DX LISTENING DIGEST 5-120, July 22, 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 1281: Fri 0200 WOR ACBRadio Mainstream [repeated 2-hourly thru 2400] Fri 1600 WOR WBCQ after hours Fri 2000 WOR RFPI [repeated 4-hourly thru Sat 1600] Fri 2105 WOR World FM, Tawa, Wellington, New Zealand 88.2 Sat 0800 WOR WRN to Eu, Au, NZ, WorldSpace AfriStar, AsiaStar Sat 0855 WOR WNQM Nashville TN 1300 Sat 1000 WOR WPKN Bridgeport CT 89.5, WPKM Montauk LINY 88.7 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 RNI Mon 0230 WOR WRMI 7385 Mon 0300 WOR WBCQ 9330-CLSB Mon 0330 WOR WSUI Iowa City IA 910 [NO week delay] Mon 0415 WOR WBCQ 7415 [usually closer to 0418-] Mon 1600 WOR WBCQ after hours Mon 1800 WOR RFPI [repeated 4-hourly thru Tue 1400] Tue 1600 WOR WBCQ after hours Tue 2330 WOR WBCQ 7415 [occasional] Wed 0930 WOR WWCR 9985 Wed 1600 WOR WBCQ after hours Latest edition of this schedule version, with hotlinks to station sites and audio, is at: http://www.worldofradio.com/radioskd.html WORLD OF RADIO ON WSUI, Iowa City IA, UT Mondays 0330-0400 on 910 AM and webcast via http://wsui.uiowa.edu will from July 25 be the current edition, rather than one week delayed. The end of an era, as gh ceases mailing tapes, and all stations get WOR by downloading! WRN ON DEMAND: http://new.wrn.org/listeners/stations/station.php?StationID=24 OUR ONDEMAND AUDIO [also CONTINENT OF MEDIA, MUNDO RADIAL]: http://www.worldofradio.com/audiomid.html WORLD OF RADIO 1281 (high version): (stream) http://www.w4uvh.net/wor1281h.ram (download) http://www.w4uvh.net/wor1281h.rm WORLD OF RADIO 1281 (low version): (stream) http://www.w4uvh.net/wor1281.ram (download) http://www.w4uvh.net/wor1281.rm (summary) http://www.worldofradio.com/wor1281.html WORLD OF RADIO 1281 in true SW sound of Alex`s mp3: (stream) http://www.dxprograms.net/worldofradio_07-20-05.m3u (download) http://www.dxprograms.net/worldofradio_07-20-05.mp3 WORLD OF RADIO 1281 downloads in studio-quality mp3: (high) http://www.obriensweb.com/wor1281h.mp3 (low) http://www.obriensweb.com/wor1281.mp3 WORLD OF RADIO PODCAST: www.obriensweb.com/wor.xml (currently available: 1277, Extra 57, 1278, 1279, 1280, Extra 58, 1281) ** AFGHANISTAN [non]. Re 5-118: "Free" is "Azadi" in Dari as well as Pashto, and is also translated as "Liberty". "Ashna" means "Voice" in both languages. VOA's "Radio Ashna" for Afghanistan thus means "Radio Voice". The RFE/RL service for Afghanistan is called "Azadi Radio" in Dari and Pashto; a proper translation would be "Radio Liberty". The label "Radio Free Afghanistan" is no longer used on-air (Bernd Trutenau, Lithuania, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** AUSTRALIA. Another ABC podcast: RA's "Asia Pacific" This is a worthwile development -- because, until now, there was no way to listen to "Asia Pacific" on demand as a single, complete program. The feed's bandwidth is a full 64k as well. Subscribe by visiting the following website: http://www.abc.net.au/ra/asiapac/podcast/ (Richard Cuff / Allentown, PA USA, July 22, Swprograms mailing list via DXLD) FWIW, Night Air is still only making the first part of the program available via podcasting. That's not acceptable, if anyone asks me (Scott Royall, Conch Republic, ibid.) ** BENIN. Re 5-118: Re: DXLD 5-118, WTFK for new TWR MW?: The answer appeared in DXLD 4-177, November 26, 2004: Additional information received from TWR about the new relay station which is going to be constructed near Parakou during 2005: the transmitter will be operating on 1566 kHz with 100 kW. Cf. http://www.twrafrica.org/0055.asp for other details about this project (Bernd Trutenau, Lithuania, Nov 25, mwdxyg via dxldyg via DXLD 5-120) ** BOLIVIA. 5925.5, Radio Pio XII, Siglo XX, 2225-2250, Locutor, "Los consejos del desarrollo municipal, es un mensaje de Radio Pio XII". Anuncios comerciales. Canción Identificativa: "Pio XII, Pio XII". Información municipal. Español y quechua. 24322 variando a 34333 (Manuel Méndez, Lugo, Spain, Escuchas realizadas en Reinante, costa del mar Cantábrico, 90 Km. N. de Lugo Grundig Satellit 500, antena de cable, 10 metros, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** BRAZIL. Quito 20/7 2005 *** Wednesday edition: *** Recording of 5990.00, Radio Senado, Brasília. 1100 UT. 07/2005. If I may say so, this is a very good recording of a high-sound-quality-station! My Equipment: Ten-Tec DSP Receiver RX 350D MFJ-616 Speech Intelligibility Enhancer MFJ-1025 Phaser LW x3 + Magnetic Longwire Balun Sharp Digital MD Recorder (Björn Malm, Quito, Ecuador http://www.malm-ecuador.com DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CANADA. New AM station for Vancouver BC (1200 kHz, 25 kW) approved by CRTC In this decision, the Commission approves the application by I.T. Productions Ltd. for a broadcasting licence to operate a new ethnic AM radio station at Vancouver at 1200 kHz. The applicant proposed a service that will be directed predominantly to Vancouver’s South Asian communities. (much clipped here) 4. The applicant made a commitment to provide programming directed to a minimum of 11 different ethnic groups in 17 different languages in each broadcast week. All of the station’s programming would be devoted to ethnic programming, and 95% of this would be in third languages. A minimum of 73% of all programming would be in the Hindustani and Punjabi languages. The applicant’s proposal indicates that approximately 93% of the service would be directed to underserved groups in the Vancouver market, namely its South Asian communities, and that a further 1% would target other underserved ethnic groups. For the purpose of this calculation regarding the amount of programming that I.T. would devote to underserved ethnic groups, the Commission has considered to be "underserved", ethnic groups that, according to the data contained in the CRTC Broadcasting Policy Monitoring Report 2004, currently receive five hours or less of programming per week from existing Vancouver ethnic radio stations. (more clipped here) 12. The Commission accordingly approves the application by I.T. Productions Ltd. for a broadcasting licence to operate a commercial AM (ethnic) radio programming undertaking at Vancouver, at 1200 kHz, with a transmitter power of 25,000 watts. http://www.crtc.gc.ca/archive/ENG/Decisions/2005/db2005-338.htm From the Industry Canada database, it appears that this station will operate with the same parameters day and night - 25 kW into two 79 degree towers spaced 90 degrees, the second tower oriented at a bearing of 323 degrees relative to the first (reference) tower. The power ratio is 1:0.9 for the two towers, the phase difference being - 96 degrees for the second relative to the reference tower. I am sure that someone on the list can compute the pattern based on this data :). The coordinates are 49 09 55 N, 123 02 28 W. --------- OK, I had a look at the application on the CRTC website, It appears that the main lobe is broadly directed to the NW, with nulls to the SE to protect WOAI [see also USA for WOAI story]. --------------------------------------------- On another note the CBC has applied to the CRTC for drop in FM stations in Edmonton AB to rebroadcast CHFA-680 and CBX-740, and in Saskatoon SA to rebroadcast CBK-540, noting problems due to QRM to the AM signals in the core of these cities. These are just drop in relay stations; the AM stations will remain on the air in all cases. http://www.crtc.gc.ca/archive/ENG/Notices/2005/pb2005-69.htm 73, (Deane McIntyre VE6BPO, July 21, NRC-AM via DXLD) The FCC has, what appears to be, the technical data for this station on its Web site. The day pattern has lobes toward 030 and 250 degrees (about 43000 Watts ERP each) and a semi-null toward 320 degrees with about 26000 Watts ERP. Practically nothing off the back toward 140 degrees. The night pattern is the basically the same except the 320 null is loosened up to reach about 38000 Watts and the 'back side' toward 140 (WOAI) is drawn in. Thanks for all the news! (BILL Hale, ibid.) ** CANADA [and non]. New Canadian stations - goodbye KISM! The CRTC has authorized two new FM stations in British Columbia. One in Kamloops will carry a country format on 103.1. The more interesting approval is for a Punjabi/Hindi/Urdu ethnic station in Vancouver. This station will operate on 93.1 with 2.8 kW at 673 m. (VERY roughly equivalent to a 50kw/500' Class B station) The approved transmitter site is only 77 km (a bit less than 50 miles) from Class C KISM-92.9 Bellingham, Wash. It seems rather unlikely the transmitter will cause any interference in the U.S. - indeed, it's unlikely Industry Canada would have approved the technical parameters if this was a risk. Interference in Canada is another story. Chances are most Canadians who listen to KISM will no longer be doing so once this station begins operation. One wonders what would happen if KISM were to light up IBOC (Doug Smith W9WI, Pleasant View (Nashville), TN EM66 http://www.w9wi.com July 21, WTFDA via DXLD) Industry Canada does not care if these technical parameters cause a risk of interference in northwest Washington. Another example of this is the approval of CIVT-TV digital channel 33, Vancouver, B.C. 73. Good DXing (Dave Sinclair, Vancouver, B.C., IBID.) It works both ways. The FCC was more than happy to allot 102.1A to Albion NY, on the southern shore of Lake Ontario, notwithstanding that the area gets a near-local signal already from co-channel CFNY Toronto. And they allotted 92.1A to Amherst (Buffalo), even though CKPC-FM Brantford comes in quite well there. The name of the game, on either side of the border, is to pack the dial as full as possible. On the rare occasions when the laws of physics prove insurmountable (as new stations on 92.9 and 99.5 in the Kitchener-Waterloo area discovered), then it's time to reapply for a different allocation - but as we DXers know all too well, any reception beyond ANY station's protected contour is an endangered species these days. It bears noting, too, that in some cases the Canadians make these assignments deliberately, to "repatriate" Canadian listeners who've been tuning across the border to US stations. That was why "The Flow" in Toronto really wanted 93.5, first-adjacent to urban competitor WBLK, which was for a while the highest-rated Buffalo signal in Toronto. And the applications for 1200 and 93.1 in Vancouver make it very clear that they're aware that South Asian audiences in the Lower Mainland are listening to the AM stations in Washington (1600 and 1550?) that target them. s (Scott Fybush, NY, ibid.) Technical considerations aside, losing KISM is no loss indeed. It`s the poorest excuse for a classic rock station imaginable and certainly no loss to intelligent listeners on either side of the border. What IS disappointing is the fact the CRTC licensed TWO new stations broadcasting to the south Asian community - they also licensed 1200 kHz AM at 25 kW which has been dormant for some time. Coupled with KRPI 1550 Bellingham, WA & KVRI 1600 Blaine, WA, the greater Vancouver area will now have FOUR full-time south Asian stations! CHUM Ltd was one of the denied applicants for 93.1 and proposed a world-beat music format with English-language DJs. Too bad --- I was looking forward to the challenge of the PD job at the new CHUM station which would have had a much broader appeal aimed at ALL the multi-cultural communities in that city. 73 (Mike Cherry, VE7SKA, Salt Spring Island, BC, grid square: CN88gt, ibid.) ** CANADA [and non]. August is a month with no major holidays in the United States, so it may seem strange to think about holiday listening during the summer thunderstorm static season. But, it always pays to plan ahead when trying to chase down unlicensed broadcasters on shortwave radio. As soon as August ends, the major US Labor Day holiday comes in early September. That is quickly followed by Columbus Day in October, Thanksgiving in November, and then Christmas and New Years Eve at the end of December. Further, it is a little known fact that the first Monday in August is a holiday in most Canadian provinces, not counting Quebec or the Yukon Territories. The holiday has different names in various provinces, but it is celebrated across virtually all of Canada. If you want to check this out, http://www.craigmarlatt.com/canada/symbols_facts&lists/august_holiday.html is the internet URL for Canadian information about the August holiday. Since some pirates operate from Canada, it is worth checking out the pirate radio bands on the first Monday in August. It has long been known that North American pirate radio broadcasts increase in number considerably during major holiday periods. For pirate radio purposes, Halloween at the end of October is considered a major holiday. Groundhog Day and Valentine’s Day are also considered major pirate holidays. You should add the Canadian August holiday to this list (George Zeller, OH, Outer Limits, August MONITORING TIMES via DXLD) ** CHINA. CHINA WEAVES SOPHISTICATED WEB TO TRAP INTERNET DISSENTERS - PAPER | Text of report by Mark O'Neill headlined: "China censors weave sophisticated web to trap dissenters", carried in English by Hong Kong newspaper South China Morning Post web site on 20 July When Lu Jing sends e-mails about Japan, he cannot write the word he uses in normal conversation, xiao riben [little Japan] because the word and the message it is in will be deleted in less than a minute. So he writes "xiao J" instead. It is a small example of the world's most sophisticated internet monitoring system set up by the central government to control what its citizens can and cannot see and say on the internet. It involves state-of-the-art equipment and an army of tens of thousands of people, including secret police, uniformed police, officials at universities and the Cultural Department, staff at service providers and unpaid volunteers who monitor online chat rooms. For the majority of Chinese "internauts", the system works - they are only able to reach sites to which the government gives them access and, mindful of what is allowed and not allowed, do not dare to send messages with content that might get them into trouble. It is only a small minority of students - people with a high level of computer skill and the audacious - who dare to look for proxy servers and overcome the obstacles. "China operates the most extensive, technologically sophisticated and broad-reaching system of internet filtering in the world," said a new report by a nongovernment organization called OpenNet Initiative (ONI), a partnership between units of the University of Toronto, Harvard Law School and Cambridge University. "Compared to similar efforts in other states, China's filtering regime is pervasive, sophisticated and effective," the report said. "It comprises multiple levels of legal regulation and technical control and numerous state agencies. This regime is buttressed by an equally complex series of laws and regulations that control the access to and publication of material online. "Considering that China's growing internet population represents nearly half of all internet users worldwide and will soon overtake the US as the single largest national group of internet users, such extensive censorship should be of concern to all internet users worldwide. Its advanced filtering regime presents a model for other countries with similar interests in censorship to follow." According to the most recent official figures, China has 94m internet users, nearly half with broadband access. Other estimates put the total at 130m users, including those who do not have a computer at home but access the internet from cyber cafes. Nearly 60m unique internet protocol (IP) addresses have been assigned to computers in China. This filtering regime has developed to meet two contradictory objectives. One is to harness the internet as an essential tool in the country's drive to become a major power, such as promoting business and trade, educational and scientific exchanges and raising personal and company efficiency. The other is to extend on to the internet the tight controls on news and information the Communist Party has put in place since 1949. So it was no surprise that, in February 1994, one year before the internet became commercially available to Chinese users, the State Council entrusted the Ministry of Public Security with overall responsibility for the supervision of the internet. A 1996 regulation required all subscribers to register with the local police within 30 days of signing up with an internet service provider. Police units were set up to investigate alleged violations. Internet cafes are required, at their own expense, to install equipment that records the identity of each user and what sites they visit. These regulations cover external use of the internet. A further set controls the content. The first major directive, State Council Order 292, promulgated in September 2000, says that content providers are responsible for the legality of their services, and sets out nine categories of information that cannot be published or disseminated. The ONI conducted widespread testing of subjects sensitive to China. "China's blocking of sensitive content, such as the banned Falun Gong movement, Tibetan independence or Taiwan, is extensive," it said. "The state's filtering is not perfect - we were able to circumvent keyword detection for blog posts and obtained filtered material at alternative locations - but it is nonetheless thorough. The filtering regime is one of the most sophisticated in its ability to detect and prevent access." The report also found extensive blocking of material on: the 1989 military crackdown; human rights in China and pro-democracy websites; sites operated by the Taiwan government and organizations promoting Taiwan independence; discussions on the Dalai Lama and the dispute over Tibet; and late Communist Party general secretary Zhao Ziyang. BBC and Voice of America sites were often blocked. In the past year, the government has intensified its efforts to control the opinions of the estimated 600,000 bloggers, who post content ranging from diaries to political commentary. In August last year, Chinese hackers found a list of 987 sensitive keywords which set off filtering software, including independence movements, the Tiananmen crackdown, Falun Gong and the names of Communist Party leaders. Former president Jiang Zemin is a favourite butt of jokes, because of his large belly, his love of poetry and singing, and the mistresses he is alleged to have. "When I write about Jiang, I cannot write his name in Chinese or English," said Lu Jing. "I write 'Old J' or 'xxx' and my friends know who I mean. Similarly, I cannot write Chen Yonglin [the diplomat who sought asylum in Australia] in Chinese or English. I say 'a senior official in Australia'." "China makes a systematic, comprehensive and frequently successful effort to limit the ability of its citizens to access and post online content the state considers sensitive," the ONI report said. "The state employs a sophisticated infrastructure that filters content at multiple levels and tolerates overblocking as the price of preventing access to prohibited sites." China's advanced internet control system uses equipment from a number of foreign companies, including Cisco Systems, Nortel Networks, Sun Microsystems, Microsoft and 3COM. Human rights organizations have charged these firms with actively assisting China in developing censorship and surveillance systems. They respond that they cannot tell their customers how to use the goods they sell to them. Source: South China Morning Post web site, Hong Kong, in English 20 Jul 05 (via BBCM via DXLD) ** COLOMBIA. 5910, Marfil Estereo, 0520-0610, 20-07, Canciones en español, boleros, identificación: "Marfil Estereo". anuncios comerciales: "Agroveterinaria JAB, Puerto Lleras". Muy buena señal. 45444. Esta emisora se escucha unos días, y otros está fuera del aire, e incluso, a veces, aparece y desaparece repentinamente. Las mejoras horas para captarla, por aquí, son, ya avanzada la noche y en horas del amanecer. 6035, La Voz del Guaviare, 2256-2315, 18-07, locutor y locutora, comentarios, anuncios comerciales, "La Voz del Guaviare rinde homenaje a la Patria", himno. "La Voz del Guaviare, 6035 kHz. Informativo RCN". Noticias a las 2259. 24322 (Manuel Méndez, Lugo, Spain, Escuchas realizadas en Reinante, costa del mar Cantábrico, 90 Km. N. de Lugo Grundig Satellit 500, antena de cable, 10 metros, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CROATIA [non]. Croatian Radio intends to use 6045 to NoAM in B-05 season. 0200-0600 UT, to zones 2-4,6,7,10 via Juelich 100kW 325deg HRT DTK. (July 18) (BCDX via DXLD) Well, well! A broadcast band instead of a hamband! (gh, DXLD) ** GERMANY. /North America: GERMAN SUBSCRIPTION TV FOR ABROAD MAY CLOSE | Text of editorial analysis by Stephen Howie of BBC Monitoring Media Services on 19 July International pay TV channel German TV, which broadcasts to the Americas, is set to close in its current form after further financial subsidies were ruled out. Formed by public broadcasters ARD and ZDF and Germany's international broadcaster Deutsche Welle (DW), the channel had been allocated an annual grant of approximately 6.1m US dollars from the German Federal Government. However, an Inside Satellite magazine report on 19 July said the Committee for Culture and Media had announced that this continued funding will come to an end. German TV is widely available on cable systems in the USA and in parts of Canada, Mexico, Chile and the Dominican Republic. Additionally, the channel is available on the DISH direct-to-home satellite network in the USA. Subscription to German TV through the DISH system costs 10 US dollars per month, although more is charged if this is the only package to which a customer subscribes. Despite this widespread availability, the recent expansion of its cable coverage in Canada and current discussions with Bell ExpressVU regarding satellite transmission in Canada, the number of subscribers is only about a quarter of what is required for the channel to break even. Inside Satellite reported that the channel currently has 18,500 subscribers. The programming for German TV comes from its three parent companies; 40 per cent from each of the two national public broadcasters and the remaining 20 per cent from Deutsche Welle. Programmes include domestic newscasts such as Tagesschau and Heute, talk shows, quiz shows, some news and cultural programmes from Deutsche Welle's own TV service and some football matches from the German domestic leagues. Comments posted on About.com, an online information portal, show that some people use German TV an aid to improve their German language skills. Another advantage was the ability to experience German culture directly. Part of German TV's promotional material includes the motto "What Germany is watching". One of the disadvantages stated on the website was that no programming was available from any of the private German TV networks. German TV has a direct competitor: ProSiebenSat.1 Media AG operates a similar service in North America, also available on the DISH network in the USA. Drawing from the programming of German private TV channels Sat 1, Pro Sieben, Kabel 1 and N24, ProSiebenSat.1 Welt provides a similar mix of news, sport, comedy, entertainment and lifestyle programming as well as live weekly German Bundesliga football. Subscription to this channel, which launched in February 2005, costs 5 US dollars more than German TV and it is not currently available on any cable packages in the USA. The DISH network also allows subscribers to pay for German TV and ProSiebenSat.1 Welt together, at a combined reduced rate. A third German TV channel is also available in the region: the international service, Deutsche Welle - one of German TV's founders. Although not broadcasting exclusively in the German language, DW also broadcasts in English and Spanish in this part of the world, the public broadcaster is available via satellite and some cable systems throughout North and South America unencrypted, therefore no subscription is required to watch. Deutsche Welle's programmes focus more on news, current affairs, politics and culture with some of these programmes also available on German TV at a cost. The Inside Satellite report said it was expected that part of German TV's programming will be integrated into the current Deutsche Welle service, with ARD and ZDF possibly becoming part of the DW partnership structure. Source: BBC Monitoring research 19 Jul 05 (via DXLD) ** GREECE. In case this is really current referring to July 23 without specifying that, Preview of HATW visible July 22, which I think is a repeat as Katerina previously mentioned, on the website http://www.voiceofgreece.gr/en/omogeneia_ekpompes.asp?catid=148 TV [sic] SHOWS: Greeks everywhere This Saturday in the English program "Hellenes Around the World" In our voyage to the Hellenic and the Philhellenic corners of the world this Saturday, we meet Vally Lytra, Visiting Research Fellow at the Department of Byzantine and Modern Greek Studies at King’s College London. Mrs Lytra presents to us the new study program established for Turkish and Modern Greek Studies, organized by the Department of Byzantine and Modern Greek Studies at King’s College and the Department of Languages and Cultures of the Near and Middle East at the School of Oriental and African Studies. As she explains, this academic initiative aims to bring together expertise in Greek and Turkish studies and present to the younger the extensive cultural encounters that have taken place between the two peoples over time, in such diverse areas as language, literature, music, architecture and culinary practices. For more information about the program, please visit the web site at : http://www.kcl.ac.uk/kis/schools/hums/byzmodgreek/TMGS/index.html And from London, we travel to Beijing, the hosting city of the 2008 Olympic Games. We discuss about the Center for Hellenic Studies, in Beijing University, with Professor Floros Sigalas, while his two Chinese students Mariana Xiaojing Wang and Kate Ywe Wu, share with us their ``Greek experience``. Kate is a journalism major in the University and studies modern greek for almost two years now. She finds the Greek language "vivid" and Greek people very hospitable. Marianna, who grew up in a provincial town by the water, just a few miles away from Beijing, majors in History and explains why she loves to learn and speak Greek. Mariana and Kate, are currently attending courses in modern greek in the University of Athens. Description of program It is the ERA 5 English language omogeneia program, transmitted every Saturday at 17.00-18.00 Greek local time on the ERA5 frequencies and the Internet http://www.voiceofgreece.gr [1400-1500 UT Delano 9775] The program in its 4th year has hosted important personalities of Greek descent , who with their work have promoted Hellenism abroad. The program refers to activities of Greeks living abroad and phillenes, covers current news regarding Hellenes in all parts of the world while it often invites personalities [of Greek descent] in the sectors of culture, economy and politics. A special part of the program is dedicated to the new generation of Greeks and their activities with the aim to show the dynamic of young Greeks abroad to promote Greek culture and language. Katerina Thanassoula is the host of the program. email: kthanasoula @ ert.gr - katerina @ thanasoula.gr For any information or comment contact e-mail address: diktioera5 @ ert.gr telephone numbers: (0030) 210 6066336, (0030) 210 6066895 Fax: (0030) 210 6066309 (via gh, DXLD) ** GUATEMALA. 4052.5, Radio Verdad, Chiquimula. Esta emisora, que se sintoniza bién todos los días por aquí en horas del amanecer, no se escucha desde hace 6 ó 7 días, tal vez por problemas de propagación en esa frecuencia o más bién parece que pueda estar fuera del aire en estos momentos (Manuel Méndez, Lugo, Spain, Escuchas realizadas en Reinante, costa del mar Cantábrico, 90 Km. N. de Lugo Grundig Satellit 500, antena de cable, 10 metros, DX LISTENING DIGEST) See 5-119 ** INTERNATIONAL INTERNET. YAHOO SECURITY ISSUES, AND OTHERS These comments were prompted by Prime Time Shortwave moving mailing list to yahoogroups: I also know about the Yahoo! procedures and laxness. I know that you personally would never knowingly allow your subscriber list to be taken and used, but how can you prevent Yahoo! from doing it? There is no way you can protect what you have on their system from them Daniel. If they want it, they have it. One thing we must all remind ourselves of, is that anyone who uses the Internet and visits web sites is never safe and nothing is ever private. Electronic mail is not private as it leaves a visible trail, on line bill paying is not private or totally secure and so forth. Most of the time the blunders are so well covered up that the world does not find out about them at all or quickly, such as last year when AOL got ripped by an employee who sold the subscriber list with millions of names to a casino owner in Nevada for $100,000. The buyer immediately unloaded this list worldwide. The employee was caught and action taken, but all of those millions of subscribers had already been compromised. This is not uncommon, quite the opposite. We all need to keep this in mind as despite what they tell us, the only safe Internet is the one you are not connected to! If you want to have a few nights of insomnia, use the various internet search engines and check out yourself! You may be shocked at how much private information about you is right there for the world to see. I have been told by Internet security professionals that there are at least ten places on the WWW that your social security number is available to anyone who knows how to open the door. I do not know about you, but to me, this is most unsettling! (Duane W8DBF Fischer, MI, swl at qth.net via DXLD) You are right on target. It was bad move, especially because this same data has been taken and used against the author's wishes. Yahoo has an EULA ("End User License Agreement") that you acknowledged when you originally created your yahoo login(s). That EULA covers all the things you do on Yahoo, including the free 'groups' and any hosting Yahoo does. Yahoo also hosts SBC's DSL (email as well as personal home pages and on-line storage) as well as some other DSL providers. There is NO GUARANTEE OF PRIVACY OR SECURITY. Any materials you place there are fair game and not guaranteed to even be kept without loss or corruption. Do you actually READ all those 3,000+ word user agreements that pop up? Or do you just click on "I agree"?? Google does the same (with their EULA) for the new 'free' gmail service. You can keep up to 2GB of stuff in each account, but I'm sure they 'web crawl' it to harvest email addresses and other materials that might even make it into their internet search engine files... Scary, huh ?? Dwayne is 100% correct when he stated that the only truly secure internet is the one you do not connect to. The entire 'security' and 'privacy' we enjoy (and not just on-line) is wrapped in wax paper - get close enough and you can see right through the paper and read your most private information. How many places (doctors, dentists, hospitals, employers, car dealer, credit cards, banks, etc., etc.) have you left all your info at?? Name, DOB, Place of birth, SSN, Mother's Maiden Name, etc. at?? Do all those entities insure the info is kept secure and destroyed when no longer needed? NOT ON YOU LIFE. One dishonest hospital employee can end up stealing 500 identities a week. Do you think all those entities do full background checks on ALL their employees (and all those temporary and part time workers)? NOT ON YOUR LIFE. Get used to it - Microsoft, Google, Yahoo, and ALL THE similar provider's products were all designed with advertisers and those seeking 'marketing information' in mind, NOT your privacy. Want real privacy? Cancel you internet connection, cancel your phone, close all your credit accounts, burn all incoming mail, become a hermit/cave dweller, never write anything down, and just remember where all your money is buried (and hope a squirrel does not find it! I recently purchased some radio related postage stamps (thankfully only a $3 purchase + $1 for mail) from an on-line seller, paying with PayPal which does not expose your bank info to the seller. I never received them. When I followed up with the seller, it turns out someone broke into this seller's home while they were in Florida for the winter, rummaged through his home office, and found enough information to fully assume his identity, empty his bank account (and PayPal account), charge up a bunch of merchandise on his credit cards, act as him on his e-store/e-auction site, and even bilk a few stamp dealers into sending a him a large amount of stamps on consignment. He's out about $75,000 and has an attorney doing all the follow-up work for him in trying to get his life back together. And all this happened from 'the comfort' of the victim`s own home. So how secure do you really feel now?? QTH.net has been a virus free (and e-script free, mal-ware free, ad- ware free, pop-up free) venue, and I'm very thankful for that. It's only a bit inconvenient not being able to do attachments or HTML, but well worth it. QTH takes some money to run, and Al has been personally funding this whenever donations fail to keep up with expenses. T1 lines, server, disk drive, domain registrations, software licenses, etc. all cost money. DONATE TODAY --- It's YOUR SAFE RADIO PLACE. I, for one took offense at someone who recently felt badgered by the request for donations. That user left. He'll learn elsewhere what on-line safety is worth. For every other venue I connect to, I have (AND NEED) a hardware firewall, a software firewall, 2 spyware/ad-ware programs, AND an anti-virus scanner that all get updated DAILY. Even at that, a new virus, that could not be totally identified, was caught and quarantined by my anti-virus scanner the very same day it was unleashed on the web. It took almost 24 hours before all the anti- virus software companies could react to it and provide an update... So... how safe do you really feel now ?? This entire issue of identity theft and lack of information privacy is about to hit the fan, and when it does it will have a terrible effect on our consumer centric society. Congress has NO CLUE where to even begin in fixing this mess that they created over the years! ==== ._._. (A10382, ibid.) No disrespect taken. You make valid points about the dangers of the internet. I'll keep a membership list confidential but I can't make guarantees about any company where it's located, and what guarantee would I have someone at Topica or any other company or a hacker wouldn't do the very same thing no matter how secure they think they are. The same can be said for contributing something to a email reflector such as this list. The same can be said for all email reflectors. Topica is better in this matter as it doesn't include in the header, to and from. When something is posted to the list the email address shows in full view for this list as you'll notice above. Prime pickings for an email harvester. I've noticed how the spam increases whenever I post something to this or any other list including my own at Topica. My email address is in that purposely to receive contributions. Of course it's necessary so someone can reply back directly to submitter if needed. That's not an issue with the PTSW list as I'm the only one who can post anything to it and have it set up so the members is hidden at the website. I find Yahoo! Groups to be pretty good about not including the full email address at the website on list that membership list are shown, not always the case with Topica. Don't you love friends who forward humorous or other emails without removing the email addresses from previous forwardings? Required shortwave content! In any case I'm in good company as there are a number of other top notch shortwave email lists at Yahoo! Groups from DX Listening Digest, Ontario DX Association and the Canadian DX Club as well as some railroad related ones. A person can have a top notch firewall, anti-virus program, internet security program, spyware cleanup program, advertisement blocker and you still have to be very careful. No one can be 100% safe (Daniel Sampson, ibid.) Daniel, As far as QTH.NET goes, no sir it can not. Absolutely nobody except the system owner has access to the master subscriber list. Each subscriber on each list is assigned a personal password for each list he/she is on by the computer system, it is totally confidential and only the subscriber has these passwords. The system owner does have an override code for emergency use, but he does not have the subscriber passwords. There is no way to steal them or for others to copy them. Al Waller, K3TKJ has no commercial interests on the QTH.NET servers or system; it is about as secure as anything could ever be. Far more so than any of the major ISP's out there. During the past eight years I am aware of exactly one person getting onto a list and sending a spam message. It was never received by the subscribers of the list, as the 'mailman' security software caught it and killed it. All attachments are killed automatically. No discussion, no notification, just Boom! It be DOA! Now I am not going to tell you that QTH.NET is totally impervious to something going wrong, nobody can make that claim, as everyone and everything on the Internet is vulnerable to some degree. But I will tell you that Al Waller, K3TKJ has some of the best security going and the list managers are very good at spotting what the electronic watchdogs might miss. You can not get a virus and your identity can not be stolen by any kind of software that searches, seeks and steals. These lists are just about as safe as you could ever hope to be and we need to let Al know that we appreciate all of his hard work and tireless effort on our behalf to protect us. Yes, even the 99.4% of us who never donate a single penny to help fund these totally non- commercial, subscription free, spam free and user donation funded lists. Daniel Sampson is one heck of a hard working guy and his tireless efforts on our behalf are also greatly appreciated, at least by myself, and I am sure many of you as well. But Daniel's only payment for services rendered is our thanks, so take time - make time and let him know you are grateful for what he does. Hey, these guys do not owe us a thing and they do not have to do what they do, so if the service goes away one day, it may well be because enough of us did not let these guys who contribute so much on a regular basis know they were appreciated. Thank you Daniel! (Duane Fischer, W8DBF, ibid.) ** INTERNATIONAL INTERNET. EPOLITICS AND POLICY Questions for Kevin J. Martin By AMY SCHATZ staff Reporter of THE WALL STREET JOURNAL July 18, 2005 10:38 p.m. Kevin Martin, the FCC chairman, talks about his drive to encourage high-speed Internet access. WSJ: So, let's talk about the agenda. Have you decided what you want to focus on? Martin: I think the most important policy priority for the commission is setting a regulatory framework that encourages the deployment of broadband. Both on the wireline side and wireless. Broadband and high- speed connections impact the way we communicate, they way we entertain ourselves, the way we educate our children, the way we work at the office and home. It not only impacts every aspect of our lives but interesting benefits for the overall economy. So making sure we do everything we can to establish a regulatory framework that facilitates private investment in infrastructure is the most important thing. . . http://online.wsj.com/public/article/0,,SB112173473180788984-yAzG6qsKGNJd94ilqXl045V__VU_20060719,00.html?mod=blogs (via Joe Ringer, swprograms via DXLD) Also gets into TV, indecency, V- chip etc. ** JORDAN. Radio Jordan, Amman - Corrected schedule Arabic Days Area kHz, all from aka site and sign on/off times vary: 0200-0500 daily NAm, Eu 15435 0300-0715 daily ME, As 11810 0500-0715 daily Eu 11960 1030-1200 daily ME, As 11810 1030-1200 daily Eu, NAf 15290 1500-2200 daily ME, SEA 6105 1730-2000 daily Eu 9830 1900-2100 daily SAm 15435 Arabic (Armed forces) 1200-1500 daily ME, As 11810 English 1300-1630 daily NAm, Eu 11690 (From last WRTH Update, July 13 via BCDX via DXLD) ** LATVIA. R Tatras International noted on 1350 via Latvia July 20th at 1655 and onwards. Pushing through my local noise on that channel. At 1800 announced also 1350 mediumwave. Thanks for a tip, RN Media Network Weblog (Jari Savolainen, Kuusankoski, Finland, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** LIBYA [non]. via France (presumed Issoudun) Voice of Africa, 7320 kHz, 7/22/05, 0110-0250+. 0110 Tune in to male in Arabic with bridge music between segments 0115 Arabic by male until when there was an anthem and fanfare. Talk by male with musical bridges 0140 same anthem and fanfare to French segment. 0148 Back to Arabic at with Male and Female announcers with some Arabic style music. 0159 Probable ID sequence with both male and female announcers alternating with bridge music. 0203 Apparent start of program with theme music and announcement. 0205 Switch either to another language related to Arabic or another dialect with musical bridge. 0217 switch to another language I couldn't identify (Hausa as a complete guess) 0228 same anthem and fanfare, English segment essentially as transcribed by Christopher Lewis in DXLD 5-117. 0233 Back to Arabic. 0250 Another Arabic song. 0253 Another program of alternating male and female announcers. 0259 Same ID sequence as at 0200, then to apparent news with mentions of "Washington" 0302 Start of another program with announcement and theme music. I don't know the full duration, but it must be considerable. The French and English segments were at about the same times as when I listened on 7/15/05. As Glenn pointed out, they don't announce this English segment's frequency within the schedule they read (Mark Taylor, Madison, WI, UT July 22, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** MEXICO. QSL recibida en un mes desde el envío del informe de recepción. Radio Mil, 6010, Recibida carta por correo aéreo, con preciosos sellos, conteniendo tarjeta QSL con datos completos, firmada por Julían Santiago Díez de Bonilla, Encargado Proyecto Onda Corta de Radio Mil, carta de agradecimiento de la emisora, manuscrita por el Sr. Julían Santiago Díez, en la que se agradece el "muy completo y correcto informe de recepción, el cual nos es de gran valía", formularios para informes de recepción y varias pegatinas "stickers" de distinto tamaño y formato. La carta tardó en llegar un mes y el informe, junto al que se acompañó 1 US $ para ayuda del sello de retorno; se envió a la siguiente dirección, XEOI RADIO MIL Apartado Postal 21-100 04021 México, D.F. MEXICO Los informes de recepción deben enviarse única y exclusivamente a esa dirección, pues, por ejemplo, la que figura en el WRTH 2005 no es válida, y se agradece algún tipo de ayuda para el sello de retorno, tal como US $ o IRC (Manuel Méndez, Lugo, España, July 22, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** MONTSERRAT. After the volcano --- Ten years ago today came the first warnings of the volcanic blast that was to devastate the tiny Caribbean island of Montserrat. Within two years, two-thirds of it was rendered barren and uninhabitable and most of the population had fled. Polly Pattullo on a country now trying to rebuild itself from scratch Polly Pattullo, Monday July 18 2005, The Guardian [excerpt from long article, only mention of radio:] Those who stayed are aware of the new realities. Rose Willock, Montserrat's leading broadcaster and veteran of Radio Antilles, managed the island's radio station throughout the ongoing crisis. She, too, lost her home to the volcano. "In the past we had intact communities," she says. "Now we don't know or fully trust our neighbours. We are trying to develop a new sense of community. We have to get on with it, we can't afford to be left behind." To see this story with its related links on the Guardian Unlimited site, go to http://www.guardian.co.uk (via Bill Westenhaver, DXLD) Direct link missing, but I suppose searchable (gh) ** NETHERLANDS [non]. For anyone who cares: Radio Netherlands had a couple anomalies on July 18 & 19: There was no signal detectable during the 1000 UT hour 7/18/05 on 9790 kHz, the Bonaire relay. Actually I figured that they were shut down due to Hurricane Emily and that it wasn't remarkable, but then they WERE on the air with the NA service during the next hour of 1100 UT on 11675 kHz. That struck me as odd. Then during the 0000 UT hour 7/19/05, there was no English on 9845 kHz, just Spanish. No sign of English on other standard RN frequencies then, but the regular English hour WAS on during the following 0100 UT hour. 73, (Will Martin, MO, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** PARAGUAY. 9737, Radio Nacional de Paraguay, 2202-2215, 18-07, Locutor: "A toda hora informa Radio Nacional del Paraguay, son las 6 con 3 minutos". Noticias, "Hasta aquí el flash noticioso". "Radio Nacional del Paraguay en el mundo, http://www.rnpy.com ", "Radio Nacional del Paraguay Internacional, con Paraguay y el mundo". "El Ministerio Público presenta: Fiscales". Noticias de sucesos. 34333 (Manuel Méndez, Lugo, Spain, Escuchas realizadas en Reinante, costa del mar Cantábrico, 90 Km. N. de Lugo Grundig Satellit 500, antena de cable, 10 metros, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** QATAR. ANALYSIS: AL-JAZEERA'S NEW ENGLISH CHANNEL WILL FIND US MARKET TOUGH - MD | Text of editorial analysis by Peter Feuilherade of BBC Monitoring Media Services on 20 July Nigel Parsons, managing director of Al-Jazeera International, has outlined the challenges facing the new Qatar-based English-language TV news channel as it prepares to launch in the first quarter of 2006. Speaking at a conference organized by the Association of International Broadcasting in London on 15 July, Parsons said Al-Jazeera's market research "shows a great demand for a fresh perspective on news". In many of the channel's prospective markets, Western media coverage of Iraq, for example, was seen as "too one-sided", especially because of the number of embedded reporters, and there was a need for "an alternative voice". Al-Jazeera International would work closely with the Al-Jazeera Arabic channel, through which it would have "unique access" to contacts in the Middle East and the developing world, Parsons said. Although the two services would operate from separate premises at the Doha headquarters, they would "piggyback on each other's resources, to achieve economies of scale". The two teams would have different agendas, but there was a good level of trust between them, he added. In addition to the Doha base, Al-Jazeera International will have bureaus in London, Washington DC and Kuala Lumpur, in accordance with what Parsons described as "our philosophy... to decentralize the news". Al-Jazeera International "will pay lots of attention to the developing world," he pledged. Al-Jazeera International will devote the first half of each hour to hard news, while the second will largely feature talk shows and documentaries. Securing a US foothold Although Parsons would not be drawn on Al-Jazeera International's launch budget or operating expenses, he said the channel was expected eventually to create revenue, "but we don't have to do that in year one". It would have a break-even target of between three and five years, he added. And he insisted there would be no political interference from Qatar in how the channel was run. Despite reports about the possible flotation of Al-Jazeera on the stock market, such a move was not imminent, and if it did happen in the future, the channel would maintain a Qatar majority stake, Parsons explained. Asked about the advertising boycott in several Gulf states which Al- Jazeera has had to contend with for many years, he commented: "In the global market, our problem is to convince US advertisers to come on board." Parsons acknowledged that Al-Jazeera International could face distribution problems in the US, saying: "The US is our most difficult market." But he hoped that once the new channel secured a foothold in the United States, that would produce what he called a snowball effect. Source: BBC Monitoring research 20 Jul 05 (via DXLD) ** SAUDI ARABIA. At 1310 UT on 21680 kHz mixed sounds of two different programs in Arabic: on 21460 \\ 21600 \\ 21560; 2nd on 21505 \\ 21640 (Rumen Pankov-BUL, wwdxc BC-DX July 17 via DXLD) This is very confusing. Do you mean you heard two programs mixed on a single frequency, and if so on which one, or all of them?? Trying to unsort this, fundamentals 21600 and 21640 would make mixing products on 21560 and 21680 at 40-kHz intervals. 21460 and 21505 would not be involved in this mixing (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** SERBIA and MONTENEGRO. 1400-1430 UT on 7200 - music with 2 minutes news in English, Fr, Ge, Sp, It (Rumen Pankov, Bulgaria, wwdxc BC-DX July 14 via DXLD) I guess that is a domestic service relay; don`t find it in WRTH 2005, but Beograd used to be on 7200 long ago (gh, DXLD) ** SLOVAKIA [and non]. Re: Radio Slovakia International saved --- I often wonder why commercials are not put on international stations, it seems from my listening only some limited advertising on USA stations and on Voice of Russia is considered. Having seen the same degree of advertising on BBC World TV it seems perhaps international companies are not too interested. But I would have thought Slovakia and The Czech Republic with their glass and engineering companies could gain exports and help their external radio service finances at the same time (Rog Parsons (BDXC 782), Hinckley, Leics., July 21, BDXC-UK via DXLD) Didn't Israel Radio carry adverts at one time or was that when they were just relaying the domestic service a few years ago? (Russell Cummings, UK, ibid.) ** THAILAND. 6765 USB, Bangkok Meteorological R., July 15 1157-1320, 33333. Weather information in Thai and English (ISHIZAKI Kyoshiro, Japan Premium via DXLD) ** UKRAINE. UKRAINE/USA: RFE/RL TO BE RELAYED NATIONWIDE ON FM IN UKRAINE | Text of report by Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty website on 18 July Starting today [18 July], programmes produced by Radio Free Europe/ Radio Liberty's (RFE/RL) Ukrainian Service, known locally as Radio Svoboda, will again be distributed nationwide in Ukraine. Radio Svoboda's partner in the venture is Nashe Radio, one of Ukraine's pre- eminent radio networks with 29 FM transmitters covering all of the major population centres in Ukraine. Under the terms of the partnership, four specially prepared five minute Radio Svoboda news analysis programs will be broadcast by Nashe Radio at 2.30 p.m., 3.30 p.m., 5.30 p.m. and 6.30 p.m. local time [1130, 1230, 1430 and 1530 gmt respectively]. RFE/RL President Thomas A. Dine welcomed the agreement enthusiastically, in a letter sent to Nashe Radio General Manager Bogdan Kozachenko on 5 July. Dine wrote: "Our partnership with Nashe Radio represents an important moment for Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty - with this joint venture we will define a new kind of radio programming and format for Radio Liberty's Ukrainian Service. My colleagues and I are already preparing to meet this challenge with rigour and enthusiasm." Nashe Radio programming is entertainment-oriented, focused on Ukrainian and Russian-language pop music with a significant news component in the Ukrainian language. In order to add a new dimension to Nashe Radio's news and information programming, a dedicated team of Radio Svoboda broadcasters based in Nashe Radio's studios in Kiev will produce the four programme segments every Monday to Friday. The programmes, which will develop a single theme throughout the day, will address a wide range of topics on Ukrainian themes that cover all aspects of life of interest and concern to Nashe Radio listeners, according to RFE/RL Associate Director of Broadcasting Frank Williams. RFE/RL's Ukrainian Service broadcasts nearly seven hours of programming a day Monday to Friday and three hours every Saturday and Sunday, with programs produced in Prague and the service's Kiev bureau and transmitted to listeners via shortwave, satellite and AM and FM signals provided by local affiliate stations in Ukraine. Ukrainian Service programming is also available via the Internet. Source: Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty website, Washington, D.C., in English 0000 gmt 18 Jul 05 (via BBCM via DXLD) (via BBCM via DXLD) Headline should have begun ``A TINY FRAXION OF RFE/RL PROGRAMMING...`` ** U K [and non]. Re 5-118: Comments in Glen[n]'s Digest on the BBC Charter are interesting. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to see that BBCWS is dying by inches and will soon be gone. I know times change but it saddens me that BBCWS will probably be gone completely from shortwave soon. I bought my first short wave radio almost 30 years ago because I wanted to listen to BBC (Sandy Finlayson, PA, swprograms via DXLD) The stats on shortwave audibility are interesting -- across the board, in all regions, shortwave audibility was below the goals set by the World Service; the Americas audibility was particularly low. There is keen interest in continuing to promote the use of FM, according to the report. The interest in developing Arabic offerings was informally cited as a motivation for the scaleback in shortwave transmissions to the Americas this past spring (Richard Cuff / Allentown, PA USA, ibid.) I do mean that BBCWS is dying by inches on shortwave. BBCWS insists that listeners in the Americas can listen online or via local radio if they want to hear their output. Given this, there have been a whole series of cuts and I think the day is not too far away when there will be no shortwave broadcasts to this part of the world at all. The same could well be true for Europe (Finlayson, ibid.) By "BBCWS is dying by inches and will soon be gone" do you mean BBCWS from shortwave as you imply from your next sentence? I don`t see that and if you really mean BBCWS will soon be gone I don`t see that either. Given they have a finite budget they will use whatever method or methods of delivery that is best suited to each particular market be that television, medium wave, FM, shortwave, internet, etc., etc. There are still areas of the world where shortwave is the most effective way particularly where they cannot get any local rebroadcast outlets (Mike Barraclough, UK, ibid.) Promoting FM is fine, but I wonder how much more penetration BBCWS can expect on FM Radio in the US? There may be some NPR stations that will pick up more of their output but I doubt it will ever equal the number of hours that used to be broadcast on shortwave (Sandy Finlayson, ibid.) Perhaps "The BBCWS as we have known it" would better apply. The BBCWS has been trying to change who they are, because they perceive their target audience as changing, and because the tools available to reach said audience are changing. I'd wager that most of us who are shortwave enthusiasts also have a soft spot for nostalgia, as "I remember when..." often punctuates much of what we talk about. The problem with that is that nostalgia buffs aren't the BBC's target demographic, particularly in North America (Richard Cuff / Allentown, PA, ibid.) I live in the boondocks of lower Delaware. No opinion formers here except on weekends when they flee Washington DC for a dash of sanity. Here is a 24 hour clock of BCCWS availability at this location: 9 PM to 6 AM - WSDL 90.7 10 PM to 6 AM - WESM 91.3 6 AM to noon - WWFM Trenton (89.1) and its repeater station in Cape May (89.1) have hourly BBC news at the top of each hour. 9 AM to 10 AM - New Jersey Network 90.3 from Cape May. 5:30 PM to 5:55 BBC World TV news is available on Maryland Public TV. 7 to 7:25 PM the New Jersey Network carries BBC World TV news from Camden channel 23 and it comes in often when the tropo inversion over Delaware Bay is working. 11 PM to 11:25 WHYY Philadelphia via repeater station WDPB channel 64 in Seaford Delaware carries BBC World TV news. Sometimes delayed to midnight in case of a schedule conflict. So I figure with a TV set and an FM radio there are 15 hours per day when I can hear at least BBC top-of-the-hour news bulletins from the BBC. I can also see 75 minutes of BBC TV news Monday through Friday in near prime time. I submit that should be enough BBC for anyone and it greatly exceeds the total number of hours BBCWS was available here on SW beamed to North America. The 4 million pay radio subscribers get at least BBC news 24 hours a day. So from my limited perspective the BBC decision to phase over to delivery via domestic broadcasters and satellite pay radio has greatly expanded their exposure in the USA. Consider that before the switch, at most only a few percent of the population owned a shortwave receiver and most of them did not know how to hear BBC because they were unwilling to track seasonal frequency changes. BBC has made it easy for anyone who wants to hear or see their newscasts to do so. Brilliant! ~*-.,_,.-*~'^'~*-.,_,.-*~'^'~*-., (Joe Buch, Swprograms mailing list via DXLD) -*~'^'~*-.,_,.-*~'^'~*-.,_,.