DX LISTENING DIGEST 5-208, December 5, 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 For latest updates see our Anomaly Alert page: http://www.worldofradio.com/anomaly.html Latest edition of this schedule version, with hotlinks to station sites and audio, is at: http://www.worldofradio.com/radioskd.html NEXT AIRINGS OF WORLD OF RADIO 1295: Days and times here are strictly UT. Mon 1900 WOR RFPI [repeated 4-hourly thru Tue 1500] Wed 0030 WOR WBCQ 7415 [usually but temporary] Wed 0100 WOR CJOY INTERNET RADIO plug-in required Wed 1030 WOR WWCR 9985 WRN ON DEMAND: http://new.wrn.org/listeners/stations/station.php?StationID=24 OUR ONDEMAND AUDIO [also CONTINENT OF MEDIA, MUNDO RADIAL]: http://www.worldofradio.com/audiomid.html or http://wor.worldofradio.org WORLD OF RADIO 1295 (high version): (stream) http://www.w4uvh.net/wor1295h.ram (download) http://www.w4uvh.net/wor1295h.rm WORLD OF RADIO 1295 (low version): (stream) http://www.w4uvh.net/wor1295.ram (download) http://www.w4uvh.net/wor1295.rm (summary) http://www.worldofradio.com/wor1295.html [soon] WORLD OF RADIO 1295 downloads in mp3: (high) http://www.obriensweb.com/wor1295h.mp3 (low) http://www.obriensweb.com/wor1295.mp3 ** ARGENTINA. Están fuera del aire AM1670 Estación Central, de la Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires y la nueva emisora en pruebas que se estaba escuchando en los 1570. Esta noticia fue corroborada hoy pero la ausencia de las dos emisoras ya fue constatada días pasados (Arnaldo Slaen, 1.431 BUENOS AIRES, Dec 5, condiglist via DXLD) ** ARMENIA [and non]. Re 5-207: Yezidish?? See LANGUAGE LESSONS below ** AUSTRALIA. MULTIPLE STREAMS FORTHCOMING FROM RADIO AUSTRALIA The differing needs of Radio Australia’s two target audiences – in Asia and the Pacific – have prompted Radio Australia to alter its programming targeting the two regions to better fit local time zones. Up till now, the separate Asia stream has not been distributed via shortwave; it has been available as a webcast and is sent via satellite to local rebroadcasters in the region. It is these local rebroadcasters that have been behind the push for a more narrowly- focused Asia service. Soon Radio Australia’s shortwave services will also be split part of the time, with the shortwave releases beamed towards Asia will having the same programming as is provided via satellite and the web. Most of the shortwave frequencies that propagate well to North America are frequencies beamed towards the Pacific, so it won’t be easy for us to hear the two services simultaneously. This dual streaming does have a benefit for web listening – at those times when shortwave is given over to sports coverage – for which webcast rights aren`t available – Radio Australia can keep the web feed going with the alternate service and not resort to silence as the BBC has done. Some might look at multiple streams apprehensively, because many have felt the BBC World Service lost focus when it began multiple streams. The folks at Radio Australia believe their implementation is consistent with their strategic objectives to focus on Asian and Pacific listeners, and to not be a ``global`` service. They feel this change enhances the value they provide their listeners, and does not detract from this value. While Radio Australia appreciates that North Americans show interest in Radio Australia programming via the World Radio Network, Internet access, and via those shortwave frequencies that happen to propagate to North America, we North Americans aren’t their target audience. As a result, Radio Australia doesn’t see the BBC World Service experience as a parallel to their own. The dual streaming operates from 2330 UT to 0900 UT from Sundays to Fridays. You can see examples in the online programming schedules – for example, at 0400 Thursdays, Background Briefing is shown for Asian listeners, and In The Loop is shown for Pacific listeners. The new flagship Asian program is The Breakfast Club, which provides ``...a lively mix of music, interviews, entertainment, news, sport, art, finance and weather...`` and airs from 2330 to 0130 from Sundays through Thursdays (Richard Cuff, Easy Listening, Dec NASWA Journal via DXLD) ** AUSTRALIA. In programs discussing ideas, the National Interest is a fine program. On December 5 at 1105 UT was a program on the state of journalism in the increasingly repressive era of the "War on Terror." The lead item was on the row in Britain with The Daily Mirror publishing in late November an article on a conversation in which Tony Blair had to discourage George Bush from bombing the headquarters in Doha, Qatar, of Al Jazeera, the Arabic TV news station. Cases such as this are putting a pall over journalists. (As of December 5, this writer has not heard or read a single item about this in the American media, over a week after this article was published). Other items mentioned: *The Los Angeles Times reported the story of the US paying Iraqi journalists to get pro-American stories into the Iraqi press. *At the Melbourne Sun, two reporters are being punished for protecting sources in a rather insignificant leak. The guest, Aden White, the General Secretary of the International Federation of Journalists, was asked if the identity of "Deep Throat" in the Watergate case was ever forced. He replied, not really, and that in today's political climate, Bernstein and Woodward would not have gotten to first base in their investigation. According to White: *Civil liberties and freedom of expression are being threatened on every front. *In Australia, it is already prohibited to "excite disaffection" against the Queen or Parliament. *Some governments have lost their head under these circumstances. The topic then turned briefly to consolidation of media outlets, and to the roll of the Internet in modern media. One item concerned Canada, and attempted consolidation of editorials produced in Winnipeg, then nationally distributed. The details of this particular story I could not quite follow and someone from Canada may want to clarify this. This was somewhat related to the world wide trend towards media consolidation, that is, having more media outlets owned by fewer owners, stifling diversity. Finally, when White was asked by the interviewer if the Internet provides a credible diversity, he hedged. Yes, the Internet is diverse, yes, it is interesting .... the bloggers are interesting.... but they are not credible. According to White, what people want, being usually unable to read thousands of papers or web pages, is a media source that is factual, reliable, credible. A media source is a filter for news, and he cited by name BBC On-line as one such credible source that is doing a very good job in providing clear and credible information. With this program (and others), Radio Australia is near the top in producing programs with provocative ideas, on a par with BBC and CBC, and much better than programs from the VOA or NPR (Roger Chambers, Utica, New York, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** AUSTRALIA [and non]. ``A WIRE AROUND THE WORLD`` In 1872, Adelaide and London were joined by telegraph cable. Hear the fascinating story at http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4 (via Mike Terry, dxldyg via DXLD) This is in fact a shortened version of a programme broadcast by ABC Radio National in their Science Show slot on 26 November. However, if you go to the programme's website you will find a link to the ABC Radio National version of the programme (PAUL DAVID, Wembley Park, United Kingdom, BDXC-UK via DXLD) ** CANADA. RCI PROGRAMMING CHANGES I mentioned some of the new programming coming to RCI in last month’s column, but we didn’t have many details. Turns out the two new midday CBC Radio One programs, The National Playlist and Freestyle, emphasize music more heavily than their predecessor shows. The National Playlist is a daily half-hour discussion program focusing on popular music from the 1960s through the present; each week there are additions and deletions from this ``top ten`` list, with the list changing as a result of user votes. The new list is revealed every Friday, and the entire list is played on Saturday evenings on CBC Radio One; local airtimes appear to be 9 PM to all time zones except the Atlantic and Newfoundland time zones, where 6 PM (Atlantic) and 6:30 PM (Newfoundland) are shown. The weekday version airs on shortwave to North America at 1630 UT on 9515, 13655 and 17820. Since most of the weekend programming on CBC`s Northern Quebec shortwave service is from Radio One, you may find the Saturday evening edition on 9625 kHz at 0200 UT Sundays. Worth a shot, anyway. Meanwhile, Freestyle is also a music-oriented program, though the emphasis includes popular culture in Canada and globally. Canadian musicians (surprise!) are also featured. Freestyle airs on CBC Radio One domestically at 2 PM local time; Freestyle also airs on RCI’s shortwave service targeting the southeastern USA on weekdays 2100-2300 UT on 15180 kHz. Both of these programs target a younger, domestic Canadian audience listening frequently at work and wanting something lighter in tone than the heavier spoken-word fare typically aired by Radio One. It will be interesting to see how well the programs are received (Richard Cuff, Easy Listening, Dec NASWA Journal via DXLD) ** CANADA. I had a brief conversation with Shusma Datt of IT Productions in Burnaby, BC this afternoon. She's the head honcho of the company that's gotten the licence for the fourth "ethnic" station in Greater Vancouver. My main inquiry was to find out a time frame for being on air, and she's hoping for May or June of 2006. Apparently, the major problem is getting the towers up! There just aren't that many facilitators around for this work, and as she pointed out, this is the first AM broadcast project in the Vancouver region since CKST migrated from Langley to Delta, and at the same time switched from 800 to 1040, which I can't date; mebbe very early 90's? There will be two towers, and as far as she was able to express non-technically, the major null will be night-time towards the SE, "to protect a station in Texas". Oh, you mean WOAI in San Antonio, says I --- don't smirk: it impressed her. [so this must be about 1200 kHz] Major hopeful coverage will be all of Greater Vancouver with the eastern lobe covering as far out as Abbotsford in the Fraser Valley (a major South Asian/Punjabi-speaking area), and to the west and south out over the east coast of Vancouver Island down into Victoria, though to me (AND DON'T QUOTE ME - though if I said it I can't complain) that's "pie-in-the-sky" coverage hype. I was curious about the designation as an "ethnic", as in CRTC-talk this means multi-lingual. Sundays will have other than the major South Asian languages (i.e. Hindi/Punjabi). Her first offering was Italian! Well, there's a long history in this area of skirmishing amongst the ethnic stations in providing Italian producers their access to the airwaves, so the fight continues. Again, don't quote me, I don't want the Godfather after me . Other languages she threw into the possible mix for Sundays were mostly South Asian peripheral: Afghani, Bengali, Tamil, Sinhalese (that one raised my interest but she claims a local community of 10,000), Malay, and Pilipino. You read it here first. And, Vancouver transmitter pics. Try this if you're inclined! http://community.webshots.com/album/197002392XEcLBS (Theo Donnelly, Vancouver BC, IRCA Soft DX Monitor Dec 3 via DXLD) 18 slides, including CBU 690 and CKZU 6160, plus a map (gh, DXLD) ** CHINA. 