DX LISTENING DIGEST 5-176, October 11, 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 1289: Wed 0930 WOR WWCR 9985 Wed 1600 WOR WBCQ after hours SUMMARY: http://www.worldofradio.com/wor1289.html [now available] AIRINGS OF WORLD OF RADIO Extra 62: Wed 2200 WOR WBCQ 7415 [first airing of each edition] Wed 2300 WOR WBCQ 17495-CUSB Thu 0900 WOR World FM, Tawa, Wellington, New Zealand 88.2 Thu 1600 WOR WBCQ after hours Thu 1800 WOR KLC Thu 2030 WOR WWCR 15825 Thu 2200 WOR World FM, Tawa, Wellington, New Zealand 88.2 Thu 2330 WOR R. Veronica 106.5 Fri 0000 WOR WTND-LP 106.3 Macomb IL Fri 0200 WOR ACBRadio Mainstream [repeated 2-hourly thru 2400] Fri 0930 WOR WWCR 9985 [NEW] Fri 1600 WOR WBCQ after hours Fri 2000 WOR RFPI [repeated 4-hourly thru Sat 1500] Fri 2000 WOR World FM, Tawa, Wellington, New Zealand 88.2 Sat 0400 WOR VoiceCorps Reading Service, WOSU-FM subcarrier, cable Sat 0800 WOR WRN to Eu, Au, NZ, WorldSpace AfriStar, AsiaStar Sat 0855 WOR WNQM Nashville TN 1300 Sat 1000 WOR WPKN Bridgeport CT 89.5 & WPKM Montauk LINY 88.7 Sat 1600 WOR R. Veronica 106.5 Sat 1730 WOR WRN to North America (including Sirius Satellite Radio channel 140) Sat 2100 WOR WRMI 7385 Sat 2300 WOR Radio Studio X 1584 http://www.radiostudiox.it/ Sun 0230 WOR WWCR 5070 Sun 0300 WOR WBCQ 9330-CLSB Sun 0600 WOR World FM, Tawa, Wellington, New Zealand 88.2 Sun 0630 WOR WWCR 3210 Sun 0830 WOR WRMI 7385 [from WRN] Sun 0830 WOR WRN to North America, also WLIO-TV Lima OH SAP (including Sirius Satellite Radio channel 140) 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 140) 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-hour thru Tue 1400] Tue 1600 WOR WBCQ after hours Tue 2330 WOR WBCQ 7415 [usually but temporary] Wed 0000 WOR CJOY INTERNET RADIO plug-in required 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 [from Fri]: 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 WORLD OF RADIO Extra 62 (high version): (stream) http://www.w4uvh.net/worx62h.ram (download) http://www.w4uvh.net/worx62h.rm [Extra 62 is the same as CONTINENT OF MEDIA 05-08; high adds WOR open] WORLD OF RADIO Extra 62 (low version): (stream) http://www.w4uvh.net/com0508.ram (download) http://www.w4uvh.net/com0508.rm (summary) http://www.worldofradio.com/com0508.html WORLD OF RADIO Extra 62 in true SW sound of Alex`s mp3 [anticipated] (stream) http://www.dxprograms.net/worldofradio_10-12-05.m3u (download) http://www.dxprograms.net/worldofradio_10-12-05.mp3 WORLD OF RADIO Extra 62 downloads in studio-quality mp3 [soon]: (high) http://www.obriensweb.com/worx62h.mp3 (low) http://www.obriensweb.com/worx62.mp3 WORLD OF RADIO PODCAST: www.obriensweb.com/wor.xml (currently: 1284, Extra 60, 1285, 1286, 1287, 1288, Extra 61, 1289, Extra 62) WORLD OF RADIO ON MYSTERY RADIO. Oct 11 at 1525 I was passing the frequency 6220 when I heard a familiar voice. Indeed, World of Radio 1289 was in progress. And when it was over, the ID was "Mystery Radio" (Jari Savolainen, Finland, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Euro- pirate, so that would be Tuesday around 1500 UT, tho unlikely on a strict schedule (gh) DX/SWL/MEDIA PROGRAMS Oct. 11: http://worldofradio.com/dxpgms.html EDITOR`S NOTE. Yes, I took almost a week off, so this issue contains only a fraxion of the material that has piled up; it is a mixture of new and older, and especially BBCM items you may not have seen elsewhere. ** ANDAMAN & NICOBAR ISLANDS. At 0000 UT 10/12/2005 I copied some English with an Indian accent on 4760. The signal was pretty weak and faded out by 0115. I was not able to get an ID but I'm pretty sure it was AIR Port Blair, Andaman Islands. With geomagnetic conditions quiet the polar path between Florida and Nicobar would be open at 0000 UT. 73 & GUD DX, (Thomas F. Giella, KN4LF, Lakeland, FL, USA, Icom R-75 120-11 Meter Dipole, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ANTARCTICA. R. Nacional Arcángel San Gabriel, 15475.98, 2100-2104* Oct 7; tune-in to Spanish ballad. 2102 closing announcements in Spanish, ID, and mention of Base Esperanza. Surprisingly good signal (Brian Alexander, Mechanicsburg PA, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ARGENTINA. R. Nacional, 6059.96, 2315-2220+ Oct 6, Spanish talk, LA music, very weak, but very good on // 15345.24. Also on 6059.96 at 1045-1055+ Oct 7, Spanish talk, ballads; very weak, but fair signal on // 11710.65. Feeder of R. La Red, 15820-LSB, 2155-2220+ Oct 6, Spanish talk, 2200 time pips and Spanish news; weak but readable (Brian Alexander, Mechanicsburg PA, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** AUSTRALIA. The ABC would like to advise that it is in the process of upgrading its Alice Springs, Katherine and Tennant Creek shortwave Local Radio services. this work is being undertaken to provide greater reliability of these services. Each service will be required to be switched off for approximately four to six weeks while replacement transmitters are installed. The Tennant Creek transmitter will be the first to be upgraded and will be turned off on Monday 10 October. . . http://www.abc.net.au/reception/news/051006_shortwave_radio_services.htm I heard Alice Springs for the first time on 8 Oct. from 1010 UT on 2310 kHz with a fairly decent signal (Dan Srebnick, Aberdeen, NJ, Oct 8, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) When I checked the site at 1755 UT Oct 11, the following had been added: ...The Tennant Creek transmitter will be the first to be upgraded and will be turned off on Monday 10 October. From this date those listeners who usually tune to the Tennant Creek shortwave service will need to retune to the Alice Springs service to continue to receive ABC Local Radio. Listeners who have problems tuning to the Alice Springs service during the day should attempt to tune to 11880 kHz. Further announcements will be made once a timetable for the Alice Springs and Katherine upgrades are confirmed. The ABC apologises for any inconvenience caused by these changes. Please contact the ABC’s Reception Advice Line on 1300 13 9994 if you require further information regarding the transmitter upgrades or frequency changes. Northern Territory ABC Shortwave Local Radio frequencies in October ... Day frequency Night frequency Alice Springs 4835 kHz 2310 kHz Katherine 5025 kHz 2485 kHz Tennant Creek 4835 kHz/11880 kHz 2310 kHz (via gh, DXLD) T.C. was 4910, 2325 kHz. So where is 11880 from? Probably Shepparton which is used at other times by RA. What kind of ``upgrading``? (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** BELARUS [non]. GERMANY: DEUTSCHE WELLE BROADCASTS ANGER BELARUS, RUSSIA | Text of report by German news magazine Der Spiegel website on 10 October A new radio programme by Deutsche Welle for listeners in authoritarian-ruled Belarus is creating tension between Berlin and Moscow. The daily 15-minute broadcast in Russian, which can also be found on the Internet, offers information on the opposition in Belarus, for instance, that is not reported by state-controlled media in the country of President Alexander Lukashenko. The European Union is subsidizing the programme on the air with an initial amount of 138,000 euros annually. Sergey Yastrzhembskiy, President Vladimir Putin's authorized agent in charge of relations with the EU, now accuses the Europeans of using "methods from the Cold War arsenal." According to Yastrzhembskiy, the shortwave programme is a form of "interference in the affairs of a sovereign state" - that is, Belarus, whose regime counts itself among the Kremlin's allies. Moscow and Minsk fear that Lukashenko 's opponents will attract a crowd, since the opposition recently agreed on physicist Alexander Milinkevich as the joint candidate for the presidential election next July. Yet the concerns of those in power about the destabilizing influence of Western media is possibly unfounded. A study commissioned by Deutsche Welle shows that more than 83 per cent of Belarus citizens have never received Russian-language programmes from the German broadcasting station. More than 42 per cent of those polled are even of the opinion that the state-controlled media in Minsk portray the politics and life of Western countries "appropriately." Hence the director of Deutsche Welle, Erik Bettermann, places his hopes primarily "on the coming generations" in that Slavic country. Source: Der Spiegel website, Hamburg, in German 10 Oct 05 (via BBCM via DXLD) ** BRAZIL. BRAZIL/USA: SIX BRAZILIAN STATIONS BROADCASTING HIGH- DEFINITION RADIO | Text of press release by US-based Harris Corporation on 5 October Cincinnati, 5 October: Harris Corporation's Broadcast Communications Division (BCD) today announced that three Brazilian radio broadcasters have selected Harris as the exclusive digital transmission vendor for their HD [high definition] Radio launches. The country's three largest radio broadcasters, Radio Bandeirantes, Radio Globo and RBS Group recently announced plans to launch HD Radio broadcasts on 26 September, commemorating the 70th anniversary of AESP, a radio and television emissions association based in Sao Paolo, and Brazil's National Day of Radio. The HD Radio standard will allow all three broadcasters to simulcast analogue and digital broadcasts over the same band, ensuring their listeners a choice to go digital or continue receiving analogue broadcasts. By selecting Harris, all three radio groups have also ensured enhanced business models for their AM stations, enhanced audio quality and data capability for their FM stations, and a reduction in monthly operating costs due to intelligent combining techniques. A total of six stations - one FM and one AM from each group - are now transmitting in HD Radio: Radio Bandeirantes selected a Harris Z-SeriesTM Z16HDs FM transmitter for Band News FM, and an IBOC equipment rack to upgrade an existing Harris DXD100 AM transmitter to HD Radio. Both stations are located in Sao Paulo, the largest city of Brazil. Radio Globo purchased a Harris Mini-HDTM 600 Watt FM transmitter for CBN Radio in Sao Paulo, and an IBOC equipment rack to upgrade an existing Harris 3DX-50 AM transmitter for Radio Tiradentes in Belo Horizonte. RBS Group purchased a Harris Mini-HDTM 600 Watt FM transmitter for Itapema FM, and an IBOC equipment rack to upgrade an existing Harris DXD100 AM transmitter to HD Radio for the Radio Gaucha AM station. Both stations are located in Porto Alegre, in the southern portion of Brazil. "Harris has been actively working with Latin American radio broadcasters and government officials on digital radio since we held the first international on-air HD Radio demonstration ever in Porto Alegre in March 2003," said Nahuel Villegas, Caribbean and Latin America regional director for Harris Broadcast Communications Division. "The more than 100 Latin American broadcasters who attended that first event experienced a demonstration that showed the vastly improved audio quality and compelling business case afforded by digital radio. The selection of Harris as the exclusive transmission provider for Brazil's maiden HD Radio launch is a result of our efforts over the past several years, and we are privileged to be at the technological center of this enormous radio event for Latin America." Harris provided all three groups with FM combining methods that reduce monthly transmission-related operational costs. Radio Bandeirantes has employed Harris' exclusive Split-Level combining method, which can reduce operational costs by up to 10 per cent over the traditional method of high-level combining FM and HD Radio transmitters using a 10dB coupler. Radio Globo and RBS Group are employing separate amplification, a feature of the Mini-HDTM Series. Mini-HD Series transmitters greatly reduce the power reject load that is common with high-level combining. By transmitting over two separate antennas, broadcasters use only 10 per cent of the digital wattage output compared to high-level combining. Transmitter power, initial capital investment and overall power consumption are greatly reduced as a result. Harris has consistently demonstrated strong commitment to supporting customer needs and digital adoption in the region, and was the first vendor to present HD Radio demonstrations at Mexico's CIRT Show in October 2003 and Argentina's CAPER Show in October 2004. "We congratulate all three pioneering radio groups in Brazil for their launches, as they are leading the way for many others soon to follow," said Debra Huttenburg, vice president and general manager of the Harris BCD Radio Broadcast Systems business unit. "We believe that Brazil's historical decision to go digital now is a milestone that will influence and encourage neighboring countries to take a closer look at the various digital radio standards that exist today, and further examine the many benefits afforded by transitioning to digital." Source: Harris Corporation press release, Cincinnati, in English 5 Oct 05 (via BBCM via DXLD) ** BULGARIA. The http://www.predavatel.com website about Bulgarian radio and TV stations has been considerably expanded. Transmitter site pictures can be found on the pages accessible via http://www.predavatel.com/bg/map.htm So far I found these AM facilities: http://www.predavatel.com/bg/3/plo.htm --- Padarsko shortwave site 20 km outside Plovdiv, built between 1976 and 1979 by the Soviet GSPI-RTV company. The text mentions also the installation of 10 x 15 kW transmitters in 1986?! One rotatable antenna and various 4/8 dipole walls, i.e. no curtains but fixed structures. Are they representative for Soviet high power designs? http://www.predavatel.com/bg/1/sof.htm --- Sofia 261/828/963, exact location of station specified as Vakarel. Three masts are apparently grouped as a directional antenna, probably further two ones as another directional system. Apparently dating back to the thirties is a single Blaw-Knox mast (longwave?). Note also below the Vakarel pictures the Bulgarian Intersputnik uplink station, with a typical building and the original antenna mounted on its roof. http://www.predavatel.com/bg/8/ple.htm --- Pleven 594/1296, exact location of station specified as Grivitsa. The antennas (pipe masts and a triangular system) are typical GDR designs, so obviously not only a 250 kW transmitter has been delivered (Pleven-594 is a Funkwerk Köpenick transmitter like the ones used by the GDR stations on 576/657/693/882/1044/1359/1575); instead it appears that the whole Grivitsa station was kind of a turn-key project. And even more intriguing: Shortwave curtains! Were these installations reserved for skywave jamming into the Soviet Union? http://www.predavatel.com/bg/4/sta.htm --- Stara Zagora. I think the ancient Blaw-Knox is in use for 873 and the two newer masts are for the 500 kW transmitter on 1161 (and were built together with it; the feeder line design suggests a Soviet installation?) http://www.predavatel.com/bg/6/shu.htm --- On the second row of photos a site attributed only to three FM transmitters, but this appears to be the Shumen 828/963 station. And what was the previous purpose of the mast on the last row, now home of a low power FM outlet but appearing to be a dismantled AM antenna? (Kai Ludwig, Germany, Oct 10, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** BURKINA FASO. RTV Burkina, 5030.01, Sept 30 2100-0002* Oct 1; French talk, phone talk, Afro-pops. Fair. Gene Scott [COSTA RICA] not on this frequency lately. Scott still noted on their other frequencies (Brian Alexander, Mechanicsburg PA, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 5030, BURKINA FASO, (Tentative ) R. Burkina, 2310-2332, Oct. 4, French, Mix of French raps and Afropos with occasional English rap tossed in. OM between selections with numerous mentions of "Ouagagougou" which may or may not have been part of an ID. Fair. First logging here in quite some time. Reactivation? (Scott R. Barbour, Jr., Intervale, NH, R75, 200' Beverage antennas, dxldyg via DXLD) ** CANADA. CBC EMPLOYEES ACCEPT TENTATIVE DEAL, OFFICIALLY ENDING LABOUR DISPUTE --- MIKE OLIVEIRA TORONTO (CP) - After seven acrimonious weeks of negotiations and feuding, the CBC labour dispute is officially over. But the fighting may not be. The Canadian Media Guild said Sunday that 88.4 per cent of the 3,514 members who voted chose to accept the proposed contract. But it will take a few days before programming is back to normal and the union warns workers may not be all smiles when the cameras and microphones are off. Most of the CBC's 5,500 unionized workers are expected back at work Tuesday but it'll take days, in some cases even weeks, to get everything back up to speed. "The National will be back by Tuesday or Wednesday," said Jason MacDonald, spokesman for the CBC. "From a radio point of view, Tuesday we'll have the morning show broadcast nationally out of Montreal, and the drive-home show will be out of Toronto. By Wednesday, some of the regional shows will be back and by Thursday, everybody will be back." Don Cherry, Ron MacLean and other familiar CBC faces already made their return to TV on Saturday's Hockey Night in Canada and the network was to air a CFL doubleheader on Monday. Union spokesman Arnold Amber said workers are happy to be back on the job but haven't necessarily gotten over their built-up anger. "Personally, I think CBC management has a very, very large task to get people back onside. This was a very, very difficult issue," he said. "It's going to take some time to get everything right side up. They were really offended by being locked out, they regarded it as a great injustice," Amber said. MacDonald acknowledged the mood might be icy at times but said he thinks everyone will pull together to get the CBC back up and running. "Nobody would deny (there may be) strain between employees and managers but everyone's a professional, I think. And most people just want to get back to work," he said. "It may be a bit uncomfortable at first but I think people just want to get back." Suanne Kelman, associate chair of journalism at Ryerson University in Toronto, said the worst thing the CBC can do is dwell on the lockout in any way. "They have to remember their problems are not the public's problems, there should be nothing about the lockout when they get back, they should just get back to programming as soon as possible," she said. MacDonald said there is no specific directive from management to not mention the lockout on the air. "If an individual host comes back on the air this week and mentions it, that's up to their discretion and their producers. Nobody's being given an order to say or not say anything about it," he said. Amber also said he can't imagine CBC workers trying to bring too much attention to the lockout. "Quite obviously, people are going to say, 'Well, we're back,' and make note of the fact that the labour dispute is over. However, I don't think anybody is going to break our professional approach to broadcasting and go into a personal song and dance about what this all meant." It's still unclear exactly where public sympathy lies and the CBC will have to figure out if their audiences left for the competition or became fed up with the prolonged labour dispute, which began Aug. 15. Kelman said other broadcasters made great use of the CBC's programming lag to boost their profile among the CBC's audience. "For news, they may have some problems because I think some people may have discovered CTV news is better than they remembered," she said. "It depends on how betrayed viewers and listeners feel." She said some may be completely unsympathetic to the CBC cause and hold a grudge long into the future. "Because people feel it's their own tax dollars involved, I think it's going to take a while before this one fades." The official tally in the ratification vote was 3,106 votes for, 394 against and 14 ballots were either spoiled, or challenged and not accepted. The labour dispute centred on a CBC plan to hire more contract workers, which the union opposed. The deal caps contract workers at 9.5 per cent of the full-time work force. CBC wages are to rise by 12.6 per cent over the life of the contract, which runs through March 31, 2009, including full retroactivity and a $1,000 signing bonus. (c) The Canadian Press, 2005 (via Mike Cooper, Oct 11, DXLD) ** CANADA. CBC LOCKOUT TO END AS EMPLOYEES ACCEPT TENTATIVE DEAL Sun, 09 Oct 2005 CBC News CBC employees have voted to accept their tentative deal with management, officially ending the labour dispute. The Canadian Media Guild said 3,514 ballots were cast and 88.4 per cent voted in favour of ratification. Most of the CBC's 5,500 unionized workers are expected to head back to work on Tuesday. Some regular programming has already returned, including Saturday night's broadcast of Hockey Night in Canada. http://www.cbc.ca/story/canada/national/2005/10/09/CBCLO20051009.html (via Mike Terry, Oct 9, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) I also note that the CBC website has been fully restored, with access to sites for individual programs and for local CBC stations. A wire service news story I read at work gives an overview of how things will slowly return to normal on the English service. I'll paraphrase from memory: - Monday is Thanksgiving in Canada, and I don't know what's going on in terms of programming. - Tuesday is when most CBC workers return to work. There will be a national morning show broadcast from Montreal and a national afternoon drive show broadcast from Toronto. - Wednesday is when some regional programming will return to the air. The CBC's flagship TV evening national news program should also return Wednesday. - Thursday is when all of CBC radio is supposed to return to normal. (Ricky Leong, Calgary, Alta., Oct 10, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) CBC Radio One is airing a full slate of programming today, but nearly all of it is repeats. CBC Overnight -- the melange of international broadcasts assembled by the World Radio Network (WRN), is back on the schedule. It looks like programming decisions are being made day-to-day, depending on how quickly program staffs get back to being productive; there is only a single day's program guide provided on the CBC website (Richard Cuff / Allentown, PA USA, Oct 11, swprograms via DXLD) At the end of the national morning program today, Montreal-based host Bernard St. Laurent (of C'est la Vie) said only some stations would broadcast a national morning show program tomorrow. If you want a taste of these short-lived replacement programs, you can try to catch them on 6160 kHz from CKZN St. John's or CKZU Vancouver. (And there's the Internet, of course.) The restoration of the national newsroom probably means RCI's Internet and satellite services are returning to normal with CBC news on the hour. As I was typing this, CBC Calgary ran a local weather forecast after the news at 1800 UT, the first bit of local programming for nearly two months. The announcer began by saying the local lunchtime and afternoon programs would return tomorrow, while the local morning show would return Thursday. I note, though, that nothing is being done to restore Radio Two right now (Ricky Leong, Calgary, Alta., ibid.) Same here in Vancouver region. The hosts and newsreaders came on air and then they went to the Lockout repeats such as Richardson`s Roundup at noon. Full noon show tomorrow, they promise. But I expect our morning show will be back Wednesday if they can. It takes time to get the old steam engines running again, and clearing the email, voicemail backlogs and finding who did come back and didn't leave for another job. And there is the hunt in the corridors for the bodies of management who stayed inside during the lockout. (Dessicated manager corpses -- an energy