DX LISTENING DIGEST 5-044, March 12, 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 1266: Sun 0730 WOR WWCR 3210 Sun 0930 WOR WRN1 to North America, also WLIO-TV Lima OH SAP Sun 0930 WOR KSFC Spokane WA 91.9 Sun 0930 WOR WXPN Rhinelander WI 91.7 91.9 100.9 Sun 0930 WOR WDWN Auburn NY 89.1 [unconfirmed] Sun 0930 WOR KTRU Houston TX 91.7 [occasional] Sun 1030 WOR WRMI 9955 Sun 1100 WOR R. Lavalamp Sun 1400 WOR KRFP-LP Moscow ID 92.5 Sun 1500 WOR R. Lavalamp Sun 2000 WOR Studio X, Momigno, Italy 1584 87.35 96.55 105.55 Sun 2100 WOR RNI Mon 0330 WOR WRMI 7385 Mon 0400 WOR WBCQ 9330-CLSB Mon 0430 WOR WSUI Iowa City IA 910 [Extra 54] Mon 0530 WOR WBCQ 7415 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 ON DEMAND: http://new.wrn.org/listeners/stations/station.php?StationID=24 OUR ONDEMAND AUDIO [also for CONTINENT OF MEDIA, MUNDO RADIAL] WORLD OF RADIO 1266 (high version): (stream) http://www.w4uvh.net/wor1266h.ram (download) http://www.w4uvh.net/wor1266h.rm WORLD OF RADIO 1266 (low version): (stream) http://www.w4uvh.net/wor1266.ram (download) http://www.w4uvh.net/wor1266.rm (summary) http://www.worldofradio.com/wor1266.html WORLD OF RADIO 1266 in the true shortwave sound of 7415: (stream) http://www.piratearchive.com/media/worldofradio_03-09-05.m3u (d`load) http://www.piratearchive.com/media/worldofradio_03-09-05.mp3 ** AFGHANISTAN [non]. AFGHANISTAN/RUSSIA. 7175, Internews R, Kabul, via Samara, *0230-0240, Mar 04, Pashto shouting ID "Salaam Watandar", news, 32332. Heavy splashes from Voice of Russia in English on 7180. It has obviously replaced the broadcast from Dhabbaya, United Arab Emirates on 7230 at *0130-0300*. On Mar 07 at 0135, R Slovakia International was covering that frequency (Anker Petersen, Denmark, DSWCI DX Window March 9 via DXLD) ** ANDAMAN & NICOBAR ISLANDS. INDIA, 4760, 1415-1437, Port Blair Mar 12 AIR Port Blair with announcements and canned ads in Hindi and some interference fading in and out, possibly by AIR Leh, weak to fair with deep fades (Thomas Roth, DL1CQ 27º42'N - 85º12'E [i.e. NEPAL], RX: JRC NRD-345 ANT: Dipole 20m long, HCDX via DXLD) ** AUSTRIA. Se puede escuchar por 5 minutos a la ORF, Radio Austria en español, de 2330 UT por 9870 con un breve informativo conducido por el responsable del Departamento en español Manuel Aletrino. oe1.service @ orf.at (Manrique Beceiro (Montevideo, Uruguay). March 8, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** BOLIVIA. Quito 12/3 2005 *** Saturday edition: *** Recording of 6054.28 Radio Juan XXIII, San Ignacio de Velasco. Comments, photos and recordings at: http://www.malm-ecuador.com 73s (Björn Malm, Quito, Ecuador, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CONGO DR [non?]. Anyone out there hearing Okapi on 11690. I'm sure it's them, but I'm slowly losing them as the hour moves on. Mostly all talk in ?French at 0527 (Walt Salmaniw, Victoria, BC, UT March 12, HCDX via DXLD) Heard here from maybe 0540 on, taped, went off not much before 0600. Good signal, French, heard a mention of Congolaise during long talk, not anything resembling an ID or sign-off though. Sounds too good --- too strong, too good an audio and too good a delivery ---but who knows? Signal was S9 on a Eu facing 800' beverage, which seemed to give the best signal. The log periodic normally would be much louder but the rotor for that was lost in some 120 km winds before Christmas, so the small and temporary rotor I have in there now can't hold it if the winds are strong - as they are again tonite. The log was pointing out to the SW at the time and signal was well down on it. 73 (Don VE6JY Moman, Lamont, Alberta CANADA 53 44N 112 50W Ant: 4-30 MHz rotatable HF log Periodic at 30m, assorted beverages, ibid.) I don't know if the program is still being aired, but two or three years ago there was a program named "Radio Afrique International" in French on 11690 kHz via the Jülich site around this time. Be careful not to mix this with Okapi! Alas, I don't have the current sked of Jülich at hand, but suggest, to check this first, to rule out, that it was the not so exotic Jülich site! -- 73, (Martin Elbe, Germany http://home.wolfsburg.de/elbe/ ibid.) That was the Methodist service, long gone now (gh, DXLD) The transmission from "Radio Afrique International" does not appear in the current DTK schedule, so I assume is no longer active. It was well heard at this location on 11690 when it was on air. There is a registration with the HFCC for JUL on 11690 at 0600-1000, but to carry programmes of HRT (Croatia). The frequency is listed as "tentative" and is not heard, so probably an alternative to what is being used (9470). 73 (Noel R. Green [NW England], ibid.) Yep, that was the situation couple of years ago on 11690. But at least on 11 Mar 2005 at around 0544 UT when I monitored 11690 there was Radio Okapi program, signing off at 0600. Signal strength was a bit better than 11875 Channel Africa. The 11690 signal strength suggests this is a relay, Meyerton, Julich, VT or what? I guess we'll soon know. 73 (Jari Savolainen, Kuusankoski, Finland, ibid.) Thanks, Martin! This is an important point. The signal to me seems just too strong to be little Okapi, and yet others have been hearing it with good strength, and I received a wav file from Europe at the same time with excellent reception, and definitely Okapi (IDs heard), so who knows? Maybe a stronger relay? (Walt Salmaniw, BC, ibid.) I never understood why Okapi was such a tough nut to crack here. The path Congo-Europe is an easy one, and new 10 kW transmitters from Kinshasa on a clear frequency like 11690 should be audible with a wet shoestring as an antenna. Even with Okapi beaming to the East and not to Europe. I had to listen for more than two hours for an extremely thin signal just above audio threshold, until I had enough details for a report. -- 73 (Martin Elbe, Germany, ibid.) Tuned in just after 0430, big signal here in French. 20-25 over S9 on the PROIII with no preamp. Must be a relay (Don Moman, AB, UT March 13, HCDX via DXLD) I agree, Don. This is much too big of a signal to be originating from a 10 kW Congolaise transmitter. Now where is the transmitter located, and what's the power? 100? 250? 500 kW? Still S9+ here (Walt Salmaniw, BC, 0451 UT, ibid.) It's Radio Okapi, heard with a good signal on 11690 kHz with interviews, listeners questions about elections, music. Their website http://www.radiookapi.net indicates : "Depuis le 1er mars 2005, Radio Okapi diffuse un nouveau programme de deux heures en ondes courtes sur l`ensemble du territoire congolais. La réception se fait sur 11690 Khz. De 5h à 7h, à l`ouest du Congo et donc de 6h à 8h, à l`est du pays, nous proposons un condensé du programme diffusé la veille sur les fréquences FM et composé des journaux et chroniques en langues nationales, mais aussi des émissions phares de notre radio : Dialogue Entre Congolais et Okapi Action. Une large part est faite aux programmes d`éducation civique et au suivi du processus électoral ainsi qu`aux émissions d`information pratique, santé développement, droits." So, it`s from 0400 to 0600 UT. Regards (JM Aubier, France, March 13, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ETHIOPIA. 7165, Voice of Ethiopia, Addis Ababa, 1620-1700, Mar 05, English soft pop songs to 1630 when news and comments in English. Clear ID twice. Poor reception, but around 1650 the reception was much better. No trace on their other frequencies, being 7110, 9560, 9705 or 11800. 22332 (Kaj Bredahl Jørgensen, Greve, Denmark, DSWCI DX Window March 9 via DXLD) ** FALKLAND ISLANDS. Falklands MW mast repainted March 10, 2005 by J. Brock (FINN) The Falklands' highest structure, a medium wave mast measuring 433 feet - 132 metres - has been successfully painted in record time, despite February's challenging weather. Mario Zuvic and Luis Salazar of KTV Limited, along with three professional riggers, Hernán Corvilan, Juan Pérez and Juan Ramírez, subcontracted from the Chilean company that manufactured, supplied and erected the FIBS Medium Wave mast and antenna in 1999 did the massive paint job. Other repair work and the replacement of some parts were also carried out on the structure. At the same time, KTV and their riggers also carried out painting works on two Cable & Wireless masts one at MPA and the other at Sapper Hill. The 530 kHz medium wave mast is the highest structure ever built in the Islands and, according to Mario Zuvic, "The view from the top of the mast is breath-taking and so is the climb." In 2000-2001 riggers carried out extensive repairs to the mast after a Tornado Aircraft collided with it causing extensive, thankfully not fatal damage. http://www.falklandnews.com/public/story.cfm?get=3152&source=3 (via Mike Terry, BDXC-UK via DXLD) ** FINLAND. 11690, Scandinavian Weekend Radio, Virrat, 0920-1150, Sat Mar 05, Finnish conversation, ID, Finnish pop songs, 0935 greeting in English to a Peter in Germany who sent in a reception report, 1045 taped request in English for more reports. Very clear signal, 35444, only disturbed by weak CWQRM from 1015, 34444. No other frequencies (5980, 5990, 6170 or 11720) were audible. But 11690 had faded out at 1430 and 1745 (Anker Petersen, Denmark, DSWCI DX Window March 9 via DXLD) ** GEORGIA. 4875.0, R Hara, Dusheti, *1800-1829*, Mon Mar 07, Fanfare, ID and announcement by woman and man in Abkhasian, short talks about Abkhasia, Dusheti, America, President Saakasjvili and Azerbaijan with local song and instrumental music in between, 45444. Scheduled at this hour on Mon and Thu (Anker Petersen, Denmark, DSWCI DX Window March 9 via DXLD) ** GREENLAND. 3815, Kalaalit Nunaata Radioa, Tasiilaq, 2120-2215, Mar 04, there was a signal rising above the local noise. I could not ID the language for sure, but it did not sound in Danish then - but did after 2200. I hoped KNR might carry the DR news at 2200 but it was not // 243, and 1062 was also different. The 3815 signal must have been at least 4 S points when at its best, and would have been a useful signal but for the local racket. I also tried for the Greenland MW station using 650, but there was no propagation. I am told by a listener to Beacons that stations in Greenland as well as Newfoundland and Nova Scotia - as well as one in Quebec - have been logged after around 2130 on frequencies between 260 and 400 kHz. So, it could be that conditions are "right" for that area currently (Noel Green, Blackpool, England, DSWCI DX Window March 9 via DXLD) ** INDONESIA. 4790, RRI Fak Fak, 0945-1022*, Mar 05, heard earlier than usual to 1011.5 when the signal suddenly disappeared. Came back at 1021.5 (10 minutes to the second) for a minute then the signal lost again at 1022.5. At 0945 they had Arabic music (not unusual for Indonesians at these early hours) but I was having trouble with audio quality due to the usual CODAR QRM. At 0950 I shifted to USB right on 4790.0 and the audio quality was good at S4 - at 0951 they were into Indonesian pop vocals and some easy listening instrumentals until disappearing. Woman announcer 1003-04 with no ID heard - announcement were easy to copy. Hard to tell if they lost carrier or just no modulation since I was on USB. 43444 while they were there (Bruce Churchill, Fallbrook CA, Dxplorer via DSWCI DX Window March 9 via DXLD) ** INDONESIA. About the earthquake in Sulawesi island, the city of Palu exactly, I have logged on Jan 24 via RRI Palu 3960 the phone in reports of the earthquake aftermath. Thank God, no tsunami afterward. On global assistance to Aceh people I only hope Indonesia would receive and thank it as God's gift. This aid would be remembered all the time." (Soehartono (Tony) Ashar, Depok, West Java, Indonesia, Feb 28, via Anker Petersen, DSWCI DX Window March 9 via DXLD) ** IRAN. Sintonía excelente de La Voz de la República Islámica de Irán por la frecuencia de 9905 a las 0030 UT con SINPO: 4 4 4 4 4. Spanishradio @ irib.com esquema de emisiones en español: 2030 a 2130 Europa 7130 y 9750 Khz 0030 a 0230 América: 9905 y 9555 Khz. 0530 a 0630 Europa: 17590 y 15320 Khz. (Manrique Beceiro (Montevideo, Uruguay). March 8, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** JAPAN [and non]. Buena sintonía de la NHK, Radio Japón, en español según esquema: rj-espa @ intl.nhk.or.jp 0500 a 0530 UT 11895 y 11970 khz (Caribe, España) 1000 a 1030 UT 9530, 9540 y 9710 Khz (América) 0400 a 0430 UT 9660 Khz (América) 1815 UTC: 11970 Khz (España). Atte (Manrique Beceiro (Montevideo, Uruguay). March 8, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** NEW ZEALAND. New Zealand changes to Standard Time --- At 0300 NZDT On Sunday 20 March 2005 New Zealand changes to standard time [+12 UTC]. RNZI programmes will remain on UTC at the same time, however programmes relayed off domestic services will begin one hour later (RNZI Website 03 Mar, 2005 21:50 UTC via Alokesh Gupta, New Delhi, dxldyg via DXLD) ** NIBI-NIBI [and non]. Refresh my memory, please. Who was the teenager that invented one of the most famous radio stations ever? And if you wanted to tell the whole story to entertain us, that would be all right too (Chuck Hutton, NRC-AM via DXLD) I did an article that appeared in the NASWA bulletin some 30 years or more ago, back after NASWA went offset, so it must have been in the early '70s. I don't have a copy of that article now, but I do remember most of the details. There were two issues with the kid whose report on Nibi-Nibi first saw the light of day in the printed Deutsche Welle DX bulletin. Nibi-Nibi was one of several fictitious stations shown on what actually was a clever satire for the reports Paul (Kary) Karagianis did anonymously as "Middle East Correspondent" when he was an FBIS monitor on Cyprus. The author used a code that fit the D-W format DED5, and called himself Southern California Correspondent. Horst A.C. Krieger, DWDXB editor, picked up the Nibi Nibi report and played it straight, as if it were real. In 1958 after I'd mustered out of the service and took the West Coast bus trip, primarily to meet DX'ers, I stopped in Redlands, Calif. to visit Rolan Kunkel, who was western SWBC editor for the old Universal Radio DX Club out of Hayward, Calif. (I was eastern editor.) Kunkel had the full satirical list of fictitious stations from "Southern California Correspondent" and the typewriter, format and paper matched that of a young San Diego DX'er who contributed to the URDXC bulletin. This San Diego DX'er, under his own name, claimed a great number of exotic BCB DX verifications, including 10 kw Bahrein on 610 kHz. When I visited his home, he showed me his verification collection, and it many of the verie letters indicated the verification had come after a follow-up letter to stations who said they never received his original report. (A technique we later were to find had been used by one of the more famous BCB DX'ers.) A couple of the verifications indicated the stations were upset at the kid's angry tone in the follow-up letters, and I recall a 1 kw. Japanese station on 1380 khz which said, in essence, "This verifies your report on JO-- ... It's too bad you didn't send any program details so we could check them with our log." The kid denied having sent the Nibi-Nibi report, which surprised me, because it was, as I said, clever and harmless satire. Later, Krieger turned over the original copy and a copy of one of the reports the kid had sent under his own name to German police, and they verified that it was the same typewriter and the same paper. The San Diego kid was never a member of NRC or IRCA ... but one NRC member got hooked on the Nibi-Nibi report, claiming to have heard the BCB station (whose interval signal, if I recall correctly, was "the sound of falling Cocoanuts") during an eclipse of the sun. I also wrote a treatise for DX News called, I seem to recall, "The Value of the Verification," that for quite a while was part of the NRC publication file. In it, I wrote about ways that a clever "DX'er" could use printed material and fabricate reports that could convince a station (that wanted to be nice to its correspondents) to send a QSL- card or letter. Some stations, I know, QSL'd automatically. I called it collecting QSLs without going through the middle-man process of hearing the station. Nibi-Nibi should have been harmless fun ... Krieger should not have published it as "real." But the kid's other activities were questionable. Because he was a kid and it was nearly 50 years ago, I'd prefer not to identify him by name ... I have not seen his name in DX circles since 1958 ... and it was a common enough name that Switchboard.com says there are 100+ listings for the name, including four with the same middle initial. It is an interesting and entertaining story, and I am not quite comfortable with having possibly been a part of making a mountain out of a molehill (John Callarman, Krum TX, NRC-AM via DXLD) ** NIGERIA. VON keeps on being VON. While the new Director General talks about digitalization and audio-on-demand, and the German ambassador offered help to set up the German service again, there seems to be still nobody knowing the exact schedule. The broadcasts in Arabic and Kiswahili on 11770 or 9690 seem to have ceased, or has anybody heard VON between 1500 and 1700 hours recently? (Thorsten Hallmann, Münster, Germany, March 12, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** PAKISTAN. 5000.0, R Pakistan, Quetta, 0127-0215, Mar 04, replaced 5027 that night! Rawalpindi III broadcast heard // Islamabad on 4790 (100 kW) with same strength. Singing without music, 0130 announcement and talk mentioning Pakistan and Lahore more times, 0140 more songs. 0200 TS, R Pakistan ID and news. Had disappeared when rechecking at 0229. 34333 with weak TS station in background. On Mar 05 at 0140 R Pakistan was not heard on 5000 or 5027! (Anker Petersen, DSWCI DX Window March 9 via DXLD) The Quetta engineer needs to change frequency two times each day - from 60 to 41m and back again - so maybe his glasses had been misplaced! It is an old Gates transmitter from 1962 so is probably feeling its age by now (Noel Green, UK, ibid.) 5027, R Pakistan, Quetta, 0120-0217*, Mar 07, Urdu songs and talks. 0200 news. Back on nominal frequency from 5000. Heard well in most narrow bandwidth despite R Rebelde on 5025. 34333 (Anker Petersen, Denmark, ibid.) ** RUSSIA. Voice of Russia What`s New http://www.vor.ru/English/Exclusives/what_new.html MUSIC AROUND US. The next edition of Music Around Us will focus on the 60th anniversary of the Great Victory over Nazism. We shall play songs composed during the hard years of the war that the Soviet people fought against Nazi Germany. Our listeners have also developed a liking for these songs. One of the more popular songs of that time is Katiusha, requested by Janko Martin Bystricka of Australia. But, of course, we shall play other Great Patriotic War songs, too. So, tune in to another program of Music Around Us on Tuesday, March 15, at 0530, 1530, 1830, and 2130 UTC. It will be repeated on Thursday, March 17, at 1530 UTC, and on Friday, March 18, at 06.30 UTC. We wish you all good listening (via John Norfolk, dxldyg via DXLD) ** SAUDI ARABIA. On 21495 BSKSA still carries strong buzzing audio. Heard 12 March at 1020; other frequencies with clear audio (Zacharias Liangas, Thessaloniki, Greece, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** SIKKIM. INDIA, 3390, 1450-1500, Gangtok Mar 12 AIR Gangtok with usual western pop music program from Sikkim, few announcements by male in Hindi and English, then some Sheryl Crowe and Bruce Springsteen songs, weak to fair with deep fades and fair peaks. 73 de (Thomas Roth, DL1CQ 27º42'N - 85º12'E [i.e. NEPAL], RX: JRC NRD-345 ANT: Dipole 20m long, HCDX via DXLD) ** SOMALIA. 6980, R Galkayo, Galkayo: The transmitter is an Amateur Radio HF transceiver, fed into a aging amp at 100 watts. The transmitter, amp and studio equipment are all housed in a small room; please do not picture a radio station. I would describe the setup this way: they use the same equipment and arrangement as any NA/Euro pirate station would. 9615, R Galkayo relay in Bassaso: If it ever was, is no longer on the air. I have done repairs and maintenance to the R Galkayo setup and there is no evidence that there ever was a relay, unless it was simply just picked up off the air in Bassaso and rebroadcast. There are only 3 SW stations being heard in Somalia, R Galkayo 6980, R Mogadishu 6960 and R Hargesia 7530. I would expect the other two stations use a similar set up and equipment as R Galkayo. Here in Somalia the 40/41 mb are full of rogue radio telephone setups. A HF ARO (Amateur Radio Operator) transceiver is obtained; a small shack for a building houses the flourishing business. There is a network of these radio telephones; any city, town or village would have one. If you wish to talk to someone in X Town you simply go to the radio telephone place and the operator calls the operator in X Town, someone in X Town will go find the person you wish to talk to and bring them to that Radio Telephone and the conversation takes place. When I was in Garad, Somalia helping with radio communications for Tsunami relief, I learned from my beach shack, just how BIG the network is; the operator in Garad came to visit and told me the "number", the frequency of many places. Every radio telephone operation has a number, a frequency. Not only has the 40/41mb been overrun, I have heard several Somali Radio Telephone operations on 20/31/49 mb, which is a terrible trend. The 40/41mb are unusable for AROs in Somalia and Kenya during daylight hours; lord help radio if this spreads to other bands, with higher power. Some of these radio telephones have been modified to transmit continuous 0 to 30 MHz (Joe Talbot, Somalia, Mar 08, DSWCI DX Window March 9 via DXLD) ** TAIWAN [and non]. TWN/CHN, 15250, FuXing and VoChina-CNR: at 1040 March 12, heard a station playing western and Chinese pop songs heard in clear only on the LSB side as USB was only with siren jamming. At 1058 there was a 3 minute blank audio but after 1101 CNR-1 was audible with parallel on 15285. Signal(s) in general were extremely poor (no S-level even with 10 db preamp at LSB and headphones use) (Zacharias Liangas, Thessaloniki, Greece, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Previous reports were that Fu Hsing did not start until 1100 (gh) ** U K. Oh dear, here we go again. Under the heading 'SHORT WAVE CHANGES', the BBC World Service website informs us that they're making even more cuts to short wave transmissions. 'From March 27 2005 there will be adjustments to the BBC World Service shortwave provisions to reflect global changes in audiences’ use of short wave. The number of hours broadcast on short wave in English, Arabic, Spanish and Portuguese for South America will be reduced. For any changes to short wave listening where you live, as well as detailed schedule and programme information, please select your region from the links below' When you look through the list, it's Central and South America that will suffer the most: 'From March 27 2005 there will be adjustments to the BBC World Service short wave provisions across South America to reflect global changes in audiences’ use of short wave. The number of hours broadcast on short wave in English and Spanish will be reduced to two blocks at peak times daily, in the early morning and evening. The short wave service to Brazil in Portuguese will cease altogether. Also available on partner stations and online at the BBC World Service, BBC Mundo and BBC Brasil websites.' Europe will also suffer: 'From March 27 2005 there will be adjustments to the BBC World Service short wave provisions across South America [!!!!] to reflect global changes in audiences’ use of short wave. The number of hours broadcast on short wave in English to Europe will be reduced to two blocks at peak times daily, in the early morning and evening. The BBC World Service English language service is available on: medium wave in NW Europe (648 kHz) cable in The Netherlands, Denmark, Austria and Switzerland Hotbird direct to home satellite across W Europe FM in some major cities online at bbcworldservice.com partner stations Do they not realise that there are some people without access to the Internet in these places? (Martin Levene, London UK, March 12, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Heard an announcement about BBC changes as of March 27 just prior to the 1400 news. Apparently English, Arabic, Spanish and Portuguese for South America will be reduced, if not more. I've not had time yet to peruse everything. See http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/schedules/frequencies/index.shtml (Steve Lare, Holland, MI, USA, March 12, DX LISTENING DIGEST) From March 27 2005 there will be adjustments to the BBC World Service shortwave provisions to reflect global changes in audiences' use of short wave. The number of hours broadcast on short wave in English, Arabic, Spanish and Portuguese for South America will be reduced. For any changes to short wave listening where you live, as well as detailed schedule and programme information see http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/schedules/frequencies/index.shtml (via Mike Terry, dxldyg via DXLD) e.g.: Central America & Caribbean: 00:00 03:00 Daily 9525 03:00 05:00 Daily 6135 10:00 14:00 Daily 6195 11:00 17:00 Daily 15190 21:00 05:00 Daily 5975* 21:15 21:30 Mon-Fri 11675*, 15390 South America: 00:00 03:00 Daily 12095, 9825 00:00 05:00 Daily 5975 09:00 10:00 Daily 15190 10:00 11:00 Sat-Sun 15190 10:00 14:00 Daily 6195* 11:00 11:30 Daily 17790 11:00 17:00 Daily 15190* 21:00 24:00 Daily 12095, 5975 * includes Caribbean programmes Mon-Fri (via gh, DXLD) Natch, no transmitter sites given. Actually looks about same as at present. This contradicts some of the info we have had from WYFR; the 0000-0300 broadcast on 9525 has in past seasons been the WYFR relay, maybe still will be instead of 11835 --- But 9525 conflicts with the BBC Spanish schedule below! (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) I heard the on-air announcement about this and was somewhat amazed, in addition to being irked. The non-specific blurb that was read stated that the BBC's broadcasts in English to Central and South America on shortwave (which is what we get here in the US, aside from spillover from other regions' streams) would be reduced to only morning and evening broadcasts. Well, what do we get NOW? Only morning and evening broadcasts! They repeated the usual nonsense about listening on "FM partner stations" and over the Internet. Yuck (Will Martin, MO, March 12, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) A melancólica notícia veiculada no programa de hoje sobre o encerramento no próximo dia 27 das transmissões da BBC, em ondas curtas, para o Brasil, deixou-me pesaroso: um elo de 36 anos não se vai facilmente. Guardo ainda o informativo da programação referente ao período de novembro/76 a abril/77, convite que me foi formulado para pertencer ao Grupo Regular de Ouvintes da BBC, assinado por G. Ferraz (Departamento de Pesquisa de Audiência do Serviço Brasileiro), bem como o folheto "Como Ouvir Melhor a BBC de Londres", o qual orientava aos ouvintes quanto à aquisição do receptor, antena, interferência, o fio terra etc. Para os nascidos no Brasil durante os anos 40, talvez, a BBC de Londres tenha um significado bem próximo ao do saudoso noticiário Repórter Esso, cujo encerramento ocorreu no final do ano de 1968 em decorrência das constantes censuras que lhe eram impostas pelo governo da época. É difícil assimilar o enceramento de algo que vem prestando inestimável serviço aos brasileiros (informação, entretenimento sem emburrar) desde março de 1938, principalmente quando se vislumbra a transmissão digital (DRM/DAB). Será o fim das ondas curtas? Apesar de todos os serviços concorrentes às ondas curtas, a BBC ainda conta 153 milhões de ouvintes pelo mundo afora, conforme reportagem da revista Veja, de 18 de abril de 2001, página 73. O serviço brasileiro da estação de Londres chegou a transmitir diariamente um total de três horas e quarenta e cinco minutos. Por outro lado, a justificativa de que tal serviço será intensificado através da internet não me convence. É inegável o fato da internet ser excelente para pesquisas. Contudo, no caso, ela é um meio de comunicação frio, sem o calor humano do rádio. Como traduzir no monitor a voz meiga de Flávia Nogueira? O sentimento de algum entrevistado? A voz cavernosa do Ivan Lessa? Ademais, nem a TV substitui a praticidade do rádio: ouço a BBC, após a ceia, deitado, por intermédio de um receptor Sony ICF 2010, posto na mesa-de- cabeceira. Um amigo sintoniza a BBC estendido numa rede; outro, sentado em cadeira confortável na varanda do seu apartamento à beira mar, algumas vezes, qual os versos do frevo de Capiba: vendo "a lua que brilha no céu, refletindo no mar". Quando a internet proporcionará tamanha "mordomia"? O mais grave, porém, é que a BBC nos abandona justamente no momento em que o lixo infesta a programação da TV e rádios do Brasil. Com raras exceções, não dá para assistir aos programas de TV ou escutar as nossas estações de FM/AM. Atenciosamente, (José Machado, radioescutas via DXLD) Vai a cópia do e-mail que recebi de lá, de alguém que assina apenas como "BBC Brasil". Caro Célio, Muito obrigado pelo seu e-mail e pelo seu interesse na BBC. Na verdade, a BBC Brasil está anunciando o fim da programação em ondas curtas para o Brasil. A última transmissão vai acontecer no domingo, dia 27 de março de 2005. A medida se deve a mudanças na empresa, que passará a concentrar seus investimentos em boletins curtos de rádio, em reportagens na internet e na transmissão de boletins em vídeo pela Internet, produzidos pela maior rede de correpondentes internacionais do mundo. A programação de rádio também será alterada com mais ênfase em programas curtos transmitidos por algumas das maiores estações do país, como a rede CBN, a Rádio Globo, a Rádio Eldorado (SP), a Rádio Itatiaia (MG), a Rádio Guaíba (RS) e a Radiobrás (DF e RJ), entre outras. Todos os programas produzidos pela BBC Brasil também estarão disponíveis no site http://www.bbcbrasil.com Vale ressaltar que o serviço de ondas curtas teve papel bastante relevante no radiojornalismo brasileiro, mas será retirado do ar para que a BBC Brasil possa incrementar ainda mais o seu serviço no rádio e na Internet. Cordialmente, BBC Brasil (via Célio Romais, ibid.) ** U K. BBC, en español a partir del 27 de Marzo 0000 0115 5875 smtwtfs BBC Rampisham 500 260 C AM 0000 0115 5875 smtwtfs BBC Skelton 300 230 S AM 0115 0130 5875 twtfs BBC Rampisham 500 260 C AM 0115 0130 5875 twtfs BBC Skelton 300 230 S AM 0300 0345 5995 smtwtfs BBC 250 125 C S AM 0345 0400 5995 twtfs BBC 250 125 C S AM 0000 0115 6110 smtwtfs BBC Ascension 250 235 S AM 0000 0115 6110 smtwtfs BBC Antigua 250 290 C AM 0000 0115 6110 smtwtfs BBC Antigua 250 235 S AM 0115 0130 6110 twtfs BBC Ascension 250 235 S AM 0115 0130 6110 twtfs BBC Antigua 250 235 S AM 0115 0130 6110 twtfs BBC Antigua 250 290 C AM 0300 0345 6110 smtwtfs BBC Antigua 250 235 S AM 0300 0345 6110 smtwtfs BBC Antigua 250 290 C AM 0345 0400 6110 twtfs BBC Antigua 250 235 S AM 0345 0400 6110 twtfs BBC Antigua 250 290 C AM 1100 1130 6110 mtwtf. BBC Greenville 250 200 CARIB 1100 1130 6130 mtwtf. BBC 250 115 C S AM 1300 1330 6130 mtwtf. BBC 250 126 C S AM 0300 0345 7325 smtwtfs BBC Rampisham 500 285 C AM 0300 0345 7325 smtwtfs BBC Skelton 300 260 C AM 0345 0400 7325 twtfs BBC Rampisham 500 285 C AM 0345 0400 7325 twtfs BBC Skelton 300 260 C AM 0300 0345 9515 smtwtfs BBC 250 125 C S AM 0345 0400 9515 twtfs BBC 250 125 C S AM 0000 0115 9525 smtwtfs BBC Ascension 250 235 S AM 0115 0130 9525 twtfs BBC Ascension 250 235 S AM 1100 1130 9670 mtwtf. BBC Antigua 250 270 C AM 1300 1330 9670 mtwtf. BBC 50 125 C S AM 0000 0115 11765 smtwtfs BBC Ascension 250 265 S AM 0115 0130 11765 twtfs BBC Ascension 250 265 S AM 1100 1130 15220 mtwtf. BBC Ascension 250 235 S AM 1300 1330 15325 mtwtf. BBC Greenville 250 164 C S AM (via José Miguel Romero, via Dario Monferini, playdx via DXLD) ** U K. BBC USES VIDEO TO TELL STAFF OF JOB CUTS By Fiona Govan 11 March 2005 http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2005/03/11/nbeeb11.xml&sSheet=/news/2005/03/11/ixhome.html The Director General of the BBC used a 13-minute video message to tell staff yesterday that they faced redundancy as 1,730 jobs were axed in the first round of cost cutting. Mark Thompson announced that the first cull would be from the BBC's "professional services department", which includes marketing, communications, human resources and legal and business affairs. Staff were informed that one in two jobs in the department would go, with 980 made redundant. A further 750 were to be transferred to firms outside the corporation. A second wave of job cuts is to be announced later this month. The cuts represent the first wave of change in the Director General's strategy to cull thousands of staff in advance of the renewal of the BBC's charter in 2006. The blueprint, unveiled last December, included job cuts of 2,900, with more likely as a result of a 15 per cent across-the-board budget reduction. Mr Thompson also said that 1,800 jobs would be relocated to Manchester. Yesterday his cost-cutting plans were revealed to be even more far-reaching than previously indicated. Mr Thompson said the BBC would make cost savings of £355 million, 10 per cent more than the £320 million target announced three months ago. The first tranche of cuts will save the corporation £139 million a year by 2008, with the money saved set to be invested in new programming. The total number of job losses is expected eventually to exceed 5,000. In the 13-minute video broadcast to all departments, Mr Thompson said: "We need to make the BBC a simpler, more agile operation, ready to take the creative lead in a very different, very challenging digital future." Later this month Mr Thompson will announce job losses to the BBC's output and content division, which includes television, radio, news and new media. Staff protested against the cuts at a "day of action", organised by unions last week and timed to coincide with the government's green paper on the future of the BBC. Paul McLaughlin, of the National Union of Journalists, said staff were "deeply disappointed". "The corporation is promising so much to the Government but is not delivering anything to the staff." (via Mike Terry, dxldyg via DXLD) ** U K [and non]. TOMMY VANCE 11TH JULY 1943 - 6TH MARCH 2005 http://www.offshoreradio.co.uk/tommy.htm Richard Anthony Crispian Francis Prew Hope-Weston was born in Oxford but ran away to sea when he was 16 years old. He had been brought up on the rather staid British broadcasting of the fifties and, like a number of his contemporaries, he fell in love with the brash sound of American commercial radio the moment he heard it. In his case, it was while working as a cabin boy in the merchant navy. Abbreviating his name to "Rick West", he tried to find work on American radio, taking whatever shifts he could, even if it meant working for free. He studied his craft and was constantly learning from his colleagues. He taught himself the deliberate delivery of the professional broadcaster where every word counts. A job on KOL Seattle necessitated another name change. He was offered a show - but only if he called himself "Tommy Vance". The programme had originally been intended for another presenter who had pulled out of the deal at the last moment. Unfortunately this change of heart took place after the jingles had been recorded. The other presenter was called Tommy Vance. The jingles and pre-launch publicity could not go to waste so "Rick West" became "Tommy Vance". From there he moved to the legendary KHJ Los Angeles, the home of the boss jocks. KHJ was one of the most successful and influential Top 40 stations of the era and California in 1965 was a great place to be. Unfortunately America was then involved in a war in Vietnam and, when Tommy got his draft papers for the US Army, he decided it was time to head back to the UK. British musician Ian Whitcomb lent him the fare and just before Christmas Tommy knocked on the door of Caroline House in London. No programme controller was going to pass up on the opportunity to employ a KHJ boss jock and Caroline's Bill Hearne was no exception. On 3rd January 1966 Tommy presented his first show on Caroline South. Tommy had acquired something of a mid-Atlantic accent while living in America. He had also acquired a wife. She was not best pleased with the idea that her husband was going to be on a ship two weeks out of three. It would mean she would be stuck in an unfamiliar city on her own. So Tommy left Caroline after a few months and moved to Radio Luxembourg. The marriage did not last so, when Caroline's Ronan O'Rahilly suggested Tommy should return to the ship, there was nothing to stop him. In December 1966 he rejoined Radio Caroline South. During the summer of 1967 it became apparent that the government was going to legislate against the offshore stations. The pirates desperately tried to find loop-holes in the new law so that they could remain on the air. Tommy heard a rumour that Philip Birch, boss of Radio London, was negotiating to move his station to France. If this was going to happen, Tommy wanted to be a part of it. In July 1967 he transferred to Radio London. Unfortunately Big L failed to find a base on the continent. Rather than break the new law, it chose to close down on 14th August so Tommy's stay with the station was brief. Tommy was one of the initial team of disc-jockeys signed up for the BBC's new Radio One and co-hosted Top Gear with John Peel. When the programme was given to Peel to present solo, Tommy continued to host the occasional show for the station but his very distinctive voice was also heard on offshore radio on the numerous commercials running on Radio Caroline for Major Minor Records. He appeared on various television shows and was the voice of dozens of advertisements. Together with his good friends Dave Cash and Kenny Everett he presented shows for Radio Monte Carlo International and all three of them were part of the launch team for London's Capital Radio in 1973. Tommy presented the morning show with Joan Shenton on the station's first programme schedule but during his time with Capital he also hosted commercial radio's first reggae show and, at a time when punk was being vilified by the press, he carried out the first in-depth interview with Johnny Rotten of the Sex Pistols. Never one to sit still, Tommy and a couple of partners opened one of London's top commercial recording studios, Silk Sound, later joined by The Bridge. His voice was much in demand for advertising work and he presented a long running rock show on Radio One as well as a daily music and chat programme for BFBS. For many years he was also the voice of Radio One's Top Forty. When the BBC launched Greater London Radio in 1988, Tommy hosted the afternoon drive time show - a heady mixture of "rock and rolling news". He was also part of the launch team for Virgin Radio and presented rock videos on VH1. Tommy liked to give the impression that he was just a hack voice-over man, cynically selling whatever was on the script. (He dismissively referred to himself a "voice on legs".) In truth, he did have an amazing voice and the ability to sell almost anything but he was much more than that. He loved his music, he enjoyed his broadcasting and he had a passion for life. When he moved to Spain a couple of year ago, it was with the intention of a gentle semi-retirement. But it was not long before he was back on the air playing music for the tourists and ex-pats on the Costa del Sol's Spectrum FM. He just could not sit back and take it easy. It was not in his nature. He came back to Britain and threw himself into work again, doing commercials, appearing on television and returning to Virgin to present a weekly show on their DAB and internet offshoot, Virgin Classic Rock. Fans of his shows on VH1, Radio One and Virgin will remember Tommy as the ultimate rock jock. He certainly did love his rock but his taste in music was much wider than that. Roots reggae was a particular passion. He was a skilled interviewer as listeners to his GLR and BFBS shows can testify. His voice was in demand for commercials over four decades. Tommy could do it all. He was the consummate broadcasting professional with an incomparable knowledge and a glorious voice. The radio world is a poorer place for his passing (via Mike Terry, dxldyg via DXLD) ** U K. JOURNALISTS FALL FOR DAB-INDUSTRY SPIN It has been widely reported in both the print media and on BBC radio that sales of DAB radios outsold those of analogue radios for the first time in January. Unfortunately for the DAB industry, this is totally incorrect. To quote Ofcom's "radio review": "If we compare these percentages to the current market for all radios where, on average, around 10 million units are sold per year (equivalent to 44% of all households acquiring a new radio each year)." Yet the DRDB's own predictions show that about 1 million DAB radios were sold last year, and about the same number are predicted to be sold in 2005. That makes the ratio of analogue radios sold to DAB radios sold to be 10 to 1. So, to say that more DAB radios were sold than analogue radios is either: a lie a monumental blip simply journalists mis-reporting reality I would suggest that the latter is the most likely, because the same thing has happened for the last 2 years after Christmas where Dixons have claimed that sales of DAB radios were higher than for analogue radios, but when you actually read the details they admit that it is the value of sales of DAB portable radios that is higher than the value of sales of analogue radios. And when you look at it in this way then it is hardly surprising that the value of sales of DAB radios are higher, because analogue portable radios can be bought for about £5-£10 and upwards, whereas DAB portable radios sell for between £45 and £200. Given that approximately 90% of sales of portable radios historically occur in the run-up to Christmas, then this is just another example of the DAB industry trying to get a few free column inches at a time when sales of radios are extremely flat. No doubt we will see identical stories this time next year.... A concerning issue over the quality of the information we get via the DRDB (Digital Radio Development Bureau, whose sole task is to promote DAB in the UK, and who are responsible for the Digital Radio Now website) is that it is partly funded by BBC licence-fee payers' money, and its Vice-Chairman is Jenny Abramsky. So, given that previous DRDB DAB adverts have told us that "analogue radio is B.A.D", and that DAB provides "superb digital quality sound" (a blatant lie) then, effectively, the BBC are sponsoring lying to the general public, which I do not consider to be a particularly great use of licence-fee money. Then again, if you read some of the BBC's own Digital Radio website then they're not shy of propagating lies directly.... 2nd March (digitalradiotech.co.uk via Andy Cadier, BDXC-UK via DXLD) Digitalradiotech.co.uk is a personal website. The original press release is below and shows the logic behind this post to be debatable and the ratio he quotes is incorrect, it is 9 to 1. The press release is not entirely clear however the way I read it they are referring to sales in January at Dixons of portable audio products and they do not make it clear whether it is sales by value or by units. If you read Ofcoms review of digital radio published in October 2004 they say DAB accounted for 61% of sales of portable kitchen radio, again sales by unit or value? The most relevant statistic anyway, in my opinion, is the percentage of households who have a DAB radio. Ofcom says households have 4 or 7 "radios" which includes hi-fi units and car radios. There are 24.5 million households and I would think that most of the DAB radios sold would be the only DAB radio they have so I would suggest 4 to 5% of households have DAB (Mike Barraclough, BDXC-UK via DXLD) Viz.: 02/03/2005 - Digital radios outselling analogue Radio, once a fixture of every British mantelpiece, is experiencing a renaissance in the UK as new digital technology brings as-live clarity to one of the best-loved entertainment technologies of all time. Dixons reports that digital radios are now outselling analogue radios for the first time, according to figures released today. Digital radio closed the gap on its predecessor during 2004, accounting for one in 10 portable audio products sold by Dixons until it finally overtook during January 2005. It is currently outselling analogue by two to one, making the format one of the fastest ever technologies to reach mass-market status. Year on year sales have doubled and Dixons expects demand for the format to continue throughout 2005, predicting growth of more than 50% in the market. Dixons is seeing demand for radios grow to levels unseen since the medium`s heyday in the eighties. According to figures from the retailer, the last time that Dixons sold a comparable number was in 1985. Back then Mike Read was king of the airwaves on the Radio One Breakfast Show; Stock, Aitken and Waterman had their first UK number one with Dead or Alive; Eastenders was first broadcast and Live Aid raised over $50m for famine relief in Ethiopia. ``This is one of the greatest technology comebacks of all time,`` said Nick Wood, managing director of Dixons. ``A century after Marconi`s invention, the loud and clear message is that radio is still a massively popular format. It`s thanks to the new generation of digital radios, currently one of our best selling products.`` Dixons attributes much of radio`s renaissance to the sound quality that the latest technology provides, exclusive additional channels like Five Live Extra and BBC Radio 7, and the retro-styling of many sets. An investigation by Dixons has also identified a pocket of middle aged radio fans, dubbed `twiddle-aged` by researchers, that are responsible for driving the sales. A study carried out among those buying digital radios revealed that more than two thirds of all the radios purchased over the last two months were bought by people in their forties. However, it`s not only older listeners that are tuning into digital radio. Younger listeners are also adopting the new technology, with around one fifth of those buying digital radios aged between 20 and 25. Wood added: ``A large number of older customers are returning to the radio; listeners that appreciate the benefits of a technology that offers crystal clear sound. The other factor influencing growth is the inclusion of digital technology in the latest hi-fi systems, boom- boxes and even clock-radios.`` ``For listeners who already have a quality hi-fi system, Dixons offer an exclusive DAB Audio Adaptor – the radio equivalent of a freeview box. This was extremely popular over Christmas, giving full digital access on any analogue radio for only £49.99.`` Customer Penelope Overton, 44 year-old mother of two from St Albans, commented: ``It`s about time we turned the tables and showed our kids a thing or two about technology. The rebirth of the radio proves that old ideas can frequently be the best ideas. I never thought I`d see the day that my 12-year-old would be glued to the radio.`` According to the Digital Radio Development Bureau (DRDB), there are over 140 different radio brands broadcasting digitally in the UK and Northern Ireland, and three times as many DAB radio stations as FM stations. For example, in London there are 54 DAB stations including specialist stations catering for all ages and tastes in music, compared to only 16 FM stations. The DRDB also predicts that almost two million homes will have a digital radio by the end of 2005 and almost a third of all UK households will have one by 2008. Some of the most popular DAB products include: • Ferguson 120 DAB radio - £59.99 • Ferguson 810 handheld DAB radio - £79.99 • Roberts RD7 DAD radio with record - £119.99 • Pure Evoke 2 DAB radio - £149.99 • Hitachi 68 micro hi-fi with CD/DAB radio - £169.99 • Hitachi CX500 DAB CD stereo - £79.99 • Exclusive DAB audio adapter - £59.99 Dixons started selling radios in the 1960s when `the wireless` was a large static set that sat in the home. By the 1970s, smaller portable versions had been developed and were promoted as the perfect device for Brits heading to the UK seaside for their summer holidays. The transistors of the sixties retailed at around £14, which is more than £400 in today`s money (via Mike Barraclough, ibid.) ** U S A. Some observations about programming heard on WBCQ, some that differs from the latest sked update at zappahead dated 5 March: By the way, there is no more "Duh News", sadly. That Wednesday 0030 UT half-hour is now listed as "Available Time Slot". Thursday 2200 UT on 9330, 3/10/05, was not Radio TimTron but instead parallel to Hembree on 7415 (Radio Weather and Northern Lights). Saturday 0000 UT 7415, listed also as "Available", was "Lumpy Gravy" music program, live, on 3/12/05. The following Allan Weiner WorldWide live program had phone links to Kulpsville in addition to the usual call-ins. The 0200 UT hour on 5105 that is listed as a repeat of AWWW was a Rod Hembree program instead. 5105 is definitely better than it had been, and they discussed the improvements on AWWW. Later that night, 7415 kHz did NOT sign off at 0530 UT as listed, but a music program followed. Was gone after 0600 UT. At 2030 UT 3/12/05 on 7415, there was an old radio program (Tom Corbett Space Cadet, I think) instead of the Overcomer. 73, (Will Martin, MO, March 12, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. Noted something extremely odd last night with the 0600 UT Saturday airing of DXing with Cumbre: 7315 was off-air and then came on at 0600 (roughly) with the usual WHRI ID info and then DXing With Cumbre edition #444 (last week's version, taped 3 March) began, but that was only on for a few seconds when it was interrupted and there was a vocal announcement from the younger Summerall (Lester?) and then religious programming was aired. No DXw/C after that. At the same time, 7535 had no signal; this is expected because it was listed in DXLD 5-041 that they were off that frequency permanently at all hours now -- at this time, the replacement should have been 5860 kHz. But there was a completely different religious program on that frequency then; no sign of DXw/C. The next airing of DXw/C I checked was the 2030 UT Saturday one on 15665 kHz. That WAS aired, and it was #444 again, this time allowed to proceed. (I had already heard it last week so did not listen further than the first few minutes.) We need a firm and definite schedule from Cumbre for their broadcasts. 73, (Will Martin, MO, March 12, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Furthermore, after 2205 UT Friday March 11 on 9455 there was no DWC, but some religious programming. Permanent change? (Glenn, ibid.) It`s still on the WHR schedule, with the correct frequency finally given after nearly six months, but that, of course, means nothing. I doubt that Marie Lamb herself knows the correct schedule for DXing With Cumbre, as the station management doesn`t appear to care if anyone knows what program is on at any given time, as long as the program providers keep paying their bills. I believe I once heard Marie some years ago mention that Cumbre is a ``guest`` program, as World of Radio is on WWCR et al, but at least WWCR and WBCQ keeps their program guides up to date, and we know almost immediately (in most cases, anyway) if there are changes in the World of Radio schedule. WHR doesn`t want to extend that courtesy to DXing With Cumbre, and perhaps to some of their other programs as well (John Norfolk, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) WHR was no more courteous to WOR when it was on there; what a blessing it was to be rid of them (gh, DXLD) ** U S A. To WWCR: What would it be like if every Saturday at 1130 on 5070 we had to hear the same WOR repeated week after week. Well, let me tell you in case WWCR haven´t noticed yet, that I have heard the last three Saturdays in a row [1205] the same Rock the Universe with the special feature of Big Steve Cole, presenting a special, female names in doo-wop music. If this program has not been newly produced lately by Mr. Adcock, at least play some of the other pre-recorded tapes, but please give us a variety in that one-of-a-kind show on SW to those of us who like that early R 'n' R and Old School innocent music. BTW, give my regards and congratulations to Rich (Raúl Saavedra, Costa Rica, dxldyg via DXLD) ** U S A. Re Yosemite Sam: They must have been doing that transmission for years? I heard it before when I was hamming back in the 80's. I used to transmit a lot on the 3.9 MHz band and tune it in on 3700 kHz. I didn't pay any attention (Chuck Bolland, FL, March 12, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. STUDENT STATIONS DON'T HAVE TO SHARE AIRTIME By Jon Murray March 8, 2005 http://www.indystar.com/articles/6/227730-2396-093.html The FCC rejected six attempts by a Greenfield broadcaster to force several educational radio stations to share their airtime. The Federal Communications Commission granted license renewals this month to six of the eight stations targeted last summer by Marty Hensley, the director of Hoosier Public [sic] Radio Corp. The agency also dismissed Hensley's petitions to force those stations to share airtime with his nonprofit company. The rulings affect the student-run stations at four Indianapolis-area high schools -- Ben Davis, Franklin Central, Carmel and Pendleton Heights. A religious broadcaster in Vincennes, Ind., and a National Public Radio station owned by Western Kentucky University also received license renewals. In September, Hensley said he might broadcast community affairs, music or religious programming on the stations. In one decision, issued on March 2, the chief of the FCC's audio division wrote that Hensley did not follow requirements by attempting to reach an agreement with Franklin Township Schools. The decision also dismissed Hensley's claim that radio directors from several schools had colluded against him. Hensley argued again today that the stations' applications were invalid and should not have been granted. School officials had seen Hensley's FCC filings as an ambush. "We were forced to spend money on attorneys to represent us before the FCC in Washington," Franklin Township Superintendent E.B. Carver said in a statement. "We are considering whether to seek restitution for the attorney fees." The applications of two more targeted stations -- at Franklin College in Johnson County and Washington Township Schools' J. Everett Light Career Center -- still are pending. CARMEL --- HIGH SCHOOL RADIO STATION WINS DISPUTE --- LICENSE IS RENEWED AFTER FCC REJECTS A LENGTHY CHALLENGE BY RIVAL BROADCASTER By Lisa Renze-Rhodes and Jon Murray March 11, 2005 http://www.indystar.com/articles/7/228321-1487-014.html A 42-year tradition at Carmel High School is secure now that the Federal Communications Commission has granted the license renewal request of WHJE-FM (91.3). The decision, handed down this month, came after months of legal wrangling between Carmel Clay Schools and Marty Hensley, director of Hoosier Public [sic] Radio, who challenged the renewal and wanted access to what he called unused airtime by WHJE. Carmel's station is one of eight radio groups -- mostly student-run operations -- that Hensley challenged. An FCC rule lets one broadcaster use another's frequency for part of the day if the educational station's owner uses less than 12 hours of airtime. Hensley, who operates contemporary Christian station WJCF-FM (88.1) from his Greenfield home, said last fall that if his FCC request were granted, he might broadcast community affairs, music or religious programming on the stations during the parts of the day the schools did not use them. Hensley did not return calls for comment. Tom Schoeller, general manager of WHJE and faculty adviser for the student station, said Hensley's argument is invalid because the station has no unused airtime. "We've been a 24-hour-a-day radio station since 1981, so we weren't available for timeshare," said Schoeller, 49. Schoeller called Hensley's challenge frustrating and expensive. "It was just silly stuff, but not so silly that we didn't have to hire lawyers out of Washington, D.C., and refute it," he said. "The burden of proof is on you, the license holder, to refute accusations the other party might be making. It's been a lengthy process, an expensive process and, basically, everything was found in our favor." The district hired attorney John Wells King, a media law specialist, to represent WHJE to the FCC. "There was nothing for the FCC to consider about other possible uses for WHJE," King said by phone from his office in Washington. "In my estimation, it was a pretty clear legal issue." King called Hensley's challenge "rare but not unprecedented." Legal costs ran an estimated $10,000 to $12,000, Superintendent Barb Underwood said Thursday, but she didn't know if the School Board would try to get compensation from Hensley. "In past cases, we haven't tried to do that because then you're filing another suit" and generating even more legal fees, Underwood said. "WHJE is a service to the community as well as a valuable part of our program. That's why we're willing to go to the efforts that we go to to protect that." Students appreciate those efforts. Chelsea Curley, 16, wants to make a living on the air. "It's definitely a career path I'd like to take after school," she said. The lessons she gets in class, and the on-air training she'll get beginning next semester as a WHJE staff member, are good preparation, she said. "If you've already familiarized yourself with the equipment, it prepares you so much better." The license renewal is good for eight years (via Artie Bigley, DXLD) ** U S A. NPR stations scammed? RADIO SILENCE THE world of public radio is still reeling from the demise of a fund- raising firm that went belly-up last month. Nancy Kruse + Partners raised $400,000 for 25 public radio stations in a nationwide online auction in September, reports public broadcasting newspaper Current. The stations each paid $15,000 to participate in the auction for which they were guaranteed a decent return. But Kruse ended up giving back only $10,000 to each station. NPR, which participated in the auction, lost out, as did the Washington-based firm's employees and consultants who were stiffed. "The company is defunct," Kruse told Current. "There are no assets." (http://www.nypost.com/gossip/pagesix_u.htm March 12 via Brock Whaley, DXLD) ** U S A. A Wyoming Conversation continues. Wyoming Public radio has teamed with the Wyoming Council for the Humanities for a series of historic broadcasts and community forums dealing with the challenges that Wyoming faces with demographic changes and economic and political shifts. Wyoming Today will present special on-air discussions in tandem with special community forums held throughout the state. Tune in to Wyoming Today on 6:30, Wednesday, March 23 [MST = 0130 UT Thursday March 24] for a special program on "Myths and Realities of the Wyoming Family", then join one of the community forums to be held in Casper, Cheyenne, Ethete, Fort Washakie, and Gillette on Thursday, March 24. To find out the complete schedule, the locations and times of the community forums, and more information on "A Wyoming Conversation", go to this link http://www.uwyo.edu/wch/AWC.htm (KUWR newsletter March 12 via DXLD) ** U S A [and non]. Am I the only one that avoided sending QSL requests to the communist countries back in the peak of the cold war? (Chuck Hutton, NRC-AM via DXLD) Over the years I sent many reports to communist countries requesting verifications, not that I had any love for their form of government, but because I wanted the veries and the countries. They nearly always gave me what I desired though I often had to put up with their propaganda. I used to kid about being on the "investigation list" but that never happened. Since then I have visited many of the former communist countries. I guess the only country I have been to which is still communist is China [and which I have also verified.] And I have verified North Korea and Cuba but have yet to visit those countries. I am talking about medium wave verifications only (Ben Dangerfield, Wallingford, Pa. [SE cor Pa], March 8, NRC-AM via DXLD) Ben, Most Communist countries have been good QSLers for me too. Getting a letter to some of them was a bit tricky though. Sometimes the US had no relationship with some countries and having to resort to sending letters through Canada or Mongolia has worked. China has been a very good QSLer in the last 25 or so years. Even many of the regionals QSL well. Russians still can be tough. Getting a report to smaller stations can be tough as many times the report needs to be written in Russian and a lot of mail theft in Russia. E mail sometimes works better (Patrick Martin, Seaside OR, ibid.) I remember getting magazines from Cuba and a couple newspapers from Russia (Pravda?). once got a picture of Castro (reverse of a wallet calendar); grandfather saw it and asked if I was a communist (Robert Carlson, ibid.) Not to be confused with Richard Carlson, Who Led Three Lives (gh) I'm sure I was the only thirteen year old in my neighborhood receiving copies of Mao's Red Book from China, registered letters from Albania, and Christmas cards from Cuba. I'm sure someone made note of it. What genius thought that spies, 5th columnists, and communists would actually send and receive correspondence in such an open manner. And don't think for a moment that intelligence is any more intelligent today! (Jim Renfrew, Byron NY, ibid.) Today that 13-year-old would be hauled in (Russ Edmunds, Blue Bell, PA, ibid.) I sent reports to Communist countries before my military days and while on active duty. I had a little visit from the powers that be, and they promptly had my security clearance yanked, hi! They did some background checking and decided that I was okay and reinstated my clearance. Still, not a comforting experience going through all that. Did I forget to mention that I had NOT told anyone about my hobby, except in the vaguest of terms, and that I had sent letters/reception reports to Communist countries? Along that line, anyone else remember our favorite grandmother, Eugena Stepanova? (Mike Hardester, NC, ibid.) Eugena Sephonova. Yes, I remember her well. I remember in the 8th grade, I wanted to do a really special paper for my history class.I decided to write Radio Moscow and ask them the story of the Czar's before 1917. Eugena wrote me back, single spaced 4 pages on the history. I wrote the paper, turned in the letter from Radio Moscow and I got an "A" for it! That was about 1965 as I remember. Radio Moscow was pretty friendly towards the West (Patrick Martin, OR, ibid.) In 1957, when I was stationed at Aschaffenburg, Germany, I sent BCB reception reports to stations in Iron Curtain countries, through the 87th Inf Reg, 10th Division message center, and got QSLs back from most of them. There was some speculation at the message center when a jeep from division headquarters CID in Wuerzburg arrived, summoning me to accompany him there, and giving no reason for the summons. Turned out when I arrived at Wuerzburg, the colonel in charge of CID was a second cousin, who "hauled me in" for a social occasion, dinner and an overnighter at his home. The late Ralph Johanns would not send reports to Cuba and, presumably, other comumunist nations ... and even chided NRC management for allowing reports on Cuban stations to appear in DX News. The California teen-age DX'er I visited in '58 who had an amazing QSL collection and turned out to be the inventor of Nibi-Nibi [q.v.] told me he had problems competing with other DX'ers building station and country totals because his father had some kind of sensitive job and would not allow him to send reception reports to stations in communist countries (Qal R. Mann, Krumudgeon, ibid.) I was no teenager, hit 30 in "63, and some notice was taken of the stuff from communist countries. In '62 I sent a report to R. Havana and got a QSL card and a weekly newspaper [in English] called "Granma" that came weekly for years. The paper came rolled in a brown paper wrapper postmarked Mexico City. Early '63 I noticed that it had been opened before I got it. This went on a while, then one day I was visited by an FBI agent from the Syracuse office. Mostly he wanted to know how come I was getting the Cuban paper. When I explained it was a result of DX'ing he said "do you suppose I could get a copy that way? And would you show me how?" We went in and turned on the radio, tuned in R. Havana, which you could pick up 24 hours a day then. I helped him take down the info for a reception report and helped him write the report in which he mentioned a friend was getting the paper and asked how he could subscribe. I heard nothing for a month, then a got a letter from the guy. He thanked me for my help and noted that "I've just received my 2nd copy of 'Granma'. Now we can read our own copy and won't have read yours before you get". Never again saw any evidence of my copy being opened. Gee, I wonder if the FBI has a file on me (Ken Chatterton, NY, ibid.) Gee guys, you really live in a free world! This reminds of one of the first DXpeditions to Lapland in the early 70's. Our Security Police paid the site a visit enquiring what was going on. Somebody local probably informed them about the long antennas and the constant radio surveillance, which seemed very suspicious. Anyway, they where told about DX-ing and later even contacted the Finnish DX-Association for more information. A story about sending mail to Communist countries: My reception report with casette to KRPL-1400 in Moscow, IDAHO, was by mistake sent by our post office to Moscow USSR, where the sensors opened the letter, wrote something in Russian on the envelope and returned it to me. A new report was sent to the station with the story and this time they got it and even told about the opened letter in their local news. 73's (Hakan Sundman, Helsinki, Finland, ibid.) This is probably the scariest thing in your article, Hakan. I suspect this happens every so often here, as well, and it is up to the honesty of the recipient that it eventually find its way to the proper person. I have a PO Box at the airport and every week I get a letter for someone I never heard of, with my box number, and a wierd zip code. And the lobby is full of metal boxes marked "deposit mail here that does not belong to you". ... Along this thread I reported Tirana-1214 back in 1966 when I was in NC and got a QSL card in an envelope. AFAIK there was never any fallout from it. I never reported the usual SW stations such as Moscow, though. I still have the envelope, covered with stamps, really a souvenir. I had written them in the non- imperialist French language (Bob Foxworth, FL, ibid.) I did the same thing John Callarman did when I was on a Coast Guard ship out of Honolulu 1957-59 (DXing was quite good on the high seas and in Yokosuka from the auxiliary transmitter room (this was an "ocean station" vessel; we would sit at 34N 166W three weeks at a time sending weather reports back to San Francisco [we had a complement of weather personnel aboard and would release balloons and track them on radar] and coming to the aid of any aircraft or vessel in a distress situation nearby). I think the only communist country I reported was China. I got out of active duty mid-1960 and went into the Reserves (in Honolulu). About a year later a LT CDR from the Port of Honolulu asked me what it was about so I took copies of my reports and responses, my log and various DX publications down for him to look at. He was placated, but obviously was concerned about an officer in a US service communicating with the enemy. And yes, I think I got a Mao booklet (Pete Taylor, Tacoma, ibid.) I started SW DXing in the early 60's and did write to Radio Moscow and Radio Habana Cuba among others. I do remember my Dad grumbling about visiting with some agents about my activities. He never told me who the agent represented either. While he was concerned, he did understand the hobby and sort of laughed it off. That was the one time he mentioned it. I wish he was still around so I could ask him about it again (John Mosman, Democracy for Wisconsin, USANA Associate, ibid.) Man, I guess I missed the worst of the Cold War paranoia, as I didn’t start sending reception reports until 1970. WHEW! (Randy Stewart, Springfield MO, ibid.) The security guard at the university I attended in '70 told me that "people" had asked him questions about me and my radios. Of course I'll never know who and why - could have been the FCC, could have been the FBI (with a little spare time between Martin Luther King surveillances), could have been ???? (Chuck Hutton, WA, ibid.) I used to get notes from the PO attached to QSLs etc., from Communist countries to advise the sender to properly address them. A lot of letters I got from Radio Moscow and others would have my address on the ends of the envelopes and other unusual locations. 73 (Frank N7SOK Aden, Boise ID, ibid.) My father never liked my reports to communist countries, well he didn't see me reporting but he saw the answers. He was afraid that I might be persuaded by their propaganda. He did not understand that I became more and more negative to the communist regimes, the more propaganda I got. /Sig (Andersson Sigvard, Sweden, ibid.) When I started to work for AT&T in 1964, I was given a Top Secret security clearance (standard procedure at that time). I understand that those involved quite an extensive background investigation and were rather expensive for the requester. I'd also been sending reception reports to Iron Curtain countries from Freehold, N. J. (before and after the clearance was given) and never had any problems/ feedback concerning them or with granting of the clearance. Got a number of veries back, too. Clearance reverted to Secret when I transferred to San Francisco and continued while in North Carolina. Sent a report to Radio Peking while in Calif. and received a nice little Red Book along with a large QSL. Never any feedback on that either (John Sampson, ibid.) When I first started SWLing back in the late fifties and early sixties I sent out QSL requests to everyone I heard including the Communist Block Countries and received QSL's from all of them from Radio Moscow to Radio Budapest, Radio Prague, Radio Sofia, etc, etc, etc. Don't know if my parents or neighbors were ever "interviewed". When I was in the navy I received a visit from the NIS (Naval Investigative Service at that time) considering my radio that I used for listening (a Hallicrafters S-120 I believe). They inspected it, asked me some extensive questions about my hobby and my CB operations. Later I was assigned to the USS Banner - the ship that preceded the USS Pueblo and had operated for 3 years before it was captured (I was in interior communications aboard ship - not communications) and I guess I passed because they cleared me to be aboard the ship. One of my best QSL's is a letter from The Gibraltar Steamship Company (a front for the CIA) that ran RADIO SWAN confirming their AM transmission on 1160. Still have that one and a lot of my other old QSL's My second best catch was KCEY Turlock, CA confirmed with a nice letter and coverage map. I heard them from Chesapeake, VA - on the coast - using the old S-120 and a random long wire. The letter said I was the farthest east they had ever heard from (Larry N4SEA Fravel, Shinnston, WV, ibid.) ** URUGUAY. The country will return to UT -3 on next March 27. Now DST with UT -2 (Horacio A. Nigro, Montevideo, Uruguay, March 6, dxldyg via DXLD) ** VENEZUELA [non]. Con aceptable sintonía se puede escuchar a Radio Nacional de Venezuela y su Antena Internacional, todos los días de 2300 a 0000 UT por la frecuencia de 13680 kHz, banda de 22 metros. Dirección: Apartado 3979 Caracas, Venezuela. Internacional @ rnv.ve Brindan el siguiente esquema de emisiones en español: 19 a 20 13740 khz (USA)* 20 a 21 9550 KHz (Caribe)* 20 a 21 13680 Khz (Chicago)* 20 a 21 15230 Khz (Buenos Aires)* 20 a 21 17705 Khz (Río)* 21 a 22 11875 khz (Chile)* 23 a 00 13680 Khz (América) todos los días de la semana. (*) solo días domingo. Cabe resaltar que todas las frecuencias antes nombradas también son utilizadas por Radio Habana, Cuba (Manrique Beceiro (Montevideo, Uruguay). March 8, DX LISTENING DIGEST) I haven`t looked for RNV lately, but cutting all but the 2300 broadcast to Sundays only would certainly be new. Their website http://www.rnv.gov.ve/noticias/index.php?act=ST&f=22&t=5173 has not been updated to confirm this, but then it was never updated since launch April 22, 2004 (gh, DXLD) ** VIETNAM [and non]. Hola a tod@s Los amigos de la Voz de Vietnam me han contestado muy amalemente y me dicen que: "Realmente por [el momento tenemos] un personal reducido con solo 4 redactores en espanol y 2 colaboradores que son un argentino y una cubana, no podemos realizar todavia las emisiones en espanol por Internet, esperamos que en un futuro no muy lejano lo hagamos. Por el momento, transmitimos los programas en espanol al exterior en las frecuencias de 6175 Khz (a las 3 y 4 hora UT) y de 7220 y 9550 Khz (a las 21 y 30 hora UT), principalmente para America Latina. Esperamos que nos sintonicen y aporten sus opiniones y surgerencias para asi mejorar nuestros servicios. Puede escribirnos por esta misma direccion tiengnoi_vietnam2004 @ yahoo.es o por btdn.vov@hn.vnn.vn " Por lo que os invito a escuchrles, a mandarles informes de recepción, sugerencias, opiniones, etc. Ya que disponemos de un canal más barato y rápido que el correo postal. Obviamente, deberemos tener paciencia, ya que son escasas las personas que trabajan en su redacción. Un saludo cordial (Pedro Sedano, Madrid, España, Noticias DX via DXLD) ** ZIMBABWE [and non]. On 12 Mar at 1622 SW Radio Africa with nice signal via presumed Ascension on 11845. 6145 was covered by another station and 3230 had only a weakish carrier. Recheck (12 Mar) at 1850 shows SW R Africa on 3230 with weakish signal. Can't tell if there was any jamming, had enough local noise. SW Radio Africa program ended around 1900 and after some dead air Family Radio started their program. Relay via Meyerton (Jari Savolainen, Kuusankoski, Finland, dxldyg via DXLD) Would be interesting to know if ZBC is on SW when SWRA is jammed. If not, while two frequencies jammed, we should know how many txs are there in working condition in Gweru and how many //frequencies SWRA will need (Thorsten Hallmann, Münster, Germany, March 12, DX LISTENING DIGEST) The station began broadcasting to Zimbabwe via shortwave and the internet in 2001. It aimed to "give listeners unbiased information so they can make informed choices...". The Harare government accused the US and Britain of financing the station. It was established by Zimbabwean expatriate broadcasters who were unable to broadcast from within the country. No private stations exist in the country and state-run Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corporation, ZBC, operates the country's only TV and radio stations. Radio is a major source of information for much of the population. Source: BBC Monitoring research 11 Mar 05 (which also quoted DXLD, via DXLD) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ UNSOLICITED TESTIMONIAL +++++++++++++++++++++++ ``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`` NOTE: If you are a regular narcissist PLEASE look in the mirror & say 10 times "I am not god". Regards, Al - (al dudley ....southern md, usa ald at nexet.net) You`re so welcome LANGUAGE LESSONS ++++++++++++++++ GALICIAN In your DX LISTENING DIGEST 5-042, March 9, 2005, you wrote: ``SPAIN [non]. News and sports in Galician from REE at 1345 UT March 9 on 15170 via Costa Rica, as well as all their other frequencies at this hour. I enjoy listening to this curious mixture of Portuguese and Spanish.`` Galician is not a mixture of Portuguese and Spanish. It is a codialect of Portuguese, i.e., Galician and Portuguese are two dialects of the same language. The cradle of this language is the NW of the Iberian Peninsula, a region that corresponds to what is now Galicia and the North and Centre of Portugal. In the following map, you can clearly see the region where Galician-Portuguese was born: http://www.newgenevacenter.org/graphic/maps/barbarian.gif It is a map depicting the invasions that took place in Europe and the Mediterranean after the fall of the Roman Empire. The region is painted green and it has the word "Sueves" on it. This word corresponds to the Suevians, a Barbarian tribe of Germanic origin (the Romans called "Mare Suebicum" to the Baltic), one of the tribes that took part in the invasion of the Roman Empire (the region of SW Germany, from where the Suevians punched through the lines of the Roman border, borrowed its name from them and is now called Swabia). They settled in the NW of the Iberian Peninsula, as you can see, after having expelled the Alans and the infamous Vandals to North Africa. The split between Galician and Portuguese took place in the 12th century, when Portugal became independent. From then on, Galician and Portuguese evolved separately, up until now. Their evolution didn't go far enough, though, to allow us to say that they are two different languages. They aren´t. The language is essentially the same, with two main dialects: Galician and Portuguese. ``sort of like Portuguese spoken with a Castilian accent`` The accent used in the Galician radio and television is Castilian indeed. This is due to the cultural colonization of Galicia by Castile. Not many people in Galicia speak their language with the original accent. ``and lament it only merits 5 minutes a day from this station and zero minutes from any other SW station; maybe if there were a Galician separatist movement some other country would take interest.`` There is a separatist movement in Galicia, but it doesn't use violence. ``Gallegos is a common surname back in New Mexico. I wonder if anyone in those families still speaks Galician, tho their migration probably dates back 400-500 years`` In spite of the fertility of its land and the abundance of fish in its sea, Galicia had in the past the poorest population of all Spain. Throughout the years, millions of Galicians have emmigrated to the Americas, from the USA to Argentina and Chile. Even Fidel Castro descends from a Galician. Greetings (Fernando de Sousa Ribeiro, Oporto, Portugal, DX LISTENING DIGEST) DX-PEDITIONS ++++++++++++ A month ago a Dutch-Belgian group of DX-ers once more made a DXpedition to the famous beverage farm of Wilhelm Herbst in Northern Jutland, Denmark. Conditions were OK. MW was better than during a DXpedition 2 years ago. Their report can be read in Miscellaneous and the best SW loggings in this DX-Window. More details and photos on our website at http://dswci.org/specials/DXpedititions/fjerritslev/ (Anker Petersen, DSWCI DX Window March 9 via DXLD) POWERLINE COMMUNICATIONS ++++++++++++++++++++++++ ``OPPOSITIONS`` TO BPL PETITIONS FOR RECONSIDERATION DUE BY MARCH 23 (Mar 11, 2005) --- Opposition comments (``oppositions``) to the various petitions for reconsideration of the the FCC`s October 14, 2004, Report and Order (R&O) adopting new Part 15 rules governing BPL must be filed by Wednesday, March 23, in the two BPL-related proceedings--ET Docket 03-104 and ET Docket 04-37. A 10-day period to file replies to oppositions will follow. Petitions for reconsideration have been filed by BPL industry groups and proponents as well as by the ARRL and other organizations and individuals concerned about BPL`s interference potential. All petitions for reconsideration are available for viewing via the FCC`s Electronic Comment Filing System (ECFS) http://www.fcc.gov/cgb/ecfs/ Those wishing to file oppositions to specific petitions may use the ECFS to do so, but comments supporting one petition or another are not welcome, ARRL General Counsel Chris Imlay, W3KD, has pointed out. He says radio amateurs may file oppositions on any petition with which they have specific issues, but commenters should support their points with facts and statements. ``All statements should be specific to one or more arguments in a reconsideration petition with which the person filing an opposition disagrees,`` Imlay explained. ``They should not simply say, `I oppose this petition.