DX LISTENING DIGEST 4-136, September 7, 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 NEXT AIRINGS OF WORLD OF RADIO 1244: Wed 0930 on WWCR 9475 Wed 1600 on WBCQ after-hours http://wbcq.com Wed 2100 on WBCQ 9330-CLSB repeated Wed WRN ONDEMAND: http://new.wrn.org/listeners/stations/station.php?StationID=24 OUR ONDEMAND AUDIO [also for CONTINENT OF MEDIA, MUNDO RADIAL]: WORLD OF RADIO 1244 (high version): (stream) http://www.w4uvh.net/wor1244h.ram (download) http://www.w4uvh.net/wor1244h.rm (summary) http://www.worldofradio.com/wor1244.html WORLD OF RADIO 1244 (low version): (stream) http://www.w4uvh.net/wor1244.ram (download) http://www.w4uvh.net/wor1244.rm WORLD OF RADIO 1244 in the true SW sound of 7415: (stream) http://www.piratearchive.com/media/worldofradio_09-01-04.m3u (d`load) http://www.piratearchive.com/media/worldofradio_09-01-04.mp3 FIRST AIRINGS OF WORLD OF RADIO 1245: Wed 2200 on WBCQ 7415 Wed 2300 on WBCQ 17495-CUSB Thu 2030 on WWCR 15825 Thu 2100 on WBCQ 9330-CLSB ON DEMAND: From early UT Thursday, change 1244 above to 1245 ** ABKHAZIA (GEORGIA). 1350.04, Sukhum was heard on Sept 6, 1947-2001 UT, with new (for me at least) LOCAL program at this late time. W/M talk in Abkhazian, local pop, then into advertizing (mix of Russian & Abkhazian), giving ID in Abkhaz: "Apsua Radio, reklama", then phone no. 27898 (local, withouout area code). Finally, time pips (essentially more then six!), Abkhaz NA at 2000 before signing off. That's new; I heard their local service as late as 1830-1900 before. At 19-20 it was always R. Rossii relay, just local ID and NA at closing down (V. Titarev, Kremenchuk, Ukraine, 7030 & 1m loop, MWDX yg via DXLD) ** AUSTRALIA. I emailed Dale Chesson the other day to find out about the status of the stations for the WRTH entry. He has also confirmed all stations run 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. This is what he came back with... ``Richard, hopefully by either Wed or Thur next week 5050 will be back on the air and transmitting at 1 kW. We currently are also on air on 1530 kHz in the AM Radio Band in Darwin and Nhulunbuy (as a Temporary community Broadcaster). We also have another 4 MF frequencies allocated by the ABA for sites in Arnhem Land and as time and funds permit these will be coming on line. As such our 1611 & other frequencies are on hold for the moment.`` So 1530 is another to have a go at. I will be in Darwin tomorrow until Sunday for a short holiday (the wonders of frequent flyer points) so will take the portable up and do some other listening as well (Richard Jary, SA, Sept 8, ARDXC via DXLD) ** AUSTRALIA. Greetings from Muzaffarpur! Today, I received special Broadcast Australia QSL Card with the picture of Shepparton International High Frequency Transmission Station congratulating ABC in celebrating 60 years of Radio Australia transmission from Shepparton to the world from Radio Australia for the detailed email english @ ra.abc.net.au reception report on the frequency of 9475 kHz from 1800 to 1830 UT dated 20th June 2004. This is verified by Ian Johnson and also given information about two web sites as follows: - To find out more about Radio Australia visit http://www.radioaustralia.info For more information about Broadcast Australia visit http://www.broadcastaustralia.com.au Regds. & 73 (Mukesh Kumar, THE COSMOS CLUB, MISCOT-3, R-8, RAMNA, MUZAFFARPUR – 842002, BIHAR, INDIA, Sept 7, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Their website http://www.broadcastaustralia.com.au can't be opened, after searching, the right one is: http://www.abc.net.au/ra/ but their schedule program isn't valid anymore. They stay in April 2003 schedule. Any opinion? (Lim Kwet Hian, Jakarta, Cumbre DX via DXLD) ** AUSTRIA. 15130, AWR relay, 2144-2159*, Sept. 6, English, 2 OM with Mailbag program, POB/web info, "In between the lines" program re "fractured families" with Bible references to Solomon. More contact info. "This is AWR, the Voice of Hope" ID at sign-off. Fair. No sign of WYFR (Scott R. Barbour, Jr., Intervale, NH, R75, MLB-1, RS longwire with RBA balun, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** BOLIVIA. 5954, Radio Pio XII at 0155 Sept 5 with tonadas nortepotosinas live on the air; it was usual concert right from the studios which goes on the air Saturdays; strong carrier, while signal strength is much weaker, 2/3 4544 (Artyom Prokhorov, near Moscow, Russia, Cumbre DX via DXLD) Guess he means modulation was weak (gh) ** BOLIVIA. 5952.5, R. Pio Doce, 0027-0104, 0141-0204, Sept. 7, Spanish, Numerous musical bits between talks by a variety of speakers, ad block from 0057-1002 with singing children; YL with full ID at 1000; chorus and quick "Radio Pio Doce" ID. OM at 0102. Fair with occasional Japanese slop via 5960 (Sackville) No sign of CBS via Okeechobee, FL. Re-check at 0141 with a clear, booming signal. Lots of music; steel drums, wind instruments and banter between OM and YL, remote report with crowd noise. Singing children again at 0200; YL with full ID then OM and YL with music program. Good. No sign of CBS/RTI via Okeechobee, FL (Scott R. Barbour, Jr., Intervale, NH, R75, MLB-1, RS longwire with RBA balun, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CANADA. On August 16th, R. Canada International have issued a new SW frequencies guide for A04 period. Free download at the following URL: http://www.rcinet.ca/horaires/A04_SW_24h_16_ao%FBt.pdf Best frequency to listeners in Central and South Europe is 5850 kHz at 1900 UT [via Sweden]. Enjoy whatever you are listening! 73's (Nino Marabello, Treviso, Italy, Sept 7, swprograms via DXLD) ** CANADA. CBU's 6160 kHz SW relay not effective at all. A 50 kW shortwave transmitter (running DRM, backward compatable AM + DRM modulation) and a Horizontal Log Periodic antenna could serve 50% (potentally 75%) of Canada's landmass. http://cbc.am/cbc.htm Canada's rural and northern populations are for the most part not fully served by AM & FM radio stations during daytime hours. Although CBC North runs an extensive AM / FM and TV network for northern Canadian residents -- there are still millions of square kilometres that the CBC-SRC will never be able to reach with its current broadcast network. The lack of daytime information radio network service does not help northern and rural residents in their day to day lives. It goes without saying that the lack of access to an information radio service in Canada's remote regions increases the demands on expensive to deliver federal and provincial services. Poor delivery of basic government services has led to a negative relationship between northern and rural residents and Canada's southern urban population. In a matter of speaking CBC-SRC has pretty much failed to meet fully the news and information needs of all northern and rural residents, since these residents fell into the revised CBC-SRC mandate in the 1970s. This mandate is providing a basic information radio service to all of Canada's regions. Most of Canada's populated remote areas can be reached cost effectively with two shortwave transmission sites. Shortwave is an ideal media for delivering radio programming to remote regions during morning, daytime and evening hours. The proposal before you is for a transmitter site in British Columbia that could serve western and northern Canada and a transmitter site in Newfoundland that can reach Labrador, Northern Quebec and regions in the high arctic that are poorly reached by the BC transmitter site. Technical Notes This proposal is for a two frequency network in the 49 meter & 41 meter bands shortwave (in the ITU band allocation system) using four fixed frequency 50 kw transmitters. It is possible that higher powered transmitters could be used to combat shortwave fading. Current calculations suggest that a slightly higher powered transmitter will be needed to reach listeners in eastern Canada, as there are more severe ionospheric distortions due to Quebec being situated over the magnetic North Pole. The two transmitters would be expected to run in parallel around 16 hours a day, out of a shortened 112 hour week transmission schedule. It is assumed that the shortwave transmitters would be fully DRM (Digital Radio Mondiale) compatible. DRM allows for FM radio quality digital audio over very long distances. DRM is fully backward compatible with existing consumer and professional shortwave receivers. I expect a new frequency allocation for this shortwave service, as the CBC-SRC is already using two shortwave frequencies http://www.cbc.ca/frequency/shortwave.html The CBC-SRC needs to make a uniform allocation of 40 kHz for domestic shortwave broadcasting within the 49 m and 41 m bands. This allocation would be made for use by all domestic shortwave broadcasters. These area coverage computations do not represent full optimization. The frequency and antenna types may need to be altered to achieve the goal of covering 95% of Canada's land mass with a reliable shortwave service (mikehack@u.washington.edu in rec.radio.shortwave Sep 3 via Hans Johnson, Cumbre DX via DXLD) This is the same guy who made grand proposals for RNZI and other stations, which no one took seriously. Don`t be fooled by the URL with cbc in it twice --- he has nothing to do with CBC. Tho clothed in jargon, the writer`s lack of knowledge about the subject shows through. Examples: Frequencies chosen for the propagation coverage mapping are 7.100 and 7.110 MHz --- yeah, sure, in the ham band. Says it would be advantageous to have the transmitter site on an outlying island so the critical first hop would be over water. This would matter only if the island were far enough out that the prime target would be TWO hops away, and the first reflection FROM THE SURFACE would be on water rather than land. That would not be the case for islands as close as the Queen Charlottes or Newfoundland, on 6 or 7 MHz. Putting the station way out in an inaccessible area of the Q.C. or Vancouver Island would not be necessary, altho it needs to be a certain distance away from the prime target to minimize a skip zone, whether over land or water, also to be minimized, as he points out, by high takeoff angles. AM and FM transmitter sites do enjoy an advantage in groundwave coverage (for very different reasons) by being next to bodies of water, but SW is not a groundwave (or surface wave) medium! Look at the superb coverage over much of the world from Pifo, high in the Ecuadorian Andes. Quebec is not ``situated over the north magnetic pole``; it is nowhere near Quebec, but currently around 82 N, 113 W, which puts it in the Arctic Ocean NW of the Queen Elizabeth Islands, as one can easily confirm at http://www.geolab.nrcan.gc.ca/geomag/northpole_e.shtml Anyway, the north geomagnetic pole is more pertinent to SW propagation. Furthermore, the auroral zone in general acts as a barrier to signals during disturbances, not the specific spot where the (geo)magnetic pole has wandered to. Altho a west coast SW site would be very helpful, there is nothing wrong with the present Sackville NB site for covering the eastern and central Arctic, as it already does with 9625 service more than 16 hours a day, which the author conveniently ignores, as he does radio by satellite which certainly can cover the entire country, including the North. In fact CBC is getting on one of the US direct satellite broadcasters already. This is not to say that I disapprove of the basic idea of beefed up domestic CBC radio via SW (preferably analog), but to do it justice at least four independently programmed transmitters would be needed for two English and two French networks. The author refers to ``four fixed-frequency transmitters``, but then to two transmitters running in parallel. That would mean eight transmitters total, two at once for each of four services. While the NQ Service has been stuck on 9625 for years, and Northerners surely know where to find it, a bit more flexibility in frequency usage is needed in the real world of shortwave broadcasting. 