DX LISTENING DIGEST 5-104, June 24, 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: 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: 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 NEW! WORLD OF RADIO 1278 downloads in studio-quality mp3: (high) http://www.obriensweb.com/wor1278.mp3 (low) http://www.obriensweb.com/wor1278L.mp3 WORLD OF RADIO PODCAST: www.obriensweb.com/wor.xml (currently available: 1277, Extra 57, 1278) ** AFGHANISTAN. Re 5-103, Taleban sites http://www.alemarah.com/ http://www.aadad.com --- A whois search shows that both sites are/were hosted in the USA. Alemarah.com has apparently been taken off by the provider; accessed on 24 June at 0400 UT, the site only shows the message "No website is configured at this address" (Bernd Trutenau, Lithuania, June 24, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) It's interesting to see that there's a song section on the Taleban website. When the Taleban were in power, it was reported - I believe falsely - that music was banned in the country, including on the radio. Not that any song, or other form of art produced by Islamic fanatics - is likely to have any merit! (Roger Tidy, UK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ALASKA. Now that I know KNLS is on new 9555 for English at 1400, even if their website readers do not, I was waiting for it June 24. No signal until 1400 sharp as the QSY from some other frequency was completed, as started with legal ID. It was a bit tough with much stronger Habana on 9550, and I could not keep listening today, but a bit further west, with plenty of selectivity, KNLS may be listenable. The 9555 signal still seemed weaker than Mandarin on 9615, which BTW during the previous hour had some English lesson segments (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) The mid-latitude K-index at 1200 UTC on 24 June was 3 (34 nT) The mid-latitude K-index at 1500 UTC on 24 June was 3 (28 nT) (SEC via DXLD) ** ALGERIA [and non]. Re 5-103: Hi folks, Tipaza put the Czech made TESLA 2x transmitters right on the rock cliff beach shore at the Mediterranean Sea. That's propagation wise a strategic location like IBB Rhodes or Capo Greco-Cyprus. And puts a very strong signal into Central Europe too, even at winter daytime. Look at the Algerian/Moroccan map: Both sides are oasis kind, in a much dry desert area, and Ouargla is situated 700 kilometers south of Mediterranean coast line, towards Portugal even 900 km via desert and Atlas mountains area. Bechar location distance towards Tangiers and Gibraltar is also about 600 kilometers. And both are screened [nulled] towards co-channel Europeans. 73 wolfy (Wolfgang Büschel, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Thanks for the transmitter details, Wolfgang. I knew the location of both Béchar 153 & Ouargla 198 --- that was something I wanted to spot on the map when they were activated, but even under adverse conditions (desert terrain, etc.) those power signals should perform better towards my area, but then --- if you say they're beamed towards the north (which doesn't make full sense) --- no wonder reception is weaker than I'd expect and than what I experienced in the past. Neighbouring RTM Azilal 207 kHz is not much farther than Béchar and booms in like a local station even here in the capital, and I recall having heard it on the previous channel (+BBC 200 kHz for instance) some 250 km SEast of Luanda, Angola, back in the early to mid 70's: no, no special receiver, just a full coverage valve set and a random wire. RTA Tipaza 252 carries French too, so the location and possible beam to the north is no surprise given the big community in France, but I was aware of the details of the transmitter QTH. Really strong here all the time by the way is Médi 1 Nador 171, of course, and I'm convinced they're not omnidirectional. I forgot to say that if using the 270º unterminated Beverage on the SW coast, then Ouargla 198 is much stronger and somewhat similar to co-channel BBC R4 Droitwich. Again, in the past though, i.e. when those RTA stations started operation, their signals were easier to receive, particularly that of Béchar 153 which began spoiling reception of others on 153, e.g. Romania - once a regular. Do you remember Sud Radio in Andorra? Well, their mighty signal was close enough and beamed towards France for it carried French programming only: reception here was always bad for such a power. By contrast, weaker R. Andorra always put a tremendous signal. 73, (Carlos Gonçalves, Portugal, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ARGENTINA. LU4, Radio Patagonia Argentina (630 kHz) de Comodoro Rivadavia, Chubut, ya está en Internet. En su sitio web se puede conocer la programación, ver fotos de la emisora y escuchar la radio online. La dirección de LU4 es http://www.lu4radiopatagonia.tk/ Los programas más importantes de Radio Patagonia Argentina son: "Estación Alfa", con Aníbal Micardi; "Informe 630", con Marcelo García; "Viva la Tarde", con Natalia Burgos; "El Latir de la Tierra", con Oscar Payaguala; y "Viento y Marea", con Adriana Ortigoza. LU4 es parte del Sistema Nacional de Medios Públicos. Radio Patagonia Argentina salió al aire por primera vez el 3 de mayo de 1938. (15-06-05). (extraido de http://www.amplitudmodulada.com.ar via Arnaldo Slaen, Galvan 2735 1.431 BUENOS AIRES, ARGENTINA, June 24, condiglist via DXLD) Turkey? ** AUSTRALIA. Updated A'05 schedule for HCJB Australia English language schedule effective from June 5 to August 27 is: 0700-1000 UT : 11750 - South Pacific 1000-1130 UT : 15425 - South East Asia 1130-1300 UT : 15425 - East Asia (Mon-Fri : 1130-1230 is in Mandarin) 1300-1400 UT : 15405 - East Asia (Mon-Fri : 1300-1400 is in Mandarin) 2230-0100 UT : 15525 - East Asia (Mon-Fri : 2230-0000 is in Mandarin) 0100-0230 UT : 15560 - South Asia (Mon-Sat : 0100-0130 is in Hindi) Following are suspended from 5th June till 27th August'05: 1300-1430 UT : 15405 1430-1600 UT : 15390 Sched for DX Partyline : 0730-0800 UT : 11750 Sat 1100-1130 UT : 15425 Sat 1300-1330 UT : 15405 Sat 1500-1530 UT : 15390 Sat CXLD [??] Reports to : english @ hcjb.org.au For mailed reports, please post to : The Voice of the Great Southland, GPO Box 691 Melbourne 3001, Australia. (Alokesh Gupta, New Delhi, June 24, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** AUSTRALIA. AUSTRALIA INTROS NEW OVER THE HORIZON RADAR SYSTEM Has a new state-of-the-art over-the-horizon radar in Australia`s Torres Strait become the source of interference to that nation`s Amateur Radio operations? Bruce Tennant, K6PZW reports: At least one ham down under is asking just that question after the Australian Government launches a trial of the new early warning system that meant to boost that nations protection of its northern borders from drug runners, disease, illegal immigration and unlicensed fishing. But some believe that the new radar could already be the source of objectionable interference to ham radio operations. In fact, Dale McCarthy, VK4DMC in North of Queensland State asks if the radar trial could be the source of the pulse type signals that we are hearing on 40 and 80 meters. And the answer is that nobody knows. At least not yet. The Wireless Institute of Australia describes the installation as consisting of two sites. A 440 meter long receiver array is located on Dauan Island, in the northern Torres Strait. The transmitter is on an uninhabited island, to the north of Badu Island, in the middle of Torres Strait. Actual transmit power is not discussed but the WIA quotes a government release that says the new radar system can detect surface vessels and low-flying aircraft beyond the visible horizon. As such, it has the potential to deliver 24-hour wide-area coastal surveillance of aircraft, ships and boats travelling in the Torres Strait. It also has the potential to provide early storm warnings and to protect offshore oil and gas installations, if further developed and deployed. For the Amateur Radio Newsline, I`m Bruce Tennant, K6PZW, reporting. Meantime, if you hear any interference on the high frequency bands that might be attributed to this radar system, please notify the Amateur Radio Intruder Watch Coordinator for the country that you live in. Be certain to include any directional bearings of the you may have along with the UTC time and date you heard it. You must make reports using UTC since that is the only world-wide time standard for investigators to refer to as they proceed. (WIA News via Amateur Radio Newsline™ Report 1454, June 24, 2005 via John Norfolk, dxldyg) ** BULGARIA. Once again on June 24 at 1339, R. Bulgaria on 15700 was unlistenable, just a large roar on the frequency. Are listeners in Europe also hearing this? I`m still not quite certain if this is QRM (surely, who would want to jam them?), or something very wrong with the RB transmitter --- in which case it might also happen on other frequencies at other times (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** BURMA [non]. Democratic Voice of Burma, 6/23/05, 9435 kHz, SINPO 44333, presumed Burmese, 2345-. Interview of a male by female, alternating sections by man and same woman, Several sections of readers over music (all covers of Western songs) several longer talks by the same man and woman. ID sequence at 0004. Off at 0029 (Mark Taylor, Madison, WI, Satellit 800, 22' wind up antenna, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Via Jülich, Germany ** CANADA. New 88.5 approved in Ottawa --- Among a slew of CRTC announcements on Thursday was an approval for a new FM station in Ottawa on 88.5 FM. http://www.crtc.gc.ca/archive/ENG/Decisions/2005/db2005-253.htm "The Commission approves the application by Newcap Inc. (Newcap) for a broadcasting licence to operate an English-language commercial FM radio station in Ottawa, Ontario. The station will operate in an Alternative Rock format, targeted to youth and young adults. ... The Commission is satisfied that Newcap's proposed use of 88.5 MHz, which will enable it to co-site the new transmitter at Camp Fortune, Quebec, with its existing station CIHT-FM, represents the best use of 88.5 MHz." And here are the technical parameters for the station, culled from the company's application back in 2004. http://www.crtc.gc.ca/archive/ENG/Hearings/2004/n2004-6-2.htm "The new station would operate on frequency 88.5 MHz (channel 203C1) with an average effective radiated power of 5,200 watts (maximum effective radiated power of 30,000 watts/antenna height of 254.6 metres)." It just so happens that 88.5 MHz is also used by CBC Radio One in Montreal. The channel looks to be incredibly short-spaced. I can't wait to see how the CBC's going to deal with this one. They've been trying to solve reception problems west of the Montreal transmission site since they switched CBM from AM to FM. This includes getting permission to boost the power of the Radio One Montreal transmission on 88.5 FM and tweak their antenna -- all with emphasis toward the west, no less. Any thoughts? 73, (Ricky Leong, Calgary, Alta, (ex- Montreal, Que.), June 24, DX LISTENING DIGEST) -- The whistle shrill still lingers on In the hearts of everyone Every day from dusk till dawn - Orangedale Whistle, Jimmy Rankin/Rankin Family (Ricky`s tagline) ** CHILE [and non]. I`m not picking on Voz Cristã, honest, but I keep encountering frequency collisions with them! June 24 at 0510, NHK Warudo in English via Sackville on 6110, where it has been for ages, was heavily disturbed by continuous praise music, only slightly weaker than NHK, which was a bit fluttery. Tho I hadn`t noticed this before as I frequently scan 49m during this hour. On this occasion, the southern signal was probably better than usual and the northern one worse than usual. Not sure what it was at first, until I remembered that this is VC`s all-night frequency to Brasil. Another unacceptable situation. I wonder if NHK`s official monitors in this part of the world have noticed? I am sure R. Japan would be reluctant to move off this well-established channel. I checked VC`s schedule page in Portuguese, http://www.vozcrista.com/article/frontpage/35 and found the ``Horário A-05`` at the top is totally wrong, NOT A-05 but out of date: 1200-2400 17660 19 [sic], 0000-0400 11745 25, 0400-1200 11890 49 [sic] --- so they updated the meter bands but not the frequencies! Just below it, however, in another format is ``Transmissões da Voz Cristâ [sic]`` which really is the initial A-05, showing Portuguese: 0000-0400 11745, 0400-1200 6110, 1200-2400 15475 --- but that is out of date too, as they finally changed to 15485 on June 20 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) The mid-latitude K-index at 0300 UTC on 24 June was 4 (67 nT). The mid-latitude K-index at 0600 UTC on 24 June was 5 (113 nT). Space weather for the past 24 hours has been strong. Geomagnetic storms reaching the G3 level occurred (SEC via DXLD) ** CHINA. Che fine ha fatto il jamming musicale cinese? In questi giorni ho notato che il jamming musicale cinese, nella maggior parte dei casi è stato sostituito dai canali nazionali cinesi. Contemporaneamente, però, su 15250 kHz di mattina è stato ascoltata una sirena che potrebbe essere un nuovo jamming destinato all'emissione di Taiwan Fu Hsing BC (LUCA BOTTO FIORA, Rapallo (Genova), June 23, playdx via DXLD) What about the Chinese music jammer? In those days I noted that the Chinese music jammer in most cases has been replaced by the CNR channels. At the same time, in the morning on 15250 kHz I heard a "siren" that may be a new jamming against the Taiwanese Fu Hsing BC. (LUCA BOTTO FIORA, Rapallo (Genova) - Italy, June 23, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CUBA. Another demonstration of Fidel`s unconcern about collateral damage caused by jamming R. Martí: June 24 at 1343, there were noise pulses at the rate of about 2 per second on 11930, even tho there was no Martí until its warm-up carrier came on a minute later. This also bothered a station in Russian on 11935. That would be Taiwan to the FE, so also carrying on to NAm beyond. Just about any time Martí is silent on 11930, traces of Cuban jammers can still be heard, tho many more pile on when modulation begins (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CUBA [and non]. I just read some more information about the Commando Solo aircraft that says they can broadcast on any frequency from 45 kHz to 1000 MHz. So I guess that 530 kHz is no big deal for them (Patrick Griffith, Westminster, CO, NRC-AM via DXLD) Thanks for the link, Glenn, this is a remarkable exchange to read. Sadly, it is unnecessary. Both RVC and a Cuban (Radio Rebelde of late, Radio Cadena Habana also heard in recent weeks) use 530, apparently 24/7. Power varies on the Cuban transmitter. Radio Martí, from Commando Solo, joins the mix on Saturdays at 2200 UT. CS gets exceptional coverage from their airborne AM transmissions. Those of us who heard the 1035 broadcasts intended for Haiti know that the signal from the plane can cover a great area. As we cross the solstice, perhaps we can start to count down the days until Radio Martí will be heard all along the US east coast on 530, as sunset will precede the end of the broadcast. With the higher power of Rebelde on 530, this is shaping up to be a loud, old-fashioned radio war for our Saturday evening enjoyment (Gerry Bishop, Niceville, FL, June 21, NRC-AM via DXLD) Subject: Cuba 530 R. Rebelde. As per other reports of increased power from Cuban 530, I received the first clearly audible signal today, on an even level with RVCI, both intelligible. 530 // 620 R. Rebelde, at 1000 EDT and still at 1600, 6/23. With one or the other nulled, both stations were easily listenable this morning. Afternoon QRN has cut down on that, though. Past attempts to hear Cuban 530 produced little more than a barely detectable SAH well under RVCI. There have been several along Florida's Gulf coast reporting Cuban 530 before the recent power increase, and brought that increase to attention. On the southern Atlantic coast RVCI has always dominated, day and night, until now (W. Curt Deegan, Boca Ratón, (Southeast) Florida [JRC NRD-535D, LF Engineering H-800 & M-601, Quantum Phaser, ANC-4 noise canceler, GAP DSP], June 23, NRC-AM via DXLD) As you say there isn't much choice for the frequency. Between 530 and 1710 kHz, 530 may be more probable to be found in radios in Cuba. And maybe they want to reach mainly Havana via Commando Solo; isn't it then [un]likely that a 40 kW transmitter 700 miles away (RVC in South Caicos) beats a 10 kW transmitter about 50 miles away (Commando Solo)? 73, (Mauno Ritola, Finland, ABDX via DXLD) ** CUBA [non]. Re 5-103: SEGUIRA VOLANDO EL AVION DE TV MARTI COPIADO DE LA EDICION ELECTRONICA "EL NUEVO HERALD". El Nuevo Herald | 06/24/2005 | Seguirá volando el avión de TV Martí http://www.miami.com/mld/elnuevo/news/world/cuba/11970887.htm Posted on Fri, Jun. 24, 2005 RUI FERREIRA El Nuevo Herald De momento y hasta nuevo aviso, el avión C-130 que asegura la transmisión semanal a Cuba de la emisora TV Martí no será desplazado hacia Irak o Afganistán como pretende el Departamento de Defensa. Según dijo ayer un alto funcionario del Departamento de Estado, bajo cuya supervisión se encuentra la Oficina de Transmisiones hacia Cuba (OCB), la Casa Blanca mantiene la postura tomada en agosto del año pasado de dedicar el aparato a la estación televisiva gubernamental. ''El Presidente [George W. Bush] sigue comprometido con romper el bloqueo informativo del régimen [del gobernante Fidel] Castro, y hasta que no haya un medio más permanente, el avión no será desviado de esta misión'', dijo la fuente, que no quiso identificarse por la sensibilidad del tema. El miércoles, El Nuevo Herald reveló que el avión de TV Martí se encuentra en el medio de una sorda pugna entre los departamentos de Defensa y de Estado, ya que el primero quiere enviarlo a las labores en los conflictos de Irak y Afganistán, mientras que el segundo desea mantenerlo en su misión actual, pese a que diplomáticos estadounidenses indicaron que el régimen de la isla ha tenido un éxito relativo en interferir las transmisiones. El C-130, conocido como Command[o] Solo, es uno de los seis aviones que el Pentágono dispone para realizar emisiones de radio y televisión, indicó una fuente legislativa que investigó el tema. Cuatro de ellos están dedicados a otras actividades, y uno se mantiene de reserva. Pero los costos de su mantenimiento corren por cuenta del Departamento de Estado, quien no dispone de un avión propio para esas actividades. Uno de los elementos de la pugna entre el Pentágono y el Departamento de Estado es quién asumirá los $10 millones que cuesta un nuevo aparato para dedicarlo a TV Martí y su mantenimiento, valorados en $4 millones anuales. Desde hace unas semanas, el Congreso ha estado discutiendo las asignaciones financieras en el marco del presupuesto del 2006, pero ni el Departamento de Estado ni el de Defensa han incluido esos $10 millones en sus presupuestos, como desea la Casa Blanca. En los últimos años, el presupuesto de Radio y TV Martí tradicionalmente ha rondado los $25 millones al año. Una fuente legislativa que ha presenciado las discusiones congresionales dijo a El Nuevo Herald que ``es evidente que ninguno de los dos quiere asumir esos gastos''. El escollo consiste en que el Departamento de Estado piensa que debe ser el Pentágono quien compre y opere el avión nuevo, mientras que el Departamento de Defensa piensa que eso corresponde al de Estado, porque es quien controla el presupuesto de TV Martí. El lunes, la representante republicana por la Florida Ileana Ros- Lehtinen envió sendas cartas al Presidente y a la secretaria de Estado, Condoleezza Rice, manifestando preocupación por un posible desvío del C-130 de sus funciones actuales. Ayer, el alto funcionario del Departamento de Estado admitió que las gestiones para conseguir los $10 millones para el nuevo avión ''no eran pan comido'', pero ``la administración confía en que conseguirá el dinero''. Según el representante republicano por la Florida Lincoln Díaz-Balart, vicepresidente del Comité de Reglamento de la cámara baja, ``no hay nadie en la administración cuestionando decisiones en las cuales el Presidente se encuentra fuertemente comprometido''. Cordiales 73 (via Oscar de Céspedes (Miami, FL), condig list via DXLD) PICTURE IRAQIS WONDERING WHY THEY ARE WATCHING THE LATEST NEWS ABOUT CUBA IN SPANISH. But the Radio/TV Martí C-130 transmitter airplane won't go to Iraq, at least until a replacement is found. Knight Ridder via CentreDaily.com, 23 June 2005 http://www.centredaily.com/mld/centredaily/news/politics/11970024.htm See also Miami Herald, 23 June 2005 [registration required] http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/11961736.htm (kimandrewelliott.com via DXLD) ** GERMANY. Truckradio (Jülich 702, Nordkirchen 855) recently added transmissions via the ORF bouquet on Astra 1H (12.663 GHz h). In a regarding press release, issued yesterday, they also promise that Burg 531 and Stuttgart 738 will be put on air until [by] autumn this year. http://www.truckradio.de/default.aspx?page=TruckRadio_Astra-digtal (Kai Ludwig, Germany, June 25, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** GERMANY [non]. Germany / Russia: Deutsche Welle announces test transmissions via Komsomolsk-Amur on June 27 and 28 only: German 0800- 1000 on 15175. Probably this will become a regular outlet, depending on the test results. This via Walter Eibl. Good night (evening for you), (Kai Ludwig, Germany, June 23, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** GREECE. Las emisoras piratas con programas en idioma griego y las cuales utilizaban en el pasado el diapasón de 1600 a 2000 kilohercios ya han irrumpido en el diapasón oficial, inferior a 1600 kilohercios. Su presencia fue registrada en 1386 y 1566 kilohercios. Las emisoras piratas fueron igualmente captadas en las frecuencias de 3133, 4670 y 6266 kilohercios, o sea en onda corta. Por Rumen Pankov, Versión al español: Mijail Mijailov http://www.bnr.bg/RadioBulgaria (R. Bulgaria DX program via Dino Bloise, Florida, EEUU, dxldyg via DXLD) The SW frequencies being harmonics of one or the other MW, he might have added (gh, DXLD) ** HONDURAS. Dios mío, ¿porqué no identifican a la radio? En los 3250 kHz estoy escuchando a Radio Luz y Vida de Honduras. Desde las 0010 hasta la 0150 UT la he estado escuchando con saludos, complacencias, canciones, comentarios. Llevo casi dos horas escuchando la radio y al locutor no se le ha ocurrido decir, ésta es radio tal. Dios mío, ¿porqué se olvidan de identificar a la radio? Lo correcto es hacerlo a los 15 minutos si el programa es en vivo, a la media hora y a la hora. ¿Alguien más la está escuchando? [Luego:] A las 0303 UT acaban de identificar, el locutor dijo la hora y luego identificó a Luz y Vida. Aleluya. (José Elías, Venezuela, UT June 24, Noticias DX via DXLD) ** INTERNATIONAL VACUUM. Re: BBC Radio 1 to air in U.S. on Sirius Satellite Of course, we old folk should point out that Radio One was created by the UK Govt. in direct response to success of the off-shore Pirates, Radio Caroline and Radio London. When created, they we a very bland version of the pirates` USA Top 40 style. Now, they sound quite innovative compared to most USA stations. The tables have been turned; in the 60's European radio was very conservative and the USA was full of free-form innovation. Now USA radio is plain conservative and radio in Europe at least tries to be creative. I will look forward to Radio One on my Sirius, but I cringe when thinking of the days I was marching on 10 Downing Street protesting the shutting down of Radio Caroline and swearing to never listen to Radio One. Too bad no John Peel to enjoy on Sirius (Andy O`Brien, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** IRAQ. TODAY RADIO - NEW ON AIR IN BAGHDAD | Text of report in English by BBC Monitoring research on 23 June A new radio station identifying as "Today Radio" [Radio Al-Yawm] was observed in Baghdad on 90.1 MHz in the FM band, by BBC Monitoring on 23 June 2005 at 1350 gmt. Programming was mostly music presented in Arabic. The station signed-off with the national anthem at 1402 gmt. Source: BBC Monitoring research, 1520 gmt 23 Jun 05 (via DXLD) ** LATVIA. 9290 kHz this weekend: 25th June Saturday Radio Six 0600-0800 UT Radio Casablanca 1000-1100 UT EMR 2000-2100 UT Good listening (Tom Taylor, June 24, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** MEXICO [and non]. You almost need a score card to follow the cross- border flights, inspections, and paper darts. Readers may remember that Hemet based Lazer Broadcasting launched a paper filing offensive move against Quetzal broadcasting. Quetzal is owned by Jaime Bonilla, the company behind XHBCE-FM 105.7. The first paperwork filed with the FCC in Washington concluded that XHBCE-FM had been broadcasting from the wrong location in Mexico and the programming supplied from the U.S. was in violaton of cross-border agreements. 105.7 (along with AM 1700) is being programmed by Broadcast Company of the Americas the U.S. operators of The Mighty 1090, XEPRS-AM. John Lynch answered the first round attack in SDRadio on May 26; he wrote: "I will not be associated with any operation that is not operating to the letter of the law --- three broadcasters joined together to file a petition seeking to prevent US broadcasters from maintaining studios in the US to provide programming on 105.7 FM and calling into question the right of US broadcasters to maintain studios to provide programming on 1700 AM, 620 AM, and 1030 AM. Despite the fact that the petition raises allegations dealing almost exclusively with the lawfulness of the technical operations at the transmitter sites of the four stations, all of which are located in Mexico, the petition has no impact upon operations in Mexico. ``It is now clear to me that this petition is nothing more than an attempt to restrain trade and to keep competition to existing stations at a minimum. Because of my long history of ensuring that my companies` operations comply with both the letter and the spirit of US and Mexican law and treaties, I personally chartered a helicopter and, with a consulting engineer, visited each transmitter site that the petitioners claimed were operating at variance with the law. That survey proved to 100% certainty that each and every allegation raised in the petition, which was largely based upon the study of a consulting engineer who it now appears never qualified with the Mexican government to conduct that study, is outrageously false and completely without basis." As the paperwork flies, Quetzal has riled a response to Lazer's initial filing, and also Lazer has filed an opposition to the cross- border permit for BCA. Read the briefs (actually a small book at this point). Quetzal Opposition http://earthsignals.com/add_CGC/Quetzal_Opposition.pdf and Lazer Petition to Deny http://earthsignals.com/add_CGC/Lazer_Petition_to_Deny.pdf Both files are in the PDF format. Stay Tuned (SDradio.net June 23 via DXLD) ** PALMYRA AND JARVIS ISLANDS. KH5, OC-085 -- Pat, NH6UY, Kimo, KH7U, and perhaps also Rick, KH7O, are expected to show up from Palmyra during the last week of June. They plan to work in CW/SSB on 15-40m in their spare time during the (local) nights and dawn. QSL via AH6NF (DXNL 1439 - June 23, 2005 DX Newsletter via Dave Raycroft, ODXA via DXLD) ** RUSSIA. Taldom transmitter is a large broadcasting facility for shortwave and longwave near Taldom, Russia. Its longwave transmitter working on 261 kHz is with a power of 2500 Kilowatt world's most powerful broadcasting station and receivable in whole Europe at nighttimes (if Russian authorities did not forget to pay the electricity bill). There are two aerial systems for longwave at Taldom. One consists of mutiple guyed masts with a height of 257 metres, the other consists of at least 4 guyed masts with a height of 275 metres arranged in a circle and a mast in the centre of the circle. Further informations of Taldom transmitter are on http://www.structurae.net/structures/data/index.cfm?ID=s0014896 http://www.drmradio.co.uk/html/taldom.html http://www.glavpryg.ru/photo/taldom1/taldom1.html http://www.glavpryg.ru/photo/taldom2/taldom2.html http://www.mordkovitch.de/savel/taldom/img8.htm Very curious is, that the masts of one antenna system are - as can be seen on http://www.drmradio.co.uk/assets/images/VoR1.jpg - connected at two levels by each other. What might be the purpose of this? At Alexanderson antennas connection wires are only spun between the tops of the masts! Or do these ropes have no electrical functions? (Posted by Harald [ harald_der_grosse @ gmx.de ] on June 22, 2005 at 11:56:15, LW Messageboard via DXLD) ** UKRAINE. Dario Monferini over Dxprogram Radio Ukraine International --- Hello, Dario! Interview will be on air over Radio Ukraine International on Sat/Sun (from June 25 plus ~3 Sat/Sun onward) at 2118 on 7490 kHz; 0018 & 0318 on 7440, 1118 on 15675. I wish you good listening. Reception reports are welcomed to my email and will be verified with QSLcard. Best regards, (Alexander Yegorov, Kiev, Ukraine, egorov @ nrcu.gov.ua via Dario Monferini, Italy, June 24, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Dario recently visited Kiyiv. Just as I suspected, RUI does one DX program a month and repeats it week after week. Wonder if this apply to any or all their other shows? (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U K. BBC'S NEW WEATHER REPORT: LOOK, IT'S RAINING BRICKBATS By SARAH LYALL, New York Times, Thursday, June 23, 2005 EXTRACT: "organizations representing the partially sighted and owners of black-and-white television sets said the BBC had failed them, too." CAPTION: Feeling seasick? The BBC's weather graphics, a constantly moving picture, have caused some viewers to complain that they make them queasy. CAPTION: BBC Weather (bbc.co.uk) - BBC's redesign of its weather graphics last month has proved controversial. Steve Forrest/Insight- Visual, for The New York Times LONDON, June 23 - If Peter Gibbs has learned one thing in his years as a weather presenter for the British Broadcasting Corporation, it is that the inherent delightfulness of sunshine is by no means a matter of faith here in the land of rain and gloom. When Britons cannot agree on what makes a "nice day," it is no surprise to Peter Gibbs, a BBC weatherman, that the new weather graphics do not please everyone. Fishermen are among those who are unhappy. . . http://www.nytimes.com/2005/06/24/international/europe/24weather.html (via Blind News via Paul David, DXLD) ** U K [non]. Stopped on 11945 at 1345 June 24 when I was surprised to hear a 5+1 timesignal; BBC theme music soon revealed the source, in unID language. That would be the start of their half-sesquihour in Burmese via Singapore. I wonder how many Burmese timepieces are a quarter-hour off because of this? No doubt it would have been too time-consuming to broadcast the twelve three-quarter-hour bongs from Big Ben instead (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. In a column entitled "Biden playing politics" (imagine that, a Senator playing politics!) Robert Novak criticizes Pattiz and Senator Joe Biden, who is trying to keep him on the BBG. Novak makes this remarkable assertion: "Pattiz played a leading role in establishing a radio music service to the Arab world, but associates say he was not the dominant force Biden's statement claims." Townhall.com, 23 June 2005. http://www.townhall.com/columnists/robertnovak/rn20050623.shtml (kimandrewelliott.com via DXLD) ** U S A [and non]. BULK OF U.S. FUNDING SHOULD GO TO LOCAL, INDEPENDENT BROADCASTING, SAYS PRESIDENT OF ORGANIZATION THAT FOSTERS LOCAL, INDEPENDENT BROADCASTING. David Hoffman, president of Internews, in one of his periodic op-ed arguing that U.S. funding should be diverted from international broadcasting and to the work that his organization happens to do. Washington Times, 24 June 2005 http://washingtontimes.com/op-ed/20050623-084201-6823r.htm (kimandrewelliott.com via DXLD) ** U S A. Dr. Becker, Jane and I will be doing another test transmission this evening on WBCQ 5105 from 0100 to 0400 UT, live from the M/S Katie in Boston. We've been pleased so far with the bandwidth and performance of our wireless link to the 'net. 5105 was coming in pretty good here last night, so I hope propagation is with us again this evening. Regards, (Larry Will, MA, UT June 24, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Heard at 0215-0233* 6/24. GH's WOR #1278 till 0233 and then sign off announcements. No mention of M/S Katie. Good signal, best in USB (Don Hosmer, ibid.) ** U S A. I note the item in one of the latest DXLDs that refers to WBCQ airing the new "Radio Classics" program. But that has been referred to specifically in the recent "Allan Weiner Worldwide" programs (including those done by substitute hosts), and they were saying that the host/sponsor of that program completely disappeared after the announcement of its coming several weeks ago. So IS it actually going to be on? Did the sponsor show up after all? What happened? 