DX LISTENING DIGEST 2-150, September 26, 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 1149: ONDEMAND http://www.wrn.org/ondemand/worldofradio.html [from Fri] (DOWNLOAD) http://www.k4cc.net/wor1149.rm (STREAM) http://www.k4cc.net/wor1149.ram (SUMMARY) http://www.worldofradio.com/wor1149.html AIRINGS ON WBCQ: Mon 0415 on 7415 AIRINGS ON WWCR: Sat 0500, Sun 0230 on 5070, Sun 0630 on 3210 FIRST AIRINGS ON RFPI: Sat 0130, 0730, Sun 0000, 0600 on 7445, 15039 WORLD OF RADIO on WWCR: You will be losing your 12:00 am Midnight time, Saturday on Transmitter #3 but you will now have 1:00-1:30 am Saturday on Transmitter #3. This will take effect around the first week of Oct. (Tammy, WWCR) I.e. On 5070, UT Sat 0600 replaces 0500 (gh) ** ALASKA. USA - KNLS, Alaska B-02 Sked effective 26 Oct to 23 Nov 2002 0800-0900 9615 English 0900-1000 9615 Russian 1000-1100 9615 Mandarin 1100-1200 9615 Russian 1200-1300 9615 Mandarin 1300-1400 11765 English 1400-1500 9615 Mandarin 1500-1600 9615 Mandarin 1600-1700 9615 Mandarin 1700-1800 7355 Russian (Website via Michael Beesley, World DX Club October 2002 CONTACT Magazine via DXLD) ** ANGOLA. 4950, Radio Nacional, 0015-0035 Sept 24. Noted music until 0025 when man and woman in Portuguese Comments. At 0030 back to music. Signal was poor with QRM (Bolland, Chuck, Clewiston, FL, DX LISTENING DIGEST) So, presumed? ** ARGENTINA. Some additional information about the new postal code system mentioned in this column dated 5/8 2002. This new system is called CPA (Código Postal Argentino). The CPA consists of 1 letter identifying the province, 4 digits (the former postal code), 3 letters identifying the specific area. The CPA has been in use since April 1999 for some companies. Now it is in use nationwide at all levels. However it is said on http://www.correoargentino.com.ar/cpa/ that the 4 digit postal code can be used also in the future and that mail with only the 4 digits will be distributed as before (Thord Knutsson, Sept 25, Arctic via DXLD) ** AUSTRALIA. NEW OFF-BAND STATION(S). New activity has emerged on 1674 kHz, and reported in the eastern States at various times. It appears that there may be more than one station using this channel, with locations suggested as NSW and QLD. The NSW site is believed to be at or near Emu Plains (EDXP Sept 24 via DXLD) ** AUSTRALIA. Dennis Adams, in charge of HCJB ministries in Australia, and David Prosheznik (spelling?) of HCJB's engineering center in Indiana were guests on the program. They talked about the status of their project in Australia. HCJB Australia is about three months away from the start of broadcasting. The site in Australia will have a 100- kW shortwave transmitter, which is in the process of being shipped down in a container from Indiana to Australia. There will be three antennas. They are aiming for a target date of December 22, 2002. This is the culmination of a project that has been in the planning stages for a decade. The location in northwest Australia is good for easily reaching Indonesia, Singapore, Malaysia, Asia in general and the South Pacific; there should be a reach of some 8,000 kilometers. This has the potential to reach 60% of the world's people. They hope to eventually build their own hydro-power plant if the funds become available. Two Australian engineers have been trained at HCJB's engineering center in Elkhart, IN for the last month to become acquainted with the workings of the transmitter. Also, HCJB engineer Don Hastings will go to Australia around October 1st to help with construction of transmission lines, antennas and towers. Another engineer will go there in November, when the transmitter is supposed to arrive, and he will help with its installation. The first week of December, another engineer will oversee the final testing of the transmitter. After the New Year, a retired HCJB engineer will go to Australia, as will John Stanley. HCJB is looking for volunteers with radio engineering backgrounds who would be willing to help get things started during 2003, and who can spend from two weeks to two months in Australia. HCJB Australia will broadcast in English only at first for ten hours each day, with five hours for the South Pacific and five hours for Asia. They plan to add other languages as soon as it is practical to do so; if it is possible to introduce a second transmitter by the end of 2003, that will make this possible, as well as additional English broadcasts. There will be an ISDN line to carry programming from the studios in Melbourne to the transmitter site; later, as more transmitters are added, it will be more cost-effective to replace that with satellite feeds. The HFCC recently granted frequencies for HCJB Australia, and that will include the frequencies that HCJB has already been using to reach the South Pacific. Once the Australian site goes on-line, HCJB will no longer broadcast to the South Pacific directly from Ecuador. For India, they will start on 15130, and then change later in the day to 15135. They will probably QSL from the studios in Melbourne, although the details have yet to be worked out since there