DX LISTENING DIGEST 5-160, September 10, 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 1286: Sat 2100 WOR WRMI 7385 Sun 0230 WOR WWCR 5070 Sun 0300 WOR WBCQ 9330-CLSB 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 1300 WOR KRFP-LP Moscow ID 92.5 Sun 1400 WOR WRMI 7385 Sun 1730 WOR WRN1 to North America (including Sirius Satellite Radio channel 115) Sun 1900 WOR RNI Mon 0300 WOR WBCQ 9330-CLSB Mon 0330 WOR WSUI Iowa City IA 910 Mon 0415 WOR WBCQ 7415 [usually closer to 0418-] Mon 1600 WOR WBCQ after hours Mon 1800 WOR RFPI [repeated 4-hourly thru 1400 Tue] Tue 1600 WOR WBCQ after hours Tue 2330 WOR WBCQ 7415 [usually; temporary] 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 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 or http://wor.worldofradio.org [corrected] WORLD OF RADIO 1286 (high version): (stream) http://www.w4uvh.net/wor1286h.ram (download) http://www.w4uvh.net/wor1286h.rm WORLD OF RADIO 1286 (low version): (stream) http://www.w4uvh.net/wor1286.ram (download) http://www.w4uvh.net/wor1286.rm (summary) http://www.worldofradio.com/wor1286.html [soon] WORLD OF RADIO 1286 in true SW sound of Alex`s mp3 (stream) http://www.dxprograms.net/worldofradio_09-07-05.m3u (download) http://www.dxprograms.net/worldofradio_09-07-05.mp3 WORLD OF RADIO 1286 downloads in studio-quality mp3: (high) http://www.obriensweb.com/wor1286h.mp3 (low) http://www.obriensweb.com/wor1286.mp3 WORLD OF RADIO PODCAST: www.obriensweb.com/wor.xml (currently available?: 1281, 1282, 1283, Extra 59, 1284, Extra 60, 1285, 1286) CONTINENT OF MEDIA 05-08 from DXing.com: (stream) http://www.dxing.com/com/com0508.ram (download) http://www.dxing.com/com/com0508.rm (summary) http://www.worldofradio.com/com0508.html [finally] ** AFRICA [non]. USA: PAN-AFRICAN AFRICA CHANNEL LAUNCHES IN AMERICA | Text of report by Kenyan newspaper The EastAfrican website on 7 September Round-the-clock television programming from Africa becomes available in the United States this week with the debut of the Hollywood-based Africa Channel. The founders of this first-of-a-kind cable network expect to spur US tourism and investment in Africa by providing information and entertainment that gives Americans a new understanding of the continent. The Africa Channel will present a broad range of programmes that take viewers beyond the usual disaster-focused coverage, says chief executive James Makawa. Mainstream American media reports give the impression that Africa is mired in misery, he notes. "That has got to change," Mr Makawa said in a recent interview with the Los Angeles Times. "Africa cannot be a bottomless pit for aid. [Africans] are proud, resilient, resourceful people. Irrespective of all the challenges Africans have, they are alive people. They are not dying off everywhere. "As it stands now, everybody in Africa might as well be relegated to the dump heap. [Americans] don't see that Africans are actually in pubs dancing and having a great time." Portraying the continent in a more balanced and insightful manner will spur Africa's development, argues Mr Makawa, a Zimbabwean who worked for 10 years as a correspondent in New York and Chicago for NBC, one of the top US networks. "People only started flocking to China and Southeast Asia when people started having information about China and Southeast Asia," Mr Makawa told the LA Times. "They started seeing pictures. CNBC, CNN started broadcasting." At first, only a small number of Americans will have access to the news shows, soap operas, travel features and reality TV series to be aired by the Africa Channel. A cable TV outlet in the New Orleans area is, ironically, the sole carrier in the United States to have contracted with the new network. Because of the hurricane that devastated New Orleans last week, very few local residents will be tuning in to the Africa Channel in the coming days or weeks. "Our hearts go out to the people of New Orleans who obviously have other priorities now," says Africa Channel marketing co-ordinator Lauren Graheck. Executives are negotiating with cable TV providers in most major markets in the United States, Ms Graheck adds. And Mr Makawa predicts that the Africa Channel will be available in at least 15 million American homes by the end of next year. While the Africa Channel will strive to dispel negative stereotypes of the continent, it will not ignore crises that do afflict many sub-Saharan countries, Mr Makawa says. "War, famine, Aids, corruption. If we don't deal with these issues, we won't have any credibility," Mr Makawa says. "The Africa Channel will not be all rah-rah." The channel also will not concentrate on wildlife, nor depict Africans as quaintly exotic."We're not the Discovery Channel, either," Mr Makawa told Newsweek magazine. "We're not dealing with animals here. We're dealing with lifestyle, travel, music, entertainment, showcasing a side of Africa that the Western world never sees." What the Western world does see, he adds, are Africans portrayed as tribespeople. "It goes back to the Tarzan era. But when you portray just that, it says, 'These people are uneducated, these people have no capability of being able to function in the modern-day world, we cannot go there and do business.'" Almost all the programming to be initially presented on the channel originates in South Africa. A daily half-hour newscast, for example, is being produced by Summit, a company owned by the publisher of South Africa's Business Day and Financial Mail. An hour-long news magazine show, Carte Blanche Africa, also comes to the channel from South Africa, as do a pair of soap operas, Generations and Isidingo: The Need. We had to start with a place that had the kind of [production] quality we were looking for. Also, South Africa practices copyright law that is internationally recognised," Mr Makawa says. "This doesn't mean [the Africa Channel] is not going to be addressing things from all over Africa. Studio 53, one of our travel shows D 53 being the 53 countries - goes all over Africa." Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda will be among the countries featured on this programme, says Ms Graheck. Shows devoted to African music will also include performers from East Africa, she adds. The Africa Channel will eventually be made available in Africa itself, Mr Makawa says. For the time being, however, the aim is to reach as many viewers as possible in the United States. "The people who need to be informed most about Africa, the people who make decisions about trade with Africa, [are in] the US. Unless the most powerful nation in the world knows of Africa and understands it, nothing will change." Source: The EastAfrican website, Nairobi, in English 7 Sep 05 (via BBCM via DXLD) So is it in the clear on some satellite? (gh, DXLD) ** ARGENTINA [and non]. La Rosa de Tokyo para el domingo 11 de Setiembre!!!! Recuerden que el Grupo Radioescucha Argentino está colaborando con LA ROSA DE TOKIO, el programa de DX y comunicaciones que se irradia por LS11 Radio Provincia, La Plata, con 50 kw!! ahora, en su nuevo horario de 13 a 14 hora argentina. [16-17 UT] LA TEMATICA DE LOS DOMINGOS CONSISTE EN UNA INVESTIGACION SOBRE UN PAIS, SU HISTORIA, SUS EMISORAS DE RADIO Y TV, GRABACIONES HISTORICAS Y ACTUALES, UNA SEMBLANZA REALIZADO POR ALGUN EXPERTO DIEXISTA. El programa del domingo 11 de Setiembre de 2005 será dedicado a evocar la participación de los medios radiales durante la Guerra de Malvinas, que tuvo lugar durante el año 1982. Podrán escuchar, entre muchas otras cosas, valiosos registros sonoros de emisoras de radio de destacada actuación durante el conflico bélico. Tambien Radio Provincia esté en la WEB AM Y FM. ATENCION estamos con audio AM y FM en el siguiente sitio: http://www.radioprovincia.gba.gov.ar No se lo pierdan!!!! (Arnaldo Slaen, Noticias DX via DXLD) ** BOLIVIA. Ciao! R. Yura 4716.7 KHz - Casilla 326 - Ayullu Yura - Potosi - Bolivia con lettera + pennant + foto in 69 giorni. v/s Omar Flores. Si 1 IRC (Roberto Pavanello, via Dario Monferini, DXLD) ** BOLIVIA. Re 5-159: R. Tacana, 4781.34, was heard here in Sweden last night with weak but clear signal, and a lots of IDs. I also had an Andean station on 1610.34 kHz, Perú? 73 de (Bernt-Ivan Holmberg, Möklinta, Sweden, Sept 10, HCDX via DXLD) ** CANADA. RCI/CBC are still running new episodes of O`Reilly on Advertising, this one about the radio advertising awards at Cannes, Sats 1330 UT on 9515, 13655, 17800, as of Sept 10, but at 1405 instead of Simply Sean this week we have the sesquihour ``Go``, which I can do without, as shown on the weekly CBC Radio One sked thru Sept 11 http://www.cbc.ca/programguide/sched_radioone.pdf Some of the other programs may be new, not affected by the lockout. The new fall season would normally have begun by now (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CANADA. REPORTERS NOW APPEARING ON CBC NOT GUILD MEMBERS http://www.cmg.ca/newsresults.asp?ID=660&SubjectID=56&BranchID=1 Many Guild members who have tuned in to CBC television to have a look at management`s attempts to broadcast the news have expressed concern about stories reported by journalists with whom we are familiar. None of the reporters that you see on CBC TV these days is a locked- out member of the Canadian Media Guild. Most are in Quebec, where the journalists belong to a different union than CMG. There is also a reporter and videographers in Moncton who belong to the Quebec union. In addition, several reporters stationed overseas have done stories or could soon be asked to do so. Ann MacMillan, a former correspondent, is the manager in London. Nancy Durham and Azeb Wolde-Giorgis in London, Nahlah Ayed in the Middle East, David McGuffin in Africa, and Henry Champ in Washington are all on unaffiliated contracts. These people are local hires and as such have not been locked out. Their contracts with the CBC require them to work. They are not scabs. However, out of solidarity with his colleagues, Paul Workman in Paris has decided not to return to work until the lockout is over. As a result, CBC management has put him on `unauthorized` leave. For more information, please contact Guild president Lise Lareau lise @ cmg.ca at 416-591-5333 or 1-800-591-5333 (CMG September 08, 2005 via DXLD) ** CHINA. Dear Glenn, I'm a bit puzzled as I picked up on 7245 at 1320 UT last night 9/Sept/05 a bi-lingual station called China Business Radio; they were bi-lingual as the show was in mainly English and some Mandarin, there were some ads from a Hong Kong business. There is nothing found in google and the WRTH; CRI is apparently on that frequency and I have emailed them in case it`s a relay. Any ideas? Kind Regards from (Rob Wise of Hobart, Australia!, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Rob, China Business Radio is one of the major domestic networks now. Let`s see, which one is it? WRTH 2005 mentions CNR2 as ``Voice of the Economy`` so I expect CBR is its current name. This is on a lot of SW frequencies, both as a genuine broadcast and as a jammer. In this case it is apparently not a jammer on 7245, as NDXC http://www.geocities.jp/bindxc/bia05.txt has, 1234567: 7245 CNR 2 1300-1600 Chinese Beijing 491 150 ND CHN 11625E3955 CNR2 7245 CNR 2 2100-2300 Chinese Beijing 491 150 ND CHN 11625E3955 CNR2 =9620 --- And no opposition stations on the frequency at the same time. 73, (Glenn to Rob, via DXLD) ** EQUATORIAL GUINEA. 5005, Bata SEP 9, 2241-2300 - with back-to-back African music (old ones as well as modern Hi-Life one). Break at 2253 with talk in a local language with mention of either "Banga" or "Bata", then the last tune was played until about 2256 when it switched to anthem followed by a few seconds of dead air, followed by carrier cut. Mostly poor, faded to fair at times, but became good and better during the last song. First time taped! Nice! Around 2301, just before I tuned to Morocco (Bogdan Chiochiu, Pierrefonds, QC H8Y 3M9, Sangean CST-818 with long-wire antenna, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** FALKLAND ISLANDS. See ARGENTINA ** GUAM. It`s always a great pleasure to mention it to the outside world about the stations I get to see. The best part is seeing the constant changes in the stations and what makes `em work, or in some places, not work. I remember looking at this giant matrix system that they [KSDA] installed and it`s quite interesting on the installations as well. Also it`s a great pleasure to provide the comments of the engineers who work there; for example, the one question I asked about lightning strikes to the towers, and they do occasionally get struck; the repairs on the towers, like the salt air problems from the oceans. The one engineer mentioned to me that the higher you go on the towers the more rust you see. The wild part is being in a room where you got lots of computers, monitors, and all the frequency counters that show each individual transmitter`s programmed frequency. For example the computer display showed a upcoming program to be transmitted at a certain time zone and just like those fancy computers that play the next song, it comes up. I recall the computer display showing that transmitter 5 did actually come on line that morning. It showed it on the display panels. The matrix system is built into the system for possible expansion as well. I wish everyone could visit a shortwave station as it would be a good opening in their lives and the comment that no one listens to shortwave is bunk. The engineers hear this a lot. And usually chuckle. I might be a little busy but was thinking of locating Singapore International, but again I might end up a little bit busy as my wife will join me in Singapore during the shipyard period (Larry still in Guam Fields, n6hpx/kh2, Sept 9, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** GUATEMALA. Quito 10/9 2005 *** Saturday edition: *** 4779.973, R. Cultural Coatán San Sebastián Coatán, Dpto Huehuetenango (Guatemala) Listen to Radio Coatán´s open-up-ceremony! Comments, photos and recordings at: http://www.malm-ecuador.com 73s (Björn Malm, Quito, Ecuador, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** INDIA. DD, AIR EMPLOYEES GEAR UP AGAINST PRASAR BHARTI ACT Ashish Sinha Posted online: Friday, September09, 2005 at 0000 IST http://www.screenindia.com/fullstory.php?content_id=11140 The National Federation of Akashwani and Doordarshan Employees (NFADE) is looking to step up their agitation against the Prasar Bharti Act, which according to them has "lost relevance" in the wake of continued financial loss. "The autonomy of Prasar Bharti has no meaning today. With the advent of many private TV channels and private FM stations, the broadcast scenario in our country has changed and there is need to have a fresh look at the Prasar Bharti Act," a senior NFADE member said. Quoting recommendations from the review comittee set up under Shunu Sen in 2000, the member said, "The committee had recommended that Prasar Bharati target should be to become financially self-sufficient within five years so that the organisation would not require any major funding from government of India... Which is not the case so far." The financial health of Prasar Bharti, according to NFADE, is not in good shape. Prasar Bharati's earnings have been stagnant for the past five years. "It is not possible to bring in revenue with most of our stations operating at remote, financially unviable locations and that too with the mandate of public service broadcasting being carried by Prasar Bharati," the official said. Another aspect of the problem faced by NFADE is the rent it pays for the DD and AIR buildings as they are currently housed in government property. "Soon there will be a situation where we will have to either vaccate the premises or pay up the market rent as per the commercial value of the property. This will snowball into a major crisis for us," Poonam Dabas, vice-chairman of NFADE said. According to sources in the I&B ministry, this year Prasar Bharati received a total grant of Rs 1,100 crore from the ministry, against a revenue of Rs 600 crore. However, for special grants sanctioned for completing projects, 14% interest is charged on the loan amount. According to the sources, the interest so far on such special grants has reached Rs 987 crore (via Alokesh Gupta, dx_india via DXLD) ** INDONESIA. Have not noticed this before --- KGRE 9680 kHz. Kang Guru Radio English. Is Australian Aid station for English learners, using RRI facilities on SW plus 89 odd FM outlets. Heard 7th Sept (but has been around longer than that), and announced details, 9680 kHz, Wednesday and Sunday, 6-o-clock Indonesian time, 1000 UT. Programme is 20 minutes duration. QRA details in Passport. Heard on trusty old 6800W with 40m long wire. Regards (Ron K[illick?], NZ, HCDX via DXLD) ** INTERNATIONAL VACUUM. SIRIUS TO RE-ALIGN CHANNELS SEPT. 29 Glenn, I'm sending you a copy of the latest channel guide for Sirius, which will go to effect Sept. 29. http://cdn.sirius.com/pdf/SIRIUS_092905_channelguide.pdf The most important change, for those who listen to WOR via WRN on Sirius, is that WRN will move from 115 to 140 (previously mentioned in DX LISTENING DIGEST 5-145). The newly-introduced BBC Radio One goes from 97 to 11, while Radio Korea goes from 144 to 183. Some of the new channels will be in such formats as new age, Christian rock and talk, call-in advice, and "acoustic coffee house music." The so-called "king of all media" Howard Stern is not getting one channel, but two. I noticed the 3 weather channels are missing (that information will probably be integrated in its expanded traffic and weather channels), and something else --- No mention of any Canadian channels. I guess everybody assumed the content would be the same on both sides of the 49th parallel; sounds like the Canadian content will only be heard by Canadian subscribers. I'll E-mail Customer Service and see if I can find out any more about the Canadian channels. Later, (Steven Cline, Indianapolis, IN, Sept 9, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Maybe the Canadian lineup is not yet set (gh) ** INTERNATIONAL VACUUM. CABINET BACKS BROADCAST REGULATOR'S LICENCE APPROVALS FOR SATELLITE RADIO http://www.canada.com/national/nationalpost/news/artslife/story.html?id=2f6c806a-d2b7-4806-8e77-28481176e21d (via Ricky Leong, DXLD) ** KOREA SOUTH [and non]. CABLE, SATELLITE STATIONS RIDING HIGH ON "KOREAN WAVE" | Text of report in English by South Korean newspaper Choson Ilbo website on 10 September With terrestrial broadcasters making a pretty penny on programme exports thanks to the Korean Wave, cable and satellite TV stations are also cultivating foreign markets. Entertainment news programmes that focus on Korean Wave stars are proving especially lucrative. CJ Media, which owns music channels m.net and KMTV, recorded about 500m South Korean won (487,000 US dollars) in programme export earnings last year and that trend looks even more powerful this year. As of August, CJ Media had already made 1.7bn South Korean won (1.65m US dollars) in programme sales to Hong Kong, Taiwan, Japan, Singapore, China and the Philippines, where Korean entertainment is massively popular. Its primary exports are "Wide Entertainment News", "Battle Legend" and "M Countdown" (m.net) and "Show Music Tank" (KMTV). The programmes feature K-pop stars, one of the pillars of the Korean Wave, or entertainment news. "Since the Korean Wave swept Japan starting last year, our exports have skyrocketed," a CJ Media official said. The English-language station Arirang TV has also started exporting entertainment programmes like "Pops in Seoul" and "BeSeTo Express" to Hong Kong and Japan. Even documentary channels are enjoying the fruits of the Korean Wave. Q Channel exported 32m South Korean won [31,160 US dollars] in programmes in 2003, but 200m South Korean won [194,780 US dollars] last year and 300m South Korean won [292,170 US dollars] already in 2005. The programme "Movie Stories More Interesting than the Movies", which takes a look behind the scenes of Korean film productions, is hugely popular. A Q Channel official says the Korean wave does not directly affect documentaries, but there is growing awareness among buyers and the worth of products is being recognized because it comes from a nation that has lately been at the vanguard of pop culture. According to Culture Ministry statistics, cable programme exports increased 151 per cent from 2003 to 2004, hugely exceeding the export growth of terrestrial broadcasters like KBS (91.5 per cent), MBC (52.1 per cent), SBS (75 per cent) and EBS (20 per cent). Source: Choson Ilbo website, Seoul, in English 10 Sep 05 (via BBCM via DXLD) ** KURE ISLAND. KH7K - The K7C team of operators includes Robert Schmieder/KK6EK, Garry Shapiro/NI6T, Alan Maenchen/AD6E, Alan Eshleman/K6SRZ, Franz Langer/DJ9ZB, John Kennon/N7CQQ, Gerd Richter/DJ5IW, Arnie Shatz/N6HC, Ward Silver/N0AX, Ann Santos/WA1S, Charlie Spetenagel/W6KK and Steve Wright/VE7CT. They will leave by boat on 15 September for an estimated 9-day voyage to Kure Atoll (OC- 020). Activity from Kure is expected to be from 24 September to 6 October. Plans are to have four complete radio stations active on 160- 6 metres CW, SSB and RTTY; the antennas will be mostly verticals or vertical arrays. Look for K7C on the following suggested frequencies: CW SSB RTTY ------------------------------ 160m 1.8265 -- -- 80m 3.522 3.795 -- 40m 7.022 7.095 7.035 30m 10.106 -- 10.135 20m 14.022 14.195 14.085 17m 18.072 18.145 18.105 15m 21.022 21.295 21.085 12m 24.892 24.945 -- 10m 28.022 28.475 28.085 6m 50.106 50.106 -- The QSL manager for the Kexpedition [sic] is Tom, N4XP. However, cards should be sent to K7C Kure DXpedition 2005, c/o K4TSJ, P.O. Box 1, Watkinsville, GA 30677, USA. The web site for the DXpedition is at http://www.cordell.org/htdocs/KURE/index.html (425 DX News via Dave Raycroft, ODXA via DXLD) see also WAKE ISLAND ** MEXICO. Re which R. 13 station involved with Praga? Hola Glenn: sin duda las emisiones a las que se refieren son de "Radio 13" XEDA (1290 kHz) de aquí de la Cd. de México. Se transmitían durante el noticiario de los sábados y domingos que tienen el horario de las 13:00 a las 15:00 (centro de México) (1800 a 2000 UT). El conductor titular es el periodista José Luis Arévalo, quien fué corresponsal de Televisa en Europa durante casi 10 años. Por estos días el Sr. Arévalo se encontraba de vacaciones en la República Checa y hacia contacto con su noticiario desde las facilidades de "Radio Praga" presentando un panorama actual de la República Checa y comentando algunas noticias locales de México. Yo le escuché en por lo menos tres emisiones. Saludos, (Julián Santiago Díez de Bonilla, DF, Sept 6, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Hola Julián, Gracias por la aclaración. Y ¿cómo va Radio Mil con/ contra Conciencia? Algunas mañanas, es casi audible R. Mil alrededor de las 13 TU cuando me despierto. ¿Hay planes para reanudar su programa, en Mil y/o en Conciencia? 73, (Glenn to Julian via DXLD) Hola de nuevo Glenn: te diré que he mantenido comunicación con Martin Stendall de LVTC; al parecer han bajado un poco la altura de su antena para valorar si así diminuye la interferencia. Lamentablemente por mis ocupaciones no he podido ponerme en contacto con el Ing. Rodríguez de Radio Mil para que apaguen el transmisor un par de noches y evaluar la interferencia. Todavía se percibe interferencia a partir de las 0300 UT cuando se va Radio Suecia; este fin de semana saldré a un lugar cercano a la Cd. de México y podré evaluar la interferencia. Hemos considerado el volver a hacer el programa quizá una vez por mes; esto tendremos que evaluarlo. En verdad que extrañamos Héctor y yo hacer el programa. Definitivamente no aceptaremos la oferta de LVTC de hacer el programa y pasarlo vía LVTC; me parece es engañarnos, puesto que el problema no es si se pasa o no el programa sino que nos están interfiriendo nuestra señal. Al aceptar LVTC hacer cambios en su antena aceptan que han actuado indebidamente desde hace tres años y que es lo mínimo que pueden hacer. Saludos, (Julián Santiago Díez de Bonilla, ibid.) ** MEXICO. RE: Respuesta de la Oficina del Presidente de La República de México, sobre campaña para que regrese a la OC. Hola Jose Miguel, mira te voy a decir aunque esto es cosecha propia, te voy a decir el porque a los gobiernos no le gusta la onda corta pues es muy sencillo, porque no la pueden controlar. No es el caso de RADIO MEXICO que sí estaba controlada por el estado, pero parece que hay un complot mundial y no estoy paranoico en darle mucha vida al DRM y a los satélites y sobre todo a los satélites, pues está claro porque es un medio que puedes controlar quien quieres que lo escuhe, y si esa emisora transmite por un satélite que no es amigo, pues se prohiben las parábolas y el que tenga una va a la cárcel. La onda corta es mucho mas difícil de controlar en lo que a escucha se refiere ya que cualquier persona por menos de 10 dólares puede tener un receptor de onda corta y escuchar una transmisión de una clandestina que transmita en contra de un determinado gobierno autoritario y esa transmisión al estar en otro país que por supuesto no será amigo del dictador anteriormente dicho pues no la puede cortar y tiene que gastarse muchos millones para hacer una planta transmisora de jamming. Por eso es el principal motivo por el cual quieren cargarse al medio informativo más democrático que existe, ya que ni esto por donde nos comunicamos llamada red de redes es tan democrática como la onda corta ya que todo esto es controlable pero la onda corta no tiene control alguno ya que cualquier persona puede escucharla con un coste mínimo en receptores. Asi, amigo José Miguel, que el objetivo a batir es cargarse la onda corta; así, todos los medios de comunicación estarán controlados por los gobiernos de los países y sólo podrán escuchar lo que quieran los gobiernos; es decir esto es el GRAN HERMANO DE ORWELL y la radio de onda corta no entra dentro de los objetivos del gran hermano ya que por onda corta se puede hacer hasta una revolución. Perdonar por la tabarra pero en los años que llevo en esto es la conclusión que he sacado, sobre todo cuando nos querían vender a los europeos la radio satelital que por cierto en Europa fracasó. Un saludo desde el Sureste de España de vuestro colega y amigo (JOSE HERNANDEZ MADRID) Saludos cordiales José, estás en lo cierto, esta campaña estaba abocada al fracaso desde su comienzo, pero me pareció oportuno participar en ella y solidarizarme con los compañeros diexistas de México, pero era consciente que todo sería en vano; lo sorprendente es que alguien ha tenido la amabilidad de leerlos y al menos de responder; está claro que a la actual administración del señor Fox por los motivos que sean, no le interesaba las emisiones de Onda Corta, pero qué ocurrirá en el futuro, si otra administración sí considerase oportuno transmitir en Onda Corta, qué pasaría si se encontrasen con que unos medios públicos de la nación no están donde deben estar, con qué derecho una administración destruye unos medios públicos, acaso eran propiedad del señor Fox, o son del pueblo de México. En fin nada se va a poder hacer al respecto, pero creo que una protesta generalizada era necesaria; quizás alguna vez se consiga alguna cosa (Jose Miguel Romero, Spain) Hola José Miguel, dudo que tenga algún efecto; todas esas cartas y lo dudo, por la sencilla razón, que la estación transmisora de RADIO MEXICO INTERNACIONAL está totalmente desmontada y los transmisores y las antenas sino están en la chatarra, poco faltará, ya que al día siguiente de apagar los transmisores y dejar de emitir esta preciosa y entrañable emisora, entraron como una marabunta a la estación transmisora y en 15 dias estaba todo hecho un solar o un muladar como queráis. Las fotos fueron publicadas en algunos foros de radioescucha y la verdad los que amamos la onda corta se nos calló el alma a los pies ya que una estación transmisora que tenía aspecto de estar reformada no hace mucho, parecía que habían entrado personas sin ningún conocimiento técnico y las habían desmontado, con pico y pala. Una lástima. Un saludo, desde el Sureste de España de JOSE HERNANDEZ MADRID desde Cartagena España (all via Dario Monferini, playdx yg via DXLD) ** MEXICO [and non]. BONILLA CHAPTER IX - THE QUESTIONABLE XHBCE-FM ANTENNA PATTERN When we left the Bonilla case about three weeks ago (CGC #700), Broadcast Company of the Americas (BCA) had filed a letter from Dr. Ali Mahnad with the FCC. The letter claimed that non-obvious slots and parasitic elements were incorporated into XHBCE-FM's Class C1 antenna on Cerro Bola mountain. These devices, it was claimed, would allow XHBCE to achieve a deep and sudden signal null to protect KXRS in Hemet, CA, and to otherwise comply with the rather unusual looking radiation envelope provided to the FCC by the SCT (Mexico's FCC). Unfortunately, Dr. Mahnad provided no evidence to show that these devices (slots and parasitics) were ever incorporated into XHBCE's antenna, or would do the job. He provided no drawings, no high resolution photographs, no detailed theory or test results, no scale model antenna for testing by others, and failed to support his claims under penalty of perjury. In essence, the reader was being asked to accept his remarks on faith alone. Now, Lazer Broadcasting and Emmis Communications have filed a detailed response that effectively refutes Dr. Mahnad's best arguments on a point-by-point basis. The new document was prepared by Dan Dowdle who many of you will recognize as the Test Range Director for Electronics Research, Inc. (ERI). A supplemental letter from Thomas Silliman, P.E., president of ERI, supports Mr. Dowdle's findings and offers to test XHBCE's antenna design, should XHBCE come forward with useful details. The Mahnad letter is available at the first URL below. The Dowdle response and the Silliman supplement are posted at the second URL. In our opinion, XHBCE, BCA, Quetzal and antenna manufacturer Systems With Reliability, Limited (SWR) are skating on thin ice. To have gone this far without providing proof positive that their antenna works as claimed is risky business. Why these entities would offer a weak technical response, when Section 325(c) cross-border program authority is at stake, is unknown. http://www.earthsignals.com/add_CGC/BCA_8-5-05.pdf http://www.earthsignals.com/add_CGC/FCC_STA_9-7-05.pdf (CGC Communicator Sept 8 via Kevin Redding, ABDX via DXLD) ** MOROCCO. 9575, Médi Un, Nador SEP 9, 2302 - news in Arabic with liners between the items to 2310, followed by the longest Arabic tune I've ever heard; still going on with the same tune at 2356 when blown away by extremely intense splatter from China Radio Int'l via Havana [if you mean 9570, that is Albania, but with English at 0000 --- gh], // 6020 [Albania too] (Chinese transmission toward Europe). I've already heard a very few soft Arabic songs - probably religious oriented - lasting over 10 minutes, but this one beats all the records with the exception of the Kor`an chanting I heard on Mauritanie-4845 a few years ago. I believe what I heard was a religious oriented tune too. Always nice to listen to this station; it's almost pure DX - it's regular, but never extremely strong like BBC-9575 [?] or other too easy things. And the music is often really exotic (Bogdan Chiochiu, Pierrefonds, QC H8Y 3M9, Sangean CST-818 with long-wire antenna, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** SPAIN [and non]. Planes de emergencia. --- Estimados amigos radioescuchas, radioaficionados y oncemetristas, en primer lugar reciban un cordial saludo. Me permito dirigirme a vosotros con una serie de preguntas y reflexiones con respecto a los Planes de Emergencia tanto de España como del resto de países, tras los hechos ocurridos en Estados Unidos, Taiwán, China y Japón recientemente y con motivo de que aquí en la Comunidad Valenciana (España) acaba de activarse el Plan de Emergencia contra riesgos por inundación, me surgen muchas preguntas. - ¿Cuál es el papel de los medios de comunicación en estos planes? - ¿Qué emisoras locales o nacionales están preparadas para afrontar una situación de emergencia?. - ¿Cuál es el papel de los radioaficionados en estas situaciones? - ¿Y de los Oncemetristas? - ¿Cómo se actúa en cada país? - ¿Se informa debidamente y se prepara adecuadamente a este colectivo, el de radioaficionados y oncemetristas? - ¿O se les deja a parte y no se cuentan con ellos? - ¿Cuáles son los canales habituales de información a la ciudadanía en estos casos?. -¿Y si estos canales habituales fallan, hay alternativas? -¿Estamos preparados? -¿Estamos informados? No quiero parecer tremendista, pero creo las circunstancias mandan, y sólo nos acordamos de estas cosas cuando nos afectan directamente. En estos casos parece que las comunicaciones y la información son fundamentales, pero cuando esto falla ¿Qué ocurre? Espero que pueda servir como debate, y además informarnos. Entre nosotros hay personas implicadas o pueden verse implicadas en situaciones de emergencia, dícese radioaficionados y oncemetristas, que pueden ser vitales en este tipo de situaciones. Reciban un cordial saludo. Atentamente (José Miguel Romero, Spain, September 7, Noticias DX via DXLD) Qué tal, José Miguel, como muestra de la importancia de los radioaficionados, por mencionar esta parte de las comunicaciones a través de radio transmisores portátiles y bases, fué como se pudo tener una idea exacta de lo sucedido en Indonesia con el Tsunami que acabó con miles de vidas. En esa oportunidad fallaron los sistemas satelitales, celulares, internet, computadoras, redes eléctricas y otras cosas. Las comunicaciones vía radioaficionados estuvieron al pié del cañon para informar sobre la tragedia que había ocurrido. Actualmente en los Estados Unidos se informa a través de la radio de los mecanismos a seguir en ciudades afectadas por el huracán Katrina; fíjate que en 14265 kHz en usb, se puede escuchar en inglés comunicaciones de radioaficionados pasando comunicados; esto lo informó el colega Dino Bloise. De repente muchos no estemos preparados para recibir un huracán, pero si tenemos los medios de comunicación para recibir instrucciones, tal como se hizo en EEUU con este huracán, te aseguro que sacaríamos una pequeña ventaja al mal tiempo; lamentablemente, muchas de las personas afectadas no hicieron caso de las advertencias que se hicieron, tal vez muchas por no tener cómo hacerlo en realidad, y otras por no querer abandonar sus hogares y el gobierno por no obligarlos a evacuar. Pero de lo que sí estoy seguro, es que donde ocurre una calamidad tan grande como las sucedidas en Indonesia y Estados Unidos, para mencionar las mas recientes, la radio y todos los servicios de radioaficionados y ayuda, estarán disponibles para colaborar. Recibe un fuerte abrazo y seguimos en contacto (José Elías, Venezuela, ibid.) Saludos cordiales, José y amigos diexistas. Cierto, en lo que se refiere a los radioaficionados, su labor encomiable, y por lo general siempre están en primera línea. En lo que se refiere a los planes de emergencia de la gran mayoria de los países, estos están contemplados y no cabe la menor duda. Pero una vez que he revisado los planes de emergencia de España, Brasil y Venezuela, me he encontrado con dos ausencias importantes. Por una parte los oncemetristas: lo curioso es que suelen ser los primeros en estar operativos, pero mira por donde no cuentan en los preparativos de esos planes y por otra parte otra ausencia en lo que se refiere a medios de comunicación, no están contempladas las emisoras de Onda Corta. Entre el equipamiento aconsejable para casos de emergencia, lo primero de las listas que e consultado es una RADIO. El primer consejo que te dan es permanecer en contacto a través de los medios de comunicación, TV, FM y OM. Curioso, nada de la Onda Corta. ¿Acaso este medio no sería eficaz en caso de grandes catástrofes? ¿Qué ocurre cuando la TV, las emisoras de FM y OM quedan inoperantes? Gente incomunicada, sin información. CAOS. Ningún plan para poder utilizar las emisiones de OC como medio de información a una gran masa de población en zona de catastrofe. CURIOSO. Da que pensar. Atentamente (José Miguel Romero2, ibid.) I`m afraid that the general perception is, and I expect it is largely correct in most developed countries, that there is not enough penetration of shortwave receivers among the general populace to make it worth bothering with; much as I hate to say it. Fortunately, the URBONO relays go contrary to this. And who takes CBers seriously? (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** SRI LANKA. Latest changes at SLBC --- Dear Friends, My latest monitoring observation of SLBC, Sri Lanka shows that their Hindi and Tamil Services has now been reduced. 7313 has been replaced by 7275 at 0030-0400 in Hindi, 0800-1230 to Asia in Kannada, Telegu, Malayalam & Tamil The evening Hindi Service to Asia at 1330-1530 on 7275, 11905 is dropped. Tamil Service has been cut and now signs off at 1230 (ex 1330) on the above frequencies. The Sinhala service to Middle East is noted on 11715 at around 1530 (With thanks also to Mr. K. Raja, Chennai & Mr. B. L. Manohar, VU2UR, Bangalore) 73 (Jose Jacob, VU2JOS, National Institute of Amateur Radio, Raj Bhavan Road, Hyderabad 500082, India, Sept 10, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** THAILAND. While tuning the frequencies in the 16m band, 9-09-05 at 1310 UT, I was surprised to find the BBC program Global Business with Peter Day discussing the economies of Brazil, Russia, India, and China on 17760. Reception was quite good although at S1 to S2 with some slight flutter at around one second intervals, and was still very listenable when I tuned elsewhere at 1325 UT. From information available online I believe this to have been from a BBC transmitter in Thailand. Reception is via Radio-Shack/Sangean DX- 440 from a 66' sloped wire on a 220 degree bearing, through a RFS magnetic L/W balun (Richard Howard, Burnsville, North Carolina, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Richard, Yes, I also noted that today altho it was marginal here. This varies a great deal from day to day as it is almost trans-polar, more so for you. It is by chance aimed more or less our way, intended for East Asia. The same thing can happen in the evening, not noticed lately: 17655 at 00-01 UT, also via Thailand, same heading. Regards, (Glenn to Richard, via DXLD) Glenn: Thanks for mentioning the trans-polar route that this signal on 17760 took to reach me. For some reason I had forgotten about the great circle path. This explains the auroral flutter I heard, something I heard very often while in the USAF back in the early '60s at Goose Bay, Labrador at the end of my four years service. Now I'm wondering about the paths taken by signals I can hear from Radio New Zealand and Radio Australia, although I don't ever recall any flutter during these instances. They're still probably over the pole as well, especially RNZ since I now recall that almost all of their transmissions from Rangitaki (spelling?) are directed to zero degrees. I had previously felt that these signals followed a northeasterly path across the Pacific, then across Mexico and the Gulf of Mexico to my location. Now I realize that's probably not the case at all. Thanks very much for your continued great work. Best regards, (Richard Howard, NC, ibid.) Tnx for your kind words. Actually, the path from Au and NZ is quite different, and really is trans-equatorial coming in more or less the way you described, so they do not have polar flutter. It takes a really big storm to knock those signals out. NZ is not so favorable for us since they do aim N (at times NW), but what signal we get is still coming over the Pacific. Looking at a globe (one without a mount which can be turned in any position) helps me visualize this better than a great-circle map. 73, (Glenn to Richard, via DXLD) ** U K. BBCWS Audience Crashes! BBCWS has an audience of ``thousands overseas``. That`s what Stephanie said in introducing the Last Night of the Proms, at 1844 UT Sept 10, which I of course am listening to on BBC Radio 3 streaming. So BBCWS isn`t such a big deal after all (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A [non]. NEW: RADIO FREE AMERICA FROM BEIJING? "China might consider establishing a short-wave radio programme called Radio Free America, to beam news reports into America around the clock to provide information that is unreported, under-reported or otherwise obscured or obfuscated at home, thus enabling Americans to get a fresh perspective on what is really going on in their country, and to better understand the profound effects current US policy is having on the rest of the world." . . . http://www.bangkokpost.com/030905_News/03Sep2005_news25.php (Philip J. Cunningham, American "exile" in Beijing, Bangkok Post, 3 September 2005 via kimanderewelliott.com via DXLD) Among other brilliant ideas (gh) ** U S A. RADIO FREE ASIA APPOINTS NEW PRESIDENT --- 09-Sep-05 http://www.abu.org.my/public/compiled/p252.htm#Article1038 Radio Free Asia (RFA) has appointed its Vice-President for Administration and Finance, Libby Liu, as the organisation's new President. Ms Liu succeeds RFA's founding President, Richard Richter, who retired in July. The Board of Directors of Radio Free Asia said Ms Liu's credentials would serve RFA and its mission well. "With business and law degrees, experience in administration, strategic planning, and human resource management, as well as the practice of law, Ms Liu offers a unique mix of skills well-suited to the continued recognition of RFA as a premier international broadcaster in Asia. "In her nearly two years at RFA, Ms Liu has strengthened communication and trust between RFA management and its broadcast staff," the board said. RFA is a private, non-profit corporation that broadcasts news and information in nine languages to listeners in Asia (via Alokesh Gupta, dxldyg via DXLD) How about some experience in international broadcasting? (Sigh...) At least the BBG is consistent with appointments like this and there does seem to be some continuity here (John Figliozzi, ibid.) ** U S A. RADIO NEW YORK WORLDWIDE, WNYW Hi, I am Svenn Martinsen of Norway. This concerns Radio station Radio New York Worldwide, WNYW, a favorite radio station of the 60s and early 70s, broadcasting from Scituate, MA until 1979. With reference to http://www.northernstar.no/wnyw.htm and http://www.northernstar.no/wnyw2.htm I would like to ask any of you if you are aware of any pictures/ illustrations of the WRUL/WNYW/WYFR Shortwave Operation at Hatherley Beach, Scituate (1937-1979) that could be used on the mentioned site. The excellent essay and presentation linked to above is written by Lou Josephs, formerly of that station. There is also a small school essay from 1969 written by myself. Looking for pics of both the transmitter house and antennas, and if possible an indication of where Hatherley Beach would be on the map. I think it is fairly obvious where the approximate location must have been if you use mapquest.com and seek out "Scituate, MA" and "Hatherley Road". Best regards (Svenn Martinsen, former WNYW listener in Norway, Sept 10, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. DXing with Cumbre was on 7465 kHz at 0500 UT with a new current #466 program as of 9/8/05, but there was NO detectable parallel on 7315 kHz this time. Perhaps that transmitter was being used for the WWL relay. Unfortunately, Marie read the DXw/C SW schedule as taken from the WHR website, and repeated their constant mistaken wrong-UT-day for all the US-evening programming (UT Sundays being stated as "Saturday" for 0230 UT, for example). Do these people not listen to their own programs? I certainly would if I was putting in the effort to make such programs. One other thing about DXw/C -- up until recent weeks, every airing of DXw/C was chopped off before the real end by a WHR promo, announcement for bible giveaways, ID, or frequency changes. This one at 0500 was so cut off, but at least last weekend I distinctly heard more than one DXw/C go all the way to the end. It surprised me. Then at 0615 UT 9/10/05, I tuned in WWCR on 5070 kHz and heard a strange sound; at first I thought it was unusual interference but then I realized that it was two different preachers' voices mixed on the audio of the single WWCR signal. One was somewhat dominant, but I finally decided that it was two different male voices, not just the same one delayed or recorded-over on a used tape without a working erase head. Maybe it was a mixture fed by the WWCR control board, or maybe a screwup from the program provider. I'm pretty sure that neither voice was Gene Scott or Brother Stair. 73, (Will Martin, MO, Sept 10, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. I assume you are already aware of this, but I decided to sent it along anyway. I still don`t have a computer, so haven`t been able to check DXLD. United Radio Broadcasters, 15285, presumably parallel to what I`ve been hearing on WWL. Programming includes all types of emergency info for people living in the New Orleans area; also call-ins from people requesting help/rescue, those looking for missing family members, or offering help; they carry CBS news at the top of the hour except at 1700 when it`s local/state news. Most interesting thing is when they play live reports from around the city by radio and TV reporters. Announcers say this is a group effort by most if not all of NO`s radio stations. I first noted this at 1830 UT on 5 Sept, and have been listening daily as I have family in Houma (they made it through safely). Times are variable, but I have heard it as early as 1430 and as late as 1930. Where is it broadcast from? I think via facilities of World Harvest Radio. On 6 Sept I was listening to the morning broadcast. At 1645 the transmission ended suddenly. At 1651 an OM came on and said ``The following broadcast is coming to you from WHR, Cypress Creek, South Carolina.`` The transmission resumed at 1700 (William R. Wilkins, Springfield MO, Sept 8, by P-mail, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 9840, WWL New Orleans, LA via WHRI in Noblesville, IN [no, has moved to Cypress Creek/Furman, SC] SEP 9, 2308 - giving phone number, then call-ins from listeners. One of them talked about having cell. phone, then woman called in giving a phone number (985) 892-2276 for emergency followed by announcer talking giving dates on when the schools will open, then what sounded like http://www.sppc.org announced by a woman. Also heard two phone numbers, one of them was 1- 888-830-3170. WWL ID at 2231 followed by news. One of the items was about NO's residents looking for their pets ("...dog, cats and even larger animals (!)...") in order to save their lives. News announcer IDed as "The Big 8-70 WWL" at the end of the newscasts followed by ads, then continuous around the clock coverage of Katrina with phone- in from a man in accented English who spoke very fast. Almost excellent on peaks, though faded down to very poor from time to time. Usually good. The reception was better when using just the Sangean's telescopic antenna; with the long-wire the signal was poorer and suffered from some overloading from extremely strong CFAV "Radio Boomer" powerhouse on 1570 (ex. Radio Nostalgie). CFAV is just a very few kilometers from my house and some slight splatter can be heard from them as low as 1500 kHz on my Sanyo. CJWI is hard to listen on the car-radio (on my Sanyo I can null out some of the 1570 splatter to listen to 1610, but...) That's it for now! Be the good DX stuff with you, (Bogdan Chiochiu, Pierrefonds, QC H8Y 3M9, Sangean CST-818 with long-wire antenna, DX LISTENING DIGEST) I thought that I had read some comment in this thread, probably from gh, in which the poster had measured the delay between the live MW transmission from WWL on 870 and the SW relay from WWL, but I cannot find it (sorry). Anyway, I was listening to both the 870 and the 5835 kHz signals at 0530 UT 9/10/05, and at first thought that they were two completely different programs, but then realized that the SW signal was about a minute or so later than the MW "direct" transmission. What would account for so long a delay? Far more than the traditional 7-second "language" delay, far more than satellite-relay time lags. I didn't even think that digital-delay circuits could introduce so long a delay, but I guess the same technology as TiVo could do this, with the signal audio being recorded on hard disk and read from a later time point. But why would anybody do this? I can see recording it all for posterity, but why not feed the signal directly to the SW transmitter input? 73, (Will Martin, MO, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) The only possible reason might be so that local commercials could be removed, if necessary. Even so, this would not mereit delay of such lengths. AFRTS used to invoke a 7-second delay (and may still do for all I know) into their so-called live broadcasts, so that they could remove commercials (PAUL DAVID, Wembley Park, United Kingdom, ibid.) I first timed it as 70 seconds; later someone at 50 seconds. Most of that could be accounted for in the usual buffering delay in internet audio feeds, which this certainly seems to be. Was on 15285 again this morning, including Bush`s `live` radio speech around 1408 (gh, ibid.) ** U S A. WROA 1390, WASO 730; 7 join N.O. joint signals POST-KATRINA UPDATES: South Mississippi and Southeastern Louisiana: For those of you DXing in the south, AM 1390 WROA has temporarily switched formats for post-Katrina news in and around Harrison County (Mississippi). The Thursday edition of the Sun-Herald lists the station as one of two places to discuss (and knock down) post- hurricane rumours that have been spreading along the Mississippi Gulf Coast in wake of lack of communications. The other is a local-based phone hotline with the same purpose. "Operators work round the clock, in three shifts, answering phones, and others man a rumor radio station from the county Emergency Operations Center in Gulfport." 1390 AM is normally a 5000-watt adult standards format station out of Gulfport. -- In New Orleans: ACCESS ST. TAMMANY RADIO REPORTS 730 AM on the dial. Live and taped information and updates from parish officials and others on the situation in the parish. Broadcasting from parish Emergency Operations Center in Covington, with signal strength east to Slidell and west to Hammond. Work is under way to expand signal range. 730 AM is WASO, formerly silent from Covington, talk before that until July 15th. Facilities: 250w/20w ND/D -- Snippets from Thursday's Times-Picayune article "Broadcasters bunk in conference room - Radio rivals unite to serve listeners": Entercom and Clear Channel, two national station groups with New Orleans clusters, normally would be cutting figurative throats to compete for every advertising nickel. But with the market's economy temporarily submerged -- and listeners' lives on the line -- they've combined to keep an essential stream of news and information flowing to hurricane survivors. The joint signal has been carried in New Orleans on Entercom's WWL AM-870, WSMB AM-1350 and WLMG FM-101.9; and on Clear Channel's WYLD FM 98.5, WQUE FM-93.3 and KHEV FM-104.1. Segments have also aired on Clear Channel's Baton Rouge news-talk station WJBO AM-1150. Staffers from 18 different radio stations are jammed into the studios and cubicles that serviced just six people pre-Katrina. At night, the conference room becomes a bunkhouse. Off-duty staffers are also housed in RVs parked outside. The duocast is costing both companies "hundreds and hundreds of thousands of dollars," said Lewis. "And that doesn't count the lost revenue" from stations knocked off the air or carrying a limited commercial load, he added (Chris Kadlec, MI, Sept 9, amfmtvdx at qth.net via DXLD) ** U S A. 50-100 GULF COAST STATIONS REMAIN DARK Fifty to 100 radio and TV stations remain off the air in the Gulf Coast region due to Hurricane Katrina. That's according to Ken Moran, executive director of the Office of Homeland Security for the FCC's Enforcement Bureau. Moran testified before the House Commerce Committee during a hearing on the hurricane response efforts that of the 41 radio stations in the New Orleans market, only two AM and two FMs remained on the air after the hurricane. Those stations remaining on the air are depending on back-up power supplies, he testified, and he praised broadcasters' efforts. "Broadcasters are making every effort to get stations on the air, even at significantly reduced power, to provide survivors with important information." The FCC formed a task force to coordinate its response efforts that have included relaxing several rules to help stations get back on the air or share programming or engineering resources. It said some 200 agency personnel have been a part of its hurricane response effort. (From the Radioworld web site, Sept 7 2005 via Bruce Portzer, Sept 9, IRCA via DXLD) ** U S A. It sometimes takes a tragedy to remind people that radio still matters...and believe me, it really does: (Halper) IN CITY'S CRISIS, RADIO TALKED AND PEOPLE LISTENED By Ellen Barry, LA Times Staff Writer, September 9, 2005 BATON ROUGE, La. -- Deke "The Big Chief" Bellavia, a sportscaster on WWL, is among the world's leading authorities on high school football in Southeast Louisiana. He has a rolling, syrupy accent and an enormous girth, which he is not too shy to mention on the air. He did not expect to find himself -- as he did last week -- instructing a dehydrated listener to punch a hole in a can of corn and suck out the liquid. Or soothing a woman who called from her cell phone while wading through water that had dead bodies in it. This was not what he was hired to do. "You find a way to get through it because the people need you," Bellavia said. After Hurricane Katrina, as modern forms of communications failed one by one in New Orleans, one technology functioned perfectly, and that was radio. Working out of a fluorescent-lighted studio in Baton Rouge, a collection of personalities from New Orleans radio stations -- sportscasters, rock jocks, Christian broadcasters, soft rock and smooth-talk R&B talent -- have served as the slender connection between stranded people and the outside world. It was an AM talk radio host, Garland Robinette, who, three days after Katrina, recorded the interview with Mayor Ray Nagin that sounded the city's distress like a foghorn. It was radio that recorded the locations of hundreds of people who used the fading batteries of their cell phones to call the station. These days, from morning to night, radio broadcasts survivors as they look for lost and separated family members. remainder of article [3 pages] at: http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na- radio10sep10,0,5660639,print.story?coll=la-home-headlines (via Donna Halper, ABDX via DXLD) A LIFELINE SENT BY AIRWAVE Two days after Katrina hit, New Orleans radio stations teamed up to bring needed news and familiar voices to those otherwise cut off. By Ellen Barry, Times Staff Writer, September 10 2005 BATON ROUGE, La. — Deke "the Big Chief" Bellavia, a sportscaster on WWL-AM, is among the world's leading authorities on high school football in southeast Louisiana. He has a rolling, syrupy accent and an enormous girth, which he is not too shy to mention on the air. . . The complete article can be viewed at http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na- radio10sep10,0,6889663.story?coll=la-home-headlines (via Curtis Sadowski, DXLD) Hmmm, different headline, different link, same lead, day later; strange are the ways of the LA Times (gh, DXLD) ** U S A. POLICE VIOLENCE AGAINST JOURNALISTS IN NEW ORLEANS IN KATRINA AFTERMATH http://www.rsf.org/article.php3?id_article=14894 Reporters Without Borders voiced concern today about police violence against journalists covering the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans, especially about the attacks on reporters and photographers that took place on 1 September. ``We understand that the security forces are overwhelmed and we are aware of the great tension and the difficult conditions under which they are having to work in areas hit by Katrina, but it is very worrying that this is reflected in violence against journalists,`` the press freedom organisation said. ``We believe that is essential that news coverage should be completely free and unobstructed in such a serious situation,`` Reporters Without Borders added. Reporter Tim Harper and photographer Lucas Oleniuk of the Canadian Toronto Star daily were the victims of police violence while covering a clash between police and looters. The police threatened them several times at gunpoint and, when they realised Oleniuk had photographed them hitting looters, they hurled him to the ground, grabbed his two cameras and removed memory cards containing around 350 pictures. His press card was also torn from him. When he asked for his pictures back, the police insulted him and threatened to hit him. Harper said in a report about the police violence in the Toronto Star that, given the situation in New Orleans, there was not doubt that the police saw journalists as an obstacle to their efforts to regain control of the city. A second incident involved Gordon Russell of the New Orleans-based Times-Picayune daily as he was covering a shoot-out between police and local residents near the convention centre where hurricane victims were awaiting evacuation. The police detained Russell and smashed all of his equipment on the ground. Russell was forced to flee to avoid further violence and reportedly left the city the same day. (RSF via kimandrewelliott.com who adds:) COMPARE AND CONTRAST. REPORTERS SANS FRONTIÈRES PROTESTS VIOLENCE AGAINST JOURNALISTS IN SOMALIA (5 September) http://www.rsf.org/article.php3?id_article=14875 (via DXLD) ** U S A. FEMA NIXES GRASSROOTS RADIO STATION FOR HURRICANE EVACUEES BUREAUCRACY KO'S INFO SOURCE AT THE ASTRODOME by Sarah Ferguson, September 8th, 2005 5:04 PM http://villagevoice.com/generic/show_print.php?id=67701&page=ferguson&issue=0537&printcde=MzM3ODk0MTMwMQ==&refpage=L25ld3MvaW5kZXgucGhwP2lzc3VlPTA1MzcmcGFnZT1mZXJndXNvbiZpZD02NzcwMQ== Although the effort was trumpeted in the media as an example of grassroots ingenuity in the face of disaster, local officials with the Federal Emergency Management Agency have nixed an attempt by Houston activists to set up a low-power radio station at the Astrodome that would have broadcast Hurricane Katrina relief information for evacuees. The project was unplugged even though it had key support. On Monday, the Federal Communications Commission quickly granted temporary licenses to broadcast inside the Astrodome and the adjacent Reliant Center. The station was also backed by the Houston Mayor`s office and Texas governor Rick Perry. But local officials said FEMA bureaucrats KO`d the station --- dubbed KAMP ``Dome City Radio`` --- because of ``security concerns.