DX LISTENING DIGEST 4-113, July 25, 2004 Incorporating REVIEW OF INTERNATIONAL BROADCASTING 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 OUR RADIO SCHEDULE has been reworked to include direct, or almost direct audio links at each web- and broadcast time: http://www.worldofradio.com/radioskd.html NEXT AIRINGS OF WORLD OF RADIO 1239: Mon 0100 on WBCQ 9330-CLSB Mon 0230 on WRMI 7385 [NEW] Mon 0330 on WSUI 910, webcast http://wsui.uiowa.edu [previous 1238] Mon 0430 on WBCQ 7415, webcast http://wbcq.us Mon 0900 on R. Lavalamp http://www.radiolavalamp.org Mon 1600 on WBCQ after-hours http://wbcq.com repeated weekdaily Wed 0930 on WWCR 9475 WRN ONDEMAND: http://new.wrn.org/listeners/stations/station.php?StationID=24 OUR ONDEMAND AUDIO [also for CONTINENT OF MEDIA, MUNDO RADIAL]: Check http://www.worldofradio.com/audiomid.html WORLD OF RADIO 1239 (high version): (stream) http://www.w4uvh.net/wor1239h.ram (download) http://www.w4uvh.net/wor1239h.rm (summary) http://www.worldofradio.com/wor1239.html WORLD OF RADIO 1239 (low version): (stream) http://www.w4uvh.net/wor1239.ram (download) http://www.w4uvh.net/wor1239.rm WORLD OF RADIO 1239 in the true SW sound of 7415: (stream) http://www.piratearchive.com/media/worldofradio_07-21-04.m3u (d`load) http://www.piratearchive.com/media/worldofradio_07-21-04.mp3 ** BANGLADESH. Hi Glenn, Re DXLD 4-111: ``Presently 9550 and 15520 kHz are not in use`` --- Heard today in Hindi at 1540 on 9550 kHz // 7185 kHz. 73, (Mauno Ritola, Finland, July 25, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 7185, 22.7 1815, Bangladesh Batar startede engelsk i External Service med nyheder. // 9550. 3 SHN (Stig Hartvig Nielsen, Denmark, SW Bulletin via DXLD) ** CANADA. CKUT International Radio Report 7-25: Hosts Janice and Steve Karlock go hunting for a pirate radio station heard broadcasting non-stop Arabic music on 107.7 MHz. Arabic station heard on West Island: Impression it was beamed off a satellite music service; No announcements, no IDs; Signal strongest along Rivière des Prairies; Site appears to have been found at a house in Laval (via Ricky Leong, swprograms via DXLD) Janice Laws and Steve Karlock, hosts of the International Radio Report, related this morning how they were able to find the location of the unlicenced Arabic station noted on 107.7 earlier this week. Using a car radio and a portable, and by listening to the splatter on adjacent frequencies, the station was easily located in a residential area of Laval, QC. A very visible ground plane apparently cut for a higher freq. (like 107.7?!!) was spotted on the house. And apparently, a nervous lady was seen peeking through the window, and when Janice and Steve passed slowly by the house a second time guess what happened??? The lady quickly steps away from the window and 30 seconds later, the station goes off the air!!! LOL!! Talk about a dead giveaway!!! 73, (Charles Gauthier, St-Lambert, QC, WTFDA via DXLD) ** CANADA. RADIO STATION RALLY DRAWS 50,000 --- CHOI OWNER AIMS TO PRESSURE CABINET TO RESTORE LICENCE By Tu Thanh Ha and Louise Gagnon Friday, July 23, 2004 - http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/ArticleNews/TPStory/LAC/20040723/RADIO23/TPNational/Canada Montreal and Quebec -- Threatened with closing, Quebec City's most popular radio station organized a mass rally yesterday as it tried to pressure Prime Minister Paul Martin's new cabinet into reversing a decision by federal regulators to yank the station off the air. The Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission said earlier this month it would not renew the licence of CHOI-FM, citing a long pattern of offensive comments by its morning-show hosts. It was the first time since its creation that the CRTC has not renewed a commercial licence solely because of verbal content. Yesterday, despite torrid weather, a crowd estimated by police at 50,000 people chanted "Liberté! Liberté!" (Freedom! Freedom!) as they marched across town to an outdoor amphitheatre for speeches and musical performances. Meanwhile, from 4 to 6 p.m., CHOI suspended regular programming and aired only the sound of a heartbeat. The controversy could turn into a political hot potato for Mr. Martin's government, whose Liberals were badly trounced in the Quebec City area in last month's federal election, losing star candidates such as Hélène Chalifour Scherrer, the former heritage minister. Liza Frulla, who was picked this week to replace Ms. Scherrer in the post, is already being lobbied vigorously by the station, which sent her an eight-page letter asking cabinet to reverse the CRTC ruling. "We're not in Cuba here, we're in Canada," station owner Patrice Demers told reporters before the march. If CHOI's licence is not renewed, Mr. Demers stands to lose a $25- million business that drew up to 380,000 listeners. "It's not our statement, it's the statement of the population of Quebec City -- 20,000 people have already signed the petition, 12,000 people have already sent e-mails to the CRTC and more than 7,000 people are here to walk with us for the freedom of speech," Mr. Demers said at the start of the march, before all participants had arrived. "This march is to put pressure on politicians so they listen to what the population of Quebec City really wants." Some protesters had driven from Shawinigan, 170 kilometres from Quebec City. "We came here to show that if we are 380,000 people to listen to the station it's because we love it and we want to keep it," said Lise Massicotte, 57, who had arrived with her friend Johanne Cyr, 44, from Trois-Rivières. "People are old enough to discern things. If we don't like something, we can turn down the volume or tune in to another station, but it's up to us citizens to make that decision," said another demonstrator, Jonathan Bélanger, 24. The controversy centres on Jean-François (Jeff) Fillion, who was the host of the 6 to 10 a.m. slot, and André Arthur, of the smaller sister station CKNU, who was co-host of a now-defunct 30-minute segment with Mr. Fillion. The two shock jocks were the targets of 92 complaints for repeatedly making crude, insulting comments about local personalities, foreign students or disabled people. CHOI's licence expires Aug. 31. The station's lawyers are preparing a request for an injunction. They expect it to be filed by early August in Federal Court, seeking to suspend the CRTC decision while it is being appealed (via Mike Terry, DXLD) ** CANADA [and non]. 4000 Miles On The Road --- As I drove from Nashville to Winnipeg and Brandon, then back down to Bismarck and finally home via Sioux City and Peoria, I made a few mental notes about what I heard on AM. This is all from memory, but I believe is fairly accurate. My listening was done on a 2004 Saturn (high end) radio --- which has the best AM section I've had on a car receiver since I owned a 1982 Mercury Monarch. There is virtually zero ignition noise and the sensitivity is excellent --- sideband slop average to minimal. I did observe a little tire-related static discharge on certain road surfaces, but it was minimal. [seemingly random order changed to frequency order by gh; that took about 6 minutes, not including further touch-up editing] 540 - CBK (Regina) Great signal, as always. First heard around Fergus Falls, MN on I-94. BUT --- their big downside is low modulation. Somebody needs to bring the CBC into the 21st century when it comes to audio processing. Even the new CBW plant relocated from Carmen to Springstein, MB suffers from this. My guess is that they're keeping processing to a bare minimum so as to not destroy the dynamic range of classical music programming. If that's the case, there are ways of goosing things up without wrecking the music, and they really ought to look into utilizing better technology. Back to CBK...their audio tended to be rather "muddy". Not sure what's going on there. 540 - KWMT (Ft. Dodge, IA) Here's another one whose signal continues to deteriorate. They seemed to get out better (overall) with 1kw non-directional. Could be that their ground radial system is getting some age on it. 550 - WSAU (Wausau, WI) directional day and night with different patterns --- has gained a bit of coverage area to the S and SE with their power increase, but certainly not what one would expect with a boost from 5 to 15 kW (daytime). This is one of those odd instances where the nighttime power (20 kW) is higher than daytime. Their day signal toward Madison, LaCrosse, and Rochester seemed a smidgen better, but still not a boomer. One thing that HAS happened is that they hold KFYR emergence back by about 50 or 75 miles more than prior to the power jump. In past years, KFYR has always been present under WSAU starting around LaCrosse. Now, they don't become distinguishable until the Rochester area. In Mankato (I was there for a week) WSAU tended to be slightly more annoying under KFYR --- which still dominates the frequency at about 400 air miles. 550 - KFYR - While I'm at it, I might as well state unequivocally that they have a larger daytime coverage area than WNAX. I know that debate has been going on for years --- but I've always felt that KFYR was the winner --- and still hold that opinion. KFYR is listenable in most of metro Minneapolis --- like a local (and I mean LOCAL, with no fading when going through underpasses --- and no power line noise) by the time you get to Fargo. That's still 200 miles from their transmitter. Going the other way they're good as far as Billings, MT. North --- I don't know because I've never gone past Dauphin --- where KFYR is VERY strong. I can tell you that they have one helluva signal in Winnipeg with only minimal power line interference. [Note: because CBK's modulation is so low, there's virtually no sideband slop --- even as far west as the MB/SK line.] South I've followed KFYR to about halfway between O'Neill and Grand Island, NE. They'd be audible even farther - -- except for the emergence of KFRM in Salina, KS --- a station that protects them day and night. To the SE, KFYR begins to emerge over KTRS (St. Louis) in the vicinity of Waterloo, IA. Were it not for horrendous sideband splash from KWMT (540) Ft. Dodge, I think they'd made it a little farther. No matter how you shake it down, that's an absolutely enormous coverage area for a 5 kW AM station. 560 - WIND (Chicago) doesn't seem to do as well as it used to. I suspect a deteriorating ground system. 570 - WNAX (Yankton, SD) really loses signal rapidly to the SE --- other than that, it's a MONSTER --- and seems to be maintaining the enormous coverage area it's had for years. It's also worth noting that WNAX has added a huge chunk of northern ND and MN, as well as southern MB where it was previously splattered to death by CKY. 580 - there ought to be a tombstone for this frequency. Without CKY blasting its 50 kW all over the place the dial position is almost totally dead (daytime) for tens of thousands of square miles. I think I may have heard Deadwood, SD while in the Bismarck area, but it was so faint that I couldn't be sure. WIBW was heard very faintly for a short distance across central Iowa. 590 - OMAHA (formerly WOW --- can't remember the new call) suffering from the worst case of shrinking coverage area of any of the low freq. stations in the plains states. Something is terribly wrong with this facility. 590 - KGLE (Glendive, MT) does exceptionally well for a 500 watter. First heard just south of the US/Canada border near Bottineau, ND. 610 - KANSAS CITY (formerly WDAF, 61 country, now all sports with a different call) there seems to be coverage loss here, as well. It's not as pronounced as 560 in Chicago or 590 in Omaha --- but there's a definite trend of loss --- which seemed to start about 5 years ago. 610 - KCSR (Chadron, NE) really hammers out a signal --- particularly potent with only 1 kW. First heard just south of Minot, ND. 620 - REGINA (formerly CKCK --- don't remember whether it's CKRM or CJME now) Damn, I hate call letter changes. I grew up listening to CKCK --- and in my mind it'll never be anything else. Anyhow, they still have a monster signal across the upper great plains. It seems to be slightly diminished from 10-15 year ago levels, but the drop is very slight. 