DX LISTENING DIGEST 6-074, May 14, 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 NEXT SW AIRINGS OF WORLD OF RADIO EXTRA 67: Mon 0500 WRMI 9955 Wed 0930 WWCR 9985 Complete schedule including non-SW stations and audio links: http://www.worldofradio.com/radioskd.html For 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 ** ALASKA. KIYU-AM off the air. The backup generator, which had been powering the KIYU transmitter since the primary generator failed in February, has also failed beyond repair. We have secured permission from the FCC to temporarily broadcast normal KIYU programming on KXES 92.9 FM. Unfortunately, KXES only reaches Galena listeners. As of April 12, a new primary generator has arrived in Alaska and is being tested and configured in Anchorage. From there it will be flown to Galena, hauled 10 miles out to the transmitter site, and installed. (KIYU website http://www.kiyu.com 23 Apr 06, via DX Worldwide II, IRCA Soft DX Monitor May 13 via DXLD) WTFK? 910 noncommercial per WRTH (gh) ** BELARUS. RADIO STATION BELARUS` ENGLISH SERVICE The service was founded back in 1998. At first the time of English broadcast, composed of news programs, was 30 minutes a week. At the moment the air time is 2 hours and 30 minutes a week plus 30 hours and 20 minutes in the Web. The service features news, analytical, political, cultural, and educational and music programs. BELARUS TODAY (30 min) is on the air every Monday and Thursday. Contains reports and commentaries, a review of political and economic events. CULTURAL VARIETY OF BELARUS is a Friday program about culture, science and art. It also presents music by the Belarusian authors and answers to the audience`s letters. LEGACY is launched on Sundays and covers the topics of history and preservation of cultural heritage. EVENTS is on the air every Tuesday. it highlights the chief political and economic event of the week, providing analysis of situation in Belarus and abroad. 1930-2000 Mo/Tu/Th/Fr 1170 7105 7280 7290 0200-0230 Mo/Tu/We/Fr/Sa 5970 6170 7210 0230-0300 Su 5970 6170 7210 (R. Belarus website via Alan Roe, May World DX Club Contact via DXLD) ** BOLIVIA. 4545, 2.5 2320, Radio Virgen de Remedios, Tupiza strong and clean on this frequency for some time now, perhaps a little bad modulation sometimes. Religious programme. KO (Kenneth Olofsson) 4545.2, 7.5 0020, unID, probably Virgen de Remedios heard here by others. Lots of religious music. A short call at 0026, then a tune with certain Andean appearance. At 0029 they just switched off. Good strength but irresolute modulation. QSA 3-4. JE (Jan Edh) 6165, unID on this frequency at occasions which closes at about 2320, sometimes in the middle of a tune. Maybe the Bolivian station. KO (Kenneth Olofsson, all SW Bulletin May 14, translated by editor Thomas Nilsson for DX LISTENING DIGEST) R. Logos ** BRAZIL. 11925, R. Bandeirantes, São Paulo, 5/11 0337 poor to fair with bad static; excited man, sounded like sports event; several production commercials begin 0339:45, São Paulo mentioned often; at 0342:50 back to sports event, immediately a long ``goooooaaaaal`` shout; 5/12 found at 0304 with better signal; male singer with guitar, romantic music; 0306 deep-voiced man gives full ID, frequencies including 840 kilohertz, FM and onda corta frequencies; then continued with fanfare type musical theme for morning program; several voices. Much stronger, clearer 5/14 0406 and on, segueing slow pop vocals, predominantly in English; live lady announcer, canned IDs by man. (John Callarman, Krum TX, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** BULGARIA. Radio Varna transmite en búlgaro sólo en la noche del domingo al lunes en 9300 kilohercios desde las 2100 a las 0300 horas, en onda media. He aquí los detalles: desde las 2100 horas noticias de Radio nacional en 9300, 774 y 1143 kilohercios, seguidas a las 2110 por un programa de Radio Varna; a la 0100 noticias de radio Horizont en 9300, 1143 y todos los transmisores de esta radio, y a partir de la 0105 el programa de Radio Varna en las mismas ondas de 9300, 1143, 1161, 1485, 261 kilohercios y otras (Por Rumen Pankov, Versión al español: María Páchkova, R. Bulgaria DX via José Miguel Romero2, dxldyg via DXLD) ** CHINA. From Saturday 13 May Xinjiang PBS is back on its usual summer schedule, including full time on 41 mb (Olle Alm, Sweden, 13.5.2006, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CHINA [non]. New clandestine to China, Voice of Reborn (Mon-Fri 0300-0310 9660, 1400-1410 9780) has a web site http://www.vocr.org providing on-demand broadcasting with mp3 format. They began broadcast on Nov 11, 2005. Correspondence address is china @ vocr.org (Takahito Akabayashi-JPN, wwdxc BC-DX May 14 via DXLD) Previously rendered as Voice of China Reborn (gh, DXLD) 9660 / 9780 CBS Kouhu-TWN 100 kW 267 deg (Wolfgang Büschel, ibid.) ** COLOMBIA. 6139.8, Radio Lider, May 14, 0950-1011, ballads, ToH clear ID, poor. Has been off for a while, back on for Mother’s Day? (Ron Howard, Monterey, CA, RX340, with T2FD antenna, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Would not be surprised, especially if it vanish again. And that would likely mean its absence is deliberate, not due to some breakdown (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CUBA. HAVANA'S 148 FLAGS PROVE MIGHTIER THAN THE BILLBOARD In U.S.-Cuba War of Ideas, Castro Blocks Envoys' Sign By Manuel Roig-Franzia Washington Post Foreign Service Saturday, May 13, 2006; A10 http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/05/12/AR2006051201879_pf.html HAVANA -- At night, when all Havana seems to be out for an evening stroll, the austere office building that serves as an outpost of U.S. diplomats turns into a billboard. Letters scroll slowly across the facade, casting a bright red glow. Clumps of restless teenagers plunk their bottles of Havana Club rum on the sidewalk and stare up, their mouths agape. Couples unlace hands and gawk. Some nights they read the insights of comedian George Burns translated into Spanish: "How sad that all the people who would know how to run this country are driving taxis or cutting hair." Other times, questions are posed: "In a free country you don't need permission to leave the country. Is Cuba a free country?" On a typical evening, the billboard gets only a small audience -- the few who venture within a block or two of its glowing letters. More people might have seen the messages, but President Fidel Castro countered the U.S. move with one of his own. In the latest installment of a long-running propaganda war, Castro's government planted a field of flags on tall poles -- 148 in all -- in front of the U.S. building, which holds the offices of the U.S. Interests Section, a diplomatic post one notch below an embassy. The flags block the view of the billboard from its intended audience: the heavy traffic along a seaside highway in central Havana. The flags loom over an outdoor amphitheater already freighted with symbolism: Its name is Anti-Imperialism Park. Trumping the United States by obscuring its billboard delighted some neighbors. "That Fidel, he's smart -- very smart," said Luis Garcia, a retiree who lives nearby. Others barely noticed. "I don't have time to read signs," said Osman González, a state- employed busboy who has a clear view of the Interests Section building from his ground-level apartment. "You've got one kid screaming. You've got to get dinner on the table. Who can bother with this stuff?" U.S. diplomats acknowledge that the flags have limited their audience, even posting a message that read: "Who fears the billboard? Why block it?" But even if only a few people see the billboard and talk about its messages, something has been accomplished, Eric Watnik, a spokesman for the U.S. State Department, said in a telephone interview from Washington. "Castro gets angered by the truth, yet they call their revolution a revolution of ideas. So, we're battling with ideas," Watnik said. "The people of Cuba aren't able to enjoy freedom of expression -- we're bringing them positive messages from the free world." The saga of the U.S. billboard, which debuted on Martin Luther King Jr. Day with snippets of the civil rights icon's "I Have a Dream" speech, is not without precedent. Two years ago, the U.S. Interests Section in Havana riled Castro's government by putting up a Christmas display with a lighted Santa Claus, a Frosty the Snowman and a huge "75" -- a reference to the number of dissidents jailed in a crackdown the year before. Not to be outdone, Castro put up billboards with swastikas and images of U.S. abuses at the Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq. But the scale of the latest face-off dwarfs past propaganda clashes. The U.S. billboard has five-foot-tall letters, which are displayed on electronic screens inside the building's windows, and scrolls messages for hours at a time. The Cuban counteroffensive is massive, with each huge black flag featuring a white star commemorating what Castro's government calls victims of nearly a century and a half of uprisings against outside forces, dating to battles against Spanish colonialists and spanning his 47-year rule. In an interview, Cuban Senate President Ricardo Alarcón -- considered by many Cuba experts to be the nation's third-most powerful figure behind Fidel Castro and his brother, Raul Castro -- called the U.S. billboard "absurd." "These messages are undoubtedly provocations," Alarcón said. "This doesn't have anything to do with diplomacy." The billboard -- which displays a mix of historical quotes, broadsides against Cuban policies and news and sports reports -- is unique in U.S. diplomacy, Watnik said. But "we'd like to see other embassies" install similar message boards, he said. The messages in Havana are diverse. There is cheeky commentary: zany musician Frank Zappa opining that "communism doesn't work because people like to own stuff." There are biting observations, such as George Orwell's satirical take on communism from "Animal Farm": "All animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others." And there are lengthy document dumps, such as the United Nations' Universal Declaration of Human Rights, with lines such as "Everyone has the right to leave any country, including his own, and to return to his country." Last week, the billboard scrolled the news that Jose Contreras, a Cuban baseball star who defected to the United States in 2002, had won his 13th consecutive game for the world champion Chicago White Sox. But that was just a warm-up. The most provocative item came a few messages later: Forbes magazine, the billboard reported, had just named Fidel Castro the world's seventh-wealthiest head of state, with a fortune estimated at $900 million. Five Cubans who had been wandering past stopped dead. Castro, they all know, maintains that he has no personal wealth. A tall, slender man called out, "Look, look!" For a moment, they were silent, rapt. Then they started to laugh. Not just chuckle, but laugh out loud. "No way," one man said. "I don't believe it," another said. "They're lying." "Wait a second," a third said. "This is interesting." Others gathered around, joining the conversation. The little group -- all Cubans who did not want their names revealed -- swelled to a dozen. But the chatting was cut short. A Cuban police officer, a baby-faced 21-year-old, marched up the sidewalk. "Get back," he said. "Get back." Everyone obliged without complaint, edging back slowly, their