DX LISTENING DIGEST 4-106, July 12, 2004 edited by Glenn Hauser, http://www.worldofradio.com Items from DXLD may be reproduced and re-reproduced only if full credit be maintained at all stages and we be provided exchange copies. DXLD may not be reposted in its entirety without permission. Materials taken from Arctic or originating from Olle Alm and not having a commercial copyright are exempt from all restrictions of noncommercial, noncopyrighted reusage except for full credits For restrixions and searchable 2004 contents archive see http://www.worldofradio.com/dxldmid.html NOTE: If you are a regular reader of DXLD, and a source of DX news but have not been sending it directly to us, please consider yourself obligated to do so. Thanks, Glenn NEXT AIRINGS OF WORLD OF RADIO 1237: Tue 1600 on WBCQ after-hours http://wbcq.com repeated weekdaily Wed 0930 on WWCR 9475 Mon 0330 on WSUI 910, webcast http://wsui.uiowa.edu WRN ONDEMAND: http://new.wrn.org/listeners/stations/station.php?StationID=24 OUR ONDEMAND AUDIO [also for CONTINENT OF MEDIA, MUNDO RADIAL]: Check http://www.worldofradio.com/audiomid.html WORLD OF RADIO 1237 (high version): (stream) http://www.w4uvh.net/wor1237h.ram (download) http://www.w4uvh.net/wor1237h.rm (summary) http://www.worldofradio.com/wor1237.html WORLD OF RADIO 1237 (low version): (stream) http://www.w4uvh.net/wor1237.ram (download) http://www.w4uvh.net/wor1237.rm WORLD OF RADIO 1237 in the true shortwave sound of 5070: (stream) http://www.piratearchive.com/media/worldofradio_07-11-04.m3u (d`load) http://www.piratearchive.com/media/worldofradio_07-11-04.mp3 ** AFGHANISTAN [non]. 11795, Internews Radio/"Salaam Watandar" program (apparently via Merlin), better here at 0130 than on 17700 at 1330. Carrier came on around 0128 Jul 9, then began "grand" opening sequence, "Salaam Watandar" ID at 0130. Better signal all around than 17700, tho suffering from heavy thunderstorm QRN this particular night (Jerry Berg, MA, NASWA Flashsheet July 11 via DXLD) 0247-0300* Jul 9, presumed the one here with talks until abrupt close without any ID or closedown announcements. Again, 0151-0300* Jul 11 with IDs, talks and music in Pashto until language switch to Dari at 0215. Fair (Rich D`Angelo, PA, NASWA Flashsheet July 11 via DXLD) More about Internews, excerpt from a much longer article: IN RADIO-CENTRIC AFGHANISTAN, WESTERN DONORS WORK WITH LOCAL REALITIES Saturday July 10, 2004 (1459 PST) . . .Last year, the U.S. military distributed 200,000 free transistor radios -- an indication of the very basic needs of Afghanistan, which differ considerably from nearby Central Asian countries and even some African developing nations. With only about 36 percent of the population literate and with the country's poorly developed infrastructure, radio remains by far the most popular medium. Many areas still lack electricity and television sets, so reaching most the population through television is not an option. About 37 percent of the population, or 7.5 million Afghans, listen to the radio, Internews reports. Another Internews survey found that 24 percent of rural Afghans can be reached by local radio or television stations, although many households do not have electricity and the number of those who possess radios and batteries is not known. In addition to the reformed government-broadcasting system, Radio Arman, the first independent station, was launched in 2003. Some conservatives were outraged that "young girls can be heard laughing on the air," according to the Paris-based Reporters Without Borders (RSF), a nongovernmental press-freedom group. The station grew popular in what an Afghan journalist told RSF was a "radio-centric" country, and others soon followed. Internews has now set up 14 radio stations across Afghanistan with funding from the United States Agency for International Development's Office of Transitional Initiatives. Additional support from Germany has been provided for such Internews activities as a publication called "Media Monitor," which tracks press-freedom violations and development issues for the local media community and the general public. In July 2003, Internews asked station managers across the country to map the footprint of their radio stations. They found there is a disparity between urban and rural listeners. International broadcasters such as VOA, RFE/RL, the BBC, and Deutsche Welle have all organized programming for Afghanistan. In a study of Afghan media prepared last year called "Afghan Media Landscape," the Baltic Media Center (BMC), based in Denmark and implementing programs in Afghanistan, says that for now international stations "provide pluralism in a country where private broadcasting can hardly survive." Without a thriving, independent business sector, advertising cannot flourish, the report noted. The BMC is concerned that international projects might inadvertently displace domestic efforts that also need support. "In a midterm perspective, the immense competition from these [foreign] radios will threaten both Radio Afghanistan and possibly Afghan private initiatives," the BMC study worries. Such concerns, however, might be misplaced. Although foreign stations have considerable audiences, when Internews conducted a survey last year of 2,000 radio sets, they found that 80 percent were tuned to the two Afghan independent radio stations, which feature mainly Indian, Afghan, and Western music with some news programming. . . http://paktribune.com/news/index.php?id=70366 (Catherine A. Fitzpatrick, Pakistan Tribune via Andy Sennitt, dxldyg via DXLD) Hmm, that name sure sounds familiar. She writes for RFE/RL Media Matters --- Sure enough, above article was lifted verbatim by PakTribune without credit! from http://www.rferl.org/reports/mm/2004/07/12-020704.asp which has more pieces on Afghanistan, including all 43 articles in Afghanistan`s new Law on the Mass Media, and analysis of it, plus: [non] RADIO FREE AFGHANISTAN: PRACTICAL RADIO FOR A COUNTRY IN TRANSITION --- By Andres Ilves Radio Free Afghanistan began broadcasting on 30 January 2002 under the auspices of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty. Constituting the "Afghan Service" of RFE/RL, Radio Free Afghanistan is on the air 12 hours a day, seven days a week, broadcasting in the Pashto and Dari languages to the people of Afghanistan. According to the most recent independent field surveys -- conducted in Kabul and Mazar-e Sharif in September 2003 -- Radio Free Afghanistan has a weekly reach of 54 percent in Kabul and 68 percent in Mazar-e Sharif. A further, smaller sample in the same survey recorded 72 percent listenership in rural areas. Created in response to the tragedy of 11 September 2001, Radio Free Afghanistan was sponsored by U.S. Congressman Edward Royce (Republican, California), who had been calling for surrogate-style broadcasting to Afghanistan for a number of years during the Taliban period. A previous iteration of Radio Free Afghanistan, broadcasting as a unit of RFE/RL from the latter's headquarters at the time in Munich, Germany, had been on the air from 1985 to 1993 during the era of communist rule in Afghanistan. Radio Free Afghanistan, which is on the air from 7 a.m. until 7 p.m. local time in Kabul, seeks to promote and sustain democratic values and institutions in Afghanistan by presenting impartial news, information, and ideas. In addition to an hourly news segment, the daily broadcasts feature a mix of roundtable discussions, interviews, investigative journalism, call-in shows, field reports, reviews of both the Afghan and Western press, cultural programming, radio theater, public-service announcements, educational segments, Afghan music, and myriad other types of programming. During the evening and night hours, the Voice of America's separate Pashto and Dari services broadcast on the same frequencies, providing a more American perspective, including VOA editorials. VOA also broadcasts a few hours of programming in English. As a component of RFE/RL, Radio Free Afghanistan is based in Prague, Czech Republic, where a staff of approximately two dozen journalists and producers put together the day's program, all of which is broadcast live. In addition, a bureau in Kabul provides local coverage of the capital, while field correspondents throughout Afghanistan report on developments and trends in the provinces. Radio Free Afghanistan strives to provide programming to the broad mass of the country's population, as opposed to focusing just on the educated elite. As a result, the broadcasts focus heavily on public service and informational programming, such as landmine safety announcements and on-air health tips, including a new call-in program featuring a medical professional taking questions. The service also strongly emphasizes the unity of the country and scrupulously avoids politically charged terminology on the air. While, for example, foreign journalists often describe the Transitional Administration president as "ethnic Pashtun, Hamid Karzai," it is Radio Free Afghanistan's strict policy to remove reference to an individual's ethnicity unless it is an integral part of the story. Similarly, although the broadcasts routinely refer to the problem of "warlordism" in Afghanistan, routine pejorative references to individual Afghans that are often found in the Western media -- such as to "warlord Rashid Dostum" or "warlord Ismail Khan" -- are not to be found in Radio Free Afghanistan's programs. Uniquely among international broadcasters to Afghanistan, neither Radio Free Afghanistan's staff nor its programming are rigidly organized along linguistic lines. Whereas other international broadcasters have separate Pashto and Dari services and clearly delineated Pashto and Dari programs, Radio Free Afghanistan's approach from the outset has been one of overlap, collaboration, and cooperation. Although for purely linguistic reasons much of the broadcast day features separate-language programming, many staff members are fully bilingual and participate in both efforts on the air. The service's popular call-in shows are conducted in both languages, with two co-hosts -- one each for Pashto- and Dari-language callers. In keeping with its mission of providing food for thought for listeners to make their own decisions concerning the future of the country, Radio Free Afghanistan airs no editorials, and staff members are forbidden from expressing their own points of view on the air. Radio Free Afghanistan has adapted to cover the significant events since the fall of the Taliban live and from the scene. During the two Loya Jirga tribal councils, for example -- in June 2002 and December 2003 -- Radio Free Afghanistan correspondents in Kabul broadcast the proceedings live whenever possible, interviewed delegates inside the Loya Jirga tent itself, and organized impromptu debates. A year after the first Loya Jirga, the service invited some delegates back to the Kabul studio for a roundtable discussion on whether their expectations concerning the work of the council had been met. Investigative and in-depth reporting from the field has included groundbreaking coverage of the Sherpur land scandal in Kabul, nepotism in the Afghan government, the issue of forced marriage, and the growing problem of the kidnapping of children. Other noteworthy programming includes ongoing coverage of the scourge of the Afghan poppy crop, as well as of the implementation of the disarmament and reconstruction processes. In the months to come, Radio Free Afghanistan will feature broad-based, extensive reportage on the Afghan elections; already, a series of roundtables and call-ins has featured representatives of registered political parties in groups of three, debating the issues of the day and fielding tough questions from listeners. Radio Free Afghanistan broadcasts on 100.5 FM in Kabul and Kandahar, with further FM coverage to come in Mazar-e Sharif, Jalalabad, and Herat. A medium-wave transmitter and short-wave broadcasting cover much of the country. Radio Free Afghanistan's website (http://www.azadiradio.org) is updated daily in Pashto and Dari, and in English Monday through Friday. The English page links to dozens of websites about Afghanistan, and all three pages feature special sections about the upcoming elections. Just as the programs themselves, the Radio Free Afghanistan website seeks to be a one-stop, comprehensive, and accessible source of impartial information about this war-ravaged country as it rebuilds itself. Andres Ilves is the director of Radio Free Afghanistan. (RFE/RL Media Matters July 2 via DXLD) ** BAHAMAS. 