9625 represents a day/night compromise, but a more effective service would use higher frequencies in the daytime, lower in winter nights. Propagation 101. There was a time when the NQ Service had a second transmitter, which shifted between 6 MHz night and 11 MHz day. A very good start would simply be for CKZN and CKZU to be upgraded from their paltry 500 watts (or less) to 50 kW (or more), and on separate frequencies, from their existing sites. Those of us South of the Border would hope for some coverage in our direction, since RCI/Sackville still does not give us even the full CBC Radio One service, but instead devotes lots of time to relaying such good customers as Communist China and Vietnam. If CBC lacks the facilities, this could also be accomplished via existing SW sites in the US or even further south, with the great advantage of not being disturbed by auroral conditions, which are more and more serious, the more northerly the site. There is no particular reason the sites for this service would have to be within Canada. WSHB and WYFR already do a good job of covering Canada with their irrelevant programming. Delano could too, altho it certainly has no suitable antenna azimuths at present --- except for that supposed due north/south beam for the Thailand relay on 5890 (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CANADA. HAM-RADIO USERS WANT MORSE-CODE EXAM SCRAPPED CP OTTAWA - Canada`s ham-radio enthusiasts want to end a requirement that forces them to learn Morse code, driving another stake into the venerable dot-dash alphabet that played a vital role in rescues, spy games and international communications for 160 years. In a report this summer to Industry Canada, the Radio Amateurs of Canada ask that Canada join Australia, Germany, Switzerland, the United Kingdom and other nations in dropping the Morse-code exam that is mandatory when applying for a ham licence for longrange transmissions. ``Many countries already have dropped it and most of the other countries are in the process of dropping it,`` said Daniel Lamoureux, the group`s president. ``Some people do the exam and never touch the Morse key any more.`` Morse code, named after its American inventor Samuel Morse, had one of its first public demonstrations in 1844 with a message exchange between Washington and Baltimore. For decades, it was the universal language of the world’s telegraph lines and, by the 1920s, became a mainstay in marine communications with the development of wireless transmitters. Titanic`s desperate SOS, unheard as the ship sank in 1912, prompted rules requiring ships to listen at all times for Morse distress signals. Gradually eclipsed by satellites and other technology, Morse code was virtually eliminated in the shipping world in 1999 by an international marine body that replaced it with a satellite-based system. The Radio Amateurs of Canada, representing about 9,000 of Canada’s estimated 45,000 ham operators, want Ottawa to take advantage of the relaxed rules and drop the requirement in Canada. The group wants the requirement replaced with more stringent qualifications for amateurs who want to use international frequencies, known as HF or high-frequency bands. Industry Canada is seeking public comment on the issue until the end of October. The Canadian navy now uses Morse only to send messages to other ships with a bridge lantern (From the September 7, 2004 Province Newspaper, Vancouver, BC via Bruce MacGibbon, OR, DXLD) longer version: http://cnews.canoe.ca/CNEWS/TechNews/TechAtHome/2004/09/04/616135-cp.html (via Artie Bigley, DXLD) ** CONGO DR. RTNC Bukavu/Goma sw transmitters --- Re new 10 kW shortwave transmitters for RTNC Bukavu and Goma. My source in Goma, DRC, tells me that due to unrest political situation in the area, setting up the transmitter in Bukavu has been posponed until more peaceful times. Probably the same thing with Goma transmitter as my source hadn't even heard about it, but promised to make inquiries. (Jari Savolainen, Kuusankoski, Finland, Sept 7, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CUBA. Referring to the current WoR I can tell you that I hear their Internet audio, Broadcasting 2, but with many drop-outs. Often more silence than sound. The schedule heard is not the one given on their web site, but I hear English at 2030-2100 UT and again at 05-07 UT (including Coro Mon + Wed at 0540), and French 2000-2030 UT (Erik Køie, Copenhagen, Sept 7, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CUBA. 6000, R. Habana, 0116-, Sept. 7, English, News re terrorists in southern Florida and Hurricane Charley damage, YL with ID, news re 2004-5 school year. Very poor with whisper quiet audio and terrible modulation (Scott R. Barbour, Jr., Intervale, NH, R75, MLB-1, RS longwire with RBA balun, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Projexions as of 0300 UT Wed are for Iván to hit Habana on Sunday morning (gh, DXLD) ** CUBA. INTERRUMPIDA LA PROGRAMACION DE EMISORA DE RADIO CMHW [also jammers off allowing Florida MW stations in --- below] CubaNet News - Noticias de Cuba / Cuba News SANTA CLARA, 6 de septiembre (Cubanacán Press / http://www.cubanet.org - La CMHW, Cadena Provincial de Radio en Villa Clara, ha visto afectada su programación diaria debido a los constantes cortes del fluido eléctrico que ocurren en el circuito donde está ubicada, en la calle Buen Viaje y Parque Vidal, de la ciudad de Santa Clara. Miles de oyentes de la "Reina Radial del Centro" han dejado de escuchar sus programas favoritos porque la salida al aire de la planta de radio se ha visto comprometida a consecuencia de los apagones, tanto en horario diurno como el nocturno. Los apagones han hecho la vida de los nacionales una constante tortura. En la provincia de Villa Clara, como en el resto del país, ha trastornado la vida de los ciudadanos en estos meses de verano porque algunos llegan a tener hasta 12 horas de duración, pero es frecuente que en el día ocurra más de un corte del fluido eléctrico en un mismo circuito, lo que afecta sobremanera los procesos productivos, los servicios que se le brinda a la población o sencillamente la entrega diaria del pan. Los refrigeradores apenas logran enfriar el agua, los cárnicos se deterioran rápidamente y los niños lloran a consecuencia del hambre, porque la leche se corta con facilidad por el exceso de calor. Es frecuente que determinadas estaciones de radio de la Florida, taponeadas por transmisiones de la radio nacional, como parte de la Batalla de Ideas, como La Poderosa, Radio Mambí o Radio Martí, sean escuchadas por estos días en la banda de Amplitud Modelada (AM), debido a la salida del aire por falta de fluido eléctrico de las torres retransmisoras con base en la región central de Cuba. Esta información ha sido transmitida por teléfono, ya que el gobierno de Cuba controla el acceso a Internet. CubaNet no reclama exclusividad de sus colaboradores, y autoriza la reproducción de este material, siempre que se le reconozca como fuente (via Oscar de Céspedes, FL, Conexión Digital via DXLD) ** CYJRENAICA [and non]. What?? Is that a country? I was looking up a postage rate to somewhere else in the drop-down list at http://ircalc.usps.gov/weight.asp?Contents=0 and Cyjrenaica caught my eye. That`s part of Libya, and once issued its own postage stamps, without the J, as any philatelist knows. This list, no doubt meant to be exhaustive, includes a lot of other non- existent countries, seemingly inspired by Scott`s Standard Postage Stamp Catalogue --- but hardly applicable for finding current postal rates. Look thru it --- lots of countries (entities) even I have never heard of, and I daresay not DXCC enthusiasts or IOTA enthusiasts either. But --- no listing for Chesterfield Islands!! Altho British Guiana and British Honduras are in there (Glenn Hauser, Oklahoma, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** DENMARK. 5815, WMR, 2308-2323, Sept. 4, English/Vernacular, Pop music in unID language, jingle ID at 2309, "Message in a Bottle", in English, by The Police at 2322. Fair with mild static and occasional fades. Much better signal than earlier this summer (Scott R. Barbour, Jr., Intervale, NH, R75, MLB-1, RS longwire with RBA balun, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Nächste Testsendungen von WMR --- Radebeul, 07.09-04 Am kommenden Wochenende beginnend am Freitag abend (10.09.) bis zum Montag früh (13.09.) will WMR wieder auf 5815 kHz aktiv sein. Testsendungen am letzten Wochenende erfolgten mit 6 KW und gut moduliert auf 5815. Erstmals waren auch Stationsansagen in deutsch zu hören. Best`73, (Klaus Führlich, 01445 Radebeul, A-DX Sept 7 via Rudolf W. Grimm, Brasil, radioescutas via DXLD) Novos testes da WMR --- No próximo fim-de-semana, a partir da sexta- feira à noite (10.09) até à segunda-feira cedo (13.09) a WMR pretende estar de novo ativa em 5815 kHz. Os testes do último fim-de-semana resultaram com 6 kW e bem modulados em 5815 kHz. Pela primeira vez também foram ouvidos informações em idioma alemão. 73s, Klaus Fürlich, 01445 Radebeul (Alemanha). [translated by:] (Rudolf W. Grimm, São Bernardo, SP / Brasil, ibid.) ** ECUADOR. Dear Glenn, I've noticed that you often mention the Christian Shortwave Update in the DXLD. The September edition was devoted to the Evangeliums-Rundfunk-Hamburg. Radio Ezra was just mentioned very briefly as an example of how easy it seems to start an "international radio station". I have listened several times to Radio Ezra and also read the literature sent out by the station. The owner has undergone a most interesting religious development (Brother Stair, Catholicism, etc.) and now believes in original Judaism. It is clearly not a Christian faith which Mr Hill also states in his broadcasts. Thus I have no intention of covering its future activities in the Update. Kind regards (Christer Brunström, Sweden, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** GHANA. GHANAIAN POLICE DISRUPT MEETING BY PROTESTING STATE RADIO STAFF | Excerpt from report by Ghanaian independent Joy FM radio on 7 September Confusion broke out at the [state-owned] Ghana Broadcasting [Corporation, GBC] today when a meeting planned to discuss the interdiction of five workers of the corporation and other matters was called off at the last minute. This followed a warning from the inspector-general of police that the workers, according to the GBC management had no permission to hold the meeting. Moments after the union executives assembled their public address system to address the workers, word came that the meeting could not be held because management said they had not been informed. But Joy News investigations revealed that the meeting had been planned two weeks earlier and management had duly been informed. The announcement infuriated the workers who insisted that the union executives must go ahead with the meeting. But that could not be because of the heavy police presence at the yard of the national broadcaster. The chairman of the GBC branch of the Public Service Workers Union, Stephen Adovor, told Joy News that they were surprised at the action taken by the management. He said all the necessary procedure for holding union meetings had been followed and that the management was in the know. [Passage omitted] Meanwhile the government has dissociated itself from the GBC interdiction saga involving five staff members accused of broadcasting a story without cross-checking the facts. Radio observers have been reading