5860, Voice of Jinling, colorful date-only QSL and friendly personal letter in English from Ruoyi Liu who is a 27-year-old announcer and reporter for the station. The program I heard is hers ("Ruoyi Time"), which airs each Saturday at 2100-2140 Beijing Time [1300-1340 UT]. She is the only one at the station that speaks English and is assigned to answer foreign letters. She says station is considering adding some English segments to their broadcast "to attract foreign listeners." In 39 days. Nice looking stamps on envelope (John Herkimer, NY, DX-plorer via DXLD) ** CROATIA. Re 5-207: ``[what about the SW transmitters inside Croatia?? -- gh]`` Apparently a different program than on mediumwave and Jülich shortwave, including Glas Hrvatske foreign language segments as well but at different times. Just yesterday I was asked if I have a schedule for 6165 etc., so I also wonder if anybody knows details here? All the best, (Kai Ludwig, Germany, Dec 4, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ECUADOR. HCJB WORLD RADIO LAUNCHES ANOTHER FIRST IN MINISTRY PROGRAMMING. December 5, 2005 (MNN) -- HCJB World Radio recently released the shortest language program they've ever done. It's a five-minute program in the Kulina language, the first of its kind, according to HCJB World Radio's partner ministry. According to HCJB's partner, Kulina is one of four living dialects of the Arawa language family. The program is the result of producers at HCJB World Radio collaborating with a Kulina speaker working in the Brazilian and Peruvian Amazon region. Aired from their shortwave station in Ecuador, it's basically a Bible- reading program. Since many Kulina speakers already tune in to Radio Station HCJB's Portuguese programs, it was a natural fit to add their native language. As for the delivery, there are reports that at least one person in each village has a shortwave radio, along with a public address system for communal listening. As a result, the broadcasts could reach as many as 4,000 people with the Gospel (Mission Network News via Bruce Atchison, AB, DXLD) WTFK??? Why in the world don`t they give the schedule? As we have already reported, it`s 2253-2259 UT on 12020 (gh) ** EGYPT. NEW HEAD OF EGYPTIAN BROADCAST UNION APPOINTED Major-General Ahmad Anis has been appointed chairman of the board of trustees of the Egyptian Radio and Television Union (ERTU), according to a report by Egyptian news agency MENA on 5 December. Egyptian Information Minister Anas al-Fiqi was quoted as saying that Anis's appointment was part of "a policy that aims at introducing new leaderships into the media field to upgrade and develop the performance of this sector". Source: MENA news agency, Cairo, in English 1505 gmt 5 Dec 05 (via BBCM via DXLD) ** ETHIOPIA. 6940, Radio Fana; 0338-0350 4 December, 2005. Nonstop talk by presumed Somali language M. Clear and good (Terry L Krueger, Clearwater, Florida, USA, 27.55.83 N, 82.46.08 W, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ETHIOPIA. 5500, Voice of Tigray Revolution, 0431-0501* Nov 29, mix of beautiful Horn of Africa vocals and talks in Tigrinya language. Poor to fair. Deteriorating quickly and either sign off or lost in rapidly rising noise. Checked //6350 but blocked by mess of different noises (Rich D'Angelo, PA, NASWA Flashsheet via DXLD) ** EUROPE. 6220, EUROPIRATE, Mystery Radio; 0354-0600 4 December, 2005. Amazing near-local level, slightly down by tune-out. Techno- dance and pop/rock, including U2 "I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For," a latter-day lame Rod Stewart ballad, McCartney "From A Lover To A Friend" etc. Female canned "Myssssss-tery Radio" with reverb and phasing SFX between most songs, otherwise no announcements noted. Took the RadioShack DX-399 with whip into the driveway, and sure enough it was even audible fair level on it (Terry L Krueger, Clearwater, Florida, USA, 27.55.83 N, 82.46.08 W, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** FINLAND [and non]. Nuntii Latini from YLE Radio Finland, Sunday Dec 4 at 1456, still very weak on 15400. This time there was a half-minute overlap with BBC bow bells, also weak, which came on same at 1457:30 before the YLE IS sounded and off at 1458 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** FRANCE. ANALYSIS: FRENCH GLOBAL TV NEWS CHANNEL TO LAUNCH BY END OF 2006 | Text of editorial analysis by Peter Feuilherade of BBC Monitoring Media Services on 30 November France is to launch its long-awaited global French-language satellite TV news channel by the end of next year, the government announced in Paris on 30 November. Communication Minister Renaud Donnedieu de Vabres told a news conference that France's leading private and public TV channels had signed a contract on the creation of the French International News Network (CFII), nicknamed "CNN à la française". Government spokesman Jean-François Cope said the CFII would begin broadcasting "before the end of 2006". The new network will be owned by commercial network TF1 and the state-funded company France Televisions. The government has given initial funding of 30m euros (35m dollars) for this year, and allocated another 65m euros for next year. The European Commission gave the green light to the CFII in June, saying it did not breach EU state aid rules. Employing around 240 staff, it will produce programmes initially beamed to Europe, Africa and the Middle East. CFII will broadcast news around the clock in French, with a four-hour slot of programmes in English. There are plans to add programmes in Arabic and Spanish in due course. The French news agency AFP commented that relations between TF1 and France Televisions "are often frosty and very competitive, leaving open the degree of cooperation both will display as they are forced to work together". French perspective President Jacques Chirac floated the idea of a French global TV channel in 2002 to raise the profile of his country's diplomacy, as France led international opposition to US plans to invade Iraq. M Chirac viewed the network as a way of getting France's perspective seen in a global TV news sector dominated by the BBC and the US channel CNN. The French government's intention has been to use the new broadcaster as a platform to counter the prevailing US view of world affairs, particularly in Africa and the Middle East, where France has mostly good relations. In the years since then, other countries have also announced plans for 24-hour all-news channels. Al-Jazeera International and Russia Today are among the English-language global news channels also set to launch in 2006. Today M Chirac was quoted by AFP news agency as saying that France "must be at the forefront of the global battle of images, that's why I am resolved that our country should have an international news channel". As to the chances of success for the CFII in a burgeoning global TV news sector, the French culture minister told doubting members of parliament last week: "Let us not abandon hope. We have to enter this game, and fast." Source: BBC Monitoring research 30 Nov 05 (via DXLD) ** GEORGIA. Hi, this is the answer to my inquiry about the closure of Radio Georgia from the new, attractive General Director of Georgian RTV, Tamar Kintsurashvili. She says that the closure is only temporary and service will be resumed when money has been found for repair. So there is hope as to my experience it is hard to withstand the zeal and ambition of modern Eastern-European ladies :) 73, Eike Tamar Kintsurashvili wrote: [beginquote] Dear Mr. Eike Bierwirth, Thank you very much for your letter. I am extremely glad to hear appraisal of the Western Europe service provided by the Georgian Public Radio. It is to my complete understanding that the current developments taking place in Georgia attracts attentions of many in Europe and there has been increasing interest towards our foreign issues. Considering this, it is within our country's as well as the Public Broadcasting's interest to ensure coverage of our news for the countries abroad. I agree with you that unfortunately the broadcasting service of Georgian Public Radio to Western Europe has been interrupted. But, please be informed that it's been stopped in March and I was appointed as a General Director just in August. It's only temporarily measure due to technical problems that the channel presently faces. The Broadcasting's transmitters are very old and outdated and require urgent replacement. Renewal of the technique as well as the programmes issued in foreign languages will take some time as update of the facilities requires serious financial resources. At present, we work on this issue and as soon as technical problems are solved broadcasting of the Western Europe will be renewed. Once again I thank you for expressing your interest towards the programmes prepared by the Public Radio. I hope we will be able to provide the programmes to the foreign audience soon and with improved service quality. Yours Sincerely, Tamar Kintsurashvili General Director Georgian Public Broadcasting 68 M. Kostava str. Tbilisi 017, Georgia [endquote] (Eike Bierwirth, Germany, Dec 5, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) How do you know she`s attractive? (gh, DXLD) ** GERMANY [non]. The new DW frequency for German at 12-14, 13590, is from the Samara, Russia relay (Joe Hanlon in NJ, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** GERMANY [and non]. 35-page December pdf program guide from R. SANTEC = Cosmic Wave, with day by day details in German, and also Spanish, Portuguese, English, French, peculiar religious station: http://www.radio-santec.com/cms/fileadmin/docs/radioprogramm_2005-12.pdf (via José Miguel Romero, dxldyg via DXLD) ** GUINEA. 9609, RTV Guineana, 2043 UT, sinpo 23332, idioma desconocido, OM mencionó "Conakri Republic de Guinée?" música, señal off inesperado. 25 nov. ewe (Gutiérrez, Perú, Conexión Digital via DXLD) [non] Vaguely recall Guinea had such a frequency many years ago, but now EiBi provides a more likely source: 9610 2030-2045 347 S IBRA Radio F WAf /D-j 9610 2030-2045 Mo,Tu S IBRA Radio BM WAf /D-j [Bambara] 9610 2030-2045 Fr,Sa S IBRA Radio TMJ WAf /D-j Since Nov 25 was a Friday, the language would be Tamajeq. Via Jülich, Germany, which would not likely be off-frequency. DXers, editors, should feel free to research such info online, just as I did, before leaping to conclusions (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** HUNGARY. HUNGRÍA: Quincenalmente, los domingos, sale al aire el programa "La Revista del Diexismo" a través de Radio Budapest conducido por Lázló Garay en los siguientes horarios y frecuencias: 2232-2247 en 6025 y 7285 kHz hacia España 0432-0447 en 3975 y 6025 kHz hacia Europa y América Latina También por Internet entrando a http://real1.radio.hu/nemzeti.htm eligiendo audio en vivo o archivos por demanda (están disponibles los meses de noviembre y diciembre). El siguiente es un anuncio del conductor --- Soy Lázló Garay y deseo anunciar que espero sugerencias y contribuciones para mejorar este programa de todos los aficionados que tengan noticias e informaciones útiles para los amigos de esta afición, La Revista del Diexismo les dará espacio con mucho gusto, los informes deberán ser enviados a la siguiente dirección espanol @ kossuth.radio.hu La dirección postal de la emisora húngara es: Magyar Rádió (Radio Budapest) programas en español Bródy Sándor utca 5-7 1800 Budapest, Hungría (Rubén Guillermo Margenet, Argentina, Dec 4, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** INDONESIA. INFORMATION AGAIN UNDER CONTROL OF GOVERNMENT, paper says | Text of unattributed article in English published on Indonesian newspaper The Jakarta Post website on 5 December One may have seen it coming. Perhaps not glaringly conspicuous, but the signs were there for a return to the situation where information would be controlled and restricted by the government. The first sign was the return of the information ministry as a portfolio ministry early this year, which was met with concern that it would operate like the information ministry during the authoritarian regime of former president Suharto, who was ousted in 1998. The Information Ministry during the New Order regime practically controlled all the country's media, and it had sole power to grant and revoke licences and was thus able to meddle in editorial processes. The second sign was the ministry's ban on all broadcasters from going to air from midnight to dawn, using the excuse of conserving energy amid ballooning global oil prices. Criticism of this move was quick, including from the Indonesian Broadcasting Commission (KPI). However, the protests quickly dissipated. The third sign was the controversial four sets of government regulations issued recently by the ministry to provide technical implementation of Law No 32/2002 on broadcasting. The four are government regulations No 49/2005 on foreign broadcasters, No 50/2005 on private broadcasters, No 51/2005 on community broadcasters and No 52/2005 on subscription-based broadcasters. Not only did the ministry grace itself with the final say on licensing issues but it also put boundaries on content, a clear violation of the broadcasting law, according to experts. Among them is the prohibition on private broadcasters to relay regular news programmes from foreign broadcasters, thus limiting sources of information to the public. Old habits die hard, media analyst Hinca Panjaitan said, referring to the irresistible desire by those in power to control the information received by the public. "All the fears about the ministry are turning into reality. The media is supposed to control the government, but how is it supposed to do so when its life lies in a minister's hands?" he said. Hinca said the four regulations constituted clear evidence of tight restrictions that were not supposed to be applied in a democracy, where freedom of information is constitutionally guaranteed. Asked if the government seemed to be wayward on this issue, Hinca said the government was hiding behind the judicial review process. "I suppose they knew criticism would come, but they just want to control. They knew a judicial review would be filed, but they knew it would take years for a verdict to be handed down," he said. Information minister Sofyan Djalil had said, "Let (critics) file a judicial review, but these regulations will remain in force until there is a verdict". Unlike a judicial review at the Constitutional Court, a review by the Supreme Court has no maximum period before a verdict has to be handed down. "We'll probably be having another general election, but the judicial review will still be undecided," said Hinca. Nonetheless, Hinca said a group of media observers were now drafting documents to file a judicial review against the "repressive regulations". The KPI filed a judicial review on the previous regulations to the Supreme Court in July, but it remains unclear when a verdict would be delivered. Source: The Jakarta Post website, Jakarta, in English 5 Dec 05 (via BBCM via DXLD) ** INTERNATIONAL INTERNET. Satellite radio or internet radio I've been reading with interest about the opening up of the two satellite services here in Canada. And yet I wonder if in the long it is worth it for me. I've heard some samples of what's available on satellite radio and I've listened to the programming when I get the chance in the U.S. To my ears it's "same old, same old". Unless what I've sampled is for some reason not typical I don't see that satellite is offering anything really new. I very rarely ever listen to "standard" radio anymore (AM or FM) unless I'm in the car. When I'm at my computer I always listen to internet radio. The reason being is that I can finally hear music that steps outside the bounds of general programming. I'm not knocking general or top 40 type programming. To each their own. I'm a part time musician and I have varied musical tastes to say the least. I'm sure I'm not the only one out there who finds that present radio programming does not suit their tastes. Where else can you hear Hammond B-3 (organ) music 24/7? Or surf music, or various genres of jazz that don't get much airplay on local jazz stations like CJRT? Or 60's psychedelia, or wall to wall Glenn Miller, or tunes only from the 20's, or music from the Middle Ages, etc. etc. etc.? For me I've found more than I can ever hope to listen to in the time available to me during the day. I've heard songs by bands that you will never hear on commercial radio. To some extent it's like CFNY or CHUM-FM used to be during the early days of underground FM radio back in the 60's when DJ's pretty much did their own programming. If a band came out with a new album you could hear the whole album. Now of course, individually these internet radio stations are narrow in their type of programming, but there are so many of them available that it's an easy matter to switch from one to the other. It's just a matter of loading up bookmarks into Winamp or some other type of program. And by far the majority of these internet stations are run by ordinary folks like you or me, except they must have a huge music library. They're playing what they like. This is where you will hear the "other" songs off that album. Most are streaming with CD or near CD quality, but not all are. Some services are free while others are free with some advertising, unless you pay a fee for ad free programming. However I have to say that so far what advertising I've heard is nowhere near as heavy as it is on commercial radio. Of course there are many other types of internet stations other than music, but this becomes an added bonus. No, it's not as portable as AM/FM radio or satellite radio. At least not as far as I know. You are still tied to your computer. However if you're looking for music that is outside the box then I don't see what other alternative there is. Satellite radio might have hundreds of channels but this is compared to internet radio with literally thousands of channels. For me this has been the first time in a long time, at least since the early days of underground FM radio, that I've once again been able to listen to music that you just can't hear anywhere else. I just don't see satellite radio filling that requirement anytime soon. In fact compared to local radio programming I can, at times, find more varied programming even on the short wave bands. It's amazing what you year in the way of music coming out of "such and such" a country. I expect that commercial stations are indeed taking a hit. I just wonder how many others are out there like me who have pretty much gone to internet radio. Oddly enough, having internet radio has not diminished my short wave listening. There is still much to be heard out there, and of course there is still the thrill of "the chase" when trying to log those hard to get stations. I'm still fascinated by the local music coming from various places such as Albania, or the Pacific islands, or wherever. And oddly enough, I prefer to listen to these broadcasts over SW as opposed to the internet, even with all the drawbacks of SW listening versus nice clean armchair copy over the internet. Go figure. Once again, SW is a source of programming you will probably never hear on local radio. So, that's my 2 cents worth, which is probably all it's worth !! Just thinking out loud as I'm reading these posts about satellite radio. Cheers, (John VE3CXB, Dec 4, ODXA via DXLD) Hi John, I'm kind of thinking the same way about satellite radio. I'm just not interested because what I really want to hear is already available elsewhere. Please correct me if I'm wrong here because I'm not too familiar with how satellite radio runs, but, it`s radio. Radio already gets its money from advertising. Why would I pay to have a service so I can listen to commercials?? I think I'll stick with listening to pirates, world band radio, the CBC, and some of the stuff on the net. At least I can get it without having to pay to hear commercials (Gary Veraldi, Canada, ibid.) John & Gary: Good comments. A point of clarification for Gary's benefit: All satellite music channels carry no commercials, so that takes away one of your objections. All public radio channels, like their on-air bretheren, also have no ads --- at least the seven public radio channels on Sirius' USA service (you Canadians only have four public radio channels in your newly-launched Sirius service). Ads primarily appear on non-public talk radio channels or sports audio channels. You are correct -- if you're at home, and have a suitable Internet connection, you can probably find most (but not all) all programming of interest in the various live and on-demand webcasts that exist, along with shortwave and other listening pastimes. However, if you're mobile, the situation changes. Unless you care to put together audiocassettes / CD-RWs / MP3 files of interest, satellite radio gives you something else to listen to other than terrestrial radio, and also can bring elements of serendipity when a particular channel plays something in a genre of interest that you might not have thought to seek out on the web. Satellite radio also gives you mobile listening to news analysis programming that would soon be "stale" if you were to grab it from the web for portable listening. For example, I enjoy listening to BBC's "The World Today" at 6 PM while I'm on my 45-minute drive home from work. Admittedly, if you live in an Eastern Time Zone Canadian metro area, you already can get your fill of CBC R1 and probably R2 -- the only advantage Sirius provides in that regard is that the airtimes of Sirius CBC R1 programming, except for "Cross Country Checkup", are different from what you'll hear off the air. If: - you don't spend much time in a car, - have a broadband Internet connection at home, and - have a wireless FM transmitter hooked to your "line out" or "speaker out" jacks to make web listening portable, then you probably won't enjoy satellite radio as much as those of us who travel more extensively do. When WiMAX wireless technology becomes more pervasive and more affordable, and car "radios" are set up to obtain streaming audio via WiMAX Internet connections, then satellite radio will become obsolete for those living in urban areas. My two cents, as a Sirius (USA) owner, a shortwave fan, and a webcast enthusiast (Richard Cuff / Allentown, PA USA, ibid.) ** INTERNATIONAL VACUUM. CBC's "The Lab" We had speculated upon seeing the schedule for the CBC Radio One Sirius stream as to what the program "The Lab" might be about. Most of that speculation presumed science and technology. Au contraire! "The Lab" is an experimental program, alright. It's been developed specifically for the Sirius stream, so won't be heard (at least for now) anywhere else. "The Lab" refers to a *radio* lab, a place for experimentation with radio and the audio genre in general. This will apparently be done both conceptually and aurally, both as to form and substance -- judging from the first program that aired this weekend which included an attempt to create a new game and an examination of why the "f__" word was so taboo and is apparently less so today. "The Lab" airs on Sirius channel 137 on Sundays 0905 UTC, Mondays 0005 and 1005, Tuesdays 1105 and 1905. Wednesdays 0405 (John Figliozzi, DX LISTENING DIGEST) see also INTERNATIONAL INTERNET above ** INTERNATIONAL WATERS [and non]. Death of Ted Allbeury, Radio 390 Today's Times has an obituary for Ted Allbeury who died on December 4th, aged 88; the section on Radio 390 reads: In 1965 the [Allbeury's PR] company was involved in promoting a pirate radio station, King Radio, which broadcast from a disused fort in the Thames Estuary. Allbeury decided that a different approach entirely was needed, so he bought out the shareholders, changed the format to sweet music aimed at women and named it Radio 390, from the wavelength on which it broadcast. It was immediately successful, as was Allbeury's own weekly programme of nostalgic music, Red Sands Rendezvous. This he compiled in the living room of his house in Chelsea, and despite the King's Road traffic clearly audible in the background he received many fan letters saying how brave it was of him to go out in all weathers to the fort. Radio 390's last broadcast was on August 15, 1967, when, along with all the other pirate radio stations, it was closed under the Marine Offences Act. He stood for election in 1968 as Liberal candidate for Petersfield, but narrowly lost. He returned to PR. Full obituary: http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,60-1904483,00.html (Mike Barraclough, Dec 5, DX LISTENING DIGEST) See also LITHUANIA ** IRAN. 4610, bubble jammer; here with big signal 0300+ 4 December, 2005. No audible Voice of Iranian Kurdistan or whatever the target was (Terry L Krueger, Clearwater, Florida, USA, 27.55.83 N, 82.46.08 W, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ISRAEL. Surprised to hear Kol Israel not only on 7545 but // 7520 at 2208 UT Dec 4. Per sked in EiBi, 7545 is Hebrew from 2100 onwards while 7520 is in Russian until off at 2200; half an hour later, tho, 7520 was gone. BTW, IBA was concerned about QRM from WEWN 7540 to their 7545 after 2300 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ITALY. Rai`s squealing transmitter to NAm noted on 21520 at 1503 Sunday Dec 4, // 21550 which was weaker and not squealing as far as I could discern (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ITALY [non]. MediaLine Radio: Current edition (3 December 2005) IS now available on-demand at http://medialineradio.com This edition includes: * Media news. * Repairs to the US space shuttle. * An episode of the classic American radio programme, Suspense. * The shape of space-time around Earth? The next airings of MediaLine Radio are as follows: Saturday 10 December, 1400 UT, http://mp3.nexus.org Saturday 10 December, 2000 UT, http://mp3.nexus.org and 5775 kHz The programme also airs via WorldFM, Tawa, New Zealand http://www.worldfm.co.nz (Henry Brice, MediaLine Radio, Dec 5, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** KERGUELEN ISLAND. FT5XO VIDEO IS OUT! James, 9V1YC, informed OPDX this past week that the FT5XO Kerguelen DVD is finished and is now available at the following Web page at: http://www.dxvideos.com/ft5xovideo.htm What a great Christmas gift for DXers! Witness the Microlite Penguins DXpedition team leave home for 6 weeks and travel to this icy, windswept island aboard the famous R/V Braveheart. Sailing to new extremes in the South Indian Ocean, and again using the "low power- vertical antenna" approach, join the Microlite Penguins DXpedition team as they battle through the seas and the pileups from yet another remote Antarctic destination! Video is digitally filmed and edited, and mastered to Digital Betacam in Stereo. Look for OPDX to publish a review on the DVD as soon as it is received (Tedd Mirgliotta, KB8NW/OPDX/BARF80 via Dave Raycroft, ODXA via DXLD) ** KOREA NORTH [non]. "RUSSIA", 5890, "Shiokaze" broadcast via Irkutsk (?) Dec. 4, 05 *1430-1459*. Noted with piano melody at sign-on, opening talks in Japanese, followed with a program of talks. Did note at 1440 a partial list of names, such as Koyoto, Matsiyama. Signal gradually improved from a fair to fair plus level, by the sign-off. At sign-off noted the piano melody as sign-off melody (which was also played during the entire program in a very low keyed audio). The Piano music went off the air at 1459; then 20 seconds later another program came on, this time an interval signal similar to 'What a friend we have in Jesus', (played once) into very short orchestra melody, followed opening announcements but cut in mid-sentence (carrier gone) at 1500:20. Seems rather strange that another station came on; anyone else notice this? (Edward Kusalik, Alberta, CANADA, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Switching error; let`s see, that would be FEBA IS, I believe. Inconvenient not to have an easy way to look up all these hymn-tune ISes as used to be possible in WRTH. Well, it still is in some cases, e.g. ARMENIA, verbally described, not notationally (gh, DXLD) ** KOREA SOUTH. Re KBS World Radio scheduled at 0700-0800 in Spanish to Eu on 13670: A eso me permito comentarles que aquí en el norte de Suecia no capto la emisión de las 0700-0800 en 13670, sino en 9640 kHz. No es tan fuerte con las emisiones en alemán y francés para Europa que las capto en 15210, pero ahí está. En 13670 no oigo sino una emisión de la república popular de China (Henrik Klemetz, Dec 5, condig list via DXLD) ** LIBYA [and non]. PROTEST TO LIBYA AFTER SATELLITES JAMMED Special report: foreign affairs David Hencke and Owen Gibson Saturday December 3, 2005 The Guardian http://politics.guardian.co.uk/foreignaffairs/story/0,11538,1656915,00.html British and US diplomats have protested to the Libyan government after two international satellites were illegally jammed, knocking off air dozens of TV and radio stations serving Britain and Europe and disrupting American diplomatic, military and FBI communications. Among stations hit were digital broadcasts by Five, BBC World, CNN International, US sports channels, cable TV networks and 23 radio stations. According to an email sent by one of the satellite owners, Loral Skynet, the US state department said it "would take it into their own hands" unless the interference stopped. Last night the Foreign Office confirmed it had raised the issue in talks between the British embassy in Tripoli and the Libyan government. Ofcom, the telecoms regulator, said it was considering taking a complaint to the International Telecoms Union. The jamming started on September 19 after the launch in London of a small British and Arab-owned commercial radio station broadcasting on human rights and freedom of speech issues to Libya. Ten minutes after the station - initially known as Sout Libya - went on air a transponder carrying the station was jammed for 50 minutes along with other stations. The jamming stopped when Sout Libya stopped broadcasting. The station relaunched as Sowt Alamel, this time through a new satellite called Telstar 12. As a precaution, the broadcasts were sent to the US first, and then beamed up to Telstar, making it impossible for anybody to jam it, except from America. Yet the moment it went on air, the jamming started again, knocking out the other stations without affecting Sowt Alamel. An anonymous email sent to a company which helped the station said: "We can tell you we know the reason for these problems, it is the presence of the so called 'ALAMAL' radio Audio channel on your satellite. This channel broadcasts terrorist propaganda, intended to spread terrorist ideas amongst the listeners mindes [sic]." The station has now voluntarily agreed to suspend its service. Its director, Jalal Elgiathi, said: "Our radio station had commercial advertising and altogether we have lost £250,000." Last night 10 parliamentary questions were tabled by Andrew Mackinlay, Labour MP for Thurrock and a member of the Commons foreign affairs committee. "We need a full explanation of what has happened and whether Britain has insisted as part of its trade talks with the Libyans that it respected international law." Industry sources confirmed that Five had lost its signal from the satellite, but said that the situation had been "quite quickly resolved". Other broadcasters were unaware their channels were affected. A BBC World spokeswoman said: "We're consulting with our cable and satellite partners in the region to clarify the situation." (via Media Network blog via DXLD) ** LITHUANIA. The planned test transmission of the UK-based netradio Radio 390 http://www.radio390.org --- which was indicated in recent releases from the station --- will take place in the Xmas night from 24 to 25 December between 2200 and 0200 UT on 1386 kHz. The relay will be provided by Radio Baltic Waves International; the transmitter will be a 50 kW outlet in Giruliai near Klaipeda, leased from the national transmitter network operator LRTC (Bernd Trutenau, ibid., MWDX yg via DXLD) see also INTERNATIONAL WATERS [non] ** MALAYSIA. Thansayan on holiday radio programming http://www.star-ecentral.com/news/story.asp?file=/2005/12/4/tvnradio/12731280&sec=tvnradio (via Kim Elliott, DXLD) An Islamic state, howcum Xmas matters? (gh) ** MARKET REEF. OJ0B AND OJ0J NOW QRT. The Market Reef DXpdition is now over. The radio operations terminated on November 29th at 0400z, with 12,166 QSOs in the log. OPDX readers are encouraged to visit the following Web page to read the story and view the pictures by Martti Laine, OH2BH. The Web URL is: http://www.kolumbus.fi/oh2bn/pagemarket.htm (Tedd Mirgliotta, KB8NW/OPDX/BARF80 via Dave Raycroft, ODXA via DXLD) ** MAURITANIA. Hello Glenn, I confirm that I listened to 7245 Radio Mauritania with the same transmission through 4845 kHz last 14th November. Unfortunately I can’t understand the Arab language well, but on both transmitters was speaking the same voice (OM), the same music!! What can be wrong in this question? Thanks Kai Ludwig, and Carlos Gonçalves for your explanations. Thanks, and 73s, (Rudolf Grimm, São Bernardo, SP, BRASIL, Rx: Kenwood R-1000, Sony ICF 7600G+GR, Ant.: LW 22m, Degen DE31, Vert. 2.7 m (indoor), Vert. 6 m, RGP-3 (amplif.), DZ-45, http://www.radioways.cjb.net http://www.ondascurtas.com DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** NEPAL. RADIO LISTENERS' CLUBS TO PROTEST AGAINST BAN Radio Listeners' Clubs have announced that they would launch a protest programme against the government ban on broadcasting of Human Rights Education Programme on Radio Nepal. The programme is produced and broadcast by Informal Sector Service Centre (INSEC) and had stopped airing from November 12. The meeting of the National Council of the Human Rights Education Radio Listeners' Club in Dhulikhel on Saturday announced they would launch a phase-wise protest programme against the government ban. About 1150 Radio Listeners' Clubs in 73 districts are going to protest against the government's decision. According to protest programme schedule, listeners will tie black band on their hands on December 10 and inform the UN Commission for Human Rights on January 21, regarding this issue. The council meeting also welcomed the extension of unilateral ceasefire announced by the Maoists and requested the government to reciprocate the move. After the meeting, Subodh Raj Pyakurel, president of INSEC said: "People have to get information; it's their rights. Radio Nepal banned the broadcasting of programme but we will air programmes in other FM Radio stations." Kundan Aryal, INSEC general secretary said, "People's right to expression has been violated and it is necessary to protest against this." Human Rights Education Programme was being aired in Radio Nepal since January 21, 1995. Radio Sagarmatha FM and Sworgadwari FM were also airing the same programme. THE HIMALAYAN TIMES PUBLICATION, December 4, 2005 (via Sergei Sosedkin, IL, dxldyg via DXLD) ** NETHERLANDS. Looking at the next week`s preview mailer, I see they still haven`t got the Friday 1900 airing of docu in there, and I assume other such offday repeats missing. If I were Canadian, I would also take offence at the target areas invariably being specified as various parts of the USA. 73, (Glenn to Andy Sennitt, via DXLD) FYI, I'm told that officially we are only broadcasting to the US and not Canada on shortwave, as we have nationwide coverage in Canada via the CBC Overnight service. Indeed, most of the listener response I have seen from Canada comes from that, not from shortwave. I personally doubt that our English service has more that a few hundred people listening on shortwave in Canada. But we have never, to my knowledge, received any complaints about the newsletter. The technical schedule does say "North America" and that's the way it will stay (Andy Sennitt, to gh, via DXLD) Canada. Maybe so --- but you`d think ``primetime`` SW broadcasts would outweigh middleofthenight CBC relays (and subject to 2-month interruptions) as far as numbers of listeners. Or I would. Maybe my thinking is wishful. You (or I) would think still including Canada along with the US would be good PR, whatever the hypothetical numbers. Checked HFCC for 6165 and I see zones 2, 3 and 4 are in there (Glenn Hauser, to Andy Sennitt, via DXLD) Please ask for reactions to be cc'd to letters @ rnw.nl Too often, I see debates in DXLD and elsewhere which would be much more effective if they reached the people controlling the matters being debated :-) (Andy Sennitt, DX LISTENING DIGEST) [in reply to earlier letter to rnw.nl:] HI Glenn, Unfortunately we do not include every repeat of every programme in every area in the email newsletter, or it would become very unwieldy. The information is all contained on the website... however, this 24 hour document might be of use to you. Let me know what you think - perhaps we can include it somewhere on the website. Regards, (Kathy Clugston, RN, via DXLD) The RN 24-hour English program schedule xls grid is now in the dxldyg files; let me know if you can open it. Keep in mind that it includes hours when there are no SW broadcasts. Here`s a condensed version of the grid so it will fit here; note it details shifted start times around half-hour, but not actual :02 start-times of Amsterdam Forum, and other shows at hourtop? * means day of first airing: (gh) UT Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat Sun 1000 Newsline Newsline Newsline Newsline Newsline SatConx* AmsFrm* 1027 ResFile* Euquest* Docu* DuHrz GLife* VoxHum* 1100 Euquest GLife DuHrz* ResFile Docu DuHrz VoxHum 1130 ResFile* Euquest* Docu* DuHrz GLife* VoxHum* Docu 1200 Newsline Newsline Newsline Newsline Newsline SatConx* AmsFrm* 1227 ResFile* Euquest* Docu* DuHrz GLife* VoxHum* 1300 Newsline Newsline Newsline Newsline Newsline SatConx* AmsFrm* 1329 ResFile* Euquest* Docu* DuHrz GLife* VoxHum* 1400 Newsline Newsline Newsline Newsline Newsline SatConx* VoxHum 1430 ResFile* Euquest* Docu* DuHrz GLife* VoxHum* Docu 1500 Euquest GLife DuHrz* ResFile Docu DuHrz AmsFrm* 1530 Newsline Newsline Newsline Newsline Newsline SatConx* 1600 ResFile* Euquest* Docu* DuHrz GLife* VoxHum* Docu 1630 Euquest GLife DuHrz* ResFile Docu DuHrz VoxHum 1700 ResFile* Euquest Docu* DuHrz GLife* VoxHum* Docu 1730 Euquest GLife DuHrz* ResFile Docu DuHrz VoxHum 1800 Newsline Newsline Newsline Newsline Newsline SatConx* AmsFrm* 1827 ResFile* Euquest* Docu* DuHrz GLife* VoxHum 1900 Euquest GLife DuHrz* ResFile Docu DuHrz VoxHum 1930 Newsline Newsline Newsline Newsline Newsline SatConx* Docu 2000 ResFile* Euquest* Docu* DuHrz GLife* VoxHum AmsFrm* 2030 Newsline Newsline Newsline Newsline Newsline SatConx* 2100 Newsline Newsline Newsline Newsline Newsline SatConx* AmsFrm* 2127 ResFile* Euquest* Docu* DuHrz GLife* VoxHum* 2200 Newsline Newsline Newsline Newsline Newsline SatConx* AmsFrm* 2229 ResFile* Euquest* Docu* DuHrz GLife* VoxHum* 2300 Newsline Newsline Newsline Newsline Newsline SatConx* AmsFrm* 2329 ResFile* Euquest* Docu* DuHrz GLife* VoxHum* UT Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat Sun Mon 0000 Newsline Newsline Newsline Newsline Newsline SatConx* AmsFrm* 0027 ResFile* Euquest* Docu* DuHrz GLife* VoxHum* 0100 Newsline Newsline Newsline Newsline Newsline SatConx* AmsFrm* 0127 ResFile* Euquest* Docu* DuHrz GLife* VoxHum* 0200 Euquest GLife DuHrz* ResFile Docu DuHrz VoxHum 0230 ResFile* Euquest* Docu* DuHrz GLife* VoxHum* Docu 0300 Euquest GLife DuHrz* ResFile Docu DuHrz VoxHum 0330 ResFile* Euquest* Docu* DuHrz GLife* VoxHum* Docu 0400 Newsline Newsline Newsline Newsline Newsline SatConx* AmsFrm* 0427 ResFile* Euquest* Docu* DuHrz GLife* VoxHum* 0500 Newsline Newsline Newsline Newsline Newsline SatConx* AmsFrm* 0527 ResFile* Euquest* Docu* DuHrz GLife* DuHrz 0600 Euquest GLife DuHrz* ResFile Docu VoxHum VoxHum 0630 ResFile* Euquest* Docu* DuHrz GLife* DuHrz Docu 0700 Newsline Newsline Newsline Newsline Newsline SatConx* AmsFrm* 0727 ResFile* Euquest* Docu* DuHrz GLife* VoxHum 0800 Euquest GLife DuHrz* ResFile Docu DuHrz Docu 0830 Newsline Newsline Newsline Newsline Newsline SatConx* AmsFrm* 0900 ResFile* Euquest* Docu* DuHrz GLife* VoxHum* 0930 Euquest GLife DuHrz ResFile Docu DuHrz VoxHum (via Kathy Clugston, RN, edited by gh for DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** OKLAHOMA. Glenn, Since you live near/in Enid, Oklahoma, I need to know if KFXY (ex KFNY) has changed format. This morning I heard a station underneath AM-1640 KDZR Radio Disney, with the following slogan and ID's: '1640 The Storm' and 'SportingNews Radio' / Sports Authority 1640 'The Storm' with all sports coverage. This was heard on an indoor Loop (cut for the X-band) on the directional path SSE by NNW, in the null of KDZR. Can you shed some light if this is KFXY with this format. Thank you on this clarification (Edward Kusalik, VE6EFK, DX'er since 1965, Dec 4, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Edward, KFXY has always been with Fox Sports (since the call change from KFNY). As for the specific slogans, I can`t say since I can`t stand to listen to them, but it seems likely. There is some team around here known as Oklahoma Storm, I believe. While typing this I did tune it in at 2238 and heard a ``Sporting News Radio`` jingle, probably from network, and then ``1640 The Score`` (not Storm). 73, (Glenn to Edward, via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** OKLAHOMA [and non]. Has anyone noticed the new application that would move KEOR 1110 AM to Catoosa and change the frequency to 1120? Obviously with KMOX the chances of getting nighttime coverage are about like the chances of 50 Cent being added to KXOJ's playlist... So I guess the question is --- is it worth buying a station in Atoka, Oklahoma, spending a million dollars or so to move it, just so Tulsa can have another daytimer? Would the sale of the station bring in enough money to justify buying and moving it. It almost seems like you would maybe do a little better than breaking even after the paperwork and the cost of a two tower array. And then who in the Tulsa market would want a 1kw daytimer, and what format is not already there that would bring in the billings necessary to pay for the station --- But I of course could just be seeing the glass as half empty (MediaMogul Dec 2, radio-info.com Oklahoma board via DXLD) This is being done to get KCLE 1140 in Cleburne TX closer to the Dallas/Ft. Worth market on 1110. KEOR will be moved to 1120 Catoosa, and KJSA Mineral Wells, TX will be shuffled to a Minneapolis suburb on 1200 if First has its way (Kent, ibid.) ** PERU. 4385.7, RADIO VISION. Chiclayo. 2340-0130 Dic. 3. Ex- Radio Imperio. Reactivada esta frecuencia luego de varios meses fuera del aire; ahora identificándose como Radio Visión. Anuncia onda media en 1350 kHz presentando el programa Cancionero Andino. "... Desde la ciudad de la amistad transmite Radio Visión 1350 amplitud modulada..." Pero igualmernte que Radio Imperio, luego de las 0100 con programación evangélica de la Iglesia Pentecostal la Cosecha (Rafael Rodríguez R., Bogotá - Colombia, condiglist via DXLD) ** PERU. 5460.28, Radio Emisora Bolivar, La Libertad, 0059-0102, Nov 28, Spanish, musical program, comments by man announcer, ID "en Radio Bolivar..", 24322 (Nicolás Eramo, Argentina, Location: Lat: 34º34'49S Long: 58º32'26W = Villa Lynch, Prov. Buenos Aires, Argentina; Receivers: Icom IC-R75, Kenwood R-2000, Sony ICF 2010; Antennas: T2FD with balun 3.1, V Inverted 15 mts with balun, 1.1 V Inverted 11 mts with balun, 1.1 Longwire 15 metros; Others: MFJ-959B Receiver Antenna Tuner/Preamplifier, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** PERU. 12230 kHz, Radio Unión (2 por 6115) 2017 UT 25 Nov, OM px ``La Hora Industrial`` / entrevista. OM (resumido) dice que está vía el canal 51 (la señal 12230 kHz fue verificada con 880 kHz AM); posteriormente con 51 UHF UAP-TV, sólo vi puntitos debido a mi antena TV. Así como la frequencia 6115 en el aire con el programa. Ewe (Gutiérrez, Perú, Conexión Digital via DXLD) ** PUERTO RICO. Venezuela bans horse-racing broadcasts, so hear them from WGIT 1660 instead: see VENEZUELA [non] ** RUSSIA. Some Russian "GTRK" info --- Since 14th Nov, GTRK-Sakhalin (Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk) services Korean program on 279 kHz every Monday from 0810 till 0900 UT. Audio sample: http://tomsk-7.hp.infoseek.co.jp/index_e.html According to monitoring in November/December, GTRK-Kamchatka on 6075/180 kHz has carried own local program as; (Su-Th) 1810-1900, 1910-2000 (Fr,Sa) 2210-2300 (Mo-Fr) 0100-0200, 0600-0700 (Sa,Su) 0010-0100 produced by Koryak Av. Okrg. (Palana) (Tu) 2010-2100 (Mo-Fr) 0100-0110, 0600-0610 (local news, both irregularly) According to monitoring in November/December, GTRK-Dal'nevostochnaya (Khabarovsk) on 153 kHz has carried own local program as; (Mo-Th) 2010-2100 (Su-Th) 2110-2200 (Sa) 0010-0100 (Mo-Th) 0257-0310 (Mo-Fr) 0400-0500 Local opening announcement has been carried at 1959 with national anthem, and many few-minutes local programs are broadcasted at before every o'clock, or after every 10 minutes. 73 & FB DXing! (Kenji Takasaki in Mie pref, JAPAN, w/JRC NRD-545/535D/525/515, Dec 5, HCDX via DXLD) ** SENEGAL [non]. 17860, West Africa Democracy Radio, 0945 UT here in Eastern Australia Sydney, heard fair to good level in English then French 1000 UT via Merlin WOF. 3/12/05. Regards (John Wright, NSW, ripple via DXLD) So they have already expanded, not waiting until January and website does say ``12000 kHz de 7H00 à 9H00, 17860 kHz de 9H00 à 11H00 GMT`` --- but what about additional 15260 at 0700? (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** SOMALIA. A Canadian-Somali connection in Africa courtesy of the British Broadcasting Corporation's website ``Life amid Mogadishu's ruins`` http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/africa/3629671.stm The media sector is thriving in Somalia and this is due to financing from wealthy Somalis living abroad. Ahmed Abdisalam . . . Aden is the manager of the FM station known as HornAfrik and is Canadian trained. His goal is to make the FM station one of the best in the region. The media has to walk a fine line between airing legitimate grievances and invoking the ire of the many warlords in the country (Dr John Barnard, AB, Signals Unlimited, Dec CIDX Messenger via DXLD) [and non]. SOMALIA: BEWARE OF PIRATE SOS CALLS Pirates on the not-so-high seas are using phony distress calls to lure unsuspecting victims. According to the San Diego Union Tribune, the pirates operating off the coast of Somalia are known to send out S-O-S messages pretending that they have a problem and ask anyone hearing the signal to come to assist them. When the rescue boat arrives the law-breakers board it at gunpoint and hold anyone on board for ransom. Three well organized pirate groups are known to be operating with impunity off Somalia's 1,880 mile coastline. That African nation has had no effective government since opposition leaders ousted a dictatorship in 1991 and then turned on each other, leaving the nation of 7 million a patchwork of warlord fiefdoms. Hams and SWL's in Africa might want to keep their ears open for distress called and report them to local authorities (W6VR, published news reports via ARNewsLine via Vernon Ikeda, Ham Radio Report, Dec CIDX Messenger via DXLD) ** SOUTH AFRICA. THE SABC - 70 YEARS OF BROADCASTING By: Gab Mampone There are few mediums other than radio that have done more to advance the concept of the global village over the last 100 years. From the wireless telegraph invented by the father of radio, Guglielmo Marconi, at the beginning of the 20th century, major technological and scientific developments have today entrenched radio firmly in the space age, with extraterrestrial satellite transmissions, Digital Audio Broadcasting (DAB), Digital Radio Mondiale (DRM), web casting, as well as broadcasting to visual radio instead of traditional FM (Frequency Modulation) broadcasting. Historical firsts and the origins of the SABC From the first use of military wireless in the world by the army of the Transvaal Republic in the Anglo-Boer War in the 1900s, radio was revealed for the first time to the general public at the Great Empire Exhibition in 1922. The country's first radio station, 'JB Calling', began broadcasting in Johannesburg on the 1st of July 1924, followed by a second Cape Town-based station in 1924 and another in Durban in the same year. These three stations later combined to form the African Broadcasting Corporation on the 1st of April 1927. In 1936, the African Broadcasting Company was dissolved and the South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) was established by an Act of Parliament as the new public service broadcaster which in 2006, will proudly celebrate 70 years in broadcasting. . . [much more] http://www.bizcommunity.com/Article/196/59/8771.html (via Alokesh Gupta New Delhi, India, dxldyg via DXLD) I guess it is politically incorrect now to refer to it as SAUK, but how do you say SABC in Xhosa, Zulu? (gh, DXLD) ** U K. re 5-207: Actually BBC Bengali service has made some seminar / road show in some selected cities of Bangladesh on various topics. This live programme goes on air after regular current affairs programme at 1330-1400 UT. The transmission is hosted by BBC representative & some guests. The programme will continue till mid January '06. It has no link with next year Bangladesh parliamentary election. Reception on 7520 kHz is too weak. //9395 is good in target area. 73s, (Swopan Chakroborty, Kolkata, India, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Temporary extra frequencies for BBC Bengali Service. 4 December 2005 --- There is a live debate now broadcast by BBC Bengali Service on every Thursday and Friday from their Dhaka Studio in Bangladesh. The debate is on various issues on Bangladesh. This is available on additional frequencies on SW. The schedule is as follows: Every Thursday till 19th January 2006: 1330-1500 7520 9395 kHz every Friday till 6th January 2006: 1330-1430 7520 9395 kHz. The first 30 min of the broadcast can also be heard on regular daily frequencies 7225 7430 11835 kHz. (Alok Dasgupta via dxasia.info) (via Alokesh Gupta, New Delhi, India, dxldyg via DXLD) ** U K. BBC'S FLAGSHIP TECHNOLOGY PROGRAMME SAYS DAB COMPLAINANTS ARE CANINES --- From BBC News 24's self described flagship technology programme, Click Online: Chantal Cooke: "It is technically true that DAB is not as good a quality as CD, but I defy you to hear the difference, unless perhaps you are a dog." They also claim the sound quality is better than FM but make no mention of bit rates; now the DAB lobby has stopped making claims about sound quality following the Advertising Standards Authority ruling they have decided to use the BBC to effectively advertise their misleading claims. Full programme at http://www.bbcworld.com/content/template_clickonline.asp?pageid=666&co_pageid=3 (Mike Barraclough, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. To be reminded every hour of a long delayed leap-second coming at 2359:60 Dec 31, listen to WWV at :04-:05 past any hour (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. Dave Frantz of WWRB should be pleased to hear that WEWN has already left 5085! Now their posted schedule, still erroneously dated effective Oct 30, http://www.ewtn.com/radio/freq.htm shows 6875 at 0000-0500 in English. WEWN must have got ordered off 5085 just like WWRB was earlier. 6875 might be the unID recently reported on `6870`? BTW, the reason 6875 is available, maybe, for SWBC in the US, is that the VOA once operated a feeder on 6873, so FCC allowed WRMI on 6870 or 6875 a few years back (Glenn Hauser, OK, Dec 4, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. Rather surprised to find VOA Creole to Haiti on two frequencies in the same band now for the 2200-2230 broadcast, noted Dec 4: 9525 and 9670. Surely more frequency diversity would be called for to cover variable propagation conditions, as they are both 250 kW from Greenville, and Haïti is a small target needing only one azimuth. In the A-season there was an 11 MHz frequency. But surprise: per HFCC, 9525 is at 190 degrees and 9670 at 164 degrees! The latter must be closer to Haiti, as 190 is west of due south. Why is Kriyol being broadcast on such an azimuth? For South Florida, perhaps? Surely not: VOA can`t legally target audiences inside the US! The third frequency, 21540, with a satellite delay, is from Delano (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. NEW: Greenville, and VOA, getting harder to hear. One of two VOA (officially International Broadcasting Bureau) shortwave transmitting sites at Greenville, North Carolina, put into caretaker status. DX Listening Digest, 28 November 2005. [5-204]. This depriving Radio/TV Martí of its most effective weapon against Cuban jamming: transmitting on as many shortwave frequencies as possible. Greenville could also reach Armenia, in a pinch. (kimandrewelliott.com Dec 4 via DXLD) Lots more new stuff there now. Well, Martí schedules have been set up to always be on no more and no less than 4 SW frequencies at any one time. Possibly in an emergency invasion more could be added (gh, DXLD) Babis: This morning, the engineer at VOG-Delano put Radio Martí(?) on your frequency of 9775. This lasted for less than 15 minutes until he realized his mistake and put Voice of Greece on the air (John Babbis, MD, to ERT Dec 5, via DXLD) At 1200, I assume (gh, DXLD) ** U S A. There IS a Sunday AWWW Repeat on WBCQ Good news, especially for people whose reception of Allan Weiner WorldWide on 7415 fades out before the program ends (as it did here Friday night in St. Louis, MO): There was a repeat of that Friday's Allan Weiner WorldWide on 7415 Sunday UT 2300 12/4/05 replacing the listed "Creation Nation". There was a brief blank spot right in the middle so I wonder if this was an auto-reversing cassette tape. But those who happened to catch this did hear my dulcet tones during the latter half, in which we discussed that 9330 interference and my holiday recommendation of the ElectroBrand 859 (jWin) radio as a stocking-stuffer (Allan also knew about that radio and concurred). 73, (Will Martin, MO, Dec 5, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. NEW HAMPSHIRE`S SCARCE BROADCASTING Rochester, NH, was assigned 1700 kHz in the x-band, but never used. There's been a plethora of applications and CPs for a new station on 720 in New Hampshire over the past several years, yet it's still nowhere near being on the air. 750 WHEB on the seacoast was once the number one target for DXers until going dark some decades ago. However 720 will be located well inland and probably won't be as widely received if it ever gets on the air. 1010 WNTK is an example of an inland New Hampshire station with 10 kW that just doesn't get out very well. There's really nothing else running any kind of power for DX potential. Part of the problem is that New Hampshire is a state stuck in between major markets. Much of southern New Hampshire is in the Boston market and listens to Boston radio or watches Boston TV. Further north much of the White Mountain region is covered by Portland, Maine, especially for TV. New Hampshire only has one ABC TV affiliate (9 WMUR), one PBS affiliate (11 WENH with relays), a couple Fox TV relays, a Telemundo affiliate (60 WNEU), a PAX affiliate (21), and an independent (50 WZMY "My TV"). NBC, CBS, WB, UPN, Univision, Telefutura, and Daystar television affiliates are all out of Massachusetts or Maine. Southern New Hampshire is a great location for DXing with so few AM radio stations. For those trying to receive New Hampshire it's not a good thing (Bruce Conti - Nashua NH http://members.aol.com/baconti/bamlog.htm ABDX via DXLD) ** U S A. Re: UNID Creole/French station on 1670 --- A comprehensive discussion of this one can be found under "USA" at http://www.worldofradio.com/dxld5204.txt I thought we were all agreed on the name and QTH of this one which is also on the internet (thanks to Jari Savolainen´s research). The ID, Radio Voix Divine, la station de vos rêves, (Radio Divine Voice, the station of your dreams) is in French, not Creole. There is an email address on their site as well as phone numbers so why not try and give them a phone call? Another possibility is to check the program feed on their web site (comes on automatically, beware!) with what is actually being heard on 1670. 73 (Henrik Klemetz, RealDX via DXLD) I thought it was left at "leaning in that direction." I am willing to accept it, but just would like to have others have a chance to listen (Bill Harms, ibid.) Quite right, Bill. Point taken. And thanks for availabilizing the clip on this list. This one is Radio Voix Divine, though. No doubt about it. 73, (Henrik, ibid.) I'm receiving R. Voix Divine here too. 1670 WRDI is no longer on the air as far as I can tell. The WRDI link on the Boston Haitian web sites goes to WRHS Radio Haiti South in Atlanta, Georgia. I've just uploaded an updated list on BAMLog, including a new 1690 in Brockton, and new 102.1 FM and Choice 102.9 info. There's more unidentified FM activity in Boston too (Bruce Conti - Nashua NH, ibid.) Is WRVD really totally in real French? Could be they do their website in French and axually broadcast in Kriyol (gh, DXLD) ** U S A. An updated list of Boston area unlicensed radio stations is uploaded on BAMLog in the Logbook section. It's worth noting the number of new FM stations. 102.1 is identified as Radio Continentale. 98.9 has been heard with continuous zouk music, but so far remains unidentified. 105.3 has been heard with Brazilian jazz music, and it's listed as "105.3 FM Boston" on the website of the Brazil embassy in Washington DC, but remains unidentified. Choice 102.9 now has a website, although it's under construction. 1670 is now WRVD Radio Voix Divine, Mattapan. Apparently 1670 WRDI is off the air, and links to the WRDI website now go to WRHS Radio Haiti South in Atlanta, Georgia. 1690 now has Adventist Radio in Brockton (Bruce Conti - Nashua NH, http://members.aol.com/baconti/bamlog.htm ABDX via DXLD) ** U S A. GLENN WILLIAM MITCHELL SEPTEMBER 28, 1950-NOVEMBER 20, 2005 Glenn Mitchell, host of KERA 90.1's "The Glenn Mitchell Show," and one of the region's best known radio personalities, died early Sunday morning at his Dallas home. He was 55. . . [illustrated, many links] http://www.kera.org/radio/In_Memory/Glenn_Mitchell/ (via Glenn Hauser, DXLD) ** U S A. The KKLF 1700 DX test was heard here in Maryland. I started the recording at 0113 [EST = 0613 UT] and heard numerous code IDs and sweep tones. It was clearly them. There was interference from WEUV, WJCC, and possibly KBGG (Bill Harms, Elkridge, Maryland, R8B, K9AY, 300 foot Longwire, Quantum Phaser, dxldyg via DXLD) Monitored here from start at 0606, but ran past 0615 until at least 0620 when I quit. CW IDs were at two or three different speeds; my companion complained that some of them were too *slow* to copy easily. Generally on top here 400 km away, but it was odd to have ``QRM`` from the regular program audio // KLIF 570, which was NOT also running the test audio. Voice IDs were interspersed as well as the code and sweeps (Glenn Hauser, Enid OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) KKLF test heard in Old Fort, TN; lasted from 0106 to 0130 EST. If the CW got any slower I would have went to sleep. Nothing but Cuba on 570 (Willis Monk, amfmtvdx via DXLD) Heard on a Pioneer DEH-2300 in my wife's Isuzu Oasis: Test commencing right after network news, about 2305 MST, consisting generally of the repeated pattern of medium speed morse code., "DE KKLF KKLF KKLF..." followed by excruciatingly slow morse code, "DE KKLF....", then 15 cycles or so of sweep tones. Wash, rinse repeat. I think I heard a voice announcement at about 2315 MST saying, "KKLF Testing". Test ended at 2330 as Coast-to-Coast went to break. Unfortunately, I couldn't get a recording, because I was driving home from Santa Fe. Wah (Mike Westfall, N6KUY, WDX6O Los Alamos, NM, IRCA via DXLD) I heard the DX test of 1700 KKLF, here in NE Oregon. Here's the email I just sent to Hue Beavers: Hi Hue, I just heard your DX test of 1700 KKLF, from 0606 to 0630 UT, December 4. I was tuned only to 1700 kHz. The signal was very poor to poor, with brief periods of a few seconds to weak level. The sweep tones easily cut through the dominant "talkback weekend" program station; the morse code sometimes was easily heard as well. I used a stopwatch synchronized to WWV's time signal, set to 0600:00 UTC. The following is what I heard. I did not record anything, and do not expect any verification of this, however you may find this report to be useful. Thanks for putting this test on! (Steve Ratzlaff AA7U, Elgin, Oregon (NE Oregon) AR-7030 receiver, 1600' E/W longwire, ibid.) 1700, TEXAS, KKLF, Sherman; 0606-0635 4 December, 2005. Sat on the channel for the DX test. Indeed there from around 0607, mostly alternating Morse Code strings (including "KKLF") with sweep sounders atop what I presume was their programming ("Coast To Coast AM" weekend repeats). Fairly good copy at times, despite the Miami-area Haitian Kreyol and WEUV, Huntsville, AL. Morse and sweeps concluded at 0630 (Terry L Krueger, Clearwater, Florida, USA, 27.55.83 N, 82.46.08 W, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Sherman? Original location and primary listing in NRC AM Log 2005- 2006, and transmitter site? But as of this printing had an application to change city of license to Richardson. And night power from 700 to 1000 watts. Has this been completed now? Sherman is up near the OK border, and Richardson is a Dallas suburb. Hard to imagine a 5 kW station in Dallas on 570 needing a relay that close, but perhaps 1700 fills in a direxional null (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Heard here in central Jersey with sweep tones, slow and fast Morse call IDs. I recorded it and sent in a WAV file. I'm confused about this station: is it the old KTBK, and if so, is it the same transmitter site? I logged KTBK awhile ago and I won't count KKLF if it's the same transmitter. I count transmitter sites, not city-of- license or call letter changes. And, as Barry and Saul point out, WEUV was very loud; conditions to the south seemed good, but they still sound louder than 1 kW (Dave Hochfelder, Highland Park, NJ Drake R8B, Quantum QX Pro, IRCA via DXLD) Then count it. The transmitter moved more than 50 miles south, from the Sherman-Denison area right into the northern end of the Dallas market. s (Scott Fybush, NY, IRCA via DXLD) I guess I'm about the last one to check in but I just finished listening to my overnight recording of 1700 kHz. KKLF DX Test easily heard 0104-0112 EST cutting through WEUV's Gospel music with Morse Code and sweep tones. No voice announcements made it but the sweep tones cut through like a hot knife through butter! (Marc DeLorenzo, South Dennis, Cape Cod, Massachusetts, Dec 4, WTFDA-AM via DXLD) ** U S A. Radio Reading Service of the Rockies has resumed webcasting not one, not two, but three different regional services, which are partially in parallel. Program schedules in MST = UT -7: http://www.rrsr.org/programschedule.php Selected programs from all three streams have been updated in MONITORING REMINDERS CALENDAR. Not included are readings from major and minor newspapers all over Colorado, and a number of national publications. Of particular interest here is HOBBY RADIO, which we have heard in the past reading mostly from MONITORING TIMES, Sat 2130- 2200 on the Denver stream only. Audio links, winamp or jorbis: http://www.rrsr.org/listening_streaming.php Links to many other audio reading services: http://www.iaais.org/hearservices.html (Glenn Hauser, OK, Dec 4, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. PROGRAM DIRECTOR ALWAYS WANTED TO BE "KING-FM GUY" By Melinda Bargreen, Seattle Times music critic KING-FM program director Bryan Lowe values community connections. [caption] Sometimes a departure is just a departure. When KING-FM (98.1) radio announced that program manager Bob Goldfarb was leaving, to be replaced by the station's Bryan Lowe, the arts community was abuzz. Goldfarb's tenure at KING-FM had lasted only a little more than two years, but it had been a controversial period that led to the unhappy departures of two highly popular hosts, George Shangrow and Tom Dahlstrom. . . http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/artsentertainment/2002658652_king04.html (via Northwest Broadcasters via DXLD) ** U S A. ABC-WORLD NEWS TONIGHT New anchor duo named NEW YORK (AP) -- A-B-C News says Elizabeth Vargas and Bob Woodruff are the new co-anchors of "World News Tonight." They replace the late Peter Jennings. A-B-C also says "World News Tonight" will become the first network evening newscast to be broadcast live each night in three time zones (via Brock Whaley, Dec 4, DXLD) Hmmm, what could those be – Eastern, Mountain, and Hawaiian? Naaah, that would make too much sense. No doubt E, C and P, as nobody east of the Hudson give a damn about viewers in the MST zone and their convenience. Charlie Gibson was rumored to be the winner, and he was not discouraging that idea, I read somewhere. Oops (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** VENEZUELA [non]. Diexismo é Hipismo --- Saludos cordiales, queridos colegas diexistas. Espero que se encuentren muy bien. Hoy en Puerto Rico se corrió la Trigésimo Octava edición del Clásico Internacional del Caribe en el Hipódromo El Comandante. Pude escuchar esta carrera a través de WGIT Gigante 1660 con mi súper receptor AM-FM Radio Shack High Performance y mi antena Loop de Radio Shack. Me gustan mucho las carrreras de caballos y no podía perderme esta oportunidad de escuchar el clásico a través de una emisora puertoriqueña, ya que en Venezuela motivado a la Ley Resorte fueron eliminadas todas las transmisiones radiales que tenían que ver con el hipismo. Luego de las 10 de la noche es que se puede hablar de hipismo en las radios y televisoras de Venezuela, pero la emoción al ver y escuchar los resultados en diferido se pierde. Todavía a las 2230 UT estoy siguiendo el programa hípico en el hipódromo El Comandante de Puerto Rico a través de WGIT Gigante 1660. Felicitaciones a Puerto Rico por haber ganado el clásico con el caballo Borrascoso. Atte: (José Elías, Venezuela, Dec 4, Noticias DX via DXLD) UNIDENTIFIED. 14290 kHz Out of Bander!? Indonesian station possibly; had used the words Hari-Hari many times along with some others. Station was quite strong and if my radio had an s-meter it would be around 7-8 73's from (Larry Fields, n6hpx/mm, Indian Ocean west of Java, Nov 3, swl at qth.net via DXLD) You mean a broadcast station? Could be 2 x 7145 but nothing likely listed there, tho it would help to know the time and more details. Or is your receiver subject to 910 kHz images like this listed by EiBi: 15200 1030-1200 GUM KTWR Trans World Radio IN INS (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Glenn and all, I heard this station around 1200 UT and forgot to post the time there; it was quite strong here and if my Sony 7600 GR had an S meter, it would have been around an S-7. The station did not sound like the one on 910 kHz as it was totally different broadcast. Will listen for it tonight again to make sure and will let you know. It was an actual broadcast station (Larry Fields, n6hpx/mm, Dec 5, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ PUBLICATIONS ++++++++++++ WORLD RADIO TV HANDBOOK 2006 Special 60th Edition Available 8 December 2005 World Radio TV Handbook continues to be the guide for the serious radio listener, and this year we are celebrating 60 years of publishing this unique handbook. A special section contains articles on The History of WRTH, 60 Years of Reception, 50 years DXing, 60 Years of Technology, and an important series of interviews on The Future of Radio. WRTH 2006 also the widely-read Digital Radio Update; reviews of the latest equipment, including high-cost portables; fully updated maps; and runs to 704 pages including 96 in full colour. This year we have put all the MW and SW frequency lists together in a new section after the International section, and have added more target countries to the Clandestine & Other Target Broadcasters section. Following a very positive response, we have kept the smoother and whiter paper we first used last year. Order a copy now from our new website at http://www.wrth.com using our secure server. I hope you enjoy using this new edition of WRTH. If you have any comments or updates please send them to me at publisher @ wrth.com 73s Nicholas Hardyman, Publisher, World Radio TV Handbook "World Radio TV Handbook 2005, bible of SW broadcasting community, is as complete as it can possibly be" - Glenn Hauser, WORLD OF RADIO #1256 "This [2005] edition is the best one yet (I have been buying the book, off and on, since the 1960s) It really is indispensable" - Joe Analssandrini, USA "Again this year [2005], I can recommend serious DX-ers to buy this 'DX-ers Bible' ! It is really a MUST" - Anker Petersen, DSWCI (WRTH via Alokesh Gupta, dx_india via DXLD) MINOR FLORIDA LOW POWER RADIO ENHANCEMENT The "Updates" items are now highlighted in red text within the body listings. As each "Update" entry is retired, the respective text will revert to black. This should make it easier and quicker to locate the specific item when you scan down to the frequency in question. Visit my "Florida Low Power Radio Stations" at: http://home.earthlink.net/~tocobagadx/flortis.html or: http://www.geocities.com/geigertree/flortis.html (Terry L Krueger, Clearwater, Florida, Dec 3, DX LISTENING DIGEST) LANGUAGE LESSONS ++++++++++++++++ YEZIDISH, SORBIAN Re 5-207: Armenia: ``1315-1345 Yezidish daily 864, 4810 [Yezidish??]`` Yiddish. I wonder if any other shortwave station besides Kol Israel and Radio Armenia broadcasts in Yiddish? By the way, years ago there was a debate in the German DX scene if Yiddish programs should be included in lists of transmissions in German, since a native German can widely understand Yiddish. A relevant question in as far as Kol Israel will presumably never broadcast in German. Speaking about Radio Armenia: This programming block on 864 and 4810 was originally on 234. Makes me wonder if they shut down the longwave frequency and use the transmitter on mediumwave now, similar to the situation at Grigoriopol (where I understand 1413 to be the former 234 transmitter)? (Kai Ludwig, Germany, Dec 4, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Or maybe not: (gh) I note in DXLD 5-207 that Glenn queries Yezidish. I was not aware that Yezidish was a separate language, but Yezidian is a Kurdish religion. It's described as the religion of peace, nature and humanity, and is said to reflect the essence of the Kurdish philosophy of life. The website http://www.lalish.com explains more about it (Andy Sennitt, Netherlands, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) A good link (interview with the President of the National Union of Yezidi in Armenia which also touches the language question): http://groong.usc.edu/orig/ok-20040916.html http://groong.usc.edu/orig/ok-20040915.html (Bernd Trutenau, ibid.) So the status of the Yezidi as an ethnic group, language, religion is very, very murky (Glenn Hauser, DXLD) WRTH interpreted as Yiddish for the 2005 edition. And never believe descriptions like http://www.lib.utexas.edu/maps/commonwealth/ethnocaucasus.jpg would be comprehensive ... Reminds me on the matter of the Sorbian language here in Germany. Native speakers insist on the existence of Lower Sorbian as separate language which has been denied in the GDR days. They feel not equally represented by the Bautzen-based Domowina organization and also state that their language should be in German called not Niedersorbisch but Wendisch. See also http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lower_Sorbian_language http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Upper_Sorbian_language The figures of total speakers are entirely estimated since no real statistics exist; for the authorities they are just citizens of Germany. For Lower Sorbian the figure of 14,000 speakers is kind of mainstream; some people think that by now zero could be more realistic, but of course declaring Lower Sorbian as dead is out of question. Anyway it lives on in the broadcasts from RBB's Cottbus studio, cf. http://www.rbb-online.de/_/radio/sorbisches_programm/index_jsp.html (note the German wording ``sorbisch/wendisch``). (Kai Ludwig, Germany, Dec 4, DX LISTENING DIGEST) SHORTWAVE AS ART ++++++++++++++++ NUMBERS STATIONS AS ART ARTISTS TRANSMIT THEIR CREATIVITY ON RADIO AIRWAVES Friday, December 02, 2005 By Adrian McCoy, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette A handful of artists are exploring unusual uses for radio waves -- as a creative and expressive medium and as a means of transmitting more than pop music and talk. "MF/fm: (secret) Messages & (cryptic) Communications," billed as a "radio and sound-based event," will illuminate some of the alternate applications for radio technology with a performance and lecture at 7 p.m. tomorrow [0000 UT Sunday Dec 4] at The Mattress Factory. The event runs in conjunction with the museum's ongoing "Messages and Communications" exhibition. The event opens with a lecture on a little known use of shortwave broadcasting. So-called "numbers stations" are shortwave frequencies used by government and intelligence agencies to transmit coded information. Often consisting of repeated numbers or letters or words, the encrypted messages work on several levels: as a mesmerizing sound collage for the casual listener -- and as an uncrackable code. Sound artist Akin Fernández extensively documented some of these transmissions, which were captured by shortwave listeners over the past 30 years, in the four-volume CD "The Conet Project: Recordings of Shortwave Numbers Stations." Fernández, broadcasting live on shortwave [really??? WTFK?] from London, will give the audience a sample of the sounds and will talk about the basics and uses of the numbers stations. Following the lecture is an Interactive Sound Performance featuring three artists from free103point9, along with WRCT-FM DJ Steve Boyle. The group free103point9 is a nonprofit, New York-based organization devoted to the "transmission arts" genre -- radio, citizen's band, walkie-talkie and other forms -- in which artists use sound transmission as a means of creative expression. The performance, titled "Radio 4X4," will be led by three of their artists -- Ángel Nevarez, Valerie Tevere and Tom Roe -- along with WRCT's Boyle. In the collaborative work, four simultaneous sound performances will be broadcast through transmitters placed around the space. The movements of the audience will affect the four signals, creating a unique sound mix. Audio from both the performance and lecture will be streamed live on the group's Web site, http://www.free103point9.org "MF/fm: (secret) Messages & (cryptic) Communications" begins at 7 p.m. tomorrow at the Mattress Factory, 500 Sampsonia Way, North Side. Tickets are $7 ($5 for members, students and seniors). There will be a Family and Youth Workshop with free103point9 artists tomorrow from 1 to 4 p.m. The fee is $5 ($4 for members, students and seniors); registration is required. Information: 412-231-3169 (via Dale Rothert) Hi Glenn, The Mattress Factory is a Pittsburgh art museum. I doubt that I'll get to the exhibit but if I do, I'll send you a follow-up (Dale Rothert, Dec 3, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Check out the website; should be interesting listening elsewhen too (gh, in advance, dxldyg via DXLD) DIGITAL BROADCASTING see also UK ++++++++++++++++++++ We`re into the time of the year of maximum darkness now, and this season that also means maximum IBOC interference. IBOC, standing for In Band On Channel, is the hybrid analog-digital system being introduced in the United States. An IBOC station will transmit digital noise on either side of its nominal frequency – not good for us DXers. Currently IBOC is limited to daylight hours, however stations are allowed to use it from 6:00 am to 6:00 pm if that exceeds the daylight hours, as it does at this time of year. As a result, we`re currently getting a small taste of what to expect when night operation is approved (as I’m sure it will be in some form). The last number I saw was that 536 stations are on the air with the IBOC system. Now, the large majority of those are on FM, but close to 100 MW stations now use the system, so if you`re hearing more hash and less signal this season, that could be why. The most notable impact here has been from the 50 kW powerhouses KSL (1160 Salt Lake City), KFAB (1110 Omaha), and KOA (850 Denver). Their signals are so strong that their digital noise pretty well wipes out the upper and lower adjacent channels (Nigel Pimblett, Dunmore AB, Dec CIDX Messenger via DXLD) RADIO EQUIPMENT FORUM +++++++++++++++++++++ IS THAT AN FM PIRATE, OR JUST XM LEAKAGE? Following is a slightly edited letter from an experienced radio Chief Engineer in Los Angeles. The frequency in the FM band has been changed to "X MHz" for reasons that we cannot disclose at this time. Here, then, is the letter of interest: "I wanted to tell you about an experience I had the other night while commuting home.... somewhat funny. I noticed what first appeared to be yet another pirate operating on X MHz. This apparent pirate was playing 1960s oldies music and was quite strong. "Long story short --- this "pirate" was actually an XM satellite receiver FM modulator, and I happened to be pacing that particular vehicle. It amazed me how far I could hear the FM modulator --- at least 250 feet if not further. This is the second time that this has happened to me while driving around. It would appear that more than one person has programmed their XM FM modulator for X MHz. "I have to wonder if some of the pirate reports from listeners are just XM leakage reports instead. I strongly question whether these XM modulators are Part 15 compliant because they are able to radiate signals over 250 feet...." (CGC Communicator Dec 3 via Kevin Redding, ABDX via DXLD) "THE MOSQUITO" - A DETERRENT TO CROWDS OF ROWDY TEENS Reports of a British inventor's sound-emitting device intended to discourage unwanted teenagers from gathering in convenience store parking lots and elsewhere has resulted in an abundance of interest and favorable press. This follow-up report provides additional details about "The Mosquito," and the negative effect it has on young people who can't stand the irritable 75 decibel sound which is inaudible to most adults. With the Mosquito on duty, it is no longer necessary to blast classical music into a parking lot to horrify hang-out youths. And, with a Mosquito indoors, it's very difficult for kids to shoplift while they have their fingers in their ears. This article is hilarious and inspiring. http://www.azcentral.com/offbeat/articles/1128teenbuzz-ON.html (CGC Communicator Dec 3 via Kevin Redding, ABDX via DXLD) ### ETÓN E1 REVIEW Here is a review of the Eton 1 portable for your enjoyment. After a 3 month wait, I got my Eton 1 portable radio. I ordered it based on its advertised features, size, passband tuning, and synchronous AM detection. The Eton 1 reminds me of another favorite, the Sony 2010 portable in size. It is bigger than the 2010. The size is 13 1/8 inches wide by 7 1/2 inches high and 2 9/16 inches wide. It also uses 4 D Cells for portable power. It comes with a 9 volt AC power supply. However, the instruction manual states it will operate from 7 to 14 volts DC. I am currently using it [with] a marine lead acid battery. I have found using power source not tied to the AC lines helps to reduce noise. The operating manual is provided as printed one with a CDROM with PDF files. This way if manual disappears, one can print out another one. The radio covers long wave, medium wave, shortwave and the FM broadcast band. If one wants to get the optional XM satellite receiver, then one can listen to the satellite broadcast services. But, who wants to listen to satellite when one has shortwave and all its variety. The sensitivity, selectivity and other performance specifications are equivalent to a decent table top communications receiver. The Eton E1 has three selectable filers for AM and single sideband reception, 7, 4 and 2.3 kilohertz. In using the E1, I have found the 7 kilohertz filter is fine for strong signal AM stations. For most shortwave broadcasts, the 4 kilohertz one is the optimum. The 2.3 kilohertz filter is appropriate and provides excellent performance for SSB voice signals. It appears the AM synchronous detection detection is done by digital signal processing. The radio allows the DSP to be used to enhance SSB reception. The DSP works well, but I found the 2.3 kilohertz filter is suitable for my needs. The tuning steps for AM mode is 1, 0.1 and 0.01 kilohertz and for SSB; the steps are 1 and 0.01 kilohertz. The tuning step size is easily set by a front panel button. FM broadcast tuning step is the standard 100 kilohertz. In addition to the tuning knob, there is a "rocker" switch for up/down steps. In AM and SSB modes, the "rocker" switch step is 5 kilohertz and for FM broadcast, 100 kilohertz. The front panel controls are placed nicely. A visually impaired person should be able to use it. The number pad is in telephone format. The switches are spaced for those with big fingers. The knobs are different size. Batteries are inserted from the front, a nice feature that is an improvement over Sony 2010. The passband tuning and AM synchronous detection work as advertised. The AM synchronous detection allows to select upper, lower or double sidebands. It does help to eliminate interfering signals. The passband tuning works well and can help to improve the quality of single sideband signals. The radio when turned off using an external power source and a good antenna attached will try to synchronize with the timing signals of WWV. I offset the clock by a minute from WWV and within a day, the radio clock was in time with WWV. I found one had to use an external antenna and not just the whip. This may be due to my location in the Northeast. The only problem for me is the external antenna jack. The external antenna jack for all bands is an European type PAL cable TV jack. It is not commonly used here. Radio Shack does supply an adapter. It may need to be a special order from the Internet. I had problems with my adapter providing a good connection. I would prefer a BNC, TNC, F type or even a RCA jack to the PAL type. I found a twenty-five [foot?] piece of wire clipped to the whip antenna worked well and eliminated the use of the adapter. The wire does pick up more local noise. From my experience with various portables, a twenty five foot length is optimum for most uses and conditions with the normal whip collapsed. The bottom line for me is the Eton E1 is worth the five hundred dollar price tag. It is excellent for shortwave and FM broadcast listening. It is very good for pirate and other shortwave utility station listening. The radio provides excellent features in a portable package. Enjoy Life, (Greg Majewski, Free Radio Weekly Dec 3 via DXLD) BBC RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT TO LEAVE KINGSWOOD WARREN The BBC's research and development department is to be split up and moved from its current home at Kingswood Warren, the birthplace of landmark technological breakthroughs including high definition TV, digital radio and Nicam stereo. The move - announced to staff this week by the BBC chief technology officer, John Varney - has caused disquiet among some BBC employees working at the rambling neo-gothic mansion house in Surrey that the unique spirit of innovation they have fostered will be lost forever. Around 40 Kingswood Warren employees will be made redundant, a total that the BBC said would be achieved voluntarily, with the remainder split into two new teams. Full article: http://media.guardian.co.uk/newmedia/story/0,7496,1653602,00.html (via Mike Barraclough, BDXD-UK via DXLD) ###