DX LISTENING DIGEST 5-095, June 9, 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 1277: Thu 2030 WOR WWCR 15825 Thu 2300 WOR World FM, Tawa, Wellington, New Zealand 88.2 Fri 0000 WOR WTND-LP 106.3 Macomb IL Fri 0200 WOR ACBRadio Mainstream [repeated 2-hourly thru 2400] Fri 1600 WOR WBCQ after hours Fri 2105 WOR World FM, Tawa, Wellington, New Zealand 88.2 Fri 2300 WOR Studio X, Momigno, Italy 1584 87.35 96.55 105.55 Sat 0000 WOR ACBRadio Mainstream Sat 0800 WOR WRN to Eu, Au, NZ, WorldSpace AfriStar, AsiaStar Sat 0855 WOR WNQM Nashville TN 1300 Sat 1030 WOR WWCR 5070 Sat 1330 WOR WPKN Bridgeport CT 89.5 [also WPKM Montauk LINY 88.7] [1000 from July] Sat 1730 WOR WRN to North America (including Sirius Satellite Radio channel 115) Sat 1730 WOR WRMI 7385 [from WRN] 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 WRN to North America, also WLIO-TV Lima OH SAP (including Sirius Satellite Radio channel 115) 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 (including Sirius Satellite Radio channel 115) 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 [1276] Mon 0415 WOR WBCQ 7415 [time varies, e.g. 0419 May 30] Mon 1600 WOR WBCQ after hours 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 [from Fri]: http://new.wrn.org/listeners/stations/station.php?StationID=24 OUR ONDEMAND AUDIO [also for CONTINENT OF MEDIA, MUNDO RADIAL]: WORLD OF RADIO 1277 (high version): (stream) http://www.w4uvh.net/wor1277h.ram (download) http://www.w4uvh.net/wor1277h.rm WORLD OF RADIO 1277 (low version): (stream) http://www.w4uvh.net/wor1277.ram (download) http://www.w4uvh.net/wor1277.rm (summary) http://www.worldofradio.com/wor1277.html [soon] WORLD OF RADIO 1277 in true shortwave sound of Alex`s mp3 (stream) http://www.dxprograms.net/worldofradio_06-08-05.m3u (download) http://www.dxprograms.net/worldofradio_06-08-05.mp3 WORLD OF RADIO ON WPKN 89 FM IN BRIDGEPORT Greetings Glenn, I'm writing to let you know that your program, World of Radio is once again being broadcast on Saturdays on WPKN. Starting in the first week of June, we are carrying WOR at 9:30 AM (EDT) each Saturday morning. Starting in July, we be moving it to 6 AM (EDT) each Saturday morning, where it shall remain for the foreseeable future. Best regards, (Rod Richardson, Program Director, WPKN 89.5 FM Bridgeport, CT, WPKM 88.7 FM Montauk, NY, June 8) ** AFGHANISTAN. LOS SOLDADOS CONDUCEN UN ESPACIO DE RADIO MÚSICA Y NOTICIAS ESPAÑOLAS DESDE AFGANISTÁN --- ELMUNDO.ES Los soldados españoles cuentan con cuatro horas al día para informar a los afganos de su labor en el país. Lo hacen a través de una emisora de radio en la que emiten música patria y noticias traducidas al darí, el idioma de la región. Su programa se llama 'Buenos días Afganistán'. La iniciativa es nueva en el país pero ya se puso en marcha un proyecto similar en Bosnia. Su población recibía a través de la radio el programa 'Aires de España'. Un grupo "pequeño", según fuentes de Defensa, integrado por dos o tres soldados, se encarga del espacio, de dos horas de duración por la mañana y otras tantas por la tarde, que emite a través de la Radio Televisión de Badghis, propiedad de la cadena de radio oficial del gobierno afgano. [WTFK???] El Ministerio explica que la iniciativa partió del contingente español destacado en Qala-i-Naw. Según la información que ha facilitado, la intención del espacio es "informar a la población de las actuaciones que los españoles están realizando" así como para llamar a "organizaciones nacionales e internacionales" para que se impliquen en la reconstrucción de la zona. Pero los soldados también difunden consejos sobre salud e higiene y difunden entre los oyentes la cultura y la "forma de ser" de los españoles. Además de 'pinchar' música procedente de nuestro país, el programa ofrece la información traducida a la lengua local. Los medios con los que cuenta el 'equipo' son escasos. La radio afgana ha puesto a disposición del equipo una antigua emisora militar de válvulas de origen soviético que conservan desde la época de la guerra. Su alcance es de sólo dos o tres kilómetros, según Defensa, que ha explicado que el la radio es el medio de comunicación más extendido en la zona y llega al 95% de la población. El primer contingente español llegó al país en enero de 2002 como parte de la Fuerza Internacional de Asistencia para la Seguridad en Afganistán, liderada por la OTAN. ---------- ---------- ---------- ---------- ---------- ---------- (c) 2005, http://www.elmundo.es/ (via Ignacio Sotomayor, DXLD) ** ALASKA [and non]. KNLS, 9615, poor but audible at 1253 UT June 8 with ID, address in English, praise music, 1258 Chinese announcement, 1300 IS for at least a couple minutes. Thruout there was a het on the low side, roughly 9613.8 --- wonder whence, maybe the wandering Filipino? K=1 at 1200 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ANTARCTICA [non]. ANTARCTICA Radio Nacional LRA36 15476 2305 GMT Spanish 333 June 6 OM with an ID then into comments followed by another OM with more comments (Stewart MacKenzie, CA, Japan Premium via DXLD) Since Stewart posts his logs on numerous mailing lists, and they are usually quoted on DX Partyline without checking them out (just wait), I hate to do this, as I told Stewart in a personal inquiry not yet answered, but are you sure about this? Because 1) LRA-36 normally operates only 1800-2100, and 2) for the last two months+ has been blocked by Voz Cristã, Chile in Portuguese on 15475 from 1200 to 2400. Altho a move by VC is expected any month now, still on 15475 at 2000 UT check June 9. BTW, the unpleasantness of calling someone`s log into question can be avoided by simply not publishing or broadcasting it in the first place, at least until it can be checked out. This is the responsibility of DX editors (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ARGENTINA. 15345, Radio Nacional, Buenos Aires, 0058, 09-06, transmisión del partido de fútbol entre Argentina y Brasil, locutor" Estamos en Nacional, la radio más argentina". "Gooooooooool, goooooooooool, Argentinaaaaa, Argentinaaaaaa, Hernan Crespoooo, Argentina 1 Brasil 0, Hernan Crespo, nos vamos para Alemania". 34333 11710, Radio Nacional, Buenos Aires, 0101, 09-06, transmisión del partido Argentina-Brasil: "Gana Argentina, minuto 6 de juego, disfrutamos con este partido, relata por Radio Nacional, Gabriel Vicente". 34333 (Manuel Méndez, Lugo, Spain, Escuchas realizadas en Friol, 27 Km al W de Lugo, Grundig Satellit 500, antena de cable, 10 metros, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Per A-05 RAE sked in 5-053, 15345 is normally not on the air at this hour, except on weekends, and 11710 is supposed to be in the midst of a bihour in Portuguese. RAE must have blown away its external languages in order to broadcast this silly ballgame in Spanish. Shades of RHC and its Fidelevents, but last things first. Manuel also logged numerous Brazilians with the game; see also BOLIVIA, PARAGUAY (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** AUSTRALIA. RADIO NATIONAL MAY CUT PROGRAMS By Annie Lawson June 9, 2005 http://www.theage.com.au/news/TV--Radio/Radio-National-may-cut-programs/2005/06/08/1118123894718.html?oneclick=true Several programs on the ABC's Radio National should be axed to help ease a funding crisis at the station, an internal report says. Unless the network receives an extra $1 million a year, it will be unable to resolve financial woes that have left staff "depressed and stagnant", the report says. A draft report will be circulated to staff and ABC managing director Russell Balding next week following an emergency review of resources to ease industrial unrest at the national broadcaster. Radio National has blown its budget for the past five years, falling $800,000 into the red this year. Its $15 million-a-year budget is deemed insufficient to cover the cost of 170 staff, programming and equipment costs. The report will recommend that shows such as The Europeans be scrapped as part of a 2006 schedule revamp. Most programs are produced from scratch and cover subjects including technology, media, law and design. This pushes up staff costs compared with other ABC radio networks. Without more money, the network will be unable to make specialised, well-researched programs, the report says. Although Mr Balding has not seen the findings, he is said to support the recommendation for an extra $1 million a year. Radio National's deputy director of programming, Jane Connors, is conducting the review with the help of nine senior staff members. Last December, management issued an edict not to replace departing staff, which left the broadcaster struggling to fill some of its programming slots. International travel was also frozen and the trainee program was scrapped. "There is no career development and the place gets extremely depressed and stagnant," one insider said. Investment in online and the ABC's failure to fund annual staff increases have been blamed for the budget troubles. ABC's radio director Sue Howard expects the review to find ways to cut Radio National's budget (via Kim Andrew Elliott, DXLD) You will, please, excuse the rather bitter tone of this response --- Of course, the only thing that matters is the money. The quality coming out of the other end is never, it seems, of a kind that would justify ANY particular level of expense. The budget must ALWAYS be lower. Somehow, the savings does not need to be independently justified. Where it goes is only identified in passing and in such imprecise terms as to be untraceable in the end. I just finished sending a note to Roger Broadbent thanking RA (and RN indirectly) for radio that refuses to talk down to its listeners and assumes that they each have a working brain in their respective heads. The problem as I see it is (1) money is eminently measurable; and (2) quality does not lend itself to measurement in as facile a way. In a world that wants a measurement on everything, the things that lack that sort of quantification go wanting. IMHO, it's an infantile way of looking at things that are inherently complex; but there you have it -- that's our modern world today (John Figliozzi, NY, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** AUSTRALIA. Summer A-05 for CVC International via DRW=Darwin: Chinese to China 2200-0100 on 15165 DRW 250 kW / 340 deg 0700-1000 on 17830 DRW 250 kW / 340 deg ex 0700-0900 for A-04 1000-1400 on 13775 DRW 250 kW / 340 deg ex 0900-1400 on 13770 1400-1800 on 13695 DRW 250 kW / 340 deg ex 1400-1800 on 13660 English to China 1000-1400 on 13685 DRW 250 kW / 340 deg ex 0900-1400 for A-04 1400-1800 on 15205 DRW 250 kW / 340 deg additional txion English to Indonesia and South East Asia 0600-0900 on 15335 DRW 250 kW / 303 deg additional txion 0900-1100 on 11955 DRW 250 kW / 316 deg 1100-1800 on 13635 DRW 250 kW / 303 deg 1800-2100 on 6115 DRW 250 kW / 303 deg Indonesian to Indonesia 0400-1000 on 17820 DRW 250 kW / 290 deg ex 0600-1000 for A-04 1000-1300 on 15365 DRW 250 kW / 290 deg 1300-1700 on 7180 DRW 250 kW / 290 deg 2300-0200 on 15250 DRW 250 kW / 290 deg (Observer, Bulgaria via DXLD) ** BOLIVIA. 4900.6, Radio San Miguel, Riberalta, 0010, 09-06, locutor: "Estamos aquí en Radio San Miguel en directo, viviendo los momentos dramáticos de nuestro país". "Parece que las Fuerzas Armadas no están dispuestas a cargar contra la población". A las 0028 conexión con el partido de fútbol Paraguay-Bolivia, que se jugaba desde las 2315. Transmisión de dicho partido a intervalos, predominando las noticias y comentarios de la grave situación política y social del país. Incluso a las 0011, que Paraguay marcó el segundo gol a Bolivia, no conectaron con el campo de juego. 24322 6105.5, Radio Panamericana, La Paz, 0045, 09-06, locutor, transmisión en directo y sin interrupción del partido de fútbol Paraguay-Bolivia, desde Asunción: "23 minutos quedan, queridos amigos, para que finalice el Paraguay-Bolivia, gana Paraguay 4-1". Identificación: "Panamericana deportiva". Anuncios comerciales durante la narración. Al final comentario y crítica a la selección boliviana. 23222. 6134.8, Radio Santa Cruz, Santa Cruz, 0038. 09-06, Identificación: "Radio Santa Cruz, la primera", anuncios comerciales. Canciones. No transmitían el partido de fútbol entre Paraguay y Bolivia. Señal débil e interferida por Radio Aparecida. 22222. Resulta curioso, que Radio Santa Cruz, que tiene un programa deportivo los fines de semana para transmitir los partidos del equipo de Santa Cruz de la Sierra "Blooming" del campeonanto boliviano, con información de los otros partidos que se juegan, identificándose en los deportes como "Radio Cadena Deportiva", no transmitiera el partido de la selección boliviana. ¿Tendrá algo que ver el intento de autogobierno del departamente de Santa Cruz? (Manuel Méndez, Lugo, Spain, Escuchas realizadas en Friol, 27 Km al W de Lugo, Grundig Satellit 500, antena de cable, 10 metros, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Maybe they didn`t have broadcast rights to the big one (gh, DXLD) ** CANADA. Greetings from Rogers Pass, BC where the DX ain't! Reception in the mountain areas of southern BC is horrible, even with the big Kiwa loop. Trail and Kelowna were just as stinky as Rogers Pass, DX-wise. The Okanagn stations don't get out well at all. Vernon seems to have better reception than points further south in the Okanagan Valley. Not much news to report. The Environment Canada stations on 1260-Sicamous and 1580-Revelstoke are active. The old TIS on 1230 at Rogers Pass is still running OC several years after someone thought they shut it down. Maybe I'll tell them about it tomorrow. This will be the funkiest GYDXA record yet. The transmitter site appears to be next door to my hotel, though I have heard the OC a few miles away... The city of Revelstoke has a TIS on 89.9 FM. Too bad all of the signs say 97.1... Rumor has it that one or more of the old TIS stations in Jasper National Park are active again. I'll find out next week... 73, (Tim Hall, June 7, ABDX via DXLD) ** CHILE. Summer A-05 for Voz Cristiana via SGO=Santiago: Portuguese to Mexico and Central America [er, Brasil --- gh] 0000-0400 on 11745 SGO 100 kW / 060 deg ex 2300-0800 for A-04 0400-1200 on 6110 SGO 100 kW / 060 deg ex 0800-1100 for A-04 1200-2400 on 15475 SGO 100 kW / 060 deg ex 1100-2300 on 21500 Spanish to Central America 0100-0400 on 15585 SGO 100 kW / 340 deg Spanish to Northern South America 0100-0800 on 11655 SGO 100 kW / non-dir ex 0000-0800 on 15375 0800-1200 on 5960 SGO 100 kW / non-dir ex 5995 till May 8 1200-0100 on 17680 SGO 100 kW / non-dir ex 1100-2400 Spanish to Southern South America 2200-1300 on 6070 SGO 100 kW / 030 deg ex 2200-1200 for A-04 1300-2200 on 9635 SGO 100 kW / 030 deg ex 1200-2200 for A-04 (Observer, Bulgaria, June 7 via DXLD) ** COLOMBIA. 6010, La Voz de tu Conciencia, 0611, 09-06, Locutor, comentarios religiosos, canción de Roberto Carlos. Señal débil. 24222. Fuera del aire desde hace unos semanas Marfil Estereo, en 5910, y fuera del aire, también, estos días, Radio Lider, en 6140, la colombiana que mejor se escuchaba por aquí. Debido a ello se podía escuchar en esta frecuencia, en horas del amanecer, Radio Habana Cuba, con señal débil, no siendo esto posible cuando radio Lider está activa (Manuel Méndez, Lugo, Spain, Escuchas realizadas en Friol, 27 Km al W de Lugo, Grundig Satellit 500, antena de cable, 10 metros, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CONGO DR. 5066.4 (R. Candip) Jun 01 1605-1614+ 24232, French, Talk by woman and local music, 1614 fadeout (Kouji Hashimoto, Japan, Japan Premium via DXLD) Quite a rare one in NAm (gh) ** CUBA. Frequency change for Radio Havana Cuba in English: 2300-0200 NF 12000, ex 9655 to avoid VOIROI/IRIB in Spanish \\ 9550 (Observer, Bulgaria, June 7 via DXLD) ?? RHC does not broadcast in English straight thru from 23 to 02, unless this was an assumption based on the 3-day-only Terrorism conference special coverage. I did not notice whether RHC was broadcasting it that late in the day, but 12000 was in use all morning and afternoon in English along with 9550 and 13680, as I reported. Checked at 0015 UT June 9, nothing on 12000 (gh) ** CUBA. 6140, Radio Habana Cuba, 0410-0435, 09-06, Noticias, programa "24 horas en el mundo. "Radio Habana Cuba, les estamos ofreciendo 24 horas en el mundo" "Exactamente las 12 horas con 31 minutos". 9505, Radio Rebelde, 1002, 09-06, programa "Haciendo Radio", "Buenos días, son las 6 de la mañana con 2 minutos, seguimos haciendo radio". Noticias, noticia sobre la situación en Bolivia. 24322 (Manuel Méndez, Lugo, Spain, Escuchas realizadas en Friol, 27 Km al W de Lugo, Grundig Satellit 500, antena de cable, 10 metros, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CUBA [and non]. Tuned upon 11930, June 9 at 1445 when R. Martí`s FueraCuban meteorologist was talking about the current tropical storm threat to parts of Cuba. Jamming continued unabated! Dentro-Cubans should file class-action lawsuit against the government for impeding vital safety info broadcasts. RHC, 9550, June 9 at 1456 Spanish in sign-off routine, but noticed some CCI underneath. Recheck at 1500 both were off. Nothing else at this time in EiBi or HFCC A-05. Both China and Vietnam [q.v.] use this frequency a lot, but not during the 1400 hour. However, NDXC shows CRI also with Vietnamese during this hour: 9550 CHINA Radio INT. 1400-1457 1234567 Vietnamese Kunming 150 163 CHN 10250E2510 CRI a05 So that`s probably it (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CYPRUS [and non]. Radio 4 Tracking The Lincolnshire Poacher --- If you missed this Radio 4 programme on numbers stations it is now available for download at http://www.simonmason.karoo.net/page485.htm Lots of other material and audio of numbers stations on Simon`s site (Mike Barraclough, June 8, dxldyg via DXLD) ** DEUTSCHES REICH [and non]. "He had the original good face for radio" http://portal.telegraph.co.uk/arts/main.jhtml?xml=/arts/2005/06/05/bofar05.xml&sSheet=/arts/2005/06/05/bomain.html 6 June 2005 -- Nicholas Rankin reviews "Haw-Haw: the Tragedy of William and Margaret Joyce" by Nigel Farndale. Fearful, angry, sometimes unjust: that is how history has judged the victorious Allies' prosecution of those who had broadcast against them in the Second World War. Crazy Ezra Pound was held in a cage. The Japanese woman framed as "Tokyo Rose" was pardoned by President Ford in 1977. P G Wodehouse was disgraced and exiled for making five innocent broadcasts from German captivity, and only knighted a few weeks before his death. Some punishments were permanent: the French guillotined Ferdonnet, and the British hanged John Amery and the notorious William Joyce for speaking words through Nazi microphones. When a radio critic, searching the ether for something more entertaining than the dull BBC in the early days of the war, came across a voice broadcasting in English from Nazi Germany, he christened his discovery Lord Haw-Haw of Zeesen in the Daily Express: "From his accent and personality I imagine him with a receding chin, a questing nose, thin yellow hair brushed back, a monocle, a vacant eye, a gardenia in his button-hole. Rather like P G Wodehouse's Bertie Wooster." Radio is an imaginative medium, where listeners make their own pictures and invent sobriquets. This first "Lord Haw-Haw" was actually a Polish-German playboy, Wolff Mittler. But when a Hitler-loving Irishman called William Joyce arrived in Berlin and got a job in Nazi propaganda, he assumed the catchy nickname. The supercilious voice of "Lord Haw-Haw" (think of Alec Guinness as a sarcastic schoolmaster) became his fatal fortune. Joyce had the original "good face for radio". The one-time deputy to Oswald Mosley in the British Union of Fascists bore a 26-stitch razor- scar, the colour of raw pork, looping from mouth to right ear, given him at 18 by, he said, a "Jewish-Bolshevik". The Reichsrundfunkgesellschaft (the German equivalent of the BBC) got off to a better start in the airwaves war. The BBC countered with a prophylactic series about the verbal terrorism of radio propaganda called The Voice of the Nazi. Only after the Phoney War did they begin to get their own strong voices: Churchill, Handley, Priestley. Up to a third of the British adult population was listening to "Haw- Haw" (foreign radio here, unlike in Germany, was never banned or jammed), and the other two thirds were spreading rumours about what he was said to have said. None of these legends, like how slow the church clock was running in a certain village, was ever shown to be true, but urban myths thrive fantastically in wartime. Nobody knew this better than Britain's own "sykewarriors", who were spreading their morale-sapping "sibs" (from sibillari, whispers) among German troops waiting to invade England. One of the disappointments of Nigel Farndale's racy book is that he is always more interested in celebrity and salacity than in the history of radio and its imaginative life in war time. A characteristic Farndale paragraph reads: "The British were developing their own black-propaganda stations using German prisoners of war. Their programmes would concentrate on casting aspersions about the sexual deviances of the Nazi leaders. Typically, the speakers would pretend to be German workers complaining about how the top Nazis were indulging in homosexual orgies, or visiting Jewish prostitutes." This is a travesty of the great work done by Sefton Delmer and the Political Warfare Executive. British "black" radio, or "pretence" broadcasting, purporting to come from within Germany but really skilfully concocted in England, was much more effective than the plonking German "black" stations that Joyce contributed to. Many of the stories in Haw-Haw will be familiar to readers of Mary Kenny's sympathetic biography of Joyce, Germany Calling, which was revised and updated last year. That book is finer (in every sense) than Farndale's, because her moral compass is more reliable. Kenny also recognises how profoundly cracked Joyce was, how pathological his anti-Semitism. Farndale is not concerned by this. He is readable in his journalistic way, but also over-excited by the bizarre menagerie of the far Right, and the curious spies who dealt with them. In fact, if you are not spellbound by Nazi glamour, Joyce in the end is a boor and his wife Margaret rather a whore. Haw-Haw is poignant in its account of Joyce's 1945 trial for treason, which hinged on the claim that he (who, as a foreigner born in America, could not be a traitor) had obtained a British passport by deception, and so was under the protection of the Crown when he broadcast. After his capture (he was shot through both buttocks by a Jewish soldier), Joyce behaved with dignity and decency, and went to the gallows bravely. He was intelligent enough to understand that it was "the voice of Lord Haw-Haw" that the post-war Labour government wanted to silence. His misfortune - not quite the tragedy of Farndale's title - was that to achieve that end, Albert Pierrepoint had to place the hooded noose round William Joyce's throat (via Mike Terry, dxldyg via DXLD) ** ERITREA [non]. See ETHIOPIA just below ** ETHIOPIA. 9560.82, R. Ethiopia Jun 01 1450-1500* 33433 Arabic, Ethiopian pops, ID at 1459, 9560.82, V. of Democratic Alliance via R. Ethiopia Jun 01 *1500-1535 33443 Arabic and Kunama, 1500 IS, ID, Talk and Ethiopian pops music (Kouji Hashimoto, Japan Premium via DXLD) ** EUROPE. Saludos cordiales, la emisora Mistery Radio por 6220 entrando muy bien por estos momentos, 1900 UT. [Luego:] el SINPO por Valencia 44433. Como nunca. 73´s y buen Dx, (Jose Miguel Romero, Spain, 2130 UT, BCLNews.it via WORLD OF RADIO 1277, DXLD) So surely in Europe. Pirates vs Pirates!! --- (gh, ibid.) TO ALL "LASER HOT HITS" LISTENERS As most of you will know, we have been suffering sporadic interference to our 6219 kHz channel over the last year or so, from a station identifying itself only as "Mystery Radio". This station does nothing except play non-stop music, and contributes nothing towards Free Radio. It obviously takes a minimum of effort to do what they are doing, and as it has been continuing for so long, we can only conclude that their action is not only deliberate, but malicious. There is no reason why this station, thought to be in Italy possibly, could not broadcast on a clear channel. They must have spent several hundred Euros in electricity over the past year, powering their transmitter, all for what ??? We have been using this channel since November 1972, firstly as Radio Gemini, and more recently, as Laser, and have no intention of vacating this frequency. We are asking all our loyal Laser Listeners wherever they may be, to pass on to us, any information they may have about the location of this transmitter, and any people associated with it. This may be done anonymously if necessary. However, we are prepared to pay a reward of 500 Euros to anyone who passes us correct information, enabling us to locate the transmitter and deal with it. Also if any keen DXers out there across Europe can provide us with a bearing of Mystery Radio from their location, this may also prove useful to us. Don't forget to include your own approximate location too. We can be contacted at our normal mailing address and phone number or simply reply to this e-mail. Our website is at http://www.radiolink.net/hothits Feel free to pass on this message to any relevant newsgroups, bulletin boards, etc. Thanks for your help. Colin Dixon. (Laser Mailbox laserhothits@rock.com via HCDX via DXLD) ** FRANCE [and non]. RFI SCHEDULES MW/SW/FM/SATELLITE Hi All, I just received an email from RFI with an internet link for their European schedule with all MW/SW/FM and satellite. On FM you will find all European relays. http://www.rfi.fr/Fichiers/ecouter/Frequences/grille/europe_ete_2005.pdf 73 de (Vincent Lecler, nr Poitiers, France, June 9, dxldyg via DXLD) ** GABON [non]. Iniziavo dalla più vicina alla Gare du Nord, la nuova sede parigina di RADIO AFRICA 1, l’emittente afro-francofona attiva anche dal Gabon sulle onde corte e che in Parigi opera in FM sulla frequenza di 107.5 MHz. L’ inizio non era male, due esemplari di due differenti adesivi davano il via alla missione. R. AFRICA 1 – 193 rue du Faubourg Poissonnière - 75009 Paris – Francia. Web http://www.africa1.com (Roberto Pavanello, from an extensive report on his visit to Paris and the Channel Islands, playdx via DXLD) ** GAMBIA [non]. 9405, Save the Gambia Development Project. June 4 at 2000-2030*. SINPO 24332. Talk in English and vernacular. Music at 2019, then ID as "...Gambia Development Project.". Another talk followed. Audio quality was not good (Iwao Nagatani, Japan, Japan Premium via DXLD) Via Germany. Are they actually IDing as Voice of the Diaspora? (gh) ** GERMANY. Additional transmissions for TWR Europe via DTK T-Systems from May 30: 1810-1840 Mon-Sat on 5910 JUL 100 kW / 130 deg to EaEu in Serbian 1810-1840 Sunday on 5910 JUL 100 kW / 130 deg to EaEu in Slovene (Observer, Bulgaria, June 7 via DXLD) ** INTERNATIONAL VACUUM. 'COUSIN BRUCIE' TO JOIN SIRIUS SATELLITE RADIO Sirius Satellite Radio announced today that legendary New York radio personality Bruce Morrow, aka "Cousin Brucie," will join SIRIUS as an on-air personality. The Brooklyn-born Morrow has been an anchor of the New York airwaves for more than 40 years, and has remained one of its most popular personalities. He has been a trusted on-air host of popular hit music on New York radio stations WINS, WABC-AM and, until June 3, at WCBS-FM. Morrow has been inducted into the National Association of Broadcasters' Radio Hall of Fame, the Broadcasting & Cable Hall of Fame, the Radio Hall of Fame (Chicago) and was honoured for his on-air work by the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum. "Bruce is a beloved icon in radio, and we are excited to bring him to Sirius, where he will be able to play the great music he loves and talk to a national audience," said Sirius President of Entertainment and Sports Scott Greenstein. "We are proud that from his many options, he chose to join Sirius." Bruce Morrow said, "This is one of the most exciting events of my career. I feel like I'm riding a rocket ship - or should I say 'satellite'? I now have the opportunity with Sirius to reach the national audience I've always wanted to communicate with. Here comes the music!" "Cousin Brucie" will debut on Sirius during the July 4th weekend with a special broadcast from the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum in Cleveland, Ohio. Following that event, he will host three regularly scheduled programs each week and numerous daily features from Sirius' New York City national broadcast studios, exclusively on Sirius. # posted by Andy @ 18:19 UT June 9 (Media Network blog via DXLD) ** IRAN [non]. 7490, V. of Iran of Tomorrow Movement, Jun 01 *1600- 1605 35333 Farsi, 1600 sign on with opening music, ID, Talk (Kouji Hashimoto, Japan, Japan Premium via DXLD) ** ISRAEL [and non]. IN AIRWAVES WAR, ISRAELI ARMY TAKES ITS CASE TO ARAB MEDIA --- By MITCHELL GINSBURG June 10, 2005 http://www.forward.com/articles/3296 JERUSALEM — Eitan Arusy, the Israeli military's point man in dealing with the Arab media, earned his paycheck May 19. That day, millions of Arab viewers watching the evening news on Al Jazeera were treated to footage from an Israeli army drone. The 10-second clip depicted a missile strike on a group of Hamas members as they cowered from an overhead threat, which ended with a burst of flames. The attack left one Hamas member dead. Back in the days before Arusy assumed his newly created post, that would have been the end of the story for Arab viewers: an unprovoked Israeli attack on Palestinians. But Arusy angrily called the popular satellite network and demanded that they show the first 40 seconds of the tape, which showed that the skirmish started when the Hamas militants took up positions in a cemetery and fired mortar rounds at the Gush Katif settlements in Gaza. The network obliged. The full video was aired seven times, along with a voice-over explaining that Israel was firing in response to Hamas mortars. This media spin-cycle victory and others like it are the fruits of an almost yearlong effort by the Israeli military to establish better working relations with Al Jazeera and some 40 other Arab media outlets. As director of the Arab Desk of the Israeli army spokesman's office, Arusy stands at the head of this new initiative. Arusy, who speaks Arabic with his grandparents and spent a fair share of his time in uniform as a listener in military intelligence ("Don't ask me to whom"), was set to leave the army when he received an offer from the former chief spokeswoman Ruth Yaron to run the new Arab Desk. She charged him with winning "the war of the narratives." That battle will reach a peak in the coming months. The upcoming withdrawal from Gaza can be seen through two markedly different lenses, Arusy explains: as a capitulation to terrorism and a clapping re-enforcement of Israel's inherent weakness, or, as he would like it portrayed, as an act of a strong country making a huge sacrifice for peace. "We need to take pains to show them how difficult, tragic and formative this is," he said, "because many in the Arab media market don't really get that excited about a government moving 7,000 people from their homes. They've seen that before and a lot worse." They are seeing some new images from the Israeli army, though. In recent months, the Saudi-owned Middle East Broadcasting channel and the American-owned satellite channel Al-Hurra have shown interviews with the commander of an F-16 squadron and with the chief of military intelligence, Aharon Ze'evi-Farkash. Last week, London-based, Saudi-owned Asharq Al- Awsat, the dean of international Arabic dailies, ran a full-page interview with the outgoing chief of staff on his last day in uniform. The Asharq Al-Awsat article didn't pull any punches, but it did paint a rather positive picture of the man who heads an often-demonized institution. He was seen as courteous, compassionate and reluctant in most matters concerning warfare. The first two paragraphs of the interview have the Israeli commander, Moshe Ya'alon, greeting the interviewer with a blessing in Arabic and admitting that he cries on occasion. Later on, Ya'alon acknowledges that the Palestinians have suffered far more than the Israelis during the current intifada — Ya'alon calls it a war — and concedes a willingness to leave the Golan Heights under certain conditions. He is asked, but refuses to comment, about the death of Khalil al-Wazir, alias Abu Jihad, the number-two man in the Fatah organization. Al-Wazir was killed in Tunis in 1988. Rumor has it, a bullet in the head — from Ya'alon himself — caused his death. It is said that Ya'alon, who at the time was commander of the Sayeret Matkal, entered the house after the initial break-in and confirmed the killing, putting a final bullet in al-Wazir's head. At the close of the interview Ya'alon describes himself in terms that would have tickled George Washington: "I, as you know, am a farmer. I wanted to stay a farmer and, out of a sense of dedication to my fields, I left the army. But in the October War of 1973 I was called to the flag. If I had my way, I would never have been an army man... I hope there will be peace soon. Israel holds its hand out in peace." The paper was besieged by complaints. But its Israel correspondent, Nazir Mgalli, an Israeli Arab who speaks fluent Hebrew, received only praise from his London editors, who called to congratulate him. Mgalli, who hails from the Galilee city of Nazareth, says that Arusy and his desk have transformed his ability to report from Israel in a fair and balanced way. "Some people think the Arab press is still wholly patriarchal and inherently biased, but that is far from the truth," Mgalli told the Forward. "What we want is information." According to Mgalli, before the existence of Arusy's office the channels of communication between the Arab media and the Israeli army were "nonexistent." Other correspondents say that self-interest was at the forefront of the army initiative. "They didn't bring Arusy to help us," said Walid Omari, Al-Jazeera's bureau chief in Israel. "They brought him to help them." Hammoudi Boqai, a correspondent for the Al-Arabiya satellite channel, explains that Arousy's role can involve both propaganda and the dissemination of legitimate views. "If there's unrest in the north they sometimes send Arusy to tell Hezbollah, on the air, that they'll attack if further provoked," he said. Boqai saw that as a "risk" to the integrity of his channel. But, Boqai is quick to note, there is an upside to the new cooperation. If Arousy had been in place three years ago, "Jenin wouldn't have happened," he said, referring to the worldwide reports of an Israeli massacre in the West Bank town in April 2002, which were later proved to be fabrications. Arusy himself believes that he would have been able to stop the frenzied coverage of the still controversial death of Muhammad al-Dura, the 12-year-old Palestinian boy shot in Gaza in September 2000. Though the boy turned into the poster child of the intifada, he might not actually have been killed by Israeli fire. Either way, Boqai thinks that simply seeing Israeli military officials on television and in the papers is changing the face of the conflict. "Not every Jew is an enemy anymore," he says. "And I attribute that to their media relations." (via Joel Rubin, Swprograms mailing list via DXLD) ** ITALY. Radio Maria SW Ascolto --- stravagante, di cui si è già detto in diverse liste: 26000 07/06 1040 Radio Maria in // con le FM, con segnale debole ma pulito Ciao (Giampiero Bernardini, Avvenire, Milano, Italy, BCLNews.it via WORLD OF RADIO 1277, DXLD) ** KOREA NORTH. USA'S ABC BEGINS LIVE SATELLITE BROADCAST FROM NORTH KOREA | Text of report in English by South Korean news agency Yonhap New York, 7 June: US television network ABC started broadcasting live from Pyongyang on Tuesday evening (New York time), in what could be a sign of eased tension between the United States and North Korea after the latter expressed its intention to return to the talks over its nuclear weapons programme. A team from the network, led by Bob Woodruff, a senior reporter with its New York bureau, arrived in Pyongyang on Tuesday [7 June] to cover the reclusive state via satellite for the next several days. Woodruff said an unidentified high-level North Korean official expressed the North's intention to return to the six-party talks if US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice retracts her description of the country as an "outpost of tyranny". The station aired Woodruff's report as the top story of its evening news. Showing live shots taken from downtown Pyongyang and farming villages, Woodruff said there are not many cars on streets and that portraits of North Korea's founder Kim Il-sung are a frequent sight in the capital. He also said the police, rather than traffic lights, have been used to direct traffic at intersections for the past several years because of fuel and electric power shortages. The crew has reportedly filed a request for an interview with North Korean leader Kim Jong-il, but there has yet to be a response. In Washington, the US State Department said that North Korea has expressed its intention to return to the six-party talks. Senior diplomats from North Korea's mission to the United Nations met US officials in New York earlier this week and said the North would rejoin the stalled negotiations, but did not set a date, it said. The six-party talks between the two Koreas, the US, China, Japan and Russia, aimed at ending Pyongyang's nuclear weapons programme, have not been held since the third round in June last year. Source: Yonhap news agency, Seoul, in English 0542 gmt 8 Jun 05 (via BBCM via DXLD) ** MALAYSIA. KLIA TO BE WORLD'S FIRST AIRPORT WITH RADIO STATION http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2005/6/8/nation/11160327&sec=nation (In my view this is a misleading title to this article as in the UK we have had (the now sadly departed) Airport Information Radio and I believe there is a station at LAX, there are no doubt others elsewhere --- Mike Terry). Sepang, Malayisa, Wednesday June 8, 2005 The KL International Airport (KLIA) will be the first airport in the world to have a radio station to serve its 25 million passengers and 13 million listeners in the Klang Valley. The radio station, Fly.fm, will be launched on June 30 in conjunction with KLIA's seventh anniversary. It will provide up-to-date information on KLIA events and airline flight schedules as well as travel tips. "We will be focusing on travel and tourism, but of course, we will provide music and entertainment as well," Malaysia Airports Holdings Bhd managing director Datuk Bashir Ahmad said. He said the radio station, broadcasting on a frequency of 95.8 FM, would be available on the west coast of the peninsula by the end of the year. It will be run by Max-Airplay Sdn Bhd (MAX) with financial backing from Media Prima Bhd. MAX chief operating officer Azman Shah Mohd Yusof said the station would broadcast in Malay and English (via Mike Terry, dxldyg via DXLD) ** MALDIVE ISLANDS [non]. GERMANY: Frequency change for Minivan Radio in Dhivehi via DTK T-Systems: 1600-1700 NF 11800 JUL 100 kW / 105 deg to SoAs, ex 12015 to avoid V of Korea (Observer, Bulgaria, June 7 via WORLD OF RADIO 1277, DXLD) I pointed out this collision to Jeff White some weeks ago (gh, ibid.) ** MEXICO. 1630, Tijuana BCN, XEUT Radio Universidad, nice Certificado de Sintonía, stickers, program bulletin for March/April, postcard and a CD in 175 days for English report, $1 and a CD of what I heard. Signed by Ángel Norzagaray, Secretario de Rectoria e Imagen Institucional and Patricia Áviles Muñoz, Jefa de Sistema Universitario de Radio (MARTIN FOLTZ, Mission Viejo, CA, IRCA Soft DX Monitor June 11 via DXLD) ** MEXICO. Re 5-094: Glenn: -- "...I heard ESPN programming on "The Mighty Ten-Ninety" on 1700 this morning..." -- Actually, our man heard Fox Sports Radio. The Tijuana/San Diego market is served ESPN fare by way of the mighty XESPN/800 and its 500 watts Day/250 watts Night. Just a point of minutiae here....73z – (GREG HARDISON, CA, June 8, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Greetings once again from Sactown, Glenn! To clarify Mike Westfall/ N6KUY/WDX60's report from Los Alamos, New Mexico, "Mighty 1090" XEPRS broadcasts Fox Sports Network, rather than E.S.P.N., during their overnight broadcasts! Their local San Diego sports broadcasters start their show 6 a.m. Pacific weekdays! 73s from Sactown-n-Ed Gardner!!! June 9, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Sports, shmortz (gh) ** MYANMAR. 5985.9 kHz, Radio Myanmar. June 2 at 1330-1435. SINPO 33333. Talk in Burmese by a man and a woman. Music program with Burmese songs from 1345. ID at 1429, English program followed, but the reception condition got worse (Iwao Nagatani, Japan Premium via DXLD) ** NETHERLANDS. Reading the press release quoted in DXLD 3-094 I realise I made a typo: In the opening paragraph, it should say "At present, DRM transmissions in Dutch total 6 hours 45 minutes daily, and English three and a half hours daily." Original in Weblog now corrected. This came from a press release that was only issued in Dutch, so I had to translate it (Andy Sennitt, dxldyg via DXLD) Andy, 55, says he has caught chicken-pox somehow, not having had it as a child. Get well quick! (gh) ** NIGERIA [non]. Salama Radio International heard here again today June 8 at 1930 sign-on on 11885, though even weaker than my last encounter (Steve Lare, MI, USA, http://www.iserv.net/~n8kdv/dxpage.htm dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) 11885 stronger here compared than last Sunday transmission, 'closely' to UK site. Local PLC like garden fence every 30 kHz still disturbing that signal. 73 (Wolfgang Büschel, df5sx, Stuttgart Germany, ibid.) ** OKLAHOMA. New MW QSL: 1520, KOKC, OK, Oklahoma City, received QSL card (yes card!) and letter with KOKC pen and stickers for a SASE and CD in 9 days. V/S: Dee Garrison, Renda Broadcasting. Address: 400 East Britton Rd, Oklahoma City OK 73114-7507. MW QSL #2899. This was also a follow up using a CD, rather than a cassette. I am sure glad I bought the Lite 5005 DVD/CD recorder (Patrick Martin, Seaside OR, June 8, HCDX via DXLD) I met the CE recently, his name is Dennis and he is a ham, so is his wife, he is busy with a FM system upgrade involving several stations in south Fla, but I think his ham interest could explain their having a QSL. And yes, he thought it was a mistake to give up the heritage of the old KOMA call. Told me some interesting stories, one about how a 16 inch bowl insulator at the base of one of their three towers cracked and had to be replaced. The replacement had a metal ring instead of a metal disc. The difference in capacitance was 2 pf but it was enough that they could not get their 18 amps in that tower. Ron Rackley had been in town doing some work at WKY so he agreed to come out and take a look. He looked, and said, you're missing a capacitor. Rackley is the God of AM DA's. I've seen his name on the broadcast list a few times (Bob Foxworth, Tampa FL, NRC-AM via DXLD) ** OKLAHOMA [non]. Asunto: AXEL ROSE Pirate Logs week 21 --- Hello all, logs from the DX weekend of the "East and West Radio Club" in Erftstadt, near Cologne, made with my home equipment. 28 May, 1635 kHz, R. Oklahoma, 2125, 24322, D[utch?], Oldies, G-/E-ID- Jingle, closedown 2130. Good condx on MW, but bad with deep fading on Sunday morning (Axel Rose, via Dario Monferini, playdx yg via DXLD) ** PAKISTAN. Frequency change for Radio Pakistan in Urdu from June 1: 1700-1900 NF 15100, ex 9365 \\ 11570 (Observer, Bulgaria, June 7 via DXLD) 17835, Radio Pakistan. June 6 at 1102-1106*. SINPO 25332. News in English. Sign-off at 1106 after national anthem (Iwao Nagatani, Japan, Japan Premium via DXLD) ** PAPUA NEW GUINEA. WANTOK LIGHT RADIO http://www.thenational.com.pg/0608/column3.htm Wednesday June 08, 2005 Another milestone will be scored in the PNG media sector when the PNG Bible Church launches its Wantok Light Radio station on Short Wave on Saturday. The radio station has already been broadcasting on the FM band in Port Moresby for the last year or so. The SW transmission will be launched at Kaupena mission station in Southern Highlands province - the "birth place" of this church in PNG, set up by American missionaries about 40 years ago. The SW launch now takes the Port Moresby-based radio station to the rest of the country and overseas. Its pre-launch transmission on SW in the last few days has been received loud and clear around the country, judging from those of us listening from Madang. Over two years ago, no one thought a community-funded radio station would be launched on the Short Wave. This approach to radio broadcasting, popularly called "community broadcasting" where the community backs a station was until then an alien concept. Community radio broadcasting is popular in many parts of the world. Several groups, particularly churches, have to date set up radio stations through this concept. Broadly, community radio stations are owned, funded and managed by members of a community. People in the concerned community raise funds for the upkeep of a radio station. They may use limited advertising in their broadcasts, often as "sponsors" for a very short time as specified under their license. A community broadcast station are set up to serve groups of people deemed as not being served by the mainstream broadcasting stations or media. They serve a niche in a community and often have agendas to pursue and promote. They are subjective and uphold the values of the sponsoring group and the community they seek to serve. Universally, community broadcast stations are non-profit entities established to serve a community interests where the mainstream media overlooks or cannot reach. They are often stations with limited broadcast capacity but this varies from country to country. They can be stations with limited broadcast hours to 24-hour outfits. Community radio stations are independent from the government. The community financing is perhaps one of its main attributes that distinguishes itself from the other radio broadcast sectors. Though they are predominantly self-funding, in some cases in the world, programming is funded through government grants and also some of the stations that are starting up get start-up funds from their governments. This funding option can be looked at in this country since those in government and elsewhere in society recognise the superiority of radio over other forms of media in PNG. There can be trade-off arrangement for this where government messages can be broadcast in exchange for the start-up funds. Imagine in this country so rich in culture and language, where each community would set up its own community radio station on common grounds such as a language community radio station would act as a catalyst for improvement in lifestyles of people and maintenance of language, traditional songs and folklore on the airwaves. The community radio station would act as a living archive of a community. This would be in a situation where a well-meaning government went out of its way to support their establishment along common terms such as language. With government support, community radio stations could be the answer too much of the information dissemination and communication needs of the government, churches and other interested groups (via Mike Terry, dxldyg via DXLD) Reads like an editorial; I thought it was Wantok Radio Light, not Wantok Light Radio (gh, DXLD) ** PARAGUAY. 9737, Radio Nacional de Paraguay, 0032, 09-06, Transmisión del partido de fútbol Paraguay-Bolivia, "marcó Paraguay, 3-0, gran alegría en todo el país, vamos Paraguay, la albirosa está ganando,. Más tarde: "Paraguay 3 Bolivia 1, marcó Cáceres". 34333 (Manuel Méndez, Lugo, Spain, Escuchas realizadas en Friol, 27 Km al W de Lugo, Grundig Satellit 500, antena de cable, 10 metros, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** PERU. Heard on Sunday night The voice of the Campesino. 6956.7, 1110 thru 1120, then faded out. Talking about agricultural items, and prices. 5/6/05 only resolved in LSB. So it`s there (Johno Wright, NSW, ARDXC via DXLD) ** RUSSIA. ANALYSIS: RUSSIA TO LAUNCH ENGLISH-LANGUAGE TV NEWS CHANNEL | Text of editorial analysis by Steve Metcalf of BBC Monitoring Media Services on 8 June Readers of Britain's Guardian newspaper might have noticed at the end of May a job advertisement for broadcast journalists for a new channel based in Moscow. It was seeking to recruit trained journalists "with flair and fresh thinking" in anticipation of a September 2005 launch. That channel was revealed this week to be an international English- language TV news channel called Russia Today, with plans to broadcast 24 hours a day to Russia and countries of the former Soviet Union, Europe, the USA and parts of Asia. The television is being set up by the state-owned RIA-Novosti news agency and will also draw on the resources of the state-run Russia TV. It plans to employ some 200 journalists and, initially, to open bureaus in Washington, Brussels, London and Jerusalem. An RIA press release said the channel will "reflect Russia's position on key foreign policy issues and will inform the foreign audience about various aspects of life in Russia". Two of the main figures behind the project are Mikhail Lesin, formerly press minister and now an adviser to President Putin, and presidential press secretary Aleksey Gromov. Reporting the news of the planned channel, the Vedmosti newspaper recalled that in 2001 Lesin had talked about the negative image of Russia created by foreign media and had said: "We must do our own propaganda, or else we will always look like bears." The station's budget for its first year is 30m dollars, most of which will come from state funds. But Russian officials have denied that the channel will be run from the Kremlin. Mikhail Seslavinskiy, head of the Federal Agency for the Press and Mass Communications, said that the Kremlin approved of the project but would not interfere in its operation. "I cannot imagine people in the corridors of power proof-reading news bulletins written in English," he told a news conference. The director-general of RIA, Svetlana Mironyuk, also stressed that the new channel would be an independent, autonomous institution. Its broadcasting policy would be supervised by a Public Council comprising well-known journalists, academics and businessmen. Russia Today's editor-in-chief is to be 26-year-old Margarita Simonyan, previously a Kremlin reporter for Russia TV. She said that she wanted the channel to be "a kind of Russian BBC". Its editorial policy would be to present a range of views and to "deliver the opinions of a cross-section of Russian society to the West". Prospects for success Opinions were divided over the future prospects of the channel. The head of the journalism department at Moscow University, Yasen Zasursky, told the Itar-Tass news agency that it could become a very important source of information about Russia. But, he said, it would need a high level of professionalism and to take into account "the interests of the English-speaking public". A similar view was voiced by Viktor Ozerov, head of the defence and security committee in Russia's upper house of parliament. He added that the country had "some remarkable stories to tell" about its efforts to combat international terrorism and drug trafficking and prevent arms proliferation. Igor Yakovenko, head of the Union of Journalists, was quoted by the Moscow Times as saying: "If propaganda contradicts the real state of affairs, and other channels show the real situation in Russia, I think the money will be mostly thrown away." But, he added, it made sense for Russia to have a "propaganda channel" as long as it told the truth. Many other countries had similar channels he said, citing the example of Voice of America. The director of the media watchdog Internews Russia, Manana Aslamazyan, said that it was an ambitious project, but warned that it faced a number of potential problems. Among them was the need to find experienced staff ahead of a short launch deadline, and to meet standards of reporting that would compete with already well- established channels such as CNN and BBC. Other commentators wondered where the channel's audience would come from. Ilie Telescu, head of Moldova's public broadcaster, welcomed the proposed channel but thought that it would have a limited influence in former Soviet countries as most viewers preferred Russian-language channels. And Aleksey Venediktov, editor-in-chief of the independent radio Ekho Moskvy said that it would be hard to attract a Western audience beyond a small circle with an active interest in Russia. The press officer at the Royal Institute of International Affairs (Chatham House) in London, Sam Hardy, also said that it would be hard for the new channel to gain market share in Britain and the USA. However, he told RIA that viewers might be interested in the presentation of news from a regional perspective, and he cited the recent example of Russian reaction to events in Uzbekistan. Russian press reports speculated that the planned September launch was intended to coincide with Vladimir Putin's visit to the UN General Assembly. They also noted that it was only a few months ahead of Al- Jazeera's plan to launch an English-language service. So it looks as if television viewers next year will have a chance to see the world presented from a number of different perspectives. Source: BBC Monitoring research 8 Jun 05 (via DXLD) ** SOUTH AFRICA. Summer A-05 for CVC International via MEY=Meyerton: English to Central and South Africa: 0530-1600 on 9555 MEY 100 kW / 005 deg additional transmission (Observer, Bulgaria, June 7 via DXLD) ** SOUTH CAROLINA [non]. GERMANY: Additional changes for Brother Stair (TOM) via DTK T-Systems: 1400-1600 on 6110 JUL 100 kW / non-dir to Eu, ex 1500-1600 1500-1600 on 13810 JUL 100 kW / 115 deg to ME, cancelled (Observer, Bulgaria, June 7 via DXLD) ** SPAIN [non]. RADIO ESPAÑA INDEPENDIENTE HISTORICAL --- Estimados amigos, reciban un cordial saludo, para los amantes de la historia de la radio y sobre todo para aquellos interesados en La Pirenaica, emisora clandestina del partido comunista español en la época de la dictadura, una relación de páginas webs donde tratan el asunto, grabaciones, historia, QSL, etc. La Pirenaica: http://personal4.iddeo.es/mende/pirenaica/principal.htm La enciclopedia de los recuerdos: http://www.teacuerdas.com/nostalgia-radio-pirenaica.htm Fallece Ramón Mendezona, director de Radio Pirenaica http://www.lainsignia.org/2001/junio/cul_041.htm Mundo Obrero. http://www.pce.es/mundoobrero/mopl.php?id=251 La Pirenaica: http://usuarios.lycos.es/lacantina/HistoriaRadioPirenaica.htm La QSL de La Pirenaica: http://usuarios.lycos.es/elpollo/modules/news/article.php?storyid=75 Cuentame como pasó: http://www.cuentamecomopaso.net/tRadio.aspx Noticias IU: http://www.izquierda-unida.es/iualdia/2001/junio/010614/portada.htm Archivo historico del PCE: http://www.portaldelexilio.org/apl/AHPCE_Audio.asp (José Miguel Romero, June 8, Noticias DX via DXLD) ** SWEDEN [and non]. Was someone wondering when Business Briefs appears monthly on R. Sweden`s schedule? It was at 1344 UT June 8 on 15240 via Canada, about the Swedish `brand`, so that would be the second Wednesdays (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** THAILAND. COMMUNITY RADIO STATIONS MOST POPULAR IN NORTHEASTERN PROVINCES | Text of report in English by Thai newspaper The Nation website on 7 June Community radio is taking off in the northeast, with community-based stations ranking in the top three most popular in Ubon Ratchathani, Udon Thani, Khon Kaen and Nakhon Ratchasima. Key to Success Ltd, a radio survey agency and consultant, said community radio was attractive to listeners because of its lack of advertising and focus on music. The company's managing director, Sirilak Pornsiriphan, said Thailand had about 2,000 community radio frequencies and most were becoming increasingly commercial. She said the stations were originally designed to serve communities, but local department stores and companies plying their wares soon became interested in the format. Sirilak said some provinces had as many as 50 frequencies. She said FM 96.75 was a prime example of community radio's popularity. It ranks as Nakhon Ratchasima's most popular station. And FM 94.5 is Khon Kaen's number three station, while FM 108 is the second most popular station in Ubon Ratchathani. She said local advertisers had shifted their interest to community radio because advertising didn't cost as much. A commercial radio station charges advertisers 200-300 baht (approximately 5-7 US dollars) per 30-second spot, compared with 20-30 baht (less than 1 US dollar) per 30-second spot charged by community-based stations. Nonetheless, she said, "advertisers in provinces would normally commit to airtime for only three months in advance, because they're not completely sure about the future of community radio". However, in Bangkok, community radio is not yet popular and no station ranks in the top 20 most-popular stations. Advertisers in the capital still prefer to buy airtime on commercial stations because community transmitters sometimes encounter problems of interception and disturbed signals. There are 77 radio stations in Bangkok, 40 of which are FM and 37 AM. There are 139 radio stations in the central provinces, 126 stations in the north, 130 in the northeast and 117 in the south. Key to Success conducted a survey last month in four major provinces in the northeast. The survey questioned active radio listeners aged 12 or older. The survey found 33 per cent of people recognized products from radio advertising, while 36 per cent recognized products from TV commercials, 13.4 per cent from newspapers, 7.7 per cent from billboards and 6.5 per cent from magazines. About 73 per cent of people rated requesting songs as their favourite radio-related activity, while 20 per cent played games and 2.7 per cent of people used radio as a medium for sharing opinions. Source: The Nation website, Bangkok, in English 7 Jun 05 (via BBCM via DXLD) ** UKRAINE. Frequency change for Radio Ukraine International to WeEu: 2100-2200 English, 2200-2300 Ukrainian, 2300-2400 German NF 7490, ex 7420 (Observer, Bulgaria, June 7 via WORLD OF RADIO 1277, DXLD) Watch out for WJIE, q.v. ** U K [non]. Hi George, BBC [Spanish] on 6110 kHz between 0000 to 0100 UT is currently transmitted from Ascension, not from MSY [Guiana French] as we have a problem with one of our transmitters. Regards (Jacques Gruson, TDF, June 9 via George Poppin, DXLD) ** U K. Shows I like: BBC World Service--Newshour: I'd like to introduce you to an old and trusted friend. Newshour is one of flagship news and current affairs programmes from the BBC World Service. (The World Today would be the other one.) And, like the World Today, the show features a variety of presenters. It is a 56 minute programme, starting with the usual 5 minute top-of-the-hour news bulletin. The programme is cut in half by a short news summary at the bottom of the hour, another regular feature of the World Service schedule. And during weekdays, there is a short segment of financial and business news, usually towards the end of the first half-hour. The bulk of the programme, though, is comprised of discussions of current topics in the news, be they political, economic, scientific, arts, or sports-related. These discussions take the following formats: interviews with news makers, politicians, government officials, economists, journalists, etc.; packaged reports from BBC and other correspondents "in the field"; and live commentary on breaking stories. In addition, stories covered in the first half-hour are sometimes updated in the second. Topics covered are those in the news at the time of broadcast, those which have been in the news in the previous few days, or those which are of ongoing concern. In addition, there is usually a non-political item of lighter weight towards the end of each half-hour part. Newshour is a well-produced programme about international news and events. It is a showcase for the depth and breadth of news coverage for which the World Service is famous. In spite of its tendency at times for it to become overly concerned with one big issue, I think that Newshour is a must-listen for both news junkies and those who have a more passing interest in world news. Website: http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/programmes/newshour/ E-mail: newshour @ bbc.co.uk (Peter Bowen, Canada?, June 9, Swprograms mailing list via DXLD) Webcast scheduling over a multitude of stations: http://www.publicradiofan.com/cgi-bin/program.pl?programid=5 (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U K. BBC Radio 4 FM Thursday 16th June 1030-1100 UT In 1926 12 years before Orson Welle's infamous War of the Worlds broadcast the fledgeling BBC sparked its own national panic by broadcasting news of a murderous riot in central London which turned out to be a spoof created by Catholic priest Ronald Knox (played here by Bob Sinfield). Presenter Raymond Snoddy finds that the then BBC managing director John Reith's reaction was a surprising one. Repeated Sunday 19th June 2315 There was a 4 page article on this broadcast in issue 1 of Radio Days, Summer 99. Lots of interesting material in the three issues of this magazine that were published. The website http://www.sigtel.com/radio_index.html says copies are still available though I would email to confirm if you are interested as it does not seem to have been updated in quite a while. Some of the articles are online at the site (Mike Barraclough, England, June 8, dxldyg via DXLD) Go on to this site for lots more historical UK broadcasting stuff: http://www.whirligig-tv.co.uk/radio/ --- If you enjoy vintage television as well, take a look at our 405 Alive pages http://www.bvws.org.uk/405alive/ (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. From a reliable source, June 27 is now the target date for WRNO to return to SW, tho things could still happen to delay it further (George Thurman, TX, June 8, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 7355, 15420 ** U S A [non]. GERMANY: Frequency change for VOA in Ukrainian via BIB 100 kW / 088 deg: 2000-2030 Mon-Fri and 2000-2015 Sat/Sun NF 7230, ex 6010 \\ 9715 and 11840 GREECE: Frequency change for VOA in Kurdish via KAV 250 kW / 108 deg: 0400-0500 NF 9730, ex 9705 \\ 7115 and 11980 (Observer, Bulgaria, June 7 via DXLD) ** U S A [non]. CZECH REPUBLIC. Frequency changes for RFE/RL: 1500-1600 Russian NF 9520, ex 9725 1500-1700 Belorussian NF 9725, ex 9565 1600-1700 Russian NF 9565, ex 9725 (Observer, Bulgaria, June 7 via DXLD) ** U S A. Strong signal and good modulation only slightly distorted on 7490, June 8 at 1305 with praise music, announcement about 20th anniversary of some televangelism show, of which this was obviously the soundtrack, with 88.5 WJIE ID inserted at 1308 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. On June 9 I made a point of watching most of the CNN International hour ``Your World Today`` now available on CNN Domestic at 1600 UT --- what a disappointment. This isn`t world news, it`s mostly US news, partly with a British accent, and the need to identify George Bush as ``US President``. Now we really feel like world citizens (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. CELEBRATING FM'S 70TH ANNIVERSARY Radio, By DAVID HINCKLEY, DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER http://www.nydailynews.com/entertainment/ent_radio/story/317065p-271202c.html On June 16, 1935, Major Edwin Howard Armstrong conducted the first public demonstration of a radio broadcasting technology called frequency modulation - or, for short, FM. Signals sent by FM didn't travel as far as those sent by the existing radio technology, AM. But they were much clearer. Armstrong, a radio technology expert who developed several vital communications systems for the military during World War I, saw FM as a potentially huge commercial breakthrough. Looking back today, of course, we can see he was right. FM has dominated broadcast technology for more than 30 years. But FM didn't take off until the mid-'60s, and by then Armstrong was long gone. Several major players had claimed credit for his FM technology and the outgunned Armstrong spent years in what he feared was a losing legal battle to retain what he had developed. In 1954, he killed himself, meaning he didn't know that his widow would continue and win his legal fight. Armstrong is a fascinating story and a critically important figure in radio history, and this Saturday, WFDU (89.1 FM) will mark the 70th anniversary of that first FM test with a special program from Alpine, N.J. - where the world's first FM tower, for station W2XMN, was erected in the late '30s. The broadcast, hosted by Judy DeAngelis of WINS (1010 AM), starts at noon with a feature on Armstrong. Interviewees will include Renville McMann, who worked for Armstrong and later became a vice president in the CBS Technology Center. The show will detail Armstrong's fight with the powerful radio networks and include a radio dramatization of Ken Burns' PBS show "Empire of the Air," which explored that struggle. Vintage clips will include a 1941 test broadcast that marked the first use of FM, instead of telephone lines, to relay a remote signal and the final broadcast of W2XMN, which signed off in 1954 after Armstrong's death. Originally published on June 9, 2005 (via Joel Rubin, Swprograms mailing list via DXLD) Wasn't the Alpine facility used by some broadcasters just after 9/11/2001. (Including, ironically, WNBC) http://www.wfdu.fm at, as Jean Shepherd used to call it, Fairly Ridiculous University has Windows Media streaming (Joel Rubin, ibid.) ** U S A. SOME RADIO STATIONS DON'T CARE ABOUT LISTENERS - ONLY DEMOGRAPHICS --- Opinion From Corey Deitz, Your Guide to Radio. Jun 8 2005 http://radio.about.com/od/miscellaneous/a/aa060805a.htm Oh, I'm sorry. Did you think you were a "listener"? Not really. Not in the mind of radio station operators. You're a demographic and if advertisers want to sell products to people a certain age or sex, then there's usually a radio station in your city that caters to those specifics. But, if those demographics shrink - and the ad dollars shrink - then the station often changes format with little regard for how many current listeners there are. Who cares? They're not the RIGHT demographics! Infinity Broadcasting recently pulled the plug on two of America's premiere Oldies-formatted stations: WCBS-FM, New York and WJMK-FM, Chicago and former listeners in both markets are mad. Do you blame them? You devote yourself to a station for years, support it, buy from its advertisers and what does it get you? A "Dear John" letter - or in this case, a "Dear Jack" letter because both operations have been switched over to the new "JACK" format which is gaining ground within the industry. The "JACK" format is commercial radio's answer to the popularity of iPods and other mp3 players. Portable digital music has empowered listeners to put all their favorite songs on a pocket-sized device which gives them the variety they have craved for years. The mp3 player has given listeners a big reason not to settle for the same songs played over and over again on their local radio. So, in a creative move comparable to TV networks copying and cloning their own versions of another network's hit show, some radio station owners have decided to put their stations on "shuffle" mode. They are trying to capitalize on the portable digital music metaphor by emulating one big fat mp3 player in the hopes of drawing listeners back from the iPod demographic, who have lost interest in radio stations that insist on playing 200 songs when their digital device offers them thousands. The new JACK-formatted stations have expanded their music libraries (which in itself isn't a bad idea, though a little late) but in many cases have also fired very talented radio personalities like Dick Biondi and Fred Winston from WJMK-FM in Chicago and "Cousin" Bruce Morrow and Harry Harrison from WCBS-FM, to name a few. I have a special place in my heart for both stations: When I was growing up in northern New Jersey, I used to listen to WCBS-FM and some years ago, I worked in Chicago on-the-air at the now defunct WFYR-FM, competing against WJMK-FM. (For that insane chapter in my life, read this free chapter from my book, "The Cash Cage") Both stations had a heritage which transcended the often-ephemeral lives of today's radio stations which seem to change identities more often than Dennis Rodman's hair color. Oddly enough, both stations had faithful followings of hundreds of thousands of fans - and were both making money. But, listeners have little to do with decisions of radio station owners anymore. As I said: demographics are king and when a company sees a chance to have more listeners from another demographic, it will jump at the chance by casting off its current "listeners" in pursuit of a higher quantity of listeners in the more choice demographic. When radio stations were owned more by individuals and less by large companies, there was more nobility in programming and the desire to maintain and build on a radio station's heritage was just as important as profit. We have lost this attitude. It has been sublimated to sales graphs. But, I'm a realist. I have no illusions: I know it's a business. Yet, I have also been in radio long enough to remember when radio stations, and the companies that owned them, prided themselves on their longevity, consistency, and community stature. I fear there is no more honor left in commercial radio. When a radio station steals away during the night and changes format under clandestine circumstances, we should not be surprised that many angry listeners think they've been musically mugged by JACK-Booted Thugs. Is it any wonder many listeners have turned away from commercial radio stations in favor of digital devices? iPods never change format on their owners (via Kevin Redding, ABDX via DXLD) ** U S A. RADIO STATIONS NUDGE OLDIES FORMAT OFF THE AIR -- 06/09/2005 Randy Dotinga, Correspondent of The Christian Science Monitor Whenever Lawrence Cavallo felt nostalgic, he only had to tune the radio to New York City's WCBS-FM, the legendary oldies station. . . Click here to read this story online: http://www.csmonitor.com/2005/0609/p11s02-ussc.html (via Jim Moats, OH, DXLD) Nudge? See also INTERNATIONAL VACUUM re Cousin Brucie ** U S A. WHY OLDIES STATION DIDN'T HAVE TO DIE June 7, 2005 BY ROBERT FEDER SUN-TIMES COLUMNIST When big corporations have bad news to announce, they often hold off until as late as possible on a Friday afternoon. By burying the story over the weekend, they hope to minimize criticism from the press and outcry from the public. That no doubt figured into the timing of Infinity Broadcasting, which waited until 4 p.m. Friday to blow up two of its heritage oldies stations -- WJMK-FM (104.3) in Chicago and WCBS-FM in New York. With absolutely no warning, their popular and successful formats were replaced with a trendy pop/rock hybrid known as "Jack FM." Make no mistake about it: As an oldies station, WJMK was popular and successful. In the latest Arbitron survey, it ranked 11th overall with a respectable 2.9 percent share and a cumulative weekly audience of 722,200. Last year, it was among the market's 15 highest billing stations, with revenues of more than $16.5 million. It was on a similar track this year. The numbers tell only part of the story. Among those 722,200 listeners were some of the most passionate, devoted fans anywhere. Whatever its shortcomings, WJMK connected with its audience on a genuine, personal level. And no one was more devoted to them than the beloved Dick Biondi, a living legend and Radio Hall of Famer who launched the station's oldies format 21 years ago. In 1984, WJMK was among a handful of stations that Mel Karmazin, the famed broadcast entrepreneur and impresario, acquired to form the nucleus of Infinity Broadcasting. Karmazin, who's now running Sirius Satellite Radio, can still tell you exactly how much he paid for WJMK and when he made the decision to go with an oldies format. Of course, none of that means anything to the current regime of Infinity Broadcasting, which is now owned by Viacom Inc. and boasts a roster of 180 stations (including seven in this market alone). To Joel Hollander, chief executive officer, and his younger brother, Les Hollander, whom he hand-picked to oversee Chicago and five other major markets, WJMK is just another line on a ledger. In their infinite wisdom (pun intended), the Hollander brothers have latched onto "Jack FM" as their company's savior. They've already installed it in eight markets, and trade reports suggest many more of their stations soon will succumb. Never mind that in Chicago, local managers are believed to have pleaded to forestall the demise of WJMK's oldies format. Research showed the station was achieving growth since it had dropped the "oldies" label and fine-tuned its music playlist in December. Some insiders reportedly expressed concern that a switch to "Playing What We Want" (as "Jack FM" brags) could draw listeners away from Infinity's crown jewel of adult rock, WXRT-FM (93.1). Most persuasively, insiders reportedly argued, revenue generated by special events and personal appearances -- thanks to a galaxy of stars that included Biondi, Fred Winston, Greg Brown, Paul Perry and Connie Szerszen -- could never be recovered by the automated, disembodied voice of the "Jack FM" computer. For the time being (which means until their contracts run out or they accept buyouts), WJMK's estimable talent lineup has been relegated to cyberspace via www. wjmk.com. So unless they want to jeopardize their livelihoods, Biondi & Co. have been effectively muzzled. The immediate winners would appear to be Bonneville International's WDRV-FM (97.1), the classic/oldies station known as "The Drive," and Clear Channel Radio's "Real Oldies" on WRLL-AM (1690). They stand to pick up at least a segment of WJMK's disenfranchised oldies listeners, who fall outside of the 35-to-44 age group targeted by "Jack FM." The losers are anyone who cares about what big corporations are doing to radio. 'JACK FM' GETS NOTHING BUT STATIC --- Reaction to the switch of WJMK- FM (104.3) from oldies to "Jack FM" has been universally and unequivocally negative among readers who wrote in: http://www.suntimes.com/output/feder/cst-fin-feder07.html (via Kevin Redding, ABDX via DXLD) ** U S A. FRONT-RUNNER FOR PUBLIC BROADCAST AGENCY JOB IS FORMER GOP CHAIR -- by Paul Farhi, Washington Post Staff Writer, June 9, 2005 C01 A former co-chairman of the Republican National Committee is the leading candidate to take over the agency that funds public broadcasting, sparking new concerns among broadcasters about conservative influence over National Public Radio and Public Broadcasting Service programming. Patricia de Stacy Harrison, a high- ranking official at the State Department, is one of two candidates for the top job at the Corporation for Public Broadcasting and is the favored candidate of the CPB's chairman, Kenneth Y. Tomlinson, according to people close to the search. The CPB is a congressionally chartered agency that directs taxpayer funds to PBS, NPR and hundreds of radio and TV stations. Harrison's candidacy comes at a time when Tomlinson has stirred controversy by attacking PBS as having a liberal bias in its programs. . . http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/06/08/AR2005060802528_pf.html (via Mike Cooper, DXLD) ** UZBEKISTAN. Summer A-05 for CVC International via TAC=Tashkent: English to India 0100-0300 on 7355 TAC 100 kW / 131 deg 0300-0600 on 13685 TAC 100 kW / 131 deg additional transmission Hindi to India 0100-0400 on 12070 TAC 100 kW / 153 deg ex 11850 for A-04 0400-1100 on 13630 TAC 100 kW / 153 deg 1100-1400 on 13765 TAC 100 kW / 153 deg 1400-1700 on 9855 TAC 100 kW / 153 deg (Observer, Bulgaria, June 7 via DXLD) ** VENEZUELA. 4939.6, Radio Amazonas, 0022, 09-06, Música y canciones, comentarios, locutor, señal débil. A esa hora se jugaba el partido de fútbol Chile-Venezuela, pero no era transmitido por Radio Amazonas. 24222 (Manuel Méndez, Lugo, Spain, Escuchas realizadas en Friol, 27 Km al W de Lugo, Grundig Satellit 500, antena de cable, 10 metros, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** VENEZUELA [non]. 13680, Radio Nacional de Venezuela, 2015-2058, 08- 06, Locutor, "Usted escucha Radio Nacional de Venezuela antena internacional. Programa "Venezuela y su geografía", sobre el jardín botánico de Caracas. "Una invitación para conocer más nuestro país". Al final del programa se despidieron de la siguiente forma: "Transmitimos desde Caracas, República Bolivariana de Venezuela, agradecemos sus reportes de escucha al apartado 3979, Caracas". 44444. Resulta curioso que pidan se les envién informes de recepción cuando no contestan a los mismos, o por lo menos esa era la política que seguían hasta ahora. [ni funciona el apartado siempre citado --- gh] (Manuel Méndez, Lugo, Spain, Escuchas realizadas en Friol, 27 Km al W de Lugo, Grundig Satellit 500, antena de cable, 10 metros, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** VENEZUELA. PRO-CHAVEZ TV SHOW "THE RAZOR" RETURNS ON INTERNET | Excerpt from report by Venezuelan newspaper El Nacional website on 2 June Less than a month after leaving the [government-owned] VTV [Venezuelan Television] signal - as a result of hosts Néstor Francia, Eileen Padrón and Mario Silva failing to reach an agreement to bridge their differences - The Razor show is now available to its followers at the http://www.lahojilla.net website since yesterday [1 June]. This time, only Silva hosts the show in which a lens of criticism is focused on interview shows broadcast by Globovisión, Televén, Venevisión, and RCTV. In the first edition of The Razor Digital, its host focused on the presidential candidacy of Julio Borges and, as was customary in the television version, used interviews broadcast by private channels to present his own opinion on the issue. At the end of the show, he promised his viewers that there will be at least three broadcasts per week. He authorized them to burn the show in CDs to sell them out so that they may be accessible to those who do not have internet access. He also thanked the support of "the radio buddies at Radioatake.net" for keeping it up on the web. The emblems of national channels stand out, upside down, on the website's main page as well as the slogan: "All power to the people." The links take browsers to national and international news; links to alternative media; articles from contributors; a forum to comment on various issues - even for suggesting on what must be improved in the show - a guest book; an area designed to present "hot news;" and a chat room. [passage omitted] Source: El Nacional website, Caracas, in Spanish 2 Jun 05 (via BBCM via DXLD) ** VIETNAM [and non]. Whilst checking out 9550 usage in EiBi, see CUBA, I noticed among many entries these two in conflict: 9550 1500-1557 CHN China Radio Int. VN SEA Kunming site 9550 1500-1600 VTN Voice of Vietnam VN Af Commies vs Commies! Guess CHN & VTN are still not getting along, but mix of two Vietnamese language broadcasts should be quite something, like the garble of Vietnamese text we had recently (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** VIETNAM [non]. HAWAII, 11555, Radio Hoa Mai via KWHR. June 4 1328- 1358. SINPO 44444. Started with bells ringing at 1328, then ID in Vietnamese by a woman. Mainly talk by a man and a woman. ID for KWHR at 1358, followed by Falun Dafa Radio program in Chinese at 1400. But strong signal from China covered (Iwao Nagatani, Japan Premium via DXLD) 11555, R. Hoa-Mai via KWHR Jun 04 *1328-1335 44444 Vietnamese, 1328 sign on with Gong's IS, Opening announce and opening music, Talk (Kouji Hashimoto, Japan, ibid.) Sat & Sun only ** ZAMBIA. Summer [sic] A-05 for Christian Voice via LUS=Lusaka: English to South and Central Africa 0600-1600 on 9865 LUS 100 kW / non-dir ex 0500-1600 for A-04 1600-0600 on 4965 LUS 100 kW / non-dir ex 1600-0500 for A-04 (Observer, Bulgaria, June 7 via DXLD) ** ZIMBABWE [non]. SW Radio Africa sign-on at 1700 on 15145. Seemed as though they mentioned being on SW. At about 1702 another carrier came up on frequency, may be some type of jamming, maybe not. 9 June 2005 (Steve Lare, Holland, MI, USA, Drake R7, R8, R8A and R8B, 70' and 200' wires, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Yes, I meant to urge people to check today, as the extension was supposedly expiring June 8. Further monitoring is needed day by day. 73, (Glenn, ibid.) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ PUBLICATIONS ++++++++++++ ITU MONITORING REPORTS Saludos cordiales, la ITU realiza anualmente una comprobación tecnica de las emisiones en OC, en el sigiente link se pueden descargar el resultado de ese trabajo, un listado muy interesante para la comprobación de emisoras activas, tanto comerciales como utilitarias. http://www.itu.int/ITU-R/terrestrial/monitoring/files/pdffiles/304.pdf (Jose Miguel Romero, Spain, Noticias DX via DXLD) 236 pdf pages from 2850 kHz past 27 MHz, quite a reference! Seems from B-04 but with some A-05 updates. A spot check showed some current things missing, e.g. KNLS on 9615, but that just means none of the ITU monitoring stations heard it at the time (gh, DXLD) Saludos José Miguel. Muy bueno este fichero, sí señor. El link que has puesto es para el periodo de monitorización 01.10.04 - 31.12.04. Quizá sea más interesante en estos momentos el fichero 305.pdf del periodo 01.01.05 - 31.03.05. Y para quien quiera ya está en construcción el 306.pdf del periodo 01.04.05 - 30.06.05 Los links a todos los ficheros están en http://www.itu.int/ITU-R/terrestrial/monitoring/ Gracias por el link y 73s. (Oscar Prieto, Noticias DX via DXLD) Saludos cordiales, Oscar, ya está disponible el 305 y el 306; acabo de bajármelos. Hay que colocar el mismo link pero cambiando el número. Estimados amigos, en los sigientes Links pueden descargarse las comprobaciones técnicas de la ITU del año 2005. http://www.itu.int/ITU-R/terrestrial/monitoring/files/pdffiles/305.pdf http://www.itu.int/ITU-R/terrestrial/monitoring/files/pdffiles/306.pdf 73 y buen DX (José Miguel Romero, June 9, ibid.) RADIO EQUIPMENT FORUM +++++++++++++++++++++ THE BEST TVS YOU CAN USE FOR DX are the cheap little 5" 12VDC portable B&W TVs (that still use a tube). Side-by-side, I had stations that only those little B&W TVs could get, while the bigger color ones just had snow or an unlocked, rolling faint image. They are really sensitive, though they are analog (which can help - you can tune away from images and spurs, or fine- tune stations that were too weak for the digital ones to fine-tune on). I bet you could go to a swap meet, get one of these TVs for $20.00, get a 5-element UHF/VHF TV antenna on a 5' mast, a short 6' piece of coax cable, and a 75-to-300-ohm transformer, plug the TV in your vehicle, and hook the antenna to it at some really remote high- elevation location away from cities and local TV stations. Just sit there, turn the antenna with your arm out the window, and see what E's you get. Probably could get a lot of stuff you couldn't in a city near locals. Keep your digital camera handy to "log" the stations from the TV screen, too (Darwin, Thousand Oaks CA, ABDX via DXLD) What brand is that? I have never had luck with those. I had a RCA one from 1981 that was OK, and have a Panasonic one that's from the same era that`s OK, but I have had others that just outright sucked. I have a 1994 Magnavox 13" color set that rocks. I have found 13" sets seem to do the best for me. I have experiences that tell me big TV's suck for DXing (Kevin Redding, AZ, ibid.) I think TVs made in the late 1970s to mid 1980s might be the best for TV DXing; these had analog tuning instead of digital and you could "fine tune" for various offsets very easily. And these seem to be more sensitive since they were designed for off-the-air instead of through- the-cable reception. If I were looking for a hot TV DX set, I'd be prowling yard and garage sales for a working set from that era. And it probably wouldn't cost you $50 or so for a true DX machine (Harry Helms, W5HLH, Wimberley, TX EM00, http://futureofradio.typepad.com/ ibid.) My experience has been that almost any major brand of TV made prior to about 1990 (even with electronic tuning) is more sensitive and handles adjacent channels better than modern TVs. Zeniths were the best for DXing. They didn't have blue screens and other weak signal mutes, either. On the other hand, the 13" Sanyos from WalMart, while not great, are better than some of the more-expensive modern TVs for DX. BTW, my current TV loggings have passed the 800 mark. My current log dates back to May, 1994. My previous TV log dates back to 1968, and those loggings are not included in the 800 figure (Danny Shreveport, LA Oglethorpe, ibid.) ANOTHER CHEAPY CHINESE DIGITAL SHORTWAVE Hi! Sportsman's Guide does it again! Yet another cheap Chinese digital SW set. Based on the controls shown in the picture, I bet that this is the same circuitry as is in the little Coby, but the physical arrangement is somewhat different. Here's the link: http://www.sportsmansguide.com/cb/cb.asp?a=203015 Is there no end to these? I envisage some Chinese engineer frantically churning out new designs of these based on the same innards. Job security, I guess. :-) (Will Martin, MO, June 8, DX LISTENING DIGEST) BELL+HOWELL AGAIN Ran across another B+H-brand product, this time a crank-powered radio/flashlight with a battery-powered clock in it. The odd thing about this Sportsman's Guide (of course!) ad is that there's no mention of the radio details. However, the picture shows switch positions for AM & FM only. Here's the link: http://www.sportsmansguide.com/cb/cb.asp?a=196440 I guess the annoying thing is that it has this nice big digital display used for the clock alone, but the radio tuning is analog and viewed through the little round window above the display & looks pretty sparsely calibrated. For $30, I'd expect digital tuning these days. Since it isn't SW, I'm just sending the reference for completionism's sake (Will Martin, MO, June 8, DX LISTENING DIGEST) WICHITA FALLS/MEDIA REACH AGREEMENT ABOUT POLICE SCANNERS WICHITA FALLS, Texas (AP) - More than a month after new encrypted police scanners went silent for the media and public, news organizations have reached an agreement with the city to allow access to the communications. The media outlets had threatened to sue for the same access to real- time police and fire communications they had in the past. By listening to scanners, reporters find out about car accidents, crimes, fires, road closures and public safety threats. But the new 800-MHz digital radio system requires specific equipment, plus encryption codes for police transmissions, for someone to hear the traffic. In the agreement approved Monday, the city will allow television stations KFDX and KAUZ and the Wichita Falls Times Record News each to buy as many as two digital radios. The radios will be programmed to receive dispatching information from the Wichita Falls Fire Department as well as the Police Department's primary traffic channel. "We feel it is important that the citizens know that it is our sincere desire to have a transparent city government," Mayor Lanham Lyne said in a news release. For weeks, Wichita Falls officials insisted that the media and other outside parties should not have access. Officials said officers' safety was at risk if the public knew where police were going. They also said information officers need to give to each other during an incident, such as someone's health condition or criminal activities, cannot be broadcast with others listening. As the scanners turned quiet, media outlets asked citizens to call when they saw breaking news events. Drew Hadwal, KAUZ news director, said those tips were invaluable. Others agreed. "I think it's particularly extraordinary that the two TV stations and the newspaper were all able to put competitive impulses aside and work as one to negotiate with the Police Department and city officials to come up with this contract," said Carroll Wilson, editor of the Times Record News (via Brock Whaley, DXLD) POWERLINE COMMUNICATIONS [and non] ++++++++++++++++++++++++ In 5-093, the item on Nebraska's legislation: While it has the positive aspect of banning BPL, note that what it really does is destroy the possibility of municipalities setting up free city-wide WiFi Internet connections, like Philadelphia is in the process of doing for the whole city, and which I am hoping that St. Louis might do. I had heard, in the commentary I've seen on the Philadelphia effort, that there was opposition from commercial Internet suppliers (of course!) -- it looks like they've done a pre-emptive strike in Nebraska to stave off the potential erosion or elimination of their businesses by municipal competition. (Here in St. Louis, the whole downtown area is now a free-access WiFi zone, but commercially sponsored with some sort of registration required, I believe. I'm hoping that the whole city could be WiFi'd with free access, especially since we are a fixed-boundary city with unchanging city limits, as opposed to other cities that expand their territories over time.) I am racking my brain over just what the "Fi" in "WiFi" stands for and I cannot recall -- could you tell me? 73, (Will Martin, MO, June 8, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Free Internet, maybe? Or just to rhyme with hi-fi (gh) PROPAGATION +++++++++++ GEOMAGNETIC INDICES Phil Bytheway - Seattle WA - phil_tekno @ yahoo.com Geomagnetic Summary April 1 2005 through June 6 2005 Tabulated from daily email status Date Flux A K SA Forecast GM Forecast Aurora Index 4/ 1 77 7 2 no storms no storms 7 2 78 7 1 no storms no storms 5 3 80 3 1 no storms no storms 4 4 81 3 2 no storms no storms 8 5 85 16 4 no storms no storms 10 6 88 35 3 strong no storms 7 7 x x x x x x 8 x x x x x x 9 x x x x x x 10 x x x x x x 11 x x x x x x 12 88 8 2 x x x 13 85 30 4 no storms no storms 8 14 84 27 4 minor minor 8 15 85 24 3 minor no storms 4 16 85 12 3 x x x 17 83 7 2 no storms no storms 6 18 84 8 2 no storms no storms 3 19 81 12 3 no storms no storms 5 20 78 10 2 no storms no storms 4 21 77 19 2 minor no storms 8 22 x x x x x x 23 77 8 4 x x x 24 79 12 3 no storms no storms 7 25 82 10 2 no storms no storms 6 26 86 11 3 no storms no storms 6 27 91 5 2 no storms no storms 2 28 95 3 1 no storms no storms 4 29 98 2 2 no storms no storms 4 4/30 105 11 4 no storms no storms 8 5/ 1 106 19 3 minor minor 8 2 112 24 3 moderate minor 10 3 x x x x x x 4 112 10 1 x x x 5 109 6 2 no storms no storms 6 6 109 6 2 x x x 7 110 4 2 minor minor 5 8 110 3 1 x x x 9 100 10 6 moderate moderate 1 10 110 8 2 no storms no storms 6 11 119 11 3 minor minor 6 12 125 6 3 minor minor 7 13 117 15 2 minor minor 6 14 126 27 3 moderate minor 4 15 100 27 2 moderate moderate 5 16 103 88 4 extreme minor 10 17 99 28 2 moderate minor 7 18 90 19 2 minor minor 6 19 84 15 2 no storms no storms 7 20 85 9 3 no storms no storms 7 21 84 26 2 moderate no storms 5 22 82 16 3 no storms no storms 7 23 82 16 3 x x x 24 83 7 2 no storms no storms 7 25 84 5 2 no storms no storms 2 26 84 5 1 x x x 27 90 1 0 no storms no storms 1 28 96 1 0 minor minor 3 29 92 16 4 no storms minor 9 30 93 15 3 no storms no storms 8 5/31 95 50 5 strong minor 8 6/ 1 96 18 2 no storms no storms 9 2 94 15 3 minor no storms 4 3 93 8 2 no storms no storms 5 4 95 11 2 minor minor 4 5 97 19 4 no storms minor 10 6/ 6 105 18 2 minor no storms 8 ********************************************************************** (IRCA Soft DX Monitor June 11 via DXLD) SUMMER [MW] DX AND TP`S John Callarman and Ben Dangerfield are exactly right about the noise floor being much higher than it was 30 to 50 years ago due to the number of stations now on the air. I have been listening almost daily since I returned from the South Pacific in 1946. The first thing I did with my mustering out pay was to buy a National HRO considered to be the premier receiver at the time. A number of East Coast DXers logged 25 and 50 watt NZ and Aust stations. The noise floor was very low on Sunday and Monday mornings when few domestic stations were on. Before the US opened the Xband I had excellent reception of 400 watt Aussies on 1629 and 1620 in Massachusetts on a nuber of occasions during 1987 and 1988. The noise floor was very low then on those frequencies. I played tapes of these receptions for Neil Kazaross when he visited last winter. I think you can get a pretty good handle of the noise floor that existed years ago on the BCB by listening on about 1800 kHz in the morning. For a taste of what TP DXing was like in the 1940's try the Aussies on 2310 and 2325 kHz. No QRM, no splatter, low noise floor. In spite of running 50 kW they are very weak because the are using special high angle antennas for regional coverage. I listen almost daily year round here in Florida. My DX season starts in August when Sabah 1475 peaks and the TPs are still possible. Sept thru Nov are good for both TPs and TAs. December and January are for the more exotic TPs, Thailand and Japan. February thru March still produces good TAs on occasion. April thru July are peak TP months in recent years. This season has been one of the worst in my 12 years in Florida, however. There are other reasons for the difficulty in receiving TPs in the East today. Back in 1978 Bob Foxworth wrote the best analysis of the TP picture I have ever seen. He pointed out: today most stations use antennas designed to suppress sky waves where they were using simple vertical or horizontal wire antennas; domestic US stations are modulating more heavily with sidebands out to 15 kHz. Bob's article is IRCA reprint # TO36. Incidentally, IRCA offers a CD with all 740 of their reprints for only $10 (Ray Moore - N FT Myers, FL, June 8, NRC- AM via DXLD) TIPS FOR RATIONAL LIVING ++++++++++++++++++++++++ CLIMATE STEWARDSHIP ACT The message is clear - climate change is affecting our ecosystem, and critically endangered species like gorillas and pandas are in peril. The longer we wait, the more grave the consequences become. Urge the Senate to address global warming by passing the Climate Stewardship act: http://www.care2.com/go/z/23509 (Christian Science Monitor via Jim Moats, DXLD) ###