political undertones in the action by the state broadcaster. A statement by the Ghana Journalists Association described the interdiction as ill-timed, considering the political climate ahead of the December elections. Commenting on the issue on Joy FM, the minister of information, Nana Akumea, denied government's involvement, saying the NPP [New Patriotic Party] administration was rather worried about the development and had even advised the GBC management to be cautious in its handling of the case. [Passage omitted]. Source: Joy FM, Accra, in English 1230 gmt 7 Sep 04 (via BBCM via DXLD) POLICE CANCEL WORKERS MEETING AT GHANA BROADCASTING CORPORATION | Text of report by Ghanaian GBC radio on 7 September [Presenter] The union chairman of the GBC [Ghana Broadcasting Corporation], Louis Darko, has denied reports that the workers have been planning to go on demonstration today [7 September] in protest against the interdiction of a director and four journalists of GTV [GBC Television]. Speaking to Radio Ghana, Mr Darko, however, said a workers meeting called this morning to consider the establishment of the proposed provident fund and other issues, including the interdiction of the five, was called off on the alleged instruction of the IGP [inspector- general of police] for fear that it could boil over into a demonstration. Mr Darko explains the agenda of the workers meeting. [Darko] The main agenda for the meeting was the staff provident fund, of which management are trying to impose on us a company that, we the staff, do not want to work with. And also, the other issue is with staff salary and certain flat deductions that do not go down well with the staff. And the other matter too is with the interdicted staff of ours, of which we know is real labour issue that should be treated as such; because it contravenes the CBA [Collective bargaining agreement] Article 23 (F). [Reporter] If these are the issues that you were going to discuss, which you have said are very important, why did you call off the meeting? [Darko] In the process of the meeting taking off, there were these all of security men in house. [Reporter] Security from which - [interrupted] [Darko] From the police. They came in their numbers with the BNI [Bureau of National Investigation], all of them in house trying to know the reason. But we were told that management said they never knew of our meeting that was going on today. But it was not true. Management is aware. Because as at last week; the notices went onto the board and they knew of it. [Reporter] If the security forces or the police came in, what has that got to do with your meeting? I thought you could just go ahead and hold your meeting. [Darko] They said there was on air today in almost all the stations [radio] Joy FM, Adom FM, saying that GBC staff were going to embark on a demonstration today. But our meeting was not on any demonstration. Our meeting is an internal affair that GBC has. We want to really fight for what is right for the staff of GBC. [Reporter] If it is just a meeting, why should you call it off? [Darko] The police, the security agencies say GBC is a security area and that what they heard means automatically there is going to be a demo and that they have had so many calls saying that the workers are going on a demo, so which means they would not sit down for such a meeting to go on today. [Reporter] So did they tell you categorically to stop the meeting? [Darko] Yes, we were told not to hold the meeting today. [Reporter] Are you able to say specifically who that instruction came from? [Darko] The instruction came from the top echelon of the police. [Reporter] By top, whom are you referring to? Darko] The IGP. [Reporter] Did they tell you the IGP said you should not hold the meeting? [Darko] So far as the commandant was concerned, he said the IGP does not want the meeting to come on. And that he has to make sure that that order is done. [Reporter] Prior to today, have you been holding your union meetings in GBC? [Darko] Oh yes; we have been holding meetings. Even last week, we held a meeting. Just after that, management too held a meeting. It has been a tradition in GBC now, whenever union holds a meeting; management too holds a counter meeting. Source: Radio Ghana, Accra, in English 1300 gmt 7 Sep 04 (via BBCM via DXLD) GHANAIAN POLICE BEEF UP PRESENCE AT STATE BROADCASTER AFTER STAFF PROTEST | Text of report by Ghanaian GBC radio on 7 September The IGP [inspector-general of police], Nana Owusu Nsiah, says the overriding concern of the police is to ensure peace at the GBC [Ghana Broadcasting Corporation. The increased police presence at the corporation today was therefore for peaceful purposes but not to interfere in GBC's internal affairs. He added that the police, as peace officers, will not intimidate any GBC worker, neither will it be drawn into issues at the corporation. On allegations that he ordered the cancellation of today's GBC workers meeting, Nana Owusu Nsiah explained that it is normal for police operational commanders to act in the name of the IGP for the sake of peace. He advised GBC workers to use dialogue and not demonstrations to resolve their grievances. This is to avoid unfortunate incidence such as destruction of property. The IGP noted that any negative developments at GBC have wider national implications. Source: Radio Ghana, Accra, in English 1800 gmt 7 Sep 04 (via BBCM via DXLD) JOURNALISTS' UNION TELLS STATE BROADCASTER TO REINSTATE DISMISSED STAFF | Excerpt from report by Ghanaian GBC radio on 7 September The Greater Accra regional branch of the Ghana Journalists Association [GJA] has called on the board and management of the Ghana Broadcasting Corporation [GBC] to immediately recall the four journalists and director of Ghana Television from interdiction. The branch described their interdiction as unfair and asked management to adopt what it called pragmatic but humane measures to forestall the occurrence of such an event which led to their indictment. The chairman, Gideon Sackitey, expressed these sentiments at the swearing-in of the Greater Accra branch of the GJA as well as the ethics, welfare and entertainment committees of the association in Accra today. In an interview, the president of the association, Adjoa Yeboah Afari, said the GJA is awaiting the decision of the management and board of GBC in order to take their next line of action. She used the occasion to plead with members to strive to bring honour and dignity to the profession at all times. [Passage omitted]. Source: Radio Ghana, Accra, in English 1800 gmt 7 Sep 04 (via BBCM via DXLD) ** INDIA. Re: Would someone please translate these crore and lakh Rupee amounts into US$? (gh, DXLD) ************************ 1 US $ is approximately equivalent to Indian Rs 48.00. 100 thousand is one lakh. 100 lakh is one crore (Swopan Chakroborty, India, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Why in the world don`t they use scientific notation? Hope I`ve got this right: 160 crore, the amount by which the budget was slashed, in DXLD 4-133, means 160 times 10 million, or 1.6 gigarupees, i.e. 1.6 x 10 to the ninth divided by 4.8 x 10 squared = .33 x 10 to the seventh = 3.3 x 10 to the sixth, = $3,333,333.33 (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** INDIA. THE BEGINNING OF BROADCASTING IN DELHI --- Adventist World Radio Wavescan program #506 -- 38/1 Main Script for Wavescan, Edition number 506 for airing on Sunday 9/12/2004. [excerpts] http://english.awr.org/wavescan/scripts/ws506.htm The history of radio broadcasting in India is an intensely interesting multi-faceted story that extends over a period of nearly 80 years. With a huge population of around one billion people, it would be expected that the extent of radio coverage would be developed on a massive scale throughout India over the years. This is indeed true, and in this edition of Wavescan, we take a look at just one segment of the Indian radio scene, the shortwave events in the capital city area. We go back to the very earliest era and discover that the first wireless station in the Delhi area was established as a Morse Code facility back in the 1920s and it was on the air in spark gap Morse under the communication callsign VWD. Mediumwave broadcasting was introduced to Delhi on January 1, 1936 when a 10 kW transmitter was inaugurated under the callsign VUD. The original studios were located in a bungalow on Alipur Road and the transmitter was located on Mall Road. Since this small beginning, numerous mediumwave transmitters have been placed on the air for coverage in the Delhi area, using low power, medium power and high power at four different locations. The three major locations have been Mall Road, Kingsway and Nangli. In addition an emergency 1 kW transmitter at the government Research Laboratory was on the air for a short while in September 1978 during a period of heavy flooding in the area. On the shortwave scene, the first transmitter was co-sited with the mediumwave unit in the Mall Road facility. This 10 kW unit was inaugurated on September 1, 1937 as VUD2 and it was taken into regular service with a relay of the mediumwave programming more than three months later, on December 16. Two additional shortwave transmitters were installed into the Mall Road facility, a 5 kW in 1938 and another 10 kW in 1939. When the first shortwave transmitter came on the air in 1937, an additional temporary studio was installed into an existing building on Underhill Road. All studio production was transferred to the new AIR building in Parliament Street in 1943, and they are still there to this day. A new shortwave station was constructed at Kingsway, near the British military cantonment in 1944. Since that time, more than a dozen shortwave transmitters ranging in power from 7.5 kW to 100 kW have been installed at Kingsway. A total of nine of these transmitters are still listed as being in use today for regional and international coverage. Massive and unexpected flooding in Delhi in September 1978 caught the staff at the Kingsway station off guard and unprepared. They switched the station off, but were unable to get out. Food supplies were dropped from planes and helicopters. A high powered mediumwave transmitter was also co-sited at Kingsway during this era, and during this flood emergency, a 1 kW transmitter at the government Research Department provided a fill-in service. An additional large shortwave station was constructed near the village of Khampur for national and international coverage in 1958. Over the years, this station has contained a total of 14 transmitters ranging in power from 20 kW to 250 kW. Three of these units at 250 kW are in use today. Now for the ``Mystery Transmitters``. It is established that a 10 kW transmitter in Madras was off the air for almost a year beginning in September 1941. It is reported that this transmitter was hurriedly transferred to Delhi and installed to carry a new service in the Tamil language to South East Asia. It is known that a transmitter in Delhi carrying a new Indian language service suddenly appeared on the shortwave radio dial in January 1941. This station was on the air under the unusual Indian callsign, VUE and it was listed as a standby unit with 250 watts. However, monitoring reports in Australia consistently listed this station on 6085 kHz with strong signals. We would suggest then that this transmitter was a communication facility that was diverted part time for program broadcasting to South East Asia. And what about the 10 kW transmitter from Madras? Well, that one is a little harder to answer. It is not known where it was installed though we could guess that it was at the original shortwave site on Mall Road. Apparently this unit was dismantled and returned back to Madras where it was re-activated in July 1942. References: see http://english.awr.org/wavescan/scripts/ws506.htm (AWR Wavescan Sept 12, via John Norfolk, DXLD) ** INTERNATIONAL WATERS [and non]. Just a heads-up: there are some very dramatic hurricane reports coming out of Grenada at this time (1920 UT). Tune in to 14.325 USB. Net control is NP2B and VE3PWZ. vy 73, (Ori Siegel, VA3ORI - VA3XW, ODXA, Sept 7, via DXLD) ** KOREA SOUTH. Re DXLD 4-135: ``3912, 1407-, Voice of the People, Sep 5. I notice that this one is not listed in the DBS for some reason`` Voice of the People on 3912 is indeed listed in the DBS-6 in Part 3 "Clandestines" on page 39. Best 73, (Anker Petersen, DBS Editor, Denmark, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** KURDISTAN [non]. 11530, CLANDESTINE-IRAQ, Denge Mezopotamia (presumed), *0358-0407, Sept. 7, Kurdish, Lite instrumental music followed by anthem-like music with chorus. OM and YL over music, vocal music continues. Strong signal but very noisy, rough copy with no discernible ID noted. No sign of WYFR (Scott R. Barbour, Jr., Intervale, NH, R75, MLB-1, RS longwire with RBA balun, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** LAOS. 7145, 1351-, Radio Nationale Lao, Sep 7. Weak audio (?in English) presumed with talk by YL. Should be reasonably understandable as the accent is OK. This station should improve during the winter to useable levels. Worth keeping an eye on (English is listed in ILG as 1330 to 1400 (Walter (Volodya) Salmaniw, DXing the world from Victoria, BC, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** LAOS [non]. CLANDESTINE from ? to USA, 9515, ULMD pounding in again to Wyoming at 0115 UT Sep 8 (Hans Johnson, Cumbre DX via DXLD) ** LATVIA. RELAYS FROM LATVIA ON 9290 KHZ 11 September [Sat] R & R Medienservice 1200-1300 UT Radio Marabu 1300-1700 UT Radio New York (WKTU, WVLS -1979) 1700-1900 UT 12 September [Sun] Q103 1200-1300 UT Radio Marabu 1300-1700 UT GOOD LISTENING (info9290 Sept 7, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** MALDIVE ISLANDS [non]. Hello DX Friends, The "Minuvan Radio" Friends of Maldives is noted with excellent reception on 13855 kHz (via Deutsche Telekom) here in South India. I monitored the station on 31 Aug, in Dhivehi language, seems to be a mix of Sanskrit and Arabic. Terms Sirkar and democracy are repeated several times during the broadcast. Clear station announcement and ID given with web address at 1620 UT as "friendsofmaldives.co.uk" (T. R. Rajeesh, Kerala, INDIA, via Swopan Chakroborty, DXLD) ** MONGOLIA. 7260, Mongolian Radio, 1024-1040, Sept. 6, Mongolian, OM with talks, different OM at 1030 with presumed ID followed by wind/string instruments. Brief talk and ballads at 1032 continuing thru tune-out. Fair/weak, better copy than Sept. 3 log (Scott R. Barbour, Jr., Intervale, NH, R75, MLB-1, RS longwire with RBA balun, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** MYANMAR. 5985.80, 1408-, Radio Myanmar, Sep 6. Good reception, in fact one of the strongest times I've heard this one with programming in listed Bamar with Burmese music (sounds a lot like Indian music to my ear) interspersed with brief segments by a male. English started at 1434 with a heavily accented woman making it somewhat difficult to follow. Into a piece about Dengue fever. Best on LSB (Walter (Volodya) Salmaniw, DXing the world from Victoria, BC, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** NETHERLANDS. DRM tests on 25.8 MHz from RIZ at the IBC in Amsterdam Sept 11: see DRM below the ~~~~~~ ** NETHERLANDS ANTILLES. Hurricane Ivan may interrupt Caribbean-based relays --- In the 11 AM AST/EDT (1500 UTC) Hurricane Ivan advisory I noticed the following: "AT 11 AM AST...1500Z...THE GOVERNMENT OF THE NETHERLANDS ANTILLES HAS ISSUED A HURRICANE WATCH FOR BONAIRE...CURACAO AND ARUBA." Antigua is to the north and East and is out of harm's way. Cuba and Haiti aren't out of the woods yet (Richard Cuff / Allentown, PA USA, Sept 7, swprograms via DXLD) 6165, 9590, 11635 still on at 0400 (gh) ** NEW CALEDONIA. TV AND RADIO NEWS STRIKE CONTINUES IN NEW CALEDONIA Television and radio audiences in New Caledonia are still without local news services, as a strike by the Union of Kanak and Exploited Workers enters its third week. Pickets by the union are preventing staff from France's overseas network television and radio broadcaster, RFO, from working and therefore providing local news in the French Pacific territory. The industrial action started because an RFO technician, who had recently returned from a Paris posting at RFO's headquarters, said he was not happy with the terms and conditions of his new posting. He is now demanding that the contract be revised and has obtained the backing of unionists at RFO's Nouméa station. (Source: Radio Australia) [see also VANUATU] # posted by Andy @ 11:05 UT Sept 7 (Media Network blog via DXLD) ** OKLAHOMA. We have submitted our digital conversion grant to CPB and should know soon if we have succeeded. Most of the new high-end automobiles are now equipped with digital receivers, so we feel this is an important move to make. Enjoy a beautiful September! Sincerely, (Brad Ferguson, General Manager, Station News KCSC\KBCW Classical Radio, http://www.kcscfm.com/news/news_main.asp via John Norfolk, dxldyahoogroup via DXLD) See also RADIO EQUIPMENT FORUM ** PAPUA NEW GUINEA. 4890, 1345-, NBC Port Moresby, Sep 6. Good reception, although conditions are not as good as yesterday, with a more rapid dropoff at dawn. Time check for 'quarter to 12' in English, after a song from Daru, Western Province. Announced they'd be closing down at midnight. Into a western 70s vintage song. Gave sign-off announcements at 1355, followed by a local song ('we have to live together, side by side'), and then a military rendition of their NA from 1358. Carrier stays on as usual past 1359 (Walter (Volodya) Salmaniw, DXing the world from Victoria, BC, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** PERU. 5678.5, R. Ilucán, 0213-0245*, Sept. 7, Spanish, OM with talks until canned ID at 0230, continuos ballads with talk between selections until canned ID, sign-off announcement at 0245. Carrier on until 0247. Fair (Scott R. Barbour, Jr., Intervale, NH, R75, MLB-1, RS longwire with RBA balun, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** SINGAPORE. 7235, R. Singapore Int'l, 1100-1115, Sept. 6, English/ Malay, "RSI" ID in English, at tune-in, YL with Malay talks until ballads at 1106, fading out under USB chatter by 1115. Poor (Scott R. Barbour, Jr., Intervale, NH, R75, MLB-1, RS longwire with RBA balun, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** SRI LANKA. 9505, Deutsche Welle relay, 0106-, Sept. 7, Vernacular, OM with news, YL with "DW" ID at 0107, more news with OM and YL. Fair. No sign of WFYR (Scott R. Barbour, Jr., Intervale, NH, R75, MLB-1, RS longwire with RBA balun, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** TAJIKISTAN. 4965, Voice of Russia Dushanbe with Dari/Pushto program 1322 to 1359 9/6. Man talking 1322-28.5, woman and man with interview or discussion 1328.5-40.5, vocal/instrumental Afghan music (male vocalist) 1340.5-47, man talking 1347-55, instrumental piano music 1357-58 and woman announcer 1358-59. Relatively decent signal considering I've never heard this program before. SINPO 35533 but slowly degrading to S2 after 1345 (Bruce W. Churchill, Fallbrook, CA, Cumbredx mailing list, via DXLD) ** TURKEY. The Voice of Turkey is now scheduled for the new channel of 13720 kHz for their Spanish service to Europe from 1630 to 1700 UTC. This replaces 13740 kHz to avoid the Voice of Vietnam on that channel in Russian during the same time period, to the same target area (Bob Padula, EDXP, AWR Wavescan Sept 12 via John Norfolk, DXLD) ** UKRAINE. UKRAINE'S OCTOBER VOTE --- By D. Jeffrey Hirschberg This editorial appeared in the Sept 6th Washington Times [Moony] Amid the partisan fanfare at the party conventions and quickening pace of the U.S. presidential race, it's easy to forget that America isn't the only nation embroiled in a feverish political campaign leading to a much-anticipated autumn election. But in Ukraine, where voters will elect a new president on Oct. 31, a crucial element is missing: free, fair and comprehensive media coverage. President Leonid Kuchma and his followers are doing everything they can to prevent open discussion of the country's future. Mr. Kuchma, in power since 1994, is barred from running for a third five-year term. Not that he'd stand a chance: His approval rating has slipped below 5 percent, and his legacy is likely to be the pervasive corruption, cronyism and cynicism that permeate government and business in Ukraine. To be fair, Mr. Kuchma deserves some credit for strengthening post-Soviet sovereignty in Ukraine, a nation of 50 million in the heart of Eastern Europe; for improving the economy; contributing military troops and other support to the U.S.-led war against terrorism; and allowing enough democracy to at least let this election take place. But even dictators hold elections. Free nations hold free elections, which entail unfettered scrutiny by an independent --- and yes, often unruly --- media. Throughout Mr. Kuchma's tenure and now in the campaign, Ukrainian authorities have systematically intimidated, stymied and stifled freedom of speech. In July, Freedom House reported that "Ukraine's news media suffers under an elaborate system of control that keeps opposition political groups and other critics off the airwaves and out of print. The situation has only worsened as election day approaches." Ukraine's three top television networks are slavishly promoting Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych, the preferred presidential candidate of the Kuchma camp, and either ignoring or attacking Viktor Yushchenko, an economist and former prime minister who has polished democratic credentials, and, according to polls, would win if the election were held today. Meanwhile, cable networks that feature Kanal 5, a station that leans toward the opposition but whose coverage has been more balanced, are being taken off the air through goonish tactics ranging from harassment by tax authorities to late-night vandalism of equipment. Among Mr. Kuchma's media targets are the popular Ukrainian-language programs of the U.S.-funded Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL). In February, with scant warning, RFE/RL's programs were yanked from the commercial Dovira FM radio network in Ukraine. Within days, Dovira --- whose new owner is a supporter of Mr. Kuchma --- was rewarded with licenses for four additional FM stations. When another Kiev radio station, Radio Kontinent, began to carry RFE/RL's programs, authorities found a pretense to shut it down and confiscate its equipment just three days later. Serhiy Sholokh, Radio Kontinent's owner, fled the country and took refuge in the United States. As a member of the Broadcasting Board of Governors, the U.S. federal agency that oversees all U.S. non-military international broadcasting (including RFE/RL), I traveled to Ukraine in April and again in June to urge Ukrainian officials to put RFE/RL back on the air. I emphasized that RFE/RL's brand of accurate and objective news and analysis information is particularly important during the election campaign. I received firm assurances from top officials that a signal" would be given to radio executives that it was acceptable to carry RFE/RL programs. Kiev Mayor Oleksandr Omelchenko indicated that RFE/RL programs would be on a city-owned FM station by July 1. Weeks later and well into the presidential campaign, RFE/RL cannot be heard in Kiev, the capital, and other major cities except on shortwave frequencies --- an inadequate means of distribution. Managers of local stations say that they fear retaliation against their stations if they air RFE/RL programs, as happened to Radio Kontinent, or worse, given the history of violence against Ukrainian journalists who don't toe Mr. Kuchma's line. Mr. Kuchma's latest assault on free media does a disservice to his country's goals of joining NATO and the European Union. And the world is watching. In July, the U.S. Senate unanimously passed a resolution urging the Ukrainian government not to interfere with the right of the people to choose their leaders. "The October elections," states the resolution, "will be vital in determining Ukraine's course for years to come." The Ukrainian people should select their new president based on a fair airing of the issues that face their country. In the United States, we accept the notion that information is the sine qua non of democracy. Mr. Kuchma's Ukraine does not. D. Jeffrey Hirschberg is a member of the Broadcasting Board of Governors and a partner in Kalorama Partners, a Washington consulting firm (Washington Times [Moony], via Hans Johnson, Cumbre DX via DXLD) ** U K. Mussorgsky`s Pictures at an Exhibition was featured in a new, mixed orchestration, by 15 different arrangers, on a BBC Prom Concert conducted by Leonard Slatkin last week, number 62! I just listened to it on demand, but this will be taken down on Sept. 9. A keeper! Get it while you can at http://www.bbc.co.uk/proms/listen/rams/prom62_musorgsky.ram And here are the extensive program notes, unfortunately without pix: http://www.bbc.co.uk/proms/aboutmusic/musorgsky_pictures.shtml (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U K. BBC WS is still confused about what time it is; why don`t they just stick to GMT? At 0000 UT Sept 8, opening the news, New York time was correctly given as 8 pm, but then ``it`s one a.m. GMT`` !! Hmmm, they don`t even know what time it is by GMT. Or do they think that GMT observes summer time?? (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. Updated A-04 schedule for Voice of America (with the exception of English): ALBANIAN 0500-0530 1215 11805 11825 13615 1600-1630 9575 15115 17725 1830-1900 1458 9840 15145 AFAN/OROMO 1600-1630 11705 11790 15205 Mon-Fri AMHARIC 1800-1900 11690 13670 13835 ARABIC& 0800-1500 990 1431 1548 1500-0800 990 1260 1431 1548 AZERI 1730-1800 9740 11665 15325 BANGLA 0130-0200 11735 15165 17780 1600-1700 1575 7280 9740 11965 BOSNIAN 1500-1530 1197 Mon-Fri 2130-2200 792 1197 Mon-Fri BURMESE 1130-1200 1575 9720 11850 15225 1430-1500 1575 5955 7155 9720 2330-2400 6185 9505 11840 15220 CANTONESE 1300-1500 1143 7155 9355 11865 CHINESE 0000-0100 7190 9545 11830 11925 15150 15195 17765 0100-0200 9545 11830 11925 15150 15195 17765 0200-0300 9545 11830 11925 15195 17765 0700-0900 13720 15160 15250 17855 21540 0900-1000 11825 13720 15160 15250 15665 17855 1000-1100 9575 11825 13740 15160 15230 15250 15665 17855 1100-1200 1143 6110 9575 11785 11825 11965 11990 12040 15250 1200-1230 6110 9845 11785 11825 11965 11990 12040 15250 1230-1300 6110 9845 11785 11805 11825 11965 12040 15250 1300-1330 6110 9845 11785 11805 11965 11990 12040 1330-1400 6110 9845 11785 11805 11825 11965 11990 12040 1400-1500 6110 9770 9845 11805 11965 11990 12040 2200-2300 7150 7190 7200 9510 9545 11925 13775 CREOLE 1130-1200 9525 11890 15265 Mon-Fri 1630-1700 15385 17565 21555 2100-2130 11895 13725 21555 CROATIAN 0430-0500 756 792 1197 1395 6130 11855 1830-1900 1197 7175 15170 DARI 0130-0230 1296 11995 12140 1500-1530 1296 12140 13690 1630-1730 1296 11760 12140 1800-1830 1296 11730 12140 1930-2030 1296 11835 2330-0030 1296 FARSI 0300-0400 9840 11985 17855 1700-1800 1593 7280 9680 17585 1800-1900 648 1593 7280 9680 17585 1900-2000 1593 7465 9680 12020 FRENCH 0530-0600 1530 4960 6045 6095 9885 13695 Mon-Fri 0600-0630 6045 6095 9885 13695 Mon-Fri 1830-2000 1530 9815 9830 12080 15730 17785 2000-2030 9815 9830 11720 12080 15730 2030-2100 9815 9830 11720 12080 15730 Sat/Sun 2100-2130 9815 9830 11720 12035 12080 17750 Mon-Fri GEORGIAN 1530-1600 11805 15475 17870 HAUSA 0500-0530 1530 4960 6045 6095 9885 1500-1530 9710 11990 13745 1800-1830 1530 4950 9830 11955 17785 Sat 2030-2100 4950 9815 9830 11720 12080 15730 Mon-Fri HINDI 0030-0100 7430 9560 11820 1600-1700 7260 12155 15265 INDONESIAN 1130-1200 7260 9700 9890 12010 15320 1200-1230 7260 9545 9700 9890 12010 15320 1400-1500 13620 15105 15490 Thu-Sat 2200-2330 7225 9535 9620 11805 15205 KHMER 1330-1430 1575 5955 7155 9725 2200-2230 1575 6060 7130 7260 13725 KINYARWANDA 0330-0400 6095 7340 13725 0400-0430 6095 6120 7340 13725 KOREAN 1300-1400 648 7215 7235 9545 1400-1500 7215 7235 9545 2000-2100 6060 7125 15470 KURDISH 0400-0500 7175 9705 12040 1300-1400 1593 9695 9825 15245 1600-1700 1593 15470 15545 17765 1800-1900 9625 11905 15545 LAOTIAN 1230-1300 1575 6030 7225 9545 11930 NDEBELE 1720-1740 909 11975 17895 Mon-Fri PASHTO 0030-0130 1296 11995 12140 1430-1500 1296 12140 13690 1530-1630 1296 12140 13690 1730-1800 1296 11730 12140 1830-1930 1296 11750 2230-2330 1296 PORTUGUESE 0430-0500 1530 6095 6145 7340 9885 13725 1700-1730 1530 9830 12080 1730-1800 1530 9815 9830 12080 15730 1800-1830 1530 9815 9830 12080 15730 Mon-Fri RUSSIAN 1300-1400 11725 15130 15205 15215 17710 17730 1700-1800 6105 7220 9520 9615 11935 15370 1800-1900 6105 7220 9520 9615 11885 11935 SERBIAN 0530-0600 1197 1458 11805 11825 13615 1930-2000 792 9705 11910 15280 2100-2130 1197 7210 11885 11910 Mon-Fri SHONA 1700-1720 909 11975 17895 Mon-Fri SPANISH 0100-0200 9560 9735 9885 11815 13760 1130-1200 9535 11925 13790 1200-1230 7370 11890 11925 13770 15360 15390 17875 SWAHILI 1630-1700 9815 13670 15730 17785 1700-1730 9815 13670 15730 17785 Mon-Fri TIBETAN 0000-0100 7200 7255 11690 0400-0600 15265 15490 17770 1400-1500 6030 11705 11975 15680 TIGRINA 1830-1845 11690 13670 13835 Mon-Fri TURKISH 0330-0400 792 7205 9740 11785 Mon-Fri 1030-1100 11735 13795 17670 Mon-Fri 1800-1900 792 9595 11925 15235 UKRAINIAN 0400-0500 7115 9680 12015 2000-2030 3975 9715 11840 URDU* 0100-0200 7155 9835 11805 1400-1500 9510 11790 15170 15255 1700-1800 11905 12155 15545 VIETNAMESE 1300-1330 1575 5955 9505 9720 1500-1600 5955 6120 7195 9780 2230-2330 6060 7130 7260 13725 & Radio Sawa * Radio Aap Ki Dunyaa (Observer, Bulgaria, Sept 7 via DXLD) ** U S A [non]. R. Farda, 9865, Sept 7 at 0539 was broadcasting the ``RFE/RL Praha`` loop ID for at least two minutes until we gave up; some 5 minutes later, back to music (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. 7490, WJIE, 0004 Sept 7, back on with Christian music as heard in Wyoming. ID for program as Prayer Radio and WJIE ID at 0006. Not traced on 13595 (Hans Johnson, Cumbre DX via DXLD) ** U S A. WRMI, 15725, Tue Sept 7 at 1400 noted going from WRN with RTE to CMN. The WRMI ID on the hour was mixed with CMN commercial for Apocalypse Chronicles. Before Frances, WRMI was carrying WRN weekdays until 1600 (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Glenn: I think this is a temporary make-good situation (CMN/WRN). I haven't heard anything about WYFR, but I'll check it out right away. We're slowly getting back to normal. I hope we can be on all night tonight (Jeff White, WRMI, Sept 7, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. Glenn: Here's the report from Dan Elyea of WYFR in Okeechobee: "Extensive damage to the building. Moderate damage in the field. Power is still out. When power is restored, we anticipate being able to bring up about half of the systems. Within another two weeks, we hope to have the rest restored. But repairs will take months before the building is back to rights. Lost a good part of the roof, and water damage ruined many ceilings and walls." "One of our techs rigged up a way to get on the Internet (using generator power)." (Jeff White, FL, Sept 7, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. WYFR and Frances aftermath Hello Glenn, I am writing to you on behalf of Dan Elyea, who is without e-mail at the moment (or power, gas, telephone, etc.) I have power at my house and computer capability. Yes, everyone is OK. WYFR had part of the roof come off, which caused extensive water damage in the office area. We lost ceilings, had standing water, and an overall real mess. It looks like the transmitters are OK, but there are some transmission lines down and antenna switch platforms in need of repair. As of now, we have no idea when the power will be restored. When we do get power, we will be only partly up, and possibly fully restored 2 weeks after that. So now we're keeping an eye on "Ivan the terrible." Hopefully, this next hurricane will bypass us -- this is getting really old!! No, Dan doesn't know where [BBC] 11835 at 0000-0300 was moved to. Sincerely, (Evelyn Marcy, WYFR Okeechobee, Sept 7, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. Florida Broadcast Report Hurricane Frances Down for the count..... 800 WPLK Palatka, FL (now back on) 1260 WIYD Palatka, FL (didn't note it this afternoon on the quick scan) WIYD was on later and went down later on during the storm. 1240 WFOY St. Augustine, FL 1170 WSOS St. Augustine Beach, FL (no power noted in St. Aug during drive-by on I-95 this afternoon) 94.1 WSOS-FM St. Augustine, FL (no pwr available to make RF) 1420 WAOC St. Augustine, FL (no pwr available seems to be the story of St. Aug) 1050 WROS Jacksonville, FL (utility) 970 WNNR Jacksonville, FL (utility) 1460 WZNZ Jacksonville, FL (utility) 550 WAYR Orange Park, FL (utility) 1570 WVOJ, Fernandina Beach, FL (utility restored, now need to look at Nautel 10 kW transmitter, etc; not resetting remotely!) 1160 WEWC Callahan, FL 1530 WYMM Jacksonville, FL (believe utility out on both) 1150 Daytona Beach WNDB, 1450 Daytona Beach, 1490 WNDA off. All Daytona Beach stations went off the air. Now the Black Crow Stations are tied together doing community service simulcast (1150- 1490-93.1-97.5-103.3) Did not note 1220 WJAX Jacksonville, FL Time to get busy... call to action (Ron Gitschier, Jacksonville, FL WNNR 970 Studios, 1511 UT Sept 7, NRC-AM via DXLD) ** U S A. Does anyone have any more information about [1710] Lubavitcher? I'm curious if the exact location of this station is known, how much power it might run, antenna system, anything else? I haven't heard it (haven't listened for it yet) but it seems to get a lot of attention on the list and is relatively widely heard. How long has this been on the air? Has there been any enforcement action against it? (Damon Cassell, Sept 7, NRC-AM via DXLD) The "Lubavitcher Pirate" operates quite openly, and claims to be operating legally. Most people doubt this, due to the fact that they are received over such a large area. Some NRC members actually received QSL letters from them after reporting their reception to DX News. Not much is known about the station, except that they appear to be broadcasting from somewhere in Brooklyn, with power likely to be in the tens or hundreds rather than milli -watts. I too find it interesting that they have not been cited by the FCC yet, but Chabad/Lubavitch is very politically connected, so some may be inclined to look the other way. Also, since they use 1710, they probably don't interfere with much, so maybe that's why they haven't gotten much attention. See http://www.radiomoshiach.org/ for more information (Brian Leyton, Valley Village, CA, ibid.) Is this the same radio station? This web site says they are on 1620 kHz (Mike Westfall, N6KUY, WDX6O, Los Alamos, NM (DM65uv), ibid.) I was curious about the history too, given how well it's come in here the past few nights. I did some web checking, and it appears there was an FCC NAL against the owners of the building where the transmitter is located: http://www.fcc.gov/eb/FieldNotices/2003/DOC-237849A1.html The FCC actually knows where the transmitter is located, and that it's unlicensed and illegal by FCC standards, so why is it still permitted to operate? Does anyone know where to check to follow up on the NAL listed above, to see if anything ever came of it? (Brett Saylor, Central PA, ibid.) I'm pretty sure that this NAL (against a "Hip Hop Radio") is not the same operation as Lubavitcher Radio. Many pirates have used that. Lubavitcher Radio is almost certainly coming from in or near "770," the worldwide headquarters of Chabad Lubavitch at 770 Eastern Parkway in the Crown Heights neighborhood of Brooklyn. The FCC doesn't have its own armed agents. It has to depend on support from local law enforcement and from the local offices of federal law enforcement if it hopes to shut down a pirate station. There is no way the NYPD or the New York field office of the FBI would ever assist the FCC in taking any action at 770. The Lubavitchers are immensely well- connected politically in New York City, and any local politician who helped the FCC shut down their radio station would immediately lose a critical and very large bloc of votes. Unless Lubavitcher Radio is interfering with another licensed operation --- and it's not --- that makes it a very low priority for the FCC. s (Scott Fybush, NY, ibid.) Last night, had Lubavitcher with the best signal ever --- entertainment level, very readable at S-8 on 1709.88. 73, (Bruce WB3HVV, York, PA, Sept 7, NRC-AM via DXLD) "Entertainment level"? Your Yiddish and/or Hebrew must be better than mine! ;-) (Niel Wolfish, Toronto, ibid.) ** U S A. Arnold tells it like it isn`t --- In Governor Arnold’s speech to the Republican convention, he was quoted as saying: "I finally arrived here in 1968. I had empty pockets, but I was full of dreams. The presidential campaign was in full swing. I remember watching the Nixon and Humphrey presidential debate on TV. A friend who spoke German and English, translated for me. I heard Humphrey saying things that sounded like socialism, which is what I had just left. But then I heard Nixon speak. He was talking about free enterprise, getting government off your back, lowering taxes and strengthening the military. Listening to Nixon speak sounded more like a breath of fresh air." There were no Nixon/Humphrey debates, as documented here: http://www.cnn.com/ELECTION/2000/debates/history.story/intro5.html (via Franklin Seiberling, IA, DXLD) ** U S A. Re DXLD 4-134, the item on the 1924 radio election, an article I wrote on the subject in 1992 for Monitoring Times can be read at http://donmoore.tripod.com/genbroad/elec1924.html Congressional Budget Office figures show that one third of Bush's tax cuts have gone to those making over 1.2 million per year. Radio & Latin American website: http://donmoore.tripod.com Highly Recommended: http://www.commondreams.org http://www.tompaine.com [taglines] (Don Moore, Davenport, IA, Sept 7, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. Coupling --- Conservative radio talk show host Rush Limbaugh, 53, is dating Atlanta-based CNN anchor Daryn Kagan, 41, reports The Washington Post. The two were spied at a party he co- hosted at a New York restaurant, where guests included Vice President Dick Cheney and New York Gov. George Pataki. And no, Buzz hasn't yet been able to discern what in tarnation they talk about. `Word in Praise` on 1190 --- After a month of Ronald Reagan speeches on WAFS-AM/1190 as a stunt, Salem Broadcasting has retired the former president in favor of praise-and-worship music. Salem is using its Nashville-based syndicated format "Word in Praise" on 1190, which used to be conservative news/talk. That format has moved to a stronger signal, WGKA-AM/920, including talkers such as Michael Medved and Laura Ingraham (PEACH BUZZ, Richard L. Eldredge - Staff, Saturday, September 4, 2004, Atlanta Journal Constitution via Mike Cooper, DXLD) ** U S A. CONSERVATIVE RADIO SHUNS LIBERALS? DON'T BET ON IT Monday, September 6, 2004 FEATURES - THE FLIP SIDE 08C By Tim Feran THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH --- COLUMN --- REMOTE CONTROL How can this be? Is Clear Channel Communications serious about putting Al Franken and the liberal Air America gang on the air in Columbus? Isn't Clear Channel the home of arch-conservative Rush Limbaugh? Aren't its top executives joined at the hip with the Republican Party? Actually, to the surprise of no one who has watched the radio industry for an extended time, the real ideology behind Clear Channel isn't liberalism or conservatism. It's capitalism. Yes, Clear Channel wants to make money. After Franken and company showed that they can draw listeners, the folks at ratings-challenged stations such as WCOL (1230 AM) decided that the money is as big in liberal talk as it is in conservative talk. So bring it on. The story begins in Portland, Ore., where management at a struggling AM station decided to dump an oldies format and become one of the first stations to carry Air America. The station had little to lose and, as it turned out, a staggering amount to gain. With little promotion, KPOJ-AM went from a 0.3 share to a 4.9 share of listeners ages 25 to 54, a group that radio folks refer to as ''the money demo.'' That kind of growth rarely happens overnight. When station managers nationwide saw that bonanza, they began sifting the numbers to figure out whether they could do the same thing. What they saw was that Franken and his radio clan do best in cities that have large universities or political hotbeds, such as state capitals. Because Columbus fits both criteria, the best bet is that WCOL-AM might soon have its best ratings in years by becoming a member of ''the liberal media.'' (via Artie Bigley, DXLD) ** U S A. CHARLOTTE PASTOR QUITS OVER PLAGIARISM --- He blames depression; Calvary Church stops distribution of sermons THE ASSOCIATED PRESS Tuesday, September 7, 2004 CHARLOTTE NC The senior pastor at one of Charlotte's best-known churches admitted that parts of some of his sermons broadcast on Christian radio programs were stolen from others. The Rev. E. Glenn Wagner of Calvary Church resigned, admitted that depression led him to plagiarize sermons the past two years, and asked for forgiveness in a letter read Sunday in his absence at four worship services... http://www.journalnow.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=Common%2FMGArticle%2FPrintVersion&c=MGArticle&cid=1031777784776&image=wsj80x60.gif&oasDN=journalnow.com&oasPN=%21localnews (via Mike Cooper, DXLD) ** U S A. Station News KCSC\KBCW Classical Radio http://www.kcscfm.com/news/news_main.asp From the General Manager September, 2004 Bradford Ferguson Some distressing news has come our way regarding the program ``Sing for Joy`` produced by WCAL in Northfield, MN. The radio station has been sold by St. Olaf College to Minnesota Public Radio and MPR plans to discontinue all programs with religious content. Perhaps even the famous Christmas Concert by the St. Olaf College Choir will cease to be. If you love ``Sing for Joy,`` please go to http://www.savewcal.org for information on how you can express your desires to the right people. Enjoy a beautiful September! Sincerely, Brad Ferguson, General Manager (via John Norfolk, dxldyahoogroup via DXLD) ** U S A. SAPs on Channel 2 and in Phoenix --- I've heard three SAPs on E-skip: Both channel 2 in Little Rock and ch2 in Minneapolis-St. Paul run reading services, and channel 2 in Houston has echo on local news, but appears not to have it on network programming. Here in Phoenix, channel 3 usually runs silence, and used to run their ads for the evening newscasts so radio stations could pick them up. Oh, and they run AZ Diamondbacks baseball games they carry in Spanish (the radio feed carried on 1400.) Ch5 usually runs their normal audio on SAP KAET-8 runs DVS. Ch10 runs, at times, silence, some Spanish programming (mostly from Fox), and simulcast audio. Ch12 often runs silence, but occasionally low-modulated duplication of regular audio. ABC-15 usually has silence, but did catch a movie in Spanish a couple of Sunday nights ago. Have also heard Peter Jennings news at odd times occasionally. KUTP-45 has an SAP, and did run Friends in Spanish at one time. KASW-61 has an SAP, but don't know what they do with it. It isn't passed by the cable system. No SAP on TBN's KPAX-21, Spanish ch33 or Pax-tv's ch51 (Rick Lewis, AZ, Sept 6, WTFDA via DXLD) TBN actually could use SAP [DVS] when they're running movies. ("Moses picks up his staff and aims it at the Sea of Reeds. The water slowly splits in two.") Would KTVW-33 run English audio on their SAP? I can just see PAX using SAP on a game show... "Rachel lays a finger to the side of her head and ponders for a moment. She gets ready to press the button; suddenly Steve does so ahead of her." KKS (Keith K. Smith, Lansing, MI, ibid.) ** VANUATU. Folks, finally heard Radio Vanautu on 7260; seems at a good level here in Sydney Tuesday 7th September at 0700. Bit worried that might have been the end (Johno Wright, NSW, 1558 UT Sept 7, ARDXC via DXLD) VANUATU BROADCASTING BOARD THREATENS LEGAL ACTION OVER DISMISSAL | Excerpt from report by Radio Australia "Pacific Beat"programme on 7 September [Presenter Bruce Hill] The recently sacked Vanuatu Broadcasting and Television Corporation board, the VBTC, is threatening to take Prime Minister Serge Vohor to court for unfair dismissal. Just five months after its appointment by the previous government, all seven board members were sacked by the prime minister, who is also minister for media. Mr Vohor alleges the current board so far has not shown any progress or any sense of direction to the semi-government company, therefore it is [his] duty as minister of media to restore control and appoint a new board which, will be made known soon. The sacked chair of the VBTC board, Evelyn Toa, told Geraldine Coutts she feels the PM's action is unreasonable. [Toa] The prime minister assumes that the board does not perform at a level maybe they expected us to, but we charge - we, the former board, if I may say that - the former board charge the decision of the honourable prime minister, who is responsible of the media, as baseless. The decision was made without our concern. Nothing has been received from them just to make an assessment of what we've been doing since our appointment last April. [Coutts] Do you think that one of the reasons that Mr Vohor, the prime minister, has sacked the board is because it was appointed by the previous government under Mr Natapei? [Toa] One of the reasons being said in our letter is because we were appointed by the previous political parties which were the government at the time, so now the new government is coming in and they have to appoint a new board - which is not in the VBTC Act. The VBTC Act never said that, that every single time the government changed they have to change the VBTC board. This is not stipulated in the VBTC Act. [Coutts] As I understand it, you and the board are taking court action in coming days against the sacking of the VBTC board? [Toa] Exactly. We're thinking to put the government in the courts, just because we are protected by the VBTC Act. [passage omitted] We want to make something happening [as heard], that it will be a precedent for the new VBTC board coming in. And we've been given [as heard] 24 hours to the prime minister to reverse the decision. So since then, we haven't received any response and the case is in process and we have to do something. [Coutts] Have you actually filed a suit to the courts yet? [Toa] Not yet. The case is with our lawyer. As soon as everything is filed and everything is finalized, I'll let the public know. Source: Radio Australia, Melbourne, in English 0710 gmt 7 Sep 04 (via BBCM via DXLD) ** VENEZUELA. 