630 - another spot for a grave marker. Ever since CKRC quit blasting out 300+ miles --- this one's been dead as a hammer. Other than that flea-powered thing in Minneapolis, 630 is a morgue. 650 - WSM (Nashville) listenable mid-day almost to Peoria. This is at least 75 miles farther than when they were running lower positive peaks and less agressive audio processing with the Continental transmitter. (Twin Harris transmitters have been in service for about 3 or 4 years.) 650 - CHEYENNE - Faint traces from this one heard in the Huron, SD area. 670, 720, 780, 890 - OTHER CHICAGO STATIONS: I didn't spent much time fooling with WGN, WCSR, WBBM, WLS et al; but conclude that WBBM seems to have the best daytime coverage of the works --- WLS is a close second, and WGN is way off the mark. 680 - CJOB (Winnipeg) has the third biggest coverage area in the upper midwest --- trailing only KFYR and WNAX. They go south almost to Sioux City, IA --- and would be audible there if not for KFEQ in St. Joseph, MO --- which comes up fast to wipe them out. 730 - CKDM (Dauphin, MB) almost as good as CKLQ, but not quite. 770 - KATL (Miles City, MT) is another signal that tears up the plains. First heard just east of Minot. 790 - KFGO (Fargo) Much improved daytime signal in all directions. This station had been losing turf for years ---and I suspect that their 50+ year old ground system has been rebuilt. 810 - KBHB (Sturgis, SD) packs quite a wallop, too. Not as impressive as the little guy in Chadron --- but still covers a lot of territory. 830 - WCCO (Minneapolis) seems to have done something to improve their ground wave signal. They were consistently better in all directions than they've been for several years. 860 - KNUJ (New Ulm, MN) is another 1 kW signal that does very well. 880 - KRVN (Lexington, NE) seems to be among those losing daytime strength. Still gets out well --- but is anemic (distance-wise) from what it was 10 or 15 years ago). 880 - CKLQ (Brandon, MB) has the province's third largest coverage area. CJOB gets top honors and CKLQ almost matches CBW's 50 kw on 990. 970 - WDAY (Fargo) Lousy signal everywhere. I don't think they've tweaked this dinosaur since it went on the air in 1922. 970 - WMAY (Springfield, IL) This one doesn't have much of a coverage area, either. I'd expect better considering the ground conductivity in that area. 1000 - KXRB (Sioux Falls, SD) seems to be getting out better than in the past. While they're not a barn-burner, they still made it about 300 miles north --- almost to Grand Forks, ND. Not bad for a mid-band signal, and considerable better than KFAB (1110) in Omaha --- which is another that used to do better. 1230 - KDIX (Dickinson, ND) Typical of the graveyard operations in ND --- gets out about 150-175 miles. Amazing. 1270 - KLXX (Mandan, ND) lousy coverage area --- always has been. This is another one that probably hasn't had its antenna system reworked since it signed on (1925 as KGCU on 1200 kHz). That's probably more than enough. I know that not many AM DXers get a chance to travel up in the land of super ground conductivity, and thought you'd enjoy a little insight into what happens up there. Just one other note. When I say a signal is down from where it appeared to have been 10 or 15 years ago, I'm not taking man-made interference into account. An example is WCCO. I used to be able to hear them in Bismarck. Now, they don't poke through until I'm about 50 miles east of there --- and that's better than it's been for several years. Time was that they weren't audible (to the west) much past Fargo. All that said, I spent the majority of my driving time listening to CD's of stuff from my personal vinyl and tape collection. For the most part radio really stinks (content-wise) everywhere. I don't like talk --- can't stand religious formats --- am not all that crazy about contemporary --- and can only handle so much ag news! My favorite remaining format is MOYL (or anything similar) --- and it's becoming as rare as eyebrows on eggs. I'm sure thankful that I have a huge collection of stuff I like --- because almost nobody plays it on the air anymore. Even easy-listening stations have such limited playlists now, that they quickly become boring (Tom Bryant, Nashville, TN, July 24, WTFDA-AM via DXLD) ** CHINA. TROPICAL BAND REVIEW 26 Jun 04 - 17 Jul 04 by Vladimir Kovalenko, Tomsk, Russia, via open_dx [excerpt] Rx: Ishim-003; Ant; bi-metallic wire, about 100 m 4785 - Inner Mongolia (according to ILGRadio), in Mongolian. ID sounds like "Uwonarty arty radio kara chuang". Fades in at 1300, SINPO reaches 45444 by 1430. Very weak local mornings (2200-2300). (via Signal July 24 via DXLD) See also MONGOLIA ** CHINA [non]. Voice of Han --- Today my report to the Voice of Han in Taiwan was returned. I used the address: 5F, No. 3 Hsin-Yi Road, Sec. 1, Taipei Does any body know the correct address? (M. van Arnhem, Holland, Jul 19, 2004 in HCDX-ML via CRW via DXLD) Nope. But then, why do you use snailmail? Try voh_radio @ sinamail.com (M. Elbe, Germany, Jul 19, 2004 in HCDX-ML via CRW via DXLD) ** COSTA RICA. 5046.6, Faro del Caribe, San José, July 25th, 0015, Spanish, e-mail address, ID, instrumental music; strong carrier, weak audio; O=2 (Michael Schnitzer, Hassfurst, Germany, hard-core-dx via DXLD) Way off frequency 5055, if this be correct (gh, DXLD) ** CUBA [and non]. VIOLACIONES Y PELIGROS DE UNA AGRESIÓN ANUNCIADA • El Gobierno de EE.UU. prevé usar un avión militar C-130 para transmisiones de radio y televisión contra Cuba POR MARIA JULIA MAYORAL --- especial para Granma Internacional --- Foto: Jose M. Correia LAS agresiones radiales y televisivas de Estados Unidos contra Cuba podrían incrementarse notablemente en un futuro cercano de ponerse en práctica la anunciada medida de utilizar con esos fines un avión militar C-130. El viceministro Ramón Linares y Carlos Martínez han expuesto, en el seno de la UIT, las agresiones radiales y televisivas contra Cuba. . . http://www.granma.cu/espanol/2004/julio/mier21/30avion.html (via Conexión Digital via DXLD) This is longer(?) Spanish original of the recent article in English ** HUNGARY. CONVERSACION CON SERGIO PEREZ, DE RADIO BUDAPEST Aprovechando una breve estadía en la hermosísima capital húngara, pretendí visitar Radio Budapest, objetivo que no pudo ser logrado debido a que mi llegada coincidió con un fin de semana, momento en que nadie concurre a la emisora. Sergio Pérez De todos modos mantuve un diálogo telefónico con Sergio Pérez, responsable del Servicio en Español, tras el cual cabe destacar lo siguiente. Este chileno hace 30 años que vive en Budapest a raiz que debió desertar de su país escapando del régimen pinochetista, circunstancia similar a la vivida por Pancho Rodríguez, de La Voz de Rusia. En esta ciudad danubiana se recibió como Licenciado en Historia, ingresando a Radio Budapest hace 18 años como free-lance. Actualidad de Radio Budapest Posteriormente la charla se derivó hacia la actualidad de la emisora internaconal, comentando que nada se puede saber o adelantar sobre el futuro de las transmisiones en nuestra lengua, dado que el gobierno nacional no destina el importe correspondiente para el mantenimiento del Servicio. Hoy por hoy continúan en el aire gracias a que lograron "quitarle" algo del presupuesto a la Sección Inglesa que, junto con la Alemana son las favoritas para la dirección de la estación. Por el contrario, las Secciones Francesa, Rusa, Italiana y Española son, según textuales palabras de Sergio, los "hijos pobres". Es así que la posibilidad de cierre está siempre latente. Obviamente le remarqué que ante la menor insinuación de ocurrencia de esto último, lance un inmediato pedido a la audiencia que responderemos masivamente, solicitando el cambio de postura a quien corresponda, como lo hemos hecho otras veces con tantas emisoras. Demás colaboradores En la actualidad, además de Sergio, trabajan en el Servicio en Español, José Bodrogy en carácter de contratado, Krisztina Gylasy que está jubilada y colabora en el armado y conducción de programas junto a David Loyola, joven estudiante de periodismo que, a veces realiza tareas de práctica para su carrera. Se acaba de reintegrar Laszlo Garay y con él, retornó además el programa DX a su esquema quincenal. Agnes Koronsz, ex-integrante del Servicio, hoy día trabaja en el Parlamento Nacional. Respuestas a la audiencia Hice especial hincapié en la cuestión de las respuestas a los oyentes que escriben y atribuyó la demora o, directamente, la inexistencia de las mismas a la falta de presupuesto y a la de personal destacado a tal fin. Están gestionando la reincorporación de Mónica Varadi, a quienes los memoriosos recordarán como la encargada de la correspondencia en la anterior etapa. Esta persona que, curiosamente, no habla nuestro idioma, sin embargo remitía atentas cartas. Muy diferente es la situación en las Secciones Inglesa y Alemana, donde cuentan con una persona que se encarga exclusivamente de esta tarea, inclusive de ser necesario, lo puede realizar desde su propia casa. Éste es, sintéticamente, el panorama en Radio Budapest hoy, trazado por Sergio Pérez. Una emisora querida, que volvió al español no hace tanto y que debemos apoyar para que continúe acompañándonos. Nota del redactor: Pueden contactarse con Radio Budapest escribiendo a: Brody Sandor u, 5-7, H-1800 Budapest, Hungría o por e-mail a: espanol @ kaf.radio.hu (Hugo Longhi, Rosario, Argentina, via Arnaldo L. Slaen, July 22, Conexión Digital via DXLD) ** INDIA. Re 4-112, source of ``Prasar Bharati claims having earned more than it spent in 2004`` was http://www.indiantelevision.com/ (Mukesh Kumar, India, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** INTERNATIONAL WATERS [and non]. Tony Allan (RIP) 1949 - 2004 --- This is an excellent summary of tributes to a great broadcaster, not well known on mainstream UK radio but an anoraks great: http://www.ukradio.com/news/articles/1495B52875804BFAA116DCF69242D446.asp (Mike Terry, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** IRAQ. KURDISH RADIO STATION OBSERVED ON AIR IN BAGHDAD --- BBC Monitoring has observed a Kurdish-language radio station called Shafaq [Twilight] Radio broadcasting in Baghdad on 101.2 MHz in the FM band. An announcement stated that they were on the air daily at 1700-2000 local time [1300-1600 gmt], with a repeat the following day at 0900- 1200 local time [0500-0800 gmt]. Source: BBC Monitoring research in English 24 Jul 04 (via DXLD) ** IRAQ. RADIO AL-MUSTAQBAL OBSERVED ON FM BAND IN BAGHDAD --- BBC Monitoring has observed Radio Al-Mustaqbal [Future Radio] broadcasting in Baghdad on 95.5 MHz in the FM band, in parallel with its mediumwave service. The station was first observed in April 1996, broadcasting on mediumwave frequencies in the 1557-1584 kHz range from a transmitter believed to be in Kuwait. Since October 2003 it has been observed broadcasting from Baghdad on 1305 kHz. Radio Al-Mustaqbal describes itself as "the voice of the Iraqi National Accord", an anti-Saddam organization first based in Amman and then London. The organization has a web site in English and Arabic at http://www.wifaq.com Source: BBC Monitoring research in English 24 Jul 04 (via DXLD) ** ISLE OF MAN. ISLE OF MAN INTERNATIONAL BROADCASTING SECURES FUNDING http://www.iomonline.co.im/ViewArticle2.aspx?SectionID=872&ArticleID=824854 20 July 2004 --- Isle of Man International Broadcasting is set to launch its new nationwide long-wave radio station, MusicMann279, after securing the £13 million required to fund the project. The company has secured a 10-year