events and developments of the modern Olympics. The first two editions deal with finance, security and drugs – and asks if the Olympics could be started in 2004, presuming they were not restarted back in 1896 --- could such a huge event be launched these days? (Richard Cuff, Easy Listening, July NASWA Journal via DXLD) ** U S A. Re SHAKEUP AT VOA NEWS, 4-100: Sadly, they (upper echelons of power) don't understand that the TRUTH is the most powerful tool anywhere. You don't need to lie or be partisan to tell people what is going on in their part of the world. I fear that spewing out propaganda and half-truths will only make people more cynical about U.S./Western motives (Ricky Leong, QC, swprograms via DXLD) FRONT OFFICE PUSHES ASIDE RESPECTED NEWSMAN Dateline: Washington, 07/01/04. David Jackson announced to the Union that Andre de Nesnera, Director of Central News, is being moved to the position of Chief Diplomatic Correspondent. Ted Iliff will assume the direct supervision of Central News. In addition, Central News will now be forced to produce TV news pieces twice a day "on a schedule designed to fit the needs of our language services which have TV audiences". Newsroom shifts will "be tailored to conform to broadcast schedules and focus on the regions targeted by our language broadcasts during those hours". Also the assignment desk will have expanded hours "to better accommodate our foreign correspondents". "Although London will remain as a correspondent post, London's two editing positions are moving to Washington, where they will help the desk cover a broader range of hours." This is all being done in order that "the Voice of America will be better organized to compete internationally and have an impact in these historic times." Again the Agency makes the claim of "tight budgets" and "limited resources". But we know better, read the article below [as in previous issue] (AFGE Local 1812 via DXLD) ** U S A. VOA'S 'MUSIC MAN' RETIRING AFTER 50 YEARS OF SPINNING AFRICAN MUSIC -- United States Department of State (Washington, DC) June 28, 2004 --- Posted to the web June 30, 2004 Bruce Greenberg, Washington, DC http://allafrica.com/stories/200406300012.html They call him "The Music Man" at the Voice of America, where 83-year- old Leo Sarkisian, the indefatigable host of the highly successful radio show "Music Time in Africa," has been spinning Afrocentric music for the masses in sub-Saharan Africa twice every Sunday for 40 years. "We are the most popular show on VOA by fan mail received," Sarkisian said when interviewed recently in Washington. "Forty percent of VOA's listenership is in Africa." Sarkisian, a naturalized U.S. citizen of Armenian descent, boasts that he answers every letter addressed to his show. "My wife and I devote our weekends to answering our fans," he says. "I'm limited by VOA budgetary constraints to mailing a maximum of 500 responses per month, and I do this because when you consider that the annual income in that region may be about $25.00 a year, and it may cost some kid 50 cents to buy a stamp to write me telling how he listens faithfully to my program, and likes it, then I feel an obligation to respond. "Most cannot afford computers, but they may go into an Internet café to e-mail us. You know, I get some 162 e-mails a month from the fans. And we can't answer them because they have no regular means of accessing the Internet, nor do they have a personal e-mail account. That says something. "I also send a packet containing my newsletter, the latest VOA calendar and programming schedule, and even an information brochure on AIDS twice a year, and it goes out to all my listeners," he added. When discussing his retirement at the end of 2004, he says that his show will go on smoothly without him. "I've hand-picked my successor. He's a young guy -- 30-something -- a Ph.D. in African music whom I met some four years ago at a University of Michigan ethnomusicology conference. You know, the University of Michigan has one of the largest African studies programs in the country. "I'll still be active, though, because I've signed with the State Department's speaker programming series, which sent me and my announcer, Rita Rochelle, on a tour of five Nigerian cities last spring, where we had a tremendous reception. "We traveled all over," he said. Unfortunately, he added, his program is in danger of losing its base among Muslim populations in Africa because of budget cuts to programming in Arabic. Sarkisian recalled his 2003 trip to Namibia, a country he says has few American visitors. "I spoke at a university, was on television and radio. They had an exhibition of my paintings [he's an accomplished portraitist]; I met with the university art department; there were visiting dignitaries..." He continued: "I went to Eritrea during the Ethiopian-Eritrean war, and had an exhibit of my art there. ... Every place I went was amazing." He recalled his first trip to the continent in 1959. He was working as music director for a media company in Hollywood and was sent to Ghana to record that country's folk music. "Ghana had just become independent in 1958, so I was the first private American citizen there. I was supposed to stay for about eight months, but wound up staying for a year, working for Radio Ghana; then went to Guinea. They had just received their independence from France. The French departed, leaving little behind. I helped Radio Conakry get back on the air by helping with the repair of its broadcasting equipment." "Shortly after Edward R. Murrow became head of the U.S. Information Agency [USIA]," Sarkisian said, "he made his first trip to Africa. In Guinea, he told the ambassador he wanted to see me. We met, and he recruited me for USIA. ... He told me he wanted USIA to begin broadcasts to Africa. And that's how it began." During his long career, Sarkisian has had the chance to meet many of Africa's influential statesmen and artists, some of whom have appeared on his program. A recent guest, Queen Lambikiza of the kingdom of Swaziland, was on a U.S. visit this past May to promote awareness of HIV/AIDS and the plight of its African victims through the international release of a CD entitled "Songs of Life." The CD, which features such big-name performers as Aretha Franklin and Paul Simon, is the product of RICA, the Royal Initiative to Combat AIDS, a non-profit organization launched by her husband, King Mswati III, whose nation has one of the highest rates of AIDS infections in the world -- almost 40 percent of its adult population is infected. Sarkisian added that the queen has a law degree and is an accomplished singer. "She's also a composer and has made several recordings. She said that this is Africa's way of reaching out to help itself; to use the medium of music and song to reach the people of all nations, genders, ages and races with a message of hope." The proceeds from "Songs of Life" will be used to combat HIV/AIDS in 14 sub-Saharan nations and to promote worldwide awareness of the disease. (The Washington File is a product of the Bureau of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov) (via Andy Sennitt, dxldyg via DXLD) ** U S A. WWRB has an additional frequency 5.745 MHz !!!!!!!! WWRB is operating 4 transmitters