DX LISTENING DIGEST 4-183, December 9, 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 1256: Fri 0200 WOR ACBRadio Mainstream [repeated 2-hourly thru 2400] Fri 1100 WOR RNI [archive] Fri 1700 WOR WBCQ after hours Sat 0000 WOR Studio X, Momigno, Italy 1584 87.35 96.55 105.55 Sat 0900 WOR WRN1 to Eu, Au, NZ, WorldSpace AfriStar, AsiaStar, Telstar 12 SAm Sat 0955 WOR WNQM Nashville TN 1300 Sat 1130 WOR WWCR 5070 Sat 1928 WOR WPKN Bridgeport CT 89.5 Sat 2030 WOR R. Lavalamp Sat 2130 WOR WBCQ 17495-CUSB Sun 0330 WOR WWCR 5070 Sun 0400 WOR WBCQ 9330-CLSB Sun 0430 WOR WRMI 6870 Sun 0730 WOR WWCR 3210 Sun 0930 WOR WRN1 to North America, also WLIO-TV Lima OH SAP Sun 0930 WOR KSFC Spokane WA 91.9 Sun 0930 WOR WDWN Auburn NY 89.1 [unconfirmed] Sun 0930 WOR KTRU Houston TX 91.7 [occasional] Sun 1030 WOR WRMI 9955 Sun 1100 WOR R. Lavalamp Sun 1400 WOR KRFP-LP Moscow ID 92.5 Sun 1500 WOR R. Lavalamp Sun 2000 WOR Studio X, Momigno, Italy 1584 87.35 96.55 105.55 Sun 2030 WOR WWCR 12160 Sun 2100 WOR RNI Mon 0330 WOR WRMI 6870 Mon 0400 WOR WBCQ 9330-CLSB Mon 0430 WOR WSUI Iowa City IA 910 [1255] 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 [from Fri]: http://new.wrn.org/listeners/stations/station.php?StationID=24 OUR ONDEMAND AUDIO [also for CONTINENT OF MEDIA, MUNDO RADIAL]: WORLD OF RADIO 1256 (high version): (stream) http://www.w4uvh.net/wor1256h.ram (download) http://www.w4uvh.net/wor1256.rm WORLD OF RADIO 1256 (low version): (stream) http://www.w4uvh.net/wor1256.ram (download) http://www.w4uvh.net/wor1256.rm (summary) http://www.worldofradio.com/wor1256.html [soon] WORLD OF RADIO 1256, mp3 in the true SW sound of 7415: (stream) http://www.piratearchive.com/media/worldofradio_12-08-04.m3u (d`load) http://www.piratearchive.com/media/worldofradio_12-08-04.mp3 ** ANTIGUA. BBC harmonic heard in NE USA Wednesday 8 December 2004, 1406 UT - 30.38 MHz AM - BBC World Service via Antigua FK97 S4+ YL talk, low audio, fast flutter, deep fading. 1622-8 - Good audio level, talk ref Iraq aid S5 > 6 w/ rapid flutter 'World Briefing' from BBC London (Jack Sullivan, Central New Jersey, FN20, harmonics yg via DXLD) ** ARGENTINA. 15820 BOOMMMM --- Hola, 15820 KHZ - 0020 UT, 6 DIC 2004, Relay, good signal, ID "La notte di CONTINENTAL" ottima música. Ciao e buoni DX (MAURO GIROLETTI, IK2 GFT - SWL1510, 45 25' N - 9 6' E, rx- JRC 525 NRD / LOWE HF 150 - Ferrite 1mt. MW -Filare 10mt., Play DX via DXLD) They ID in Italian? Quite a while since this one has been reported; was not active? (gh) ** ASIA [non]. RFA currently broadcasts from 1100-0700; there are no transmissions between 0700 and 1100. Daily programming includes Mandarin for 12 hours, Cantonese for two hours, Uyghur for two hours, and Tibetan for eight hours. RFA schedule in B-04, valid from Oct 31, 2004, till March 26th, 2005. Additional relay site Vladivostok-RUS in use for the first time. Update 1300-1400 BURMESE 9725 (x9355) 11795T 12105I 15215T 2300-2359 MANDARIN 7540 9905P 11775T 13745S (x11995S) 13800T 15430T 15550T 2330-0029 VIETNAMESE 7515 9930P 11580 11605N 11965T 13720S 13865I 15565V (x9490) RFA uses IBB transmitters in IRA/I = Iranawila Sri Lanka, LAM = Lampertheim Germany, SAI/S = Saipan, TIN/T = Tinian N Mariana Isls. And relays in HBN/P = KHBN Palau Isl, IRK = Irkutsk-RUS, TWN/N = Taiwan, Lampertheim = LAM, UAE = Al Dhabayya-UAE, VLD/V = Vladivostok- RUS, WER = Wertachtal Germany, and WHR = Naalehu-HWA. Additional transmitter sites have been researched but deleted from this list upon request of RFA to suppress this info, to avoid pressure from China upon the host countries. Are we to assume that China has no way to find out this sensitive info except through DX publications? [gh] RFA B-04 # changes during B04 season, till March 5th only. 0000-0100 LAO 11830I 13830 15545T 0030-0130 BURMESE 11535 13710S 13815I 15210I 0100-0200 UYGHUR 7480 9365 9645UAE 9690UAE 15270T 17570T 0100-0300 TIBETAN 7560 9670WER 11695UAE 15220T 15660 17730 0300-0600 MANDARIN 13625T 13760T 15150T 15665T 17495 17525 17615S 17880S 21540T 0600-0700 MANDARIN 13625T 13760T 15150T 15665T 17495 17525 17615S 17880S 0600-0700 TIBETAN 17515 17540 17720 21570T 21715UAE break 1100-1200 LAO 9355S 9775T 15555I 15680 1100-1400 TIBETAN 7470 9365# 11540 13625T 15435UAE 15185S-(from 1200) 1230-1330 CAMBODIAN 11510 13725I 15395T 1300-1400 BURMESE 9725(x9355) 11795T 12105I 15215T 1400-1500 CANTONESE 9825T 11950S 15255T 1400-1500 VIETNAMESE 9365 9455S 9930WHR 11535 11605N 13725P 13865I 15470T 21625I 1500-1600 TIBETAN 7470 7495 11520 15385UAE 1500-1600 MANDARIN 7540 9905P 11945T 13670T 13745T 15510T 17565T 1500-1700 KOREAN 7210IRK 11870S 13625T 1600-1700 UYGHUR 7515 7530 9625UAE 11720T 13725I 1600-1700 MANDARIN 7540 9455S 9905P 11945T 13670T 13745T 15510T 17565T 1700-1800 MANDARIN 7540 9355S 9455S 9905P 11945T 13670T 13745T 15510T 17565T 1800-1900 MANDARIN 7455 7540 9355S 9455S 11790T 11945T 13670T 13745T 15510T 1900-2000 MANDARIN 7455 7540 9355S 9455S 9875P 11790T 11945T 11970T 13670T 13745T 15510T 2000-2100 MANDARIN 7540 9355S 9455S 9875P 9885T 11900S 11950T 11970T 13745T 15510T 2100-2200 MANDARIN 7540 9455S 9875P 9885T 11900S 11950T 11970T 13745T 15510T 2100-2200 KOREAN 7460 9385T 11785S 13625T 2200-2300 KOREAN 7460 9385T 9455T 11785S 13625T 2200-2300 CANTONESE 9570S 9845P 11740T 11775T 2230-2330 CAMBODIAN 7185I 9930P 15485T 2300-2359 MANDARIN 7540 9905P 11775T 13745S(x11995S) 13800T 15430T 15550T 2300-2359 TIBETAN 6010UAE 7415 7470 7550 9875LAM 2330-0029 VIETNAMESE 7515 9930P 11580 11605N 11965T 13720S 13865I 15565V(x9490) (various sources; BC-DX Dec 8 via DXLD) Radio Free Asia (RFA) has begun broadcasting live streaming audio of its Tibetan-language radio programs on the Internet from March 1, 2004. RFA has begun live Internet transmissions in foreign languages in addition to Tibetan services from April 4, 2004 (Nagoya DXers Circle website via Wolfgang Büschel, DXLD) ** AUSTRALIA. Would it be too much to ask for a station not to cut off its transmitter before a program is over? Yes! Latest example is R. Australia, 15515, Dec 9 at 0658* as I was listening to Talking Point about synesthesia. Closing 15515 was no doubt considered necessary in order to retune the transmitter to another frequency and have it going in time for news on the hour. By the time I found another frequency still going, 12080, at 0659, the talk was really ending. Excuse: RA does not operate the transmitters which broadcast it! This is the case in more and more countries, a bad idea from the outset. But this should not preclude the people in the studio/control room knowing when there is going to be a transmission break and timing their output so it is not interrupted! Build in a 2- or 3-minute buffer before hourtop to accommodate frequencies going and coming. Why do I have to tell them this? (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGESYT) ** AUSTRIA. ORF transmission outsourced ORF will outsource its transmission department into a new company called Österreichische Rundfunksender GmbH & Co KG (ORS) as of January 1st. This also includes the Moosbrunn shortwave site, complete with frequency planning and marketing / airtime lease. -----Original Message----- Subject: [A-DX] Neues vom ORF Hier zunächst der offizielle Pressetext: "ORF-Stiftungsrat stimmt Ausgliederung der ORF-Sendetechnik zu Wien (OTS) - Der ORF-Stiftungsrat hat in der Plenarsitzung am 7. Dezember 2004 der Errichtung der Österreichischen Rundfunksender GmbH & Co KG und der Ausgliederung des Teilbetriebs Sendetechnik in diese Gesellschaft einstimmig seine Zustimmung erteilt. Auf Grund dieses Beschlusses wird die ORF-Sendetechnik mit 1. Jänner 2005 in eine selbstständige Tochtergesellschaft ausgelagert werden. Ausgliederungsgegenstand sind 1.840 Hörfunk- und Fernsehsender an 477 Standorten in ganz Österreich." Das bedeutet, dass u.a. die komplette Frequenzplanung und auch der Betrieb und die Vermarktung von Moosbrunn zur ORS ausgelagert wurde. 73 de Wolf -- Internationales Kuratorium QSL COLLECTION Dokumentationsarchiv zur Erforschung der Geschichte des Funkwesens und der elektronischen Medien, c/o ORF, Argentinierstr. 30A, A-1040 Wien (Postfach 2, A-1112 Wien) oe1xqc @ oevsv.at - http://www.qsl.at (Wolf Harranth, Dec 7, A-DX via Kai Ludwig, DXLD) ** BOLIVIA. 4845.05 (presumed) Radio Municipal, Dec 7, 0943-0950, announcer in Spanish with fair signal, but music selections with very low modulation, 0950 carrier on just above from Brazilian (Mark Mohrmann, Coventry, (blue state) Vermont, USA, NRD 535D/MFJ959B Ground-based Folded "Hairball" I-Beam 280m @170 deg., http://www.sover.net/~hackmohr/hairball.htm Mark.Mohrmann @ Lyndonstate.edu "VT-DX"@ http://www.sover.net/~hackmohr/ Dec 9, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** BRAZIL. 3375.08, Rádio Educadora, Dec 7, 0931, pop campo vocals, announcements, Christmas ads, 0137 canned ID/jingle, booming +10dB over signal. 4845.21, Rádio Cultura Ondas Tropicais, Dec 7, *1000, 0950 carrier on, to 1000 sign-on over the presumed Bolivian on 4845.05 with anthem and ID, good signal (Mark Mohrmann, Coventry, (blue state) Vermont, USA, NRD 535D/MFJ959B, Ground-based Folded "Hairball" I-Beam 280m @170 deg., http://www.sover.net/~hackmohr/hairball.htm Mark.Mohrmann @ Lyndonstate.edu "VT-DX"@ http://www.sover.net/~hackmohr/ Dec 9, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** BRAZIL. Re 4-181, 4-182, gh`s unID: The screaming preacher on 6060 will almost certainly be from Brazil, and I assume via Tupi, although I have never heard an ID. It's often heard here after 0700. I haven`t worked out what a 'fast SAH' is or a 'matching DGS or BS' [but then I've only recently understood what WTFK stands for!] I have also heard the same 'preaching' on 9565 as well as 6070 and via Perú 6020 & 9720 in Spanish or Portuguese format. 73s from (Noel R. Green [NW England], DX LISTENING DIGEST) SAH: subaudible heterodyne, caused by two stations being on almost, but not quite the same frequency. A heterodyne of, say 100 Hz, would be audible. These SAHs manifest themselves by a rapid flutter fading, but NOT caused by propagation. I would guess that when I say fast SAH I mean something like 20 to 30 Hz difference. A slower SAH can actually be measured by counting the flutters per minute and then dividing by 60. DGS = Doctor Gene Scott. BS = Brother Stair. Need I say more? (gh) Re Glenn's message - I attempted to measure the frequency of the Brazilian station this morning at c0730, although local noise was making a mess of a weak signal. I made it approximately 6060.1 which is on par with many other Brazilians which seem to operate slightly off nominal frequency. Radio Tupi's 9565 channel is currently not audible, due mainly to 'mighty Pori' using 9560, but has also been noted using an offset frequency. Maybe this is sufficient to cause the SAH noted, Glenn, and your explanation is well worth investigating! OK re DGS and BS - now I get it! Those two lack the emotion and sincerity that you can hear on 6060! 73s from (Noel R. Green [NW England], dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CANADA. 3219.84, (tentative) CHSL, Toronto (2 x 1610), Dec 5/7/9, *1059-1133, weak talk in Spanish // 1609.92; Harold Frodge reports in DXLD4177 (http://www.worldofradio.com/dxld4177.txt) that they are indeed on this off-frequency with programming in Spanish. Het from HCJB 3220 fades by 1115 with local sunrise (Mark Mohrmann, Coventry, (blue state) Vermont, USA, NRD 535D/MFJ959B, Ground-based Folded "Hairball" I-Beam 280m @170 deg., http://www.sover.net/~hackmohr/hairball.htm "VT-DX"@ http://www.sover.net/~hackmohr/ Dec 9, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CANADA. See INTERNATIONAL VACUUM ** CHINA. 5039.94, PBS-Fujian (Presumed), Dec 8, 0956-1030*, Chinese language, 1000 noted 5 time clicks, advs, mostly talking, some pop music, fair (Ron Howard, Monterey, CA, NRD545, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CHINA [non]. UT Mon Dec 6 at 0100, I heard CRI to NAm on usual 9580, slight QRM from 9575, and new 9570. About a 2 second difference, 9570 ahead. They are not on 6005 so they set up 9570 to avoid heavy splash by RHC English to NAm. I get 4-5 `S` on both 9570 and 9580 (Bob Thomas, CT, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 9580 = Cuba, 9570 = Albania, 6005 = Canada (gh) ** COLOMBIA. 