`` ``They wanted unlimited access to the buildings, which we could not give to anyone in the media,`` said Gloria Roemer, a spokesperson for Harris County, which has jurisdiction over the Astrodome complex. Currently reporters are allowed in only on 15-minute guided tours. According to Roemer, FEMA officials also believed they could not allocate ``scarce`` electricity, office space, and phone and Internet access to the volunteer station—even though activists say they offered to run the station on batteries and use their own cellphones. Supporters of KAMP, which was set to launch at 95.3 FM, blame red tape and bureaucrats seeking to ``manage the news.`` ``I`m very disappointed,`` said Councilmember Ada Edwards, who represents a mostly black district in central Houston and had issued a letter of support for the station. ``One of the real challenges of this big tragedy has been access to communication--open and honest communication. I really hoped this would be an open outlet for people to get information that was unscripted and that would really address their needs. ``But it seems par for the course in terms of how this whole thing has been rolling out with FEMA and the Red Cross trying to keep tight control and manage the news,`` Edwards complained. ``It`s really sad when these people feel they have to sanitize all the time.`` Activists with Houston Indymedia and Pacifica radio first brainstormed the idea over the weekend when they visited the Astrodome and spoke to swamped relief workers and survivors desperate for information about emergency services and news from back home. ``People were asking things like how can I get my FEMA check, do my kids need shots for school, can I get a free cellphone, how do I get out information about missing family members,`` says Jim Ellinger, a freelance radio consultant from Austin. ``This is complicated stuff that you can`t really address on a booming public address system. The mainstream radio stations are more focused on broadcasting to the general public about where to donate to hurricane relief, so there was no place for survivors to go to get what they need. `` ``We talked to cops, volunteers, church groups—everyone said it was a good idea,`` Ellinger added. But Astrodome officials were apparently more concerned about evacuees fighting over the radios. ``They were worried about noise and people stealing them or that people would be tuning in to gangsta rap on other Houston stations, which they said could incite violence,`` says Tish Stringer, a graduate teacher at Rice University and organizer with Houston Indymedia. After several days of back and forth, activists agreed to provide 10,000 cheap, Walkman-style radios with batteries. They had 1,000 sitting in the parking lot and 9,000 more waiting in a warehouse --- with a pledge from Sony to donate an additional 10,000 radio --- when the local FEMA officials rejected the plan. But donated radios continue to pour into KPFT, the local Pacifica station, and volunteers say they plan to begin distributing them anyway in hopes they can set up some kind of station in the Astrodome parking lot, or else partner with KPFT to provide news for hurricane survivors. ``Radios are powerful tools in the hands of the people,`` says Hannah Sassaman of the Prometheus Radio Project, which has helped set up dozens of low-power FM stations across the country, and has been pressing Texas officials to move forward on this one. ``In a case like this, having a low-power station that can deal specifically with the needs of displaced people is a no-brainer.`` Although the number of evacuees housed at the Astrodome and George R. Brown Convention Center downtown has dwindled from 25,000 to about 8,000, many of the survivors remain temporarily lodged in smaller shelters and private houses around Houston. All told, the FCC has issued some 20 temporary licenses for a low-power emergency relief stations in the wake of Hurricane Katrina, including a volunteer-run station in Louisiana (via John Wesley Smith, KC0HSB, Sept 9, DXLD) Astrodome Radio Denied by Harris County Bureaucrat Efforts to start a low power fm radio station inside the Astrodome were thwarted today by a Harris County Bureaucrat named RW Royal, Incident Commander of the Joint Information Committee (JIC). The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) had on Sunday approved an application made by Austin Airwaves for 3 micro-radio stations, to be set up inside the Astrodome and other emergency shelters in Houston to disseminate information to survivors of Hurricane Katrina. On Wednesday, after days of stalling from many different levels of government bureaucracy, including radio activists lining up the purchase of 10.000 radios, Harris County authorities denied the request. This project has received national support from radio activists, service providers, City Councilors (listen to a report from Lorie Kramer reporting from City Hall), FEMA Public Information Officers, and Governor Perry's office, as well as approval from survivors of Katrina. It has also received national media coverage, including from Democracy Now! (read or listen to the story) Jacob Applebaum writes: The people on the ground I spoke with personally asked me why I was there. I told them that I was with a group helping to bring emergency radio information to them. Broadast from right inside the dome. Those people were overjoyed to hear that they would get a radio station with emergency information, with information on job interviews, food, housing, lost children, found person, clothing and other important information. It breaks my heart. Why has this man denied this? Why is the government going out of its way to stop us from helping people? (from http://houston.indymedia.org/ via DXLD) Also see! http://neworleans.indymedia.org/ Here`s the website of KAMP itself: http://evacuationradioservices.org/ which includes at http://www.evacuationradioservices.org/?q=node/3 --- About KAMP Dome City Radio is a low-power FM (LPFM) station that serves the Reliant Complex in Houston, Texas. Our mission is to provide these new Houston residents with the timely information that they have been otherwise unable to obtain, such as school enrollment procedures, vaccination availability, and mail forwarding assistance. The station is completely volunteer-operated and self-supporting. KAMP was established to encourage the rapid dissemination of vital information in the chaotic aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. In the initial relief stages, we watched tangible resources (food, water, clothing) go unused while waiting for the go-ahead from a variety of local and government agencies. We hope to avoid repeating this delay for this critical information. We believe that communication is an essential human right, and to deny these new Houston residents access to this communication opportunity would stand as yet another travesty delivered by this slow-moving, unaccountable, bureaucratic process. During our visits to the Astrodome and Reliant Center, information has been of singular importance; residents are anxious to know what is happening in New Orleans, the whereabouts of their loved ones, and of opportunities for other housing, jobs, childcare, and additional resources to assist them in establishing a new sense of normalcy. For more information, please contact evacuationradio "at" gmail.com (via DXLD) KAMP becomes DAMP in Houston Today's Tampa Tribune carries word of a FCC grant of a 30 watt LPFM to operate on 95.3 from the Astrodome, with a 5 mile radius. Just now on Slashdot is word that the station, apparently licensed as KAMP, has been denied permission to begin operations by a local functionary after all the higher level permitting was finished. http://www.wired.com/news/hurricane/0,2904,68806,00.html?tw=rss.TOP or see comments on slashdot.org (Bob Foxworth, FL, Sept 9, amfmtvdx at qth.net via DXLD) viz.: ASTRODOME RADIO STATION BLOCKED By Joel Johnson | 09:53 AM Sep. 08, 2005 PT HOUSTON -- KAMP 95.3 "Evacuation Radio Services", a low-power FM station for Hurricane Katrina evacuees housed at the Astrodome, is still stuck in limbo. Although the group trying to organize the station has wrangled three 90-day licenses from the FCC, as of Thursday, they were being stymied by a handful of temporary administrators content to maintain radio silence. While basic needs -- food, water, clothing, shelter -- have been met with remarkable hospitality, the survivors of the hurricane inside the Astrodome complex say they continue to suffer from a lack of information. Parents struggle with paperwork to enroll their children in school while simultaneously attempting to locate housing and employment, not to mention lost family members. Most evacuees sit alone on cots, passing the time playing cards or dominoes. Short blasts of information periodically echo from the Astrodome's PA speakers. Inspired by the crisis, volunteers gathered Sunday in Tish Stringer's small apartment in the Museum District of midtown Houston, planning to broadcast hourly updated information evacuees would need to move forward with their lives. The group thought the ability to quickly speak to tens of thousands of people across multiple arenas would be invaluable, to both evacuees and aid workers alike. Support poured in from wireless nonprofits like the Prometheus Radio Project. All levels of government seemed excited by the idea, including Houston's Mayor Bill White, Texas Gov. Rick Perry, and federal agencies like the FCC and FEMA. But late Sunday evening, the troubles began. According to KAMP, Rita Obey, a local official from Harris County Public Health Services, gave them a laundry list of prerequisites. The most notable of these was the command to procure 10,000 personal, battery-powered radios -- and batteries. "She said she was afraid of 'people fighting over the radios,'" said Liz Surley, a KAMP volunteer. "She made us promise not to play any rap music, because she thought it might incite some of the evacuees to violence." Obey denies she requested the radios. "I requested samples," she said Thursday. "We never asked them to provide radios -- they offered them." The group, already operating on a shoestring budget, began a frantic search for the radios they needed. By Monday they had all 10,000 in a warehouse in Houston, waiting to be purchased from and delivered by a distributor. "They were local and they were waiting for us," noted Surley. Everything was once again in place to go. Tuesday, two KAMP technicians scouted out a skybox high above the arena floor as a potential radio site with Astrodome staff. Nina Jackson, another administrator, assured the technicians that their request was heading up the chain of command at the Astrodome. Mike Jones, the local Houston rapper who once used his cell-phone number as a self-promotional rhyme, called to offer his support (and presumably left his number). Wednesday morning, things looked good for KAMP. They had the equipment. They had the licenses. They had the content ready to begin broadcasting. They hoped to install their transmitters in the Astrodome that evening, then begin broadcasting at 9 a.m. the next day. The volunteers were overjoyed. Many took the cat naps they hadn't allowed themselves earlier in the week, despite getting only two or three hours of sleep a night. Some sheepishly called their employers, apologizing for their spotty attendance. One radio operator rushed to fill out a final FEMA form that had been overlooked. But at 4:30 in the afternoon, KAMP received word that their request had been denied. RW Royall Jr., the incident commander of the Joint Information Center -- the group temporarily governing the operations of the Astrodome campus -- told KAMP they could not install their equipment. They had been officially, finally denied. According to KAMP, Royal claimed the Astrodome was not able to provide power to KAMP's low-power FM transmitter. When KAMP offered to bring in enough batteries to power the equipment off the Astrodome's grid, they were still denied. Obey, speaking to Wired News, explained that the JIC couldn't see a use for the radio station when they had the ability to communicate via the loudspeaker system and newsletters. "I did not see the utility," said Obey. Wednesday evening, the volunteers sat together on the balcony of Stringer's apartment, smoking cigarettes and trying to figure out what they did wrong, even as donations and support continued to be offered from around the world. "Last week you could just go right inside (the Astrodome)," said one volunteer who declined to be named. "We should have just set up then and gotten permission later." Others tried to lighten the mood. "Maybe we should change our call sign to DAMP," joked Harbeer Sandhu, another volunteer. "If Clear Channel would have done this...," Surley trailed off, implying the radio giant wouldn't have had nearly as much trouble setting up a station. In the end, no one was sure what they could have done differently. They had the resources and support from dozens of influential people. "We got caught up with the power behind us," said Sandhu. "We lost sight of the power we had." On Thursday, Obey explained the decision to ultimately refuse the low- power FM station request. "With limited resources, you err on the side of FEMA and the Red Cross over entertainment." (Wired via DXLD) Not a word about this on CNN? ** U S A [and non]. Programmes I Like (# 10) "The World" -- Public Radio International: Are you an American , and seeking "a spin of the world"? Start here. "The World" is a 58-59 minute current affairs co-production of the BBC World Service, PRI, and Boston's WGBH. It is broadcast from Boston, usually with Lisa Mullins in the chair. After a one minute menu of items to come, there is a 5 minute newscast. This consists of news from NPR, as well as news and weather from the local station broadcasting "The World". After the news, there are the reports and interviews that make up the bulk of the programme. The leading items focus on topics presently in the news, and are political in nature. Other political stories are of news items that fall under the radar screens of other news programmes. Lighter fare is also given much prominence, viz. historical, economic and cultural topics. Some stories are humorous, and even frivolous, in nature. The last item is always a musical slot: a report or interview, along with some music from the featured artist(s). Some features form part of an on-going series, that are offered over the course of several programmes. "The World" is similar to a combination of two BBC World Service offerings: "Newshour" and Outlook". It combines the current affairs thrust of "Newshour" with the lighter presentation style and human interest pieces of "Outlook". Although the content varies from day-to- day, it is usually about 25-30% softer items. And yet, this is an American show for an American audience. The stories covered are those of interest to an American audience. The presenter is American, as are most of the reporters. There are lots of sponsorship breaks, musical stings, and lighter fare. Breaks occur for 1-2 minutes at :19 and :49 past the hour, as well as at the start and end of the show, for sponsorship announcements, local station trails, weather, etc. There is a larger break at :29 for more sponsorship stuff, trails, and a 1-2 minute BBC World Service news summary. Lastly, this programme contains something which is rather neat: a geo- quiz. Found in the second half of the programme, the host provides clues to a geographical place somewhere in the world. Several minutes later, usually after the :49 break, the answer is provided, along with an interview with an expert on that particular place. "The World" is a relaxing, middle-of-the-road current affairs programme that makes few demands on the listener. Website: http://www.theworld.org E-Mail: theworld @ pri.org (Peter Bowen, Canada?, Sept 10, Swprograms mailing list via DXLD) When I used to hear The World on WRN, the news actually came from the BBC, so I suppose it depends upon what station you happen to listen to the programme. When I was in Washington DC in 2000, I noted that The World was on the local station WAMU, but I did not get a chance to hear it, and I can currently not hear WRN programming following the demise of the analogue signal in 2001 (PAUL DAVID, Wembley Park, United Kingdom, ibid.) Minor amplification and a bit of history: The news breaks at :01 and at :29 may be NPR or BBC news breaks, depending on the station airing "The World" and their contractual obligations. For instance, WHYY in Philadelphia features NPR news in the breaks; Sirius' PRI World channel features BBC News. Otherwise, Peter, your review is spot on. Interestingly, "The World" was initially created as the natural replacement to "Monitor Radio". When "The World" was first launched, there was an early morning edition offered as early as 5 AM ET (0900 or 1000 UT, depending on DST), an hour before NPR's "Morning Edition" first went to air. Steve Inskeep (who was with Monitor Radio) was the host. NPR then moved the start of "Morning Edition" to 5 AM ET, and the BBC and PRI dropped the early edition of "The World", replacing it with today's "World Update" (Richard Cuff / Allentown, PA USA, ibid.) ** U S A. LUBAVICHER/CHASSIDIC RADIO, 1710 kHz, A/Sep04/0425+. Occasional peaks of M ranting in Hebrew. Poor (Harold Frodge, MI, Free Radio Weekly via DXLD) ** U S A. DX opportunity: Due to a failure of an RF contactor in the WNTP antenna system this morning, WNTP 990 kHz [Philadelphia] will be operating on 5 kW non-directional all this weekend, and most likely Monday, until such time as I can get a replacement contactor from Kintronics. It will be non-directional both day and night. Good DXing (Rene' Tetro, Lansdale, PA, Sept 10, IRCA via DXLD) ** VIETNAM. TV TO BROADCAST TSUNAMI WARNINGS | Text of report in English by Vietnamese news agency VNA website on 9 September Hanoi: Warnings of tsunamis will be broadcast in Central Vietnam Television (VTV) newscasts in the near future, said Le Cong Thanh, director of the National Hydro-Meteorology Centre (NHMC) under the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment. Preparations for the newscasts have been underway by VTV and NHMC. The newscast is expected to help people be better informed of, and protected against possible natural disasters. Vietnam has around 3,200 km of coastline prone to powerful tsunamis. Unfortunately, the Vietnamese people's awareness on natural disasters and tsunamis is still limited. Source: VNA news agency website, Hanoi, in English 9 Sep 05 (via BBCM via DXLD) What a brilliant idea! (gh, DXLD) ** WAKE ISLAND. KH9 - Dan, W0CN will operate as KH9/W0CN from Wake Island (OC-053) on 18-30 September to commemorate the 60th anniversary of the end of World War II. He will be active on 10-160 metres SSB and CW. Some equipment has already been shipped and has arrived on Wake. Updates will be posted to http://www.qrz.com/w0cn QSL via K9JS (Jonathan L. Schulz, 813 West Washington, Harvard, IL 60033, USA). [TNX W0CN] (425 DX News via Dave Raycroft, ODXA via DXLD) See also KURE ISLAND UNIDENTIFIED. WHEN is WWRB transmitting in English? I do not hear it because it`s not WWRB, or their antenna pattern is switched towards another direction? I do not remember the day but I have also heard "Palabra de vida" ending 0145 UT. I should like to hear the opinion of Rogildo Aragão, Bolivia so I`m sending this email to you, Christer and Rogildo. 73s to all of you! (Björn Malm, Quito, Ecuador, http://www.malm-ecuador.com DX LISTENING DIGEST) According to their website WWRB is using 150 degrees between 2300 and 0500 on 5745. And it`s mostly in English with just as few Spanish programs here and there. I checked 5745 at 2330 UT Friday Sept 9: just WWRB in English, but quite weak here compared to the noise level. While I can`t measure frequencies as accurately as you can, the best I could tell on the ATS-909 and YB-400 was that it is very close to 5745.0, certainly not 5745.66 or 5745.75 as your unID has been reported. 73, (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ POWERLINE COMMUNICATIONS ++++++++++++++++++++++++ Re the item in DXLD 5-159 on the San Diego BPL test: Back some decades ago, I belonged to a now-long-defunct radio club based in San Diego. (It was one of those one-man-run groups whose bulletin was written by and all business handled by a senior guy who lived in San Diego; when he passed away, the club disappeared.) I think it was simply called "The San Diego DX Club" or something like that; the emphasis was on equipment reviews and comments, which was why I joined/subscribed to the bulletin. Anyway, one thing he continually emphasized was that San Diego was an RF-quiet zone mandated and enforced by the US Navy. He referred to SPs (Shore Patrol) visiting little old ladies and confiscating RF- noisy aquarium heaters, for example. Because of this, the area was good for radio listening. So when did this change? There's no way that BPL could be tested or installed in such a restricted area, so that must have been altered at some time, perhaps in the 70's or 80's? Has San Diego been an "ordinary" metropolitan area, in RF terms, since then? Any info as to the history of this situation and any aspects of it would be welcomed. 73, (Will Martin, MO, Sept 10, dxldyg via DXLD) Yes, I remember that club. Don`t see why USN would mandate RF quietude unless they had a monitoring (receiving) station nearby. The entire city, metro area? They certainly have and had plenty of transmitters of their own (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) DIGITAL BROADCASTING ++++++++++++++++++++ IBOC Tom Ray has been following the Ibiquity Party Line. As Rich Wood says over on the BC list --- There are no known problems with Ibuz, see my bridge auctions on Ebay. The problem is, IBOC is rather fragile. All it will take to kill WOR IBOC at night is a POTENT TA with a het right in the middle of the digital info. It will NOT decode. Even the far more robust DRM croaks on that kind of interference. We'll have to wait to see which is worse...IBOC to IBOC interference, or analog to IBOC interference. We already KNOW how bad IBOC is to analog (Powell E. Way, ABDX via DXLD) I don't think we need to debate the technical merits anymore, but Tom's comments basically stating that skywave doesn't exist as far as FCC regs are concerned, just make the hairs on the back of my neck stand up straight. This attitude of "It's legal, so get over it" really ticks me off. Yeah, it's inside the NRSC mask, so we have no problem. Never mind the difference between IBOC hash and analog splatter - "It's legal, so get over it". It's just so disingenuous. They know full well that IBOC doesn't come close to meeting the spirit of the law. But they also know that the FCC is on their side, so they just figure everyone else can go to heck. No matter. We just need to be patient. IBOC WILL go the unfortunate way of AM Stereo. AM Stereo didn't have nearly the downside to it as IBOC, and it still failed. With the way Ibiquity is marketing IBOC, it's only a matter of time. Oh yeah, I'm sure they're hoping to get enough critical mass, quickly enough, so that they can then get the FCC to force the conversion to full digital (thus "solving" the interference issue). Ain't gonna happen (Brian Leyton, Valley Village, CA, ibid.) The NRSC mask is a fraud, and it was intended for analog not digital transmissions. BUT that said, there are quite a few installations that aren't even close to being "in the mask". I expect a FAST sunset to analog, though that's being denied now. Hybrid mode can NOT hang around long. On FM maybe not as destructive as MW... well not until there's a big band opening every morning for a week. LOL !! I predict vocal detractors will be silenced. There's way more money involved than in AM stereo (Powell E. Way, ibid.) DRM People in Canada have been hit even harder by the additional cuts to BBCWS than we in the States have been. I took my SW Radio to Canada earlier in the year and morning broadcasts were virtually inaudible and the evening ones were weak (Sandy Finlayson, PA, Sept 9, swprograms via DXLD) I've been asking my Bush House contacts for someone who is in a position to judge how effective XM/Sirius have been at reaching US residents. So far I haven't connected with one, which is somewhat odd. You'd think someone within Bush House would be paying attention to that (Richard Cuff, PA, ibid.) How would BBCWS judge effectiveness of XM/Sirius, other than by counting subscribers. Is there ANY sense that BBCWS is concerned about how poor their American frequencies have worked? Is there ANY hope they may use better frequencies for the next SW season for the Americas and is there ANY hope they might restore the midday SW broadcasts at least on the weekends? (Sandy Finlayson, PA, ibid.) A guess on my part, but I think an educated one. They are waiting for DRM. Starting very soon, the WS will be broadcasting 18 hours a day to Europe once again, but via DRM. They send two hours to NA daily via Sackville in DRM already. When DRM announces a rollout to NA in the same way as they have just announced a rollout to Europe, I would bet that the Beeb would greatly expand its DRM schedule here (John Figliozzi, NY, ibid.) Interesting conjecture John! I tend to think they may wait to see if DRM is a hit before starting a DRM service to North America though. I listen a lot to Deutsche Welle in Germany. I wonder if anyone would care to make a guess as to DW; do you think they may reappear in the NA market when DRM rolls out? The other question I have is, as of now it seems to be Ten Tec in the DRM market in North America. Does Etón, Icom, etc have plans to join the DRM market? 73s (Bill KA2EMZ Bergadano, ibid.) Just met Dr Esmail Hozour again after many years. He used to run Grundig North America. He is now CEO of Etón Corporation (Etón is Greek for solid) and bringing out a whole series of new radios, many made in Bangalore, India. It is the first time I have seen this type of quality out of India. Etón believe in DAB as well as XM and Sirius, but are taking a wait-and-see approach to DRM technology (Jonathan Marks, 4th September http://criticaldistance.blogspot.com/ via Mike Barraclough, ibid.) Bill: DW is already ramping up its service to Europe using DRM. So – yes -- I think there's every chance they would do the same to NA once DRM is officially rolled out here (John Figliozzi, ibid.) I had always thought that the attraction of DRM was that it was non- proprietary, that anyone could manuafacture a radio or operate a radio station without paying some sort of hefty licensing fee to some corporation. See http://www.drm.org/system/technicalaspect.php "DRM is the world's only, non-proprietary digital radio system for short-wave, AM/medium-wave and long-wave. It has been endorsed by the ITU, IEC and ETSI." (Ricky Leong, Calgary, Alta., ibid.) It is though my understanding that you would then still have to pay licensing fees to companies who have developed products based on the non-proprietary part of the system. VIA LICENSING ANNOUNCES AVAILABILITY OF DIGITAL RADIO MONDIALE PATENT LICENSE Via Licensing Corporation launches new patent pool with broad coverage of both audio and modem patents essential to the Digital Radio Mondiale standard --- San Francisco, March 28, 2005 http://www.vialicensing.com/news/via_pr_0503_DRMPatentLic.html (via ??, ibid.) If BBC and DW don`t think it`s worth broadcasting to North America in English with the millions of analog SW radios in use, why would it be worth doing so to a few, if gradually increasing, DRM radios which would surely take a very long time to exceed the number of analog SW radios in use? (Glenn Hauser, ibid.) I didn't say it made sense, but it is what they're doing in Europe (e.g.: DW announced end of analog to Europe within next year; replaced by DRM... BBCWS committing to 18 hrs/day on DRM). So, why wouldn't they take the same approach here? BBC has two hrs/day to NA in DRM; none on analog (John Figliozzi, ibid.) Glen[n], Remember, to the BBC, people with analog shortwave radios are just a bunch of hobbyists --- we don't count. The BBC will gladly pour millions of pounds sterling into a new and slowly growing technology. The way I understand it, the BBC counts its audience as those people listening on FM relays during half hour periods of time multiplied by the 48 half hour intervals during peak times across the planet. At least that's what I understood from a "focus group" I was invited to attend in Boston a number of years ago. That was back when the BBC hinted that it was cutting back on shortwave services to the Americas and heading for the internet and more FM relays. Here it is a half dozen years later and it all came true. No more SW to the Americas. We now have streaming on the internet, Satellite stations, BBC America on cable & satellite, FM relays just about everywhere in America (at peak times for half hour periods of time). I'd bet the farm that the BBC embraces and invests heavily in DRM and its proprietary technology; better yet I bet the decision has already been made (Jim Strader, Rock Village, Massachusetts, USA, ibid.) Personally, I still wonder if the smaller broadcasters such as Radio Romania, Voice of Turkey et al. will follow suit and go to DRM; I sort of doubt it, and then we have the dilemma of DRM from large broadcasters doing a number on the stations still on analog. I am excited at the premise of my hopes of Sackville going to DRM and the sheer beauty of the thought of Radio Sweden at 0130 UT on 6010 in perfect DRM reception! can a station run less power on DRM than needed now on analog to reach a target area? 73s (Bill KA2EMZ, ibid.) There`s the rub, yes and no. Theoretically, DRM requires much less power for the same results, which is one of its major selling points to gullible broadcasters, but in practice it can`t get a reliable signal over multi-hop paths. Actually raising power would help on that but not solve the problem. That`s why the current tactic is using relay stations with single-hop coverage to wherever (Glenn Hauser, ibid.) In other words, DRM doesn't really work, right? :) (Scott Royall, ibid.) I would tend to think with the sunspot low, yes, DRM may not work 100%; but when we start to see the sunspots climb up, things like 15 meters are open 24 hours a day --- that`s when I feel DRM will truly shine (Bill KA2EMZ, ibid.) Maybe so, but DRM is at least 11 years old already (Scott Royall, ibid.) Yes, Scott, it is. But the sunspots have been declining over that 11 years. All we can do is literally wait and see what occurs. 73s (Bill KA2EMZ, ibid.) Not exactly; we were thru the peak a few years ago (gh) That's nearly always the case, Bill. Still, I'm surprised no one seems to question the value of a technology so subject to Nature's moods (Scott Royall, Conch Republic, ibid.) Does anyone know when DRM radios will be affordable here? I am not about to rush into purchasing a DRM radio just to hear BBCWS (Sandy Finlayson, ibid.) RADIO EQUIPMENT FORUM +++++++++++++++++++++ INCREDIBLE ENGINEERING INCIDENTS UCSD's Police Department is moving to new quarters, and the university hired a consulting firm to design and install a microwave system to go from PD's new location to the top of Mt. Soledad. The consulting firm reportedly looked at a topographic map, found no obstructions, installed the equipment and discovered that the path wouldn't work. There was an unforeseen attenuator in the way. It's called the VA Hospital. Perhaps the consultant can open the doors and windows to let the signal through? This incident is topped by a community in the greater Los Ángeles area that hired a consultant to find a Travelers Information Service ("TIS") frequency for the community. The consultant did a cursory allocations study, filed the necessary paperwork and was later astounded to find interference from Mexico on his chosen frequency. Turns out that the consultant had picked what amounted to a Mexican clear channel frequency. Reportedly the consultant has since decided that listening to the AM band in advance of filing FCC paperwork would be a good idea (CGC Communicator Sept 8 via Kevin Redding, ABDX via DXLD) PROPAGATION +++++++++++ Saturday September 10 at 1630 --- Complete propagation blackout: Not even the usual powerhouses for this time were heard: REE Spain Cariari relay 9765, WHRI 15285, RCI 17800, Voz Cristiana 17680. It was like shortwave spectrum had gone for good. Will it be the same with DRM, looking to vacate international SWB from their regular bands? I can't see any other way this going to happen, as highways had been displacing railroads? (Raúl Saavedra, Costa Rica, dxldyg via DXLD) Space Weather Message Code: SUMX01 Serial Number: 56 Issue Time: 2005 Sep 10 1658 UTC SUMMARY: X-ray Event exceeded X1 Begin Time: 2005 Sep 10 1634 UTC Maximum Time: 2005 Sep 10 1643 UTC End Time: 2005 Sep 10 1651 UTC X-ray Class: X1.1 Location: S10E46 NOAA Scale: R3 - Strong NOAA Space Weather Scale descriptions can be found at http://www.sec.noaa.gov/NOAAscales (SEC via DXLD) LAKE INVERSION/TERRAIN STUDY BREAKTHROUGH For those of you following my recent conclusions from my lake inversion and terrain/reception study in the Muskegon (Michigan) area --- I have made another interesting breakthrough quite by accident. Researching a map of Michigan moraines (that is, for those who don't know - hills, sometimes steep, left behind by glaciers as they receded) for the purpose of further explaining reception in my temporary residence of Kalamazoo, which is on top of a moraine and very hilly and with interesting reception patterns, I stumbled across an interesting pattern on the map that practically outlined my original reception study area I made. Apparently the region I've been studying for the past few years is completely VOID of all moraines, which is the most common interference of reception in this area. The moraine here in Kalamazoo blocks out nearly everything from Chicago the moment you drive onto it. Instead, Detroit is commonly enhanced due to this and numerous stations from the moraines south of Cleveland tend to come in often (despite stations MUCH closer). But in Muskegon, there appears to be NO moraines to interfere really, and therefore I have come to the conclusion that my original study conducted BEFORE I uncovered this map --- is quite validated. The original DNR moraines map for Michigan can be accessed through this page: http://www.geo.msu.edu/geo333/moraines.html My original maps of the reception can be compared with the moraine map (they almost exactly line up), at this page: http://www.beaglebass.com/dx_fm_index.htm which has been updated to include the moraine map (Chris Kadlec, MI, Sept 9, amfmtvdx at qth.net via DXLD) ###