is so much else to be done; more will be announced. The ID that will be used on the air will not be "The Voice of the Andes;" the words "HCJB Australia" will be part of it, but the final form of the ID is to be announced later. For more information, one can go to the website at http://hcjb.org Also, one may send an e- mail to HCJB Australia at office@hcjb.org.au (HCJB DX Partyline Sept 21, notes by Marie Lamb for Cumbre DX, via DXLD) ** BOLIVIA. Bolivia has adopted a new telephone system. The country is now divided in 3 different areas. Thus the departments of La Paz, Oruro and Potosi have trunk code 2, Santa Cruz, Beni and Pando have 3 and Cochabamba, Chuquisaca and Tarija have 4. The new phone number consists of the former trunk code and the former number. An example: (52)40035 now is (02)5240035. (R. F. Aragão, Bolivia, Arctic via Tore Larsson via DXLD) ** CANADA. 1610, CJYI [sic], Montreal QC; 2353-2408+, 23/24-Sep; M in FF w/FF tune! Only hrd Spanish music previous days. ID promo at 2401. Didn't hear call letters but several mentions of Montreal including, "...parlez Francaise Montreal..." [sic]. 2405 continued with Caribe tune. Mainly fair w/QSB, USB helps. Freq seems to be slightly higher than 1610.0. QC #23 (Harold Frodge, 5525 Whitehall St., Midland MI 48642 Midland MI: Drake R8B + 85'/215' RW's, 125 ft. single loop, Cumbre DX via DXLD) Should be CJWI ** CHINA. Xinjiang PBS. Additional frequencies are 9835 in Chinese, obviously the daytime companion of 5960, and 11975, which has Kyrgyz from 0330 and 0530, replacing 7120 and parallel with 9705. As Kyrgyz is spoken in the SW part of Xinjiang, the transmissions may be directional to that area. It appears that 9510 is being used as the daytime companion of 6190 for Mongolian, though not confirmed here. Re 4750. This frequency houses two different transmitters, one in the east having a very buzzy carrier and carrying CNR-1, and a second one in Qinghai carrying Qinghai PBS with clean carrier and audio (Olle Alm, Sweden, Sept 22, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CHINA. FALUN GONG DISRUPTS TV SIGNAL Tue Sep 24,12:01 PM ET By TED ANTHONY, Associated Press Writer BEIJING (AP) - In their most brazen electronic hacking yet, supporters of the outlawed Falun Gong movement have staged a "TV hijacking" by interrupting transmissions on a satellite system that broadcasts to every corner of China, the government asserted Tuesday night. Using its official Xinhua News Agency, the government released an extraordinary 1,100-word dispatch about the latest hacking incident, saying it had traced the illegal transmissions over the Sino Satellite, or Sinosat, system to a pirate broadcast operation in Taipei, Taiwan. "Why do some Falun Gong die-hards dare to blemish modern civilization in such a barefaced manner?" Xinhua said in an accompanying editorial. Falun Gong has made a practice in recent months of hacking into local TV feeds and broadcasts, often broadcasting pirate transmissions to tout the benefits of the group and convince the citizenry that Chinese authorities have treated it unfairly. China says such transmissions have "disrupted the public order" and go against international communications standards. Xinhua said the latest hacking, which it called a "TV hijacking," began Sept. 9 and had affected signals of a service designed to enable remote villages across the country to see broadcasts from China Central Television, or CCTV, the leading government-run network. The television break-ins have embarrassed the government, which calls the protest videos "reactionary propaganda" and says they threaten social stability. In that spirit, China's national news also dedicated three minutes of its newscast Tuesday night to the latest hacking. Officials said they were sure the hacking originated in Taiwan, and called upon its government to help track down the culprits. "We've utilized a wide range of technical means to monitor and analyze the hijacking signals and made an accurate positioning of the hijacking source. Specialists are completely certain," said Liu Lihua, director of the radio bureau of the Ministry of Information Industry. In Taipei, Taiwan's government did not immediately respond to the accusation. The commandeering of the satellite signal also interrupted transmission of the China Education TV Station and some provincial- level TV stations, Xinhua said, and in some cases cut off television entirely for viewers in some rural and mountainous areas. "This seriously damaged the rights and interests of the audience and affected the normal education order of schools and as well as the learning activities of students," Zhang Tianlin, vice president of the education station, was quoted as saying. The dispatch also blamed Li Hongzhi, the U.S.