2200.04, (tentative) HJMK, Planeta Rica (2 x 1100), Dec 7/9, 1007-1047, announcer between campo songs, ads with mentions of "Planeta Rica", // 3300.07 fair to poor signal (Mark Mohrmann, Coventry, (blue state) Vermont, USA, NRD 535D/MFJ959B, Ground-based Folded "Hairball" I-Beam 280m @170 deg., Dec 9, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** COSTA RICA [non]. “Come to the edge” “We can’t. We’re afraid.” “Come to the edge” “We can’t. We will fall!” “Come to the edge” And they came. And he pushed them And they Flew. French poet Guillaume Apollinaire RADIO FOR PEACE INTERNATIONAL TAKES TO THE AIR As a result of diligent efforts to acquire a pledge of support from Pacifica Radio Foundation, your global community radio station will shortly return to shortwave broadcasting, keeping its focus on the themes of peace, social justice and the protection of the environment. For the past 17 years, RFPI has given a voice to the people of the world. As we return to the airwaves in the upcoming months, listeners will once again hear programs like Democracy Now, Free Speech Radio News, Alternative Radio and Global Community Forum on their shortwave dials. And while our internet broadcast has served a number of listeners, the majority have not been able to use this medium for hearing our programming. For this and other reasons, shortwave continues to be RFPI’s medium of choice to serve the global community as we continue our programming outreach using these other technologies as well. Much work lies ahead and many volunteers are busy supporting the effort. To return to shortwave broadcasting, we need your help in these next months too. Please visit RFPI’s web site http://www.rfpi.org scroll down the page and click on the PayPal icon to donate what you can to keep the dream alive. You can also send check or money order to our U.S. office: Keep the Airwaves Free RFPI Return Fund P. O. Box 3165 Newberg, Oregon 97132 USA From the entire staff of Radio For Peace International we thank you! (RFPI Dec 7 via DXLD) I wonder how soon is soon? Returning to the airwaves in 2005 perhaps? (James Bean, ME, to Joe Bernard, RFPI, via DXLD) HI James, Yes, the plan calls for at least one operational broadcast station by mid to late 2005. More details will be released as they become available (Joe Bernard, RFPI, via James Bean, WORLD OF RADIO 1256, DXLD) ** CUBA. FREED DISSIDENT JOURNALIST RAUL RIVERO INTERVIEWED | Text of interview with Cuban dissident Raul Rivero by Rafael Pérez G. [hereafter Perez] in Havana, published by Panamanian newspaper La Prensa web site on 2 December He is perhaps the most visible face of the internal opposition to Fidel Castro and he landed in jail for it. Cuban poet and journalist Raul Rivero, who was released two days ago, talked exclusively to La Prensa. The man who was chosen as one of the 50 Heroes of Freedom of Information in the second half of the 20th century, because of his struggle to practice independent journalism, asserted that he finds himself like a boxer in a "study round" to define his immediate future. Will he leave Cuba? He still does not know for sure, but he wants to continue practising his profession in the land of his birth and that of his ancestors. "I prefer to be able to stay working here (in Cuba), as I have done to date, but I neither want to wield a sword nor to have being sent back to prison at any moment hanging over my head like the sword of Damocles. In that respect, situation, I am going on some sort of study period to see how my live evolves. My intent is to remain working here, practising journalism, without taking orders, without any limitation other than an ethical one and the principle of not insulting any authority but of telling in a decent manner what is happening in my country, something that I am entitled to do as a citizen," he remarked. It is, simply, he said, practising "journalism that does not take orders, that is decent and ethical". Rivero, who was released two days ago after almost 21 months in prison, knows from experience the risks involved in working as a journalist. He is perhaps the most visible face of the internal opposition to Fidel Castro and he landed in jail for it. Nevertheless, Rivero, 59, said during an exclusive interview with La Prensa, and without hesitation, that in journalism it is always "the truth, at any cost". "I am happy because I regained my freedom, but I also carry the burden that some fellow journalists are still in prison, and some of them in very harsh conditions," he said. This poet, known around the world, began the tortuous path that led him to prison when he, together with other intellectuals, decided to sign a letter addressed to the Cuban government, asking for a series of measures aimed at bringing about a democratic opening on the island. The request was not well received by the Castro administration, and all they got for it was that they were punished with ostracism. Rivero's paths are those of resistance. In September 1995, he founded CubaPress news agency, affiliated to the Nueva Prensa Cubana Project. The major objective was to divulge outside the country's borders the lack of freedom of the press that dampens the future of Cubans. A tenacious persecution began from that moment on. He was arrested many times, and the political police raided his residence on several occasions. The police were most of all seeking journalistic material, which generally ended up being seized and unpublished. On 20 March 2003, however, he was arrested and, 15 days later, sentenced along with 74 dissidents. They were accused of treason to the fatherland for their alleged ties to Washington. Three days after that, on 7 April 2003, he was sentenced to 20 years in prison and confined to the Canaleta maximum security prison, in Ciego de Ávila Province. After his sentencing, the EU lodged a protest, and the Cuban government was unable to resist the onslaught. Analysts interpreted the release of a group of those convicted dissidents as Cuba's response to the request by the Spanish government, the main country involved with regard to this topic. Rivero now says that he does not want to leave the island in spite of everything. " I prefer to be able to stay working here (in Cuba), as I have done to date, but I neither want to wield a sword nor to have being sent back to prison at any moment hanging over my head like the sword of Damocles. In that respect, I am going to go on some sort of study period to see how my life evolves. My intention is to remain working here, practising journalism, without taking orders, without any limitation other than an ethical one and the principle of not insulting any authority but of telling in a decent manner what is happening in my country, something that I am entitled to do as a citizen", Rivero added. He passed his time in the dungeon honing his craft. "All I did this time was to read and write a lot. I was authorized to hand my poems to my wife, but only love poems because the political police went through everything. That is why I sought refuge again in poetry, my shelter in the close to one year that I spent in that solitary cell," he recalled. [Perez] Were there conditions for your release? Were you tortured in prison? [Rivero] No. I got out thanks to a medical report. They imposed no conditions. Nobody told me what I could and could not do. And the truth is that I was not physically tortured or abused, not even verbally. What I am saying is my personal experience. I do not know if some of the other inmates could say otherwise. I have always told the truth, at any cost. Let me explain something to you. I am not going to tell a lie to win someone's favour. Source: La Prensa web site, Panamá City, in Spanish 2 Dec 04 (via BBCM via DXLD) ** CUBA. 1140, Radio Musical Nacional -- GMT 0109+ 9 December, very good on peaks, parallel 590, with classical music. Occasional WRVA- Richmond and unID Latin bubbling up. ~1139.86 het in the mix as well. New Musical Nacional frequency, thanks David Crawford discovery on December 7th (Terry L Krueger, Clearwater, Florida, USA, 27.55.83 N, 82.46.08 W, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** EGYPT. 4930, R. Cairo's external program in Russian found on *1759 5 Dec with clock, YL with ID Good signal not sub harmonic !! (Zacharias Liangas, Thessaloniki, Greece, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Russian at 1800-1900 is supposed to be on 7120, only, per new sked in 4-181. Can it be coincidence that the General Arabic program on 12050, minus 7120 equals 4930? (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** FINLAND. It would be interesting to know, if somebody outside Finland was able to hear Scandinavian Weekend Radio testing last Saturday December 4 on MW frequency 1602 kHz with 100 Watts of power. I think the distance between my QTH and Virrat is approximately 250 km. Reception was pretty strong here around 1330-15 UTC, but even better in the 49 mb: 6170- and 5980 kHz. A Couple of times I´ve heard SWR even on 11720 kHz, 25 mb, but not in years. 73´s (Jouko Huuskonen, Turku, FINLAND, Dec 8, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** GREECE [non]. HI GLENN: I just pulled up DXLD 4-182: Saturday is D- Day of December 11, not 10, that Voice of Greece changes to 9.775 MHz, from Delano (we hope!). Regards, (JOHN BABBIS, Silver Spring, MD, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** GREENLAND. Altho no one has ever heard it that we know of, these entries appear in NDXC`s B-04 frequency list [see PUBLICATIONS below]: 3815 Gronlands Radio 0905-1205 1234567 Greenlandic Nuuk (Godthab) .15 180 GRL 05144W6410 Gronl 3815 Gronlands Radio 0905-1205 1234567 Greenlandic Nuuk (Godthab) .15 360 GRL 05144W6410 Gronl 3815 Gronlands Radio 1525-1625 1234567 Greenlandic Nuuk (Godthab) .15 180 GRL 05144W6410 Gronl 3815 Gronlands Radio 1525-1625 1234567 Greenlandic Nuuk (Godthab) .15 360 GRL 05144W6410 Gronl There was an unconfirmed report of such a station several years ago; perhaps the old info has just been retained. Each entry appears twice, identical except one due north, one due south (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** GUAM. I went over and visited AWR. I was curious if the station changed since my last visit a year ago. The chief engineer Dan Weston is no longer at the station and has transferred to the mainland. Some cuts in personnel there as well. The station`s [new] transmitters will be commissioned officially in February and most of the dignitaries for AWR will be there. The guy who was giving the tour of the station told me he wished I was there at the time. He mentioned an interesting part about the electric bill of the station and price costs to run it monthly. It runs around $40-$45,000 per month. Afterwards I went over to my friends at KTWR and unfortunately they weren`t around but one of the other guys I know talked a little about the running of the station. They have a system that cuts the electricity in half and not quite certain the name of the system but it dropped there price to $22,000 per month. He also showed me one of the inductors of the transmitter and it measured 3 feet in length and about 8 inches in diameter. He mentioned how they also had a steam leak a few days before and it hit some of the transmitters which made a loud bang noise. This was on their 15225 transmission. 73's (Larry Fields, n6hpx, Dec 8, visiting Guam, swl at qth.net via DXLD) ** GUATEMALA. R. Buenas Nuevas, 4799.79, 0245-0344* Dec 4, local religious music, a lot of dead air between selections; Spanish talk, 0343 closing with ID. Poor in noise and swisher QRM (Brian Alexander, Mechanicsburg PA, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** HONDURAS. HRMI, 3340, 0235-0507* Dec 4, Spanish Christian music, local religious music, Spanish talk, echo announcements. 