DX LISTENING DIGEST 4-181, December 5, 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 1255: Mon 0330 WOR WRMI 6870 Mon 0400 WOR WBCQ 9330-CLSB Mon 0430 WOR WSUI Iowa City IA 910 [1254] Mon 0530 WOR WBCQ 7415 Mon 0900 WOR R. Lavalamp Mon 1700 WOR WBCQ after hours Mon 2200 WOR WBCQ 9330-CLSB Tue 1000 WOR WRMI 9955 Tue 1700 WOR WBCQ after hours Tue 2200 WOR WBCQ 9330-CLSB Wed 1030 WOR WWCR 9985 Wed 1700 WOR WBCQ after hours MORE info including audio links: http://worldofradio.com/radioskd.html 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 1255 (high version): (stream) http://www.w4uvh.net/wor1255h.ram (download) http://www.w4uvh.net/wor1255.rm WORLD OF RADIO 1255 (low version): (stream) http://www.w4uvh.net/wor1255.ram (download) http://www.w4uvh.net/wor1255.rm (summary) http://www.worldofradio.com/wor1255.html WORLD OF RADIO 1255, mp3 in the true SW sound of 7415: (stream) http://www.piratearchive.com/media/worldofradio_12-01-04.m3u (d`load) http://www.piratearchive.com/media/worldofradio_12-01-04.mp3 ** AFGHANISTAN [non]. 15195, Salaam Watandar, Internews Afghanistan, Tarjeta QSL con datos completos por un informe de recepción enviado por correo electrónico el pasado 15 de Octubre. El frente de la tarjeta muestra un mapa de Afghanistán con su división política en provincias y se señala la ubicación de los transmisores que esta emisora posee en la FM en cada una de las mismas. La verificación vino sóla, sin sobre, directamente desde Kabul, con dos sellos postales muy bonitos!! (Arnaldo Slaen, Argentina, Noticias DX via DXLD) 15195, Salaam Watandar-Internews Afghanistan, QSL Card full data in 46 days for a reception report sent by email in October 15. The card`s front has an Afghanistan map with all provinces and mark all the ubications of Salaam Watandar FM Broadcasts. The station sent me only the Verification Card directly from Kabul!!! (Arnaldo Slaen, Argentina, BCLNews.it via DXLD) ** AUSTRALIA. 4835, ABC Alice Springs, Dec 1, at 1131-1143, English ``ABC news``, into Big Band music, reception was the best so far. Best in LSB to get away from het. Not heard in the last few days (Ron Howard, Monterey, CA, NRD545, Dec 5, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** AUSTRALIA [non]. See TAIWAN ** AUSTRIA. Checking R. Austria Eins, UT Sun Dec 5 at 0000 UT on 7325, nice signal with bong, and intro news in German with timecheck for ``zwei und zwanzig Uhr``, so they are now broadcasting news that is three hours old? At least they admit it. Not ``zwo`` but ``zwei`` (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** BELGIUM [non]. 5925, Radio Traumland-Raeren, Belgium via Jülich just started at 1400 Dec. 5, dj Tommy Peeters, Music: José Feliciano "Féliz Navidad", Poor audio feed (DXA375-Silvain Domen, Antwerpen, Belgium, 1405 ut Dec 5, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Strong signal here in Bonn with SINPO 44444. Tel.:+32/87/301722 (Peter Kruse, 1432 UT Dec 5, ibid.) ...and here in south Italy! (Roberto Scaglione, 1433 UT Dec 5, ibid.) 45444 here in Antwerpen, Belgium (Silvain Domen, 1437 UT Dec 5, ibid.) ** BELGIUM [non]. TDP Radio on 7590 kHz --- Happened to catch what I presume was the Belgium-based TDP Radio on 7590 yesterday (Saturday 4 December) at 2015 UT. No ID was heard but the programming consisted of non-stop techno-style pop/dance music. Some of the lyrics -- such as they were! -- appeared to be in Dutch or a similar language. The signal was fair with moderate fading. According to eibi and PWBR '05, this transmission was via Armavir (Russia). (Jim Clar, Rochester, NY, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** BRAZIL. A Rádio Educadora, de Limeira (SP), permanece firme emitindo em 2380 kHz, em 120 metros. Foi sintonizada, em Conselheiro Lafaiete (MG), pelo Cleiber Andrade Júnior, em 23 de novembro, às 2210, quando era irradiado o espaço Razão de Viver (Célio Romais, Panorama via Conexión Digital Dec 4 via DXLD) ** BURMA [non]. Democratic Voice of Burma, Norway, QSL letter for reception on 17495, in 23 days. v/s- Myat Htay Kyi (acting director?) (Rajeep Das, India?, Dec 5, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CANADA [non]. 11935, 1631-, RCI, Dec 5. I don't know if anyone noticed or not, but RCI is still transmitting in Ukrainian at this time via Skelton at fair level // to 9555 under cochannel RFA in listed Uighur. They were to have canned their Ukrainian service on 30 Nov, but perhaps with all the turmoil in Ukraine and protests, they have yet again reconsidered. ID at 1635 after the news, and then into an interview with a representative of the Ukrainian community (Volodya Salmaniw, Victoria, BC, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Walt, You should listen to last week`s Maple Leaf Mailbag (archived). They read your letter about the Ukrainian service, and followed up by saying it had been reprieved at least until the end of January. 73, (Glenn to Volodya, via DXLD) Wow, that's neat, Glenn. I haven't heard it, spending most of my time reading the world's print media on the situation in Ukraine, and watching some of the TV programming of their independent Channel 5. Neat stuff, to say the least (Walt to Glenn via DXLD) ** CHAD. Re 4-180: I ran SpecLab on 840 this evening and received the carrier you describe - drifting and switching off at around 2233 UT. http://www.geocities.com/paulcrankshaw/capt2431x.jpg I'm currently running SpecLab in colour mode with red corresponding to the signal strength which would normally produce audio. You can see that just before switch off signal strength was close to audio level ... I wasn't listening so I don't know if there was any audio. You can also see a switch on just before 2150, with the carrier drifting initially (warm up?) (Paul Crankshaw, Troon, UK, Dec 1, MWC via DXLD) ** CUBA. KUBO. Again this Sunday I checked for RHC`s weekly Esperanto broadcast at 1500. Again it was on 9550, but around 1509 it dumped off the air, as I had temporarily tuned to 9515 to see what Hour 2 of The Sunday Edition was about. By 1512, I had tuned up to 11760, and there was the Esperanto broadcast on its scheduled frequency, unlike last week. Either 9550 ran over and duplicated 11760, or 11760 was brought up late with the same transmitter after 9550 was turned off. Either way, not a nice way to treat this special service. Talk later in the half hour was about the early years of Zamenhof`s movement, a bit incestuous. To be a vital language, it needs to deal more with current events, which also would require adapting new vocabulary to the strict Esperanto rules (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ECUADOR. Aventura Diexista, this week with Jeff White interviewing gh, aired Sat Dec 4 at 1430 sharp in the middle of Club de Amigos, on 11960 and 15140; I did say it could be earlier than 1440. Checking http://www.hcjb.org.ec I still can`t find a SW program schedule in Spanish, tho there are skeds for MW/6050 and FM. Assuming the old schedule still holds, the repeats should be Sunday 2230 on 15140 and UT Mon 0230 on 9745. The 6050 schedule also shows Club de Amigos UT Mon at 0200+. Apparently the only HCJB Spanish show audio-archived is Música del Ecuador, but I may put up a recording of Aventura later for anyone interested (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) En la reunión DRM de Dallas, el 12 de noviembre, me entrevistó Jeff White para Aventura Diexista en HCJB. Se transmite esta semana dentro del programa Club de Amigos, ya a las 1430 TU del sábado en 11960, 15140 y 21455. Aunque no disponible un horario de programación de HCJB en onda corta, las repeticiones deben quedarse: el domingo a las 2230 en 15140; el lunes universal a las 0230 en 9745 (y talvez 6050). Ni disponibles archivos de audio del programa, pero voy a poner una grabación vía http://www.worldofradio.com/espanol.html (Glenn Hauser, Oclajoma, 4 de diciembre, DX LISTENING DIGEST) GH on HCJB [and not] --- Jeff White tells me that altho his interview with me is on Aventura Diexista this week, the English version on DX Partyline has been delayed a week due to technical problems. 73, (Glenn, DXLD) See also unID 3219+ ** ECUADOR. Quito 4/12 2004 Saturday edition: Recording of new Ecuadorian in Lago Agrio, 5999.29 kHz "La Voz del Upano" is not a new radio station but this transmitter in "Lago Agrio" is brand new and "hot". I have had the last 2 days an open carrier on 5999.29 kHz without any audio. This Saturday evening first relay of a FM transmitter "99.3" and then the DJ was talking about this new transmitter in "Lago Agrio", Provincia de Sucumbíos" in the Amazonas jungle. He said regular transmissions will start 15th of December. The town has two names: "Lago Agrio" and "Nueva Loja" (many people have moved in from the town of "Loja" in southern Ecuador) and is the capital of the province "Sucumbíos" in the north-east part of Ecuador. Comments and Recordings at: http://www.malm-ecuador.com 73s (Björn Malm, Quito, Ecuador, Dec 4, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** EGYPT. Hello Dxers, here's an article published in a weekly magazine published in Egypt Called `Akher Sa'aa` on 24/11/04 titled ``Overseas Radio stations --- Voice of Egypt is in Danger`` edited by Ms. Nawal Albeely and Mr. Rasheed Ghamry: Almost 50 years ago exactly in 1953 Egypt kicked off its first overseas radio station as an ambitious project having in mind the media as a strategic weapon; later on the dream became reality and Huna Al Qahira (This is Cairo) is all over the world in different languages all over the globe. Starting with 30 minutes daily to Indonesia, now we have 71.5 hours daily transmissions with 37 different languages. That was the start -- - now sounds like we are approaching a dramatic end as there's some news about reducing the transmitting hours to 20 hours daily and the cessation of 25 different Radio Cairo overseas sections. Those who know the importance of these transmissions were shocked; some say the reason was to reduce expenses, though it's well known that the budget for these programs is less by all means of any series or programs shown on the TV. We will talk to some of the workers in these to be ceased departments where you can see frustration. In the African department: one of the program editors said "how dare they be thinking about ceasing the horn of Africa while the reconciliation of Somalia is taking place and Egypt should play a key role there." Another editor commented, "the Muslims in Africa are really attached to this service which is giving them a profile about Islam and teaching them Arabic language." A third member of the department said, "so many of the editors here have MA in rare languages ... in case of ceasing these sections what will happen to us??" The Asian/Middle East Department: the news was more gloomy, canceling 10 different sections and the surviving departments will be: Persian to Iran, Pashtu to Afghanistan and Urdu to Pakistan. One of the editors there commented, "currently different stations are battling to have more radio stations on the airwaves ( hint....hint ) and here we come with our well known role in the region and close these departments and waste the effort of 50 years!" Another one said, "how could you consider the Turkish section not important ??!" A third one said, "how could you stop the programs beamed to the central Asian states. These Islamic nations separated from the Soviet Union, they need to know the link they have with the Arab and Islamic countries; some of the great Muslim scientists were from that part of the world." A fourth one wondered, "on which bases are they ceasing the Indonesian, Malay one of the first departments on the air, and the Bengali section as well. Editor's comment: (several members of the workers in these departments refused to give their names as they said they may have problems if we published their