licence from the Manx authorities and is ready to build Britain's most powerful transmitter off the coast of Ramsey. The radio mast will be named Caroline Island, in tribute to chief executive Paul Rusling's involvement with the controversial Radio Caroline during the 1970s. IoM International Broadcasting hosted a press conference in the Island on Friday, attended by half a dozen UK-based financial journalists. Mr Rusling says that he has successfully secured the initial £7.8 million pre-launch equity requirement and has access to more, although more than £5 million in operational costs is likely to be raised when the company floats on AIM next year. He expects a surge in media stocks when the current consolidation of the market takes affect in 2005. Profit and loss forecasts predict a £3.5 million loss during the first year of operation but a £1.85 million profit in year two rising to £8.3 million after 10 years of broadcasting. The station is expected to be worth around £27 million upon completion of pre-launch investment. He said that much of the initial funding had come from Manx residents and emphasised that no single individual would be allowed to gain a controlling interest, as he wanted the station to be run by its management team rather than shareholders. He added: 'We want private investors because we don't want to be swallowed up by media conglomerates. We don't want the station owned by some faceless American corporation. This will be a Manx-owned, Manx-controlled operation. The management team has more than 200-man years of experience in commercial radio across a broad range of stations.' MusicMann279 will broadcast on long-wave radio, and be available across the whole of Europe via satellite and globally via the internet. It hopes to enjoy a 1.9 per cent share of the UK radio audience within three years and take a corresponding slice of the annual UK radio advertising market of £612 million. Mr Rusling said: 'Radio advertising in the UK is growing at a rate of 297 per cent year on year. As a commercial radio station we package our listeners up as a bundle of ears and sell them to our advertising customers.' He was keen to stress that its market was totally different than the existing stations in the Island and would not be eating into radio's share of the estimated £5.5 million display advertising market in the Island. Allan Bell, Treasury Minister, was happy to endorse the radio's launch and is looking forward to it helping the Island establish a greater international presence. He said: 'I have been involved in this project for a long time now and am pleased to see it nearing fruition. I grew up in Ramsey and often saw rock stars and celebrities who were visiting Radio Caroline, the Manx government has given Paul its full backing.' He joked that he was looking forward to receiving the company's taxes when the station launches next year. The station will be in direct competition with BBC Radio 2 and has targeted a listening audience of 25-55 year olds, especially housewives. Research has suggested that the 45-64 year old age group is the fastest growing and should reach more than 16 million by 2010. Mr Rusling believes that the growing phenomenon known as Skin (spending the kids inheritance now), would help it to achieve bigger advertising revenues if it can gain a good share of this affluent market, as 80 per cent of the UK wealth is controlled by the 50-64 year age group. The board also hopes to take advantage of a rapidly growing e-commerce sector, where the station can attract advertising revenue by exploiting listeners who use its website. Mr Rusling said: 'There are lots and lots of lonely people out there who regard a radio station as their friend. They trust the website and will buy products like car insurance through it. You only have to look at the BBC to see how powerful radio is.' (via Mike Terry, dxldyg via DXLD) Why would anyone listen to a BBC Radio 2-like station, except with commercials added, when they can listen to Radio 2 itself? Oh, oh, above appears to be same story referred to below (gh, DXLD) Correction: Isle of Man International Broadcasting The Chief Executive of Isle of Man International Broadcasting, Paul Rusling, informs us that the story we published yesterday from a source on the Isle of Man was "riddled with inaccuracies" and was written by an untrained journalist. Paul Rusling assures us that the meeting was a private press briefing, and not a press conference, and no figures were announced. Those mentioned in the article are "pure speculation." We have deleted the item, although it remains online elsewhere. In future, we will only carry news about this project that we receive from the company itself. # posted by Andy @ 15:09 UT July 25 (Media Network blog via DXLD) ** ISRAEL. ISRAEL RADIO TO MOVE ENGLISH NEWSCASTS TO FOREIGN LANGUAGES STATION | Text of report in English by Israeli newspaper The Jerusalem Post on 25 July Israel Radio's English News will be moving from Radio (Reshet Aleph) to the Reka network, starting September 1, programming officials announced over the weekend. Three 15-minute news bulletins will be broadcast at 0630, 1230 and 2030 local time. The French and Spanish news will also be moving to Reka, joining Russian and Amharic news, which are currently broadcast on the immigrant network. Source: The Jerusalem Post in English 25 Jul 04 (via BBCM via DXLD) LT = UT +3 Contradicts report in 4-112 that this would happen AUGUST 1 (gh, DXLD) {It is August 1: 4-114} ** MONGOLIA [and non]. TROPICAL BAND REVIEW 6 Jun 04 - 17 Jul 04 by Vladimir Kovalenko, Tomsk, Russia, via open_dx [excerpt] Rx: Ishim-003; Ant; bi-metallic wire, about 100 m 4830, Mongolian Radio (2nd program, according to reports in DX press). Starts operating at 2100, signal is huge, but very distorted. Sometimes is audible (but weak, of course) even during the daylight. SINPO 45444 given at 1300. Signs off at 1500 (ILGRadio incorrectly says 1400). After this moment All India Radio can be heard on the frequency; signal is good as well, SINPO 44444. 4865, Mongolian Radio, in parallel with 4830 and 4895, similar distortions, but the signal is weaker in general. Starts at 2100, SINPO varies from 45444 to barely audible level, depending on day. Unstable operation. 4895, Mongolian Radio (parallel to 4830 and 4865) heard last time 11 July at 2106. No signal at all 14 Jul at 1325! Can't definitely say whether it was on the air on 15 Jul. Generally, this frequency always carried the strongest signal inside 60 mb. Maybe it even propagated during the daytime (at least, there is a note of it at 0800 in my logbook). 19 Jul, 2110: nothing on 4830, strong signal on 4865. Previously, when all three units were operational, best signal was on 4895, fair signal on 4830, while 4865 provided the worst quality. Any experiments at the transmitting center? 4895 kHz returned on 22 Jul! Noted with a very good signal at 1150, while both 4830 and 4865 were silent. At 1503 unmodulated carries were on both 4895 and 4865 (the first one came stronger). 4830 was still empty at this time. At 2110 Mongolian Radio noted with stronger signal on 4895, and a weaker one on 4865. At 2304 only 4895 kHz was active. Well, something is happening there! After 1500, when Mongolia leaves for a night break, All India Radio is usually heard on 4895 kHz (via Signal July 24 via DXLD) ** NICARAGUA. HISTORIA DE RADIO SANDINO "Aqui, Radio Sandino..." * El primer intento de una radio clandestina fue de Pedro Arauz Palacios desde la plataforma de un camión. * Un transmisor artesanal hecho en Costa Rica pudo más que los espías de la Guardia. * "¡Transmitiendo desde algún lugar de Nicaragua!" marcó toda una época --- Humberto Meza ~foto~ Cortesía/Miguel Bolaños Garay. Esta foto de archivo muestra uno de los múltiples lugares donde estuvo transmitiendo Radio Sandino desde la clandestinidad, en la zona conocida como "La Montañita" a unos 3 km de Liberia, en marzo de 1979. El jeep era usado para la movilización de los muchachos. ---- Necesitaron más de un año de clandestinidad para que sus voces sonaran distintas. Las mismas voces que un día antes difundían que Somoza Debayle negociaba su fuga, ahora eran guiadas por orientaciones improvisadas, para dar marcha a su regreso a Nicaragua, tantas veces planificado. Para esa fecha, ya eran más de cinco personas. De modo que apagaron la luz de un pequeño cuarto de tabla al que llamaban "La Bodega", desmontaron la antena de plástico y se despidieron de un viejo transmisor que le ganó la partida al tiempo y a la Guardia Nacional. Era la agonía de una corta vida bajo sombra. También morían sus viejas consignas y arengas, que eran tan efectivas como el llamado que hicieron horas después para que miles de nicaragüenses salieran el 20 de julio de 1979 a la emblemática Plaza, a celebrar el triunfo popular. Radio Sandino, sin embargo, intento la existencia desde 1976, pero dos transmisiones frustradas no sólo postergaron el proyecto. También arrastraban la falta de interés de la Dirección Nacional, que no quería invertir sus energías en un plan de divulgación fuera del país . . . [mucho mas:] http://www.elnuevodiario.com.ni/especiales/especiales-20040717-14.html (via Horacio Nigro, Uruguay, Conexión Digital via DXLD) ** OKLAHOMA. They`re dropping like flies --- Enid gospel huxter translators. The one on 89.1 is still missing, allowing KMUW Wichita to be heard again other than via webcast; and now as of July 25 the 90.3 unit is also silent, clearing classical KCSC 90.1 Edmond OK to be heard once again unimpeded (well, except for KHCC KS off the back). However, either could be back at any moment if there was just an equipment problem. Per FM Atlas XIX, 90.3 is K212EL, satellator of WYFG 91.1, Gaffney SC (Glenn Hauser, Enid, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** OKLAHOMA. KSYY 105.3 "The Spy" is now Reg Mex --- Citadel has flipped KSYY ``105.3 The Spy`` to a regional Mexican format. Only problem is, I don`t think you can hear it too well on the southside (FridayNightInTheBigTown, June 25 [correct], Oklahoma board at MonsterFM.com via DXLD) Can you say, dumbasses? I can count all the Mexicans on my right hand that live north of I-40. Good luck there Unkle Larry on your next format of the week for the 3 million dollar screw-up. The Mexican resturants in Edmond thank you (all like 4 of them, right?!!) Incidentally, how can 105.3 be a regional Mexican station when it doesn't even cover a region? The cattle in Kingfisher will be doing the mariachi in no time! (THE_Insultant, posted June 25, 2004 04:58 PM, ibid.) It's Citadel Broadcasting, doing what they do best. Serving the public interest. They are continuing their legacy of nice public service with the nice Mexican format for the deprived Mexican community surrounding Kingfisher. For those of you that wonder how much they care for Kingfisher and serving the community, please follow the nice link provided below. http://64.233.167.104/search?q=cache:OsBUl7byNI0J:hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/DOC-245204A1.pdf+ksyy&hl=en Looks like a nice government agency thinks they do a fine job at community service too, and being home at the "studio". A question for Unkle Larry. How about moving the station back to Kingfisher and running it as a local Kingfisher station? Now there's a novel idea! Hell, you might even get a few hundred people to listen to it when they have their local football games! Wouldn't that just be dandy? (THE_Insultant posted June 27, 2004 08:24 PM, ibid.) Citadel owns it? I thought ``La Raza`` must surely own it based on the print ad I quoted. Not much of a signal in Enid, either (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** PARAGUAY. 9737, Radio Nacional de Paraguay. Ahora que Radio Nacional de Paraguay transmite las 24 horas del día, es buena ocasión para tratar de sintonizarla en Europa a partir de las 0800 cuando cierra la Deutsche Welle en 9735 KHz. A las 0844 se escuchaba con señal débil, con canciones paraguayas e identificación por un locutor: "15 minutos para las 5 de la mañana en Radio Nacional de Paraguay". 24322. (Julio 23). (Manuel Méndez, Lugo, España, DX LISTENING DIGEST) See also RADIO STAMPS below ** SCOTLAND [non]. RADIO SIX INTERNATIONAL IS COMING TO AMERICA! It began in an attic on the seafront of a small west coast town in Scotland. A bunch of eleven year olds came together on a school holiday and set up their own radio station. That was in 1963. The station grew slowly --- first to next-door old people`s home; then to hospitals, then as an international production company, and as Europe`s first commercial cable radio network. Now Radio Six International is now heard in 76 countries via the world wide web, and since 2003 has been broadcasting for a few hours a month on shortwave, from transmitters [allegedly] in Italy. Now, on August 1st, Radio Six International is to launch the world`s first-ever regular daily service from Scotland on shortwave for listeners in the United States, Canada and Western Europe, broadcasting from the facilities of WBCQ (``The Planet``) in Maine, on 5105 kHz between 7 and 8 pm Eastern Standard [sic] Time (2300-0000 UT) The station`s unique programming is centred on unsigned and unpublished performers from around the world – rock bands from the USA, a classical guitarist from Japan, multi-instrumentalists from Russia, jazz outfits from England, singers from Denmark, percussion bands from Africa, even a symphony orchestra from Iraq, all with music that`s never been heard on the radio before. The nightly programmes will include pop, jazz, country, pipers, lounge music, live sessions, world and Scottish news, new CDs and documentaries. And that`s just the start, for Radio Six International aims to expand as soon as possible from just sixty minutes a day. There will be programmes for listeners of Scottish descent; and for those who simply want to hear new music. Broadcast live from modern studios in Scotland`s biggest city, the Glasgow-based station intends to be a positive voice in the crowded short wave bands. (Radio Six International, PO Box 600, Glasgow, Scotland, G41 5SH, July 23 2004, DX LISTENING DIGEST) So really 7 days a week? 2300 still too early for good propagation out here on 5105, weakest of WBCQ channels (gh, OK, DXLD) ITALY [sic] - 5775 kHz, R Six International (via IRRS), computer printed full data QSL-card (transmitter site mentioned as Milano), card shows station slogan and 'QSL', v/s Tony Curie. In 47 days for a report in English with 1 British E-stamp (used) as rp to R Six, P. O. Box 600, Glasgow G41 5SH, Scotland (M. Schoech, Eisenach, Germany, July 2004, GRDXC via DXLD) ** SOMALIA. Maximum amateur radio transmitter power output to be increased to 3 kW, that`s 3000 Watts pep for SSB and 3000 Watts average for other modes. Use of the FM Band 88 to 108 and Amateur Television broadcasts may be conducted on ANY unoccupied standard VHF or UHF television channel! The `kicker` here is that to take advantage of 3 kW you have to travel to Somalia! Yes, the Ministry of Information, Telecommunication and Culture in that country has just included WRC 2003 changes and also made additional frequency allocations for amateur radio experimenters in Somalia. This Ministry is promoting Somalia as the best holiday and research destination for visiting radio amateurs as a way of attracting skilled persons to help the local Somali people become HAM Radio operators. The Ministry is pleased to announce that radio amateurs may now operate on additional bands such as VLF 0 to 9 kHz LF 70 to 90 kHz, 130 to 190 kHz MF 495 to 526 kHz HF 5.060 to 5.450 MHz, 26.100 to 29.700 MHz (excludes 27.995-27.999) The Visitor Somalia Amateur Radio License is issued to any class of overseas amateur radio license holder as a courtesy, free of charge and for life unless cancelled by the Somali Government. ``No other country provides radio amateurs with more frequencies or a higher transmitter power output as Somalia`` said a spokesman this week. ``Somalia welcomes radio amateurs from throughout the world.`` Abdikariim Ali Sulatn in Puntand State Somalia confirmed again that Aussie Amateur Sam Voron, 6OA (VK2BVS), will continue to conduct ham radio license qualifying courses and issue amateur radio licenses free of charge ``in the name of this Ministry`` until a national Somali Amateur Radio Society is formed. (vk2bvs via Wireless Institute of Australia National News July 25 via John Norfolk, dxldyahoogroup via DXLD) ** SOUTH AMERICA. PIRATA: 6307.21, Radio Piraña Internacional, 2308- 2333, Julio 24, Español/Inglés, música romántica en español, ID a 2317 por OM: "...Radio Piraña Internacional.."; sigue la música. ID a 2322 "Radio Piraña Internacional.."; Anuncio e ID a 2326: "Radio Piraña Internacional, ...ya en los últimos días de transmisión ...poder escuchar las transmisiones de Radio Piraña Internacional..": Otras ID's en español e inglés: "This is Radio Piraña Internacional.....- Ésta es Radio Piraña Internacional, en la frecuencia de......"; "This is Radio Piraña Internacional, broadcast from South America" and "...Ustedes están recepcionando a Radio Piraña Internacional". A 2331 canción interpretada por Los Beatles. 24332 (Arnaldo Slaen, Argentina, Noticias DX via DXLD) 6307.25, 22.7 2300, Radio Piraña Int`l fra Rio de la Plata regionen i Sydamerika. Pop musik og snak. Sendeeffekt kun 15 Watt i simpel dipol. 0-1. Den sydamerikanske pirat-station Radio Piraña Internacional har igennem nogle år været aktiv fra Rio de la Plata regionen i Sydamerika. Men nu er stationen lukket, og stationens OP flytter snart tilbage til Europa. Det lykkedes mig at lytte til en af de sidste udsendelser, der blev sendt på 6307.25 kHz og en e-mail lytterrapport til stationen blev bekræftet med e-mail QSL efter et par timer. Sendestyrken var bare 15 Watt ind i en simpel dipol (Stig Hartvig Nielsen, Danmark, SW Bulletin July 25 via DXLD) Trevlig loggning och QSL! /ed (Thomas Nilsson, SWB ed., ibid.) Jorge's change of QTH has made a noticeable difference in the signal strength here. Had two positive IDs at 0113 UT on 6307.2 kHz. SINPO 23232. Hopefully tomorrow morning will be even better (George Maroti, New York, July 23, SW-pirates yg via DXLD) Supposed to be on one more night past sunrise UT Monday (gh, DXLD) ** SYRIA [non]. RADIO FREE SYRIA LAUNCHED ON SUNDAY By Sarah G. Breger, UPI Correspondent, Published 6/29/2004 11:16 AM WASHINGTON, June 23 (UPI) -- Clandestine radio stations are seen by many as a beacon of hope in a region devoid of democracy. However the practical effect of these stations in the Middle East is still unknown. The "Voice of Free Syria" attempted to win over the hearts and minds of Syrians when it launched its first broadcast June 19. Radio Free Syria broadcast a one-hour radio show from "an undisclosed location" in Europe, for fear, they say, of reprisal from the Syrian government. The broadcast launched a media campaign "to help educate the Syrian people about democracy." The station says it will broadcast both educational and entertainment programming to appeal to a wider audience. While not clandestine, U.S.-sponsored Radio Sawa, and al-Hurra television aim to accomplish much the same -- spread democracy in the Middle East. However, critics in the Middle East are saying that both Sawa and al-Hurra are not making headway, that few people bother to listen or watch them and that it is a waste of U.S. taxpayers' money. Will Arab underground stations have better luck? The Voice of Free Syria is affiliated with the Reform Party of Syria -- a loose gathering of opposition parties that was founded in 2001. The SRP claims to be made up of a number of other Syrian opposition parties and Syrian exiles who are committed to bringing change to Syria through democratic and economic reforms. Yet when asked to name some of the parties in SRP at a conference in Washington, Farid Ghadry, the president of the RPS was unable to. The party says they hope the new radio "will be a springboard for enacting change in the region." "(The) goal is to try to bring a message of democracy and rule of law in Syria. To help Syrians understand tolerance and co-existence," said Ghadry Nir Boms, a fellow at the Foundation for the Defense of Democracies, said that a broadcast of this nature could have a major impact in a "regime" like Syria. "Syria is a country where 5 percent of the population control 95 percent of the population and very effectively repress any voice of criticism," he said. According to Boms, Free Radio Syria as well as the Reform Party of Syria are part of a growing trend toward democracy in that region. He added that through the radio broadcast, voices from Syria are now coming through that were never heard before. "It is a major achievement by itself," Boms said of the first broadcast, "it might even help change (the) tide in Syria." The first broadcast lasted one hour with popular music and commentary. The broadcast plans to air five hours daily by December 2004. It can be heard in other Middle East countries such as Jordan, Lebanon, Israel, and Turkey. According to Nick Grace, the Washington Managing Editor of Clandestine Radio.com, a group that monitors clandestine radio broadcasts around the world, clandestine radio is a relatively "new phenomenon" in the Middle East. Although its success has not been proven, Grace said, "Clandestine broadcast as a tool in a psychological war campaign can be very successful." The most memorable record of an illegal radio station having a prominent impact in the Middle East was that of the Voice of Peace. The station was founded in Israel in May 1973 by Abie Nathan. Outlawed in Israel, the station was broadcast from a ship in the Mediterranean Sea. Mixing popular music with a strong message of peace, the offshore radio station was a model for future "subversive" broadcasts. The Voice of Peace shut down in 1993, but there has been an effort in the past few months to revive the station. This updated version of Voice of Peace will broadcast in Hebrew, Arabic, and English. Israel however has problems with illegal radio stations from both sides of the political spectrum. Arutz Sheva is a radio broadcast affiliated with Jewish settlers and right-wing activists. The offshore radio station operated until October 2003 when it ceased broadcasting after increased governmental pressure. The broadcast currently still operates via website. Iran is another Middle Eastern country that has seen a dissident pro- democratic voice emerge in opposition to the ruling theocracy. Iranian expatriate television broadcasts began reaching Iran from Los Angeles in 2000. New satellite frequencies are constantly being created and they have become increasingly popular in Iran where illegal satellites dishes are readily available. Government jamming is common for clandestine and illegal radio, Ghadry says that he anticipates the Syrian government to attempt to jam up the signals in an effort to stop the broadcast of RFS. Expecting this, RFS will also use amateur radio operators to beam radio broadcasts downloadable from the internet into Syria and other parts of the Middle East. According to Grace, this is the first time such a jamming countermeasure has been attempted in the history of clandestine radio. The broadcast plans on developing live roundtable discussions with various Syrian scholars and commentators from all over the world. This interactive format is a first for clandestine radio and according to Grace could have a significant effect. "It will surely compel a great percent of Syrians to listen to the broadcast," said Grace, "What makes al-Jazeera popular is that they have these kinds of programs... (these are) things audiences in Middle East are hungry for." Jonathan Schanzer, a fellow at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, agreed that it is vital for different voices to be heard in Syria but has concerns about the many new dissident groups. "(It is) extremely important for Syrians to get an alternate view. Syrians have a tradition of being very brutal to their opposition and a lot of Syrian opposition is very timid. (This is) a way of empowering the opposition, perhaps sowing the seeds," said Schanzer. America has often taken an active role in these subversive broadcasts. Iraqi radio stations such as Voice of the People of Kurdistan and Radio al-Mustaqbal were broadcast with American support in order to sway Iraqis to the American side. These clandestine efforts are supported separately from the official radio and TV stations that operate under American tutelage such as Voice of America and Radio Farda. The ability to gauge the success rates of these type of broadcast can be tricky. "The ironic thing about clandestine broadcast is (that) when they succeed they go off the air," said Grace (UPI Jun 29, 2004 via N. Grace-USA for CRW via DXLD) N.B. the graf above: ``RFS will also use amateur radio operators to beam radio broadcasts downloadable from the internet into Syria and other parts of the Middle East.