DX LISTENING DIGEST 6-132, September 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 EXTRA 71: Days and times here are strictly UT. Sun 0630 WWCR1 3215 Sun 0800 WRMI 9955 Sun 1530 WRMI 7385 Mon 0300 WBCQ 9330-CLSB Mon 0415 WBCQ 7415 Wed 0930 WWCR1 9985 Latest edition of this schedule version, with hotlinks to station sites and audio, is at: 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 ** ARGENTINA. 6213.88. R. Baluarte, Puerto Iguazú, 0150-0155 UT in Spanish with program announcements and inspirational talks, also noted 0205 UT in Portuguese, good on 18 Aug (Vashek Korinek, RSA, DXplorer Aug 29 via BCDX Sept 2 via DXLD) ** AUSTRALIA. 5049.92, ARDS R., Humpty Doo, 1710-1735 UT, heard here for the first time, thanks to Tanzania being absent. Mainly songs, IS (probably didgeridoo) and "The time is 3 o'clock" at 1730 UT, poor on 18 Aug (Vashek Korinek, RSA, DXplorer Aug 29 via BCDX via DXLD) ** AUSTRALIA [non]. Contrary to DX Mix News, in 6-106, repeated in 6- 131, the CVC service in English on 15795 did not terminate August 31. Still there on brief Sept 2 check at 1504 with news in English, CVC ID; weak signal. This is 160 degrees from Jülich. DX Mix says it is to West Asia, while CVC site says it is 14-17 for Middle East (and does not specify a termination date, FWIW): http://www.cvc.tv/data/programtimes/englishProgramTimes.htm (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** BANGLADESH. Bangladesh Betar is inviting bid for installation & commissioning of its new 1000 kW transmitter in Dhamrai, Dhaka. For further details please visit - http://www.betar.org.bd/Tender1.pdf (Swopan Chakroborty, Kolkata, India, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** BRAZIL. 2379.96, R. Educadora, Limeira, 0530-0540, local light songs, announcements, weak but fair on 18 Aug. 4845.24, R. Cultura Ondas Tropicais, Manáus, tentative, 2315-2320, local romantic songs, announcements, fair on 17 Aug. 5969.93, R. Itatiáia, Belo Horizonte, 0120-0125, coverage of a soccer match, fair on 18 Aug. 5980.28, R. Guarujá, Florianópolis, 0125-0130, phone-ins, fair on 18 Aug (Vashek Korinek, RSA, DXplorer Aug 29 via BCDX via DXLD) ** BULGARIA. Google Earth Imagery. I guess this is the Varna Bulgaria MW 774 (ex-981) kHz and SW site, as well - most likely - used in 1950- 1980ties as jamming equipment against R Liberty Russian service, targeted at European part of FSU: ITU/EBU coordination locator is 43 03 N, 27 40 E narrowed exact at about 43 04 5 N, 27 47 07 E 4 MW masts. And a SW dipole semi-circle, west of the transmitter building (wb, shortwavesites via wwdxc BC-DX Aug 25 via DXLD) No real MW / LW site at Plovdiv-BUL discovered yet. ITU/EBU coordination locator is 42 04 N, 24 41 E (wb, SW TX site shortwavesites via wwdxc BC-DX Aug 29 via DXLD) Should be near village Padarsko, so this place looks probable: 42 22 30 N, 24 51 40 E (Mauno Ritola, Finland, shortwavesites via wwdxc BC-DX Aug 29 via DXLD) Yes, right on 42 22 42 N, 24 51 48 E (wb) Google Earth - BUL Sofia site Predavatel web site says 42 49 N, 23 13 E (Mauno Ritola, Finland, shortwavesites via wwdxc BC-DX Aug 29 via DXLD) ??? low resolution dimly Sofia Kostinbrod ??? at 42 49 39 N, 23 13 33 E (wb, SW TX site shortwavesites via wwdxc BC-DX Aug 29 ibid.) Congrats, our regular contributor for decades, Rumen Pankov from Sofia, Bulgaria reached his 60th anniversary of birth on August 28th, 2006. Still keep your ears on the Kurdish language and NE/ME radio scene (Wolfgang Büschel, BCDX Sept 2 via DXLD) ** BURKINA FASO. See NIGER ** CANADA. R. Prague via Sackville relay planned in B06 season as follows: 5990 kHz at 0330-0400 and 6000 kHz at 2330-2400 (Wolfgang Büschel, Aug 31, BCDX via DXLD) ** CANADA. Internal wars at CBC --- mainly Toronto, but other places. More than you wanted to know about toilets in the CBC building in Toronto http://gorbould.com/blog/2006/08/bottoms-up.html (Dan Say, Sept 1, alt.radio.networks.cbc via Mike Cooper, DXLD) ** CANADA. I thought I was hearing things this morning when I heard the voice of the listowner and chief bottle washer, Sheldon Harvey. I was nice to hear him again along with Janice and Steve and the two guys from the Boston DX Club and their great stories (Ed Roberts, Cornwall, ON - Roxboro, QC, Aug 20, radioinmontreal yg via DXLD) SOME BACKGROUND ON THE INTERNATIONAL RADIO REPORT ON CKUT Following up on a few of you catching my spur-of-the-moment appearance on Int. Radio Report yesterday, I thought I would provide a bit of background information on the show. In mid-1987 I heard that CKUT-Radio McGill was going on the FM band, on 90.3 MHz, 24 hours a day, and that they were looking for programme proposals. I thought it would be a good idea to put a radio programme on the air that talked about the medium, radio, in all its shapes, forms, sizes, locations, etc., including a focus on shortwave, or international broadcasting. I spoke to a few people about the idea, including eventual co-host Bill Westenhaver. He, and fellow CIDX member at the time, Richard Casavant, agreed to help out. So, I put the ideas down on paper and submitted the proposal to then station manager Susan Elrington. We suggested the title of "International Radio Report". She called me up almost immediately upon receiving the proposal. I distinctly recall her telling me that she really appreciated how well laid out the proposal was and that I obviously really knew what I wanted to do with the show. She did admit, however, that she really didn't know if the idea would fly and if it would attract an audience, but that the station was willing to give it a try. I did a couple of trial runs of the show while CKUT was still on carrier-current throughout the campus but showed up one day and was told, without advanced warning, that CKUT was live on the air on 90.3 FM! This was in late November 1987. The show was originally given a 2:30 PM time slot on Thursday afternoons. At the time I was working at a downtown law firm, as the office manager, and was conveniently located about 5 minutes away from the student union building on McTavish Street where CKUT was first located, down in the bowels of the building. On Thursday afternoons, I would take a late lunch from the office, run over to the station, do the show live, initially with Bill Westenhaver and Richard Casavant. It was a true baptism of fire for all of us. None of us had ever been on the air before, in any capacity, so this was all new to us. There were many bumps in the road, and a lengthy learning curve ahead of us. In the early days, we were usually fortunate enough to have a "tech" available for the show who would operate the board for us. As the weeks and months went by, finding a tech each week became increasingly more difficult. Bill took it upon himself to take a few training sessions at the station and eventually took over board ops for the show, a task he continued regularly until his departure from the show. Richard left the show after a short stint. He was not replaced, leaving myself and Bill to carry on from that point on. We presented, operated, produced, somewhat scripted, researched, lined up occasional guests, etc. learning more and more as we went along, building up a reasonably sized, but extremely dedicated listnership. Thursday afternoon was not a great time for this type of show, so we put ourselves on a waiting list, looking for a new time slot. Eventually an opening came up and we obtained the 10:30 to 11 AM, Sunday morning time slot, where the show remains to this day. It was so much better a slot, for so many reasons. [see below] At some point, I don't remember exactly when, CKUT moved from the student union building to their present location on University Street, a great improvement over the original location. Bill and I were extremely dedicated to the show. We were both proud to say that we were two of about 4 or 5 people who had been with CKUT since its inception on 90.3 MHz. We were also proud to say that during our run, except for a few pre-emptions for special programming and one or two pre-recorded shows we put together, either Bill or myself, and most both of us, were present, live in studio, for every single show during our 16-plus years with the show. Snow storms, broadcasting several times on Christmas Day, New Years Day, Easter Sunday, whatever, we were there. We had made a commitment and we saw it through. We were also very grateful for the dedication of our audience. During the annual funding drives, we consistently were the top fundraising show for any of CKUT's half-hour programmes. In the latter years, Bill and I often discussed just how long we would keep doing the show. I think Bill was reaching the burnout point much more quickly than I was. Perhaps a year or so before we finally stepped away, Bill told me that he wanted to leave but was willing to stay on as long as I wanted to continue. I was torn between packing it in, or carrying on. What would happen to the show should we decide to leave? We thought that maybe we could find some interns to work with us on the show who could eventually take over. We also thought though that maybe it was time; that the show had run its course, and we should just let it die. That bothered me a lot though, so we kept thinking and carried on together with the show for several more months, not even bringing up the subject again. The subject however surfaced again in early 2004. This time it seemed serious. We really didn't think we could find anyone to take over the show, so we were prepared to wrap it up. Almost magically, and my mind is still a little foggy on just how it happened, we were approached by two fellow CIDX members, Janice and Steve Karlock. They were interested in taking over the show, should we decide to leave, or to at least help out with the programme on a semi-regular basis. Things fell quickly into place. Steve and Janice came in together with us on a few shows to learn the ropes. They took several of the CKUT orientation sessions offered by the station. On Sunday, March 21, Bill broadcast his last show. I originally planned to stay on for a while longer, but the team was broken up now. Steve and Janice were adapting quickly and I realized it was time for me to move on as well. The show carries on today. I continue to receive comments from some long-time dedicated fans of our show saying that they miss us and that the show with Steve and Janice just isn't the same. Well, that's true and that's because it's their show now, not our show. They stepped forward to take on the show, and continue the tradition, on their terms and conditions. They were not going to try to copy what we did. They would make the show their own. They were hoping to carry over the audience, but they were also looking to develop their own audience, with their own ideas and goals. We are thankful and grateful to them for keeping the dream of International Radio Report alive. In November 2006, they will mark the 19th anniversary of the programme. Dropping in on the show on Sunday morning brought up a lot of great memories for me. Could I do this again on a weekly basis? Perhaps. Would I want to make that type of commitment again and give the time and effort that it takes every week to do a weekly live show? I doubt it. At this point in time, I'm happy to be able to say that we did what we did for 16+ years. We learned a lot, provided a lot of information and entertainment to a lot of people, and made a number of new friends as a result. I probably most pleased to know that the show carries on, thanks to the efforts of Steve and Janice. I'm always happy to hear for past listeners who remember what we did, and appreciate it to this day. I'm not ashamed to say that I seldom tune in to Steve and Janice on Sunday morning. Radio still plays an important part in my life, but not to the same level that it did while doing the show for 16 years. Will it ever reach that point again for me? I don't know, but it is nice to know that whenever I get the urge to drop in to the show and plop myself down in front of a microphone, the door is always open on Sunday mornings with Steve and Janice. Like their version of the show or not, just keep in mind that there isn't any other station in this city that would even consider allowing a show such as International Radio Report to air. What station would let a show on the air that encourages listeners to turn their radio dials (or push the buttons!) to tune into other radio stations? So, for those people out there who miss our version of IRR, you can always contact Steve and Janice and talk to them about the programme, the content, ideas, suggestions, etc. Hey, you could even volunteer to help out with the show, if that's something that interests you. So now you know a little more about the history of International Radio Report and its evolution. Where does it go from here? Hopefully forward into its 2nd decade of existence (Sheldon Harvey, QC, Aug 21, radioinmontreal yg via DXLD) I contacted Bill yesterday. He believes that we made the switch from Thursday afternoon to Sunday morning around mid-year 1991, close to the St-Jean-Baptiste weekend (Sheldon Harvey, Aug 22, ibid.) ** CHINA. 