at night time now : 5.050, 5.085, 5745, 6.890 MHz shortwave!!!!! Starting at 7:00 pm all 4 transmitters are on the air!!!!!!!!! Lot`s [sic] of existing and NEW upstarts [sic] joining the WWRB Family of broadcasters every day! Visit our web site at http://www.wwrb.org join our listeners club; we will send you an 8 1/2 by 11 certificate by mail. If you want to view our certificate to see it visit our web page!!! (WWRB July 2 via John Norfolk, dxldyahoogroup via DXLD) 5745 abandoned by WHRI; list-loggers beware! (gh, DXLD) ** U S A. A new entry in the WBCQ Anomalies and Recent Observations page has appeared, which does not mention World of Radio: Saturday, July 3, 2004 [all times UT -4] Lots of schedule changes this week. The "great rearrangement of summer 2004" continues, as time slots and programs shuffle around in the wake of the departure of Brother Scare, and the Rabbi dropping to 1 day a week. Most significant changes to the 9330 schedule. Added Planet World News 9330 Mo-Fr 3:45PM ET Changed Christian Media Network air times on 9330 from Mo-Fr 5PM-2AM ET to 6PM-1AM ET Added American Voice 9330 Mo-Fr 5-6PM ET Moved Frankie V Radio Show from 9330 Su 6PM ET to Saturday 7PM ET Added Additional Christian Sabbath Bible Study 9330 Sa 9PM ET Removed Back To Basics 9330 Sa 9PM ET Added The RMF Show 9330 Sa 11:30PM ET Added Allan Weiner Worldwide rebroadcast 9330 Su 6PM ET and 5105 Su 5PM ET Added Voice of Reason 9330 Su 7PM ET (now on at both 7 and 8PM) Removed Bluegrass Gospel 9330 Su 10PM Removed Joe Mazza Show 7415 Mo 1-3AM Spirit of Elijah takes over all slots formerly held by the Rabbi, except for 7415 We 8-9PM ET Planet World News Roundup moves from 7415 Th 5-5:30PM to 7415 Th 6- 6:30PM Added Good Friends Radio Network 7415 Th 5PM ET Added Spirit of Elijah 7415 Fr 7PM ET (via John Norfolk, dxldyahoogroup via DXLD) ** U S A [and non]. Actor Marlon Brando, KE6PZH/F05GJ, SK One of the best-known names in cinematic as well as Amateur Radio circles, actor Marlon Brando, died in Los Angeles July 1 at age 80. Known to hams worldwide as KE6PZH and FO5GJ, Brando is listed on the FCC database as Martin Brandeaux. He was on the air occasionally through the years with his FO5 call sign from his private island in French Polynesia. In an interview with Larry King on CNN in 1994, Brando confirmed his continued interest in Amateur Radio. In response to a caller's question, he said ham radio provided him with the opportunity to just be himself. The iconoclastic actor was best known for his roles as Stanley Kowalski in "A Streetcar Named Desire," a dockworker in "On the Waterfront," and Vito Corleone in "The Godfather." He was nominated for eight Academy Awards and won twice. Copyright © 2004, American Radio Relay League, Inc. All Rights Reserved (via John Norfolk, dxldyahoogroup via DXLD) ** U S A. OUTFOXED: FILM AIMS TO "EXPOSE" FOX; HOUSE PARTIES SET FOR 7/18 Well, the month of July only started five minutes ago, but here's a prediction: You'll be hearing about the documentary Outfoxed on this blog quite a bit in the next thirty-one days. The film's full title is "Outfoxed: Rupert Murdoch's War on Journalism." Here's the description: "Outfoxed" examines how media empires, led by Rupert Murdoch's Fox News, have been running a "race to the bottom" in television news. This film provides an in-depth look at Fox News and the dangers of ever-enlarging corporations taking control of the public's right to know. The film explores Murdoch's burgeoning kingdom and the impact on society when a broad swath of media is controlled by one person." The film's web site is http://www.Outfoxed.org MoveOn http://action.moveon.org/outfoxed/ is hosting house parties on July 18th, featuring a conference call with Al Franken and Robert Greenwald. The FReepers are already talking about it. It was mentioned on this message board two weeks ago... 12:05:39 AM (CableNewser via DCRTV via DXLD) This blog has loads of stuff on the cable news networks; the particular link in DCRTV was: http://www.cablenewser.com/archive/2004_06_27_archive.htm#108865479224901601 (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) UNIDENTIFIED. 4925, 0420-0440, July 3, Vernacular/Spanish, Continuous choral-like chanting/vocal music with weak, brief OM talks between selections. YL at 0437 joined by OM. No ID noted but the music sounds very African. Possibly Radio Nacional-Bata, Equatorial Guinea? Poor signal under static (Scott R. Barbour, Jr., Intervale, R75, MLB-1, RS longwire with RBA balun, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) EqG has not been active on this frequency for ages. Could it be -900 kHz image from WEWN 5825? R75 should not be subject to such – or could it, with a very strong 5825 signal? (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ POWERLINE COMMUNICATIONS ++++++++++++++++++++++++ BPL: SCORE ONE FOR THE GOOD GUYS A major broadband-over-power line pilot test by Alliant Energy in Cedar Rapids, Iowa is shut down after local hams document the harmful interference and the Federal Communications Commission gets a formal complaint from the ARRL. We get the details from Amateur Radio Newsline`s Mark Abramowicz NT3V: It took nearly three months to accomplish the mission, but amateurs in Cedar Rapids --- armed with ample data and the muscle of the American Radio Relay League --- convinced Alliant to prematurely halt their BPL test. Jim Spencer, W0SR, first discovered the interference on his HF radio right after Alliant launched its BPL testing March 30. Spencer, who quickly mobilized other Cedar Rapids hams to form a technical committee, says the interference was so severe that it wiped out his and others` ability to use their radios. Spencer says the group worked with Alliant officials to try to resolve the interference and conducted several test measurements with the utility`s cooperation. Spencer tells Amateur Radio Newsline the group appealed to Alliant to shut down the system and stop the interference on several occasions. But it was clear the BPL industry was telling Alliant`s managers something else. ``There`s a lot of regulatory uncertainty here,`` Spencer explains. ``And that what the hams were calling harmful interference --- in my case S-9 signals, you know, every 1-plus kilohertz across the band, they were being told that wasn`t really harmful.`` Spencer says communications between his technical group and Alliant officials were civil, but they accomplished little action. He says he and others filed complaints with the FCC. ``I think in 21 communications I received one simple response basically told me to go back to the power company, the operator of the system,`` Spencer says. ``And, of course, I had done that all the time. So, we had been asking the utility company to close it down, we had been asking the FCC to help us and then the ARRL went and escalated that.