DX LISTENING DIGEST 6-023, February 4, 2006 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 2006 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 NEXT SW AIRINGS OF WORLD OF RADIO 1303: Sun 0330 on WWCR 5070 Sun 0400 on WBCQ 9330-CLSB Sun 0730 on WWCR 3215 Sun 1359 on WRMI 7385 Sun 2229 on WRMI 7385 Mon 0400 on WBCQ 9330-CLSB Wed 0030 on WBCQ 7415 Wed 1030 on WWCR 9985 Full schedule, including AM, FM, satellite and internet, with hotlinks to station sites and audio: http://www.worldofradio.com/radioskd.html WRN ON DEMAND: http://new.wrn.org/listeners/stations/station.php?StationID=24 OUR ONDEMAND AUDIO [also CONTINENT OF MEDIA, MUNDO RADIAL] http://www.worldofradio.com/audiomid.html or http://wor.worldofradio.org WORLD OF RADIO PODCASTS: www.obriensweb.com/wor.xml ** ALGERIA [non]. Re 6-022: Also yesterday evening good reception in Germany on 5985 at 2040 UT, strong, with RAI in the background until RAI's closedown at 2045. Weaker parallel heard on 7105. French broadcast, IDs as "Canal Algérie", discussion programme with several ministers. 73, (Eike Bierwirth, Feb 3, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Using the schedule listed in DXLD 6-021 I tuned in to RTV Algeria on 5985 at 1914 UT Saturday Feb. 4 to hear a call to prayer followed by a short talk in Arabic then more prayer (presumed) and more talk in Arabic for the remainder of the hour to 2000. The signal was almost obliterated by a noisy blast from a utility extending from 5995 to 5985 but I was able to hear it quite well by using LSB. Some splash from Turkey on 5980. At 2000 UT the parallel frequency of 7105 came on with a very strong signal but initially there was some strong interference from radio amateurs using morse. Still talk in Arabic by a male; some music (probably religious in nature) and then more prayer. Italy in English on 5985 at 2025 to 2045 almost wiped out Algeria but 7105 was still very strong and clear. Occasional morse interference. At 2100 5985 was off and 7105 continued with what sounded like news in Arabic read by a female to 2106. More strong morse interference again for a time, avoided by using a narrow filter. A program of western classical music followed the news with a female host and with mention of Mozart and Haydn. This was followed at about 2135 by a male singing in Arabic (presumed) the same rather catchy melody for 20 minutes or so. 7105 went off abruptly at 2200 with no announcements. No French was heard (Bernie O'Shea, Ottawa, Ontario, Feb 4, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ALGERIA. That Algerian signal appears on the low side of 891 making it much more difficult to resolve. I'd love to get this one, as it has been a strong het for years. The signal is currently centered around 890.90 (Jim Renfrew, Feb 3, WTFDA-AM via DXLD) 890.98 | ALGERIA | Chaîne 1, Algiers, FEB 3 0108 - Arabic string music and vocal; very thin audio on a massive carrier (Mark Connelly, MA, NRC-AM via DXLD) It seems the Algerians on 891 and 981 are now very poorly modulated. I had a ripping loud het on 981 last night and could only bring up trace audio even though neither Ontarian was strong on the NE BOGs. As for 891, it used to be much easier to pull audio past WLS. While listening on 890 and trying to hear things u/phased WLS, I often need to use LSB to get rid of the het! 73 KAZ, 45 miles N of WLS (Neil Kazaross, IL, ibid.) At times, the 891 het back onto WLS was almost that strong! And no audio! 981 is similar in that it can give a loud het but never any audio (loud on 980 which is usually DC at night) (Greg Coniglio, Rochester NY, ibid.) ** BOLIVIA. I really don`t want a conflict with Mika and dxing.info but this is what happens when he rewrites a news item, such as the R. Logos, 6165, story, which comes exclusively from DX Listening Digest. His rewrite notes the source, but others copy the dxing.info version rather than the original DXLD version, and remove the sourcing info. Yes, I hear that this is exactly what was done in the latest issue of EDXP`s World Broadcasting Magazine, as BP cannot bear the idea of acknowledging any info to us, even when it is entirely proper and the ethical thing to do. OTOH, we are forbidden to quote from EDXP. Perhaps dxing.info should at least insist that those quoting it do NOT REMOVE the original sourcing cited (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** BOLIVIA. 4730.6, Radio Virgen de Remedios, Tupiza, 1050+, January 25, Spanish, program: "Hablando claro", ID and ann. as: "Radio Virgen de Remedios anuncia la celebración de la Eucaristia... Radio Virgen de Remedios te acompaña todo el día, en frecuencia modulada, 89.5, desde Tupiza, Bolivia", 25332 (Arnaldo Slaen, Villa Giardino, Córdoba province, Argentina, condig list via DXLD) A new frequency every day (gh, DXLD) ** BULGARIA. Re WRN`s new service from Feb 6: [SW outlets via transmitters at Kostinbrod-Sofia Bulgaria. HFCC registrations in B-05 under Bulgaria, short call 'NEW', of Spaceline LTD. (Broker) - see WRTH 2006, page 447: 9985 1200-1300 20,21 SOF 100 306 12 N ENGL BUL NEW NEW 11515 0800-1900 27-29 SOF 100 306 N ENGL BUL NEW NEW 15735 0600-1900 18-40 SOF 100 0 N ENGL BUL NEW NEW 15740 0700-1700 18-40 SOF 100 0 N BUL NEW NEW 18950 1000-1400 37,38,4SOF 100 215 N ENGL BUL NEW NEW 21550 0800-1200 47,48,5SOF 100 180 N BUL NEW NEW and two non-DRM mode transmissions: 11535 1500-2000 39,40 SOF 100 100 BUL NEW NEW 11540 1400-1700 39-41 SOF 100 110 BUL NEW NEW (Wolfgang Büschel, wwdxc BC-DX Jan 30 via DXLD) Dear Glenn, What you published from the German source [6-022] is nearly correct. In fact the initial schedule (which you can publish) will be: 0600-0800 11545 0800-1600 15735 1600-1800 11535 1800-0600 5760 It is due to commence at 1400 on Feb 6 but will not at the start run 24/7. It will initially carry WRN English for Europe but within a short time will carry other content as well (Jeff Cohen, WRN, Feb 4, DX LISTENING DIGEST) See also UK Hmm, if on at 0900 Sat, that may include WOR on 15735 DRM (gh, DXLD) ** CANADA. Vinyl Café on CBC has a really fun segment this week, about 15 to 27 past the hour, variations on the Pink Panther theme in the style of nine different classical composers/other musicians. Repeats on CBC Radio One, Sunday at 1605 UT hourly thru 2005 per timezone (Glenn Hauser, OK, Feb 4, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CANADA [non]. RCI back in French instead of erroneous English previously logged, Feb 4 at 1457 on 5985 via Japan, harmonica fill, then closing and off at 1459* Previous note of Japanese following on frequency must have been mistaken due to unseen dial, analog tuning, as this date it was 5980 with CRI in Japanese from 1500 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CANADA. CHRB-1140 [Calgary] equal to and sometimes over WRVA at 11:15 EST 2/3. "Southern Alberta's Community Radio Station, AM 1140" after promo for "Southern Gospel USA", then into religious program (Steve Francis, Alcoa, Tennessee, ibid.) Thanks for the tip Steve - bagged them here in Memphis too with an excellent signal (Jim Pogue, TN, ibid.) CHRB is a good catch for you guys in the south; hardly DX here in NE Oregon -- very dominant on the N/S wire and partially dominant on the E/W wire as well. Playing C&W with "AM 1140 your community radio station" at 10:30 PLT. KSOO, SD, after long weather forecast "KSOO the talk of Sioux Falls" at 10:31 PLT on E/W wire. Usual KHTK, CA on N/S wire too (Steve Ratzlaff, NE Oregon, Feb 3, IRCA via DXLD) Per NRC Pattern Book, CHRB is non-direxional day, and supposed to be totally direxional nite toward the NNW (Glenn Hauser, DXLD) ** CANADA. Hi Glenn - re CBA 1070 kHz. Ironically, it is powering into London right now. It comes up around 2100z and is audible all night till after dawn. It's probably the most consistent TA station in this neck of the woods. Armchair listening at times.(Graham Bell, London, England, 2131 UT Feb 4, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CAPE VERDE. CAPE VERDE MEDIA GUIDE - FEBRUARY 2006 Overview In the islands of Cape Verde, the archipelago off the coast of West Africa, there is an evolving media environment which is becoming more available to many of the country's almost 470,000-strong population and also to the large Diaspora. More Cape Verdeans live abroad than in Cape Verde, with significant emigrant Cape Verdean communities in the United States, Portugal, Angola, Sao Tome and Principe, Senegal, France, Brazil and the Netherlands. Cape Verde has relatively free media and is taking advantage of new technologies to overcome traditional obstacles of delivery of print media to citizens on the nine inhabited islands of the country. The internet is playing an increasingly important role, with newspapers and radio stations taking advantage of the medium. There is nationwide coverage of radio and television broadcasting although there are areas of poor reception, especially in the mountainous regions. Most media is broadcast or published in Portuguese. Some local television and radio broadcasts are in the Crioulo language (a blend of Portuguese and west African words). Access to mass media in the country is high considering the underdevelopment of the sector and a lack of electricity in some areas. The vast majority of the population read a newspaper, listen to the radio or watch television. This is due in part to a relatively high level of literacy in Cape Verde The president of the Cape Verdean Association of Journalists (AJOC) Paulo Lima and international press freedom groups agree that freedom of the press "is on the right path in the archipelago". Lima told A Semana Online that proof of this can be seen in the number of new media outlets that have sprung up, particularly private radio stations. He said "the internet panorama has begun to change as well". In its 2004 Third Annual Worldwide Press Freedom Index, the Paris- based media watchdog Reporters Without Borders listed Cape Verde 38th out of 167 countries in a survey of media freedom around the world. The report said Cape Verde was one of the countries that had traditionally respected press freedom. In an earlier report Reporters Without Borders noted that although there were various forms of pressure, as anywhere in the world, reporters enjoyed real freedom. No journalists were imprisoned just for doing their job and no news media were shut down for being too critical of the authorities. Media freedom There is a substantial and growing independent press in Cape Verde. However, the press, radio and television are mainly under state control. According to the 2004 World Press Freedom Report which was published by the International Press Institute (the global press freedom organization), there were no real incidents regarding press freedom, although there was an improvement concerning the broadcasting sector in Cape Verde. The media regulator is the ICTI - Institute of Communications and Information Technologies. Its website is at http://www.icti.cv The ICTI was established by the Cape Verdean government in November 2003. Operation started at the beginning of 2004 and its mission is the regulation and the development of the communications sector of Cape Verde. ICTI is in charge of the radio spectrum management, supervision, technical regulation, communications regulation and inspection, as well as the promotion and the development of the information and communication technologies. Scrutiny of government by the press is generally limited, although some of the privately-owned radio stations do criticize the government occasionally. Opposition politicians have complained of limited access to state-owned media. Freedom House, the non-profit, non-partisan