`` --- That`s entirely contrary to amateur radio rules and ethics. What is this really referring to --- more unlicensed transmissions? WTFK??? (gh, DXLD) ** TURKEY. TURQUIA: Es extremadamente dificultosa la recepción de La Voz de Turquía en idioma español de 1630 a 1655 UT por 13640, debido a una emisora china activa en la misma frecuencia (Marcelo Cornachioni, Argentina, Conexión Digital July 24 via DXLD) Estimados amigos: Más abajo reenvío el mensaje recibido de la Voz de Turquía. La emsión diaría en español tiene lugar a las 1630 UT, por los 13720 [sic] kHz, la cual se encuentra fuertemente interferidia por Radio China Internacional. Comprobemos, pues, como se encuentra la otra frecuencia que nos proponen (13650), para ver si nos libramos de la molesta interferencia. Saludos (Jesús María Iglesias, EA1-0986, Asturias, España, July 25, Noticias DX via DXLD) --- Mensaje Original ----- Remitente: "\(espanol\) Ispanyolca" espanol @ trt.net.tr Fecha: Jueves, Julio 22, 2004 2:52pm Estimado amigo: Necesitamos su ayuda urgente. Como sabe usted, la emisión en español de la Voz de Turquía esta interferida por la Radio China Int. ¿Podría controlar si las frecuencias 13650 y 13720 khz (22 mts) están ocupadas o no? (1630-1700 UTC) Si estan libres podremos transmitir a traves de una de ellas. Muchas gracias. Atentamente (Volkan K. Aytürk, TRT via Iglesias, ibid.) ** U K. BBC screws up again. I got the BBC Radio 3 stream going by 1830 UT Sunday July 25 for today`s Prom --- but it was rock music with a heavy beat. Could it possibly be some other program on 3 running late? I restarted it two or three times: same crap, and yes, with a Radio 1 ID! Even tho it was coming over the Radio 3 stream, as correctly labeled. Went to Radio 1 stream, in case they got swapped? No, that too really had Radio 1. Out of luck for this Prom. Rebooted, tried again. By this time it was 1900 when the actual Radio 3 programming was coming over the Radio 3 stream (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U K. COMPLETE UK DIGITAL TV SWITCHOVER DELAYED TO 2012 LONDON, July 22 (Reuters) - UK television watchers will not be forced to switch over to a digital signal until 2012, two years later than originally planned by the government. "While the broadcasters have not reached a full consensus on the optimum timetable, some -- including the BBC -- have suggested that 2012 may be the most appropriate date for the completion of switchover," Culture Secretary Tessa Jowell told Parliament on Thursday. Digital television providers, which offer a wider array of programming beyond the five channels available with an antenna, have been stepping up their efforts to lure new customers in anticipation of the analogue switch-off. Some regions could see their analogue signals of BBC, ITV, Channel 4 and five, turned off as early as 2007, however, as the switchover is gradually rolled out, she said. The government originally had hoped to finish the switchover by 2010. The BBC, the publicly funded broadcaster, said last month it would not be against an earlier switchover to digital, but suggested that 2010 would be a "stretch." It has been considering a stand-alone free digital satellite service or partnering BSkyB on its recently announced free venture. Jowell also served notice that televisions should be marked with dates to indicate when their usefulness will run out as part of an effort to encourage the purchase of digital sets. "We are therefore engaged with retailers and manufacturers -- who also need to plan ahead -- to see that good clear information is given to consumers currently planning to buy a television or an item of recording equipment," Jowell said. She asked British media regulator Ofcom to devise a plan to ensure that help is provided to "vulnerable consumers," such as the elderly, who may be unable to afford digital upgrades. "The government's final endorsement of a timetable will be subject to being satisfied that adequate measures are in place to meet this objective," she said. About half of UK households already have digital TV in some form. Freeview, a digital service without subscription fees, has boomed, reaching 3.5 million households in less than two years. Digital satellite service from pay-TV provider BSkyB has about 7 million subscribers, and cable providers NTL and Telewest have another 2.4 million digital viewers (RTw 07/22 1247 via Mike Cooper, DXLD) ** U S A. LATE-NIGHT BROADCAST FROM U.S. WAKES UP LISTENERS IN RWANDA, BURUNDI - Friday July 23, 2004 posted by infoZine Staff by Collin Haba http://www.infozine.com/news/stories/op/storiesView/sid/2817/ Seated around a small brown oval table is the team that broadcasts to Rwanda and Burundi from Voice of America headquarters. [caption] Scripps Howard Foundation Wire, Washington, D.C. - At approximately 6 p.m. in Washington, the team of eight discusses the program that will air in Rwanda the next day at 5:30 a.m., or 11:30 p.m. here. Each of them takes turns editing or hosting the program. With a list of stories, the day's program host explains to the rest of the team the contents and arrangement of the broadcast. "Good morning friends. It is 5:30 in Burundi and Rwanda, 11:30 here in Washington. You are listening to the VOA," blares the voice of Fidele Niyongabo. Clad in an orange shirt with a matching tie, Niyongabo sits confidently behind the microphone. As editor, he introduces the other staff who worked on the day's show with ease. VOA is an international multimedia broadcasting service that is funded by the U.S. government. It broadcasts 1,000 hours of news, information, education and cultural programs every week to an audience of some 96 million people worldwide. VOA programs are produced and broadcast in 44 languages through radio, satellite television and the Internet. The broadcast programs are available only abroad [sic]. Although VOA is a government agency, its news programs follow journalistic standards and aim for objectivity. A clearly labeled editorial that reflects the views of the United States is aired each day. Niyongabo records his part of the show, as only the host of the day broadcasts live. "We applied to VOA to reallocate the airing of our program," said host Etienne Karekezi whose turn it was to present the news live. "If possible I would prefer having an evening show added to the morning one. We would risk losing some listeners if we changed the time of programming. The listeners are used to the morning show." While the staff awaits a decision on adding to or changing the program, for now, the hour-long kinyarwanda-Kirundi language program tackles a wide variety of topics, depending on the day. Segments of the program report on justice issues, including how the courts are dealing with genocide crimes. There is also news and reports about health and current affairs. There are VOA correspondents in Rwanda and Burundi on the program, in addition to those who report from the United States. In the aftermath of the genocide in Rwanda and continuous fighting by insurgents in Burundi, many children were displaced or orphaned. With the tradition of adults speaking for children, the children's ideas were never known. Targeting these children, "Ejo bite?" was started in February 2003. "Ejo bite?" loosely translated means "How about the future?" It is a youth program that is funded by a grant from the State Department Bureau of Population, Refugees and Migration. The show is a lively mix of news, features, interviews, music, and drama. "Viola!" [sic --- I`m partial to the `cello --- gh] said Marie Claire Sissoko, using French - another official language in the region. The producer for "Ejo bite?" smiled broadly when the two young women who present the program recorded it to her satisfaction. "Let's get it once again. Your voice was too high," she said like a teacher with a passion for producing the best. Joyeuse Akanyana and Auriane Ntahomvukiye, both 22, are the voices of the youth program. They blend talk about how young people are affected by everything - politics, health, war, being displaced or living on the street or in refugee camps. "It's a program that children who are going through struggle can appreciate and relate to" said Ntahomvukiye, an undergraduate social work student who lives in Silver Spring, Md., with her four brothers and parents. Her family came to the United States from Burundi in 1995. With correspondents in Rwanda and Burundi, Sissoko compiles and records the program that airs Saturday mornings with repeats on Sunday and Friday. "Children are forgotten. They have no opportunity to say what they want. We try to give the microphone to the children" Sissoko said. However small the Central African service of VOA may look, its contribution and work has been clearly recognized. Michala de Comarmond, chief of the Central African Service, received this year's VOA Gold Award for Excellence. "I am very, very excited and proud" she said. Like many VOA employees, de Comarmond came to the United States because of upheaval her native country. She fled Prague in 1969 after some of her reporting made it impossible for her to work there under the Communist government. VOA began in response to the need of peoples in closed and war-torn societies for a consistently reliable and authoritative source of news. The first VOA broadcast originated from New York Feb. 24, 1942, just 79 days after the United States entered World War II. Speaking in German, announcer William Harlan Hale told his listeners, "Here speaks a voice from America. Every day at this time we will bring you the news of the war. The news may be good. The news may be bad. We shall tell you the truth." The number of broadcasts to Europe has decreased, with more broadcasts to the Middle East (Kansas City InfoZine via RadioIntel via DXLD) ** U S A. [see SCOTLAND] Radio Six International will commence a daily broadcast on 5105, from 7 to 8 PM ET (2300 UT) on 5105, starting on August 1. I have not been able to verify all of the schedule changes on 5105, including what's going to happen to the Area 51 block of programming that ran on Sundays from 5 to midnight ET, and the disposition of The Voice of Reason, currently listed at 4-5 PM ET weekdays. So for now I'm leaving these schedule entries alone and will try and see what pops up on air this weekend if conditions are favorable (Larry Will, July 24, dxldyahoogroups and the WBCQ Program Guide via DXLD) ** U S A. I must report that the interference has continued on 7385 kHz. It is strange. In some areas, like the West Coast of the U.S., it cannot be heard. But it is heard in the East and Midwest, and as you mentioned it was heard by someone in Germany even. We have determined that it is not intentional jamming. It appears to be some sort of digital multiplex utility station. Since it has not gone away, we are going to have to change the frequency that we use to North America at night from 7385 kHz to 6870 or 6875 kHz. This will probably take place in about a week (Jeff White, FL, WRMI, to Charlie Prince, Germany, A- DX July 25 via Wolfgang Büschel, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Despite of lousy conditions this morning, heard this digital broadcast on approx. 