-based spiritual leader of Falun Gong, which the government outlawed in 1999. An official with the Taiwan Affairs Office, which handles relations with the island's government, said Taiwan authorities must track down and punish the hackers. "The Taiwan side is responsible for stopping the criminal activity immediately," said the official, whom Xinhua did not name. Though Taiwan operates as a sovereign nation, Beijing considers it part of China and, indeed, referred to the hacking as originating in "Taiwan province." Last week, 15 people convicted of breaking into a cable television system to show videos protesting China's ban on Falun Gong were sentenced to up to 20 years in prison. The sentences were among the longest yet imposed in the campaign to crush the spiritual movement, which had millions of followers before it was banned. Thousands of Falun Gong followers have been detained. Most are freed after a few months, though a government official told The Associated Press earlier this year that nearly 1,300 had been sentenced to prison. Falun Gong activists abroad say hundreds of supporters have been killed in detention. Chinese officials deny killing detainees but say some have died in hunger strikes or from refusing medical help. The government expends great resources to make sure that Chinese citizens cannot view Falun Gong and other politically sensitive Web sites. It blocks access to such sites through Internet providers and requires Internet café owners to monitor the sites their customers visit. A special police force monitors chat rooms and personal e-mail and erase online content considered undesirable. Internet portals have been warned they will be held responsible for sites they host. In a separate incident, the manager of the Dalai Lama's computer network in Dharmsala, India, alleged that the Chinese government has tried to hack into it repeatedly over the past month with a special virus to steal information. Jigme Tsering, manager of the Tibetan Computer Resource Center, which provides Internet services and manages the network of the Tibetan Buddhist leader's exile government, made his comments late Tuesday evening, and no immediate comment was available from the Chinese government in Beijing. Tsering said that Chinese hackers sent the virus at least twice between late August and Sept. 15. China views the Dalai Lama, the Tibetan spiritual leader, as a "splittist" who threatens Beijing's rule over Tibet (via Mike Terry, DXLD) ** CHINA [non]. Falun Dafa World Radio, 24 September 2002, 5925 via Vilnius, Lithuania, 2145-2200. Vocals by Man and Woman in Chinese with mentions of Falun Dafa. Music in the background at the end being played on a piano. Listened right up until end of broadcast and the piano music gained some singing by a female with it. At 2200 the broadcast closed. SINO was 5545 overall during the period of listening (DX Dave, Bristol, England, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** COLOMBIA? 6010.26, 19.9 0340, unID Spanish with mainly "light" music with Christian touch. Too weak to read, and later in the morning the frequency was blocked by an English program. Voz de tu Conciencia on air now? QSA 1. JE/RFK (= Jan Edh, Ronny Forslund, SW Bulletin, translated by editor Thomas Nilsson for DXLD) ** DENMARK. From yahoo news (a few days old) Mon Sep 16, 6:13 AM ET COPENHAGEN, Denmark - Public radio and television stations resumed broadcasting regular news broadcast on Monday after about 1,200 journalists ended a monthlong strike over wage negotiations. The employees at Danish Broadcasting Corp., known as DR, walked out on Aug. 19 after rejecting a new wage system that would make a large part of each journalists' wage negotiable instead of mandated by a scale. The journalists didn't oppose individual salary talks but demanded that a shop steward take part in the negotiations. "Our members demand solidarity in talks about wages," said Mogens Blicher Bjerregaard, the head of the Danish Union of Journalists. Last week, the DR management accepted their plea and two-thirds of the striking journalists voted over the weekend to resume work on Monday. The strike had forced the broadcaster to cancel most of its news and news-related programs on its two TV channels. However, management staff continued producing a Web site and radio news in shorter versions. The strikers included some 950 employed journalists and more than 200 free-lancers. DR, which is one of Denmark's two big national broadcasting groups, has about 3,300 employees. It runs two television stations and four radio channels. The average pay for a Danish journalist is 33,000 kroner (dlrs 4,350) per month. This compares to an average monthly income of 17,000 kroner (dlrs 2,250) in the Scandinavian nation of 5.3 million people (via Mike Terry, DXLD) ** ECUADOR. HCJB is offering the 1977-F QSL card, which shows an engineer working on the 49-meter transmitter. It may be requested in place of the regular HCJB QSL when you send your reception report. The postal address: DX Party Line ** HCJB ** Casilla 17-17-691 ** Quito ** Ecuador. E-mail: dxpl@hcjb.org.ec Reports may also be sent via the HCJB website at: http://hcjb.org/english There are links there for sending a reception report and for the DX Partyline home page, which may also be reached directly at: http://dxpl.hcjb.org (HCJB DX Partyline Sept 21, notes by Marie Lamb for Cumbre DX, via DXLD) See also AUSTRALIA ** EUROPE. Euro's SENSATION AM; 15785.15, 2259-2315+, 23-Sep; M in EE w/not-too-oldies, lite pop tunes. Several IDs and gave PO address. SIO=222/best in USB (Harold Frodge, MI, Cumbre DX via DXLD) ** FRANCE [non?], 25775.0/AM, Radio France (tentative); 1642-1708+, 23 Sep; Chatty M&W in FF w/EE pop tunes. 