organization founded over 60 years ago by Eleanor Roosevelt, Wendell Willkie and other Americans, http://www.freedomhouse.org reported that a new penal code was introduced in 2004 that enhances criminal investigation procedures, but no changes were made to laws concerning freedom of expression. The constitution guarantees press freedom, and the government generally respects this in practise, but a 1999 constitutional amendment excludes the use of freedom of expression as a defence in defamation cases. The last press freedom case was reported in November 2002 with the conviction of the weekly independent newspaper A Semana for defamation after it published an article that criticized the judiciary. A US State Department report said the Constitution provides for the freedom to express ideas by words, images or any other means without censorship. Government authorization is not needed to publish newspapers or other printed material. Despite broadly interpreted criminal libel laws, no independent media outlets have reported direct pressure in their daily operations or business activities. Press Newspapers in Cape Verde have faced a number of obstacles. One is the high cost of newsprint, making newspapers expensive for many people. Another is due to the geography of the country, which means newspapers have to be delivered by air, which adds to costs. There is also competition from daily newspapers published in Brazil and Portugal which are also available in Cape Verde. The online press continues to expand and has become an important way of reaching the Cape Verdean Diaspora. Six newspapers have their own websites. The most popular newspaper is A Semana. Horizonte is a daily publication. It was founded in 1999 and is a pro- government newspaper. It has a circulation of 5000. Novo Jornal de Cabo Verde is a weekly publication. The independent weekly newspaper A Semana, which is based in Praia, is closely associated with the African Party for the Independence of Cape Verde (PAICV). It has a circulation of 5000 and a website at http://www.asemana.cv Its online news are also available in English and French. Agaviva is published monthly. Based in Mindelo on the island of São Vicente, it was founded in 1991 and has a circulation of 400. Boletim Oficial da República de Cabo Verde is a weekly publication featuring official announcements. O Cidadão is based in Mindelo on the island of São Vicente. The newspaper has a website at http://www.hostultra.com/~caboverde/cidadao which features news from all the islands of Cape Verde. Contacto is based in Práia. It is a quarterly publication, founded in 1993 and is an economic bulletin published by the Centro de Promoção Turí8stica, de Investimento Externo e das Exportações (PROMEX). Contacto has a circulation of 1500. The quarterly publication Raizes was founded in 1977. It is a cultural review with a circulation of 1,500. Terra Nova is the Roman Catholic monthly publication based in São Vicente. It has a circulation of 3000. Its website at http://www.cabonet.cv/terranova/ is hosted by CaboNet. Television There are three television channels, one national channel and two international channels. The national television station is National Television of Cape Verde (TNCV). The state-run broadcaster belongs to Cape Verde Radio and Television (RTC) which also broadcasts the national radio station. RTC is financed by licence fees paid through electricity bills. Foreign broadcasters also operate in the country. Radiotelevisão Portuguesa Internacional and Canal Plus International began broadcasting in Cape Verde in 1995. There were plans to begin cable broadcasts in 2005. Radio France Internationale has five FM relays across the islands, broadcasting in French and Portuguese. The IPI reported in 2004 that there were signs of the continued close relationship between Cape Verde and Angola. In mid-April 2004, the Angolan Media Minister, Hendrick Vaal Neto, visited Cape Verde. Speaking on 16 April in the capital Práia, Neto said that the cooperation between the two countries was dependent upon information and the relationship between their media. On the day before, the minister had visited Radio Cape Verde (RCV) and the newspaper, A Semana. Before leaving the minister signed an accord for the improvement of various public information programmes. According to AllAfrica.com, the agreement will create exchange visits between journalists, improve professional training and provide co- production initiatives, including the exchange of television and radio programmes and the use of 30-minute radio programmes every week for immigrants living in the respective territories. Long criticized for the lack of plurality in its broadcasting sector, the government announced in May 2005 that Cape Verde Telecom (CVT) would start a cable television experiment starting on 10 June. A total of 100 subscribers across the country would be selected to take part in a pilot programme which was timed to coincide with the 2004 European Cup finals. RTP Africa TV reported in September 2005 that Carlos Pulu had launched Pulu TV, an entertainment channel in São Vicente. He does not have a permit to transmit programmes yet and told RTP Africa TV "I am illegal at the moment. It is only for entertainment... There is no educational or political aims. So I am breaking the law to please my people". He is trying to obtain a licence to become the first private legal television station in the country. Radio According to a report published in 2003 by ITU Telecom in Geneva, Switzerland there are around 12 radio stations in Cape Verde, transmitting on websites. All the radio stations in the country broadcast on FM. There are no shortwave or mediumwave broadcasts from Cape Verde. Rádio Nacional de Cabo Verde (RNCV) is the state-run radio station based in Práia. Rádio Nova is the Catholic radio station based in São Vicente. It was founded in 2002. Radio Nova is a Cape Verdean radio broadcaster. It broadcasts live news from Cape Verde on its website at http://www.radionovaonline.com/ Rádio Comercial is based in Práia and has a website at http://www.radiocomercial.net and streams live. It was founded in 1997. Rádio Televisão de Cabo Verde (RTC) is based in Praia, Santiago. It is a government-controlled radio station. According to Europa 2005 the station has 18 radio transmitters and five solar relay radio transmitters. It programmes are in Portuguese and Crioulo 24 hours daily. The station has one television transmitter and seven relay television transmitters. It broadcasts for eight hours a day in Portuguese and Crioulo, with cooperation from Portugal's RTPI. The radio streams live on the web. The private FM radio station, Radio Morabeza, is based in São Vicente and plays music from all the islands as well as music from mainland Africa, Brazil, the Caribbean and America. It also features local information. Radio Mosteiros FM is based in Fogo and streams live on the web. Práia FM has a website at http://www.praiafm.biz and a live stream on the web. Radio Educativa de Cabo Verde is based in Práia, Santiago. Voz de São Vicente is based in São Vicente; the station was founded in 1974. It is government-controlled. Foreign radio stations broadcast from the capital. French radio station RFI Afrique transmits its programmes in Portuguese and French. Cape Verdeans can also listen to the Radiodifusão Portuguese (RDP) Africa service, which broadcasts to Portuguese-speaking Africa. News Agencies The national state-run news agency is Inforpress at http://www.inforpress.cv Inforpress launched its internet website in 2000. The site, which was inaugurated in Práia, was part of a Luso- Cape Verde cooperation project and cost three million escudos. It features daily information updates regarding the most important political, economic and social events on the islands, as well as other information regarding culture and entertainment. Based in Práia, CaboPress was founded in 1991 and has a website at http://www.cabopress.net It serves as a major source of news to a majority of other media houses in the country. Although it is based in the capital Praia, its correspondents operate on all the islands of the country and in most of the municipalities. Foreign news agencies also operate in the country. The French news agency Agence France Presse is based in Práia. The Portuguese news agency Agencia Lusa de Informação is also in Cape Verde. Inter Press Service (IPS) also operates in the country. Its website is at http://www.ips.org Internet Cape Verde was the 29th African country to connect to the internet. There is a single, private sector internet service provider. There are technical limitations on internet use related to bandwidth and the lack of electricity and telephone lines in isolated parts of the country. The government does not restrict internet access. The first internet cafe opened in Cape Verde in May 1998 at the Portuguese Cultural Centre in Mindelo. The ITU reported in 1998 that the internet developed differently in Cape Verde than in many other nations. In most countries, the internet started as an initiative of the academic community or a development assistance project. In Cape Verde it was the incumbent telecommunication operator, Cape Verde Telecom (CVT), who first introduced the internet. CVT launched an experimental network in October 1996 with a 64 kbps connection to Telepac in Portugal. The service was commercialized a year later. The ITU reported in 2002 that there were approximately a dozen internet cafés in Cape Verde - four in Práia, three in Santa Catarina, two in Mindelo, one in Santo Antão and one in Sal. There is also access to online newspapers. Expresso das Ilhas is an online newspaper. It was founded in 2001 by the opposition Movement for Democracy party (MPD) (Movimento para a Democrácia) and is published weekly. Visao News at http://www.visaonews.com is an online newspaper produced by ex-pats living in the United States. It publishes its news in Portuguese and English. Nos Cabo Verde, is a news page that is also produced by ex-pats in the United States. CaboNet is an online commercial service with daily news from Cape Verde in Portuguese. Paralelo14 is a Cape Verdean website which features a daily news bulletin on local current affairs, in Portuguese. Its website is at http://www.paralelo14.com Visaocriolo.com is a news and information site at http://www.visaocriolo.com/index.php The website features audio links to PráiaFM, Rádio Comercial, RDP Africa, Rádio Popuzudos (music station), Visão Rádio (music station), RTC and AllCaboVerde. Source: BBC Monitoring research in 1 Feb 06 (via DXLD) ** CUBA. Dentro-Cuban commie jammers still running on R. Martí`s abandoned 17670, Feb 4 at 1458 check. Also at 1938 recheck. Wonder if they keep going all day, and for how much longer (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CUBA. Serious whooping happening in RI from the wobblers. Really loud over near-local WRKO-680. Wide excursion noted on 1100. WTAM-1100 louder than usual, but Fidel whooping it up underneath and even over. Gotta be one of the weirder radio phenomena. Anyone on good terms with Arnie Coro? I can't think that this is any State Secret in Cuba. It's way too random, and aimed at otherwise harmless stations. Maybe Arnie knows? (Craig Healy, Providence, RI, Feb 4, IRCA v ia DXLD) Craig: I dropped Arnie an email several months ago but heard nothing back from him. That surprised me a little, as I tried to paint this as an attempt to help someone know that there was a transmitter problem and that someone's audience must wonder what's going on. I even included my ham calls and laid a little engineering talk on him so he'd take it seriously. That's too bad - seems like he's usually a pretty communicative fellow. Maybe you'll have better luck (Chuck Hutton, ibid.) If the Wobbler is intentional, I wouldn't expect anyone in Cuba to officially admit to it, any more than they do to the well known fact they jam SW radio broadcasts illegally. If it is accidental the same thing applies, no one is likely to admit to deficiencies or problems that are causing such an annoying effect, not just for us in the U.S., but almost certainly for radio listeners in Cuba as well. Since whatever it is, is occurring on not just one or two transmitters, but more typically a half-dozen at any given time, either way -- intentional or accidental -- it wouldn't seem to be something for open discussion. Certainly worth a try and the effort is to be commended, but the lack of response is not a surprise (W. Curt Deegan, Boca Raton, (southeast) FL, ibid.) ** CUBA [and non]. Re 6-022: Glenn varios días pude captar la señal de "Radio República" en los 6010 kHz desde las 2330. Por otro lado escuché en el radio de mi automóvil hoy a las 0000 UT a Radio Mil y me pareció ya no escuchar el jamming en esta frecuencia (Julián Santiago Díez de Bonilla, DF, Feb 3, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Muy bien, y ahora volvemos al problema de Conciencia. No he probado todos las noches a que horas se cambian de 6135 a 7205; para mí siempre era a las 2358/2359. 