eyes still directed at the billboard. The officer kept waving and waving until he seemed satisfied. The crowd was now behind Fidel's flags. (c) 2006 The Washington Post Company (via Mike Cooper, DXLD) v FRANCE ** CZECH REPUBLIC. Sightseeing tour to Radio Prague on the occasion of 70th anniversary of Czech Radio Prague. On Thursday June 22, 2006, at 0900 local time [0700 UT] start at R Prague broadcasting house on Vinohradska 12, Praha 2. After sightseeing tour at bc house and program studios. Transportation drive follows to Podebrady transmitter centre - east of Prague, where R Prague shortwave broadcast transmissions started in 1936 year. After lunch break there and return ride to Prague, convivial event meeting will start on "Restaurant Kamenny most" at Smetanovo nabrezi 195, Praha 1, next to the famous Charles bridge at 1730 hrs local time. Registration wanted til May 31, 2006 at latest to Sekretariat Ceskeho rozhlasu 7 Vinohradska 12, CZ-12099 Praha 2, Czech Republic or E-Mail to marie.pittnerova @ rozhlas.cz Transportation to Prague Czech Rep. and hotel accommodation are NOT included; it's your own charge (Wolfgang Büschel, BCDX May 14 via DXLD) ** ECUADOR [and non]. Shortwave Broadcasting Meets Reality http://futureofradio.typepad.com/the_future_of_radio/2006/05/shortwave_broad.html I first heard shortwave broadcast station HCJB, Quito, Ecuador, on September 26, 1963. I remember that date because it was my eleventh birthday, and my parents had just given me a Hallicrafters S-119 (the "Sky Buddy II") shortwave receiver as a present. It was a now- laughable three tube wonder, but, connected to a 100 foot longwire I hastily strung between two trees in our yard, it allowed me to hear HCJB that evening on, IIRC, 15145 kHz with English programming. My first shortwave reception report was in the mail (airmail postage was 15 cents) the next day, and a few weeks later I was thrilled to receive a HCJB QSL card all the way from Quito, Ecuador!!! But that was then, and this is now http://www.rwonline.com/dailynews/one.php?id=8953 For a nice round-up of sentiment from several listeners, click here and scroll down to "Ecuador." [DXLD 6-071] But, as the previous link hints, HCJB is still "broadcasting" in English. Only this time it's via podcasts instead of shortwave, and you can subscribe to them here http://www.hcjb.org/mass_media/radio/program_podcasts.html Maybe it's not quite as thrilling a mode as shortwave --- at least if you're eleven years old --- but podcasting makes much more sense to reach an audience in the United States and Canada. There are a lot more people in those two nations with broadband internet access and MP3 players than there are people who listen to shortwave radio. . . . . . . a lot more. I've made the point here before that podcasting, internet streaming, and satellite radio are far better suited for reaching audiences in developed nations than shortwave. Some people disagree, however. http://www.rwonline.com/reference-room/special-report/2006.05.10- 05_rw_guest_voa.shtml [Kim Elliott`s Radio World article on Kavala, etc.] The text of that link, plus additional commentary, can be found here [DXLD 6-070] (scroll down to the "USA: Commentary" header). Pay special attention to the comments by Scott Royall; he correctly analyzes why maintenance of shortwave broadcasting facilities is no guarantee of an audience for shortwave broadcasts and how airborne transmitting facilities are being used instead of land-based shortwave. And more commentary can be found here [DXLD 6-071]; scroll down to the section beginning "USA Re 6-070." I have to add my thoughts about the comments on the last link. First, the availability of receivers capable of receiving shortwave is no measure of shortwave's popularity. In fact, I suspect that most owners of "shortwave" portables in the United States and Canada never use them to listen to shortwave! Think about the first time you tuned the shortwave bands. . . . . the cacophony of foreign languages, strange noises, and fluttery signals might be thrilling to a shortwave hobbyist (or eleven year old boy) but it's very frustrating, bewildering, and unappealing to those expecting the same reception they get from their local AM and FM stations. The fact that shortwave stations operate on different frequencies during day and night, and change frequencies on a seasonal basis, adds to the frustration --- who wants to chase after your favorite stations? About 13 years ago, one of our HighText/LLH employees joined the Peace Corps and was going to be posted to Botswana. My going-away present to her was a Grundig portable shortwave radio with digital tuning. I even pre-programmed it with frequencies for the VOA, BBC, Radio South Africa, etc. In a letter, I asked her how she was enjoying listening to shortwave. Her reply was a sheepish admission that she never listened to shortwave; there was too much fading, interference, and the audio was awful. Instead, she preferred listening to AM and FM, and had good reception of the local VOA and BBC relays as well as South African AM stations, especially in the evenings. I don't think her story is unique, even among the permanent residents of Botswana and other areas that we supposedly need to serve by shortwave. Perhaps the best indicator of the popularity of shortwave in the less developed regions of the world is to look at the striking decline of regional and national shortwave services, especially in the so-called "tropical broadcasting bands." The decline even from a decade ago is remarkable, and from two decades ago it is shocking (check through an old copy of World Radio Television Handbook if you doubt this). There was a time when the 4700 to 5000 kHz range would be filled with broadcasters from Central and South America in the evening hours, African broadcasters in late afternoons and after midnight, and with Pacific and Indonesian stations around dawn. Now you hear more background noise and utility stations in that range than regional and national broadcasters. And where have those listeners gone? Mostly to recently-opened stations on AM and (especially) FM. While I have no way of confirming this, I suspect a lot of shortwave broadcasters have larger audiences of "DX hobbyists" than they do ordinary listeners in their announced target areas. For many years, shortwave radio was the best way to keep informed about world events, especially those ignored by the U.S. print and broadcast media. In fact, I once wrote in one of my books that I couldn't imagine anyone seriously interested in world events not owning a shortwave radio. But that was before the rise of the internet, before satellite radio and streaming audio, before podcasting. The era of shortwave radio broadcasting is surely, inexorably drawing to a close. Even that starstruck eleven year old boy inside me --- the one enthralled by shortwave radio almost 43 years ago --- can see that (Harry Helms, TX, futureofradio blog May 12 via DXLD) Very well said. As I write this, I am listening to XM radio. The BBC coming is 24/7, crystal-clear, like FM radio. No static, not fading, no 100-foot wire strung across my backyard. In a drawer next to me is a Yaseu FRG-7, my first real shortwave radio, circa 1976. I spent hundreds of hours hunched over her dials and lights, and have, somewhere, dozens of QSL cards. Each day after school, I would come home to a new one in the mail. Not just cards, but stickers, little flags, postcards, and hand-written thank you's from Cairo, Istanbul and Cape Town. Those were Glory Days to me. That was 30 years ago. Thirty-years from now, we may tune back to those frequencies, and hear nothing but static from nearby thunderstorms. Is it a loss? Only for romantics. My son is currently playing computer games with a friend....somewhere in Europe. They each have avatars, and mix it up on a cyber gameboard. This makes a mockery of the CB radio friends I made in 1977, who were all within a radius of 5 miles. The one area where shortwave may still shine is in emergencies, when satellites fail, and cable lines are cut. A giant electromagnetic pulse could destroy all our sensitive circuits. So, we all need to maintain some legacy skills in DXing. But you are right. It is a Brave New BETTER World. I do not miss the days of only 3 channels on TV, or landline phones. I will look fondly at my QSL cards and flags and stickers as I go forward, but I am never giving up my XM radio! DW (Don Wood, ibid.) ** EGYPT. 12050, ERTU General Programme, Abu Zabaal, 2227 5/13, very strong signal, surprisingly crisp, clear audio with vocal music, production announcements, quarter-hour chimes at 2232:25, fanfare for ID announcement in Arabic. Surprising because during later transmission on 12050, I’ve consistently heard distorted audio from this one; which was the case again at 0110 5/14. Strong, but distorted. HFCC says it’s Abu Zabaal with 500 kw from 1200-0000, then Abis with 250 kw 0000-0400; EIBI lists only Abis 0000-0300; ILG shows schedule 1140-0000, then 0000-0400; WRTH shows in A-06 supplement only Abu Zabaal 1200-0300. I’m monitoring as I type, at 0350, and 12050 is gone, but 11950, an Abu Zabaal transmitter, still good in 2300-0430 schedule. My conclusion is it`s Abu Zabaal to 0000; Abis to 0300 (John Callarman, Krum TX, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** EGYPT. EGITO - Amal El Disuki, do Departamento Brasileiro da Rádio Cairo, informa que a programação em português da emissora vai ao ar, entre 2215 e 2330, em 11785 kHz, em 25 metros. Infelizmente, a emissora cometeu um erro, neste período radial, ao escolher tal canal. Ele é ocupado, há vários anos, pela Rádio Guaíba, de Porto Alegre (RS). Acrescenta-se a isso o fato de que, nos últimos dias, a emissora da capital gaúcha melhorou suas emissões em 11785 kHz. Portanto, praticamente sem possibilidades de sintonia da programação da Rádio Cairo em português neste momento aqui na América do Sul! (Célio Romais, Brasil, Panorama, Conexión Digital May 14 via DXLD) ** FINLAND. Checking YLE Radio Finland for Nuntii --- not Nuntti as I typoed in 6-061 --- Latini, Sunday May 14 at 1356 on 15400 I heard instead what sounded like a church service. NL is supposed to run from 1353 to 1358 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** FINLAND. On 13 Apr observed a weather report in Finnish, repeated then in English. It was at about 0230 on 1677 kHz, in USB mode. What is it? (open_dx - Alexander Yegorov, Kyiv, Ukraine, Signal via DXLD) Turku Maritime Radio - Mariehamn transmitter. See http://www.qsl.net/kc2klc/lists/lfhfsw.csv and http://www.seacommand.fi/finnish/sm904.htm#meriradio And below are broadcasting times, according to the site http://www.fma.fi/e/functions/trafficmanagement/?cat=turkuradio&page=1 UTC BROADCAST 0233 NAVIGATIONAL WARNINGS 0633 WEATHER FORECAST, NAVIGATIONAL WARNINGS 0803 POSITIONS OF ICEBREAKERS 1033 NAVIGATIONAL WARNINGS, ICE REPORT 1433 NAVIGATIONAL WARNINGS 1833 WEATHER FORECAST, NAVIGATIONAL WARNINGS, ICE REPORT 2233 NAVIGATIONAL WARNINGS WEATHER MESSAGES 0633, 1833 Including wave height information for the Northern Baltic Gale warnings on receipt and 0233, 0633, 1033, 1433, 1833, 2233 Navigational warnings 0233, 0633, 1033, 1433, 1833, 2233 Coastal and local warnings (local warnings in Finnish and Swedish) Ice Reports 1033, 1833 In English. Including positions of icebreakers 0803 icebreaker positions only (open_dx - Mauno Ritola, Joensuu, Finland via Signal via DXLD) ** FRANCE [non]. EDITH PIAF ON SW --- Hi gh, I am tuning across the bands in the wee hours of Saturday morning and, WHO is playing Edith Piaf songs on 5025 at 0742 UT (3:42 am New York time)? Sounds like RFI, I suppose, 10 db over S9 signal, lots of other French language songs, some announcement sounded like French, but wait --- now announcements in Spanish. Radio Habana Cuba? For those who don't know who Edith Piaf was, search Wikipedia for an article on her life. Actually, here's a link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edith_Piaf Something rather special about her, nice to know she hasn't been forgotten. She had a rather tragic life, and that was reflected in her songs. If you listen closely, you can feel the emotions. She entranced an entire nation (France) during her short life. Cultural icons seem to come and go with astonishing rapidity, rarely lasting very long. But some forgotten things from the past are really worth preserving, and Piaf's songs are some of them. Or maybe I'm just a sentimentalist, but I often think we've lost something, as valuable cultural insights and ideas fly away from us and vanish into the past, never heard from again. We're in a completely different world now, and I'm not sure I like it. We have forgotten so many important things (Ed Stone, New York, May 14, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Must have been R. Rebelde, Cuba, the dominant signal on 5025. Cuban programming can sometimes be surprising (gh, DXLD) ** GABON. 