source when burnt) They haven't got the pronunciation corps ready and still mispronounce putative German Chancellor Merkel's name wrong. (It's a hard G, An guh la). In B.C., the Telus strike is not over and this will cause complications on restoring any lines or cell phone cut by that company. I'm wondering if any host on Radio 2 will be mean enough to play an hour filled with several versions of Peer Gynt, Satie's 3 Gymnopedies, 1812 Overture and other classical chestnuts that managers thought that audience deserved (Day Say, ibid.) ** CANADA. JUST PULL THE PLUG ON THE CBC ALREADY Byline: Rondi Adamson Date: 10/11/2005 http://www.csmonitor.com/2005/1011/p09s02-coop.html (TORONTO) --- There is something sweetly revealing about the fact that the NHL, a primarily American organization, is in large part responsible for bringing an end to the nearly two-month strike of Canada's public broadcaster. At issue was the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation's (CBC) plan to increase its number of contract workers. When the CBC's biggest union, the Canadian Media Guild (CMG) objected, they found themselves locked out, and the CBC found itself airing Coronation Street reruns, BBC news, Antiques Roadshow, management-hosted radio shows consisting only of music, and movies. The latter inspired Michael Moore to throw his heft around in the debate. When the CBC aired Mr. Moore's "Bowling for Columbine," mid-lockout, he issued a statement expressing dismay at the treatment of union members, and shock that, "the great and honorable CBC," was, "behaving like an American corporation." I'm willing to cast doubt on the greatness and honor of the CBC. But they have shown some sense in behaving like a corporation, American or otherwise. And with hockey season upon us, an agreement was reached, just in time for the CBC to carry out its lucrative contract with the NHL. The CBC, on both television and radio, is taxpayer funded to the tune of just under $1 billion (Canadian) a year. True believers in Canada maintain it keeps Canadians connected to each other, and above all, keeps us from becoming - oh, the humanity - American. The latter is a peculiar concern, since, even operating at full force, CBC's English-language television is ever defeated in the ratings by American networks and cable stations. It is a tossup as to whether the CBC, or socialized healthcare, represents the third rail of Canadian politics. Cries of panic went out in August when the lockout began. What will Canadians do without our national voice? How will the country hold together ... inasmuch as it ever has? And worse, how will we understand what's going on out there, without access to the rarefied CBC understanding of world events? I was grateful to have been spared the rarefied CBC understanding of, for example, hurricane Katrina. It is a safe bet that it would have been --- but for the accents --- similar to the BBC spin on Mother Nature's wrath, a take which reportedly caused British Prime Minister Tony Blair to denounce it as "full of hatred of America," and "gloating," at the country's, and George Bush's, misfortune. The CBC has earned, from conservative bloggers and websites, the nickname, "Caliphate Broadcasting Corporation." But while Canada may have a public broadcaster similar to Britain's, we don't, unfortunately, have any politicians with the courage to echo Mr. Blair. Nor do we have any with the spine to suggest the CBC should be privatized, in spite of the eminent springiness of Canadians in the face of their CBC-free lives these past weeks. According to a Decima Research poll taken during the lockout, 61 percent of respondents said the labor dispute had no impact at all on their lives. Only 10 percent considered it a "major inconvenience." Most telling was that, in the 10 percent who felt seriously inconvenienced, most were those who voted for Canada's left-of-center Liberal and New Democratic parties. And many were older people, for whom the CBC has no doubt played a larger role, than for someone who grew up with the Internet and hundreds of radio and TV stations. But even if one were politically in tune with the CBC, there remains the question of personal preference, versus whether that preference should be imposed on others. Should citizens have to pay for something they clearly don't require --- and have barely missed? Fifty-three years ago, when CBC television was born, there were scarce other stations in Canada. But for that connection in our geographically enormous country, which has only a tenth of the population of the United States, many Canadians were isolated. During World War II, when radio coverage of events overseas may have been all that allowed a mother to know what her son was facing, a national broadcaster was desirable. In 2005, Canadian homes have access to hundreds of TV and radio stations, from all over the world (including private Canadian stations). Does it make sense to require citizens to pay for one they may not want, when they can choose to pay for others they do want? It is hard to see the CBC as a public service, least of all an essential one, in spite of the best efforts of some of Canada's artistic elite to peddle that notion. One wonders whether such people have a clue what things appear on the average Canadian's radar. Hockey is one of those things. And fittingly, it is a principal reason the dispute is being settled. It would be a crushing blow for the CBC were the NHL to sign a contract with another Canadian network. I strongly suspect another reason for the settlement is that CBC management and employees have twigged that few have pined for them. Should the unprecedented ever happen, and Canadian politicians develop the backbone required to pull the CBC's plug, the death knell would be most welcome and overdue. * Rondi Adamson is a Canadian writer. (c) Copyright 2005 The Christian Science Monitor. All rights reserved (via Jim Moats, DXLD) ** COLOMBIA. A pesar de la negativa de sus directivos, Marfil Estéreo estuvo fuera del aire el 06/10 y el 07/10, en los 5910 kHz. El primer día estaba Deutsche Welle a las 0430 UT, y el segundo, Ucrania en inglés a las 0010. Ni rastros de La Voz de Tu Conciencia en 6010, a la 0130, del 07/10. Por el contrario Radio Suecia sin ningún tipo de QRM en inglés a la misma hora. 73s y buen DX (Adán González, Catia La Mar, Estado Vargas, VENEZUELA, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Glenn, greetings again from Venezuela. Conditions are awful, high QRN, plus some kind of digital transmissions all over making DXing harder than ever at my location. Marfil Estéreo on 5910 was heard today (Oct. 09) with pretty overmodulated signal. UNID on 5810, (Oct 09) heard a couple, YL/MA with Colombian accent with extended religious comments, checked later and found just as a whisper buried on noise with llanera and Mexican music (Fernando Viloria, Guacara - Carabobo State - Venezuela, Rx: Icom IC-720 transceiver; Antenna: 1/4 wave sloper; Antenna tuner: MFJ - 956 (passive), DX LISTENING DIGEST) 5810 very likely a mixing product between 6010 and 5910 transmitters, audio probably same as 6010 (gh) ** COLOMBIA. R. Líder, 6139.78, 0230-0250+ Sept 30, Oct 2; Spanish ballads, IDs between songs. Strong but mixing with Cuba on 6140. Líder actually stronger than Cuba. Irregular; heard for several nights (Brian Alexander, Mechanicsburg PA, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 6139.81, R. Líder, 1014-1033, Oct. 7, Spanish, rough copy at tune-in of OM with talks and music. Improved by 1025 with full "Desde Bogotá, Colombia, Radio Líder" ID announcement at 1030. Poor/fair (Scott R. Barbour, Jr., Intervale, NH, R75, 200' Beverage antennas, dxldyg via DXLD) 6139.78, 0500-, Radio Líder, Oct 9. Decent reception with easy listening Spanish music, and frequent IDs simply as 'Radio Líder' but a full ID with 'Desde Bogotá', etc. at 0502 and back into a Spanish ballad. One of the strongest LAm stations on the air these days (Volodya Salmaniw, Victoria, BC, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** COSTA RICA. DGS 5030: see BURKINA FASO ** COSTA RICA [non]. Netherlands Antilles: Those interested in QSLing the AWR broadcast via Bonaire, should hurry, because it will not be continued in the winter season. This was confirmed by Claudio Dedio of the AWR Frequency Management Office. The Spanish broadcast has been on the air since the winter season 2003/04: in winter 2300-0100 / in summer 2200-2400 UT on 6165 kHz (Dr. Hansjoerg Biener, Nürnberg http://www.biener-media.de Oct 7, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** DJIBOUTI. RT Djibouti, 4780, 2200-2306* Oct 6 and 7; presumed with vernacular talk, local Arabic style music. 2301 Kor`an. 2306 abruptly off. On later than usual; normal scheduled sign-off is 2000. Strong- very good, heard for two days (Brian Alexander, Mechanicsburg PA, DX LISTENING DIGEST) No doubt on late for Ramadan (gh, DXLD) ** ECUADOR. It seems HCJB has resorted to the no data QSL card recently (Mick Delmage, Oct CIDX Messenger via DXLD) ** ECUADOR. Quito 11/10 2005, Tuesday evening edition: 5999.266, Voz de Upano) reactivated Lago Agrio, (Ecuador) Comments, photos and recordings at: http://www.malm-ecuador.com 73s (Björn Malm, Quito, Ecuador, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Viz.: The last time I noted this Ecuadorian jungle station was in December 2004 ((See Archive 4/12 2004). Is active just short periods so go out hunting this evening or tomorrow. The recording is made just one hour ago. Their program format is education and some Ecuadorian music in between (via DXLD) Time? ** FINLAND. Some additional background on the DAB shutdown in Finland: Since 1997 only a few hundreds DAB receivers were sold. The now decommissioned DAB transmitter network covered 40 percent of the country. (Source: radionyt.dk via Peer-Axel Kroeske) (Kai Ludwig, Germany, Oct 10, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** FRANCE. RADIO FRANCE INTERNATIONALE TO GIVE PRIORITY TO AFRICA | Excerpt from report by French news agency AFP Paris, 11 October: Radio France Internationale's (RFI) priorities are Africa, the Middle East and Europe "in that order", its managing director, Antoine Schwarz, told a press conference on Tuesday [11 October], adding that all RFI's languages "are important". Regarding Africa, Schwarz mentioned several priorities: developing specific programme content, improving ease of listening and continuing to develop the FM network, increasing journalistic coverage and being "even closer" to the audience by transferring its frequencies. RFI hopes in particular especially to improve broadcasts to the Maghreb region. In Morocco, RFI has applied for 10 frequencies. The new schedule for the Arabic language stream, RMC Moyen-Orient, will be explained at another press conference and will be in place at the end of Ramadan. In Europe, where "RFI is making a reasonable impact, we believe that more can be done with the great asset that this station represents," Schwarz said. [Passage omitted] Source: AFP news agency, Paris, in French 1510 gmt 11 Oct 05 (via BBCM via DXLD) ** GERMANY. Today Deutsche Welle started an additional morning broadcast in Urdu: 0030-0100 on 7130, 9505 and 9825. (Source: DW press release) (Kai Ludwig, Germany, Oct 10, DX LISTENING DIGEST) cf PAKISTAN [non] ** GUATEMALA. R. Cultural Coatán, 4779.98, 0220-0233* Oct 8. Spanish talk with short breaks of religious music, 0232 ID and off. Poor-weak (Brian Alexander, Mechanicsburg PA, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** HONDURAS. R. Misiones Internacional[es], 3340, 0225-0330+ Oct 7, talk in local language. 0302 ID. Some short breaks of religious music but mostly just constant talk (Brian Alexander, Mechanicsburg PA, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** HUNGARY. R. Budapest, 10000.0 kHz, *2200-2258* Sept 29, 30, Oct 1. Punch-up error? Spur? Strong, mixing with WWV. Talk in listed Hungarian. Brief music breaks, IS and off. Heard // 9850 and 12030; listed // 6025 not heard (Brian Alexander, Mechanicsburg PA, DX LISTENING DIGEST) This could be 3975+6025. But I guess 3975 is not listed at that time Brian was listening. By the way, 3975 has a strong harmonic on 7950 (Jari Savolainen, Finland, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** INDIA. Dear Friends, the following are some news on AIR stations Imphal : Noted signing on at 0030 again on 4775 (ex 0000) Several stations were noted with early sign-ons due to the Navaratri festival season. Kolkata : Noted early sign on at 2325 UT (4.55 am) Gangtok: 1404 3390 noted already on today when I tuned in around 2345 UT (5.15 am) The stations in Orissa were also noted already on today when I tuned in around 2345. Though Jeypore was noted on 1467, the parallel SW channel was not heard on 5040 (maybe in skip). There is no reported damage to any AIR station in the latest earthquake that hit Kashmir area. 73 (Jose Jacob, VU2JOS, National Institute of Amateur Radio, Hyderabad, India, Oct 9, dx_india via DXLD) ** INDIA. AIR finalises move from 3 MHz to 5 MHz --- Updated 7 October 2005 --- All India Radio has finalised the move from 3 MHz to 5 MHz effective 30th October: Bhopal 4810 kHz Gangtok 4870 kHz Shimla 4980 kHz (from http://www.dxasia.info via DXLD) Not the same as planned (gh) ** INDONESIA. 9680, RRI Jakarta, Oct 5 (Wed.), 1000-1045; KGRE program was preëmpted by Ramadan programming; two men conversing about Ramadan, had several on-air phone conversations; IDs for ``FM Jakarta,`` 1055 Chinese language station signed on (PRC or ROC?) Reception fair to good before 1055 (Ron Howard, Monterey, CA, RX340 + T2FD antenna, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) 9524.9, VOI, Oct 7, 0925-0941, believe this was last heard in early Aug.; assume on again for Ramadan but having transmitter problems (signal cutting in and out) and abruptly ended at 0941; ID: ``If you wish to know more about Radio Republik Indonesia’s Overseas Service you may contact us by e-mail at voi @ rri-online.com To access a transcript of our daily news, please visit the web site of Radio Republik Indonesia`s Overseas Service at http://www.rri-online.com `` (Ron Howard, Monterey, CA, RX340 + T2FD antenna, ibid.) ** INTERNATIONAL. 48th Jamboree on the Air (Oct. 15-16 2005) JOTA is an annual event in which about 500,000 Scouts and Guides all over the world make contact with each other by means of amateur radio. It is a real Jamboree during which Scouting experiences are exchanged and ideas are shared, thus contributing to the world brotherhood of Scouting. The JOTA is a world-wide event. Units may operate for 48 hours or any part thereof, from Saturday 00.00 h until Sunday 24.00 h local time. It is for members of the World Organization of the Scout Movement (WOSM), and also for members of the World Association of Girl Guides and Girl Scouts (WAGGGS). Additional information is available on the JOTA organizer's web pages at: http://www.home.zonnet.nl/worldscout (News from the Canadian Amateur Radio Bulletin http://www.hfradio.net via Vernon Ikeda, CIDX Messenger via DXLD) ** INTERNATIONAL TERRORISM. xxxxxxxxxx Breaking News xxxxxxxxxx SECOND EDITION OF AL QAEDA NEWS BULLETIN AIRS --- AKI October 4, 2005 http://www.adnki.com/index_2Level.php?cat=CultureAndMedia&loid=8.0.214968657&par=0 CRW Editor`s Note: Video can be seen at this location: http://www.clandestineradio.com/audio/meast_aq_caliphate_051003.rmvb Rome, 4 Oct. (AKI) - The second edition of 'Sout al Khalifa', or Voice of the Caliphate, the 'news bulletin' produced by al-Qaeda mouthpiece the Global Islamic Media Front, has been broadcast on the Internet. The latest programme, which lasts around 19 minutes, opens with news from Palestine, and dedicates lengthy coverage to the kidnapping and killing of Sasson Nuriel, the Israeli businessman seized by a cell of the Palestinian militant group Hamas. The bulletin replays the video showing the hostage and repeats the allegation that he was a member of the Israeli security services. The 'newsreader' - who has a subtle Egyptian accent and appears to be the same as appeared in the first edition aired on 21 September - then goes on to speak of the security situation in Gaza, which is described as highly volatile because of the Israeli air strikes. The al-Qaeda bulletin also dedicates time to the last video featuring al-Qaeda second-in-command Ayman al-Zawahiri and talks of Afghanistan and the suicide attack carried out last week by a Taliban bomber who drove a motorbike into a group of Afghan soldiers boarding a bus outside their training base in Kabul. This is followed by the obligatory 'commercial break', in which they announce that in the next edition of the programme they will broadcast a message to Muslims working in the communications field. The news bulletin then moves on to Iraq, and relays the latest statements issued in the last few days by various Islamic groups active in the country. The presenter also returns to the subject of the hurricanes in the United States, which were mentioned in the first edition, this time condemning the Muslim countries who sent aid to help the victims. The news programme wraps up with a news story about Nigeria, where it says Muslims have been threatened by non-Muslims, like the Islamic citizens of Darfur in Sudan, who, the bulletin says, are coming under pressure from European states who plan to drive them from their territory because of the presence of oil deposits in their region. The 'set' for the news programme is the same as the first edition. The face of the newsreader is covered and a copy of the Koran lies on the desk next to a Kalashnikov. However, the presenter appears to be different from the person who presented the 'special edition' broadcast last week to show solidarity with jailed Al Jazeera journalist Taysir Allouni, sentenced to seven years by a Spanish court for collaborating with a terrorist organisation. Allouni - who shot to fame as the satellite channel's Kabul correspondent and interviewed Osama bin Laden after the 11 September 2001 attacks - also features towards the end of the latest edition. In a second commercial break, a picture appears on screen showing him behind bars. Technically, the 'al-Qaeda news bulletin' is far from professional, but despite the poor quality of its studio presentation the broadcast features smart graphics which suggest its post-production could have been done in a professional TV station (via CRW via DXLD) ** INTERNATIONAL TERRORISM [non]. Hello DXers, Re unID on 17827 [sic – it was 18727], I gave the audio file on DXLD yahoo group a listen and the formula of the program (a song followed by a man/woman talking about the situation in Iraq) reminded me of the Information Radio. The US psyop to Iraq. So today 10/10/2005 I picked up the station around 1655 UT and as usual a song by an Egyptian singer, followed by a guy talking about the incidents caused by terrorists in Iraq, mentioning "Abu Mos'ab Alzarqawi" a lot and giving out phone numbers in Iraq so anybody with information about "Abu Mos'ab Alzarqawi" or anyone of his group would call in with info. Followed by another Arabic song, with no ID, so I kept listening for a while, and then around 1825 I heard another guy saying "to get more info about the situation in Iraq, please stay tuned to our frequencies 756 kHz and 846 kHz". By checking the MW stations in Iraq I'm positive that 756 is Information radio, but it's the first time for me to know that they have // of 864 [sic] kHz I tried to get an ID but in vain. But I have to say it's typically Information Radio style. All the best, guys (Tarek Zeidan, Cairo, Egypt, DX LISTENING DIGEST) So were you listening on 756 or 18727? (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) See also INTERNATIONAL WATERS Hi Glenn, sounds like I was affected by the fasting of Ramadan :) I was listening to it on 18727 I tried AM and USB; both are OK. Today 11 October I kept on monitoring that frequency. It was really loud and clear around 1700 UT. I could hear the same guy with messages about abu mos`ab alzarqawi and he gave the phone number 0790 1931643 so anyone with info Alzarqawi or his gang should call ASAP. He said the magical wordL You may call ``Malumaat Line`` --- malummat is the Arabic word for Information :) so I think this is the feed for Information Radio (Radio al-Malumaat); same style. Reports about the current situation in Iraq followed by a song. I was hoping to reconfirm the second frequency I heard yesterday, 864, but they didn't announce any frequencies till I lost them around 1830 UT. Sorry about the mixup, Glenn. With all my best wishes to you and yours (Tarek Zeidan, Cairo, Egypt, Oct 12, DX LISTENING DIGEST) A transmitter feed? 18727 is in the ITU segment 18168-18780 kHz which is primarily assigned for fixed military links (which would include an Information Radio feed, being a military operation). 73s, (Bernd Trutenau, Lithuania, Oct 12, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Just what I was thinking, but from where to where on a rather high frequency which would skip over the immediate Gulf area? (Glenn Hauser, ibid.) ** INTERNATIONAL VACUUM. WorldSpace Stumbles By Jerry Knight Monday, October 10, 2005; D01 Judging from what happened before WorldSpace Inc. went public in August, the Silver Spring-based satellite radio service should have pulled off Washington's hottest initial public offering since the Roaring '90s. WorldSpace aims to become the overseas equivalent of XM Satellite Radio, the nationwide pay-to-listen broadcaster based in the District that has signed up 5 million subscribers in only three years. "The Next XM" was all some investors had to hear. They were so eager to put money into WorldSpace that the IPO was increased from fewer than 9 million shares to almost 12 million. The original $16 asking price for the stock was increased twice, first to $20 a share, then to $21. Sure enough, WorldSpace shares traded as high as $25 on Aug. 4, the day of the IPO. It's been downhill since. The stock skidded to just $14.47 a share at the close of Friday's trading. In two months, WorldSpace investors have lost $80 million -- making it not the best local IPO of the year, but effectively tied for the worst. . . http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/10/09/AR2005100901166_pf.html (via Mike Cooper, DXLD) ** INTERNATIONAL WATERS [non?]. 9133U, INT'L WATERS/"BAHRAIN", (Presumed) CMF Radio 1, 2352-0025, Oct. 4, presumed Pashto/Dari. Arabic music selections thru ToH. YL in language with lengthy announcements at 0006; 0013 and 0022. Signal varied from barely audible to a few good peaks. Quite pleased to log this one. For country counting purposes in this really via Bahrain? I see it listed at various sources as both Bahrain and International Waters. 6125U, INT'L WATERS/"BAHRAIN", CMF Radio 1, 0042-0112, Oct. 7, Vernacular/English, Arabic music with breaks for announcements in various languages, "Radio Mallumat" noted. YL in English at 0109, was able to copy a few phrases, "..please contact..", "..mariners around the world" and the freqs 6125, 9133, 15500 kHz and Rewards for Justice URL. Still going at tune-out. Poor with peaks above static (Scott R. Barbour, Jr., Intervale, NH, R75, 200' Beverage antennas, dxldyg via DXLD) ** IRAN. VOIRI, 11650, Oct 9 at 1615 UT tune-in with a listeners` letterbox program featuring a phone call to a listener from Scotland. At 1623 UT a summary of the News Headlines and sign off announcements and schedule at 1624. // 9635 kHz (fair). SIO 444. 73 (Mick Delmage, Sherwood Park, Alberta, Rx: Collins HF2050, Ant: 7-30 MHz KLM Log Periodic, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ISRAEL. Just a reminder. Israel changes back to Standard Time at 2 AM Sunday morning, October 9, local Israel time/date. That is, 2300 UT on October 8 (Doni Rosenzweig, DX LISTENING DIGEST) All SW hour later ** JORDAN. Glenn, a nice signal for the FM service over Radio Jordan, 10/9/05 on 11690, in the clear at 1649 UT, some fading, with English pops. Radio used: New Sangean ATS909 with the Whip (Daryl Rocker, Herkimer, NY, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 11690, Radio Jordan, 1458-1532 Oct 9, pop music tune to top of the hour with 2 time pips, TC and ID: "Time now is 6 O'clock 'Radio Jordan' the news" At 1504: "With that we end the news that came to you from Radio Jordan, Amman. The time now is 4 minutes past the hour." A man gave another ID: "Radio Jordan, 96.3 FM." Return to pop music programming. Good signal (Rich D'Angelo, PA, NASWA Flashsheet via DXLD) Interesting that neither mentions QRM from CRI or BBC, reported to be co-channel respectively (gh, DXLD) ** KASHMIR. INDIA/PAKISTAN: KASHMIR CLANDESTINE RADIO REPORTED OFF AIR AFTER QUAKE | Text of report in English by Iranian news agency IRNA website Srinagar, 10 October: [Sada-e Hurriyat] The clandestine radio station which had been been broadcasting from across the Line of Control (LoC) has gone off the air following the earthquake that hit the region on Saturday [8 October]. Media organizations here were swamped with hundreds of phone calls from relatives of those who have gone across the LoC expressing apprehension about their safety. The radio was the mouthpiece of the United Jihad Council, an umbrella organization of various militant groups operating in the Indian side of Kashmir. The callers said that the radio used to keep them informed about the welfare of their kin, but now they had no news and feared they were all dead. The radio station, allegedly operating from Pakistan-controlled Kashmir, stopped broadcasting immediately after the quake, and it appears that it too has been hit, reports said. Source: IRNA website, Tehran, in English 0903 gmt 11 Oct 05 (via BBCM via DXLD) WTFK? See also INDIA ** KYRGYZSTAN [and non]. KYRGYZ LEADER PRAISES RADIO LIBERTY | Excerpt from report by Kyrgyz news agency Kabar Bishkek, 6 October: Kyrgyz President Kurmanbek Bakiyev has received President of Radio Free Europe/Liberty [RFE/RL] Thomas Dine at the Government House. The Kyrgyz president's press service said that during the meeting Bakiyev had noted RFE/RL's role and importance in meeting the population's demand for timely information. Radio Azattyk [Radio Liberty's Kyrgyz Service] was one of the sources of impartial and reliable information for the Kyrgyz people before the March revolution [which ousted the former president, Askar Akayev's government]. The people were well aware of the developments in the country and the world. "I personally gave interviews to Azattyk on many occasions," the president said. "The new government will do everything to strengthen freedom of speech. The freedom which the media currently enjoys is one of the foundations for the development of our democracy," Bakiyev said. In turn, Thomas Dine expressed satisfaction with the situation in Kyrgyzstan's information space and Radio Azattyk's role in it. He said there were quite many adherents of RFE/RL in the country and thanked the Kyrgyz government for active cooperation, particularly in preparing joint programmes for the national TV. [Passage omitted: Radio Liberty's operations detailed] Source: Kabar news agency, Bishkek, in Russian 0328 gmt 6 Oct 05 (via BBCM via DXLD) ** LATVIA. [VT Merlin B-05 schedule includes]: LRC 9290 0000 2400 smtwtfs 100 Unknown W EUR 9290 is now hosted by Merlin? (Roberto Scaglione, Sicily, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEDST) VT Merlin coordinated this frequency for the Ulbroka transmitter on behalf of the Latvian operator LVRTC some years ago and is keeping it registered with the HFCC each season (under "MER"). Since then the Ulbroka transmitter on 9290 happens to appear as "placeholder" in the VT Merlin schedule (though the transmitter is not run or managed by VT Merlin). HFCC A05: 9290 0000 2400 27,28 ULB 100 250 1234567 270305 301005 D LVA NEW MER 73s, (Bernd Trutenau, Lithuania, ibid.) ** MALI. R. Mali, 4784.39, Oct 7 2230-0002* Oct 8, Afro-pops, French pops, French talk, ID. Sign-off with NA. Frequency a little higher than usual. Fair-good; // 5995 fair but covered by R. Nederland sign- on at 2359 (Brian Alexander, Mechanicsburg PA, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** MEXICO. 4810 XERTA, Mexico City, 07/10, 0945, 222, MA in Spanish, religious music, several songs in a row, partial ID: "XERTA 4810 banda de 60 metros...". Pretty weak signal and affected by data transmission on same frequency. Used LSB to try to hear the signal (Fernando Viloria, Guacara - Carabobo State - Venezuela, Rx: Icom IC-720 transceiver; Antenna: 1/4 wave sloper; Antenna tuner: MFJ - 956 (passive), DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** MEXICO. R. Mil, 6009.99, 1040-1100+ Oct 7, Spanish talk, ID, pops, ballads; fair-good (Brian Alexander, Mechanicsburg PA, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** NEPAL. NEPAL KING IMPOSES TOUGH LAWS ON MEDIA | Excerpt from report by Gunaraj Luintel by Nepalese newspaper Kantipur on 10 October Kathmandu, 9 October: His Majesty the King has promulgated a harsh law that the government had prepared about five months ago to control the media. The Rastriya Samachar Samiti, quoting the Office of the Prime Minister and the Council of Ministers, reported on Sunday [9 October] that His Majesty the King issued ordinance 2062 [2005 AD] relating to the media as per Constitution of Nepal 2047 [1990 AD] with a view to making amendments to media law as well as Company Ordinance 2062. The government notice does not include the provisions made as per the amendment to the media law. But a government source said that the provisions of the ordinance are the same as the draft ordinance that was made public in mid-May. The draft ordinance had been passed by the cabinet and sent to the palace for royal seal [in May]. But the king did not issue the ordinance after vehement protest from all quarters. The Federation of Nepalese Journalists [FNJ] had launched a protest against the proposed ordinance. The government had told the FNJ not to protest against something which had not been made public. The ordinance has been issued just ahead of the Dashain [festival] holidays. Kantipur and The Kathmandu Post on 21 May had published reports on the government's plan to bring in a harsh law to control the media. The draft ordinance had said that one media organization would not be allowed to own more than two forms of mass media and no broadcaster would be allowed to air the same programme from different locations at the same time. The amendment has a provision that bans any individual or individual organization from owning more than two forms of mass media. The provision said that no individual or organization would be provided a licence to operate radio, television and publications at a time. In the case that an individual or organization has already received a licence for radio, television and publication then the ordinance mandates that the individual or organization must choose two forms of media within a year. Failure to do so will mean revocation of radio and television licences. The amendment has also made provision for strict punishment for the import and export of press materials. Anyone intentionally publishing or broadcasting news to defame an individual could be fined 200,000- 500,000 rupees or jailed for two years or both, according to the amendment. In the ordinance, some "relevant" clauses of Radio Act 2014, Press and Publications Act 2048, Press Council Act 2048, National Broadcasting Act 2049, and Defamation Act 2016 have been amended. As per the ordinance, the government can ban any news material related to not only His Majesty but also the members of the royal family. The government can ban foreign news materials and ban any news materials that could help, support or encourage terrorists, terrorism and disruptive activities. The ordinance has a provision of heavy punishment for the editors and publishers of such materials. The ordinance has increased the fine for publishing such materials to 100,000 rupees from the existing 10,000 rupees. Anyone publishing, translating and importing banned materials could be fined 50,000 rupees. The existing fine is 10,000 rupees. [passage omitted: the press pass of any journalist violating the code of conduct could be cancelled anytime, according to the ordinance] As per the amendment, FM radio stations could broadcast "information- related programmes" instead of "news-related programmes" [passage omitted: Now the FM stations might be barred from broadcasting news] President of FNJ, Bishnu Nisthuri, said that it would be unfortunate if the long protested draft of the ordinance has been made law. "We will vehemently protest against that," he told Kantipur. Source: Kantipur, Kathmandu, in Nepali 10 Oct 05 (via BBCM via DXLD) ** NEW ZEALAND. Radio New Zealand International adds a new documentary on October 10; it's all about Radio Memories across the Pacific. Hear 'Mail Call' from 1942 directed via 'that GI beam' to New Guinea, a rare 1953 recording of the regular WXLG Kwajalein sign-off announcement, and another rare item from WXLE Canton Island. Available after October 10 as a download at www.rnzi.com, under 'more audio' and 'Mailbox'. Also at http://www.rnzi.com: frequencies, times of broadcast and program details. DRM transmitter tests begin mid- November (David Ricquish, Radio Heritage Foundation, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** NIGERIA. V. of Nigeria, 15120, 1815-1900* Oct 1, English; strong carrier but the usual poor muffled audio along with some hum. Some programming with very low modulation. V. of Nigeria, 7255, *1901-1915+ Oct 1, English news, ID. Not very strong but much better audio than 15120. Good clean audio with no hum or distortion, but some occasional ham QRM (Brian Alexander, Mechanicsburg PA, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** OMAN. 15140, Radio Sultanate of Oman, 1432-1503, Oct 9, woman hosting pop music program with Tony Orlando ("Sweet Gypsy Rose"), Michael Jackson, Mamas and Papas ("California Dreaming"). Bells at 1500 followed by Arabic ID and news read by a man. Poor to fair with very deep fades (Richard D'Angelo, PA, NASWA Flashsheet via DXLD) Presumably in English until 1500 (gh, DXLD) ** PAKISTAN. Radio Pakistan, 11570 kHz at 1602 tune-in Oct 9, with News in English. Commentary followed at 1610. Surprising little about the Earthquake. A strong signal but very muffled with noticeable polar flutter, SIO 343. 73 (Mick Delmage, Sherwood Park, Alberta, Rx: Collins HF2050, Ant: 7-30 MHz KLM Log Periodic, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** PAKISTAN [non]. From the Media Network Weblog/DXAsia: Due to the emergency in South Asia, the BBC and Deutsche Welle have temporarily extended their services in Urdu: Deutsche Welle has introduced another Urdu transmission at 0030-0100 UT on 1548, 7130, 9505 and 9825 kHz (instead of the regular English programme). The BBC has extended its morning Urdu service (normally 0130-0200) to 0230 UT, but the extra 30 min can be heard on 1413 and 15510 kHz and also one FM station in Pakistan. (Source: Alok das Gupta, DXAsia via Andy Sennitt, dxldyg via DXLD) ** PERU. Quito 5/10 2005 Wednesday evening edition: 4299.68 unID Perú "Radio...... Internacional" (?) New Perúvian station? I listened this evening 2345 to close down 0110 UTC to nonstop Perúvian music of good sound quality just interrupted twice by short IDs with low modulated microphone: "Transmite Radio... Internacional(?)". Comments, photos and recordings at: http://www.malm-ecuador.com 73s (Björn Malm, Quito, Ecuador, DX LISTENING DIGEST) My friend, the DXer Alfredo Cañote, form Chaclacayo, Peru, told me yesterday about this log: 4300, Radio Bella, Tingo María, 0120 UT, October 05, Spanish. local songs and folk music from the "sierras" region. Announcements in Spanish by speakers with little experience as speakers, 34312. Heard after 1030 too. 73 (Arnaldo Slaen, Argentina, dxing.info via DXLD) ** PERU. 4825, Radio Sicuani, Sicuani, 09/10, 1003, 222, Andean music, MA in Spanish with program ID: "Radio Sicuani presenta Mundo Agrario", comments on agricultural issues. TC + ID: "Las 5 de la mañana con 4 minutos, amigos de Radio Sicuani" (Fernando Viloria, Guacara - Carabobo State - Venezuela, Rx: Icom IC-720 transceiver; Antenna: 1/4 wave sloper; Antenna tuner: MFJ - 956 (passive), DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** PERU. Quito 11/10 2005. Tuesday edition: New recording of 4965.82 unID Perú "Radio Nacional del Perú" I listened more than one hour this Tuesday morning and you can listen to the most interesting parts on this long audioclip, so be patient when downloading 295 kilobyte. Thrilling if it´s really Radio Nacional del Perú returning to shortwave. I have not noted any "Santa Mónica" but many "Nacional" and many "Cusco" so of course I have been trying to hear the two words "Nacional" and "Cusco" together. The most important of the 6 small clips is the first one: At second "9" I think there is a "....en Nacional Cusco...." + much more interesting parts for example second "37" but I leave this to your opinion. Comments, photos and recordings at: http://www.malm-ecuador.com 73s (Björn Malm, Quito, Ecuador, Oct 11, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Times? ** PERU. 5678.00 Radio Ilucán, Cutervo reactivated. Quito 9/10 2005 5678.00 R. Ilucán, Cutervo (Perú) reactivated on shortwave after being off air at least one year. The last 10 days I 2-3 times have noted a strong AM carrier on 5678 kHz without audio; that´s what I thought. This evening I heard "something" deep under and compared with the station`s 3rd MW harmonic on 4260.40 kHz and the audio was the same but hearing one word every 5 minutes is not a very great pleasure. 73s (Björn Malm, Quito, Ecuador, http://www.malm-ecuador.com DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** PERU. R. Unión, Lima, 6114.85, 0655-0720+ Oct 8, LA music, Spanish announcements; 0703 many canned IDs. Fair-good. R. Cusco, 6193.42, 0240-0300+ Sept 30, Spanish canned IDs, huaynos. Weak but in the clear until 0300 when pretty much covered by BBC slop from 6195 (Brian Alexander, Mechanicsburg PA, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** SARAWAK. 7130, Sarawak FM (RTM), Oct 9, 1425-1517; same program format as heard Oct 8 on 5030; non-stop reciting from the Kor`an till 1458; singing jingle (too faint to make out); ToH woman with news (India-Pakistan earthquake, etc), for 10 minutes; music program of light pop songs; 1515 clear singing station jingle for ``Sarawak FM``( ``F. . .M`` was stretched out); several other stations here but still was considerably better than //5030. Pleased to finally have a positive ID (Ron Howard, Monterey, CA, RX340 + T2FD antenna, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) We rather inconsistently have usually filed Sabah and Sarawak logs under MALAYSIA (gh) ** SAUDI ARABIA. FILTERING AGENCY BLOCKS ACCESS TO blogger.com | Text of press release by Paris-based organization Reporters Sans Frontieres (RSF) on 4 October Reporters Without Borders today called on the Internet Services Unit (ISU), the agency that manages web filtering in Saudi Arabia, to explain why the weblog creation and hosting service blogger.com has been made inaccessible since 3 October, preventing Saudi bloggers from updating their blogs. "Saudi Arabia is one of the countries that censors the internet the most, but blog services had not until now been affected by the ISU's filters," the press freedom organization said. "The complete blocking of blogger.com, which is one of the biggest blog tools on the market, is extremely worrying. Only China had so far used such an extreme measure to censor the internet." Reached by Reporters Without Borders, the ISU recognized that it had blocked access to blogger.com but did not give any reason. Blogger.com is the point of entry to the management interface for all the weblogs hosted on this tool. In other words, this is the webpage bloggers need to access to update their blogs. According to our tests, names under the blogger.com domain (for example, http://www.myblog.blogger.com ) are not however being filtered. This means that Saudi internet users can still access the blogs hosted on this service. The Saudi authorities acknowledge blacklisting more than 400,000 websites. A very wide range of sites are affected, including political organizations, non-recognized Islamist movements and publications containing any kind of reference to sexuality. The ISU http://www.isu.net.sa is the agency in charge of the Saudi web censorship system. It manages the gateway used by all local ISPs and is thus able to control all Internet data exchanges. However, it just carries out instructions issued by the Saudi security services and does not itself decided what must be censored. The ISU offers an online form and e-mail address (abuse@isu.net.sa) that allows internet uses to report what sites they would like to see blocked. Hundreds of such requests are received each day and are dealt with by a team assigned full-time to the job. The ISU's filtering system uses technology acquired from the US company Secure Computing. Blogger.com is a service provided by the US company Google. Source: Reporters Sans Frontieres press release, Paris, in English 4 Oct 05 (via BBCM via DXLD) ** SENEGAL [non]. Hello Glenn, Here's the mail I received from WADR: Regular programmes to begin from Monday 10th (2 hours in English and 2 in French) Regards, (Jean-Michel Aubier, France, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Abdou Khadre LÔ abdoulo @ wadr.org a écrit : salut Jean-Michel, Je vous confirme que nous avons repris nos tests de transmission sur les 17555 kHz de 08H00 à 09H00 GMT. 30 mn d'anglais et 30 mn de français. Et à partir de lundi prochain nous allons commencer notre programmation régulière : 07H00-09H00 (anglais) et 09H00-11H00 (français). En vous remerciant pour l'intérêt que vous nous porter. -- Abdou. K. LÔ, Bilingual Researcher West Africa Democracy Radio Sacré-Coeur 1, Villa N 8408, Dakar, SENEGAL Cell phones : (00221)569-77-79 / 559-17-07 Office phone : (00221) 869-15-69 Fax : 864-70-09 e-mail (pro) : abdoulo @ wadr.org e-mails (perso) : abdoulo @ hotmail.fr / abdou.l @ caramail.com (via Jean-Michel Aubier, DXLD) This is Abdou LÔ from West Africa Democracy Radio in Dakar (Senegal). I am very happy to inform you that we have started the second phase of our test transmission today. Sorry I could not inform in advance. I hope you can listen to us tomorrow as we featured some of your letters and emails. We will broadcast on 17555 kHz 0800-0900 UT. Best wishes and 73 (via Björn Fransson, Sweden, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Thanks for a tip, Bjorn. On 6 Oct at 0800 real strong and steady signal of WADR test on 17555. Read also some letters from DXers. Anker and Dmitri and one guy called Bjorn from the island of Gotland :-). 73, (Jari Savolainen, Finland, ibid.) And I assume this sentence refers to ```programmation régulière : 07H00-09H00 (anglais) et 09H00-11H00 (français).``` and that appears further down the correspondence. And then I read ```We will broadcast on 17555 kHz 08.00-09.00 UTC. 17555 kHz de 08H00 à 09H00 GMT. 30 mn d'anglais et 30 mn de français.``` 07H00-09H00 (anglais) et 09H00-11H00 (français) seems to mean UTC (anglais) or CET (French time). And voilà, 17555 was heard with half an hour in English from 0800 and half an hour in French from 0830 until off at 0900 UT today (Oct. 7)! My guess is that it is still via Rampisham and very typical of the sort of reception I have from that site in NW England. 73s (Noel R. Green, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) I think he was saying that the immediate broadcasts were one hour long but the regular ones from 10 Oct would be 4 hours long (gh, DXLD) ** SIKKIM. See INDIA ** SOUTH AFRICA. Glenn -- DXLD readers who aren't swprograms participants might enjoy taking a stab at these questions. Channel Africa isn't all that easy a catch here in Eastern North America -- there are no Caribbean-based or Canada-based relays that improve the signal's audibility. Instead, Channel Africa has relied on the WRN and its own live and on-demand audio to create a North American presence. I'm working with them to update some programming details, and they asked me some questions regarding Channel Africa's listenership. I thought it would interesting to pose those questions to this list. So... 1. Who is listening to Channel Africa 2. The quality of the signal. 3. The quality of programmes. 4. The content (Is it interesting?) 5. What other topics listeners in that area might be interested in. Send responses to the senior editor, Research & Monitoring, at wilkinsonb @ channelafrica.org Thanks - (Richard Cuff / Allentown, PA USA, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** TAIWAN. ENGLISH-LANGUAGE RADIO TO LOSE LISTENERS AFTER FREQUENCY SHIFT | Text of report in English by Taiwanese newspaper Taipei Times website on 7 October International Community Radio Taipei (ICRT), the only English-language radio station in the country, may have to say farewell to many of its faithful listeners in many parts of the country. "Even those listeners in Taipei County may not be able to hear us in the future," said a source at the station, who wished to remain anonymous. During a telephone interview with the Taipei Times yesterday, the source said the station did not want to take advantage of the government but ICRT would hate to lose a lot of its listeners. According to the source, the Government Information Office (GIO) issued an official notice to the station a few days ago saying that ICRT would be downgraded from a "high-power broadcaster" to a "medium- power broadcaster" because its frequency - FM 100.7 [MHz] - had been redesignated for "medium-power broadcasters." The source would not confirm just when the shift will happen. At present, ICRT's three transmitters are each able to cover an area within a 60-km radius. The three transmitters cover most parts of the west coast of Taiwan, from north to south. However, according to the GIO notice, once the station becomes a "medium-power broadcaster," the coverage for each transmitter will drop to a radius of 20 km. The source said that station officials hope to retain ICRT's current reach but the two options offered by the GIO would cost too much money. "If ICRT becomes a medium-power station, we will need another six to 10 transmitters to maintain a full coverage of the west coast," the source said. The GIO has offered another alternative - for ICRT to move its frequency from the current FM 100.7 to something beyond FM 104, which belong to "high-power broadcasters." But that would also cost more than the station can afford. "As for the GIO's (alternative) proposal, we might need to upgrade our equipment and spend a lot of money on promotion (of the new frequency)," the source said. "That is not something we are capable of at the moment," the source said. Source: Taipei Times website, Taipei, in English 7 Oct 05 (via BBCM via DXLD) ** TIBET. 4905, 1437-, Tibet Peoples B.S., Oct 9. A presumed logging with talk by two women. At fair level // to weaker 4920, poor on 5240 (USB seems to have a CW ute, so used LSB), and 6200 (poor as well, and possibly cochannel). (Volodya Salmaniw, Victoria, BC, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** UGANDA [non]. Radio Rhino's godfather is dead --- Exiled former Ugandan President Milton Obote has died (in South Africa, though he spent most of his exile in Zambia). Although it may not be correct to say that he ran shortwave opposition station Radio Rhino, it certainly strongly promoted his cause and so its future may be less certain without him (Chris Greenway, UK, Oct 10, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U K. Some BBCWS previews for October --- The most significant new development begins at the end of October with the change of seasons – a new, daily hour-long program entitled ``World Have Your Say``. The hour long show, scheduled to go out each weekday at 1800 UT, will feature opinion and comment from around the world. Listeners can be involved in a global conversation 24 hours a day by e-mail, text and phone via the Have Your Say section of the BBC website. They will be able to join in a global conversation that allows people of every nationality from all walks of life, in every country to communicate with one another. ``If you have an opinion, prepare to have it challenged and if you don't have one, by the end of the programme you will,`` says the program’s editor Mark Sandell. Audibility in North America will be limited – perhaps the European (12095 kHz) and African services (15400 kHz) may propagate well enough to be usable. ``The Story of the Guitar`` – Crispin Robinson tells the story of perhaps the most iconic musical instrument on earth. He traces the history and music of the guitar from its ancient roots to a symbol of youth, virility and rebellion the world over in the four-part series ``The Story of the Guitar`` from Monday 10 October. Using archive material, talking and playing with the players themselves, and most importantly, hearing the music, he explains the history and styles of different types of guitar music from around the world. This airs in the ``Music Feature``; try Tuesdays 0032 (Americas), Mondays 1432 (Africa), and Mondays 1832 (Europe). ``The Soul Within Islam`` -- Ever since the terrorist attacks of 9/11, headlines focusing on Islamic extremism have obscured the story of the radical change and intense soul-searching that`s going on in many Muslim countries. Now, in an epic journey, celebrated British Muslim writer Ziauddin Sardar, travels to five Muslim countries to reveal how heads of government, intellectuals and opinion formers are seeking a new interpretation of Islam. In a landmark four-part series from Wednesday 5 October Sardar visits Turkey, Pakistan, Morocco, Indonesia and Malaysia to see how changes there are affecting the lives of ordinary Muslims in The Soul within Islam. This program airs in the ``Documentary 2`` time slot, with two editions airing the same day in two consecutive time slots – in Europe, for example, at 0805 and 1205 UT Wednesdays. In the Americas, try Sundays 1005 and 1505 for two consecutive editions in each of two weeks beginning October 5th. ``Return to Sarajevo`` – In November 1995, the Dayton Peace Accord finally brought the Bosnian war to an end. Allan Little, who wrote the definitive book on the Balkans War - The Death of Yugoslavia - was in Sarajevo at the time. Together with Peter Burdin he produced a Sony Award-winning series about some of those who`d survived the war. Ten years on, as a voyage of discovery, Allan and Peter revisit the people who made such an impression on them a decade ago. They discover how Bosnians have managed to deal with their trauma and cope with the continuing legacy of that war in the three-part series Return to Sarajevo from Wednesday 19 October. This program also airs in the ``Documentary 2`` time slot, with a single new edition each week for four weeks, unlike the doubling up observed with ``The Soul Within Islam``. ``Heart and Soul: My Muslim Family`` – During the month of Ramadan, Heart and Soul joins Muslim families from around the world as they share the meals and rituals that make this time of year so special and enjoyable in a three-part series from Wednesday 12 October. For most practicing Muslims Ramadan is a joyous time but perhaps not for those who find the prohibition of eating, drinking and smoking in daylight hours a real trial. Each of the programs has a fly-on-the-wall feel with family members introducing themselves and inviting us to share in their activities. ``We meet members of different generations who reflect on how their lives and aspirations have changed over the years. We learn about their cooking, their traditions and what their faith means to them,`` says producer Catherine Fellows. For shortwave, try Wednesdays 1445 (Europe), 1545 (Americas), and 1945 (Europe). (Rich Cuff, Easy Listening, Oct NASWA Journal via dxldyg via DXLD) ** U K [non]. UNITED KINGDOM/AMERICAS: BBC LAUNCHES MORNING SHOW FOR SPANISH SPEAKERS WORLDWIDE | Text of press release by BBC World Service on 10 October Spanish speakers across the world will be connected via the BBC's new global interactive radio and online show, BBC Mundo Hoy. Launching at 10 a.m. GMT on Monday 10 October on BBC partner stations and online at bbcmundo.com, this hour-long weekday news and current affairs programme is an unprecedented pan-Spanish American forum for exchange of views and opinions on issues spanning the Spanish-speaking world. BBC Mundo Hoy is presented by Luis Fernando Restrepo, who will be connecting the audiences through live link-ups with the BBC's unparalleled network of correspondents in Latin America, Spain and the UK. The show also offers news summaries, documentaries and interviews with key people making the news. A video on bbcmundo.com introduces the team to listeners and online diaspora audiences around the world. Julia Zapata, head of the BBC Spanish American Service, says: "Our common language is what truly unites us, and BBC Mundo Hoy aims to be the meeting point for the Spanish-speaking world, setting the day's agenda and providing the radio and online forum for a free exchange of opinion." Luis del Valle, BBC Spanish American Radio Editor, adds: "The BBC Mundo Hoy team is as diverse as life itself and our journalists are speckled all over the world. We will be using this brilliant force to provide our audiences with more top-notch news and information, and to generate a lively exchange of experiences, ideas and dreams among these very audiences." BBC Mundo Hoy can be heard on the following partner stations in Latin America: Argentina: FM Universidad de Belgrano 90.9 [MHz FM]. Bolivia: Radio Fides, national broadcaster. Colombia: RCN, through any of their stations on FM, La FM, 106.9 FM de la Universidad Jorge Tadeo Lozano, HJCK El Mundo en Bogotá 89.9 FM. Ecuador: Radio City 89.3 FM in Guayaquil and 99.7 FM in Salinas, Antena 1 90.5 FM in Cuenca. Mexico: Teleradio AW 1280 AM, Radio Metrópoli 1150 AM. Puerto Rico: WPAB-550-Ponce. Satellite channel: Sirius in EEUU [USA] and in Mexico on channel 182 Source: BBC World Service press release, London, in English 10 Oct 05 (via BBCM via DXLD) ** U K. BBC LAUNCHES CASE FOR NEW LICENCE FEE SETTLEMENT | Text of press release from BBC on 11 October The BBC today unveiled its case for a new licence fee settlement to ensure that it continues to deliver value to licence payers as we move towards a fully digital Britain. Its vision, endorsed by the Government's Green Paper earlier this year, is for high quality original content and services that will be universally available to everyone, irrespective of age or income. With digital switchover, all licence payers will be able to access all BBC output, wherever they live in the country, thanks to the commitment to build a universal digital infrastructure for TV and radio. Excellent content and services will be received on normal television and radio sets, but also on mobile devices and via broadband, with all public service content available for free for up to seven days after first transmission. The BBC will also be opening up its archive, built over many years from the public's licence fee payments, and will invest in High Definition TV to ensure it is available to all and not confined to subscription services. New technology will also allow the BBC to deliver state-of-the-art local television services and radio stations, as well as investing in production and a presence around the UK, representing the country more effectively than in the past. Today's announcement puts a cost on the vision over seven years and shows how the BBC will meet more than 70 per cent of those costs itself. It is the first time the BBC has made its case for a new licence fee settlement so openly and it follows public consultation and scrutiny by the BBC Governors and their independent advisors, as well as public response to the Government's Green Paper proposals. The BBC proposes a licence fee increase from April 2007 based on RPI plus 2.3 per cent a year. In today's prices, this means 150.50 pounds a year per household by 2013, compared to the current 126.50 pounds. That amounts to an average annual 3.14 pounds increase per household, excluding RPI, from the start of the next Charter, while the licence fee is still declining steadily as a proportion of disposable income. It does not include the costs of targeted help for special groups when the analogue signal is switched off. The funding decision will be taken by the government next year as part of the process around the BBC's new Royal Charter starting in 2007. This will ultimately determine how the BBC can fulfil its public purposes, meet audience expectations and lead the next phase of the digital revolution. The additional spend required to meet the vision outlined in the Green Paper will total 5.5bn pounds over the seven-year period to 2013/14. However, the BBC will meet more than 70 per cent of this itself, not from additional licence fee funds. Self-help measures already under way at the BBC, including job losses, rationalizing processes and commercial disposals and dividends, will contribute 3.9bn pounds, leaving a funding gap of 1.6bn pounds which could be closed by an RPI plus 1.8 per cent settlement. However, to meet additional industry costs related to switchover, such as the marketing costs of DigitalUK (SwitchCo) and spectrum tax, the total increase needed is a further RPI plus 0.5 per cent, taking the total to RPI plus 2.3 per cent [sentence as published]. MORI research conducted in March this year assessed audiences' appetite for the plans. Over 80 per cent said it was important for the BBC to build out digital. Earlier research on the audience's willingness to pay showed that 81 per cent believe the licence fee represents good value for money with over 40 per cent being prepared to pay twice the current licence fee or more. Launching the proposal, the BBC's Director-General Mark Thompson said: "Our audiences, rightly, have very high expectations of the BBC. They themselves are driving incredible change by the way they want to access our programmes and services. "The BBC needs to transform itself to ensure we are providing the very best content, accessible to and valued by everyone across Britain, and the licence fee will help us achieve our vision to be the best creative digital broadcaster and content provider for audiences in the world." BBC Chairman Michael Grade said: "Our document Building Public Value outlined the BBC's vision for serving the public in the digital age. "The government's subsequent Green Paper endorsed and refined that vision after consultation with the public. This bid has been thoroughly and independently scrutinised by the Governors. We commend it to government as an efficient business plan designed to meet licence payers' expectations at the lowest cost." The predicted licence fee at the end of the current Charter is 128.50 pounds in today's prices based on the current LF settlement. The Equation: Costs Quality Content - 1.6bn pounds (Learning; Drama, Comedy/Ents, Arts, Music, Journalism, Local services) Digital Services - 1.2bn pounds (On-demand; Navigation and Search; active engagement) Digital Infrastructure - 0.7bn pounds (DTT/DAB build out; Free Satellite; Internet distribution; HDTV) Local Relevance - 0.6bn pounds (Local TV; new radio stations, OpenCentres/ Buses, Out of London) Base costs increase - 1.4bn pounds (super-inflation in broadcast costs etc) = 5.5bn pounds Self Help Efficiencies on overhead and production processes - 2.6 bn pounds Modernizing Licence Fee collection channels - 0.2bn pounds Capturing household growth - 0.7bn pounds Commercial dividends - 0.4bn pounds = 3.9bn pounds Funding Gap = 1.6bn pounds Closing the gap = RPI plus 1.8 per cent Switchover costs Digital UK costs - 200m pounds Spectrum Tax - 300m pounds = 500m pounds cumulative Total Funding = RPI plus 2.3 per cent per year from 2007/2008 to 2013/14 This will mean a licence fee per household of 150.50 pounds a year by 2013, the equivalent of an average annual increase of 3.14 pounds per household, each year from the start of the next Charter. Annual licence fee increase (in 2005/2006 prices, excluding RPI): Now - 126.50 pounds 2006/2007 - 128.50 pounds 2007/2008 - 131.00 pounds 2008/2009 - 134.00 pounds 2009/2010 - 137.50 pounds 2010/2011 - 140.50 pounds 2011/2012 - 143.50 pounds 2012/2013 - 147.00 pounds 2013/2014 - 150.50 pounds Source: BBC press release, London, in English 11 Oct 05 (via BBCM via DXLD) ** U S A. ERT Delano spurs: 17838.52 and 17571.48, 2050-2100+ Oct 7. Weak spurs from a strong 17705 with Greek music and talk. Spurs were a little unstable, both exactly 133.52 kHz from 17705 (Brian Alexander, Mechanicsburg PA, DX LISTENING DIGEST) As we pointed out before, the upper one not to be confused with R. Imperial, El Salvador (gh, DXLD) ** U S A. URBONO monitoring: not today. Sporadic checks of WWL/URBONO via WHRI the past few days continue to show usage contrary to the published schedules on the WWL and WHRI websites which claim this is only: M-F at 12-14 on 11785, M-F 14-20 on 15285. Thu Oct 6 at 1650, no signal on 15285 Sun Oct 9 at 2000 URBONO on 15285, and until 2200, then WHR programming; (and separate WHR programming on 9840, once used at this time) Mon Oct 10 at 1514, 15285 with WHR programming, not URBONO, same at 1800 check (Glenn Hauser, Oct 10, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) And on Tuesday Oct 11: 11785 not on the air before 1400, but 15285 was on before and after 1400 with WHR programming, as per the original WHRI scheduling. I will not make any assumptions yet that the relays are permanently over, due to their erratic appearances so far (Glenn Hauser, ibid.) ** U S A [and non]. Like many of you I noted apparent TA carriers all up and down the dial, from 585 on up, including 684, 891, 1134, 1206, 1215... honestly couldn't tell if the Saudi on 1521 was in or not, as local Branson Information TIS station KLFJ-1550 is back on, with horribly overmodulated audio (it's probably FM'ing as well!) producing raucous sideband splatter a whopping *70* (SEVENTY!) kHz above and below their fundamental!! Worst case I've ever seen --- and we all thought Eye-Bock noise was bad, hi! (Randy Stewart, Springfield MO, Oct 4, IRCA via DXLD) At 00:35 AM CDT, 10/4, am hearing a strong whistle/chirp type interference on 1540 and 1560; suspect a station on 1550 has modulation problems. One possibility is my local on 1550, WCSJ 1550, Morris, IL about 20 miles SW of my location. Loop bearing in NE/SW which corresponds to Morris. Anyone else hearing this? Also noted evening of 10/2 (Tom Jasinski, IRCA via DXLD) Sorry, just now going through IRCA digests. I just posted to the list my tale of woe regarding my local KLFJ-1550 and its current 140 kHz- wide bandwidth --- and yes, it does whistle and chirp horribly on 1540 and 1560, in between mod peaks. No doubt that's what you're hearing (Randy Stewart, Springfield MO, ibid.) ** U S A. KTVE DT 27 is a minimal DT station seemingly run out of a closet somewhere. Audio levels are low and the video seems to be taken from an antenna OTA. While I can get the analog here great (provided there isn't any tropo to Springfield, MO and Memphis), the digital is located in El Dorado AR and its normal range is barely outside the city limits. No subchannel, and no HD (I have to go by labels, since I don't have an HD set or plan on in the near future). First logged @ 8:10am oct 4. Hoping I'd get the elusive state of Mississippi (DTV), but not to be this morning. Or KTAL DT 15 (logged once this spring, the same day I got KSLA last). (Fritze, KC5KBV, Prentice, Star City, AR EM 43, Oct 4, WTFDA via DXLD) ** U S A. SEX AND DIRTY WORDS By Frank Ahrens Sunday, October 9, 2005; F07 After receiving more than 1 million complaints about objectionable radio and television programming last year, the Federal Communications Commission has come to the realization that there may be some interest about racy shows on the airwaves. To that end, the agency on Friday launched a new indecency, profanity and obscenity section on its Web site. (Simmer down.) Outraged or merely interested listeners and viewers can go to http://www.fcc.gov/eb/oip/Welcome.html There, they will be tutored on the difference between obscene, profane and indecent content; told how to file a complaint, find out who handles it at the agency; and see what happens to the complaint, depicted in a flow chart that would make a string theorist's brain explode. (Actually, it looks more like a whiteboard pitch from the dot-com era for a start-up called Zipperhead.com or something.) This is a good move by the FCC because the agency's regulations on indecency are murky at best to outsiders and tough to interpret even for the agency itself. Also, in recent years, the complaint process has been dominated by interest groups such as the sober-minded Parents Television Council, which has a "file an FCC complaint" function on its Web site. PTC members flooded the FCC with hundreds of thousands of complaints in 2004. That's fine -- it's the new electronic democracy -- but viewers and listeners who are not ideologically aligned with such interest groups may not want to file their complaint through partisan Web sites. The new pages sport a smattering of statistics. For instance: In 2004, the agency received 1,405,419 complaints about 314 programs. Through June of this year, viewers and listeners have filed 163,177 complaints about 528 programs. A facile read on the data suggests fewer people are offended this year than last but that more programs are offensive. I'll tell you what's offensive on television: When ABC ends "Lost" at 10:05 p.m. on Wednesday nights so the next show (in this case, "Invasion") will get a portion of "Lost's" monster Nielsen ratings. Why is this offensive? Because my DVR stops recording "Lost" at 10 p.m. and each show invariably ends with a jaw-dropping cliff-hanger. Yes, yes, I now know I must extend the recording time. Lesson learned. Still, talk about grounds for an FCC fine. (c) 2005 The Washington Post Company (via Mike Cooper, DXLD) ** WESTERN SAHARA [non]. Hola a todos: Después de muchos días sin poderla oír, de nuevo escucho la Radio Nacional Saharaui en 1550. En estos momentos en árabe, quedando a la espera del programa en español SIO/444. Mejor en USB para evitar las interferencias de R. Farda, TWR y Capital Gold en 1548, que eran las que predominaban los días precedentes (Ignacio Sotomayor, Spain, Oct 10, dxldyg via DXLD) Estimado amigo Glenn: Por si te resulta de interés para tu archivo sonoro, te adjunto la grabación que hice ayer por la noche de la Radio Nacional Saharaui en 1550 a las 2301. Paz y DX (Ignacio Sotomayor, Segovia, Castilla, España (40º57'00''N-4º07'10''W), Rcvx: ICOM R-75; SONY ICF -SW7600, Anx: Hilo largo de 20 metros y Balun; KIWA Pocket Loop, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Tnx, Ignacio! Added to the Station Sounds archive in the dxldyg. The precise pronunciation of the key word, and hence its proper spelling still eludes me: the initial announcement sounds like ``Radio Nacional Saháraui, Voz del Pueblo Sájaro[?]``, but a sung jingle later is more like ``Sa-ha-rá-ui``. In between the announcer gives frequencies as 1550 kHz OM, 74.60 [sic!] MHz OC (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ZANZIBAR. R. Tanzania-Zanzibar, 11735, 1755-2059* Oct 1. Swahili talk, drums, 1800-1810 time pips and English news. 1810 back to Swahili with talk and local ME style music. Sign-off with NA; fair (Brian Alexander, Mechanicsburg PA, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ZIMBABWE [and non]. Hi Glenn, Voice of the People, VOP, (from Madagascar to Zimbabwe), 7120, 1700-1800 daily is still severely jammed from within Zimbabwe. Severe jamming of this frequency and time. This is one of the same Chinese jamming transmitters sent to Zimbabwe early this year (March) and utilised by the State to block SW Radio Africa's transmissions from abroad. 73 (David Pringle-Wood, Harare, Zimbabwe, Oct 10, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Voice of the People (VOP) from Madagascar to Zimbabwe, 7120, 1700-1800 daily. Yet again severely jammed from within Zimbabwe this evening (David Pringle-Wood, Zimbabwe, Oct 11, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ DX-PEDITIONS ++++++++++++ LATEST COORONG DXPEDITION REPORT Hi Guys, Here's the DXpedition report from a couple of weekends to the Coorong in August at http://www.dxing.info/dxpeditions/coorong_2005_08.dx Ummm not quite sure what else there is to say (Craig Edwards, Mawson Lakes SA 5095, IRCA via DXLD) PROPAGATION +++++++++++ The geomagnetic field ranged from quiet to active levels with minor to major storm conditions observed at high latitudes. Geomagnetic activity was mostly quiet to unsettled until midday on 07 October when a coronal hole high speed stream moved into a geoeffective position. Isolated active periods were observed late on 07 October and early on 08 October at middle latitudes. Isolated active periods were observed at high latitudes midday on 07 October while active to major storm periods were observed through most of the day on 08 October, again at high latitudes. Conditions decreased to mostly quiet to unsettled late on 08 October and continued that way through the rest of the period. FORECAST OF SOLAR AND GEOMAGNETIC ACTIVITY 12 OCTOBER - 07 NOVEMBER Solar activity is expected to be very low to low. No greater than 10 MeV proton events are expected. The greater than 2 MeV electron flux at geosynchronous orbit is expected to be at high levels on 12 – 22 October, 29 October – 02 November, and 06 – 07 November. The geomagnetic field is expected to range from quiet to minor storm levels. Active to minor storm levels are possible on 15 October and 04 November due to a recurrent coronal hole high speed wind stream. Otherwise, expect quiet to unsettled conditions. :Product: 27-day Space Weather Outlook Table 27DO.txt :Issued: 2005 Oct 11 2214 UTC # Prepared by the US Dept. of Commerce, NOAA, Space Environment Center # Product description and SEC contact on the Web # http://www.sec.noaa.gov/wwire.html # # 27-day Space Weather Outlook Table # Issued 2005 Oct 11 # # UTC Radio Flux Planetary Largest # Date 10.7 cm A Index Kp Index 2005 Oct 12 80 5 2 2005 Oct 13 85 5 2 2005 Oct 14 85 8 3 2005 Oct 15 85 15 3 2005 Oct 16 85 8 3 2005 Oct 17 85 5 2 2005 Oct 18 85 5 2 2005 Oct 19 85 8 3 2005 Oct 20 85 8 3 2005 Oct 21 85 5 2 2005 Oct 22 85 5 2 2005 Oct 23 85 12 3 2005 Oct 24 85 12 3 2005 Oct 25 85 12 3 2005 Oct 26 85 8 3 2005 Oct 27 80 10 3 2005 Oct 28 75 12 3 2005 Oct 29 75 12 3 2005 Oct 30 75 8 3 2005 Oct 31 75 5 2 2005 Nov 01 75 5 2 2005 Nov 02 75 5 2 2005 Nov 03 75 10 3 2005 Nov 04 75 20 4 2005 Nov 05 75 10 3 2005 Nov 06 75 10 3 2005 Nov 07 75 10 3 (from http://www.sec.noaa.gov/radio via DXLD) ###