DX LISTENING DIGEST 2-178, November 16, 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 1156: RFPI: Sun 0000, 0600, Mon 0030, 0630, Wed 0100, 0700 7445 and/or 15039 WWCR: Sun 0330 5070, Sun 0730 3210, Wed 1030 9475 WBCQ: Mon 0515 7415; first airing Wed 2300 7415, 17495 WJIE: M-F 1300, daily 0400; Sun 0630, Mon 0700, Tue 0630 or 0700, 7490 WRN: Rest of world Sat 0900; Europe Sun 0530; North America Sun 1500 ONDEMAND http://www.wrn.org/ondemand/worldofradio.html [High] (Download) http://www.k4cc.net/wor1156h.rm (Stream) http://www.k4cc.net/wor1156h.ram [Low] (Download) http://www.k4cc.net/wor1156.rm (Stream) http://www.k4cc.net/wor1156.ram (Summary) http://www.worldofradio.com/wor1156.html UNSOLICITED TESTIMONIAL --- See FINLAND ONE STOCKPILE OF B-02 SCHEDULES As for Schedules, I use the following web site to keep abreast of schedule changes - http://www.bclnews.it/b02schedules. Tis in Italy and they do a great job in keep up with schedules change by Country. I visit them often for updates. They currently have about 88 B-02 Schedules on the site. Have a very good weekend of radio listening. (Stewart H. MacKenzie, WDX6AA, swl via DXLD) ** AFGHANISTAN. RELIGIOUS PROGRAMME TAKEN OFF AFGHAN TV | Text of report by Afghan newspaper Payam-e Mojahed on 14 November "Sada-e Monber", or "the voice of the pulpit", was a program on Kabul Television that existed for a long time. This program was on every Friday evening broadcasting the voice of preachers giving sermons in Kabul congregational mosques, and followed by Friday prayers [usually broadcast between 1200 gmt and 0130 gmt]. The program was stopped by the order of the minister of information and culture. Instead, a new program started under the name of "On the way toward lights". This new program contained the speeches made by four people. The minister of information and culture might have sent this order to realize the ideas of a democratic society. Source: Payam-e Mojahed, Kabul, in Dari 14 Nov 02 (via BBCM via DXLD) ** AFGHANISTAN [non]. Tajikistan. Radio Free Afghanistan, the joint service of RFE/RL and VOA (in Dari/Pashto to Afghanistan), is relayed in the B02 season via the following MW transmitters: Orzu 801 (1000 kW, 230 deg) at 1230-1930 and 2330-0430, Orzu 972 (500 kW, 230 deg) at 2330-0130 and Yangiyul 1143 (Dushanbe, 150 kW ND) at 1200-1300. The 801 transmitter is now used exclusively for this service (Bernd Trutenau. Lithuania, 27.10.2002, ARC MV-Eko Information Desk, Nov via editor Olle Alm, DXLD) ** ALASKA. THE GRANDDADDY OF U.S. CATHOLIC RADIO RACKS UP 7 ALASKAN BROADCASTER AWARDS Nome, Nov 10 (CRU) --- KNOM Radio Nome 780 AM and 96.1 FM racked in seven awards from the Alaska Broadcasters Association convention, general manager Tom Busch reported today. The stations, owned by the Diocese of Fairbanks, won 7 ABA "Goldie" Awards Friday night for Best Radio Entertainment Program, Best Radio Specialty Program, Best Radio Live Sports Event, Best Public Affairs Program, Best Comedy Program, Best Radio Web Site, and the big one, Best Radio Service to the Community. ``We're busting our buttons!`` Tom e-mailed CRU before heading out on a volunteers-recruiting campaign at St John’s University in Collegeville, Minnesota. While there he plans to meet Andy Hilger, general manager and former owner of KKJM 92.9 Collegeville-St Cloud, who gave the station to the Diocese of St Cloud, which operates it as an ecumenical, Christian contemporary station. (Catholic Radio Update/Radio Católica al Día is published for Catholic broadcasters and program producers and sent to those who ask for it at no charge. Display ads are published at no charge. This newsletter is not subsidized by any organization, individual, or corporation, whether profit or nonprofit. The opinions expressed herein do not necessarily represent those of the Catholic Church or any one individual or organization. This newsletter is not published in conjunction with any product or service. Its appearance is strictly the product of the neurosis of the editor. This is not a solicitation, direct or indirect, for funding or donations. I have all I need. I do not have all I want, but God help those who have all they want.) (Mike Dorner, Nov 18 Catholic Radio Update Nov 16 via DXLD) ** ALGERIA. 567 Ouargla 10 kW new station. 603 Adrar 10 kW new station. 612 Tamenghasset 10 kW new station. 702 Djelfa 50/25 kW new station. 756 Alger 3 10/5 kW new station. The stations may be anything from planned to operating (ITU via Olle Alm, ARC MV-Eko Information Desk, Nov via editor Olle Alm, DXLD) ** ARGENTINA. 6059.96, Radio Nacional, Nov 14, 0933, news, IDs and announcement. Good signal, way past Buenos Aires sunrise (Mark Mohrmann, VT, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** AUSTRALIA. Re: DXLD 2-177: It's not correct to say that private commercial stations on MW in Australia are 'independent'. Commercial radio in Australia in recent years has gone through a period of considerable ownership consolidation. Many stations in metropolitan and regional markets are commonly owned by publicly-listed corporations. For instance, the Southern Cross Broadcasting group operates 2UE in Sydney, 3AW Melbourne, Magic 693 in Melbourne, 4BC Brisbane, 6PR and 96fm in Perth, in addition to television stations in Adelaide, Canberra, northern New South Wales, Victoria and Queensland. DMG Radio operates 62 regional and metropolitan stations, including the new 'Nova' brand FM stations in Melbourne and Sydney. It has won the new commercial FM license in Perth. In Western Australia, it operates the Radiowest network of 11 stations located in the towns of Bunbury, Collie, Busselton/Margaret River, Bridgetown/Manjimup, Albany, Esperance, Kalgoorlie, Merredin, Northam, Narrogin and Katanning. Stations produce some local programming which is complemented by the network programme. From its main studio in Bunbury, the Radiowest service is carried via PanAmSat2 to network stations. The RG Capital Radio operates 32 regional stations throughout eastern Australia. On a smaller scale, there are groups such as ACE Radio broadcasters which operates stations in rural Victoria, including Colac, Swan Hill, Horsham, Warrnambool and at its headquarters in Hamilton. Other AM stations form part of multicultural or sporting broadcasting networks. Regards, (Matt Francis, DC, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** AUSTRALIA. OPPOSITION SLAMS CUTS TO STATE RADIO'S ASIA-PACIFIC PROGRAMME | Text of report by Radio Australia on 13 November The shadow parliamentary secretary [i.e. opposition spokesman] for northern Australia says the Australian Broadcasting Corporation's plans to make radical cuts to Radio Australia's "Asia-Pacific" programme" is against the national interest. Warren Snowdon says he has confirmed the ABC is cutting 100,000 dollars in funding from the programme, and one staff member. He says the programme is a vital service to Southeast Asia, especially after the Bali bombings. [Snowdon] The withdrawal that's being proposed will mean that we are actually depriving people of an opportunity to get access to information about Australia or about Australia's views and understandings of what is happening in Southeast Asia. [End of recording] ABC management says it is aware there is a lot of speculation about the "Asia-Pacific" service, but cannot comment until sister network Radio National, which also carries the programme, releases its schedule for next year. Source: Radio Australia, Melbourne, in English 1300 gmt 13 Nov 02 (via BBCM via DXLD) ** AUSTRALIA. RADIO AUSTRALIA. RA management steadfastly refuses to provide its composite schedule for B02, either via the Web or anywhere else. Personal requests to Transmission Management by telephone, fax, postal mail, and E-mail are totally and rudely ignored. Despite that non-cooperation, here's the actual operating schedule effective Oct 27, compiled from engineering data submitted to the ITU and monitoring here in Melbourne. Note that the data shown in the public version of the HFCC Master file is misleading. 5995 0800-0900 Brandon English 10 10 PNG Pac 5995 0900-1100 Brandon Tok Pisin 10 10 PNG Pac 5995 1100-1400 Brandon English 10 10 PNG Pac 5995 1400-1800 Shepparton English 30 100 NAm PNG Pac 6020 0900-1100 Shepparton Tok Pisin 30 100 PNG Pac 6020 1100-1400 Shepparton English 30 100 NAm PNG Pac 6080 1800-2000 Shepparton English 5 100 As Pac 6080 2000-2100 Shepparton Tok Pisin 5 100 As 6080 1400-1800 Shepparton English 334 100 As 7240 1800-2000 Shepparton English 30 100 As Pac 7240 2000-2100 Shepparton Tok Pisin 30 100 As Pac 7240 2100-2200 Shepparton English 30 100 As Pac 9475 1330-1600 Shepparton English 329 100 As PNG 9475 1600-1900 Shepparton English 329 100 Eu PNG As 9475 1100-1300 Shepparton English 329 100 As PNG 9500 1900-1130 Shepparton English 329 100 As PNG 9580 0800-1100 Shepparton English 30 100 NAm PNG Pac 9580 1100-1130 Shepparton English 70 100 NAm Pac 9660-2300-0800 Brandon English 10 10 PNG Pac 9660 2000-2200 Brandon English 10 10 PNG Pac 9710 0800-0900 Shepparton English 353 100 PNG As Pac 9710 0900-1100 Shepparton Tok Pisin 353 100 PNG As Pac 9730 2300-2330 Kranji Khmer 13 100 As 9815 1700-2100 Shepparton English 30 100 As PNG Pac 11550 0900-0930 Taipei Indonesian 205 250 As 11550 2130-2330 Taipei Indonesian 205 250 As 11650 1100-1700 Shepparton English 30 100 PNG Pac 11660 1330-1430 Shepparton English 329 100 As 11660 1430-1700 Shepparton English 329 100 Eu As 11695 2330-0000 Shepparton English 329 100 As 11695 2130-2330 Shepparton Indonesian 329 100 As 11880 1700-2200 Shepparton English 65 100 Pac 11880 1100-1330 Shepparton English 329 100 As 11880 0900-1100 Shepparton English 100 Pac 11935 2130-2330 Darwin Indonesian 290 250 As 12080 2300-0900 Brandon English 80 10 PNG Pac 12080 0900-1100 Brandon Tok Pisin 80 10 PNG Pac 12080 1100-1200 Brandon English 80 10 PNG Pac 12080 1900-2200 Brandon English 80 10 PNG Pac 13620 2200-0000 Darwin English 317 250 As 15110 2330-0030 Taipei Vietnamese 225 250 As 15230 2200-0000 Shepparton English 329 100 PNG As 15240 0700-0900 Shepparton English 90 100 Pac NAm 15240 2200-2330 Shepparton English 329 100 As 15240 0000-0700 Shepparton English 353 100 As PNG 15240 0700-0800 Shepparton English 353 100 As PNG 15415 2330-0900 Shepparton English 329 100 PNG As 15415 2130-2330 Shepparton Indonesian 329 100 PNG As 15435 1400-1530 Kranji Mandarin 13 100 As 15515 0200-0700 Shepparton English 70 100 NAm Pac 17580 0000-0800 Shepparton English 30 100 NAm PNG Pac 17715 2100-0000 Shepparton English 30 100 NAm PNG Pac As 17750 0000-0400 Shepparton English 329 100 As 17750 0400-0430 Shepparton Indonesian 329 100 As 17750 0430-0500 Shepparton English 329 100 As 17750 0500-0530 Shepparton Indonesian 329 100 As 17750 0530-1100 Shepparton English 329 100 As 17775 0000-0130 Darwin English 317 250 As 17795 2200-0200 Shepparton English 50 100 NAm PNG Pac 17865 0500-0530 Kranji Khmer 13 250 As 17865 0530-0600 Kranji Vietnamese 13 250 As 21615 0000-0030 Tinian Indonesian 255 250 As 21680 0000-0030 Darwin Indonesian 290 250 As 21680 0400-0430 Darwin Indonesian 290 250 As 21680 0500-0530 Darwin Indonesian 290 250 As 21725 0000-0900 Shepparton English 329 100 PNG As Pac 21740 2100-0000 Shepparton English 70 100 NAm Pac 21780 0400-0430 Tinian Indonesian 255 250 As 21820 0900-1400 Shepparton English 329 70 As (Bob Padula, EDXP Nov 15 via DXLD) ** AUSTRALIA [and non]. Voice International - planned changes: 0100- 0400 11850 via Tashkent (to India) Hindi from Nov-9; 1900-2100 13770 via Darwin to India/As English from Nov 11. The official schedule, via Darwin, including those additions, as at Nov 13 is: 11685 English 1630-2100 11750 Hindi 1400-1700 11935 Indonesian 2330-0000 13635 Hindi 1100-1400 13660 Indonesian 1300-1800 13685 English 0900-1300, 1630-1900 13690 English 1300-1630 13770 English 1900-2100 15150 Mandarin 1400-1700 15165 Mandarin 2200-0100 15365 Indonesian 0900-1300 17635 Mandarin 0900-1400 17775 English 0130-0200 17820 Indonesian 0600-0900 21680 Indonesian 0030-0100, 0430-0500, 0530-0600 I regard the usage of the leased Tashkent relay as unusual, for a morning service into India 0100-0400, instead of using Darwin! Three of the four Darwin transmitters are in use from 0100-0130 (17775 15165 and 21680) and only two from 0130-0200 (17775 and 15165). None of the Darwin transmitters is in use between 0200 and 0400! With all that transmitter capacity lying idle, station is now paying for a leased relay in Uzbekistan! The Uzbek relay is being brokered by Merlin. No sign of anything yet on 13770 (Nov-14) - perhaps not a wise frequency choice as channel is already occupied by RDP Lisbon with special events (soccer) to CAm, 2000-0000, which is well heard right across Asia and Australia (Bob Padula, EDXP Nov 15 via DXLD) ** BOLIVIA. 