DX LISTENING DIGEST 2-156, October 9, 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 1151: ON WBCQ: Wed 2200 17495, 7415; Mon 0415 7415 ON WWCR: Thu 2030 15825, Sat 0600, Sun 0230 5070, Sun 0630 3210... ON RFPI: Sat 0130, 0730, Sun 0000, 0600, Mon 0030, 0630 on 7445 and/or 15039 ON WJIE: See USA below ON WRN: Rest of world Sat 0800; North America Sun 1400 ONDEMAND http://www.wrn.org/ondemand/worldofradio.html [from Fri] (DOWNLOAD) http://www.k4cc.net/wor1151.rm (STREAM) http://www.k4cc.net/wor1151.ram (SUMMARY) http://www.worldofradio.com/wor1151.html [from Thu] ** AFGHANISTAN. ANALYSIS: BROADCASTING IN AFGHANISTAN - ONE YEAR ON | Text of editorial analysis by Peter Feuilherade of BBC Monitoring's Foreign Media Unit on 8 October 2002 A year after the US-led attacks, the media in Afghanistan have fared better than some sectors since the collapse of the Taleban regime. Radio remains the main source of news and information for most Afghans, owing to the low literacy rate and the country's poor infrastructure. According to a 1999 survey carried out by the Peshawar-based Afghan Media Resource Centre, over 85 per cent of Afghan men have a radio in working order. Since the fall of the Taleban, however, increasing numbers of urban Afghans have bought television sets and satellite dishes. Radio Afghanistan has resumed nationwide broadcasting, although the country is still without a national TV service. In the capital, Kabul, the following radio stations are on the air: Radio Afghanistan (national broadcaster, on FM, MW and SW); Radio Kabul, BBC World Service (English, Pashto and Persian), Radio Free Afghanistan/Voice of America (Dari and Pashto), all on FM; the US-run Information Radio (which transmits from the US base at Bagram in Dari and Pashto on MW and SW); Voice of Freedom, a German-run FM station; and Radio Turkiyem, an FM service for Turkish-speaking members of the international security force contingent. Afghanistan TV broadcasts in Kabul, with a limited range. In the provincial capitals, local radio and TV stations operate. Foreign aid for media Foreign broadcasters from a dozen countries provided millions of dollars' worth of equipment, programming and training. And most international broadcasters either launched new services or stepped up existing broadcasts in Dari and Pashto since Afghanistan became a focus of world attention a year ago. The US supplied two FM transmitters for Kabul, with more FM transmitters promised for other cities including Kandahar, Mazar-e Sharif and Herat, and is to install two MW transmitters with nationwide reach. Japan will fund a new TV transmitter near Kabul as a step towards the establishment of a nationwide TV service. The BBC World Service retains a large audience in Afghanistan. With the help of a one-million-pound grant from the UK Government's Department for International Development, the BBC World Service Trust is providing equipment to Radio/TV Afghanistan, training more than 150 journalists in Kabul and the regions, and working with the Afghan Interim Authority (AIA) to assess future needs and the foundations for a regulatory framework for the media. In August 2002 the Dari and Pashto Services of the Voice of America (VOA) and Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty's (RFE/RL) Radio Free Afghanistan service combined to create a new joint 24-hour stream of news, features and music in local languages. In August Germany launched the Voice of Freedom FM station, which broadcasts news, music and language courses to Kabul from a nearby German military camp. And the German international broadcaster DW-TV produces a 10-minute daily news slot for Afghan TV, as well as weekly documentaries. In February, a daily morning programme "Good Morning Afghanistan" went on the air from Kabul on Radio Afghanistan. The broadcasts are supported by the Baltic Media Centre, an aid agency based in Denmark, with financial support from the European Commission. Iran has also been closely involved with the rebuilding of Afghanistan's broadcasting infrastructure, donating radio and TV equipment including a 50-kW radio transmitter and increasing Dari and Pashto programming on Iranian regional radio. One short-lived foreign venture was Radio Voice of Afghanistan, a London-based station funded by an exiled Afghan entrepreneur, which suspended broadcasting in July 2002 after seven months on the air. Print media glut An estimated 150 printed publications are available today in Kabul, but many suffer from poor standards of journalism and are of no relevance to the two-thirds of Afghanistan's population who cannot read or write. A Kabul bookseller told the London-based Institute for War and Peace Reporting (IWPR) that many new publications had no readers because "they do not reflect the needs and worries of the people... Their focus is too vague and their political analysis is very weak." Battle for media independence, pluralism A press freedom bill was adopted in April 2002, ending years of censorship and a ban on free speech under the Taleban. However, some media freedom watchdogs have expressed concern about the bill, particularly the registration and licensing provisions, the requirement that media owners need permission from the government to operate, and the stipulation that only citizens of Afghanistan may print publications. They fear this could leave local outlets too weak to withstand potential government pressure. The draft law also grants the government control over the distribution of foreign publications. Conflict over censorship In September, state TV in Kabul resumed screening Indian films and women singers were heard again on state radio, after a special media commission appointed by President Hamed Karzai overruled a ban imposed by Mohammad Ishaq, the head of Afghan TV and Radio. Ishaq, a senior figure in the Northern Alliance movement that dominates Karzai's government, imposed the restrictions without warning a month earlier. The removal of the ban was viewed as a victory for Karzai and Information Minister Makhdum Rahin, who had sacked Ishaq's predecessor, Abdol Hafez Mansur, in July after a row over what should be shown on television. Residents of Kabul are reportedly signing up for cable TV to get round laws censoring popular films. But the Ministry of Information and Culture is now threatening to close down the cable operators. This is bound to swell the numbers of people buying satellite dishes, now available for under 100 dollars in Kabul. Media analysts say the disputes illustrate broader questions of how to balance political coverage in a country with a divided post-war leadership, and how fast to introduce secular culture to a religiously conservative society. What audiences want Afghan leader Hamed Karzai has appealed to the country's journalists "to serve the people of Afghanistan and not, in any way, be abused by political and military factions". Audiences, for their part, say that after 23 years of war and the Taleban government, they would rather hear and watch programmes that entertain and educate them, instead of endless coverage of politicians coming and going. For those who can afford them, there are alternative sources of news and entertainment, in the form of satellite TV and radio programmes from abroad. But the lack of private domestic radio and TV stations in Afghanistan means there is virtually no competition pushing state media outlets to respond to viewer demands. BBC Monitoring research 8 Oct 02 (via DXLD) ** ANGOLA. RNA - Canal A, Mulenvos, 11955.7, noted after a long time at 2255-2303 in Portuguese with program "Boa Noite, Angola" followed by news 2300 when adjacent QRM de 11960 suddenly started (presumably de China), spoiling reception of Luanda's newscast. 35433, \\ 4950 vy, vy poor (Carlos Gonçalves, Portugal, Oct 4, BC-DX via DXLD) ** ARGENTINA. 4759.11, at 0951 Oct 4, Radio Nacional, harmonic of AM 1190? with phone in mention of "Rio de la Plata" and "Radio Nacional de Argentina" ID at 1000, great signal whilst it lasted, thanks to Paul Ormandy for AM details (David Norrie, Dxing at Matarangi, Coromandel Peninsula, North Island New Zealand, AOR 7030, 20mlong wire through balun, Oct 8, Cumbre DX via DXLD) `great signal`? Leads me to suspect a non-harmonic (gh, DXLD) ** AUSTRIA. Para cazadores de QSL`s y de grabaciones históricas El amigo hondureño Elmer Escoto me envía la siguiente información. A continuación se reproduce en esperanto, y más abajo en nuestro idioma. Saludos, (Arnaldo Slaen) [Esperanto`s unique accents are rendered here by apostrophes --- gh] Nia lasta disau'digo Lastfoje au'deblos la esperantlingva programo de Radio Austria Internacia Mezonde: la 25-an de oktobro 2002 je 20:04 MET je frekvenco 1476 kHz Mallongonde: la 26-an de oktobro 2002 je 20:05 UTC je frekvencoj: 5945 kaj 6155 kHz Interrete g'i aperos nur: ekde 20:04 MET 25.okt.2002 g'is 24:00 MET 01.nov.2002 Nuestra última emisión Por última vez se escuchará el programa en idioma Esperanto de Radio Austria Internacional. En Onda Media: 25/Oct/2002 a las 2004 (Hora de Europa Central) por 1476 kHz. En Onda Corta: 26/Oct/2002 a las 2005 UTC por 5945 y 6155 kHz. En Internet: Disponible desde las 2004 (HEC) 25/Oct hasta las 2400 del 01/Nov Our last transmission For the last time one can hear the program in Esperanto from Radio Austria International Mediumwave: 25/Oct 2002 at 2004 (Central European Time) on 1476 kHz Shortwave: 26/Oct/2002 at 2005 UTC on 5945 and 6155 kHz On the Internet: Program will be available from 2004 (CET) 25/Oct until 2400 of 01/Nov (Direct From ORF Radio Austria Contributed by Elmer Escoto via Arnaldo Slaen, Conexión Digital via DXLD) ** AUSTRIA [and non]. ROI: Intermedia is to stay as a radio show, but the question is how it will be produced and what it will contain without Wolf Harranth. By the way, the Intermedia webpage also announces a frequency change for the Sackville transmission 1500-1600: Now on 17865 instead of ex-17860. Regards, (Kai Ludwig, Germany, Oct 7, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** BRAZIL. A época é propícia para a confirmação de algumas emissoras. A Rádio Ternura, de Ibitinga (SP), confirmou informe que enviei recentemente para eles. Eis o endereço: Rua Capitão João Marques, 89, Jardim Centenário, CEP: 14940-000, Ibitinga(SP), Brasil. A Rádio Ternura transmite em 4845 kHz. BRASIL - A Rádio Caiari, de Porto Velho(RO), foi sintonizada, em Tefé (AM), por Paulo Roberto e Souza, em 02 de outubro, entre 0146 e 0211, transmitindo programas religiosos, na freqüência de 4785 kHz. Atenção para seus horários de funcionamento nas ondas curtas: de 0900 às 1400. Depois, entre 1900 e 0400. A programação emitida é gerada pela Rede Paulus Sat. Tem o seguinte endereço eletrônico: caiari@e... [truncated] BRASIL - A Rádio Inconfidência, de Belo Horizonte(MG), completou 66 anos de atividades em 2 de outubro. Detalhe interessante: o profissional Jairo Anatólio Lima trabalha na emissora há 61 anos. As informações são de Robson Ribeiro, do sítio http://www.planetaradio.cjb.net BRASIL - A programação emitida em 3325 kHz é a da Rádio Mundial AM, de São Paulo (SP). Foi ouvida, em Porto Alegre(RS), em 03 outubro, com a seguinte identificação: "ZYK 724 AM, 670 kHz, ondas tropicais de 92(?) metros, emissoras vinculadas à Rede CBS!". (Célio Romais, RS, @tiviade DX Oct 6 via DXLD) ** BRAZIL. 11915, R Gaucha, 0937, Oct 7, Good signal strength and modulation. Commercial format. ID at 1040 (David Hodgson, Nashville, TN, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CANADA. Anna Maria Tremonti`s program now has a name WHERE CAN CANADIANS GET A FRESH PERSPECTIVE ON WHAT'S HAPPENING IN CANADA AND AROUND THE WORLD? THE CURRENT is CBC Radio's new current affairs program, heard Monday to Friday from 8:30 to 10 a.m beginning November 18 on CBC Radio One. Hosted by veteran journalist Anna Maria Tremonti, THE CURRENT features a team comprised of journalists based in every major region of Canada who will bring an informed, thoughtful and provocative approach to presenting insights into the stories of the day. "I can't wait to get started," says Tremonti. "THE CURRENT will feature stories from across Canada and around the world that matter now. We want it to be electric, to have depth, to be fluid. Some days, we'll try to go against the current and talk to people and introduce ideas that don't make it into the mainstream." Adrian Mills, executive director of Programming, CBC Radio, says, "Anna Maria's range and depth of experience with Canadian and international news will be an enormous asset to this new national program. THE CURRENT is an example of CBC Radio at its best, creating programming that is thought-provoking and responsive to our audience, and will certainly enhance their morning listening experience." THE CURRENT's production team will ensure that regional coverage is well represented within the program. The show will also place a greater emphasis on international stories than has been done previously at this time of day. In order to respond immediately to evolving news stories during the morning, the show will often be presented live to Western time zones as well as to Eastern ones. The combination of THE CURRENT with sister program Sounds Like Canada, hosted by Shelagh Rogers from 10 a.m. to noon, means that weekday mornings on CBC Radio One will offer a comprehensive exploration of the events of the day, one that is tailored to the needs and interests of listeners. The executive producer of THE CURRENT is Jamie Purdon. THE CURRENT showcases the CBC tradition of developing radio programming that enlightens, reflects and connects Canadians (via Ricky Leong, QC, DXLD) ** CANADA. NEW CBC RADIO MORNING SHOW DEBUTS OCT. 14 Canadian Press CBC Radio says its new morning show to be hosted by Shelagh Rogers weekdays from 10 a.m. to noon will be called Sounds Like Canada. The show starts Oct. 14 on CBC Radio One. The title "sums up what the show will be," said Rogers. "We want to drench the airwaves with voices and sound from all over the country." Sounds Like Canada will include new shows such as Out There, produced in British Columbia, and existing programs Workology, C'est la vie and Outfront. It will be preceded by The Current, a new current affairs program set to debut Nov. 18 and to be hosted by Anna Maria Tremonti. The Current will air Monday to Friday from 8:30 a.m. to 10 a.m. (Toronto Star Oct 8 via Ivan Grishin and Mike Cooper, DXLD) ** CHINA [non]. CLANNY Address Falun Dafa R? I sent a RR to Falun Dafa R with the address P O Box 117, Buford, GA 30518, USA. My envelope was returned with a stamp "Attempted, not known" Who knows the correct address? (Max van Arnhem, Netherlands, hard-core-dx Oct 3 via DXLD) Try editor@falundafaradio.org or World Falun Dafa Radio, P O Box 93436, City Of Industry CA 91715, USA (BC-DX via DXLD) ** COLOMBIA. Presumably La Voz de tu Conciencia the one dominating 6010, actually about 6010.9, on various checks between 0505 and 0530 Oct 9, sermon in Spanish with gringo accent, but never heard any ID. If XEOI is also on it only provides a het (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) LV de tu Conciencia heard at 0650 tune in today (Oct. 9) initially on about 6010.6, but had drifted up to about 6011 by 0710. All did not seem well with the garbled audio either. Signal was fair at first, but gradually fading down. No dance music heard today - only long dialogue in Spanish - but this included some chime like music at 0658 and an ID. The usual mix of at least two other transmitters was audible as hum on 6010 - if one is Mexico, what is the other at this hour - Chile? Brazil is usually heard slightly HF of nominal channel (Noel R. Green, Blackpool - NW England, Cumbre DX via DXLD) ** CONGO DR. The following message has been received from David Smith at R. Okapi, Kinshasa. We are now broadcasting on 6300 and 11690 kHz using our new Marconi SW transmitters. Please let your people in the field know about these frequencies and, whenever possible, send reception reports to R Okapi technician Georges Schleger. Reports should indicate: 1. Frequency 2. Time of broadcast 3. Location of listener 4. Type of receiver used to listen 5. Quality of reception RRs help us to adjust and maintain the best signal quality possible to the target audience. We will soon begin broadcasts on 9550 kHz as well. I'll send an e-mail once the third frequency is operational. Thank you, David Smith, Chief - R Okapi. Note that the E-mail address of Georges Schleger is schleger@un.org (via Jerry Berg, DXplorer Sep 30 via Bueschel BCDX, via DXLD) ** COSTA RICA. RFPI is suffering a major setback, as its high-speed internet service will be cut off ``in an act of censorship`` after Oct 18. It is beyond RFPI`s control; nothing can be done to prevent this. RFPI will no longer be able to receive and broadcast on a timely basis programs such as Freespeech Radio News, Counterspin, Radio Nation. Will still try to get WORLD OF RADIO, but no guarantee. Needs to raise money for its own independent internet link, $800 on hand for that now and $3000 more needed. This is for a wireless bridge network spanning about 20 miles. Or any donation of same gladly accepted. New address for this effort is rfpiradio@yahoo.com Will also lose capability to stream RFPI programming out and to upload any shows to the archive. [Evidently no connexion with royalties ruling in the US – gh]. Tho RFPI does not have the talent or resources to replace Amy Goodman`s Democracy Now, RFPI will produce a show to substitute, as best it can, at 2200 UT weekdays. Joe Bernard is now back in Oregon, and fortunately two new interns are at RFPI to help out, Kevin Moore from New York, who has been at the station for a month, but has spent time in CR before, such as at Monteverde; and Anja?, a trilingual woman from eastern Germany, there for two weeks so far and plans to stay at least half a year. RFPI will not have much but E-mail left, and asks listeners to send in stories of interest for use on the air. This has been discussed on the Interactive Radio Show, so check that too for further developments, 0345 UT Tue-Sat on 7445, 15039 (James Latham, RFPI Mailbag Oct 9 0130, notes by gh for DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CYPRUS [and non]. LEBANON/CYPRUS. IBB has now deleted the planned Cyprus frequency 990 kHz from their (summer) frequency schedule. As for the Lebanese station in Achmit on 990 kHz (100 kW in the Geneva Plan) - the EMWG guide lists this transmitter for 0530-0130 with "Radio Lebanon 1". No power given here, WRTH has been listing this station with 10 kW. The distance to Cyprus is about 300+ kilometers. Has anybody heard this Lebanese transmitter in the last time? The EMWG guide says that it is drifting to 989 kHz occasionally. 73s, (Bernd Trutenau, Lithuaia, Oct 9, MW-DX yahoogroup via DXLD) So are you saying that because of the Lebanese station, IBB no longer plans to move Cyprus to 990, or just that it won`t happen before Oct 27? (gh, DXLD) ** ECUADOR. B-02 transmissions for HCJB beamed to Eu: Czech/Slovak 0530-0600 9765 2030-2100 11690* 15550 ||||| ex 17795* for B-01 English 0230-0400 12040 also to SAs [till Australia be on?] 0700-0900 5965 ||||| ex 9780 for B-01 2000-2200 11895 German 0600-0700 9765 2100-2130 11850* 15550 ||||| ex 11755* for B-01 Russian 0330-0430 9775 Spanish 0700-0730 9765 2130-2230 9630 11850* ||||| ex 11755* for B-01 (Ivo and Angel! Observer, Bulgaria, Oct 8, via DXLD) ** EL SALVADOR. 17833.16: Not that I managed to have Radio Imperio audible on the receiver, but there's definitely a carrier allowing zero beating on 17833v evenings (when there's also some splatter de RCI 17835), so let's only hope conditions may improve some time so as to have a signal with some audio (Carlos Gonçalves, Portugal, Sept 26, BC-DX via Wolfgang Bueschel, DXLD) ** FINLAND. 5980, Scandinavian Weekend R, Villat, Oct 5, 0900-0950, DJ Madman with ``Radio Roulette`` in English including his interview of me at the EDXC Conference. Very weak signal with 23212 at best, but deep fades. Heard here and not on scheduled 6170. No other frequencies were heard that Saturday, but at 0350 reception was better on 5980: 24333 (Anker Petersen, Denmark, DSWCI DX Window via DXLD) ** FRANCE. I think the following message from Alain Delorme of TDF, France finally explains who, where and why on 25775 kHz. 73 (Jari Savolainen, Kuusankoski, Finland, Oct 7, DX LISTENING DIGEST) We are doing field trials for the DRM consortium. What you heard is an old test program (in order not to be considered as a real one) we use on a 200 W short wave transmitter in Rennes (Brittany - France). These trials are made in a simulcast mode (analog + digital) of DRM protocol. I hope this answer your question. AD (Alain Delorme, TDF, Oct 7 via Savolainen, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Here is a translation in English of the French sentence sent to Jari Savolainen: ``Yes, these are tests on 26 MHz, in analog system (AM) from Rennes. There are also reception reports from the U.S.A. That’s a good start! We would make care of reports when we will be on DRM.`` Reading the French sentence, I understand that DRM tests will be on the air soon. In 1972 the ORTF and the French Telecom unit DGT established a joint Research and Development facility in Rennes called TDF CCETT. One of their main areas of research and test nowadays is Digicast Technologies to be used in TV, Radio (DAB and DRM) and Cable broadcasts. Their postal address is: TDF CCETT; 4, rue du Clos Courtel; B. P. 59; F-35512 CESSON SÉVIGNÉ Cédex; France (Christian Ghibaudo, France, Oct 3, DSWCI DX Window via DXLD) ** GERMANY [and non]. Very interesting to read about the impending - temporary - close down of the BR 6085 transmitter. I've been listening [seriously] since the 1950's, and cannot recollect a time when it was not on air, so it will be novel to hear the channel clear - at least, until it is used for something else, as Kai hints. What is now the status and purpose of the German SW relays of the domestic programme? When there was an East & West Germany I could understand that they probably improved the choice of programmes to listen to by those living in the East. And particularly of the DLF and RIAS - although the high power LW/MW senders should have ensured this service was available to most in the East without SW. Then I have read that Germans going abroad for their holidays like to listen to their own domestic station - but are 6005 6030 6085 6190 and 7265 the best frequencies to do this? How well are they heard in the Canary Islands, Crete or Majorca for instance in daytime? They are obviously DX signals outside of Europe. Then I read that they are intended for German expatriates or those understanding German in Eastern countries. I would have thought that the DW's extensive German language service adequately kept German people/speakers overseas informed. Except for the Italians I cannot immediately think of another west European country that broadcasts its domestic services on SW. Extracts - yes - but not dedicated own transmitters. I can also remember the NWDR SW transmissions. These transmitters - from memory - were I think used by the then fledgling DW. I cannot remember hearing the HR SW relay, and don't think SFB ever had one of its own. AFN did - on some strange OOB frequency around 5450 if my memory is still working (the BDN from Austria too - 9617 comes to mind). These have all gone, but the ones listed remain - why? And why does SWDR carry the same programme on its two SW frequencies? Thanks for the interesting 'Burg 531' file - Kai. So Germany continues to press ahead with MW DRM - I am waiting with interest to hear something similar taking place in the UK! At present, all the emphasis in the UK seems to be centred on DAB radio on VHF. Something I read a few days ago concerning deliberate interference to DRM transmissions was interesting - apparently a jammer would cause the intended signal to "stop" - i.e., nothing would be heard from it, unlike an AM signal which would still be present. The technicalities of this are beyond my understanding, but I wonder what the effects would be of co-channel interference to signals on MW? Kai mentioned tests from three sites on 1485 (Berlin - was it?). Do the transmissions need to be offset in frequency or maybe synchronised to avoid "interference" and thus cancelling out? For instance, I receive at least three transmitters on 909 [the BBC's synchronised R5 transmission]. What would happen if they all used DRM? Best 73's (Noel Green, England, Oct 7, DX LISTENING DIGEST) To avoid an apparent misunderstanding: I am not aware of any plans for another use of 6085. Anyway another occupation of 6085 would be nothing new; I still remember the tests of Golos Rossii (the then independent Russian-language world service from Moscow) via the Ukrainian Kopani site. They also used 6085 and overrode BR completely here. And we should not forget a possible use of 6090 for a DRM signal at Luxembourg. If this really happens BR could definitely forget about 6085. The question about the status of the 6005, 6030, 6085, 6190 and 7265 transmitters is an interesting one. As well-known, they are included in the HFCC file "for info" only, in other words, the transmitter operators have no objections against interferences from other broadcasters. I have no idea about the reasons for this renounce. Certainly these shortwave outlets were once inaugurated especially with listeners in the GDR in mind. By the way, DLF never transmitted its German program on shortwave in the old days. I wrote German program because DLF once also produced foreign language broadcasts, and some of them were also aired via Deutsche Welle shortwave transmitters (not only the facilities in Germany actually operated by the postal office then; at least Sines was involved, too). After 1990 these language departments had to move to Deutsche Welle where many of them were wound up soon afterwards. Of course the regular reach of the transmitters in discussion is limited to Europe. Indeed holidaymakers and other travellers can be certainly considered as main, uh, target audience today, and a friend of mine indeed found it quite nice to listen to SWR 3 on 7265. We can also include the East of Europe when discussing how rare domestic services on shortwave are meanwhile. There is Radio Rossii, there are the recently curtailed (no longer on 6115 and 7210) transmissions from Belarus`, and that's all, if I do not overlook something. For the history: Yes, indeed Nordwestdeutscher Rundfunk (NWDR), the institution later split into Norddeutscher Rundfunk (NDR) and Westdeutscher Rundfunk (WDR), did the first Deutsche Welle transmissions. If I remember correctly, NWDR started the construction of the Jülich station; only later it was handed over to the postal office. It is also right that SFB never operated an own shortwave transmitter, they only used the Radio Bremen one. AFN on 5450: Perhaps this was actually a feeder? At least RFE/RL had no privileges in this matter over the German broadcasters; they had also to lease post office circuits to feed the programming from Munich to the transmitters; Lampertheim had six incoming circuits then. Regarding DRM: Indeed a disturbed reception of a DRM signal results in the audio being cut off. When this happens it sounds similar to a failing RealAudio stream, so the disruption is "smoother" than on DAB where suddenly gurgling noises replace the program audio; the most recent Blaupunkt DAB car radios solve this problem by muting, but this of course only replaces the disturbing noises by silence but does not increase the reliability of the system. Yes, the three-site test on 1485 takes place at Berlin. DRM is indeed capable of synchronized network operation, at least in theory, and the purpose of the 1485 test at Berlin is to try this in practice (Kai Ludwig, Germany, Oct 7, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** HONG KONG. China Coast Race Week : It's almost that time again, according to the RHKYC website: http://www.rhkyc.org.hk/chinacoastraceweek.htm Does anyone have any further information? The last 2 Cumbre DX Specials are here: http://www.cumbredx.org/cdxsp/cdxsp3871.txt http://www.cumbredx.org/cdxsp/cdxsp3923.txt (George Maroti, NY, Oct 9, Cumbredx mailing list via DXLD) Oct. 12-19; two events seem to be involved, a race to Hainan, where immigration is a factor! And the China Coast Regatta. I see no mention of SW weather broadcasts here (yet?) but previously 3940 has been used, 10 kW from Cape D`Aguilar, at 0945 and 2345 (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** INTERNATIONAL VACUUM. "El Gouna Radio & Internet Club" Dear sirs, we are Italian and we have a radio station in Egypt from 4 years, we are interested to transmit on satellite Eutelsat Hotbird with a bandwidth 128 kbps 24/hours daily, but we need to transmit up to satellite from Palermo Italy. Please can you communicate us if you can help us and the price for uplink and yearly rent on satellite frequency. Thanks in advance and please note we need to start if possible in January 2003. El Gouna Radio & Internet club, Shop 107 - Tamr Henna, El Gouna - Red Sea, E G Y P T. tel. +20 12 3591848; fax.+1435 5188315 romolo1@romolo.com (Romolo Bellomia, Oct 9, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Sorry, this is not my area of expertise, but perhaps some reader can help; sounds like an interesting station and project (gh, DXLD) ** INTERNATIONAL WATERS [non]. IRELAND, 7140, R Caroline (pirate), first heard here on Sep 27 at 0720. A good signal peaking S8 to 9 and obviously a 'live' transmission as giving actual time checks and where the station could be heard etc. Talking about the Ross Revenge open day in between playing pop music. Audio quality very buzzy on this day, but the signal and audio were much improved on consequent days when heard between circa 0630 / 1230. Fade in characteristics corresponded with Laser 7465 - known to come from Ireland (Noel Green, England, DSWCI DX Window via DXLD) ** IRAQ. A week ago I noticed two transmitters from Iraq and they are both on exactly 1548 kHz. One carries the Main program \\ 846 and 908.94 and the other the 2nd program \\ 756 kHz. 2nd program signs off at 2302v and main program at 2312. Below two clips from the Washington Post; at least they don't seem to be aware of the Iraqi transmitters. If it isn't called jamming, it is at least deliberate interfering of R Sawa (two transmitters on the same frequency with different programs, surely interfering each other in Iraq, too): http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A49600-2002Sep21.html "The Iraqi government has not jammed Sawa. It's available all day in southern cities. In Baghdad, it's heard only in the evenings, when AM signals travel farther. "We know the news is American propaganda, but we love the music," said a merchant named Sayed who was listening to Sawa on a recent evening." http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A57857-2002Sep23.html "What worked for Stalin may be working for Hussein. He has allowed unprecedented, although limited, access to the Internet and to Western videos. He doesn't even jam R Sawa, a U.S.-funded station that transmits from Kuwait. These steps do not a Jeffersonian democracy make, but they do suggest Hussein is less afraid of his own people than some people in Washington assert or believe." (Mauno Ritola, Finland, Oct 5, BC-DX via DXLD) ** IRAQ [non]. Arabic under BBC 7120 at 0335 Oct 9 is presumably V. of the Islamic Revolution in Iraq, listed by PWBR `2002` here as from 250 kW in Iran (Joe Hanlon, PA, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ISRAEL. RADIO HA-SHAMS AWARDED TENDER FOR ARAB RADIO STATION From http://www.jpost.com/ Oct. 7, 2002 By YEHEZKEL LAING Radio Ha-Shams has won a tender to run an Arab language radio station in the north of the country, the Second Authority for Radio and TV announced Monday. Three groups originally contended for the tender, Radio Ha-Shams, Radio 24 and Radio Kul Anas, however Kul Anas pulled out following management problems. According to the Second Authority, Ha-Shams's bid was especially strong in the technical field and earned an overall score of 82.25 which it said was "very high." Radio 24 scored 70.59. The Radio Ha-Shams group is made up of four partners: Amal Karem with a 61 percent share, Gaon Productions and Programming with a 20% share, Sami Shimon - 16%, and Yazid Hadid - 3%. The tender is good for four years with two additional options of four years each for a total of 12 years. Minimum investment was set at NIS 3 million and the potential audience is estimated at 900,000 or 75% of the total Israeli Arab population. The station plans to begin broadcasting by April of 2003. This is the third time the Second Authority has offered an Arab radio tender. The first was for a station called Radio 2000 which operated between 1994 and 1999. That station eventually closed due to management problems. A second tender was offered in 2000 but no groups bid on it. Though only three groups contended on the third tender, this was considered a great success by the Second Authority. In order to make it easier for groups to contend, the broadcast area was widened from the Galilee to include all of the lower "Triangle" region and conditions for such things as bank agreements and equipment were lowered. While there are dozens of pirate Israeli Arab radio stations, the new northern one will be only the second to operate legally and the only legal independent station. Israel Radio's Arabic broadcast is the other legal station. Meir Shani of Gaon Productions, which is controlled by businessman Benny Gaon, told The Jerusalem Post that it was on the initiative of his firm that the company was formed. While Shani said he was aware of the past failures in the field he still believes the business can be successful. "The Arab Israeli sector totals 1.3 million people. This a huge potential audience in which virtually no organized advertising is currently being directed. In addition, there exists no private Arab station on the national level. If you put these two things together it spells success," he said. Shani hopes to reach earnings of NIS 5.7m. the first year and NIS 7-8m. in each subsequent year. He also noted that the Radio Ha-Shams group is half Jewish and half Arab with a clear division of responsibilities. The Jewish side will handle the administrative aspects while the Arab side will handle the broadcasting content. "We see this project as being very important also beyond its economic aspect," he added. The Second Authority for Radio and TV currently has 14 radio stations operating under its authority (via Mike Terry, DXLD) ** ISRAEL. Since you are opposed to both religion and DST I thought you might be interested in the fact that in Israel, the most of the secular are all for summer time because it conserves fuel and makes the highways safer whereas the religious either want no summer time or as short a period as possible because it tends to play havoc with the before-sunset-to-after-sunset Sabbath and the holidays. ("and it was evening and it was morning the first day" in Genesis - so Jewish calendar days begin in the evening) (Joel Rubin, NY, Oct 9, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ITALY. Hello, I've made some update on "The HF Archive", the website dedicated to Italian HF/LW/MW stations with photos and infos. http://www.mediasuk.org/archive Inside "HF Archive" you can find info about: Broadcasting site Rai - Shortwave Center Prato Smeraldo - Roma Awr - Shortwave Center Forlì Rai - Long Wave and SW Center - Caltanissetta Rai - Medium Wave Center - Santa Palomba Rai - Medium Wave Center - Capo Vaticano Rai - Medium Wave portable trasmitter Rai - Medium Wave Center - Sanremo with CFA antenna Rai - Medium Wave Center Genova Granarolo Utility Station Coast Station IAR Roma Radio ICI - IRM Station Coast Guard Roma Coast Station IPP Palermo Radio CIRM - Radio Medical Service Station IRM NDB Beacon Campagnano NDB Beacon Albenga NDB Beacon Santa Maria di Leuca NDB Beacon Capo Vaticano SalCost - Salini Costruttori IGN - Protezione Civile Roma (Andrea Borgnino, Conexión Digital via DXLD) ** JAPAN. NEW TV TOWER PLANNED FOR TOKYO A plan has been unveiled to build the world's tallest TV tower in Tokyo. At 600 metres, it would comfortably beat the 553 metre CN Tower in Toronto. A group of businessmen plan submit a proposal to construct the tower in Ueno Park as a tourist attraction. But as a bonus, they say it would provide an ideal solution to the problem of finding a new TV transmission site when terrestrial digital broadcasting replaces analogue services. Currently, public broadcaster NHK and a number of commercial stations broadcast from the 333 metre high Tokyo Tower, but since it was built in 1958 many tall buildings have been constructed in the vicinity. Digital signals are more adversely affected by such obstructions than analogue signals. The group plans to formally submit its proposal to the Tokyo Metropolitan Government in November (© Radio Netherlands Media Network 7 October 2002 via DXLD) ** JAPAN. AFN Tokyo on 810 kHz (50 kW), located at Yokota Air Base in the western suburb of Tokyo, has stopped transmission since Sept 26, for the entire maintenance of transmitter facilities. The station began in Sept, 1945 (soon after Japan's surrender to U.S.) and has continuously been on air. They are planning to resume on Oct 18. The spurious-free signal will be expected thereafter. Until then their URL http://www.yokota.af.mil/orgs/afn/ is also out of service. Good chance for MW DXers in the area for receiving Russian Primorskii Kray and Korean stations on the same frequency! Other AFN stations in mainland Japan (Misawa, Iwakuni, Sasebo on 1575 kHz) are normally transmitting (Takahito Akabayashi, Japan, Sept 30, BC-DX Oct 8 via DXLD) ** MALAYSIA. BCDX lately reported on the SW activities from Malaysia. Shortwave activity and in particular their foreign sce apparently have not the very highest priority in this country. Personally I'm wondering whether their En service "Voice of Malaysia" (at European morning hours / afternoon local time) on 15295 kHz has been regular during the last decade or so. Although I heard it in Germany every now and then I was unable to hear it in South Australia in Jan 1994. This surprised me a bit as to my understanding this service is intended for Australia as a target area. Their Arabic service at 1530 can usually been heard with much better signals in Europe, but I don't know whether this has been regular. 15295 0300-1230 55,58-60 KAJ 250 kW 133 degr English MLA RTM RTM 15295 1530-1900 39 KAJ 250 kW 295 degr Arabic MLA RTM RTM During recent months their service in Bahasa (either Bahasa Malaya or Bahasa Indonesia) on 9750 kHz at around 1600 UT seems to be the most reliable reception in Europe. On 21 Sept this year, however, I heard NHK World in English instead at 1535 on 9750 kHz and nothing from Malaysia. This might have been due to propagation. [Kajang-MLA 100 kW 150 degrs, Yamata-JPN 300 kW 290 degrees] Getting into contact with the station other than by "snail mail" seems to be not that easy. In Jan 2000 I tried to phone the station from KL airport on a weekday afternoon. The phone number from the WRTH resulted in a taped message "Thank you for calling Angkasapuri". Does anyone have a valid email address of the station or contact person for schedules? The transmitter site at Kajang must be located somewhere between the ultramodern Sepang airport (and Formula One circuit) and downtown Kuala Lumpur. While driving along the free- and motorways in this area I could not see any antenna masts or other hints of a SW transmitter site inmidst the huge oil palm plantations (Well, it is also quite difficult to see the Lampertheim and Biblis sites from A 67 motorway). (Wolfgang Schweikert, Germany, BC-DX Oct 4 via DXLD) ** MONGOLIA. 4866v, Mongol Radio & TV, Dalanzadgad, Sep 12 and 14, 1040 (fade in) – past 1300, active again with talks in Mongolian and Mongolian folkmusic. The crystal is defect, so it drifts up and down in frequency 4865.48 – 4866.20. There are also modulation problems and the transmitter power seem to be less than 12 kW as listed. 25332 (Roland Schulze, Philippines, DSWCI DX Window Oct 9 via DXLD) ** NEPAL. Radio Nepal back till 1715 s-off on both 5005 and 6100 kHz. Since about late Sept. Checked a little while ago at 1715; s-off after Nepali news update and National Anthem (Victor Goonetilleke 4S7VK, Oct 2, BC-DX Oct 8 via DXLD) ** NEW ZEALAND. In case you don't already know, summer time starts in NZ at 3.00 am local time Sunday morning, 6 Oct, which is 1500 UT on 5 Oct (BC-DX Oct 8 via DXLD) ** NORWAY. Got yesterday a QSL for the Norwegian NRK station Kvitsoy on 1314 kHz. The RR was send to NRK info@n... [truncated] --- they wrote me that NRK do not send out any QSL-cards. After re-asking for a QSL-letter I got the answer from the operating company (orkring AS, Kvitsoy Transmitter Station - http://www.norkring.no directly from Kvitsoy. They use a 8 x 10 cm big rubber-stamp stamped on a blank card, filled-in with all details, INCLUDING their CALLSIGN which is LKS. This is one of the very few callsigns from European mediumwave broadcasters I ever seen. Has anybody any further? (Tom - DL8AAM, hard-core-dx Oct 3 via BC-DX via DXLD) ** PAKISTAN. 4790, R Pakistan, Islamabad, Oct 6, *0042-0216*, Azad Kashmir song, IDs in Urdu and Kashmiri, Call to Prayer, 0100 Urdu news. In September I heard them regularly sign on at *2342, so the Daylight Saving Time period obviously is now over in Pakistan ! QRM AIR Chennai 4790 in Tamil until 0045*. 24333 (Anker Petersen, Denmark, DSWCI DX Window via DXLD) ** PARAGUAY. A few hours ago, Nicolas Eramo and his son, Nicolas Jr., Enrique Wembagher and I, returned from a new DX Camp in Chascomus, 120 km south-west of Buenos Aires city. The results were fair because of the very, very bad propagation conditions. This is the log of Radio América, Villeta: 7737.1, Radio America, 0141+, October 6. Christian music. Religious program in Spanish. Commentary by male. Bad modulation. 24232. At 0208+, other commentary by male in Spanish. At 0756+, with commentary in Spanish by female, 24232. At 0823 we listened the two frequencies in // with 7386! (not 7385). The best reception on 7737.1 with SINPO: 24232 and 7386 with 14231. At 0929 not interference from WRMI from 7385 and QRK 2 on 7386 (Arnaldo Slaen, Argentine, Cumbre DX via DXLD) 7737.1, Radiodifusión América, Villeta, 0212-0250, Oct 6, Spanish, religious program, very weak signal a lot of atmospheric noise and static noise, 24232 (Nicolás Eramo, Chascomus, Argentina, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Acabo de retornar del DX Camp en Chascomús y la señal de Radio América fue recibida en ambas frecuencias 7386 y 7737.10 ambas en paralelo hoy por la mañana y a las 02:38 llegaba solamente en los 7737.10. La señal es débil y por momentos no se entiende lo que estaán emitiendo. Cordiales 73s (Nicolas Eramo, Oct 6, Conexión Digital via DXLD) Todavía no he podido identificar el audio; solamente en modos USB y LSB es posible advertir la presencia de la portadora tanto en 7737 como en 7385 Khz, en este último caso sólo cuando no está en el aire la doméstica emisora china XINJANG PEOPLE'S BROADCASTING STATION de Urumqi, según el "WRTH'2002" opera con 50 KW y según el "2001 Shortwave Frequency Guide" su horario es 23:30 a 07:30 y 10:30-16:50 en idioma mandarín. Me parece que con tan poca potencia -300 vatios- dependerá de muy buenas condiciones de propagación y, al menos, por aquí no las hay. 73's (Rubén Guillermo Margenet, ibid.) Dear Friends: After a couple of hours I receive the QSL from Rdfn America, Villeta, Paraguay in the QSL Adán Mur tell me that this week began the transmission in 7737 // 9980 all reception reports are welcome specially the Real Audio Files. 73s Nicolas Eramo QSL RADIODIFUSIÓN AMÉRICA, VILLETA, PARAGUAY. TRANSMISIONES EXPERIMENTALES EN LA ONDA CORTA. Señor Nicolas Eramo, Buenos Aires, República Argentina Estimado Nicolas Eramo: Tengo el placer y privilego de confirmar su sintonía a las transmisiones experimentales de Radiodifusión América, Villeta, República del Paraguay. Fecha: 6 de octubre de 2002 Hora: 0212 a 0250, UTC Frecuencia: 7737 KHZ Los pormenores mencionados corresponden, en forma completa, con la programación realizada por ZP20 Radio América, y retransmitida por las frecuencias de la onda corta. En la fecha mencionada, la potencia utilizada era de 300 Vátios. La antena utilizada era un Reflector de Esquina, dirigida hacía los 184 grados, del norte magnético, con una ganancia teórica de 25 dBi. Muchísimas gracias por grabar la recepción, en forma de REAL AUDIO. Esta información nos ayudará, en gran manera. En esta semana, esperamos agregar la frecuencia de los 9980 KHZ, en lugar de los 7385 KHZ. Primeramente Dios, probaremos la combinación de los 7737 y 9980 KHZ. Estoy de acuerdo con sus comentarios, referente a la amplia entrada de señales, desde Asia. No es una gran sorpresa, al considerar las características propagacionales prevalentes y la plenitud de pasos transpacíficos, sin obstáculos. o, también, capto muchas frecuencias desde la Asia y del Medio Oriente. Algunas de los servicios de aquella región utilizan una potencia increíble, en combinación con antenas de alta ganancia. Sus saludos al Pastor José Holowaty serán dados. Sus reportes de sintonía siempre serán bienvenidos. ¡Saludos! (Adán Mur, Asesor Técnico, Radiodifusión América, Asunción, Paraguay via Nicolás Eramo, DXLD) ** PERU. 5500v, R San Miguel, which has been observed since April of 2002, is one of the new stations broadcasting from San Miguel de Pallaques, capital of the Province of San Miguel, Department of Cajamarca. This station is not R San Miguel Arcángel, which formerly transmitted between 5707.0 and 5721.1 from July of 1980 through December of 1995, then the station reactivated its shortwave transmissions on 6339.7 between April of 1999 to May of 2001. I visited San Miguel in October of 2001 to make local stations' research. I noted that four stations were in operation: R Andina on 994.9, R San Miguel Arcángel on 1370.3, Radio San Miguel on 1453.0 and R San Miguel FM on 97.9 MHz. According to Inelso Cruzado, the owner and station manager of R San Miguel, the station is licensed to broadcast on the frequency of 1450 with callsign OAU2W. R San Miguel FM is licensed to broadcast on the frequency of 97.9 MHz with callsign OAT2K. R San Miguel also experimentally operated on 4815 in 2000 without authorization, and they would made application for license to the Ministry of Transports and Communication. It was discontinued due to expensive electricity, but they informed me that the station would be resumed when they obtain more client that are interested in shortwave broadcasts. As of Oct 2002, R San Miguel broadcasts at 0900- 0200 daily on MW and at 1200-0300 daily on FM (Takayuki Inoue Nozaki, Japan, DSWCI DX Window Oct 9 via DXLD) 6020.27, R. Victoria, Lima, Sep 25-Oct 01, 0556-0839 (fade out), full Spanish ID, Spanish and Portuguese religious programmes produced by "Dios es Amor" church. ID: "estamos por Radio Victoria, transmitiendo el programa La Voz de la Liberación"; other ann.: "todo Lima y el Perú lo escucha cuando son exactamente las dos con 33 minutos",35442 // 9720.27. (Gonçalves, Howard and Slaen...). This has not been reported since June 2001! (Anker Petersen, DSWCI DX Window Oct 9 via DXLD) ** POLAND. Re selling airtime on non-existent 1503 transmitter: Maybe offering usage of 1503 kHz MW channel, which is registered at ITU Genève by TPSA Poland, otherwise 'silent' in central Europe (Wolfgang Bueschel, BC-DX Oct 8 via DXLD) ** RUSSIA/CIS. Here are the known ex-Soviet zarya antennas: Columns: Transmitter RV number, where known; location; frequency; type of zarya antenna (B 3,5 km, S 2,5 km, M 1,5 km); azimuth. tx# freq deg 70 Ussuriysk 1251 M. zarya 116 Chita/Kruchina 801 B. zarya 185 161 Lviv-Krasne UKR 936 B. zarya 238 (232?) 445 Razdolnoye (site Ussuriysk?) 648 B. zarya 483 Angarsk 1170 M. zarya 489 Angarsk 1080 B. zarya 195 591 Oyash 1026 B. zarya 593 Oyash 675 M. zarya 602 Kamo ARM 1314 B. zarya 679 Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk 720 B. zarya 680 Tbilisskaya 1170 B. zarya 210 750 Komsomolsk RS1 630 M. zarya 769 Belogorsk 585 B. zarya 857 Popovka 11.3 1494 S. zarya 258 950+ Maiac MDA 1548 M. zarya 245 Ashgabat, TKM 1125 B. zarya Sasnovy BLR 1170 ? zarya 244 Many transmitters can also be switched to normal mast antennas for local services. Some transmissions or frequencies are not currently in use. Besides the Popovka zarya antenna I have also seen pictures of the Krasne and Chita zaryas. Both of the latter ones are of the 36 tower type. The towers carry a complicated structure of several \\ wires. Each wire seems to follow a zig-zag pattern upwards-downwards. The Chita picture is a broadside one taken from a considerable distance, so no details are visible. The Krasne picture is much like the Popovka picture featured in the WRTH (Olle Alm, Sweden, Arctic R Club editor, Sep 30 via BC-DX via DXLD) ** SOMALILAND. SOMALIA: UNHCR DONATES EQUIPMENT TO RADIO HARGEYSA | Text of report by Somali Radio HornAfrik on 8 October The UNHCR has donated equipment to Radio Hargeysa which is owned by the self-declared administration of Somaliland. According to reports from Hargeysa, Mr Stephen Morris, the UNHCR representative handed over the equipment to the information minister of Somaliland, Abdullahi Muhammad Duale. The equipment donated included antennas and studios [as heard]. This is the first time the UNHCR has provided such a donation to the Somaliland administration... Source: Radio HornAfrik, Mogadishu, in Somali 0500 gmt 8 Oct 02 (via BBCM via DXLD) ** SYRIA [non]. Sowt al Watan: Dear Mr Hauser, I am now hearing the morning transmission at 0430-0500 UT [ex 0330-0400] on 9950 kHz. The evening one is as you reported 1500-1530 12085 and 1600-1630 12115. This may be due to the start of winter time in Syria. According to http://www.timeanddate.com/worldclock/city.html?n=487 this was on October 1. Did anyone note when the transmissions changed? Regards (Stavros M., Limassol, Cyprus, Oct 8, DX LISTENING DIGEST) In which country happened clock backsetting already on Oct 1st? Iran and Israel, and ? ed. Vielleicht nicht der allerheisseste Tip, aber immerhin eine Beobachtung des arabischsprachigen Senders auf 12085 kHz. There has been some speculation regarding the origin of the Arabic (?) speaking station on 12085 kHz at 1500 UT. Well, in September - when actually looking for Mongolia - at around 1515 UTC I heard the same signal in Arabic (or other Semitic lang) as on 12085 kHz also on the harmonic of 24170 kHz. Although the signal on the harmonic was weaker I'm quite sure it was the same station (Wolfgang Schweikert, Germany, BC-DX Oct 4) ** TAIWAN. I was surprised to here a radio play on Radio Taipei Int'l tonight using the word F**K on several occasions. The programme 'Cultural Express' was relayed via the Skelton Site in the UK on 3955 kHz at 1815 UTC tonight. I thought that use of this sort of language was prohibited by International Broadcasters (Graham Powell, Webmaster for the Online DX Logbook & 21 MHz.Com -- Full details available at: http://www.shortwave.org.uk Oct 8, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Seems to me such restrixions would be up to each country/station; I know of no international regulation re, nor would it be enforceable (gh, DXLD) I couldn't believe it myself, but there is a recording on the Latest Tropical Loggings page at http://www.shortwave.org.uk Still it does seem really odd, maybe a mix-up in the translation? More likely it was a mix-up in the translation. The recording definitely states "F**k You" on at least two of the several occasions that this four letter word was used. Cheers (Graham, ShortWaveRadio, via DXLD) Listened and it seemed quite gratuitous. Perhaps these non-native speakers were not clued in to the way this expression is avoided in polite English-speaking broadcasting (gh, DXLD) ** TAJIKISTAN. The Orzu transmitter in southern TJK on 801 kHz (ca. 500 kW) now carries IBB programming 1400-0200: 0000-0030 RFE Dari 0030-0100 VOA Hindi 0100-0200 VOA Urdu 1400-1430 VOA Urdu 1430-1530 RFE Farsi 1530-1630 RFE Dari 1630-1700 VOA Hindi 1700-1800 VOA Urdu 1800-1830 RFE Dari 1830-1930 VOA Pashto 1930-2030 RFE Dari 2030-2130 VOA Pashto 2130-2230 VOA Dari 2230-2330 RFE Pashto 2330-2400 RFE Dari (Bernd Trutenau, Lithuania, Oct 9, MW-DX yahoogroup via DXLD) ** TAJIKISTAN [non]. Radio Voice of Christ: Hi Glenn, I came across this Web site (in English) of an organisation that broadcasts Christian programmes in Persian to Afghanistan, Iran and Tajikistan. http://www.rvoc.org/index.shtml No frequencies are mentioned. I can't immediately figure out what Persian broadcasts this refers to, but just in case it's something hitherto unreported in DXLD I thought I'd mention it. 73, (Andy Sennitt, Netherlands, Oct 7, DX LISTENING DIGEST) One is hard pressed to find any location for this ministry, until it comes to donations! Then they give postal addresses in Reading PA, and Chilliwack BC; and they have an 800 number. One is even harder pressed to find out any details of the broadcasts, other than this vague assertion: ``Our programs are broadcast by radio stations around the region and can be heard by over 70 million Persian speakers. Tens of thousands tune in to our programs to hear about Jesus Christ, many for the first time in their lives. Interested listeners contact us to request more spiritual help.`` And: Radio Voice of Christ partners with other Christian ministries to buy airtime on three powerful radio transmitters in the region. Two of the stations are shortwave and one is an AM (or medium wave) facility. Shortwave Broadcasts People throughout the developing world depend on shortwave radio for their news and entertainment. The advantage of shortwave is that the radio signals travel long distances. Almost all radios in the Persian world are able to receive shortwave broadcasts as well as AM and FM. Radio Voice of Christ programs are broadcast from shortwave radio stations at the following local times (Tehran time): Friday 10:00 and 11:00 am; Monday - Friday 9:00 pm AM Broadcasts Radio Voice of Christ programs are also broadcast on AM radio (called "medium wave" in many countries). The AM station that we use is rated at 1,000,000 watts --- 20 times more powerful than the most powerful AM stations in North America. The performance of AM radio signals is predictable and changes very little with the seasons of the year or natural phenomena. AM radio signals travel short distances during the day and longer distances at night. Although AM signals cannot travel nearly as far as shortwave, AM is popular in the Persian world. Our AM programs are heard Saturdays through Wednesdays at 10:10 pm, local time (Tehran time).`` Naturally, when no such details are provided, donors must take it on faith that such broadcasts actually exist, not always the case with fly-by-night ``evangelical`` organisations. A great way to get money flowing in with no more expense than setting up a website. I am not saying that is the case with this organization: only that, if they have nothing to hide, they need to make it possible for anyone to confirm the broadcasts, by giving the transmitter sites and frequencies, not just the times! Someone should figure out which megawatt mediumwave in the region would be likely to carry this. ``R. Voice of Christ`` -- isn`t the very name grossly presumptuous? WWJD? (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** TIBET. On Oct 7 I could confirm the above mentioned schedule [Olle Alm`s in previous DXLD], as I heard the Tibetan Service until sign off at 1650* on 4905, 4920, 5240, 6110, 6130, 6200 and 7385 (ex 1700*/1735*), and the Chinese Service until sign off at 1730* on 4820, 5935, 6050, 7170 and 7240 (ex 1735*). (Anker Petersen, Denmark, DSWCI DX Window Oct 9 via DXLD) ** TURKEY. 6325, Istanbul Polis Radyosu, Gamlica, Istanbul. This station which is scheduled in WRTH 2002 at 0600-1700 was not heard at any time during my stay in the Old City of Istanbul, so it is probably inactive. I also was unable to hear any of the Ankara-based private stations on 6900, 7101 and 7370, but due to a distance of 500 km and their low power, I cannot exclude that they still are active. In Istanbul are about 90 FM transmitters! (Anker Petersen, DSWCI DX Window Oct 9 via DXLD) ** U K. LIFE 87.9 FM -- Ten offenders carrying out community service helped build a new radio station, which started broadcasting on Monday. They worked on converting a defunct betting shop in Stonebridge Shopping Precinct into the radio station Life 87.9 fm. The ten offenders were supervised by the Probation Service after receiving Community Service Orders from the Courts. They ripped out shop fittings, put down carpet tiles on the floor and walls of the room in the building. The team then redecorated the defunct William Hill betting shop in the Precinct into a radio station in just 4 weeks. Offenders worked on the project for 2 days a week. Probation Service Community Officer Patrick McKay said: ``We`re pleased we were able to assist this project which is going to benefit the community. The offenders worked hard to make sure the deadline was met for the launch of the radio station.`` Some of them who have finished their community service are staying on to help out with the daily running of the radio station, so it’s a real success story. Life 87.9 fm is run by young and unemployed people, and will broadcast for 15 hours a day in the week, and up to 24 hours at the weekend. The station is sponsored by Stonebridge Housing Action Trust, and will be run by the charity Bang Edutainment. Residents working on the station have received training in broadcasting skills, and programmes will cover everything from features, arts and music to advice on training and jobs. Jennifer O`Goley, Bang Edutainment Project Manager said: ``It was a real challenge; the place was in a state and had a bad reputation. We couldn`t have done it without the help we received from the Probation Service. Everyone’s worked so hard.`` Life 87.9 fm will broadcast until 27 October, and after that the premises will be used as community offices. (Pictured is MP Paul Boteng with a youth worker and radio DJ at the launch of Life 87.9 fm earlier this week). The preceding was taken from a local newspaper published on 3 October, and picked up by the London Borough of Brent's Talking Newspaper "Brent in Sound", recorded on the same day. Talking newspapers provide a service in the UK similar to radio reading services in the USA and other places. (PAUL DAVID, Wembley Park, England, Chair of the Brent Visually- Handicapped Group, celebrating 25 years of providing talking newspapers to the Borough, Oct 7, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U K. The following message appeared on the UK-radio-listeners' e- mail list today: This morning, Wednesday, BBC Seven, the spoken word archive channel, has started testing on D A B, and its position is between Six Music and BBC World Service. Currently the transmission is in mono, and I would be interested to hear from any Sky or Digital TV users to find out if their signal is stereo or mono. I am concerned that this may be another instance of D A B users getting mono when other platforms give the service in stereo. PETER WILKINS (via Paul David, Oct 9, DXLD) ** UNITED NATIONS [non]. NAÇÕES UNIDAS - Está de parabéns a Rádio das Nações Unidas. O boletim gravado por João Lins de Albuquerque é retransmitido pelas seguintes emissoras: Nacional de Angola, Canal África, Rádio França, HCJB e Nacional da Amazônia (Célio Romais, @tividade DX Oct 6 via DXLD) ** U S A. Clearing a Path for Digital Radio IBIQUITY TECHNOLOGY MAY SET NATIONAL STANDARD, FCC WILLING Robert J. Struble, standing, president and CEO of iBiquity Digital Corp., talks to Russell Iannuzzelli, principal engineer in the company's sound lab. (Andrea Bruce Woodall - The Washington Post) By Shannon Henry, Washington Post Staff Writer Wednesday, October 9, 2002; Page E01 Radio, long the low-tech cousin in the media family of television, telephones and the Internet, may be about to break out of its rut with a handful of new technologies that promise better sound and more information without requiring more space on the limited radio band. The Federal Communications Commission is to decide tomorrow whether to allow radio stations to broadcast digital signals, and whether it will regulate them. Industry insiders expect the FCC to approve a national digital standard created by iBiquity Digital Corp. of Columbia, a system that would require the cooperation of large broadcasting companies, local stations and manufacturers... To view the entire article, go to http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A63499-2002Oct9.html (via Tom McNiff, DXLD) ** U S A. HOUSE APPROVES BILL THAT REDUCES SMALL WEBCASTERS' FEES FOR COPYRIGHTED MUSIC October 8, 2002 3:37am The House approved a bill yesterday that would reduce the amount that small Internet radio broadcasters must pay for copyrighted music, and would be likely to allow many online radio stations to avoid bankruptcy. The bill approved by the House of Representatives came one day after webcasters and the recording industry agreed on a plan to let Internet radio stations pay royalties based on a percentage of their revenue. That means they would pay less money to record labels and artists than they would have under a formula approved by the librarian of Congress in June. The agreement was a victory for the young Internet radio industry, which many have said could sink under the weight of high royalties. The 1998 Digital Millennium Copyright Act requires webcasters to pay for copyrighted music. Webcasters insisted all summer that those rates would exceed their revenue and threaten Internet radio. Some webcasters have moved operations overseas out of concern over high copyright fees. "It's not a fantastic deal, but it's better than the alternative. Is it expensive? Yes. But it is a rate that allows us to grow and survive," said David Landis, the founder of www.ultimate-80s.com, in Los Angeles. Rep. F. James Sensenbrenner Jr., Wisconsin Republican and chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, had introduced legislation to delay payment of royalties, but he pulled it last week because he expected webcasters and the record labels to reach an agreement on a new formula. The two sides finally reached a deal Sunday night. The Senate must still approve the bill, and Sen. Patrick J. Leahy, Vermont Democrat and chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, said he supports Senate action on the House bill. "Time is short in this congressional session, but I believe that final action on this solution is possible," he said. Under the deal shepherded through the House by Mr. Sensenbrenner, small webcasters will pay royalties of 8 to 12 percent of revenue for copyrighted music played from 1998 through 2004. The agreement covers webcasters with as much as $1.25 million in revenue in 2004. When the copyright dispute began, small webcasters hoped they wouldn't have to pay more than 4 percent of revenue to record labels and artists. That's equivalent to the royalties they pay to music publishers. Record labels had hoped for a royalty closer to 15 percent of revenue. But Librarian of Congress James H. Billington said Internet radio stations must pay 0.007 cents per song, per listener -- 70 cents for every song heard by 1,000 listeners. The new rate approved by the House will save webcasters money, said Mike Roe, who runs http://www.radioIO.com, in Jacksonville, Fla. Mr. Roe would have paid $8,221 in royalties for copyrighted music he played during September under Mr. Billington's plan. Under the terms of the new formula, he would pay $990. One important element of the deal between webcasters and the recording industry reduces what Internet radio stations owe for music played from October 1998 through September 2002. Full payment of royalties from past years would have been due Oct. 20. The new deal delays the deadline for retroactive payments and allows webcasters to pay retroactive royalties in three installments over 11 months. Mr. Landis said his retroactive royalties would have amounted to about $24,000 under Mr. Billington's plan. He will pay about $7,700 under the new formula. Perhaps most important, the agreement gives webcasters peace of mind by ending a long-running dispute with the recording industry, Mr. Roe said. "There has been this huge black cloud over our industry for four years. None of us have been able to attract investment capital. None have been able to forge relationships with the labels," he said. The deal also helps artists, said John Simson, the executive director of SoundExchange, the group that will collect and distribute royalties. "For four long years, artists and record labels have awaited compensation for the music that webcasters have used as the foundation for their business," he said. Negotiations are continuing between the Digital Media Association and the Recording Industry Association of America on a contract for large webcasters, including Yahoo and AOL Time Warner. © 2002, The Washington Times {Moony]. Distributed by Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News. (via Mike Cooper, DXLD) ** U S A. HIGH COST OF ROYALTIES AND UNCERTAINTY SURROUNDING WEB STREAMING FORCES 98.7WFMT TO DISCONTINUE SERVICE OCTOBER 14 Joining hundreds of other radio stations, the management of 98.7WFMT, Chicago's classical fine arts station, has made the difficult decision to discontinue streaming the station's signal over the Internet. WFMT's signal streaming will cease on Monday, October 14. "The substantial cost of maintaining a streaming service over the Internet combined with potentially huge royalty payments for that service has forced WFMT to discontinue streaming. That's the same conclusion reached in recent months by broadcasters across the country," said Steve Robinson, Vice President for Radio. "Terminating this service is something we tried hard to avoid, but given the reality of having to pay not only past royalties but future royalties at a rate that is still being determined makes continuing service at this point impossible. We feel very badly that we can no longer provide WFMT to listeners outside the Chicago market." 98.7WFMT has been streaming its signal on the Internet since 1998 and has enjoyed providing programming 24 hours a day to a national and international audience. WFMT has continued to provide this service after large radio groups like Clear Channel Communications and Emmis Communications turned off many of their web streams. WFMT's management is prepared to find the funds to cover royalties, retroactive to 1998, once a federal plan for determining such payments is finalized. Moving forward without a royalty payment structure in place for future web casting, coupled with the expense of maintaining a high quality web broadcast was simply too much for the station to bear financially. "We hope to be able to being streaming again at some time," said Robinson. "We just can't afford to do it at this point." The staff of 98.7WFMT extends its thanks to all the listeners who have tuned in to enjoy the station's unique programming over the Internet. We would also like to extend a special note of gratitude to those listeners who have chosen to support the station by becoming members of this listener-support station via the Web. We all hope to able to bring our programming signal to you again in the future. (from http://www.networkchicago.com Oct 8 via DXLD) ** U S A. WFMT PULLING THE PLUG ON INTERNET BROADCASTS October 8, 2002 BY ROBERT FEDER SUN-TIMES COLUMNIST Once in the vanguard of broadcast technology, WFMT-FM (98.7) is yanking its signal off the Internet, effectively cutting off the classical music station from its worldwide audience. Effective Monday, WFMT will cease streaming its signal. Steve Robinson, WFMT's vice president for radio, cited the $30,000 annual cost of maintaining the service and potentially huge royalty fees that are being calculated retroactive to 1998, when the station began streaming its signal on the Internet. "Terminating this service is something we tried hard to avoid, but given the reality of having to pay not only past royalties but future royalties at a rate that is still being determined makes continuing service at this point impossible," Robinson said. "We feel very badly that we can no longer provide WMFT to listeners outside the Chicago market." Once the federal government approves a payment structure for royalties, the station will seek funding to cover them. Resumption of streaming also is a possibility. "We just can't afford to do it at this point," Robinson said. (Chicago Sun Times Oct 8 via Mike Cooper, DXLD) Note that WFMT-FM remains available via analogue C-band satellite on G5/7 audio 6.30 and 6.48 (Mike Cooper, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. SMALL WEBCASTERS GET BREAK ON ROYALTIES -- ASSOCIATED PRESS Internet music broadcasters and the recording industry agreed yesterday to settle their long-running dispute over how much small webcasters must pay to broadcast songs over the Internet, officials familiar with the negotiations said. The two sides in the debate over online music royalties agreed to set lower fees for small webcasters, who argued that heftier rates would have put their fledgling industry out of business. At issue are the small webcasters, typically companies and individuals whose operations are listener-supported and reach, at most, just a few thousand people. In June, the U.S. Copyright Office ruled that webcasters have to pay 70 cents for every song heard by 1,000 listeners. The fees were retroactive to 1998 and full payment of royalties from past years was due Oct. 20. Neither side was happy with that decision, and they began trying to work out an alternate deal. The agreement reached yesterday would provide "significant discounts" to small webcasters for both future and retroactive payments, said one official close to the negotiations, speaking on the condition of anonymity. The proposed deal, which would supplant the copyright office's ruling, still must be approved by Congress. Under the deal, payments would be based on a percentage of a webcaster's revenue and include installment payment options, the official said. More details were not immediately available. Negotiations are continuing between the Digital Media Association, which represents larger webcasters, and the Recording Industry Association of America, said another official familiar with the talks. The larger webcasters had said the rates set by the copyright office would cost them hundreds of thousands of dollars annually, more than they get from advertising or listener contributions. House Judiciary Committee Chairman James Sensenbrenner, Wisconsin Republican, had introduced legislation to postpone the Oct. 20 deadline for six months, but he pulled the bill last week, saying he expected a deal soon that could be codified into law. Internet radio — either simulcasts of traditional over-the-air radio or Internet-only stations streamed over the Internet to computers — is becoming more popular as more people get high-speed connections (Washington Times Oct 7 via Tom McNiff, DXLD) ** U S A. HALLOWEEN RADIO TREAT: 'TWILIGHT ZONE' TO DEBUT October 9, 2002, BY ROBERT FEDER, SUN-TIMES COLUMNIST With or without a Chicago radio outlet, a locally produced radio drama series based on "The Twilight Zone" is set to debut in national syndication on Halloween. About 100 radio stations are expected to be onboard in time for the launch of the adaptation of Rod Serling's classic science-fiction series. The show also will air worldwide via the American Forces Radio and Television Service. Hosted by Stacy Keach and featuring a distinguished lineup of guest stars, each hourlong drama will be adapted from Serling's original 150 television scripts. With Serling as host, producer and, in many cases, writer, "The Twilight Zone" originally aired on CBS from 1959 to 1965. Serling's widow, Carol Serling, praised the radio adaptations, calling them "truly astounding." Executive producer of the radio series is Carl Amari, chairman of northwest suburban Schaumburg-based Falcon Pictures Group and producer of the syndicated old-time radio series "When Radio Was." The entire production will be based in Chicago, under the supervision of veteran producer and sound engineer Roger Wolski. Amari has been in talks about airing the series with two Chicago stations--WBBM-AM (780) and WLS-AM (890)--but no deal has been finalized. WBBM already airs "When Radio Was" at midnight Monday through Friday (Robert Feder, Chicago Sun-Times Oct 9 via Mike Cooper, DXLD) Hope this is better than the new TwZ series on UPN TV. I watched he first two episodes, but they leave me cold --- stale and predictable. Think I will bail out in future. What we really need by now, are some *new* scripts, on radio or TV (gh, DXLD) ** U S A. Regarding the article about the potential threat of hackers to the Emergency Alert System........ This was probably not a "hack," but rather a system screw-up -- nonetheless, an odd incident. About a week ago, I was driving around Orlando FL listening to jazz on the local college station (WUCF-89.9) when an EAS test was announced. The usual data bursts were followed, uncharacteristically, by the long emergency tone (not used on tests anymore). My ears perked up in this post-9/11 environment, and for a minute I wondered if some major event had occurred. The tone was followed by a long silence, and then by a taped announcement/commercial for some Christian gathering in Lakeland FL!! I had no idea at that moment if the odd promo was related to the EAS screw-up. After a bit more dead air, programming resumed on the station and no one addressed the odd event. I believed it to be a local screw-up at the station......until a short time later I heard the exact same sequence (with the same promo) on another local station!! Sounds like perhaps the EAS people ran the wrong test tape, and were just using the Christian promo as "filler" to represent where the actual announcement would have come in a real emergency. Again, probably not a hack......but very strange, indeed (Stan Jones, Orlando FL, Oct 9, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. Here`s what happens when you go to http://wbcq.net :: ``The WBCQ.net website is no longer in service. Please go to http://www.wbcq.us for WBCQ schedules and station information. Please also try http://swradio.us --- a site operated by the former wbcq.net operators. This site features information on all US shortwave broadcasters and selected programs.`` The redirect actually leads to Different Kind of Oldies Show site, with no info on other WBCQ programs: http://www.dorsai.org/~bigsteve/index1.htm But http://www.wbcq.us has a redesigned WBCQ site with program schedule in hard-to-read format. Also has a webcast of the 7415 schedule, via complexvariablesstudio, so we tried it. In the 1600-1700 hour, despite WBCQ not being on air then, it was running OTR like George Burns & Gracie Allen, Edgar Bergen & Charlie McCarthy (Glenn Hauser, OK, Oct 8, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. Hello Glenn, I came across WOR 1148, from September 18, broadcast from WJIE on 7489.95 at 0130 on October 8. The signal was strong and steady with no interference and only minor fading and noise, overall 444. Notable tonight as the signal of many of the other domestics are suffering from poor conditions this evening, as they have since last Thursday. Noticed a telephone tones at 0153, like a modem dialing the same number a couple of times. WJIE commercial at 0158, station ID at 0159, and into a bible program at 0201. Good to hear you on another outlet here, but it would be nice if the program was current! Regards, (Larry Will, Mount Airy, Maryland, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Yes, I must keep encouraging them to download the latest WOR each Thursday. 1148 also re-ran Tue Oct 8 at 1200, followed at 1230 by a somewhat more recent ``WJIE This Week``, from Sept 28, but the same one quoted before. This date the DVR CCI was less of a problem (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. WBOH is testing again on 5920, at 0340 UT October 9, good signal (Joe Hanlon, PA, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Thanks for the tip; first time I`ve heard it; quite weak in the noise, only slightly better than WJIE was when on exciter. Female ID loop with two high-pitched tones, Newport NC address for reports. At least there is no QRM on the frequency; still going past 0500; taped for illustration on WOR 1151 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 5920, WBOH, 0454 Oct 7 [sic] Equipment test with Female vocal describing the test and giving address for reception reports, interspersed into tones. Best towards LSB (Don Nelson, OR, Oct 8, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Received Oct 9 UT, probably the date meant (gh, DXLD) Hi all, Audible here at 0612 with tones and FA with IDs but barely legible. Cheers, (Paul Ormandy, New Zealand, Oct 9, DX LISTENING DIGEST) FA = female announcer, I guess ** U S A. Christer Brunstrom's Christian Shortwave Report reported on WMLK, the radio station of the Assemblies of Yahweh. They have done their "Sacred Name Broadcasts" since 1966; they began on a station in Baltimore, and it spread to other local stations in the U.S. and Mexico. The announcer was Elder Jacob O. Meyer, who soon found that it was expensive to buy time on commercial stations. He decided to set up a shortwave station in Bethel, PA to reach the world. In the early 1980s, he bought a secondhand transmitter and had a building constructed for it near Bethel, with the help of some members of the Assemblies of Yahweh. Testing on shortwave began in 1985, and after they made some changes demanded by the FCC, they went on the air in 1986. WMLK targets Europe, Africa, and the Middle East. They broadcast from Sunday to Friday on 9465 from 0400 to 0900, and also from 1700 to 2200, or so their schedule says; Christer reports that they have not been heard at 0400 UTC for quite some time. However, he does hear them in Sweden with weak signals around 2000. Christer says that the station does not reach its target area, and probably never really has. WMLK is planning to upgrade its facilities. The Assemblies of Yahweh have bought an old BBC 250-kW transmitter, and they have announced on the air that it is currently being installed in Bethel. Elder Meyer usually QSLs with letters, and Christer says he seems to do just about everything at WMLK! Christer suggests checking out 9465 kHz for possible transmitter tests (HCJB DX Partyline Oct 5, notes by Marie Lamb, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. WJKM AM 1090 AM in Hartsville, TN is back on the air. (Charles Gossett Jr., Nashville TN, Oct 9, DX LISTENING DIGEST) So what? Search on WJKM at dxldmid ** U S A [non]. USA/AUSTRIA: B-02 schedule, AWR via MOS 500/300* kW: 7235*/ non-dir 1600-1630 German 9650 / 145 deg 0300-0330 Oromo 9660*/ non-dir 0800-0900 German/English 9660 / 215 deg 2100-2200 English 9740 / 100 deg 0330-0400 Farsi 9835 / 090 deg 0100-0200 English/Urdu 9850*/ non-dir 1630-1700 English 9875*/ 115 deg 0400-0500 Arabic 11670*/ 190 deg 0600-0700 Arabic 11740 / 115 deg 1800-1900 Arabic 11905 / 145 deg 0500-0600 Arabic 11905 / 100 deg 1630-1700 Farsi 11935*/ 215 deg 2000-2100 Dyula/French 15130 / 190 deg 1900-2000 Arabic 15385*/ 145 deg 1700-1800 Arabic 17670*/ 215 deg 0900-0930 English 17820 / 215 deg 0730-0900 Dyula/French/English USA/GERMANY: B-02 schedule for AWR via JUL 100 kW: 5840 / 115 deg 1730-1800 Romanian ||||| ex 1700-1800 9840 / 200 deg 0600-0730 Arabic/Arabic/French 9885 / 115 deg 0500-0600 Bulgarian 11845 / 200 deg 1900-2030 Arabic/Arabic/French 12015 / 115 deg 1800-1900 Bulgarian 15195 / 145 deg 1000-1030 Italian Sat/Sun ||||| ex 1000-1100 USA/UAE: B-02 schedule for AWR via DHA 500 kW: 6035 / 100 deg 0000-0100 Hindi/English 6055 / 075 deg 0000-0100 Hindi/English 9695 / 045 deg 0230-0300 Farsi 9890 / 045 deg 1600-1700 English/Russian ||||| new time, ex 1300-1400 11945 / 225 deg 0300-0330 Tigrina 11975 / 230 deg 0300-0330 Amharic 12015 / 205 deg 0330-0400 Somali 15160 / 045 deg 0400-0500 Russian/English ||||| new time, ex 0300-0400 15215 / 075 deg 1500-1600 Punjabi/Hindi 15385 / 060 deg 1330-1500 English/Urdu/Urdu 15465 / 225 deg 1630-1800 Somali/Afar/Oromo 15485 / 225 deg 1700-1800 Amharic/Tigrina 17590 / 075 deg 1500-1530 Nepali 17590 / 105 deg 1530-1600 Malayalam 17700 / 100 deg 1400-1430 Hindi 17775 / 105 deg 1400-1500 Telugu/Kannada 17835 / 060 deg 1100-1300 Mandarin Chinese 17870 / 045 deg 1330-1400 Tamil 73 from (Ivo and Angel! Observer, Bulgaria, Oct 8, via DXLD) ** VATICAN. VATICAN RADIO LAUNCHES HAUSA SERVICE Vatican Radio has begun broadcasting in Hausa for first time. A spokesman for the station told journalists that the broadcasts are aimed particularly at northern Nigeria, although they will also reach millions of Hausa speakers in neighbouring countries. The programmes are produced by a Catholic communications centre in Kaduna. The service was started at the requests of Catholic bishops in the region, which was the scene of rioting between Muslims and Christians two years ago, when 2000 people were killed. Kaduna and 11 other states in northen Nigeria have been under Islamic Sharia law since the country returned to civilian rule in 1999. The broadcasts are on the air daily at 0700-0715 UTC on 11625, 13765 and 15570 kHz (© Radio Netherlands Media Network 8 October 2002 via DXLD) UNIDENTIFIED. Re: 6715 once again ! Revived discussion. Hi, See my personal comment [BELOW] of June 3rd, 2002 ! 73 wolfgang BC-DX ``PROFESSIONAL direction finding sources in Europe told me a lobe and [back lobe] direction of 224 [and 044] degrees, that's fit the path line of Canary Islands, Argentina/Chile, Wellington NZ, Seoul, Irkutsk, from Europe. Broadcasting time of about 1900-2100 UT would suggest an audience in W Europe and - I guess - on the Korean F i s h i n g f l e e t v e s s e l s in the C & Southern Atlantic, and maybe between Africa and Brazil?? (wb, BC-DX Jun 3, 2002)`` Well, can you ask the pros to get a DF fix on this once and for all by combining the above bearing with another from somewhere outside Europe; or certainly by amateurs (gh, DXLD) Hi Wolfgang, long time, no see. Yes, I remember very well your comment about possibility this being a transmission for fishing fleet. And I consider this is very possible case. I tend to think similar way you do. During my monitoring of this station (some hours so far, whew) on numerous Sun, Wed and Fri evenings I noted following: 1) It is always same pattern in reception. The early evening programs are a lot weaker than the late evening. It suggests this coming south/west of me. If coming from east, the early evening transmissions should be stronger. This of course if all programs are from the same txer. 2) Couple of times we have compared the reception in real time with Rik van Riel in Brazil. The reception in Curitiba has been practically non existing. That suggests the station is not very near Brazil. At the same time reception in UK and Netherlands has been OK. 3) When comparing the program on 6715U with Yoido fgtv webcast, they sound very different. The SW program is more lively and home-made like. Lot of singing and at times the preacher seems to be jumping and shouting among the crowd. I don't know if the fgtv webcast is edited leaving all that out:). 4) Using SSB I think means this is not meant for ordinary people, but possibly (as you say) to be distributed inside the ship. It might even be shipboard transmitter (fishing mothership etc). 5) As we don't know if this is possibly picked up from satellite or web and then rebroadcasted on sw, it is hard to say anything definite. 6) Using this frequency is strange. If it was ship to ships broadcast, one would expect a marine frequency used. Of course it is possible that this is transmitted from land to ships and only available transmitter happened to be on this frequency. 7) The audio of the programs has last months been poor at times. When the preacher or someone else sings and plays, the audio is good. But during most preach portions, the audio is bad. This could be a problem in the audio feed path but also possibly just a problem with the mikes in the church or where ever they are. And so on. This all is just speculating with rather little amount of facts. Hope we will get some more clues. Thank you for your message. Let's keep in touch. 73 (Jari Savolainen, Kuusankoski, Finland via Cumbre DX via DXLD) In my recent message about this unID 6715U I forgot to mention about its schedule. They apparently shifted to "summer time" in the end of March as all programs were 1 hour earlier since that. Here is a monitored "summer time" schedule (s-on/off times are variable. Sometimes up to 10-20 minutes): Sunday: fade in 1845-1920 Wednesday: 1915-2030 Friday: 2045-2230 They have also been totally unheard here on some Sundays and Fridays, maybe off the air for some reason. It will be interesting to see if they switch to "winter time" at the end of this month (Jari Savolainen, Kuusankoski, Finland, ibid.) UNIDENTIFIED. Re 6100: Liberian Communications Network has not been reported here since it closed on May 13, 2002 according to BBC Monitoring. But 5100 is reactivated recently, so why not also 6100? (Anker Petersen, DSWCI DX Window Oct 9 via DXLD) ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ RECEIVER NEWS +++++++++++++ Re:- Motorola claims analogue radio breakthrough At best this can only be a digital filter, like the ones we use to clean up the signal. As AM is, when compared to FM, a Narrow Band transmission its quality can never be as good. IE:- you cannot get from it what is not there! (Anthony Brittain, BDXC-UK via DXLD) This is not a DAB or DRM rival. This is just about using Digital Signal Processing (DSP), replacing electronic filters with software ones. Such a system only works at the receiver by digitising the conventional AM and FM spectrum it receives. DSP has been used in amateur and military receivers for a few years now. It might sell a few new analogue radios but it isn't going to be a longterm solution because it does not involve digital transmission (CHRIS McWhinnie, BDXC-UK via DXLD) PROPAGATION +++++++++++ Hi there, I was wondering if you could help me by answering a question that I have been wondering about for some time. I realise that Solar Flux is a measure of overall solar activity, but, what sort of an affect does it have on ShortWave reception, and why? i.e. is ShortWave reception likely to be better when the flux level is high, or when it is low? Cheers (Henry Brice, e-garfield.com, DXLD) Henry, This question is not so easy to answer. It depends. High solar flux generally correlates with the maximum usable frequency extending higher, and improved propagation on the higher bands (such as 21 MHz) -- unless there is also increased geomagnetic activity (higher A and K indices). SF correlates with sunspot numbers, on a longterm basis -- during the trough of the solar cycle, SF will be well below 100, and the higher bands less useful if at all. On tropical bands and mediumwave, however, DXers long for lower flux, since that improves longrange propagation there. Regards, Glenn FORECAST OF SOLAR AND GEOMAGNETIC ACTIVITY 09 OCTOBER - 04 NOVEMBER 2002 Solar activity is expected to be low to moderate during the forecast period. Moderate activity is possible early in the period due to Region 139 and the return of old Region 119 (S14, L=228). Moderate activity is possible late in the period with the Return of Region 134 and Region 137 on 19 October and 23 October, respectively. There is a slight chance of a greater than 10 MeV proton event during the forecast period. The greater than 2 MeV electron flux at geo- synchronous orbit may reach event threshold on 10-12 October due to coronal hole effects. The geomagnetic field is expected to be quiet to active levels. Coronal hole effects are expected on 09-10 October and weak coronal hole effects are possible on 03-04 November. :Product: 27-day Space Weather Outlook Table 27DO.txt :Issued: 2002 Oct 08 2211 UTC # Prepared by the US Dept. of Commerce, NOAA, Space Environment Center # Product description and SEC contact on the Web # http://www.sec.noaa.gov/wwire.html # # 27-day Space Weather Outlook Table # Issued 2002 Oct 08 # # UTC Radio Flux Planetary Largest # Date 10.7 cm A Index Kp Index 2002 Oct 09 170 15 3 2002 Oct 10 175 15 3 2002 Oct 11 180 10 3 2002 Oct 12 185 10 3 2002 Oct 13 190 8 3 2002 Oct 14 190 10 3 2002 Oct 15 185 10 3 2002 Oct 16 175 10 3 2002 Oct 17 170 10 3 2002 Oct 18 165 10 3 2002 Oct 19 160 10 3 2002 Oct 20 155 8 3 2002 Oct 21 155 8 3 2002 Oct 22 155 8 3 2002 Oct 23 150 5 2 2002 Oct 24 150 5 2 2002 Oct 25 150 5 2 2002 Oct 26 145 8 3 2002 Oct 27 140 15 3 2002 Oct 28 140 12 3 2002 Oct 29 145 10 3 2002 Oct 30 150 10 3 2002 Oct 31 160 8 3 2002 Nov 01 160 8 3 2002 Nov 02 160 8 3 2002 Nov 03 160 20 4 2002 Nov 04 160 15 3 (de http://www.sec.noaa.gov/radio via WORLD OF RADIO 1151, DXLD) ###