`` Wade Walstrom, W0EJ, is the ARRL`s Midwest Division Director. He says the league`s FCC complaint finally got the utility`s attention. ``The thrust of the complaint was that they were now aware that the system was causing interference and didn`t shut the system off so now that makes it willful interference,`` Walstrom said... Alliant stopped the BPL pilot test on June 25 saying it had gathered the necessary data to make a determination on whether a general rollout of BPL would be worth pursuing, according to Spencer. He says Alliant`s project leader told him the ARRL`s FCC complaint was just one factor in the company`s decision. ``Obviously we`re happy, but we didn`t feel like we had won,`` Spencer said. ``We felt like this was a technical problem and that we tried to communicate some of the technical parameters to them and that they`d made a good business decision.`` Spencer says an Alliant representative told him the company has no plans to pursue BPL at this time. ``In order to distribute it out to a sparsely-populated rural area with all the equipment it would take, it`s not clear that this thing makes economic sense,`` Spencer says. ``And that this really can meet the goals of the rural user which is one of the things that people touted.`` The ARRL`s Walstrom is cautiously optimistic Alliant`s decision might have a ripple effect. ``We would hope that other utilities or other organizations that were looking to possibly use BPL as a source of revenue will look and see the decision that Alliant has made and re-think their own plans and hopefully decide that maybe there are other ways to provide broadband internet connections to the population as a whole,`` Walstrom says. Walstrom says the Cedar Rapids group led by Spencer has set a precedent. ``All the proof on how well it`s going to work isn`t there yet,`` Walstrom says. ``And the proof that we have established here in Cedar Rapids and is coming out from other parts of the country is that it`s not an interference-free system by any means and in fact it causes a lot of interference and we`ve documented that here.`` Spencer says his committee, consisting of a group of engineers --- most of them retired from Rockwell Collins --- stuck strictly to technical evidence in communications with Alliant. But he says its clear BPL has taken on a very political tone. ``Obviously the problem has got a lot of political implications, but the thing that hams can do is remain professional and keep it primarily on a technical level,`` Spencer says. The ARRL`s Walstrom says if he could stand before the FCC panel to make his case, he would strongly urge the commissioners to postpone action on or even walk away from BPL. ``I think they need to delay it until they`re satisfied that they`re able to mitigate any interference problems at all and by mitigate from an amateur radio standpoint that really means eliminate,`` Walstrom says. Spencer adds, there are no hard feelings toward Alliant. Spencer says he and members of his technical group still have a good, working relationship with the utility. ``We`ve had quite a bit of communication back and forth through this whole thing,`` Spencer says. ``I mean I`ve had many, many e-mails and some phone calls and I would say that it was pretty positive and still is.`` For the Amateur Radio Newsline, I`m Mark Abramowicz, NT3V, in Philadelphia. In addition to operations in Cedar Rapids, Alliant also provides utility services to customers in sections of Minnesota and Wisconsin, and a small strip of northwestern Illinois (W0SR, ARRL via ARNewsline July 2 via John Norfolk, dxldyahoogroup via DXLD) PUBLICATIONS ++++++++++++ DX DOES NOT MEAN DX About your mention in DXLD4099: ``July MONITORING TIMES reproduces the cover of a Japanese ham radio magazine featuring squiggles, the Roman letters `DX` and LOTS of cleavage. Emulating that could perk up MT`s newsstand sales (Glenn Hauser)`` This is not a "Japanese ham radio magazine", but pornography. The title is "I Love You Deluxe", the subtitle is "boy's virginity hunting by a pure lewd woman"!! "DX" is here used as the abbreviation of "deluxe". This kind of bad joke will lose the character of MT (Takahito Akabayashi, Tokyo, Japan, July 3, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Takahito, Many thanks for correcting this. Obviously MT needs someone who can read Japanese... I hope you did not take offense at my saying ``squiggles``; I was just trying to be funny.... Like many westerners, we are really in awe of those who comprehend non-alphabetic languages. 73, (Glenn to Takahito, via DXLD) RADIO EQUIPMENT FORUM +++++++++++++++++++++ UNIVERSAL REMOTES AREN`T http://wizzer.advance.net/cgi-free/getstory_ssf.cgi?f7136_BC_RemoteControls&&news&apadvisories By MAY WONG The Associated Press 7/2/04 12:49 PM SAN JOSE, Calif. (AP) -- As the creator of television's first wireless remote control more than 50 years ago, Robert Adler spawned generations of viewers who do their channel changing from the couch. But today, the retired engineer is just as confounded as millions of others who fumble with the remote controls that clutter their coffee tables and routinely fall into the cracks of sofas. Nearly every audio or video electronic gizmo comes nowadays with a remote control, and despite so-called universal remotes designed to alleviate the proliferation, advancements in this must-have armchair accessory still elude many consumers. The latest models require technological bravado, are expensive, or don't work as expected. Adler, 90, has three remote controls in his suburban Chicago home -- one each for his TV, VCR and DVD player. He has trouble navigating them just to play a movie. But he's never dared condense his collection into a universal remote. "I think it's scandalous how little the people who design these things seem to keep in mind that people don't know it by heart as they do," he said. Today's remote controls commonly sport 30 to 50 buttons to accommodate the growing features -- and complexities -- of modern electronics, from picture-in-picture modes of dual-tuner TVs to the ability to zap past commercials. The average American household has four remotes, according to the Consumer Electronics Association. Others estimate the average is even higher, especially as home entertainment expands to include satellite or cable boxes, media centers, and TiVo-like digital video recorders. Some companies are even making remote controls for personal computers, which are becoming entertainment hubs themselves. Zach Scribner, a 25-year-old sound engineer in San Francisco, bought a $15 universal remote about two years ago to tame eight-clicker chaos. To his dismay, it worked with only one of his two TVs and his VCR, but not his DVD player or any part of his stereo system. "It's not so universal -- it's regional," he said. That's because basic universal remote controls under $50 are limited to the thoroughness of the maker's database of remote control codes. Usually, cheap universals actually can operate only five to eight devices. So if your CD player's make and model isn't supported by that universal remote, you're stuck. "That's why people go from six to three remotes -- and not one -- and that doesn't help their cause," said Ramzi Anmari, a vice president at Universal Electronics. The company provides universal remote technology to electronics companies and licenses its database of infrared remote codes. Still, remote controls sold as aftermarket accessories are a growing business: U.S. shipments increased to 33.2 million units in 2003 from 30.7 million in 2002, according to the Consumer Electronics Association. Industry observers