DX LISTENING DIGEST 2-138, September 4, 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 1146: BROADCASTS ON WBCQ: Wed 2230 17495, 7415; Mon 0415 7415 BROADCASTS ON WWCR: Thu 2030 15825, Sat 0500, Sun 0230 5070, 0630 3210 BROADCASTS ON RFPI: Sat 0130, 0730, Sun 0000, 0600 on 7445, 15038.7; webcasts also Sat 1330, 1800, Sun 1200, 1830? Available early UT Sept. 5: (DOWNLOAD) http://www.k4cc.net/wor1146.rm (STREAM) http://www.k4cc.net/wor1146.ram (SUMMARY) http://www.worldofradio.com/wor1146.html [later Sept. 5] MONITORING REMINDERS CALENDAR. Check frequently for lots of good listening, minute by minute, mostly via Internet: http://www.worldofradio.com/calendar.html [corrected] ** AFGHANISTAN. It is correct that there are no operational SW transmitters in Afghanistan at present. I have attached a recent photo of the destroyed SW building at Pulecharchi, near Kabul. It was hit by a cruise missile. The senior engineer only escaped because he saw the missile coming. The 500 kW MW transmitters on the same site were destroyed by 3 bombs. Fortunately no one was hurt at the site (Dave Stanley, Great Britain, Aug 16, 2002 for Clandestine Radio Watch Sept 3 via DXLD) The mentioned picture of the transmitter site can be seen in the CRW Clandestine Radio QSL gallery http://www.schoechi.de/bild-cla.html (CRW) I don`t find it yet Sept 3, just QSLs (gh, DXLD) ** AFGHANISTAN. Re: ``NEW RADIO STATION INAUGURATED IN AFGHANISTAN | Text of Ambiguity, ambiguity! Surely not 9905 MHz; do they mean it is on FM, AND shortwave 9905 kHz?? Or is it FM 99.05 MHz??? (gh, DXLD 2- 124)" The German military had previously operated a FM transmitter on 99.5 MHz. The transmitter provided music/news for the German ISAF troops. Given the reduction in German troop numbers (along with UK and other nations), it is possible that this transmitter has been donated over to the new station. Coverage of Kabul from the ISAF base was not very [good?] though because it is a few km outside of Kabul (Dave Stanley, Great Britain Aug 16, 2002 for CRW Sept 3 via DXLD) ** AFGHANISTAN. ON THE RADIO, AFGHANS CALL NATION TO A NEW DAY September 4, 2002 By JOHN F. BURNS KABUL, Afghanistan, Sept. 3 --- For more than a thousand years, Afghans have begun their day at dawn to the sounds of muezzins summoning them to prayers at local mosques. But these days, at least for those among this nation's 23 million people with radios, there is another, distinctly secular cry rising in the early morning air. Just as the muezzins' calls remind them of their ties to the eternal, a 60-minute radio program called "Good Morning Afghanistan" has been offering Afghans a zesty, up-to-the-minute and increasingly bold look at the world about them and at the surprising and sometimes improbable ways Afghanistan is changing now that the Taliban have been driven from power. Under the Taliban's five-year rule, Afghanistan's only radio outlet was the Voice of Shariat, an Afghan name derived from the Arabic word for Islamic legal and moral codes. Typically the news began with bulletins from the vice and virtue police, the Taliban's ubiquitous enforcers: 25 men arrested for trimming beards, 10 women hauled away for immorally entering ice cream parlors, five shopkeepers shut down for selling libidinous postcards of Indian movie actresses. Those headlines come readily to the mind of Ghani Mudaqiq, 33, an announcer who learned his profession reading the news on the Voice of Shariat and who now works as one of the man-and-woman anchor teams on "Good Morning Afghanistan." Nowadays Mr. Mudaqiq and his on-air partner, Sharifa Zurmati, 32, whose earlier broadcasting career ended when the Taliban seized Kabul and banned most women from working, have a more audience-friendly lineup when the program is broadcast each morning at 6:30. Since its beginning earlier this year, it has been supported by the Baltic Media Center, an organization based in Denmark that helps to train journalists in developing countries. With financial assistance from the European Commission, the organization has provided "Good Morning Afghanistan" with a $10,000-a-month budget, enough to pay the 25 Afghans working for the show an average of $300 a month, and to pay for some of the show's studio equipment. One recent show featured a piece about a new Chinese restaurant in Kabul and the difficulties of eating with chopsticks. An interview with a 13-year-old girl working as a carpet weaver followed, along with a traffic report about a collision between a bicycle and a motorbike in Kabul. The day's grimmer news came along with those an account of the new government's responses to claims that hundreds of Taliban prisoners suffocated in shipping containers and then were secretly buried last winter in a mass grave north of the Hindu Kush. In a statement, the government said the deaths and the grave appeared to be "a horrible atrocity" and pledged support for any investigation into "this and other atrocities." One broadcast this summer featured an interview with Sultani, a Kabul bodybuilder. It was the sort of feature that would have sent the Taliban's mullahs into paroxysms. If any of the hard-line mullahs were listening, their distress must have been complete when the interviewer, Jameela Rishteen, 29, asked Sultani if bodybuilding was something women might try. "Why not?" Sultani replied. "Very well, then," Ms. Rishteen said. "I'd like to have a go myself." In a country where commuters are likely to travel by donkey cart and where many walk long distances for water, a breakfast radio show calls for something of a cultural leap. Much like the helicopter-borne American troops who clatter across the skies in their hunt for the remnants of Qaeda and Taliban forces, "Good Morning Afghanistan" is a graft from the distant world that has intruded on life here since Sept. 11. Yet few changes have been more popular, with city dwellers and villagers alike listening in numbers that have stunned the young crew running the program from a dusty studio in Kabul, the capital. A recent survey indicated that 80 percent of the city's two million people had heard of "Good Morning Afghanistan," with 60 percent listening at least four times a week. In distant villages the figure was 10 percent, still noteworthy in a country with an electric power grid shattered by war. The show's success is the most striking example of changes sweeping Afghanistan's news organizations. According to official figures, more than 100 new publications have been registered since the Taliban were succeeded by the government of Hamid Karzai, the country's American-backed leader. "Good Morning Afghanistan," for its part, is breaking with a leaden tradition in broadcasting. The state broadcaster, Radio Afghanistan, which lends its air time to the show, has been little more than a mouthpiece for successive governments the monarchy overthrown in the early 1970's, the Moscow-backed Communists of the 1980's and the chaotic governments of the former guerrillas, or mujahedeen, who ruled before the Taliban. Officials of the new government have bridled when the show has broadcast stories about the government's failure to tackle the country's problems, like the deep potholes that crater Kabul's streets or schools that have no tables or books. Some were deeply unsettled when "Good Morning Afghanistan" uncovered a pattern of corruption among Kabul's traffic police, forcing the resignation of the force's chief. But for many Afghans the show's freewheeling style is an emblem of the improvements that have come with the end of the Taliban. It is something for Afghans to weigh against the accumulating array of disappointments that "Good Morning Afghanistan" has set out to chronicle, including painfully slow flows of Western aid, outbreaks of ethnic factionalism within the new government and incidents when American military action has gone astray, causing civilian casualties. Barry Salaam, 23, the managing editor of "Good Morning Afghanistan," says that the show must tread warily so as not to break age-old cultural and religious taboos, but that the latitude is still wide. "The Taliban period helped Afghans to understand the importance of freedom," he said as he prepared for a staff meeting. "So even when government officials are unhappy at being criticized, I think that they are wise enough to appreciate the fact that people like us at last have the chance to say what we think." The new show's name read at the top of the show in Dari and Pashto, two major Afghan languages, as well as English, French and German is a self-conscious echo from another American war. But unlike the Hollywood film "Good Morning, Vietnam," about an American military radio show that became entangled in the wider controversies swirling about that war, the Afghan program is by Afghans, for Afghans, about Afghan issues. Editorially, the show has been helped by advisers with experience working for the British Broadcasting Corporation and the Voice of America, which have longtime links with Afghanistan through shortwave broadcasts in Dari and Pashto. Some Afghans say the greatest feat of "Good Morning Afghanistan" has been that Afghans are turning to an Afghan broadcaster to learn what is going on in their own country. Two weeks ago, the "Good Morning Afghanistan" staff began a second 60-minute show, "Good Evening Afghanistan," venturing still farther down the road of giving Afghans their own voice. One of the evening show's innovations is "Voice of the People," a three-minute segment in which Afghans, approached on the street or at their homes, are invited to give their opinions on whatever concerns them. But it has not all been smooth sailing for Mr. Salaam and his crew. A battle over censorship has been raging within the state-controlled broadcasting system, with the system's director, Muhammad Isaq, an engineer appointed by the government. He has ordered a number of items cut from the lineup as offending Islamic principles, including an interview with a vegetable seller who won a car in a Kabul lottery. But this time, the proponents of freedom may prevail. When Mr. Isaq acted last week to cut the Indian movies that have been the most popular program on state television's weekly schedule, and ordered female singers banned from state radio, the battle went public. Abdul Hamid Mobarez, appointed by Mr. Karzai to head a committee to examine ways of making the state news organizations more appealing, said Mr. Isaq was out of step with the times. "We have many rivals in this country now," he said. There is Internet, and there is satellite television. If we don't have good programming, people will just watch other things." At Radio Afghanistan, too, Mr. Isaq appears to be losing the struggle. Mr. Salaam tells the story of the day he asked the radio network's top officials whether an instruction for the words "in the name of God" to be used each morning could be interpreted flexibly, to allow the anchors to begin with the title "Good Morning Afghanistan" before dropping back into the words of reverence. "I was told, `Wherever you put the name of God, it fits,' " he said. http://www.nytimes.com/2002/09/04/international/asia/04AFGH.html?ex=1032142690&ei=1&en=c9c8edfaea6b17f7 Copyright The New York Times Company (via Daniel Say, DXLD) Also, same? But different URL: http://www.nytimes.com/2002/09/04/international/asia/04AFGH.html?ex=1032150705&ei=1&en=4f32cb94f14491d0 (via Martin Gallas, IL, who asked NYT why no frequencies, DXLD) ** AFGHANISTAN. AFGHAN LEADER SAYS MEDIA SHOULD SERVE THE PEOPLE | Text of report in English by Afghan news agency Bakhtar A message by his Excellency Hamed Karzai, head of Transitional Islamic Government of Afghanistan, on the occasion of the International Media Seminar The Transitional Islamic Government of Afghanistan is a strong supporter of a free, independent and public service media. We would like to see a free media which can reflect the realities of society, enlighten people, and search for solutions for unresolved problems. Such a media can help to establish civil society, peace, national unity and can strengthen democracy and effective and accountable government. Afghanistan's media, like the government of the country, must serve the people and act in the interests of the people. Newspaper reporters and radio and television broadcasters and journalists, who work for the government of Afghanistan, should serve the people of Afghanistan and should not, in any way, be abused by political and military factions. The media must give special attention to educational programmes and about various social and cultural issues, especially those that strengthen national unity and democracy, give national pride, support human rights and help to speed up the process of reconstruction. We urge friendly countries and international organizations to implement short-term and long-term media training schemes and capacity building in areas such as planning, technology, broadcasting and publishing. We thank those countries which have helped us in this. We assure journalists and reporters that the government and the laws of Afghanistan will protect their civil and constitutional rights, which include the right to join unions and professional organizations. I appreciate the efforts of the minister for information and culture, all his colleagues and the organizers of the seminar. I wish you all success in this international seminar. Source: Bakhtar news agency, Kabul, in English 0839 gmt 2 Sep 02 (via BBCM via DXLD) But..... ** AFGHANISTAN. AFGHAN COURT BACKS TV, RADIO RESTRICTIONS IN KABUL By Sayed Salahuddin KABUL, Aug 31 (Reuters) - The Supreme Court of Afghanistan on Saturday backed a decision by state-run media to ban women from singing on the radio and prevent Indian films from being aired in the capital. "We have no opposition to the watching of films, but we totally oppose the idea of half-naked scenes or romantic films being broadcast and women's songs being aired," Fazl Ahmad Manawi, deputy head of the Supreme Court, told Reuters. While Manawi sought to play down the political implications of the decision, speculation is growing of a tussle between the Northern Alliance, with its more conservative interpretation of Islam, and the more moderate stance of President Hamid Karzai and his Culture and Information Minister Sayed Raheen Makhdoom. The ban on Indian films and women's songs was ordered this week by Engineer Ishaq, the head of Kabul TV and Radio. "Yes, we defend the move. Films that consist of melodrama and romance should be censored," Manawi said. "The decision was made following repeated complaints from a number of people about the condition of the films on TV. We should keep in mind the religious and traditional values of our people," said Manawi. Indian films, with their mix of melodrama, romance, songs and theatrical fighting have been hugely popular in Afghanistan. The mainly Tajik Northern Alliance dominates key positions in the interim government. The U.S.-backed Karzai is an ethnic Pashtun who is fighting to keep rival clans on the same side. Both Manawi and Ishaq are key members of the Northern Alliance, which helped overthrow the hardline Islamic Taliban regime late last year. Abdul Hafiz Mansoor, Ishaq's predecessor and another Northern Alliance figure, was sacked this month by Makhdoom for barring women's songs from television and for running soundbites of Ahmad Shah Masood, the alliance's legendary leader who was killed a year ago. Karzai has formed a commission consisting of information ministry officials, including Ishaq, to improve and broaden media programming amid complaints that the Northern Alliance wielded undue influence over television and radio broadcasting. Manawi also said state television and radio stations in other parts of the country needed to follow Kabul TV and Radio in banning certain programmes. Hei said religious scholars who form the consultative body of the Supreme Court should be consulted about media programming throughout the country, including in cities like Kandahar in the south and Mazar- i-Sharif in the north. Media in both cities have aired programmes deemed "liberal" by Manawi. "I am against it. They need to be like Kabul," he said. "My view is that they (Kandahar, Mazar and Kabul TV) should ask for the opinion of the Supreme Court's consultative body which has legitimate and strong scholars. They need to ask what generally our people want." Afghans have just begun to enjoy greater freedom in the arts and culture after music and television were banned under the Taliban and its strict imposition of sharia Islamic laws (REUTERS via Mike Cooper, DXLD) ** AFGHANISTAN [non]. U S A(non): New combined schedule for VOA and RFE in Pashto/Dari effective from Aug 4 0030-0130 VOA Pashto 972 12140 15690 17670 0130-0230 VOA Dari 12140 15690 17670 0230-0330 RFE Pashto 9615 12140*15690 17670 0330-0430 RFE Dari 9615 12140*15690 17670 0630-0730 RFE Pashto 15690*17690 19010 21680 0730-0830 RFE Dari 15690*17690 19010 21680 0830-0930 RFE Pashto 15690*17685 19010 21680 0930-1030 RFE Dari 15690*17685 19010 21680 1030-1130 VOA Pashto 17685 19010 21680 1130-1200 VOA Dari 17685 19010 21680 1200-1230 VOA Dari 1143 17685 19010 21680 1230-1330 RFE Pashto 15370 15690*17685 19010 21680 1330-1400 RFE Dari 15370 15690*17685 19010 21680 1400-1430 RFE Dari 15690*17685 19010 21680 1430-1530 VOA Pashto 7235 12140 15690 1530-1630 VOA Dari 7235 12140 15690 1630-1700 RFE Pashto 9845 12140 15690* 1700-1730 RFE Pashto 9845 11705 12140 15690* 1730-1830 RFE Dari 9845 11705 12140 15690* 1930-2030 VOA Dari 972 2230-2330 RFE Pashto 7430 9785 12140*13810 2330-2400 RFE Dari 7430 9785 12140*13810 0000-0030 RFE Dari 972 7430 9785 12140*13810 * via DTK Wertachtal 500 kW / 090 deg (Ivo and Angel! Observer, Bulgaria, Sept 3 via DXLD) ** ANDAMAN ISLANDS. INDIA 4760.0, AIR Port Blair; 1212 Aug 31. South Asian type music, sub-continental stringed instruments with high- pitched woman vocals, 1217 announcements by Man in presumed Hindi. Good (Steven Wiseblood, Brownsville TX, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ARGENTINA. 6215.11 kHz, Radio BALUARTE, 0100-0132+, 4 Septiembre, escuchada con ID completa a 0105 en español, luego comentarios y música en português. SINPO 35433. La característica llamativa fue que la emisora tenía una señal de audio totalmente distorsionada y saturada, con cortes esporádicos durante la transmisión, lo que hacía realmente muy difícil de comprender la programación (Gabriel Iván Barrera, Argentina, Conexión Digital via DXLD) ** AUSTRALIA. Radio Australia. Roger Broadbent advises me of the following special programming on September 11th and 12th on Radio Australia: First, on September 11th: 0130, 1030 and 2130 UT: "The Religion Report" will be devoting its entire program to effects of the terrorist attacks. 0210 and 0810 UT: "The World Today" and "PM", Radio National's noontime and evening current affairs programs, will devote their entire broadcasts to the events of September 11th, 2001 and their aftermath. 1005 and 1105 UT: "Asia Pacific" will focus on the impact of the attack across the Asia/Pacific region with particular emphasis on Southeast Asia. 1130 UT: Radio Australia will be joining the ABC's Metropolitan network for a three hour special originating live from New York City. Also, at 1005 and 1105 UT on September 12th, "Asia Pacific" will focus on religious extremism in Indonesia and feature an interview with the Islamic cleric who allegedly has links to al-Qaeda. --- More information will be provided next week as it becomes available. If you are interested in an e-mail discussion on shortwave programming topics, you might wish to send an e-mail to swprograms-subscribe@topica.com 73's – (Richard Cuff, Aug 28, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** AUSTRALIA. Below is a letter reproduced from rec.radio shortwave: VNG USERS CONSORTIUM Dr Marion Leiba, Honorary Secretary, GPO Box 1090, Canberra ACT 2601 Australia 18 August 2002 Dear Colleague It saddens me to confirm that the National Standards Commission has decided that it is unable to continue to support Radio VNG past 31 December 2002. The main factors that have lead them to this decision are the condition of the time signal generation equipment, which is becoming unserviceable and requires an investment of $AUD80,000 to $AUD100,000 to replace it, and the fact that they believe that "HF Communication has largely had its day". I have explored with them the possibility of qualified volunteers refurbishing the equipment, but they have stated that this would not change their minds about closure. While the National Standards Commission would be willing to make the VNG equipment available on very attractive terms to a group that would like to take it over, independent supporters have estimated setting up costs at another site to be about $AUD20,000. A further site sharing agreement with Air Services Australia seems to be out of the question without a major injection of funds because they exact full cost recovery. The same group of supporters has also estimated that to run VNG, on a voluntary basis with no site fees, at 0.5 to 1 kW power on three frequencies, would still cost about $AUD25,000 a year, of which power and tube replacement would amount to $AUD17,500. As we would require a higher power output for more reliable regional coverage, this would be an underestimate. When VNG was under threat of closure in 1996, a survey disclosed that the maximum that we could get from supporter contributions would be $5000 to $10,000 a year, and I doubt that we would achieve that level now. Consequently, we could not afford to run VNG without Government, or some other major source of external funding. If any of you think you can arrange sufficient funding, or can convince the Government to fund VNG, please let us know as soon as possible. Because of these circumstances, the VNG Users Consortium committee has decided to devote its energy and resources into designing and building an affordable portable GPS receiver that produces audible time signals and one-second pulses and does not rely on a PC. We aim to have a prototype by the end of September 2002. We would envisage that this receiver would be available in kit form as well as fully assembled, and will inform you of progress. In summary, things are looking very grim for VNG, and I would be pleasantly surprised if it survives past 31 December 2002. VNG supporters managed to carry out the seemingly impossible in resuscitating it in 1988, and we gained a six-month stay of execution this time. I am proud of what we have all achieved over the years, but I grieve to have to reiterate that I don't think we can repeat this miracle. Our most realistic option is to get behind the new GPS receiver. We think it will serve us well. Yours sincerely, Marion Leiba, Honorary Secretary, VNG Users Consortium (via Mike Terry, DXLD) ** AUSTRALIA. New schedule for Voice International via Darwin effective from August 19: 11930 English 1500-1900, ex 1500-1700 13635 Hindi 1100-1700, ex 1300-1600 13660 Indonesian 1300-1700 DELETED 13685 English 1300-1500, ex 0900-1500 13775 Chinese 0900-1400 NO CHANGE 15165 Chinese 2200-0100 NEW TXION 15365 Indonesian 0800-1300, ex 0900-1300 17560 Chinese 1400-1700 NO CHANGE 17820 Indonesian 0600-0800 NEW TXION (Ivo and Angel! Observer, Bulgaria, Sept 3 via DXLD) ** AUSTRIA. Habe soeben auf 5945 kHz um 2100 R Afrika International (zumindest lautete die Ansage so in Fr/Ge/En) mit O=4 gehoert. Wer kann mir naeheres zu diesem Sender sagen und wer hat seine Adresse? (Franz Latsch, Austria, A-DX Aug 31, BC-DX Sept 4 via DXLD) Kein UMC! Die Adresse ist: Heigerleinstr.7 A-1160 Vienna, Austria. http://www.radioafrika.net email: radioafrika@sil.at (Paul Reinersch, Gernmany, A-DX Sep 1 BC-DX Sept 4 via DXLD) ** BANGLADESH. Radio Bangladesh has English at 1230-1300 on 9550 and 7185. Both transmitters come in strong but with a bad transmitter hum. This situation has gone on for almost a couple of years. I wish they could correct it. Mayabe we could ask Multiwave Feedback Listeners in Bangladesh to get in touch with the station director and clear this technical fault (Victor Goonetilleke, Sri Lanka, RKI Multiwave Feedback Sept 1 via Swopan Chakroborty, Kolkata India, DXLD) ** BHUTAN. As far as I can remember a couple of months back, say June, I heard it at 0100 on 6035 just after AWR s-off at 0058 Aug 30. Will check tomorrow morning. With Northern summer the 6 MHz band fades out for DX by 0145 these days down here in the tropics. At 0100 Bhutan was very faint even in May. But come Nov-March things can be 444! The only way tropical people can enjoy the seasons. Aren't we DXers lucky! (Victor Goonetilleke, Sri Lanka, 4S7VK DXplorer via BC-DX via DXLD) ** BOLIVIA. 5952.34, Em. Pio Doce, 1020-1025 1 Sept., clear signal, ID by OM, YL also. 4716.83, Radio Yura, 1000-1015 with ID, 2355-0000 3 Sept., good with YL in Spanish. 5580.43t, Radio San José, per Arnaldo Slaen log, 2350-0005 weak signal 4 Sept. (Bob Wilkner, R75 and Drake R7, Margate, Republica de Florida :-) DX LISTENING DIGEST) 4600.42, Perla del Acre, Cobija t[entative?]. 1000-1018 4 Sept, OM in Spanish between flutes and vocals (Bob Wilkner, R75 and dipole, Margate, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** BURUNDI. NEW PEACE RADIO STATION PREPARING TO LAUNCH IN BURUNDI A new radio station, Radio Isanganiro (Kirundi for 'meeting'), is due to start operation on October 2002. Its aim will be to "promote dialogue, peace, reconciliation, and the prevention, management and resolution of the conflicts in the sub-region". The project obtained the approval of Burundi regulatory authorities in June, and is now awaiting a shortwave frequency allocation. According to the Burundi News Agency, Radio Isanganiro is connected with the independent production house Studio Ijambo. Isanganiro is the name of a programme currently produced by Studio Ijambo, targeting the 350,000 Burundian refugees in Tanzania. The new station's objectives will be similar: putting the accent on questions such as the return of refugees to their places of origin, justice, the distribution of land and the solving of potential land conflicts. Radio Isanganiro will have very broad coverage of the Great Lakes region: the whole of Burundi, but also a good part of Rwanda, the Congolese region of Kivu, as well as western Tanzania where there are Burundian refugee camps (© Radio Netherlands Media Network 4 September 2002 via DXLD) ** CAMBODIA. Bob Padula`s comments on broadcasting here, and under USA, R. Free Asia Cambodian, also some of its other services, are in WWDXC Top News, No. 589 soon to be at http://www.wwdxc.de/topnews.htm and later in their archive (gh, DXLD) ** CANADA. Montréal`s new airport station is now operational at Dorval on 89.7, heard yesterday morning, audible as far as the south shore. Has lengthy tape loop of 5 to 10 minutes, male in French, female in English, mishmash about parking lot rates, shops, boutiques and restaurants in terminal, etc. No official callsign ID given, unlike TIS stations in the States, just airport information station (Sheldon Harvey, QC, International Radio Report Sept 1, notes by gh for DXLD) ** CANADA. This Saturday on Quirks & Quarks we kick off our 28th season with a story we’re calling; "A Recipe For Life: Creating Creatures from a Chemical Cookbook." It was one of the most controversial science stories of the past summer. A group of American scientists announced they'd built a virus from scratch - using DNA that they ordered from a commercial company. For the first time, we had a completely artificial organism created in the test tube. Some researchers say this opens the door to a whole new approach to understanding viruses, and building better vaccines. Others worry that we're playing God in the laboratory. Plus - To the planets and beyond: Voyager turns 25. All this and more on Quirks & Quarks, Saturday right after the noon news on Radio One (Bob McDonald Host, via DXLD) ** CANADA. RADIO CANADA INTERNATIONAL 9/11 SPECIALS: On Sunday, September 8th, RCI will broadcast a special edition of "Cross Country Checkup", a weekly live intelligent (non- confrontational) call-in program, simultaneously with CBC Radio One on the occasion of the first anniversary of the terrorist attacks on America. The program will be transmitted on shortwave frequencies 9800 and 15375 kilohertz to the Eastern and Central United States and to the Caribbean from 2000 to 2200 UT (from Maggy Akerblom at RCI via Richard Cuff, Aug 28, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CHINA. AUTHORITIES BLOCK ACCESS TO GOOGLE SEARCH ENGINE | Text of press release in English by Paris-based organization Reporters Sans Frontieres (RSF) on 3 September On 3 September 2002, RSF called on the Chinese government to stop blocking access to the Google search engine, which has been unavailable to Internet users in China since 31 August. "The authorities were already in the habit of using surveillance, censorship or the outright elimination of overly critical web sites, but the blocking of a search engine sets a surprising and very worrying precedent," RSF Secretary-General Robert Menard noted in a letter to Foreign Minister Tang Jiaxuan. "This move against Google strikes at the very ability to find information on the Internet," Menard added. The Google search engine had become very popular in China because of its ease of use and effectiveness as a search engine in the Chinese language. Many participants in online forums have spoken out against the blocking of Google, pointing out that they use it for research, not politics. The authorities have refused to make any comment. Google's representatives have said they have been in contact with the Chinese authorities in an attempt to get the ban lifted. Media specialists in China suggest that the ban may be related to the approach of the Communist Party's annual congress to be held in November. It comes amid other signs of an increase in censorship by the government, which appears to be increasingly anxious to silence dissident voices. For further information, contact Vincent Brossel at RSF, 5, rue Geoffroy Marie, Paris 75009, France, tel: +33 1 44 83 84 84, fax: +33 1 45 23 11 51, e-mail: asie@rsf.fr, Internet: http://www.rsf.fr Source: Reporters Sans Frontières press release, Paris, in Chinese 3 Sep 02 (via BBCM via DXLD) ** CHINA. 12090 at 1430-1445 Chinese (tentative) Jamming tests, strong 44444 S=9 +30 dB, a little fading noted so far. But I agree, could be China P.R. (wb Aug 27) I tried the mystery station on 12090 today (28/8) and it came on c1530:10 and immediately with "music". Four rock songs were played in all until it just went off at 1545. There were short pauses between each, but I didn`t hear any speech. I didn`t recognise any of the music played - but then, I'm no rock expert! The language in which they were sung was not recognised either, but Chinese?? I'm not sure about that. It sounded a language which didn`t quite fit to the music! Signal strength was about 3 to 5 (and a bit more) with rapid fading characteristics, which reminded me of my reception of RNZI. Despite the low signal, fading and some side-splash I thought modulation was good. You obviously had a bigger signal than I did - and less QSB - Wolfie. It's a strange one! There was nothing else audible on 12090 before or after it came on/went off. The Chinese big band (not a rock group) was heard on 21570 under REE c1440 until about 1515 - off before the station being blocked went off. The frequency was a mess and the language under REE difficult to follow, but I thought I heard a "...bo dien tai..." in there. The station went off at 1520 - this matches DVB [sic, Voice of Tibet, wb] doesn`t it? (Noel R. Green, UK, Aug 28, BC-DX Sept 4 via DXLD) ** CHINA [non]. Re Falun Dafa Radio, 5925, DXLD 2-137: Last time I checked 9775 about a week ago the warmup procedure before 2100 was that of Samara. The signal is strong and steady here, so to me it seems clear that the transmission is beamed to Europe and uses a transmitter suitable for European coverage, now Samara, earlier Krasnodar. The jamming on both frequencies is intense, so the Chinese take no risks (Olle Alm, Sweden, Sept 3, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** COLOMBIA. La semana pasada visité nuevamente los estudios donde producen los programas y digitalizan la música que luego es llevada a Puerto Lleras; el motivo fue para que los orientara sobre la elaboración de la tarjeta QSL. Aunque Martin Stendall se encontraba en Puerto Lleras, hablé largo rato con Oswaldo Lara, quien además de ser el locutor de la mayoría de programas e identificaciones de la emisora; se encarga del diseño de la portada y carátula de las publicaciones y casettes; por lo que puedo dar fé que ya están trabajando en la tarjeta QSL y además están cotizando la elaboración de algunos banderines. Con algo de paciencia, que de eso si tenemos los diexistas, sé que van a confirmar todos los reportes que les lleguen; ya que además en realidad los necesitan para evaluar la señal y presentar un informe al Ministerio de Comunicaciones. Un abrazo, (Rafael Rodríguez, Santa Fe de Bogotá, Sept 2, Conexión Digital via DXLD) ** CONGO DR. BUNIA RADIO CHANGES HANDS, NOW UNDER CONTROL OF HEMA MILITIA GROUP Radio Candip, based in Bunia (northeastern DRCongo), which had been under the control of the Bunia-based and Ugandan-backed rebel Congolese Rally for Democracy - Liberation Movement, RCD-ML, also known as RCD-Kisangani, now seems to have fallen under the control of a separate, anti-Ugandan, splinter group led by Thomas Lubanga, a leader of the Hema ethnic group and a former defence official in charge of the RCD-ML's army, the Congolese Liberation Forces. The radio was unheard during the fighting in Bunia between the Hema and Lendu ethnic groups that erupted on 6 August. It was heard again on 12 August, after Ugandan forces had intervened to quell the fighting, but its operations were intermittent for much of the rest of August. On 2 September it was heard between 1515 and 1730 gmt, and again on 3 September between 0500 gmt and 0600 gmt, on its usual shortwave frequency of 5066 kHz. It was reporting news of the return of a Hema ethnic delegation from Kinshasa. On 2 September between 1515 gmt and 1600 gmt, the radio repeatedly broadcast a song in Swahili on the 1979 invasion of Uganda by Tanzanian troops, interspersed with an announcement urging listeners to be on stand-by for a message from Thomas Lubanga, who it described as the president of the Union of Congolese Patriots (UPC). The message, which was read by Daniel Singoma, the secretary-general of the Front for Reconciliation and Peace (FRP, a Hema militia group which recently kidnapped DRCongo Human Rights Minister Ntumba Luaba), who was also referred to as the UPC secretary-general, had the contents of a decree signed by Lubanga making new appointments of an army chief of staff and his two deputies. Source: Radio Candip, Bunia, in French and Swahili 2-3 Sep 02 (via BBCM via DXLD) ** COSTA RICA. Finally fellow broadcaster and our good DX friend Glen[n] Hauser's DX report can be heard in S. Asia over Radio for Peace International in Costa Rica at 0100 UTC on 15040 kHz on Wednesdays. Signals are not very strong from this low powered transmitter, but is good enough to get 100% readability if you are a keen Dxer!! So that is a good chance to QSL Costa Rica and hear Glen Hauser's World of Dxing. So until next month I return you to the studios of RKI in Soul Korea (Victor Goonetilleke, Sri Lanka, RKI Multiwave Feedback Sept 1 via Swopan Chakroborty, Kolkata India, DXLD) ** CUBA [and non]. CUBAN OFFICIALS LOSE DIPLOMATIC IRRITANT U.S. ENVOY WILL HEAD FOR MALI By Gary Marx, Tribune foreign correspondent, September 2, 2002 HAVANA -- As the top U.S. diplomat here, Vicki Huddleston has met countless times with dissidents and withstood withering criticism by Cuban officials. She even stood up for her prize-winning dog when the local kennel club booted the animal out because of Huddleston's position as the local representative of the enemy to the north. But Huddleston, who will become the U.S. ambassador to Mali, says her tenure in Havana, which ends Friday, probably will be most remembered for her campaign to distribute thousands of shortwave radios. Huddleston has handed them out to children at restaurants and old people traveling in the countryside. She gave out hundreds at a recent July 4th party. "I'm now the radio ambassador," Huddleston quipped. "People come up to me all the time to get the radios, and what's the matter with radios? It's to listen to anything you want." But Cuban officials have not considered it a laughing matter, although they never prevented her from giving them out. From the radio campaign, which is intended to boost the number of listeners to U.S. government-run Radio Marti, to her vocal support for dissidents, Cuban officials have denounced Huddleston for meddling in national affairs. Cuban officials were especially outraged by her recent speech to the Cuban American National Foundation in Miami, a hard-line anti-Castro exile group that claims to have sponsored attacks against the island. "I've never seen an American diplomat making a speech in Miami to right-wing Cuban-Americans," said Miguel Alvarez, an aide to the Cuban National Assembly. "That is unprofessional." Earlier this summer, Cuban President Fidel Castro threatened to close the American mission if U.S. diplomats in Havana persisted in "violations of our sovereignty." Huddleston, a career diplomat, seems unfazed by the criticism. She defended her July speech to the exile group, saying she wanted to influence "the most important Cuban-American organization in the U.S." As for Cuba's future, Huddleston said the transition to a post-Castro government has begun, noting the battle is on between those Cubans who want to continue the current one-party system and others who seek a more U.S.-style system. "I'm optimistic because Cuba now has an opposition," she said, citing the birth of a pro-democracy movement as the biggest recent change. Cuban officials dismiss the dissidents as counter-revolutionaries. Huddleston occupies a unique position among diplomats. After the 1959 Cuban revolution, the U.S. cut ties with the communist government and had no diplomatic presence in Havana until 1977, when President Jimmy Carter opened the U.S. Interests Section. It is officially not an embassy but often acts like one. Yet Huddleston and her predecessors generally have little if any official contact with Cuban government officials. There is also the added complex mix of domestic and international politics. "It has got to be among the most difficult diplomatic jobs in the world," said one Western diplomat in Havana. Experts say many of Huddleston's predecessors kept a low profile, and Huddleston spent her first two years on the island following the same pattern. But circumstances changed last year when President Bush adopted a more confrontational approach to Cuba. Bush has vowed to veto attempts to ease the 40-year economic embargo against the regime. Huddleston has not only handed out 9,000 radios, but last year she distributed 45,000 books, magazines and other literature to independent libraries, dissidents and others to bolster what she describes as Cuba's "civil society" and encourage the free flow of information. For the first time, Huddleston invited dissidents to her July 4th party. She has embraced movements such as the Varela Project, which has gathered about 15,000 signatures demanding free elections. But critics of the Bush administration say Huddleston, while willing to listen to their point of view, has unnecessarily antagonized the Cuban government. "My sense is the last year she has upped the rhetoric on Cuba, and that's consistent with the Bush administration," said Geoff Thale, senior associate at the Washington Office on Latin America, a research group. Huddleston said the Castro government has organized no fewer than 10 rallies of at least 200,000 people to march past her office denouncing U.S. policy. Often, she would walk out to her sixth-floor balcony to get a better view of the demonstrators. "I wanted to show people that you should stand up when accused and shouldn't hide," she said. Copyright © 2002, Chicago Tribune http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/chi-0209020135sep02.story ---------------------------------------------------------------------- (via David E. Crawford, Titusville, Florida, DXLD) Good for her! Tho she never answered my E-mail inquiring exactly what kind of SW radios she was outhanding. And no journalists writing a story about that ever bothered to find out. Hey, how come it`s OK for CO2KK to have a houseful of SW radios?? (gh, DXLD) ** CYPRUS. IBB/VOA is now operating with a temporary schedule on 981 kHz from the RFI/RMCME site at Cape Greco, with 600 kW. Both the current RFI/RMCME antenna and the original one now in use by IBB have patterns with deep minima at ~320 degrees, which may make them difficult to monitor in Europe. RFI/RMCME operates with 800 kW day/600 kW night, although their transmitter is capable of 1.2 MW. There has been a DX report from Finland. This info to Ydun Ritz (28/8-2002) (Medium Wave News http://www.ydunritz.com/y-news.htm via DXLD) New, 981 kHz IBB / VOA Cape Greco. New transmitter was noted yesterday on 981 kHz competing with BUL, GRC, IRN. Typical SIOs 322/422 down to 111 at short times. Bulgaria (R. Varna) dominates in my QTH, no steady advantage yet. CYP & GRC were very close beneath it (Vlad Titarev, Ukraine, DXplorer Aug 27/28 via BC-DX Sept 4 via DXLD) Hallo, gestern wurde zum ersten Mal der neue US SAWA Propagandasender der IBB / VoA in Cape Greco in Suedostzypern beobachtet. Der neue 600 Kilowattsender wurde in Rekordzeit errichtet und wird das Programm des US Popsenders in arabischer Sprache in den Nahen Osten ausstrahlen. Erste Planungen datieren aus dem Mai 2001! Fuer die Errichtung von R SAWA sind 35 Mill. Dollar, fuer die Sendeanlagen allein 17 Mill. Dollar bewilligt worden. [Darin sind aber die Kosten fuer den US Arabisch TV Satellit mit 245 Mill. Dollar nicht enthalten.] Weitere MW Sender fuer R SAWA werden in Marokko (400 kW), Kuwait (500 kW), Djibouti (600 kW) errichtet. Ausserdem werden der VoA 1000 kW Sender in Thailand ersetzt, sowie die 500 kW Anlage in Botswana ausgestattet (wb df5sx, Aug 28, BC-DX Sept 4 via DXLD) ** DENMARK. Re DXLD 2-133: The journalists of DR are still on strike September 2nd. (Ydun Ritz, Denmark, (2/9-2002) Medium Wave News http://www.ydunritz.com/y-news.htm via DXLD) ** DOMINICAN REPUBLIC. 5009.79, R Pueblo, seemingly a "LV de la Liberación" [sic] program in Portuguese rather than Spanish at 0415, bit of music 0425, back to Spanish with program preview, mentions of LV de la Liberación and other evangelical programs, several mentions of R. Pueblo, group singing, 0431 ID for "R Pueblo AM," further ID for SW frequency, brief closedown announcement, then National Anthem and off in mid-anthem at 0432:30. Good signal (Jerry Berg, MA, DXplorer Aug 31 via BC-DX Sept 4 via DXLD) Believe this is the show I have heard before on other stations; speaker of Spanish has a very strong Brazilian accent making you wonder if he is speaking Portuguese (gh, DXLD) ** ERITREA [non?]. ERITREA/SUSAN/ETHIOPIA [?] 7175, Die Voice of the Broad Masses of Eritrea kann um 0325 mit dem sehr schoenen Pausenzeichen und in guter Qualiaet auf 7175 kHz gehoert werden (Thomas Lindenthal, Germany, A-DX Aug 31 via BC-DX Sept 4 via DXLD) ** ETHIOPIA. Some Bob Padula comments are in WWDXC Top News, No. 589 soon to be at http://www.wwdxc.de/topnews.htm and later in their archive (gh, DXLD) ** ETHIOPIA [non]. RUSSIA: Some freq changes via Samara 250 kW / 188 degrees to E Africa: Sagalee Oromiya in Oromo 1730-1800 Mon & Thu NF 12115 (55555), ex 12110 Dejen Radio in Tigrina 1700-1800 Sat only NF 12115 (55555), ex 12110 Netsanet Le Ethiopia in Amharic 1700-1800 Wed & Sun on 12110 CANCELLED (Ivo and Angel! Observer, Bulgaria, Sept 3 via DXLD) Catching up? I thought shift to 12115 was several weeks ago (gh, DXLD) Re: ``Netsanet Le Ethiopia in Amharic. 1700-1800 Wed & Sun 12110 CANCELLED. (R BUL Observer, Ivo Ivanov and Angel Datzinov)`` When tuning to 12115 today (Wed) at 1735-1800 s-off I heard announcements in Kurdish and Arabic giving the station name as R Television Mezopotamia. Is this something new, or did I miss something? Between IDs only Kurdish music (Olle Alm, Sweden, BC-DX Sep 3 via DXLD) Denge Mezopotamya, in Kurdish/Arabic is the station name for the 11530 kHz operation at 1200-1600 UT. (wb BC-DX Sept 4 via DXLD) ** ETHIOPIA [non]. Ethiopia Dimits [sic] 8/25 *1558-1615, 15530 via DTK Juelich. IS heard at 1558 with ID " Yth Ethiopia Dimts" 3x with breaks in audio. Heard again at 1600 with IS; 3 IDs and male mentioning "Africa ... meter band ... kilohertz...`` and I believe "Germany?".; followed by program hilites mentioning "politica and diplomatica’". Upbeat music singing "Ethiopia" several times. This was followed with several talks and musical breaks featuring tribal music. SIO 343 at tune-in with some fading as broadcast progressed (Scott R. Barbour Jr., NH, Aug 25, for CRW via DXLD) ** FINLAND. Some Bob Padula comments on YLE are in WWDXC Top News, No. 589 soon to be at http://www.wwdxc.de/topnews.htm and later in their archive (gh, DXLD) ** FINLAND. Hi Glenn! I'm going to do a program to Scandinavian Weekend Radio on next Saturday which is called "Route 66". The program consists of country music but I'd like to use some news of the American (AM/SW) radio stations in my program because the main audience is DXers. Would it be possible to use the material published in DXLD if I mention the source? Could you please answer to this mail before Thursday night US time. 73's and thanks in advance! (Tuomas, OH5JJL, Talka, Finland, Sept 4, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Tuomas, Sure, go ahead. Only wish I could hear it. Have you guys thought about doing a webcast too? 73, (Glenn to Tuomas, via DXLD) So this reminds us, 2100 UT Fri to 2100 UT Sat Sept 6-7; details at http://www.swradio.net (gh, DXLD) Here we are again --- On Friday 6th September 2002 at 21 hours UTC Scandinavian Weekend Radio will start its engines… So mark this time to your notebook and spend these 24 relaxing hours with us. You can find us from 11690 or 11720 kHz on 25 mb and 5980, 5990 or 6170 kHz on 48 mb. On programmeschedule we have for example a listeners choice-programme from August History of Finnish Radio: Radio Meteor and DJ Rick Random. by Tex Willer. With World Radio Roulette we can return to EDXC 2002 Conference. There will be some DJ Madman's Interviews: Anker Petersen, Bop Padula, Osman Erkan (VOT) and Andrew Janitschek (VOFA). Radio Marabu will have two programmes: Getto Tone and Alternative Hit Parade. And much, much more…: 70's swoh [?] and Music of the Millenium by DJ Miki, Tricky Trev Show: Music to make love by by Trevor, Crash Line and Ykkösketju by DJ Stefa, Route 66 by DJ Jimmy, Radio Magazine Review/Radiolehtikatsaus DJ Tex Willer, EkoRario Monosen uudet bisnekset, The Show Show Syksyn ensimmäinen The Show Show hyväilee sinunkin pakaroitasi hyvän musiikin ja kesämuistojen parissa and HÄKÄShow Soul Train. Exact info with time- and frequencytables can be found from our web- page: http://www.swradio.net/fin/tietoja.htm And much more info of Scandinavian Weekend Radio is available on our home pages: http://www.swradio.net (web-QSL’s, technic, Quest book, contact info, report form and instructions etc.) With Best Regards, (Alpo Heinonen, SWR, Sept 4, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** FRANCE. Radioactu.com reports that as of 0500 this morning, 2 September, five of the France Bleu AM transmitters have switched to carrying the France Info news channel. The five are: Rennes 711 kHz Limoges 792 kHz Nancy 837 kHz Lille 1377 kHz Marseille 1242 kHz These transmitters are in areas where France Bleu is available on FM. For the time being, all of the other France Bleu mediumwave transmitters [including the Paris AM stereo transmitter on 864 kHz], continue to carry France Bleu. The full report is at: http://www.radioactu.com/deliaGo/flash/10208_6.html Later this month the French regulatory body, the CSA, is expected to announce the winners of several private AM franchises (Dave Kenny, Sept 2, BDXC-UK via DXLD) [Later:] The Radioactu report forwarded to the list earlier does not seem to be entirely correct as France Info is now being heard on 10 AM frequencies - not just the 5 they mentioned in their report. The situation when I checked at 1950 UT today was as follows: France Info is now on: 603, 711, 792, 837, 1206, 1242, 1377, 1404*, 1494*, 1557 kHz France Bleu is still heard on: 864, 945, 1278, 1404*, 1494* kHz * multiple transmitters on these - both services are heard. Thanks to Stefano Valiani for confirming the status of 1557 khz. (Dave Kenny, Caversham, Sept 2, BDXC-UK via DXLD) Now it is clear why I could not find certain frequencies as // to 1377 on my quick-and-dirty check last night! By the way, I'am not the only one who would like to have Le Mouv' on these frequencies instead, after the teasing Radio France did on 945 (Kai Ludwig, Germany, Sept 3, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** GERMANY. Recent pictures of the FM/TV tower at Geyer (about 25 km south from Chemnitz) with the tiny wire antenna for 1116 can be found at http://mitglied.lycos.de/JanBalzer/mega1.htm There are also pictures of the Wilsdruff site, the new 1431 equipment is featured at http://mitglied.lycos.de/JanBalzer/wilsdruf/wils06.htm Mediumwave transmitters at Wiederau ("Leipzig"), including the old Lorenz 5 kW transmitter (ex 729) with the tube filaments glowing just to demonstrate to visitors that the transmitter is still ready for operation (at least it was still ready two years ago): http://mitglied.lycos.de/JanBalzer/wiederau/mittel.htm Not yet there but announced are pictures of the Funkwerk Köpenick 100 kW shortwave transmitter, taken in 1994 shortly before this rig was scrapped: http://mitglied.lycos.de/JanBalzer/wiederau/kurz.htm Re DXLD 2-137 UK: The report about the BBC threat against the fan group was quite interesting for me, because it inevitably reminds me to the fate of a friend of mine: He maintained a website at www.dt64.de dealing with the story of the famous Berlin-based radio station DT64. Mitteldeutscher Rundfunk (MDR) forced him to shut down this site, arguing that they registered DT64 as a trademark. They did this through a lawyer, and this lawyer charged not less than DEM 2000 to my friend. He was not in a position to challenge this and paid, and it is certainly unnecessary to describe his current opinion about this public broadcaster. Another guy who maintained a website about the withdrawn MDR Life network received also a request to shut down this site (at least free of charge). And it can be safely excluded that MDR will ever use the "DT64" brand again. Neither will they again operate a network as "MDR Life". And both websites were mere hobby projects without any commercial background (Kai Ludwig, Germany, Sept 3, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** GERMANY [and non]. Hi! today I got a nice colour QSL card from the BAYERISCHER RUNDFUNK (=Bavarian Broadcasting) on 6085 kHz (location: Ismaning) for my reception report via email to TechInfo@b... [truncated] But the most interesting was, they inform me about the call-sign of this frequency: DMR24. That is the first time I have ever seen an information for any of the German shortwave stations. Has anybody any other? Has anybody also callsigns for any other European shortwave broadcasting station. I found in my archive/QSL-collection only so far: BRT (Belgium): ORU (ORU1 & ORU2 250kW tx, ORU3 & ORU4 100kW tx) on 1979 QSL Radio Praha: OLR (CSSR-times) on QSL from 1979 and 1982 NRK (Norway): LLG2 (for 100kW tx on 9605 kHz in 1978) Looks like it is not very 'popular' for European broadcasters to use their callsigns (in difference to the rest of the world). Only Spanish mediumwave stations using their callsign, like EAJ29 or EAJ2 etc. Would be nice to see some more mentioned in HF station listings! Any help? 73, (Tom - DL8AAM, Wed Dec 31, 1969 8:59 pm, GRDXC via DXLD) I assume his clock needs a good resetting (gh, DXLD) ** GHANA. 4915.0, Radio-1; 2345 Aug 31. Man in English with TC ``The time is 11:44, This is Radio Ghana``, into English newscast (Steven Wiseblood, Brownsville TX, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** GUATEMALA. 4780.0, R. Cultural Coatán, San Sebastián; 1051 Aug 31, light vocal/instrumental music, ballads. 4799.77, R. Buenas Nuevas; 0131 Aug 30, announcements by man in Spanish, TC, mentions of Santa Barbara, Guatemala; fiddle music, religious stories and sermons. 4845.0, R. K`ekchí; 1104 Aug 31, religious talk by man in Spanish, (Steven Wiseblood, Brownsville TX, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** GUATEMALA. 4845, R K`ekchí is back on the air - although at lower power. Heard this morning. I've sent them the replacement parts needed to restore the 5 kW main transmitter and they should arrive Sept. 7th. with some missionaries from Springfield, MO (Larry Baysinger, KY, Cumbre Aug 28 via BC-DX Sept 4 via DXLD) ** INDIA. See ANDAMAN ISLANDS ** INDONESIA. NEW INDONESIAN BROADCAST LAWS TO BAN FOREIGN RADIO NEWS RELAYS | Text of report by Indonesian Detikcom web site on 2 September Jakarta: The regular relay of foreign radio broadcasts by private stations in Indonesia could soon be stopped. In the new draft broadcasting legislation such relays will not be permitted except for relaying news which was incidental and considered to be essential for Indonesia. The Minister for Communication and Information Syamsul Muarif issued a statement to the press at his office in Merdeka Barat, Central Jakarta on Monday (2 September) after farewelling the Indonesian team for the Asia Pacific Information Communication Technology Awards (APICTA 2002) in Malaysia. "The draft broadcasting laws are almost 'finish' [preceding word received in English], and one of the most important concerns is relaying foreign radio broadcasts. If these are incidental it may be permitted and we are now in the process of determining which ones can be described as incidental," Syamsul explained. Syamsul said that intense discussions are also being held about television networks. So far television was not acquainted with the terminology and technical issue of networking but only with relay of transmissions. "Radio certainly has networks, but the problem for TV is that they have already made such large investments. So if these regulations are put in place it will downgrade their assets. Therefore we may regulate the number of transmissions," he added. As a result, Syamsul continued, national television will become network television. "If these draft broadcasting laws are passed, there will be local television stations. This will develop the potential of the regions. But what sort of development depends on the individual networks," the former People's Representative Council member explained. Regarding the Indonesian Broadcasting Commission (KPI) which would be established simultaneously with the passage of the broadcasting laws, Syamsul explained that [members of] the Indonesian Broadcasting Commission would be appointed and removed by the president. "But they would be nominated by the People's Representative Council and agreed to by the president. There would be a position of neutrality so that the government did not interfere directly and dismiss the Broadcasting Commission," he said. As for the matter of licensing, technically according to Syamsul, it would be sought at the regional level of the commission and passed on to the central Indonesian Broadcasting Commission. It would then be discussed with the government and licences would be issued jointly. With regard to community radio, according to the Deputy Secretary- General of the Central Executive Board of the Golkar Party, agreement had been reached on accommodating [licence applicants] by providing specific frequency slots. As far as foreign assistance was concerned there would be regulations and conditions. "Because if there were none, it would become an arena for competition by foreign interests," he explained. Meanwhile, the issue of cross ownership would be covered by the laws on monopoly, Syamsul added. "Although there were no limits, we would consider the issue via the monopoly laws. Because if a person owned too many media companies there is fear that that person could dominate public opinion," said Syamsul. Source: Detikcom web site, Jakarta, in Indonesian 2 Sep 02 (via BBCM vi DXLD) ** IRAQ [non]. SAUDI ARABIA. Whistle het in the 9560-9563 kHz range today, 17-18 UT: Voice of the Iraqi People (from Saudi Arabia to Iraq) heard on 9563.2, but two additional carrier on 9560.00 and 9561.2 kHz too. [heard on both Kenwood and AOR 7030 sets]. (wb, BC-DX Aug 30) 4785/9570 - 1500-1700 VO Iraqi People strong on 4785 kHz, half of 9570 kHz in Arabic (Rumen Pankov, Bulgaria, Aug 31, BC-DX Sept 4 via DXLD) ** KAZAKHSTAN [non]. INDEPENDENT RADIO STATION BROADCASTS IN KAZAKHSTAN --- The Almaty Herald, August 20, 2002 http://www.herald.kz/dn/17.htm http://eurasia.org.ru/cgi-bin/datacgi/database.cgi?file=News&report=SingleArticle&ArticleID=0000541 According to reports from Kazakhstan, DAT Radio has started broadcasting in Kazakh. On August 20, 2002, at 8 a.m. (Almaty time), the opposition radio station broadcast its first Kazakh-language program. Until then, DAT Radio broadcasts had been only in Russian. Broadcasts in the state language of Kazakhstan are to be regular, DAT Radio says. DAT Radio's fist Kazakh-language program was hosted by a popular Kazakh journalist and public figure Bigeldin Gabdullin. Mr. Gabdullin currently lives in exile in the U.S. where he has been granted political asylum after an arson attack on his editorial office and criminal persecution against him on charges of insulting President Nazarbayev. Kazakh opposition member is actively involved in political activities in the U.S.; he has testified before the U.S. Congress and has published a number of articles in the U.S. media. Mr. Gabdullin's program was dedicated to a letter by Alexander Lyan earlier discussed on DAT Radio. In that letter, the author raised the questions of a policy that Kazakh democratic opposition should pursue at a new stage. The newly emerged short-wave radio station that beams its broadcasts into Kazakhstan calls itself "a voice of democratic forces of Kazakhstan which is struggling for validity, the blessing of people, human rights and political freedom." Against the background of Kazakh authorities' tight control over the media and almost daily attacks on journalists in Kazakhstan, DAT Radio is believed to be the sole electronic media outlet free from the government or the Nazarbayev family control. This may be a reason behind the veil of secrecy that surrounds the establishment of this radio station or its staff. Bigeldin Gabdullin has become the first popular Kazakh journalist who acted as a DAT Radio presenter under his own name. Since the years of Stalinist repression until the perestroika, staff members of such widely known outlets as Radio Liberty or the Voice of America had to use pseudonyms for reasons of their personal safety and the safety of their relatives in the USSR. According to the DAT Radio schedule, listeners can tune in between 8 a.m. and 9 a.m. and 10 p.m. and 11 p.m. daily (Almaty time) on short waves in a range of 31 m (Almaty Herald Aug 20, 2002 via N. Grace-USA for CRW via DXLD) ** KURDISTAN [non?]. Radio Kurdistan, Voice of Socialist Democratic Party heard in Kurdish and Arabic *1846-2004* on 4131 18th August (R. Petraitis, Lithuania, Clandestine Radio Watch Sept 3 via DXLD) ** KURDISTAN [non?]. V. of the Kurdish People on new 4012 (ex-4047) 1600-1900 screaming with Kyrgyz Radio, the latter one heard at 0050 on 4010 with ceremonial speech in Russian about the Day of Independence in Kyrgyzstan (Rumen Pankov, Bulgaria, Aug 30, BC-DX Sept 4 via DXLD) ** LAOS [non]. UZBEKISTAN. 17540 ULMD, 0100-0200 UT Merlin operation via MCB to Laos. I listened both days this week to 17540, but conditions have been marginal at best. There are the usual CIS test tones before 0100 and into presumed Laotian at 0100. Reception deteriorated gradually from poor to fair, to just poor. Transmitter went off at 0201 or so. I'll scan the minidisc and see if there is anything of interest (Walt Salmaniw, BC, BC-DX Aug 30 via DXLD) http://www.wccpd.org/activity/act23.html ``... United Lao Movement for Democracy of Minnesota, the organizers of this conference, and ULMD President, Mr. Shoua Cha for inviting me ... Welcome to World Cambodian Congress. ... Lady and Gentlemen,. First, I would like to thank the United Lao Movement for Democracy of Minnesota, the organizers of this conference, and ULMD President, Mr. ... (BC-DX Sept 4 via DXLD) Must be something new! (gh, DXLD) ** LIBERIA. 5469.96, R. Veritas, I listened to their close-down at 2302* Aug 27 as well, but reception was not as good as Aug 26. Have also tried at various times between 0400 and 0700 to see if I can catch their s-on, but nothing heard on either 5470 or 3450 (Jerry Berg, MA, DXplorer Aug 26/27 via BC-DX Sept 4 via DXLD) ** MEXICO. Several chex of 6010 have failed to confirm that XEOI is on the air, since antenna improvements. Sept 4 around 1115 listened a few minutes to some very weak continuous talk in Spanish, but may not have been R. Mil, as never heard dead giveaway `your dog has fleas` jingle (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** MEXICO. Subject: XEITE 830 México DF Here`s some information extracted from various DX websites: KOMEX: (Finnish DX site) 830-2 XEITE México Distrito Federal 10/5 C:1200-0600 DEP/NOT "Estadio W", ex-XELA CIRT: XEITE-AM (XELA) 830 DE AM MEXICO 830.0 0155 from Fred Cantú's list : 830 XEITE-AM Radio Capital Fred Cantú's site is the most accurate, as I am listening to the station right now at 2232 CDT, a YL says "Radio Capital, 8-30 AM", they're playing a lot of US classic hit music and some light Spanish pop music. At 2233 a man gave the call letters "Radio Capital, X-E-I-T-E, desde Distrito Federal con 10 mil watts de potencia, 8-30 AM" Hope this helps out! (Steven Wiseblood, Boca Chica Beach, TX, Sept 2, DX LISTENING DIGEST) The 830 and 1180 stations were reportedly going to swap frequencies a while back. Since the 1180 station's slogan was Radio Capital, it seems pretty likely that that's what happened. Can anyone confirm? 73, (Tim Hall, CA, Corazón DX via DXLD) ** MOLDOVA. Frequency change for V. of Russia in Bulgarian, Greek, Bulgarian via Grigoriopol`: 1700-2000 NF 1467 (54444), ex 621 (Ivo and Angel! Observer, Bulgaria, Sept 3 via DXLD) ** NEPAL. Radio Nepal has introduced a new frequency for its domestic Service which is also a semi external service. The new frequency 6100 kHz in the 49 MB band is used between 2345 and 1715 UTC. This new frequency of 6100 kHz runs // to 5005 kHz. Some days we have observed 5005 closing down at 1545. English news is at 1415 UTC. I would like to thank Partha Sarathi Goswami of India for for tipping me off about this Frequency (Victor Goonetilleke, Sri Lanka, RKI Multiwave Feedback Sept 1 via Swopan Chakroborty, Kolkata India, DXLD) I checked 6100 this evening at 1200 and Nepal was on I would say 6099.9; frankly I have no way of measuring down to .9!! I use my R71 with its LSB position which is dead zerobeat on the nose. The audible zerobeat sounds a wee little bit too good for 6100.0!! But for someone like me when I started DXing in the late 60s to be told that SLBC is not on 4900 but 4902 by Richard Wood all the way in the US, 6100 is quite good!! Then graduated to the RCA AR88 and even tried Glenn Hauser`s piano tuning method of frequency counting via heterodynes. Remember those days you old guys??! Yes \\ 5005 was there OK (Victor Goonetilleke, Sri Lanka, 4S7VK, DXplorer Aug 30 via BC-DX Sept 4 via DXLD) [e.g. middle C is about 0.25 kHz and so on -- gh] ** NETHERLANDS. NOS Radio 1 was supposed to leave mediumwave effective from today, but 1008 is now at 2050 still on. Radio 10 FM continues on 675, too. On the other hand 1224 is off again... Kind regards (Kai Ludwig, Germany, Sept 1, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Flevoland 1008 is still on, meanwhile 46 hours after the announced deadline (Kai Ludwig, Germany, Sept 3, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** PARAGUAY. Dear Mr Glenn Hauser: To advise that we have changed one of our test frequencies, and are now operating on 7300 and 7370, the 24 hours. The frequency 7300 remains beamed towards 184 degrees, and 7370 is beamed towards 4 degress, from Magnetic North. The theoretical gain of the 184 degree antenna is 25 dBi. The horizontal beamwidth is 22,5 degrees. The theoretical gain of the 4 degree antenna is 8,84 dBi. The horizontal beamwidth is 45 degrees. Your reports will be most welcome! With best wishes, from Paraguay. (Adán Mur, Radiodifusión América, Asunción, Paraguay ramerica@rieder.net.py Sept 3, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 7370 has DGS slop from 7375; 7737 would have been better (gh, DXLD) ** PERU. Just when I thought I'd had enough luck for one day, I stumble into another carrier. This one with much better sound ;) All receptions done in Curitiba, Brazil, using an Icom R75 and a homebrew T2FD antenna of 15 meters in length and a random wire of about 20 meters length. Full or partial reproduction of these logs is allowed. 6819.56, Radio (Voz de?) las Huaringas, 0155 UT Sept 3. Male announcer in Spanish, light Andean music. The announcer seems to announce the station as both "Radio las Huaringas" and "Voz de las Huaringas", SIO 233 (Rik van Riel, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** POLAND. The new leadership of Radio Polonia has decided to continue using the SW facilities at the Leszczynka transmitting centre during the winter season and not to move to relays abroad. However, a further reduction of the transmission times is under consideration (Bernd Trutenau, Lithuania, Sept 3, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Shucks ** POLAND/SWEDEN. Re DXLD 2-137: I once checked the discussed frequencies and found Radio Sweden prior to 1600 on 6065 only. There was no trace of it on either 6035 or 6095, only the usual mixture of low program audio with growl of similar loudness. "Polish transmitters seems to be falling to bits in front of our ears" is indeed a good description of this daily disaster (Kai Ludwig, Germany, Sept 3, DX LISTENING DIGEST) See also SWEDEN ** RUSSIA. Voice of Russia: There will be some 9/11-oriented programming on the September 6th You Write to Moscow letters program, hosted by Olga Troshina. Repeats will air September 7th through 9th (from Maryanne Kehoe via the swprograms list via Richard Cuff, Aug 28, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** SIERRA LEONE. R UNAMSIL: an exchange of E-mails following postal report brought this from Pub. Info. Officer Patrick Coker, bpcoker@yahoo.com "Dear Mr. Jerry, Thanks for your mail. Based on the information your sent, I can confirm that the transmissions were from R UNAMSIL. Thanks for listening to R UNAMSIL and stay tuned. Please accept my regrets for the delay in responding. This has allowed for adequate clarification. Best regards, Patrick." Not much, but I'll take it for now (Jerry Berg, MA, DXplorer Sep 1 via BC-DX Sept 4 via DXLD) ** SOUTH AFRICA. I heard Channel Africa open their special transmission at 1100 today (28/8) on 21765, but it was only poor then - about S3 with much deep QSB. 17725 was inaudible - so was 11720. However, I tuned again c1420 and 21765 was then peaking just over 9. 17725 was just about audible - only - but no trace of 11720 on a clear channel (Noel R. Green, UK, Aug 28, BC-DX Sept 4 via DXLD) Final day is Sept 5 (gh, DXLD) ** SOUTH AFRICA. R Veritas aus Suedafrika sendet nach den Angaben im QSL-Brief von 1600-1900 UT seit Anfang August neu auf 3230 kHz (ex- 3280 kHz). (Patrick Robic, Austria, A-DX Aug 29 via BC-DX Sept 4 via DXLD) ** SRI LANKA. Hier eine Karte, wo Trincomalee liegt: http://www.lankainfo.de/lankamap.jpg (via Helgo Ollmann, Germany, A-DX Aug 31 via BC-DX Sept 4 via DXLD) ** SUDAN. [tentative] 7200, SNBC Omdurman in Arabic, with Qur`an prayer at 1700 (despite 17-19 UT scheduled on 9025 kHz in my old list of 1997). 22222. Omdurman may use 7200 also in the 17-19 UT range, ?or on Thursdays only ??? (wb, BC-DX Aug 30 via DXLD) ** SWEDEN. Listened from 1540 UT yesterday - Monday - and did hear Sweden on 6095, although somewhat weaker than on 6065/1179. The modulation could be seen on the S-meter, to a greater extent than on 6065 - like DAM, Dynamic AM. When Poland came on I could clearly hear Sweden in the background. Maybe Magnus could try to listen in Stockholm? All the best (Erik Køie, Denmark, Sept 3, DX LISTENING DIGEST) see also POLAND Sweden on 6095: listened again yesterday (Tuesday Sep. 3) from 1540 UT and it seems as Teracom in Sweden now has fixed the problem as there was nothing heard! 73, (Erik Køie Copenhagen, Sept 4, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** SWEDEN. Coming up on Radio Sweden: Thursday: "Nordic Report" focuses on Baltic Pollution Friday: Our weekly review Saturday: "Network Europe" focuses on terrorism, immigration and integration, and health care Sunday: Another chance to hear the Ace of Base special in "Sounds Nordic" (SCDX/MediaScan Sept 4 via DXLD) ** SYRIA [non]. Sout Al Watan, V. of Homeland, 8/28 and 8/29 *0330- 0348, 9950. Arabic music and singing by male at sign-on without ID or opening IS, announcements, etc. presumed "Watani Habibi" as mentioned via DXLD and other sources. Brief male and female talks followed by more music until 0343 when talk by female noted through 0349 with short musical break. 8/29 featured different programming with presumed "Watani habibi" at sign on but a "patriotic" sounding chorus was heard at 0338 followed by brief talks by male and female and again more music. SIO 212 both days with severe QRM "chatter" and overall poor propagation (S. R. Barbour Jr., NH, Clandestine Radio Watch via DXLD) Re: Contact info for SHRC is on their website: Syrian Human Rights Committee, BCM Box 2789, London WC1N 3XX, UK. Brief message to indicated E-mail address of President of the organization, Saleem El-Hasan, describing what I was hearing and asking if any connection, brought reply, "SHRC is not aware of the whole story mentioned below [my rpt]. Regards." That is not necessarily conclusive, of course (Jerry Berg, MA, DXplorer Sep 1 via BC-DX Sept 4 via DXLD) ** TAJIKISTAN. In reply to an observation of Bjarne Melde, Norway about a possible silence of 648 kHz: this is the same 1000 kW transmitter in Orzu which is used also on 972 kHz, and since 972 kHz is now used almost around the clock with various foreign relays, the frequency 648 kHz is silent. The FS of Radio Tajikistan is now transmitted via Dushanbe 1143/7245 and Orzu 1161 kHz (Bernd Trutenau, Lithuania, Sept 4, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** TIBET. Dear Glenn, Heard your mention of English from Tibet in your current WORLD OF RADIO. If I remember correctly, you also mentioned 7185 kHz, which probably should be 7385. Just returned home from Bangkok I can tell you that reception of 'Holy Tibet' at 1630 was rather good there on especially 7385, followed by 9490 and 5240 kHz, while 6130 kHz was weak. I did not hear an English program at 07 UT. 73, (Erik Koie, Copenhagen, Sept 3, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Erik sent audio, maybe included on WOR 1146 6130/6200, "Holy Tibet" China Tibet People's Broadcasting Company (noted call sign as TBC), Lhasa verified in 194 days with a full data paper card (v/s Tse Ring Yuzen), letter (v/s Tse Ring DeKy), paper schedules for Chinese and Tibet language broadcasts, and postcards of Potala Palace. The QSL "card" and the station address is the same as reported previously by Ed Kusalik. Whoever did the actual paperwork for this QSL package handwrote a note on the envelope stating, "The president of our station's name is Tse Ring Yuzen and she signed in Tibetan on your QSL card." Another handwritten note on the back of the letter mentioned, "Your letter arrived in Lhasa on 6th March. But the leader give me last week." Sounds like the bureaucracy was responsible for much of the delay. Very pleased with this package! (Rich D'Angelo, PA, DXplorer Aug 31 via BC-DX Sept 4 via DXLD)) ** U A E. Dubai`s current English feature is ``The Wide World of Arabic Music``, and this may go on for weeks if it has not already; good reception Sept 3, on North Africa in particular, into Andalucía. Starts about 1334 UT, until 1348 on 21597.7. Continued in Arabic discussing Andalucía and a song about it. Next day, no reception (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U K. Caversham Park, home of BBC Monitoring and BBC Radio Berkshire, will be open to the public as part of this year's Heritage Open Day on Sunday 15 September. Tours of Caversham Park - a Grade II listed building - are being offered on a ticket basis. There are only a few tickets left so you will need to be quick. For tickets call 0118 948 6338 during office hours. Prebooking is essential. Further details on the Heritage Open Days web site at http://www.heritageopendays.org/ed/berkshire/all_properties.shtml (Dave Kenny, BDXC-UK Sept 4 via DXLD) ** U K [non]. Frequency change for BBC in Uzbek/Russian to CAs via Moscow 250 kW / 117 degrees: 1700-1800 NF 12065, ex 12045 \\ 9735 9915 --- all three jammed with Chinese music (Ivo and Angel! Observer, Bulgaria, Sept 3 via DXLD) ** U K. BBC Radio 4 has some interesting programming underway regarding the aftermath of last year's terrorist attacks. Friday 9/6 1230 GMT, "A World In Your Ear": "As we approach the first anniversary of 11 September, Emily Buchanan examines how the world's media reacted to the attacks and takes a look at America's image abroad." Saturday 9/7, 0930 GMT, "The Twin Towers: A Memorial in Sound: "How two women - known as the Kitchen Sisters - set up this sonic memorial to the World Trade Center which features recordings and moving stories about everyday life in the Twin Towers." Source: BBC Radio 4 website Tuesday, 9/10, 1900 GMT: "With Us or Against Us": "The inside story behind the coalition set up in the wake of the terrorist attacks of September 11th. This series will chart the behind-the-scenes negotiations which radically altered international relations, creating unlikely alliances and unexpected diplomatic concessions. What went on during the negotiations to bring such countries as Russia, Syria, Pakistan and China on side? How did the Americans go about building the coalition? How essential was Pakistan?" This is a four-part series which began last month. The first two installments are available for on-demand download. Special BBC News website: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/in_depth/world/2002/september_11_one_year_on/programmes/default.stm URL for live audio: http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio/aod/radio4.shtml?fm Regards, (Richard Cuff / Allentown, PA, swprograms via DXLD) ** U S A. VOICE OF AMERICA DIRECTOR RESIGNS, IS REPLACED WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The director of the Voice of America, Robert Reilly, resigned Thursday after less than a year in the job, the Broadcasting Board of Governors said. VOA sources said the agency had been in turmoil under Reilly's leadership, particularly over plans to set up new language services targeted to Middle East audiences but without the "impartiality" provisions in the VOA charter. The best known is Radio Sawa in the Middle East, which broadcasts Arabic and Western popular music interspersed with news bulletins promoting U.S. views. U.S. officials have said the station is a great success but Arab commentators say they doubt the politically slanted news broadcasts will have much effect on public opinion. Reilly took the post in October 2001 immediately after a controversy over whether VOA should air an interview with Taliban leader Mullah Mohammad Omar in Afghanistan. VOA eventually broadcast excerpts, defying the State Department and the Board of Governors. Reilly had backed the Bush administration's view that VOA should not air the views of a man with whom the United States was about to go to war, VOA sources said. Reilly, a former Reagan administration official, was appointed last October to lead the international broadcasting service in the aftermath of the Sept. 11 attacks. A statement from the Board of Governors, which oversees VOA, quoted Reilly as saying he wanted to "seek opportunities in which I can more directly employ my talents in helping support the president and this administration in the war against international terrorism." The new director of VOA is David Jackson, who worked for Time magazine from 1978 until 2001, when he took a job running the Pentagon's Web site on the U.S. "war against terrorism". "The Board is delighted to have a journalist of Jackson's experience to lead VOA in a period when it must play an important role in presenting the truth about what is happening in the world," said board chairman Kenneth Tomlinson (REUTERS via Mike Cooper, Sept 3, DXLD) ** U S A [non]. Some frequency changes for VOA: 1230-1300 Uzbek NF 18990, ex 19015 plus add 1143 via Dushanbe 1700-1800 Urdu NF 13715, ex 15690 1700-1900 Farsi NF 12030* ex 12140 * strong co-channel Voice of Russia in Arabic (Ivo and Angel! Observer, Bulgaria, Sept 3 via DXLD) see also AFGHANISTAN [non] ** U S A [non]. Some frequency changes for RFE/RL: 1400-1600 Turkmen NF 17825, ex 17690 1800-2000 Farsi NF 9740* ex 9885 * via DTK Juelich 100 kW / 100 degrees. 73 from (Ivo and Angel! Observer, Bulgaria, Sept 3 via DXLD) See also AFGHANISTAN [non] ** U S A [non]. RFA A-02 updated schedule of September 1st: 0000-0100 LAO 12015I 13830 15545T 0030-0130? BURMESE 13680T 13820I 15660 17525 17835S [?17645 on website] [or 0100-0200 UT?] 0100-0300 TIBETAN 9365 11695UAE 11975H 15225T 15695 17730 0100-0200 UIGHUR 9350 11520 11895UAE 11945UAE 15405S 0300-0600 MANDARIN 13670T 13760T 15150T 15665T 17495 17525 17615S 17880S 21690T 0600-0700 MANDARIN 13670T 13760T 15150T 15665T 17495 17525 17615S 17880S 0600-0700 TIBETAN 17485 17510 17720 21500T 21690UAE break 1100-1400 TIBETAN 7470 11590 13625T 15510UAE 15695 17855H-(from 1200) 1100-1200 LAO 9355S 9545T 15560I 15635 1230-1330 CAMBODIAN 11520 13765I 15525T 1300-1400 BURMESE 9385 11765T 11540 [or 15680?] 13745T [or 1330-1430 UT?] 1400-1500 CANTONESE 9445S 11955S 13625T 1400-1500 VIETNAMESE 9455S 9635T 9930W 11510 11520 11605N 11765T 13775P 15705 1400-1500 KOREAN 7380 11790T 13720T 15625 1500-1600 TIBETAN 7470 11510 11780UAE 13835 1500-1600 MANDARIN 9905P 11765T 11945S 13625T 13690T 15510T 15680 17640T [delete 927N] 1600-1700 UIGHUR 7460 9370 9555UAE 9675UAE 13625T 1600-1700 MANDARIN 9455S-(fr 1630) 9905P 11750T 11795T 11945S 13690T 15510T 15680 17640T 927N(1630-) 1700-1800 MANDARIN 9355S 9455S 9905P 11750T 11795T 11945S 13690T 15510T 15680 17640T 927N(-1730) 1800-1900 MANDARIN 9355S 9455S 11520 11740T 11945S 11955T 13680T 15510T 15680 17640T 1900-2000 MANDARIN 9355S 9455S 9905P 11520 11740T 11785T 11945S 11955T 13625T 13680T 15510T 15680 2000-2100 MANDARIN 9355S 9455S 9905P 11520 11700T 11740T 11785T 11935S 13625T 13670T 15515T 15680 2100-2200 CANTONESE 9355S 11785T 13675T 2100-2200 MANDARIN 9455S 9910P 11700T 11740T 11935S 13625T 15515T 15680 2200-2300 CANTONESE 9355S 9955P 11785T 13675T 2200-2300 KOREAN 7460 9455T 11670S 11935S[?] additional 13640T 2230-2330 CAMBODIAN 9930P 11570 15175I 15485T 2300-2359 MANDARIN 9910P 11785T 13800S 15430T 15550T 15680 7290 11935/11960 additional 13640T 2300-2359 TIBETAN 7470 9365 9805UAE 9875H 15695 2330-0029 VIETNAMESE 11540 11560 11580 11605N 11670T 13720S 15560P (various sources, updated on Sep 1st, 2002, BC-DX Sept 4 via DXLD) Where is ``927N``? -- a MW relay, evidently (gh, DXLD) ** U S A. WJIE, 7490, seems to have petered out again; not audible the morning of Sept 4; or is it prop? (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A [and non]. Re: AM vs FM coverage: WWL New Orleans 24/7 into west coast Florida, Tampa south to Sarasota 24/7 on car radios --- even with their 24 hour DA pattern not favoring Florida. Turks and Caicos on 530 into the outer banks of North Carolina 24/7 on a car radio. On longwave, not a beacon, but a broadcaster, Petropavlovsk, Russia 180 kHz, 150 kW heard round the clock on the north shore of Hawaii with a Sony 2010, Palomar loop, and Palomar lw pre-amp (Brock Whaley, WH6SZ, Atlanta, amfmtvdx via DXLD) ** U S A. Glenn, Regarding the report about a Chicago pirate on 87.9 FM in DXLD 2-137. I have first heard it on August 20 at home in Wood Dale, Illinois. Driving to work it was quite audible all the way up north in Lincolnshire, Illinois. It was on for several days, but I was not able to pick it up after August 25. The programming consisted of pop and rock music in the Czech and Slovak languages. No voice announcements were noted at all. The other day I got a confirmation from Vladimir Flener of CSWorldnet saying that the station was a test transmission and was being run in conjunction with the Czech & Slovak Rockfest which was held in Yorkville, Illinois on August 24 & 25. No further details were given by Mr. Flener (Christos Rigas, Wood Dale, Illinois, Chicago Area DX Club, http://www.mindspring.com/~ttmdoc/ Sept 4, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. MORE AIR TIME LIKELY FOR HOST OF PARANORMAL RADIO SHOW September 3, 2002 By the time you've likely picked up your Free Press this morning, Detroit native George Noory will have just completed almost two months of living his dream -- hosting "Coast-to-Coast AM," the feast of paranormal talk radio that airs overnight on more than 500 radio stations (in Detroit, on CKLW-AM, 800, from 1-5 a.m.)... http://www.freepress.com/entertainment/tvandradio/namesc3_20020903.htm (via Mike Cooper, DXLD) ** U S A. PENTAGON ATTACK TALE SAYS LITTLE by John Ruch, Tuesday, September 3, 2002 ``Minute by Minute: The Attack on the Pentagon.'' Tomorrow and Sept. 11 at 10 p.m. on A & E. This is exactly what the terrorists wanted. A & E's documentary, ``Minute by Minute: The Attack on the Pentagon,'' airing tomorrow and Sept. 11 at 10 p.m., demonstrates how incredibly successful al-Qaeda's attacks were as shock-value spectacle. Not only that, it turns out Sept. 11 was a terrorist's buy-one-get-one-free deal. Work for years to fill American TVs with horrible imagery on Sept. 11, 2001; get the same imagery replayed endlessly on Sept. 11, 2002, at no additional cost... http://www2.bostonherald.com/entertainment/television/minu09032002.htm (via Mike Cooper, DXLD) ** U S A [and non]. NAPSTER -- A U.S. court hammered the final nail in the coffin of maverick music service Napster on September 3 when it blocked a bid by German media group Bertelsmann AG to buy the one-time cult and now defunct Web site. Killing off a deal to revive the bankrupt service that millions of fans used to swap music over the Internet, a U.S. bankruptcy court rejected Napster's sale to Bertelsmann after record labels and songwriters opposed the deal, saying the offer price was not fair. Faced with no financing, no revenues and no other buyers, Napster said it would most likely be forced into Chapter 7 liquidation, ceasing operations altogether and terminating its remaining employees. Napster, which once commanded a devoted following of some 60 million fans downloading free song files from its central servers, was forced to shut down last year after major record labels convinced a federal judge it violated copyright laws (Reuters via SCDX/MediaScan Sept 4 via DXLD) ** UZBEKISTAN. From 1700 UT onwards lovely Uzbek folksongs heard on Tashkent's Turkish service 1700-1728 UT on clear channel 9530 (in previous years on 9540, but that's a disturbed channel today). From 1730 heard the usual IS of Tashkent, followed by Uzbek service ID, but frequencies given in Russian language also! 9530 was accompanied by \\ 7285 and 9715 kHz, latter co-channel DW Russian on equal level, not as strong as in all-Europe, due to dead zone of Wertachtal site near my location (wb, BC-DX Aug 30 via DXLD) ** YUGOSLAVIA. RADIO YUGOSLAVIA FACES UNCERTAIN FUTURE The future status of Radio Yugoslavia, which broadcasts in Serbian and twelve foreign languages is uncertain. Montenegrin Information Minister Zivorad Jaredich has spoken in favor of having an international broadcaster for the future state of Serbia and Montenegro, but so far no funding has been agreed. Milena Jokich, Director and Editor-in-Chief of Radio Yugoslavia, says that the state budget should provide funding for the station, in which case it would be re-named Radio Serbia and Montenegro. If no agreement on joint financing of the station is reached, Jokich says the station will be re-named Radio Serbia. Jokich says she has already sent a letter to Serbian Vice-premier Miodrag Isakov on the matter. Radio Yugoslavia currently broadcasts only on the Internet, as a dispute with Bosnia about use of shortwave transmitters in that country has still not been resolved (© Radio Netherlands Media Network 4 September 2002 via DXLD) UNIDENTIFIED. 6350 could be Voice of Tigray revolution using this freq. alt 6315. 0330 is a very possible sign-on for them (Thorsten Hallmann, Muenster, Germany, 1000m under the sea, Sept 3, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Glenn, Re the unID on 6350 kHz, British DX Club member Luca Botto Fiora in Italy reports in a contribution to the September edition of BDXC's 'Communication' hearing Voice of the Tigray Revolution from Ethiopia on 6350 kHz (ex-6315). No time or date given by Luca. Presumably if it is them, would be parallel to 5500 kHz. Regards (Tony Rogers, Editor BDXC ' Communication', Sept 3, DX LISTENING DIGEST) UNIDENTIFIED. Does anybody know about a station broadcasting in Arabic (could be another language) on 7.7 MHz (more or less)? I got last night this station at 0321 UT on 7707 kHz. The interesting thing is that after a few minutes the frequency changed. At 0321 it was on 7698. At 0332 it was on 7693.8 (Marcelo Toníolo, Greenvale, NY, hard- core-dx via DXLD) UNIDENTIFIED. 9705: heard Sunday Sept. 1st from 2000 to 2100 (later VOA QRM), possibly French + vernacular, African music, dull, fair signal, QRM by possibly Arab language programming. A catch of the nowadays rarely heard Voix du Sahel? I've not heard it since about January (Thorsten Hallmann, Muenster, Germany, 1000m under the sea, Sept 3, DX LISTENING DIGEST) +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ INTERNET Netscape Communications on Thursday launched the latest version of its Web browser amid mounting evidence that almost all Internet surfers are using Microsoft's Internet Explorer instead. The new version, dubbed Netscape 7.0, does not stray very far from the preview version unveiled in May. The browser places particular emphasis on faster Web surfing and cross-promoting other content properties throughout AOL Time Warner, Netscape's parent company. The browser also comes bundled with other software, such as the popular AOL Instant Messenger, AOL's Spinner Web radio service and RealNetworks's RealPlayer. Still, the fanfare behind Netscape 7.0 has been muted by a report released this week asserting that IE has left Netscape with a mere 3.4 percent of the browser market, according to market researcher WebSideStory. That's down from 13 percent market share a year ago (CNET) The bottom line on CNET's review of the new Netscape browser is: "When we looked at an earlier preview release of Netscape 7.0, we had high hopes. Netscape built on the speedy and stable Mozilla browser, then added several cool features, such as its more compatible IM client. Unfortunately, Netscape also added a bunch of things that we don't appreciate, such as omnipresent advertising. And Netscape removed one of Mozilla's best features: the ability to eliminate annoying pop-up ads. Mozilla users, unless you really need dual-IM support, stick with what you have. And for those of you using Internet Explorer, the Netscape 7.0 and IE 6 browsers are still neck and neck, so if you're happy with one, there's no reason to try the other -- except, perhaps for the tabbed interface. Before we recommend that anyone switch to the Netscape browser, it will have to be significantly better than its rivals." (CNET) For the complete review see: http://www.cnet.com/software/0-3227883-8-20331576-2.html?tag=news-rr ------------------- (George Wood, SCDX/MediaScan Sept 4 via DXLD) NAPSTER: See story above under USA ###