DX LISTENING DIGEST 7-032, March 8, 2007 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 2007 contents archive see http://www.worldofradio.com/dxldmid.html For restrixions and searchable 2006 contents archive see http://www.worldofradio.com/dxldmid6.html NOTE: If you are a regular reader of DXLD, and a source of DX news but have not been sending it directly to us, please consider yourself obligated to do so. Thanks, Glenn NEXT SHORTWAVE AIRINGS OF WORLD OF RADIO 1349 Fri 1130 WOR KAIJ 5755 Fri 2130 WOR WWCR1 7465 Sat 1330 WOR WRMI 7385 Sat 1730 WOR WWCR3 12160 [canceled?] Sat 2230 WOR WRMI 9955 Sun 0330 WOR WWCR3 5070 Sun 0730 WOR WWCR1 3215 Sun 0900 WOR WRMI 9955 [or 0800 with DST?] Mon 0300 WOR WBCQ 9330-CLSB Mon 0415 WOR WBCQ 7415 [time varies] Mon 1330 WOR WRMI 7385 [time unconfirmed] 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 DX/SWL/MEDIA PROGRAMS March 9: http://www.worldofradio.com/dxpgms.html ** ABKHAZIA. Favorable conditions this [March 8th] morning, less noise, strong signals, both on 5, 6, 7, 9 MHz from the west, as well as 11, 13, 15, 17 MHz from the east. On 9 MHz Sukhumi Georgia on (presumed) 9494.59 kHz noted late around 0835 UT (Wolfgang Büschel, Germany, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** AFGHANISTAN [non]. The Solh Theme, as we may as well call it, is indeed appearing every day at the same time, it seems; at least on March 8, there it was again starting at 1451, until 1457, on 15265 via Rampisham UK (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ANTARCTICA. 15476, R. Nacional Arcángel S. Gabriel (Port. arcanjo São Gabriel, btw) observed this evening, 1943-2015, 8 Mar, Argentinian (folk?) songs; 25432 but improving; then gone at recheck at 2103, so probably sign-off 2100 as usual (Carlos Gonçalves, Portugal, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 15476, LRA36, Radio Nacional Arcángel San Gabriel, Base Antartica Esperanza, 2020-2038, March 8, Spanish, Argentinean folk songs selection, ID by male at 2038 UT, 35433 (Arnaldo Slaen, Argentina, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** BOLIVIA. R. Amor de Dios, 6214: According to Bolivian authority, Superintendencia de Telecomunicaciones, the operator is Iglesia Evangélica Amor de Dios. It has address: Zona Villa Amor de Dios, Calle Noaviri # 2105, El Alto, La Paz (Finndxer, DXing the Finnish Way via DXLD) ** BURKINA FASO. 7230, R. Burkina, *0801-0825+ March 2, sign-on with IS, 0803 French announcements and local music, French talk. Poor to fair in noisy conditions and occasional ham QRM (Brian Alexander, Mechanicsburg PA, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CANADA. Dear DXers and Glenn, RCI has just published a revised schedule effective as of March 11, 2007 on their website. The changes are made only for the Americas, because of DST shifting. Short wave schedule - 03/11/2007 to 03/24/2007: http://www.rcinet.ca/rci/PDF/B06_SW_HAE.pdf Complete schedules: http://www.rcinet.ca/rci/en/horaires.shtml Best regards & many 73s! (Dragan Lekic from Subotica, Serbia, March 8, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Several frequency changes are happening, plus moving languages one UT hour earlier, so to NAm: 1105 Arabic, 1205 Spanish, 1305 Mandarin, on 7325 ex-7310 [too close for comfort to CHU?] 1405 English, 1505 Russian/Ukrainian, 1605 English, 1805 French, 1905 Arabic, 2005 French, all on 9515 ex-9610 2105 Mandarin, 2205 Spanish, on 6100 2305 English, 0005 Sun/Mon Portuguese/Ukrainian, otherwise English, 0105 Mandarin, 0205 Spanish, on 9755 (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CENTRAL AFRICAN REPUBLIC. Some more comments on that new missionary station on 6030. They say the antenna is almost as large as a football field --- is that as in American football, or as in soccer? Surely the latter would be more apt in the CAR. This is probably a ``lazy H`` NVIS antenna, which the HCJB engineers have been pushing and installing at various other remote missionary stations, the anti-DX design which maximizes vertical incidence and minimizes low-angle radiation suitable for long-distance reception. Nevertheless, some DXers will eventually pull it in, no doubt. Since NVIS works in the daytime in the tropical bands, it could be that most or all of their 8-hour broadcast day is in the daytime, thus also avoiding DX QRM. If I were picking a frequency for my new station, 6030 would be close to my last choice with megawatts of dentroCuban jamming and R. Martí on it for much of the day --- unless I could be sure those would not be propagating when I`m on the air. Note also that the press release on this does not specify the name of the station, just the organization running it, ICDI. So what will it actually be called on the air? All ears on 6030, UT Monday at 0400 or whenever the R. Martí jammers go silent, which should be our best shot at it propagationally, until somewhat past local sunrise 0500 or so, IF it is on the air then. There might be another window, especially in Europe, at 2100 after BBC Oman closes 6030, but is VOR Kaliningrad really colliding with BBC for hours and hours, and running another hour until 2200 when Martí comes on? [Later:] With DST in effect in both Miami and Cuba by this coming UT Monday, the Martí/DCJC silent period should start at 0300 UT, tho CAR unlikely to be on that early (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) RADIO ICDI BEGINS SHORTWAVE BROADCASTS IN CENTRAL AFRICA Radio ICDI (Integrated Community Development International) has begun transmissions in the Central African Republic. Radio ICDI broadcasts from the town of Boali on the frequency of 6030 kHz in the 49 meter shortwave band. Radio ICDI transmits eight hours daily with programming in French and three African languages, Sango, Aka and Fulfuldé. According to Curt Bender of HCJB Global Technology Center in Indiana, transmission times are 6-9 a.m. and 5-9 p.m. (17-21 hours) local time, which is 0500-0800 and 1600-2000 UTC, Monday to Friday. Bender, who responded to questions from DXing.info, led the team that installed the station in Boali. Bender says that the station may be renamed in the future. The first test transmission was aired on February 22, but official broadcasts began on March 1. Radio ICDI has a transmitter power of 1 kW. Radio ICDI makes Christian broadcasts and community health information available to most of the country’s 3.5 million people, many of whom live in remote and isolated areas. This is the country’s first privately owned shortwave station. ICDI is a Christian ministry founded by Jim Hocking in 2003. ICDI has been involved in various community health projects across the Central African Republic such as well-drilling to provide drinking water in remote villages, orphan care and micro-enterprise development. Hocking was earlier involved in a project that set up an FM station in the capital Bangui. "I felt like we needed broadcasts that would reach further," said Hocking. Poor roads make traveling to many villages difficult or dangerous. For these reasons, shortwave radio has become the logical tool to reach the inaccessible people of the country. Station manager Josue Mbami can be contacted by email. radioidci @ gmail.com (DXing.info, March 8, 2007 via DXLD) Radio ICDI is the name of this new station. The schedule is 6-9 AM and 5-9 PM CAR time (0500-0800 & 1600-2000 UTC) into a lazy H antenna running 1 kW. They say they have gotten reports via cell phone from as far was 600 miles. Folks are actually calling in rather than texting. Programming is mostly educational and developmental. All this via a phone conversation with station personnel this morning (Hans Johnson via Jihad DX, via DXing the Fininish Way March 8 via DXLD) ** CHINA [and non]. CHINESE DISSIDENT’S WIFE SAYS SHE WILL SUE YAHOO The Voice of America’s (VOA) Mandarin Service obtained an exclusive interview with Yu Ling, wife of jailed Chinese dissident Wang Xianoning, as she arrived in Washington yesterday. Yu told VOA that she will sue Yahoo for damages and an apology because the company’s Hong Kong office provided information about her husband’s e-mail accounts to Chinese authorities. Her husband, Wang Xianoning, was arrested by Chinese police and sentenced in 2003 to ten years in prison for publishing what the Chinese government called “subversive” articles on the Internet. “We in the United States feel strongly about allowing the free flow of ideas and discussion on the Internet and elsewhere,” said VOA Director Dan Austin. “Our interview with Mrs. Yu will be heard in China on our Mandarin Service as well as on our broadcasts worldwide.” Human rights groups have, in recent years, accused Yahoo of providing Chinese authorities with information that has led to the imprisonment of several dissidents, and the Paris-based Reporters Without Borders says that Wang Xianoning is one of 50 individuals who have been imprisoned by China for their activities on the Internet. Yahoo has responded by saying that it must obey Chinese laws to do business there and that their operations in China benefit millions of people who otherwise would have no Internet access. VOA report in English of the interview http://www.voanews.com/english/2007-03-07-voa43.cfm (Source: Voice of America)( March 8th, 2007 - 16:30 UTC by Andy, Media Network blog via DXLD) ** CUBA. Dittering jamming?? Cuban type against R Martí - - ?or UTE on 15279 ... 15286 kHz portion. 0850 UT (Wolfgang Büschel, Germany, March 8, DX LISTENING DIGEST) I`ll bet it is a Cuban jammer, as I have also heard around 15278, but when RM is axually on the air in the daytime on 15330; a typical -52 kHz spur from that (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) See also C A R ** CUBA [and non]. Peripecias [Vicissitudes] de un diexista. Recuerdan a nuestro compañero Yandys Cervantes Rodríguez de Cuba y sus peripecias para poder escuchar la radio; hace unos días recibí este mensaje agradeciéndome el envío de mi antiguo receptor Brigmton [sic] BT-310. Lamentablemente me comunicó ayer que desde la Universidad han bloqueado los accesos a Yahoo Groups, por lo tanto Yandys ya no puede recibir información diexista de los grupos. Yo he optado personalmente de enviarle las mismas informaciones que publico en los foros a su correo personal; es una lástima que tenga acceso denegado a la información que se publica en los foros diexistas. Si alguien más quiere mandarle información, su correo es: ycervantesr @ sbueyarriba.udg.co.cu Tan sólo tenemos que añadirlo a nuestro directorio de correos electrónico y enviarle las informaciones que publicamos (José Miguel Romero, Spain, Noticias DX via DXLD) Viz.: Saludos Amigo!! No sabe la alegría que me he recibido el día de ayer cuando recibí una notificación de la Empresa Correos de Cuba sobre la llegada del envío del BT-310; en seguida fui a recogerlo, Y YA LO TENGO EN MIS MANOS. Es una joya. Aún me parece mentira que ya lo tenga en mi poder. No sabe cuanto se lo agradezco, muy pronto verá mis reportes de escuchas en las listas de DX, le estoy muy agradecido. Puede contar conmigo para lo que desee, aquí tiene un amigo, dígame cuando viene a Cuba para comernos un Cerdo Asado en púa y tomarnos algunas botellas de Havana Club. Un abrazo para usted y su componente familiar. Parece que San DX y Santa Antena de los Receptores oyeron mis oraciones (Yandys Cervantes, Feb 27 via Romero, ibid.) Oye José Miguel, la verdad es que es triste esta situación en la querida Cuba. Esta es la realidad del TERRITORIO LIBRE DE AMERICA; no tienen acceso a lo que a nosotros nos vuelve loco EL INTERNET LIBRE PARA TENER ACCESO A TODO. Esto es lo que muchos apoyan desde lejos, pero están felices cada uno en sus casas con internet, computadoras, mp3 mp4, radios multibandas, antenas parabólicas, televisión por cable y pantalla de plasma, Ipod, DVD, etc etc ayyyyyyyy quien nos viera sin nada de eso. Mi hermano y pensar que por aquí parece que tienen ganas de hacer la misma vaina; si es así estamos bien jodidos. Un abrazo (José Elías Díaz Gómez, Venezuela, ibid.) Don José, usted no se da cuenta que estos queridos, amados y respetados gobiernos que realizan grandes esfuerzos en pensar por nosotros para que no tengamos que preocuparnos de nada, van a permitir que tales utensilios como los que menciona puedan llegar a nuestras manos, artilugios fabricados por la mano del Diablo que lo único que pretenden es sacarnos del camino recto, Don José, que malos que somos, eso no lo pueden permitir, con el internet, el mp3 y la televisión de plasma nos alejamos de las rectas directrices que con mucho empeño intentan encauzarnos. Con la cantidad de esfuerzos que esta gente pone para que no nos salgamos del camino recto (que por supuesto ya se empeñan en marcarnos), va y nosotros nos quejamos, mostramos una actitud de ingratitud por el trabajo que se empeñan en realizar. En fin, que le vamos a hacer, tenemos que ser mas buenos, no nos podemos salir del redil, eso no está bien. En verdad siento pena y tristeza que ocurran estas cosas, no me entra en la cabeza, pero la realidad es dura, esperemos que cambie y regrese algún día el sentido común. Un abrazo, atentamente (José Miguel Romero, Spain, ibid.) Hola: Realmente este gesto que has tenido con el colega Cubano te honra, dice mucho a tu favor, permíteme felicitarte. Recuerdo que en mi primer viaje a Cuba, llevaba en mi equipaje un Sony 7600D, durante 15 días lo estuve usando un poco, pues la verdad es que no parábamos un momento de aquí para allá, pero el día de regresar ese receptor se quedó allí, en muy buenas manos por cierto. Un saludo (Tomás Méndez, Spain, ibid.) ** DOMINICAN REPUBLIC. 5009.78, R. Pueblo, Santo Domingo, 1115-1135+ March 2, tune-in to Spanish talk, 1127 LA music, 1129 ID. Poor in noisy conditions. Audio somewhat distorted and difficult to understand; irregular (Brian Alexander, Mechanicsburg PA, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ECUADOR. DRM has appeared on 15135-15140-15145, March 8 at 1458 check and continuing past 1500. HCJB has done this on 15140 before, and Media Network confirms that`s what it is from a DRM forum: ``Doug, HC7AW, from HCJB writes: “The Voice of the Andes is doing some new DRM test transmissions to North America for the next couple of weeks. We will start on 15140 kHz from 1200 to 2400 each day and then move to 9820 kHz from 0000 to 0800 UT. “Our heading will start on the east coast of the USA and then shift toward the middle of the country at 0630. I know that is pretty late for most of you, but we are broadcasting to a shortwave listeners convention in the USA and we expect them to be up and listening to us :-)” (Source: DRM Software Radio Forums, 6 March 2007 via Media Network blog March 8 via DXLD)`` That will ruin reception of Oman`s only English hour at 14-15 on 15140. I wonder if the super signal from WYFR all day on 15130 will be a problem for this. From HFCC it looks like 9820 will not bother much on 9815, 9820 or 9825, however (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 20070307, 0530z, 9820 kHz, 16-17dB SNR. Signal in and out but nice snips of vaudeville style 1920s-1930s music. 20.96k p-stereo. Seems like the oughta drop the bit rate in favor of through-put but I guess I'm out of the beam anyway! Nice to hear something new in DRM. Thanks HCJB! (Chris Rumbaugh, WA, drmna yg via DXLD) HCJB P-Stereo/20.96kbs at 0610 utc 24db SNR - best sigs on vertical ant. Lot of notches in the waterfall, multipath. I have the 100 w woofer turned up! (Mel, K0PFX, St Louis, MO, March 7, drmna yg via DXLD) 9815-9820-9825 Quito HCJB is currently up at 1740 on 15440 [sic] KHz Currently poor sigs S9 SNR 14.0db approx 5% decoding English. Sincere Best Regards, 73,s (Eric//KG4OZO// Atlanta, Georgia, March 7, ibid.) HCJB currently not decoding at all on 15140 at 1920. I can tell there's a digital signal there, but there's also AWR in Fulfulde via Meyerton, South Africa in analog mode; AWR is winning. They go off at 1930, so maybe things will improve then (Ralph Brandi, NJ, March 7, ibid.) Hi All, Great reception today on 15140.0 kHz. SNR 24.5, 20.96 kbps AAC+ P. Stereo, 26.0 SNR (Greg, Marietta, GA, March 8, drmna yg via DXLD) ** EUROPE. Pirate, Greece, 6308.0, R. Odyssey, 0020-0058* UT Sunday March 4, pop music, IDs. 0047 announcement: ``This is Greece. You are listening to Radio Odyssey``. Announced they were signing off but would be back with more power. 0101 came back on 6308.17 with pop music and IDs, but no improvement in signal noticed. Poor, weak at 0020 tune-in but improved to fair quality by 0045 (Brian Alexander, Mechanicsburg PA, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** GERMANY [non]. DW Sri Lanka reception in ECNA, A06 sked For the record: DW reception from the Sri Lanka relay was quite good during the longer days of the year (May to early August); best signals were heard on the relays in Russian from Trincomalee at 01 on 11790; 02 and 03 on 15595. (Source: EiBi A06 listings) So this should provide some hope for tuning in at 0300 in English on 11695 during A07 (Joe Hanlon, NJ, March 8, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** GREECE. ERA 5 Avlis on 15630 kHz strong as such -- BUT suffered by some harsh buzz tone audio at both side flanks around 0855 and 0915 UT. Women Day in French comment on African feminine matter, Spanish at 0910-0915 UT (Wolfgang Büschel, Germany, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** GREECE. ERA5 via SVO, 15630. Is it still testing and still cutting off every few seconds? Yes, as it took only that long to confirm at 1500 March 8 before and after a timesignal (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** GUIANA FRENCH. From the DRMRX forum, Jacques Gruson of TDF sends this: Urgent news!! Special DRM transmission today 5 March between 1700 and 2000 UT to Argentina on 17875 kHz from Montsinery / French Guiana. TDF will broadcast in DRM from Montsinery to Winter SWL Fest between 1300 and 2000 UT on 17875 kHz from 8 to 10 March (so Saturday is included). Regards / 73. (Jacques Gruson / F6AJW, drmna yg via DXLD) They have already been on 17875 but M-F only, it seems (gh, DXLD) Thanks to the VOA's Kim Andrew Elliot for making this happen. I'll be at the Fest so will let you know how we receive it. Pity it's in French though! (Mark Phillips, G7LTT, ibid.) ** GUINEA. 7125, R. Nationale, Conakry, 2235-2400* March 3, vernacular and French talk, variety of local music, Afro-pops, IDs. Sign-off with NA. Very good but 2356 co-channel QRM from Russia signing on with test tones (Brian Alexander, Mechanicsburg PA, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** GUYANA. 3291.14, V. of Guyana, 0700-0800+ March 1, BBCWS, 0700 The World Today news program, 0800 time pips, BBC news. No actual Guyana ID heard. Poor with T-storm static (Brian Alexander, Mechanicsburg PA, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Welcome spring! ** LIBYA. 17725, V. of Africa, 1400-1500+ March 3, English talk about African Union, many IDs, comments about anniversary celebration concerning AU, Afro-pop music. Fair. Weak // 21695 (Brian Alexander, Mechanicsburg PA, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** MEXICO. Acabo de hablar telefónicamemente con el Ing. Mejía quien me informa tuvieron una avería en el trasmisor hace unos días y que se encuentran trabajando para su pronta reparación. Por otro lado me comento ya esta trabajando en lo de la QSL, para ello como lo dije le envíe un material para informarlos de que se trata. Ojalá pronto escuchemos de nuevo a Radio UNAM y también que cuanto antes tengamos nuestras QSL (Julián Santiago Díez de Bonilla, March 7, condig list via DXLD) ** MICRONESIA. CHRISTIAN BROADCASTER TESTING ON SHORTWAVE Pacific Missionary Aviation (PMA) has begun to test their shortwave transmitter in Pohnpei in the Federated States of Micronesia in the Pacific. PMA began test transmissions on February 27 on the frequency of 4755 kHz in the 60 meter shortwave band. PMA has informed DXing.info that regular broadcasts should begin by the end of March. PMA says that they have already received many reception reports from Japan, which came as a surprise, since the radio station was only meant to cover Micronesia and the Marshall Islands. PMA is using a transmitter power of 500 watts. Most transmissions will be in English, but also local languages will be used. Pacific Missionary Aviation (PMA), founded in 1975, is an evangelical missionary organization operating in Guam, Micronesia and the Philippines. More information about the station can be found in the DXing.info Community. The new radio station can be reached by email: radio @ pmapacific.org (DXing.info, March 4, 2007 via DXLD) I just received the following email: ``Dear Sir or Madam, Thank you so much again for reporting the reception of 4755 kHz. We are still under construction permit and are not on air officially. Our website is now updated, please have a look: http://radio.pmapacific.org If you want to receive our radio station newsletter, please register your personal account on our website and subscribe to the radio station news. In that newsletter, we'll inform you when we are on the air officially and when we are ready with QSL cards. Thank you very much for your interest. Best regards, Roland Weibel Pacific Missionary Aviation P. O. Box 517 Pohnpei, FM 96941 Federated States of Micronesia`` Sounds like a decent eQSL - except that I have never sent them a reception report and I have never even heard the station. This was just sent as a response to my most recent request for more information, to add to the news item published a few days ago at http://www.dxing.info/news/ While it is very nice that they do indeed respond to people way outside their target area, such a letter should not be considered to be a confirmation of any tentative reception report (Mika Mäkeläinen, March 7, dxing.info via DXLD) ** NEW ZEALAND. RNZI A07 26 Mar 2007 - 06 May 2007, daily [NOTE YET IN EFFECT!] UTC kHz Target Azimuth 0459-0658 9615 AM 9440 DRM Pacific 0 0659-1058 6095 AM 7145 DRM Pacific 0 1059-1258 9870 AM 7145 DRM Bougainville, PNG, Timor 325 1300-1750 6095 AM 7145 DRM Pacific 0 [DRM still skipping 14-15?] 1751-1850 6095 AM 9440 DRM Fiji, Niue, Tonga, Samoa, Cook Is 35 1851-1950 11725 AM 11675 DRM Fiji, Niue, Tonga, Samoa, Cook Is 35 1951-2050 15720 AM 11675 DRM Pacific 0 2051-2358 15720 AM 13730 DRM Pacific 0 2358-0458 13730 AM 15720 DRM Pacific 0 Reports to : P O Box 123, Wellington, New Zealand. Phone + 644 474 1437 Facsimile + 644 474 1433 e-mail: info @ rnzi.com (via Alokesh Gupta, New Delhi, Mar 8, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Yes, RNZI is still turning off DRM during at least one hour they claim it is running on their revised schedule: no sign of it on 7145, March 8 at 1430; the day before I heard it back after 1500 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) {In view of the reports below I took another look at the CURRENT RNZI sked on their website, March 9 at 0618 UT and see it has already been changed from the one in 7-031. 13840 now shows as AM, no DRM during its span, and: 1950-2050 17675 AM 11675 DRM Pacific 0° 2051-2258 17675 AM 15720 DRM Pacific 0° 2259-0558 15720 AM 17675 DRM Pacific (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST)} Stayed on RNZI 15720 kHz for about 4-hours today with MSC ~75% but never heard a peep of audio. Are they just testing? Still no audio here at 2253 UT. I see they are using CLEP+Mono. Maybe something I am missing here (again!). (Mel, K0PFX, Whitten, St Louis, MO, drmna yg via DXLD) So far Mel, I've only heard an active service resumption with audio every time I've tuned in. If you're getting only the dreaded digital silence they've probably got a studio/transmitter link problem. I've heard this before with RNZI, and they usually get it fixed within a reasonable period of time. Like Sackville, sometimes the left ear doesn't know the right ear isn't hearing anything... The CLEP+ mono mode is new - I saw that the second time I tuned in, but it reverted back to EEP the next time. It was also coming in at a 15.xx kbps speed, and they usually use around 17.xx. They do like to test modes every so often, so maybe they are trying new setups with their remote rebroadcast sites. Only speculation of course, actual results may vary (Brendan, Tucson, March 7, drmna yg via DXLD) ** NORTH AMERICA. USA-Pirate, 3276-USB, R. Ice Cream, 0420-0430+ March 4, IDs, heavy rock music, Belfast NY address. Good (Brian Alexander, Mechanicsburg PA, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** OKLAHOMA. Re FCC Did Shutdown 107.1 [OKC GCN pirate] --- Sounds like they are back on the air, with a little less power (Milton77, March 4, radio-info.com OK board via DXLD) Well these guys do have a tendency to come back to town to check on things. This guys handles this region so it may be a while before he's back. Chances are the next time he may bring the sheriff with him to make an arrest (Sumrzz, ibid.) ** OKLAHOMA. KGOU -- I noticed it sounds louder and better. Did they upgrade? Although 105.7 sounds like a tin can whatever they did to 106.3 needs to be done to 105.7. At this point 106.3 sounds better then KOSU (Givers, Feb 22, radio-info.com OK board via DXLD) It's probably because they have a new engineer over there now. Patrick who used to work at Renda Broadcasting is now Chief over at KGOU. He's the man & that's the reason it sounds better (Sumrzz, ibid.) Patrick is the man. I am not a big NPR fan but I can say this much. Patrick will get them lined out and get them sounding better then KOS Who? (Ryan Beam, Feb 28, ibid.) Now I wonder if he can up the modulation on my micro-watt without distortion here in the neighborhood? (Sumrzz, ibid.) Comparing KOSU to KGOU/KROU is almost like comparing KATT to KRXO these days. KOSU runs a hybrid classical music AND NPR, while KGOU mainly concentrates on talk. KOSU sounds fantastic not only on analog, but also on digital. Dan [Schroeder] is one of public radio's best and it shows (OKCRadioGuy, ibid.) Now if they could move the station over to a non-commercial frequency and let another owner take over either 105.7 and 106.3. But since there's no non-commercial frequency available around OKC I guess there's no chance of that happening anytime soon (X-Man, ibid.) ** PERU. 4746.86, R. Huanta Dos Mil, Huanta, 1045-1055+ March 3, OA folk music, ID, Spanish talk. Poor, weak (Brian Alexander, Mechanicsburg PA, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** RUSSIA. From yesterday March 7: 5905 at 1700 RRS (in background another RELIGIOUS program in Russian from AS/FE/PAC? -- or a mixture on the Moscow control room ?? ) 5940 at 1700 UT VOR Czech via Armavir relay, VERY STRONG carrier, but tiny feeder audio from satellite feed? At same time RNW is relayed via Armavir on 5955 kHz. But latter has much better audio level, when compared both Armavir outlets. 5975 at 1715 UT, VOR in Serbo-Croatian contained a severe BUZZ of about 300 Hertz, ? KLG Bolshakovo?, annoying, \\ 6000 much better fine audio. 6045 St. P. in Romanian carries a similar BUZZ, - still - discussed that with Mikhail Timofeyev some 6 weeks ago! Russian equipment AGING VISIBLY on some relay stations (Wolfgang Büschel, Germany, DX LISTENING DIGEST) or AUDIBLY, hi ** SCOTLAND [non]. This Saturday (March 10th) we'll be broadcasting the last "Tony Currie Show" of the current series on 9290 kHz [LATVIA] (0700 - 0800 UT). The show - and our shortwave transmissions - will resume in early June. For the final show of the season Tony is looking forward to playing your requests - so if there's a track you'd particularly like to hear, email letters @ radiosix.com with your choice of music. Requests can be accepted right up to and during transmission of the programme! Transmissions continue daily on FM in New Zealand and Slovakia; on the Astra and Hotbird satellites, and 24 hours a day on http://www.radiosix.com (Tony Currie, RADIO SIX INTERNATIONAL, March 8, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** SERBIA [non]. 6100, nothing heard from Bosnia/Serbia, due to DRM LUX signal, which covers broad band 6087 to 6103 portion terribly (Wolfgang Büschel, Germany, March 7, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Hoy 8 de marzo a las 1325 UT he conseguido entrar el noticiero sonoro de la página web de Radio Serbia; ojo, anuncian emitir en español desde las 1400 a 1430 UT y desde las 1900 a 1930 UT; sin embargo en la propia web anuncian emitir en español desde las 1500 a 1530 UT y desde las 2000 a 2030 UT. Lo curioso es que no se escucha a ninguna hora. Habría que ver qué es lo que anuncian en el resto de los servicios y si concuerdan con lo que anuncian con lo que publican (José Miguel Romero, Spain, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** SLOVAKIA. Radio Slovakia International, A-07 Frequency SW | from 25th March to 28th October 2007 Broadcast time Region Language Frequency Band (UTC) (kHz) (m) 0100-0130 North America English 5930 49 South America English 9440 31 0130-0200 North America Slovak 5930 49 South America Slovak 9440 31 0200-0230 North America French 5930 49 South America French 9440 31 0230-0300 South America Spanish 11900 25 South America Spanish 9440 31 0700-0730 Australia English 9440 31 Australia English 15460 19 0730-0800 Australia Slovak 9440 31 Australia Slovak 15460 19 0800-0830 Western Europe German 6055 49 Western Europe German 7345 41 1300-1330 Eastern Europe, Asia Russian 7345 41 Eastern Europe, Asia Russian 9440 31 1330-1400 Western Europe German 6055 49 Western Europe German 7345 41 1430-1500 Western Europe Spanish 9440 31 Western Europe Spanish 11600 25 1500-1530 Eastern Europe, Asia Russian 7345 41 Eastern Europe, Asia Russian 9535 25 1530-1600 Western Europe Slovak 5920 49 Western Europe Slovak 7345 41 1600-1630 Western Europe German 5920 49 Western Europe German 6055 49 1630-1700 Western Europe English 5920 49 Western Europe English 6055 49 1700-1730 Western Europe French 5920 49 Western Europe French 6055 49 1730-1800 Eastern Europe, Asia Russian 5920 49 Eastern Europe, Asia Russian 7345 41 1800-1830 Western Europe German 5920 49 Western Europe German 6055 49 1830-1900 Western Europe English 5920 49 Western Europe English 7345 41 1900-1930 Western Europe Slovak 5920 49 Western Europe Slovak 6055 49 1930-2000 Western Europe French 5920 49 Western Europe French 6055 49 2000-2030 Western Europe Spanish 6055 49 South America Spanish 11650 25 (via José Miguel Romero, Spain, dxldyg via DXLD) ** SWEDEN [and non]. Radio Sweden English A07 --- Here is the Radio Sweden English broadcast schedule for the period beginning March 25, 2007 (all times UT u.o.s.): Europe and Africa/Middle East: 1230-1300 15735 (70 ) 1330-1400 15735 (85 ) 1730-1800 6065 (140 -240 ) + MW 1179 1900-1930 MW 1179 Mondays-Saturdays 1930-2000 6065 (140 -240 ) 2130-2200 6065 (140 -240 ) + MW 1179 Asia/Pacific: 0130-0200 11675 (50 ) via Madagascar 1230-1300 13580 (40 ) 15735 (70 ) 1330-1400 15735 (85 ) 2130-2200 7420 (125 ) via Madagascar (to Australia) North America: 0130-0200 6010 (240 ) via Sackville 0230-0300 6010 (268 ) 1230-1300 15240 (305 ) 1330-1400 15240 (272 ) via Sackville You can listen to our daily program in RealAudio or Windows Media at: http://www.sr.se/webbradio/index.asp?typ=events&UnitID=2054 There is also now a 30 day sound archive at RadioSweden.org Programming: [they need not be so vague --- gh] Radio Sweden's weekday and weekend programming is a window on the diverse perspectives and issues in Sweden today. Our daily editions offer a smorgasbord of news and current affairs, science and technology, lifestyle, and culture. We explore, debate, analyse and give insight into the way Swedish society and its people are changing to meet today's challenges and opportunities. More details at: http://RadioSweden.org (via Alokesh Gupta, New Delhi, March 8, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. At bottom of Al Kamen's column in this morning's Washington Post: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/03/06/AR2007030601906_pf.html James Glassman, television pundit, American Enterprise Institute scholar, former editor of Roll Call, former Washington Post columnist and author of books including our favorite -- "Dow 36,000: The New Strategy for Profiting From the Coming Rise in the Stock Market" -- is said to be getting the job of chairman of the Broadcasting Board of Governors, a part-time -- but time-consuming -- gig overseeing the Voice of America, Radio Free Europe, Radio Free Asia, the Middle East (via Mike Cooper, March 7, DXLD) ** U S A. BBG DESIRES CUT OF 197 --- DATELINE: Washington, 02/20/07. The Broadcasting Board of Governors wants to eliminate a total of 197 positions through the FY 2008 budget request process. 153 of those positions would come from the Voice of America. (AFGE Local 1812 via DXLD) ** U S A. Let Our Voice Be Heard The Broadcasting Board of Governors (BBG), thwarted in its attempt last year to silence twelve radio services, is at it again. The Board, through the FY 2008 budget request process, is attempting once again to eliminate Voice of America (VOA) radio services in Albanian, Bosnian, Croatian, Georgian, Greek, Hindi, Macedonian, Russian, Serbian, Thai, and our global English broadcasts. To this list the Board has added Cantonese, Tibetan, and Ukrainian. This is not yet a done deal. No RIFs can take place until the budget is approved by Congress and signed by the President. If you think these cuts are inevitable, just remember the Board tried to cut eleven of these services last year. You'll notice this year their request to eliminate the Turkish Service has been dropped. But there should be no false hope here. If these cuts go through there will be no serious effort to find a place in this Agency for affected employees unless you happen to have television skills and speak Dari, Pashto, or Korean. It is up to all of us to alert Congress as to the stupidity of these proposed cuts. The Board continues to make colossal errors in judgment. Congress needs to take a serious look at how the Board continues to get it so wrong. It was an easy case to make last year regarding the Turkish Service -- Turkey is a moderate Islamic ally. This year's proposed cut of the Uzbek Service is equally astonishing. Did you know that the language spoken in Northern Afghanistan is Uzbek? How about the Hindi Service? Did you know that there are more Muslims in India than in Pakistan? What about Russian? There are over 60 million Russian speaking Muslims in the former Soviet Union. Take a look at the Cantonese Service? When did China stop being the largest communist nation on earth? And of course, any process that concludes the English language is "just another language" is absurd, idiotic. The Board likes to claim these cuts are the result of having to make hard decisions. Well, how about making the hard decision of implementing the recommendation of the Booz Allen Hamilton report and integrate the VOA and IBB into one unit? The Board could no doubt save millions doing this. The Board also likes to claim that the complaints about it are just coming from a bunch of Federal employees afraid of losing their jobs. Well, it isn't just Federal employees -- others have weighed in on the radio cuts as well. FreeMediaOnline.org described the recently proposed cuts as a "gift to dictators and suppressors of press freedom." The organization also stated this action "sends a terrible signal to defenders of freedom and courageous journalists around the world." We owe it to ourselves and the American taxpayers to inform Congress that these cuts are a mistake and damaging to American foreign policy, and need to be reversed. And at some point a hearing should be held regarding the incompetence, and continued existence of the Board. We need to get to work right now and let our Representatives and Senators know that we expect them to represent us. We also need to enlist the help of our friends, neighbors, and relatives. A list of Senate and Representative Appropriators can be found on the President's page of the AFGE Local 1812 Website: www.afge1812.org. MORALE RESULTS ARE IN: BBG IS THE WORST IN TOWN If you've not had a chance to look at the BBG's showing on the federal government's latest "human capital" survey, pour yourself a stiff one before you do. On the cover of the print version, you'll see seven people, smiling broadly. These sure aren't BBG employees. The last time the survey was taken, in 2004, we rated our own morale somewhere around "abominable." If there's a word that means "lower than abominable," you could apply it to the latest results. The U.S. Office of Personnel Management surveyed twenty-nine big federal departments or agencies, plus thirteen "selected" smaller and independent ones -- including us: forty-two agencies all told. Compared with other federal workers, the 1,582 of us at BBG headquarters and "field offices" who took the survey came in forty- second, or dead last, in so many areas that we lost count. We score higher than the government-wide average in one, and only one, rated area of job satisfaction. It's reflected in the questionnaire statement, "The work I do is important." There is something to be said for believing our work matters. Does anyone else? Read on: In fifty-eight of the 84 areas that the survey addressed, we score lower than the government average. What a ch of sad sacks we must look like. Here are five to whits: * How satisfied are you with the policies and practices of your senior leaders? Government-wide: 41% BBG: 25%. (Admittedly, a different, shall we charitably say "less-attuned" director was in place at the VOA part of the BBG when the survey was administered last June and July. That may have influenced the result that only e-fourth of BBG employees were even satisfied with ? not pleased with, not proud of, just satisfied with ? senior leadership. Not that it mattered much to the big shots.) * Promotions in my work unit are based on merit. Government-wide: 34% BBG: 24%. * In my work unit, steps are taken to deal with a poor performer who cannot or will not improve. Government-wide: 29% BBG: 22%. * In my organization, leaders generate high levels of motivation and commitment in the workforce. Government-wide: 38% BBG: 22%. * How satisfied are you with your opportunity to get a better job in your organization? Government-wide: 36% BBG: 20%. According to OPM, when comparing results from survey to survey ? in this case, from 2004 to 2006 ? any increase or decrease of more than 5 percentage points is noteworthy. A five-point swing or more upward means the agency is making exemplary strides. A five-point-or-greater tailspin is a red flag that things are heading south fast. BBGers scored a commendable 11 percentage points higher in our estimation of the agency's preparedness for security threats. And the rating of our diversity programs and policies is up 5 percentage points. Congratulations to the people whose hard work in those areas paid off. So much for the good news. From 2004 to 2006, the agency dropped by those telltale 5 percentage points or more in ten areas. Are you shocked to learn many of those ten relate to the quality of leadership and the availability of training, or the lack thereof? Keep in mind that 43 percent of those surveyed were our executives, supervisors, and what OPM calls "team leaders." It's not just the brown-bag-lunch crowd that's more disgruntled now than three years ago. Is this so wretched a place that we score lower than the government average on almost 70 percent of the areas affecting morale? Or that we regressed so dramatically in ten areas of job satisfaction in just a two-year period? Apparently so. But even though we could holler, "We told you so," we take no delight in it. Ever since the BBG tanked the last Human Capital Survey, your Union's leaders have met regularly around a table with top managers, with a goal of improving organizational communications -- a critical ingredient of morale. Obviously it hasn't helped much. It should be noted, however, that neither the previous VOA director nor any Board member so much as peeked in on us. Meetings focused directly on employee morale were not worth a minute of their time. That says it all. By contrast, Director Austin is a full and engaged participant. He's at least listening. It's a start. It doesn't take a big-bucks outside consultant -- didn't we just have one of those, and whatever became of its recommendations? -- to figure out why morale is at rock bottom or beneath the rock. With some justification, management points to incessant budget "squeezes" that have battered the agency for as long as we can remember. Since 9/11/01, for sure, as the Administration and Congress have browbeat us to do more, in more places, with more intensity and new technology but fewer and fewer people. As those who feel the first and most direct pressure from the "squeeze," top management has often been distracted, disengaged, trying to respond to all these demands. It has invested little time "taking the temperature" of its staff. Middle managers -- the next to feel the squeeze -- are pressured to increase productivity and "change with the times," often with fewer resources. Ultimately, the squeeze reaches employee core. The daily drumbeat of increased expectations, changing skill sets, shrinking staff size, spotty and selective training, and worries about our collective and individual futures takes a hurting stick to morale. For VOA, at least, it was heartening to see that the very week Dan Austin received the disgraceful results of the Human Capital Survey, he forthrightly addressed them in the open Friday 9:30 coverage meeting. Let us say that again: the open Friday 9:30 coverage meeting. One laudable result of the director's presence in our "communications" meetings was his re-opening of one of the daily coverage assemblies each week to any and all employees who can break away to attend. Thus on that Friday, it was not just the "suits" around the conference table who got the benefit of Austin's analysis. The Director noted that if there's a blissfully happy newsroom in America, he's never seen it. Of course, VOA is more than a news operation, but it's true that cynicism is well entrenched. Austin noted the cruelty of the byzantine Federal budget process, which keeps us perpetually wondering what crumbs may be tossed our way, and when. He also candidly described the mixed messages that BBG elements get from the Administration and Capitol Hill: Focus on world "hot spots." No, keep a viable presence worldwide. Sell, sell, sell America to a skeptical world. No, stick to the tell- the-unvarnished-truth approach of an Edward R. Murrow. Get with the times technologically. But don't expect a lot of money to do it. These kinds of "squeezes" and contradictions go beyond the bottom line. It's hard to stay satisfied at work when pressure never ends. We cannot chalk up the latest, low morale results to stressful times alone, however. While the mess we're in has many sources, the brightest spotlight must shine straight at the top. If the exalted board of governors gives a whit about the cubicle crowd, there's no evidence of it. If it fretted for a moment about the abysmal results of the last Human Capital Survey, there's no evidence of that, either. Instead at VOA, at least, it tolerated an aloof, oversensitive director and anagement style. To this day, the Board has no problem micromanaging matters of finance and the comings and goings of personnel. But it has taken no apparent interest in how people are dealing with, or feeling about their work. At least that's how it looks from here. We wouldn't know for sure, since Board members haven't shown their faces to the "little people" in years. How can the BBG's "human capital" feel good about their jobs when no one lets us in on the Agency's mission, vision, direction, or plan -- assuming it has one? Is it any wonder that the Human Capital Survey, which is advertised as a "snapshot in time of the perceptions of our workforce," is not a pretty picture? It's apparent from the latest Human Capital Survey that we don't need "the bus." We need an ambulance, a fire engine, and maybe even a Good Humor truck or two. IT'S THE EFFECTIVENESS, STUPID The Broadcasting Board of Governors (BBG) is interested in converting the Voice of America to television and privatizing a large part of it. This has been its objective for at least nine years. The BBG has eliminated 11 radio language services and has proposed eliminating another 14 more including the Voice of America global English broadcasts. The purpose of these most recent cuts is to fund the purchase of additional television equipment and television broadcasts. The question is: why? Especially in regard to the global English radio broadcasts. The BBG knows television is not a good fit if you are trying to get your message through a hostile regime and the VOA Charter has not changed; it is still the law. The Charter begins "The long-range interests of the United States are served by communicating directly with the peoples of the world by radio." (Emphasis added). The BBG has cited surveys that indicate most people get their news from television. Although it may be true that most people may get their news from television in the United States and that it may even be true for most people in other developed countries, where the media are allowed the freedom to flourish, it is certainly not true in most parts of the world. At least one BBG member has also claimed that shortwave radio broadcasting is analogous to a horse and buggy. (Funny how this analogy involves horses.) As to radio being old technology, television isn't exactly brand spanking new. But whether a technology is new or not has nothing to do with it. The concern should be what is effective. For what we are charged with doing -- getting information about the United States and unbiased news into, in many instances, hostile regimes -- nothing does it better than shortwave radio. In addition, there is brand new technology that could be applied to shortwave broadcasts -- digital transmissions, a far cry from buggy whips. Consider what Jenny Abramsky, the BBC's director of audio and music, said in an article titled Radio enters a new golden age as digital use takes off by Terry Kirby. According to Abramsky "radio still plays an incredibly important part in people's lives and, despite the range of new media available, listeners continue to value the close relationship they have with radio." Radio has many advantages over television. An hour of television is at least six times as expensive to produce as an hour of radio. Radio is portable and in the case of shortwave radio very difficult to jam. In fact, in cases where a regime has decided to jam our multimedia broadcasts only shortwave radio got through. Take the example of Uzbekistan. In July 2004 the BBG, in their infinite wisdom, decided to eliminate all the VOA Uzbek radio broadcasts and rely strictly on television broadcasts. Shortly there after the Uzbek government interdicted foreign television broadcasts. The BBG was forced to reestablish the VOA radio broadcasts which get through. Lesson learned? Hardly. Now of course the Board wants to cut the service entirely. So if television is useless in a particular target area the Board throws the baby out with the bathwater. The fascination with television also ignores some other realities: *Although our television broadcasters are capable and dedicated, VOA- TV is decades behind BBC and worldwide commercial networks like CNN. To think that the modest amount of money being thrown at our effort by Congress, and the evisceration of other key elements of the Voice, can allow us to catch up is dreaming. *VOA managers can create a flashy dog-and-pony show about the reach of our television product. But no one takes the time to look behind the curtain. Many of our efforts are directed at lone markets, stations, or cable systems in huge countries. They call the tune about what programs they will accept. Many times it's just filler, without even a mention of VOA's identity. Do these shows air in prime time over vast areas, or in the middle of the night? Are the encouraging ratings based on actual viewers, or on the potential audience for an entire station or cable system over 24 hours, mostly when no one is watching VOA inserts? Have we become international contractors, doing the bidding of foreign entrepreneurs rather than the interests of the American people? *What are we throwing away in order to mount TV and "target area" (hot-spot) initiatives? We are shutting down radio transmitters all over the world, cutting back on radio transmission times, and simply giving away frequencies to operations like Radio Sawa and even abandoning frequencies that are snapped up by other international broadcasters. Once we've given something away, we can't get it back. Other "hot spots" can easily emerge in places where we've lost or degraded our ability to reach the population. *The Board has announced a new television initiative to Venezuela, one of those potential new hot spots. Other TV resources are being focused, big time, on Iran. As we point out elsewhere in News & Views, Iran arrests people found to have satellite dishes, and your local station in Tehran certainly isn't airing VOA programming. So who's watching? Who COULD watch, even if he or she wanted to? And is the anti-American government of Venezuela going to move mountains to allow Voice of America TV into that nation? We are pouring millions and millions of dollars, and ruining VOA's place in the world as a credible broadcaster, just to meet Administration dictates to "win hearts and minds" in hostile regions. Whatever happened to winning hearts and minds by covering the news broadly, objectively, and truthfully; and telling the unvarnished story of life in America? Should this Agency produce a video product? Yes. But we don?t have to transmit that product via television. It can be accomplished much more cost effectively and more productively by transmitting the video product via the Internet leaving plenty of resources for our radio services. The BBG members grew up in the TV age. That era is waning. The future of broadcasting is the Internet. Television is a technology that this Agency missed and cannot compete effectively in (at least not in more than a few languages). We should catch the wave of the future (the Internet) and leave television to those who have successfully carved out their niche in that field. We should not abandon what made the VOA successful and a world leader in its field - - international shortwave radio broadcasting. WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON? We can all see it. It is no secret. It is right in front of our eyes. The Board of Governors is set on getting rid of Federal employees. First the long-term employees by replacing radio broadcasts with television broadcasts. If you don't believe this, look around you. In the Russian Service several people are considering taking the buyout. These people are in the radio service. When the Service proposed using some of the television employees to help out with radio duties, they were instructed by higher-ups that under no circumstances was that to happen. This is the way the radio service will be allowed to die. Even if Congress does not approve the BBG's budget request. In the Persian Service the Board is demanding more and more television product while giving up radio frequencies and drawing more and more employees into the television orbit. This despite the fact that the television product has no significant audience and even if it did authorities routinely confiscate satellite dishes as they are illegal or could easily jam the signal. The VOA Persian radio broadcasts were very popular and had an audience. In the Ukrainian Service, the most popular radio broadcast -- the Breakfast Show -- was recently eliminated while more and more resources are spent on the television product. You know what comes next. The Board will show that the radio audience has gone down and use that to justify its plan of eliminating the radio broadcasts entirely. These patterns are repeated in service after service. Resources are taken away from a service while at the same time the BBG demands that more television be done. As radio service employees leave, the workload on the remaining staff increases until either the radio service or the employees collapse. Service Chiefs are forced to make cuts in the radio broadcasts since they are not allowed to reduce the television broadcasts. In fact they are instructed to do even more television. Eventually they are forced to pull the plug on the radio service or severely cut it. Given our mission, this all makes no sense. Everyone knows that television is easily jammed. In a crisis or with a hostile regime only shortwave radio gets through. The Board is well aware that our television broadcasts do not have a significant audience, and are very expensive to produce and transmit. AFGE Local 1812 has been told that the Agency has been reduced to purchasing and supplying satellite downlink equipment for television affiliates; that the Agency has been reduced to paying foreign broadcasters to air our television products; that our television product is used as filler during off hours when almost no one is watching; that some affiliates take our products strip out the video they want and substitute their own announcers; and that foreign broadcasters are censoring our product by refusing to air anything they don't like or that they believe their government may find troublesome. Somebody, somewhere along the line decided that the VOA would no longer broadcast in radio. This did not start with the current administration (although the Board likes to blame the White House). That decision was made by the Board. In light of the most recent proposed cuts, there are a few things you should know. First -- These cuts have nothing to do with funding. The BBG's funding has increased every year since 9/11/2001. The BBG has more funding than it has ever had. It is all about how the funds are allocated. The BBG is purposely moving funds around to justify cutting radio services. Second -- Television is not being used to fulfill the VOA Charter and to enhance the VOA. It is being misused as an excuse to draw funds away from radio services. For the most part the television products are short "packages" that are played as part of foreign broadcasts. These packages have to be non-controversial or they won't be used. Most long form television broadcasts are probably not seen by much of the target country since in most countries the part of the population with cable or satellite capabilities are located only in the large cities. In the case of Iran, satellite dishes are illegal and are being routinely confiscated. The competition on television is fierce and our product does not measure up. When they do bother to seek any kind of measurement, the survey data used by the BBG to justify television is highly suspect. For packages, how do you measure viewership for a piece of a show? There is no way to accurately measure viewership in repressive regimes. Third -- Long-term employees have been targeted. Just look around at the people in your own service. If you are in a service that is eliminating the radio broadcasts but keeping television what do all the marked employees have in common? Who did the supervisors train in television? Who have they given television duties to? This has been a process of cherry-picking who stays and who goes. Here's a theory. This seems to be a sophisticated way of getting rid of long-term employees. Convert the Agency to a different technology. Refuse to train all but a select few in the different technology. And then eliminate the services that relied on the original technology. But the ultimate goal is not just the long-term employees. More and more contractors fill this building. Unless you are a supervisor or manager, your job has been already listed as a commercial activity -- it is set to be contracted out. This includes television positions, so the Board will eventually get to those in television as well. It has already converted the VOA Arabic Service to a private corporation. Are you angry yet? You should be. This group of millionaires has decided you have it too nice, so they are taking away your livelihood. It seems that, for the Board, the enemies of the United States are the dedicated Federal employees of the Voice of America. PASS THE BUCK At a recent Public Diplomacy Forum at George Washington University, BBG Chairman Tomlinson trotted out some outlandish statements in a discussion about the difficulty of getting things accomplished at VOA because of bureaucratic obstacles. In one such example, the Chairman said: "Because of union rules, we have to use three people in the studio when only one is needed." There is nothing in either union's contract that requires three people must be used in the studio. It is unfortunate that the person responsible for the vitality of this institution should harbor such ill will and disdain for VOA employees. Two former VOA Directors vigorously challenged BBG Chairman Tomlinson regarding mythical obstacles with the workforce and unions. One was former VOA Director Sanford Ungar, who said that most of the people at VOA have such respect for the mission that they would work with well- intentioned people to make the kind of changes necessary to create new products. And he's right. Another dissenter was former Acting VOA Director Joe Bruns. As examples of VOA's agility, he cited the speed with which the Voice went on television at the time of the 1989 Tiananmen massacre in Beijing as well as the VOA's entrance into the Internet in 1994. In fact, VOA was the first broadcast news organization in the world to offer updated programs on the Internet. It's funny that neither Acting Director Bruns nor VOA Director Geoffrey Cowan encountered that supposedly fabled resistance of the workforce to change. See the story at: www.publicdiplomacy.org/74.htm. There are many other examples of the VOA workforce's agility and the willingness to adapt to new technology and change over the years which contradict the BBG's claims of obstruction. We'll give just one example in 2002: it took only three days for union representatives to reach agreement with former VOA Director Robert Reilly to get Radio Sawa on the air as part of the VOA. Yet, according to the BBG Chairman, the rationale for taking Middle East Broadcasting out of VOA, was the intransigence of the unions and Federal workers. The Chairman is using unions as stalking horses to blame someone other than the Board for the ghastly mistakes of the past several years. He is using anti-union statements to cover the fact that this country's prestige throughout the world has plummeted while the BBG has poured oceans of money into Middle East broadcasting to no avail. The BBG wants to deflect attention away from the fact that Alhurra ranks 56th among the satellite TV stations in the Middle East, a fact mentioned at the GWU forum by the Washington bureau chief of the Al Hayat daily newspaper. Other topics were addressed at the Forum, including the efficacy of broadcasting in shortwave radio. According to expert Graham Mytton "[I]n order to deliver your services to the widest possible audiences, you?ve got to keep going with the existing technologies as well as using the new ones." He wanted to remind everyone how important shortwave radio remains. "If we invented shortwave today, people would be bowled over by its ability to beat the Internet by reaching any area of the world without being interfered with." The BBG itself was discussed, and according to Senate Foreign Relations Committee aide Mark Helmke "it's time to scrap the whole idea of the Board and reorganize." And a definitive conclusion reached by both Forum panels was that the VOA English radio broadcasts should remain. AFGE Local 1812 offers its News & Views as a corrective to the abuse of power by BBG, IBB, and VOA management. AFGE Local 1812 welcomes responsible articles from any employee. Anonymous articles allow employees to freely express their views without fear of reprisal from management. We reserve the right to edit all material submitted but strive to preserve the voice of the author. The opinions expressed in this newsletter do not necessarily reflect the views of the AFGE Local 1812 Executive Committee. AFGE Local 1812 330 Independence Ave., SW, Room 1169 Washington, DC 20237 Phone: (202) 619-4759; Fax: (202) 619-5763 afge1812 @ hotmail.com http://www.afge1812.org (AFGE News & Views, Winter 2007 via DXLD) ** U S A. VOICE OF AMERICA REACTS TO SHIFTING GLOBAL POLITICS Posted: 03.05.07 Due to changing goals in technology and global politics, the Voice of America -- a TV and radio broadcasting service funded by the U.S. government that turned 65 in February -- may soon scrap English altogether and focus on news programming in Arabic, Farsi and Korean. . . . http://www.pbs.org/newshour/extra/features/jan-june07/voa_3-05.html (NewsHour Extra via Tom McNiff, DXLD) No audio or video here, just additional background reading material (gh) ** U S A. R. Martí audible on 15290, March 8 at 1502, much weaker signal than 15330 but no jamming audible on 15290; maybe one of those spurs which appear periodically. However, I could hear it on the FRG-7 with external antenna but not on the YB-400 with internal. The huge RHC carrier was still open on 15370, so this may have been some kind of mix with that, strangely enough (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. Re: WBOH CAUSING HARMFUL INTERFERENCE --- Dear Mr. Hauser, Thank you for bringing this to our attention. We are passing this information on to our engineers. We would welcome future feedback. In Christ's service, (Michael D. Ebron, FBN, March 8, via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Checking further for WBOH spurs: March 8 at 0656 UT, 5920 was back on altho weaker than usual and undermodulated, distorted, inferior reception to Colombia on 5910. And the pulsing spurs were back too: on 5889 after 0700 I could recognize the woman newscaster`s voice from USA Network as also on 5920. The pulses could also be heard on 5951 interfering with Radio Taiwan International in English via WYFR. Another check at 1433 UT: 5920 was on but spurs not audible (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Rapid pulsing noise heard here Mar 8 on both 5890 and 5950 in the Buffalo area at about 1450, when I briefly tuned away from R Solh's great music on 15265 to check. No stations interfered with at this time and no audio recovered from the spurs, but WBOH loud and clear on 5920 so they indeed are the most likely culprit. Wonder what they are using for a transmitter? 73 de (Anne Fanelli, thinking spring -- not DST :-) -- in Elma NY, March 8, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Glenn Houser, Thank-you for contacting FBN regarding interference caused by WBOH. I verified the noted spurs on 5890 and 5950. Last week we experienced an antenna system problem and have just returned to air on Saturday. No problems were noted at that time. Since receiving your e-mail we have installed a new exciter. I checked this afternoon and again this evening and noted no more interference. We will be monitoring the situation. Please feel free to contact me or FBN if you note any return or different problems. Thank-you for listening (David Gernoske, FBN CE, UT March 9, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. The Thursday 1600 UT airing of WOR on KAIJ 9480 was a no- show March 8, due to a mixup. It is still scheduled for 10 am CT Thu, which from next week will be at 1500 UT (Glenn Hauser, DXLD) ** U S A. Thanks to Pete Ferrand, WB2QLL, for inviting me to guest on his talk show on WRJN 1400, Racine WI, Thursday March 8 at 1905-1930 UT, to discuss DST and SWBC (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. RADIO DIALS FCC DEAL William Triplett 03.06.07, 9:10 AM ET Variety The four major radio broadcasters and the Federal Communications Commission are putting the final touches on a payola settlement that will likely have many stations playing a different tune or two. Clear Channel Communications, CBS Radio, Entercom Communications and Citadel Broadcasting will ink a pair of related deals that call for a record $12.5 million fine. In a landmark move under the agreement, the station groups will guarantee 8,400 half-hour segments of free airtime for indie record labels and local artists. . . http://www.forbes.com/2007/03/06/cx_wt_0306varietymusic_print.html (via Kevin Redding, ABDX via DXLD) Talk of the Nation had two good segments on this March 7: PAYOLA STILL A RADIO REALITY http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=7757559 (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. NIPR MOVES TO BROADCAST ON 94.1 FM From staff and news services http://www.fortwayne.com/mld/journalgazette/living/16850981.htm Northeast Indiana Public Radio has begun a $2.53 million campaign to buy WCKZ-FM – 94.1 to broadcast classical music. The new station is expected to launch 24-hour classical broadcasts starting May 1, pending Federal Communications Commission approval, according to a written statement released Tuesday. Money from the capital campaign, called “Campaign for the Classics,” will be used to buy the station from Summit City Radio Group, upgrade transmission equipment and create an endowment for maintenance. Currently, NIPR’s classical station, WBNI, broadcasts on 88.7 FM, which reaches a limited area within Fort Wayne. The addition of 94.1 will boost the broadcast area to Bluffton, Huntington, Decatur, Columbia City and Wabash. “The acquisition of WCKZ for classical music is a direct response to our listeners’ demands for this type of programming,” NIPR General Manager Bruce Haines said in the statement (Fort Wayne Journal-Gazette March 7, via Artie Bigley, DXLD) ** U S A. CARY CLACK: LISTEN UP! KSJL FANS MISS THE OLD FORMAT Web Posted: 03/05/2007 09:21 PM CST San Antonio Express-News Much of the power of radio is its gift of intimacy, its ability to create a sense of community and its diversity. Radio is a buffet that invites everyone to sample and indulge its many offerings and listeners in every town and city know where to go to satisfy a particular aural craving; they know what stations to tune in to if they want to hear classic rock, hip-hop, old-school R&B, country, Tejano, easy listening or news and talk. Radio is more accommodating and travels better than its younger and flashier sibling, television, and will follow you wherever you go. Radio wants to be your friend and be wherever you need it to be. That's why it's ironic that when it's time to end something, radio can be as insensitive and unconcerned with last goodbyes as any other business. Your favorite personality who you were listening to on Tuesday could be gone on Wednesday with no explanation for the absence, as if that person never existed and had been airbrushed out of history the way doomed Soviet bureaucrats mysteriously vanished from photographs after Stalin had them executed. Or, as what happened last week with fans of KSJL 810 AM, you wake up and learn that, with no warning, the station you've listened to for years has changed its format. KSJL was the only station in San Antonio that played contemporary, urban R&B music, and it was the local station that carried, each weekday morning, "The Tom Joyner Morning Show" the largest and most successful syndicated black radio show in the country. While KSJL, like an increasing number of radio stations didn't use local on-air talent, it did carry two popular and important Saturday morning community affairs shows that were hosted by WOAI television news reporter, Matari Jones and newspaper publisher and Express-News columnist Kathy Clay Little. But on March 1 the station switched to a Christian music format. Up till then, KSJL was being programmed by Clear Channel under a local marketing agreement, but the owners of the station, Maranatha Broadcasting Co., licensed in the nearby community of Somerset, severed ties with the conglomerate and have taken over programming. It's a change that has hurt and angered KSJL listeners. Multiple petitions are circulating asking for a return to the old format. One online petition has, so far, gathered more than 100 signatures. . . http://www.mysanantonio.com/news/columnists/cclack/stories/MYSA030607.1P.clack.2684b9e.html I watched this station go on the air. Mr. Wade (LOCAL SAN ANTONIO person) built this station back in 85 with his bare hands and had an LMA with CC for about ten years and it's apparent he wanted to end it. Get this, people getting upset about a 500 watt 810 AM radio station! (Video Report is HERE) http://www.woai.com/mediacenter/local.aspx?videoid=368138@video.woai.com,565@video.woai.com (Artie Bigley, Columbus OH, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. AM RADIO: FCC SUSPENDS RECALCULATED PSRAs AND PSSAs The FCC has suspended its March 1, 2007 Public Notice requiring the use of recalculated Presunrise Service Authorizations ("PSRAs") and Postsunset Service Authorizations ("PSSAs") for AM radio stations. An FCC computer problem produced erroneous power levels on certain of these recalculated authorizations. Affected AM stations should refer to the following FCC Public Notice for further information and instructions: http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/DA-07-1076A1.doc (CGC Communicator March 7 via Kevin Redding, ABDX via DXLD) ** U S A. Re my third harmonic TIS logs on 4830 and 4920 on Feb 17, I only heard these harmonics this one time. The 1610 & 1640 fundamentals are always heard (Brian Alexander, Mechanicsburg PA, March 4, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. AIR AMERICA 2.0 BEGINS TODAY --- Mark Green --- Today my family formally purchased and took over Air America Radio. Why? Because if progressive values were a stock, now is the time to buy. This hasn't always been true, as the cycle of politics demonstrates. In recent decades, politics seems to have been governed by physics for every action, there's an opposite and equal reaction. William F. Buckley Jr. started The National Review in the 1950s to rebut what he saw as the dominance of liberalism in the academy and opinion journals like The Nation and The New Republic. From 1970-72, Public Citizen, Common Cause and the NRDC were all created in reaction to Nixon's depredations. Similarly, People For the American Way grew out of the rise of the Religious Right under Reagan in the mid-80s. New progressive think tanks over the past 10 years, most recently and prominently the Center for American Progress, were created to counter AEI and Heritage. And of course, the Huffington Post and Air America were born in reaction to the electronic propaganda of Drudge and Limbaugh et. al. Air America was a large, smart idea to counter the near-monopoly on talk radio by the far (f)right. But like most start-ups, the business plan collided with reality. Six CEOs over its first three years and various missteps and misspending sent it into Chapter 11. It's now ready to go from The Perils of Pauline to The Little Engine that Could. How? First, by focusing on the radio fundamentals of making a strong line-up even stronger; second, by connecting to other major progressive organizations to be mutually fortifying; and third, by being a multi-media content company involving other information platforms mobile, video, broadband, blogs, websites. It's time to think outside the (radio) box. The twin goals are to make it profitable and influential. One without the other won't work. If it's not a business, it'll go out of business. But it'll be a business with a sharp point of view. The era of on-the-one-hand-on-the-other-hand liberalism is over -- or as Robert Frost once wrote, "a liberal man is too broad-minded to take his own side in a quarrel." For all those who worry about messianic misleaders governing on a right wing and a prayer, Air America 2.0 will be an answer. For all those fearful of plutocracy and theocracy, the pro-democracy hosts of AAR's programs are the answer. If the conservative media continue to spout propaganda and call it news, we are the alternative of truth, justice and the Air American way. It's no longer enough just to hope that The New York Times will cover a rally or press release. The relatively new combination of The Huffington Post, Alternet, MoveOn, Center for American Progress and Campaign for America's Future, The Nation and The American Prospect, DailyKos and Talking Points Memo and so many labor unions means that Air America will be part of a larger progressive infrastructure heard by a widening audience. For if we can't now grow and prosper as Democrats -- given the 110th Congress, given the unmitigated disaster that's Iraq, given a slew of top-quality presidential aspirants -- when will we? So Air America will aggressively cover national politics and policies in ways that will be informative, opinionated and entertaining. All three. We'll be full of news and views. Two views especially. First, America should stop attacking Muslim countries in ways that multiply terrorism. Second, instead of only talking about exporting democracy, Washington should begin practicing it here at home, for example by making sure elections aren't auctions, which means the public funding of public elections. Speaking personally, my brother and I are excited by this important challenge and look forward to working with the Air America professionals in front of the mic and behind it who have held this dream together. Steve Green has been a very successful businessman accustomed to making money -- and he doesn't intend for AAR to be an exception. I've been an author, public interest lawyer and the NYC Public Advocate; for me this feels like a continuation of so much I've done for the progressive movement over three decades. Air America is like a public advocate for the country, exposing problems and offering solutions. So we're both optimists in the spirit of Walt Whitman, who wrote that "America is always becoming." Well, Air America too is always becoming. But that requires a conversation called democracy. In the spirit that dialogue beats monologue, I am today contacting the New Hampshire Republican Party and the New York Post editorial page. Since the Democratic Party of Nevada actually invited Fox News to host that state's Democratic debate, I asked if Air America could host the first Republican debate in New Hampshire, assuring them that we too can be fair and balanced. And to Bob McManus, editorial page editor of The New York Post, I proposed that he come on Air America to discuss his views and that Air America commentators would in turn once-a-month write an op-ed on his pages, because it's better to exchange ideas than insults. His 720,000 readers should hear from us and our 2 million+ audience should hear from him. We have many fresh ideas for programming, for technology, for partnerships with sister organizations. But it's this conversation called democracy that's the cornerstone of Air America 2.0. We intend to listen to our listeners; to increase our listeners ; and hope they will join our journey to a better network, better programming, and a better country. To tell them that it's your America, and your Air America. Originally Released on The Huffington Post (March 6, 2007) (via Pete Kemp, NRC-AM via DXLD) ** WESTERN SAHARA [non]. The Polisario Front has returned to 6300 as nicely audible this end afternoon, \\ to the regular 1550 kHz also good, and I'm pretty sure 6300 was also used this morning as the usual noise-like signal audible prior & after each broadcast was heard on both until they finally took both transmitters off the air (Carlos Gonçalves, Portugal, 1746 UT March 8, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Dear Carlos, and all, While writing this at 1920 UTC, Mar 08, I also enjoy nice Arab songs on 6300 with ann mentioning Saharaoui, SINPO 45444. It was also noted last night at 2205-2235 on this reactivated frequency in Arabic with news, ID and political comments. On retune at 2345-2400* I heard a political speech in Spanish to an audience about the Sahara conflict, said to be caused by the Moroccan Government. It ended with: "Viva el pueblo Saharawi", a song, closing ann, ID and a March, SINPO 45444 - 35444. Best 73, (Anker Petersen, Denmark, DX LISTENING DIGEST) RASD 6300 is now regular again, also on mornings till 0800 UT since March 6th. On mornings a little bit stronger up to S=7 on E1 radio, at nights S=5 level. 73 (Wolfgang Büschel, Germany, March 7/8, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Being closer to Tindouf, I sometimes even forget to check whether their HF frequency is "alive" because the MW outlet is enough. Right now [sent at 2135 UT March 8], 1550 kHz is at S9+40 dB whereas // 6300 kHz is noisy & variable S7~9, i.e. likely to become increasingly fluttery up till the 0000 sign-off time after the final hr in Castilian. Yes, they've been hosting foreign guests and observers, and yesterday evening there was a performance of Kenyan (or was it Tanzanian? - can't recall now) musicians. Delegates or guests from France and French-speaking African countries also heard supporting the cause. Also, in the last few days, some Spanish interviewed during the Castilian program (Carlos Gonçalves, Portugal, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 6300, Radio Nacional Saharaui-RASD, 2140-2145, March 8, reactivated!! Local songs, short announcement by male in Arabic, 23432 (QRM from some local rural communications in the same frequency) (Arnaldo Slaen, Argentina, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ RADIO EQUIPMENT FORUM +++++++++++++++++++++ ICOM R-9500-02: BIG RECEIVER, BIG PRICETAG!!! Universal Radio now has the new Icom R-9500-02 wideband receiver available; as expected it does carry a huge price for it: originally just under $16K, available for $13,500! Like they say, you get what you pay for--and with this megaceiver you will pay more $$$ to get the best performance, and the most coverage! Coming soon: Grundig plans to introduce the G1 receiver (it's the Etón E1 but without the built-in XM satellite radio feature) later in 2007; price is expected to be around $500 (Joe Hanlon, NJ, March 8, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Are a few of the 9500s in the showroom? (gh, DXLD) DIGITAL BROADCASTING ++++++++++++++++++++ DRM: see also ECUADOR; GUIANA FRENCH; NEW ZEALAND; SERBIA IBOC, DRM, WIFI [continued from 7-031] What about WiFi "radio" appliances? There are a few advertised out there (especially by C. Crane & Co.) and some that were hyped in the past and disappeared or never came to be a for-real product. A lot of cities or regions are putting in area-wide WiFi. St. Louis (where I am) has recently let a contract with ATT for some sort of free-to-all (for a limited # of minutes per month) city-wide WiFi, but I have no idea if these Internet-radio devices will work with these sort of public-access WiFi systems. If you don't have your own WiFi and a computer with which to "login" to a WiFi service, can you use these things? Has anyone taken one of these "radios" to a local coffeeshop or library with WiFi and been able to use it there to listen to the range of audio available on the net, as opposed to using it at home or work where you have your own WiFi? I'd buy one if I knew that I could get to all the international broadcasters, the actually-broadcast audio radio programs that are aired at inconvenient times but sit on the net for any-time access, the various Internet-only audio programming and podcasts, etc. I'm far more interested in talk than in music, but I'd also want to be able to get to the music. But how do you select and choose without a screen and keyboard to specify what you want to get to? What comments does the group have on this approach? (Will Martin, MO, ibid.) I would like to add a caveat to my belief that AM is doomed! I mean to say: AM commercial radio in the US is not going to make it as a major media player. I think that there still will be applications on various outlet stations such as talk radio, news/weather and etc. that will keep it going for awhile. But in terms of its effect in this high tech media war that's underway, it's a loser. I also understand that the wide frequency band these FCC licensees have can carry a lot of stuff, but to what end? I understand that TV stations around the country will be carrying broadband stuff in addition to the HD TV they will or are already carrying. Any one of the 13 channels they use could carry signal pipes containing as many as 500 signals at any one time, with today's technology. But hey folks, IT'S ONE WAY! Like AM radio! While I like wireless, you can't count out fibre optics. Verizon is spending a small fortune in many national markets preparing to bring everything you can imagine in on your telephone line. The future, who knows for sure? AS FOR SHORTWAVE AM, it will be relatively unaffected. I still am jerked off at BBC for yanking out the NA broadcasts. The BBC should require room temperature IQ tests for its senior executives (Bob Clark, ibid.) Bob & IRCA auteurs - Misleading. Fine word. Aptly describes every syllable pouring like untreated dysentery ward wastewater from HD Cotillion's big fat gubs. Non-DXer civilians increasingly post that everything re HD is a lie. Understandably so. Failed obsolete concept poorly executed, promoted sub rosa by undue influence and publicly by overblown fanciful tales promising 'new golden age of radio'. Public disinterest becomes public disappointment upon purchase of HD receiver Isn't this the wretched 90s model yet again? Never admit a mistake. Lie. Deny. Shift blame. Tell more lies. Threaten. All the hallmarks of Three Card Monte artistes. How else can they defend this ruinous plague other than by lying? Every pro-HD argument is either long invalidated or easily so done by six year old slo-wits. Streams? What streams? The same record over and over? Spare us. Impervious to noise? Which? The awful noise it creates or the fact it's far more easily disrupted by ordinary interference than is analog? Two-hundred million dollar ad campaign? But it's in 'equivalent' money. Right. Tried paying your property taxes in that peculiar currency? Who they kidding? CD Quality audio? Points off for misspelling - 'seedy quality', as one engineer calls it. Oh, well, who cares? Time to hack weeds & brush, sun's out. Plenty Cubano stations to be savored on SR-III's superb AM audio inna warm sun, wielding chainsaw, it must be - Leatherface Wednesday. as ever, z (Paul Vincent Zecchino, FL, IRCA via DXLD) HD RADIO ON THE OFFENSE By David Downs, San Francisco, March 7, 2007, East Bay Express Driving across the Bay Area every day, you can't help but hear the great news: HD Radio has arrived! There are now secret stations hiding between the stations you can hear. All you have to do is go out and buy a new HD Radio and you'll hear your old stations in crystal-clear digital, plus secret ones that you've never even heard before. All with no subscription! But after an investigation of HD Radio units, the stations playing HD, and the company that owns the technology; and some interviews with the wonks in DC, it looks like HD Radio is a high-level corporate scam, a huge carny shill. Do not tune in until your unit comes standard on that used Honda Civic you buy in 2015. Between the high prices, poor listening options, homogenized content, and a decade and a half of FCC dealings that went into this monopoly, critics are calling the move to digital radio a "catastrophe" and a "complete giveaway" to behemoths such as CBS. Moreover, HD is pretty much a done deal. Let's start at Emeryville's Circuit City, where sales rep Joel shows the one HD Radio model in stock. This $200 beauty should net you 22 Bay Area stations broadcasting their regular feeds with a clearer digital signal hitchhiking on it. It also promises to decode fifteen of their all-digital cousins. Problem is, when you hit "seek" on the JVC unit, the HD tuner cycles and cycles as if we're in the wilds of Idaho. Very impressive. Joel will assure you that Circuit City merely needs a new antenna on its roof to pick up this digital signal, but somehow your regular car antenna will manage to pick up all 37 stations just fine. You're not so sure anymore. KFOG program director Dave Benson says the digital footprint, or signal coverage, is indeed smaller than the analogue one, but because digital radio is so new, nobody knows by how much. Still, Benson can receive HD in his office, and he reports that 104.5 FM not only sounds cleaner, the new technology lets KFOG share its bandwidth with an all- digital HD2 signal that carries a second KFOG. What's on it? How about Dave Morey's 10@10 - 24/7. This digital sidekick and eleven other Bay Area HD2 stations duplicate the existing airwave dross with formats like "Wild Hispanic," "'50s/'60s Oldies," and "KCBS News." They seem to be underfunded, unoriginal dumps of existing content from their analogue brethren, or consist of some playlist cut together by a decent DJ like Aaron Axelsen. Big whoop. That's not the real scam. These local stations multicast using a technique known as In-Band On- Channel broadcasting, whose patents are held by a fifteen-year-old private corporation called iBiquity. CEO Bob Struble says iBiquity arose from next-gen radio research at corporations such as Lucent. These big boys figured out how to squeeze four channels into each existing one, and have poured more than $200 million into controlling them all with help from the FCC. The esteemed commissioners responded by granting iBiquity exclusive rights to digital radio. Struble says nobody owns the rights to analogue radio, but everyone who wants to broadcast in digital or make a receiver has to pay iBiquity. Fees start at $10,000 per new digital channel. "It's a new phenomenon in consumer electronics," he says. "There's aspects of HDTV that are proprietary; the MP3 format is owned by one company. The DVD technology is owned by a consortium." Struble thinks it's a fair system: "We have to license to anybody on a fair, nondiscriminatory basis. You, David, are going to get the same terms Sony did." Great. But here's the catch: All the major radio players, such as Clear Channel Communications, are iBiquity investors. Which means Clear Channel is paying itself for the right to broadcast, and every mom-and-pop station that wants to go digital also has pay the big boys. Nice setup! IBiquity's monopoly on this closed-source system is a catastrophe, says Michael Bracy, a lobbyist for the Future of Music Coalition, whose goal is diversity on the airwaves and higher pay for artists. "It potentially is a great thing, but it feels like the government really botched this," he says. The new technology, he says, has opened up more real estate on the spectrum, but the same land barons are homesteading it all. "The first question is, 'Who gets to control these streams?'" he asks. "Is this an antidote to consolidation or is it a complete giveaway to radio chains? It looks like it's a complete giveaway." Radio spectrum analyst JH Snider is research director for the Wireless Future Program of the New America Foundation, a nonprofit, nonpartisan DC think tank. He affirms that a public broadcasting license is virtually a license to print money, and the FCC's fourfold expansion of Big Radio's mints offers no public payback. "There's nothing special about the technology except that the broadcasters control it and basically they took technology that others invented," Snider says. "They should've opened it up to competition." FCC sources claim the path to digital audio broadcasting has been open and inclusive. The public can access records going back to 1999, and read voluminous comments. "This was the most thoroughly tested system in broadcast history," Struble says. Snider, however, says the whole way the United States doles out the spectrum favors broadcasters over common sense. "Just look at free satellite radio," he says. "North America is the only continent on Earth besides Antarctica that doesn't have free satellite radio stations. That's the power of the provincial US broadcaster." The deal isn't closed yet. The five-member, Republican-led FCC still has the power to write some local obligations into Big Radio's digital expansion. The commission has yet to authorize blanket approval that would let any station deploy high-definition radio at will. The public, Bracy suggests, might ask the FCC to ensure one community channel for every three the bigwigs get. But somehow the public- interest groups are totally asleep at the wheel. "Nobody understands spectrum," Snider notes. Furthermore, FCC sources say the commission could vote on blanket authorization at any time without informing the public. Welcome to New Radio, boys and girls. It stinks just like Old Radio, except the smell comes in clearer and there's more of it. Stay tuned. http://www.eastbayexpress.com/about/ (via Mike Terry, dxldyg via DXLD) FEDERAL REGS RELATED TO DRM BROADCASTING IN THE USA http://a257.g.akamaitech.net/7/257/2422/09nov20051500/edocket.access.gpo.gov/cfr\_2005/octqtr/pdf/47cfr73.758.pdf AKA: 47 CFR 73.758 (2005) ASCII text below, but it looks awful...go download the PDF above instead! §73.758 System specifications for digitally modulated emissions in the HF broadcasting service. (a) For digitally modulated emissions, the Digital Radio Mondiale (DRM) standard shall be employed. Both digital audio broadcasting and datacasting are authorized. The RF requirements for the DRM system are specified in paragraphs (b) and (c), of this section b) System parameters—(1) Channel spacing. The initial spacing for digitally modulated emissions shall be 10 kHz. However, interleaved channels with a separation of 5 kHz may be used in accordance with the appropriate protection criteria appearing in Resolution 543 (WRC–03), provided that the interleaved emission is not to the same geographical area as either of the emissions between which it is interleaved. (2) Channel utilization. Channels using digitally modulated emissions may share the same spectrum or be interleaved with analog emissions in the same high frequency broadcasting (HFBC) band, provided the protection afforded to the analog emissions is at least as great as that which is currently in force for analog-to-analog protection. Accomplishing this may require that the digital spectral power density (and total power) be lower by several dB than is currently used for either DSB or SSB emissions. (c) Emission characteristics—(1) Bandwidth and center frequency. A full digitally modulated emission will have a 10 kHz bandwidth with its center frequency at any of the 5 kHz center frequency locations in the channel raster currently in use within the HFBC bands. Among several possible ``simulcast'' modes are those having a combination of analog and digital emissions of the same program in the same channel, that may use a digital emission of 5 kHz or 10 kHz bandwidth, next to either a 5 kHz or 10 kHz analog emission. In all cases of this type, the 5 kHz interleaved raster used in HFBC shall be adhered to in placing the emission within these bands. (2) Frequency tolerance. The frequency tolerance shall be 10 Hz. See Section 73.757(b)(2), notes 1 and 2. (3) Audio-frequency band. The quality of service, using digital source coding within a 10 kHz bandwidth, taking into account the need to adapt the emission coding for various levels of error avoidance, detection and correction, can range from the equivalent of monophonic FM (approximately 15 kHz) to the low-level performance of a speech codec (of the order of 3 kHz). The choice of audio quality is connected to the needs of the broadcaster and listener, and includes the consideration of such characteristics as the propagation conditions expected. There is no single specification, only the upper and lower bounds noted in this paragraph. (4) Modulation. Quadrature amplitude modulation (QAM) with orthogonal fre quency division multiplexing (OFDM) shall be used. 64–QAM is feasible under many propagation conditions; others such as 32–, 16– and 8–QAM are specified for use when needed. (5) RF protection ratio values. The protection ratio values for analogue and digital emissions for co-channel and adjacent channel conditions shall be in accordance with Resolution 543 (WRC–03) as provisional RF protection ratio values subject to revision or confirmation by a future competent conference. [70 FR 46677, Aug. 10, 2005] (via Chris Rumbaugh, WA, Feb 24, drmna yg via DXLD) WORLD OF HOROLOGY +++++++++++++++++ DAYLIGHT SHIFTING TIME Re 7-031: ``I wonder what the French term is for DST or "summertime"?`` Hi Jurgen, Since we're calling it "ora legale" in Italian, I expect it to be temps légal or heure légale in French. It means legal time (versus solar time). (Andy Lawendel, Italy, mwdxyg via DXLD) ``Hora solare`` in Italian confused me at first, since ``sun time`` could be taken to be DST rather than ST (gh, DXLD) When the French reintroduced it in 1976 (I believe they were the first mainland European country to do so) they called it FEST, or French Energy Saving Time (PAUL DAVID, Wembley Park, United Kingdom, ibid.) So they are speaking English in France nowadays? ;-) I guess you mean, that it was called so in Britain. -- 73, (Martin Elbe, http://home.wolfsburg.de/elbe/ ibid.) "Heure d'été" should be woriking fine. If you can read French this Wikipedia article http://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heure_d'été also includes the original proposal by Dr. Franklin. The English text is at http://webexhibits.org/daylightsaving/franklin3.html (Andy Lawendel, ibid.) That text is *very* interesting. I could not stop laughing! Those were the good old times, were the elite slept til noon and did not even know as an adult that it can be light outside at 6:00 in the morning. Today you would only expect students (at universities) to sleep til noon. :-) (Jurgen Bartels, Germany, ibid.) CBC The Current has an item about DST on Friday morning March 9; segments are available ondemand later (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) See also U S A: WRJN ###