DX LISTENING DIGEST 6-146, September 28, 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 1330: Fri 2030 WWCR 15825 Sat 0800 WRN 13865 DRM via Bulgaria Sat 1230 WRMI 9955 Sat 1430 WRMI 7385 Sat 1600 WWCR3 12160 Sun 0230 WWCR3 5070 Sun 0630 WWCR1 3215 Sun 0800 WRMI 9955 Sun 1530 WRMI 7385 Mon 0300 WBCQ 9330-CLSB Mon 0415 WBCQ 7415 [time varies] Wed 0930 WWCR1 9985 Latest edition of this schedule version, including AM, FM, satellite and webcasts with hotlinks to station sites and audio, is at: http://www.worldofradio.com/radioskd.html [see also NEW ZEALAND] 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 ** ARMENIA. V. of Armenia, 9960, *1828-1931+ Sept 23, sign-on with IS, NA and into French. 1849 IS and NA, 1851 German. 1909 IS & NA, 1910- 1929 English with news, local ballads. 1929 into Armenian. Fair reception (Brian Alexander, Mechanicsburg PA, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** AUSTRALIA. ACMA EMBARGOES SPECTRUM TO PLAN FOR DIGITAL RADIO MONDIALE The Australian Communications and Media Authority has placed an embargo on frequency bands potentially suitable for use by broadcasting services using Digital Radio Mondiale. These bands are outside the broadcasting services bands used by traditional broadcasting services. Digital Radio Mondiale is a digital broadcasting technology that is being trialled internationally and in which there is interest in Australia. 'ACMA intends to plan for the introduction of Digital Radio Mondiale but is also aware that international arrangements are still evolving and that Australia is influenced by these arrangements,' said Giles Tanner, General Manager of ACMA's Inputs to Industry Division. 'ACMA believes that a greater public benefit should be realised if its introduction is planned rather than introduced prematurely while international developments are still occurring. ACMA's use of embargoes and planning is intended to avoid the premature introduction of unplanned services that may compromise the benefits to the public that would otherwise result from the delivery of comprehensively planned Digital Radio Mondiale bands.' The frequency bands involved are 5950–6200, 7100–7300, 9500–9900, 11650–12050, 13600–13800, 15100–15600, 17550–17900, 21450–21850 and 25670–26100 kHz. It is intended that no new frequency assignments in these bands will be authorised except for certain purposes. ACMA will consider applications for the licensing of trials to investigate the use of the bands for Digital Radio Mondiale. Media contact: Donald Robertson, ACMA Media Manager on (02) 9334 7980 (via Ian Baxter-AUS, SW TX Site, via wwdxc BC-DX Sept 28 via dxldyg via DXLD) This is rather confusing. The bands specified are NOT ``outside traditional bands`` but are in fact the traditional (non-expanded) SWBC bands. Does this mean that Australia will not authorize DRM inside these bands (except --- for WHAT ``certain purposes``?), but of course there is no DRM yet from Australia at all. Any such DRM would be beyond the band limits specified, where some of it is anyway, e.g. NZ on 9440. However that does not necessarily mean it will not interfere as there are plenty of analog transmissions outside the specified bands. Or does it mean they will not authorize ANY new SW frequencies, including analog? Here`s the original: http://www.acma.gov.au/ACMAINTER.1900810:STANDARD::pc=PC_100801 (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) G'day, the reason also is that DRM has the potential to cause interference to existing analogue broadcasters as has been demonstrated with RNZI recently. So careful planning is indeed the answer here! I believe ACMA will allow trials, however, on a non interference basis. 73 (Tim Gaynor, Australia, dxldyg via DXLD) From the ACMA website, no more new shortwave allocations in Australia. Even almost implies existing stations can't change frequency! (Richard Jary, ARDXC via DXLD) ** CANADA. Gotta try, folks, for CHTN 720 Charlottetown PEI. A tip - I've observed that their pattern seems to change to nighttime directional a little while after dark, and seems to change back to daytime 10 KW omni a little before dawn - say 5:30 am or so ADT [0830 UT] right now. 10 KW omni on red oxide mud surrounded by salt water can do very well. Another tip - they run very little compression now - so their volume level can vary widely. Audio quality is very good now on both AM and FM. A/Bing between a R-390A on 16 KC bandwidth and a vintage Harmon- Kardon FM receiver - the only difference is that AM is mono and FM is stereo. They just might have bypassed the NRSC 10.2 KHz rolloff required here, as they sound a lot brighter than when they were Good Time Oldies, 720 CHTN. They sounded good in those days, excellent now. So, some of you folks to the west might just catch them before they go AM dark. Keep in mind that they are not oldies anymore. Classic Hits - a little 60s, a bit more 70s, quite a bit of 80s, quite a bit of 90s, quite a bit from just a few years ago, and a bit from today. And, they ID as Ocean 100 [100.3 FM]. Also ID quite frequently - probably at least 4 times per hour as Ocean 100 CHTN-FM. You will not hear any references to 720. I expect they will go dark on AM Sept 30 or Oct 1 - but they may wait until the 3 months are fully up - which would be about Oct 5 or so (Phil Rafuse, PEI, Sept 27, ABDX via DXLD) ** CANADA. If you haven`t logged CFPR-860 BC, now is your window of opportunity before the new San Franciscan opens on 860. And on BC, a question for BC`ans: does the ``Sun Coast``, a term heard on CFPR, refer to the northwest coast of BC, around Prince Rupert, or the entire coast including Vancouver? The Sun Coast is mentioned in local news after the CBC national newscast ends 5 minutes after the hour. Also those who (like me) haven’t heard CJBC-860 should look now before the new Friscan wipes it out. As CFRB is often heard here, CJBC, CHWO and other Torontonians should be possible (Richard E. Wood, HCR3, Box 11087, Keaau, Hawaii 96749-9221, IRCA Soft DX Monitor Sept 30 via DXLD) ** CANADA. GLOBAL VILLAGE: Correspondent Conrad Fox went to Oaxaca, Mexico to cover protests at a local radio station, a typical "news through music" story. But while he was on the barricades, the news happened to Conrad, as the protesters came under fire from the police. Also, building a radio station to build a community in Nicaragua, turning the crank on a radio revolution in Rwanda, the Gypsy Queen of Manhattan and more. That's Global Village, Saturday evening at 6:30 p.m. (7:30 AT; 8:00 NT) on CBC Radio Two (CBC Hotsheet via DXLD) That`s 2230 UT on stream from Toronto or Montreal (gh, DXLD) BTW, I notice that Lou Dobbs thinx Oaxaca is a ``province`` (gh, DXLD) ** CHINA [and non]. Last night (27 Sep) around 1255 UT, I was checking Chinese firedrake. 10400, 14600 and 17330 were very strong but 13970 kHz were rather weak with fading. Perhaps 13970 is on a different site or the antenna direction is different. I heard sometime ago from a Chinese forum that there was an audio channel on a satellite with all the firedrake music / noise, and it could be used as the audio feed for the firedrakers (Yogesh, Hong Kong, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) 6150, 1035-1059 Sept 28. Noted the infamous Firedrake music on 6150 with a good signal covering University Network's transmission (good) and Radio Taiwan International's transmission (bad). Also, heard Firedrake on 10400 in parallel with exactly the same music. The signal on 10400 was poor and couldn't hear what was being jammed while 6150's Firedrake dominated. At 1059 signal dropped off the air from both 6150 and 10400 KHz (Chuck Bolland, Clewiston, Florida USA, NRD545, DX LISTENING DIGEST) But did either come back at 1105? (gh, DXLD) Sound of Hope seems to have settled on 10400, 13970, 14600 and 17330, using all four frequencies at the same time. 10400 can be traced (from the jamming) from about 0900, the other ones from about 0500 at my location. SOH on 17330 was heard just after 1300 today, but was gone before 1305, so may have signed off, although the jamming resumed at 1305. 13970 may also sign off rather early, but is hard to confirm. 14600 seems to have a variable sign off, while 10400 continues into European darkness, when China fades from 31 m. SOH is rather strong on 14600 and 10400 and has the same programme with synchronous audio on these two frequencies, so the beams seem to be directed at Central China, possibly in the Shanghai dialect. 17330 is rather poor and 13970 is very poor at my location. The programmes on the latter two frequencies have been different from each other and from the service on the other two frequencies when I have been able to pick up SOH audio on all four channels. The jammers on 14600 and 17330 are synchronous, while the other two have different delays. The dominating jammer on 10400 stays on with open carrier during the monitoring breaks and in one break I heard what appeared to be a second, much weaker Firedrake jammer below SOH. It should be noted that the Firedrake audio is a network "programme" that is used from several jamming sites and is used by all jammers when CNR-1 is off the air (Olle Alm, Sweden, 28 September, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Dear friends, This evening I have heard the Firedragon Music Jammer on 10135 kHz in the hamband at 1913 UT. It has been there on earlier days already. See my attachment. At the same time this evening it was also jamming on 7355, 9355, 9455, 9865 and 9905 kHz with the same music program. There was no time delay between all these transmissions (Uli Bihlmayer, Germany, Sept 28, DX LISTENING DIGEST) However the attachment says 18135, so not sure which he meant yet (gh, DXLD) ** COLOMBIA. R. Líder, Santa Fe de Bogotá, 6139.79, 0145-0205+ Sept 22, 23, romantic Spanish ballads, ID between each song. Reactivated; not heard for some time. Strong, best in ECSS-LSB due to Cuba on 6140 (Brian Alexander, Mechanicsburg PA, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CUBA. SE INTENSIFICA "BATALLA POR LA SUCESION" --- VALDES ASEGURA SU CONTROL TOTAL DE VITALES HERRAMIENTAS DE PODER --- RAMIRO VALDES EMPRENDE PURGA EN EL MINISTERIO DE INFORMATICA Y COMUNICACIONES Caen las cabezas del presidente de la estratégica Etecsa, José Antonio Fernández, el Viceministro de Información, Nelson Ferrera, y Fernando Sordo, presidente de la poderosa corporación estatal Copextel Por Marc Frank, La Habana, Reuters Infosearch: Armando F. Mastrapa III, Director, Dept. de Investigaciones, La Nueva Cuba, Septiembre 26, 2006 http://www.lanuevacuba.com/nuevacuba/notic-06-09-2691.htm El nuevo ministro cubano de Informática y Comunicaciones, Ramiro Valdés, despidió a los jefes de los monopolios de telecomunicaciones e importación de tecnología, entre otros, en un esfuerzo por mejorar la administración del sector, dijeron el lunes fuentes de la industria. Valdés, de 74 años, ex ministro del Interior y héroe de la revolución, asumió a fines de agosto el control del sensible sector que controla las comunicaciones, la informática, la Internet y el desarrollo de programas en Cuba. Fue el primer y único nombramiento ministerial de Raúl Castro, un general de 75 años que asumió temporalmente el 31 de julio el poder en Cuba mientras su hermano Fidel se recupera de una operación intestinal de emergencia. Fuentes locales y extranjeras que pidieron no ser identificadas dijeron que los despidos no parecen dirigidos a una mayor apertura del sector a capital extranjero ni a un mayor flujo de información y entretenimiento foráneo al país. Dijeron también que Valdés no estaba satisfecho con el grado de independencia mostrado por algunos directores de compañías ni con su incapacidad de controlar a sus subordinados pese a una campaña por aumentar el control de la economía y combatir la corrupción. Valdés despidió al presidente de la Empresa de Telecomunicaciones de Cuba S.A. (Etecsa), José Antonio Fernández, y al viceministro de Información, Nelson Ferrera, por no haber logrado controlar los monopolios de líneas telefónicas fijas y celulares, dijeron las fuentes. Etecsa, con ingresos por más de 400 millones de dólares en el 2005 y en la que Telecom Italia tiene una participación del 27 por ciento, es una de las compañías más poderosas de Cuba. Valdés despidió también al presidente de la poderosa corporación estatal Copextel, que importa, ensambla y distribuye equipos de comunicaciones, informática y otra tecnología, dijeron las fuentes. Copextel, con ingresos anuales por más de 200 millones de dólares, se ha visto envuelta en recientes escándalos de corrupción que involucraron comisiones de compañías extranjeras. El nuevo presidente de Etecsa, Maimir Mesa Ramos, y el de Copextel, Antonio Orta Rodríguez, fueron ambos ascendidos dentro de sus empresas. Varios estudios internacionales indican que Cuba ocupa el último lugar de América Latina en penetración de telefonía celular e Internet, además de ser el quinto entre los que menos densidad tienen de líneas telefónicas fijas. El gobierno cubano culpa al embargo estadounidense de más de cuatro décadas por sus deficiencias de telecomunicaciones, pero los cubanos no pueden comprar computadoras o acceder a Internet sin un permiso oficial, la televisión satelital está prohibida y los teléfonos celulares son sólo accesibles en moneda extranjera. (Con reporte de Anthony Boadle) (via Oscar de Céspedes (Miami, FL), condig list via DXLD) R. Martí spurs: see U S A ** CYPRUS. Laser Radio Cyprus: http://www.laserhits.net/schedule.html (Tim Gaynor, Australia, Sept 29, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Music webcaster, stream supposed to have resumed Sept 24, but link to it not enabled; has phone number 357+ which is Cyprus. Not related to Laser Hot Hits, but website mentions RTI, so is it related to R. Tatras International? Nothing about any on-air broadcasts, anyway (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** DIEGO GARCIA, 4319 (USB), nice AFRTS QSL card (f/d + site), in 5 days after a follow-up e-mail report to: QSL @ dodmedia.osd.mil, v/s maybe: Robert Winkler. Card mailed from: Department of Defense, NMC DET AFRTS-DMC, 23755 Z St., Bldg. 2730, Riverside CA 92518-2017. Many thanks to Bruce Churchill for providing the info that made this possible. Was nice to receive a letter earlier this year directly from DG, but am still very happy to have this AFRTS card (Ron Howard, Monterey, CA, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** DJIBOUTI. Radio Djibouti is scheduled on 4780 kHz from 0300 to 2000 UT. 73s (Dave Kenny, BDXC-UK via DXLD) I think they're on extended schedule at present, owing to Ramadan (which began last weekend). So probably continuing past 2000, and might even be on 24/7 (Chris Greenway, ibid.) See MALI ** FRANCE [and non]. Attention DXLD readers in Europe and the Middle East: can you please check up on 21620 at 1400-1430 and see if Radio France Internationale has an English broadcast at this time slot? It's indeed listed in EiBi, and French comes on at 1430-15; likely in use since Sept. 3. EiBi also has the 7220 channel at 14-15, via the Chita site in Russia, listed in French; reports from July had this channel broadcasting in English (Joe Hanlon, NJ, Sept 28, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** FRANCE. Re UNIDENTIFIED, 6-145: Referring to Noel's question some days ago about the DRM transmission on 6015 kHz after 7 UT, today the signal was strong enough to be decoded, although I only got occasional audio (pop music - no announcements heard so far). The ID is: "TDF ISS 6015: Audio AAC SBR parametric stereo 20.9 kbps --- Text 80 bps." 73, (Erik Køie, Copenhagen, Denmark, Sept 28, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Hi Glenn! TDF Issoudun DRM test transmission on 6015 kHz received on Sept. 28th at 0741 UT with a programme of TDP Radio. Label: "TDF ISS 6.015". Reception quality O=2. 73, (Patrick Robic, Austria, ibid.) ========== Información vía sitio web de TDPRadio ========= TDPradio por onda corta El próximo sabado 30 de septiembre, emisión digital (DRM) por onda corta de TDPradio con el siguiente esquema: Emisión a Europa: 1400-1600 UT (por 6015 kHz) Emisión a Norteamérica: 1600-1800 UT (por 11900 kHz) Contactos de la emisora: TDPradio, P. O. Box 1, 2310 Rijkervosel, Bélgica. Encargado Técnico (Ludo Maes): ludo @ tdpradio.com Encargado de Programas (Daniël Versmissen): daniel @ tdpradio.com (Antônio Schuler, Brasil, HCDX via DXLD) The latter being TDP`s longtime Sackville transmission (gh, DXLD) ** INTERNATIONAL. THE RIGHT CHOICE --- INTERNATIONAL BROADCASTERS MUST ENGAGE AUDIENCE FEEDBACK --- Commentary by Andy Sennitt 28-09-2006 The recent coup in Thailand highlighted just how difficult it is for international broadcasters to judge when the time is right to shift priorities. When the BBC closed down its Thai service in March 2006, World Service Managing Director Nigel Chapman justified the decision by saying that "its dedicated journalists have seen Thailand emerge as an Asian democracy with an extensive choice of radio and television outlets." That statement struck me as strange at the time, coming as if did after a series of news reports showing that all was far from well with press freedom in Thailand. That was before the coup - now things are much worse. I wonder if Mr Chapman had been properly briefed. The fact is, the BBC desperately needed to find the resources to start an Arabic TV channel. The government having decided not to award any additional funding, the BBC was faced with the necessity to close a number of radio services. Thai was chosen as one of them, I suspect, because of its relatively small regular audience. Of course, had it still been on the air when the coup happened, that audience would suddenly have become much bigger. . . http://www.radionetherlands.nl/features/media/12258317 (Media Network via DXLD) ** INTERNATIONAL VACUUM. Link to RCI Plus schedule on Sirius 188 http://www.rcinet.ca/rci/PDF/A06_RCI_Plus.pdf (via David Cole, OK, DXLD) Multilingual including some English; World Beat Music overnight (gh, ibid.) ** IRAN. VIRI/IRIB 1ST DOMESTIC CHANNEL NOW IDENTIFIES AS "RADIO IRAN" Voice of the Islamic Republic of Iran (VIRI) 1st Programme is now observed identifying as "Radyo Iran, Seda-ye Jomhuri-ye Eslami-ye Iran" [Radio Iran, Voice of the Islamic Republic of Iran]. The former on-air identification as "Shabake-he Sarasari-ye" [Nationwide Network] is no longer used. Most of the radio section of the broadcaster's website http://www.irib.ir has been inaccessible for several days at least, though the audio stream page http://live.irib.ir still refers in English to the service as "Nationwide Radio". Source: BBC Monitoring research, 26 Sep 06 (via DXLD) ** IRAN [non]. Clandestine, R. Zamaneh, 6245, 1850-2101* Sept 23, surprised they were coming in this early. Talk in unID language, lite instrumental music, ME style pop music, IDs. Weak at tune-in but slowly improving in strength. Good by sign-off (Brian Alexander, Mechanicsburg PA, DX LISTENING DIGEST) R. Farda: see U S A ** ITALY. NUOVA VESTE GRAFICO SITO COMUNITA' RADIOTELEVISIVA ITALOFONA Ciao a tutti, vi segnalo che il sito http://www.comunitaitalofona.org/home.jsp delle Comunita' Radiotelevisiva Italofona e' stato rinnovato nella grafica e nei contenuti. Saluti, (Andrea Borgnino IW0HK, Sept 27, bclnews.it via DXLD) ** KOREA NORTH [non]. US ALLOCATES FUNDING FOR ADDITIONAL BROADCASTS TO NORTH KOREA The US State Department has allocated $1 million to fund radio broadcasting business for North Korea led by three organizations for North Korean human rights in South Korea for the first year of business. A source in Washington yesterday said, ``$1 million of US State Department budget was approved by the Congress and recently offered to the National Endowment for Democracy (NED), and the fund will be given to three organizations each in the fiscal year 2007, starting on October 1.`` The three groups are Open Radio for North Korea, Freedom North Korea Broadcast and another North Korean human rights advocacy group. The third group requested its real name not be released. The money was found to be a separate funding from the budget to increase the airtime for radio broadcasting toward North Korea passed by the US Congress in 2004. The US government is expected to finance the radio business for fiscal year 2008 after reviewing the previous year’s business outcome. The three groups funded by the US are set apart from other broadcasting outlets for North Korea in that they are run by small group of people and seek to differentiate content. These groups were assigned a radio frequency from a third country as the South Korean government denied them license to air to North Korea. A survey of 303 North Korean defectors found that 4.0 percent of those surveyed listened to Korean broadcasts through shortwave radio. Assuming that 0.5 to 1 percent of the North’s population listens to Korean programmes, this means an audience of about 100,000 to 200,000 (Source: donga.com) (Media Network blog Sept 28 via DXLD) maybe this? ** KOREA NORTH [non]. Quick check of Shiokaze, 9485 via Taiwan on Thu Sept 28 at 1323 found it in Japanese with ID (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** LIBYA [non]. V. of Africa, 21695 via France, 1550-1559* Sept 23, tune-in to African hi-life music, ID and English program about European colonization of Africa. Only a weak carrier heard other days but today they are in with a fair signal. Better on // 17850, but abrupt sign-off amid program at 1557. Continued on 21695 to end of program at 1559* (Brian Alexander, Mechanicsburg PA, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** MALI. Hello All, Here some of the 'less common' loggings, or at least those I have not heard over the past period: 4781, 9/28/2006 1944, 24232, Radio Mali, Male and female talk in French. Arabic music. At 1950 female number station (actually, letters in this case) started to interfere. Returning at 2028 continued Arabic music. Phillips D2999PLL and Mini-Whip antenna, in Deventer the Netherlands (any others living nearby?). Greets, (Jeroen Kloppenburg, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) What about Djibouti 4780, q.v.? (gh) ** MAURITANIA. 4843, 9/28/2006, 1955, 14111, ORTM Nouakchott, Woman in French. ORTM Nouakchott drifting from 4845? Reception is unfortunately very poor and station drifted away completely at 1959 (or maybe it stopped transmission, would not be logical however due to ramadan). Phillips D2999PLL and Mini-Whip antenna, in Deventer the Netherlands (any others living nearby?). Greets, Jeroen Kloppenburg, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** MEXICO. XEPPM, 6185, Mexican music, straight thru hourtop 0600 past 0602 Sept 28; dominating Vatican which by now may have been beginning to fade out, but its sunrise is getting later and later. Per R. Educación playlist, mislabeled Sept 29, this may have been LOS HERMANOS ARIZMENDI, CONJ. DE A. SALGADO. GRUPO 1:12:19, FANDANGUERO DE TIXTLA, MUSICOS Y CANTORES DE GUERRERO (P) 1971 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** NETHERLANDS ANTILLES. All DRM transmissions from Bonaire have been cancelled --- The following just received from Jan Peter Werkman of our Programme Distribution Department: All DRM transmissions from Bonaire have been cancelled due to the fact that new antenna switches are being installed right now. It means that the Siemens DRM transmitter is not connected anymore to any antenna right now (Andy Sennitt, Radio Netherlands, 1720 UT Sept 28, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) So for how long? Hurry to try to hear something else within 10 kHz of: 2200-2300 daily 15195 320 N America 10 RNW HOL English Bonaire That is the ONLY Bonaire entry currently at http://www.baseportal.com/cgi-bin/baseportal.pl?htx=/drmdx/main&sort=Site,UTC and the sked at RN itself agrees: http://www.radionetherlands.nl/features/media/dossiers/drm_schedule.html [Later:] Then I check this version of the DRM schedule http://www.drm.org/livebroadcast/livebroadcast.php and find that the 22-23 15195 broadcast has also been deleted in today`s update. Perhaps Andy could remind us of all the suspended Bonaire DRM transmissions so we may inspect those frequency areas analogically while we can (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** NEW ZEALAND. According to timeanddate.com DST starts already here UT Sept 30 at 1400 when local clox will be reset from 2 to 3 am Sunday morning. This will affect the timing of some National Radio programming relayed by RNZI, shifting one hour earlier of real time. This will also affect the schedule of World FM, in Tawa, which carries WORLD OF RADIO both in its original schedule, and off the WRN North America feed. Per World FM`s website, they play WOR at local & converted times: Sunday 14:05, Thursday 22:05, Friday 11:00, Saturday 09:05 Sunday 0205 , Thursday 1005 , Thursday 2300, Friday 2105 [UT Sept] Sunday 0105 , Thursday 0905 , Thursday 2200, Friday 2005 [UT Oct+] That is, if there are no further adjustments. The Sunday 14:05 local = 0205 UT airing was a change I had not been aware of; was previously Sun 19:30 local = 0730 UT Sunday (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Hi Chris, I`m trying to anticipate your schedule in UT after your DST change this weekend. I see your grid at http://www.worldfm.co.nz/sched-db.php still shows a 12 hour difference with UT. No doubt your own four airings of WOR will shift one UT hour earlier unless you make additional adjustments. However, the grid shows WOR from WRN at 6:30 am Sun & Mon as equal to 1830 UT, while in the northern summer since March it has actually been at 1730+ UT, so presumably you have been running it at 5:30 am local, correct? If you continue to take WRN live, during October until the northern time shift, WOR should be at 1730 UT = 6:30 am again, and then from last Sunday in October at 1830 UT would be at 7:30 am NZDT, right? 73, (Glenn to Chris Mackerell, World FM, via DXLD) Hi Glenn, Good luck :-) My brain starts to hurt about this time of year, trying to keep up with NZ, Australia, US & UK time shifts. I've been updating the grid day-by-day this week. The column with the NZ/UT times is generated automatically by our webserver, so it only shows the correct difference for "now". It should automatically adjust on Sunday. The NZ local times should be correct though (I hope!). Yes, our local airings of WOR will stay the same NZ local. The one we have at 2 pm Sunday may shift. It follows a two hour segment from Radio Six, but Tony & I haven't sorted out the time shifting of that yet. ``presumably you have been running WOR from WRN at 5:30 am local, correct?`` Yes. 73, (Chris Mackerell, ibid.) ** NIGERIA. VON, 15120 with awful audio as usual, in English around 2050 UT Sept 28; not heard after 2100 but there was something on 7255, presumably this (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** NIGERIA. JAPAN TO REHABILITATE 3 FRCN MEDIUM WAVE BANDS [sic] The Japanese International Corporation Agency (JICA) has offered to rehabilitate three medium wave band transmission hardware of the Federal Radio Corporation (FRCN) in Gwagwalada near Abuja, Kaduna in North-Central Nigeria, and Enugu in the South-East. Speaking during a courtesy call on the Minister of Information, Frank Nweke Jnr, the resident representative of JICA in Nigeria, Shigeo Yamagata said the rehabilitation project was to improve the transmission capacities of the stations and build capacities of the Nigerian operators. The project, he explained, would be of great benefit in educating Nigerians, especially the nomads. . . http://www.nigeria.gov.ng/todayspressrelease.aspx#JAPAN_TO_REHABILITATE_3_FRCN_MEDIUM_WAVE_BANDS (via Mauno Ritola, mwdx yg via DXLD) Evidently means MW STATIONS, not bands, but WTFK? (gh, DXLD) ** PERU. R. Marañón, Jaen, 4835.46, 0215-0245+ Sept 22, Spanish talk, 0220 IDs; ballads, ad string, sound effects. Weak in noise (Brian Alexander, Mechanicsburg PA, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** SCOTLAND. Re 6-145: Pronunciation of Gaelic --- Hi Glenn – The Gaelic word for football (Tabhal) is pronounced as follows: Tu-ill T is a thick t not slender as in tree; U is the u in up (TONY CURRIE, Producer, NIGHTSHIFT, Broadcasting House, Glasgow, Visit the NIGHTSHIFT website: http://www.bbc.co.uk/scotland/radioscotland/view/show.shtml?nightshift DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** THAILAND [non]. Glenn, I'm sure you know this frequency, but I'll mention it anyway. Radio Thailand broadcasts in English from 0200 to 0230 UT on 5890, with Thailand and world news. The Thailand news discusses ordinary government activities, as though nothing momentous had happened, and talks about the achievements of the king. The world news seems balanced to me, though I will have to hear the broadcast a few more times to identify any slant. Best – (Franklin Seiberling, IA, The Copy Exchange, Sept 28, DX LISTENING DIGEST) via Delano, and also at 0030-0100 via Greenville on 5890 (gh) ** THAILAND. THAI JUNTA PULLS PLUG ON GRASSROOTS RADIO from today's Globe & Mail GEOFFREY YORK CHIANG MAI, THAILAND -- When Thailand's military junta seized power and suspended the constitution last week, some of the poorest and most vulnerable victims were the community radio stations of northern Thailand. The stations, specializing in AIDS prevention and other public-service programs for farmers and workers, were ordered to shut down for "security reasons." Hundreds of radio stations had sprung up in the north as a result of Thailand's 1997 constitution, the most democratic in the country's history, which specifically allowed broadcasting from short-range transmission towers. But a few of the stations had become known as supporters of toppled prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra, and the military -- which announced yesterday a new prime minister would be named this weekend -- was apparently worried that they might mobilize farmers against the coup. The rural north was a traditional stronghold for Mr. Thaksin. "I spent five years fighting for the right to communicate with the people, and then this coup happened," said Montri Imeak, founder of a community radio station near Chiang Mai. "We faced so many obstacles along the way, and we were almost there, and then the constitution was destroyed. We're frustrated and exhausted." Mr. Montri, whose transmissions from his home reached about 10,000 people in his district, provided a host of useful information to his listeners on grassroots subjects: disease prevention, human trafficking, organic farming, insect prevention, small-business ownership, human rights and the needs of the elderly and the disabled. His non-profit station was the first to be created in the north, but it was soon followed by others. Now the network has been crushed. The military has closed more than 350 stations in the north, warning that they might foment "disunity" among the people. Radio call-in shows are also banned. Paisarn Pilokham, founder of a similar community station about 40 kilometres south of Chiang Mai, said the coup has destroyed his dream of training a new generation of broadcasters. "We were not involved in politics," he said. "We are not controlled by any politicians or businessmen. But now we've lost our connection with the community. We can't work for the people any more. Under martial law, power comes only from the muzzle of a gun." Mr. Paisarn said he could not sleep on the night after the coup. "Community radio was a classroom for a young generation of broadcasters -- minorities, people who have AIDS, people who are weak and vulnerable." One of the main targets of the military crackdown was Radio 92.5, a community station in Chiang Mai with about 30,000 listeners in its 15-kilometre range. Within a day of the coup, two policemen came to the station and ordered it to close. "Probably the military was afraid we might mobilize people to rise up against the coup," said Mahawon Kawang, the head DJ at the station. "But that's impossible. We're just a small station." Since the shutdown, hundreds of people have phoned him to plead for the station to be reopened, Mr. Mahawon said. But he predicted that the clause allowing community stations will be deleted from the coup leaders' new constitution. "I'm worried about the future," he said. "I'll have to work in another profession." (via Eric Flodén, Canada, dxldyg via DXLD) ** TURKEY. VOT, 15450, Thu Sept 28 at 1258 Live from Turkey in music break, then David Crystal from Israel primarily about his favorite out-of-print books, such as ``Modesty Blaize`` of which he has 12 in his library, two of them comix. 1316 more music fill, mentioned Letterbox would be getting new host. Don`t see how they expect us to catch their unfamiliar names unless they spell them and/or pronounce them very slowly and clearly. Only one minute of IS 1322-1323* (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. I can't understand the letter font on the VOA Afghanistan website. Do you know about an additional - or separate - VOA service in Pashto/Dari? to Afghanistan, noted yesterday Wed and today in 1300- 1400 UT slot. MOROCCO: Yesterday Sept 27th came across of a roaring loud 15645 kHz outlet from Briech, starts with "Yankee Doodle", 1300-1400 UT filler of VOA in probably Pashto language to AFG/PAK border area. Another outlet found in \\ on 11510 from Iranawila, three seconds behind signal (Wolfgang Büschel, wwdxc BC-DX Sept 28 via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Wolfgang, It's Radio Deewa, a separate Pashto Service for Pakistan (in addition VOA Pashto for Afghanistan and RFE/RL Pashto). It's four hours per day, starting at 1300 UT. First day of operation was yesterday. Website is http://www.voadeewaradio.com See also http://www.voanews.com/deewa/schedule.cfm I think the "1400-1600 UTC (7:00 – 10:00 pm local time)" should say 1400-1700 UT. It's not clear if 11510 and 15645 are active throughout the four hours. I cannot get IBB frequency information other than what is listed at voanews.com. All the best, (Kim Andrew Elliott, VOA, Sept 28, DX LISTENING DIGEST) I guess they focus on the search for UBL? (gh, DXLD) ** U S A. PENTAGON STUDY CLAIMS U.S. BROADCASTS TO IRAN AREN'T TOUGH ENOUGH --- By Warren P. Strobel and William Douglas, McClatchy Newspapers (MCT) Posted on Tue, Sep. 26, 2006 WASHINGTON - In another indication that some in the Bush administration are pushing for a more confrontational policy toward Iran, a Pentagon unit has drafted a report charging that U.S. international broadcasts into Iran aren't tough enough on the Islamic regime. The report appears to be a gambit by some officials in Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld's office and elsewhere to gain sway over television and radio broadcasts into Iran, one of the few direct tools the United States has to reach the Iranian people. McClatchy Newspapers obtained a copy of the report this week, and it also has circulated on Capitol Hill. It accuses the Voice of America's Persian TV service and Radio Farda, a U.S. government Farsi-language broadcast, of taking a soft line toward Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's regime and not giving adequate time to government critics. U.S. broadcasting officials and others who've read the report said it's riddled with errors. They also see it as a thinly veiled attack on the independence of U.S. international broadcasting, which by law is supposed to represent a balanced view of the United States and provide objective news. "The author of this report is as qualified to write a report on programming to Iran as I would be to write a report covering the operations of the 101st Airborne Division," Kenneth Y. Tomlinson, chairman of the Broadcasting Board of Governors, said in a statement on Tuesday. Larry Hart, a spokesman for the board, which oversees U.S. non- military international broadcasting, said that the radio and TV operations have covered Iran's human rights abuses extensively and have featured appearances by dissidents - who sometimes telephoned from Iranian jails. Surveys have shown that Radio Farda is the most-listened-to international radio broadcast into Iran, Hart said. Three U.S. government officials identified the author of the report as Ladan Archin, a civilian Iran specialist who works for Rumsfeld. Archin was out of town this week and unavailable for comment. She works in a recently established Pentagon unit known as the Iran directorate. Lt. Col. Mark Ballesteros, a Pentagon spokesman, said last week that the unit was established this spring as part of a government-wide reorganization aimed at better promoting democracy in Iran. He confirmed Tuesday night that Archin had been asked to prepare the report. "It was meant to be a look at how the program was working and to determine if it was an effective use of taxpayer dollars," Ballesteros said. Critics charge that the unit resembles the pre-Iraq-war Office of Special Plans, which received intelligence reports directly from Iraqi exile groups, bypassing U.S. intelligence agencies, which distrusted the exiles. Many of the reports proved to be fabricated or exaggerated. Some of the directorate's staff members worked in the now-defunct Office of Special Plans, and some intelligence officials fear that directorate also is maintaining unofficial ties to questionable exiles and groups. U.S. government radio and TV broadcasting to Iran has expanded significantly in recent years. A White House official, speaking on condition of anonymity, confirmed that the National Security Council staff recently requested a report on Persian-language broadcasting. The report was prepared for an inter-agency committee on policy toward Iran called the Iran Steering Group, which is co-chaired by the National Security Council and the State Department. Inter-agency discussions "consider every aspect of our policy with regard to Iran. . . . This includes Persian-language broadcasting, which is an important element of our efforts to reach out to the Iranian people," the official said. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice announced in February a major initiative to promote democracy in Iran, including $50 million to increase Farsi-language television broadcasts. That set off a furious bureaucratic battle for control of the funds and the initiative. Archin and a State Department official, David Denehy, reportedly traveled to Los Angeles earlier this year to explore the idea of funding commercial satellite TV broadcasts into Iran that are run by members of California's large Iranian-American community, which is generally strongly opposed to Iran's clerical government. That idea proved unfeasible. Instead, Congress appropriated $21.4 million to expand VOA's Persian TV programming to 12 hours per day, and $14.7 million more for Radio Farda. Some conservatives, including former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, have called for ramped-up broadcasting aimed at overthrowing the clerics who run Iran. Veterans of government broadcasting say that not even during the Cold War - with the exception of the 1956 uprising in Hungary - did such news organizations as the Voice of America, Radio Free Europe and Radio Liberty call for the overthrow of adversary governments. Rather, they said, they serve as sources of objective news and models of how democracies operate. Archin's report states that while VOA's Persian TV service "often invites guests who defend the Islamic Republic (of Iran)'s version of issues, it consistently fails to maintain a balance by inviting informed guests who represent another perspective on the same issue." Hart, the Broadcasting Board of Governors spokesman, disputed that and said Archin chose a handful of the 180 guests who appeared on the station's programs during her period of study. Various viewpoints were represented, he said. "Does that mean they're in full accord with U.S. foreign polices? No. Those are two different things," he said. Archin also wrote that Radio Farda, which is managed separately from the TV service, recently hired journalists whose most recent experience was with Iran's state-run news agencies. That is incorrect, Hart said. Also incorrect, he said, is the report's contention that "neither station is a primary source of news for Iranians." A March 2006 telephone survey of 2,003 Iranian adults found that 13.5 percent of them had listened to Radio Farda in the previous week, compared with 5.6 percent for BBC Radio and 4.5 percent for VOA Radio. Archin also criticized Joyce Davis, the radio's manager in Prague, and said she doesn't speak Farsi. Davis, who worked in the Washington bureau of Knight Ridder, which has since been acquired by McClatchy, declined comment. But colleagues said the Arabic-speaking journalist is taking Farsi courses. --- © 2006, McClatchy-Tribune Information Services. (via Kevin Redding, ABDX via DXLD) Are both Radio Farda and VOA Persian really too generous in their treatment of the Iranian regime? Perhaps the managers of these stations believe that hammering away at President Ahmadinejad might not work as well with Iranian audiences as with Fox News viewers in the United States. Iranians are looking for the credible news and entertainment lacking in their state-controlled domestic media. As wonderful as democracy is, programs "promoting democracy" can sound like propaganda, and Iranians probably have had enough of propaganda. Better to demonstrate democracy through an independent news organization covering the day-to-day workings of government and opposition (Kim Andrew Elliott, Sept 28, kimandrewelliott.com via DXLD) ** U S A. R. Martí is up to it old trix again, as previously noted on the 19 m band: radiating spurs which don`t get jammed. It`s hard to say whether this is done deliberately. However, note that all of these were right on channel, not some decimal split as before. On Sept 28 at 2056 came across YL at fair strength talking in Spanish on 12140, where I knew there should not be any such signal, about US immigration policy, and then the standard RM announcement saying the USG does not condone illegal immigration (is this mandatory once an hour on RM, or what?). Quickly checked fundamental frequencies: it was not in synch with 13820 Delano, but it was in synch with 11930 Greenville, 210 kHz below. Now how would such a spur arise? Maybe there is another IBB transmitter at the time on 11720, another 210 kHz down? Yes, but it was just closing in unknown language, and VOA sign-off. Looked up later, EiBi says it was Hausa, but via Morocco, so could not be related to Greenville spurs (and on weekends the 2030 semihour is in French instead). However, as soon as Morocco cut carrier, I did hear a weak RM signal on 11720 too, so Greenville 11930 was radiating matching spurs on 11720 and 12140. Are there other G transmitters halfway between? Not on 11805, but I didn`t get to check 12035 before 2100 when both spurs disappeared, while 11930 went on as usual, mixed with heavy DentroCuban jamming. BTW, I heard two promos on R. Martí when I was listening, around 2100 and 2130 that TV Martí was currently available on Canal 20 --- would that be their Gulfstream plane transmission? Nothing said about airborne AM or FM. Then a few minutes later at 2104, I found MORE spurs from 11930, this time at closer separation: 11965, which is +35 kHz, quite listenable tho much weaker relative to fundamental, and again clear of jamming. Should be a match at -35, 11895 kHz, but that was occupied by another VOA fundamental, the Kriyol semihour, which of course is also Greenville. This was very strong, but I could hear Martí audio very weakly underneath, at first presumed to be a transmitted mixture, but I made a point of monitoring at 2129:30 when Kriyol ended; open carrier stayed on less than a minute during which RM was clearly audible, and continued audible on both 11895 and 11965 after the 11895 Kriyol carrier went off, and finally both of these spurs vanished at the same time around 2133:40. If 11965 spur had disappeared at the same time as 11895 Kriyol fundamental, I might have concluded that the 11895 transmitter was mixing with 11930 to produce the spur on 11965. However, at no time could I hear any Kriyol audio on 11965, so 11895 transmitter apparently had nothing to do with the RM spur produxion. But in both cases we had IBB interfering with itself. Other theories and explanations welcome from those more familiar with these transmitters (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Haus Glennser, That VOA Greenville should be on the air at ANY time and ANY frequency is some sort of miracle. Those old GEs and Continentals were born about the same time as I, and are as beat up as I am. Keep WOR coming! Tarlie Chaylor (Charles A Taylor, WD4INP, Grifton, North Carolina, ibid.) ** U S A. CHRISTIAN GROUP WANTS TO SEND MESSAGE TO MIDEAST By DAN X. McGRAW, STAR-TELEGRAM STAFF WRITER http://www.dfw.com/mld/dfw/news/15628541.htm STAR-TELEGRAM/RODGER MALLISON [illustration:] Program Director Janet Mawire in the shortwave station WRNO's studio. WRNO's antenna is in New Orleans and was damaged by Hurricane Katrina last year. [two more photos linked, of WRNO paper and Spurlock] FORT WORTH -- Robert Mawire believes he is a soldier in the war on terrorism. He's not fighting with bombs or guns but with the airwaves. Mawire, a preacher at Arlington-based Good News World Outreach, plans to broadcast a Christian message to the Middle East over WRNO, a shortwave radio station. He and his associate Dean Spurlock hope to convert Muslims by transmitting the gospel, music and Christian conversion stories, all in Arabic. "We believe WRNO is the answer to terrorism," Mawire said. "These people are looking for answers to their spiritual questions." Shortwave has been a tool of Christian evangelism for years. Far East Broadcasting Co., a California [sic] station, has used the technology since 1945 to transmit Christian teaching to eastern Asian countries in 150 languages. The technology is attractive because it can be picked up by inexpensive radios and can reach farther than standard AM/FM radio signals. The technology is user-friendly, and shortwave signals can reach rural areas. Although licensed by the Federal Communications Commission, shortwave stations are not monitored as closely as AM/FM stations. Stations like WRNO and FEBC have sparked debates about their content. For example, WRNO was connected with a racist movement when a leader of a neo-Nazi organization spoke on the station. Off the air Mawire bought WRNO, whose antenna is in New Orleans, in 2000. But because of problems with the transmitter, he was able to operate only on limited power. But its signal reached as far as Germany, and Mawire said he received letters from Germans responding to his Christian message. After the war in Iraq began, he turned his attention to the Middle East. "We feel a sense of urgency because we know this will make a difference," he said. "We know that it works. This is a battle of minds." However, Katrina delayed Mawire's plans. The hurricane damaged the New Orleans antenna, and since then, WRNO has been silent. Mawire said he and Spurlock are waiting to learn whether their insurance company will pay their claim and are looking for money to repair and maintain the station. Once it's on the air, WRNO will broadcast to an estimated 4 billion people, Mawire said. The station's 3,000 hours of programming include stories of Arabs' conversions to Christianity, passages from the Bible and traditional Middle Eastern music. Not the same station now In 1995, before Mawire purchased the station, the leader of the neo- Nazi National Alliance spoke on the station after the bombing of the federal building in Oklahoma City. That drew criticism from the Anti- Defamation League, an organization dedicated to fighting anti- Semitism. Spurlock said WRNO is not the same station now. "Their philosophy was completely different," Spurlock said. "He was criticizing certain ethnic groups, which we certainly don't do." Still, the league monitors stations such as WRNO because they can be a means of communication for extremists, said Mark Briskman, a regional director for the league. "A vast majority of Americans are unaware of the extent of the shortwave's following," he said. "It is a less expensive way to communicate a message, and it is easier to do. It is as easy as talking on a cellphone." Jeff Ferrell, professor of sociology and criminal justice at Texas Christian University, thinks WRNO's broadcasts could cause problems. "It strikes me that even the attempt to convert [Muslims] is a politically loaded undertaking," he said. The approach amounts to a "broadcasted crusade," he said. "I think [Muslims] will take offense to this. How would we feel if they beamed in a radio station asking us to convert to Islam?" WRNO's message might cause political and religious unrest in areas occupied by the military, but an Army spokeswoman said the military has no problem with WRNO. "As long as it is not classified information, he is well within his right as a citizen," spokeswoman Betsy Weiner said. "It is when people start passing military information that problems arise." Moazam Syed, president of the Islamic Association of Tarrant County, said he doubts that the station's efforts would be largely successful, but he thinks Mawire and Spurlock mean well. "Personally, as a Muslim, I would say, 'more power to them,'" he said. "Those people who have read the Quran are not really that concerned with their message. Maybe this would help open the dialogue" between adherents of the two faiths (via Artie Bigley, DXLD) The world's loudest silent radio station (Fred Waterer, ODXA via DXLD) ** U S A. Sept 28 at 2052 on 14320-USB happened upon some very long rather disconcerting vocalized pauses, but then ``CQ Italia`` in Italian from KC4VV. Like so many hams, it was frustrating in that he would say CQ Italia several times but only give his callsign once. Finally caught it phonetically on the third try or so. Appropriately, ARRL says he is: CORDIOLI, GIUSEPPE V, KC4VV (Extra), 923 STATELY PINES RD, NEW BERN, NC 28560 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. Our friend, Paul Walker, has done it again! This time he's managed to secure a DX Test from his new employer, WWNH 1340 kHz in Madbury, NH. This is a tough New England state for most of us, and we welcome the chance to put this into some logbooks. Please make a note of the date. Let's hear it for Paul! WWNH 1340 Madbury, NH DX Test Date(s): Late Sunday Night November 5th, 2006 Time: 10 PM until 2:00 AM Eastern Time [0300-0700 UT Mon Nov 6] Test length is four (4) hours. Modes of Operation: Transmitter Testing. 1,000 Watts, Non-Directional Programming: Morse Code ID's, Sweep Tones, Voice ID. Notes: Transmitter audio chain testing. Listen for station jingles, special music, and other wild card items that may be transmitted by Paul Walker. Don't discount the ability of graveyard stations to be heard during DX tests, as we've had widespread reports during some past tests. (KEVA in WY!) Reception reports are desired via e-mail (first choice) and snail mail (only if e-mail is not available) Station would prefer to received recordings of the test (MP3, CD, or cassette). Submit reports to: les @ highnoonfilm.com Please put "WWNH DX Test" in the subject line. All standard mail reports should go to: *SASE Required for Response Les Rayburn High Noon Film 100 Centerview Drive Suite 111 Birmingham, AL 35216 Our thanks to Paul Walker, Jr. and the staff of WWNH for this test! Paul has been responsible for a large number of tests during the past two seasons, and all of us owe him a lot of gratitude. (Les Rayburn, N1LF, NRC/IRCA Broadcast Test Coordinator, Please call anytime 24/7 if your transmitter will be off the air for maintenance. (205) 253-4867 Sept 26, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. WLLL 930 Lynchburg VA DX Test still verifiable PLEASE POST IN CLUB BULLETINS AND CROSS POST AT WILL Spoke today with Fletcher Hubbard, who is the owner of WLLL 930 kHz in Lynchburg, VA. Very nice gentleman, who listened patiently as I explained about QSL card collecting. After a brief conversation, he has authorized me to verify correct reception reports from last April's DX Test, on behalf of the station. Please note that I will only verify correct reception reports from recordings, or detailed logs for the DX test period only. We cannot verify any other loggings of WLLL at any other time. Only reports that are judged to be correct and complete will receive verification. E-mail is strongly preferred for reports, though postal mail will also be accepted. Mail reports will only be verified with an included SASE. If you are submitting reports by e-mail, please submit an MP3 recording of the test and any log details. If submitting by mail, please send a CD recording (first choice), or cassette. If sending a cassette please "cue" the tape to the time of your best reception. I don't have time or patience to listen to an hour`s worth of your DX. (Ha, Ha) Send e-mail reports to: les @ highnoonfilm.com Please put "WLLL 930khz DX Test" in the subject line. Postal Reports with SASE to: Les Rayburn, C/O High Noon Film, 100 Centerview Drive Suite 111, Birmingham, AL 35216 (Les Rayburn, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A [and non]. Iva Toguri D'Aquino, Tokyo Rose, died in Chicago on Sep 26, 2006 http://en.wikipedia .org/wiki/ Iva_Toguri_ D%27Aquino [eventually leads to some more obits] Link with more pictures in German: http://de.wikipedia .org/wiki/ Iva_Ikuko_ Toguri_D% E2%80%99Aquino ------------ --------- --------- --------- ------- (Martin Schoech - PF 101145 - D-99801 Eisenach, crwatch via DXLD) See also the "Orphan Ann" Home Page [a book?] http://www.dyarstraights.com/orphan_ann/orphanan.html And a 50-minute "Biography" television documentary http://store.aetv.com/html/product/index.jhtml?id=75711&browseCategoryId=&location=&parentcatid=&subcatid= about Iva Toguri is available on DVD. Posted: 28 Sep 2006 (kimandrewelliott.com via DXLD) ** U S A. I didn't realize that the pirate radio movement is still going on and strong. I used to operate one; however I gave up on it when I didn't have any known listeners. Perhaps I did have listeners, but I never got any responses. After what I felt was a waste of money after awhile, I decided to give it up and sold all my equipment on eBay. Now today I program and operate the local community public access channel and even with that I hardly get any response from viewers even tho I know that channel 14 is received in every home that is connected to Time-Warner Muskego cable. The thing that bothers me about Pirate Radio is that the FCC and the federal government is right when it comes to regulating the airwaves and radio station interference. Common sense would tell you that it is ABSOLUTELY necessary to regulate the airwaves to prevent stepping on a local broadcaster's toes. Unfortunately it seems most people don't realize that it is important to get a license to operate beyond part 15 status. If I decide next time to set up a radio station, I will work more with the community. Create a board of directors and if my aim is to broadcast under 100 watts, then apply for a LPFM (John L., Muskego, WI, WTFDA via DXLD) A quick and dirty analysis of the ten most recently reported Notices of Unlicensed Operation suggests that many pirates would be legal if licensed as FM translators. Of the ten most recently busted, six have no licensed stations delivering a protected-contour signal on the same or first adjacent channels. In one case, only *one* licensed station delivers a protected contour signal to the town where the pirate was located - and that licensed station is 6.2 MHz above the pirate. (i.e., the pirate would not have interfered even at 100 kW power.) It is possible in these cases that the pirate had a "dirty" transmitter and interfered at power levels where a type-accepted transmitter wouldn't have caused any interference. Three pirates did have licensed stations delivering a protected- contour signal across the pirate's location on the first adjacent channel. One pirate had a licensed station delivering a protected- contour signal on the *same* frequency. (there most certainly was interference in this case, even on the very best receivers) I guess the point is, that sometimes the FCC is right when they say pirates are causing interference to licensed stations -- and sometimes it's "boilerplate". – (Doug Smith W9WI, Pleasant View (Nashville), TN EM66 http://www.w9wi.com WTFDA via DXLD) ** U S A. Cartoon Network purchased all 45(?) episodes of Pee Wee`s Playhouse and started playing them again after two decades on July 10, 4 eps per week, local Mon-Thu only. If I compute correctly, the final 45th episode would have aired on Sept 25, but PWPH is still running at 0400 & 0730 UT Tue-Fri, so did they start over? Apparently, tho we can`t be positive they ran all episodes consecutively and with no skips or duplications. The newer 1990 episodes (if you can make out the tiny © date at the very end), had considerably better produxion values than the early ones from 1986. Here`s the episode list, but like many shows, you never see the episode title on the program itself! http://www.tv.com/pee-wees-playhouse/show/1439/episode_listings.html?season=0&tag=nav_bar;all This shows 46 episodes including a 1988 Xmas special. The easiest way to keep track of them would have been by the Secret Word (scream real loud!!!!). Yes, the ep which aired UT Thu Sept 28 was #2, ``Luau for Two``. BTW, partway thru the run, CN shifted both the original and the repeat one hour later; had been 0300 & 0630 UT. OETA-like fears of FCC retribution for ``adult`` programming swimming earlier in the evening? Of course PWPH originally aired on Saturday mornings, I think, as a kid show but adults can enjoy the doubles-entendres, and the preoccupation, shall we say, with sexy stuff (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. FCC FEAR CANCELS PBS AIRING By Dick Kreck Denver Post Staff Writer Article Last Updated: 09/25/2006 03:24:48 PM MDT entertainment http://www.denverpost.com/entertainment/ci_4394264 Fear of fines from the Federal Communications Commission caused Rocky Mountain PBS to cancel tonight's showing of the two-hour documentary "Marie Antoinette." Instead, the network, which includes KRMA-Channel 6 in Denver, will show "The Naked Planet," "The Dead Sea" and "The Grand Canyon," beginning at 9 p.m. "I took a look at it at 10 this morning," said James Morgese, president and general manager of RMPBS. "What I saw is nothing worse than what you see on TV elsewhere, but in this era of heightened sensitivity by the FCC, fines are pretty stiff." Specifically, he said, the questionable scenes were 200-year-old pencil drawings of nude couples having sex and "a very specific" discussion of Louis VXI's apparent impotency. "It's a good show, historical and factual," said Morgese, adding that the show will air at 10 p.m. on an undetermined date. "After 10 p.m. and before 6 a.m. is considered 'safe harbor' where you can do these things and not get into trouble." Some PBS outlets pulled the program entirely, others are moving to a later hour and some will show it at its schedule time. "It will be interesting to see what happens," said Morgese. The FCC has heavily fined some radio and television stations for language and scenes deemed to be obscene (Denver Post via DXLD) Cf 6- 145, OKLAHOMA; so it`s OK for Planets to be Naked ** U S A. LOVED THE PROGRAM; HATED THE ENDING http://www.pbs.org/ombudsman/2006/09/katie_jim_and_the_mailbag.html Several viewers wrote to me — and others telephoned — immediately after the conclusion on Thursday of the two-day, four-hour ``American Masters`` documentary, produced by Ric Burns, on the life of legendary American artist Andy Warhol. They loved the film but hated the way PBS handled the ending and closing credits. These people were really angry; the kind of special anger that comes from admirers who feel betrayed by the one they admire, in this case PBS. This is a subject that has come up before — at the close of the broadcasts of holiday concerts, for example — and it seems worthy of attention and solution. Here are some letters: I am writing to express how absolutely appalled, shocked and disgusted I am with what happened during the closing credits on tonight’s showing of American Masters featuring Andy Warhol. Never, never would I have expected it of a broadcaster I`ve always have such utter respect for to be as inane as to not only squeeze the credits off to the side while PBS ``does a little business,`` but furthermore, to have the sound of the closing credits squelched so that the ``business`` being conducted could supersede it. For God`s sake, did no one realize that after watching a four hour documentary, maybe, just maybe the viewer would like to hear words out of the subject of the documentary`s mouth, as Ric Burns had intended. Shame on PBS. Maury Feinsilber, Brooklyn, NY [more] (PBS Ombudsman column via Current via DXLD) Me, too! (gh) ** WESTERN SAHARA [non]. Hello all! AOE/W. Sahara/CLAND/Algeria Re my yesterday evening report, I was right, the schedule of the Castilian program of the Algerian-backed Polisario Front's operation called R. Nacional de la RASD changed from 1700-1800 to 2300-0000. At 2300, reception on 7425 kHz was mediocre~fair while very good on // 1550 kHz as usual. By the way, they keep announcing "1550 kHz and 74.70 MHz." This morning's broadcast started some time (don't know exactly how much) after 0600, and 1550 kHz was their sole audible outlet: 45544 at 0645. I roughly scanned the 41 m band, but found nothing, and mind you their morning signal is also very strong up here, so it would be easily detected (Carlos Gonçalves, Portugal, Sept 28, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Hope you can make a point of checking on Friday whether Spanish be at 17 or 23 (Glenn Hauser, ibid.) Dear Glenn, I was thinking of that, because, as you know, Friday acts as their Sunday and it seems Ramadan is "in season." 1550 only active frequency this end afternoon; I checked 7460, 7425, 7470 plus a few other frequencies within the band, and there's nothing. On Friday, they use to sign off 1 hour later in the morning. 73, (Carlos Gonçalves, Sept 28, ibid.) ** ZANZIBAR. R. Tanzania Zanzibar, 11735, 1750-1815+ Sept 23, tune-in to Swahili talk, 1759 drums IS, time pips and 1800-1809 English news, ``Spice FM`` ID. 1809 back to Swahili and local mid-east style music. Fair but some adjacent channel splatter (Brian Alexander, Mechanicsburg PA, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ZIMBABWE [non]. SW RADIO AFRICA --- DATE: 27-09-2006; TIME: 1800- 1815 UT; FREQUENCY: 4880 KHz; SIGNAL: GOOD WITH UTE QRM; LANGUAGE: ENGLISH; PROGRAM: MUSIC, ID. NEWS. Audioclip available on http://swli05639fr.blogspot.com/ 73's (Francesco Cecconi, Italy, condig list via DXLD) It`s a 14-minute clip starting at 1800; RTTY QRM, no jamming heard. No talk until ID 4:30 into the file, but it won`t let me skip ahead (Glenn Hauser, DXLD) UNIDENTIFIED. 6064.0, in the middle of the 49m SWBC band, Sept 28 at 1328 had a carrier cutting on and off as if it were CW, but when on it was modulated for maybe one second with a 1 kHz tone. The cut-ons averaged about 19 per minute, but did not seem to be absolutely evenly spaced, so hand-keyed? And for what? (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) UNIDENTIFIED. Re 6577 Coalition Maritime Forces: For some time now I've been listening to a (private?) conversation on 6578 USB. Don't think it has anything to do with the reported message on 6577. Language is un-identified. 73, (Erik Køie, Copenhagen at 0920 UT Sept 28, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ UNSOLICITED TESTIMONIALS ++++++++++++++++++++++++ Remember Popular Electronics? I use to wait for PE to come every month to see the latest DX listings and HOPE they hadn't become outdated by the time the magazine reached my mailbox. Now, thanks to the Internet, we can get the latest DX listings several times a week! I look forward to a new issue of DXLD every few days, just like I looked to my mailman for my monthly issue of PE way back in the '60's. 73, (Bill Lauterbach) with a PayPal donation You know, I also wrote the DX Listening column in PE for several years, and made it as up-to-date as possible under the circumstances (gh) PUBLICATIONS ++++++++++++ QSLs AND INTERVAL SIGNALS Former NASB President Doug Garlinger has added some shortwave station interval signals to his web page of vintage QSL cards, http://www.garlinger.com/QSL/qsl.html If you click on the Radio Canada, RAE (Argentina) or Trans World Radio Bonaire QSL cards, you'll hear some interesting recordings of the stations' interval signals and identifications. As Doug says, when he was a teenager, "while normal kids collected baseball cards, I collected QSL cards." (Sept NASB Newsletter via DXLD) Except for WHR, his former employer, they all date from 1964 to 1966, and all have mp3 audio linx --- I wonder if all of those are as old as the QSLs? AFRTS IDs as AFN, and includes the SSB, which they used to play once a day, was it at 2358 UT? A rarity is CHNX 6130 with their SW ID; however, the VOA Monrovia audio is just generic VOA Breakfast Show, no local ID (Glenn Hauser, DXLD) CONVENTIONS & CONFERENCES +++++++++++++++++++++++++ RADIO DAY - NOVEMBER 4 IN AMSTERDAM This year's Radio Day will be held in Amsterdam on Saturday November 4th from 11.00 until 5.00 C.E.T. (which is Dutch local time) [1000- 1600 UT] in Amsterdam's Hotel Casa 400 near the Amstel railway station (James Wattstraat 75). The Dutch "Radio Day" has been a yearly attraction for all (offshore) radio enthusiasts for 28 years. About 250 people are normally attending the event. The 2004 Radio Day saw the Radio Caroline 1973/74 reunion with many former deejays, technicians and crew members, and in 2005 "RNI in 1970" attracted several former RNI employees who had a magnificent discussion on the podium. Hans Knot, Rob Olthof and Martin van der Ven are now busily planning this year's event which will see the big Voice of Peace reunion as the main attraction. We are awaiting: Johnny Moss (Lewis) Bob Noakes Don Stevens Steve Marshall Dave Asher Robbie Owen Noam Tal Chris Pearson Dave Shearer Rob Charles Richard Staines (Steve Silby) Keith York Ray Sarsfield Sagi Levek Gil Katzir Guy Starkey Noam Aviram Kas Collins (Kas van Iersel) Nigel Harris (Stuart Russel) Peter Quinn John Thompson Geoff Fitch Bill Danse All of them have signaled to take part in the event. And we hope to see many more well known personalities. There are plans for two main sessions with round table discussions of people who have worked for the Israeli offshore station in the years from 1973 to 1990. At 14.00 hours we will have a session called "The Voice of Peace in the Seventies" headed by Bob Noakes. An hour later it will be "The Voice of Peace in the Eighties" with chairman Johnny Lewis. There will be a presentation of unique video footage of slides as well. So that's something you can look forward to. Of course, there will be several other special guests as well. One of them is Tom Edwards who has worked for Radio City from the Shivering Sands fort and for Radio Caroline South from the MV Mi Amigo. Martin Green (Groenhorst) was a Dutchman working on Shivering Sands fort as well. For the very first time he will tell us his memories. Bob Le- Roi, their former Radio City colleague, will do the interview with both of them. And A. J. Beirens has been invited who might tell us about his involvement in "NorthSea Goes DX" (still uncertain). Jelle Boonstra heeft Ferry de Groot uitgenodigd, technicus en "meneer de Groot" in de Dik Voormekaar Show bij RNI, later bij de NCRV en ook bij de TROS (nog onder een klein voorbehoud). So look out for this year's Radio Day which seems to become another highlight. We will be glad to meet you there. In the past, radio friends from the Netherlands could become a member of the Stichting Media Communicatie by sending in a donation enabling them to receive a free ticket for the event. With the beginning of this year, we also take donations from people abroad. If you sent five Pound Sterling to Stichting Media Communicatie (SMC), P.O. Box 53121, NL-1007 RC Amsterdam, you'll be getting the free ticket as well as twice a year a suitable information sheet about what's available in the SMC shop. http://www.offshore-radio.de/ (via Mike Terry, dxldyg via DXLD) I went last year and had a brilliant time, many fellow anoraks, memorabilia, films, presenters, audio, books, photos etc, etc. Hans, Rob and Martin are to be congratulated on organising such a successful day each year and for so many years (Mike Terry, ibid.) ATHENS HOSTS B06 HFCC/ASBU CONFERENCE -- by Jeff White, NASB President [a few brief excerpts of this appeared in 6-145] The B06 season High Frequency Coordinating Conference (HFCC) was sponsored by ERT (the Greek Radio and Television), and it was officially opened on Monday morning, August 28, by Mr. Panos Leivados, the Greek Secretary General for Information; Mr. Michalis Portokalis, General Director of ERT; and Ms. Gina Siriuli, Director of the external service Voice of Greece. The real workhorses of the conference were Sotiris Vorgias and Babis Charalambopoulos of the Voice of Greece, who worked hard to make every delegate feel welcome and to resolve all of their problems (like the piece of our luggage which was lost by the airline). As usual, this was a joint conference with the Arab States Broadcasting Union (ASBU). The conference hotel was the Divani Apollon Palace, which must have been the most expensive conference hotel in the history of the HFCC, but its seaside location, views of the Mediterranean, beach and swimming pools were unmatched. (If only we would have had time to take advantage of them!) We could literally look out the windows of the main meeting room and see the calm waters of the Mediterranean lapping against the shores of Vouliagmeni, which is the name of this exclusive area of what's known as the "Athenian Riviera" in the suburbs of Athens. At this HFCC/ASBU Conference, there were no talks or speeches at the end of the day each day, as has often been done in the past. This allowed a bit more time for coordination activities. The coordination did end an hour early on Wednesday afternoon to make time for a group sightseeing tour of Athens by bus. During this city tour in the center of Athens we had the opportunity to see among other things the Temple of Zeus, the Arch of the Roman emperor Hadrian, the 69,000-seat marble stadium where the first modern Olympics were held, and finally an excursion to the famed Acropolis. We ascended the rock of the Acropolis from the south slope, passing by the ancient Theatre of Dionysus and the Roman Odeon of Herodes Atticus. Most participants stayed in the old town area of Athens after the Acropolis visit to do some shopping or have dinner in one of the many outdoor restaurants in the historical Plaka area. But back to the conference. When I arrived in Athens on Sunday night, I had dinner with Allen Graham of HCJB. Among other things, we discussed the monthly Voice of the NASB reports that he has been transmitting on his program "DX Party Line" for over a year now. Recently, the DX Party Line was reduced from 30 minutes to 15 minutes per week. However, Allen has continued to give us space for a regular NASB report on the third Saturday of each month. In addition, he has been including frequent NASB news on his Spanish-language DX program, "Aventura DXista," which is also a 15-minute weekly program. We recorded a couple of interviews in English and Spanish which will also be used on coming editions of the programs. Incidentally, Allen explained that the HCJB Board is close to making a decision about the future of their transmitter site in Pifo, on the outskirts of Quito. It will need to be dismantled in the near future to make room for the new Quito airport, so HCJB needs to decide if it will be rebuilt in a smaller version elsewhere in the area, rebuilt in cooperation with some other shortwave broadcasting organization, or closed altogether. One of the options being considered is not rebuilding the Pifo site, but renting airtime from other transmitting stations to reach the Latin American audience. Regarding the NASB's plans to possibly resume a weekly Voice of the NASB broadcast in DRM in the near future, I met with representatives of various broadcasters which are currently transmitting in DRM. We have several options to consider if we decide to resume these broadcasts. In the past, the NASB has broadcast its weekly DRM programs to Europe from VT Merlin's facilities in the UK, and to North America from CBC/Radio Canada International in Sackville. During the conference I met with Kathy Otto of Sentech in South Africa and a new participant from Sentech named Ruben Munyai. They are not doing any DRM broadcasts at the present time, but any new transmitters will probably be equipped for DRM. Their attitude at the moment is "wait and see." Sentech sells blocks of airtime to various international broadcasters for transmissions to Africa, and has additional airtime available. Ludo Maes of NASB associate member TDP asked me about the level of interest in DRM in the United States. He said he is getting a little more response now to his weekly DRM transmission via CBC Sackville, and he is planning to expand his TDP DRM transmissions in the near future. Together with Kevin Chambers and Jeff Jaworski of NASB member KNLS, I met with HFCC Chairman Oldrich Cip regarding the possibility of establishing an FMO (Frequency Management Organization code) for World Christian Broadcasting for their new facility in Madagascar. Oldrich indicated that the frequency requirements for KNLS in Alaska will always have to go through the FCC, but an FMO for the Madagascar facility can be created quite easily at the appropriate time for those requirements. Other NASB members have similar situations (like TWR with Guam, for example). The new station in Madagascar, to be known as Madagascar World Voice, could be on the air as early as the end of 2009. Oldrich Cip indicated that there is a growing interest among stations and organizations that do not actually conduct coordination but are interested in the technical aspects of shortwave broadcasting and/or in the coordination process by having their programs transmitted over frequencies in the HFCC global database for example. Therefore, the HFCC/ASBU Steering Board is in fact considering an amendment to the present Articles of Association that would broaden the membership rules. Unfortunately, my suitcase with brochures from NASB and various member stations who sent items for the conference was lost by the airline, and did not arrive until Wednesday. However, there was still time to distribute these materials on Thursday and Friday. Prior to that, we made photocopies of the basic NASB brochure and placed them at the NASB exhibit. The exhibit itself did make it to Athens with me, so we set it up on Monday on a table next to the individual mailboxes for each group. The NASB was the only organization to have our own exhibit at the conference, and it attracted many positive comments. Lunch on Monday and Tuesday of the conference was sponsored by ERT at the Hotel Divani's scenic "Mythos of the Sea" restaurant at the edge of the Mediterranean Sea. Monday's menu, for example, featured smoked fish with cucumber salad and mint, veal ragout with mashed smoked eggplant, and tiramisu for dessert. On Tuesday I had lunch with Burkhard Beyer from T-Systems and Ludo Maes of TDP. Burkhard is the chairman of the German DRM Platform. He explained, as explained elsewhere in this Newsletter, that due to the results of a recent public tender, many of Deutsche Welle's transmissions will be moving from T-Systems transmitters in Germany to Merlin (now VT Communications) transmitters in the UK in the near future. My wife Thais, NASB's Assistant Secretary-Treasurer, decided to use her remaining frequent flyer miles to go to the meeting with me. She helped me make the best use of the limited time available to do many things. While I was doing one thing or meeting with someone, she was doing something else or meeting with someone else. I must admit that I did little actual frequency coordination work during this conference, as opposed to past HFCC's that I have attended. This is partly because we had a quite large FCC/NASB delegation this time -- Tom Lucey of the FCC, George Ross and Jeff Lecureux of KTWR, Kevin Chambers and Jeff Jaworski from KNLS, Glen Tapley of WEWN, and Thais and myself from WRMI. In fact, the organizers had to create extra table space (which I jokingly referred to as the "FCC annex") for us all. I did send memos to all member stations before the conference advising them that I would be attending on behalf of NASB and inviting them to send me their schedules, collisions, etc. A few did so, and some also sent program schedules and other giveaways for the NASB exhibit. But most of my time at this conference was spent on public relations matters for NASB. I had a number of talks and meetings with both Oldrich Cip (HFCC Chairman) and Horst Scholz (Vice Chairman). The NASB was a member of the HFCC Steering Board for the meetings just prior to, during and just after the A05 conference in Mexico City which we hosted. Over the past few years, we have developed an excellent relationship with all of the HFCC Steering Board, including Jan Willem Drexhage of Radio Netherlands, Geoff Spells of Merlin (who has taken over Dennis Thompson's position as HFCC Rapporteur), and Bassil Zoubi and Mahmoud Al Rheda of the ASBU (Arab States Broadcasting Union). Bassil and Mahmoud made a special point to invite us to attend the A07 HFCC Conference next February, which will be held in either Dubai or Abu Dhabi (United Arab Emirates). And there appears to be some reason to hope that it might be possible to host an HFCC Conference in the United States (for the first time in the organization's history) in the not-too-distant future. I was pleasantly surprised by the number of people who came up to us and thanked us for the "excellent" HFCC Conference which NASB hosted in February of last year in Mexico City. A member of the Russian delegation was one of the first to do so. She remarked about the wonderful time she had at that conference, and on the trip to Acapulco which we organized afterwards. Throughout the week, people continued to make similar remarks to us. So it seems that we made quite an impact at the Mexico City conference. On Wednesday, the delegates from Spain suggested to us that we consider organizing a regional coordination meeting for Latin American and Caribbean shortwave stations perhaps annually. The NASB has been gathering frequency requirements for certain Latin American shortwave stations on an informal basis for the past few years now, and submitting this information to HFCC Secretary Vladislav Cip for inclusion in the HFCC master database prior to each conference. This has been somewhat successful, but it has been difficult to get the advance frequency information out of some of the major Latin American broadcasters, and this has been a source of frustration for many stations broadcasting to this part of the world. Countries with major shortwave broadcasters like Cuba, Argentina, Brazil and Mexico do not regularly submit their frequency plans, so they do not show up on the HFCC lists. Then other stations use some of the same or adjacent frequencies unknowingly, causing collisions that cannot be resolved until after they occur. As the Spaniards said, it makes no sense to spend so much money on shortwave transmissions, only to have them impossible to hear because of interference from stations that don't participate in the frequency coordination process. Of course one of the major reasons these Latin American stations don't participate is that the meetings are usually held in the eastern hemisphere, and are therefore very expensive for them to attend. The Spaniards suggested that a regional coordination meeting once a year in Latin America could be more affordable for many of these stations, and that it might be possible to get assistance from the ITU for the organization of such regional meetings, as this is consistent with the ITU's desire to foster regional coordination in developing countries. Such regional meetings would also be of great benefit to shortwave stations in North America, as we are the ones most likely to be victims of interference from uncoordinated broadcasts from other parts of this hemisphere. The delegates from HCJB in Ecuador and Christian Vision (CVC) in Chile expressed their strong interest in the idea of a regional coordination meeting, and HCJB offered to consider hosting the first such meeting in Quito perhaps in June of next year. On another matter, I spoke with Tom Lucey of the FCC International Bureau about the famous letter from the NTIA on behalf of FEMA which threatened our use of out-of-band frequencies. Specifically, they asked the FCC to make U.S. private SW stations vacate a laundry list of frequencies and the space on 13 kHz on either side of them. The NTIA "seems to have other priorities right now" said Tom, and they are not pursuing the matter, so the FCC is not pushing it either. The FCC's policy at the moment is to go ahead authorizing use of the specified OOB frequencies by the private SW stations, but with a proviso that this privilege could be discontinued in the future if other government agencies require them. I also asked Tom to confirm exactly what U.S. SW stations would need to do to request DRM transmissions. He said that it is not necessary to submit any new technical requests (i.e. no new applications) to broadcast in DRM; stations need only indicate DRM mode in their frequency requests. So the door is wide open for DRM broadcasts from U.S. SW stations whenever they want to begin. I also had an opportunity to discuss a variety of subjects during the conference with a variety of persons, including Saeed Alavivafa, a member of the five-person Iranian delegation to the HFCC; Jeff Cohen of World Radio Network; Teresa Abreu of Radio Portugal; and George McClintock, who is now a consultant for shortwave station WWCR, as well as for the Caribbean Beacon stations in Anguilla and Costa Rica. At the Thursday afternoon plenary session, Emirates Media officially invited the HFCC to the next conference in the United Arab Emirates February 5-9, 2007. They will host the conference either in Abu Dhabi or in Dubai, where it was held a few years ago. The final date for schedule submissions for the A07 conference is January 12, 2007. So far there is no volunteer to host the B07 conference, so offers are being accepted. At the plenary, Jan Willem Drexhage talked about new HFCC software that was being tested at this conference. "Coordination is almost real-time now, and it works fine," he said. Vladislav Cip introduced an automatic collision detection system on the HFCC website already before the conference. The users of the system can view and print the collisions directly from their internet browsers. An improved tracking of changes is also available along with filtering possibilities in the collision files. In addition, a new collision detection routine based on Signal-to-Interference ratio (S/I) that had been developed by Navid Homayouni of IRIB (Iran) was also tested during the conference in Athens. A new HFCC member was approved at the plenary. It is the Federal Network Agency of Germany. Geoff Spells said that there are a number of documents related to WRC07 matters on the HFCC website http://www.hfcc.org He said that over the past year there have been a number of meetings to deal with the input for the 2007 ITU World Radiocommunication Conference (WRC07). Unfortunately there is no general agreement on the text regarding the controversial subject of additional spectrum for broadcasters between 4 and 10 MHz. "Our view," said Geoff, "is to take space from the fixed services and have them share extra space with the maritime services. But there is no agreement on this. The text includes both points of view, and the WRC07 will have to decide." Geoff emphasized that stations need to alert their national administrations that they need additional spectrum. Many stations have not done this, he lamented. Oldrich Cip pointed out that the HFCC is ready to help address the national administrations on this subject wherever help is needed. There is, however, no general agreement even within Europe regarding the exact amount of extra space needed. France, for example, wants an extra 350 kHz, while the UK wants 450 kHz. A possible future solution is co-primary sharing of the broadcast services with the fixed services. "It is worth considering," said Geoff Spells. Geoff exhibited an interesting series of spectrograms that show very graphically the current occupation of certain sections of spectrum between 4 and 10 MHz, demonstrating the need for more frequencies for broadcasters. These spectrograms may be seen on the ITU-R and HFCC websites. It was pointed out that DRM could eventually lead to better utilization of the spectrum because stations could change frequencies from day to day and hour to hour to take advantage of the best propagation conditions. However, this assumes that the DRM receivers will have the capability of following these signals automatically. There is an ITU working party that is trying to develop recommendations regarding protecting broadcasters from power line communications (BPL/PLC), but they have made no recommendations yet. Also at the plenary, Oldrich Cip called for a decision by the HFCC regarding worldwide distress and safety frequencies -- a topic that had been discussed at the last HFCC Conference in Hainan, China. The membership decided to reject any submissions for these frequencies, so they will not be included in the HFCC database. Oldrich also indicated that the Steering Board is concerned that the IRUS monitoring group has virtually stopped functioning. "We want to enlarge on our own group to monitor the real usage of the spectrum," he said, "and make information available on a continuing basis." After the plenary session, the ERT (Voice of Greece) sponsored a very nice buffet, which was planned for the hotel garden area, but had to be moved indoors due to the wind. There was a great variety of both Greek and international cuisine. At our table were James Serpell and Mathias Svensson from CVC (Christian Vision), Chris Cooper from FEBC and Allen Graham from HCJB. The technical setup at the HFCC in Athens was very good, with electrical outlets for everyone's laptops and plug adapters on hand for those (like us) who needed them. Several shared desktop computers were available at the back of the room for checking e-mail, web surfing, etc. There was high-speed Internet available in the meeting room, and it worked well, although it slowed a bit at peak times in the afternoon when everyone was uploading their updated requirement files. I made the mistake of trying to upload an audio file during "rush hour" one afternoon, and Vladislav came to tell me that my upload was causing the whole system to get jammed up! On Friday at noon just before the conference ended, Continental Electronics sponsored a very nice farewell reception/lunch. Sotiris Vorgias, Horst Scholz and others thanked Continental for their generous sponsorship of the event, which was a perfect finale to a memorable HFCC Conference. For a selection of photos from the HFCC Conference in Athens, you can visit the website http://www.hfcc.org/photo (Jeff White, Sept NASB Newsletter via DXLD) DIGITAL BROADCASTING ++++++++++++++++++++ DRM: see AUSTRALIA; FRANCE; NETHERLANDS ANTILLES; CONFERENCES above COMMENTARY: DRM MOVES RAPIDLY TO MARKET Radio World Online has published an article by H Donald Messer, chairman of the Digital Radio Mondiale (DRM) Technical Committee. He says that consumer receivers “at starter production levels” are available in Europe. Mass production of these and other models is expected in the coming months. Another interesting point made by Dr Messer is that, for “local” broadcasts, “Typically, signal-to-noise ratios of 15 to 20 dB are all that are needed for perfect reception. This compares with 30 dB or so for a decent AM signal.” Read the commentary http://www.rwonline.com/pages/s.0044/t.354.html (September 28th, 2006, 08:54 UTC by Andy, Media Network blog via DXLD) ``Typically`` and later ``very generally``, put Lauterbach DRM into Google and read the only fully published research I can find on 26 MHz DRM including: Measurements of Deutsche Welle using a short vertical active rod aerial (Rohde & Schwarz HE010) and a Rohde & Schwarz EB 200 receiver basically confirm our own measurements but resulted in a slightly reduced coverage. Their measurements conclude that the threshold for 100 % audio is 23 dB(µV/m) in Nuremberg and 26 dB(µV/m) around Dillberg. Full link is (1.72Mb pdf): http://www.fh-nuernberg.de/fileadmin/Pressestelle/pdf/Lauterbach_Nr_31_fertig.pdf (Mike Barraclough, ibid.) HD RADIO IS IN THE TWIN CITIES, BUT WHO'S LISTENING? There is a sound in Minnesota's airwaves that almost no one can hear. It is called "HD Radio." It is a phenomenon that is running under the radar in American broadcasting. . . http://www.kare11.com/news/investigative/extras/extras_article.aspx?storyid=135312 Watch the video segment from the newscast as well (via Sean Healy, VE3HLY, ABDX via DXLD) It runs 5:49, not identical to the long text; the video does not identify any of the people interviewed! Guess what, the usual hype about superior quality and quantity, but nothing about the drawbacks, interference, etc. (gh, DXLD) KMPH 840 Preparing For IBOC? KMPH CA, Modesto measured at 840.00000 kHz at 1646 PDT 09/27. They were formerly on 839.9994v. It could mean that they have installed an IBOC exciter (Albert Lehr - Livermore, CA Allied A-2515 receiver Homebrew external sync detector Frequency measurement system, phase- locked to WWVB Two 8x35x11 ft. Ewe antennas at 218 and 293 degrees 6 ft. outdoor loop, ABDX via DXLD) TIPS FOR RATIONAL LIVING ++++++++++++++++++++++++ WIDESPREAD DEMONSTRATIONS THURSDAY OCTOBER 5 FOR IMPEACHMENT OF BUSH Heard about this on KBOO Wednesday night. Idea is that we can`t wait for Bush`s term to expire; after all, the Neocons controlling him may come up with a way around that by then; but more importantly, we must not allow him to have a chance to pardon all his criminal henchmen just before leaving office. I`m not sure they have thought this completely thru, however, as it will not do too much good if only Bush is impeached and/or forced to resign à la Nixon, without the same being applied to the line of succession, such as the VP, Speaker of the House (unless Democrat by then), Secretary of State, etc., etc. See all the details of the October 5 events at http://www.worldcantwait.org (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Re 6-145: Three very loud cheers for Olbermann. Finally, we're starting to get solid evidence that the entire Bush plan is nothing but smoke, mirrors and lies --- and it's about time. The weekend report on the effect of the Iraq war on the growth of terrorism speaks volumes (Tom Bryant, TN, WTFDA Soundoff via DXLD) Those who recall some of Bush's campaign speeches from the runup to his first election may remember a series of speeches where he spoke about things like "Saddam Hussein is a bad man" and "He wanted to kill the President"; then later it became "He was plotting to kill the President of the United States"; then still later "He tried to kill muh Dad." I remember turning to my wife and saying "If he is elected, he's going to go into Iraq and take down Saddam, and the result will be everything that was raised that prevented his father from doing so earlier -- instability in the region, a power vacuum in Iraq and the region, civil and sectarian strife and rioting and violence throughout." And lo, these things have come to pass. And that may end up being the only reason ever stated by Bush that had any truth to it (Russ Edmunds, PA, ibid.) ###