DX LISTENING DIGEST 6-096, July 2, 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 SHORTWAVE AIRINGS OF WORLD OF RADIO 1320: Sun 2230 WOR WRMI 9955 Mon 0300 WOR WBCQ 9330-CLSB Mon 0415 WOR WBCQ 7415 Mon 0500 WOR WRMI 9955 Wed 0930 WOR WWCR1 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 ** ALGERIA [and non]. Re: ``The last listing for Algeria on SW in the WRTH was in 2002.`` --- Finally reported as closed down definitely in summer 2003 after transmissions were highly unreliable for quite some time before (a couple of years I think). (Kai Ludwig, Germany, July 1, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) [non]. Re: ``[ENRS, also known as Radio Algierienne] is currently using hired shortwave transmitters to relay their Holy Kor`an Radio service to North Africa.`` --- What Holy Kor`an service anyway? WRTH 2006 shows such programmes only for a 0400-0800 slot, sharing the frequencies with other programming. I would suspect the VT transmitters to carry rather Chaîne 1, the main program in Arabic. Perhaps somebody can check if shortwave is // Chaîne 1 on satellite or LW/MW? (Kai Ludwig, Germany, July 1, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) [OTOH, various logs at different times do mention Kor`an program] Cf. http://www.wwdxc.de/topnews2.htm (under UK). So Radio Kor`an considerably expanded beyond the four hour slot in the morning, shown in WRTH 2006? Or is it no live relay of existing output what they sent out via the UK transmitters? (Kai Ludwig, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** AUSTRALIA. 6080, ABC with local football transmission overcoming Radio Singapore International after 1100, while RA was still audible on 12080 // 9580 // 9590 // 6020 poor with talk programming (Raúl Saavedra, Costa Rica, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** BAHAMAS. QSL tip: 104.5, ZNS, Nassau, v/l, 569d, f/up#2. v/s: Donald Rolle, Dir. of Eng. mentions "Harris 10K FM transmitter" and "ZNS (Zephyr News Sunshine)". Good DX! (Michael Procop, Bedford, Ohio (Cleveland), amfmtvdx at qth.net via DXLD) ** BOLIVIA. Estimado Glenn, Visitando la página web de Radio Fides, http://www.radiofides.com/ encontré un aviso, en venta transmisor de 50KW, marca CCA, modelo AM-50000D, calibrado para 760 KHz, por $us 55 mil. Habrá desistido de su instalación en OM? 73 (Rogildo Aragão, Cochabamba - Bolivia, July 1, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Estimado Rogildo, ¿Talvez compraron e instalaron ya un nuevo transmisor mejor? ¿Se escucha bien? 73, (Glenn to Rogildo, via DXLD) Estimado Glenn, Gracias por la pronta respuesta. Todavía no escuche bien R. Fides; están muy limitado en horarios de transmisión. Estaré atento y informaré. Aprovechando gustaría de hacerle una consulta; en una visita en el inicio de año a las oficinas de Sittel en La Paz, consulté al responsable por radiodifusión sobre el no uso del prefijo CP; fui informado que no están proporcionando a las radios, talvez en un futuro. Fue abolido por la ITU? 73 (Rogildo Aragão, Bolivia, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Seguramente que no; esto se decide a nivel nacional (Glenn to Rogildo, via DXLD) CP-- callsigns are no longer being assigned. The MW transmitter for sale was previously in DXLD (gh) ** BRAZIL. 4876.20, R. Roraima, Boa Vista, 0020-0040+ JUL 2 – Soft ballads, then long Portuguese announcements by man from 0035, definite mention of Boa Vista 0038. Fair signal. 4924.90, Rádio Educação Rural, Tefé, 0051-0120 JUL 2 – U.S. pop music (Eric Clapton ``Heaven`` and others of similar style), long announcement by man in Portuguese beginning 0115, R. Educação ID 0118. Good signal (David Yocis, Harper’s Ferry WV, USA, 39.13 N 77.48 W, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CANADA. Re CFRX, 6-095: The antenna is actually a vertical, about 10 meters or 30-plus feet tall, sitting out in the middle of the field not far from the transmitter building (Harold Sellers, ODXA yg via DXLD) I believe this is largely a labor of love for Steve Canney, and the folks at CFRX have obliged with their support of infrastructure. If it weren't for Steve's dedication for these many years, I suspect the transmission would have disappeared long ago (Richard Cuff / Allentown, PA USA, ibid.) [previously:] CFRX, 6070, 8:21 am [EDT? = 1221 UT] "news-talk ten-ten CFRB", ad for Gypsy Kings concerts July 3rd, 4th, promo for a "Wrestling on Radio" show. 6/27 (Larry Russell, MI, MARE Tipsheet via DXLD) ** CHINA [and non]. Again this morning July 2, 1320 UT, the Chinese broadcast is coming through on 18160 and 14310 // 15265 and 15285. On 14310 an American amateur comes on occasionally asking them to move (Wade Smith, New Brunswick, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Well, he's not very smart. How does he suppose anyone at the transmitting station is going to hear him? :-) (Andy Sennitt, ibid.) I also found 14310 at 1335 July 2, // 15265 and 15285. The last two were extremely strong, with YL vocal in English, reminding me of something from Lion King. 14310 moderately strong. Recheck 1403, 14310 was off for monitoring check, but back on promptly at 1405. Meanwhile, MARCO net was on 14309. As in Nets to You: 1400 14308 MEDICAL AMATEUR RADIO COUNCIL Sunday [Grand Rounds] Medical Amateur Radio Council: Physicians, dentists, veterinarians, nurses, therapists, etc. Check 14308 on the hour for MARCO members. http://www.smbs.buffalo.edu/med/marco/ I e-mailed someone in MARCO explaining what the 14310 QRM is (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** COSTA RICA. Re TIRWR from Glenn and Raúl --- Frequency 9725 - or to be more accurate, it's slightly lower than that - has been audible each morning this past week around 0700, and at good strength, so I would guess that this one must be running to about full power. It 'goes' for an hour or so before fading out. The 5 and 7 MHz channels are not audible at this time in the summer months. 73 (Noel R. Green, Blackpool UK, July 1, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CUBA. Listening Friday evening on the AM medium wave broadcast band to the new Radio Reloj Pinar del Río provincial relay, operating on 790 kiloHertz and running 20 kiloWatts; it`s another of the new solid state high technology transmitters that are replacing the old power- hungry vacuum tube broadcast equipment. The new 20 kiloWatt 790 kiloHertz transmitter is located on the outskirts of the city of Pinar del Río, about 100 miles west of Havana, and tests done by RadioCuba engineers show that it has an overall conversion efficiency of around 80 percent --- that meaning that the new Radio Reloj relay will save a lot of electricity while providing a much better service, because it is also capable of modulating the carrier wave on positive peaks up to 125 percent. A similar 10 kiloWatt transmitter was recently installed by RadioCuba for the Radio Reloj City of Havana station on 950 kiloHertz, something that has improved the coverage of Radio Reloj in three of the nation's western provinces (DXers Unlimited's weekend edition for 1-2 July 2006 By Arnie Coro radio amateur CO2KK, ODXA via DXLD) Arnie says he is 64 today; happy birthday! (Glenn Hauser, DXLD) ** EL SALVADOR. Stations listed in WRTH 2006 in San Salvador were not heard during my stay: 990, 1070, 1080, 1200, 1330, 1360. Also these were not heard and should be removed from the list: 655, 930, 1100, 1140, 1160, 1420, 1580 (Tetsuya Hirahara, El Tiempo Hechicero DX, Radio Nuevo Mundo, July, via DXLD) ** GERMANY. Re: ``As reported long ago in DXLD, 5910 RR is via Nauen. Interesting that DTK are not coördinated enough to avoid overlapping with Wertachtal, tho the Russian does not officially start until 0400.`` --- Probably related to the independent frequency planning (Deutsche Welle and T-Systems staff at Jülich, respectively). So nobody marked the Wertachtal transmission as "crash-start" and so they are transmitting some IS before. Speaking about interval signals: Here is a collection of pictures about the history of Radio Bremen, also featuring an old IS machine, here as a museum piece with a big trigger for visitors to let it play: http://www.student.uni-oldenburg.de/torsten.christoph/fotoal10.htm Re: ``MV Baltic Radio this Sunday ... We know it is now GERMANY; for how long?`` --- They moved to T-Systems permanently when they renamed the station from Stör-Sender into MV Baltic Radio a while ago, not related to the recent shake-up at Ulbroka (LVRTC severely increasing its prices, making it impossible to still broker airtime on the 100 kW shortwave rig for 46 Euro per hour). (Kai Ludwig, Germany, July 1, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) see also NETHERLANDS Ambiguously, I meant, how long is the broadcast starting at 1200? First posted as 1300 UT, by mistake, I guess (gh) On June 25, 2006 I received a E-QSL from EMR, MV Baltic Radio Germany 6045 kHz. June 18, 2006. sent reception report via e-mail and received new full data E-QSL card in 7 days via e-mail. V/S Tom Taylor, QTH: EMR, c/o A. Taylor, 32, Sheraring [sic] Drive, Carlshalton, Surrey, SM5 1BL England. Audio clip is available at http://www.bclnews.it/audiodx/eur/europe.htm RX: SONY SW7600G 1996-2006 10 years of listening ANT: VHF outdoor at 250 degrees http://acquamarina.blogspot.com (73 from Italy Nino Marabello, bclnews.it via DXLD) ** GREECE. FTH Greece, on 15650 @ 2310z July 01 //9420 & //7475. HFCC A06 shows 15650 and 7475 from KAV and 9420 from AVL. 15650 is aimed to South America (almost 90 degrees away from a N Am bearing). (Jerry Lenamon, Waco Tx, Drake R8A with sloper, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) But they changed things around June 1. No more Kavala, so all from Avlis. 15650 now aimed eastward toward Australia, and 7475 to South America, I think. And don`t forget the weekly English hour, Hellenes Around the World is coming up at 0200 UT Sunday, by when 15650 is replaced by 17520, both probably inaudible in NAm. [Later:] We didn`t forget, but ERT did --- just Greek music, no English on 9420. Meanwhile I hunted around on their website for the streaming link and finally found it: http://tvradio.ert.gr/radio/liveradio/voiceofGreece.asp (Glenn, ibid.) Glenn: It sounds as if the week-end help at the Voice of Greece has picked up the wrong tape to play at 0200 UT on Sunday. We're supposed to get Katerina with her Greeks Everywhere show at this time. Instead, I am listening to It's All Greek To Me. At least the music is a big improvement on what he played last week. Maybe they will play Greeks Everywhere on Monday at 0000 UT (John Babbis, MD, USA, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Yes, when I had it turned down checking out WWCR, there was finally a break for announcements, which I thought might have been in English. Let`s hear what happen at 0000 UT Monday (Glenn, ibid.) Glenn: Re the old saying that "the squeaking wheel always gets greased." When you complained about having to look at the Voice of Greece's frequencies on their web site one area at a time, I forwarded it to them. Somebody there must have listened, because they changed that bottom section to read "Press here to download." http://www.voiceofgreece.gr/en/frequencies.asp When you go through all the motions, this is what you get from Microsoft Excel Viewer (John Babbis, MD, July 2, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** HONDURAS. 3249.65, R. Luz y Vida, San Luís, 0132 JUL 2 – Presumed with Spanish preaching, poor modulation on a big carrier. Has been back on or close to 3250 in recent weeks, but apparently has drifted back here (David Yocis, Harper’s Ferry WV, USA, 39.13 N 77.48 W, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** HUNGARY. German service of Radio Budapest no longer broadcasts news every day. At least on Saturdays they had to cut them due to lack of resources (Kai Ludwig, July 2nd, 2006 at 11:17, Media Network blog via DXLD) ** INDIA. 