7384.5 kHz around 0600 UT (Büschel, July 25, ibid.) ** U S A. INFORMATION ABOUT SHORTWAVE AUDIENCE SIZES Unfortunately, there are no good statistics about the SW audience, which is why the medium has never been very commercialized. But I would refer you to two items that you might find of interest. One is on our website, http://www.wrmi.net Click on "SW Audience." Within that explanation of the SW audience, you will see a link to "more information about the shortwave audience" which is a very interesting article about shortwave audience research by an ex-BBC researcher. There is also a link to "FAQ's about shortwave," where point #10 is labelled "How many people listen to shortwave?" (Jeff White, General Manager, WRMI Radio Miami International, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Some of the audience estimates of WWCR are based on several of the programs that have both WWCR and AM stations around the country. They looked at Arbitron ratings for the time slot on stations around the US compared to the response of their call in program --- from WWCR vs all of the AM stations they were on (George McClintock, WWCR, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. Just listened to the interview with Bonnie Anderson, ex-CNN insider, with Paul Harris, linked in 4-111. But who and where is Harris? Went back and found his home page http://www.harrisonline.com/index.html -- The Paul Harris Show moves to afternoons on KMOX the week of August 2nd! Listen weekdays 2-6 pm [1900-2300 UT] on 1120 KMOX, The Voice Of St. Louis (final KTRS show will air Wednesday, July 28th) Thursday, July 22 5:23 pm --- As you can see above, my new KMOX afternoon show will debut the week of August 2nd. If you've enjoyed my show on KTRS over the last 5+ years, you'll like my KMOX show, weekdays 2-6 pm. It won't be in the middle of the day anymore, but it'll still be in the middle of America, on one of the country's legendary radio stations. My regular contributors -- Aaron Barnhart, James Rocchi, and Jon Macks -- are making the move with me, and I hope you will, too. More details to come (via DXLD) Check the menu on the right for more audio clips, e.g. Amazing Randi (gh) ** U S A. AIR AMERICA SPREADS WINGS The liberal talk network Air America, heard locally on WLIB (1190 AM), is adding Mike Malloy, 10 p.m.-1 a.m. weeknights [0207-0459 UT Tue- Sat], starting Aug. 2 [3]. Air America President Jon Sinton also says the network is adding another "major California affiliate" early next month, and "chances are very good" it will find affiliates soon in Los Angeles and Chicago. Sinton says he thinks the flurry of stories about instability at the fledgling network "are pretty much behind us now. ... We're focused on making this work, and it's happening." Simultaneously, he says, "Our product is improving. I'd be the first to admit some of what we did the first month was bad. But now we sound pretty good." WBAI VOICE DIES: Farouk Abdel-Muhti, a Palestine-born New Yorker who was heard on WBAI (99.5 FM) before he was detained by the U.S. government for two years, died Wednesday morning of a heart attack after giving a speech in Philadelphia. He was 57. Farouk was detained on April 26, 2002, in the post-9/11 immigration crackdown. He was never charged, and a judge ordered him released this past April 12 (David Hinckley, NY Daily News July 24 via Don Thornton, NJ, DXLD) ** U S A. JOURNALIST, BROADCASTER, ELIE ABEL DIES The Associated Press 7/23/04 10:50 AM http://wizzer.advance.net/cgi-free/getstory_ssf.cgi?a0517_BC_Obit-Abel&&news&newsflash-washington WASHINGTON (AP) -- Elie Abel, longtime Washington journalist and broadcaster who later headed two journalism schools, has died. Abel, 83, was probably best known from his years at NBC, where he worked from 1961 to 1969, appearing regularly on the evening news with Chet Huntley and David Brinkley. Serving first as State Department correspondent, Abel was NBC's bureau chief in London from 1965 to 1967 and then returned to Washington as diplomatic correspondent. A native of Montreal, Abel died Thursday at a hospice after several years of poor health. He died of the combined effects of a severe stroke and Alzheimer's Disease, according to his son, Mark. After graduating from McGill University and working as a journalist in Canada, Abel joined The New York Times in 1949, working from Detroit, Washington, Belgrade and New Delhi. During that time he covered the Hungarian Revolution. After leaving the Times he served as Washington bureau chief for the Detroit News before joining NBC. Abel served as dean of the school of journalism at Columbia University from 1970 to 1979 and then moved to Stanford University from 1979 to 1991, serving as chairman of the communications department from 1983 to 1986. Abel also wrote several well-known books including "The Missile Crisis" in 1966 about the Cuban missile crisis, "Roots of Involvement" in 1971 with Marvin Kalb, about U.S. participation in Vietnam, "The Shattered Bloc" about the collapse of Communism and, with Averell Harriman, "Special Envoy to Churchill and Stalin," a memoir of Harriman's diplomatic work during World War II. Besides son Mark, of Richmond, Calif., Abel is survived by his widow, Charlotte, of Washington; daughter, Suzanne, of Palo Alto, Calif., and a granddaughter. A memorial service will be held in September (via Mike Cooper, DXLD) ** U S A. PIRATE RADIO STATION CONTINUES TO SOUND OFF AFTER 10 YEARS http://www.theksbwchannel.com/news/3561869/detail.html July 21, 2004 Santa Cruz, Calif. -- A Central Coast radio station is operating without a Federal Communications Commission license. Some call it "pirate radio," but its operators call it "Free Radio Santa Cruz." Free Radio Santa Cruz FM 101.1 has been flouting the FCC for the past 10 years. It is made up of a diverse group of voices in Santa Cruz who sound off on a 35-watt radio station somewhere in their city. George Cadman is in charge of programming. "It's a community effort. It's a group of people (that care) about the alternative news. We present the alternative viewpoints. We present what corporate media isn't presenting -- a diversity of views," Cadman said. Those who listen to the radio station will hear stories the so-called radio pirates say don't make it into the 24-hour cable news cycle. "It seems to me that a lot of times 'pirate radio' springs up because people within any community are frustrated that they're really hearing about he issues that are important to them," said Bonnie Primbsch, spokeswoman for radio station KUSP public affairs. Radio Free Santa Cruz says information is what is important in its programming, including stories about the homeless and prison life. "Our focus is on information and diversity of news and alternative information values," Cadman said. For the past 10 years, the station has survived without mandated programming lists, top-down management or even paid advertising, and listeners continue to tune in. The FCC has visited the station's latest undisclosed site, but it remains on air. It's estimated there are anywhere from 350 to 1,000 pirate radio stations operating throughout the United States (via Mike Terry, dxldyg via DXLD) ** U S A. UNIVERSITY OF NORTH DAKOTA FILES WITH FCC TO SELL KUND TO AVE MARIA RADIO OF NORTH DAKOTA Grand Falls, July 23 (CRU) --- It`s official: The University of North Dakota has accepted the bid of Ave Maria Radio of North Dakota and has filed with the FCC to sell its historic AM station KUND 1370 AM to the group for $317,000. The news about the bid acceptance was broken last March by the Grand Forks Herald (see Catholic Radio Update #274, March 29, 2004). KUND, which came on the air on August 13, 1923, as KFJM, runs 1,000 watts day, 250 watts night. A conservative estimate of signal strength indicates coverage far north into Canada, east to Thief River Falls, Minnesota, and west to Devils Lake, Carrington, and Jamestown, North Dakota, and south to Fargo and Valley City. The University is selling the AM station because it plans to develop the land on which the tower sits for commercial use. Ave Maria must move the tower and transmitter as a condition of the purchase. Ave Maria Radio of North Dakota made a $16,000 deposit when the bid was accepted and will pay the balance of $301,000 at sale closing, according to Radio & Records Online. Paul MacLeod is the director of the group, which is not connected with Ave Maria Radio of Ann Arbor, Michigan. The group told the Grand Forks Herald that it will rebroadcast EWTN radio exclusively at first until it gets situated, and then it will add local programming. The University of North Dakota had shut down KFJM-AM-FM at the end of July 2002 because of lack of funds. They remained off the air until North Dakota Public Radio, a statewide network to which the University's high-power noncommercial FM station KUND is affiliated, made funds available to return the locally programmed KFJM-AM-FM to the air, which the University had been operating as Northern Lights Public Radio. KFJM-FM 90.7 FM will remain on the air as a university station. ``The AM station doesn’t have much value to us,`` Barry Brode, director of the university’s radio-television operation told reporter Chris Rice of the Dakota Student this past January. ``We are better off selling to generate revenue.`` After placing ads in national magazines to invite bids, the university received several, including ones from commercial interests as far away as Milwaukee. The old KFJM 1370 AM is one of a dozen or so surviving pioneer educational AM stations that came on the air when radio was brand new. It identified itself as in ``Grand Forks, the Education Center of the State,`` and was originally licensed for 229 meters. Three years later, it was broadcasting with 100 watts on 1080 AM (278 meters), and in 1931 had shifted to 1370 AM with 100 watts power. By 1936 it had a construction permit to raise power to 250 watts. But by the end of 1941, KFJM had a CP to move to 1440 AM, and run 500 watts on a share- time basis with new, commercial KILO 1440 AM in Grand Forks. In 1946, it had the same arrangement, but its power on 1440 AM was 1,000 watts. By 1957, KILO had moved to 1060 AM, leaving KFJM on 1440 at 500 watts. Within four years it had moved back to 1370 AM with 1,000 watts power. The University did not build KFJM-FM 89.3 FM until about 1970; in 1995 it received a license for KFJY 90.7 FM, later changing the call letters of 89.3 FM to KUND and moving the KFJM-FM call letters to 90.7 FM. The FM stations are not part of the transaction. The new station, whose call letters are certain to change, will be in the Diocese of Fargo, of which His Excellency Samuel J. Aquila is Bishop. Founded in 1889, the diocese has 109,334 Catholics, 27.9% of the population, ranking 51st out of 177 dioceses in percentage of population. It splits the state with the Diocese of Bismarck. Grand Forks is the 262nd-ranked metropolitan area in the United States, with 97,478 people. Fargo, located 80 miles south of Grand Forks and, like that city, on the Red River of the North, is the 182nd ranked metropolitan area, with 174,367 people (Mike Dorner, Catholic Radio Update July 26 via DXLD) see also PUBLICATIONS ** U S A. I am chained to this computer. The FCC has been going whacky granting all the translators. I try to analyze