say low-end models still account for the bulk of the sales, even though more sophisticated all-in-one type remotes have emerged in the past few years. On the cutting edge are remotes featuring touchscreens, wireless technology that allows signals to work through walls, or even Internet access. The makers of the Guide Remote, which already displays a user's customized TV listings, hope to let users soon vote on reality TV shows via the remote. Some companies, like NoviiMedia and BravoBrava!, have developed software to turn other devices, such as personal digital assistants, into uebercontrollers. Agilent Technologies recently announced an infrared transceiver that can be built into mobile phones and turn them into remote controls for CD players and other home appliances. "These are the advanced guard of controllers, but the mainstream market for remotes is still people who are just changing TV channels, pausing the DVD, and switching from the DVD to TV input," said Jim Barry, a Consumer Electronics Association analyst. Universal remotes that run closer to $100 or higher are smarter and more flexible. They can "learn" or pick up function codes via an infrared zap from a gadget's remote that isn't on the universal remote's pre-designated database. They also often have more "macro" buttons that users can program to do a series of tasks with a single click. For instance, a user could have a "macro" button turn the TV on, switch it to the A/V mode, power up the home theater receiver, set it to DVD mode, and turn on the DVD player -- a common process that would otherwise entail juggling three different remotes. The $200 Harmony H659 by Intrigue Technologies tries to ease user agony by providing pre-labeled buttons such as "Watch TV" or "Listen to Music" that do the "macro" programming for you, automatically sending the right commands to your components. The Harmony remote can be programmed via the Internet. Users can go online to describe how they use their gaggle of gadgets and hook their remotes to the computer to download the necessary codes and commands. Climb higher on the price scale, spending more for the remote than for some coffee tables, and there are models that can operate more than a dozen devices -- not only audio and video components but sometimes your air conditioner, too. The $500 Home Theater Master MX-800 controls up to 20 devices. The new $700 Sony Navitus Remote Control controls 18 and sports a fancy color LCD screen that presses back against your fingertip to confirm each command. Royal Philips Electronics' top-of-the-line $1,699 iPronto universal remote can wirelessly connect to the Internet to display news or e-mail, as well as a TV programming guide on its LCD screen. These are remotes you'd rather not lose. But even the dilemma of a misplaced remote has been tackled. The new $80 Radio Shack 8-in-1 Kameleon is the first universal remote control to include a finder feature. If the remote disappears, a user could press a button on a separate finder device for up to 14 seconds to make the remote control beep loudly. The Kameleon itself, which controls up to eight devices, doesn't have any buttons. Instead, a blank LCD display lights up with on-screen buttons once the internal motion sensor is triggered. Depending on which mode you want to be in -- say, TV, cable box, or DVD -- then only that keypad layout would illuminate. Remote control technology has come a long way since Adler's two- and four-button models of the Zenith Space Command in 1956. The Space Command could turn the TV on or off, change the channel, or mute the volume. For Adler, that's user heaven compared to today's remotes. "You need a pilot's license to use these." (via Mike Cooper, DXLD) THE NRC IBOC THREAD CONTINUED First, most broadcasters know that when the NAB weighs in, that's end of game as it is presently played in DC. Second, how can they comment in any meaningful or effective way? The 99-325 proceeding was set up on a technical basis; thus non-technical protests are considered opinion with no basis in fact - essentially read and filed with no impact whatsoever. If the appropriate IEEE group weighed in with a differing analysis of the iBiquity data, or did testing of the operating stations showing a great variance, then there might be a difference, but neither the NAB or CES who also has a very large stake in this want to change anything at this late date, and I expect CES has quite a few IEEE members in its engineering ranks therefore I'd think they cede the floor to the group with the stake and stay out of it. Thus, we reach the point where the FCC is saying, in effect, speak now or forget about it, and no one has the necessary information to contradict the iBiquity "findings" which were reviewed by the NAB "ad hoc engineering group" and also by the NRSC. IOW, they are saying, "Bring us data." But, there is no way to get the data unless Clear Channel runs IBOC on WLW at night so the iBiquity tests could be independently verified. ``We had some fun a couple of weeks ago with the owner of a one-lung station in Tennessee who thinks IBOC is the answer to all of his ills and blames DXers for delaying it. But such buffoons are the real problem.`` Not nearly to the extent that large groups are the problem, and many of their people don't understand it either. Clearly, they don't, or they would not be so strongly behind it. I'm learning as much as I can, hoping to work with it to the best of my ability and make it play where possible. The fun will really begin when we find - surprise, surprise - some stations will have serious problems staying within the NRSC-2 mask while staying within their directional patterns. ``Oh well, we have some interesting years ahead of us on the AM band! Let's eat, DX, and be merry, for tomorrow AM DXing might die.`` It's a nice line |g|, but perhaps a little bit defeatist. |g| The problems are in the transition while the IBOC hybrid mode is being transmitted. When transmission is all digital, DXing will be even more interesting because it will be possible to understand what's received. That's the thing about digital - either it's there, or it's not. It may take a few years, but full digital is a must for AM sooner or later, or QRN / QRM (too) will prevail (Phil Alexander, CSRE, Broadcast Engineering Services and Technology, Indianapolis, June 14, NRC-AM via DXLD) I think IBOC DXing will be most interesting in the early days (like now), and that's why I'd love to get my hands on something like an IBOC version of the CC Radio that could be used with a loop. WLW-700's IBOC "digihash" was well heard in CA and AZ back on 2002 even though their analog signal was smothered by KALL. This leads me to suspect WLW would now be DXable in the west via IBOC instead of analog, and that could be the case for other stations where they're the only IBOC station on their (analog) channel. Maybe I could bag WOR out here and send Tom Ray a reception report. . . . maybe he'd send me a QSL. . . . talk about irony!! But I think the band is really going to get effed big time --- for average listeners as well as DXers --- when you get multiple IBOC stations on the same and adjacent frequencies at night. The receiver "default" to analog reception when the IBOC signal is not strong enough will just be lovely to experience. . . you go abruptly from IBOC to analog (with noise and digihash), then back to IBOC, then defaulting again to analog and digihash. . . maybe we DXers will look upon this as a challenge, but I think average listeners will be royally p.o.'d by that sort of nonsense. Any mix of skywave and digital modulation (like the genuinely idiotic DRM initiatives by some dimwitted shortwave broadcasters) is bad news for anything short of purely experimental purposes. "Either it's there, or it's not" works well when you're using line-of-sight paths in the GHz range, but it's not a smart approach when the ionosphere plays a big part in getting a signal from point A to point B --- even if broadcasters don't care about out-of-market coverage, the ionosphere doesn't know that and will still propagate IBOC digihash. I think IBOC will actually increase QRM on the AM band because of the above-noted skywave propagation of digihash. And it will do nothing about AM's real problems, namely too many commercials, lousy programming, and too many stations fighting too many competitors (like cable TV) for available ad dollars. [Later:] it was my understanding that the IBOC digihash adjacent to the analog primary (like WLW-700) carried the digital components, and receiving that above and below the primary was all you needed to demodulate the digital signal---in other words, if you could receive the WLW IBOC digital components at an adequate level to "capture" an IBOC receiver, then any analog signals on 700 would be ignored. Can anyone working with IBOC correct/clarify my assumptions? Thanks! (Harry Helms W7HLH, Las Vegas, NV, DM26, ibid.) The IBOC has to be at least 15 db above the noise or QRM/ QRN to properly and reliably decode (Powell E. Way, ibid.) As best I understand it, that cannot happen when there is another, stronger carrier on the center frequency. My expectation would be that the definition you noted would only pertain if WLW were strong enough to be clearly stronger than the competing analog signal. But that's just my understanding, nothing more (Russ Edmunds, Blue Bell, PA ( 15 mi NNW Philadelphia), ibid.) I didn't know the IBOC receiver needed a carrier on the center frequency. Assuming it does, how does it know the carrier is coming from the "right" station? I'd think if a carrier on 700 kHz is necessary, one from KALL would be just as good as one from WLW. Or are the datastreams phase-locked to the analog carrier? (Doug Smith, TN, ibid.) In principle, if you can receive one of the primary digital sidebands well enough, then you can recover core mode audio, which gives you mono at 20 kb/s. If you can receive both primary sidebands, it will be more robust, since these sidebands carry the same information, but offset 4.5 seconds for time diversity. No hope of getting 36 kb's stereo audio unless WLW itself is way above everything else on 700. But are 690 and/or 710 really clear enough at your location that you could receive a 1 kW station from Ohio at 15-20 dB above the noise and co-channel interference? Seems doubtful. My guess is DXing with an IBOC receiver will wear thin *very* quickly. You won't get much digital out of the skywave signals [Later: When I made my previous comments, I'd forgotten that the digital signal has its own reference signal - a pair of reference subcarriers at +/- 181.7 Hz from the carrier. They are modulated with BPSK and have the highest power of any of the IBOC subcarriers, at -26 dBc each (by my count, there is a total of 156 subcarriers in the digital signal). I think you have to demodulate the reference data stream in order to get any digital audio, so you have get that plus at least one of the primary sidebands to get mono audio. Therefore, if the IBOC station is blocked by another co-channel station, you get zilch (except maybe its analog audio under the interfering station). (Barry McLarnon VE3JF, Ottawa, ON, ibid.) FCC IBOC filings What a nice pile of comments on the FCC site today! One stretch has one-after-the-other comments from Craig Healy, Dave Hershberger, Leonard Kahn, Barry McLarnon and yours truly. Special awards should be given to Hershberger and McLarnon. Barry's "comment" is more like a complete report and is a nicely thought out piece of work with the technical information to make his point. Hershberger's comment is great from a different viewpoint; it gives field strength readings for an IBOC interferer, the desired analog station, and has mp3 recordings of the situation. In Grass Valley, California he could not listen to his local (6 miles away!) without IBOC interference from Las Vegas. Now to see what happens. Desperate people do desperate things. The AM'ers are desperate, and will try any miracle drug that is offered to them rather than die a slow death (Chuck Hutton, WA, June 14, NRC-AM via DXLD) Another comment that impressed me is the one from Paul Ford. I don't know him, but his piece pushes all the right emotional buttons about the looming destruction of the AM broadcast service, and may be more effective in getting the attention of the commissioners than the technical arguments the rest of us have made. Now to see how well iBiquity & co. can tapdance through the minefield that we've laid (Barry McLarnon, ibid.) A good emotional argument will carry more weight than a technical one, unless the latter comes from some august body like the IEEE. Anyway, we all know that it's the $$$ that really talks. I haven't read all the comments yet, but Bob Foxworth made some great points. A local broadcast consultant called me today to talk about my comments, and he also singled out Bob's filing as one that impressed him. Interesting mixed bag from the industry side. The usual blather from iBiquity, and one from Infinity (subsidiary of Viacom, an iBiquity investor) parroting the NAB recommendations. A much more reserved comment in support of nighttime AM IBOC from Cox (another iBiquity investor, and owners of WSB), saying that stations should be compelled to turn off IBOC immediately if they get interference complaints. And one from WGN's owners, saying they believe nighttime operation will cause too many problems and proposing operation only between 0500 and 1900 (a compromise that will likely satisfy nobody). And here's the one that really tickles me: from the CEA (Consumer Electronics Assn.)