` `` (ARRL main page via John Norfolk, dxldyg) RADIO EQUIPMENT FORUM +++++++++++++++++++++ RECEIVER REVIEWS AT RADIOINTEL.COM Hi, Jay! I just wanted to compliment you on the neat new things you put on the RadioIntel website! The 5-radio comparison review was most interesting, and I was fascinated by the MotoBras website you linked to. I suspect that their line of portable radios would be quite reasonably priced (though I don't know how the dollar is faring with respect to Brazilian currency these days), and they certainly have an interesting lineup of sets. The digital readout one should be a fun toy, but I also like the various analog models. I was intrigued by them having one that specifically tuned the ham bands, and also there was one that was MW & SW with no FM. I suspect that one is intended for sale in the interior of Brazil, up the Amazon or the like, where there are no local FMs. That lends an air of exotica to the product. Also, they have a page advertising their availability for making dedicated fixed-tuned or specific-coverage radios for giving out by religious or governmental stations to listeners that would be a captive audience. I have continually read references to such radios being distributed at various locations around the world, and this is the first time I've actually seen one pictured and read of a manufacturer that produces them. I noticed some cost-cutting aspects of their line that seem suitable for a manufacturer aiming its products at a lower-income customer base. They seem to use the same plastic housing for many of the radios, and the bandswitch is in a recessed spot in the middle of the radios' back side. That probably lets it be mounted directly on a circuit board in the most cost- advantageous method of construction, trading user convenience for expense. Seems wise to me. I hope one of the importers like Radios4you will pick up this line in addition to their Chinese models. I know that I'm intrigued enough to buy a few of them, and even some for presents if they're cheap enough. If you find any indication of what these radios actually cost, please post that. Regards and thanks, Will Martin PS Feel free to post this on your site if you want and find it suitable. WM (Will Martin, cc to DXLD) Motobras was linked in DXLD months ago (gh) SHORTWAVE IMAGES ON MEDIUMWAVE RADIOS I think this question of SW stations appearing on or about 1710 has popped up on this list a couple of times previously and that apparently there are certain receivers that do have various SW images around this frequency (Ben Danagerfield, PA, March 8, NRC-AM via DXLD) There was a post along these lines on rec.radio.shortwave earlier this week - someone was receiving KAIJ shortwave from Texas at 1610 and Radio Havana on 1700. I think local oscillator harmonics were involved. A bit of engineering school: When your typical inexpensive radio is tuned to 1710, what actually happens is a "local oscillator" is tuned to generate a "dead air" signal on 2165 KHz. This 2165 signal is fed to a "mixer" circuit, along with the 1710 signal from the antenna. The mixer has four outputs: - The 1710 kHz signal from the antenna. - The 2165 kHz signal from the local oscillator. - 2165+1710 = 3875 kHz - 2165-1710 = 455 kHz These four outputs are fed to an "intermediate frequency amplifier". This amplifier contains selective circuits; of the four signals fed from the mixer, only the latter (at 455 kHz) can get through the selective circuits to be amplified and eventually converted to audio. If you decide to listen to 1650 instead of 1710, the local oscillator is shifted from 2165 to 2105 and the four outputs become: - 1650 - 2105 - 2105+1650 = 3765 - 2105-1650 = 455 The intermediate frequency amplifier hasn't been retuned at all, but it still passes only the 455 kHz signal. So now you hear 1650 instead of 1710. ===== The problem in this case is, that the "dead air" signal from the local oscillator isn't perfectly clean. All oscillators have "harmonics", signals on multiples of the desired frequency. The cheaper the oscillator, the stronger the harmonics... So, consider the radio tuned to 1710 and with the local oscillator operating on 2165. This oscillator will also have some output on: - 2165 x 2 = 4330 KHz - 2165 x 3 = 6495 KHz - 2165 x 4 = 8660 KHz etc., etc. I have a hunch. Let's take a look at that second signal, on three times the desired 2165 kHz frequency. And let's take a look at a hypothetical shortwave broadcast signal on 6040 kHz in the 49-meter band. Let's feed those two signals to the mixer and see what we get: - 6040 - 6495 - 6495 + 6040 = 12535 - 6495 - 6040 = 455 Yikes, there's that magic 455 number again! And yes, if there's enough 3rd harmonic signal coming out of the local oscillator, and a strong enough shortwave signal on 6040, you *will* hear that shortwave station at 1710 on the AM dial. ===== Note that this process doesn't require that the radio in question actually be designed to receive shortwave signals. This can happen on BCB-only radios. Also note that the intermediate frequency may vary slightly. 450 and 460 kHz are also common figures. The principle is the same. Some radios may be marked with their intermediate frequency on the back, and the figure is usually printed in the specifications in the instruction manual (Doug Smith W9WI, Pleasant View (Nashville), TN EM66 http://www.w9wi.com ibid.) Also note that the intermediate frequency may vary slightly. 450 and 460 kHz are also common figures. The principle is the same. Some radios (Doug Smith W9WI, ibid.) I chopped a lot of this out for brevity. FWIW every time I have seen this effect, it has been with a 450 kHz IF receiver. My DX-375 is the most notorious. It is easy to determine this. If I tune the DX375 to 1000 kHz, then use a second RX directly next to the DX375, I will hear the local osc signal zerobeat on 1450 kHz signals as heard on the second set. And the same for all related signal pairs such as 1100- 1550. I had this set in 1997 and the x-band was empty then and I was hearing these image signals in the 1650-and-up range. I was in Ireland then (that trip was why I bought that set in the first place) and heard DW in German image on 1683 with the set set to tune in 9k steps. The thing to test for is to hear these signals on an ANALOG-tuning single conversion receiver which presumably has a clean local oscillator, or a really good quality receiver with good antenna tuning to keep SW signals out of the antenna circuit (Bob Foxworth, ibid.) One case reported every so often is Radio Martí showing up on 1710. This happens on inexpensive portables that use a 450 kHz IF. When the radio is tuned to 1710 kHz, the local oscillator is running at 1710+450 = 2160 kHz. The local oscillator in a cheap pootable is prone to putting out harmonics, as well, so that causes problems. Radio Martí has a strong signal on 6030 kHz. This mixes with the local oscillator's harmonics in one or both of the following ways: 6030 - 2 x 2160 = 1710 3 x 2160 - 6030 = 450 Causing the shortwave station to be heard on the radio. A radio with a 455 kHz IF would receive 6040 kHz signals on 1710 (Mike Westfall, Lost Almost NM, ibid.) PROPAGATION +++++++++++ WBCQ 7415 PROPAGATION CONDITIONS Will et all, Give me specific information concerning your observations of propagation conditions on 41 meters and I will tell you what's going on. 73 & GUD DX, (Thomas F. Giella, KN4LF, Retired Space & Atmospheric Weather Forecaster, Plant City, FL, USA, dxldyg via DXLD) This is what I notice here in St. Louis, MO. I hope other people in different locations will post their experiences. 1) There is a LOT of day-to-day variations in evening reception of 7415. WBCQ comes in reliably before sunset on 7415 every afternoon, but then things vary beginning around 7:30 PM local (0130 UT). Some days reception continues perfectly fine. Other days a bit of weakness in the signal is heard around that time, but then it rebounds back to clear after only a few minutes. And then some days reception drops off to absolute unlistenability around that time, with only an occasional word making it thru the noise. I noticed this variability most when listening to the Allan Weiner WorldWide program live on Friday evenings from 0100 to 0200 UT. 2) If the signal continues clear past 0200 UT, then the next stage of variability hits at about 11 PM local (0500 UT). Some days the signal continues strong and clear up till sign-off at 0530 UT (that's the usual sign-off time; some days 7415 is on later and I'll mention that next). Other days the signal which had been clear before that time drops rapidly into the noise. (And the noise is a curious frying/ popping sound that is somewhat different than the usual interstation noise I hear when other SWBC stations I'm listening to sign off; that's always more of a hissing.) It seems to me that, in recent months, I hear a noisy and poor signal in this 0500-0530 UT range more often than I hear a good clear signal. Back some months ago, it was the reverse. However, there are SOME days when the 7415 signal at 0500-0530 UT is perfectly fine, good and clear, up thru the sign-off announcement. 3) Some few days of the week, either according to the program schedule or, at times, with unannounced continued programming, WBCQ continues on 7415 past 0530 UT. Some of those days, the signal has dropped into the noise already. Then, on some of THOSE days, the signal recovers and becomes nice and clear and strong again, maybe around 0630-0700 f UT, and remains decently strong and perfectly listenable until the transmitter is finally taken off-air in the early hours of the morning (maybe 0800 or 0900 UT). This is VERY rare; I think I only recall a couple times that this happened in my hearing. We're talking about combining the very unusual circumstances that the WBCQ people leave the transmitter on late, plus that propagation behaved in that way, plus me having been up and awake and tuned to 7415 in order to notice this happening. Each of those factors reduce the likelihood of this happening and me knowing about it. Hope this helps. I realize that this is all anecdotal and not very exact data, but it's about as good as I can provide. 73, (Will Martin, St Louis, MO, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) I agree with number "1" for sure. I'm in Cleveland (Cainbryan, ibid.) Will et al., During the winter season daytime D layer absorption of the transmitted signal is lower and therefore the lowest usable frequency (LUF) is lower and you are able to hear the WBCQ 7415 in MO from ME via lower take off angles off of the F2 layer. During the summer season at day I would imagine that it is harder for you to hear the station due to increased D layer absorption, with maybe a weaker higher TOA signal arriving in MO. Also during the winter season daytime critical frequencies are higher compared to the summer season and conversely are much lower at night time in winter versus summer. So at some point the critical frequency along the propagation path between MO and ME is going to fall below 7415 kc and you lose reception. Also at some point after dark during the winter season and even during the summer season if the sunspot count is low enough the maximum usable frequency (MUF) along the propagation path between ME and MO will fall below 7415 kc and you will lose reception too. Also at times the critical frequency and maximum usable frequency will oscillate +/- 7415 kc and create all kinds of unwanted propagation effects. And also in the winter season the height of the propagation refracting layers are lowers in height and skip distances shorter, with the opposite occurring in the summer season. Then there is the issue of what happens along the propagation path between MO and ME as the sunset terminator or grayline region moves westward. When the Sun is approximately 6.6 degrees below the horizon the surface of the Earth is no longer illuminated. When the Sun is approximately 14.2 degrees below the horizon the D layer is no longer illuminated. During this period the D layer begins weakening and the signals can get through, this is most pronounced in the summer season. In any event as the signal penetrates the D layer it then encounters the E layer which begins to lower in altitude and has its own critical frequency. During this period of time the transmitted signal undergoes a variety of disruptions. Unfortunately the ionosphere is very heterogeneous, something we have to live with, with its vagaries to many to be listed in this email. Have you been to my website KN4LF HF/MF Radio Propagation Theory Notes at http://www.kn4lf.com/kn4lf8.htm ? Here is a neat website link that shows the F layer critical frequency around the clock at http://www.ips.gov.au/Images/HF%20Systems/North%20Atlantic/Ionospheric%20Map/NorthAtlanticIMap.gif and http://www.ips.gov.au/Images/HF%20Systems/North%20America/Ionospheric%20Map/NorthAmericaIMap.gif I hope I have shed some light on what you are seeing. 73 & GUD DX, (Thomas F. Giella, KN4LF, Retired Space & Atmospheric Weather Forecaster, Plant City, FL, USA, Grid Square EL87WX, Lat & Long 27 58 33.6397 N 82 09 52.4052 W, kn4lf @ arrl.net DX LISTENING DIGEST) ###