DX LISTENING DIGEST 5-099, June 18, 2005 Incorporating REVIEW OF INTERNATIONAL BROADCASTING edited by Glenn Hauser, http://www.worldofradio.com Items from DXLD may be reproduced and re-reproduced only if full credit be maintained at all stages and we be provided exchange copies. DXLD may not be reposted in its entirety without permission. Materials taken from Arctic or originating from Olle Alm and not having a commercial copyright are exempt from all restrictions of noncommercial, noncopyrighted reusage except for full credits For restrixions and searchable 2005 contents archive see http://www.worldofradio.com/dxldmid.html NOTE: If you are a regular reader of DXLD, and a source of DX news but have not been sending it directly to us, please consider yourself obligated to do so. Thanks, Glenn NEXT AIRINGS OF WORLD OF RADIO Extra 57: 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 1900 WOR RNI Mon 0230 WOR WRMI 7385 Mon 0300 WOR WBCQ 9330-CLSB Mon 0330 WOR WSUI Iowa City IA 910 [1277] 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: http://new.wrn.org/listeners/stations/station.php?StationID=24 OUR ONDEMAND AUDIO [also for CONTINENT OF MEDIA, MUNDO RADIAL]: WORLD OF RADIO Extra 57 (high version): (stream) http://www.w4uvh.net/worx57h.ram (download) http://www.w4uvh.net/worx57h.rm [Extra 57 is same as COM 05-03, with WOR opening added to hi version] WORLD OF RADIO Extra 57 (low version): (stream) http://www.w4uvh.net/com0503.ram (download) http://www.w4uvh.net/com0503.rm (summary) http://www.worldofradio.com/com0503.html WORLD OF RADIO VIA PODCAST? I wonder if World Of Radio is available via podcast? 73 de (Andy O`Brien, June 17) Andy, Sort of. Via http://www.dxprograms.net mp3 files (recorded off SW) are put up each week with some delay. The June 15 one is the wrong one, duplicating previous week (Glenn to Andy) Thanks, will check it out. Ran into WOR on my Sirius radio last weekend, it was nice to hear again after many years (Andy K3UK) INFORME DX DESDE NORTEAMÉRICA POR GLENN HAUSER, JUNIO 2005 (corriente) http://www.w4uvh.net/mr0506.ram (descargar) http://www.w4uvh.net/mr0506.rm (guion) http://www.worldofradio.com/mr0506.html En segmentos por Radio Enlace de Radio Nederland los viernes y domingos; en WWCR 15825 los lunes y viernes 2115, hora cambiada. ** AFRICA. AFRICAN BAND I RECEPTION [TV DX] When Spain has finally axed its Band I outlets, there will be only Portugal to contend with to the south. This means it will be worthwhile spending some time with the antenna beamed south/south-west to capture any African transmitters. Technical information has always been scant but Band I has been used over the years by many countries but the big question is whether these are still operational. The Nigerian ENTV E2 Enugu outlet was abandoned around 1967 during the civil war but a year ago, there were reports that Madrid E2 was causing severe co-channel interference to Nigerian broadcasts. This suggested that E2 was in use again in Nigeria. Ghana (GBC) may still have an E2 outlet, although the last definite sighting was around 1990. From the Algarve, Hugh Cocks mentioned that, while living in South Devon in the early Seventies, he received a RETMA 1956 Test Chart for ``the whole afternoon` on E2, E3 and E4 from the south during the Spanish siesta period when TVE-1 was off-air. Ghana was suspected but never confirmed. Recently Stephen Michie (Bristol) unearthed some pictures of the early days of GBC which showed the RETMA Test Chart lurking on a monitorn in the background of the control room. NEW STATION --- A new African transmitter, possibly high-power, has been detected on E2 at 48.2486 MHz. It has been received in southern Europe via trans-equatorial propagation with a much stronger and cleaner carrier than the 1 kW Equatorial Guinea Malabo outlet. The new station has been received in the Algarve several times by Hugh Cocks. And when present, a fine `hash-like interference` is visible over 48-48.5 MHz. The interference is accompanied by a crawling diagonal dot pattern over the picture. Strangely, no sound has been received and the reception is more frequent than Equatorial Guinea. The direction suggests Guinea, Liberia, or Sierra Leone. The latter has always been listed in the WRTH as E2 with an ERP of 1 kW but the offset of the new station differs. Many years ago, while on a business visit, a DXer claimed there were no visible Band I antennas in the capital of Freetown (Keith Hamer & Garry Smith, DX Television, June Short Wave Magazine [UK] via DXLD) ** ALBANIA. Today in the afternoon, I was asked by our Tech. Dir Arben Mehilli to prepare for 'yesterday' the preliminary B05ALR Schedule. Attached please find my B05ALR Schedule. Could you please have a look on it and suggest also any other frequency to USA: instead of 7160 kHz English Program and, another one instead of 7270 kHz Albanian Program? Are these two frequencies allocated for other services in USA? In fact, Radio Tirana has been using them for many years. Please, send me ASAP your kind remarks and good suggestions. Best regards from a sunny lovely Tirana, Drita Cico, ARTV-Head of Monitoring Center, RADIO TIRANA (wwdxc BC-DX June 14 via DXLD) Pre B05ALR Hello Mrs. Drita, Re your proposed schedule for B05 and the questions you ask. According to the Amateur Radio Operating Manual which I possess the frequency range 7000 - 7300 kHz is allocated exclusively to Amateur operations within Region 2. And Region 2 comprises of Greenland, the Caribbean and the whole of the American (north, central and south) continents. A footnote says that "...the use of the band 7100 - 7300 in Region 2 by the amateur service shall not impose constraints on the broadcasting service intended for use within Region 1 and Region 3..." So, in short, the rest of the world (except Region 2) may use 7105 - 7300 kHz to broadcast to any of the countries within Regions 1 & 3 but should NOT utilise this frequency range to broadcast to Region 2. And therefore Albania should not use 7160 and 7270 to broadcast to North America. In addition --- although I don't have all of the details to hand --- certain countries outside of Region 2 have now allocated the freq range 7100 - 7200 kHz to Amateur use but on a secondary and shared basis with broadcast stations. The UK and Norway are two such countries. At a later date, this frequency range will be handed over exclusively to Amateurs. And so at 0000-0130, 0245-0300 & 0330-0400 UT 7270 & 7160 should be replaced with a frequency of 7305 or above. I don't have any information re usage of frequencies in the 7305 to 7600 kHz range in B05 but I suggest that you take a look at what was registered there in B04 and you will find that the range was a very busy one. You will need to avoid the various IBB/BBG and American private broadcasters which are using various frequencies within this range, and also other broadcasters from outside of the Americas beaming in. At a first glance I would suggest that 7450 or 7455 kHz might be a useful choice for the three Tirana broadcasts. I hope this information is of interest and use (Noel R. Green, UK, wwdxc June 15 via BCDX June 18 via DXLD) ** ANTARCTICA [and non]. Re 5-098: Caro Méndez, Agradeço tua resposta ao que eu havia postado nesta lista de discussão Noticias DX, a respeito da colisão de freqüências entre Voz Cristã, LRA-36 e Afrique Numero Un. No entanto, gostaria de reiterar que: Em nenhum momento, escrevi ``culpando LRA-36 pelo ocorrido``. Quem ler minha mensagem, perceberá que eu escrevi que a emissora argentina foi avisada pela equipe de engenheiros da Voz Cristã do que ocorreria [ao contrário do que alguns boletins dexistas e programas tentaram passar para a comunidade DX internacional!] e preferiu manifestar que sua área de atuação [target] era a Argentina. Isso é fato e pode ser comprovado pela equipe [que é séria!] da emissora do grupo Christian Vision. Será que ambas sabiam as dimensões de afirmarem apenas que suas áreas de transmissões [target] eram diferentes? Deu no que deu! Que fique claro, a bem da verdade, que ambas as emissoras sabiam o que ``iria ocorrer``. Portanto, a VC não estava agindo propositalmente. Ressalto que sempre passei aqui a informação que recebi da equipe da Voz Cristã de uma forma ética e responsável, porque sou jornalista profissional e adotei esta linha de atuação no mundo DX. A Voz Cristã tem culpa sim pelo que ocorreu, mas nem por isso alguns boletins e programas [sem consultar a Voz Cristã, com eu fiz] poderiam passar a impressão para a comunidade internacional DX de que a emissora do grupo Christian Vision agiu intensionalmente e estaria feliz ao ocupar o espaço de uma emissora irmã. Se assim fosse, a VC não teria resolvido o problema, creio eu. Eu também jamais culparia LRA-36 porque sou um grande admirador desta estação que, com você muito bem escreve, ``no es una emisora normal``, dadas as dificuldades de localização e equipamentos que utiliza. Aliás, sou um dos primeiros a colaborar caso seja lançada alguma campanha que visa a auxiliar a emissora. Ainda, informo a ti que ``palabras groseras y mal sonantes`` foram enviadas diretamente ao correio eletrônico da Voz Cristã. Foi o que informou, recentemente, o apresentador do programa Altas Ondas, que vai ao ar, pela emissora, nas sextas e sábados. Bom, como havia escrito antes, a partir do dia 20, com a solução do problema, devemos manifestar alegria ao ouvirmos a Afrique Numero Un, a Voz Cristã e de maneira especial e intensamente a LRA-36. Creio que quem gosta de rádio deve deixar de lado conceitos sobre raças, religiões, países e políticas e ligar o receptor. O que nos une é o rádio e o carinho que temos pelas ondas curtas. 73’s (Célio Romais, http:P//www.romais.jor.br Porto Alegre, Brasil, June 17, Noticias DX via DXLD) Could you check 15485 between 1200 and 1700, whether BBC WS in English is still on there? I can`t hear it today, but European conditions are very poor. That is where Voz Cristã will be moving on Monday from 15475 (Glenn to Wolfgang Büschel, Germany, June 17, via DXLD) Glenn, okay, will have look on this matter tomorrow. 15485 300 kW at 180 degrees is always powerhouse in southern Europe/Mediterranean Basin. But Chile's 100 kW doesn`t make it into Europe during daytime, even when on 60 degree azimuth. That's not a problem in Europe, but rather in NorthWest [?] Brazil. Target for BBC outlet 180 degrees, 27 UK, France, Benelux, 28 Central Eur, 37 Spain, Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, but I guess - could be heard further south like Nigeria and even ZWE/AFS in mid and late afternoon too. BBC scheduled 0700-1700 UT. 73 wolfy (Wolfgang Büschel, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Glenn, no change in this range today. CVI Chile Portuguese still on 15475 from 1200, and still at 1600-1700 also, but at latter QRM of football live coverage from Gabon too. Both thiny S=1. BBC Skelton 0700-1700 UT. Today still on 15485 at 1200 UT S=4, and at 1600-1700 UT S=3-4 (Wolfgang Büschel, Stuttgart, Germany, June 18, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** BOLIVIA. 9261, Radio Virgen de los Remedios, la variable emisora católica de Tupiza, la escuché de mañana sobre las 1030 TU, con muy buena señal, en esta frecuencia tan lejos de los 7183, donde fue reportada por primera por Adán Mur de Paraguay (Alfredo Locatelli, Durazno, Uruguay, Conexión Digital June 11 via DXLD) Fecha? ** BOLIVIA. José Luís García, from Radio Emisoras Camargo (3390) told me about the new station´s web page in: http://www.radiocamargo.dk3.com (Arnaldo Slaen, Argentina, June 18, HCDX via DXLD) ** BOUGAINVILLE. AUTONOMY GOVERNMENT TAKES OVER PNG'S TROUBLED BOUGAINVILLE ISLAND http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20050615/wl_asia_afp/pngbougainville (via Des Preston, DXLD) ** BRAZIL. Saturday edition: *** Recording of 4804.99, Rádio Difusoras do Amazonas, Manáus. Good signals from Brazil on the 60- and 49 meter bands the last days but this Manáus station is always there. Ads for "Café Manau" and ID. Good sound-quality-station. Comments, photos and recordings at: http://www.malm-ecuador.com 73s (Björn Malm, Quito, Ecuador, June 11, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** BRAZIL. CHAMADA PARA RADIOESCUTAS --- Diariamente, das 1100 às 1200 e das 0000 às 0100 UT, estarei comandando uma rodada em 27755 kHz em USB. Durante as minhas transmissões, vou fazer um chamado para os Rádio escutas. Caso algum companheiro escute as minhas transmissões e enviar um IR, via e-mail, estarei retornando, via correios, uma confirmação. Isso é só o início. É intensão minha, mandar fazer QSL para os companheiros......Boas escutas. Lembre-se: 27755 USB. IR PARA: papadelta_rio @ yahoo.com.br ou francisco_jackson @ yahoo.com.br (Francisco jackson dos Santos, PY1PDF - São Gonçalo - RJ, Brasil, @tividade DX June 13 via DXLD) ** CANADA. CKZU, 6160, coming in very nicely during VOA-Philippines` hour off, June 18 at 1318 with ID during local Vancouver morning show North by Northwest, mentioning 690 and a couple of relay frequencies, but strangely enough, not the SW frequency. It was 10 over 9, and hard to believe only 500 watts over a daylight path; still holding up at 1345 recheck, tho now with a slight SAH; perhaps the VOA carrier was back on (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) The mid-latitude K- index at 1200 UTC on 18 June was 1 (07 nT). (SEC via DXLD) ** CANADA. I found this non-PDF guide to CBC's radio programs this summer: http://www.cbc.ca/radiosummer/ (Ricky Leong, Calgary, Alta., DX LISTENING DIGEST) Effective from June 27 to September 5. Includes audio samples of many of these shows (gh) ** CANADA. CRTC SET RULES FOR PAY-RADIO SERVICES --- By John Ward OTTAWA (CP) -- The CRTC opened the door to pay-radio services Thursday, approving three licence applications with tough Canadian- content rules -- although not tough enough, according to the one group that doesn't have a U.S. partner. Among other things, the CRTC said the two groups teamed up with U.S. satellite services must offer at least eight original Canadian channels -- one-quarter of them French-- but can offer nine foreign channels for every one Canadian channel... http://cnews.canoe.ca/CNEWS/TechNews/BizTech/2005/06/17/1092701.html (via Bruce MacGibbon, DXLD) ** CANADA. Canadian DAB development http://www.crtc.gc.ca/archive/eng/Decisions/2005/db2005-248.htm The regulatory authorities north of the border have approved three subscription radio services for sale in Canada. Two of them would use the Sirius and XM satellites and would offer many of the U.S. satellite services alongside a number of Canadian channels. The third service is terrestrial. It would use the existing L-band microwave DAB already operating in several major Canadian cities, but on new frequency assignments and with a "conditional access" scheme enabled. The receivers CHUM will sell for their subscription service will also be capable of receiving local free-to-air DAB stations. And these receivers will initially be subsidized by CHUM, first for $50 and later, as more sell (and presumably the price drops) $25. In their application CHUM also promises to help local stations launch free-to-air DAB in areas outside the largest cities that already have it. This is a big opportunity for those who advocate other-than-IBOC digital radio service. If it sells (admittedly a BIG "if"), it would put thousands if not millions of terrestrial L-band DAB radios in Canadians' hands and bring DAB to the air in many areas that don't already have it. Of course, it could also flop... I suppose the biggest problem is that the CHUM system won't work in the U.S. Canadians who frequently travel south of the border with their DAB radios will find they still work with the CSR and Sirius Canada services. With CHUM, they won't. -- (Doug Smith W9WI, Pleasant View (Nashville), TN EM66, http://www.w9wi.com June 17, WTFDA via DXLD) There is a lot of interest in Satellite radio here. One of my co- workers, "Shiek Ali" MacEwan, [our chief oil baron at the Commission], is extremely excited about it as he is a Cousin Brucie fan from way back in the 70s when every kid in Atlantic Canada tuned into 770 WABC after dark for the latest tunes, often while the local stations were being bled to death at night by forceable CBC affiliation. I still can't forgive CBC Radio for this. While I'm a 100% supporter of CanCon rules, I think our Federal government should back it up by taking some of our multi-billion annual surplus, put another satellite in orbit - this time dedicated for satellite radio. I just can't see the economic feasibility of the CHUM/Astral proposal for terrestrial subscription radio. While they are at it, the CRTC should end the chapter known as DAB Eureka 147 and move on with life. DAB has been a massive failure here and in many other parts of the planet. IBOC will be too. Industry Canada should get off their keysters and get involved in reallocating the AM band so the few AM stations left can spread their wings at least by day taking advantage of such a wide open band. With so many flips to FM, we need some super power 50 KWers other than CBC which can cover large swaths of territory doing what AM does best. Must get off my soapbox! [Later:] Yep, the average Canadian just wasn't interested in paying $300 for a DAB pocket radio from Radio Shack. After all the hoopla from the Canadian DAB site about new receivers that were to be marketed by RS, they never materialized. The DAB website was promoting a contest that had expired close to a year ago! The Halifax test DAB had coverage so bad that the coverage map looked like Swiss cheese. And look at IBOC. Based on the above, AM Stereo was an overwhelming success with millions of receivers sold. It is dead as a mass consumer item but it lingers on as a "cult item". Sort of like tubes in the late 70s. The AES came along, and tube folks could get tubes and parts, others joined in and the tube cult flourishes. My hope is that the "cult" will eventually be as successful as say the tube cult. The Chinese have got into making expensive new tube amps, etc. I just wish the Chinese would re-discover AM Stereo. But satellite radio is doing very well. Hopefully it will encourage a new wave of community minded full service stations which will be an alternative, and at the same time, compliment satellite radio. But voicetracked formula radio, including Jack, I think will be fried by satellite radio (Phil Rafuse, PEI Canada, June 18, ABDX via DXLD) ** CUBA [and non]. Monitoring airborne 530 Martí --- 530 kHz, Martí open carrier up at 2147 GMT 18 June, atop 530 kHz Rebelde. Audio will be up at promptly 2200 I guarantee you. 2149 Martí carrier suddenly off... Martí carrier back up at 2156.... 2157 carrier off again... Martí on with audio at 2200 exactly with interval signal, then canned ID over the Martí sounder. But this time, lots of flutter on the Martí signal and Rebelde is nearly equal underneath. Both sides playing games with power tonight? [Later:] GMT 2222 sudden power boost from Martí, obliterating Rebelde. Guess they were having issues with the power onboard during the first 22 minutes. Huge signal now, no trace of Rebelde. ID at 2224 and 2227 as "Radio Televisión Martí" and into the all-important (to Cubans) coverage of the past Michael Jackson trial (Terry L Krueger, Clearwater, Florida, USA, 27.55.83 N, 82.46.08 W, June 18, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** GERMANY. DW, 13780, June 17 at 1932 in English with interesting feature on brass instruments, good reception here; this is Wertachtal to East Africa, so directly off-the-back propagation (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** GERMANY. AFN KAISERSLAUTERN AM 1107 OFF AIR http://www.afneurope.net/Kaiserslautern/ Starting June 6th AFN Kaiserslautern begins long-needed repairs to their AM radio transmitter tower. The estimated time for the shutdown is four weeks. During that time, Power Network listeners can tune to AM 873, the Power Network feed from AFN Hessen. Kaiserslautern's FM radio station, Z100.2, will still be on the air so listeners can get critical local information as well as hourly news. AFN Kaiserslautern Station Commander, MSgt Dan Robinson, says the repairs to the AM tower are critical. "These are structural repairs so the tower can remain standing. Workers will be taking care of corrosion and other problems that could eventually bring the tower down if we don't take care of it now." In addition to tuning in AM 873, Power Network listeners who have a AFN satellite receiver can still hear the same programming they're used to by turning to the Channel Guide (Channel 7) on their receiver (via Mike Terry, DXLD) ** INDIA. THE GREAT INDIAN INFORMATION DIVIDE --- Yavnika Khanna June 7, 2005 --- People need information continually, from weather news to local, regional, national and international happenings. Radio is still the basic media for mass communication in a developing country like India with a penetration of 98.5 per cent, according to recent surveys. Maybe that is the reason why for decades, India's radio stations have been centralised, government-controlled, over-dependent on relays and lacking in editorial independence. A truly people's radio would perceive listeners not only as receivers and consumers, but also as active citizens and creative producers of media content. There is dangerous delay to open up the Indian airwaves to a wider diversity of voices. . . http://www.hindustantimes.com/news/5922_1392663,008700010015.htm (via Alokesh Gupta, New Delhi, dx_india via DXLD) ** INTERNATIONAL. Some things that appear from time to time on the North American "Pirate Band"...not counting the infamous "fishermen" & numerous beeps & chirps. 6999 MARS Net 6973 Galei Zahal, Israel 6960 Radio Shabelle, Somalia (very, very irregular) 6959 Spanish numbers station 6957 La Voz de Campesinos, Peru (more irregular lately) 6950 CPBS China (hasn't been reported in several months) 6940 Radio Fana, Ethiopia (check //6210) 6937 Yunnan PBS, China (hasn't been reported in several months) 6930 SYN, Mossad, Israel 6890 WWRB Manchester GA (a regular most of the evening & night) 6855 Spanish numbers station 6855 WYFR Okeechobee FL (late night regular lately) 6840 EZI, Mossad, Israel (Harold Frodge, Free Radio Weekly June 18 via DXLD) ** IRAN [and non]. BBG WORKS TO OVERCOME IRAN'S JAMMING OF PERSIAN SATELLITE NEWS BROADCASTS Jun 17, 2005 --- The Broadcasting Board of Governors today announced it is using a third satellite to help overcome jamming of Persian- language news broadcasts during Iran's election period. The broadcasts affected include Voice of America's (VOA) direct-to- home Persian-language satellite television news programs, Radio Farda, and VOA English. The three are carried on the Eutelsat Hotbird satellite and Telstar 12. Today, the BBG Office of Engineering added a third satellite transmission. This additional signal makes it more difficult for Iranian authorities to block the broadcasts in many locations. BBG Chairman Kenneth Y. Tomlinson condemned Iranian attempts to jam satellite television and radio services that carry U.S. international broadcasting for Persian audiences: "That the government of Iran would jam Persian television and other U.S. international broadcasts illustrates how threatened the authorities are by truth." Tomlinson said the BBG would continue to counter efforts to block open and free information by providing programs on multiple satellites and transponders. VOA's Persian service features "News & Views," a daily one-hour television news and information program repeated four times with news updates. This week's 90-minute "Looking Ahead" program, also produced by VOA Persian, featured Principal Deputy Assistant U.S. Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs Elizabeth Cheney. Radio Farda, a joint venture between VOA and Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, is a youth- oriented 24/7 Persian-language radio service that broadcasts political, social, and economic news, information, public affairs, and music to Iran. Iran also has stepped up jamming on Radio Farda AM and shortwave frequencies. Iran's presidential elections are being held today and a runoff is possible. In the past, Iranian jamming of satellite television has occurred around the time of elections and other key political events. The BBG constantly works to overcome jamming. Iranian authorities also direct Iranian Internet service providers to filter out the ability to connect to the VOA News and Radio Farda websites http://www.voanews.com and http://www.radiofarda.com They also prevent e-mails from VOA from being received by their citizens. The BBG has been working to counter these efforts through an Internet anti-censorship program. The BBG is an independent federal agency which supervises all U.S. government-supported non-military international broadcasting, including the Voice of America (VOA), Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL); the Middle East Broadcasting Networks (Alhurra TV and Radio Sawa); Radio Free Asia (RFA); and Office of Cuba Broadcasting (Radio and TV Martí. Through its broadcast services, the BBG provides the United States and its leaders direct and immediate access to a worldwide audience of over 140 million people. Nine members comprise the BBG, a bipartisan presidentially appointed body. Current governors are Chairman Kenneth Y. Tomlinson, Joaquin Blaya, Blanquita W. Cullum, D. Jeffrey Hirschberg, Edward E. Kaufman, Norman J. Pattiz, and Steven Simmons. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice serves as an ex officio member. For more information, contact: Howard Mortman, BBG, 202-203- 4545. © Iranian.ws http://www.iranian.ws/iran_news/publish/article_7638.shtml (via Alokesh Gupta, New Delhi, dxldyg via DXLD) Strait from press release ** ISRAEL. The IBA has postponed making a decision regarding the cessation of Kol Israel shortwave broadcasts, until there is a Board of Governors of the IBA. No major decisions are being made until the Board is formed. As a result, shortwave broadcasts will continue past the end of June 2005 (Doni Rosenzweig, June 17, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Israel must be a very interesting place, politically. Where else on earth would this story go on, and on, and on, and on. Does anything ever really get done in Israel? Still, I am pleased to hear that there has been yet another reprieve (with no surprise at all from this end!) (Walt Salmaniw, Victoria, BC, dxldyg via DXLD) ** ITALY. Next edition of MediaLine Radio (18 June 2005) will be another old-time radio special, including: * The Great Gildersleeve (1945). * Tales of the Texas Rangers (1950). Airtimes: - Saturday 18 June, 1330 UTC, http://mp3.nexus.org Saturday 18 June, 1930 UTC, http://mp3.nexus.org and 5775 kHz Saturday 25 June, 1330 UTC, http://mp3.nexus.org Saturday 25 June, 1930 UTC, http://mp3.nexus.org and 5775 kHz I am happy to announce that on-demand audio is once again available on the website http://medialine.150m.com (Henry Brice, BDXC-UK via DXLD) ** ITALY. DRM TEST KOMENDE WEEK 26 MHZ Hello, I have just updated my "HF Archive" Site with the photo of the new shortwave site (broadcasting on 26 MHz) of Radio Maria: http://www.mediasuk.org/archive/index_e.html Radio Maria will broadcast in DRM on 26 MHz in the next week. The transmitter is a modified Kenwood TS50 and a pc will be used as a DRM modulator. On HF Archive you can find also the picture of Radio Vaticana DRM transmitter and antenna, Wishes, Andrea power is only 25 watt, the frequency is 26000 kHz and the coordinates are 45 32 16 N 7 53 13 E. For reception report: Radio Maria Via Mazzini 15 21020 Casciago (VA) c/o Ing. Claudio Re, Ing. Giacomo Querio Groeten (Gelezen op DRM software forum via Han. Bezoek ook eens mijn website, deze zal (on)regelmatig wijzigen http://home.wanadoo.nl/hanhardonk/ June 15, BDXC via DXLD) ** JAPAN. Radio Japan's DX topics. Hello radio friends, Radio Japan's Hello from Tokyo program will air the following personalities in its Phone out show. June 18/19/20 Ian McFarland, former RCI SWL Digest. June 25/26/27 Kazuo Ozaki, HCJB's Japanese program. In its regular DX program on July 2/3/4 I will talk on Radio Japan's old QSL's found in CPRV collection at Library of American Broadcasting, University of Maryland and QSL Collection at ORF, Radio Austria International. Hope you listen to these programs (Toshi Ohtake-JPN JSWC; via DXplorer June 17 via BCDX June 18 via DXLD) ** KOREA NORTH. Seem to recall some time back discussion on no replies from VoK. I have not had any problems of late, and yesterday for instance got: 1. R Pyongyang pennant. 2. Voice of Korea lapel badge. 3. Book on Kim Jong IL. 4. English sched. 5. Report form. 6. Letter. 7. Pocket Calendar and most important QSL card for 3320 kHz. Reports go via Passport address, with annotation via Beijing, PRC. Regards (Ron Killick, NZ, June 17, HCDX via DXLD) ** KURDISTAN. 3960, LV del Kurdistán Iraní, 0212-0218, 6 Junio, programa en kurdo, frecuencia variable a 3969 kHz, con varias menciones al Kurdistán, luego música patriótica a 0218. 24332. 3969, LV del Kurdistán Iraní, 0159-0210 y 0230-0243+, 6 Junio, programa en kurdo, frecuencia variable a 3960. ID "...Kurdistana Irana.." por locutor. Luego himno o canción patriótica y de inmediato comienza interferencia deliberada en la frecuenica. 22442. (Héctor A. Gutiérrez, Perú, Conexión Digital via DXLD) ** KURDISTAN [non]. I see at http://www.ewtn.org/radio/freq.htm that WEWN still claims to be on 11530 at 1100-2200, altho we are now hearing the Spanish service on 11645 instead, not sure if span matches. 11530 used to block Denge Mezopotamiya, the major [non?] clandestine service, scheduled at 0400-1600 via Moldova, between 1100 and 1600, but that should now be clear. EiBi shows WYFR using 11530 0400 and 0845, which may still be the case (Glenn Hauser, OK, June 18, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** KYRGYZSTAN. Re 5-098: You may like to ask the DXW editor. The text was marked as quote from the WRTH B04 update March 2005, thus referring to the winter season. I don't know why this was not mentioned in the DXW credit line. 73s, (Bernd Trutenau, Lithuania, dxldyg via DXLD) ** LIBERIA. 3400/5890, Star R, Monrovia. My remark in DX-Window no. 273 that "I think [these frequencies were] never heard by DX-ers" resulted in the following welcomed comment. (DSWCI Ed) Star Radio was logged here in Finland several times on 3400. First loggings are from October 1997. Also R Veritas from Liberia was logged here in Finland. The first loggings I found were from November 1997 on 3450. Those loggings were made by several DXers. I recall I heard these stations too, but with weak signal and only as tentative. (Jari Savolainen, Jun 01, DSWCI DX Window June 15 via DXLD) I then took a closer look at my updating notes in 1997-1998 for the Tropical Bands Survey where I found that Star R on 3400 was heard by DX-ers in October 1997 and January and March 1998. Star R on 5890 was heard in October 1998. But the license was withdrawn by the Ministry on 23 October 1998. Because of this Star R only occurred in the Tropical Bands Survey 1998. The question now is, if they will return to these SW frequencies, or use stronger relays from Merlin? (Anker Petersen, Denmark, DSWCI DX Window June 15 via DXLD) ** LIBERIA. 5470, Radio Veritas, Monrovia, at 2300 to 2309 with poor signal until it came suddenly up out of the mud with "on behalf of the management of ... Liberia" then back into the mud. 17 June. 73 (Bob Wilkner, Pómpano Beach, Flórida, Icom R75 with dipole antenna, HCDX via DXLD) We listened very well to reactivated service of RADIO VERITAS, LIBERIA, 5470 kHz, around 2115-2200 UT thanks an email message I got from active Italian listener LUCA BOTTO FIORA who first noted it in the world (Dario Monferini, visiting Vlad Titaraev, Ukraine, June 17, AOR 7030 receiver and SURPLUS receiver for MW and SW and OUTDOOR antenna in his garden K9AY, playdx yg via DXLD) ** MALTA. VOICE OF THE MEDITERRANEAN - AN APPRECIATION by Luigi Cobisi, Italradio, Firenze, Italy. Thanks to the article by Victor Galea (May 09), the Voice of the Mediterranean (VoM) was correctly shown as a real "alternative approach to broadcasting Malta worldwide". As the secretary general of the Italradio Committee (a non-profit group promoting international broadcasting in Italian), I know that the VoM received mountains of letters daily and e-mails from all over the world asking for all sorts of information about Malta. It was, therefore, a great pity that the station closed down on December 31, 2003, after having been awarded the Italradio Prize only a few weeks earlier. Italradio does hope Malta might reconsider the opportunity of having shortwave programmes in different languages. We had already protested with the Maltese authorities in 2003 but no decision was taken by the authorities. During our visit to Malta in October 2003, we had contributed towards the organisation of a meeting with broadcasters and listeners from seven European countries and the US about multilingualism in international radio. Everyone was delighted with the effort Malta was making in keeping in touch with the world and promoting the island through short-wave broadcasting. With the help of the European DX Council - an association of short wave listeners' clubs - we consigned to the VoM a collection of radio publications from different countries which were intended to integrate the VoM library and its records' archive, many of them dating back to the times of the British Forces Broadcasting Services. Has the closing down of the station led to the loss of that precious material? Let me finally extend wishes and appreciation for the work VoM staff were able to achieve during the 15 years of the station's history (Luigi Cobisi, Italy, Jun 01, DSWCI DX Window June 15 via DXLD) ** MEXICO [and non]. Re 5-098: it seems my trouble in inserting the degree symbol as an MS Word special character was for naught, since it did not make it thru the text file reduction. Make it read: BCN, Tecate (move from Ensenada 92.1), XHBCE 105.7, 50000 h,v; 150 m, d-a with 3% power 20-60 and 150-200 degrees, 100% power 290 degrees, $tereo, ``Stereo Sol`` (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** MEXICO [and non]. KNX-1070 IBOC QRM to XEPRS-1090, et al.: see RADIO EQUIPMENT FORUM below ** MEXICO [and non]. THE BEST DARN STORY OF THE WHOLE 20TH CENTURY http://www.ominous-valve.com/xerf.html (via Bill Hale, TX, NRC-AM via DXLD) ** OKLAHOMA. KCCU vs CPB budget cut: see U S A ** OKLAHOMA. LICENSE RENEWALS GRANTED [OK is among a few other states which came up for renewal lately; this excerpted list ought to amount to a complete list of AM stations in OK, with current legal calls, tho it`s no guarantee all of them are actually currently on air. Or NOT -- - as I went thru it I noticed several stations missing; perhaps their license terms do not match the others. There are probably some other missing stations, but I have not thoroughly cross-checked the NRC AM Log –gh] 640 WWLS Moore 740 KRMG Tulsa 780 KSPI Stillwater 800 KQCV OKC 890 KTLR OKC 910 KVIS Miami 930 WKY OKC 960 KGWA Enid 970 KCFO Tulsa 1000 KTOK OKC 1020 KOKP Perry MISSING 1050 KKRX Lawton 1050 KGTO Tulsa 1140 KRMP OKC 1150 KNED McAlester 1170 KFAQ Tulsa MISSING 1210 KGYN Guymon 1220 KTLV OKC 1230 WBBZ Ponca City 1230 KADA Ada 1240 KADS Elk City MISSING 1240 KOKL Okmulgee 1260 KWSH Wewoka 1270 KRVT Claremore 1280 KPRV Poteau 1300 KAKC Tulsa 1310 KCLI Clinton [sic: should be 1320] 1340 KIHN Hugo 1340 KEBC Midwest City 1340 KTFX Sand Springs 1350 KPNS Duncan 1380 KXCA Lawton 1380 KMUS Sperry 1390 KCRC Enid MISSING 1400 KWON Bartlesville 1400 KTMC McAlester 1400 KREF Norman 1420 KGJS Hobart [should be KTJS --- gh] 1430 KTBZ Tulsa 1430 KALV Alva MISSING 1450 KWHW Altus 1450 KGFF Shawnee 1450 KSIW Woodward 1460 KZUE El Reno MISSING 1470 KVLH Pauls Valley 1470 KITO Vinita 1490 KMFS Guthrie 1490 KBIX Muskogee 1500 KPGM Pawhuska 1520 KOKC OKC 1530 KXTD Wagoner 1550 KMAD Madill 1550 KYAL Sapulpa 1560 KOCY Dell [sic] City 1570 KTAT Frederick 1570 KMUR Prior [sic] 1580 KOKB Blackwell MISSING 1590 KWEY Weatherford 1600 KUSH Cushing MISSING 1640 KFXY Enid MISSING (via Bill Hale, AM Switch, NRC DX News June 13 via DXLD) Glenn, Please understand that I only 'relay' the actions of the FCC insofar as license renewals are concerned. Regarding call letter or frequency errors, I just do a cut-and-paste from what is posted by the Feds. I really don't look for errors unless the data it really stands out. Omissions? If The FCC doesn't approve a renewal for who-knows- what reason, what am I supposed to do? There have been several stations which just never submitted the proper paperwork, or any at all, due to ignorance of the law. I'm not saying any of those might be in Oklahoma, but you never know, hi. Have you seen the references lately to "Red Light Dismissals"? So . . . that's my story and I'm sticking to it. Thanks for writing, (BILL Hale, TX, June 17, DX LISTENING DIGEST) I figured FCC made the mistaxe (gh, DXLD) ** PERU. Quito 17/6 2005 *** Saturday edition: *** Recording of 4926.39, Radio Sicuani, Sicuani. You may think I just turn my radio on and there is the station with strong signal and superhigh sound quality. It is not so; for example I have been trying to make a good recording of Radio Sicuani for more than one year, if LVS La Voz de la Selva, Iquitos (Perú) is off, the signal from Sicuani is too weak, thunderstorm interference, utility interference, a Jumbo-Jet is taking off every 1 minute (the runway is very close to my radioshack), etc., etc., etc., but here is at last my first recording of Radio Sicuani. Comments, photos and recordings at: http://www.malm-ecuador.com 73s (Björn Malm, Quito, Ecuador DX LISTENING DIGEST) What difference does it make if a jumbo jet is taking off? You aren`t using a mike-to-speaker rather than a patch cord, are you? (gh, DXLD) ** RUSSIA. Voice of Russia What`s New http://www.vor.ru/English/Exclusives/what_new.html MUSIC AND MUSICIANS (on the air as of June 18th). All the newlyweds hope to live their life happily to the end of their days. But, alas, many couples fall apart within the next few years or even months. So the long-living marriages, especially those from the artistic circles, where marriage ties are known to be so easily broken, evoke real admiration. One of them is the family of a famous opera singer Galina Vishnevskaya and the renowned cellist and conductor Mstislav Rastropovich. Would you like to know more about this stellar couple which has recently celebrated their Golden marriage? Then do tune in to the next edition of MUSIC AND MUSICIANS on Saturday at 17.00, Sunday 03.00, 17.00 and 20.00 and Monday 07.00 UTC. [Program actually begins 11 minutes later --- jn] (via John Norfolk, dxldyg via DXLD) ** SAMOA. MEDIUMWAVE RADIO IN SAMOA HAS SHAKY FUTURE Mediumwave radio in Samoa began in 1931 [almost 75 years ago], and its time may have almost ended. In the next radio heritage documentary scheduled for Radio New Zealand International's 'Mailbox' program on June 20 [available on-line at http://www.rnzi.com for the following two weeks], the shaky future of Samoa's 540 AM is examined in detail. Hear SBC's Afaliti Lui explain about the financial pressures of keeping the station on air, about their new FM network that is now on air to compete with private commercial stations, and the changing communications landscape in Samoa. Afaliti also explores the clash between commercial and social values facing public radio in Samoa, and David Ricquish looks at how these pressures are affecting other Pacific broadcasters, and the ability of radio stations to continue as cultural storehouses. Including a selection of rare SBC 540 AM jingles, this is the latest radio heritage documentary from the Radio Heritage Foundation http://www.radioheritage.net produced in association with Radio New Zealand International. Read an article about the early history of Samoan radio, and the beginning of 2AP on-line right now at http://www.radioheritage.net Colorful stories about many other Pacific radio stations also feature. Remember to check out our free searchable database of 4000+ MW stations in the region with Bruce Portzer's Pacific-Asia-Log. It's full of helpful information. Warm regards (David Ricquish, Radio Heritage Foundation, HCDX via DXLD) ** SRI LANKA. As per Duane's request on 6/10 to post a favorite program, here is one of mine: Sri Lanka Broadcasting Corporation's Commercial Service in English is one of my favorite all-time programs. I have listened to it for over three decades starting way back when its ID was: "This is the Commercial Service of Radio Ceylon". It combines popular songs and news with commercials in English(with a British accent of course!). At my Columbus, Ohio QTH, I can sometimes pick up the broadcast starting a little before 0030 on 9770. It is heard here more often in the summer months. It is also on the air starting at 1230 on 9770, but during the current lower end of the sunspot cycle it is heard here only sporadically at that time (Steve Bass, Columbus, Ohio, June 12, swl at qth.net via DXLD) No more 1230+ ** SWEDEN. Schedule for SAQ Operation Announced --- This year's scheduled Alexanderson Day VLF operation at SAQ will be on Sunday, 3 July. The historic Alexanderson alternator will again be cranked up on 17.2 kHz at the Grimeton (Sweden) World Heritage site. Transmissions are scheduled to take place at 0815, 0915, 1215 and 1315 UTC in conventional CW mode. North American listeners will therefore have opportunities to try for the signal both with the path in partial darkness and in full daylight. Read more about the station and its history at http://www.alexander.n.se (LWCA via Mike Terry, BDXC-UK via DXLD) I have a nice QSL card from this station (Mike Terry, ibid.) ** SYRIA. Radio Damasco, emisión una hora antes. Estimados amigos, reciban un cordial saludo; anoche desde Sacañet en Castellón pude sintonizar a Radio Damasco en la emisión en español por los 12085 kHz, una hora antes del horario habitual hasta hora; es probable que ya haya cambiado el horario. Esta noche intentaré sintonizarla desde el horario de apertura a las 2215 UT. Atentamente (José Miguel Romero, Sacañet (Castellón), Valencia, Spain, June 18, Noticias DX via DXLD) They had earlier offered to move the Spanish an hour earlier, tho mainly for Latin America, for the convenience of Spaniards. Now it`s at 12:15 instead of 1:15 am local, tnx to double-DST. So is the other frequency again 13610, or 9330? (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Efectivamente José Miguel. Estoy escuchando a Radio Damasco en su nuevo horario 2215-2330 UT en su flamante frecuencia de 9330. La recepción es bastante buena como hacía mucho tiempo que no se presentaba, el es SINFO=43433. La señal llega acompañada de heterodino causado por señal portadora adyacente (9327.60 kHz) pero también por un zumbido que algunos llaman técnicamente "ripple", una saturación de la señal causada en el mismo trayecto del haz de emisión. La mejor recepción se obtiene en 9332 Khz. Saludos y ¡Gracias José! (Rubén Guillermo Margenet, Argentina, Noticias DX via DXLD) ** TAIWAN. Southeast Asian frequency temporarily suspended. RTI's broadcasts to Southeast Asia from 1400 to 1500 UT on 15265 kHz have been temporarily suspended due to a transmitter malfunction caused by the recent flooding in Southern Taiwan. We apologize for the inconvenience (RTI web site via Swopan Chakroborty, Kolkata, India, June 18, dxldyg via DXLD) ** UKRAINE. TRANSILVANIA DX TRAVEL JUNE 2005 HUNGARY - UKRAINE 12th PART by DARIO [almost sic to preserve Monferinglish] Here we are again ! My snova zdes' ! At 1659 we arrived at the Radio Ukraine International big big strong building (made by Stalin ...this is way still it stand up...) and we met the Frequency Manager Mr. ALEXANDR EGOROV ..naturally after having given our documents to the old lady receptionist of the pass office (after all it is the govern station) SO DON'T forget your documents or ..you WILL NOT PASS !!! We crossed many strong doors...we walked many loooooong corridors and we stand few minutes at the English studio where it was the recording of the news commentary program of famous speaker (sorry but we don't know now the name ...) famous cause is working from 19..... (this is a secret detail ..we are not allowed to tell this particular to you ... again sorry ...) Finally we crossed the big big court ...and Sergey told me ..hooo look at that car ..is NUMBER 92 the plate ... so this car is for the 92nd most important person in the country ... I am the 21864333 .. but it doesn't matter in our report.... Don't worry ..we really arrived in the office (ermetically closed to avoid people searching for ...free telephon calls....) located at 2 floor (but look like in modern buildings the 6 floor...) So I had the second INTERNATIONAL interview of travel .... in MONFERINGLISH ..... for the English service ..to North America and Europe. Alexandr had a list of questions (very looong..) but very detailled and interesting questions... and my only personal fear ... to reply to the question : DARIO what is your preferred program .... cause I should have replied ...THE NEWS.... After this Alexander show me the email report coming from Milano city and sent by GIGI NADALI ..... so I asked will he ever get a QSL ? He hoo yes and he showed me an old fashion post card of the 20's..... with a good big (of corse) seal with details for the verification... I offered to Alexandr some souvenirs look like the Stamps of the MARCONI birth 1974 of Italy ... and he appreciated a lot this ...so he started to search something for my collection ...and YES he found (after a favour from Sergey...) a MINI block notes with the logo of the Ukrainian Radio .... very rare item ...you may guess why ??? only 100 printed.... So we talked about many matters ...like frequency problems and the new DRM system ...and he said he agree with our opinion .... very much sceptical about the REAL future of this system .. specially cause the HIGH cost to start it ... and due to the fact almost NO ONE in our little planet has a receiver for this system.... So we went back to the front enter of the radio ...and we so again CAR 92 ..waiting for the BIG boss called 92 .... In one of the loooong corridors my attention was attracted by a STICKERS !!!!!!! standing on a door where is a studio for the NATIONAL SERVICE 207 kHz 1st Program , 549 kHz 2nd Program on MW and of corse OIRT FM BAND 64.00 MHz till 74.00 MHz .... details in WRTH 2005 are older about the OIRT BAND cause programs 2 and 3 stop to utilize this band in the regions (only continue in Kiev...) Yes a sticker incredible for me ... also Alexandr remained shocked (even if he doesn't collect stickers...) but all the efforts to find one or who put it on that door failed .... We also heard some strange sounds coming from one of the next doors near the one the sticker was standing ... but the door was closed ... So with no stickers...no qsl cards...no pennants ... no pencils.. no lapis ... BUT with an UNICUM little block notes we do a photo outside the giant stone building... a good souvenir of another (for me MEMORABLE interview ...) So after this exaustive day we went at the good and cheap internet point and after we went to eat in the cheap restaurant of the Hotel Predslava ...with the CAMERERO speaking Italian a little and with many plates also French ones ... JULIENNE .... if you want to know what is this ..please contact your next street French Embassy... Finally I had some unformal chats with Sergey about all the possibles topics of the story of our planet .....so around 0400 hours ... we decided to continue another occation .... Well but tuesday is the second running to see and taste the radiostations of the Kiev... so my story will continue ... Do svidania ..... Dario and Sergey (June 14, playdx yg via DXLD) [sic, almost] ** U K. YOUR FLEXIBLE FRIEND --- The BBC's deputy director general on promoting trust in the corporation Mark Byford Saturday June 11, 2005 Guardian This year the BBC has introduced a major reform programme in the way it handles editorial complaints from its licence-payers. The BBC now begins with the presumption that the licence-payer is right. After all, the licence-payers are the public that fund and own the BBC in the UK. How an organisation responds when someone complains is an important determinant of how people feel about its openness and responsiveness. In the past it was too difficult to find out how to complain about the BBC; the procedures were too complex; the appeals process not transparent and independent enough. Too often complainants felt they had not been listened to properly. We have now made it much easier for licence-payers to know how to make complaints about BBC programmes and services. We have developed much simplified procedures and publicised them widely. We have established a central logging system, so we know exactly how many complaints we are receiving, and created a new dedicated website: http://www.bbc.co.uk/complaints We now publish all errors, clarifications and corrections promptly on the BBC's website. . . [MORE] http://www.guardian.co.uk/print/0,3858,5213318-103677,00.html (Guardian via Dan Say, DXLD) ** U K [and non]. BBC World Service News --- We in the USA often think of the British as being better informed on world affairs than we are because of the far-flung network of BBC correspondents the UK citizens support with their tax dollars and TV license fees. Last week I had the opportunity to spend a few days in Inverness, Scotland where the B&B landlady had installed the relatively new terrestrial digital service for TV and radio reception. The DVB terrestrial standard digital converter box was made by Echostar and sold for 44 pounds. She originally subscribed to the Sky TV satellite package but opted for the terrestrial digital package because it was more economical. This service carries BBC World Service audio as well as the BBC One and BBC Two TV channels as well as the other OTA broadcasters in addition to some subscription services, commercial radio stations and text data services. This technology afforded me the opportunity to compare the coverage of international news on BBC World Service with the other electronic media. On a morning when the BBCWS reported the resignation of the President of Bolivia and the resignation of the Vice Honcho of Syria, there was nary a mention of either story on the domestic news. The local newscasts were obsessing over the upcoming G8 summit in Edinburgh scheduled for July where a mass protest is possibly going to result in the kind of riots seen in Genoa Italy a while back at the last G8 summit. The other big story was a proposal to abolish the car tax and gasoline tax in favor of a satellite based tracking technique that will bill drivers for each mile they travel with highest per-mile rates for congested routes at rush hour. I conclude that local news addresses local issues no matter where you live and to get good international coverage we have to go to the various international sources. Luckily for the Brits, their government distributes BBC World Service to the home market in contrast to the suppression of VOA in the USA by the US Congress. Could that simple difference explain the better awareness of British citizens of international issues? I doubt it but it certainly does help the cause. ~*-.,_,.-*~'^'~*-.,_,.-*~'^'~*-., (Joe Buch, June 11, Swprograms mailing list via DXLD) -*~'^'~*-.,_,.-*~'^'~*-.,_,.-*~'^ ** U K [and non]. Re: Fox News competes for international viewers Well, trying to put the best spin on this as is possible, I note that (at least IMHO) CNN International is a far superior and more informative service than its domestic US version. Murdoch is a pretty savvy businessman. He probably will think twice before trying to proffer the same kind of content Fox offers to domestic US (and now Canadian) consumers to a likely less docile and receptive international audience. Maybe someone on the list familiar with Sky News would be kind enough to offer an evaluation of Sky and a comparison, for example, between Sky and the BBC (John Figliozzi, NY, swprograms via DXLD) I must admit, particularly since I got broadband, I am tending to use the internet more for news together with The Times I take as a daily paper. For television news I tend to watch Channel 4 News 7 p.m. nightly. So bearing in mind I am not that keen on the 24 hours news channel format: By the BBC I take it you mean BBC News 24. I find them dull; they actually redesigned their presentation last year to look more like Sky's. Too often they just fill in time with studio "experts" giving you their opinion, whereas I prefer to form my own, or going over to on the spot reporters to find out what is happening which is usually nothing. Indeed there is a regular column in Private Eye now where readers contribute the worst examples of this. Sky News is a real mixture; they tend to concentrate on a smaller number of stories and if there are three sensationalist domestic stories those are the ones they cover. They don't have the BBC's budget so tend more to repeat the same reports during the day. However if there is a serious domestic or international story at the top of the news agenda or a news story breaking their coverage is on a par with or sometimes better than the BBC. The day Baghdad fell I watched Sky News as they had a reporter, whose name escapes me, on the ground interviewing residents and troops whereas the BBC had distant camera shots and a pompous glamour boy reporter with a book deal. Sky News has quite a few experienced staff who previously worked for Independent Television News whom they hired on large salaries when they started the channel. I don't detect any particular political bias of Sky News; their political editor Adam Boulton is well respected and during Hutton they had Rod Liddle on as a commentator. On the other hand they have a daily poll running making money from viewers ringing up premium lines to vote. As someone with a statistics degree these polls irritate me as they prove absolutely nothing. We also have the ITV News channel over here as well as CNN Europe, all these are on my basic cable package. I am not a great fan of the 24 hour news channel format as they end up just filling time with talking heads or going over to on the spot reporters who report that nothing is happening. That`s partly why, despite my suspicions of Murdoch, I sometimes will check Sky News as it is a tighter format. The Fox News US format will not work over here if they are looking at serving more than expatriate Americans. They already have an Ofcom judgement against them --- (Mike Barraclough, ibid.) Viz.: FOX NEWS CENSURED FOR RANT AT BBC OFCOM SAYS MURDOCH STATION BROKE PROGRAMME CODE Matt Wells, media correspondent Tuesday June 15, ***2004*** The Guardian Fox News, the US news network owned by Rupert Murdoch, has been found in breach of British broadcasting rules for an on-air tirade that accused the BBC of "frothing-at-the-mouth anti-Americanism". Television regulators said the broadcaster failed to show "respect for truth" in a strongly worded opinion item, broadcast on the day the Hutton report was published, which also accused BBC executives of giving reporters a "right to lie". http://media.guardian.co.uk/site/story/0,14173,1239094,00.html?=rss (via Mike Barraclough, ibid.) ** U S A. Reminder that WWCR`s 15th anniversary questionnaire contest is about to conclude June 30; prize drawing for such as MT subscriptions, TinyTennas, Bibles, CDs, etc. (Adam Lock, Ask WWCR June 10-23, notes by gh for DX LISTENING DIGEST) Details at: http://www.wwcr.com/contest/yr15_anniv.html Not to be confused with the similar 1996 questionnaire linked from the homepage, which must be sent by p-mail only. The anniversary q/naire may be p-mailed if desired (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. WWRB was actually active on 15250, Friday June 17 at 1929 with readings from Psalms (not Alex. Scourby), and still past 2000 when I did not hear anything resembling a legal ID. Also active on 11920, but not \\ and no ID there either, as well as 9320 with Overcomer, but not Bro. Scare at the moment. BTW, I guess the ``secret`` Dave Frantz discovered by spying on WWCR is that their rhombics are three-bay, so now are his too? (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. OFFICIAL HAD AIDE SEND DATA TO WHITE HOUSE By STEPHEN LABATON June 18, 2005 WASHINGTON, June 17 - E-mail messages obtained by investigators at the Corporation for Public Broadcasting show that its chairman, Kenneth Y. Tomlinson, extensively consulted a White House official shortly before she joined the corporation about creating an ombudsman's office to monitor the balance and objectivity of public television and radio programs. Mr. Tomlinson said in an interview three months ago that he did not think he had instructed a subordinate to send material on the ombudsman project to Mary C. Andrews at her White House office in her final days as director of global communications, a political appointment. But the e-mail messages show that a month before the interview, he directed Kathleen Cox, then president of the corporation, to send material to Ms. Andrews at her White House e-mail address. They show that Ms. Andrews worked on a variety of ombudsman issues before joining the corporation, while still on the White House payroll. And they show that the White House instructed the corporation on Ms. Andrews's job title in her new post. A senior corporation executive who is concerned about its direction under Mr. Tomlinson provided copies of the e-mail messages to The New York Times. Fearing retribution, the executive insisted on anonymity as a condition for providing the copies. The e-mail messages are part of the evidence being collected in a broad inquiry by the inspector general of the corporation into whether Mr. Tomlinson violated any rules that require that the corporation act as a buffer between politics and programming. Investigators are examining the role played by the White House in the creation of the ombudsman's office at the corporation, an office Mr. Tomlinson said he advanced as part of a broader effort to ensure balance and objectivity in programming. Executives in public television and radio have said his actions threatened their editorial independence. Under investigation are $14,170 in contracts signed by Mr. Tomlinson with an Indiana man who monitored the political leanings of the guests on "Now" when Bill Moyers was its host. And the investigators are looking at $15,000 in payments to two Republican lobbyists last year at the direction of Mr. Tomlinson and his Republican predecessor, who remains a board member. Mr. Tomlinson declined to respond to questions about the investigation or anything else. "We decline comment during the inspector general's review and await their report clarifying these and all related circumstances," he said by e-mail on Friday. "We are confident that the report will conclude that all of these actions were taken in accordance with the relevant rules and regulations." In a little-noticed speech on the floor of the Senate this week, Senator Byron L. Dorgan, Democrat of North Dakota, said that in response to his request for the reports on the "Now" program, Mr. Tomlinson provided him with the raw data from reports. Mr. Dorgan said that Senator Chuck Hagel, Republican of Nebraska, was classified in the data as a "liberal" for an appearance on a segment of a show that questioned the Bush Administration's policies in Iraq. Mr. Hagel is considered a mainstream conservative with a maverick streak and a willingness to criticize the White House. Another segment about financial waste at the Pentagon was classified as "anti-Defense," Mr. Dorgan said. He criticized Mr. Tomlinson for spending taxpayer money for studies to examine programs "to see if something is being said that might be critical about a president or Congress." On Friday, Mr. Dorgan and two Democratic colleagues, Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton of New York and Senator Frank R. Lautenberg of New Jersey, sent Mr. Tomlinson a letter urging him to postpone his plans to urge the board to appoint Patricia Harrison, a former co-chairwoman of the Republican National Committee, to be the corporation's next president. Ms. Cox resigned in April after her contract was not renewed. "Press reports have noted that you requested a review of the program 'Now With Bill Moyers,' made payments to Republican lobbyists, and did not disclose these actions to the board of the CPB," the letter said. "We are greatly troubled by these allegations, and if they prove true, we believe your conduct as chairman of the board has been highly inappropriate." Ms. Andrews's role in the creation of the ombudsman's office and other steps taken by Mr. Tomlinson over the last few months, which he says are meant to ensure balance and objectivity in programming, have prompted criticism by public television and radio executives. They say the corporation is threatening their editorial independence. While Ms. Andrews was in her final days at her old job and had already accepted a job with the corporation, Mr. Tomlinson instructed its president, Ms. Cox, to send to Ms. Andrews's White House office "anything you have on ombudsmen" as well as the "bios" of the two candidates for the post, according to an e-mail message dated Thursday, March 17. "She's promised to help me produce something by Tuesday," Mr. Tomlinson said of Ms. Andrews. On March 22, Mr. Tomlinson sent Ms. Cox another piece of e-mail. "By the way MC did terrific job (in my opinion) on press release and talking points on ombudsmen," it said. "She will give you material at lunch and don't hesitate to suggest changes." In a third e-mail message the next day, March 23, Mr. Tomlinson told Ms. Cox that White House officials were insisting that Ms. Andrews's title would be "senior advisor to the president" when she began working at the corporation a few days later. "Maybe you missed but when I phoned you," he wrote in a follow-up message, "I specifically mentioned the title issue and if I didn't mention the white house I was trying not to drop names. I promise you she will be worth her weight in gold to you." Ms. Andrews's first day on the corporation's payroll was March 25. In an interview in April, Mr. Tomlinson was asked if he had instructed anyone to send material to Ms. Andrews while at the White House. "I don't think so," he replied. Asked also if Ms. Andrews had done any work on the ombudsmen project while she was at the White House, he said, "I don't think so." "She was on her way to this job," he then added. "Whether there was a two- or three-day period that overlapped, I don't know." Ms. Andrews has said that she was making a transition from the White House to the corporation when she worked on a minimal amount of material on the ombudsman project, and that any work she did was out of her White House office and on her own time (NY Times via DXLD) ** U S A. CONTACT YOUR MEMBERS OF CONGRESS ON PROPOSED PUBLIC BROADCASTING FUNDING CUTS - U.S. HOUSE TO VOTE JUNE 22 - On June 9, the House Appropriations Subcommittee voted to eliminate $220 million - or 45 percent - of previously approved federal funding of public broadcasting. Specifically, this House Subcommittee is proposing to rescind $100 million from FY 2006 funds appropriated to the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB), plus eliminate the Ready To Learn program, completely cut funding for public broadcasting's digital transition, and totally eliminate funding for the renewal of public television's satellite interconnection system. The impact of these cuts would be drastic. They will severely impact public radio and television's ability to provide educational, cultural and informational programming throughout the nation, including right here in Oklahoma and North Texas. At KCCU, we are asking all of our members, viewers, listeners, corporate supporters, community partners and citizens to take the time to call their local member of Congress and to weigh in on these actions regarding federal funding for public broadcasting. We believe that KCCU listeners can and should be heard on this critical issue, because it will determine how KCCU will be able to serve our community in the future. This is an urgent request. The full House will vote on this issue next Wednesday, June 22, so it is important that you act immediately. Look up your Representative by your Zip Code http://www.house.gov Look up your Senators http://www.senate.gov/general/contact_information/senators_cfm.cfm?State=OK Under the proposed 25 percent cut in Community Service Grants funding, KCCU would receive $85,000 less than last year. KCCU and locally controlled public radio and television stations across the country are valued institutions providing local service and outreach that extends well beyond the television screen. KCCU produces local radio programs, which provide valuable analysis of local issues, as the only independent, locally owned and operated station in Oklahoma and North Texas. We are the source for in-depth coverage of local elections and opportunities for candidates to talk in detail about their issues, rather than ten-second sound bites. These are all services and programs that are not now, never have been, and never will be provided by commercial television stations, because they are not financially profitable. This is all part of the mission of public broadcasting stations to serve their local communities. Television and radio are too powerful to be used solely for entertainment and to bring eyeballs to advertisements. Their immense educational potential has hardly been tapped. The era of digital television and radio, which are just beginning gives this nation, once again, an opportunity to expand the use of public media for educational purposes. Thank you for your interest in public broadcasting. We look forward to working as a vital community institution in Oklahoma and North Texas for many years to come. Sincerely, Mark Norman, Director of Broadcasting/General Manager Cameron University, 2800 West Gore, Lawton, Oklahoma 73505 Office - 580-581-2425 Fax - 580-581-5571 (KCCU mailing list via DXLD) ** U S A. I always thought that KRVN [880 Lexington NE] was a good verifier. They verified quickly for me with an actual QSL card that resembled a comical QSL from the heyday of the CB radio craze. I also dropped in unexpectedly at the KRVN studios just off of I-80 during a vacation trip and was treated to a very friendly tour of the station. If you do go there be sure to visit the county museum just a few blocks away. They have a small but nice KRVN display that includes most of their first studio complete with mixing board, microphone, turntables, and KRVN wall clock. One of my best memories of KRVN is photographing their antenna array during a bitter cold winter wind storm. The wind chill was estimated at 40 below zero! I had to jump back in the car to warm up my old Nikon FM 35mm (and me) between each shot. KRVN was the first AM that I ever saw that used Phillystran fiberglass for the entire length of all the guy wires. The lack of insulators in the wires threw me until I figured out what I was looking at (Patrick Griffith, Westminster, CO http://community.webtv.net/N0NNK/ http://community.webtv.net/AM-DXer/ NRC-AM via DXLD) ** U S A [and non]. 730, KWOA Worthington MN, Partial/data sticky note verifying reception stuck to my original report (on NRC member stationery) received in 13 days. V/s: Matt Widboom. Add: 28779 County Highway 35, Worthington 56187 (Patrick Griffith, CO, NRC-AM via DXLD) Bill, I guess we are lucky they don't write the QSL on tp. I have had things like "That's us" on sticky notes, postcards I have enclosed and they sent back, the outside of the envelope, business cards, of course over the report. One Canadian LPRT sent a QSL on the back of an envelope on the customs sticker! 73s, (Patrick Martin, Seaside OR KAVT Reception Manager, ibid.) Pat: Well, I have one almost that way from WTYN 1160. It was typed out on a brown paper towel, the kind you get from a paper towel dispenser in a restroom. You can see it here - http://qsl.philcobill.com/mw/usa/WTYN_Tyron_1160.jpg The serrations from the dispenser and pink blotches indicating it was near the end of the roll are clearly visible. It is a classic (Bill Harms, ibid.) ** U S A. Newspaper Article on Multi-stream Programming with IBOC --- This link discusses the potential for multiple broadcast streams via FM IBOC in the San Diego area. Compares it with pay services like satellite radio. http://www.nctimes.com/articles/2005/06/10/entertainment/radio/6805104907.txt (Allan Dunn, K1UCY, June 10, WTFDA via DXLD) more IBOC at REF ** U S A. Summary of Links re Armstrong Event (( since their 42.8 MHz STA extends to Sept. 11, is there any site that will announce when they are transmitting ??)) A Great Day in Alpine, N.J. (description of days events) http://www.fybush.com/nerw.html The Birthplace of FM Broadcasting, Alpine, N.J. By SCOTT FYBUSH (This is an update of a Site of the Week that originally appeared December 19, 2002.) http://fybush.com/featuredsite.html CSC Management, LLC (owner of the tower) http://www.cscmgt.com/ WA2XMN 42.8 MHz FM http://www.wa2xmn.ar88.net/ Email your reception reports and comments to: wa2xmn @ ar88.net The entire program will be rebroadcast on the Web at 7 p.m. on June 14 and June 16. A recording of the complete broadcast will be available for download in the following weeks at http://www.cscmgt.com http://alpha.fdu.edu/wfdu/whats_new.htm Photos of the 6/11/05 - 70th Anniversary of FM Broadcast at the EH Armstrong Field Lab in Alpine NJ http://alpha.fdu.edu/wfdu/wfdufm/index2.html Listen Live to WFDU http://www.warpradio.com/popTuner.asp?id=12065 goes to: mms://64.92.199.76/WFDU-FM (via Rod Thompson, June 14, WTFDA via DXLD) Armstrong Broadcast/Vertical Antenna was used http://beradio.com/currents/fm_radio_turns_70/index.html (From Radioman390 @ cs.com via http://groups.yahoo.com/group/FMtuners/ via Rod Thompson, June 14, WTFDA via DXLD) Here's another one, from BE RADIO magazine and my pals Dave Saviet and John Landry: http://beradio.com/currents/fm_radio_turns_70/index.html And here are the permalinks for my articles, since those URLs below will go elsewhere later this week: http://www.fybush.com/NERW/2005/050613/nerw.html http://www.fybush.com/sites/2005/site-050610.html s (Scott Fybush, ibid.) ** U S A. A DAY WITH MAJOR ARMSTRONG Just a few quick notes - there'll be more (with pictures!) tomorrow at http://fybush.com and even more in a couple of weeks in Radio World, but... There were close to 100 people at the Armstrong site for the commemorative broadcast - a lot of familiar faces from the NYC broadcast engineering community, as well as members of the Sackermann family, which owns the site, and a few of us radio history geeks - er, enthusiasts. (Jim Hawkins, whose tower-history pages have been an inspiration for us all, was one of them.) I had a borrowed Icom IC-R3 handheld scanner, which can do WFM on 42.8, and I began to hear the signal (with just the whip antenna, inside the car) as we passed through Westchester County about 10 AM. It was carrying various tests until 11:45, when it signed on officially. Programming began at noon with a live panel discussion (where I was honored to be able to ask the first question) and continued from 1-4 with various recorded programs, including the "Empire of the Air" radio documentary. A dead carrier remained on the air for at least an hour afterward. I'm quite surprised that Rick couldn't hear it at his NJ location - it was fairly solid in the car heading northwest to my QTH for tonight in Rockland County NY. It was a heck of an event, and the Sackermanns deserve a tremendous amount of applause and admiration for the work they've done to preserve the Major's legacy. Steve Hemphill's replica Phasitron transmitter is truly a work of art as well, and sounded great on the air. (I recorded the whole broadcast on 42.8 from the tent next to the tower.) Steve tells me he'll likely be running WA2XMN on Sunday for a few hours, and the STA that authorizes the station is valid through 9/11/05, so it's not out of the question that we'll hear it again before it goes silent. s (Scott Fybush, NJ, June 11, WTFDA via DXLD) ** U S A. In NEW YORK fallout from the WCBS-FM format change to "Jack" included a new job for one of the station's best-known personalities, as "Cousin Bruce" Morrow signed a deal with Sirius that will include three weekly broadcasts. Unsurprisingly, the mail here at NERW was strongly opposed to the end of oldies on 101.1. Here's a sampling: Mark Saleman: When you think about it, the switch to the Jack format, from a business standpoint makes sense. I have to figure that it cuts costs dramatically. There is no on air staff so no need to pay for high priced talent. There is no studio staff needed, in fact, who needs a studio at all? They can beam their Jack formats to the appropriate frequency from the same remote location for all of their Jack stations. With no live talking or news or weather or time checks (what is radio without the time checks) it can be programmed way in advance. With Infinity losing their cash cow Howard Stern in January, they need to cut costs. The downside is that Jack makes for horrible radio. I have always listed to radio more for the on air talent than the music. I can always listen to my records, tapes cd's and internet just to hear music. I used to listen to WCBS-FM on Sunday afternoons just to hear Dan Ingram. I haven't listened since he left two years ago. Dan Ingram would do the same jokes and wisecracks he did back on his WABC days in the 60's and 70's, using his original jingles, I felt like I was a little kid again listening in the summer at the beach. It was great. I see it didn't take Cousin Brucie long to land a gig with Sirius. Well good for him, he is too great a talent to be kept off the air. My fear is that we are going to have no choice in a few years but to subscribe to satellite radio just to get what we take for granted now. Just as local sports teams moved the majority of the television games to cable, they may do the same with their radio broadcasts. For now, satellite has many stations with no commercials, but that will change. If you have to pay for cable and watch commercials, the same will happen to radio. Eventually for commercial free satellite radio, you will end up paying premiums. How else will Sirius pay Howard Stern $500 million if they don't sell commercial time? The face of radio is changing forever. We will see if it is for good or bad (NE Radio Watch June 13 via DXLD) ** U S A. FCC ISSUES A $21,000 NOTICE OF APPARENT LIABILITY AGAINST K1MAN The FCC has issued a $21,000 Notice of Apparent Liability to Monetary Forfeiture to Glenn Baxter, K1MAN, of Belgrade Lakes, Maine. The text of the proposed fine was released to the public on Tuesday, June 14th and cites Baxter for a number of alleged rules violations. Amateur Radio Newsline`s Bruce Tennant, K6PZW, has the rest of the story: The FCC allegations of wrong doing by Glenn Baxter, K1MAN, include the apparent transmission of willful and repeated interference; and willful and repeated communications in which he had a pecuniary interest. Also charged is willful and repeated failure to file requested information pursuant to an Enforcement Bureau directive, broadcasting and failure to exercise control of his station. In relation to the broadcasting and pecuniary interest charges, the FCC cites a December 1, 2004 transmission by K1MAN on 3.975 and 14.275 MHz. The FCC says that Baxter`s station transmitted a pre- recorded program lasting nearly seventy minutes, which consisted of an interview between Baxter and one Jeff Owens. The FCC says that the program consisted of a lengthy broadcast of the telephone interview with Owens where in Baxter explained that Baxter Associates was a firm that engaged in management consulting, executive search and executive career management. Also that Baxter explained the fees involved, explained how Owens could invest in franchises of Baxter Associates, and how Baxter planned to market the franchises of Baxter Associates. The FCC asserts that nothing in that transmission by K1MAN related to Amateur radio and no station call sign was given until the conclusion of the seventy-minute program. The proposed fine issued to K1MAN breaks down as follows. $7,000 is being assessed for willful or malicious interference. Another $3,000 for failure to file required information, and $3,000 for violation of transmitter control rules. The FCC says that there are no base forfeiture amounts for violations of the rules prohibiting broadcasting or pecuniary interest in Part 97 of the Commission`s rules. However the agency has concluded that violations of the Part 97 rules prohibiting broadcasting and the transmission of any communication in which the operator has a pecuniary interest are similar to violations of the Commission`s requirements pertaining to broadcasting of lotteries and contests. These carry a base forfeiture amount of $4,000 for each such violation. In assessing the total proposed fine, the FCC says that it must also take into account the statutory factors set forth in Section 503 of the Communications Act. This would include the nature, circumstances, extent, and gravity of the violations. Also, with respect to the alleged violator, there is the degree of culpability, and history of prior offenses, ability to pay, and other such matters as justice may require. Applying this Forfeiture Policy Statement and the statutory factors, the FCC says that a $21,000 forfeiture is warranted in Baxter`s case. K1MAN was given the usual 30 days to pay or to file an appeal. For the Amateur Radio Newsline, I`m Bruce Tennant, K6PZW, reporting. Interestingly, first news that the June 7th NAL was issued did not come from the FCC. It has a policy that assures the person being served receives it before it makes the facts public and held release 7 days. In this case information that he was served came from Baxter himself in a posting to his www.k1man.com website and a news release received by several people who forwarded copies to us. It was not until the 14th that it was posted on the FCC website. By then, K1MAN had posted his reply dated June 12th. In it, Baxter denies any and all allegations of wrong doing, but provides no evidence on his own behalf. Instead, he goes on the offensive, claiming that his transmissions are legal and are being jammed by numerous others. He adds that he plans a vigorous defense. And in a related development, with Baxter`s license up for renewal this fall, a website has been established to collect signatures and information that will force the FCC to hold a public hearing on the matter. It`s in cyberspace at http://no2k1man.com/NOTOK1MAN_post.htm (FCC, Amateur Radio Newsline™ Report 1453, June 17, 2005 via John Norfolk, dxldyg) ** U S A. STATIC ON THE LEFT --- By Howard Kurtz, Washington Post Staff Writer, Monday, June 13, 2005; 8:11 AM NEW YORK -- Stephanie Miller is watching Fox News, as she does every night, looking for laughs. "It's like Comedy Central for liberals," says the Los Angeles radio host. "They don't know they're funny -- they just are. It's a right-wing freak show." . . . http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/blog/2005/06/13/BL2005061300417_pf.html (via Artie Bigley, DXLD) Long item with other subjects too. The same, or most of it appears under a different headline: (gh) ON RADIO, MORE LAUGHTER FROM THE LEFT (washingtonpost.com via Tom Roche, DXLD) ** VENEZUELA [non]. Made a periodic check of Radio Nacional de Venezuela, Antena Internacional`s announced schedule in Spanish, never acknowledging that all this is relayed via Cuba, June 17 at 2000 on 13680: it`s the same one they have always announced, and only partly meshes with reality. The 1900 broadcast on 13740 to San Francisco is still missing, as I checked that a few minutes earlier. At 2000, \\ and synchronized on 13680 to Chicago and 9550 to Caribe, but nothing audible on 15230 to Buenos Aires, and 17705 to Rio de Janeiro blocked as always by Delano (tho these two could actually be on and inaudible here); the rest unchecked lately: 2100 on 11875 to Santiago; 2300-2400 on 9820 & 13680 to Chicago, 11760 to N&C&SAm. I continue to wonder if there is a brand-new show every day, since there is never any current news or date references! On this occasion, they went right into a mailbag to start, first from Rolando Ariel Pepe something in Argentina, whose e-mail address is rolandopepe @ yahoo.com.ar and then from Vicente Hernández in México, which sounded like andracom @ hotmail.com Perhaps I should ask them how long ago they wrote in (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ UNSOLICITED TESTIMONIALS ++++++++++++++++++++++++ Gracias a tí Glenn, por todo lo que aportas al mundo de la radio. Un abrazo desde Lugo, España, con mucho calor por aquí (Manuel Méndez, Spain, June 17) WORLD OF TELEPHONES +++++++++++++++++++ Y'r April column --- Hi Glenn, First of all, thank you for the job you do to help make MT the interesting reading it is. The update items you provide on world wide listening are one of the parts of the mag I read completely though (even tho, as you may be able to tell, a little late). Let's just say I found out, long ago, that retirement, even in Las Vegas, ain't all rockin' chairs and Bingo. But what got to me in this column was the info that even tho the VOA (i.e. us) pays the phone bills, calls to Talk to America are declining. We had a perfectly good (well, OK, the glass was long gone and the phone company had to come out and repair it now & then) phone booth sitting in the CA desert, about 80 miles south of Vegas and a good 8 miles from a paved road --- that rang constantly, 24/7, with calls from people Calling America. I finally went there out of curiosity and spent 2 days and a night (did get some sleep while a fellow camper took calls) talking to people from at least 8 countries from Germany to Brazil to New Zealand who called, on their own dime, hoping to find someone, anyone, at the booth. One, a young Canadian boy whose Dad made one more try for him before he left for school. We talked for several minutes, and I bet he had a grand story to tell his class that morning. It was also the only phone for several ranchers and miners in the area. While I was there, a California TV crew showed up (got great shots of me & van being hauled out of deep sand on the road in), as well as a crew from the Today Show (my 3 minutes of fame). They also had a grand time talking to callers. Before I could get back there, the phone booth was pulled out. Desert Preserve, you know. Too many folks out there enjoying our public land, you know. Why, someone had even laid out the phone number on painted rocks -- oh, the vandalism! (CA crew got a great shot of that from the pole mount camera on their truck.) Maybe I'm just grumpy (hey, at 79, that's my job!) but Gummint does just get in the way sometimes. Best regards (George Appleton, June 18, DX LISTENING DIGEST) RADIO EQUIPMENT FORUM +++++++++++++++++++++ TECHNOLOGIES, STICKING & OTHERWISE I'll ask the question that begs to be answered... With probably 25-40% of the major market stations already running IBOC is there ANYONE who has a radio to receive it ??? At least with HDTV there was a medium to bring it into peoples homes and replacing a TV is much easier than ripping into you car dashboard (especially these days) - and cars are now coming with satellite radio - I'm guessing Sirius and XM both have strong contracts for that with the major mfg'ers already, so doubt IBOC will show up in cars very quick (Bill Nollman, WTFDA via DXLD) I suppose they're throwing things at the wall to see what'll stick... - AM: Stuck. - TV: Stuck. - FM: Stuck, eventually. - Fax broadcasting: Didn't stick. Well, I suppose now that the spam scam scum are using telephone lines to do it... - AM-L, FM-R stereo: didn't stick. - FM multiplex stereo: stuck! - AM stereo: didn't stick. - Quad: someone forgot the adhesive. - stereo TV: stuck, though nobody noticed. - Color TV (RCA system): stuck - CBS system: didn't, thank God. - closed captioning: stuck - teletext: didn't stick. - SCA: stuck, though the glue is wearing out - R(B)DS: can't tell yet - antennas: stuck for a long time, not so much so anymore - cable: stuck - C-band dish: temporary adhesive - DBS dish: stuck - wireless (microwave) what's that? cable: - scrambled LPTV cable: ditto, even in Minnesota. - VCRs: stuck, but like SCA the glue is thinning - DVDs: stuck. - TiVO etc.: stuck - Recording on one's PC: too early to tell, probably not. - Eureka DAB (Britain): stuck - Eureka DAB (Germany): isn't sticking - Eureka DAB (Canada): maybe CHUM is carrying the glue pot? Maybe not. - IBOC (USA): too early to tell. - IBOC (anywhere else): hahahahahahahaha - DTV (USA): gonna stick whether we like it or not. - DTV (Europe): stuck, kinda -- (Doug Smith W9WI, Pleasant View (Nashville), TN EM66, http://www.w9wi.com June 18, WTFDA via DXLD) TEN-TEC CO-FOUNDER AL KAHN, K4FW, SK http://www.arrl.org/news/stories/2005/06/17/6/?nc=1 (via John Norfolk, dxldyg via DXLD) NRSC-5 STANDARD IS AVAILABLE ON THE WEB The NRSC-5 Standard is the long-awaited document containing the technical details of the AM & FM IBOC (HD Radio) broadcast systems. The document is web-posted as a pdf file and is available for downloading now. Although the cover of the document claims "IN-BAND/ON-CHANNEL" digital radio broadcasting is being discussed, the title is misleading. The iBiquity IBOC system is really an "IN-BAND/OFF- CHANNEL" affair; that is, use of IBOC can cause interference well beyond the assigned frequency of the host analog station. Take, for example, the reports of interference indicating that the new IBOC system on KNX, 1070 kHz, Los Angeles, is tearing up the analog reception of 50,000 watt XEPRS, 1090 kHz, in parts of the greater Los Angeles area. XEPRS had a fine signal in the affected areas before KNX switched to IBOC. This interference had not been anticipated based on past conversations between our office and the IBOC system inventor, iBiquity, so the situation is disappointing to say the least. Here, then, is the NRSC-5 document. The spectrum occupancy charts should be of great interest to many: http://www.nrscstandards.org/Standards/NRSC-5/NRSC-5.pdf (CGC Communicator via Rene Tetro, PA, NRC-AM via DXLD) I've been looking at the NRSC-5 standards this morning and found something that we all knew inherently, but that the standard now shows definitively. If you look at the chart showing the hybrid analog- digital signal with 5 KHZ analog audio, you will see that the actual digital information does not begin until you are 10 KHZ removed from the carrier. The digital signal takes up 5KHZ of bandwidth from about 10 to 15 KHZ from the carrier on upper and lower sidebands. Consequently, an AM IBOC station on 1100 will take up spectrum from 1085 to 1115 KHZ, wiping out not only the first adjacents (1090 and 1110) but creating havoc with the second adjacents (1080 and 1120), as well. Again, this is pretty much what we have all heard with our own ears and/or suspected, but is now in print for all to see. A random 10 minute spectrum analysis of one IBOC station here in Philly shows that they are not even close to being within the proposed NRSC-5 mask. How many others out there are like this? This particular station I am sure would be brought into compliance because their engineering department is exceptional. But what about all of those little stations with marginal contract engineers. That's the kind of thing that worries me. The upside (if there is one) is that if and when AM becomes all digital, and the analog part of IBOC goes away, we will be back to about a 10 KHZ bandwidth -- actually slightly less. Of course, a lot of us on the older end will probably not be around to see this "brave new world." (Rene F. Tetro, ibid.) I've talked the IBOC spectrum several times on this mailing list, but there still seems to be a lot of confusion about it. See http://topazdesigns.com/iboc/RG-Jul04-08.pdf for more info (Barry McLarnon, VE3JF, Ottawa, ON, ibid.) Unless all bets are off because the interference occurs over US soil and XEPRS is licensed to Mexico, NO WAY is Los Angeles outside of XEPRS's protected daytime coverage area. According the Bob Carpenter's AMSTNS program, which uses data from the FCC AM database, XEPRS, which is ND days, puts out an RMS field of 3242.44 mV/m @ 1 km. That works out to a highly improbable (given the 178-degree tower height) 458+ mV/m/kW @ 1 km. However, perhaps XEPRS runs a bit more than 50 kW days; it is, after all, a Mexican station. If you accept the above numbers, however, 200 km away over a salt-water path at KNX, XEPRS should deliver a field in excess of 16 mV/m. If you use a more probable inverse-distance field of 380 mV/m/kW @ 1 km for XEPRS, you get a field at 200 km of more than 13 mV/m. The most warped definition of protected AM daytime-groundwave service area that I have heard is that it now extends only to 5 mV/m. As far as I'm concerned, it still extends to 0.5 mV/m. But there can be no question that KNX should not interfere with XEPRS within XEPRS's 13 mV/m contour--unless the fact that XEPRS is a foreign station trumps the other rules (Dan Strassberg, AC 707, ibid.) Dan: It's my understanding that in all cases involving protection of stations in the US and adjacent countries (Canada, Mexico, Bahamas, etc) a station is protected in its own country but has no protection at all outside its border (Chuck Hutton, ibid.) Therein lies the rub. The international agreements state that stations are only protected within the borders of the country that they're located in. IBOC/IBAC is thus an effective weapon against the border blasters as well as the rimshots. There is also no doubt, however, that the use of the AM IBOC system is in clear violation of those same agreements. I made that point in my comments to the FCC last year, and I'm still waiting to see how they respond. Not that I have much doubt (Barry McLarnon, VE3JF Ottawa, ON, ibid.) Barry, Now what would happen if XEPRS, XETRA, and the other border blasters decided to go 500 KW? I think the Mexican gov could be bought off if needed. I think a 500 KWer aimed at LA would solve the IBOC problem. Hi (Patrick Martin, Seaside OR, ibid.) DXTUNERs IN BRASIL, AUSTRALIA DXTuners remote receiver network has added a new receiver site in Sao Luis, Brazil. This is now the 3rd DXTuner site in South America, the other 2 in Venezuela. The url is http://www.dxtuners.com/ (Brad Wall, June 14, latinmwdx yg via DXLD) The DXTuner in Broome, [Western] Australia will be up and running again very soon, and they are setting up EWE antenna which will probably point to Africa for HF and MW. Also, the new Hong Kong site is up as well. The url is http://www.dxtuners.com/ (Brad Wall, June 14, ODXA yg via DXLD) JINDALEE OPERATIONAL RADAR NETWORK OH-Radar. Very interesting. Well, the OH-Radar which was picked up in Hong Kong is from Australia. It is a new radar system called "JORN" (for "Jindalee Operational Radar Network"). DK2OM has analyzed it with his WAVECOM equipment. You can see the files in the attachment that he has produced with the signal you have sent to me. "The radar is identical with the .wav- file I've got recently from Australia. The pale spacing is 20 Hz, the structures of the signal are the same. Please look under http://www.iarums-r1.com There you will find the same radar." The OH-radar from Cyprus is different, and it always uses the MUF- frequencies. It uses 28, 21, or 18 MHz, we have never heard it on 40 metres. What should you do? Pleasee write a letter to WIA, the Australian ham club to inform them. Maybe they could contact the people (or at least the administration being the culprit). Maybe they could give you some advice how to react and where to send complaints. And: The VR2-people also should complain with their Hongkong- authorities. However Hongkong is Chinese territory. And now the fact becomes political... Just hit "JORN" and "RADAR" in yahoo, and you will find all kind of information in the net. For you pleasure I have added one file found there (Ham Radio Bandwatch, May 23 via BCDX via DXLD) PROPAGATION +++++++++++ AN "ENCYCLOPEDIA" ARTICLE ON TV/FM DXING! Has anybody seen this one yet: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TV-FM_DX ? Very interesting! Nice article with a lot of interesting tidbits, especially under the "notable xx receptions" sections. Many things I did not know there (Jacob Norlund, WTFDA via DXLD) MOONBOUNCE TVDX http://internal.physics.uwa.edu.au/~agm/eme.html (Doug Smith W9WI Pleasant View (Nashville), TN EM66, June 11, WTFDA via DXLD) FERNANDO'S TROPO RECORDS Sometimes you have to toot your own horn. And other times you have to toot the horn for others. I've put together a small page about Fernando Garcia's tropo records. A link at the bottom of that page leads to my revamped DTV bragging page, which now includes some noteworthy DTV DX history. If any facts, etc. are in error, please inform me. http://www.geocities.com/doglethorpe/garcia.html (Danny, Shreveport, LA, WTFDA via DXLD) Fernando moved his family from Monterrey to Guadalajara, where he has relatives. Unfortunately Guadalajara is not a great tropo town. Sometimes a hobby has to take a back seat to other considerations (Mike Bugaj, ibid.) And he admittedly had DXed just about everything there was to DX --- except for new stations, including DTV, after he left, and local interference was increasing. Since we are tooting horns, I would just like to point out that I held quite a number of tropo station and channel distance records, DXing from Von Ormy TX, for some years until Fernando came along. What could I do, except move to some place further west than Monterrey and start over? :-) Not to detract from Fernando`s accomplishments in the least. 73, (Glenn Hauser, ibid.) ###