names!!!!). According to our sources, Mr. Omar Batesha, the Director of Radio, refused having any claim about the ceasing of these departments from the employees saying that if you are gonna claim you better send me your resignation letter as well!!!!!!!!!!! Mr. Esam Eldeen Sadek, the general manager of the African department: "if we are thinking about that issue with the mentality of profit and loss, there's a big difference between the profit they will gain from ceasing these transmissions and the massive loss we will have in different aspects of media, political and cultural wise, not to mention the historical issue. Egypt supported the African occupied nations to get their liberation, and end the racist discrimination. We have to keep that role and remind the people of our role; furthermore, there's so many political challenges we are going through now in Africa so how could we just let down one of our weapons, how could we cease the transmission to the Nile valley countries!? Have we forgotten the role played by the east African nations in the 1973 war!? How could we ignore the role of South Africa? As one of the supporters to the Palestinian rights we should keep them posted with the latest about that issue. Dr. Hassan Ali Hassan, the Director of the overseas section of Radio Cairo: "if the reception is poor from a technical point of view in some parts of the world, I think we should fix these problems as soon as possible, not to cease the whole thing. And that should be according to a schedule and a plan to get over all these problems. I think the message is reaching the target areas; for example, the Italian section of Radio Cairo got the best Italian Overseas radio station beamed to Italy [award, from whom?] for two consecutive years. Also the Hausa section beamed to Nigeria and that part of Africa is getting an enormous response from listeners and they ask for more religious programs as Alazhar (which is located in Egypt) is the symbol of the moderate Islamic rules. Also we have to respond to the request of so many listeners to have our own moderate religious programs to face different extremist religious ideas on the air waves, so how could we skip that role? We have a special program (Let's Learn Arabic) with 11 different languages and we get appreciation from different Islamic countries like India, Bangladesh, Malaysia and Indonesia. The problem is, any ceased service won't be replaced! Editor's comment: Our final word. We think there should be more research before ceasing these transmissions as it's a really dangerous step which might destroy 50-year-old mega role that needs only technical supporting, not ceasing. [translation by Tarek Zeidan, fixed up a bit by gh] My comment: well, as long as Dr. Hassan Ali Hassan, the Director of the Overseas section of Radio Cairo is talking about it, then I think (hope Not) it's in process! Hope they have a second thought about it. Still the decision is gonna be taken I reckon by the end of this month! Hopefully 2005 won't be the end of most of Radio Cairo's overseas sections. All the best (Tarek Zeidan, Cairo, Egypt, Dec 4, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Hello DXers, finally I got an e mail from Ms. Niveen Lawrance with the tentative schedule of Radio Cairo - B 04 and as you can see it still have all the sections they are negotiating to cease by the end of this year. I've been trying to call her for a while now but as long as she replied I'll ask her for her right phone No. All the best guys, yours (Tarek Zeidan, Cairo, Egypt, Dec 4, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Viz.: EGYPTIAN RADIO & TV UNION (ERTU) BROADCAST ENGINEERING TENTATIVE PROGRAM SCHEDULE (B 04) UTC KHz METERS PROGRAM TARGET AREA 0030-0430 7115 41 ARABIC E N AMERICA 0045-0200 7260 41 SPANISH N AMERICA 0045-0200 11755 25 SPANISH C AMERICA 0045-0200 9415 31 SPANISH S AMERICA 0200-0330 7260 41 ENGLISH N AMERICA 1100-0300 12050 25 GENERAL PROGRAM N AMERICA & EUROPE 0700-1100 15115 19 GENERAL PROGRAM W AFRICA 1015-1215 17775 16 ARABIC M EAST & AFGHANISTAN 1115-1215 15710 19 THAI S E ASIA 1215-1330 17670 16 ENGLISH S ASIA 1215-1315 15710 19 MALAY S E ASIA 1230-1530 15490 19 PERSIAN TADZHIKSTAN 1320-1450 15710 19 INDONESIAN S E ASIA 1330-1430 17670 16 BENGALI S ASIA 1300-1600 15365 19 ARABIC W AFRICA 1400-1530 11655 25 AZERI AZERBAIJAN 1500-1600 13660 22 HINDI S ASIA 1430-1600 15670 19 PASHTO AFGHANISTAN 1800-1900 7120 41 RUSSIAN W RUSSIA 1530-1630 9480 31 UZBEKI UZBEKISTAN 1530-1630 15155 19 AFAR E & C AFRICA 1530-1730 17810 16 SWAHILI C & E AFRICA 1600-1800 13660 22 URDU S ASIA 1600-1645 15620 19 ZULU C & S AFRICA 1600-1800 6230 49 TURKISH TURKEY 1600-1800 9990 31 ALBANIAN ALBANIA 1630-1730 15155 19 SOMALI E & C AFRICA 1630-1830 9855 31 ENGLISH C & S AFRICA 1645-1730 15620 19 SHONA C & S AFRICA 1730-1815 15620 19 INDEBELE C & S AFRICA 1730-1900 15155 19 AMHARIC E & C AFRICA 1800-1900 9988 31 ITALIAN EUROPE 1800-2100 9760 31 HAUSA W AFRICA 1830-1915 9855 31 LINGALA C & S AFRICA 1830-1930 15375 19 WOLOF W AFRICA 1900-2000 9990 31 GERMAN EUROPE 1900-0030 11665 25 VOICE OF THE ARABS C & E AFRICA 1915-2030 15425 19 FULANI W AFRICA 1930-2030 15375 19 BAMBARA W AFRICA 2000-2200 7270 41 ARABIC AUSTRALIA 2000-2115 9990 31 FRENCH EUROPE 2030-2200 15375 19 ENGLISH W AFRICA 2030-2230 15335 19 FRENCH W AFRICA 2100-2200 9760 31 YORUBA W AFRICA 2115-2245 9990 31 ENGLISH EUROPE 2215-2330 11790 25 PORTUGUSE S AMERICA 2300-0030 7115 41 ENGLISH E N AMERICA 2330-0045 9735 31 ARABIC S AMERICA 2330-0045 11755 25 ARABIC S AMERICA (via Tarek Zeidan, Egypt, Dec 4, DX LISTENING DIGEST) At 2357 UT Sat Dec 4 on 7115, ``Radio Cairo presents --- [long musical intro] Arabic by Radio``; altho it was somewhat over IBB in Serbo- Croatian on this occasion, the S-C made the Arabic too confusing to follow (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 7115, R. Cairo, 2317+, Dec.3, English, News re Palestinian elections and U.N. Tanzanian V.P. visit. Fair tho battling for dominance with co-channel RFE-RL via Morocco (Scott Barbour, NH, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEIST) ** ETHIOPIA. 6940, R. Fana: again heard in a clear frequency at 1812 Dec 4 with folk jazz song, sporadic FSK, S 5 max (Zacharias Liangas, Thessaloniki, Greece, Pesawat penerima: ICOM R75, Lowe HF150, Degen 1102, Chibo C300/c979, Yupi 7000, Antenna: 16m hor, 2x16 m V invert, 1m australian loop, http://www.geocities.com/zliangas DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** FRANCE. I received a QSL from TWR 1467, Roumoules, France, for a reception on OCT 24 2004. I have been completely unsuccessful in getting QSLs from any other station in France. Although this one is listed as Monte Carlo, the transmitter is in France, so I have now verified that country. The note enclosed with the QSL is interesting: "Right now this is my only job and I've done it for 21 years. I'm part-time and I come in and do all of the QSL's." Beth Chick, TWR - Austria address used (Jim Renfrew, Byron NY, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** GERMANY [non]. Hello Glenn, The German school project Radio Rasant will be back soon: their website says they will be on shortwave on Dec. 25th, so maybe via IRRS as the frequency and time are not mentioned but the power (probably the 13840 kHz with 100 kW). They are already on air on local Radio Sauerland on Dec. 2nd, 9th and 15th on FM at 1803 local time (1703 UT). Source : http://www.radiorasant.org I advise all people interested to check their website, they might add the time/frequency soon. Enjoy it, all! (Stephane Veron, France, Dec 4, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** HAWAII. Adventist World Radio Wavescan program #518 --- 50/1 12/5/2004 http://english.awr.org/wavescan/scripts/ws518.htm One of the very popular radio programs during the era of the 1930s was heard on relay throughout the United States on mediumwave and it was often reported on shortwave by listeners throughout the Pacific basin. This program was on the air under the tile, ``Hawaii Calls``. It originated in a tourist hotel in Honolulu Hawaii, and was relayed on shortwave to the United States from the RCA station at Kahuku. Here`s Steve Hamstra to take us back to the beginnings of radio in Hawaii: The RCA communication station was established at Kahuku on the northern edge of the capital island of Oahu back at the time when wireless messages were communicated only by spark gap Morse Code. This impressive wireless station was officially inaugurated on September 24, 1914, and at the time, it was described as the largest in the world with an antenna system one mile long. Some ten years later, RCA Kahuku was converted to valve operation and the spark transmitters were discarded. Ten years later again, a new communication transmitter was installed, a unit that was listed at 50 kW, though these days we would probably list the power output as 20 kW. When the era of international conflict began, this RCA station was on the air with several shortwave transmitters with a power output ranging from 2 kW up to 20 kW. The main purpose for this station was for communication with the mainland United States, though it was also on the air with inter- island and trans-Pacific communication. Many three letter callsigns were in use during this era, including for example, KIE, KKH, KKP, KRO, and KQH. In addition to the communication transmissions, this station was often noted on air with a point-to-point relay of radio broadcast programming. Generally, these program broadcasts originated in Hawaii and consisted of news dispatches and commentaries, as well as entertainment programming consisting of locally produced Hawaiian music. Occasionally, RCA Kahuku acted as an intermediate relay for programming from Asia and the South Pacific intended for broadcast on mediumwave throughout the United States. And then there were occasions when RCA received programming from the continental United States for local broadcast in Hawaii, or for onward relay to Asia and Australia & New Zealand. For a short period of time in 1942, a 10 kW transmitter at Kahuku was on the air under the callsign KRCA with a relay of programming on behalf of the Voice of America. The noted American radio historian, Jerry Berg in Boston, states that the first broadcast of the program, ``Hawaii Calls,`` went on the air locally from the Moana Hotel on Waikiki Beach on July 3, 1935, obviously in recognition of the July 4 patriotic celebrations. The first known logging of a program relay of ``Hawaii Calls`` on shortwave was a couple of months later in September when RCA Kahuku was noted on 7370 kHz under the callsign KEQ. A regular weekly relay to the continental United States of ``Hawaii Calls`` began in January 1937 under the callsign KIO on 25.6 metres. These broadcasts were heard on Thursday evenings and were one and a half hours in duration. During the following year, the broadcast schedule was changed to Sunday afternoons. The production of these live programs was undertaken by local mediumwave stations in Honolulu. In 1938, pioneer station KGU in Honolulu was on the air locally and by relay from RCA with ``Hawaii Calls,`` and in 1943, another pioneer station, KGMB, was producing the program. In fact, both stations issued QSL cards honoring the shortwave reception of this programming. After peace was re-established in the Pacific, an attempt was made to continue the program series, ``Hawaii Calls,`` and station KHON took over production for a while. Soon afterwards, program production was transferred again, this time to station KPOA. However, by this time, international circumstances had changed, and the program series was never again as popular as what it had been ten years earlier. As a postscript, several postcards that feature ``Hawaii Calls`` are held in various collections of radio memorabilia. We are holding a couple in Indianapolis and Jerry Berg also has some in his collection. Our cards both show the same scene at the production of the program and are dated in the year 1951. One card does not identify the radio station, but the other card identifies the production station as KPOA. Quite recently, Jerry Berg visited the old production location while he was on vacation in Honolulu and he states that even to this day, it looks just like the picture in the 50 year old postcard. These days, the exotic and nostalgic radio program, ``Hawaii Calls,`` is long gone, but you can still hear radio programming on shortwave from Hawaii. You can try for AFRTS Radio which is on the air from the Forces communication station in Hawaii, and you can hear station KWHR which is located on the big island of Hawaii (Adrian Michael Peterson, AWR Wavescan Dec 5 via John Norfolk, DXLD) ** INDIA. If I did not know better, I would think All India Radio has a North American service in English, for at 2335 UT Dec 5 I ran across news in English on 9425, 500 kW from Bangalore, VG signal, and // much weaker 9470; about Russia, Jammu & Kashmir, etc. 2340 back into Hindi (?) and music. Not sure if news started at 2330 or 2335, but many of the scheduled casts are only 5 minutes, in WRTH 2004, which does not show any this early in the morning on the domestic SW service. Nothing on 10330, not on at this hour (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** INDIA. 