DX LISTENING DIGEST 5-016, January 26, 2005 Incorporating REVIEW OF INTERNATIONAL BROADCASTING0 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 2005 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 AIRING OF WORLD OF RADIO 1260: Mon 0430 WOR WSUI Iowa City IA 910 MORE info including audio links: http://worldofradio.com/radioskd.html WORLD OF RADIO 1260 in the true shortwave sound of 12160: (stream) http://www.piratearchive.com/media/worldofradio_01-05-23.m3u (d`load) http://www.piratearchive.com/media/worldofradio_01-05-23.mp3 FIRST AIRINGS OF WORLD OF RADIO 1261: Wed 2300 on WBCQ 7415 Thu 0000 on WBCQ 17495-CUSB Thu 2130 on WWCR 9985 WRN ONDEMAND [from Fri]: http://new.wrn.org/listeners/stations/station.php?StationID=24 OUR ONDEMAND AUDIO [also for CONTINENT OF MEDIA, MUNDO RADIAL] [from early UT Thursday]: WORLD OF RADIO 1261 (high version): (stream) http://www.w4uvh.net/wor1261h.ram (download) http://www.w4uvh.net/wor1261h.rm WORLD OF RADIO 1261 (low version): (stream) http://www.w4uvh.net/wor1261.ram (download) http://www.w4uvh.net/wor1261.rm (summary) http://www.worldofradio.com/wor1261.html [from Thursday] ** ALASKA. SECOND TOWER AND ANTENNA ARRIVE IN ANCHOR POINT, ALASKA Construction of the new tower and antenna for station KNLS began today, January 17th. Kevin Chambers had a crew ready to begin assembling the 365 feet tall antenna in Anchor Point. Once the tower is finished, the curtain antenna that would cover 3 acres if laid down on the ground will be assembled. The weather seems to be cooperating. Kevin said, "There is steel everywhere". We are still looking at turning on the new antenna March 28, 2005. (http://worldchristian.org/index.pl/latestnews undated, checked Jan 25, by Glenn Hauser for DXLD) ** BELARUS. PRESIDENT REGULATES FOREIGN MUSIC --- By Jan Maksymiuk The Belarusian Information Ministry recently issued official warnings to three FM stations -- Hit FM, Unistar Radio BDU, and Novoe Radio -- over their alleged failure to execute the government's order that Belarusian musicians be given at least 75 percent of music airtime as of 1 January. According to the ministry, monitoring showed that the three stations failed to abide by their commitments regarding the broadcasting of local artists in prime time. The FM stations may have their licenses revoked by the National Commission for Television and Radio Broadcasting if they fail to take corrective measures within seven days after receiving the warning. In 2004, the ratio of foreign and domestic music on Belarusian FM stations was officially decreed to be 50-50, but the authorities were not strict in implementing that decree. Radio stations broadcast mainly foreign music in prime time, while domestic performers were given their chance late in the evening or early in the morning. Now, however, the situation has radically changed. The new decree on music airtime ostensibly pursues the goal of enlivening the domestic music scene. However, the decree has left many radio stations struggling to fill their schedules, as they are reportedly complaining that there is not a sufficient amount of domestically produced music suitable for airing in terms of artistic value or quality of recording. Additionally, a number of Belarus's most popular bands -- including Palats, Drum Ecstasy, Neuro Dubel, N.R.M., ZET, and Pomidor/OFF -- have been unofficially blacklisted for performing at an opposition-sponsored concert in 2004 to protest President Alyaksandr Lukashenka's 10 years of rule. According to some independent Belarusian journalists, the new threshold put on foreign music played on the airwaves will not contribute to the development of the indigenous musical culture. They argue that the bulk of Belarusian-made pop songs are local, Russian- language copies of the Russian-made "popsa," a derogatory term used for a melodiously sugary and lyrically silly song. Additionally, most serious Belarusian composers and musicians are on the aforementioned blacklist, and radio stations will hardly risk their broadcasting licenses by giving airtime to politically disfavored performers. RFE/RL's Belarusian Service reported on 17 January that the Minsk- based Radio Roks, which was known for its "classic rock" format, has recently switched to a new format in order to obey the new directive of the distribution of music airtime. Radio Roks now reportedly airs 75 percent Belarusian-made and 25 percent Russian-made "popsa" songs (sung exclusively in Russian). "We have been forced to follow this line," Radio Roks Director Dzmitry Ausyannikau told RFE/RL. "We are expecting that our audience will not shrink in number but will change in quality." Ausyannikau did not elaborate on the anticipated "quality" change of his audience. Compiled by Julie Corwin (JAC). (RFE/RL Media Matters Jan 24 via DXLD) ** BELGIUM. RTBF RADIO SERVICES AFFECTED BY INDUSTRIAL ACTION Industrial action at Belgian French-language public broadcaster RTBF is now affecting radio services as well as television. Today, RTBF says that all its radio networks operating out of Brussels - Première, Music 3, Pure FM and the Brussels edition of VivaCité - are broadcasting a "minimal programme" consisting of short news bulletins, and continuous music appropriate to each channel. This also affects the shortwave service, which relays programming from La Première and VivaCité. Unions are protesting at new working practices which they say will cause a deterioration in working conditions. RTBF management insists the new working practices are not designed to make economies, but to improve production capacity. # posted by Andy @ 10:19 UT Jan 26 (Media Network blog via DXLD) ** BRAZIL. 6910A, R. Rio Mar, Manaus, 1020 UT Jan 26. Brasilian spur this Wednesday morning // 6160.03 kHz. Music with short song-IDs. 1030 UT, news program "Primeira Hora" - if his news program was relay of Radio Bandeirantes I do not know. http://www.malm-ecuador.com 73s (Björn Malm, Quito, Ecuador, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Yes, Radio Bandeirantes/São Paulo 840, FM and SW +Rede Bandeirantes de Radio (Net) has a segment called 'Primeira Hora', transmitted in the morning with news and comments. 73s, (Rudolf Grimm, São Bernardo, São Paulo, Brasil, HCDX via DXLD) To find the Rio Mar MW frequency you have to hunt thru the entire Brazilian MW list in WRTH 2005; but it is not 750, so 6910 is not another of the MW + SW mixing products. Nor is 6910 a harmonic from any even MW frequency (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CANADA. 89.7 The Coast, a community station based in Glace Bay, Cape Breton, Nova Scotia, will be testing their transmitter today. Full operation of their one-year temporary license will begin tomorrow. The staff is 4 paid full-timers and a nice group of volunteers. Best wishes and cheers to all! (Karl Zuk N2KZ, Jan 25, amfmtvdx at qth.net via DXLD) ** CANADA [and non]. A Couple of comments from a Canadian living in the USA. 1] The CBC is not quite what it used to be, but it is still pretty good. The CBC has had severe budget cuts in the last 10-15 years which have had a major impact on their out-put. Having said that, they have never found anyone to replace the likes of Peter Gzowski, Barbara Frum, Max Ferguson --- the list could go on and on. In the case of Gzowski, his retirement and death meant that the CBC lost a broadcaster who had the ability to make almost anything interesting! IMHO the CBC has sometimes engaged in change for the sake of change which was not needed. For example, I think that Shelagh Rogers should have been given the entire morning block on CBC Radio 1. However they seemed to feel that they needed to redesign the whole time period which was unnecessary. All the redesign has done is spread their resources further. 2} NPR is a good service which I have come to appreciate since moving here a couple of years ago. But I think their out-put is even less consistent than the CBC's is and there is no way that NPR has the same reach or impact on American Culture that the CBC has in Canada (Mr. Sandy Finlayson, Philadelphia, PA, swprograms via DXLD) ** CANADA. CBC programs and audibility. Hi! Just scanned the recent archives and read the thread on CBC programming and its audibility here in the US. I find that, here in St. Louis (Central US) I can basically listen to the European broadcasts on 9770 kHz at local 3 PM timeframe [2100 UT]; the evening transmissions aimed at the US are pretty unlistenable. Usually 6190 kHz is the only frequency on which anything understandable comes thru. (By the way, was Sackville off the air Sunday evening after/during the big snowstorm? Couldn't detect anything on 6190 when I wanted to hear the Mailbag.) However, during the day the 15180 kHz transmission aimed at SE US and the Gulf seems to usually be pretty good, and the programming on that is often quite interesting. I ran across some readings from novels or short stories that I really enjoyed. There's a pleasing mix of discussion, music, and variety. I believe that the prime program with this content is "The Roundup". Of course, this doesn't help those of you who are at work at these times! As a retiree, I have more flexibility, but, still, being tied to a radio inside during prime afternoon hours when I otherwise would be away from home doing many different things means that I cannot devote the time every day to listening to all this. It would be ideal to be able to hear the exact same programming at the really-best time to listen to SW, which is about 0400-0600 UT in my opinion (and in this time zone). RCI really needs some low-frequency transmissions and antennae for this. Regards, (Will Martin, MO, Jan 26, Swprograms mailing list via DXLD) ** CANADA. Nuevo concurso de RCI: "Construir el futuro ahora!" A partir del 31 de enero al 25 de marzo. De 18 a 30 años. El premio son dos pasantías de sensibilización al desarrollo internacional valoradas en 15.000 de dolares canadienses. + info en: http://www.rcinet.ca/rci/es/concours/ ¿Cómo participar? Para participar en el concurso, basta con presentar una obra (texto o ilustración) en respuesta a la siguiente pregunta: ``¿Qué se puede hacer en 2005, para construir un mundo más justo, más próspero y más equitativo?`` - El trabajo a presentar podrá consistir en cualquiera de las siguientes obras: - Un texto de 500 palabras como máximo redactado en inglés, francés o español, Una ilustración (dibujo, pintura, historieta, etc.) de un tamaño máximo igual a 11 pulgadas x 17 pulgadas (27,9 cm X 43,2 cm). Condiciones de admisibilidad Para ser admitido en el concurso, el participante deberá presentar su obra con sus datos personales escritos en letra imprenta, incluyendo nombre, fecha de nacimiento, dirección completa (postal y en Internet, si corresponde), así como su número de teléfono. Las ilustraciones (dibujo, pintura, historieta, etc.) también deberán venir acompañadas por un texto breve (de 250 palabras como máximo) que explique su significado. Cualquiera sea el formato elegido, las obras presentadas deberán trasmitir fácilmente al jurado la visión del participante sobre las formas de construir un mundo más justo, más próspero y más equitativo. Las obras deberán enviarse a la siguiente dirección antes del 25 de marzo de 2005 : Concurso ``Construir el futuro ahora`` Radio Canada international Case postale 6000 Montreal (Quebec) Canadá H3C 3A8 Premio Los dos ganadores de este concurso (uno por categoría) ganarán cada uno una (1) pasantía de sensibilización en uno de los países donde interviene Développement international Desjardins. Estos dos premios mayores tienen un valor total de 15.000 dólares canadienses. Además de la difusión de su obra en diferentes medios de comunicación de Développement international Desjardins y de Radio Canada international, los diez (10) finalistas del concurso (cinco en la categoría ``Texto`` y cinco en ``Ilustración``) obtendrán una canasta de regalo con artículos promocionales de RCI así como un objeto típico de uno de los países donde DID interviene. Criterios de selección • La obra se refiere al tema; • Se respetan las condiciones de admisibilidad del concurso; • Originalidad de la obra; • Fuerza y claridad del mensaje trasmitido (el mensaje invita a la reflexión y a la acción, propone alternativas para soluciones factibles); • Calidad de la obra en el plano artístico y/o expresivo (lenguaje). DID y RCI agradecen a las cajas y redes de cajas asociadas que garantizan la promoción de este concurso en todo el mundo. Canada : Mouvement des caisses Desjardins Bénin : Fédération des caisses d’épargne et de crédit agricole mutuelles (FECECAM) Burkina Faso : Réseau des caisses populaires du Burkina Faso (RCPB) Camerún : Cameroon Co-operative Credit Union League (CAMCCUL) Guinea : Caisses populaires d’épargne et de crédit Yètè Mali Haiti : Association nationale des caisses populaires haïtiennes (ANACAPH), India : Basix, Myrada et Sanghamitra Madagascar: Les 6 réseaux Ombona Tahiry Ifampisamborana Vola (OTIV) de Madagascar, Mali : Réseau des caisses d’épargne et de crédit Nyèsigiso, México: Servicios Financieros Rurales (Serfir) – régions Chiapas et Huasteca México: Cajas Arturo Marquez Aguilar (Affiliada a la Federación UNISAP), DEPAC Poblana (Affiliada a la Federación FEMEAC) y Solidaria Tosepantomin, regiones Puebla/Tlaxcala Nicaragua : FINDESA Niger : Mutuelle d'épargne et de crédit des femmes (MECREF) Paraguay: Central de Cooperativas Nacionales del Paraguay (CENCOPAN) Perú: Federación Nacional de Cooperativas de Ahorro y Crédito del Perú (FENACREP) Filipinas: National Confederation of Co-operatives (NATCCO) Ruanda : Centre financier pour les entrepreneurs (CFE) – AGASEKE Sénégal : Union des mutuelles du partenariat pour la mobilisation de l’épargne et du crédit au Sénégal (UM-PAMÉCAS) Tanzania : Savings and Credit Co-operatives Societies (SACCOs) Togo : Faîtière des unités coopératives d’épargne et de crédit du Togo (FUCEC-TOGO) Développement international Desjardins (DID) es una organización sin fines de lucro integrante del Movimiento Desjardins que trabaja en el sector de las finanzas comunitarias en países en desarrollo. Sus intervenciones se extienden en más de 20 países, desde México a Vietnam, de Tanzania a Uzbekistán. Por más información sobre Développement international Desjardins, visite el sitio: http://www.did.qc.ca (via EDUARD BOADA I ARAGONES, Jan 25, Noticias DX via DXLD) English version: http://www.rcinet.ca/rci/en/concours/ (also via Wolfgang Büschel; Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CHILE. CHINA via CHILE: 17625, Radio Internacional de China, 1305, desde Calera de Tango, 15 kilómetros al sur poniente de Santiago, estación repetidora de la voz Cristiana, CRI en inglés con espectacular señal, todos los días. 1200-1258 Mandarin y 1300-1358 en inglés, acá en Santiago SINPO: 55555 (Héctor Frias, Chile, Jan 25, radioescutas via DXLD) ** CHINA. 5860, V. of Jinling (presumed), 1/25 at 1158 with traditional Chinese music, then time pips at 1200 followed by ID by female. Listed in PWBR-05 at 1145-1400, from Nanjing (west of Shanghai) with 50 kW for East Asia but appears to have higher power and thus reception was very good here (Joe Hanlon in NJ, DX LISTENING DIGEST) see also CHILE above ** COLOMBIA. Border war looming? See VENEZUELA ** CUBA. 11800 kHz, Radio Habana Cuba, 26-01-2005, 1110 UT, esta frecuencia presentaba esta mañana graves problemas, ya que no se entendía nada de lo que se estaba transmitiendo, la transmisión estaba saliendo entrecortada (José Elías Díaz Gómez, Barcelona, Venezuela, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** EUROPE. Pirate: Radio strike, 7120 on Sat and Sunday Jan 22-23 with nearly marginal signal over and under local QRN with songs. Signals: 2(max)2232, 22+23. Again heard at 0820 with 24433 (local QRN stopped) (Zacharias Liangas, Thessaloniki, Greece, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** HAWAII. Another time-sharing group of LPFMs has been granted, this time in Hawaii on 101.1. Three of the stations are in Wai'anae (one spells it without the apostrophe); the fourth in Waialua. IIRC this is on the north shore of Oahu? I presume this is another situation where one licensee will run it for a few months, then turn it over to the next, and then the one after that. -- (Doug Smith W9WI, Pleasant View (Nashville), TN EM66, WTFDA via DXLD) ** INDIA. Looking for help on where to send a reception report for Rainbow FM relay via AIR-11585. I would like to send it direct to Rainbow FM but don't have a mailing address. Does anybody know of one or should I try the usual Delhi address? (Scott R. Barbour, Jr., Intervale, NH, Jan 25, dx_india via DXLD) Send your reports to usual AIR address : Director (Spectrum Management & Synergy), All India Radio, Room No. 204, Akashvani Bhawan, New Delhi-110001, India. Telefax: 91-11-23421062, 91-11-23421145. E-mail : spectrum-manager @ air.org.in Meanwhile complete schedule for this service has been posted on AIR website: Special Transmission for Andaman & Nicobar Territory from 02nd January, 2005 FM-Rainbow (Delhi) 0600-1730/1745-0000 IST [0030-1200, 1215-1830 UT] on 11585. Regds (Alokesh Gupta, ibid.) Dear Friends, Because of the special broadcasts on 11585 kHz the following service is affected. English to E. & SE Asia: 2245-0045 on 11620 kHz would be partially cancelled between 0015 and 0045 Hrs [UT]. (via AIR web site) The transmitter site of 11585 is Khampur (Delhi) 250 kW (Jose Jacob, ibid.) ** INDONESIA. 3976.02, RRI Pontianak, 1053-1115 Jan 26. Beginning with possibly the Qur`an being sung by a woman(?) until 1102. Then a man sings the Qur`an until 1108. At that time, a canned ID by a man, which I wasn't recording at the time. This followed by pop music and Indonesian comments from a woman. Signal was good in Clewiston, Florida (Chuck Bolland, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** INTERNATIONAL VACUUM. Sirius / XM merger is being contemplated. See http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=businessNews&storyID=7437465. Nothing imminent here. the NY Post says a deal is at least one year away. It is also believed the FCC might impede a merger due to antitrust issues (Richard Cuff / Allentown, PA USA, Jan 26, swprograms via DXLD) SATELLITE CHAT --- By TIM ARANGO http://www.nypost.com/php/pfriendly/pfriendly.php?url=/business/38810.htm (via Brock Whaley, DXLD) ** JAPAN. NHK-JAPAN APPOINTS NEW PRESIDENT Japan’s public broadcaster, NHK, has appointed Gen-ichi Hashimoto as its new President with immediate effect, following the resignation of Katsuji Ebisawa. Mr Hashimoto has been General Managing Director/Executive Director-General for Engineering since September 2004. An engineer by training, he joined NHK in 1968. Mr Ebisawa, President since 1997, submitted his resignation to the broadcaster`s Board of Governors yesterday. He has also been President of the ABU since 1999, a position he now automatically gives up. His decision to step down followed controversies involving NHK that have led to a growing number of television set owners refusing to pay their NHK viewer fees. These included a case in which a former chief producer allegedly embezzled programme production funds. Mr Hashimoto, 61, joined NHK after graduating from the Tokyo Institute of Technology. His first assignment was in the technical division of the Osaka station. In 1975, he was transferred to the Planning Division of the Engineering Administration Department, where he was involved in the construction of NHK's terrestrial television network. He became deputy director of the Corporate Planning Bureau in 1994, and director of the Planning Division of the Engineering Administration Department in 1998. While in this position he introduced NHK’s digital satellite broadcasting system and prepared for the introduction of digital terrestrial broadcasting. Mr Hashimoto became Director-General of the Engineering Administration Department in 2001, and the following year was appointed Managing Director with responsibility for this department. (Source: ABU) # posted by Andy @ 09:32 UT Jan 26 (Media Network blog via DXLD) ** KURDISTAN [non?]. IRAQ: UNIDENTIFIED PRO-KURDISTAN DEMOCRATIC PARTY RADIO OBSERVED ON MEDIUMWAVE BBC Monitoring observed an unidentified radio station broadcasting in Kurdish on mediumwave 1116 kHz at 1330 gmt on 25 January. The programme in progress was about the forthcoming Kurdistan regional elections [held simultaneously with the Iraqi national elections], with a favourable bias towards the Kurdistan Democratic Party being noted. There was also mention of the "Voice of Democratic Kurdistan", which is an alliance of Kurdish political parties standing in the election. The signal became unmonitorable at 1345 gmt. Further efforts will be made to identify the station, not possible on this occasion due to poor reception exacerbated by jamming interference. Source: BBC Monitoring research in English 25 Jan 05 (via DXLD) ** LITHUANIA. Radio Baltic Waves slightly changed the relay of Voice of Russia via Vilnius 612 (100 kW); the current program feed is 0800- 1000 VOR Russkoye Mezhdunarodnoye Radio, 1000-1400 VOR Radiokanal Sodruzhestvo, 1400-1600 VOR Russkoye Mezhdunarodnoye Radio (Bernd Trutenau, Lithuania, MWDX yg via DXLD) ** MADAGASCAR. MADAGASCAR PLANS CONTINUE TO BE DEVELOPED - PRESIDENT MARK RAVALOMANANA TO VISIT We will be spending the month of February with President Ravalomanana as he visits the US. We will be accompanying him on visits to Washington DC, Los Angeles, CA, Abilene, Houston and Austin, TX. Many contacts will be made during the month to discuss plans for our station in Madagascar. Plans continue to develop for the future antennas that will be built to blanket Africa, South America, the Middle East, India, Indonesia, southern and western China and European Russia with the gospel. Great News Continues to Come from Madagascar! Kevin Chambers, Director of Engineering and World Christian Broadcasting representative Earl Young have signed the papers to complete the transfer of property from the government of Madagascar to World Christian Broadcasting. "This gift from the Malagasy government is the direct result of the outstanding relationship Earl Young has with the government and President Ravalomanana and his great work on behalf of World Christian Broadcasting. I can’t thank him enough,`` said Charles Caudill, President of World Christian Broadcasting. ``And what a wonderful job Kevin did. He accomplished more than we could ever have expected and in a very short time. Kevin is a great asset to this ministry,`` he added. ``I Saw Much Evidence that God Got There before We Did.`` By Rob Scobey These were the words of World Christian Broadcasting’s chief engineer upon his return from Madagascar. Kevin and his wife Nancy spent most of November in the island nation to oversee the beginning stages of the Madagascar project. Kevin, along with the staff and supporters of World Christian, have been amazed at the way events are unfolding. Kevin was flown around the island by Pag Beasley, the owner of a Madagascan shrimp farm. Mr. Beasley just so happens to have lived in Franklin, TN, where he attended the Fourth Avenue Church of Christ. Kevin and supporter Earl Young, the former Olympian who is head of the U.S.-Madagascar Business Council, signed the papers that transferred the 100 acres of land from the Madagascar agriculture ministry to World Christian. Some confusion arose over the exact location of the land, but the issue was quickly resolved, with World Christian getting the land best suited for construction of radio towers. ``The Malagasy people have great respect for written documentation,`` said Kevin. Even during the years of communist rule, the property rights of Radio Netherlands, which has a shortwave facility in the capital city of Antananarivo, were respected by the regime. Madagascar is now a democratic nation with a president, Marc Ravalomanana, who attends the Presbyterian Church. Kevin and Nancy found the people who live around the station property to be very friendly and communicative. Kevin commented that if anything were stolen from the property, it would be returned by the next day because the thief would not be able to keep the theft a secret. The only special request from the tribal chiefs who live near the property is to be kept informed of the project’s progress. Indeed, Kevin spent about $100 to buy dinner for a group of about 20 local leaders at a Mahajanga hotel. He felt this to be quite a bargain. The Madagascar facility will be similar to the one in Anchor Point, Alaska in that it will be a transmitting site. Production of programming will continue in Franklin, TN. Program CDs will be shipped to Mahajanga via international courier. Mahajanga is located about 350 miles north of Antananarivo. The property is about 10 miles from the seacoast of the Mozambique Channel, which runs between Madagascar and the African continent. The next order of business is to hire a security staff, dig wells for water, install a fence, and obtain electrical power. (http://worldchristian.org/index.pl/latestnews undated, checked Jan 25, by Glenn Hauser for DXLD) see also ALASKA ** NETHERLANDS. There is an incredibly small amount of comment on this list about Radio Netherlands. Does anyone listen to this station any more? It used to be a favourite not-too-long ago. What do people think of its programming? Personally, I think that it has some good programming, but sometimes they try too hard to sound young and hip (and urban). Perhaps this is because of the youthfulness of their producers/ presenters. Or perhaps it is because that is the market niche they are trying to capture. It can be a bit much for someone like myself, though perhaps I am not the demographic they are aiming at. 73, (Peter Bowen, Canada, Jan 25, swprograms via DXLD) OK, I'll bite on this. RNW continues to be on my "short list". Sort of like the RN [Australia] discussion, they haven't come up much recently because they're consistent. Consistently good. Also, there's little current controversy regarding RNW -- funding appears reasonably stable, an ongoing commitment remains to shortwave, along with other program distribution means. They've recently revamped their website, making it easier to find on-demand programming. The on-line programming archive continues to grow deeper as well, in case you want to hear something relating to a particular topic of interest -- to me this is how much "radio" will be consumed in the future. I would surmise that the emphasis on youthful programs is primarily to reach that younger demographic that, frankly, would not likely pick up a shortwave receiver as their first listening choice. While I miss "Media Network" there are still many excellent reasons to tune in -- Vox Humana, the Documentaries, and Dutch Horizons are all worthy. My only beef is that some programs have deeper web archives than others; "Vox Humana" doesn't appear to keep an extensive archive, while "Research File" appears to keep programs available for listening later (Richard Cuff / Allentown, PA USA, ibid.) ** NIGERIA. 4770 is active again, heard around 1900 UT Jan 25 (Chris Hambly, Victoria, DX LISTENING DIGEST) FRCN Kaduna, 50 kW (gh) 4770, R. Nigéria ? / Kaduna DS-2, 50 kW, 2042 Jan 25, SIO 232 vernacular? OM discussion animée (Michel Lacroix, France, HCDX via DXLD) Radio Kaduna back on 4770. SIO 343 at 2245 UT (E-Cordier, France, Jan 25, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** OKLAHOMA. Somebody got a bargain --- KSIW-AM/Woodward PRICE: $500 TERMS: Asset sale for cash BUYER: Classic Communications Inc., headed by President Sherre House. Phone: 580-254-9103. It owns two other stations: KWDQ-FM & KWFX- FM/Woodward, OK. SELLER: Fuchs Communications Inc., headed by President H Gene Fuchs. Phone: 580-726-3435 FREQUENCY: 1450 kHz POWER: 1 kw FORMAT: Oldies COMMENT: N/A (source? Via MediaMogul, Jan 19, Radio-Info OK board via DXLD) ** PARAGUAY. VUELTA GIGANTE DX CONO SUR LATINOAMERICA 9a PARTE Subject: Saludos, observaciones y experiencias desde el Paraguay Hola a todos!!!! Estamos aqui con Ruben, en un shopping en Asunción, Paraguay, lidiando contra las tecnologías. Recién acabamos de despachar Conexión Digital 299. Desafortunadamente, estamos en el Tercer Mundo real y no obstante haber utilizado máquinas de cybers, locutorios y locales de casi todo Asunción, en ninguno hemos conseguido una máquina medianamente rápida. . . En materia DX --- ayer y hoy fueron dias superproductivos. Perdón, el viernes también, ya que pudimos visitar Radio América, conversar abundantemente con el Pastor Holowaty, conocer la planta transmisora de Villeta (vale para más adelante detallar la anécdota de la insólita relación entre el toro Lilo, habitante de la planta transmisora y nuestro Rubén, ya que podríamos hablar de un idilio nacido por parte del feroz vacuno casi en forma espontánea) y un largo etcétera. Ayer visitamos Radio Ñandutí, Radio Uno (en donde intervenimos en un programa humorístico), Emisoras Paraguay y Radio Caritas. En todas las estaciones pudimos hacer muy buenas entrevistas. Hoy, milagrosamente, se nos ocurrió ir a Caacupe, donde levantamos una fabulosa entrevista (perdón, dos) en Radio La Voz de Cordillera, grabamos decenas de cortinas e identificaciones en estudio, hicimos una mítica aparición (y desaparición) al aire, etc, etc. Por la tarde (domingo a la tarde!!!) visitamos R.N: Paraguay, en la cual pudimos avanzar en una muy buena entrevista, que trataremos de completar mañana con otra al director de la emisora del Estado Paraguayo. Mañana, además, tenemos una cita en Radio Libre, como les contaba otra en R. Nacional; por la tarde tenemos que estar en Radio Primero de Marzo y también recabar información en la Biblioteca Nacional. Si podemos entrar en alguna "carreta informática", a la tarde estaremos nuevamente en contacto con Uds. Cordiales 73's (Arnaldo Slaen, Conexión Digital via Play-DX via DXLD) ** PHILIPPINES. The 1170 operation at Poro, La Unión, Philippines protects the in-country co-channel station to the south. Both the temporary 1170 kHz antenna pattern at the original site (which is a retuned version of one of the original 1140 then 1143 kHz patterns) and the antenna patterns at the new site have deep minima to the south and southeast, which will make reception in Australia and New Zealand difficult. Regardz (Benj. F. Dawson III, P.E. , Hatfield & Dawson Consulting Engineers, LLC, and The dTR/H&D Joint Venture, Consulting Engineers, 9500 Greenwood Avenue North, Seattle, WA 98103 USA, Jan 25, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** SOUTH AFRICA. POWER STRUGGLE AT SABC AFTER DIRECTOR RESIGNS | Text of report by South African newspaper Business Day on 24 January Media reports about the sudden resignation of South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) group CEO Peter Matlare have focused on personalities and power struggles within the corporation. But the resignation does highlight the conflict of competing interests at the broadcaster. On the one hand there is what one may term a corporatist and commercial agenda that views the SABC as the country's biggest media organization and thus a platform for advertising and income generation. On the other hand there is the ideologically driven view that the SABC must be used to advance certain ideas. How does this relate to Matlare's resignation? The dominant view is that Matlare was pushed out. He is seen as having stood in the way of the SABC's transformation into an African National Congress (ANC) mouthpiece. But was he? Matlare is not a known political activist. So perhaps there was frustration with a manager who did not come from the traditions of the ruling party. A cursory look at some developing policy positions, both formal and informal, taken by the ruling party suggest frustration at what is perceived as an SABC that is not under its control. At least two major developments stand out. The first was the 2002 51st ANC national conference. The conference resolved that the SABC should be publicly funded by 2012. The discussion document preceding the conference (Media in a Democratic SA) noted the existence of a "media environment that does not reflect the needs and aspirations of the poor, rural people, women and labour". The second development was the bid by the communications department to push through Parliament a broadcast amendment bill giving the communications minister extended powers to determine major SABC policies. The story that wasn't told was the real frustration the department experienced in its dealings with the SABC. Ever since, the ideological agenda of the SABC has sought to trump the commercial agenda. Matlare personified the corporate face of the SABC. Suave, articulate and eloquent, he fits the profile of the top business executive. Under his leadership the SABC turned the corner and even some marginal divisions started to profit. But the commercial agenda came at a huge price. We saw a gradual shift in SABC practice. The parliamentary portfolio committee on communications, the communications department, regulatory watchdog Icasa and the ruling party seemed powerless against the SABC. Under Matlare, the SABC became a law unto itself. The subtle and not-so subtle defence that Matlare's management would always give when accused of veering away from public broadcasting values was: "Let the government give us funds and we will deliver on our public mandate." Increasingly, we had a public broadcaster that was not accountable to any person. What form should accountability take? While Matlare's leadership style proved favourable to markets, it is doubtful if the ideologues would be able to market the SABC with the same success. Or are we just about to see a publicly funded SABC emerge? Before defenders of the ideological agenda celebrate, a reality check is in order. The treasury is reluctant to fund public broadcasting, a major frustration for the communications department. What is even more worrying about the ideological agenda is the emerging understanding of public broadcasting. The SABC is increasingly turning into a government mouthpiece. And news MD Snuki Zikalala, viewed by some as the force behind Matlare's resignation, and the chief player among the ideologues, has made it clear in recent media reports that he feels there is nothing wrong with showing several news items within a 30-minute news bulletin covering the president's comings and goings. Matlare's resignation signals a shift towards a confused ideological bias, from answerability to the market (advertisers) to answerability to the ideological apparatus. Sadly, many voices are missing at the helm of the SABC those who stand by the values and ethos of independent and critical broadcasting. The real victims are those who do not have the resources to switch over to other media the poor. Source: Business Day, Johannesburg, in English 24 Jan 05 (via BBCM via DXLD) ** SPAIN. TELEFUNKEN presents DRM in Spain --- PRESS RELEASE A TELEFUNKEN DRM transmitter has been installed in Arganda near Madrid, Spain. TELEFUNKEN, following various different successful installations in Germany, the Netherlands, Luxembourg, Great Britain and Czech, also in Spain has commissioned a successfully functioning DRM system. Partner in the project are Radio Nacional de España (RNE), the University of the Basque Country in Bilbao, TELEFUNKEN SenderSysteme Berlin and their local representative in Spain, Videa Medios, Madrid (VIMESA). A standard MW transmitter TRAM 10 with the latest DRM exciter DRM DMOD 2, both from TELEFUNKEN, have been installed. The transmitter and the digital signal processing without any additional RF filters or other hardware modification comply with the requirements of ETSI ES 201 980 and as well with the ITU requirements concerning out-of-band and spurious emissions when operating on the antenna, a 200 m high vertical antenna with horizontal omni directional characteristic. The official start of the test transmissions is planned for the 26th of January, 2004. Over a period of four weeks the programme of RNE 1 will be transmitted in the DRM format daily from 08:00h to 16:00h Central European Time [0700-1500 UT] on 1359 kHz. The University of Bilbao will conduct the propagation and quality measurements and proof the regular utilisation of DRM as a broadcast medium also for Spain. After the successful test phase it is assumed, that regular transmissions in the DRM format will start and more transmitters with DRM will be put into operation. About TELEFUNKEN SenderSysteme Berlin AG The trade mark TELEFUNKEN can look back on a history of 100 years - a very seldom jubilee in the German economy. After the stormy history of the company and changing ownerships, TELEFUNKEN SenderSysteme Berlin AG as it is known today, was founded on March 16th 2000 as AM FM Sendertechnik Berlin GmbH by committed employees of TELEFUNKEN Sendertechnik GmbH, which was to be liquidated by its American share holder, and an investor. As early as in August of the same year, this company form was changed into TELEFUNKEN SenderSysteme Berlin AG. TELEFUNKEN SenderSysteme with its presently more than 60 employees is concentrating on transmitters for AM and FM broadcasting services throughout the world TELEFUNKEN transmitters are operating all over the world and are renown for their high quality and reliability. Today the business sectors of TELEFUNKEN SenderSysteme Berlin AG are characterised by the digitalisation of radio. As early as in 2001 the company demonstrated the opportunities offered by digital medium wave with DRM at the International Radio and Television Exhibition (IFA) in Berlin As experts see DRM as the most important radio standard of the future, TELEFUNKEN SenderSysteme Berlin AG is greatly involved in shaping the radio scenery of tomorrow. In 2002 the enterprise booked a turnover of over Euro 17 million. Jochen Huber, Managing Director, will be happy to supply any further information required. We would appreciate receiving a copy of any printed release of this article. TELEFUNKEN SenderSysteme Berlin AG Mertensstrasse 63, D-13587 Berlin (Spandau) Telephone: +49 (0)030/33978-0 Facsimile: +49 (0) 030/33978-599 email: j.huber @ tsb-ag.de (via Dario Monferini, DXLD) ** SPAIN. RADIO EXTERIOR DE ESPAÑA LAUNCHES PROGRAMME FOR EASTERN EUROPE Radio Exterior de España (REE) has started a daily programme in Russian and Spanish directed to the countries of Eastern Europe. At the moment more than 150,000 citizens of those countries are working in Spain. REE wants offer them information about Spain in their own language, while at the same part of the programme is in Spanish with the purpose of helping thousands of East European citizens to know and improve their understanding of the language. REE intends as soon as possible to include a Spanish course for speakers of Russian within the new programme. The broadcast is on the air Mon-Fri at 1700-1730 UT on 15195 kHz. España en la Europa del Este http://www.rtve.es/rne/ree/ProgramasDV/EspEuEste.htm # posted by Andy @ 10:35 UT Jan 26 (Media Network blog via DXLD) Says this started Jan 3, but they were reported some months ago with a ``Russian`` service already, at least at the beginning of B-04, but mostly in Spanish! In fact the above page shows: De lunes a viernes: Informativo, en ruso. Programación temática, en español Lunes: "Nosotros los Europeos" Martes: "Más Europa" Miércoles:"Comentario Victor Tchereski" y Deportes Jueves "Amigos de la Onda Corta" Viernes: "España en el Mundo" (Glenn Hauser, DXLD) ** TAIWAN. RADIO TAIWAN INTERNATIONAL DROPS KOREAN, BURMESE, ARABIC, MONGOLIAN, AND TIBETAN. CNA News, 25 January 2005. The latter two perhaps a reflecting that Taiwan no longer claims Mongolia and Tibet. Continues Chinese, English, French, German, Indonesian, Japanese, Russian, Spanish, Thai, and Vietnamese. Station was originally Voice of Free China, part of KMT controlled Broadcasting Corporation of China. Then it was placed under Central Broadcasting System, changed its name to Radio Taipei International, and finally to Radio Taiwan International. Meanwhile, parent Central Broadcasting System, for decades responsible for broadcasts to the Mainland, has disappeared, leaving Radio Taiwan International to do this. All fraught with geopolitical implications (kimandrewelliott.com via DXLD) ** U S A. NEW MAJOR WHITE PAPER ON PUBLIC DIPLOMACY BY DISTINGUISHED PANEL. Du jour. Public Diplomacy Council calls for a billion here, a billion there... Kim's notes, 26 January 2005 http://kimandrewelliott.com/pdc_paper.html [Viz.:] It seems that these thoroughgoing papers with solutions for the failure of U.S. public diplomacy are being issued about once a month. "A Call for Action on Public Diplomacy" is from the Public Diplomacy Council, housed at the George Washington University, and consisting largely of alumnae of the disbanded U.S. Information Agency. It calls for one billion dollars for exchange programs, a billion dollars for international broadcasting, and one and a half billion dollars for salaries and expenses. The Council recommends creation of a United States Agency for Public Diplomacy, part of the State Department but semi-autonomous like the U.S. Agency for International Development, headed by the equivalent of a deputy secretary of state. International broadcasting would not be part of USAPD, though the panel encourages "closer integration of international broadcasting with other elements of public diplomacy." The report suggests, "Perhaps the time has come to merge all U.S. international broadcasting into a single adequately funded, comprehensive, fill service, multimedia global broadcaster that maintains the priniciples laid down in the VOA Charter as well as its journalistic code." (I recommended this fifteen years ago in "Too Many Voices of America," Foreign Policy, Winter 1989/90.) The Council also calls for the restoration of a 24-hour VOA English service. Here's the tricky part: the Council wants the Broadcasting Board of Governors to be "more closely attuned to foreign policy" while also "maintaining its journalistic independence." In addition to the report, be sure also to read the dissenting remarks by five members of the Council: "We assume, based on our mythic understanding of our role in history, that we will be heard because we lead the free world. But, the United States alone does not own the flag of freedom anymore. And free people don't take orders. ... Because the reference point is their hopes, aspirations and fears, the narrative we must tell is not America's story. Rather it is the human story and how America relates to those outside our borders." http://www.pdi.gwu.edu/ (via http://www.kimandrewelliott.com Jan 26 via DXLD) ** U S A. SENATOR ALLEN SUPPORTS BROADCASTING NEWS AND INFORMATION Dateline: Washington, 01/21/05. In the Senate Foreign Relations Committee Hearings regarding the appointment of Condoleeezzza Rice as Secretary of State, Senator George Allen [R - VA ---gh] made a point of stressing the importance of providing news and information to the world. In a question to Dr. Rice Senator Allen asked: "But what is your view of what we can do with the Board of Broadcasting Governors to find a way of -- not propaganda, not music, but just facts about the United States, our motivation, or just the concepts of freedom so that the people of Iraq and others in the Arab world have a fair and balanced view of the United States and our puposes and the concepts of individual liberty?" Senator Allen also went on to say "Well, count me as one who's going to work with you to make sure that we're getting news and information out to people in those areas (AFGE Local 1812 via DXLD) ** U S A. [Re WOR 1259:] I just heard that the longtime voice of WWV, Martin Edwards, has passed away. Can you confirm this? (Tom Kennedy, Louisville KY, to NIST, via DXLD) Mr. Kennedy, Thanks for your email. I'm afraid we don't know anyone named Martin Edwards. The earliest "voice" of WWV we have information on is Don Elliot Heald, whose voice served as the pre-recorded announcer at WWV from at least the mid-1960s up to the early 1990s, when the old mechanical voice-storage system was replaced with new digital equipment. For a short time, a broadcaster from Atlanta named John Doyle's voice was used on the broadcast; the voice announcement was then re-recorded by a radio personality in the San Francisco area named Lee Rodgers. As far as we know, none of these men have passed away. However, NIST Radio Station WWVH in Kauai, Hawaii, has a similar broadcast using a female voice. The announcer, Jane Barbe, did pass away several years ago. Her recorded voice is still used on the WWVH broadcast. Sincerely, (Glenn Nelson, National Institute of Standards and Technology Radio Stations WWV/WWVB, via Kennedy, DXLD) See 4-191. This story came from ``published news reports`` via Amateur Radio Newsline, who bear the responsibility for getting it right. A quick check of the NIST/WWV website did not lead to any identification of the announcers. Could Lee Rodgers be an airname for Martin Edwards or vice versa? Both in San Francisco. Rodgers is a right-winger on KSFO, but his bio does not mention WWV! http://www.ksfo560.com/showdj.asp?djid=2254 Unfound any ``Martin Edwards`` as a radio broadcaster (gh, DXLD) ** U S A. PRIME TIME SHORTWAVE ENTERTAINMENT: THIS WEEK, WWRB http://www.rfma.net/archives/000443.html On occasion, I will visit the website run by shortwave broadcaster WWRB, http://www.wwrb.org "world wide religious broadcasting," run by Dave Franz and others [?] in Tennessee, to see what's new. This station has been known by several other call letters in the past, including WWFV ("world wide freedom voice" or something like that) and WGTG ("with glory to God"). I believe WWRB used to stand for "world wide radio broadcasting" in an attempt to broaden the station's scope. It doesn't matter, however; there is a lot of entertaining, crazy, and just plain offensive programming on WWRB that is not in any way religious. More on this thought shortly. WWRB operates several shortwave services with ever changing names. One recalls World Harvest's http://www.whr.org various numbered "Angel" transmitters. I find the service naming awfully confusing, especially since WWRB always lists a couple of services that are either under development, are backup units, or are "reserved for use by the guvvmint" or something to that effect. To get through this somewhat confusing situation, let's summarize WWRB's transmitters as of this writing. North America Service #1 runs daily from 0000 to 0600 UTC on 5085. North America Service #2 runs daily from 0000 to 0600 UTC on 3185. This oddball frequency has been in use for several months now, replacing 6890, as the winter propagation is favoring lower frequencies. North America Service #3 runs daily from 0000 to 0600 UTC on 5745. Note that this frequency was swiped from WHRI after that station moved several services to those of the former WSHB. South and Central American and the Caribbean Service runs daily from 0000 to 0600 UTC on 5050. Middle-East/Africa/European Service runs daily from 1700 to 2400 UTC on 12172. There also exists "Southeast Asia" and "Australia/New Zealand/Western Pacific Islands" services, but there is no programming on any of these now. They're planned to operate from 1000 to "TBA" UTC if and wherever they're started. All of the operational shortwave services on WWRB can be received reliably here in Maryland, but as HF radio goes, your mileage may vary. The latest HFCC data http://www.hfcc.org/data/index.html shows WWRB is authorized to run up to 100 KW on 5745 and 65 KW on the remaining services. The HFCC data shows 6890 instead of 3185 and there is an additional authorization for 9320, a presently unused daytime frequency. They're officially authorized for 12170, but as long as I can recall, they've been running this daytime service a couple of kilohertz upwards of that to escape interference from WWCR's flamethrower on 12160. Now that we've addressed the technical stuff, let's move on to the programming. This station's evolved a bit over the past few years, beginning with its humble beginnings as WGTG, to abandoning some of its quasi-religious programming, to embracing it once again. Mr. Franz himself would sometimes get on the air and rant for a while in the classic shortwave kook style about whatever was on his mind. Usually this would be a rant about a deadbeat programmer or some diatribe on "pay-triots" or something similar. Now the most we usually hear is Mr. Franz giving top-of-the-hour IDs using an old mic that sounds like it was new when Dick Nixon was using it to record stuff on his dictaphone http://www.recording-history.org/HTML/dictatech1.htm Here's a sampling of some of the offerings on WWRB. The Full Gospel Hour: Monday at 0000 on 5085, Sunday at 0030 on 5745, Thursday at 0300 on 5050, Saturday at 0400 on 5050, and Sunday at 1800 on 12172. If you've ever heard this program, you will never forget it. The speaker delivers true fire-and-brimstones-style preaching in a very loud, shrieking and incomprehensible voice, separated by long immeasurable pauses. For the longest time, Allan and crew would fire up WBCQ's 17495 service on Saturday afternoon just to air an hour from this programmer (and perhaps a World of Radio too). The Full Gospel Hour remains on Saturday on WBCQ, but is unfortunately running on 9330 at the same time as the Lumpy Gravy Radio Show (2300 UTC) http://www.rfma.net/archives/cat_lumpy_gravy_radio_show.html so I am otherwise occupied and unable to listen at this time. As an aside, on January 15, WBCQ dropped Lumpy Gravy's internet feed for a few seconds, and while I was listening to WBCQ's webcast recording of this event, I heard the distinctive sounds of the Full Gospel Hour bleeding through the wires in the background of the dead air. You've got to take notice of a programmer who can project straight through the electronics at the station like that. The Divided Kingdom: Tuesday through Saturday at 0400 on 5085 and Saturday at 0300 on 5085. Elizabeth Border, http://www.americasoldout.com/patriot/ this show's host, has assumed the highest levels of shortwave kookery with her paranoid conspiracy rantings about the New World Order. Especially entertaining is her sock puppet skit featuring dialog between a falsetto-voiced "Barbie" and a low-voiced "Fatherland Security" accompanied by downright scary solemn music. This is clearly the most entertaining program on WWRB, and there's something in it for conspiracy theorists as well as kookologists. American Dissident Voices: Saturday at 2300 on 5085 and Sunday at 0400 on 5085. Ah, yes, the white supremacists. Also known as the Nazis. These poor old hatemongers hate everyone. Yes, "world wide religious broadcasting" takes on a whole different meaning after hearing a few minutes of the dreck shoveled out by these tiny-brained racist scumbags. Herald of Truth: Saturday at 2330 on 5085 and Sunday at 0430 on 5085. Well, these guys aren't quite as overt as American Dissident Voices, but be forewarned: their religious themes are thinly veiled promotions of the so-called Christian Identity movement, also known as the Nazis. How clever that WWRB packages these two programs back to back for their special Racist Hour. Mike Gibson Blue Grass Music: Sunday at 0300 on 5085, and, Mike Gibson Gospel Music: Saturday at 0200 on 5050. Mr. Gibson provides some relief to all of the seemingly non-stop demagoguery on WWRB. His bluegrass music show provides a good cross-section of gospel-oriented country music, and is well worth a listen if conditions are favorable. Faith Holiness Church: Saturday at 0000 UTC on 5745, Thursday at 0300 on 5050, and Saturday at 0400 on 5050. Pastor Larry Cain provides us with a religious message that starts out slow and collected, but gradually builds steam until boiling over in full froth as the broadcast goes on. This program is also heard Monday at 2330 on WBCQ 7415. Amos and Andy/Uncle Ed's Musical Memories: Tuesday through Saturday at 0230 on 3185. Ah yes, Uncle Ed's masterful re-creations of the lost episodes of Amos and Andy, meticulously re-created from the original scripts in Ed's own voice. An outside observer may be immediately tempted to ponder the racist and stereotypical overtones of Amos and Andy, but we're not going to get into that here. This is a very entertaining show. You can also catch Amos and Andy Monday through Saturday at 0500 on WBCQ 7415. Uncle Ed's Musical Memories is a well produced music show that showcases popular music from the thirties and forties. This show is also heard on WBCQ 7415 Thursdays at 2330. A Voice Crying In The Wilderness: Sunday at 0200 on 5050. We had the pleasure of leading in to Brother Joe's show on 7415 when we were in the Saturday 2100 time slot. Brother Joe's still there on 7415 Saturdays at 2200, "heading on the highway, the highway of Lord Jesus." Interestingly enough, his show is not "crying" on WBCQ. We'll have to check it out in greater detail on WWRB and see what's up with that. Now, taking a look at the rest of WWRB's schedule, we note that there is an awful lot of programming slots marked as "available time slot for your program." Sometimes we will hear simulcasts from one of the other frequencies, the spoken King James Bible, and other fill programming. Recent reports indicate that Dave Franz himself hosted a classical music show in one of the available time slots (On Thursday 1/13/05 at 0000 on 3185, per Daniel L. Srebnick in DXLD 5013). WWRB also mentions that they run "tithe programming" in some of these slots, so there may be a chance to hear random weirdness on the station. With four frequencies running simultaneously every evening here in North America, the chance of hearing random kookiness are great. Now, please don't get me wrong. If Mr. Franz and company want to offer a low cost programming outlet to the masses via shortwave, I certainly applaud their efforts and wish them the best. However I take great offense at the overtly "religious" tilt of the station and their ownership, in light of the repugnant programming such as that which is offered by the Nazis and hatemongers. And whereas one can certainly be entertained to the point of tears by the wackiness of Elizabeth Border and her paranoid sock puppets, this type of programming can hardly be called "religious." WWRB and its "evangelist" ownership and staff would increase their credibility greatly, at least in my eyes, if they dropped the religious angle completely and admitted that they are simply a business who will put enyone on the air if they've got the 60 bucks an hour. Of course, it goes without saying that the station's owner must agree with your programming or else you won't have a chance of ever hearing your show on WWRB. Concluding thus, it is obvious, regardless of their better programs, that WWRB's owners and management are a bunch of paranoid conspiracy racist hatemongers hiding under the comfy blanket of "evangelism" and "religious" broadcasting in order to attract a revenue stream to their business. fsPosted by cosmik at January 24, 2005 12:16 PM (Larry Will, RFMA via DXLD) 3185 kHz, WWRB, 25-01-2005, 0300 UT, estaban colocando música que me hizo recordar a aquellas canciones viejas cuando comenzaba la radio; hubo identificación en inglés (José Elías Díaz Gómez, Barcelona, Venezuela, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. DIGITAL BOOSTER NPR MAY BUY 50,000 RADIOS --- WHILE ADDING PROGRAM STREAMS FOR ADDED BROADCAST CHANNELS Originally published in Current, Jan. 17, 2005 By Mike Janssen http://www.current.org/tech/tech0501digitalradio.shtml NPR may try to jumpstart sales of digital receivers this year by buying upwards of 50,000 radios to be resold to listeners. The network has pitched the possibility of a group buy to all manufacturers of digital receivers, NPR announced at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas Jan. 8 [2005]. In another move supporting digital radio - and the two-channel capacity that NPR advocates - the network said it will begin distributing four 24-hour programming streams in coming months, the first by June. Of the four channels, one will feature jazz, NPR said last week. Two others, announced last year, will be the Classical Public Radio Network packaged by Colorado Public Radio and KUSC of Los Angeles and a news/talk stream developed in partnership with the Public Radio Program Directors Association. The network hasn't revealed the fourth format or said which will debut first. To help deliberations about the proposed receiver buy, the network has given receiver makers an open-ended "request for information"-less formal than a request for proposals-with the goal of determining whether the group buy would be feasible, said Mike Starling, NPR's v.p. of engineering. "We're frankly looking for them to educate us on how it would work best and make the most sense," Starling says. Depending on the response it gets, NPR eventually could buy 10,000 to 50,000 receivers, possibly from more than one manufacturer. The buy would play up digital radio's multicasting technology, which lets a station transmit two distinct streams of programming over one frequency. A listener with a multicast-ready receiver will be able to tune in and toggle between the channels, allowing a public station to program both an all-news and an all-classical channel, for example. NPR and technology partners have pioneered testing of these channels under the banner of Tomorrow Radio. A handful of public stations have already obtained experimental licenses from the FCC to dabble in multicasting. Commercial broadcasters, meanwhile, have shown less interest. The FCC is expected to approve multicasting by July, and public radio stations have urged NPR to help get properly equipped receivers on the market. Fifty NPR stations are broadcasting in digital. CPB has provided funding to help 262 others to convert. Starling says NPR could buy a single receiver model or a variety of designs for cars, homes and audiophiles. NPR would distribute the receivers to stations, which would sell them directly or steer listeners to local retailers, possibly with coupons printed from their websites. The deal may even permit stations to co-brand the radios with their logos. Kenwood and Boston Acoustics presented multicast-ready receivers at the Consumer Electronics Show, Starling says, and several other manufacturers have also said they'll make them. He expects the receivers to retail for $100 to $300 but won't know for sure until manufacturers respond to the group buy proposal. Technicians are encouraged by indications that a digital FM signal could carry two channels of equal quality, instead of the previously assumed payload - one high-quality channel and one less suitable for music. In tests last summer, NPR squeezed a digital channel to a 48 kbps bit rate without compromising audio quality. A full FM channel has a digital capacity of 96 kbps in addition to its regular analog broadcast. CPB, meanwhile, is planning for the next stage of radio's digital transition. Its digital radio advisory panel, convened in November, recommended spending $2.5 million in this fiscal year to research and support supplemental audio channels. That sum combines $1.5 million in unused funds from previous years and $1 million from this year's CPB budget. The panel also recommended devoting as much as $15 million to support stations' conversions to digital. It suggests giving aid first to broadcasters in the 50 largest markets and those serving large minority populations. The final sum will depend on how much Congress appropriates to assist pubcasting's digital transitions. The CPB Board has usually endorsed the guidance of past panels when approving funding levels. Web page posted Jan. 17, 2005 Copyright 2004 by Current Publishing Committee (via Tom Roche, DXLD) ** U S A. Here`s what`s become of the late, lamented WCAL-FM in Northfield, MN; good luck on finding the new callsign, KCMP, anywhere on the website: http://minnesota.publicradio.org/radio/services/thecurrent/ (via Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) KCMP, 89.3, Alive and Sick! I know there's been a lot of coverage about Minn. Public Radio's venture into indy rock, but it isn't all that remarkable IMHO. It's all the people from a 2-station operation called REV-105, (short for "revolutionary,) which was funded by a scion of the Cargill Corp. This is so similar, DJ's and playlists both, that I'm wondering if Cargill had something to do with funding KCMP. Probably the cleverest moment during the transition was when the morning-show guys, still on 99.5, played a gospel tune called "Ninty-nine and a Half Just Won't Do!" They *are* streaming it on the Web somewhere, presumably accessible from http://www.mpr.org I got most of the switchover on tape from both frequencies but presume there are already MP3's circulating. Just wait till MPR does its pledge drive, and there's no classical music on the FM dial for 2 weeks! Hope there were a few new nuggets of info in the preceding, and that all's well in Enid OK (Max Swanson, MN, Jan 25, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. Old Time Radio ReCreation Station WNAR-AM --- EVERYTHING OLD IS NEW AGAIN! OLD AND NEW RADIOS ARE HUNGRY FOR OLD RADIO PROGRAMS! Please provide a link to our not-for-profit historic old time radio Re-Creation station: http://www.wnar-am.com Great Hollywood stars, stories, drama, adventure, plays, music, mystery, history. Theatre of the imagination. Descriptive narration is especially useful for the visually impaired. Any cross promotion would be appreciated. Contact information is on our website. Listen for FREE and please spread the word! Thanks, (Rich Franklin, WNAR-AM, Jan 26, DX LISTENING DIGEST) WNAR 1620 - RADIO NOSTALGIA AT ITS BEST WNAR AM 1620 Lansdale, PA offers local community and internet listeners a recreation of what radio was about fifty years ago. From The Shadow to The Lone Ranger, every minute is filled with excitement. Family Theater offers an excellent program of inspirational and object lesson- loaded situations starring famous actors and actresses of years gone by. Unshackled is a current radio drama that airs two times daily and the most recent episode airs three times on Sundays. Unshackled is the longest running radio drama in the history of radio. Descriptive narration is especially useful for the visually impaired. National news from The Information Radio Network is included nine times every day. Great Hollywood stars, stories, drama, adventure, plays, music, mystery, history can all be found on WNAR 1620 a micro- broadcaster in Lansdale, PA. You don't need to live in Lansdale, PA to enjoy this wonderful programming. Just visit http://www.wnar-am.com (DXing.com via DXLD) IRN has a religious agenda, not to be relied upon for objective news (gh, DXLD) ** U S A. Greetings from Sactown once again, Glenn. Here's an article from Thursday's News & Review about a local, low power hip-hop f.m. station which was snitched out to the F.C.C. by a corporate hip-hop station: KNOZ' F.C.C. Blues As a member of Sactown's KPFA Listener's Group, we're gonna tour the station this Friday. Will keep ya posted! 73s-n-prayin' fer better propagation from Sactown-n-(Ed Gardner!!!, Sacramento CA, Jan 25, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Viz.: Everybody KNOZ --- Corporate radio drops the bomb on a local micro- broadcaster --- By Cosmo Garvin [caption:] Money Mike, foreground, and JP contemplate the merits of the Federal Communications Commission while Ant G, Khyree and DJ Smurf listen in. The last time we checked, the Doing It Big show was still on the air. ``This is your boy JP. We`re fixin` to slide into Seagram`s `If the World Was Mine,``` disc jockey JP, also known as Jason Anthony, growled into the microphone. ``That`s right. If the world was mine,`` replied co-host DJ Money Mike, a.k.a. Mike Williams, ``we wouldn`t be going through everything that we`re going through.`` With the click of a mouse, the track by Seagram, the late Oakland rapper who was shot to death in 1996, began to play. Off the microphone, the two DJs conferred about what to queue up next, deciding on a track called ``Why Hate,`` by Sacramento artist D-Dubb. ```Why hate?` I dedicated that one to the FCC yesterday,`` JP said, laughing. Earlier that week, on Wednesday, January 12, two agents from the Federal Communications Commission office in Pleasanton had arrived to try to shut down KNOZ, an 83-watt Midtown radio station with a coverage area of about three miles. ``They just started banging on the door, flashing their badges,`` explained Khyree the Barber, who hosts a Saturday-morning program called The Wake and Bake Show. It was the FCC`s second visit. This time, he said, ``we told them they couldn`t come in.`` The agents eventually left, but only after declaring KNOZ an illegal operation and threatening thousands of dollars in fines, confiscation of the station`s broadcasting equipment and up to a year in jail. For nine months now, KNOZ 96.5 has been broadcasting a format of only Northern California hip-hop, R&B and rap artists, 24 hours a day, seven days a week. It’s the only station of its kind in Northern California. . . http://www.newsreview.com/issues/Sacto/2005-01-20/news.asp (via Ed Gardner, DXLD) ** U S A . LPFM to replace Class D? Nichols College in Dudley, Mass. has been granted a CP for a LPFM station on 97.5 MHz. The college is already licensee of WNRC, a Class D station on 95.1. The LPFM is 10dB more powerful than the Class D station. Presumably the WNRC license will be returned for cancellation? (Doug Smith W9WI, Pleasant View (Nashville), TN EM66, WTFDA via DXLD) ** U S A. My NRC News arrived today and I read about the proposed changes to WDAE-620 in Bill Hale's section in which he said WDAE was the first station in the U.S. to use a directional antenna system [to protect WTMJ]. This puzzles me as WDAE was on 1250 per my station lists from the 1940's and 1950's and I know directional systems were being used in the 1940's particularly after WW2 when so many new stations were coming on and when a lot of existing stations were moving to new frequencies where they had to install directional equipment. Did this original directional set-up belong to WFLA-620 and what year did it start? Does anyone have this information? (Ben Dangerfield, Wallingford, PA, NRC-AM via DXLD) The reference to WDAE is really to the 620 facility which currently holds those calls. I don't recall it as WFLA on 620 but I have it QSL'ed as WSUN (Russ Edmunds, Blue Bell, PA, (15 mi NNW Philadelphia), ibid.) The present WDAE 620 site is not the original site that was the location of the first medium wave vertically polarized directional array. The only remaining thing at the original site is one pier block for a guy anchor. Ron Rackley and others located the original site a couple of years ago. Dr. Ray Wilmotte, who designed the original 620 antenna, still worked occasionally as a consultant to the FCC as recently as 20 years ago. It would be nice if there could be a historical marker of some sort at the site. (BTW, Ron designed the proposed new WDAE configuration.) (Benj. F. Dawson III, P.E., Hatfield & Dawson Consulting Engineers, LLC, and The dTR/H&D Joint Venture, Consulting Engineers, 9500 Greenwood Avenue North, Seattle, WA 98103 USA, Jan 25, DX LISTENING DIGEST) WFLA and WSUN shared a frequency in the early days of radio. The original DA is not the same one in use today. IIRC, Barry Mishkind found the original site which is now covered up by mangroves. A timeline for this station can be found on Jeff Miller's pages at: http://members.aol.com/jeff99500/wfla.html (Paul Smith, W4KNX, Sarasota, FL, NRC-AM via DXLD) The original DA was built in Clearwater in 1932 for what was then a share-time between WFLA and WSUN on 620, protecting Milwaukee's WTMJ. In the late thirties, WFLA was granted sole use of 940, leaving WSUN all alone on 620. WFLA moved from 940 to 970 as part of the NARBA moves of March 29, 1941. In 1950 or thereabouts, WSUN abandoned the Clearwater site and moved to Gandy Boulevard, building the two towers that still stand and are still in use by 620, which now has the WDAE calls that used to be on 1250. (WSUN became WSAA in 1999, then WHNZ very briefly in early 2000, then swapped calls with WDAE 1250. And just to thoroughly confuse matters, the WHNZ calls had been on 570 Pinellas Park, now WTBN, from 1991-2000.) Those 620 towers are suffering mightily from half a century of exposure to salt water, and they need to be replaced. This week's "M Street Journal" will have some comments from directional antenna guru Ron Rackley about the original WFLA/WSUN DA, which I'll post to the list once the Journal is published tomorrow morning (Scott Fybush, NY, ibid.) WFLA and WSUN were the first directional station in the nation. 1932. We did a cover story on it in the May 2003 Radio Guide Magazine. If you can't find a copy, it is also on BDR. http://www.oldradio.com/bdr.htm regards (Barry Mishkind, AZ, ibid.) ** U S A. Seeking a 'NEW way --- By DAVID HINCKLEY, DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER, Tuesday, January 25th, 2005 Several radio stations can say they've had the city's best run over the last 10 years. But it's clear who's had the worst: WNEW (102.7 FM), which once defined rock radio and has spent the last decade trying to get off the floor. The latest kick came this month, when program director Frankie Blue left in the wake of an embarrassing incident where he went on the air sounding spacy and gave the wrong call letters. Blue was hired last July to give WNEW a dance/rhythm format, like the one he once took to No. 1 at WKTU (103.5 FM). When Blue was hired, WNEW was averaging a very modest 1.6% of the city radio audience. In the fall ratings that came out this month, it was averaging 1.4%. Station officials say they still have faith, that there are signs the current format - which has RuPaul as part of its morning show - is gaining traction among listeners attractive to advertisers, which is the name of the game. But at the moment, WNEW still ranks last among the city's major stations, a too-familiar position. That's why it has had a decade-long parade of formats and programmers - many of them skilled, but none able to put the station back on its feet. Sean Ross, vice president at Edison Media Research, traces WNEW's problem to the '80s. "All 'heritage' rock stations got to the point where they faced a choice," said Ross. "Do you keep playing the same hits or embrace new music? Either way, you alienate some listeners." And there weren't that many to start with. Even at its peak, WNEW never had the mass audience of a top-40 station. It made money because it reached a loyal core of younger adult males, whom advertisers love. But the incoming generation of young men soon wanted to hear Pearl Jam, while WNEW's earlier audience of Led Zep fans, now in their 40s or 50s, very often didn't. The arrival of Nirvana in 1992, said Ross, was the killer. Rock radio split into "modern," "alternative" and "classic," leaving WNEW in the middle as its audience fragmented. Truth is, said Ross, WNEW got its highest ratings as a middle-of-the- road rocker: "straight album rock, almost classic rock." The free-form WNEW that's fondly remembered for live Elvis Costello or Graham Parker concerts, he said, "was a different station - and very often didn't have much higher ratings than WNEW has today." In any case, many rock stations dropped rock altogether in those discouraging early '90s. But that wasn't an option for WNEW, says Ross: "It was such an institution that changing formats would have outraged everyone." So it spent years trying to find a viable rock formula, switching so often it left its audience simply confused. Many classic rock fans eventually moved to WAXQ (104.3 FM) and modern rock fans to WXRK (92.3 FM). WNEW finally switched to hot talk in 1999. After the Opie and Anthony sex-at-St. Patrick's scandal of 2002 blew that idea to pieces, it switched to adult contemporary "Blink" in 2003 and dance-oriented "Mix" in 2004. "The good news," said Ross, "is that in almost every case, eventually something works." A WNEW timeline April 1994: WNEW-FM averages 2.2% of audience. Ted Edwards succeeds Pat St. John as program director, says station must "change or die." July 7, 1995: Switches to modern rock with slogan "New York's Rock Alternative." May 1996: Edwards out as program director. July 1996: Steve Young replaces Edwards, shifts to "heritage rock." December 1996: Ratings at 1.2%. Young out, ex-program director Mark Chernoff rehired. Jan. 1, 1997: Now "Classic Rock with Classic Jocks." January 1998: Ratings at 1.7%. Chernoff returns to WFAN, Garry Wall hired as operations manager. June 28, 1998: Opie & Anthony start in afternoons. Several classic jocks released. Slogan: "The Rock of New York." Nov. 13, 1998: Scott Muni and Dave Herman, last full-time veterans, fired. Slogan: "Always Rocked, Always Will." Sept. 13, 1999: Ratings at 1.4%. Regular music programs end. Slogan: "FMTalk@102.7" Nov. 3, 1999: Wall leaves. January 2000: Jeremy Coleman hired as program director. Spring 2000: Ratings at 1.9%, thanks to Opie & Anthony at 4.4%. Dec. 31, 2000: Final "heritage" jock, Vin Scelsa, does last show. July 16, 2002: Ratings at 1.7%. Aug. 15, 2002: Two listeners and Opie & Anthony cohort Paul Mercurio arrested after the listeners allegedly have sex in St. Patrick's as part of O&A's "Sex for Sam" contest. O&A air a brief, cryptic account via a Mercurio remote. Aug. 19, 2002: FCC Chairman Michael Powell says St. Pat's stunt could cost station its license. Aug. 20, 2002: Coleman and general manager Ken Stephens fired. Aug. 22, 2002: Opie & Anthony removed. Jan. 27, 2003: Last talk show ends. Format becomes top-40 music without jocks. April 10, 2003: Relaunched as "Blink," upbeat pop and show biz news. Steve Kingston hired as operations manager. July 14, 2003: Ratings at 0.7%. Sept. 10, 2003: Kingston resigns. Smokey Rivers new program director. Oct. 2, 2003: FCC issues $357,000 fine for St. Pat's stunt. Dec. 26, 2003: "Blink" replaced by "Mix." April 2004: Ratings at 1.6%. Music goes to dance/rhythm. July 19, 2004: Frankie Blue hired as program director. Jan. 7, 2005: Ratings at 1.4%. Blue replaced by Rick Martini. (via Brock Whaley, DXLD) ** VENEZUELA [and non]. YVKE Mundial [550] is not what they used to be. I do not know when the change took place, but for quite some time this station has become a mouthpiece of the Chávez government, playing low key popular tunes and offering endless discussions or commentaries of political nature in between. On your clip there is a commentator starting off by bestowing God´s blessings upon his listeners and then turning into "La agresión a nuestra soberanía nacional de parte de funcionarios del gobierno colombiano..." which, if you are following international news, is a reference to Colombia having managed to snatch a highranking Colombian guerrilla leader from Caracas, Rodrigo Granda, who was granted Venezuela citizenship just as many other sought-after Colombian terrorists and supposed to be the "chancellor" of the FARC guerrillas. Granda was caught in Caracas when he was participating in a "Bolivarian congress" and then apparently transported to Cúcuta where he was turned over to Colombian authorities who subsequently arrested him. He is now in jail in Colombia. FARC has criticized the Venezuelan government for laxity and Chávez is now threatening to cut off commercial links with Colombia now that Colombia has conceded that they paid for the kidnaping which apparently was conducted to Venezuelan officials opposed to the Chávez government. Granda, who is Colombian by birth, carries Venezuelan ID number 22942118 and you may find his name on the polling list for the Chávez´ reelection http://www.cne.gov.ve/ce.php Be sure to type his ID number in the box and you will find that he voted in Aragua state, not far from La Victoria, where he was living. Newspaper reports in English have been rather scarce so far. The story is red-hot in Latin America, where the governments of ALL major countries, from Mexico to Argentina, including Brazil, Chile and Peru, have offered to mediate in order to solve the crisis. /HK (Henrik Klemetz, Sweden, Jan 25, RealDX via DXLD) ** VENEZUELA. 5000 kHz, YVTO, Observatorio Naval Cajigal, 25-01-2005, 0320 UT, a esta hora la estaba escuchando muy baja y con el ruido de fondo que todavía persiste. 4940 kHz, Radio Amazonas, 26-01-2005, 1118 UT, prog: Noti-contacto Amazonas, la voz del pueblo, donde la comunidad se comunica via telefono para plantear las necesidades y problemas de la comunidad. 7080 kHz, Rueda Internacional Amigos de siempre, 26-01-2005, 1149 UT, se estaba haciendo un contacto entre dos radioaficionados venezolanos, uno estaba en la ciudad de Cumaná,Edo Sucre y el otro en Caracas (José Elías Díaz Gómez, Barcelona, Venezuela, DX LISTENING DIGEST) UNIDENTIFIED. Cland: Radio Roj? on 6315 with Kurdish songs at 1617 Jan 23, S3 (Zacharias Liangas, Thessaloniki, Greece, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ PUBLICATIONS ++++++++++++ WRTH 2005 UPDATE AVAILABLE For all our readers, An update file for WRTH 2005 is now available for download at the WRTH web site, http://www.wrth.com The file is pdf document and you will require the free adobe acrobat reader 5 or above to read it. Please follow the simple instructions on site to download. This file contains the latest International broadcaster updates, schedule changes and new stations. The file is just under 100k so won't take too long to download. A mirror version of the file will be available at http://myweb.tiscali.co.uk/g4ucj Regards, Sean D. Gilbert G4UCJ/G4001SWL International Editor - WRTH (World Radio TV Handbook) E-Mail: sean.gilbert @ wrth.com Fax: +44 (0) 709 2332287 WRTH Web site: http://www.wrth.com G4UCJ's Radio Website: http://myweb.tiscali.co.uk/g4ucj WRTH - THE Directory of Global Broadcasting WRTH 2005 is now available - 688 pages (80 in full colour) visit http://www.wrth.com to order yours (via DXLD) CONVENTIONS & CONFERENCES +++++++++++++++++++++++++ ABU-HFC TO TACKLE SHORTWAVE BROADCAST INTERFERENCE Around 40 frequency managers of 18 shortwave broadcasters have converged in Kuala Lumpur since Monday for an Asia-Pacific Broadcasting Union (ABU) conference on reducing interference to shortwave services. The first two days of the 2005 Coordination Conference of the ABU Shortwave Coordination Group, ABU-HFC, saw significant success achieved towards this end. The conference hopes to address frequency channel requirements for more than 6,700 daily shortwave broadcasts by using coordination methods and complex software tools. The recent tsunami calamity has underscored the critical importance of shortwave radio in bringing disaster warnings and new of relief efforts to the affected population, and the need to keep it free from interference. The ABU-HFC Steering Committee also met on Monday and made some crucial decisions on the functions of the group. (Source: ABU) # posted by Andy @ 09:37 UT Jan 26 (Media Network blog via DXLD) RADIO EQUIPMENT FORUM +++++++++++++++++++++ THE RF NOISE IDENTIFICATION WEBSITE The RF Noise Identification Website http://www.ve3hls.com was updated tonight with the addition of 14 new noise files in MP3 format. Several of the new files remain unidentified. Maybe you will recognize one and can help to identify it. There are also new recordings of some noises from known sources, such as: - cable internet router - electronic insect repeller - 5-port ethernet switch - Toshiba cable modem - high pressure sodium streetlight (in the process of failing) - camcorder battery charger The purpose of the website is to help hams and SWLs like you and me to identify the noises (QRN) that intrude on our listening. The site contains a growing library of recordings in MP3 format that you can download or listen to while online. The recordings are of various types of noises from known sources and some that haven't been identified. I have also included small waveform images that provide an additional "fingerprint" for identification. My hope is that users will visit the site if they have QRN problems and be able to identify noise that's bothering them by comparing it to the recordings. I would also greatly appreciate contributions in the form of recordings of noises at your location as well. I will convert them to MP3 format and add them to the web page (with credit to you) for all to listen to. WAV or MP3 files, audio cassettes or CDs will be gratefully accepted. See the website for additional details. Thanks and 73, (Ken Alexander, VE3HLS http://www.ve3hls.com Jan 26, DX LISTENING DIGEST) "A DUMMIES GUIDE TO WORKING WITH WALL WARTS" --- ADDENDUM John Bryant and Bill Bowers - January 2005 Almost immediately after the publication of our Wall Wart article in DXM, Volume 42, Number 16, several sharp-eyed readers were good enough to point out to us that we had been less than clear as to the range of loads we foresaw for this use of modified wall warts and that we had failed to address the issue of heat build-up/dissipation. As we checked over our work one more time, we were chagrined to find that these correspondents were correct! The "forest and trees" problem had reared its ugly head yet again, despite our best efforts and those of our technical reviewers. Happily, at the low load levels that we intended to stress in the article, there is no significant heat problem, especially if simple precautions are taken. Also happily, even at heavier loads, the voltage regulators have built-in heat protection and simply shut down when overheated. Nevertheless, we apologize for any confusion or inconvenience. The following is a rewriting of the "Selecting an Appropriate Wall Wart" section of the original article and an additional section addressing heat build-up/dissipation. Please mark up your copy of original article appropriately and reference this update: Selecting an Appropriate Wall Wart Using wall warts as a basis for power supplies should, for all sorts of reasons including fire safety, be limited to supplying devices that need no more than .100 to .150 amperes of current at the specified voltage. If your device requires more current than that, we strongly recommend either buying or building a complete regulated power supply. Thanks to modern components, these are relatively simple devices, with designs, components and complete supplies being readily available. Within the range of regulated supplies requiring 100 to 150 milliamperes or less, the primary concern in selecting a wall wart is to make sure that it will supply power at least 3 volts DC in excess of the desired final controlled voltage, when the circuit is running at the designed load. This "3 volts in excess" comes from the basic needs of the voltage regulator itself. The most straight-forward approach to selecting a wall wart for your project would be to select one with an amperage rating that matches your needs and a voltage rating that is 3 or 4 volts higher. Thus, if you need a 5 VDC, 100 ma. regulated supply, you might select a used "9 VDC" wall wart rated at 100 or 150 ma. If you need a 9 volt regulated supply at 70 ma., you might select a small "12 VDC" wall wart rated at 100 ma. The selection becomes a bit more complex, if you desire a 12 volt regulated supply. One way to go is, as discussed above, to use a 14,15 or 16 VDC wall wart rated at least as large as your design load in milliamperes. However, these wall warts though less common are readily available from JAMECO and other supply houses for from 3 to 8 dollars. The other design strategy for building a small, filtered and regulated 12 VDC supply is to take advantage of the unregulated nature of wall warts. Remember that a wall wart rated at 12 VDC and 300 ma. will actually supply significantly more than 12 VDC at loads smaller than its rated load in milliamperes. So, if you need a regulated 12 VDC at 150 ma., a wall wart that is rated 12 VDC at 300 ma. would likely supply at least the requisite 15 volts to your new regulator at the 150 ma. load level. The only way to be sure is to measure the voltage output under the load you expect to use. Some published diagrams of wall warts show a fuse in the circuit. None of the units that we cut open had fuses. If your application requires a fuse, you'd better incorporate it in the same box with the regulator and capacitors. It was also noted in all the wall warts that were opened they all did contain a filter capacitor but it varied from 50 to 1000 uf, with most containing a 100 uf capacitor. Unless you plan to cut open your wall wart, then adding the suggested capacitors looks like a good idea. Heat Dissipation Like most devices dealing with power, voltage regulation tends to create heat. In our case, the more reduction in voltage accomplished by our regulator and the higher the current, the warmer the regulator gets. At loads around 100 ma. and dropping the voltage only 3 volts, the heat generated is only .3 watts. However, the amount of heat generated builds up rather quickly as one moves to higher currents or deeper voltage drops. Happily, all general electronics houses stock small heat sinks designed specifically to snap on the body of our "TO- 220" shaped regulator. Since they only cost between $0.15 and $0.30 USD each, we strongly suggest snapping one of these devices on the regulator, no matter what the projected current draw. Further, knowing that heat generation/dissipation is a concern with power supplies, common sense would dictate normally using a metal box and making sure to provide cross-ventilation by drilling a few holes in the case. John, being a "hands-on" type, does not put his regulation/filtering modules into a case until after he hooks the entire circuit up to the device needing power and lets it run for a while. If the regulator and its little heat sink get warm, it is relatively easy to use common sense to determine what kind of enclosure and ventilation strategy, if any, is needed. This kind of careful in-use testing of your newly modified wall warts is strongly recommended (IRCA Technical Column, Soft DX Monitor Jan 29 via DXLD) WORLD TIME ZONE CLOCK FOR WINDOWS I came across this press release, which may be of interest to some of you: ZoneTick World Time Zone Clock v2.5 for Windows is Released WR Consulting has released ZoneTick World Time Zone Clock v2.5 for Windows. This popular download replaces the Windows system clock with a multiple time zone world clock with digital and analog skins. This system tray clock conveniently displays multiple time zones alongside to each other showing time and date in the format of your choosing and also comes with a sophisticated alarm system. (PRWEB) January 26, 2005 -- What do international business travelers, ham radio users, travel agents, and eBay snipers have in common? They often need to monitor the time in multiple time zones simultaneously. A business traveler far away from home needs to know if his or her colleagues might still be in the office. Ham radio users need to know GMT time when communicating with other ham radio enthusiasts. Travel agents want to know local times elsewhere. And an eBay sniper would like to know when biddings for items end in eBay time. WR Consulting has just released a productivity tool that could help - ZoneTick World Time Zone Clock v2.5. Knowing the time around the world is so much simpler now. This little world clock runs in your Windows system tray, replacing the native clock. It can show many time zones simultaneously. Running in taskbar, it does not clutter your desktop. It conveniently displays the times in places you have chosen to monitor. An advanced alarm system comes with it allowing you to set alarms for remote clocks in other time zones. For example, a recurring yearly alarm can remind you about an important event such as birthday. Cron- like format can also be used to execute something every few minutes or hours on certain days of week. Clocks can also be highlighted with color, dynamically, depending on local clock times. Just glance at that clock in the usual corner of your screen and instantly know whether a remote location is open or closed for business. The program is very handy when communicating with people in other parts of the globe: such as your friends in other countries, your colleagues in remote offices or in the field, or the home-crowd while you are traveling. ZoneTick will also synchronize your computer clock with accurate Internet atomic time-servers. Dennis James, Director of Corporate Marketing at Talisma Corporation, said: "If you need to know what is happening around the world, look no further. ZoneTick is a great product. All of us in marketing have purchased one because we do business in Europe, North America, and Asia-Pacific. It saves a lot of calculation when we are planning and setting up meetings." Whether you travel from time zone to time zone, have international friends, or are simply on the lookout for high-quality shareware, ZoneTick is the world clock for you! For more information write to e-mail protected from spam bots or visit http://www.wrconsulting.com/products/world_clock/ (via Andy Sennitt, dxldyg via DXLD) But we already have all the world`s timezones in our head and are able to do simple addition and subtraxion (gh) PROPAGATION +++++++++++ IT`S HAARP TO BLAME FOR LOUSY PROPAGATION LATELY That was mentioned on an Art Bell show to be repeated this weekend, UT Sun 0300-0600. Check for a local affiliate (George Thurman, DX LISTENING DIGEST) http://www.coasttocoastam.com/shows/2005/01/23.html Recap --- HAARP Experiments Inventors Guy Cramer (superforce.com/ hyperstealth.com) and Dr. Joseph Resnick (NAT2DTC/NxGen BodyArmor) shared their expertise in the area of HAARP (the High Frequency Active Auroral Research Program) which is based in Alaska. Resnick said his patents were used in HAARP's phased array antenna system and that because many of the facility's experiments were classified, he could only talk about information that was in the public domain. Cramer, a Canadian, was freer to speculate on HAARP's uses, and said he believes its primary purpose is defensive. Specifically, he noted that HAARP was capable of disabling ballistic missiles and it's also used for communications with submarines and ground penetrating radar. Resnick pointed out that the project has beneficial non-military uses, such as when ELF (electromagnetic fields) were shown to promote plant growth and bee productivity. HAARP was used to bounce transmissions off the moon and then back to Earth, by sending a signal through a hole in the ionosphere in 2001, Cramer detailed. Patents allude to HAARP being able create a nuclear explosion without radiation, such as by detonating a blimp filled with methane, he continued. Cramer did not feel that HAARP was used for mind control per se, but that it could overdose an area with positive ions, which could "take the fight out of soldiers." He also suggested that HAARP is working in tandem with and/or a cover story for up to two other similar or more powerful arrays in Alaska. The official purpose of Project HAARP (website/webcam), which is based in Alaska, is said to be for studying the ionosphere in order to "understand and use it to enhance communications and surveillance systems for both civilian and defense purposes." Yet, over the years allegations have arisen that HAARP is involved in everything from weather modification to mind control. Guy Cramer has a new article posted which concludes that in addition to HAARP, there is another huge ionospheric array in Alaska. The page also contains photos, maps, and recommended links from Cramer and Dr. Joseph Resnick (via gh, DXLD) The geomagnetic field ranged from quiet to severe storming. Elevated coronal hole flow produced active levels to start the period. The transient activity associated with multiple solar eruptions on the 15th, arrived early on 17 January. This began a three-day period of minor to severe geomagnetic storming. Predominantly minor storming with isolated major storming was observed at the lower to mid latitudes, while extended periods of major to severe storming occurred at higher latitudes. Quiet to active levels returned on 20 January, with isolated storm periods at high latitudes. The strong shock that arrived late on 21 January was followed by periods of major to severe storming at all latitudes. The most severe storm levels occurred during a short period of strong southward IMF Bz following the shock arrival. The storming was short-lived as Bz turned northward within two hours of the shock arrival. Unsettled to minor storming was observed on the 22nd. Solar wind speed continued to decline through the end of the period. The geomagnetic field responded with quiet to active levels with isolated minor storm periods at high latitudes. FORECAST OF SOLAR AND GEOMAGNETIC ACTIVITY 26 JANUARY - 21 FEBRUARY Very low to low conditions are expected through 05 February with a chance of M-class activity from 05 – 19 February due to the return of old Region 720 (N13, L=178). A greater than 10 MeV proton event is not expected through early February. Thereafter, a proton event is possible following the return of old Region 720 on 05 February. The greater than 2 MeV electron flux at geosynchronous orbit is expected to be at high levels on 26 January, 29 January to 03 February and 08 – 10 February. The geomagnetic field is expected to range from quiet to minor storm levels. Coronal hole high speed wind streams are expected to produce unsettled to active with occasional minor storm periods on 28 January – 01 February and 07 – 08 February. Otherwise, expect quiet to unsettled conditions. :Product: 27-day Space Weather Outlook Table 27DO.txt :Issued: 2005 Jan 25 2211 UTC # Prepared by the US Dept. of Commerce, NOAA, Space Environment Center # Product description and SEC contact on the Web # http://www.sec.noaa.gov/wwire.html # # 27-day Space Weather Outlook Table # Issued 2005 Jan 25 # # UTC Radio Flux Planetary Largest # Date 10.7 cm A Index Kp Index 2005 Jan 26 95 12 3 2005 Jan 27 95 12 3 2005 Jan 28 100 15 3 2005 Jan 29 100 20 4 2005 Jan 30 105 20 4 2005 Jan 31 105 20 4 2005 Feb 01 105 20 4 2005 Feb 02 105 12 3 2005 Feb 03 110 8 3 2005 Feb 04 110 8 3 2005 Feb 05 115 8 3 2005 Feb 06 115 8 3 2005 Feb 07 115 15 3 2005 Feb 08 120 20 4 2005 Feb 09 120 10 3 2005 Feb 10 120 10 3 2005 Feb 11 120 12 3 2005 Feb 12 120 10 3 2005 Feb 13 120 8 3 2005 Feb 14 120 10 3 2005 Feb 15 115 8 3 2005 Feb 16 115 8 3 2005 Feb 17 110 10 3 2005 Feb 18 105 10 3 2005 Feb 19 100 10 3 2005 Feb 20 95 12 3 2005 Feb 21 90 15 3 (http://www.sec.noaa.gov/radio via WORLD OF RADIO 1261, DXLD) ###