1659 tentative "R. France" spot. Same M&W continue in FF w/pop music but now FF tunes. This sounds like the programming usually heard on 162 KHz. SIO=222/raspy buzz QRM and fady, occasional fair peaks. Cleanest in LSB. Barely detectable, if them, @1933. Zilch there @2250 (Harold Frodge, MI, Cumbre DX via DXLD) I got a message from Wian Stienstra in The Netherlands about the phone number mentioned in the English program on 25775. To put it in short: 33 99 12 41 32 is old Rennes (or Cesson-Sevigne) number before April 1996. Then the French telephone numbers were changed. This number is now 332 99 12 41 32. Wian dialed this number and it went to TDF Research. The guy on the phone knew nothing about these 25 MHz tests and told that development of DAB in France had actually stopped. So the test "program" seems rather old. Many thanks Wian, for excellent info. Back to logs of this station. 25765, Sep 24 tune in at 0850, BBC WS "World Football" program. They passed TOH without any id. Rechecking at about 0950 same program starts again. On 25775 nothing heard. On 25765 I got only LSB and AM. Signal strength was similar to previous days on 25775. Listening again at 1020, the loop seems to be some 30 minutes. Some music in between. Still on as writing this at 1025. RFI was on 25820 with much stronger signal. Yesterday, 24 Sep I checked 25765 at times and until at 1630 they were still running football loop. But at 1644 25765 was silent and instead some music on 25775. At 1646 they popped up again on 25765 and started a short id-ts-news in loop. A BBC WS promo, time signal and some seconds of "World Briefing" program, back to promo etc. At about 1815 signal disappeared. Today, 25 Sep tune in at 0709 the French/English program in loop was again on 25775, both sidebands and carrier. Wonder if this is one transmitter or two different sites? Merlin and/or TDF? Tests for DRM? (Jari Savolainen, Kuusankoski, Finland, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 25775: Just to let you know that I logged this station together with Johan Letterstål as early as 020616 with promos for Planete Futuroscope. Will send you the full log when I get home later today. 73 de (Kjell-Ingvar Karlsson, Upplands-Väsby, SWEDEN Sept 24, via Cumbre DX? via DXLD) 25775, Took another listen to this one today and finally got a phone number 339-912-4132. Tried it, but am told it won't go through here as it is toll free for France. Tourist loops for the Cotentin (sic) region of France. Image projection technology museum, interview with novelist who wrote "Regard from Indochina." ID as "Weekend Edition" and mentioning that they are putting out special offers via DAB. Best during the 1900 hour (Hans Johnson, WY? Sep 24, Cumbre DX via DXLD) [non?] This station was heard in Sweden as early as the 16th of June by me and a DX-fellow. As there were many references to Planete Futuroscope, a high-tech fun park in France, an email report was sent. The response: Hello, Thank you very much for your message. As far as we can understand, the radio programme you heard came from a radio in Quebec, or in any other French-speaking country (but not France)! We are not involved in any way in that programme! However, it is very nice that a foreign radio speaks about our park! Best regards, Valérie, Webmaster - contacts@futuroscope.fr PLANETE FUTUROSCOPE, embarquez pour des voyages inédits http://www.planete-futuroscope.com The new info on DXLD seems interesting and would explain the mystery! At one moment I thought of a bad FM-tx where 25775 would be the leaking IF (prior quadrupling it to 103,1 MHz). Yes I know... crazy... 73 de (Johan Letterstål, Saltsjö-Boo, Sept 23, DX homepage (swe): http://user.tninet.se/~zrk946c/dx.html DX LISTENING DIGEST) Very interesting. I was just checking the Futuroscope sites for possible info. Give up now:). Well, they signed off today again at the same time just prior 1800. I'm not sure, but it did look like they were on 25774.5 that time. In the end of the English portion I copied "...339 912 4132 the lines are open...listeners to the DAB system, take advantage of this special offer. Tune in again next week same time, same place." Also French portion mentions "DAB". I recall I saw somewhere an article about DAB used for tourist info at Futuroscope. An old tape played for test purposes? This really sounds more powerful than a TIS station. 73 (Jari Savolainen, Kuusankoski, Finland, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** GERMANY. Bayerischer Rundfunk 6085: There is no firm decision to shut-down the shortwave transmitter so far, apparently the person behind WB's source was a bit rash. Of course it can only help that this discussion came to our attention. Wertachtal 25760: IBB [to be] on 11 metres after hardly using even 13 metres so far? Quite remarkable (Kai Ludwig, Germany, Sept 25, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** KAZAKHSTAN [non]. Re: ``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)`` Radio Dat seems to have been broadcast from Lithuania all from the beginning. Obviously they had to replace 9775 because of strong co-channel interference from CNR-2 beaming to the adjacent Xinjiang/Tibet zone from the east - a poor choice of frequency. (Olle Alm, Sweden, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** LITHUANIA: Radio Vilnius, 24 September 2002, 5925 via ?, 2205-2206. I left my set on after Falun Dafa [see CHINA non] had finished and, after a few minutes silence from the end of Falun Dafa, came this high pitched noise. I went to turn my set off and just before I pressed the button came an odd-sounding announcement by man in English which said "This is the primary audio circuit of Radio Vilnius". He repeated this once and then the high pitched noise returned. After about 5 seconds the announcement in English by that man ("This is the primary audio circuit of Radio Vilnius") was heard twice more. The transmission then cut out again. Odd. Very odd indeed. SINO 4444 throughout (DXDave, Bristol, England, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** NIGERIA. The former URL of the National Broadcasting Corporation, Nigeria http://www.nbc-ng.org/ now leads to a download of a 0190 dialer (5-6-5-23.exe by download1.0190-dialer.com) Beware! Do not visit this URL if you did not turn off ActiveX in your browser! Then the download would start automatically. I don't know if those dialers can be dangerous in other countries, but in Germany they can lead to a huge telephone bill as they change the dial in number of your internet account... Regards, (Willi Passmann, hard-core-dx and Cumbre DX via DXLD) ** NORWAY [and non]. I was really surprised tonight after posting earlier about a carrier on 1314 kHz. Here are the results. 1314 Khz was the best with lively music and man in NN at 0310 KHZ 9/24. At 0402 a woman was in NN (News?). Not bad at all holding its own between 1310-1320 khz with the 4 kHz filter. Deep fades at times. The best I have heard Norway in several years. Norway was producing a signal on the two EWEs and the Eastern Beverage, plus even on the vertical, but it was best on the NNW wire. [Other TA carriers:] 711 kHz was only a carrier causing a het on KIRO- 710. Never did get any audio at several tries at 0320, then at 0330, and again at 0341 9/24. 819 Khz again another het against a domestic, KGNW-820, produced no audio at 0315 9/24. 864 kHz, a good strong carrier at 0318 UTC with bits of music, Southern European?, hard to hear with domestic splatter 9/27. 963 kHz, produced a good strong carrier at 0322. I was hoping for some audio on this, presumed Finland, but no audio showed up 9/24. 1008 kHz, another fairly decent carrier at 0325 9/24. No audio heard. 1017 kHz, a very strong carrier with bits of talk at 0328 9/24. German? Not really producing much audio though. 1053 kHz another fairly weak carrier at 0329 9/24. 1593 kHz another weak carrier in splash. Drake R8 400' NNW mini Beverage (Patrick Martin, Seaside OR, KAVT Reception Manager, IRCA et al., via DXLD) ** PARAGUAY. 7300, 6.9 2237, R. América - USB - QSA2 + QRM. Spanish program with call for several other stations with a common program in the background. I sent a description of the program via e-mail. In return I got a confirmation from Adán Mur - it was indeed Radio América I heard TBV (= Tore B Vik, Norway, SW Bulletin, translated by editor Thomas Nilsson for DXLD) 15185, 20.9 2220, unID typical American with a country & w estern program. Lots of splash from the surrounding frequencies made in ID impossible. S 1-4 i dep QSB fading. What ? BEFF /Björn Fransson, SW Bulletin, translated by editor Thomas Nilsson for DXLD) Don`t forget R. Africa, Equatorial Guinea, brokered by Panamerican with American religion, but may fill with such? However, they are never right on 15185.0. Was this? (gh, DXLD) Dear Mr Glenn Hauser: Greetings from Paraguay! To advise that we have had excellent results from our testing, on the frequency 7300 KHZ. This frequency serves well our primary region of audience, as well as far afield. We have received reports from our local region (Argentina/Bolívia/Brasil/Paraguay), and from Australia, Canada, Norway and the U.S.A. Tests on other frequencies in the 7 MHZ range were less successful. Tests on 15185 KHZ brought excellent results, from Germany, but was unheard anywhere else. It appears that we should broadcast in German, on this frequency! We hope to be able to test, on 120 and on 31 metres, shortly. Measured average transmission power, on 7300 KHZ, is now 1.6 KW. With best regards. (Adán Mur, Technical Advisor, Radiodifusión América, Asunción, Paraguay ramerica@rieder.net.py Sept 24, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** RUSSIA [non]. 7417, 18.9 0455, Radio Krishnaloka sounded like a real radio amateur/pirate transmitter. Religious end of today`s program with www-address and e-mail. S 1-3 and a lot of QRM from WBCQ. Fast answer with e-mail from St Petersburg. BEFF. [later:] Radio Krishnaloka, Russia/Ukraina?- 7417. Personal E-mail in English from Aradhana Priya, who has sent my letter to: Awtozavodskaya str., 6 - 24a, Moscow, Ryssland. SM-1? 2 d. BEFF (= Björn Fransson, SW Bulletin, translated by editor Thomas Nilsson for DXLD) ** TANZANIA. Since yesterday (23 September) I'm hearing Radio Tanzania on reactivated 7280 kHz. I've not heard it on this frequency for many months, perhaps not since last year. Parallel frequency 5050 continues to be heard. I've yet to confirm the times of operation on 7280 (it was there yesterday lunchtime but had gone by the evening). Regards, Chris in Nairobi Greenway, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** TIBET [non non]. DXLD Aug 30 had a schedule for Xizang PBS, Tibet, originally coming from the station. This schedule had its flaws, so I have tried to refine it to better match what is being heard. The result is shown below (DXLD Aug 30, updated by Olle Alm) Tibetan channel: 2250-0735 & 0950-1650 4905, 4920, 6200, 5240, 6130, 6110 2250-0200 7385, 7125 0200-0735 9580, 9490 0950-1650 7385, 9490 Chinese channel: 2000-1730 5935, 6050, 4820 2000-0300 7170 0300-1200 11860 1200-1730 7170 2000-0200 7240 0200-1100 11950 1100-1730 7240 The actual frequency changes take place a few minutes before the hour. Only parts of the transmissions have been confirmed due to propagation. As regards sites, I believe that all are located within Tibet, at Lhasa, but there may be two separate sites as 4905 and 7385 often have a satellite delay compared to the other transmitters of the Tibetan channel. Programming heard in the background of 7385/4905 is synchro with the audio of the Chinese channel, so 7385/4905 and the five transmitters of the Chinese channel seem to form one group, while the other six transmitters of the Tibetan channel form a second group. The now defunct former site using 4750, 5950 and 11950 is likely to have been scrapped. These transmitters were lowpowered and more or less off channel, so may have remained from the early days of broadcasting in Tibet. It has been suggested that the new highpowered Tibetan transmitters would actually be located in Xi'an, but this can safely be ruled out due to the many low frequencies used. When Xizang PBS relays CNR-1 the delay is 6 to 8 seconds compared to other transmitters. Some of the current transmitters are probably directional to east and west Tibet. 15285 has also been reported for Tibet, but I have been unable to confirm this one (Olle Alm, Sweden, Sept 22, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U K [non?]. UNKNOWN LOCATION: Laser Hot Hits, 24 September 2002, 6220 via ?, 2207 - 2210. Very variable quality of reception but good music underneath all the noise. What I could hear of it was very nice. Overall reception was somewhat awful but it did get good at one point. SINO mostly 3422 (variable with 4333 and 2122) (DX Dave, Bristol, England, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. 25950/AM, KPM566 Portland OR (presumed); 1943-2001+, 23-Sep; Reggae music. Sig inaudible to good. I've caught an actual KPM566 ID by these folks twice. There hasn't been any pattern to the ID times. Last hrd 7-Apr-02, with an ID! (Harold Frodge, MI, Cumbre DX via DXLD) ** U S A. LYRIC OPERA CUTS RADIO BROADCAST Tue Sep 24, 2:14 PM ET By F.N. D'ALESSIO, Associated Press Writer CHICAGO (AP) - A heartbroken Italian clown and a helmeted soprano with a spear; they're the stereotypes who spell grand opera for many people, and they're both on hand this season at the Lyric Opera of Chicago. But the only people who will hear Johan Botha sob as Canio in "I Pagliacci" or Jane Eaglen give her "Hojotoho!" war-cry as Brunnhilde in "Die Walkure" are audience members in the Civic Opera House. For the first time in nearly 30 years, there will be no live radio broadcasts of Lyric's productions this season. The broadcasts' sponsors, United and American airlines, cited financial losses in informing WFMT-FM that they could not continue this season. "The airlines have been wonderful supporters of the arts in this city, but they are facing extraordinarily difficult times," the Lyric's general director, William Mason, said in announcing the suspension only eight days before the Sept. 21 season opener, the double bill of "I Pagliacci" and "Cavalleria Rusticana." WFMT had been broadcasting opening nights of each Lyric production live in the Chicago area since the early 1970s, and had been sending them out in national and international syndication through its WFMT Fine Arts Network since 1977. At the height of their popularity, the broadcasts were carried by some 800 radio stations and were heard by 3 million to 4 million listeners in 40 countries. The suspension means the only remaining regular live opera on American radio will be the ChevronTexaco broadcasts of New York's Metropolitan Opera, which begin their 63rd year Dec. 7. Those broadcasts are carried on 325 stations in the United States and Canada, and some in other countries, said Met spokesman Peter Clark. The problem is bigger than opera, said Dan Schmidt, president and chief executive officer of Window to The World Communications, Inc., WFMT's corporate parent. "The major American symphony orchestras have one by one left the radio - and lost their recording contracts as well," Schmidt said. "We're not teaching classical music in the schools any more, and the sales of classical CDs have fallen off the table," he said. "But the most important factor is that American performing ensembles now have a price structure that is not in keeping with recording contracts and radio broadcasts." Schmidt said each Lyric broadcast last season cost $50,000 to air "and that's for a local-only opening night." "The national syndication cost another $40,000 per performance," he continued. "Our production costs were only $6,000 or $7,000, and the soloists didn't cost that much. Almost all of the rest went toward royalties and fees - especially the orchestra members and the stagehands." At the same time, he said, advertising revenue for classical performances was shrinking. "For the last several years we were really subsidizing the broadcasts," he said. Since the Lyric has nine productions scheduled this season, the total broadcast cost, by Schmidt's estimate, would be $810,000. Mason said that to restore even local broadcasts, at least $400,000 in additional sponsorship would have to be found, in addition to the $15.5 million Lyric must raise to meet its annual fund-raising goal. "It appears we have priced ourselves out of the broadcast market, at least for the time being," Mason said. The Met broadcasts have been subsidized only by Texaco and its successor, ChevronTexaco, since 1940, but Lyric's have had multiple sponsors since now-retired WFMT general manager Ray Nordstrand began them. Insurance companies, utilities, food companies and retailers took turns. And under the leadership of now-retired CEO Richard J. Franke, the John Nuveen Company investment house underwrote the syndication costs for many years. During much of Nordstrand's tenure with WFMT, which lasted from the 1950s until the early 1990s, the station could charge some of the highest advertising rates in its market area because advertisers wanted to reach the generally well-educated and prosperous classical- music audience. The station even had competition from a commercial classical broadcasting rival, WNIB. But with the graying of the classical audience and the skyrocketing cost of broadcast outlets, the situation changed. "WNIB was recently sold for $165 million," Schmidt said. "Of course they changed the format. You can't recoup costs like that through advertising on a classical station. Say you play a Mahler symphony - you can't put many commercials in there." Schmidt said the Lyric broadcasts became "a philanthropic thing for the advertisers" and one of the first things to be cut when the economy took a downturn. Schmidt, Mason and Nordstrand all agreed that the audience for live opera is growing - just not on the radio. "You can't see action on the radio, and you can't read subtitles," Schmidt said. "It requires great concentration and usually great knowledge of opera to enjoy fully. Full-length opera on the radio has always been a challenge - a very specialized taste." (via yahoonews via Artie Bigley, DXLD) ** U S A. Hi Glenn, Sorry for the delay to your inquiry about a VOA program grid. It took me a while to track down the information. VOA English program schedule information is available at the VOA website, although finding it is not especially intuitive. Go to http://www.voanews.com click "About VOA" click "VOA Guide" (along the left margin) click "Adobe PDF version" You now have the VOA Guide just as it is printed. For English to Africa, including "Music Time in Africa," go to page 8. VOA Guide is now published twice a year. The winter 2002/2003 edition will be available soon. Shortcut to VOA Guide is http://www.voa.gov/voaguide.pdf 73 (Kim Elliott, DC, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. SB QST @ ARL $ARLB057 ARLB057 FCC expands Gulf Coast communications emergency ZCZC AG57 QST de W1AW ARRL Bulletin 57 ARLB057 From ARRL Headquarters Newington CT September 25, 2002 To all radio amateurs SB QST ARL ARLB057 FCC expands Gulf Coast communications emergency The FCC has expanded a general communications emergency to include Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and Florida, which are threatened by Tropical Storm Isidore. Invoking Section 97.401, the FCC issued a revised declaration that requires amateurs to refrain from using 3873 and 3965 kHz during hours of darkness and 7247 and 7285 kHz during hours of daylight. All frequencies are to be protected plus or minus 3 kHz unless amateurs are taking part in the handling of emergency traffic. The FCC said the communications emergency is effective immediately and will remain in place until rescinded. The declaration could be in place for as long as 14 days, the FCC said. Mississippi Section Manager Malcolm Keown, W5XX, and Alabama SM Bill Cleveland, KR4TZ, requested that the FCC protect the net frequencies from interference in the event severe weather strikes. After passing over the western tip of Cuba and the Yucatan Peninsula of Mexico, Isidore--now a tropical storm--is headed for the US Gulf Coast. For additional information, see ''Hurricane Watch Net, W4EHW, Reactivating'' http://www.arrl.org/news/stories/2002/09/25/1/ . NNNN /EX (ARRL Sept 25 via David Hodgson, TN, DXLD) Glenn: I heard good coverage of the tropical storm by WWL 870 New Orleans around 0800 Sept 26. Many areas of New Orleans flooded, and without power. 73, (David Hodgson, TN, Sept 26, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. 660 (KTNN) AZ, Window Rock was evidently off, or on greatly reduced power in early September. No sign of it at 2300 [EDT?] 9/8 or 9/9, or at 0600 9/9. Strong with C&W and local dedication at 2255 on 9/11 (Larry Godwin, MT, IRCA via DXLD) ** VENEZUELA. Between August 31 and September 23, 2002, I realized a DX journey in Venezuela. It was twelve years after my first visit to Venezuela. My first visit to the Dominican Republic was made as a business trip, thus I did not have enough time to devote myself to monitoring the local broadcasters. The second journey had three objectives: the first was to study the broadcasting circumstances in the western and central region of Venezuela; the second was to visit stations that formerly operated shortwave transmissions; and the third was to visit Cúcuta, the border town of Colombia, where Radio La Voz del Norte broadcast on 4875 kHz until the middle of 1980's. I visited the following cities and broadcasting stations: MARACAIBO: Radio Mara Ritmo 900 (3275 kHz), Radio Popular (4800 kHz), Radio CNB Maracaibo (4860 kHz), Radio Calendario (9530 kHz); CARORA: YVNI Radio Carora (4910 kHz); BARQUISIMETO: Radio Lara (4800 kHz), Radio Tricolor (4820 kHz), Radio Universo (4880 kHz), Radio Juventud (4900 kHz), Radio Barquisimeto (4990 kHz and 9510 kHz); VALERA: Radio Valera (4840 kHz), Radio Turismo (6180 kHz); MERIDA: Radio Universidad de Mérida (3395 kHz), Radio Los Andes (6010 kHz); TOVAR: Radio Occidente (3225 kHz and 9750 kHz), SAN ANTONIO DEL TACHIRA: Radio Frontera (4760 kHz), SAN CRISTOBAL: Radio Tachira (4830 kHz), Ecos del Torbes (4980 kHz and 9640 kHz), Radio Noticias 1060 (ex- Radio San Cristóbal 9610 kHz); BARINAS: Radio Continental (4940 kHz), VALENCIA: La Voz de Carabobo (4780 kHz), CARACAS: Radio Capital (4850 kHz), Radio Venezuela (4890 kHz), Radio Rumbos (4970 kHz and 9660 kHz), Radio Continente (5030 kHz), Radio Mundial (5050 kHz). Unfortunately I could not visit the studios and offices of Radio Nacional de Venezuela, which was located far from the downtown Caracas. Probably I will try to visit it next planning DX journey to Venezuela. During my stay in Venezuela, I made band scans to check over the existence and nature of any broadcasting activity on shortwave. I confirmed that four stations on shortwave in operation: Radio Táchira on 4830 kHz, Radio Amazonas on 4940 kHz, Ecos del Torbes on 4980 kHz and YVTO El Observatorio Naval Juan Manuel Cagigal. There are no other Venezuelan stations regularly on shortwave due to economical reason. Since the middle of the 1990's, many broadcasters abandoned the shortwave transmissions for two main reasons. The first is that commercial broadcasting on shortwave is currently not a prosperous business in Venezuela and it is very expensive to maintain old shortwave transmitters because it is not so easy obtain spare parts. Nevertheless, a couple of commercial stations, located near the border with Colombia, continue to broadcast on shortwave as propaganda for bordering countries. The second is that the gigantic broadcasting networks, which carry the programming produced in Caracas for 24 hours a day, including Circuito Radio Venezuela (CRV), Circuito Radio Caracas Radio (RCR), Circuito Radio Rumbos, Circuito Radio Continente (CRC), AM Center, Unión Radio and Radio Popular, have utilized the satellite broadcasting system since early 1990's. In fact, the satellite broadcasting system can give a wide coverage of all national territory. The detail reports about the old time broadcasters will be published in the future RELAMPAGO DX. TIN (Takayuki Inoue Nozaki, Japan, via Ulis Fleming, Cumbre DX via DXLD) ** YUGOSLAVIA. Hi Glenn, The German service has re-started. There's online news, and according to the Web site the shortwave service restarted on 23rd September. Schedule is given as 1630 UT on 9620 and 2000 on 6100 KHz. 73, (Andy Sennitt, Sept 24, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Per your tip the other day, heard Radio Yugoslavia in English on 9580 at *0431-0458* 9/24. Fairly strong signal, tho the audio was a bit muddy/undermodulated. (Chuck Albertson, Seattle, WA, DX LISTENING DIGEST) UNIDENTIFIED. Re: ``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 lang, but heard mention of "Radio Europa" several times. Could this be from the Czech Republic? (David Hodgson, TN, harmonics yahoogroups via DXLD)`` Woofferton-England R Liberty in Belarus? 15480 1700-1900 29 WOF 250 kW 75 degr G IBB IBB (Wolfgang Bueschel, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ###