DX LISTENING DIGEST 6-049, March 22, 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 FIRST SW AIRINGS OF WORLD OF RADIO 1309: Wed 2300 on WBCQ 7415 Thu 0000 on WBCQ 18910-CLSB Thu 2130 on WWCR 15825 Sat 0600 on WRMI 9955 Sat 0900 on WRN Bulgaria DRM 15735 Sat 1700 on WWCR 12160 Sun 0330 on WWCR 5070 Sun 0400 on WBCQ 9330-CLSB Sun 0530 on WRMI 9955 Sun 0730 on WWCR 3215 Full schedule, including AM, FM, satellite and internet, with hotlinks to station sites and audio: http://www.worldofradio.com/radioskd.html For latest updates see our Anomaly Alert page: http://www.worldofradio.com/anomaly.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 ** AFRICA. Wonder if you might be able to help me. As well as a keen SWL, I`m also an avid collector of worldwide airchecks, mainly from the 1970s. I have been collecting for many years and like many others I have lots of recordings of the Pirate stations such as Radio Caroline as well as land based legal stations from England, Europe and the states (WABC being a favourite of mine!) The question is that I`m trying to track down any collectors in Africa that might have old radio recordings that might be interested in trading recordings. My main interest is in pop format stations that include all the records as well as DJ chat, etc. Do you know of any collectors and/or sites in Africa where I could put my request in the hope of getting a few contacts. Any help/info would be much appreciated. I`d also be interested in collectors in other distant countries too that might be interested in trading airchecks mike.grant1 @ tesco.net (Mike Grant, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Don`t know of any but perhaps this notice will get some response (gh) ** ARMENIA. Dear Glenn, I checked from my logbooks and it seems that in November 2005 the Public Radio of Armenia in fact did broadcast in English at 1930 UT. This is also confirmed in the QSL I received. However, while monitoring it on March it seems that they broadcast in French at 1930. The frequencies are 9965 and 4810 kHz. It really seems to be incorrect time in their Website winter schedule. However they have in addition to these shortwave broadcasts the satellite and Internet broadcasts too from Yerevan (Jukka Kinkamo, Finland, March 22, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** AUSTRALIA. Hi Everyone. I've been monitoring this cyclone very closely as I'm flying to Cairns on Thursday morning from Nhulunbuy. Last night and during the early morning hours, just prior to the eye of the cyclone hitting Innisfail, 4KZ on 531 was still audible, but by then I'd hit local sunrise and the signal faded. Currently the QLD ABC stations on 720 and 801 are supposed to be still on. Mind you the cyclone just recently went through Atherton so it may have wiped out 720. So far the FM transmitters are fareing worst, 106.7FM in Cairns has been knocked out. I'm able to monitor the situation on local radio on 1044 Weipa and 1062 Thursday Island 24 hours a day. In the evening 630 Townsville and 567 Julia Creek are pretty good. 630 has separate programming from the Townsville studio whereas all other outlets are relaying the Cairns studio. For those in the southern states, you can monitor the situation on shortwave as the Cairns studio is being relayed during the evening on 6020 and daytime on 11650. At certain times of the night I had to do this as there was DX interference, i.e. KGUM on 567, RRI Biak on 1044, RRI Makassar on 630 & DZEC on 1062. There are major blackouts which Ergon Energy may take days to fix, but the stations are on generator back-up. Cheers – (Craig Edwards Nhulunbuy (Gove), Northern Territory, Australia via the Australian - NZ - Asia MW group (03:47 20/3-2006) via Ydun`s MW News via DXLD) ** AUSTRALIA. Re 6-048: Hi Wade, Also noted here in central California: 6020, ABC Brisbane, Mar 20, 1347-1410, relay over RA, "Nightlight" program with Tony Delroy, website: http://www.abc.net.au/backyard/presenters/TONYDELROY.htm?brisbane call-in program ("Lines open at 1-300-800-2222"), callers talking about Cyclone Larry and other natural disasters, Paul McCartney with public service announcement, ToH ABC news and weather, fair/good. (Ron Howard, Monterey, CA, RX340, with T2FD antenna, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Mar 21, at 0956 heard usual RA programming on 6020. Mar 22, at 1101 ABC news, 1110 into ABC Local Radio coverage of the Melbourne Commonwealth Games. Good reception (Ron Howard, Monterey, CA, RX340, with T2FD antenna, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** AUSTRALIA. Radio2 (World Audio) placed in Administration!!! (Tim Gaynor, Australia, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Viz.: NO BAND OF GOLD: AUDIO IN ADMIN Jane Schulze 22mar06 from The Australian ADMINISTRATORS have been appointed to controversial radio network World Audio after a failed experiment in attracting listeners and advertisers to the far ends of the radio dial. [X-band] World Audio has burned through $6.5 million from its float in 2002, plus another $8 million raised in 2004, without gaining a solid foothold in the market. Company accounts lodged last week showed negative operating cash flows of $2.4 million for the quarter to December 31 and advertising revenue of just $126,579. The company yesterday said administrators had been called in after it was unable to secure further funds. It had raised $895,000 from "individual investors" just last month. Contracts for on-air talent, such as breakfast co-host Mikey Robins, had been extended for a month after the group gained extra funds from investors to keep the stations on air, said administrator Bob Elliott from Hall Chadwick. The company plans to seek more funding or find a buyer. "We obtained from secured lenders additional funding to use to fund the business through an administration period of four weeks and what happens in that period determines where the business goes from there," he said. Mr Elliott said the funding, in the range of "hundreds of thousands of dollars", would fund the salaries of the six on-air presenters and 15 staff. World Audio set up 50 cheap, low-power AM stations around Australia, outside the official broadcasting bands. It was betting the federal Government would allow all radio stations, and not only the ones on the "official" bands, to convert to digital, a change that would have made its signals as strong as its rivals. But with companies paying more than $100 million for full-strength signals, the industry lobbied against "backdoor" entrants and was supported by the Government when it revealed its digital radio plan last October. World Audio launched in 2002 with high-profile investors such as Ten Network director Laurence Freedman. He was later joined by Harvey Norman chairman Gerry Harvey who injected $1.5 million as part of the 2004 raising. Mr Freedman said he was disappointed by the news. "It's not the end of the road, but it's time to stop and reassess the situation - they have these great assets but it's not revenue-producing," he said. He agreed that that might be because of the weak radio signal. "It doesn't broadcast in the eastern suburbs of Sydney and that's where some of the investors would live, but you can hear it fine everywhere else." Mr Freedman, who has about 10 per cent of the company, said he would consider a further investment "in the right circumstances". (As posted on aus.radio.broadcast via Tim Gaynor, dxldyg via DXLD) See http://www.worldaudio.com.au (Media Network blog via DXLD) ** CANADA. R. Canada International A-06 schedule effective from *2 April 2006* [during week of confusion, transmissions to NAm one UT hour later] Arabic 0200-0259 ME 5840hby 5955wer 0300-0359 ME 7230wer 9520mos 1915-1944 ME/nAF 13650sac 15180mos FM(vol): 93.3 93.4 93.6 Chinese 0000-0059 China 9690kim 11895kim 1300-1329 China 9660yam 15170yam 1430-1459 China 11935yam 15295yam 2200-2259 China 9525kim 9870kim 12035yam English 0000-0057 seAS 11700kun 0000-0159 N+CAM 9755sac 0100-0159 NAM 13710sac 1200-1259 AS/China 9660yam 15170yam 1300-1559 N+CAM 9515sac 13655sac 17800sac 1500-1557 India 11675kun 15360wer 17720uru 1800-1859 AF 9630wer 11765kas 13730wer 15255skn 2000-2059 EU 5850hby 7235skn 11765wer 15325sac 2000-2159 N+CAM 17765sac 2200-2259 NAM 6100sac 2230-2259 EU 1179sol French 0300-0359 NAM 6040sac 1100-1259 N+CAM 9515sac 1600-1959 N+CAM 17765sac 1900-1959 EU 5850hby 15325sac 1900-1959 AF 7235skn 11765kas 13730skn 15235sac 15255skn 2100-2159 nAF 9665hby 11810skn 15325sac 2200-2259 N+CAM 15180sac 2300-2329 AS 9525kim 12035yam 13660yam 2300-2359 NAM 6100sac Portuguese (fr-su only) 2100-2129 Brazil 15455sac 17860sac 2130-2159 Brazil 17860sac 2200-2229 Brazil 17860sac 2230-2259 Brazil 17860sac 2300-2329 Brazil 13710sac 17860sac 2330-2359 Brazil 17860sac [interesting that it is now set up to run 3 hours continuously, at least on 17860; so is it still one half hour program repeated over and over? Are the Sat & Sun airings also just repeats?? --- gh] Russian 1500-1529 Russia 11935wof 15325rmp 1600-1629 Russia 11935wof 15325rmp Spanish 0000-0059 C+SAM 11990sac 13725sac 0200-0259 CAM/Carib 9755sac 13710sac 2200-2259 SAM 11990sac 15455sac 2300-2359 Carib/SAM 11990sac 15455sac Ukrainian (sa-su only) 1600-1629 Ukraine UR-3 network (nrcu) Transmitters fle: Flevo, hby: Hoerby, kas: Kashi, kim: Kimjae, kun: Kunming, mos: Moosbrunn, nrcu: National Radio Co., Ukraine rmp: Rampisham, sac: Sackville, skn: Skelton, sol: Sölvesborg, uru: Urumqi, vol: Voice of Lebanon, wer: Wertachtal, wof: Woofferton (RCI Web site, following tip from John Norfolk in dxldyg, re-arranged from pdf file by Alan Roe, worlddxclub via DXLD) ** CANADA. A-06 relays via Sackville other than RCI: All 2603 to 291006; daily u.o.s.; analog unless N = DRM [gh added many languages based on previous usage, especially CRI] kHz frm UT to CIRAF kW deg slew d N Language station 5960 0000 0100 7,8,11W 250 240 0 Chinese CAN CRI RTC 5960 0200 0500 6-8 250 240 0 Japanese CAN NHK NHK 6010 0100 0200 7-11 250 240 0 Swedish/English CAN RSW RCI 6010 0200 0300 6-8,10 250 268 0 Swedish/English CAN RSW RCI 6040 1000 1200 7,8,11NW 250 240 0 Mandarin CAN CRI RTC 6045 0600 0630 27 250 60 0 Spanish CAN KBS RCI 6045 0600 0630 27S,37S 250 60 0 Spanish KOR KBS KBS 6090 0400 0500 7,8N,11NW 250 277 0 English CAN CRI RTC 6100 0000 0359 6E,7,8,10 250 277 0 German CAN DWL DWL 6100 0400 0430 6-8 250 268 0 [R. Prague English] G RPR MER 6110 0500 0600 6-8 250 268 0 English CAN NHK NHK 6120 1000 1100 6-8 250 240 0 English CAN NHK NHK 6120 1100 1200 6-8 250 240 0 English CAN NHK NHK 6145 0000 0100 6-8 250 240 0 English CAN NHK NHK 6145 2300 2400 7,8,11W 250 240 0 English CAN CRI RTC 6175 0100 0430 6,10N 250 212 0 Eng/Viet/Span G VOV MER 6175 0430 0530 2,6 250 240 0 Vietnamese G VOV MER 6190 0500 0600 7,8N,8SW 250 277 0 English CAN CRI RTC 9490 0000 0030 8,11-15 250 163 -13 Swedish CAN RSW RCI 9525 2300 2357 11-13 250 189 13 Dutch CAN RNW RNW 9560 0200 0300 6-8 250 277 0 English CAN KBS RCI 9560 0200 0300 6-8 250 277 0 English KOR KBS KBS 9560 0300 0400 11,12,14, 250 189 0 Spanish CAN CRI RTC 9560 0400 0600 6,7,8NW 250 277 0 English CAN CRI RTC 9560 1200 1300 7,8,11NW 250 240 0 English CAN CRI RTC 9625 1045 0515 4,9 100 348 0 [CBC Northern Q] CAN RCI RCI 9650 1000 1100 7N,8N 250 268 0 Spanish CAN KBS RCI 9650 1200 1300 7,8 250 268 0 English KOR KBS KBS 9650 1200 1300 7N,8N 250 268 0 English CAN KBS RCI 9650 1300 1400 6,7,8NW 250 240 0 English CAN CRI RTC 9650 1400 1500 7,8 250 268 0 Korean KOR KBS KBS 9660 2330 2400 11W 250 212 0 [R. Prague Spanish] G RPR MER 9790 0100 0200 7,8N 250 277 0 English CAN CRI RTC 9800 1945 2030 7N,8N 70 268 0 N English CAN VAT RCI 9800 2030 2057 4,8,9 70 268 0 N English CAN RNW RNW 9800 2100 2200 7N,8N 70 268 0 N English CAN RCI RCI 9800 2200 2230 7N,8N 70 268 0 N English CAN DWL DWL 9800 2230 2300 7N,8N 70 268 0 N English CAN RSW RCI 11705 1300 1500 6-8 250 240 0 Japanese CAN NHK NHK 11750 1100 1200 6,7,8NW,1 250 272 0 English CAN CRI RTC 11795 1100 1200 11-16 250 176 0 Spanish CAN KBS RCI 11795 1100 1200 11-16 250 176 0 Spanish KOR KBS KBS 11900 1600 1800 8 70 240 0 7 N English CAN TDP TDP 11930 0000 0100 6,7,8NW 250 277 0 Chinese CAN CRI RTC 12040 1200 1400 4,8,11 250 227 -13 German CAN DWL DWL 13680 2300 2400 6,7N 250 285 0 English CAN CRI RTC 13700 2200 2300 11,12E,13 250 176 0 Spanish CAN CRI RTC 13710 1200 1300 7,8 250 240 0 Mandarin CHN CRI RTC 13775 1500 1600 6-8 250 272 -13 German/English CAN ORF ORS 15220 1400 1600 6,7,8NW,1 250 272 0 Mandarin CAN CRI RTC 15240 1300 1400 6,7 250 272 -13 Swedish/English CAN RSW RCI 15260 1300 1400 6,7,8NW,1 250 272 0 English CAN CRI RTC 15445 1500 1600 6,7,10N 250 272 -13 German CAN DWL DWL 15595 1000 1200 12,13,15 250 176 0 German CAN DWL DWL 17660 1900 2057 2,3,6,7,1 250 285 0 17 English CAN RNW RNW (via Wolfgang Büschel, fixed up by gh for DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CANADA. Here is the webpage link for Radio Chalom, the station given CRTC approval to begin operations on 1650 kHz. AM. http://www.radio-shalom.ca/ If you're interested in finding out what to expect from this station, it has been running on-line for a long time. You can see the programme line-up and listen on-line through this web page (Sheldon Harvey, March 16, CIDX yg via DXLD) ** CANADA. Re COM 06-01, Star Ray TV: this was in our local free-bee weekly March 16: HIS REVOLUTION WILL NOT BE TELEVISED – YET --- BY DALE DUNCAN How Jan Pachul's tiny, beleaguered (and temporarily defunct) pirate UHF station opened the door for neighbourhood television http://www.eye.net/eye/issue/issue_03.16.06/features/feature2.html (via Peter Ho, Toronto, DXLD) + sidebar on CFTV-34 Leamington (gh) ** CATALUNYA. Farewell Pals --- Well, folks, Nostalgia, if can be named that way, is at its highest point at this time when Playa de Pals antenna towers are about to be blown at 1600 Spain local. I just made a trip about some websites with pictures and history about this broadcasting complex, from where I used to receive and enjoy Radio Free Europe Romanian service, because of their selected rock music slots after news, after 0500 back in the 80s. The same fate of VOA's Bethany, Ohio complex and BBC and DW transmitters in Montserrat is taking place today on that Spanish shore. A tear and a minute of silence from not so distant Tiquicia to pay my respects for it (Raúl Saavedra, Costa Rica, March 22, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) LES ANTENES DE RÀDIO LIBERTY JA SÓN A TERRA Una vintena d'explosions han aterrat avui les tretze antenes de Ràdio Liberty de la platja de Pals. L'aterrament s'ha fet la vigília dels quaranta-set anys de la primera emissió. S'hi van aixecar per poder emetre als països soviètics, durant la Guerra Freda, programes fets des dels EUA. Però Ràdio Liberty ja havia emès des d'uns altres llocs d'Europa, i encara emet des d'Alemanya, Grècia o el Marroc, si bé amb finalitats diferents. http://www.rferl.org/specials/50Years/history/rferl-history.html Els interessats poden escoltar en directe l'actual Ràdio Free Europe - Ràdio Liberty http://www.rferl.org/listen/ Les installacions de Pals, a la xarxa Algunes universitats havien demanat de conserva el complex emissor de Ràdio Liberty, perquè el consideraven un museu de l'electrònica i de la ràdio com n'hi ha pocs al món. Però el cost del manteniment, i més raons, han decidit el govern a enderrocar-lo abans que no es deteriorés gaire. Un dels antics treballadors de l'emissora ha creat http://www.RadioLiberty.org un autèntic museu virtual de les instal lacions de la platja de Pals. S'hi poden trobar fotografies http://www.radioliberty.org/recintcat.html documents http://www.radioliberty.org/documentscat.html un resum de la història de l'emissora http://www.radioliberty.org/intro-cat.html i fins i tot s'hi poden escoltar alguns dels programes emesos. http://www.radioliberty.org/audiocat.html Una Ràdio Liberty actual, a Bielorússia Des del 26 de febrer una emissora http://www.belradio.fm/news.php amb objectius semblants als de Ràdio Liberty emet per a Bielorússia http://www.liberation.fr/page.php?Article=368661 un país que molts analistes consideren la darrera dictadura d'Europa, i que acaba de passar unes eleccions presidencials plenes d'acusacions de frau (ROCA OLLER, ENRIC, DIMECRES, 22/03/2006 - 16:00h via Dario Monferini, DXLD) ** CHINA [and non]. CNR-1, QSYed to 18180 kHz at 0015 UT on 21 Mar. Sound of Hope on 17350 kHz at 233 5s/off on 20 Mar. and CNR-1 at 0005 to 0008 s/off (NDXC HQ March 21, DX LISTENING DIGEST) I guess this implies SOH must have moved to 18180, then. Outside the so-called ``17 meter`` hamband, at least (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CONGO [non]. Re reports of R. Congo, Brazzaville on 9610 around 1925-1940: Here is the 9610 IBRA R, Juelich schedule for Fri and Sat: Fridays 1900-1930 Fulfulde 1930-1945 Malinke (Sat Moore lang) 1945-2000 Dyula (also Sat) 2000-2015 Wolof (also Sat) 2015-2030 Hausa daily 2030-2045 Tamajeq (Sat, Tue to Wed French) (Sun/Mon Bambara) broadcasts in Vernaculars, and on Friday Mar 10 I heard Vernacular at 2040-2045* when IBRA has French. Anker, that seems not correct ! IBRA schedule has TAMAJEQ lang on Fridays at 2030-2045 UT. French only on Tue/Wed/Sat at 2030-2045 UT, Sun/Mon in Bambara lang. - - - Listen to the recent recording, made tonight between 1930 and 2005 UT on 9610 kHz, carrier seems exact on 9610.00 kHz, but heavy sideband QRM by CRI Urumchi 500 kW powerhouse. I heard never French announcements by the two locutors, even once I heard an address of Abidjan, Ivory Coast - Côte d`Ivoire !!! Other native music sounded from Gambia local area. Music noted as central African folk music like a native guitar, etc., never heard modern pop music from Congo etc. So, I guess I heard IBRA Radio program from Juelich site only. Excuse the heavy side band splash audio. 73 wb Mar 18 (Wolfgang Büschel, to Anker Petersen and Vashek Korinek, via DXLD) Dear Wolfy and Anker, sorry for a delay in replying - I have actually managed to disappear for a DXpedition for 5 days. I have received your first e-mail the night before my departure, but after that I ended up in a place with no mobile phones, no e-mail etc. (it is actually one of the attractions of that location!). Just returned from the trip now. Anyway, I have checked several times during mornings, evenings and during the daylight hours 9610, 5985, 6115 and 4765 and I am convinced that Congo Brazzaville is currently not on shortwaves, at least not on these frequencies (unless there were some highly unusual propagation conditions, which would be extremely unlikely). I'm not sure what other people are hearing on 9610 but it must be some sort of misunderstanding - I did not even come across any French on that frequency. Hopefully Congo's absence from SW is not permanent! I hope to have some more positive news next time! Cheers, (Vashek Korinek, RSA, March 18, via Büschel, DXLD) Thanks very much, dear Vashek. 73 (Wolfgang http://www.wwdxc.de/topnews.htm via DXLD) ** GABON. Africa Numéro Un. Not sure if this has been observed and reported before. At about 1445 UT today, Tuesday March 21, I checked 17630 for Africa Numéro Un and for the "wandering African music jammer" which was on 17685 today. Both frequencies were in parallel with the same music. I had two radios on, side by side, to be sure about it. This continued to 1503 when there was silence for a few seconds on 17630 followed by news in French and normal programming. Meanwhile 17685 continued until 1530 with the usual music. So this leaves no doubt that the music on the "jammer" is from Gabon (Bernie O'Shea, Ottawa, Ontario, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Good work! First such confirmation I know of what we have long suspected (gh, DXLD) Extremely interesting! Thank you. This also leaves a couple of questions unanswered: for instance, who pays for this jamming? And why does Gabon agree? 73, (Erik Køie, Copenhagen, ibid.) I doubt that Gabon as a country cares, or even knows, as the facility is essentially a French entity. Ask why FRANCE agrees (gh, ibid.) Nothing more than a confirmed surprise that was forwarded weeks ago. I pointed out that this could be possible in the sense that ANO site has more than one transmitter. What happened this time is that they were caught in their own trap (or game) by mistake. Who pays for this jamming? That´s our next task to find out. And Gabon is involved in this is just because someone is paying for transmitter time from them, I'd guess. Business is business, after all (Raúl Saavedra, Costa Rica, ibid.) See also LIBYA [and non] Two transmitters have recently been operating during the Clandestine transmission - ANO on 17630 and the Afro-Cuban music on whatever 17 MHz channel is in use on that day. ANO 17630 has been heard on air at 0700 and until c1557. It still goes off for about 30 minutes or so around 1030 to around 1100 and I assume this is because it moves to 21820 to carry NHK programmes in Italian and Swedish. But after then there is no break until final close. I'm not sure what time the Afro-Cuban music starts but I hear it before the Clandestine goes off c1400. Hearing this in parallel with ANO is very good monitoring - sooner or later something occurs to give away the identity of stations like this. I agree with Glenn and Raul that using Gabon facilities will be a business deal and not a political one. And obviously "someone" has been coordinating the jamming. I don't know the name of the French Foreign Affairs minister, or even the head of the French equivalent of the CIA, but they might know something about it. 73 (Noel R. Green, UK, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** INTERNATIONAL WATERS [non?]. I've been monitoring 6844 for a few days and came up with some traffic today in possible Somali but no English at 2244 (Steve Lare, Holland, MI, March 20, DX LISTENING DIGEST) The interesting broadcast from the Coalition Maritime Forces heard here at 2302 on 6844 USB. Alternating in English/Somali (or Arabic). Transmission ended at 2310. Thanks to Harold Frodge for the tip in DXLD 6-046 [UNIDENTIFIED]. (Steve Lare, Holland, MI, USA, March 21, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Perhaps our contributor in the Indian Ocean can give us a report on this one as well (Steve Lare, Holland, MI USA, swl at qth.net via DXLD) ** ISRAEL. Kol Israel in Hebrew (Reshet Bet) is usually "loud and clear" here on 17535 local afternoons. On the 22nd of March 2006 at 1300 UT the Kol Israel was full SIO 555; in fact it had been that at 1100, and 1200 UT too on. jpk (Jukka Kinkamo, Finland, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** JAPAN. NHK and five commercial broadcasters in Tokyo have entered into a joint venture to build a new TV transmission tower in the Japanese capital. The planned 600-metre tower will be designed for terrestrial digital television broadcasting and is to be built in the Sumida-Taito area of the capital, Yomiuri reported. The new tower, dubbed the second Tokyo Tower, is scheduled for completion at the end of 2010 and will be the world's tallest telecommunications tower, exceeding CN Tower in Toronto, currently the tallest in the world at 553 metres. The paper says that a tower twice as tall as the existing Tokyo Tower - 333 metres high - is needed for guaranteed "one-segment" broadcasting, a type of digital terrestrial broadcasting for cell phones and other receivers (AIB Industry Briefing, Technology, distribution - 21 March 2006 via DXLD) ** LIBYA [and non]. Sawt Al-amal -- 21 Marzo. Saludos cordiales, chequeando hoy a Sawt Al-amal se aprecia que ha regresado la emisora de música afro-pop que estaba ausente desde el 9 de Marzo en la que emitió por los 17690 en la segunda hora de transmisión de Sawt Al-amal que en su primera hora transmitió por 17685; el 10 de Marzo comenzó su emisión en 17670 y terminó en 17675, pero no hubo transmisión musical, tampoco el 11 de Marzo en donde Sawt Al-amal empezó en 17690, el 12 de Marzo en 17680, en todos esos días y hasta hoy, Sawt Al-amal se ha podido librar de la emisora musical. No así de otras señales de interferencia con mejor o peor resultado; hoy 21 de Marzo, Sawt Al- amal comenzó su emisión en 17680 sufriendo una señal pulsante muy débil que a penas a supuesto problema en su primera hora de emisión, pero una vez ha cambiado a 17685 ha comenzado la emisora musical y Sawt Al-amal ha quedado totalmente anulada (José Miguel Romero, Spain, March 21, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) see also GABON! Sawt Al-amal, jammers y África Nº 1, chequeado 22 Marzo. Saludos cordiales, chequeando hoy a Sawt Al-amal, las emisiones jammer y África Nº 1 vía Gabón, el resultado es el sigiente: 17630, África Nº 1, se escucha a las 1238 en francés con programa de música pop con una señal pobre, SINPO 25432; posteriormente a las 1304 se aprecia sin emisión, tan sólo se escucha ruido en esa señal. Sin embargo a las 1315 se restablece la emisión con mejor señal, SINPO 35333; compruebo la frecuencia de 9580 y no se aprecia emisión alguna. 17660, Voice of África, 1240 en su emisión de música árabe con fuerte señal hasta el cierre a las 1400 con un SINPO 55544. 17670, Sawt Al-amal, 1242-1300, árabe, en su programación habitual con fuerte señal y ausencia de interferencia, SINPO 45544. 17675, Sawt Al-amal, 1300, a pesar de no sufrir interferencia en su primera hora de emisión en la frecuencia de inicio, cambia de frecuencia como es habitual en los últimos días, SINPO 45444; sin embargo a las 1307 se inicia la emisión jammer de música melódica y afro-pop, con SINPO 54544. A partir de ahí se nota de fondo a Sawt Al- amal, prácticamente anulada; pocos minutos después la señal jammer se aprecia con SINPO 55544. Desde ahí hasta las 1400 ya no se escucha a Sawt Al-amal. Se pueden escuchar unas grabaciones de lo ocurrido en: http://valenciadx.multiply.com/music Lo curioso es que si se compara la fuerza con que se percibe a África Nº 1 via Gabón y la emisión jammer de música afro-pop; no parecen emitir desde el mismo lugar, no tienen la misma fuerza. La emisora de Gabón nunca se escucha con tanta fuerza como la jammer; esto me desconcierta. ¿Quizás Gabón está utilizando un transmisor mucho más potente para la jammer que para sus propias transmisiones?, ¿porqué nunca se escucha a Gabón con tanta fuerza cómo la jammer aquí en Valencia? Me desconcierta. Escuchen ustedes si quieren las grabaciones y saquen conclusiones, quizás yo siga equivocado. Atentamente (José Miguel Romero, Spain, March 22, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) The difference could simply be due to different azimuths. No doubt the jammers are aimed squarely at Libya, and maybe ANO itself not (gh) ** MADAGASCAR. Madagascar Update, by Rob Scobey http://worldchristian.org/index.pl/latestnews He built a tower in Alaska last year for station KNLS. Now Kevin Chambers building a station for Madagascar World Radio --- the name of World Christian Broadcasting`s operation in that island nation off the east coast of Africa. WCB`s multi-talented and multi-tasking chief engineer has taken on the role of a construction superintendent. Kevin and his wife Nancy are getting to know the country of Madagascar quite well. He is making his fourth extended visit. Nancy is making her second. According to plan, Nancy and Kevin will remain there until mid-May. The objective is to begin the construction process for the new facility and gradually turn more of the responsibility over the Malagasy employees. Security is a major priority and numerous security personnel have been hired. A security plan is in place; for security reasons, we’re not publishing the details. We will volunteer that construction of a fence to surround the 86-acre property is underway. Brent Terry of Louisville, KY, is volunteering his time to procure the materials and oversee installation of the fence. Also headed for Madagascar is a seagoing barge with three containers containing steel for the buildings’ frames, steel to reinforce concrete, and drywall. Gravel for the concrete will be obtained locally. And this will provide a small but measurable boost to the local economy as will the hiring of local construction workers. A well has been drilled on the property and the water is tasty and good for human consumption. An ample supply of electricity is not guaranteed. So diesel generators will supply enough electricity for an American town of 500 people. If the transmitting facility doesn’t need all of the power, the surplus can be made available to local residents. The electricity will power four transmitters and four towers and antennas. The towers are the curtain type you may have seen in photos of the KNLS station in Anchor Point, AK. As is the case with the two transmitters in Alaska -- three of them will use 100,000 watts of power with 16 million watts of effective radiated power. One tower will send a signal to continental Africa and South America. One will cover Europe, including European Russia, and the Middle East. And one will cover India, China, and most of Asia --- especially western Asia. (KNLS blankets eastern Asia). A fourth transmitter, tower, and antenna will be used for local coverage in Madagascar. The wheels of government in Madagascar, as in other parts of the world, sometimes turn slowly. Permits for construction activities don’t always arrive in a timely manner. So if Kevin becomes restless or temporarily finds he has time on his hands, he can watch his favorite TV programs --- sent to him on DVD by WCB studio technician Real Peloquin. More About Madagascar In November, 2005, two ships arrived in Madagascar containing tools, equipment, a truck, a backhoe, a bulldozer, and one mile of fence. In mid-January, 2006, another ship embarked from the port of Houston headed to Madagascar carrying generators, tools and fence building materials. Another container will be leaving from Houston in the next couple of weeks. The water well is now dug and a couple of small buildings have been built. Construction of the mile of fence will begin in March. Kevin and Nancy Chambers have returned to Madagascar to oversee the construction work that has already begun. Brent Terry will also be going soon to construct the fence. A sign has been placed on the property that reads, future home of Madagascar World Voice – the name that will be used in Madagascar. Four antennas will be built on the 84 acres of land given to World Christian by the President of Madagascar. The antennas have been ordered and are now being built! These new digital antennas will send a radio signal comparable to a local sounding signal and will blanket the Middle East, Africa, South America, European Russia, southern and western China and Indonesia – some 5 billion people. Our Arabic staff is being assembled now. The Russian and Chinese websites continue to attract hundreds of interested people every month. The Arabic website will be launched this coming summer. Many more broadcasts can now be heard on each of the three websites and soon Arabic broadcasts will be able to be heard on the Arabic website. One of our donors is planning a gift of $500,000. To receive this gift, we must raise $1.5 million by March 15, 2006. If you have considered helping us build these antennas, this is an excellent time to do something that would enable us to receive this wonderful gift. This is an unparalleled opportunity to reach this many people with the gospel. I want to ask you to seriously consider helping us raise the funds necessary to cover the world with the gospel. Would you let me come and visit with you, the mission committee at your home church, or with individuals you know that could help us raise the $7 million that is needed? It is more than a gift to World Christian – it is a gift to reach the entire world with the gospel. Please contact me abaker @ worldchristian.org or (615-417-3906). I welcome your questions. Let’s talk soon (Andy Baker, Vice President, World Christian Broadcasting, via DXLD) What`s a ``digital antenna``? And a neat trick to use only one tower for each curtain antenna, as the text above leads us to believe. And, which is it, Madagascar World Radio, or Madagascar World Voice? (gh) ** MALAYSIA. 7295, Traxx FM (RTM), Mar 21, 1326-1341, in English; DJs ``Jezza`` (Gerard Vincent Ratnam) and ``Maya`` (Maya Suraya), with their Tuesday ``Jazz Selecta`` program; I was particularly pleased to hear my name mentioned on-air, as they read out my posting to their website, which has just been updated --- http://jazzselecta.alldatjazz.com/ They were very pleased to get feedback from California. (Ron Howard, Monterey, CA, RX340, with T2FD antenna, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** NETHERLANDS. ESQUEMA DE EMISIONES EN ESPAÑOL DE RADIO NEDERLAND WERELDOMROEP DESDE EL 26 DE MARZO AL 28 DE OCTUBRE DEL 2006 Todas las horas UTC (Tiempo Universal) HORA UTC AREA FRECUENCIA 1100-1127 Caribe B6165 1130-1157 Sudamérica (Noreste) B6165 1200-1227 Centroamérica B9715 Sudamérica (Noroeste) B9895 2300-2357 Sudamérica (Sur) F9895 0000-0157 Sudamérica (Sur) B15315 Sudam. (Norte), Caribe F6165 0200-0357 México B9590 Centroamérica, Caribe F6165 Emisores: F= Flevo, Holanda B= Bonaire, Antillas Neerlandesas Radio Nederland Wereldomroep transmite en español las 24 horas vía satélite e internet http://www.informarn.nl (Jaime Báguena, RN, also via Dino Bloise, dxldyg via DXLD) ** OKLAHOMA. Re OKC pirate on 101.1: I ran into one of the guys when I was working at a club, and his buddies run a record label and he said they are running a 30 watt station around Memorial and 122nd. I warned his buddy that is very illegal, and you don't want another 92.1 incident, even though the programming on 92.1 was very very entertaining (Skyhyped, March 21, Oklahoma board at radio-info.com via DXLD) Those two streets are parallel, a mile apart running E-W across the entire city; so what are the cross streets? (gh, DXLD) ** PAKISTAN. On the 20th of March 2006 at 0800-0830 UT on 15100 kHz Radio Pakistan was loud and clear (SIO 455) in English language despite their usually rather poor modulation. Yours etc. (Jukka Kinkamo, Finland, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Starts at 0730 now: (gh) RADIO PAKISTAN'S NEW ENGLISH SERVICE FOR PAKISTANIS IN EUROPE HEARD Pakistan's state broadcaster has launched a new English service for Pakistanis in Western Europe. Radio Pakistan launched the programme on 20 March and it is intended to promote government policies abroad. The broadcast is daily at 0730-0830 gmt on 15100 and 17835 kHz shortwave. Summary of first programme BBC Monitoring listened to the first broadcast, but poor reception meant that some parts of the programme were indistinct: 1. Opening announcement: "This is Radio Pakistan. Seven-thirty a.m. gmt, that is 1230 p.m. Pakistan standard time. You are tuned into `Good Morning Pakistan', a presentation from the External Services for our listeners in Western Europe. (? Dear) listeners, it's (?history in the making). Assalamu alaikum, bonjour and good morning to all our listeners in Western Europe." There followed a partly indistinct frequency announcement. The presenter introduced herself and her producer. "Smiling at me and offering his perfect technical assistance is (?Mohammad Yasin)." 2. Recitation and translation from the Qur`an. 3. Programme preview. 4. Pakistan Today: Commentary on Pakistan-India strategic situation in the wake of Bush visit. (3 minutes) 5. Pop song. 6. Interview with young hero of last year's earthquake. (5 minutes) 7. Pop songs, apparently patriotic. 8. (0800 gmt) Regular Radio Pakistan news bulletin. (10 minutes) 9. Feature on musical entertainer. 10. News commentary, on earthquake reconstruction. (Reception was largely indistinct). 11. Largely indistinct closing announcement as reception faded. Listeners invited to write. 12. National anthem Source: BBC Monitoring research 20 Mar 06 (via DXLD) ** PERU. 4835.47, Radio Marañón, 1059-1115 March 21. Noted music before the hour. At 1100, canned ID and promos followed by a program of news. Signal seemed to pick up at 1105 and faded in and out periodically for a few minutes. This was my gray zone period. Initially, the signal was threshold (Chuck Bolland, Clewiston FL, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** PHILIPPINES. RVA A06 RADIO VERITAS ASIA SHORTWAVE TRANSMISSION SCHEDULE 26 March to 29 October 2006 PROGRAM TIMEBLOCK FREQUENCY SERVICE (UT) (kHz) Bengali 0030–0057 11965 1400–1430 11870 Hindi 0030–0057 11710 1330–1400 11870 Hmong 1000–1027 11780 Indonesian 2300–2327 9505 2300–2327 11820 1200–1227 11795 Kachin 2330–2357 9545 1230–1257 15225 Karen 0000–0027 11935 1200–1230 15225 Mandarin 2100–2257 6105 1000–1157 9730 Burmese 2330–2357 9805 1130–1157 15450 Filipino 2300-2327 9720 Filipino 1500–1530 15530 Filipino 1530-1600 15530 (Wed, Fri & Sun Extension) Russian 0130–0227 17830 1500–1600 9570 Sinhala 0000–0027 11965 0000–0027 9730 1330–1400 9520 Tamil 0030–0057 15520 1400–1430 9520 Telugu 0100–0127 15530 1430–1457 9520 Urdu 0100–0127 15350 0100–0127 17860 1430–1457 11870 Vietnamese 2330–2357 9670 0130–0230 15530 1030–1127 11850 1300–1327 11850 Zomi-Chin 0230-0300 11895 Transmitting Station: Palauig, Zambales Geographical Location: 119 .50 E; 15 .28 N [sic] 73 from (Ashik Eqbal Tokon, Rajshahi, Bangladesh, DXLD) Are those minutes or decimals of degrees? (gh, DXLD) ** PORTUGAL. In the DXLD bulletin 6-048 dated 20th inst., the suggested http://www.filatelia.fi/dx/ page leads us, among others, to http://www.filatelia/dx/photos/renasc1.jpg - that's the (old) site at Buraca (outskirts of Lisboa) where the local MW tx (1286 kHz 2.5 kW) & the SW tx (6155 kHz 600 watt) were located. Right after the station was occupied by political forces, in 1974/75, this very site was deliberately demolished with charges planted by certain members of the military --- cf. http://www.rr.pt/historial.asp and http://www.rr.pt/historial2.asp R. Renascença no longer used SW after that, except for the short lived "adventure" via its Muge site, which still houses the (US made) 100 kW tx and a very small number of rhombics, all idle... and in easy reach of anyone for they're outside the fenced perimeter. The other local station shown in http://www.filatelia.fin/dx/ Emissores Associados de Lisboa, was located at Pragal, right on the opposite bank of River Tagus. This was one the private commercial stations whose fate was to be nationalised and to become part of the RDP. In the not so distant past (80s, early 90s) the RDP installed a MW station at Pragal, probably in the old EAL plant. The other pictures show what was known as Rádio Trans-Europa for quite some time, i.e. the station in charge of the DW and the other relays via Sines, having later changed its name to Pro-Funk GmbH. Neither those 3 x 250 kW Marconi txs nor the fixed curtain antennae are there (probably the log-periodic). Curiously, during my APR'81 visit to the station, at least one of the photos I took at that time, about 10~11 years later, resembles the one tagged as "sines4" in that page. They use 3 rotatable curtain arrays, visible in GoogleEarth by the way, and 3 x 250 kW Thomcast units, which we know are all DRM capable (Carlos Gonçalves, Portugal, March 22, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** SPAIN. R. Liberty antennas demolished: see CATALUNYA ** TAHITI. It has been a while since I tried for Tahiti on 738. I was able to detect a carrier about 15-20 db above the noise floor between 0930 and 1000 UT (22 March). No audio and lots of slop from 740. I think I need at least 30 db and preferably 40 db of signal above the noise floor for a decent shot at audio (Bill Harms, Elkridge, Maryland, R8B K9AY/300 foot longwire Quantum Phaser, IRCA via DXLD) Bill, I don't check 738 all that often myself, but I'll tell you that at times the carrier has been quite strong here. No audio yet but I'm working on it. KCBS is giving me a bit of trouble but I expect that considering the proximity. 73 (Doug Pifer, Albany, OR, Drake R8B, Kiwa Loop, ibid.) ** U A E. EMI A06 (EMIRATES MEDIA) 26/03/06 to 29/10/06 FREQ STRT STOP CIRAF ZONES LOC PWR AZI SLW ANT DAYS LANG 6160 2000 2300 41NW DHA 500 75 15 146 1234567 ARABIC 6185 2200 2300 37N,38NW DHA 500 285 0 218 1234567 ARABIC 7115 1100 1600 38NE,39NE,39SW DHA 500 300 0 146 1234567 ARABIC 7145 2300 2400 27,28 DHA 500 315 0 218 1234567 ARABIC 7160 2300 0030 37N,38NW DHA 500 300 0 146 1234567 ARABIC 7175 0000 0100 37N,38NW DHA 500 285 0 218 1234567 ARABIC 7190 0000 0100 37N,38NW DHA 500 300 0 146 1234567 ARABIC 7220 0800 1000 38NE,39NE,39SW DHA 500 300 0 146 1234567 ARABIC 7275 2300 2400 18,27,28 DHA 500 315 0 218 1234567 ARABIC 9515 2100 2400 38NE,39NE,39SW DHA 500 300 0 146 1234567 ARABIC 9630 1900 0030 38NE,39NE,39SW DHA 500 300 0 146 1234567 ARABIC 9695 2100 2400 41NW DHA 500 75 15 146 1234567 ARABIC 9695 0500 0630 41NW DHA 500 75 15 146 1234567 ARABIC 9730 0600 1200 38NE,39NE,39SW DHA 500 300 0 146 1234567 ARABIC 9750 1500 1600 38NE,39NE,39SW DHA 500 300 0 146 1234567 ARABIC 9840 2300 2400 37N,38NW DHA 500 300 0 146 1234567 ARABIC 9855 0000 0100 38NE,39NE,39SW DHA 500 300 0 146 1234567 ARABIC 11740 0800 1030 38NE,39NE,39SW DHA 500 300 0 146 1234567 ARABIC 11995 2200 2300 41NW DHA 500 75 15 146 1234567 ARABIC 12025 2000 2100 41NW DHA 500 75 15 146 1234567 ARABIC 13605 0400 0700 41NW DHA 500 75 15 146 1234567 ARABIC 13650 2200 2400 37N,38NW DHA 500 300 0 146 1234567 ARABIC 13675 1800 2300 55,58,59 DHA 500 120 30 218 1234567 ARABIC 13700 0500 0900 41NW DHA 500 75 15 146 1234567 ARABIC 15215 2300 2400 18,27,28 DHA 500 315 0 218 1234567 ARABIC 15220 1000 1030 38NE,39NE,39SW DHA 500 300 0 146 1234567 ARABIC 15280 0830 1000 38NE,39NE,39SW DHA 500 300 0 146 1234567 ARABIC 15310 0700 1000 38NE,39NE,39SW DHA 500 300 0 146 1234567 ARABIC 15405 0630 1200 38NE,39NE,39SW DHA 500 300 0 146 1234567 ARABIC 17680 0900 1500 37N,38NW DHA 500 285 0 218 1234567 ARABIC 17680 2000 2400 37N,38NW DHA 250 285 0 218 1234567 ARABIC 17730 0000 0100 37N,38NW DHA 500 300 0 146 1234567 ARABIC 17760 1200 1700 37N,38NW DHA 500 300 0 146 1234567 ARABIC 17760 2200 2400 37N,38NW DHA 500 300 0 146 1234567 ARABIC 17785 1200 1400 37N,38NW DHA 500 285 0 218 1234567 ARABIC 17815 1100 1500 37N,38NW DHA 500 285 0 218 1234567 ARABIC 17845 1800 0100 44,45 DHA 500 60 -30 218 1234567 ARABIC 21630 0200 0600 55,58,59 DHA 500 120 30 218 1234567 ARABIC 21630 0600 0800 18,27,28 DHA 500 315 0 218 1234567 ARABIC 21735 0300 0700 41NW DHA 500 75 15 146 1234567 ARABIC 21735 0200 0700 44,45 DHA 500 60 -30 218 1234567 ARABIC 21735 0700 1030 37N,38NW DHA 500 285 0 218 1234567 ARABIC 21735 1100 1600 37N,38NW DHA 500 285 0 218 1234567 ARABIC Note: Transmissions may be delayed by a month due to maintenance (via Alokesh Gupta, New Delhi, India, March 20, dxldyg via DXLD) I believe these have been off the air for many months, altho the relays of foreign clients have continued from this site. Not to be confused with UAE Radio, Dubai, different site, which has also been off the SW air. Note 17680 which if activated will collide with CVC La Voz and the Libyan mess (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) "Transmissions may be delayed by a month due to maintenance" -- what does this mean? Is Emirates Media really planning to put its own programming on shortwave again? Similar registrations were filed for A05 and B05 as well, but I think nothing made it ever on air so far. Even assuming serious plans to restore the service: At a first glance there appears to be a lot of wood in these registrations. Just to pick out 2300-2400 towards 315 degrees as an example: Simultaneously on 7145, 7275 and 15215 while transmissions with other beam headings are on air as well? Actual use of a single one of these frequencies would be probably a more realistic scenario (Kai Ludwig, Germany, March 21, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U A E. Glenn, I noticed there is a discrepancy for the AWR broadcast via United Arab Emirates in English for A06 at 1200-1230. VT Merlin has 15140 and the AWR schedule has 15365 both schedules from Alokesh Gupta. (Daniel Sampson, Prime Time Shortwave, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Probably not the only one if everything be cross-checked (gh, DXLD) ** U K. Re 6-048, BBC Japan: BBC Japan is the Japanese version of BBC World. Its website (in Japanese, obviously) is http://www.bbcworld-japan.com/ From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia: BBC Japan Type Satellite Availability Japan Founder BBC Worldwide Owner BBC Launch date December 1, 2004 BBC Japan is a television channel from the BBC available via satellite in Japan. Similar in format to BBC Prime, which now broadcasts a service in other Asian countries, BBC Japan shows such BBC programmes as Blackadder and Fawlty Towers, with many of them subtitled in Japanese. The channel launched on December 1, 2004 and is currently available over Sky PerfecTV!110 and 4th MEDIA (via Andy Sennitt, Media Network blog via DXLD) But BBC below says it only launched in Dec 2005, not 2004! (gh, DXLD) BBC Japan is to close down at the end of April because its Japanese distributor no longer has the financial backing to support the channel. The TV channel launched in December 2005 and features subtitled BBC shows including My Family and EastEnders. "We are hoping to announce shortly how BBC Japan's loyal customers will be able to receive the channel in future," said BBC Worldwide's Darren Childs. Distributor JMC will be unable to transmit the channel after 30 April. Sorry BBC Worldwide said it had not been consulted on the decision and that the situation was out of its control. JMC also told the BBC that the company's shareholders would not be providing any further financial support in the future. "We extend our sincere apologies to subscribers of the channel who have been inconvenienced by the decision of JMC," said Mr Childs, Managing Director of Global Channels at BBC Worldwide. The commercial arm of the BBC offers several other TV channels including international entertainment channel BBC Prime, BBC America and BBC Canada. Story from BBC NEWS: http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/1/hi/entertainment/4830518.stm Published: 2006/03/21 17:47:09 GMT © BBC MMVI (via Dan Say, BC, DXLD) ** U S A. VOICE OF AMERICA'S DEATH BY A THOUSAND CUTS Tuesday, March 21, 2006 by Stephen Johnson http://www.speroforum.com/site/article.asp?idCategory=33&idsub=128&id=2954 The Middle East is not the only source of ill-will toward America and U.S. interests, but that region now receives the bulk of U.S. funding for foreign broadcasting while operations elsewhere, such as in Latin America, languish. Though understandable, this approach may be counterproductive. Because public diplomacy efforts such as international broadcasting take years and decades to do their work, shifting massive resources to current hotspots may net little in the end. America needs a more balanced long-term strategy for its foreign broadcasting, and its overseers need to use greater creativity to spread American culture and ideas successfully. False Savings Every so often, shortsightedness causes lawmakers, bureaucrats, and politicians to act pennywise and pound foolish. Myopia was at play during the 1990s when the U.S. Congress slashed public diplomacy and foreign broadcasting budgets in the belief that the end of the Cold War meant peace for the foreseeable future. More recently, poor vision has caused policymakers to regard the 2001 terrorist attacks on New York and Washington as proof that most threats now come from the Middle East. In a rush to influence Middle Eastern public opinion in a hurry, they gutted the global Voice of America (VOA) radio and TV networks to create new regional broadcasting services. However, research shows that changing deep-seated perceptions takes time and targeting through multiple channels such as supplying textbooks, supporting libraries, and sponsoring academic exchanges. Sadly, face-to-face public diplomacy efforts remain disorganized at the U.S. Department of State. Leaving that question aside, Congress has restored most of the broadcasting budget that it cut during the 1990s. The U.S. Broadcasting Board of Governors (BBG), which supervises all foreign radio and TV efforts including VOA and surrogate outlets like Radio Free Europe, will have $671 million at its disposal for 2007 --- a $231 million increase over 2001. The bad news is that VOA services in Portuguese, Central and Eastern European languages, Arabic, and (global) English have been reduced or eliminated. Ironically, as VOA managers were shifting their own Middle Eastern programming from shortwave radio to the more popular FM band and breaking into satellite TV distribution, the BBG decided to roll out brand new services --- the Middle Eastern Radio Network, Radio Sawa, Al-Hurra TV, and Radio Farda to Iran --- at greater cost. According to BBG Chairman Kenneth Tomlinson, federal civil-service regulations and self-serving union rules would have blocked VOA`s plans. No doubt there is truth in this, but Congress should have modernized VOA`s bureaucratic personnel structure long ago. The BBG should have asked the unions to help develop a more flexible hiring and contracting policies. VOA shouldn`t exist to provide every employee with a 30-year career and a pension. Despite the cuts, VOA isn`t totally down and out. Next year, it gets a 5.3 percent funding raise to help it beam TV to Iran and add more programming in Dari and Pashto languages for Afghanistan. Meanwhile, the new Middle Eastern Broadcasting Network will get a 13-percent boost to expand Al-Hurra-TV programming from 16 to 24 hours a day and add more newscasts to Radio Sawa, all in the Middle East. Long-Term Slippage In other parts of the world, America`s image has declined since it liberated Iraq. In most capitals, China polls more favorably than the United States. Meanwhile, America`s ratings are slipping in its own hemisphere where it relies on peaceful neighbors for security. According to a comprehensive survey across 18 countries, favorable perceptions of the United States have dropped 8 percentage points over five years. An overwhelming majority of respondents in the capitals of Argentina, Brazil, Chile, and Uruguay think the U.S. is ``imperialist.`` Latin America and the Caribbean are home to a growing population of 550 million people, half of whom live beneath the poverty line. In a shift toward populism, presidents in Venezuela, Bolivia, and Argentina are now telling citizens that their misery is a result of America`s wealth. Elections this year could bring similar leaders to power in more countries. VOA`s 4 hours of radio and a little over an hour of television per day hardly combat such misperceptions. VOA has no programming in the Quechua or Aymara languages to appeal to South America`s large indigenous populations that live where populism is surging. Even the BBG`s robust TV/Radio Martí service to Cuba misses golden opportunities to reach large audiences. It recently opted not to cover Cuba`s participation in the March 2006 World Baseball Classic. Besides increasing distribution of existing services to key regions, the BBG should be more creative. National Public Radio shows like ``Car Talk`` and ``Fresh Air`` will soon replace VOA news on Armed Forces Radio in Berlin. Instead of paying for expensive in-house production, VOA English service could license such programs to bring slices of American life to listeners in countries like South Korea, Mongolia, Chile, Uruguay, and Iraqi Kurdistan where learning English and listening to it on the radio are gaining popularity. Hard as it may be to do, the Bush Administration, Congress, and the Broadcasting Board of Governors should look beyond what seem like immediate needs. Tomorrow`s security nightmares are already percolating in hotspots beyond the Middle East. Because influencing perceptions is a lengthy process, all of America`s public diplomacy machinery should be put in order and employed to build friendships where possible and defuse threats before they cost lives. Stephen Johnson is Senior Policy Analyst in the Douglas and Sarah Allison Center for Foreign Policy of the Kathryn and Shelby Cullom Davis Institute for International Studies at The Heritage Foundation. (via Artie Bigley, DXLD) same: http://www.heritage.org/Research/NationalSecurity/wm1019.cfm (via Mike Cooper, DXLD) ** U S A. Voice of America (VOA) is very difficult to hear in the evenings here in Northern Europe on shortwaves but VOA East Asia News Now is usually "loud and clear" on 11705 kHz local afternoons here. On the 22nd of March 2006 VOA East Asia News Now was on air at 1300 UT on 11705 kHz (SIO 444). Yours etc (Jukka Kinkamo, Finland, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Well, not for long, as you will see below, only 9645 and 9760 will remain in A-06 at this hour; presumably Thailand and Philippines, respectively (gh, DXLD) ** U S A. VOA Broadcast Frequency Schedules Effective through 29 October 2006, Schedule effective 26 March 2006 Notes: All times and dates are Coordinated Universal Time (UTC), same as Greenwich Mean Time (GMT). Frequencies are in kiloHertz (kHz). 1 MegaHertz (MHz) is equal to 1000 kHz. Conversion to meter bands: Meters=300000/frequency in kHz. e.g.: 17705 kHz --> 16.9 meters Abbreviations: All programs/frequencies are on daily unless noted otherwise. & - Monday only * - Monday through Friday = - Monday through Saturday < - Tuesday through Friday / - Tuesday and Friday only # - Tuesday through Saturday % - Tuesday through Sunday ~ - Thursday only ] - Thursday through Saturday > - Friday and Saturday @ - Saturday only $ - Saturday and Sunday " - Sunday only + - Sunday and Monday ^ - Sunday through Thursday ! - Sunday through Friday Afan Oromo 1730-1800 UTC* 9875 11500 11675 11905 13870 Albanian 0500-0530 UTC 1215 11805 1600-1630 UTC 13740 1830-1900 UTC 1458 9840 Amharic 1800-1900 UTC 9875 11500 11675 11905 13870 Azerbaijani 1730-1800 UTC 7125 7170 13725 Bangla 0130-0200 UTC 11735 15205 1600-1700 UTC 1575 7430 11835 Bosnian 2130-2200 UTC* 792 Burmese 1130-1200 UTC 1575 11850 15215 1430-1500 UTC 1575 5955 12015 2330-2400 UTC 6185 9505 Cantonese 1300-1500 UTC 1170 7115 9355 Chinese 0000-0200 UTC 9545 11830 11925 15150 15385 17765 0200-0300 UTC 9545 11830 11925 15385 17765 0700-0900 UTC 13610 13740 15250 17780 17855 21540 21705 0900-1000 UTC 11825 11965 13610 13740 15250 15665 17780 17855 1000-1100 UTC 9575 11825 11965 12040 13610 15250 15665 17855 1100-1200 UTC 1170 6110 9575 11785 11825 11965 11990 12040 1200-1230 UTC 6110 9845 11785 11825 11965 11990 12040 1230-1300 UTC 6110 9845 11785 11805 11825 11965 12040 1300-1400 UTC 6110 9845 11785 11805 11965 11990 12040 1400-1500 UTC 6110 9845 11805 11965 11990 12040 2200-2300 UTC 7190 7200 9510 9845 11925 13775 Creole 1130-1200 UTC* 11890 11925 15390 1630-1700 UTC 15390 17565 2100-2130 UTC 11895 13725 21555 Croatian 0430-0500 UTC 756 792 1458 5965 1830-1900 UTC 7175 15180 Dari 0130-0230 UTC 1296 12140 1500-1530 UTC 1296 12140 1630-1730 UTC 1296 12140 1800-1830 UTC 1296 12140 1930-2030 UTC 1296 7555 English to Europe, Middle East and North Africa 1100-1200 UTC 15205 1500-1700 UTC 15195 15445 2200-2230 UTC 1593 English to Africa 0300-0330 UTC 909 1530 4930 6080 7340 7405 9885 12080 15580 0330-0400 UTC 909 1530 4930 6080 7405 9885 12080 15580 0400-0430 UTC 909 1530 4930 4960 6080 7405 9575 9885 11835 12080 15580 0430-0500 UTC 909 4930 4960 6080 7405 9575 11835 12080 15580 0500-0600 UTC 909 4930 6080 6180 7405 12080 15580 0600-0700 UTC 909 1530 6080 6180 7405 12080 15580 1500-1600 UTC 7405 13795 15580 17895 1600-1700 UTC 909 1530 4930 7405 15410 15580 1700-1800 UTC 7405 15410 15580 1800-1830 UTC 7405 11975 15410 15580 17895 1800-1830 UTC$ 909 4930 1830-1900 UTC 909 4930 7405 11975 15410 15580 17895 1900-2000 UTC 909 4930 4940 7405 11975 15410 15445 15580 17895 2000-2030 UTC 909 1530 4930 4940 7405 11975 15410 15445 15580 2030-2100 UTC 909 1530 4930 7405 11975 15410 15445 15580 2030-2100 UTC$ 4940 2100-2200 UTC 909 1530 4930 11975 15445 15580 English to Far East Asia, South Asia and Oceania 0000-0030 UTC 1575 7215 15290 17820 0100-0200 UTC 9885 11705 11725 1100-1130 UTC$ 1575 1200-1230 UTC 1170 6160 9645 9760 11750 1230-1300 UTC 6160 9645 9760 11750 1300-1400 UTC 9645 9760 1400-1500 UTC 7125 9760 15185 1500-1600 UTC 7125 12150 13735 15105 1600-1700 UTC* 1170 6160 7125 9760 2200-2400 UTC 7215 15185 15290 17740 2230-2400 UTC> 1575 English to Afghanistan 0000-0030 UTC 1296 7555 2030-2400 UTC 1296 7555 English-Special 0000-0030 UTC 1593 0030-0100 UTC 1575 1593 9715 9780 15185 15205 15290 15560 17740 17820 0130-0200 UTC# 7405 13740 1500-1530 UTC 6160 9590 9760 12040 15550 1500-1530 UTC$ 1575 1530-1600 UTC 1575 6160 9590 9760 12040 15550 1600-1700 UTC 12080 13600 17895 1900-2000 UTC 6040 9670 2230-2330 UTC 1593 9570 13755 15145 2330-2400 UTC 1593 7260 9570 13725 13755 15145 French 0530-0600 UTC* 1530 4960 6035 6095 9885 13710 0600-0630 UTC* 4960 6035 6095 9885 13710 1830-2000 UTC 1530 9815 9830 12080 15730 17785 2000-2030 UTC 9815 9830 11720 12080 15730 2030-2100 UTC$ 9815 9830 11720 12080 15730 2100-2130 UTC* 9815 9830 12035 12080 Georgian 1530-1600 UTC 11805 15475 Hausa 0430-0500 UTC* 9600 11680 0500-0530 UTC 1530 4960 6035 6095 1500-1530 UTC 9710 11905 13745 1800-1830 UTC$ 1530 4940 9565 11955 12080 17785 2030-2100 UTC* 4940 9815 9830 11720 12080 15730 Hindi 0030-0100 UTC 7430 11805 1600-1700 UTC 7260 9315 Indonesian 0000-0030 UTC 9535 11805 13705 1100-1300 UTC 9700 9890 12010 1400-1500 UTC] 13620 15105 2200-2400 UTC 7225 9535 11805 Khmer 1330-1430 UTC 1575 5955 7155 2200-2230 UTC 1575 6060 7130 13725 Kinyarwanda/Kirunda 0330-0430 UTC 6095 7340 13725 1600-1630 UTC@ 11925 15430 17725 Korean 1300-1400 UTC 648 7215 7235 11740 1400-1500 UTC 7215 7235 11740 2000-2030 UTC 6060 7125 9510 2030-2100 UTC 6060 7125 9510 15470 Kurdish 0400-0500 UTC 7115 9730 11890 1300-1400 UTC 1593 9825 15130 15390 1600-1700 UTC 9825 15545 17745 1800-1900 UTC 7205 11520 15545 1900-2000 UTC 1593 Lao 1230-1300 UTC 1575 9510 11930 Pashto 0030-0130 UTC 1296 12140 1430-1500 UTC 1296 12140 1530-1630 UTC 1296 12140 1730-1800 UTC 1296 12140 1830-1930 UTC 1296 7555 Persian 0200-0300 UTC 9635 11810 17855 1600-1700 UTC 1593 6040 9700 11520 1700-1800 UTC 1593 6040 9770 11740 1800-1900 UTC 648 1593 6040 9770 11740 Portuguese 0430-0500 UTC 1530 6095 7340 1700-1730 UTC 1530 9565 12080 1730-1800 UTC 1530 9565 9815 12080 15730 1800-1830 UTC* 1530 9565 9815 17785 Russian 1300-1400 UTC 11725 15120 15205 17730 1700-1900 UTC 6105 7220 9520 11805 Serbian 0530-0545 UTC 1458 11805 1930-2000 UTC 792 9705 2100-2130 UTC* 756 7210 Shona/Ndebele/English to Zimbabwe 1700-1800 UTC* 909 4930 11975 17895 1800-1830 UTC* 909 4930 12110 15730 Spanish 0100-0200 UTC 9560 9885 11815 1100-1230 UTC 7370 9535 13790 Swahili 1630-1700 UTC 9815 13670 15730 1700-1730 UTC* 9815 13670 15730 Tibetan 0000-0100 UTC 7255 9855 11690 0400-0600 UTC 15265 15490 17685 1400-1500 UTC 6030 11520 11975 Tigrigna 1900-1930 UTC* 9875 11500 11675 11905 13870 Turkish 0330-0400 UTC* 792 7205 1030-1100 UTC* 15205 17670 1800-1900 UTC 792 11865 15235 Ukrainian 0400-0430 UTC* 7265 9710 2000-2015 UTC 7230 11840 2015-2030 UTC* 7230 11840 Urdu 0000-0100 UTC 972 0100-0200 UTC 972 7145 11805 1400-1500 UTC 972 9510 15530 1500-1700 UTC 972 1700-1800 UTC 972 9315 9585 1800-2400 UTC 972 Uzbek 1500-1530 UTC 801 11520 11780 15390 17685 Vietnamese 1300-1330 UTC 1575 5955 9720 1500-1600 UTC 1170 5955 6120 9780 2230-2330 UTC 6060 13725 (VOA via DXLD) I suspect all the times are in UTC (gh) Also, some changes in English programming: TALK TO AMERICA moves to 14-15 UT M-F; BORDER CROSSINGS 15-16 UT M-F. MUSIC TIME IN AFRICA, Sun & Sat 20-21 (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. SCANDAL SHAKES PUBLIC RADIO --- MEN KEPT FREEBIES MEANT FOR STATION, PROSECUTORS ALLEGE --- BY MARYANNE GEORGE and JOHN SMYNTEK, FREE PRESS STAFF WRITERS, March 17, 2006 The sedate, urbane world of public broadcasting was rattled Thursday as prosecutors charged three former employees of Michigan Public Media with illegally accepting golf club memberships, Persian rugs, airline tickets and massages in exchange for on-air considerations at the state's top public radio station. Each of the men -- current WDET-FM general manager Michael Coleman, Jeremy Nordquist and Justin Ebright -- was charged by Washtenaw County prosecutors in Ann Arbor with embezzlement of under $20,000 while working at Michigan Public Media-controlled WUOM-FM (91.7). Each could face up to five years in prison if convicted. An internal audit also found sloppy recordkeeping, excessive bonuses and expense-account fraud that totaled more than $50,000 from July 2001 to December 2005, said Timothy Slottow, University of Michigan's chief financial officer. U-M owns and runs Michigan Public Media. WDET (101.9) and WUOM are the major public radio stations in Michigan, and public radio has long had a trustworthy image of being above the kind of influence-peddling that has occasionally tarnished commercial radio. The charges shocked listeners of the National Public Radio affiliates. "This is a sad revelation for Detroit, which has functioned as Michigan's cultural engine for so long," said public radio listener Willie Northway of Ann Arbor. "The talk and news offered by Michigan Radio is an invaluable service to the community." Coleman, who left Michigan Public Media as deputy director last year to be general manager at WDET and who has made several controversial programming changes in his new job, remains in his position, said Louis Lessem, vice president and general counsel for Wayne State University, which owns the station. "We know very little about the charge, other than that it has been made," said Lessem, adding that Coleman is not on administrative leave. Coleman, 40, of Ypsilanti did not return calls for comment Thursday. His lawyer, Gregory Dodd of Ypsilanti, could not be reached Thursday evening. WDET listeners who have pilloried Coleman for dumping music programming for talk and news blasted him Thursday after hearing the news. "While I don't wish ill will on anyone, for some reason this does not surprise me," said Dean Dauphinais of Grosse Pointe. Slottow said listener donations to WUOM, which last year put about $2.2 million into the radio station's $5.5-million overall budget, were not part of the alleged embezzlement. "Although we didn't discover these problems as quickly as we would have if stronger operational and oversight controls were in place, we did discover them and are taking immediate corrective action," he said. In-kind donations are common for public broadcasting but typically items donated are then sold to fund the stations. The allegations came to light after Donovan Reynolds, the former director of Michigan Public Media, alerted U-M officials about business practices at WUOM that concerned him. He resigned March 1, saying that although he was not implicated, the improprieties occurred under his watch. Recent Arbitron ratings show WUOM is the most popular radio station in Ann Arbor. The station raised more than $900,000 during its fall fund- raiser. Its spring fund-raiser is set to begin March 31. Nordquist, 28, of Saline and Ebright, 35, of Whitmore Lake also each face a charge of conspiracy to embezzle under $20,000, which carries a maximum 5-year prison term upon conviction. Nordquist was an account executive for Michigan Public Media who left the station Jan. 25. Ebright was development director for Michigan Radio, which is part of Michigan Public Media. He left in November. Ebright's lawyer, Dan Geherin of Ann Arbor, said the central question is whether his client broke the law by accepting any of the items. Nordquist's attorney, Tom Moors of Ypsilanti, said his client maintains his innocence. All three men were released Thursday morning on $10,000 personal bond each. News spread quickly Thursday among listeners of Wayne State University's Detroit Public Radio, WDET-FM (101.9) that general manager Michael Coleman, who has made many controversial changes at the station, had been accused of illegally accepting items from advertisers while with his previous employer, Ann Arbor-based Michigan Public Media. What U-M uncovered about WUOM An internal University of Michigan audit of WUOM-FM (91.7) has found sloppy recordkeeping, excessive bonuses and expense account fraud that totaled more than $50,000, according to Timothy Slottow, U-M's chief financial officer. Slottow detailed the findings at a news conference Thursday. Among the preliminary findings: Insufficient documentation of contributions leading to on-air acknowledgements. In cases of in-kind trade, there were instances where a business rationale for the transaction was not provided and some of the trade was not used to benefit the station. Expense accounts of some employees showed evidence of double-billing and improper reimbursement. An external auditor did not uncover the problems because there was no detailed record of transactions that would have disclosed them, Slottow said. He said the problems were uncovered in a preliminary audit that began in November and focused on the period from July 1, 2001, to Dec. 31, 2005. Most of the problems occurred over the last two years, he said. What's next in the case? In court: Michael Coleman's preliminary examination is set for March 29 in Ann Arbor's 14th District Court. Jeremy Nordquist and Justin Ebright are to appear April 12 for preliminary exams in the same courthouse. For Michigan Public Media: The second phase of the University of Michigan audit is nearly done. All the internal-control policies, accounting practices and other policies are being reviewed by outside consultants from the Southfield-based auditing firm Plante & Moran. The review is to address conflicts of interest and gifts, bonuses and recordkeeping. Copyright © 2006 Detroit Free Press Inc. "This strikes me as incredibly ironic." --Mike Novak, a media attorney who represented ex-WDET host Martin Bandyke, whom the station accused of violating policies by keeping CDs and free tickets before parting ways. "So what now? A new manager could mean business as usual. ... But then, the optimist in me holds a glimmer of hope; could this mean Martin Bandyke, John Penney, Judy Adams and all the great music actually may come back to WDET?" --Lori Bender, White Lake Township "I would certainly hope the charges ... prove not to be the case. But" Coleman's "professionalism in terms of the direction he sought for WDET was the right move at the right time." --Ed Christian, of Grosse Pointe Farms-based Saga Communications and a Wayne State University supporter. "He took away something that many in the community ... valued a great deal: WDET's unique eclectic variety of music programming. So I suppose in light of that act, which to me is quite selfish, it wouldn't be altogether surprising that he'd be capable of embezzling. ... My hope is that if he's forced to leave WDET, the music variety will come back." --Therese Nielsen, Ann Arbor "It has never been my policy to cheer for other people's misfortunes but ... Oh yeah!!! And I hope this means the return of the great Martin Bandyke, who has been missed by all!" --Donald M. Lugers, Windsor, Ontario "I hope someone is seriously kicking themselves ... for bringing Coleman in." --Nicole Moore, Royal Oak "I was a longtime supporter/volunteer and diehard fan of WDET. I had such passion for my station. When Michael Coleman came to my 'DET and cleaned house, I was appalled and his comments on why he did this were completely ludicrous to me! I pulled all support from the station after he cut daytime music programming. I even ripped off my WDET sticker on my car! ... Shocked. ... and a little joyful. Is that wrong?" --Shelli Gutholm, Oxford (all via Brock Whaley, DXLD) ** U S A. Oakland, CA is still the site of ``KRKD`` 103.3. It`s a station that plays classic jazz in stereo plus some New Orleans jazz - -- when it is on, that is. The station is on only Fridays 8:15 pm to midnight, Sundays 2-6 pm [PT = UT -8 now, UT - 7 from April 2]. It operates a 67 kHz SCS with big bands` music with 5 kHz audio response, and light jazz with CD automation at 92 kHz with 10 kHz audio response. ``It`s easier to modulate a higher fidelity signal at 92 kHz, which is farther on the spectrum from the main carrier,`` reports operator D.T., 58, who has another job. The station has been on the air with its two SCSes since at least 1997. Its effective radiated power is about 250 w circular (Bruce Elving, March FMedia! via DXLD) Just to be clear: this is a pirate, with subcarriers too (gh, DXLD) ** U S A. Miami AM Sold For $6 Million --- Tuesday, March 21, 2006 WOCN (Union Radio)/Miami has been sold by Minority Broadcasters, headed by Richard and Pablo Vega, to Dallas-based Independence Media for $6 million. WOCN currently airs a mix of brokered talk and religious programs targeting immigrants from Latin America and Haiti. (Radio and Records Via Brock Whaley, DXLD) $6,000.00 a watt, on a very crowded 1450 (Brock, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. After 82 years standing atop Mount Oread, Kansas University`s radio tower is coming down. Slammed by debris in last week`s storm, the tower that broadcast the university`s first radio station has been deemed too old to try to fix and keep standing. With picture: http://www2.ljworld.com/news/2006/mar/22/tower_ku_way_down/?city_local 73, (via Ken Kopp http://www.qsl.net/kk0hf/ dxldyg via DXLD) ** VENEZUELA. LA SIP CONDENÓ LA VIOLACIÓN DE ARTÍCULOS RELACIONADOS CON LA LIBERTAD DE EXPRESIÓN EN VENEZUELA. La Sociedad Interamericana de Prensa (SIP) en su reunión celebrada en Ecuador resolvió condenar la violación de los artículos de la Constitución relacionados con la libertad de expresión e información en Venezuela por parte de su gobierno. La SIP rechazó, de igual manera, las acciones intimidatorios contra los medios de comunicación independientes y decidió enviar a Venezuela una misión que evalúe la situación. La Sociedad Interamericana de Prensa señaló en su documento final que hay limitaciones a la libertad de expresión en Venezuela promovidas desde el gobierno a través de leyes y destacó que un juez ordenó la censura previa mediante un fallo. De igual manera, precisó que en Venezuela se han confiscado espacios en el espectro radioeléctrico que, junto a las cadenas presidenciales, son el inicio de una escalada de penalidades que pueden llegar hasta el cierre de medios. La SIP indicó que numerosos periodistas han sufrido lesiones y se ha cortado la libertad de expresión cuando, de acuerdo a la Declaración de Chapultepec, se registran asesinatos, terrorismo, intimidación, prisión injusta e impunidad. JMS Globovisión, Publicado el 20-03-2006. (vía Jorge García Rangel, Venezuela, Noticias DX via DXLD) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ UNSOLICITED TESTIMONIALS ++++++++++++++++++++++++ To: Worldwide ministry of the World of Radio, DXers` Heaven Dear Pastor, Always glad to help spread the word. Hope all is fine (Jerry Kiefer, Roswell, NM, with a PayPal contribution) BTW, PayPal donors, please note that I am not set up to accept credit card payments, and please use ONLY this address for that purpose: woradio at yahoo.com (gh) RADIO EQUIPMENT FORUM +++++++++++++++++++++ BLAW-KNOX TOWERS contd. There is an internet-based fascination with Blaw-Knox towers that I cannot understand. Blaw-Knox was a popular tower manufacturer from the 1930's into the 1950's. Part of the reason for their popularity was that RCA sold their products, and RCA was the dealer for many broadcast installations during that time. Most of their towers were self-supporting, with a fairly wide base and a taper to a much smaller top section. Many of these towers were used as quarter-wave or shorter radiators, and the larger cross-section at the bottom was felt to be appropriate to the current distribution on the tower. However, when a tapered tower is used as a half-wavelength (or similar) antenna, some consideration may have to be given for the distortion in the current distribution when calculating radiation at vertical angles above horizontal. Blaw-Knox made a relatively small number of "guyed cantilever" towers which were small at the bottom and top, and wide in the center. Guy wires were attached in the central area for mechanical stability. Such an arrangement was felt to be more appropriate for a half wavelength tower. Some towers of this design remain in use, and certain people on the Internet seem to think they are the only towers that Blaw-Knox ever built. The question of current distribution was once a hotly-discussed subject, as many MW stations on clear channels would attempt to maximize their ground-wave coverage area for the daytime, and their non-fading zones at night. Here in the U.S., the present congestion of the AM band has rendered these concerns much less important, as coverage is generally now limited more by interference from other stations, especially at night. Back in the 1930's, many believed that all of the guy wires involved with a multi-tower array made up of uniform cross-section towers would present a problem in establishing and maintaining pattern of the array. Experience has proven otherwise, but a lot of self-supporting towers were sold as a result. The Blaw-Knox self-supporting towers were quite well made. There is an AM station near me that has four of the standard taper towers, 115 meters tall, and now 67 years old. They are in excellent condition. Self-supporters do have two major drawbacks: They are very expensive to paint, because of the large surface area. They also have a nasty failure mode in hurricanes, as there are no guy wires to damp the oscillation of the upper section of the tower if the wind comes in regular gusts (John Andrews, LW messageboard via DXLD) DIGITAL BROADCASTING ++++++++++++++++++++ FUTURE OF AM RADIO DOWN THE ROAD [continued] If they could get wireless streaming to work in vehicles, they will have it made. Maybe in time, the MW band will clear up and few broadcasters will be using it and DX will be there like it once was. But of course, who knows what noise sources we might have in the future to mess things up too. 73, (Patrick Martin, IRCA via DXLD) Pat, Speaking of noise, someone in the broadcast mailing list noted that IBOC is blocked out by ignition of vehicles near his car when driving in normal traffic. hmmmmmmmm. Why bother? (Bill Harms, ibid.) Goodie, a car that interferes with IBOC sidebands! Where do I buy one? 73 de (Charlie Taylor, NC, ibid.) Craig makes lots of good points. One thing however regarding wireless internet and streaming audio as they are implemented is the bandwidth problem. Every person who listens to a stream is served up their own individual feed. The higher the audio quality the higher the bandwidth and corresponding cost. The more listeners you have the more it will cost you. The only way that Craig's scenario will work is when a method of distribution will be developed letting an extremely large amount of users share a single stream. That is the present advantage of over-the-air radio. You can have one listener or 1 million listeners and the bandwidth will stay the same (Dave Marthouse, ibid.) Multicasting (one stream for many listeners) is supported by most routers these days. However, it won't solve the problem. If 1000 users want 1000 different streams, there's nothing to be gained by multicasting. This is what makes a problem for wireless "last mile" technologies. Regardless of whether it is cell phone, WiFi or WiMax based, there's a finite bandwidth to be shared between many users. Individual streams then chew up that bandwidth. WiFi won't be the answer as the limited range (only a few hundred feet or less when obstructions are present) means you'd have a real nightmare to cover an entire city and a financial problem to connect all of them to the Internet. WiMax has the coverage (more or less 20 mile diameter cells) but there can be millions of people and lots of businesses inside that cell. There are sure to be bandwidth issues. Fiber To The Home (still not close to reality for the masses) will solve the problem sometime, somewhere over the rainbow (Chuck Hutton, ibid.) My previous remarks, as usual, have been censored. As with stamps in the original 'Charade', once you see it, you know it. Patterns tell the tale. CabalBOK doesn't want part of the spectrum. They want all of it. How to get it? Jam it. Ask, what in essence does IBOC do? It jams. We hear of pitifully limited useable range and insensitive receivers jammed by internal noise as cheerBLOKers blat vapid excuses. What does iBLOK do? It jams. It jams all but those stations owned by a small cadre of monopolycasters. They don't care if frustrated listeners tune out. By way of attrition they believe they'll be the 'company store' of broadcasting. First, they fool themselves. What do they fear? Reflexive censorship and congenital animadversion to the truth reveals they fear those whom they jam - classic projection. Predators do to others that which they most dread. First, they stifle, ever fearful of consequences inevitable. They fear truth. CabalHD cynically placates listeners and engineers with excuses and solicits their fixes for HD in hope of buying time to more fully sink their claws into public spectrum. What is crooked cannot be made straight. That which stinks will never be called a rose. =Z.= (Paul Vincent Zecchino, Manacutthebullshale Key, FL, BT, IRCA via DXLD) The broadcast industry will lose listeners even IF they adopt IBOC on the AM. And they are losing listeners anyway for other reasons. They will not regain the listeners with IBOC. IBOC is being leapfrogged anyway by other broadcast means. In the end, IBOC on AM is pouring money down a rat hole. The most reasonable solution would be to move to another separate band. Maybe they need to re-visit the whole issue (Bill Harms, IRCA via DXLD) The big thing with at least FM IBOC, is you can have several audio sources within your carrier. So, a station that has one signal on FM now, can have 4 or 5. So they look it at as "more money". In this day, it all comes down to how much extra money can I make? If no money is involved, then it goes away quickly. Ibiquity sold the broadcasters on this idea back in the 90s. IBOC will save radio and you will have more stations and you will have extra goodies like interactive things.If IBOC does not make extra money, then it will go bye bye. I am betting is will go the way of Quad. We may have an advantage here on the coast, but I am sure if IBOC goes nights, then we still will have to deal with tons of addition noise anyway. There will be enough of it from stations close in anyway. I dread the thought of stations like KNBR and KGO to go IBOC. They are HUGE powerhouses here. But time will tell. It all comes down to money. That is all. The broadcasters were sold on this by Ibiquity and they have fallen for it, hook, line, and sinker. More audio tracks, better quality, and of course the Buzz word "Digital". It has to be better if it is digital..:) But the bottom line has not changed. IBOC has to make money for it to survive. Millions of people have to go out and lay down their money for the radios. I still don't see it. IBOC is very fragile I have been told. Almost anything can destroy the signal, ignition noise, powerlines, etc. Again, I still feel IBOC is a scam sold to the broadcasting industry. I just don't see it going anywhere, especially on AM. And who is going to buy the radios? (Patrick Martin, Seaside OR, IRCA via DXLD) Re Kevin Martin, FCC, pushing HD: I was interested to see he hints that AM IBOC nighttime operation is coming "soon". There is a still a hurdle to overcome: the ITU Region 2 agreement on AM broadcasting has to be rewritten to allow digital operation, and as far as I can tell, not much progress has been made towards that goal. Canada in particular is still pressing its concerns about the interference problems. Of course, where money and politics are involved, logic and reason are not likely to prevail (Barry McLarnon, VE3JF Ottawa, ON, IRCA via DXLD) HD STREAMING http://www.clearchannelmusic.com/hdradio/ This website has live audio streaming for many of their stations` HD2 formats. ``It`s all commercial-free (for now). Audio quality ranges from quite good for some streams to low-bit-rate for others (not a good way to showcase HD Radio`s supposed benefits!).`` Then there`s http://www.ibiquity.com/hdradio Click on STATIONS ON-THE-AIR for an interactive map and list of all authorized and active HD stations and their HD1/HD2/HD3 formats. HD1, I believe, is the designation for AM stations having the HD feature, and is always the same as the AMain channel (Bruce Elving, March FMedia! via DXLD) DRM: See CANADA; PORTUGAL POWERLINE COMMUNICATIONS ++++++++++++++++++++++++ An Update: Broadband over Power Lines === THE CONCEPT OF INTERNET ACCESS VIA COMMON POWER LINES IS STILL ALIVE -- BUT IT'S A HARD SELL. By Associated Press Monday, March 20, 2006 George Tarnovsky can hear the Internet as he drives down Main Street in Manassas, Va., a rapid rattle emanating from the ham radio in his Chevy Tahoe. ''Suddenly you hear this incredible signal,'' Tarnovsky said. The radio interference, which can resemble rapid clicks or the whine of a phone-line modem, comes from a system that provides high-speed Internet access to about 1,000 Manassas customers through their power lines. The interference makes ham radio all but impossible in the Washington, D.C., suburb, Tarnovsky said. But in this fight of old and new, it appears that the old -- ham radio has been around for a century -- will be left standing. Broadband over power line, or BPL, is in danger of becoming an also-ran in the race to bring broadband Internet to the American home, even as it's overcoming some of its technical hurdles. BPL is an attractive idea because of the ubiquity of the power grid. It has been touted as a ''third wire'' into the home, a possible competitor to broadband via cable and telephone wires -- and a way to bring high-speed service to rural areas underserved by cable and phone companies. However, most of the utilities that have tried it have backed away, largely because of skepticism about the economic viability of the technology in the face of competition. BPL hasn't lived up to its early promise as a rural broadband alternative, either, because of a technical quirk that is also the source of the ham radio frustrations. For broadband, a radio-frequency signal is applied to the power line, much like a high-frequency signal is applied to telephone copper wires to create a digital subscriber line, or DSL. But unlike phone and cable wires, power lines that run above ground can act as large radio antennas, emitting the high-frequency signal as radio waves. According to the American Radio Relay League, the national ham radio association, radio waves from an improperly designed system can drown out amateur radio within a quarter of a mile. The antenna nature of the line also means the signal loses its energy quickly, while the line picks up radio noise from the surroundings. A long line running in a rural area needs amplifiers at short intervals, adding to the costs; even so, the signal gets lost after few miles. The operator the Manassas broadband system, Communication Technologies Inc., or COMTek, said it has made adjustments to minimize ham radio interference. ''They have gone to what any fair person would say is incredible lengths to address those concerns,'' COMTek spokesman Scott Stapf said. Stapf said most complaints come from ham operators outside Manassas, reflecting ''a deliberate campaign on the part of the ARRL to make an example of COMTek, and I think that's a reflection of their generally anti-BPL philosophy.'' Tarnovsky lives five miles outside the town, but to him, that's no excuse for interfering with ham radio bands. He said the Internet signal threatens the communications services that ham radio operators can provide from their cars in emergencies like Hurricane Katrina. ''If we see interference, regardless of where it is, we have to report it to the FCC,'' Tarnovsky said. The Federal Communications Commission is both the guardian of the nation's airwaves and a champion of competition in telecommunications. It has generally spoken warmly about BPL's potential, but earlier this month, after two years of complaints from ham radio operators, the FCC told Manassas to eliminate any harmful interference. Nonetheless, some companies are pushing forward, and some variants of the technology now get the thumbs-up from the national ham radio group (via Artie Bigley, DXLD) PROPAGATION +++++++++++ GETTING THE MARCH 29 ECLIPSE BY RADIO See thread at: http://lwca.org/mb/msg/4870.htm Someone in Vienna wants to observe effects from Africa or ME, but what stations would be good candidates? I had to hunt quite a bit to find the timing of the eclipse: BEGINS 0840 UT, PEAKS 1011, ENDS 1145 UT (gh, DXLD) ARNIE CORO`S DXERS UNLIMITED`S HF PLUS LOW BAND VHF PROPAGATION UPDATE AND FORECAST A geomagnetic storm, strong enough to trigger high latitude aurora borealis should be almost over by the time you hear this program or read the script on the world wide web. The high speed solar wind coming from a coronal hole in a geoeffective position was the cause of this disturbance. And now there is one developing sunspot group that has a complex magnetic configuration that may trigger even class M solar flares during the next 24 to 72 hours. So be on the alert for possible solar flares, that may produce sudden short wave blackouts… As the solar cycle enters into its final months, ionospheric absorption goes down to very low values, and this is making possible excellent reception of frequencies between 100 kiloHertz and 10 megahertz, the region of the radio spectrum that is going to be more productive during solar minimum years. And talking about solar activity, my good friend, Cuban solar astronomer Ángel González Coroas, has confirmed to me, in an e-mail sent on Monday that his visual solar patrol has not yet shown a single high latitude young sunspot that will signal the real start up of solar cycle 24. Ángel tells me that his February observations of the very quiet sun with many spotless days, was, in his opinion, just the beginning of cycle’s 23 minimum; and that he is pretty sure that cycle 24`s first sunspots are going to start erupting during the next few months. Scientists can tell the difference between the sunspots that belong to the old and those that are part of the new cycle, because there are several easy to recognize indications that help to distinguish between spots from the old cycle and those from the new one. One final comment, according to recent scientific findings, that correlate pretty well with past cycles, the still to start cycle 24 may be one of the most powerful on record, matching even super solar cycle nineteen that averaged 207 sunspots during its period of peak activity. If this forecast becomes true, then radio amateurs around the world will enjoy the best higher bands propagation conditions in half a century!!! [and DXers, SWLs, too, maybe, Arnie? gh] And now amigos, as always at the end of the show here is Arnie Coro`s Dxers Unlimited`s HF plus low band VHF propagation update and forecast. Solar activity is low, but there is at least one active sunspot region that has developed a complex magnetic configuration that may lead to class M flares erupting during the next 48 to 72 hours. Optical sunspot count is between 30 and 35, and the equinoctial propagation conditions are very much with us despite the very low solar flux that we are seeing at this moment. Don`t expect sporadic E openings for the next 4 to 5 weeks, and do be on the lookout for another period of very low ionospheric absorption expected to start by late Wednesday, when evening AM broadcast band conditions are going to be excellent once again (Arnie Coro, Radio Havana Cuba, Havana, Cuba, DXers Unlimited March 21-22, via Kevin Redding, ABDX via DXLD) Geomagnetic activity ranged from quiet to major storm levels at middle latitudes, while quiet to severe storm levels were observed at high latitudes. Solar wind speed ranged from a low of about 350 km/s early on 14 March and a high of near 675 km/s early on 19 March. The period began with the solar wind speed around 400 km/s as a coronal hole high speed stream was moving out of geoeffective position. Solar wind speed slowly decreased to 350 km/s by early on 14 March, while the IMF Bz did not vary much beyond +/- 3 nT. The geomagnetic field responded with quiet conditions. On 15 March, the solar wind speed increased to approximately 560 km/s with the IMF Bz fluctuating between +10 to -7 nT. Mostly quiet to unsettled conditions were observed through early on 18 March. Early on 18 March, a recurrent coronal hole high speed stream moved into geoeffective position. Solar wind speed increased to around 600 km/s with the IMF Bz varying between +/- 11 nT. The geomagnetic field responded with active to major storm periods at middle latitudes, while high latitudes experienced minor to severe storm periods. FORECAST OF SOLAR AND GEOMAGNETIC ACTIVITY 22 MARCH - 17 APRIL 2006 Solar activity is expected to be at very low to low levels with an isolated chance of moderate activity until 25 March when Region 862 is due to rotate around the west limb. No greater than 10 MeV proton events are expected. The greater than 2 MeV electron flux at geosynchronous orbit is expected to be at high levels on 22 – 25 March and 16 – 17 April. The geomagnetic field is expected to be at quiet to unsettled levels for the majority of the period. From 14 – 16 April, active to major storm conditions are expected due to effects from a recurrent coronal hole wind stream. :Product: 27-day Space Weather Outlook Table 27DO.txt :Issued: 2006 Mar 21 2324 UTC # Prepared by the US Dept. of Commerce, NOAA, Space Environment Center # Product description and SEC contact on the Web # http://www.sec.noaa.gov/wwire.html # # 27-day Space Weather Outlook Table # Issued 2006 Mar 21 # # UTC Radio Flux Planetary Largest # Date 10.7 cm A Index Kp Index 2006 Mar 22 80 8 3 2006 Mar 23 80 8 3 2006 Mar 24 80 12 3 2006 Mar 25 80 12 3 2006 Mar 26 75 10 3 2006 Mar 27 75 7 2 2006 Mar 28 75 5 2 2006 Mar 29 75 5 2 2006 Mar 30 75 5 2 2006 Mar 31 75 5 2 2006 Apr 01 75 5 2 2006 Apr 02 75 5 2 2006 Apr 03 75 10 3 2006 Apr 04 75 8 3 2006 Apr 05 75 8 3 2006 Apr 06 75 12 3 2006 Apr 07 75 12 3 2006 Apr 08 75 5 2 2006 Apr 09 80 5 2 2006 Apr 10 80 8 3 2006 Apr 11 80 8 3 2006 Apr 12 80 5 2 2006 Apr 13 80 5 2 2006 Apr 14 80 20 4 2006 Apr 15 80 25 5 2006 Apr 16 80 20 4 2006 Apr 17 80 12 3 (http://www.sec.noaa.gov/radio via WORLD OF RADIO 1309, DXLD) ###