4760, 4775, 4970, 4990, 9425, AIR, Dec 5, all // from 1522 to 1545, news in vernacular, English ``news at 9`` (mix of world, Indian and sports news), chimes, short commentary about civilization, 1545 into ``Spot Light`` English program (panel discussion), after 1545 not //. 4760 very poor, 4775 fair, 4970 poor, 4990 fair, 9425 good (Ron Howard, Monterey, CA, NRD545, Dec 5, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** INTERNATIONAL WATERS. Ran across a very interesting net on 6224- USB, UT Sun Dec 5 at 0041, with a guy talking about weather in the Sea of Cortez in some detail, emphasis on weather fronts, winds and seas. He seems to really know his subject and keep up with the latest observations. Evidently for sailboats. 0044 IDed as Summer Passage, and turned it over to Amazing Grace, but S.P. had much better signal than any of the others. Someone else was the NCS, but could barely copy. Another ID from Summer Passage gave a callsign, but too quick to copy. Seemed to be WKK2557 or maybe just WK2557. Googling a bit, I gather Summer Passage is a fellow named Don Anderson, and he participates in a number of other nets with wx info. Big forum to search at http://www.trailersailor.com which also led to http://www.cruisecortez.com Net continued past 0100 tune-out. Fortunately, no Deutsche Welle 6225 audible at this hour (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** INTERNATIONAL WATERS [non]. Pirate, 3927.0 R. Nordzee, 2133 Dec 4, with rock songs, man reads SMS from listeners, talks by YL in NL At again 2208 and then with numerous IDs of the station saying also it's a vessel transmission, with transmissions on FM, MW and SW. Great signal at S9, 43443, a carrier on USB (Zacharias Liangas, Greece, Pesawat penerima: ICOM R75, Lowe HF150, Degen 1102, Chibo C300/c979, Yupi 7000, Antenna: 16m hor, 2x16 m V invert, 1m australian loop, http://www.geocities.com/zliangas DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** IRAN. 7320, V. of Islam at 2000 ID in English, chants. Good signal. Barely audible // 11695. No ID as VOIRI. 3 Dec (Liz Cameron, Utility Editor, Michigan Area Radio Enthusiasts http://mare.radio.tripod.com dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** IRAN. Came upon some lovely Iranian string music, interspersed with Persian poetry on 9575, Dec 4 at 1450, continuing past hourtop without a break or ID --- but the announcements in between were in Russian. Yes, this is IRIB`s Russian service at 330 degrees, inadvertently aiming toward NAm too. Modulation not so good on the announcements, but good signal dropping a bit after hourtop (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** IRAN. 1503 kHz, IRIB Bushehr NOV 30 2254 - Good with orchestra music that sounded somewhat classical, one time with a piano solo, but also Iranian music with a chanter. Male and female announcers in what should have been Farsi. Bushehr, by the way, is where Iran is building a nuclear plant. And as when this station was last heard, there was a fairly strong het on 1169, the Iran jammer. [Dangerfield-PA] 1566, Bandar Abbas, NOV 30 2314 - Presumed as others in Iran were coming in. Had some sort of Middle East music but not enough to describe in detail. Doubt India. [Dangerfield-PA] Ben speaks: Things seemed to have calmed down some from the earlier auroral conditions but we don't seem to be back to normal, or what I consider normal. Northern route TAs are absent, the low end of the band is poor and noisy, and the LW band has been a blank. But on November 30 there was a nice opening to the Middle East for about two hours after local sunset. Stations on 1431, 1503 and 1548 were quite good and signals were heard from others in that part of the world (Ben Dangerfield, PA, NRC International DX Digest via DXLD) ** IRAN [non]. GERMANY, 9495 Radio Zan, 1900-1930 Sat Dec 4 via RMI. Before start of program an ID heard as ``This is transmitted from WRMI``, with immediate ID by YL Sedaye Zan; program consisting of talks and external reports, always spoken by women. Before program ended, there was a presentation of the station in English with 'Radio for women'. At 1929 gave frequencies, telephone, etc., then sign off. Signal was S9 at start (better then previous week) but gradually enhanced (Zacharias Liangas, Thessaloniki, Greece, Pesawat penerima: ICOM R75, Lowe HF150, Degen 1102, Chibo C300/c979, Yupi 7000, Antenna: 16m hor, 2x16 m V invert, 1m australian loop, http://www.geocities.com/zliangas DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ITALY [and non]. Schedule update (100 kW) from IRRS-Shortwave Dear colleagues, Effective Dec. 1, 2004, we are updating our schedule with an additional 3 hour segment using 100 kW on Sunday evening, and an extension of our Friday evening broadcast also on 100 kW. Our new schedule is now as follows: IRRS-Shortwave (Milan, Italy): 5775 kHz 2000-2130 UT Mon-Thu,Sat 20 kW - target (1) 5775 kHz 2000-2300 UT Fri & Sun 100 kW - target (1) 13840 kHz 0800-1300 UT Sat & Sun 20 kW - target (1) 15665 kHz 1100-1200 UT Fri 100 kW - target (2) (1) Europe, N Africa & Middle East (ITU zones: 18-19, 27-30, 37-39) (2) East Africa (ITU zones: 27-30, 36-39, 45) Please check program schedules at http://www.nexus.org/NEXUS-IBA/Schedules/ All programs are also available 24/24 via our streaming services at : http://mp3.nexus.org and: http://www.egradio.org/ With best regards from Milano, 73s, (Alfredo E. Cotroneo, CEO, NEXUS- Int'l Broadcasting Association, PO Box 11028, 20110, Milano, Italy email: alfredo @ nexus.org ph: +39-335-214-614 (try first)/+39-02- 266-6971 fax: +39-02-706-38151 (via Alokesh Gupta, DXLD) ** KASHMIR [non]. PAKISTAN. 4790, 1611-, Azad Kashmir Radio, Dec 5. Just discernible as English with news until 1615, and then into ?Kashmiri afterwards. Spoiled as always by CODAR. Not sure if they were relaying Radio Pakistan news or not (Volodya Salmaniw, Victoria, BC, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** LATVIA. 9290 EUROPA RADIO INTERNATIONAL --- Hola a todos. Desde las 1200 utc está en el aire desde el emisor en Letonia, Europa Radio International con una agradable selección de música inglesa y muchos comentarios haciendo referencia a los informes que están recibiendo. Además, ofrecen la posibilidad de enviar nuestro propio informe a través de su página web, que es: http://www.europaradiointernational.co.uk/ (Ignacio Sotomayor, Segovia, Castilla, España, (Coordenadas: 40º57'00''N-4º07'10''W), Rcvx: ICOM R-75; SONY ICF -SW7600, Anx: Hilo largo de 20 metros y Balun; KIWA Pocket Loop, Dec 5, Noticias DX via DXLD) Just tuned in at 1245 to Europa Radio International, 9290 via Latvia. Announced email address: admin @ europaradiointernational.co.uk Their postal address is: PO Box 299, Whitstable CT5 2YA, UK Usual powerhouse signal from Latvia here on 9290. 73s (Dave Kenny, Reading UK, Dec 5, BDXC-UK via DXLD) ** LATVIA. Ieri ho ricevuto una E-QSL da EMR. EUROPEAN MUSIC R. 9290 kHz - Rapporto inviato via email e confermato con QSL elettronica in 5 giorni. V/s Tom Taylor, QTH: EMR c/o T TAYLOR 32 BRISCOE ROAD, COLLIERS WOOD, LONDON, SW 19 2AQ, ENGLAND. E' possibile vederla al seguente URL: http://web.tiscali.it/ondecorte/emr.html 73's (Nino Marabello, Italy, BCLNews.it via DXLD) ** LUXEMBOURG [and non]. Radio Luxembourg set to return? Julia Day, Thursday December 2, 2004, The Guardian http://media.guardian.co.uk/radio/story/0,12636,1364041,00.html It launched the careers of Noel Edmonds, Peter Powell and David Jenson and now, 12 years after disappearing from the airwaves, the legendary Radio Luxembourg, self-proclaimed "station of the stars", is set to be revived. RTL, a subsidiary of German media group Bertelsmann and Five shareholder that grew out of Radio Luxembourg, is considering resurrecting 'Luxy' by broadcasting it into the UK from overseas on a new radio transmission technique which enables cross-border digital broadcasts. "We are considering relaunching a UK station from outside of the UK. It could be from Luxembourg, France, Germany, Finland - it depends where we can get a capacity of transmitter sites," said a spokesman. "Whether it will be the 208 Radio Luxembourg formula, who knows? But it is something we're thinking about." The digital radio format in operation in the UK relies on a network of local transmitters, but the new Digital Radio Mondiale (DRM) format can transmit long distance and is currently being tested by the BBC and others. RTL has decided to go ahead with DRM broadcasts in a bid to encourage manufacturers to build DRM radio sets, which it hopes will be in the shops in time for Christmas 2005. RTL is already broadcasting via DRM from Luxembourg to France and begins broadcasting to Germany next year (via Mike Terry, dxldyg via DXLD) This has to be the worst informed and researched, maybe, perhaps, possibly, article ever !! Why on earth do they let this codswallop out (Rog Parsons (BDXC 782) Hinckley, Leics., BDXC-UK via DXLD) I had to groan too, nothing in the news except David Blunkett and his lovers, so editors are dredging up past news and re-cycling it as if it were new. The DAB experience is illustrating that even combined DAB/DRM receivers will take time to develop and market and become the dominant mode in about 15 to 20 years time. I guess by then many radio stations will simply carry the audio from a TV network run by the same company. To attempt to suggest that the "Station Of The Stars" could return with an unknown format from an undecided transmitter site using a digital mode that most of the public have never heard of, is ludicrous to say the least. I seem to remember RTL being a substantial shareholder in Project Tara, that led to the establishment and eventual disposal of the ill fated Atlantic 252. (Now being run at half-power and used by RTE). People have fond nostalgic memories of Radio Luxembourg, but its attraction, not unsimilar to the offshore pirates, was that it provided something that was unavailable from UK landbased radio (Andy Cadier, ibid.) ** MOROCCO. 9575, R. Médi Un at 0135 in French. Good but better on // 171, 4 Dec (Liz Cameron, Utility Editor, Michigan Area Radio Enthusiasts URL: http://mare.radio.tripod.com dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** NIGERIA. 6049.88, R. Nigeria, Ibadan, 2033 Dec 4, talk by W in vernacular. Into some sort of lively instrumental music. Long talk by W. Easy Afro vocal music, then Hi-life music with W announcer voice- over, phone number given as 34-33-09-33. 2058 M announcer, brief Hi- life music bridge, and deadair, then continuous music. Deadair to ToH again, then W with probable ID mentioning Nigeria but the beginning was cut off. M announcer with Nigerian news in English with many mentions of Nigeria, and actualities. 2110 ID "You're listening to R. Nigeria...". Still going at 2116 when the MD ran out, but off at 2145 check. Horribly distorted buzzing signal with steady screech when there was no audio. Did this just return?? (Dave Valko, Dunlo PA, Cumbre DX via DXLD) ** POLAND. 7220, R. Polonia at 1853 ID, address in English. Barely audible, worse on // 7265, which was under severe ham QRM. I haven't heard these folks for ten years. After English, Polish at 1854, altho' not on sked. 4 Dec (Liz Cameron, Utility Editor, Michigan Area Radio Enthusiasts URL: http://mare.radio.tripod.com dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Quite a catch to pull Europe thru that early on 7 MHz, thanks to northerly latitude, low sun (gh) ** ROMANIA. RRI, good with mailbag in English on 7105 at 2350 Dec 4, but hams interfering most of the time in some digital mode (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** RUSSIA. 7260, 1604-, Voice of Russia World Service, Dec 5. Very strong reception of English news, but almost equal to VOA Hindi via Udon Thani, Thailand. Listed as Vladivostok in HFCC. Interesting description of Ukrainian news. Much more subtle in its support for the Moscow preferred candidate. Equal time given to the pro Western candidate, but immediately linked to a story about disgraced and jailed (in the US) former PM Pavlo Lazarenko who believes he will be freed if Yuschenko (the pro West candidate) wins in the re-run of the elections now scheduled for 26 December (Volodya Salmaniw, Victoria, BC, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** RUSSIA. Russia skeds B04 Voice of Russia, World Russian Service, B04: 0200-0300 6195 7150 7240 7260 7350 12010 13665 0300-0400 7150 7240 7260 7330 12010 13665 1300-1400 5995 6145 7260 7365 9495 9770 9830 15460 1400-1500 5995 6205 7260 7315 9495 9770 9830 15460 1600-1700 5945 7315 1800-1900 7360 7400 2000-2100 6170 7310 7400 7445 2100-2200 7445 Voice of Russia, "Sodruzhestvo" Service, B04: 1300-1400 6185 1400-1500 6045 6185 7365 1500-1600 5940 5995 6045 6185 7365 7445 9555 1600-1700 5940 5995 6045 6185 7445 1700-1900 5940 5995 6045 7445 1900-2000 5940 6045 7445 Russian International Radio, B04 0000-0200 7125 0200-0400 5995 7125 0400-0600 7125 1100-1200 12025 1500-1800 7155 7360 1800-1900 7155 2000-2100 5965 5975 2100-2200 5965 5975 5990 (Nikolai Rudnev - Russia/NASWA Listeners Notebook via Al Quaglieri, DXLD) ** SOUTH CAROLINA [non]. Brother Stair B04 (latest) 0400-1300 5765 WWCR US/World Everyday 0400-0900 6870 WRMI US/Caribbean Everyday 0600-0800 5070 WWCR US/World Everyday 0900-1100 5070 WWCR US/World Everyday 1300-1600 6110 Juelich Europe Everyday 1300-1600 7465 WWCR US/World Everyday 1300-1600 13810 Juelich SE-NE Europe/Israel Everyday 1600-1700 9985 WWCR US/World Mon-Sat 2100-2200 12160 WWCR US/World Sun 2100-2200 9985 WWCR US/World Everyday [not so; is WWCR-1 now] 2100-2130 15825 WWCR US/World Sun [not so: 15825 ends at 2100 now] 2200-0400 7465 WWCR US/World Everyday (Overcomer Ministry website via Silvain Domen, Belgium, Dec. 4, dxldyg via DXLD) ** SUDAN. 4750, R. Peace at 0312 in unID language (didn't sound like Arabic). Music. Excellent signal 4 Dec (Liz Cameron, Utility Editor, Michigan Area Radio Enthusiasts URL: http://mare.radio.tripod.com dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Excellent? Wonder if they have increased power from one kW (gh) ** TAIWAN. Re the Taiwan schedule within DXLD 4-179 RADIO AUSTRALIA: A04 ENGLISH 2200-2330 15240, 0800-1130 15240 INDONESIAN 0900-0930 11550, 2130-2330 11550 VIETNAMESE 2330-0000 15110 Miller Liu regularly omits the Radio Australia relay at 0800-0830 on 11550. This is also in Indonesian on Mon-Fri and English on Sat/Sun and gave very good reception today Dec. 4 in parallel with 9710 from Shepparton - the only Australian frequency that was audible. 73s (Noel R. Green [NW England], dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) [Later:] And re my own message concerning Taiwan - frequency 11550 carried the Tok Pisin service of Radio Australia at 0900-0930 today, Sunday. So it is assumed that Indonesian is broadcast at 0800-0830 and 0900-0930 on Mon-Fri only. 73s from (Noel R. Green, ibid.) ** UGANDA. 4975.98, R. Uganda at 2030 in Swahili. Excellent signal. Music at 2100, then national anthem at 2103 3 Dec. Reception from Africa was the best I've heard yet, on Friday, 3 December. 73/Liz (Liz Cameron, Utility Editor, Michigan Area Radio Enthusiasts URL: http://mare.radio.tripod.com dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U K. BBC IS LOOKING FOR RADIO FANS (Posted November 28, 2004) Are you a diehard fan of radio? If you, the BBC might want to interview you. The producer of the BBC's A World In Your Ear http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/factual/aworldinyourear.shtml asked me to post this -- they're hoping to find a couple of radio lovers/listeners about their favourite shows. They'd play a clip from that show but also would want to know what it means to you. If you're willing to help, email julia.rooke @ bbc.co.uk and tell her what your favourite radio show is, why you're so obsessed about it or radio in general, what the show means to you, and your phone number in case they want to get back to you. And please mention that you found out about it on http://iloveradio.org (via Dr. Hansjoerg Biener-D, BC-DX Dec 4 via DXLD) Are they really looking for participation from outside UK on this domestic BBCR4 programmme? (gh, DXLD) ** U S A [non]. GERMANY, 9735, 1616-, VOA, Dec 5. Additional Ukrainian broadcast via Biblis at fair strength with mentions of Yuschenko (pro West presidential candidate). Other frequencies not heard (7190 also Biblis) and 5970 (Kavalla). (Volodya Salmaniw, Victoria, BC, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A [and non]. Glenn, Regarding the snippet in DXLD regarding VOA and interference with WBCQ. All this past week when I've happened to have the radio on 7415 at 0300 (conditions have been bad and usually can't hear anything at all at that time), I've heard the VOA signing on. If the VOA is no longer broadcasting on 7415 at that time as the article implied then there is a ghost or something as I've been hearing it all week (John H. Carver Jr., Mid-North Indiana, Dec 5, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Well, it`s not in the voanews.com schedule for English to Africa, nor in HFCC, nor in EiBi but score one for PWBR, which does have it at 0300-0500 M-F; do you not hear it on UT Sat & Sun, then? (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Glenn, I was hearing VOA News Now in English on 7415 at 0330 on Dec. 5 UT - completely covering WBCQ. 73, (Alan Johnson, N4LUS, Reno, NV, DX LISTENING DIGEST) So presumably 7 days; at least not when WOR is on ** U S A. WBCQ`s OFFICES HAVE MOVED --- We are consolidating our administrative and broadcasting activities into one, convenient central location. Effective immediately, please address all correspondence and payments to: WBCQ RADIO, 274 Britton Road, Monticello, ME 04760 --- (207) 538-9180 The Kennebunk, ME address is no longer valid. Thanks, AHW (http://www.wbcq.com via DXLD) ** U S A. Interview with Marion Webster --- GutturalTexage writes ``For those fans of the WBCQ program called Marion's Attic here is a Interview with Marion conducted by Rabishu November of 2004, enjoy!!!`` http://www.wbcq.com/modules.php?name=Forums&file=viewtopic&t=44 Posted by cosmikdebris on Friday, December 03 @ 23:51:01 CST (wbcq main page via John Norfolk, dxldyg via DXLD) ** U S A. Something for everyone on WBCQ, including ``Facts on Farts`` featurette on Radio Timtron Worldwide, as I tuned across 7415, UT Sat Dec 4 at 2347 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. OP-ED CONTRIBUTOR: DON'T EXPECT THE GOVERNMENT TO BE A V- CHIP --- December 3, 2004 By MICHAEL K. POWELL http://www.nytimes.com/2004/12/03/opinion/03powell.html?ex=1103086636&ei=1&en=29ded3e663149ece Washington - TIME to take a deep breath. The high pitch at which many are discussing the enforcement of rules against indecency on television and radio is enough to pop an eardrum. It is no surprise that those who make a handsome living by selling saucy fare rant the loudest - it drives up the ratings. The news media further fan the flames, obsessed with "culture war" stories that slot Americans into blue-state and red-state camps. Overheated words, however, obscure what should be an important debate over two American values that are, at times, in tension. As one deeply suspicious of government involvement in the regulation of content, I understand and often agree with those who stand up for the cherished value of free speech. But as a parent, I respect the desire of the American people for a minimum level of decency on the public airwaves - particularly where their children are concerned. The often unenviable task of striking a balance between these two competing values falls to the Federal Communications Commission. Broadcasters have always had the responsibility of making decisions about what programs are appropriate. The majority have done well. In the history of broadcast television, there have been only four indecency fines. Yet when certain broadcasters trade responsible restraint for torrid sensationalism in the relentless race for ratings, it should come as no surprise that escalating calls for the government to enforce indecency laws aggressively are the result. The F.C.C.'s job of regulating indecent content on the airwaves is not optional; it has been required ever since Congress first made the broadcast of obscene, indecent and profane material illegal more than 70 years ago. The law continues to enjoy strong bipartisan support. Even so, there are important limits placed on the F.C.C. Our rules do not ban indecent content entirely; they merely restrict its broadcast during times in which children are likely to be in the audience, namely from 6 a.m. to 10 p.m. Courts have consistently held these rules constitutional, accepting that the government has a compelling interest in protecting children from inappropriate material. For material to be indecent in the legal sense it must be of a sexual or excretory nature and it must be patently offensive. Mere bad taste is not actionable. Context remains the critical factor in determining if content is legally indecent. Words or actions might be acceptable as part of a news program, or as an indispensable component of a dramatic film, but be nothing more than sexual pandering in another context. That context and the specific facts of each program are reasons the government can't devise a book of rules listing all the bad stuff. In 2001, however, the agency issued policy guidelines summarizing the case law on indecency, and each new ruling since then clarifies what is prohibited. But we are not the federal Bureau of Indecency. We do not watch or listen to programs hoping to catch purveyors of dirty broadcasts. Instead, we rely on public complaints to point out potentially indecent shows. In recent years, complaints about television and radio broadcasts have skyrocketed, and the F.C.C. has stepped up its enforcement in response. Advocacy groups do generate many complaints, as our critics note, but that's not unusual in today's Internet world. We are very familiar with organized protests when it comes to media issues, but that fact does not minimize the merits of the groups' concerns. Under the law, we must independently evaluate whether a program violates the standard, no matter whether the program in question generates a single complaint or thousands. When the commission makes the determination that a program is indecent, we typically fine the licensee that broadcast it. Although the commission has the authority to fine an artist personally, we have never done so nor do I support doing so. Over the years, fines had become trivial. A routine violation generally received a paltry $7,000 fine, with the maximum fine being $27,500. The agency has increased penalties significantly, recognizing that they must be large enough for billion-dollar media companies to stop treating fines as a minor cost of doing business. Some have also questioned why the commission is unwilling to issue rulings before a broadcast, as was the case with the recent network showing of "Saving Private Ryan," a film the commission had previously held was not indecent. While ABC and its affiliates understandably would have liked to know the program was in bounds before proceeding, the precedent of submitting programming or scripts for government review borders dangerously on censorship. The Communications Act expressly forbids the F.C.C. from banning a program before broadcast, and any such effort might very well run afoul of the First Amendment. This is a step I do not want to take. The commission's indecency rules apply to broadcast television and radio but not to cable, newspapers or the Internet because the Supreme Court interprets the First Amendment in a way that affords stronger constitutional protection to these sources than to broadcasting. The argument goes that broadcasting is different because it is uniquely pervasive, with children having easy access. Government can limit content in the public interest because broadcasters use a public resource, the airwaves. Yes, it is strange that First Amendment protections are weaker or stronger depending on what channel you are watching, but under current Supreme Court precedent that's the way it is. And I believe that any effort to extend regulation of content to other media would be contrary to the Constitution. We take all these limitations seriously and believe we have acted in a balanced manner. If one slices through the rhetoric, you'll find that most opponents of the agency's strong enforcement efforts believe that the government simply should not impose any decency standard at all. Berating citizens who believe in values and reasonable limits is insulting and polarizing and distracts from the legitimate issues of this policy debate. Critics of the law should instead focus their efforts on changing the law, if that's what they want. Until then, the American people have a right to expect that the F.C.C. will continue to fulfill its duty of upholding the law, while being fully cognizant of the delicate First Amendment balance that must be struck. Michael K. Powell is the chairman of the Federal Communications Commission (via Richard Cuff, swprograms via DXLD) All sounds very reasonable, but this represents selective enforcement of the law, while FCC lets countless engineering violations go, OKs harmful nonsense like BPL, etc. (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. *Action Alert* Greetings fellow radio enthusiasts! As some of you may know, I recorded the commercial broadcast that aired on December 1st, which featured Glenn Baxter talking to someone about "Baxter Associates" and his various money-making schemes. I call it a commercial broadcast because it doesn't fit the Part 97 definition of a bulletin designed for amateur radio, and because it was completely commercial in nature. This broadcast was unique in that it aired without identification for over 70 minutes. I've been told that the monitoring station in Columbia, Maryland was contacted immediately, and they were able to locate with pinpoint precision the exact location of the broadcaster. You may also know that I recorded the K1MAN broadcast that contained the F word, which was heard on the K1MAN bulletin over and over again on 3 different frequencies. Some of you have asked me for copies of these sound files, and I've been too busy to respond in a timely manner, and for that I apologize. However, you'll be glad to know that I've shared them with a friend, and now Keith Lamonica is hosting the files at: http://www.lamonica.com/ Feel free to distribute these sound files; host them on your own websites; make CD's and cassette tapes, and send them to the FCC and your elected government officials. If that's too much trouble, just send an email to Riley Hollingsworth rholling @ fcc.gov and let him know your thoughts. I think it's a travesty that on shortwave radio, at ten in the morning, our children might be subjected to the worst language imaginable. If you agree, I hope you'll do everything in your power to prevent this kind of rancid effluence from polluting our precious airwaves in the future. 73 and Better Listening, (Brian, K3VR, Dec 4, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. FAIR: UCC acceptance of gays is deemed "too controversial" FAIR-L Fairness & Accuracy In Reporting Media analysis, critiques and activism http://www.fair.org/activism/church-ad.html ACTION ALERT: Networks Bar Ad Promoting Tolerance: A church's acceptance of gays is deemed "too controversial" December 3, 2004 Three broadcast networks have rejected an advertisement from the United Church of Christ, deeming the ad's message of tolerance to be too controversial. Citing the Bush administration's proposal of a constitutional amendment to ban gay marriage, CBS and UPN have refused to run a UCC commercial that advertises the church's acceptance of all people, including gays and lesbians. NBC also deemed the ad "too controversial" to air (UCC.org, 11/30/04). The ad depicts two bouncers in front of a church letting in two white girls and a white heterosexual couple but turning away others, including people of color, a man in a wheelchair, and two men holding hands. A message reads, "Jesus didn't turn people away. Neither do we." As the camera pans over a crowd of diverse UCC members, including a woman who puts her arm around another woman, a voiceover states, "No matter who you are, or where you are on life's journey, you are welcome here." Because ABC has a policy against accepting any religious advertising, UCC did not attempt to place an ad on the network (San Francisco Chronicle, 12/2/04). Several networks accepted the ad, including ABC Family, Fox and TNT. According to the UCC (UCC.org, 11/30/04), CBS explained the rejection in a letter to the group: "Because this commercial touches on the exclusion of gay couples and other minority groups by other individuals and organizations, and the fact that the Executive Branch has recently proposed a constitutional amendment to define marriage as a union between a man and a woman, this spot is unacceptable for broadcast on the [CBS and UPN] networks." CBS spokesperson Dana McClintock elaborated on that explanation two days later (Newsday, 12/2/04): "If there is a public policy debate going on, as there is on the issue of gay marriage, we do not accept advocacy advertisements." CBS and NBC have certainly not been consistent in their rejection of advocacy ads. As Media Matters for America noted (6/18/04), CBS ran an ad during the 2003 Super Bowl from the White House Drug Control Policy Agency that suggested that casual marijuana smokers support terrorism— a controversial proposition, to say the least. And NBC in 1993 sold two half-hour blocs of time to Ross Perot to criticize President Bill Clinton's economic policies (Media Matters, 12/1/04). But a network asserting that it would reject an ad for expressing a political viewpoint is problematic in itself. Viacom, which owns both CBS and UPN, has explained its policy in various ways after coming under fire for refusing independent political ads on its networks in the past. In October, Viacom's MTV Networks blocked an ad from the progressive group Compare Decide Vote that compared the presidential candidates' policy positions on issues important to young people. A Viacom spokesperson argued that it didn't need to air such ads because "across all our properties, we talk about these issues every day" (Media Daily News, 10/13/04). When Viacom blocked an ad from the anti-war group Not In Our Name prior to the Iraq War, CBS executive vice president Martin Franks argued that such an advertising policy was necessary for a national network (New York Times, 3/13/03): "How could you take an advocacy ad and have it reflect the values of the entire nation?" As FAIR has argued before, Viacom's position that its own coverage of important political issues renders political ads unnecessary is arrogant and unfounded (FAIR Action Alert, 10/18/04). And to argue that ads should reflect the values of the entire nation holds them to an implausible standard that the network's own programming would be hard-pressed to meet -- as, for that matter, would its non-political advertising. But in this case, it's hard to see how the UCC spot can even be considered an advocacy ad at all. CBS makes quite a leap to interpret the UCC ad as advocating for gay marriage or entering a public policy debate; the ad never mentions or even implies that the gay couples featured are or wish to be married, or that the UCC condones gay marriage. That the Bush administration's opposition to gay marriage should lead CBS to block an ad that simply notes a church's acceptance of gay people is astounding and troubling. While NBC's explanation of its rejection made no mention of the Bush administration, it did seem rather concerned with the reaction of other churches. "The problem is not that it depicted gays, but that it suggested clearly that there are churches that don't permit a variety of individuals to participate," said Alan Wurtzel, president of research for NBC (Boston Globe, 12/2/04). It's true that the ad's metaphorical message is that some groups are not welcomed by some churches -- and that's a reality that has been made clear in countless news reports on various Christian sects that have barred gays and lesbians from being ordained, prohibited gay marriages and proclaimed their opposition to homosexuality. By blocking an ad that acknowledges the existence of homophobia in some churches, NBC gives extraordinary censorial power to those churches. Both NBC and CBS set a dangerous precedent by extending their advertising policies to block ads that might, without advocating any political position, contradict or offend the administration or its religious allies. ACTION: Please contact CBS and NBC and urge them to reverse the absurd policy that deems a church's acceptance of all people to be "too controversial" to air. CONTACT: Les Moonves, Chairman, CBS; co-President & co-COO, Viacom Phone: (323) 575-2345 Bob Wright, President, NBC, Phone: (212) 664-4444 As always, please remember that your comments have more impact if you maintain a polite tone (FAIR via Franklin Seiberling, DXLD) ** U S A. Re 1700, Buffalo NY: WSRR is the pirate; Neil Wolfish says he met the operator once. I heard it while at the NRC convention in Sept. It apparently has a web site. Try searching the calls (Saul Chernos, Ont, NRC-AM via DXLD) ** U S A. WCBG goes dark --- Hello All --- here is an email I got from my friend in Chambersburg, PA tonight --- too late, unfortunately, but I never did hear WCBG at night here --- only day. But, (cue Queen) -- another one bites the dust... The borough built a water tower across the street from WCBG's 5 kW day/1 kW nite 4-tower DA site, and construction stopped when the crew starting getting "bitten" by the RF. The borough tried eminent domain, but Verstandig sued their asses off (go, John!) and apparently won. Idiots. Someone needs to lose their job(s) over this one. FWD This morning I went out for coffee at Sheetz, when I ran into a guy I knew who told me that WCBG was running a promo that they would be signing off at midnight to cooperate with the Borough Of Chambersburg's water tower project. In the promo, they thanked everybody for all the years of listening. John Verstandig must have finally reached an agreement with the borough and sold out. Anyway, I don't know if you'll get this e-mail before midnight Saturday night, but if you do, you might be able to pull in the old 1590 one last time. Kinda sad, even though the station has meant zip for at least 15 years. 73, (Bruce WB3HVV, York, PA, Dec 4, NRC-AM via DXLD) ** U S A. Here's the list of AM stations which have switched to a Christmas music format. (100000watts.com) The stations usually switch back to their normal formats after the 25th. 73's Barry [in frequency order, and most states omitted; I wonder how they decided which towns needed states with them? Some of them I would have to look up. I expect more will have been added --- gh] Cumberland WFRB-AM 560 Detroit CKWW-AM 580 Omaha KOMJ-AM 590 Youngstown WSOM-AM 600 Binghamton WINR-AM 680 Memphis WJCE-AM 680 Texarkana KOSY-AM 790 Columbia WSCQ-AM 840 Columbus WMNI-AM 920 Milwaukee WOKY-AM 920 Modesto KVIN-AM 920 Bellingham KBAI-AM 930 Missoula KLCY-AM 930 Ogallala , NE KOGA-AM 930 Marion/Carbondale WMIX-AM 940 Montgomery WNZZ-AM 950 Lake City , FL WGRO-AM 960 Danville WITY-AM 980 Sheboygan/Manitowoc WCUB-AM 980 Independence , KS KIND-AM 1010 Portland KZNY-AM 1010 Williamsport WLYC-AM 1050 Fort Myers/Naples WKII-AM 1070 Northfield , MN KYMN-AM 1080 Burlington , CO KNAB-AM 1140 Monmouth-Ocean WOBM-AM 1160 Mattoon , IL WLBH-AM 1170 Mobile WABF-AM 1220 Burlington/Plattsburgh WJOY-AM 1230 Casper KVOC-AM 1230 Daytona Beach WSBB-AM 1230 Kerrville , TX KERV-AM 1230 Lakeland WONN-AM 1230 Norfolk/Virginia Beach WJOI-AM 1230 Phoenix KOY-AM 1230 Decorah , IA KDEC-AM 1240 Elkins , WV WDNE-AM 1240 Saranac Lake , NY WNBZ-AM 1240 San Francisco/Oakland KOIT-AM 1260 Tulsa KRVT-AM 1270 Appleton/Oshkosh WNAM-AM 1280 Spokane KAQQ-AM 1280 Keokuk , IA KOKX-AM 1310 White Sulphur Spring , WV WSLW-AM 1310 Pittsburgh WJAS-AM 1320 New Bern/Morehead City WANG-AM 1330 Wellston , OH WYPC-AM 1330 Menominee, MI WAGN-AM 1340 New Bedford/Fall River WNBH-AM 1340 Orange , VA WVCV-AM 1340 Petoskey/Cheboygan WMBN-AM 1340 Elmira WCBA-AM 1350 Macon WNNG-AM 1350 El Dorado , KS KAHS-AM 1360 Clayton , GA WGHC-AM 1370 Manchester , GA WFDR-AM 1370 Logan KLGN-AM 1390 Wausau/Stevens Point WRIG-AM 1390 Asheville WMXF-AM 1400 Elberton , GA WSGC-AM 1400 Morgantown WOBG-AM 1400 Glens Falls/Saratoga Springs WENU-AM 1410 San Saba , TX KBAL-AM 1410 Sheridan , WY KWYO-AM 1410 Owensboro WVJS-AM 1420 Brookings , SD KBRK-AM 1430 Steubenville/Weirton WEIR-AM 1430 Cedar Rapids KMRY-AM 1450 Cumberland WTBO-AM 1450 Oklahoma City KGFF-AM 1450 Port Huron WHLS-AM 1450 Providence WLKW-AM 1450 Richland Center , WI WRCO-AM 1450 Culpeper , VA WCVA-AM 1490 Fayetteville WAZZ-AM 1490 La Crosse WLFN-AM 1490 Wellsboro , PA WNBT-AM 1490 Sherman , TX KJIM-AM 1500 Trenton , TN WTNE-AM 1500 La Porte , IN WLOI-AM 1540 Cape Girardeau , MO KAPE-AM 1550 Winchester/Martinsburg WMRE-AM 1550 Paducah WPAD-AM 1560 Galesburg , IL WAIK-AM 1590 Port Huron WHLX-AM 1590 Flagstaff/Prescott KYBC-AM 1600 South Bend WHLY-AM 1620 (via Barry Davies, UK, Dec 2, MWC via DXLD) [and non] CJEZ in Toronto (97.3) has already switched. According to www.100000watts.com 237 (!) stations in North America have already made the switch (Niel Wolfish, Ont., Dec 2, ODXA via DXLD) ** U S A. History Channel program to explore the annals, impact of radio (Dec 4, 2004) --- On Friday, December 10, at 1 PM and 7 PM EST/PST [1800, 2100 UT Fri, 0000, 0300 UT Sat], The History Channel will air a history of radio, ``Radio: Out of Thin Air,`` as part of its ``Modern Marvels`` series. According to The History Channel, the hour long program will examine ``the long life of the radio`` and how its introduction "changed life in America nearly overnight.`` (John Dilks, K2TQN via ARRL main page via John Norfolk, dxldyg) According to a search on bordersstores.com this is available on VHS, UPC 733961422030, for $19.95 (jn) (via DXLD) incl Casey Kasem, Larry King ** U S A. METROPOLITAN OPERA NAMES NEW ANNOUNCER --- MARGARET JUNTWAIT TO BE FIRST WOMAN ANNOUNCER FOR SATURDAY AFTERNOON RADIO BROADCASTS September 28, 2004 Margaret Juntwait (Christine Butler) [caption & photo credit] WNYC's John Schaefer interviews Margaret Juntwait on Soundcheck [audio] WNYC's classical music host Margaret Juntwait has been named the new announcer for the Metropolitan Opera's Saturday Afternoon Radio Broadcasts. Ms. Juntwait is only the third regular announcer of the long-standing broadcast series, launched in 1931, and is the first woman to hold the position. The Metropolitan Opera announced the news today. . . http://www.wnyc.org/music/articles/36638 (via gh, DXLD) ** VIETNAM [non]. 15385, Dec 4 1200-, UZB: "Radio Quê Me" via Tashkent. Per Observer tip. A new broadcaster to Vietnam. Announcing web page http://www.queme.net Mauno Ritola, Finland, HCDX Online Log via DXLD) In English, French, Vietnamese. Action for Democracy in Vietnam, Quê Me • B.P. 63 • 94472 Boissy Saint Léger cedex • France • E-mail : queme @ free.fr Que Me : Action for Democracy in Vietnam & Vietnam Committee on Human Rights Président : Vo Van Ai Vice-President : Penelope Faulkner Executive Secretary : Vo Tran Nhat Tel. +33 1 45 98 30 85 Fax +33 1 45 98 32 61 With a çedilla under the e of Me. Lots of news about Buddhist dissidents, but nothing I could find about SW or any broadcasts (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** YEMEN. 9779.65, Republic of Yemen Radio at 1831 in English. Fair but readable 4 Dec (Liz Cameron, Utility Editor, Michigan Area Radio Enthusiasts http://mare.radio.tripod.com dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) UNIDENTIFIED. 3219.83, faint music at 2240. Barely audible. Not north Korea --- this wasn't military music, 3 Dec (Liz Cameron, Utility Editor, Michigan Area Radio Enthusiasts http://mare.radio.tripod.com dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Nothing likely listed; maybe harmonic of some 1610 station --- say, CHSL Toronto is about that much on the low side! 3220 is HCJB`s 90m channel in Quechua, but supposedly not on until 0000. I wonder if that is where they will start DRM (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) UNIDENTIFIED. 6060, listening to RHC news in English at 0630 Dec 4, there was a fast SAH and co-channel QRM underneath from a screaming preacher. Did not seem to match DGS or BS at the moment. Nothing likely in HFCC, EiBi, or PWBR, unless it was Tupi or Namibia, both of which seem unlikely, and had not noticed such interference before. Perhaps DTK has added another transmission? Is this blocking RHC in Europe? (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) UNIDENTIFIED [non]. 7530: Hi Glenn, Thanks for DXLD - always welcomed here! About Scott Barbour`s 7530 unID, I am rather sure that it is Pakistan he has listened to. I checked it the other night and everything points to that country! 73 from (Björn Fransson, Sweden, Dec 4, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 7530: Re Steve Lare's unidentified. I replied directly to Scott Barbour previously about this one and should probably have included the group at the same time. Sorry for that, Steve. What you heard is almost certainly Radio Pakistan. They are operating at 1700-1900 UT on 7530 via Rewat [Islamabad] API-6 at 313 degrees with 250 kW. The programme is their World Service to West Europe which is entirely in Urdu, but in which you might hear some occasional English commentaries. The Kor`an recitations fit nicely, and the music will be their anthem which is always played, by a military band, at conclusion of the transmission. The parallel frequency is 9400 via API-5, also 250 kW at 313 degrees via Rewat. 73s from (Noel R. Green, [Blackpool, NW England], dxldyg via DX LSITENING DIGEST) Thanks for the report Noel. I had a feeling it was Pakistan, though of course I was hoping for Hargeysa. Do you have any idea if Hargeysa may be on at all at a later UT when it might be audible here in the mid- west USA? (Steve Lare, Holland, MI, USA, IBID.) The WRTH says Hargeisa 7530 opens at 0400 [the DSWCI Domestic Broadcast Survey says 0330] and until 0600, and both agree that the evening transmission is at 1500-2000. My favourite place is not by the radio at 0330/0400, and I have not heard it later in the day. As well as Pakistan, R. Free Asia is using 7530 at 1600-1700 to carry their Uighur service. After Pakistan goes off the frequency seems clear. Propagation from Somalia is much better during the summer months. But keep trying, and at 0330/0400 when the frequency should be clear, but perhaps with intrusive adjacent channel splash. 73s from (Noel R. Green, ibid.) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ COMMENTARY ++++++++++ RADIO PEACE CORPS Hi Glenn: I was amused to see my fantasy about the tropical stations in DXLD, as it passed without any comment on the lists. Also, just to quibble with your headline, what I have in mind is really something more like a "radio peace corps." Since stations go off the air for want of parts, or trained personnel perhaps certain candidates could be identified that would benefit from contributions or technical know- how. Have you ever heard of anything like this happening, even on a private basis? Keep up the good work. It's appreciated (David Goren, DX LISTENING DIGEST) I recall a station that was offered help and turned it down --- CKFX Vancouver 6080 when their 10-watt transmitter failed (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) UNSOLICITED TESTIMONIALS ++++++++++++++++++++++++ Dear Mr. Hauser: I have enjoyed your writings on worldband radio since 1981. You seem to be tireless in your efforts to promote the hobby. As a listener, not a real DXer, I appreciate all you have done. Recently, I purchased a clean DX-302. I really like the radio because of its appearance and the fact that you need to "work the radio" instead of just pushing number buttons like most modern radios. Do you know where I can find a copy of the owners manual? If you have one to sell please email back with instructions. Thanks a lot (Robert, Nov 25, shelties4us @ wmconnect.com DX LISTENING DIGEST) Robert, There was a delay in getting your message since I no longer actively use the hotmail account. Thanks for the kind words. Unfortunately, I can`t help you on documentation for the DX-302, but I can post your query on my yahoogroup. I would not be surprised if there is a group dedicated to this receiver, if you search for that where there would be someone who could help you out. Regards, (Glenn to Robert, via DXLD) RADIO EQUIPMENT FORUM +++++++++++++++++++++ VECTRONICS AT- 100 WITH AOR 7030 PLUS This dark afternoon me and my DX friend Ilkka Rainio were testing how my AOR 7030 Plus semi pro-rx works with Ilkka´s Vectronics AT- 100 active antenna and preselector. Really surprising results on MW and tropical bands. All signals were at least 10-20 dB stronger with Vectronics. Passport says, sometimes Vectronics AT- 100 works well, sometimes not. Purchase on a returnable basis. All I can say it loves Ilkka´s Icom R-75 and AOR 7030+ of mine. 73´s (Jouko Huuskonen, Turku FINLAND, Rx :AOR 7030 Plus, Ant: 95 m lw to E., Dec 4, DX LISTENING DIGEST) DRM +++ The Broacasters Users Manual I mentioned in my report on the Dallas Symposium is now available for download in pdf, zipped or not, via http://www.drm.org/BUM/globbum.htm (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) DRM COMES TO DALLAS (Series of DRM meetings in Texas November 8-12, 2004) by Jeff White The Digital Radio Mondiale (DRM) Consortium held its quarterly committee meetings in Dallas, Texas during the week of November 8, hosted by DRM member DRS Broadcast Technologies (formerly Continental Electronics, maker of high-power shortwave transmitters). Monday and Tuesday were devoted to the Broadcasters Committee and Technical Committee meetings, attended by NASB's Mike Adams. Commercial Committee Because of the HFCC Steering Board meeting in Prague, I didn't get into town until Wednesday, November 10, when I was invited by the DRM Commercial Committee Chairman, Michel Penneroux of NASB member TDF, to attend his meeting. And it was a most interesting meeting. It began with an overview of DRM developments in a series of key markets throughout the world, including Europe, Russia, China and Latin America. In Latin America, Mexico and Brazil are the two countries that are seen as the most important and having the most potential to develop DRM at this time. The Commercial Committee meeting discussed joint marketing efforts by DRM and DAB (Digital Audio Broadcasting) and the growth of mediumwave transmissions in DRM mode. A proposal was made by Technical Committee Chairman Don Messer of NASB associate member IBB to create a Broadcasters Business Plan describing in non-technical terms the value of DRM from a business standpoint for small commercial broadcasters. The proposal was approved, and Don was put in charge of it. Don Messer was also highly involved in producing the DRM Broadcasters User Manual, a technical guide which is now publicly available on the Internet and in printed and CD-ROM formats. Other items of discussion at the Commercial Committee meeting were efforts to convince receiver manufacturers to implement DRM, DRM's strategic alliance with the retail industry, and PLC (Power Line Communications, also known as BPL) as a polluter of the shortwave bands and therefore competitor to DRM. Reference was made to the DRM Consortium's public statement about BPL/PLC in September, which you will find reprinted elsewhere in this edition of the NASB Newsletter. There was also a review of DRM contributions to international institutions, including the International Telecommunication Union, the European Community and the European Broadcasting Union. It was stated that there had been no recent movement by the automobile industry in Europe regarding DRM car radios, but that certain companies are interested and are following DRM developments closely. There was a discussion of the timetable for release of the DRM chipset which will make it possible to produce DRM-capable receivers for the average consumer. This was followed by a country-by-country review of recent DRM activities. I was asked to say a few words about the new USA DRM Group which was formed in Washington in May of this year at the initiative of the NASB's Mike Adams, who is the group's International Broadcasters Committee Chairman. Adil Mina of Continental Electronics is Chairman of the Transmitter Manufacturer's Committee, and yours truly is Chairman of the USA Group in general. I explained that we have done a great deal of publicity and generated many articles in North American publications such as Radio World, and that we plan to have a USA DRM website online before the end of this year, with the assistance of Continental Electronics. Michael Pilath is head of the German DRM platform, which is the most active country platform at this time. Michael expressed his willingness to assist the new U.S. DRM group in any way possible. He mentioned that Coding Technologies in Germany has produced 400 World Traveler DRM USB receivers, which allow business travelers to receive DRM broadcasts by plugging the very small unit into their laptop. These receivers are available for 199 euros (plus VAT tax) by mail order, and the order form can be found on the Coding Technologies website http://www.codingtechnologies.com Michael also mentioned that Deutsche Welle is planning a new DRM program for Europe as of next year, and that the commercial broadcaster RTL in Luxembourg will begin a German-language program in DRM as of January 1. He said many ethnic radio stations in Germany (including Turkish and Russian stations) are interested in doing DRM transmissions, and there is also interest in establishing a DRM station for truckers and a radio shopping channel. Michel Penneroux reported on the DRM situation in France, where there are currently 12 or 13 broadcasters with 32 DRM transmitters. Andrew Flynn of Christian Vision said that there will be a national symposium on DRM in Chile next spring where they will invite mediumwave broadcasters. In Ecuador, there has been interest from mediumwave broadcasters in DRM. New 100-kilowatt DRM transmitters are being installed in New Zealand and Libya. Spanish National Radio has shown interest in DRM. The Gulf Cooperation Council is interested in mediumwave DRM. Radio Sweden's international service is doing DRM tests, as is Digita in Finland. Tests for domestic shortwave in DRM are being done in Japan. RAI in Italy plans to conduct DRM tests in Milan before the end of this year. Pierre Vasseur of NASB associate member Thales, a Swiss-based transmitter manufacturer, expressed his opinion that a DRM Symposium should be held in Mexico either just before or just after the HFCC Conference in February. And finally, Peter Jackson of VT Communications (formerly Merlin) announced that the DRM software project will end in March of 2005. In January, they will have a "sale" on the DRM software -- 45 euros rather than the current 60 euros. And this will include a copy of the Dream DRM software as well. The www.drmrx.org website is due to shut down, but VT will continue to underwrite it for another year. At the end of the day, host Continental Electronics treated the group to a mouth-watering dinner at a Texas steak restaurant called the Saltgrass Steakhouse. While the menu offered selections up to a 50- ounce cut of Texas steak, I think the largest one attempted by any member of our group was only 32 ounces! (And that wasn't me.) A Major Announcement On Thursday, November 11, the DRM Steering Board met in Dallas. At the end of the day, a major decision had been made to recommend the extension of the upper end of the coverage of DRM from 30 to 120 MHz. This means effectively that DRM could be used on FM frequencies. Until now, it has only been a system for the longwave, mediumwave and shortwave bands. This recommendation was made to the DRM General Assembly, which will vote on it in the spring of 2005. DRM USA Meeting While the Steering Board was busy at its Thursday meeting, many of the other participants in the DRM week took part in an informal meeting of the USA DRM Group at the Continental Electronics factory in suburban Dallas. The meeting began with a guided tour of the Continental factory. As DRS Broadcast Technology is a major defense contractor, the security at the plant has become quite tight since 9/11. All visitors must be escorted at all times. Nevertheless, the group was allowed to see transmitters being built and tested, and to ask all of the questions it wanted. The Continental engineers were eager to answer all of the technical questions from this group of mostly engineering folks. It is an amazing facility. And perhaps the highlight of the visit was seeing a 100-kilowatt model 418-DRM shortwave transmitter undergoing factory tests. The 418-DRM, as a new product, was in the early days of being tested as a DRM transmitter. It featured a redesigned interface and tuning system. Also being operated from the Continental plant was a temporary DRM station on 25.9 MHz with 750 watts of power that the FCC had authorized as a special transmission for the DRM meetings in Dallas. We were able to pick up this signal across town at the Wyndham Hotel with true FM mono quality, showcasing the full potential of DRM transmissions. After the tour we began our USA DRM Group meeting. This was the second time the group had met, as the first was the organizational meeting at Radio Free Asia in Washington, DC on May 6 of this year -- one day before the NASB annual meeting. The purpose of the USA DRM Group is to promote the implementation and use of DRM in the United States. The first item was introductions. Here is a list of those who were in attendance: Mike Adams - Far East Broadcasting Co. (Intl. Broadcasters Committee Chairman) Bret Brewer - DRS/Continental Electronics Tyler Callis - SCMS Darko Cvjetko - Riz Transmitters (Croatia) Doug Garlinger - NASB President Marion Hales - IBB Jim Heck - World Radio Network (HCJB) Dave Henderson - Radio New Zealand International Wong Hong - Himalaya Electronics (Hong Kong), maker of DRM receivers Charlie Jacobson - HCJB Herb Jacobson - HCJB Paulo Lages - Radiodifusao Portuguesa Eve Maes - wife of Ludo Maes Ludo Maes - TDP (Belgium) Bob Moore - HCJB Mark Poe - IBB Andoor Ravindran - MediaCorp Technologies, Singapore Fred Riley - DRS/Continental Steve Spradlin - Harris Corp. Bob Springer - FEBC Saipan John Stanley - Mountain Ministries Ruth Stanley - Mountain Ministries Josef Troxler - Thales Broadcast and Multimedia Paul Uday - DRS/Continental Electronics John Uvodich - DRS/Continental Mike Vanhooser - Nova Electronics Bill Walker - VT Merlin Jeff White - Radio Miami International (USA DRM Group Chairman) Tom Yingst - Harris Corp. (retired) As this was an informal meeting, there was no structured agenda. It was more of a freewheeling discussion about topics of interest to those who are following DRM developments in the United States. Jim Heck of World Radio Network (the parent body of missionary station HCJB in Ecuador) remarked that he works with a series of AM stations along the Mexico-U.S. border. Most of his stations are within five miles of Mexico, so he commented that he could probably technically consider using DRM transmissions on 26 MHz -- like the test transmission being done in Dallas -- to broadcast internationally to Mexico, which is considered a priority market for the DRM Commercial Committee. The problem, however, is that no one in Mexico has DRM receivers yet. Darko Cvjetko from Riz Transmitters in Croatia said they have used yagi antennas in tests of some of their transmitters on 26 MHz. There was a good deal of discussion about publicity for DRM in the U.S. Herb Jacobson of HCJB said we should contact amateur radio operators, who are more "technically-aware" people, to publicize current DRM receivers like the Ten-Tec RX-320D. Mike Adams mentioned that we will be soon launching a USA DRM website, which will hopefully have a forum area for DXers to discuss DRM issues. The NASB is also beginning to retransmit DX programs from its member stations on the weekly Voice of the NASB DRM transmissions to the U.S. from Radio Canada International. John Stanley offered to use his contacts at QST (an amateur radio magazine) to get something published about the DRM software sale that begins in January. Fred Riley suggested also trying to publicize this in QEX, which is a magazine for radio experimenters. Someone suggested that we should work together with DX organizations to fight BPL (Broadband over Power Lines) in the U.S. The discussion then turned to the Dayton, Ohio Hamvention which will take place May 20-22 of next year. Mike Adams asked for ideas as to what we could do there. Herb Jacobson suggested that we could make a presentation at the event about DRM. HCJB Engineering in Elkhart, Indiana could perhaps provide a speaker, or Harris Corp., or John Stanley. HCJB and other broadcasters could do special DRM transmissions beamed to Dayton during the Hamfest. Receiver manufacturers could provide radios to pick up these DRM transmissions as a demonstration to Hamvention attendees. We could coordinate press releases about DRM events in Dayton with Siriol Evans of the DRM Consortium. Discussion returned to the new United States DRM website which DRS/Continental has offered to host. Bret Brewer of Continental indicated that they have reserved three possible URLs for the website, and it was decided that www.usdrm.com would be the best one to use. This new website should have a U.S.