94.9 Bahamas. Call-in show talking about prisoner treatment, etc. in Bahamas. This is a new log (and new country!) (Andrew MacKenzie, Greenville NY, 1614 UT July 9, WTFDA via DXLD) Got IT!!! Anyone know exactly who/what/where? In and out with 94/9 Zeta Rocks in Miami. Also reggae on 93.5 (Bill Nollman, Farmington, CT, 1619 & 1622 UT, ibid.) 94.9: Heard 'em here, too. Very low modulation. (Eric Fader, Briarcliff Manor, NY, 1626 UT, ibid.) From Glenn Hauser 89.9 - Splash FM - Spanish Wells BS 93.5 - Radio Abaco - Abaco BS 94.9 - 94-More FM - Nassau (New Providence) BS |--------- 96.1 - Cool FM - Freeport (Grand Bahama) BS.. ac 97.5 - LISTEN LIVE Love 97 FM - Nassau (New Providence) BS.. ac/news 100.3 - 100 Jamz - Nassau (New Providence) BS 102.9 - Island 102.9 FM - Nassau (New Providence) BS 104.5 - Power 104.5 (ZNS FM) - Nassau (New Providence) BS 107.1 - ZNS-1 - Nassau (New Providence) BS 107.9 - ZNS-2 - Nassau (New Providence) BS (Rick Shaftan, Neighborhood Research/Mountaintop Media, Sparta NJ, 1635 UT, ibid.) [I suppose the above is from some back issue of DXLD, certainly not my own personal research; note the similarity but not identity to the next version --- gh] From TVRadioWorld... 88.9 - Splash FM - Spanish Wells BS 93.5 - Radio Abaco - Abaco BS 94.9 - More 94 FM - Nassau (New Providence) BS 96.1 - Cool FM - Freeport (Grand Bahama) BS.. ac 97.5 - Love 97 FM - Nassau (New Providence) BS.. ac/news 100.3 - 100 Jamz - Nassau (New Providence) BS 102.1 - Mix 102 - Freeport (Grand Bahama) BS.. pop, urban, Caribbean 102.9 - Island 102.9 - Nassau (New Providence) BS 104.5 - Power 104.5 (ZNS FM) - Nassau (New Providence) BS 107.1 - ZNS-1 - Nassau (New Providence) BS 107.9 - ZNS-2 - Nassau (New Providence) BS (Dave Williams, Redmond, OR (near Bend, OR), 1637 UT, ibid.) Re Bahamas Frequencies/Slogans: 100.3 strong here now, no sign of 102.1 and up (Rick Shaftan, NJ, 1648 UT, ibid.) At work through lunch today due to meetings - checked email, saw reports. Took 5 minutes to go out to the car and checked 94.9, my best DX frequency and also best shot by far for either Bermuda or Bahamas, and had strongly-accented English social commentary - has to be one or the other, and based on other reports likely the latter. I hope to get another break to check again shortly and perhaps catch a TOH ID (Russ Edmunds, Blue Bell, PA ( 360' ASL ), [15 mi NNW of Philadelphia], 1653 UT, ibid.) That was them! (Rick Shaftan, NJ, 1658 UT, ibid.) ID on "Mix 102.1 The Bahamas" at 1300 [EDT] (Rick Shaftan, NJ, 1702 UT, ibid.) Went back out to the car 1255 [EDT = UT -4]. Had three men speaking, all with similar accents, but faded 1258; however between 3 different speakers plus the context matter, I have no doubt. Went back out to check 1400 and seemed as if the conditions had gone (Russ Edmunds, NJ, 2043 UT, ibid.) Beware: altho we do know that Bermuda is not in the Caribbean, the audio clip of Bermuda 94.9 recently posted had content about the Carib (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 1202 [EDT], 94.9 "More-FM" Nassau Bahamas - M announcer carib. accent, talk show w/ phoners (new country) (Andrew MacKenzie, Greenville NY, Kenwood KT-615 w/ 110 kHz filters, Mitsubishi FA-D10 stock, RS FM-6 clone, July 9, WTFDA via DXLD) Bahamas logs on July 9, EDT: 1222 94.9 MORE Nassau BS All New More 94.9 FM 188 1080 1230 100.3 100 JAMZ Nassau BS Rap. 100 Jamz 188 1080 1300 102.1 @MIX 102.1 Nassau BS You're listening to Mix 102.1, The Bahamas 188 1080 (Rick Shaftan, Sparta NJ, WTFDA via DXLD) ** BAHAMAS. 93.5 Bahamas - 7/9/2004 Question --- While we were all (in the northeast) getting the Bahama stations the other day, I had 93.5, doing reggae music and then it seemed to fade a bit, maybe change songs, or during the same song IDed as The Mix 93.5 (very distorted). Did anyone else have the 93.5 in the Bahamas as The Mix 93.5? I had them years ago as Radio Abaco. Wondering if this is the same one? If no one can help me I will have to fly down there myself and see... :-) Audio file available to anyone interested (Bill Nollman, Farmington, CT, 1923 UT July 10, WTFDA via DXLD) Bill - I was just on Abaco last December. Radio Abaco is sort of block-programmed, and it's entirely possible that they might say "the mix" during one of their shows. Here's the program schedule - note that a couple of the shows are called "Lunch Mix" and "Music Mix." http://www.go-abacos.com/news/whatson/new999/radio_ab_sched.html However, they have a good, clean signal. If the distortion you mention was caused by the propagation, maybe it was them; if it was the station itself that was distorted, it sounds more like a Florida pirate to me. I'll listen to the file if you send it (Eric Fader, Briarcliff Manor, NY, July 10, ibid.) ** BAHAMAS. I had hoped to hear Bahamas down there, but it's too far off the mainland during the day -- is 1540 directional daytime too? One evening I noticed some weak religion/preaching on 1540 -- do they air any religion at night? Their website is absolutely NO help in terms of program schedules -- and the live-streaming link isn't working for me (Randy Stewart, Springfield MO, NRC-AM via DXLD) Hi Randy..... ZNS1 on 1540 is directional day and night with the same pattern. It has a null, broad and shallow to the US (Dave Gardiner, WVCH 740, Chester-Philadelphia PA, ibid.) Randy, 1540 AM ZNS1 has a variety of programming. They do have paid block preachers, longform civic events -- one time during lunch when 1530 Jacksonville, FL was dormant I listened to a news special coverage feature where a high profile crime case was aired. I tuned in when he was pronounced guilty and was literally whisked off to be hanged, which also was covered live. They have lots of music - regular oldies, Carib-oriented hits, and urban hits as well. I remember they were in AM stereo, but I've never heard them announce the fact (listening on the Sony SRF A1). Sometimes you'll hear them in Northeastern FL at night and other occasions during the day. I think their twin-tower pattern occasionally goes out of whack. They are reasonable daytime copy from south central FL's Atlantic Coast through to Key West, and around Cuba through to at least Guantánamo Bay/Haïti. At night, boy, they put out _quite_ a wallop throughout the entire Caribbean, Central America, and even Pacific South America. [and New Zealand --- gh] (Ron Gitschier, Palm Coast, FL, ibid.) Responding to Ron Gitschier's comments on ZNS, I found 810 to be better driving up and down the coast. Also, 1540 gets wiped out in the Miami area by the Cuban (Pete Taylor, Tacoma, ibid.) Agreed, on my last trip 810 was MUCH better than 1540 on Florida's East Coast (Doug Smith W9WI, Pleasant View (Nashville), TN, ibid.) 810 is also much better in Sanibel on Florida's west coast, and believe it or not, it was loggable using phased Bev's near San Diego around the late 80's. 73 KAZ (Neil Kazaross, IL, ibid.) Indeed 810 ZNS3 does a great job up and down the FL Atlantic Coast. My notes/aircheck from Port Everglades shows the signal suffered from adjacent channel interference during the time I made the tape, during critical hours in the later afternoon. Is there a Cuban 1540? I've failed to make note of it - and this basically relates back to 2000/2001 to the Summer of 2002. I should of kept better logs of my travel reception, especially on the Navy Ship... I still have some airchecks and also ID strings (Ron Gitschier, Palm Coast, FL, ibid.) I have heard 810 occasionally in Tampa at night but quite difficult with mega-splash from mega 820 in my backyard. Occasionally pretty clear. The 1540 is a sometimes night visitor but never really strong or clear. Don't forget that 810 is on Freeport GBI which is much closer to the central Fla Atlantic coast than is Nassau, and the much lower frequency really helps. From Palm Beach on down you have 1240 ZNS2 weak but clear days, once you are away from Melbourne co-channel. They all still use the Zed-N-S calls from the British days. The Bahamas prefix is C6 now, but I am not expecting to hear "This is See- six-ess" anytime soon, or at all. Who remembers when the ham calls were VP7xx ?? (Bob Foxworth, Tampa FL, ibid.) I (gh) Ron, ZNS 810 was in clear in Myrtle Beach [SC] during the day during my recent visit. I did not do a bandscan as conditions were noisy unlike last year. For the most part nothing changed although 570 Cuba was stronger during the day than last year (Juan Gualda, Fort Pierce, FL, ibid.) ** CANADA. 101.3, CJSA, Toronto on-air testing. To be all or mostly Sri Lankan ethnic format. Apparently started testing three days ago. Just heard awhile ago for the first time (Saul Chernos, Ont., July 10, amfmtvdx at qth.net via DXLD) Saul, thanks for sharing the CJSA call letters with us. I assume 101.3 Toronto is or will be stereo (Bruce Elving, MN, ibid.) safe to bet --- I`ll let you know if it is NOT (Saul Chernos, ibid.) Too bad they couldn`t get CJSL? Hope it`s not another Tamil terrorist organisation (gh, DXLD) Canadian Multicultural Radio (CMR), a new Toronto ethnic station, is now testing on 101.3 http://www.cmr24.com/ from above website: A minimum of twenty-two groups will receive Radio service from CMR in 16 languages. The languages to be served by the new FM radio station include Tamil, Hindi, Filipino, Farsi, Vietnamese, Urdu, Somali, Punjabi, Spanish and Arabic. 45% of CMR's programming schedule will be geared to the South Asian communities of Toronto (Tamil, Hindi, Urdu, and Punjabi), while programming for the Vietnamese, Filipino, Farsi, Somali, Spanish, Caribbean and Arabic-speaking communities will make up 30% of the schedule. Their application caused some controversy, because of alleged links to the Tamil Tigers (Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam), a violent separatist group supported and bankrolled by many of Canada's large Sri Lankan community. http://www.friends.ca/News/Friends_News/archives/articles07170306.asp (Mike Brooker, Toronto, ON, NRC-AM via DXLD) ** CANADA. QUIRKS & QUARKS [Best of, summer repeat schedule, CBC] July 3, 2004 - originally broadcast September 6, 2003 - The Fire Down Below, Lying Flies, Oldest Planet, Red Wine/Long Life, Question of the Week: Fire Retardants July 10, 2004 - originally broadcast October 4, 2003 - Race and Medicine, Tetrapod Ears, Ancient Silver Mining, Arctic Beaver Dams, Question of the Week: Lightning and Planes July 17, 2004 - originally broadcast October 11, 2003 - A Star is Born, Octopus Organ, 2003 Nobel Prize Winner in Physics, Behind the Nobel Prizes July 24, 2004 - originally broadcast November 8, 2003 - Extreme Living: Deep Sea Vents, Voyager Gets a Shock, Bawdy Baboons, Pterosaurs were not Birdbrains, Question of the Week: Rings of Saturn July 31, 2004 - originally broadcast November 29, 2003 - Thanks for the Memories, Cancer's Golden Bullets, Herzberg Medal Winner - Neutrinos, Loosening the Kuiper Belt August 7, 2004 - originally broadcast December 6, 2003 - The Future of Flight August 14, 2004 - originally broadcast February 21, 2004 - Cure for Aging, Rosetta's Long Road, Footprints in the North August 21, 2004 - originally broadcast March 27, 2004 - Neanderthals R Us?, Io Volcanoes, Question of the Week: Muscle Cramps August 28, 2004 - Sonic Gloom - originally broadcast February 14, 2004 and Placebos - originally broadcast March 6, 2004 September 4, 2004, The Question Show - originally broadcast December 27, 2003 ~*-.,_,.-*~'^'~*-.,_,.-*~'^'~*-., (via Joe Buch, DE, swprograms via DXLD) -*~'^'~*-.,_,.-*~'^'~*-.,_,.