19160, Africa No. 1 kommt auch tagsueber auf 19160 [2 x 9580], bei entsprechenden Ausbreitungsbedingungen. Jetzt geht es bald los mit den sommerlichen Sporadik-E-Ueberreichweiten. Biedenkopf auf E2 und Kreuzberg auf E3 werden Ende des Monats abgeschaltet. Dann geht es bei mir wahrscheinlich besser mit DX im Band I (Juergen Lohuis-D, May 9, wwdxc BC-DX May 14 via DXLD) tagsüber == all day long ** GERMANY. Waehrend die diversen KW-Sender in unserem Land (Biblis, Wertachtal, Nauen usw.) relativ gut im Internet recherchiert werden koennen, faellt auf, dass die Empfangs- bzw. Monitoringstationen kaum dokumentiert sind (Ausnahmen: Bockhacken und Ersdorf). Wo findet man etwas ueber Moosburg (RL), Ueberacker (VoA), Schleissheim (RL, bisher ein altes Foto im Internet gesehen), wo befand sich die entsprechende Anlage von RFE? Auch ueber Luechow und Beelitz (heute Pfoetchen-Hotel) ist kaum etwas zu finden (Klaus Kullbach-D, A-DX May 1 via BCDX via DXLD) (later...) habe vergessen den Link fuer Schleissheim anzugeben: http://www.bayerische-flugzeug-historiker-ev.de/bayflughist/Projekte/Amerikaner/BFH-US-Text.html Schleissheim und Moosburg gehoerten wohl urspruenglich zu RFE. Meine Frage muss deshalb lauten: Wo war die entsprechende Einrichtung von Radio Liberation/Radio Liberty? (Klaus Kullbach-D, A-DX May 1, ibid.) ** GERMANY. [Cf GREECE] So far I found no any pictures of the Xánthi transmitter site, but here are some ones from the now gone Holzkirchen station: http://www.biener-media.de/de-Holzkirchen.html Note that the antennas are not that close to residential buildings as the publicity about this site suggested, especially not the mediumwave antenna (second picture). (Kai Ludwig, Germany, May 14, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** GREECE. No change of Avlis frequency schedule could be observed during past week till Sun 14th (Wolfgang Büschel, BCDX via DXLD) Re 6-073: TEST VOG ON 12105 ON MAY 16. GLENN: I JUST GOT THIS FROM BABIS. Regards, (John Babbis, MD, May 13, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Hi John, Exactly, it is an antenna test on 12105 MHz Avlis 2 transmitter. Is very important a report of America. Thanks Regards (Babis via Babbis, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Xanthi (rather than Kavala) site Now, after they closed it down, we got to know the actual location of the transmitter plant called Kavála. I assume Xánthi refers to the administrative division rather than the town, since this posting includes alongside some technical details also a clear mention of a "seaside location": http://www.broadcast.net/pipermail/radio-tech/2001-December/014287.html So the site must be on the shore east of Kavála, hardly less than 40 km away from this town, cf. http://www.lib.utexas.edu/maps/europe/greece_div96.jpg The mediumwave transmitters at both Kavála and Rhodes must be rather recent investments, at Kavála replacing the original one from the seventies, since the Harris DX-600 is a solid-state model, introduced not before 1991. For more about the DX transmitter series see http://www.rwonline.com/reference-room/special-report/2006.03.29-05_a_rwf_yingst.shtml Concerning the four ex-Glória transmitters ERT must still have in the shelf: The matter of the antennas must be taken into consideration as well, since we are speaking about items for up to a million Euros (a realistic figure for a big 4/4 curtain I think) here. Otherwise I can only say that the machine translations of the statements from Greece are in fact sufficient (Kai Ludwig, Germany, May 14, DX LISTENING DIGEST) See also GERMANY I recall Kim Elliott mentioning a new Harris 600 kW MW transmitter for Rhodes in Communications World in July 2000 (PAUL DAVID, Wembley Park, United Kingdom, ibid.) Just searched the available CW scripts, but found only a mention of good 1260 reception in Jordan at http://www.kimandrewelliott.com/Cw/cw_20000826.html Going through the VOA website brings up quite a lot of FM affiliates for VOA Bosnian and reveals that the 2130-2200 transmission on 792 was actually no radio show but a relay of TV audio, so apparently the loss of the mediumwave frequency will not matter that much. But what is this? http://www.voanews.com/bosnian/satellite_frequences.cfm They still announce not only 792 but also 1197, more than a year after it went dark. On the other hand no shortwave frequency shown anymore, and they left shortwave only in last February, so perhaps they last updated their pages by then, if so not being aware of still referring listeners to a dead and gone mediumwave outlet. And http://www.tdp.info/grc.html reveals that the two Continental 419 F shortwave transmitters to be taken away by IBB must be ex-Glória transmitters, since the original transmitters from 1972/1973 are 419 D models. Perhaps they will end up side by side with ex-Holzkirchen units, these were 419 F as well? 419 F still use plate modulation, no PDM/PSM/whatever, cf. http://www.transmitter.be/con-419f.html (Kai Ludwig, Germany, ibid.) ** HAWAII [and non]. OF SPECIAL INTEREST --- 1180, KHCM, Honolulu, 5/1 0507 [EDT!] noted here for the first time ex-1170, C&W music and slogan "AM 11-80 KHCM, Hawaii's Country Music." Ripply fading (tower is near Pearl City). Station's spokeswoman said the move occurred around 4/24. Surprised station moved here, considering how strong KSSK-590's second harmonic of 1180 is in Honolulu. Station owner Salem plans to move KHNR from 870 to 880 (870 & 1170 are also where Salem stations in Southern CA are located; reportedly Salem is making these moves to prevent co-channel QRM!). (5P-HI) (Dale Park, HI, Western DX Roundup, IRCA Soft DX Monitor May 13 via DXLD) 1170, KCBQ, CA, San Diego - CP granted for U4 50000/2900 from six new towers at N32-53-42 W116-55-31, made possible by the KHCM move (below) 1180, KHCM, HI, Honolulu - CP granted to change frequencies (from 1170 kHz) with U1 1000/1000 at adjusted coordinates of N21-26-18 W157-59- 29. One of the provisions of the CP is subject to the condition that the field strength produced by the new facility shall not exceed 40 mV/m as measured at the FCC`s Waipahu, Hawaii monitoring station. They also have been issued a Special Temporary Authority (STA), the details of which are not stipulated. We have heard of an unsubstantiated report that KHCM has made the move, but as of our deadline there is no more documentation at the FCC`s web site which can support that claim. We can only guess that they are now in the testing phase on 1180. AMENDMENTS TO APPLICATIONS: 1450 NEW HI Hilo - Initial Auction 84 application was for U1 250/250. This amendment requests U3 5000/5000. Judging from the pattern (kidney-shaped heading southeast) and the location of Hilo on the island of Hawaii, the pattern will serve very little of the island’s land mass (Bill Hale, AM Switch, NRC DX News May 14 via DXLD) ** INDONESIA. RRI-Wamena has reactivated again on 4869.9 kHz. In Japan, first noted on 14th May with very good signal, but QRMed by RRI-Sorong on 4870.9 kHz. -- As for my all information it is for all people. 73 & FB DXing! (Kenji Takasaki in Mie pref, JAPAN w/JRC NRD- 545/535D/525/515, HCDX via DXLD) ** INDONESIA. 9680, RRI Jakarta, May 14, 0958-1025, full ID for R.R.I. Jakarta and FM Jakarta, no KGRE Sunday program, pre-empted by program of nice pop Indonesian songs, fair-good (Ron Howard, Monterey, CA, RX340, with T2FD antenna, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** IRELAND. [Pirate] Reflections Europe sendet nur sonntags (abends) auf 3910 (0.5 kW), 6295 (2 kW) und 12255 (0.2 kW). Die Programme bestehen fast ausschliesslich aus religioesen Relais, ID kommt jeweils zum Anfang bzw. Ende der Sendebloecke. s.a. http://www.reflectionseurope.com QSL (Radio Fax) kommt zuverlaessig binnen weniger Tage. Die Geschichte der Station ist unter http://www.radiofax.org nachzulesen, bei der Gelegenheit koennen auch "Fan-Artikel" geordert werden. 3915 BBC SNG (gegen 2100) stoert nicht, 6295 wird gelegentlich von Piraten[Pirate von Pirate, hi, wb.] belaestigt, beide auch von Utility beeintraechtigt. 12255 habe ich noch nie gehoert (Walter Eibl, Germany, A-DX May 14 via BCDX via DXLD) ** ISRAEL. Israel Broadcasting Authority change for May 1-Aug 13. 0330-0345 Am, Eu, Oc 11590, 13720, 17600 (IBA website via Prime Time Shortwave via DXLD) ** KENYA. 4914.96, KBC, Nairobi, at 1903-1916* UT on Apr 28, Indigenous music. At 1909 female speaker in vernacular, followed by another short piece of music and male talk with mention of Kenya and Nairobi. No formal ID heard, but Kenyan National Anthem (choral version) was played at 1915 UT. QRM from Ghana on 4915.0 kHz. 33333 (Mark Veldhuis, Holland, dswci DXW May 3 via BCDX via DXLD) ** KOREA SOUTH [and non]. KBS ESTÁ ANALIZANDO EL FUTURO DE LAS ONDAS CORTAS A través del programa "Antena de la Amistad" emitido por KBS World Radio el pasado 29 de abril de 2006, los locutores Sonia Cho y Ramiro Trost anunciaron en el fragmento "Noticiero DX" que ``..KBS está analizando el futuro de las ondas cortas; desde que se inició este año se ha establecido un equipo de trabajo a nivel de la empresa para conocer las perspectivas de las emisiones internacionales y buscar los medios más efectivos del uso que se le da a las ondas cortas. El equipo está conformado por 8 representantes de diferentes departamentos de KBS incluyendo los de Estrategia Política, Técnica y de Planificación así como una persona de KBS World Radio (Sonia). De acuerdo con los estudios hechos hasta el momento, al parecer, KBS seguirá apostando por la onda corta. KBS posee dos instalaciones de transmisión en el país, una en Kimje y otra en Hwaseong que padecen de gran deficiencia debido al envejecimiento de los equipos. KBS pretende reemplazarlos con transmisores de 100 kilovatios convertibles a Sistema DRM con el fin de cubrir directamente la zona de Asia (Ramiro). No obstante se buscará en intercambio de transmisiones o se alquilará las instalaciones correspondientes de otras emisoras para las transmisiones hacia América del Sur y África (Sonia). Cuando el informe final se complete, deberá recibir el visto bueno del Presidente y servirá de guía para el desarrollo de KBS World Radio (Ramiro)...