15075, AIR Bangalore, *0213 JUL 2 – Tones, sitar-type tuning music, into listed program in presumed Kannada. Good signal, also audible but much weaker on // 11985 (David Yocis, Harper’s Ferry WV, USA, 39.13 N 77.48 W, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** INDIA. 25th week of Vanoli Ulagam (Radio World) --- Dear DXers, All India Radio Chennai celebrate the 25th week of Vanoli Ulagam (Radio World). This special program will broadcast on 02 July 2006 (Sunday). In addition, AIR published the special limited edition QSL:3 and pennant. Those who are wanted to get it don’t miss to listen the 25th program. Those who are want to get the special limited edition World Smallest QSL card (6 x 3.5 CM), send your reception report with 1 New IRC to the following address. Indian listener must send Rs.10/- mint stamps for return QSL. N.C. Gnanaprakasam, Program Executive, Vanoli Ulagam Thiraikadal Adaivaram Thamiizh Naatham All India Radio Kamarajar Salai Chennai 600004 Tamilnadu, India The schedule of the Tamil DX Program `Vaanoli Ulagam` (Radio World) is as follows: Sundays between 1115-1215 UT (for about 10 minutes) To Sri Lanka : 1053 kHz Tuticorin (200 kw) 15050 Khampur, Delhi (250 kw) 17860 New Delhi (100 kw) To SE Asia: 13695 Bangalore (500 kw) 15770 Aligarh (250 kw) 17810 Panaji (250 kw) 73’s, (Jaisakthivel, Producer and Presenter, Chennai, July 2, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Could you narrow down the time a bit? Why put us non-Tamil-speakers through a full hour in order to hear it? And could we recognize it anyway, as this week you don`t mention there being any bits of English? (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** INDONESIA. Used to get one of the best signals from RRI domestic service on 9680 all the way from 0800 to 1500, but this Saturday at 1300 there was another signal struggling on that frequency producing a hum. Recheck by 1330 and the hum was gone, but a little static remain on frequency. Keep thinking that conditions are near floor level or just my imagination? (Raúl Saavedra, Costa Rica, July 1, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** INTERNATIONAL VACUUM [and non]. MONITORING NASA & SPACE COMMUNICATIONS: 29 page pdf, just updated, mostly VHF/UHF, but including an HF list: http://www.monitoringtimes.com/html/Monitoring%20NASA%20and%20Space%20Communications.pdf Also consult: http://monitor-post.blogspot.com/ Or, succinctly: Cape Radio Frequencies in use for shuttle launches 2764 6937 2836 7525 3041 7765 3120 7833 3187 9043 3365 10780* 4993 11104 5011 11205 5180 11548 5246 14973 5711 17780 6897 20185.6 *Primary Frequency WA3NAN shuttle audio rebroadcast frequencies: 3860 LSB 7185 LSB 14295 USB 21395 USB (Tom Sevart N2UHC, Frontenac, KS, http://www.geocities.com/n2uhc UDXF via Pim Ripken, BDX via DXLD) Cape Radio also using 9132. Heard here yesterday and today on 10780, 9132. Also heard 5711 being used this morning (Steve Lare, Holland, MI USA, July 2, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) The Goddard Amateur Radio Club (WA3NAN) web site is at http://garc.gsfc.nasa.gov/ : We plan to provide full retransmission of all NASCOM-supplied audio during the upcoming STS-121 Mission. To send email to the retransmission operators, please use wa3nan @ yahoo.com Note that this mailbox will only be checked when someone is physically present at the retransmission facility. Shuttle Retransmission Fact Sheet, by Jim Blackwell, N3KWU Last Update 03/05/98 [N.B.!] http://garc.gsfc.nasa.gov/retransmission/shuttle_faq.html (via John Norfolk, ibid.) ** INTERNATIONAL VACUUM. D2-MAC: Over and out --- Today (July 1) a complete TV system disappeared for good: At about 1200 UT the D2-MAC signal of DR2 on the Thor 2 satellite (transponder 15, 11.434 GHz vertical) has been switched off, at least according to http://forum.mysnip.de/read.php?8773,419908,424590,sv=1#msg-424590 DR2 was the very last D2-MAC station since the other D2-MAC signals from Denmark were shut down earlier this year. Afterwards Danmarks Radio switched off the encryption in March (perhaps simply because they lost the Eurocrypt platform when the commercial broadcasters left?), turning DR2 for the very last weeks into the first unencrypted D2-MAC signal after a full decade. In the early nineties Bruxelles (i.e. what is today the European Union) tried to make D2-MAC mandatory for satellite broadcasting. Specifically in Germany the postal office inaugurated D2-MAC with their TV-Sat system, but Astra literally blew them out of the market. Ironically the last ever D2-MAC signal was on the same satellite than the replacement for Kvitsøy 1314 kHz: Transponder 11 on Thor 2 (11.372 GHz vertical) now carries all NRK radio programms, and NRK communicated this as replacement for the Europakanalen via the now defunct mediumwave giant (Kai Ludwig, Germany, July 1, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** IRAN [non]. MOLDOVA / USA: Esquema de la estación religiosa Radio Payam-e Doost, en idioma farsi con destino a Medio Oriente, y vía los transmisores ubicados en Grigoriopol (500 kW). HORA UTC KHZ 0230-0315 7460 1800-1845 7480 La estación puede ser aceptablemente recepcionada en el cono sur de América a partir de las 0230 UTC. Cabe señalar que la emisora se identifica como \"Bahai Radio\". QTH: Radio Payam e Doost (Bahai Radio), P. O. Box 765, Great Falls, VA 22066, USA. E-mail: payam @ bahairadio.org Web: http://www.bahairadio.org/farsi/shortwave.asp (Marcelo A. Cornachioni, Argentina, Conexión Digital July 2 via DXLD) ** JAMAICA. PRESERVING THE JBC LEGACY The Jamaica Broadcasting Corporation, which would have marked 47 years of service on June 14, 2006, had it been allowed to survive, was a very special place that refuses to disappear although it has been nine years since its transmitters went silent and its picture faded to black, forever. At a gathering in Fort Lauderdale, South Florida on the weekend of June 24-25, former employees swapped stories about the creativity and ingenuity of colleagues who pioneered indigenous Jamaican radio, quality all-music format on the FM band and colour television among other innovations that laid the basis for today’s variegated broadcast environment. The occasion was the launch of the JBC Alumni Association Inc, registered in the state of Florida as a non-profit organisation. Among other things, the association aims to preserve the legacy of the JBC. Read the report by former DG Claude Robinson in the Jamaica Observer http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/columns/html/20060701T180000-0500_108251_OBS_PRESERVING_THE_JBC_LEGACY_.asp (July 2nd, 2006, 14:42 UTC by Andy, Media Network blog via DXLD) ** KALININGRAD. Kaliningrad, formerly German (1255-1946) Königsberg, is the extreme western oblast (province) on Russia. Most of the oblast is in the basin of the Pregolya River and its tributaries. Centred on Kaliningrad city, it was formed in 1945 from the northern half of German East Prussia, which was ceded to the U.S.S.R. by the Potsdam agreement of that year. Administratively, the oblast was made part of the Russian S.F.S.R., even though it was separated from the parent republic by about 225 miles (360 km) of territory belonging to the Lithuanian, Belorussian, and Latvian republics of the U.S.S.R. When those republics achieved their independence from the collapsing Soviet Union in 1991, the Kaliningrad oblast became a true enclave has its borders with Lithuania and Poland, completely separated by them from the rest of Russia. The oblast comprises low, gently rolling hills and swampy lowlands; about 20 percent is in mixed forest of oak, pine, spruce, beech, and hornbeam. The main branches of industry are engineering, metalworking, and paper-pulp making. A large combine at Yantarny now produces Amber, once the monopoly of the Teutonic Knights. Fishing is important along the coast. Grains, potatoes, vegetables, and dairy cattle dominate agriculture. Over three-fourths of the population is urban and the total land area is 5,830 square miles with a population of 886,900. Radio Broadcasting Kaliningrad is considered as a separate broadcast country as per the NASWA radio country counting rules. As per World Radio TV Handbook the transmitters of Kaliningradsky ORTPC are located at Bolshakovo that consists of 9 x 80 KW shortwave transmitters. Voice of Russia and Radio Rossii use these transmitters for their broadcasts to Europe. Radio Netherlands also used Kaliningrad was used last season as a relay station for their Dutch language broadcasts to Western Europe. Most of the shortwave transmitters are used as pairs for getting a power out put of 160 KW. Apart from the shortwave transmitters, currently there are also some medium wave transmitters operating on 549 KHz (50 KW), 1143 kHz (150 KW), 1386 kHz (1200 KW), from Kaliningrad. Out of these the most powerful 1200 KW transmitter operating on 1386 kHz, which is also used for international relay transmissions, will close down by Nov 2007. The registered frequencies for broadcasts from Kaliningrad in A06 are 5925 1800-2100, 7300 1345-1900, 7330 0900-1000 and 1500-1900, 11830 1400-1700. Verification and QSL Cards can of course be obtained for transmissions via Kaliningrad. Reports on Voice of Russia transmissions could be mailed to the usual address at Pyatinitskaya, Moscow or via e-mail to letters @ vor.ru Please request to include the transmitter location near the frequency in the QSL Card. Radio Rossii also verifies reports on their broadcasts and reports should be addressed to Radio Rossii, Yamskogo Polya 5-YA ul, 19/21, 125040 Moscow, Russia. E-mail reports may be tried to mail @ radiorus.ru (Compiled by T. R. Rajeesh for World DX Club (with courtesy to Sergey M. Kolesov), frequency information by Mike Barraclough, July World DX Club Contact via DXLD) ** KOREA NORTH [non]. Re 6-095: 9855, Shiokaze (Sea Breeze) via TAIWAN (presumed site), June 26-July 2, observed schedule: *1030-1057* in English: Mon., Thurs. & Sun.; Japanese or Korean: Tue., Wed., Fri. & Sat.; so far I have not heard any Chinese; July 2, at 1027 noted jamming (noise) for the first time, but their signal was strong enough to be able to make it through with fair reception. After usual sign-on announcements, heard ``News Flash`` (Ron Howard, Monterey, CA, Etón E5, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) TAIWAN, 9855, Shiokaze (presumed), 1040-1046, June 30 [Fri], Japanese, long talk by male, 34433 (Arnaldo Slaen, Argentina, HCDX via DXLD) ** KOREA NORTH [non]. 11750, Freedom North Korea Broadcast (presumed) via TAIWAN, July 1, 1000-1012; from 0952-1000* noted strong CNR-1 via Shijiazhuang; 0954 start of strong jamming noise, the same type of jamming heard July 2, on 9855, to jam Shiokaze (Sea Breeze), also broadcasting to N. Korea; after CNR-1 off, heard Asian language from 1000 to 1012. Poor under the jamming (Ron Howard, Monterey, CA, Etón E5, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** MADAGASCAR. After several days of not following the Sawt Al Amal affair in the 16 mb range, AWR was heard (first time) opening in Vietnamese at 1300 on 17670. Fair to poor signal (Raúl Saavedra, Costa Rica, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** MEXICO. Just run into a video Mexican Radio by Wall of Voodoo. You can watch it at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WT_0gPrzGA0&search=radio This song about the joys of monitoring the Mexican stations in the US was first released in 1982. It turned out to be Wall Of Voodoo's most successful work. I'm on a wavelength far from home I feel a hot wind on my shoulder I dial it in from south of the border I hear the talking of the DJ Can't understand -- just what does he say? (via Sergei Sosedkin, IL, July 1, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** MOROCCO. MARRUECOS: La RTM, Radiodiffusion-Télévision Marocaine, posee el siguiente esquema en idioma árabe: 0000-0500 5980 0900-1500 15340 1100-1500 15335 1500-2200 15345 2200-2400 7135 QTH: RTM, 1 Rue El Brihi, B.P. 1042, Rabat, Marruecos. E-mail: rtm @ rtm.ma Web: http://www.rtm.ma (Marcelo A. Cornachioni, Argentina, Conexión Digital July 2 via DXLD) ** NETHERLANDS. Rumours about Broadcast Partners being involved in future Big L transmissions on 1395 kHz: The Trintelhaven transmitter is owned and operated by Nozema. Would Nozema really allow access by Broadcast Partners (a competitor I understand) there? (Kai Ludwig, Germany, July 1, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Nozema vacated the Trintelhaven site, and took its transmitter away, many months ago - including the building it was located in. The antenna is owned by a separate, state-owned company called NOVEC. So Nozema is not "allowing access", it simply has no interest in that site any more. Any Dutch broadcaster is allowed to select whichever company they want to supply transmission services. According to reports from the UK, Big L is using a Nautel transmitter it has purchased and shipped over from the US, and this is now being installed (Andy Sennitt, ibid.) Quite interesting: Under the current structures (since 2004 if I read the NOVEC website correct) Nozema does not own towers and masts; instead they belong to NOVEC in order to ensure discrimination-free access for any transmission provider. They are even responsible for the Flevoland shortwave antennas, at least the site is mentioned on their website, http://www.novecbv.nl (click on "masten" for a gallery). Is this a correct description? This is quite unlike the situation here in Germany where masts/towers and transmitters are still in the same hands (actually real estates and some buildings belong to DeTeImmobilien, but that's of course still the Deutsche Telekom trust), and it had been discussed back in last year if Deutsche Telekom will be required to allow competitors access to their towers. Such a competitor exists since last autumn with Derutec, a company founded by Regiocast and RTL, website: http://www.derutec.de At present Derutec announces two low power transmitters in Saxonia as their first project. No big deal, since another small FM outlet (Großräschen 103.8 MHz, cf. WRTH 2006, page 232) is already run by a small company, leasing space on a cellphone tower there. But no real competition for high power transmission is in sight so far (Kai Ludwig, Germany, ibid.) ** NETHERLNDS. DUTCH INTERNET STATION TO BROADCAST LONGEST HIT PARADE EVER http://www.southgatearc.org/news/june2006/longest_hit_parade.htm Dutch Internet radio station Radio Mi Amigo 192 http://www.radio-miamigo.nl/ is about to embark on what it claims will be the longest hit parade ever broadcast. The top 10,000 will be aired every day starting on Saturday 1 July from 0700 to 2000 UT, and will last for two full months. The chart consists of music of the past 50 years from the Netherlands, Belgium, USA and Britain. Programme Director Hendrik van Nellestijn says the station hopes to get an official entry in the Guinness Book of Records when the broadcast is completed on 31 August. The hit parade will be presented by a team of more than 20 DJ's who previously broadcast on the offshore stations Radio Mi Amigo and Radio Caroline (via Mike Terry, dxldyg via DXLD) ** NEW ZEALAND. RNZI went through after 1100 to 1300 on 7145 without changing to 9870 for those two hours listed in WRTH A-06 this July 1st. Pop songs around 1140, Good Times by Chic, Rock Lobster by B 52’s and Piano Man by Billy Joel ending at 1200 for the news. Usual fading here in Tiquicia is around 1330 when noisy conditions rise on this frequency (Raúl Saavedra, Costa Rica, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) No point in consulting WRTH A-06 for this due to RNZI`s frequent schedule revisions, and inability even to publish its own schedule accurately (Glenn Hauser, DXLD) ** NORTH AMERICA. Special News: From John Sedlacek: The Elkhorn mail drop will close forever on September 15th. Too few stations and increased use of the Internet for reports and E-QSLs have made the drop "obsolete." It has been a privilege serving the pirate community for the past several years. My thanks to the stations who have utilized Elkhorn during this time: The (Government) Mule, Ground Zero Radio, KIPM, KROW, Mystery Science Radio, The Purple Nucleus of Creation, Radio Gong (Calling), Radio Time Machine, Seldom Heard Radio, Theremin Radio, Voice a'Da Tiki, Voice of the Abnormal, Voodoo Radio, WAIR (All Indie Radio), and WDDR. From this editor: I wish to thank John for his efforts. I have received several nice KIPM QSLs through the Elkhorn mail drop. The mail drop operators do an important service for all of us listeners (Greg Majewski, Free Radio Weekly June 30 via DXLD) ** NORWAY. Checking at 2240 UT I noticed that Kvitsoy 1314 kHz has now gone. I presume it went off at midnight Norwegian time i.e. 2200 UT. Maybe this opens up some future DX possibilites, but for the moment just a couple of Spanish stations are audible on the channel here. So a powerful European MW transmitter closes on the same day as Slovakia switches off its shortwave transmitters (Dave Kenny, BDXC via DXLD) And what an abrupt end it was too. A few weeks back, I moved here to Bridlington on the Yorkshire Coast from Wakefield, West Yorkshire. Getting closer to the Kvitsoy transmitter wasn't the ONLY reason, but it was certainly nice to get a better signal from those Nordics across the water, and since I came here I have gotten into a cosy routine of setting my radio on 'sleep' mode at night for a few minutes, and going to sleep with the sound of that Scandinavian lilting speech interspersed with totally random international melodies from across the North Sea. Soon after moving here though, I saw the writing on the wall --- well the writing in 'Communication' anyway, advising that my much beloved Kvitsoy transmitter was due to switch off on July 01, so sitting here tonight I thought I'd catch a bit of it whilst I still could. I had it somewhere in the back of my mind that it would close down sometime during the day on July 01, so I fondly imagined waking up tomorrow and switching on my radio to still hear it. Well, I just happened to tune in at around 10.55pm BST [2155 UT] whilst I checked my ebay business (full-time ebay trader, you see). I listened to some Norwegian verbiage then a tune which sounded a teeny bit like a Viking version of "It's Hard Being A Cowboy In Rochdale". Then some more words .... and then .... oh no, nothing. No Norwegian, just some faint background stations. I checked my watch, a few seconds after 11pm, then the horrible truth dawned, it was midnight in Norway. Midnight on the morning of July 01. Kvitsoy had gone!!! Without fanfare, without warning, and RIGHT IN THE MIDDLE OF THE ANNOUNCER ACTUALLY SPEAKING. How rude! Well now, I'm sure some of you DXers will be happy to see it go, as it opens up some interesting transatlantic DX opportunities for you, but while you're having all that fun straining your ears to detect something on 1314, spare a thought for me, and the Degen DE1103 with a memory button programmed for a station which no longer exists. Goodnight, (Adam of Warmfield, ibid.) I wonder how long it will be before someone hires the transmitter or the BBC use it for BBC World Service on DRM. Now that would make a noise (Andrew Tett, Shoreham-by-Sea, July 1, BDXC via DXLD) It has been confirmed by the Finnish DXer Jorma Mäntylä: NRK powerhouse 1314 kHz is currently off the air. Permanently? Regardless, this is a great opportunity to tune into 1310, 1314 and 1320 and get those rare stations usually covered by the strong signal of NRK. Of course, from transamerican perspective this is a loss of an early propagation indicator on medium wave. 73! (Risto Kotalampi, CA, July 1, hard-core-dx via DXLD) NRK website http://www.nrk.no says: "Europakanalen legges ned 1. juli 2006. En ny Været til sjøs-kanal kan høres via radio og Thor 2- satellitten." This means that the Europakanal-service was discontinued on July 1. The NRK web-site indicates that 1314 kHz is not any more listed. The only active AM-stations in Norway are now Troms/Ingöy 153 kHz, Vigra 630 kHz, Röst 675 kHz and Svalbard 1485 kHz. The Norwegian dx- listeners' club confirms the discontinuation of Europakanalen on 1314 kHz: http://www.dxlc.com/news/ JM (Jorma Mantyla, Kangasala, Finland, ibid.) See also INTERNATIONAL VACUUM [non]. I logged 1310 R. Nacional, Venezuela last night for a first on 1310. CKEC 1320 is fairly regular here, along with CJMR, Mississauga (Paul Crankshaw, Troon, Scotland, July 1, MWDX yg via DXLD) ** OKLAHOMA [and non]. BRAIN BREW ANNOUNCES FINAL BROADCAST Since April 2004, Brain Brew hosts Doug Hall and David Wecker have offered KGOU listeners a bounty of ``ideas and encouragement for turning their American dream into reality``. Sadly, the final episode of this innovative program will air Wednesday, June 28, as the hosts move on to other projects. Doug's and Dave’s sage advice, practical outlook and good humor caught on quickly with the KGOU audience, and fueled participation from Oklahoma’s own entrepreneurs, inventors, non-profit workers, and struggling businessmen and women. Listen for an announcement of how the loss of this program will affect the programming schedule (http://www.kgou.org/programming.php via DXLD) This one, originating in Ohio, had escaped my notice until it was canceled! Public Radio Fan has only 8 other stations webcasting it: http://www.publicradiofan.com/cgi-bin/program.pl?programid=2843 Had been Wednesdays 16-17 UT on KGOU. Don`t see anything yet about what replaces it, but listening to this week`s Left, Right & Center via KUOW webcast, UT Sat 0430, I heard them greeting KGOU as a new affiliate for that show, but no sign of it on the KGOU schedule yet. Since it`s perishable political comment, LR&C would not likely be held until the following Wednesday. Here`s more about Brain Brew, including mp3 of the whole show or in 3 segments; the first one interviewing the now retired-to-NM founders of 97-X in Oxford OH, who ``practically invented alternative rock format``: http://www.doughall.com/radio/ Site also says: ``Our Vision: Brain Brew is to be to the "American Dream" what This Old House is to home repair. Brain Brew Radio is about providing ideas and encouragement for helping American Revolutionaries. Brain Brew inspires your hopes through practical ideas, backed by data with a healthy dose of caffeinated encouragement & humor. Listener comments articulate Brain Brew's unique blend of authentic wisdom and infectious enthusiasm`` (Glenn Hauser, Enid, DX LISTENING DIGEST) THE EYES OF NYE on OETA: see U S A last entry ** OMAN. 15355, R. Sultanate of Oman loud and clear from 2240 to 2300 in Arabic. Many mentions of Oman, Omaniyya, ID at 2300. Not listed at this time. Gone at 0000 recheck. Not the most common visitor here. 30 June 2006. 73/ (Liz Cameron, MI, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** PAKISTAN. Re 6-090 and Radio Pakistan: ``Good idea to show the decimals for this inaccurate station; but some are even, some not, such as 15625.0 and 15625.4; really so? Two different transmitters? (Glenn Hauser, DXLD)`` That's a very good observation! The transmitter operating off frequency by 0.4 kHz is API-3 100 kW at Rewat. Where the same frequency is shown at 0.0 kHz it is via the same location via API-1. But 7530 at 1915-0045 is API-4 and which is used at other times of the day on 5080 for Current Affairs. However, I would be very surprised if the offset frequency was daily 0.4 kHz and those listed as 0.0 kHz were not also offset on some days. Two changes in frequency have occurred from the schedule shown: Turkish 1630-1700 is now using 7495 (x 9340) // 6215 and Arabic 1815- 1900 is also using 7495 (x 9340) // 6235. World Service to West Europe [only in Urdu] 1700-1900 is now using 9380 (x 9365) // 7530 (Noel R. Green, July 2, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** PAPUA NEW GUINEA. The large volumes or recorded oral tradition are also disappearing as the National Broadcasting Corporation does not have the proper equipment to play the recordings. . . http://www.thenational.com.pg/063006/nation7.htm (via Jilly Dybka, DXLD) ** ROMANIA. R. Romania International, July 2, 2006, 9690 kHz, 0100- 0132 UT. "Radio Newsreel", "The Week" and "World of Culture". SIO 353. 73, (Kraig, KG4LAC, Manassas, VA, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** RUSSIA [non]. Putin on BBC call-in: see U K ** SEALAND. Glenn, you quoted from a report on World of Radio today (via WRN at 0800) that said the Sealand fort had been home to former pirate station Radio Essex. This is incorrect. Sealand, or Roughs Tower to give it its proper name, has never been used for any pirate radio stations. Its only radio connection is that the owner of Sealand, Roy Bates, ran pirate station Radio Essex and later BBMS (Britain`s Better Music Station) from Knock John Fort in the 1960s. That station closed in 1966 and although Bates is reported to have moved the transmitting equipment to Roughs Tower (Sealand) in 1967, it has never been used to broadcast from there. I suspect that if a broadcast transmitter was ever used on Sealand, the UK authorities would not hesitate to pay them a visit and close it down (Dave Kenny, UK, July 1, DX LISTENING DIGEST) The bit about R. Essex was from East Anglian Daily Times via Media Network, as in 6-091 (gh, DXLD) SEALAND BACK IN BUSINESS --- Sealand, the fire damaged offshore fort, was yesterday boarded by James Bates, Roy's grandson after perilously climbing up an extended aluminium ladder, only slightly hooked and dangling from the forts structure. The damage to the non original generator shed at the rear of the fort is 100% and much of the living accommodations interior is totally wrecked. The main forts structure seems unaffected. There is no mention of any water damage within the forts legs caused by tacking the blaze, or damage to any computer servers that are supposed to operate from there. I have received photos of some of the damage taken there yesterday. (Andy Cadier" Tue Jun 27, 2006 1:30 am (PST)m BDXC via DXLD) Sealand Press release --- "After nearly 40 years of completely independent economic, social, political, and geographic independence in the North Sea the Principality in late June of 2006 suffered a devastating fire which has crippled its infrastructure significantly. In common with other island countries, our resources here are limited; the difficulties this disaster presents are compounded by the effects upon our population and industries. A press release covering the incident and subsequent activities may be found in the official notices section http://www.sealandgov.org/notices/pn03106.html Knowing the loyalty shown by those across the globe who have supported the Principality, we have added a 'donation' option for persons who might wish to contribute to the reconstruction required. Preliminary estimates put the figure at approximately a million dollars. Any help which can be offered will be most appreciated by those of us who live here and those who hope some day to be able to visit and to share, however briefly, in our way of life." Principality Notice 031/06 -- Recent fire, press release 28 June 2006 Principality of Sealand major fire At lunchtime on Friday the 23rd of June a fire broke out in the main power generation facility of the Principality of Sealand. The outbreak occurred at a time when most of the resident population were either on holiday or awaiting the scheduled service ferry; the security guard responsible for the power generation facility was airlifted to a nearby UK hospital and later released after treatment for smoke inhalation. He was uninjured. Other residents were accommodated in the UK until Sunday. UK emergency facilities attended the Principality and our thanks to the UK RNLI, the Harwich Harbour Authority, the Coast Guard, and the UK Royal Air Force for their support. The fire, thanks to them, was extinguished some four hours after it began and damage was limited to about a third of the main administrative and communal facilities even though the main power generation facility was completely destroyed and will require rebuilding. The cause of the fire is thought to be a faulty generator, but precise details concerning the origin of the blaze are still under study. Sabotage or terrorist activities have been ruled out at this stage. Residents returned to the Principality on Sunday, 25 June, and were accompanied by Prince Regent Michael, Prince Royal James, and Prince Liam who surveyed the damage and outlined plans for the rebuilding and renovation of the Principality. Damage is estimated at SX$1 Million [GBP 500,000] and time of rebuilding is expected to exceed six months. The loss of primary power at the outset of the fire caused emergency backup facilities to take over the service provision to Principality- based information services and users were subject to a loss of service of less than two minutes; all facilities relating to Principality information services companies are located in fireproof and blastproof facilities which are independent of the part of the Principality affected. Similarly, all national archives, records, and other State files were unaffected by the fire. Backup facilities are sufficient to serve the Principality indefinitely. Cleaning up, assessment, and the beginning of the renovation due to fire damage began on Monday, 26 June; it is planned to begin reconstruction activities within the next four to six weeks, and since this will involve lifting destroyed equipment from the power generation facility and in general use of heavy maritime construction equipment and vessels for an extended period, a one-mile exclusion zone for general shipping was declared on the 26th June and is expected to remain in force for some months. The Principality has established a Sealand Disaster Fund to receive donations; it may be accessed on the main pages of the government web site, http://www.sealandgov.org Further details from Bureau of Internal Affairs burint@sealandgov.org, SEALAND, 1001 (c/o Sealand Post Bag, IP11 9SZ, UK). (via Mike Terry, July 1, dxldyg via DXLD) "40 years of completely independent <...> independence"? What is the official language of Sealand? Sounds like some kind of tautological dialect of English (Sergei Sosedkin, IL, July 1, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** SLOVAKIA. How can I describe this? Ladislava Hudzovicova ``Laya``, sweet as always she is, but nostalgic and cold at the same time while finishing the last RSI program in Spanish, after some interviews with her mates and references to the regular listeners. Sat. July 1st on 9440 // 11990. Heading for the Internet they say, but their romantic SW touch has gone forever (Raúl Saavedra, Costa Rica, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) You mean they were on at 0230 UT July 1? I did not hear any signal in English on 5930 at 0100 July 1 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Pete Miller just announced on tonight's Slovakia Today (July 1 UT 0100, 5930 kHz) that this was the final shortwave broadcast from RSI. Farewell to a good station with entertaining programming and caring announcers (Harold Sellers, Ontario, ODXA yg via DXLD) Are they still going to put English programming on satellite and the internet? If not, this could impact Insight Central Europe which is a co-production of several Central European broadcasters. It used to include Austria, as well (Mark Coady, ibid.) Yes, at least for the time being the output remains the same, but they will have only two full-time and two part-time staff. I don't think it's viable in the long term. Insight Central Europe has a pretty informal structure, i.e. there aren't any legally binding agreements on how much each broadcaster must produce in a given period. So I imagine the other broadcasters will make allowances and expect less from Slovakia (Andy Sennitt, ibid.) I have just been listening to the 1630-1700 English from Radio Slovakia International during which the presenter Pete Miller announced that this was the very last time in which the Slovakia Today would be heard on shortwave. "Well, in spite of all the hard work put in by many, this is our last broadcast on shortwave. I understand that some broadcasters have realised the folly of this policy and have gone back to shortwave. I just hope that the light will dawn on the movers and shakers here in Slovakia. Today therefore is a special programme for, as well as leaving shortwave, a number of our presenters are also leaving for pastures new. There has been to use the common jargon, a measure of downsizing as far as the staff here are concerned. There will be just two full-time personnel - (?Mikel Grot) and myself together will regular contributions from part time (?Anker Dregu) and (?Katarina Korchek) will help with Listeners Tribune. We will just have to see how things go...". Pete went on to give the details of the satellite service offered by WRN "in the hope that some of you will listen via satellite": On WRN for Africa, Middle East and Asia-Pacific, including WorldSpace, at 1630 UT daily on Intelsat 1002. On WRN English for Europe at 1630 UT Mon-Fri on Eutelsat HotBird 6. On WRN English for North America, including Sirius Satellite Radio, at 0030 UT Monday-Friday and also daily at 1630 UT on Intelsat America 5. QSLs for internet/satellite broadcasts: "If you write in over the next week or so saying what you heard, we will send one of our QSL cards. We will do this until they have all gone." The rest of the programme consisted of reminiscences and good-byes from some of the presenters who will be leaving. There is just one more chance today (Friday) to hear a repeat of this final broadcast in English to Europe: 1830-1900 on 5920 and 6055 kHz. Well although I have only occasionally listened to Radio Slovakia International over the 13 years of its existence (since the break-up of Czechoslovakia in 1993), it is nevertheless sad to record the closing of another station on shortwave (Dave Kenny, UK, BDXC via DXLD) It`s a pity, and I`m sure they`ll be missed in some parts of the world. But it isn`t exactly unexpected (given the recent changes at Radio Prague). As I (and others) have said before - today the audience for International broadcasting is not on MF/HF - they are on Internet, Satellite and Cable over most of the planet. International broadcasting is not a cheap option, you nowadays (more than ever) have to get value for money - this means spending the cash where it will reach the greatest potential audience (Ray Woodward July 1st, 2006 at 06:09 Media Network blog via DXLD) Distribution costs are indeed a major issue. But RSI is also cutting the number of production staff without reducing the length of the daily programmes. Two full-time and two part-time staff will have a hard job maintaining high quality, interesting output 365 days a year. There seems to be no allowance for holidays, illness etc. If this adversely affects the quality of the output, they will lose listeners on all platforms, not just shortwave (Andy Sennitt, July 1st, 2006 at 10:31 ibid.) I just heard that the future of the WRN transmissions is now subject of internal rumours at SRo as well. On the German service apparently all former editors decided to leave; yesterday the programme was presented by a novice to the mic. Under the circumstances (only two editors for daily half-hour broadcasts anymore) the German word ``verheizen`` (a certain variant of ``burning``) comes to mind here. And, by the way, the German service of Radio Budapest no longer broadcasts news every day. At least on Saturdays they had to cut them due to lack of resources (Kai Ludwig July 2nd, 2006 at 11:17 ibid.) While shortwave broadcasts of Radio Slovakia International have ceased, the station continues on satellite. It announced its schedule for European and African satellites, including World Radio Network (WRN) and Worldspace, at 1630 UT daily. RSI also continues to North America via WRN on Sirius Satellite Radio daily at 0030 and 1630 UT. On its listener contact program on Sunday at 1630, Pete Miller and his co-host (sorry, did not get her name) requested that listeners send e- mails and letters to the station to tell them that they are hearing the broadcasts (John Figliozzi, Halfmoon, NY, July 2, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** SWEDEN. Was up and everything ready for the SAQ test at 0830 UT. No luck at all. Other VLF signals at fine levels. Noise low. But no joy on SAQ (Brock Whaley, GA, July 2, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** TAIWAN [non]. 15600 RTI via YFR Okeechobee change USA/TAIWAN === New: RTI Taipei German 15600 kHz (ex 18930) from Okeechobee Florida US relay at 2100-2200 UT. Sommerfrequenzen RTI - Deutschprogramm. Eine Frequenzumstellung ab voraussichtlich 17. Juli 2006. Neu: 15600 kHz (ex 18930) aus Okeechobee Florida from 2100 UT, \\ mit 3965 kHz aus Issoudun - Frankreich. Tainan, Taiwan. Die Ausstrahlung von RTI Taipei in German auf der Frequenz 9955 kHz aus Tainan wurde ab Samstag, 1. Juli 2006 eingestellt. 1900-2000 6185 kHz Skelton, GB 2100-2200 3965 kHz Issoudun, Frankreich 2100-2200 15600 (x18930 kHz from 17th July 2006) Okeechobee, USA 0600-0700 7520 kHz Okeechobee, USA (Dieter Leupold-D, wwdxc BC-DX July 2) 15600 1900-2300 WYFR 100 44 27,28 1234567 260306 291006 [including other languages; so no more 18930 at all?] see also under A06 USA private SW station freq registrations. http://ftp.fcc.gov/ib/sand/neg/hf_web/A06FCC01.TXT (Wolfgang Büschel, Germany, July 2, HCDX via DXLD) ** TIBET. 4920, Xizang PBS, Lhasa(?), 0045 JUL 2 – Presumed with Chinese-style female vocal. Poor. Nothing heard on 5240 or other listed parallels, faded by 0100. Right at local sunset, but Lhasa sunrise should be around 2300 – too late for greyline propagation? (David Yocis, Harper’s Ferry WV, USA, 39.13 N 77.48 W, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** TIMOR LESTE. OPPOSITION MILITANTS RAID TIMOR-LESTE TV AND RADIO Reporters Without Borders has urged the authorities and foreign forces in East Timor to secure the offices of the main media after nearly 40 opposition militants raided Timor-Leste TV and radio station, TVTL, on 29 June 2006. They ransacked the premises, manhandled employees and demanded that broadcasts should be suspended. The management has now drastically reduced output of local news, for fear of further reprisals. It is currently only broadcasting Portuguese programmes but plans to return to normal on 3 July. ``This attack shows that the peace-keeping forces are not doing enough to protect journalists and it is essential for the stability of the country that there should be free circulation of news,`` said the press freedom organisation. The anti-government attack was believed linked to a broadcast on TVTL the previous day of a speech by the outgoing prime minister, Mari Alkatiri, leader of the Fretilin party. Opposition groups have been threatening TVTL for several weeks, but the channel only obtained protection from the Australian armed forces on 30 June, although its management said it had asked for such protection five weeks ago. (Source: Reporters Without Borders) (July 1st, 2006, 13:46 UT by Andy, Media Network blog via DXLD) ** U K. RUSSIA'S VLADIMIR PUTIN TO APPEAR ON THE BBC'S "HAVE YOUR SAY" The TV version of this will go to air July 6th 1300 UT; it appears the radio version will be Sunday July 9th at 1906 -- the regular 1406 air time appears to be given over to Wimbledon coverage -- the Men's Singles Final, I believe (Richard Cuff / Allentown, PA USA, Swprograms mailing list via DXLD) You can post your questions to President Putin and read what others are asking him about at: http://newsforums.bbc.co.uk/nol/thread.jspa?threadID=2368&&edition=2&ttl=20060702174636 According to BBC's announcement, "We will be putting your questions to President Putin in a special interactive webcast with the Russian website Yandex on Thursday, 6 July, 2006 at 1400 BST. The webcast will be broadcast live on this site and on BBCRussian.com." It's the first time I hear about BST. British Standard Time?? BBCRussian says 1300 UT (Sergei Sosedkin, ibid.) Means British Summer Time = GMT + 1 (gh) ** U K. Hardly remember BBCWS being heard on 17640, Skelton at 1300 while checking the Libyan saga on this portion of the 16 mb. But there it was with fair to poor signal this Sat July 1 // 17830 Ascension, which is a regular here until fading around 1600 to 1700 (Raúl Saavedra, Costa Rica, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U K [non]. Re Big L 1395 transmissions: see NETHERLANDS. SEALAND is also separately filed in DXLD ** U S A. THE POLITICS OF SELECTING THE PRESIDENT OF RFE/RL Columnist says Karen Hughes sided with Democrats on the Broadcasting Board of Governors in not approving Enders Wimbush to be president of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty Inc. "Some believe that the U.S. should appeal to Muslim youth with popular music, only occasionally slipping in news and information. But others, like the Republican members of the board, would like to return to the principles that proved so effective during the Cold War, namely targeting key decision makers with serious programming laced with the values and ideals inherent to free societies." . . . http://washingtontimes.com/op-ed/20060629-090426-6586r.htm (Joel Mowbray, Washington Times, 30 June 2006 [Moony] via kimandrewelliott.com July 1 via DXLD) ** U S A. SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE VOTE http://savevoaenglish.blogspot.com/2006/06/senate-appropriations-committee-vote.html The U.S. Senate's Appropriations Committee approved $661 million for international broadcasting activities, $6 million below the budget request. This *does not include funding to continue English radio* broadcasting and several other language services. This Budget bill now has to be reconciled with a House of Representatives version, which restored funding for English and other language services. As of this writing, the Senate bill includes $661.2 million for the Broadcasting Board of Governors: $617.3 million for International Broadcasting Operations, $36.3 million for Broadcasting to Cuba -Radio and TV Martí - and $7.6 million for Broadcasting Capital Improvements (BCI). The Senate is planning to go to the floor with this bill after the July 4th recess. The Senate and House versions have to be reconciled in conference and the President would have to sign the bill. *The future of VOA English remains in doubt if the Senate version is accepted because it does not restore funding for VOA English and several other language services* (Save America`s Voice June 30 via DXLD) *-* portions are in bold. See also ZIMBABWE [and non] ** U S A. THE MYSTERY OF THE DIXON VOICE OF AMERICA RELAY STATION My interest in radio goes back many years and as a youth I would experiment with simple wire antennas and attempt to tune in distant AM stations on my father's old cathedral radio. Later I used a Hallicrafters S-120 shortwave radio along with a trap antenna to listen to the BBC, Radio Australia and the Voice of America "VOA". Recently I was talking an old friend who is an avid shortwave listener and the subject of VOA programming and history came up. We both agreed that at some point the VOA operated a relay station in northern California near the town of Dixon, but were unsure of its current status. I began to reflect back and wondered whatever happened to Dixon VOA. The history of the VOA Dixon Relay Station goes back more than sixty years. Though not as famous as Bethany Ohio or Greenville North Carolina, it played a roll in the VOA success story. Prior to the inception of VOA, there were a number of shortwave broadcast stations in the United States of America operated by the National Broadcasting Company, Columbia Broadcasting System, General Electric, Westinghouse, Associated Broadcasters, Crosley Radio Corporation, Worldwide Broadcasting Foundation and the WCAU Broadcasting Company. Prior to World War II, The United States Government contracted with some of these companies for broadcasting government programming. With the outbreak of World War II, the government opened a new agency, the Office of War Information (OWI) the genesis of the Voice of America. Following Pearl Harbor, the federal government decided to go forward with its own shortwave broadcast under the Voice of America program. As part of process they acquired interest in the broadcasting facilities at Delano and Dixon, California in the early mid 1940's to transmit programs to the Far East and the Pacific Rim. I contacted the VOA on several occasions to gain information on Dixon, but in each case, they never responded. So, my wife and I decided to take a Sunday morning drive out to the town of Dixon for breakfast and from there do some exploring in the country side and see if we could find it. Using a street map guide I located several government communications facilities in the general area. As we drove out further and further out into the country side risking getting lost on roads that seem to become more and more decrepit we began to notice radio towers on the far horizon. Then little by little the wire antennas began to appear and finally, there it was acres and acres of wire antennas along with a number of old buildings - now which one. Of the four original major domestic VOA transmitting facilities Dixon remains one of the least known facilities. Greenville North Carolina and Delano California locations continue to be operated and maintained by the VOA. Bethany Ohio was decommissioned in the mid 1990's but has an active restoration program underway to preserve the facility. We finally arrived at Radio Station Road and my wife and I stopped the car and got out to have a closer look to see if we located the VOA facility. It wasn't easy since there are two other facilities with old buildings and big antennas nearby. To the south of the main VOA structure is what appears to be the original ATT/NBC broadcasting facility while next door is an abandoned naval communications facility. The style of construction of the building in these photos matches the other domestic VOA facilities which have a concrete/stucco appearance along with very high tower connected to the building. The purpose of the observation tower is for viewing the surrounding area for security reasons. It looks like we found the VOA facility at last. The heart of the site is of course the transmitters and antennas. Most prominently visible are two larger dipole arrays, consisting of rows and columns of dipoles known as a curtain antenna which are rated up to 500 kilowatts. The VOA favored these antennas because of their ability to handle high power and while offering different angles of signal radiation to reach various parts of the globe. The Collins and General Electric AM transmitters were the standard workhorses for VOA Dixon. When the VOA took over they inherited several transmitters including a 100 kilowatt General Electric transmitter and smaller RCA shortwave transmitters. Later three COLLINS 250 kilowatt transmitters were added to Dixon in the late 1960's to improve the broadcast. With the advent of newer satellite-based technology VOA Bethany Ohio and Dixon California Stations were no longer needed as much, and they were decommissioned. Transmissions from the Dixon Relay Station ceased in 1983. Since this time the facility has remained closed and for the most part unused, although it's interesting that the antennas remain. Rumor has it that a private company moved into the facility recently and is using it for commercial marine HF communications; however, I was unable to confirm this. The broadcast history of the VOA is an interesting one and the Dixon relay station played a major roll along with the others VOA stations in California, Ohio and North Carolina. Fortunately for us who have an interest in the radio history, these facilities still exist but for how long we don't know. more and photos at http://www.eham.net/articles/14253 (From Merrill Stevenson, KG6AMW on June 30, 2006 via Mike Terry, dxldyg via DXLD) There was certainly nothing mysterious or obscure about Dixon until its closure, on the bands, just as `famous` a site as Delano, Bethany or Greenville. I remember driving around the area myself one time before 1983 looking for it, and also finding the utility SW facilities nearby, such as AT&T`s KMI. Seems to me Dixon has not been gone as long as 23 years already, lest time fly (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. Smyrna Baptist confirms that they are building a new SW station in Pensacola FL, to operate somewhere between 10 and 18 MHz, to bring a new standard to fundamentalist broadcasting, based on the KJV. Target date is August 2007 (Christer Brunström, Christian SW Update, HCJB DX Partyline July 2, notes by gh for DX LISTENING DIGEST) This story broke in DXLD 6-082 of June 2, but no mention of that fact (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. Surprised to hear on 6165 what sounded like a US station with an infomercial featuring toll-free numbers, July 1 at 1255. The signal was quite weak, fading out and barely in. Then at 1300 I recognized a familiar voice, Dr Jerry Plummer, in a PSA about something in --- Nashville. An ID for WNQM followed at 1301. This is a mixing product with WWCR 7465, minus 1300, equals 6165. Previously the plus rather than minus mix had been reported on 8765, but did not hear that one today when briefly checked afterwards. The 7465 signal was as usual overpoweringly strong here, but on 6165 the only audio was from WNQM. Given the disparity in strengths I would not be surprised if the spur is at least 80 dB down, but still audible (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Hi, Glenn! Listened to your 1600 broadcast on 12160 kHz/WWCR (thanx for pronouncing my name right! [almost rhymes with Janice]) However, Houston we have a problem. Their gospel broadcast on 15825 bleeds over to broadcasts on 12160 at a fair volume level, and makes listening to 12160 a real pain! I'm going to send them an e-mail immediately after this one, but thought I'd also let you know. I've also noticed that 5070 in local evenings also puts out noisy spurs on 5085 and 5055, but no broadcasts on either at this time, though if TIFC returns to 5055 this may cause a problem in hearing it. Thanx again, and keep up the good work! (Alex Vranes, Jr., Harpers Ferry, WV 25425-4588, July 1, DX LISTENING DIGEST) I checked the WWCR-3 webcast and again WOR was some 6 minutes late there but no crosstalk (gh, DXLD) DX Partyline has moved a quarter hour later to start at 0215 UT Sun on 5070. WOR 1320 then started late on WWCR Saturday night. Tnx to Joe Hanlon for informing me that something else was running at 0230 UT Sunday. I called the station, and they fixed it by about 0235, not on the webcast until 0241. Said it was a computer routing error. But the last 5 minutes were cut off since Watchman Radio had to start at 0300. Fortunately there are other options to hear the whole program. BTW, Into Tomorrow is on the June schedule as 0405-0700 UT Sun on 5070, ex- 0305-0400. Still waiting on the July schedule (Glenn Hauser, July 2, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. Brother Scare said something somewhat interesting, believe it or not, July 1 sometime after 1300 on 9385 via WWRB: there is an image of Mary at TBN HQ in California! As he went on to condemn idolatry. So are they closet Catholics at TBN?? (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. Special July 4th Programming (Tuesday, July 4th from 9 am to 10 pm [PDT]) On July 4, 2006, KCRW will present a day of music by American artists who embrace the spirit of independence. Tune in for some inspiration! (Produced by Joyride Media) 9 to 11 am [PDT = 16-18 UT] Bob Dylan: No Direction Home: This "official" bootleg radio companion to Martin Scorcese’s famed PBS documentary features exclusive music, interviews and other materials from Dylan’s personal archives. Hear Allen Ginsberg, Dave Van Ronk and Dylanologist Sean Wilentz, plus music you’ll fall in love with all over again. 11 am to Noon [18-19 UT] Bruce Springsteen: Seeger Sessions: Rocker Springsteen pays homage to legendary folk singer, Pete Seeger, joyously singing out Seeger's songs of social justice. Features rock critic Dave Marsh, Studs Terkel and band members talking about the power and history of the music. Noon to 1 pm [19-20 UT] Roy Orbison: The rock legend, in his own words and music, featuring interviews with artists inspired by him including Bruce Springsteen, Don Was, Chet Atkins, The BeeGees and more. 1 to 2 pm [20-21 UT] Patti Smith: "Horses" 30th Anniversary Special: Patti Smith’s debut album was a mix of poetry and wild rock and roll, as influential today as it was in 1975. Newly remastered tracks and interviews with collaborators Lenny Kaye and John Cale, and live "Horses" songs include performances by Tom Verlaine, Flea and more. 2 to 3 pm [21-22 UT] The Dixie Chicks: Taking the Long Way: Their first studio CD since a political statement in 2003 changed them from country music’s most popular band to its most controversial. They discuss the deep emotions explored in their new songs to the more rock-oriented musical direction inspired by collaborations with producer Rick Rubin, Mike Campbell, Dan Wilson, Pete Yorn, Neil Finn, and more. 3 to 7 pm NPR`s All Things Considered [twice!] 7 to 10 pm [UT July 5 02-05] Repeat Bob Dylan: No Direction Home and Bruce Springsteen: Seeger Sessions (KCRW via DXLD) Many other public radio stations have special mostly musical programming not only for July 4, but 1-2-3 (gh, DXLD) ** U S A. Another quarterly holiday weekend, so time for another Capitol Steps comedy special. See http://www.capsteps.com/radio/ for a long list of stations purportedly carrying it, only a few of which actually say when! Here are some early webcasting ones, converted to UT dates and times, for those who would like to hear it now: Sat July 1 2100 WABE, Sat July 1 2330 KAZU, Sun July 2 0530 KAZU. Most of the airings shown are of course on July 4, but some as early as June 30 or as late as July 9. This and the preceding program also available in low-quality ondemand (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. WVKO AM 1580 COLUMBUS, OH NOW SILENT Hello Glenn, 1580 W V K O, Columbus, OH recently went off air as result of financial and legal problems. Less than 2 weeks ago WVKO`s main and back-up transmitters and hardware were removed from transmitter site at Saga Group studios building (which is the home of WJZA and WJZK Smooth Jazz 103.5 & 104.3, WSNY 94.7 & Oldies 107.9 WODB) in Upper Arlington suburb of Columbus. As of 8 pm 7/1 I am watching from my seat in WJZA/WJZK master control room, the WVKO 2 tower array being taken down (sad to see beautiful tower icons of important station landmark go). I've heard that WVKO may return to air late this fall o6. Currently and as it has been since late spring, 1580 is wide open here in central Ohio. 73 (DAVID JENKINS/ KB8RVI, 0059 UT July 2, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Artie Bigley has been sending some press links, previously, in reverse order here: http://www.thisweeknews.com/?edition=common&story=thisweeknews/060106/Northland/News/060106-News-164003.html http://www.columbuspost.com/news/headlines176.html WVKO TOWERS --- STATION STILL HOPES TO MOVE OPERATIONS Thursday, May 11, 2006 By RANDY NAVAROLI ThisWeek Staff Writer Moving its antennas from Upper Arlington to a Morse Road site may be more dependent on radio station WVKO's financial situation than on whether it can gain approval for a zoning variance. Financially troubled WVKO (1580 AM), which is owned by Bernard Radio LLC, could seek permission from Columbus City Council as early as May 22 to move its operation and four antennas from Upper Arlington to a 9-acre site at 2708 Morse Road, just west of Chesford Road. Click here for the rest of the story: http://www.thisweeknews.com/?editionfiltered=common&story=thisweeknews/051106/Northland/News/051106-News-152005.html Click here for a recording of one of WVKO's locally produced talk show: http://odeo.com/audio/1113492/view (via Artie Bigley, May 11, DXLD) http://www.dispatch.com/features- story.php?story=dispatch/2006/05/06/20060506-A1-03.html Could the Clippers sue them for violation of their contract?? I'm sure WVKO and they signed a contract... INTERESTING. MORE on them moving WVKO. This could take years: http://www.thisweeknews.com/?editionfiltered=common&story=thisweeknews/042006/Northland/News/042006-News-135732.html Subject: RE: WVKO AM off the air Artie Bigley, Good afternoon. We just received word this morning about WVKO going off the air. We are trying to line up an alternate station to cover the Clippers games, but that might not happen during the remainder of the 2006 season. Until then, Clippers games will be broadcast exclusively over the internet on our web page, http://www.clippersbaseball.com Chris Anders, Columbus Clippers, 1155 West Mound Street, Columbus, Ohio 43223-2298, Phone: (614) 462-5250, Fax: (614) 462-3271 http://www.clippersbaseball.com 5 May 2006 WVKO-AM 1580 abruptly signed off the air today at 10:00 AM and has gone dark for the foreseeable future. The impending sign off was never mentioned by the 8:00 to 10:00 AM talk-show host, Charles Traylor so listeners were not able to call and say goodbye to the station. Calls to management confirmed the station going dark for the foreseeable future. Will they may it back on the air by this fall?? This has just been posted on the web: Artie BANKRUPT WVKO-AM SIGNS OFF UNTIL THE FALL The Columbus Dispatch Friday, May 5, 2006 2:28 PM WVKO (1580 AM) went off the air at 10:05 this morning. The radio station airs Columbus Clippers games and is a home for talk-radio in Columbus' black community. Brad Scher, a restructuring officer assigned to the station by the bankruptcy court, told employees today. He said the station's transmission tower lease expires at the end of May and that WVKO continued to lose money. A new WVKO is to go on the air this fall after a new transmission tower is built on Morse Road. It will provide a stronger signal, Scher said. The Spanish-language WVKO-FM (103.1) is not affected. The station's ownership group filed for bankruptcy last year. A new owner that submitted the winning bid in bankruptcy court earlier this year is taking over (all via Artie Bigley, Columbus OH, DXLD) ** U S A. WAIS AM 770 in at Paxton, Illinois --- Playing country music, no commercial breaks. Had a station ID at 0030 CDT [0530 UT]. This station is listed as daytime only, and runs 1 KW. Odd conditions tonight; WABC has been fading out completely for minutes at a time, leaving WAIS alone on the channel. The station is located in Buchtel, Ohio. CS KGHT AM 880 Little Rock, Arkansas. This one has been blasting intermittently into Paxton, Illinois with Gospel music, local commercials and SRN news. They cut off for five minutes at 0047 [CDT = 0547 UT], and just cut out again a couple of minutes ago (Curtis Sadowski, 0611 UT July 1, WTFDA-AM via DXLD) Something is amiss as KGHT is a daytime-only station. Then again with the current FCC, the only thing they care about is profanity, and wardrobe malfunctions --- NOT operator malfunctions (Fritze Prentice, Star City, AR, ibid.) ** U S A. Re WJCC 1700, 6-095: ``It may be possible that there is some legal action pending before the FCC. In that case, they may be allowed to continue broadcasting until there is resolution in the matter. I've seen it before.`` This is indeed the case. A number of broadcasters affected by the 5- year X-band sunset date, including Multicultural Broadcasting, which owns WJCC and WNMA 1210, have a petition pending before the FCC asking for reconsideration of the rule, on the grounds that it's not doing what it was meant to accomplish (interference reduction on the original AM band.) As part of the petition, they filed a request for an immediate stay of enforcement of the five-year rule, and for STAs to allow stations that went silent to return to the air while the FCC considers the petition. WJCC is apparently the second such station to be allowed back on the air - KYDZ 1180 in Nebraska is back on as well. Several stations that were supposed to go dark soon - WLMV 1480 in Madison comes to mind - will probably be allowed to continue operating for now as well. Because these operations are under STA and not formally licensed, they won't be reflected well in the CDBS database. Calls that have been deleted (like WJCC) will remain listed as DWJCC. Expect confusion as a result... s (Scott Fybush, June 30, IRCA via DXLD) Michael and Scott, Thanks for your insight on this. It does seem to raise a question though. If the intent of the X-band was to reduce congestion on the original AM band, then how could it be expected to work if stations were allowed to keep their lower frequency stations and relinquish the ones they had on the X-band? It seems the broadcasters are being allowed to maintain the overcrowding situation, and then use it as an argument to keep both licenses. It is interesting that WJCC is not carrying any advertising during this period. I'm sure the lawyers are working on all the contingencies. God save us from the lawyers. As you say, confusion. (Curt Deegan, ibid.) Scott, This is exactly what I was told by a couple CEs a few years back when I phoned all of the X Band CPs that had not signed on the air. They told me that this X Band is great as they can now can have two stations and not just the one. Some had planned on that all along. 73, (Patrick Martin, ibid.) If that was before the FCC started declaring the old frequencies 'open' again, these guys either didn't read the fine print or figured from the get-go that the FCC wouldn't do what it had planned. That's one of the more circular arguments out there. Of course there's more to it, because the FCC has, in many cases where the original frequency was vacated, turned around and declared it vacant and available for new bids -- and I suspect that's the foundation for the argument that it isn't working as planned (Russ Edmunds, Blue Bell, PA, ibid.) This merits a bit of clarification... Unlike FM, where there's a table of allocations and you can't apply for a frequency or class that's not already listed on the table, AM has no allocations table system. If you want a new AM signal, you need to wait for a major change window (which come around every three years or so) and find a frequency that can be used in the area you're targeting (it's all done by contour protection) - and then you apply. Whether a frequency is considered "open" is determined by what's in the FCC database when the app is filed. So what happens in Madison, for instance, where there's at least one app that was filed for a new facility on 1480, even though WLMV is still on the air there? In that case, I think the new app will likely be tossed, since WLMV was still licensed at the time the filing window was opened. But for the broadcasters who thought they were playing by the rules, who returned their licenses early in the process, they may not be so fortunate. This will be interesting! s (Scott Fybush, ibid.) But my point still holds that if the FCC had really wanted to de- clutter the 'old' AM band by moving stations to the X-band, they would have then refused to accept any applications for those 'abandoned' facilities. Whether they failed to incorporate that part of the plan into the rules in the first place, or failed to follow their own plan or both, I don't know, but clearly they undermined their own ability to make 'part a' stand without having 'part b' working. Or maybe the whole business about clearing space on the original band was just political spin / window-dressing in the first place and there never was any intent to not re-use the facilities - just an added argument to get the X-band opened in the first place? (Russ Edmunds, Blue Bell, PA ( 360' ASL ), ibid.) ** U S A. Was up and everything ready for the SAQ test at 0830 UT. No luck at all. So, checked out tropo. I did see a real test pattern. First one in a decade, on channel 16, WJWJ-TV Beaufort, SC. On at 0450 EDT between programs. It looks like the old "WPTZ- Philco" test pattern from 1950. Very cool. Nice tropo to the coast. WGSA channel 34 in Baxley, GA seen over/under local 34, and WTOC channel 11 giving fits to local Atlanta 11. Nice to see the Clash on WSAV, Savannah running the NBC SNL rerun. BTW, WSAV ID audio mentions "50 years of being on your side." ID slide shows 1956-2006. Best of DX, (Brock Whaley, GA, July 2, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. THE EYES OF NYE --- highly recommended show if you can find it on your PBS station, with Bill Nye, a.k.a. The Science Guy. In OK, it`s at the rather inconvenient time of 7:30 am Sundays, but I have been catching it recently. This week, July 2 on global warming. See http://www.eyesofnye.org --- But the who`s airing the show link still doesn`t have OETA on it (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** URUGUAY. Re 6-095: La Rosa De Tokio --- Saludos amigos, Radio Miami Internacional (WRMI) comenzará a transmitir La Rosa de Tokio este fin de semana, domingos a las 0700-0800 UT en 9955 kHz. También por internet en: http://www.wrmi.net Esto se suma a la emisión principal desde LS11 Radio Provincia en La Plata - Argentina los domingos de 16 a 17 UT por los 1270 kHz y por internet en: http://www.radioprovincia.gba.gov.ar Además de su segmento permanente en La Voz De Rusia cada 15 dias dentro del espacio diexista Frecuencia RM por sus frecuencias de onda corta y por internet en: http://www.vor.ru/Spanish/new [but this program is only 15 minutes max --- gh] Otra alternativa para escuchar La Rosa De Tokio y muy oportuna es desde la web de Programas DX en: http://es.geocities.com/programasdx Reciban todos un gran saludo (Dino Bloise, FLORIDA, EEUU, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) AMIGOS: POR DIVERSOS MOTIVOS DEL PROVEDOR DE INTERNET ESTE DOMINGO 2 DE JULIO 2006 LA ROSA DE TOKIO NO SALDRA POR INTERNET. SE PODRA ESCUCHAR EN EL ÀREA DE SERVICIO DE LA AM EN 1270 KHZ Y EN LAS REPETICIONES DE WRMI O LA VOZ DE RUSIA O RECURRIR AL SITIO PROGRAMAS DX. TAMBIEN SE PODRA ESCUCHAR POR EL SITIO DE FRECUENCIA9. UN SALUDO [mayúsculas sic] (OMAR SOMMA, July 1, condig list via DXLD) ** ZIMBABWE [and non]. STUDIO 7 FINALLY CONFIRMS BROADCAST JAMMING BY ZIMBABWE GOVERNMENT --- By a Correspondent http://www.zimbabwejournalists.com/story.php?art_id=603&cat=2 LONDON – STUDIO 7, the Zimbabwe flagship programme of the Voice of America, has finally confirmed its radio broadcasts into the country are being jammed by Harare through equipment provided by the Chinese government. Zimbabwejournalists.com is one of the news organisations that has been pursuing the story for weeks now with VOA technicians refusing to confirm the jamming, rather preferring to say they were still investigating the incidents and growing reports coming from Harare listeners who use the 909 AM frequency. Today the popular station broadcasting into Zimbabwe from Washington D.C. confirmed the jamming. Studio 7`s broadcasts into Zimbabwe are in English, Shona and Ndebele. The U.S.-government funded broadcaster which has reporters in and outside Zimbabwe said its Studio 7 service, which is on the air for 90 minutes each weekday, was being blocked. ``We have had reports of jamming of our Zimbabwe broadcasts in the past, but we`ve never been able to confirm them,`` VOA spokesman Joe O`Connell told the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ). This time, he said, ``we`ve determined and believe that it`s intentional.`` VOA short wave transmissions and AM broadcasts outside the capital were not affected. Studio 7 is popular in news-starved Zimbabwe, where only a handful of independent newspapers have survived an onslaught against the media. Four newspapers, including the popular Daily News have been forced off the streets by the oppressive Access to Information and Protection of Privacy Act (AIPPA). Authorities have declined to license any local private broadcasters, despite legislation passed in 2001 allowing for their existence. ``It is outrageous that Zimbabwean authorities, not content with snuffing out the local media, are cutting off the few outside sources of information still available,`` said Ann Cooper, executive director of CPJ. Overseas broadcasters have been targeted in the past. The shortwave transmission of SW Radio Africa, a private broadcaster based in Britain and founded by exiled Zimbabwean journalists, was jammed during the run-up to March 2005 parliamentary elections, and its reception is still affected today. Voice of the People (VOP), a private news production company based in Zimbabwe whose programs are transmitted via shortwave from overseas, has been repeatedly targeted. In 2005, VOP broadcasts were jammed in Zimbabwe, according to local sources. In December 2005, security agents raided the VOP offices in Harare, confiscating equipment, detaining staff, and rendering the company inoperative. A trial of VOP`s director, six members of the board of trustees, and three staff members on charges of operating illegal broadcasting equipment is ongoing. The VOP personnel deny the charges; their next court hearing is scheduled for September. ``The jamming of news broadcasts in Zimbabwe should cease immediately, as should the prosecution of VOP trustees and staff,`` Cooper added. (via Jilly Dybka, Zacharias Liangas, DXLD) Voice of America AM broadcasts jammed http://www.cpj.org/news/2006/africa/zim30june06na.html (via Zacharias Liangas, DXLD) Re 6-095, Dir. Jackson`s comment: Actually, the medium wave via Botswana goes to all parts of Zimbabwe where it can be heard, in particular the western part of the country, nearer the transmitter (Kim Andrew Elliott, kimandrewelliott.com July 1 via DXLD) UNIDENTIFIED. 15260, 0223-0257* JUL 2 (Sunday) – Talks by man and woman in unknown language, music bridges of Asian music. Woman gave web site (caught only ``www``) in 0229 announcement, mostly music after 0230, then man giving closing announcement and off at 0257. Fair signal at best, starting to fade after 0245. Moj Them Radio listed via Taiwan Wednesdays and Fridays to 0230; is this they (Them?) with an expanded schedule or someone else? (David Yocis, Harper’s Ferry WV, USA, 39.13 N 77.48 W, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) There have been other reports of something here non-Wed & Fri, but what? (Glenn Hauser, DXLD) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ SHORTWAVE SOUNDS AS MUSIC +++++++++++++++++++++++++ Review of Radio Phnom Penh and Radio Pyongyang CDs on Sublime Frequencies http://www.sublimefrequencies.com/ label. . . http://www.freenewmexican.com/news/45728.html (Free New Mexican, 30 June via kimandrewelliott.com July 1 via DXLD) "Look, I dig shortwave-static-as-metaphor-for-the-human-condition as much as the next guy... ." http://www.pastemagazine.com/action/article?article_id=3029 (Paste, 28 June 2006 via ibid.) Meanwhile, this site http://shortwavemusic.blogspot.com/ has not been updated for 6 months (gh, DXLD) DIGITAL BROADCASTING ++++++++++++++++++++ IBOC Report (in German) about a recent IBOC presentation in Switzerland: http://www.radioszene.de/news/hdradio_300606.htm In the last paragraph they quote an Ibiquity representative about AM IBOC: ``The problems with interferences at night are under control so far, FCC plans to lift the restriction to daytime-only operation before yearend.`` A radio manufacturer also hopes for an introduction of IBOC in Canada, creating a market for combined IBOC/DAB/DRM radios (Kai Ludwig, Germany, July 1, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) I would like to see the study with the technical details which states the interferences at night are under control, and on what evidence they based this conclusion. Everything I have seen suggests just the opposite (Bill Harms, Elkridge, Maryland, ibid.) [continuing thread in 6-095:] Estimado C. - You're a thinker. Thru a forensic lens TeamBLIGHT comes sharply into view. Goiterous with avarice, callously dismissive, glutted with ulterior motives, TeamBLIGHT won't tell the truth. Paid subscription? Why not? When you own the software, listeners and broadcasters alike serve as hostages eternal. =Z.= "Truth leads a wretched life - and always survives the lie." - Cathy O'Brien PS - Another sunny point: TeamBLIGHT expects to reap a trillion dollar whirlwind, thinking we'll buy HD sets after gleefully throwing ours in the street. Way back in the 1930's social workers noted we'd sooner part with out first born than radios. Average household has around ten radios plus. Do they think they'll jam us into replacing them at $250 a BLOC? Who buys a CD player which also melts one's LP's? Do DVD's by some digital Strooblean Alchemy erase one's VHS tapes? TeamBLIGHT bleats like a dingbat drug-addled pimp about 'our inevitable digital future', apparently oblivious to the fact it passed them by in their perpetual night (Paul Vincent Zecchino, Manasota Key, FL, BT, IRCA via DXLD) Curt, Subscription AM & FM? I guess anything is possible, but I don't see the public buying into that. Of course the bottom line is, will the people buy digital radios? I still don't see it. But of course, the big companies like CC, ABC, and Entercom have stock in iBiquity. They have a big interest in it. 73, (Patrick Martin, OR, ibid.) If their sole remaining choice is insolent noise, then of course they'll buy it. So thinks CabalBLOC. =Z.= (pvz mk fl bt, ibid.) You mean INSTEAD of iPods, etc.? (Bill Harms, ibid.) That's the real elephant in the corner. Even the broadcast info and message sites are starting to notice. When Apple makes an iPod that can connect to the internet and receive streams, it'll be a whole new ballgame. And streams are free with unlimited formats. Not limited to HD1 and HD2. When the WiPod comes out, I'll be right there in line to buy one. I bought my wife one of those 60gb iPods. Not only does it hold an insane amount of music, it holds her entire calendar, contact list and even Powerpoint-type demonstrations for her graphic arts business. Try all that with a similarly priced (and larger) HD radio. A single purpose receiver is obsolete right out of the box. Especially when they can't (yet) get a portable one to run because of battery life issues. As a hobby, I don't think DXing streams is gonna be a whole lot of fun. IBOC DXing might be fun, but the proprietary code format prevents outsiders from making improvements and neat gadgets. The parallel is the IBM and Apple computer. Had the Apple been an open platform from Day One, we all might be using one of those instead of the few quasi- fanatics (Ref: "Cult of MAC book"). The IBM might have been on the shelf with the Commodore, TI-99/4A and KayPro. CPM, anyone? (Craig Healy, Providence, RI, ... I am glad I'm here and not..'somewhere else', ibid.) Why wait? You can already do that today with a lot of smartphones. For example, I loaded mine with Skookum for handling Podcasts, and the phone handles streams without additional software (Tim Kridel, ibid.) DRM RECEIVERS JONATHAN MURPHY noticed in an online report of the US DRM meeting that Roberts Radio had released 150 MP40 DRM/DAB multistandard radios in a first production run, in reply to his email Roberts stated that: "This radio is in the final testing stage and is not released yet. It will be shown on our website and also in press release later in the year, we do not have a definite date yet." The report, including photographs of the radio can be found at: http://www.radiointel.com/drm2006.htm MIKE BARRACLOUGH further reports: Several broadcasters in the DRM consortium received the initial production run, it looks like the Roberts shown at last years IFA, but the MF antenna (ferrite Rod) is now located on the top and can be removed and placed up to 70 or 80 cm from the actual radio. I emailed Roberts quoting the model number, they replied saying that they anticipate it will be available to consumers around August. James Briggs on the DRMRX forums tested the radio on a 25 minute drive between Junctions 11 and 8 of the M25 tuned to VT Communications dual channel service on 25695 and was very pleased, only 6 seconds of audio lost and part of the journey was outside the predicted service area. He also used the same radio for demonstrations in Kensington and Hammersmith during the London Digital Radio Show with excellent results. This is the same model as the Sangean DRM40 who put out the following press release June 20th (machine translation English slightly modified): "Sangean introduces the DRM Radio in Europe in October 2006 --- The DRM-40, the first DRM Radio will be launched in Europe by Sangean in October 2006. The model is fully equipped and receives DRM (the digital alternative for the wavebands AM/SW/LW), and DAB (the digital alternative for the FM waveband). But of course also the existing analogue bands FM/AM/SW/LW can be received and the radio has RDS. Therefore this nicely designed radio has all that a radio needs today and is also completely ready for the future, of course all in our well known Sangean-quality. Further the DRM-40 has a USB-connection and SD- Card slot, with this it plays MP3 Files and also it records in MP3 format directly from the radio. All in all a radio to get into your home." This radio is already being advertised on the http://thiecom.de site at a price of 299 Euros. Another DRM radio, from Morphy Richards, was on show at the London Digital Radio Show early last month. I emailed Morphy Richards about this model and they replied: I have spoken to our Design Department and they have confirmed release date sometime in September, (unfortunately I could not pin him down to a specific date) and the UK recommended retail price will be £140.00. Peter Senger and other members of the DRM Consortium were at the London Digital Radio show. Ofcom is aware of DRM and is considering it's use in the UK, particularly for community stations and city wide stations who would be unable to get a slot on a DAB multiplex (July World DX Club Contact via DXLD) DRM: see also NORWAY POWERLINE COMMUNICATIONS ++++++++++++++++++++++++ Re 6-092: IS THIS BPL? No, this isn't BPL. BPL (Broadband over Power Lines) provides broadband Internet connectivity through power lines (the same power lines used to send electricity to you). It's another "wired" form of Internet connectivity, like connecting through cable or DSL. What Toronto Hydro is proposing is using WiMax wireless connectivity, which is an entirely different technology. The main problems with BPL, from the standpoint of radio, is that power lines are unshielded cables, and that it sends HF frequency waves over them. Since an unshielded cable carrying HF frequencies is also known as a transmitting antenna, these systems would end up radiating lots of noise in the HF part of the spectrum. There are some BPL systems that work in the VHF/UHF portion of the spectrum, and so would not cause as much interference, but most of the systems in field trials in the U.S. and Canada are the type that operate at HF frequencies. We don't get much interference from DSL or cable because those use shielded cables. Personally, I'm not worried much about BPL. I think the future belongs to wireless modes of connectivity, like WiMax, and that BPL won't go anywhere (Greg Shoom, Toronto, Ontario, Canada, ODXA via DXLD) In some BPL installations the distribution from utility pole to home has been 802.11 WiFi technology. However, I agree with Mr. Schoom that WiMax, in urban areas, will rapidly overtake any initial advantages BPL had. That leaves suburban and rural areas as possibilities for BPL, but the problems faced there are the same as they are for cable and DSL --- too low population density to justify the investment in high-speed Internet infrastructure. If cable and DSL haven't been feasible there, the odds of BPL being economically feasible are also dicey (Richard Cuff / Allentown, PA USA, ibid.) CONVENTIONS & CONFERENCES +++++++++++++++++++++++++ 2007 NASB ANNUAL MEETING TO BE HELD IN ELKHART, INDIANA NASB has accepted an offer from associate member HCJB to host next year's annual meeting at its Engineering Center in Elkhart, Indiana on Friday, May 11, 2007. HCJB will also host the USA DRM Group's 2007 annual meeting on Thursday, May 10 in the same location. Elkhart is located in northern Indiana, about a half hour's drive from South Bend airport. It is also possible to fly into Chicago, which is about three hours away by car or bus, or 45 minutes by short commuter flights. This is the first time in NASB's history that the annual meeting will be held outside of the Washington, DC area. This year's meeting was hosted by Adventist World Radio at its world headquarters in Silver Spring, Maryland -- a Washington suburb. At the opening of this year's meeting, AWR officials expressed their hope that other NASB members and associate members would offer to host future annual meetings. HCJB has built many of its own transmitters -- including 500 kilowatt HF units -- at the Engineering Center, which were later put into service at the station's location in Ecuador. The Elkhart Engineering Center has also been in the forefront of research and development on things such as DRM -- Digital Radio Mondiale. More details about the 2007 annual meeting will be announced in the near future (June NASB Newsletter via DXLD) PROPAGATION +++++++++++ BIG SUNSPOT GROWING It`s number 10898, or simply 898; it did had a complex magnetic structure at the time I was writing the script of the program on Saturday morning, and two of my local solar gurus that are keeping a close watch on the big spot told me that they expect it to continue to grow, and also that class M solar flares may possibly erupt from active sunspot region 898 at any moment. And now amigos, as always at the end of the show here is our exclusive and not copyrighted HF plus low band VHF propagation update and forecast. The latest forecast for the solar minimum is telling us that it will be happening between March and September of next year, with the effective average monthly sunspot number going as low as 5 --- something that will turn the HF bands from 15 megaHertz up into very effective competitors with the VHF and UHF bands, as the extremely low solar activity will have a terrible impact upon the Earth's ionosphere, that will then will not be able to support long range HF communications anymore. Solar flux is now around 80 to 90 units; we do have two rather large sunspots in sight, with spot 898 growing fast and a possible source of flares. Expect also possible sporadic E skip openings (Dxers Unlimited's weekend edition for 1-2 July 2006 By Arnie Coro radio amateur CO2KK, ODXA via DXLD) TIPS FOR RATIONAL LIVING ++++++++++++++++++++++++ COMMENTARY: STAND UP FOR DEMOCRACY WITH ROBERT F. KENNEDY, JR. by Thom Hartmann Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has written a brilliant new article http://www.rollingstone.com/news/story/10432334/was_the_2004_election_stolen about the biggest political story in the history of the United States: An American politician illegitimately took the office of president by outright theft and fraud. Although such high crimes and misdemeanors have been rumored in previous elections, none in the history of the republic have been so thoroughly documented. George W. Bush is not the legitimate president of the United States. . . http://baltimorechronicle.com/2006/060606Hartmann.shtml (via DXLD) ###