-*~'^ ** CHINA. Dear DXers, Greetings from Bangladesh. I am very glad to inform you that CRI Bengali Service has announced their new frequency schedule for their new format one hour programme. Here is the frequency schedule of CRI Bengali Service. UTC Freq. 1300-1400 9610, 11640 0200-0300 9655, 11640 Yours Ever, (Md. Salah Uddin Dolar, President, Global Radio Fan Club, Vill. + P.O. Chaumahani, P.S. Motihar, Rajshahi-6000, msdolar @ yahoo.com Bangladesh, July 12, DX LISTENING DIGEST) China Radio International (CRI) says it will expand its Urdu service from one hour to three hours daily for Pakistani listeners from Thursday 15 July. The Urdu service will be on the air for one-hour in the morning and two hours in the evening. "We have decided to expand our Urdu network in view of the growing Sino-Pakistan relations and the interest, being shown by the listeners," said an official of the CRI. Two additional high-powered transmitters have been installed near Pakistan's border in Xinjiang region to ensure clear reception. The new schedule is not yet on CRI's Web site. # posted by Andy @ 09:34 UT July 12 (Media Network blog via DXLD) Recently CRI has been heard on 13600 at 0000-0100 and 0300-0400 in Chinese and 0100-0200 in English for some time now. The good and stable signal indicates that these transmissions are beamed to the west from Western China, presumably Kashi. The audio of the 0300 transmission is distorted and usually generates a wide-band splash (Olle Alm, Sweden, 12 July, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** COLOMBIA. LV de Tu Conciencia: "It has been quite a challenge to keep the radio stations running and the radio coverage extended which provides the needed follow up with all sides. Miguel, our excellent electronics engineer almost went blind and is recovering from delicate surgery on both eyes. While he has been recuperating some of our equipment has gone off the air. Right now two of our four main transmitters are off the air. We trust that Miguel will be back in the saddle in ten days. Please remember him in prayer." (Russell & Marina Stendal, Colombia Para Cristo NL via NASWA Flashsheet via DXLD) But SW is still on, 6010.1. Heard at 0840 Jul 11 with ID. It seemed not quite as strong as usual, however, with R. Mil-6010 separable with "Harbor Lights," quick ID and then "I Can't Stop Loving You." I'm not sure if this was conditions or reduced power (Jerry Berg, MA, NASWA Flashsheet July 11 via DXLD) ** CONGO. As always, Grayland was an enjoyable experience for myself and DX partners Don Nelson, Guy Atkins and John Bryant. Located on the Pacific Ocean shores, there's room for 3 Beverage antennae aimed NW, W, and SW. Conditions were not the best, but they were still loads of fun, and as always there was lots to learn from the others. Thanks gents, for a wonderful 4 days. Grayland happened to host a large Kite event the same weekend, so we had a lot of fun watching literally hundreds of kites aloft on the beaches in front of our complex. Here are my loggings from the session: [Walt`s full report is on the dxldyg; edited excerpts continue in this issue under: ETHIOPIA, INDONESIA, JAPAN, LAOS, MALAYSIA, MONGOLIA, NEW ZEALAND, PAPUA NEW GUINEA, RUSSIA, SOLOMON ISLANDS, TAHITI, THAILAND, VANUATU, ZAMBIA] 5985, 0445-, Radio Congo, Jul 10. S7 great reception in the clear with male announcer with excellent French accent, with many mentions of Brazzaville, local hotels, and telephone numbers. Very energetic DJ, akin to Brazilian stations, except in French. Best of heard them here on the west coast, and about as good when monitored in France a few years back. At exactly 0455:00 WYFR obliterated them with their IS. 5985, 0435-, Radio Congo, Jul 11. Missed the sign-on of Radio Congo at 0430, but interesting propagation tonight. WYFR is very weak for a change and Congo is almost equal in strength to them with African music. Much more atmospheric static crashes tonight (and local noise) compared to last night. Nice signal after 0445. Darn! An open carrier (WYFR) came on tonight at 0448:30 spoiling a chance for decent Congo reception, although they are still audible underneath at a reasonable signal strength. WYFR IS at 0455:03! Goodbye to Congo for another night! (Volodya Salmaniw, Grayland WA DX-pedition, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CUBA. Cuba on 92.9? Very low modulation, mono, Spanish, Lady just said Radio Taíno.....Cuba. Keeps fading up and down. I've had Radio Manatí before, not sure if this is the same, different or just a name change - anyone know? (Bill Nollman, Farmington, CT, 1744 UT July 9, WTFDA via DXLD) That is Cuba, they are on 93.3 in Havana (Rick Shaftan, NJ, 1809 UT, ibid.) Any idea if this is what Radio Manatí used to be or a second station on the island ? (Bill Nollman, ibid.) Radio Taíno used to be on an MW powerhouse billing itself as "Tour radio from Havana" in various languages. Cuban radio (and TV) networks seem to be more than a bit flexible, they switch around a lot (Curtis Sadowski, IL, ibid.) ** CZECH REPUBLIC. El Argentino Hugo Longhi a través de Radio Praga -- - En el espacio "Cita con los Oyentes" que Radio Praga emitió ayer 11 de julio de 2004, se anunció la entrevista que Freddy Valverde le hizo al oyente argentino Hugo Longhi con motivo de su visita a la emisora checa, la misma será transmitida en el programa "PANORAMA CHECO" el próximo día sábado 17 de julio (Rubén Guillermo Margenet, S 2000 WAJ - Rosario, ARGENTINA, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** DOMINICAN REPUBLIC. Picked up commercial SS on 88.1; need someone who knows Spanish to help ID this catch. Never heard it before, so assuming it Es. Audio posted at: http://www.capitalgold.org/dxaudio/SSFM.html (Andrew MacKenzie, Greenville NY, July 9, WTFDA via DXLD) Listening to it, all I have so far is that there's a commercial for a phone card that lets you call the US cheaply... so it's not Texas or Florida, but I'm sure you knew that :-). Gonna see what else I can figure out on a couple more listens (Dave Williams, OR, ibid.) Andrew: Your 88.1 unID is: "La Primera", 88.1, Primera FM, Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, salsa/merengue. Check out the link: http://www.rincondominicano.com/telecomunicaciones/emisorasfm.php (Steven Wiseblood, Boca Chica Beach, TEXAS, ibid.) Yes, nearly at the end of the clip is the ID: "Estás almorzando con Primera" (You're at lunch with "Primera". "Primera" is the feminine of "Primero" (first), sure its because 88.1 is the very first frequency on FM BAND. Saludos (Humberto Molina, San Salvador, El Salvador, ibid.) I suppose, but it`s not inconceivable that any other Spanish-speaking country could have an FM on 88.1 calling itself ``Primera`` (gh, DXLD) 1241 [EDT] 88.1 "Primera FM" Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic - Spanish speaking DJ, various lite AC and new age Spanish and English music, commercials (new country and southernmost FM catch for me). I'd have to say that without a doubt, this has been the best week of DX I've ever had. What a redemption for silent dials in May & June (Andrew MacKenzie, Greenville NY, Kenwood KT-615 with 110 kHz filters, Mitsubishi FA-D10 stock, RS FM-6 clone, July 9, WTFDA via DXLD) ** DOMINICAN REPUBLIC. Re 1640, 4-105: what in the world is the Japanese government doing, donating $80,000 to a sectarian religious station in Latin America? It`s not even Shinto (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** EL SALVADOR. The second episode, this week, of BBCWS documentary-1, as previewed en 4-105, Central America: Legacies of Rebellion, is about El Salvador, including in the first half, a revisit to the underground location in the mountains from which a rebel radio station used to broadcast, and has now morphed into a commercial station in Salvador playing nothing but music and commercials. How sad. But I never heard the *name* of the station mentioned! Presumably this is about Radio Venceremos; seems I had heard it still existed in its new incarnation, but in WRTH 2004 I can`t find any mention of such a station on AM or FM. Went back and re-listened to that portion starting 7:30 into the 23-minute show, and heard an aircheck in the background with no ID, but frequency 102.1 --- WRTH 2004 mentions that without any details as ``Doble F`` -- is it then the successor to R. Venceremos --- or Radio Farabundo Martí? (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ETHIOPIA. 9559.78, 1412-, Radio Ethiopia, Jul 10. African chanting at S3 to S4 level, best on LSB to avoid het from station on 9560 exactly. Listed as external service in Arabic. Transmitter must be a bit unstable as it was on 9559.827 when rechecked at 1500 (Volodya Salmaniw, Grayland WA DX-pedition, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** GERMANY. In an interview (RBB Radio Eins) on July 10 Deutsche Welle director Erik Bettermann mentioned some details of DW's plannings to deal with the financial situation in the near future. As far as radio is concerned: Reduction of French and Portuguese to Africa in favour of some kind of cooperation with Radio France Internationale; cancellation of shortwave for the Polish service (Kai Ludwig, Germany, July 12, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** GERMANY. Today at 5 AM (0300 UT) the state-wide Saxonian station Hit-Radio Antenne Sachsen became Hitradio RTL. This relaunch is an attempt to overcome the problem of declining listeners figures with the help of the RTL brand. Since earlier this year RTL Group is the major shareholder of the former Hit-Radio Antenne Sachsen, following the withdrawal of the Holtzbrinck publishing house from the broadcasting business. The last news with Hit-Radio Antenne Sachsen ID were broadcast on July 11 at either 8 or 9 PM (1800 / 1900 UT), with probably another service read-out following at the half hour. Then only continuous music without any ID's (tho still RDS PS as Hit-Radio Antenne Sachsen) was broadcast until the launch of Hitradio RTL was celebrated at 0300 UT with a bombastic "success story of Saxonia", with the launch of Hitradio RTL being nothing less than the latest part of it. No real website for Hitradio RTL exists so far; both http://www.hitradio-rtl.de and http://www2.antenne.com (this one being the URL of the now deleted Hit-Radio Antenne Sachsen website) only forward to a single page with FM frequencies and contact data at http://217.18.179.53/ RTL Group, or at least their department responsible for the website, has not taken notice of the relaunch so far but still promotes Hit- Radio Antenne Sachsen at http://radio.rtlgroup.com/radio/1227_Antenne_Sachsen.htm?IdImage=2750 A recording of the launch of Hitradio RTL on July 12 at 0300 UT is available at http://www.radioeins.de/_/meta/sendungen/apparat/040710_a6.ram If you would like to download some MP3 files: The launch and some cuts from later on this day are posted at http://www.radioforen.de/showthread.php?t=9701 (both pages) while some cuts of the last gasps of Hit-Radio Antenne Sachsen can be found at http://www.radioforen.de/showthread.php?t=9503&page=3 and http://www.radioforen.de/showthread.php?t=9503&page=4 (look for file names starting with HRAS). The last news were broadcast by Hit-Radio Antenne Sachsen on July 11 at 8 PM (1800 UT). And I just learned that it is serious industry gossip now that also the Hannover-based Hit-Radio Antenne will be turned into an RTL station this very year, probably in late autumn (Kai Ludwig, Germany, July 12, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** GERMANY. Some more transmitter site pictures: Wachenbrunn, 882 kHz antenna (directional = screening towards Montenegro) and station buildings: http://www.structurae.de/de/photos/index.cfm?JS=20832 Wachenbrunn, 1323 kHz antenna with the building that should now contain the new 2 x 400 kW transmitter: http://www.structurae.de/de/structures/data/s0011497/photos.cfm Ravensburg 756 kHz: http://www.structurae.de/de/photos/index.cfm?JS=18841 Stuttgart-Hirschlanden 738 and 1143 kHz: http://www.structurae.de/de/structures/data/s0010709/photos.cfm Remains of the 500 kW / 191 kHz transmitter at Herzberg/Elster, dismantled in 1945: http://www.structurae.de/de/structures/data/s0010713/photos.cfm And a detail about NDR's Hamburg-Billwerder site: A 121 metre tall mast there was originally built at Norden-Osterloog in 1939 and transferred to Hamburg-Billwerder in 1963 (Kai Ludwig, Germany, July 12, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** GUATEMALA. 4052.48, R. Verdad, Per station manager`s daughter and secretary, they are back up to 650 watts now. She says "Our local signal is higher than ever." Indeed, heard last night peaking around 0140 UTC. Sunrise too early for morning reception here yet. 73's (Dave Valko, Dunlo PA, July 11, Cumbredx mailing list via DXLD) ** GUYANA. 3291.20, Voice of Guyana, 0910-0919 July 12. Noted a woman in English comments and ID "Radio One", with mentions of Guyana. A variety of music including (Hindu?). Not sure if that's the correct label for it. Signal was good (Chuck Bolland, Clewiston, FL, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** HUNGARY. ``...And the Gatepost`` is a no show this week. Incidentally, I was thinking that the times on the web site were UT, but I believe they are actually local time [UT +2] (John Norfolk, July 12, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** INDONESIA. 2959.95v, 1105-, RPDT Manggarai, Jul 11. Quite variable transmitter in region of 2959.8 to 2960. Low level talk by OM, best on LSB. Fades sometimes into almost nothing, then up to fair levels. YL came on at 1116. Only audible on NW Beverage, so there is significant skewing of signal happening (we also have SW and W Beverages). Some significant fade-ups as I continue to monitor, but they only last a few seconds. No indication of RRI relay (DBS lists RRI Kupang at 1100 as a relay, but definitely not there today). Same local flavor during the half hour I've been listening. Continues to fade up. Guy Atkins and I had a 'shoot out' between his highly modified Icom R75, Racal 6790 and my Ten Tec 340, with the best by a small margin being the Ten Tec, followed by the 6790 and then the Icom. Pause at 1140, but faded down to hear the hopeful ID! Indo music at 1142 until 1146:30. Very official sounding woman followed, but still no obvious ID, then more music. Solid S6 signal at 1151. Fingers crossed for TOH ID! Fanfare at 1154, dead air, but then more lively music. Now a solid S7 on 2959.972. I'm impressed since they're listed at 250 or 300 watts. Armchair copy! Local dawn is approaching, so thanks to the dawn enhancement! Talk at 1158. Jingle at TOH. RRI ID at 1200, so relaying RRI here (// to 4750). Mentions of the Indonesian president, etc. Down a bit to S4 to S5 at 1210. Broke off the national news? at 1211:45 with YL, and then mention of Jakarta. RRI ID at 1215, but still nothing local! Transmitter stabilized on 2959.97. Another RRI ID at 1223 and into ?NA or similar patriotic song (// again to 4750). EZL female local (not // 4750) at 1226 at lower modulation level. Then talk by OM with same song in background. Another brief announcement at 1230, but low modulation. Fading as well to S4. After all of this, without a definite ID, my logging has to remain tentative or presumed! Any Indo speakers out there to help? (I have an hour on MD). 'Only you' at 1254. S4 to 5 level. Followed by another oldie. About S3 at 1359. Still audible past the TOH but gone a few minutes later which might have been due to the shack coming down and the antennae disconnected ;-). (Volodya Salmaniw, Grayland WA DX-pedition, DX LISTENING DIGEST) {another log of the same: 4-107} 3266.416, 1126-, RRI Gorontalo, Jul 10. Thanks to Guy Atkins for pointing this one out. English programming called 'Kang garu English show'. This is a program provided by Radio Australia to improve English in Indonesia. Basically an English lesson. 'I hope that your English improves'. Mr. Postman, followed about letter writing. POB 3095 mentioned, as well as a website. Then RRI ID at 1140, dead air until 1141:30 and YL on with mentions of Indonesia. She's speaking English with an English accent. Fading by 1145, so not sure if it's finished (This English program is listed Sundays but heard UT Saturday evening local) 1130 to 1145 (Volodya Salmaniw, Grayland WA DX- pedition, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 4604.96, 1102-, RRI Serui, Jul 10. Nice signal with RRI news. A good signal for 500 watts. Mentions of 'America' and 'FBI'. Nice RRI ID at 1104:30 (Volodya Salmaniw, Grayland WA DX-pedition, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 4870.91, 0948-, RRI Sorong, Jul 11. Good reception this morning with female vocal until 0945 then news in Indonesian by male. Mentions of Sorong. Strong S9 signal. Male chorus at 0958:40 until 1002:40 without ID, and directly into another Indo song. So far a presumed logging, but fits Sorong rather than Wamena which has been reported off. DBS lists English Sundays at 11:30 but when rechecked at 1117, they'd left the air (were on at 1115). (Volodya Salmaniw, Grayland WA DX-pedition, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** INTERNATIONAL WATERS [non]. Johnnie Walker's stirring 'Man's Fight For Freedom' speech back in 1967 predicted that one day Radio Caroline would sail triumphantly up the Thames and broadcast from London. Johnnie broadcast his speech as Radio Caroline defied the Marine Offences Act that silenced all other offshore broadcasters around the British Isles on August 14th 1967. As part of Radio Caroline's 40th anniversary celebrations, for the second time, our radio-ship MV Ross Revenge sails up the Thames for a special one month broadcast on 1278 kHz (235 metres) medium wave. The ship moves from Rochester to the Tilbury Ocean Liner Terminal in East London from Saturday 7th August until Friday 3rd September. Regular Radio Caroline broadcasts will also be moved from the Maidstone Studios to the Ross Revenge for the duration, so this special broadcast will also be heard across our regular network (Sky Digital, WorldSpace, Internet Streams and international FM & DAB affiliates) in addition to 1278 AM for East London, Essex and North Kent. Guided tours will take place and merchandise will be available on board. For more details including sponsorship info click here. http://www.radiocaroline.co.uk/ (via Steve Whitt, UK, MWC via DXLD) ** INTERNATIONAL WATERS [non]. Another new presenter on Offshore Music Radio --- Offshore Music Radio welcomes Eric Wiltsher: Each week he presents his popular half hourly Media Zoo Show. A full programme schedule is available on the station website http://www.offshoremusicradio.com click on Programme Guide for full details. Please remember all times are GMT which is + 1 hour of UK summer-time (Andy Cadier, UK, BDXC-UK via DXLD) Actually, GMT is BST minus one hour. The Media Zoo half-hours are: Mon 0130, Tue 0930, Thu 1630, Sat 2030. There are also some photos of the M/V Communicator. I caught it at 0130 --- seems this was the first of a new series; plays a lot of music, and chatter, nothing very serious; discussed mp3 players, Tony Allan, etc. Started with ``Telstar`` and ended with ``My Ding-a-Ling``, allegedly naughty (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** INTERNATIONAL WATERS [and non]. The response to Tony Allan's death has been phenomenal, here are just a few sites with tributes, many continue to arrive today. http://www.anoraknation.com/ http://www.icce.rug.nl/~soundscapes On http://www.soundscapes.info Volume 7 you'll find a tribute in Dutch and English http://www.offshoreradio.co.uk/ http://www.rossrevenge.co.uk http://myweb.tiscali.co.uk/bobleroi http://www.tonyallan.org http://radiolondon.co.uk/otherwaves/radscot/tonyallantrib.html http://www.radiowaves.fm/news/index.shtml (Mike Terry, July 11, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** IRAQ. Republic of Iraq Radio observed in English --- All four Republic of Iraq Radio frequencies in Baghdad - 603, 1026, 1071 kHz, 98.3 MHz - were observed with news in English in progress at 1102 gmt, finishing at 1103 gmt. Source: BBC Monitoring research, in English 1220 gmt 11 Jul 04 (via DXLD) A start; now how about firing up SW? (gh, DXLD) ** JAPAN. 3607.5, 1050-, NHK Tokyo, Jul 10. Very nice signal, S6 to S9. Great modulation, with EZL piano vocals in Japanese. Not at all bad for 900 watts (Volodya Salmaniw, Grayland WA DX-pedition, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** LAOS. 4649, 1218-, National Radio Laos, regional station Luang Prabang, Jul 9. Poor reception, but seems in parallel to 7145 with talk in presumed Vietnamese. Will need more work to make sure. Very nice Laotion music at 1224. We're at dawn, so may not be possible to check for listed French at 1300 and English at 1330 (on 7145 that is). 7145, 1321-, Laos National Radio, Jul 9. Snippets of audio, in I'm quite sure is English. Brief Laotian music at 1350, then more talk by same YL. Same monologue by YL continued to 1401, then into I presume the Laotian NA until 1402, then carrier off a few seconds later. Signal actually improved during the half hour, but still poor at best (Volodya Salmaniw, Grayland WA DX-pedition, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** LATVIA. Kiss Radio on 9290 was on today 0800-0900. Good music, but the reception was not. Am I too near the transmitter site or is the transmitter in Latvia really that bad? Bernt Trutenau - if you read this: What do you know about what I heard on 9290 last Sunday? Was it Latvia testing or? 73 from (Björn Fransson, DX-ing on the island of Gotland, Sweden, July 11, DX LISTENING DIGEST) LATVIA, 9290, Kiss Radio, 0800, Identification: "Good morning and welcome to Kiss Radio". "9290 Kiss Radio" "Broadcasting to Europe, this is Kiss Radio 9290". Male voice and soul music. 45444. (July 11). (Manuel Méndez, Lugo, Spain, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** LUXEMBOURG [non]. see GERMANY ** MALAYSIA. 4895.02, 1115-, Radio Malaysia, Sarawak, Jul 10. Green network programming with Iban programming. Saalam Alechum at 1116. Very strong and clean reception, above nominal 4895. No // noted (Volodya Salmaniw, Grayland WA DX-pedition, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** MONGOLIA. 12085, 1007-, Voice of Mongolia, Jul 9. English programming with same YL as I've heard for years. Into rap music (?Mongolian rap!). Fair level at best, but haven't heard them for a long time (Volodya Salmaniw, Grayland WA DX-pedition, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** NEW ZEALAND. 3935.08, 1055-, Radio Reading Service, Jul 10. Some decent audio for a change with operatic singing, relaying National Radio, with their ID at 1100, then time pips into Radio New Zealand news. Overall fair to good (Volodya Salmaniw, Grayland WA DX-pedition, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** OKLAHOMA. NEW RADIO STATION TAKES TO AIRWAVES 7/11/04 Staff reports http://www.enidnews.com/story.php?story_id=61495&c=29 Tim Bradfield is utilizing ideas he learned during a prior nine-year stint in Ponca City radio for his new Enid station, KZIX 101.5-FM. "We are proud to present the Oklahoma Employment Security Commission live at 8:30 a.m., Monday through Friday. New job listings are available every day," Bradfield said. Other unique programming that the station located on the 13th floor of Broadway Tower will offer includes classic radio programs such as Jack Benny and Abbott and Costello. But the station's bread-and-butter will be music, and Bradfield said his station will have steady listeners because it fills a niche needed and not available in Enid now - country rock or new country. KZIX will host "Cool Country" with Vince Gill's daughter, Jenny Gill, hosting the program. Other specialty programming includes United States Department of Agriculture news, Branson World Radio, In-Fisherman Radio Show, Billy Graham and Country Crossroads. "Hopefully in the next few weeks, we will be offering a trade show on the air," Bradford said. KZIX received its construction permit on Feb. 27 from the Federal Communications Commission. Program tests were conducted on June 21. KZIX will employ six full- time people. Bradfield was a former news anchor and weatherman for KXOK-Channel 32 television station in Enid (Enid Eagle July 11 via DXLD) This one snuk up on us; we had been looking for it on 92.9, the originally planned frequency. In fact, searching FCC July 11 only came up with that outdated info!: http://www.fcc.gov/Bureaus/MB/Public_Notices/Brdcst_Applications/ap040623.txt ``LOW POWER FM APPLICATIONS FOR LICENSE TO COVER ACCEPTED FOR FILING ------------------------------------------------------------------ OK BLL-20040618AAM KZIX-LP 124605 ENID EDUCATIONAL RADIO ASSOCIATION Lic. to cover E 92.9 MHZ ENID, OK`` --- and that`s it. But 100000watts.com is on top of this: ``KZIX-LP 101.5 MHz Format: Variety Licensed: Enid, OK Owner: Enid Educational Radio Association Began Operation: 2004 Facilities: 118ft 71w L1 Transmitter: 36 23' 56" N 97 52' 46" W History: Format Change Variety from cp-new on 6/22/2004`` KZIX-LP is in fact on the air now, when checked at 2039 UT July 11. Bruce, the signal is in MONO (the other Enid signals reconfirmed as mono are 91.1, 94.3). Country music, interrupted for COMMERCIAL for Enid Insurance, 234-9548, jingle ``kicks, kicks 101-5``. At 2117 recheck COMMERCIAL for a weight-loss ripoff, 1-800-711-7101. Within a few minutes of tuning in Monday morning, I heard `sponsorship` by the Chat `n` Chew Café on West Willow. Aren`t LP stations supposed to be non-commercial? Is this ``educational``? Is it the personal property of Tim, as the newspaper article implies, or does it belong to this ``Educational Radio Association`` front? Hmmm, the 89.1 translator is still missing: I wonder if KZIX scarfed its transmitter next door? BTW, the 13th floor of the Broadway Tower is right next to KXOK-32, and KUAL-LP 104.7, and conveniently close to the antenna farm a couple floors higher. Let`s compare the geo coordinates for this and KUAL, per 100000watts.com: KZIX-LP 101.5 MHz Transmitter: 36 23' 56" N 97 52' 46" W KUAL-LP 104.7 MHz Transmitter: 36 23' 47" N 97 52' 39" W Is a difference in 9 seconds of latitude and 7 seconds of longitude commensurate with being a few feet apart on top of the same building? I would have suspected they are on the same mast. Let`s compare the facilities: KZIX-LP 101.5: 118ft 71w L1 KUAL-LP 104.7 102ft 82w L1 So KZIX is 16 feet higher, but 11 watts less, to even out coverage. Neither Rec.nets nor Center for Public Integrity have anything on the new 101.5. While at 100000watts.com --- be sure you get all the zeroes in --- we checked the info for yet another LPFM in Enid, not yet on the air: KAMG-LP 100.9 MHz Format: cp-new Licensed: Enid, OK Owner: Central Assembly of God Church Facilities: 90ft 100w L1 Transmitter: 36 25' 43" N 97 53' 34" W These coordinates are at a different location, presumably 1202 W. Oxford, which is on the north side of Enid near US 81, unlike the others which are on Broadway Tower downtown (Glenn Hauser, Enid, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** OKLAHOMA. KGOU, Norman, the public radio station on 106.3 from OU, has been granted a translator in Seminole, K276ET on 103.1 with 250 watts, horizontal and vertical (July FMedia! via DXLD) AFAIK, this is their first translator, KROU 105.7 Spencer-OKC being of slightly greater power than KGOU itself, tho still grossly inadequate. Why does Seminole get one and not, for instance, Enid, a much larger city with no local public radio service even in the form of a translator? I renew my call for a statewide public radio network originating at KGOU, which could relatively easily be co-sited with the OETA public TV network transmitters, three full-power besides OKC, and a couple dozen TV translators as far away as Boise City (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** PALESTINE. WEST BANK AND GAZA: RADIO ISIS AVAILABLE LIVE ON THE INTERNET Palestinian radio station Radio Isis is available with live audio streaming available from their English-language web site at http://www.radioisis.net A programme guide on the web site indicates that they are on the air 0700-2200 gmt daily. News in Arabic is at 0800, 1000, 1200, 1400 gmt Monday-Saturday, and news in English at 1600 and 1800 gmt Monday- Saturday. No news is broadcast on Sundays. Radio Isis broadcasts on 95.9 MHz FM from their studios in Bethlehem. Source: BBC Monitoring research in English 11 Jul (via DXLD) ** PAPUA NEW GUINEA. 3220, 1018-, Radio Morobe, Jul 10. Bandscan of PNGs this morning shows the following stations on the air: 3220 Radio Morobe (poor level), 3235 Radio West New Britain (poor to fair), 3260 Radio Madang (poor), 3325 Radio North Solomons -- I thought I heard them under strong RRI Palangkaraya, 3335 Radio East Sepik -- armchair copy at S9 + 10, though the studio mike has much lower modulation and muddy audio. Too bad!, 3345 has only RRI Ternate (on 3344.85), 3365 Radio Milne Bay (poor), 3375 Radio Western Highlands about an S5 signal with report from the field?, 4890 National Radio at its usual S9+ 10 to 20 with 'Lonely days, lonely nights, where would I be without my woman', 4960 CNR fair to good, best on LSB. Slim pickings this morning! (Volodya Salmaniw, Grayland WA DX-pedition, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** PAPUA NEW GUINEA. 4960, 1150-, Catholic Radio Network (CRN), Jul 9. Surprising, but an ad for outboard motors and another for a car (only 72,500 K). 'Number one distributor'. 'For your small business'. 'Telephone or fax us'. This is the first time I've heard anything but local religious or Vatican Radio programming. Into local sounding choral hymn at 1156 until 1202:30. Then talk in Pidgin. 'United Nations Development Program'. 'Leadership Development Program' Good reception apart from static crashes. Still going strong at 1252 with ID as EWPN, at least that's what it sounded like [EWTN --- gh]. American accented DJ, and then Amazing Grace. Prayer in English at 1300. Then Pidgin announcements from 1301, and an ad for PNG Motors used cars. Numerous phone numbers given as well. Far fewer IDs now compared to the first week of programming! Still no luck past 1330. Finally, usual ID at 1333:30 as 'This is the Catholic Radio Network of Papua New Guinea' (the same one heard several times an hour in June). 4960, 1005-, Catholic Radio Network, Jul 11. Good strong S6 signal with male choir. Probably best of the three mornings in Grayland. Pidgin Catholic service with mentions of PNG, Holy Spirit, 'make Him come up in the assembly'. Then into English with Bishop of Rabaul, PNG, etc., Primate of PNG, Right Honourable PM of PNG, and members of Parliament. Delegates, and to all listeners across PNG on the Catholic Radio Network. This is a good news story. Speech was given as part of a Catholic Bishop's conference to a General Assembly for the 1.3 million Catholics in PNG. Mentioned problems such as AIDS, the status of women, and youth, and overcoming the evils of the nation. The Catholic church of PNG does not want any money from the government. Speech ended at 1019:45, and back into Pidgin, with mention of Mt. Hagen and intro of next speaker 'Papa Pope', etc in Pidgin. Fascinating listening! Excellent reception at 1127 recheck. Best by far of the 3 mornings here (Volodya Salmaniw, Grayland WA DX-pedition, DX LISTENING DIGEST) {another log of the same: 4-107} ** PERU. 4960.42, Radio La Hora, Cusco, 1010 to 1035, 12 July, "...cinco en la mañana, veinte minutos" by YL, this parallel 4856.16 "programa de Radio la Hora...." by OM, stronger signal [on or than?] 4856.16 (Bob Wilkner, Pómpano Beach, Florida, U. S., NRD 535D - Icom R75 - Drake R 7 - Noise reducing antenna, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 5014.63, Radio Altura, 1036-1045 July 12, local type music at tune in followed by TC and ID, "5 en [la] mañana con 36 minutos, 5 en [la] mañana con 36 minutos, Radio Altura..." then music continues. Signal was good. 5019.90, Radio Horizonte, 1041-1050 July 12, noted music with TC, ADs and ID by a woman. Many, many ads. Signal was good with splatter from Cuba on 5025. 6114.80, Radio Unión, 0839-0847 July 12, A program of music with live Spanish comments between tunes and canned ID periodically during the music. Signal was good. 545, dipole (Chuck Bolland, Clewiston, FL, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 6114.79, Radio Unión, Lima, 137kb 0235 UTC 11/7 2004. You can on this audioclip hear the DJ with ID "Radio Unión 1420 AM". Unión is listed on 880 kHz. Anyone knows what is going on at Radio Unión? Comments and recording at: http://www.malm-ecuador.com 73s (Björn Malm, Quito, Ecuador, July 12, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** PUERTO RICO [and non]. Help wanted on UK TA --- Hello all, Can anyone help on this one received in UK last night 7th July please? 2230 GMT A2 55.259995/89 WSW weak video, weak sound, Spanish. A film, drama or a soap maybe with very distinctive oppressive stringed music. (Cyril Willis, Kings Lynn UK, WTFDA via DXLD) [Later:] It was Puerto Rico A2 it seems we had last night according to the listings. Can anyone ID the program I described on my earlier e mail? Hugh Cocks TA in The Algarve is now on line at http://www.skywaves.info/hughcocks/A2_Spanish_2Jul_04_1700GMT.mp3 http://www.skywaves.info/hughcocks/CBC_A3_3rd_Jul04_2215GMT.mp3 http://www.skywaves.info/hughcocks/Poss_TrinidadTobagoA2_3Jul04_1700GM T.mp3 Good DX (Cyril Willis, Kings Lynn, Norfolk, UK, ibid.) Puerto Rico TA 7th July [trans-Atlantic multiple-hop sporadic E TVDX] Well, after much detective work it has all fallen into place and added up. The offsets all match up with the listings and cannot be anything else. I am 100% on these now. Thanks to everyone for their help. A2 55.259995/89 WKAQ/Telemundo, San Juan, Puerto Rico A3 61.260064/54 WIPM-TV/PBS Mayagüez, Puerto Rico A4 67.240074/60 WAPA-TV San Juan, Puerto Rico A5 77.240057 WORA-TV, Mayagüez, Puerto Rico I am now working on the five unID transmitters with zero offsets, none of which are from Puerto Rico. Don't know if I'll have any luck! A2 55.249994 CUBA 132k? DOMINICAN 25k? A3 61.250048 VIRGIN? CUBA 27.5k? A3 61.250889 VIRGIN? CUBA? A4 67.250056 CUBA 53k? DOMINICAN? ST.LUCIA? A4 67.250073 CUBA 53k? DOMINICAN? ST.LUCIA? A lot of kW not listed. Or signals could have been from South America. I have had Barcelona, Venezuela 3 times before on PCR1000 trace. Any ideas anyone? Good DX (Cyril Willis, Kings Lynn, UK, July 10, WTFDA via DXLD) ** RUSSIA. 11840, 2007-, Radio Sakhalin, Jul 10. Virtually a 5-5-5 signal with Russian news (Radio Rossii). Into weather 16 to 17 deg C and rain on Sakhalin. This station is not on very often, and is the first time in a long while for me. Radio Sakhalin ID (jingle ID!), and then good morning to Sakhalin, with further weather forecast, including the Kirile Is. Takes me back to the years when they used to have a blockbuster signal on 4485, I think. I used to hear that one during the day in the Pacific north-west! At 2028 Sakhalin weather again (12 to 17 deg C), jingle ID for Radio Sakhalin, and into program, 'Armiyskiy Chas', or Army times. Continues a nice level. Off at 2100 (Volodya Salmaniw, Grayland WA DX-pedition, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** SCOTLAND [non]. Alas, a link failure this morning meant that our entire hour from 0700 - 0800 UT consisted of unmodulated carrier. (Actually I heard a bit of hum but we'll not count that as programming!) The programme will be given another chance in a couple of weeks' time - I'll post details when I have them. On August 14 we plan a live OB from the World Pipe Band Championships in Glasgow, and since that coincides with holiday time in Milan, please keep your fingers and toes crossed that it all works. Our tests via WBCQ were a great success, and I hope to have news of plans for more transmissions via their outlets quite soon. Meanwhile, anyone who has a nice recording of an hour of silence from today will be rewarded with a special silence QSL!!! 73 (TONY CURRIE, Radio Six, July 12, EDXP via DXLD) Refers to Sun July 11 0700-0800 on 13840 as scheduled via IRRS, ``Italy`` --- but what about the further repeat scheduled for Thu July 15 at 1900-2000 on 5775? (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** SOLOMON ISLANDS. 5019.89, 1124-, Solomon Islands Broadcasting Corporation, Jul 10. SIBC at fair level relaying BBCWS in English (Volodya Salmaniw, Grayland WA DX-pedition, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** TAHITI. 738, 0437-, RFO Papeete, Jul 9. Het first audible about 30 minutes ago. Nice fade in with woman speaking in Tahitian. My first log with a new Ten Tec 340 receiver. Into Tahitian music at 0443. Following night, French speech at 0503 tune-in (Volodya Salmaniw, Grayland WA DX-pedition, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** THAILAND. 6765, 1233-, Bangkok Meteological Radio, Jul 9. Nice signal at 1240 with musical box IS and into Thai talk a minute later. An old friend, as I recall hearing the same IS/station more than 20 years ago. English forecasts until 1307, with 'this is Bangkok met. radio, end of broadcast', and into IS. I checked the following day, and they were still going strong at 1512, almost 3 hours after local sunrise! (Volodya Salmaniw, Grayland WA DX-pedition, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** TURKS & CAICOS. There are a number of FM stations in the Turks & Caicos Islands (the "next" country east of the Bahamas, due north of Haiti/DR). Here is a current update as of today: 88.7 island music 100w 90.5 progressive rock (a) 250w 92.5 hit list (a) 250w 93.9 classic rock (a) 35w 99.9 county (a) 35w 101.5 fox news (a) 35w 102.5 oldies (a) 35w 106.3 gospel - power unknown, probably 10 watts (a- these are all operated by one owner, insert from hard drive similar or identical commercials. Key words are "Provo", "Providenciales," "Grace Bay," "Downtown," "Grand Turk," "Blue Hills," "Club Med," "Five Cays (pronounced keys)," "north shore," "south shore" amongst others frequently used in commercials or announcements. The accents vary widely from (see below) to pure American.) Radio Turks & Caicos: 107.7 FM Provo 103.9 FM North & Middle 101.9 FM Grand Turk These are government operated, lots of talk radio, news. The accents here are a combination of Bahamian and an older (1850's version) of British. No, it is not even close to Jamaican. It will possibly be too late for this Es season but the (a) group, or at least some of them, are being upgraded to 2 kW and circular polarisation in mid-late August. The 1400 mile circle towards USA goes into Maine, almost to Chicago, Oklahoma and "out" near mid Texas. When I lived there (1980-1990) over the summers (and winters) I had literally dozens of 144 MHz/two meter Es openings and eventually worked every state within 1400 miles on two meter Es. Because the Turks & Caicos sit offshore by 600+ miles from Miami, it has its own Es patterns mostly unrelated to the more common paths such as south Florida to New England; they will/can be "there" on Es when you have nothing at all from Florida (Bob Cooper in New Zealand, July 10, WTFDA via DXLD) ** U K. Hi Glenn. This is new: Today (Sunday 11th) there was a UK FM station on 7379 (7378.9 to be exact) at 0620-0700. It identified as Saga 106.6 FM and according to WRTH it is situated in Nottingham. Lots of nice music and commercials for the Midland area. Is it a relay via a pirate station or what? 73 from (Björn Fransson, DX-ing on the island of Gotland, Sweden, July 11, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A [and non?]. For at least the last few nights, WRMI 7385 has been almost unlistenable due to a constant co-channel noise. I hesitate to call it jamming, which is always a possibility (from Cuba), since WRMI has been careful to keep Spanish off this frequency, with a few exceptions, such as V. of the NASB in June, and in any event none of the Cuban exile programs are on it, and it is only aimed NW at North America. The noise is absolutely constant. On UT Monday July 12 it was on when I checked at 0130, half an hour before WRMI came up. Still going at 0530 recheck and presumably all night. Listening on BFO, the noise has sort of a pulsing cycle, as its sound changes slightly every few seconds. This leads me to believe it may be some kind of multiplex utility transmission carrying some intelligence. Sometimes WRMI gains the upper hand, but usually it`s about equal level or WRMI is underneath. When it`s equal or better one can make out most of what WRMI is saying, but I would not voluntarily listen to a station with so much interference. If this keep up, it seems to me WRMI will have to move. If it is a legitimate utility transmission, that would have priority on this out- of-band frequency, as the 41m band has not yet been extended as high as 7385 for exclusive broadcasting. It would be nice to identify where this is coming from. The FCC ought to monitor this; they owe something to US SW licensees for all the money they have to pay for frequency occupancy. Of course, it could still be Cuba even if it is not, strictly speaking, a jammer. I would be very interested in monitoring observations from other parts of North America about the relative strength of the two signals, as no doubt would info@wrmi.net Jeff White. And if any utility experts can identify what kind of transmission it is, or even decode it, that would be even more helpful (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) [Later:] I suggested to Jeff that he ask Larry Van Horn, who replied that, consulting his extensive database, 7385 is a US Navy Marine Corps MARS frequency, and he was astounded that WRMI had ever been allowed to use 7385. Well, I have heard MARS on 7385 with SSB/voice in the mornings/daytime here, when WRMI is never using it; WRMI has been on 7385 for several years at night and there have never been any complaints or such an interference problem before. It ought to be sharable by time, if necessary (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A [non]. PAKISTAN. A) BBG Press Release ---------------------------------------------------- BBG Signs Historic Agreement to put Aap ki Dunyaa on FM 101 Across Pakistan In an historic agreement, the Broadcasting Board of Governors (BBG) signed a contract with Clarity Communications Pakistan that will allow listeners across that country to hear the new Urdu-language Radio Aap ki Dunyaa on the FM 101 Network. http://www.bbg.gov/_bbg_news.cfm?articleID=117 B) Background analysis ---------------------------------------------------- Radio Aap ki Dunya acquires Pakistani outlet WASHINGTON: Radio 'Aap ki Dunya,' the youth-oriented composite programme beamed at Pakistan by Voice of America, will also now be heard through certain daytime hours. http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/print.asp?page=story_11-7-2004_pg7_55 (via Bernd Trutenau, Lithuania, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A [non]. US seeking MW/FM transmitters for PSYOP The Naval Air Warfare Center-Aircraft Division (NAWCAD), Special Communications Requirements (SCR) Division, in St. Indigoes, MD, is currently seeking to identify all responsible sources capable of providing mediumwave and VHF transmitters in support of the US Army Psychological Operations Command (PSYOP) of the US Special Operations Command (USSOCOM). The broadcast equipment payload will be capable of broadcasting commercially equivalent broadcast quality audio products in support of PSYOP. These transmitters will be used to conduct PSYOP within a theater of operations. The mediumwave transmitter power is 300 Watts, continuous (required), 1000 Watts, continuous (preferred). # posted by Andy @ 08:30 UT July 12 (Media Network blog via DXLD) ** U S A. California TIS/HAR update (mostly I-5, CA-99) From a car trip along CA-99 and I-5 two weeks ago: 530 WNWZ660 Castaic Lake station is on and getting out well. 530 WPIN400 Chowchilla is silent. 530 WPIN400 Earlimart is silent. 530 HAR Fairmead is silent. 530 HAR (near) Five Points noted an old sign along I-5, but no station. 530 WPFK507 Fresno is silent. 530 WPIN400 Fresno is silent. 530 WPVQ900 Fresno is silent. 530 WPIN400 Kingsburg is silent. 530 WNXY857 Livermore is silent (no signs noted). 530 WNXY861 Livermore-Altamont Pass is silent (signs still up). 530 WNHV296 Los Ángeles (LAX) is active. 530 KNEC996 Madera (ex-WNXK966) is silent. 530 WPIN400 Madera is silent. 530 HAR (near) South Dos Palos is silent. 530 HAR Traver City is silent. 890 KPB792 San Diego (Cabrillo NM) is active. 1040 WPWA745 El Segundo is silent. 1040 WPMG814 Fresno is on, running NOAA weather. 1610 WPET708 Arleta is silent. 1610 WNXK966 Bakersfield is silent. 1610 WNXK966 Buttonwillow is silent. 1610 HAR Carson is silent. 1610 WNUB568 Chula Vista is silent. 1610 WPNT814 Frazier Park is silent. 1610 WPET708 Gorman is silent. 1610 WPVQ736 Grapevine is silent. 1610 WNXK966 Greenfield (CA-99 @ CA-223) is silent. 1610 WPET708 Lebec is silent. 1610 KKG291 Livermore is silent. 1610 WPHJ962 Los Angeles is silent. 1610 WNXK966 Lost Hills is silent. 1610 WNXK966 Madera is silent. 1610 WNXK966 McFarland is silent. 1610 WPVQ733 Merced is silent. 1610 -- Mission Hills - Presumed Part 15 station with classic country near highways 5/405/118. 1610 WPSE479 Needles is active and getting out extremely well. 1610 WNXK966 Old River is silent. 1610 WNPF405 San Diego (Balboa Park) is active. 1610 WPET708 Santa Clarita is silent. 1610 KNEC996 Saugus is silent. 1610 HAR Tulare is silent. 1610 KNEC996 Turlock-Atwater is silent. 1610 KNEC996 Valencia is silent. 1610 TIS Valencia - Magic Mountain is silent. 1610 WPHJ962 West Los Ángeles is silent. 1660 WPJP551 San Diego (convention center) is silent. 1690 WPUA825 San Diego (Lindbergh Field) is active and getting out well. 1700 "MLR" Manteca - Part 15 station with 80s rock http://www.am1700.org 1700 W San Diego (Qualcomm Stadium) is gone, replaced by 1500 station. 1700 WNSB415 South San Diego (ex-530/1610) is active but getting pummeled by XEPE. Expect a move here. Almost all of the listed HAR stations along CA-99 and I-5 in Central CA still have signs up, but most of the signs look about 20 years old. http://www.inetworld.net/halls/dx/index.html 73, (Tim Hall, Chula Vista, CA, July 11, amfmtvdx at qth.net via DXLD) ** U S A. QSL received in Montagu, South Africa 1700 kHz, "KVNS" - "News Talk 1700" Brownsville, Texas - the "Tip of Texas", by illustrated letter from John Munoz, IT Manager, Engineering Assistant, Clear Channel Worldwide. Johnmunoz @ clearchannel.com - http://www.newstalk1700.com Post :- Clear Channel Radio, 901 East Pike Boulevard, Weslaco, TX 78596, USA. Back in 72 days after two requests with no return postage. Confirms nighttime power of 880 watts and nice coloured diagram of coverage pattern of 20 miles/32 kilometers. I am quite pleased with this, as it is the furthest low power MW catch I have received in 38 years of DXing. Brownsville is 14,000 kilometers / 8,700 miles from this QTH. RX Drake R8B, SW8, BW XCR 30, Braun T1000, Sangean 818 & 803A. Hallicrafters SX-100, Eddystone 940, GE circa 50's radiogram Antenna's RF Systems DX 1 Pro, Datong AD-270, Kiwa MW Loop (John Plimmer, Montagu, Western Cape Province, South Africa South 33 d 47 m 540 s, East 20 d 07 m 541 s. plimmer @ telkomsa.net MWDX yg via DXLD) ** U S A. Applications from Existing Facilities: 980, KICA, NM, Clovis --- station recently changed facilities to U1 1400/712 from a new transmitter location. But if you`ll remember, they had previously asked for U5 50000/188 from that new site before settling on the reduced numbers. Now they`ve re-submitted for U5 50000/172 with slightly different parameters for the daytime 50 kW. Incidentally, the proposed day pattern shoots northeast toward the Oklahoma Panhandle and into Southwest Kansas (Bill Hale, AM Switch, NRC DX News July 12 via DXLD) Best Amarillo can do is 10 kW KGNC 710 Applications for Reconsideration: 930, KIUP, CO, Durango --- Station is licensed for 5000/100. They applied to increase nighttime power to become U1 5000/5000, which was dismissed by the FCC. This amendment lowers the requested nighttime power. The application states that multiple tests were conducted to confirm that the high mountains surrounding the transmitter site attenuate and prevent radiation of any significant signal at skywave angles which would cause interference to cochannel stations which participated in the tests (KSDN, KOGA, WTAD, WKY, KHJ, KSEI, and KLCY). If granted, station would be U1 5000/3400 (Bill Hale, AM Switch, NRC DX News July 12 via DXLD) ** U S A. A coalition has formed to keep the venerable WWVA 1170 in Wheeling WV, rather than see it move to Stow, Ohio, a suburb of Cleveland. The website is http://www.WWVABelongsinWheeling.com Politicians are being solicited in the effort, with the mayor and city council of Wheeling on record as opposing the move. However, if the change were to be approved, a replacement AM station would be applied for in Wheeling, albeit at lower power than the 50 kW day and 27 kW at night which WWVA would run from Ohio (July FMedia! via DXLD) ** U S A. KXXR, 93.7, Minneapolis MN has songs that feature ``devil worship and swearing``, says Mike O., WI, its former chief engineer. ``I don`t know of any other ABC-owned station with that format. Most of the others are fairly conservative.`` (July FMedia! via DXLD) ** U S A. Think I Caught a FL Pirate! While all this Es madness was going on to the Miami area, I stumbled across 101.1 to find a man speaking fast in Creole. The signal was in stereo. I had it for around 10 minutes. No IDs, just talking. I checked the Florida pirates site and found this: 101.1 MHz (LPR) "Radio Nouvelle Vision", Pompano Beach (broadcasting in Creole). The site credits Ken Simon for its information on this station, so Ken...can you hear this guy where you are??? (Mike Bugaj - Enfield, CT USA, 1903 UT July 9, WTFDA via DXLD) ** U S A. INTERESTING TRANSLATOR DECISION --- The FCC rules define a "FM Translator" as a station that retransmits the signals of an FM broadcasting station, without significantly changing any characteristics except frequency and amplitude. They today ruled that this regulation *allows* an FM translator to change the signal's frequency but does not *require* it to do so. (thus reinstating KCSM's application for a translator outside their predicted service area but operating on the same frequency as KCSM's main transmitter. FM boosters are not allowed to extend a station's service area - translators are.) -- (Doug Smith W9WI, Pleasant View (Nashville), TN EM66, July 8, WTFDA via DXLD) ** U S A. KRUD --- Glenn, Came upon this while researching a program on high tech gadgets and trends. The host, in the radio biz, found this "satirical page dealing with the ups and downs of this "business" we call radio and is not a real station, per se, although it acts just like one." http://www.krud.com/ It opens with this quote ... --------------- "The radio business is a cruel and shallow money trench, a long plastic hallway where thieves and pimps run free, and good men die like dogs. There's also a negative side." -- Hunter S. Thompson ---------------- Submitted for your consideration as such, (Pete Costello, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Be sure to check out the cartoon archive for starters (gh) ** U S A. Speaking of Crud in another sense, I am really put off by the so-called A&E Network. For years before I came to cable TV late, according to listings, there was only one regular show about fine arts, i.e. painting, theatre, dance, classical music, etc., Breakfast With the Arts, on Sundays at 1200-1400 UT (summer timing). The rest of the schedule was already indistinguishable from any other cable channel with commercially-oriented programming. Now, from at least the beginning of this year, that too is gone, tho the program and its misleading title remain. No, I am not being unduly elitist, but unabashedly lament the deletion of the last vestige of anything fine- art from that network. Just to be sure, I spared some video tape to aircheck the show on July 11. The entire first hour was a performance by Rod Stewart, who is hardly lacking for exposure, and never performed a piece of serious music in his life, and the rest featured two lesser-known pop singers. A few weeks ago the whole show was a bought-and-paid-for travelogue infomercial about Hong Kong (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. 'COP SHOP' PRODUCERS TAKE A SHOT AT FCC WORD POLICE By Lisa de Moraes Saturday, July 10, 2004; Page C01 http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn/A40140-2004Jul9?language=printer LOS ANGELES, July 9 --- The producers of the new PBS drama series "Cop Shop" say they're "enormously grateful" to the FCC for an "absurd" new list of words it demands not be used on television no way no how, and to the vice president of the United States for using one of those words on the floor of the U.S. Senate, because they have given people "at last a battle we can all understand -- the forces of dark versus light." PBS recently bleeped three words in the upcoming show's first two episodes, telling creator David Black and executive producer and star Richard Dreyfuss that under new Federal Communications Commission rules, the public broadcasting network as well as individual stations could be subject to hundreds of thousands of dollars in fines if they telecast the unedited version. Although we'd love to let you know what the three words are, because you have the right to know what the FCC is up to these days, we have been told by higher authorities that we cannot repeat them in The TV Column but must instead explain them to you: One of the words, as mentioned, was used by the vice president on the floor of the U.S. Senate in reference to something he wished Sen. Patrick Leahy of Vermont to do to himself. To the best of our knowledge, the vice president has not yet used the two other words on the floor of the Senate but, who knows, the year is still young. Those two words are a slang term for excrement and a commonly used two-word expression for fellatio. (To the countless little children who begin each day by poring over The TV Column: Go ask your parents. To the parents of the countless little children who begin each day by poring over The TV Column: Who said parenting would be easy?) "We believe . . . that the new FCC regulations represent an unacceptable assault on our First Amendment rights -- on everyone's First Amendment rights -- an act unworthy of a free country, an act of censorship," Black told TV critics attending Summer TV Press Tour 2004 in the bowels of the Westin Century Plaza Hotel here on Friday. Black, whose credits include "Law & Order" and "100 Centre Street," told The TV Column after the session that although Vice President Cheney's word is on the FCC's Unacceptable List, as is the word for excrement, the two-word expression for fellatio is not. The lawyers for PBS decided to throw it in anyway, he said, apparently thinking that the FCC must have forgotten to include it. "Cop Shop," which premieres in October as a "Hollywood Presents" series, is about New York City police in an Upper West Side precinct; each episode was rehearsed as a play and then shot straight through, in a 45-minute take. In addition to Dreyfuss, who plays Detective Leonard Manzo, the show stars Blair Brown, Rosie Perez, Rita Moreno and Jay Thomas. The first episode tells the story of a community meeting between police officers and local residents who are panicked over a series of rapes in the neighborhood; in the second episode, Detective Manzo visits a neighborhood brothel to find a woman he can relate to on a personal level. "In a show about life in a whorehouse, separating out a line about [slang for fellatio] from lines about lubricants, pornography, drugs and deviance might seem odd or silly, or more revealing about the censors than the censorship," said Dreyfuss, reading from a lengthy statement he'd prepared. He used it to open the Q&A session on the show -- to the surprise of PBS and KCET, the Los Angeles public television station that produces "Cop Shop," suits from both insisted. (Black read a statement, too, but his was much shorter and more to the point. You can always tell who's the writer and who's the actor by the length of their prepared statements.) "But it is inescapably censorship under guidelines imposed after the fact by those who are in temporary political power, and so it should be treated as what it is -- a real-world moral and ethical battle with grimly wrongheaded un-American types who play pick-and-choose when they define our freedom of speech and religion as it fits their particular political needs," continued Dreyfuss, who appeared via satellite from New York. He said he was uneasy with "negotiations about how many [Cheney words] you can have on a network or the amount of screen space you can give a nipple." There are nipples on this show? Mary Mazur, executive in charge of production at KCET, reassured critics that she had no idea whether, in this political climate, PBS could once again broadcast, say, the randy 1996 British production of "Moll Flanders." "I don't know how to answer that," she said. Asked why PBS didn't just take a stand and run the "Cop Shop" episodes sans bleeping to test whether the FCC would have the nerve to fine PBS over one of its tony "Hollywood Presents" productions, Mazur said, "PBS doesn't have the resources to find that question out." And, finally, when one critic wondered why PBS felt the need to err on the side of caution, Mazur boldly asserted, "I don't know that you necessarily have to lay down on the railroad track to make a point." Show creator Black kept chiding critics for fixing their discussion about his show so firmly on the three words instead of larger questions such as the "human condition." Of course, it was his idea, and Dreyfuss's, to open the session with prepared statements. In his statement, Black stood in solidarity with the vice president: "As for the word [censored], I stand with Vice President Cheney who . . . said sometimes you have to use it unapologetically because you feel better afterwards." During the Q&A, critics asked Black and Dreyfuss if they would provide copies of their prepared statements. Black gave his to a PBS publicist who made copies and distributed them. A considerable time later, critics had not yet received a copy of Dreyfuss's statement; PBS said Dreyfuss was withholding it -- so he could make changes. (c) 2004 The Washington Post Company (via Mike Cooper, DXLD) ** U S A [and non]. RADIO WORLD - Sunday 11 July 2004 http://www.rvi.be/rvi_master/uk/radio_world/index.html Clear Channel Entertainment is a U.S. company which has become a global entertainment giant and its tentacles are everywhere, also in Belgium. Clear Channel owns 40 per cent of all big advertising boardings in Belgium and, since 2001 one of the world`s largest and best music festivals in the world, that`s our very own Flemish Rock Werchter, held each summer (as the name says) at Werchter, not far from Leuven in Flemish Brabant. The latest edition finished just a week ago. Once Clear Channel was just a small local radio station in Texas. [not so small! WOAI 1200, once with near-nationwide coverage --- gh] Now, in the words of a Flemish journalist, this American dream has turned into a worldwide nightmare. The Flemish magazine Mo is a monthly dedicated to third world affairs and globalisation, published by a number of non governmental organisations. One of its journalists, Sara Frederix, has published a series of articles on Clear Channel, which she calls ``The American Nightmare``. She starts by saying that the enemies of Clear Channel are creative. With websites like clearchannelwatch (in one word), and clearchannelsucks.org they campaign against the media giant. The following are the opening lines of the clearchannelsucks.org site, and I quote: ``ClearChannelSucks.org is a free speech website dedicated to educating the public about entertainment giant Clear Channel. Clear Channel owns over 1,200 radio stations and 37 television stations, with investments in 240 radio stations globally, and Clear Channel Entertainment (a.k.a. SFX, one of their more well-known subsidiaries) owns and operates over 200 venues nationwide. They are in 248 of the top 250 radio markets, controlling 60% of all rock programming. They outright own the tours of musicians like Janet Jackson, Aerosmith, Pearl Jam, Madonna and N`Sync. They own the network which airs Rush Limbaugh, Dr. Laura, Casey Kasem, and the Fox Sports Radio Network. SOUND Fox Sports Radio (listen to the programme via audio link on this page) http://www.rvi.be/rvi_master/uk/radio_world/index.html One of the Fox Sports stations, a very popular part of Clear Channel`s media empire. And ClearChannelSucks.org continues: ``With 103,000,000 listeners in the U.S. and 1,000,000,000 globally (1/6 of the world population), this powerful company has grown unchecked, using their monopoly to control the entire music industry. If you find this alarming, ClearChannelSucks.org is the place for you.`` End of quote. Mo magazine - incidentally, MO stands for Mondiaal - points out that clear channel started as a small player, as befits an American dream. In 1972 Lowry Mays acquired his first radio station, at San Antonio, Texas. Mays gave a friend of his a loan to buy a radio station, but the friend stepped out of the deal. Mays had no radio experience and his new partner was a second hand cars dealer. It was a good business and sons Randall and Mark also stepped in. The Mays took over one station after the other and on the eve of the 1996 Telecommuncations Act they owned 43 radio stations and 16 television stations. The relaxation of the rules on media ownership provoked a real acceleration for the Mays. Today Clear Channel is the ninth largest media concern in the US, with an all-comprising vertical monopoly. Its closest radio competitor is Viacom, which owns ONLY 279 radio stations. In the Live Entertainment sector Clear Channel is by far the biggest player: worldwide the company owns 135 big stages, 30 of them in Europe. In 2002 C C sold 30 million concert tickets, four times more than its closest competitor. Also in the advertising sector Clear Channel is a real giant, with 716,000 advertising boards on buses and trains, in stations, airports and supermarkets. Clear Channel advertisements reach half the US population. In television land CC is a relatively small operator with 39 stations, but experts agree that the company will further expand in that field once it has paid back an 8 bn dollar debt. Clear Channel owes at least part of its explosive growth to the new media rules of the Telecommunications Act, which the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) imposed in 1996 and 2003. Suddenly one single media company was allowed to own 8 instead of 2 radio stations in a particular geographic market. Also the national ceiling of 40 stations was abolished. For television stations the national limit was raised from 35 to 45 per cent of the U.S. population. Owning radio stations, television stations and newspapers in one and the same market place is no longer a problem. Eric Boehlert is an expert on Clear Channel in the United States. For an uninterrupted period of 18 months he wrote articles about the company for the internet magazine Salon.com. He said about the latest Telecommunications Act: ``From one day to the other, we woke up in a completely different media and music landscape.`` And the vertical monopoly of Clear Channel is even larger than what it looks like at first sight. FRANS VOSSEN (via John Norfolk, dxldyahoogroup via DXLD) ** VANUATU. 7260, 0921-, Radio Vanuatu, Jul 9. Fair to good reception, spoiled somewhat by summer static. Talk in Bislama. If not for static, reception would be pretty good. Mostly same YL, with music bridges. 7260.137, 0623-, {time corrected to 0945} Radio Vanuatu, Jul 10. Not quite armchair copy, but close with Latin music (Carlos Santana). Note off frequency. I didn't notice this last night, though I had to do some surgery on my receiver to align the frequency standard. 0953 brief talk by OM in Bislama, and into a French vocal. ID at 02:55:30 [must mean 0955 UT], again in Bislama, and then into another French vocal. Mostly about S6 to S7 signal. I believe there's French at 1002. Definite Bislama at 1004 recheck, with mentions of Vanuatu. 'Competition, National Radio of Vanuatu' at 1012 (Volodya Salmaniw, Grayland WA DX-pedition, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** WESTERN SAHARA [non]. 15665, ITALY-? R. for Peace ("Sahara" program via IRRS), brief IRRS English ID noted as China left the channel at 1100 Jul 10, then the start of Arabic programming, presumably this one. Weak and fady at the start, but started building slowly. All Arabic talk, some Spanish-flavored music. It was getting to a decent level when the transmitter cut out at 1113. It may have returned circa 1130, but by then the band was noisy and whatever was there was barely noticeable. Fridays only (Jerry Berg, MA, NASWA Flashsheet July 11 via DXLD) ** ZAMBIA. 9865, 1501-, Christian Voice, Jul 9. Inspirational music up to 1500, then into English ?news. Appeared by itself before TOH, but cochannel after. Fair signal. Rarely reported frequency (Volodya Salmaniw, Grayland WA DX-pedition, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 4910, 0247-, Radio 1, Jul 10. Nice African evening with fish eagle IS, followed by NA and into some nice African music. Well heard past 0330. First African of the evening 1 1/2 hours before local sunset (Volodya Salmaniw, Grayland WA DX-pedition, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ RADIO EQUIPMENT FORUM +++++++++++++++++++++ CHEAP SHORTWAVE AT WALGREENS Multi band $19.95. Page 6 of the ad in the Sunday AJC. No DX machine I'm sure. No doubt a PRC model. But hey, Shortwave at Wallgreens. Throw one in the basket along with the Q-Tips and vitamins. Glenn, might be in your Sunday ad insert as well (Brock Whaley, Atlanta GA, July 11, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Yes, I already saw it in the ad here. Looks analog, probably worth $10 or less... Enid Walgreen`s does not have any yet (Glenn, July 12, ibid.) PROPAGATION +++++++++++ Here are my best photos of KATV-7 Little Rock and what must also be KETG-9 Arkadelphia, AR, seen on the 6th --- my first high band Es in over 30 years of DXing and probably a once-in-a-lifetime event for me. http://fmdx.usclargo.com/hibandes.html (Mike Bugaj, Enfield CT, July 8, WTFDA via DXLD) My unID on channel 9 from Tuesday may have been WTVM Columbus, Georgia. At 1829 CDT, I saw the end of a news or magazine-format program with a white female host. She was joking with someone off camera, chuckled and said something like, "I'll see you tomorrow". WTVM was showing "Inside Edition" (Deborah Norville) at that time. It also fits the PTA (Bob Timmerman, Fort Wayne, IN, ibid.) HIGH BAND VHF PHOTOS NOW ONLINE I just put 14 of the best image captures online. Photos of 4 stations – 7WDAM, 8WVUE, 12WJTV, 13WLOX. The (cheap) site’s address is: http://tkatlic.tripod.com/ I hope the bandwidth holds up. Enjoy (~~~Tim Katlic~~~Rochester, NY, July 11, WTFDA via DXLD) Wow... That WDAM photo is a thing of beauty. Cool seeing photos of the high-band Vs I have had as locals. Lived nearly in the shadow on WLOX's tower, worked radio in Hattiesburg & Jackson. Law school in New Orleans. The WLOX is a bit rough, but I would recognize that Bug anywhere. It's a trip down Amnesia Lane for me! Nice (Peter Baskind, TN, ibid.) Tim... Those are SO NICE! And I know the pictures you saw were even better than those digital shots show. Jeff is going to love these for Photo News!!! -- (Mike Bugaj - Enfield, CT USA, ibid.) Nice pictures; looks like my site, except mine were tropo. I never thought anyone would get them on Es! (Chris Carter, Hermitage, TN, ibid.) Man, oh man! You and Mike had my tropo by Es! "WLOX" is easily readable! (Danny Oglethorpe, Shreveport, LA, ibid.) Incredible... just amazing stuff there (Matt Sittel, NE, ibid.) oooooh! or should I say DAM! ;-) way to go... I wonder if WDAM was the station that briefly ghosted over my strong semi-local Midland ON Global. Your photos have made my day, Tim (Saul Chernos, Ont, ibid.) Wow. The WLOX picture is obvious, WJTV and WVUE probably would be too if I were familiar with their logos. As for WDAM, are you sure they didn't mail you a tape? |grin|! -- (Doug Smith W9WI, Pleasant View (Nashville), TN, ibid.) IF THE IONOSPHERE CAN DO IT, SO CAN MY LOGO GALLERY! Major congrads to everyone who made Hi-band Es catches last week. In light of this, I spent the last couple of nights on a channel 7 map, which is now up at http://www.egrabow.com/gallery/ One thing I noted about this channel, it has a lot of practically identical "ABC 7" logos. OK, I already knew that and so did most of the people on this list, but I made a list of cities to satisfy my curiosity... 12 in all: Bangor, ME New York City, NY Detroit, MI Chicago, IL Washington D.C. Jackson, TN Little Rock, AR Amarillo, TX Tyler, TX Albuquerque, NM Los Angeles, CA San Francisco, CA Now y'all can start asking for a channel 8 map, lol... "End of message. End of transmission." (Ryan Grabow, Massapequa, Long Island, New York, http://www.egrabow.com/dx/ July 11, WTFDA via DXLD) I don't recall where I read this, but in the early days of ABC, they tried (successfully, it seems) to get all of their O&O stations on channel 7 because there was an idea at the time that lowband VHF might be removed from the TV channel allocations, and they wanted a uniform prime channel spot for their major-market affiliates. Most ABC affiliates (O&O and otherwise) on channel 7 use that distinctive logo, or a minor variation of it, to this day. Do you notice how a disproportionate number of stations on channel 7 are ABC affiliates? True, many CBS O&Os tend to be channel 2, and many NBC O&Os tend to be channel 4 (Chicago being a noteworthy exception to this with WMAQ-5), but 7 seems to be identified with ABC even moreso than that. It's kind of bizarre. Reminds me of the Australian system of having a "Seven" network, a "Nine" network, and so on. FWIW, the "circle 7" logo has aged very well; it must have been used for 35 or 40 years, if not longer, and has never looked dated. WCSC-5 Charleston SC had a nice, similarly "timeless" logo (a stylized "5" in a picture-tube-shaped bullet) but they recently jettisoned it for this hideous "squashed-down 5" that looks like WRAL's ugly cousin (David Austin, Columbia SC, ibid.) More VHF sporadic E DX: above, see BAHAMAS, CUBA, DOMINICAN REPUBLIC, PUERTO RICO, [TURKS & CAICOS] PERSONAL SOLAR FLARE ALERT One of my other hobbies is astronomy. I belong to the Peterborough Astronomical Association. Recently we had Dr. Doug Welch of McMaster University give us a talk on several projects he is involved with. He is both an amateur and professional astronomy and ham radio operator. The project that would interest SWLs and hams alike is a real time solar flare detector. It is a small radio detector tuned to 24 kHz - the VLF frequency used for communicating with submarines - which is quite susceptible to disruption by solar flares, so much so, that interference is noted as soon as a solar flare is detected erupting on the sun. It is powered by 2 9 volt batteries and its antenna is a loop that can be erect or laid out on the ground. Signal output goes to a surplus Windows 95 computer (it can be as ancient as a 386). As soon as a solar flare is detected, the circuit closes and a signal is sent to the computer. The software charts a graph of solar conditions and will show a spike as soon as the flare is detected. This only works during our daylight period as the receiver must be in the line of sight of the sun. Several of these receivers are networked around the world. For more information, check out this website: http://www.amateurastronomy.org/SID_files/frame.htm (Mark Coady, Ont., ODXA via DXLD) ###