`` (Rubén Guillermo Margenet, Casilla de Correo 950, S 2000 WAJ - Rosario, ARGENTINA, Tel.: +54 (0)341 4558952 margenet @ arnet.com.ar DX LISTENING DIGEST) What about North America??? (gh) ** LIBYA [and non]. Things are getting really interesting aren't they, and now more so with the deliberate use of RFI French to jam the clandestine. Could it be that the Clandestine is getting through and outwitting the jamming and so reinforcements are needed? If there was any doubt previously that France was involved then I think it has been dispelled now. Kai's suggestion to write to someone at RFI sounds good to me - we call that "putting the cat amongst the pigeons"! I still think that someone high up in the French government will have had to sanction what is taking place. And BTW - there must have been some changes in frequency as I find the Afro-Cubano music on 17685 at 1515, and there was another on there playing music same time but it went off air just before the Afro one. The music seemed familiar and I thought at one time that it was that which comes before the start of the Chinese 'Firedrake' drums. But no drums were heard (Noel R. Green-UK, May 8, wwdxc BC-DX May 14 via DXLD) Sunday May 14 check of Al-Amel & vicinity at 1341 found African music on 17660, a whoop-whoop jammer on 17665 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** NETHERLANDS [non]. Whatever became of Jerry Cowan? See http://www.wmkvfm.org/jerry_cowan.htm (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Times are UT -4 ** NIGERIA. Long time without hearing VON on its regular English Service in our local afternoon, that is 2000Z. Happily this time they got a clear audio, even on pre recorded vernacular songs. News bulletin at TOH by female announcer, being the main issue the tragedy that claimed 150 lives after a fuel pipe explosion. Poor signal and excessive noise. SINPO 25242 (Raúl Saavedra, Costa Rica, May 13, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** OKLAHOMA. NEWSCASTER FALLS INTO COMA AFTER ILLNESS By Diane Clay, The Oklahoman, May 10 Oklahoma City broadcaster Brad Edwards suffered an aneurysm and fell into a coma Tuesday after being hospitalized because of a bacterial infection of his heart. Officials said the newsman, known for his "In Your Corner" segments on KFOR-4, had been diagnosed with endocarditis and vasculitis, which is inflammation of the heart and blood vessels caused by a bacterial infection. Left untreated, the condition is fatal. He had said in a newscast from his hospital bed at 10 p.m. Monday that he was admitted unconscious to intensive care at the end of April. "They had to give me a lot of antibiotics to hold off the infection, and finally brought me around. Thanks to the doctors here, I was able to pull through this weekend, because I almost didn't," he said. Edwards said he noticed symptoms of a problem a few months ago, including a quaver in his voice. By the end of March, he was in too much pain to walk. "They are all curious about what this is, and why it hit so fast and what could cause that," he said. Edwards' rare heart condition is most often caused by bacteria that find their way into the blood stream and cause infections in the heart and blood vessels. The symptoms of endocarditis, which include muscle aches, night sweats and painless red skin spots, may develop slowly or suddenly. According to the National Institutes of Health, while anyone is susceptible, a history of congenital heart disease, rheumatic fever, recent dental work or intravenous drug use raises the index of suspicion. A physical exam may show an enlarged spleen. Complications of the infection can include congestive heart failure, blood clots, stroke, heart valve damage, kidney disease and jaundice. Doctors said the earlier the problem is treated, the better the chance for good outcomes. + sidebar on endocardidtis [registration required] http://newsok.com/article/1839729/?template=home/main BROADCASTER 'VERY GRAVE' By Diane Clay, The Oklahoman, May 12 Oklahoma City broadcaster Brad Edwards remained in a coma Thursday night after a blood vessel ruptured in his brain. "He is still in a coma. It's kind of wait and see," said Luanne Stuart, vice president of creative services for KFOR-4. Station officials said a blood vessel in Edwards' brain ruptured about 5 a.m. Tuesday, sending him into a coma. He is on a ventilator and in "very grave" condition. Edwards, 58, who is known for his "In Your Corner" segments, had been in the hospital for 11 days with a rare heart condition called endocarditis, when a blood vessel in his brain developed an aneurysm, officials said. What may have happened . . . + sidebar on brain aneurysm [registration required] http://newsok.com/article/1841634/?template= (via gh, DXLD) ** OKLAHOMA. NEWS AGENDA SETTING http://www.okctalk.com/oklahoma-radio-tv/6420-news-agenda-setting.html Does anyone find it at least slightly funny how just as soon as that "roads and bridges" campaign was over that all of the news coverage of Oklahoma's terrible roads and bridges suddenly stopped? Does anyone find it interesting in the least how few 'standard' media outlets actually gave any serious coverage to Moshe Tal versus Kirk Humphries or to the Bass Pro scandal? I find it all very interesting. It's certainly not coincidence that the media in Oklahoma vigorously promotes the side of the stories that benefits big business the most, and you and the taxpayers the least. I'm not sure what drives it -- formal arrangements with lobbyist types? The lack of inquiry when handed a press release to be read on air? Laziness? Advertising revenue? Looking back on the roads and bridges campaign, does anyone recall how news channels (particularly Channel 4) took video of pieces of concrete falling off of the I-40 crosstown? Have the pieces of concrete stopped falling? Or is it just that the press releases and the money have stopped flowing? Journalists are too lazy these days. Half of the blame is due to them. The other half rests squarely on the shoulders of the producers and station managers for not inspiring their reporters to be inquisitive when handed press releases or responsible when framing the public agenda. Instead, when asked to jump, it seems that all too often, the response is "How high?" Not surprising when it seems most Oklahomans are more interested in the latest gossip on the anchorwoman who reads the teleprompter to them than the actual issues that could affect their lives (Midtowner, May 9, OKCtalk via DXLD) I see your point, Midtowner, but I see it from a different angle. Local news is, for the most part, an absolute joke. Has been for years. Why? Several years ago, the "consultants" took over and took actual news reporting out and put sensationalism in, and the product is hysteria-driven weather forecasts, junk-news features during sweeps, and giggle-snort Sam and Sally anchor clones on every station in the world. The result? Investigative journalism goes down the tubes, because it doesn't generate interest, or viewers. So if there *is* a scandal out there, no one will pick up on it, because what passes for "journalism" today wouldn't pass for National Enquirer headlines two decades ago (SoonerDave, ibid.) SD: It's not so much that I think there's a conspiracy. It seems we are in agreement that the news media on the whole is simply lazy. From what I can tell, it's not difficult at all for an individual or a 'cause' to easily manipulate the news media. They aren't the least bit skeptical. Some of those roads and bridges stories were really insulting to the people of Oklahoma -- they were so desperate to be taken seriously that they had to result to press releases by principles {sic} who were scared that a school bus was going to collapse a bridge (Midtowner, ibid.) ** PERU. Hi Glenn, I hear R. Huancabamba, (radio la poderosa) on 6536 at 0010; Male and Female talks about Peru, and songs in Spanish with guitar music QRM amateur SINPO 33222 date 14/5. Rx AOR 7030, antenna longwire 100m. MFJ 959b (Maurits Van Driessche, DX Antwerp member 111 Belgium, Opendoors 27and 28 May, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Was the guitar music from RH or from the QRM? Certainly not licensed amateur radio on that frequency (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** RUSSIA. The "ringing" Taldom transmitter has been replaced (or corrected). Excellent audio on 13665 and 7120 (ex 7420) now (Olle Alm, Sweden, 13.5.2006, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** RUSSIA. Probablemente debido a averías de las antenas la emisora Radio Internacional Rusa que es un subprograma de ``La Voz de Rusia`` fue escuchada entre las 1600 y las 1700 el 30 de abril en una onda desacostumbrada: 13903 kilohercios. Entre las oficialmente anunciadas, la onda más cercana a las utilizadas en ese mismo horario es la de 13855 kilohercios (Por Rumen Pankov, Versión al español: María Páchkova, R. Bulgaria DX via José Miguel Romero2, dxldyg via DXLD) ** SCOTLAND [non]. 13840, 13.5 0920, Radio Six International with DXtra. This contained my report from the ARC/SWB convention. Unfortunately very weak signal at this occasion. 2 CB (Christer Brunström, SW Bulletin May 14, translated by editor Thomas Nilsson for DX LISTENING DIGEST) via IRRS via BULGARIA ** SPAIN. Spain all over at 0430 UT. 1602, 1584, 1503, 1485, 1413, 1359 (blasting) (Michael Diers, Huntington Sta, NY, WJ-HF-1000, DX- Ultra antenna, NRC-AM via DXLD) Yeah, that 1359 rig has a very beefy signal at transmitter sunrise enhancement, especially in the springtime for some non-obvious reason. Other times stations like 1305 and 1503, running a lot less power, do as well or better. I've heard that 1359 runs an antenna that actually shoots more signal up at high-angles for short-skip coverage than a typical antenna would. What might be happening at dawn on their end is that the signal goes up at a high angle, hits a tilt in the ionosphere and gets reflected sideways (chordal mode) rather than back down. This can cut down the number of hops required and, therefore, improve the strength on this side of the "pond". Earlier in the evening, the ionospheric tilt isn't there and the signal is just "warming the clouds" so to speak. Other conventional-antenna stations with better low angle radiation would be pushing stronger signals across, watt for watt, at those times (Mark Connelly, WA1ION - Billerica, MA, May 11, NRC-AM via DXLD) ** U K. RECORD FIGURES FOR BBC WORLD SERVICE By Anita Singh, PA Showbusiness Editor Audiences for the BBC World Service have reached record levels, figures showed today. It now attracts 163 million listeners per week - up from 149 million last year. The new figure smashes the previous BBC World Service record of 153 million listeners in 2001. Global audiences to the service's English language broadcasts are up from 39 million to 42 million. The rise comes despite the corporation axing 10 of its foreign language radio services in October last year, the majority of them in eastern Europe. Audience figures are significantly up in Nigeria, Indonesia, Kenya, India and Nepal. Recent unrest in Nepal has seen the number of listeners rise from 2.6 million to 3.7 million. India has added 1.2 million listeners to reach 17.6 million, Kenya is up 1.5 million to six million and Indonesia is up two million to 6.4 million. In Nigeria, BBC services gained 3.6 million listeners, raising the total audience to 23.8 million. Two years ago the Nigerian Government banned local FM stations from re-broadcasting news programmes from foreign broadcasters. Listeners have turned to short-wave broadcasts as a result. BBC World Service director Nigel Chapman said: "This record-breaking audience is an outstanding achievement against the background of fierce competition, fast-developing technology and rapidly changing audience demands in many media markets. "The challenges ahead for BBC World Service remain formidable, as they do for all broadcasters, but this is a strong and welcome indication that we are not only strengthening our impact in priority areas but are flourishing in the multimedia age." Two countries which have registered significant falls are Bangladesh and Pakistan. Audiences in Bangladesh fell by 4.4 million to 8.6 million in the last year. A BBC spokesman blamed the losses on a lack of FM frequency in those countries. Over the last six months the World Service has closed its language services in Hungarian, Bulgarian, Czech, Polish, Greek, Slovak, Slovene, Kazakh and Thai. The money saved is being used to fund an Arabic TV news channel, which will launch next year. It will be the BBC's first publicly funded global TV service. end 150252 MAY 06MX05- 15-2006 01:51UTC (via Dave Alpert, ABC News, DXLD) ** U K. Radio Waves: Paul Donovan: On the spoof The Sunday Times May 14, 2006 http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,2101-2174121,00.html Down the Line began on Radio 4 two weeks ago. The BBC issued a two- page profile of its new young host, alongside a smiling picture of him. We took notice. "Gary Bellamy starts a new live phone-in," I wrote. "Basildon-born Bellamy made something of a name for himself as an award-winning talk- radio DJ in Canada," said The Observer. "A former Today researcher, he is now back on Radio 4 hosting a new late-night phone-in..." And so on. Oh, dear. We were all fooled, even Radio Times. None of us bothered to ask why Radio 4 was launching a late-night phone-in, a genre associated with the loopy and the lonely, in a slot (11pm on Tuesday) that is generally reserved for comedy. Or why we had never heard of Gary Bellamy, or his "three prestigious Molson awards". All became clear - to most listeners, if not quite all - soon after the show went on air. This was a hoax. Down the Line is not a live phone-in, but a recorded spoof. It is put together before transmission. It is a brilliant pastiche of all the clichés, crossed lines, bathos, mishearings, mispronunciations, non sequiturs, racism, political correctness and general banality of many radio phone-ins. I think it is dazzlingly clever, and have rarely laughed so much. Judging from the Radio 4 message boards, though, just as many regard it as witless drivel. Until last week, I had no idea who was behind this coup, not having recognised any of the voices. The answer is Paul Whitehouse and Charlie Higson, of The Fast Show fame, supported by other comic talents such as Rhys Thomas (who plays Gary), Felix Dexter (who is black, and played both a posh black caller and a man from Barbuda), Simon Day and Lucy Montgomery (the "Don't look at me!" cleaner from Tittybangbang). Two others in the first show were Harry Enfield, as a Holocaust-denier who couldn't hear Gary, although Gary could hear him, and Catherine Tate. It is the first big radio show Whitehouse and Higson have done. "It's semi-improvised and semi-scripted," Whitehouse told me. "The reason we hid our names was to give us anonymity while we developed new comedy characters." Caroline Raphael, Radio 4's head of comedy and entertainment, says the BBC hoodwinked the public "partly to see whether we could pull it off and partly because Paul and Charlie wanted it that way". "They wanted creative space, they wanted people to listen, rather than just try to spot the voices. But we had to ask Editorial Policy. We have taken care not to lampoon the audience, not to be spiteful and not to involve real people on air. The telephone number we give out is a free number." Deceiving licence-payers is problematical. People do not, on the whole, like to be made fools of. One's mind goes back to The War of the Worlds, Ghostwatch, Brass Eye and Panorama's spaghetti tree, though these all differed. But the Down the Line spoof has been done with affection, and for a purpose. Deliberately exposed after a fortnight, it would not have been half as funny, or made any impact, had one known in advance that it was a hoax. Judging from the calls the BBC has received, there are still some listeners who think it was genuine. But perhaps we should not be too hard on them for believing what they heard, when we were only too willing to believe what we read (via Mike Terry, BDXC-UK via DXLD) It`s Tuesday 2200 UT on BBC Radio 4; or ``LISTEN AGAIN``: http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/downtheline/ (gh, DXLD) ** U K. MSF move to Anthorn [from BT to VT, wb.] The radio signal used to set the UK's clocks is to move from Rugby where it has been transmitted since 1927. The nation's time signal, which is used to keep the well-known pips on time, is being relocated to Anthorn in Cumbria from next year. The sce, which uses atomic clocks, has come from a radio station near Hillmorton for nearly 80 years. National Physical Laboratory (NPL) is switching contracts from BT, which owns the Rugby site, to VT Communications. The time signal is accurate to within 1000th of a second of Universal Time and supports a wide range of services including emergency 999 communications, train companies, cash machines and mobile phone billing systems. The signal, often referred to as "The time from Rugby", will in future be known as "The Time from NPL". NPL has been responsible for the accurate time signal from Rugby since 1950 and will make the switch in April 2007. The switchover will take place following a three-month test period at the beginning of next year. NPL said most users need take no action to continue receiving the signal. NPL managing director, Steve McQuillan, said: "Maintaining accurate time is essential to keeping the modern world working. "Most people only need time to be accurate to within a few seconds or even minutes, but global navigation systems, the internet, email, television, power industry, transport, and financial systems are just some of the industries that depend on very accurate time to operate. "We regularly notify those we know who may be affected by our testing and we'll be happy to add any other users to our email list if they get in touch." The signal's transmission is linked to NPL's atomic clocks at Teddington in South West London (BBC News via Mike Terry-UK, BDXC-UK May 11 via BCDX via DXLD) The BBC story posted by Mark doesn't mention it, but Anthorn is an existing VLF transmitting station, used for communicating with RN submarines. Last month I passed the Rugby site (next to the M1) for the first time in many years and was surprised to see that, in addition to the huge VLF towers, a large number of smaller, presumably HF aerials, are still there. I had thought that the MSF transmissions were the only thing still coming from Rugby and that the other masts had been taken down a few years ago. I recall reading that BT, which operates Rugby, lost its contract with the Navy, who now use VT instead. It seems that NPL has now also switched its contract from BT to VT. So, will Rugby now close altogether, or is it still used for other things? (Chris Greenway-UK, BrDXC-UK May 10, ibid.) From the BBC Science list ... It looks like the final masts at Rugby are about to go! In message <200605120946.k4C9kwnY025246 @ www2.mh.bbc.co.uk> BBC Science & Nature writes Right time. Despite sometimes being dubbed the 'Greenwich' time signal, UK time is governed by an atomic clock in south-west London and transmitted from Rugby as a radio signal. If you have a radio controlled clock, it's likely to be tuned in there. After April 2007 those transmissions will come from Anthorn in Cumbria but you won't need to re-tune your clocks. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/4756593.stm (Richard Buckby-UK G3VGW, wwdxc BC-DX May 12) MSF move to Anthorn. Forgive me, but where is Anthorn? As far as I know (PLEASE correct me if I am wrong) MSF Rugby is transmitted on 60 kHz Long Wave (it just might be 16 kHz) This, as far as I know, has good 'penetration' through most of Western Europe. Zeon Tech Radio Clocks I think, receive from somewhere in Germany on 77.5 kHz, or thereabouts (3 Streams I think for Winter UTC, UTC+1, UTC+2) adding one hour to all in summer. Perhaps Mike Barraclough would like to comment? (Ken Fletcher-UK, BrDXC-UK May 12, ibid.) BDXC-UK Moderator: Anthorn is on the shores of the Solway Firth, 13 miles west of Carlisle, near Bowness-on-Solway (where Hadrian's Wall ends) and across the Solway from Annan in Dumfies. See also link to aerial photo at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anthorn_VLF_transmitter (BrDXC-UK May 12, ibid.) The Anthorn LF site is on an island on your right as you sail up the Solway Firth into Carlisle. Its an existing Merlin site. Been there yonks. Great ground conductivity, loads of sea water around and very few neighbours to bleat about how "the microwaves" are turning their chicken eggs blue (as in the Isle of Man!). Actually it`s not in Anthorn, but the next village, so small that I can`t remember it. Merlin already do a lot of the VLF stuff to subs, etc., from there, the details are so secret that I would have to shoot you if I told you;>). [So how come you know this info and haven't been officially "deleted", Paul :-) ?- Mark Savage, moderator] If the data rate is slow enough even the crummiest signals will still work those clocks, they only use it on occasion to CORRECT the time and don't need a steady signal, as one does for broadcast audio (Paul Rusling-UK, BDXC-UK May 14, ibid.) ** U S A. Keep hearing that VOA have greatly reduced English language output; but checking the sat feeds on G3 – which admittedly I don`t do all that often --- I haven`t noticed that; programs like VOA News Now and Press Conference USA still being heard / on TV 4/30 (local afternoon) the rally in opposition to Darfur genocide (via C-SPAN) was being shown on several channels in the bouquet / for radio independent stereo channels are run with different programming (as per the days when VOA used independent sideband transmissions on HF for program distribution) / on one channel there was the continuous announcement `This is Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty Vaha` --- not sure about the `Vaha` or what it means [it`s Praha = Prague, HQ of station now] / The Arabic TV channel the US puts out is also in the VOA bouquet --- it has not been enthusiastically received in Iraq and the Arabic world But I wonder how much longer today`s OTA sat TV are to remain viable with these new technologies coming to the fore / `everything` on the Internet & even your cellphone, etc., etc., IPOD (Loren Cox, Jr., Lexington KY, May 8, by p-mail retyped by gh for DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. AL JAMES, VOA DAYBREAK AFRICA [original subject:] For GH I know you're going to steal this http://wvbf.blogspot.com/2006/05/for-gh-i-know-youre-going-to-steal.html Al James, former host of the Voice Of America's "Daybreak Africa" program, died on 5/2. James began his career with the DC-based VOA as an engineer and later worked in the English-to-Africa service as a news reader. He then became writer and host of "Daybreak Africa," where he remained until his retirement several years ago. A funeral Mass will be held at 10:30 AM Friday, 5/5, in the chapel at St. Mary's Catholic Church, 520 Viers Mill Road, Rockville. Interment will be in Ohio. The shortwave audience has been dying off for years, now it's the shortwave station staff`s turn. Very sad. It`s a shame wha`ts happened to radio but they can't afford to do it anymore. posted by lou josephs at 2:11 AM May 5 (medianetwork blog via DXLD) If you insist. Steal? ** U S A. A recent Notice to Airmen about NY Volmet: [ ] A1185/06 - VOLMENT BROADCAST UNSERVICEABLE NEW YORK INTERNATIONAL VOLMET FREQ 6604 KHZ U/S 10 MAY 23:00 UNTIL UFN (Mike Cooper, GA, DXLD) So apparently only one of their frequencies is down this time (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. Don`t you believe http://www.wjiesw.com/schedule.htm showing WORLD OF RADIO M-F at 6:30 am ET [1030 UT]. First, WJIE has not been heard at all for a few years, altho some sources relying on FCC listings rather than reality keep showing it. Second, WOR may have appeared on only a few occasions. For several weeks they kept playing the same program if at all, but this was a long time ago. Why is this website still funxional? (Glenn Hauser, OK, May 13, 2006, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. 2 MAYO 0023 UT, 25950 KHZ, KOA, Denver, Colorado, EE.UU. Inglés. Partido de béisbol de los "Colorado Rockies", en Atlanta, Georgia. Identificación: "Radio 850, KOA...". Anuncio comercial: "Mattress King". La señal perduró por 30 minutos, apróximadamente. Fuerte. Buena Calidad (Adán Mur, desde Ñemby, Paraguay, Conexión Digital May 14 via DXLD) ** U S A. 1550, KKJY, NM, Albuquerque - Applies to move to a new tower location and increase their nighttime power to become U1 5000/27 at the current transmitter site of KKIM-1000 and KRKE-1600. An application is concurrently being filed (see 1600 below) for the relocation of KRKE to a tower used by KXKS -1190, which is necessary to accommodate the operation on KKJY on the KKIM tower. [Confused? Me, too. But maybe this, paraphrased from the KKJY and KRKE applications, will help.] KKJY is required to relocate as the tower currently employed for KKJY is licensed to KABQ-1350, and the licensee, Clear Channel, wishes to employ IBoC on KABQ. This will render the use of the tower, which is one element of a directional antenna system, impossible to reasonably use for the KKJY operation only 200 kHz separated from the KABQ digital operation on 1350 kHz. KABQ is operating under an STA to allow non-directional operation during its construction. To accommodate the construction process at KABQ, KKJY has requested an STA to use the shorter of two towers at the KABQ site pending the grant of this application. As the owner of the current KKJY tower, Clear Channel is operating under an STA pending the completion of construction of its IBoC directional antenna system. That construction cannot be completed until KKJY no longer occupies the site, and Clear Channel has requested that KKJY move to its new location as soon as possible so as to resolve the STA. Expedited processing of this and the KRKE applications will enable Vanguard Media (KKJYand KRKE’s owner) to continue providing uninterrupted broadcast service to its community of license by both KKJY and KRKE. [Whew!!] 1600, KRKE, NM, Albuquerque - Applies to move to the tower site of KXKS-1190 and increase their nighttime power to become U1 10000/175. [See KKJY-1550 above for all the details.] (Bill Hale, AM Switch, NRC DX News May 14 via DXLD) See also HAWAII ** U S A. OLD RADIO FAVORITES HEAD TO WMKV [89.3 Cincinnati] By Rick Bird Post staff reporter http://news.cincypost.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060512/LIFE/605120351/1005 Portions of what might be called the "old" WVXU-FM are returning to the airwaves as part of a makeover of listener-supported station WMKV- FM (89.3), operated out of the Maple Knoll Village, the retirement community in Springdale owned by LifeSphere. The station has also entered into a unique agreement to simulcast the 6-8 a.m. portion of the local news/magazine show that airs on WXIX-TV (Channel 19). The changes will take place July 10. The station, known for its big band music and senior wellness programs, is bringing back the old-time radio shows that became signature programming on WVXU until the station was bought last year by Cincinnati Public Radio Inc., owner of classical station WGUC-FM. The new owners abandoned the vintage radio shows in order to re-launch WVXU as a news/talk station. WMKV spokeswoman Becky Schulte said former Xavier University professor James King, who founded WVXU, was the main consultant on the station's redesign, but will not have a position at the station. Joining the staff is George Zahn as operations manager, Bob Hanneken as development director, and Mike Martini, producer and on-air host. All were key players for years at WVXU but were not retained by the new WGUC owners. Martini will oversee the return of several former WVXU radio shows including "Theater of the Mind," "Mystery Playhouse" and "The Big Broadcast," which was a WVXU Saturday night centerpiece. The show offered four hours of Golden Age radio with interviews and commentary. WMKV also will revive many WVXU short programs including Stan Matlock's three-minute reflections, Mike Whorf's "Kaleidoscope" and "The Tooth Fairy." Schulte acknowledged the additional staff and programming would require an increased fund-raising effort for the station. For the immediate future, she said LifeSphere's board of directors has agreed to underwrite the additional costs, including the building of new studios on the Maple Knoll campus. The station last year received international attention thanks to a front-page Los Angeles Times story that saluted its refreshing programming featuring the sharp wit and talent of its mostly volunteer senior staff. "The additions won't change our mission," said Schulte. "It's still a station that speaks to older adults and we will maintain that." WMKV only has a 400-watt signal with reception spotty outside of the northern Cincinnati suburbs. Its signal is streamed at http://www.wmkvfm.org (via Kevin Redding, May 13, ABDX via DXLD) Well, WVXU is not a total loss, as quite by coincidence before reaching this item I was listening to it online, UT Sun 0200-0300 SWING WITH BILL CARTWRIGHT, as listed on Monitoring Reminders Calendar. Will this show be moving over too? I have added a few other WMKV shows to MRC, featuring theatre organ, barbershop. O o, stream no work for me. See also NETHERLANDS (gh, DXLD) ** U S A. Glenn, the latest on a new low --- A four year old girl? And of course now Clear Channel says "we're sorry." You can't take this biz too personally, but it's hard to proud of one`s profession when it has been allowed to sink this low. Yes, I am a grumpy old man, but only because I remember "broadcasters." (Brock Whaley, GA, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Viz.: POLICE ARREST DJ AFTER RADIO RANTS By TOM HAYS, Associated Press Writer May 12, 2006, 3:54 PM EDT NEW YORK -- A syndicated hip-hop disc jockey was arrested Friday on charges of harassment and endangering the welfare of a child amid an uproar over his on-air racial and sexual rants about a radio rival's wife and 4-year-old daughter. Police officials had launched a hate crime investigation of DJ Star on Thursday after reviewing a transcript of his recent remarks about DJ Envy and his family. DJ Star, whose real name is Troi Torain, was contacted by police on Friday and ordered to surrender a 9mm handgun and target practice permit at Police Headquarters. When he arrived, he was arrested and taken to the 1st Precinct stationhouse in lower Manhattan, said police spokesman Paul Browne. The arrest capped a bad week for Torain. After city Councilman John C. Liu and other outraged elected officials called a press conference to publicly scold Torain, he was fired on Wednesday from his job at Clear Channel Radio's Power 105.1 FM. Clear Channel, a unit of Clear Channel Communications Inc., said it found his statements "wholly unacceptable." Not satisfied, the politicians demanded a criminal investigation _ and immediately got one. "This is a real consequence for Torain and sends a real message to other would-be racist pedophile radio stooges that they are not immune from the law," Liu said in a statement. A call to Torain's attorney, Benjamin Brafman, was not immediately returned. The lawyer had apologized on behalf of his client on Thursday, calling the remarks "unsuitable and inappropriate." In the comments, made between May 3 and Monday, Torain _ co-host of the "Star & Buc Wild Morning Show" _ offered $500 to any listener who could provide information about the rival DJ's daughter's school and used racial slurs when talking about his wife, who is part Asian. "I will come for your kids," Torain said, according to transcribed excerpts provided by Liu's office. "I finally got the information on his slant-eyed, whore wife." Torain also called the couple's child a "little half a lo mein eater" and said he wanted to "do an R. Kelly on your seed, on your little baby girl. I would like to tinkle on her," according to the excerpts. The comments apparently alluded to videotapes in 2002 showing a man bearing a strong resemblance to singer R. Kelly having sex with someone who appeared to be an underage girl and then urinating on her. Torain and his half brother, Timothy Joseph, or Buc Wild, hosted Hot 97's morning drive time show beginning in 2000 and joined Clear Channel Radio in March 2004. They began working at Power 105 in January 2005. Their show aired in markets including Philadelphia, Miami and Richmond, Va. Copyright 2006 Newsday Inc (via Brock Whaley, DXLD) UNIDENTIFIED. 4824.7 new, 1935-1950 ?? 08-05, unID Central Asian station, vernacular announcement, songs with string instruments. Off upon recheck at 2025, 24222. Tajikistan and Turkmenistan were heard on usual 4635, 4930 and 5015 AP-DXV 5080.4, 0000-0010* ?? 08-05 unID, closing with announcement in English: "You are listening to...." 23222. Also heard 2315-2320 08-05 and 0125-0205 10-05 UNID fading in and out, talks by a woman and later by a man in a monotonous Vernacular. 14121 AP-DXV Well, there is a Pakistani transmitter varying around here, but would not expect them to be in English. Maybe another 49m-MW mix? (gh, DXLD) AOR AR7030 PLUS with 100 metres longwire during and after the DSWCI 50 years Jubilee DX Camp in Vejers Strand (DXV) on the sandy westcoast of Jutland, Denmark together with DX-ers from seven countries (via Dario Monferini, bclnews.it via DXLD UNIDENTIFIED. 5 MAYO, 1556 UT, 12000 KHZ, ¡Un Misterio! Castellano. Hora Exacta. Locutor masculino. Anuncios, cada 30 segundos. "La señal indicará 15 horas, 56 minutos..." "Faltan 30 segundos..." Sin identificación. Fuerte. Buena Calidad. ¿Serán los amigos de HCJB, o Radio Habana Cuba, probando transmisores? (Adán Mur, desde Ñemby, Paraguay, Conexión Digital May 14 via DXLD) ``La señal indicará`` was the expression used by a Uruguayan utility PTP station many years ago, picking up the local timesignal, probably from a telephone service. But that`s not much to go on now, and strange they are using UT. And I think the time checks were every 10 seconds (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 15560: Captaciones Ayer; escuché varias estaciones. Pero me pasó algo curioso. A las 1200 horas UT escuché por los 15560 kHz una programación musical que era interrumpida en instantes para decir "This is BR International" ¿Alguna idea de qué estacion pudo ser? (Hector (Luigi) Pérez, 14 May 2006, Onda Corta PR via José Miguel Romero2, dxldyg via DXLD) The only registration I could see on all lists is Rádio Portugal Internacional 15560 300 kW to NoAM at 300 degrees azimuth. 15560 1200-2300 6-8 LIS 300 300 PORTUGUESE POR RDP RDP 73 (Wolfgang Büschel, ibid.) And I was hearing it well with regular Portuguese programming around 1325 UT May 14 (Glenn Hauser, DXLD) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ RADIO EQUIPMENT FORUM +++++++++++++++++++++ DXING WITH THE SDR-1000 ON MEDIUMWAVE AND TROPICAL BANDS Little-known outside of amateur (ham) radio circles, the Flex-Radio SDR-1000 is called "the radio that just keeps getting better." How will it perform for tropical bands and foreign medium wave DXing? I intend to find out! Follow along as I investigate this software defined radio (SDR) for 120 - 60 meters as well as foreign MW DX on the 9-kHz "splits". Read more about this interesting software receiver at http://www.sdr-1000.blogspot.com/ (Guy Atkins via rec.radio. shortwave) (There are several very interesting mp-3 audio files on Guy Atkins blog showing the very good audio from SDR-1000 when compared to the R- 75. Listen and reflect!! Also visit http://www.flex-radio.com/ and http://www.cqdx.it/woodbox/controlpanel.html /SWB editor) -------------- Guy Atkins` interesting blog site caused me to mail Guy asking about his experience of PC generated noise which for most people is a terrible nuisance and always turns me to switch off all computers when DX-ing. This morning the mail below showed up. /SWB editor) ----------------- May 14: Today I added a section to my blog about avoiding noise from computers, in response to your e-mail. My apologies for taking so long to get this posted. Regards and best of DX, Guy Atkins http://www.sdr-1000.blogspot.com (Thanks a lot guy for your interesting article on your blog explaining how a DX-er in practice can avoid PC-generated noise and what parts you will need for this. /editor) (SW Bulletin May 14 via DXLD) A GUIDE TO TABLE MOUNTAIN FIELD SITE Institute for Telecommunication Sciences, December 1966 The Ionospheric Telecommunications Laboratory provides technical information on radio propagation factors affecting design and use of radio systems. The emphasis of this work is on long-range radio transmission problems. Radio propagation studies are carried out for ionospheric, groundwave, and line-of-sight paths to define the limitations, disturbances, and capacity of the transmission medium as a channel. This information obtained is directed toward guidance of engineering practices, allocation and use of radio frequencies, and evaluation of system capabilities and limitations. Standards and methods of measurement are developed for radio systems to fulfill the needs of federal agencies and industry involved in radio telecommunications operation and regulation. Studies of information theory and coding, modulation, and antenna design are directed toward improvement of the reliability of systems and to the efficient utilization of the radio frequency spectrum. Consulting and advisory work is done in accordance with the needs of other government, commercial, and scientific agencies. A part of the experimental work required to render these services is done at the Table Mountain field site. Read more at: http://www.its.bldrdoc.gov/home/programs/tm_quiet_zone/1966/chap2.html (via rec.radio.shortwave via SW Bulletin May 14, 2006 via DXLD) Includes HF RADAR transmitting capability. But WHERE IS IT? Nothing on the above page explains this. Go back to chapter 1 page: it is near Boulder CO, and this page says it is receive-only; since this info is 40 years old, we can only wonder about its status in 2006y: Table Mountain Field Site is the principal general experimental receiving site in the Boulder area. It was originally leased in 1954 and acquired by purchase in 1961. The size is approximately 2 ½ miles in a north-south direction by 1 ½ miles east-west, and has an area of approximately 1800 acres. It is an elevated, flat-top butte, with a uniform 2% slope, and is uniquely suited to its uses for radio experiments. The economy and convenience of its proximity to the I.T.S.A. Laboratories is an important factor. No radio transmissions are conducted at the site, and power distribution on the site is by means of buried lines to avoid interference. . . http://www.its.bldrdoc.gov/home/programs/tm_quiet_zone/1966/chap1.html Or start at the homepage http://www.its.bldrdoc.gov/home/programs/tm_quiet_zone/1966/ (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) CIRCUIT CITY OFFERS SW RADIO FOR $4.43! The radio that used to retail for $29.99 is on sale right now for 4.43. If you decide to add it to your radio collection, pick it up at your local CircuitCity, to save on s&h. NexxTech™ AM/FM/Shortwave Pocket Radio (20-8002) Tune in to the world: Enjoy local AM or FM stations or tune in to shortwave bands to hear broadcasts from around the world. The small size and great sound make this radio a pleasure to take anywhere. Alarm clock: Use this radio to wake you up or remind you of something you need to do. Battery-powered: Requires AA batteries (sold separately). http://www.circuitcity.com/ssm/NexxTech-trade-AM-FM-Shortwave-Pocket-Radio-20-8002-/sem/rpsm/oid/100417/rpem/ccd/productDetail.do (via Sergei Sosedkin, dxldyg via DXLD) Even enlarged, there is no clue as to frequency coverage, except it has ``nine SW bands``; tuning is apparently step up/down, not direct input, and has digital display (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) DIGITAL BROADCASTING ++++++++++++++++++++ IBOC WILL FAIL TO SAVE AM AM is dying because of broadcasters` gross all-around neglect for AM's potential. Let me explain by first asking a question. If you're a broadcaster who claims iBOC AM has the same audio quality as analog FM, ask yourself this: If an iBOC talk AM like KNX 1070 has a somewhat lower Arbitron rating and its sister iBOC FM like Jack 93.1 has a higher Arbitron, then why not SWITCH formats - that is, MOVE the News/Talk to 93.1 FM and the rock/ variety Jack mix to 1070 AM? The 50 kW undirectional AM will have a MUCH BIGGER coverage, and should yield an even higher rating and more valuable ad revenue potential than 93.1 FM, with little cost to swap. The 93.1 FM serves L.A. and Orange counties primarily (and those are the only two counties KNX Newsradio gives traffic reports for anymore - between call-ins). The news-talk KNX is listened to by most people in their cars and at work, so the 93.1 would be received in office buildings better. The same USA broadcasters that tout AM iBOC as having FM-quality can't even think outside the box and make logical business decisions like this because they're still stuck on AM = Talk, AM = Talk, AM = Talk. I think the same short-sighted broadcasters that (assumptively) believe that AM is only useful as a talk medium will have done irreversible damage to its potential here in the USA, and I expressely say USA, because this is the only place on this globe that this phenomenon is happening (except for Canada, where AM stations are simply disappearing, thereby skipping the "slow death" step altogether). Here in the USA, we are **ADDING** AM stations, be it new freestanding plants-and-towers, or more often than not, just tacking on a diplexed new signal to an existing facility. Just review all the CPs still in the FCC database. And... yes, those newbies are ALL just talk radio, nothing new and novel, fresh and exciting, usually syndicated and non-local TALK. Add to this all the existing AM stations that shut off and removed analog stereo modulation gear (in the name of converting to iBOC, or for old-wives' tale coverage). Plus, so many stations (iBOC or not) narrowed their bandwidths to telephone quality to reduce splatter and get a measly 0.5% coverage increase (but created a more irritating metallic, grating, creaking adjacent-channel splatter in the process). When iBOC (that's right, WHEN iBOC) fails, the AMS exciters will be long gone and NOT reinstalled, nor will the station ever go back to a less-tired original format like music, comedy, or some sort of un-watered-down news and information format without call-ins. AM will basically be a myriad of boring automated commercial syndicates until it dies because no broadcaster is willing to put any REAL money into them. Eventually, our AM band will die because of NEGLECT, not because of lack of listenership... THAT will come in time DUE TO the neglect of AM broadcasting in the USA. Even just TEN years ago, listening to AM was FUN and ENTERTAINING - each signal had a real and identifiable personality. The voice of that city. Not anymore. All sound like the other 10 receivable signals on the dial at any one time... and now many with that bacon-frying whizzing sound in the background. Nothing motivates me to spend money for an HD radio to listen to digital AM SOLELY because the AM BROADCAST FORMATS HAVE NOT CHANGED as has happened on FM. At least FM stations make use of the benefit of the digital stereo stream by programming music on it. I haven't seen one AM station flip to music with the flip of their iBOC switch. So that alone indicates the direction of the industry with regard to AM... and that direction is circling the drain. A perfect storm for FAILURE. iBOC AM is DOA because stations are still feeding the same extraordinarily low- bitrate frog-in-your-throat audio material into the transmitter, underutilizing the iBOC technology by sending lower-quality audio through their new higher-quality digital transmission medium. NRSC never sounded so good (and we all complained about THOSE standards when they were rolled out). If just ONE or TWO AM iBOC stations in L.A. changed to classic rock, A/C, a Jack/ Jill/ Bob/ Tom/ Dick/ Harry format, or most any type of format found on FM, then YES I would indeed be in line to fork over 3 days salary for one. iBOC should level the playing field, and let music and talk fill both bands at equal ratios. Have I explained enough where AM is going and why it will die? Good, I'm done for a few more months (Darwin Long, Thousand Oaks, CA, ABDX via DXLD) USA DRM GROUP ANNUAL MEETING, SILVER SPRING, MARYLAND, MAY 11-12, 2006 Winfried Schilke referred to this illustrated article about the USA DRM Group meeting: http://www.radiointel.com/drm2006.htm (Kai Ludwig, Germany, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Viz., with lots of pictures! The captions still showing here (gh) By Ulis Fleming k3lu @ radiointel [remove for spam] dot com It was with great pleasure to have the privilege to attend and participate in the 2006 USA DRM Group Annual Meeting held at this year at Adventist World Radio HQ in Silver Spring, Maryland USA. This event was co-hosted along with the annual NASB meeting which was held the following day. In attendance, along with North American Shortwave Broadcasters members and a small handful of radio listeners, were some of the leading minds on the cutting edge of DRM technology and developments. A podcast of the meeting will be available for download in the near future but here are some of the highlights of the meeting that I thought were interesting. Adil Mina of Continental Electronics, one of the companies that make transmitters, gave a very charismatic and positive speech on the outlook for DRM. Mr. Mina mentioned that Sangean has made 150 DRM-DAB (MP40?) receivers in their first production run and they are in the second phase of production. It is expected that these radios will sell for 299 Euros and that perhaps by summer more DRM radios will be available for under $200 US though no specific manufactures or models were mentioned. Mr. Mina also noted that that there are several commercial groups expressing interest in broadcasting on shortwave in DRM and the US Department of Defense is evaluating DRM though for what purpose was not mentioned. One of the appealing aspects of DRM Mr. Mina pointed out is that a country the size of the continental US can be covered with only 5 transmitters and with minimal power. The DRM Consortium Technical Committee Chairman Don Messer spoke of the technical aspects of DRM technology, developments and upcoming tests to be done in Canada, Mexico, Brazil and the USA. It is anticipated that DRM will be tested on MW in the US. One idea that Mr. Messer mentioned was the possibility to utilize the current allocated and under used 11 meter SW band (26 MHz) for regional broadcasting. 43 channels could be set up in this band for regional/local use via DRM and offer very good local coverage with only a few hundred watts and a city the size of Mexico City can be covered with 2 to 6 kW. Mr Messer also acknowledged that some current FCC regulations would have to be changed to allow domestic SW US broadcasting but this was one of the possible uses of DRM in the future. The 26 MHz broadcasting scenario has also caught the attention of NPR (National Public Radio). Alan Heil, former deputy director of the Voice of America and author of "Voice of America: A History", gave a very moving speech. Mr. Heil's speech, "Why Is America Jamming Itself?", addressed the illogical and unnecessary dismantling of the VOA now at a time when the USA's voice of public diplomacy needs to be heard globally more than ever and especially in English. Mr. Heil points out that the VOA's dismantling comes at a time when other countries are ramping up their international services on the internet and the airwaves. After Mr. Heil's speech, Adil Mina noted that China has actively been copying transmitters and from 2000-2006 purchased more than 40 HF transmitters. In 2006 China will install 7 new shortwave Chinese made transmitters in Cuba. [captions] Adrian Peterson (AWR) Mike Adams (Far East Broadcasting Corp) KFBS & Jeff White (Radio Miami International) WRMI Adil Mina (Continental Electronics) Alan Heil, former deputy director of the VOA Don Messer (DRM Consortium Technical Committee Chariman) John Sykes (BBC World Service) Project Director Digital Radio Richard D'Angelo (Executive Director of NASWA) Johannes von Weyssenhoff (Starwaves) Gordon Sinclair (TCI International) talks about DRM antennas. Left to Right Mike Adams (Far East Broadcasting Corp) KFBS Don Messer (DRM Consortium Technical Committee Chariman) Adil Mina (Continental Electronics) The Radios Thanks to Dr. Kim Andrew Elliott and others at the meeting a table was set up with DRM receivers to tune in to the special broadcasts for the USA DRM Group Meeting from CBC/Radio Canada International on 11730 kHz Here are a the radios that were on display. The only radio not shown is a Ten Tec RX320D. Below is the radio that was first introduced at the meeting by Mr. Adil Mina, the Sangean (Roberts MP40). The MP40 is a DAB and DRM digital radio that covers AM (MW), FM and Shortwave. Also featured in this radio is a MP3 player/recorder that allows the listener to "time shift" listening. There is also SD memory card slot on the right side of the radio. Sangean (Roberts MP40) From Coding Technologies the Digital World Traveller The StarWaves W37 high fidelity receiver Final Thoughts I walked away from the meeting feeling that analog will be around for a good while yet though in time perhaps, and maybe not even DRM, there will [come] a day when digital radio is as common as analog is today but how long will this take is anyone's guess. If there ever was a catch 22 situation this one is it. If you are upset that you are not able to go out today and purchase a DRM radio off the shelf, it's not the DRM Consortium's fault. They really have no special power in forcing manufacturers to take the lead by producing DRM stand-alone radios. Radio manufacturers are a business and that means they expect to make money making radios. If there's a demand for these radios, then the manufacturers will follow. Today not a single US broadcaster has converted a transmitter for DRM capability. It was mentioned at the meeting that most shortwave transmitters can be DRM-ready within a few hours with the right engineers, but this also takes money which is something that many shortwave US broadcasters either don't have or are yet not willing to give up. If this was 25 years ago we would probably be seeing the pockets of the VOA taking an active lead in this process but since they are being sliced and gutted like a fish that isn't going to happen either. The 26 MHz reutilization scenario seems like a good one. There is without a doubt a demand and need in the USA for good community and local radio as evidenced by the FCC finally allowing some licensed LPFM stations on the dial, but at what expense? Many people feel that the large mega radio corporations are not serving the local and community needs as well as they should. Day in and day out listeners are offered the same "canned radio" coast to coast on their AM and FM dials. The NAB, as well as NPR, initially opposed the rule making to create LPFM licenses which is rooted in serving the community. Unfortunately many LPFM applications and wannabes don't fit the bandwidth requirements as there is little to no spectrum available for them to use in metropolitan areas. I can't see the NAB giving up any more possible listeners to a 26 MHz community/local band without a fight. After all it was the NAB who opposed something to me that seems so trivial as US satellite radio from broadcasting local traffic reports. Today podcasting has many broadcasters scratching their heads wondering if they are losing even more listeners. Mentions at the meeting of NPR as being interested in 26 MHz DRM is also suspect. If NPR opposed LPFM, then why would they support 26 MHz DRM? FCC leadership has been dismal when it comes to their stewardship of the airwaves. I would not expect the FCC to latch on to this truly great idea unless someone from one of the "Daddy War Bucks" radio corporations said it was a good idea but I hope I am wrong. And probably iBiquity, the fine people who call their stuff HD Radio, will be lobbying against the idea. iBiquity gets a cut of every digital "HD Radio" manufactured whereas DRM doesn't. Follow the money. I hate to say it, but the leadership and push on DRM is going to come from Europe and not from US consumers. It will be the Europeans who are going to jump-start the drive for market demand on DRM radios. At least for now it seems that Sangean has done something. Let's see how well it does once the radio becomes widely available The day ended with a most enjoyable dinner, thanks to the folks at TCI International, Continental Electronics, Thomson Broadcast & Multimedia and the Assemblies of Yahweh/WMLK Radio. I got the lucky seat and sat next to AWR's Adrian Peterson. Mr. Peterson is a walking encyclopedia of radio history and a real friend to radio listeners worldwide. (RadioIntel.com May 13 via DXLD) Some comments from my side: ``the US Department of Defense is evaluating DRM though for what purpose was not mentioned`` -- Encrypted communications? I seem to recall that T-Systems demonstrated a conditional access system for DRM on IFA 2003, using the Zehlendorf 693 kHz transmitter (the signal that resulted in many complaints in the UK then). ``It is anticipated that DRM will be tested on MW in the US.`` -- But is it meant for possible real use in IBOC country? By the way, a while ago I saw in DXLD observations of CAM-D tests, pointing out that the analogue audio was present only in one sideband. It is perhaps of interest that exactly the same is the case on DRM hybrid transmissions. ``Adil Mina noted that China has actively been copying transmitters ... In 2006 China will install 7 new shortwave Chinese made transmitters in Cuba.`` -- PSM technology, if I recall correct. The new transmitters in Albania, Equatorial Guinea and Zanzibar are such PSM rip-offs as well (Kai Ludwig, Germany, May 14, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) SPECIAL DRM REPORT No loggings from me this week as I was on the road attending the annual DRM/National Association of Shortwave Broadcasters (`NASB`) two day meeting in Silver Spring, Maryland, Adventist World Radio played host this year at their beautiful headquarters facility just outside Washington, DC. The meeting was recorded for distribution through the Internet as a Podcast so it maybe available for your listening pleasure. The joint meetings were attended by broadcasters, transmission providers, transmitter and antenna manufacturers, regulatory industry, receiver manufacturers, radio amateurs, and shortwave listeners. Adil Mina of Continental Electronics showed a Sangean receiver that came off the production line just four weeks ago, which is marketed under the Roberts name. The first production run was 150 but Sangean is now beginning another run. The price was 299 Euros. The next batch of $200.00 or less is expected to be available by August. He expects them to be available before the IBC conference in the summer. Adil expects that in three years or less DRM receivers will be $50.00 or less mainly because of the strong interest the Chinese have in manufacturing them. I anticipate either Adil or a member of his team to be available at the Winter SWL Festival in Kulpsville next March to bring us up-to-date on DRM progress both on the production end and receiving end. Don Messer, Chairman of the DRM Consortium Technical Committee, spoke about the introduction of DRM in the Americas. He firmly believes that within 2 years DRM broadcasts will be available either commercially or as public broadcasting or both with people using affordable receivers. The 26 MHz with line of sight coverage seems to be the model that is gaining the most traction and could be ready for deployment within two years provided the FCC makes some rule changes. Kim Elliott conducted ongoing demonstrations using two Roberts DRM portable radios, without an external antenna, with mixed results. DRM is either `in` or `out` but not in between. These receivers are also capable of analog shortwave reception. The programs were transmitted by Radio Canada International in Sackville. The meeting was well worth attending as experts in the evolving DRM field shared their knowledge and experiences as this new technology emerges. Although receiver progress is slow in developing, it appears that the pace is picking up with many of the engineers predicting cheap portables coming in the next two years. In the meanwhile, early adopters will need to a little bit of an experimentation mindset as the technology develops. Watch Shortwave Center for a comprehensive report, and maybe some pictures, on this two-day meeting (Rich D`Angelo, PA, NASWA Flashsheet May 14 via DXLD) & see KOREA SOUTH ###