73, (Glenn to Julián, via DXLD) Hola Glenn: gracias por tu respuesta. Te referiras a "Radio República"; lo que me ocupa ahora es si persiste el jamming. Ayer por razón de mi trabajo no pude monitorear de las 2330 a las 0200; lo que capté en mi auto no podía distinguir si había jamming o no (Julián Santiago Díez de Bonilla, DF, Feb 4, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Continued under MEXICO ** FRANCE. Re 6-022, 6175: This is DRM, the transmissions previously run on such "suitable" frequencies like 6165 or 6150, cf. http://www.drmrx.org/forum/showthread.php?threadid=1259 (note also a comment on audio quality there). Do we agree on a convention that reported shortwave transmissions are AM unless otherwise stated? (Kai Ludwig, Germany, Feb 4, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Nothing in WRTH update about it being DRM (gh, DXLD) Viz.: Good RF results this morning, although in DREAM SDC CRC was constantly yellow. The audio quality at 14.56 kbps is not adequate for DRM; it sounds very similar to what I hear when receiving a local longwave or mediumwave AM station --- and we all know that most listeners were lost there because of the better audio quality on FM. DRM and this low bitrate make no sense in the long run. Attachment: 6175_051106_dk6qi.png This has been downloaded 18 time(s). 73 (Fritz DK6QI Wue, near Münseter, Germaany, No reception reports for DRM transmissions with low audio quality, DRM forum via DXLD) ** GERMANY. Re 6-022, LATVIA [and non]. Hi Glenn, Thanks for the email. 6130 kHz is from Germany 73s (Tom Taylor, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Still did not clarify whether all the broadcasts on 9290 are also on 6130 but it seems unlikely; further info: (gh, DXLD) MV Baltic Radio ist am Sonntag, dem 5. Februar 2006, um 13 Uhr UTC im 49 m-Europa-Band, 6130 KHz wieder auf Sendung. MV Baltic Radio is on Sunday, 5. February 2006, at 13 o'clock UT in the 49 m-European-Shortwave-Band, 6130 kHz on air again. Im Programm diesmal u.a. Konzert der BluesCaravan in Schwerin, die Band 4LYN auf Europatour und natuerlich wieder Infos aus Mecklenburg- Vorpommern (Klaus Fuehrlich-D, A-DX Feb 3 via BCDX via DXLD) Via Juelich site, 6130 at 1300-1400 to zones 27,28 100 kW 60deg 1=Sun (Wolfgang Büschel, BCDX via DXLD) Latvia non: MV Baltic Radio on 6130 is via Jülich. They dropped Latvia in favour of T-Systems some time ago and are actually not related to these "Krebs TV" transmissions anymore (Kai Ludwig, Germany, Feb 4, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** INTERNATIONAL. B05 AWR Broadcast Schedule (2005-10-30 to 2006-03-26) All Regions Version 05/2006-01-30 AWR Frequency Management Office AWR MONITORING, P.O.Box 100252, 64202 Darmstadt, Germany, Phone: +49 6151 953153, Fax: +49 6151 953152, pino @ awr.org b05awr_pub Sit Star Stop Language Target Area kHz m Kw Days SDA 0000 0200 Mandarin C/N-China 17880 16 100 1234567 SDA 0000 0030 Burmese Myanmar 17635 16 100 1234567 SDA 0000 0200 Mandarin NE-China 12035 25 100 1234567 SDA 0030 0100 Karen Myanmar, Thailand, China 17635 16 100 1234567 TAI 0100 0200 Vietnamese Vietnam 15445 19 100 7 SDA 0100 0200 Mandarin S-China 17635 16 100 1234567 MOS 0200 0230 Urdu Pakistan 5965 49 300 1234567 MDC 0230 0330 Malagasy Madagascar 3215 90 50 1234567 MOS 0230 0300 Urdu Pakistan 5965 49 300 1234567 DHA 0300 0330 Tigrinya Eritrea 9760 31 250 1234567 DHA 0300 0330 Oromo S-Ethiopia 9550 31 250 1234567 SDA 0300 0330 Russian E-Russia 17645 16 100 1234567 MOS 0330 0400 Farsi Iran 6040 49 300 1234567 DHA 0330 0400 Amharic Ethiopia 9760 31 250 1234567 MOS 0400 0430 Arabic Iraq, Arab Peninsula 7210 41 300 1234567 MOS 0430 0500 Arabic Egypt, N-Sudan 6045 49 300 1234567 WER 0500 0600 Bulgarian Bulgaria 6045 49 100 1234567 JUL 0700 0800 Arabic Morocco, Algeria 11975 25 100 1234567 JUL 0800 0830 Tachelhit Morocco, Algeria 11975 25 100 567 JUL 0800 0900 French Morocco, Algeria 12025 25 100 1234567 JUL 0800 0830 Kabyle Morocco, Algeria 11975 25 100 123 JUL 0800 0830 Dial Ara Morocco, Algeria 11975 25 100 4 SDA 1000 1100 Mandarin C/N-China 15430 19 100 1234567 JUL 1000 1100 Italian Italy 9610 31 100 1 SDA 1000 1100 Mandarin S-China 15260 19 100 1234567 SDA 1030 1100 Mongolian N-China, Mongolia 11900 25 100 1234567 SDA 1030 1100 Filipino Philippines 11870 25 100 1234567 SDA 1100 1200 Mandarin NE-China 11895 25 100 1234567 SDA 1100 1200 Mandarin S-China 12120 25 100 1234567 SDA 1100 1130 Indonesian W-Indonesia 11840 25 100 1234567 SDA 1100 1200 Mandarin C/N-China 11825 25 100 1234567 SDA 1130 1200 English Indonesia, Malaysia 11915 25 100 1234567 SDA 1200 1300 Mandarin S-China 12120 25 100 1234567 SDA 1200 1300 Korean Korea 9780 31 100 1234567 SDA 1200 1300 Mandarin NE-China 11690 25 100 1234567 SDA 1200 1300 Mandarin C/N-China 11825 25 100 1234567 DHA 1200 1230 English NE-India, Bangladesh 15110 19 250 1234567 DHA 1230 1300 Bengali NE-India, Bangladesh 15110 19 250 1234567 SDA 1300 1330 Bengali Bangladesh 15660 19 100 1234567 SDA 1300 1330 Japanese Japan 11980 25 100 1234567 DHA 1300 1330 Uighur W-China 11720 25 250 17 DHA 1300 1330 Mandarin W-China 11720 25 250 23456 SDA 1300 1500 Mandarin C/N-China 11825 25 100 1234567 MDC 1300 1400 Vietnamese Vietnam 17670 16 250 1234567 SDA 1300 1330 Japanese W-Japan 11755 25 100 1234567 SDA 1330 1400 Assamese NE-India 15660 19 100 14 DHA 1330 1500 Mandarin W-China 11720 25 250 1234567 SDA 1330 1400 English Bangladesh 15660 19 100 23567 SDA 1330 1400 Russian E-Russia 9510 31 100 1234567 SDA 1330 1400 Khmer Cambod, Viet, Thai, Laos 11695 25 100 14 MOS 1400 1430 Urdu Pakistan 15440 19 300 1234567 TAI 1400 1500 Vietnamese Vietnam 11695 25 100 1234567 SDA 1400 1430 Sinhalese Sri Lanka 15660 19 100 1234567 SDA 1400 1430 Karen Myanmar, Thailand, China 11940 25 100 1234567 SDA 1400 1500 Mandarin S-China 9635 31 100 1234567 MOS 1430 1500 Afar Djibouti, NE-Ethiopia, Somalia 17610 16 300 1234567 SDA 1430 1500 Chin Myanmar 11940 25 100 1234567 SDA 1430 1500 Burmese Myanmar 11770 25 100 1234567 SDA 1500 1530 Tamil S-India 11985 25 100 1234567 SDA 1500 1530 Mizo NE-India 11610 25 100 1234567 DHA 1500 1530 Nepali Nepal 9530 31 250 1234567 SDA 1500 1530 Panjabi N-India, Pakistan 9355 31 100 1234567 SDA 1500 1530 Telugu S-India 12105 25 100 1234567 MOS 1500 1530 Turkish Turkey 15160 19 300 1234567 SAM 1500 1530 Panjabi N-India 5865 250 1234567 MDC 1528 1628 Malagasy Madagascar 3215 90 50 1234567 SDA 1530 1600 Malayalam S-India 11985 25 100 1234567 SAM 1530 1600 Hindi N-India 5865 250 1234567 SDA 1530 1600 Kannada S-India 12065 25 100 1234567 DHA 1530 1600 English Nepal, Tibet 9530 31 250 1234567 SDA 1530 1600 Marathi C-India 11935 25 100 1234567 SDA 1530 1600 Hindi C-India 12105 25 100 1234567 MOS 1600 1630 German Germany, Austria, Switzerland 6015 49 100 1234567 MOS 1600 1630 Urdu Pakistan 11680 25 300 1234567 SDA 1600 1630 Urdu N-India 11980 25 100 1234567 SDA 1600 1630 English C-India 9585 31 100 1234567 SDA 1600 1630 English S-India 12065 25 100 1234567 DHA 1630 1700 Somali Somalia 17595 16 250 1234567 SDA 1630 1700 English N-India 11980 25 100 1234567 MOS 1630 1700 Farsi Iran 9540 31 300 1234567 MOS 1700 1730 Arabic Iraq, Arab Peninsula 9595 31 300 1234567 SDA 1700 1730 Hindi ME 11675 25 100 1234567 MEY 1700 1730 Kiswahili Tanzania, Kenya, Uganda 11915 25 250 1234567 SDA 1700 1730 Filipino ME 9980 31 100 1234567 SDA 1730 1800 English ME 9980 31 100 1234567 MEY 1730 1800 Masai Tanzania, Kenya 11915 25 250 1234567 SDA 1730 1800 Tamil ME 11680 25 100 1234567 MOS 1730 1800 Arabic Egypt, N-Sudan 9670 31 300 1234567 DHA 1730 1800 Oromo S-Ethiopia 6180 49 250 1234567 MEY 1800 1830 English SW-Africa 3215 90 100 1234567 MOS 1800 1830 Moru S-Sudan 9815 31 300 15 MOS 1800 1830 Bari S-Sudan 9815 31 300 2 MOS 1800 1830 Juba Arabic S-Sudan 9815 31 300 37 MOS 1800 1830 Col English S-Sudan 9815 31 300 46 MEY 1800 1830 English E-Africa 11925 25 250 1234567 MEY 1800 1830 English Botswana, S-Africa, Zimbabwe 3345 90 100 1234567 MOS 1830 1900 Arabic Libya 9535 31 300 1234567 MEY 1900 1930 Fulfulde Cameroon, Ghana, (Senegal) 15140 19 250 1234567 JUL 1900 2000 Arabic Morocco, Algeria 11955 25 100 1234567 JUL 1900 1930 Arabic Morocco, Algeria 9800 31 100 1234567 JUL 1930 2000 Dial Ara Morocco, Algeria 9800 31 100 4 JUL 1930 2000 Tachelhit Morocco, Algeria 9800 31 100 567 MEY 1930 2000 Ibo E-Nigeria 11885 25 500 1234567 MEY 1930 2000 Hausa Nigeria 11750 25 250 1234567 JUL 1930 2000 Kabyle Morocco, Algeria 9800 31 100 123 JUL 2000 2030 French Morocco, Algeria 9695 31 100 1234567 MOS 2000 2030 Dyula Burk. Faso, Ivory Coast, Mali 9770 31 300 1234567 MEY 2000 2030 French Cameroon, Niger 11845 25 250 1234567 SDA 2000 2100 Korean Korea 6045 49 100 1234567 SDA 2000 2100 Korean Korea 6195 49 100 1234567 MEY 2000 2030 English C-Africa 9655 31 250 1234567 MEY 2000 2030 French C-Africa 9805 31 500 1234567 WER 2000 2030 Farsi Iran 7110 41 250 1234567 MOS 2030 2100 French W-Africa 9800 31 300 1234567 JUL 2030 2100 French Morocco, Algeria 9695 31 100 1234567 MEY 2030 2100 Yoruba Nigeria 11845 25 250 1234567 SDA 2100 2130 Japanese Japan 11980 25 100 1234567 SDA 2100 2200 Mandarin NE-China 5985 49 100 1234567 MOS 2100 2130 English W-Africa 9830 31 300 1234567 SDA 2100 2130 Japanese W-Japan 11960 25 100 1234567 SDA 2100 2200 Mandarin S-China 7150 41 100 1234567 SDA 2130 2200 English W-Japan, S-China 11960 25 100 1234567 SDA 2200 2230 Indonesian W-Indonesia 11850 25 100 1234567 SDA 2200 2300 Mandarin NE-China 11685 25 100 1234567 SDA 2200 2230 Indonesian W-Indonesia 11965 25 100 1234567 SDA 2200 2300 Mandarin C/N-China 11895 25 100 1234567 SDA 2230 2300 English W-Indonesia 11655 25 100 1234567 SDA 2300 2400 Vietnamese S-Vietnam 15320 19 100 1234567 SDA 2300 2400 Mandarin NE-China 11700 25 100 1234567 SDA 2300 2400 Mandarin C/N-China 15370 19 100 1234567 (via Wolfgang Büschel, DXLD) ** INTERNATIONAL INTERNET. US GOVERNMENT'S LACK OF ADVOCACY REGARDING CHINA'S INTERNET POLICY A somewhat scathing commentary in the UK's Guardian newspaper... http://business.guardian.co.uk/economicdispatch/story/0,,1700698,00.html (via Richard Cuff, Allentown, PA USA, Swprograms list via DXLD) ** INTERNATIONAL VACUUM [non]. SIRIUS SHOCK: PIRATES HIT HOWARD STERN SHOW --- By Dawn C. Chmielewski Times Staff Writer February 2, 2006 Sirius Satellite Radio