-*~'^ ** U K. BBC'S FREE BEETHOVEN TRACKS RACK UP 1.4M DOWNLOADS Last Updated Thu, 21 Jul 2005 11:48:47 EDT CBC Arts http://sympatico.msn.cbc.ca/story/arts/national/2005/07/21/Arts/beethovendownload050721.html Ludwig van Beethoven has apparently beaten Bono and Paul McCartney in musical downloads in the United Kingdom. The British Broadcasting Corp. has released final figures from the online Beethoven Experience, a free download of the German composer's symphonies. The music was downloaded nearly 1.4 million times from the BBC website. In June, the BBC Philharmonic played its first complete cycle of Beethoven's oeuvre in 30 years. BBC Radio 3, which broadcast the performances non-stop for a week, decided to offer his nine symphonies free online. The songs were recorded at a live performance in Manchester in June, with the philharmonic conducted by Gianandrea Noseda. The symphonies were available for download one week following the first transmission on Radio 3. Each individual symphony was downloaded between 89,000 to 220,000 times by people around the world, the broadcaster said, with the famed Ninth Symphony proving the most popular. In comparison, the online single of Paul McCartney and U2's opening performance of Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band at the London Live 8 concert has been downloaded approximately 20,000 times via Apple's iTunes website, according to the Guardian newspaper. Online music retailers charge approximately $1 US to download the McCartney-U2 song, while the BBC offered the Beethoven symphonies free of charge. Because of they were available gratis, the Beethoven songs are not eligible for U.K. music charts. BBC officials said they are planning a similar event to celebrate the music of Johann Sebastian Bach later this year (via Fred Waterer, ON, DXLD) That`s gratifying, but the writer commits a terrible faux-pas by referring to Beethoven`s music as ``songs``, tho he did compose a few of those too (gh, DXLD) ** U S A [non]. PRAGUE-BASED RADIO FREE EUROPE HEAD IS TO LEAVE | Excerpt from report in English by Czech news agency CTK Prague, 21 July: Thomas Dine, the president of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL), will leave his post, RFE/RL spokeswoman Anna Rausova told CTK today. According to the information available to CTK, Dine is to leave the post on the last day of October. Rausova did not confirm this and only said that Dine would leave RFE/RL. Dine held the post of RFE/RL president since August 1997. [passage omitted] RFE/RL, financed by the USA, has been broadcasting from Prague for 10 years. At present it broadcasts its programmes to 19 countries in 28 languages. It is based in the building of the former National Assembly near Wenceslas Square. [passage omitted] Source: CTK news agency, Prague, in English 1513 gmt 21 Jul 05 (via BBCM via DXLD) ** U S A. Following is the Tentative 30 October 2005 to 26 March 2006 High Frequency Schedule for Family Stations, Inc., WYFR. B-05 / B05 [including RTI relays; and BBC?] Freq (kHz) Time (UTC) Az(Degrees) Zone(s) Power 5745 0500-1000 181 11 50 5810 0500-0800 44 27,39 100 5810 0800-1200 160 14 100 5810 2000-2300 44 27,28 100 5950 0300-1200 285 10 100 5950 2100-0300 355 4,5,9 100 5985 0445-0700 315 2 100 5985 2000-0445 181 11 50 6065 0100-0445 355 4,5,9 100 6085 2245-0100 355 4,5,9 100 6085 0945-2000 181 11 100 6105 0800-1100 142 15 100 6855 0300-0900 355 4,5,9 100 6855 0900-1300 355 4,5,9 100 6855 1945-2245 44 28 100 6890 0900-1300 355 4,5,9 100 7355 0300-0745 44 27,28 100 7355 1045-1345 315 2 100 7455 0700-1100 315 2 100 7520 0100-0400 142 13 100 7520 0400-0800 44 27,28 100 7570 0045-0400 160 15 100 9355 0400-0800 44 27,28 100 9355 1845-2300 44 27,28 100 9495 0500-1000 222 11 100 9505 0000-0445 315 2 100 9525 0100-0400 285 10 50 9555 0800-1400 160 16 100 9575 0900-1200 160 15 100 9605 0800-1100 142 13 100 9605 1100-1245 222 12 100 9680 0145-0800 315 2 100 9680 0800-1100 140 13 100 9690 2145-0045 142 13 100 9705 1100-1245 285 10 50 9715 2345-0100 285 10 50 9715 0400-1100 285 10 50 9755 0900-1145 285 10 100 9930 0445-0900 87 46 100 9985 0100-0500 151 15 100 9985 0500-0900 87 37,46 100 11530 0500-0800 44 27,28 100 11530 1200-1400 160 13 100 11565 1345-1700 315 2 100 11565 2000-2145 44 27,28 100 11580 0400-0900 87 47,52,57 100 11665 1945-2300 44 27,28 100 11720 2245-0145 142 13 100 11725 1100-1600 222 11 100 11740 2145-2345 315 2 100 11740 0145-0500 222 11 100 11740 0800-1600 151 15 100 11825 0045-0300 160 14 100 11830 1100-1300 140 13 100 11830 1300-1700 315 2 100 11855 1300-1700 355 4,5,9 100 11855 2000-0500 222 11 100 11885 2300-0145 140 13 100 11970 1145-1345 285 10 100 13615 1200-1600 160 15 100 13695 1300-1945 355 4,5,9 100 15115 1700-2100 87 46 100 15130 1245-2345 285 10 50 15170 2245-0045 160 15 100 15210 1400-1600 160 14 100 15215 2300-0400 160 16 100 15355 1245-1400 222 12 100 15355 1400-1600 142 13 100 15400 2300-0100 151 15 100 15440 1945-2100 355 4,5,9 100 15440 2145-0300 285 10 100 15565 1800-1945 44 27,28 100 15565 2100-2245 87 37,46 100 15665 1600-1700 44 27,28 100 17510 1400-1600 160 13 100 17510 1700-2145 285 10 100 17535 1700-2200 315 2 100 17575 1700-2245 140 13 100 17690 1600-1945 87 37,46 100 17760 1345-1700 285 10 100 17760 1700-2000 44 27,28 100 17845 2300-0045 160 14 100 18930 1600-1845 44 27,28 100 18980 1600-1945 44 27,28 100 21455 1600-2000 44 28 100 21525 1945-2245 87 47,52,57 100 21745 1600-1745 44 28,29 100 (via Evelyn Marcy, WYFR, July 20, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. Re: ``WOAI changed their transmitter site and went to a conventional 1/2 wave radiator if memory serves --- they no longer have the multisectional (sometimes called a Franklin) antenna. Their radiation went from 420mV/m/KW to 400mV/m/KW at the new site. My info is from more than 10 years ago... Back then they had two full-power transmitter sites. Did they retire one of them? Were they both 'Franklin' antennae? I recall them going off pretty often in the late '80s. Was that why they changed?`` WOAI has not had two full power sites simultaneously, at least since 1958. In 1958 an Air Force Bomber hit the tower site near Selma, Texas, (now a Hooter's on I H 35.) See http://www.oldradio.com/archives/warstories/1200.htm The site was move to Wilson County, near Elmendorf, Texas. Director of Engineering Charles Jeffers and consulting engineer A.D. Ring designed and constructed a vertical, sectional, center fed, antenna sometimes referred to as a ``Franklin`` antenna. (I might add the Elmendorf site was a very unusual site, not only because the "Franklin" but also because the transmitter was located in the WOAI-TV transmitter building while the antenna was just over a ½ mile away and was fed by open wire, balanced, line.) The antenna design was a good design; however, the ground conductivity in Wilson County, Texas is that of glass. For this reasons, in 1984, John Furr, moved the site to Guadalupe County near the community of Marion where there was a band of conductivity of approx 30 millimho. A similar ``Franklin`` design was erected here. Parts of the old, Elmendorf site were used to construct this site. The Marion antenna had several design changes and transmitter problems. While it worked as it was supposed to work, it was never a reliable antenna. It was plagued by coaxial burn-outs, lightning strikes, etc. The design could have been corrected, but due to reasons beyond the control of the locals, the site was redesigned as a standard ½ wave antenna. Jack Sellmeyer designed and engineered the ½ wave antenna which went into operation in April 1998. (Jack's preference would have been to repair the sectional antenna.) During the construction of the ½ wave antenna, WOAI continued to operate on ¼ wave, 10 Kw backup site, located at the Elmendorf site where the original ``Franklin`` was constructed (tka034, July 20, Radio-info TX forum??? via Artie Bigley, DXLD) ** U S A. Well, it looks like a shorter extension of Daylight Saving Time is on its way. See: http://tinyurl.com/8onbq From the L.A. Times: "WASHINGTON -- House-Senate negotiators agreed today to extend daylight saving [sic] time by four weeks as part of a sweeping energy bill. (...) "Under the measure, daylight saving time would start on the second Sunday of March and end on the first Sunday of November. Now, daylight saving time runs from April through October. The extension would become effective one year after the enactment of the energy bill." Bring on four more Weeks of Confusion (TM)! p.s. Be careful what you wish for when it comes to double-DST: Here in Calgary, with regular DST, daylight really fades out around 11 p.m. and a faint dawn can be seen around 4 a.m. Latitude must have something to do with that (Ricky Leong, Calgary, Alta., UT July 22, dxldyg via DXLD) See also RADIO EQUIPMENT FORUM ** U S A. FAIREST OF THEM ALL: PAUL DUKE MADE WASHINGTON'S WEEK By Gwen Ifill Special to The Washington Post Friday, July 22, 2005; C01 As the moderator of PBS's "Washington Week," I get asked a lot if I think television is going to hell in a handbasket. I always say no. Paul Duke, who died this week at 78, was one of the reasons why. With his sonorous voice, elaborate segues between topics and old-school notions of honorable journalism, Paul made a home for those of us who believed it is possible to tell the news straight. Paul was the living embodiment of what "fair and balanced" really means. The millions of viewers who set aside their Friday nights to watch "Washington Week in Review" could never tell you exactly what he thought about any of the issues he covered. . . http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/07/21/AR2005072102357_pf.html (via Mike Cooper, DXLD) ** U S A. RADIO READING SERVICE FOR THE BLIND LOSING ITS SPACE AT UK --- By Jamie Gumbrecht, Kentucky.com - Lexington, KY, USA, Thursday, July 21, 2005 VOLUNTEER NON-PROFIT SAYS IT CAN'T AFFORD RENT AT A NEW SITE In 1,600 square feet in the University of Kentucky's King Library, the region's only radio reading service is doing the work some people's eyes and hands can't -- reading the daily news. But space is tight on campus, and the non-profit received a letter last week giving it three months to vacate its office on the third floor. After 15 years of rent-free, utility-cost-free work, Central Kentucky Radio Eye doesn't know where to go. "If we had to pay rent and utilities, we could not stay in business," said Margaret Chase, the service's volunteer executive director. "The university has provided us with this wonderful in-kind support. I had no indication this was coming." . . . http://www.kentucky.com/mld/kentucky/news/local/12174495.htm Central Kentucky-Radio Eye: http://www.uky.edu/Libraries/CKRE (via Leon Gilbert, BlindNewes via Paul David, DXLD) ** VENEZUELA [and non]. CHAVEZ WARNS US HE WILL RESPOND TO "ELECTRONIC WAR" Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez [hereafter: Chavez] has warned the United States he will respond to any move to wage "electronic warfare" against his left-wing government through television and radio broadcasts. The Venezuelan leader condemned late on Wednesday an amendment to a bill adopted by the US House of Representatives that authorizes broadcasts to Venezuela to counter what one US lawmaker called Chavez's "anti-American, anti-freedom rhetoric." Backers of the measure hope to get the Senate to approve their version of the legislation. The bill passed the House just days before Chavez's government was to launch Telesur, a Venezuelan-financed venture with the governments of Argentina, Cuba and Uruguay. Its creators say Telesur will seek to break what they call the "hegemony" of international and local commercial networks in their coverage of Latin America. Chavez, an outspoken nationalist who often accuses US President George W Bush of plotting to topple him, said US government broadcasts aimed specifically at Venezuela would be 'electronic warfare.' "If the U.S. government makes this move, our government would have to respond somehow. To every counterrevolutionary action, we will respond by deepening our revolution," Chavez told Venezuelan state television in a telephone interview. US officials have accused Chavez, who was first elected in 1998 and won a referendum on his rule last year, of eroding democracy in Venezuela. They also condemn his alliance with Cuban President Fidel Castro. Florida Republican Rep. Connie Mack, who proposed the amendment, called Chavez "an enemy of freedom." International rights groups have accused Chavez of restricting press freedom in Venezuela by threatening his media critics and passing a law that regulates TV and radio content. # posted by Andy @ 10:00 UT July 22 (Media Network blog via DXLD) Has the US house of representatives never heard of CNN en Español or any other existing Spanish language network still getting into Caracas? (Jonathan Marks, 07.22.05 - 2:01 pm, ibid.) Probably not, but that doesn`t matter. Just like radio preachers, er, gospel huxters, what anyone else is already broadcasting is irrelevant (gh, DXLD) ** VENEZUELA [non]. HOUSE APPROVES U.S. BROADCASTS TO VENEZUELA IN REBUKE OF CHAVEZ Posted on Thu, Jul. 21, 2005 BY SANDRA HERNANDEZ South Florida Sun-Sentinel http://www.aberdeennews.com/mld/aberdeennews/news/nation/12191702.htm?template=contentModules/printstory.jsp FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. - (KRT) - The testy battle between the U.S. government and Venezuela's leftist ruler may have reached a new frontier - the airwaves. On Wednesday, the U.S. House of Representatives approved an amendment authorizing radio and television broadcasts into Venezuela. The proposal is modeled after Radio Martí [hereafter: Marti], which transmits anti-Communist programming to Cuba, and is intended to counter Telesur, a new Latin American television network backed by the Venezuelan government that is set to debut Sunday. "Telesur is a piece of the larger puzzle where (Venezuelan President Hugo) Chávez [hereafter: Chavez] is trying to incorporate his revolution to all of South America and he wants to push his propaganda through this network," said Rep. Connie Mack, R-Fla., the amendment's author. "We wanted to make sure the Venezuelans have the opportunity to hear the ideals of freedom." Mack declined to say how much such the broadcasts could costs U.S. taxpayers. The proposal is getting a cold reception from both supporters and critics of Chavez. "I don't think this is a good idea," said Ernesto Ackerman, founder of Independent Venezuelan American Citizens, a Florida group that opposes Chavez. The U.S. government "can't do what they are doing in Cuba. Radio Marti wouldn't have an impact in Venezuela. People won't listen." Venezuelan officials in Washington, D.C., called the proposal "ridiculous" in a country with 48 channels and 120 additional channels available through cable and satellite programming. "This is a cold war mentality," said Bernardo Álvarez, Venezuela's ambassador to the United States. "With all due respect to Mr. Mack, this is just ridiculous and a waste of money for U.S. taxpayers. Why not just use Voice of America?" Based in Caracas, Telesur will present a combination of news programs, documentaries and other shows to the region. Chavez's government is footing 51 percent of Telesur's $6 million budget, with additional funds coming from Argentina, Cuba and Uruguay, according to Telesur director Aram Aharonian. "We only show up in international news when there is a disaster," said Aharonian, during a telephone interview. "The U.S. sees as a black and white and really this is a region of Technicolor. We are much more complicated than we are depicted." Mack, however, has said Telesur is "patterned after Al-Jazeera to spread (Chavez's) anti-American, anti-freedom rhetoric," according to a press release from his office. Analysts called Mack's proposal misguided. "I was just in Caracas and it's not Cuba," said Michael Shifter, a senior analyst with the Inter-American Dialogue, a Washington, D.C., think tank focused on Latin America. "People have satellite dishes and everyone gets CNN ... If this becomes the equivalent of Radio Marti then it will just bolster those hardliners in Caracas who say we have to counter Washington's propaganda and there is no negotiating with them." But Shifter did say new press laws have impacted Venezuelan media outlets that are now more cautious fearing prosecution. "But you still have critics," he said. --- (c) 2005 South Florida Sun-Sentinel. (via Mike Cooper, DXLD) Howcum nobody has pointed out that VOA had a special broadcast to Colombia without a lot of strife --- whatever happened to that? (gh) ** VENEZUELA [non]. -CUBA, 13680, Radio Nacional de Venezuela, 2000- 2020, 19-07, Música de sintonía, Identificación: Radio Nacional de Venezuela, Antena Internacional". Comentario sobre la Isla Margarita. "Pensamiento del Libertador Simón Bolivar". Anuncian las siguientes frecuencias y horarios UT: 13740 kHz 1900-2000 UT zona de San Francisco 9550 kHz 2000-2100 UT zona del Caribe 13680 kHz 2000-2100 UT zona de Chicago 15230 kHz 2000-2100 UT zona de Buenos Aires 17705 kHz 2000-2100 UT zona de Río de Janeiro 11875 kHz 2100-2200 UT zona de Santiago de Chile 9820 kHz 2300-0000 UT zona de Chicago 13680 kHz 2300-0000 UT zona de Chicago 11760 kHz 2300-0000 UT zona de Norte, Centro y Sudamérica. Piden se les reporte la sintonía a la siguiente dirección de correo electrónico: internacional@rnv.gov.ve Lo que hace falta saber es si, primero, funcione ese correo y segundo, si responden a los oyentes (Manuel Méndez, Lugo, Spain, Escuchas realizadas en Reinante, costa del mar Cantábrico, 90 Km. N. de Lugo Grundig Satellit 500, antena de cable, 10 metros, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Without embargo, the 13740 broadcast has not been on air for over a year, and I just reconfirmed its absence July 21. This is exactly the same schedule they have been announcing and I recopied recently, but on any given day some of the other frequencies are likely to be missing, or pre-empted by RHC for more important programs (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** VENEZUELA. De nuevo reactivada en 5000 kHz la señal del Observatorio Naval Cajigal (YVTO); la estoy escuchando a las 0445 UT con muy buena señal (José Elías Díaz Gómez, Venezuela, UT July 22, Noticias DX via DXLD) Hola amigo José Elias, yo también la escuché hoy viernes día 22 a las 0510 UT, con interferencia de WWV Fort Collins en la misma frecuencia. Un abrazo (Manuel Méndez, Spain, ibid.) Get it while you can; it`s off more than on lately (gh, DXLD) ** ZAMIBIA. Re 5-118: That was Zambia's Radio Christian Voice! (Jim Renfrew, NY, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ZANZIBAR. 11735, RTZ: they start abruptly (right into program feed) at 1624-1625 UT after few minutes of open carrier warming-up; that's observation of recent couple of days (Vlad Titarev, Ukraine, DXplorer July 18 via BCDX via DXLD) UNIDENTIFIED. 3485, 17 Jul, No ID, 2050-2055, Arabic, programa con música árabe, locutor, emisión en LSB, posiblemente radioaficionado poniendo música, SINPO 24321 (José Miguel Romero, Sacañet,(Castellón), España, Sangean ATS 909, Antena hilo de siete metros, BCLNews.it via DXLD) UNIDENTIFIED. US Military on 10 Meters? Sure looks like it. Several amateurs were puzzled by the appearance of callsigns E2A and G7X in what was definitely military-style Automatic Link Establishment (ALE) mode on 28400 kHz, in a busy part of the 10-meter ham band. These were first thought to be amateurs trying ALE, which is perfectly legal for hams, if a bit hard on amateur-grade transceivers. Then the same net turned up with ALE on 14900 kHz, and other frequencies known to be used by the US Army and National Guard. Other calls included USA and USAAD. USAAD can stand for a number of things, but my own stab in the dark at the present time is perhaps the US Air Ambulance Detachment of the 1/58th Army Aviation Regiment. It supports the Army’s 10th Mountain Division, elements of which have served in Afghanistan, Iraq, and Djibouti (Hugh Stegman, HF Communications, August MONITORING TIMES via DXLD) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ PUBLICATIONS ++++++++++++ ITU COUNTRY CODES Re 5-119, the URL given doesn`t work unless followed by a / as it was originally printed: http://www.geckos-haunt.org/LMS/ This site also includes the by-time and frequency log reports from SWM, a portion of which were omitted from the print version this month. Unfortunately, any program details are verboten. Furthermore, the ITU country codes are nowhere to be found; and some of the links which do appear are dead. Sorry, this is one URL I had not checked out before publishing (gh) CONVENTIONS & CONFERENCES +++++++++++++++++++++++++ 11 ENCUENTRO DE DX MEXICANOS fin de julio El huracán Émily no hizo nada en la zona del sur de Tamaulipas; en Tampico sólo tuvimos algo de viento y cielo nublado pero nada más así que el evento continua y los esperamos en este puerto. Por otro lado es una lástima que la burocracia de ambos países no hiciera posible la presencia de Manolo y Malena de Radio Habana Cuba (Juan José Miroz Lozano, convention organizer, July 20, Noticias DX via DXLD) I believe they were also denied visas last year. What is the problem between México and Cuba? (gh, DXLD) RADIO EQUIPMENT FORUM +++++++++++++++++++++ FCC PROPOSES TO DROP MORSE CODE REQUIREMENT FOR ALL LICENSE CLASSES NEWINGTON, CT, July 20, 2005 --- FCC has proposed dropping the 5 WPM Morse code element as a requirement to obtain an Amateur Radio license of any class. The Commission recommended the change to its Part 97 Amateur Service rules in a Notice of Proposed Rule Making (NPRM) in WT Docket 05-235. Any rule changes proposed in the NPRM would not become final until the FCC gathers additional public comments, formally adopts any changes to its rules and concludes the proceeding by issuing a Report and Order (R&O) spelling out the changes and specifying an effective date. That's not likely to happen for several months. The FCC declined in its NPRM to go forward with any other suggested changes to Amateur Service licensing rules or operating privileges beyond elimination of the Morse requirement. "Based upon the petitions and comments, we propose to amend our amateur service rules to eliminate the requirement that individuals pass a telegraphy examination in order to qualify for any amateur radio operator license," the FCC said in its NPRM, released July 19. This week's NPRM consolidated 18 petitions for rule making from the amateur community -- including one from the ARRL -- that proposed a wide range of additional changes to the amateur rules. The FCC said the various petitions had attracted 6200 comments from the amateur community, which soon will have the opportunity to comment again -- this time on the FCC's proposals in response to those petitions. The Commission said it believes dropping Element 1 -- the 5 WPM Morse examination -- would "encourage individuals who are interested in communications technology, or who are able to contribute to the advancement of the radio art, to become amateur radio operators." The FCC said it also would eliminate a requirement it believes "is now unnecessary and that may discourage" current licensees from advancing their skills, and that it would "promote more efficient use" of current Amateur Radio spectrum. The FCC cited changes in Article 25 of the international Radio Regulations adopted at World Radiocommunication Conference 2003 as the primary reason to go forward with eliminating Morse code as an Amateur Radio licensing requirement in the future. Among other changes, WRC-03 deleted the Morse testing requirement for amateur applicants seeking HF privileges, leaving it up to individual countries to determine whether or not they want to mandate Morse testing. Several countries already have dropped their Morse requirements. ARRL CEO David Sumner, K1ZZ, said he was not surprised that the FCC proposed altogether scrapping the Morse code requirement. The League and others had called for retaining the 5 WPM requirement only for Amateur Extra class applicants. Sumner expressed dismay, however, that the FCC turned away proposals from the League and other petitioners to create a new entry-level Amateur Radio license class. "We're disappointed that the Commission prefers to deny an opportunity to give Amateur Radio the restructuring it needs for the 21st century," he said. "It appears that the Commission is taking the easy road, but the easy road is seldom the right road." Sumner said ARRL officials and the Board of Directors would closely study the 30-page NPRM and plan to comment further after they've had the opportunity to consider the Commission's stated rationales for its proposals. In 2004, the ARRL filed a Petition for Rule Making asking the FCC to amend Part 97 to complete the Amateur Service restructuring begun in 1999 but "left unfinished." The League called on the FCC to create a new entry-level license, reduce the number of actual license classes to three and drop the Morse code testing requirement for all classes except for Amateur Extra. Among other recommendations, the League asked the FCC to automatically upgrade Technician licensees to General and Advanced licensees to Amateur Extra. In this week's NPRM, the FCC said it was not persuaded such automatic upgrades were in the public interest. The FCC said it did not believe a new entry-level license class was warranted because current Novice and Tech Plus licensees already can easily upgrade to General. "We also note that, if our proposal to eliminate telegraphy testing in the amateur service is adopted," the FCC continued, "a person who is not a licensee will be able to qualify for a General Class operator license by passing two written examinations, and that a person who is a Technician Class licensee will be able to qualify for a General Class operator license by passing one written examination." The FCC said it does not believe either path to be unreasonable. The FCC also said that it's already addressed some of the other issues petitioners raised in its "Phone Band Expansion" (or "Omnibus") NPRM in WT Docket 04-140. In that proceeding, the Commission proposed to go along with the ARRL's Novice refarming proposal aimed at reallocating the current Novice/Tech Plus subbands to provide additional phone spectrum. Under the plan, Novice/Tech Plus licensees would be granted CW privileges in the current General CW subbands. A 60-day period for members of the public to comment on the FCC's NPRM in WT 05-235 will begin once the NPRM appears in the Federal Register. Reply comments will be due within 75 days of the NPRM's publication in the Federal Register (from ARRL via W0WOI, Brock Whaley, DXLD) For original with hotlinks see http://www.arrl.org/news/stories/2005/07/20/100/?nc=1 NPRM: http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/FCC-05-143A1.pdf (via Ken Kopp, dxldyg via DXLD) THE GREAT NO-CODE "DEBATE" Why are so many people involved in radio so resistant to any sort of change? Too many terrestrial AM/FM broadcasters stare slack-jawed at satellite radio, internet radio, and podcasts. Shortwave broadcasters refuse to believe the shortwave listening audience in North America and Europe is in decline. And there are way, way too many hams with an irrational, quasi-religious belief in the importance of Morse code for a ham license, as this often (unintentionally) hilarious "discussion" thread shows. http://futureofradio.typepad.com/the_future_of_radio/2005/07/the_great_nocod.html (Harry Helms, Future of Radio blog via DXLD) TERRESTRIAL BROADCASTERS TRY TO FIGURE OUT PODCASTING Some AM/FM broadcasters "get it," others don't, and a lot more are still trying to figure out what's going on. Radio World has a report. An example of those who don't get it comes from the July 19 edition (number 5-118) of Glenn Hauser's World of Radio [sic]. Scroll down toward the end and you'll find this comment from someone I assume is a professional broadcaster: [. . .] Well, we'll see if there is still such a thing as podcasting in two years --- I strongly suspect there will be. The person quoted above doesn't seem to understand most podcasters do it for love, not money, and will be around even if their audience is measured in the tens instead of thousands. I would also add the biggest problem with terrestrial broadcasting isn't that it's an industry "that dies of excitement every time someone comes up with a new fad" but instead that it is an industry terrified by change, risk, and innovation. http://futureofradio.typepad.com/the_future_of_radio/2005/07/terrestrial_bro.html Posted on July 21, 2005 (Harry Helms, TX, Future of Radio blog via DXLD) IBOC COMMENT UPDATE It looks like comments are flowing negatively against the new NRSC-5 IBOC rules in FCC comments. Here is an article from the IBOC Update from Radio Magazine: ------------------------------------------------------ Early Responses to NRSC-5 Skewing Negative A sample of comments of the early returns filed in response to the FCC's Public Notice DA 05-1661, requesting comments from all interested parties regarding the "In band/On Channel Digital Radio Broadcasting Standard NRSC-5" submitted to the FCC by the National Radio Standards Committee (NRSC) on May 18, 2005, suggest that AM adjacent channel interference is still a concern among some U.S. and Canadian broadcasters. On July 14, an informal look at the 11 comments posted since the FCC issued its public notice on June 16 revealed that 10 of the respondents had objections or concerns relating to adjacent and co- channel interference in secondary coverage areas caused by AM IBOC operation. Among the respondents were Canadian broadcast engineer Barry McClarnon and Leonard Kahn of New York. Both have authored articles opposed to adoption of IBOC digital broadcasting using Ibiquity's proprietary HD Radio technology in the United States. The comments period remains open until Aug. 17. Those interested in filing comments can find more information at http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/DA-05-1661A1.doc. Read the submitted comments at the this link (Rene' F. Tetro, Chief Engineer, Salem Communications - Philadelphia, WNTP-AM/WFIL-AM, 117 Ridge Pike, Lafayette Hill, PA 19444, NRC-AM via DXLD) CHANGE IN DST [re 5-118; see also USA above] Ever since I first heard about this proposed change in the DST changeover dates, I've been wondering about all the embedded automatic-DST-change programming in VCRs and suchlike devices. This means that every existing VCR in which the user has not turned off the automatic-DST-change option (which seems to be the default in those I've seen) will have its time rudely off-set on the old DST-change days and cause massive confusion amongst non-technical owners. What is involved in changing these chip sets? Is the DST-change date embedded in the microcode for the main microprocessor in these devices, or is it in some auxilliary chip that can be easily switched out in new production when the change is legislated? Do the costs for this get calculated by the GAO and provided to Congress as the consequential costs to various economies as the result of passing this legislation? What other devices have embedded auto-DST-change? TiVos and the equivalents? DVRs and DVD-recorders? Computer clocks? Any impact on WWV & NIST, or do they just punch in a new date on some timecode-generator box? (Will Martin, MO, July 20, dxldyg via DXLD) PROPAGATION +++++++++++ SCIENTISTS GEAR UP TO PROBE MYSTERIES OF NORTHERN LIGHTS Last Updated Tue, 19 Jul 2005 18:52:05 EDT CBC News NASA and the Canadian Space Agency are hoping an international collaboration of scientists will help unravel the mysteries of the aurora borealis, one of nature's greatest light shows. . . http://www.cbc.ca/story/science/national/2005/07/19/northern-lights050719.html (via Doug Smith W9WI Pleasant View (Nashville), TN EM66, WTFDA via DXLD) Dag heren, Was ik in mijn enthousiasme even vergeten. Hier is ie dan: HET "HIGH-NOON"-EFFECT Niko Hylkema heeft op BDXC-topica een discussie aangeslingerd over reflecties overdag via de D-laag in de atmosfeer. Normaal gesproken absorbeert deze laag overdag alle middengolfsignalen. Niko constateerde echter dat hij op 1602 kHz als de zender van radio Waddenzee in onderhoud was overdag Radio Vittoria en een UK LPAM kon horen. Aart Rouw en ook Max van Arnhem mengden zich in de discussie en Max zette de vraag uit bij de Medium Wave Circle. Guido Schotmans kwam met de opmerking dat het verschijnsel in een van de boekjes van Siebel werd beschreven als het "High-Noon" effect. Een korte rondgang door mijn "bibliotheek" leverde al gauw het boekje "Rundfunk auf Mittelwelle" van Gerd Klawitter op. Hierin wordt het verschijnsel inderdaad beschreven. Ik heb het stuk zo goed en zo kwaad als dat ging voor u vertaald. "Normaal gesproken geldt de vuistregel dat optimale middengolf-DX alleen mogelijk is als de weg van het signaal volledig in het duister is gelegen. In dat geval wordt de ruimtegolf door de F2-laag gerefelecteerd. Absoluut daarmee in tegenspraak, en daarmee voorlopig ook onverklaarbaar, is het geval dat je in de hoogzomer 's middags tegen een uur of twaalf Spaanse middengolfstations met onverwacht sterke signalen in Duitsland en Nederland ontvangen kan. Dit schijnt te komen doordat in de zomer rond twaalf uur (High-Noon) de zon met een zodanige starlingsintensiteit op de D-laag inwerkt dat deze plotseling heel andere eigenschappen verkrijgt. Zij laat rond deze tijd de ruimtegolf niet meer passeren (om daarbij gelijktijdig energie aan die golf te onttrekken) maar refelecteert onder invloed van de hoge zonnestraling alle ruimtegolven die haar bereiken.Dit effect treedt bijzonder duidelijk op ten tijde van een hoog zonnevlekkengetal tijdens de 11-jarige zonnevlekkencyclus. In deze tijd treden ook de eerder in het boek genoemde Mögel-Dellinger-effecten op. De werking verdwijnt echter zeer snel zodra de zon het zenit heeft verlaten." Het Mögel-Dellinger-effect wordt als volgt beschreven: "Het bij ontvangst op de kortegolf zo gevreesde Mögel-Dellinger-effect is in het middengolfbereik verantwoordelijk voor het tegengestelde effect. Opgelost door bijzonder intensieve van de zon afkomstige UV-straling, ondervindt de D-laag, die normaal gesproken slechts een dempende werking heeft op de passage van de straling, zo'n hoge ionisatiegraad dat zij plotseling middengolfsignalen kan reflecteren. Op deze manier is DX tot op 2000 km afstand mogelijk. Dit effect, dat zich uitsluitend op de dagkant van de aarde ontwikkelt, duurt echter niet langer dan enkele minuten tot een uur. Men noemt dit verschijnsel ook wel het "High-Noon"-effect. Een voorspelling van Mögel-Dellinger- effecten is niet mogelijk. Omdat het optreden onmiskenbaar het de zonnevelekkenactiviteit samenhangt is statistisch gezien het optreden van Mögel-Dellinger-effecten ten tijde van talrijke zonnevlekken hoger dan bij een lage zonneactiviteit." De oorspronkelijke tekst is te vinden is het eerdergenoemde boek van de Siebel-Verlag (ISBN 3-89632- 027-0). Zo beter?? Groeten, Ton (A. S. Timmermans, BDXC via DXLD) Collega's, Via Cor NL10194 kreeg ik de volgende tip. In het leerboekboek vd USA Navy http://www.hamuniverse.com/anttheory1.html staat o.a. deze passage. In deze passage word o.a. ook de term High noon gebruikt.. "-------" Ionospheric Layers The ionosphere is composed of three distinct layers, designated from lowest level to highest level (D, E, and F) as shown in figure 1-2. In addition, the F layer is divided into two layers, designated F1 (the lower level) and F2 (the higher level). The presence or absence of these layers in the ionosphere and their height above the earth vary with the position of the sun. At high noon, radiation in the ionosphere above a given point is greatest, while at night it is minimum. When the radiation is removed, many of the particles that were ionized recombine. During the time between these two conditions, the position and number of ionized layers within the ionosphere change. Since the position of the sun varies daily, monthly, and yearly with respect to a specific point on earth, the exact number of layers present is extremely difficult to determine. However, the following general statements about these layers can be made. . . "----" Tot wederomziens (Pascal, ibid.) ###