DX LISTENING DIGEST 2-190, December 4, 2002 edited by Glenn Hauser, wghauser@hotmail.com Items from DXLD may be reproduced and re-reproduced only if full credit be maintained at all stages and we be provided exchange copies. DXLD may not be reposted in its entirety without permission. Materials taken from Arctic or originating from Olle Alm and not having a commercial copyright are exempt from all restrictions of noncommercial, noncopyrighted reusage except for full credits HTML version of this issue will be posted afterwards at http://www.worldofradio.com/dxldtd02.html For restrixions and searchable 2002 contents archive see http://www.worldofradio.com/dxldmid.html NOTE: If you are a regular reader of DXLD, and a source of DX news but have not been sending it directly to us, please consider yourself obligated to do so. Thanks, Glenn WORLD OF RADIO 1159: WBCQ: Wed 2300 17495, 7415; Mon 0545 7415 WWCR: Thu 2130 9475, Sat 0700, Sun 0330 5070, 0730 3210, Wed 1030 9475 RFPI: Fri 1930, Sat 0130, 0730, 1330, 1800, Sun 0000, 0600, 1200, 1830, Mon 0030, 0630, 1230, Tue 1900, Wed 0100, 0700, 1300 on 7445 and/or 15039 WJIE: M-F 1300, daily 0400; Sun 0630, Mon 0700, Tue 0630 on 7490 ONDEMAND http://www.wrn.org/ondemand/worldofradio.html [from Fri] [from early UT Thu:] [High] (Download) http://www.k4cc.net/wor1159h.rm (Stream) http://www.k4cc.net/wor1159h.ram [Low] (Download) http://www.k4cc.net/wor1159.rm (Stream) http://www.k4cc.net/wor1159.ram (Summary) http://www.worldofradio.com/wor1159.html [from Thu] UNSOLICITED TESTIMONIAL Thanks for your superb work on DXLD; it`s the best comprehensive source of up to date DX news that I know of on the web, if a story is not there it can't be important (Mike Terry, UK) Thanks, Mike, but it`s contributors like yourself constantly scouring the press who add so much (gh) ** AFGHANISTAN. AFGHANISTAN ON HF There has been a small sign that some sort of normality is returning to the country. Aircraft passing through the airspace controlled by Afghanistan have not [sic --- means now?] started to be controlled by ATC on h.f. Over the past few months Kabul ATC has been heard on 5658 talking with aircraft, and also heard communicating with Lahore ATC (Pakistan) concerning aircraft flying through Afghan airspace. Kabul ATC is also allocated a few other frequencies, and it is worth monitoring these to see if Kabul has restarted using them: 3467, 10018, 13288 kHz. With the massive number of US troops in Afghanistan and the large number of flights operating into the region, it should come as no surprise that the US Forces have their own frequencies for incoming flights. They have set up a Regional Air Movement Coördination Center (RAMCC) at Kabul with at least 17389 day and 4150.5 night. The callsign used is `Luxor`, so if you hear any flights on GHFS frequencies trying to contact this callsign, you will now know who it is (Graham Tanner, SSB Utilities, Dec Short Wave Magazine via DXLD) ** ANGOLA. -Inconstante: Cima 100, desde Santo Domingo, en 4960 kHz, está bastante irregular. Dicha irregularidad permite la escucha clara y fuerte de Radio Nacional de Angola en 4950 kHz. El pasado lunes 2/12, a las 0414 UT, Luanda podía ser captada con un SINPO de 2/2, variable a 2/3. 73's y buen DX... (Adán González, Catia La Mar, VENEZUELA, Dec 4, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ARMENIA. Also heard the Voice of Armenia on 9960 at 2155 concluding their English segment. It was a female announcer but her diction was hard to follow as was the presentation. The male announcer fairly raced through the contact information as if they were not really interested in their programming or people writing to them. Signal strength varies daily indicative of lower power and propagation (Robin Harwood, Norwood, northern Tasmania, RX Yaesu FRG 7700; Icom R70, Dec 4, swl via DXLD) 2155? Unknown time for English (gh, DXLD) ** AUSTRIA. On Nov 11, the Council of Radio Österreich International (ROI) confirmed that the budget for 2003 assumes a complete closure of the External Service of ROI by the end of March 2003. Only a few hours of relays of HS1 (Ö1) and domestic Minority programmes will be broadcast on shortwaves after that date. ORF Editor-in-Chief Michael Kerbler expects that by mid-December the final decision for this phasing-out of ROI will be taken. Future broadcasts in foreign languages from Austria will be via the Internet only. ROI has 30 employees today (Austrian Press Agency via DSWCI DX Window Dec 4 via DXLD) ULTIMA HORA SOBRE RADIO AUSTRIA INTERNACIONAL... SALUDOS, (PACO RUBIO) LA ORF DEBE NEGOCIAR CON GOBIERNO SOBRE FINANCIACIÓN DE ROI Según informa la agencia noticiosa austriaca APA el martes 26 de noviembre, 'parece estar abierto' todavía el destino de Radio Austria Internacional y de la Orquesta Radio Sinfónica Viena RSO: ambas instituciones, por no formar parte de las 'tareas específicas' de la radiodifusión nacional austriaca, corrían peligro de desaparecer. Por razones financieras, ROI se iba a cerrar por completo y la orquesta saldría de la órbita del grupo de empresas de radio y televisión. El lunes 25 de noviembre, sin embargo, el comité de finanzas del Consejo de la Fundación ("Consejo de Administración") postergó la decisión sobre la orquesta – "para buscar una mejor base decisoria" y se declaró en cuanto al futuro de ROI que "el ente público ORF debe negociar con el Gobierno federal, que hasta hace poco estuvo encargado de su financiación". Por tanto, no se recomendó por de pronto el cierre de la emisora internacional austriaca. La dirección de ORF, antes de tomar tal decisión, debe examinar otras posibilidades de financiación y negociar sobre el tema con el Gobierno (via Francisco Rubio, Spain, Dec 3, Noticias DX via DXLD) ** BELARUS`. RUSSIA/BELARUS. Additional hour of the Voice of Russia in Russian language (1200-1300) is relayed via Belarussian military transmitters on 5256 and 4246 kHz. Those stations are usually relaying Mayak and the Voice of Russia, alternatively. Sometimes Radio Rossii or local Belarussian stations are aired. But recently I noted English transmissions on their waves at night, with music and ID which was not clear (ended with "Network"). Nighttime frequencies are 2338 and 3346 kHz (Konstantin Gusev, Moscow, Russia, Signal Dec 3 via DXLD) ** BRAZIL. 5990: The UNID mentioned by Gian Luigi Naj in Italy in DX- Window no. 208, is a Rádio Nacional, Brasília, broadcast, possibly not IDing as "R. Nacional da Amazónia", which by the way runs a different broadcast on 6180 at the same time. Heard on Nov 20 and later, 0830- 0910 fade out airing talks on what they called "O Dia da Consciência Negra" (=Black Awareness Day). Some days two different programmes are heard where one is R Senado with "Coisas do Brasil" including an interview with a senator and his former activity in broadcasting. Short commentary about a new Senate commission. ID: "na Rádio Senado". 25432. R Senado website indicates 91.7 MHz is 24 h for the federal capital area, but is unclear about the schedule of its sole SW frequency, which is primarily beamed to N+NE Brazil (Gonçalves & Slaen, DSWCI DX Window Dec 4 via DXLD) My latest schedule says: Mon-Fri 0930-2400v for 5990, but the transmitter may now be on the air from 0800 (DSWCI Ed) The Brazilian station on 5990 was heard Dec. 4 on air at tune in 0754 - music/"line" noise and transmission breaks until sign on at 0800. The frequency was tuned at 0750 but there was nothing on air then. I could not copy what ID they were using, despite a strong signal, other than "Brasília". If Senado was used I didn`t recognise it - and no "Nacional" or "Amazonias" was heard either. The programme was entirely different to that heard on 6180. Fade out here was c0910. It was not heard last weekend, so assumed to be Monday to Friday only. Here, there is bad splash from REE 5985 until they go off c 0757 then even worse from VRT via JUL 5985 until they close c0827, after which 5990 is clear. I hear three high power transmitters on air at 0800 - Amazonia on 6180 // 11780, and whatever this one is on 5990 (Noel R. Green [Blackpool- NW England] Cumbredx mailing list via DXLD) ** CANADA. CKVM on 710 in Ville-Marie QC has filed to make the move to FM (93.1 with 26 kw), which ought to be good news indeed for Tom and Kerry and the gang at WOR. (Other apps of interest in Canada this week include a proposal to reactivate the long-dead 1570 Laval QC, ex-CKLM, with 10 kw day and night and a French oldies format, and an app for an ethnic station on 1650 in Montreal from "Radio Chalom," which wants 1 kw day/night. I find it fascinating that the latest round of apps for new stations in Quebec, in which the CRTC threw it open for those wanting new stations in Montréal, Saguenay (formerly Chicoutimi/Jonquière), Trois- Rivières and Sherbrooke, produced only two AM apps and 26 FM apps. Remember that the CRTC doesn't license technical facilities for stations (that's Industry Canada's job), so applicants can propose whatever frequencies they wish, and the CRTC then issues a license subject to Industry Canada approval (and in a few recent cases has told a station "you can have a license, but you need to find a frequency first, because we can't grant you the one you applied for.") Remember as well that there are some HUGE AM facilities that have gone dark in each of these communities (600, 850, 1410 and 1470 in Montréal; 1580 in Saguenay; 1140 in Trois-Rivières and 1510 in Sherbrooke) - and then explain why stations would rather apply for 275 watts on 106.3 or 141 watts on 105.1 or 602 watts on 91.9 in Montreal, or for 1580 watts on 103.5 in Sherbrooke, than ask to reactivate these dead AM facilities. Most peculiar... -s (Scott Fybush, NY, Dec 3, NRC- AM via DXLD) ** CHECHNYA [non]. AZERBAIJAN-BASED CHECHEN REBELS' WEB SITE DOWN SINCE 26 NOVEMBER 2002 The Chechen rebels' news web site Daymohk, based in Azerbaijan, has been inaccessible since 26 November 2002. Its URL was http://www.daymohk.info Source: Daymohk news agency web site, Baku, in Russian 3 Dec 02 (via BBCM via DXLD) ** COLOMBIA. Re La Voz de la Resistencia, FARC clandestine, reported by Mark Mohrmann at 1030+ on 6175+: Desde el domingo cuando la reportó el colega Morhmann he monitoreado la frecuencia desde las 1030 hasta aprox. las 1230 cuando salgo para la oficina y no he podido escuchar nada; hoy habia una señal con melodías orientales --- no sé si es India o Malasia. Algo que me sorprende es la hora de apertura 1030 (5:30 a.m. local) ya que no tengo registro que esta emisora empezara transmisiones tan temprano; por lo general es luego de las 1130 o 1200; de todas formas también estoy chequeando la frecuencia en la tarde 2100-2200 ya que esta emisora tradicionalmente presenta dos emisiones, una matutina y otra vespertina. También hay que esperar por si se trata de emisiones para sólo los fines de semana (Rafael Rodríguez, Colombia, Dec 4, Conexión Digital via DXLD) ** CUBA. Have yet to see a B-02 schedule for RHC, and looking for some of their previous English broadcasts has proven fruitless. The one at 2030-2130 to Europe is missing; Dec 3 at 2055 check, no sign of previously listed 13660-USB, just some Swiss music at 2058 which must mean it is *not* Switzerland --- No/Yes! HFCC does show Sottens there 1830-2130 to the southeast --- nor 13750 AM, tho there was a het on the latter, one of which was TIDGS off-frequency as always; However, at 2100, a bigger signal appeared, wavering het, with RHC IS and opening Spanish, ``Revista Iberoamericana``, not English. Spanish used to be on 13680, but I did not find any other RHC signal on 13 MHz band. Also looked for next English broadcast, 2230-2330 on 9550 to Caribbean, but at 2311 nothing there --- tho some hash on the lower side might have been a severely maladjusted transmitter. Later when internet came back, time to check the Cuban site of RHC, http://www.radiohc.cu and its undated transmission schedule, which is probably out of date. For English it still shows Europe 2030-2130 on 13660, 13750, but the former Caribbean service at 2230-2330 on 9550 is gone. For Spanish, the *2100 transmission is shown on 13605 in the 22m band, and three other frequencies, but not on 13750 where I heard it (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CYPRUS. Coastal station CYPRUS RADIO/5BA: 8737 (USB). QSL card (not in envelope) came in 35 days. Map of East Mediterranean on the face, and data side might be called a DXer's dream because of plenty of data: date, frequency, callsign, type and power of transmitting unit, emission mode, antenna type, direction and even height. Time of reception is not indicated, unfortunately. Address: Cyprus Telecommunications Authority, Head Office, Telecommunications Street, P. O. Box 4929, Nicosia 142, Cyprus (Alexander Polyakov, Tashkent, Uzbekistan, Signal Dec 4 via DXLD) ** DOMINICAN REPUBLIC. -Inconstante: Cima 100, desde Santo Domingo, en 4960 kHz, está bastante irregular. Dicha irregularidad permite la escucha clara y fuerte de Radio Nacional de Angola en 4950 kHz [q.v.] (Adán González, Catia La Mar, VENEZUELA, Dec 4, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ECUADOR. Since something else is always going on when DXPL is now scheduled, I have been waiting to hear it ondemand, but none of the November editions are there, except now the latest, Nov. 30, including the JSWC anniversary special 14 minutes into the file. Obtain via: http://www.hcjb.org/english/dxpl/dxplaudio.php Of course, previous week they did the special combined DX/Amigos, and before that perennial newbie shows. Strangely enough, tho one may supposedly `listen now` with a .ram file, that is not found; you have to download the .rm file. HCJB DXPL JSWC Special, again: see JAPAN non (Glenn Hauser, Dec 4, DX LISTENING DIGEST) See also below Canada relay ** ECUADOR/CANADA. Glenn, I made mention of HCJB's new relay via Sackville in the EDXP "Broadcast Monitor" of last week, but unsure whether you noted that item [yes --- gh]. Sackville is on 12025 (replacing Rampisham) 2100-2230. The usual RCI ID tape is played briefly from about 2058, then into HCJB programming. Good signals here in Melbourne (Bob Padula, Victoria, Dec 3, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** EL SALVADOR. 17835.3, R. Imperial, 11/27 2252-0035+ Religious vocals, M announcer after each song with slogan, e.g. "810 AM, donde La Palabra de Dios es Vida". Good on peaks but fady. Two Sonsonate restaurant ads at 0027; at 0032, announcer talked about new transmitter and mentioned Apartado Postal 56, probably asking for contributions. After this nice peak, faded down for good, although still detectable past 0100. Tnx to postings in Cumbre and elsewhere (John Wilkins, Wheat Ridge, Colorado. Drake R-8, 100-foot random wire, Cumbre DX Dec 3 via DXLD) Amazing it could be detectable after 0100, when NHK direct from Japan is on 17835, starting IS a few minutes earlier (gh, DXLD) ** EL SALVADOR. I have heard the carrier numerous times and traces of audio, but now a real log of R. Imperial, Dec 3: At 2201 tuned in to 17835.3, stepped up to 17836 on the receiver to avoid splash from 17830, fair signal, but low modulation with praise music; 2202 some talk, but deep fades. In next 15 minutes all I could get was a mailing address in the US, probably a syndicated preacher. Stayed with it, and fade up at 2218 for ID ``La bendición de dios...Radio Imperial, 810 ... 17835.`` Again at 2223, another hymn; after another fadedown, back up for another ID at 2239, but again poorly audible. Better at 2244 with brief ID, ``R. Imperial, 810 AM y 17850 onda corta.`` Tropical music, unseems gospel, but can`t be sure since it`s instrumental. Now I could tape some good IDs, another at 2247; 2252 ID only as ``810 AM``. 2254, upbeat song with refrain ``El amor de Jesús``. 2256 long live announcement but fading; 2258 another ID and at 2259 apparently giving their ``mission statement``, and offering to send out authorized emissaries to pick up ofrendas in colones, but preferably received by mail (so they trust the post more than their own emissaries??). 2304, timecheck for 5:03, date as 3 de diciembre; 2310 aleluya song, and so on... It appears R. Imperial has beefed up their power, but it`s still rather marginal, not helped by their undermodulation. Now, if they had some genuine news or commentary about what`s going on in El Salvador and Central America, even if monolingual, let alone anything secular, it would be worth listening to again (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** FINLAND. CABBIES MUST PAY TO LISTEN TO RADIO AP 04 Dec 02 FINLAND'S Supreme Court has ruled that taxi drivers must pay royalty fees if they play music in their car while a paying customer is in the back seat, even if it's just the radio. The case, based on one driver's refusal to pay, is likely to set a precedent for the nearly 9,500 cab drivers in the Nordic country. Under the ruling, a cab driver in Finland must pay 22 euros (about $40) annually for playing music while transporting a fare. "The sum is fairly small ... but, of course, higher expenses result in higher prices for customers," said Nina Nizovsky of the Finnish Taxi Association, the country's taxi driver union. The issue of royalties arose when Lauri Luotonen, working in southern Finland, refused to pay a bill from the Finnish Copyright Society, Teosto, in 1997 and 1998 (via Kim Elliott, DXLD) What if they are just using the radio to DX, mainly foreign stations? (gh, DXLD) ** FINLAND. The Scandinavian Weekend Radio has just issued a new, beautiful QSL-card showing their transmitter in the Villat forest at sunset. They are expected back from Friday Dec 06 at 2200 – Saturday Dec 07 at 2200 in Finnish and English on two of these frequencies at various times: 5980, 5990, 6170, 11690 and 11720 (Anker Petersen, Denmark, DSWCI DX Window Dec 4 via DXLD) ** GERMANY. Deutsche Welle has printed a new, colourful QSL-card to celebrate its 50th anniversary in 2003 (Anker Petersen, Denmark, DSWCI DX Window Dec 4 via DXLD) ** GERMANY. DEUTSCHE WELLE TO START DIGITAL SW BROADCASTS IN JUNE 2003 | Text of press release in English by Deutsche Welle on 3 December Cologne, 3 December: From June 2003, Germany's international broadcaster, Deutsche Welle (DW), will transmit programmes in digital shortwave. This was announced by DW's Director General, Erik Bettermann, at a conference of Eastern European representatives of the Digital Radio Mondiale (DRM) consortium held on 3 December 2002 in Cologne. Bettermann predicted that digital broadcasting will globally revolutionize long, medium and shortwave radio: digital shortwave has near-FM quality sound and reception disturbances such as interference, static and signal fading will no longer be perceptible. This could inaugurate a "global radio renaissance". The director general of Germany's international broadcaster emphasized that DW can continue to use existing transmitters after technical modifications. Furthermore, digital transmission will cut energy costs by more than 50 per cent. At the official launch of DRM at the World Administrative Radio Conference in June 2003, DW will first initiate digital shortwave programmes in Europe and the Middle East. The required conversion of two transmitters at the relay station in Sines, Portugal will have been completed by then. From June 2003, DW plans to broadcast 8.5 programme hours daily in DRM standard in the languages German, English and Arabic to the target regions of Central, Eastern and Southern Europe as well as the Middle East. The second stage will expand the programme hours and languages for these target regions and introduce additional programmes for Asia. For this purpose, according to Bettermann, a transmitter at the relay station in Trincomalee, Sri Lanka, will be converted by 2003, making it possible to receive a total of six daily programme hours in German, English, Bengali, Urdu, Pashto and Dari in Asia. The director general stressed that realization of the planned DRM launch is subject to DW's budgetary situation. If market developments allow, DRM broadcasts are planned for America in the year 2005. This would require that further transmitters - for example in Antigua and Kigali, Rwanda - are converted. Bettermann explained that establishment of the new technology on the market will require that many radio stations broadcast in DRM in the same target region and that the market offers suitable receivers at affordable prices. The long-term strategy of DW for the launch of DRM broadcasts will be aligned to that of the DRM Consortium and its members as well as other radio stations. "In a unifying Europe we must attempt to optimize the transmission capacities of larger international broadcasters by forming European programme groups," said Bettermann. DRM is a global consortium with 74 members from 29 nations that was founded in 1998 to develop a digital system for long, medium and shortwave radio. As a founding member, DW has been there from the beginning and holds the chairmanship for the third time. DRM is the only system recommended by the International Telecommunications Union (ITU) and its 190 member countries and has already been internationally standardized. [For more information contact] Werner Neven, Tel: +49 221 389 3104, fax: +49 221 389 3120, http://www.dw- world.de/english Source: Deutsche Welle press release, Cologne, in English 3 Dec 02 (via BBCM; also DW via Rachel Baughn, MT via DXLD) Here the original dpa news item: DEUTSCHE WELLE WILL AB JUNI DIGITAL AUF KURZWELLE SENDEN Hamburg/Köln (dpa) - Die Deutsche Welle (DW) wird ab Juni 2003 zunächst in Europa und Nahost in digitaler Kurzwelle ausstrahlen. Insgesamt werde die DW täglich 8,5 Programmstunden in den Sprachen Deutsch, Englisch und Arabisch in der neuen Technik senden, kündigte DW-Intendant Erik Bettermann am Dienstag in Köln an. Die dafür erforderliche Umrüstung von zwei Sendern auf der Relaisstation Sines (Portugal) sei bis dahin erfolgt. In einem zweiten Schritt sollen die Programmstunden und Sprachen für diese Zielgebiete ausgeweitet und zusätzlich Digital-Sendungen für Asien eingeführt werden. Die Umsetzung hänge jedoch vor allem auch von der DW-Etatlage ab. Bettermann betonte, dass der Hörfunk im Lang-, Mittel- und Kurzwellenbereich durch die digitale Ausstrahlung von Sendungen revolutioniert werde. Störende Empfangseffekte wie Interferenzen und Rauschen seien dann nicht mehr bemerkbar. Dies können eine Voraussetzung für die "Renaissance des Hörfunks in aller Welt" sein. ©dpa 031613 Dez 02 (via Kai Ludwig, DXLD) Deutsche Welle DRM transmissions: Another text from an unknown source (but it looks like a press release) says that the DRM transmissions to Asia would be carried out by a transmitter at Trincomalee which had to be modified in 2003. It would transmit in DRM mode for six hours a day, programming would be in German, English, Bengali, Urdu, Pashto and Dari. DRM transmissions "for America" are planned for 2005 "if the development of the market justifies this". The text also quotes another Bettermann statement I would translate as follows: "It must be tried to optimize the transmission capacities of the large foreign services in Europe by establishing European program streams." Ah-yes, they want to "optimize". What do they want to close and shut down? And Bettermann expects a "renaissance of radio all over the world". I would say this is a matter of content, not a matter of engineering (Kai Ludwig, Germany, Dec 4, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** HONG KONG. 3940, R. TV Hong Kong. Nice QSL cards were received for the special broadcasts in October. Address used: Broadcasting House, 30 Broadcast Drive, Kowloon. On the envelope was written in Chinese and English: ``On Government Service``. ``Smoking is hazardous to health``. ``With care this envelope can be re-used many times use economy labels`` (Van Arnhem & Petersen, DSWCI DX Window Dec 4 via DXLD) ** INDIA. I noted whilst tuning below 10 MHz that All India Radio is again back on 9950 in English at 2100z. Signal strength is 9+ as is the audio. No spurs heard so looks as if they have located them . The awful AIR signal on 9575 is there but the audio is so muddy as is the frequency stability in parallel with 9950 (Robin Harwood, Norwood, northern Tasmania, RX Yaesu FRG 7700; Icom R70, Dec 4, swl via DXLD) ** INDIA. 36250 1042 Nov 7, 5 x 7250 AIR Gorakhpur. Indian vocals with soft melody, 4x3 with 7250 4x3. Still 4x3 at 1050. 73's (David Vitek, Adelaide South Australia, 34.59S 138.32E, icdx australia via harmonics yahoogroup via DXLD) ** INTERNATIONAL VACUUM. Bad news below but happily tonight things are better - Caroline is back live broadcasting from the WorldSpace UK offices at at 4-6 Soho Square, London W1. Excellent programming as well (Mike Terry, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Here was last night's shock news: The latest news from Caroline Central http://www.carolinecentral.com The UK based Caroline was pulled off the air mid sentence at 23:30 on Tuesday 3rd December. All that remains is the automated playout system based at WorldSpace in London, which is streaming to hundreds of WorldSpace subscribers and to those who listen via the internet. The original Maidstone based programming via Astra has now ceased, as originally revealed exclusively by Caroline Central. The closure of the UK service does not affect the Netherlands based Caroline service, which continues to feed both the internet and the cabled homes with high quality popular programming. It had been intended to continue a special closure show hosted by Nigel Harris until midnight. However, all fell silent 30 minutes ahead of schedule. UK Caroline programming is now replaced by a selection of 'oldies' sequencing from a computer based at WorldSpace. WorldSpace subscribers have the added treat of being able to hear entire songs uninterrupted by DJs or the start of the subsequent song from the playout system. However, attempts are being made to set up live studios within the WorldSpace building to supplement the automation system. Security has been stepped up within UK Caroline to ensure plans are not revealed to the public. Conflicting reports suggest that UK Caroline programming will return via a digital satellite outlet used more commonly to beam programming into 'Sky Digital' homes. This outlet will be part time and operated in partnership with religious organisations, once funding has been raised by Peter Moore, the entrepreneur trading as Radio Caroline in the UK. A target date for this service is January 2nd, although this may not be achieved. http://www.carolinecentral.com/news/45.html Want to comment on this story? Talk about it on The Caroline Community by hitting 'Respond' or e-mailing caroline@carolinecentral.com News you wish to share? E-mail it to newsdesk@carolinecentral.com. (via Mike Terry, DXLD) ** IRAN [non]. 3975.0, Voice of Iranian Kurdistan, Sulaymaniyah, Iraq, Nov 29 & 30, 1505-1630*, Kurdish news, political talks, ID: ``Aira dangi Kurdistan Irana``, songs; 1530 Farsi news, songs, ID: ``Seda-ye Kordestan-e Iran``, political talks; 1600 Kurdish ID, news and songs. 25243. Moved here from 3985 to avoid QRM from CNR2 and VOIRI (Anker Petersen, Denmark, DSWCI DX Window via DXLD) ** IRAQ. 11785.2, Rep. of Iraq R., Baghdad, Nov 28, 1630-1715*, Arabic talks and Arab songs, 1702 mentioned Baghdad, poor modulation 32332. At about 1650 the transmitter was off for 45 seconds and the cause for the low heterodyne was heard: BSKSA Holy Qur`an // 13710 on 11785.0. That station signed off at 1700*, but their open carrier continued till past 1940! (Anker Petersen, Denmark, DSWCI DX Window via DXLD) ** IRAQ. ANALYSIS: US LEAFLET DROPS OVER IRAQ STEP UP THE PROPAGANDA WAR | Text of editorial analysis by Peter Feuilherade of BBC Monitoring's Foreign Media Unit on 4 December Aircraft of the US-UK coalition on 2 December carried out their sixth leaflet drop in two months over the no-fly zone in southern Iraq, warning Iraqi soldiers not to fire on patrolling allied aircraft. The leaflet drops have led to growing speculation that the US will soon step up its psychological operations, or psy-ops, campaign in the region by starting clandestine radio broadcasts targeted at the Iraqi people. In the latest leaflet drop, 240,000 leaflets written in Arabic were dropped over communications facilities located between Kut and Nasiriyah, south-east of Baghdad. These sites had been damaged or destroyed by coalition strikes the previous day. Three separate leaflets were used: two urged the Iraqi military not to repair the communication equipment and facilities that help to track and engage coalition aircraft, while the third said that threatening coalition aircraft may result in more air strikes. Propaganda broadcasts likely next step According to the December 2002 issue of the US publication Monitoring Times, high technology will play a large part in bombarding Baghdad, and not just with sophisticated weaponry. After Iraqi communications are disabled through a mixture of traditional bombs and new technical efforts to neutralise communications, the empty Iraqi airwaves would then be bombarded with messages sent from specialized airborne broadcasting stations or well-situated terrestrial stations. The broadcasts would reinforce the messages contained in leaflet drops urging Iraqi military leaders to defect or rise up against President Saddam Husayn, said the New York Times in mid-October, citing Pentagon officials. "The idea is... to isolate the Iraqi leadership who are hiding in bunkers," John Pike of the think tank Globalsecurity.org told the Washington Post newspaper. The broadcasts would come from specially equipped Commando Solo aircraft operated by a specialist US psy-ops unit. The EC-130E Commando Solo is a modified four-engine Hercules transport aircraft equipped to broadcast simultaneous high-power mediumwave, shortwave, FM and TV signals. The planes can also jam or override local transmissions, in an effort to persuade listeners to tune to the propaganda frequencies. The 193rd Special Operations Wing, part of the USAF Special Operations Command, operates six of these aircraft from its base in Middletown, Pennsylvania. Over the years, the unit has carried out missions in Vietnam, South Korea, Panama, Puerto Rico, Haiti, the Persian Gulf and Serbia. Most recently, it was in action over Afghanistan, broadcasting propaganda messages to the local population and Taleban fighters. As well as the airborne broadcasts, the US will use ground transmitters in Kuwait and elsewhere in the Gulf to beam anti-Saddam programming to the Iraqi people. Other voices Iraqis can hear But the message from Washington will not be the only outside voice addressing Iraqi hearts and minds. Although the domestic media in Iraq are state-controlled and satellite TV is unavailable to the vast majority, Iraqi listeners can still tune their radios to many stations from abroad offering them news and analysis from a wide range of political viewpoints. As well as established and trusted broadcasts in Arabic including the BBC and French-run Radio Monte Carlo, the US-funded Radio Sawa is reportedly attracting younger listeners across much of the Middle East with a mixture of Western and Arabic pop music interspersed with short bursts of news. The service, which replaced the Voice of America's Arabic service in spring 2002, has a special programme stream targeted at listeners in Iraq. There are also several radio stations operated by Kurdish factions in northern Iraq, and by Iraqi opposition groups transmitting into Iraq from transmitters in Iran, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and elsewhere. But not all American military analysts are convinced that psychological warfare will succeed. William Arkin, a former army intelligence officer and now a military analyst, said in remarks published in the Baltimore Sun in November 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. Source: BBC Monitoring research 4 Dec 02 (via DXLD) ** IRAQ. In the Iraqi media, the man known elsewhere as U.S. President George W. Bush is called simply "the little George Bush", and the chief ally in Bush's strong stance on Iraq - Britain - is referred to the wagging "tail" of the United States. The news that the Iraqi people get in the government-controlled media is far different from that in the rest of the world - and exactly what President Saddam Hussein wants it to be. Saddam, for example, is always front-page news. Even when he has done nothing the previous day, newspapers still carry old photos of him and state TV reruns his moments of glory, showing him revered by the Iraqi people he rarely sees these days. While Iraqis can get international radio - such as the Arabic service of the BBC, the Paris-based Radio Monte Carlo and the new U.S. government pop music station Radio Sawa - they have little choice in newspapers and television. International publications have been banned since the 1990-91 Gulf War, and satellite dishes are outlawed, too. Cable television exists, but the cost - 280,000 dinars (US$140) for a decoder and 10,000 dinars (US$5) a month - is well beyond an average Iraqi with a monthly income of 20,000 dinars (US$10). There is some relief from all-Iraqi programming. Iraqi TV stations show pirated foreign movies and the Egyptian soap operas popular throughout the Arab world. And newspapers do carry entertainment news. One recent item was about American actress Gwyneth Paltrow ending the period of mourning for her father's death. Another reported that Egyptian actress Leila Elwi loves spending the Muslim holy month of Ramadan with her family. For so-called hard news, most Iraqis are at the mercy of the five daily papers - all under tight control, with one run by the ruling Baath Party and another by Saddam's son, Odai - as well as four state- run TV channels. On these news outlets, stories widely covered elsewhere often get little attention. Internationally, the return of U.N. arms inspectors to Iraq was big news; reporters, TV crews and photographers chased them everywhere. But Iraq's media carried only brief Foreign Ministry announcements listing the sites investigated. Meanwhile, events that barely causes a blip elsewhere can be big news in Iraq. In a recent edition, the daily "Al-Jumhuriya" reported that "a demonstration took place in New Bedford to protest the American threats of military aggression against Iraq" - about a march by about 200 people in New Bedford, Massachusetts (AP via SCDX/MediaScan Dec 4 via DXLD) ** IRELAND. Back in DXLD 2-165, there was an odd posting under "Ireland" from an anonymous contributor claiming that the entire SW spectrum in the country was being jammed by noise transmissions carried via the power distribution grid. I don't recall ever seeing any followup to this or more info on it. Was this just a spurious report or was there something to it? Any data on this from anyone else? 73, Will Martin, MO, Dec 3, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Not a word has reached me. I suppose the grid could be very `dirty` RF-wise, but the comment implied it was deliberate (gh, DXLD) ** IRELAND. Irish Volmet station SHANNON-AERADIO: 13264 (USB). QSL- folder in 55 days. QSL-folder printed on both sides of A4 sheet. It contains basic info and frequency schedule of three SHANNON-VOLMET services: High Frequency Radio, Search & Rescue and Volmet. Besides QSL, enclosed a letter and Irish Aviation Authority materials. Address: Operations Manager, IAA/ACD, Shannon Aeradio, Ballygirreen, NOF, Co. Clare, Ireland (Alexander Polyakov, Tashkent, Uzbekistan, Signal Dec 4 via DXLD) ** ISRAEL. Finally got around to checking report that Israel Radio had already moved to 6280. Dec 3 at 2050, Spanish (and hence English at 2000), was still barely audible on 11605, which 6280 was supposed to replace, and parallel 9435. Not audible on 6280, but probably would not have been propagating here even if it were on yet (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ITALY. Here's a description of the new QSL series of RAI International: 1. Etna (Sicily). By night. 2. Vesuvio (Naples). Aerial view. 3. Stromboli (South Italy). Sunset eruption. 4. Vulcano (South Italy). Crater. (Vladimir Doroshenko, Dneprodzerzhinsk, Ukraine, Signal Dec 3 via DXLD) ** JAPAN. 3925, NSB1, Sapporo, Nov 17, 18 & 19, 0915 and 2100, Japanese programmes, ID: ``Radio Tampa`` (which means Radio Shortwave! Ed), is active again // 6055 and 9595. 35543. 3945 was still off! (Roland Schulze, Philippines, DSWCI DX Window Dec 4 via DXLD) How do you know this 3925 is Sapporo? Per WRTH 1998, that frequency can also be Tokyo (or rather, Nagara/Chiba east of Tokyo). At that time, Sapporo used 3925 only between 2300 and 0800 (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) NSB R. Tampa was positively IDed on 6115 \\ better 9760 at 0755 Dec 1 when playing a Beatles song - 6055 was better til SVK came on - \\ 9595, which was peaking S7 at times with usual flutter and echo. Still no trace on 75 mb (Noel R. Green, UK, BC-DX via DXLD) Used to be regular on 3925, 3945 here before and around sunrise; must check (gh, Enid, DXLD) ** JAPAN [non]. Last week I told you that the special broadcast in commemoration of the 50th anniversary of Japan Short Wave Club (JSWC) would be held on last weekend from "DX Partyline" in the English service of HCJB World Radio. According to this program I heard, the broadcast for our club will be held once again on the next weekend Dec 7-8 (Nobuya Kato, A volunteer staff of JSWC 50th anniversary project via Johno Wright, Dec 3, ARDXC via DXLD) ** KURDISTAN [non]. 15675, Voice of Mesopotamia, via Tashkent, Nov 28, 0730-1300*, Kurdish dialects. On the Hour: news about Iraq, often mentions Mesopotamia, usual I/S-tune with singing woman, 1155 and 1259 ID's: "Denge Mezopotamia" by man. A lot of the programmes were with local songs and instrumental music. 35333. Continued after *1300 on 11530 with similar programmes (Anker Petersen, Denmark, DSWCI DX Window Dec 4 via DXLD) ** KUWAIT. Voice of America is now using Kuwait for Persian 1500-2030 on 1593, has been heard UK evenings (Mike Barraclough, UK, BC-DX Dec 1 via DXLD) Soon to be Farda, I suppose ** LEBANON [non]. V. of Free Lebanon, 11515: Their website is http://www.tayyar.org/ It belongs to the FPM. This is a cover organization for General Michel Aoun living in exile in Paris. Most web-texts and spoken texts are in Arabic. Their address is: Rassemblement Pour Le Liban, 63 Rue Sainte Anne, 75002 PARIS, France. The supporting organization in the U.S.A. is the Council of Lebanese American Organizations with website: http://www.clao.com (Ed. Anker Petersen, DSWCI DX Window Dec 4 via DXLD) Comment: Is the appearance of the [clandestine] station a coincidence with the US-IRQ war plans in 2003? to mix up ruling parties in Near East [ex Osmanic] countries again. Maybe will result in a new founded Kurdistan country, 80 years after the unfinished peace treaty of Lausanne, when Kurdistan people has been forgotten in 1922 (Wolfgang Büschel, Germany, BC-DX Dec 3 via DXLD) ** MAURITANIA. Further checking 4845: UT Tue Dec 3, Qur`an lasted until 0657:45 when a brief announcement by woman was apparent sign- off; open carrier until 0711:00* To my ear, she was speaking a very heavy dialect of Arabic, or a vernacular with heavy Arabic influence; I thought I heard something like `Mauritania` mentioned, not that there be any doubt about identity. BTW, I have seen reports that there is still more slavery per capita in this country, than anywhere else. Think what could be accomplished if the cost of 1/5 of 250+ kW-hour every morning be applied to something socially constructive. Bet you thought the slavery remark was going to be off-topic... Perhaps DXers should boycott them? Naah, QSLs are too important (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** MAURITANIA. 9605 There was a recent report saying Nouakchott was presumably heard fading out 0705 under some QRM. I checked this frequency Dec 02 at 0710, and all I could receive on 9605 was a strong Vatican R signal with French programme to Africa. It's been quite, really QUITE some time since I last heard Mauritania on 31 meters. Any observations around ? (Carlos Gonçalves, Portugal, DSWCI DX Window Dec 4 via DXLD) It is more than four years ago since it was reported! (DSWCI Ed) ** MEXICO. 6010, Radio Mil, Mexico City, Nov 30, 0736-0753, romantic vocals followed by an ID at 0744 ("Radio Mil, música romantica") and more vocals. Fair with some splatter from Colombian (Rich D`Angelo, PA, DSWCI DX Window via DXLD) I am happy to learn that the very enjoyable R Mil is not completely off SW, as I feared when I was unable to hear it in Mexico City a month ago. I was very surprised, because two years ago I could hear it strongly on 6010 when I also passed Mexico City. I wonder, if they still are on the air 24 hours a day on 6010 ? (DSWCI Ed. Anker Petersen, ibid. via DXLD) ** MONGOLIA. Nov 3, 35440, 0617, R. Free Asia via Mongolia, 2 x 17720. Up to 4 x 4, ever present QRN, mixing with presumed CRI on 17720, but on its own on 35440, free of QRM (David Vitek, Adelaide South Australia, 34.59S 138.32E, icdx australia via harmonics yahoogroup via DXLD) ** OMAN. Glenn, do you have, or have a link to, the new mailing address for BBC Oman? With the move to the mainland, I'm sure they've closed the Masirah address by now. Thanks, (Gerry Bishop, FL, Dec 3, DX LISTENING DIGEST) I don`t pay much attention to station addresses and do not keep a specific file on them. Possibly has been mentioned in recent DXLD items on OMAN which can be searched; or maybe someone else knows (gh, DXLD) Thanks. I haven't seen it in DXLD yet, or any of the other popular sites and pubs. So I plea for this little missing data (Bishop, ibid.) ** PARAGUAY. Sin rastro: Radio Nacional del Paraguay lleva ya varias semanas sin utilizar la frecuencia de 9737.1 kHz, desde su más reciente reactivación, el pasado 6/09 (Adán González, Catia La Mar, VENEZUELA, Dec 4, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** POLAND/GDANSK. Polish coastal station GDYNIA RADIO: 13122 (USB). QSL card in 65 days. Card printed on a small white paper sheet; nevertheless, it contains all necessary data. Also was enclosed a postcard with a view of a beach in Karwii. Address: Telekomunikacja Polska S. A., Radiokomunikacyjne Centrum Odbiorcze w Rekowie, 84-123, Palehowo, Poland (Alexander Polyakov, Tashkent, Uzbekistan, Signal Dec 4 via DXLD) May as well declare DANZIG a separate radio country (gh) ** ROMANIA [non]. Re Guaíba [BRAZIL] and RRI: Oi Célio. Tudo bem contigo. Tenho recebido e lido com atenção todos os e-mails que tens mandado. A Rádio Romênia nunca me mandou resposta e, eu precisaria de mais detalhes de como acessar o site deles. Continuo aguardando. O comentário enviado ao Glenn é real. É isto mesmo que acontece. Eu entendo Relay como transmissão de rádio em cadeia, o que não aconteceria. A Rádio Guaíba usa trechos, entrevistas, etc., bem como comentastes. Um abraço (Rui Strelow, R. Guaíba? Dec 2 via Célio Romais, DXLD) ** RUSSIA. NG: Does anyone hear Yoshkar-Ola these days? OA: No Yoshkar-Ola any more. They went off months ago and have not returned. NG: Rossii via 7250 appeared at c0805 after VAT had departed - I note Rudnev says "Moscow" while HFCC says "SRP" - perhaps means the same? Another one listed for 0 degrees. OA: SRP [Serpukhov] is one of the ghost sites in the Moscow area. The actual site is Noginsk, using a 100 kW rig, according to R Rossii, reportedly using a rhombic antenna. The 0 deg beam is also found on 5910. The same R Rossii source from Feb 2001 also confirms that the two Taldom rigs (formerly SSB) are 250 kW. The site is called Severnyy, which is the village at the Taldom site. Finally this source confirms that 9720 was changed to Kurovskaya, 100 kW. This site is called Avsionino, also a nearby village (Noel R. Green-UK/Olle Alm-SWE, BC-DX Nov 28 via DXLD) ** RUSSIA Voice of Russia "Sodruzhestvo" special service for CIS and Baltic States, all programs in Russian: 1400-1500 6045 6185 7105 7365 1500-1600 5995 6045 6185 7105 7170 7365 7445 12015 1600-1700 5995 6045 6185 7170 7440 7445 9470 12015 1700-1800 5995 6045 6185 7155 7170 7445 1800-1900 5995 6045 6185 7155 7170 7445 1900-2000 6045 7170 7445 Some interesting religious and clandestine stations using Russian sites B02: IBRA Radio 2000-2115 5935 Samara True Light Station/IBRA Radio 1200-1330 5895 Petropavlovsk Voice of Hope (High Adventure Ministries) 1200-1500 7485 Novosibirsk Fang Guang Ming Radio 2100-2200 6035 9945 Samara Voice of Khmer Krom 1400-1500 11560 Vladivostok Tuesdays only Herald Broadcasting 1200-1300 9880 Komsomolsk, 1300-1400 7460 Irkutsk IBC Tamil 0000-0100 7460 Novosibirsk Voice of Biafra International 1900-2000 12125 Krasnodar Saturdays only University Network 0400-1700 17765 Samara (Nikolai Rudnev, Russia, Dec NASWA Listeners Notebook via editor Al Quaglieri, DXLD) ** RUSSIA [non]. OHR Russian Woodpecker at Poltava, Ukraine: http://www.briz.ru/foto.asp?ID=86 (Horst, A-DX Nov 30 via BC-DX via DXLD) This link didn`t work but the BRIZ antenna company site looks rather interesting with lots of participation, including a yahoo discussion group --- in Russian, of course (gh, DXLD) ** SLOVAKIA. Hi all, nothing new last night, but a reappearance of 2 "old friends" 2070 kHz, Slovensko Radio 1, Banska-bystrica //1098, 2 x 1035 2106 kHz, Slovensko R, Banska-bystrica, 3 x 702 Again a very high noise level masking the weak stuff. All the best (Tim Bucknall, UK, Dec 3, harmonics yahoogroup via DXLD) ** SRI LANKA. DW DRM plans: See GERMANY ** SWEDEN. RADIO SWEDEN --- Coming up on Radio Sweden: Thursday: In "Nordic Lights" Sweden and EU expansion, Finland and NATO, allegations of drug abuse within the Norwegian Olympic team, and a Danish-Swedish photo exhibit Friday: Our weekly review Saturday: "Network Europe" takes up the European single currency, and the controversy here over a TV presenter who wants to wear a chador on camera Sunday: In "Sounds Nordic", the final countdown for meeting our surprise guest [why never mention Monday, Tuesday, or Wednesday? Too far in the fuzzy future, or no particular topics planned? Bill Brady says check Monday when there may be something media-orientated] Don't forget our extensive reporting on the Nobel Prizes, culminating with our coverage of the awards ceremonies here and in Oslo on December 10th. Coming up during the holiday season: December 23: "SportScan" delves into the world of handball, and we speak to one of the country's most promising skiiers December 24: In our Christmas Eve special we visit the Norwegian capital Oslo, looking at Sweden and Norway's common past December 25: "The search for Santa" -- we tracked him down and found he's set up camp in Sweden December 26: An excursion through music at work and public places, over the centuries December 27: Weekly review December 28: "Studio 49" December 29: "Sounds Nordic" Best of 2002 December 30: SportScan Annual Review December 31: Review of 2002 January 1: New Year's Special about Swedish chefs, no longer synonymous with the Muppets January 3: Weekly Review January 4: "Network Europe" January 5: "In Touch With Stockholm" special featuring a section of questions and comments aired in 2002 January 6: Review of 2002 (George Wood, SCDX/MediaScan Dec 4 via DXLD) ** SWITZERLAND. See CUBA ** UKRAINE. RADIO UKRAINE INTERNATIONAL PLANS TO ADD FREQUENCIES IN JANUARY According to the Web site of Radio Ukraine International, the station's shortwave presence is due to be boosted on 1 January 2003 when a new schedule comes into operation. Current restrictions to the shortwave service are said to be due to unpaid electricity bills, and the station is broadcasting regularly from only one shortwave site (Khar`kiv). Programmes in English and German are currently restricted to a single frequency, but from 1 January up to four frequencies are listed for foreign language services, when transmissions from two other sites (Mykolaiv and Kyiv) are due to be reintroduced. High power (1000 kW) transmissions to North America from Mykolaiv are set to resume between 0000 and 0500 UTC on 9810 kHz. Some transmissions - presumably tests - have recently been reported on this frequency. All other transmissions are 100 kW (© Radio Netherlands Media Network 3 Dec 2002 via DXLD) The page where current and future schedules are given starts with a CIRAF map: http://www.nrcu.gov.ua/eng/program/vsru/world_map.php3 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U K. Caroline: see INTERNATIONAL VACUUM ** U K. http://media.guardian.co.uk/radio/story/0,12636,848252,00.html PUBLIC SERVICE RADIO: PHOENIX OR ALBATROSS? The 2002 James Cameron Memorial Lecture, delivered at City University, London, on 25 November 2002, by Jenny Abramsky, the BBC director of radio and music Tuesday November 26, 2002 ------------------------------------ MediaGuardian.co.uk | Media diary BIRT'S RADIO DAZE The James Cameron lecture given by the BBC's head of radio, Jenny Abramsky, was notable for its devastating attack on almost everything John Birt tried to do to radio while BBC director general. His autobiography is, as several reviewers have observed, not short on self-congratulation. Revealing that his decision to "modernise" the World Service came to him "on Annapurna", he complains of the Guardian's (successful) campaign to save it, lashing out at "hundreds of eminent, uninformed folk from the ranks of serial protesters offering knee-jerk support for the status quo". Presumably he is referring to such people as John Tusa, Lord Runcie, John McCarthy, Terry Waite, Denis Healey, John Peel, Chief Emeka Anyaoku, Paul Oestreicher, Ben Okri, Sir Anthony Parsons and Shirley Williams? (via Daniel Say, swprograms via DXLD) ** UNITED NATIONS [non]. UN RADIO PROGRAMME DEBUTS ON WORLD RADIO NETWORK A weekday English programme from United Nations Radio launched on the World Radio Network (WRN) on 2 December. The 15-minute programme is produced in New York by eight journalists from seven countries. Edwina Jarvis, Network Presentation Manager at WRN, believes the daily UN Radio programme also offers WRN listeners a vital perspective on the developing situation in Iraq. "With the eyes of the world now on the weapons inspectors in Iraq, UN Radio will keep WRN's listeners updated with both developments on the ground and in the Security Council. With the Council set to receive Iraq's own report on its major weapons systems on December 8, and the UN Radio team following the story as it moves into the Council chamber, it is timely that the programmes starts broadcasting on WRN." The UN Radio programme is broadcast at 2030 UTC weekdays on WRN's English networks for Europe, Africa/Middle East, Asia Pacific and South America and at 0100 UTC weekdays on WRN's English network for North America (Source: WRN press release 2 Dec 2002 via Media Network 3 Dec 2002 via DXLD) ** U S A. Just listening to Radio Farda (ex-Radio Azadi) 15290 at 0620. So it looks like the change in slogan and formatting has changed. The music was certainly more "poppy" than I would have expected on R Azadi. Also audible on //17675 though not as strong here in the South Pacific. Radio Farda does have a web-site though it's still under construction... http://www.radiofarda.com/ Presumably, they're using R Azadi's sked : [see further below for a friendlier version] 9585 0430-0800 12015 0430-0600 15290 0430-0830 17675 0600-0800 15515 0700-0830 9510 0800-0830 17835 0800-0830 9435 1400-1700 11730 1400-1700 15410 1400-1700 6140 1900-2000 11960 1900-2100 11985 1900-2100 9785 2000-2100 Farsi Broadcast to Europe 7165 2000-2300 9835 2000-2300 Cheers, (Paul Ormandy, Host of The South Pacific DX Report, http://radiodx.com Dec 3, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Yeah, I was wondering why they said it would start in `mid-December` when Azadi would already close by Dec 2 – leaving quite a gap (gh, DXLD) Just listening to Radio Farda (ex-Radio Azadi) 15290 at 0620. So it looks like the change in slogan and formatting has changed. The music was certainly more "poppy" than I would have expected on R Azadi. Also audible on //17675 though not as strong here in the South Pacific (Paul Ormandy, later) Hello from New Zealand. Have been hearing Radio Farda here at good level on 17675, 15290 and 9585 up till 0829. Does anyone have an e- mail address for them? Regards, (Ian Cattermole, Dec 3, Cumbre DX via DXLD) Paul, Are you hearing anything other than IDs and music? I'd be very surprised if they've actually started full programming yet. According to earlier information from BBG there was supposed to be a two week break before the new service started. My hunch is that these are promotional transmissions. But of course, I could be wrong as I so often am :-) (Andy Sennitt, hard-core-dx via DXLD) The 1900z broadcast was back to Radio Azadi, so it looks like it was a Radio Farda test... Cheers, (Paul Ormandy, New Zealand, Dec 4, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Should I be the first one to report that Radio Farda is on air now? And indeed still also on 7165 and 9835, the Morocco outlets aiming at Europe. For your own impression here two minutes prior to 2259 cut-off on 7165 (Kai Ludwig, Germany, Dec 3, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Radio Farda has now begun broadcasting, it was first logged today by Paul Ormandy in NZ. For more info, check out http://www.dxing.info/news/index.dx#farda Currently (at 0825 UT) I'm listening to Radio Farda on 9585, 15290 and 17675 kHz. This will soon end, and the next transmission is scheduled to start at 1400. I still picked up also Radio Azadi on 17675 kHz this morning at 0730 UT, so it seems that the transfer over to Radio Farda is not yet complete - or they just used a wrong feed. Here is the schedule of Radio Azadi, which should now become Radio Farda: FA RFE RL12 0430 0830 KAV 04 15290 095 FA RFE RL12 0430 0600 KAV 02 12015 112 FA RFE RL12 0430 0830 LAM 06 9585 096 FA RFE RL12 0600 0730 KAV 02 17675 100 FA RFE RL12 0730 0830 MOR 01 17675 075 FA RFE RL12 1400 1700 WOF 04 15410 105 FA RFE RL12 1400 1500 LAM 03 11730 108 FA RFE RL12 1400 1700 KAV 08 9435 104 FA RFE RL12 1500 1700 LAM 03 11730 108 FA RFE RL12 1900 2100 BIB 06 11985 105 FA RFE RL12 1900 2000 KAV 08 11960 095 FA RFE RL12 1900 2000 DB 07 6140 264 FA RFE RL12 2000 2100 UDO 07 11960 300 FA RFE RL12 2000 2100 UDO 03 9785 300 FA RFE RL14 2000 2300 MOR 05 9835 035 FA RFE RL14 2000 2300 MOR 10 7165 019 The full BBG schedule can be found at http://sds.his.com:4000/fmds_w/schedules/cur_langsked.txt In the DXing.info Audio section under USA at http://www.dxing.info/audio/index_usa.dx you can also find sample station identifications of Radio Farda and Radio Azadi (DXing.info Dec 3 via DXLD) ** U S A. ANDERSON INDICTED From http://www.somerset-kentucky.com/search/search_detail.cfm?ID=2024 SOMERSET -- JEFF NEAL A federal Grand Jury in London, Ky., on Wednesday handed down an Indictment of 18 weapons charges against Steve Anderson, who once filled the ham radio airwaves with his white supremacist, hate-filled rhetoric from his Pulaski County home on Elrod-Martin Road. Anderson was arrested last Friday in Cherokee County, N.C., by the ATF and North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation after being a federal fugitive for over 13 months. Anderson had been on the run since Oct. 13, 2001, when he allegedly shot up a Bell County deputy's cruiser during a routine traffic stop. The Indictment against Anderson included charges of "unlawful possession of a machine gun; possession of a firearm during and in relation to a crime of violence and using, carrying, brandishing and discharging a firearm during and in relation to a crime of violence; and possession of unregistered firearms." The Indictment alleges that on or about Oct. 16, 2001, in Pulaski County, Anderson "knowingly and unlawfully" possessed a machine gun, two destructive devices (bombs), a silencer, a sawed-off rifle and 25 other destructive devices not registered in the National Firearms Registration Transfer Record. It also states that Anderson possessed a machine gun and a firearm with a silencer in "furtherance of crimes of violence." It also alleges that on Oct. 14, 2001, in Bell County, Anderson "used, carried, brandished and discharged a semiautomatic assault weapon and possessed six other destructive weapons (pipe bombs) which were not registered to him in the National Firearms Registration Transfer Record. If convicted, the maximum potential penalties are life imprisonment, a $250,000 fine and supervised release for a period of three and not more than five years and forfeiture of the listed firearms. The announcement of the Indictment against Anderson was a joint effort involving Gregory F. Van Tatenhove, United States Attorney for the Eastern District; Karl Stankovic, ATF special agent in charge; and J. Stephen Tidwell, FBI special agent in charge. The investigation preceding the Indictment was conducted by the ATF and the FBI. The Indictment was presented to the Grand Jury by Assistant United States Attorney Martin L. Hatfield. Don York, a spokesman for the ATF in Kentucky, said Anderson's arrest came after an investigation was prompted by a tip received following a Nov. 2 episode of "America's Most Wanted," which re-visited the Anderson case. Anderson was originally featured on the popular FOX-TV program last April. Anderson was a member of Kentucky's militia until April 2001, when he was expelled from the group because he made inflammatory comments about the U.S. government, blacks, Jews and immigrants over an unlicensed radio station he operated from his Pulaski County home. Radio for Peace International, A Costa Rica-based group which monitors short-wave radio broadcasts, labeled Anderson as "the world's most hateful broadcaster" last year. Story created Monday, December 02, 2002 at 11:02 AM. (via Mike Terry, DXLD) ** UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. 3210, WWCR, Nashville TN, Nov 25, 0828- 0850, is being observed fading out little prior to 0900, 25332. Sole 90 meter station audible at such time (Carlos Gonçalves, Portugal, DSWCI DX Window via DXLD) Also the only one audible here around 2300 (Petersen, Denmark, ibid.) ** U S A. A PERSPECTIVE ON THE FCC AND THE DIGITAL RADIO SPECTRUM - WFMU Here's an editorial and news on the prospect of a digital radio in the USA from New York's "free form" radio station and netcaster WFMU. http://www.wfmu.org/boha0212.html#6 Did the RIAA actually lose one? On November 14th, Congress passed a new law called the "Small Webcasters Settlement Act" which encourages the RIAA and its enforcement arm to negotiate new royalty rates for small commercial webcasters by December 15th, and new rates for non-commercial webcasters by May 31, 2003. The exorbitant (CARP) rates will still stand for the largest webcasters. WFMU's Ken Freedman will be part of the group negotiating new rates for college and community broadcasters. Fresh on the heels of it's near defeat in the webcasting space, the RIAA has declared war on the armed forces of the United States. The laptops of about 100 students at the US Naval Academy in Annapolis were confiscated for allegedly containing illegally downloaded music files. Although it tried to distance itself from the raids, the RIAA did indeed initiate the raids, as it continues to pressure educational institutions across the US to take actions against their students for file sharing. Naval officials say they haven`t decided what the consequences will be for any students found guilty, but punishments could range from "loss of leave" to full court-martial. FCC Chairman Michael Powell has been touting an overhaul of the AM, FM and TV bands. In a speech at the University of Colorado, Powell said that "we are still living under a spectrum management regime that is 90 years old." On the surface, Powell's proposals seem promising - software based receivers working with digital spectrum which could result in far more channels for broadcasters and listeners alike. But behind the scenes, the FCC is envisioning new digital spectrums that may have far more channels than the current bands do - but all of the new capacity will be auctioned off the highest bidder, with no set- aside for public service, non-commercial or educational use. Meanwhile, FCC commissioner Michael Copps has his panties all in a wad over the Victoria's Secret fashion show broadcast, which he feels demonstrates a lack of FCC gusto to prosecute broadcasters and Brazilian supermodels for indecency. Copps feels that the amount of indecent programming on the air is related to the amount of consolidation in the radio and TV industries. He will be holding public hearings to demonstrate his contention in the hope of getting Powell's FCC to act on both issues. Al Gore and Tom Daschle blasted Rush Limbaugh and other conservative talk show hosts for creating a climate of hate in the country. Daschle feels that Limbaugh is to blame for threats which he and his family have received. Republican Senator Warren Hatch fired back that if "it weren't for radio, the people of this country would never hear what the real facts are." XM and Sirius, the two companies which offer satellite radio, appear to be going down the tubes, and fast. XM reported major losses (110 million) for the 3rd quarter of 2002, and said they would lay off 80 employees. Sirius meanwhile, lost 120 million in the same quarter. If XM and Sirius declare chapter 7 bankruptcy, some other corporation/s will snap up a nice radio delivery system for cheap (via Pete Costello, DXLD) * U S A. FEWER MEDIA OWNERS, MORE MEDIA CHOICES, By JIM RUTENBERG For decades, public interest advocates have successfully argued for stringent limits on the number of newspapers, radio stations and television outlets that a company can own. They have summoned images of Citizen Kane, or worse, Big Brother, warning that without strict regulation a few powerful corporations could take control of political discourse while homogenizing entertainment and defanging news... http://www.nytimes.com/2002/12/02/business/media/02MEDI.html?ex=1040011984&ei=1&en=5273f1c3cfb9a0c4 (via Richard Cuff, swprograms via DXLD) ** U S A. IBOC Testing tonite on 700 and 710. The digital carriers will be on a minute and off a minute alternating switch times between the two stations tonite only. Possibly more tests in the next couple nights. Just giving those interested a heads up. I am Curious to see any comments. There are several crews out tonite testing (Paul Jellison, Clear Channel, Dec 2, NRC-AM via DXLD) I am curious -- where is this ? (Eric Floden, Vancouver BC, ibid.) Presumably WLW-700 and WOR-710 as before (gh, DXLD) Is that what IBOC sounds like on an adjacent frequency? My oh my, this is the end of AM radio. Grandma isn't gonna buy a new one, and that annoying noise may send her to the TV full time. Mom, either. And the kids are already all FM. AM only for high school football. But, oh yeah, there's no money in those audiences, anyway. I keep forgetting, sorry. I'll take my pill and repeat "IBOC is good. IBOC is the future. IBOC is good." (Gerry Bishop, Nicewithdigitalhissville, FL, UT Dec 3, NRC-AM via DXLD) [Later:] Where, exactly, should I complain? To WGN, getting trashed from WOR's hash? To the FCC? What difference will my view ever make on this? It's a done deal. Yes, the noise is terrible. But who cares? If the FCC ever did, they sure don't now, do they? (Gerry Bishop, Nicecoldandnoiboclocallyville, FL, ibid.) Just a thought... Listen to WGN, wait for some ads, and write to their advertisers (particularly national advertisers who care less how local the audience is. Explain to them that their money is wasted on WGN because of the annoying hiss you're hearing (Rick Kenneally, CT, ibid.) I have checked both 700 and 720 and there is nothing noticed here in the NW. As you know I very much heard the IBOC test on 880. Is WLW testing it too? Don't notice anything on 690 or 710 either, but both have strong signals. 720 KDWN is not a powerhouse and I can hear other stations under them. 73s, (Patrick Martin, Seaside OR, ibid.) [Later at 0418 UT:] The noise (white) would increase on 695 kHz at times. I did not notice it on 705 kHz, though. The 695 kHz noise (6 kHz filter on R8) sounded much like the 890/870 noise from KIXI 880 IBOC test at the NAB convention. I think the noise I am getting is from WLW. WOR nulls this way more and conditions are not good from the East tonight. 73s, (Patrick Martin, Seaside OR, ibid.) OK --- just caught what I believe to be 700 WLW testing just a short while ago. what I heard was the same I've heard on WOR. When the digital carrier is on, the digital carrier almost as loud as the analog programming, listening on channel. The adjacent channels here in north east North Carolina sound for the most part a bit of a static sound pops in on 690, but nothing heard on 710 as of 1045pm Eastern. Listening with a stock radio in a 98 Nissan Sentra (Bob Carter, Operations/Engineering, Max Media Radio Group WGAI-NewsRadio 560 AM Stereo, et al., ibid.) Weak digital artifact over XETRA 690, KWLW 700, and KDWN 720. No digital artifact noted over KUET 710 as its a semi-local and way too powerful. The stations appear to be on and off at intervals of between 1 and 5 minutes or so (Kevin Redding, Mesa AZ, ibid.) Conditions are horrible tonight. WOR is almost listenable. WLW varies from barely audible to fair: Radios and what they are tuned to: Radio Shack DX-398 tuned to 690; Hammarlund HQ-129-X tuned to WLW, antenna half of my 40 meter dipole. (1949 AC DC table set) Philco 49-200 tuned to 700 [5 tube AC DC set with locktals]. GE P780B tuned to 710. 8 transistor hifi late 50's to early 60s portable Zenith Royal 675 transistor tuned to 720. When IBOC was on with WLW, 690 trashed and WOR had annoying hiss in background. When IBOC was on WOR, WGN trashed, and noise on WLW. Any questions? (Powell E. Way III, SC? Ibid.) The Canadian on 690 is being trashed at intervals. The noise on 710 is not as bad. Have it on tape (Paul LaFrenière, Grand Marais, MN 0425 UT, ibid.) Paul, It has to be a lot worse where you are in MN. You are closer than me and if I can hear it the sound must be devastating up north and northeast. Its pretty miserable on an analog receiver. I believe that it will help XM and CDs sell like hotcakes. I was talking to a NON-DXER friend in Westerly, Rhode Island on the phone. He is using a Sangean 505 and he says that some white noise is on and off trashing a station in French on 690 and a station on 720 in Chicago is getting wiped out off and on. I used his description as he really isn't a DXer other than on TV occasionally. I was curious to see what he was hearing. He wasn't too happy. I guess [WLW is testing too] because I am getting stuff on 690 which is loudest for the digital hiss. I am getting some on 720 but not near what is on 690. This IBOC stuff has me very worried for our hobby in the transitional time. Kevin Kevin Mesa, Arizona I cannot imagine this working out. If only two stations are testing IBOC, then what would happen with 10 or 20? This cannot work in the present form. The noise alone in a major city from 6 or 8 stations in IBOC would wipe out everything else on the dial. 73s, Patrick Martin Seaside OR It's not about "everything else on the dial", it's just about "me...me...me" which could be argued if the method had real substantive value, not just an incrementally minor upgrade value, which is all I can see being added from adopting IBOC. And I agree with others such as Kevin who argue basically, it's not the medium, it's the message. And the _message_ we're getting/will get here is not being changed. Example: Scott F. driving into Buffalo in a howling blizzard, needing local weather forecast. Now with IBOC, he will be able to hear some announcer in Los Angeles pick his nose between words, in flawless quality, while talking about some 1978 BeeGees hit, in a track laid down 36 hours ago. But still no word about driving conditions between Buffalo and Rochester. Gee Thanks, radio industry (Bob Foxworth, Tampa Bay FL, ibid.) IBOC testing and Canadian AMs... Was anyone hearing the testing after 2300 ELT? That's about when I turned on the radio, and WLW sounded as clear as ever, with none of the distinctive IBOC hash that I heard on 700 and 720 daytime when I was in NYC last month. WGN was also in the clear on 720 (with CHTN probably on its day pattern, fading up strongly over Chicago at times). The loud whistling noise I was hearing over 720 turned out to be my computer monitor |g|. Couldn't hear WOR very well on 710, but then I *never* hear WOR very well on 710, since I'm in their Niagara Falls null and I get Niagara Falls interfering with them like crazy. Which reminds me: CKVM on 710 in Ville-Marie QC has filed to make the move to FM (93.1 with 26kw), which ought to be good news indeed for Tom and Kerry and the gang at WOR... [more under CANADA] (Scott Fybush, NY, Dec 3, NRC-AM via DXLD) Subject : IBOC = Death As you know, I've refrained from joining in the seemingly incessant threads about IBOC. That's because I had never heard its effects for myself. Until tonight, when I got the digest talking about the coordinated WLW/WOR test. The results from Central Jersey: when WLW turned on its IBOC, it was very audible on WOR's signal. And that's a local for me. It was annoying to listen to. When WOR turned on its IBOC, it wiped out WLW almost completely. And WLW has excellent coverage here. With WOR's IBOC on, it killed CHTN on 720, which was doing well in WGN's null. The effect on WGN was not that bad. The bottom line: if WLW can make WOR annoying for a listener 30 miles away, this is a real problem for the average listener. For us DXers, if WOR can kill CHTN, it's game over. I'm going to email both WOR and WLW tomorrow and let them know. But I won't let on that I'm a DXer. And in an important sense I'm not: my clock radio is set to WOR, and I assume that my clock radio won't handle IBOC any better than my '2010. Now remind me again why LPFM is bad...? (David Hochfelder, Rutgers NJ, ibid.) I sure begged you all to comment on 99-325 the IBOC question from the FCC.... As soon as I heard the testing at KJZZ on FM I knew that it would be the absolute death rattle of AM radio because it will not survive the transition. The white noise and interference will be far too much for the average listener to handle. To put it in the two words that Joe Six-Pack WILL use is this: IBOC SUCKS. Dude, I can hear some of it in Arizona! Harry Helms heard it in California!! Pat Martin's message in Oregon says he heard some of it! Thats some REAL interference! The CIA and Army Psyops people can use this as the perfect jammer of foreign stations during a war! | It was annoying to listen to. | We are DXers. We are used to crappy signals. We generally ferret out what we want from a horrendous mishmash of noise that would drive the average listener insane. For us to say that IBOC is that bad, you know that it`s REAL bad. | The bottom line: ... it's game over.| That`s what I was saying when the FCC was asking for comments. That`s why I was begging you all back then. This is not aimed at you David, it`s a general comment to all (Kevin Redding, AZ, ibid.) OK, this time on the way home from WGAI 560 AM, I was listening to --- or at least trying to listen to --- 700 WLW. I heard what I thought was power line noise at first {I noticed that it wasn`t power line noise when the noise was centered only around 700 to 720 this go around} that completely wiped out WLW {The Trucking bozo show was on} and reception of anything on 720 Some lady hosting a talk show; didn`t catch a name or ID}. The interference varied in strength, sometimes starting out very weak, just noticeable to being very strong at times. I noted this between 1 am and 1:15 am [EST] Tuesday morning --- once again listening with a stock radio in a 98 Nissan Sentra (Bob Carter, KC4QLP, Operations/Engineering--Max Media Radio Group WGAI- NewsRadio 560 AM Stereo ..., ibid.) WLW/WOR NIGHT TIME IBOC TESTING Last night (Tuesday morning) WLW and WOR took turns running IBOC for short periods. I don't know if this was to determine if they would interfere with each others primary or what would happen every place else. Maybe somebody can shed some light on that. But this is what I found. My location is South Plainfield, N.J. which is about 15 to 20 miles southwest of the WOR towers. However, I must be in a major lobe of their pattern as they are the strongest AM signal on the dial, day or night - even stronger than non-directional WABC-770 who isn't that much further from me than WOR.; I checked the dial (using a SRII) just after midnight and found WOR running IBOC intermittently for about 15 second periods. Conditions, unfortunately, were at least semi-auroral. With WOR running analog, the dial conditions were: 680 - a jumble of at least 4 signals (normal), 690 - Montreal at a fair level mixing with Spanish at about equal strength, 700 - bits of WLW poking through weakly at times, 720 - WGN Chicago, clear, fair level but quite listenable, 730 - Montreal above a jumble of signals (they seemed to be a bit stronger than the 690), 740 - Toronto doing fairly well with a jumble of signals in the distant background, 750 - WSB Atlanta, good, basically in the clear. When WOR turned on the IBOC exciter, the band then changed to 680 - jumble with some digital noise, 690 and 730 - mostly wiped out by digital noise but you could tell there were signals there, 700 and 720 - tremendous amount of digital noise - toast!!! -nothing could ever make it through that, 740 - Toronto still there but with enough digital noise to make a mostly listenable signal, unlistenable. 750 - a surprise...some digital noise was even making it down to WSB to make that reception a bit "uncomfortable". If band conditions favored the Midwest (or even were average), it would have been interesting to see if WLW's IBOC could be heard at this location on 710. But WLW's signal was way too weak to cause any problem to WOR's primary on this date. A couple of other comments. WOR's analog signal is very clean. When on analog, they give no problems to 680, 690, or 730-750. Digital was a completely different story. I am happy to say, in all fairness, that WOR did not use a watered-down IBOC. For this test, they used the full, industrial strength version. I wonder if they even turned it up a bit as it sounded stronger than the daytime version. My concern is that testing like this, for short periods, might give a false result to the tests. The test could have gone down as a great success....no interference occurred between WLW and WOR....but auroral conditions might have been the reason, not the nature of IBOC itself. I also feel in these tests other stations should have taken part. Stations on 690 and 720, to determine if they are encountering any IBOC interference. They have a stake, as do all other broadcasters, in the results (Joe Fela, NJ, Dec 4, amfmtvdx via DXLD) Sitting here this evening listening with a Nems Clark Field Strength meter {model number 1633} WOR 710 is coming in with a signal strength of around 6.8 mV ...and 700 WLW is slightly stronger at 7.4 mV. The digital hash was noted 10 kc either side of both stations with a signal level on the hash running from 3.5 to 4 mV. On the car radio here in the parking lot of WGAI, WOR and WLW each have hash noise that is transparent under each of them, and this spreads out 10 kc either side of those stations listening with a stock radio in a 98 Nissan Sentra. [Later:] Now that I'm away from high levels of RF, the results on the car radio are the same as last night. WLW unlistenable at times. WGN 720 is very hard to hear most of the time. So that it in a nutshell, folks --- the IBOC saga continues (Bob Carter Operations/Engineering- -Max Media Radio Group WGAI-NewsRadio 560 AM Stereo, etc., NC, Dec 3, ibid.) Bad news on this end...WLW 700 is testing IBOC at night, and it's causing havoc on the night signal of KSTL 690 (17 miles away in East St. Louis). It's also rendering 710 useless. The sidebands sound like a fax machine, as Christopher Maxwell of the Virginia Center for The Public Press pointed out (although the study was done on FM). 73 and good DX from (Eric Bueneman, Amateur Radio Station N0UIH Registered Monitor KDX0STL, KMO0CN, Hazelwood, MO, Dec 3, IRCA via DXLD) iBIQUITY has applied to the FCC for another experimental license to test IBOC digital radio on AM. Already testing on 650 AM in FREDERICK, MD, the company is looking to use 1670 AM as well on a fulltime basis (from http://www1.allaccess.com/ Dec. 3 via Brock Whaley, DXLD) ** U S A. English version of the KNAX-1630 item in DXLD 2-189: Björn Malm is back in Quito and reports a new Spanish speaking "Latin American" radiostation in Dallas, Texas! 1630.00 KNAX Radio Año, Dallas, Texas (USA). Nov 30 2002 - 1000 UTC. I don´t know when the station first started but they say at ID that it is a new station and I had not noted anything special on the frequency lately not until this morning, Saturday Nov. 30 when I heard this call: "La nueva estación cristiana en el metrópolis KNAX 16-30 AM Radio Año, (Fudmore?), Dallas "La Voz de la Verdad" transmitiendo el evangelio. Operamos con 10.000 vatios de potencia". The program was neutral religious music but also some music with TexMex- and Bolero-style. ID very seldom. One ID-variant was repetition of "Radio Año, Radio Año........." 7 times. Regards, (via Thomas Nilsson, editor, SW Bulletin via hard-core-dx via DXLD) Our same comments apply ** U S A. MW CONDITIONS MAY BE BETTER. Hello all, It looks like A and K-index are a bit lower today, and that there are more DX-reports on the 160m amateurband. Hopefully DX-signals on mediumwave will be a bit better tonight and tomorrow, and maybe on or two more days. Try USA starting around 1 hour before your sunrise. Especially the X- band (1600-1700 kHz). This morning 4 stations from the USA where mixing up on 1680 kHz. WTTM Princeton NJ with the usual Indian style music WTIR Winter Garden FL with mainly talk KRJO Monroe LA, with gospel music WJNZ Ada MI, also with similar sounding (gospel) music Others heard where 1700 WJCC Marco Isle, FL with Spanish programming (Voz Cristiana) and 1690 WPTX Lexington Park with talkradio program. Also WWRU Elisabeth NJ, with Spanish phone-in program and finally on 1470 kHz WLAM Lewiston ME, with the usual WMTW programming. All has been heard on a 450m beverage and AR7030plus, but some of the signals where already loud enough to be heard on smaller antennas. (have a listen around 3795 kHz as well, you might hear European amateurs working west coast USA, W6/7.......) Have fun! (Dick van der Knaap, DKp4733/MWC-492 East-Holland, Dec 3, BDXC via DXLD) ** U S A. Have been looking for the new WMQM 1600 Memphis; nothing so far; don`t be fooled by `Gospel 1600` which is the latest incarnation of the once venerable KATZ in Saint Louis (Glenn Hauser, OK, Dec 4, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** UZBEKISTAN. 6025, R. TASHKENT, Dec 3, 1215 talk by man, English, very muffled. Fair signal, in the clear. 1220 music, 1224 more talk. Off at 1228. Found parallel at 5975, fair signal, lots of splatter, clean in LSB. No IDs heard. (Dan Ziolkowski, RX-320, 100 foot wire, Franklin, WI, Cumbredx mailing list via DXLD) ** VENEZUELA. Ecos del Torbes sin señales de vida en 4980 kHz. Por el contrario, Radio Amazonas prosigue en 4940 kHz (Adán González, Catia La Mar, VENEZUELA, Dec 4, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** VENEZUELA. Queridos colegas diexistas, reciban todos un cordial saludo. Les informo que actualmente la guardia nacional reprime al pueblo de Venezuela Yo no sé si este mensaje estará saliendo para el mundo, pero los comentarios dicen que hay un bloqueo a nivel del servidor. El Dictador Hugo Chávez reprime al pueblo. Atte: José Elías, Venezuela, Dec 3, Cumbre DX via DXLD) Lástima; pero esto llegó ** VIETNAM [non]. Dear Martin, We do not want to add any confusion, but here is the correct schedule: 1230-1300 UT 9930 kHz Radio Free Vietnam (New Orleans / Louisiana) via Hawaii thru TDP 1300-1400 UT 9930 kHz Que Huong Radio via Hawaii thru TDP 1400-1500 UT 9930 kHz Radio Free Asia (in Vietnamese) via Hawaii 1500-1600 UT 9930 kHz Radio Free Vietnam (California) via Hawaii Kind regards, (Ludo Maes, Belgium, TDP, Dec 2, to Martin Schöch, Clandestine Radio Watch via DXLD) For once TDP is explicit about transmitter site! But now we have another contradiction, one item in Miller Liu`s schedule, DXLD 2-186, indicating one of these is via TAIWAN: RADIO FREE ASIA B02 VIETNAMESE 1400-1500 9930 So which is it? Should not be hard to tell in the region whether it come from Hawaii or Taiwan; whether KWHR transmitter goes off and on at 1400 and 1500 (gh, DXLD) ** YEMEN. I presume that I am also hearing R. Yemen on 9780 +-. I am hearing music and sometimes a phone-in programme. The modulation varies and is best on music. The frequency seems to vary daily. It used to s/off at 2100 but presume it is on longer because of Ramadan, which ends on Friday. Signal strength is at best 4 (Robin Harwood, Norwood, northern Tasmania, RX Yaesu FRG 7700; Icom R70, Dec 4, swl via DXLD) UNIDENTIFIED. Re 1431 in Chinese around 1830: Interesting story: I was sure this was Chinese while we were first hearing it. (My DX-compadre at the moment was Jim Renfrew, who may have thought I needed more sleep and less beer!) I played the tape to my 2 PRC students. One declared that it was unequivovally NOT Chinese. The other was less sure, but he ended up agreeing with the first student. Then I uploaded the clip into RealDX. When I read Henrik's message and told them that someone in Sweden was sure it was Chinese they listened again, but this time to the clip downloaded from RealDX. Now they agree that it IS Chinese. However, neither can let me anything about who it is! (Jean Burnell, NS, RealDX via DXLD) Well, there are lots of varieties of spoken `Chinese`, some of them perhaps incomprehensible to others (gh, DXLD) UNIDENTIFIED. Following up Bernd Trutenau`s monitoring of fade times on 4050 and known frequencies in CAs: I checked fade out times on Nov 30 here in Denmark: 4010 Krasnaya Rechka, KGZ 0330 4050 UNID 0330 4635 Yangi-Yul, TJK 0345 4930 Asgabat, TKM long after 0345 4940 UNID Not heard 0315-0345 4980 Urumchi, Xinjiang, CHN 0320 It seems from this monitoring that the UNID on 4050 has sunrise at the same time as Bishkek on 4010 which means that it is located in a belt passing Kabul (AFG) – Kulyab (TJK) – Andizhan (KGZ) – Bishkek (KGZ) – Almaty (KAZ) – Zyryanovsk (KAZ) – Krasnoyarsk (RUS). (Anker Petersen, DSWCI DX Window via DXLD) UNIDENTIFIED. Re my "mystery" Arabic FM...Mauritania it is. Doh! There was a horribly unstable transmitter on 4830 around 2330, but when I went to FM I simply captured 4845 (damned thing is wide...). Never mind, (Al Quaglieri, NY, DX LISTENING DIGEST) UNIDENTIFIED. Re Chuck Bolland`s noise on 6015: Another interesting noise was "white noise" on 6015 around 0820 Nov 28, peaking to S5 - I assume this is to jam Liberty via Korea. I couldn`t hear that station (Noel R. Green, UK, BC-DX via DXLD) ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ DRM +++ Re: ``DRM tests are normally for a specific limited timespan; what about these?`` Probably they are indeed daily. I read it just a few minutes too late to check out 15440, but right now (1430) there is indeed a DRM signal on 5975, no doubt Jülich as scheduled. I guess it will be basically this combination of Sines and Jülich transmissions Deutsche Welle will sell in 2003 as "regular service", although 5975 reportedly contains no live program feeds so far, instead records with "Fraunhofer presents the digital future of AM" or something like that. Makes actually sense since the performance of the AACplus codec at such low bitrates is more impressive on music than on speech where it produces lots of artifacts. By the way, recently a controversy about DRM in the German-language A- DX mailing list was triggered by a complaint about the 5975 signal, found when looking for Burma. Well, right now I note one carrier on 5985 and another one on about 5986, Yamata and indeed Rangoon I would guess. It should be no problem to get audio from this channel despite the DRM on 5975 if only the local noise here in my flat would not kill such weak signals reliably. Regards, (Kai Ludwig, Germany, Dec 3, DX LISTENING DIGEST) [Later:] Also Sines 15440 is on right now (1130 Dec 4), so apparently these transmissions are indeed more or less regular (Kai Ludwig, Germany, Dec 4, DX LISTENING DIGEST) See GERMANY above for DW to start regular DRM SW broadcasts next June! Also USA for more rants against IBOC RECEIVER NEWS +++++++++++++ THE £99 RADIO WITH NO HISS AND NO DISTORTION TURNS INTO THE MUST-HAVE GIFT WITH NO SUPPLIES By Charles Arthur, Technology Editor, The Guardian, 30 November 2002 A digital radio has achieved the status that delights and dismays manufacturers - the must-have but elusive Christmas present. In past years, parents have trailed round shops searching for the "essential" gift featured at the top of media lists and demanded by their children. Attempts to secure one often led to a last-minute dash to a faraway toy shop that had just received a supply. But this year the equivalent of Buzz Lightyear or the Thunderbirds Tracy Island is not a children's plaything but a grown-up gadget costing £99. Unusually for a product that has caused a consumer scramble, the Pure Evoke-1 is not a new invention but a new version of a portable radio. The first shipment of the retro-styled product, said to have been only about 200, sold within a couple of hours of stores opening. Demand has been high ever since - helped by a prolonged promotional campaign by radio stations. A saleswoman at Peter Jones in Sloane Square, London, said yesterday it was still trying to fulfil orders placed in the summer. "We aren't taking any more orders from customers," she said. "We probably won't have any to sell until after Christmas. We were taking orders back in July and August, but we're still fulfilling those." The product was a success because it was well priced and the first stand-alone digital radio, Mandy Brown of the Digital Radio Development Bureau said yesterday. "Digital radios used to cost £400 or more, and you had to plug something into your PC or your car. This costs only £99, and you just plug in and listen." Its maker, the Leeds-based company Imagination Technologies, has been surprised by how well it has sold. "We expect that by the end of the year we will have sold 40,000," said David Harold of the Pure division at Imagination Technologies. "So far about half of those are actually in the hands of customers. The trouble was that the retailers didn't place enough orders early on, and it takes about 12 weeks to go from an order through manufacture in China to delivery." The retailers and the company were all caught out by the fact that until now, radios have hardly been a hot ticket among hi-tech fans. "Most homes have three or four radios already, and any model that sold 10,000 in a year would count as a big hit with shops," Mr Harold said. "So they didn't expect this." Digital radio, like digital television, encodes the signal into bits - as a CD does for music - and sends it on radio waves. Radio stations can send more data, including text and pictures, and broadcast more stations in a bandwidth than in analogue forms with no hiss or distortion. Many companies including Capital, Virgin, Talksport and Classic FM now broadcast on digital radio, as do some BBC stations, and own the broadcast facilities. They provide a "bank" of free airtime to advertise it, and its products. The Pure Evoke-1 benefited from this most by being the first below £100 to go on sale. For those unable to secure their coveted Christmas present, there is some solace. A number of new digital radios will enter the market early next year, including a handheld model, a battery version, a car radio and a hi-fi tuner. But Imagination Technologies will still be happy. It designs silicon chips which will be in every one. "I can honestly say that Britain leads the world in this," Mr Harold said. "Nobody else is even close." (via Mike Terry) ### SLOW RADIO Hi Glenn, The piece on the upcoming JVC "Slow Radio" product caught my attention, as I recognized the basic effect as that from a musician's "riff recorder". Slowing down audio without destroying the pitch is nothing new. Devices that do this are available from sources such as Musicians Friend, and made by Yamaha and other companies. They typically run $100 US. and up. They are solidstate audio recorders that a guitarist can use to help teach themselves sections of faster music by slowing it down until they can follow every note, for practice. The key, of course, is maintaining the proper pitch of the music. A few years ago I tried one of these for DXing purposes, to see if it would help me understand station IDs in a foreign language (the announcers always seem to speak at a rapid pace, don't they?). However, I was disappointed in the playback audio quality of this low- end unit, and abandoned the idea. There's at least one software approach to this idea. Two products called (I think) "Slow Blast" and "Slow Gold" are software programs to accomplish the same thing on Windows and MacIntosh computers. The price is more reasonable: $24.95 and $49.95. Check out http://www.slowblast.com/ It might be worth a try on those frenetic Brazilian futebol announcers, or for someone learning a foreign language (Guy Atkins, Puyallup, WA USA, Dec 3, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Sounds like variable-speed audio cassette recorders, two of which I have, one of which is not operational any more. From Radio Shack --- upon playback, you can speed up or slow down with pitch adjusted separately. Handy for compressing playback time of talk shows, non- Chipmunk (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Hi Glenn: If you want any further on the slow radio ... NEW JVC RADIO WILL SLOW DOWN SPEAKERS' WORDS Victor Co. of Japan will put on the market in early December a radio that can slow down parts of broadcast speech so that older listeners and foreign-language students can more clearly catch each sentence, JVC officials said Saturday. The device has been jointly developed by JVC and NHK Science & Technical Research Laboratories, and is expected to sell for around 35,000 yen [$280], the officials said. The radio first records the voice, such as that of an announcer, on an integrated circuit, and then uses voice signal processing technology to slow down the speed of pronunciation of the first part of each sentence, gradually returning to normal speed in the latter part, they said. The new product will be effective for such programs as news reports, talk shows and sports broadcasts, the officials said. Programs heard on the radio will still end within their designated slots even if it slows down the speech, because the new device eliminates silent parts of a news program, they said, adding that news anchors pause once every three seconds on average. For example, if a speaker says "konnichiwa," which corresponds with the English word "hello," the radio will stretch out the pronunciation of the initial syllable, "ko," which tends to be pronounced most quickly. The radio then gradually returns the speed of pronunciation of other syllables to normal, with the last syllable, "wa," being perfectly normal, the officials said. The radio will also be able to automatically amplify a weak voice, they added. "The price (of the radio) is more expensive than regular radios, but inquiries from retailers have been frequent. I hope a lot of people will be able to enjoy radio broadcasts more comfortably," a JVC official said (The Japan Times: Dec. 1, 2002 via Kim Elliott, DXLD) PROPAGATION +++++++++++ SB PROP @ ARL $ARLP050 ARLP050 Propagation de K7VVV ZCZC AP50 QST de W1AW Propagation Forecast Bulletin 50 ARLP050 From Tad Cook, K7VVV Seattle, WA December 2, 2002 To all radio amateurs ... Over the next few days solar flux is expected to rise from 155 on Monday to 180 by the weekend. Planetary A index is expected to continue unsettled, with values of 20, 20 and 15 for Monday through Wednesday. I ran across a Finnish web site devoted to photographs of aurora borealis at http://www.saunalahti.fi/~deca39/paasivu/index_eng.php3 Don't miss paging through the gallery at http://www.saunalahti.fi/~deca39/galleria/index_eng.php3 These are some fantastic photos taken in Finland and Lapland over the past couple of years. Sunspot numbers for November 21 through 27 were 143, 124, 126, 123, 106, 100, and 112, with a mean of 119.1. 10.7 cm flux was 150.9, 149.1, 147.5, 146.2, 136.8, 142.3, and 142.6, with a mean of 145.1. Estimated planetary A indices were 50, 24, 19, 16, 17, 14, and 21, with a mean of 23. NNNN /EX (ARRL mailing list via Bob Foxwroth, FL, NRC-AM via DXLD) Forecast of Solar and Geomagnetic Activity 04 - 30 December 2002 Solar activity is expected to be low to moderate. Region 208 has the potential for minor M-class activity early in the forecast period. Old Region 192 (N12, L=234) and old Region 191 (S18, L=203) are due to return to the visible disk at the beginning of the period and may produce moderate activity during the first half of the forecast period. There is a slight chance of a greater than 10 MeV proton event during the forecast period. The greater than 2 MeV electron flux at geo-synchronous orbit is expected to reach event threshold on 04-07 December, 10-12 December, 20-21 December and 29-30 December due to recurring coronal holes. The geomagnetic field is expected to be at quiet to active levels during the forecast period. Weak recurring coronal holes are expected on 07-09 December and 26-28 December with resulting unsettled to isolated active conditions. A stronger coronal hole is due to return to a geo-effective position on 18-19 December and is expected to result in active to isolated minor storm conditions. :Product: 27-day Space Weather Outlook Table 27DO.txt :Issued: 2002 Dec 03 2211 UTC # Prepared by the US Dept. of Commerce, NOAA, Space Environment Center # Product description and SEC contact on the Web # http://www.sec.noaa.gov/wwire.html # # 27-day Space Weather Outlook Table # Issued 2002 Dec 03 # # UTC Radio Flux Planetary Largest # Date 10.7 cm A Index Kp Index 2002 Dec 04 160 12 3 2002 Dec 05 175 8 3 2002 Dec 06 180 8 3 2002 Dec 07 180 12 3 2002 Dec 08 180 15 3 2002 Dec 09 175 15 3 2002 Dec 10 180 12 3 2002 Dec 11 180 12 3 2002 Dec 12 180 12 3 2002 Dec 13 180 10 3 2002 Dec 14 175 10 3 2002 Dec 15 170 10 3 2002 Dec 16 170 10 3 2002 Dec 17 160 12 3 2002 Dec 18 150 30 5 2002 Dec 19 150 20 4 2002 Dec 20 150 15 3 2002 Dec 21 145 15 3 2002 Dec 22 140 15 3 2002 Dec 23 140 15 3 2002 Dec 24 140 15 3 2002 Dec 25 140 15 3 2002 Dec 26 140 15 3 2002 Dec 27 145 12 3 2002 Dec 28 145 12 3 2002 Dec 29 145 15 3 2002 Dec 30 150 15 3 (http://www.sec.noaa/gov/radio Dec 3 via WORLD OF RADIO 1159, DXLD)###