DX LISTENING DIGEST 6-187, December 19, 2006 Incorporating REVIEW OF INTERNATIONAL BROADCASTING edited by Glenn Hauser, http://www.worldofradio.com Items from DXLD may be reproduced and re-reproduced only if full credit be maintained at all stages and we be provided exchange copies. DXLD may not be reposted in its entirety without permission. Materials taken from Arctic or originating from Olle Alm and not having a commercial copyright are exempt from all restrictions of noncommercial, noncopyrighted reusage except for full credits For restrixions and searchable 2006 contents archive see http://www.worldofradio.com/dxldmid.html NOTE: If you are a regular reader of DXLD, and a source of DX news but have not been sending it directly to us, please consider yourself obligated to do so. Thanks, Glenn FIRST SHORTWAVE AIRINGS OF WORLD OF RADIO 1340 Wed 2300 WBCQ 7415 Thu 0000 WBCQ 18910-CLSB Fri 2130 WWCR1 7465 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 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 ** ANGOLA. ANGOLA MEDIA GUIDE DECEMBER 2006 Angola's media environment remains restricted despite some improvements since the end of the civil war in 2002. The state still controls all media with nationwide reach, including radio, the most influential medium. Television, press, and internet access are very limited outside Luanda. Overview Angola held its first multiparty elections in 1992 and is planning to hold the next elections in 2007 or 2008. José Eduardo Dos Santos, president since 1979, leads the ruling Popular Movement for the Liberation of Angola (MPLA), which battled the opposition National Union for Total Independence of Angola (UNITA) in a civil war waged intermittently from Angola's independence from Portugal in 1975 until the death of UNITA leader Jonas Savimbi in 2002. According to CIA World Factbook estimates from 2001, only 82 percent of men and 53 per cent of women can read. Consequently, most people depend on the radio for news. In 2005 the UN estimated the mostly rural population of Angola to be 14.5 million, 68 per cent of whom are poor and two-thirds are displaced http://www.un.org/special-rep/ohrlls/ldc/MTR/Angola.pdf further limiting Angolans' access to media. Roughly 4 million live in the capital and largest city, Luanda (World Factbook, 2006). Other major cities include Huambo, Lubango, Benguela, and Lobito. About 70 per cent of Angolans live in the north and along the coast. Although the official language is Portuguese, at least 95 per cent of the population - spread across 14 ethnic groups - also speak Bantu languages. Media environment Journalism in Angola was one of the "most hazardous occupations in the world" during the civil war, with the government harassing journalists from independent, state-run, and even foreign media (The World Press Encyclopedia (WPE), 2003). Media freedom has improved somewhat since the war ended. However, the only media permitted nationwide reach are state-run - Rádio Nacional de Angola, Televisão Pública de Angola, Jornal de Angola, and the Angola Press Agency (Angop) - no privately owned radio or independent television stations broadcast nationally. Independent papers are limited almost exclusively to Luanda and only publish weekly. Internet access is available mainly in Luanda. Reports by international human rights and media watchdog organizations agree that government harassment of journalists continues. The privately owned press has become bolder but still practises some self- censorship because it falls victim to government intimidation, according to Human Rights Watch (HRW) (2004, 2005). Working conditions for journalists in the provinces often are worse than in the capital. Authorities in certain provinces - especially Cabinda, Cunene, and Cuando Cubango - have confiscated entire editions of privately owned newspapers because of perceived offences (Cruzeiro do Sul, 3-10 June; HRW, 2004). Privately owned papers have complained of newsprint's exorbitant cost and scarce supply, but the government has not delivered on its 2002 pledge to resolve the problem (Agora, 12-17 April 2003; A Capital, 21- 28 August 2004). Papers have portrayed this failure - and the state's appropriation of printing houses that constantly raise prices - as the government's attempt to control the privately owned press (BBC World Service, 5 September 2000). Privately owned papers also have to contend with insufficient paid advertising to cover production costs (A Capital, 21-28 August 2004) perhaps because of residual caution from the war era when local companies were "afraid that any connection" with them would have a "negative impact" (Angolense, 5 May 2001). Independent media have accused state-owned media of ignoring the public's right to information about sensitive issues involving politicians and government officials (Agora, 17-24 April 2004). In return, the government often has blamed what it calls the "anti- patriotic" privately owned media for exaggerating the nation's woes and thus influencing international opinion against the Angolan government's requests for financial aid and business investment (Angolense, 15-22 February 2003; O Independente, 15-22 February 2003). During a visit to the US, President Dos Santos labelled the privately owned papers "tabloids" that abuse press freedom (RNA, 14 May 2004). Press freedom Reporters Without Borders ranked Angola 91st among 168 countries in terms of press freedom in 2006, down from 76th place in 2005 http://www.rsf.org Although the constitution provides for press freedom, anti-defamation statutes such as the Law on National Security and State Secrets protect government officials from even factual journalism deemed "offensive" http://www.freedomhouse.org 2006). In March 2004 Graça Campos, director of the privately-owned weekly Semanário Angolense, was sentenced to 45 days in jail or a fine of 1,200 dollars for an article listing the president among the wealthiest Angolans. New media law The new Angolan Media Law promulgated in May would end the state's legal monopoly over television and press agencies. All new television and radio stations - except for shortwave radio which is reserved solely for the state broadcaster - must be licensed following public tenders. The legislation authorizes the National Social Communications Council to ensure the "independence, objectivity, and pluralism" of information in Angola (Lusa, 3 February). Although the new law allows journalists to defend themselves in court when accused of defamation, some criticize it as inadequate. The Media Institute of Southern Africa (MISA) Angola representative Siona Casimiro said: "the alleged innovations do not amount to very much and more often than not they are diluted by contradictions" (Semanário Angolense, 4-11 March). Human Rights Watch said in a November report that the law is "not in accordance" international standards and "many positive aspects of the law - the creation of a public information service, the licensing of private radio and TV broadcasting and the establishment of a Commission on the Press Card and Ethics - will remain inoperable" without further legislation. Journalist associations Angola has several professional journalist associations, but only one, the Sindicate of Angolan Journalists (SJA), plays an active role in safeguarding media freedom and speaking out against violations. Ismael Mateus, a freelance journalist, and Reginaldo Silva founded the SJA in March 1992. It has approximately 1,500 members and its secretary general is Jornal de Angola journalist Luisa Rogério (Lusa, 15 November 2005). The SJA is represented in 16 of the 18 Angolan provinces (Angop, 28 March 2003). WPE reported that the Union of Angolan Journalists (UAJ) - founded in 1982 and consisting primarily of government-employed journalists - has "little credibility outside Angola" but led the way in sponsoring training for journalists, having formed the country's first journalism school. Founding members include Silva and José Patrício, a former ambassador to the US. The current acting secretary general is Paulo Mateta. The Association of Economic Journalists in Angola (AJECO), created in 1996, consists of 50 members and trains journalists in economics (Agora, 21-28 January). Messias Constantino is the chairman. The Association of Angolan Private Press (AIPA) was created in 2001 by 20 journalists aiming to develop the independent media in Angola. Agora Director Aguiar dos Santos is the chairman and Angolense Director Américo Gonçalves is the general assembly president (Cruzeiro do Sul, 18-25 February). Radio [Note: the SW items in the following appear not to have been updated. The only active Angolan SW frequency is 4950, per Thorsten Hallmann`s Africa List http://www.muenster.org/uwz/ms-alt/africalist/ Or maybe two: Africa on Shortwave at http://www.bdxc.org.uk/ adds Radio N`Gola Yetu, 7216.8, 24 hours, and this is occasionally reported, such as in DXLD 5-201, for 19 Nov 2005, but I don`t find any reports of it this year, nor of RNA 7245, which WRTH 2006 listed - gh] Radio is the most powerful medium of communication in Angola with approximately 80 per cent of country listening (HRW, 2004). In 2000, Angola had 21 AM radio stations, six FM stations, seven shortwaves, and 815,000 radio sets (World Factbook, 2006). As part of the MPLA's campaign strategy for the 1992 elections, the government allowed "trusted businessmen" to create four private radio stations in Luanda, Benguela, Cabinda, and Lubango (Expresso, 20 December 2003). Radio Nacional de Angola (RNA) is a 24 hour state-run radio station with a monopoly of national radio broadcasts. It is the only broadcaster to offer programmes in indigenous African languages such as Bantu. The equipment used by RNA is "fairly advanced" with new computers and internet connection in Luanda (IMS, MISA, and AMARC, 2003). In Luanda, the news department has 60-65 reporters. The director-general, Manuel Rabelais, is also the social communications minister. Journalists claim the government favours RNA in the allocation of new broadcast frequencies (HRW, 2004). RNA tends to pay close attention to official activities, but seldom reports on opposition initiatives and almost never with any depth (Lusa, 15 August 2000). The station recently has become more open to debate and call-in programmes, but cuts off programmes when guests or callers comment on sensitive issues. RNA has five stations. The two with the widest reach are Canal A and Radio Cinco. RNA's home page calls Canal A the "standard-bearer" of the RNA group. The station broadcasts nationwide via several frequencies: 93.5 FM; 944, 1088, and 1367 AM; and 4950, 9720, and 11955 shortwave. Its "Manhã Informativa" [Morning News] programme from 0600 to 0900 daily includes a question-and-answer session with a public official every morning and an in-depth treatment of the news items that are likely to feature prominently during the day, but according to Angolense, the programme is "little more than a menu serving the government's daily agenda" (15-22 February 2003). News bulletins air at 1300 and 2000 local time daily. The popular "Tendências e Debates" - a call-in interview programme featuring a panel of experts from 0930 to 1200 on Saturdays - is a response to Radio Ecclésia's popular call-in debate programme, according to HRW. RNA's Radio Cinco broadcasts only sports news on 94.5 FM. It can be heard in Benguela, Lobito, Huambo, Namibe, Cabinda, Uige, and Dundo (HRW, 2004). RNA's three other stations broadcast only in Luanda. Radio Luanda is a news and information station broadcasting on 99.9 FM and 1010 AM. Radio FM Stereo plays only music on 96.5 FM. Radio Ngola Yetu, a popular station focusing mainly on sports, targets Angolans who speak indigenous languages. The station also airs programmes in Portuguese, French, English, and Lingala. It broadcasts on 101.4 FM, 944 AM, and 3375 and 7245 [sic] shortwave. RNA also broadcasts nationally via Emissora Provincial Cuando-Cubango- Menogue on 4780 shortwave; Emissora Provincial da Huila-Lubango on 4820 shortwave; Emissora Provincial do Namibe on 5015 shortwave; and Emissora Provincial de Benguela on 5043 shortwave. Roman Catholic Radio Ecclésia is an FM station launched in 1954. RE initially had a licence to broadcast nationally but had to stop operating when the MPLA government confiscated its assets in 1978. In 1997, RE began broadcasting again in the Luanda area only. It has been seeking a licence to broadcast nationally but the government repeatedly has refused. Radio Ecclésia broadcasts 24 hours a day on 97.5 FM in Luanda and currently employs some 36 journalists, including 11 correspondents located in several provinces. RE is known for giving "space to a wide range of opinions from politicians and civil society" and to reports on "controversial" government actions (HRW, 2004). Lisbon-based weekly Expresso said that "daring and irreverent" RE has the advantage over state-controlled media because it allows citizens [to] criticize government on the air, particularly during its popular call-in programmes (20 December 2003). Lisbon-based newsletter Africa Monitor said the government "fears" Radio Ecclésia and perceives it to be "the most bothersome" source because of its "critical independence" (8 August 2003). Luanda Antena Comercial (LAC) was the country's first private radio station, founded just before the 1992 elections with alleged discreet financial support from the MPLA to assist the party during the election campaign. Privately owned Luanda weekly Agora reported that despite LAC's recognized efforts to remain independent, the station has become more controlled by the government (15-22 July) and its reports are often nearly identical to state-run RNA's. The station is directed by Luisa Fancony and it broadcasts on 95.5 FM from 0600 to 0100 daily in Luanda only. Listeners also can access programming from its website, http://www.ebonet.net/lac/ Other private radio stations: Radio Escola and Radio CEFOJOR (Journalists Training Centre) operate in Luanda and are designed to train new professionals and young radio journalists, respectively (HRW, 2004). Four other local private radio stations broadcast in the country: Radio Morena and Radio Benguela broadcast only in Benguela, Radio 2000 broadcasts only in Lubango, and Radio Commercial de Cabinda broadcasts only in Cabinda. HRW says these radio stations "seldom" broadcast material critical of the government and the only critical voices come from people airing their views on the radio. UNITA's radio station, Radio Despertar, has been waiting for government permission to start broadcasting since February 2004, but the party reportedly does not expect the government to allow the station to begin broadcasting before the upcoming elections (Agora, 11-18 September 2004). The station will be directed by Alexandre Neto Salombe, a journalist who has worked for RNA in Huila and Huambo and also for Radio Ecclésia and LAC (Angolense, 23-30 September). It will broadcast on 91.0 FM and its studios will be in Viana, on the outskirts of Luanda (4 September). Television According to Televisão Pública de Angola (TPA), the country's state- owned television station, there are only some 400,000 television sets in Angola --- http://www.tpa.ao The IMS report says it is unclear how many viewers watch TPA and that the few who can afford television prefer to watch independent channels on satellite television. Televisão Pública de Angola - state-run and highly controlled by the MPLA - is the nation's only television station. It broadcasts on two channels, mostly in urban centres. TPA claims that Channel 1 is broadcast countrywide and can be seen in all provincial capitals --- http://www.tpa.ao During the week Channel 1 broadcasts for 12 hours; on weekends it broadcasts a little longer. Launched in 2000, Channel 2 can only be seen in Luanda and repeats most of Channel 1's programmes. According to O Independente, Channel 2 - especially the indigenous language programme - is "the spot for the exclusive transmission of MPLA political activities" (16-22 November 2005). TPA management has blamed the station's poor performance on the insufficient funds it receives from the state. TPA's director is Carlos Cunha (A Capital, 22-29 July). The station's website says it offers a variety of programmes including children's shows, documentaries, talk shows, news, movies, soap operas, and sports. It also has a daily magazine programme in seven of the most widely spoken local languages. According to the website the most popular programmes are: "Telejornal" [news programme] at 2030 daily; and "Em Foco" [In Focus] at 2130 every other Thursday, which features a panel of experts discussing political, social, economic or cultural issues, and then opens the line for callers' questions. MultiChoice Angola is a pay-TV service available on a subscription basis. According to its website, it was launched in 1998 with an office in Luanda. It also has offices in Cabinda, Lobito, and Namibe. Multichoice claims it has 20,000 subscribers in Angola. Available channels include Radio Televisão Portuguesa (RTP) International, the Portuguese government's news medium. Before 1998 transmission of RTP International was not permitted in Angola. TV Cabo is a digital cable television service launched in October 2005 as a joint venture between fixed-line incumbent Angola Telecom and the Portuguese Visabeira group. According to its website http://www.tvcabo.co.ao TV Cabo has 94 television channels and 25 musicchannels, and broadcasts several Portuguese and Brazilian channels. TV Cabo also offers a broadband internet service. The television service only covers some areas of Luanda and has 1,400 subscribers, 60 per cent of whom also subscribe to digital Internet service. TV Cabo plans to reach 10,000 users by the end of 2006. The service will only expand to other provinces when an adequate telecommunications infrastructure is developed. Print media Since the end of the war, more people are buying and reading newspapers, which are often "recycled," with one person buying the paper and up to 10 people reading it. There are 10 papers published in Angola - most of them privately owned. The Angolan government owns and operates Jornal de Angola, the only nationally circulated newspaper and the only daily. It was launched in 1975. The paper reportedly aims to increase its official print run from 15,000 to 60,000 by the end of 2006 (Angop, 26 June). Columnists represent hard-line MPLA views and often direct criticism at privately owned media such as Rádio Ecclésia, Folha 8, Semanário Angolense, and Agora. Jornal de Angola columnists appear to have access to sensitive information and write under pseudonyms. Columnist "Afonso Bunga," according to Agora, actually is presidential spokesperson Aldemiro da Conceição (20-27 May). Columnists usually only write when the weeklies focus their reporting and opinion pieces on the president or to accuse the private media of acting against the state or national reconciliation. The 40-page paper consists of an editorial, opinion piece, readers' letters, articles on politics, economics, international news, police- related news, provincial news and sports. It also carries institutional announcements, one page of classified advertisements, and two or three pages on births and deaths. Luis Fernando is Jornal de Angola's director. Privately owned weeklies The privately owned weekly papers publish on Saturdays and are sold by newspaper boys on the streets of Luanda - not at book shops, magazine stands, or kiosks (Lusa, 15 August 2000). O Independente, Agora, and Cruzeiro do Sul cost 120 kwanzas (1.50 dollars). Semanário Angolense, Folha 8 and A Capital cost 150 kwanzas (1.87 dollars). Independent newspapers generally are difficult to obtain outside Luanda, but Agora, Angolense and A Capital claim to have strong sales in Benguela, Lunda Norte, Huambo, and Huila Provinces. The papers are not sold in other provinces in large part because the state airline, TAAG, refuses to ship them (Cruzeiro do Sul, 11-18 March). All of Angola's privately owned papers focus on poverty, corruption, and the unfair distribution of wealth. Editorials also underscore the perceived need for stronger opposition parties. The papers offer little coverage of MPLA activities per se, but report extensively on government, President Dos Santos, and UNITA. A Capital, launched in May 2002, publishes 7,500 to 8,000 copies and generally sells out every week. A Capital has a team of young journalists and its director is Tandala Francisco, who worked for RNA, Angolense, and Agora (A Capital, 31 July-7 August 2004). The owners are a group of four journalists, with Angolense director Américo Gonçalves among its founders (EBONet Media, 3 May 2002). A Capital claims that it aims to provide "truthful, profound, and balanced information" and pledges to give its readers a "critical and impartial vision of Angolan reality" (A Capital, 30 April-7 May 2005). The paper tends to carry credible reports. A Capital promotes itself as "one of the most influential papers in the national market" (1-8 April). It has pledged to "continue to disagree with bad governance and corruption" (29 May-5 June 2004). In September A Capital featured a special report on the future of UNITA, and it was the only paper to advertise the 2003 UNITA congress and publish party documents and letters. The paper offers extensive coverage of Luanda city news. Agora, operated by journalist society Globalmedia, started publishing in January 1997. Columnists include: Filomeno Vieira Lopes, the Front for Democracy's secretary for parliamentary issues; Adriano Parreira, the president of the Independent Angolan Party; respected economic journalist Antonio Freitas; and prominent political journalist Norberto Costa. The last page usually carries "Sal e Pimenta" [Salt and Pepper], a column critiquing political leaders. It has also carried a health supplement since May 2004. MISA described Agora as "very accurate and balanced in its reporting" with "a reputation for publishing stories on corruption and bad governance" (23 February 2005). During the war, Agora carried exclusive reporting on UNITA and the conflict. Agora's director Aguiar dos Santos, an experienced journalist, writes a good column and credible reports, but the rest of the paper is trivial. In the last year the paper lost several of its prominent journalists who accused the director of running the paper in a dictatorial manner and blamed him for a decline in the paper's popularity (Semanario Angolense, 13- 20 August 2005). Angolense began publishing in 1998 but had to re-establish itself when it lost most of its staff after a split with Semanario Angolense in 2003. Before then, Angolense was reputed to be the most controversial weekly in Angola and had a contentious relationship with the ruling MPLA. The paper's director, Americo Goncalves, was educated with MPLA funding (BBC News, 21 August 2000). Chief Editor Suzana Mendes formerly worked for RNA and A Capital. Angolense focuses on significant domestic events - such as UNITA's internal troubles, former Intelligence Chief Fernando Miala's dismissal, and the Cabinda peace process - and carries exclusive reporting on Front for the Liberation of the Cabinda Enclave (FLEC) activities. Angolense was the only paper to correctly predict that Pitra Neto would become important within the MPLA and the only paper in 2006 that extensively covered UNITA's 40-year anniversary. Cruzeiro do Sul, the only paper not based in Luanda, started publishing in Benguela in August 2005 and is owned by Ismael Matéus, "one of the most respected" Angolan journalists (Folha 8, 29 July-5 August). Matéus said he aims not to compete with established papers, but to focus on events outside Luanda (10-17 December 2005), and reportedly is considering launching a regional radio (19-26 August). Cruzeiro do Sul is only distributed in Luanda, Benguela, Huambo, Huila, Bié, Bengo, Namibe, and Cuando Cubango Provinces. Matéus writes the paper's editorial that usually criticizes politicians' alleged misconduct. The paper's director, Paula Simons, reports on her trips around the country in her "Através da Palavra" [Through Words] column. Cruzeiro do Sul is the only paper that offers a column in the Umbundu language. It also carries a fair amount of reporting on the media. Folha 8, launched in 1994, is the "most anti-government" weekly and displays a certain bias against politicians of mixed race, according to Expresso (22 November 2003; 20 December 2003). The 40-page paper opens with director William Tonet's in-depth look at the week's main story. Although Angolan government officials have said they think that Folha 8 and Tonet favour UNITA, Tonet has criticized late UNITA President Jonas Savimbi in the same harsh terms he has used against Dos Santos. It also occasionally reports on Angola's Muslim community. Its URL is http://www.folha8news.com O Independente, launched in March 1999 and owned by SAEPI [Angolan Company of Studies, Publications, and Images], publishes 5,000 copies per edition. Aside from opinion pieces by UNITA chief whip Alcides Sakala and MP José F. Filipe Chimpolo, the paper provides little relevant or credible information. Investigative weekly Semanário Angolense - a "serious" paper, according to Expresso (20 December 2003) - began publishing in 2003 after a split with Angolense, from which it got its staff and reputation. Semanário Angolense is said to be the most well-rounded paper with the best journalists. Much of Semanário Angolense's reporting focuses on future trends. The paper has harshly opposed Dos Santos's policies, urged him to step down, and reported on possible successors. Semanário Angolense often files breaking news on the presidency and the MPLA at the same time as state-controlled media, suggesting it has well-informed sources in the executive branch and ruling party. Director Felisberto Graça Campos told Expresso that politically he leans "towards the MPLA" (20 December 2003). Semanário Angolense carries yearly Cabinda human rights reports and the weekly Angolan edition of the Wall Street Journal. The newspaper is available online by subscription only at http://www.semanarioangolense.com Party newspapers Jornal EME, the MPLA newspaper, publishes twice a month. It covers politics and MPLA activities in Parliament and features Francisco Cassanda's "O Positivo e o Negativo" [The Positive and Negative] column which criticizes anyone it judges to oppose the MPLA. The newspaper is directed by Fernando José Tati. Terra Angolana is UNITA's monthly newspaper which reportedly is not welcome in all provinces. The director is AJ Evangelista. Due to financial difficulties, the paper is not published every month. News agencies Government-owned Angola Press (Angop) is the country's only press agency. According to its website http://www.angolapress-angop.ao Angop feeds national and international news stories to Angolan and foreign media organizations via electronic or cable connections and "enjoys autonomy and editorial independence," although Angop only offers brief and vague reporting on opposition activities. Reports on MPLA activities are longer, but Angop ignores sensitive stories about government officials unless they are defending themselves. The website is in Portuguese, with English and French versions. In 2007, Angop plans to create a portal offering email, a search engine, weather updates, currency indicators, videos, advertising, entertainment, and other services (Angop, 30 October). Angop's director general is Manuel da Conceição. Magazines Several magazines are available in Angola, but most are published in Lisbon and focus on all Lusophone African countries. Only three magazines focus on Angola. Economia e Mercados is an economics and business magazine published every two months in Luanda. It is owned by Edicentre Ltd and directed by Antônio Furtado. The print run is 10,000, and the cover price is three dollars. Figuras e Negócios reports on economics, business, politics, and social issues. The monthly magazine, published in Luanda, is owned by Artimagem Ltd and directed by Víctor Aleixo. It costs four dollars and 10,000 copies are printed per edition. Caras-Angola is a weekly magazine focusing on the Angolan jet-set, but also includes a section on cultural and social events. It is published in Portugal and costs four dollars. President Dos Santos's daughter Welwischia, also known as "Tchize," is the creator of this publication. Internet Angola had 2,502 internet hosts registered and 172,000 internet users by 2005 (World Factbook, 2006). Angola's only ISP, Nexus, resulted from the 2004 merger of three smaller companies: EBONET, launched in 1996; NetAngola, launched in 1997; and SNET, launched in 1998. Angola Telecom maintains the monopoly in the telecommunications. AngoNoticias http://www.angonoticias.com a Lisbon-based news portal launched in late 2003, posts Angolan political and economic news compiled from various Angolan and international sources such as Rádio Nacional de Angola, Semanário Angolense, Expresso, and Voice of America. The site allows readers to post comments on news reports and participate in opinion polls. It displays no obvious political leanings or affiliation. According to a 2004 AngoNoticias poll, 68 per cent of respondents live abroad, 27 per cent in Luanda, and 5 per cent in other Angolan provinces. Sixty-one per cent check the site at least once a day. Club-K http://www.club-k.net a socio-cultural organization with a website aimed at assisting Angolans living abroad, was launched in November 2000. It offers a chat room, photo album, national and international news, and information on culture and music. It was rumoured that former Intelligence Chief Miala helped create the website. Jose Gama is the secretary general and its members are mainly students who work part-time for the organization, which is represented in 14 other countries. ISP Nexus is an Angolan commercial web portal carrying news and links to other sites. MSTelecom-Servicos de Telecomunicacoes, Sonangol's telecommunications division, bought part of Nexus (O Independente, 3-10 October 2005). The site can be accessed at http://www.nexus.ao Notícias Lusófonas http://www.noticiaslusofonas.com an independent website offering news and commentary on Lusophone Africa, receives more than 6,000 hits a day, according to the blog of journalist Orlando Castro, an Angolan expatriate who writes for Noticias Lus’ofonas from Portugal http://www.altohama.blogspot.com/2006/09/notcias-lusfonas-um-nobree-raro.htm In November 2006, 10 years after it was launched, Notícias Lusófonas' administrators announced pending negotiations to sell the site to Portuguese-Angolan businessmen http://www.club-k.net The announcement said the sale hinges upon "substantial changes" in the editorial line and the dismissal of several commentators. O Apostolado is Radio Ecclésia's Internet journal. It reports on societal problems and can be accessed at http://www.apostolado.info Ibinda.com, operated by the Portuguese News Network, is the only site publishing detailed news on the Cabinda province. All articles are attributed to Ibinda. Its URL is http://www.ibinda.com Weblogs Pululu, which means "transparent" in Umbundu, is Eugénio Costa Almeida's blog. He claims his site is for "eminently African opinions." Almeida writes in this blog and others under the pseudonym "Lobitino Almeida N'gola." He regularly contributes to Notícias Lusófonas, Jornal de Notícias (Portugal), Semanário Angolense (Angola), and Corréio da Semana (São Tomé). Almeida was born in Angola, but divides his time between Portugal and Angola. The blog can be accessed at http://www.pululu.blogspot.com Alto Hama is journalist Orlando Castro's blog in which he promotes what he calls the "power of ideas over the ideas of power." Castro, a self-proclaimed UNITA supporter, was born in Angola but now lives in Portugal. The URL is http://www.altohama.blogspot.com Source: BBC Monitoring research in English 14 Dec 06 (via DXLD) ** ARMENIA. B-06 for CVC International via ERV=Erevan: English to South Asia 0400-0700 on 15515 ERV 100 kW / 125 deg (DX Mix News Bulgaria, Dec 19 via DXLD) ** AUSTRALIA. B-06 for CVC International via DRW=Darwin: Chinese to China 2200-0200 on 15170 DRW 250 kW / 340 deg 0400-0600 on 15250 DRW 250 kW / 340 deg 0600-1200 on 17635 DRW 250 kW / 340 deg 1200-1500 on 13685 DRW 250 kW / 340 deg 1500-1800 on 13695 DRW 250 kW / 340 deg English to Indonesia 0600-0900 on 15335 DRW 250 kW / 303 deg 0900-1100 on 11955 DRW 250 kW / 303 deg 1100-1800 on 13635 DRW 250 kW / 303 deg Indonesian to Indonesia 2300-0200 on 15250 DRW 250 kW / 303 deg 0400-1000 on 17820 DRW 250 kW / 303 deg 1000-1300 on 15365 DRW 250 kW / 303 deg 1300-1700 on 7245 DRW 250 kW / 303 deg (DX Mix News Bulgaria, Dec 19 via DXLD) ** AUSTRIA. B-06 for CVC International via MOS=Moosbrunn: English to West Europe 1000-1100 on 9760*MOS 035 kW / 295 deg * DRM transmission (DX Mix News Bulgaria, Dec 19 via DXLD) ** CANADA [and non]. On Sunday, I was listening to Dobbin's Den, the jazz show that follows the International Radio Report on CKUT, and they played a spot for an upcoming special broadcast celebrating Reginald Fessenden's historic radio broadcast on December 24, 2006. The special radio theater program is scheduled to be broadcast and webcast on CKUT and several other Canadian stations this weekend. Times, stations and webcast links are at http://www.fessenden.ca Regards, (Larry Will, MD, Dec 19, dxldyg via WORLD OF RADIO 1340, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Most appearances are on Dec 23 or 24 (gh, ibid.) ** CHILE. B-06 for Voz Cristiana via SGO=Santiago: Portuguese to Mexico and Central America [sic, DXMix keeps saying this; obviously for Brasil --- gh] 2300-0700 on 11745 SGO 100 kW / 060 deg 0700-1000 on 6050 SGO 100 kW / 060 deg 1000-2300 on 15410 SGO 100 kW / 060 deg Portuguese to Brasil 1800-2000 on 17860*SGO 015 kW / 045 deg Sun-Thu * DRM transmission Spanish to Central America 0100-0400 on 11970 SGO 100 kW / 340 deg Spanish to Northern South America 0100-0800 on 11805 SGO 100 kW / non-dir 0800-1100 on 6185 SGO 100 kW / non-dir 1100-0100 on 17680 SGO 100 kW / non-dir Spanish to Southern South America 0000-1200 on 6070 SGO 100 kW / 030 deg 1200-2400 on 9635 SGO 100 kW / 030 deg (DX Mix News Bulgaria, Dec 19 via DXLD) ** CUBA. Glenn, I have been monitoring RHC a great deal this B-06. I have put together the schedule as monitored this month. First schedule is by language, the second by time and the third by frequency. Almost all the frequencies have been logged here. 17705 (2200-0030) is elusive, maybe due to atmospheric conditions and time of year. Heard some days and not on others. Even the 9 MHz band has been silent the last few days. The schedule appears to be in order now compared to earlier in B-06. 9820 was active earlier in B-06 but no longer apparently. 15230 is on for fewer hours than earlier and the listed 15340 does not appear to be active at all. I would appreciate any corrections to this schedule. Radio Habana Cuba Dec. 2006 1. By Language Arabic 2030-2100 11800 Creole 2130-2200 9505 5965 2230-2300 9505 5965 2330-2400 5965 0100-0130 9550 English 2030-2130 11760 9505 2300-2400 9550 0100-0500 6180 6000 0500-0700 11760 9600 9550 6180 6060 6000 Esperanto 1500-1530 (Sun) 11760 1930-2000 (Sun) 11760 2330-2400 (Sun) 9600 6140 0700-0730 (Mon) 6000 French 2000-2030 11760 2130-2200 11760 2200-2230 9505 5965 2300-2330 5965 0000-0030 9550 0030-0100 9550 0130-0200 9550 Guarani 2230-2300 17705 (ex 15340) (?) 2330-2400 17705 (ex 15340) (?) Portuguese 2000-2030 11800 2200-2230 17705 (ex 15340) (?) 2300-2330 11705 (ex 17705 or 15340) 2330-2400 11705 (ex 17705 or 15230) Quechua 0000-0030 17705 (ex 15340) (?) Spanish 1100-1500 15230 11805 11760 9550 6000 (to 1400) 1300-1500 15370 13680 2100-2300 11800 11705 9550 0000-0500 11875 11760 11705 9600 9550 (from 0200) 6140 6060 5965 Aló Presidente-Spanish 1400-1800+ (Sun.) 17750 13750 13680 11875 11670 2. By time 1100-1500 Spanish 15230 11805 11760 9550 6000 (to 1400) 1300-1500 Spanish 15370 13680 1500-1530 Esperanto (Sun. only) 11760 1930-2000 Esperanto (Sun. only) 11760 2000-2030 French 11760 Portuguese 11800 2030-2100 Arabic 11800 2030-2130 English 11760 9505 2100-2200 Spanish 11800 11705 9550 2130-2200 Creole 9505 5965 French 11760 2200-2230 French 9505 5965 Portuguese 17705 (ex 15340) (?) 2200-2300 Spanish 11800 11705 9550 2230-2300 Creole 9505 5965 Guarani 17705 (ex 15340) (?) 2300-2330 French 5965 Portuguese 11705 (ex 17705 or 15340) 2300-2400 English 9550 2330-2400 Creole 5965 Esperanto (Sun. only) 9600 6140 Guarani 17705 (?) Portuguese 11705 (ex 17705 or 15230) 0000-0030 French 9550 Quechua 17705 (ex 15340) (?) 0000-0500 Spanish 11875 11760 11705 9600 9550 (from 0200) 6140 6060 5965 0030-0100 French 9550 0100-0130 Creole 9550 0100-0500 English 6180 6000 0130-0200 French 9550 0500-0700 English 11760 9600 9550 6180 6060 6000 0700-0730 Esperanto (Mon. only) 6000 3. By frequency 5965 2130-2200 Creole 2200-2230 French 2230-2300 Creole 2300-2330 French 2330-2400 Creole 0000-0500 Spanish 6000 1100-1400 Spanish 0100-0700 English 0700-0730 (Mon.) Esperanto 6060 0000-0500 Spanish 0500-0700 English 6140 2330-2400 (Sun.) Esperanto 0000-0500 Spanish 6180 0100-0700 English 9505 2030-2130 English 2130-2200 Creole 2200-2230 French 2230-2300 Creole 9550 1100-1500 Spanish 2100-2300 Spanish 2300-2400 English 0000-0030 French 0030-0100 French 0100-0130 Creole 0130-0200 French 0200-0500 Spanish 0500-0700 English 9600 2330-2400 (Sun.) Esperanto 0000-0500 Spanish 0500-0700 English 11705 2100-2300 Spanish 2300-2330 Portuguese 2330-2400 Portuguese 0000-0500 Spanish 11760 1100-1500 Spanish 1500-1530 (Sun.) Esperanto 1930-2000 (Sun.) Esperanto 2000-2030 French 2030-2130 English 2130-2200 French 0000-0500 Spanish 0500-0700 English 11800 2000-2030 Portuguese 2030-2100 Arabic 2100-2300 Spanish 11805 1100-1500 Spanish 11875 0000-0500 Spanish 13680 1300-1500 Spanish 15230 1100-1500 Spanish 15370 1300-1500 Spanish 17705 2200-2230 Portuguese 2230-2300 Guarani 2330-2400 Guarani (?) 0000-0030 Quechua (?) (Bernie O'Shea, Ottawa, Ontario, Dec 18, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CUBA [non]. WRMI, 9955, atop lite jamming, and much better signal of its own than usual, Dec 19 at 0630 in Spanish, with lofi monolog in funny voice over phone line, but there was no laugh track and it fell flat (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CUBA [non]. Not heard every day, but heavy DentroCuban jamming again on 11750 against nothing at 1546 Dec 19. Just once, a few weeks ago, we heard R. Martí on this unscheduled frequency during this hour (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CUBA [non]. TV MARTÍ CAN NOW BE SEEN IN SOUTH FLORIDA BY CHRISTINA HOAG, Miami Herald Posted on Mon, Dec. 18, 2006 Azteca America's WPMF-TV 38 will be broadcasting TV Marti's news programs in South Florida starting today. The deal appears to be the first in which U.S. audiences will be able to view TV Martí, an anti-Castro channel funded by the U.S. government and beamed to Cuba in an effort to undermine the island's socialist regime. TV Martí is prohibited by law from being aired in the United States, but an exemption has been granted for this case, said WPMF General Manager Enrique Landin. TV Martí is available over the Internet. A spokesman for the Broadcasting Board of Governors, which regulates the channel, confirmed that WPMF is legally allowed to carry the programs. Channel 38, which is owned by TVC Broadcasting, will air two 30-minute newscasts on weekdays -- at 6 and 11:30 p.m. -- as well as one-minute news briefs from noon to midnight, Landin said. Azteca may also pick up some other TV Martí shows to air on Saturdays, he said. Landin declined to disclosed the amount that TVC is paying for the shows. [! Is that the loophole, instead of Martí paying WPMG? gh] Landin said he not only hopes that the Martí news will boost the station's South Florida ratings, but that Cubans on the island will be able to see the programs via satellite. ''We're hoping that Cuba will pick up the signal on DirecTV and Dish network,'' said Landin, who is Cuban. ``The newscast is well done. It's not too political and it's very informative.'' (c) 2006 MiamiHerald.com and wire service sources. All Rights Reserved. http://www.miami.com (via Mike Cooper, DXLD) WPMF channel 38 is only 14 Kilowatts near a causeway to Miami Beach south of Hialeah, with a null to the North. Pattern here: http://www.fcc.gov/fcc-bin/FMTV-service-area?x=CA653400.html Right next to it on the dial is channel 39, WSFL with 5000 Kilowatts at the Hallandale antenna farm at the Dade/Broward County line. Pattern here: http://www.fcc.gov/fcc-bin/FMTV-service-area?x=DS599420.html Unless you have a very good outdoor UHF TV antenna, and a very selective TV set, no Martí for you. It looks more political then practical (Brock Whaley, GA, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CZECH REPUBLIC. Dear Sir/Ma'am, Radio Prague has released details of its 2007 QSL Card Series named as "Lookout towers in the Czech Republic " on its website. And it will feature 8 famous towers in the Czech Republic viz. Decinsky Sneznik, Krasny Dvur u Podboran, Minaret in Lednice, Petrin Observation Tower, Praded, Haj u Ase, Klet & Blan-- -k [garbled]. Please visit Radio Prague English website for more detail info. Here is the website address: http://www.radio.cz/en And with little navigation you will find the link to their QSL Page. For listeners who have access to Internet: It will be better to submit reception reports via online Reception Report Form of Radio Prague on their webpage. As recently, e-mails sent to their e-mail address for English Service i.e english @ radio.cz & Radio Prague's generic address cr @ radio.cz have found to be bounced back regularly. However, Radio Prague Internet Team is looking into the matter as disclosed by Pavla Horakova in Mailbox Program of R. Prague English on its December 17, 2006 edition. Let's hope for the Best. With Best Wishes, 73 & 55, Yours Faithfully (Gautam Kumar Sharma, PO. Abhayapuri (Assam) PIN. 783384 (India), DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** GERMANY. B-06 for CVC International via WER=Wertachtal: English to West Africa and Nigeria 0500-0600 on 9430 WER 125 kW / 210 deg 0600-0700 on 11720 WER 125 kW / 210 deg 0700-0900 on 15640 WER 125 kW / 150 deg 1500-1800 on 15680 WER 125 kW / 150 deg 1800-2000 on 9490 WER 125 kW / 150 deg 2000-2100 on 7285 WER 125 kW / 210 deg Arabic to West Asia and Middle East 1200-1500 on 15715 JUL 100 kW / 105 deg 1500-1700 on 11830 JUL 100 kW / 140 deg Russian to East Europe (music test) 1200-1500 on 13830 JUL 100 kW / 060 deg 1500-1700 on 11705 JUL 100 kW / 060 deg (DX Mix News Bulgaria, Dec 19 via DXLD) ** GREECE. Dear Friend Babis: We have not been getting much reception in this area on the North American Service at 0000-0500 UT on either 7475 or 9420 kHz. during the past few days, probably because of propagation problems. I know that you cannot do anything with 9420 because of the fixed antenna at 323 degrees, but how about trying Avlis 2 on 5865 in the 49-meter band at 292 degrees instead of 7475 at 285 degrees? This is the HFCC listing for Voice of Greece for B06, both 1234567: 5865 0000 0600 18,27,28 AVL 250 292 291006 250307 D GRC ERA ERA 6561 5865 1600 2400 18,28 AVL 250 292 291006 250307 D GRC ERA ERA 6562 (John Babbis, MD, Dec 19, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** INDONESIA. Voice of Indonesia This Morning, 9525 at 1600 12/19/06 Was listening to what seemed to be a recitation of the Quran but in a higher vocal register than what I'm accustomed to hearing elsewhere on radio. I was also hearing an unusual vibrato in the recitation, rendering it more of a song than a recitation. To make myself clear, what I mean by vibrato is to be distinguished from the customary vocal trills afforded by customary Arab recitations. From what I understand of Islam, recitations are strictly by prescription, down to exacting intonations, and I was surprised at the singing, quite frankly -- what happened here was neither Sunni nor Shiya, but perhaps what's been referred to as Javaism, and what I heard was a Javaistic song passed off as recitation. Whatever you call it, it was unusual, to say the least (Clara Listensprechen, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** IRAN. New schedule for VOIROI/IRIB in Dari: 0830-1157 on 13720 AHW 100 kW / 085 deg, ex 0830-1427 0830-1427 on 9940 KAM 100 kW / 084 deg, ex 0830-1457 1200-1457 NF 7370 AHW 100 kW / 085 deg, ex 13720 (DX Mix News Bulgaria, Dec 19 via DXLD) Ahwaz; Kamalabad ** ISRAEL. Israel Radio should now have made its winter frequency changes effective Dec 15 to Feb 28, i.a. concerning English: 0430-0445 6280 ex-9345, // 7545, 17600 2000-2025 6280 ex-9345, // 7545, 15640 So how is 6280 doing? (Glenn Hauser, OK, WORLD OF RADIO 1340, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Israel on 6280 Noted Israel on 6280 a few days ago. Will check 2000. [Later:] Israel 6280 Transmitter came on around 1958 with the ending of Hungarian program. At 2000 English news (Jari Savolainen, Finland, Dec 19, ibid.) 7545 is running about an S6 here and 6280 is just barely audible today, if at all at 2000. Poor conditions as I usually receive 7545 much better (Steve Lare, Holland, MI USA, ibid.) Saludos cordiales, desde Valencia en España a las 20:00 se aprecia emisión en inglés, locutora con comentarios, presumiblemente Kol Israel, el nivel de audio es muy bajo a pesar de la buena señal, SINPO 45131. A penas se entiende nada. En 7545 con emision en paralelo, SINPO 44333 (José Miguel Romero, Burjasot (Valencia), España, Sangean ATS 909, Antena Radio Master A-108, ibid.) ** LAOS. No response to my call in DXLD 6185 so far so I'm trying again: 7145.00, presumed Lao National Radio, Vientiane, after a few days of complete silence again heard on Dec 19 from 1241 to 1258, clear freq, slightly better than on Dec 15. All talk in same drone, not a single note of music, doesn't sound like Chinese or Vietnamese, so keep thinking this might be Khmer unless this isn't LNR at all? If anyone else can hear this would you please help? 73, Martien Groot, Netherlands, dxldyg via DXLD. ** LATVIA. There have been some efforts behind the scenes in the last days to sort out issues related to the website http://www.rni.fm The content of this website was changed; it still contains incorrect data in regard to the license procedure (claiming that an RNI license was issued in 2005), but has started to mention the company RNI Radio as the correct licensee. RNI.fm is not an official website of RNI Radio, it is a private website maintained by Andrew Yates (who is not involved in the company RNI Radio). Yates is a wellknown name in the anorak-scene and ran similar promotional websites for Latvian relay services in earlier years, for example http://www.euronetradio.com According to Raimonds Kreicbergs of RNI Radio, the only valid address for information and airtime bookings is kreicbergs @ parks.lv postal address: Raimonds Kreicbergs, P. O. Box 371, LV-1010 Riga; Tel: +371 29224105 (Bernd Trutenau, Lithuania, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Cf 6-185: the Radio Joystick item on 9290. I can`t find any actual times in the item nor on the websites referenced, and even the dates shown are confusing. Does anyone know exactly when these broadcasts will happen? (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** LIBYA [non]. Clandestina para Libia. MOLDAVIA, 17645, Sawt al-Amal, 1237-1250, escuchada el 18 de Diciembre en idioma árabe a locutor con comentarios, SINPO 45444. 17630, Sawt al-Amal, 1235-1250, escuchada el 19 de Diciembre en idioma árabe a locutor en conversación con invitado, sintonía y locutora con cuña de identificación, SINPO 44554. 17640, Sawt al-Amal, 1301-1310, escuchada el 19 de Diciembre en idioma árabe con sintonía, identificación, canto del Corán, locutora anunciando correo electrónico y locutor con comentarios, SINPO 45554. (José Miguel Romero, Burjasot (Valencia) España, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** MEXICO. Hoy pude captar nuevamente a Radio UNAM (9600 kHz), aproximadamente a las 1800 UT; su señal era débil pero el audio aceptable. Me comuniqué con el Ing. Mejía quien me informó que, a pesar del período vacacional, estarían saliendo al aire. Ojalá que quienes escuchen a Radio UNAM le hagan saber al Ing. Mejía de dónde y cómo están recibiendo su señal en los 9600 kHz. El correo es emejiay @ servidor.unam.mx con copia para jusadiez @ hotmail.com --- aún sin política QSL. Ayudemos a que salga y se mantenga una buena señal de nuestra querida Radio UNAM. Saludos y felices fiestas (Julián Santiago Díez de Bonilla, Dec 19, DX LISTENING DIGEST) The first week of Dec it varied around 9599.4, between 1400 and 2000, occasionally later (gh, DXLD) ** MEXICO. NUEVO DIRECTOR EN EL IMER Por: Elvira García Publicado en el periódico: El Universal Columna: Medios de por medio 19 de diciembre de 2006 Desde la semana pasada, Héctor Villarreal dirige el Instituto Mexicano de la Radio (Imer) en sustitución de Dolores Béistegui, quien ha dicho a sus más cercanos colaboradores que se va tranquila pues considera que Villarreal es su amigo y no dará a conocer las anomalías que ella deja en ese instituto. No se le cumplió a Dolores el anhelo de continuar en esa dependencia, anhelo que expresó en voz alta, a principios de diciembre, en presencia de Carlos Abascal y Reyes Tamez, quienes aún eran secretarios de Gobernación y de Educación. Dijo que mucho le gustaría quedarse para llevar a cabo la segunda parte del "redimensionamiento" del Imer. Pero, pues, no se pudo, y hoy ha regresado a su casa. Quedan, por ahora, algunos documentos que - solicitados al Imer a través de la Ley de Transparencia - ratifican lo que aquí ya hemos dicho. Que la inexperiencia de la señora Béistegui en cuestiones radiofónicas costó mucho a a los mexicanos. Su desconocimiento de la radio cultural pública la hizo contratar caros servicios de asesoría en todos los ámbitos. Para el "redimensionamiento" o modernización técnica del Imer, Béistegui pagó más de un millón de pesos por honorarios para el coordinador y un reducido staff, mismo que proyectó la remodelación del instituto. Pagó también los servicios de asesoría para la elaboración de informes de rendición de cuentas 2000-2006. Esta tarea, de apenas unos meses, le costó al Imer 2 millones 502 mil pesos. Dolores Béistegui ya no está; sin embargo, en la Secretaría de la Función Pública sí existía hasta el mes de noviembre, una investigación en torno de una parte del equipo que ella llevó para administrar las finanzas del Imer. Y digo existía porque, con base en una solicitud de información planteada a través del IFAI en agosto, la Función Pública reconoció que estaba dando seguimiento a ese expediente y dijo que no podía dar a conocer el curso de la investigación, pues fue clasificada de reservada por un lapso de dos años. Pero, a principios de diciembre, luego de un recurso de inconformidad presentado por quien esto escribe, la Función Pública, inesperadamente, dio un giro a su respuesta y dijo que no tiene investigación alguna sobre un posible desfalco a las arcas del Imer. Es un caso para la araña... El licenciado Héctor Villarreal, actual titular del Imer, no es el más experimentado en las lides radiofónicas, pero sí tiene mayor conocimiento del ámbito en el que hoy está; además es experto en la normatividad y la burocracia que se mueve alrededor de los medios públicos. Pero tiene como lunar que, en septiembre pasado, siendo titular de la dirección de RTC, tomó la decisión de no transmitir - dentro de los tiempos de Estado- un programa del PRD, en el que Andrés Manuel López Obrador criticaba la actuación del IFE y del Tribunal Electoral, y maltrataba al presidente Felipe Calderón. Ojalá pronto Villarreal dé a conocer el proyecto de trabajo que echará a andar en el IMER, y si ése contempla la segunda etapa del redimensionamiento de instalaciones y equipos en ese instituto. Un asunto polémico al que habrá de enfrentarse es que el Gobierno del Distrito Federal tiene planeado solicitarle al Imer la devolución de la frecuencia radiofónica que pertenecía al Distrito Federal, pero que el regente Espinoza Villarreal entregó a ese instituto. Por si no se enteró... Pues resulta que en el presupuesto de subsector cultura 2007 no se contempla la creación de plazas para personal que atenderá la Fonoteca Nacional. ¿Cómo le irán a hacer para echar a andar ese monumental e importante espacio? Esperemos que Sergio Vela pueda darnos luces al respecto... En lo que a recortes a medios públicos y culturales se refiere, uno se pregunta: ¿cuál fue el criterio para decidir que al Canal Once se le quite únicamente un millón de pesos, mientras que al 22 se le reduzcan 13 millones? Esperemos que el criterio no sea el de premiar a directores de medios por ser panistas y castigar a quienes no lo son... Hoy martes, a las 15 horas, será la marcha de protesta por el recorte de dinero a la cultura. Saldrá del Ángel de la Independencia... Feliz Navidad a mis fieles lectores... [... as published, probably not indicating omissions, but pauses, since she can`t stand semicolons – gh] (via Roberto E. Gómez Morales, dxldyg via DXLD) ** NEPAL. Re 6-186: Glenn wrote: "So what`s the URL? http://www.radionepal.org/ per MN Hitlist, and indeed links to live streaming, news on demand" In fact, the website is linked in the source line of the Weblog item. It should appear in blue, rather than black, to indicate it is a link. I did this because I thought it was neater. But I will revert to listing the website separately, as a link, if that makes it clearer (Andy Sennitt, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Wouldn`t hurt (gh) ** NEW ZEALAND. [cf. BC-DX TopNews #785] On Google Earth imagery software tool, old RNZI Titahi Bay SW transmitter site at: The building where the SW transmitters would have been located: 41 05 46 71 S, 174 50 40 56 E. The former SW masts did locate just north-east of the transmitter building? (wb) Just MWers left now - 567 (National Radio 2YA), 657 (Southern Star/Parliament), 783 (Access Radio 2YB), 1035 (Newstalk ZB) and 1161 (Te Upoko O Te Ika). The taller of the two huge masts there was felled and replaced last year after they discovered the steel was corroded. You should be able to locate the two masts at this site on Google Earth. They are in a place called Whitireia Park, in the Porirua suburb of Titahi Bay. There are two masts, each with a shack at the base, and one larger (now disused?) BCNZ building. (where RNZI's SW transmitter would have been located - Ian Baxter). The following edited New Zealand information came via a Kiwi friend. I have a few things to add to this item in Bulletin #785. The mast that was felled last year [2005] was the second tallest at the site and was 400 feet (about 122 metres) tall. It has been replaced with a new mast that is 500 feet in height. There is a third, shorter MW mast there, about 200 feet tall, but I'm not sure of its actual height. The tallest mast at Titahi Bay is about 712 feet tall. It replaced an earlier mast of the same height about 20 years ago that was being corroded by salt spray blown in from the Tasman Sea, which is only a few hundred metres away. It is a windy location with the strong, predominant westerlies being funnelled between the mountain ranges of the North and South Islands through Cook Strait much of the time. You are correct in assuming that some of the shortwave antennas were located just North-East of the main transmitter building. They were those beamed at 30 degrees to the Pacific. They were stacked dipoles and reflectors and there was an antenna designed for each frequency band of 6, 9, 11, 15 & 17 MHz. They were fairly basic and had about 5 to 8 db gain. The Antennas beamed to Australia were located on the ridge of a small hill a few hundred metres South East of the transmitter building. They were a replica of the Pacific beam and were aimed at 285 degrees. There was a third shortwave antenna, a wide bandwidth "Vee" aimed South to New Zealand's "Scott Base" in Antarctica. It was used from the late 1950's to (I think) the late 1960's. The "sharp" end was mounted on a high pole attached to the transmitter building and each leg had a terminating resistor a few hundred feet away. The area where it was is now a housing estate. The transmissions to Scott Base "Calling Antarctica" consisted of messages from families at home to those working there and went out on Sunday evenings (local time) from 0815-0845 UT. One of the two 7.5 kw transmitters has been kept at the site as a museum piece. They went out of service in 1990 when the new 100 kW RNZI unit at Rangitaiki began transmission. The main transmitter building is still very much in use, as all of the MW transmitters are housed in it. Also it is used to store the large library of 33 & 45 rpm discs that Radio N.Z. accumulated over the years and are hardly ever needed in the age of CDs'. The shacks at the base of each mast house the antenna coupling units that deliver the power from the transmission lines to the antennas. The site is owned by RNZ, as are all of the main AM transmitter sites in the country. When the site was built in the 1930's, it was considered to be a quite remote location and houses were built there for the staff. Now urban sprawl has spread and it is just another Wellington suburb. There was a real problem with the 285 degrees antenna when 6 MHz was used. It was aimed through nearby "new" houses causing severe interference to TV reception and you can guess the end result! That is why RNZI is at Rangitaiki which is in "the middle of nowhere"! No neighbours! Yep, the Google Earth simulation looks pretty right to me (A former RNZ technician via wwdxc BC-DX Dec 12 via DXLD) ** NIGERIA. Compensating for the lack of VON on 7255 is FRCN Abuja, which is, after all, rated at 100 kW, on 7275; Dec 19 at 0634 with domestic news in English after an ad which I thought mentioned price in dollars; fair signal (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** SERBIA [non]. International Radio Serbia noted 18 Dec on 6100 at 1750 in presumed Albanian. Before 1800 couple of minutes of interval signal and at 1800 Arabic. Weak signal, later buried by co-channel CRI (Jari Savolainen, Kuusankoski, Finland, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** SERBIA [non]. Updated B-06 of International Radio Serbia: 1730-1745 on 6100 BIJ 250 kW / non-dir Chinese 1745-1800 on 6100 BIJ 250 kW / non-dir Albanian 1800-1815 on 6100 BIJ 250 kW / non-dir Arabic 1815-1830 on 6100 BIJ 250 kW / non-dir Hungarian 1830-1845 on 6100 BIJ 250 kW / non-dir Greek 1845-1900 on 6100 BIJ 250 kW / non-dir Italian 1900-1930 on 6100 BIJ 250 kW / non-dir Russian 1930-2000 on 6100 BIJ 250 kW / non-dir English 2000-2030 on 6100 BIJ 250 kW / non-dir Spanish 2030-2100 on 6100 BIJ 250 kW / non-dir Serbian 2100-2130 on 6100 BIJ 250 kW / non-dir German 2130-2200 on 6100 BIJ 250 kW / non-dir French (DX Mix News Bulgaria, Dec 19 via DXLD) ** SOUTH AFRICA. B-06 for CVC International via MEY=Meyerton: English to Central and South Africa 0515-1545 on 9555 MEY 100 kW / 005 deg >>>>> till Dec. 31!!! (DX Mix News Bulgaria, Dec 19 via DXLD) And then? ** TIBET [non]. Re 6-186, UNIDENTIFIED 7543/7547: Tentative, Voice of Tibet in Tibetan and Chinese + Chinese Music Jammer 1350v-1520v some days on new 7543.0-7548.0 Dushanbe Tajikistan 100 kW / 131 deg to China, instead of 7483-7498 range. Registered on (B05 too) 7460/7465 in B06. 73 (Wolfgang Büschel, WORLD OF RADIO 1340, dxldyg via DXLD) Noel Green: I heard this one some weeks ago - I thought it might be Voice of Tibet. This station does operate on offset frequencies. If I recall correctly there was Firedrake on 7540 (Noel Green, ibid.) TAJIKISTAN --- Not difficult, despite the mixture of Tibetan/Mandarin, or sometimes Mandarin only. I guess I CAN identify Tibetan and separate that from Mandarin in all its varieties. Thanks to Noel Green and Ivo Ivanov, it's an easy listening station: Voice of Tibet (Wolfgang Büschel, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U K. Re 6-186: Check out BBC Radio 2 online, on Christmas Day, for a Christmas show with a twist. Mark LaMarr (in my opinion one of the best presenters anywhere on the BBC --- or elsewhere for that matter) hosts Mark LaMarr’s Christmas Business: ``Mark Lamarr treats listeners to some of his favourite Christmas tracks with songs from across the musical genres - ska, rock ‘n’ roll, blues, soul and more on Christmas Day. Listeners can join in by calling in or e-mailing and letting Mark know how their Christmas Day is going.`` http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio2/events/christmas/christmas.shtml (Fred Waterer, Programming Matters, Dec ODXA Listening In via DXLD) Since no time was specified I went to the webpage and found it, 1600- 1830 Dec 25, and so mentioned on WOR 1340; then another look at the page shows that was for 2004y! This year, from the 12/25/2006 BBCR2 schedule, it runs from 1507 to 1700 GMT. Fortunately, the show still exists, and one would still hear the last hour of it by following our misdirexions. Why do so many stations leave up totally outdated webpages, confusing the would-be listener and eating up bandwidth? At least this one has a year date on it if you look for it, and the days of week don`t match for 2006y. This year`s equivalent page I found by starting at the BBCR2 homepage: http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio2/events/festivehighlights/highlights.shtml What about Radio 3? Via http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio3 I don`t find a similar single page, altho various holiday specials are mentioned, notably some Proms repeats Dec 24-28 at http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio3/proms2006/pip/wi09j/ but don`t try to go to the ``All repeat broadcasts from the BBC Proms 2006 season`` link because it doesn`t exist! (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A [non]. AWR changes, now via DTK WER 250 kW, ex VT Comm. DHA 250 kW from Jan. 1, with azimuths after / 0300-0330 NF 7185 / 150, ex 9550 / 240 to EaAf Oromo 0300-0400 NF 7315 / 120, ex 9760 / 260 to EaAf Amharic/Tigrigna 1200-1300 NF 15140 / 090, ex 15110 / 085 to EaAs English/Bangla 1300-1330 NF 11725 / 060, ex 11720 / 090 to EaAs Chinese Mon-Fri 1300-1330 NF 11725 / 060, ex 11720 / 090 to EaAs Uighur Sat/Sun 1330-1500 NF 11725 / 060, ex 11720 / 090 to EaAs Chinese 1500-1600 NF 11670 / 060, ex 9530 / 060 to SoAs Nepali/English 1500-1600 NF 9855 / 090, ex 11695 / 060 to SoAs Punjabi/Hindi 1630-1700 NF 11905 / 150, ex 17595 / 240 to EaAf Somali 1730-1800 NF 11795 / 150, ex 6180 / 225 to EaAf Oromo (DX Mix News Bulgaria, Dec 19 via DXLD) ** U S A [non]. Updated B-06 of AWR's "Wavescan" every Sunday: 1130-1200 on 15260 SDA 100 kW / 255 deg to SoEaAs 1200-1230 NF 15140 WER 250 kW / 090 deg to SoAs, ex 15110 1500-1530 on 12105 SDA 100 kW / 285 deg to SoAs 1530-1600 NF 11670 WER 250 kW / 060 deg to SoAs, ex 9530 1600-1630 on 9585 SDA 100 kW / 285 deg to SoAs 1600-1630 on 12065 SDA 100 kW / 285 deg to SoAs 1630-1700 on 11980 SDA 100 kW / 300 deg to SoAs 1730-1800 on 9980 SDA 100 kW / 300 deg to ME 2130-2200 on 9720 SDA 100 kW / 315 deg to EaAs 2230-2300 on 15320 SDA 100 kW / 255 deg to SoEaAs (DX Mix News Bulgaria, Dec 19 via DXLD) ** UZBEKISTAN. B-06 for CVC International via TAC=Tashkent: English to India 0100-0300 on 7355 TAC 100 kW / 131 deg 0300-0600 on 13685 TAC 100 kW / 131 deg Hindi to India 0100-0400 on 9570 TAC 100 kW / 153 deg 0400-1100 on 13630 TAC 100 kW / 153 deg 1100-1400 on 9500 TAC 100 kW / 153 deg 1400-2000 on 6260 TAC 100 kW / 153 deg (DX Mix News Bulgaria, Dec 19 via DXLD) ** WESTERN SAHARA [non]. Frequency change of RN de la República Árabe Saharaui Democrática: 0700-0900 Arabic NF 6215, ex 7425 1700-2300 Arabic NF 6215, ex 7425 2300-2400 Spanish NF 6215, ex 7425 (DX Mix News Bulgaria, Dec 19 via DXLD) ** ZAMBIA. B-06 for Christian Voice via LUS=Lusaka: English to South and Central Africa 0500-1500 on 6065 LUS 100 kW / non-dir(alt.5915) 1500-0500 on 4965 LUS 100 kW / non-dir 73! (DX Mix News Bulgaria, Dec 19 via DXLD) UNIDENTIFIED [non]. Re 6-186, 1700 kHz: Glenn - to my ears the 'KVNS' is clear at 00:31 in the mex3 recording - but the '17-00 AM' or '17-0- 0 AM' is not! (Andrew Brade, UK, MWC via DXLD) I think the KVNS is pretty clear, but I agree with you it's surprising that they played the Mexican National anthem!!!! MInd you, having looked at the map you couldn't get much closer to the Mexican border than Brownsville (Paul Crankshaw, Troon, Scotland, ibid.) OK, but this still doesn`t explain hearing the Mex NA at 0800, or the NVS instead of VNS on the recording. Maybe at 0800 it was really XEPE. Maybe the unfamiliar new announcer at KVNS slipped up? 73, (Glenn Hauser, ibid.) Since there was context about 'starting this morning' or similar, I'd bet strongly on the above possibility. The Mex NA is not impossible for KVNS if they're trying to program to that demographic but more likely does suggest a second station (Russ Edmunds, Blue Bell, PA, IRCA via DXLD) Here's a brief recording where "Ka Vay Ennay Essay" is mentioned. http://paulc.mwcircle.org/mex3.mp3 The announcer also states "a partir de hoy" "starting from today". Has there been a changeover today and are there any Spanish speakers who can extract anything more from the recording? (Paul Crankshaw, ibid.) Glenn: The ID I hear in the recording (at :31) is KVNS and it's so clear I'll claim to be 100% sure (Chuck Hutton, ibid.) There are two geographical references on the tape ... one is "Rio Bravo" .. the other is "Tamaulipas." Brownsville is across the Rio Grande, a.k.a. "Rio Bravo," from the state of Tamaulipas. In null of KKLF-1700, I'm hearing shouting man in Spanish, where I used to hear sports in English, right now at 0331 UT. Sounds like a format change to me (John Callarman, Krum TX, ibid.) According to 100000watts.com KVNS have changed format to Regional Mexican from News/Talk. Thanks (James Niven, TX, Dec 19, ibid.) I've now got a reply from the person at KVNS who has verified reception reports in the past. I had asked him if there has been a change of format:. His reply: ----- That is correct. KVNS is now a spanish network format. Send me your address and i'll put a QSL card in the post for you. ---- That was very nice of him! So it looks like the end of Newstalk (Paul Crankshaw, Scotland, MWC via DXLD) I'm using an AOR AR7030 receiver with a EWE antenna approx (since I've never actually measured it ) 3.5 m high and 8 m long. KVNS is a reasonably frequent visitor here. Just one further point. I received a further email from John Muñoz at KVNS stating "I made the switch over at 12 AM CST on 12-18-2006" I take this to be 0600 UT (Paul Crankshaw, Scotland, IRCA via WORLD OF RADIO 1340, DXLD) Paul, how about asking your contact if and why they were playing the Mexican NA, and which network they are taking now, where it originates, USA or Mexico? Let me explain that I am getting both IRCA and MWC in digests, but the IRCA digests come a lot more frequently, so that is where I first saw Paul`s post about 1700, and the only clip I had listened to was #3. I must have run it half a dozen times and was convinced they were saying ``NVS``, but now when I play it back it`s clearly ``KVNS``. Am I getting dyslexic in my old age? So never mind my comments along those lines. I monitored 1700 myself Dec 19 from 0635 UT, and it was mostly KKLF ( ``KLIF 570``) with C2C, and a hefty SAH of approx. 7 Hz with KVNS, which occasionally topped it, with Tex-Mex music, such as at 0649 when a clear non-ID came through as ``La Grande``. I guess that`s more impressive then ``El Bravo``. Unfortunately, I dozed off before hourtop. 73, (Glenn Hauser, Enid OK, IRCA & MWC via DXLD) UNIDENTIFIED. 5125 ?, ?, Spanish, 17/12 0012. OM: avisos com mx techno ao fundo, 25222 (Rudolf Grimm, Brasil, WORLD OF RADIO 1340, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Distorted blob heard 12/19, centered around roughly 5118.6, but couldn't zero-beat with SSB. Heard 1027-1037 with talks and ads, several mentions of "Bolívar" and "bolivariana." Also a couple of quick mentions of "Amazonas," so I believe this might be the R. Amazonas, Venezuela blob (Alex Vranes, Jr., Harpers Ferry, WV, dxldyg via WORLD OF RADIO 1340, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 2335 UT 12/19 apparently the same blob-azonas now centered around 5127, but even more distorted (Alex Vranes, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) UNIDENTIFIED. 6108.9 --- 12/19 heard talks in Spanish with fairly weak signal and het from something weak on 6110. Couldn't make out any details of speech, only that language was Spanish. Killed by *1059 R. Nederland IS, then Spanish programming, I believe via Bonaire. Excellent morning for Peruvians, also a couple of Bolivians coming in well, so possibly one of these two? No Latins listed on 6110 in either '06 WRTH or Eibi. Anyone have any ideas? (Alex Vranes, Jr., Harpers Ferry, WV, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ DIGITAL BROADCASTING ++++++++++++++++++++ ARNIE`S DRM SURVEY, continued [see also AUSTRIA; CHILE] Item two: back to the DRM poll results and their analysis, plus many comments received from now thirty five countries and territories. It seems like people that heard Dxers Unlimited or have read the scripts made available on several Internet mailing lists and websites do want to make their opinions about DRM known, and above all, I notice a great concern for what can best be described as a total lack of respect for the short wave international broadcast listeners by stations placing their DRM transmission right next to others that are then terribly affected by the excessive bandwidth generated by the DRM broadcasts. I have received here well documented examples of what can best be described as poor transmitter adjustment, in case the basic DRM generator is working properly. Stay tuned, so that you can hear several of these well documented opinions that accompanied many of the answers to the DRM Digital Radio Mondiale poll launched by Dxers Unlimited a week ago. From Professor José Ángel Amador of the School of Telecommunications Engineering at Havana's Technical University --- He has read the poll and answered in great detail, even making a phone call to me in order to further discuss the topic. He is very much against the ongoing practice of placing DRM broadcasts on the same international short wave broadcast bands as the regular analog AM transmissions, for a great number of reasons, among them, Professor Amador says, is the fact that so far not one station that he knows is using a transmitter specifically designed from scratch, to handle Digital Radio Mondiale type of digital transmissions, and he adds that all stations broadcasting DRM are using standard AM transmitters that in some cases may be of a very old technology, not designed to have the extreme linearity and peak power capability required by DRM signals. Professor Amador agrees with the criteria that in its present form DRM for short wave broadcasts is doomed to failure, and also that after listening to those transmissions, if the managers of the stations involved could listen to them, they will not authorize one single more cent of their budgets to broadcast DRM signals !!! Another regular listener and contributor to Dxers Unlimited, amigo Robert from Montreal, writes in his addendum to the DRM poll, that he has seen the spectrum analyzer's display of the 49 meter band, and the 31 meter band when DRM broadcasts that were not even targeted to his CIRAF zone were on the air, and the pictures he sent me, are very, very good proof that the DRM broadcasts were exceeding the 10 kiloHertz bandwidth regularly used by AM short wave broadcast stations. Another regular listener, Troy, from Nigeria, says that his friend in Europe, listening to the AM broadcast band where DRM transmissions are taking place, are horrorized with the noise generated by those transmitters, and he adds, that it was obvious that the transmitters were not brand new ones, specifically designed to provide the required extremely linear amplification of signals, and the very demanding peak power to average power ratio. Troy adds that using a computer, a nice Racal professional receiver and decoding software he is able to pick up DRM signals at his Lagos, Nigeria location, but that so far, every time he listens, the very annoying total dropout effect is present, making listening, and here I quote "a very discouraging experience, that prompts one to quickly disconnect everything and go back to listening to a standard AM short wave broadcast", end quote. More about the controversial DRM Digital Radio Mondiale technology that is not only affecting regular short wave broadcast transmissions but there is also now evidence that AM medium wave band signals in Europe are been severely interfered by the hash generated by the 460 closed spaced carriers used for DRM transmissions... AND yes, it was not a mistake, the DRM technology in its present form makes use of 460 very close spaced carriers that are in the opinion of many senior engineers the cause of the sometimes very severe interference to adjacent frequencies caused by poorly adjusted transmitters broadcasting DRM. Now a bit more about our main topic today --- more well documented opinions about DRM broadcasts reception and collateral damage to other short wave stations using standard AM A3 double sideband plus carrier mode. From South America, amigo Alberto near Buenos Aires is using a nice fast computer, and a very good receiver that he has modified with an additional conversion to extract a low frequency IF that is then fed to the computer. Alberto is not only a long time radio amateur operator, but also a sort of computer guru, and he knows how to write computer programs. He writes that using the standard software that is sold for DRM, and at a very steep and rather unreachable price, decoding is not very good at all, even when propagation conditions are so good that he can pick up analog stations broadcasting to his CIRAF zone using a portable radio with a telescopic whip. Alberto says, and I quote: "I can't see any advantage to using DRM over standard analog AM, if DRM doesn't incorporate any real, efficient, storage and read later type of signal processing, that is, in my opinion Alberto says, the only way to be able to make those very annoying silences to disappear" end quote. Alberto is obviously making reference to a completely different approach to digital audio broadcasting that will require a system design that will contemplate that the received signal be sent several times, and then, that it be recorded on a fast computer memory, so that it can be read once the dropouts and errors are not present --- and that amigos is certainly a very different approach to Digital Radio Mondiale. Your opinions about DRM are most welcome, send them to arnie@..., again arnie@..., [truncated by yg] and maybe they can be made available to some of the world's most well known radio engineers for them to see "the other side of the picture", that is what the real short wave listeners really pick up, and also how they feel about the terrible interference to AM analog broadcasts that is now damaging reception of otherwise perfectly useable signals. With an upcoming World Radio Communications Conference organized by the International Telecommunications Union to take place during 2007, the use of DRM on the short wave international broadcast bands, could become an important issue to discuss, and maybe a solution may be found; for example, as many Dxers Unlimited's listeners have suggested, set aside segments of the HF spectrum outside the presently used bands, so that DRM broadcasts will be all alone and by themselves, so that if they generate adjacent channel interference, they will damage the reception of other DRM stations !!! See you all at the weekend edition of the program, and don't forget to send me your opinion about DRM Digital Radio Mondiale broadcasts, if you have heard them and also if you have not, because one of the challenges is exactly trying to find a moderately priced short wave receiver capable of picking up DRM broadcasts. Send your e-mail message to: arnie@..., again arnie@..., and VIA AIR MAIL send a postcard or letter to (Arnie Coro, DXers Unlimited, Radio Habana Cuba, Habana, Cuba; Dec 19, ODXA via DXLD) RADIO EQUIPMENT FORUM +++++++++++++++++++++ MYSTERY TONE AT 1610, 1020 AND WWII thread morphs into: In the January 2007 QST magazine published by the ARRL, there is an interesting article regarding the problems of direction finding with loop antennas during WWII which gives a basis for understanding our experience in imprecisely pinpointing the mystery tone a few weeks ago. The article is titled "How the FCC Helped to End World War II". (No, it didn't surreptitiously install BPL or IBOC in Japan or Germany.) Immediately after the attack at Pearl Harbor, the Radio Intelligence Division (RID) of the FCC installed on the Hawaiian Islands monitoring stations of which M. Walter Maxwell, W2DU, the QST article's author, was a participant. In addition, a half mile Beverage antenna was aimed at Tokyo to monitor domestic a.m. broadcasts. Of greater importance was that on each of the Islands, Adcock Directional Finder antennas were erected. According to W2DU's article, at the outset of the war, many allied planes were lost enroute to Hawaii from the mainland US. Despite using loop antenna direction finders, many planes were forced to ditch after becoming "navigationally impaired" (lost). The problem was that loop DF's are capable of delivering reliable results only when receiving vertically polarized electromagnetic energy. Skywaves, on reflection and refraction through the ionosphere, become elliptically polarized which causes a continuous shift in the null obtained by a loop DF as the incoming signal rotates elliptically during propagation. The bearings taken by the DFs beyond groundwave reception range of the a.m. stations in Hawaii were practically useless. Having to depend only on celestial navigation had its own set of problems, especially on cloudy nights and days. Fortunately, the previously installed Adcock directional finders were capable of receiving only the vertical component of a skywave, even though the skywave is arriving as a rotating ellipse. The array of Adcocks throughout the Hawaiian Islands would "df" the aircraft's "lost message" and would triangulate the plane's location and furnish to the pilot a corrected bearing. No more planes were lost because of navigational problems enroute from the mainland. However, planes continued to be lost enroute from Hawaii to the South Pacific. The US military invited Prose Walker, W4BW, head of the FCC's Radio Security Center in the Islands, who also implemented the program using the Adcocks to assist lost pilots, to investigate the mystery. He discovered that the pilots were using Mercator projection maps [Duh! -- gh]. The losses were reduced to zero when the pilots were furnished polar projection maps. Our efforts to clearly pinpoint the mystery transmitter on 1610 and 1020 without a high degree of accuracy are explained by the history of the FCC's experience with aviators during WWII in the Hawaiian Islands and South Pacific. Fortunately for us, the worst thing that could have happened to us in our direction finding the tone was inconsequential in the overall scheme of things. On the other hand, the best thing that could happen to a WWII aviator, was to get home in one piece, alive (Gil Stacy, IRCA via DXLD) Some 35 years ago, Gordon Nelson did a long term (a season or two) study of the accuracy of DFing European signals with a loop. His average error was a few degrees, although I don't recall the exact number after all this time. Makes me take Maxwell's idea with a grain of salt or two. As for the southerly skewing of high latitude paths during disturbed conditions, every kind of directional antenna supports the fact that the signals truly arrive from a more southerly direction (Chuck Hutton, WA, ibid.) Great write-up, Gil. Makes one wonder though, how DXers have done so well using the tuned box and spiral loop antennas over the years in pinpointing overseas stations. Ray Moore has had some excellent results in Florida. I must admit that very often I've just used the loop to determine Asia vs. Australia rather than trying to get really accurate results. Also, bearings seem easier to find, particularly during sunrise conditions, on channels below about 1400 kHz. Often the higher frequencies overseas stations can't really be nulled at all. Sometimes bearings on northerly path stations come out more southerly than they "should", especially during unsettled conditions. Perhaps this is evidence of elliptical polarization rather than a true skewing of the path? Adcock antennas would tell us apparently. A retirement project, I fear, even though former IRCA member Ben Peters introduced them to me 25 years ago. Best wishes, (Nick Hall-Patch, Victoria, B.C. Canada, IRCA via DXLD) One would have to wonder, though, just how much skewing all of that metal and magnetic fields from other instruments might have impacted the problems for those airborne loops as well -- even realizing that at the time this had to be known and somehow taken into account. Then, too, when you're piloting a B-47 and using a loop to zero in on KGMB, all you need is an error of a handful of degrees and you've missed, to that may have been as much of the problem as anything - even our standard of error would have been too much for WWII navigation (Russ Edmunds, Blue Bell, PA ( 360' ASL ), ibid.) Maybe it`s just the long arm of coincidence BUT. When the tone was on 1610 I e-mailed my son in N.C. to listen for it and compare to other signals on the X-band especially during the day then I forgot all about it. I sent it to his USAF address & it NEVER came. In the note speculated someone was CLOWNING around with a big transmitter. I think that triggered a computer somewhere. 73 (Tom Jones, Mason NH, ibid.) My mother's brother Tom flew with the 500th Sqdn, 345th Bombardment Group, the "Air Apachees", of the 5th Air Force. According to Lawrence Hickey's book, *Warpath Across the Pacific*, the 345th's B-25 Mitchells were deployed from San Francisco to Hawaii in May of 1943. "No attempt was made to fly in formation and each plane traveled the route separately... the crews were alone with 2400 miles of the vast Pacific ahead... the flights were always begun at night for weather and navigation purposes... if all went well, a plane would make landfall in 13 hours, just after sunrise... strong head winds could cause a plane to run out of fuel... only one plane failed to reach its destination... no trace of it was ever found." While the Group's deployment was after the implementation of the Hawaiian Adcock DF antennas coupled with Hallicrafters SX-28 receivers, the above illustrates what these pilots were up against. This coupled with, as Maxwell put it, "dozens of green flight teams just out of flight school... anxious to get aboard and proceed to the South Pacific area as soon as possible" and, according to Maxwell's article, reliance on the plane's DF loop had some bad consequences in the beginning. Bear in mind that these were not the experienced commercial flight crews flying Pan Am China Clipper Flying Boats from the Mainland to the Hawaiian Islands. Considering the vagaries of propagation, "green" air crews, the RDF issues, and the enormous distance involved with no landmarks scattered along the way, Maxwell's article certainly has more than just the ring of truth to me, but each is entitled to his opinion. 73, (Gil NN4CW, ibid.) One thing doesn't make a lot of sense to me. I can see a few degrees or maybe more of RDF error initially. But wouldn't the azimuth be in about the right direction? Follow the path, and as you got closer, redo the RDF check and correct the course. Closer in, those few degrees wouldn't be such an issue. I don't think it was a situation where the true path was west and the RDF said north. And they must have had a good compass to resolve the 180 degree ambiguity. I'm waiting for an el-cheapo Ray Jefferson RDF I bought off eBay to arrive. Then I can play around with the bearings to known stations day and night (Craig Healy, Providence, RI, ibid.) Craig, I'm no pilot, but it would seem a substantial portion of the trip would be by dead reckoning in the dark, especially at the outset, if condx were cloudy, with no way to determine if side winds were blowing them off course. Pilots could determine side wind drift by viewing ocean wave patterns which would not be visible at night. Also, even finding a signal from HI at the beginning of the trip would have been a given based upon distance. Based on my experience 30 years ago with a marine RDF in a 25' boat, I was glad to replace it with a manual Loran A even though it was the size of wall safe, and I only had to contend with 80-100 miles of ocean to cross. There are fewer and fewer of these WWII era pilots left to even ask. I have a neighbor who navigated a B-24 for the Mighty Eighth during WWII. I'll see what he says, although they flew during the day. W2DU, the author of the article in QST, is 85 years old. 73, (Gil NN4CW, ibid.) True, but the California stations would be good for at least a few hundred miles out, I'd think. Maybe up to 700 miles in good conditions. At some point there would be a handoff to the Hawaiians. Maybe a span of a thousand miles in the middle? And, at least some skywave would be there from either CA or HI during that midpoint. The question I have is of the problem of the RDF bearing being useless for navigation to the point where they were lost. I can see it if no reading were there, but not when *something* was audible. (shrug) I just pull out the Magellan GPS these days. What I will do is match the Ray Jefferson RDF bearing to some known stations such as the 1500 in DC. That will give a good idea how close the bearings were on the 1610 effort (Craig Healy, Providence, RI, ibid.) Craig, There are some pilot/navigators still alive from my uncle's Group of which I'm an honorary member. I'll see if they can shed some light on this. I can imagine the situation where a trans-Pacific navigator would have looked at his watch, compass and RDF bearing and thought. "Where the heck am I? My fuel's low and I'm supposed to be there by now", then transmitting a lost message for distance and a bearing to the nearest island. I have a buddy who was a navigator in the 1960s on a C-124 while in a Loran C "dead zone", got "temporarily lost" trans-Pacific heading to SE Asia. When his unit up-graded to 130's, he navigated the plane into Cuban airspace and Migs scrambled. 73, (Gil NN4CW ibid.) A comment from a pilot, although relatively freshly minted. When I trained, I trained without a GPS (that's too easy and shouldn't be relied upon 100% since systems fail). Instead, we used VORs and ADF. The latter are the beacons heard on LW, although the same process can be used on the MW band. Obviously the VOR (VHF) is line of sight, whereas the ADF is susceptible to the vagaries of propagation (and this is stressed in training, especially at dawn!). If one is lost, the idea is to start circling and tune to several VOR or ADF stations for a fix and then triangulate your position. I was always surprised to see how accurate this can be, even when just using one`s fingers to approximate the direction on the map. Of course I'm talking about less than 100 miles compared to the thousands that the boys in the aircraft of WW II had to do. On that topic our CBC just aired a 2 part mini-series about the program to fly bombers to England during the early days of the war when vast numbers of ships (carrying aircraft) were being torpedoed). It was a fascinating series and from what I could guess, quite historically accurate. The takeoff point from this end was Gander, Newfoundland which at the time was the world's largest (apparently) airport when it was built in the late 30s. Back then it was simply called Newfoundland Airport (which is what they used on the program). The aircrew at the time were all recruited from the civilian world (including many Americans) and paid huge sums to ferry the bombers to the UK. Later it was all taken over by the military. They stressed on the program the navigation required (over the piloting skills). Initially there was such a shortage of trained navigators that a single aircraft carried an experienced navigator for the whole group. It wasn't made evident how frequently aircraft got lost, however, over the North Atlantic (Walt Salmaniw, Victoria, BC, ibid.) During the early years of WWII in Europe, navigators were the most valued commodity. The practice of using group navigators was employed there also. At the time, new volunteers to the air service mostly wanted to be pilots. Many of those were either diverted to navigator school (or even radio school) instead. The services had so many would- be pilots that many who didn't make it through pilot training were also sent to navigation school (Russ Edmunds, PA, ibid.) I found this interesting response in my mailbox this a.m. from a WWII pilot. These guys were and still are an amazing and special breed of men. It was in response to my question regarding use of the RDF in the trans-Pacific flight to Hawaii by aircraft crews in the 345th Bombardment Group of the 5th Air Force during WWII: "My crew and I flew a B-25J to Hawaii from Susuin Fairfield, now called Travis, to Hawaii in the fall of 1944. We waited for prevailing winds and lifted off at about 2 o'clock in the morning using nothing more than celestial navigation and dead reckoning. Our only consolation was that picket ships were positioned on our course to be contacted only in a May Day situation. Hawaii had complete radio silence at that time. We were instructed to fly at 6000 ft and cruise at an air speed of 160 mph to conserve fuel. My navigator was one of the best. From Hawaii we flew on to Christmas Island, Canton, Tarawa, Guadalcanal, and to our final destination, Nadzab in New Guinea using nothing more our maps and dead reckoning and without any radio contact. The rumor floating around was that a few of the crews were lost at sea although I knew of none. I was assigned to the 499th Squadron of the 345th Bomb Group and completed my 50 combat missions." 73, (Gil NN4CW Stacy, ibid.) A steady tone is rising above the mix on 620 here (Bert New, Watkinsville, Georgia, Proudly Serving You Since 1964! 0604 UT Dec 17, ibid.) Someone on the list mentioned the possibility that the military was testing mobile, rapid deployable transmitters equipped with innovative antenna systems to be used in the event of Castro's death. Given the demonstrated ability of the Cuban government to jam MW broadcasts, I think this makes a lot of sense. Our military would certainly require a system that could be "frequency agile" to make it more difficult for the jammers, and mobile. In the light of recent events in Cuba, the testing on 1020khz and 1610khz make sense in that regard. Was the test tone heard this weekend on 620khz part of that same test? As I recall, the 590khz test was scraped on short notice. Fun to speculate regardless. 73, (Les Rayburn, N1LF, ibid.) Les: I heard the same thing on 621. I believe this is RNE from Spain and Canaries Islands (Bill Harms, MD, ibid.) PROPAGATION +++++++++++ Seems like the big active, magnetically complex solar active region activity is going down, something that can be demonstrated by the lower solar flux figures... but solar scientists do insist in the possibility of more flares. Even when the sunspot count is ZERO, as it is today, HF propagation conditions still support the narrow band communications modes like standard run of the mill CW radiotelegraphy, and of course, the much more advanced digital keyboard to keyboard modes, like the extremely effective PSK31 (Arnie Coro, DXers Unlimited Dec 19, Radio Havana Cuba, ODXA via DXLD) Field activity was at quiet to severe storm conditions at all latitudes. Quiet to active conditions occurred on 11 December. On 12 December activity ranged from quiet to active levels at middle latitudes with periods of minor to major storming at high latitudes. Field activity decreased to mostly quiet levels on 13 December. Quiet conditions persisted during the first half of 14 December. ACE data indicated a CME-induced shock arrival at 14/1356 UTC (from the X3/4B flare on 13 December) followed by a sudden impulse (SI) at 14/1416 UTC (26 nT, Boulder magnetometer). The SI was followed by minor to severe geomagnetic storm levels which continued until approximately 15/1800 UTC, then decreased to unsettled to active levels. Activity decreased to quiet to unsettled levels on 16 December. ACE data indicated another CME-induced shock arrival (from the X1 flare on 14 December) at 16/1722 UTC followed by an SI at 16/1756 UTC (13 nT, Boulder magnetometer), however field activity remained at mostly quiet to unsettled levels. FORECAST OF SOLAR AND GEOMAGNETIC ACTIVITY 20 DEC 2006 - 15 JAN 2007 Solar activity is expected to range from very low to low levels until old Region 930 returns on the visible disk on 31 December. Moderate level activity is possible until 14 January when old Region 930 departs the visible disk. A greater than 10 MeV proton event is possible from 31 December to 14 January with the return of old Region 930. No proton events are expected during the rest of the period. The greater than 2 MeV electron flux at geosynchronous orbit is expected to be at high levels during 22 - 27 December and 03 – 15 January. Field activity is expected to be at active to minor storm levels with isolated major storm conditions possible at higher latitudes during 20 – 23 December due to a recurrent coronal hole high-speed stream. A decrease to quiet levels is expected during 24 – 26 December. Active levels are expected on 27 December due to a recurrent solar sector boundary passage. Another coronal hole stream is expected to cause active to minor storm conditions on 02 – 04 January. :Product: 27-day Space Weather Outlook Table 27DO.txt :Issued: 2006 Dec 19 2224 UTC # Prepared by the US Dept. of Commerce, NOAA, Space Environment Center # Product description and SEC contact on the Web # http://www.sec.noaa.gov/wwire.html # # 27-day Space Weather Outlook Table # Issued 2006 Dec 19 # # UTC Radio Flux Planetary Largest # Date 10.7 cm A Index Kp Index 2006 Dec 20 75 20 4 2006 Dec 21 75 30 5 2006 Dec 22 80 20 4 2006 Dec 23 80 15 3 2006 Dec 24 80 8 3 2006 Dec 25 80 5 2 2006 Dec 26 80 5 2 2006 Dec 27 80 15 3 2006 Dec 28 80 5 2 2006 Dec 29 80 5 2 2006 Dec 30 85 5 2 2006 Dec 31 90 5 2 2007 Jan 01 90 5 2 2007 Jan 02 90 25 5 2007 Jan 03 90 25 5 2007 Jan 04 90 15 3 2007 Jan 05 85 10 3 2007 Jan 06 85 5 2 2007 Jan 07 85 15 3 2007 Jan 08 85 15 3 2007 Jan 09 85 15 3 2007 Jan 10 85 10 3 2007 Jan 11 85 5 2 2007 Jan 12 85 5 2 2007 Jan 13 85 5 2 2007 Jan 14 75 5 2 2007 Jan 15 75 5 2 (http://www.sec.noaa.gov/radio via WORLD OF RADIO 1340, DXLD) ###