6134.78, Radio Santa Cruz, Nov 13, 0928, Andean ballads, canned ID, 0947 ad block. Very good signal (Mark Mohrmann, VT, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** BOUGAINVILLE. PAPUA NEW GUINEA (BOUGAINVILLE). 3850, R. Independent Mekamui: Full data QSL letter v/s Sam Voron (QSL agent as well as the person that spearheaded setting up this station, a station in Somalia, and the Ham training center in Solomon Islands!). "Broadcasting from the 15 km no-go zone centered on the Panguna Copper mine and defended by the peoples Mekamui Defense Force (MDF). The No- go zone is set up by the current traditional landowner Francis Ona, President of the Makamui National Congress. This congress is the voice of the traditional chiefs supporting the no-go zone in Central Bougainville. ..... (more plus full data)... 3.850 MHZ AM using 80 watts output.." In about 80 days for $5 US, a CD (required or tape) for reception in W Coast (Don Nelson, OR, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** BRAZIL. Catholic Conference for musician plus V Canção Nova Catholic Music Festival. From Thursday, 14 to November, 17 you will have the opportunity to follow the Catholic Conference for musician plus V Canção Nova Catholic Music Festival. Musicians and several ministries from the whole country will be celebrating the Fifth Festival of Catholic Music at Canção Nova. This event will be promoting all Catholic musicians through this Festival; besides it will be a moment where everybody will have a chance to improve in their ministries by lectures. At Conference, will have lectures of Fr. Jonas Abib – Founder of Canção Nova Community and other musicians of Canção Nova. All events will be available `live` through Canção Nova Communication System – TV, Internet and Radio through frequencies: AM 1020 kHz - SW 49m 6105 kHz - SW 60m 4825 kHz - SW 31m 9675 kHz. Acampamento para Musicos e V Festival Canção Nova de Musica Católica Da próxima quinta feira, 14 a 17 de Novembro estará acontecendo na Canção Nova Acampamento para Musicos e o V Festival Canção Nova de Musica Católica. Musicos de varios ministerios de todo o país estarão comemorando o 5º festival na Canção Nova. Este evento tem como bjetivo promover os músicos Catolicos através do Festival, além de momentos onde todos terão a chance de aprofundarem em seus ministerios atraves de palestras ministradas por: Padre Jonas Abib - Fundador da Canção Nova e outros musicos. Todo o evento será transmitido pelo Sistema Canção Nova de Comunicação - TV, Internet e Radio, através das frequencias: AM 1020 kHz - SW 49m 6105 kHz - SW 60m 4825 kHz - SW 31m 9675 kHz (via Célio Romais, DXLD) ** BRAZIL. O Programa Além Fronteiras, é voltado de maneira particular aos Dxistas (Rádio escutas) do Brasil e do Exterior. Para as ondas eletromagnéticas não existem fronteiras e aproveitando essa vantagem a nosso favor, a Rádio Canção Nova tem transmitido todos os sábados às 19h [UT -2?] o Programa Além Fronteiras. O programa consiste em identificar e estimular os países mais distantes a sintonizarem nossa emissora. O público- alvo dessa nova empreitada visa àqueles que têm como hobbie, o Dxismo; atividade que consiste em escutar estações de rádios e informá-las através do informe de recepção. É uma atividade muito difundida por todo o mundo, tendo também entre eles os radioamadores. Com a interação da informática presente também em nossos estúdios, toda a programação ``Ao Vivo``, está disponível aos ouvintes para que tenham a oportunidade de uma maior interatividade através de nosso Chat. http://www.cancaonova.com na sala ``Radiochat``. Nos informes de recepção, como assim são chamados, nos é informado qual o programa que está sendo ouvido, a sua intensidade de sinal e, muitas vezes, os Dxistas nos enviam também informações sobre o país ou região onde vivem. Dos 28 programas já veiculados até a presente data, identificamos a presença de 45 diferentes países. Dentre os países confirmados, o maior número de ouvintes estrangeiros pertencem aos países nórdicos – Finlândia, Suécia e Noruega. Entre os registros confirmados, temos também informes de ouvintes que estiveram sintonizados com a nossa emissora-irmã de Gravatá-Pernambuco. Esta iniciativa vem confirmar os esforços de todos aqueles que compõem a família Canção Nova, bem como de nossos amigos que colaboram com suas participações no programa através do chat, como é o caso de Célio Romais, Jailton Amaral , os quais por meio de seus informes muito têm nos ajudado. Sobretudo, devemos salientar os esforços de nossos sócios que acreditando no trabalho evangelizador desta obra, cooperam para que a palavra de Deus atinja regiões que jamais pensaríamos e poderíamos alcançar. Nossos agradecimentos a todos aqueles que conosco têm se empenhado no ministério de evangelizar pelo éter. Parabéns ao Programa Além Fronteiras! Parabéns a você ! radio@cancaonova.com (via Dado via Célio Romais, Nov 14, DXLD) ** BRAZIL. R. Cultura de Araraquara, SP, 3365: Olá Célio, um grande abraço e parabéns pelo excelente trabalho realizado. É de muita importância para o Rádio, este informativo que você realiza. Somos uma Emissora tradicional, com 70 anos de espetacular história de entretenimento, informação, educação e prestação de serviços à comunidade. Profissionais que por aqui passaram, chegaram a ficar 50 anos realizando suas funções, numa mostra da credibilidade e respeito conquistados no seu trabalho. Por termos nossa Onda Tropical de 90 metros em 3365 Khz, conseguimos ser ouvidos em várias partes do Brasil e até bem longe dele. Somos solicitados de uma confirmação através de um cartão de "QSL". Sempre enviamos esse cartão, respeitando a solicitação de quem nos ouve. Mas, por uma mudança em nossas instalações e o falecimento de amigos a mais tempo na profissão, não conseguimos mais localizar tais cartões. O que lhe peço, como auxílio e orientação, é um modelo de cartão QSL, para poder-mos novamente estar fazendo as confirmações e respeitando os pedidos que recebemos. Sempre fui de ouvir muito as emissoras em todo o mundo, com enormes antes ou incríveis amplificadores de sinal(ou ruído), mas nunca solicitei uma única confirmação ou correspondência, não recebendo então, tal cartão. Parabenizando-o mais uma vez pela sua dedicação e no aguardo de um breve retorno, saudamos respeitosamente com estima e apreço (Francisco de Assis Bergamim, Departamento Artístico, Rádio Cultura Araraquara, via Célio Romais, Nov 14, DXLD) ** BRAZIL. Glenn, Paulo Roberto e Souza é uma excelente fonte de notícias de emissoras da Região Amazônica brasileira. Parabéns a ele! (Celio Romais, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Viz: No dia 15 dezembro a Rádio Educação Rural de Tefé estará complentando 39 anos. Quem informar à emissora como está chegando o som na nova frequência estará concorrendo a prêmios nesta data. O endereço da emissora é: Rua Benjamin Constant, 343 - Centro, 69470-000-Tefé-AM e-mail: rert@osite.com.br No Boletim da Prelazia de Tefé, saiu a seguinte nota sobre a nova frequência da Rádio Educação Rural: Rádio Educação Rural de Tefé transmite em nova freqüência. Segundo a portaria nº 1341 de 19 de julho de 2002, o Ministro de Estado das Comunicações autorizou a Fundação Dom Joaquim a mudar sua freqüência de operação da Onda Tropical de 3.385Khz nos 90 metros para 4.925Khz nos 60 metros. Após o tempo de aquisição das peças necessárias e os preparativos para efetuar a mudança, finalmente entre os dias 31/10 a 05/11 foi feito um verdadeiro mutirão derrubando as antenas, cavando valas para o sistema de irradiação, levantando as antenas em sua formação nova para operar em 4.925 kHz. Enquanto isso, o engenheiro Eurico efetuava as mudanças dentro do transmissor da Onda Tropical. Agora, aguardamos o retorno de todos os ouvintes da Rádio Educação Rural de Tefé, de longa, média e curta distância, relatando, como está chegando a transmissão da Rádio no seu receptor, em sua comunidade, em sua cidade! Mandem uma cartinha para nos contar o que vocês acham da mudança. Todas as cartinhas concorrerão a um sorteio a ser realizado no dia 15 de dezembro, dia do aniversário da Rádio Educação Rural de Tefé. (Thomas Schwamborn, Gerente Admnistrativo da Rádio Educação Rural de Tefé) Emissora do sistema A Crítica de Rádio e TV - Manaus, a Rádio Jornal A Crítica desde o dia 12 passado está fazendo testes com a sua estação de OT (5055 kHz) para voltar a operá-la. Semana que vem deve sair a autorização da ANATEL determinando o horário de operação da estação. A emissora pretende manter a estação no ar em caráter permanente. As informações foram prestados pelo técnico da emissora Josimar. A emissora foi sintonizada em Tefé no dia 13 de novembro entre as 2320 / 2354, com sinal regular, retransmitindo a programação da estação de FM (93.1 MHz). (Paulo Roberto e Souza, Nov 14, via Célio Romais, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** BRAZIL. 4885.02, Rdif. Acreana, Nov 14, 1003, Canned IDs, live announcer with heavy reverb, Portuguese pop vocal. Very good signal (Mark Mohrmann, VT, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CANADA. CBC previews for Mon., Nov. 18: IDEAS: All this week, the 2002 Massey Lectures by Margaret Visser. Beyond Fate: "One of the proudest achievements of modernity is its investment in freedom. However, we seem in important respects, now to be letting that freedom slip from our grasp. We are falling back into Fate." In the 2002 Massey Lectures, Margaret Visser explores how the struggle to find meaning in our lives is helped by an understanding of the ancient world from which we came. Hear her tonight on Ideas at 9 (9:30 NT) on CBC Radio One. (CBC Hotsheet via DXLD) ** CANADA. 5 MHz Experiment. Glenn, some info on another 5 MHz test from Canada (Wade Smith, VE9WGS, New Brunswick, Nov 15, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Subject: RAC Bulletin 02-085E 5 MHz Experiment Date: Thu, 14 Nov 2002 22:46:11 -0500 From: "RAC-Bulletins from HQ" rac-bulletins@mail.eton.ca From: RAC Headquarters Date: November 14, 2002 The Marconi Amateur Radio Club of Newfoundland, under the leadership of Joe Craig, VO1NA, will conduct a three phase propagation experiment at approximately 5.3 MHz. The three phases have been authorized for 22-25 November 2002, 20-23 December 2002, and 20-23 June, 2003. The call sign will be VO1MRC. Planned frequencies and modes are CW (A1A) and USB SSB (J3E) on: 5260, 5269, 5280 5290 5319 and 5329 and possibly 5400 and 5405 KHz. For further details, contact Joe Craig, VO1NA at: jcraig@morgan.ucs.mun.ca Industry Canada authorized the experiment plan which was developed by Mr. Craig with the endorsement of Radio Amateurs of Canada. Comments to: rachq@rac.ca (via Wade Smith, NB, DXLD) ** CANARY ISLANDS. Korean Yoido on 6715. I finally heard this station on this frequency on 1920 Nov 10 [Sunday] with dictation style talks in Koran and a mention about Jesus and relatively big gaps between pastors speech. Very poor signal in USB (Zacharioas Liangas, Thessaloniki, Greece, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CHINA. Glenn: I've notice that several schedule in Nagoya DXer Circle is outdated, so here's all the Taiwan service from China: Even frequency announcement and website information are all wrong. CNR-5 0055-0615, 0955-0005 549, 765, 9380, 11100, 11935, 15710 (HF frequencies all silent) CNR-6 2055-0105, 0355-1805 (Wed 0605-0955 stop broadcast) [siesta] 684, 909, 927, 1089, 9170, 11000, 15880 (HF frequencies all silent) V. of the Strait 2225-1700 (Wed 2230-1000 stop broadcast) Literature channel 7280, 5050, FM 90.6 News channel 666, 1269, 11590, 4940 Amoy channel 6115, 4900, 873 Note: first SW frequency transmits between 0000-1400, second SW frequency transmits between 2225-0000, 1400-1700 CHINA HUAYI BC. CO. (Wed 2225-1000 stop bc) 2225 - 1700 6185, 4830, 783, FM 107.1, FM 99.6 Note: same as V.O.STRAIT CHINA SE BC. CO. 0955-1600 585 V.O. PUJIAN 1155-1600 3280, 4950, 5075, FM 97.7 V.O. JINLING 1125-1400 5860, 1206, 846 (Miller Liu, de Taiwan, Nov 15, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CHINA. Haixia PBS on 5050 kHz is now my second strongest Chinese station in the 60 meter band (No. 1 is CNR 1 on 4800 kHz). Best at the Sunrise time in Fuzhou (2225 UT) when the station starts its daily transmission. Haixia zhi Sheng (Voice of the Strait) PBS starts at 2223 UT: 2223 Interval signal (bells) 2225 Identification: "Haixia zhi Sheng guangbo dientai...", followed by schedule (?) 2230 Instrumental versions of "western" hits until 2254 UT 2254 Long chain (6 mins.) of commercials With 2300 approaching the signal loses its strength. Very bad at 2310 (45 minutes after local Sunrise in Fuzhou). The Chinese transmitter on 4800 kHz (CNR 1) starts now at 16 UT (ex 1300). It seems the transmitter is used on other frequency until 1600. That is why it appears on 4800 kHz usually at 1601, delayed by retuning (?)... GOOD DX, (Karel Honzik, the Czech Republic (Czechia) *********************************** AOR AR-7030, 30 m Long Wire, hard-core-dx via DXLD) --- Odchozí zpráva neobsahuje viry. Zkontrolováno antivirovým systémem AVG (http://www.grisoft.cz). Verze: 6.0.410 / Virová báze: 231 - datum vydání: 31.10.2002 ** CHINA. CHINA RADIO INTERNATIONAL AND WRN RENEW COLLABORATIVE RELATIONSHIP At a signing ceremony in Beijing, China Radio International (CRI) has renewed and extended its agreement with London-based World Radio Network (WRN) for the provision of broadcast transmission services. The new contract for WRN`s services was signed by CRI Vice President Mr Xia Jixuan at CRI`s headquarters on 24th October 2002. WRN and CRI have worked closely since the two broadcasters signed a collaborative agreement in August 1999 to bring CRI`s programmes to a wider global audience. Under the auspices of the agreement, WRN established the broadcasting of CRI`s daily French, English and German programmes to western Europe on 1440 kHz AM via RTL Radio`s powerful transmitter based in Luxembourg – the famous 208 Metres medium wave. WRN is now undertaking an extensive marketing campaign, on behalf of CRI, to promote these programmes to a potential audience of 500 million Europeans. CRI`s English, French, German and Russian programmes are also broadcast on WRN`s own global radio networks: WRN English, WRN Français, WRN Deutsch and WRN Russkij. Furthermore, in February 2000, WRN placed CRI`s daily English and standard Chinese programmes on Spectrum Radio 558 AM that broadcasts to listeners in London and South East England (WRN quarterly newsletter via DXLD) ** COLOMBIA. Sutatenza probably laughed hardest at the huge amount Caracol paid to buy them out; they don't exist any more. And the larger joke is TODELAR, named for Bernardo TObón DE LA Roche, the owner. Since Caracol has about 40% of all radio billings in Colombia, and is owned by the Santo Domingo family, I don't expect to many people joke about them... they want to end up working there some day. Caracol means both snail and seashell or conch. In the early days, Caracol identified as Primera Cadena Radial Colombiana. And back then, it was prohibited to write the name in any way except all-caps. When I sent out a lot of HJED veries in 1963, I was told that in no uncertain terms! A CARACOL ID on 750 would be Caracol Antioquia, the 50 kW O&O in Medellín, Antioquia. This one used to get out very well with its site on the high plain to the East of Medellín... the rest of that cities stations are in the deep valley and have bad skywave angles (David Gleason, CA, NRC-AM via DXLD) ** COLOMBIA. 6035.08, La Voz del Guaviare, Nov 11, 1008, ballad followed by sign-on ID and a Guaviare Anthem?, 1013 live announcer, canned ID/jingle. Very good signal (Mark Mohrmann, VT, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CONGO DR. 11690, R. Okapi (tentative); been flirting with station playing music just after 0400 Nov 13-15. Weak, but wonder if it is better on the ECNA? No hope on 9550 and 6030 (Hans Johnson, Rio Hondo TX, Nov 15, Cumbre DX via DXLD) ** CYPRUS TURKISH. I have read some people wondering if they have heard Radio Bayrak broadcasting on 6150 KHz. Well, I got the information below from Radio Bayrak's web site. They inform that both 1494 kHz and 6150 kHz are OFF AIR. Please check by yourself on the like below (Marcelo Toníolo, NY, Cumbre DX via DXLD) http://www.brt.gov.nc.tr/brt/FREKANSLARRD.htm RADYO FREKANSLARI Bolge 1 (DODU)- Konum:Sinanda?y - 35?19' N / 33?55'E Frekans Guc Program 90.6 MHz 10 kW Radyo 1 87.8 MHz 10 kW Bayrak INT 98.1 MHz 10 kW Bayrak FM Bolge 2 (Baty) - Konum: Selvilitepe - 35?19' N / 33?20' E Frekans Guc Program 102 MHz 5 kW Radyo 1 105 MHz 5 kW Bayrak INT 92.1 MHz 5 kW Bayrak FM 88.3 MHz 0.5 kW Radyo Klasik MF Servisleri - Konum: Yeni Yskele - 35?13' N / 33?55' E Frekans Guc Program 1098 KHz 50+50 kW Radyo 1 1494 KHz 10 kW Bayrak INT (OFF AIR) 6.150 MHz 25 kW Bayrak INT (OFF AIR) ______________________________________________ (Marcelo Toníiolo, NY, Nov 16, DX LISTENING DIGEST) We already had a reference to this some time ago. While 6150 may be inactive, surely you don`t believe everything you read on stations` websites? (gh, DXLD) R. Bayrak has indeed been confirmed with ID on 6150 kHz: Bei mir kam auch noch keine Antwort auf meine e-mail zurück, aber Bayrak ist zur Zeit auch nachts zu hören (vielleicht auch hier ein verlängertes Programm wegen des Ramadan). Ich habe an zwei verschiedenen Tagen bereits eine ID gehört: Einmal ein Jingle "Bayrak International 87,8 105 FM", und ein anderes mal hat sich die Sprecherin verabschiedet und auch dabei "Bayrak International" genannt. 73, Patrick Robich, Austria, Quote from A-DX mailing list, 16 November 2002, via Trutenau) The station is heard quite regularly in Germany and Austria during nighttime with mainly nonstop music. 73s, (Bernd Trutenau, Lithuania, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Scenario: Since recently the Bayrak International network of BRT does not sign off at 2200 anymore but kills overnight airtime by merely playing music and probably canned announcements now. But another question: They are off-frequency and have poor modulation. This raises the question whether this is really a new transmitter as reported (if I recall correctly) or just the old rig again? Best regards, (Kai Ludwig, Germany, Nov 16, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CYPRUS [and non]. The ITU website has published the latest circular with MW/LW stations currently under coordination: http://www.itu.int/ITU-R/publications/brific-ter/files/ge75/2002/ge75_109.pdf The file shows a curiosity in regard to the Radio SAWA relay in Cyprus on 981 kHz. Instead of a re-coordination of the 100 kW ND assignment in the Geneva Plan to the 600 kW that are now in use, the file shows a modification application for just 6 kW D (11.7 dbkW) - a rather obvious typographic error which seemingly hasn't been discovered yet in the coordination process. The modification requires an approval by Lebanon, since it might affect the 100 kW Geneva Plan assignment for Lebanon on neighbouring 990 kHz. The file confirms that no transmitter in Cyprus has been newly registered with the ITU for 990 kHz (nor has it been done before) that was intended to be used by Radio SAWA instead of 981 kHz. Obviously, this move is no longer on the agenda, due to the Lebanese assignment on 990 kHz (Bernd Trutenau, Lithuania, Nov 15, DX LISTENING DIGEST) see also MONACO non ** DOMINICAN REPUBLIC. 2700.1, Ondas del Yuna, Bonao, (harmonic 2 x 1350) Nov 14, 1029, Bachata vocals and canned ID, barely audible in LSB below powerful utility QRM (Mark Mohrmann, VT, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** FINLAND. Dear Glenn: I am an old DXer (since 1945 when I started at the age of eleven) but I have not been a really active station hunter since the 1960'ies. I am more interested in monitoring and program listening in general. (Which makes me the guy the International stations love). Was in Turkey in September after winning the Voice of Turkey's essay writing contest and spent two wonderful weeks there, enjoying the excellent Turkish hospitality. We were in all five winners from the different language sections. I read the comments last week concerning the fate of Radio Finland's English language broadcasts. I forwarded these texts to Radio Finland and here is the reply: ``Tack. Jag skulle tillägga dock att hela Radio Finland inte har inställts, bara sändningar på tyska, franska samt engelska. Vi sänder fortfarande på finska och svenska. Vårt utbud på svenska är stort - i några världsderlar t.o.m större än utbudet från Stockholm. Jag har läst Glenn Hausers netsidor. Med vänlig hälsning, (Juhani Niinistö, YLE Radio FInland via Ullmar Qvick, DXLD) Translation: Thank you. However I would like to add that Radio Finland has not been closed as a whole, only transmissions in German, French and English. We are still transmitting in Finnish and Swedish. Our supply of Swedish programs is big - in some continents even bigger than that from Stockholm. I have read the net pages by Glenn Hauser. - Kind regards from Juhani Niinistö, YLE Radio Finland My comment: Not much of a defence. Swedish is understood by around 15 million people in the World - about 0.25% of the world population, Finnish by about 6 million people - equal to 0.1% of the potential world audience. This means that Finland rejects international radio as a medium for information on tourism, culture, political and social events etc. I can hear Radio Finland in my language but who cares in Germany, UK, USA etc.? Thanks for your great efforts, Glenn (Ullmar Qvick, Norrköping, Sweden, Nov 16, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** GERMANY. Gospel For Asia Website explaining what they are up to: http://www.gfa.org/site/major_projects/radio/index.html Checked 15680 at 1437 Nov 15 and found talk in language, decent signal. 1444 with amen and giving PO Box addresses in India (Hans Johnson, Rio Hondo TX, Nov 15, Cumbre DX via DXLD) For the past 17 years, Gospel for Asia has produced and aired radio broadcasts using air time purchased from other radio ministries. These programs have been going out across the Indian sub-continent in more than 20 Asian languages. Now our radio ministry is entering a new era as we launch our own broadcasting network, GFA Radio Network. Using several powerful transmitters, we will be broadcasting the Gospel to some of the neediest countries in the Indian sub-continent, the heart of the 10/40 Window. Through the GFA Radio Network, we are able to transmit programs in even more languages so that we can reach the most unreached for Christ. Similar to other radio networks (such as Trans World Radio, Far East Broadcasting Association and HCJB), we can now give hundreds of other ministries the opportunity to carry on evangelism and discipleship over the airwaves in Asia. Our goal is to broadcast in at least 200 languages as soon as possible... (above site via gh, DXLD) Not sure why Hans heads this Germany. Contact info shows primary address in Carrollton, TX; also in Canada, UK, Germany (gh, DXLD) ** GHANA. 4915, Radio Ghana, Accra 2023-2033 11/14. Alternating male and female, in English, with news. IDs," Radio Ghana" and "Ghana B.C.", with TC at 2030. Language switch to Vernacular. Very good, except for sweeper QRM (Scott R. Barbour Jr., NH, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** HONDURAS. 4830, R. Litoral here again for the moment, ex 4832 Nov 14 (Hans Johnson, Rio Hondo TX, Nov 15, Cumbre DX via DXLD) ** HUNGARY. Según Mundo Dx de Radio Austria, Radio Budapest ha suspendido sus emisiones en serbio, croata, eslovaco, rumano y ucraniano. Saludos desde Venezuela, 73's and DX (Adán González, Catia la Mar, Venezuela, Nov 15, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** INDONESIA Radio Republik Indonesia's domestic service relay from Jakarta on 15125 kHz has not been heard for over a week. The external service continues to be heard at 0030-0400, 0800-1300 and 1730-2100, usually on 9525 kHz but some language services seem to operate irregularly. 11785 and/or 15150 kHz may be used instead of 9525 at 1730-2100. Regards (from Surabaya, Alan Davies, Cumbredx mailing list Nov 16 via DXLD) ** INTERNATIONAL VACUUM. Leonid Meteor Shower: see PROPAGATION below ** IRAN [non]. Nov. 16, 2002. Hello Glen[n], I hope you are well. I received an email from a Bahai friend informing me that Payam-e-Doost Radio is expanding its services to Iran and I wanted to pass the information along. Included is the official email from the station as well as their web address. Regards, (David S. Lesh, Nov 16, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Dear Bahai Friends, Payam-e-Doost Bahai Radio which has been broadcasting to Iran and other countries on shortwave since April 21st, 2001 is further expanding. We are pleased to announce that as of today, November 12, 2002, Payam- e-Doost daily 30-minute programs have expanded to 45 minutes. These programs are also packaged and broadcast on Telstar5 satellite for the United States of America, Canada and some parts of South and Central America 24-hours-a-day. In addition, these programs are archived on the Bahai Radio website, and are also available on the telephone. Details are provided below. Shortwave Radio: 41 Meters, 7465 kHz 0230-0315 UT (6:00-6:45 am Tehran Time) 41 Meters, 7480 kHz 1800-1845 UT (9:30-10:15 pm Tehran Time) North American Satellite: Telstar 5 (24 Hours/Day) 12, 152 MHz, Horizontal 20.000 Msym, FEC: 3/4 Teleradio: (212)990-6397 (24 Hours/Day-Daily program) Website: http://www.Bahairadio.org Current and archived programs Payam-e-Doost programs provide an opportunity for Persian-speaking people around the world to acquire accurate information about the Bahai Faith, its teachings. As Payam-e-Doost develops and receives positive response from its worldwide listeners, its needs are also on the rise. To learn more about our needs please contact Payam-e-Doost at: Payam-e-Doost Radio, PO Box 765, Great Falls, Virginia 22066 USA Phone: (703) 671-8888 Fax: (301) 292-6947 Email: Payam@BahaiRadio.org With warmest Bahai greetings, Siamak Monjazeb, For Payam-e-Doost Radio To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: pimabahais-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com (via David S. Lesh, DXLD) Site would be... Moldova? Norway? ** IRAQ [non]. PENTAGON PREPARES PSYCHOLOGICAL WARFARE CAMPAIGN FOR IRAQ By Tom Bowman, The Baltimore Sun, November 14, 2002 WASHINGTON — Sometime after the first of the year, residents of Baghdad could find some new programming on their FM radio dial: a soothing Arabic voice urging them to remain in their homes or away from the approaching U.S. troops who will liberate them from Saddam Hussein. Meanwhile, the faxes or cell phones of Iraqi military and security officers may whir or chirp with more explicit and personal messages: "We know who you are. Lay down your arms or else." Top Pentagon officials and members of the Iraqi opposition are now crafting what could be the most widespread and complex psychological operations campaign mounted by the American military since the Vietnam War, should President Bush give the order to invade Iraq, said defense officials and retired psy-ops officers. "If you can minimize the conflict by way of information warfare, that's a significant thing," said a source familiar with recent psy- ops discussions that have included Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz and Undersecretary of Defense Douglas Feith. "Communicating with them is a very high priority." The ambitious plan includes sending targeted radio messages to the groups that make up the 5 million residents of Baghdad, a polyglot of urbane Sunni Muslims, impoverished Shia Muslims and pockets of anti- foreign nationalists. In addition, though Iraq is a modern and secular country, there are elements of fundamentalism in both Muslim communities. Another part of the operation will be to persuade members of Saddam's military and security forces not to resist the invading allied force. Keeping the citizens of Baghdad on the sidelines will be an important part of any U.S. military operation in the Iraqi capital, a city that could quickly turn into a bloody battlefield should Saddam's forces dig in and fight and civilians get caught in the mix, officials said. But some military analysts and retired officers are cautioning that not all psychological operations employed in past conflicts have had good results. Moreover, reaching the different groups within Iraq and cutting through anti-Western feelings or anger over the decade-old U.N. sanctions may be difficult, they said. "I think it's going to be a terribly challenging effort. There are all kinds of different audiences. You've got to somehow figure out how to reach people," said retired Army Col. Charles P. Borchini, who commanded the 4th Psychological Operations Group during the U.S.-led bombing campaign against Serbia. The group, based at Fort Bragg, N.C., takes the lead in writing scripts, beaming radio and TV messages and publishing newspapers aimed at foreign foes and their civilian counterparts. William Arkin, a former Army intelligence officer and now a military analyst, said that if the United States invades Iraq, "bombs are going to do the talking," rather than any psychological operation that attempts to influence the entire country. Some elements of Iraqi society might not trust an American-led campaign to set up a new government, said Arkin, who also doubted U.S. operatives would be able to reach any Iraqi officers with the "Gucci methods" of cell-phone calls or faxes. Still, Iraqi opposition officials and longtime observers of Iraq contend that after nearly a quarter-century of living under a brutal dictator, strong support exists within the country for an overthrow of Saddam, even if it has to be carried out by the United States. "Nobody wants a continuation of the regime. They want a return to normalcy," said Phebe Marr, a former professor at the National Defense University. "I think they want the job done and over with, and they don't want any long-term American occupation." Marr said U.S. forces must send a simple and straightforward message: "We are not occupiers, we are liberators. We are going to help you set up your own government as rapidly as possible." Said an Iraqi opposition official, "These folks don't support Saddam. What's necessary is to explain to them what's happening and what they can do." Meanwhile, officials with the opposition Iraqi National Congress are providing the Pentagon with cell phone numbers, fax numbers and home addresses of key Iraqi security officials in an effort to drive a wedge between them and Saddam. The message would be, "We know who you are. It's definitely in your interest to lay low," said the source familiar with the Pentagon plans. "We are working actively to get that message to them when it counts." U.S. military plans for city fighting say that "the key to success" might lie in the ability to "influence the thoughts and opinions of adversaries and noncombatants," according to "Doctrine for Joint Urban Operations," a Joint Chiefs of Staff publication that was updated in September. To do this, U.S. forces must seize what the plan terms "the information environment." Retired Army Maj. Gen. Robert H. Scales Jr., who has written extensively on urban warfare, said it's vital in any conflict to immediately capture and control the sources of information for civilians. "The images have to be ours, not (Saddam's)," said Scales. "Mao said the surest way to win a war is to separate the army from its people." Radio transmissions are expected to be the most effective way of getting the message out, officials said, since televisions aren't nearly as widespread as radios. Moreover, some of the initial targets of U.S. warplanes would likely include TV transmitters and other communications facilities, thereby preventing Saddam from contacting the population or his military once the war starts. Sophisticated broadcasting planes operated by the 193rd Special Operations Wing of the Pennsylvania National Guard, together with ground transmitters in Kuwait and elsewhere, would be used to transmit anti-Saddam programming to the Iraqi populace, officials said. The psychological operation also is expected to include leaflet drops — some of which started last week over the southern no-fly zone in Iraq with a warning to Iraqi soldiers not to fire on patrolling allied aircraft. And, once troops are on the ground, newspapers printed in Arabic by specialized U.S. Army units are to be distributed. Daniel T. Kuehl, a professor of information warfare at the National Defense University, said a psychological operation in Iraq may be the most extensive effort since the Vietnam War, which included a 6-year- long wave of loudspeaker announcements, radio and TV broadcasts, newspapers and leafleting by U.S. forces. Although U.S. psychological operations units were active during the 1991 Persian Gulf War, they did not focus on the civilian population. Instead, they concentrated on the Iraqi forces in Kuwait with leaflets and radio broadcasts. Such tactical efforts were effective, said Arkin, the military analyst. Specific Iraqi army units were named in the leaflets and radio messages, which urged them to abandon their vehicles or risk being bombed. Iraqi units fled their armored vehicles and surrendered in droves. "It was sending a message of omnipotence," said Arkin. "That kind of message had an enormous impact." Copyright 2002, The Daily Camera. All Rights Reserved. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- (via David E. Crawford, Titusville, Florida, DXLD) WTFK??? ** LEBANON. See CYPRUS ** LIBERIA. 4760, ELWA Radio, 2104-2115 11/14. Male announcer, in English, with music request program. ID and mention of "Monrovia". Poor, muffled audio (Scott R. Barbour Jr., NH, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** LITHUANIA. The Sitkunai transmitting centre has been conducting test transmissions in cooperation with Radio Baltic Waves on 14 and 15 November at 1900-2000, using a 150 kW transmitter with omnidirectional antenna (Bernd Trutenau, Lithuania, MWDX via Mike Terry, DXLD) WTFK?? ** MALAYSIA. 9750, V. of Malaysia, 1043-1109 11/13. Indonesian ballads and instrumentals with female announcer between selections. IDs noted at 1045 and 1102 by male; "Voice of Malaysia" and "Suara Malaysia". Kuala Lumpur mentioned also. Fair (Scott R. Barbour Jr., NH, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** MALTA [non]. 12060, V. of the Mediterranean. card 1 of 6: Ggantija Temples, Xaghra, Gozo (free standing stone). No v/s, for report of Sept. 30 (Emmanuel Ezeani, Sokoto, Nigeria, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** MAURITANIA. Hola Glenn... Saludos desde Catia La Mar, en Venezuela. -He llegado a la conclusión de que la Radio de la República Islámica de Mauritania está emitiendo durante las 24 horas del día. Radio Mauritania se escuchaba a las 0330 UT, en los 4845, con un SINPO de 4/4, en idioma árabe, cuando se suponía que la emisión debía haber finalizado a la 0100. Eso fue el día viernes 8/11. La tendencia ha proseguido desde mi primera escucha, ese mismo día. El anterior esquema era de 0630 a 0100 (Adán González, Catia la Mar, Venezuela, Nov 15, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** MONACO [non]. Hi Glenn, A widely printed AP news item, for example http://www.boston.com/dailyglobe2/319/nation/Iraq_newspaper_sees_more_discord_with_US+.shtml says that Radio Monte Carlo is "the most popular shortwave station reaching Iraq." That's interesting, given that RMC Middle East is only on shortwave three hours per day, at 0500-0600 and 1600-1800 UT, on 5925 and 7135 kHz, according to its website, http://www.rmc-mo.com It might be that RMC's medium wave transmitter at Cyprus, 1233 kHz, is audible in Iraq. But I don't think anyone knows for sure which foreign station is currently number one in Iraq (Kim Elliott, DC, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Also at: http://breakingnews.iol.ie/news/story.asp?j=54210210&p=54zyx9y6 (via Artie Bigley, DXLD) ** NEWFOUNDLAND. From Suzanne Woolridge, The Arts Report http://www.cbc.ca/artsCanada/stories/nfldradio141102 Last Updated 2002-11-14 A special cultural anniversary is being marked in Newfoundland and Labrador Thursday as the province celebrates 70 years of public radio. On Nov 14, 1932, the Dominion Broadcasting Company announced the official opening of VONF. While many Newfoundlanders believed the letters stood for 'Voice of Newfoundland', one local historian says that wasn't the case. According to Paul O'Neil, the decision came from an earlier convention of amateur radio operators from across North America. "Stations were springing up in all sorts of places. Basements, attics and wherever people had some room. So they decided to regulate it. And each country around the world would be given call letters. Newfoundland was given 'VO'," said O'Neil. As a public radio station, VONF played a vital role linking isolated Newfoundland communities, said O'Neil. It was later taken over by the newly-formed Broadcasting corporation of Newfoundland (BCN). When Newfoundland became a province in 1949, the radio station became a part of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation as CBN (via Mike Terry, DXLD) ** PALAU. Glenn, Greetings once again from NH. Here are some logs you may be interested in. Reception of Oceania and Pacific Rim has been quite good in the early AM here in NH. 9965, T8BZ, V. of Hope, 1239- 1305 11/14. Continuous talk, in Mandarin, by female over stringed instrumentals until 1255. Ballad until 1259 when male and female with ID and call letters, "T8BZ" over up-beat music. Fair with signal fade beginning at 1305 (Scott R Barbour Jr., NH, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** PARAGUAY. Definitivamente inactiva por casi un mes ha estado Radio Nacional del Paraguay en 9737.1 (Adán González, Catia la Mar, Venezuela, Nov 15, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** PERU. Re: ``4260.4 ***UNID**** Nov 11 0102 12211 S QTH: Cutervo [I believe we had an unID on same reported from Japan]`` Possibly Radio Ilucán (3 x 1420). I've logged their 2nd harmonic on 2840 in the past (Mark Mohrmann, Coventry, VT, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** PERU. 4824.41, La Voz de la Selva, Nov 14, 1007, Announcer with saludos over Andean song, 1014 ads, live announcer with ID and time check. Muffled audio but very strong signal. PERU 5005.70, (presumed) Radio LTC, Nov 14, 0951, Spanish conversation, very weak. PERU 5486.72, Reyna de la Selva, Nov 13, 1013-1035, Andean music, announcer with time check and talk. Weak signal which improved slightly by 1030 with more talk and ID at 1035. PERU 5996.69 Radio Melodía, Nov 13, 0955-1008, Ad block, announcements, news items, 1008 canned ID "...en Melodía". Fair to poor signal. PERU 6193.47, Radio Cusco, Nov 13, 0924, Andean vocals, announcer with time check and ID in passing. Fair signal with het from 6195.0. PERU 6479.56 Radio Altura, Nov 11, 1022-1050, Andean vocals, announcer between songs with IDs and time checks. Good signal (Mark Mohrmann, VT, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** PORTUGAL. Por correio de ontem, 13 de Novembro, o Grupo Redes de Emissores da RDP informou-me de que o horário B-02 apresenta um lapso de impressão interna: a emissão para a Venezuela, de terça-feira a sábado, 0000-0300 em 13700 kHz é uma emissão regular e não extraordinária, pelo que o símbolo (seta horiz.) introduzido pela RDP deverá ser suprimido; assim, aquela é emitida normal e diàriamente 3ª- fª - sábado. The Transmitter Network Dept. of the RDP has informed me yesterday, 13th November, the B-02 schedule contains a printing mistake of their own: the broadcast. beamed to Venezuela, Tue-Sat. 0000-0300 on 13700 kHz is a regular broadcast, not a special one, meaning the symbol used by the RDP (horiz. arrow) should be erased; it is therefore a normal, daily Tue-Sat broadcast (Carlos Gonçalves, Nov 15, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** SLOVAKIA [and SLOVENIA]. Estimados colegas y difusores DX: Una impactante noticia que se publicó en octubre pasado y cuya fuente remitía a la dirección web http://planeta.terra.com.br/lazer/transamania/dhp/index.html en cuyas columnas participa el colega brasileño Célio Romais, anunciaba que a partir de abril de 2003 RADIO ESLOVAQUIA tiene previsto iniciar su programación en idioma español. La fuente original de la información es la Redacción Francesa de la emisora eslovaca que la envió al radioescucha argentino Juan Carlos Velasquez. Gracias al excelente contacto vía e-mail que mantengo con Andrej Rot, Director de Radio TV Eslovena de Ljubljana, quien pudo averiguar al respecto comunicándose con sus colegas eslovacos, estoy en condiciones de dar la noticia que textualmente recibí de Rot "Es cierto que los eslovacos comienzan el 1* de marzo del próximo año con el castellano como uno de los tantos idiomas con los que emiten, supongo que en onda corta. Van a comenzar siempre y cuando el gobierno les de la financiación que precisan". Como observarán, Andrej habla perfectamente el español porque vivió mucho tiempo en Lanús (Provincia de Buenos Aires) Argentina y desde hace 9 años se desempeña como Director de la emisora pública eslovena. Mención especial para mi amigo Juan Carlos Buscaglia quien obtuvo el primer contacto con la Radio Slovenija después de haberla escuchado en los 918 Khz desde Vasto, en Italia. ¿Qué relación existe entre Radio Eslovenia con Radio Eslovaquia?. La misma que puede producirse entre cualquiera de las emisoras internacionales o de ellas con sus oyentes. Lo cierto es que ya nadie puede discutir que el DX es a la RADIO lo que la información es al INTERNET y si algo tienen en común es la fuerza inagotable de la COMUNICACION (Rubén Guillermo Margenet, Nov 16, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** SUDAN [non]. CLANDESTINE from UK to SUDAN, 21550, Sowt Al-Qarn usually blocked by Christian Voice [CHILE, sign-off still 1400?], but in the clear with programs in Arabic and IDs in English announcing 21550. Pulled plug in middle of closing announcements at 1430 Nov 15 (Hans Johnson, Rio Hondo TX, Nov 15, Cumbre DX via DXLD) ** SWEDEN. Radio Kinnekulle "near radio" will be on the air on MW for a week from 1st December. The reason for this transmission is that the station celebrates its 20th anniversary this year. The station can use any of 1485, 1584 or 1602 kHz. They would prefer to use 1485, but the MW transmitter at hand does not go down to this frequency as it covers only 1500 kHz upwards. Unless they succeed in tuning the transmitter to 1485 kHz, transmissions will be on 1584 or 1602. The radiator will be an L antenna from a 20 m tower next to the studio building. The presumed power is 150 to 200 watts. The location is Götene, south of Lake Vänern (Tore Larsson, ARC, from a telephone conversation with the station director, Sten Johansson, ARC MV-Eko Information Desk, Nov via editor Olle Alm, DXLD) ** SYRIA. 1125 carries Voice of People 04-16, then it joins 783 kHz in Hebrew 1600-1830 and Russian 1830-1900. A "promo" in English and French 1900-1905 (Mauno Ritola, Finland, ARC MV-Eko Information Desk, Nov via editor Olle Alm, DXLD) ** SYRIA. The usual audio problems are aggravated it seems. Often the carrier is on without any audible program. But frequencies still 13610 and 12085 kHz for English 2005-2105 and 2115-2215 hours approx. QSL received twice in recent months, after 3-5 months' waiting. Ullmar Qvick Trozelligatan 43, SE-603 52 Norrköping, Sweden, Nov 16, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** TAJIKISTAN. R. Free Afghanistan relays on MW: see AFGHANISTAN [non] ** TURKEY. See FINLAND ** UGANDA. Nice African reception this afternoon also. I am pleased with the R. Uganda log. Last November I logged the same frequency and made the newcomer mistake of thinking I could hear it every day. What did I know? This marks the first log since last year! Believe me, I have tried during the last 12 months. 4976, Radio Uganda, Kampala 2033-2101* 11/14. High-life music in (presumed) Swahili. Announcers with IDs, "Radio Uganda, Kampala" during music. Production credits (presumed) at 2052, "engineer" was mentioned, NA at sign-off. Good, clear signal. Booming! (Scott R. Barbour Jr., NH, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** UKRAINE. Additional monitoring of Radio Ukraine Int November 15, 2002 9810 between 0100 - 0200 UT. 0128 UT All India Radio ident signal on 9810 causing moderate QRM. 0131 UT RUI S8 to S9 +20 dB. Still AIR QRM. 0145 UT RUI S7 to S9. AIR slightly heard on 9810. [Later:] Glenn, Following is from Alexander Egorov of RUI. "Thank you, Kraig, for a prompt report. BTW, today's schedule of 9810 has been shortened on 1 hr from 0400 to 0500 (second English transmission to NA)." I checked 9810 kHz on November 16, 2002. I'm still hearing EE. 0100 UT S8 to S9 +27 dB, slight splash from RHC on 9820. 0115 UT same at 01 UT 0130 UT S4 to S9, QRM RHC on 9820. 0132 UT hearing Indian type music on 9810. Probably All India Radio. No ident signal heard, just right into music. RUI very difficult to understand. 0135 UT RUI gone. 73, (-.. . Kraig Krist, VA, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** UKRAINE. UKRAINE TO INCREASE RADIO, TV BROADCASTS OVERSEAS - MEDIA REGULATOR | Text of report by Ukrainian news agency UNIAN Kiev, 15 November: The State Committee for Information Policy, Television and Radio [SCIPTR] intends to expand Ukraine's broadcasting to foreign countries, the committee head, Ivan Chyzh, told a news conference in Kiev today. In Chyzh's words, there are currently certain economy-related problems with external broadcasting. "The mechanism behind them is awfully simple. There are private structures that control the energy market. If someone does not pay their bills, they cut electricity off and that's it," Chyzh said. According to him, such actions are a crime against the state. At the same time, Chyzh said that SCIPTR had set up an external satellite broadcasting service, a TV and radio organization called Ukrayina-Svit [Ukraine-World]. It will incorporate the external Ukrainian radio service. Chyzh said that a special blueprint for external broadcasting would also be drawn up. Chyzh said that SCIPTR is also launching a project to start satellite broadcasting to Poland. He noted that Ukraine had come under extreme pressure from foreign broadcasters whose broadcasts can be received in many Ukrainian regions, primarily in regions close to the border. For instance, it is possible to listen to Romanian FM-broadcasters in Chernivtsi Region, while 52 stations from four neighbouring countries broadcast to Transcarpathia. According to Chyzh, the situation in eastern Ukraine is worst of all, because a lot of Russian radio companies operate there. "You know, a Chechen radio station - Free Chechnya - can be heard as far out as in Vinnytsya [central Ukraine]. Transmitters in [Russia's] Krasnodar Territory are so strong that they block out ours. We do not have anything to counteract this," Chyzh said. SCIPTR has come up against certain obstacles in developing external broadcasting, Chyzh said. According to him, despite the fact that information policy should be shaped by the SCIPTR, broadcasting mechanisms are placed in the hands of communications agencies, the National Council for TV and Radio Broadcasting, etc. Ukraine's National Radio Company started broadcasting overseas in 1950. It now broadcasts in four languages: Ukrainian, English, German and Romanian. Broadcasting in Ukrainian covers 49 countries, while a total of 64 countries are covered by [Ukraine's] overseas broadcasting. The first deputy director of the Ukrainian radio external service, Oleksandr Dykyy, told UNIAN that broadcasting in Russian, French, Spanish and Arabic is due to start soon. Source: UNIAN news agency, Kiev, in Ukrainian 1124 gmt 15 Nov 02 (via BBCM via DXLD) ** UNITED ARAB EMIRATES. UAE Radio - Dubai: here's the B02 Engineering Schedule (this is not available in the HFCC Master File, nor anywhere else as far as I know!): 11795 1700-0000 Eu 11950 1700-0000 Eu 13630 1200-0000 NAf 13675 0600-0000 Eu 13675 0400-0600 Au NZ 15370 1000-1200 NAf 15395 0600-0000 Eu 15435 0400-0600 Siberia As 17830 0400-0600 Au NZ 17865 0600-1700 Eu 21605 0600-1700 Eu [really 21598v --- gh] 21700 0400-0600 Au NZ 12005, 15400 and 17890 are registered for 24-hrs on an "as required" basis. Note that UAE Radio Abu Dhabi is also scheduled for 13675 1800-2300 to Au/NZ, but not audible here in Melbourne - only Dubai, in parallel with 13630. The B02 schedule for UAE Radio (Abu Dhabi) may be found in the HFCC Public Schedule (Bob Padula, EDXP Nov 15 via DXLD) So check the appropriate frequencies when English has been appearing: 0330, 0530?, 1030, 1330, 1600 (gh, DXLD) ** U K. This license was mentioned on the BDXC Tape Circle this month and here is some additional information from ARRL: Andrew Finch, M3FMA, is only 11 years old and suffers from dyslexia. But nothing was going to keep the young scout from becoming a ham. And now he is the 5000th person to obtain that nations new and very popular Foundation Class license. Jeramy Boot, G4NJH, has more: The Radiocommunications Agency has been so pleased with the numbers taking up the license, that it decided to commemorate the 5000th amateur with a special award. Alan Betts of the Agency's Amateur Radio section, commented: "The radio amateur community was around 50,000 strong before the new license was introduced, and so this level of interest is very welcome". He also added "The License has proved very popular with young people and amateur radio is very much an up-and-coming hobby for them". The presentation of Andrew's prize took place at a ceremony held at the Radiocommunications Agency's monitoring station in Baldock, Hertfordshire on Tuesday the 22nd of October. Andrew was also presented with membership of the Radio Society of Great Britain by its President, Bob Whelan, G3PJT, who also presented a host of radio amateur goodies and books. Andrew's day was not over after the ceremony - he was given a tour of the Radiocommunications Agency monitoring station at Baldock. 'Heartbeat FM' from Hertfordshire then conducted an interview with him before he was whisked off for another interview with 'Dream FM' of Chelmsford. Jeramy Boot, G4NJH. -- Andrew had told his parents that he was going to begin saving his pocket money to buy a radio. He won't have to do that. Among the gifts he received for becoming the 5000th Foundation license holder was a brand new F-T 817 transceiver donated by Yaesu. The Foundation License has only been available to UK residents since earlier this year (GB2RS, via Mike Terry, DXLD) ** U K. From The RSGB: GB60OF [that's GB Sixty Oscar Foxtrot] will be on the air this Wednesday, the 20th of November, from the Yorkshire Air Museum. The station commemorates the 60th anniversary of the glider-borne assault by airborne engineers on a hydro-electric plant in Norway on the 20th of November 1942. The plant was producing heavy water for the manufacture of atomic bombs. GB60OF will be active on the HF bands only (via Mike Terry, DXLD) ** U S A. "TOPEKA GAINS 24-HOUR BROADCAST RIGHTS" from The Topeka Capital Journal, November 15, 2002 WIBW-AM 580, a Topeka radio station owned by Morris Communications, on Wednesday secured exclusive rights to the area's most powerful AM signal. New programming will officially begin at 12:30 p. m. Dec. 2. A 78-year-old, shared-frequency agreement between Morris, its predecessors and Kansas State University was dissolved at 3 p.m. Tuesday upon the transfer of five hours of air time from the university to WIBW. According to the most recent agreement, last amended in 1969, K-State had non-commercial broadcast rights to the hours between 12:30 and 5:30 p. m., Monday through Friday. In return, WIBW had broadcast rights to K-State football. In the exchange, the football rights reverted to the university (via Paul Swearingen, Topeka, DXLD) Tnx, so presumably KKSU`s final broadcast will be the preceding Friday afternoon, Nov 29 until 2330 UT. I am incensed that most of the press about the demise of public radio station KKSU is written from the viewpoint of WIBW – this item did not even mention KKSU call letters (gh, DXLD) ** U S A. WKSH is apparently in pre-Disney stunting mode tonight, playing a continuous recording of birds chirping, and occasional Disney-style "AM 1640 WKSH Sussex-Milwaukee" IDs by a kid. This is a good opportunity to hear something else through their mostly-open carrier. Mostly a TIS jumble here, but KBJA is starting to break through with SS music and talk. Good hunting! (Barry McLarnon, Ottawa, Ont., Nov 14, NRC-AM via DXLD) ** U S A. Another great shot at radio's service these days... http://toledoblade.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?Date=20021114&Category=COLUMNIST34&ArtNo=111140107&Ref=AR Article published November 14, 2002 AUTOMATED RADIO STATIONS MISS STORM The contrast in radio's programming philosophies - live vs. automated - was never more evident than on northwest Ohio's recent dark and stormy day. Clear Channel stations, which rely extensively on automated programming on weekends, "were caught with their trousers down" - at least that's how one radio veteran described it - on Sunday, when severe weather ravaged several communities in the region. Judy, who lives on Kelleys Island with her 94-year-old father, sent a rather chilling e-mail that should serve as a wake-up call for all stations that have lost the human touch. While she spoke specifically of WLEC-AM (1450), a Clear Channel-owned station in Sandusky, her criticism applies to all stations that use automated programming. "We had seen warnings on TV before our power was knocked out. Imagine my surprise, as we sat in the dark with the wind wailing outside and the battery-operated radio on, when it was business as usual with WLEC," Judy wrote. "Obviously, no human was around, as the station continued to predict `possible thunderstorms` with no mention of severe weather. The oldie tunes played on, oblivious to the havoc around us." The storm, which killed five people in the area, uprooted "about a dozen big trees" on Kelleys Island, Judy said. WLEC program director Mark Fogg said a weather alert was broadcast at 5:38 p.m. and bulletins from the National Weather Service break into programming automatically. He said he didn't know how many weather bulletins were broadcast from 5 to 7 p.m. Judy said that after the power went out, she listened to WLEC "for at least an hour" and didn't hear any weather alerts- just the forecast for "possible thunderstorms." "I always have felt that the radio was our link to information when the power is out and weather is threatening. But no more," she said. "It was very upsetting." In Toledo, all five Clear Channel stations rely heavily on automated programming on weekends. Additionally, the newscasts on WSPD-AM (1370) originate from Columbus. WSPD's status as a "local" news station is a running joke with the morning crew on sister station WVKS-FM (92.5). In the day-after discussion of the storm, one sidekick said that, despite the ominous conditions on the drive home, no one in the car turned on the radio to get a weather update. "Because you knew it was WSPD, and they wouldn't have anybody there local talking about it anyway? So why turn on [W]SPD?" morning-show host Denny Schaffer asked. (Seconds later, he backtracked when he found out that WSPD did break into programming.) Five Cumulus-owned stations in Toledo were "live and local" Sunday and, consequently, were able to quickly spread the word about the severe weather. WKKO-FM (99.9) and WRQN-FM (93.5) simulcast the coverage of WNWO-TV, Channel 24, which featured reports from meteorologist Bill Spencer in the NBC affiliate's new "storm-chasing" van. On stations with automated programming, the bands played on (via Brock Whaley, DXLD) ** U S A. WLQV-1500 SIGNAL IMPROVEMENT-- Something I stumbled across... From the Michigan Broadcast Guide http://Michiguide.com Religious WLQV-AM 1500 Detroit (Victory 1500) is now successfully operating on its new 50 kW day and 10 kW night patterns. The final negotiations with KSTP-AM 1500 Minneapolis/St. Paul and WTOP-AM 1500 Washington D.C. called for those stations to pay for the WLQV modifications and legal fees, plus reimbursement of other related expenses. Station owner Jon Yinger reports that while the 50 kW day signal is somewhat close to the old pattern (which had a little more power to the west), improvements to the new night signal are dramatic. WLQV is currently in program test authority. The deal between WLQV and the other 2 stations on AM 1500 came about because both KSTP and WTOP desired better nighttime signals and needed WLQV's agreement to accept more skywave interference at night (via Wally Wawro, WFAA-TV, Dallas, TX, NRC-AM via DXLD) Funny how the FCC talks out of both sides of their mouth. I thought the expanded band was to get rid of some of the congestion on the AM band. Now we have 3 of the 50 kW stations on 1500 pay off in order to create more interference. Seems I recall Fred Vobbe telling about 1500 in Detroit doing this once before, loosening up the pattern and going from 12 towers to 9. IBOC at nite is really going to cause interference to the medium wave band. But we must have 3rd adjacent protection on FM from the puny Low power FM's... Money talks, BS walks (Paul Smith, W4KNX, Located in Sunny Sarasota Florida http://www.amtower.com NRC-AM via DXLD) And now... the rest of the story. (Scott, be sure to get Paul to cut a promo for WNRC). The original incarnation of WLQV, WJBK, had a beautiful 10 kw, 1 kw night facility. The signal was heard into Ohio and west to Ann Arbor. In the late 50s and early 60s, George Storer (Storer Broadcasting), wanted 50 kW to compete with then WCAR-1130, CKLW-800, WJR-760 and even WWJ-950 which had decent coverage. Since ratings were not really in yet, the fact that he could put 50 kW on his promotional literature was important. After all, he had WGBS, KGBS, and others in major cities. The 50k, nine tower day ... and 5k, twelve tower night was built in Lincoln Park just south of Detroit (when there were actual listeners in Detroit). One problem. The array was unstable, and was classified "critical" by the FCC. In fact, the FCC mandated that the phases of the towers be maintained to within a degree, and ratios were plus or minus 3%. Starting from the early years of construction, and even into 1985 when a young Fred Vobbe was engineer there, the station always was filing variances and had STAs [special temporary authorizations]. How unstable was the array? I recall in May 1985 when Wayne County built a water treatment plant next to the site, about .37 miles to the west, when the crane would move to lift in pipe, the array would change and I would have to do some tuning. Some three tunings were done per shift at times. Oh, and did I mention detuning? You know those large power towers you see that feed primary power to substations. About 56 of them in the first mile needed to be tuned at times due to the fact that they re-radiated the station`s signal, and distorted the pattern. We would go out with a long "tuning wand" and have to go to these boxes and "tune" them for max rejection. Something that I found more troubling that monitor points. Nothing like standing under a buzzing power line with a 10 foot stick in your hands, looking straight up trying to find the max on a meter 8 feet above your head. In the 90s, the station started to fall on hard times, which was sad from the fact that many of us lived through the WJBK Radio 15, and The Big DEE days. The owner (not sure if it's the same fellow who owns it now), sold the property to K-Mart where the east three towers were located. He instructed his engineer to keep it on 9 towers day and night, and took down the east towers. The land was sold, and the rest is history. He got his ass in a jam over that move, since he did not have commission approval, and subsequently had to run for a while at 50k day and 1 kw night. However, I was told by someone at the station there were many nights when it was 50k day/night. The argument before the commission was that he *thought* he had permission, and only needed to inform them after the deed was done. There was always some conflict between the three 50k's at times. Because WDEE/WLQV put so little signal to the west, KSTP and WTOP would propagate in making management think that WTOP and KSTP were cheating. How tight was the pattern? At the time I lived in Westland OH. I would drive into the site on I-94 from the west. MANY mornings I recall seeing the WLQV towers flashing in the distance, but on my radio was WTOP-Washington. Anyway, now that they have it finally licensed, so ends a 40 engineering venture that was quite the talk of antenna people in this area. Did I enjoy working there? YOU BET. It was the best hands on training that one could get on high power, multi antenna arrays! And you gotta love an RCA Ampliphase. http://www.nrcdxas.org/bios/fredwlqv.jpg Yes, that's me (Fred Vobbe, OH, NRC-AM via DXLD) ** U S A. Both the 1150 and the 1240 in Albuquerque have been listed on my Radio Disney page for some time. I update the page frequently so make sure that you refresh or reload so that you are seeing the latest version. The current version is marked as having been updated on 11/10/02. I suspect that RD is buying air time on the 1150 just to establish a presence in the area until they get their own station up and running on 1240. This isn't the first station I've seen that runs part-time RD. WHKT/1650 is another example of a part-time RD format. Please remember that I maintain the RD page as a shared resource for you. Despite numerous requests I have received absolutely no info from Disney. I rely heavily upon you, my fellow DXers, to help me to keep the info up to date for the benefit of everyone. My thanks to all who contribute (Patrick Griffith, CBT, Westminster, CO, USA http://community.webtv.net/N0NNK/ http://community.webtv.net/AM-DXer/ NRC-AM via DXLD) WHKT is owned and operated by ABC Disney these days --- so they are for the most part running Radio Disney full time except for running Tidewater Tides ballgames and the Admirals hockey games. ABC Disney bought the station after those contracts were put into effect, so they have to honor them to the end. Should be interesting to see if they renew those contracts next year. Bob Carter Operations/Engineering-- Max Media Radio Group Yes that will be interesting to see. I received a very nice QSL letter from WHKT this past June when they were still owned by Chesapeake - Portsmouth Broadcasting. Ironically the letter stated that the station was "becoming a leader in this market for sports broadcasting" and mentioned that they also play Radio Disney part-time. I believe that ABC bought the station very shortly afterwards (Patrick Griffith, CBT, Westminster, CO, USA, NRC-AM via DXLD) ** U S A. URL for TIS equipment info: http://www.theRADIOsource.com (Patrick Griffith, CBT, Westminster, CO, USA, NRC-AM via DXLD) ** U S A. Earlier this afternoon, I heard Spanish on 1700, and believed it was coming from KBGG Des Moines IA. I concluded that the station had undergone a format change. The station's slogan was "La Lem Mil Setecientos AM," or something similar, although no English ID was heard during the time I listened. At 1800 ELT [2300 UT], I heard the SS programming end, a legal ID was given for KBGG, and the station moved back to its news format (beginning with a simulcast of WHO-TV's 5 o'clock newscast). So, it appears that KBGG broadcasts part of the day in Spanish and for the balance continues its all news format. Can anyone in the area please give more details? Thank you 73 (Bill Dvorak Madison WI, Nov 15, AMFMTVDX mailing list via DXLD) Not `Lem` ** U S A. 2760.00, WBTK Richmond, VA, (harmonic 2 x 1380) Nov 9, 1000, raspy audio ID "This is Big Talk AM 1380 WBTK". Fair signal with good peaks (Mark Mohrmann, VT, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. 25950, KPM566: Anyone still hearing this one? Untraced here, but I can hear WLW on 26 MHz daily. Oct/Nov (Hans Johnson, Rio Hondo TX, Nov 15, Cumbre DX via DXLD) It`s KPM556 as I pointed out before: http://209.20.223.122/ ** U S A. BUSH'S NEW MEDIA STRATEGY: POP-AGANDA, By Michael Theodolou In the Middle East, the USA has shut the highbrow Voice of America and started a Radio 1-style station... http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,7-480293,00.html (via Bill Westenhaver, DXLD) See also MONACO non ** U S A. Herald Broadcasting (Christian Science). A blank QSL, Slewable 4*4 curtain Antenna. but v/s starts with something like Synus? I am used to receiving blank QSL card from them, I fill and sent it back to them. But of late I realised that they never return the cards, so am keeping this one (Emmanuel Ezeani, Sokoto, Nigeria, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** VENEZUELA. R. Caracas (750) was originally founded as Broadcasting Caracas in the 20's by John Phelps, an American expatriate who had gone to Venezuela as a practicing ornithologist. He loved the country, and founded a major store, then building the radio station. His grandson just recently published a biography, where he details Phelps return to ornithology in the 50's and the publishing of the definitive guide to Venezuelan birds; he died at age 95 and the highest peak South of the Orinoco is named in his honor. Author is his grandson, John Phelps. It was published, in Spanish of course, by the Fundación Cisneros in Venezuela and went on sale exactly 11 months ago in Caracas. The wife of Gustavo Cisneros is Phelps' daughter. The Cisneros are the richest family in Venezuela, owning Venevision, the Coke bottlers, the largest supermarket chain and parts of Sky TV Latin America, Univision (USA) and AOL Latin America (David Gleason, Los Angeles, NRC-AM via DXLD) ** VENEZUELA. Saludos, queridos colegas diexistas. La siguiente información me acaba de llegar desde Caracas, via Jairo Martínez y la paso a todos ustedes. Haré todo lo posible por conseguir estos sonidos y ponerlos a la orden de todos. Quiero recordarles que la otra emisora lleva por nombre Radio Libertad. Atte: (José Elías Díaz Gómez, Venezuela, Nov 15, Cumbre DX via DXLD) Viz.: Radio Dignidad transmite 24 horas desde la Plaza Altamira. Frecuencia 90.7 FM – Tiene más potencia que la anterior pero aún es débil (via Díaz, ibid.) Ad-hoc stations for demonstrators ** VENEZUELA [and non]. MEDIUMWAVE-BANDSCAN ON ISLA MARGARITA After 2 beautiful weeks vacation on the Isla Margarita, Venezuela back to the everyday life... (in a very cold Germany ;-))) ) But first, here is my bandscan on Mediumwave from beach near Juan Griego in the northwest. All receptions during the day, except 620, Antigua & Barbuda. No reception in Hotel-room. 535 Klassic 535 - Grenada 550 Mundial Caracas - Venezuela 555 ZIZ Radio - St. Kitts & Nevis 600 Radio Sucre, Cumaná - Venezuela 610 NBS Radio 610 - Trinidad & Tobago 620 ABS Radio - Antigua & Barbuda (bei Dunkelheit) 640 Unión Radio, Puerto La Cruz - Venezuela 670 Radio Rumbos, Caracas - Venezuela 680 Radio Continente, Cumaná - Venezuela 720 Radio Oriente, Porlamar - Venezuela 730 TBC - Trinidad & Tobago 740 Voice of Life - Dominica 750 RCR, Caracas - Venezuela 760 Doble Q, Puerto La Cruz - Venezuela 790 Gospel 790 AM - Barbados 820 Radio Paradise - St. Kitts & Nevis 830 Radio Sensación, Caracas - Venezuela 870 Radio Pueblo, Puerto La Cruz - Venezuela 895 Voice of Nevis - St. Kitts & Nevis 900 CBC - Barbados 920 Radio Nueva Esparta, Porlamar - Venezuela 970 Radio Mundial, Barcelona - Venezuela 1000 Radio Caribeña, Morón - Venezuela 1020 Mundial Margarita, La Asunción - Venezuela 1080 Radio Barcelona, Barcelona - Venezuela 1110 Radio Carúpano, Carúpano - Venezuela 1140 Radio Porlamar, Porlamar - Venezuela 1160 Caribbean Radio Lighthouse - Antigua & Barbuda 1210 Radio Anzoátegui, Barcelona - Venezuela 1290 Radio Puerto Cabello, Puerto Cabello - Venezuela 1380 Ondas del Mar, Puerto Cabello - Venezuela 1400 The Harbour Light of the Windwards - Grenada 1430 Radio Bahiá, Puerto La Cruz - Venezuela 1500 Radio Dos Mil, Cumaná - Venezuela 1550 Radio Metropolitana, Los Teques - Venezuela 1580 RM, Cumaná - Venezuela 1620 WDHP - US Virgin Islands No reception of: 595 Dominica Broadcast. Corp. - Dominica 640 RFO Guadeloupe (zu erahnen unter Unión Radio) 660 Radio St. Lucia - St. Lucia 705 NBC 705 Radio - St. Vincent & the Grenadines 840 Radio Caribbean International - St. Lucia 860 Voice of the Islands - Dominica 1100 Radio ZDK - Antigua & Barbuda Does someone have information to the missing stations? So, next days I will write the reception reports, let's hope for QSL's... Greetings (Michael Grill, Germany, Nov 15, hard-core-dx via DXLD) Hi Michael, Dominica moved to 590 in mid-late 2000; R Caribbean Int'l- 840 is now FM only. They and Dominica-860 were silent when I was on St. Lucia in December 2000. St Vincent 705 is silent per info I saw earlier this year. Don't know about the others (Bruce Portzer, WA, ibid.) ** WALES [non]. Hello, Daniel, For the past few Friday evenings I have been tuning in to Wales Radio International. I regret to have to inform you that the information which you list for this station on your excellent Prime Time Shortwave site is now incorrect. With the clock changes at the end of October this station has been transmitting at 0300-0330 GMT on 9825 kHz - presumably from Rampisham. Unfortunately there is considerable interference from Radio Havana Cuba on 9820 kHz. This frequency is used by Havana from 0000 GMT for one hour in Spanish and from 0100 GMT until 0700 GMT in English for North America (Geoffrey Rose, Montreal, Canada, via Sampson...) The Wales Radio International website list B01 winter schedule info identified as B02 which is not completely accurate per Geoffrey's monitoring. Fri 2130-2200 6010 Europe Sat 0300-0330 9735 (monitored on 9825) North America Sat 1130-1200 17625 Australasia Can anyone confirm the broadcasts to Europe and Australasia? (Dan Sampson, Prime Time Shortwave, DX LISTENING DIGEST) UNIDENTIFIED. Normally I would take little notice of Numbers stations. However, on approx. 15720 kHz (+/- 1kHz) at 1616 UT I monitored a "heavily voiced" OM reading numbers in twin groups of 5. Concluding at 1621 with a single group (zero, zero, zero, zero, zero). This transmitter "sounded" very different to other numbers stations I have heard in the past. Has anybody got any ideas where this might have originated? Using a Panasonic RF-B45 portable, (whilst static mobile), hence the "approximate" freq. reading. Cheers (RAO, Robin Banneville Guernsey, Chan. Isles. (UK), hard-core-dx via DXLD) This is the "English Man" from Russia. Details available at http://www.spynumbers.com/profiles/index.html?ENIGMA=E6 73 (Chris Smolinski, ibid.) ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ PROPAGATION +++++++++++ [Cumbre DX] Propagation Report A few M class flares early in the week combined with some coronal hole activity has kept the geomagnetic field slightly disturbed and MUFs elevated early on. More recently high latitude MUFs have been somewhat depressed. A coronal hole has just passed the centre of the solar disk and the impact from this should hit Nov 16. The geomagnetic field is expected to be at active to storm levels on Nov 16-17 and 20-22. A relatively large sunspot region is nearing the centre of the solar disk. This region has good flare potential, but has yet to produce significant activity. This region will be in a very geoeffective location (just west of the centre of the solar disk) over the next few days. If this region "wakes up" mass ejection induced geomagnetic activity may be experienced over the coming week (Richard Jary, Australia, Prepared using data from http://www.ips.gov.au Cumbredx mailing list Nov 15 via DXLD) LEONID PEAK, TIME FOR METEOR SCATTER This NASA press release mentions tuning a "shortwave" receiver to 67 MHz (TV channel 4) to detect meteors. "When a meteor streaks overhead, the system records a brief ping -- the echo of a TV signal bouncing off the meteor's trail." Presumably they chose channel 4 because they have no nearby station on that channel. ftp://ftp.hq.nasa.gov/pub/pao/pressrel/2002/02-221.txt 73 (Kim Elliott, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Indeed, you would think NASA should know the difference between HF and VHF; and ch 3 or 2 would work just as well if unoccupied locally. Furthermore, the video carrier frequencies which this apparently refers to rather than audio, would be 67.25, 61.25 and 55.25 MHz respectively, plus/minus .01 MHz for offsets. Guess what: you can *see* meteor scatter TV DX not only on the low band but up to ch 13 if you are really lucky, and many TVDXers including myself have done a lot of such DXing. It`s more difficult than it used to be, when many stations ran test patterns with IDs for an hour or more each early morning. It`s also fun on FM, but you have to be lucky to get anything identifiable in a burst lasting from a fraxion of a second to a few seconds. Evidently NASA has no interest either in identifying where these 67 MHz pings are coming from, which would add more dimension to such research! Furthermore, the fullness of the Moon is irrelevant for this kind of meteoric observation! Another sent the NASA article itself: (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) SHORTWAVE METEOR LISTENING [sic] "Our system is pretty simple," said Suggs. "We use an antenna and a computer-controlled shortwave receiver to listen for 67 megahertz signals from distant TV ... NASA Prepares For "Last Chance" Meteor Shower The early morning hours of Nov. 19 may be your last chance to see the spectacular Leonid meteor shower in its full glory, according to astronomers. "Even with the full Moon, this year's Leonids will probably be better than any other for the next hundred years," said Dr. Don Yeomans, an astronomer at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif. "If you're ever going to see them, this might be the year to try." NASA is taking advantage of the event for several research efforts around the world. The shower is predicted to have two peaks, each a couple of hours long, during which the most meteors can be seen. The shower's second peak, most prominent in North American skies, is expected at around 2:30 a.m. (Pacific time) [1030 UT Tuesday] Nov. 19, and promises the rare spectacle of a few meteors every minute or even more. "Observers in good locations away from city lights might see a few hundred per hour. You'll only get to see the bright ones because the moonlight will wash out the ones that aren't as bright," said Yeomans. Last year, observers did not have to contend with the Moon and saw meteors at a pace of several hundred per hour. An earlier peak is expected over Europe and Africa the night of Nov. 18, and observers in North America might see a few grazers -- meteors skimming the top of the atmosphere -- from this first peak starting around 8:30 p.m. (Pacific time) Nov. 18. [0430 UT Tue Nov 19] The Leonids are grains of dust from comet Tempel-Tuttle colliding into Earth's atmosphere. Most Leonid particles are tiny and will vaporize very high in the atmosphere due to their extreme speed (about 71 kilometers or 44 miles per second), so they present no threat to people on the ground or even in airplanes. As it progresses in its 33- year orbit, the comet releases dust particles every time it comes near the Sun. Earth intersects the comet's debris trail every year in mid- November, but the intensity of each year's Leonid meteor shower depends on whether Earth ploughs through a particularly concentrated stream of dust within the broader debris trail. The dust that Tempel-Tuttle shed in 1866 makes up the stream predicted to give Americans a good show this year. Last year, people in Asia saw the plentiful collisions within that stream. A dust stream from 1767 provided last year's peak hour of viewing in North America and will provide this year's peak hour of viewing in Europe. After 2002, Earth won't hit either of those streams again for decades to come, and is not predicted to encounter a dense Leonid stream until 2098 or 2131. The golden rule for watching the Leonids -- or any meteor shower -- is to be comfortable. Be sure to wrap up warmly -- a sleeping bag placed atop a lawn chair facing east is a good way to enjoy the show. Put your chair in a clear, dark place with a view of as much of the sky as possible. Don't stare at any one place. Keep your eyes moving across the sky. Most Leonids will appear as fleeting streaks of light, but watch for the bigger ones that produce fireballs and trails. Some trails will remain visible for several minutes or more. The Leonids get their name from the constellation where they appear to originate; the meteors will be radiating from the Sickle pattern in the constellation Leo the Lion, which will be rising out of the east- northeast sky. Don't look directly at the constellation, but at the area above and around it. And, though you don't need them to see the Leonids, a pair of binoculars could come in handy. Researchers think meteors might have showered the Earth with the molecules necessary for life's origin. A two-aircraft campaign, led by astronomer Dr. Peter Jenniskens of the SETI Institute and NASA's Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, Calif., will investigate this possibility. "We are looking for clues about the diversity of comets and their impact on the chemistry of life's origin on Earth," Jenniskens said. "We are eager to get another chance to find clues to two puzzling questions: What material from space rains down on Earth, and what happens to the (meteor's) organic matter when it interacts with the atmosphere?" said Dr. Michael Meyer, senior scientist for astrobiology at NASA Headquarters, Washington, D.C. On Nov. 15, a team of 42 astrobiologists from seven countries will depart from southern California's Edwards Air Force Base on a mission to Spain to observe this year's two Leonid storm peaks. The DC-8 Airborne Laboratory, operated by NASA's Dryden Flight Research Center, Edwards, Calif., will carry high-speed cameras; a radio receiver to listen to upper atmosphere molecules; and a team of meteor observers, who will keep track of the meteor activity for satellite operators concerned about impact hazards. "This final deployment of the Leonid Multi-instrument Airborne Campaign program promises an important and unique database for the development of instruments targeted at in situ sampling of cometary materials and for the future definition of comet missions," said Dr. John Hillman, lead scientist for planetary astronomy at NASA Headquarters. "It is hoped that these scientific data will provide new insights for the comparative studies of comets." Although the meteors are harmless to people, there is a slight chance that a satellite could be damaged if it was hit by a Leonid meteoroid. The meteoroids are too small to simply blow up a satellite. However, the Leonids are moving so fast they vaporize on impact, forming a cloud of electrified gas called plasma. Since plasma can carry an electric current, there is a risk that a Leonid-generated plasma cloud could cause a short circuit in a satellite, damaging sensitive electronic components. NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md., is responsible for controlling a large number of satellites for NASA and other organizations and is taking precautions to mitigate the risk posed by the Leonids. These include pointing instrument apertures away from the direction of the Leonid stream, closing the doors on instruments where possible, turning down high voltages on systems to decrease the risk of a short circuit, and positioning satellites to minimize the cross- section exposed to the Leonids. Minimizing the threat meteoroids pose to satellites is the second major area of NASA's Leonid research. From five key points on the globe and from the International Space Station, NASA researchers will use special cameras to scan the skies and report activity around the clock during the Leonid shower. Led by Dr. Rob Suggs of the engineering directorate at NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala., the research is part of a long-term goal to protect spacecraft from potentially damaging meteoroids. Using "night-vision" image-intensifier video systems and sky-watchers outfitted with Palm computer software developed to record visual counts, NASA engineers and astronomers will record their observations for later analysis. Another tool at Marshall's disposal is "forward- scatter radar" -- an early warning system built by Suggs, Dr. Jeff Anderson, also of Marshall's engineering directorate, and Dr. Bill Cooke, an astronomer at Marshall. "Our system is pretty simple," said Suggs. "We use an antenna and a computer-controlled shortwave receiver to listen for 67 megahertz signals from distant TV stations." The transmitters are over the horizon and normally out of range. When a meteor streaks overhead, the system records a brief ping -- the echo of a TV signal bouncing off the meteor's trail. Like the image-intensified cameras, this system is capable of detecting meteors too dim to see with the unaided eye. The research data from the Leonids shower will be analyzed to help NASA engineers refine their forecasts for spacecraft; by better determining where, when and how the meteors will strike, NASA can improve protective measures to prevent or minimize damage to spacecraft. For more information, including predicted peak times for major cities and NASA media contacts, refer to http://www.gsfc.nasa.gov/topstory/2002/1114leonid.html. Editor's Note: The original news release can be found here. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Note: This story has been adapted from a news release issued for journalists and other members of the public. If you wish to quote any part of this story, please credit NASA/Jet Propulsion Laboratory as the original source. You may also wish to include the following link in any citation: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2002/11/021115071029.htm (via Mike Terry, DXLD) DRM +++ [Re previous items:] This has nothing to do with providing an alternative to Internet streaming audio. My understanding is that it's simply a method for listeners to check out DRM well before stand-alone receivers become available in 2004. The DRM web site is interesting. The iBiquity web designers could learn a few things from the DRM site in terms of providing information. The question and answer section is most informative. I found it interesting that the ITU has it on record that the DRM group and iBiquity will cooperate in developing digital receivers capable of decoding both DRM and IBOC (Bruce Conti, Nashua NH, NRC-AM via DXLD) WORLD RADIOCOMMUNICATION CONFERENCE (WRC-03) ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ will be in Geneva, Switzerland, 9 June to 4 July 2003. http://www.itu.int/ITU-R/conferences/wrc/wrc-03/index.asp (via Mike Terry, DXLD) ###