... they want nighttime AM IBOC, but they want the FCC to require broadcasters to *immediately* correct any interference problems, including requiring them to "work with the affected listener(s) to restore acceptable analog reception". Wow! So, if, say, WSB clobbers your reception of WJR, a guy will fly in from Atlanta and help you tune out the crud. Now that's service! Here's the URL to find the CEA filing: http://gullfoss2.fcc.gov/prod/ecfs/retrieve.cgi?native_or_pdf=pdf&id_document=6516213446 The fact that a major player like the CEA gives such a lukewarm endorsement of nighttime IBOC is encouraging, I think (Barry McLarnon VE3JF Ottawa, ON, June 15, NRC-AM via DXLD) I was amazed, and pleased, to read the WGN filing. The big eye opener for me is that apparently, the (some) major 50 kW fellows are sharply divided on this. I had presupposed they would all be in lockstep. Many of them are still in slumber-land, perhaps. Buckley was predictable. If you are west of the Paramus Mall, drop dead, thank you. (cf. The Daily News 1975 headline Ford to City: Drop Dead) The thing about "immediately correct interference" is hot stuff. We should send them all the depart/arrival flight times for our local airports. Better yet: The only way my interference can be fixed is with 500 foot BOGs pointed at my desired stations. Please buy me the needed 3 acres of land. Also, the red caution flags start waving when one sees "exciting" and "technology" used in close proximity. I think Infinity was the 'guilty party' in this one. It always reminds me of Commissioner Kathleen Abernathy who stated she "couldn't wait to get one in her car". (yeh...) We should send her a copy of the picture of Mr. Jury from iBiquity holding the giant 1960-era Fisher tuner in one hand and the subassembly IC module in the other, and say, "you can pick just one..." (after all, the photo caption said "one replaces the other") There's another good one from Nebraska Rural Radio, the good folks who operate KRVN 880 and others. They basically said "thanks, but no thanks". It's worth a read. All the one-paragraph submissions from those who want to see secondary audio channels reminded me of the times the NRA has members flood Congress with postcards every time Kennedy or Schumer start thinking bad thoughts about gun control. The one from WUSF-FM I also read, as they are a local and, to my knowledge, the only user of IBOC in this area. In her filing, Jo Ann Urofsky stated that WUSF was not aware of any interference issues. But I thought I had read, perhaps here, that a Sarasota station was interfered with down towards Charlotte County by the WUSF sideband signal. Do you recall this, Paul? I'd like to drop her a cordial note and ask about it. Not with malice of course, as WUSF actually is a frequently listened to station for me. I haven't seen anything from RIAA lately, and they are the ones who had the news item a few days ago panicking at the thought that unscrupulous teenagers might actually DOWNLOAD music and place it on the (gasp) INTERNET !!! (Bob Foxworth, Tampa FL, June 15, ibid.) I've just started to dig through the filings, but already my hat is off to several NRC members whose comments are written in such a way that it would be nearly impossible for even THIS FCC to completely ignore them. Doug Smith's filing, in particular, is top notch; Barry McLarnon's is equally impeccable (and has the extra advantage of raising very serious questions about IBOC's compatibility with international broadcasting agreements.) No, I didn't submit one of my own, and I have my reasons, partly having to do with preserving my income stream from two entities that support IBOC (yes, Clear Channel, my indirect employer at M Street Corp., and my local public broadcaster, WXXI.) In addition, I also lack the technical background that Doug and Barry bring to bear on the issue, and without a local IBOCaster (I hope Bruce Elving steals that contraction soon!) to listen to, I'm really not in a position to comment as an affected listener...yet. But I'm grateful as all get out to those who were in a position to comment and did so. The most compelling pro-IBOC arguments I've read as I go through the filings came from the slew of public radio stations that commented in favor of the system - but their comments all focused on the multiple- audio-stream capability of FM IBOC. On the whole, though I'm certainly not delighted about the potential effects of FM IBOC on my DXing, I'm much more impressed with what I've heard of that system than with its AM counterpart. It's my belief that the FCC pays a reasonable amount of attention in these proceedings to comments that come from "the public," as opposed to the usual band of industry insiders and lobbyists. And the record now shows that "the public" stands squarely - unanimously, in fact, as best I can tell - against the flawed AM IBOC system. That's gotta count for a little something at least. (The filings from WGN and KRVN don't hurt a bit, either.) I hope the FCC doesn't take some of the more "out there" filings, including one that makes the patently ridiculous and unsupportable claim that the introduction of IBOC would wipe out every AM station in St. Louis except KMOX, as a reason to disregard the several very well- reasoned, well-researched and carefully defended filings that oppose IBOC. s (Scott Fybush, NY, ibid.) With power line and BPL QRM, analog AM radio is in its last days commercially however you look at it. The FCC has abdicated their responsibility as "guardians" of the spectrum and sold out to the highest bidders, so to speak. The only reason many AM's are on the air now is the same as the FM's that were on in the late 50's and early 60's - in the dark days of FM. The owners are holding the licenses in the hope that their properties will increase in value when conditions change as they did for FM. The FCC appears convinced that IBOC is "THE" answer that will fix their mistake with AM stereo. Facts ceased to matter many years ago. The misuse of the NRSC-2 mask should speak for itself about that point. This is "political engineering" and any resemblance to the real process is purely coincidental. :-( MW DX will change. No doubt about that. However, everyone is concentrating on the interim hybrid mode which is a temporary transitional phase until enough IBOC capable receivers move into the hands of the audience to allow an analog cutoff. From an economic standpoint, that means IBOC receivers in CARS, so we are looking at several years unless a manufacturer comes up with a cheap converter. IMHO that's not as far fetched as some seem to think. The market will be there, and so will the silicon essential to the task. Secondly, the price of aftermarket receivers will fall rapidly with mass production. This will be more a marketing decision, but since it's going to become obvious that the hybrid mode won't work very well, I suspect there will be a strong push to market IBOC capable aftermarket radios that will be sold essentially at the price of present day analog aftermarket sets. My best guess is five years on the low side, perhaps ten on the high side before analog goes away and the signals are reformatted to pull them back into their channels. Note that the original IBOC proposal states a receiver capable of downloading new instructions OTA. This will be essential as they will be playing with the codec for several years until they get it more or less "right". IMHO what will be left for DXing is going to be more reliant on antenna directionality, rather than the human ear. Selective fading is a possibility that's just not clear because there is no actual data AFAIK. The iBiquity testing of 2002 concentrated on interference from digital subcarriers to analog adjacencies. It's not clear how much the inherent distortion of skywave will affect digital reception because iBiquity et al would like to ignore its existence and present day utility. There's also a possibility that the IBOC signal can be received by a wide band receiver and demodulated separately. While this would be a daunting challenge today, in 5 or 10 years, considering the increases in computer power available, it may not be. I believe there's hope for the future (Phil Alexander, CSRE, Broadcast Engineering Services and Technology, Indianapolis, ibid.) I think you're being wildly optimistic. DAB has been available in some countries for nigh onto ten years now, and except for the UK where there are numerous DAB-only services on the air, it hasn't made a dent. Digital receiver penetration is nil everywhere else. And the alternatives to terrestrial radio just keep increasing, so it just becomes a harder sell as time goes on. Luckily, in those other countries, broadcasters can run digital radio up the flagpole without mucking up their existing analog services in the process. Marketing expertise in the USA is second to none (just look at who's in charge to prove that!), but I still doubt that this turkey's gonna fly (Barry McLarnon, VE3JF, Ottawa, ON, ibid.) And that's the very big, and very risky, assumption AM IBOC rests upon. IBOC backers are taking pent-up consumer demand for AM (and FM) IBOC as a given because "IBOC is digital and consumers like digital." The notion that consumers might want something else from radio --- like choice and no commercials --- seem to be lost among those who have inhaled too deeply of the IBOC techno-blow. A few days ago, XM announced they topped the two million subscriber mark, and that's after less than three years in business. Anyone want to bet whether there will be two million IBOC receivers in use at this time in 2007? Any possibility those dissatisfied consumers will just go to XM or Sirius instead of IBOC? The migration to satellite radio is already well underway, and mucking up the AM band with digihash will only accelerate that trend. I know some in the broadcasting community feel IBOC is the answer to their prayers. But, as the ancient Greeks like to say, when the gods are angry with you they answer your prayers (Harry Helms W7HLH, Las Vegas, NV DM26, ibid.) Barry McLarnon steered me to an interesting article on IBOC from the perspective of an affected broadcaster. http://www.rbrepaper.com/epaper/pages/june04/04-112_e4p1.html In the article Mr. Sima Birach owner (?) of Birach Broadcasting suggested calling his lawyer as a last resort to stop interference from WKDL 730 on his station WGOP-700 in the Washington DC area. Recommended reading for those interested in IBOC. I have to wonder if the FCC, iBiquity, and stations using IBOC are prepared for litigation involving interference from IBOC (Bill Harms, Elkridge, Maryland, June 17, NRC-AM via DXLD) I just don't see how a better radio will solve the noise problem. What kind of radio would be able to get rid of the cacophony from light dimmers, electrical appliances, computers, bad powerlines, etc? And a better radio surely won't solve the IBOC noise problem; the noise from adjacent channels running IBOC can`t be removed by any sort of noise blanker or better selectivity as the IBOC energy falls inside the frequencies used by the desired signal (Chuck Hutton, WA, June 19, NRC-AM via DXLD) Having a radio equipped with DSP will go a long ways to help reducing the effects of the noise generators. Having a radio where its front end is not as wide as 4 barn doors helps in combating the IBOC problem. It sure would be nice to see those types of receiver improvements in all radios, then there wouldn`t be any need for IBOC. When you modify the front end of your own radio to combat IBOC problems, it doesn`t even put a dent in the overall receiver problem that everyone else has. Bob Carter, Operations/Engineering--Max Media Radio Group/NC Division, WGAI-NewsRadio 560 AM Stereo .., WCXL 104.1 Beach 104..., WQDK 99.3, Q-Country..., WWOC 94.5 WaterCountry 94.5 -------------------------------------------------------------------- Mid-Atlantic Engineering Services--providing radio stations with engineering services in the middle eastern Atlantic area. E-mail: MidAtlanticEngin @ aol.com -------------------------------------------------------------------- Echolink RF node 56703 145.250 VHF repeater, 440.850 UHF link,29.550 Remote Base -------------------------------------------------------------------- Owner and moderator of: Echolink-Open-List@yahoogroups.com AMStereo@smartgroups.com (NRC-AM via DXLD) As the IBOC energy is landing inside the frequency band you are trying to receive, there's no way to remove all the IBOC energy with filters or narrower front end. You can knock out a bit with filtering, but you'll never get even half of it removed if you want to leave a reasonable bandwidth for analog reception. As for DSP noise reduction, that (theoretically) works when the noise comes from one source that can be modelled and hopefully predicted. When the interference comes from a variety of sources (your monitor, your home networking, your PC, your touch dimmer lights, your electric fence, your smart furnace controller, your automatic outside light system , the bad power lines, etc) the sum of the energy becomes such a random thing that it really can't be modelled well. That's also why IBOC noise can't be removed with normal noise reduction techniques; it's a random noise caused by random bit patterns in the digital stream. DSP seems like magic sometimes, but this isn't a case where I see it helping (Chuck Hutton, WA, (who worked on DSP oriented wireless communications systems for a decade), NRC-AM via DXLD) As for the IBOC energy that is spoken of, let`s take 950 kHz for instance. The IBOC energy that a station on 950 transmits is not actually on 940 and 960 as one would like to think. It`s obvious that anyone that thinks otherwise is not quite up to full speed on how IBOC works. I've been near WXGI in Richmond VA, I've been near WPEN in Philadelphia, I can hear WOR 720 [sic] NYC on the Outer Banks of NC with a signal strong enough to lock in on the seek and scan mode. Yes, they have a strong signal along the ocean front this far south year around. And ever since I "tightened" up the radio, the IBOC crap that everyone with "junk" radios complain about, I do not hear. I have not done this with a portable radio yet, just an automobile stock radio. Using a field strength meter back when WLW and WOR were testing IBOC at night, there are distinct peaks in signal strengths noted. You have the digital carrier just above and below the analog carrier. The digital carriers are within the channel allotment of the station operating in such a mode --- in other words they do not overlap one another or into another station`s channel allotment. Today`s AM receivers are built to mask, or at least try to mask any noise above 3 to 4 kHz --- audio masking. Sadly enough, the RF splatter is still there, just not noticed due to audio filtering and not using a brick wall to keep the crud from an adjacent channel from "bleeding over". True you'll never get rid of all of the junk as other factors in the receiver and signal strength of a particular station come into play here. Don`t expect to sit under a broadcast tower and be able to hear a weak station 10 kc away --- it won`t happen. RF amps and AGCs in today`s technology made radios just wouldn`t be able to handle it. AM broadcast stations have a brick wall filter in the audio processing (hence the term NRSC for simplicity). That audio stops at around 9 kHz and does not sneak in and allow 11 or 12 kHz of audio --- 9ish kHz and that`s where it stops. If receivers were to incorporate the same type of brick wall in reverse you would end up with a very similar scenario at the receiving end. The only problem with making radios of such quality would drive the price up on that 5 dollar China made radio at America`s oversized "discount" store. I too thought that filters and what have you would not work, so I had to try it to disprove myself. I'm not here to argue what works and what doesnt. I'm just passing along my observations from real world conditions. Some educational reading on the waveforms of an IBOC signal, the ins and outs of IBOC: http://www.ibiquity.com/technology/pdf/Waveforms_AM.pdf List of stations by region operating IBOC: http://www.ibiquity.com/hdradio/hdradio_hdstations.htm (Bob Carter, ibid.) CONVENTIONS & CONFERENCES +++++++++++++++++++++++++ 10TH MEXICAN MEETING IN VERACRUZ JUL 29 – AUG 01, 2004 As you probably know, the 2004 Mexican National DX Meeting will take place in Veracruz on July 30, 31 and August 01 (Friday through Sunday), organized by César Fernández and Rafael Grajeda of the Sociedad de Ingenieros Radioescuchas. Below you will find the latest revision of the agenda for the meeting. Please note that we are happy to announce that the President of R Taiwan International, Ms. Cheryl Lai, and Elena Chen of the Spanish service of RTI will be attending the meeting. We have also received confirmation that Manolo de la Rosa and his wife Malena, who are the producers and presenters of R Havana Cuba's "En Contacto" DX program, will also be joining us. My wife Thaïs and I will be there from R Miami International. We also hope to have some other representatives of both Mexican and international shortwave stations. We have just learned that the meeting will be held at the Museum of the City of Veracruz in the downtown part of the city. We will have an auditorium which seats 92 persons for seminars and programs, as well as an adjacent meeting room where there will be an exhibition of shortwave receivers by Rafael Grajeda, tables and exhibits from several international broadcasters and other exhibitors, a registration area, and an area for "coffee breaks." However, since it will be quite hot in Veracruz at that time, instead of coffee we will have cold water, soft drinks, cookies, etc. Some of the city leaders are expected to be present for the inauguration of the meeting. César Fernández has informed us that the official hotel for the event will be the Hotel Mesón del Mar, which is directly across the street from the Museum. The building itself is a historical monument. It was recently completely restored and opened as a hotel at the end of 2003. It is a beautiful colonial-style building, but has all the modern conveniences. Rooms have air conditioning, telephone, cable TV, private bath, etc. We understand the hotel also has Internet access and a restaurant. You can find more information at the hotel's website: http://www.mesondelmar.com.mx "Standard" rooms at the hotel cost 550 pesos (approx. US$ 48) and they have one large bed for one or two persons. "Double" rooms at the hotel cost 750 pesos (approx. US$ 65) and have two large beds for two, three or four persons. These rates include the 17% Mexican hotel taxes. The manager of the hotel has offered us a 10% discount off of these rates if the group rents at least four standard rooms and four double rooms during the meeting. We urge you to arrive on Thursday, July 29, as there will be registration and informal activities on Thursday afternoon, and the official inauguration will be early Friday morning. The meeting will end at noon on Sunday, Aug. 1, so you may want to check out on Aug. 1 or perhaps stay that night in the hotel and leave the next day. The hotel rooms at the Mesón del Mar need to be reserved in advance, and we suggest doing so as quickly as possible to make sure you get a room before they are sold out. If you would like to reserve one or more rooms, please send an e-mail to me and give me the details of what type of room and how many rooms you want to reserve (Standard or Double, and for how many persons?), and we will be glad to make the reservation for you. We will confirm the reservation for you by e-mail. Depending on where you are coming from, you might be able to get a good airline ticket price to fly to Mexico City and then on to the Veracruz airport. However, you may find that the connecting flight from Mexico City to Veracruz will cost you almost as much (or perhaps more) than your flight to Mexico City. If this is the case, you may want to take a deluxe bus from Mexico City to Veracruz. We would suggest the Uno bus line. You can find all of the details on their website: http://www.uno.com.mx (in both English and Spanish). To find the fare from Mexico City to Veracruz (one way), you would click on "English," then "Destinations and reservations." Then where it says "De donde sale?" ("Where are you leaving from?") towards the bottom of the page, select "Mexico Tapo," which is the Tapo bus station in Mexico City, near the international airport (only a few dollars by taxi). Where it says "A donde quiere viajar?" ("Where do you want to travel to?") select "Veracruz", then "Continuar" ("Continue"). There you will find a list of all of the days and times the bus makes this trip (four to six times a day). It also says that the travel time is about 5 and 1/2 hours, and the one-way price is 399 pesos (about US$ 35). You can then proceed to make reservations using your credit card online, or you can call them to make reservations. These buses are very comfortable, with airplane-like service, movies, air conditioning, restrooms, etc. There is no registration fee for the DX Meeting, but you will be responsible for paying for your own meals and accommodations. We look forward to seeing you in Veracruz on July 29. If you have any questions, please let me know (Jeff White, Jun 2, via DSWCI DX Window June 30 via DXLD) Preliminary schedule: [UT -5] Thursday, July 29 1700-2100 Registry Friday, July 30 1000-1030 Opening 1030-1115 Experience in the EDXC meeting in Germany/César Fernández de Lara 1115-1200 10 years of DX Meetings / Many 1200-1300 Radio Miami International/Jeff & Thaïs White 1300-1500 Break for Lunch 1500-1600 Radio Basics/Miguel Ángel Rocha 1600-1700 FMRE (Mexican Radio Amateurs)/Juan José Miroz 1700-1800 Experiences working with DRM in Veracruz/Rafael Grajeda 1800-1900 10 Years of DX Anniversary Celebration 2000 DX Night # 1 Saturday, July 31 1000-1100 Radio Taiwan International (Confirmed) 1100-1200 Radio Vlandereen (to confirm)/Radio Habana (to confirm) 1200-1300 Radio Mundial Adventista AWR/Dr. Adrian Peterson (Confirmed) 1300-1500 Break for Lunch 1500-1600 Radio Mexico Int. (to confirm)/ Radio Educación (To confirm) 1600-1700 The Radio in Mexico / Ana Cristina de Razo 1700-1800 History of the Short Radio of Wave in Mexico/Pepe González 1800-1900 Forum of Radio Broadcasters DX Night # 2 Sunday, August 01 1000-1100 Radio and Internet/Héctor García Bojorge 1100-1200 Closing. (César Fernández de Lara, Veracruz, México, DSWCI Window June 30 via DXLD) ###