0506 closing with ``Radio Misiones Internacionales`` ID; poor-fair in noise (Brian Alexander, Mechanicsburg PA, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** INDIA. RESOURCE CRUNCH PREVENTS AIR'S PLANS FROM TAKING OFF NIVEDITA MOOKERJI Posted online: Wednesday, December 08, 2004 at 0000 hours IST http://www.financialexpress.com/fe_full_story.php?content_id=76294 NEW DELHI, DEC 7: All India Radio (AIR) is in a state of limbo due to a resource crunch. According to a source in public broadcaster Prasar Bharati, around 18 All India Radio (AIR) stations were installed and then locked up in recent months, even before these had begun airing programmes. Some of these stations are located at Himmatnagar, Mandla, Saraipalli, Machrela, Dharmapuri and Churachandpur, cutting across Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat, Orissa and Tamil Nadu. Nearly Rs 100 crore would have been spent on these 18 stations, keeping in mind the average installation cost of Rs 3-4 crore per facility. The stations have been locked up because there's no money to run and maintain them, the source added. But there's no formal order of a shutdown of transmitters yet. While the total cost of running AIR has been estimated at Rs 700 crore, the government has approved grants worth Rs 500 crore. With AIR income around Rs 100 crore, there's a definite shortfall, officials confirmed. Employees' salary (nearly Rs 200 crore) and power bills (Rs 100 crore) are among the essential expenditure of AIR. As a result, new projects are finding it difficult to take off. That includes ambitious digital schemes of AIR. "They too have been unofficially dumped," a source said. Recently, a question was asked in the Rajya Sabha on whether the government was aware that a 10-KW capacity radio station was set up in Dharmapuri (Tamil Nadu) at a cost of Rs 4 crore but hasn't started functioning due to shortage of staff. To that, information and broadcasting minister S Jaipal Reddy replied: "A full fledged radio station (10 KW FM transmitter with studio) at Dharmapuri is technically ready. Requisite staff for operation and maintenance of the radio station, is yet to be approved by the competent authority." Without giving a timeframe as to when the station would be operational, the minister said: "It will start broadcast after the sanction of staff for operation and maintenance." Also, even as eight AIR stations have been proposed for Uttaranchal, there's a rider. Mr Reddy told Parliament a few days ago that the Uttaranchal schemes would be implemented, subject to approval and availability of resources. Again, the proposed DD service for the UK on BSkyB platform is also learnt to be under review. "DD has been asked to work out financial details including financial sustainability," said the minister (via Alokesh Gupta, dx_india via DXLD) ** INTERNATIONAL VACUUM. New broadcasts on Intelsat Americas 5 (97W) ex-Telstar 5 --- FYI: It's good to see Radio Nederland there now. Unfortunately no RRI multilingual "Bridges" feed, only Romanian. The last one is a Washington DC-based non-profit Hispanic medical advice organization. The channel is a continuous loop of their daily call-in show.) ========================================================== 11929 MHz Vertical 22000 s/r 3/4 FEC *** All FTA *** [Free to Air?] Radio Nederland Wereldomroep #1 (Dutch) 2522 Audio 4021 PCR Radio Nederland Wereldomroep #2 (English) 2530 Audio 4021 PCR Radio Nederland Wereldomroep #3 (Spanish/Port.) 2532 Audio 4021 PCR 12053 MHz Vertical 22000 s/r 3/4 FEC *** All FTA *** Radio Romania Int'l #1 (Romanian) 322 Audio 320 PCR http://www.rri.ro R. Romania Actualitati (Romanian) 1538 Audio 1536 PCR http://actualitati.srr.ro 11867 MHz Vertical 22000 s/r 3/4 FEC *** All FTA *** "Cuidando Su Salud" (Spanish) 1522 Audio 1560 PC http://www.prevencion.org (via TK Wood, Dec 7, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** INTERNATIONAL VACUUM. CBC on XM Satellite Radio The following New York Times article says that in addition to Sirius, XM is working on getting its signals into Canada and providing Canadian content to the USA. The low angle of elevation of the equatorial orbital plane XM satellites will prove useless at far northern latitudes. The satellites will be below the horizon more than 81 degrees north latitude and too low to use at much lower latitudes. The author of the NYT article was apparently unaware of that physical constraint because he did not ask how XM planned to overcome that problem. In Canada Sirius will have a definite advantage because of its elliptical Molinya orbit plan. http://www.nytimes.com/2004/12/09/technology/circuits/09cana.html?pagewanted=1&ei=5035&en=b6c6558a4ec062b4&ex=1188968400&partner=MARKETWATCH ~*-.,_,.-*~'^'~*-.,_,.-*~'^'~*-., (Joe Buch, Swprograms mailing list via DXLD) -*~'^'~*-.,_,.-*~'^'~*-.,_,.-*~'^ There'll be Canadian content on XM; but no CBC Radio. The CBC is partnered with Sirius and Standard Radio in the Sirius Canada venture. I doubt they would make their product available to a direct competitor. But, today? Who knows for sure? :-)) But there has been NO announcement from XM or CBC regarding CBC Radio carriage on XM. And I don't expect to see one (John Figliozzi, NY, ibid.) Here's what the CBC itself says about Sirius and XM. It is apparent that the XM proposal doesn't include the CBC. http://www.cbc.ca/news/background/satelliteradio/ Here's an interesting take on XM and Sirius venturing into Canada: http://www.friends.ca/News/Friends_News/archives/articles11020402.asp The article quotes from the Globe & Mail. The general stuff I read suggests both XM and Sirius -- perhaps the CHUM proposal as well -- are likely to have their proposals accepted in some form by the CRTC (Richard Cuff / Allentown, PA USA, ibid.) ** IRAN. ANALYSIS: IRAN'S STATE MEDIA URGED TO MOVE WITH THE TIMES | Text of editorial analysis by Steve Metcalf of BBC Monitoring Media Services on 7 December Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Khamene'i, met officials of the state-controlled broadcaster, IRIB, on 1 December. He told them that the media had a central responsibility in confronting the propaganda and "cultural onslaught" the country and region were facing. He spoke of the media being a part of the international battlefield and of the need to invest and develop. Khamene'i said that one of the methods used by the country's enemies was an attempt to inject the feeling of backwardness, of being undeveloped. He said it was important that Iran's 35m youngsters did not feel like that; they had to feel that they were making progress, moving forward. The media had an important role in dealing with social, moral and cultural issues. To this end, he said, the media had to be trustworthy, as well as being competitive and improving the quality and quantity of both national and international broadcasting. In reply, IRIB director Ezzatollah Zarghami - who was personally appointed by Khamene'i - said that experts had drawn up a five-year strategy to improve the quality of television programmes and that both the form and content of programmes were under review. When Zarghami took over IRIB in May, replacing Ali Larijani (seen by some as a possible presidential candidate in 2005), many observers saw it as a case of one conservative replacing another. Zarghami has a background of service in the hard-line Islamic Revolution Guards Corps, as well as serving as Larijani's deputy at the Ministry of Culture and then at IRIB. Under Larijani, IRIB was frequently criticized by reformist supporters of President Khatami for bias in favour of their conservative opponents. His efforts to curb what he called "foreign cultural influence" resulted in a cut in imported programmes, and IRIB was seen as producing what one Reuters correspondent described as "a bland schedule dominated by religious programming which failed to attract young viewers". However, it should be noted that it was under Larijani that IRIB started its 24-hour rolling news channels in Persian (News Network), and then in Arabic (Al-Alam). Launched in February 2003, Al-Alam modelled its format on successful pan-Arab channels such as Al- Jazeera. Moreover, because it used a terrestrial transmitter, as well as satellite, it was easily available to television viewers in Iraq. Since Zarghami took over, changes have been observed in the style and content of programming. Radio and television have appeared to respond more quickly to social developments. There has also been a move towards interactivity - with viewers and listeners being urged to telephone or e-mail their opinions, and officials being put up to answer questions from the public. The evening news bulletin on Channel 2 TV was singled out for praise by the Shargh newspaper. An article on 11 November commended it for airing a wide range of political views and for its in-depth treatment and follow up of stories. An earlier article (on 19 October) called it "a professional look at news". However, the writer said it had "become the reformist newspapers' private correspondent" and warned: "It's being said that pressure is being exerted on the programme." Along with praise from a moderate newspaper came criticism from a conservative source. An article in Jomhuri-ye Eslami on 20 November attacked national television for giving undue prominence to supporters of an agreement reached in Paris on the suspension of Iran's uranium enrichment programme. It accused IRIB of not reflecting public opinion and not giving equal time to opponents of the agreement. It seems likely that the article was not so much attacking the television as attacking the government for being prepared to reach a compromise on the nuclear issue. President Khatami and his officials have regularly found their plans obstructed by conservatives in parliament and the judiciary, and have complained that the broadcast media have not fully reflected their positions. However, as well as the nuclear issue, next year's presidential election is a major focus of interest in Iran's media, particularly in the press. Speculation about possible candidates and factional alliances has been going on for months. When a former prime minister - who had been widely expected to stand for a pro-Khatami coalition - refused to be nominated, a reporter asked the official government spokesman whether one of the reasons was the government's lack of a media outlet. The spokesman, Abdollah Ramezanzadeh, said in reply that it was regrettable that some people felt that conditions were not conducive to participation in the election. He added that the experience of the 2004 parliamentary elections (when many pro-Khatami candidates were barred from standing) had shown that there was not a level playing field. President Khatami himself met staff of the Islamic Students' News Agency on 6 December and echoed many of Ayatollah Khamene'i's earlier remarks to IRIB staff on the importance of the media and the need for trust. But he added that it was important also that the media did not become a tool in the hands of the politically and economically powerful. He said that the media was under pressure from two sides: from those who wanted more freedom, and from those who wanted to limit freedom in defence of social values. Khatami praised the student news agency for having broken the news monopoly in the country and said that he regarded that as one of the high points of his presidency. To this he might have added the liberalization of the press and the increase in the number and range of newspapers. Despite periodic crackdowns and closures, a wide range of political views can be read in the daily press. But it remains to be seen whether the same can be said of the state broadcaster as the presidential election campaign gathers momentum over the next six months. Source: BBC Monitoring research 7 Dec 04 (via DXLD) ** ISRAEL. DXLD #4-182 contained the following: unID female voice reciting letters in phonetic code --- At least those on 4270, 4880 & 5435 definitely are spy stations operated by Mossad (the Israeli intelligence). Two other common frequencies they use are 5820 & 6270. Look here for schedules: http://www.spynumbers.com/numbersDB/E10sked.html A lot of info about this exotic type of radio operation is also on http://www.simonmason.karoo.net/page30.html One of these stations even has it own unofficial homepage: http://ns4.swl.net/radiochina/newstar/newstar.html 73! (Sergej Nikishin, Moscow, Russia, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ISRAEL. FOREIGN MINISTRY WEB SITE LAUNCHES LIVE VIDEO BROADCASTS [sic] On 22 November, the official web site of the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs located at http://www.mfa.gov.il/ launched an online service of live video, with its broadcast of the news conference held by Israeli Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom and US Secretary of State Colin Powell. All live video is saved and can be viewed at a later date by clicking on the "Live Videos" link on the ministry home page. As of 7 December, the videos offered for viewing are news conferences held by the Israeli foreign minister with: US Secretary of State Colin Powell on 22 November, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov on 23 November, UK Foreign Secretary Jack Straw on 24 November, Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmad Abu-al-Ghayt on 1 December, and German Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer on 5 December. Other films and presentations on topics such as incitement, terror, and memorials can be viewed or downloaded by clicking on the "Films and Presentations" link: http://w3.castup.net/mfa/main_menu.htm Source: Ministry of Foreign Affairs web site, Jerusalem, in English 7 Dec 04 (via BBCM via DXLD) I`d rather hear Kol Israel on SW (gh) ** LATVIA. NEXT EMR TRANSMISSION: 19TH OF DECEMBER, 9290 KHZ, AT 1500 UT (TOM Taylor, Dec 8, DX LISTENING DIGEST) A Sunday. Until? (gh) ** LUXEMBOURG [and non]. Radio Luxembourg set to return? Most of our readers, as we were, would be interested in the idea than Luxembourg may return because of the simple fact, many have "fond nostalgic memories" of the station. In this instance, that is the story, and not the complexities of the DAB/DRM debate. It is also interesting on another note, as the radio industry in the UK begins to consolidate, that a non-UK player is considering ways in which to broadcast in to the UK without having to buy UK stations or win UK licences. A return for Luxy might be some time off; however the idea is an interesting and newsworthy one (Julia Day, BDXC-UK via DXLD) This lady seems not to realise that RTL is very much a "UK player" in domestic radio and TV, so they would not anymore represent an "external voice" to UK broadcasting. Apart from RTL's own activities they also have subsidiaries like London based Freemantle Media who own Thames TV and produce programmes that are shown all over Britain and beyond. RTL investments ARE a part of UK media and do already hold Ofcom broadcast licences, so the suggestion of them being or becoming an alternative voice is preposterous. The days of a powerful independent radio station in the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg attracting a night-time audience of millions has gone for good, you can't base a business exclusively on nostalgic memories. Remember the "BBC Experience" Exhibition at BH, cost a fortune and lost a packet (Andy Cadier, BDXC-UK via DXLD) ** MEXICO. PRESENTA SEP LIBRO SOBRE LA RADIODIFUSION CULTURAL MEXICANA sábado 4 de diciembre, 02:00 PM México, 4 Dic (Notimex).- La Secretaría de Educación Pública (SEP) recupera 80 años del acontecer en la radiodifusión cultural mexicana, al editar el libro "Una historia de sonidos. Radio Educación la innovación del cuadrante", con el que se conmemora la aparición de esa estación el 30 de noviembre de 1924. La estación de la SEP inició con una potencia de 500 khz [vatios?], con lo que llegaba a Estados Unidos, Centro y Sudamérica; además de formar parte del proyecto vasconcelista para acelerar la educación en México con el apoyo de las nuevas tecnologías de comunicación de la época. Después de cambios en sus identificaciones, desde hace 36 años Radio Educación se identifica con las siglas XEEP, y se constituye como heredera directa de las emisoras del Estado dedicadas al fomento de la cultura y a las tareas educativas. El Secretario de Educación Pública, Reyes Tamez Guerra, apuntó en su mensaje a los lectores del libro que las transmisiones de Radio Educación dan constancia de la utilidad y penetración de los medios electrónicos en las tareas educativas. El funcionario destacó que "Una historia hecha sonidos..." es una obra que deja constancia del impulso que la SEP ha dado a la radiodifusión cultural mexicana desde sus inicios hasta ahora. "Estoy seguro de que contribuirá a fortalecer la percepción que tiene la sociedad de nuestra Secretaría y abrirá un fértil campo de estudio a los jóvenes e investigadores interesados en la historia de nuestros medios de comunicación", expuso Reyes Tamez. Destacó en su mensaje la labor que las universidades, los gobiernos estatales y las organizaciones comunitarias en todo el país en continuidad con el camino trazado por la radioemisora, así como el papel preponderante de la presencia femenina para su desarrollo. En este sentido recordó que la radiodifusora de la Secretaría de Educación nación como CYE y empezó sus transmisiones con una mujer al frente: María Luisa Ross. Ya como Radio Educación, otra mujer, María del Carmen Millán, marcó el rumbo de la estación, y lo hizo con tal acierto que buena parte del prestigio de esta emisora se debe a ella", sostuvo Tamez Guerra. Coordinado desde la Oficialía Mayor de la SEP, el libro desarrolla en cinco capítulos los temas: Radio Educación en la historia política y cultural de México; Del éter al ciberespacio: las innovaciones tecnológicas en Radio Educación. Además, Radio Educación en el inicio del siglo XXI; Radio Educación: Experiencias recientes de adaptación a las tendencias mundiales de la radio, y Las voces de los oyentes de Radio Educación. En el Consejo Consultivo que se integró para la elaboración del libro participaron los escritores e investigadores Javier Esteinou Madrid, Miguel Angel Granados Chapa, César Leal Angulo, Fernando Mejía Barquera y Miguel Ángel Sánchez de Armas (via Héctor García Bojorge, DF, Dec 6, condiglist via DXLD) ** MEXICO. MEXICAN BROADCASTERS COMPLAIN OF GROWING COMPETITION FROM US DIGITAL SIGNALS | Text of report by Jose de Jesus Guadarrama H.: "US digital radio signals enter Mexican territory" published by Mexican newspaper El Financiero web site on 2 December; subheading as published Mexican radio broadcasters are facing limited competition from digital radio signals from the United States due to the development of a "grey (unauthorized) market" of imported devices which are installed in vehicles and which permit reception by means of the DARS (Digital Audio Radio Services [preceding four words published in English]) system. This is occurring at a time when the Mexican authorities have yet to define standards for launching the digitalization process of national radio and have not stemmed the growth of that market, which now encompasses at least 50,000 motorists, in spite of the fact that the National Chamber of Radio and Television (CIRT) filed the relevant complaint over 18 months ago. Satellite digital radio signals come from firms such as Sirius Satellite Radio and XM Satellite Radio, and now Mexican concessionaires are becoming increasingly concerned about the presence of SES Americom, since if it wins the bidding for satellite orbit location 77 degrees west (77W), it will have an enormous capacity for launching similar services. The authorities say that Mexico and the United States have reciprocity agreements by which the satellite footprints of both countries can overlap the two territories. Government sources question the existence of that satellite digital radio grey market, since the reception of DARS signals in Mexico would require land-based repeater antennae (known as fillers), which do not yet exist. Those agreements were signed when Carlos Ruiz Sacristan was head of the Secretariat of Communications and Transport (SCT). Illegality Nevertheless, CIRT members consulted say there is no evidence whatsoever that the agency has been taken into account so that satellite agreements could be reached between Mexico and the United States. Radio broadcasters are worried that some assembly plants, such as Ford or General Motors, are already installing limited satellite radio signal reception systems in their latest models, while in Mexico no progress is being made in the radio digitalization process. Experts in the field say that some people acquire the equipment and subscriptions to the DARS system in the United States and bring them into Mexican territory illegally. The provider on the Mexican side of the border charges for the annual or biannual service and delivers the corresponding devices, which make good signal reception possible, without the need for fillers. Radio broadcasters estimate the number of users of that service at 50,000, since it has begun to expand its presence in the northern states, in addition to Jalisco. Hence, the continued concerns of radio entrepreneurs in Mexico, in light of the difficulties in defining the best standard that would permit the business to evolve from the analogue system to the digital system at a time when platforms like the DVD or the MP3, among others, are stealing their markets worldwide. The authorities have publicly declared that the ruling on digital radio will not be made in haste. It has not yet been determined which of the digital radio platforms, Iboc or Eureka 147 (which are the standard technologies in the United States and Europe, respectively), will be established in Mexico. But neither the United States nor Europe has established official standards, given the failure of amplitude modulated (AM) bands to demonstrate good transmission quality. In Mexico, proposals have been made to grant frequency modulated (FM) concessions to businesses which transmit in AM so that they can more easily enter the era of digital radio. It is predicted that the move to digital technology for radio and television will generate a new wave of investments of around 2.5bn dollars. Source: El Financiero web site, Mexico City, in Spanish 2 Dec 04 (via BBCM via DXLD) ** NETHERLANDS [and non]. Extra RNW frequencies for Prince Bernhard's funeral --- On Saturday 11 December, Radio Netherlands will use some additional shortwave frequencies for Dutch language coverage of the funeral of Prince Bernhard. Details are as follows: 6020 kHz 0800-1057 UTC to Surinam 7410 kHz 0800-1257 UTC to the Far East 9615 kHz 1100-1257 UTC to Southeast Asia 9890 kHz 1100-1257 UTC to E North America and Surinam 17725 kHz 0800-1257 UTC to southern Africa 21480 kHz 0800-1057 UTC to Southeast Asia 21735 kHz 0800-1257 UTC to Africa/Middle East/South America/Canary Is. # posted by Andy @ 14:21 UT Dec 8 (Media Network blog via Tomás Méndez, Noticias DX via WORLD OF RADIO 1256, DXLD) Sites?? Any not ordinarily in use? (gh, DXLD) ** NEW ZEALAND. Re 4-182, RNZI plans to do away with RA feed completely later both for streaming and ondemand programmmes (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Hah -- the "Car Talk" folks at NPR tried this 9-12 months ago, for the same reason -- people were not observant enough to download the unobtrusively labeled free player, instead downloading the subscription version. So they switched to Windows Media and received a storm of complaints, apparently because some people couldn't, or wouldn't, use the Windows Media Player. After a few weeks, Car Talk switched back to Real Media, after apparently RealNetworks agreed to install a webpage, linkable at http://www.real.com/freeplayer/?rppr=cartalk.com from the Car Talk website, where you only can download the free player, and aren't duped into downloading the premium (not free) version. The details here: http://cartalk.com/content/features/real/ Maybe RNZI needs to contact the same people at RealNetworks! (Rich Cuff, PA, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** NIGERIA. V. of Nigeria, 9690, 1835-1900+ Dec 5, tune-in to English political talk, 1859 preview of upcoming programs. 1900 ID and English news summary. Strong carrier but typical Nigerian audio with poor modulation and hum (Brian Alexander, Mechanicsburg PA, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Re: VON in DX LISTENING DIGEST 4-182: "Heard the V. of Nigeria this afternoon (12/5) at 2120 UT on 9690 in English." Sure about that??? I heard them closing down in English at 2100 on 9690 and sign-on on 15120 in French. If audio was horrible, it was likely the audio feed from Abuja, which is used 2000-2100 and some other times each day for News broadcasts. Maybe it should read "2020 UT"? Anyway, VON has dropped 7255 for 9690 also in the mornings (0800- 1000) and clashes nicely with DW Antigua. Greetings (Thorsten Hallmann, Münster, Germany, Dec 8, WORLD OF RADIO 1256, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** PARAGUAY. 9736.92, R. Nacional Paraguay, 8 Dec, 2322 ad/promo block, phone number given, December date. Last one mentioned Nacional. Into 4 ballad and pleasant contemporary songs in a row. Then another ad/promo block at 2338, and back to music at 2339. Het came on 9735 at 2336 causing QRM, went off, then came back on. Has this been off?? It`s nowhere near as strong as it used to be. Quite weak actually (Dave Valko, PA, Cumbre DX via DXLD) I have been keeping an ear out for the het around 9735 and had not heard it for some time (gh, DXLD) ** PERU. Quito 7/12 2004 Tuesday evening edition: Radio Paucartambo, Paucartambo reactivated on 6520.33 kHz. Comments and recordings at: http://www.malm-ecuador.com Viz: I have not heard this station for several years. Listen to one of the most famous female Peruvian singers Sonya Morales and a fine ID. A recording made today Tuesday 1930 local time [0030 UT Wed] 73s (Björn Malm, Quito, Ecuador, WORLD OF RADIO 1256, DX LISTENING DIGEST) This is one of those stations whose SW license was supposedly withdrawn last July (Glenn Hauser, WORLD OF RADIO 1256, DXLD) ** PERU. R. Santa Mónica, Cusco, 4964.98, 0955-1005+ Dec 5, OA folk music, 1002 canned ID, Spanish talk; weak in noise (Brian Alexander, Mechanicsburg PA, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** PERU. 4855.95, R. La Hora, Dec 8, 1036-1048, Spanish talk about South American economy, time check and clear ID and more talking, good (Ron Howard, Monterey, CA, NRD545, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** PERU. 5070.7, 12/8 0127, R. Ondas del Suroriente, Cuzco, música huayno, 0221 ads, ID "Integrando a nivel nacional e internacional, Radio Ondas del Suroriente, amplitud modulada 1400 kHz, onda corta 5070 kHz, onda de 60 metros, en la gran cadena nacional via satélite, 96.5 frecuencia modulada stéreo". 73 (Rogildo Aragão, Quillacollo, Bolivia, Sony 2001D/Lowe HF-225E, HCDX via DXLD) Muy bien, this is our UNID station observed on the latest Bavarian DX- camp, Germany. UNIDENTIFIED STATIONS: 5070.7, UNID Peruvian, November 24th, 2210, Spanish, one hour non stop huayno music, blocked by WWCR at 2300 on 5070; O=3 until 2300. Saludos desde Alemania, (Michael Schnitzer, ibid.) ** PHILIPPINES. R. Veritas allegedly involved with Tamil Tigers: SRI LANKA ** POLAND. Re 4-181, 7220, R. Polonia at 1853, ``Quite a catch to pull Europe thru that early on 7 MHz, thanks to northerly latitude, low sun (gh)`` 7 MHz is not rare at this time of year. I was using a 500' longwire at the time but I can pull in 7 MHz during winter at home with my inverted V. Occasionally 5 MHz from Europe can be heard before 2000. Poland, however, is simply rare in its own right. I haven't even heard Polish utes for a year (Liz Cameron, MI, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** SRI LANKA. Hi Glenn, December 8 I heard SLBC Colombo/Ekala with English language religious program on 9770- and 15748 kHz till 1430 UT. After that evergreens as usual. 1428 UT strong co-channel QRM by DW on 9770 kHz. Due to short daylight time of this season, upper frequencies like the 19 mb are nearly gone silent. So parallel frequency 15748 was just barely audible. At 1500 UT news in English and even increasing QRM from DW. If this DW transmission is beamed to Asia, as I think, it´s very bad co-ordination. 73´s (Jouko Huuskonen, Turku, FINLAND, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** SRI LANKA [and non]. VERITAS EXPOSED It is reported that the VOT (Voice of Tigers) radio has tied up with the worldwide Catholic broadcasting station Radio Veritas. "The Hindustani Times" quoting the "Tamil Net" states that "the VOT has established on Sunday the 23rd a 'coordinating office' for this purpose at St. Sabastian church in Mallavi in the Wanni". We reproduce below experts from the "Hindustani Times" report. "The rationale behind the tie-up is that it will give VOT access to the vast audience of Radio Veritas. Nearly 850,000 Sri Lankan Tamils living as refugees or migrants across the globe tune in to Radio Veritas, because it gives sensational "Eelam Tamil" news, often ahead of the BBC Tamil service "Tamil Osai". Its Tamil broadcast timings are more suitable and the number of bulletins is more. Many ardent LTTE supporters also find BBC Tamil Osai a bit too restrained. It is said that the BBC did not take note of LTTE supremo Prabhakaran`s speech on Maveerar --- or martyrs, day in November last, thus deeply disappointing the Tamil diaspora. It is significant that Radio Veritas is a Catholic outfit run by the Asian Catholic Bishops, Conference. The Tamil section of the Catholic church in Sri Lanka (which is quite considerable) has been an ardent votary of the Tamil cause and a tacit supporter of the LTTE. However, interestingly, the Tamil service of Radio Veritas is in the hands of Tamil Catholics from Tamil Nadu. This adds another dimension to the support structure of the Eelam Tamils and the LTTE. Studies have revealed that in the Tamil Eastern coast, the church`s humanitarian work has led to conversions. Many Hindu Tamils resent this, and yet, they would not do anything to stop it because the church is supporting the larger Tamil cause. The church is an important link with the outside world. Many of the NGOs doing relief work among the Tamils in the war zone and outside, are linked to and funded by one church or the other outside the island." The above should open the eyes of the Sinhala Catholics. The Catholic church is not only dominated by the Tamils but even some of the Sinhala clergy are using the Tamil racist movement to undermine the Sinhala Buddhist culture in the country. The Veritas has been always been pro Tamil and has broadcast anti Sinhala propaganda on many occasions. It is interesting to note that the Veritas has beaten the BBC in its pro Tamil racist and anti Sinhala propaganda. Incidentally the report says that there are 850,000 Tamil "refugees" around the world. If that is the case then the Tamil population in Sri Lanka must have come down by that figure. (Sakthi Vel, India, Japan Premium via DXLD) ** SUDAN. Re 4-181, 4750, R. Peace at 0312, Excellent signal 4 Dec, ``Excellent? Wonder if they have increased power from one kW (gh)`` Could be. It was nearly as strong as WWCR on 3210. If anyone could tell me what language this might have been, tell me. Hans Johnson says they speak a dialect of Arabic, but this was not related. 73 (Liz Cameron, MI, dxldyg via WORLD OF RADIO 1256, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** SYRIA. Radio Damasco --- Quiero compartir con todos vosotros los mensajes que he recibido de Marian Galindo de Radio Damasco. Como muy bien dice en él, no reciben mucha correspondencia nuestra en esa parte del mundo (al parecer, entre que el correo funciona muy mal, y lo poco que escribimos, no les llega mucho), por tanto nos facilita una dirección de email para que podamos colaborar e intentar mantener las emisiones en español. Os ruego que colaboréis, aunque sólo sea mandando palabras de ánimo. He recibido estos dos mensajes: "Estimados Amigos Radio Oyentes, Apartir de ahora pueden mandarnos sus correos electrónicos a esta dirección; mándenos sus infórmenes de dirección, cuéntenos su opinión acerca de nuestros programas, espacios, colaboren con nosotros mandándonos cosas turísticas de sus localidades, sugerencias, preguntas y curiosidades. Estamos deseando recibir sus e-mail, aunque contestamos a todas las cartas de correo normal, sólo que muchas se pierden o las extravían. Un saludo desde la plaza de los Omeyas en Damasco. Su amiga Locutora, Marian Galindo." "Estimados oyentes y amigos de Radio Damasco, esperamos recibir un millón de correos electrónicos, debido a que estamos muy sólos por esta parte del mundo y quizás cierren nuestras emisiones en español. Un saludo de vuestra amiga locutora Marian Galindo." La dirección email es la siguiente: Marian Galindo: mmhrez @ shuf.com Muchas gracias por vuestra colaboración (via Julio Martínez - Club S500, Noticias DX via DXLD) ** THAILAND [and non]. Bangkok Meteorological Radio Once again Independence Day dxpedition on countryside. On MW there were many frequencies open across the Atlantic, especially to Venezuela in 4th December (1230, 1420, 1370, 1200, 770, 790, 1120, etc etc) but signals were weak because of coronal hole. Only few stations were identified. Then the conditions became worse. Most interesting and exciting catch to me was however Bangkok Meteorological Radio. It was heard 6th December on 6765 kHz USB at 1535 UT. Interval signal caught my attention. They announced transmission times 0-2, 3-5, 6-8, 9-11, 12-14, 15-17, 18-20 and 21-23 GMT. On the announced frequency 8783.0 there was only a sound of telephone ringing and nobody cared to pick up. ;-) (Check it out yourselves.) 73's (Jari Lehtinen, Lahti, Finland, HCDX, via DXLD) Thanks to a tip from Jari Lehtinen in hard-core-dx digest I was able to hear Bangkok Meteorological Radio on 6765.1 beginning at 1200. Supposedly running 1 kW. Interesting interval signal, alternating with Thai and English announcements, and station ID's. The station was heard well here from 1200 until fadeout around 1315. Not sure if this is on a par with some of the Turkish stations operating in a similar manner as far as what one might consider shortwave broadcast. [Later:] Am hearing at least the interval signal from Bangkok Meteorological Radio on 6765.1 at 2059, just prior to their 2100 broadcast, very weak here. Nothing heard on 8783. Hearing it also again at 2104. I'm wondering if they've increased their transmitter power. Still in daylight here, and sunset is not for another hour, though the terminator is not far to the north and east of me (Steve Lare, Holland, Michigan, USA, Dec 8, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Yes, of course, this station has a funny interval signal. To me it sounds European rather than Asian. B.T.W.: The exact frequencies are 6765.1 and 8743.0 kHz USB and the station can be picked up here at my location on both frequencies, however 8743.0 has the weaker signal. It fades in at late afternoon around 1600 UT. In 1998 I received a verification letter from: Meteorologigal Department, Telecommunication Division, 4353 Sukhumvit Road, Bangkok 10260, Thailand. v/s was Mr. Suparerk Tansriratanawong. Best wishes, Uwe Volk, Hannover, Northern Germany, Old Europe; RX: AOR AR7030 plus, ANT: 25m Longwire + RF Magnetic Balun, HCDX via DXLD) ** THAILAND. 12/8/04 at 2035 on 9535, R. Thailand in English. Fair signal with fading. Man with news -- report on Govt. crack-down on sex-related business; advertising into a promo followed by a public service type announcement promoting religious tolerance and peace in Thailand. ID's and ads, including one for "J&P Travel Consultants" Announcement also re a "New Year's Countdown" contest being held by the station (Jim Clar, Rochester, NY, R-8 with Eavesdropper dipole, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U K. As previously tipped on ALL ACCESS, the BBC has formally announced its plans to cut about 5,000 jobs and move several departments, including Talk-Sports BBC RADIO FIVE LIVE, from LONDON to MANCHESTER. The cuts, announced by MARK THOMPSON on TUESDAY (12/7), are designed to save up to £320 million a year, which THOMPSON says will be reinvested in content. About 1,800 of the jobs are expected to be lost due to the sale or spinoff into partnerships of some departments, while 2,500 behind-the-scenes jobs will be axed and 400 are being let go from the factual programming division (allaccess.com via Brock Whaley, DXLD) ** U K. BBC On Air Magazine Discussion --- Greetings! In a recent Write On, you presented some discussion about the sudden demise of On Air Magazine. Unfortunately, what was said there and in the interview with the person responsible for the magazine, regarding the lack of leadtime to notify subscribers before the final issue, completely ignored what was on the magazine's dedicated website. Certainly the time factors inherent in printing and mailing a paper magazine cause unavoidable delays in notifying subscribers when an unexpected management decision (whether for economic or other reasons) result in the publication's termination. But none of those affect the website! The website's content can be changed instantly when the news comes out. But the On Air website remained unchanged and not updated long after the decision was made to discontinue the magazine. It still solicited subscriptions and made an offer for sample issues even as your Write On discussion was being transmitted! I was reminded of this just this week, when, at 1506 UT on Dec. 6 '04, on the Americas stream, the BBC aired a promotional announcement touting On Air, the same announcement you've been transmitting for months, as if it was still available and still a viable publication! This was incredible! Surely, as soon as the decision was made to pull the plug on On Air, all the recorded promo announcements for this should have been pulled from the broadcasting facility (erasing the digital files, wiping the tapes or cartridges, if you still use those, etc.) and the website should have been changed to basically eliminate all the promotional material and have it replaced with the simple statement that the magazine was no longer being published (along with the reassurance that subscribers would have refunds). Any references to "On Air" should have been deleted from all other BBC web pages. Why wasn't this done? (William Martin, Saint Louis, MO, Dec 8, to BBC Write On, cc to DXLD) As of Dec 8, my final Dec copy uncome (gh, DXLD) ** U K [non]. See AFGHANISTAN ** U S A. HOLIDAY SPECIALS 2004-2005, WEBCASTING PUBLIC RADIO STATIONS *MPBN [UT -5] 12/ 6- 1/2 : http://www.mainepublicradio.org/holiday04.htm *VPR [UT -5] 12/12- 1/1 : http://www.vpr.net/music/holiday.shtml *WAER [UT -5] 12/ 7- 1/1 : http://www.waer.org/holiday2004a.html *WAMC [UT -5] 12/ 8-12/31: http://www.wamc.org/whatsnew.html#gal *WNYC [UT -5] 12/ 8-12/31: http://www.wnyc.org/music/articles/41159 *WHYY [UT -5] 12/ 6- 1/1 : http://www.whyy.org/publications/91fmholidayexpanded.html *WDIY [UT -5] 12/21-12/26: http://www.wdiyfm.org/ *WQED [UT -5] 12/17-12/31: http://www.wqed.org/fm/sched/2004_holidays.shtml *WETA [UT -5] 12/10- 1/1 : http://www.weta.org/fm/holiday2004.php *WCPE [UT -5] 12/ 7-12/31: http://theclassicalstation.org/press/2004_holiday.shtml *WUGA [UT -5] 12/ 6- 1/1 : http://www.wuga.org/monthly.html *WUOT [UT -5] 12/ 1-12/24: http://wuot.org/h/programming/airnotes1204.html *WKSU [UT -5] 12/ 1- 1/1 : http://www.wksu.org/features/holidayschedule2004/ *WYSU [UT -5] 12/12-12/27: http://www.wysu.org/holiday.htm *WMUB [UT -5] 12/ 5- 1/2 : http://www.wmub.org/special/ *WBOI [UT -5] 12/ 1- 1/6 : http://www.wboi.org/wbni/holiday_2004.htm *WFIU [UT -5] 12/12-12/26: http://www.indiana.edu/~wfiu/artdec_2004.htm *WBHM [UT -6] 12/ 6- 1/1 : http://www.wbhm.org/Programs/Specials/Holidays.html *WPLN [UT -6] 12/14- 1/1 : http://www.wpln.org/holiday/index.html *WBEZ [UT -6] 12/12-12/26: http://www.wbez.org/programs/specials/holiday04.asp *WPR [UT -6] 12/10- 1/1 : http://www.wpr.org/music/special/holiday_04.cfm *KUNI [UT -6] 12/19- 1/1 : http://www.kuniradio.org/xmasprogramming.html *KUMR [UT -6] 11/25- 1/1 : http://www.kumr.org/Holiday%20Specials%202004.htm *KVLU [UT -6] 12/18-12/25: http://dept.lamar.edu/kvlu/christmas2004.html *KWTU [UT -6] 12/21- 1/1 : http://www.kwgs.org/kwtu-holiday.html *KGOU [UT -6] 11/28- 1/1 : http://www.kgou.org/limited_programming.php *KCSC [UT -6] 12/ 8- 1/1 : http://www.kcscfm.com/programming/specials/program_specials.asp *KMUW [UT -6] 12/ 8-12/28: http://www.kmuw.org/programming/specialprograms/index.html *KHCC [UT -6] 12/17-12/31: http://www.radiokansas.org/ *KANU [UT -6] 12/ 3-12/25: http://kpr.ku.edu/KPRchristmas.shtml *KBAQ [UT -7] 12/ 4-12/25: http://www.kbaq.org/programs/specials/holiday/ *KJZZ [UT -7] 12/25- 1/1 : http://kjzz.org/programs/specials/holiday/ *KNAU [UT -7] 12/12- 1/1 : http://www.knauradio.org/Issues/Issues.cfm?ID=810&c=8 *CPR [UT -7] 12/ 6-12/25: http://cpr.org/cgi- bin/cprframe.cgi?url=/html/holidaymusic04.htm *KUWR [UT -7] 12/ 8- 1/1 : http://uwadmnweb.uwyo.edu/wpr/HolidayProgramming.html *KBYU [UT -7[ 12/ 4-12/31: http://www.kbyufm.org/specials/ *KPBS [UT -8] 12/ 3- 1/1 : http://www.kpbs.org/Radio/DynPage.php?id=1426 *KCRW [UT -8] 12/10- 1/1 : http://www.kcrw.com/about/pressreleases/041201DecemberHighlights.html# wspecs ** U S A. Paul Winter's Solstice Concert WNYC's John Schaefer hosts Paul Winter's annual Winter Solstice Celebration, this year with a decidedly Russian flavor: The Dmitri Pokrovsky Ensemble—Russian village dancers and singers—joins African mbira master Chris Berry and the famous Paul Winter Consort. They'll lead our "Journey Through the Longest Night" with new works and old favorites including "Dancing Day," the West African "Minuit" and Paul Winter's "Icarus." Wolves, whales and the audience in New York's Cathedral of St. John the Divine join in with holiday glee. Here are the times for Paul Winter Solstice we have found so far on webcasting public radio stations, strictly UT dates and times here! Fri Dec 10 0200 WUOT Tue Dec 14 0300 KUWR Sun Dec 19 1700 WAER Mon Dec 20 0400 WHYY Tue Dec 21 0100 KGOU Tue Dec 21 0500 KPBS Wed Dec 22 0100 MPBN [Maine] Wed Dec 22 0100 WAMC Wed Dec 22 0100 WBNI Wed Dec 22 0100 WFUN Wed Dec 22 0200 KNAU Wed Dec 22 0300 WPLN Wed Dec 22 0400 KHCC Sun Dec 26 0100 WUGA Sat Jan 1 0300 WNYC-FM (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. RADIO HOST DAVID BRUDNOY SAYS GOODBYE TO WBZ LISTENERS By Bruce Conti, NRC The headline on the front page of the December 9, 2004, Boston Globe newspaper read, "Brudnoy, in cancer's grip, prepares for end," and this was indeed front page news. Dr. David Brudnoy, the top-rated weeknight talk host on 1030 WBZ Boston, aired his final broadcast on the night of December 8 with a bedside interview by WBZ news anchor Gary LaPierre from Massachusetts General Hospital. Having received top honors from broadcast and journalism professional organizations, as well as being elevated to full professorship in his other passion as a teacher, Brudnoy perhaps gained the most national recognition during his very public battle against AIDS ten years ago. He defeated AIDS to continue his broadcast career at WBZ while teaching at Boston University and establishing the David Brudnoy Fund for AIDS Research at Mass General. However this time it was different. After a year of fighting the cancer Merkel-cell carcinoma into remission through chemotherapy treatments, Brudnoy was readmitted into the hospital where subsequent tests revealed that the cancer had spread to the kidneys and liver, and it would only be a matter of days. It was only a week ago that he was conducting business as usual on the air at WBZ. "Now's the time to accept," said Brudnoy in the LaPierre interview. "Life is what happens when you have other plans," he suggested as a possible title for the sequel to his book "Life Is Not a Rehearsal: A Memoir." During the final broadcast, many of the politicians with whom Brudnoy might have been at odds with over the years called to share their appreciation on the air. "Politics was David Brudnoy's bread and butter behind the microphone," reported Carl Stevens during the WBZ morning news, "So it was no surprise last night many politicians called WBZ to remember their times on the air with Dr. Brudnoy... Many politicians enjoyed the challenge of debating the issues with David, even those who weren't on the same page, like Senator Kennedy." "He was consistent in a world where so many people sort of shift and move around, and he was right there," said Senator Edward Kennedy. "David is a Massachusetts treasure," said Governor Mitt Romney. "Every one of us is the beneficiary of our association and friendship with David," said former Massachusetts Senate President William Bulger. WBZ radio and WB 56 television news commentator John Keller looked upon mentor Brudnoy as "the gift of a friend." After the final Brudnoy Show, The Steve "nice shirt" LeVeille Broadcast midnight to 5 a.m. the following morning on WBZ became "A Tribute to Bruds," giving listeners the opportunity to say goodbye on the air. There was no shortage of callers. One listener placed David Brudnoy in her "golden mic" group of elite and legendary Boston radio personalities including Boston Celtics play-by-play announcer Johnny Most and WBZ's Norm Nathan. Throughout the night listeners spoke with heavy hearts of admiration and inspiration for the man that had so impacted their lives. Many called simply to say, "Thank you," hoping that he was still awake listening to the radio during the pre-dawn hours. At age 64, among his many achievements David Brudnoy's broadcast career dates back to 1971 beginning at PBS affiliate WGBH-TV followed by commentator work at Boston's three major network television stations as well as a radio show host on 850 WHDH Boston 1976-1981 and at 680 WRKO Boston until 1986 when he joined 1030 WBZ. The David Brudnoy Show on WBZ soon became the standard of "intelligent talk radio" by which all others were measured. Brudnoy received the first Lifetime Achievement Award at the 1996 March of Dimes Achievement in Radio Awards, and in 1997 won the Freedom of Speech Award from the National Association of Radio Talk Show Hosts while also being nominated for the prestigious Marconi Award for "Personality of the Year in a Major Market." (Source: http://www.wbz1030.com) To learn more about David Brudnoy and listen to the entire conversation with Gary LaPierre, visit the WBZ website at http://www.wbz1030.com Donations to the David Brudnoy Fund for AIDS Research can be sent to Massachusetts General Hospital, 101 Merrimack Street, Boston MA 02114. "Life is Not a Rehearsal: A Memoir" by David Brudnoy (Doubleday, 1997) is currently available in bookstores. (Bruce Conti, NRC, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. 2040.00, WRKO, Boston (3 x 680), Dec 5, 0951-1105, surprised to find this one after logging CFTR Toronto here recently; I even had "Canada" entered in the logbook before I heard the ID at 1105 "...WRKO sports...", fair to poor signal with a few good peaks, never heard before or since (Mark Mohrmann, Coventry, (blue state) Vermont, USA, NRD 535D/MFJ959B, Ground-based Folded "Hairball" I-Beam 280m @170 deg., Dec 9, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. Most of the Buffalo market likely still thinks of 1520 as "WKBW." By the time they changed calls to WWKB (in 1985, the result of a station sale that spun off WKBW radio and WKBW-TV to separate owners), they had more or less faded from an important position in listeners' minds, so they've never really had much attention as "WWKB." When they revived the oldies format, two years ago next month, they tried to persuade the current owners of WKBW-TV to let them officially return to the WKBW calls on radio. (The FCC now allows stations with separate ownership to share calls between radio and TV, something that was not allowed in 1985.) But the new owners of WKBW-TV wouldn't share, so they had to remain legally WWKB. But --- the FCC no longer cares what a station calls itself for most of the hour, as long as it does a proper legal ID at the right time. So if they have the legal rights to the old "WKBW" jingles, as they apparently do, they can be "WKBW" all the time, except for the one "WWKB Buffalo" ID once an hour (Scott Fybush, NY, NRC-AM via DXLD) WKBW was founded in 1926 as a religious station. The call letters stood for "Well Known Bible Witness". The station later broadcast a wide variety of ethnic, country and western and religious programming, including pioneer rock and roll and rhythm and blues shows by disk jockey George "Hounddog" Lorenz. courtesy informationdepot.us (Bob Foxworth, FL, ibid.) ** U S A. KKOB 770 has a two transmitter setup. The 50 kW job in Albuquerque, and the 230 W fill-in transmitter in Santa Fe, which gets turned on at night at pattern change in ABQ. Both TXs are covered by the same facility ID, and have the same callsign. The fill-in transmitter is supposed to be synchronous, but I swear I hear an approx 1 Hz beat between the 2 stations that goes away for a couple of seconds just before the ABQ transmitter changes to the ND pattern in the morning. – (Mike Westfall, N6KUY, WDX6O, Los Alamos, NM (DM65uv), NRC-AM via DXLD) That's possible. I worked for a station in which we ran a synchro TX. The audio was fed to the sync transmitter via a T1 from the main TX site. To sync the transmitters we used another audio channel on the T1 to send the 4KHZ AFC signal from the main transmitter to the synchro. If they are using a similar method, and for some reason the digital sync signal is not decoded exactly back to 4KHZ, it will show up as a slight off-freq situation (René F. Tetro, Chief Engineer, WNTP - 990 kHz / WFIL - 560 kHz, PA, ibid.) I don't believe KKOB is synchronizing its Santa-Fe operation. When we built it in the 80's, we used High-Stability-Oscillators (HSO's), but those were eventually abandoned. There was some talk of using a GOES satellite to synchronize but I don't know what became of that. It's likely the two transmitters are simply running on their internal (frequency-synthesized) oscillators (Mark Durenberger, CO, ibid.) ** U S A. Reception reports --- Why is it that when I pick up a signal from a clear channel mediumwave station, that they could care less about that I was able to pick up their signal in a far away location? Why is it that they won’t send me any QSL cards? The mediumwave stations that I have been able to pick up were: WRVA, WCBS, WFAN/WNBC, XEW, WBT, WLW, WLS (Matt, location unknown, Dec 9, DX LISTENING DIGEST) `Clear channels` are a relic of the mid-XX century. It`s all money and ratings. Distant listeners do not count since they could not be included in ratings. With a VERY few exceptions `clear channel` stations care nothing about anything beyond their groundwave local coverage. Except for the hype value of `being heard in 38 states`. May as well get used to it (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. Glenn, Just a note to thank you for publicizing the upcoming WNTP DX Test on your World of Radio Program. To my knowledge, this station has never done such a test, either with the current call letters or in its previous permutations: WZZD and WIBG. (Same with the WFIL Test we are doing in January). Thanks again. (Rene' Tetro, CE WNTP-WFIL, Philadelphia, PA, N2GQL, WPXG816, WPXU288, PG-2-16913, DX LISTENING DIGEST) So let this be another reminder: UT Sat Dec 11 0500-0600 UT, then 0600-0630 off the air (gh, DXLD) Due to some scheduling conflicts that have arisen in the past week I am going to have to change the schedule for the WFIL DX Test on January 8, 2005. The test will now be conducted between 0200 and 0330 EST, [0700-0830 UT] rather than the originally scheduled 0000-0130. The WNTP test scheduled for this coming Saturday morning, 0000-0130 remains unchanged. Sorry for any inconvenience (René F. Tetro, Chief Engineer, WNTP - 990 kHz / WFIL - 560 kHz NRC-AM, via DXLD) ** U S A. I know an AM radio station in Lake Placid, New York that 'cheats' regularly. The timer they use to change patterns with shares a A/C outlet with their fax machine. If someone unplugs the timer to use the fax - and doesn't re-set the timer - the station stays on full power all night. It happens a lot. I got this story from someone who answered the phone at the station. They chortled about it, saying 'Oh sure. Happens all the time. Ha, ha'. This would be a concern, but what is the chance of an FCC inspector, now a nearly extinct species, catching this? It's good for us, but must drive other stations on the frequency nuts. Or do they even notice? Merry Christmas, (Karl Zuk, N2KZ, WTFDA-AM via DXLD) According to the NRC AM log 2004-2005, the only AM station in Lake Placid NY is WIRD 920 (gh, DXLD) ** U S A. JONATHAN ADELSTEIN SWORN IN AS FCC COMMISSIONER | Text of from the US Federal Communications Commission on 7 December On 6 December 2004, Commissioner Jonathan S. Adelstein was sworn in as a member of the Federal Communications Commission for a new five-year term that expires 30 June 2008. At a private ceremony in the U.S. Capitol with Members of Congress and Congressional staff, Senate Minority Leader Tom Daschle administered the oath of office to Commissioner Adelstein. Senator Trent Lott also gave remarks. Commissioner Adelstein issued the following statement after his swearing in: "It was particularly touching to be sworn in with the same bipartisan spirit that led to my confirmation by the U.S. Senate. It was a special honor to have Senator Daschle swear me in, after all the effort he undertook to make it possible. His leadership and guidance have always been a real inspiration. A full term opens new opportunities to promote the interests of the American public in having access to the best possible communications systems in the world. I also am pleased that I will continue to have the opportunity to work on these important issues with the Chairman, my fellow Commissioners, and the exceptional Federal Communications Commission staff." Source: Federal Communications Commission press release, Washington, in English 7 Dec 04 (via BBCM via DXLD) ** U S A. Fox vs Franken on Court TV. Tnx to a tip from Des. Court TV is starting a new series, First Amendment Project, in conjunxion with Sundance Channel; episode one UT Dec 8 was about Fox trying to sue Al Franken over his book, ``fair and balanced``, Bill O`Reilly, etc. Repeats Sunday night, UT Mon Dec 13 are shown by zap2it as 0400 and 0800 UT. Episode 2 about Mario Van Peebles, follows half an hour later. Check local listings in case you get a different feed (Glenn Hauser, WORLD OF RADIO 1256, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** VENEZUELA. REGLAMENTAN MEDIOS DE COMUNICACIÓN EN VENEZUELA En Venezuela la ley que reglamenta los programas de televisión y radio entró en vigor hoy. El presidente Hugo Chávez firmó el decreto de aplicación anoche luego de la adopción de la ley en el parlamento. La legislación prevé normas estrictas para la difusión de programas violentos o con características sexuales. En el debate parlamentario la oposición se amordazó con pañuelos negros a manera de protesta. La oposición señaló que esta ley le permitirá al gobierno aplicar una serie de sanciones a radios y estaciones de televisión. Vía: Radio Canadá Internacional cyberlettres_internet@nm.radio-canada.ca Muy atentamente 73's (José Bueno - Córdoba - España, Dec 9, Noticias DX via DXLD) ** VIETNAM. Found an interesting page by Don Muang -san, including an audio clip of Son La: http://csx.jp/~don_muang/audio/ (Jari Lehtinen, Lahti, Finland, Wed Dec 08, 2004, dxing.info via DXLD) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ PUBLICATIONS ++++++++++++ WORLD RADIO TV HANDBOOK 2005 We are delighted to announce that World Radio TV Handbook 2005 is now available. World Radio TV Handbook continues to be the guide for the serious radio listener. In this, the 59th edition for the year 2005, we have again devoted our resources to the all-important task of obtaining and providing the most up-to-date information on mediumwave, shortwave and FM broadcasts and broadcasters available in any publication. WRTH 2005 has articles on Ancillary Equipment, Managing the HF Spectrum, Digital Radio Update and World Music Radio; reviews of the latest equipment including the best low-cost receivers; fully updated maps; and runs to 688 pages including 80 in full colour. We have added DRM International Broadcasts by UTC and language and expanded the Reference section to include Domestic SW transmitter sites, and Broadcaster Abbreviations. In response to readers' comments we have used a smoother and whiter paper to make the book easier to handle and use. Order a copy from your usual retailer or visit http://www.wrth.com and order via our secure server. I hope you enjoy using this new edition of WRTH. If you have any comments or updates please send them to wrth @ wrth.com 73, Nicholas Hardyman, Publisher, World Radio TV Handbook "I have all Editions of the WRTH since 1961 in my collection and I am pleased to say that the 2004 Edition is the best!" Anker Petersen, Danish SW Club International "This 2004 is superb! I don't think you have to change a thing to make it better." H Ragan, USA (via Sean Gilbert, shortwave yg via WORLD OF RADIO 1256, DXLD) NAGOYA DX CIRCLE B-04 FREQUENCY SCHEDULE http://www.geocities.jp/binewsjp/bib04.txt NAGOYA DX CIRCLE B-04 BY COUNTRY / STATION http://www.geocities.jp/binewsjp/b04ex.htm MANY OF THESE WERE COPIED FROM DXLD, THO NOT CREDITED (gh) RADIO EQUIPMENT FORUM +++++++++++++++++++++ REQUEST FOR HAMMACHER SCHLEMMER AT-70551 RECEIVER REVIEW AT PASSBAND.COM To the receiver-reviewing staff at Passport: Please take a look at the new tiny digital receiver that is being sold by Hammacher Schlemmer. It is in their new holiday catalog as stock number AT-70551, price $24.95. The radio does have H-S's name on the front panel, so it is something being made for them specifically, or at least they're getting a customized model. Unfortunately, the catalog description is very sparse, and the photo illustration is partially obscured. (It shows a hand holding the radio and slipping it into a shirt pocket, so part of the front panel is hidden.) What one can see says that it is "FM/MW/SW 4-Band" and the size is 2 1/4" X 3 3/4" X 1". That's so tiny that it seems to be smaller than any of the mini receivers you've reviewed in PWBR '05; I'm anxious to learn (from someone who knows radios, not just some salesperson) if this is actually any good at all on SW. Seems unlikely, but I suppose it's possible, given what can happen with electronics these days. The description says it has "intuitive digital tuning controls"; I suppose that means slewing buttons or some sort of scan? Most of the controls visible in the picture refer to the clock and alarm functions, unfortunately. H-S is at 1-800-543-3366. Thank you (Will Martin (St. Louis, MO), to passband, cc to DXLD) DX-302 INFO Glenn and Robert, There is indeed a Realistic Radio Group on Yahoo. They have a zipped manual for the DX-302 in their library. Address is: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/realisticdx/ (Wayne Bastow, and John H. Carver Jr., Mid-North Indiana, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) BLAUPUNKT BREMEN MP74 [AM-FM-49m car radio] I ordered a Blaupunkt Bremen CD72 last summer. The model was discontinued, and I was shipped a current Bremen MP74. Finally got to install it in my '88 Blazer work truck on Saturday. Here's an advance on a review I'm writing. Short specs: LW AM SW(49m) FM CD/CD-R/MP3. DSP receiver with digital conversion at a 14MHz sample rate. Twin receivers and two antenna inputs. Digital Directional Array. Good audio power. DIN 1 package. Two 31" mag-mount whips on the roof of the truck. AM Section: Very good. Solid front end, and only a little desensing when parked 20 feet from the tower of a 1kw station on 550. Desense gradually noticeable starting below 680. No spurs. On the road it's as good as the stock Delco, which is a superb performer. The Blaupunkt could be slightly more sensitive, but it's Good Enough for all but the most hard-core listening. It has the added bonus of easy selection to European mode, which allows LW and 9kHz splits. The digital receiver has a noise blanking algoritm which is decent at lowering ignition noise. I like it. I haven't heard any LW stations outside a couple of local beacons. Shortwave is adequate for the high power stations like BBC-5975. FM Section. All I can say is WOW! This is the best FM receiver I have ever seen. At home I parked 20' from my 80' tower. On the tower is a 6 element FM yagi connected to a Yamaha T-85 with a homebuilt front end filter. I can hear things on the Blaupunkt at decent quality that the Yamaha can't even detect. Example: WHRB-95.3 is a class A in Boston at about 40 miles. WBRU-95.5 is a class B in Providence at about five miles across flat terrain. I can sit in my driveway and listen to WHRB with just a bit of frying noise from WBRU. The Yamaha can't even tell there's a station on 95.3. First adjacent and listenable. Further, WHRB was listenable with a bit of noise when driving around town. It was not an isolated sweet spot. Astounding! The fact I could listen in the truck using the vehicle antennas while the T-85/filter/yagi couldn't even give a hint of a signal flat blew me away. The T-85 is a good performer, and it's in perfect repair, albeit stock. I have a bag of 110 Muraras, and I ought to replace the narrowest two sections. Those same Muratas in the Delco made a huge difference, but *nothing* like this Blaupunkt. I'm off to Martha's Vineyard on Thursday. I'll have some time to DX while waiting dockside for the ferry. Ought to be a halfway decent spot to listen for TAs. Might even see if I get any LW stations. Once I have some more time with this I'll put the full review on my web site. It took months to get, but was well worth the wait. About $550. Got mine from http://www.swstereo.com Stefan is a good guy, and I can recommend him (Craig Healy, Providence, RI, Dec 7, NRC-AM via DXLD) ELECTRICAL CORDS AND CARCINOGENS Hello everyone, Recently I've been noticing a warning on electrical devices, including XMas decorations and radios, that the "coated wires" contain a known carcinogen. The label was per California's Proposition 65. One XMas decoration mentioned lead; the others weren't that specific. Is this something new? A new (cheaper) manufacturing process? Or have electrical cords always contained this, but manufacturers weren't required to warn us until now. Apologies for the off-topic post, but I wanted to tap the knowledge here, which goes far beyond SWL. Thanks, (DWP, shortwavebasics yg via DXLD) It's long been a practice to throw away broken, unrepairable electronics equipment in the general trash and I guess that Prop 65 new notice is to ensure that electronics equipment is recognized as hazmat -- which it has always been. The lead's in the tin/lead alloy that makes up solder, and there's no piece of electronics equipment that has no solder in it. Semiconductor devices contain arsenic (Clara Listensprechen, ibid.) Hello Clara, Thanks for the indulgence. Someone on the 2010 group posted this link on electric cords and lead: Toxic Use Reduction Institute http://www.turi.org/content/content/view/full/1898/ Apparently the lead is in the plastic coating, as well as the electronic components. And it can come off on your hand (unlike the M&M candy coating...), and get into your mouth that way. I'm not happy at this, but at least now I know. And the precautions are easy. Still, you gotta wonder at a civilization that makes everything toxic (DWP, ibid.) This article is about Xmas lite wires in particular (gh) I have my doubts about lead in insulation plastic because lead is a conductor which would short out the wires (Clara Listensprechen, ibid.) XMAS GIFTS WARNING In my opinion only - not the opinion of this list or the club that sponsors the list: If you are considering buying a Pogo Products' "Radio Your Way" AM/FM/Voice and MP3 recorder, run away fast! This is a small, hand- held device marketed as an audio equivalent as a VCR. You use built in timers to record for later playback. I won't get into detail here. I only warn you that this could be the most illogical and poorly designed device I have ever seen in 50+ years! Someone gave me one saying "maybe you can make this work." After two weeks of serious dedication to understanding the Japanese- English manual, I am ready to heave this unit at a brick wall (and enjoy every minute.) The idea is terrific. The design is horrific! Also, stay away from radio referenced "atomic" clocks marketed by Atomic Time. This outfit advertises regularly in QST. I purchased a Zeit wall clock from them about a year ago. I received a clock that obviously had been opened and tampered with by another customer. The hands were bent. It was a disaster. I received a second one that needs to be reset about once a week. This condition they claim is normal. I have another Zeit clock from about three years ago that has worked flawlessly from the day I purchased it. I'm convinced Atomic Time sells returned and refurbished units, although they don't claim they do. Stay away! No more 'bah,humbugs.' I just thought I'd warn you! Merry Christmas, (Karl Zuk N2KZ, WTFDA-AM via DXLD) My review of the Pogo Products, Radio Your Way (RYW) radio/recorder was published in the Nov. 27 issue of IRCA DX Monitor thanks to the efforts of Nick Hall-Patch. Karl Zuk recently offered his opinion of the device, best summarized as unfavorable. Let me provide a couple bits of information which may help people make up their own mind on this product. I have heard that the first edition of the user's manual for the RYW was almost undecipherable. This would seem to be supported by Karl's experience. The manual has since been completely rewritten and for the last several months accompanies each new RYW. This version of the manual is also available in PDF format from the manufacturer's web site. Where there may still be confusion, the on-line FAQ and the user forum - which is monitored and replied to by manufacturer representatives as well as RYW owners - is a valuable resource of additional information and support. Also since the first RYW was delivered, an update to its internal programming has corrected some areas of complaint from early users. All new RYW's now come with this update, older units can be upgraded by the manufacturer for a modest fee. The RYW does have a lot of features packed into a limited space, which by necessity means operations must employ sequences of buttons to accomplish set-up and programming tasks. But I think these operations are no more difficult than with many other sophisticated electronic devices. How many people have difficulty setting the clock and programming their VCR? Well, essentially, that's what you're doing when setting up the RYW scheduled recordings. On the other hand, operating the RYW - playback and recording - are quite straightforward and can easily be accomplished by sense of touch while walking or jogging, as intended, even more easily when on a desk top. I've been using my RYW with great success for many months. I admit, for some operations rarely performed, I do refer to the user's manual to accomplish the tasks. I hope this added and updated info helps. And I echo Karl's Merry Christmas greeting (Curt, WWWR, IRCA via DXLD) Thanks for the reply regarding this product. I appreciate your encouragement! The on-line version of the manual looks much more user friendly. I am a broadcast engineer by trade and have programmed many, many VCRs. Some were real bears! This unit set a new standard. It works if you stand on one toe and sing "Jingle Bells" in Italian. I have been practicing! It can be done! I think the most bizarre thing about "Radio Your Way" is that it does many things by itself. The "hold" function does not completely turn off the button panel. The touch required to set off a button is so light that if you bump it the wrong way it starts a function (like over-write a 2 hour recording.) I appreciate the help! I'll let you know if I make any progress! BTW, they have re-named the product "Radio Our Way" (only kidding). Merry and happy, (Karl N2KZ, ibid.) Karl, Good to see you have kept your sense of humor. One thing you say seems different from my experience. The "Hold" switch on my RYW prevents using any of the buttons on the unit. If the RYW is powered off, and the Hold switch set, powering the RYW on causes HOLD to display briefly, then it shuts itself back off. This is nice, since if it just ignored attempts to power on, dead batteries or other problems would be the first assumption, rather than a wayward setting of the Hold switch. Pressing any other button does nothing. If the RYW is on and switched to hold, the current state - playing, recording, pausing - is maintained. Pushing any button causes the word HOLD to appear momentarily on the display, which then reverts back to whatever was being shown. Recordings/playback in progress can be neither paused nor stopped, nor can the unit be turned off. Hold must be switched off to do anything. While "Hold" was not listed amongst items changed with the firmware update, possibly it was improved but not mentioned. If you have the old firmware, that may be why your RYW functions differently from mine. Also, "Jingle Bells" must be sung in Swedish for best results (Curt, ibid.) US MILITARY ABOUT TO PLAY HAVOC WITH GARAGE DOORS A significant number of people in the US may soon discover that their garage door openers are not working properly. If that's the case, they can blame the Pentagon. Some 125 military bases across the country will shortly start using a frequency of 390 MHz for military communications. It has been authorised for some time, but the problem is that an estimated 90% of domestic garage door openers use the same frequency. US law allows low-power electronic devices to operate on military frequencies if they don't cause interference. According to the Pentagon, anyone with a garage door opener who lives within 10 miles of a military base could be affected. However, some experts expect problems up to 50 miles away. An industry official says that the only way to fix the problem is to change the door opener's frequency, which could cost up to $60. # posted by Andy @ 09:28 UT Dec 6 (Media Network blog via DXLD) MOVIES FEATURING RADIO Glen[n], Re Paul Young`s request for movies featuring radio in 4-180: two (fairly) recent movies come to mind: "Frequency" and the opening part of "Contact" both featured ham radio - of course "Contact" continued with radio as related to SETI (Paul Spurlock, WA4FHY, Old Hickory, TN, DX LISTENING DIGEST) TIPS FOR RATIONAL LIVING ++++++++++++++++++++++++ RELIGION: THE BIRTH OF JESUS --- FROM MARY TO THE MANGER, HOW THE GOSPELS MIX FAITH AND HISTORY TO TELL THE CHRISTMAS STORY AND MAKE THE CASE FOR CHRIST. . . http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/6653824/site/newsweek/ Was the virgin birth story just a cover-up for His illegitimacy? including on page 4, an audio sidebar: Religion: New Views of Jesus's Birth --- John Meacham, NEWSWEEK Managing Editor and Dr. Robert J. Miller, Associate Professor of Religious Studies, Juniata College, Huntingdon, PA; Author of "Born Divine" (2003) • Listen to the audio [8-minute clip] • Listen to the complete show (via Clara Listensprechen, DXLD) ###