DX LISTENING DIGEST 2-130, August 17, 2002 edited by Glenn Hauser, wghauser@hotmail.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 HTML version of this issue will be posted afterwards at http://www.worldofradio.com/dxldtd02.html For restrixions and searchable 2002 contents archive see http://www.worldofradio.com/dxldmid.html NOTE: If you are a regular reader of DXLD, and a source of DX news but have not been sending it directly to us, please consider yourself obligated to do so. Thanks, Glenn WORLD OF RADIO #1144: BROADCASTS ON WWCR: Sun 0230 5070, 0630 3210, Wed 0930 9475 BROADCASTS ON RFPI: Sun 0100, 0700, Mon 0030? 0630? 7445-AM 15039 maybe webcasts also: Sat 1900, Sun 1300, 1830, Mon 1230 [Sat/UT Sun times based on running an hour late] (ON DEMAND) http://www.wrn.org/ondemand/worldofradio.html from Aug 16 (DOWNLOAD) http://www.k4cc.net/wor1144.rm (STREAM) http://www.k4cc.net/wor1144.ram (SUMMARY) http://www.worldofradio.com/wor1143.html UNSOLICITED TESTIMONIAL TO JOHN NORFOLK: Thanks for your years of service to SWLing, and ham radio. Your frequency guides will be missed. Good luck. 73 de (KB9NXD Michael A. Mathis) See http://www.worldofradio.com/dxpgms.html and http://www.worldofradio.com/nets2you.html ** ALASKA [and non]. For a somewhat convoluted article about HAARP and how it may relate to other overwater and underwater `defense` projects in Hawaii/Kauai and Puerto Rico/Vieques, see: http://peacehost.net/Vieques/hubers.html (via gh, DXLD) ** ALGERIA. Latest Maakeski logs. Latest loggings from Padasjoki/Asikkala 5-13th August. Listening QTHs are located in the opposite locations by the same lake, 3 km away from each other. Receivers Lowe HF-225 and Yaesu FRG-100. Antennas 100-150 metres to "every direction". I wish the farmers could cut their crop soon so the field could be used for long wire purposes again. 252 kHz, 10.8. 2100- RTA Tipaza. Difficult to listen to Algeria nowadays! This French channel was finally open after TeamTalk has closed down. On SW there has been nothing for a long time (Jari Lehtinen, Lahti, Finland, hard-core-dx via DXLD) ** ARGENTINA. Argentinians were heard on X-band at 0100 UT 13.8. on 1620, 1630, 1660, 1670, and shortly also on 1680. No luck with IDs, but there is no question about the origin of signals (Jari Lehtinen, Lahti, Finland, hard-core-dx via DXLD) ** AUSTRALIA. Saturday, August 17 2002 and Sunday, August 18 2002: Radio Australia Today with Lingua Franca: Hunting the Wild Reciter -- Peter Kirkpatrick recalls the old days of music hall ballads, parlour recitations and elocution lessons. Before Hollywood invented the musical, one of the most popular forms of public entertainment was the variety show, vaudeville, the music hall -- and 'recitations' were among the most popular acts. Waiting in the wings was the elocutionist - soon to be taken up by those who sought to be upwardly socially mobile. Peter Kirkpatrick investigates the place of recitation and elocution in our popular culture before TV. In North America: Sat 8.15 pm ET / 5.15 pm PT. In Europe: Sun 0015 UT / 0215 CEST (WRN Newsletter via DXLD) So there`s another time to hear LINGUA FRANCA, which we often preview, directly on R. Australia (gh, DXLD) ** BELARUS`. 4982U, unID Relay of Radio Mayak, 0410 Aug 16, male spoken program in Russian by a man; SINPO 23342 (Klaus Elsebusch, Im Isselgrund 17, D-46499 Marienthal/Germany, DL 3 EAY & DE 2 JLS, DSWCI- No. 3385, KWFR 105, Coordinates: Lat. 51.73 N; Long. 06.74 E, Receiver: LOWE HF 150, mod, Antennas: 20 m LW, indoor; Azimuth 0 deg 15 m LW, indoor, Azimuth 180 deg Accessoires: FRT 7700, hard-core-dx via DXLD) ** BELARUS`. BELARUS PULLS PLUG ON RUSSIAN TV, RADIO REBROADCASTS | Text of report by Russian Mayak radio on 12 August The rebroadcasting of Russian radio channels, Mayak and Yunost, was stopped in Belarus today. The rebroadcasting of Russian television channels, RTR, NTV and Kultura, has been reduced. This was done on a request by the management of the Belarusian television and radio company. According to the company's spokesman, the move was necessary because of the lack of necessary funding. Source: Radio Mayak, Moscow, in Russian 1400 gmt 12 Aug 02 (via BBCM via DXLD) BELARUS PULLS PLUG ON RUSSIAN TV, RADIO REBROADCASTS - DETAILS | Text of report in English by Russian news agency Interfax Minsk, 12 August: On Monday [12 August], Belarus took two Russian radio stations off the air and cut the volume of relayed broadcasting by three Russian television channels, a source in the Belarusian radio and television broadcasting centre told Interfax. Belarusians will no longer be able to listen to the Mayak and Yunost radio stations, the source said. RTR [Russia TV] and Kultura [Culture] television stations are not allowed to run their programmes for more than ten hours a day, while NTV was given a daily quota of 12 hours. The source said the measure was in response to a request from the Belarusian television and radio company, whose deputy chairman Alyaksandr Zimowski pleaded lack of money. "This decision cannot be called a spontaneous one," he told Interfax. "All of the state organizations that provide technical servicing for broadcasting were notified in good time." The move "hasn't come as a surprise" for viewers either, he said. "All of the changes are reflected in television programmes for the current week, which were published the day before." Zimowski declined to comment on the possible consequences of the measure. He simply said: "This problem may require a political solution." Source: Interfax news agency, Moscow, in English 1359 gmt 12 Aug 02 (via BBCM via DXLD) RUSSIAN OFFICIAL SLAMS BELARUS FOR PULLING PLUG ON TV, RADIO BROADCASTS | Text of report by Russia TV on 13 August [Presenter] The Belarus authorities have decided to take Russian Mayak and Yunost radio stations off the air and to cut air time of RTR [Russia TV] and NTV television channels on the territory of the country as of 12 August. We have just received a statement of the press service of the All- Russia State Television and Radio Broadcasting Company [VGTRK]. VGTRK expresses its surprise both at the situation with the broadcast of Russian TV and radio companies on the territory of Belarus and the explanations offered by the management of the Belarusian television and radio company. Traditionally, Belarus has always been responsible for all costs related to distributing the signal on its territory, which makes economic reasons for stopping broadcasts, namely lack of finance, questionable. Tomorrow's official visit of Belarus President Alyaksandr Lukashenka [to Moscow] may help to clarify the situation with Russian media broadcasts on the territory of Belarus. The general director of the Russian TV and Radio Broadcasting Network, Gennadiy Sklyar, sharply criticized the Belarus authorities decision to cut short Russian media broadcasts, including that of our TV channel, today. [Sklyar] I believe that it is an unseemly step undertaken by my Belarusian colleagues, as the reasons offered testify to the creation of certain smokescreen to hide real reasons for switching off channels. There is no doubt that people in Belarus, as well as in other countries, are waiting for our programmes and they watch them and listen to them. In fact it is violation of human rights of those who live in these countries. Source: Russia TV, Moscow, in Russian 1000 gmt 13 Aug 02 (via BBCM via DXLD) BELARUS RENEWS BROADCAST OF RUSSIAN TV, RADIO CHANNELS | Text of report by Belarusian TV on 13 August As we reported earlier, for the remainder of the summer holidays, as practised before, the Belarusian Broadcasting Company introduced temporary measures on decreasing the number of bands for the broadcast of the Russian radio stations Mayak and Yunost in Belarus. The daytime broadcasts of [Russian] TV channels RTR, NTV and Kultura were also decreased. Starting today, the Ministry of Communications has renewed the broadcast of these channels according to their earlier schedules. Once again, certain foreign media opposed to Belarusian-Russian relations were trying to give political colouring to planned events and described them as intrigues. We recall that for the purpose of saving money on the broadcast of radio and TV signals in summer, similar restrictions had been practised in the past. However, up until now they had not been given such close attention, including from the mass media. We hereby clarify that it is the Belarusian side that is responsible for financing the broadcast of Russian TV channels. Source: Belarusian television, Minsk, in Belarusian 1800 gmt 13 Aug 02 (via BBCM via DXLD) RUSSIA/BELARUS`: RUSSIAN TV PROBLEMS IN BELARUS DUE TO "SHORTFALL OF FINANCING" | Text of report in English by Russian news agency ITAR- TASS Minsk, 15 August: Russian television has been struck off the airwaves in Belarus. The Belarusian state television and radio company claimed in a published statement that the broadcasting of Russian electronic media had been restored in full, but daytime blackouts of RTR, NTV and the Culture channel lingered on Thursday [15 August]. Most of Belarusian officials are reticent on this aspect of Russian- Belarusian relations. The Foreign Ministry's spokesman Pavel Latushko, reached by ITAR-TASS on Thursday, advised re-reading the Belarusian state television company's press release, saying that he had "nothing to add" to it. Press and Information Minister Mikhail Podgainy told reporters that "there is no political pretext here". He said telecasting of Russian electronic media was funded from the Belarusian budget, and restrictions of it, imposed on Monday "temporarily, for the period until the end of vacations", was related to a shortfall of financing. A source who chose anonymity told ITAR-TASS that the Belarusian television and radio company came up with the initiative of cutting the broadcasting. He presumed that in doing so the Belarusian side wanted to make Russian televisions pay for transmission of their signal. The broadcasting restrictions stirred talks in Minsk that Russian media influence on Belarus was shaky. It is recalled that the broadcasting of a parade from Moscow's Red Square was shut down. It was also noted that Belarus's Pan-National Television, which is in fact the second state-owned company, took the place of Russia's ORT on the air, if for only 30 minutes so far. Some experts said time had come to lay a law base for Russia's information influence on Belarus in the form of contracts and accords. This would reduce a room for conflicts and "misunderstandings" to a minimum, they said. Source: ITAR-TASS news agency, Moscow, in English 1216 gmt 15 Aug 02 (via BBCM via DXLD) RUSSIAN BROADCASTS IN BELARUS RESTORED IN FULL, MINISTER TELLS PUTIN | Text of report by Russian Public TV (ORT) on 16 August President Vladimir Putin today held a working meeting with Press Minister Mikhail Lesin. The minister told the head of state that the problem of reduced broadcasts of a series of Russian television channels and the cessation of broadcasts by a number of radio stations in Belarus has been resolved. Broadcasts have been fully restored. Lesin also said that talks are continuing with Belarusian colleagues to give Russian media the opportunity to broadcast on Belarusian territory. For his part Vladimir Putin noted that the Belarusian leadership fully understood this issue. Nevertheless, the president believes that there is a need for a more urgent approach to the resolution of similar potential problems, and the issue of their resolution cannot be allowed to fall to the level of company management. Vladimir Putin and Mikhail Lesin also discussed the protection of copyright, including within the context of the talks on Russia's entry to the WTO. Source: Russian Public TV (ORT), Moscow, in Russian 1100 gmt 16 Aug 02 (via BBCM via DXLD) RUSSIAN BROADCASTS TO BELARUS` STILL NOT RESTORED IN FULL | Text of report in English by Belarusian news agency Belapan Minsk, 16 August: Russia's television networks RTR, Kultura and NTV are still not fully transmitted in Belarus despite official assurances that the broadcasting was restored. Belarusian authorities on 13 August halted retransmission of the Russian radio stations Yunost and Mayak and cut airtime of RTR, NTV, and Kultura, citing financial constraints. Belarusian television reported late on 13 August that the broadcasting of Russian radio and television networks in Belarus was fully restored. Syarhey Sushko, chief technician at the Belarusian Radio and Television Transmission Centre (BRTTC), told Belapan on 16 August that the BRTTC has not received instructions from the Belarusian National Broadcasting Company to restore full transmission of the Russian television networks, therefore, it continued to work according to a curtailed schedule. The broadcasting of Mayak and Yunost resumed on 13 August. Meanwhile, Russian news agencies reported that Mikhail Lesin, the Russian minister of press and information, told President Vladimir Putin on 16 August that the broadcasting of Russian radio and television networks in Belarus had been fully restored. Source: Belapan news agency, Minsk, in English 1611 gmt 16 Aug 02 (via BBCM via DXLD) MINSK CURTAILS RUSSIAN BROADCASTING, THEN BACKS DOWN Belarusian authorities on 13 August halted retransmission of the Russian radio stations Yunost and Mayak and cut back airtime of the RTR, NTV, and Kultura television networks, Belarusian media reported. The Belarusian State Television and Radio Company, which covers the costs of transmitting Russian television and radio programs in Belarus`, said the previous day that the financial burden connected with these retransmissions is much to bear. "The reasons given by the Belarusian side hide the real causes behind the switch-off," Ekho Moskvy quoted Gennadii Sklyar, general director of the Russian Television and Radio Broadcasting System, as saying. "[President Alyaksandr] Lukashenka is flexing his ideological muscles on the eve of his meeting with Putin [on 14 August]," Belarusian Association of Journalists Chairwoman Zhana Litvina told AP. Belarusian television reported late on 13 August that the broadcasting of Russian radio and television networks in Belarus` has been fully restored ("RFE/RL Newsline," 14 August via RFE/RL Media Matters Aug 16 via DXLD) ** BRAZIL. MORE CATHOLIC RADIO STATIONS IDENTIFIED IN BRASIL The following list of Catholic radio stations has been obtained by visit to the website of one of Brasil’s three Catholic radio networks, RCR — Rede Católica de Rádio, a joint website with UNDA–Brasil http://www.rcrunda.com.br Actually there are two lists, ``elação de Rádios Católicas do Brasil -- 184 Emissoras`` (List of Catholic Radio Stations in Brasil -- 184 Stations) and ``Relação de Rádios da RCR -- 191 Emissoras``... Additional information on many of these stations has been obtained from the Ministry of Communications website in Brasil. Where the Ministry information disagrees with that posted on the RCR-Unda website, I have opted for the Ministry information. [gh excerpted only those listings involving a SW frequency] Acre Cruzeiro do Sul: ZYH204, Rádio Verdes Florestas, 940 AM (5000 wats días, 1,000 wats noches). & ZYF203 on 4865 kHz (5,000 wats). 1000-0300 UT. En la Diócesis de Cruzeiro do Sul. Amazonas Parintins: ZYH283, Radio Alvorada, 1380 AM (5,000 wats/1,000 wats) y 100.1 FM (Clase C) y ZYF275 on 4965 kHz (5,000 wats). Fundação Evangelii Nuntiandi. UT 0900-0200. Tefé: ZYH282 Rádio Educação Rural 1270 AM, (2,500 watts) & ZYF271 on 3385 kHz (5,000 watts). Fundação Dom Joaquin. En la Diócesis de Tefé. Goiás Jataí: ZYH765, Rádio Difusora, 680 AM (1,000/250 wats) & ZYF694 on 4935 kHz (2,500 wats). C.P. 33, 75800-000 Jataí. Zacarias Faleiro, director. UT 0900-1300 y 1900-2200. Em la Diócese de Jataí. Mato Grosso do Sul Campo Grande: ZYI387, Rádio Educadora Rural, 580 AM (10,000 wats/1,000 wats) & ZYF904 on 4755 kHz (10,000 wats). Av. Mato Grosso 530, Centro, 79002-233 Campo Grande. Ailton Guerra, director. UT 0645-0400. En la Arzodiócese de Campo Grande. Pará Bragança: ZYI535 Rádio Educadora, 1390 AM, (10,000/1,000 wats) & ZYG364 on 4825 kHz (5,000 wats). Rua Barão do Rio Branco 1151, 68600- 000 Bragança. UT 0830-0200. En la Diócese de Bragança do Pará (Michael Dorner, Editor, Catholic Radio Update Aug 19 via DXLD) ** CANADA. Hello Glen[n]: A new FM station is testing in Calgary, 103.1 "CIQX". Heard today Aug 16th, while driving in Calgary and also back home in Red Deer on a cheapie blaster with a good signal. The station is running a loop of mid 90's pop music, Bryan Adams, Cher, Elton John, etc. with the odd country and boy band tune. Canned IDs and test info by OM every 15 minutes or so. 73's (Joe Talbot, Red Deer, Alberta, Canada, Aug 16, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CANADA. --- WEEKEND HOT SHEET, SUNDAY AUGUST 18, 2001 --- THE SUNDAY EDITION: "With Friends Like These..." - Bob Carty's look at the uneasy relationship between Saudi Arabia and the U-S. Then guest host Mary Ambrose welcomes Rosemary Hollis and Janice Stein, two experts on international relations who look at how the relationship has evolved over the past few months. And in Hour Three, more of Paul Kennedy's series on Learning From Our Oceans. That's The Sunday Edition, right after the 9 a.m. news (9:30 NT) on CBC Radio One. TIME TRAVELLER, Sunday, Michael Bean makes reservations for the Palace at Versailles and checks in with the Sun King, Louis XIV around the 1680s. Composer Jean Baptiste Lully was employed at the court. Meanwhile, Alessandro Scarlatti was revitalizing the music scene in Naples and the blind harpist Turlough O'Carolan made a living as an itinerant musician in Ireland. That's Time Traveller, Sunday at 1 p.m. (1:30 NT) on CBC Radio Two. THE WORLD THIS WEEKEND, Sunday Who's Buying Up Paradise? Nova Scotia's South Shore is heaven on earth to many: beautiful ocean beaches, rocky shorelines, picture-perfect islands. The area welcomes writers, painters and other intellectuals who settle in amongst the farming and fishing communities. Real estate is booming on the South Shore and Diane Paquette has the surprising story on just who is finding a haven on Nova Scotia's pristine and lovely coast. That's on the World This Weekend, with Lorna Jackson, Sunday at 6:00 p.m. (7 AT; 7:30 NT) on both CBC Radio One and CBC Radio Two. TWO NEW HOURS: Join host Larry Lake this Sunday, as Two New Hours and Soundstreams Canada present Canadian composers Chris Paul Harman and Ana Sokolovic in a concert of their music at Glenn Gould Studio. Performers include violinist Mark Fewer, soprano Tamara Hummel, pianist Stephen Clarke, and the Soundstreams Chamber Ensemble under the direction of Gary Kulesha. Works by Sokolovic include Ambient V, Trois Etudes, Blanc Dominant and the world premiere of Nonet. Works by Harman include Five Japanese Songs, Partita for solo violin, and the world premiere of Projection. That's Two New Hours, with host Larry Lake, Sunday night at 10:05 (11 AT, 11:30 NT) on CBC Radio Two. (CBC Hotsheet, selected by gh for DXLD) ** CANADA. Thanks to Neal Ford on the Yahoo! group radioinmontreal for tipping me off about this. 73- (Bill Westenhaver, DXLD) From globeandmail.com, Friday, August 16, 2002 VETERAN BROADCASTER RUSS GERMAIN RETIRING JAMES ADAMS, NATIONAL ARTS CORRESPONDENT At 56, Russ Germain is hardly a candidate for the La Brea Tar Pits of history. Still, he likes to call himself an "announcersaurus" -- one of the last of a dying breed of news broadcasters who initially got on the air because they seemed intelligent, sounded good and could say Xochimilco unhesitatingly and authoritatively. Mr. Germain ends a 29-year career with CBC later today when he takes his final shift as the host of The World at Six, the national evening radio news broadcast. He's been with the popular program since 1983 and also did a six-year stint in the 1990s with CBC Radio's Morning Report. Mr. Germain's departure as one of the Crown corporation's signature voices is a quiet one, preceded by no fulsome press releases or extravagant testimonials. Indeed, Adrian Mills, the head of the Canadian Broadcasting Corp.'s radio programming, said nothing major is planned for Mr. Germain's sendoff today, save for "a small event with close colleagues." However, "a much bigger event" will be held in early October, the month of Mr. Germain's official retirement, to honour "his great grace and charm and professionalism," Mr. Mills said. Mr. Germain said it's time to make what he terms "a graceful exit. Better to go out sounding good rather than getting so old that I can't read any more." He said his departure has nothing to do with the current tumult in CBC's English-language radio division as it tries to lure a broader and younger audience. A graduate in fine arts from the University of Manitoba who started with the CBC in 1973 as a TV announcer for its Saskatoon station, Mr. Germain finally has enough years accumulated to retire with an unreduced pension. "It just seemed like the right thing to do," Mr. Germain said. Besides concluding a career as one of the great voices of CBC Radio, Mr. Germain is wrapping up 12 years as the radio service's broadcast language adviser. He's been the person who helped decide whether CBC announcers and hosts should pronounce the word harassment as harris- ment or ha-rassment; Mi'kmaq as mik-mak or mig-ma; or if residents of Kabul should be called Afghans or Afghanis. The biggest bane, so to speak, of Mr. Germain's advisory role was what he called "the attempt to move to gender-neutral language." He noted with a chuckle that when CBC started to say "firefighters" instead of "firemen," and "flight attendants" instead of "stewardesses," the new terms were accepted without comment by both CBC listeners and members of those occupations. However, when it tried three years ago to use "fishers" in place of "fishermen," the men and women who harvest the lakes, oceans and rivers "didn't want any truck with gender equality." Mr. Germain got his start in broadcasting working in student radio in Winnipeg and working part-time for private stations. He worked in private broadcasting for almost seven years before being hired by the CBC. Mr. Mills, the head of CBC's radio programming, said a variety of newscasters will act as host of The World at Six until the fall when more permanent decisions will be made. Copyright 2002 | Bell Globemedia Interactive Inc. (via Bill Westenhaver, DXLD) ** COLOMBIA. 6060.13, La Voz de tu Conciencia, 0930-1004 Aug 8, Program of lively HJ music with canned presumed promos by man over soft music (mostly piano) after every song. At 0954 canned man with mention of "Ecos del Continental(?)...", instrumental HJ music bridge, then same man with ID giving 2 MW frequencies as "Este es (pause) (program name??). Transmitiendo ...30 kHz AM, 1?30 kHz AM. En ?? estudios ??". This was followed immediately by what sounded like a LV tu Conciencia ID by woman announcer. Then long talk by same woman announcer. Decent strength but low modulation. Frequency seemed to drift too. Some weak co-channel QRM sounding like Portuguese so maybe Tupi (Dave Valko, PA, Cumbre DX via DXLD) [Some longtime DXers, and I`m not picking on Dave in particular, are stuck in the must-abbr.-everything-to-save-as-much-space-as-possible era. Here was the original before gh expanded to make it readable, but should he bother?] COLOMBIA 6060.13, LV tu Conciencia, 0930-1004, Pgm of lively HJ mx w/canned pres. promos by M over soft mx (mostly piano) after every song. At 0954 canned M w/ment of "Ecos del Continental(?)...", instru. HJ mx bridge, then same M w/ID giving 2 MW freqs as "Este es (pause) (pgm name??). Transmitiendo...30 khz AM, 1?30 khz AM. En ?? estudios ?? ". This was followed immediately by what sounded like a LV tu Conciencia ID by W anncr. Then long talk by same W anncr. Decent strength but low mod. Freq seemed to drift too. Some weak co-channel QRM sounding like PT so maybe Tupi. (Valko Aug 8) ** COSTA RICA. 15039, 6.8. 0125- RFPI. Was audible till late morning. A clear improvement compared to previous times when I have listened to this (Jari Lehtinen, Lahti, Finland, hard-core-dx via DXLD) ** CZECH REPUBLIC. Hi Glenn, Re Noel Green's comments, we contacted David Vaughan at Radio Prague earlier this week, and he replied "All is pretty much as normal here. Czech Radio is on a hill, so I think most of Central Europe would have to be flooded for Radio Prague to be affected." BTW, their Web site has details of how to make donations towards the cost of flood relief. Early estimates suggest the cost will be at least $1.5 million, far more than the Czech economy can stand. 73, (Andy Sennitt, Holland, Aug 16, DX LISTENING DIGEST) You mean a sesquigigabuck? Sesquimegabuck isn`t much (gh, DXLD) ** CZECH REPUBLIC. I received another QSL from Radio Prague from 12 to 15 July 2002 at 2000 to 2027 UT on 11,600 kHz depicting UNESCO's World Heritage sites in Czech Republic: Litomysl (Eastern Bohemia) - castle and park. With a sticker and a program schedule (Partha Sarathi Goswami, Siliguri, India, Aug 17, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** GERMANY. Magdeburg broadcasting house Today Mitteldeutscher Rundfunk closed down its broadcasting house at Magdeburg, located close to the Elbe river. The MDR 1 - Radio Sachsen- Anhalt network is now produced at Halle instead; reports directly from Magdeburg are fed to Halle from the tiny radio studio in the parliament building. For local TV news coverage an emergency studio was in a hurry established elsewhere at Magdeburg. A short TV piece about this is available at http://www.mdr.de/MMC/250305.html Direct URL for 225 kbit/s stream: http://www.mdr.de/Media/stream/250304-RealG2Video.ram Text report with picture of the building (scroll down for the item): http://www.mdr.de/hochwasser/sachsen-anhalt/249261.html All these links may expire soon. Today a rumour spread that the FM site Wittenberg-Gallun would be down. I cannot confirm this, at least two outlets from there (101.6 and 104.0, they are easy to check from here) are definitely on air. I also noted no other transmission disruptions so far. Regards, (Kai Ludwig, Germany, Aug 16, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** GUATEMALA. 4845, Radio K`ekchí. David Daniell, the Media Coordinator for the SBC IMB in Mexico City, has advised me that Radio K`ekchí is off the air. It seems that a large group of homeless "squatters" have taken over the transmitter site and are not allowing anyone access to the transmitter building. The authorities of the city of Las Casas side with the Brothers at R. K`ekchí, but do nothing to dislodge the "squatters"! The Mission Board has advised the Brothers NOT to force any kind of confrontation or "hurt your Christian testimony"! (Larry Baysinger, KY, Aug 16, Cumbre DX via DXLD) ** HONDURAS. HRN`s website is finally reconstructed and back in action, http://www.hrnradio.hn -- opens with map animation showing relay frequencies of 670. Five different audio formats are available and Real came right up, when checked during Música Hondureña slot previously entered into MONITORING REMINDERS CALENDAR. But the program schedule has changed, so that now we would flag these, here converted from UT -6 to UT: M-F 2030-2100 NOTICIA SIN MALICIA Sat 1400-1500 NOTICIA SIN MALICIA 1505-1600 VOCES Y CANTOS DE HONDURAS [includes too much time with call-ins talking about the folk music instead of playing it] Sun 1350-1410 LA TREMENDA CORTE I haven`t actually listened to NOTICIA SIN MALICIA yet to determine the rationale for its intriguing title (Glenn Hauser, OK, Aug 17, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** HONDURAS. Radio Bethel, HRHZ (currently 1160 AM) has a good chance of putting a new shortwave station on the air from that same site - in Taujica, near the Caribbean. This might happen early next year, they want to apply for 5 kW in the 60-meter band (Larry Baysinger, KY, Aug 15, Cumbre DX via DXLD) [Note: tho in common use in India, usually referring to rupees, lakh and crore, I daresay are virtually unknown in North America, and even Britain. I wonder why they never caught on? Lakh means 100,000, and crore means 10,000,000 = 100 lakh. And why these particular powers of ten? Are there also terms for 10,000 and 1,000,000, e.g.? Are these two words pure Hindi and did they originally mean something else or have other applications? --- gh] ** INDIA. RADIO MIRCHI EMERGES LEADER IN ORG SURVEY TIMES NEWS NETWORK [ WEDNESDAY, JULY 31, 2002 6:43:26 AM ] MUMBAI: Radio is reasserting its presence as an important medium. Even though it is still in the nascent stage in its new private avatar, it is definitely leaving an indelible mark on listeners. This has been revealed in an independent survey conducted last month by ORG-MARG- Nielsen, India`s leading market research company. According to the survey, an estimated average of 84 lakh Mumbaiites above the age of 15 listen to the radio. Of these, 51 lakh listen to radio at least once a week. But, here is the real heart-stopper: a mammoth 36 lakh listen to radio on a daily basis. The survey was conducted within the Mumbai municipal corporation limits and did not include Thane, Vashi and areas beyond Dahisar. The survey reviewed a total of six radio stations in Mumbai, including Vividh Bharti and FM 1 to gauge listenership figures. Findings revealed that Vividh Bharti topped the survey overall, among the entire population. Radio Mirchi, however, topped the survey in terms of listenership shares in Sec A, Sec A+B and Sec A+B+C, recording 8.3 lakh listeners in the three sections. The total daily listenership of Radio Mirchi comes up to 11.8 lakh. This was followed by Vividh Bharti which recorded 6.8 lakh listeners. FM 1 followed with 5.9 lakh listeners and other private players recorded a total of 3.4 lakh listeners put together. Significantly, Radio Mirchi`s listenership is more than three times that of other private FM stations in Sec A+B+C, and four times that of other private players in the 15-24 and 15-34 age bracket. Importantly, independent research by ORG MARG indicates that Radio Mirchi has managed to go past Vividh Bharti, in terms of Top of Mind recall among Sec A listeners -- 2.6 lakh listeners compared to 70,000 for Vividh Bharti. Radio Mirchi recorded the highest (37%) Top of Mind recall, while FM 1 followed with 23%. Vividh Bharti recorded a recall of 18%, while other private players registered less than 7% each. Commenting on private FM broadcast in the country, ORG-Marg Nielsen vice-president Nehal Medh said, ``These are still early days for private radio in India. Private players will have to find a niche for themselves in the market either in programming quality in or in terms of quantity, mass reach. Presently, Radio Mirchi is the only private FM station that has done well in the research.`` The report also indicates that radio listenership is higher on Sundays with average listening time at 112 minutes, while the average time spent listening on a weekday is 96 minutes. The research, conducted in Mumbai between June 4 and June 30, sampled 930 radio listeners above the age group of 15. It further revealed that Radio Mirchi reported the highest number of male and female listeners among private players. Radio Mirchi recorded a total of 11.8 lakh listeners, 7.3 lakh men and 4.5 lakh women. This is followed by Radiocity, which has a total of 2.1 lakh listeners, 1.2 men and 0.9 lakh women. Asked whether the deluge of mini radio sets in the market had anything to do with the soaring number of radio listeners in the city, Mr Medh said: ``When the research was conducted, mini radio sets had just been introduced in the market. Moreover, our research showed that most people listen to radio at home. The impact of the influx of radio sets in the market will be revealed in the next survey which will be conducted in three months.`` Going by the results of the research, it`s clear that the base for private FM Radio in the country is deepening as well as widening — a sure enough sign that the medium is catching on. (via Alokesh Gupta, New Delhi, India, dx_india Aug 12 via DXLD) Yeh Akashwani hai... -------------------- VANDANA SHUKLA TIMES NEWS NETWORK [ SATURDAY, JULY 27, 2002 12:46:11 AM ] In many a homes across India, 75 years back the day began and ended with Akashwani. Today in this e-age though the visual medium has stamped its dominance all over, sound waves still continue to resound and the popularity graph is growing. For this medium provides a charm none other can match. This week All-India Radio (AIR) completed 75 years of service in India, having offered countless hours of music, drama, entertainment, news, sports commentaries, education views and talks by luminaries to its listeners. The event, though, passed without making much fuss. ``AIR has been like a parent; responsible, educating and winning trust over the years, it enjoys a close bond with its listeners. In an age when people don`t write letters to even close relatives, we continue to receive bagfuls, everyday,`` says Station Director, Chandigarh, AIR, Dr K C Dubey. For loyal listeners, this is a time for a nostalgic trip to a time when there was only the power of sound, developed like an art to create complete impression of events, without the aid of a visual. When listening was believing... ``The shehnai refrain aired from AIR heralding a new day every morning makes me swell with pride. Radio has been a close partner on the front, it has played a major role in our lives. When there were no amenities, there was radio, the news from radio was like gospel, and special fauji programmes always remained a great hit among the forces,`` says Brig Kuldeep Chandpuri. The medium with large mass-based appeal is making a come back. Like gramophones, people are retrieving old radio sets placing them in drawing rooms as a fashion statement. ``For our sponsored programmes with cash rewards we received response from eight different states. The phone in programme, Hello Chandigarh, is so popular among the young. They don`t get a turn for months, as our lines remain jammed with calls on Mondays,`` says Programme executive AIR, Poonamjeet. ``UNICEF conducted a survey where they found that 25 per cent people responded to polio plus programme after listening to radio. Our commercial services are cheaper than any other form of advertisement and that accounts for their popularity,`` comments Baljeet Kaur, another programme executive. From rickshawallah and paanwallah`s small transistor to expensive satellite radios, the unpredictability of aired music and easy accessibility is helping radio revive. ``Radio has immense contribution in shaping musical sensibility of our generation. With the largest archives of Indian music with them, AIR will always remain a favourite,`` says Kamal Tiwari, singer and music composer. ``This was the golden era of sound, when Amin Sayani`s Cibaca Geetmala, Devki Nandan Pandey`s news, Jasdev Singh`s cricket commentary and Melville De Mello`s January 26 parade commentary enriched our language and imagination, that era is gone,`` says Manjeet, a radio buff. How can listeners ever get over mornings that begin with Vande mataram, move on to Sher-e nagma, evenings filled with Jaimala and Hawa Mahal and end with the old melodies of Chhayageet. The radio beckons.... ----------------------------------------------------- GROW YOUNG GREY AIR -------------------- SHABNAM MINWALLA TIMES NEWS NETWORK [ SATURDAY, JULY 27, 2002 10:47:28 PM ] On a rainy Saturday, 75 years ago, Bombay`s swingers eagerly made their way to the Sir Cowasji Jehangir Hall. The evening promised not just dinner and dancing but an encounter with a magical technology — the wireless. Some distance away at Radio House in Apollo Bunder, the new studio with its grand piano and unfamiliar equipment was a flurry of VIPs and violins. At 6 pm, Lord Irwin, the viceroy of India, stepped up to the clunky microphone and inaugurated the services of the Indian Broadcasting Company. History, as well as some hiss and crackle, was created on July 23, 1927. But crowds who had paid eight annas and gathered at CJ Hall heard none of it. A defective wire pooped the wireless party and The Times of India reported: ``The audience left the hall disappointed``. The disgruntled crowds may not exactly have gone radio gaga. But that brave, little enterprise survived, grew into the omnipresent All India Radio (AIR) and is today celebrating its Platinum Jubilee. ``From a single studio in Colaba we are now a network of over 200 broadcasting centres,`` says Vijay Dixit, deputy director general of AIR in Mumbai. ``We cover 99 per cent of the geographical area of the country and touch hearts and lives.`` Certainly, for fishermen on the high seas and victims of natural disasters, AIR remains a critical lifeline. While corners of rural India, disdainfully bypassed by roads, electricity and education, depend on their boxy transistors for a glimpse of the outside world. There is, in fact, a delightful story about farmers in South India who grew rice following the instructions of AIR experts. The name of this new variety? Radio Rice, of course. Indeed, even Mumbaikars who have succumbed to the spicy flavours of FM and psychedelic charms of MTV turn misty-eyed over the good old days of `Cricket with Vijay Merchant`. The AIR signature tune, played on the violin, viola and tanpura, is braided into childhood memories — just as the `Bournvita Quiz Contest` is the soundtrack of sepia-tinted Sunday afternoons. Ameen Sayani, one of the best-loved voices of AIR, has his own favourite memories. ``When I was in a boarding school in Gwalior in the `40s, we often sat in the common room and listened to the `farmaishi` programme,`` he says. ``Our requests never made it. But I remember the exciting feeling that our names might be announced any minute.`` The gradual spread of transmitters and broadcasting stations ensured that on August 15, 1947, huge numbers were able to participate as Pandit Nehru declared: ``At the stroke of midnight, when the world sleeps, India will awake to life and freedom.`` AIR`s most compelling hour came a few months later, however, after the assassination of Mahatma Gandhi. Thousands around the country tuned in to Melville de Mellow`s moving, marathon commentary of the funeral. The first I&B minister of free India should logically have liberated radio. Instead, Sardar Patel promptly banned musicians ``whose private life was a public scandal`` and instructed national songs be played instead of ``sentimental rubbish and ridiculous drolleries``. B V Keskar took the extreme step of banning Hindi film music. The introduction of the entertainment-oriented Vividh Bharati in 1957 and sponsored programmes in the `70s did bring back audiences -- but not the old ferment and enthusiasm. And eventually, as The Buggles oldie goes, ``Video killed the radio star``. Old-timers, believe that a revival is possible. Says Sayani, ``If we wake up quickly enough we can still use this powerful medium to create change — to drive the economic, social, cultural renaissance that we desperately need. (via Alokesh Gupta, New Delhi, India, dx_india via DXLD) ** INDONESIA. 3905, RRI Merauke, fade-in here at 1145 UT, under Radio New Ireland-PNG (s-off 1203* UT). 1200 UT RRI Jakarta relay, "Dynamica Indonesia" till 1228 UT. 1229 ID + QRGs + FM. Increased signal around 1240 UT up to S=9 +10 dB! Modulation good (Roland Schulze, Mangaldan, Philippines, Aug 10, BC-DX via DXLD) ** INTERNATIONAL VACUUM. No surprise but I don't know if you all have heard given there has been a lot of talk on the list about the future of satellite radio. http://www.radioink.com/HeadlineEntry.asp?hid=89874&pt=Ink+Headlines (Ulis Fleming, Maryland USA, Aug 15, swprograms via DXLD) Reuters blew the report --- it was inaccurate. Stock almost doubled in price yesterday, gaining back all it lost. That's not to say all is well with it! :-) (John Figliozzi, NY, ibid.) SIRIUS SATELLITE RADIO SHARES BOUNCE BACK http://www.freepress.com/entertainment/tvandradio/satrad16_20020816.htm (via Mike Cooper, DXLD) ** INTERNATIONAL VACUUM. NEWINGTON, CT, Aug 15, 2002 -- Amateur Radio operators have been invited to listen in as scientists bounce radio signals off an asteroid that's about to make a "flyby" of Earth. The so-called 2002 NY40 asteroid will come close enough to Earth that it will be visible to sky watchers using binoculars. But because asteroids reflect but a tiny fraction of the light that strikes their surface, a team at the Arecibo Radio Observatory in Puerto Rico will attempt to "ping" the satellite with radio signals as it approaches Earth. "We will be transmitting about 900 kW with 73 dB of gain towards the asteroid," Mike Nolan of the Arecibo Radio Observatory told ARRL. "The transmitted signal will be such that the received signal comes back centered at 2380.0000000 MHz at the ground station we're aiming for-- usually either Arecibo or the Green Bank Telescope." Nolan said the signal would be either CW or phase-coded at a bandwidth of up to 20 MHz. "We will be transmitting most of the time when the asteroid is within 20 degrees of zenith at Arecibo on August 15-20." UPDATE: Nolan said this week that other priorities may interfere with his ability to devote as much time to this observation as he'd originally hoped. He said an effort may be made to transmit "some CW" at about 1800 UTC on August 18, but he added the time was not firm. The idea is to generate a three-dimensional map of the asteroid and to determine its orbit. 2002 NY40 is expected to come its closest to Earth on August 18, when it will be more than 300,000 miles away. "This will be the brightest such observation in the last year or so, so it would be a good one for people to try," said Nolan, who's already been talking to one amateur who plans to try to track 2002 NY40. But the scientist conceded he's not sure what kinds of data to expect from the amateur community. "In principle, it would be great to have lots of stations observing," he said. "In practice, I don't really know how to do it, since it depends on the recording capability, which will be different at each station. The 2002 NY40 asteroid reportedly measures about one-half mile across. It was only discovered about a month ago. The asteroid follows an orbit that is said to range from the asteroid belt to the inner solar system. NASA's Neo program page http://neo.jpl.nasa.gov/orbits/ can help viewers locate 2002 NY40 in the sky. Additional information on 2002 NY40 is on the Science@NASA Web site http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2002/30jul_ny40.htm (ARRL via Mike Terry, DXLD) ** INTERNATIONAL WATERS [non]. International Lighthouse / Lightship Weekend This Weekend It is International Lighthouse / Lightship Weekend this weekend, the 17th and 18th of August. Nearly 300 stations are expected to be active from lighthouses and lightships in around 40 countries. Among the UK stations are GB2SCA from the lamp room at the top of Scarborough lighthouse. Activity is on 40 metres SSB and CW and on 2 metres and 70 centimetres SSB and FM. The station is operated by members of the Scarborough Special Events Group. Further details can be obtained from Roy, G4SSH, on 07881 542 532 during the event. He says that the group especially welcomes calls from Intermediate and Foundation licence holders. GB2NCL is located on board the North Carr Lightship, which is the home of the Dundee Amateur Radio Club during the holiday season. GB2LCP is being operated by members of the Wigtownshire Amateur Radio Club from Corsewall Point Lighthouse. Portland Amateur Radio club is operating as GB2PBL from Portland Bill Lighthouse on HF, VHF and UHF. The club has applied for a permanent special event callsign for the lighthouse, and hopes to set up a permanent station in the lighthouse visitor centre. And GB4HL is on the air from Hurst Light at Hurst Castle on the West Solent. The station is using CW and SSB on HF, and SSB, FM and RTTY on 6 and 2 metres. GB4HL will be on the air until Wednesday the 21st of August. For further details please contact Selwyn Cox, G7MXG, on 07778 354976. Next year the International Lighthouse / Lightship Weekend will be held over the weekend of the 16th and 17th of August 2003 (RSGB via Mike Terry, DXLD) Hi, I copied the following light ships and light houses so far: 7057 0705 DF0MF Light ship Amrumbank, Emden, Germany 7046.5 0717 GB0BHL Beachy Head light, UK 7046.5 0720 GB2SJ Souter light, North Yorks, UK 7054.5 0736 GB2SCA Scarborough light, UK 7060.5 0818 DL0PBS Memmert light, Germany 7074 0828 PA6URK Urk light, Netherlands More lighthouse logs [as of 1247 UT]: 7091.5 GB2NBL: New Brighton Lighthouse, UK 7083 GX3IRC: Royal Navy Cadets training ship TS Orwell, UK 7063.5 PI4WAL: Westkapelle light, Netherlands 7063.5 G0SGB: Killingholme lights (3 lighthouses), UK 7072.5 GB2TBW: Trinity Buoy Wharf, UK 7049.5 GB0GDL: Glasson Dock lt, UK (Ary Boender, Netherlands, Aug 17, BDXC via DXLD) ** KAZAKHSTAN [non]. 9775, Radio DAT new station! 0110 Russian ID- "Vy slushaete Radio DAT - svobodnoe radio dlya svobodnogo Kazakhstana..." (Mak active_dx via Klepov RUS-DX via Cumbre DX) Internet : http://datradio.com Radio DAT - independent radio of Kazakhstan. "..DAT in Kazakh means a demand to have a right to speak. Schedule : 0100-0200 and 1500-1600 UTC on 31 m.b. + Internet (Mikhaylov dx_bistro via Klepov RUS-DX via Cumbre DX) Tried 0100 here Aug 16, blocked by what sounded like VOA in special English (Hans Johnson, WY, Cumbre DX Aug 16 via DXLD) Radio DAT has website http://datradio.com (also in English). They say on air: "Svobodnoe radio dlya svobodnogo Kazakhstana" ("Free radio for free Kazakhstan"). I don't know, but maybe they founded by the democratic opposition of Kazakhstan. And they are not militant. e-mail from website: info@d... [truncated by yahoogroups; guess] (A. Mak, Ukraine, Aug 15, 2002 for Clandestine Radio Watch via DXLD) I'm a bit puzzled about location of transmitter. Reporter is from western Ukraine. Did not heard myself yet (0410 LMT is not a good time for working man, he...) (V. G. Titarev, Ukraine, Aug 14, 2002 for CRW via DXLD) Russian language programmes of a new station of Kazakhstan opposition "Radio DAT" noted 0100-0200 and 1500-1600 UT 9775 kHz. First 30 minutes of political talks mostly anti-president, then repeat. Signal in Moscow is good enough (K. Gusev, Russia, Aug 15, 2002 for CRW via DXLD) This afternoon at 1526 UT I picked up a station identification for "Radio Dat", a new clandestine station for Kazakhstan. The frequency was 9775 kHz. It was dominated by CNR, and the Russian-language programming of Radio DAT was very weak. For more information about the station, check out http://www.dxing.info/news/index.dx#dat and an audio file of the station identification at http://www.dxing.info/audio/clandestine/9775_Dat.rm Does anyone know the transmitter site? Or more info on what organization is behind the station? (Mika Mäkeläinen, Vantaa, Finland, Aug 16, DXing.info via DXLD) ** KYRGYZSTAN. 4010 11.8. -1800* Kyrgystan R, Bishkek. Also 4050 was again in operation, with a more youth-oriented musical selection (Jari Lehtinen, Lahti, Finland, hard-core-dx via DXLD) ** MEXICO. 540, XESURF, BCN, Tijuana, 8/17 0350 PDT, Excellent signal with ID "You're listening to the Surf, equis-eh-esse-uh-ehre-effe (XESURF)". Call change ex-XEBACH. Looks like they kept a 6-letter call! Hope everyone is having a good time at IRCA convention... (Robert Wien, CA, IRCA via DXLD) ** NETHERLANDS [and non]. Transmitter news: Once again we're been having transmitter problems at Flevo. It's likely that we'll again be using German sites over the weekend, while colleagues from Nozema work on fixing the problem(s). Hopefully you will not notice much difference in reception. Digital Radio Mondiale Tests from Bonaire in stereo mode have ended. The regular DRM test transmission from Juelich will be replaced on 17/18 August by a transmission at 1200-1500 UT on 15715 kHz, beamed 30 degrees towards Finland. This is in connection with a DRM demonstration at the EDXC Conference in Pori. For other recent changes in the DRM test schedule, see our DRM pages. http://www.rnw.nl/realradio/html/drm_latest.html (Andy Sennitt, Media Network Newsletter Aug 16 via DXLD) ** OKLAHOMA [and non]. Re: ``If there is a KUAL-LP in Enid on 104.7, how can there be another KUAL in Baxter, Minnesota? As detailed here: http://www.mwpersons.com/Stations/WJJY/index.html (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST)`` --- Because of the suffix. The Enid station looks to be the primary call sign holder, but I guess all low power stations have to take the LP suffix? The Minnesota station (a 25 kW Class C3 station) took the FM suffix because it got the calls in Jan. 2002. The Enid low power station got its calls in 2001. Also, the Minnesota station would have had to have gotten permission to get the KUAL calls either from KUAL-LP (if it is the primary call sign holder) or the real primary call sign holder (maybe an AM station or Coast Guard ship that has since changed calls). Sounds confusing, doesn't it? (OKCityRadio.com Aug 16, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Let`s catch up on some other OK news from http://www.okcityradio.com - -- there is a lot more there, much of it concerning FM format changes, DJ stunts, etc. Nothing seen about 1210 Guymon moving to Tulsa instead of OKC (gh) July 28, 2002 Update: KOKC AM 1490 Returns To The Air KOKC AM 1490 Guthrie has returned to the air. On Sunday, July 28, the station was carrying syndicated religious programming from Jimmy Swaggart's SonLife Radio Network http://www.jsm.org The station had Special Temporary Authority to stay silent because of financial reasons. That extension was to end August 4. June 22, 2002 Update: KOMA AM Announces Bill O'Reilly on komanews.com KOMA-AM 1520 has added TV/radio talk show host Bill O'Reilly, the station's new site http://www.komanews.com confirms. The station simulcasts oldies KOMA-FM 92.5 the rest of the time. These developments add fuel to rumors that KOMA-AM will flip to news/talk in the future. The above logo is now at komanews.com. June 19, 2002 Update: KEBC-KTLV Swap Approved By FCC Clear Channel's trade of KEBC-AM 1340 (time-brokered Spanish/Urban) for First Choice Broadcasting's KTLV-AM 1220 (Religous) has been approved by the FCC. Presumably after the public comment period, each company would assume control of its new facility. As reported in OKCityRadio.com earlier (see Clear Channel, KTLV Make AM Swap To Make Room For The New 1210 AM), KTLV will cease operations. June 18, 2002 Update: KOMA AM Adds CBS News To Top Of The Hour KOMA-AM 1520 has added CBS News to the top of the hour. The station simulcasts oldies KOMA-FM 92.5 the rest of the time. However, 100000watts.comis reporting that KOMA-AM has added TV/radio talk show host Bill O'Reilly. This has not been confirmed. In March, the station registered komanews.com. These developments add fuel to rumors that KOMA-AM will flip to news/talk in the future. May 31, 2002 Update: Clear Channel, KTLV Make AM Swap To Make Room For The New 1210 AM It appears KGYN-AM 1210 from Guymon will get FCC approval to move to Oklahoma City. Future owner Clear Channel Radio (currently LMAing the station) is making sure it makes the trek and is able to boost its power to 50kw. Clear Channel is swapping KEBC-AM 1340 (time-brokered Spanish/Urban) for First Choice Broadcasting's KTLV-AM 1220 (Religious). Once the transfer goes through, KTLV will cease operations. So when will the ball begin rolling? "This is a matter that will be determined by the FCC and Clear Channel," KTLV owner Dale Williams told OKCityRadio.com. " I have no timeline on when this will occur." There is no word if the current time-brokered programming on KEBC will land somewhere else. It is Radio Caliente (Spanish) during the day and simulcasts KVSP-AM 1140's "Power Jammin' Network" (Urban) at night. Despite objections from groups in Texas, the move is rolling through the FCC red tape. The new 1210 AM, rumored to become the new KTOK, will have a very directional pattern with 10 kw at night. The new KGYN will be co-located with KTOK-AM 1000 in Moore. There is also a message board, whence, e.g.: Anyone notice the Tulsa Ratings? I found out the effect of KFAQ's news/talk format change - they dropped from a strong 6.0 to a 3.7 in this months book, good for 11th place. I think this is the first time I have seen 1170 out of the Tulsa Top 10 in YEARS. Who was really helped by KVOO's format change? KRMG gained .9 points, and KVOO-FM gained .3 points. BTW Tulsa is ripe for a Classic Country FM ala OKC's KKNG (Billy G., 8/5/02 5:03 p.m., OKCityRadio.com via DXLD) ** OKLAHOMA. KOMA-FM 92.5 Oklahoma City correctly plays oldies in true stereo, or mono as the records might have been produced. I enjoyed hearing ``Oklahoma!`` on the station as we drove into town last month. While on my trek south last month, I was on a tour of Clear Channel facilities in OKC. We were actually upstairs of the radio stations, visiting the farm network CC has taken over. Its main competition is the Brownfield Networks, but from OKC programs go out to stations in several states. It was a weekend and nobody was there. We didn`t tour the radio stations, but the tour host thought only one or two people might be in the building for the several station complex. Most of the stations were voice tracked or otherwise automated. CC is not the family company it once was. Early on, Lowry Mays would come by and meet each employee. Lately, however, memos from the company have become impersonal, and many employees let go. Morale is said to be low. This was contrasted with a tour of Citadel stations in OKC, where live jocks were found, and voice tracking used sparingly. ``Wild 97.9,`` KKWD Edmond-OKC, was pointed out as being especially live (Bruce Elving, Aug FMedia! via DXLD) ** PAPUA NEW GUINEA. 4890, 5, 11.8. etc. 1910- NBC Boroko. Starts the broadcast with Radio Australia program. Waltzing Mathilda at 1958, and finally 2000 UTC begins the NBC program. Very good signal (Jari Lehtinen, Lahti, Finland, hard-core-dx via DXLD) ** PARAGUAY. Dear Mr Glenn Hauser: Greetings from Paraguay! To advise that we continue testing on the frequencies of 1610 and 7300 KHZ, from Villeta. On week-days, these two frequencies are on-air most of the day. At times, there are interruptions, for construction, between the hours of 1400 and 2030 UTC, approximately. On weekends, these frequencies are on-air, around-the-clock. The frequency 15185 KHZ continues to be dormant, temporarily. We hope to restore operations, shortly. Depending upon results of propagation from 15185 KHZ, we hope to continue testing on it, or resume testing on 7740 KHZ, with which we obtained excellent results, previously. The frequency 1610 KHZ serves the Paraguay and Argentina region. The frequency 7300 KHZ is beamed at 184 degrees, from Magnetic North (Buenos Aires). The frequency 15185 KHZ is omnidirectional. The frequency 7740 KHZ would be beamed toward 310 degrees, from Magnetic North (La Paz). Regular broadcasts continue from Ñemby, on 1480 KHZ, on-air the 24 hours of the day. With best wishes! Maiteípa! (Adán Mur, Technical Advisor, Radiodifusión América, Asunción, Paraguay ramerica@rieder.net.py Aug 17 via DXLD) I.e., only on weekends is 7300 on after dark and propagationable ... propagatable? (gh, DXLD) ** PERU. 5940, 11.8. 0030- R Bethel, Arequipa. A simple ID between the religious programs. 5996, 11.8. 0011- R Melodía, Arequipa. Finally with a decent strength. ID after every record. 73's (Jari Lehtinen, Lahti, Finland, hard-core-dx via DXLD) ** POLAND [non]. RADIO MARYJA'S 'INFLUENTIAL FUNDAMENTALIST'... In 1990, Father Tadeusz Rydzyk started Radio Maryja in Torun as a local radio station; in 1993, the station received a concession for broadcasting nationwide. Today, Radio Maryja claims a regular listenership of 14 percent of adult Poles (some 4 million people) and touts itself as the most influential Catholic media outlet in Poland. The weekly "Wprost" called Father Rydzyk -- who remains the head of Radio Maryja -- "the most influential religious fundamentalist in Europe." ("RFE/RL Poland, Belarus and Ukraine Report," 13 August) ...EVANGELIZING BUNDESWEHR... The daily "Gazeta Wyborcza" on 7 August ran a report asserting that Radio Maryja is also spreading the gospel to Germany's Bundeswehr. "This is Radio Maryja, the Catholic voice in your home." These words, in Polish, were reportedly heard some time ago by a Luftwaffe pilot during a routine flight on the short-wave frequency 7,400 kilohertz, which is used by the Bundeswehr for military communications. It took some time for the Bundeswehr to identify the station interfering with Luftwaffe messages, but the German Defense Ministry eventually turned for help to the Polish General Staff. In turn, General Lech Konopka asked the National Radio and Television Broadcasting Council Chairman Juliusz Braun for an explanation. ("RFE/RL Poland, Belarus and Ukraine Report," 13 August) ...FROM RUSSIA... Father Rydzyk's explanation "stupefied everyone," according to "Gazeta Wyborcza." The radio signal on the 7,400- kilohertz frequency is transmitted not from Poland but from the Russian Federation. In line with a license issued by the Russian Media Ministry and an agreement signed in 1997 with the RTRS company it owns, the transmitters used by Father Rydzyk's network are located in Krasnodar (southern Russia). Radio Maryja broadcasts in Poland on UHF frequencies; its license does not allow for its signal to be emitted on short waves, which have become less popular. It remains a mystery why Father Rydzyk needs a short-wave transmission as well ("RFE/RL Poland, Belarus and Ukraine Report," 13 August) ...TOTALLY LEGALLY. "Everything is in line with the law," "Gazeta Wyborcza" quoted experts from the National Radio and Television Broadcasting Council as saying. "The Polish broadcaster, who did not have the possibility to broadcast on short waves in Poland, obtained such a license in Russia and broadcasts into Poland [from there]," the daily related. "Before the Radio Maryja signal reaches Poland, it passes many countries on its way. One can confidently claim that Radio Maryja primarily targets Catholics who live east of the Bug River [which runs along a portion of Poland's border with Belarus and Ukraine]. The evangelization of German troops is a side effect." ("RFE/RL Poland, Belarus and Ukraine Report," 13 August; all via RFE/RL Media Matters Aug 16 via DXLD) ** RUSSIA. A DICTIONARY OF THEIR OWN At a ceremony at Moscow's Historical Museum on Red Square on 14 August, representatives of dozens of women's organizations presented the newly published "Dictionary of Gender Terms," "Izvestiya" reported the next day. "The publication of this dictionary is really something of a revolutionary event for our country," said Nadezhda Azhgikhina, co-chairwoman of the Association of Women Journalists. "Earlier, discussions were constantly arising over what 'gender' means, and many people confused it with the word 'tender' [another English cognate in the sense of 'a competitive bidding process']." The new dictionary includes lengthy definitions of terms such as "workplace discrimination," "gender quotas," and "men's-rights movement." According to Azhgikhina, more than 30 million Russians currently receive assistance from nongovernmental organizations and "the majority of those who work in such organizations are women." ("RFE/RL Newsline," 15 August via RFE/RL Media Matters Aug 16 via DXLD) ** SOUTH AFRICA. SPRINGBOK RADIO SPRINGS BACK TO LIFE [by] Barbara Cole Springbok Radio is back on the air, thanks to the efforts of the station's biggest fan in Durban, avid listener Kevan Mardon. "I have been waiting 17 years for this to happen," said Mardon, the proud owner of the original Springbok Radio gong - it told listeners the exact time at the next stroke - and a mass of other memorabilia. It was a sad day for Mardon when the station finally went off the air at the end of l985, after 35 years of entertaining the nation with quizzes, comedy, drama, science fiction, music and speciality shows. Listeners had started to turn off their radios at night, preferring to watch television instead. Mardon, who had by then accumulated a collection of programme recordings, vowed that the memory of his favourite station would never fade. Armed with that famous gong, Mardon has since given more than 350 talks about his pet subject, often having his audience in tears of laughter as he recounted his own special memories. Now Mardon and Frans Erasmus, webmaster of the Springbok Radio website http://www.pumamouse.com/springbokradio have managed to get the station back on the air. The SABC has given permission for programmes to be aired on the Radio Today Community Station being broadcast from Johannesburg every Thursday night for the next year. Mardon's recordings have been put on CD for the shows. There are all the old favourites: Inspector Carr Investigates, Men From the Ministry, The Creaking Door... Thursday night's programme includes the comedy, Taxi (7pm), and the crime drama series Squad Cars (7.30pm). Published on the Web by IOL on 2002-08-14 08:17:31 © Independent Online 2002. (South Africa) (via Kim Elliott, DXLD) That`s nice, but it`s not really back unless it`s on SW (gh, DXLD) ** SYRIA [non]. From this issue 12115/12085/9950 reports are filed here rather than UNIDENTIFIED (gh) There is also a lot of news about a new station against Syria. CRW received a log about this by a Japanese reader already on July 13 but I did not recognize the importance of this unID-log and did not use it. Sorry, Junichi! (Martin Schoech / CRW Aug 16 via DXLD) Viz.: Voice of Home I wanted to mention a station in Arabic at 1500-1530 UT on 12085 kHz (SIO 344). This is the frequency of Damascus but this seems to be a different station. On some days Damascus is also heard on same frequency in the background. Will send you more on this if I find out anything? (J. Kobe, Japan, Jul 13, 2002 for CRW Aug 16 via DXLD) I continue to hear the unID station and has increased its broadcasts. 0330-0400 on 9950 and 1500-1530 on 12085 and 12110. It is mostly Arabic music but some speech and a web site is given but I cannot understand what they say apart from www. Did you hear of anyone else receiving it? (J. Kobe-JPN Aug 1, 2002 for CRW Aug 16 via DXLD) Suppose the following logging is actually our non-Syrian station (gh) EGYPT. 9950 RADIO CAIRO Aug 12 0350 AA 333 OM w/rapid comments, mx interludes, then back to comments (WDX6AA, Japan Premium via DXLD) ** TAIWAN. The Radio Taipei International radio play described in the eTaiwanNews.com report can be heard on-demand at http://www.cbs.org.tw/english/index.htm (Kim Elliott, DC, Aug 16, swprograms via DXLD) ** TIBET. Dear DX friends, August 15, 2002: received holy Tibet at 0700 to 0720 UT in English - both in 49 and 31 Meter band [9490]: SINPO was for 44444 in 49 meter band and for 44434 in 31 meter band: starting announcement was follows: "You are listening to holy Tibet, China Tibet People's broadcast company - let's you visit to the roof of the world -window to the life of Tibet". Today they featured "Nachu prefecture" - the geography (location) -Nachithom - the capital city - then a Tibetan song, history of it, its peoples and places, Mines/Ores available (antimony, copper, gold, boron, also available - diamond, ruby, cats eye etc.). It has China's largest antimony production base. Then they announced as follows, "our programme will be broadcasted at 3:00 pm, will be re-broadcasted at 7:00 pm and 10:30 pm, from Monday to Saturday... [I thought Tibet at least had independence from China`s absurd nationwide UT+8 timezone, at UT+6 since it is so far west, but since the English show has been monitored at 0700, 1100 and 1630, the conversion for times quoted here would be: if UT+8, 0700, 1100, 1430; if UT+6, 0900, 1300 and 1630. It looks as if the two are mixed --- gh] ...if you have any comments or suggestions, please write to: Holy Tibet, Foreign Affairs Office, China Tibet Peoples Broadcast Company, Lhasa 850000." Then the hostess read a letter from a Japanese listener Mr. Mashato Ishi in which he wrote the frequency - but I didn't understood the numbers - he listened on 26th June 2002. Then the program ended. The hostess was Ms. Zhuin Dighi. The reception is strong and steady here all the time; I also noted the transmission continues major part of day presumably in Tibetan. Yes, on August 17, 2002 the hostess read another letter from Sweden by "Mr. Loss Chokeman" who wrote he listened Holy Tibet on 26th June 2002 on 6130 kHz, with good signal and good programming. That makes sense - the 49 mb frequency is 6130 kHz. I use tiny poor analogue receiver no-digital read out so the frequencies are based on announcements or schedules, and my location is 26N44 Latitude & 88E26 Longitude (South Asia - CIRAF Zone 41A,42B). That's all for now! A long letter, if you found any error, (although I have checked twice)- please kick my speech recognition software not me- ha! Ha! Ha! My Postal address is: Partha Sarathi Goswami, Kishalay Book Stall, College Road, Siliguri- 734401, Dist: Darjeeling, West Bengal, India ------- This is Partha Sarathi Goswami signing off for Now! ===== (Partha sarathi Goswami, El Nino Electronics DX Club http://dear.to/dx http://www.elnino.gq.nu Aug 17, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** TIBET. 5240 12.8. 1630-1650* China Tibet BC, Lhasa. English program "Holy Tibet" told us the height of nearly every mountain peak in Tibet. Also //6130//7385 (Jari Lehtinen, Lahti, Finland, hard-core- dx via DXLD) ** TURKEY. Recently I received a QSL from Voice Of Turkey on 13-15 July, 2002 at 2030 UT on 9525 kHz depicting "Fethiye, the Dead Sea" with 2 program schedules. On the first page there is a photo of Turkish national football team, the second runner-up in the FIFA 2002 World Cup (Partha Sarathi Goswami, Siliguri, India, Aug 17, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U K. During the first few days of the 'Fivemegs Experiment' a large number of NoV holders have made contacts with each other across the UK. Radio amateurs in other countries are showing great interest in this experiment, but we must make it absolutely clear that this has been authorised in order that we may carry out propagation investigations, antenna experiments and some emergency radio training within the UK. At the present time a very small number of US radio amateurs are authorised to conduct similar experiments under the group callsign WA2XSY. We know of no other amateur stations outside the UK who have any authority to call in. Some UK military cadet training stations are authorised to operate with us and their style of callsign is detailed in the 'Procedural Notes' accompanying the NoV. NoV holders are advised that the NoV document issued by the RA is correct in terms of the channel edges specified, and NoV holders should not increase their dial frequencies by up to 2kHz, as has been requested by some Air Training Corps stations. If you encounter problems with inter-service communications, or if you have any other queries, please contact Gordon Adams, G3LEQ, the RSGB Spectrum Director, on 01 565 652 652 or by e-mail to: fivemegs@ntlworld.com (RSGB via Mike Terry, Aug 17, DXLD) See also INTERNATIONAL WATERS non ** U K. DIGITAL RADIO AND ME Friday, 16 August, 2002, 14:43 GMT 15:43 UK By Darryl Chamberlain, BBC News Online entertainment staff With the launch of the BBC's latest digital radio station, 1Xtra, what life there is out on the digital airwaves? It's like being part of a very exclusive club. I don't know anyone else who has a digital radio, and I don't know anyone who knows anyone else with one either. But just before Christmas, I had a rush of blood to the head and treated myself to an early present. The choice of stations is bigger - especially in London, which admittedly has always been spoilt for choice for radio stations. The reception is perfect - a bonus for anyone that's had to put up with lousy FM signals which get gatecrashed by pirate stations at the weekend. The manufacturers recommend buying a dedicated aerial - something they don't tell you in the publicity - but my FM aerial on the roof works just fine. Mind you, my radio did forget where it was and tried to pick up Essex stations over the weekend, ending in a stuttering digital mess. A quick retune fixed that, though. Rather than select a frequency, you simply select a station by name - on my Pure Digital set, you do that by turning a wheel. The little digital display shows the name of the station, and it can offer scrolling messages too. Many stations tell you the name of the track that's playing, a simple idea that comes in very handy. Others give you information about the programme - suddenly Radio 3 isn't so mysterious. Some just regurgitate the station's slogan. . There's a long waiting list for the £99 Pure Evoke 1 digital radio So far, so good. But are the radio stations on offer worth forking out the cash for? Or waiting a couple of months for? John Lewis in Oxford Street, London is telling customers they will have to wait for up to 10 weeks to pick up one of the new £99 sets. The stations come in groups of about eight called multiplexes. One multiplex is for national BBC stations, and one for national commercial stations. There may also be least one "local" multiplex, varying from area to area, featuring more stations. London has three extra multiplexes. The BBC's digital stations - aside from Radios 1, 2, 3, 4 and Five Live - are Five Live Sports Extra - handy for picking up extra football commentary and Test Match Special - and 6 Music, whose mixture of new music and classic tracks is a breath of fresh air. Digital radio facts The BBC has been broadcasting digital services since 1995 Commercial services started in 1999 Digital radio uses the same frequencies as 405-line TV did [???? Like 45 MHz? or Band I, III in general? I think not -- gh] 80% of the UK can get digital radio Many digital-only stations are also available via the internet and digital TV With star presenters including Phill Jupitus and Sean Hughes, 6 Music alone may well be worth the cost of going digital if you take your music seriously. There's 1Xtra, Radio 1's urban music spin-off, and the World Service too. The Asian Network - currently only on AM in parts of England - and a comedy and drama station are to to come. Over on the commercial side, things are a little hazier. Classic FM, Talksport and Virgin are already there - digital broadcasts are a boon for Virgin, stuck on AM across most of the country. Alongside these is a strange mix. Oneword broadcasts novels, short stories, poetry, non-fiction, discussion, comedy and features - the David to Radio 4's Goliath. Bloomberg provides financial news, while Planet Rock is a surprisingly varied mix of harder sounds from the 60s to the 80s. Poodle perms are welcome here without embarrassment. You can listen to Steve Wright on Radio 2 on digital radio PrimeTime, an easy listening station, is reminiscent of Radio 2 before Steve Wright came along. But there the variety ends. Life says it is "contemporary music for individual, confident, aspirational adults". Actually, it's like a watered-down version of your annoying local pop station. And Core is exactly like your annoying local pop station. After that, what you get varies around the country. But don't expect to hear many opportunities for local talent beyond your regular BBC or independent stations, which will also feature. Some are simply London stations rolled out across the country, like Sunrise (Asian), Kiss (dance) and Xfm (rock). Either Classic Gold or Capital Gold are likely to appear as well - maybe both - along with Saga Radio (more easy listening), Heart (soft pop) and Magic (softer pop). Others have sales pitches which are more interesting than their stations - "The Storm is for anyone who lives life to the limit and loves great no-frills music". While Smash Hits! and Ministry of Sound seem to be little more than cunning brand extensions. Club life: Purple brings house beats to London But it isn't all clones of existing stations. Children's radio gets a look-in with Abaracadabra, student radio breaks through with SBN, while Londoners can get the sound of gay club life pumped into their homes via Purple Radio. If you're happy with what you listen to now, there isn't going to be much point in having 20 new stations you won't listen to. But if you're one of the many who feels you get a raw deal from analogue radio - which is likely to be true if you're a serious rock fan, or an easy-listening lover - then it's worth investing in a set, and taking part in the quieter end of the digital revolution. Do you have a digital radio set? What are your impressions? Tell BBC News Online. [viz.:] In theory, DAB radio broadcasts are a great idea, but in practice there are simply too many stations crammed into a finite amount of airspace. The result is that the signals are compressed excessively and what you listen to is a stable, but sub-standard sound. Yes, it may be digital, but the quality is far less than that of a CD. Despite all the hype, DAB radio radio is cutting its own throat by promising crystal clear audio, but not delivering it. Giles, UK I've been listening to Digital Radio for a year now from my Psion Wavefinder. It's a PC based digital radio, and was a dog to get working, but it means radio gets much more time in my house. I can easily find a different style or type of music (or listen to the crackly AM stations crystal clear). Once the sets drop down to £50, more people will join in - just like with CD players! jamie walker, UK I bought a digital DAB radio last year and I was impressed, however over the last year the quality has been reduced to shoehorn new services into the space, it's not that impressive anymore, I actually regret paying over £300 for something that gets little use. I would suggest satellite as a better option. James Brown, UK I don't have a DAB set at present, and to be honest I have no plans on buying one. I can receive all the mentioned stations, plus a great deal more over the internet. Using a broadband connection and plugging my PC into my stereo, I can receive all the stations I need. Even better is utilizing the BBC's play on demand system. I can listen to the radio I want to listen to when I want to listen to it. DAB is a nice idea, but as the take up of broadband increases, the public will find alternative methods of listening to the music and stations of their choice. Lee, UK What's so great about digital? The world is not made up of 0s and 1s, and the process of reducing it to such a scheme does no favours to fidelity. The fact is that a turntable playing vinyl records sounds far better than a CD player of the same price. Ditto for radio. Digital radio sounds just awful. I'm damned if I'm going to give up sound quality just because of all this digital hype. Shame on the BBC, which employs some of the most skilled sound engineers in the world, for trying to foist it on us! Dan, UK Given the choice between 6music on DAB or no 6music at all, I know which I'd rather choose... and Virgin Radio sounds so, so much better than crackly old medium-wave. Yes, it's not super hi-fi - but it's quite okay for me... James, UK Who needs to go out and buy a DAB radio as most houses have satellite or cable and can listen to it that way. The true measure of success will be consumers buying DAB radios for their cars and the car manufacturers fitting it as standard, just as they now do with CD players. Ford already has announced this, so it is only a matter of time before availability increases and costs come down. Keith Tracy, England Inclusion of DAB radios in new cars will be key; however action so far isn't encouraging, Ford was going to start fitting DAB radios as standard in 2003 however this has now been delayed indefinitely because of the high cost. Ed, UK (all via Mike Terry, DXLD) ** U S A. 5 VOA BUREAUX IN JEOPARDY By Sarah Birns, THE WASHINGTON TIMES The senior Bush administration official at the Voice of America radio network has proposed closing five overseas bureaus, prompting an outcry from VOA staffers who say the cuts are to fund a new station targeted at Iran. Details of the plan to cut the bureaus in Hong Kong, Mexico City, Tokyo, Brussels and Geneva were given out to VOA employees Wednesday, said one staffer, speaking on the condition of anonymity. According to the Nelson Report, an online newsletter covering Washington politics, "At last month's Voice of America board meeting in Prague, VOA Director Bob Reilly offered to find the $1 million needed for a new Iranian popular culture program by shutting down bureaus in Asia, Latin America, and Europe." Mr. Reilly declined to comment. But VOA spokeswoman Tish King confirmed that a proposal was on the table to remove the bureaus. "This would in no way represent a diminution of VOA's news coverage, and no correspondents would be withdrawn from the region," she said. "The plan was targeted at eliminating overhead costs." The VOA staffer said that he and colleagues believe "the news cuts are in part a vendetta by some Bush administration officials against the VOA over its broadcast of its interview with [former Afghan Taliban leader] Mullah [Mohammed] Omar." The Bush administration had sought to ban the broadcast of the interview, but VOA went ahead and put it on the air. The interview was apparently recorded after September 11 but before the United States began its air campaign to oust the Taliban. The VOA staffer said he was especially concerned over plans to eliminate the Hong Kong office. "Abolition of the Hong Kong bureau would constrain efforts to obtain news from Chinese-speaking sources, which are already constrained to begin with," the VOA staffer said. "Hong Kong was a window into Chinese news." Plans by VOA to open [sic] a Farsi-language service coincide with a recent shift in Bush administration policy toward Iran by focusing on Iranian dissidents instead of on so-called reformists in Iran's government. It was not clear yesterday whether Mr. Reilly's plan to restructure VOA was part of the new policy toward the country President Bush named as part of an "axis of evil." Ms. King said the proposed bureau cutbacks were to cut costs and not to fund any Farsi-language station. The changes would require congressional approval. • Ben Barber contributed to this report. (Washington Times Aug 9 via DXLD) ** U S A. Re WWRB tests: Glenn, aren't they "squatting" on other stations' frequencies? They all look really familiar... 5,070 and 12,160 WWCR 17,495 WBCQ etc... (Ricky Leong, QC, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Ricky, Yes, except for 26800 if that is really correct. But other stations have no exclusive rights unless they`ve paid the FCC for 24 hour usage. And of course for propagational reasons this is seldom the case. 73, (Glenn to Ricky, via DXLD) ** U S A [and non]. Upcoming Projects Voice of Liberty- In west africa, in the country of Liberia, God has granted us favor in giving us an FM radio station in the city of Monrovia, with a potential listening audience of over a million people. As this station goes on the air in the summer of 2002, the Lord has also provided licenses for both a shortwave(!) and a television station. Voice Of Jerusalem- In the Fall of 2002, WJIE Transmitter #1 will become 'The Voice Of Jerusalem'. With live broadcasts from studios in the ancient city, VOJ will be heard in europe, africa and the middle east. It will also be heard in north america on shortwave and on the SkyAngel satellite service. Facilities Upgrade- In an effort to increase our effectiveness, we will begin to upgrade WJIE #1 (VOJ) to 100,000 watts. At the same time, we will begin the upgrade of our new partner station, KVOH (also known as VOICE OF HOPE). CHINA- The Lord has put it upon our hearts to reach China by the means of shortwave. Beginning in the fall of 2002, another partner station, KHBN will begin to broadcast our programming from the island of Palau in the Pacific. Our prayer is that the VOICE OF ASIA will change a nation with God's Good News! (from http://www.wjiesw.com/projects.htm Aug 16 via DXLD) We might believe any of this when they actually have transmitters over 100 watts on the air. So far they have not been able to accomplish even that. Some of this may even be news to KVOH and KHBN (gh, DXLD) ** U S A [and non]. 15 August was Assumption Day. 16 August is Resumption Day Radio Elvis Elvis Presley, who died on 16 August 1977, was one of a select few artists whose songs dominated rock and roll radio in the late 1950's and 60's. He helped define the sound of a generation, and his recorded repertoire of 800 songs continues to sell in huge numbers today. In the late 1980's, there was even a station in Cincinnati with an all- Elvis format. 25 years after his death, he's still one of the most played artists on radio. As a change from the more serious items we've run in recent weeks, this week we take a nostalgic look back at the heyday of Top 40 radio, when rock and roll ruled the airwaves. There are also some audio links that might interest you. http://www.rnw.nl/realradio/features/html/elvis020816.html And Andy Sennit is not kidding, 11 hours of streaming audio tribute to the King and his times and music. Rock on! (Daniel Say, swprograms via DXLD) ** U S A. ST. PAT`S SHOCK-JOCK INTER-LEWD By PHILIP MESSING, MARIANNE GARVEY and HASANI GITTENS http://www.nypost.com/news/regionalnews/46599.htm And I thought we had bad radio here in Montréal! (Westenhaver) 3 BUSTED IN ST. PAT'S SEX STUNT [WNEW] August 16, 2002 By TAMER EL-GHOBASHY, MARTIN MBUGUA and LEO STANDORA DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITERS A man and woman having sex in a vestibule at St. Patrick's Cathedral - a sleazy prank broadcast live on the shock jock Opie and Anthony radio show - were arrested yesterday after an usher spotted them, police said.... You can view the entire article at http://www.nydailynews.com/front/story/11387p-10737c.html (via Bill Westenhaver, DXLD) ** U S A. CLEAR CHANNEL PLANS SPECIAL SEPTEMBER 11TH PROGRAMMING; Company Will Also Share Resources With Other Broadcasters Business Wire; New York; Aug 14, 2002; Business/Entertainment Editors; Start Page: 1 Companies: Clear Channel Radio Inc Abstract: Clear Channel Radio stations will run special programming and productions throughout the rest of the day featuring thoughts from special guests; artists, political officials, radio personalities and other celebrities. In addition, 33 reporters and radio program hosts from Clear Channel radio stations will be broadcasting live from Ground Zero in New York City. Full Text: Copyright Business Wire Aug 14, 2002 SAN ANTONIO -- (BUSINESS WIRE) -- Aug. 14, 2002 -- Clear Channel Radio (NYSE:CCU) today announced plans to use its more than 1,200 U.S. radio stations to honor the victims and heroes of September 11, 2001. At 8:45 a.m. (in each time zone) on September 11, 2002, all Clear Channel Radio stations will pause for a special on-air audio sequence including a two-minute memorial, "Tributes and Triumph: America's Day of Remembrance," followed by two minutes of silence and concluding with a special message to all Americans. Clear Channel Radio stations will run special programming and productions throughout the rest of the day featuring thoughts from special guests; artists, political officials, radio personalities and other celebrities. In addition, 33 reporters and radio program hosts from Clear Channel radio stations will be broadcasting live from Ground Zero in New York City. While a wide range of resources will be available to all Clear Channel radio stations, each station will observe September 11th the way the local station management deems most appropriate for their local audience and local communities. Stations will commemorate the event in conjunction with their local police, fire departments, churches, elected officials and other important organizations. As the leaders of the radio industry, Clear Channel Radio will make these audio resources available to other broadcasters in an effort to help the radio industry join together in saluting and commemorating Americans. The materials and details will be available at http://www.clearchannel.com on September 9, 2002. "Virtually everyone in America will be remembering that tragic day a year ago," said Clear Channel President and Chief Operating Officer Mark Mays. "We want to use our resources to help Americans reflect and to help our communities heal. We think 'Tributes and Triumph' will in some measure accomplish that with our communities and listeners. We invite the radio industry to join us and we are very proud to share these resources." (via Artie Bigley, DXLD) ** U S A. HUB STATIONS STRUGGLE WITH ADS, 9/11 PROGRAMMING Boston Radio/by Dean Johnson --- Friday, August 16, 2002 Boston radio stations will be mostly commercial-free on Sept. 11 whether they like it or not, because increasingly impressive groups of advertisers have informed the Hub's signals that they do not want any of their spots aired on the first anniversary of the twin towers terrorist attacks.... http://www.bostonherald.com/entertainment/television/radi08162002.htm (via Mike Cooper, DXLD) ** U S A. ``Miami is getting a new classical station, WQAM 1360. Cox Radio pulled the plug on heritage classical WTMI 93.1 at yearend. Now Spanish Media Broadcasting says it`s likely to drop Spanish on WKAT and flip it to classical,`` says the M-Street Journal (Aug FMedia! via DXLD) ** U S A. Inside Radio has merged with M-Street Publications, with the Inside Radio name now applied to M-Street`s newsletter. The latter is now a partially owned and independently run subsidiary of Clear Channel... (Aug FMedia! via DXLD) ** U S A. WLAC 1510 Nashville used to have an enormous volume of correspondence for the likes of baby chick offers. One day, they got a package from a lady in Georgia. Uncommon, because there was little reason to send anything other than letters to the station. Upon opening it, they discovered a slip of paper with the lady`s name, along with a money order and a polkadot dress. It took a while, but they finally figured out what had happened. She had literally sent her name, A DRESS (address), and a money order. The dress was returned --- Great story, and as far as I know, true.`` (Tom, Aug FMedia! [non] via DXLD) ** U S A. KRIM-LP, *96.3, Payson AZ, run by the Payson Council of the Musical Arts, Inc., transmits 24 hours a day, 7 days a week and uses no satellite feeds. All their music is carefully hand selected by the staff of KRIM, and either played live or pre-recorded earlier. They use full fidelity stereo with a frequency response of 50 to 15,000 Hz. This station is fully funded by the non-profit corporation, Payson Council for the Musical Arts, Inc. All contributions, underwriting, sponsorships, or other financial support to PCMA is fully tax deductible. Their hope is that the people of Payson will enjoy at least some, if not all, of their music, as KRIM is dedicated to serving the Payson community (from http://www.ccbroadcasters.com via Aug FMedia! via DXLD) ** U S A. ``K-slug`` is the non-ID for KSLG-FM, 94.1, Hydesville CA. Why? ``It`s named after the banana slug, common in the forests around here. They`re really quite obnoxious. They grow to about 4 inches long and 1 inch thick, yellow in color, resembling a banana.`` (unidentified contributor to FMedia! Aug via DXLD) ** U S A. By Stan Horzepa, WA1LOU, Contributing Editor August 17, 2002 Cruising with the radio blasting is a summertime avocation of teens and ex-teens alike. What made our radios blast is the object of our Web surfing this week. Barry Mishkind's The Broadcast Archive Web site http://www.oldradio.com bills itself as "Radio History on the Web." The goal of the Web site is "to continue adding historical materials on both pioneer and current broadcast radio stations, as well as links and references to other locations containing accurate materials on broadcasting." After viewing the contents of the Web site, it seems that Barry is well on his way to fulfilling this goal. The Web site is chock full of nuggets of broadcast radio history. Find out if David Sarnoff really did hear the distress call from the Titanic. Read such "war stories" as a first-hand account about climbing a 1572-foot radio tower . . . in the dark. Learn what were the first broadcast radio stations in each state, and discover what the acronyms that make up radio station call signs really signify. And what is the real story behind those now-rare three-letter broadcast station call signs? You will spend hours poring over the entertaining and informative narratives in The Broadcast Archive. Every story I viewed on this site caught my attention and demanded to be read to its end. This is a very bookmarkable site that you will want to revisit. In addition to the histories and anecdotes of broadcast radio, you will also find broadcast radio software that is downloadable from this site. These include radio-engineering tools and programs that allow you to search the FCC radio station database and plot the station transmitter locations on maps. Many thanks to Bill Feidt, NG3K, a veteran AM broadcast listener (BCL), for the suggestion to feature this site. Until next time, keep on surfin' (ARRL? Via Mike Terry, DXLD) ** U S A. KPH will be on the air on 17 August for communications with the SS Lane Vicrory/KECW during the ship's weekend cruise. I've been asked to join the crew of the SS Lane Victory, a restored and operational WWII Victory ship, as radio operator during their weekend cruise on the weekend of 17/18 August. For information on the SS Lane Victory see their Web site at: [invisible] The Lane is equipped with the original Radiomarine 4U radio console for operation on both HF and MF. As it happens, we (the Maritime Radio Historical Society) restored a 4U console to operational status for the San Francisco Maritime museum so I am actually experienced in the operation of this equipment. For more information about the 4U console we restored see our Web site at: [invisible] My plan is to establish contact with my colleagues at KPH on HF and MF during the cruise and also at dock side. Information about next weekend's operation is as follows: o Date - Saturday, 17 August for KPH/KECW operations. The crew at KPH will be unavailable for operations on Sunday the 18th but I may be on the air using the 4U console on amateur frequencies on the 18th. o Time - I'm unable to advise an exact schedule since radio operations will depend on several things including interference with the ship's PA system and my duties as a guide for visitors to the radio room. However the ship is scheduled to depart San Pedro at 0800 PDT on Saturday and the KPH crew will be available beginning then. The cruise ends at 1600 PDT each day but I hope to continue MF operations into the evening from dock side. o Frequencies - On MF KPH will transmit on 500 kc and 426 kc. 426 kc will be the KPH working frequency. KECW will probably transmit on 480 kc. On HF KPH will transmit on 6477.5 kc and KECW will transmit on 6271.5 kc. For amateur work I will use 7010 kc (crystal controlled) under the call W6AWO/MM. o Station Specifications - KPH will use about 4 kW on HF and MF. The MF antenna is a Marconi T and the HF antenna is a double extended Zepp. KECW will use about 200W and the antenna is a 300 ft. wire. o What You May Hear - I plan to exchange formal messages with KPH including a QTO upon departure, etc. At times when we are not exchanging messages KPH will transmit ARA Free Press and Pacific Weather on both HF and MF (426 kc) so there will be something on the air to listen to most of the time. Since we don't expect that KPH will be able to hear KECW during the day I may listen to KPH on MF and reply on HF for testing purposes. o Reception Reports - If you would like a written verification of your reception report please send it by mail to: Ms. DA Stoops, P.O. Box 381, Bolinas CA 94924-0381, USA Electronic reception reports may be sent to radiomarine@yahoogroups.com (Richard Dillman, W6AWO, Member of the Maritime Radio Historical Society, http://www.radiomarine.org (via Rachel Baughn, Aug 14, Monitoring Times Chat Board via DXLD) ** VENEZUELA. The frequency announced by Radio Nacional for its International Channel is 9540 kHz (not 9545). This one is not currently on the air. 73, (Adán González, Aug 16, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** VIETNAM. 6165, V. of Vietnam, 1300-1329* Aug 11, with possible ID in Hmong, a few bars of anthem-ish music, then M/W talks, punctuated with Hmong vocals. Off at 1329*, following flute theme and very brief announcement by YL. Fair signal and // to 5034.88, which was at threshold level (John Wilkins, CO, Cumbre DX via DXLD) ** ZIMBABWE. 6045 13.8. 0205- R Zimbabwe, Gweru. This one required a bit of work. To expand the south wire to 100 metres seemed to do the trick. Promos guaranteed the listener which station is the source of most reliable information (Jari Lehtinen, Lahti, Finland, hard-core-dx via DXLD) Is it all-night? (gh, DXLD) UNIDENTIFIED. 11740, surprised to find the bonker pulsing away around here, hard to tell center frequency, maybe 1 or 2 kHz higher. 7 short pulses and one long as if the last were a stop bit. Not very strong, and fortunately no broadcasters audible around 1510 UT Aug 16 to be interfered with. Suspected an image, but nothing +/- 910 kHz on three different receivers. I believe this has been explained before on other frequencies, e.g. 60 mb, but I don`t recall the details. Perhaps some vital communication circuit kept on idle most of the time (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) UNIDENTIFIED. 12090, playing some jazz, 1450 UT August 16, brief announcement at 1459, language uncertain, timesignal, and not much heard thereafter tho carrier seemed to be on; may have changed antenna. The thing about this frequency is that it appears to be listed absolutely nowhere. A search of all 129 DXLDs this year to date finds no mention of 12090 at all; no listings in HFCC A-02; nothing in SW Guide. PWBR `2002` does have TWR Albania and Denmark/Norway on 12090, but at other times. I wonder what I was doing around this frequency at 1500? (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) UNIDENTIFIED. 12115/12085/9950 Sout al Watan: from this issue forth reports about this will be filed under SYRIA [non] ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ HARD CORE NEWS SOURCES? Glenn, Being somewhat new to the world of SWL I wonder if you can help me out. I am a hard-core news junkie and am looking for a data base (or other source) of news programs. I have several data bases (GNPDB from ILG Radio and RLDB Radio Listeners Data Base) running on my computer and I find that each has its own limitations. Generally I find them to wieldly (and time consuming) to use effectively and non-specific for news junkies like myself. The RLDB does have one significant plus -- it will control my ICOM IC-R75 receiver. What I am looking for, if it exists, is a data base oriented towards world news, world news analysis and, political commentary. Thanks for any help you may be able to offer (John Pickrell, Punta Gorda, FL, Aug 17, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Can anyone help? I`ll forward (gh, DXLD) PROPAGATION +++++++++++ Hawaii to Pacific Coast heating up over the next few days.. http://www.iprimus.ca/~hepburnw/tropo_wam.html (Bill Hepburn, Aug 13, WTFDA via DXLD) ###