DX LISTENING DIGEST 5-037, February 27, 2005 Incorporating REVIEW OF INTERNATIONAL BROADCASTING edited by Glenn Hauser, http://www.worldofradio.com Items from DXLD may be reproduced and re-reproduced only if full credit be maintained at all stages and we be provided exchange copies. DXLD may not be reposted in its entirety without permission. Materials taken from Arctic or originating from Olle Alm and not having a commercial copyright are exempt from all restrictions of noncommercial, noncopyrighted reusage except for full credits For restrixions and searchable 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 AIRINGS OF WORLD OF RADIO 1265: Mon 0330 WOR WRMI 6870 Mon 0400 WOR WBCQ 9330-CLSB Mon 0430 WOR WSUI Iowa City IA 910 [1264] Mon 0530 WOR WBCQ 7415 [or 5105-CLSB: see USA] Mon 0900 WOR R. Lavalamp Mon 1700 WOR WBCQ after hours Tue 0700 WOR WPKN Bridgeport CT 89.5 Tue 1000 WOR WRMI 9955 Tue 1700 WOR WBCQ after hours Wed 1030 WOR WWCR 9985 Wed 1700 WOR WBCQ after hours MORE info including audio links: http://worldofradio.com/radioskd.html WRN ONDEMAND: http://new.wrn.org/listeners/stations/station.php?StationID=24 OUR ONDEMAND AUDIO [also for CONTINENT OF MEDIA, MUNDO RADIAL] WORLD OF RADIO 1265 (high version): (stream) http://www.w4uvh.net/wor1265h.ram (download) http://www.w4uvh.net/wor1265h.rm WORLD OF RADIO 1265 (low version): (stream) http://www.w4uvh.net/wor1265.ram (download) http://www.w4uvh.net/wor1265.rm (summary) http://www.worldofradio.com/wor1265.html WORLD OF RADIO 1265 mp3 in the true shortwave sound 5070: (stream) http://www.piratearchive.com/media/worldofradio_02-26-05.m3u (d`load) http://www.piratearchive.com/media/worldofradio_02-26-05.mp3 DX/SWL/MEDIA PROGRAMS Feb 27 edition by John Norfolk [shortly] http://www.worldofradio.com/dxpgms.html ** AFGHANISTAN. INDIA HELPS TO SET UP SHORTWAVE TRANSMITTER IN AFGHANISTAN Afghanistan's President Hamid Karzai has been visiting India this week, and reports of his visit mention some of the ways in which India is helping to upgrade the electronic media in Afghanistan. India completed work on a TV satellite uplink in Kabul and downlink in 10 provincial capitals of Afghanistan, at a cost of $4.9 million, in October last year. Work is also said to be underway for installing a new 100 kW shortwave transmitter, and setting up a TV studio in Jalalabad, along with transmission facilities in Nangarhar province. # posted by Andy @ 09:40 UT Feb 16 (Media Network blog via DXLD) This SW project was first reported many months ago; wonder how much progress they are making? (gh) ** ANDORRA. Rare opportunity to log Andorra --- C37URA is on the air from Andorra during the whole of March to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the Andorran national amateur radio society. Two special prefixes, C38 and C39, will also be used by Andorran stations during March. A certificate is available for making at least five contacts on at least three bands with the special stations; C37URA counts as a 'wildcard' credit for one of the three bands. http://www.rsgb.org/news/gb2rs.htm (via Mike Terry, dxldyg via DXLD) ** ARGENTINA. El amigazo Gabriel Ivan Barrera prepara semanalmente un espacio diexista que resume lo mas destacado de la actualidad DX con infos extraídas de los mas prestigiosos boletines internacionales. Además, GIB aporta su enorme experiencia y criterio producto de varias decadas de destacadísima labor como diexista. El programa y los micros de actualización salen por la RAE. Agéndenselo por favor: Esquema en HORA y DIA LOCAL. (UT -3) RADIODIFUSION ARGENTINA AL EXTERIOR EMISION MICROS ACTUALIDAD DX Y SUPLEMENTO DX (En hora local). Sumarle 3 horas para obtener la hora UT IDIOMA ACTUALIDAD DX SUPLEMENTO DX DIA Y HORARIO DIA Y HORARIO JAPONES Jueves 08:00 Viernes 08:00 CASTELLANO I Martes 09:20 Viernes 09:20 INGLES Miércoles 15:40 y 23:40 Viernes 15:40 y 23:40 [UT: Wed & Fri 1840, Thu & Sat 0240] ITALIANO Viernes 16:45 Martes 16:30 FRANCES Jueves 17:40 Martes 17:40 ALEMAN Viernes 18:30 Lunes 18:30 CASTELLANO II Martes 20:15 Viernes 20:15 PORTUGUES I Jueves 22:30 Miércoles 21:10 PORTUGUES II Lunes 22:30 Martes 21:10 (Arnaldo Slaen, (c) Notici@sDX es un servicio de AER y ADXB via DXLD) Debo decir tambien que sería maravilloso contar con estos programas, ojalá tuvieramos oportunidad de bajarlos o recibirlos en formato mp3. (José Elías, ibid.) RAE has barely entered the Internet age, with a rudimentary website, and they even have to use GIB`s personal E-mail address (gh, 2005y, DXLD) ** ARMENIA. 9965, V. of Armenia, 1858-1945*, Feb. 22, Armenian-?/ German/English, YL in unID lang. at tune-in, IS/ID and German service from 1905-1925 then English with IS/ID, "This is Yerevan" and news re anniversary of Armenian genocide, visit from NATO big-wig and commentary re Azerbaijan. Contact info, music at sign-off. IDed as "English World Service of Voice of Armenia" and "Public Radio of Armenia". Fair (Scott R. Barbour, Jr., Intervale, NH, R75, 200' Beverage antennas, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 9965, Public Radio of Armenia, 1937 Feb 19 in English with extensive news of an Armenian delegation that was meeting with the EU. 1941 pop music. 1945 closing announcements, ID and gave email address sounding like prcommercial @ armradio.am Good signal here and almost as good on // 4810 (Hans Johnson, FL, Jihad-DX via Rus-DX via DXLD) ** BANGLADESH. 7185, Bangladesh Betar, Feb. 26, 1232 in at fair-to- poor level (SIO 232) with EE program. ID as "this is the external service of Bangladesh Betar", into national news, commentary on economic development in Bangladesh, assortment of Bollywood-like Bengali songs. Heard on Grundig YB400 PE with only whip antenna.. My first new SW country logging in years, so I am rather pleased with it as I don't have the most advanced receiving set up. What is meaning of "Betar"? I presume it is Bengali for broadcaster or network? 73 (Mike Brooker, Toronto, ON, HCDX via DXLD) ** BELGIUM. Re RVi partial reprieve: According to the French redaction, English news will be transmitted via Astra only (JM Aubier, France, Feb 27, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** BOLIVIA. 4845.40, Radio Municipal, 1030-1040 Noted man in Spanish Language comments generally introducing musical selections with TC's and ID, "...Radio Municipal...". Signal was good except for QRM mixing (Chuck Bolland, February 26, 2005, Clewiston FL, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** BULGARIA. QSL: 7500, R. Bulgaria, f/d, "Zheravna architecture" card, "Happy Spring" card from Radio Sofia, and a red and white Martenitsas tassle and form letter explaining the Bulgarian folk tale of its origin regarding the arrival of spring. This in 61 days for 1 IRC (Scott R. Barbour, Jr., Intervale, NH, R75, 200' Beverage antennas, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CANADA. MEET PROMO GIRL: THE VOICE THAT HAS STEPPED OUTSIDE THE CBC RADIO BOX -- by Elizabeth Payne, The Ottawa Citizen, February 19, 2005 http://www.canada.com/ottawa/ottawacitizen/news/styleweekly/story.html?id=39ff0669-4ff7-42fd-9346-adf55824c5ae Dear Promo Girl Imagine you are listening to the radio, minding your own business, when a persistent voice seeps out of the box and into your head. Imagine that, instead of absorbing the substance of the voice's message, you become fixated on its style. Where did that voice come from, you wonder, and who is the person attached to it? Is she younger than me? Is she being ironic? I thought I was just listening to CBC radio, is there something I'm missing here? Imagine, Promo Girl, that someone younger and chirpier has taken control of your solid, predictable (OK, sometimes dull) radio and that it hasn't quite sounded the same since ... At least that's how it feels ever since Promo Girl became a regular part of the CBC Radio 1 broadcasting day. There she is, her quirky, chirrupping voice giving us a heads-up on what's coming up later on the Mother Corp's daily schedule. "So the world has ended, a guy's still got to keep busy ... " She pops in between programs throughout the day, waking me up from whatever CBC-induced REM state I'm in and breaking into my consciousness. Is that a smile I hear in her voice? No, that's just her style; she's happy, she's a bit rumpled, she was up late chatting with some girlfriends over a few glasses of wine and has not had time to completely pull herself together but, hey, those sort of details don't bother Promo Girl. Promo Girl is, in fact, a figment of CBC promotion's imagination. The voice belongs to an actress (who remains anonymous), and the persona is pure fantasy. Still, she is quickly becoming a very real part of CBC Radio. And listeners, like me, are asking ourselves: What does this mean? Chris Boyce, an executive producer with CBC's Saturday afternoon variety show Definitely Not the Opera, helped develop Promo Girl. The network was looking for someone who would give a "consistent sound and tone" to its on-air promotions, he said in an interview from Winnipeg. What they didn't want was some "voice of God" announcer popping in between programs to talk about the daily schedule in deep, ringing, intimidating tones. They wanted someone more casual and engaging. Read: Someone who would appeal to that coveted younger listenership. "We wanted something that wouldn't sound like every other broadcaster ... that would cut through the CBC Radio 1 program flow," Boyce said. The concept was launched just in time for the network's summer season last year. "We were looking for something that was playful, fun and summer-like ... There was just something about her that jumped out of the the radio and felt like summer." Promo Girl was born. Well, actually, the name wasn't born until the voice began to develop a character. It was the actress who first began calling herself Promo Girl. And the name it caught on. As if to underline the fact, Promo Girl are among the first words out of Mark Thompson's mouth when I contact the manager of English radio communications. "So you want to do something on Promo Girl ... " he says. Thompson tells me that Promo Girl, in less than a year on the job, has gotten a "terrific" response from the public. "People seem to love her," he says, although he acknowledges there are also those who "absolutely hate" Promo Girl. "She gets inside people's heads." No kidding. That is what got me thinking about Promo Girl. I don't absolutely hate her, although you don't have to look far for evidence that others do. One chat room participant said he switched to another radio station because he couldn't stand hearing Promo Girl's spots. "CBC's Promo Girl is not only annoying, but the tone and content of her promos often is (sic) inappropriate for the program being promoted." Another placed Promo Girl fourth on a list of Most Annoying Canadians. She landed behind Don Cherry but ahead of Celine Dion and that smug Canadian Tire commercial guy. Ouch. Which is a bit unfair. She's not annoying. She would be quite endearing if I had met her in a sitcom or on the pages of a paperback. But I'm not so sure I want to share radio time with her. I hate the way she gets inside my head and hijacks my radio listening experience. One minute I'm passively listening to the comforting drone of interviews mingled with low-key small talk, wondering whether we can all stand pasta again for dinner, the next minute Promo Girl is sticking her head out of the radio and speaking DIRECTLY to me. Suddenly, I feel as if I am not alone. Someone is listening to the radio with me, and she sounds like she wants to be my friend. She keep asking me questions as if she might actually expect a response. And then there is her voice. It sounds young, but its main characteristic is that it is hip. Promo Girl has a youthful hipness that can sound incongruous when she's promo-ing Quirks and Quarks, say, or a serious piece of journalism. None of which are huge problems for many listeners. "I love Promo Girl," one chat room participant said. "She sounds like a real person with some of the natural idiosyncratic unpolished timbre that you don't hear from a smooth, professionally-trained beauty voice." This is true. But was is really gnawing at me about Promo Girl is the post-Seinfeldian irony embedded in her voice. That's CBC radio, she seems to be saying, but this is us, and we're younger and hipper than all that. We see the world differently. And, ever since the days when I munched my peanut butter sandwich while CBC Toronto offered its lunch-hour agricultural reports about beef and pork futures (I can still taste peanut butter when I think of the words "choice and good ones"), I have viewed CBC Radio as the home of those older, wiser and with better pronounciation and grammar skills than I. Promo Girl, with her Americanized vowels ("9:30 in Newfound-lay-end") just hammers home something I have been trying to ignore. I'm dated. You know when staid CBC starts sounding hipper than you, that you are over the hill. Sigh. Thanks, Promo Girl, I'd like to get together for drinks sometime, but it would probably be past my bedtime. Elizabeth Payne is Style Weekly deputy editor. Her column runs every second week. © The Ottawa Citizen 2005 (via Bill Westenhaver, DXLD) Personally, I find Promo Girl exceedingly annoying! 73- (Bill Westenhaver, QC, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CHINA. 4940, 1435-, Voice of the Strait, Feb 26. Good reception with English programming. Variety items, with brief Chinese musical pieces in between news items. Improving signal towards my local dawn. The Icom 756 ProII really shines here! (Walt Salmaniw, Victoria, BC, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 4940.0, Voice of the Straits, Fuzhou, Feb 26 (Sat), 1448-1500, English program, brief items about China (one piece about a temple city in northeast China) presented by man & woman announcers (last Sunday`s program had one announcer), with music between pieces (no singing jingles today), ToH six time clicks, reception poor (Ron Howard, Monterey, CA, NRD545, DX LISTENING DIGEST) [Later:] 4940.0, Voice of the Straits, Fuzhou, Feb 26 and 27, 1430- 1500, in English, ID ``This is the Voice of the Straits, Fuzhou, China --- program Focus on China. This is Jerry. This is Serena,`` program of brief 1-2 minute items about China (talk about Shanghai stock market, salaries, CCTV has banned cigarette ads, many students visited the education and careers expo at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Center from Feb 19 to 22, etc.), listeners who have ideas about their program or want their schedule can log onto their website http://www.vos.com.cn --- ToH six time clicks, reception fair- poor (Ron Howard, Monterey, CA, NRD545, with new T2FD[it’s great!] DX LISTENING DIGEST) Is it Strait or Straits? ** COLOMBIA. 6139.8, R. Lider, Feb 24, 0522 Spanish ballads and light pop Spanish songs, 0602 chimes, ``Bogotá, Colombia, éste es Radio Lider . . . HJCU . . . otra potente emisora de la Cadena Melodía de Colombia,`` chimes. Fair to poor, much better reception than Feb 12-13 (Ron Howard, Monterey, CA, NRD545, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 6139.8, 26/2 0245, Radio Líder, Bogotà, Colombia, canzoni su richiesta, QRM da Radio Havana 6140, evitabile in LSB. IDs: "Radio Líder da la Cadena Melodía Colombia", "Radio Líder está presentando discoteca..." Rx RGSpace SR-14 Ant T2FD Ciao (Giampiero Bernardini, Milano, Italy, playdx via DXLD) En relación con el correo enviado por el colega diexista GiaBer, sobre la escucha de Radio Líder en los 6140 kHz, debo decirles que acabo de sintonizar la emisora y acabo de escuchar la siguiente promoción que aunque al principio falta una pequeña parte pude entender lo demás: ``...llega a los diferentes países del mundo, escúchenos en la frecuencia 730 kcs onda larga, en 6140 kcs onda corta, banda de 49 metros; escríbanos a nuestro correo electrónico, radiolider @ cadenamelodia.com o al apartado aereo ????823 Bogotá, Colombia. Indique la hora cuando escucha a Radio Líder y a vuelta de correo reciba un fabuloso premio. Radio Líder, siempre líder en el mundo.`` Bueno queridos colegas diexistas, escribamos via e-mail a ver si recibimos ese regalo que están prometiendo. De nuevo gracias al colega diexista Giaber por el dato. Atte: (José Elías Díaz Gómez, Noticias DX via DXLD) ** CUBA. I found the following Tesla deliveries information on their website (via Google). I do not know where in Cuba the two SRV 200 (200 kW) transmitters are, but they may either be replacements for the transmitters listed as 150 kW, which are of Tesla origin and went on the air in 1967 (also listed as 150 kW by Tesla), or may be other transmitters not known to have this high power. Tesla is no longer manufacturing AM transmitters above 25 kW. Two DCC systems for two SRV 200 transmitter sets and new 100 W and 5 kW medium-wave broadcast transmitters were sold to Cuba as the country's medium- wave broadcasting network underwent an upgrade in 2000. Besides this delivery, a newly developed SRV 1D transmitter was sold and put into operation in Cuba. [also about some other countries] http://www.tesla.cz/cze/downloads/profil/Tesla_profil_spolecnosti.pdf (Olle Alm, Sweden, Feb 26, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ECUADOR. LV de Saquisilí, 0302* on Feb 26, tentative on 4905. WRTH has them listed on 4900. Caught a partial ID at 0302* (which was abrupt --- no music or anything), think I caught "Saquisilí" but not certain. If it was them, are they drifting? My FRG-7's analog dial nailed them at either 4904 or 4905. Needs more checking (John Cereghin, KB3LYP, Smyrna DE, FRG-7 with 175' longwire, HCDX via DXLD) Hi John, very nice if it is R. Saquisilí y Libertador. It´s a very irregular station, I have before noted them some Hz below 4900 kHz with close down very early --- almost like a "daytimer". http://www.malm-ecuador.com 73s (Björn Malm, Quito, Ecuador, ibid.) It was sort of unusual conditions. Usually, there is a bit of a mess on 4910-4915 with two stations side by side (with some ute QRM to boot) but tonight there were three stations, on 4905-4910-4915 all lined up. Again, LV de Saquisilí needs more checking. This logging was tentative. WRTH doesn't give a sign-off time for them (John, ibid.) ** ECUADOR. Paul Ormandy in New Zealand has an unID LA station on 7000.00 kHz. I checked the frequency and "surprise surprise", there is a LA station with very weak signal also here in Quito on 7000.00 kHz. But it`s hard to believe we are hearing the same station. "My" station turned out to be a spur from "La Cariñosa", Quito 920 kHz. But, the best signal strength in Quito has La Cariñosa and furthermore there is no station in Quito that gives away as many spurs as La Cariñosa --- a station with mostly Cumbia music and IDs by a very sensual YL voice. Comments, photos and recordings at: http://www.malm-ecuador.com (Björn Malm, Ecuador, Feb 27, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Could be a mixing product with HCJB on 6080, 920 kHz away from 7000. 6080 in WRTH 2005 is scheduled in Quichua at 0830-1400 and also 2100- 0300. Check whether your 7000 goes on and off at any of these times along with 6080. However, Paul was hearing 7000 as early as 0640, past 0807 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ECUADOR. BTW, my reply to the above to Allen Graham bounced because there was an ñ in the subject line. This week`s DXPL followed up with updated story on YLE Radio Finland and its SW prospects (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** EQUATORIAL GUINEA. 5005, R. Bata, looking for the s/on of this one, I sat on the frequency Feb 27 and they eventually popped on at 0536 in mid-religious service, no s/on sequence. TC and ID at 0600: "Son las 5 de la mañana [en] punto en Bata . . . ésta es Radio Bata . . . onda corta de 60 metros . . ." Also mentioned R. Malabo a couple of times. Good signal with some intermittent ute QRM (Jerry Berg, MA) 5005 R. Nacional, Bata, 0557-0610. Music by choir. 0600 Identification by woman in Spanish as "Radio Bata". Additional announcements and short selection of West African music. 0602 Talk by man and woman. Good signal with usual low side interference. SINPO 32333. Best signal this Winter and first clear ID (Jim Evans, TN, date?) 5005, RN Guinea Ecuatorial (presumed), 0605-0620, Feb 15, Spanish, 0605 Alternating male and female announcers in Spanish. Heard mentions of Malabo, Bata. Deep fades and some splash from WWV made this one very difficult. Poor (John Beattiem CA) [ed.- I believe this is Radio Bata] (all: NASWA Flashsheet via DXLD) 15190, R. Africa (No. II-?): A very weak signal was here at 0600 Feb 26, but when I re-checked at 0615, presumed R. Africa was loud and clear with an English religious program, "At My Father's Table," from Castle Hills Christian Church. At 0626 there was a "5-4-3-2-1" countdown, and then they went into a Waymarks program. The signal went downhill quickly, and it was essentially unusable by 0640. There was a weak, fadey signal present from 0612 on Feb 27, but it never got out of the mud (Jerry Berg, MA, NASWA Flashsheet via DXLD) ** GERMANY. Osterloog, Weimar --- Here is a report with pictures about the Osterloog transmitter near Norden: http://www.rundfunk-nostalgie.de/sendero.html This was a 100 kW mediumwave station, inaugurated in 1939 primarily to serve England. In 1945/1946 the transmitter carried the British Forces Network, then untul 1950 and again from 1952 BBC programming. From 1950 the station was owned and operated by Nordwestdeutscher Rundfunk, own NWDR programming was carried from 1950 by a 5 kW mediumwave transmitter and from 1951 on FM, too. Also two 20 kW shortwave transmitters were installed as first facilities of Deutsche Welle which came into existance in 1953. In 1962 the shortwave transmissions were entirely moved to Jülich, and the BBC relays ceased as well. In 1964 also the own mediumwave service of Norddeutscher Rundfunk was transferred to a new transmitter at Aurich and the station handed over to the postal office for future use as Norddeich Radio utility site. A website has been dedicated to the Weimar radiohouse, replaced by new studios at Erfurt in 2000: http://www.sender-weimar.de Again in German only, so here the picture pages of special interest (note: color pictures taken in 2002/2003, i.e. after the building had been abandoned): http://www.posaunenchor-weimar.de/sender/page/07.htm -- Outside views http://www.posaunenchor-weimar.de/sender/page/02.htm -- Entrance area, until 1990 staffed by police officers http://www.posaunenchor-weimar.de/sender/page/05.htm -- Control room of large studio hall http://www.posaunenchor-weimar.de/sender/page/06.htm -- Large studio hall, used for music productions http://www.posaunenchor-weimar.de/sender/page/09.htm -- Control room of new live studio, built in the eighties into former editing suits http://www.posaunenchor-weimar.de/sender/page/10.htm -- Announcers booth of new live studio and the same room in 1962 as editing suite http://www.posaunenchor-weimar.de/sender/page/13.htm -- Main control room (switchboard) http://www.posaunenchor-weimar.de/sender/page/14.htm -- Announcers booth (old live studio) beneath main control room http://www.posaunenchor-weimar.de/sender/page/15.htm -- Old studio's control room in 2003 and in 1950 http://www.posaunenchor-weimar.de/sender/page/band.htm -- Archive and tape samples http://www.posaunenchor-weimar.de/sender/page/24.htm -- The director's office! Other picture pages of special interest: http://www.posaunenchor-weimar.de/sender/page/belv.htm -- Weimar-Belvedere transmitter http://www.posaunenchor-weimar.de/sender/page/b1.htm -- Barkas B1000 (GDR car) outside broadcasting van, in the blue plaint of all postal office vehicles http://www.posaunenchor-weimar.de/sender/page/rep.htm -- Outside broadcasts and reporter in action http://www.posaunenchor-weimar.de/sender/page/cutter.htm -- Editing workstation http://www.posaunenchor-weimar.de/sender/page/cut.htm -- What you need to edit tape! (Kai Ludwig, Germany, Feb 27, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** GREECE. 7430, Filia Radio via V. of Greece, 1945-1958*, Feb. 22, English, Int'l news at tune-in re Oregon assisted suicide law, Iraq, Noble Prize nominees. Greek/English IDs at 1949 with freqs 107 FM and 665 MW mentioned and "You have been listening to Filia Radio (from-?) the Voice of Greece". Bubble-gum pop music until the plug was pulled at 1958. Fair (Scott R. Barbour, Jr., Intervale, NH, R75, 200' Beverage antennas, DX LISTENING DIGEST) For a list of "Shortwave Radio Transmitters In Greece" there is 1 page on http://www.tdp.info/grc.html This above list shows 2 x 100-kW and 5 x 250-kW transmitters in Avlis. I suppose that doesn't mean that they are all in operation. Did VOG reconfigure a 250-kW transmitter into a 100-kW transmitter to give you 3 x 100-kW transmitters in operation with the other 250-kW transmitters still in their crates getting beaten up by the weather? (JOHN BABBIS, Silver Spring, MD, USA, Feb 27, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** INDIA. 4850.0, AIR Kohima, Feb 21, 1450-1515, in vernacular, sub- continental music, ads and announcements, tone, usual music leading into AIR news. Fair to good (Ron Howard, Monterey, CA, NRD545, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 7270, AIR Chennai, FM Gold, Feb 27, 0148-0200, in vernacular, pop sub- continental songs, English ID for FM Gold, ToH singing jingle ID for FM Gold, weak, // 9470 Aligarh, very good reception. Ron Howard, Monterey, CA, NRD545, with T2FD, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** INDIA. Superb level with Bangalore beaming north/north-east on 9425. I'm really enjoying the 'hi-fidelity' of the Ten Tec RX340 on ISB. Mentioned FM Gold at 1537:45. Headlines at 1541, and then into sports. Some splatter on 9425. News ended exactly at 1545. Some splatter from FEBC on 9430 only (Walt Salmaniw, Victoria, BC, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** INDIA. TRYING TO KEEP THAT AMERICAN SOUND. India unlikely to lift its prohibition of news on private FM stations. Financial Express, 25 February 2005. U.S. commercial FM stations are mostly bereft of news, but not because of any government restrictions. Indian prohibition means no rebroadcasting of international radio stations' newscasts on FM, and continued incentive to tune to those foreign newscasts via shortwave or satellite. http://www.financialexpress.com/fe_full_story.php?content_id=83535 (kimandrewelliott.com via DXLD) ** KOREA SOUTH. SOUTH KOREAN BORDER PROPAGANDA FACILITIES REBORN AS MILITARY RADIO | Text of report in English by South Korean news agency Yonhap Seoul, 24 February: South Korea's border propaganda broadcasting facilities have been reborn as an educational radio station for the military, eight months after they were halted in accordance with inter-Korean rapprochement agreements. In mid-June, South and North Korea halted decades-long propaganda loudspeaker broadcasts along their tense 248-km land border. The South's "Voice of Freedom" station, for instance, had boomed out propaganda broadcasts towards the North for about 15 hours a day. An official at the Joint Chiefs of Staff said Thursday [24 February] that his office has established a new military radio station to utilize the remaining Voice of Freedom facilities and its staff members. The new station plans to provide South Korean soldiers with news and various programmes in the fields of culture, education and history, for three hours a day, starting from next Tuesday, the officer said. "We worked out measures to prevent the station's radio waves from crossing over the Military Demarcation Line. This is on-base broadcasting and is not targeting the North," the officer said. The Koreas started border loudspeaker broadcasts in the early 1960s to lure opposing soldiers to defect. While North Korea stressed ideology, South Korea focused on nonpolitical themes such as pop music and weather forecasts. In mid-June, the militaries of the two Koreas made a package of agreements aimed at easing tension on their disputed border, including the suspension of the propaganda broadcasting. The two Koreas are still technically at war, with no peace treaty signed at the end of the 1950-53 Korean War. The border is the world's most heavily armed, with hundreds of thousands of troops deployed on both sides. Source: Yonhap news agency, Seoul, in English 0251 gmt 24 Feb 05 (via BBCM via DXLD) WTFK? ** KYRGYZSTAN [and non]. RFE/RL BROADCASTS IN KYRGYZSTAN CLOSED BY REGULATOR The state broadcast regulator in Kyrgyzstan has shuttered the popular Kyrgyz Service of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, known as Radio Azattyk, just three days ahead of the country's parliamentary elections, according to local and international press reports. The Committee to Protect Journalists has called on the government to overturn the decision immediately and allow the station to resume broadcasting. The Production Association for Relay Lines, Television and Radio Broadcasting (RPO RMTR) told Radio Azattyk Director Kiaz Moldokasymov that an upcoming auction for the station's frequency had prompted the sudden closure, The Associated Press reported. The auction date is March 10. The station normally signs an annual contract with RPO RMTR for the frequency; it submitted documents for renewal on February 8. Radio Azattyk reporters said they believed the suspension was related to politically sensitive parliamentary elections set for February 27, the Russian news agency Interfax reported. The popular station's national reach and its willingness to criticize government officials have been particularly important to rural audiences who have little other access to independent sources of news, according to local reports. "We are deeply concerned by the government's decision to silence an important news source in the run-up to parliamentary elections—the very moment that citizens most need independent sources of information," CPJ Executive Director Ann Cooper said. "We call on the government to immediately reverse this act of censorship and to allow Radio Azattyk to return to the air." The broadcasts of Radio Azattyk are usually carried by 13 AM/FM affiliates across the country. The closure does not affect the shortwave or online broadcasts. # posted by Andy @ 08:35 UT Feb 25 (Media Network blog via DXLD) KYRGYZSTAN SAYS RADIO LIBERTY CUT "NOT POLITICALLY MOTIVATED" | Text of report by Kyrgyz AKIpress news agency web site Bishkek, 27 February: The Kyrgyz Foreign Ministry issued a statement on 27 February regarding comments made by the head of OSCE centre in Bishkek, Markus Mueller. The statement by the head of OSCE centre in Bishkek, Markus Mueller, published in the print media on 25 February, expresses serious concern over the situation around a number of media outlets, including Radio Liberty and the Media Support Centre publishing house. The Foreign Ministry expressed regret about the cut in the power supply to the publishing house, although it noted that according to information from the Severoelektro joint-stock company, in this case the reason for the power cut was of a technical nature. The Media Support Centre's Freedom House publishing house previously used to get power from the Ibragimov private enterprise, but having decided to get electricity from a different substation, the publishing house did not fulfil the necessary requirements and procedures for drawing up the relevant package of documents for the functioning of the new substation, taking into account the standard safety regulations, the Foreign Ministry says. As for the suspension of Radio Liberty [Azattyk] broadcasts, given the high commercial demand for TV and radio broadcasting means, and also the limited frequencies available, the right to broadcast on the territory of Kyrgyzstan is awarded on the basis of open bidding. The foreign broadcasting bureau which ensures the work of Radio Liberty was officially informed of this. At the same time, on 31 December 2004, the Production Association of Relay Lines, Television and Radio Broadcasting informed the bureau of foreign broadcasting that the deadline for submitting documents for the tender was 24 February 2005 and the open bidding would be held on 10 March 2005. Nevertheless, the foreign broadcasting bureau did not submit the necessary documents to take part in the bid. Thus it becomes obvious that the Kyrgyz government has nothing to do with the afore-mentioned incidents. It is a regrettable that such cases as stopping the electricity supply to the Media Support Centre's Freedom House publishing house and the suspension of Radio Liberty broadcasts are being given a groundless political hue as an attempt to restrict the rights of voters to free access to various information sources, the Foreign Ministry says. The Foreign Ministry considers such assessments to be hasty and says that breaches in the power supply and the suspension of Radio Liberty broadcasts at the initiative of economic entities in the run-up to the parliamentary elections are not politically motivated. Moreover, the government would have hardly allowed these media outlets to operate in the country to start with had it no interest in strengthening democratic values and freedom of speech in Kyrgyzstan, the statement says. Source: AKIpress news agency web site, Bishkek, in Russian 0928 gmt 27 Feb 05 (via BBCM via DXLD) ** LATVIA. EMR`s Feb 26 transmission maintains the record of Ulbroka 100 kW remaining inaudible here; checked 9290 at 2145 UT, and the best I could do was detect a carrier under the S6 noise level. I wonder if that late at night, it is even getting out to one bounce. HFCC shows the antenna for this aims 250 degrees, so that explains why it is heard so much better to the south. That hits Brasil around Sào Luiz, Maranhão and cuts across the middle of the country. In Europe it`s aimed at Brussels, between Paris and London. I wonder how broad the beam is (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 9290, 26/02 2155 R. EMR, cm mx pop "aha" encerramento às 2205, 33443 (Marcelo Vilela Bedene, Curitiba-PR-Brasil, Noticias DX via DXLD) 9290, EMR, 2145-2203* Feb 26, pop vocals and English talk by a man announcer with numerous EMR IDs. Most of the talking was done over fast paced instrumental music in the background. Poor (Rich D'Angelo, PA, NASWA Flashsheet via DXLD) ** MEXICO [and non]. Hi Jeff, what became of the DRM exciters and associated equipment for the XEEP tests? Is it still there? Any chance will be used again? Does the test authorization remain in force, or was it strictly limited to that week/half hour? 73, (Glenn to Jeff White, via DXLD) The MW DRM exciter from Harris was shipped on to Romania, I believe, for an exhibition there. The Riz DRM transmitter is still at Radio Educación, since the DRM Consortium reached an agreement with the Ministry of Communications to do more detailed 26 MHz tests both with Radio Educación and with the CIRT (the association of commercial R&TV stations). They currently have permission to leave the transmitter in México till July 31. Riz also plans to do a 26 MHz demo at the NAB Convention in Las Vegas, which I think is in April. So I assume they will be sending another transmitter over for that, unless they can move the one from Mexico to LV and back quickly. By the way, at a lunch on Friday of the conference, I told Peter Senger and one of the heads of the Ministry of Communications about your report of hearing the Radio Educación 25620 frequency, and they were extremely surprised and impressed (Jeff White, FL, Feb 26, DX LISTENING DIGEST) I wonder if XEPPM made any progress at HFCC in getting interference off its only (possible?) analog frequency 6185? We can forget listening to it before 0600 here with China-via-Sackville pounding in on 6190; then, there`s co-channel on 6185, from Vatican, which is scheduled there all the way from 0310 to 0745, per Eibi. Yes, to Europe, not North America, but nevertheless the Vatican signal over here is enough to mess up reception from the much closer (and much less powerful) XEPPM. Then by 0700 Amazônia is often a problem on 6185, contrary to its own announcements and schedules showing 6180, tho this varies from night to night. Part of the problem is the official Mexican view of shortwave, which is just like AM and FM: each station has one specific assigned frequency, in use forever, with no possibility of moving as needed to avoid interference. This is totally out of touch with the actual situation on the SW bands. Quite possibly even the Mexican SW stations don`t realize they should insist on frequency flexibility. An even worse case is poor R. Mil, stuck on 6010, with Colombia, China relays, DRM and various other interference (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Glenn: You're right that the problem lies with the government authorities who don't understand that SW stations need to change frequencies. And you're right that the stations themselves don't even understand this need, nor do they ask the authorities for the right to do so. A large part of the problem is that most of these stations' transmitters have fixed frequencies. They are assigned a shortwave frequency by the government, then they go and buy a fixed-frequency SW transmitter tuned to that frequency. So even if they wanted to change frequencies to avoid interference, they couldn't do so without a lot of equipment modification. So just about the best thing that can happen is that these stations (like Radio Educación and Radio Mil) are now at least listed in the HFCC master lists, and they do show up as "collisions" with the larger frequency-agile stations. So hopefully some of the large stations will take this into account and try to avoid their frequencies. In the specific case of Radio Mil, I know that Julian Santiago was at the HFCC and had a conversation with at least one European station that has been interfering with them, so we will see if that leads to anything. Julian also plans to protest to the ITU about the QRM from the Colombian station (Jeff White, FL, Feb 27, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** NEW ZEALAND. 3935.07, 1524-, ZLXA, Feb 27. An excellent morning for TP MW DX, with lots of audio. ZLXA heard at weak level with EZL music. Normally faded out by now (Walt Salmaniw, Victoria, BC, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** NIGERIA [non]. 9675, UNITED KINGDOM-?, "The Voice-Africa", 2028- 2059*, Feb. 24, English, Program "Reflections" (also noted as Sunday Nite Reflections and World Wide Reflections) with contemporary religious music and talks re Psalm XX:4-5. Several lengthy ID announcements mentioning test transmission from the UK and requested those listening to contact thevoicethree @ aol.com and mail @ voiceafrica.net UK POB 3040 address mentioned at program`s end. Fair (Scott R. Barbour, Jr., Intervale, NH, R75, 200' Beverage antennas, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** OKLAHOMA. RADIO DISNEY IN TULSA SEEING SOME SUCCESS Top 40 hits with a liberal sprinkling of Disney magic, that's Radio Disney, 24 hours a day on AM 1380. News on 6 reporter Rick Wells says its programming aimed directly at families and their kids. Radio Disney has been on the air in Tulsa just over six months and general manager Stevie Fernández says they`re beginning to have some success. "About 70 percent of our programming is geared to kids 6-14." Kids of course and their parents, particularly their moms. "The average time a mom will spend in the car with the kids is 66 minutes. They'll take em to school, to soccer practice, to baseball practice to a friend's house.`` There are Radio Disney billboards all over town. The potential audience is huge. "54 percent of the households in Tulsa have children 14 and under." They bring in some of the stars the young audience likes and gives the kids access to them. They not only program for a younger audience they involve them, like the Radio Disney party patrol. It involves kids and their parents in the fun. Their kid casters interview local news makers like the mayor and our own Terry Hood. We learned in school she was mostly an "A" student". "When I was in high school I got a B in typing and in college I got a B in bowling." None of us knew that. Radio Disney is again on the AM dial at 1380. Created: 2/25/2005 Updated: 2/25/2005 5:24:28 PM Source: The News on 6 http://www.KOTV.com (via Kevin Redding, ABDX via DXLD) ** OKLAHOMA [and non]. MEET THE SMUT PEDDLERS We hope you read the story in this issue about major Republican donors cleaning up by peddling hard core porn. Several years ago I spoke at the Broadmoor Hotel in Colorado Springs, a facility owned by the Gaylords --- those righteous rightwingers who own the state`s largest daily. [and broadcast properties] Imagine my surprise when I noticed that the hotel featured a bevy of X-rated movies. I was equally surprised when I spoke at the Grand Old Opry Hotel in Nashville --- another Gaylord property --- and there were the same filthy movies. Their newspaper, The Oklahoman, has been a mouthpiece and morals arbiter for the Republican Party for decades. Even when being an Oklahoma Republican wasn`t cool, the Gaylords were calling the shots. Naturally I delighted in doing an article on these flaming hypocrites who preached strict morality on the editorial page but raked in tons of money at $10 a pop renting porn to their hotel guests. They aren`t the only hypocrites. Consider some in the Southern Baptist Convention. The SBC has labeled Mormons a cult and ran a series of bashing articles in their house organ. The SBC decided it would hold its convention in Salt Lake City and send messengers door to door to convert the anti-Christian Mormons. The local newspaper, partial to Mormons, was not amused. One of the investigative pieces they did was to check all the SLC hotels to see if those holier-than-thou Baptists were imbibing in hotel porn. Were they! The hotels reported unprecedented sales --- thousands of them! Republicans of the Christian Coalition persuasion spend a disproportionate amount of time peeking into other people`s bedrooms and doctors` offices, pushing all manner of righteous legislation --- from school prayer (a Rep. Ernest Istook favorite) to opposition to civil unions for gays (which Bush says he`s for). We don`t do personal journalism but if we did, we could mesmerize you with the private antics of some of the Oklahoma holier-than-thou politicians. Laurel: to the website http://cleanhotels.com which will tell you which hotels don`t offer porn on their TV movie channels (Frosty Troy, Oklahoma Observer Feb 25 via DXLD) ** PERU. Quito 26/2 2005 *** Saturday edition: *** Recording of 4460.95 CPN Radio, unknown QTH (Perú). I have never noted any "CPN Radio" before on the frequency but this Saturday morning the normal CPN Radio programming: news and weather. The listed station Radio Nor Andina, Celendín has been inactive for a long time, 6-12 months or so. 3 weeks ago I noted a Peruvian on the frequency with music and talk but very low modulated signal nd I presumed it was a reactivation of Nor Andina. Nor Andina with relay of CPN or something new? Comments, photos and recordings at: http://www.malm-ecuador.com 73s (Björn Malm, Quito, Ecuador, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** PERU. 6020.3, R. Victoria, Feb 27, 0711-0726, usual preacher in Portuguese, good, // to both 9720.1 (poor) and R. Tupi (Brazil) on 6060.1 (weak). (Ron Howard, Monterey, CA, NRD545, with T2FD, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** PORTUGAL. Para quem gosta de Fado !!!! Caros amigos, Aqueles que gostam da tradicional música portuguesa, tem diariamente uma programação musical muito boa na RDP Internacional. Trata-se do programa "100 anos de fado em 100 dias" que é apresentado de segundas ás sexta feiras ás 0035 UT. Neste programa se apresenta tanto melodias mais antigas como os fados mais atuais. Aos sábados, dentro da mesma linha existe o programa "A guitarra portuguesa e Fado" ás 1605 UT que é reapresentado aos domingos ás 1910. Esta programação de música portuguesa é de muito boa qualidade e torna-se imperdível para os descendentes, como eu, que são apreciadores da mesma. Um abraço a todos, (Adalberto Marques de Azevedo, Barbacena-MG, Membro do DX Clube do Brasil, Feb 27, radioescutas via DXLD) See recent issues for RDPI frequency schedule (gh) ** REUNION. Radio Réunion broadcasts across the island on MW with two 20 kW transmitters, one located in St. Pierre and the other in Saint- André. St-Denis (the capital), and many other towns receive Radio Réunion on FM. Any of these outlets would be a nice DX catch, though right now, as I type these words, I am listening to a stereo studio quality signal from a redeployed ex-Foxtel dish. For Eastern Australia, Radio Reunion is an easy, though exotic catch from Intelsat 701. I love the programming from Radio Réunion, a unique mixture of French, African and Indian influences. The radio playlist includes French, African, Hindi and English pop with lots of lively talkback and other audience participation. Réunion is four hours ahead of UT so catching the lively breakfast show is an easy midmorning target for a late riser like me. Reunion`s national television channel is also an easy catch here in Eastern Australia. The daily broadcast starts at 1230 AEDT [0130 UT] with local music clips, a good dose of local advertisements and then a repeat of the previous evening news. If you want to watch the nightly news live it`s on at 02300 [sic] AEDT; I myself prefer to watch the repeat! Télé Réunion`s programming is a varied mix of local material and French domestic network television (Mark Fahey, Satellite Radio & TV, March Australian DX News via DXLD) And has a real cute weathergirl, screenshot --- who *stands in front of the map* (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** RUSSIA. 7415, 1701-, Voice of Russia World Service, Feb 26. Quite remarkable reception continues with IS and ID at 1700 and into news. Via Petropavlovsk, in English to India, but heard very well in WCNA. 2 hours after local sunrise, but going strong. This could easily be called a North American service as well! (Walt Salmaniw, Victoria, BC, DX LISTENING DIGEST) QSL: V. of Russia, Received a small package from VOR containing a "Russian Christmas" CD and personal letter from Sofia Berezhkova thanking me for participating in VOR's anniversary project (I answered a survey at their website) and informing me I was one of the winners. A list of the 75 winners can be found at their website (Scott R. Barbour, Jr., Intervale, NH, R75, 200' Beverage antennas, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** SURINAME. Feb 28, 0040, 4990, Radio Apintie from Paramaribo with fair to good signal at times // to audio stream at http://www.apintie.sr/ (Keith McGinnis, Hingham MA, Drake R8A with a 80 ft sloping longwire, ABDX via DXLD) ** SWAINS ISLAND (Update). Remember to look for members of the American Samoa Amateur Radio Association (ASARA) to be active from Swains Island (IOTA OC-200) March 2-6th. Operators will be Kan/JA1BK, John/K1ER/KH6, Tet/JH1JGX/AH7C, Yuichi/JR2KDN, Paul/F6EXV, Jim/N9TK, Burt/W0MY (ex-W0RLX), and have added Dianna/KB6NAN and Phil/W9IXX. The callsign will be KH8SI. Activity will be on 160-6 meters on the usual DX and IOTA frequencies. Modes will be CW, SSB and RTTY. They will have 4 complete HF stations with amps and 4 HF yagis (2 CW and 4 SSB). They will also have at least one station on for the ARRL SSB Contest. OPDX was informed that Dianna will be active on 6 meters and possibly the ARRL SSB Contest. Suggested frequencies are: CW - 1822.5, 3505, 7005, 10107, 14025, 18073, 21025, 24895 and 28025 SSB - 3795, 7080, 14195, 18140, 21295, 24930 and 28495 RTTY - 14088 kHz 6m - 50110 kHz (CW/SSB) Pilot base stations are: AH8LG, WA2MOE, JE2EHP and KH6BZF. QSL Manager will be VE3HO: Garth Allistair Hamilton, P. O. Box 1156, FONTHILL, ON L0S 1E0, CANADA. For more details, maps and pictures, visit the following Web page: http://www.swains-island.org/ ADDED NOTES BY EDITOR [KB8NW]: Over the past week, there has been some interesting dialogue exchanged between the ARRL and the ASARA (as well as the DX community on the InterNet). The League`s position right now is: ``Contacts with KH8SI operating from Swain`s Island will count for American Samoa for DXCC purposes and for OC-200 for the RSGB`s Islands on the Air (IOTA) program.`` It is recommend for interested DXers to read the following Web pages to draw their conclusion about whether or not Swains Island should become a new entity. ASARA`s ``Rough Road to IARU`` http://www.swains-island.org/roughroad.htm K1ZZ`s ``White Paper on American Samoa and Swain`s Island`` http://www.arrl.org/announce/American-Samoa/ ASARA`s ``Response to ARRL Whitepaper`` http://www.swains-island.org/swainsreponce.htm [sic] (KB8NW\OPDX Bulletin 699 February 28\BARF-80 posted on rec.radio.amateur.misc February 27 via John Norfolk, dxldyg via DXLD) ** SYRIA. 13610, R. Damascus in English. 2015 2/22/05. Fair-Poor. (M) talk and IDs, reports re. date set for foreign ministers meeting in March, continued unrest in Lebanon, and car bombing in Iraq (Jim Clar, NY, NASWA Flashsheet via DXLD) ** THAILAND. 8742.9, 1642-, Bangkok Met Radio, Feb 26. Less commonly reported frequency with non-mechanical sounding male in Thai following the music box IS at 1643 (90+ minutes after local sunrise). Poor to fair (Walt Salmaniw, Victoria, BC, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** TURKMENISTAN. 5015, Home Service, listed as 1st Program, Feb 21, 0000 anthem-sounding song by chorus. 0004 talk by man, many mentions of Turkman, Turkmenistan, and Watan Turkmenistan. I did not hear the specific ID listed in the WRTH of "Watan radioyaylymy." Audio on what I presume was a canned announcement was pretty good. 0008 another man with Islamic greeting of peace be upon you and then talk. The audio from him was a bit rough, but it did not have the echo I was hearing here last week. 0015 classical music, then talk by man and woman. Could hear some other audio underneath starting about 0025, not sure if this was another station or some audio problem of these guys. 4930, Home Service noted in LSB, audio fine. Actually better than USB because there is a big ute. Same pattern observed last two nights, 0059 sudden sign on with instrumental music, if they are running open carrier before this, I cannot tell. They certainly are not running any tones. 0100 four distorted time pips. Man and woman then come on and mention Turkmenistan, but I don't hear anything approaching the listed IDs. Then anthem till 0104. What sounds like news read by man follows. Quotes from speakers in German both nights. There is another station underneath, but I cannot even tell the language, any ideas, VOA is *0300 yes? (Hans Johnson, Feb 23-24, Jihad-DX via Rus-DX via DXLD) The other station underneath Turkmenistan 4930 is possibly the Turkmen Radio 1st program, same which is transmitted on 5015. For some years it has been audible weakly in the background on 4930. It is no spur from 5015, as it can be heard also when the 5015 transmitter is off (evening silent period). So it must be some kind of audio leak-through at some stage (Jari Savolainen, Finland, ibid.) ** UKRAINE. New frequency 7440: Very good reception with Radio Ukraine International at 0040 Feb 28 with a classical music program. Suspected RUI, but couldn't be sure until the IS at the TOH, and into their English broadcast [so also at 0400]. I had heard about the planned change, but didn't think it would happen until later in March. Well they're here now, and it's a good choice. No utes, and no Colombia as was the case on 5910 (Volodya Salmaniw, Victoria, BC, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U K. WAR OF THE WORLDS NEW VERSION ON BBCWS TODAY Phil Attwell, World DX Club, spotted this one: It's a Radio Times choice: Worldplay: The War of the Worlds In 1938`s radio drama was broadcast that so scared the bejeepers out of thousands of Americans on Halloween they were convinced that the world was under attack. It had them scurrying out into the streets, causing widespread panic. There were news flashes that interrupted the schedules and updates provided by the reporter Carl Phillips who warned his public "Ladies and gentlemen. this is the most terrifying thing I've ever witnessed. It was of course the work of Orson Welles and his Mercury Theatre production of H. G. Well's tale. It became the most notorious radio drama in broadcast history. Based on the 1898 sci-fi classic tale, it's the story of a full scale invasion by desperate, water-starved Martians. This L.A. Theater works revival is truly Trekker heaven as Gates McFadden a.k.a. Dr. Beverley Crusher of Star Trek: The Next Generation plays the reporter and Star Trek's Mr Spock, Leonard Nimoy is Professor Pearson. His slow considered voice, so closely associated with the enigmatic Vulcan, has the power to transport the listener to a place where anything might happen. And it does. It will be available on demand for a week from 1832 today at http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/programmes/play_of_the_week.shtml (via Mike Barraclough, Feb 26, dxldyg via DXLD) Today??? The program website mentioned, http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/programmes/play_of_the_week.shtml shows an Irish play called Jumping for Joy at 1832 Feb 26. Yet the BBCWS online sked for the Americas stream, tho not so labeled, http://www.bbc.co.uk/cgi- bin/worldservice/psims/ScheduleSDT.cgi?Sc=100951-1%3A%3A4&Pg=Pg&Ce=235056&Ft=1&Wk=1&WS.x=4&WS.y=8 does show War of the Worlds for Feb 26-28, the times on this stream being Sat 2201, Sun 0201, Mon 0601. BBC does it again with confusing and contradictory info about its own programming. Perhaps we won`t really know which is correct until we tune in. 73, (Glenn Hauser, ibid.) The program website also says "updated at 1832 GMT Saturday". So what is shown there is the past week's entry, not the upcoming entry. This also matches the World Service Press Office communication I received in January, which has the following details on the program: "Two key crew members of TV's Starship Enterprise are featured in the L. A. Theatre Works revival of H G Well's celebrated science fiction story The War of the Worlds on Saturday 26 February. "Leonard Nimoy, best known as the enigmatic Vulcan Mr Spock in the original Star Trek TV series and films, and Gates McFadden, best known as Dr Beverley Crusher in the Star Trek Next Generation TV series and more recent spin-off films, star as Pierson and the announcer respectively. "In 1938 Orson Welles and The Mercury Theatre Company broadcast Howard Koch's radio dramatisation of this sci-fi classic and caused the biggest Halloween fright of all time. They interrupted regular programming with numerous news flashes and first hand reports that were so convincing thousands of people believed the world was coming to an end. "Loosely based on H. G. Well's novel The War of the Worlds, Orson Welles' production went down in history as The Panic Broadcast. "Producer/Susan Albert Lowenberg, LA Theatre Works, USA" All times UTC Africa: 0101 Sunday Americas: 2201 Saturday, 0201 Sunday. 0601 Monday (webcast options exist) UK (Freeview) and Europe (shortwave): 1830 Saturday, 0201 Sunday Radio 4 / Radio Ulster / Radio Foyle: 0400 Sunday South Asia: 1001 Saturday, 2201 Saturday, 0801 Sunday These are all from the BBCWS website augmented by help from the Audience Relations department. I think the South Asian listings are right -- I'm sure about all the rest of them. Keep in mind the program will also be available via on-demand webcast for a week, if your colleagues are so equipped and so minded. Nowadays Radio 4 gets their own schedule. It isn't shown in the online BBCWS tool; however Kevin Kelly's Public Radio Fan webiste does show the Radio 4 schedule correctly. I also checked my listing versus the Excel spreadsheet I received from Audience Relations. Radio 4, Radio Ulster and Radio Foyle all follow this new schedule. Radio Wales follows the European schedule. BTW -- the specific web page for Kevin Kelly's listings for POTW is http://www.publicradiofan.com/cgi-bin/program.pl?programid=631 Richard One more corroborating piece of evidence: The "BBC World Service Network" e-mail sent 1st February had the following entry: Play of the Week --- Our Worldplay series of specially commissioned plays from around the world continues with Hearts of the World by Michael O' Brien (Canada), The Butcher's Wife by Noelle Janaczewska (Australia) and Jumping for Joy by Bernard Farrell (Ireland). The final production, from the LA Theatre Works (USA), is a play loosely based on H G Wells's novel The War of the Worlds. It features two actors best known for their roles in TV's 'Star Trek' series, Leonard Nimoy and Gates Mc Fadden. From 5 February --- times below. Australasia: Sat 0901 rpt Sun 1132; East Asia: Sat 0801 rpt Sun 1032, 1901; South Asia: Sat 1001 rpt 2201, Sun 0801; East Africa: Sun 0101 rpt 1001; West Africa: Sun 0101 rpt 2101; Middle East: Sun 0201 rpt 0932; Europe: Sat 1832 rpt Sun 0201; Americas: Sat 2201; Sun 0201 rpt Mon 0601. Best regards, (Richard Cuff / Allentown, PA, ibid.) I caught the 2200+ webcast Sat. Horrors! There were no announcements within that it was merely a dramatization, so people in NJ, etc., could have been fooled again. Seriously, the pace was so rapid, everything was so condensed, that only the most foolish could believe it was all happening in real time, quite aside from all the other factors (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U K. LEONARD MIALL, BBC BROADCASTER WHOSE REPORT FROM WASHINGTON HELPED TO ENSURE THE SUCCESS OF THE MARSHALL PLAN http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,60-1500451,00.html (Times Obituaries February 26, 2005 via Gerald T. Pollard, DXLD) ** U S A. Jim Hawkin's Radio and Broadcast Technology Page http://www.j-hawkins.com/radio.html Under TRANSMITTER SITE TOURS, click VOA DELANO or VOA GREENVILLE and you will see 4 and 5 pages with pictures of their facilities. For a list of "Shortwave Radio Transmitters In USA" there are 6 pages on http://www.tdp.info/usa.html (JOHN BABBIS, Silver Spring, MD, USA, Feb 27, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. AMERICA NEEDS A VOICE ABROAD By Leonard H. Marks, Charles Z. Wick, Bruce Gelb and Henry E. Catto Saturday, February 26, 2005; Page A19 http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn/A54764-2005Feb25?language=printer When President Bush visited Canada shortly after his reelection, thousands protested on the streets of Ottawa. In mocking reference to the fate of Saddam Hussein a year earlier, a statue-sized effigy of the president was hoisted to a rostrum above the crowd and then pulled down to loud cheers. That such things should occur in the capital of a friendly neighbor, echoing similar demonstration in capitals around the world, reveals how deep-seated anti-Americanism has come to be. Obviously the United States will not and should not shape its policies to suit the preferences of other nations and peoples. But it can and should explain those policies directly and openly in ways calculated to promote better and more widespread appreciation of why we do what we do. For nearly 50 years such a program was a priority for presidents from Harry S. Truman to George H.W. Bush -- all nine of them. Principally charged with carrying it out was the United States Information Agency, an arm of the White House responsible directly to the president. Throughout those years the USIA assigned a public affairs officer experienced in journalism or public relations to nearly every U.S. embassy. He -- occasionally she -- was always a full member of the country team yet sufficiently independent to advise the ambassador as an outside counsel might advise, rather than simply report to, a corporate chief executive. A major duty of the public affairs officer was to recruit, train and supervise foreign service nationals, natives of the host country with backgrounds in journalism or academia and pro-American views who would represent the United States to their country's opinion leaders and media representatives -- professionally, authoritatively and (most important) in their own language. In many countries the USIA also opened libraries in high-traffic locations where ordinary citizens could have access to American newspapers, books and magazines. The USIA was a creation of the Cold War, born of the conviction that success in the struggle with the Soviet Union would require not only effective armaments and strong alliances but also steady progress in winning and retaining worldwide support for the aims and ideals of American-style liberal democracy. In this the USIA achieved remarkable success, as was demonstrated when the Cold War ended with the breakup of the Soviet Union and the freeing of its satellite states – an immense transformation that was welcomed almost everywhere. In the euphoria that followed, it was widely believed that the collapse of communism would lead to the embrace of liberal democracy almost everywhere. One influential book of the time even argued through its title that this trend could in time result in a world permanently at peace and thus in "The End of History." As a consequence, official Washington soon came to believe that the USIA was no longer needed. That view, combined with the ever-present pressure to trim the budgets of out-of-favor government departments, led to its being absorbed by the State Department -- which had argued for years that the USIA really belonged there -- and, in 1999, to its formal shutdown. Since then the public diplomacy function has become one more "cone" within the State Department structure. In the face of severe staff reductions, blurred lines of support from Washington and shrunken budgets, public affairs officers continue to carry out their roles as spokesmen for our embassies. Many of our overseas libraries have been shut down. Our foreign service nationals, who have served as a vital bridge to their own societies, are fewer. America's voice abroad is muffled and often indistinct. Meanwhile, history clearly has not ended, with the United States today facing long-range perils and problems hardly thought of a few years ago: radical Islam, spreading nuclear proliferation, estrangement from much of Europe, and growing political and economic challenges from the world's two most-populous countries, China and India. The fact that this gathering of storm clouds has coincided with anti-Americanism more pervasive than we've ever known has evoked calls for action from such diverse sources as the Council on Foreign Relations, the Government Accountability Office, the Heritage Foundation, the Brookings Institution and the Advisory Commission on Public Diplomacy, among others. Without exception, all of their reports and recommendations call for some form of governmental initiative that would promote global stability and counter the anti-American tide by convincing people of other countries and cultures that the United States is not just a sometimes overweening superpower but a nation of high ideals, constructive ideas and intentions, and worthwhile goals. Shutting down the USIA was a major mistake. The re-creation of an effective instrument of public diplomacy has been urged by many in Congress and across the political spectrum. A new proposal just put forward by the Public Diplomacy Council in Washington holds much promise. The council, a private group that includes many experienced public diplomats, calls urgently for the creation of a U.S. Agency for Public Diplomacy, linked to the State Department but with an autonomous structure and budget. Insistent calls for rebuilding America's public diplomacy have come from both sides of the aisle in Congress. The new secretary of state has said this is high on the administration's agenda. The time for action is now. The writers are former directors of the United States Information Agency. (c) 2005 The Washington Post Company (via Mike Cooper, DXLD) ** U S A [non]. RADIO BALTIKA TO EXPAND RFE/RL RUSSIAN BROADCASTS Washington, DC February 26, 2005 Russian-language programs of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL) will be broadcast 18 hours daily on Radio Baltika, a local UKV ("Eastern-Band FM," 66 to 74 MHz) station in St. Petersburg, Russia, beginning March 1, 2005. . . http://www.rferl.org/releases/2005/02/308-260205.asp (via Mike Terry, dxldyg via DXLD) ** U S A. Hello all, I've just spoken with Dr. Becker at the transmitter site in Monticello. I noticed 7415 starting to fall on and offline about an hour ago. Here's the message that's been posted to wbcq.com: WBCQ 7415 is off the air. We're experiencing transmission line problems and seventy mile per hour winds at the transmitter site. We will address this problem as soon as possible. Effective immediately all 7415 programming will be switched over to 5105. Our 7415 webcast remains available and online. We apologize for the inconvenience, and we'll do our best to get 7415 back online as soon as possible. Take care and be well. -- WBCQ Staff (via Larry Will, 2222 UT Feb 27, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) 7415 still off at 0240 UT Feb 28 check; 9330-CLSB audible weakly, and 5105-CLSB but seemingly with co-channel QRM; it is rarely listenable here, but if this continue, listen for WOR 1265 at 0530 UT Monday on 5105 instead of 7415, as well as 0400 on 9330-CLSB, besides WRMI 6870 at 0330 UT Monday (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. 1619.97, FLORIDA, WNRP, Gulf Breeze; 1624-1700 Feb. 26, very good and annoyingly off-frequency, simulcasting "Cat Country" WYCT, Pensacola, 98.7 MHz Country format (sometimes just "The Cat" slogan). (Terry L. Krueger, Clearwater, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. Re WOAI IBAC: You ever notice how lazy reporters are? Most of this came directly from the press release they were sent. Very little verification. CD Quality???? That comes directly from the press release (Paul Smith, Sarasota, FL, NRC-AM via DXLD) Funny you should say that. The company I work for did some "media training" a year or so ago and the people conducting the training characterized reporters as generally being a very lazy group of people. Having been in situations where I was able to hear the quotes or remarks first hand and then hear how they were reported has proven to me just how very rarely reporters get things correct or come even close. It is sad that so many people believe verbatim what they read in the newspaper. A funny but sad recent media story --- there was an article written in a paper about ham radio recently where the reporter called it Hand Radio and repeated the error about 15 times in the story (Russ Johnson, K3PI, ibid.) WOAI HD AM low fi digital REQUIRES some watching. WOAI 1200 usually skips into Omaha at night. The critical hours around sunrise and sunset (& daytime/ nighttime pattern switch) are likely the most promising --- So I will have to see what effects are heard. KOA 850 Denver, is claimed to be IBAC also... But I still seem to be able to get nearby KTIC West Point, NE on 840 without catastrophic interference (Oldphones, Omaha NE, Feb 26, ABDX via DXLD) RE: [ABDX] Goodbye 1190, 1210: WOAI IBAC Yes, WOAI is definitely now IBOC! I've been listening today at home and on the road; at home I'm using the ICF-2010 and CCrane CCR radios and my mobile radio is the one in my 2005 Toyota Tundra. The latter tunes in 10 kHz steps only. My location is about 50 miles northwest of San Antonio (and about 30 miles southwest of Austin). 1190 and 1210 are hopeless now, drowning in the IBOC digihash. But 1180 and 1220 also have some IBOC hash, but less high-pitched and less strong than on 1190/1210. This is similar to what I noted back in 2003 when I lived in Las Vegas during the KXNT-840 NAB IBOC tests. The +/- 20 kHz digihash was gone during the 2004 KXNT IBOC tests, supposedly because of an improved codec, so I'm surprised (and disappointed) to see WOAI has digihash 20 kHz from their assigned frequency. As with both KXNT tests, WOAI seems to have more of its power below its carrier frequency; my guesstimate is that about 55% of the transmitter power is below 1200 kHz. I could tell no difference on the 1200 signal, but how much improvement or degradation can be detected on a talk station? As always, I am nonplussed at the logic behind IBOC on AM (or DRM on SW). Yes, listenership on AM (and SW) is down, but it's not because of the technology; it's because the programming content, in the main, really sucks. That's why so many of us have switched to satellite radio instead of AM/FM, and the decline in terrestrial radio listenership will not reverse until content issues are addressed (Harry Helms W5HLH, Wimberley, TX EM00, Feb 26, ABDX via DXLD) 1190, KFXR, TX, Fox sports programming here at 1747 [CST?] with hash over the signal by the sounds of I[BAC] from WOAI on 1200. Usually nice clean signal. 26-Feb JN-TX (James Niven, Moody TX, ABDX via DXLD) A lot of trade magazines don't hire reporters, per se. They have one or two staff or contract writers who is/are expected to produce way too much copy in way too little time, and for a piddling amount of money. These publications get what they pay for, and so do the readers in many cases. I wont say there aren't lazy reporters and journalists out there. Witness the recent high-profile plagiarisms at places as 'venerable' as the NY Times. But a lot of reporters and journalists are extremely dedicated and hard-working. It's ironic that pretty well the only place Canadian reporters can get professional development is through professional organizations (Canadian Association of Journalists, etc...) which they usually pay for out of their own pocket. It's often a fight to get your newsroom to pay your way to a PD conference. And, for many journalists, the pay is comparable with many jobs where a college or university degree isn't required (Saul Chernos, ON, ibid.) There's no official timetable for nighttime IBOC operation, nor a final FCC decision. The FCC has nighttime testing data that was collected under the auspices of iBiquity by stations that are interested in using IBOC. The FCC isn't going to authorize a system that is daytime only. Putting those two together, you can bet your last dollar it's just a matter of time until the FCC gives thumbs up to nighttime IBOC (Chuck Hutton, WA, ibid.) It made it some 400-500 miles up here to Missouri last night! By the way, nobody has so far mentioned that WOAI was apparently TESTING its IBOC LAST NIGHT (Fri. 2/25/05). I noticed digital hash around 10:30 pm CT on 1190 and 1210, as well as a sort of grumbly noise under WOAI's own carrier on 1200 when listening in to either USB or LSB in both sync-detection mode and with the BFO. There was no noise on 1200 in standard double-sideband AM mode. Also, the adjacent-channel hash, as has been noted before, was on the OUTER SIDEBANDS of the adjacent frequencies (1190 & 1210), extending down to 1185 and up to 1215. If I listened to the upper sideband only of 1190, most of the hash disappeared; ditto when checking the LOWER sideband only of 1210... i.e. both of the sidebands closest to 1200 on either side. So if the hash don't git ya, the splatter from the fundamental frequency might... though with the bandwidth limiting on WOAI's audio I didn't really notice much slop--thus both 1190 and 1210 were listenable in single-sideband mode by choosing the sidebands CLOSEST to 1200. (This was on the little Sony 7600G; my Yaesu doesn't have a sync detector but of course can tune USB & LSB.) I'm PRESUMING the hash I heard was IBOC-related... what else might it be? (Randy Stewart, Springfield, Feb 26, ibid.) I believe Clear Channel is planning to convert most if not all of their AMs to IBOC and I think this is nothing more than starting at the top with the most visible (audible??) properties, and work down from there. Sorta like the most bang for the buck. I'd expect my locals to be converted fairly early in the process. What would be useful to know is what their eventual schedule looks like, and the way in which the properties are prioritized. I'd guess it will be here in a year or less. Factors MAY include the need to upgrade the transmitter, and tune the antenna. Part of the reason for picking the 50 kW is (1) receivers appear sooner in the big markets, and (2) pliant newspapers with "radio-TV editors" only too happy to run the press releases, similar to the last couple of years when the St Pete Times ran THREE pieces on how great Radio Disney on 1380 was. Another factor might be to see what