4940, R. Amazonas, 0944-1003, Sept. 6, Spanish, continuous format of ballads and up-tempo music with IDs by OM between selections. Full ID at 1000. Fair, clear signal. 5000, YVTO, Observatorio Cagigal, 2323-2335, Sept. 4, Spanish, Time station format of OM with ID announcement repeated twice, mentioning Caracas, Venezuela followed by time. Fair signal with no sign of WWV (Scott R. Barbour, Jr., Intervale, NH, R75, MLB-1, RS longwire with RBA balun, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) José!!!! Está en el aire Radio Táchira en onda corta????? Me llamo la atención lo bien que entraba el otro día Radio Amazonas, de Puerto Ayacucho y en 4830 nada, siendo que había propagación para la región. Un abrazo (Arnaldo Slaen, Argentina, Sept 6, Conexión Digital via DXLD) Chequeando frecuencias venezolanas --- Saludos colegas diexistas. Espero se encuentren muy bien. A las 0050 UT con tiempo muy nublado y poca lluvia motivado al huracán Iván, debo informarles que no oigo ninguna señal de Radio Táchira en la frecuencia de los 4830 kHz. En cambio en los 4940 kHz se está escuchando Radio Amazonas, pero tengo mucho ruido al momento de la escucha. Y en los 5000 kHz la señal de YVTO está escuchándose muy bien. Atte: (José Elías Díaz Gómez, Barcelona, Edo. Anzoátegui, Venezuela, UT Sept 8, DX LISTNEING DIGEST) Amigos Arnaldo y José! Hace algunos años cuando Táchira pareció estar fuera del servicio, alguien nos informó que sí pero con potencia muy reducida. Si es así ahora no sé; sólo un pensamiento! 73s (Björn Malm, Quito, Ecuador, Conexión Digital via DXLD) ** VIETNAM. VOICE OF VIETNAM MARKS 59TH FOUNDING ANNIVERSARY | Excerpt from report in English from Vietnamese radio text web site on 7 September Prime Minister Phan Van Khai sent a message of congratulations to Radio the Voice of Vietnam (VOV) on Monday [6 September] to mark VOV's 59th founding anniversary (September 7). In his letter, the prime minister highlighted VOV's role and contributions to the nation's socio-economic development in recent years. Through its programmes, VOV indirectly took part in poverty reduction and social development. Mr Khai praised VOV staff for their great efforts in guiding people to implement resolutions, instructions and policies issued by the party, state and government, thus actively contributing to the national process of socio-economic development. He also believed that VOV would further develop in the future, successfully completing its set targets as well as implementing tasks assigned by the government in 2004 and the years to come. The same day, VOV held a ceremony to mark its founding anniversary at its headquarters at 58 Quan Su Street in Hanoi. Senior officials from government, party and state, VOV leaders and representatives from ministries and agencies attended the ceremony. Addressing the ceremony, VOV General Director Vu Van Hien said Radio the Voice of Vietnam was established on 7 September, 1945, just five days after the establishment of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam. During the past 59 years, VOV remained the party's speech organ and an effective form of mass media, particularly in the nation's past struggle for national independence and freedom, as well as in the current process of renovation and socio-economic development, Mr Hien noted. Mr Hien said at present, VOV boasts a unified broadcasting network from the central to grassroots levels, covering 95 per cent of [the] population. It broadcasts 191 hours of programmes a day on six channels, including four for domestic listeners and two for foreign listeners in 11 different languages. "The current major and overall objectives of VOV are to modernize its technology and improve the quality and effectiveness of its programmes," he said. VOV has received many noble rewards and honourable certificates of merit by the government, party and state, such as Golden Star Order and Labour Hero title in the renovation process. Radio the Voice of Vietnam organized a get-together with business people from the state corporations. At the meeting, VOV leaders and business people reviewed the historic development of VOV 59 years ago. During the past years, VOV has become a forum for business people and economists to enhance the cause of national industrialisation and modernization. VOV is also a forum for people throughout the country to express their aspirations to the party and state and implement social policies towards the poor, martyrs and heroic mothers who rendered service to the nation. Addressing the meeting, VOV General Director Vu Van Hien said: "VOV is a cradle to keep the national spirit and identity prospering, thus contributing to national development." VOV has launched diverse activities to mark the 59th anniversary of its founding in the lead up to the 60th anniversary next year. One of these activities is to build a monument of the Vietnamese heroic mother in the central province of Quang Nam. [Passage omitted] Source: Voice of Vietnam text web site, Hanoi, in English 7 Sep 04 (via BBCM via DXLD) ** VIETNAM. 7210, VOV-4, 1040-1052, Sept. 6, Vernacular, YL with brief talks between ballads, OM over music at 1045 followed by long talk. Poor/noisy, complete mess by tune-out (Scott R. Barbour, Jr., Intervale, NH, R75, MLB-1, RS longwire with RBA balun, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** YEMEN. 5950, Rep. of Yemen Radio, 0300-0337, Sept. 7, Arabic, Just missed sign-on to hear continuous vocal and instrumental music between brief talks by OM. No discernible ID noted. Weak but steady with transmitter "hum". No sign of WYFR. Nice reception as of late. Lots of nice catches including a few surprises heard with WYFR and RTI relays via Okeechobee, FL off the air due to Hurricane Frances (Scott R. Barbour, Jr., Intervale, NH, R75, MLB-1, RS longwire with RBA balun, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) UNIDENTIFIED. On the last two mornings, Sept. 6 & 7, an unidentified station has been heard on approximately 9620.7 kHz. On the 6th, tune- in is was at 0640 and classical orchestral music was audible followed by two announcements at 0643 and 0657. The signal was very weak and language difficult to distinguish, but did seem Spanish by intonation. R. Nederland via Bonaire opened c0659 on 9625 and splash covered the unID. On the 7th tune-in was 0545 when a stronger signal was audible peaking to about three S points. Classical music - a piano concerto - was in progress and went thru the hour. TVI or similar close by distorted the brief announcements heard, but the language again sounded Spanish. By 0630, the signal was down to a very low level. If it is SODRE [URUGUAY], it's my first logging of the station for about 30 years! 73s, (Noel R. Green [Blackpool-NW England], Cumbredx mailing list via DXLD) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ RADIO EQUIPMENT FORUM +++++++++++++++++++++ INDEPENDENT MAY BE SPOILER By Nolan Clay, The Oklahoman, Monday, September 6, 2004 Independent U.S. Senate candidate Sheila Bilyeu claims the federal government implanted a device inside her head in the 1970s and has sent messages for years to annoy her. . . http://newsok.com/article/1310895/?template=home/main (via gh, DXLD) WTFK? ICOM 746pro Glenn, (as seen in DX Listening Digest 4-135), the post was not from me. Have not had my hands on a IC-746 PRO. I owned a IC-756 PRO II transceiver a few years back and was only so-so for any weak "DX" signals. The AGC performance was one issue. I have a bit of text up on my web site for those interested. MW sensitivity was also cut back on this set as well (Icom trait). http://www.ticon.net/~n9ewo/756pro2.html The new Icom IC-756 PRO III (that's # 3) will be out in a few months. Will be interesting to keep an eye on this one as it will use the same "TI" DSP IC that the IC-746 Pro uses. Yes the IC-746 Pro has seen its share of problems, all with the transmit section. http://www.rudius.net/oz2m/ic746pro/index.htm My page on the IC-756 Pro III (under construction). http://www.ticon.net/~n9ewo/756pro3.html But I too feel that Icom should not be attenuating the MW section. Regards, (Dave Zantow N9EWO, Sept 6, DX LISTENING DIGEST) THE CELLPHONE THAT DOESN'T WORK AT THE HOTEL -- By CHRISTOPHER ELLIOTT The New York Times | Business | Business Travel: September 7, 2004 As a frequent guest at a Salt Lake City Hampton Inn, Murray Trepel often finds himself powering down his cellphone and picking up the house phone. "My cellphone seldom works anywhere near the hotel," said Mr. Trepel, the senior manager for a call-center service provider in Logan, Utah. "Not just in my room, but in the parking lot as well." What is going on? Mr. Trepel, like many business travelers who depend on uninterrupted service from their wireless company, has a long list of probable culprits - including the building's architecture, the area's geography and the cellphone industry's erratic coverage. But another theory is starting to gain traction among business travelers: hotels are blocking the signals. They would certainly have the motive. Cellphones have taken a huge bite out of their earnings. Thanks largely to the preponderance of portables, the profits from in- room phones dropped 76 percent in four years, sliding from $644 an available room in 2000 to $152 last year, according to the hotel consulting firm PKF in San Francisco. . . http://www.nytimes.com/2004/09/07/business/07jamming.html?pagewanted=print&position= (via Mike Cooper, DXLD) RADIO EQUIPMENT FORUM / DRM / CONVENTIONS & CONFERENCES +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Digital Radio Mondiale (DRM) to Introduce Consumer Products including Digital World Traveller at IBC Press Conference, 11 September, 11:00 Amsterdam - Digital Radio Mondiale (DRM trademarks) will introduce its latest consumer products, including the Digital World Traveller - the world's first DRM-capable USB receiver - in a press conference at IBC on Saturday, 11 September, 2004. The Digital World Traveller is made by DRM Member Coding Technologies. The press conference will feature DRM Chairman Peter Senger (COO, Deutsche Welle), who received the EBU Lifetime Achievement Award for Services to International Broadcasting at the IBC Conference last year. Also featured will be DRM Vice Chairman Jan Hoek (Acting Director General, Radio Netherlands), Coding Technologies' Stefan Meltzer and other DRM Members. The event begins at 11:00 at the DRM Stand in the Radio Hall (8.484). "There's a lot to see and hear at the DRM booth this year," says Peter Senger. "We are thrilled to offer IBC attendees more consumer products than ever before, software devices, new data services, and a record number of live DRM broadcasts." IBC attendees can listen to live, DRM broadcasts on DRM-capable consumer and software products at the DRM booth this year. DRM Member VT Communications will offer complimentary DRM Mobile Reception Tours in a specially-fitted car during IBC -- to sign up, visit the DRM stand. Tours leave from the IBC Garage. Featured in the vehicle will be the DRM 2010 Receiver Car Kit by DRM Supporter AFG Engineering GmbH. IBC attendees who visit the DRM stand can sign up for a free copy of the new, DRM Broadcasters' User Manual, a 56-page guide packed with DRM implementation details -- ideal for broadcasters thinking about starting DRM broadcasts. Several DRM Members will display DRM- capable professional products at their own IBC booths. DRM is the world's only non-proprietary, universally standardized, digital on-air system for short-wave, medium-wave/AM and long-wave. More than 60 commercial, public, international, national and local broadcasters worldwide have sent DRM transmissions. More than 350 hours of DRM broadcasts are currently transmitted per day. DRM offers crystal clear audio quality and excellent reception, even over long distances -- Russia and China are now testing DRM for both domestic and international use. The first DRM consumer products became available this year. With DRM's global reach growing, the range of consumer receivers is expected to expand. DRM membership recently reached a record high of 84 Members from 27 countries. DRM is online at http://www.drm.org (English), and at the DRM Koordinations - Komitee Deutschland web site (German), http://www.drm-national.de DRM will be showcased at the IBC conference on Thursday, 9 September, in the Digital Radio - Sound Progress to a Digital Future session, 10:00 - 13:00, Room A. Presentations by DRM Members include: DRM: Multi-Transmitter Networks and Diversity Reception by Oliver Haffenden, Andrew Murphy and John Elliott of BBC R&D; DRM: The First Spanish Field Trial by Dr. Pablo Angueira, David Guerra, G. Prieto, J.M. Matias, M. Velez, and I. Fernandez (University of the Basque Country); and DRM: Transmission Infrastructure and Synchronised Networks by Andrew Murphy, Oliver Haffenden, and John Elliott of BBC R&D (publish-only paper). On Monday, 13 September, Jonathan Marks of Critical Distance BV will include the latest DRM products within the session: What Caught My Eye - Practical Gadgets, 10:30-11:30, Room L. DRM-Capable Consumer Products & Services, at the DRM Stand (8.484) a.. DRM Member Ahead Software will showcase a chip-based (VHDL) prototype for DRM source decoding. a.. DRM Member BBC will display hourly BBC World Service news headlines using an audio-on-demand service. BBC will also demonstrate a new data service that connects to the 2010 via USB and lets users view web data on a PDA. a.. DRM Member Coding Technologies will introduce the Digital World Traveller, a small, USB device that connects to a PC or a laptop without needing any additional power supply or battery. It comes with the Digital World Traveller Radio Software, and can receive DRM, FM and AM programs. It will be sold for ?199+VAT after IBC. Coding Technologies will also display MAYAH's DRM 2010 consumer radio, a joint development by Coding Technologies, BBC R&D, and DRM Supporters MAYAH and AFG Engineering GmbH. a.. DRM Member Fraunhofer IIS will showcase its new, palm-sized, DRM Chipset Evaluation kit. It is based on a combination of dedicated signal processing hardware and a flexible embedded ARM9 processor core running software, enabling chip-set and system manufacturers to build up and brand their own highly integrated DRM products. The demo is composed of a standard RF tuner, a prototyping board and a PDA. a.. DRM Member VT Communications will present the WiNRADiO G303e receiver. With USB interface, it is an external (USB) version of the award-winning WR-G303i receiver. VT Communications will also exhibit the DRM Software Radio. a.. DRM Supporter Music and Bytes GmbH will display its Starwaves Prelude, a DRM- and DAB-capable home radio. DRM-Capable Professional Equipment, at DRM Members' Stands a.. DRM Member Ahead Software (Stand 7.705) will demonstrate a full- software decoding solution based on DReaM. (more) a.. DRM Member Broadcast Electronics (Stand 8.389) will detail its DRM-capable transmitters, including the new, 4MX 50 Ultra-AM Transmitter. Using a patent-pending modulation design, this highly- efficient 50 kW transmitter is the first in a new series. It has a footprint about half the size of comparable models. b.. DRM Member Harris Corporation (Stand 8.291) will demonstrate its DAX 5 kW AM transmitter. The new DAX transmitter is the Harris response to customer requests for DX performance in low-power AM transmitters. The new DAX design uses Digital Adaptive Modulation to offer digital performance on par with the field proven performance of the DX family of transmitters, and superior analogue AM performance. Also, Harris Corporation will première its new, FlexStar DRM Upgrade package, which enables broadcasters to upgrade a DX transmitter in the field in less than an hour. a.. DRM Member Nautel (Stand 11.611) will showcase its DRM-AM Solid State MW Transmitters from 1 kW to 1.2 MW with demonstrated on-air DRM performance. Designed for fast frequency change, they have reserve power and modulation capability. Featured will be the XL60, 60 kW DRM- AM MW transmitter. a.. DRM Member RIZ Transmitters (Stand 5.329) will demonstrate the DRM Exciter - Compact Solution, with sophisticated features and flexibility that make it unique. It offers a total solution to the digitalization of AM broadcasting. It is capable of remote, automatic service and channel reconfiguration, as well as UEP (unequal error protection), hierarchical modulation and double bandwidth (18/20 kHz) support. RIZ Transmitters will have live DRM broadcasts with a 1 kW SW linear transmitter tuned to 25.8 MHz. a.. DRM Member TELEFUNKEN SenderSysteme Berlin AG (8.241) will exhibit its DRM exciter DRM DMOD2, with automatic pre-correction for non linear and linear transmitters. Also at the TELEFUNKEN stand, DRM Member Fraunhofer IIS will display the Fraunhofer Content Server and the Fraunhofer DRM test receiver/generator. It will also premiere its DRM Monitoring Receiver DT700, a professional, portable monitoring receiver for DRM with web server and RSCI interface. A stand-alone unit, it is easy to use due to LCD menus. a.. DRM Member Thales Broadcast & Multimedia (Stand 8.171) will demonstrate how to seamlessly combine AM Digital Radio and Digital Video Broadcasting Infrastructure. In a live demo, Thales will show how DRM signals can travel through DVB contribution networks. Thales will demonstrate a complete DRM transmission chain including the Alto-Stratus Encoder/Modulator, an M2W Medium-wave transmitter in a fully integrated and automated version, and receiving equipment. The Cirrus Multi-Program Encoder/Multiplexer and Stratus DRM Modulator/RF Exciter will be incorporated. These products are the latest generation of Thales Skywave 2000 equipment. DRM Members Commercial Radio Australia (Australia); Nautel Ltd., Radio Canada International/CBC (Canada); Academy of Broadcasting Science of China, Beijing Broadcasting University (China); RIZ Transmitters (Croatia); HFCC (Czech Republic); ESPOL, HCJB World Radio (Ecuador); Digita Oy, Kymenlaakso Polytechnik (Finland); CCETT, Comité DRF (Digital Radios Françaises), Radio France, Radio France Internationale, TDF, Thales Broadcast & Multimedia (France); ADDX, Ahead Software AG, APR, Atmel Germany GmbH, Coding Technologies GmbH, Deutsche Welle, DeutschlandRadio, DLM, Sender Europa 1, Fraunhofer IIS, Georg-Simon- Ohm - University of Applied Sciences Nuremberg, IZT, IRT, Medienanstalt Sachsen-Anhalt/Digitaler Rundfunk Sachsen-Anhalt, Micronas GmbH, Robert Bosch GmbH, Sony International Europe, SWR Südwestrundfunk, TELEFUNKEN SenderSysteme Berlin AG, T-Systems International GmbH, University of Applied Sciences - FH Merseburg, University of Hanover, University of Ulm, VPRT (Germany); Antenna Hungaria, National Communications Authority Hungary (Hungary); Basamad College, Tehran (Iran); Hitachi Kokusai Electric Ltd., NHK (Japan); Libyan Jamahiriya Broadcasting (Libya); Broadcasting Centre Europe, RTL Group (Luxembourg); Asia Pacific Broadcasting Union (Malaysia); Agentschap Telecom, Nozema, Radio Netherlands, Technical University Delft (Netherlands); Radio New Zealand International (New Zealand); Telenor/Norkring (Norway); Radiodifusão Portuguesa (Portugal); RTRN/Voice of Russia (Russia); Government of Catalonia, Universidad del País Vasco, (Spain); Swedish Radio International (Sweden); EBU, International Committee of the Red Cross, ITU (Switzerland); Arab States Broadcasting Union (Tunisia); BBC, Christian Vision, Imagination Technologies Ltd., QinetiQ, RadioScape Ltd., VT Communications, WRN (U.K.); Broadcast Electronics, Inc., Dolby Laboratories Incorporated, Dolby Laboratories Licensing Corporation, DRS Broadcast Technology (formerly Continental Electronics), Harris Corporation, Broadcast Communications Division, IBB/VOA, Kintronic Laboratories, Inc., National Association of Short-wave Broadcasters, Sangean America, Inc., TCI, a Dielectric Company, Via Licensing Corporation (U.S.A.); and Radio Vaticana (Vatican City). (DRM press release from Siriol Jane Evans, DX LISTENING DIGEST) PROPAGATION +++++++++++ GENESIS FIREBALL --- Space Weather News for Sept. 7, 2004 http://spaceweather.com On Wednesday morning, Sept. 8th, NASA's Genesis space capsule will streak over Oregon, Idaho, Nevada and Utah, returning samples of the solar wind to Earth. Sky watchers within 100 miles of the reentry path might be able to see the fireball in broad daylight. The best place to be is northern Nevada, where the fireball is expected to be brightest. New maps and data files just posted on Spaceweather.com may help observers locate and track the capsule. Visual observations of the event will be limited to a narrow corridor around the reentry path, but ham radio operators across a much broader area can detect the fireball--by listening. The capsule will blaze a radio-reflecting plasma trail from Oregon to Utah. The reentry offers an opportunity for meteor-burst communications. Follow the links at Spaceweather.com for more information (via Jim Moats, dxldyg via DXLD) They might have mentioned the time in this: 1552-1556 UT Sept 8 (gh) The geomagnetic field was at quiet to major storm levels. The period began with quiet to unsettled levels but quickly rose to minor storm conditions by 30/0600 UTC as effects of the partial halo CME from 27 August impacted the geomagnetic field. Active to minor storm levels, with one isolated major storm period early on 31 August, persisted through late on the 31st. Thereafter, and through the end of the summary period the field was quiet to unsettled. Some isolated active periods at high latitudes were observed midday on 05 September due to a weak coronal hole wind stream flow. FORECAST OF SOLAR AND GEOMAGNETIC ACTIVITY 08 SEPTEMBER - 04 OCTOBER Solar activity levels are expected to be predominately very low to low, but isolated moderate activity may occur after the return of old Region 661 (N06, L=348) on 09 September. No greater than 10 MeV proton events are expected. The greater than 2 MeV electron flux at geosynchronous orbit is expected to be at high levels on 08 September, 14–19 September, and on 04 October. The geomagnetic field is expected to range from mostly quiet to unsettled levels. From 14 to 18 September and on 03 October, levels are expected to increase to unsettled to active due to recurrent coronal hole wind streams. :Product: 27-day Space Weather Outlook Table 27DO.txt :Issued: 2004 Sep 07 2211 UTC # Prepared by the US Dept. of Commerce, NOAA, Space Environment Center # Product description and SEC contact on the Web # http://www.sec.noaa.gov/wwire.html # # 27-day Space Weather Outlook Table # Issued 2004 Sep 07 # # UTC Radio Flux Planetary Largest # Date 10.7 cm A Index Kp Index 2004 Sep 08 110 10 3 2004 Sep 09 115 8 3 2004 Sep 10 115 8 3 2004 Sep 11 115 8 3 2004 Sep 12 110 8 3 2004 Sep 13 110 10 3 2004 Sep 14 105 12 3 2004 Sep 15 100 8 3 2004 Sep 16 100 12 3 2004 Sep 17 100 15 3 2004 Sep 18 100 12 3 2004 Sep 19 100 8 3 2004 Sep 20 100 8 3 2004 Sep 21 95 8 3 2004 Sep 22 95 8 3 2004 Sep 23 90 8 3 2004 Sep 24 90 12 3 2004 Sep 25 85 8 3 2004 Sep 26 85 10 3 2004 Sep 27 85 8 3 2004 Sep 28 85 10 3 2004 Sep 29 90 10 3 2004 Sep 30 95 5 2 2004 Oct 01 100 5 2 2004 Oct 02 100 8 3 2004 Oct 03 100 12 3 2004 Oct 04 100 10 3 (from http://www.sec.noaa.gov/radio via WORLD OF RADIO 1245, DXLD) ###