6937, Yunnan PBS (presumed), 1213-1229 Aug 26. Program of local hill vocals, with some traditional Chinese music in the mix, as well; the regional music is reminiscent of what is heard on Burmese and Hmong stations, which makes sense, since Yunnan borders on these areas; at 1229, an "IS" on a rustic woodwind instrument, followed by YL with talk in language; good signal but wiped out at 1245 by the "roaring" Ute station that is usually present on this frequency (John Wilkins, CO, DXplorer Aug 27 via BCDX via DXLD) see CUBA; MALAYSIA ** CHINA [and non] 7270.08, PBS Nei Menggu (presumed), Aug 30, 1014- 1048, in assume Mongolian, fair, // 7210 & 9750. NHK also heard on 9750 // 11815. In the past I have noted PBS at about 7270.15, just as John Wilkins has reported, but today seemed lower. No sign of Wai FM (Malaysia), but maybe a little early to catch them. Thanks to Mauno Ritola and John Wilkins for their input (Ron Howard, Monterey, CA, RX340, with T2FD antenna, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) RE 6-131: 7270.0, Sept 2, random checking between 1435-1522, heard the strong firedragon jamming, with perhaps the Voice of China under it, in Chinese and some music. VoC was weak if them and not possible to ID. Did not hear anything from PBS Nei Menggu. PBS has a new schedule, but do not know their sign-off time. Wai FM (Malaysia) did not have any chance of coming through the firedragon and VoC (Ron Howard, Monterey, CA, RX340, with T2FD antenna, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) see also MALAYSIA; MALI ** CHINA [non]. 11700, Ming Hui Radio via Taiwan. Sept. 2 *1500-1520. This program was heard with opening orchestra melody, followed with OM announcements in Standard Chinese. Did note several mentions for 'ming hui ..ming hui... taiwan..' Then followed a program with long talks, which was interspersed with short clips of orchestra music. At the opening, the signal was over the jammer, but by 1520 the jammer seemed to take over and wiped any attempt after this. On this date, the jammer appeared at *1458. I have been trying on numerous occasions, the last being Aug. 6 *1500-1600* at which there where alternate talks by OM & YL speakers, slogans and promotions. Noted at 1559 with mention of 'ming hui..ming hui' then some kind of slogans and off. 1600 time notes (5+1) and then off. The jammer on this date was so low keyed it was barely audible. A Goggle search, found that this group, http://minghui.net is part of the Falun Gong. (This link http://media.minghui.org/ sends you to this web site: http://www.clearwisdom.net/emh/index.html (Edward Kusalik, Alberta, CANADA, Sept 2, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CONGO. Received a partial data QSL card and letter today from Radio Congo 5985 kHz for reception on 11 January 2005 after 1 followup report and 1 IRC. Verification signer is Jean Médard Bokatola. Quite surprised and pleased to see this in the mailbox after all this time (Steve Lare, Holland, MI USA, Sept 2, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CONGO DR. Does anyone know the latest status and sked for Radio Kahuzi? I haven't seen loggings of this for awhile. Thanks in advance. 73/ (Liz Cameron, MI, Aug 30, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) See 6- 122, and now, this: 6209.65, R. Kahuzi, 1550 (fade-in)-1605*, French talks, sign off with instrumental C&W music. Completely in the clear but poor/weak on 20 Aug (Sunday). Not heard on Th/Fr/Sa, so either normally signs off before the 1550 fade-in, or just a Sunday operation? 5066.34, R. Candip, Bunia, 1620-1625, local songs, vernacular announcements, poor and very weak on 18 Aug (Vashek Korinek, RSA, DXplorer Aug 29 via BCDX via DXLD) ** CUBA. CRI changes in B06 season via the new RHC SW site at Quivicán 22 49 39 N, 82 17 34 W: 9580 to be replaced by 7220 0100-0300, 250 kW 10 degrees zone 8. 15120 to be replaced by 9475 0000-0100, 250 kW 160 deg zones 12 14 16. (CRI, Aug 31, via BCDX Sept 2 via DXLD) 7220! Despite all its other faults, Cuba has never been known to run a non-jamming transmitter in the 40m hamband, in order to preserve a semblance of adherence to international norms. Surely that will not come to pass. China has previously registered 40m frequencies from Canada, I think, and those did not happen either. Are the Chicoms ignorant of Region 2 band limitations or just pushing the envelope? (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Re numbers on RHC frequency: Gilles, seemingly just a feeder line error, or a fault of the transmitter staff at new Cuban site Quivicán. See images under Google Earth at coordinates 22 49 39 N 82 17 34 W - high resolution) has curtain arrays. (wb, wwdxc BC-DX July 11, 2006 repeated in BCDX Sept 2 via DXLD) ** CUBA [non]. Martí, no más --- As predicted, I find no trace of Air Martí at 2300Z+ on 530 kc/s this afternoon, Friday, September 1st. Previous tropical weather justified not flying down from Pennsylvania, as has typically been the pattern in past. I will likely not be home to check tomorrow (local Saturday) to see if --- by chance -- PANG flew down and appears. Highly unlikely, I suspect. Weather sux when it comes to clanny psy-ops (Terry L Krueger, Clearwater, Florida USA 27.55.83 N, 82.46.08 W, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CYPRUS. Google Earth Imagery. R Bayrak. I guess this is the R Bayrak site: ITU/EBU coordination locator is 35 17 N, 33 54 E narrowed exact at about 35 17 39 N, 33 54 50 E, two MW masts, one west of the transmitter building, the other southeastwards. 6150v kHz 49 mb dipol masts seen northeast of the transmitter building, 12.5 kW at 330 degrees??? (wb, SW TX site shortwavesites via wwdxc BC-DX Aug 26 via DXLD) Yes, in (Yeni) Iskele, a.k.a. Trikomo. BBC Zyyi/Zygi 1323 kHz & SW low resolution at about 34 43 N, 33 19 E BBC Zakaki (a.k.a. Ladies Mile) 639 & 720 kHz: 34 37 N, 33 00 E On the other side of the salt lake big communications site, including 'Lincolnshire Poacher' 11545 kHz etc: 34 36 30 N, 32 56 30 E (Mauno Ritola, Finland, shortwavesites via wwdxc BC-DX Aug 27 via DXLD) The latter one: 34 37 3 N, 32 56 10 E What's about the British OHR installations on Cyprus? RMC / IBB MW installations on the far south-eastern tip of the island near Ayia Napa: 34 57 39N 34 05 00 E (wb, SW TX site shortwavesites via wwdxc BC-DX Aug 27, ibid.) What are these lines in the Akrotiri plant? http://www.hri.org/news/cyprus/cmnews/2001/01-07-13.cmnews.html Antenna 'could disrupt National Guard systems' By Melina Demetriou DEFENCE minister Socratis Hasikos said yesterday it was possible that the giant antenna Britain wants to erect at the Akrotiri salt lake could interfere with National Guard communications systems. During a marathon meeting of the House Defence Committee yesterday, Hasikos said: "Considering that even a mobile phone or a radio can interfere with a communications system, then imagine what a giant aerial can do." The Minister said that the govt had requested information on the matter from the British Bases which have begun groundwork on the new 190-metre communications mast at the Akrotiri mast site. But Hasikos also said that according to ministry experts the army's radars would not be affected by the aerial. DIKO deputy Marios Matsakis argued, though, that the new antenna would be so sophisticated that "it could interfere with our radar". "We are not talking about an ordinary aerial. It is called 'over-the horizon radar' because it can spy on both aircraft and ground troops," he said. Matsakis doubted that the British would ever give the government vital information about the capabilities of the aerial in question. Meanwhile the British Bases administration yesterday dismissed a report by Antenna television suggesting that a receiver site in Ayios Nikolaos in the Famagusta District posed a threat to health. "The installation at Ayios Nikolaos is a receiver site. It poses no risk to health and the only transmissions emanating from this site are directly comparable in terms of power and frequency to those of typical telecommunications links throughout Cyprus and indeed Western Europe," a bases annt said. Copyright Cyprus Mail 2001 Two pictures from near there. Also satellite receiving system and a mystery installation (Mauno Ritola, Finland, shortwavesites via wwdxc BC-DX Aug 29) http://www.simonmason.karoo.net/page496.htm British Air Force Over Horizont Radar Cyprus, Limassol rx - Famagusta tx. OHR - maybe Akrotiri plant is the receiving part of the system. 34 36 59 N, 32 56 22 E But the other location site mentioned in the press report of 2001, [I guess two things mixed together in the report - the transmitting and receiving part !] maybe the OHR transmitting part is located near Ayios Nikolaos in Famagusta District in more rural area - after splitting Cyprus in two parts in 1972, see location around 35 04 48 N, 33 53 53 E two transmitting antenna rows at 30/40 degrees to FSU, and another row one towards 100 degrees to Middle East (IRQ, KWT, IRN, Persian Gulf). But the Famagusta tx area is partly vailed on low resolution image, BUT NOT IN TOTAL !!! (wb, SW TX site shortwavesites via wwdxc BC-DX Aug 29 via DXLD) ** CZECH REPUBLIC [non]. B06 via CANADA: q.v. ** ECUADOR. Making my more-or-less monthly check, HCJB reconfirmed still announcing the wrong frequency during its recorded ``Albert Einstein`` ID at 1359 UT Sept 2 on 9745, i.e. they claim to be using as their other frequency 11760, which is of course really occupied by Habana, and HCJB is on 11690, which I was able to reconfirm // a few minutes later with RTTY on the low side, not a chance for Jordan. HCJB has never really used 11760, and I surmise that this is a double- mistake, a typo for 11960 which they have used in the past, which may have been a transposition for 11690! But when it comes to interpreting scripture they are no doubt infallible (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** EGYPT. See INTERNATIONAL VACUUM ** ETHIOPIA. R. Fana: Interesting statements here: http://www.radiofana.com/aboutus.aspx Some postings in favour of the station: http://www.google.com/search?q=cache:1XY2X0b1NFYJ:www.ethioindex.com/medrek2/viewtopic.php%3Fp%3D86377+%22radio+fana%22+eprdf&hl=de&gl=de&ct=clnk&cd=9 And one of various sources still considering Radio Fana as a pure propaganda outlet: http://www.ethiomedia.com/fastpress/radio_fana_journalist_asylum.html (Kai Ludwig, Germany, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** GABON. QSL: 9580, Inpact du Plein Evangile (via Moyabi). Rather a non-descriptive 'appreciate your letter and CD recording' letter response. They failed to return my PPC's, one in French and the other in English). They did send also a large religious book in French, in 22 days for a CD Report. v/s Sergine & Andre Snanoudj (Edward Kusalik, Alberta, CANADA, Sept 2, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** GAMBIA. Bonto 648 kHz nicely visible at 13 17 43 N, 16 33 10 W (Mauno Ritola-FIN, shortwavesites via wwdxc BC-DX Aug 30 via DXLD) ** GERMANY. I think I'll visit Nauen on Sep 10. Actually the site participates in an event called "day of the open monument" each year, and I was there eight years ago anyway, but who knows if 9545 or DW programming at all will still be on air from there next year. Back in 1998 things were quite different; during daytime all five transmitters (the new ones plus a 100 kW Funkwerk Köpenick still used at that time) were on air with DW German, letting the bars of all audio peak level meters in the control room dance in synch. Not so anymore already by now. Tonight I went through audio material from the DRM press conference at IFA 2005: They estimated 1 millions receivers to be sold by yearend 2006, and T-Systems said that at Jülich three transmitters would be available at short notice for DRM operation and further seven ones (i.e. in the end all S4001 PDM rigs there) in future, provided that customers request such transmissions. First of all yet another proof how short-lived and fast-paced life is today. Good night (Kai Ludwig, Germany, Aug 29, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Re: DW to abandon Wertachtal, shut down shortwave to NAm? Hasn't DW already dropped English to N Am? German is probably the only service available to cut (Jerry Lenamon, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) That's of course absolutely correct; Deutsche Welle has only German on shortwave to the Western Hemisphere anymore. 6100, at present in use via Sackville 0000-0400, used to be a Wertachtal frequency for English to NAm, by the way. In the referenced thread the original source of this information (DW planning to shut down shortwave to North America) has now been specified as a programme of DW radio (German) from yesterday. Herein they also said that DW intends to concentrate on podcasting for this target area, specifically the US (Kai Ludwig, Germany, Sept 2, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) B06 season. Seems Deutsche Welle will cease WER-Wertachtal usage after 36 years in service in total on Dec 31, 2006. Replaced mostly by VT- Merlin installation WOF-Woofferton in England. Will cease Albanian, Bulgarian, Croatian, Macedonian, Polish, Serbian, Turkish / Romanes, and Romanian on SW from Jan 1st also. May remain these services still on Internet? But DW will keep Belorussian and Ukrainian on SW in B06! 3995 and 6075 kHz Wertachtal usage to be replaced by VT-Merlin at Skelton Cumbria in daytime/afternoon. DTK Nauen installation will still be used by Deutsche Welle in 2007y (Wolfgang Büschel, Aug 31, BCDX via DXLD) Wertachtal transmitters in Deutscher Bundestag paper An official report of Deutsche Welle for Germany's federal parliament about their plannings for the 2007...2010 period contains these related remarks: ´´The importance of analogue shortwave broadcasting in Europe went down dramatically´´ and ´´When the contract for the Wertachtal transmitters runs out a new concept will result in a reduction of analogue shortwave transmissions and an extension of DRM and FM (metropolis) services.´´ http://dip.bundestag.de/btd/16/010/1601000.pdf (And so the fact that they will abandon Wertachtal was in the public domain already since March, when this document had been published. Trouble is, who has the time to read all this stuff??) (Kai Ludwig, UT Sept 3, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** GERMANY. QSL: 13730, RCI via Nauen. Full data usual globe card with site in 13 days for a e-mail report on RCI's web site. v/s Bill Westenhaver (Edward Kusalik, Alberta, CANADA, Sept 2, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** GERMANY. QSL Radio Africa program via Juelich 15650. Partial-data letter from T-Systems confirming reception of Radio Africa 37 months after I sent a report to Pan American Broadcasting. This is a religious program, which according to my notes was sometimes reported as Voice of Africa, not one of the clandestine or humanitarian broadcasters with the same or similar name. The letter from Sabine Gawol, BackOffice Short-wave Sales, apologizes for the delay and states they have an additional colleague so will be able to answer letters quickly in the future. No response from Pan American or Radio Africa. I've received a few veries from broadcasters or brokers after sending a report to T-Systems (and of course T-S always verified), but I think this is the first time my report to a broadcaster resulted in a QSL from T-S (Wendel Craighead-KS-USA, DXplorer Aug 29, via BCDX via DXLD) Is this considered part of the Equatorial Guinea ``Radio Africa`` also brokered by PanAm? (gh, DXLD) ** GERMANY. MV Baltic Radio this Sunday 3th of September, 1200 UT, 6045 kHz EMR is on 17th September 1200 utc Good listening (Tom Taylor, UK, Sept 2, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Who is Tom Taylor, really? Unseems a native speaker of English if he says ``3th`` instead of ``3rd`` (gh, DXLD) MV Baltic Radio is on Sunday, 03th of September 2006, at 12 o'clock UT in the 49-m-European-Shortwave-Band, 6045 kHz on air again [you may win a CD of the Rolling Stones (wb)] Vorschau/Preview: MV Baltic Radio wird zwei Jahre alt! Es ist zwar kein grosses Jubilaeum - trotzdem wollen wir am kommenden Sonntag, dem 3. September, einen Blick auf das vergangene Jahr werfen. Dazu spielen wir ab 14 Uhr die besten Stuecke, die sich unsere Hoerer per Voting im Internet unter http://www.mvbalticradio.de gewuenscht haben. Wie es sich fuer einen Geburtstag gehoert, gibt es auch Geschenke. Wer bei unserem Gewinnspiel mitmacht, hat die Chance, die aktuelle CD der Rolling Stones A bigger bang http://www.virginmusic.de oder eines von den drei Buechern "The Rolling Stones - In eigenen Worten" zu gewinnen, die uns der Palmyra Verlag in Heidelberg http://www.palmyra-verlag.de zur Verfuegung gestellt hat. Kontakt ueber: R&R Medienservice, Roland Rohde, Seestrasse 17 19089 Goehren, Germany E-Mail: info @ mvbalticradio.de URL: http://www.mvbalticradio.de (via Klaus Fuehrlich-D, A-DX Sep 1 via BCDX via DXLD) ** GREENLAND. As I like to listen to Greenland I had contact with KNR and asked them when we can have streaming audio. I got a reply and they told me that they plan to be fully digital in Jan 07 meaning that there will also be streaming audio by that time. Now you can only hear the news in Greenlandic and Danish on demand. I've been to OX twice and was also QRV from there (Rudy van Dalen, Netherlands, Aug 30, DX LISTENING DIGEST) And later he forwarded his correspondence with them: When will there be a continuous streaming KNR audio on the Internet. It'll be nice to hear all the programmes. It's great to hear the news but I'd like to hear nice Greenlandic music programmes as well. In this matter say hi To Karsten Sommer as I think he was the one behind ULO records. Hilser fra Holland (Rudy van Dalen, 24 July, a comment posted on the KNR website, via DXLD) Hi Rudy van Dalen, Thank you for writing to KNR. It is possible to listen to the latest radio news plus another programme called ``Nyhedsmagasinet`` on our homepage. It’s also possible to listen to old radio news in the archive. Unfortunately KNR has still not streamed radio on our homepage. But KNR is in the process of digitalising both the radio and the TV which means that by the end of the year or beginning of the New Year it will be possible to live- stream the radio on our homepage. Links: http://knr.gl/radio/ (radio news in Greenlandic) http://knr.gl/radio_dk/ (radio news in Danish) http://knr.gl/hoer_radioudsendelserne/ (Nyhedsmagasinet in Danish) http://knr.gl/aallakaateriikkat_tusarnaakkit/ (Nyhedsmagasinet in Greenlandic) http://knr.gl/se_tv_udsendelserne/ (Nyhedsmagasinet in Danish – TV) http://knr.gl/aallakaateriikkat_takukkit/ (Nyhedsmagasinet in Greenlandic – TV) I will forward your greeting to Karsten Sommer, who is a journalist at KNR during the summer. Should you have any other questions, you are welcome to contact us again. Yours sincerely (Ms. Ivalu Søvndahl Pedersen, Kalaallit Nunaata Radioa, Communication assistant, Tel +299 36 15 76, Mobil +299 24 29 39, Fax +299 36 15 02, E-mail: isp @ knr.gl http://www.knr.gl July 24 via Rudy, DXLD) Since someone there obviously speaks English, it would be nice if KNR could be persuaded to provide at least a brief summary of news about Greenland on their website; e.g. the rest of the world is concerned it will melt away and inundate our coasts (Glenn Hauser, inland, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** INDONESIA. 9525, VOI, Sept 2, 0838-0900, in English, ``Week in Review`` about what happened in Indonesia this past week, variety of music, ``News in Brief``, fair (Ron Howard, Monterey, CA, Etón E5, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Voice of Indonesia, 9525 at 1630z Sept 2, with about 1/3 of the path in daylight (close to sunrise in Hawaii at 1630z with WWVH on 10 MHz just barely audible at this time). I tuned back to 9525 several more times with a fair signal as late as 1830z (50/50 daylight/dark). (Jerry Lenamon, Waco Texas, Drake R8B with sloper, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** INTERNATIONAL. ELECTRONIC MAIL ADDRESSES FOR [PIRATE SW] STATIONS: Alfa Lima International: info @ alfalima.net Big Thunder Radio: bigthunderradio @ hotmail.com Blind Faith Radio: blindfaithradio @ yahoo.com Buckwheat Radio: buckwheatradio @ hotmail.com Captain Ron SW: captainronswr @ yahoo.com Crystal Ship Shortwave: tcsshortwave @ yahoo.com Dr. Who: theedrwho @ yahoo.com Friendship Radio: friendshipradio @ hotmail.com Ground Zero Radio: gzrsw @ usa.net Ironman Radio: ironmanradio @ hotmail.com Jolly Roger Radio Int'l: JR_Radio @ hotmail.com KIPM: kipm_outerlimits @ hotmail.com KMUD: vlfradio @ triax.com KRMI Radio Michigan Int'l: KRMI6955 @ yahoo.com MAC Shortwave: macshortwave @ yahoo.com Laser Hot Hits: hothits @ radiolink.net Radio Borderhunter: borderhunter @ hotmail.com Radio Cochiguaz: radio_cochiguaz @ yahoo.com Radio Omroep Zuid Roz.am @ iae.nl Ragnar Radio: ragnarradio @ yahoo.com Seattle Free Radio: seattle4166 @ yahoo.com Shadow Radio: the_shadow6950 @ hotmail.com Sunshine Radio: sunshineradios @ hotmail.com United Patriot Militia BINGO: yahwehradio6925 @ yahoo.com Undercover Radio: undercoverradio @ mail.com Voice of Capt. Ron: captainronswr @ yahoo.com captainron6955 @ hotmail.com Voice of the New World Order: vonwoun @ yahoo.com WBMR (Black Mountain Radio): wbmrradio @ hotmail.com WHGW: WHGW6925 @ myway.com WHYP: whyp1530 @ partlycloudy.com WMOE: wmoe6955 @ yahoo.com WPAT: brewmaster66 @ hotmail.com WPN World Parody Network: wpn_sw @ yahoo.com Z100: bigz100fm @ yahoo.com (Free Radio Weekly Sept 2 via DXLD) ** INTERNATIONAL VACUUM [and non]. Dear Glenn, I had to leave BRT in 1985 due to budget cuts, after that I did some things for Austrian SW Panorama for about a year and Dick Speekman's "Spectrum" program on R Australia, but after that it was over for me. I really have no idea how Frans Vossen is doing this moment; we lost contact soon after I left BRT in 85, I continued to listen to his broadcasts. I'm not active anymore as a DXer, but still listen to Int SW Radio on the net and follow your program. Also as a ham PA3GQW, I was active for 10 years, but after a lightning hit, you got respect for mother nature. 2 years ago I had to decide whether or not to renew my ant system and I decided to go QRX for a while. There's still Echolink end E-QSO. hi! I still listen to radio but on Internet and Sat. Do you know that you can hear the Voice of Vietnam, but on a strange channel. You have to watch Israel IBA Ch 33 TV on the Hotbird sat. Switch your audio channel and there it is, the voice of Vietnam in Studio quality during European evening hours. Same goes for Radio Cairo, also on Hotbird but the station name is called "Overseas" so you don't think about Radio Cairo when you download your sat Chan. So at night we can pick up the European service in studio quality. I recommend to download new channels from the sat itself directly, it can take a bit longer, but it's like DXing, every day there can be something new. That's it for now Glenn, Nice that you still remember me, I took part in EDXC conferences also in the early 1980's. Köln, Germany, London, Stockolm, Madrid was my final one I think, and I think you took part in the Madrid one as well. CU 73's (Rudy van Dalen, Netherlands, Aug 30, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** IRAN [non]. LITHUANIA, 7540, IRIB relay, 1820-1840, in German and French, fair signal on 17 Aug (Vashek Korinek-AFS, DXplorer Aug 29 via BCDX via DXLD) Is 7540 still going now? I thought the test period was supposed to end earlier in August. What about the other two? (Glenn Hauser, DXLD) ** ISLE OF MAN [and non]. Judging from recent issues of DX Listening Digest, it is hard to tell whether the proposed LW station from the Isle of Man will *ever* start broadcasting. On the one hand, the company say they are recruiting staff, and have quashed rumours of resignations, even including founder Paul Rusling. On the other hand, the station's 2 websites were apparently removed in mid-August. It was claimed these were costing £600 per year to run, and if they can't afford £600 per annum to run websites, what does it say for the rest of the operation? I reckon it must be odds-on that the station will *never* be heard. Then again, they could surprise us. I wonder, though, how many long- wave radios tune up as far as 279 kHz. Mine do, but they are all continuous tuning radios from 150 to 29999 kHz. Also, there is a Morse Code signal around that frequency, which could cause problems for the station, or the station could cause problems for whomsoever is operating the Morse Code signal (Paul David, UK, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) I'm puzzled by what makes them think they can make a profitable radio station work on 279 when the two attempts via Ireland on 252 failed. The costs of setting up a 500 kW transmitter on a sea platform using a unconventional antenna must be astronomic, and apparently they plan to use other outlets too. My guess is that only the backing of the IOM government has kept the project alive so far. What are they going to broadcast that we cannot already hear in the UK via many other stations anyway - and via better quality FM and DAB? The frequency of 279 will have been agreed internationally, and I assume that the IOM signal will not have to cause harmful interference to the Belarussian transmitter already using the frequency. The morse code signal that Paul hears is probably from an aero beacon transmitter, probably CHT Chiltern for Northolt on 277, and which I can sometimes hear. If 279 ever comes on air it may have to shift, although they are only for short range use, but the good people of Northolt will have QRM to 279 if they try to listen! 73 (Noel R. Green, (NW England), ibid.) The frequency range from 255 to 283.5 is allocated to both broadcasting and aeronautical radionavigation as primary services, so it is of course no surprise to find an aero beacon there. Are really radios around who have longwave but can't tune to 279, 270, 261, ... ? All these are regular channels, and it would be like a mediumwave radio not covering 1602, 1593, 1584, ... I think 279 is a coordinated frequency, so they may indeed build the transmitter and put it on air. Moving to another frequency to avoid aero beacons will of course be not possible. By the way: Remember the planned Dutch station on 171 that never saw the light of the day? (Kai Ludwig, Germany, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Yes, this project does look like a bit of a gamble for all the reasons previously stated. However not everything is really that black and white. Atlantic 252 was originally a huge success, but lost its audience to emerging FM stations which offered the same or similar format. The sports station that followed was competing with the UK's national MW network now known at TalkSport. Another commercial operator did make an offer to run a music station on the Irish 252 transmitter, but this was turned down in favour of RTE (the Irish BBC), who had been part owner of the facility who now use it for their own purposes. Whether this amounts to a failure of the station I am not sure. Many radio stations have been known to die under one ownership and later prosper under another. As for the costs of the IOM project, they do appear horrific, but there again what do you suppose the costs would be for a national analogue station covering virtually the whole UK? (If you could get one). In fact most analogue frequencies offering national coverage are in the hands of the BBC, with just 3 commercial stations having national coverage 2 on MW and just 1 on FM. All of these are being run by broadcasting conglomerates. The BBC cover the country with radios' 1;2;3;4 on FM, Radio 5 live on MW; and Radio 4 again on LW. Digital (DAB) has been going since 1995 and has only just penetrated 10% of the market, mobile coverage is poor particularly outside the major cities. At my home I can only receive DAB transmissions with roof mounted antenna; however FM and MW work perfectly on a table top portable. So perhaps, while there is scepticism about the costing and technical performance of Isle Of Man 279 kHz project, it's not difficult to understand why some business people may consider investing in a project that is unhampered by Britain's Office Of Communication's regulations. In the future there is the possibility of DRM taking off, offering digital transmission and reception on LW, something never envisaged in the days of Atlantic 252. The unanswered question is what will they broadcast, that cannot be copied nationally by the BBC or commercially by local stations? It would be just wonderful if they could put some genuine interest and excitement back into radio, something that has been completely lacking in recent years. On the point of the aeronautical beacon, the Isle Of Man Dept of Communications would have been unlikely to licence the 279 kHz frequency if the use of 279 presented a serious problem. Two thoughts come to mind, one would be a shift in the aeronautical transmitter and the other that these beacons with their morse ID signals are 2nd World War technology, when navigators used a chart compass and a pencil. Now with global positioning navigation systems and aircraft that are driven by computers, these old aeronautical and marine LW beacons must surely be coming to the end of their usefulness (Andy Cadier, UK, ibid.) ** JAPAN. Google Earth Imagery. Well, the good news is that I finally have a reply re my Radio Nikkei enquiries and now have the co- ordinates of the sites. The bad news is that the previously speculated sites are incorrect and that the actual sites are low resolution sites on Google Earth. I'm also assuming that the Chiba site I QSLed around 1982/83 is actually the Nagara site, unless it changed in the period since?? Anyway here's the info thanks to Keigo Kumuro of Japan. Japan's Radio Tampa, now Radio Nikkei (from 2004) has two transmitting stations as follows. 1. Nagara transmitting station at 35.22'55" N, 140.12'22" E and 2. Nemuro transmitting station at 43.17'49" N, 145.33'49" E Frequencies (in kHz) are: a) Program 1: 3925 (JOZ and JOZ4), 6055 (JOZ2) and 9595 (JOZ3), and b) Program 2: 3945 (JOZ5), 6115 (JOZ6) and 9760 (JOZ7). {by Keigo Komuro-JPN} (Ian Baxter-AUS, shortwavesites via wwdxc BC-DX Aug 27 via DXLD) ** KUWAIT. 5750 - seems for the first time that a frequency lower than 5800 kHz is planned from IBB Kuwait schedule in winter season B06. 1830-2030 UT (Wolfgang Büschel, Aug 31, BCDX via DXLD) ** MADAGASCAR. 7105.00, RTV Malagasy, 1255-1300, talks and announcements in Malagasy; the frequency is spot-on accurate, very good on 18 Aug (Vashek Korinek, RSA, DXplorer Aug 29 via BCDX via DXLD) R. Sweden planned via Madagascar relay site in B06 season: 7420 kHz at 2000-2100 UT towards Asia and Pacific. 11550 kHz at 0100-0200 UT towards Near & Middle East. 13580 kHz at 0430-0530 UT towards E Africa, N Africa and Near East. (Wolfgang Büschel, Aug 31, BCDX via DXLD) ** MALAYSIA. Google Earth Imagery. ITU/HFCC KAJ Kajang MLA 03N01, 101E46 about 2.2 kilometers south east at 3 00 41 N, 101 47 E (Wolfgang Büschel, shortwavesites via wwdxc BC-DX Aug 29 via DXLD) ** MALAYSIA [and non]. [Filed in BCDX under CHINA; q.v.]. 7270, Wai FM/RTM 1215-1303 Aug 30 presumed with the usual "chanting" program to 1259; at 1300 went into possible news - thought I heard "berita" but could not even tell if language was BM or the usual Iban. QRM was worse than usual this morning from hams and from the 7270.15 station and signal strength was down a bit, as well. 7270.15 - Still no ID and very low audio in spite of a decent signal; the het was about equal in strength to RTM on 7270. Monitored from about 1215 to 1330 UT. Still measured on 7270.15 here. The audio was too low to tell from my location if it was \\ to 7210. 7210 - Tuned in at 1246 to vocal music, followed at 1250 by long talk between man and woman continuing well past ToH with no ToH break. Unable to determine language; QRM picked up after 1300, with 7205/7215 splatter. This was \\ to 9530; a perusal of WRTH shows Voice of Vietnam Minority Service on those 2 frequencies, so I thought perhaps that's what I was hearing. I checked all Nei Menggu freqs listed in WRTH including the ones Ron mentioned and did not hear any of them except 7210. 9530 deteriorated after 1300 but was still audible until 1357 when CRI on 9525 blasted them away. Apparently 9530 is a new frequency for NMPBS. The het on 7270.15 appeared in early August, around the same time that NMPBS disappeared from 4000 kHz. 4000 had been very regular here in Colorado, so they have apparently re-arranged their broadcast schedule. 7270, 7210, and 9750 are all listed in WRTH with 0800/0830 s/off times (John Wilkins, CO, DXplorer Aug 30 via BCDX via DXLD) ** MALAYSIA. 7295, Traxx FM (RTM), Sept 2, 1441-1520, TC ``41 past 10``, DJ with pop songs (Barry White ``Can`t Get Enough of Your Love``, etc.), ToH 2 pips, ``Good Evening. I am Chris Syer from the News Center in Kuala Lumpur. First the headlines``, 1510 back to pop & rap music, fair (Ron Howard, Monterey, CA, RX340, with T2FD antenna, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** MALI. /CHINA --- CRI seems to be on a major "broadcasting offensive" in Eastern Africa. I have noticed their Swahili programmes being relayed at various times between 1500 and 1700 UT on several MW stations in Kenya and Tanzania, and they also announced a number of FM outlets. Swahili was also noted at the same time (as well as between 0600-0700) on 5985 kHz. A good and strong signal on this frequency here, but I don't believe that it is a Meyerton relay. No idea what is the location but Tanzania [which has used 5985 for itself] could be a candidate, and would dovetail with the disappearance of their 5050 kHz transmission. The CRI web site is of no help, in fact the schedule posted there has no resemblance of their actual activities, at least not in Africa. Their Meyerton relay on 6100 kHz which has been on regularly for about 2 years is not even listed (Vashek Korinek, RSA, DXplorer Aug 29 via BCDX via DXLD) 5985 via Bamako-Mali relay? (wb, ibid.) ** MAURITANIA. Google Earth Imagery. Nouakchott ITU/HFCC registration midst in the desert, 15 kilometers north of the capital: 18N14, 016W00 and 11 kilometers away of the real location. WRTH mentioned at 18 07 N, 015 57 W TV/FM mast visible at 18 05 58 N, 15 58 1 W (Wolfgang Büschel, shortwavesites via wwdxc BC-DX Aug 30 via DXLD) But R Mauritanie, 783 MW, 4845, 7245 SW at 18 08 25 N, 16 00 W 18 08 10 N, 16 00 11W (Mauno Ritola, Finland, shortwavesites via wwdxc BC-DX Aug 31 via DXLD) Long dipole around 18 08 27 N, 16 00 00 W, for 60 mb. Long dipole around 18 08 22 N, 15 59 59 W, for 41 mb. Main MW tower at 18 08 7 N, 16 00 06 W, for 783 kHz, 50 kW. Another reserve tower but unfortunately low resolution at 18 08 18 N, 16 00 11 W [? - formerly on 1349 kHz, Mauno] And probably another FM mast at 18 08 28 N, 16 00 19 W outside of the main transmitter location further north (Wolfgang Büschel, shortwavesites via wwdxc BC-DX Aug 31 via DXLD) ** MOLDOVA. Radio DMR Pridnestrovye programme plans to be on 6205 kHz channel 1700-1740 UT, during B06 season. In summer A06 on 5960, later changed to 5910, and lately on 5965 instead (Radio DMR-MOL, Aug 31 via BCDX via DXLD) ** MYANMAR. 5040.40 R. Myanmar, 1450-1505 UT, educational program (English grammar), fair on 19 Aug (Vashek Korinek, RSA, DXplorer Aug 29 via BCDX via DXLD) ** NEPAL. 5005, R. Nepal, 0100-0110, nice local songs, fair on 18 Aug. (Vashek Korinek, RSA, DXplorer Aug 29 via BCDX via DXLD) ** NIGER [and non]. Burkina and Niger sharing one transmitter? Why not, but could someone in Arizona or so check 7230 between 1600 and 1700? Ritola reported Niamey *1657 on 9705 the day after I reported 9705 back, and I remember that the day before I had an unID on 7230 at 1600 with time pips and news in French (tent.). Had no better guess but Burkina. 73 (Thorsten Hallmann, Münster, http://www.africalist.de.ms Aug 30, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** NORTH AMERICA. PIRATE (USA), QSL: 6925 U, Northwoods Radio. Received a nice package, 'Playing in Traffic' QSL #27 sheet, along with membership card for the Traffic Cone Preservation Society, information letter, and CD for the 'Playing in Traffic'. Reply in 21 days. This in response to a e-mail report to northwoodsradio @ yahoo.com v/s The Jackpine Savage (Edward Kusalik, Alberta, CANADA, Sept 2, DX LISTENING DIGEST) see also INTERNATIONAL ** SAIPAN. Google Earth Imagery. KFBS Saipan ITU/HFCC coordinates 15 16 N, 145 48 E at exact 15 16 13 N, 145 47 53 E (Wolfgang Büschel, shortwavesites via wwdxc BC-DX Aug 29 via DXLD) ** SCOTLAND [non]. Radio Six International will make its last transmission on 945 kHz (2.8 kW, Riga, Latvia) on August 31st. From September 1st, our transmission schedule will be as follows (all times UT):- 23:00 to 05:00 Mon - Fri Sky channel 0195 on digital satellite covering the United Kingdom and Ireland via RTI 23:00 to 05:00 Mon - Fri on Eurobird satellite at 28 degrees east on 12.523 GHz Horizontal 27500 2/3 covering Europe via RTI 23:00 to 05:00 Mon - Fri 94.2 MHz (30 kW stereo) and 94.8 MHz (15 kW stereo) covering much of Slovakia, the Czech Republic, Hungary and Poland via RTI 23:00 to 02:00 Sat/Sun 88.5 MHz (500 mW Stereo) from Tawa to Tawa & the Porirua Basin, New Zealand via World FM 07:00 to 08:00 Daily 88.5 MHz (500 mW Stereo) from Tawa to Tawa and Redwood, Wellington, New Zealand via World FM 07:00 to 08:00 Sun (Aug 13, Sep 10, Oct 15 only) 9310 kHz (20 kW) to western Europe and the Middle East via IRRS. (N.B. This transmission carries a programme that differs from the Internet schedule.) 08:30 to 09:30 Sat (Aug 12, Sep 9, Oct 14 only) 9310 kHz (20 kW) to western Europe and the Middle East via IRRS 19:00 to 20:00 Thu (July 23, Aug 17, Sep 14, Oct 19 only) 5775 kHz (20 kW) to western Europe, North Africa and the Middle East via IRRS We hope to resume weekly transmissions on 9290 kHz (Ulbroka, Latvia) in October. Regards (TONY CURRIE, Programme Director, radio six international Aug 30, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** SLOVAKIA. Re RSI return to SW? For those who can understand Slovak better than I (I can recognize a lot of the Slavic roots, and have a pocket-sized Czech-German dictionary that helps out, but can't really read it that well), there's an article from SME: http://www.sme.sk/clanok.asp?cl=2876788 The comments on the SME article, however, leave a lot to be desired. Also, the article mentions Slovaks abroad, so it's not clear whether just the Slovak-language broadcasts would be resumed (Ted Schuerzinger, Swprograms mailing list via DXLD) ** SPAIN [and non]. I had been assuming REE on 6125 was direct, and indeed it is shown as such in EiBi, but Sept 2 at 0537 I noticed it was quite muffled and undermodulated, that being typical of the Costa Rica relay rather than Noblejas, // 6055 which was sharp and clear tho with some Habana problem on the hi side. // 5965 was like 6125. Yes, both of the latter are via Costa Rica, per HFCC. I had paused to listen because some nice Andean music was being played, but that ended at 0539, apparently just an interlude in ``Corresponsales del Sur``, news of the Américas. 5965 is 150 degrees to SAm, and 6125 is 340 degrees to NAm; 6055 is 290 degrees to ENAm (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** SWEDEN [non]. B-06 via MADAGASCAR: q.v. ** THAILAND. Radio Thailand 9830 kHz at 1415 tune in Sept 2/06 in English with the weekend program "Saturday Show" with news from around Thailand. IDing as Radio Thailand World Service. Fair in usb with RTTY QRM. Transmission ended at 1429 UT (Mickey Delmage, Alberta, Rx: Collins HF-2050, Ant: KLM 7-30 MHz log, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** TURKEY. TRT seemingly cuts some 60 minute broadcasts to 30 minutes in duration, in next budget year from Jan 1st, 2007: Turkmen 1630-1730 replaced by 30 mins at 1500-1530 on 6065. Bosnian 6110 kHz cut to 1900-1930. Tatar 6140 kHz cut to 1600-1630. Greek 6185 kHz cut to 1530-1600. Bulgarian to be retimed on 7105 1200-1230. Kazakh cut to 1600-1630 on 7205 and 7295 kHz. Greek 7295 kHz at 1130-1200. Bosnian 9525 kHz at 1430-1500. Romanian 9560 kHz cut to 1000-1030. New ? Kyrgyz 9655 kHz at 1430-1500 UT. Albanian 9765 kHz at 0700-0730 UT. Greek on 9840 kHz cut to 1130-1200 UT. Spanish 9865 kHz new/additional? at 0200-0300 UT. ***** Persian 11795 & 17690 kHz extended to 0930-1100 UT. Uzbek 11805 kHz cut to 1300-1330. Azeri 11835 & 15160 kHz cut to 0800-0900. Macedonian 11895 kHz cut to 0900-0930. Albanian 11910 kHz cut to 1230-1300. Hungarian 13770 kHz cut to 1100-1130. Also Turkish lang schedule to be reshuffled from Jan 1st, 2007 German still on 17700 kHz at 1230-1300, 7205 at 1830-1930 (Wolfgang Büschel, Aug 31, BCDX via DXLD) ** UGANDA. 4976.00, R. Uganda, 1610-1620, talks in a vernacular, local music inserts, poor and barely audible here on 18 Aug. 5025.97, R. Uganda, 1605-1610, news in a vernacular, fair but very weak on 18 Aug (Vashek Korinek, RSA, DXplorer Aug 29 via BCDX via DXLD) ** UKRAINE. Glenn, Radio Ukraine just announced tonight a frequency change for the North American English broadcast from 2300 to 0400 UT from 7440 to 5810 kHz effective September 10. 73s (Bill Bergadano, KA2EMZ, UT Sept 4, DX LISTENING DIGEST) We knew this was coming, but that`s a rather odd date to do it (gh) ** UKRAINE. 46N49, 32E14 mentioned in WRTH under Ukraine, Mykolaiv, Luch, but never could traced here this 500 kW site, registered always under SMF Crimea, 275 kilometers away south eastwards. (wb) Gosh I'd never pick that as a SW site from GE browsing from your given co-ordinates. Can see a faint wavey line running through different fields/paddocks of color only. Site name: Posad-pokrovskote? (Ian Baxter, Australia, shortwavesites wwdxc BC-DX Aug 30 via DXLD) MR: I should have added 'somewhere around' before the coordinates, but I thought that was presumed to be there by default, when we are talking about low resolution views. If you want a suggestion, MAYBE 46 48 13 N, 32 12 15 E IB: Site name: Posad-pokrovskote? Using Multimap.com found a place in the Ukraine only 3 km north of the suspected site of Posad-pokrovskote called Luc (a very small village). Is this the SW site referred to in DX circles as Luch? (Ian Baxter, Australia, shortwavesites wwdxc BC-DX Aug 30, via DXLD) A.k.a. Kopani, southeast of Mykolaiv. I suppose Luch is also nearby there, but didn't find it (Mauno Ritola, Finland, shortwavesites via wwdxc BC-DX Aug 30 via DXLD) Yes Mauno, I would also suggest this location. 46 48 13 N, 32 12 15 E 100/250/500 kW SW beasts, latter combined to 1000 kW: 5810 2300 0400 8,9,27N SMF 500 314 UKR RUI RRT 5910 2300 0400 8,9,27N SMF 500 314 UKR RUI RRT 7375 2000 0500 8,9,27 SMF 1000 309 UKR RUI RRT 7440 2300 0400 8,9,27 SMF 500 314 UKR RUI RRT 7520 1600 1700 39,40 SMF 250 131 UKR YFR GFC 7545 2300 0500 8,9,27N SMF 500 309 UKR RUI RRT 9810 2300 0400 8,9,27 SMF 500 309 UKR RUI RRT 11720 0500 1500 19,29 SMF 100 4 UKR RUI RRT 11980 0400 0700 29N SMF 5 0 UKR RUI RRT 11980 0600 1500 8,9,27 SMF 1000 309 UKR RUI RRT 11980 0800 1200 29N SMF 5 0 UKR RUI RRT 11980 1400 2000 29N SMF 5 0 UKR RUI RRT 13600 2100 2400 13-15,37,46N SMF 1000 247 UKR RUI RRT 21510 2000 0300 13-15,38,46N SMF 1000 245 UKR RUI RRT 21550 0900 1300 13-15,38,46N SMF 1000 245 UKR RUI RRT (Wolfgang Büschel, shortwavesites via wwdxc BC-DX Aug 30 via DXLD) Is that the current A-06 sked? Note the 5 kW unit on 11980, that quasi-pirate/private relay, for what purpose? (Glenn Hauser, DXLD) Luch is the big site in south central Ukraine, often referred to as Kopani (the nearest railway station), Nikolayev/Mykolaiv and (incorrectly) Simferopol. The village of Luch (a luch is a ray, very apt name) probably was specially built for the station staff. The next larger village (still a small one) is Posad-Pokrovskoye. The whole thing is located SE of Mykolaiv. The site was probably built soon after WWII and has since been upgraded and expanded. The Taranivka/Taranovka site south of Kharkiv/Kharkov is often (incorrectly) referred to as Starobelsk. The SW site went on the air in 1970. The Krasne/Krasnoye site is located approximately 45 km east of Lviv/Lvov. Just as the Luch site it was probably built soon after WWII, using 4 x 120 kW transmitters (scrapped in the 1980s), normally operated in pairs (the famed 240 kW power). The site has since been upgraded. It is often incorrectly referred to as Vinnitsa. Brovary, east of Kyiv (Kiev), has (had) two sections, east and west of the highway through the town. The eastern section may be (have been) LW/MW only. Petrivka, north of Odessa, seems to have been the home of two shortlived SW transmitters for domestic services in the mid 70s. Hope this clarifies matters (Olle Alm, Sweden, shortwavesites via wwdxc BC-DX Aug 30 via DXLD) The [Brovary] A site can be seen at 50 31 N, 30 47 E. But I don't know about the B site, it would be quite a coincidence if there would be another place called Brovary on the other side of Kiev (Mauno Ritola, Finland, shortwavesites via wwdxc BC-DX Aug 30 via DXLD) The first one seems the LW mast, and more easterly the second one the MW tower. So I'll change the item to correct: Rather SW site at exact 50 31 06 N, 30 44 40 E, and MW/LW B-site at 50 30 12 N, 30 48 33 E (Wolfgang Büschel, shortwavesites via wwdxc BC-DX Aug 30 via DXLD) ** UKRAINE [non]. 3985 via Briech-Tangiers site on 60 mb - seems for the first time I noticed Radio Liberty, Ukrainian at 0500-0530 UT Mon- Fri, planned for B06 season, powerful 500 kW unit. Formerly used Biblis 100 kW unit. Has something to do with the fragile political situation in Ukraine? (Wolfgang Büschel, Aug 31, BCDX via DXLD) ** U K [non]. Glenn, Some of your listeners may be interested in my alternative -- standby BBC-WS frequency schedule for my area. 1400 UT: SNG 9740 4 4 4 Atmospherics good reception 30 Aug, 1 Sept Thai 11750 3+ 4 4 A good 30 Aug; 4 4 4 4 4 4 A good 1 Sept 1500 UT: 9740 4 4 4 A....good....30 Aug 11750 4 4 4 A....good....30 Aug 0300 UT: S. Africa 6035 4 3 2 A poor 31 Aug 4 3 2 A splatter -5 Unid Span Lang poor reception 1 Sept [Martí] 4 3 2 HET poor 2 Sept 0400 UT: S. Africa 7120 4 4 4 A good reception 31 Aug, 1 Sept, 2 Sept Perhaps other listeners in western USA would be interested in my schedule for BBC-WS. Best wishes (George Poppin, San Francisco, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U K [non]. BBC plan to use WHRI site 250 kW 173 degrees in B06 as on 5875 at 1100-1200, 6110 at 0300-0400, 9660 1200-1300 & 2100-2300. (Wolfgang Büschel, Aug 31, BCDX via DXLD) ** U S A [non]. Harry Shearer at Edinburgh --- The British magazine The Spectátor recently reviewed shows at the Edinburgh Festival, including "This Is So Not About The Simpsons (American Voyeurs)." "Rich Hall ... has nothing fresh or stimulating to say about America. Yes, he's disappointed. Very disappointed. That's about it. The same lesson is delivered in 'This Is So Not About The Simpsons' by Harry Shearer (the voice of Ned Flanders) and Judith Owen, a Welsh comedy- soprano [Mrs. Shearer --- gh]. They descend like failed vultures on corpses stripped clean by others: facelifts, foreign policy, far-right hacks. It's hard to tell exactly where they stand. Their closing number, preceded by a sermon on the inviolability of Old Glory, is uneasily poised between mockery and veneration. 'Let the flag-burners, fry,' they warble, 'on the Fourth of July.' But are they in favour of toasting the flag-torchers or against? I wasn't sure. And I wasn't sure they were sure either. "An infinitely sharper American parody is 'Rev. Obadiah Steppenwolfe III.' The character is a complex fusion of references. He's an amoral hedonist who is also a Christian preacher and he praises lust and self-indulgence in a lazy, hypnotic, Bible Belt drawl. ... He peppers his homilies with political asides which are as acute as they are uncomfortable to listen to. 'Folks say the average GI's comin' home from Eye-raq in a bodybag. Not true. The average GI's comin' home in three bodybags. Anyway, the war's all about hearts 'n' minds. I bin there. It's goan great. Streets are full of Eye-raqi hearts 'n' minds. Got some Eye-raqi brains on my shoe.' Not pleasant to hear, but it's undeniably true, and told with absolute fearlessness. Revolting? Well, he's only saying it. He's not causing it. He ought to be as big as Ali G but the Reverend is performing in a converted tea shop containing about 40 seats. Baffling." (via Mike Cooper, Sept 1, DXLD) ** U S A. Q & A WITH THE VOA'S ALAN L. HEIL JR. 01/09/2006 By Munir al Mawry http://aawsat.com/english/news.asp?section=5&id=6225 Washington, Asharq Al-Awsat --- Alan L. Heil, Jr. was Deputy Director at the Voice of America (VOA), the international radio and television broadcasting service of the United States between 1996 and 1998. Since retiring, Heil has actively followed the developments of VOA and all international broadcasts. Heil's book on the history of the VOA, called Voice of America: A History, was published by Columbia University Press in 2003 and was been reissued in its third edition in paperback during July 2006. Q) Does the Voice of America still exist? A) Certainly! It has been running now for almost 65 years and will celebrate its 65th anniversary next February. The VOA has over 100 million listeners and viewers around the world every week. At this stage, however, it is in many ways an endangered network, because of cuts that have been proposed by the Bush administration for the coming year. Its 65th birthday will either be a very happy occasion, building on strengths that the VOA has established over the years, its credibility and respective audiences around the world or it will be a very unhappy occasion, when the VOA will be abolished in the English language, a language spoken by at least 700 million people around the world. In every part of the world, the VOA will disappear in the English language except in Africa. It will lose, or could lose, the Turkish language completely on radio and television, and the Russian language on radio, and then perhaps three or four other languages in other parts of the world including in the Balkans, so it would be a diminished VOA on its 65th birthday. However, the U.S. Congress could reverse the administration's plan to reduce the VOA and that is why it would either be a very happy or very sad year ahead. There is also another very important anniversary and really quite salient to what we are talking about, and that is, of course, the fifth anniversary of 9/11. At this time of international crises, most notably and recently in the war between Israel and Hezbollah, the devastation of the Lebanese countryside during that war, and the death of some Israeli citizens as well, in those circumstances, I say that America needs a Voice that is even stronger than the one that it has now. It cannot afford to cut the Voice in any language, to any area of the world, or via any of the delivery systems of the VOA, given the current world situation. Americans are gradually coming to realize that we are engaged in a near perfect storm of international crises and in those circumstances, it is essential to have an official Voice. To do otherwise in those circumstances is to fly in the face of reason. Q) Has it been confirmed that you will lose the Voice in the Turkish language and other languages? A) In congress at present, very much to its credit, the House of Representatives has come up with language in its budget bill, which says that all language services and the English services of VOA, shall be preserved as they are at present. The Senate still must act on that, and most people feel that the Senate will act on it at the earliest in September but possibly not until even after the election. However, will it pass the budget bill? Then in the complicated process that is the US legislative process, what happens is when each of those chambers of Congress passes a budget bill, based on the President's request made several months ago, they have to get together in a conference committee. They then agree on a common appropriations measure. Then, the reconciled bills move again to the full floor of the Senate and the full floor of the House, and then the final appropriation, passed by both of them, goes to the President for signature. Therefore, there are quite a number of steps to get through before the Voice can be satisfied that it will remain at its present level, or dismayed by even more severe cuts. Q) Could you tell us about the Arabic section of the Voice of America? A) The Arabic section was a distinguished bright star among the major language services of VOA from the Second World War until April 2002 when it was replaced by Radio Sawa, which is a largely youth-oriented pop music station, with very little in the way of information provided to the audiences of the Arab world. That happened in the spring of 2002. The architects of Radio Sawa felt that it was necessary to get a much larger share of the Arab audience than the old VOA Arabic service managed to obtain and they thought they would do so by changing the format and by extending and investing in FM stations throughout the Arab world. They succeeded in expanding the audience amongst youth in the Arab world. On the other hand, when crises occur, the old VOA Arabic service, it seems to me that because of its staff, its training, its news disciplines, and its reportorial skills, was far better positioned to reflect, not only what was going on in the area, but the international reaction to events and US reactions to events in the Middle East. When there was a crisis during the 2003 Iraq War, it is true that Radio Sawa opened its window somewhat to news reporting, but nowhere near to the level that the VOA Arabic service had reached during the 1991 Gulf War and during other Arab-Israeli wars from 1948 onward. The VOA had a team of analysts and a team of reporters in the region, both for the central room in English and for the Arabic branch itself. We know how valuable the VOA Arabic service was during the Gulf Crisis and War in 1990 and 1991. The VOA on its special telephone news service, received more than 75,000 calls during those months for the latest information and developments on the crisis and then in the war that lasted from January until the end of February 1991. Even Saddam Hussein listened. I think the important asset that the Voice has always had is its credibility. People can count on it if they tune into it. Sadly, today, the VOA is silent in Arabic and to the Arab world. It is silent virtually in English with very little of its English broadcasts now transmitted via short wave to the Middle East. I would only hope that someday the VOA would be able to take advantage or at least share those vital technical resources that Radio Sawa brought with it to that part of the world. Q) Are there any plans to bring the VOA Arabic service back? A) I am unaware of any plans to revive the VOA Arabic, unfortunately. It may be that in due course people will realize that the two services might be very complementary. In other words, you might need a music and youth service along the lines of Radio Sawa for some hours of the day. You certainly will need a revival of a VOA Arabic service or one like it. Such a service would fully reflect events in the area right up to moment. It would be engaged in a constant dialogue with people in the region via call-ins and expert interviews of those in the US and certainly those who live there. It would offer a whole spectrum of views about events that are taking place so that you would again have a credible American voice for the entire Arab world. Perhaps that will happen someday - you will have a combination of radio services to the Arab Middle East, which would be a perfect combination in my view. Now that does not address the other big spheres that are emerging in Arab public media. Television today is dominant among these, and there are or will be many networks such as Al Arabiya, Al Jazeera and the new BBC Arabic television service, which is expected to resume broadcasting in 2007. All of these TV outlets are attracting many more viewers than radio has been able to reach as listeners in the recent past. Therefore, I would hope that overall US broadcasting strategy to the Middle East would take into account these new media, not only TV, but the Internet and the growing potential of mobile phones to access information, the growing potential of what's called RSS, really simple kinds of news bulletins, and the growing potential of podcasts. The new and established forms of media such as radio have to be arrayed, coordinated in concert but using the basic information that I call the radio base. This is so that the listener in the Arab world, and for that matter, listeners throughout the Muslim world and beyond, will have the fullest diet of information on a daily basis. I remember several years ago, thousands of dollars were spent on a consultant to come up with a new slogan that reflects what VOA is all about. However, a group of retired technicians in Bethany, Ohio, who had been in the VOA's Bethany relay station, a short wave station in 1996, which was closed for budget reasons, decided to do the job free. To describe the VOA, they came up with the following slogan, "Tell the truth, and let the world decide." I don't think there has ever been a more concise definition of what the VOA at its best has been and continues to be, in most areas of the world. Q) A number of people in the US accuse the VOA, especially the Arabic section, during the Gulf War, of taking sides in favor of Saddam Hussein's regime. Others have criticized the VOA stating that it favors Palestinians over Israelis. As a former official of the VOA, what are your comments on that? A) I watched, and in a way, directed the Arabic and English broadcasts of the Voice of America from August 2, 1990, through to February 28, 1991, the last day of that war. I can assure you that VOA editors in all sections including the Arabic and English sections were on notice that they were to tell it as it happened, tell it as it was. We subsequently made many checks in response to some of the aforementioned criticisms to see whether the VOA came down on one side or another, and we concluded that it did not. It followed what we call the American and US journalistic canon of accurate, objective and comprehensive news. Of course, when the Baghdad government came out with a statement, VOA reported it, that was its duty. Of course, when there were daily coalition military briefings, the VOA reported those. The Arabic service of the VOA, I think, broadcasted around 40 live simultaneous translations of what President Bush was saying at the time. However, to say that it was pro-Baghdad or pro-Palestinian is preposterous. Independent think tanks such as the Center for Strategic International Studies and the Hudson Institute looked exhaustively at the VOA content during those months, and concluded that it had fulfilled its charter and its mandate in reporting the news and the events of that war to the millions of people in the Arab world who listened. Q) Why is America canceling VOA Arabic in your opinion? A) I believe that the reason is probably related to the size of the audience. The small size of the audience is not because of the content of the VOA Arabic service which followed the same principles and practices right up until the last day, but rather because of the delivery system that fell behind the delivery systems of other broadcasters. The VOA had no FM wavelength presence in the Middle East until April 2002 when Radio Sawa replaced the VOA Arabic Service. That was a major failing perhaps understandable in the post-Cold War period because the VOA was making cuts everywhere. Some of us realized that we needed better medium wave transmission… and certainly in the Arab world. Although the Kuwait transmitter and the Rhodes transmitter in Greece were doing a good job by the end of the 1990's, we knew that we needed more FM. But in fact, many of the other VOA broadcast language services were being abolished or cut, particularly those to Eastern Europe. We were actually having to fire people in services that were eliminated or reduced in size, not because of their actions but because they happened to be in the wrong service at the wrong time. So for management to propose an expansion in FM in those days would have been exceedingly difficult. However, with the board's changing composition, and the impetus of 9/11, it was possible for a changed board to sell the notion of a new, more commercial but less public- oriented broadcast service in Arabic that would gain listeners. At the same time, the board could more easily persuade the administration and congress to get the money to improve the delivery system that would reach more people via FM radio, TV and the Internet. However, many experts today believe the new services in Arabic are not reaching many of the people who are in most need of information and those who use it the most that is the people in government, the people in media, and those in opposition to the Arab world. All of these curious, thinking groups, you could say, "drink the news" and "drink analyses" on a daily basis. I think "drink" is a word in Arabic that explains more accurately than in English the feeling of absorbing information and of having that information become part of the dialogue in civil societies on the ground. The single most important attribute of international broadcasting and the single most important test of its value is if somebody says at noon "Did you hear on the Voice of America this morning that..." and that is the kind of reputation that the VOA Arabic service had in its half century of existence before 2002. It really made a difference (via Media Network blog via DXLD) ** U S A. 6430 (2 x 3215), WWCR Nashville, 0855, Sept 2, I noticed that the transmitter was over modulating and splattering over the lower part of the 90 meter band. I checked for harmonics and found a nice one on 6430. Even though I live only 15 miles or so from the transmitter site, I was getting quite a bit of skywave on the second harmonic. On the fades it was weak and up to s9 on the peaks. Station ID and frequency announcement before sign off at 0900 (David Hodgson, TN, Sept 2, harmonics yg via DXLD) ** U S A. I see in the promotional buildup CBS is giving her, Katie Couric is restraining her big grin, which normally shows way too much gum, probably her least attractive feature. Her ``official portrait`` in the promos shows her smiling, but with her upper lip covering her gums. Just part of the anchorette makeover. Let`s see if she manages to keep her gums covered as time goes on. I`m sorry, I shouldn`t sound so sexist; I really have nothing against her, especially now that she is ``divorced`` from Republican flack Matt Lauer, and plan to view her anchoring with an open mind; my comments are more of an observation on what really matters as far as the TV networks are concerned, form vs substance. There was also a good discussion from the Aspen Ideas Festival with Couric & Schieffer, UT Sept 3 on C-SPAN (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. Glenn: As of Aug. 23, 104.5 (formerly WSNI-Sunny) in Philadelphia went to Spanish music programming; call letters are now WUBA, "Rumba 104.5"; the station that is now "Philly's 106.1" is WISX (ex-WJJZ, smooth jazz). (Joe Hanlon in NJ, Aug 31, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. WRFG AIMS FOR BIGGER ANTENNA By Jonathan Springston, Staff Writer, Atlanta Progressive News (August 24, 2006) http://atlantaprogressivenews.com/news/0082.html (APN) ATLANTA Radio Free Georgia (WRFG, 89.3 FM) is nearing its fundraising goal in its two year Tower of Power capital campaign to move to a new tower. WRFG has already raised $175,000 and needs to raise another $50,000, Heather Gray, President of WRFG`s Board of Directors, told Atlanta Progressive News. WRFG has had plenty of help along the way. We were the only radio station in Georgia last year to receive a grant from the federal government, Gray said. In addition to the grant from National Telecommunications and Information Administration, subscribers and general listeners have generously donated. WRFG is a 100,000-watt station that can be heard in Birmingham and even farther away when operating at full capacity, Gray said. The current tower, located on Fair Street in South Atlanta, is at an elevation of 100 feet, the same as Clark Atlanta University`s tower, according to WRFG.org. There are a lot of shadows around Atlanta that prevent some listeners from hearing us, Gray said. Even though we are a 100,000 watt station, our elevation is too low. [quotation marks and apostrophes have disappeared from this text, but I replace some of the latter --- gh] A study was commissioned in 1998 to investigate the signal problems. FM broadcasting requires a clear path from antenna to an individual receiver, and the existing facility did not even provide a good signal to the studio only 5 miles east of the WRFG tower, according to WRFG.org. The study concluded the tower must be moved to a new location with a higher elevation. We are moving to Richland Tower on Briarcliff Road which is at an elevation of 500 feet, Gray said. It should make a radical difference because, according to the engineers, we will no longer have shadow problems. We will lease a space on the Richland Tower for our [directional] antenna, Gray added. WRFG needs to use a directional antenna because it will prevent them from interfering with the signal of other stations. Our transmitter is also producing too much radiation, Gray said. We had to go down in power because of FCC regulations. WRFG is currently operating at only 70 percent capacity because the FCC has strict regulations on exactly how much radiation a radio transmitter can emit. When WRFG makes their move, they will once again be able to operate at full capacity. 100,000 watts is the highest the station can go because of licensing restrictions, Gray said. So when does WRFG expect to make the move? I`m thinking October or November to make the move, Gray said. We`ve already ordered the antenna and put out a bid for the transmitter in order to get the best deal. We do need help, Gray told Atlanta Progressive News. We really have to dig our heels in and do whatever we can to raise more money. In addition to paying for a new antenna and transmitter, WRFG has to come up with the money to pay for things like a microwave, remote control and audio processing, and implementation expenses. Radio Free Georgia originated as a 10-watt station operating from Little Five Points starting in 1973. WRFG grew out of the movement of the late 1960s and early 1970s, Gray said. The early founders could have started a newspaper but they chose instead to create a radio station, in part because of the emergence of The Great Speckled Bird. The station is a tool to implement ideas. The Great Speckled Bird ran the first news article about WRFG years ago and was instrumental in helping with its founding, one of WRFG`s original founders, Harlon Joye told Heather Gray, according to an interview transcript obtained by Atlanta Progressive News. Similar to the Great Speckled Bird, WRFGs founders say they were subject to police harassment and spying, the transcript says. WRFG was seen as a center of radicalism in Atlanta. WRFG was one of the only [sic] progressive radio stations in the United States at the time, Joye told Heather Gray, in addition to a few Pacifica stations and a few independent ones. Grassroots efforts, improvisation of an antenna involving trips to Radio Shack, and shoestring budgets were reportedly involved. The National Endowment for the Humanities gave WRFG a grant in the 1970s and the station has not looked back. In the Deep South we`re it, Gray told Atlanta Progressive News. We`re the only station that has public affairs and music [and] we take our position seriously. WRFG produced a 50 part series between 1977 and 1980 called Living Atlanta! that won national awards. The University of Georgia Press published a book in 1989 based on the series. The station`s contribution in the musical field is significant as well. It became the first radio station in Atlanta since the 1950s to feature blues, bluegrass, and jazz; musical forms native to the region. WRFG has a smorgasbord of music, something for everyone, and many programs are geared toward Atlanta`s ever-growing Latin, Asian, Caribbean, and African communities. We play the leading role in providing opportunities for hip-hop, Gray said. In 1995, WRFG reached its goal of operating at 100,000 watts. The next year, the station took its show on the road, going to Dublin to broadcast the St. Patrick`s Day Parade and Jamaica, where the first World Party Tour occurred. Today, WRFG continues to give a voice to people who traditionally are denied access to broadcast media. We have to [continue] to make sure we have access to progressive opportunities, Gray said. Atlanta Progressive News Staff Writers have been on WRFG`s progressive news hour each week for the last couple months. News Editor Matthew Cardinale, and Staff Writers Jonathan Springston, Betty Clermont, and Kristina Cates have each discussed their latest news items recently on Adam Shapiro`s Current Events program, Thursdays at noon. [EDT = 1600 UT] Everyone can help WRFG continue their progressive legacy by visiting WRFG.org, donating money, and learning more about the Tower of Power Campaign. About the author: Jonathan Springston is a Staff Writer for Atlanta Progressive News. He may be reached at jonathan @ atlantaprogressivenews.com Syndication policy: This article may be reprinted in full at no cost where Atlanta Progressive News is credited. Atlanta Progressive News, Copyright (c) 2006 (via Mike Cooper, DXLD) ** VENEZUELA. Hi Glenn, Greetings from Catia La Mar, VENEZUELA. I'm just reading Marc DeLorenzo's log on Radio Ideal (it's pronounced E- THE-AHL), and it's amazing the way that signal can reach the States. That station has a strong signal here in Venezuela; I would like to tell our friend Marc that Radio Ideal is not located in Maiquetía anymore. It has been more than four years ago that studios were moved away to Caracas. I don't know in which part of the city, but the station is now in there. It was sold some years ago to the Brazilian religious group "Oración Fuerte al Espíritu Santo" and its programming is now based on religion and some few music. 73s and good DXing, Your friend, (Adán González, Catia La Mar, Vargas State, VENEZUELA, Sept 2, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** VENEZUELA [non]. 6180, R. Nacional de Venezuela (assume via Cuba), Sept 2, 1003-1016, fair-poor in Spanish, QRM/Brazil, many IDs (Ron Howard, Monterey, CA, Etón E5, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** VIETNAM [non]. Voice of Vietnam, 9725 at 1715z Sept 2 in English relayed via Moosbrunn, Austria. HFCC shows 100 kW at 300 degrees, aimed in my general direction but I think a totally daylight path with Austria right at sunset and just before midday at my QTH. Dr Gene Scott taking the day off, no co-channel from Costa Rica. The path is about 5500 miles with probably 3 hops. This was the first station from Europe or the Mid-East to show up this afternoon but within 90 minutes I caught Bulgaria, Kuwait, Russia (Samara), Turkey and Cyprus, all on 31 meters with mostly a daylight path (Jerry Lenamon, Waco Texas, Drake R8B with sloper, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) see also INTERNATIONAL VACUUM ** WESTERN SAHARA [non]. 7460, Polisario Front, Rabuni (?), 01 SEP, 1733-..., Spanish, talks, music, almost no audio 1743-1748, Arabic 1800, frequency announcements (3 frequencies), web; S 9+50 dB. Noise bursts approx. every second till 1748; I tried U/LSB and the latter provided a cleaner reception. So Spanish program is now probably 1700- 1800, but I must confess I keep forgetting to observe this operation right at 1700 or shortly prior to that. I listened to their program today, 02 SEP, and audio was clean. 700, Polisario Front, Tindouf (?), 01 SEP, 1820 (fade in)-..., Arabic, folk songs, talks; 25442, but only poor~fair performance till late in the evening. Today (02 SEP, 1835) for instance, it's barely detected, with most of the QRM coming from ALG 702. Having said that, I must conclude the obvious: reception up here in the capital is worse than down on Algarve's west coast, even comparing almost equal K9AY antennae: an elevated or raised 25 m / loop one here in Lisbon vs. an on the ground 2x25 m / loop on the coastal place. 1550, Polisario Front, Tindouf (?), remains off. 73, (Carlos Gonçalves, Portugal, Sept 2, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ZAMBIA. 5915, Zambia Nat. B. C., Sept 2, Fish Eagle IS from 0245- 0251, followed by choral anthem, language possibly African, along with African music, poor reception. During IS, noted //6165, but under QRM (Ron Howard, Monterey, CA, Etón E5, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ZIMBABWE. 6045, ZBC Harare currently uses 6045 kHz during nights. I have heard them with good signal around 2200 UT IDing as Radio Zimbabwe and playing local pop music. That was on August 25. Last night (August 26) conditions have been much poorer and only a carrier was detected. No trace on 3306 nor 6612 kHz (Harald Kuhl, Germany, DXplorer Aug 27 via BCDX via DXLD) 6045, back on SW after a several weeks' absence. Came back on 20 Aug. but noted to be "missing" every now and then, so probably some transmitter problems (Vashek Korinek, RSA, DXplorer Aug 29, ibid.) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ PUBLICATIONS ++++++++++++ Title: RADIO ACTIVITY Author: Bill Fitzhugh ISBN: 0380806371 Paperback, 340 pages Just read a good book some of you other radio freq’s might enjoy. Here’s a brief review: Rich Shannon is a down and out Radio DJ contemplating selling his prized collection of vinyl. When he lands a job at a southern Radio station as program director, he sets out to remake the classic rock format. He starts by scratching the ``Stairway to Heaven`` track off the station`s copy of the record. He also finds a mysterious tape recording that might help explain why the former program director is missing. As Rick settles into his new job and his new life, he turns P.I. and investigates the disappearance. Soon he has the radio station`s pretty secretary, Traci, at his side and in his bed. Together they work to solve the mystery, while saving both their jobs and cruising to the music that they love. Radio Activity is a satisfying read, light and humorous; it`s perfect for people who love rock and roll and love radio, but hate what corporate control has done to the industry. Fitzhugh, himself no stranger to the art of rock DJ`ing, does use this book to air his concept of classic rock; you may agree, you may disagree, you may be indifferent but in any case, you will get a good mystery and maybe some new ideas about your own station’s format., Enjoy (Christopher Friesen, Free Radio Weekly via DXLD) LANGUAGE LESSONS ++++++++++++++++ LOS ANGELES Hey guys, give us Brits a break! Sure, we can't pronounce Los Angeles properly but let's not get too worked up about it. I think the problem is simple: for some reason - hard to put one's finger on it - pronouncing it correctly, especially with that terse ending on Angeles, sounds "affected" to Brit ears (and Aussie and Kiwi ones too, perhaps). But tell me - is the G in Angeles hard or soft? I note that Americans tend to pronounce it soft - Los Anjeles. But whenever I hear the name of the singer Victoria de los Ángeles pronounced by people who one assume know best (e.g. BBC Radio 3 presenters), they use a hard G. Or is this one of those Castillian Spanish versus Latin American Spanish things? Finally, yes, we Brits also shorten Saint to Snt - but only when it precedes a name. However this practice seems to be disappearing among the younger generation here - presumably under US influence, as with many many other usages (e.g. "train station" replacing "railway station"). (Chris (UK) Greenway, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Chris, The `correct` American pronunciation of the city is with soft G, only (like a j or dzh). One sometimes hears a hard G but that is considered substandard or uneducated. Hard G for Victoria`s surname is totally wrong in Castilian or any other variation of Spanish. This G is [x] phonetically, tho it may approach just an aspirated h. If BBCR3 say it that way, they must be over-correcting, or making another vain attempt to sound like they are trying really hard to be `correct` and failing miserably. Of course the city would be pronounced exactly the same way in Spanish as her name, and considering the demographics there should be an acceptable variation. I sometimes say it that way (when speaking English), but I fear it sound affected. Of course2, the accepted English (American) pronunciation (loss ANN-juh-luss) of the city is a corruption of the original Spanish, but it is so pervasive that it has to be accepted. On a related name, the German chancellor, in that case the G is hard in Angela, but we hear it softened both by Americans and Britons who don`t know any better. 73, (Glenn to Chris via DX LISTENING DIGEST) DIGITAL BROADCASTING DRM: see GERMANY; ISLE OF MAN ++++++++++++++++++++ RADIO EQUIPMENT FORUM +++++++++++++++++++++ MEMORIES OF MEASURING MF FREQUENCIES Now and again - as recently - there is an interesting thread in DXLD about MW frequencies - measuring them very accurately, synchronisation, SAHs, etc. This is particularly interesting for me as one of my first jobs when I joined BBCM (25 years ago last month!!) was to measure the frequencies of BBC domestic MF transmitters to the nearest one-hundredth of a Hz (i.e. at around 1000 kHz, measuring the accuracy to 10 to the power minus 8 - if I have the arithmetic right). This was done against a local frequency standard accurate to 10 to the power minus 9 - or better. (This is all from memory - so I may be open to correction on the figures). The international standard for MF at the time (and still today?) was that a station should be within 20 Hz of nominal. From memory, the BBC's own tolerance for its transmitters was plus/minus 10 Hz for non- synchronised senders and 0.05 Hz for synchronised ones. The theory behind the latter tolerance was that in the the worst possible scenario one transmitter in the synchronised network would be 0.05 Hz too high while another one would be 0.05 Hz too low. This would potentially generate a sub-audible heterodyne (though I don't remember us using that term) of 0.1 Hz. In practical terms, that might mean that a listener picking up signals from the two offending transmitters would get a deep fade every 10 seconds. In reality, many listeners using portable sets would be able to rotate the receiver to null out one of the transmitters, and so avoid the fading. As I remember, most of the transmitters in the synchronised networks (693, 909, 1053, 1089, 1215 kHz) held their frequencies very well. In fact in most cases it was difficult to detect any measurable variation at all from the nominal. I think that very occasionally one of them may have veered close to the 0.05 Hz "off course" limit but I cannot ever recall ever catching one that had definitely breached the tolerance. The non-synchronised transmitters were BBC local radio stations, normally just a few kW or less. Many of them were regularly a few Hz off nominal, but again I don't recall any of them breaking their 10 Hz limit. One of them in the English Midlands (I forget which one - Leicester?) would "cycle" over the course of several minutes between a few Hz above and a few Hz below the nominal. The device we used for these measurements was a Heath Robinson (translation for Americans = Rube Goldberg) electro-mechanical machine involving a rapidly spinning disc marked with the numbers 0 to 9 and working on some sort of stroboscobic principle - I never fully understood the underlying mechanism. Does anyone know what the machine was called? The gist of operating the device was to use a signal generator linked to our local frequency standard to generate a signal that was offset against the nominal channel by a known amount. This would be mixed with the received signal to generate a heterodyne which would be fed into the said Heath Robinson device. When more than one transmitter was being received on the same channel at the same time a skilled operator could often persuade the device to "lock" onto the slightly stronger heterodyne, so by taking advantage of directional aerials and stations fading in and out at different times it could be possible to measure the slightly different frequencies of the various transmitters. It required some skill as often the "lock" would only hold for a few seconds, and measuring the frequency was like taking a pulse - one had to count off the numbers on the spinning disc against the clock (or else - my preferred way of working - to adjust the frequency of the local signal generator so that the stroboscopic disc appeared to remain motionless). Each morning we'd test our equipment by measuring the frequency of the Droitwich longwave transmitter (a UK frequency standard). If the result was anything other than exactly 200.00000 kHz we knew that our local frequency standard was faulty. In addition to checking the BBC's own transmitters, we would try to do the same at least once a month for all the hundreds of MF stations audible, day and night. We divided the band into four segments and checked one segment each week. The results were fed into monthly reports published by the EBU, which also used observations from other measuring stations in Europe. For this work I think we only measured frequencies to the nearest 0.1 Hz. All this became redundant many years ago because of the improved reliability of MF transmitters (Chris Greenway, UK, Sept 1, DX LISTENING DIGEST) eQSL SYSTEM Of particular interest to QSLers is the eQSL system. eQSL is based on radio amateurs and listeners registering on the system and then swapping QSL cards for contacts made or in return for reception reports. You simply upload your contact or reception details to your log on the site. The other party does the same thing and the system then sends the eQSLs through. You simply print out the card if you want, when it comes through. It is a great system and saves quite a lot in postage costs and in time. No more waiting for 2 or 3 years for QSLs to come through the bureau system – I recently got an eQSL returned under 5 minutes! Of course the other station has to be registered as well to get an eQSL returned, but if they are not now, they might be in the future. The eQSL system has verified contacts made as far back as the 1950s, after both stations have registered and uploaded their logs into the system. Best of all, it is free! For a small donation, you can personalise your eQSL with your own graphics and design. http://eqsl.cc (Edwin Lowe VK2VEL, Amateur Radio Report, Sept ADXN via DXLD) PANASONIC TO SELL $80,000 TV SET --- Thu Aug 31, 2006 12:25pm ET BERLIN (Reuters) - Panasonic said on Thursday it would start selling the world's largest television set, featuring a 103-inch (262- centimetre) screen, for $80,000. "That's before installation cost," said a Panasonic spokesman at the IFA consumer electronics fair here. Panasonic is the main brand name for products of Japanese electronics giant Matsushita. The set is five inches thick. © Reuters 2006. All Rights Reserved (via Brock Whaley, DXLD) It's not a Muntz (Brock) TIPS FOR RATIONAL LIVING ++++++++++++++++++++++++ Olbermann link changed Seems MSNBC changes the links so the one to Keith Olbermann`s commentary on Def. Secy. Rumsfeld mentioned at the end of DXLD 6-131 no longer works. Now I have found it included on this page which let us hope lasts a bit longer: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/14601135/ The video link is at the top, and there`s a transcript of the entire show with commentary at the end (Glenn Hauser, dxldyg via DXLD) ###