DX LISTENING DIGEST 5-210, December 7, 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 1296: Thu 0900 WOR World FM, Tawa, Wellington, New Zealand 88.2 Thu 2130 WOR WWCR 7465 Thu 2200 WOR World FM, Tawa, Wellington, New Zealand 88.2 Fri 0030 WOR R. Veronica 106.5 Fri 0100 WOR WTND-LP 106.3 Macomb IL Fri 0200 WOR ACBRadio Mainstream [repeated 2-hourly thru 2400] Fri 2000 WOR World FM, Tawa, Wellington, New Zealand 88.2 Fri 2100 WOR RFPI [repeated 4-hourly thru Sat 1700] Sat 0500 WOR VoiceCorps Reading Service, WOSU-FM subcarrier, cable Sat 0900 WOR WRN to Eu, Au, NZ, WorldSpace AfriStar, AsiaStar Sat 0955 WOR WNQM Nashville TN 1300 Sat 1100 WOR WPKN Bridgeport CT 89.5 & WPKM Montauk LINY 88.7 Sat 1530 WOR R. Veronica 106.5 [ex-1700] Sat 1830 WOR WRN to North America [including Sirius Satellite Radio channel 140] Sun 0000 WOR Radio Studio X 1584 http://www.radiostudiox.it/ Sun 0330 WOR WWCR 5070 Sun 0400 WOR WBCQ 9330-CLSB Sun 0600 WOR World FM, Tawa, Wellington, New Zealand 88.2 Sun 0730 WOR WWCR 3215 Sun 0930 WOR WRN to North America, also WLIO-TV Lima OH SAP [including Sirius Satellite Radio channel 140] Sun 0930 WOR KSFC Spokane WA 91.9 Sun 0930 WOR WXPR Rhinelander WI 91.7 91.9 100.9 Sun 0930 WOR WDWN Auburn NY 89.1 [unconfirmed] Sun 0930 WOR KTRU Houston TX 91.7 [occasional] Sun 1400 WOR WRMI 7385 Sun 1400 WOR KRFP-LP Moscow ID 92.5 Sun 1830 WOR WRN1 to North America [including Sirius Satellite Radio channel 140] Sun 2000 WOR RNI Sun 2230 WOR WRMI 7385 [temporarily] Mon 0400 WOR WBCQ 9330-CLSB Mon 0430 WOR WSUI Iowa City IA 910 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 [from Fri]: http://new.wrn.org/listeners/stations/station.php?StationID=24 OUR ONDEMAND AUDIO [also CONTINENT OF MEDIA, MUNDO RADIAL]: http://www.worldofradio.com/audiomid.html or http://wor.worldofradio.org WORLD OF RADIO 1296 (real high): (stream) http://www.w4uvh.net/wor1296h.ram (download) http://www.w4uvh.net/wor1296h.rm WORLD OF RADIO 1296 (real low): (stream) http://www.w4uvh.net/wor1296.ram (download) http://www.w4uvh.net/wor1296.rm WORLD OF RADIO 1296 (mp3 high) [soon]: (download) http://www.obriensweb.com/wor1296h.mp3 WORLD OF RADIO 1296 (mp3 low) [soon]: (download) http://www.obriensweb.com/wor1296.mp3 (lower download) http://www.piratedxer.com/worldofradio_12-07-05.mp3 (lower stream) http://www.piratedxer.com/worldofradio_12-07-05.m3u (WOR 1296 summary) http://www.worldofradio.com/wor1296.html [soon] PIRATEDXER.COM DX PROGRAMS Hi Alex, Tnx for the update. I was just listening to your WOR files, and it seems they are no longer recorded off SW, just my mp3 files, right? Do you plan to use SW at all for WOR? Just so I can accurately describe what you are doing. 73, (Glenn to Alex Draper, via DXLD) And whether I can still say ``in the true SW sound of Alex`s mp3`` --- Hi Glenn, My goal for this site is just a quick and dirty "download the DX program in mp3 format and go". All files will be 16kbs 16,000hz mono mp3 files. They could be recorded off air, stream recordings or file conversions. I would like to download your World Of Radio - Real Audio "High" and convert it to 16kbs mp3. Should the file be missing then I would place an off-air recording. I truly hope you do not mind. I don't have the time to record on-air broadcasts and edit them as before. Each recording is made only because I listen to each and every program via my mp3 player at work. The 16kbs size makes it perfect for fast uploading into my mp3 player and allows for more content on my mp3 player. A 16kbs 16,000hz file is perfect for spoken word unlike most podcasts that are 128kbs stereo and the sample rate of 44,100hz. Take about over kill. Think of it, two 64kbs channels when 16kbs mono could do the trick. Take care (Alex Draper, ON, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** AFRICA [and non]. ANALYSIS: CHINESE INFLUENCE ON AFRICAN MEDIA | Editorial analysis by Tina Taylor of BBC Monitoring Media Services on 7 December In recent years relations with African countries have constituted an important part of China's foreign policy. Chinese legislator Wu Bangguo, chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress (NPC) said on 9 September that developing relations with African countries was a basic strand of China's foreign policy. China has provided both funds and manpower to improving the infrastructure in African countries and is also emerging as a big player in the push to secure oil reserves and production in the continent. When Chinese President Hu Jintao visited Algeria, he brought oil engineers with him. China has been negotiating with the Nigerian government for oil concessions in exchange for building a railway line connecting Nigeria and Gabon as well as a space communication station. In Angola, China secured an oil deal and invested 2bn dollars in improving infrastructure. Hu Jintao also visited Gabon in February 2004 and promised to invest in a harbour improvement project. Media access for Africans Communities across Africa are increasingly able to access and listen to Chinese media reports on international events. In August 2005 China's biggest state-owned wire service, Xinhua news agency, announced that it was going to increase its coverage of Africa. The vice-president of Xinhua, Ma Shengrong said that Xinhua gives great emphasis to its African reports. Press officials from more than 20 African countries participated in a seminar held by China's State Council Information Office. Xinhua has a regional headquarters in Nairobi and has established 23 bureaus across Africa. On 18 August a senior member of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) appealed to Chinese and African media organizations to increase cooperation. China Radio International (CRI) also broadcasts its programmes to Africa. According to its website, http://www.cri.cn CRI which was founded in December 1941, aims to promote understanding and friendship between the people of China and people throughout the world. CRI broadcasts in 43 languages including English, Arabic, French, Hausa and Kiswahili and has resident correspondents in Egypt, Nigeria, Niger and Zimbabwe. In 2000 there were 100 million CRI listeners in Africa. Satellite technology The Nigerian government has contracted a Chinese firm to build and launch a communication satellite for it. The People's Daily website reported in April 2005 that Beijing is expected to put a Chinese-made communication satellite into orbit for Nigeria in 2007, making the African nation the first foreign buyer of both a Chinese satellite and its launching service. The project, which would cost between 250 and 300m dollars, has a life span of more than 15 years and is expected to generate about 200m dollars per year. A report on the Nigerian newspaper This Day website on 28 November 2005 said the federal government was spending about 350m dollars on building Nigeria's first ever communication satellite device, called Nigcomsat-1. Nigerian Minister of Science and Technology Prof Turner Isoun said that the satellite would not just be an indigenous satellite but would be highly competitive with other satellites covering Africa. He said 50 Nigerian engineers were being trained in China on the construction, operation and management of the communications satellite. Xinhua news agency reported in 2000 that it had donated satellite equipment to Uganda TV to enable it to receive news and photographs from the Chinese news agency. China accused There have been reports of Chinese technology and expertise being used by African governments to censor the media and inhibit free speech after a number of radio signals were jammed. The UK-based radio station SW Radio Africa's website has accused the Chinese of helping the Zimbabwean government to deliberately jam its signal, with equipment it says was purchased from China. The independent radio station Voice of the People, which broadcasts on shortwave via a Radio Netherlands transmitter in Madagascar, has also reportedly been jammed by the Zimbabwean authorities, allegedly with the help of Chinese experts who have been training their Zimbabwean counterparts in the use of the jamming equipment. On 10 November the Paris-based organization Reporters Without Borders voiced its outrage at a campaign to jam dissident radio stations, saying "the use of Chinese technology in a totally hypocritical and non-transparent fashion reveals the government's iron resolve to abolish freedom of opinion in Zimbabwe." Financial help and donations Sino-Congolese media cooperation dates back to the 1960s and continues to the present. China provided the Republic of Congo with 50-kW transmitters to broadcast shortwave signals in 1964. In 1997 and 2003 they installed the second and third generation of shortwave transmitters. China began offering technical assistance to the Zambian broadcasting sector in 1973, when it supplied and installed shortwave and mediumwave transmitters. China replaced these transmitters with FM ones in 1995. In 2000 the Chinese government again supplied and installed 14 FM transmitters at seven provincial centres. In 2005 China donated 8m US dollars worth of equipment to the Zambian media. China supplied computers, digital cameras and printing machines for newspapers. The Democratic Republic of Congo's Radio-Television Nationale Congolaise, RTNC, and Xinhua news agency signed a contract on the supply and exchange of information in 2000, and the Chinese provided RTNC with a small satellite receiver. The Chinese government has helped the Comoran government construct a radio and television building. In 2003 the state radio's shortwave transmitting station was modernized with Chinese aid. The Johannesburg Business Day website reported on 24 October 2005 that according to Zimbabwe's state-controlled Sunday Mail, a Chinese firm was expected to provide transmitters worth 63m US dollars to the Zimbabwean state broadcaster, with the debt to be offset through proceeds from a joint Chinese-Zimbabwean mining venture. A report on Radio Netherlands website on 24 July 2005 said China would help finance a 15m-dollar project in Lesotho to boost radio and television in the kingdom, donating 4.5m dollars worth of equipment and technical assistance in installing transmitters, towers, antennas and generators. The project would enable Lesotho to rent bandwidth on existing satellite networks for both television and FM radio broadcasts, as well as improve power infrastructure. The National Radio of Equatorial Guinea reported in September 2005 that the Chinese construction company Gwang Ding was building a new two-storey building, fitted out with audiovisual equipment. A group of Chinese engineers are responsible for maintaining the infrastructure of Radio Bata, after the two governments signed a cooperation agreement on the maintenance of the new radio transmission equipment. Two 50-kW shortwave transmitters are being installed at the radio station, along with two antennas, one domestic and the other external. The Guinea Radio and Television (RTG) station in the suburbs of Conakry was built with help from China. China Central Television (CCTV) has donated TV equipment worth about 154,200 US dollars to the Kenya Broadcasting Corporation (KBC). Malawi has received 250,000 US dollars from China, to help finance a second channel radio project in the country. And China has signed a cooperation agreement with Mali, which will continue leasing shortwave broadcasting equipment until 2007. Internet In 2002 a representative of the Chinese news agency Xinhua visited Djibouti and signed an agreement on exchange of information, especially through the internet. South Africa-based Zim Online website reported on 10 June 2005 that Zimbabwe was planning to outlaw the dissemination through the internet of information and material it deemed offensive. Zim Online reported in 2004 that the Zimbabwean government had sought help and equipment from China to allow it to monitor people's emails and monitor exchange of information between both private and public citizens. The non-governmental organization OpenNet Inititiative (ONI) said that China operates the most extensive, technologically sophisticated and broad-reaching system of internet filtering in the world. Partnership The Chinese government continues to expand its interests in Africa to cover aspects of media reporting and increase Chinese media coverage on the continent. With Beijing increasing its offers of technical knowledge and assistance to African countries, more African governments are likely to build partnerships with China, as well as seeking its help in controlling media output. Source: BBC Monitoring research 7 Dec 05 (via DXLD) ** ALBANIA. Re Tirana still off, 5-209: Hi dear Erik, I guess, due of Radio Tirana budget cuts for 2006year, and early announcements that only Albanian and English External sections will survive next year, there is pressure and internal fight between the various departments on Radio Tirana Broadcasting house, the Technical Department and External Broadcaster section. Foreign broadcaster services via Tirana sites at MW Fllake, SW Cerrik and Shijak, like CRI, TWR, DW, VOA, BBC, are on air covering full schedule on Dec 5th and 6th. 73 (Wolfgang Büschel, Germany, Dec 7, WORLD OF RADIO 1296, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Saw this item in Monday's RFE/RL email newsletter; might explain recent cuts in transmission of Tirana's external service: ALBANIA FACES YET MORE ELECTRICITY CUTS. Heavy rains hit Albania on 3 December, drowning at least two people in central Elbasan and leading to further electricity shortages in the center and south of the country, in addition to those caused by a previous drought, Reuters reported (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 4 October 2005). Flash floods were reported in central and southern regions, but people in the north welcomed the rain that filled the reservoirs of the three hydroelectric plants. The drought recently led to power cuts of about 50 percent, although power imports restored much of the service in a country where electricity and water supplies are often unreliable (Chuck Albertson, Seattle, WA WORLD OF RADIO 1296, DX LISTENING DIGEST) RADIO TIRANA MAY HAVE CLOSED ITS FOREIGN SERVICE According to reports in DX Listening Digest [5-209], Radio Tirana was unheard on shortwave yesterday. Wolfgang Büschel said he had been told by the Head of the Albanian Radio Monitoring Centre, Drita Cico, that she had called the transmitting stations in Fllaka and Shijak, which both told her that had been ordered not to broadcast the External Service until further notice. Relays of Trans World Radio and China Radio International are not affected. Strangely, Drita Cico said she had not been officially informed of this directly. Coincidentally, we were looking at the website of Radio Televizioni Shqiptar yesterday afternoon. This morning, the server appeared to be down. Investigations continue. Update 1400 UT: The website is back online. http://www.rtsh.com.al/ # posted by Andy @ 09:15 UT Dec 7 (Media Network blog via WORLD OF RADIO 1296, DXLD) Please say it isn`t true! These guys didn´t even give us a chance to write the Albanian government to protest the closure. While Radio Tirana may not have been the most interesting station on the bands, it has a real unique place in shortwave history. It was also one of the most powerful broadcasters -- if not the most powerful -- coming out of eastern Europe during the Cold War (Marty [Delfín] 12.07.05 - 2:38 pm, ibid.) It's too soon to say it has definitely closed. May just have been suspended. Albania has been suffering power shortages recently, and RTSH (the parent broadcaster) is in serious financial difficulties. So it could be one, the other or both. We await further news. (Andy Sennitt, 12.07.05 - 2:58 pm, ibid.) Note that 1089 kHz, the only remaining mediumwave outlet for domestic RTSH programs, is on very limited schedule as well. I think this clearly indicates economical/financial problems rather than an "ordinary" closure of the foreign service. On the other hand is it quite crude that they had to call the transmitter sites to find out what's going on after noting that they were not on air. Are there precedences of radio stations letting their editorial staff "broadcast" into nowhere? (Kai Ludwig, Germany, 12.07.05 - 5:25 pm, ibid.) Actually, yes. When I was working at Radio Nacional de Venezuela in the early 1990s, we were producing and recording programs that never went on air. It was a transmitter problem but the then-government didn´t want to admit that the station was in financial dire straits. Also, laziness or apathy played a role in sometimes engineers "forgetting" to turn on the transmitter. It was a frustrating situation and I had to clear it in several DX publications (Marty Delfín, 12.07.05 - 6:31 pm, ibid.) I am happy to receive QSL cards, but I don't collect them, no need to return this one. I never send return postage. This QSL card from Radio Tirana arrived today, 24 October, 2005, after five months. The description of Radio Tirana in Passport is a bit optimistic. I found Radio Tirana a bit difficult to listen to. Last time I listened to them was decades ago, and they did QSL then. I am happy to receive this QSL now and I will try to listen to them some more (David Crystal, Israel, Dec World DX Club Contact via Alan Roe, DXLD) ** ARGENTINA. 6214.15, Radio Armonía, Puerto Iguazú, 1001-1011, December 03, Portuguese/Spanish, Complete ID in Spanish: "Ésta es Armonía, una nueva frecuencia, 100.7... las mejores sensaciones de siempre", announcement about religious meeting in Foz do Iguaçu, PR, Brazil, Local ads! in Portuguese language. Christian songs, 34443 (Arnaldo Slaen, Argentina, condiglist via DXLD) ** ARGENTINA. Hola! DX news: a mistake of the local power company blew up today electrical installations of central building of our station (LR11 Radio Universidad). It means FM station out, many sets broken (mixers, computers). 1390 transmitter is safe, in fact both frequencies are changing transmitters in this days, so LR11 1390 is out of air this days. It can be of interest in the MW DX field. Jorge Aloy La Plata Argentina (via Dario Monferini, Italy, Dec 8, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** BOLIVIA. 6054.15, Radio Juan XXIII, San Ignacio de Velazco, 1039- 1045, December 03, Spanish, Best reception on LSB mode because QRM from Radio Nikkei, Japan, 6055, 33432/3. Religious program conduced by female: "un cariñoso saludo para todos los amigos de San Ignacio en esta mañana..." (Arnaldo Slaen, Argentina, condiglist via DXLD) ** BRAZIL. Nice to hear one of my old favorites, a Brazilian SW station that still has real professional commercial programming, rather than gospel huxters! Rádio Bandeirantes inbooming with an uptempo wake-up show ``Serviço Bandeirantes`` at 0621 UT Dec 7 on 11925, timechecks up to twice a minute in the 4:21 am area. DST here and there really jerx us around --- now we are 4 hours apart and in the A-season only 2 hours apart. Previsão do tempo indicated the low temp there was 17 --- ha, the low here is more like -17 C (Glenn Hauser, Frigenid OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CANADA. Quirks & Quarks Dec 10th --- Hello, This is an exciting Week at Quirks & Quarks as we celebrate: "The Q&Q 30th Anniversary Special". === It's been 30 years since Quirks & Quarks first went on the air. And over those 3 decades, the world of science has undergone a period of unprecedented change. From biology to palaeontology, from technology to cosmology, our knowledge of the world above, below and inside of us has exploded. And all along, Quirks & Quarks has been there for the ride. So this week, we go back to 1975, to see where scientific knowledge stood at that time, and how it has evolved over the past 30 years. We've brought together some of Canada's top scientists, as well as Canada's only living Nobel laureate, to guide us on this journey of discovery, and help us understand what it all means. The show was recorded earlier this week before an audience at Glenn Gould Studio in Toronto. That's Quirks & Quarks, Saturday right after the noon news, on Radio One (Bob McDonald, Host, Q&Q mailing list via DXLD) QUIRKS AND QUARKS 30TH BIRTHDAY --- By Tabassum Siddiqui, Toronto Star TORONTO (CP) -- What's the key to making sure your show stays on the air a long time? Animal sex and black holes, apparently. At least that's the immediate response Bob McDonald, the host of CBC Radio's Quirks & Quarks, comes up with when asked to account for his program's longevity. The popular science program, which airs Saturdays after the noon news on CBC Radio One, is celebrating its 30th birthday. Known for its easygoing, often amusing approach to covering even the most complicated topics, from the beginning Quirks has operated on a premise that television is only now catching up to: there's nothing like reality. ``The world is far more complex than we'll ever know --- it's an endlessly fascinating journey of discovery,'' McDonald says. ``It's amazing to constantly be riding that wave of, `I didn't know that!''' McDonald, who followed legendary environmentalist David Suzuki and science broadcaster Jay Ingram into the Quirks host's chair, began his career at the Ontario Science Centre in 1973 and hosted kids' science TV show Wonderstruck before landing the Quirks gig. ``So when it came time to put on the Quirks hat, I had some of that background already, in terms of having learned how to make science fun and interesting,'' McDonald says. ``The wonderful thing about science is that you'll never run out of ideas. Ideas are always entertaining, and the beauty of radio is that the listener is creating the images in their head,'' explains Suzuki, who was handpicked to host the fledgling show in 1975 by Quirks creator Diana Filer after she heard him speak at U of T. Suzuki has fond memories of Quirks'' formative years, recalling its disastrous first broadcast --- the tape was sped up so that he and his guests ``sounded like chipmunks'' --- and an April Fool's joke played on him: ``There was this producer posing as a professor claiming that there had been eyewitness reports of prehistoric sharks seen in the ocean. He was going to use these dead cows to try to lure them out. And I totally bought into it, asking him all these questions. It was very, very funny, he totally suckered me in,'' Suzuki says. When Suzuki departed in 1979 to focus on his TV show The Nature of Things, he ``gave up the warmth and immediacy of radio with great regret.'' On the other hand, Ingram, who landed at Quirks after freelancing science pieces to CBC Radio's Morningside, later moved on to TV (he's currently the host of Daily Planet on the Discovery Channel) in 1992 because he was ready for a new challenge. ``I felt like I'd done it all -- every conceivable interview in every conceivable setting,'' Ingram says. ``But science and technology is always changing. It's not the evolving format that's kept (the show) popular, it's the content.'' Ingram notes that Quirks, which has won over 40 national and international awards for science journalism, has garnered a loyal audience by explaining even the most abstract concepts in a way everyone can understand. He also points out it's one of few broadcasts in North America solely dedicated to science. Interestingly, that very short list includes Ingram's Daily Planet (going on 13 years now) and Suzuki's The Nature of Things (the granddaddy of science shows at 45 years). ``There's never been a time in human history when science has been so ingrained in our lives. From technology like IPods and the Internet to genetic advancements in food and medicine, when we learn about science, we are finding out about our own society." McDonald says. ``Plus, people are always interested in the really bizarre stuff.'' (via Ricky Leong, DXLD) ** CHINA. See AFRICA [and non] ** CUBA. Re: unID on 710 --- Glenn, Not much of a choice here: a clip featuring antique charangas in the Pacheco style, a musical intro with telephone-line sound quality, a mention of ``las madrugadas de Radio Surco``. I thought this was Cuba, and I still think so, but the reference to Radio Surco remains unclear. I have suggested Steve Whitt to write and inquire. You are right: Cuba is on UT -4h, and so ``Estaciones`` will not fit. (I believe this slot is designed to let local stations be heard nationwide. If RR wants to tell the Cubans that there are four seasons, two more than the ``invierno`` and ``verano`` they experience and refer to in talking, then the program for the sake of clarity would have to be called ``Estaciones del año``. Some name and scope for a nighttime show.) (Henrik Klemetz, Sweden, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CZECH REPUBLIC/UK. BBC CZECH BROADCASTS LIKELY TO CONTINUE | Text of report by Czech CT24 TV on 6 December [Announcer] The BBC will most likely continue to broadcast in Czech as the station has found an investor who wants to support broadcasts financially and who will become a minority owner. The Czech Section of BBC was to be wound up by the end of March. The London headquarters argued that they wanted to save money for TV broadcasts in Arabic. [Reporter] There were five investors who were interested in the BBC station, three of them were shortlisted: [Pavel Slama, director-general of Datart Praha] We had about two meetings with the representatives of both the English and the Czech sections of the BBC. After that there was no conclusion as, perhaps, there were more companies that were interested in the matter. [Reporter] In the end a Czech company was selected, but the station is keeping its name secret. [Vit Kolar, head of Czech Section, BBC] We are to submit our business plan by the end of the next week. The BBC Board of Governors should either approve or reject it on 16 December. [Reporter] The conditions under which the new investor will enter the game are not known yet. [Kolar] Of course, the BBC would remain the majority owner. We would need something to live on and the idea obviously is that, as in any other commercial radio, there would have to be advertising, sponsoring and so on. However, the content would have to remain exactly the same so that the BBC trade mark could be preserved. [Reporter] Every change in ownership has to be discussed by the Council for Radio and Television Broadcasting. According to its chairman, it will probably not be necessary to change the licence. [Petr Pospichal, chairman of the Council for Radio and Television Broadcasting, Prague] It will depend on how the change is be reflected in broadcasting. As regards broadcasts in the Czech Republic, they have never had the nature of a public service. [Reporter] The head of the BBC Czech Section said that the agreement with the new investor should be signed by mid-February at the latest, unless there complications in talks. (Source: CT24 TV, Prague, in Czech 1815 gmt 6 Dec 05 via BBC Monitoring, # posted by Andy @ 09:09 UT, Media Network blog via WORLD OF RADIO 1296, DXLD) A new business model? Will the new BBC Czech service be commercially sponsored, or merely underwritten? Could the SW service to NAm be revived this way? (Glenn Hauser, WORLD OF RADIO 1296, DXLD) ** DIEGO GARCIA. Hearing what might possibly be a reactivated AFN via Diego Garcia on 4319 at 2240. Get 'em while you can as they've apparently been off for quite some time. Thanks to Hans Johnson and Jari Savolainen tips in DXLD 5-209 (Steve Lare, Holland, MI, USA, Dec 6, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) 4319 --- They are coming in with a fair, but very readable signal here in Maryland. Go Get 'em (Bill Harms, Elkridge, Maryland, R8B K9AY, 2329 UT Dec 6, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) AFN is audible here at 1250 on 12579 USB. Apparently a reactivated Diego García transmission (Steve Lare, Holland, MI, USA, Dec 7, ibid.) Also heard in Copenhagen, at 1325 UT, Dec. 7, but 9980 USB [Iceland] is stronger. 73, (Erik Køie, Denmark, ibid.) see also USA ** ETHIOPIA [non]. A new target broadcast for Ethiopia was added to the TDP online schedule http://www.airtime.be/schedule.html Voice of Ethiopian People 1700-1800 7380 AM .t...s. Amharic Africa (Bernd Trutenau, Lithuania, dxldyg via WORLD OF RADIO 1296, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** GERMANY. BERLIN 87.9 --- Star FM says in a press release that it is subject of a decision to be made in the next weeks when they can go on air around the clock, which means of course also, when the VOA relays on 87.9 will cease: http://www.presseportal.de/story.htx?nr=758412 Both BBG's Brian Conniff and NPR's Jeff Rosenberg could be interviewed by RBB after the MABB hearing. Mostly German voice-over but perhaps still of interest for some key sentences: http://www.radioeins.de/meta/sendungen/apparat/051203_3.ram The answer "we don't believe it's possible" belongs to a question if NPR would share a frequency with VOA, as some people had suggested (Kai Ludwig, Germany, Dec 7, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** INDIA. Coded messages on AIR frequencies 15040, 17387: see unID ** INTERNATIONAL. Here's an indication that Sirius' relationship with the BBC is deepening. Sirius already carries a World Service stream and BBC Radio One 24/7, as well as extensive, regular coverage (presumably via BBC Radio Five Live) of Barclay's Premier League matches and Wimbledon tennis. "SIRIUS and BBC Radio 2 present exclusive John Lennon Tribute Lennon Live, an exclusive special simulcast on SIRIUS Satellite Radio in the U.S. and BBC Radio 2 in the U.K., will include an hour-long documentary followed by live performances from Abbey Road Studios in London and SIRIUS studios in New York by major artists in tribute to John Lennon on the 25th anniversary of his death. The hour-long documentary includes an exclusive interview with Yoko Ono. Dave Matthews, Jamie Cullum, Dr. John, Lulu, Paul Weller, Daryl Hall, Stereo MCs and many more will perform Lennon’s music live from New York and London following the documentary. This special programming can be heard Thursday, December 8, from 2 pm ET to 6 pm ET on SIRIUS Satellite Radio channel 18, The Spectrum and BBC Radio 2." (from Sirius Backstage) (John Figliozzi, swprograms via DXLD) I have found details of Capital Gold's John Lennon day which starts at 0000 UT online and think it would interest fans worldwide: 00:00 - 18:00 The A-Z of John and the Beatles, an A-Z rundown of all 219 UK Beatles releases, combined with the top 40 Lennon tracks as voted for by listeners in our recent online poll. 18:00 - 21:00 The Beatles Cover up (The Top 50 cover songs) 21:00 - 22:00 John Lennon - The Early Years Cynthia Nixon [sic], John's first wife, looks at his pre-Beatle days right through to Beatle-mania. 22:00 - 23:00 The Beatles break up & John's solo career 23:00 - 00:00 The Lost Lennon Tape, A chance to hear an original interview with Lennon from 1974, when he spoke to Capital Gold's Nicky Horne at his home in the Dakota building about life as a Beatle, his life with Yoko and his fear that the CIA were tapping his phone and following his every move. The Cynthia Lennon interview is already on this page with some audio http://www.capitalgold.com/article.asp?id=152205 Online listening at http://www.capitalgold.com/default.asp (Mike Barraclough, dxldyg via WORLD OF RADIO 1296, DX LISTENING DIGEST) I assume you mean UT December 8? All I see on their website is ordinary programming on Thursday (Glenn, ibid.) Yes all UT December 8th. It's not immediately apparent on their website, looked for details a couple of days ago and could not see anything. Full details here: http://www.capitalgold.com/Article.asp?id=152283 (Mike Barraclough, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** IRAN. IRANIAN NEWS WEBSITES; DECEMBER 2005 | Text of report by Iranian briefing material from BBC Monitoring on 7 December. There are three types of known news websites that are published and updated from Iran: \ 1- The news agency websites; \ 2- Well-maintained and regularly updated news websites which are not officially recognized, and \ 3- News websites that serve as public relations tools for mainly government organizations. This piece focuses on the second and third groups. The first group includes the websites of IRNA (Islamic Republic News Agency), ISNA (Iranian Student News Agency), ILNA (Iranian Labour News Agency), Mehr News Agency and Fars News Agency. Unofficially recognized news websites The second group mainly consists of the websites which usually identify themselves as "news agencies"; but are better described as news websites. They are not officially recognized as news websites or news agencies by the Iranian government. However, in late November 2005 the government called on them to introduce their managing editor as the person who is responsible for their contents. The main news websites in this category are: Advar News http://www.advarnews.com This reformist website covers mainly the developments of the universities across Iran as well as the top stories about the Iranian political scene. It belongs to the veteran members of the Office for Fostering Unity, which was once the country's only student organization. Towards the end of President Mohammad Khatami's term of office, signs of a split in political loyalty emerged within the union, breaking it down into initially two, and then three, groups of which two demanded reforms in the Iranian political establishment. As the mouthpiece of a group which is a part of the Islamic Iran Participation Front, Advar News advocates secular reforms within a religious society. Ansar News http://www.ansarnews.com Supportive of President Ahmadinezhad's government, this website contains few actual "news" items on recent developments. The most important part of this news website is its gossip column which is a review of behind-the-scene developments with a hard-line view. Most of these stories end up on page two of Ya Lesarat Ol-Hoseyn, the vigilante group Ansar-e Hezbollah's weekly newspaper. However, there are always a few that remain exclusive to the website. Aref News http://www.arefnews.com This website carries news stories which appear to be exclusive. The nature of the stories that appear on this site and the presence of a few writers such as Abbas Salimi-Namin and Abdollah Shahbazi, who are believed to have been in contact with the Intelligence Ministry at some point during their career, indicate its access to an inside account of domestic political developments. In early November Aref News published the family network of President Ahmadinezhad's cabinet. A few days later, the website announced that "it was not going to be as open as before in order to ensure its survival". Baztab http://www.baztab.com Widely known for its tabloid style of news writing, Baztab was banned for eight weeks after former Supreme National Security Council (SCNS) Chief Hasan Rowhani sued it for libel. When authorized to run again, it claimed that Iranian Internet users had turned to foreign and "counter-revolutionary" sites for news and information in its absence. While it was not being updated, over 150 MPs demanded the lifting of the ban on Baztab. Although some of its stories are widely quoted by other Iranian and non-Iranian media, the news on Baztab is rarely if ever substantiated. Its reports have been refuted on many occasions, at least once by the British government when it carried an "exclusive" report about a meeting with Prime Minister Blair which turned out never to have happened. Emrouz http://www.emrouz.info Almost the only outlet, though semi-official, for Iran's secular reformists to voice their ideas as well as their criticism of the government, the coverage of Emrouz contains more analysis and less news. Emrouz was known to be one of the mouthpieces of the reformist Islamic Iran Participation Party. It was revealed during the trial of a number of Iranian bloggers in 2004 that the site's managing editor was Mostafa Tajzadeh, an outspoken former deputy interior minister. Emrouz exchanges accusations and counter-accusations with a range of conservative and hard-line newspapers and websites including The Kayhan and Resalat. Neither side has managed to prove its case. Entekhab http://www.entekhab.ir Launched to support Ali Larijani during the presidential election campaigns in June 2005, Entekhab website did not simply disappear like many other websites that had been launched as tools for election campaign. It stayed on the net to replace Entekhab daily newspaper, the only Iranian daily which stopped publication without being banned. After the election, Entekhab became a news website with no clear political orientation. However, its politically right-of-centre editor-in-chief, Mohammad Mehdi Faqihi, is known to be a devoted follower of Iran's supreme leader and maintains close ties with liberal clerics at the Qom Seminary. Farda News http://www.fardanews.com Farda News was launched almost simultaneously with Khedmat News, another hard-line conservative news website. Its news reports about the developments in the cabinet office have proved to be reliable. It is mildly critical of the government but generally supportive of the Islamic regime. Khedmat News http://www.khedmat.ir In the months following the election of Mahmud Ahmadinezhad as Iran's president, Khedmat News has proved to be the most reliable source of inside information about the developments within the cabinet. It updates regularly and frequently. While Ahmadinezhad was introducing his ministers to the Majlis, Khedmat News published their profiles online before they were read out in the parliament. The site's gossip about the appointments and assignments within the cabinet turned out to be invariably true. News websites as PR tools The third group of news websites is listed below. Most of the sites are part of the public relations apparatus of government bodies. However, there are specialized news websites that cover reports and news in their own fields of interest: Cultural news: Cultural Heritage: http://www.chn.ir Hawzah Network: http://www.shareh.com Iranian Student's Koran Agency: http://www.iska.ir Khorshid: http://www.khorshid.ir Moj news: http://www.mojnews.com Qods News: http://www.qodsna.com Qoran: http://www.iqna.ir Shabestan: http://www.shabestannews.com Womens: http://www.iwna.ir Rasa News: http://www.rasanews.com Economic, industrial news: Agricultural: http://www.iana.ir Asef Think Tank: http://www.iranasef.org/ Asnaf: http://www.Asnaf.ir Bank Melli: http://www.bmi.ir Energy Ministry News site: http://news.moe.org.ir/ Iran Green Pen: http://www.Irangreenpen.org Iran Khodro: http://news.ikco.com SHANA: http://www.shana.ir Water News Network: http://www.wnn.ir Political news: Aftab News: http://www.aftabnews.ir Arya news: http://www.aryanews.com Azad News Agency: http://www.ana.ir Basij journalists club: http://www.bjcm.ir Basij news: http://www.basijnews.ir Bazbaran: http://www.bazbaran.ir Hatef: http://www.hatefnews.com Journalists club: http://www.yjc.ir Khalij-e Fars: http://www.khaligefars.com Mellat News: http://www.mellatnews.com Mizan News: http://www.mizannews.com Motalebeh: http://motalebe.ir Nama: http://www.nama.ir Nasr-e Ma: http://nasrema.net Noqte: http://www.noghte.net/ Nosazi: http://www.nosazi.ir/ Now Andish: http://noandish.com/ Parties House: http://www.ir-ph.org/ Persian News: http://www.persian-news.com/ RISNA: http://www.risstudies.org/RNA/index.asp Ruydad: http://rooydadnews.com Sharif news: http://www.sharifnews.com Students News Network: http://www.snn.ir SYNA: http://www.syna.ir Provincial news: Tabriz news: http://www.tabriznews.com Toos Times: http://www.toostimes.com Technology news: Info Communication Tech News: http://www.ictna.ir Informatic Companies Association: http://www.Irica.com Iran IT Network: http://www.iritn.com Information Technology News: http://www.itiran.com Information Technology News: http://www.itkhabar.com" Iran Science Network: http://www.Iranscience.net Science Information Database: http://www.sid.ir Supreme Info Council: http://www.Scict.ir Technology analysts Network: http://www.itan.ir Telecommunication Research Centre: http://www.itrc.ac.ir Sports news: IPNA: http://www.ipna.info Iran sports: http://www.iransport.net Endall Source: Iranian briefing material from BBC Monitoring in English 7 Dec 05 (via DXLD) It would be helpful to know which of these, if many, present info in English. We are somewhat amused that most of the links are configured in Great Satanic English (gh, DXLD) ** KOREA NORTH [non]. According to Tohru Yamashita of Asian Broadcasting Institute, ``Radio Opened North Korea`` (Yollin Pokkan Panson) started regular transmission at 1500-1600 on December 6 on 5880 kHz in Korean to North Korea. The contents were mostly the programs of ``Radio Free North Korea`` by the organization of the refugees from North Korea, on the violations of human rights in North Korea. KBS News reported that the broadcast was done by an organization in U.S. The test broadcasts done between November 23-27 at 1500-1600 were produced by this organization in U.S. The first day broadcast was well heard in Japan and South Korea without jamming. The closing music was ``Pomp & Circumstance`` by Elgar (Takahito Akabayashi, Tokyo, Japan, Dec 7, WORLD OF RADIO 1296, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Free North Korea Radio (from South Korea) started transmissions on 5880, scheduled 1500-1600, according to a well-informed source via Irkutsk, Russia. Website: http://www.freenk.net More details at http://medianetwork.blogspot.com : "North Korean defectors' "Free NK Radio" broadcasts to North Korea" (Bernd Trutenau, Lithuania, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Viz.: NORTH KOREAN DEFECTORS' "FREE NORTH KOREA RADIO" BROADCASTS TO NORTH KOREA | Text of report by Sin Chu-hyon entitled: "A nongovernmental radio broadcast beamed at North Korea sent its first programme" in English by South Korean newspaper The Daily NK website on 7 December Free North Korea Broadcasting (Free NK) launched its radio programme intended to promote North Korean democracy at midnight on the 7th of this month. The programme lasts one hour a day. Free NK.net was founded by North Korean defectors in South Korea two years ago, and has been posting journalistic text and audio contents on its web site. It is first that a nongovernmental broadcaster founded by North Korean defectors makes a programme and beams it at North Korea by means of short wave radio. The programme has finally come to be launched a month after Free NK agreed with Ha Tae-kyung, the secretary-general of Open Radio for North Korea (NK Radio), on mutual cooperation last month. NK Radio specializes in transmitting programmes to North Korea, and is located in the US. The programme is sent out on the air by means of a short wave transmitter because more and more North Koreans are obtaining short wave radios. Free NK uses short wave 5880 kHz for the time being. The location of the transmitting station has not been disclosed lest North Korean authorities intervene in transmitting. In the morning of the 6th day of this month, Free NK posted on its web site an article titled "On the Establishment of the Radio Station". On the article, it was said that the radio station has been intended to reveal the realities of North Korea to South Korean people, to be an adviser and supporter who provides encouragement and new hope to North Korean people in the Dark Land, and to be an excellent guide for the defectors who enter South Korea for freedom at the risk of their lives. Kim Sung min [Kim Song-min], the chairperson of Free NK, said, "I am very glad to see the accomplishment of North Korean defectors' old dream. The radio broadcasting will be a gospel to North Korean people and a threatening dagger to Kim Jong-il." "For the five days from the 7th of this month, we will have put a one- hour special programme featuring the Seoul Summit on the air everyday as a joint project with NK Radio. We will make a one-act play based on the essay which won the Human Rights in North Korea Essay Contest. We will also broadcast major events and interviews with influences," explained Mr Kim. "Once the news about the foundation of the radio station was spread, we have received a lot of phone calls, and been promised financial support from several people who don't want to reveal their names. Workers in the radio station are insured for 100 million won against accidents, which means we are so dedicated. We will go as far as to liberate North Korea." Mr Kim expressed their strong resolution. It has been said that Free NK was persistently asked to give up the radio broadcasting plan by some influential groups which had sensed it in advance, but it turned down all of such requests. Radio broadcasters sending outside information to North Korea include Radio Free Asia's Korean service, Voice Of America's Korean broadcasting, Korea Broadcasting System's Social and Educational programme, and Far East Broadcasting Corporation. On the second day of the Seoul Summit, Ha Tae-kyung, the secretary- general of NK Radio in the US, will participate in the conference on North Korean human rights improvement strategy where he is supposed to make a presentation about the role of radio broadcasting beamed at North Korea. Mr Ha said to the DailyNK on a telephone interview that he was going to talk about North Korean censorship and control on information, and the duties and roles of radio broadcasting to North Korea. He also mentioned that broadcasters to the North need much support and participation from various domestic and international individuals. Open North Korea Broadcast is an agency specializing in transmitting programmes to North Korea. Individuals or organizations can request it to transmit their programmes to North Korea with payment for wiring. Mr Ha emphasized that many South Koreans should participate in broadcasting to North Korea by means of NK Radio. It has been known some place around Seoul area where Free NK made its programme and prepared its transmission. Source: The Daily NK website, Seoul, in English 7 Dec 05 (via BBCM via WORLD OF RADIO 1296, DXLD) ** LATVIA. 9290 kHz Relays Sat 10 December Radio Six 0700-0800 UT Radio Casablanca 1100-1300 UT Sun 11 December RTN 1000-1100 UT Radio Six 1200-1300 UT Radio 73 1300-1400 UT Good Listening (Tom Taylor, UK, Dec 7, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Details? ** MAURITANIA. 4845 & 7245 kHz in parallel --- Still no definite data on this, partly because my obs. from a better site had to be postponed until the forthcoming weekend. Nonetheless, the latter outlet will face some degree of co-ch QRM, even here in POR, not to mention the 7245 signal can also suffer too much flutter (similar to Sonfoniya, GUI 7125 evenings) due to short distance (Carlos Gonçalves, Portugal, Dec 8, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** MEXICO. The many names of 660 in Mexico City: Esto se publicó en Milenio Diario el 22 de noviembre del 2002, por FERNANDO MEJA BARQUERA en su sección Cambio de Frecuencia MICROHISTORIA La frecuencia 660 AM fue operada inicialmente (1942) por la empresa Radio Programas de México (de ahí su sigla original XERPM). En los años sesenta pasó a poder del grupo Radio Fórmula y en 1971 se transformó en ``Radio Juventud`` (ahí se difundió el 11 de septiembre de ese año el Festival de Av?ndaro). En 1978 pasó a manos del gobierno que se cobró con esa estación y algunas otras deudas fiscales del dueño de Radio Fórmula. En 1986, ya como parte del IMER, fundado en 1983, se transformó en XERIN ``Radio Infantil``, y se especializó en programas para niños. En 1991 cambió su sigla a XEDTL ``Radio 660``, y se especializó en música tropical y en deportes. Mantuvo ese formato, pero en 1994 pasó a llamarse ``La Candela``. Desde el 18 de noviembre de 2002 se llama ``Comunicación 660``. Tiene una potencia autorizada de 50 mil vatios, una cobertura estimada en 101 mil 787 kilómetros cuadrados, una audiencia potencial de 38 millones de personas y cubre los estados de México, Hidalgo, Puebla, Tlaxcala, Querétaro, Guerrero, Oaxaca y Guanajuato (via Héctor García B., DF, condig list via DXLD) And more changes in last three years (gh, DXLD) ** PERU. Re 5-209: The DXer (and friend) Alfredo Cañote reports from Chaclacayo, Perú, what he listened on 10353.0 kHz to Radio Willkamayu, at 1259 UT with SINPO 24412. Too, Alfredo heard the new shortwave on 4060v from Ancash. Alfredo thinks this station is Radio Corazón de Huandoy, from Ancash. 73 (Arnaldo Slaen, HCDX via DXLD) ** PERU. 5070.7, Ondas del Suroriente, November 30th, 2250, commercial: "Cerveza Cristal, gran Cerveza del Perú"; O=2-3 5460.3 (Michael Schnitzer, Bavarian DX-Camp from November 30th to December 4th 2005. The QTH is situated 45km northeast of Nuremberg, southern Germany. We used Beverage-antennas with 300m length in several directions, constructed 1.20m above the ground. Further details about the antenna system and distribution as well as some pics of the camp can be found on my website (please click English section): http://home.arcor.de/mschnitzer/ HCDX via DXLD) ** PORTUGAL. I was observing the RDPi during this evening's extra broadcast and right after the 2200 UT TS (from RDP Antena 1), almost all transmitters in use were switched off, though resumed operation about less than a minute later --- but the 15555 kHz frequency to S. America switched to 21655 instead! I rang the HF site and learned the computerized program automatically tuned that particular transmitter to the frequency for the following day's (Thursday) 1100-1300 UT broadcast. It's rather odd for -a) the remaining transmitters that were also shut down did stay on the frequency they were tuned to and - b) the next "following day's broadcast" to S Am is at 0000-0300 of Thursday (on 11980 kHz). They've also let me know this special transmission is due to close down at 2230 (i.e. in about 1 minute or so) --- after lengthy, boring comments on the football match --- sadly the typical menu for the RDPi's extra broadcasts, which makes me wonder whether other (similar or otherwise) stations elsewhere also devote so much time and resources to such pap. It's sick. Well, time is 2241 and they still go on relaying RDP-1 with the same boring stuff. 73, (Carlos Gonçalves, Portugal, Dec 8, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** SENEGAL [non]. 17860, WADR-West Africa Democratic Radio, 1028-1035, December 03, French, announcement: "Ici Africa", local instrument sound, announcement & ID by male; after, long talk in French by male, 25432 (Arnaldo Slaen, Argentina, condiglist via WORLD OF RADIO 1296, DXLD) ** SERBIA & MONTENEGRO [non]. Saludos cordiales, espero se encuentren bien, tras varios días sin poder sintonizar a Serbia y Montenegro por los 7200 e probado hoy por los 6100, en efecto estan emitiendo por ésta frecuencia en español. A falta de confirmar su continuidad Serbia y Montenegro en español desde las 20:00-20:30 por 6100 en español (José Miguel Romero, Burjasot (Valencia), España, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Current schedule has all broadcasts on 6100 except the Spanish semihour on 7200; guess decided it was too much trouble to QSY just for that (gh, DXLD) ** SINGAPORE [non]. INTRODUCTORY BROADCAST OF NEW ASIAN EDITION OF WAVESCAN 12/11 Dear Sir, IN RESPONSE TO MY E-MAIL, Mr. Rhoen Católico, Listener Relations Director AWR Asia/Pacific (Singapore) INFORMED ME VIA E-MAIL THAT STARTING FROM THIS COMING SUNDAY DECEMBER 11, 2005, THEY WILL AIR THE INTRODUCTORY BROADCAST OF NEW ASIAN EDITION OF WAVESCAN. HE ALSO INFORMED ME THAT IT WILL BE MORE OF AN INTRODUCTION TO THE NEW HOSTS OF THE ASIAN EDITION OF WAVESCAN PLUS MUSIC, AT LEAST, THEY WILL BE ABLE TO START IT REGULARLY FROM THEREON. AND FROM JANUARY 6, 2006 THEY WILL AIR WITH THE USUAL FORMAT OF WAVESCAN. As January 6, is a Friday, it`s not clear to me whether new Asian edition Wavescan will be aired on Fridays. I'll seek a clarification. Listeners can send reception reports etc to the following e-mail address of AWR-Asia Pacific : Aspac-Listener @ awr.org And for comments about the programme, one can use this e-mail address: Aspa-DX @ awr.org I believe the new Asian Edition of Wavescan will be available only on all usual English Frequencies transmitted from AWR transmitter site in Guam as per their announcement earlier. Thanking you, 73 & 55, Yours Faithfully, Gautam Kumar Sharma Geographical Location of Abhayapuri: Longitude: 26º18´20´´North Latitude: 90º37´50´´East My Address: (Gautam Kumar Sharma Abhaypuri (Near Police Station) P O Abhayapuri (Assam), PIN 783384 (India), Dec 7, WORLD OF RADIO 1296, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** SOUTH AFRICA [and non]. What does this refer to, Voice of the People jamming? http://www.southgatearc.org/news/december2005/40m_interference.htm "The mystery of the interference caused by a transmission around 7 205 kHz has been solved however, eradication of the problem may turn out to be long-winded if not impossible. The interfering signal comes from a jamming transmitter close to South Africa's border. The signal spreads wide and often creates a high noise level on the 40m amateur band. The SARL IARUMS group is taking the matter further and will report progress as and when a breakthrough is imminent." (via Mauno Ritola, Finland, HCDX via DXLD) SARL are presumably only concerned about 7205 because it is used for one hour a week for the SARL broadcast via Meyerton 100 kW, Sun 0800- 0900. None of the online references show any other broadcast station in the world using 7205 at this time (Sunday or any other day). Per DXLD 5-189, David Pringle-Wood in Zimbabwe, jamming was going on against VOP despite the fact that it had already moved from 7120 to 11705, but the jamming was very broadband and VOP operates only for one hour at 1700. In that case it ought to have been interfering more with the hamband below 7100 than the broadcast band above 7200. Why aren`t SARL more forthcoming with what they are referring to?? Which side of the border, with which country, what time(s)? (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Or maybe some connexion with this?: 7200, SNBC, Omdurman, SUDAN, 0416-0421, December 05, Arabic, talk by male, announcements by female. Perhaps a news programme, 23442 with jamming!!!! (Arnaldo Slaen, Argentina, condiglist via DXLD) ** U K. Dear BBC Worldservice: Since the cutback in BBCWS on SW to the Americas, I am often listening to your transmissions on 17640 kHz in the 1400 to 1500 UT timeframe. I am continually hearing program promos on that frequency that announce that they'll be on at this or that hour, "Central European Time". But when the top-of-hour comes around, you give the time in UT/GMT and have the usual string of named-city local times, but you NEVER say what time it is in "Central European Time". If it is important to tell listeners what time a program will be on in Central European Time, isn't it just as important to tell them what time it IS *now* in Central European Time? So what time IS "Central European Time" anyway? GMT plus 2? GMT plus 3? GMT plus 1? And how is "Central Europe" defined, anyway? (William Martin, Saint Louis, Missouri USA, to BBCWS, cc to DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U K. BBC World Service is to pull out of eastern Europe. On 25 October, the BBC announced that 10 World Service foreign language services will close by next March, to pay for a new Arabic language TV news channel and save £19m, claiming that the countries losing the news services now receive programmes similar to those of the BBC. Thus, countries with more than a potential 160 million long standing listeners are being dumped for an unknown Arab audience, many of whom have a strong anti-western attitude and will probably not watch as they already have their own favourite stations. The once great BBC World Service is being attacked again this time from within, usually its by cost saving politicians. BBC offers listeners programmes on short wave, medium wave, FM and online. All are very cheap per listener each year. Television is very expensive. For a number of years the World Service started rely less on short wave, as it arranges relay agreements with FM stations in large overseas cities, but to axe ten services to pay for one Arabic TV service paints a bleak picture for the remainder of the BBC foreign radio services. The Foreign Office no doubt played a big part in the decision by the BBC of going for ten for one but one must ask how hard did the governors fight for their World Service. Ten low cost radio services for one expensive TV service doesn't seem to be good business. These events will be seen, to pit the BBC against al-Jaz eera"; trying to establish itself as being a number one service ahead of the weak American broadcasting effort in the region; and giving support to the position of the military in Iraq. Having been talked into accepting a run-down of the World Service in favour of foreign TV the BBC which uses every opportunity to claim its 'independence' of government control could hardly protest to the Foreign Office or government when they were told "You have accepted the need for a TV service in Arabic, now pay for it". The future may ask the BBC to consider an overseas TV service in Hindu [sic] or some other language. What then, ten more World Service languages facing the ax? The anti World Service MP's in parliament who see cost savings that could be used on their usual stupid ideas and schemes must be rubbing their hands. Three or four new TV services could wipe out the World Service (Paul Youngs, Dec World DX Club Contact via DXLD) See also CZECH REPUBLIC! ** U K. BBC ARCHIVE --- In August 2003 a BBC press release said that "The BBC plans to open up its archive to make a treasure trove of material available to everyone." Jonathan Marks' Critical Distance weblog spotted this from Matt Biddulph in the Hack diary: Ever wondered what's in that archive? Who looks after it? It turns out there's a huge database that's been carefully tended by a gang of crack BBC librarians for decades. Nearly a million programmes are catalogued, with descriptions, contributor details and annotations drawn from a wonderfully detailed controlled vocabulary. I'm the lucky developer who gets to turn this hidden treasure into a public website. No programme downloads yet, but a massive searchable programme catalogue. In the early part of next year, you can look forward to a public beta with extensive programme details and broadcast histories. There are "On This Day" schedules that go back to 1933. It's got full contributor histories, and Really Good Search. I can't begin to describe the depth of this dataset - it had an entry for the one time in the 1990s when my dad was on local TV news as a spokesman for Oxfordshire County Council. The cataloguers have worked hard on this stuff for years, and it deserves a wide audience. Yes, the BBC have allowed me (after some persuasion) to rapidly prototype and deploy this 7,000,000-row database-backed site in everyone's new favourite web framework. This first version is really just a prototype; wisely, the BBC have decided to get it out there quick and see the public reaction. We've got Ben Hammersley on board working on layout, CSS and feed design. Murray Walker is our BBC developer on the inside. This is the most fun I've had on a project for a long time. Some early screenshots are at: searching for John Peel: http://www. hackdiary.com/images/peel-search.png John Peel's contributor page: http://www.hackdiary.com/images/peel-contrib.png The design's not finished yet, but they give you a flavour of the data (via Mike Barraclough, Dec World DX Club Contact via DXLD) ** U K. John Lennon specials: see INTERNATIONAL ** U S A. Thank you all, folks, for clarifying about AFN. In fact that station on 7810 it sounded to me like AFRTS, but I didn't believe it at first because of the unusual clear audio. Until last night I took a little look to what I should have seen before, the Eibi freq. B-05, where is listed on 7812. Glenn measured it on 7811 and Wolfi posting places it on 7812.5. I have logged it in the past on 12133 from the same Key West site and Pearl Harbor on 10320. Regards (Raúl Saavedra, Costa Rica, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. Another AWWW Repeat Heard! Yesterday, 12/6/05 at 2000 UT on both 7415 and 9330, there was an Allan Weiner WorldWide repeat replacing "Hour of the Time". I think that this was a repeat of the 11/19/05 program, based on the content and my notes about the last month's airings. That's good, as propagation here to St. Louis was poor on 11/19, and AWWW had faded into the noise about half-way through that evening. It may well be that there will be continuing AWWW repeats at 2000 UT weekdays, as "Hour of the Time" announced (and the host discussed on- air with Allan in the 12/2 AWWW) that they'd been getting no contributions traceable to the SW airings of that program, and were pulling it off the WBCQ schedule. Allan has been ranting a lot about that in these recent AWWW programs so, if anyone out there actually listens to and/or likes "Hour of the Time", it would behoove you to send in contributions requesting that they resume SW on WBCQ. (Myself, the few times I heard that program over the years, I could never keep listening. It was annoying-sounding and seemed the usual conspiracy & paranoia stuff, and as soon as I hear an inaccuracy I know is wrong, I get irritated and tune away from such programs.) 73, (Will Martin, MO, dxlgyd via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. 9369.75, 0000-, WJTC, Dec 8. Thanks to the tip from Hans Johnson, tuned in at 2345 to a S9 + 10 signal with religious programming, and then into Christmas carols. At 0000, full ID for both WJTC on 9370 and WBOH 5920. At 0012 the signal is starting to deteriorate as dusk descends. About S7. Continues with Christmas programming. I then decided to check WBOH, and sure enough, they are in parallel on 5919.91 with S5 to S6 signals (Walt Salmaniw, Victoria, BC, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Is there something unusual about this? And it`s WTJC as in Waiting Till Jesus Comes. Well, nice to know how off-frequency they are. 73, (Glenn, ibid.) ** U S A. Defunct Gene Scott fluttering at the unusual hour of 0618 UT Dec 7 on 13815, the only station audible on the band, in fact. This must be KAIJ TX on some kind of weird short-skip, combined with being on the daytime frequency in the middle of the night instead of the nighttime frequency, 5755, where nothing was to be heard. Wake up in Frisco! (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISENING DIGEST) ** U S A. WD2XUM - Now and THEN on 1610 kHz --- Try this: http://gullfoss2.fcc.gov/prod/oet/cf/els/reports/GenericSearch.cfm and for callsign, enter WD2XUM. Nothing else is needed. At the bottom select "Start Search." It will bring up the application file for the station. Just click on any item that's available to search: View Form - Initial or Current View Exhibits View Notes View Correspondence View Grant Antenna patterns are even displayed. However, this e-mail just Received this afternoon: Mr. Hardester, Unfortunately the tests which employed the WD2XUM authorization took place the first week in November. There has been another similar authorization for tests at Ft. Hill, VA, but I do not know the details of the testing. The e-mail was signed by Mr. Ben Dawson who is in charge of the project. Let's see, don't I recall something about some DXers hearing a strange tone on 1610 kHz in the early part of November? I'll be getting back to Mr. Dawson as soon as this e-mail is sent! Very 73 de (Mike Hardester, IRCA via DXLD) Re WD2XUM: Here's what I think is really going on with this experimental permit: this is probably testing some sort of compact antenna system to be used on medium-power MW transmitters that will be sent into war zones for "psy-ops" broadcasts there. Ben Dawson is one of the top experts (if not THE top expert) on MW antenna design, so it's good to see that he's involved in the project. I'd be very surprised to hear Marti or VOA content being fed into the test transmissions...more likely it'll mostly be done with tones and whatever random audio source they have at hand. s (Scott Fybush, ABDX via DXLD) When I was in the USN and later with the only shipyard in the nation that built submarines, we would modulate transmitters under test with Marti, VOA, NOAA, or AFRTS very commonly. This has been 10 years ago, but I would not be surprised to see it still done today. We would initially use tones but to burn things in we would just grab a broadcast and let it run (Kevin Redding, AZ, ibid.) I of course have no hope of hearing this. I wish I could as these experimental guys are really fun to log. My first one was many years ago, something on 860 in North NJ operated by A.D. Ring and assoc. for conductivity test. I called the FCC for lack of knowing what to do and the RI was trying to get me to make a "complaint" and I was a terrified kid and said "No Way". I wrote A D Ring in Washington, no reply. My suggestion for XUM would be to offer to have printed some cards, designed to be DXer-friendly, maybe space just for the date, and a signature, and donate them to Mr. Dawson, make it as simple as possible, perhaps act as a manager for them as well. Scott's theory makes sense. Small, field- transportable rig, can offload from a C-130 and have up and running in 10 minutes, relatively short tower perhaps. That'd be my guess. Set 'em up in Anbar or Pakhtia. Tell the locals why we love them, and oh yes please stop growing poppies. The ultimate psy-ops. A great example of that from Cuba tonight, the Rebelde madness on 1180 continuing in all its glory // a clean 710 signal, but on 1180 dual separate audios about 1 second apart, as reported some time ago, still continues to this day, each signal about the same level. The psy-ops here is deciding which of the two should be believed? (The one that says Jeb is too fat, of course :-) It's getting late ... - (Bob Foxworth, Tampa FL, ibid.) Mr. Dawson replied to my inquiry about the UNID hrd by several of us and his reply was to check Glenn Hauser's DX Listening Digest (DXLD): http://www.worldofradio.com/dxld5207.txt In essence, he cannot provide additional details. Such is life, but a WD2XUM QSL would have certainly looked nice in the ol' QSL album! Keep checking 530, 890 and 1680 on the possibility of further tests. I may be wrong, but I think it's safe to say that more tone, heard widely in the AM band, may have an unknown origin that's highly suspect, hi! Very 73 de (Mike Hardester, NRC-AM et al. via DXLD) ** U S A. Glenn, Re the long discussion about 1220 Palo Alto [KNTS]: 1. The ratchet rule does NOT apply daytime. The rule is 47CFR73.182(q)NOTE1, and although the footnote mark is on a column heading that covers both daytime and nighttime interference considerations, the language of the footnote makes it clear that it is a nighttime consideration, not daytime. And the language of FCC rules often must be analyzed with respect to the underlying rulemaking. It isn't unheard of for a rule to conflict with the explicit language of the rulemaking that created it. In the Report & Order in MM Docket 87-267, paragraph 70 describes the ratchet rule, which actually applies only when an existing station is at least a 50% RSS contributor to an existing nighttime limitation. Paragraph 70 is in Section E "Nighttime Interference Calculations." Daytime, an application for changes for an existing station which causes or receives overlap (not interference) must only maintain or reduce the area of overlap. 2. The KTCT site is not owned by the City, unless Jim Gabbert has sold it. 3. The Rio Agreement (RJ-81) allows 100 kW operation by class A stations DAYTIME not fulltime. See 4.4.1, Chapter 1, Annex 2. The few higher powered operations in Region II are grandfathered, or in countries not signatory (ie Cuba), or if any others exist, in violation (Ben Dawson, WA, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. KKLF 1700 kHz DX Test Results --- This test certainly proved that even short duration tests can meet with much success! Gerry Bishop was the first to report the test, logging the code and sweep tones starting at six minutes past midnight from his shack in Niceville, Florida. Next in was Dave Hochfelder in Central NJ, who logged the test under the more dominant station from Alabama. Doug Pifer in Albany, Oregon logged in with the first Western US reception of the test, hearing both codes and sweep tones. Steve Francis added Tennessee as the fourth state to copy the test, and Les Rayburn heard the test despite a lot of local QRM from an electric fence in Alabama. The state total continued to grow as Russ Johnson logged the test in Lexington, North Carolina. Tom Jasinksi heard the test from his shack in Shorewood, IL, as did Pete Dernback who pulled the code in from St. Louis. Pete also reported heavy interference from Spanish station KBGG and gospel from Alabama's WEUV. Rick Shaftan also struggled with WEUV, but pulled out code and sweep tones at last. Patrick Martin keep his batting average for DX Tests in the superstar range, by easily copying the test from Seaside, OR. "Willis" [Monk] noted the test from his home in Old Fort, TN, as did Mike Westfall in Los Alamos, NM who logged the test on a car radio in his wife's car, no less! Saul Chernos also had a successful reception on a car radio from Toronto, adding Canada to the mix. Coloneldx @ webtv.net noted the test, "well heard" at his home in Louisville, KY. Steve Ratzlaff logged the test using his AR-7030 receiver and a 1600 foot longwire from his home in Elgin, OR, while an Icom R70 and a Quantum Phaser were the weapons of choice for Mike Hardester who heard the test in Jacksonville, NC. Greg Myers easily heard the test from his home in Largo, FL. Like many DX'ers he also tried for the 570 KLIF, but had no luck due to the strong Cuban station on that frequency. Tom Kenny heard the sweep tones and code from his home on the Jersey Shores near Toms River, NJ. He passed along his thanks to all involved in the test, as did most DX'ers who reported. Barry McLarnon seems to hear everything from his shack in Ottawa, Ontario, and this test was no different. He reported logging the sweep tones and code starting at 0106 EST. Shawn Axelrod keep the heat on Barry, by logging the test from his home in the Great White North as well [Winnipeg MB] Rene` Tetro heard "faint sweep tones and Morse code, but no voice" from his home in Lansdale, PA. Bill Harms "managed" to hear the test from his home in Maryland, struggling with poor equipment, including a Drake R8B, K9AY antenna and a Quantum Phaser. Considering his handicap for using such inferior gear, it's a wonder he can hear anything! :) Nigel Pimblett reported the test from his home in Dunmore, Alberta, but noted that he still needed WEUV whose powerful signal hampered reception for many of us in the East. Proving that one man's DX is another man's pest. Marc DeLorenzo overcame the Gospel music to capture the test signals from his home in Cape Code, MA. Frank Aden reported "weak code and sweeps" from the great Western state of Idaho. Bill Block in Prescott, Arizona was able to log the test using his R-390A and an EWE antenna. Glen[n] Hauser heard the test well from his site only 400 km away from KKLF, and reported that the test signals did not run on sister-station KLIF on 570 (which explains why we couldn't hear it! Maybe we can sweet talk Hue Beaver into running a test on 570 soon too!) Others finding happiness with this test were Greg Coniglio in NY, and on the opposite coast, Art Peterson added California to the list of states hearing this test! He logged it despite heavy QRM from XEPE, noting that the test continued past its scheduled time. IRCA Guru Phil Bytheway kept his recording running past the scheduled time too and was glad that he did. Just as he was about to give up, Morse Code flowed out of the recording! Does anyone else miss Phil's great e-mail newsletter? -Les Craig Barnes in Wondervu, Colorado even managed to snag a voice ID during the test despite interference from KBGG. Rounding out those who enjoyed this widely heard test. In the category of "maybe", came reports from folks like Jim Renfrew in Buffalo, NY who reported hearing just the sweep tones, or Pete Taylor in Tacoma who reported hearing bits of code at 0106, but felt like his file would need audio processing to have any hope of extracting an ID. Mike Stonebridge in St. Isidore, Alberta reported a mix of three stations that allowed him to only hear the sweep tones of the test. Better luck next time, Mike! True disappointment came for some DX'ers though. Dennis Vroom battled a huge signal from XEKTT from his home in Vancouver, WA without any luck. Martin Foltz in Mission Viejo also struggled without success to hear the test over the powerful Mexican stations. JD Stephens didn't manage to log the test, but not because of propagation or interference, he simply got his nights mixed up! He had his recorder all ready to go, but for Friday night... one day early. On a positive note, he did log KKLF on its regular schedule and will be sending an MP3 recording of that ID. Soapbox: Wow big sweep tones in the recording! Those are way more effective than cw.-Russ Johnson Got home at 0122 EST and the morse code is coming through fine. -Patrick Martin If the cw got any slower I would have went to sleep. -Willis, Old Fort, TN The code and also the sweep tones really made it through. Would not have logged this [test] without! -Saul Chernos The sweep tones easily cut through the dominant "talkback weekend" program station; The morse code sometimes was easily heard as well. -Steve Ratzlaff Severe QRM from presumed WEUV with gospel. Imagine such a strong signal with "only" 1kw >:-o -Mike Hardester WEUV was dominant but I heard some of the morse but I must say the sweeps really break through as I could hear them very well. Thanks to all involved in getting this DX test accomplished. -Tom Kenny I find it hard to believe that WEUV is dropping to 1 kW night power. -Barry McLarnon No voice announcements made it but the sweep tones cut through like a hot knife through butter! -Marc DeLorenzo BTC Comments: This test is one of the most widely heard in recent memory. Signals ranged literally from Coast to Coast, with reception in both New York and California. A total of 18 states and three provinces of Canada logged the test, and this is just passed on the initial reports! It's become clear that the famous "NRC Sweep Tones" cut through the noise to an even greater extent than Morse code, and we'll push for their use in all future tests. For the record, the Morse Code was sent at 5 and 10 wpm. For those of us who can copy code at 20 word per minute or faster speeds, five words per minute can seem slow, but I think it cuts through noise better. It's also clear that the 570 station KLIF is needed by many, so we'll try to twist Hue Beavers arm to see if we can arrange a test for that frequency as well. Reception reports should be sent via e-mail only, please include an MP3 recording. Hbeavers @ dfwradio.com If you really can't convert your cassette into an MP3, or have to send snail mail, then you can forward those cassettes to me. When I have time (likely months from now) I'll encode them and send them to the station on your behalf. Obviously this is an option of last resort. Our special thanks again to Hue Beavers, the staff and management at KKLF, and also to Bill Hale of the National Radio Club for making this test possible! What a great way to start the 2005-2006 DX Test season. Don't forget this weekend's rare dual test from both WNTP 990 and WFIL 560 khz! 73, (Les Rayburn, N1LF, NRC/IRCA Broadcast Test Coordinator, High Noon Film, 100 Centerview Drive Suite 111, Birmingham, AL 35216, 205.824.8930, 205.824.8960 Fax, 205.253.4867 Cell http://www.highnoonfilm.com ABDX via DXLD) ** U S A [and non]. I want to thank Bob and Terry for driving down to Sarasota, and Paul for driving up this past weekend. The antique radio show, and bay area hamfest were fun, but nothing compared to the great time spent getting to know these fine DX'ers. Their knowledge and passion for the hobby made it a very enjoyable day. Thank you guys! Two frequencies of note on trip down Friday, and back to Georgia on Sunday. First off 87.9 MHz seems to be the open frequency of choice for those who use a small FM transmitter to get XM or Sirius to their car stereos. At least one truck for every mile of travel on I-75 had a satellite radio channel playing on 87.9. Mostly Country or Classic Rock on the way down. A bit less on the way back up, as football was all over the broadcast bands. I was surprised at how much football was on FM in North Florida and South Georgia. I know it is a given in the large cities that major league sports have migrated to FM, but all those small local stations that used to have the games, have been replaced with FM signals with greater coverage. In fact, in North Florida, I could hear the Miami, Tampa, Jacksonville, and Atlanta games all in full quieting on FM. On AM, the frequency was 1560. The skip distance must be perfect between Lancaster, SC, and Central Florida. WAGL 50KW, DA-South just blasts in to Florida as early as 2:30 PM in the car. Their s/off is not until 5:15 EST this month. In the morning, they were in until 9:30 AM. It is December, and it was in the 70's. Their signal is amazing. And this brings up the other station of note on 1560. On Sunday, after the WAGL fade out, I heard the Grateful Dead and Alan Parsons Project on AM. Unusual to say the least these days. It turned out to be WINV, a 5KW daytimer in Beverly Hills, FL, just northeast of Homosassa Springs. They relay "Classic Hits" WXOF 96.3. I can imagine how WAGL just tears them up. Mike Cooper and I have shared this ride, and never heard WINV, as it was in the afternoon, and WAGL owned the frequency. WINV was good to Ocala in the car. Quickly noted. The 640 Cuban is way, way down in power. The 770 Cuban was loud enough to make hearing the return of music on WABC next to impossible. I caught the Stern interview on the drive back up on "60 Minutes" thanks to WBBM and WCBS. I know Florida is retiree heaven, but there are so many so called news/talk stations on AM in the Tampa Bay area, that there were paid health programs on 860, 930, 1040, 1220, 1250, and many more above 1300 Sunday morning. I'm lucky I got out of there with my colon intact. To hear these paid huxters, each meal without their miracle cures, shortens ones life (Brock Whaley, DX Florida, Dec 7, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** VANUATU. 3944.8, R. Vanuatu, December 1st, 1900, Bislama, signing on, anthem, soft pop music, talk, ID; O=2. vy 73 (Michael Schnitzer, Bavarian DX-Camp, HCDX via DXLD) ** VENEZUELA. SW broadcasting to nowhere: see ALBANIA UNIDENTIFIED. Dear Friends, Some coded messages are observed on the AIR frequencies on 15040 and 17387 at around 0930 UT. Today they were announcing as Oscar Papa 3. (17387 is an old favourate AIR freq) Similar reports are there in Glenn Hauser's DX Lister's DX Digest. 73 (Jose Jacob, VU2JOS National Institute of Amateur Radio Raj Bhavan Road, Hyderabad 500082, India dx_india via WORLD OF RADIO 1296, DXLD) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ PUBLICATIONS ++++++++++++ SHORTWAVE POETRY IN SPANISH Saludos cordiales, espero esten bien, cómo curiosidad en la siguiente dirección podran leer una poesia de Enzia Verduchi dedicada a la Radio de Onda Corta, está sacada de la Antologia de la Poesia Hispanoamericana. http://palabravirtual.com/index.php?ir=ver_poema1.php&pid=5728 (José Miguel Romero, Burjasot (Valencia), España, condiglist via DXLD) DIGITAL BROADCASTING ++++++++++++++++++++ IBOC I have KOA's IBOC signal bothering WHAS right now 12/6 1910. It is loudest in the low side band mode. This is my furthest IBOC reception. (Bill Harms, Elkridge, Maryland, R8B, K9AY, 300 foot longwire, Quantum Phaser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) KOA can run it until 6 pm MST = 0100 UT = 2000 EST (gh, DXLD) I have noted KOA's IBOC hissing up 840 and 860 even when KOA is not audible yet since my limited time local WCPT 850 is still on !! 73 KAZ near Chicago (Neil Kazaross, IL, Dec 6, IRCA via DXLD) It looks like WTNT 570 has turned on IBOC. Reception of stations on 560 and 580 are now difficult here in Maryland. WHP has been in the clear here, now they are bothered with IBOC hash. Additionally, WKDL 730 has turned IBOC back on (Bill Harms, Elkridge, Maryland, 2050 UT Dec 7, DX LISTENING DIGEST) WDC area stns Current Radio World features usual HD hype & two Diamonds of Hope: 1. Broadcasters state Radio World lost credibility due to one-sided endless HD evangelizing. 2. Better yet, RIAA now demands copy protection be included in HD algorithm. RIAA pursuing thru congress, not FCC. Best of all - 'RIAA demands threaten to kill off this fledgling technology'. I`m weepy. =Z.= (Paul Vincent Zecchino, Manamourning Key, FL, BT IRCA via DXLD) RADIO EQUIPMENT FORUM +++++++++++++++++++++ COMMUNICATIONS IN THE 9/11 COMMISSION REPORT Hi, Glenn! I'm really backlogged in reading DXLDs, so I don't know if you've included anything from that recent news about the 9/11 Commission report that referred to "blaming Congress for not providing radio spectrum". All I know of it is the bit I've heard on TV news, which is of course superficial, but I have had a hostile reaction to that attitude. I cannot see how *Congress* could be to blame for the reported inability of police and fire units to cross-communicate in disaster scenarios. It seems obvious that the blame is on state and local governments and the police/fire departments themselves. We do NOT need "new spectrum space" for these units -- we need them to use the many MHz they now have *correctly*. These organizations have allowed themselves to be seduced over the past decades by salesmen and corporations eager to peddle new electronics to them and force the taxpayers to foot the bills. Back several decades ago, all these organizations were using VHF analog radios, with a few supplementing that with VHF low-band like state police who needed wider range. Fire and police units shared frequencies or chunks of spectrum. They could easily communicate among themselves with crystal changes or simple reprogramming of synthesized radios. Technology could have improved on that by adding more capability in channels to each radio, adding scanning circuits, etc. We did NOT need to go to UHF in most cases. We ESPECIALLY did NOT need to go to digital modulation, trunking, and all this garbage that has gotten us stuck in modes where what should be a simple task of sending from one radio to another has turned into a complicated exercise in computer control, one that fails in situations where the central control goes down or becomes overloaded. Congress had nothing to do with this. The existing spectrum allocations were enough as they were. Besides, that level of detail is the responsibility of the FCC, therefore the Executive Branch, and not up to Congress anyway. Every time politics has gotten in the way of practical technical expertise, we have suffered because of it. Whatever thrashing around gets performed now as a result of this misguided report will undoubtedly make things worse in the long run. 73, (Will Martin, MO, Dec 7, DX LISTENING DIGEST) A NEW WIRELESS SYSTEM xG Technology http://www.xgtechnology.com have taken the wraps off a new radio system which is claimed to be is a thousand times more efficient than other wireless systems, including current mobile phone systems. From an 850 ft tower in the Everglades a radio transmitter no stronger than the base station of a cordless phone whose signals would normally hardly reach the tower's base puts out signals that can be picked up 18 miles away. The 900 MHz band transmitter uses only 50 mW of power. The transmitter and the receiver antennae have fairly high gain, but not enough to boost it that far as it is not a focused beam. Under these conditions it would be impossible to pick up any conventional signal at 18 miles. xMax uses single cycle modulation. Most radio systems use a carrier signal, and alter it to send data. The transmitter changes the amplitude, the frequency or the phase of the carrier, and the receiver locks on to the signal, and detects those changes. Normally, it takes several oscillations of the carrier to send one bit of data, but xMax changes each wave cycle individually. The technology also operates on many frequencies simultaneously. That means xMax needs much less power to send data. The receiving equipment is a black box hooked to an antenna and an oscilloscope that showed the signal is being received (Dec World DX Club Contact via Alan Roe, DXLD) Does this make sense? FOLLOW-UP ON CHEAPY DIGITAL RADIO A while back I posted a mini-review of a cheapy Chinese digital- readout radio that was available under both the Electro-Brand and JWIN brands. The key factor was that it actually worked reasonably well. Happened to find another reference to it that pointed to a really low- priced source, which also has the benefit of *free shipping*! They're only $7.99 each from this place, as compared with the $13 I spent for my initial sample. I've already ordered some more; if you want to introduce kids or friends to SW radio, this is a good choice. Here's the link: http://www.hhgregg.com/ProductDetail.asp?SID=437B58D6E5BF41E9A3A5FFE4FC505DE7&ProductID=12041 And, as an aside, if you buy these and hand them out like candy, you'll also want a batch of AA batteries to give with them. I just got an ad from Big Lots that listed their 48-count packages of Maxell AA alkalines at $10.88, which I've bought before, but now there's a $5 mail-in rebate on it! THAT's as cheap as you'll *ever* get decent AA cells! So if Big Lots is in your region, try to get to there. (No idea if you can get only one or more rebates per address.) Happy Giving! 73 (Will Martin, MO, Dec 7, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) I consider anything below 30 cents per alkaline AA to be a reasonable price... we go through AA's at our house like candy, with personal flashlights, cassette players, digital camera, shortwave radios (Richard "cheapskate" Cuff, swprograms via DXLD) I think the shortwave community should do some research on the conditions in the factories these sets are produced in, I have taken a personal decision not to buy these products until I have evidence that internationally accepted standards for the workers are followed (Mike Barraclough, UK, ibid.) DX PEDITIONS ++++++++++++ LBI-4 DXpedition reports are posted [New Jersey coast] Our musings, logs, photos, and a few webcam archives from LBI-4, Nov 4-6, 2005, are now posted at the LBI Dxpedition website, http://www.radiodxing.com Also, you can check out the sometimes amusing archive from the #MWDX chatroom, which we used as our inter- room link, at http://www.philcobill.com --- follow the link. 73, (Bruce WB3HVV, York, PA Collier, Official Cutty Sark supplier for LBI- 4! Amfmtvdx via DXLD) PROPAGATION +++++++++++ NASA AND NSF CREATE UNPRECEDENTED VIEW OF UPPER ATMOSPHERE Hello Glenn; I hope this is of interest to you. Let's hope this discovery will cause engineers and scientists to become more interested in HF RF propagation. Yours, (Bruce Atchison, AB, http://gideon.www2.50megs.com/music/iprices.html http://www.bookadz.com/batchison.htm DX LISTENING DIGEST) Viz.: December 5, 2005 George Deutsch/Erica Hupp, Headquarters, Washington, (202) 358-1324/1237 Bill Steigerwald/Rachel Weintraub, Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md. (301) 286-5017/0918 RELEASE: 05-419 Scientists from NASA and the National Science Foundation discovered a way to combine ground and space observations to create an unprecedented view of upper atmosphere disturbances during space storms. Large, global-scale disturbances resemble weather cold fronts. They form in the Earth's electrified upper atmosphere during space storms. The disturbances result from plumes of electrified plasma that form in the ionosphere. When the plasma plumes pass overhead, they impede low and high frequency radio communications and delay Global Positioning System navigation signals. "Previously, they seemed like random events," said John Foster, associate director of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology's Haystack Observatory. He is principal investigator of the Foundation supported Millstone Hill Observatory, Wesford, Mass. "People knew there was a space storm that must have disrupted their system, but they had no idea why," said Tony Mannucci, group supervisor of Ionospheric and Atmospheric Remote Sensing at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif. "Now we know it's not just chaos; there is cause and effect. We are beginning to put together the full picture, which will ultimately let us predict space storms." Predicting space weather is a primary goal of the National Space Weather Program involving NASA, the foundation and several other federal agencies. The view researchers created allowed them to link movement of the plumes to processes that release plasma into space. "Discovering this link is like discovering the movement of cold fronts is responsible for sudden thunderstorms," said Jerry Goldstein, principal scientist at the Southwest Research Institute, San Antonio. Since the occurrence of plasma plumes in the ionosphere disrupts GPS signals, they provide a continuous monitor of these disturbances. Researchers discovered a link between GPS data and satellite images of the plasmasphere. The plasmasphere is a plasma cloud surrounding Earth above the ionosphere. It is being observed from NASA's Imager for Magnetopause to Aurora Global Exploration satellite. The researchers discovered the motion of the ionospheric plumes corresponded to the ejection of plasma from the plasmasphere during space storms. The combined observations allowed construction of an underlying picture of the processes during space storms, when the Earth's magnetic field is buffeted by hot plasma from the sun. As the solar plasma blows by, it generates an electric field that is transmitted to the plasmasphere and ionosphere. This electric field propels the ionospheric and the plasmaspheric plasma out into space. For the first time, scientists can directly connect the plasma observed in the ionosphere with the plasmasphere plumes that extend many thousand of kilometers into space. "We also know these disturbances occur most often between noon and dusk, and between mid to high latitudes, due to the global structure of the electric and magnetic fields during space storms," said Anthea Coster of the Haystack Observatory. "Ground and space based, and in situ measurements are allowing scientists to understand the ionosphere-thermosphere-magnetosphere as a coupled system." The plumes degrade GPS signals in two primary ways. First, they cause position error by time delaying the propagation of GPS signals. Second, the turbulence they generate causes receivers to lose the signal through an effect known as scintillation. It is similar to the apparent twinkling of stars caused by atmospheric turbulence. Researchers are presenting the findings today during the American Geophysical Union meeting in San Francisco, Calif. For information about space weather and other research on the Web, visit: http://www.nasa.gov/vision/universe/solarsystem/cold_front.html For information about NASA and agency programs on the Web, visit: http://www.nasa.gov/home -end- To subscribe to the list, send a message to: hqnews-subscribe @ mediaservices.nasa.gov (via Bruce Atchison, AB, DXLD) The geomagnetic field ranged from quiet to active at middle latitudes, while at high latitudes, isolated minor to major storm conditions were observed. Solar wind speed ranged from a low of approximately 360 km/s late on 28 November to a high of near 775 km/s midday on 01 December. During the majority of the period, the IMF Bz did not vary much beyond +/- 3 nT. Late on 29 November, ACE detected an increase in temperature, density, and wind velocity, all indicative of a co- rotating interaction region in advance of a recurrent coronal hole high speed wind stream. From late on 30 November to late on 01 December, wind speed gradually increased from about 400 km/s to near 700 km/s, while the Bz component of the IMF fluctuated between +/- 12 nT. During this period, the geomagnetic field responded with mostly unsettled to active conditions at middle latitudes, while active to major storm levels were observed at high latitudes. From late on 01 December through the remainder of the summary period, wind speed remained elevated at between 600 to 700 km/s, while the IMF Bz became mostly neutral, not varying much beyond +/- 3 nT. During this period, the geomagnetic field was mostly quiet to unsettled with isolated active periods midday on 02 – 04 December. FORECAST OF SOLAR AND GEOMAGNETIC ACTIVITY 07 DEC 2005 - 02 JAN 2006 Solar activity is expected to be at very low to low levels. No greater than 10 MeV proton events are expected. The greater than 2 MeV electron flux at geosynchronous orbit is expected to be at high levels on 07 – 08 December, 22 – 24 December, and 29 December – 02 January. The geomagnetic field is expected to range from quiet to active levels. Isolated active periods are possible on 28 – 29 December due to effects from a recurrent coronal hole wind stream. Otherwise, quiet to unsettled conditions are expected for the majority of the forecast period. :Product: 27-day Space Weather Outlook Table 27DO.txt :Issued: 2005 Dec 06 2223 UTC # Prepared by the US Dept. of Commerce, NOAA, Space Environment Center # Product description and SEC contact on the Web # http://www.sec.noaa.gov/wwire.html # # 27-day Space Weather Outlook Table # Issued 2005 Dec 06 # # UTC Radio Flux Planetary Largest # Date 10.7 cm A Index Kp Index 2005 Dec 07 90 10 3 2005 Dec 08 90 5 2 2005 Dec 09 85 8 3 2005 Dec 10 80 8 3 2005 Dec 11 80 8 3 2005 Dec 12 80 5 2 2005 Dec 13 75 5 2 2005 Dec 14 75 5 2 2005 Dec 15 80 5 2 2005 Dec 16 85 10 3 2005 Dec 17 85 8 3 2005 Dec 18 85 5 2 2005 Dec 19 85 8 3 2005 Dec 20 85 8 3 2005 Dec 21 85 8 3 2005 Dec 22 85 10 3 2005 Dec 23 90 5 2 2005 Dec 24 90 5 2 2005 Dec 25 90 8 3 2005 Dec 26 90 5 2 2005 Dec 27 90 10 3 2005 Dec 28 95 15 3 2005 Dec 29 95 15 3 2005 Dec 30 95 10 3 2005 Dec 31 90 5 2 2006 Jan 01 90 5 2 2006 Jan 02 85 10 3 (http://www.sec.noaa.gov/radio via WORLD OF RADIO 1296, DXLD) ###