73, (Will Martin, MO, June 24, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A [and non]. Since the very beginning of A-05, I have noticed that WHRI, South Carolina, on 15285 in the mornings almost always has heavy co-channel interference in Chinese, making it unlistenable. Since there is nothing on WHRI but gospel huxters, this is useful. If they have any listeners at all who really want to hear them, I`m surprised no one has complained about the collision. But what is going on? Per EiBi A-05: 15285 1100-1530 G BBC M FE /SNG 15285 1200-1400 USA WHRI World Harvest R. 1 E NAm Mo-Fr 15285 1400-2400 USA WHRI World Harvest R. 1 E NAm For details of azimuth we must go to HFCC A-05: 15285 1200 1400 10-13 HRI 250 173 23456 270305 301005 D USA HRI FCC 15285 1400 2100 10-13 HRI 250 173 1234567 270305 301005 D USA HRI FCC 15285 1030 1530 43E,44,49 SNG 100 13 1234567 270305 301005 D G BBC MER So BBC via Singapore is at 13 degrees, which of course puts it across North America beyond China. This is another case of failing to think outside the CIRAF box. Note also that altho supposedly for ENAm, WHRI is beamed almost due south from Cypress Creek (or have they renamed that?), which means its signal out here is not so strong. Until I looked it up, I figured the Chinese was probably from China, and there may also be a jammer on there, tho it hasn`t sounded like Firedrake. As checked June 24 at 1337 and again at 1427 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. FEDERAL FUNDING CUTS TO PUBLIC BROADCASTING Message from KCRW General Manager Ruth Seymour Dear KCRW Listener, I am writing you about an unfolding crises in Congress with regard to public broadcasting. Proposed funding cuts now before the full House pose a serious threat to public radio and television -- and to KCRW. The proposed cut is 25% to KCRW's CPB grant this October and next October as well. Moreover adding the proposed additional cuts to PBS childrens' programs and station digital conversion -- the total reduction adds up to a whopping 45%! Facility funding, which provided opportunities for stations to modernize and extend their service has already been zeroed out. These are the grants that helped KCRW purchase it's first modern transmitter in 1979 and launch NPR's Morning Edition. Later they enabled KCRW to extend service to Ventura and the Antelope Valley. If these cuts stand, KCRW may lose over $1,000,000 from its operating revenue. This would severely impact KCRW's local programming and our ability to sustain NPR. The Corporation for Public Broadcasting is the independent organization created by Congress to support public broadcasting and act as a heat shield against political interference. But now, ironically, the Corporation itself is providing the heat. Chairman Ken Tomlinson has politicized matters by framing the issue of balance on news programs as liberal versus conservative. We vehemently object to this characterization which is intended to put public broadcasting on the defensive and influence program decisions. We cherish our editorial independence and the political diversity of the audience we have attracted. We believe in objective journalism, free from political constraints. While we welcome constructive criticism, we reject partisan judgements masquerading as impartial analysis. We can't reverse the funding cuts by ourselves. We need your help. THE MOST IMPORTANT VOICE IN PUBLIC BROADCASTING IS YOURS! Please register your opinion by contacting your Congressional Representative right away. The full House votes next Thursday or Friday. Find your Congressional Representative at: http://www.congress.org/congressorg/dbq/officials/ Sincerely, (Ruth Seymour, KCRW General Manager, June 18, via DXLD) [Later:] FEDERAL FUNDING CUTS TO PUBLIC BROADCASTING AVERTED On Thursday afternoon (6/23/05), the House of Representatives voted to restore public broadcasting funding. They approved the Obey-Leach- Lowey amendment by a final vote of 287 to 140. The vote was a bi- partisan victory and came from both sides of the aisle. KCRW thanks the following members of the House [all from California?] who voted to restore funding to public broadcasting: Joe Baca Xavier Becerra Howard Berman Mary Bono Lois Capps Randy Cunningham Susan Davis Elton Gallegly Juanita Millender-McDonald Grace Napolitano Lucille Roybal-Allard Linda Sanchez Loretta Sanchez Adam Schiff Brad Sherman Hilda Solis Bill Thomas Maxine Waters Diane Watson Henry Waxman Thanks also to the listeners who contacted their House members. You *are* the most important voice in Public Broadcasting! Here is a link to the roll call vote listing which way Congressional Representatives voted: http://clerk.house.gov/evs/2005/roll305.xml (Last updated Thursday, June 23 at 4:50PM) (from http://kcrw.com/about/frame_funding.html via DXLD) ** U S A. CPB FUNDING UPDATE FROM KCCU MANAGEMENT I am writing you today with a quick update on the American investment in public broadcasting. Yesterday the House of Representatives approved an amendment to restore some funding that was to be cut from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting on behalf of public radio and television stations. Funding for some public television educational programs and the satellite system that serves public television and radio was not restored. This leaves the possibility that a reallocation of remaining funds could result in reduced support for KCCU and other radio and television stations. Nonetheless, the restoration of basic funding is a significant improvement over the cuts that were proposed just a week ago. Many of the headlines and stories about U.S. funding of public broadcasting has focused on NPR and PBS. In reality, NPR receives very little funding from federal sources - most of the funds support local stations like KCCU. The funds that KCCU receives are a match on the support provided by listeners and business supporters in our community. Your continued contributions are the most consistent and important source for funding KCCU. As always, thank you for listening to KCCU. Best regards, Mark Norman Director of Broadcasting/General Manager Cameron University 2800 West Gore Lawton, Oklahoma 73505 Office - 580-581-2425 Fax - 580-581-5571 (KCCU June 24 via DXLD) ** U S A. $100 MILLION RESTORED TO 2006 CPB BUDGET FAYETTEVILLE, AR 2005-06-24 Friday, June 24, 2005-- Eighty-seven Republican members of the U.S. House of Representatives, including Congressman John Boozman of Arkansas, joined 196 Democrats to put $100-million back into the 2006 budget for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. The $100-million, representing 25% of CPB's budget, was cut by the House Appropriations Committee, but on a roll- call vote in the House yesterday, the money was restored. Public radio and television supporters around the U.S., including many in KUAF's listening area called and wrote Congress urging support for public broadcasting. If the Appropriations Committee action had not be overturned by the full House, public radio stations around the country would have been hit hard. Nearly all money allocated by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting to public radio goes to local stations like KUAF. Less than one-percent of CPB's budget goes to NPR. Thanks to Arkansas' Congressional delegation for their support of public broadcasting. © Copyright 2005, kuaf (via DXLD) ** U S A. HOUSE VOTE SPARES PUBLIC BROADCASTING FUNDS --- Health, Education and Labor Programs Face Cuts Under Major Spending Bill By Shailagh Murray and Paul Farhi Washington Post Staff Writers Friday, June 24, 2005; A06 Unable to lower the budget ax on National Public Radio and the Public Broadcasting Service, the House agreed by a wide margin yesterday to restore funds to public broadcasting, as lawmakers struggled to pass the most politically painful spending bill so far this year. The House voted 284 to 140 to add back $100 million to the Corporation for Public Broadcasting's fiscal 2006 budget that had been cut in a committee, and to reverse a committee decision to eliminate all funding for the CPB within two years. The vote, which drew the support of 87 Republicans, followed a public relations blitz by public radio and TV stations, which fomented a widespread protest campaign by broadcasting ads that urged viewers and listeners to call their congressional offices. Pat Mitchell, president and chief executive of PBS in Alexandria, called the vote "a huge moral victory for public broadcasting and a resounding confirmation of the broad, diverse, nonpartisan support that PBS and our stations enjoy across the country." . . . http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/06/23/AR2005062301897_pf.html (via Mike Cooper, DXLD) ** U S A. $100M CUT REJECTED FOR PUBLIC TV, RADIO The Boston Globe By Rick Klein, Globe Staff | June 24, 2005 WASHINGTON -- The House of Representatives yesterday voted overwhelmingly to keep intact the government's basic funding for public television and radio, turning back an effort by GOP budget-writers to cut $100 million from the broadcasting agency they have accused of pushing a left-leaning political agenda. The House voted, 284 to 140, to maintain funding for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, the private agency that administers money for the Public Broadcasting Service and National Public Radio. The House Appropriations Committee had recommended a 25 percent cut to the corporation's basic budget. . . http://www.boston.com/news/nation/washington/articles/2005/06/24/100m_cut_rejected_for_public_tv_radio?mode=PF (via Mike Cooper, DXLD) PUBLIC BROADCASTING FUNDS RESTORED A WIN FOR THE VOICE OF THE PEOPLE http://www.pfaw.org/pfaw/general/default.aspx?oid=19047 When a U.S. House committee voted to strip $100 million from funding for public radio and television, People For the American Way immediately galvanized its supporters and activists to call on Congress, generating hundreds of thousands of contacts over the phone, through email and on the web. After today’s landslide, bipartisan vote on the floor of the House to restore the funding to the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB) budget, People For the American Way President Ralph G. Neas had the following statement: ``This shows the power of people coming together to make their voice heard. We didn’t whisper. We shouted to the rooftops: `Keep your mitts off Big Bird,` and the U.S. Congress heard us loud and clear. ``In all seriousness, the massive response from the American people sends a message to this Congress that people value the independent voices of public broadcasting, and want to keep the news, public affairs, educational and arts programming that public radio and TV uniquely provide. On behalf of my five-year-old daughter and all her schoolmates across the nation, I hope CPB Board Chairman Kenneth Y. Tomlinson was listening: Mess with Elmo, and you’re messing with America. ``People For the American Way called this morning for President Bush to fire Mr. Tomlinson, and we renew that call. Partisan politics has no place in public broadcasting, and independent voices must not be silenced. Mr. Tomlinson should take this vote as a sign of things to come, and step down.`` (People for the American Way via Current via DXLD) ** U S A. PUBLIC BROADCASTING NAMES NEW PRESIDENT by JENNIFER C. KERR, Associated Press Writer Thu Jun 23, 4:00 PM ET WASHINGTON - The Corporation for Public Broadcasting, whose chairman is under fire for complaining about what he considered liberal bias at PBS, chose a former Republican Party co-chairman Thursday as its president and chief executive. Patricia S. Harrison, the assistant secretary of state for educational and cultural affairs, was selected after three days of closed meetings by the corporation's board of directors. She was co-chair of the Republican National Committee from 1997 to 2001. The announcement came as the House considered a 25 percent cut to the corporation's budget for next year, to $300 million. In tapping Harrison, the CPB board said she was devoted to public broadcasting and its mission. Liberal public interest groups criticized the decision, saying Harrison has no experience in public broadcasting. "It sets the wrong tone for dealing with some of the challenges that are facing the CPB right now," said Chellie Pingree, president and chief executive of Common Cause. "She has all the wrong experience and comes across as too partisan of a player for this particular job." Democratic lawmakers also sounded alarm. "This is a fatal blow to the historic political neutrality of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting," said Sen. Frank Lautenberg (news, bio, voting record), D-N.J. The senator planned to call for hearings in the Senate Commerce Committee, which has oversight of the broadcast industry. Lautenberg and fellow senators Byron Dorgan, D-N.D. and Hillary Rodham Clinton, D-N.Y., sent a letter to corporation chairman Kenneth Y. Tomlinson last week urging the CPB to put off choosing a new president. The senators expressed concern about political interference in public broadcasting by Tomlinson. They also questioned Harrison's partisan background. The corporation, which Congress set up in 1967 to shield public broadcasting from political influence, funnels federal dollars to PBS, National Public Radio and hundreds of public radio and television stations. Tomlinson, a Republican, has been critical of PBS public affairs programming, alleging that it's too liberal and doesn't give conservative views equal treatment. PBS denies that. In a statement, PBS said it has concerns about the appointment of a former political party chair to head the CPB. It added: "It is our hope and expectation that Ms. Harrison will execute her responsibilities with nonpartisan integrity." (via Daryl, DXLD) ** U S A. NEWS CREW AT WNKU IS LEAVING By Rick Bird, Post staff reporter In one hiring swoop, Northern Kentucky University's WNKU-FM (89.7) has lost its news department to WVXU-FM (91.7), and WNKU officials suggest it may not be replaced. . . http://news.kypost.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050622/NEWS02/506220394/1014 (via Artie Bigley, DXLD) ** U S A. rfb WANTS EQUIPMENT BACK By MIKE KALIL Reformer Staff Brattleboro Reformer http://www.reformer.com/Stories/0,1413,102~8860~2936628,00.html Friday, June 24, 2005 - BRATTLEBORO -- The lawyer for radio free brattleboro is preparing a response to this week's raid, which will seek to hold the federal government in contempt and get the station's equipment back. When federal authorities raided the unlicensed radio station's studio in the Brooks House on Main Street on Wednesday, they were acting on a warrant issued by a Burlington federal judge. The station had been operating without a Federal Communications Commission license since 1998. And the raid came as rfb and the federal government are still locked in a court case. Now the members are dealing with two court cases -- one to decide whether they can broadcast, and another that knocked them off the air before they expected. "Things are becoming clearer in my head," rfb lawyer James Maxwell said Thursday, when asked what the next step would be. However, he had not yet filed or prepared a response as of Thursday, he said. He said he would file court paperwork in the near future. As of Wednesday, he had 30 days to file a claim, and then another 20 days to answer the complaint. Rfb has made it clear that it wants its equipment back. And it also wants to go back on the air and stay there until another community radio station is launched. Rfb also wants sanctions to be taken against the FCC, said Larry Bloch, one of the station's founders. Moreover, they want the two cases combined. The FCC, however, wants to make sure rfb doesn't return to the air, said Assistant United States Attorney Michael P. Drescher. "We'll have to see what they file, and we will prosecute the forfeiture action if necessary," Drescher said Thursday. At the same time, both parties are awaiting a decision by Judge Garvan Murtha of whether the issue of the station's existence will be decided by summary judgment. It is unclear when that will come. Drescher has requested that Murtha make a decision without a trial, and Maxwell has objected, saying there are still unanswered questions. Summary judgments are granted when the facts in a case are not in dispute and a trial is not needed. Drescher says he went after the station because it was broadcasting illegally, and he is obliged to uphold the law. The station had been assured that the government would not seize its equipment until a ruling was made, but Drescher told Maxwell that plans had changed in April. Rfb members say they have been given permission to broadcast by the community and the FCC has been unfairly denying licenses to low-power stations. Members say the FCC has been slow to license 10-watt stations, which the government only recently has decided to do. "The federal government has illegally confiscated community property, and has withheld a broadcast license from the mutual benefit of the public," said Heather Freedman, a public advocate and rfb member. "The federal government is in violation of the U.S. Constitution. We, of and for this radio station, are duty-bound to achieve enforcement of the law." She added, "This is a landmark case, and we are being wronged." Depending on what the court decides, the station may remain off the air for good. The station had pledged to step aside when a 100-watt station by Vermont Earthworks goes live in Brattleboro. The organization was authorized earlier this year to build the noncommercial station, and the plan is to model it after rfb. It is unclear when the station will go on the air. The raid case will likely be heard in the federal court in Brattleboro by Judge Murtha, Drescher said. The warrant was issued by U.S. Magistrate Judge Jerome Niedermeier, and Maxwell had criticized Drescher for going through a different judge in seeking the warrant. "It certainly would be appropriate for it all to be here in Judge Murtha's (courtroom)," Maxwell said Thursday. In Brattleboro, the raid sparked complaints among rfb's listeners and supporters, who called the FCC's actions frivolous and a waste of taxpayer dollars. "We're thrilled," joked Nancy Braus, co-owner of Everyone's Books on Elliot Street. "The world's a safer place." (via Artie Bigley, DXLD) FCC EQUIPMENT SEIZURE SILENCES radio free brattleboro By Kathryn Casa | Vermont Guardian Posted June 22, 2005 http://www.vermontguardian.com/local/0105/rfbShutdown.shtml BRATTLEBORO — Brattleboro`s low-power community radio station was silenced early this morning when federal marshals raided radio free brattleboro`s downtown office, seizing thousands of dollars worth of broadcasting equipment and leaving a warrant on the unmanned console. The action caught community radio organizers off guard. The Federal Communications Commission has sued rfb in U.S. District Court in Brattleboro, claiming the 10-watt station is broadcasting illegally without an FCC license. That case is pending before U.S. District Court Judge Garvan Murtha. A ruling last year forestalled the FCC`s effort to keep rfb off the air while the case proceeds. ``They have shut us down not because they must, be because they can,`` said James Maxwell, rfb`s attorney. Rfb is a run collectively by about 70 self-styled DJs who range in age from teenagers to octogenarians. Their programming runs the gamut, from heavy metal to soft Christian rock and community-based talk shows. The 10-watt signal reaches a radius of about two miles from downtown Brattleboro. The U.S. Attorney`s office in Burlington obtained a warrant for the seizure Tuesday from U.S. District Court Magistrate Jerome Neidermeyer of Burlington. Hours later, at 6:58 a.m., federal marshals used a key to gain access to the rfb station in an apartment on High Street, where they seized $15,000-20,000 worth of broadcasting equipment, according to station organizer Larry Bloch. Rfb organizers last year agreed to abandon legal efforts to block the FCC from seizing their equipment after federal authorities signaled in court documents that no imminent seizure of equipment was planned. ``The FCC has chosen not to try to seize the equipment of rfb but to proceed by way of a preliminary injunction,`` the U.S. Attorney`s office wrote at the time. However, in April federal authorities wrote to rfb that they were now ``prepared to pursue other law enforcement remedies.`` ``I do not believe this district court or any appeals court will say that rfb was obliged to shut down,`` Maxwell responded. ``Shutdown is precisely the question for which we await the judge`s answer.`` Meanwhile, rfb has made it clear that it plans to cease broadcasting when a newly licensed 100-watt station, Vermont Earthworks, begins broadcasting in Brattleboro. That may happen as early as this fall. Asked about the timing of Wednesday`s move, Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael Drescher said, ``The reason for the law enforcement effort is entirely a function of the fact that radio free brattleboro is broadcasting without a license, and has been for quite a while.`` He said the decision to seize the equipment was made by the FCC and the U.S. Attorney`s office in Burlington. Maxwell called the move an ``end run`` around the pending case, which he said raises ``substantial and legitimate legal issues.`` ``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 change to get the U.S. marshals into the station to grab the equipment,`` Maxwell said in a statement. Asked if there are plans to shutter other unlicensed radio stations in Vermont, Drescher said, ``The federal government will certainly try to enforce the law equally with other stations.`` Wednesday`s action is the latest in a long series of legal and tactical maneuvers between rfb and the FCC that began in May 2003, when a Guilford listener complained to federal regulators that rfb`s signal was interfering with his reception of a National Public Radio station. A pair of FCC officers and a Brattleboro police officer showed up at the station the following month, demanding that the broadcasts stop. Rfb organizers complied, but two months later went back on the air at a different FM frequency. FCC agents returned to Brattleboro twice more, in September 2004 and March 2005, to measure rfb`s signal, according to FCC engineer Victor Tagliaferro. The last time, rfb`s 10-watt signal, when measured 200 feet from the transmission point, was 7,983 times stronger than FCC limits allowed, he noted. In March 2004, Brattleboro voters endorsed by a 2-1 margin a referendum supporting the station. Rfb organizers see that as their mandate, an argument Drescher said argument federal authorities reject. ``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,`` Maxwell said. In a June 21 affidavit, Tagliferro, stated: ``Unlicensed broadcasting threatens the integrity of the regulatory structure established in the Communications Act to prevent chaos in the radio spectrum. The regulatory effectiveness of the commission to carry out its statutory obligations to license radio stations and prevent interference would be impaired if the agency could not take meaningful action to stop unlawful broadcasting.`` But according to Maxwell, ``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.`` Although the FCC in 2000 made provisions to begin issuing licenses 10- watt stations, no such station has yet received one. Rfb would be ineligible for such a license anyway, because federal law prohibits the licensing of any station that has broadcast illegally, according to federal authorities (via Artie Bigley, DXLD) The FCC has closed down a pirate FM station in Brattleboro, Vermont. While I've been generally sympathetic toward pirate radio --- I've written several articles about pirate radio and the book How to Tune the Secret Shortwave Spectrum --- I have to admit I'm more than a little tired of pirate broadcasters who whine about the FCC being "like vigilantes." Folks, pirate broadcasting IS illegal, and if you sufficiently annoy a licensed station and/or the FCC you have to expect something heavy to come down on your head. While I have long felt, and still feel, there is a big need for some form of legalized "pirate" radio --- can it still be pirate radio if it is legal?? --- that doesn't change the fact that a station like Radio Free Brattleboro was taking a big risk and got nailed. Posted on June 24, 2005 (Harry Helms, http://futureofradio.typepad.com/ via DXLD) ** U S A. FCC: LAW & ORDER OUT OF ORDER By Staff -- Broadcasting & Cable, 6/19/2005 10:01:00 PM Broadcasters are known for hounding the FCC to crack down on pirate- radio operators, the unlicensed broadcasters who beam political rants, underground club music and anything else they want from jury-rigged basement transmitters. Pirates rarely check whether the channels they commandeer are open, and consequently their broadcasts can produce interference that wreaks havoc on legally operating stations. It was embarrassing enough, then, that on June 8 the FCC's enforcement bureau accused that upstanding citizen of the broadcasting world, NBC Universal, of piratical behavior, fining the company $10,000 for unlicensed radio transmissions. But even worse: the source of the illegal transmissions was NBC's Law & Order. . . http://www.broadcastingcable.com/article/CA609267.html?display=Breaking+News (via Tom Roche, DXLD) 'LAW & ORDER' GLITCH FOULS UP POLICE RADIOS -- By LEONARD GREENE Here's one "Law & Order" tale that won't be ripped from the headlines. Red-faced honchos at the hit NBC crime series were slapped with a $10,000 fine from the Federal Communications Commission this month after the agency learned the show's crew was using unlicensed walkie- talkies that disrupted transmissions from a legitimate operator --- the NYPD. . . http://www.nypost.com/php/pfriendly/pfriendly_new.php (via Brock Whaley, June 21, DXLD) ** U S A. THE FCC HAS GIVEN THE GO-AHEAD FOR AMATEUR EXPERIMENTAL OPERATION ON 600 METRES = 500 kHz. See http://500kc.com/ for full details. FCC ASSIGNS CALL LETTERS TO ARRL 600 METER EXPERIMENTAL GROUP Wednesday, 22 June 2005 - Washington, D.C. - The Federal Communications Commission has issued the call letters WD2XSH for the 600 Meter Part 5 Experimental operations to be conducted by the ARRL 600 Meter Experimental Group. The actual grant of license will be done in the normal course of operations by the FCC. In the meantime, it is reported that members of the Experimental Group are melting solder, tuning transmitters, stringing feedlines, and polishing their keys in eager anticipation of the issuance of the license itself, which will allow then to commence operations on 600 Meters. All operations will necessarily adhere to the Part 5 rules and to the proposed plan of research specified in the license application. Results of the project will be forwarded to the Commission and posted on this web site. When transmissions actually commence, we will post a notice on this web page. Reception reports of the transmissions made by Group participants are requested. You do not have to be a member of this group to send us a reception report. Please use the link at the left side of this web page to enter your reports. More information as it becomes available, so stay tuned - to 600 Meters, of course! (via Trevor M5AKA, June 23, SWM_readers yg via DXLD) ** U S A. COMCAST TO RESTORE 30 FM RADIO STATIONS / [Marin County] SOME WOULD PAY $5 FEE FOR RECEIVER FOR DIGITAL SYSTEM http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2005/06/23/BUG9LDDCBN1.DTL&type=business (via Kim Elliott, DXLD) ** VANUATU. NEW ZEALAND GIVES VANUATU MONEY FOR RADIO TRANSMITTERS | Text of report by Radio New Zealand International on 24 June New Zealand has provided 61,000 US dollars for Vanuatu public radio to buy two new transmitters. The transmitters are to improve reception for the Vanuatu Broadcasting and Television Corporation's radio services in the capital of Vila and on Santo. The New Zealand high commissioner, Paul Willis, says it is of great importance for any island nation like Vanuatu, spread over thousands of kilometres, that there is a reliable and affordable radio service. He says an effective medium wave radio service is an essential part of a functioning democracy. Source: Radio New Zealand International, Wellington, in English 1100 gmt 24 Jun 05 (via BBCM via DXLD) So is SW (gh) ** ZIMBABWE [non]. SW RADIO AFRICA SAVED FROM CLOSURE The Station Manager of SW Radio Africa, Gerry Jackson, has sent out a press release stating that the station has been saved from closure. SW Radio Africa will therefore be able to continue broadcasting on mediumwave 1197 kHz from 0300 to 0500 UT every morning. This signal is clearly heard throughout South Africa and over most of Zimbabwe. Programming can also be accessed worldwide, 24 hours a day, at http://www.swradioafrica.com where the broadcasts are streamed live and also archived. Gerry Jackson adds that regrettably, due to the relentless jamming of the shortwave signal by the Zimbabwe government, the station is unable to provide a shortwave service at the moment. SW Radio Africa is also experimenting with Podcasting. To hear the station this way, download ipodder, open the application and in the box 'Add feed manually' paste this address: http://www.2bctnd.com/swradioafrica/rss.xml Andy Sennitt comments: This is welcome news, and very much needed as we see on our TV screens pictures of the desperate plight of many people in Zimbabwe. We wish our colleagues at SW Radio Africa lots of success in their continued struggle to tell the world the truth about what is happening there. # posted by Andy @ 15:38 UT June 24 (Media Network blog via DXLD) ?? No SW? It was just heard yesterday by Steve Lare, as in 5-103. 1700-1800 on 15145. Let`s check again today to see if she is still not being completely candid, for the best of reasons (Glenn Hauser, June 24, dxldyg via DXLD) SW Radio Africa soldiers on, on 15145 at 1700 today with their standard s/on routine. Signal just slightly better than yesterday. At 1702 a buzzing noise came up on the frequency, not sure if intentional jamming or not. The noise does not seem to be local to my location, making a real mess of any reception. 24 June 2005. Not sure who is trying to fool who? (Steve Lare, Holland, MI USA, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Hi Glenn, SW Radio Africa is still on 15145, 1700-1800. Severe jamming from within Zimbabwe (David Pringle-Wood, Harare, Zimbabwe, June 24, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Now that the regime has found it, with only one SW frequency to jam, they can pile upon it worse than before with two (or three?) jammers (gh, DXLD) UNIDENTIFIED. Glen[n], wonder if you can help with something I am curious about. I am a ham radio operator and mainly spend my time chasing DX on 6 meters which is 50 MHz. A good indicator of propagation for us during TEP times of the year is to listen for Chile muzak stations near 48 and 49 MHz. I am located in south Florida so I hear a few other things that other hams up north in the northeast part of the USA [do not??] hear. I hear a lot of short wave stations from 49 to 49.5 MHz which broadcast in Spanish but I also hear something that has me in wonderment. I hear china radio international; it`s the English language broadcast, but I am trying to figure where the programing is coming from? It`s probably coming thru a relay station but I would like to know which relay station. Knowing would help me indicate where the propagation is coming from. Hope you might have some insight for me. Thanks in advance (Scott Cronin, W4SO, June 24, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Scott, Very interesting. Give me some exact frequencies and IDs if possible of the SW stations you hear in this range, and I should be able to help you. China is relayed from Canada, Cuba, French Guiana and Chile. We need to match up your frequency with a fundamental which would multiply to such a harmonic, if that`s what it is. If they are within the 500 kHz you mentioned, the most likely areas with SW stations would be 9.8 to 9.9 MHz (x 5), and 6.125 to 6.188 MHz (x 8). I don`t know anything about your receiver, but the broadcast stations (other than Chilean muzak) could also result from a receiver-produced mixing product (A + B) or (B - A), with another strong transmitter nearby. Regards, (Glenn to Scott, via DXLD) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ PUBLICATIONS ++++++++++++ AMERICAN IONOSPHERIC PROPAGATION ASSOCIATION Old AIPA Bulletin Now Online! Here's the July 1958 AIPA bulletin. I scanned it in and saved the images as .jpg. Please take a look and let me know what you think! I reduced the files down in size to where each is about 350 KB. Here's the link: http://www.mcsittel.com/aipa/aipa195807.htm Enjoy! (Matthew C. Sittel, Bellevue, NE, WTFDA via DXLD) RADIO PHILATELY +++++++++++++++ INTERESTING WEBPAGE RELATED TO SWISS STAMP WITH TELEGRAPH KEY http://www.telegraph-office.com/pages/Swiss_Hasler_Key-Silent_Contants_1920.html Quoted from the webpage: "What makes the Swiss PTT key design especially interesting is that it was used as a model for a postage stamp to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the Union Schweizerischer Kurzwellen-Amateure, (USKA) the Swiss Shortwaves Amateurs Union. The USKA is the Swiss equivalent of the American Radio Relay League. 73 (Horacio Nigro, Uruguay, June 24, radiostamps yg via DXLD) LANGUAGE LESSONS ++++++++++++++++ Amazónia vs. Amazônia, etc. Dear Glenn, Because of the substantially larger population of the USA versus that of the UK on one hand - and the same applying to Brazil vs. Portugal on the other hand -, I believe the world trend today as far as learning languages is concerned can mean that many foreigners are led to learn the Americanised forms of our European languages. Strangely (or perhaps not so after all!) this phenomenon is applying to the so-called old continent too, where you'll probably find nowadays many more acquainted to the American English than to the UK's English, and the same surely happens to other major languages used in the Americas: Portuguese and Castilian*. It's easy, if foreign language schools in Europe have more American teachers than British ones, the result can be obvious. (*) Spanish is simply an imprecise way to define this language, but as you surely know, calling it "Spanish" even gets the preferences of those in Spain who like Castilian to be imposed upon the other languages. of Spain). I've never seen this written, but - frankly speaking - it's in my opinion as ridiculous as saying the language in GB is "British" - and you know nobody uses the term "British" applied to a language. Spain as such merely derives from Latin Hispania, a name the Romans called the different regions of the Iberian peninsula, Lusitânia (=Portugal) (yes, like the ship the allies say the German empire in WWI, but which seem to have been torpedoed by the allies instead for known political reasons) being one of them. After this small introduction... ... in Brazilian texts, you'll see "Antônio", Amazônia", "Eufêmia", for instance, while in Portuguese and in our former colonies (Africa, Asia, Oceania [we were always taught that Timor - and in fact other neighbouring Indonesian islands, like Flores and the Papua - is in Oceania, not Asia]) it's the standard (i.e. European) Portuguese that makes the rule, and in those names the vowel gets the ´ accent mark, which we call "acento agudo." Needless to say the resulting sounds differ: open vowel in our case vs. closed vowel in Brazil's orthography. If you listen to R. Nacional de Angola newscasts, it often sounds like a normal Portuguese station. Another case many DXers may now is the name "Bahia" (=bay); as far as I know, Brazilian orthography kept this old Portuguese form for the place only, but bay is written "baía." With all this, you'll understand why I shall always write in our standard Portuguese. I could give you several examples (similar to your words schedule/skedule, colour/color, etc.), and you'd see the differences B vs POR are perhaps more than what you think or what you've got in English (American vs. European English). Regards, (Carlos Gonçalves, Portugal, June 23, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Very interesting; I would say Brazilian should rule on Brazilian words and places; Portuguese in Portugal and ex-colonies (gh, DXLD) ### RADIO EQUIPMENT FORUM +++++++++++++++++++++ LISTENING ON TRAIN RIDES Hi Glenn, my experiences with radio listening in trains: AM in the German meaning of the term, i.e. 150 ... 30,000 kHz, is almost useless, since one would bear the horrible noise floor only in very special cases. FM reception depends on the model of the rolling stocks; some coaches attenuate the signals considerably, while in a railcar with big windows the reception is almost unobstructed. In future the audio system will be removed from the German high speed trains (ICE); given reason is that hardly anybody uses it anymore. For me personally this is true; I always preferred to take out the ATS 909 just as I do in other trainsets, since the audio system offers only three radio channels and reception from the car radios is not that much better. (In case anybody would think an ATS 909 is way too big to be taken on train rides: I didn't even tell about the Beyer DT 770 yet.) (Kai Ludwig, Germany, June 23, DX LISTENING DIGEST) IBOC --- LEGALIZED JAMMING A couple weeks ago I reported that local WSBR 740 had turned off their IBOC. Also off was IBOC on two sister stations, WHSR 980 and WWNN 1470, both are local but somewhat farther from me. Today WSBR resumed IBOC broadcasting. The other two stations have not. At the time of my posting some suggested, as a listener I write to an affected station I was able to hear once IBOC was off, and to the local station, reporting improved audio, more pleasant listening and such. Since I don't listen to either the local or distant station, I felt this would be disingenuous. However, when IBOC resumed today I did one thing I had not done before. That was to check to see if the audio was noticeably affected by IBOC. If it were I felt I could rightly complain on that issue. I tried multiple radios to see if I could detect an audible artifact of IBOC. The station is talk format, which it has been suggested allows the hiss to be heard during pauses. I could hear nothing untoward in the audio of the station with IBOC in operation. I did feel I could still write expressing my concern about the noise the station produces on the AM band. Today I sent the following inquiry to the General Manager of WSBR: -------- For some time I have noticed a very disturbing hissing noise around your station position on my radio dial. Then, for the last couple of weeks this problem seemed to have been corrected. I was able to hear stations on the adjacent dial positions. Now the noise is back Do you expect to permanently correct this problem any time soon? -------- Should I receive any response I will report it here (W. Curt Deegan, Boca Raton, (South East) Florida, June 20, NRC-AM via DXLD) I expect we will see quite a bit of this on a bit then off then back on when stations convert to IBOC, especially the directional stations. The reason is that IBOC doesn't always work well on the first try. Unless a station's antenna system is very good, very wideband, the digital part of IBOC may not transmit successfully. When that happens they have to call in someone who is an expert on antenna systems and retune or modify their transmission system. The same thing happened in the early days of AM stereo, although IBOC is more demanding of a station's antenna system than AMS. You can expect that nearly all stations that have bought the license from Ibiquity and invested in the transmitting equipment will be back on with IBOC in three months or less (Phil Alexander, Indianapolis, June 22, IRCA via DXLD) Phil, Thanks for the info. I'll keep an ear on the other two locals to see if and when they resume IBOCcasting. A quick check just now -- WHSR 980 and WWNN 1470 -- shows that has not yet happened. WSBR's was off for a couple weeks. Since their IBOC walks on a station I check regularly, I probably caught that at the beginning. Only when I noticed their IBOC was off did I tune in the other two, so they may have gone off sooner. Since all three stations are licensed to the same company and are within a few miles of each other, adjustments might be done on all three, one at a time. This could explain why the other two are still off, or it could be they needed more work to correct. If your assessment of the outage is the case, I guess I can expect those two will be back shortly too --- groan. I don't know if the WSBR digital audio was getting out before --- who does, there are no radios --- but the noise certainly was there. I detect no improvement in the quality of the noise following the interruption for adjustments. Maybe I should report that to them. Think they would appreciate my diligence? One thing I did today, was check the audible limits of the noise. The top to bottom frequency range for audible noise from the station on 740, was 758-722. So they wipe 750 and 730, and add noise to 760 and 720. So there is IBOC: 'In Band', all over it in fact, and I guess it's 'On Channel', if you include enough channels. For the record, I have so far not received a response to the question I mentioned sending to the GM of WSBR, but it has been only a couple days (W. Curt Deegan, Boca Raton, (Southeast) Florida, ibid.) Curt, The station will most likely reply with the lies that iBiquity and the NAB have brainwashed the management into believing. The "problems" of IBOC cannot be cured with any sort of technical adjustments; an outright ban on digital broadcasts on AM, FM and shortwave is the only logical and viable solution. As radio listeners and consumers, we shouldn't be sitting idly and watch our radios become useless. We need to fight the IBOC supporters now; start a petition to get rid of IBOC isn't a bad idea! 73, (Eric (N0UIH) Bueneman, MO, ibid.) Yeah, Unfortunately, IBOC may not go away. Young Struble - 'We didn't have much money growing up" - (telling victimspeak) demands high investment to put his 'failed system' on air, ensuring perpetuation. Let skeptics scoff and poltroons of monopoly-casters take 'offense' at 'uncivil' remarks. IBOC is transparent cover for LBO/predatory tactics to end radio as we know it, to the lasting gain of those would commandeer and misuse it. 'Traffic texting' my foot. My foot! Two relatives dead before their time, 'disposal of evidence' via cremation, millions stolen, perps claiming 'you can't prove what I did', long ago tuned antennae for sub rosa conduct. Boardroom criminals lack honesty and courage of street crooks. As with their street cousins, they betray themselves with shifting stories. Shifting stories: IBOC cheerleaders claimed AM dying, audience dwindling. Why not hire talent, lots of it? Forget digital audio, it's talent that grabs listeners. People will put up with noise and fading to hear compelling programs. But 'weather texting'? Please, spare us this insipid bullshale. IBOC kazoo-blatters don't buy this vapid pap. Why should we? Now, IBOC shills shift stories. AM's alive and well they say - after spook tales of imminent demise conned FCC & others into buying this 'turkey designed to wipe out competition'. Alive and well? Then why do we need IBOC? Gassily whining the 'no one's listening blues', promoters ballyhooed 'traffic texting' and other 'great services'. Simple quextion: If - as they claim - no one listens to 'primary stream', as digi-geeks call AM programs, how on earth will they glean an audience for secondary 'streams'? More self-serving tales. Why? Expressed another way, why not cure 'primary stream' talent deficiency before adding banal second and third 'streams' about which - mark these words - no one will give a rat's pancreas. "Consider Marcus Aurelius, what is it in its essence? What does it do?", exhorts H. Lecter, M.D. What does IBOC do? It jams. It jams, ruining precious spectrum. Struble claims Harvard on his c.v. Harvard, and this RF-flatulent Rube Goldberg contrivance is the best he and his accomplished team can do? Please. It's what it is. Legalized Jamming. Cui bono? As you state with clarity, Curt, 'In band'? Indeed, spattered all over it, like blood from esophageal varices on a flophouse cot. 'On Channel'? Surely, if you include enough channels. IBOC first jams, then monopolizes, ultimately destroys. Weep not, perhaps Struble & Team can peddle demolished AM spectrum to a parcel service, as happened w/220 Megs. Why bother manufacturing any more good quality affordable radios which easily receive and separate adjacent distant stations? Why indeed? IBOC solves inextant problems with monopolistic, kleptocratic 'solutions'. It is to die from. This 'turkey' advanced due to lack of awareness on part of the American people. Our influence counts. Let's use it. We support progress. Why can't IBOC/Ibiquity play by the rules? No interference means just that. IBOC's computer models claim we could 'lose half the AM stations and not miss them'. That lingo marks monopolist thugs. Who appointed Ibiquity to be market judge, jury, and executioner? Avarice is a pitiful condition. In the end, albeit grand designs, they always outsmart themselves. Having cleaned out the vault, they nonetheless grasp for the wooden nickel. Fatal overreach. -Z.- "Io fei gibetto. A me de le mie case." -"Avarice, hanging, self-destruction. And I - I made my own home be my gallows." - Dr. Fell's lecture to the Caponi Library Scholars. c. 2001, Thomas Harris, "Hannibal", apologia a D. Alighieri. (Paul Vincent Zecchino, Mansoviet Key, FL, BT, June 22, IRCA via DXLD) The only way IBOC can be eliminated from our broadcasting lexicon is that we, as DXers, FIGHT AGAINST IT. We should present evidence that proves that IBOC cannot deliver on it's promises. They claim "FM quality sound on AM", while, in reality, the system sounds more like an Internet radio station heard via dial-up modem or a cell phone in a weak signal area. The claim of "CD quality sound on FM" is false, too. The same thing will result. FM Stereo stations are already capable of CD-quality sound, and AM stations (especially those broadcasting in far more advanced C-QUAM Stereo) are already capable of FM-quality sound. The problem is not at the transmitter plant, but at the receiving end. Five years ago, Scott Todd, a broadcast engineer from Minneapolis, submitted a petition to the FCC to require receiver manufacturers to build higher-quality receivers. Motorola's Freescale Semiconductor division has already come up with an alternative to IBOC-DAB, a receiver chip known by the marketing name "Symphony", which converts an analog signal to digital. It's being incorporated into some high-end receivers. This is far cheaper than the low- definition IBOC system. The only way we can stop the monopolists is to keep in touch with our elected officials, and tell them to oppose forced implementation of digital radio on AM, FM and shortwave. We can make a difference if we vote IBOC supporters out of Congress in 2006, and vote in anti- corporate, anti-monopoly candidates. 73, (Eric (N0UIH) Bueneman, June 23, IRCA mailing list via DXLD) KFYI 550 Phoenix now running IBOC. It wasn't on earlier today. Modulation on main AM signal low-level and low-fi, with very little processing. Hash on sides is much louder than the modulation on the main carrier. Ick. Last I heard, KTAR-620 is in a hurry to get IBOC happening yesterday. They can stop hurrying (Rick Lewis, AZ, June 23, IRCA mailing list via DXLD) My public shaming and disgrace via banishment from a radio post board was at my insistence. 'Suspended for one week' it was, originally, for 'offensive' statements. Enquired of the Judge, "Suspension? Where's the fun in that?" My first and final counter offer: "Banishment for Life". If the moderator is so worried about offending IBOC poltroons, then he deserves to lose his hobby. But we don't. Guys on the job mark their perp by his shifting stories or taking 'offense' at their questions. 'Offended' is a tactic to deflect questioners from the truth. IBOC abomination precisely as I predicted, and I hate it when I'm right. As you note, level of desired analog sig well below horrid roaring HD-flatulence slopped all over spectrum like blood-flecked NIght Train (r) vomitus in a Hell's Kitchen flop house. Team Struble/KlarChannel is pulling it off. Let's stop them. It's what it is. Jamming to discourage analog listeners, promote and yoke them to a 'failed' 'turkey system designed to wipe out competition'. Our influence counts. Let's use it. Tell friends, family, anyone; rancid noise on the radio is a new 'service' including long thirsted- for 'traffic texting'. Let market place work to clean out the Augean Stables of fecalithic RF digi-doot contrivance Ibiquity claims to be progress. Forget hobby. This denies everyone their ability to hear what they want, when they want, where they want. It will interfere when most needed, during storms and other impending disasters. It compels and coerces them to listen to Struble/KlarChannel audio slop-tarts. Write to 550, request they place your letter in the public file. CC to FCC, your elected reps, non-IBOC stations. Forget 'civility'. Fret not over sounding 'offensive'. Team Struble declared war on radio and its listeners. His sham computer models 'prove' half the AM stations could go dark and not be missed. Oh really? Do you hear the arrogance? The suffusing stench of victimspeak? The outright avarice? The delusions? Tell that to every struggling small station owner - 'Team Struble/ KlarChannel wants you off the air, you're an inconvenience in their way'. This fight`s far from over. PS - IBOC was hatched quietly, coyly hinted at in Sunday page puff pieces touting alleged virtues and none of its all too real vices. Mark this well - exposure is what criminals fear. You've read a thumbnail sketch of my charming little family melodrama. It's exposure that frightens perps. Not cops. Not LawYahz, exposure. Expose IBOC. Detecting and exposing the insects that plagued my family for decades caused them to scurry about, banging into walls of inevitable consequences. Proof of truth reassuring: Schemes flourish in secret, yet upon day's light wither. And die. "Truth lives a wretched life, but always survives the lie." --- Kathy O'Brien -Z.- (Paul Vincent Zecchino, Exiliado Maximo, Manasoviet Key, FL, BT, IRCA mailing list via DXLD) My wife on IBOC --- W = Wife M = Me W: "What is that mess?" M: "IBOC digital radio." W: "That's stupid and that noise sucks." M: "That's why I got XM." W: "Does this mean everyone will hear that in their car?" M: "Yes." W: "What a bunch of dumbasses. No one will listen to radio if that crap is on. That hurts my ears. Turn it off. That noise really sucks." No further explanation needed (Kevin Redding, Gilbert AZ, ABDX via DXLD) Kevin`s wife just underwent heart surgery, successfully, we are glad to hear (gh, DXLD) Smart wife! Ibiquity ain't so smart (Phil Rafuse, PEI Canada, ibid.) LOL!!! You'd be amazed how the conversation was almost exactly the same VERBATIM when I demonstrated KSL's IBOC to MY wife! (Michael n WYO Richard, ibid.) PODCASTING MARKS THE DEATH OF RADIO? I noticed the following in the latest BBCWS e-mail newsletter: Global Business: Radio Me http://er.bsysmail.com/go.asp?/bBBC001/q1OUCP1/xLCX57 Faster than a speeding bullet, radio is facing enormous changes as a result of the internet. Just like downloading songs, "podcasting" makes radio available when and where the listener wants it, not merely when the broadcaster puts it out. Peter Day asks whether this marks the death of radio as we know it or the start of something even bigger. 73. (Peter Bowen, June 24, Swprograms mailing list via DXLD) WEB SITE FOR U. S. STATION SIGNAL STRENGTHS - A VALUABLE RESOURCE In a recent IRCA DX Monitor, a Web site http://www.v-soft.com/ZipSignal/zip_answer.asp was stated to be a way to get a strength listing of all AM & FM groundwave signals over 50 dBu level for a given US postal zip code. This is an excellent research tool, right on par with "dxtuners.com" in saving the DXer a lot of time as well as the cost of gasoline and airline tickets. The site only lists US stations (no Canada, Cuba, Mexico, etc.) The strength listings are of particular interest to DXers who wish to study propagation over seawater versus over land, to see how effective stations' directional patterns are, to evaluate the directivity and efficiency of their various receiving antennas, and to determine the sensitivity of portable and base-station receivers. Signal levels are given in dBu and mV/m. The lowest level given, 50 dBu or 0.32 mV/m, is still a good strength signal by DXer standards, likely well over S-9 on a Beverage or amplified loop, but not necessarily suitable to an average listener possibly driving through areas with noisy power lines. Signals over 75 dBu or 5.6 mV/m would generally be considered local quality. Anything over 100 dBu or 31.6 mV/m is superlocal, able to penetrate into most steel-frame buildings. At Hull, MA (zip code 02045) the local fire-breathing dragon WBZ-1030 registers a hefty 131.4 dBu or 3735.3 mV/m, probably enough to peel the paint off the boats at the nearby marina. By obtaining a listing of signal strengths that is reasonably accurate for a given location, the values can be used as a "transfer standard" to calibrate a receiver's S-meter readings with a given antenna. If the antenna is something well suited to field work, such as an active whip, S-meter readings taken on roadtrips can, to a fair degree of accuracy, be converted back to approximate dBu and mV/m values. A good calibration Excel table would be done at a number of frequencies since the efficiency of a receiving antenna can vary across the dial. Active whips are typically somewhat less sensitive at the low end (530 kHz) than at the high end (1700 kHz). The closest post office here in the Pinehurst section of Billerica, MA is zip code 01866, located 0.6 miles / 1 km from my house. The readings for that zip are, therefore, quite accurate here. Here are the top ten AM's based upon daytime level. The number not in parentheses is dBu, the number in parentheses is mV/m. 1. WRKO-680 day: 115.1 (569.62); night: 115.0 (564.53) 2. WEEI-850 day: 84.5 (16.83); night: 83.8 (15.54) 3. WWZN-1510 day: 83.1 (14.27); night: 73.9 (4.97) 4. WEZE-590 day & night: 80.0 (10.01) 5. WBZ-1030 day & night: 78.3 (8.24) 6. WBIX-1060 day: 77.3 (7.33); night 58.4 (0.83) 7. WTTT-1150 day: 77.0 (7.07); night: 63.7 (1.54) 8. WRCA-1330 day & night: 73.1 (4.54) 9. WROL-950 day: 72.1 (4.01) 10. WILD-1090 day: 72.0 (4.00) Another station worth mentioning is WCAP-980. At night it turns on the directional-array soup and goes from a 68.4 dBu day value up to 77.1 dBu after dark. From the above list you can see that WWZN, WBIX, and WTTT take quite a hit going from day to night configurations. Of these, WBIX is the only one which actually reduces power. In the Truro, MA listing WWZN goes up by 3.3 dB at night. It's not surprising that WWZN is one of the strongest stateside signals into North Africa. But go west past Framingham, MA and it's totally useless at night. There are a couple of other Web sites that I use in conjunction with the signal-strength finder site. One finds the distance between two zip codes. In the following example, I checked the distance from Atlantic City, NJ 08401 to Chilmark (Martha's Vineyard), MA 02535. http://www.zipfind.net/Results.aspx?TYPE=DISTANCE&ZIP1=08401&ZIP2=02535 Result was 238.68 miles, equal to 384 km. The US Postal Service http://zip4.usps.com/zip4/welcome.jsp page can find a zip code based on city + state, or address + city + state. The site shows what DXers already know in terms of signals propagating much farther over salt water than land for a given amount of signal strength reduction. Examples below clearly illustrate this. All stations selected are non-directional for fair evaluation purposes. *** Case 1: WJDA-1300 Quincy, MA (1 kW) At Billerica (Pinehurst), MA 01866 Distance 23 miles / 37.0 km (land) 52.7 dBu, 0.43 mV/m At Bar Harbor, ME 04609 Distance 203 miles / 326.6 km (water) 52.8 dBu, 0.44 mV/m Distance ratio 8.8 About the same level at each site. *** Case 2: WMID-1340 Atlantic City, NJ (1 kW) At Port Elizabeth, NJ 08348 Distance 29 miles / 46.7 km (land) 50.6 dBu, 0.34 mV/m At Chilmark, Martha's Vineyard, MA 02535 Distance 239 miles / 384.6 km (water) 50.5 dBu, 0.33 mV/m Distance ratio 8.24 About the same level at each site. *** Case 3: WCBS-880 New York (City Is.), NY (50 kW) At Deer Park, LI, NY 11729 Distance 25 miles / 40.2 km (land) 71.2 dBu, 3.64 mV/m At Falmouth, Cape Cod, MA 02540 Distance 172 miles / 276.7 km (mostly water) 74.5 dBu, 5.33 mV/m Distance ratio 6.88 WCBS is 3.3 dB stronger at the more distant site. *** Case 4: WLYN-1360 Lynn, MA (1 kW) At Billerica (Pinehurst), MA 01866 Distance 14 miles / 22.5 km (land) 58.0 dBu, 0.80 mV/m At Harwich, Cape Cod, MA 02645 Distance 70 miles / 112.6 km (partial water) 58.7 dBu, 0.87 mV/m Distance ratio 5.0 WLYN is slightly stronger at the more distant site. The above cases show dramatic differences in paths over land as compared to over salt water. It must be stressed that the differences can be significantly greater than shown because the web page just gives strengths over the average extent of a postal zip code. These values more often typify the central business district of a given town rather than an optimum beachfront site that would show a much more exaggerated signal enhancement. Much of what applies to groundwave also relates to low-angle skip such as would be experienced with Transatlantic signals arriving before, during, and up to an hour after local receiving-site sunset. The effect is very obvious when stations such as Morocco-612 can "bulldoze" WGIR-610 NH on an ordinary car radio at sunset at Granite Pier in Rockport, MA. If you add seriously directional receiving antennas such as a Kaz, Flag, Beverage, or phased verticals to an already-directional location, then the DX really gets interesting as many of us know (Mark Connelly, WA1ION - 23 JUN 2005, NRC-AM via DXLD) The FM numbers don't seem to be very accurate. The AM numbers seem right on the money (Rick Shaftan, NJ, ibid.) ###