DX LISTENING DIGEST 4-102, July 7, 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 FIRST AIRINGS OF WORLD OF RADIO 1237: Wed 2200 on WBCQ 7415, 17495-CUSB {NOT: both were off, so 5105?} Thu 2030 on WWCR 15825 WRN ONDEMAND [from Fri]: http://new.wrn.org/listeners/stations/station.php?StationID=24 OUR ONDEMAND AUDIO [also for CONTINENT OF MEDIA, MUNDO RADIAL]: Check http://www.worldofradio.com/audiomid.html [from early UT Thursday] WORLD OF RADIO 1237 (high version): (stream) http://www.w4uvh.net/wor1237h.ram (download) http://www.w4uvh.net/wor1237h.rm (summary) http://www.worldofradio.com/wor1237.html [from Thursday] WORLD OF RADIO 1237 (low version): (stream) http://www.w4uvh.net/wor1237.ram (download) http://www.w4uvh.net/wor1237.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 [1237 might be available early UT Thursday by changing date to 07-07] CONTINENT OF MEDIA 04-05 July 6 is now available: (stream) http://www.dxing.com/com/com0405.ram (download) http://www.dxing.com/com/com0405.rm OUR SCHEDULES HAVE BEEN UPDATED July 5 to include more webcasts: http://www.worldofradio.com/radioskd.html http://www.worldofradio.com/wormast.html ** AFGHANISTAN [non]. Here`s the answer to the mysterious unID Afghan service on 17700: INTERNEWS RADIO/SALAAM WATANDAR as in the July 2004 WRTH Update (see review below under PUBLICATIONS), Pashto/Dari at 0130-0300 daily on 11795, 1330-1500 daily on 17700, no sites given, and no further info about who is behind it, etc. (Glenn Hauser, July 6, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Out comment reached WRTH before this issue was published, and a revised WRTH Update added this: (Glenn Hauser, July 7, DX LISTENING DIGEST) See http://www.internews.org for more information (WRTH July Update via DXLD) OK, Internews is involved in lots of countries, but the Afghanistan page http://www.internews.org/regions/centralasia/afghanistan.htm talks about various FM stations, etc., and I find nothing about this SW service. Why??? (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) INTERNEWS RADIO OBSERVED ON SHORTWAVE TO AFGHANISTAN BBC Monitoring has observed Internews Radio on the air with a twice- daily 90-minute shortwave broadcast in Pashto and Dari to Afghanistan. The programme, identifying as "Salaam Watandar", broadcasts at 0130- 0300 gmt on 11795 kHz and 1330-1500 gmt on 17700 kHz. The programme is heard in parallel on the Hotbird 6 satellite at 13 degrees east, 12597 MHz, vertical polarization, audio PID 2021. When not carrying this broadcast, a recorded announcement identifies the stream as a test transmission from VT Merlin Communications. Internews is an international non-profit organization that supports open media worldwide. Their main web site is at http://www.internews.org Source: BBC Monitoring research in English 6 Jul 04 (via DXLD) ** ANGOLA. RNA external service in English is still listed by WRTH July update as 2200-2300 daily on 7215. Anyone hearing this now? (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ARGENTINA. Re RAE, DXLD 4-101: "Not including, I assume, the external service, which is what we need." (gh, DXLD) The current external service schedule is there, though not very well linked, and the page inappropriately named: http://www.radionacional.gov.ar/rae_historia3.html (Andy Sennitt, Netherlands, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Glad you found that, but I meant that the new streaming does not include the external service. This page is really strange; despite the html extension, it is really a jpg? Of a typewritten page, meaning you can`t copy it as text. If you click on it, you get a needed enlargement as historia4; click on it again, and back to historia3 (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** AZERBAIJAN. V. of Azerbaijan, English is at 1800-1830 to ME on 1295 and via gan site on 6112 (WRTH July Update via DXLD) Anyone hear this in Europe, and is it really staying on 6112? (gh, DXLD) ** BAHAMAS. Hi Guys: E's Rockin' info Florida at 1030 EDT...Just Logged ... 104.5 ZNS FM Nassau, BAHAMAS at 1027-1030 EDT. Spot for ZNS1 1540 Transmitter aboutt Bahamian Music. Promo for the Bahamas Independence Celebration July 10-12. Clifford Park Celebration. Happy Birthday Bahamas!!! Go Get em guys!! 73...ROB. (Robert S. Ross VA3SW, Box 1003, Stn. B., London, Ontario, July 6, ODXA via DXLD) ** BERMUDA. Hey Glenn! Long time out of touch. Many life changes, but I'm still kicking. Just wanted to let you know that there was a fairly amazing FM band opening in New England on the afternoon of July 5. ZBM in HAMILTON, BERMUDA was confirmed on 89.1 with a news bulletin, heard here in Amherst, in Western Massachusetts, at 5:00 p.m. EDT. Predictable fading, but strong signal on peaks. The receiver in use was just a very mediocre in-dash car radio in my 1991 Geo Metro. The news items included a report about identification of a woman who had driven her car into the bay; and at the end of the report, the announcer's name was given as "Barry Frazier". Stations from Quebec, Canada (on 88.1) and Northern Ontario (on 89.5) were also noted during the same time period, as well as WCTE in Raleigh, NC on 89.7. Ontario to Bermuda is a mighty big stretch for attribution to Sporadic-E propagation, so I went to look at the geostationary weather satellite maps online, to see if I could figure out what was going on. It appears likely that some sort of tropo ducting was involved. There was a heavy cloud cover over the entire North Atlantic, stretching inland into the Canadian Maritimes; and that sprawling weather system might have been acting as a passive signal reflector. The only other outside possibility would be F-layer propagation via an abnormally-elevated MUF -- but this typically only happens during solar maximum, which we do not presently have. There was minimal solar activity at the time, according to the NIST reports. Still a bit of a mystery there, but it produced my first-ever Bermuda logging on FM, using just a dashboard radio in the car. This is what keeps radio propagation interesting. Just thought you'd be interested to hear about it. Best, (Dave Beauvais (KB1F), Site/Tech Committee, WXOJ 103.3 Northampton, MA, July 6, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Actually, I am quite sure it was ordinary sporadic E; Bermuda seems exotic (even more so out here!), but it`s only about 800 miles from you, a typical Es distance. The 1000-mile contour is just short of Montréal, goes thru Pittsburgh, Savannah; 1500 miles almost reaches St. Louis. People thruout eastern NAm should keep close watches on the Bermudan FM frequencies; DX probably happens more often than noticed. Due to its isolation, an Es opening from Bermuda might appear out of the blue, with nothing else coming in (not the case this time, however.) BTW, 89.1 and 94.9 are both ZBM stations, and 106.1 is a VSB outlet. The WTFDA list had reports from several other DXers of the Bermuda opening, also on 106.1 and 94.9. WRTH 2004 shows a fourth FM there, `ZBM-FM98`, but doesn`t bother to show the exact frequency! (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ZFB INTERVIEW!!!!!!!!!! I just gave an interview to the newsroom of Bermuda's POWER 95!!!!!!!! Called them up to report they were being heard all over the Eastern seaboard and the guy recorded it and promised it would go on the air! I'm still out of breath; hopefully I did good with my English and explanation. I was quite a bit nervous. POWER 95 is still going strong here at 1715 EDT. 73, (Charles Gauthier, St-Lambert, QC, 2116 UT July 5, WTFDA via DXLD) [non]. Concerning the recent band opening of July 5: well, the next afternoon (Tuesday, July 6) was definitely a Sporadic-E event, with lots of confirmed stations in Florida, Mississippi and North Carolina being heard...and the opening extended all the way up to at least 107.7! (I didn't check two meters.) It also addressed another interesting phenomenon, since on the previous day I had just been asking myself, "Man, I wonder what would happen if we ever got both tropo AND Sporadic E taking place at the same time, due to completely separate causes and conditions! It'd probably be total chaos on the FM band!" And, indeed, that's precisely what happened on Tuesday the 6th, as stations from New York City were being heard during the same time period (and late into the evening), along with the Florida and Mississippi signals. NYC is not within Sporadic E propagation range for New England (it's too close); so unless their signals were bouncing SOUTH from New York City, and then being reflected from the ground BACK UP NORTH to New England via Sporadic E, it would appear to be the "combo phenomenon" I had been pondering (Dave Beauvais, MA, July 7, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** BOLIVIA. 4904.70, Radio San Miguel, 0955-1030 July 5. Noted a variety of music, features and Spanish comments from different persons. Signal was poor with a QRN. Notice the frequency has changed from my previous loggings (Chuck Bolland, Clewiston, Florida, 545/dipole, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** BOLIVIA. Hello everyone here in Cumbre once again. That's me, Artiom Prokhorov from Moscow with my latest catches made on Sony ICF7600G and its telescopic antenna in a countryside just in some 70 kms South of Moscow 5953, Radio Pio XII at 0100-0200 July 3 with their Aymara slot, announces, political commentaries, tales in Aymara too, all 4s (this time it was catched right in urban part of Moscow!!!) 5953, Radio Pio XII at 0100-0145 July 4 with live concert of regional music, some YL solo singers, OM/YL presenters in Quechua, applauses by listeners in studio, 3/4 3443 (Artyom Prokhorov, Russia, Cumbre DX via DXLD) ** BOLIVIA. 6134.72, Radio Santa Cruz, Santa Cruz, 0030-0050 2 July, seemingly IDed as "Radio Nacional en La Paz"; this a reference in a news story (Bob Wilkner, Pómpano Beach, Florida, U. S., NRD 535D - Icom R75 - Drake R 7 - Noise reducing antenna, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** BRAZIL. O presidente do Brasil, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva inaugurou, no dia 2 de julho, as novas instalações da histórica Rádio Nacional, do Rio de Janeiro (RJ). De acordo com informações da Agência Brasil, o presidente pediu `mais criatividade para quem faz rádio no Brasil`. O estúdio principal da Rádio Nacional tem o nome do ator Mário Lago. A Nacional também terá nova programação e transmissor com maior potência em ondas médias. BRASIL – A Rádio Globo, de São Paulo (SP), mantém regular sintonia, em determinados horários do dia, pela freqüência de 9585 kHz, em 31 metros. Dá a possibilidade de acompanhar boa parte da programação da emissora, que é emitida, em conjunto com a Globo do Rio de Janeiro (RJ). (Célio Romais, Panorama, @tividade DX July 5 via DXLD) ** BRAZIL. I hear Rádio Nacional da Amazônia changed frequency from 6180 to 6190 kHz; I tuned 6190 at July 3, 0819 UTC, I didn't find; I find this station at 6180. I think Amazônia move back to old frequency. But, Amazônia suddenly stop the transmission at 0821 UT and jump to 6190!! I'm surprised and I think Amazônia frequency change is intentional, not accident and drift. Many thanks (Satoru S., [Japan?], July 3, hard-core-dx via DXLD) ** CHINA. Frequency change for CRI in Russian effective July 5: 1500-1757 NF 13860 over Voice of Russia in Russian!, ex 13790 Additional transmission for CRI in DRM: 0900-1457 on 17580, co-ch RTBF French in AM till 1000 Sat/Sun 1500-1757 on 13790, co-ch DW French in AM Daily (Observer, Bulgaria, July 6, via DXLD) ** CUBA. Problemas con RHC --- La señal de Radio Habana Cuba está presentando serios problemas con su emisión por los 11800 kHz. La señal se corta demasiado, impidiendo la la recepción y el seguimiento a cualquier programa. Atte: (José Elías, Venezuela, 1338 UT July 6, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Sorpresa ** CUBA. Frequency change for Radio Havana Cuba: 0500-0700 NF 9655* ex 11760 \\ 9550 (34543) and 9820 (34553) * co-ch YLE Radio Finland in Finnish till 0600 and RRI in French/German from 0600 (Observer, Bulgaria, July 6, via DXLD) ** CUBA. RHC Bauta in English 0500-0700 UT, missed again on 4th channel, 9820 kHz was off today. But signal on 9550 was very strong at least on 0500-0600 UT portion. \\ were 9655 and 11760 as usual. Arnaldo Coro's DX Programm DXers Unlimited as usual from 0542 to 0603 UT (Wednesdays). Radio Reloj via Bauta frequencies: 9655 shut down at 0700 UT, but 9550 and 11760 kHz remained on air with Programm Radio Reloj transmission, time signal pip on full minute, heard from 0700 till last check around 0755 UT (Wolfgang Büschel, Germany, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Re WRMI 7385 Jamming item, today July 7th that jamming like DITTER signal observed on 7379 to 7381 kHz range. 0600-0613 UT. 73 wb (Wolfgang Büschel, Germany, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CUBA [and non]. Hi Glenn, while I am going through my backlog... Quite interesting to find the screenshot of a Cuban test card at http://members.tripod.com/~nladxer/Cuba.htm because this is in fact the standard test card of the USSR (still in widespread use in the CIS I think). Here is the original: http://www.tv-testbild.com/012002/russ-tb.jpg This is especially notable because the native version is for 625 lines of course, and it raises the question how much of Cuban's TV equipment is of Soviet origin despite NTSC 525 lines being in use? Regards, (Kai Ludwig, Germany, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** DENMARK. World Music Radio update ------------ Dear Teemu, Our test transmissions on 5815 stopped Monday morning. We're hoping to be back early August. Kind regards, Stig Hartvig Nielsen /WMR ------------ (Email message to Teemu Juurinen-FIN via "dx" at hard-core-dx.com mailing list, 7 July via Bernd Trutenau, Lithuania, dxldyg via DXLD) ** ERITREA [non]. GERMANY: Additional transmission for Voice of Democratic Eritrea in Tigrinya and Arabic: 1500-1600 Sat on 15715*JUL 100 kW / 130 def to EAf * co-ch BVBN in En via JUL 100 kW / 115 deg to ME from 1545!!! (Observer, Bulgaria, July 6, via DXLD) ** ETHIOPIA. I note the report by Victor Goonetilleke that Ethiopia is using 9410 - I wonder if that means the special AU broadcast today will be using that frequency rather than c9560. Or does 9410 replace c9704 (Noel Green, UK, July 4 via Büschel, DXLD) Re ETH site, 3 x 100 kW. 9704/9560/9410 I see that 'be related to'. Victor received also a signal on 9410 kHz too. It could be a separate (3rd) transmitter used at Gedja on this frequency. But on the other hand, it could be like a spurious signal of the v9704 / 9560 kHz parallel outlets, see that MATHEMATICALLY: 9560 minus 145 kHz = 9415 kHz. 73 wb (Wolfgang Büschel, DX LISTENING DIGEST) I`m amazed at the multiple times I have received the same AU special broadcasts story, from a variety of press sources and contributors, despite having run it early on in DXLD 4-0000000. Anyhow, I suppose July 4 is the final broadcast, actually part of Ethiopia`s normal schedule, so it did not represent a new station (gh, DXLD) ETIÓPIA 7111.0, 1731-1730 26/6 R. Ethiopia, Gedja. Vernacular, few talks, traditional songs. //9704.2. Adjacent QRM. 33442 CG 9704.2, 1740-1751 26/6 R. Ethiopia, Gedja. Vernacular, talks. //7111. Adjacent QRM. 33442 CG (Carlos Gonçalves, Portugal, @tividade DX via DXLD) Today, July 5, 1755-1803, 7165 // 9560 Voice of Ethiopia / broadcast of African Union?, African music, presumed national anthem at 1758, then into news in unknown language. 7165 weak but clear, 9560 stronger with QRM+het. I believe that yesterday I heard an announcement in English on 7165 at 1758. African Union broadcast, as English not scheduled there. Also today: 1740-1800+, 9705, Radio Ethiopia, African music, gong three times at 1800. 5500 is very weak. Last Wednesday, June 30, 1745-1800, Voice of Tigre Revolution, 5500 very strong // 6350 weaker, but unusual to have it at all (Thorsten Hallmann, Muenster, Germany, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 9559.8, ETHIOPIA, African Union broadcast via R. Ethiopia (presumed), 2039-2101*, July 5, French, Talks by OM between musical bridges, choral-like ballad at 2046; reggae music at 2052 with YL talk over at 2056, Ethiopian NA at 2100, carrier off at 2101. Poor, weak under 9565-R.Martí splatter (and mild 9555-BSKSA), though gaining strength by sign-off. If not for the Radio Martí slop I believe this signal would be readable here in ECNA. Will try again over the next few days. (Scott R. Barbour Jr., Intervale, NH-USA, R75, MLB-1, RS longwire with RBA balun, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) The AU broadcasts were supposed to end July 4 (or maybe 5). R. Ethiopia was normally scheduled until 2000* per WRTH 2004 (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Trying for this at 1700 on 9560, no joy on a number of receivers. Anyone else having better luck? (Hans Johnson, WY, July 6, Cumbre DX via DXLD) Hans, I have just a faint het noted, right on 9560.0 at 1715 (Guy Atkins, Puyallup, WA USA, July 6, ibid.) Yes, both 31 & 41m signals are often strongly heard here at this time - and later - but both are offset from nominal and suffer from adjacent QRM. When last heard I found 31m on about 9559.4 and 41m on about 7165.4. 73s from (Noel [NW England] Green, ibid.) Now at 1200 on 9560.5 with rather good signal, with normal R Ethiopia programming. 73, (Mauno Ritola, Finland, July 7, Cumbre DX via DXLD) ** ETHIOPIA [non]. The Dejen Radio entry has been removed from the TDP schedule website http://www.airtime.be/schedule.html The program was carried Saturdays 1700-1800 on 12120. The program's audio archive http://www.ethiopiancommentator.com/dejenradio/ shows a last file dated 26 June 2004. (Thanks to Hans Johnson for pointing at this). (Bernd Trutenau, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** FRANCE. STUCK IN THE SOPHISTICATED GRANDEUR OF FRENCH MEDIA http://allafrica.com/stories/200407060317.html A fascinating view of Radio France International by Ugandan broadcaster Patricia Okoed (Andy Sennit, July 6, dxldyg via DXLD) ** GEORGIA. Russian 11805.21 0600-0629, English 11805.21 0630-0659, German 11805.11 0700-0729 [this outlet usually 100 Hertz less] Despite Georgia has changed their Time Zone recently on June 27th, the R. Georgia SW outlets on 11805 kHz remaining on old UT schedule. But R. Georgia in German suffers now by neighbouring channel splatter. Today RRI Galbeni in English moved from registered 11830 down to 11810 kHz, 0700-0727 UT. I hope this is a single day operation fault by the RRI technicians at Galbeni (Wolfgang Büschel, Germany, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** GERMANY. Re: ``DW will start weekly DRM broadcasts from 5 July 2004 on 6140 kHz and 7125 kHz between 1600 and 1900 gmt. Source: Association of International Broadcasting, London, in English 25 Jun 04 (via BBCM via DXLD) Start??? They`ve been doing this for some time, haven`t they? Only weekly, so Mondays only?? (gh, DXLD)`` Of course they already do it for some time, and not weekly but daily. 6140 is Jülich (at times still run in AM instead) and 7125 is Wertachtal where the traditional 3995 is now also DRM instead of AM with the exception of the 1900-2200 period, see http://www.rnw.nl/realradio/html/drm_schedule.html I have absolutely no idea what the point of this press release is at all (Kai Ludwig, Germany, July 4, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** GREECE. Dear Glenn: While surfing the net, I came across 11 pages of Voice of Greece frequencies, in English yet! Unfortunately the rest must be in Swahili (or perhaps I need a printer that will translate the gibberish from Greek into English). Anyhow it looks like the same as what they send the listeners at the beginning of each broadcasting season. Perhaps it will give us a head start in November when they go to the B04 schedule. Find it on: http://www.voiceofgreece.gr/frequencies.asp (John Babbis, Silver Spring, MD, July 3, DX LISTENING DIGEST) On that web site "voiceofgreece.gr" that I sent you last night, the chart heading says: 30/03/03 to 25/10/ 03 which would be for A03. I looked at VOG's A03 schedule, and what you saw is not their A03 schedule: To North America 1200-1500 was on 11730 kHz. for A03. So, the top of the schedules has a date for A03, but the rest of the schedules are for A04. I am presently working on decoding the garbage for the Service Areas and will send it to you by mail as soon as I can get it into a computerized table. Typical holiday weekend, dark and rainy (John Babbis, Silver Spring, MD, July 4, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** HUNGARY. Re: Question about Budapest`s ``...And the Gatepost`` The Sunday 2100 broadcast was already posted when I checked at 2000 (for some reason, I was thinking yesterday was Sunday, hench the ``later on this evening`` which should have been simply ``tomorrow``) and the program was Europe Unlimited, which was the same program (title wise) archived for the first Sunday in June. I listened to the entire 30 minutes and there was no ``Gatepost.`` I`ll be checking again in seven days (John Norfolk, July 4, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** INDIA. SPECIAL BROADCAST BY AIR OF BUDGET PRESENTATION --- Dear friends, All India Radio will broadcast direct relay of presentation of Budget in Parliament and related special programs as follows: 1 Railway Budget on 6 July 2004 0600 UTC onwards. ------------------------------------------------- 2 General Budget on 8 July 2004 0500-0830 on 7170, 11620, 15185, 15260 all via Delhi. On that day External Service in Hindi at 0430-0530 on 15185 via Aligarh will be cancelled. ------------------------------------------------- External Service on 15260 at 1000-1100 in English will be cancelled for those two days. ------------------------------------------------- Regional News Bulletins normally broadcast at 0700-0930 will be at 0930-1020 on 15260 & 15185 on the above mentioned days. -------------------------------------------------- The special programs on the Budget will be broadcast by all the stations of AIR on the above mentioned dates. -------------------------------------------------- The annual awards of AIR for technical excellence in 2003 was announced. Of interest are the following for best installed project in each zone. 1. North Zone. Installation of 2 x 250 SW transmitters at Aligarh. 2. South Zone: Replacement of 20 kw MW transmitter by 100 kw at Port Blair. 3. West Zone: Installation of 300 kw MW transmitter at Nagpur. 4. East Zone: Installation of 20 kw MW transmitter at Gangtok. 73 (Jose Jacob, VU2JOS, dx_india, via DXLD) ** IRAN [non]. CLANDESTINE from ? to IRAN KRSI confusion reigns. Their website seems to have removed references to shortwave broadcasts. A call to the station brought a claim that they are still on 17525 from 8:30-10:30 AM "LA time." (Hans Johnson, WY, July 6, Cumbre DX via DXLD) The reference to SW can be accessed on the page http://www.krsi.net/us-en/todaysprogram.asp A new window opens when clicked at "Short Wave: Iran and Some Surrounding Countries: Instructions". It gives old data and says "We have two [sic] different Frequency: 16 Meter Frequency 17510 KHz " (Bernd Trutenau, Lithuania, July 6, Cumbre DX via DXLD) Re the item concerning KRSI via Hans and Bernd: I tuned 17525 at 1530 today when this broadcast was previously on air and found loud Iranian type jamming occupying the frequency, but could not hear KRSI. The jamming signal was reduced in strength after about 8 minutes and then disappeared entirely. Still no trace of KRSI, so the Iranians probably found they had been jamming "fresh air". 17510 has Bible Voice Broadc. via Juelich and the third alternative - 11520 - is clear channel BTW, what is 8:30-10:30 AM "LA time." in UTC - 1630 or 1730 ??? 73s from (Noel [NW England] Green, Cumbre DX via DXLD) LA has Pacific Time, thus UTC-7h DST in summer, that would mean 1530- 1730 UTC. 73s, (Bernd Trutenau, ibid.) ** IRAQ. IRAQ/USA: BROADCAST ELECTRONICS PROVIDES TRANSMITTERS FOR FM STATION | Excerpt from press release by Illinois-based company Broadcast Electronics on 7 July Broadcast Electronics (BE) supplied the U.S. Air Force with broadcast equipment for a new FM station now broadcasting in Iraq. "We've sent a lot of systems to the military in the past, but this system left our factory with an especially big fanfare in support of our troops," said Tom Beck, the government procurement officer for BE, which supplied the military with an AudioVAULT digital audio system last year for new Iraqi station Freedom FM. Freedom FM 107.7 is also using BE FM transmitters previously purchased by the military to broadcast music and information to U.S. troops from an undisclosed location in the Iraq "green" zone. Broadcasting is dispersed across multiple low-powered transmission sites throughout the country ranging in power from 100 watts to 1kW to reach concentrated areas where troops are deployed. Two BE FM-1C1 1kW transmitters are located in Baghdad, where troop concentration is the highest. The program feed is also picked up in Kuwait, where it is rebroadcast by two BE FM-5C 5kW transmitters there. BE's AudioVAULT is used to automate satellite programming and for breaking into programming with news and local command information. BE's AudioVAULT system is used in 34 U.S. Armed Forces Radio and Television Service (AFRTS) bases around the world. Along with all the usual challenges of running a radio network, the U.S. military has the added difficulty of keeping its Iraq station on the air during a time of war. "Travel around the country is not always easy, so if we have an outage, we might have to rely on a technician that doesn't necessarily have RF expertise," commented George Curtis, Chief of Logistics for Air Force Broadcasting Service. [passage omitted] Freedom FM will remain on the air for an indefinite period of time until U.S. troops leave the region. Source: Broadcast Electronic press release, Quincy, Illinois, in English 7 Jul 04 (via BBCM via DXLD) ** IRAQ. IRAQ'S FIRST PRIVATE TV STATION TO GO ON AIR LATE JUNE [sic] | Text of report by Italian newspaper Il Sole 24 Ore on 6 July Rome: Peace comes from media, information, and cultural exchange and is spread not least by television, via tools like Al-Diyar, Iraq's first private television station, set up at the initiative of Adnkronos, which has concluded a joint venture with ART, the world's largest satellite network, which also distributes Al-Jazeera. The deal has been clinched in Cairo by Shaykh Salah Kamal and GMC Adnkronos Group Chairman Giuseppe Marra, a course followed by the BBC as well, which has just announced the creation of a satellite news station in Arabic for the Middle East, with financing from the British Foreign Office. Al-Diyar, which is putting itself forward as a bridge between Europe and the Arab world, is scheduled to go on the air at the end of June. Initial political comment has been positive. "It is a venture that translates, in terms of quality and significance, into the best way to operate in crisis areas like the Middle East," Daisy Party Senator Luigi Zanda said, commenting on investment opportunities in the media and news sector in the Arab world. "The Marshall Plan for the 21st century should produce cultural and free information exchange before it addresses the building of bridges and roads," he continued. Forza Italia Senator Lucio Malan took the same view, saying that "peace asserts itself via the real, concrete construction of material things, and also via full, pluralistic information." Source: Il Sole 24 Ore, Milan, in Italian 6 Jul 04 p 30 (via BBCM via DXLD) ** MALDIVES. Voz de Maldives (horario en hora local = GMT + 5 horas) Hola amigos, desde mi amigo Sarath N. Weerakon de Sri Lanka, que está trabajando en Male, capital de las Maldives, recibí esta información muy actual de los transmisiones de la Voz de las Maldives (Volker Willschrey, Dillingen (Saar), Alemania, Conexión Digital via DXLD) Voice of Maldives channel, [Dhivehi] 1449 kHz from 5.30 to 9.00 am and from 7.00 to 10.45 pm. Adhuge Adu channel [Voice of Today] Dhivehi, 1449 kHz from 9.00 am to 5.00 pm. Voice of Maldives English Service 1449 kHz from 5.00 to 7.00 pm. Radio 1 Dhivehi 1449 kHz 10.45 pm to 5.30 am. Radio 2 Dhivehi 89 MHz 9.00 am to 2.30 pm on weekdays Sun - Thu; 9.00 to 11.00 am & 2.30 to 5.00 pm on Fridays; 9.00 am to 5.00 pm on Saturdays Dheenuge Adu [Religious broadcast] 91 MHz 9.00 am to 3.00 pm every day except Fridays; 9.00 to 10.40 am & 2.00 to 3.30 pm on Fridays (via Willschrey, ibid.) There were rumors of possible resumption of SW in Maldives, but nothing about that here (gh, DXLD) ** NETHERLANDS. Hello Glenn, Re 4-101: About the 1395 transmissions from the Netherlands I would like to point out that they are only 20 kW, directional, with a null towards about 310 and 040 degrees to protect ships in the harbour very close to the station. A director is used in southerly direction, so power towards there must be maximal. So Finland is more of a DX for this station than Jouko Huuskonen than he thought :-). About 1008: have a look at http://www.waniewski.de/id32.htm for pictures and an explanation in German about the aerial system for 1008 and 747. Greetings from (Hans (PE1GLJ), Utrecht, Netherlands, DX LISTENING DIGEST) For the record, the final switch-on of Flevo-1008 on June 30 took place around 1615. Here is a website about the Flevo mediumwave facility, specifically the antenna: http://www.waniewski.de/id32.htm The transmitters not featured there are Telefunken S4006 (600 kW Pantel series models). If some recordings of 1008 are of interest: http://www.radioeins.de/_/meta//sendungen/apparat/030517_a2.ram --- NOS Radio 1 on 1008 in May 2003 http://www.radioeins.de/_/meta//sendungen/apparat/030531_a3.ram --- The brain-washing retune-loop (spoken by the station voice of RNW's Dutch service) aired by NOS during the last three days and the carrier cut exactly at 2200 on May 31th 2003 http://www.radioeins.de/_/meta/sendungen/apparat/040626_a2.ram --- Radio 10 Gold on 1008, June 30th 2004 at 2030. As you will note the audio processing is still the same than during the NOS usage of 1008, i.e. the very same than on 747 And here is the then Radio 10 FM leaving 675 at the very same moment 1008 went dark 13 months ago (May 31 2003, 2200). I think it is quite obvious how this transmitter is operated with an audio bandwith of 7 kHz, contrary to the 4.5 kHz on 1008 as well as 747: http://www.radioeins.de/_/meta//sendungen/apparat/030531_a1.ram Finally another note for the records: 1395 is no longer operated at 120 kW but instead at much reduced power (20 or 30 kW) now due to -- hmmm, I think environmental considerations is the politically correct term (Kai Ludwig, Germany, July 4, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** NIGERIA. VON returned to normal schedule last weekend after weeks of chaos. 15120 is strong in the mornings with relatively good audio now; only broadcasts from Abuja are usually distorted. 17800 good at 2000, but with ``60 minutes`` from Abuja, fade-out later in the evening --- useless broadcast?!? The 2nd transmitter sounds much worse, rough audio, but strong signal in the afternoon on 11770 (Arabic/French) http://africa.coolfreepage.com/africalist (Thorsten Hallmann, Muenster, Germany, July 6, DX LISTENING DIGEST) WRTH July update shows only two English broadcasts from VON: 0800-1100 & 1450-1900 daily on 15120 to Eu/Af (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** OKLAHOMA. Tulsa`s second public radio outlet KWTU must be getting close to hitting the air, since the website now works, tho only linking back to parent station KWGS for now: http://www.kwtu.org This is the lower-powered one on 88.7 which is supposed to emphasize classical music, taking a load off KWGS itself since commercial classical in Tulsa failed a few years ago on 94.1, ex-92.1, ex-106.1. I don`t see any mention of it on the KWGS site yet. Unfortunately, I will not be able to get it off the air here, as 88.7 is blocked by KLVV Ponca City. I still can`t figure how the two could be so close on the same frequency (Glenn Hauser, Enid, July 5, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** OKLAHOMA. I checked the REC Networks [see USA] Enid LPFM page July 4 and found that besides the 94.3 and 104.7 stations, one on 92.9 (channel 225), KZIX-LP, is assumed to be on the air. But it`s not. Nor is one on 100.9 I saw listed in July VHF-UHF Digest of the WTFDA, called KAMG-LP (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** OKLAHOMA [and non]. KOMA 1520 really gets out on skywave, all over WNAm and frequently reported Down Under. The Rockies aren`t really an obstacle, at least 800 km from OKC and not so high in that direction, anyway. KOMA is of course directional westward at night (except when they forget). Ever hear them in South Africa? 73, (Glenn Hauser, Enid OK, MW DX yg via DXLD) No --- dominant station on that frequency is WWKB, Buffalo, NY received here in South Africa. (1520 kHz). All MW stations heard in S.A. are on the Eastern Seaboard --- never heard anybody get anything further inland = mid West or Western Seaboard never heard. Furthest recorded catches from S.A. have been KVNS, Brownsville, TX and WEUV, Huntsville, ALA, both on 1700. Best of 73's de (John Plimmer, Montagu, Western Cape Province, South Africa, ibid.) Here in South East Australia we have two North Americans that are basically there every night. 1580 KMIK Tempe Arizona which is the regular, and 1520 KOMA Oklahoma City. I'm not sure why these two are the marker stations here; they must have a wonderful transmitter site / location to get in here on such a regular basis. I usually have my beverage aimed at about 70 degrees which is NE from my location across the Pacific. Signals start coming in here depending on the season, from dusk through until midnight local. 0700-1400 UT. We get a peak on our sunset and then a lull for a few hours before sunrise passes over North America. It`s interesting to sit here with Geoclock and watch it all unfold (David Onley, Myrtleford, Victoria, http://home.iprimus.com.au/onleydw/ MWDX via DXLD) ** PAKISTAN [non]. I thought R. Aap ki Dunya (ex-VOA Urdu) was only in Urdu, but WRTH July update (under USA-BBG) also shows a Turkmen hour at 1400 on 15345 via Kavala; yes, the Urdu service is also running during that hour on other frequencies. Is there a significant Turkmen minority in Pakistan, or why would this even go under the AKD name? Turkmen and Urdu are not even related languages (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) WRTH saw the above comment in dxldyg before this DXLD was published and corrected this in a revised Update, the one you will now see. The Turkmen broadcast was removed from Aap ki Dunya and now appears under RFE/RL (Glenn Hauser, July 7, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** PALESTINE [and non]. ALL FOR PEACE LAUNCHES ENGLISH SERVICE NEXT WEEK Next week, I will be starting the English service of the new Israeli/ Palestinian radio station "All for Peace". At the moment, broadcasts are only through the Internet, but we hope to be broadcasting on FM very soon. There is a slight disagreement between the Israeli and Palestinian Communications Ministries, as to the allocation of a frequency for the station. As soon as this is cleared up, the station will broadcast with a 5 KW transmitter from somewhere in the Palestinian Authority area. We hope to reach the Central part of Israel, and the Palestinian Authority area. Programmes at this moment are in Hebrew and Arabic, with English programmes starting this coming week. I will be taping my first show this Wednesday afternoon, and as soon as I have the time and date that it will be put out, I will contact you again. There are two co-directors of the station, one Israeli, and one Palestinian. Studios are in Jerusalem, so both Israeli and Palestinian can reach the station to broadcast. All shows at this moment are taped, but live programmes are planned for the future. This station has NO connection to the former Voice of Peace, but sees itself as a successor to the former offshore station. Programmes on the VOP were in English and Hebrew only (mainly in English), whereas All for Peace will broadcast in all three languages (Hebrew, English and Arabic). This was the 'other group' that was calling itself the Voice of Peace a year back, that was in conflict with another VOP group, with myself, Noam Tal and others involved, with the backing of Abie Nathan. As this group backed by Abie disintegrated, and out of respect for Abie, the "other group" changed its name to "All for Peace". I suggested English programmes to All for Peace a while back, but was politely refused. A month ago, I was told that English programmes were going to start. I made a demo for the station, and official programmes will start within the next week or so. You can listen to AFP at the following address: http://www.allforpeace.org The site is under construction at the moment, but you can listen to the station through its real audio stream. The "proper" site is really nice (I have seen it), and should be up and running in the coming weeks. "This station will not be limited just to the Middle East, so if anyone has anything peace related from their part of the world, I would love to include it on my show. My e-mail addresses are: mlb@bezeqint.net vop1540@hotmail.com --- Mike Brand # posted by Andy @ 19:29 UT July 3 (Media Network blog via DXLD) I can already hear All For Peace/Voice of Peace with English programming! As I write, at 1520 UT on Sunday 4th, there's a phone-in show with the "peace wall" as the topic (Dave Kernick, 07.04.04 - 5:41 pm, ibid.) ** PAPUA NEW GUINEA. 1161, unID Papua New Guinea. Very interesting this, I tuned in at 2055* just after local sunset which is also the case for PNG. I initially though it was DYRD and I only stayed with it as there are 5 of them listed so I thought I might snare another one. Turned out to be male talk in pidgin English at a peak a couple of minutes later talking about the government of PNG and joint Australia/PNG police initiative, song by Monique Brady, then mention of Radio Australia news then suddenly gone at 2100. Didn't have enough time to check 585 or SW outlets. Who is this? (from MW DX from Northern Australia - CRIKEY! http://www.mail-archive.com/hard-core-dx@hard-core-dx.com/msg05715.html Craig Edwards` long log of MW DX from Europe, Asia, Pacific and North America, including KOMA, of course, much of it undated, but back as far as April, and his amusing account of DXing when his wife isn`t around, via DXLD) {*2055 must be local time = 1055 UT} ** PAPUA NEW GUINEA. AM/FM --- Radio New Ireland, Kavieng now has funds to resume broadcasting. NBC has purchased a new 50 watt FM transmitter which awaits delivery and installation. The report in the Islands Post newspaper of June 29 adds that a MW transmission is part of the funding, although whether this is a confusion with 'shortwave' isn't clear. I wonder if Kavieng could be the location of the new NBC AM outlet heard on 1161 recently in Townsville? (SW = 3905 kHz) SW --- Radio Sandaun, West Sepik, Vanimo is one of six NBC stations getting a Japanese aid package. Funds will be used for 'an upgraded transmitter' and a 'studio overhaul' says the Mamose Post newspaper of July 1. (SW = 3205 kHz). Warm regards (David Ricquish, Wellington, NZ, July 5, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ROMANIA. Some freqs changes of Radio Romania International effective from July 1 0000-0056 Spanish NF 15510, ex 9575 0200-0256 Romanian NF 11895, ex 7175 2030-2056 Italian NF 9620, ex 9580 2130-2156 English NF 11750, ex 17735 (Observer, Bulgaria, July 6, via DXLD) ** RUSSIA. Additional frequency for Voice of Russia in Russian effective July 1: 1400-1500 Russian International Radio; 1500-1700 Commonwealth; 1700- 1800 WS all on 13860* * from July 5 totally blocked by CRI in Russian (Observer, Bulgaria, July 6, via DXLD) ** RUSSIA. VOICE OF RUSSIA ANNOUNCES DRM EXPANSION PLANS Moscow - Jul 1, 2004 - At the Digital Radio Mondiale (DRM) consortium's first-ever board meetings in Russia, the Voice of Russia announced the successful implementation and planned expansion of its DRM broadcasts on short-wave and medium-wave. Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Fradkov recently signed an order allowing for the Voice of Russia's DRM progress. The consortium held its quarterly meetings at the headquarters of the Russian Television and Radio Network (RTRN) and the Voice of Russia in Moscow from June 16 to 18. The Voice of Russia has been a DRM member since 1998. Voice of Russia currently transmits DRM broadcasts in Russian, English, German and French toward Europe, using a short-wave transmitter in Taldom, Russia, operated by RTRN's Moscow Regional Centre, and a medium-wave transmitter 603 kHz in Zehlendorf, Germany, operated by DRM member T-Systems International Media and Broadcast. The medium-wave transmitter, made by DRM member Telefunken, has been modified to operate in single-channel simulcast mode, which means that the Voice of Russia's broadcasts can be sent in analog and DRM formats. The Taldom broadcasts can be heard within parts of Russia. The Voice of Russia will expand its reach within and beyond Europe in the near future, using additional transmitters that have been adapted for DRM. This network includes a second short-wave transmitter operated by the Moscow Regional Centre, a short-wave transmitter in Irkutsk, a short-wave transmitter in Khabarovsk, and a T-Systems International medium-wave transmitter, built by Telefunken, in Wachenbrunn, Germany (From the 6/28 issue of Radio Currents via Joe Buch, Swprograms mailing list via DXLD) ** SOUTH AFRICA. SABC SAID TO BE IN TURMOIL WITH KEY STAFF LEAVING IN DROVES Reports from South Africa say that the South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) is in turmoil amid persistent rumours that chief executive Peter Matlare is to be hounded out. Key staff are leaving in droves. For example, this week, SABC1 TV head Romeo Kumalo, general manager for resources Vasu Moodley and news editor Charles Leonard all resigned. The SABC's news staff are said to be close to revolt because they feel that the new managing director, Snuki Zikalala, is turning news bulletins into a parade of ministers. Read the full story in City Press http://www.news24.com/News24/South_Africa/News/0,,2-7-1442_1552578,00.html # posted by Andy @ 09:43 UT July 4 (Media Network blog via DXLD) FURTHER INVESTIGATIONS INTO FINANCES AT SABC A further investigation into corruption at the South African Broadcasting Corporation is to take place following allegations of fraud and corruption, according to the South African news web site News24. The investigation comes {as} Sheila Simangele "Smah" Dlikilili, a former SABC1 producer, was found guilty of fraud of almost one million rand [161,000 US dollars] on 25 May. Dlikilili is to be sentenced in September. Paul Setsetse, spokesperson for the SABC, said on Monday that the Scorpions' [South African directorate of special operations] investigation into the activities of certain staff has been going on for a while. He said the SABC had not asked for this probe and it was independent of the internal investigation, the web site said. The investigation comes in the wake of a string of resignations by high-ranking staff. These include Romeo Kumalo, head of SABC1, Vasu Moodley, chief human resources manager, and Charles Leonard, national news editor. They announced their resignations last week, said News24. Source: News24 web site, Cape Town, in English 6 Jul 04 (via BBCM via DXLD) ** SOUTH CAROLINA [non]. GERMANY: New schedule for Brother Stair in English via DTK T-systems from July 1 0600-0800 6110 JUL 100 kW / 295 deg to West Europe no change 1300-1500 6110 JUL 100 kW / non-dir to West Europe ex 1300-1600 1300-1500 13810 JUL 100 kW / 115 deg to SE Europe, ME ex 1300-1600 1700-1900 17550 JUL 100 kW / 295 deg to North America ex 1600-1900 ALL THE FOLLOWING ARE CANCELLED: 0300-0400 9490 JUL 100 kW / 060 deg to East Europe, Russia 0300-0400 9850 JUL 100 kW / 115 deg to Israel, Saudi Arabia 0300-0400 11645 JUL 100 kW / 100/230 to Turkey, Iraq/New Zealand 0300-0400 13635 JUL 100 kW / 145 deg to East Africa 0300-0400 13770 JUL 100 kW / 100 deg to Iran, Afghanistan 0300-0400 13810 JUL 100 kW / 075 deg to North West China 0300-0400 15695 JUL 100 kW / 030 deg to East Russia 0300-0400 15715 JUL 100 kW / 090 deg to South Asia, India 1000-1100 9470 JUL 100 kW / 020 deg to Scandinavia 1000-1100 11950 JUL 100 kW / 220 deg to Spain, Portugal, France 1000-1100 13810 JUL 100 kW / 145 deg to Italy, Albania 1000-1100 13820 JUL 100 kW / 060 deg to Poland, Russia 1000-1100 15195 JUL 100 kW / 090 deg to Ukraine, Romania, Bulgaria 1000-1100 15265 JUL 100 kW / 125 deg to Hungary, Greece 1000-1100 17565 JUL 100 kW / 115 deg to Israel, Middle East 1000-1100 17695 JUL 100 kW / 100 deg to Turkey, Iran, Afghanistan 1000-1100 17860 JUL 100 kW / 115 deg to Israel, Saudi Arabia 1000-1100 21590 JUL 100 kW / 145 deg to Sudan, Ethiopia, Uganda 1000-1100 21750 JUL 100 kW / 115 deg to Israel, Middle East 1000-1100 21760 JUL 100 kW / 175 deg to Tunisia, Libya, Nigeria 1400-1600 21590 JUL 100 kW / 260 deg to South America North (Observer, Bulgaria, July 6, via DXLD) I heard that Brother Scare was getting all this at an unbelievably low price, just to keep the DTK facilities occupied (gh, DXLD) ** SPAIN. ESPANHA – Amigos de la Onda Curta é o programa de dexismo da Rádio Exterior de Espanha. A novidade é que, a partir de 4 de julho, as edições passam a ser disponibilizadas, a la carte, em MP3, no sítio da emissora, que é o seguinte: www.rtve.es/rne/ree (Célio Romais, Panorama, @tividade DX July 5 via DXLD) ** SWEDEN. English on 15735 weak at 1350 UT July 6: hmmm, what`s this? O, they mentioned Sweden, so it is parallel 15240? Not exactly; 15735 runs 5 or 6 words behind. Relay site in use, fed by multiple satellite hops? No, both are Hörby per HFCC. Must be deliberate delay to even out power consumption, à la Bonaire, Tinian and others. O, for the good old days when the only explanation was satellite delays. While at the website http://www.sr.se/rs I noticed that indeed it is titled SR International, but I don`t see ``SRI`` used to refer to the station, and on the air it`s always just ``Radio Sweden``. Without embargo, since Switzerland is abandoning us, ``SRI`` might as well be transferred to Sweden, tho I prefer to refer to stations as they are actually identified on air (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** SYRIA [non]. Radio Free Syria! Hello DXers, well it's Sunday, almost 1900 UT and I'm planning to make a report about Radio Free Syria. But after tuning in for almost 15 minutes now, I thought I should make that comment. The start was a bit --- strange --- around 1859 [sic] the transmitter went on with an OM "this is Radio Miami International --- the following program is in Arabic!!!!!" Then an OM with the ID sout Souryia Alhurra - Radio Free Syria, followed by another ID by a YL. More to come. But I wonder what is the relation between WRMI and Radio Free Syria!?? Catch U later. Yours (Tarek Zeidan, Cairo, Egypt, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Hi Tarek, You must have missed the previous DXLD items about this: WRMI is only the broker for this program, but I did not think we would be hearing the RMI ID. I suppose you mean it started at 1759, not 1859 UT? 73, (Glenn to Tarek, via DXLD) ** U K. Surprised to hear Hillary Rodham Clinton reading from her book on BBCWS, 0345 UT Monday on 11835, 5975 (George Thurman, TX, July 5, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Yes, ``Living History`` is scheduled this week for 5 episodes UT M-F on OFF THE SHELF; must be only a very few excerpts to total less than 70 minutes. Is Bill coming later? Per BBC On Air for July, some other times for this are: EAs M-F 1145; E&SAf M-F 0645, 2345; WAf M-F 0845, 2145; Eu M-F 0345, 0745, 1145, 2345; Ams M-F 0345, 0845, 1345, 1845, 2345. You can also retrieve audio from the OFF THE SHELF page at BBCWS, but it`s very confusingly laid out. I got the Tuesday edition of Hillary under the heading of another book (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U K. Analogue radio switch-off nears http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/film/3872969.stm DIGITAL RADIO GROWTH IS HAPPENING QUICKLY IN BRITAIN A switch-off date for analogue radio will be decided later this year by Culture Secretary Tessa Jowell. Ms Jowell said she would review digital radio take-up in a foreword to a report due to be published by the industry's Digital Radio Development Bureau. She said she would be "considering how long it would be appropriate for sound digital broadcasting services to be provided in analogue form". By the end of June, 600,000 digital radios had been sold in the UK. The decision to switch off analogue radio will mean about 100 million radios will become obsolete. Cheaper sets There was a 444% annual growth in the take-up of DAB digital radios last year in the UK, second only to the MP3 player in the consumer electronics market. Digital radios priced at £50 will be available at supermarkets later this year. But while many existing stations and other new services have signed up for the new digital networks, other stations have yet to make the move. Some 385 services are already available on a digital signal, representing just under half of the total number of broadcasters. Digital radios with hard drives to record programmes are already on the market, and most scroll information including track listings and news across a screen on the front of the set. About 2.2 million people say they have listened to radio through a mobile phone, with 13 million tuning in via the internet (via Mike Terry, dxldyg via DXLD) ** U S A. Controversy at VOA continues in the wake of the decision by the VOA Director, with possible support from the Broadcasting Board of Governors, to remove VOA News Director Andre DeNesnera. The Hill newspaper, a publication on Capitol Hill, reported that VOA staff members had sent a petition to members of Congress protesting the action, and accusing the BBG of "dismantling the nation's radio beacon." [below] The petition itself was being assessed by some key members of the House of Representatives, including the Chairman of the House International Relations Committee, Henry Hyde, as well as others who have been involved BBG appropriations on Capitol Hill. As this story was developing, VOA staff received the following from Ted Iliff, the former CNN manager who came to VOA in early 2004, now head of Central News, and Alex Belida, announced in last week's note from VOA Director David Jackson, as the new Supervisory Editor of VOA News Center: To the News Division staff: In the coming weeks, we intend to provide you all with up-to-date Broadcast schedules showing which languages are on the air, when and in what medium. At the same time, we intend to pass along the latest audience data. Anyone in Central News who believes they are working for a global, English-language audience will see why change is necessary. Our immediate aim is to increase our regional news output to provide our language services with more content, especially CN items. Writers and editors who may have in the past dismissed a possible item as ``not news`` should think again, judging an item`s newsworthiness only after considering whether even a single service would benefit from its availability. They should also stop miming what is on CNN, or the BBC or in the Times and Post, using the news judgments of those organizations as a guideline for VOA`s news priorities. Those organizations can make their own judgments about their audiences and their needs. We should focus on our audiences and serve them. At the same time, we want an integrated approach with greater coördination between the newsroom and the language services. Some of these services are generating interviews and other news items which merit wider distribution. We will work with the services to create a system for harvesting their news material. There will also be closer coordination of the work of our correspondents. Supervising editors will no longer be focused strictly on the CN output. Instead they will be working with our assignments staff to ensure correspondents and stringers are also targeting stories our client services need. Correspondents will also be called on to work more closely together to share information, passing along tips, quotes and facts for insertion in another corresponden`s reports. Our ``podland`` writers can expect to receive more direction in their assignments, to ensure these too are coordinated with the overall news file. Supervising editors will in addition be working with our TV staff, ensuring packages of video material and scripts meld with the CN and CR output to meet the video broadcast needs of our services. There will no doubt be kinks that will need to be worked out. Full implementation of our vision will also take time. In the meantime, we want to hear your suggestions for how things can be done better. Please email them to us both. Ted and Alex (via DXLD) VOA STAFFERS SEEK HILL PROBE, By Tom Sullivan, July 6, 2004 http://www.thehill.com/news/070604/voa.aspx Nearly half the staff of the Voice of America (VoA) has signed a petition that will be sent to members of Congress today accusing the Broadcasting Board of Governors of ``dismantling the nation’s radio beacon`` and calling on Congress to investigate the board. The petition also accuses the board, an independent entity responsible for all government-sponsored broadcasting, of launching new services in the Middle East with no editorial accountability at the expense of VoA programs serving the same areas and cutting back on broadcasts to Eastern Europe and in English around the world. ``We`re being bled white to support this expensive and ill-advised operation to the Middle East,`` a VoA English-language editor and supervisor told The Hill. The VoA employee, who said he feared reprisals if he were identified, added, ``It`s shameful and also very sad that we`re missing an opportunity to be doing what we should be doing.`` More than 460 of an estimated 1,000 VoA staff members have signed the petition, the editor said. A VoA spokesman said Friday that the agency would have no comment since he had not yet seen the petition. The major complaints cited in the petition involve the board`s new services in the Middle East — Radio Sawa, al-Hurra and Radio Farda — which the signatories say provide inadequate news coverage and do not operate under VoA`s charter, which guarantees balanced reporting. The petition accuses the board of shutting down the VoA Arabic Service and reducing resources to VoA television in the region and VoA service to Iran in favor of the new broadcasting services. Defenders of Radio Sawa and Radio Farda have said their offerings, mainly music with some news, appeal to younger listeners. But the VoA editor said reaching educated people, the leaders and activists in a community, is just as important. He also said the board members, with their business backgrounds, place too much emphasis on achieving market share. Alan Heil, a former VoA deputy director who helped distribute the petition, agreed. ``It`s very, very important for the United States to have something on the air that’s more food for thought and is part of the dialogue and not just a pop music service,`` he said. Both Radio Sawa and al-Hurra have not reported important breaking news stories, according to the petition, including, in the case of Radio Sawa, the capture of Saddam Hussein. What little news is reported is not produced in VoA`s newsroom but in a separate place overseen only be the board itself, the VoA editor said. ``There is a lack of balance and a there is a lack of editorial oversight,`` he asserted. While the board is launching new services to the Middle East, VoA English broadcasts are being crippled, the petition’s supporters say. The hours of English-language broadcasts have been reduced from 24 hours a day to 19. Because the service is dark at times it misses important stories, such as the handover of power in Iraq, Heil said. The petitioners also expressed concerns about increasing politicization of the VoA itself. Both Heil and another VoA journalist who spoke on the condition of anonymity said reporters and editors are convinced that the demotion of Andre DeNesnera as news director in a reorganization announced Thursday is evidence that is happening. ``He was believed [to be acting], and correctly so, as the bulwark against politicization of the news report,`` the journalist said. DeNesnera could not be reached for comment (The Hill July 6 via DXLD) Subject: Last random note . . . . . . I am writing my last 'random notes from the shark tank' as News Director to thank you all for your hard work and dedication these last four and a half years. I have greatly appreciated your professionalism, commitment and friendship. The name for my office - the 'shark tank' - came, as you all know, from the large glass wall with its view of the old newsroom. It could as easily have been called 'the goldfish bowl' because everything that went on here was seen and known by everyone. Transparency, both literal and figurative, has been my leitmotif as News Director. The last thing I would like to reiterate as I leave this job - though I know I am preaching to the choir - is that our Charter is the cornerstone of the work we do each day. We must continue to be objective, to present all sides of a story and to tell the unflinching, unvarnished truth. That is the basis of our credibility. We cannot permit anyone to spin a story, omit a fact, slant a viewpoint. Though the government pays our salary, it has never bought our conscience. Over the years we have earned our reputation by our integrity. We maintain it by our honesty. Our worldwide audience of listeners and viewers knows when we're telling the truth and when we're not. Our strength and steadfastness come from our Charter which requires us to present the news in an objective, balanced and comprehensive manner. To do anything less is self-deception and our audience will perceive it as moral cowardice. It goes without saying how honored I was to be nominated by my colleagues for the Tex Harris Award for Constructive Dissent two years ago - and to receive it from the American Foreign Service Association in the diplomatic rooms at the State Department. But the highlight of my tenure as News Director was accepting the University of Oregon's Payne Award for Ethics in Journalism on behalf of VOA. As you know, the award itself is unusual - a mirrored 'book' whose words can only be read by looking into the mirror. The symbolism is eloquent. The reasons we were chosen for this accolade - courage, ethics, honor - are the bedrock values of the people who work for VOA. Though some, to this day, still cast us as a propaganda organization - a mouthpiece of the U.S. government - the journalists in this building and colleagues around the world know better, as does our audience. We must continue to maintain our journalistic independence and at the Voice of America all voices must be heard. There must always be a place here for constructive dissent and we must brook no tolerance for anyone who would construe it as disloyalty, or worse, make it a punishable action or a reason for retaliation. To quote Edmund Burke, "All that is necessary for evil to triumph is for good men to do nothing." Or in the words of my countryman Voltaire: "I may not agree with what you say but I will defend to my death your right to say it." I will be joining you shortly in the newsroom. It has been an honor to serve you and work with you (Andre DeNesnera, VOA, July 6 via DXLD) I suspect that VOA will become as trustworthy as the openly propagandistic stations soon ;( (Rik van Riel, Brazil?, swprograms via DXLD) PRESS WATCHDOG CONDEMNS REMOVAL OF VOA [news] DIRECTOR | Text of press relase by the Vienna-based International Press Institute on 6 July On 1 July, Andre deNesnera was removed from his position as news director of the Voice of America (VOA) and assigned a reporting job as VOA diplomatic correspondent. The reorganisation to the newsroom was carried out by the Broadcasting Board of Governors (BBG) without warning and left many staff feeling concerned. VOA news director since March 2000, deNesnera oversaw a newsroom that emphasised editorial independence and affirmed fair and balanced news reporting. In September 2001, deNesnera withstood pressure from the state department to suppress an interview with the leader of Afghanistan's ruling Taliban militia, Mullah Mohammed Omar. When writing to staff on the subject of the Mullah Omar interview, deNesnera said, "I want to commend you for the sterling work all of you have done during these trying times - and I urge you not to fall under the spell of 'self-censorship.' If you do, 'they' have won." In June 2002, deNesnera received a "constructive dissent" award from the American Foreign Service Association for preserving the integrity of the VOA's news broadcasts. Speaking of deNesnera's removal, IPI Director Johann P. Fritz said, "I am worried that this is the first step in dismantling the VOA's news structure. As news director, deNesnera stood for the fundamental right of editors and journalists to set the news agenda themselves and his demotion sends the wrong message to both his former staff and any successor." "From now on, VOA journalists will be fearful for their jobs if they dare criticise decisions and the future news director will have a clear precedent that says, 'If you defy the BBG or the state department' there is a price to be paid.' The net effect will be that individuals unconnected to the news service will play a greater role in deciding content; something which is profoundly damaging to the credibility of the organisation." "I am also concerned that deNesnera's removal is one of a series of decisions that reveal a disregard for the editorial independence and news values that have served the United States well in the past. At a time when there is a desperate need for a greater understanding of America's policies, particularly in the Middle East, the VOA, which for decades has successfully undertaken this role, appears to have been neglected in favour of other organisations." "News services such as Radio Sawa, the satellite television station al-Hurra and Radio Farda, are not governed by the VOA's charter which entrenches balanced reporting. Their formats also radically depart from that of the VOA's. Several of the services emphasise music and soft-news over hard breaking news with the consequence that many important news stories are not reported as and when they happen," Fritz added. "By taking this route, I am afraid the good work of U.S. international broadcasting services will be undermined. The U.S. government should remember that it takes decades of hard work to build a solid reputation for balanced and fair news reporting but only seconds to lose it." Source: International Press Institute, Vienna, in English 6 Jul 04 (via BBCM via DXLD) ** U S A [and non]. 500 Editions of Wavescan --- PRESS RELEASE Adventist World Radio's Global DX programme for Shortwave Listeners and radio hobbyists will be celebrating its 500th edition on Sunday August 1. The programme will include an interview with International Shortwave expert, Dr Adrian Peterson, as well as historic features on the beginnings of radio, and the origins of AWR. For radio hobbyists, AWR will also be offering a specially endorsed historic QSL card, which will be available only from the address listed below. Victor Hulbert Director. English Language Service. Adventist World Radio, Whitegates, St. Marks Rd, Binfield, Berks, RG42 4AT. England. Tel +44 1344 401401 Fax +44 1344 401419 http://english.awr.org Please note the preferred address for listeners: victor @ awr.org (via Adrian Peterson himself, July 5-6, DX LISTENING DIGEST) With so few shortwave media-oriented programs out there, this milestone is one definitely worth celebrating. It would appear the best chances to catch AWR on shortwave here in the USA would be the 2100 and 2130 broadcasts targeting Africa from Austria on 15130 kHz, but suggestions from others would be appreciated. The program is archived on the AWR site for on-demand listening; see the link to Wavescan at this URL: http://english.awr.org/els.swf (Richard Cuff / Allentown, PA USA, July 6, swprograms vai DXLD) Wavescan on WRMI (as of June 9 schedule posted on WRMI web page): Sun. 2100 15725 Mon. 0300 7385 Both are beamed to NA, but I've had trouble pulling in 15725 reliably and 7385 has been marred by jamming, presumably from Cuba (John Figliozzi, Halfmoon, NY, ibid.) Some of the KSDA airings are surprisingly audible here. Keep in mind that AWR airings on WRMI lag behind the rest, so maybe a week or more later for #500 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Audio and scripts are archived at http://english.awr.org/wavescan/ The July 11 edition is already available (John Norfolk, swprograms via DXLD) ** U S A. Re WJIE possibly carrying WORLD OF RADIO, M-F 2100 on 13595: audible here July 5, but not WOR; sounded like Rod Hembree again. WOR is still on the posted WJIE schedule at this time. 24 hours later: no signal. O, how I wish they would get their act together (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. Greetings!!!! We are very pleased with the new frequency 5745. We have had a very significant surge in absolutely new listeners!!! Apparently, this new frequency is with in the tuning range of inexpensive windup and various other shortwave radios such as the Bell and Howell $9.95 shortwave radio. We understand that lots of them have been sold or gave out for free so a multitude of new listeners have 'discovered' WWRB. We have introduced this newfound Treasure of listeners to WWRB and our Christian family of broadcasters. http://www.wwrb.org (Dave Frantz, WWRB, July 6, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A [non]. BELARUS. Since 1 June, WYFR Family Radio is being relayed in Spanish at 1900-2000 via Minsk 7350 (150 kW), directed towards Western Europe. (Info: Sergey Alekseychik-BLR & Dmitry Mezin- RUS, open_dx mailing list 3, 4 July via Bernd Trutenau, Lithuania, dxldyg via DXLD) ** U S A [non]. RUSSIA: Additional transmission of WYFR Family Radio in German via MSK effective July 1, 1900-2000 on 7360 (55555) (Observer, Bulgaria, July 6, via DXLD) Is something mixed up here, or are these both on the air at the same time 10 kHz apart in different languages from different sites? BTW, per HFCC, MSK = Moskva, and MNS = Minsk. FWIW, A-04 HFCC has Armavir on both frequencies at this time, now cleared away?? 7350 1700 2100 18 ARM 250 315 1234567 280304 311004 D RUS VOR GFC 7360 1900 2100 17,27 ARM 250 315 1234567 280304 311004 D RUS VOR GFC (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) These registrations above are shown in the public version of the A04 HFCC schedule. The public version reflects registrations as of March 2004 and is in many details outdated meanwhile, since all major FMOs (including the Russian GFC) are regularly submitting updates with new registrations/changes/deletions. The updated HFCC files are then made available to the HFCC member organisations, while the public version of the file is not updated. The 7350 Spanish transmission originates from Minsk; Sergey Alekseychik received this info directly from the transmitting centre in Minsk. In addition, transmitters in Russia do not use 150 kW power. The transmission was confirmed on the air by Dmitry Mezin. (The report by Sergey Alekseychik mentions 1 June as starting day, this may have been 1 July though). (Bernd Trutenau, Lithuania, July 6, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A [non]. Frequency changes for WYFR Family Radio via Taiwan (TAI 250 kW): 0000-0200 Hindi/En NF 15195, ex 15060 1100-1600 Chinese NF 6155* ex 6300 *co-ch ORF-1 in German 2100-2400 Chinese NF 6155* ex 9280 *co-ch ORF-1 in German till 2210 (Observer, Bulgaria, July 6, via DXLD) ** U S A [non]. Radio Liberty (RL) and Voice of America (VOA) changes in Georgian: 0500-0600 RL on 9850, ex 0400-0500 on 9595 1530-1600 VOA on 11805, 15475, 17870, ex 1430-1500 on 11935, 15185, 17810 1600-1700 RL on 15285, ex 1500-1600 on 17725 (Observer, Bulgaria, July 6, via DXLD) ** U S A. DX-ing With Cumbre changes: 2100-2130 Fri on 17650 Angel 5 cancelled 0630-0700 Sun on 7535 Angel 2 cancelled (Observer, Bulgaria, July 6, via DXLD) Really? I heard DWC Fri July 2 on 17650, but it started at 2105 after the ``news``, contrary to the usual. This airing too often runs the previous week`s show, altho on this occasion I believe it was a new one. Wish the Observers would cite sources for their info. Posted on website schedule? internal station or coördination sources? own monitoring, or what? Especially with WHR and DWC, you cannot conclude an airing has been permanently cancelled just because it fails to appear one week exactly at a scheduled time! (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. The Cedar Rapids, IA public radio stations have new program schedules today July 5, KUNI and KHKE. When we checked July 4, there was info about this and the updated KUNI grid at that station`s site, but KHKE was still not updated. This will be just a minor inconvenience to web listeners, but much more so to Iowans who love classical music on FM, a distressing trend all over the public radio system. The FAQ does not put it as bluntly as Kevin does: (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) There was a similar set of changes two weeks ago in Fort Wayne (WBNI/WBOI). That one was closer to being a complete format swap, but the effect was the same: ending up with news/info on the stronger signal and full-time classical on the weaker signal (Kevin A. Kelly, publicradiofan.com, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. Barry University, owner of Boynton Beach-based WXEL-Ch. 42 television and WXEL-FM 90.7, both public broadcasting stations, has asked a consulting firm to evaluate its strategic options for the two properties, including their possible sale to another public broadcast entity. The other alternatives include a joint venture with another entity, looking for a community foundation to take over the stations or maintaining the status quo, a Barry spokesman said. "We haven't decided anything pro or con," said Mike Laderman, the assistant vice president for university relations at the Miami Shores- based educational institution. "We've asked the firm to take a look at what we have, and realistically, it's a natural thing to do when you have a changing of the guard," he added. Sister Linda Bevilacqua took over July 1 as the sixth president of Barry University, which is sponsored by the Dominican Sisters of Adrian, Mich. She replaced Sister Jeanne O'Laughlin, who became Barry's president in 1981. The firm, Lutz-based Transformations Consulting, will make its report to the school's board of trustees. Laderman said he did not know when the study would be completed. "We're not in any rush," he added. Jerry Carr, president and chief executive officer of nonprofit WXEL, declined to comment on the university's plans. WXEL-TV on July 4 began digital broadcasting "after three years and $7 million," Carr said. The station raised $3.5 million in donations and received the remainder from matching grants supplied by the state and federal governments. WXEL was taken over by Barry University in 1997 and has grown to about 20,000 paid members today. The stations reach viewers and listeners throughout the tri-country area. WXEL-FM, a news partner of the South Florida Sun-Sentinel, is the only FM station in South Florida that regularly broadcasts classical music programs. http://www.sun-sentinel.com/business/local/sfl-zwxel07jul07,0,4713048.story?coll=sfla-business-front (via Dino Bloise - FL, July 7, dxldyg via DXLD) ** U S A. SALE TUNES OUT BIG-BAND SOUND Wednesday, July 07, 2004, Julie E. Washington, Plain Dealer Reporter http://www.cleveland.com/entertainment/plaindealer/index.ssf?/base/entertainment/1089192858174191.xml The big-band format is playing its last dance on Cleveland's radio airwaves. WRMR AM/1420, home to Frank Sinatra, Benny Goodman and other greats, has been sold to Salem Communications Corp. for an undisclosed sum. The sale means the end of the big-band format and of some programs that had longtime WRMR personalities as hosts, said Robert Conrad, president of WRMR and WCLV FM/104.9. Salem representatives could not be reached for comment. WCLV acquired WRMR from Salem Communications in July 2001 as part of a deal aimed at saving WCLV and preserving its long-held position on the radio dial, Conrad said. But the loss of listeners and advertising revenue made WRMR a drain on sister station WCLV and the decision was made to sell the station back to Salem, Conrad said. "We gave it three years, but unfortunately it's dying all across the country," Conrad said of the format. The Federal Communications Commission is expected to approve the transfer of ownership in early 2005, but Salem is expected to change the station's format on Monday, Conrad said. While there are more than 2,000 country radio stations in the United States and about 1,000 news-talk stations, there are only about 200 stations playing big-band music, he said. WRMR's older audience had no problem finding the station on the AM dial, Conrad said. But those listeners made the station less attractive to advertisers. While fewer people listened to WCLV than WRMR, WCLV's classical music format is more viable for advertisers because it attracts a younger, more upscale audience, he said. Some of WRMR's on-air staff will stay with WCLV in other roles, but some hosts are losing their jobs, Conrad said. "Breakfast Club" host Ted Alexander will remain with sister station WCLV as an engineer and voice-over announcer. Midday host John Simna will stay as WCLV's music director and operations manager. Simna's all-night jazz show that aired on WRMR will switch to WCLV from midnight to 6 a.m., starting at midnight on Saturday, July 17. Bill Rudman fans can still hear his "Footlight Parade" on WCLV. Rudman hosted a Saturday afternoon show on WRMR. Programs hosted by Jim Davis and Carl Reese will be off the air. Davis was the afternoon host of "House Party" and WRMR's operations manager, and Reese was the host of "Supper Club" and "Saturday Serenade." Conrad said he was unhappy to see the big-band format die in Cleveland. "We love the format," he said. "My wife isn't talking to me. It's her favorite station." © 2004 The Plain Dealer. Used with permission (via Art Blair, IRCA via DXLD) ** U S A. 7/4/2004 --- Encroachment Reports and Activity Reports are back; Free reports now available by e-mail. Today, REC Networks announces the availability of two periodic reports for LPFM stations, permitees and applicants. The Encroachment Report tracks the application activity of full power FM stations and FCC actions of these applications. If there are nearby LPFM stations to the activity, the Encroachment Report gives an advisory as well as a warning level based on the LPFM's distance to the activity. The report allows LPFM proponents to receive an early warning possible interference sources and when possible remedial action may be required. The LPFM Activity Report tracks the applications and FCC actions of LPFM stations nationwide. Both reports will be issued weekly over the weekend. Additional reports may be available soon through the service. To subscribe: Send an e-mail to reclpfm-subscribe@yahoogroups.com (REC Networks via DXLD) see also OKLAHOMA ** U S A. LOW-POWER RADIO DESERVES A CHANCE Monday, July 5, 2004 http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2004/07/05/EDGD56NAMA1.DTL WHEN THE Federal Communications Commission changed the rules in 1996 to allow a single broadcaster to own any number of stations, proponents of local programming feared that the death of competition, diversity and community-oriented dialogue on the radio was just a matter of time. Now, with a handful of owners rapidly gaining market share -- Clear Channel Broadcasting has about 1,200 and Infinity Broadcasting 180 -- such worries continue to grow. Listeners from coast to coast are complaining to the FCC about the lack of local input and information on the airwaves. They say that ethnic voices, community-driven issues, local debate and matters of concern to the elderly, youth, the poor and others have been drowned out by a flood of homogenized music and news. The limited ownership and centralized programming, community advocates say, have resulted in a significant drop in the broadcasting "diversity index,'' the measure of voices in the radio market. A bill by Sens. John McCain, R-Ariz., and Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., could reverse the trend by making more low-power FM stations, or LPFMs, available for public use. In January 2000, the FCC authorized LPFMs as a new, affordable community radio service to "create opportunities for new voices on the airwaves and to allow local groups, including schools, churches and other(s),'' to be "responsive to local needs and interests'' without compromising the integrity or interfering with existing FM stations. With 100 watts or less and a range of 3 to 7 miles, the LPFMs were an ideal solution, particularly for the thousands of under-represented people living in big cities. But powerful factions of the broadcast industry -- most notably the National Association of Broadcasters and National Public Radio -- claimed that the LPFMs would interfere with their signals and disrupt their broadcasts. Using their powerful lobby, NAB and NPR got Congress to order an independent engineering study and enact the Radio Broadcast Preservation Act of 2000. The act eliminated LPFM availability by about 75 percent, relegating just a handful of licenses to primarily thinly populated rural areas. The nation's top 50 cities have but one LPFM station among them. After spending nearly three years and $2.2 million of taxpayers' money, a study found that broadcasters, as McCain put it, "grossly exaggerate" their claims -- LPFMs are too weak to disrupt high-powered transmissions. So this month, McCain and Leahy introduced the Low Power Radio Act of 2004 to end the blackout of LPFMs in urban areas. It could clear the way for as many as 1,000 new stations. Big Radio should not have an exclusive right to the public airwaves. The McCain-Leahy bill represents a noble attempt to open the airwaves to more voices. Page B - 6 (via Artie Bigley, DXLD) ** U S A. BPL Cheerleaders Leaving? --- CHANGES AT THE FCC? Washington - Jun 30, 2004 - Speculation is rising that FCC Chairman Michael K. Powell will step down from his post this winter. The speculation is causing a rush to present issues to the agency for consideration. The Los Angeles Times reports that at least two other commissioners may leave as well, significantly altering the political makeup of the five-member commission. The Times reports that Powell has denied that he had any immediate plans to leave. An election year usually causes some stir at the FCC. Powell was appointed to the FCC by President Clinton and made chairman by the current President Bush. If Democratic Presidential candidate John Kerry is elected, the FCC will shift from a Republican-dominated (3-2) group to a Democratic one. It is not uncommon for a chairman of the opposite to voluntarily step down, as was the case with Powell's predecessor, William Kennard. The other two Republicans at the FCC, Kevin J. Martin and Kathleen Q. Abernathy, are also considering leaving. Also, the term of Democrat Jonathan S. Adelstein officially expired in June 2003. The Times reports that Abernathy, a former telephone industry lobbyist, wants to return to the private sector, where she could substantially increase her salary. In addition, Martin appears to be happy at the FCC but might leave if he isn't appointed chairman, a move that Powell opposes (From the 6/28 issue of Radio Currents via Joe Buch, Swprograms mailing list via DXLD) ** U S A. Three July 12 Time Magazine stories about Fahrenheit 9/11 and Michael Moore are already available July 5 at: http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/latestnews/mikeinthenews/index.php? Also on the website is a section that debunks the "debunkers" of the movie, and states clearly what the movie says about Bush's relations with the Bin Ladens, and what the movie says about Saudis flying out of the U.S. while other flights were grounded. Supplementally, there's a "wacko attacko" section with more debunking of the "debunkers". The Fridley chain of theaters in Iowa refuses to show the film, so I guess this guy is rich enough to turn down all that big money it's raking in. And then there's the Kerasotes chain of theaters, also midwestern, saying that it won't show the film until after the election... ...all of which makes Fahrenheit 9/11 the hottest property out on the circuits to the point where the anti-Moore website, MooreWatch.com, has been posting links to a peer-server that offers free bootleg copies. They think they're pissing off the distributors and cutting into any box office intake Mike might get, but what this does is do an end-run around the theater chains that refuse to show it. And Michael's perfectly OK with the whole deal. The headline for the article at http://www.webuser.co.uk/news/56254.html trumpets: "Pirate This Film!" So, by all means, get your own film-maker-approved pirate copy and share generously with your friends. If Fridley and Kerasotes want to give up all that box office money while a lot of people haven't seen it yet, that's their business. They shouldn't be surprised if, when they finally get to running it, everybody's seen it already (Clara Listensprechen, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. [Continued from the propagation comments under BERMUDA] Something else rather alarming I noticed during this opening, Glenn. At the low end of the band (88-92), you've got basically two kinds of stations propagating: NPR stations, and Christian fundamentalist "Bible Belt" stations. And it's only during an accidental band opening like this that it's possible to get a broad national overview of what kind of "message" the Christian fundamentalist stations are delivering. I was absolutely appalled to find that, on one channel after another, furious tirades against gay rights, gay marriage, abortion, sex education and "youthful promiscuity" were being blasted into the airwaves, especially from the southern stations. Their anti-gay tirades, in particular, almost seem to qualify as "hate-speech" and "hate-mongering" in the name of religion, directed against people -- even against fellow Christians -- whose personal values differ in any way from those of the radical right-wing fundamentalists running the radio stations. This is very alarming stuff to hear in such a concentrated dose. It's one thing to have an isolated local "fire-and-brimstone" evangelical station operating in your own home town. Most people will just tend to laugh it off. But when the FM band opens up, and you suddenly hear DOZENS of these stations blasting the very same mean-spirited and hateful rhetoric into the ether, on channel after channel, you soon begin to understand the means through which the extreme-right-wing is managing to hijack the politics of the United States. "Hate speech radio" in the name of God is apparently being delivered everywhere. And it requires an accidental band opening like this, to provide a dramatic bird's-eye view of the extent of an extremely frightening national phenomenon. Just wondering if you've ever made the same observation about the "right-wing evangelical non-commercial stations" during band openings (Dave, KB1F, Beauvais, MA, July 7, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Sigh --- one does not need a DX opening to observe the dominance of the `educational` band by hateful gospel huxters --- we have many transmitters from translators to full power, occupying most of the band. I can normally get only two public radio stations any more, KCSC 90.1 and KOSU 91.7 (Glenn Hauser, Enid, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** VENEZUELA [non]. Hi All! Looking for some help on locating a transmitter site. I finally solved a mystery and opened another. I've been hearing a Spanish language station on 13680 below the powerful Canada relay for China R. International at 2300-0000 UT. There is five minutes or so after the CRI transmission shutdown where the station is alone on the frequency. Only yesterday I finally got a solid, clear, ID on it: R. Nacional Venezuela. PWRB and online references don't list this; a previous CDX bulletin on Venezuela via Cuba didn't list 13680. Anyone out there have an idea of the source of the transmission? Thanks! 73, best signals your way (Rick Barton, AZ, July 4, Cumbre DX via DXLD) Surely it`s Cuba; 13680 used for Venezuela relay on Sunday mornings. Check whether 13680 is synchronized with 9820 or 11760 for the 2300+ broadcast of RNV via Habana (9820 and 11760 are not synchronized with each other). 73, (Glenn Hauser, ibid.) Hello Glenn, thanks for your nice tips on IDing the transmitter site for the Venezuelan broadcast on 13680 I've been hearing. I had seen the morning transmissions from Cuba you had referred to listed in a past "World of Radio"...believe it or not, one way I try to ID unIDs is to "google" the frequency and "world of radio" or "hauser". Your tip on checking for the parallels was good and I appreciate that. Gracias! 73 (~Rick Barton, AZ, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ZAMBIA. 4910, ZNBC Radio 1 at 1847-2205* with OM in local language, 33433, OM in local lang often mentioning Zambia, a lot of YL a cappella songs (gospel-like), in one song Zambia was mentioned too, no IDs, no timepips at 2100 (44544 this time), YL with Afropop theme under her talk, time announcement (UT+2), quick ID "ZBC Radio One), sign-off with anthem acapello at 2205* (44554) (Artyom Prokhorov, near Moscow, Russia, Cumbre DX via DXLD) UNIDENTIFIED. I wonder what the station in a foreign language is at 2000 UT on 6950? (Chris Hambly, Victoria, July 6, DX LISTENING DIGEST) {China; see 4-103) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ UNSOLICITED TESTIMONIAL +++++++++++++++++++++++ Hi Glenn, Great to hear from YOU again too! I lost touch with the program for some years, but was glad recently to discover that it's all being archived on the net in streaming audio. I very well remember the joint caper we pulled, when you broadcast my open question (and essay) about whether Reagan's two "hearing aids" were actually miniature radio receivers, and everything he said was likely being prompted from behind the scenes! In fact, I believe that was the VERY LAST TIME Reagan ever appeared at a televised press conference with those "hearing aids" -- and it was probably one of his last press conferences ever. So I do suspect that we were onto something, and news of your broadcast probably made its way back to his handlers, and freaked them out by "blowing the cover". Given what we now know about Reagan's early-onset Alzheimer's, it all starts to make sense (Dave Beauvais, MA, July 7, DX LISTENING DIGEST) This contact was prompted by his report of BERMUDA, q.v. PUBLICATIONS ++++++++++++ WRTH SUMMER SCHEDULES NEW UPDATE FILE NOW AVAILABLE FOR DOWNLOAD In response to the very favourable comments of our last file, WRTH has been busy preparing the next update file and this is now available for download. This file contains the latest available SW, MW and LW broadcasting schedules for nearly 220 International, Foreign Service and Target broadcasters, including new items such as INTERNEWS RADIO/SALAAM WATANDAR. This file has been extensively revised and updated and can be downloaded from the following link: http://www.wrth.com/files/WRTHA04WEB.pdf or by visiting the WRTH website http://www.wrth.com Please note you will need the free Acrobat reader in order to view this file (version 4 or above is required), which can be downloaded from http://www.adobe.com I will be placing a copy of this new file on my personal website (which has information on dx-ing, Beacons, Morse code, 6m, propagation and more): http://myweb.tiscali.co.uk/g4ucj Regards, Sean D. Gilbert International Editor - WRTH (World Radio TV Handbook) Email: sean.gilbert@wrth.com Web: http://www.wrth.com Fax: +44 (0) 709 2332287 --- WRTH - THE Directory of Global Broadcasting (via dx_india et al., via DXLD) This is 92 pages long, so at first I thought the entire external service section of the WRTH 2004 book had been updated, as it is 90 pages long – but no, altho extensive, the schedule listings occupy only the first 63 pdf pages, the rest being a frequency listing (including MW used for external services). I spent entirely too much time skimming every one of the first 63 pages, and this looks very accurate and up to date, with a few exceptions. Entirely too much of it is concerned with gospel huxters and their multitude of languages no one has ever heard of, and whose speakers have never seen nor will ever see a WRTH online or in print - -- but that`s not WRTH`s fault, as it is committed to being complete. The major mistake I spotted was putting the V. of the People clandestine from Madagascar to Zimbabwe under: KOREA NORTH! Yes, there was a clandestine of the same name (in translation) between the Koreas, but absolutely no connexion to the current service to Zimbabwe! (Clandestines are mixed in under the target country rather than in a separate sexion as in the book, further muddying the waters about what`s official and what`s not; tho transmitter sites are attached to almost every frequency.) Radio Free Asia`s secret deals are again respected with some frequencies lacking a site; as is Radio for Peace, 15665, listed under Italy as if it were a separate ``station`` from IRRS/NEXUS/IBA, listed just above it with Milano as the site for 5775 and 13840. More anomalies: no MW frequencies listed for R. Martí; I could understand missing the recent addition of 1620 via WDHP, and occasional tests of 1020 via Turks & Caicos, but 1180 Marathon is not there either! Yet MW (only) frequencies are shown for R. Free Iraq and R. Sawa. WBCQ must be running too many preachers! Because it gets flagged as a (Rlg.) station, while it is in fact one of only two private US SW stations which are not (but glad to sell time to gospel huxters anyway). I have picked out a few more items which may involve new info, placed in this issue under AFGHANISTAN [non], ANGOLA, AZERBAIJAN, NIGERIA, PAKISTAN [non]. The `copy` option is disabled in this file (even tho it is freely available), so there will be no large reprinted excerpts here (Glenn Hauser, OK, July 6, dxldyg and DX LISTENING DIGEST) WRTH editor Sean Gilbert saw the above comments in the dxldyg before this DXLD was published, and made correxions in a revised WRTH Update which is the one you will now see at the links. WBCQ has been changed to (Private); V. of the People has been moved from KOREA NORTH to the very last item under ZIMBABWE; but still no 1180 for Martí. As I recall, IBB info conveniently overlooks this frequency too, probably the cause of such an anomaly. Further changes noted under AFGHANISTAN [non] and PAKISTAN [non] (Glenn Hauser, July 7, DX LISTENING DIGEST) RADIO EQUIPMENT FORUM / DRM +++++++++++++++++++++ +++ Re: Eureka now competing with DRM for the AM digital market: COMBINING THE QUALITY OF DISTURBANCE-FREE DIGITAL RADIO WITH THE RANGE AND GLOBAL POPULARITY OF AM http://www.eureka.be/ifs/files/ifs/jsp-bin/eureka/ifs/jsps/publicShowcase.jsp?fileToInclude=ProjectProfile.jsp&docid=2709287 Hello, this *is* the system otherwise known as DRM. I think there is not much doubt about this since both companies mentioned in the Eureka release (Atmel and Thales Broadcast) are members of the DRM Consortium. Probably Eureka is simply not allowed to use the term DRM? It will be interesting to see how Thales and Atmel's subsidiary will communicate the system now. Is this the beginning of the end for the brand DRM? The Eureka in the L-band is the project 147, labelled DAB (Digital Audio Broadcasting) and here in Europe now frequently dubbed "Digital Radio" as if there wouldn't be any other systems for digital broadcast delivery. DAB consists of bouquets with 1.5 MHz bandwidth each, so it is obvious that DAB can work above 30 MHz only, either in the VHF TV band (preferably but not exclusively on channel 12, at least in Germany) or in the L-band (in Canada here only, no VHF services). By the way, recently some organizations also brought up a term "DTT" which I think is rather unnecessary since this thing is already known as DVB-T. Regards, (Kai Ludwig, Germany, DX LISTENING DIGEST) {See also GERMANY, RUSSIA} PROPAGATION [also see BERMUDA] +++++++++++ The geomagnetic field ranged from quiet to active with minor storm periods observed at high latitudes. The period began with generally quiet to unsettled conditions, but became more disturbed late on the 28th following the onset of a high speed coronal hole stream. As the solar wind speed increased, the geomagnetic field responded with active periods at all latitudes and occasional minor storm periods at high latitudes. The geomagnetic field gradually returned to quiet to unsettled levels on 02 July as the high speed stream subsided. Forecast of Solar and Geomagnetic Activity 07 July - 02 August 2004 Solar activity is expected to be at very low to low levels. Mostly very low conditions are expected through the early part of the forecast period. Old active regions (634 and 635) are expected to return on 10-12 July and boost activity levels to low. There is a chance for an isolated M-class flare from either of these regions. No greater than 10 MeV proton events are expected. The greater than 2 MeV electron flux at geosynchronous orbit is expected to reach high levels on 13 July and again on 26 – 29 July due to recurrent coronal hole high speed streams. The geomagnetic field is expected to range from quiet to active levels with minor storm periods at high latitudes. Unsettled to active conditions with high latitude minor storm periods are possible on 12 July and 25-28 July as recurrent high speed coronal hole streams rotate into a geoeffective position. :Product: 27-day Space Weather Outlook Table 27DO.txt :Issued: 2004 Jul 06 2211 UTC # Prepared by the US Dept. of Commerce, NOAA, Space Environment Center # Product description and SEC contact on the Web # http://www.sec.noaa.gov/wwire.html # # 27-day Space Weather Outlook Table # Issued 2004 Jul 06 # # UTC Radio Flux Planetary Largest # Date 10.7 cm A Index Kp Index 2004 Jul 07 80 10 3 2004 Jul 08 80 10 3 2004 Jul 09 85 10 3 2004 Jul 10 90 8 3 2004 Jul 11 100 10 3 2004 Jul 12 110 15 3 2004 Jul 13 115 8 3 2004 Jul 14 115 8 3 2004 Jul 15 115 10 3 2004 Jul 16 115 10 3 2004 Jul 17 115 10 3 2004 Jul 18 115 10 3 2004 Jul 19 115 10 3 2004 Jul 20 110 8 3 2004 Jul 21 110 8 3 2004 Jul 22 105 8 3 2004 Jul 23 100 8 3 2004 Jul 24 100 8 3 2004 Jul 25 90 15 3 2004 Jul 26 85 12 3 2004 Jul 27 80 20 4 2004 Jul 28 80 12 3 2004 Jul 29 80 10 3 2004 Jul 30 80 10 3 2004 Jul 31 80 10 3 2004 Aug 01 80 10 3 2004 Aug 02 80 15 3 (http://www.sec.noaa.gov/radio via WORLD OF RADIO 1237, DXLD) ###