DX LISTENING DIGEST 5-081, May 14, 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 Extra 56: Sun 0230 WOR WWCR 5070 Sun 0300 WOR WBCQ 9330-CLSB Sun 0330 WOR WRMI 7385 Sun 0630 WOR WWCR 3210 Sun 0730 WOR World FM, Tawa, Wellington, New Zealand 88.2 Sun 0830 WOR WRN1 to North America, also WLIO-TV Lima OH SAP Sun 0830 WOR KSFC Spokane WA 91.9 Sun 0830 WOR WXPR Rhinelander WI 91.7 91.9 100.9 Sun 0830 WOR WDWN Auburn NY 89.1 [unconfirmed] Sun 0830 WOR KTRU Houston TX 91.7 [occasional] Sun 1200 WOR WRMI 7385 Sun 1300 WOR KRFP-LP Moscow ID 92.5 Sun 1730 WOR WRMI 7385 [from WRN] Sun 1730 WOR WRN1 to North America Sun 1900 WOR Studio X, Momigno, Italy 1584 87.35 96.55 105.55 Sun 2000 WOR RNI Mon 0230 WOR WRMI 7385 Mon 0300 WOR WBCQ 9330-CLSB Mon 0330 WOR WSUI Iowa City IA 910 [1273] Mon 0430 WOR WBCQ 7415 Mon 1600 WOR WBCQ after hours Tue 0600 WOR WPKN Bridgeport CT 89.5 [also WPKM Montauk LINY 88.7] Tue 1600 WOR WBCQ after hours Wed 0930 WOR WWCR 9985 Wed 1600 WOR WBCQ after hours MORE info including audio links: http://worldofradio.com/radioskd.html WRN 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 Extra 56 (high version): (stream) http://www.w4uvh.net/worx56h.ram (download) http://www.w4uvh.net/worx56h.rm [WOR Extra 56 is the same as COM 05-02] WORLD OF RADIO Extra 56 (low version): (stream) http://www.w4uvh.net/com0502.ram (download) http://www.w4uvh.net/com0502.rm (summary) http://www.worldofradio.com/com0502.html WORLD OF RADIO Extra 56 in true shortwave sound of Alex`s mp3: (stream) http://www.dxprograms.net/worldofradio_05-11-05.m3u (download) http://www.dxprograms.net/worldofradio_05-11-05.mp3 ** AFGHANISTAN [non]. Clandestine: 12140, R. Ashna, May 04 1441-1452, 45444 Pushto, Talk, ID at 1445 etc, (Kouji Hashimoto, Japan, Japan Premium via DXLD) As we pointed out in WOR 1244, R. Ashna is merely the Voice of America Afghan service, NOT a clandestine, even if you consider another IBB service, R. Free Afghanistan, to be so; tho this keeps getting mixed in with cland loggings inhabiting this frequency range. Not unless you are making some political statement, in which case many equivalent overt services should also be ``clandestine``. This ought to be filed under USA, but I am putting it here to make this point once again (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ANDAMAN & NICOBAR ISLANDS. Re 5-080: The link to the CNN International video on the Andaman and Nicobar Islands is now blocked. Too many downloads have exceeded the limit for May. See what you've done! They say to try again in June (Jim Renfrew, May 14, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Shux; had not got around to watching it, myself (gh, DXLD) ** ARGENTINA. 5100, AM1710, Buenos Aires, the new Xband station is heard on the true frequency of 1700 kHz. Today, I heard that station on 5100 (1700 x 3) between 1040-1100 UT. Romantic music in Spanish selections. ID and announcement at 1059 as: "mande sus mensajes a través del sitio de nuestra emisora en http://www.am1710.com.ar 34443 (Arnaldo Slaen, Argentina, Noticias DX via DXLD) {no work (gh)} ** ARGENTINA [non]. Radio Argentina Exterior-RAE, 11710, 2319 GMT, Spanish 444, May 3, YL and OM with ongoing comments (Stewart WDX6AA MacKenzie, Huntington Beach CA, Japan Premium et al., via DXLD) NO, this must have been HCJB, which on that date had not yet shifted to 11720. Ironically, DX Partyline reads out Stewart`s loggings uncritically, and at 26:35 into this week`s show this log appeared as ``Argentina``, tho the May 14 edition also announced the HCJB frequency changes as of May 9, but Allen did not explain why! (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** BOLIVIA. Célio, não sei onde ouvi falar da Radio Estambul, da Bolívia, em 4498 kHz. Pois ontem à noite (11-05) às 2255 UT ouvi essa emissora, com música romântica mexicana, e depois uma identificação que ouvi parcialmente, devido a muitos ruídos: "En su onda corta, Estambul. Nuestros estudios ubicados en ... esquina Flores...". 73! Portera (José Moacir Melo, Brazil, May 12, via Célio Romais, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Estambul station owner and manager is César Yamal Aulo. Source: journalist Jorge Melgar Rioja (Henrik Klemetz, Sweden, dxing.info via DXLD) ** BRAZIL. 4985, R. Brasil Central, form letter in broken English on Agecom letterhead with general veri statement, list of calls, frequencies, powers; also a folder about Goiás, and a partially completed prepared card (had name, frequency, date, signature). V/S Sílvio José da Silva, Gerente Executivo da RBC. Received via registered mail, 6 months after first follow-up, 18+ months total, CD both times, mint stamps (unused) first time. URL is http://www.rbcfm.com Email rbc @ agecom.go.gov.br Return address penned on envelope and shown on letter: Rua SC-1 No. 299, Parque Santa Cruz, CEP 74.860-270, Goiânia, GO, Brasil (Jerry Berg, MA, DX-plorer via RNM via DXLD) ** BRAZIL. 5990, Radio Senado, Brasília, 1028-1032, May 12, Portuguese, Local songs, program conducted by male and female, talk about the Goiás history, ID as: "...aqui, na Senado", short talk about ecology, 24442 (Arnaldo Slaen, Argentina, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ``Senado`` is of course masculine, but the ``na`` refers to the understood ``rádio`` which is, despite the -o ending, feminine (gh) ** CHINA. While tuning 31 mb yesterday afternoon I came across Firedrake (the crash & bang band) on 9335 at 1735 UT. I couldn't hear any other station underneath and wonder if the jammer had been wrongly tuned. Or, is this another new IBB channel? I can't find a user at that time (Noel R. Green-UK, wwdxc BC-DX May 4 via DXLD) 9335 --- see VOK schedule, its Korean service on air from Pyongyang. But why China Mainland should jam the neighbours. I guess the jamming transmitter is on a parking position outside the 31 mb for further use from 1800 UT (Wolfgang Büschel, ibid.) ** CONGO DR. 5066.5, R. Candip (Presumed), May 08 1611-1618+, [part of SINPO:] 1532, Talk, 1618 faded out (Kouji Hashimoto, Japan, Japan Premium via DXLD) ** CUBA. Whoopee, a new DX target on UHF 64 from Cuba; I suppose this was from CubaNet, not attributed here (gh) El sábado 30 de abril quedó inaugurado el canal televisivo CNTV en el centro norte de Cuba. Con un diseño infantil, pésimo guión y escenografía de la década de los años 50 del siglo pasado, comenzó a las 6 de la tarde de ese día la programación que trasmitirá por al canal 64 de la banda de UHF. La programación comenzó con un discurso de un dirigente partidista sobre los logros de la revolución y un documental comunitario de paisajes urbanos y marítimos. Se realizaron comentarios sobre periódicos y folletos que se editaban en Caibarién en la época pre revolucionaria, así como un recuento de la fundación de la ciudad, la Iglesia Católica, el ayuntamiento y la banda municipal de conciertos. Ramón Martín, vecino de la ciudad, precisó que el canal CNTV y sus directivos omitieron presentar la destrucción del puerto, el estado de los hoteles, las condiciones antihigiénicas del hospital local, las malolientes zanjas, las viviendas apuntaladas, el escaso transporte público, los salideros de agua y las plagas de mosquitos. "La falta de información en la localidad es abrumadora, no tenemos ni un periódico nuestro. ¿Es acaso eso un logro?", precisó Martín, quien añadió "El canal CNTV es un medio más de difusión del totalitarismo". (via Oscar de Cespedes, Estados Unidos, Conexión Digital via DXLD) ** DENMARK [non]. Re 5-080: Dear Stig Hartvig Nielsen, World Music Radio (WMR) --- Regarding the reception report, which sent to you last week. Actually mistakenly our club correspondent note this details from the local dx magazine and sent it to you. On that day evening I scold him for sending the wrong reception report to you. Actually on that day I monitor on 1315-1320 at 15810 KHz, some music were came and I noted that one in our Monitor Book like this ``Some music were broadcast on this frequency with the announcement`` and I wrote one note to Club Correspondent, like this --- check it out the station and send the reception report. This is actually happened on that day, we apologies for the wrong reception report sent it to you. Now I came to know that particular frequency were using by Radio Cairo Indonesian Section (1315-1450). 73’s, Yours truly, (Jaisakthivel, Ardic DX Club, India, to WMR, cc to DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ECUADOR. There were to be obstacle studies and RF studies of the Pifo transmitter site`s impact on the new Quito airport, but the obstacle studies are such that we probably won`t go on to the RF studies. Lowering towers to get them out of restricted airspace may not be an option, but still being studied. Options are to move to another site or rent time from other stations. Coastal site at Santa Elena is still a slight option, but operational costs would rise significantly, having to pay commercial price for power, rather than using own hydro plant near Pifo. When you reach a certain (smaller) size it makes sense to rent time elsewhere with lower overhead costs (Doug Weber, Director of Radio, for Latin America region, HCJB DX Partyline May 14, notes by gh for DX LISTENING DIGEST) I had been thinking there were two different guys, Doug Weaver and Doug Weber, but I think there is only the latter, pronounced WEE-ber (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ECUADOR. Quito 12/5 2005 *** Thursday edition: *** New recording of 4909.28 Radio Chaskis, Otavalo. I have received a long, very nice mail from the owner of the new Ecuadorian station Radio Chaskis: Luis Enrique Cachiguango Cotacachi. Thank you very much for your information, Señor Luis! You can read this mail and also listen to a new recording of the station. There is an ID for Chaskis, Otavalo 4910 kHz and also a recorded ID for Chaskis, Ibarra 950 kHz. Both stations have the same owner. The station is active most days with Ecuadorian and also some Peruvian music. Comments, photos and recordings at: http://www.malm-ecuador.com 73s (Björn Malm, Quito, Ecuador, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Viz.: 4909.28, Radio Chaskis, Otavalo / Imbabura (Ecuador). cd 0300 UT. 05/2005. Close down ceremony. Luis Enrique Cachiguango Cotacachi: "Estimados Amigos Radio Escuchas. La radio Chaskis del Norte de Imbabura- Ecuador, se complace en responder a sus inquietudes, que con mucho agrado hemos recibido sus comunicaciones a través de nuestro correo electrónico; es placentero saber que muchos amigos escuchan nuestra estación en los 4910 khz y en diferentes países del mundo. A pesar de que estamos iniciando ya que al momento estamos a pruebas con nuestra señal, nuestro afán es poder compartir con todos ustedes de las riquezas de informaciones social, cultural, deportivo, musical de nuestro querido país que es Ecuador. Nuestras oficinas está ubicado en la ciudad de Otavalo, en la Calle Bolívar 805 y Juan Montalvo, Otavalo -Ecuador Sud América, telefonos: 00593-62920256 / 00593-62920-922. Quienes estamos al frente de la radio, somos gente indígena autóctona de Otavalo, ciudad de artesanías; nuestro idioma oficial es Kichwa y también hablamos el idioma español. Estimado Amigo(a) solicitamos se siga comunicando con nosotros, sobre todo escríbanos los horarios en la que escuchas nuestra emisora con una señal clara, porque queremos seguir mejorando nuestro servicios y además espero que nos envíes tu dirección completa y teléfonos con el respectivo código de tu país. Saludos para todos ustedes Luis Enrique Cachiguango Cotacachi GERENTE RADIO CHASKIS DEL NORTE IMBABURA - ECUADOR". QTH-Info: "Otavalo, two hours north of Quito on the Panamerican highway, is a small town of about 50,000 inhabitants and home to the famous Otavalo Indians. It lies at 2,530 meters in a spring-like valley, situated between the Imbabura volcano (4,609 meters) and the Cotacachi volcano (4,939 meters). The people of Otavalo possess an excellent work ethic and it shows! There is now a handicraft market everyday. The Saturday market is the largest and most famous market in Ecuador and there you'll find virtually every handicraft being produced in the country. However, many travelers prefer the somewhat quieter market on Wednesday or the daily market. In the many surrounding Indian villages, including Peguche, Illuman, Agato, San Roque and Carabuela one may visit the workshops of local weavers working on backstrap and Spanish treadle looms, as well as other artisans at work making felt hats, knitting sweaters or weaving straw mats. One may tour the many lakes in the province: San Pablo Lake, the largest, which is surrounded by many Indian communities, and offers lovely boat cruises; Cuicocha Lake, a half-hour from Otavalo, with its deep blue waters; the Mojanda Lakes, an impressive and unspoiled natural setting where condors have been seen; and the famous Yaguarcocha Lake, called the "lake of blood" because of the famous Inca battles fought there, located near the colonial city of Ibarra. You may also shop for leather crafts in the town of Cotacachi, for woodcarvings". (via Björn Malm`s website via DXLD) Quito 13/5 2005 *** Friday edition: *** 4910 kHz, Radio Chaskis del Norte logged in Caledonia, NY (John Herkimer). Thanks, John, for your very nice mail and recording of Chaskis! I have sent information about your logging to the owner of Chaskis: Luis Enrique Cachiguango Cotacachi. Comments, photos and recordings at: http://www.malm-ecuador.com 73s (Björn Malm, Quito, Ecuador, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ERITREA. The Voice of Tigray Revolution was received in Sofia from 1540 hours on 6350 and 5500 kHz, and not on 7515 kHz as announced elsewhere (Rumen Pankov, R. Bulgaria DX program May 13 via John Norfolk, dxldyg via DXLD) ** GREECE [and non]. Dear sir, thank you very much for your kind message. Thank you also for your encouraging remarks. On the 7th of May, the broadcast was dedicated, as you heard, to Hellenic Education in the US. This Saturday, the 14th the presentations will be from HEC as I have written in my previous e-mail. I apologize for the confusion, I was not able to edit the program on time, so I had to air the show with the Hellenic Education. I am also open to suggestions for presentations in the program, if you have any. Looking forward to you reply. Filika, (Katerina Thanasoula, V. of Greece via John Babbis, DXLD) Sat 1400-1500 on 9775 via Delano (gh, DXLD) ** GUYANA. RADIO BROADCASTING IN GUYANA Radio broadcasts were started in Guyana (then British Guiana) in the 1920s by a number of enthusiasts. In 1926, just 4 years after the British Broadcasting Company (later the British Broadcasting Corporation) started regular broadcasting in Britain, there was a small wired service that relayed broadcasts, especially from the BBC's Daventry transmitter, over the Georgetown telephone system. From 1927, however, experimental short wave broadcasts (on 47 meters and later on 43.86 meters) were introduced for two hours a week. This lasted until 1931 when economic considerations brought the effort to an end. In 1935, broadcasts were resumed in order to receive commentaries on the current MCC cricket matches. They were so successful that two radio stations VP3BG and VP3MR were established and operated on a commercial basis until they merged in May 1938 to form the British Guiana United Broadcasting Co. Ltd. (operating station ZFY). Station ZFY operated from the main post office in Georgetown until the post office was destroyed in the fire Great Fire of Georgetown in February 1945. The radio station was then moved to North Road and New Garden Street, near to the Bourda cricket ground. The building that housed the studio was a reconditioned dwelling house west of the present Our Lady of Fatima Roman Catholic church. The radio station was shut down early those days - at 9.00 p.m.- with John Phillip Sousa's Washington Post March. Interestingly, ZFY had a significant Trinidad audience. For many Trinidadians, it was the main or only source of religious broadcasts and of Indian musical entertainment. Even after September 1947, when Radio Trinidad inaugurated, ZFY retained a sizeable Trinidadian listenership. A medium-wave transmitter was added to the existing short-wave transmitter in 1949. In July 1950, the controlling interest of ZFY was purchased by Overseas Rediffusion Ltd., and for the first time foreign capital was involved in local radio. Some improvements were made, and in 1951 the station became Radio Demerara. There was a great leap forward in 1955, however, when Radio Demerara moved from North Road into professionally built studios on High Street, Georgetown. The ancient equipment was discarded and Radio Demerara used the best available at that time. A new transmitting and receiving station built at Sparendaam came into operation in 1957. Under the terms of its license, Radio Demerara was required to broadcast BBC material for 21 hours a week, and Colonial Government programs for 10 ½ hours a week. In December 1958, a second radio station B.G.B.S. (the British Guiana Broadcasting Service) was opened at Broadcasting House on High Street. This station offered a choice of programs for listeners. A spirit of friendly rivalry was encouraged between staffs of the stations, but not in the sense of providing similar competing programs at the same time. B.G.B.S. placed emphasis on special events and sports coverage allowing the uninterrupted broadcast on Radio Demerara of its regular programs. 0n October 1, 1968, the Guyana Government took over the B.G.B.S. facilities, operating the station as G.B.S. (the Guyana Broadcasting Service). The station soon began calling itself Action Radio, to indicate that it was doing great new things in radio. Guyana Broadcasting Corporation The Guyana Broadcasting Corporation was officially inaugurated on May 1, 1979, following the acquisition by the Guyana Government of the assets of Radio Demerara. With effect from January 1 of that year, the holding company of the Rediffusion organization, Broadcasting Relay (Overseas) Limited, operating through the Guyana Broadcasting Co. Ltd., sold Radio Demerara to the Government, which carried on the operation of the station without a break in service. On July 1, 1980, the Guyana Broadcasting Corporation emerged with its new image of "One Station, two Channels." Channel 1, the "general channel" operated on the frequencies formerly used by Radio Demerara - 760 KHz in the medium-wave band. Channel 2, the "regional channel" used the facilities formerly allocated to station G.B.S. -560 KHz on the medium-wave band. Later, Channel 1 became Radio Roraima (RR) and Channel 2 was renamed Voice of Guyana (VOG). 98.1 Hot FM went on the air in October, 1998. On 1st March 2004, the Guyana Broadcasting Corporation (GBC) and the Guyana Television Broadcasting Company Limited (GTV) merged to form a new company, National Communication Network Incorporated (NCN Inc.). (all from http://www.silvertorch.com/g_radio_bcast.htm via Conexión Digital May 14 via DXLD) ** INDONESIA. 3325, RRI-Palangkaraya May 08 1415-1425 43443 Indonesian, Local news, ID at 1418. 3344.81, RRI-Ternate May 08 1425-1440 1454-1458* 45433-45443 Indonesian, Telephone-talk-back and music, ID at 1436 and 1456, Closing announce, Love ambon, 1458 sign off. 3976, RRI-Pontianak May 08 1355-1405 44444 Indonesian, 1359 IS, ID at 1300, Local news. 4604.98, RRI-Serui May 08 1240-1303 44444 Indonesian, Talk and music. 4925, RRI-Jambi May 08 1405-1415 44343 Indonesian, Music and talk, ID at 1407 (Kouji Hashimoto, Japan, Japan Premium via DXLD) 4604.96, RRI Serui at 1200-1245 on May 3. Vocal music; ID at 1203 as "Radio Rebublik Indonesia Serui...," then joined Jak program in progress; returned to local programming at 1218 with older C&W vocals with no announcements until about 1245. Good signal. 4749.98, RRI Makassar noted May 1-3 around 1200-1300 either off the air or extremely weak. They are usually the strongest tropical band Indo here. Possibly a very weak carrier on 4749.98 but hard to tell with weak stations on 4750/4750.1 adding to the mix (John Wilkins, CO, DXplorer May 5 via BCDX via DXLD) ** IRAN. V. of Justice, 9495.51, May 7 0147-0230*, tune-in to English news programs, IDs. 0225 sign-off announcements with sked, address and lite instrumental music. Slightly off-frequency as was \\ 11875.01, both very good and in the clear, with one- or two-second time delay between frequencies. Cuba not on 11875 tonight. Next night, May 8, Iran back on 9495.0 and Cuba back on 11875 completely dominating the frequency with no sign of Iran on 11875 (Brian Alexander, Mechanicsburg PA, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Per EiBi A-05, 9495 is Kamalabad site, 11875 is Sirjan (gh, DXLD) ** IRELAND. Glenn, The decision by Worldspace to start charging for their services clearly illustrates the wrong decision RTÉ made last year on withdrawing their daily short wave broadcasts. In Africa alone there are thousands of Irish religious, governmental and non- governmental aid workers, hundreds of Irish troops serving with the UN peace keeping forces and in South Africa alone there are thousands of Irish passport holders. This is also true of other areas around the globe. I have also noticed that RTÉ have quietly reduced their feed to the North American service of WRN which was increased following their withdrawal from short wave. Can I ask people who would like to see RTÉ return to short wave to please e-mail their views to hearus @ rte.ie and hopefully people power will rule once more! Kind regards, (Paul Guckian, Co Clare, Ireland, May 14, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** KOREA NORTH. Looking at the JA 50 MHz cluster today I spotted this: 48250, H5 5 x 9650, Korea DPR, Heard on May 10 2005 at 2330z by JE7IDA. Quite a catch and I presume by Sporadic-E; the band has been very good between Korea and Japan the last couple of days, 599 reports for JA beacons on 50 MHz band into South Korea. 73 (Dave Vitek, SA, harmonics yg via DXLD) ** KURDISTAN. 4850, Voice of Iranian Kurdistan at +0151-0203+ on Apr 7. Kurdish songs non-stop warming up to the sign-on hymn at 0200 and usual Kurdish ID "Aira dengi Kurdestana Irana". Very weak at first, but picked up a bit up to the hour. This is ex 4860 kHz and one hour earlier than the *0250 reg in DBS. In fact a very quick ID also at 0158 UT (Finn Krone, Denmark, wwdxc BC-DX May 7 via DXLD) ** MALDIVE ISLANDS [non]. GERMANY, 12015, Minivan R. via DTK, May 04 1651-1700*, 33333 Vernacular, Music, ID at 1653 and 1654 (Kouji Hashimoto, Japan, Japan Premium via DXLD) I suppose the I = 3 was due to VOK co-channel (gh, DXLD) ** MEXICO. AND ABOUT THE "OLD" XTRA: Heard for decades in SoCal over XETRA/690, blasting forth from just across the border in Tijuana, Mexico. Clear Channel is now renting out this 77,500 watt signal to give a home to its Adult Standards format, as "690 The Lounge". This all ends no later than next year, under fairly new FCC regs, which now count the arrangement as constituting a full-blown San Diego station --- while CC already owns eight (the maximum) of its own U.S.- licensed stations in SD. 690 has featured English-lingo formats since the 1950's, first as Rocker XEAK, later as Earth's first All-News station. Current owners have sold this beast to Madrid-based Grupo Prisa, which publishes Spain's largest newspaper, and owns or programs some 1,000 stations in Europe and Latin America, as well as WSUA/1260 in Miami. GP is affiliated with Mexico's largest broadcaster Televisa; speculation is that programming will consist of Spanish language News- talk, possibly originating at Televisa's giant 250,000 watt flagship, XEW/900 in Mexico City (Greg Hardison, Broadcast Band Update May 14 via DXLD) The entire UD appears in the dxldyg ** MONACO. 8728 --- Bei Radio Monte Carlo hat es heute Morgen einen Schaltfehler gegeben. Sie betreiben unter dem Rufzeichen 3AC auch die Kuestenfunkstation Monaco Radio. Statt des Seewetterberichts fuer das Mittelmeer um 0715 UT in SSB auf 8728 kHz strahlten sie eine Sendung von Trans World Radio in Englisch aus, parallel zu 9870 kHz. Was der Seemann wohl denkt, wenn er statt des Seewetterberichts nur noch etwas ueber die Prophezeiungen aus dem Buch Salomo hoert? Anruf den Klabautermanns? (Klaus Spielvogel, Germany, A-DX May 11 via BCDX May 13 via DXLD) Klasse Du QSL Glueckspilz. Koenntest ja mal nach einer richtigen Monte Carlo QSL anfragen, denn der 8728 Beam steht unten am Hafen auf monegassischem Staatsgebiet. Die MW und KW Anlagen liegen ja leider 1 km noerdlich der Grenze auf franzoes. Gebiet. 8728 hoert man in Italien und Spanien mit dem nassen Finger tagtaeglich (Wolfgang Büschel, ibid.) ** NEPAL. 5005.3, R. Nepal, May 8 1506-1528, 44444, Nepali and English, Music and news, ID at 1527 (Kouji Hashimoto, Japan, Japan Premium via DXLD) ** NETHERLANDS. R. London on 1395: see UK [non] ** OKLAHOMA [non]. The real KCRC is here in Enid on 1390, but now there`s an imposter in Chico, California. KCSC 90.1 in Edmond OK also has an imposter out there. Why can`t they think up some unique, unduplicated call letters??? For example if you`re not really on the AIR, it doesn`t have to start with K! (gh) THE FUTURE OF RADIO --- By Cosmo Garvin Professor B.J. Snowden runs the Cosumnes River College (CRC) communications media department and advises the student DJs at KCRC -- - which is webcast only at http://www.kcrcriverradio.org CRC`s is the only program in the region offering an associate`s degree in radio production, preparing students to break into the broadcast industry. We talked with Snowden about KCRC, the training program and what makes great radio. . . http://www.newsreview.com/issues/sacto/2005-05-12/fifteen.asp (Sacramento News & Review May 12 via Sheldon Harvey, DXLD) ** PERU. 6172.94, Radio Tawantinsuyo, Cusco, 1022-1027, May 12, Quechua/Spanish, TC: "las 5 y 27 minutos en todo el Perú", ID by male: "....en Radio Tawantinsuyo...", 42432. 6192.88, Radio Cusco, Cusco, 1016-1021, May 12, Quechua/Spanish, very nice huaynos, ID by male as: "Radio Cusco... Radio Cusco...", TC and announcement by male: "5 de la mañana con 19 minutos... fue el Grupo Ciento Uno", 24432 (Arnaldo Slaen, Argentina, Noticias DX via DXLD) ** PERU. Radio La Hora (4856.2v): Nice f/d card, paper pennant, 1 sesquimonth. v/s : Edmundo Montesinos Gallo, Gerente General & Carlos Gamarra Moscoso, Director de Frecuencias (Takeshi SEJIMO, Japan, Radio Nuevo Mundo May 2 via DXLD) ** ROMANIA. "Saftitza:" Some broadcasts of RRI are now transmitted from a site designated as "Saftitza" with 50 kW. All other services are presumably from the long-established sites of Tiganeshti and Galbeni. The "Saftitza" services are listed as: 1500- 1530 on 7210 in Ukrainian, 1530-1600 on 7135 in Serbian, 1600-1630 on 7135 in Aromanian (Roumanian dialect), 1630-1700 on 7135 in Italian, 1700-1730 on 7240 in Ukrainian, 1730-1800 on 7240 in Serbian, 1800- 1830 on 7235 in Aromanian, 1830-1900 on 7130 in Serbian, 1900-1930 on 7175 in Ukrainian, 1930-2000 on 6110 in Serbian, 2000-2030 on 6175 in Aromanian, and 2030-2100 on 6045 in Italian (Radio Bulgaria Monitoring reports, Apr 29, WBM, DXplorer May 8 via BC-DX via DXLD) There are some misunderstandings in this item. "Saftica" (spelled this way in Romanian and pronounced "Saftika", not "Saftitza" like it would be in Slavic languages) is the old part of the twin-site Tiganeshti- Saftica near Bucharest. Transmitter details and coordinates of the sites, see http://www.tdp.info/rou.html In the HFCC file, transmissions from Saftica are included as "TIG" (Tiganeshti) since this is a unified site. Saftica is the only Romanian site with 50 kW transmitters and these transmissions with 50 kW have been from Saftica for decades (labelled as "TIG" in the HFCC records from the start). (Bernd Trutenau, Lithuania, Dxplorer May 9 via BC-DX via DXLD) ** RUSSIA. RUSSIAN GAS MONOPOLY TO LAUNCH NEW RADIO STATION IN MOSCOW | Text of report by Russian Ekho Moskvy radio on 12 May [Presenter] A new radio station is about to appear in Russia. It is a part of the Gazprom-Media holding. They have not found a name for the radio station yet. Its editor-in-chief, Aleksandr Gerasimov, told us about what it would be like. [Aleksandr Gerasimov] It will be a Moscow radio station which will work for the capital and the [Moscow] region, a radio station which will, of course, report on news. The balance of federal, world and city news will be approximately equal. It will be a station both for successful and well-to-do people, well-to-do both financially and morally. [Presenter] The new radio station will broadcast on 90.8 FM frequency, which the Troyka radio broadcasts on now. The new radio station is planning to start working by the end of the year. Source: Ekho Moskvy radio, Moscow, in Russian 1800 gmt 12 May 05 (via BBCM via DXLD) TFK! ** SOUTH CAROLINA [non]. Re 5-069: Rechecked Brother Scare`s SW schedule page http://www.overcomerministry.org/SW/ a fortnight later, May 12, and it`s still a total loss, with WRMI still showing on defunct 6870, wrong times and frequencies on WWCR. If God were really in contact with BS, He would no doubt make sure His schedule were perfectly accurate (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** SUDAN [non]. 7999.35, V. of Sudan, May 08 1528-1558*, 25442-35333, Arabic, IS, ID, Opening announce, talk and local music, 1558 sign off (Kouji Hashimoto, Japan, Japan Premium via DXLD) Way out-of-band, easily overlooked and I confess to not habitually tuning across 8000 in routine bandscans. Besides, the FRG-7 and others have birdies on even MHz (gh, DXLD) ** SWITZERLAND. SENATE COMMISSION DISCUSSES SWISSINFO FATE 14. May 2005, 03:00, Swissinfo The Senate's foreign affairs commission says it places a high value on the international mandate of the Swiss Broadcasting Corporation (SBC), filled by swissinfo. Friday's statement comes in response to a decision by the SBC in March that it would axe up to 80 jobs and eight language services at swissinfo, leaving only a reduced English department. The commission also called for a comprehensive debate to be held in the Senate on the future of swissinfo/Swiss Radio International. Members had previously heard arguments on how the restructuring could affect the Swiss abroad and Switzerland's image internationally. The commission is not the first to debate the future of swissinfo. Two key commissions in the House of Representatives have already spoken out against the proposed cuts. The House's foreign affairs committee said it was against "radical" cutbacks, arguing that the news portal should be a priority for the SBC. The traffic and communications commission demanded that the government should pay half of swissinfo's budget, and that this should be enshrined in the new radio and television law, due to be debated in the House in the autumn. Funding model The commissions are trying to iron out differences between the two chambers, with the House wanting the government to fund swissinfo "as a rule" while the Senate favours periodic agreements to be negotiated between the government and the SBC. The SBC said it was forced to restructure swissinfo after the government decided to end funding for the international service by the end of 2005. If the plan goes ahead, swissinfo's German, French and Italian services would be produced by the SBC's regional units, and the Arabic, Spanish, Portuguese, Chinese and Japanese departments would be cut. However, the SBC president, Jean-Bernard Münch, has said the corporation may reconsider its plan if government funding were to return. "We won't, however, return to the swissinfo as it is today," he warned. The cutbacks have been harshly criticised by the Council of the Swiss Abroad, which represents the interests of more than 600,000 expatriates. swissinfo's public council --- which assesses whether the site is carrying out its mandate --- has also condemned the decision. Staff at swissinfo are fighting to keep the service open. swissinfo ====================================================================== Diesen Artikel finden Sie auf NZZ Online unter: http://www.nzz.ch/2005/05/14/eng/article5781285.html Copyright (c) Neue Zürcher Zeitung AG (via Martin Gallas, DXLD) ** SYRIA. R. Damascus, 9330, *2005-2210* May 7, English sign-on with sked, news programs, local music. Very weak, barely audible under a strong WBCQ, which is in reduced carrier LSB. Much better on \\ 12085. 9330 not a good frequency for Syria (Brian Alexander, Mechanicsburg PA, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Only once was I able to detect something under WBCQ, even using USB; did you do that? (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** TAIWAN. A religious radio station broadcasting in Mandarin Chinese called "TWBM - Trans World Broadcasting Ministry" has occupied 11940 kHz between 1300 and 1400 UT every day since April. The station broadcasts a program named "Youth Left No Regret" (in Mandarin the program's name is "Qingchun Bu Liubai") during that hour. It is interesting that the new station on shortwave also calls itself "Trans World …", which makes us think of the famous TWR - Trans World Radio. As we know, KTWR via Guam i.e. KTWR uses a Mandarin radio ID "Huanqiu Guangbo Diantai". The new station's Mandarin ID is "Huanqiu Guangbo" which is equal to "Trans World Broadcasting". Now there is no proof that the two "Trans World …"s have direct relations. TWBM appears to have an HQ in California, USA and an office in Kaohsiung, Taiwan. TWBM buys shortwave transmitting time from CBS and its schedule is: TWBM, 11940 kHz, 1300-1400 UTC, 1234567, Mandarin, Taipei (via CBS facilities), 100 kW You can find more about TWBM on its own homepage: http://www.twbm.com I am a shortwave broadcast DXer in Mainland China. (Eric Zhou, Nanjing, Welcome to http://bcl.bbs.net May 14, dxing.info via DXLD) US Office: E-Mail contact @ twbm.com Phone . (925) 283-0210 FAX . (650) ------- Mail . 1 Spruce Street, Millbrae CA 94030 (from http://www.twbm.com/english/index.htm via DXLD) Also has a link to Voice International = CVC (gh) ** TUNISIA. I heard 7275 and 7190 on air today at 0500 UT but they had gone by 0600. Now I'm hearing 17735 & 15450 at 1100 UT, so it seems that transmissions may have moved one hour earlier - due summertime? The next to try is for when 17 & 15 go off and 12005 9720 and 7225 come on air (Noel R. Green-UK, wwdxc BC-DX May 12 via DXLD) Earlier item said Tunisia went on DST this year, unlike previously (gh, DXLD) ** U K. Radio slot --- Guardian --- With reference to your recent report (Harold Evans poised to take over Cooke's Letter From America slot, May 12), we are currently in negotiations with Harry Evans to become part of a pool of significant commentators and journalists who will, in turn, deliver A Point Of View, the replacement programme for Letter From America. I think Brian Walden has done a splendid job delivering the first run of A Point Of View. Judging by the hundreds of emails a week his talks have generated, his many listeners think so too. I expect to be offering Brian Walden another run of A Point Of View and Brian has indicated he is keen. Mark Damazer Controller, BBC Radio 4 Guardian Unlimited © (Saturday May 14, 2005 Letters, Guardian Newspapers Limited 2005 via Dan Say, DXLD) So they will have rotating contributors, it seems (gh) ** U K. BBC JOURNALISTS, TECHNICIANS TO STRIKE FOR THREE DAYS LONDON (AP) -- British Broadcasting Corp. journalists and technicians will stage three days of strikes to protest thousands of job cuts, union officials said Thursday. The decision by members of three unions to strike on May 23, 31 and June 1 threatens to disrupt some BBC programming. Union officials said a fourth walkout will be announced later. "We will aim to cause the greatest amount of disruption possible to highlight our anger at the scale of job cuts and our concern about the effect these will have on the future of the BBC," said Gerry Morrissey, assistant general secretary of the broadcasting workers' union Bectu. "We expect overwhelming support for the strikes and we hope the BBC will return to the negotiating table to discuss these unacceptable job cuts with us." Members of Bectu and the National Union of Journalists voted overwhelmingly in favor of strikes earlier this week. They are angered by the announcement by BBC Director General Mark Thompson in March that the corporation is shedding 2,050 jobs, in addition to 1,730 previously announced, out of a work force of about 28,000. The corporation is hoping the cuts will help it to make savings of some 355 million pounds (US$640 million; C532 million). A BBC spokesman said Thursday that the unions "have not allowed us to talk to them in order to address their concerns, (so) we are not surprised by the ballot result, but we are disappointed because we would prefer to continue constructive discussions with them." But Jeremy Dear, general secretary of the National Union of Journalists, said it was the BBC that was opposed to negotiations. "It is time for BBC management to stop lecturing staff and start listening to their concerns," he said. "A staggering one in five jobs is under threat. Quality and standards cannot possibly survive such an onslaught." (APws 05/12 0823 via Mike Cooper, DXLD) BBC STRIKE OVER JOB CUTS THREATENS COVERAGE OF WIMBLEDON AND OPEN http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2005/05/12/nbbc12.xml&sSheet=/portal/2005/05/12/ixportal.html (via Joel Rubin, swprograms via DXLD) I haven't read anything regarding a WS strike threat -- I believe the groups are covered by separate contracts -- such a disruption could affect reports fed to the World Service (Richard Cuff / Allentown, PA USA, May 13, swprograms via DXLD) ** U K. "Watch our promotional video which explains what we do and how our material is used by our readers, including journalists and MPs. The video shows how BBC Monitoring helps make sense of the clutter of information available via the press, radio, television and increasingly via the web. Users comment on how our material helps them put world events into context." This is a very interesting video that lasts just over 5 minutes and can be seen at http://www.monitor.bbc.co.uk/aboutus_movie.shtml (Mike Terry, dxldyg via DXLD) ** U K. CLASSICAL MUSIC FOR TOTS May 12 2005, Matthew Moore, Western Mail THEY might be too young to walk and talk, but if a national radio station has its way no baby will miss out on the educational benefits of classical music. Following the popularity of their Music for Babies CD - now enjoying its seventh week at the top of the classical charts - Classic FM is linking up with children's charity Youth Music to open the ears of under-fives to the likes of Debussy, Handel and Bach. . . http://icwales.icnetwork.co.uk/0100news/0200wales/tm_objectid=15506746&method=full&siteid=50082&headline=classical-music-for-tots-name_page.html (via Sheldon Harvey, DXLD) ** U K [non]. Radio enthusiasts here are keeping a watch on 1395 kHz, which is expected to spring into life on Saturday when Sir Cliff Richard OBE opens Big L - Radio London. This much-anticipated service was licensed in July 2003 for 1008 kHz, but only made a few short test transmissions. The transmitter is now used by Radio 10 Gold. Radio London has been testing on Sky Digital channel 940 for the past couple of months, but now claims to be ready for a full launch. In my opinion, launching a radio station that pretends to be one from 40 years ago seems a risky strategy, and that's the subject of my commentary this week: Trying to Turn the Clock Back Are there are enough oldies like me interested in listening to a 1960's style radio station? And even if there are, will there be enough advertisers targeting our generation to make such an operation commercially viable? http://www2.rnw.nl/rnw/en/features/media/mna050512.html?view=Standard (Andy Sennitt, Media Network newsletter May 12 via DXLD) TWO DUTCH MEDIUMWAVE FREQUENCIES COME TO LIFE Two Dutch mediumwave frequencies that were licenced almost two years ago have been on the air with test transmissions in the past 24 hours. Radio Waddenzee/Radio Seagull have started testing on 1602 kHz from their new transmitter site at Finkum in North Friesland. The tests are still on very low power, but reception has been reported in the east of the Netherlands. Regular transmissions with the full licensed power of 1 kW are expected by 1 July 2005 at the latest. Meanwhile, there have also been tests yesterday evening from the transmitter at Trintelhaven on 1395 kHz which is due to start regular broadcasts tomorrow. This frequency will carry programming in English from Big L - Radio London. The power is believed to be around 20 kW. # posted by Andy @ 07:44 UT May 13 (Media Network blog via DXLD) Hi, Yesterday (May 13th) evening I heard: 1. Radio Waddenzee, new Dutch station, on 1602 kHz. Time: From 1900 and through the evening/night. Good reception from time to time. 2. Big L, Radio London, testing with jingles and nonstop music, on 1395 kHz from 2200 to 2300 UT. In the clear with very strong reception. Best and 73 from (Björn Fransson, on the island of Gotland in the Baltic Sea of Sweden, May 14, HCDX via DXLD) Big L - Radio London now noted for the first time - from tune in 0030 UTC (May 13) on 1395 kHz with a strong signal here in Denmark - around S9+35, but slightly weaker that the other Dutch power houses (675 is S9+50 and 747 + 1008 are both around S9+55). Very good audio. Best 73s (Stig Hartvig Nielsen, Denmark, MWC via DXLD) Ciao! Ascoltato il TEST di Radio Big L Radio London oggi alle 0300- 0330* UT su 1395 kHz con ottimo segnale, molti Jingles originali degli anni 60 "BIG L" "WONDERFUL RADIO LONDON", ID con la canzone di Jimi Hendrix "All Along the Wathctower" "THE NEW AM 1395 BIG L RADIO LONDON on 1395 and Sky digital channel 940" Alle 0330 UTC il test è stato bruscamente interrotto, ottimo segnale ottima modulazione. I programmi sono previsti che inizieranno il 14 Maggio. Il TX (forse da 50 kW) si trova sulle coste Inglesi a Frinton-on-Sea, Essex. La WEB con le info : http://www.bigl.co.uk/ e-mail: admin@bigl.co.uk Contatto : Radio London International Limited, P. O. Box 7336 , Frinton-on-Sea, Essex, CO13 0WZ, UNITED KINGDOM (Dario Monferini, Milano, PLAYDX, ITALY, http://www.playdx.com May 13, DX LISTENING DIGEST) That`s the studio location; transmitter as indicated above, is in Holland (gh, DXLD) Well, there you go --- Some part of a romantic era of SW rock radio is coming back from the archives of time as The Big L returns to the airwaves this weekend. The only pity is there's no SW for this station, as we had from Radio Luxembourg that I used to receive on 6090 after 2300 in the early 70s. Being myself a Top 40 jock for a local Costa Rican AMer, RL introduced me to many songs they played well ahead of many other stations, like "A Horse With No Name" by America. I knew it would be a huge hit, just listening to the intro. But going back to the Big L, it is that romantic stage of pirate radio that I missed in their Golden Years, when rock music began to lose its innocence by reaching what I consider its maturity with some progressive or symphonic arrangements, influenced by (you like them or not) the Beatles, when folk songs with a pinch of rock sound, approached more teenagers because of its message, and R&B was so authentic and got that "feeling" (that lacks today in the rap and Hip Hop crap) and became Soul music. And there were those air personalities that I missed on shortwave but I knew by the time they were among BBCWS DJs, like Tony Blackburn, John Peel, Brian Mathew, Tommy Vance and Johnny Moran. As a tribute to them, despite some of them having passed away, the New Big L should play some of their IDs recorded in those not so long gone (some 35 years or so --- I'm still feeling young at 55!!!) good old days. You know what, if you go to Radio Luxembourg's Dick Offringa site, you might have a sense they're playing some sort of pseudo-masochism (is that right?) with all those postings filled to the top with nostalgia of that worldwide crowd that was part of their listeners, yours truly included, through the decades. That led me to the conclusion, what is RL waiting for to honor that crowd by going back to life? If --- is it understandable (?) --- shortwave is too expensive nowadays, then get into Internet. And of course, RL has to recover the Classic RL format, Classic Pop/Rock, not the rap and hip hop garbage. After all, your listeners and site visitors are the youngsters of yesteryears (Raúl Saavedra, Costa Rica, May 13, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. USA/IRAN: VOA DOUBLES DURATION OF NIGHTLY SATELLITE TV NEWS TO IRAN | Text of US Broadcasting Board of Governors (BBG) press release on 12 May The Broadcasting Board of Governors (BBG) today announced a significant increase in satellite television news broadcast into Iran. The Voice of America (VOA) programme "News and Views", which for nearly two years has been a nightly 30-minute direct-to-home satellite TV broadcast, is doubling in length leading up to Iran's 17 June presidential election. The hour-long Persian-language programme will now air five times a day: the original show live during Iran's prime time, plus four repeats with updates as events warrant. "News and Views" is covering the election, the reformist candidates and the calls to boycott the election and for a new referendum. The expanded coverage, funded by the emergency spending bill just passed into law, will be in addition to "News and Views" regular news reporting, offering news from Iran along with world news round-ups, analyses of issues and events, and special interest and cultural features. The longer show will also feature a women's segment, business and medical reports, and reports from correspondents covering news from Washington, DC. "Strong coverage of what's happening in Iran and what's happening around the world is one of the most important things America can do for the Iranian people. These five hours will effectively cover prime time," said BBG chairman Kenneth Y. Tomlinson. "As Thomas Friedman has explained, satellite television is not only the most important media development in the greater Middle East, it is also the most important political development." Tomlinson added: "By placing expansion of TV to Iran in the supplemental, the Bush White House and Congress demonstrated its support for what international broadcasting is doing in that part of the world." [must everything be partisan??? ---gh] The supplemental appropriation includes 7.3m dollars for the BBG to support expansion of programming to the broader Middle East, including expanding Arabic-language Al-Hurra satellite television to Europe. The BBG continues to blanket Iran with 24/7 radio broadcasting by VOA and Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty. The BBG is an independent federal agency which supervises all US government-supported non-military international broadcasting, including the Voice of America (VOA), Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL); the Middle East Television Network (Al-Hurra); Radio Free Asia (RFA); Office of Cuba Broadcasting (Radio and TV Marti); Radio Sawa and Radio Farda. Through its broadcast services, the BBG provides the United States and its leaders direct and immediate access to a worldwide audience of over 140 million people. Nine members comprise the BBG, a bipartisan presidentially appointed body. Current governors are Chairman Kenneth Y. Tomlinson, Joaquin Blaya, Blanquita W. Cullum, D. Jeffrey Hirschberg, Edward E. Kaufman, Norman J. Pattiz, and Steven Simmons. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice serves as an ex officio member. For more information, contact: Joe O'Connell, Voice of America Public Affairs, 202-401-7000 or Howard Mortman, BBG, 202-203-4545. Source: Broadcasting Board of Governors press release, Washington, in English 12 May 05 (via BBCM via DXLD) Am always tempted to snip the boilerplate last graf of these releases, but it`s useful to be reminded of who the BBG really are (gh) ** U S A. IOWA PUBLIC RADIO MOVES CLOSER TO REALITY By LYNN CAMPBELL REGISTER STAFF WRITER May 11, 2005 http://www.desmoinesregister.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050511/NEWS08/505110334/1001/RSS01 A little background: A consultant in December recommended that Iowa's three university-based public radio stations get less money from the state, merge as a network called Iowa Public Radio and extend service into western Iowa. Today, Iowa Public Radio has not officially been born but progress has been made to bring together WOI at Iowa State University, WSUI/KSUI at the University of Iowa and KUNI/KHKE at the University of Northern Iowa. "We're really trying to tread gently," said former Lt. Gov. Art Neu of Carroll, chairman of the Iowa Public Radio Executive Council. "Each of the stations are unique in their own way. We don't want to interfere with that." A national search is under way for an executive director who would likely be headquartered in Des Moines. The search is being headed by Tom Livingston of Washington, D.C., whose Web site touts his consulting company as "public broadcasting's search firm." More than 20 people have applied for the job. Five finalists are expected to be interviewed in June, with a selection by the end of the summer. The salary for the executive director is expected to be between $100,000 and $120,000, although details have yet to be worked out on who would pay the bill. It's expected that each of the radio stations will chip in. There have been few changes. WOI and KSUI are sharing some programs. Radio reporters are working together to cover the Legislature. Stations are sharing hosts for "All Things Considered," and university presidents are doing the "Talk of Iowa" together. "I've listened to President Skorton at the University of Iowa where in the past, that wouldn't have occurred," said Warren Madden, ISU's vice president for business and finance. U of I's Steve Parrott said those working on the creation of Iowa Public Radio are aware that listeners have some concerns about the merger. "We want to keep the best programs that each of the stations have," Parrott said. "People who are used to listening are just a little nervous that the programs they really love, that they don't disappear." Future plans include expanding public radio to cover west-central, southwest and southeast Iowa. That would include acquiring a transmitter in Ottumwa. "During the day, AM stations blanket the state," Neu said. "At night, their power is cut back, so there are big gaps." Tom Bauer of Iowa City is a devoted listener of WSUI who served as director of the station in the early 1970s. He said he's excited about the upcoming expansion of public radio in the state. "More Iowans across the state are going to be able to benefit from this really unique service," said Bauer, who is associate director of the Oakdale Research Park. "The radio stations are really treasures. They all have deep roots coming out of the universities." A launch date of statewide Iowa Public Radio is uncertain, but could happen sometime in the upcoming fiscal year, which begins July 1. Changes must be approved by the Federal Communications Commission. Neu said there are no immediate plans for layoffs. About 64 people work at Iowa's three public radio stations. Steve Carignan of the University of Northern Iowa and Kay Runge, director of the Des Moines Public Library, join Neu, Parrott and Madden as members of the Iowa Public Radio Executive Council (via Sheldon Harvey, DXLD) ** U S A. MORE CUTBACKS FEARED AS CHANNEL 11 REGROUPS [Chicago] May 12, 2005 BY ROBERT FEDER SUN-TIMES COLUMNIST Rocked by the departures of two key executives last week, WTTW-Channel 11 staffers are bracing for more cutbacks and fearing a return to malaise at the public television station. . . http://www.suntimes.com/output/feder/cst-fin-feder121.html (via Sheldon Harvey, DXLD) ** U S A. Glenn, Yesterday our governor signed Indiana's DST bill into law. Him signing it was a given, since he was the one who was pushing for it (Steve Cline, Indianapolis, IN, May 14, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ---------------------- http://www.indystar.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050514/NEWS01/505140436 TIME CHANGE IS OFFICIAL --- NEXT FIGHT WILL BE OVER THE ZONE Gov. Mitch Daniels on Friday signed into law Senate Enrolled Act 127, which moves all of Indiana to daylight-saving time. Here's a quick look at the law: What's next Don't touch those clocks yet. The bill goes into effect Jan. 1 -- meaning the first time most Hoosiers will turn their clocks ahead is April 2, 2006. [unless DST expansion passes, to *March 5, 2006 --- gh] The time zone decision The bill doesn't change any time zones, so 82 counties currently in the Eastern time zone will be aligned with New York, and 10 counties currently in the Central time zone will be aligned with Chicago. But the bill also requires Daniels to seek federal hearings on whether time zones should be changed. And the battle over what time zone the bulk of the state should align with could eclipse the arguments over merely changing clocks twice a year. Timetable Daniels has 10 days to petition the federal Department of Transportation to hold those hearings. Until he does, a DOT spokesman said, the agency will have no information on how soon or where the time zone hearings will be held. Behind the scenes This controversial issue was one of the most explosive of the legislative session. In the end, some Republican lawmakers who opposed daylight-saving time switched to support it and gave Daniels a dramatic victory. But unlike other bills he signed at events recently where the public and the media were invited, Daniels signed the daylight-saving time bill Friday in private, on a day when the federal base-closing list dominated the news. The governor has said the media were guilty of paying too much attention to the time-change bill rather than focusing on what he considers other important pieces of legislation. Mary Beth Schneider (Indianapolis Star May 14, 2005 via Steve Cline, IN, DXLD) Only impact on SW may be that WHRI starts time-shifting programming (even tho already transmitted from EST/EDT SC) (gh, DXLD) ** U S A. PASS AREA GETTING 'VOICE' FOR RADIO [California] Region awaiting Internet station --- By Mike Cruz, Staff Writer BANNING - Residents of the San Gorgonio Pass will soon be able to get radio news and programming specific to their communities. But they'll need an Internet connection to get it. Jack Holden, executive director of the Banning Chamber of Commerce, created an Internet-based radio station that he hopes will go live - from Yucaipa to Cabazón - by mid-June. The Voice of the San Gorgonio Pass, also known by call letters VSGP, will offer audio music and entertainment like a conventional radio station. And it also will provide local news and video content, such as city council meetings, to computer users, Holden said. "There's nothing to keep us from becoming like a TV station," Holden said. Currently, residents who are cable television subscribers are the only ones who can watch Banning City Council meetings from their homes. He plans to ask other Pass area cities to add their meeting content as well. Holden has been conducting auditions this week in Banning and Yucaipa for disc jockeys, show producers, copywriters, people with radio voices and more to get the radio station up and running. There are plans for a morning show and call-in shows for cooking, travel and legal information. Initially, the station's hours will be from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m., and all of the station's staff, both on and off the air, will be volunteers, Holden said. However, Holden also sees the Internet station as a revenue builder for the Chamber of Commerce. With visual radio, the chamber can show advertisements, video excerpts, schedules and other content while the radio element is playing. "(Internet radio) is a technology that is transforming the world because it's an alternative communication between people," said Louis Vandenberg, general manager at KUCR-FM (88.3), the radio station at UC Ríverside. "And the potentials are out there to actually threaten conventional broadcasters." Internet radio is catching on because Internet technology is getting faster and is relatively inexpensive. Web networks, such as http://www.Live365.com claim to have thousands of broadcasters reaching millions of listeners, according to its Web site. KUCR has been streaming its radio broadcast onto the Internet for about three years, admittedly behind the curve, in a quest to reach more listeners, Vandenberg said. Vandenberg said he understands how communities, such as those in the San Gorgonio Pass, might feel they've been left out by major media entities. "It might be that the show is more interesting and vital than what a commercial broadcaster might do," Vandenberg said. "It allows them to play music or express themselves in a way that is increasingly vanishing in the United States with corporate media consolidation." Auditions will be held: Today at the Banning Chamber of Commerce, 123 E. Ramsey St. Friday at the Yucaipa Chamber of Commerce, 35139 Yucaipa Blvd. Audition times are from 9 a.m. to noon and 2 to 4:30 p.m. Call (951) 849-4695 to make an appointment, but walk-ins are accepted (sbsun.com via Sheldon Harvey, DXLD) ** U S A. THIRD CONSERVATIVE VOICE TO GET LOUDER [Washington] By BILL VIRGIN, SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER REPORTER http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/tv/223797_radiobeat12.html?source=rss When the conversation turns to conservative talk radio in Seattle, it usually involves Entercom's KTTH-AM (770) and Fisher's KVI-AM (570). But there's actually a third local station in that segment -- Salem Communications' KKOL-AM (1300). KKOL often is left out of the conversation, and rarely shows up in the overall Arbitron ratings because it doesn't have the prominent local or national hosts that the others do. It also has been hampered by a weak signal. Ever since losing its lease with the Port of Seattle on a Harbor Island site in 2002, Salem has been looking for somewhere new to put its transmitter. In the interim it has been broadcasting at a reduced power of 1,000 watts from a boat moored near Salty's on Alki. Salem had hoped to locate its antenna in the Kent Valley near Auburn, but that proposal ran into local opposition. So now Salem is trying something different. David Fitts, general manager for Salem's five Seattle AM stations, says the company has signed a lease with the Port of Tacoma for property in Pierce County. The station is awaiting Federal Communications Commission approval for the move, which Fitts hopes will occur by the end of this year. When it does, KKOL will be able to boost its power from the current 1,000 watts to 50,000 watts. To allow for that power boost, Salem bought a Port Angeles station at 1290 on the AM dial; that station is currently simulcasting KKOL and will go dark once KKOL goes to full power. To go with the greater regional coverage the signal boost will provide, Fitts says changes could be coming in KKOL's weekday lineup of hosts, currently consisting of the nationally syndicated Michael Gallagher, Dennis Prager, Dave Ramsey and Hugh Hewitt shows. "Hopefully we'll have some local presence," he adds. "It would give us instant credibility." (via Sheldon Harvey, DXLD) ** U S A. ONE DAY RETURN TO MUSIC --- MEMORIAL DAY, MAY 30TH -12 HOURS of Radio History! For the 9th year in a row, WABC will turn back the clock on Memorial Day, and give our listeners a true retro experience! From 6am to 6pm, WABC will play 12 hours of the old air checks from the WABC musicradio glory years. You'll hear the greats like Dan Ingram, Cousin Brucie, Harry Harrison, and a special tribute to Chuck Leonard who died this year. WABC production director Johnny Donovan, who was one of those legendary jocks in the 70's, produces this annual special. With the help of radio historians like Rob Frankel and Peter Kanze, Johnny restores these old airchecks to their original form and WABC listeners get to pretend that they were teenagers again! After the 12 hour special, WABC Program Director, Phil Boyce, will host a two hour talk show remembering the good old days. This year for the first time, Cousin Brucie will be a guest on the show, as well as several other stars from the music radio days. "This is a great way for us at WABC to pay tribute to those that came before us and made WABC such a magical and special place to be" said Boyce. "This is a great way for me to remind our news/talk listeners of today that the radio station you grew up with is still just as relevant and passionate today as it was in 1964 when this station was bringing the Beatles to New York City!" Today, WABC is the most listened to talk station in the nation and "we still play the hits, just hits from the days news and current events instead of hits from the stacks of wax," said Boyce. As a special treat this year, WABC will tie in the past to today's modern technology by giving away 12 IPODS that will be pre-loaded with the 12 hour musicradio special! The IPODS were donated by WABC sponsor Electronics Expo, with 5 locations in New Jersey. "It is a bit ironic that Electronics Expo can participate in this year's WABC rewound by giving away a piece of technology that was not even dreamed of in the 1960's when WABC was rocking the AM world in analog," said Electronics Expo founder and owner, Leon Temiz. You know what they say....what goes around comes around, and the magic of WABC Musicradio 77 just stays around, forever. (via Pete Kemp via Bill Hale, NRC-AM via DXLD) Check out the WABC feed on the Internet. Go to their webpage and click on listen. That should help those outside the market catch some of the action (Pete Kemp, ibid.) Yes, Pete, that's a great idea! I don't know the facts for certain, but they could have turned off the internet pipe when they did one of those Rewound shows. I'm not certain and will try to nose around and find out. I hope my recollection is wrong (Ron Gitschier, ibid.) ** U S A. EXCELSIOR, YOU FATHEAD! Amateur Radio Newsline honcho and KTTV/Fox 11 engineer Bill Pasternak is known and loved far and wide in the Broadcasting biz. He shares this about the late raconteur Jean Shepherd, who held late-night court up and down the East Coast for years, by way of WOR/710's monster signal: "The other day I received a rather heavy package in the mail. Heavy as in a hardcover copy of Eugene Bergmann's new 495 page book (yes, thats 495 pages size 6" x 9" aprox.) titled, 'Excelsior, You Fathead! - The Art and Enigma of Jean Shepherd.' Gene was gracious enough to have sent me a review copy as I was one of many, many contributors, to what is destined to become known as the definitive work on the genius of a guy I knew mainly from the 2 meter ham radio band as 'Shep'. For the very few who are not aware, or who may be a bit to young to know, 'Shep' was the master of the microphone who literally created the artform of 'Talk Radio'. And he did it in an era when radio was very staid and sedate. This was possible only because Shep, like this writer was a 'night people'. A creature whose creativity flows best after the sun goes down. I discovered Shep when I was a teenager growing up in Brooklyn, N.Y. Every night he would hold forth for 55 minutes on WOR-AM, spinning yarns about growing up in the mid-West; of what his family life was like in that environment; of what it was to have served in the military; of what it was like to go out on one's first date and get one's first kiss from a member of the opposite sex; of life in general -- all told from a 'Shepherd' point of view. There was even some funny stuff that only those of us who shared his hobby of ham radio would understand. His repertoire of material was endless and all subjects that anyone longing for 'the truth' could easily latch onto. For years I have held onto a very special recording of Shep. A very special 'air check' if you will, not recorded off of WOR. Rather, it was recorded off 146.73 MHz one cold winter's night in 1971. In New York City that frequency was the output channel of the fabled WA2SUR ham radio repeater and on this night there sat 'Shep' in his Rover, driving from WOR out to his then residence someplace in New Jersey. And he was talking with the ham operator who owned the repeater: Broadcast Engineer George Le Doux, K1TKJ. But this was not your typical...ham radio contact. It was more like Shep was continuing his WOR program on the WA2SUR repeater with Le Doux being the target of his whit, wisdom and -- maybe -- a bit of cynicism. This is a recording in time and space that I will always treasure. Now, thanks to Eugene Bergmann I also have a book that tells me about Shep's life, career and all else. (It's) what I call a 'coast to coast round trip book' because it will take several round-trips to NYC to complete reading it. And complete it I will, as will so many others who grew up with a portable radio hidden under the covers listening to the earliest vestiges of 'talk radio' as Jean Shepherd -- ham radio operator K2ORS -- invented it ...as we -- his audience -- devoured every word. EXCELSIOR!!!!! - de Bill Pasternak (WA6ITF)" -- Many thanks, Sir! Some of Shep's archived shows can be sampled by tuning to Shortwave WBCQ/7415 in Maine, Mondays at 5 PM EDT. [2100 UT] THE BLINDERS OF JUSTICE: The DeKalb County (Ga.) Police Chief is reopening the investigation into the Atlanta child murders of the early 1980's. "The Atlanta Journal/Constitution" reports Lewis Graham is, "acting on his opinion", that the convicted Wayne Williams didn't do it. What makes this significant to Broadcasting, is Williams' history as operator of pirate station WRAZ/640 in Atlanta, in 1975. This operation was listed in the '75 Atlanta White Pages, and was listenable pretty much throughout the entire West side of the city, with a solid Soul format. Personally, I made a call to Williams around that time, truthfully vowing that I was NOT an FCC rep, just a radio nerd & fan of the format. He was naturally secretive, but not unfriendly, as he politely refused to divulge any info about power output or antenna configuration. The Update leans to the belief that Wayne Williams was wrongly convicted of this horrible string of murders, and we will be watching for results of Chief Graham's upcoming investigation. IN COMMEMORATION: Of FM Pioneer Major Edwin Armstrong, a special broadcast is slated next month, from the Major's original (and very large) FM tower, overlooking Manhattan from just 'cross the Hudson in Alpine, NJ. Armstrong first erected the tower in 1937 to facilitate 'casts from his then-experimental W2XMN; these transmissions took place in the original VHF-FM band, lying between 42 and 50 MHz (as opposed to today's 88-108 MHz, as allocated throughout North America). The tower is now owned by CSC Management; they rent stick space to users such as Cellular providers and paging services. CSC's head honcho Charles Sackerman teamed up with equipment manufacturer Steve Hemphill to secure FCC approval of a special temporary authorization, allowing commemorative broadcasts on the ex-FM band frequency of 42.8 MHz. Scheduled for June 11 & 12, programming will consist of a special test transmission utilized by the defunct Yankee network back in 1941, as well as a radio-drama based on Tom Lewis' book, "Empire Of The Air", and the final W2XMN signoff, which took place after Major Armstrong's death in 1954. Call-letters of WA2XMN have been assigned to the project, receivable on low-band-coverage scanners throughout the Tri- State area. During daylight hours, the broadcasts may also be receivable between approximately 900-1300 miles from the Alpine site, if atmospheric e-layer skip conditions are present ---a regular crap- shoot this time of year. (In fact, one of the primary reasons FM broadcasts were shunted to higher freqs in the late 1940's was the tendency of this sort of skip to occur relatively often below 50 MHz, resembling Shortwave propagation while causing intermittent coast-to-coast interference to then-new-fangled High Fidelity transmissions. Older-timers than myself may recall the masses referring to the old band as the "Armstrong System" of FM Broadcasting; a number of home receivers sold in the late '40s contained both FM bands as standard equipment.) Audio will also be streamed on the 'Net, though the URL is unknown at this time (Greg Hardison, Broadcast Band Update May 14 via DXLD) The entire UD appears in the dxldyg ** U S A. It seems that some people think that skywave listening to radio stations is anachronistic. See the comments by people in the article at the URL below. http://www.rwonline.com/reference-room/special-report/06_rw_oninionjuly1.shtml This statement from the article sums the feeling up. "In order to proceed into the digital future, it seems we face an unfortunate loss of a nostalgic part of our historic radio past." Question for debate: Is IBOC worth the sacrifice of skywave listening because skywave listening is no longer as important as it was in the past? (Bill Harms, Elkridge, Maryland, DX LISTENING DIGEST) That was dated July 1, 2004, but still applies (gh) Re: Should Skywave Listening be protected? [std disclaimer; sic:] IBOC-D is licensed by Ibiquity, a claque of computer geek cynics 'reinventing' radio in their image. Their cheerleader/stooge is qWeerChannel Broadcasting, who has the editors of Radio World in thrall to IBOC-D bullshale. Hardsell on the wonders of IBOC is telling. Did we need a hardsell for FM stereo over mono, or color tv over black and white? Did FM stereo and color TV signals ruin existing FM mono and B&W TV signals the way IBOC ruins AM? Not to worry, Ibuiquity claims the destruction of 'AM as we know it', to use insidious, emetic, nineties corrupt lingo, is worth it, as IBOC gives us the miracle of 'traffic and weather texting'. Thrilling. qWeerChannel, in typical nineties klepto-garch gesture - and admission of guilt - recently reduced bandwidth of its AM analog signals. Heart warming. I'm weepy. While claiming to care about interference, they actually lower AM analog quality in two ways. First, fidelity is reduced. Second, narrow bandwidth signal allows noise into the receiver. They hope this fake beneficence will make us forget that interference is caused not by AM analogue, but by their idiotic, kleptocratic IBOC-Drivel scam. Bottom line: Ruin AM analog with reduced bandwidth and increased noise from IBOC-D, blame all on existing 'cheap radios'. Make AM listeners purchase digital sets with a licensed system. If you wanted to end free radio and make listeners pay for a controlled system, how better would you do it? It is to die from. If AM sounds so bad - according to IBOC hucksters - why do my houseguests mistakenly believe Cuban music they hear on my 60's vintage tube stereo is a CD, rather than the R-390 receiver tuned to AM 640, Radio Progreso, Havana, three hundred miles south of this desk? Because AM only sounds as bad as IBOC hucksters wish it to, that's why. Bear in mind, Fidel's transmitters are sixties vintage Czech models in disrepair. They still sound better than stateside AM stations, both in terms of technical quality and content. Many radios, old and new alike, sound great on AM without Ibiquity's 'rushed to market' Rube Goldberg digital jalopy. Systematically, -Z.- Afterthought: If their much-ballyhooed 'traffic and weather texting' is of the quality of last summer's radio coverage of the Florida Hurricane Follies, TV stations can expect high viewership, as AM qWeerChannel alleged news staffers couldn't even find the gulf coast of Florida on a map. Stick a fork in us (Paul Vincent Zecchino. Manasoviet Key, FL, 13 0015Z MAY 05 BT, DX LISTENING DIGEST) The above comments got PVZ banned from the NRC-AM list for being disrespectful of Clear Channel, name-calling, etc. (gh) Skywave is critical to both rural and urban listeners, as well as those on high seas and offshore. Growing up in Rhode Island, first heard WABC NY not at home, but while in Nassau, Bahamas, visiting family, 1966. Bahamian kids loved the format. Not to worry, IBOC-D wrecks that with broadband noise jamming. With Wi-Fi, other innovations, and opening of new bands, the IBOC-Debacle stinks of another nineties 'public-private partnership' scam whose time never was and would be long gone, save for crony capitalists and their cynical stooges. As with pantywaist whinings of the Cellphone lobby which begat ECPA 86, digital cellphones rendered the law obsolete, yet we're stuck with it. Same with IBOC-Dogdoot, a poorly conceived licensed scheme 'rushed to market', as nineties hucksters were fond of saying. It's long obsolete. Newer systems promise better sound with no interference. But that won't fatten the kutsch of Ibiquity and its berserker cheerleader, qWeerChannel. Can't have that. Might prevent them from converting AM from free analog to paid subscriber controlled crud. Cruddily, -Z.- (Paul Vincent Zecchino, Manasoviet Key, FL, 13 0025Z MAY 05 BT, IRCA via DXLD) Oh - Couple of the 'problems' of IBOC according to Radio World apologists. Not to worry. They're working on 'solutions'. There's a delay between analog and digital signals of several seconds. You won't take your radio to athletic events and expect play by play match the action. Like old movies they showed in school on 16mm projectors, actors' lips move, then you hear the words. Charming. Quaint. For $900? Do these geeks realize the nineties are over? Not to worry, they're working on it. One fix: delay the analog. Smart! Too smart by half. Another great feature, digital and analog signals combine to produce new and exciting variety of selective fading. No to worry, IBOC apparatchiks promise a 'blending' feature in new radios, which shifts back and forth between analog and digital signals. Oh, boy!!! Most telling, in Radio World and other lickspittle articles declaiming the virtues of this CONtrivance, all who question IBOC are insulted but never taken to task on the facts. Why? Because the facts are against IBOC hustlers. Leonard Kahn needs no introduction. Mr. Kahn writes of the pitfalls of IBOC, and better ways to achieve more. Predictably by way of rebuttal he's called names by so-called engineers touting IBOC's wonders. Tedious. No facts? Hurl insults. Odd way to sell a product which should long ago have sold itself. IBOC's carnival barkers claim it gives crystal clear audio - albeit with same dull programming - as well as oh so vital texting that we all crave in our innermost hearts. They'll claim it will cure syphillis and eliminate routine oil changes. One thing these goat ropers never mention, ever, is that oh so delicate issue of interference. They know better. FCC would lock us up and confiscate our equipment, rightly so, for creating interference. Why do they allow IBOC/qWeerChannel to get away with the same aberrant behavior? FCC needs to get off the cross about Mr. Stern's discussions of poopoo and peepee and do what it does best, police the ether and prevent harmful interference. The broadcast industry needs to listen to its listeners and provide varied programming to augment their stable of dim old hacks. Why do I listen to Cuban MW most days when I don't speak Spanish? Simple. The music is elegant and varied. The playlist? Unlimited. Yeah, instead of commercials they blat propaganda, but audio quality is excellent and announcers actually sound like live human beings rather than canned drones or screaming former DJ's pretending to be commentators. Sad commentary when coerced commies sound more alive and spontaneous than their stateside announcer counterparts. Spontaneously, -Z.- (Paul Vincent Zecchino, Manasoviet Key, FL, tag: "Your commie has no regard for human life." - Gen. J.D. "Jack" Ripper, Base Commander, Burpleson AFB, TX "Dr. Strangelove", c. 1963, Hawk Films, Ltd. BT, IRCA via DXLD) Yes, putting stock quotes and ever exciting 'traffic info texting' on subcarriers is hyped by Ibiquity/qWeerChannel as one of the miracles of IBOC. Great. So, in addition to getting cited by PD Miami for talking on one's cellphone whilst driving, one can now as well be charged with driving while distracted - after investing $700 in a digital car radio - for viewing 'traffic info texting' and 'weather updates' while driving. Does the Safety Lobby - cops, insurance companies, court thugs - have an insider deal cooked with Ibiquity? Sound far fetched? Of course. Do we live in an era when far fetched concerns of possible ongoing kleptocratic behavior are eventually proven to be true? Yes. Growing up in a city, skywaves nonetheless provided us with alternatives to local AM stations, whose programming was plenty good and varied, typical of the era. We simply enjoyed the additional choices made possible by the magic of night propagation. Appreciate Patrick Martin's idea greatly. Forget writing FCC. Write your station instead. Inform them the digital detritus of another radio outlet is ruining their audience. Make it of interest to them. Brilliant. -Z.- (Paul Vincent Zecchino, Manasoviet Key, FL, 14 0300Z MAY 05, BT IRCA via DXLD) My personal belief (undocumented) is that there is a collusion between major station chain owners and a major three-letter trade association, and perhaps a major three-letter regulatory agency, to reduce the number of stations (force all the smaller independents off the air) so the remaining big chain operations will have bigger shares of the pie, as the competition narrows the playing field. And the entry cost to move to IBOC is just one of these hurdles. So the marginal audience that is fragmented among all these niche players will be forced to move to the major operations for listenership. The emergence of satellite radio was probably not factored in, when this plan was concocted several years ago. So the bigger operators are not being stupid, they are just being ruthless. Hey, that's just business. What I find distressing is the threat to our nation from foreign "interests" that seek to cause us great damage and economic turmoil (believe it, this threat is real and present, though it may be several years in the future). The threat to the cyber-infrastructure is as real as the one to the physical infrastructure. Where this intersects with radio is that AM radio is probably the sole surviving medium that allows the instantaneous low-tech dispersal of information in a "multicast" mode (one sender, many receivers) to recipients over a wide geographical range. This was proved amply well in the great Northeast power blackout in August 2003 when millions of people depended on night time skywave AM for ANY information. I did mention this in my 99-325 comments. For the DHS to ignore this reality, and sit silently by, while the dismantling of this wide-area coverage ability moves forward, is amazing and I believe, negligent. I would think this merits a front page story in the Wall Street Journal, but they would need to find a reporter who understands the technical issues adequately well enough to report it properly, as it is primarily a technology issue and secondarily a money issue. Such a story would focus primarily on the threat to the nation's security, by loss of this "fail-safe" method of instantaneous communication with the population who NOW has millions of AM receivers on hand, and also would be an investigative piece which would analyze how this technically flawed system came to rise to such ascendancy politically. The alternative scenario is that the government does not care about having this ability (instantaneous wide-area information dispersal which does not depend on an interconnected communications network), and I am not prepared to accept that, as of now. I am not sure there is a newspaper anywhere that would take this on. - Sent at 2005-05-13 0921 edt (this as written, is not a letter intended for publication in any newspaper) (Bob Foxworth, FL, IRCA via DXLD) I don't yet have internet access in my car and I'm pretty sure it wouldn't be safe to surf the web while doing 65 down the freeway anyhow. I do have a cell phone, but other than the ring tone of the day, it has yet to bring music, news, or discussion of current political events to my daily drive. As much as a lot of people would like us to believe to the contrary, the internet is not a replacement for radio. I recently read an article about a zombie network of 10,000 computers crashing a 2 Gbps internet pipe serviced by dozens of servers specially programmed to prevent the crash. It's a bit of apples and oranges, but the point is that broadcast radio can reach a million listeners just as easily as it can reach one. The same can not be said for the internet. The BBC may say they've discontinued service to North America because most North Americans can listen over the internet, but I'm pretty sure if everyone in North America who used to listen to the BBC all accessed their web site at once, it would be dead within milliseconds. There is still a need in day-to-day life for MW radio. And that's not even considering a natural disaster. I don't know about you, but I have a lot more faith in my $50 portable radios providing me emergency information in an earthquake or a hurricane than I do in my normally trusty internet connection. I can see myself huddled in the bathtub with a couple flashlights and battery powered radios when a tornado goes through and knocks out the power. I can't see myself trying to get my internet connection to work in the same situation (Jay Heyl, NRC-AM via DXLD) ** U S A. Dear Glenn --- I Don't know if you are into this or not. But CBS 4/NEWS4 here in Denver KCNC TV/DT DENVER Is doing a story on Numbers Stations Tonight. May 13, 2005. Their Web Site is: http://www.news4colorado.com Look for this banner on their web site. Friday At 10 The secret world of spy number stations Then on NBC, Jay Leno will have hams on the show. After your local NEWS On NBC. 10:35 or 11:35 pm on NBC (Paul Armani, Denver CO, via dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) The banner link at upper left was just a teaser; maybe the story will be here after broadcast: http://news4colorado.com/video/ The ham segment on Leno was already over in the first quarter hour; apparently inspired by a recent news story, a (contrived?) competition in messaging between CW and some newfangled contraption; I wasn`t paying attention (gh, DXLD) ** U S A. AIRPORT LAUNCHES 24-HOUR RADIO STATION http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/news/11620441.htm?source=rss&channel=miamiherald_news Summer travelers passing through Miami International Airport can now tune in to the airport's 24-hour radio station. The station, which launched Wednesday, broadcasts information about safety precautions, airline locations, parking and airport roadway traffic at MIA. Motorists can hear the station, 1610 AM, within a two-mile radius of the airport (Miami Herald May 11 via Sheldon Harvey, DXLD) That`s the whole story, only slightly longer than the URL; but is this really new? I sure thought MIA had one of those for years and years. What`s the callsign? (gh, DXLD) ** U S A. Glenn: -- Although I've spent way too many years in Southern California, I've never been to Santa Catalina Island. Nonetheless, I can divulge the fate of KLIT-FM/92.7, the ex-Island station, which was purchased by the Amaturo Group (owners of the 1000 Oaks station on 92.7). The station was moved to the Mainland, now licensed to Fountain Valley (in Orange County), and transmitting from a hilltop stick just east of Newport Beach. To accommodate the move-in, Amaturo's Riverside 92.7 outlet was moved to Adelanto, near Victorville in the Mojave Desert. From its "new" site, KLIT now has a halfway decent signal across much of the L.A. Basin. Catalina plays home to non-commercial KISL/88.7; some great photos of their installation reside at http://www.well.com/user/dmsml/kisl/ (GREG HARDISON, CA, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. For some reason, there are false reports in DX mags and elsewhere that WBMD 750 and WBGR 860 are on the air with Family Radio programming. The truth is that they are currently off the air PENDING a format change. Family Radio purchased these outlets as part of format shuffling in the Baltimore area. They are not on the air as of 14 May 2005. Please note this correction (Bill Harms, Elkridge, Maryland, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. I have spoken to Erik Diesen, CE at KRLD [1080 Dallas], and he confirms they are using IBOC from 6:00 AM to 6:00 PM [CDT = UT -5] as is sister station KOAI-FM. There is the IBOC 'trash' on 1070 and 1090, but I can still hear KOFY-1060 no worse than before (BILL in Fort Worth Hale, May 13, NRC-AM via DXLD) ** VENEZUELA. REPORTERS WITHOUT BORDERS PROTESTS AT RAID ON VENEZUELAN STATION Reporters Without Borders has protested against a lightning raid by members of the military and officials of the national telecommunications commission (Conatel) on a Caracas radio station and the seizing of its transmitter. "We are dismayed by this practice of storming into a radio station and suspending its means of transmission without explanation. In addition, is it really necessary that soldiers accompany Conatel officials? It smacks of intimidation", the worldwide press freedom organisation said. "We are particularly shocked that this station should be sanctioned now, on the grounds that it is not authorised to broadcast, while it has been broadcasting for five years," added Reporters Without Borders "The fact that 94.9 FM has already been allocated to another station should not prevent another one being allocated to Radio Alternativa." Five soldiers and the officials from Conatel burst without warning into the studios of Radio Alternativa 94.9 FM, on 10 May 2005. The station staff said the officials did not identify themselves and gave a vague justification of "official sanctions" for confiscating the equipment. A correspondent in Caracas for the press freedom organisation Instituto prensa y sociedad (IPYS) told Reporters Without Borders that the station which has been broadcasting for five years, has constantly applied to Conatel for a licence but without success. An official at the national journalists' college explained that Conatel had in September 2004 allocated the frequency 94.9 FM to Radio Tiburón, a station based in Guárico State in central Venezuela, which had caused interference problems to both stations for three months. Radio Alternativa 94.9 FM does not therefore have official permission to broadcast, but the Venezuelan law on telecommunications provides for an official investigation to be held before any sanction such as suspension is put into effect. In this case, Conatel has not respected the law. # posted by Andy @ 10:12 UT May 14 (Media Network blog via DXLD) ** VIETNAM [non]. Radio Voice of Vietnam runs broadcasts from Canada to North America in English at 0230 and at 0630 hours on 6175 kHz, at 11 and at 15 hours on 7285 kHz, at 1230, at 15 and at 2330 hours on 9840 and 12020 kHz. The station also broadcasts from Austria for Europe at 16, at 18, at 19 and at 2030 hours on 7280 and 9730 kHz. The QSL address is: Voice of Vietnam, English Service, Ba Trieu Street 45, Hanoi, Vietnam (Rumen Pankov, R. Bulgaria DX Program May 13 via John Norfolk, dxldyg via DXLD) English at 0630? I don`t think so. And contrary to what this says, the 7285, 9840 and 12020 are certainly direct, not via Canada. VOV still has its B-04 schedule posted at: http://www.vovnews.com.vn/docs1/english/programme/index.html but I doubt the Sackville relay portion has changed showing 6175 usage as: 0100-0130 English NEAm 0130-0230 Vietnamese NEAm [on 9725 instead of 6175, must be wrong] 0230-0300 English NEAm 0300-0330 Spanish Carib 0300-0400 English Carib [sic, surely supposed to be 0330-0400] 0400-0430 Spanish Carib 0430-0530 Vietnamese NWAm (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ZIMBABWE. RADIO DIALOGUE DENIED LICENCE Media Institute of Southern Africa (Windhoek) PRESS RELEASE May 13, 2005 Posted to the web May 13, 2005 "Radio Dialogue" which has been waiting in the wings for a community radio licence has been denied a licence to operate a free to air local commercial radio licence by the Broadcasting Authority of Zimbabwe (BAZ). "Radio Dialogue" which is based in the second city of Bulawayo, applied for the commercial radio licence after BAZ invited applications for private radio stations and one television station. In turning down the application, BAZ noted that in its proposals, "Radio Dialogue" had described itself as a community radio station but had gone on to apply for a free to air local commercial radio licence for Bulawayo. "The invitation was however for a free to air broadcasting (narrow casting services). Your application does, not, therefore, conform to the licence for which the Authority invited applications," reads part of the letter from BAZ, dated 27 April 2005. The BAZ further stated that "Radio Dialogue" had failed to meet other requirements for a licence in terms of the Broadcasting Services Act (BSA) which state that no broadcasting service or signal transmission station will be licensed if it is wholly or partly funded by foreign donations or contributions. "Radio Dialogue" had in its application stated that funding for the radio station was going to be backed by foreign non-governmental organisations. According to BAZ, the radio station had failed to show its shareholding structure in terms of BSA and that the list of its equipment does not include the technical specifications of the equipment. "The Authority is therefore unable to check for compliance with the technical standards prescribed by the regulations`` (via David Pringle-Wood, Harare, DXLD) A bunch of other applicants were denied too (gh, DXLD) ** ZIMBABWE [non]. Re 5-068, Anker Petersen`s theory that SW Radio Africa on 15145 at 1600-1800 is actually via IBB São Tomé: This might explain why we have audible reception here, as that would be roughly off the back, as opposed to a UK site, which would be aiming SSE, and far from off-the-back toward OK. Must notice in future how 15145 reception correlates with hi-latitude Euro signals on 19m at that time, compared to low-latitude Equa ones (if I can find any to compare with, as there are few/none aiming to NAm at that time). And relatively close São Tomé would certainly be an advantage over Rampisham in field strength delivered to Zimbabwe. However: all four 100 kW transmitters at Pinheira are accounted for during this bihour - -- unless a fifth one has cropped up there, or one scheduled transmission has been moved to some other site (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) UK/RUSSIA/SOUTH AFRICA --- SW R Africa heard today under lousy conditions, Sinpo 22222 to 32222: 12145, May 12 1608 UT RUS SW R Africa Krasnodar. Many feeder breaks between London VT Bush house bc center and foreground Caucasus satellite feed. Audio is nearly 1.8 to 2 seconds behind UK transmitter 15145. Lovely African songs by female singer. 15145, May 12 1615 UT G SW R Africa Woofferton. English schedule, frequencies and mbands given in a badly arranged manner. 11770, May 12 1900 UT AFS SW R Africa, Meyerton. English, ID, African music. It's a lousy signal here in Europe (Wolfgang Büschel, Gerrmany, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 11770 used to be UK, I think (gh) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ POWERLINE COMMUNICATIONS ++++++++++++++++++++++++ Re 5-072, House Resolution 230 – I had a devil of a time finding any hits about this on the House of Reps website; don`t call it just ``HR``! Finally under its ONLY sponsor`s page I found this May 12: H.RES.230 Title: To express the sense of the House of Representatives that the Federal Communications Commission should reconsider and revise rules governing broadband over power line systems based on a comprehensive evaluation of the interference potential of those systems to public safety services and other licensed radio services. Sponsor: Rep Ross, Mike [AR-4] (introduced 4/21/2005) Cosponsors (None) Latest Major Action: 4/21/2005 Referred to House committee. Status: Referred to the House Committee on Energy and Commerce. (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) DRM --- DREADFUL RACKET MODE! +++ I noted that BR 6085 [Germany] had gone digital when I tuned across their frequency this morning. I do recall tuning there on May 1st when it was still in Audible Mode so exactly when the change took place I'm not sure. The buzz is not as intense as that emanating from LUX on 6095 - I would call it "soft DRM". But 6080 and 6090 are now completely lost for AM listening. I was interested to read that they would be operating their 500 kW transmitter at only 10 kW in DRM. I once, by mistake, tried to use one of my portable receivers on 6vDC instead of 9 but it didn't 'like' it. Hopefully, transmitters don't work in the same way! And when I tuned lower down the 49mb I was surprised to find that 5975 was also in Audible Mode before 0700. It dropped off air shortly after 0700, then resumed carrier before switching to Dreadful Racket Mode soon after. It was an unusual experience to be able to tune to adjacent 5965 and 5970 without too much disturbance! DW 5975 was, incidentally, \\ to 6075. And Dreadful Racket Mode was on air via 9720 again before 0700 this morning, plus lots of hash each side of the frequency. I assume this is via Moosbrunn. A similar racket was operating on 6175 and more or less obliterating VOA 6180 (Noel R. Green-UK, wwdxc BC-DX May 4) Yes, when I listen to 6085 again, there could be a carrier on the frequency. Maybe this is why the DRM racket sounds less noisy than its neighbour on 6090? Could the cause be due to a high power sender running at relatively low power and so inducing other characteristics? It seems that the RFI racket on 6175 kHz is now a daily event. It has been operating only occasionally but now I hear it every day (Noel R. Green-UK, wwdxc BC-DX May 5 via DXLD) TIPS FOR RATIONAL LIVING ++++++++++++++++++++++++ BUSH TO POOR: DROP DEAD --- by Will Durst SEE IF YOU CAN DISCERN THE SUBTLE PATTERN IN BUSH'S BUDGET PROPOSAL What surprises me most about Bush's new budget proposal is that the front gates of the White House aren't being knocked down by legions of outraged clergy armed with spiked bats, pitchforks and acetylene torches screaming for the head of any of the leering corporate lackeys even remotely involved in submitting this moral crime against humanity to Congress. That and the fact that the ruling class lets Bush get away with this potentially revolution-inciting crap. . . http://www.workingforchange.com/article.cfm?ItemID=18592 (via Oklahoma Observer May 10 via DXLD) LANGUAGE LESSONS ++++++++++++++++ AYCE How to pronounce this initialism meaning ``All You Can Eat``? I have less use of it now since I have (almost) sworn off AYCE buffets and dropped several pounds, TG. I suspect ``Ace`` is a common solution, as in a playing card or a clandestine club, but adhering to my standard of pronouncing *each letter as in the original word*, this would have to be ``aw-YOO-kee``. Subverbalize that, at least, whenever you encounter the term, or imagine a classic car horn. Thank you (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) PROPAGATION +++++++++++ FM RECEPTION GUIDE Having trouble receiving WCAI or WNAN? Our new guide provides tips for improving your reception --- http://www.wgbh.org/cainan/article?item_id=1361008 (via DXLD) ###