kind of complaints show up, as the big signal stations get lit up. These seem to be coming in incremental steps, sort of like an engineering team was traveling from market to market to do the installs and see what kind of problems show up, so they can create a cookbook process for use down the road when they get to the 5 kW-station level (Bob Foxworth, Tampa FL, ibid.) I might venture a guess it's also easier to get IBOC working on a station with a non-directional or relatively simple directional pattern (Doug Smith, W9WI, Pleasant View (Nashville), TN EM, ibid.) Holy smokes, WOAI's digital signal is FREE! Those swell guys --- what a bargain!!! Go this site and scroll down the right side til you see the WOAI article. http://www.radiointel.com/index.htm too funny (Russ Johnson, ibid.) According to today's business news, Clear Channel just took a huge loss. Maybe that's good news! (Ben Dangerfield, Wallingford, PA, ibid.) I believe they really turned a profit from operations. The "loss" was an accounting thing to reduce the book value of their holdings. Turns out, and I'm sure this will come as a shock to all of us, that due to saturation of the market and alternatives such as satellite radio and internet streaming, radio stations aren't worth what they used to be. Apparently, Clear Channel properties are worth $4.9 billion, yes, billion, with a 'b', less than what they were listed for on their books. While some part inside most of us may giggle with glee at the thought of the behemoth taking a hit, I don't think it's a good sign for radio (Jay Heyl, Orange, CA, ibid.) Checked out WOAI IBAC here UT Feb 27 at 0030; at first hash was equally strong on both sides, down to 1184 and up to 1216 or so. Seemed to go off a couple minutes later, but then still hearing it on 1210, with less analog QRM than on 1190 (Glenn Hauser, Enid, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Night time IBOC demo denied by FCC --- I attended a Society of Broadcast Engineers chapter meeting this evening at KRMA channel 6 in Denver. The meeting included a live over the air audio comparison between IBOC and analog FM. Interestingly the manager of Colorado Public Radio station KCFR / 1340 reported that they had requested an STA to allow them to run their IBOC for a few hours this evening so that they could also provide a live demo / comparison of AM analog vs AM IBOC. He said that the FCC very adamantly refused to allow them an STA to run this demo (Patrick Griffith, Westminster, CO, Feb 23, NRC- AM via DXLD) ** U S A. CLEAR CHANNEL'S WDTW MAKES WAVES BY CHANGING FORMAT TO PROGRESSIVE CHAT Royal Oak native Nancy Skinner helms the morning show on progressive talk radio WDTW, arguing with her conservative brother Bob, talking up the environment and questioning authority. Liberal talk radio strikes back By Susan Whitall / The Detroit News Outside a closet-sized radio studio in Farmington Hills, there are the required doughnuts and coffee every radio station must have, but inside something unusual is going on. Talk radio. Nancy Skinner, an unabashed, unreconstructed liberal is ranting into a WDTW-AM (1310) microphone about "Bush and his make-believe world." And Clear Channel, the huge, politically conservative radio company, is paying her to do it.. . . http://www.detnews.com/2005/screens/0502/26/D01-100774.htm [Sidebar:] Talk radio choices around Metro Detroit Metro Detroit has always been a hotbed of talk radio, even if there hasn't been a wide range of formats. Here are some of the stations that have Metro Detroiters talking: AM: WNZK (690). Westland. Multilingual/foreign language plus talk (680 at night) WJR: (760). Detroit. News and conservative talk. Mitch Albom skews liberal, but most of the station's talkers, like Rush Limbaugh, Dr. Laura and Sean Hannity, are conservative. CKLW (800). Windsor. Canadian talk. WDFN (1130). Detroit. Sports talk. WCHB (1200). Taylor/Detroit. African-American talk, urban issues WXYT (1270). Detroit. Sports talk. WDTW (1310). Detroit. Progressive talk. On-air personalities include Nancy Skinner, Al Franken and Jerry Springer. WDTK (1400). Detroit. Conservative talk. Formerly Martha Jean "the Queen" Steinberg's station WQBH. WLQV (1500), Detroit. Religious talk FM: WKRK (97.1). Detroit. FM shock talk (via Artie Bigley, DXLD) ** U S A. AIR AMERICA PLUGS TOP SLOT, AIMS FOR CHICAGO By John Cook, Tribune staff reporter, February 25, 2005 After a 2 1/2-month vacancy in its top spot, Air America Radio has hired a new chief executive officer who says his "No. 1 priority" is getting the left-wing talk radio network on the air in Chicago. "It's the largest market we're not in yet," said Danny Goldberg, a former record company executive tapped Thursday to run the network, which will mark its first anniversary on the air next month. "I believe in the next 90 days, we'll have something to announce." Goldberg is the founder of Artemis Records, an independent label with a roster that includes Steve Earle and the late Warren Zevon. Before that, he ran at one time or another Warner Brothers Records, the Mercury Record Group and Atlantic Records, and founded Gold Mountain Entertainment, a management company whose clients included Nirvana. Air America has been on an upswing, compared with the near-disaster that struck just two weeks after it launched. It was bounced off stations in Chicago and Los Angeles after a billing dispute and failed to meet payroll. But after ousting Chairman Evan Cohen in May and accusing him of vastly overstating the initial investment in the firm, Air America now reaches 48 markets covering half the nation's population, Goldberg said. That includes Los Angeles, where the network got back on the air this month. It also has recently attracted new advertisers, including Geico and American Express. Goldberg takes over from Doug Kreeger, who stepped down in December after working to stabilize the network, negotiate long-term deals with hosts Randi Rhodes and Al Franken and secure $13 million in new financing to keep the business afloat. "There were a lot of problems along the way, but finding an audience wasn't one of them," Goldberg said. "This isn't a traditional radio network. It's like MTV or Rolling Stone; it's a cultural phenomenon." While Air America has seen higher-than-expected ratings in many markets, the news hasn't been all good. On its flagship New York station, WLIB, ratings were down 14 percent last fall, according to Arbitron. Air America owes much of its growth to radio giant Clear Channel, which has quietly begun using some or all of the network's programming to put together liberal talk stations in Los Angeles; Washington, D.C.; Detroit; and elsewhere. It strikes some as ironic that Clear Channel, which has a reputation as a conservative-leaning firm, has emerged as Air America's most important distributor, but Goldberg said it proves liberal talk radio is a sound concept. "Some people would consider it ironic. I consider it capitalism at its best." Copyright (c) 2005, Chicago Tribune (via Jim Moats, DXLD) ** U S A. KILI RADIO TO SWITCH FREQUENCIES By Dan Daly, Journal Staff Writer RAPID CITY - Bethesda's gain will not be KILI's loss after all. Even though Bethesda Christian Broadcasting's new "88.3 The Point" FM station began transmitting last week at the same radio frequency previously used by KILI's Rapid City translator station, KILI will soon have a new spot on the radio dial. Its new location will be 88.7 on the FM dial. . . http://www.rapidcityjournal.com/articles/2005/02/26/news/local/news08.txt (via Brock Whaley, DXLD) ** U S A. PUBLIC RADIO TURNS OFF THE MUSIC Chopin is on the chopping block. Public radio stations in Washington and other cities are dropping classical music from their lineups, replacing it with news and talk shows, especially the increasingly popular offerings from National Public Radio. . . http://www.washtimes.com/business/20050225-094310-2741r.htm (Washington Times [Moony], via Andy Sennitt, dxldyg via DXLD) ** U S A. ESTADOS UNIDOS: En el sitio de Radios.Com al 20 de Febrero pasado, se informa que los grandes medios se disputan la gran audiencia hispana en los Estados Unidos. Así es, los grandes medios quieren un pedazo de la torta de la audiencia radial hispana y se preparan para acaparar un negocio a corto y largo plazo al convertirse la Radio en español en una fuente de oportunidades crecientes. Después de que en 2003 se eliminaron las leyes que impedían a un solo consorcio ser propietario de múltiples cadenas, las puertas quedaron abiertas para que las grandes empresas empezaran a participar del atomizado y complejo negocio de la Radio. Los 40 millones de hispanos, la capacidad de consumo de los hispanos que alcanza los 750.000 millones de dólares anuales, el altísimo intercambio comercial entre EEUU y Latinoamérica y el flujo de una nueva generación de inmigrantes que mantiene vigente la práctica del español hacen muy atractiva la inversión en el mercado hispano, y en especial de la Radio. La Radio hispana creció del 3 por ciento al 17 por ciento interanual, y hay nuevos mercados donde comienza a hacerse un hecho la inversión y difusión de emisoras en español como son Seattle, Washington o Charlotte. El Grupo Latino de Radio (GLR), que pertenece al Grupo Prisa (Cadena SER, diario El País, CNN Plus) compite como el que más en la carrera por liderar el mercado. La mayoría de las 923 emisoras hispanas AM y FM que existen en Estados Unidos son muy pequeñas y de carácter local, a las que producir contenidos les sale muy costoso (Gabriel Iván Barrera, Argentina, RN Radio-Enlace Feb 25-27 via DXLD) ** U S A [non?]. ESTADOS UNIDOS: 17934 - Federal Express - Recebido carta. 29 dias. V/S: Todd E. Taylor - Senior Attorney. 3620 Hacks Cross Road, Building B, 3rd Floor, Memphis, TN 38125. Na carta é informado que não podem confirmar meu informe de recepção. Este é um procedimento muito comum das empresas aéreas, constituindo uma espécie de confirmação ainda que indireta por acusar o recebimento da correspondência (Ivan Dias - Sorocaba/SP, Brasil, Conexión Digital Feb 26 via DXLD) There you go: they refuse to verify the report, but since they answered, consider it an ``indirect`` QSL anyway. Even tho it was the Senior Attorney who replied, presumably choosing his words carefully! I have some even more ``indirect`` QSLs from stations which never replied at all! (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) En relación con lo que escribe el colega diexista Iván Díaz, debo reconocer que es un éxito haber recibido esta correspondencia de la compañía Federal Express, indicando que no podían confirmarle el informe de recepción, pero el solo hecho de haber recibido esa carta, que me imagino llevará el logo de la empresa, ya es de por si una confirmación a su informe. De ahora en adelante estaré aplicando esta técnica; escribiré ó llevaré personalmente mis informes de recepción a las aerolíneas que tienen sus oficinas en el aeropuerto Internacional José Antonio Anzoátegui y que queda relativamente cerca de mi QTH familiar para ver si recibo via correo postal o correo electrónico alguna respuesta ó confirmación (? I think these comments are by: José Elías Díaz Gómez, utility editor, Conexión Digital Feb 26 via DXLD) ** VANUATU. 7260.17, R. Vanuatu, 0950-1120, 26 Feb, This is the first time I`ve heard Vanuatu since their switch from 60 to 40 meters. Tuned in at 0950 and heard light pop music until 1000, at which time female announcer gave ID and other comments in local dialect. 1000-1100 programming consisted of a ten minute tape loop with a Polynesian song followed by male speakers played over and over. ID by female announcer at 1100. Then into soft pop music again until 1113 when announcer gave another ID in passing. Signal strength was fair but didn`t sound fully modulated. Also had interference from what I assume was a digital transmission above and het on LSB from another carrier a couple hundred Hz away. As time went on, those sources of QRM faded down, but a strong station signed on 7255 at 1100. Also had some pulse type noise to contend with, not sure of the source. Would have been a decent copy with full modulation and no QRM (David Hodgson, TN, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Hi Guys, Just to confirm Vanuatu is definitely ON. I'm currently on day 3 of a 5 day DXPedition at a campsite 50 km north of my home in Townsville, North Queensland, Australia. Just drove 45 minutes for a "half-time" shower and to 're-humanise' at home for an hour or so and thought I'd post this. This DXpedition is for North Americans and Pacific Islands on MW but I thought I'd have a quick look at Vanuatu as I know there are some questions about their active or not status. Vanuatu was putting in a very strong signal on 7260 in pidgin English with pop music along with shipping announcements, family messages and announcements of sporting events, and Radio Vanuatu IDs when I tuned in on 25/2 around 0630 UT. They announced frequencies on SW of 7260 and 3945 but I couldn't get anything on 3945 at this time (430 pm my local and still 2 hours away from sunset, so the signal wouldn't propagate very well at this time anyhow). I had to go at 0655 UT as MW Pacific signals started to come in. Next day on 26/2 tuned in again and they were stronger at 0600 and conditions seemed a lot better, this time at 0650 UT there was a het on 3945. Signals from USA were coming in so I didn't stick around - sorry guys no time for SW on this trip 8^) - had a brief couple of checks in the period 0700 - 0940 UT and 3945 was a fairly good signal while // 7260 was a powerhouse. Didn't check when they signed off as too busy hunting North American MW. Key thing to note that on the 25/2 just before 0700 UTC news the announcer in pidgin English requested reception reports by the local residents of Vanuatu and outlying islands for 3945 and he announced a postal address and telephone numbers for this. Anyway this is just a quick note to say 3945 and 7260 are definitely on in the 0600-0930'ish UTC period. OK back to the DX campsite (Craig Edwards, PO Box 1075, Oonoonba QLD 4811, Australia; 1581 Ross River Rd, Kelso QLD 4815, Feb 27, DX LISTENING DIGEST) WRTH 2005 says they have nominal 10 and 2.5 kW SW transmitters, so which is which? Hope they leave 7260 on at night, even with 3945 going (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 7260.1, 0547-, Radio Vanuatu, Feb 27. Going out on a limb, but I'm already hearing a het on this frequency which fits Vanuatu, even though it's not sunset in Port Vila for some time yet. No audio yet, of course. Vanuatu usually starts fading in by 0700 (Walt Salmaniw, Victoria, BC, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** WESTERN SAHARA [non]. Re Polisario back on 700: I was wondering about 1550 the other night when I had huge Kuwait-1548 and almost nothing on 1550 when I tweaked the phaser to move the cardioid null onto CBE. This kills off just about everything else to the west, so Algeria-1550 can often dominate. It used to have a big signal, especially at the seashore, 15 miles from here. Now it's "nada". 700 would be theoretically audible at sunset here. Home QTH is too close to WRKO-680, but I should have a shot at 700 from Rockport or Rowley (Mark Connelly, WA1ION - Billerica, MA, NRC-AM via DXLD) ** ZIMBABWE [non]. 3230, SITE? (S. Africa-? Lesotho-?), (Presumed) SWR Africa, *0301-0312, Feb. 26, Indigenous music at sign-on with announcer between music bits. Music with brief announcer at 0308. Poor/very weak under static, not much too work with (Scott R. Barbour, Jr., Intervale, NH, R75, 200' Beverage antennas, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 3230, CLANDESTINE (Zimbabwe), SW Radio Africa (tentative), 0401-0426 Feb 26, man talking with snatches of English noted. I don't think it was the exclusive language. Numerous references to Zimbabwe but nothing close to an ID. Very poor (Rich D'Angelo, PA, NASWA Flashsheet via DXLD) 3230, CLANDESTINE (Zimbabwe). SW Radio Africa, opening at 0303 Feb 27, decent size signal but weak audio, and never would have been able to ID it but for the "Africa, Africa" opening theme music which was the same as when I heard them in Hawaii (Jerry Berg, MA, ibid.) UNIDENTIFIED. Re Vietnamese on 1440 heard in Jamaica: Karel: I hear Vietnamese radio on 1290 and 1520 and 1400 from my listening post here in Dallas, Texas. I have no idea who this is. (Ward Elliott, Dallas, Texas, mwdx yg via DXLD) A Google search on 1440 brought this: http://www.godsdirectcontact.org/events/ suggesting that WPRD Orlando/Winter Park runs Vietnamese between 8 and 10 pm (Bjarne Mjelde, Berlevag, Arctic Norway http://www.kongsfjord.no weblog: http://mjelde.blogspot.com mwdx yg via DXLD) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ UNSOLICITED TESTIMONIALS ++++++++++++++++++++++++ Thirty Years Ago In FRENDX --- I have been reading some of the back issues of NASWA's publication _FRENDX_ from early 1975. It was interesting to see that Glenn Hauser's column "Listeners' Notebook" had a section devoted to sw programmes. The content was mostly centred on listing the programmes broadcast by various stations. But there were also some discussions about the actual content of the programmes. Yet, I have the feeling that this was very much a minority speciality within the club at that time. The place of discussions about programming have come a long way since then. I would like to compliment Glenn for devoting time and space to it long before it gained popularity. 73, (Peter Bowen, Canada, Swprograms mailing list via DXLD) DX-PEDITIONS ++++++++++++ NEWFOUNDLAND DX-PEDITION #14, NOV 7-14, 2004 Thanks to the NRC's Fred Vobbe, the following link will lead you to the just released report from NL DXpedition #14, held NOV 7-14, 2004, photos included. It should also be appearing in an upcoming DX News edition. http://www.nrcdxas.org/articles/2004_NF_Team_Report_0225.pdf (Jim Renfrew, NY, Feb 27, WTFDA-AM via DXLD) DX-CAMP ILHA COMPRIDA São Paulo - Brasil 14, 15 e 16 de JANEIRO de 2005 There's a very nice page (in Portuguese, tho) with fine pictures about the DX activities taken recently by Brazilian DXers, joined by Arnaldo Slaen, ARG and Victor Castaño, URG in Ilha Comprida. http://geocities.yahoo.com.br/amantesdoradio/dxcamp.htm Most interesting is a short video in mpg, which gives a warm approach to those fine colleagues! http://www.rkw.com.br/radioescuta/dxcamp001.mpg Brazilian DXing is moving in a good trail! (Conexión Digital Feb 26 via DXLD) Also includes wav clip of Barbados FM DX Hot 95.3 (Glenn Hauser, DXLD) RADIO EQUIPMENT FORUM +++++++++++++++++++++ GALLERY OF RADIOS MADE IN BRASIL Olá pessoal!! Ainda em fase experimental, estou publicando um site dedicado a arquivar fotos de rádios fabricados no Brasil. Futuramente colocaremos características e outras informações. Como todos sabem é excassa a documentação sobre os nossos rádios. Portanto, quem tiver fotos e outras informações interessantes para anexar ao site, por favor entre em contáto. O que acontece, é que aqui no Brasil a "memória" desses queridos aparelhos é curta. Não temos praticamente nenhuma fonte de pesquisa. Por exemplo: se você quiser ver um determinado modelo de um rádio Philco nacional, que foi uma das mais importantes ao lado da Philips e outras é quase impossivel achar sequer uma foto. Eu tenho pensado no assunto e resolvi desenhar esse site, e andei "catando" algumas imágens em sites de colecionadores, que gentilmente deram a autorização para publicá-las. Outras são do site de leilão do Mercadolivre. E de agora em diante vou passar a fotografar todos os rádios que passam pela minha oficina de restauração. Ainda conto com a colaboração dos colegas dos grupos que frequento. Bom... estou me estendendo demais. Conto com você!!! http://members.fortunecity.com/radiotecnico/ (Meyer, radioescutas via DXLD) SHORTWAVE LOG Hi all: Though it may have been mentioned here in the past, I've just discovered the freeware "Shortwave Log": http://www.shortwavelog.com/default-english.html It automates the process of keeping reception logs and writing reports and QSTs. The interesting thing is that it allows you to download and maintain databases: Canadian and USA hams, Air traffic beacons, AM broadcast stations, Shortwave stations (several different database sources) and even a large database of current contributed reception logs by other users of this software. Everything is fully sortable by frequency, time, location, language, etc. It even has a radio control module to allow direct control of certain computer controllable receivers by the software. (e.g. See an interesting transmitter on a list? Just click on it and the radio automatically tunes to it. 1) Be aware that this program and databases require huge downloads; you need lots of hard-disk space and fast connections. 2) Because of 9-11 Homeland paranoia, several of the databases (e.g. beacons) are about to be blocked to the public. If interested, download them now! Sincerely (Rasputin Novgorod, Feb 27, ODXA via DXLD) RE: COURT RULES FCC OVERSTEPPED AUTHORITY ON DIGITAL TV As seen on Slashdot: http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=topNews&storyID=7703873 Something odd here. The cited article has a quote of a legal opinion or argument that says, in effect, "The FCC has never ordered how electronic equipment shall be built". But we all know that isn't true! FCC regulations determine the exclusion of certain frequency coverage in scanners (admittedly implementing the poorly-thought-out and ill- conceived ECPA), they regulate linear amplifier circuits regarding CB- frequency coverage, they insist on UHF tuners in TVs in addition to VHF tuners, they regulate power levels and frequencies in cordless telephones, they limit the design of CB sets to "type acceptances", they control power levels in vast numbers of RF-transmitting devices, and on and on and on. Is this just another example of technical ignorance intruding into the legal arena? Or am I missing something basic here? If someone with better computer skills than I follows up on this, please bring in the actual text of the article instead of just using the link, so the text remains here even if the original times out or becomes unreachable (Will Martin, MO, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) You raise an interesting question, Will, and one that was raised in the Slashdot.org discussion as well. I don't know the legal difference either, but some argued that this was the first time the FCC has attempted to regulate a specific part of a device that had nothing to do with receiving or transmitting in the RF spectrum without a direct mandate from congress. I'm just happy to see the legality of the broadcast flag brought under some scrutiny. On the other hand, it will be interesting to see how fast a bill makes it through congress if indeed the broadcast flag rules are struck down. Since the broadcast flag is only used to control content use once received, I'm inclined to agree with their insight. There may well be technical ignorance intruding into the reporting as well. ;-) (Nate Bargmann, Wireless | Amateur Radio Station N0NB, ibid.) TIPS FOR RATIONAL LIVING ++++++++++++++++++++++++ CHURCH PRESIDENT SERIAL KILLER I watched KAKE-10 and KWCH-12 coverage of the news conference, where the Wichita bigwigs took an hour of patting themselves on the back before getting around to announcing the name of the suspect in custody. Once the name of the BTK serial-killer suspect was announced, I did a quick Google search on ``Dennis Rader``. This name appeared at the website of Christ Lutheran Church, ELCA, in Wichita as president of that organization; his name and picture also appeared on a Park City website with info about animal control; he had also been involved in Sedgwick county animal control. Christ Lutheran`s website including http://christ-lutheran.org/people/ had vanished, but not the Google cache http://64.233.167.104/search?q=cache:U_O4Mr62dPwJ:christ-lutheran.org/people/+%22Dennis+Rader%22+Wichita&hl=en Perhaps the Lutherans are slightly embarrassed. Later, Dateline NBC UT Mon 0057 confirmed this was the same Dennis Rader, and I`ve seen his smiling photo from the Park City website widely published (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ###