DX LISTENING DIGEST 5-103, June 23, 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 1278: Thu 2030 WOR WWCR 15825 Thu 2300 WOR World FM, Tawa, Wellington, New Zealand 88.2 Fri 0000 WOR WTND-LP 106.3 Macomb IL Fri 0200 WOR ACBRadio Mainstream [repeated 2-hourly thru 2400] Fri 1600 WOR WBCQ after hours Fri 2105 WOR World FM, Tawa, Wellington, New Zealand 88.2 Fri 2300 WOR Studio X, Momigno, Italy 1584 87.35 96.55 105.55 Sat 0000 WOR ACBRadio Mainstream Sat 0800 WOR WRN to Eu, Au, NZ, WorldSpace AfriStar, AsiaStar Sat 0855 WOR WNQM Nashville TN 1300 Sat 1030 WOR WWCR 5070 Sat 1330 WOR WPKN Bridgeport CT 89.5 [also WPKM Montauk LINY 88.7] [at 1000 from July] Sat 1730 WOR WRN to North America (including Sirius Satellite Radio channel 115) Sat 1730 WOR WRMI 7385 [from WRN] Sun 0230 WOR WWCR 5070 Sun 0300 WOR WBCQ 9330-CLSB Sun 0330 WOR WRMI 7385 Sun 0630 WOR WWCR 3210 Sun 0730 WOR World FM, Tawa, Wellington, New Zealand 88.2 Sun 0830 WOR WRN to North America, also WLIO-TV Lima OH SAP (including Sirius Satellite Radio channel 115) Sun 0830 WOR KSFC Spokane WA 91.9 Sun 0830 WOR WXPR Rhinelander WI 91.7 91.9 100.9 Sun 0830 WOR WDWN Auburn NY 89.1 [unconfirmed] Sun 0830 WOR KTRU Houston TX 91.7 [occasional] Sun 1200 WOR WRMI 7385 Sun 1300 WOR KRFP-LP Moscow ID 92.5 Sun 1730 WOR WRMI 7385 [from WRN] Sun 1730 WOR WRN1 to North America (including Sirius Satellite Radio channel 115) Sun 1900 WOR Studio X, Momigno, Italy 1584 87.35 96.55 105.55 Sun 1900 WOR RNI Mon 0230 WOR WRMI 7385 Mon 0300 WOR WBCQ 9330-CLSB Mon 0330 WOR WSUI Iowa City IA 910 [Extra 57] Mon 0415 WOR WBCQ 7415 [time varies, e.g. 0419 May 30] Mon 1600 WOR WBCQ after hours Tue 1600 WOR WBCQ after hours Wed 0930 WOR WWCR 9985 Wed 1600 WOR WBCQ after hours MORE info including audio links: http://worldofradio.com/radioskd.html WRN ON DEMAND [from Friday]: http://new.wrn.org/listeners/stations/station.php?StationID=24 OUR ONDEMAND AUDIO [also for CONTINENT OF MEDIA, MUNDO RADIAL]: WORLD OF RADIO 1278 (high version): (stream) http://www.w4uvh.net/wor1278h.ram (download) http://www.w4uvh.net/wor1278h.rm WORLD OF RADIO 1278 (low version): (stream) http://www.w4uvh.net/wor1278.ram (download) http://www.w4uvh.net/wor1278.rm (summary) http://www.worldofradio.com/wor1278.html [from Thursday] WORLD OF RADIO 1278 in true shortwave sound of Alex`s mp3 (stream) http://www.dxprograms.net/worldofradio_06-22-05.m3u (download) http://www.dxprograms.net/worldofradio_06-22-05.mp3 ** AFGHANISTAN. BBC MONITORING ASSESSMENT OF NEW TALEBAN WEBSITE BBC Monitoring has observed a new website operated by the Taleban Islamic Movement of Afghanistan. The site, which was first observed on 20 June, is called Voice of Jihad (Pashto: Da Jehad Zhagh) and is located at http://www.alemarah.com/ The website declares that it is run by the Cultural Commission of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan. The site's Arabic page (Sawt al-Jihad) is still under construction. Homepage The site's homepage carries a verse from the Kor`an; a photograph of the aftermath of an attack on "crusader forces" in Kabul; and a brief note saying that this website of the Taleban Islamic Movement at http://www.alemarah.com has started its activity, and calling for readers' contributions to develop the site. The home page has also links to the following pages: \ \ Letters and replies \ News \ Articles \ Songs \ Newspapers \ Magazines \ Contacts \ Films \ Picture gallery \ Interviews \ Poetry and literature Letters and replies As of 23 June, this page has just one letter from a reader. The letter (unsigned, and in poor English) urges the Taleban "please do attack" US soldiers, but not civilians or the Afghan police. A brief reply from the website says "our jihad is for the freedom of Afghanistan". News Under the title "News from the trenches of jihad", this page publishes brief news reports on fighting in various province of Afghanistan. As of 23 June, the latest news report is about fighting in Mianshin District of Kandahar Province, dated 22 June 2005. The page also mentions the name of Mofti Latifollah Hakimi, the well known spokesman for the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan. The page also published three satellite phone numbers (0088-216-5559- 0074, 0088-216-2127-2633 and 0088-216-8983-2392) and one mobile phone number in Afghanistan (0093-7941-9414), presumably those of Hakimi. It also gives three e-mail addresses: alemarah@alemarah.com; alemarah1@yahoo.com; and khyber_safia@yahoo.com The page also has a link to press reviews, but this is still under construction. Articles This page has two articles: 1. A letter in Dari addressed to "captive brother" Wakil Ahmad Motawakkil, the former Taleban foreign minister, who has recently given interviews expressing regret at some of the Taleban's activities when it was in power. 2. An article in Pashto on the Taleban Islamic Movement and its determination to fight Americans and their Afghan allies. Songs This page provides the audio of unaccompanied songs in Pashto about Islam and jihad; and recitation of Pashto poetry about jihad, Islamic and patriotism. Newspapers --- This page is under construction. Magazines This page shows the front covers of a number of Afghan Islamic magazines published in Peshawar, Pakistan. There is a link to Tsrek (alternative spelling Srek - meaning "Trail") magazine, but it does not work. Contacts The following e-mail addresses are listed: alemarah@alemarah.com alemarah1@yahoo.com Films This page provides a link to a video interview with Mawlawi Moslemdost, who was recently released from detention in Guantanamo Bay. The link, however, does not work. Picture gallery Amongst the pictures shown are those of Afghan and US soldiers, the scene of a bomb explosion, and US soldiers searching Afghan women. Interviews --- This page is under construction. Poetry and literature This page offers poems in Pashto about jihad and Islam. Separate site A separate pro-Taleban website in Pashto is published by the Aadad Cultural Society at http://www.aadad.com It says the Aadad Cultural Society is an independent, non-aligned organization aiming to promote true Islamic culture among young people. Its news section publishes mainly old reports about Taleban operations. Among its articles is one entitled "The 150-year history of American terrorism". It gives the following e-mail addresses: aadad_2@hotmail.com aadad_2@yahoo.com webmaster@aadad.com Source: BBC Monitoring research in Pashto and Dari 23 Jun 05 (via DXLD) ** ALGERIA. Of the 3 RTA outlets on LF, viz. Béchar 153 kHz 2 x 1000 kW - Ouargla 198 kHz 2 x 1000 kW - Tipaza 252 kHz 2 x 750 kW, only RTA-1 Tipaza puts a strong signal, day & night. Signal levels simply cannot compare: Tipaza being like a local station, particularly if received in the south (to a point that even the K9AY is unable to "separate" it from RTÉ 252 at times), Béchar 153 is really bad here, not that bad in the south, and Ouargla 198 is particularly poor (DX like!) here underneath the BBC R4, which dominates the channel in the south too, meaning only a directional antenna can receive RTA 198. So my question is: does anyone know the actual powers used at both Béchar & Ouargla? I don't think that, even if being used with directional antennae, their signals would be so bad (by the way, the audio is also on the weak side...). (Carlos Gonçalves, Portugal, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ANDAMAN & NICOBAR ISLANDS. USING THE RADIO TO HEAL --- A radio programme for tsunami victims tries to motivate people to pick themselves up by the bootstraps, overcome their anxieties and pain, and take life head-on. --- Rina Mukherji http://www.thehoot.org/story.asp?storyid=Web202159222205Hoot60216%20PM1644&pn=1 Madhavi was bathing her two year old son when giant tidal waves swept them both out of their home. As she tried to run away from the foaming waters, her little son was swept away while she found herself dragged down into the sand. The fact that all this happened in a minute has so confused her that she refuses to accept reality, and her current status of a destitute bereft of all kith and kin. She still thinks herself to be part of a small and happy family of three-her husband, her son and she. It is only sometimes that reality dawns, resulting in her superficial happiness giving way to uncontrollable sobs. Bhaswati lost her in-laws, husband and two children when the waves swept her entire neighbourhood away. She is in such a state of shock that she hardly utters anything; otherwise, she is shedding copious tears for hours on end. She is so full of guilt for having failed to save her family that surviving the tsunami seems a punishment to her. Helplessness, shock, disbelief, depression, and post-traumatic stress disorder are some of the various manifestations of mental disorder common to survivors all over the Andaman and Nicobar islands in the aftermath of the tsunami. The tsunami that hit the Islands in December ,2004, swept thousands away into the oceans. In spite of the dimensions of the disaster, the isles were spared any epidemic or too many physical illnesses. But mental disorders have been rife here. The condition of those who were pregnant is absolutely pitiable. Pregnant Amita lost her husband, in-laws, nephews and nieces in the disaster. She was lucky to be thrown back on the shore by the killer waves to stay alive. Her home gone, her family lost, Amita has lost the will to survive. She gave up all food in a bid to kill herself and her unborn child. A lot of persuasion has gone into making her eat again. " She is now under constant surveillance lest she harm herself or her child," says gynaecologist Dr Udita Chatterjee. Then, there are many like Gayatri who survived against heavy odds, clinging to whatever they could find. The tension and anxiety have so affected her that her son delivered last month was found to be affected by cerebral palsy. Two other children were found to be blue babies-one of whom died soon after. Given the fact that 0.7 per cent of the total population was pregnant on December 26, when the tsunami struck, chances are that many babies may be born disabled given the state the mothers have been in. Realising the enormity of the problem once they got working in the camps and teamed up with the National Institute of Mental Health and Neurological Sciences (NIMHANS) to train volunteers in handling the mentally ill, the West Bengal Voluntary Health Association (WBVHA) thought of the radio to reach out to a wider cross-section of people. "There were many tsunami victims who did not move to the camps at all. They continued to stay on near their dilapidated homes in makeshift shelters. This made it difficult to reach out to them," explains psychologist Moushumi Kar. To confound matters, most parts of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands are just too far from the capital to be reached out easily. Most agencies even otherwise, found it difficult to cater adequately to the numerous cases in and around Port Blair, South Andaman and Nicobar. And that was the genesis of the trauma counselling programme undertaken by All India Radio (AIR) Port Blair station with WBVHA. "We wrote to the AIR Port Blair station director, and he responded heartily to the idea."The programme, in Hindi, titled "Lehren" went on air in February 2005 and has been on ever since. The popularity of the 45-minute programme can be gauged from the fact that an average of 19 phone-in queries were received daily from the 37 inhabited islands it was heard on. The generally twice-weekly programme enlightened listeners on the signs and symptoms of depression, post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and how stressful situations such as a tsunami or earthquake involving the loss of loved ones can result in physical, emotional and behavioural situations that may ultimately result in a breakdown. It informed listeners on how to identify the early warning signs and symptoms of mental illness and imparted advice on how to deal with them. The basic import of the programme was not merely to advise and guide, but to motivate people to pick themselves up by the bootstraps, overcome their fears, anxieties and pain, and take life head-on. People were given tips on stress-busting techniques, alternatives to focus on and informed about yoga and meditation. The programme proved so popular, that phone-ins by the following month not only included queries on mental illness, but information on cases symptomatic of disorder spotted in camps spread all over the islands. Even now, with camps having been disbanded and people having moved into temporary shelters, recorded episodes continue to be broadcast by the station. In addition to the phone-in programme, AIR Port Blair station has also been making announcements in Tamil, Bengali, Hindi and Nicobari during prime time to inform people about where and how psychiatric help could be sought for affected persons in the vicinity of their respective homes. What's more, it proved so informative to the uninitiated that people would ring up "and tell us about certain mentally ill persons they had seen in certain areas, on the basis of the symptoms we had talked of," says Moushumi Kar. Currently, there has been a break in the live recordings, with WBVHA personnel gearing up for the next phase of the relief and rehabilitation work. But the popularity ratings of the programme are so high that older episodes are being broadcast to the audience. It is just as well, since there are a lot more minds to heal (via Alokesh Gupta, New Delhi, dx_india via DXLD) ** ANTARCTICA. Entre las 20 y las 21 horas, he intentado escuchar LRA 36 Radio Nacional Arcángel San Gabriel, en 15476 kHz. El canal está ahora prácticamente libre de interferencias, pero la señal de LRA 36 no llegaba por aquí. Recordar que, según mail de la emisora recibido en días pasados, están transmitiendo con un transmisor de emergencia, con menos potencia, por tener el transmisor habitual averiado (Manuel Méndez, Lugo, Spain, Grundig Satellit 500, antena de cable, 10 metros, Escuchas realizadas en Friol, 27 Km. W de Lugo, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ASIA [non]. A05 Radio Free Asia schedule (updated June 23) RFA currently broadcasts from 1100 to 0700; there are no transmissions between 0700 and 1100. Daily programming including Mandarin for 12 hours, Cantonese for two hours, Uyghur for two hours, and Tibetan for eight hours. USA RFA schedule in A-05, valid from March 28, til October 30th, 2005. RFA uses IBB transmitters in IRA/I=Iranawila Sri Lanka, new KWT/K=Kuwait, SAI/S=Saipan, TIN/T=Tinian N Mariana Islands. And relays in HBN/P=KHBN Palau Island, IRK=Irkutsk-RUS, TWN/N=Taiwan, UAE=Al Dhabayya-UAE, VLD/V=Vladivostok-Russia, and WER=Wertachtal Germany. Additional transmitter sites have been researched but deleted from this list upon request of RFA to suppress this info, to avoid pressure from China upon the host countries. Are we to assume that China has no way to find out this sensitive info except through DX publications? [gh] Some new IBB Kuwait entries have been added. All registered J-05 [high summer season] frequencies have been deleted. *=new/additional/updated RFA A-05 0000-0100 LAO 12015I 13830 15545T 0030-0130 BURMESE 11540 13680T 13820I 17835S 0100-0200 UYGHUR 9350 11520 11895UAE 11945UAE 17640T 17695T 0100-0300 TIBETAN *9365K 11695UAE 11975WER 15225T 15695 17730U 0300-0600 MANDARIN 13670T 13760T 15130T 15685T 17495 17525 17615S 17880S 21690T 0600-0700 MANDARIN 13670T 13760T 15165T 15685T 17495 17525 17615S 17880S 0600-0700 TIBETAN 17510 17720U *17780K 21500T 21690UAE break 1100-1200 LAO 9355S 9545T 15560I 1100-1200 TIBETAN 7470U 13625T 13830 15510UAE *17855K 1200-1400 TIBETAN 7470U *11590K 13625T 13830 15510UAE 17855S 1230-1330 CAMBODIAN 13645T 15525I 15670 1230-1330 BURMESE 9455I 11540 12030T *13675T *13745T 1400-1500 CANTONESE 9780T 11715S 13790T 1400-1500 VIETNAMESE 7380U 9455S 9635T 11535 11605N 11680I 13685I 13775P 1500-1600 TIBETAN 7470U *11540K 11705T 11795UAE 13825 1500-1600 MANDARIN 7540 9455T 9905P 11765T 12025S 13675T 13725T 15495T 1500-1700 KOREAN 7210IRK 9385S 13625T 1600-1700 UYGHUR 7465 9350I 9370 9555UAE 11750I 11780T 1600-1700 MANDARIN 7540 9455S 9905P 11795T 12025S 13675T 13715T 15530T 1700-1800 MANDARIN 7280T 7540 9355S 9455S 9540T *9670T 9905P 11795T 13625T 13715T 1800-1900 MANDARIN 7280T 7530 7540 9355S 9455S 9540T 9865T 11700T 13625T 15510T 1900-2000 MANDARIN 7260T 7530 7540 9355S 9455S 9760T 9865T 9905P 11700T 11785T 13625T 15510T 2000-2100 MANDARIN 7260T 7530 7540 9355S 9455S 9850T 9905P *11700T 11740T 11785T 13625T 2100-2200 MANDARIN 7105T 7540 9850T 9910P 9920N 11740T 11935T 13625T 2100-2300 KOREAN 7460U 9385S 9770T 12075T 2200-2300 CANTONESE 9355S 9955P 11785T 13675T 2230-2330 CAMBODIAN 9490I 9930P 13735T 2300-2359 MANDARIN 7540 9910P 11760T 13670T 13775S 15430T 15585T 2300-2359 TIBETAN 7470U *7550K 9395 9805UAE 9875T 2330-0029 VIETNAMESE 9975 11580U 11605N 11670T 12110I 13735S 15535V 15560P (various sources, wwdxc BC-DX June 23 via DXLD) ** BOLIVIA. Reaching Bolivia`s Quechuas --- The twelve travelers reached the airport in Cochabamba, Bolivia, suitcases laden with necessary items along with 600 solar powered fix-tuned Galcom radios. The Lord enabled Alex Muir and his eleven team members to pass through customs without any delay but they still had a long trip ahead to reach the Quechua-speaking Bolivians in the area of San Pedro de Buena Vista, where the first 300 radios were to be distributed. The other 300 were destined for the lowland jungle area of Shinahota... (Galcom International http://www.galcom.org/newsletter/june/june.html via DXLD) The favored station for fix-tuned and sealed radios to prevent recipients from trying to retune them to godless secular stations, is R. Mosoj Chaski, 3310v. See also COLOMBIA (gh, DXLD) ** BOLIVIA. 5952.5, Radio Pio Doce. June 19 at 1105-1130. SINPO 34333. Talk in vernacular and Bolivian folk songs. ID at 1130, then news program started (Iwao Nagatani, Japan Premium via DXLD) ** BOLIVIA. 5952.5, Radio Pio XII, Siglo XX, 2224-2310, 22-06. Hacía casi un año que no escuchaba esta emisora que estuvo inactiva bastante tiempo. Locutor, español y quechua, comentarios, anuncios comerciales en español. A partir de las 2305 la señal se deterioró bastante, volivéndose casi inaudible. Señal débil. 24222. 6025, Radio Illimani, La Paz, 2300-2320, 22-06. Esta emisora se pude escuchar en España a partir de las 2300 que cierra Radio Budapest en la misma frecuencia. Locutor, programa sobre medicina, urología, el cáncer de próstata, la relación médico paciente. 24322 (Manuel Méndez, Lugo, Spain, Grundig Satellit 500, antena de cable, 10 metros, Escuchas realizadas en Friol, 27 Km. W de Lugo, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** BRAZIL. 9630, Radio Aparecida, 2117, 22-06, programa "Pe Na Estrada", programa para camioneros, con entrevistas con estos trabajadores que van en ruta, canciones, noticias y comentarios. Se emite entre las 2100 y las 2200. 33333. También en 6135 con peor señal, 23222 (Manuel Méndez, Lugo, Spain, Grundig Satellit 500, antena de cable, 10 metros, Escuchas realizadas en Friol, 27 Km. W de Lugo, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CHILE. 15485, Voz Cristiana, 1900, 22-06. Portugués, ya en su nueva frecuencia, con señal fuerte y sin interferencia, "Noticias da hora, están sintonizando Voz Crista". 44444 (Manuel Méndez, Lugo, Spain, Grundig Satellit 500, antena de cable, 10 metros, Escuchas realizadas en Friol, 27 Km. W de Lugo, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Pero antes de 1700? ** CHINA. ANALYSIS: NEW MEDIA MOBILIZING CHINA'S MASSES | Text of editorial analysis by Qiang Zhang of BBC Monitoring on 23 June Internet-based discussions and the spread of information through new media are playing an increasingly important role in Chinese politics. The recent anti-Japanese demonstrations in China showed the growing power of new media in political mobilization, the founding conference of Westminster University's China Media Centre heard on 17 June. In April this year, despite an officially-imposed news blackout on the protests, organizers used on-line postings, emails and text messages (SMS) to encourage the public to take to the streets and to inform people of the marching routes. Nationalism The internet played a similar role in popular protests over the 1999 NATO bombing of the Chinese embassy in Belgrade and the 2000 mid-air collision between a Chinese fighter jet and a US spy plane over the South China Sea. Most cases of new media mobilization are nationalistic in nature, because Chinese internet users, or "netizens", are mostly urban students and young professionals who are generally cynical about "big politics" except for nationalism, said Prof Chin-Chuan Lee, a leading expert on Chinese media at the City University of Hong Kong. Platform for public debate But the effect on-line opinion has on domestic issues is by no means insignificant. In 2003, text messages and internet postings revealed the full scale of the SARS crisis to the Chinese public, when official media was muted on the outbreak. In the same year, fierce on-line condemnations over the death of a university graduate in a Guangzhou detention centre forced the government to abolish the decades-old detention and repatriation system for the homeless and vagrants in cities. Mei Wu, from the University of Macao, commented: "The Chinese discussion boards have evolved to be a unique platform for information dissemination and public debate in global Chinese communities." But the Chinese government is fighting hard to retain its dominance over public opinion, and is trying to block any information it sees as "harmful" from penetrating China's "Great Firewall". "Extensive" control China uses technology supplied by Western companies like Cisco, Nortel, Sun, 3COM and Microsoft to block internet content deemed subversive or destabilizing, and instructs domestic internet service providers (ISPs) and internet content providers (ICPs) to filter sensitive words. The number of such "key words" is said to be between 1,000 and 1,500, the conference was told. According to a recent report by OpenNet Initiative, a project run by Harvard Law School, Cambridge University and the University of Toronto, China has "the most extensive and effective legal and technological systems for Internet censorship and surveillance in the world today". Most websites related to Falun Gong, the Tiananmen Square massacre and opposition political parties are blocked, according to the report. The government has also blocked 90 per cent of all Chinese-language sites which mention "The Nine Commentaries", a critique of the Chinese Communist Party published late last year by the US-based Chinese newspaper The Epoch Times. It urges Communist Party members to quit the party, and says more than 2 million members have already quit openly on the paper's website. Official sites and cyber-agents Although the control is obviously pervasive and powerful, it has never been possible to exert total control over new media, commented Prof Lee. Therefore, apart from filtering unwanted web content, the government has also launched numerous news websites of its own to establish a strong on-line presence of official propaganda. Ten per cent of all websites are set up and run by the government, and central and local governments are running 150 main news websites across the country. More proactively, the government has formed a special force of undercover "on-line commentators" to try to influence public opinion on the internet, according to a report by Guangzhou-based newspaper Southern Weekend on 19 May. These cyber-agents, who receive training and wages from the government, pose as ordinary netizens in chat rooms and forums to spread pro-government messages and avert negative discussions. By the end of 2004, a total of 127 officials from across the country had received special training in Beijing on how to form and steer public opinion on the web, the report said. Political mobilization In this tightly controlled and monitored environment, how far can new media go in mobilizing the Chinese people on political issues? Yan Wu, from Cardiff University, said that if the "politically activated netizens", particularly those from socially oppressed groups, continue to explore the potential of internet forums, they may eventually "reshape the civil society and the political culture in the mainland". But, she said, a huge proportion of Chinese citizens are still excluded from participation in electronic public discussions. Prof Lee also had doubts on the long-term effect of new media on China's political situation. "Information may spark a fire that activate pent- up frustration in a movement, but it requires an organization to sustain the movement," he said. Source: BBC Monitoring research 23 Jun 05 (via DXLD) ** COLOMBIA. New Dual Band SW Radio --- Do you believe in miracles? The Lord has enabled us to develop a dual band Short Wave radio. There is a particular need for these radios in Colombia in conjunction with the ministry of Russell Stendal, ``Colombia Para Cristo``. Actually, he has requested 100,000 of them! A million men are involved in military action in four opposing forces in this country. One radio broadcasting the Good News for every ten men could transform this nation. As this letter goes to press, the circuit board design is being thoroughly scanned in preparation for printing. Production should begin within the next few weeks. At $20.00 U.S. per radio, this is a huge task. Please pray with us that we will be able to assist in flooding this country with the Gospel (Galcom International http://www.galcom.org/newsletter/june/june.html via DXLD) Two band, maybe, but only two frequencies, I assume, as Galcom is into fix-tuned radios like the North Koreans. O, this is confirmed in their Prayer Bulletin for June; oops, too late now: ``Fri. 17th: Praise God that we have been able to develop a dual frequency Short Wave radio for use in Colombia. Pray that these will be used to bring many to Christ.`` I guess the two frequencies are Stendal`s 5910 and 6010 --- which are in the same band. Hmmm, from following, they may need radios tuned to more frequencies. See also BOLIVIA (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** COLOMBIA. Quito 23/6 2005 *** Thursday edition: *** Recording of 5809.82 La Voz de tu Conciencia, Puerto Lleras This must be something for "Guinness Record Book": some days ago I was listening to two radio stations at the same time but it´s not anything interesting for "Guinness" but.......: I was listening to these two stations on 5 harmonics/spurs at the same time + the two stations` fundamental channels. Comments, photos and recordings at: http://www.malm-ecuador.com 73s (Björn Malm, Quito, Ecuador, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Viz.: Fundamental channels: 5909.07 Marfil Estéreo, Puerto Lleras 6010.12 La Voz de tu Conciencia, Puerto Lleras Mixing products (both stations on each frequency): 5709.26, 5809.82, 6110.29, 6210.43 and 6310.58 kHz. (from http://www.malm-ecuador.com via DXLD) ** CUBA [non]. FUNDING ROW THREATENS TV AND RADIO MARTÍ AIRBORNE BROADCASTS A report in the Miami Herald says that a yearlong delay in the purchase of an airplane to broadcast TV and Radio Martí's signals to Cuba has stoked concern on Capitol Hill that the C-130 currently being used may be reassigned to Iraq. Two government departments in Washington disagree about who's going to pay the $10 million to buy a replacement for the the C-130 turboprop currently used, known as Commando Solo. The Defense Department would be responsible for purchasing and operating the aircraft, but the State Department has funded the Martí broadcasts for more than a decade. The purchase and equipping of a new plane specifically dedicated to Cuba broadcasts was part of a long list of initiatives against Cuba launched by the White House last year, but because of the internal disagreement between government departments the administration has yet to purchase the plane. The Miami Herald says that in letters to Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and President Bush, Miami Republican Representative Ileana Ros-Lehtinen refers to "grave concerns about reports that the C-130 Commando Solo airborne platform transmission currently dedicated to Cuba-related activities may be reassigned." # posted by Andy @ 09:40 UT June 23 (Media Network blog via DXLD) Viz.: Of course, we all know that it is impossible for a transmission to originate from an airborne platform circling over Florida waters, but... PLANE ISSUES IMPERIL MARTÍ BROADCASTS Posted on Thu, Jun. 23, 2005 Delays in getting a new airplane to broadcast TV and Radio Martí's signals to Cuba has raised concerns among opponents of leader Fidel Castro and on Capitol Hill. BY NANCY SAN MARTIN WASHINGTON - A yearlong delay in the purchase of an airplane to broadcast TV and Radio Martí's signals to Cuba has stoked concern on Capitol Hill that the C-130 currently being used may be reassigned to Iraq. . . Available at (free subscribe registration): http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/news/world/americas/11961736.htm (via Terry Krueger, FL, DXLD) EL AVIÓN DE TV MARTÍ ENFRENTA A RICE Y RUMSFELD RUI FERREIRA, El Nuevo Herald, Posted on Wed, Jun. 22, 2005 TOMADO DE LA EDICION ELECTRONICA "EL NUEVO HERALD" http://www.miami.com/mld/elnuevo/11951509.htm A los más altos niveles de Washington, D.C., una discreta pugna se viene desarrollando por el avión C-130 de TV Martí, que trasmite semanalmente programación hacia Cuba. El secretario de Defensa, Donald Rumsfeld, a cuya oficina pertenece el aparato, lo quiere de vuelta en las operaciones en Irak y Afganistán, mientras que la secretaria de Estado, Condoleezza Rice, se ha opuesto firmemente y ha cabildeado con la Casa Blanca al respecto. El aparato comenzó a volar en agosto del año pasado, pero diplomáticos estadounidenses admitieron a El Nuevo Herald que el régimen de la isla ha tenido cierto éxito en interferir las transmisiones, porque éstas se siguen haciendo en las frecuencias habituales. Esta semana, al tanto de la polémica y preocupada por su posible desenlace, la congresista Ileana Ros-Lehtinen escribió sendas cartas al presidente George W. Bush y a la secretaria Rice, a las cuales El Nuevo Herald tuvo acceso. ''Lo felicito por sus esfuerzos'' antiterroristas, pero ''le escribo en este contexto para manifestarle mi preocupación por informaciones según las cuales el Departamento de Defensa quiere dar otro destino al [avión] C-130 Commando Solo que está actualmente dedicado a actividades relacionadas con Cuba'', escribió la congresista en la carta a Bush. ''No podemos ni debemos olvidar la amenaza que representa la dictadura de [Fidel] Castro en nuestro espacio de influencia'', por lo cual el avión ''es un instrumento crítico en la implementación de esta agenda [...] y en nuestros esfuerzos para precipitar el final del régimen castrista y llevar una transición hacia la democracia a la isla'', manifestó Ros-Lehtinen. En la carta a Rice, la representante republicana recordó cómo semanas después de los atentados terroristas de septiembre del 2001, fue arrestada la analista del Pentágono Ana Belén Montes por espiar para Cuba, precisamente porque sus informes ``podían ser enviados a quienes se encuentran enfrascados en actividades terroristas contra Estados Unidos''. Según fuentes del Capitolio, la pugna de Rice y Rumsfeld tiene como base un punto de vista diferente en cuanto a cómo lidiar con el régimen de La Habana. Si bien la secretaria de Estado es conocida por sus duras criticas al régimen cubano, el secretario de Defensa ha sido muy parco en ese aspecto. ''Si miramos las cosas en su justa perspectiva, hasta hoy el Pentágono no ha dado marcha atrás en el informe militar sobre la amenaza cubana. A lo mejor no ha habido cambio de posición o no han querido cambiar de posición'', dijo una de las fuentes a El Nuevo Herald. En 1998, el Pentágono publicó un informe en el cual sostuvo que el régimen de la isla no representa una amenaza militar para Estados Unidos. El informe ha sido fuertemente cuestionado por analistas y cubanos exiliados, particularmente tras la revelación de que Belén Montes participó en su confección y pudo haber influido en sus conclusiones. Pero en una rápida consulta a las pocas declaraciones de Rumsfeld sobre Cuba, se constata que desde que llegó al Pentágono no ha exteriorizado una preocupación particular sobre una posible amenaza militar cubana. En una entrevista con la cadena Univisión en febrero del año pasado, Rumsfeld dijo abiertamente que el conflicto con la isla debe ser tratado diplomáticamente. ''Eso es algo que se está manejando por canales diplomáticos. Sé que a lo largo de diversas administraciones el gobierno ha estudiado diversas políticas que indican nuestra posición'', pero ``también creo que hay cosas que son diferentes en situaciones diferentes''. En abril del 2003, cuando le preguntaron directamente si abogaba por una invasión a Cuba, el secretario de Defensa dijo: ``No podemos intentar que todos en este mundo vivan igual que nosotros''. ''En un mundo complicado hay países que viven de forma diferente, y por lo tanto no es un asunto para Estados Unidos tratar que los demás sean como nosotros'', añadió. Y en una fecha tan reciente como el pasado 5 de mayo, cuando en la conferencia anual del Consejo de las Américas, en la capital estadounidense, alguien se interesó por su opinión sobre la situación en Cuba, Rumsfeld no dejó margen para dudas con una respuesta evasiva. ''Bueno, usted sabe, miramos a nuestro alrededor en todo el mundo y vemos que hay cubanos por doquier, en este país, en muchos países. Y son inteligentes, trabajadores y activos. Y yo me acuerdo cuando Castro llegó [al poder], y apuesto a que usted también se va a acordar cuando él se vaya'', dijo el secretario de Defensa (via Oscar de Céspedes (Miami, FL), condiglist via DXLD) ** ECUADOR. See PAPUA NEW GUINEA ** ETHIOPIA. 9704.2 kHz, R. Ethiopia, Gedja Jewe (cf. my earlier report dated 21 JUN re an 18 JUN observation) nicely audible again today, 23 June 1015-1100* in Vernacular till 1029, then announcements and IS before start of their 30-min. English program of news and music, mainly western, 1030-1100, after which the station does sign off: at 1030, they announce the 31, 41 & 49 m bands + 594, 684, 828, 855, 873 & 972 kHz, then at the end the address is given and the station announces the 07 PM local or 1500 UT broadcast on 31 & 41 m + 989 kHz, i.e still no frequency details on the metre bands; the transmitter goes off right after the national anthem is aired. Rated 45433 (peaking S9+20 dB on occasions) today but with some het. being detected (and easily erased too) say a quarter of an hour prior to 1100 - possibly caused by the listed Xinjiang PBS in Urumqi, China, for Kyrgyz, but this time I could not extend the observation so as to try to properly ID this one. In all, reception here in Lisboa via a 20 m T2FD aerial was really better than during same period last Sunday at the almost noise-free SW coast site. I really must build a T2FD there too! (Carlos Gonçalves, Portugal, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** FRANCE. RFI : RAPPORT SUR LES RÉDACTIONS EN LANGUES ÉTRANGÈRES Le rapport interne commandé sur les rédactions en langues étrangères de RFI par le PDG Antoine Schwarz a été remis fin avril. Selon certaines informations, ses conclusions, rédigées par l'ancien Directeur Général de RFI, Fouad Benhalla, en tant qu'"expert indépendant", relèvent que "les rédactions en langues étrangères de RFI ont été laissées à l'abandon depuis quelques années: aucune ligne éditoriale, aucune perspective, aucun suivi. Résultat, estime Fouad Benhalla, une frustration des personnels qui se sentent abandonnés, méprisés par leurs collègues du service mondial en français et laissés pour compte par la direction qui les considère, de leur point de vue, comme des journalistes de second ordre". Fouad Benhalla écrit que "les émissions en langues européennes, à l'exception du russe [...] ont perdu la raison d'être qui avait, en leur temps, justifié leur création". Ses conclusions préconisent en outre une "réorganisation du service allemand et du service polonais". Elles prônent aussi la rationalisation de la délocalisation du service roumain, et le renforcement des émissions chinoises et indochinoises "avec une interrogation sur le maintien du laotien" dès lors qu'il serait diffusé sur une seule fréquence en ondes courtes. Elles évoquent par ailleurs un "réexamen approfondi" des programmes vers l'Amérique latine. Fouad Benhalla estime qu'"il y a lieu de consolider les langues destinées aux zones géographiques sensibles pour la diplomatie française". Ces conclusions, qui auraient été déjà transmises aux autorités de tutelle de RFI (ministères des Affaires étrangères, du Budget et de la Culture et de la Communication) ont été présentées début mai aux représentants du personnel. Les membres du comité d'entreprise les ont qualifiées de "texte subjectif, sans légitimité". Ils ont demandé à ce qu'elles soient dissociées du reste du rapport, rédigé par deux journalistes de RFI, et qui semble avoir reçu un meilleur accueil. Ces deux journalistes relèvent, comme Fouad Benhalla, une différence de traitement entre la rédaction en français et celles en langues étrangères. Elles font ainsi part de leur "sentiment persistant, au terme de ces quelques mois passés à parcourir les rédactions en langues et à analyser leurs émissions, qu'elles sont le parent pauvre de RFI par rapport à l'information en français. Elles se sentent délaissées". Les deux rapporteuses relèvent notamment la disparité des budgets : "900 000 € de missions pour RFI en français contre à peine 200 000 € pour les langues." Mais leurs conclusions sont axées sur la nécessité de valoriser et coordonner le travail des rédactions en langues étrangères. "Il semble prioritaire de valoriser le potentiel humain et professionnel que constituent les rédactions en langues étrangères, d'adapter leur production et leur organisation aux nécessités du monde d'aujourd'hui, aux attentes changeantes de leur auditoire et aux technologies nouvelles". Elles prônent "une définition précise et la coordination permanente du contenu éditorial en français et dans les autres langues". Et de conclure: "Pour réussir sa modernisation, RFI doit adapter aussi bien ses rédactions en langues qu'en français, avec un maître-mot entre elles: la solidarité. " (Satellifax - 23 mai 2005) (informations issues de http://perso.wanadoo.fr/jm.aubier via DXLD) Summary: foreign-language sections at RFI are very much treated as second-class; funding is 2/9 of the amount for French language. No VOA here, where the national language is treated as second-class, gh remarx (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** GERMANY. Recently I decided spontaneously after a business meeting at Leipzig to take the next train to Magdeburg and from there the next local service to Burg. I found no time to set up a new homepage so far, so I uploaded some pictures on free webspace (not the best server performance, but usually it works): http://img159.echo.cx/img159/9100/burg1site7dy.jpg - Transmitter site as seen from the town of Burg. The small white (rather grey) towers carry the 1575 kHz vertical incidence antenna. http://img159.echo.cx/img159/2252/burg1entr6tp.jpg - Entrance area, in the background two pipe masts originally designed for MW, but after the crash of the 350 metres tall LW mast in 1976 one of them had been modified for LW usage. http://img159.echo.cx/img159/818/burg1screen3jn.jpg - Building near the station entrance. Note the shielding against the RF. http://img159.echo.cx/img159/7756/burg1txold2yw.jpg - Old transmitter building (2 x 250 kW MW Funkwerk Köpenick and 200 kW LW Tesla) http://img159.echo.cx/img159/5038/burg1tx1000kw6ec.jpg - New transmitter building for the 1000 kW Komintern transmitter inaugurated in 1979, seen from the eastern side of the station http://img159.echo.cx/img159/322/burg1tx1000wide7li.jpg - Same view with wide focus (and less exposure for obvious reasons) http://img159.echo.cx/img159/1333/burg1tx1000left6cb.jpg - New and old transmitter buildings (and hammock in the background) from a slightly different location http://img159.echo.cx/img159/2369/burg1fence0yw.jpg - Small stretch of the fencing west of the station entrance, still fully equipped with Polish mercury vapor lanterns http://img159.echo.cx/img159/6323/burg1ligth6ln.jpg - This detail of the guards tower is a real rarity. Yes, I refer to the lantern with two U-shaped 40 watts fluorescence lamps. These were made in the sixties I think, and I knew only smashed remains of such fixtures so far. They were more common with only a single lamp, I still recall a whole village being lit with such lanterns (nice!), but this was 20 years ago. http://img159.echo.cx/img159/5447/burg261ant4na.jpg - 324 metres mast. Actual antenna wires not visible at all in this picture! http://img159.echo.cx/img159/1876/burg261harm1390mf.jpg - The only transmission going out from Burg at present. Of course it's on 139 kHz, but so close to the antenna it can be also received with an ATS 909 by means of this dirty trick. This is a remote control signal, allegedly also controlling street lights at Berlin. I noted FSK data bursts of about one second duration with some 12 seconds of open carrier in between, so obviously there is still plenty of idle data capacity on this system. http://img297.echo.cx/img297/7332/burg261se2fh.jpg - Containers with the two 50 kW longwave transmitters (broadcast 261 kHz, utility 139 kHz) and apparently also the 500 kW mediumwave rig. Note also the antenna wires, visible in this close-up. One has to perk through an aisle to see all of this. The place must have been considerably overgrown during the last decade, I think it was just a meadow back in 1993 or 1994 and the view from the fence to the mast unobstructed at that time (so sorry, but I had no camera with me then, so I have no pictures of the original ARRT cage mounted on this mast). http://img297.echo.cx/img297/5163/burg261sw2kk.jpg - Looking through another aisle ... http://img159.echo.cx/img159/9955/burg261n4eg.jpg - ... and the same from the opposite side, i.e. from the north http://img159.echo.cx/img159/2337/burg261nw3io.jpg - ... and from a slightly different location. Note the typical GDR lanterns and the now abandoned search light. http://img159.echo.cx/img159/3605/burg261asfound4yc.jpg - Another motif on the northern side of the station ... http://img159.echo.cx/img159/9648/burg1anchor0ws.jpg - Abandoned anchor of the 324 metres mast. Several ones can be found, so apparently the guys architecture of the mast has been modified against the original ARRT configuration. http://img159.echo.cx/img159/5536/burg1575det4iz.jpg http://img159.echo.cx/img159/7317/burg1575feed2uz.jpg http://img159.echo.cx/img159/4048/burg1575wires0zh.jpg - Details of the 1575 kHz vertical incidence antenna http://img297.echo.cx/img297/9772/burg531dfa8bi.jpg - Triangular hammock system, in the new days apparently used for 531 (low power DRM tests) and 10 kW daytime operation on 1575 http://img297.echo.cx/img297/3297/burg531bldg8aj.jpg - Transmitter building with outcoming feeder underneath the hammock system http://img159.echo.cx/img159/1741/burg1pipes5wm.jpg - A closer look at the pipe masts. No idea why one of them ... And there are not just the transmission facilities at Burg ... http://img159.echo.cx/img159/4709/burg014ml.jpg http://img159.echo.cx/img159/2478/burg023ks.jpg http://img159.echo.cx/img159/5716/burg038dp.jpg http://img159.echo.cx/img159/4030/burg046dw.jpg http://img159.echo.cx/img159/2087/burg057bf.jpg http://img159.echo.cx/img159/8118/burg061wd.jpg Sightseeing had to be done in some hurry, since I had to get to Berlin in time. There I left the train at the infamous Friedrichstraße station to look after the location of the old Friedrichstadtpalast where Louis Armstrong gave in 1965 a famous concert (cf. http://www.townsend-records.co.uk/product.php?pId=1039051&pType=music --- also a high quality VTR of this event survived, noteworthy because until the late sixties only poor telecines were kept as archive copies of almost all GDR TV programming because the tape rolls were way too expensive), only to find that it is now, twenty years after the demolition of this building (closed at short notice in 1980 when this beast had been found dilapidated --- see a picture of it at http://perso.univ-lyon2.fr/~poitou/Photos_Berlin/aaPhotos/617206.jpg - --), still just a park. Took the S-Bahn to Ostbahnhof and got an ice cream there since I had no time for this earlier. Then enjoyed a ride to Schönefeld because the coach allowed to stand on the open window. Finally got at 10 PM the local train from Schönefeld to Elsterwerda, unfortunately with air-conditioned coaches now, somewhat spoiling the special feeling of a ride into the night aboard this only train being on its way over 100 km of main line while a whole 50 to 16 2/3 Hz converter station is running only to power this single locomotive (Kai Ludwig, June 22, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** GUATEMALA. 4052.5, Radio Verdad, 0441-0602, 23-07. Esta emisora se escucha siempre en horas del amanecer, aquí en España, con señal aceptable. Parece increible que transmita con solo 0.7 kW. de potencia ??? y que llegue tan bién. Ademas es una de las pocas emisoras latinoamericanas que tiene un trato muy bueno con los oyentes, confirmando los informes con tarjeta, carta del director, folletos y banderín. Locutor, comentarios, canciones religiosas en español. A las 0500, programa en inglés, identificación: "Radio Verdad, P. O. Box 5, Chiquimula, Guatemala, Central America", comentarios y canciones. A las 0601, despedida en español, y cierre. 24322 variando a 34333 (Manuel Méndez, Lugo, Spain, Grundig Satellit 500, antena de cable, 10 metros, Escuchas realizadas en Friol, 27 Km. W de Lugo, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** INTERNATIONAL VACUUM. Re 5-102, under USA about the Moon`s appearance. I then checked http://www.fourmilab.ch/earthview/pacalc.html and find that the current perigee is not extraordinary; will be a bit closer around the full Moon of July. So what is this confusing story really about? (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** LIBERIA. 5470, Radio Veritas, 2037-2203, 22-06, inglés, hasta las 2100 "VoA news". A las 2100 identificación: "Radio Veritas, Monrovia". Noticias de Africa. A las 2200, identificación: "This is the Voice of Trust, Radio Veritas". 24322 (Manuel Méndez, Lugo, Spain, Grundig Satellit 500, antena de cable, 10 metros, Escuchas realizadas en Friol, 27 Km. W de Lugo, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Veritas means truth, not trust, or so they think at Harvard (gh, DXLD) ** NORTH AMERICA. The Crystal Ship Posted at 19:39 on May 22, 2005 in hf and pirates. Sunday, May 22, 2005, 2237, 6854. The Crystal Ship signing on with the Doors and "..the high and the mighty will be overthrown....the time has come so follow us and we will take you there." Opened with Pink Floyd, from The Wall. Great signal and sound. 455 here in Maryland. The Crystal Ship Posted at 22:02 on May 28, 2005 in hf and pirates. Sunday, May 29, 2005, 0202, 6854. Nice music from Rush coming in here. ID at 0214, and into Dylan. Peter, Paul and Mary at 0223. Ramones at 0226. Off with "this is a very bad habit" at 0229. Overall signal 434, very nice and strong audio, with some thunderstorm crashes. The Crystal Ship Posted at 21:27 on Jun 5, 2005 in hf and pirates. Monday, June 6, 2005, 6854. The Crystal Ship is coming in fine on 6854 here. "War, what is it good for, absolutely nothin".. barely there but perceptible on // 7545. ID at 0128. Signal 333 on 6854. The Crystal Ship invades CHU Posted at 10:21 on Jun 13, 2005 in hf and pirates. Monday, June 13, 2005, around 0100-0200, 6854 // 7335. The Crystal Ship with a strong signal on 6854, with a lesser but still listenable signal on CHU's 7335 (CHU, the Canadian time station, has been offline for several days now). The Poet played some pirate music, yo ho ho yarrrr matie, and Blue Öyster Cult's Don't Fear The Reaper, and other rock music (Larry Will, MD, RFMA via DXLD) ** PAPUA NEW GUINEA. Hi Glenn, Here is a letter I sent to Allen Graham; don't know if you heard DXPL last week. I don't know if Allen will read it on air, or respond at all, but, you are free to quote and/or publish this letter wherever you like. If asked, I will say, yes, I have an agenda, a liberal agenda, and I'm not ashamed to let it show (Tim Hendel, Huntsville AL, June 23, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Viz.: Dear Allen, I enjoyed the interview which Eric Scatterbaugh (name maybe not spelled right) with David Olson of Wantok Radio. It is clear that David cares and is interested in DX-ers and SW listeners. This is a very good thing. However, I feel that there are some real moral and ethical issues presented by the establishment of this station, issues which I, as a non-Christian, feel are of concern. Perhaps another interview with David, or your own comments on the program, would be valuable. I have spent a little bit of time working in what are sometimes called "third world" or "developing" countries. When an American group comes in, with all its technology, all its money, and all its perceived power, such a group sometimes has undue influence, influence which it does not deserve. This is my concern in the case of Wantok Radio. Is Wantok Radio really a product of local PNG interests, or is it a cultural invasion by a group of North Americans, who may be well- intentioned, but who may nevertheless be indulging in a form of cultural imperialism. I am particularly disturbed by the North American content of the programming on Wantok Radio, at least those programs which Mr. Olson mentioned --- Back to the Bible and Focus on the Family. Surely you, Allen, are aware of the extreme right-wing political position of James Dobson and Focus on the Family, and their unconditional and partisan support for the Bush Regime. On issues such as gay rights, Dobson has taken a very political and very conservative position. Recently, Focus on the Family even jumped into the fray regarding religious tolerance at the Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs. Is this proper or ethical programming to be forcing on the listeners of a country who may not have many alternatives if they wish to listen to religious programming? I have been a listener to HCJB since the late 1950's. Although I am not a Christian, I have been impressed by the sincerity and dedication of the people at HCJB, as well as how you there in Ecuador separate your religious beliefs from politics, especially USA politics. Is Wantok Radio doing the same? Should they? I think this issue is important. PS: Allen, a few months ago I wrote you regarding the two local languages presented on HCJB, 6050, between 1030 and 1130 UT. Did you receive that correspondence? I think a feature on these programs would be very worthwhile. If my e-mail got lost, please let me know. Sincerely, (Tim Hendel, Huntsville, Alabama, to HCJB, cc to DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** PARAGUAY. 9737, R. Nacional del Paraguay June 20 2127-2158 (fade out) 32222. Talk and music in Spanish (Kyoshiro Ishizaki, Japan, Japan Premium via DXLD) 9736.9, Radio Nacional de Paraguay, 2202, 22-06, locutor y locutora, entrevista con Mirian Segovia, Viceministra de Comercio de Paraguay. Identificación: "Radio Nacional del Paraguay, 920 amplitud modulada, con el país y el mundo, más allá de la información". Anuncian una página web de la emisora: http://www.rnpy.com (Manuel Méndez, Lugo, Spain, Grundig Satellit 500, antena de cable, 10 metros, Escuchas realizadas en Friol, 27 Km. W de Lugo, DX LISTENING DIGEST) La página web de Radio Nacional de Paraguay que anuncian por onda corta, http://www.rnpy.com funciona, y en ella se puede ver la historia de la emisora, programación, música paraguaya, etc, y también aparece una dirección de correo electrónico para escribirles: info @ radionpy.com.com (Manuel Méndez, Lugo, España, June 23, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** SCOTLAND [non]. This Saturday morning (June 25th) we'll be broadcasting an extra hour from 0600 to 0800 GMT and using both 15725 kHz (from Milan[?]) and 9290 (from Ulbroka [LATVIA]) for the transmission. 15725 will be running at 50 kW (it's been on 20 kW on previous Saturdays) so we're keen to know how the signals from the two transmitters compare. Regards (TONY CURRIE, Programme Director, Radio six international, http://www.radiosix.com 6/23, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** SLOVAKIA. La grave situation financière dans laquelle se trouve la Radio slovaque suite au rejet par les députés du projet de loi sur les redevances audiovisuelles n´aura pas de conséquences sur la diffusion des programmes. "Malgré notre situation difficile, nous n´allons pas réduire nos programmes. Nous essaierons de travailler normalement pendant encore au moins 6 mois, voire un an", a déclaré ce jour Jaroslav Reznik, directeur de la Radio slovaque. Selon lui, réduire les programmes ou fermer certains département de la Radio serait très préjudiciable au dévelopement culturel du pays. Et de répéter que la Radio pourrait fonctionner sans aide de l´Etat si le projet de loi était voté. C´est la raison pour laquelle il sera de nouveau présenté au parlement cette année. (Radio Slovaquie Internationale - 02 juin 2005) (informations issues de http://perso.wanadoo.fr/jm.aubier via DXLD) ** SOLOMON ISLANDS. 5019.9, SIBC, 1055-1106, June 23 --- I got a break when Cuba went off the air for a few minutes this morning and had nice splatter-free reception. Signal strength was good but with rapid fading. Heard a couple of light pop songs, then news at the top of the hour read by female. Top story was concern over the Solomon Island vote change at the whaling commission meeting in South Korea. Cuba back on at 1106 (David Hodgson, TN, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** THAILAND. ANALYSIS: THAI TUG OF WAR OVER RADIO AIRWAVES | Text of editorial analysis by Steve Metcalf of BBC Monitoring Media Services on 23 June Thailand's fast-growing community radio sector is facing a possible showdown with the authorities. Although some broadcasters claim to see political motives behind this, the government says it is acting because of public safety concerns. Broadcasting regulations state that community stations should limit their transmission power to 30 watts, the height of their antenna to 30 metres, and transmission range to 15 kilometres. The authorities say that stations that ignore the regulations are interfering with mainstream broadcasters and with civilian and military air traffic communications. A deadline for broadcasters to comply with the regulations has twice been extended. However, two stations were raided by police on 17 June: one was charged with excessive transmission power, the other with disrupting aviation signals. The government's Public Relations Department (PRD) was reported by the Bangkok Post on 6 June as saying that at least 41 stations in Bangkok faced closure if they failed to comply. Ten-fold increase The number of community radio stations is currently estimated at more than 2,000 nationwide - up from 200 one year ago - with over 100 in the Bangkok area. The reason for the dramatic increase in numbers was a government decision last year to allow the stations to air up to six minutes of advertisements an hour. A study by the Civic Media Development Institute found that this change had generated a business worth 10 million dollars a month. Moreover, because of the legal status of community stations, all this revenue is tax free. That has prompted many businesses to invest in community radio. It has also led to a fall in the advertising revenue of commercial stations. Legal vacuum A deputy director-general of the PRD, Pattareeya Sumano, admitted that the sector was currently operating in a vacuum. "There are no laws and regulations and no legal authority in charge of the community radio stations' affairs in our country," she said. Thailand's 1996 constitution and legislation passed in 2000 paved the way for the emergence of the community stations. It was stipulated that 20 per cent of the airwaves should be set aside for them, and their operations would be regulated by a National Broadcasting Commission. However, the establishment of the commission has been subject to long delays, owing to legal and parliamentary wrangling over the qualifications of candidates and over the selection process itself. In the meantime, responsibility for regulation has been batted back and forth between the PRD, the National Telecommunications Commission and the Office of the Prime Minister. The administration of Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, who came to power in 2001, has a developed a reputation for being sensitive to criticism. In its World Press Freedom Review for 2004 the International Press Institute stated that it would be remembered "as the year the Thai media has been completely manipulated and used by the Thaksin government". The IPI cited the example of a number of radio and TV talk shows that had been taken off the air because of their criticism of the government. Web radio closed One of the stations which sees a political motive behind the threatened crackdown is Bangkok's FM 92.25. A number of opposition MPs host programmes on the station and one of its presenters, Anchalee Paireerak, has gained a reputation as an outspoken critic of government corruption. The station has been raided by the police several times in recent months and has received two warnings about the height of its antenna. Paireerak told The Nation newspaper that the problem was not really about the height of the antenna - which was under 30 metres, but on the 38th floor of the building - but what the station said on its programmes. She said that the station had removed the antenna, so that the government would not have an excuse to close it down. It was also taking steps to make its programmes available on the internet, and over 40 community radios had offered to rebroadcast its programmes, Paireerak said. On 20 June the station's website was shut down, on the orders of the Ministry of Information and Communications Technology's Cyber Inspection Division. The ministry said its content was "detrimental to national security". Commercial or community? An editorial in the Bangkok Post on 26 May backed the government's actions against offending stations. It said that many stations had taken advantage of the regulatory vacuum and it was high time that community radios played by the rules. The editorial noted that many stations focused more on entertainment programmes than the news and information output that they were intended to provide. The situation was put into an historical context by Ubonrat Siriyuvasak, a writer and university lecturer on communications. In an article in the Bangkok Post on 28 May she lamented that the "tug of war to seize the airwaves is getting out of hand". Siriyuvasak traced the present situation back to the 1970s and described it as the latest episode "in which the establishment claims monopolistic ownership rights over radio and television". She said the Public Relations Department's decision to allow the airing of commercials was "an open attempt to distort the principles" of community radio which had left the public confused. Alongside the original group of some 200 non-profit, non-commercial community radios had emerged some 2,000 local commercial radios. Siriyuvasak argued that the government should liberalize the broadcast media structure and allow these new commercial stations to apply for frequencies in the 40 per cent of the spectrum allocated to the private sector by the law. If the government did not pursue an agenda of reform, she said, it would show that it was intent on defending the status quo of "monopoly/oligarchy by a few powerful corporations". Source: BBC Monitoring research 23 Jun 05 (via DXLD) ** TIBET. RADIO LHASA AND THE DEVELOPMENT OF TIBET Times of Tibet: The Myth of China's Modernization of Tibet and the Tibetan Language, Part Two. Includes interesting section on radio broadcasting. http://tinyurl.com/ba85z (via Andy Sennitt, dxldyg via DXLD) Entire article fascinating, but viz.: Tibetans initially called the radio transmitter ``washangding``, from the Chinese ``wuxiandian``, since it was General Huang Mu-sung`s condolence mission of 1934, which appears to have brought the first wireless transmitter to Tibet. When the General returned to China, he left the radio set in the charge of a certain Mr. Tsang. As the Tibetans had no other form of wireless transmission (and the Tibetan telegraph line did not extend to Chamdo), Tsang became a rather important figure. When the British mission under Basil Gould came in 1936 with more up-to-date radio equipment, Tsang was naturally upset as his monopoly had ended. He asked the Kashag to confiscate the British radio transmitter, but the Kashag replied that if they did that they would, in all fairness, have to take his set as well. According to Chapman, ``The Chinaman burst into tears.`` It appears that since the Gould mission in 1936 there had been some considerations of setting up radio communications to enable the Tibetan government to establish speedy communication with outlying officials. Matters came to a head in 1942 when it was realized that Chinese troops from Sining had penetrated into Tibet almost as far as Nagchukha without Lhasa receiving any news of their movements. That same year when President Roosevelt`s envoys Captain Illya Tolstoy and Brooke Dolan visited Lhasa, the Kashag discussed with them its desire to establish wireless communications throughout Tibet, starting with radio transmitters in Chamdo, Gartok, Nagchuka, Tsona and Rima. Subsequently the Tibetan government received three transmitters and five receivers as a gift from the American government. The British sold two training sets and battery chargers the same year to Tibet. Training of Tibetan operators was first undertaken in Lhasa. The program was later enlarged and improved after the employment of radio operator Reginald Fox and RAF radio instructor Robert Ford as full- fledged Tibetan government officials. They trained a number of young Tibetans and Bhutia (ethnic Tibetan) boys from Darjeeling, Kalimpong and Sikkim, to serve as radio operators in Lhasa, as well as with the Tibetan army in Kham. In 1948, Radio Lhasa started the first of its daily broadcasts to the outside world. At five p.m., the station would go on air. The news was read in Tibetan, and then in English by Reginald Fox or by Kyibuk, one of the surviving Rugby students and an official at the Tibetan Foreign Bureau. Finally the news was read in Chinese by Phuntsok Tashi Takla, the Dalai Lama`s brother-in-law. Official announcements were also read over the radio, as this one prepared by Aufschnaiter: We have the honour to announce that Radio Lhasa will broadcast an announcement of the enthronement of His Holiness the Dalai Lama, the ruler of Tibet, together with a proclamation of the Tibetan government to the Tibetan people and the world, on Friday 17 November 1950, at 5.45 p.m. Indian Standard Time. Since the mid –thirties, it appears that a number of households in Lhasa, Shigatse and Gyangtse had short wave radio receivers, the uncluttered Tibetan atmosphere allowing for clear reception not only of Radio Lhasa but Peking, Delhi and elsewhere. Some individuals (George Tsarong, according to Ford) even built their own receivers. Somewhere along the way the now standard term for radio, lung-trin (air-communication) seems to have become generally accepted. There are claims and counterclaims among certain Tibetans as to the origins of the term, but nothing definite can be established. The term appears in the 1952 Textbook of Colloquial Tibetan by Roerich and Lhalungpa. From the mid fifties when the Tibetan resistance and the CIA began to drop parachute missions and teams into Tibet with radio equipment, the term lok-trin seems to have been used for radio transmission, with the term tar-trin also being used as practically all messages were coded and keyed. Later the Tibetans used high-speed burst transmissions, which were initially hand-keyed on magnetic tape. The first public address system and loud-speaker (gyang-drak) was introduced to Tibet by the 1936 British mission, and appears to have been used largely for entertainment. At garden parties at the Dekyilinga, old Tsarong ``cracked jokes`` over the microphone, as his son George reports. With full Chinese control over the country after 1959, the PA system became a dismally ubiquitous part of Tibetan life, with loud-speakers on the street corner of nearly every city, town and village in Tibet. Tibetans were woken up every morning to the blaring of ``The East is Red``, and for the rest of the day were subjected to interminable propaganda, much as the people of North Korea are now (via Andy Sennitt, DXLD) ** U K [and non]. Re: time lag --- For some time I have wondered why there has been a deafening silence about this, specifically in regard to the time signal. The whole point of a time signal is that it is accurate. For me, that means being correct plus or minus a maximum of one second. (This means that the satellite delay --- even on analogue signals --- of about a quarter of a second which those listening to shortwave relay stations have become used to now for 25 years or more, is acceptable to me.) But DAB currently fails to meet that standard, and if the analogue signals are artificially delayed to bring them into line with the DAB signal, I think it will be pointless to continue broadcasting the Greenwich Time Signal. BBC 1 TV got around this problem by dropping the on-screen clock several years ago. BBC News 24 TV still has a "countdown" to the top of the hour, but you cannot regard it as being accurate because of this digital delay. That brings me to a technical question. BBCWS feeds to overseas relay stations are now done by digital satellites. Yet when you listen to those relays, the GTS delay compared to a UK transmission is slight - certainly not the several seconds of DAB radio. Why? A different type of digital system? (Chris Greenway, UK, June 22, BDXC-UK via DXLD) ** U S A. AGENCY CHANGES CHINA PLAN Dateline: WASHINGTON, 06/08/05. In response to a FOIA request from the Union, the Agency finally released their plan for the Hong Kong scheme. The plan has been altered from the Agency's earlier characterizations of it. Now it appears that only two additional people will be hired and those two will be contractors. They will be hired and working in Hong Kong. It appears that they will be used primarily to work on the Agency's English language website. However, the document also states that " VOA would seek to hire as many U.S. citizens as possible currently living in Hong Kong." So are they only seeking to hire two contractors? The Agency has not been forthcoming about what it really intends to do. And the question remains as to why these positions need to be in China. Again, U.S. taxpayers' dollars are being used to create a jobs for China program. Jobs that could be done right here at home in the good old U.S.A. If the job could be done here in Washington, D.C. why are they being offshored to China? Because some prospective applicants would not want to work overnight hours? AFGE Local 1812 bets that if the Agency offered these positions here in America plenty of qualified people would apply, even for overnight hours. Below is the lone document provided to the Union. FOURTEEN U.S. SENATORS SUPPORT AMERICANS Dateline: WASHINGTON, 06/10/05. Fourteen United States Senators, concerned about the "jobs for China program" sent a letter to Voice of America Director, David Jackson urging him to: "cease any plans to outsource these jobs." Senator Sarbanes took the lead on this issue and was able to enlist the support of the other signatories. Below is a copy of the letter. (For more on this issue go to the President's page). JOBS FOR CHINA PROGRAM HITS `LABOR NOTES` Dateline: WASHINGTON, 06/15/05. The BBG's scheme to outsource Federal Jobs to communist China was covered in the June issue of Labor Notes. Below is a copy of the article. CHINA OUTSOURCING STORY GETS ADDITIONAL COVERAGE Dateline: WASHINGTON, 06/22/05. The JOBS FOR CHINA story reached The Chicago Tribune, FedNews Online, and was a front page story in the latest issue of the Government Standard. It also made Romenesko's Media News list on Poynteronline. Agency officials met with Senate staffers yesterday in an attempt to convince the fourteen Senators (who had sent a letter to the Agency urging VOA officials to cease the outsourcing plan) to convince them that the scheme was a good idea. Meanwhile, AFGE Local 1812 has learned that the Agency has already received applications from prospective job seekers in Hong Kong. The Union has not been able to identify when these positions were officially advertised. In an interesting twist the Union discovered that according to David S. Jackson's official Agency Bio he served as a correspondent for Time magazine in... HONG KONG (all: AFGE Local 1812; see http://www.afge1812.org/ for jpg reproductions referenced, via DXLD) ** U S A. VOA CORRESPONDENT WINS HUMAN RIGHTS PRESS AWARD | Text of press release by Voice of America on 22 June Washington DC, 22 June: Luís Ramírez [hereafter unaccented], Beijing correspondent for the Voice of America (VOA), has received a Human Rights Press Award, one of Asia's top annual journalism award programs. Ramirez was recognized for his report on the residents of Hanyuan County in Sichuan Province who were protesting against the Chinese government's decision to place a hydroelectric dam in their area without properly compensating the farmers for their land. Ramirez also reported on the government's crackdown against the protesters. In his report, Ramirez described how he evaded possible detention and expulsion by Chinese authorities by slipping past heavily armed soldiers and police when he went to "catch a glimpse of the gigantic dam project and the towns and villages that are to be flooded". The awards are sponsored by Amnesty International Hong Kong, the Hong Kong Journalists Association and the Foreign Correspondents' Club-Hong Kong for reporting in Asia. Amnesty International presents the awards to journalists to recognize excellence in human rights journalism that has made a significant contribution to the public's greater awareness and understanding of human rights issues. The competition included a record number of nominations from news organizations including the Financial Times, Asian Wall Street Journal, CNN and BBC. Ramirez, 37, has been VOA's Beijing bureau chief since August 2003. He formerly served as VOA's West Africa correspondent in Abidjan, Ivory Coast, where he covered West and Central Africa. Along with providing news on coup attempts, political assassinations, child labour, and ethnic and religious unrest, he covered elections in nations including Ghana, Mali, and Nigeria and was on the scene to bring news of the difficult return to peace in Sierra Leone. Ramirez joined VOA in 1999 after spending six years reporting for an all-news radio station in his hometown of Los Angeles, California, where he won several awards for his news coverage. Source: Voice of America press release, Washington, in English 22 Jun 05 (via BBCM via DXLD) ** U S A. PATTIZ SHOULD STAY --- Norm Pattiz was the prime mover in the creation of the Arabic-language Radio Sawa and Alhurra television. But the White House has not renewed his membership of the Broadcasting Board of Governors. Audience research analyst Kim Andrew Elliott believes he should stay on the Board. . . http://www2.rnw.nl/rnw/en/features/media/usa050623.html?view=Standard (Media Network via DXLD) ** U S A. URGENT: The U.S. Congress is currently considering severe cuts to funding for public radio and television. Learn what's happening here http://www.wfcr.org/contribute/threat_faq.php and here http://www.wgbh.org/generic/federalfundfaq, sign a petition http://www.moveon.org/publicbroadcasting/ and contact your Representatives http://www.house.gov and Senators http://www.senate.gov (PublicRadioFan.com via DXLD) ** U S A. PUBLIC BROADCASTERS' TIGHTROPE OVER FUNDS The New York Times June 23, 2005 By LORNE MANLY "The Brian Lehrer Show" decided to tackle a topic this week that could hardly be knottier for its radio station, devoting about an hour on Monday to the battle over a possible cut in federal funds for public broadcasters like its own station, WNYC. . . http://www.nytimes.com/2005/06/23/arts/television/23publ.html?pagewanted=print (via Mike Cooper, DXLD) ** U S A. BILL MOYERS: "THE RADICAL RIGHT WING IS VERY CLOSE TO ACHIEVING A LONGTIME GOAL OF UNDERMINING THE INDEPENDENCE OF PUBLIC BROADCASTING" http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=05/06/22/1347234 (Democracy Now Wednesday, June 22nd, 2005, transcript; audio and video also available; via Current via DXLD) ** U S A. REP. ED MARKEY (D-Mass) CALLS ON KEN TOMLINSON TO RESIGN FROM CPB AND BBG. The latest in the controversy involving Tomlinson as chairman of Corporation for Public Broadcasting. Rep. Markey made his statement at a rally attended by Clifford the Big Red Dog. http://www.thehill.com/thehill/export/TheHill/News/Frontpage/062205/tomlinson.html (The Hill, 22 June 2005 via kimandrewelliott.com via DXLD) ** U S A. WHITE HOUSE REJECTS CALL TO FIRE PUBLIC BROADCAST HEAD The White House has rejected Democratic calls to fire the head of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, who is accused by critics of trying to politicize public television and radio programming. Asked about a letter from Democratic senators seeking the ouster of corporation Chairman Kenneth Tomlinson, White House spokesman Scott McClellan said, "We continue to support him." The Corporation for Public Broadcasting is a federally funded nonprofit and the largest single source of funding for US public television and radio programming. It is governed by a presidentially appointed board. The letter said Tomlinson had brought a "political agenda" to his job. It accused him of "actively undermining," underfunding and trying to undo the mission of public broadcasting. The letter was dated Tuesday and signed by 16 Democratic senators, led by Sen. Chharles Schumer of New York and Sen. Dianne Feinstein of California. "We are writing to urge you to call for the removal of the chairman of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, Kenneth Tomlinson," the letter said. Tomlinson has faulted the television network PBS, which receives funds from the corporation, for "liberal advocacy journalism," and has sought to bring what he says is "balance" to federally funded public television and radio. Tomlinson is under investigation by the corporation's own inspector general over some of his activities, such as a decision to hire outside researchers to gauge whether some public programs had a bias. The letter from the Democratic senators also accused him of not fighting hard enough against efforts by US House of Representatives lawmakers to make big cuts in the broadcasting corporation's budget. # posted by Andy @ 09:24 UT June 23 (Media Network blog via DXLD) ** U S A. radio free brattleboro Shut Down By Feds --- 22 June 2005 http://santacruz.indymedia.org/newswire/display/17980/index.php At 6:58 this morning, June 22, 2005, armed with a warrant issued by a Burlington magistrate, United States Marshals entered the studios of radio free brattleboro and seized its broadcasting equipment. The seizure of equipment and shutdown of rfb's local broadcasts under authority of a warrant issued in Burlington comes while an action is still pending before Judge J. Garvan Murtha in the federal court in Brattleboro [Vermont]. In March of 2004 radio free brattleboro filed for an injunction in the District Court in Brattleboro, asking the Court to prohibit the FCC from seizing equipment. The United States District Attorney, representing the FCC, filed a reciprocal action for injunction to shut down the radio station. These dueling actions were finally whittled down to one action and the rfb request for injunction was dropped, due to the following statement in a filing made by the United States: In its suit, rfb seeks to enjoin the FCC from seizing its equipment or from stopping it from broadcasting without a hearing. Because neither of these eventualities are threatened, the suit is essentially moot. The FCC has chosen not to try to seize the equipment of rbf but to proceed by way of a preliminary injunction. Thus, there is no controversy about imminent seizure of equipment for this Court to remedy or enjoin. Moreover, since rfb is receiving a hearing on March 15 [2004], it will not be stopped from broadcasting without a hearing. Thus, the matters that it asks to be remedied do not need a remedy. This constituted the Government's assurance that it contemplated no seizure of rfb's equipment and rfb did drop its own action for an injunction. In April of 2005, with matters still pending in the U.S. District Court in Brattleboro, rfb received a letter from the U.S. Attorney' s office in Burlington stating that the FCC was prepared to pursue other law enforcement remedies. Rfb was puzzled by this new threat, as it had dropped its original action for an injunction because of the Government's assurance that the regular court process in Brattleboro would be the venue for the dispute. Accordingly, rfb replied to the U.S. Attorney's office stating: The radio station has continued operating because the FCC's complaint to the court has yet to receive a ruling either on the preliminary or permanent injunctions you [FCC] seek. Your review of the file doubtless informs you that rfb originally applied for an injunction to bar the FCC from exactly the action you now contemplate, under 47 U.S.C. 510. The station voluntarily agreed to a dismissal of its complaint for injunction because of the pending injunction petition put in by the FCC. In the given posture, I do not believe this district court or any appeals court will say that rfb was obliged to shut down: shut-down is precisely the question for which we await the judge's answer. Your threatened action is, therefore, an end run, is it not? On May 3, 2005, the Government filed for summary judgment in the case pending in Brattleboro. Radio free brattleboro responded to that motion and therefore the FCC?s case asking for an injunction to shut down rfb remains, today, in the hands of Judge Murtha in Brattleboro. Radio free brattleboro's attorney, James Maxwell, commented: "This is on one level no surprise. The FCC has run out of patience with the regular court process in Brattleboro and has gone elsewhere for the relief it seeks, namely, a chance to get the U.S. Marshals into the station to grab the equipment. Radio free brattleboro has a case with substantial and legitimate legal issues pending in the federal court here in Brattleboro, and the station has also applied to the FCC for a waiver to broadcast, and it has repeatedly stated that when the newly licensed 100-watt station is up and running it would step aside. Rfb does not operate in defiance of government but rather from the belief of its members and listeners that community radio is essential to good government and democratic process. Radio free brattleboro has always stressed to the public and to the FCC that it will adhere to FCC guidelines and will serve the public whether licensed or not." Nevertheless, it is very much a surprise that the FCC has done an end run around the court here in Brattleboro and obtained a warrant from Burlington even while diverting our attention by applying for summary judgment here. It has undertaken these clever maneuvers, in my opinion, not because it must shut down the station but because it can shut down thestation. For there is no harm whatsoever being done by rfb, while there surely is harm being done to a civil society by the broadcast and cable and satellite conglomerates whose idea of serving the public is to process entertainment, information and advertisements for mass consumption, which is to say for no one at all. It's a sad and disappointing day, but of course we will explore our options (via Mike Terry, dxldyg via DXLD) See: http://www.rfb.fm/ (Paul Demsky, Newport Center VT, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. There are two licensed 87.9 FMs: KSFH Mountain View CA and K200AA Sun Valley NV. KSFH is 10 watts at 75 meters below average terrain, K200AA is 34 watts, with a CP for 28 watts and a site change (Scott Fybush, WTFDA via DXLD) ** U S A. UPGRADE [sic] BY KSL CHANGES FOR WHOM THE BELL TOLLS By Lynn Arave. Deseret Morning News http://deseretnews.com/dn/view/0,1249,600142015,00.html In case you haven't noticed, the Nauvoo Bell tolls no more for KSL Radio. Nauvoo Bell at Temple Square. [caption] Ravell Call, Deseret Morning News The signature "clang" that originated live from Temple Square for the West's 50,000-watt station has been silenced --- at least for the near future --- by the move by KSL (AM-1160) to become Utah's first radio station to convert to a digital signal. Digital, or high-definition, radio is the rough equivalent of HDTV, and the switch to this higher quality signal is not without repercussions in both the AM and FM radio worlds. Perhaps the biggest is a seven-second delay from the point of origin to a radio listener's ear. Hence, the need to quit using the bell, which marked each hour, precisely on the hour, with a clang. KSL Radio engineer John Dehnel said the Nauvoo Bell hasn't sounded on the air since KSL switched to the digital signal about the middle of May. "The way digital radio works, it's much like an Internet stream," he said. "There's a delay." Rod Arquette, KSL Radio vice president of programming and operations, said the loss of the bell isn't set in stone. A way still might be found to bring it back. KSL first considered keeping the chime live, with the seven-second delay. "Those setting their clocks by the radio would be seven seconds off," Dehnel said. Also, the chime would interrupt announcers. Next, KSL considered using a recording of the bell at the proper time. However, that caused programming and timing issues, too. Listeners might also be confused, because the bell would ring seven seconds before the CBS News broadcast started --- instead of as it always has at the beginning. The simplest solution was to stop the chime altogether. The 1,500- pound Nauvoo Bell, located just southwest of the Tabernacle on Temple Square, will continue to chime live on the hour there, just not on the radio. KSL's many sister stations, as well as KBYU, KRCL and KUER and others, are making similar plans to convert to HD radio. TV sports coverage already has a signal delay of about four seconds. But unless the digital radio issue is resolved, you'll find sports fans in stadiums this fall trying to enjoy play-by-play radio broadcasts with a delay of seven seconds between action on the field and what they're hearing from their radios. DJs and radio reporters are also having to wrestle with new time-delay issues as they do remote broadcasts. Arquette stressed that digital radio is well worth the hassle. "Digital radio will take AM radio to a new level. . . . It will blow you away," he said, explaining AM will sound like FM does now and FM will move even higher to a CD quality level. Although KSL began as Utah's first radio station on May 6, 1922, the Nauvoo Bell chime broadcast wasn't added until decades later --- probably in the 1960s. "I've had quite a few calls and e-mails from people who miss the bell chime," Dehnel said (via Tony Simon, ABDX via DXLD) I'd sure hate to be trying to do a remote and wearing headphones plugged into a walkman tuned into the station. I guess that takes care of THAT. No more of that kind of broadcasting. And to think John Dehnel said he really hoped he'd be retired by the time KSL made the decision to go digital because he didn't want to mess with it. It really sucks so badly. You start hearing the interference at 1130, 1140 and 1150 are completely wiped out. 1160 has a low hiss behind it at all times. Then 1170 and 1180 are totally wiped out, with some interference notable at 1190. This is the closest bout with IBAC I've ever had --- and as close as it'll get to me. It majorly sucks (Michael J. Richard, WY, ibid.) ** U S A. Saw this in today's Minneapolis Star-Tribune Although it concerns FM, I wonder if it won't be applied to AM also --- KSJN-FM BEGAN BROADCASTING MORE THAN JUST CLASSICAL MUSIC ON TUESDAY. With the right radio equipment, you can pick up three formats on the 99.5-FM channel -- classical, talk and world music -- as the Minnesota Public Radio (MPR) outlet became the first station in the Twin Cities to "multicast," a digital technique that allows more than one format to be broadcast over a single radio frequency. "You're listening to the future," said MPR President Bill Kling as he demonstrated KSJN's new capacity. Right now, the two additional formats are simply single programs played over and over for demonstration purposes. However, Kling said, executives are already thinking about formats they can add to all three MPR stations in the Twin Cities, KSJN, KNOW (91.1 FM) and KCMP (89.3 FM). Although those formats might be finalized sometime this fall, it's doubtful they'll be launched soon. Currently, few Twin Cities residents own digital radio receivers, the only devices that can pick up the multicasts. The devices cost about $300 for the home version and from $600 to $5,000 for a car system. The devices are so rare that Best Buy doesn't even carry them, said spokesman Brian Lucas. "We probably won't have them for another year, if ever," Lucas said. "We try to carry the latest and greatest cutting-edge products. But you'd have to be a very early adapter to seek these out." (via Rick Turner, Bemidji MN, 47d 29m 44.833s N, 94d 52m 46.542s W NRC AM via DXLD) ** VENEZUELA. Es una gran alegría volver a reportar para ustedes la señal del Observatorio Cajigal (YVTO) reactivada en su frecuencia de 5000 kHz; la estoy escuchando muy bien y sin el ruido de fondo con la cual la venía reportando. Escuchar esta señal me ha hecho sentir muy bien (José Elías Díaz Gómez, 0320 UT June 23, Noticias DX via DXLD) 5000, Observatorio Naval Cagigal, 0451, 23-06, Señales horarias, "Observatorio Naval Cagigal, Caracas, Venezuela, al oir el tono serán las 0 horas, 51 minutos, 0 segundos". 34333 (Manuel Méndez, Lugo, Spain, Grundig Satellit 500, antena de cable, 10 metros, Escuchas realizadas en Friol, 27 Km. W de Lugo, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** VENEZUELA. Sin lugar a dudas que las condiciones atmosféricas, luego de lluvias débiles caídas en la tarde y la noche nublada y fría están haciendo que escuché algunos armónicos que tenía tiempo no oía. En los 3180 kHz estoy escuchando a Radio Anzoátegui 1210 AM, correspondiendo al armonico 2.63 de su frecuencia nominal, al menos es la que más se acerca. Un abrazo para todos (José Elías, Venezuela, Noticias DX via DXLD) There is no such thing as a 2.63x harmonic! Must be some other explanation; maybe a station on 1590 relaying 1210 (gh) A las 0305 UT estoy escuchando por los 2620 kHz a Radio Nacional de Venezuela, correspondiente al segundo armónico de la frecuencia 1310; creo que es la primera vez que la estoy escuchando tan bien en este armónico. La noche está bastante fría y el tiempo bastante nublado (José Elías, ibid.) ** ZIMBABWE [non]. SW Radio Africa heard signing on at 1700 on 15145, though weak due to solar storm. 23 June 2005 (Steve Lare, Holland, MI, USA, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Shhh, their website still says MW only (gh) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ DRM +++ DRM PRESSES ON http://futureofradio.typepad.com/the_future_of_radio/2005/06/drm_presses_on.html Digital Radio Mondiale (DRM) is a digital broadcasting system that, unlike IBOC/HD, is "open" and non-proprietary. It's being touted as the future of AM, FM, and even shortwave broadcasting----regardless of whether consumers want it or not (shades of the EU Constitution!). Regardless, tests of the DRM system continue: http://www.rwonline.com/reference-room/iboc/03_rwf_drm.shtml The main problem with DRM, like IBOC/HD, is that it depends upon terrestrial transmitters to deliver digital services. XM and Sirius have both made a compelling case that satellites are the best way to deliver a large number of new digital audio services over a wide area, and that consumers will pay for the hardware and subscription fees if the programming is worth it. And the emphasis on DRM for shortwave is more than a little bizarre. Shortwave broadcasting has been in a drastic decline over the last decade --- if you doubt that, compare the number of active shortwave stations, especially in the Third World, found in a 1995 edition of Passport to World Band Radio or World Radio-TV Handbook with the number in the 2005 edition of those publications. Shortwave will have the same problems --- reliance on a quirky ionosphere, the need to use different frequencies for day vs. night reception, the genuinely awful programming found on too many stations, etc. --- even if DRM is adopted, so it's hard to see how DRM will be the savior of shortwave broadcasting. Unlike IBOC/HD, I think DRM has a good chance of being widely adopted, mainly because it's backed by a lot of state-run broadcasters who can essentially impose their wishes without regard to audience preferences and needs. And it does show promise of being a significant improvement over AM and FM for local broadcasting. But the notion that people in developed nations will be attracted back to shortwave by DRM, or that people in the Third World will spend the equivalent of over a month's income for a DRM shortwave receiver, is pure, unadulterated idiocy (Harry Helms, http://futureofradio.typepad.com/ June 22 via DXLD) RADIO EQUIPMENT FORUM +++++++++++++++++++++ A REALLY, REALLY SCARY WRATHFUL DREAM June 15, 2005 I was having a sweet dream of peace, featuring a number of really nice people I have known, even a few broadcasters... when all of sudden this big white horse with a masked rider rode into my private dream (you can't get rid of some "Guys") and started shouting all sorts of ridiculous stuff. To be truthful, some of it was so idiotic that I cannot be certain who was doing the talking, the big white horse or that gun slinger who was shouting how he had no fear of the dark, as long as "dark" means local stations "going dark." Actually, the masked stranger said broadcasters must "thin out the herd", so I guess it couldn't be the horse, no horse I have ever known would talk about thinning a herd and they all had a lot more "horse sense". But, believe it or not, he was speaking about human beings who are supposed to donate their lifes' work for the benefit of the industry, meaning for the benefit of Clear Channel, Viacom and the other big guys including some huge international investment bankers. And believe it or not, he singled out at the "bottom of the food chain," RELIGIOUS BROADCASTERS. What's this all about? Are we supposed to sacrifice stations that teach morals and ethics, not to steal from your neighbors, etc.? It cannot be a question of commercial-free stations. He didn't mention NPR, not in my dream. Is this an ultra liberal plot to get rid of Rush Limbaugh and the rest of "talk radio?" And did anyone tell ABC and FOX?? (Let me interrupt this dream with a question. The WRATH needs FACTS: Is the report true that all American taxpayers pay into a special fund for NPR`s huge purchases of iBOC transmission equipment creating severe interference to FREE RADIO and making a windfall for the major iBOC supporting manufacturers? Can you please get us the facts and figures, so that if it is true, we can do something about it before the entire AM and FM bands are wrecked.) Back to my dream. I think we have to form a posse and round up the lone stranger. After all he is part of a group that is attempting to pull a Reverse Robin Hood, rob from the weak to fatten the rich. Lets leave the horse out of it. No one likes a horse in a courtroom. They have such drastic ways of objecting. Now let me stop boring you with my dreams and get back to the main purpose of this website, comparing the iBOC System with our Cam-DTM System. I truly, truly believe that there is only one LEGAL IBOC system, the Cam-D System that you can use legally night and day because: a) It does not increase interference, IT REDUCES Interference, b) It works NIGHT and day, c) It does not reduce coverage; it INCREASES it, DOUBLES coverage according to on-the-air reports, and d) It improves your sound with the 800 Million radios Americans own and rely upon for "talk radio" and all other formats Americans choose to listen to 24/7. Now let me offer my really, really biased opinion of the AM iBOC plan to "Rescue" AM Radio: I, believe that the supporters of the iBOC overall plan will divide AM broadcasters and will cause warfare between Local Radio Stations and Large Stations that presently serve huge areas at night This is a strategy that can never succeed. The Public demands both types of service; Local for high school sports, and traffic and even local commercials. At night rural areas and those driving long distances demand their clear channels to keep them informed and awake during those long, lonely nights. The Public surely will never accept AM technology that destroys their full use of the almost BILLION radios they bought with their hard earned money. It will never happen, the Courts, the FCC, our treaties and our American political system will never permit it. Hopefully, next months WRATH will offer a technical evaluation of iBOC and why it can NEVER work at night. If you want to check the accuracy of my dream facts and opinions check out RW`s website and the latest print issue of RW, you know that I love promoting RW. And as usual I, Leonard R. Kahn, hoping to see more broadcasters in my sweet dreams of a bright AM future, truly believe that the above stated facts and opinions and dreams are accurate and not meant to mislead (from http://www.wrathofkahn.org/ where there is emphasis by color and italics, via DXLD) ###