each one. By the time McCain's bill passes, all the opportunities for 400 and 600 kHz spacings will be gone, even in small towns. Some places have three or even four translators all rebroadcasting the same primary station in the same city. I have notified the NAB of this potential for interference, but they never respond. They are vehemently opposed to LPFM, but let translator abuse go unnoticed. o I am hanging in there! Regards, (Bruce Elving, July 24, WTFDA Soundoff via DXLD) ** U S A. Media Concentration: The assertion that all this began with Docket 80-90 is exactly right. And, the results should not have been a surprise. When 80-90 was passed, the Commission set out to put more stations on than could viably exist in the marketplace. The problem was, when that began to happen, they couldn’t stomach the aftermath. By 1992, just 9 years after the Final Rule, the number of stations on- air had increased by 39%. Even this number, though, is misleading; this number does not factor in 80-90 driven move-ins to larger towns. The stations themselves began the real consolidation. In late 1991, there was a feeding frenzy of LMAs (remember those?), as stations used self-help to consolidate. It took the FCC several months to address it, and the die was basically cast. In reaction to the LMAs, the FCC came with a new rule allowing true consolidation. The Commission devised a two-tier system, allowing owners in markets of fifteen or more commercial signals to own as many as two stations per broadcast band (e.g. two stations on AM, two stations on FM). In markets with fewer signals, an owner would be allowed as many as three stations total, with not more than two of those stations on either band, provided these stations did not total fifty percent of total available stations. That Rule seemed to work OK. The cap of total stations owned also increased, but it was kept at moderate rates. Then, along came Congress. The Telcom Act of 1996 is what opened the floodgates of consolidation. The NAB was instrumental in lobbying for ownership changes that came about in the Bill. In fact, Edward O. Fritts, President and Chief Executive Officer of the NAB was steadfast in his testimony on Capital Hill that the ``only way`` that radio broadcasters could compete in the changing marketplace was though wholesale consolidation. The final draft of the bill, signed into law February 1, 1996, fully eliminated all national radio ownership caps, and allowed massive clustering of ownership at the local level. Following passage, it became possible for one owner to control as many as eight radio stations within one market and a limitless number nationwide. Funny --- once the NAB got what it wanted, it fought other changes like LPFM. But, that’s another issue. And, as an aside, this does show that CCU is not necessarily evil. They are merely taking advantage of the rules as written. Hatred of CCU may be misplaced; lawmakers set up the mechanisms that brought about the broadcasting behemoth. Cites of the Dockets, Bills, and FCC findings are available if anyone is interested (Peter Baskind, J.D., LL.M., N4LI, Germantown, TN/EM55, NRC-AM via DXLD) ** U S A. AMENDMENT TO THIRD ADJACENT BILL BRINGS HEARTBREAK IN JERSEY 7/24/2004 --- Atlantic City and 9 other NJ towns denied an LPFM future due to S.2505 amendment The McCain LPFM Radio Act (S.2505) was passed through the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation this past week. The version that made it through had two amendments. One was related to LPFM and Full Power FM and their relation to translators. REC is currently analyzing this language and may comment later on this aspect of the amendment. The other amendment, very cleverly written will retain the third- adjacent channel restrictions in any state that has "more than 3,000,000 housing units and a population density greater than 1,000 people per square mile land area.". Based on REC's Census data, only one state, New Jersey would fall into this category. Several other states meet one of these two guidelines, but not both. REC Networks has run an analysis of communities which were supposed to get LPFM channels as a result of the McCain bill to determine the impacts as a result of keeping the third adjacent channel restriction on full power FM stations licensed in New Jersey. Topping the list is Atlantic City, which at the time when an LP-10 filing window was to open would have been able to have two simultaneously operating LP-10 stations. In all, 10 New Jersey communities will lose their opportunity to place an LPFM station on the air. An additional 8 communities in NJ as well as communities in Maryland and Delaware will have a reduced selection of available channels. The following communities will completely lose any opportunity for LPFM: Atlantic City, NJ (2 LP-10 channels) Brigantine, NJ (1 LP-100 channel) Villas, NJ (1 LP-100 channel) Absecon, NJ (1 LP-10 channel) Cape May, NJ (1 LP-100 & 1 LP-10 channel) Wildwood Crest, NJ (1 LP-100 & 1 LP-10 channel) Rio Grande, NJ (1 LP-10 channel) Erma, NJ (1 LP-10 channel) Roosevelt, NJ (1 LP-10 channel) Diamond Beach, NJ (2 LP-100 channels) The following communities will still have LPFM yet will see a reduction in the number of channels available in the community: Forked River, NJ (1 LP-10 channel impacted, 2 LP-10 or 1 LP-100 channel remain available) Seaside Park, NJ (2 LP-10 channels impacted, 4 LP-10 channels remain available) Avalon, NJ (2 LP-10 channels impacted, 1 LP-10 channel remains available) Waretown, NJ (1 LP-10 channel impacted, 1 LP-10 channel remains available) Beach Haven, NJ (1 LP-10 channel impacted, 4 LP-10 and 1 LP-100 channel remain available) Crandon Lakes, NJ (1 LP-10 channel impacted, 1 LP-10 channel remains available) Branchville, NJ (1 LP-10 channel impacted, 1 LP-10 channel remains available) Barnegat Light, NJ (2 LP-10 channels impacted, 6 LP-10 channels remain available) Galena, MD (2 LP-10 channels impacted, 6 LP-10 channels remain available) Leipsic, DE (1 LP-10 channel, 1 LP-100 and 9 LP-10 channels remain) We do need to note that it may be possible that even though some communities may lose channels, a few channels may be gained based on the "translator" language in S.2505. We cannot be sure of this until the FCC initiates rulemaking. For more information on how each state stands on number of housing units and population density, see http://www.recnet.com/senate/s2505_population.shtml. From REC Networks http://www.recnet.com (July 25 via DXLD) ** U S A [and non]. 4000 Miles On The Road --- As I drove from Nashville to Winnipeg and Brandon, then back down to Bismarck and finally home via Sioux City and Peoria, I made a few mental notes about what I heard on AM. This is all from memory, but I believe is fairly accurate... [see CANADA for the entire report] ** U S A. RealWeather USA, new program in U.S. --- WPRO 630 kHz will be flagship station; Weather in relation to people's activities (CKUT International Radio Report July 25 via Ricky Leong, swprograms via DXLD) ** VIETNAM [non]. Re DXLD 4-112: ``This New Horizon transmission does no longer appear in the 'latest' DTK schedule dated 18 June. Is it really on the air? New Horizon via Taiwan on 1503 was confirmed 1330- 1430 as before (Bernd Trutenau, Lithuania, DX LISTENING DIGEST)`` No, it is only on MW. Please check WRTH A04 update, p. 63. 73, (Mauno Ritola, July 25, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** WALES [non]. Hi Glenn, Wales Radio International was heard today Saturday July 24 1230-1300 UT on 17745 kHz over the Merlin transmitter in Rampisham. This transmission is only on Saturdays and it`s beamed to Oceania. Although I`m not living in the target area, reception was excellent and signal strength even 9 +25 dB. 73´s (Jouko Huuskonen, Turku, FINLAND, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ RADIO STAMPS ++++++++++++ PARAGUAY/CELEBRARON 80 AÑOS DE LA RADIO / SE PRESENTÓ UN MATASELLOS CONMEMORATIVO: http://www.ultimahora.com/template.asp?notic=75176 Un encuentro de carácter conmemorativo que celebró los ochenta años de la radiofonía nacional organizaron los integrantes del Centro de Regulación, Normas y Estudios de comunicación (Cerneco). En la ocasión agasajaron a personalidades resaltantes del ámbito radiofónico, tales como Ángel Aguilera (radio Venus), Alberto y Estela Riveros (Megacadena), Humberto Rubin y Óscar Laconich (Holding de Radio) y Rodolfo Schaerer Peralta y Palo Rubin (radio Cardinal). En el acto realizado en el local de Cerneco, el Dr. Hugo Piccinini, directivo de la Dirección General de Correos presentó un matasellos conmemorativo del octogésimo aniversario de la radiofonía paraguaya, y dijo: "Es un acontecimiento que para nosotros merece sobradamente este homenaje. Como un gesto de recordación del Correo paraguayo, este acontecimiento quedará perpetuado a través de la filatelía como un testimonio histórico que a partir de este acto recorrerá el mundo". El matasellos presentado ayer perpetuará esta conmemoración con la leyenda alusiva y será aplicado en toda correspondencia que ingrese o salga del Correo Central entre el 20 y 25 de julio. "Es nuestro humilde homenaje a los precursores y luminarias de la radiofonía, que consideramos un arte, al utilizar la expresión oral como instrumento que transmite sentimientos, anhelos, esperanzas, arte y noticias", remarcó Piccinini. Por último agradeció a Cerneco las gestiones realizadas para que la Dirección de Correos se sume de esta manera a la celebración de los 80 años de la radiofonía paraguaya. Seguidamente, el periodista Luís Veron (coautor del libro "De oído y de memoria", junto a Enrique Biedermann) ofreció un discurso alusivo a la celebración en donde recorrió con su relato momentos históricos donde la radiofonía tuvo destacado protagonismo, tanto a nivel nacional como internacional (via Conexión Digital via DXLD) PUBLICATIONS ++++++++++++ CATHOLIC RADIO UPDATE FROM THE EDITOR`S DESK --- You are reading one of the last issues of Catholic Radio Update. Let me explain. For some years now, my wife and children have complained to me that I have become a stranger to them, sitting for hours in front of this computer doing this newsletter. And they have had sound reason to complain. I spend as much as forty hours a week in front of this screen, researching, writing, editing, compiling, maintaining databases, and corresponding on matters of Catholic radio. Until very recently, my patient wife has brought me supper on a tray night after night; on weekends she has brought me breakfast and lunch as well. These forty hours are in addition to the forty-hour job I have in the city, and the two hours I spend commuting day after day. Consequently, while my family has been in the living areas of the house eating, watching television, conversing, I sit in front of this computer working on Catholic Radio Update and the station directories. The birth of my first grandchild brought home to me in substantial fashion that life is passing by and I am wasting it in front of this computer. I am missing out on family life. This cannot go on. Add to this the fact that I have neglected over these past nigh six years many household chores that needed to be done, things that can no longer be put off. There are other things that require my attention. A European reader suggested that I do this newsletter every two weeks, but that would not really reduce the time it takes to do this newsletter. Formatting the articles is mostly a part of writing and editing them. Getting each weekly issue into shipshape and e-mailing takes only a few minutes. The same web searching, the same report writing, the same verification of information and editing would not diminish. Thus, doing CRU every two weeks would not give me any more time. Another reader suggested that I do shorter articles. But really, apart from my long-winded commentaries, the articles are no longer than they need be. I`ve always wanted to flesh out the news items so that they have context and background and make sense. Too many radio newsletters are simple reports of station, frequency, time, and brief program details. I know my audience well; most are not really interested in radio, not really. They are interested only in the faith, and if billboards or leaflets dropped from airplanes would serve their purposes better, they would shut down the station and go to billboards and leaflets. Consequently, I have tried to make the newsletter interesting to read. After the birth of Hannah three months ago, I announced to the family that I was ready to end the newsletter, that I had finished my several radio station directories and projects, of which I am proud to have accomplished something for which there was a glaring need. That was three months ago; only the occasional laudatory and appreciative e- mail letter from a few readers have kept me going these additional weeks. It is difficult to end this newsletter when some have such high regard for it. Some. What makes it easier to call it quits is the overwhelming lack of response I get from most Catholic stations, including those who are readers every week, or perhaps, better said, whose names (at their own request) are on the list of subscribers. Their unwillingness to answer simple, brief e-mails asking for start-up dates, frequencies, and powers, etc., has plagued this newsletter from Day One. Longtime readers know of my unhappiness and frustration in this regard. The point has been reached now where most of my e-mails are not answered, so that I no longer bother to write most stations— I could insert a lengthy list here --- because I know I am wasting my time. ``You must realize, Michael,`` wrote a Catholic station official, ``that most Catholic radio stations are not going to answer your e-mails because there is nothing in it for them`` (!) The situation has even gotten to the point where a few are trying to control what I report about their stations (Do I write vitriol or slander?), and one group has been boycotting me and I get no response from anyone anywhere (and this is a group of whom I have reported favorably). This newsletter, in summary, has become a great frustration, which fact makes my decision to spend more time with my wife, grown children, and grandchild a lot easier. I had thought, in these last few months, to shorten the issues, and I have. They have been running from four to seven pages instead of the traditional thirteen to twenty. That has given me back some time, but not enough. What I still have to do each issue is to research databases and websites for additional information, if not the original information to start with—because this is the only way that I can get information. If you look over the last three months` issues, you will see that most of them are written by me --- they carry ``(CRU)`` in the first line --- or they come from other sources (acknowledged) and are reproduced essentially the way I found them, or they were (rarely) sent as press releases. All this makes producing an issue time- consuming. It takes time to visit the two dozen websites I do every day to try not to miss any report on a Catholic station; it takes time to write out the article, verify other information, and check it for English and spelling. Sometimes I e-mail the station or another source for backup information and wait and hope for a response. Usually there is none. Doing a shorter issue really has not cut back much the time I spend in front of this computer, as I had hoped. Anyone who has done a newsletter or much writing knows that it is much more difficult and time-consuming than it looks. In these past six years, I have seen many radio websites done by people like me vanish or simply be abandoned or, in one case, sold --- Chip Kelley`s www.100000watts.com. Chip wrote me just before the end that he was up every morning until 2 o`clock doing his website, and he could not longer continue. Life is short. Time flies. One, especially at my age, must look at what is really important and go in that direction. I have known men who, their children being grown and moved away, deeply regret that they spent so much time on what intrigued or entertained them at the time and not with their families. That has become my situation these last six years; it shall not continue. A director of communications who is aware that I want to get out of this newsletter has urged me to carry it on a little bit longer so that he can make arrangements for someone else to start another if not assume this one. I have my doubts he will succeed, for my efforts with the Spanish edition, Radio Católica al Día, essentially failed. The new group running it has found no more cooperation and interest on the part of Latin Americans than I had. This essay serves as an advisory, not a farewell. That will come in time. In preamble to the farewell, allow me to express my deepest thanks and regards to those who have unflaggingly expressed interest and encouragement and cooperated in getting this newsletter out every week. If I have kept at it this long, it is because of your appreciation (Michael Dorner, editor, Catholic Radio Update July 26 via DXLD) I know how you feel (gh) RADIO EQUIPMENT FORUM +++++++++++++++++++++ FUN WITH DTV I've been playing around with a Samsung SIR-T351 DTV set top box for almost a week. I purchased it on eBay as a floor model, without the remote, for approximately $165. It normally retails for about $350, but if you look on froogle.com, a company is selling refurbished models for about $200. I was able to substitute a Philips universal remote, using code 061 under the Satellite button. It is functional enough that I am satisfied with the $10 or so that the remote cost. The model number of the remote I chose was PM435S. So, what can I see? I live about 40 miles south of NY City. I have a Radio Shack UHF antenna mounted in the attic, along with a Radio Shack RF amp. I can receive DTV channels: 2, 4, 5, 7, 11, 12, 13, 21, 31, 50, and 53 The channels mentioned are actually "virtual channels". For example, all of the DTV channels in this area are actually on UHF, but the display shows the analog channel by which the stations are generally known. Normally, I can't get a decent signal on analog 2 or 4. Now I get almost perfect reception. I don't have an HD monitor, so I am using the output of the box into the A/V inputs of my ca. 1991 Sony Trinitron. I did not buy this to see HD programming in HD. I wanted to experience what is being offered digitally. The most interesting part of this is that I now have more program choices. The three PBS stations that I can get all broadcast multiple program feeds. One feed mirrors the main channel, others show alternative programming, some of which is not normally shown in my area. Viewers with children can count on what seems to be 24x7 PBS kids. I suggest that broadcast enthusiasts start taking a look at what TV of the future has to offer. There is no need to spend $4,000 on a plasma screen to do this. Nor do you have to sign up for satellite or cable, with recurring subscription costs (Daniel L. Srebnick, July 24, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) IBOC THREAD CONTINUED The NY Times story said 100 stations, but Ibiquity says 1000 stations. A slight problem with orders of magnitude? No, one figure refers to the next year, immediate plans and the other about ultimate plans at the rate of 100 more per year indefinitely (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) I wanted to be sure you saw the below press release issued earlier this morning detailing Clear Channel's plan to convert 1,000 of their 1,200 stations to HD Radio. Please contact me if you would like to speak with an iBiquity spokesperson for comments on this major news announcement. /gil CLEAR CHANNEL RADIO LAUNCHES ADVANCED TECHNOLOGY INITIATIVE, ACCELERATES ROLLOUT OF DIGITAL RADIO Radio-Technology Expert Kevin Lockhart Named SVP of Technology Development Joint Venture With iBiquity Will Accelerate Availability of High- Definition Broadcasts for Clear Channel Radio Listeners of 1,000 Stations SAN ANTONIO -- July 22, 2004 -- Clear Channel Communications Inc. (NYSE:CCU) Clear Channel Radio today announced an Advanced Technology Initiative to identify, develop and deploy technologies and products that improve the quality of radio for listeners, advertisers and the industry. In its first moves, the company today named longtime radio-technology expert Kevin Lockhart to the newly created position of senior vice president of technology development and announced it will accelerate the rollout of digital radio. "Radio has a great opportunity to capitalize on new technologies," said John Hogan, chief executive officer of Clear Channel Radio. "Kevin Lockhart has been instrumental in advancing radio technology for many years, the past four with Clear Channel Radio. We're committed to leading the industry in this important area and he is an ideal person to lead our effort to exploit new technology developments." Clear Channel Radio will immediately begin an aggressive rollout of digital broadcasting equipment to 1,000 of the company's stations, working with iBiquity Digital Corporation's HD Radio(TM) technology. Terms of the relationship with iBiquity were not disclosed. Specifically, the company plans to install 95% of its top 100 markets within three years. "Digital radio is a transforming application and Clear Channel Radio is committed to passing on its benefits to our listeners," said Lockhart. "The ability to deliver radically improved, CD-quality radio programming and reception, along with data and related services, is a powerful advantage for the radio industry and an important advance for listeners." (This was received from iBiquity via Chorbajian, Gil via Barry Mishkind, Tucson, AZ, NRC-AM via DXLD) What is the breakdown of their plans for AM and FM --- are these all going on FM or/and how many AMers will be affected? 73, IBOC detesting KAZ (Neil Kazaross, IL, ibid.) Well that is a good question Neil. I'd think to a first approximation that if they are converting 87 % of their stations (1000/1200, roughly) that there would be 87% AM and 87% FM but this would have to be modified by technical and market issues. I'm guessing that 100% of FM stations would be done, because it's technically simpler. Of the AM's, I'm guessing they would exclude those facilities with complex antennas, and maybe areas that they somehow deem the format - in that market - may not benefit from this. Is that a real issue? And I am thinking of it not being cost effective. I'd think the sequence of conversions would be important from a market sense, but I wouldn't try to guess how that would be arranged. For the Tampa AM market, we have 620 (talk-sports), 970 (talk-general) and 1250 (talk-business). I have to believe it will be a long time coming before anyone in these audiences sees the need for digital radio. Several years ago, 1250 moved to the 970 site and they went from 2 to 5 towers. I have no idea how well that behaves at the sidebands involved. Just one example. Someone wake me from this dream, please (Bob Foxworth, FL, ibid.) PROPAGATION +++++++++++ MAJOR AURORA The entire sky from horizon to horizon is alive with auroral activity here in Winnipeg MB. Usually this is a winter event but this is a huge summer sky show. Wiped out the AM band totally here. Visit the AMANDX DX site with info for the new or experienced listener: http://www.angelfire.com/mb/amandx/index.html REMEMBER ON A CLEAR DAY YOU CAN HEAR FOREVER 73 and Best of DX (Shawn Axelrod, VE4DX1SMA, 0456 UT July 25, amfmtvdx at qth.net via DXLD) The maps show it intensifying, and with numerous sightings into the mid-latitudes. http://www.spacew.com/www/aurora.html (Rick Shaftan, NJ, 0524 UT July 26, ibid.) ###