Inc., which liberated radio shock jock Howard Stern from the federal decency standards that he felt had shackled him, is finding that freedom's just another word for $500 million to lose. Since Jan. 9, when Stern debuted on Sirius, pirated versions of the shows have been made available for free via several online file- sharing networks just hours after Stern signs off. . . http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-free2feb02,0,6646585.story?coll=la-home-headlines (via Tom Roche, DXLD) ILLICIT DOWNLOADING OF STERN'S SHOW SOARS FIVEFOLD A Times report on the availability of pirated copies of his program contributes to the surge. By Dawn C. Chmielewski Times Staff Writer February 3, 2006 Illicit downloading of shock jock Howard Stern's shows increased fivefold Thursday after the Los Angeles Times reported on the broad availability of bootlegged versions of his Sirius Satellite Radio program on Internet file-sharing networks. "The genie's out of the bottle" . . . http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-stern3feb03,1,2240877.story?coll=la-headlines-business (via Tom Roche, DXLD) ** IRAQ [non]. IRAQI STATIONS LAUNCHED ONLINE BY JUMPTV By Stokely Baksh Jan 31, 2006, 20:12 GMT WASHINGTON, DC, United States (UPI) -- Starting in February, five independent Iraqi broadcast stations will be streamed online through a partnering up with the New York-based online TV service JumpTV. Calling itself the world`s leading online television network, JumpTV has over 100 channels from nearly 50 countries appealing especially to expatriates from countries including India, Columbia, Dominican Republic, Bangladesh and Eastern Europe. . . http://tech.monstersandcritics.com/news/article_1093719.php/Iraqi_stations_launched_online_by_JumpTV (via Zacharias Liangas, Greece, DXLD) Previously concerning CANADA ** ITALY. QRDRM by R. Maria on 26 MHz in UK: q.v. ** LESOTHO. Have spoken to Mr. Monyane (C.E.) about the absence of SW from Radio Lesotho. He told me that their SW transmitter is over 20 years old and it is getting almost impossible to obtain spares. However, they have decided to get a new transmitter as they would like to continue SW broadcasts. He can only order it in their new financial year which starts in April, and he expects the new transmitter to be on air sometime in August / September (Vashek Korinek, RSA, DXplorer Jan 30 via BCDX via DXLD) ** LIBYA [and non]. This is an interesting frequency. Yesterday (Jan 31) I noticed a station on 17660 with a non-stop mix of Afro-Cuban- "highlife" music here at 1400-1430. I checked the frequency this morning (Feb 1) and found the station opening at 1130; no ID or announcement, it just opened with the music. Then at 1200, what appears to be Libya comes on with an all-Arabic music broadcast until 1400, blocking the Afro-Cuban signal. Libya opens at 1200 with an anthem that seems to match the Libyan NA on one of the NA websites, and then an ID that phonetically sounds like "Id-AHH / Jam-ah-rah-EE- ah / Ti-RAG-mah / Tu-KAG-den," then into the music. Maybe Libya thinks Al-Amal is still on 17660 and this is intended as a jammer? Then comes the spillover from a "real" jammer that opens on 17665 at 1200. 17665 is where anti-Libyan clandestine Sawt al-Amal now appears to be. Al-Amal is far below the jammer, but occasionally it surfaces enough to make out a few words, and I think I heard a woman give a Sawt al-Amal ID just before they closed at 1401, one min after ToH, which is when they were closing when they were on 17660 (and she sounded like the same announcer I heard giving a Sawt al-Amal ID when they were in the clear on 17660 a few days ago). Both Sawt al-Amal and the jammer went off 17665 at 1401. Meanwhile, Libya on 17660 went off that frequency at 1400, leaving the Afro-Cuban signal, the interesting one in all this, in the clear. By this time the music was all African. At 1415, there was an interesting male vocal version of reveille in what appeared to be French but with some talking in an African language, like a novelty song that is part music, part talk. This was probably just another song in the lineup rather than anything with special significance, but it did have a little different sound to it. The signal was fairly good. The music stopped at 1430, then there was dead air until they pulled the switch at 1432 (Jerry Berg, MA, DX-plorer Feb 1 via BCDX via DXLD) 17660: Carrier came on 1129, African music started 1130. Libya carrier came on at 1140, very slightly out of phase so you could detect a pulsating effect on the channel. Libyan on-off tones at 1155-1200, then Libya sign-on with NA and into all-Arabic music. Libya was stronger than the African music station, though the latter came up from time to time. Libya went off at 1400, leaving the African music station clear with a good signal. African music stopped at 1430, and the carrier was cut at 1431+. 17665: At 1142 a weak carrier came on, which I thought would be al- Amal. At 1150 a stronger carrier came on briefly, went off, then came back. I thought this would be the jammer. At 1201, the strong carrier started programming and it turned out to be al-Amal. I don't know what the weak carrier was but it was completely blocked by al-Amal. Al-Amal was at very good level, in the clear, no jamming. It stayed on until 1400, when it went off (Jerry-Berg-USA, DX-plorer Feb 2 via BCDX via DXLD) Re: [dxld] 17660/17665 --- Hello Dxers, Greetings from Cairo, Egypt. About Sout al-amal. I just noticed that they switched to 17665 kHz to avoid the Libyan Music station. Funny, I was tuning in to 17660 around 1200 and I heard the Libyan national anthem on that frequency!!!? I also noticed that the content of the program is same. I heard their first transmission on 27/1/2006 and today as I'm checking them, it's the same programs no change whatsoever. All the best and greetings from Egypt, yours (Tarek Zeidan, Feb 2, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Hello DXers, sounds like we are gonna have fun on both frequencies. The Libyan regime and the opposition station is really making great noise on the airwaves!!! today 4th of Feb. around 1220 UT and it looks like this: 17665 kHz is having now 2 stations --- the African nonstop songs station and a station with nonstop Libyan songs as well. No trace of Sout Al Amal. 17660 kHz, Sout Al Amal is back again on that frequency; same programs contents since 27/1/06, and a station playing non stop Arabic music different from the one on 17665!!! All the best Dxers, Greetings from Egypt (Tarek Zeidan, Cairo, Feb 4, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Saludos cordiales, chequeando las frecuencias de 17660 y 17665 desde las 1330-1400, la situación es la siguiente: 17660 transmitiendo Al- amel su programa habitual, prácticamente inaudible, sufre fuerte interferencia de jamming Libia con música en árabe, señal muy fuerte, SINPO 54454. Por el contrario Al-amel con SINPO 22442. 17665: Emitiendo la emisora NO ID con música afropop, señal muy fuerte, SINPO 54444; en algunos momentos se aprecia la interferencia de la Jamming Libanesa [sic]. Viendo el cambio de frecuencias entre Al-amel y la emisora NO ID, cobra fuerza la teoría que ésta última emisora también es una Jamming contra Al-amel (José Miguel Romero, Burjasot (Valencia), España, Yaesu FRG-7700, Antena Radio MASTER A- 108, Feb 4, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) 17665: at 1225 today with only Arab songs. Surely the Libyan jammer. Signal S9+10 45544 (Zacharias Liangas, Feb 4th, Greece, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 17660/17665 Checked both channels at 1400 UT here in Germany. Heard only a very, very strong station on 17665, S=9 +60 dB on AOR or 10 diodes shining on Sony set, playing continuously Arab (Libyan?) music. At same time, only one station had this signal strength on 16 mb: KOL Israel 17535. Nearby RFI English Issoudun 17515 and BBC Skelton 17640 had both less strength at S=7-8 and short skip characteristics. 73 wb (Wolfgang Büschel, Feb 4, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Hi Wolfie. I checked these today also around the same time you did. 17660, a jammer and Arabic speaking station (al-Amel?) 17665, strong Afropop station with much weaker Arab music station. There might have been also a similar jammer like 17660 or maybe just jammer splatters from 17660 (Jari in Finland Savolainen, ibid.) See also SOMALIA [non]! ** LITHUANIA. The relay service of Radio Baltic Waves International via Bubiai 1386 (7 kW) will carry Radio Mi Amigo Sat & Sun 2200-2400 UT on the coming 5 weekends (February: 4&5, 11&12, 18&19, 25&26; March: 4&5). (Bernd Trutenau, Lithuania, mwdxyg via DXLD) ** MEXICO. 6000, R. Insurgente (presumed), 2 stations here prior to 2100; one is BBC Cyprus (strong) and the other is presumably V.O. Russia (underneath). BBC goes off at 2100, but V.O.R. stays on. Couldn't get anything definitively until 2110 when simple LA-sounding music was noted with W vocalist and a guitar accompaniment. 2112 W in definite Spanish but there wasn't an ID that I could hear. A M announcer joined in and both were alternately talking to 2123. 2123 LA-style music again briefly, then more talking by the M and W. 2127- 2129 could hear the M over top of V.O.R. with opera music. Then both stations equal strength for a time. At 2140 piano music on V.O.R. while LA music with M in Spanish vocals on other station. Nice ranchera accordion music on peak at 2145, then the signal seemed to disappear at 2146 leaving V.O.R. in the clear. At 2150 Cuba came on blasting an OC. Both stations were peaking and fading at different rates making it difficult to tell who was who at times. Feel pretty confident this was Insurgente. Thanks Hans for "discovering" this, and thanks for your help!! (20 Jan.) (Dave Valko, PA, Jan 20, 2006 for CRW via DXLD) Ayer escuché unos minutos a "Radio Insurgente" de las 2040 a las 2103 teniendo uin momento un SINPO de 4. No seguí escuchando ya que tuve que salir (Julián Santiago Díez de Bonilla, DF, Feb 4, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ZAPATISTAS TO TOUR MEXICO BEFORE ELECTION * By IOAN GRILLO Staff and agencies 31 December, 2005 http://www.leadingthecharge.com/stories/news-00118890.html LA GARRUCHA, Mexico - Mexico's Zapatista rebels are emerging from their jungle hideout for a six-month campaign tour of Mexico designed to be an "alternative" to this year's already contentious presidential race. Instead, the ski mask-wearing Zapatista leader Subcomandante Marcos has promised to build a nationalist leftist movement that will "shake this country up from below" during a visit to Mexico's 31 states. The rebels say the national tour, which they have dubbed the "Other Campaign" in reference to Mexico's July presidential election, is a third phase in the Zapatista revolution. Inside wooden huts painted with red stars and murals of ski-mask wearing rebel Indians, the Zapatistas pored over final details of their tour. Meanwhile, in the village square, men in sombreros and baseball caps drank soda while listening to Mexican folk ballads on the local Zapatista Radio Insurgente as smiling children ran about and played. Zapatista sympathizer Bertha Navarro, 60, a Mexico City film producer who flew to San Cristóbal on Friday, said she sees a Zapatista- inspired movement as a way for ordinary Mexican people to get involved in politics (leadingthecharge.com Dec 31, 2005 R. Wilkner, FL in DXplorer-ML via CRW via DXLD) ** MEXICO [and non]. Re 6010 collision with Radio Mil: He seguido en contacto con Martin Stendal de La Voz de tu Conciencia, y dice haber hecho cambios a su antena en los 6010; sin embargo cuando he salido fuera de la Cd. de México aún a unos cuantos kilómetros, la interferencia de LVTC después que sale Radio Suecia a las 0200 es muy fuerte (Julián Santiago Díez de Bonilla, DF, Feb 4, DX LISTENING DIGEST) R. República vs R. Mil: see CUBA [non] ** MEXICO. Es muy probable ya tengamos noticias de Radio UNAM la próxima semana; yo informaré. Gracias de nuevo y un buen fin de semana (Julián Santiago Díez de Bonilla, DF, Feb 4, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** NETHERLANDS. Nice Antenna pics --- I have been going through some of my old tapes from when I was last in Holland in 2002/03 etc and I was checking out some of the Dutch transmitter sites. Mainly MW. However I came across this antenna site that has some fantastic pics of Radio Nederland's shortwave and MW sites at Flevo and also a nice one of Belgium and Luxemberg. It's well worth a look if you like your antennas and transmitters etc --- http://www.project208.com/netherlands.html David Onley MW/FM/Tropical Band DXer, Belmont 3216, Victoria, Australia, ARDXC via DXLD) ** NEW ZEALAND. 3935, ZLXA, Radio Reading Service received f/d cards for May 15 2005 and Dec 31 2005 receptions and sched folder in 16d for letter report, CD recordings and $1. QSL signer Brian Stokoe. Oh, that all stations were as complete, accurate and prompt as ZLXA! Also nice letter saying CD's would be passed to station manager and verifying that I had correctly computed local time for Dec reception. December and January are Summer Time in NZ (local time is UT + 13 in their summer, +12 otherwise). Also indicated that NZ uses the term UTC rather than GMT, which I still tend to use in my reports. Brian is a DXer himself, which explains the superb QSL responses from this station! (Bruce W. Churchill, CA, DXplorer Jan 30 via BCDX via DXLD) ** NEW ZEALAND [and non]. Hello Radio Friend! Here is an interesting log from Italy: ITALY, 13840 kHz, Jan 30, *1056-1102, SINPO 34333-31332. Effective Jan 23, 2006 IRRS relay Mon-Fri 5 days/week, using 30 kW. Preach by a man in English. Full ID of The Overcomer Ministry was heard between 1057- 1059. Moderate QRM of RNZI at 1100. 73s (from Treviso, Italy, Nino Marabello RX: SONY SW7600G Ant: VHF outdoor at 250 degrees http://acquamarina.blogspot.com DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** OKLAHOMA. Conditions were very good yesterday morning; had sports station on 1640 mixing with Mississippi and Disney Wisconsin. Presumed Oklahoma (Saul Chernos, Burnt River Ont, Feb 2, NRC-AM via DXLD) KFXY Enid ** PERU. I was in Huánuco in early January of 2006. However, I did not note this new shortwaver Radio Sinaí. Radio Sinaí broadcasts on 90.1 MHz FM. Another news: Radio Luz y Sonido was inactive both on 1500 kHz mediumwave and 3234.9 kHz SW. While in Huánuco, the station was only on FM 105.7 MHz. Unfortunately Radio Tingo María was already closed down. I heard this news while in Tingo María after 20 years of my visit! (Takayuki Nozaki, Japan, Editor of RELAMPAGO DX, DXplorer Feb 3 via BCDX via DXLD) ** QATAR. AL-JAZEERA INTERNATIONAL TV "EXPECTED" TO LAUNCH IN MAY, EDITOR | Text of report in English by Qatari newspaper The Peninsula website on 4 February DOHA: The English news channel of the Doha-based Al Jazeera Network, is expected to go on air by May, Nigel Parsons, Managing Director, told the media on Thursday . The channel will offer round-the-clock, free to air telecasts to viewers around the globe through its four broadcast centers, he added. AJI, he said, was already putting in place the infrastructure such as its studios in Doha, broadcast centers such as Washington DC, London and Kuala Lumpur, and news bureaus in various capitals across the globe to provide viewers with excellent news coverage. Doha will carry signals 12 hours a day while the remaining 12 hours will be distributed among the three other broadcast centres, said Parsons, responding to questions at a panel discussion held later in the evening. The channel, he noted earlier in the day, would be the first such offering international news to be based in the Middle East region- which in itself is a news hotspot. AJI will share the resources of its Arabic counterpart, the Al Jazeera Channel for news coverage, he added. AJI has already established a news bureau in New Delhi, India, and was offered to establish one in Harare, Zimbabwe, on which the network has yet to decide. Parsons disclosed, AJI was currently working with the Al Jazeera Channel to establish which phrases it can use in its coverage to ensure that sensitivities of Arab and other viewers are not hurt. For example, Palestinian suicide bombers are often referred to by the Arabic media and the Al Jazeera Channel as 'Jihadis' or religious fighters. " The word suicide bomber, in Arabic, has some moral connotations and we have to look at what words we can use in such cases," he added. The new channel will also cover local news, provided they have international significance, Nigel said. The channel's coverage of news events around the world, he said, would be done by locals to ensure that news is not presented through a foreign viewpoint to viewers. Omar Bec, Managing Editor, AJI, said, the Al Jazeera Channel had made a difference to the way news is covered since international networks such as CNN often quote the channel. "This shows that despite criticism from various quarters, Al Jazeera Channel did something right and we will pick from there," he added. Responding to questions at a panel discussion, Parsons said that while the upcoming English channel will be supported by Qatar, it would operate without any interference in its editorial policy. This would make the channel different from other world networks since it would have no political agenda as some in the US and UK have. "Qatar has no political agenda (to further)," said Parsons, implying that this very neutrality would give the channel an edge over rivals in presenting news and events around the world with objectivity. Earlier, Wadah Khanfar, managing director of Al Jazeera, addressed the gathering (2nd Al Jazeera Forum) at its conclusion and said diversity was going to be the channel's motto. In remarks to The Peninsula later he said in response to a question on the Danish newspaper controversy: "It is very sad to use media to divide cultures and civilsations". Source: The Peninsula website, Doha, in English 4 Feb 06 (via BBCM via DXLD) ** SOMALIA [non]. Glenn: Al-Amel agreed to move to 17665 for a few days, then up to 17670, theoretically leaving 17660 clear for Waaberi. The jammers probably haven't realized this yet, so they're still on 17660. Hopefully Al-Amel and jammers will eventually end up on 17670, and hopefully they won't splash over as far as 17660, but who knows (Jeff White, RMI, Feb 4, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Waaberi: Fridays only 1330-1400 via Jülich. Much more under LIBYA (gh) ** SOMALIA [non]. 7175, Feb 4, 1730- ERITREA: V. of Somali People via Asmara. Clear signal (Mauno Ritola, Finland, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** SWEDEN. WINTER TRANSMISSION FROM SAQ We have received requests, especially from the United States, to transmit during winter time and therefore we will have transmissions on Sunday 19th at 0900 and 1300 UT. The two transmissions will start with a short message followed by a "VVV DE SAQ"-slip for at least 30 minutes each time to make it possible to adjust receiving sets and antennas. QSL-reports are kindly received: - E-mail to: info @ alexander.n.se - or fax to: +46-340-674195 - or via: SM bureau - or direct by snail mail to: Alexander - Grimeton Veteranradios Vaenner, Radiostationen, Grimeton 72, S-430 16 ROLFSTORP, S W E D E N Also read our web site: http://www.alexander.n.se Yours, Lars Kalland, SM6NM (SAQ Group via Steve Whitt, MWC via DXLD) ** TAIWAN. Radio Taiwan International is hiring Program Hosts for the English, Spanish, Vietnamese Language Services. Applicants must: l be fluent in spoken and written English, Spanish and Vietnamese (depending on target language) and all must be proficient in speaking and reading Chinese, and have a strong interest in the broadcasting profession. l be well-versed in computer usage; those with computer and web experience will be given preference. For more information, please visit our web page: http://english.rti.org.tw/ http://spanish.rti.org.tw/ http://vietnamese.rti.org.tw/ Written and mic. tests will be administered for this position on the following date: 9 am to 12 noon on March 11th Those interested should download an application form from our web page and send it to us by February 25. Address: RTI Foreign Languages Section / No. 55 Bei An Road / Taipei, Taiwan Or Fax: 2886-7088 Or Email: English applicants: paula @ rti.org.tw Spanish applicants: esp @ rti.org.tw Vietnamese applicants: ctv @ rti.org.tw (Applicants must provide a phone number and qualified applicants will be notified in advance of the test. Resumes will not be returned.) [RTI Web] (via Jaisakthivel, Ardic DX Club, Chennai, dxldyg via DXLD) ** TUNISIA. TUNISIA MEDIA GUIDE - FEBRUARY 2006 Overview Situated on the North African coast between Algeria and Libya, Tunisia gained its independence from France in 1956, when President Habib Bourguiba established a strict one-party state. Bourguiba remained in power until 1987, when he was succeeded by the current president, Zine El Abidine Ben Ali. The ruling party, the Democratic Constitutional Rally (RCD), was the sole legal party for the first 25 years following independence. Following the liberalization of the political system, a number of other parties have been established. However, Tunisian politics is still dominated by the ruling party. The 2004 elections saw the Democratic Constitutional Rally win 152 of the 189 seats in the Chamber of Deputies, 20 per cent of seats being allocated to opposition parties by electoral law. Ben Ali was re-elected in October 2004, with nearly 95 per cent of the vote. Ben Ali's rule is seen as moderate and pro-Western, and has presided over increased foreign investment, greater government efficiency and a reduction in the trade deficit. Freedom of the press is guaranteed by law. However, in practice, the print and broadcast media are mainly government controlled, with only recent liberalization allowing the founding of independent sources. According to independent surveys, European and pan-Arab TV channels command large audiences, mainly because viewers are frustrated by the lack of choice offered by domestic media. A recent liberalization of the media law has allowed a small number of independent radio and television channels to broadcast within Tunisia, starting with Mosaïque FM in 2003. The state retains control of broadcast facilities and transmitters through L'Office National de la Télédiffusion. (Sources: CIA World Factbook, Nov 2005; BBC country profile, Nov 2005). Press Freedom International organizations have been critical of the Ben Ali government's approach to press freedom. Despite recent liberalization, most Tunisian media remains under government control, and press freedom organizations claim Tunisian journalists practice self- censorship. The media watchdog Reporters Without Borders (RSF) describes the lack of press freedom in Tunisia as "very serious", and points to the frequent arrest, imprisonment and harassment of journalists who criticize the president. Discussion of corruption and human rights in the media is taboo. Editions of foreign newspapers, including French and pan-Arab publications, are regularly seized. Internet monitoring by government agencies is omnipresent in Tunisia, says RSF. Websites containing content which is critical of the government are frequently blocked. In September 2005, the government refused the newly-formed Union of Tunisian Journalists permission to hold their founding congress, whilst in October and November 2005 seven leading opposition and civil society figures undertook a thirty-two day hunger strike protesting against Tunisia's poor freedom of expression record, said RSF. The November 2005 UN-organized World Summit on the Information Society in Tunis was marked by the harassment and arrest of a number of human rights protestors as the Tunisian authorities moved to suppress criticism both within the Summit venue and its environs. Various freedom of expression groups protested that Tunisia was an unsuitable venue for the Summit, whilst Steve Buckley of the International Freedom of Expression Exchange Tunisia Monitoring Group said that "never again should a United Nations world summit be held in a country that does not respect its international commitments to human rights and freedom of expression." Swiss President Samuel Schmid was the only world leader to openly criticize the host government's poor human rights record, with the Bern-based Swiss Broadcasting Corporation's Swissinfo website noting his speech was met by prolonged applause from other delegates. Tunisian TV, however, cut the live feed of proceedings whilst Schmid was giving his address. Radio Until the launch of Mosaïque FM in 2003, radio in Tunisia was a state- run monopoly. The state-run Tunisian Radio and Television Establishment (ERTT) operates several radio networks. National Network, broadcasts on 585 kHz and 630 kHz in Arabic, 24 hours per day. There are also a number of FM outlets in towns and cities. The station is also broadcast by satellite and on shortwave via facilities operated by the state-owned broadcast facilities provider, L'Office National de la Télédiffusion, at Sfax and Sidi Mansour. Radio Tunis Chaîne Internationale, broadcasts mainly in French 0500- 2300, but also features programming in English, Italian and German (a relay of German international broadcaster Deutsche Welle). 963 kHz in Tunis, plus FM outlets in other regions. The station is also broadcast by satellite. Radio Jeunes, 24-hour youth-orientated station, broadcasts on FM outlets in Tunis and other regions. There are several ERTT-controlled regional stations: Radio Gafsa launched November 1991, broadcasting 18 hours per day on 93.5/91.8/89.2/88.3 MHz. Radio Kef launched November 1991, broadcasting 18 hours per day on 102.2/88.2/92.2/96.8 MHz. Radio Monastir launched August 1977, broadcasting 19.5 hours per day on the following frequencies: Monastir: 106.1 MHz, Sousse : 99 MHz and 603 KHz. Radio Sfax launched in 1961, broadcasting 20 hours per day on 720 KHz / 105.21 MHz. Radio Tataouine launched November 1993, broadcasting 18 hours per day on 92.2 / 89.5 / 102.6 / 87.6 / 96.6 MHz (Source: Radio Tunis website) Radio Mosaïque started broadcasting on 6 November 2003, as Tunisia's first privately-owned radio station. The station broadcasts a mixture of news, sports, music and talk shows. According to the station's website, programming is "75 per cent music". Figures published in July 2005 by the SIGMA market research company indicate that Mosaïque FM is the most listened to radio station in Tunis, with 59.4 per cent audience share. A live feed of this station via its website at http://www.mosaiquefm.net started in July 2005. The station broadcasts on 94.5 MHz in Tunis, has plans to expand into other parts of the country. Al-Jawharah FM (Arabic: "Pearl FM"), a privately-own radio station broadcasting to the Sousse area on 89.4 MHz, launched in July 2005. According to independent figures released in September 2005 published by the station, Al-Jawharah FM has a 27 per cent audience share in Sousse. On 31 January, La Presse de Tunisie newspaper said Mohamed Aziz Ben Achor, Minister of Culture and Protection of Heritage, had announced plans to launch a national cultural radio station. Ben Achor told the paper that the station's purpose would be to "protect national culture" in an age where "satellites and other high-tech networks... have allowed major integration of culture into the heart of communication". No other details were forthcoming. Television The state-run Tunisian Radio and Television Establishment (ERTT) operates two television channels. Recent liberalization of media law has allowed a privately owned station, Hannibal TV - named after the Carthaginian general - to launch. National TV7, broadcasts in analogue mode eighteen hours a day to 99.8 per cent of the population through nine main and 71 secondary transmitters, according to information provided by the state broadcast facilities provider Office National de Télédiffusion. TV7 is a state- run national channel featuring general entertainment and regular news bulletins. The station is also available on the Hotbird, Eutelsat W2, Arabsat 3A and Telstar 5 satellites; and live via the internet on http://www.tunisiatv.com Canal 21 is a youth-oriented channel broadcasting for 9.5 hours per day, which launched in November 1994. The station broadcasts in analogue UHF mode nationwide, and via terrestrial digital television to the Greater Tunis municipal area. Hannibal TV is Tunisia's first privately-owned television station, which launched on 13 February 2005 via the Arabsat 3A and Nilesat 102 satellites. In October 2005, the first Hannibal TV terrestrial broadcasts commenced in Tunis and Zaghouan. The station broadcasts general entertainment and news in both French and Arabic. Internet: http://www.hannibaltv.com.tn According to its website, the Office National de Télédiffusion says it also relays the Italian state-owned television channel Rai Uno to major population centres. Press Like many newspapers in the Arab world, several Tunisian publications which operate websites offer hard-copy versions of their latest editions in pdf format, usually for a small fee or as an ongoing subscription. Others offer a condensed version for free. Due to controls of the press and self-censorship practised by editors, coverage tends to be fairly homogeneous in nature and supportive of the government, leading to a near uniformity in coverage and opinion. Much copy in Tunisian newspapers tends to be sourced from the official TAP news agency, and front pages are strikingly similar, often featuring the same photographs of the president. BBC Monitoring research of Tunisian press publications and websites reveals the following list of news sources (all based in Tunis unless otherwise indicated). This list is not exhaustive: La Presse de Tunisie - Daily French-language newspaper owned by ruling RCD party, and is strongly pro-government. Available on the internet at http://www.lapresse.tn Al-Horria - Daily Arabic-language newspaper owned by ruling RCD party. Downloadable facsimiles of this publication can be obtained from http://www.tunisieinfo.com/alhorria/ Le Quotidien - French-language daily newspaper, claiming to offer an independent editorial policy. However, much of its news is sourced from the state-run news agency TAP. http://www.lequotidien-tn.com Al-Chourouk - Arabic-language daily newspaper from the publishers of Le Quotidien. http://www.alchourouk.com Assabah - Arabic-language daily. http://www.assabah.com.tn Essahafa - Arabic-language daily http://www.essahafa.info.tn Le Temps - French-language daily, most news content sourced from official TAP news agency http://www.letemps.com.tn News Agency TAP - Agence Tunis Afrique Presse, state-owned news agency founded in 1961. No longer broadcast by teletype, the agency is now subscription- based. http://www.tap.info.tn Source: BBC Monitoring research, 1 Feb 06 (via DXLD) ** U K. Re WRN DRM on 26 MHz: I've still not been able to find out what polarity they are using for these tests and now I see they are using a beam, anyone know which way its directed and why? I've tried listening for it down here on the south coast but can't even see a change in the noise floor although I've only got a horizontal log periodic so maybe they are vertical? (Paul ---, monitoring monthly yg via DXLD) I had assumed it would be vertical as the target audience will one day be using DRM radios with built-in whip antennas but I don't know for sure. It's a weak signal here in Chelmsford (about 40 miles NE of Croydon) using a G5RV antenna. 73 (Trevor M5AKA, ibid.) Most broadcasters these days use mixed polarisation - but in any case at 26 MHz at anything more than a few kilometres from the transmitter site the polarisation twist will have made it pretty irrelevant I would have thought as far as groundwave/line of sight is concerned - and skywave propagation with its troop reflections [?] will also be highly mixed anyway. Also the very short whip likely to be found on a portable radio will not give a true indication of polarisation of the signal since it will be so short relative to a 1/4 wave that surrounding objects will distort it's pattern beyond recognition (Mike Brogan, ibid.) ** U K [and non]. We have not noticed any propagation of Radio Maria into the UK on 26 MHz but in the longer term (when sunspots start to go up and if this band or perhaps instead 40 MHz is used for DRM) the whole matter will need to be assessed. A new 26 MHz antenna from TCI with screening for skywave will soon be tested by the DRM organisation. Regards (Jeff Cohen, WRN, Feb 4, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U K. BBC RADIO STAFF TO STRIKE By Alan Jones, PA Industrial Correspondent Hundreds of BBC radio production staff are to strike on February 15 and 23 in protest at jobs being merged, their union Bectu announced today. The union said the walkout, by around 500 workers, will hit radio programmes including Radio 1's Chris Moyles show and programmes on Radio 4 including Front Row and You And Yours. The union is in dispute with the corporation over plans to merge a number of production jobs into a single role. Union members voted last year by 60% in favour of taking industrial action. Bectu officer Luke Crawley said: "Our members are saying that they are prepared to strike because they are not happy with the BBC's proposals. "The ball is now firmly in the BBC's court. If they want to get in touch, we will consider any new developments." (via Dave Alpert, ABC News, Feb 2, DXLD) ** U K [non]. US HD Radio adoption at public radio stations means wider BBCWS availability With "HD Radio" (IBOC) now gaining traction in the US, public radio stations are getting into the multicasting act. In most instances these stations are also web streaming their multicast channels. WHYY FM in Philadelphia now offers a second audio channel, with classical music at night and, more interestingly to this crowd, the BBC World Service by day. With a one-hour exception at 12 noon ET (1700 UTC), the BBCWS is offered weekdays from 7 AM to 6 PM local time (1200-2300 UT). It will be interesting to see if other public radio stations increase their non-overnight airing of the BBC. One example is WKSU out of Ohio -- the BBCWS is now carried weekdays on a second news channel beginning at 8 PM local time (0100 UTC). While WKSU isn't offering HD Radio yet, my guess is that this will be one of their offerings. A nice feature of WKSU's webcasts is that they offer the bandwidth friendly aacPlus audio format (Richard Cuff / Allentown, PA USA, Swprograms mailing list via DXLD) ** U S A. At present IBB deleted VoA programmes by 103hrs 45min, RFE 86 hrs, RFA 17 hrs, OCB 32 hrs. And decreased Tinang outlet from 500 kW to 250 kW, as VoA by 21hrs, RFA 68 hrs. Decreased Sawa-Arabic 1431 kHz Djibouti to 300 kW, daytime at 11.5 hrs. Additional Turk 7285 1900-2000 UT via Lampertheim. Increase ERT-ERA5 via Greenville 17565 at 2000-2200 UT, now 500 kW (Wolfgang Büschel, BCDX Feb 3 via DXLD) From only 250; still does not sound any stronger here at beamside (gh, OK) These cuts aren't nearly as bad as had been suggested. Going through the database I maintain for the program guide on http://www.naswa.net I see that of all those nasty black lines showing English program hours cut, all but one hour, 1100-1200, had already been cut. I'm not sure what the baseline for Kim's file is, but it's not January 31. Most of these cuts had already occurred by the beginning of the season. The fewest number of frequencies the VOA is on the air with at any given time is three. They should still be audible, although not with a Radio Moscow-like presence. And that's probably okay (Ralph Brandi, USA, DXplorer Feb 3 via BCDX via DXLD) ** U S A [non]. VOA Tinang, Philippines, 6110, only with open carrier at 1448 past 1456 Feb 4, along with het from Azerbaijan less than 1 kHz higher --- now this is a warmup period instead of part of VOA English, which now starts at 1500 with the Special English service // 9760 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. I claimed more than a year ago why VOA was discriminating some zones of the world for their English Service as if only Africa and Asia existed for them. All because of their 1700 sked for Talk to America; which is practically useless for the American continent. [since changed to 1605, FWIW --- gh] I rarely listen to VOA unless for Jazz America and I have two options beamed for far away Tiquicia: 9760 at 1300 or 15580 at 2100, being the latter the better, altho intended for Africa. VOA is going down the tubes because the Bush administration is the worst thing that could have happened to this flagship world broadcaster. They don't care anymore for doing good radio in the real sense of the word. With that tale that have become a fad of the "War on Terror" have convinced and involve the nation to live afraid of another attack. That is why you see in the name of world democracy (?) a war has to be installed wherever interests are not those of the White House. They keep supporting Radio Martí and VOA Spanish is downgrading every year. It seems Cuba is their only interest so the rest of Latin America doesn't exist anymore. Is Fidel planning after four decades an attack to US soil? So if Bocón Chavez is becoming now a time bomb, why not install a transmission directed to Venezuela to keep wasting more $$$? We feel that way that Latin America (as for many other nations) has approaching the first world status in technology, so VOA must be thinking "just go there you guys and use the Internet or satellite". This is why I feel that SW has the days numbered with that mentality. So let's enjoy while exist. OTOH, you find CRI nowadays crowding the bands 24/7, and VOA is waving their white handkerchief for Goodbye. (Raul Saavedra, Costa Rica, Feb 4, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. WTB IS READY TO UNLEASH "AUTO-TERM" By this Public Notice, the FCC's Wireless Telecommunications Bureau announces again it will add a new feature to the Universal Licensing System (ULS) on February 1, 2006. The feature is called "Auto-Term," and it automatically terminates certain instruments of authorization. See the lead story in CGC #721 for the SBE's perspective on the matter. The latest warning message from the Commission (that "auto term" is about to be unleased) appears at the URL below. http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/DA-06-45A1.doc IMPORTANT LPTV, CLASS A LPTV AND TV TRANSLATOR NEWS The FCC has entitled this Public Notice: "Announcement of filing window for LPTV and TV translator digital companion channel applications from May 1, 2006 through May 12, 2006.... Freeze on filing of low power television, TV Translator and Class A analog and digital minor change, analog and digital displacement and digital on-channel conversion applications from April 3, 2006 through May 12, 2006." Need details (or an English translation)? Here is the Commission's three page explanation: http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/DA-06-123A1.doc NEXTEL IS UNCOOPERATIVE IN FCC INSPECTION For refusing to turn certain base station transmitters off during the day for about two seconds while the FCC attempted to pinpoint the source of a spurious emission, Nextel has tentatively been fined $7,000. This is an unusual case because technicians and company legal departments are usually more than happy to cooperate with the FCC. http://www.fcc.gov/eb/FieldNotices/2003/DOC-263335A1.html (CGC Communicator Jan 31, via Kevin Redding, ABDX via DXLD) ** URUGUAY. There are a number of shortwave stations still active in Uruguay. Radiodifusion Nacional - S.O.D.R.E.: This is a government station that does have a website that can best be described as a work in progress. Here is the URL anyhow in the hopes that one day that management decides to do the website some justice http://www.sodre.gub.uy/ Radio Monte Carlo: A commercial station that broadcasts on 930 kHz mediumwave and on shortwave on 6140 and 9595 kHz (ILG database). The station does have a website but no joy for any information on shortwave http://www.radiomontecarlo.com.uy/index.asp Radio Oriental: Also known as AM 770 Oriental this station also broadcasts on 6155 and 11735 kHz (ILG database). The station has a website but no information on the shortwave operations http://www.oriental.com.uy/oriental/index.php Radio Sarandí Sport: Nothing like a clean sweep for the commercial stations. To repeat a trend, the station does have a website http://www.sport890.com.uy/ but no luck with any information on shortwave. According to the ILG database the station broadcasts on 6045 kHz (Dr. John Barnard, Edmonton, AB CANADA T6J 4M6, Signals Unlimited, Feb CIDX Messenger via DXLD) Tnx for putting together the Uruguayan info --- those stations are extremely irregular on SW, or local daytime only, making them extremely difficult to hear at any distance (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ZANZIBAR. Voice of Tanzania-Zanzibar noted missing from 11735 today at 1800. Also missing at least one day earlier this week (Steve Lare, Holland, MI, USA, Feb 4, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Hi Steve, Yes, I also noticed their absence today during random checking from 1800-1845 (Ron Howard, Monterey, CA, ibid.) Me too --- first day in a long time I had looked for them at 1800, drat (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ZIMBABWE [non]. SW Radio Africa --- I have been in touch with two [only one shown here -CRW] stations yesterday and got the following information: SW Radio Africa. They announced during their sign on that they broadcast on 1197 kHz MW and on "3230 kHz in the 75 (sic) mb". I have checked with Richard at the station, who thanked me for bringing it to his attention, but told me that they have no plans to return to SW at this stage. So the station continues to be on air only on 1197 kHz (Lesotho) from 0300 to 0500 [UT] (Vaclav Korinek, RSA, Jan 31, 2006 in DXplorer-ML via CRW via DXLD) UNIDENTIFIED. 4865, 1100-1110, January 25, Spanish!!!!!! announcement: "ahora con programación renovada... HJ... 24 horas....", address in Internet, program: "El camino de la vida" (religious), QRM from Brazilian station in the same frequency), 24332 ¿Ecuador?; ¿Colombia? (Arnaldo Slaen, Villa Giardino, Córdoba province, Argentina, condig list via DXLD) UNIDENTIFIED. Glenn: I am in need of help to identify a shortwave station I have been hearing in the last few days. Since my WRTH 2006 has not arrived yet, I do not have a clue, and thought your site could be a good place to get help. The stations transmits daily 0000-0200 UT on 11810 and 9890 kHz in some [presumably] Central Asian language. Transmission begins by ID and a march or anthem and consists of talks and some presumably local music. ID, by male and female announcer sound to me something as "Radiostan Tse". "Salam Aleikum" was heard, but the language clearly is not Arabic. To make things more confusing, on 11810 kHz Radio Korea's IS is heard little before 0000, but according to KBS schedule at that time only a one-hour program in Japanese is scheduled 0000-0100 on 11810 kHz. Perhaps my unid overlaps KBS on this frequency? May be, as KBS's IS is heard weakly while the unID's modulation is very strong on 11810 kHz. SINPO 43444 Reception is good with some QRM from Radio Brasil Central on 11815. On 9890 the signal is a bit weaker but does not suffer from any interference, SINPO 35444 I would be grateful if somebody could make some suggestion to help me identify this station. 73's and best regards, (Moises Knochen, 11600 Montevideo, Uruguay, Receiver: Sony ICF-7600DS + 3 m interior wire, Feb 4, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Moises, The EiBi list shows Uighur and Kazakh from the minority service: 9890 0000-0100 CHN China National Radio 8 UI CHN 9890 0100-0200 CHN China National Radio 8 KZ CHN but not for 11810. However, Passport 2006 shows CNR-8 at 00-02 on 11810! Regards, (Glenn Hauser, to Moises, via DXLD) UNIDENTIFIED. Glenn, On a random scan of 11 MHz at 0900 I noticed 2 frequencies not listed anywhere as carrying Mandarin but which were clearly audible until 1100. The first seemed to be a domestic CNR station (either Voice of China or Business Radio) on 11825. Nothing for this slot on NDXC's latest list. The second is even more intriguing. On 12010 I can not only hear a Mandarin station but it is suffering from Firedrake jamming. There are only a few possibilities at this time so I wonder whether CBS Taiwan has added a new channel. 73's (Dan Goldfarb, Brentwood, England, Feb 4, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Well, both these frequencies are in EiBi`s list of cancelled IBB transmissions in 6-022, supposedly gone since Jan 31: 11825 09-11 VOA Mandarin via Marianas 12010 07-11 VOA Mandarin via Tinang Maybe they are still running --- or the defacto Chinese jammers are (gh, DXLD) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ UNSOLICITED TESTIMONIALS ++++++++++++++++++++++++ WORLD OF RADIO PODCASTS: www.obriensweb.com/wor.xml I can vouch for this. I use the podcasts and listen to them at work. Its a beautiful thing (Kevin Redding, AZ, ABDX via DXLD) LANGUAGE LESSONS ++++++++++++++++ Re 6-018: Q. How do you say calcium in Italian? A. Calcio. 73 from (Treviso, Italy, Nino Marabello, DX LISTENING DIGEST) So they could be kicking around the element instead of a football (gh, DXLD) PUBLICATIONS ++++++++++++ Two new articles have been posted on the BDXC webpage. They are MIDDLE & NEAR EAST ON SHORTWAVE - by country and INDIAN SUB-CONTINENT ON THE TROPICAL BANDS - by Frequency. Go to http://www.bdxc.org.uk/ and click on the Articles Index. (Steve Lare, Holland, MI, USA, Feb 2, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) RADIO EQUIPMENT FORUM +++++++++++++++++++++ A NEW RECEIVER IS COMING: DSP KWZ30-2 Hello! From time to time I kept an eye on the Kneisner+Doering site, waiting for information about the successor model to their KWZ-30, a new model that had never materialized for years. Now it seems that the wait is nearly over. Go to http://kd-elektronik.com/index_e.html and click on "DSP Receiver" and "DSP Receiver KWZ30-2". For the time being, only the preliminary technical specifications are available, but I'm looking forward to reading more about it. I own and like their KWZ-30; I hope the KWZ30-2 will be a step forward, in comparison to an already very interesting receiver. Usual disclaimer: I have no commercial connection with K+D; I'm posting this message only for your information. 73 (Fabrizio Magrone, Forlì, Italy, Feb 4, HCDX via DXLD) BYE BYE TELEGRAM DENVER (AP) — For more than 150 years, messages of joy, sorrow and success came in signature yellow envelopes hand delivered by a courier. Now the Western Union telegram is officially a thing of the past. The company formed in April 1856 to exploit the hot technology of the telegraph to send cross-country messages in less than a day. It is now focusing its attention on money transfers and other financial services, and delivered its final telegram on Friday. "The decision was a hard decision because we're fully aware of our heritage," Victor Chayet, a spokesman for the Greenwood Village-based company, said Wednesday. "But it's the final transition from a communications company to a financial services company." Several telegraph companies that eventually combined to become Western Union were founded in 1851. Western Union built its first transcontinental telegraph line in 1861. "At the time it was as incredible and astonishing as the computer when it first came out," said Tom Noel, a history professor at the University of Colorado at Denver. "For people who could barely understand it, here you had the magic of the electric force traveling by wire across the country." In 1994, Western Union Financial Services was acquired by First Financial Management Corp. which First Data Corp. bought for $7 billion the following year. Last week, First Data said it would spin Western Union off as a separate company. Telegrams reached their peak popularity in the 1920s and 1930s when it was cheaper to send a telegram than to place a long distance telephone call. People would save money by using the word "stop" instead of periods to end sentences because punctuation was extra while the four character word was free. Telegrams were used to announce the first flight in 1903 and the start of World War I. During World War II, the sight of a Western Union courier was feared because the War Department, the precursor to the Department of Defense, used the company to notify families of the death of their loved ones serving in the military, Chayet said. With long distance rates dropping and different technologies for communicating evolving -- including the Internet -- Western Union phased out couriers in the late 1960s and early 1970s. By last year, only 20,000 telegrams were sent at about $10 a message, mostly from companies using the service for formal notifications, Chayet said. Last week, the last 10 telegrams included birthday wishes, condolences on the death of a loved one, notification of an emergency, and several people trying to be the last to send a telegram. "Recent generations didn't receive telegrams and didn't know you could send them," Chayet said. Samuel Morse, inventor of the Morse Code, sent the first telegram from Washington to Baltimore on May 26, 1844, to his partner Alfred Vail to usher in the telegram era that displaced the Pony Express. It read "WHAT HATH GOD WROUGHT?" "If he only knew," Chayet said of the myriad of choices today, which includes text message on cell phones, the Internet and virtually free long-distance calling rates. "It definitely was an anachronism," Noel said. "It's amazing it survived this long." (via Ricky Leong, AB, DXLD) DIGITAL BROADCASTING ++++++++++++++++++++ DRM: see also BULGARIA; FRANCE 26 MHz DRM and Band II (88-108 MHz) DRM+ Tests From http://www.wohnort.demon.co.uk/DAB/ DRM test transmissions are taking place in Hannover in the 11m band to determine the suitability of that band (25.67 to 26.1 MHz) for local digital broadcasting. Like other shortwave bands, the 11m band is susceptible to interference from other broadcasting stations, or other transmissions on the same frequencies, operating in other countries. This interference varies according to the time of day, the season of the year, the solar activity and the solar cycle. The band could also be prone to local interference from sources such as electrical equipment, trams, overhead power lines, ADSL networks, etc. Such interference tends at any instant to affect only some of the 43 channels available in that band. The tests will investigate the feasability of using frequency-hopping techniques among a particular combination of those channels to avoid local interference as it occurs. DRM receivers in the service area will be connected to the transmission control centre so that measured interference could bring about a frequency change - first manually, later automatically, at the transmitter. The test results should help establish whether the 11m band would be suited to this type of local transmission using DRM. A number of different programme sources will be used during the tests, including those of the public-service broadcasters NDR and DeutschlandRadio, and private broadcasters such as Truckradio and N-Joy Radio. At present, the transmissions are centred on 26045 kHz from the University of Hannover's Institut für Kommunikationstechnik. The Institut also plans later to test DRM+ transmissions in Band II (via Trevor M5AKA, monitoringmonthly yg via DXLD) See also UK IBOC/HD The long term plan is to make obsolete (and useless) every analog radio. The goal is to eliminate the analog portion and migrate the digital to the assigned frequency rather than the adjacents. I suspect one of two things will happen. First, HD Radio fails to gain enough radios out there so the analog must continue. This will eventually doom IBOC on AM as the current scheme isn't acceptable from either a coverage or interference aspect. Second is that there are enough receivers for iBiquity to claim significant penetration. They will then press for an analog cutoff date. Of course, it will have to have *every* radio station on board at that time. Whichever way it goes will be messy. Personally? I don't think people are going to bother buying radios. How many of you have actually even seen an HD Radio in someone's house or car? It's a month into 2006, and this is pretty much the make or break year for it. Some wag stated that if HD Radio doesn't gain traction by the end of 2006, it turns into AM Stereo in the public's view. These ad-hoc tests of night IBOC are interesting from a DX point of view, and should be of interest to broadcasters as well. I tried for literally hours to see if the night IBOC of WHAS would decode here. Nada. Great analog signal, but never a blip of HD audio in those hours. Even with WEEI-850 nulled, and a partial null on WCRN-830. As a DXer, it's discouraging that this current hybrid scheme will never be useful. You just can't hear a digital signal at any distance. I have also tried for many cumulative days to hear WOR and no joy. A couple of short bursts at sunset, but nothing else. Their analog signal is nearly 100% useable. For broadcasters, I would be concerned about the decreased coverage. In the case of WHAS, I have to think that the adjacent signals simply skip in and squash their peanut whistle digital carriers. This is plain at sunset with the WBZ-1030 IBOC being chopped up to the point where it is unuseable. Out of curiosity, is there anyone else on the list that has a HD radio? (Craig Healy, Providence, RI, Feb 3, IRCA via DXLD) HD Radio Price Drop If a tree falls in the forest and no one is around, does it make a sound? I see this has the current state of HD radio. The original offering equipment prices were so out of line, who would go for it? The message is out, drop the prices or talk to space. If BA can drop the price so drastically, imagine what their initial profit margin was (Pete Kemp, NRC-AM via DXLD) Less than you'd think, I bet. Remember, there are all kinds of design and tooling costs to build an initial small run of any new product. There are no economies of scale in putting out perhaps 10,000 HD Receptors, versus a million or ten million $39 Wal-Mart DVD players, for instance. BA put their initial run of $499 radios out there primarily at the behest of the broadcasters in the earliest vanguard of the IBOC rollout, who needed something to put out there to listen to their signals on, and who were willing to pay accordingly. The price drop to $299 tells me that they probably had enough response from the initial run to go back to whatever Asian factory they're using and do another run. With the initial costs now paid off, they're getting closer to an economy of scale. While it may not seem that way to DXers who've been hearing the hissing and buzzing for a few years now, we are still in the very earliest stage of the commercial rollout of IBOC. The manufacturers who are putting the money up to design and build receivers are taking a very big risk, as are the broadcasters who have spent big bucks so far to equip their facilities for IBOC. Every successful consumer electronics introduction (and every unsuccessful one, too) goes through this early-adopter phase. Have we all forgotten about the $2000 VCR, circa 1976, and the $25 blank tapes? Or about the $1200 CD player, circa 1983? Or the $1500 cell phones and dollar-a-minute service plans of the same era? I'm guessing that none of us jumped at those prices, nor should we have. But they got the products out there on store shelves and paved the way for mass production and dramatically lower prices pretty quickly. (My recollection is that the $1200 first-generation CD player of 1983 had become about $250 by the time I got my first player two years later.) I'm not saying that HD Radio will necessarily be a success - my sense right now is that the AM system, thanks to its interference issues and its inability to multicast, will end up failing, but that multicasting will make the FM system at least moderately successful. But I do think that after a rollout that took longer than it should have, the industry is finally taking the steps it needs to take to make something happen. For receiver manufacturers to take the risks involved in tooling up for mass production at reasonable prices, they needed to see that broadcasters were committed to providing the programming and on-air promotion that would make people want to seek out receivers. We are now, literally, TWO WEEKS into that process. If we're still at these price levels in two years, then we can start talking about success or failure. Right now, it's far too early. s (Scott Fybush, NRC-AM via DXLD) You can take a listen (or read the text) to the feature I did on HD Radio in the Springfield, MO market at http://www.ksmu.org/webaudio/Sense%20of%20Community/senseofcommunity.asp Scroll down the page to find the 12/22/05 date. Frankly I didn't have (air)time to deal with IBOC on the AM band, but that was because nobody around here seems interested in anything but doing HD on FM (largely because of the QRM problems--some broadcasters actually seem concerned about it --- but they also naively seem to think the HD "braintrust" will eventually solve the problems to everybody's satisfaction. Uh, yeah, right, whatever). I also didn't bother with the question of purchasing HD radios locally -- I just direct listeners/web visitors to the Ibiquity.com website. Really, I'm convinced availability of consumer hardware is the bigger factor in the non-acceptance, interest, etc. of HD Radio. The "big- box" electronics retailers like Circuit City & Best Buy aren't interested in marketing HD Radio. Our local Best Buy currently has a major advertised special on the regular (analog) Boston Acoustics Receptor table radio, but seems totally unaware of its HD equivalent. As one of my interviewees complained, the industry was supposed to have rolled out the consumer receivers at least six months ago (Randy Stewart, KSMU Radio, Missouri State University, Springfield, ibid.)###