-specific schedule of DRM transmissions, i.e. the ones that can really be heard by listeners in the United States. The two key questions that the website needs to answer are: "Where can I hear it?" and "Where can I buy it (DRM receivers and software)?" There could be a link to Ten-Tec's site and to explications of receiver modifications, as well as to Universal Radio's online mail order catalog. Others suggested links to C. Crane Company and Amateur Electronic Supply -- two other large mail-order firms in the U.S. It was suggested that the website should include reviews of new DRM receivers, such as the Mayah receiver and the new Digital World Traveller USB receiver. We should encourage shortwave broadcasters to provide a link to the U.S. DRM website on their own websites. John Uvodich of Continental suggested that he could talk to some of the magazines that they run advertisements in, to promote analysis of the differences between IBOC and DRM. Mike Adams asked if DRM transmitter manufacturers would be willing to help U.S.-based shortwave stations that might be interested in doing temporary DRM transmissions as demonstrations. RIZ and HCJB suggested they are ready to cooperate. Charlie Jacobson of HCJB asked, for example, if WRMI in Miami would be interested in doing DRM transmissions, and the number of hours and frequencies available. I indicated that the station is definitely interested. Someone said that we should try to get a U.S.- based shortwave station transmitting in DRM in time for the Dayton Hamvention. Josef Troxler of Thales said the special transmissions are good ideas, but what we really need are permanent DRM transmissions on the air. He suggested that all DRM transmitter manufacturers are ready to cooperate, but the initiative has to be on the broadcaster's side. Mike Adams also mentioned the possibility of stations leasing DRM airtime on existing transmitters beamed to the U.S. that are operated by Radio Canada International, Radio Netherlands and soon TDF in French Guiana. Finally, Charlie Jacobson mentioned that US-DRM could work together with universities in the United States to promote DRM broadcasts, much like many universities are presently doing in Germany. Many universities have radio stations that could experiment with DRM. Someone suggested that Texas Instruments could work together with a local university. Jeff White mentioned that Florida International University was very interested in co-hosting an HFCC Conference, so they might be willing to work on some DRM experiments. Unfortunately, the lively discussion was cut short by Kathy Stewart of Continental announcing that the barbecue dinner was ready in the hallway outside the meeting room. Not even avid broadcast engineers could resist the smell of Texas barbecue beef, ribs and accompaniments, which brought the informal meeting to a tasty end. DRM Symposium On Friday, Nov. 12, the first-ever DRM International Symposium for North and South America was held in Dallas, designed to introduce DRM to broadcasters and others from throughout the United States, Canada and Latin America. Eighty-some people from a few dozen countries attended the Symposium. Jan Hoek of Radio Netherlands, who is Vice Chairman of DRM, began the Symposium by introducing a long list of speakers. Adil Mina of Continental Electronics welcomed everyone to Dallas, and Doug Boyd, an international communications professor from the University of Kentucky, said a few words as well. Then Peter Senger, DRM Chairman, gave a general overview of DRM and its status. His station, Deutsche Welle, has more hours of DRM transmissions on the air than any other at the moment: 47 hours per day. He explained that there are expected to be about 700 hours per day of DRM transmissions on the air by 2006, and 1600 hours per day by 2008. One million DRM receivers are expected to be in the marketplace by 2006, and four million by 2008. Peter said that there are less than 2000 DRM receivers in use right now, most of them software radios that require the use of a PC. The country with the most DRM receivers is currently Germany, followed by the U.S. He said that DRM receivers should be available for under 200 euros by Christmas of next year. The key markets for DRM at the moment are Europe and the Near and Middle East. China could become a major market; the Chinese are doing tests and will decide during 2005 whether to go with the DRM system. In Latin America, there are already 20 hours per day of DRM transmissions. Peter Senger explained that while some broadcasters may have to buy a new transmitter to use DRM, it will pay for itself in 10 years because of the significant savings in power consumption over a regular analog transmitter. The worldwide DRM Consortium has over 80 members now. Full membership costs $10,000 per year. Associate membership, which is limited mainly to broadcasting unions, requires a one-time payment of $500. A less- expensive DRM Supporter option is also available. Peter Senger ended his remarks with an important announcement -- that the DRM Steering Board, meeting the previous day in Dallas, had recommended to the general assembly the expansion of DRM to 120 MHz (as opposed to the current 30 MHz), and the general assembly would decide on this next March. The next speaker was DRM Technical Committee Chairman Don Messer of the IBB. Sporting a Texan hat and accent for the occasion, Don explained the basics of DRM -- that it provides FM mono sound quality and fade-free reception in its coverage area. He told how DRM can be used for mediumwave or local shortwave (21 or 25 MHz) broadcasts, long-distance shortwave transmissions (the terrestrial equivalent of satellite radio which can cover an entire continent), and tropical band transmissions for regional coverage using near vertical incidence skywave. Don said that a station can broadcast simultaneously in up to three or four languages with DRM if it doesn't need extremely high quality audio. Different modes of DRM can be used for different types of audio quality, called "robustness." DRM can also display station call letters, program names, traffic information, etc. The total power required for a DRM transmitter is significantly less than that for an equivalent AM transmitter. Hans Linkel, manager of Radio Netherlands' Bonaire relay station and Chairman of the DRM System Evaluation Group, gave a presentaiton about field tests that have been conducted to show a comparison of coverage areas between AM and DRM signals. He said that DRM power output should be 7 dB lower than that of equivalent AM transmissions, and even then the DRM coverage area is still a bit larger than with AM. Reducing the power by 7 dB reduced transmitter power consumption 40-60%. Dan Dickey of Continental Electronics made a presentation about DRM transmitter developments and modifications, answering the popular question "Will my transmitter work in DRM?" He explained that a lot of information about this topic is found in the DRM Broadcasters User Manual, now available online from the DRM website http://www.drm.org John Sykes of the BBC World Service spoke about DRM from a broadcaster's perspective. He explained that in the U.K., radio listening went way down in the 1960's through the 1980's when TV became popular, but that radio listening has gone way up again since the 1990's. He said that delivery platforms have diverged and AM radio listening has declined, but DRM has the potential to revitalize AM radio. The BBC is planning a DRM service beginning next year to Germany, France, Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg, and they expect DRM receivers to soon be available for around 150 euros. John said that DRM would be ideal for truckers in the United States because of its long-distance coverage. He said that broadcasters have to put DRM transmissions on the air before manufacturers will make DRM receivers, and he said that "content is king" -- an expression heard from several speakers at the Symposium. John Sykes said we need to educate listeners and stimulate the demand for DRM. After a delicious buffet lunch of Mexican food, Michael Penneroux, Chairman of the DRM Commercial Committee, explained the commercial strategy for the implementation of DRM around the world. Stefan Meltzer of Coding Technologies talked about the DRM chipset and some estimates of how long it will take for DRM receivers to hit the marketplace. Paul Linnarz of the Konrad Adenauer Foundation Media Programme for Latin America talked about DRM from the South American perspective, with a special emphasis on the radio market in Peru. Yours truly was next with an update on the activities of the USA DRM Group, which have already been covered in the report on the USA DRM Group meeting above. Mike Adams, NASB's official liaison to DRM, gave the audience an idea which broadcasters you can hear on DRM in the Western Hemisphere right now. Charlie Jacobson of HCJB said that DRM could potentially revitalize the AM radio market in countries like Ecuador. He said in recent years the number of shortwave stations in Ecuador has shrunk from 51 to 26, and many of these aren't really on the air. The FM band, as in many countries, is overcrowded. Charlie said that while Latin America often follows U.S. standards, the IBOC system is simply not workable in many Latin American situations, so DRM may be a solution. Jacques Bouliane of Radio Canada International/CBC, told the audience that RCI is too small a station to operate its own independent DRM service, so they have put a transmitter on the air in DRM from Sackville, New Brunswick airing a "bouquet" of programs from a variety of international broadcasters who purchase airtime (including the NASB). Fernando Borjon of the Mexican Ministry of Communications and Transportation, gave a brief overview of the radio situation in Mexico, with 104 million inhabitants nationwide and 18 million in Mexico City, and a 3600-kilometer border with the United States. He said that Mexico has set a standard for digital TV, and the industry is eager to get a decision on digital radio. They are evaluating Eureka and IBOC, but the Ministry sees various problems with implementing these systems in Mexico for AM broadcasting. They would like to evaluate DRM as well. A very lively question and answer session followed the program speakers. One participant proposed that DRM on 21 or 26 MHz could be used for community radio services in the United States, and that the USA DRM Group should look into promoting this possibility. In answer to a listener question, Charlie Jacobson of HCJB said that a 3 MHz tropical band frequency has been approved by the Ecuadorian authorities for DRM broadcasting by HCJB, but the authorization had not arrived in writing yet. HCJB's current DRM tests on the 19 meter band beamed to Dallas were using four kilowatts of average DRM power with a 24 dB gain antenna. Dave Matthews of Radio New Zealand had an interesting technical question about DRM/AM simulcasting, which he said is a very attractive way to get into DRM. Hans Linkel of Radio Netherlands said that somewhere between 50 and 100 organizations are already broadcasting in DRM today around the world (Jeff White, Dec NASB Newsletter via DXLD) PROPAGATION +++++++++++ SKYWAVE AT NOON There have been many reports lately, at least from more northerly latitudes in North America and Europe, of MW stations being received at considerable distances at mid-day, or late in the morning, early in the afternoon. A reminder that the next two months surrounding the winter solstice are the ideal time of year for residual skywave to keep going almost all day, better on the high end of the MW band than the low end, but well worth checking the entire band for unusual signals (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ###