DX LISTENING DIGEST 2-149, September 23, 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 1148: BROADCASTS ON RFPI: Wed 0100, 0700 on 7445, 15038.7; webcast Wed 1300 BROADCASTS ON WWCR: Wed 0930 9475 ONDEMAND http://www.wrn.org/ondemand/worldofradio.html (DOWNLOAD) http://www.k4cc.net/wor1148.rm (STREAM) http://www.k4cc.net/wor1148.ram (SUMMARY) http://www.worldofradio.com/wor1148.html WORLD OF RADIO 1149: FIRST AIRINGS ON WBCQ: Wed 2200 on 17495, 7415 FIRST AIRINGS ON WWCR: Thu 2030 on 15825, Sat 0600, Sun 0230 on 5070 FIRST AIRINGS ON RFPI: Sat 0130, 0730, Sun 0000, 0600 on 7445, 15039 (DOWNLOAD) http://www.k4cc.net/wor1149.rm (STREAM) http://www.k4cc.net/wor1149.ram (SUMMARY) http://www.worldofradio.com/wor1149.html INDIVIDUAL DXLDS, JANUARY-JUNE 2002: On our own website we no longer have individual issues before July 1, 2002, just the massive quarterly archives. Individual issues are, however, still available at DXing.com, indexed here: http://www.dxing.com/dxrold.htm -- and 2001 archive is also there UNSOLICITED TESTIMONIAL See EL SALVADOR ** AFGHANISTAN [non]. UNIDENTIFIED. Hi everyone, Has anyone any idea or ID on 18940 from 1400 to 1530 UT? There is a continuously played musical theme played over and over again. Thanks, (BW, location unknown, but an AOL subscriber, not Bill Whitacre, Sept 22, swl via DXLD) If not R. Afghanistan relay programming via Norway, maybe they lost their feed? Yes, there it is before and after 1430 UT Sept 23, booming in better than RA ever did. Seemless loop runs about 20 seconds; quite dramatic! No ID or break at 1500. Still going at 1615+ (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ANGOLA [non]. Cland? 7205, R. Ecclésia with music then talks by OM YL in Portuguese, sounded like news, a lengthy speech with continuous talks by OM and YL after a short music break at 1925 Sept 20. An interview at 1940 then with International news. Some folk songs at 1944. Closed with Für Elise. At about 1958 BBC suddenly started on this freq. Signal was S9 +10 at 1910 but with strong QRM from both sides but at 1950 signal was 34223 with AM wide (Zacharias Liangas, Retziki, Thessaloniki, Greece, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Via South Africa ** ARMENIA. Thought that you'd like to know that the VOA is using the Yerevan relay in Armenia, on 4810, 1315-1530 for services in Armenian and other languages of the region. At other times, this transmitter/ frequency is used for regular Radio Yerevan/Voice of Armenia services (Bob Padula, Sept 22, EDXP via DXLD) ** AUSTRALIA. Voice International is changing their web address from http://www.vil.com.au/ to http://www.voice.com.au While the new domain site is still under construction inquiries are redirected to the old domain, and messages using old domain references are still delivered. The new address is: Voice International Ltd., Killick St, Kunda Park, QLD 4556. Voice International broadcasts from the former Radio Australia short wave station at Darwin and plans to establish 24 h Christian based companion programmes in English, Mandarin-Chinese, Hindi and Bahasa Indonesia. These programmes might not necessarily be broadcast on shortwave in full but will be offered to rebroadcasting partners via satellite (Dr Hansjoerg Biener, Sept 22, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** AUSTRALIA. The HCJB Australian facility plans to commence on Dec. 25, and here is the proposed initial schedule: 0700-1200 11755 25 kW English to CIRAF 51 56 60 62 63 1230-1430 15130 100 kW English to 41 1430-1730 15135 100 kW English to 41 1730-1800 15430 100 kW Oromo to 48 (Bob Padula, EDXP Sep 22 via DXLD) They have a thing about inaugurating stations on Dec 25. I continue to wonder what they will really call it! Neither `HCJB` nor `Voice of the Andes` seems appropriate (gh, DXLD) The new station in Kununurra, will have to come up with a new station ID since it's not under the HCJB banner in Ecuador. How about "This is the World Radio Missionary Fellowship broadcasting from Kununurra, Australia"? If you've been having trouble with hearing HCJB's broadcasts to India in recent months (0200-0330 on 21470), here's some hope for those in India and South Asia: broadcasts from Ecuador will end by the end of the year (around 12/25/02). So will the broadcasts to the South Pacific from Ecuador, currently 0700-1100 on 11755. Both of the current broadcasts from Pifo will be replaced with the broadcasts from a new 100 kW transmitter in Kununurra, Western Australia. There was a discussion about this on this weekend's DX Party Line broadcast where Allen Graham interviewed two engineers involved in the project (Joe Hanlon in Philadelphia, PA USA, dx_india and Cumbre DX via DXLD) ** AUSTRALIA. ANOTHER RADIO ANNIVERSARY IN AUSTRALIA - VICTORIA’S VK3ME Two weeks ago here in Wavescan, we honored the 75th anniversary of the launching of Australia`s first international broadcasting service. The experimental shortwave station was VK2ME, the location was Sydney in New South Wales, and the date was September 5,1927. Just two days later, another famous ``first`` was achieved in Australia, and this was the launching of another shortwave broadcasting service with a similar callsign, VK3ME. The location was Braybrook, on the edge of Melbourne in Victoria, and the date was September 7, 1927. Let`s go back now to the beginning of this historic radio venture in Australia`s second largest city. Sydney Newman was an engineer with AWA and in 1921 he established an amateur wireless station at his home in Mont Albert Road, a long suburban street running east from downtown Melbourne. It is the same street where the well known Bob Padula lives today, though Sydney Newman`s suburb was Canterbury and Bob Padula`s suburb is Surrey Hills. From this suburban home, Sydney Newman ran many broadcasts over his wireless station VK3ME, sometimes under his own initiative and sometimes as part of his work with AWA. In 1927, Sydney Newman built a shortwave transmitter which was installed with the mediumwave station 3LO in Braybrook and the callsign was transferred from Newman`s home to the new location. Extensive Morse Code tests were conducted over this new transmitter in preparation for launching a new shortwave broadcasting service. After the mediumwave station 3LO signed off at the end of the broadcast day on September 7, 1927, the shortwave transmitter was fired up for the inaugural live broadcast from the 3LO studios in downtown Melbourne. This programming was also picked up by the BBC station 2LO in London and relayed on mediumwave throughout the British Isles. A regular schedule of weekly broadcasts was inaugurated just two months later. On several occasions, the shortwave programming under the auspices of station VK3ME was transmitted by a higher powered 20 kW unit, the communication transmitter VIY which was located at Ballan, further out along the highway running towards Ballarat. On several important occasions, both VK3LR at Lyndhurst and VK3ME at Ballan were heard with parallel programming, usually the broadcast of an international Test cricket match. The AWA communication station at Ballan contained two shortwave transmitters, VIZ and VIY, for wireless communication with England and North America. This station was officially opened also in the year 1927, just five months ahead of the broadcast unit VK3ME. Shortwave broadcasting from 3LO ended in 1929 when the two mediumwave stations in Melbourne, 3LO & 3AR, were amalgamated and ultimately taken over by the government for incorporation into the nationwide network of the Australian Broadcasting Commission. From that time onwards, all shortwave programming was independently produced in the AWA studios, even though the VK3ME shortwave transmitter was still co- located in the same building as the 3LO mediumwave transmitter. Early in its broadcasting history, station VK3ME introduced several important ``firsts`` in Australian shortwave programming, such as the call of the Kookaburra which was later taken over by VK2ME in Sydney, and later again by Radio Australia. The Melbourne station also introduced station announcements in several different languages, and the call of the famous Victorian bird, the Lyre Bird. Interestingly, the wavelength at VK3ME was described at one stage as ``35 yards`` rather than the metric 32 metres. These days, all of these radio facilities are now gone. Earlier this year, Bob Padula, together with his radio colleague Mike Ogrizek, made a historic visit to the area and this is what Bob states. The AWA communication station at Ballan, or Fiskville as it was sometimes termed, is now a training facility for the Country Fire Authority, CFA, in Victoria. The transmitter hall that housed the three shortwave transmitters is still standing and is part of the visitor centre for the CFA. The receiver station at Rockbank was later in use by the Australian Army, but that is also now closed. These days the property is in an extensive farmland area with nearby housing estates slowly moving out that way. The ABC-AWA transmitter base at Braybrook is now absorbed into a a suburban industrial comeplex. All that remains of the historic twelve year era of AWA-3LO-VK3ME on the air shortwave are references in old radio magazines and modern historical journals, and old QSL cards that sometimes surface on ebay, the internet auction site. The VK3ME QSL cards are somewhat similar to the cards that were issued by the sister station, VK2ME. The Melbourne card shows a map of Australia with sparks emanating from a radio antenna. The Story of Radio VK3ME in Victoria -- Known Frequencies: 9110, 9285, 9370, 9375, 9490, 9500, 9510, 9512, 10100, 10530, 11495, 11560, 11580, 12020 (Adrian Michael Peterson, AWR Wavescan Sept 22 via DXLD) ** AUSTRIA [and non]. So to explain again: There are two 'totally different' organizations with the name RAI: 1 - R Africa International, with 'c' in Africa, is a religious organization, which used to broadcast via DTK T-Systems MediaBroadcast Juelich Germany in past. Subsequently the QSL report should sort under Germany. Radio Africa International via DTK Juelich, 100 kW, English religious program, on 15485 at 1800-1900 UT in A-01 season: United Methodist Church/Radio Africa International in French 0400 0600 Daily 11775/140 deg to Ea & Ce Af 0400 0600 Daily 13810/160 deg to Ce & So Af United Methodist Church/Radio Africa International in English 1700 1900 Daily 13820/145 deg to Ea & Ce Af 1700 1900 Daily 15485/160 deg to Ce & So Af [evidently replaced by 15265; see USA non below] Address: The United Methodist Church, 425 River Side Drive, New York NY 10115, U.S.A. 2 - R Afrika International, with 'k' like in German lang. Is a pan- African language local service in Austrian capital Vienna, which also broadcast weekdays at nighttime via ORF mediumwave transmitter Vienna Bisamberg on 1476 kHz. This broadcaster has also a single SW outlet on 17875 kHz via ORF Moosbrunn relay, was 17895 in B-01 and coming B-02 winter schedule at 1500-1600 UT, according the following entry in A-02 at present: 17875 1430-1600 46-48,52,53,57 MOS 300 180 AUT ORF ORF 1476 R Afrika International via ORF [Vienna Bisamberg] on 1476 kHz 2300-2400 LT [2100-2200 UT in summer], acc to a schedule from the stn. Addr: Heigerleinstr: 7/1-2, A-1160 Vienna, Austria. E-mail: radio.afrikas@sil.at http://www.radioafrika.net (Bjoern Fransson, Sweden, ARC MV-Eko May 14) [late broadcast reported on 5945 too – gh] So, to conclude: the ORF Moosbrunn Austria outlet can never be verified via the NY address of a total different organization. But 17895, now 17875 kHz, should be verified via the Vienna address given above. (wb df5sx) (Wolfgang Bueschel, Germany, Sept 22, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** BHUTAN. BBS, direct QSL received. I could receive Bhutan from time to time in 1993-94, but only in Nov-Dec. Many years ago I received the blue UN card. Some months ago I visited the BBS webpage and had the idea of sending an E-mail. With it I also sent a scan of the letter I received years ago from Bhutan with their newspaper "Kuensel" from Sangay Agency, which received my 1993 rerport and asked me to subscribe. I did not subscribe (too expensive), but it made good material for "Weltweit Hoeren," the well known German DX magazine. But I never received a QSL. With the E-mail I also sent my cover design for an article about BBS for the German "Radio-Kurier." I never had more fun with a QSL; the only mistake is the wrong date (June 8, 2002), but for me it's one of the finest pieces in my collection (Christoph Ratzer, Austria, DX-plorer via DXLD) ** BOLIVIA. 3390 kHz, R. Camargo, E-mail QSL "card" in 8 days for E- mail SP rpt and audio clip with clear R. Em. Camargo ID on it. According to AltaVista, enclosed text message says thank you for the report, sorry for the delay, but that they never received my original postal report sent June 15, 2000, and that a QSL is enclosed. They also attached a postcard. Both the QSL and postcard have impressive pictures on them. V/S José Luís García Pastrana. Original message from José Luís is as follows: "Hola amigo John, estamos muy felices de haber recibido su reporte de sintonía, lamentamos no haber recibido su anterior reporte, pero bueno eso ya es historía, esta vez quiero enviarle el QSL de nuestra emisora, mil disculpas por las demoras, también quiero comunicarle que periódicamente le estaré enviando, fotos, música, y otra información de Camargo y de Radio Camargo. Cordiales saludos a la distancia, José Luís." Many thanks to Arnaldo Slaen for opening up this avenue for a Camargo QSL. A trip to the station planned by TIN back in 2000 was canceled due to local road conditions (John Sgrulletta, NY, DX-plorer, via DXLD) ** BRAZIL. A Rádio Cultura, de São Paulo (SP), já está transmitindo, novamente, em 17815 kHz. Seus transmissores foram danificados após uma forte chuva, mas retornaram ao ar. Foram ouvidos, em Porto Alegre(RS), em 20 de setembro, às 2130, com o programa Agenda (Célio Romais, @tividade DX Sept 22 via DXLD) ** CAMBODIA. 11940.4, National V. of Cambodia, 1200 Sept 22; the carrier started at 1200 and the program signed on at 1204 suddenly. At 1204 English, at 1217 French, at 1232 Thai, at 1246 Laotian and at 1300 Vietnamese program were started. Each program began with announcement, short talk and most of time local music. Signed off at 1315. Audio quality was bad and not so enjoy its program (Juichi Yamada, JAPAN, Jembatan DX via DXLD) ** CANADA. 6030, CKMX, Calgary, Alberta, 0705 Sept 23. The opportunity to DX this 100 watt shortwave relay of CKMX 1060, comes when R. Martí and the Cuban jammer are silent, which is late Sunday nights-Monday mornings. There was another carrier 650 Hz below creating a het, but signal strength from CKMX was fairly good, with S8-9 readings at times. Program consisted of classic light rock and oldies format, with multiple, canned station IDs every few minutes, including this one given at 0730: "Lots and lots of music, lots and lots of your favorites; AM 1060. CKMX" Very good modulation. This station must be designed to serve around a 1000-1500 km radius during the daylight hours, but I'm glad they keep the transmitter going all night (David Hodgson, Nashville, TN, DX LISTENING DIGEST) AFAIK, calls are still really CFVP on 6030, tho rarely if ever mentioned. Fortunate that the jammer rests too! (gh, DXLD) ** CHINA. The Xinjiang Peoples Broadcasting Station, at Urumqi, recently introduced a 13 MHz channel - 13670. This is used for daytime coverage of the Uighur Network 0300-1230. The highest frequency currently used by CRI/CNR for regular broadcasts is 17890 (Beijing) for CNRI programming 2230-1200. However, jamming transmitters are regularly heard on: 21705 0700-0900 (to spoil VOA Mandarin there (carrying CNR2) (purpose not known!) 21660 1100-1300 (to spoil BBC there) carrying CNR1 21560 0400-0600 (to spoil VOA there) carrying CNR1 21495 0000-0300 (to spoil VOA there) carrying CNR2 Good listening to China! Regards (Bob Padula, Sept 22, EDXP via DXLD) ** COLOMBIA. Re 2-147, address in ``Pluiston FL 33440`` is actually Clewiston! Right, Chuck? (gh, DXLD) ** CONGO DR. RADIO OKAPI JOURNALIST RELEASED Franklin Moliba-Sese, the Radio Okapi journalist arrested in Gbadolite by the Movement for the Liberation of Congo (MLC), was released on Saturday (21 September) on the decision of the prosecutor. He had been accused of revealing confidential military information in a report on child soldiers awaiting demobilisation. The United Nations Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUC), which operates Radio Okapi in patnership with the Swiss-based Hirondelle Foundation, says it is delighted at the news. MONUC has repeated its request to the MLC authorities to create conditions enabling journalists to freely carry out their work in safety, and thus contribute to the return of peace in the country. Radio Okapi has thanked the many national and international journalists and human rights organisations who showed their support for Moliba-Sese´s release (© Radio Netherlands Media Network 23 September 2002 via DXLD) With regret, I must admit that numerous other cases we hear about of journalists being mistreated in various countries are seldom mentioned in DXLD. RSF frequently issues condemnations of such actions. This one concerns a SW station, which makes it more relevant (gh, DXLD) ** CUBA. DXERS UNLIMITED'S WEEKEND EDITION FOR 21-22 SEPTEMBER 2002 By Arnie Coro radio amateur CO2KK Hello amigos radioaficionados all around the world and in space! Welcome to a special edition of Dxers Unlimited, written just hours after Hurricane Isidore has left the territory of Cuba and is now heading for the Yucatán Península in México. What is so special about this program today, is that this is a first hand account about how amateur radio operators in Cuba, México, Jamaica, Gran Caymán and the United States of América have worked together and continue to provide emergency communications that proved vital for preserving the life of tens of thousands of people in the affected areas struck by the Category II Hurricane. I am Arnaldo, Arnie, Coro, radio amateur CO2KK, and this is an eyewitness report of the way ham radio is capable of providing emergency communications even under the most difficult circumstances, when even highly sophisticated up to date technologies fail for one reason or the other... Even as I am writing this, right next to CO2KK, my amateur radio station, I am still serving as net control station for the Cuban Hurricane Emergency net that is operating on the 40 meter band... Sí amigos, yes my friends, oui mes amis, [da, druzhya??] today, once again I feel real proud of been a radio amateur! And as always at the end of this program, I will provide you with an easy to understand and useful high frequency bands propagation update and forecast, that will also include some comments about 6 meter band DX as we approach the equinox, just a few hours away now!!! Margarita Delgado is my sound engineer and producer, I am Arnie Coro back with you in a few seconds... ..... Arnie get ready, it was a telephone call from the President of the Cuban Federation of Radio Amateurs the 4000 plus members organization that had yours truly as one of its founders way back in the early sixties.. Pedro, CO2RP, had as always, looked ahead and started to organize the hurricane emergency net, from the very early stages of what is known a powerful category III hurricane, Isidore... [ellipses as published] Just to give you an idea how ham radio emergency nets operate, we were getting everything required together when Isidore didn't even had a name, when it was just known by the area weather services as just tropical depression number 10. As soon as I received Pedro's phone call, our Plaza Radio Club started to organize the operators that are well trained and area ready to move at a few minutes notice. This time we had enough leeway to fully charge all our backup batteries, check all the VHF and HF radios, test the antennas, and pack everything . Several days later, on the 18th of September Tropical Storm Isidore was heading towards Cuba and all the radio amateurs that had volunteered to participate in the emergency communications moved to the previously selected locations, from Civil Defense command posts to observation posts right next to water reservoirs that required the water level to be monitored, from the Cuban National Weather Service headquarters to seashore areas that are well known because of previous sea penetration of the low lying coast line. The real action started on the 19th of September as one of Cuba's long range 10 centimeter wavelength weather radar at Punta del Este, in the Isle of Youth , started to pick up the outer bands of tropical storm Isidore, and my good friend Crescencio, affectionally known by his funny nickname Chencho, CO4BM, activated his portable ham radio equipment and began to send to the national weather service headquarters tropical storm position reports every hour... Chencho is a real expert on establishing emergency radio communications even under the most difficult circumstances, something he has demonstrated during previous hurricanes... Other stations in the Isle of Youth manned by Emilio Portillo CO4QS and Juan Bayolo CO4QA kept that island in touch with the main island of Cuba when other services became overloaded with traffic, while Rolando Torres, CO4AT volunteered to fly to the most dangerous operating position of them all, the world famous tourist resort of Cayo Largo island, where the Cuban authorities had already ordered the evacuation of all tourists enjoying their holidays there, and only a small group of tourist ministry, civil aviation and other authorities stays to safeguard the installations. I was at CO2KK my ham radio station monitoring the traffic and felt really proud of how we, the amateur radio operators, were able to provide such efficient emergency communications, that in the case of the Cuban Instituto de Meteorología, the national weather service, the nation's top weather expert, my good friend Dr. José Rubiera, praised on national TV, the work done by amateur radio stations in order to provide the most update and extremely valuable weather data, include the links that fed the radar data to the national forecasting center... My good friend Chencho, CO4BM, was obviously in the mind of Dr. Rubiera, as well as CO1JF, José Luís Febles, how was in charge of the La Bajada long range radar that later during the path of Hurricane Isidore proved to be so important for doing accurate forecasts... So far all amateurs I have mentioned have a CO prefix callsign, indicating that they are holders of first class licences issued by the Cuban telecommunications authorities, so you could expect a lot from them regarding their know-how... But now let me tell you several CM and CL stations, holders of intermediate and novice licenses have also proven to be top notch emergency operators. Joel CL2ME, a very young radio amateur, was deployed at a remote fishing village in Pinar del Rio. When Joel arrived to Puerto Cortés, the sea was just starting to show the storm's fury, but he was really shocked when on the evening of the 20th of September as Hurricane's Isidore full blast was smashing the extreme western part of Cuba, Joel had to suddenly start running for his life, when the sea began to move backwards due to the tremendous vacuum exerted by the hurricane's forces. We islanders know very well, from the days of the Santa Cruz del Sur disaster in 1932, that when the sea starts moving away from the coast line, that's the moment to start running as fast as possible away from the shore, and Joel, our young radio amateur was operating from just a few meters from the coast... Fortunately, he could return to the place where he had installed the station after a few hours, and he was back on the air providing up to date weather data and information about the damages, as requested by the administrative authorities that were in charge of taking care for the health and welfare of the population... More about Hurricane's Isidore path over Cuba after this short musical interval... ........ You are listening to Radio Havana Cuba, the name of the show is DXers Unlimited, I am Arnie Coro and this is a special eyewitness report of how amateur radio has provided emergency communications all along the path ofHurricane Isidore, now heading towards the coast of the Yucatán Península in México... Now let me tell you how efficiently we coordinated our efforts with amateur radio stations in the United States of América and in México... W4EHW is the ham station located at the National Hurricane Center in South Florida and they established contact with the Cuban Hurricane Emergency Net, to learn about the path of the hurricane and obtain weather data, from weather stations and from the Cuban network of long range high power meteorological radars, just recently upgraded and upgraded by a group of young engineers that saved our nation a lot of foreign currency with their extraordinary work, I recently ran a piece on my Breakthrough science and technology program about how the network of seven high power radars had gone trough this modernization program, that proved to be of such tremendous value during this hurricane. W4EHW operators kept listening on our emergency frequency of 7090 kiloHertz, picking up the weather data, and also providing information that they had obtained via satellite... One interesting aspect of this hurricane emergency is that for the first time ever the Cuban weather service had its own amateur radio station on the air from the national headquarters in Casablanca, callsign CO9BNA, operated by Carlos CM2JC, a young Cuban amateur that has two hobbies that complement very well with each other, Carlitos CM2JC is not only a good ham radio operator, he happens to be also a very enthusiastic amateur meteorologist, and he is the net control of our HURACAN net that meets every Saturday morning on the 40 meter band to learn more about meteorology... So as you may realize, Carlos was really happy for having being appointed as the chief operator of CO9BNA, and he has done a terrific job, and is still there at the Casablanca site Saturday afternoon, when I am writing this script of this program... Now one final comment, as always we all have learned a lot during this emergency, among other things the importance of taking with each portable station, and installing an in line standing wave ratio meter, to constantly monitor the SWR of the antenna... In Ciudad Sandino, we lost one nice transceiver's final output stage when the antenna broke during a wind gust that exceeded the 110 mile and hour mark ... The operator was not aware of the antenna breaking down, and a few minutes later...pooof !!! No more output transistors !!! As I am writing the ending paragraph of this script at 2 o`clock in the afternoon local time in Havana, the emergency communications nets are still in operation, and we are waiting for the Mexican emergency nets to be activated, as all the available data indicates that Hurricane Isidore will be delivering a devastating blow to South East México as it is now a Category III Hurricane in the Saffir Simpson scale that goes up to 5.... So far no loss of life has been reported in Cuba, but damages are very extensive in the Isle of Youth and in the westernmost province of Pinar del Rio... I will provide you with more information about amateur radio and the hurricanes during the mid week edition of DXers Unlimited... And now a very short HF propagation update and forecast... Solar activity is rather stable, with the daily sunspot number growing to 237 and the effective sunspot number reaching 120, an excellent figure that indicates the possibility of nice 10, 12 and 15 meter band openings during the next few days, and that also may lead to 6 meter openings on the South to North paths... See you soon on the radio again, and now after taping the program, I am going back to serve as net control operator of the Cuban hurricane emergency net from CO2KK (via Bob Chandler, ODXA via DXLD) ** CYPRUS. As a comment to 2-148 concerning Radio Sawa from Cyprus and the problem not being able to hear the station in most parts of Europe just this: "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." [DXLD 2-138] Best 73s (Ydun Ritz, Denmark, DX LISTENING DIGEST) So the 320 degree null passes near Istanbul, across Bulgaria, central Europe, Prague, Amsterdam, Glasgow, Goose Bay, Detroit, Austin... (National Geographic Globe with geometer via gh, DXLD) ** ECUADOR [and non]. See AUSTRALIA ** EL SALVADOR. Re R. Imperial: Hi all, the origin of all this can be found in DXLD 2-057, April 7, 2002, retrievable at http://www.worldofradio.com/dxldtb02.html (towards the very end). Following the assumption that there was a high order harmonic of Radio Imperial on the 16 meter band, as suggested by Björn Malm et. al., I sent an email request to our DXing collegue Humberto Molina, in El Salvador, asking him to investigate the info contained in Luis Palau´s internet site (listed by Willi and also in my original correspondence with Humberto). The original exchange of messages was in Spanish, and so some of you might not have followed the whole line of ideas exposed therein. Humberto got in touch with the station on the phone and was then in a position to verify that the 16 meter band frequency was in fact intentionally used by Radio Imperial, albeit only occasionally. When hearing the station recently, and although he was pretty certain about the ID, George Maroti, as a gesture of courtesy, I suppose - recognizing perhaps my previous research - sent me two clips via the internet in order have my opinion as to the identity of the station. I was happy to confirm the ID, just as the point where George had it, too, and now I believe Humberto Molina is helping him out with a QSL after providing the station with a CD recording. So the morale of all this is: Do not forget to check DXLD, where info sometimes is way ahead of other publications (Henrik Klemetz, Sweden, hard-core-dx via DXLD) ** EL SALVADOR. 17833.30, Radio Imperial, 2348-0010 Sept 20-21. Bit of musical selections heard with some talk in Spanish but too noisy to get much else otherwise. Still there at 0010 with not much better signal. 0040 het but no audio to speak of with QRM from 17835 (Ed Kusalik, Alberta, Cumbre DX via DXLD) Radio Imperial, 17833.2, presumed the one 1620+ GMT today, weak audio as usual w/ SP vocals (Terry L. Krueger, FL, Sept 22, hard-core-dx via DXLD) They're fading in and out here tonight, playing accordion music. When they're good, they're good, but they're only good about 25% of the time here. I'm hearing them on about .24, though (Ralph Brandi, NJ, DX-plorer via DXLD) ** ETHIOPIA. Re RVOG/ETLF item in 2-147: It is a very remarkable fact that the archives of RVOG survived some 25 years after the 1977 nationalisation of the station. It should be very interesting to read the DXer's dissertation (off course beside my own which unfortunately is in German only and not in print any more). In 1989, I bought a book of Manfred Lundgren who once led the station. Lundgren. Manfred: Proclaiming Christ to His World. The Experience of Radio Voice of the Gospel 1957-1977, Geneva: Lutheran World Federation, (about) 1983/1984. On a footnote on the "evangelical" nature of the station, I would like to add that the station of the Lutheran World Federation was in fact very ecumenical. The Ethiopian Orthodox Church used the station for domestic broadcasting, and also Catholic broadcasters were involved in some programmes. By principle the international broadcasts (excluding those to China) were produced and transmitted in the responsibility of church councils in the target areas thus giving national indigenous churches a voice that they would not have had otherwise. A revolution in international Christian broadcasting was the 30:70 philosophy devoting the majority of the programme content to items of general interest. The independent news service of the station was an improvement compared to the situation in many of the target areas and the international government voices caught up in the East-West Cold war. One might object to the mission idea, but should still distinguish US-American "evangelical" broadcasting from European based Protestant concepts. Kind regards, (Dr Hansjoerg Biener, Germany, Sept 22, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** FINLAND. Hi Glenn, In DXLD-2148 you wrote: "Previous reports implied but did not state explicitly that the weekly Capital Weekend English hour has been cancelled already." In fact, we published an item on 2 September, which I believe you quoted in DXLD. I did intend it to mean that there were no Sunday transmissions, but I realise from re-reading it that the wording could have been better. I will attempt to be more explicit in the future :-) 73, (Andy Sennitt, Media Network, DXLD) ** FRANCE. 25775.1 unID/Radio Neige. 2025-2105 Sept 21. Initially heard Eric with Peggy Thompson with excerpt of IndoChina series by Galleo [sic] Publishers, gave the 339-912-4132 phone number, with a promotion for DAB Systems. Followed with music by Rolling Stones, The Who and Pink Floyd. Into French Program with one segment talking about credit cards protection (2101). Traffic underneath sounded like CB out-of banders? Signal was fair to excellent at times. I found an old article that was posted in DX Ontario September 1995 by Alan Roberts, who did an excellent account about this service and the different outlets used (Ed Kusalik, Alberta, Cumbre DX via DXLD) Except we have no indication this is R. Neige, defunct ski lift stations: check something more recent than 1995. If 339 is a North American area code, it`s in Massachusetts (gh, DXLD) [see below] 25775.1, UNID, 1517 Sept 22. Noted male and female in French with possible ID at 1513. EE at 1517 with same male and female announcers. Above and below noise floor and difficult to get a complete sentence, female with what sounded like a phone number at 1521. Continuous EE at this time slot but near noise floor. During same time frame, while on line mIRC chat line, a gent in Durban S. Africa and one in Norway could not get a copy. 1530 playing Rolling Stones tune. Then, The Who, The best I ever had at 1535. S meter staying at '0' but some audio makes it thru. Def Leopard tune at 1539. Male announcers in French with short comment then back to more music. French tune, 1544. Male announcer in French with brief comment with mention of Paris, 1547 and then to another French tune. S meter on occasion slips up to S2 (Bob Montgomery, Levittown PA, Cumbre DX via DXLD) I'm listening it at 1623 UT in south Italy (Roberto Scaglione, ibid.) Into TN with good level on the peaks from 1650-1750. The program is on a loop. Thought I caught a R France ID. This obviously is an 11 meter test transmission presumably from RFI. 73, (David Hodgson, TN, Sept 22, Cumbre DX via DXLD) Heard here as well up and down since 1715, only peaks on the songs so far (Hans Johnson, WY?, Sept 22, Cumbre DX via DXLD) French TIS 25775: Thanks to a tip in DXLD and #swl, I tried 25775 AM on 22 Sep at 1710 and this station was audible in English with fading signal. Little by little reception improved and was rather strong at about 1755 when they seemingly signed off. The program was just the same as described in DXLD 2-148. Peggy Thompson and Eric with traveller tips of Lower Normandy etc., Rolling Stones and Led Zeppelin music. French at 1730 and English again at about 1750. And on 23 Sep at 1150 nice signal in French and at 1159 in English Same loop tape again. No ID-like heard at least in the English portion (Jari Savolainen, Kuusankoski, Finland, DX LISTENING DIGEST) I`m a bit surprised this is being heard so `close` in Finland and Italy, if it really be in France (gh, DXLD) At 1839 Sept 21 they gave a phone number starting with 075; later on a 339-912-4132 [but read further--JB] phone number was mentioned twice (if US, near you, JB). Features on the image technology park in France and the interview with Capote along with the Stones and The Who were also broadcast, like on your reception. Back to FR at 1901. Some pretty good peaks, but deeps fades as you say. No ID heard for the 50 minutes. I have listened so far. -- I was able to rewind the tape and these are the two telephone numbers I heard: First one is a toll free call to 075-63241. I assume the sequence is France, since in PWBR all the phone numbers listed under RFI have 8 digits after the country code. I heard that at 1839. Then at 1843 the male (Eric) clearly says: Area code 339-912-4514. The last two digits were incorrect in my original report as I tried to hear it over the air. Once I played it back a few times, this is the number. For the first number, the announcers mentioned car radios, for the second number they said just listeners (John Sgrulletta, NY, DX-plorer via DXLD) 1927 Sep 21, talk about high-tech amusement park outside Lyon, bit of music by Prokoviev, padding with Rolling Stones "Brown Sugar," The Who, Led Zeppelin; some crud from CBers or something; tnx Rich D'Angelo. 33 is the country code for France, so the number may be more like +33 99 124-132, where 99 is the city code. I tried the Pages Jaunes at http://www.pagesjaunes.fr/ to see if I could do a reverse lookup, but it tells me they can't give me information on that number (Ralph Brandi, NJ, DX-plorer via DXLD) Heard here too, tho seems to be on its way out now (2010 Sep 21). See http://dxing.hypermart.net/ and http://dxing.hypermart.net/French_NFM.htm This particular frequency not mentioned (Jerry Berg, MA, DX-plorer via DXLD) The transmission on 25775 was not from Comité Department du Tourisme de la Charente-Maritime. Those tourist information stations are 1 watt narrow band FM. 25775 was a high powered AM transmission. Also not R Neige as that service has been defunct for years. When it was active, it was also narrow band FM. I did hear (in SSB mode) the carriers from Comité Department du Tourisme de la Charente-Maritime on the frequencies around 25925 yesterday (Sept 22) around 1700, but they never grew strong enough to produce any capture here in FM mode. R France has transmitted in the recent past on 25820. Why is it so hard to believe they might run a test transmission on 25775? Deutsche Telekom also tests fairly regularly on 11m, but I have only heard German used by them. 73, (David Hodgson, TN, Sept 22, Cumbre DX via DXLD) Finally beginning to hear traces of audio around 1600 UT Sept 23 on 25775, after listening to a twice per second pulser for more than an hour, which continues annoyingly. Definite French and music at 1604. Transmitter seemed to cut on and off around 1606-1607; a few more traces until 1630. If I can hear it at all, it`s got to be a lot more than one watt (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Here in the south of Brazil I could only hear the carrier of this signal, the audio was down in the noise. I suspect the signal may be readable during another time of day or during more favorable conditions, though. This one is definitely worth trying (Rik van Riel, Curitiba PR, Sept 23, hard-core-dx via DXLD) ** FRANCE. I'm also getting the carriers from the 1 watt French TIS stations on 25926. No audio yet, and QRM from chicken banders (David Hodgson, TN, Sept 22, Cumbre DX via DXLD) ** FRANCE/GERMANY. You may be interested to know that the 25 MHz band will be a little more active in B02, with these planned operations: 25740 DW Wertachtal (Germany) 0800-1400 25760 IBB Wertachtal (Germany) 0830-1030 (target: CIRAF 40) 25820 RFI Issoudin (France) 0900-1300 Good listening to the 11 metre band for B-02! Regards (Bob Padula, Sept 22, EDXP via DXLD) ** GERMANY. 6085, Bayer Rundfunk Munich Ismaning will cease audio broadcast on shortwave as from Jan 1st, 2003, due of Financial difficulties. Maybe the station will come back with new DRM mode broadcast sometime later in 2005 ... 2006 (Open Day Ismaning, Sep 21, Wolfgang Büschel, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** GREENLAND. Now that the solstice is long gone, and the equinox also is past, it is time to renew attention to the June report of activity on 3812 kHz, and hear if it propagate now: http://www.dxing.com/dxr/dxld2093.htm Follow-ups were in http://www.dxing.com/dxr/dxld2095.htm and http://www.dxing.com/dxr/dxld2101.htm (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** GUATEMALA. The item in 2-147 must refer to R. K`ekchí, 4845, tho this identification was lost somewhere along the way (gh, DXLD) ** INTERNATIONAL VACUUM. SIRIUS INKS DEAL WITH WSM-AM/NASHVILLE, GRAND OLE OPRY But for the time being, the "WSM Entertainment" channel will be rebroadcasting all of the legendary Country station's local content including the local ads and weather and traffic reports. Gaylord Radio Group VP/GM John Padgett tells R&R it's only temporary: The satcaster will begin replacing the local ads with national ones on Feb. 1, 2003 and by June 1 will begin covering the remaining local breaks. Sirius isn't worried about any backlash against the local content, however: Spokeswoman Mindy Kramer tells R&R the vision for the new "WSM Entertainment" channel is for more than simply a rebroadcast of local content from WSM-AM. While timing limitations command that it take that form in the short-term, she says, ultimately the channel will feature original programming co-produced by Sirius and Gaylord (From R&R 9/23 via Brock Whaley, Atlanta, DXLD) ** INTERNATIONAL WATERS [and non]. It maybe all over now but these frequencies may be of interest (from Ulis Fleming): There will probably be a bunch of people posting this but a good place to go is: http://www.hurricanefrequencies.com/ another good reference point is: http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/ Good listening, Ulis http://www.radiointel.com (via Mike Terry, DXLD) See also CUBA! and http://www.hurricanecity.com (Sheldon Harvey, International Radio Report via DXLD) ** IRAQ [non]. From Pravda. BAGHDAD CRITICISES RADIO FREE EUROPE Iraqi Foreign Minister Naji Sabri has condemned the activity of Radio Free Europe which broadcasts in Arab for Iraq from Prague. In an interview with a Czech newspaper on Thursday, the Iraqi Foreign Minister said that the radio programmes conveyed anti-Iraqi information while Prague allowed its enemies to speak and let the CIA spread anti-Iraqi propaganda. Radio Free Europe is financed by US Congress. Free Europe programmes targeting the audience in Iraq and Iran have been broadcast from Prague since the autumn of 1998 despite protests of the authorities in both countries (© RIAN via Mike Terry, DXLD) ** JAPAN [non]. WORLD WAR 2 MEMORABILIA, JAPANESE MONITORING OF FOREIGN RADIO STATIONS The latest edition of the American radio magazine, ``Popular Communications``, contains a four page article on the story of the monitoring of American radio stations by the Japanese during the Pacific War. This very revealing article was written by the Japanese radio author, Hideharu Torii (HID-eh-HAR-oo to-REE-hee). During the Pacific War, the Japanese monitoring station was located in an underground facility as part of the Foreign Ministry in Tokyo. Some 50 staff members tuned in to foreign radio broadcasts, mostly in English, using American-made and Japanese-made radio receivers. On shortwave, the Japanese monitors listened to the English language programming from many stations including the following:- The Voice of America via transmitters in California & Hawaii BBC London direct from Daventry Radio Australia at Pennant Hills, Lyndhurst & Shepparton All India Radio Delhi Radio Moscow; and even Radio Buenos Aires in Argentina. Another station that they monitored regularly was station KGEI with its relay of VOA programming in Japanese. In the autumn of 1943, some of the monitoring staff travelled to the northern coast of Japan in the Chiba prefecture in an attempt to tune in the broadcasts from mediumwave stations in the continental United States. At this new location they installed a beverage antenna 600 metres long and they discovered that they could listen to many American mediumwave stations for three hours after local sunset, but only for the darker season of the year running from September to April. Among the mediumwave stations they heard regularly were the following:- KGO & KPO in Oakland CA KNX & KFI in Los Angeles CA KIRO KPSC & KOMO, all in Seattle OR Strangely, the strongest signal came from a 50 kW mediumwave station well inland from the Pacific coast and this was station KSL in Salt Lake City, Utah (Adrian Michael Peterson, AWR Wavescan Sept 22 via DXLD) ** KAZAKHSTAN [non]. CLANDESTINE from CIS? to KAZAKHSTAN. 9775, Radio Dat: while the 1500-1600 broadcast has apparently moved to 9925, the 0100-0200 transmission is still here. Strong signal, usual long talks in Russian, ID's before 0200 sign off. Just left the carrier on. Anyone have any ideas as to the exact site? (Hans Johnson, WY? Sep 23, Cumbre DX via DXLD) I believe Samara has been suggested, and various reports indicate somewhere in Russia. I find this a bit hard to believe, given the close ties still between the two countries (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** LIBYA. Libyan Jamahiriya BC has made its presence in the web; at: http://www.ljbc.net/ eMail-address: info@ljbc.net The radio sector is still under construction, however. 73 de (Pentti Lintujärvi, Helsinki, Finland Webmaster of 1000 Lakes DX Page http://www.geocities.com/Colosseum/Park/3232/dx.htm and dxlinks.info http://www.dxlinks.info/ and Finnish DX Association http://www.sdxl.org/ hard-core-dx via DXLD) ** MADAGASCAR. MEDIA ENVIRONMENT ASSESSMENT 23 SEPTEMBER 2002 The following is an amended and updated version of the BBC Monitoring's Madagascar media environment assessment issued on 3 May 2002, and covers media developments since the exile of the former president, Didier Ratsiraka, in July 2002. Political background President Marc Ravalomanana is in control of the whole country, but not all pro-Ratsiraka elements wanted for alleged acts of "terrorism" and killings have yet been arrested. The media are still reporting on trials of former Ratsiraka officials and operations in some parts of the country aimed at capturing remnants of the former regime. On 19 September Ravalomanana used the media to appeal to the Malagasy people for "more solidarity with him and more cooperation with the government", as impatience with the pace of economic change was said to be growing. The president "was aware of the deprivation and misery endured by everyone as a result of the struggle undertaken together" (L'Express de Madagascar web site on 20 September). Ravalomanana's life reportedly threatened President Ravalomanana on 29 August said his life was threatened (Midi Madagasikara web site, 29 August 2002). Such a threat, the communications minister said, was "confirmed day by day" (L'Express de Madagascar web site, 29 August 2002). The news did not come as a major surprise for central highlanders, as in 1975 another Merina appointed - not elected - head of state was killed 11 days after his accession to power. Parliamentary elections Political parties are preparing for elections said due by the end of the year. Even though no genuine opposition has yet emerged, pro- Ravalomanana parties have started joining together in a bid to provide Ravalomanana with a "strong presidential majority" (Midi Madagasikara web site, 9 September 2001). International relations As of 23 September 2002, the rough situation is that the new president, Marc Ravalomanana, has been recognized by most foreign countries and international bodies such as the UN. The African Union has so far failed to grant full recognition to Ravalomanana, even though some member countries like Mauritius, Senegal and Burkina Faso have already recognized the new Malagasy president. Foreign bilateral and multilateral aid has resumed. New orientation in international relations The country's relations with the Anglophone world in general, and the USA in particular, have been boosted under the new regime, to the extent that English is now to be taught from primary school level. In fact, the country is said to be seeking to join the anglophone- dominated Southern African Development Community, SADC, and one of Ravalomanana's special advisers announced a "gradual split from France" (Madagascar Tribune web site, 22 August 2002). The ethnic dimension The Merina people of central Madagascar are of Malay origin, as are, to a lesser degree, the Betsileo people of south-central Madagascar. The rest of the population are either mixed (of Malayo-Polynesian, Arab and African origins) or from black African extraction. Post-independence Malagasy politics has been characterized by strong anti-Merina sentiment stemming both from Merina rule in Madagascar in the 19th century and French colonial "race politics". In line with what is known locally as "coastal cause", all Malagasy presidents were from the coast. Ravalomanana is the first Merina elected president. In a bid to establish the rule of law, Ravalomanana has sought to arrest and prosecute all those who were involved in acts of "terrorism" and killings during the recent crisis. It happened that most of these people were pro-Ratsiraka and "cotiers" (coastal people). Former President Albert Zafy, who is a "cotier" and emerged third in the disputed December 2001 presidential poll, has denounced the ongoing arrests, saying all those arrested are coastal people. The media and the public denounced this as an attempt to destabilize the new regime by "tribalizing" the arrests (Madagascar Tribune web site, 20 August 2002). Media developments Less polarized media Since the departure of former President Ratsiraka in July 2002, the media in Madagascar have become less polarized, even though the division of the country into two political camps following the disputed 16 December 2001 presidential elections is still felt in some quarters. In a sign of things to come, the Ad'Gasy party, which deems itself to be an opposition party, issued a statement criticizing government "misinforation" and control of the media (Malagasy independent newspaper L'Express de Madagascar web site on 5 September). Media overview Madagascar's 16m people have six daily newspapers and a number of weeklies and monthlies, as well as numerous TV and radio stations, including a large number of FM stations broadcasting in all provincial and district capitals. Because of the low literacy rate, the print media are mostly aimed at the French-educated urban elite. They are therefore mostly in French and urban-centred. The print media suffers from low circulation because of the low literacy rate, a poor road network and poor purchasing power. Some formerly pro-Ratsiraka radio stations, which used to operate like "hate radios" during the crisis, have switched to more mainstream forms of broadcasting. Press freedom Journalists in the country have been accustomed to working in a relatively free environment and producing reports critical of the government. After press freedom was violated by the former regime in coastal provinces during the recent crisis (ban on national newspapers, suspension of broadcasting, etc.), the situation is now back to its pre-crisis situation. Internet Access to the Internet is restricted more by poor purchasing power than poor telephone infrastructure. By African standards, the country can boast a relatively modern and efficient telecommunications network. All major newspapers or newsletters are on the Internet, and more and more Antananarivo-based FM radio stations have also become available on the Internet. A major project aimed at providing Madagascar with optical fibre technology to cut telecommunication costs is under way (Madagascar- Evènements web site on 16 September). Web site developments After Ratsiraka's departure, some web sites stopped updating. Others are under construction. Government web sites could proliferate as the new regime has highlighted communications/transparency as a cornerstone of its "good governance" policy. The following sites carry, or are supposed to carry, more or less regularly updated news: \ \ A new Malagasy government web site - operational since early July - publishes information in French and English. URL address: http://www.madagascar.gov.mg \ The Justice Ministry web site in French features major legal documents like the constitution. URL address: http://www.justice.gov.mg \ Ratsiraka's election campaign web site, which also carries news and comment in French, has not been updated since the end of February 2002. URL address: http://www.ratsiraka2001.mg \ Ravalomanana's political association Tiako i Madagasikara [I Love Madagascar], TIM. Until mid-March 2002, the site carried daily news and information, in Malagasy and French, on Ravalomanana and his supporters. From mid-March to early September, it published mainly information in French, English and German about Ravalomanana's plans and projects, as well as announcements and comments by the Ravalomanana camp. On 4 September, the web site announced that it would become "independent" from TIM: "We wish to stand aside so that we might report on all shades of opinion, provided they are constructive," the web site said. URL addresses (any of the following): http://www.tiako-i-madagasikara.org http://www.tiako-i-madagasikara-net http://www.marc-ravalomanana.org http://www.marc-ravalomanana.net \ Ravalomanana's newly-formed political party - also named Tiako i Madagasikara, TIM - has a web site currently under construction. URL address: http://www.tim-madagascar.net \ Malagasy Broadcasting Service, MBS, the Ravalomanana-owned and Antananarivo-based radio-TV station, has a web site under construction. Published in French and Malagasy, its URL address is http://www.mbs.mg \ State TV station Television Malagasy, TVM - under construction. URL address: http://www.tvmonline.tv Other news web sites \ \ Mada-Evenements [events]: http://madaevenement.kilio.com (in French) \ MadaNews: http://www.madanews.com (in French) \ Mada-News.Net: http://www.madanews.fr.st (in French) \ MadOnline: http://www.madaonline.com (in French, English and Italian) \ Madatsara ("tsara" is the Malagasy word for "good): http://www.madatsara.com (in French) \ InfoGasy.com ("gasy" is a shorter version of Madagascar): http://www.infogasy.com (in French) \ Madagascar Magazine: http://www.madagascarmagazine.com (in French) \ Anio Magazine ("anio" is the malagasy word for "today"): http://www.aitusa.com/anio (in French) (under construction) \ MadaGate: http://www.madagate.com (in French) \ MadaJournal: http://site.voila.fr/madajournal \ Havana News ("havana" is the Malagasy word for "relative(s)"): http://www.havana-news.com (in French) - not updated since September 2000. Radio and TV - overview Residents of the capital, Antananarivo, have access to a dozen FM radio stations and six free-to-air terrestrial TV services (see listings below). Listeners and viewers elsewhere have much less choice, with the state- owned Radio nationale malagasy (RNM) and Television malagasy (TVM) providing the only domestic radio and TV for the entire country. RNM is the only radio station authorized to broadcast on shortwave; TVM can broadcast to the whole country because it is relayed by satellite. The ownership of radio sets is widespread, which is not the case with TV sets which are only found in major urban centres because of their cost and also because of limited access to mains electricity in rural areas. Curbs on "illegal" radio-TV stations "The two-month period set for radio-TV stations operating illegally to legalize their situation has expired. Therefore, the Communications Ministry will now enforce sanctions so that all stations are legalized. "Meanwhile, Communications Minister Mamy Rakotoarivelo has announced the launching of 'Operation Transistor'. The operation aims to equip all households with radio sets so that they can access information easily." (Madagascar-Evenements web site in French 14 Sep 02) State radio to expand FM network "The minister also said the [Malagasy] national radio [RNM] would become audible on FM across the entire island [of Madagascar]." (Madagascar-Evènements web site in French 14 Sep 02) Radio stations RNM [Radio nationale malagasy - Malagasy National Radio] RNM is the state-owned radio station. It operates from the capital and still holds the legal monopoly on shortwave transmissions in the country. Its news bulletins are in Malagasy and French. Since the departure of Ratsiraka, the radio has been broadcasting without the noticeable propaganda slant of the former regime. It has not been relayed on satellite over the last six months. RNM news is available in print and in French on the Internet. URL address: http://takelaka.dts.mg/radmad Radio MBS [Malagasy Broadcasting System, expansion originally in English] This FM radio station is the radio branch of the Malagasy Broadcasting System, MBS, owned by Ravalomanana. Probably the most recent FM station operating from the capital, it became the most popular station after Ravalomanana announced his candidacy for the 2001 presidential election. Radio MBS is not on shortwave but reaches other cities through rebroadcasting deals. As suggested by its name, the station also broadcasts in English. Its new boss, Ravalomanana's daughter, is said to have hired an interpreter to translate Deutsche Welle broadcasts into Malagasy (Indian Ocean Newsletter, 31 August 2002). The station is available on the Internet through Ravalomanana's political association TIM web site (at any of the following): http://www.tiako-i-madagasikara.org http://www.tiako-i-madagasikara-net http://www.marc-ravalomanana.org http://www.marc-ravalomanana.net The station's web site is under construction. Information on the site is available in French and Malagasy. URL address: http://www.mbs.mg RTA [Radio-Television Analamanga, Analamanga is the name of Antananarivo old town] RTA broadcasts from Antananarivo as well as Antsirabe (some 160 km south of Antananarivo) where it can be received within a radius of 80 km, Toamasina in the east, Mahajanga in the northwest, and Toliara in the southwest. The station carries news in French on the Internet. URL address: http://www.rta.mg Radio Antsiva [Trumpet Shell] Broadcasting on FM 97.7, this Antananarivo-based station attracted a large audience during the recent crisis because of a daily midday political commentary against the Ratsiraka regime by a former pro- Ratsiraka journalist. Radio Antsiva has its own web site. URL address: http://www.antsiva.mg RLI [Radio Lazan' Iarivo] FM 106 (Fame of Iarivo: Iarivo is the name of an Antananarivo region) Broadcasting on FM 106, the station broadcasts mainly jazz music, and is not available on the Internet. Radio Mada and Radio Ravinala (Travellers' Palm) Both Antananarivo FM stations broadcasting mainly music. As political violence increased during the recent political crisis, these two stations and the above-mentioned Radio Antsiva and Radio MBS cooperated in broadcasting pro-Ravalomanana security-related messages and directives to the crowds in the capital. These four radio stations also broadcast a "joint editorial" on a daily basis. Radio Ravinala is on the Internet on http://ravinala.online.fr Ma-FM [Madagascar-FM] Along with Ma-TV and two daily newspapers, this Antananarivo-based station belongs to the Antananarivo-based Andriambelo family. It also broadcasts news. Ma-FM is available on the Internet on the Ma-TV site http://www.matvonline.tv RTV [Radio Tsioka Vao - New Breeze or New Tune] This was a pro-Ratsiraka FM station broadcasting in the capital. Reports say its premises and equipment were burnt down a few months ago, which has prevented it from operating ever since. Radio Fahazavana [Light] This FM station operates in the capital and is owned by the main protestant church, the FJKM (Church of Jesus Christ in Madagascar, of Presbyterian denomination), and also reportedly partly by Ravalomanana, a lay vice-chairman of that church. Radio Fahazavana covers mainly religious and church matters. RDB [Radio Don Bosco] RDB broadcasts from Antananarivo 24 hours on FM 93.4 and can be heard up to 200 km away; it is owned by the Salesian congregation of the Roman Catholic Church, RDB is available on the Internet http://www.radiodonbosco.mg Radio Feon'ny Merina [Voice of the Merina] FM radio station operating from Antananarivo. After the Antananarivo Royal Palace was burnt down in 1995, some Merina intellectuals resolved to initiate an awareness campaign on the Merina issue. Radio Feon'ny Merina is part of this drive. Korail [Coral] Madagascar FM 90, Alliance FM 92 [Alliance Française FM92] -- Antananarivo-based FM radio stations broadcasting mainly music with some local news. Radio Mampita [communicating, conveying] -- FM station based in southcentral town of Fianarantsoa. RTVB [Radio-Television Boeni] -- FM station operating in the northwestern port of Mahajanga. Radio Sun -- FM station operating in the northwestern sea islet of Nosy-Bé. Sky FM -- FM station operating in Toamasina. Radio Voanio [cocoa] -- FM station operating in Toamasina. FMA [Feo mazava atsinanana - Voice of the Eastern Sunlight] -- FM station operating in Toamasina said to be owned by Pierrot Rajaonarivelo, the former deputy prime minister and Ratsiraka's party boss. It reportedly carried anti-Merina propaganda during the recent crisis. Radio Soleil [sun] -- FM station operating in Toliara. "Hate" radio stations During the recent crisis, some pro-Ratsiraka FM radio stations operating in coastal areas broadcast programmes inciting tribal and racial hatred mainly against the Merina people and, in some cases, against southcentral Fianarantsoa Province's Betsileo people, who are racially close to the Merina. Some journalists in Toamasina have been accused of sending provocative hate messages over the air waves during the Ravalomanana-Ratsiraka power struggle (Malagasy newspaper Madagascar Tribune web site on 19 August). BBC Monitoring East Africa Unit was able to monitor the Ratsiraka- owned "Canal 6 Madagascar" radio-TV station broadcasting from Toamasina until it stopped operating on the day Ratsiraka fled the country for France (via the Seychelles) on 5 July 2002. Foreign FM radio stations RFI (Radio France Internationale, in French) is relayed on FM in Antananarivo and a few provincial capitals. BBC World Service (in French) is also relayed on FM in Antananarivo. The BBC has become more and more popular among Malagasy nationals, especially Ravalomanana supporters. Ravalomanana has invariably resorted to the BBC, instead of RFI, to make his most important announcements to the outside world. TV TVM [Television Malagasy - Malagasy Television] TVM is the state-owned TV station, and broadcasts in Malagasy and French. Because it is relayed by satellite, it is the only TV station broadcasting to the whole country. TVM news is available in print and in French on the Internet http://takelaka.dts.mg/tvm but its site has not been updated since 18 August 1999. Another TVM web site is under construction. URL address: http://www.tvmonline.tv MBS TV [Malagasy Broadcasting System TV, expansion originally in English] Owned by Ravalomanana, it has featured women announcers appearing in Malagasy traditional hairstyles. MBS radio and TV stations are said to have started boycotting two local music stars known to be openly speaking about sex and drugs - reportedly in a bid to please a powerful Protestant church of which Marc Ravalomanana is vice-chairman. MBS is also said to have banned a local rap music band alleged to be sponsored by Ratsiraka's party boss. (Indian Ocean Newsletter, 31 August 2002). The station's web site in Malagasy and French is under construction. URL address: http://www.mbs.mg RTA [Radio Television Analamanga - Analamanga being the site of the Royal Palace in Antananarivo] Initially broadcasting exclusively in the capital city, it now broadcasts in five cities: Antananarivo, Antsirabe, Toamasina, Mahajanga, Toliara. RTA is available in print and French on the Internet. URL address: http://www.rta.mg Ma-TV [Madagascar-Television] Broadcasting only in Antananarivo, Ma-TV, along with two daily newspapers and Ma-FM radio station, is owned by the Andriambelo family, one of the few local media entrepreneurs apart from Ravalomanana. Ma-TV is available in print and in French on the Internet http://www.matvonline.tv TV Ravinala [Travellers' Palm], TV Plus TV Ravinala is the TV counterpart of the pro-Ravalomanana Radio Ravinala. Foreign satellite TV stations TV-5 - Europe is a Belgium-based TV station broadcasting in French and TF1 is a French TV channel (L'Express de Madagascar web site, 2 March 2002). Main newspapers Midi-Madagasikara Along with Ma-TV and the daily newspaper Gazetiko, Midi Madagasikara is owned by the Andriambelo family. It is mostly in French, though it also carries a few pages in Malagasy. Midi-Madagasikara is the oldest of the existing daily newspapers in French, and claims to be "the leading national news daily". Its managing director, Mamy Rakotoarivelo, recently resigned after being appointed communications minister in the Ravalomanana government. The daily does not have a Sunday edition. Midi-Madagasikara is available on the Internet http://www.dts.mg/midi Madagascar Tribune [Madagascar Forum or Rostrum] Tribune is a daily newspaper mainly in French, but it also carries a few pages in Malagasy. The daily does not have a Sunday edition. Madagascar Tribune is available on the Internet http://www.madagascar-tribune.com L'Express de Madagascar L'Express is a daily newspaper mainly in French, but it also carries a few pages in Malagasy. Its founder and previous main shareholder was pro-Ratsiraka politician and presidential candidate Herizo Razafimahaleo, who has sold the paper to a local businessman. The daily does not have a Sunday edition. L'Express de Madagascar is available on the Internet http://www.lexpressmada.com Gazetiko [My Newspaper] Founded in 1998 and owned by the Andriambelo family, it is the most recent Malagasy daily newspaper. It is entirely in Malagasy. Gazetiko is not available on the Internet. Maresaka [Resounding, sensational] and Basy Vava [Virulent, corrosive] Daily newspapers entirely in Malagasy. They do not appear on Sundays. They are not available on the Internet. Weeklies DMD [Dans les medias demain - In the Media Tomorrow] Independent weekly newsletter in French focusing on economic and financial reports. Its owner and publishing manager is also the Reuters' correspondent in Madagascar. DMD is available on the Internet http://www.dmd.mg Lakroa [Cross] Owned by the Roman Catholic Church, run previously by the Jesuit congregation and now relayed by the Assumptionist congregation, this not-for-profit weekly newspaper in both French and Malagasy has always been at the forefront of major moral causes in the country. The weekly is operating both from the capital and from the southcentral town of Fianarantsoa, which is a major Roman Catholic publishing base. Operating under the name of Lumière [Light] in the 60s and 70s, Lakroa is the oldest of all the weeklies in Madagascar. It can also claim to be the only print media outlet that has truly national coverage. Lakroa is available on the Internet http://www.geocities.com/lakroam Monthlies Jureco [Mensuel Juridique et Economique - Law and Economic Monthly] As suggested by its name, Jureco is a monthly magazine focusing on legal and economic issues but also carries political reports. Antananarivo-based, independent and published in French, it features analyses and in-depth reports generally bylined by legal and economics professionals and university lecturers. Jureco is part of the same group as the Feon'ny Merina weekly newspaper and radio. Its web site http://www.jureco.com has not been updated fully and regularly over the last three months. R.O.I. [Revue de l'Ocean indien - Indian Ocean Review] ROI is an Antananarivo-based independent monthly magazine published in French. ROI is available on the Internet only on subscription http://www.madatours.com/roi Feon'ny Merina [Voice of the Merina] Feon'ny Merina is the newspaper counterpart of Radio Feon'ny Merina. Even though it is not available on its own on the Internet, some of its features appear on an Internet site called "Zaikabe" (forum, congress) which promotes the Merina cause http://home.cwnet.com/zaikabe/KI/FMERINA Source: BBC Monitoring research 23 September 02 BBC Mon AF1 AFEau MD1 Media 160902/cnob/vr (via DXLD) ** MEXICO. XEQOO, Radio Pirata, Cancún, 1050 kHz, 1616+ GMT with usual Spanish pop, Spanish woman DJ with brief Hurricane Isidore advisory. Unfortunately, this is the only Quintana Roo or Yucatán station I can hear (day or night) with regularity here (Terry L. Krueger, FL, Sept 22, hard-core-dx via DXLD) ** OKLAHOMA. The sad saga of Enid`s only local TV station continues: KXOK-LP channel 32 (Cox cable 18), peaked in early August when it sponsored a 2-hour debate among the then seven primary gubernatorial candidates. We were in the audience at Oakwood Mall just outside the studios. Since this was at 7 pm, the 6:30 news was cancelled, as no doubt there would not have been time to set up the cameras, etc. But the local newscast did not come back the next day; the anchor, Tim Bradfield (who is really a weatherman), proceeded to go on vacation, and for a couple of weeks it was done by a substitute, who gave his name every few minutes, and which we promptly forgot. After a few more sporadic appearances, the news seemed gone for good. Then an auction was revived for a few nights in prime time, allegedly as a `benefit` for KUAL-LP 104.7, and/or to pay off (ex)staffers who had been waiting on their salary, causing a lot of bad feelings. It soon became clear that just about everybody who worked for KXOK had quit; and we noticed that the office cubicles which had been visible from outside the door, had all disappeared. Subsequently, it appeared there was little or nothing left of KXOK`s facility in the mall. By mid-September all we saw would be America One network feeds; then the constant advertising crawler at bottom of screen disappeared. Then the video disappeared! Black screen for days at a time, but network audio was still there. Came back for less than a day. Then as of Sept 23 the same incredible situation (both on air 32 and cable 18), black video, and network audio. We hear that the station is in big trouble (surprise), as the owner (or purchaser?) Rex Faulkner is in a divorce and his assets have been frozen. Why don`t they just turn it off? Somebody appears to be messing with KXOK output, perhaps to decrease its book value (if any). Meanwhile, Bradfield has become a DJ on KUAL The Rocket, which is sounding more and more commercial with `sponsors` of programming. Altho there has been a lot of personnel crossover, the two stations are not legally related, as far as we know. Stay tuned... (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** PAPUA NEW GUINEA. PNG PROVINCIAL GOVERNOR OFFERS TO TAKE OVER LOCAL RADIO STATION | Text of report by Papua New Guinea newspaper The National web site on 23 September Gulf [Province] Governor Chris Haiveta has assured the management of the National Broadcasting Corporation that his government is prepared to take on the responsibility of looking after Radio Gulf. He would like the NBC to sign over running of the radio station to the province. Mr Haiveta gave the assurance after Radio Gulf was shut down last month due to technical and electrical problems. Mr Haiveta wants to bring the radio station and the Gulf information office under one roof. "Where the print media or the television does not reach, radio has over the years provided invaluable government information and has kept rural people abreast with events around the world," Mr Haiveta said. He is seeking the NBC management's help to sign an agreement to transfer the radio station to his government. Mr Haiveta visited the premises of Radio Gulf last week with the deputy director of NBC, Posa Lari, and director for Kundu Service Winterford Suharupa. Radio Gulf is expected to come on air later this week after maintenance work in the studio and office complex. Source: The National web site, Port Moresby, in English 23 Sep 02 (via BBCM via DXLD) ** PARAGUAY. -- Dear Friend Thord Knutsson: Many thanks for your message, and for your greetings from Sweden! We are attempting to further strengthen the equipment. The primary challenge is to improve the transfer characteristic, from the Power Amplifier to the antenna. There is an impedance mismatch, and we must correct this. In general terms, the equipment performs very well, and has excellent audio quality. We have had to construct the three transmitters, ourselves, as commercially-built equipment does not survive our conditions. This is owing to "wild" energy supply, severe storms, high temperatures, dust, frogs and insects. The frogs dearly love to explore, within the equipment. Sadly enough, this is often the end of the frog. The insects find the 6,5 mm diametre test jacks ideal for egg-laying repositories! We have an insect hatchery, wish it or not, in some of our equipment. My greatest unsolved mystery, thus far, is how a fully-grown frog managed to enter a PLL tuning box, 12 cm x 4 cm, which is completely sealed, by six screws, excepting for an opening, 5 mm in diametre. This box is held within another, sealed metal box, closed by 16 screws. There is, however, an opening of 10 mm diametre. My conclusion is that the frog, at a very young age, entered the 10 mm passage, found its4way through the second, 5 mm passage, and then grew inside, trapped, where it perished, from starvation. Please keep listening for 7300 and 7370 kHz. We are attempting to further strengthen the signals. With best wishes (Dom Mur, R. América [undated] via Thord Knutsson, SW Bulletin Sept 22 via DXLD) ** PERU. 3172.76, R. Municipal was here a year ago, station now *0940v with Peruvian format, music but too weak for much more detail other than "desde ....en Perú...en la música" 73's de (Bob Wilkner in Margate, South Florida Icom R 75 Drake R 7 NRD 535 Sept 22, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** PERU. 4886.40, Radio Virgen del Carmen (Tentative), Huancavelica, 2302-2310, September 21. Radio Dif. Acreana is off air at this hour. Andean tropical music. Short announcement in Spanish: "Este sábado... gran fiesta...", 24432 (Arnaldo Slaen, Argentine, dxing.info via DXLD) ** PERU. 4940, R. San Antonio AM-FM, partial-data Certificado de Sintonía card in 7-1/2 months for cassette, mint stamps (not used), SAE (not used). Also enclosed one-page personal computer-generated letter, two-page station info letter and postcard of local birds. Address listed as Calle Iquitos 499, Atalaya, Ucayali, Peru, E-mail given as rasat@terra.com.pe This is different from the E-mail I used at the beginning of the year. Rafael Rodríguez in Colombia just received a QSL from them as well, so maybe more of those written QSLs will be showing up soon (John Sgrulletta, NY, DX-plorer via DXLD) ** POLAND [non]. Here's a much better ID-recording from the sign on this Sunday morning at 6 UT on 15455 kHz. 73, (Erik Koie, Copenhagen, maybe on WORLD OF RADIO 1149, DXLD) R. Maryja ** RUSSIA. Advance information from the Voice of Russia is that it plans to use the 120 metre band (!) for services to Australia and SEA, for B-02, effective Oct-27. This is very unusual, and the planned frequency is 2300 kHz, with 250 kW from Irkutsk, 0600-0900, azimuth 150 degrees. I am not sure if this is a mistake, but that it how it was presented to me! Interestingly, 2310, just nearby, is used by the ABC's NT service at Alice Springs, 0830-2130! We'll see if it happens... Regards! (Bob Padula, Sept 22, EDXP via DXLD) ** SERBIA. A reminder that for the time being we are filing stuff about Yugoslavia, i.e. RY reactivated on SW, under Y (gh, DXLD) ** SOUTH CAROLINA. It has been reported that the two girls Brother Stair is accused of diddling are black. They are also young. I heard an interview with someone somewhere (don`t recall where) who said that when the world did not end at the dawn of 2000, Brother Stair decided that all his preaching is false, but continued it nevertheless as a means to make a living. If this theory is true, then B.S. believed his own nonsense prior to 2000, but not thereafter. Brother Stair is in his old form once again, threatening to go off various stations if listeners don`t send funds. He did say on the morning of Sept 16, in a live break-in to the normal tapes he plays, that he`s satisfied with his support from WWCR. Texe Marrs did say two weekends ago, on his WWCR broadcast, that he no longer thinks Brother Stair is a man of god, and that he (Texe Marrs) has a one-hour tape denouncing B.S. which may be purchased for $8 (Robert Arthur, Sept 17, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** SYRIA [non]. 12115 / 12085, Sawt Al Wattani, 1528 Sept 21, playing the song 'wattani'. Signal on 12115 S9+30 while 12085 is S9+20 on dipole antenna. Syria was stronger on 12085 and signal stopped 15 secs after 115 stopped (Zacharias Liangas, Retziki, Thessaloniki, Greece, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** TAIWAN. I am 99.9% certain it was Taiwan I was listening to on 15265 and parallel 7515 at 1545 today - both good signals but with co- channel Chinese, which I assume were jammers. They had a comedy programme - at least, the audience were laughing - so perhaps the Variety Network 1? The 'big band' was unleashed at 1600 and is still playing at 1705 on 7515 but stopped at 1700 on 15265 allowing TWN to be heard clearly till closedown c1702 (Noel Green, England, Sept 22, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A [non]. Radio Africa International opened at 1700 on 15265. This is listed as UMC via Jülich at 1700-1859. But after Glenn`s remarks in DXLD 2-148, I will refrain from making any more comment, except to say that it is in English!!! (Noel Green, England, Sept 22, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Yes, this really is the UMC, via Germany. See also AUSTRIA above (gh) 15265 should be a "safe" case; the special ORF transmissions of the Vienna-based Radio Afrika International are somewhere on 16 metres, alongside with a slot on the regular ROI program. By the way, apparently bad news from Vienna is to be expected again (Kai Ludwig, Germany, Sept 22, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. Friday --- I just got back from spending the day at Upton repairing the 7490 kHz transmitter - now being called BY-10 (Bethany #10) ! Someone had removed the hot air exhaust duct (in order to reduce the "noise" being heard by some neighbors) which allowed rainwater leaking from the roof to enter and flood the RF Amplifier compartment. The water knocked the transmitter off the air and then drained into the blower through its' ductwork. When the folks at Upton tried to restart the transmitter sometime later, the water under pressure from the blower destroyed the canvas ductwork, reflooded the RF compartment, and filled the air inlets of all the tube sockets with the pieces of canvas duct! Man, what a mess! I started on it at 8:00 AM and had it cleaned up and the ductwork replaced (had to improvise - not having any canvas handy, I swiped a bath towel and cut a strip of it and lined it with duct tape) and got it back up and running by noon. When I left at 3:00 PM it was still churning out 49 kW as if it were fat-n-happy! Sunday --- I was listening last night and again this morning and it sounds like they have reduced the audio level leaving the studio end to prevent the POTS or CoDec or whatever that thing is, from clipping and cutting out on program peaks. That part sounds better - but now there isn't enough modulation (Larry Baysinger, KY, Sept 22, Cumbre DX via DXLD) Geez, what next? Well, this fix didn`t last long as it was gone again Sept 21 and 22, tho a carrier seemed back 23 (gh, DXLD) I again heard a special program devoted to WJIE's developments. It was on last Friday (Sept. 20) at about 23.45 UT on 7490 kHz. Reception wasn't the best. But I believe they said that WJIE has already acquired KVOH. The format of KVOH will remain the same, new Christian broadcasters are welcomed. (What about a spot for the World of Radio? :)) The FM-transmitter for their Liberian station is already in Nigeria. Sounds like WJIE's signal comes to a transmitter in Upton, KY via the Internet. Oftentimes the quality suffers. They probably don't have a broadband access there or it's not very reliable (Sergei Sosedkin, IL, Sept 22, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. Lori Wallace has a show on WWCR. It is standard short-wave Christianity, end of the world is nigh, etc. But, she is female. And the guy who comes on immediately after her (Preacher Otwell) has for the past three weeks begun his broadcast in what appears to be a normal, planned manner. But then about 7 or 8 minutes into his broadcast he says he`ll digress for a moment. And he spends the rest of his half-hour allotment denouncing Lori Wallace for preaching and speaking, when the Bible prohibits women from speaking aloud or having any authority of [over?] men. Then at the end of his broadcast he expresses surprise that the time got away from him, and that he couldn`t get to his prepared material! This guy has also denounced Lori Wallace`s most recent guest who dared to quote from some Bible other than the KJV. I have not noticed that Lori Wallace has directly responded to these attacks, but in her most recent broadcast she did say that she is thinking about expanding from a half-hour to an hour, and wants her listeners to send in as much money as they possibly can to enable her to do so. This might be a side-swipe because I`m not sure that she can expand at will even if she can pay for it, if someone else already has that time slot (Robert Arthur, Sept 17, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Here they are, UT Sundays, CDT Saturdays on 5070: 0130-0200 8:30-9:00 Keep Standing For The Truth Lori Wallace 0200-0230 9:00-9:15 [sic] God Said Ministries (LIVE) W. N. Otwell ** U S A. KIMF - does it exist yet? Does anyone know the current operational status of KIMF in New Mexico? I have found a sked (well a tentative one) but contact details are lacking. I have an email address for, I think, the owner/operator but it went unanswered (interestingly it didn't bounce). The last report I read was for a site visit in August and nothing was to be found, not a mast or anything. So is KIMF going to be on the air soon? thanks for your help!! 73 (Sean G4UCJ, hard-core-dx via DXLD) So what is the tentative schedule and where did you find it? 73, (Glenn Hauser, to Sean, via DXLD) [HCDX] KIMF New Mexico - tentative B02 sked This is the tentative sked for KIMF in New Mexico lifted from the FCC web site 11885.0 1800 0000 KIMF 50 135 10,11 5835.0 0000 1800 KIMF 50 135 10,11 and the contact details for this "station" are:- KIMF Pinon, New Mexico. E-mail Dr. James Planck at james@plancktech.com I guess it may be a case of waiting until the end of October and see if it appears (although I doubt it!). 73 (Sean, ibid.) ** U S A. 25950, KPM 556 (presumed), [Portland OR] 1630, Sept 22, Non stop rasta groove. Good signal into TN. I read recently that this station was closed due to lack of interest by new CE, but apparently this is not the case (David Hodgson, TN, Sept 22, Cumbre DX via DXLD) ** VIETNAM. 4795.80, Son La BC Station 1333-1358* Sept 21. Heard with a program of instrumental music ranging from light vocals to rustic instruments. Heard one announcement by a female speaker at 1346 briefly, then again at 1357 with a few words. Instrumental vocal played to sign-off in mid-song at 1358 1/2 hours. Signal was fair to periods where was just about the noise level, with the constant presents of the 'swosher' (Ed Kusalik, Alberta, Sept 22, Cumbre DX via DXLD) ** VIETNAM. I saw a report recently that someone in North America had received a QSL from Voice of Vietnam, showing the transmitter site for 9840 as Sackville. This is incorrect. The tranmitter on 9840 is at Son Tay, near Ha Noi, using 100 kW. For the current A-02 season, the Sackville relay is on 6175 0100-0500. VOV has increased its English "Language Education" features in the Vietnamese External Service. One of these new English programs may be heard at 2025-2030 on 9725, via the Skelton relay. Note also that portions of some Vietnamese services carried in the External Broadcasts may originate from the Domestic Network, which includes segments for ethnic minorities. Watch out for some new frequencies for VOV to start on Oct -27, such as 9575 (Son Tay) 1600-2130, 0000-0100, and 1100-1130. 11575 (Son Tay) 0000-0100, 1100-1130, 1300-1400, 1615-2030 15295 (Son Tay) various times! Regards from (Bob, in Melbourne, Padula, Sept 22, EDXP via DXLD) ** WALES. THIS WEEK IN RADIO HISTORY - ENGLAND TO AUSTRALIA This must be the era for important radio anniversaries in Australia. Two weeks back we noted the 75th anniversary of the experimental shortwave station VK2ME; earlier in this edition of ``Wavescan`` we noted the 75th anniversary of the Melbourne counterpart, experimental station VK3ME; and now we have the story of the 84th anniversary of the 1st wireless message transmitted from England to Australia. Back in the days of the colonization of Australia by convicts and soldiers, it could take three months or more to make the long sea journey from England to Sydney around the bottom of Africa. There was an urgent need throughout all of these years to provide a much quicker form of communication between the Mother country and her most distant colonies. Thus, when Marconi`s method of wireless communication by Morse Code became available, it provided just the answer that Australia needed. After extensive testing and the exchanging of messages between England and Australia by undersea cablegrams, everything was ready for the first direct wireless contact with Australia. The date was September 22, 1918, just before the end of the Great War. A Morse Code message of goodwill was tapped out at the Marconi station located near Carnarvon in Wales. This station was licensed at the time with the callsign MUU, the 200 kW transmitter was tuned to the longwave channel 14,300 metres or 21 kHz, and the high antenna in use for this occasion was beamed towards North America. The famous wireless pioneer in Australia was Sir Ernest Fisk, an Englishman who had served under Marconi in England and who had established in Australia, AWA, the Amalgamated Wireless of Australasia (Ostral-Asia). He lived in his home, ``Lucania`` in Wahroonga (wa- ROONG-gah), an outer suburb of Sydney, and in long walking distance from the well known Adventist Hospital. Sir Ernest tuned in the longwave signal from the Marconi station MUU in Wales using a ten-valve receiving set with an antenna 60 ft high and 100 ft long. He copied down the historic message that arrived from the other side of the globe in just one twentieth of a second. The message of goodwill from England was published next day on the front pages of the morning newspapers. The Fisk home in Wahroonga is an unpretentious dwelling, and a historic marker reminds passers-by that this was where the first wireless message from England was received back in 1918, now a long 82 years ago (Adrian Michael Peterson, AWR Wavescan Sept 22 via DXLD) Was the distinxion between England and Wales even less clear in 1918? According to my calculations, that was 84 years ago... (gh, DXLD) ** YUGOSLAVIA [non]. The problem was maybe more political than monetary - BIH is another country now, and I would guess there is still animosity between Sarajevo and Belgrade. Although they don't say so, I guess it is now costing money for the Yugoslavs to use what were their own transmitter(s) - and Kai could be correct in saying that no cheque had been received. I note there were four 500 kW BBC transmitters installed at this site in 1986, but seem to remember reading that two(?) were removed and taken to Stubline, and that these were later - er - 'rebuilt' by NATO along with the rest of that site. I have observed several changes of frequency since Bijeljina resumed operations and they have on each occasion gone off a frequency before starting on the next one, which seems to indicate only one sender is being used. Their A-02 schedule only requires one transmitter to be operational anyway. Maybe eventually we will find out just how many transmitters remain at Bijeljina. The French service was heard at 1600 opening on 9620 today (Sept. 22) - I was distracted and didn`t have the opportunity to listen at 1630 to see if German has resumed. However, Radio Liberty via Jülich has occupied 9620 1600-1700 for Armenian and the clash here was very bad. It was difficult to hear either station clearly. And yes, Glenn - Arabic on 11800 should be at 1430 and not 1400 as I erroneously wrote. I heard it opening on top of a CNR transmission (Noel Green, England, Sept 22, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Meanwhile I researched my records: The transmissions ceased on Dec. 11 2001, and it was reported then that the main power supply of the transmitter site was switched off after the debts reached 298,000 DEM. Regarding the ownership of the transmitters: I understand that they are owned and operated by Radio Yugoslavia or perhaps another Serbian organization, considering that reportedly once a NATO officer appeared on the site and demanded the staff leave and discontinue the transmissions. So this should be more or less their own transmitters, but of course they have to pay for the mainpower. And "we had to wait for a licence" certainly sounds better than "we could not pay our bills", so I am still not convinced that the nine month silent period was merely the result of legal problems as Radio Yugoslavia wants us to believe. By the way, I guess the remark on the website contains simply a typo and the transmissions in fact started again on Sep. 19. Regarding the equipment at Bijeljina-Jabanusa: Yes, reportedly two of the transmitters were moved to Stubline (only stored there, never put on operation) and of course destroyed. And indeed already for a couple of years only one transmitter is in use at Jabanusa anymore (probably both units alternately but never together), operated at 250 kW only. Most likely this is just a matter of operational costs (main power, PA stage tubes). 9620 today: They did not burn money by transmitting nothing but an interval signal for a half hour, instead they simply cut off at or very shortly after 1630, without any comment of course. Thanks for identifying the interfering co-channel station; Jabanusa was well ahead here with a powerful signal but RL was still audible in the background, alongside with the already reported transmitter hum. I include a recording of the seconds prior to the carrier cut, do not start, when the carrier disappears the local noise here becomes quite a racket (Kai Ludwig, Germany, Sept 22, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Hi Glenn, The Radio Yugoslavia Web site is now only one day behind the rest of us. Their amended text reads: "We would like to inform our listeners that after a several-month break, during which it published news bulletins on the Internet, Radio Yugoslavia will resume its short-wave programming in 12 foreign languages and in Serbian for the diaspora on Friday, September 19." But note they still use the future tense! A lot of radio stations send out calendars. Maybe we should return the favour :-) 73, (Andy Sennitt, Sept 23, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Maybe they were going by the Serbian Orthodox church calendar? (gh, DXLD) UNIDENTIFIED. 30960 (15480 x 2), 1709, Sept 22, Nice 2nd harmonic. More listenable then the fundamental, which was audible with lots of QSB. Did not recognize the language, but heard mention of "Radio Europa" several times. Could this be from the Czech Republic? (David Hodgson, TN, harmonics yahoogroups via DXLD) +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ PROPAGATION +++++++++++ KN4LF DAILY SOLAR SPACE WEATHER GEOMAGNETIC DATA PLUS MF PROPAGATION OUTLOOK: http://www.kn4lf.com/kn4lf5.htm (Thomas Giella, KN4LF Plant City, FL, hard-core-dx via DXLD) ###