DX LISTENING DIGEST 2-196, December 13, 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 1160: WWCR: 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 WBCQ: Mon 0545 7415 WJIE: M-F 1300, daily 0400; Sun 0630, Mon 0700, Tue 0630 on 7490 WRN: Rest of world Sat 0900, Europe Sun 0530, North America Sun 1500 ONDEMAND http://www.wrn.org/ondemand/worldofradio.html [High] (Download) http://www.k4cc.net/wor1160h.rm (Stream) http://www.k4cc.net/wor1160h.ram [Low] (Download) http://www.k4cc.net/wor1160.rm (Stream) http://www.k4cc.net/wor1160.ram (Summary) http://www.worldofradio.com/wor1160.html ** AFGHANISTAN. WOMEN STILL LACK ACCESS TO BROADCASTING A conference was held in Kabul on 9 December to commemorate the United Nations' adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights on 10 December 1948, Radio Free Afghanistan reported on 9 December. A female participant of the Kabul conference identified as Palika told Radio Free Afghanistan on 9 December that "women cannot even broadcast" on radio and television stations in Kabul, which she said "is a clear violation of their human rights." Palika added that women are absent from the decision-making levels of the Afghan government, "other than one or two who have more of a symbolic value," RFE/RL's Afghan Service quoted her as saying. ("RFE/RL Newsline," 10 December via RFE/RL Media Matters 13 December via DXLD) ** AFGHANISTAN [non]. Merlin`s 24-second loop of dramatic music --- sure wish we had the real name for it --- was back on 18940 via Norway when checked Dec 12 at 1428, and still going past 1440, which is about all my brain could take of it. You`d think by now they would have developed a more reliable feed routing. What a waste of resources (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ALBANIA: B-02 schedule for Radio Tirana: English to NAm - Tue to Sun (cont.) Albanian to Eu - Daily 0330-0400 6115 CER 100 kW / 305 0900-1000 7110 CER 100 kW / ND 7160 CER 100 kW / 305 1500-1800 7270 CER 050 kW / ND German to Eu - Mon to Sat 2130-2300 7295 CER 100 kW / 305 1830-1900 7185 CER 100 kW / 350 Albanian to N Am - Daily Greek to Eu - Mon to Sat 0000-0430 7270 CER 100 kW / 305 1815-1830 6130 CER 100 kW / ND English to Eu - Mon to Sat French to Eu - Mon to Sat 1945-2000 7210 SHI 100 kW / 310 2000-2030 7210 SHI 100 kW / 310 9510 CER 100 kW / 305 Italian to Eu - Mon to Sat 2230-2300 7130 SHI 100 kW / 310 1900-1930 7240 CER 100 kW / ND 9540 CER 100 kW / 305 Serbian to Eu - Mon to Sat English to N Am - Tue to Sun 2215-2230 6135 SHI 100 kW / ND 0245-0300 6115 CER 100 kW / 305 Turkish to ME - Mon to Sat 7160 CER 100 kW / 305 1800-1815 6130 CER 100 kW / ND (Ivo and Angel! Observer, Bulgaria, Dec 12 via DXLD) ** AUSTRALIA. Radio Australia in English noted: 0800-1100 on additional unregistered 11880 (43443) (Ivo and Angel! Observer, Bulgaria, Dec 12 via DXLD) ** AUSTRALIA. (Correction c.f. OBSERVER #229): Voice International in English effective from Dec. 12 11685 DRW 250 kW / 303 deg 1700-1900, ex 1630-1900 13690 DRW 250 kW / 303 deg 1300-1700, ex 1300-1630 (Ivo and Angel! Observer, Bulgaria, Dec 12 via DXLD) ** AUSTRALIA. In a recent mail received from Mr Ian Williams, Frequency Manager of HCJB-Australia (wil-@netcon.net.au): HCJB-Australia is planning to start test transmissions to India on December 22 as follows: 1230 to 1430 on 15,130 MHz, 1430 to 1730 on 15,135 MHz These frequencies are tentative at the moment and may change if better frequencies become available (Moses Vasanthan Thambu, Dec 11, EDXP via DXLD) ...The new 100 kW transmitter was designed and built at the HCJB Engineering Center near Elkhart in northern Indiana. Shipment of the unit from California was delayed by the recent dock strike though it is hoped that the transmitter can still be installed and activated in time for a Christmas launch. Station HCJB has an exellent reputation as a reliable verifier and they have already indicated that they plan to verify reception reports on the programming from their new station in Australia. It is anticipated that these QSL cards will be issued from their offices in Melbourne, Victoria. According to Swopan Chakroborty in India, the introductory schedule shows four different segments beamed in two different directions. They are planning on ten hours daily, with five hours to Asia and five hours to the Pacific. When the Australian station is activated, the parent station HCJB in Ecuador will drop its programming directed to the Pacific. Here is their tentative introductory schedule, and you may want to start checking these frequencies in order to catch them when they first begin test transmissions: 0700-1200 11755 25 kW 1230-1430 15130 100 1430-1730 15135 100 1730-1800 15430 100 (Adrian Michael Peterson, AWR Wavescan Dec 15 via DXLD) ** AUSTRALIA. Is anybody listening to X band anyway? The notable turnover in stations in the X band and the fade out for many after less than a year suggests there isn`t the support or resources to sustain a viable operation --- let alone how many domestic receivers cover the range. Sharing their views on the website of the Australian MW Group http://home.iprimus.co.au/onleyd/mwoz/ it is suggested that the reason most of the survivors cling to 1611, 1620 and 1629 is that most conventional receivers probably ``stretch to that range``. With FM well and truly established x-band stations will struggle. It is noted that Hot FM has moved to SW on 2368 after being `railroaded` off 1656 (David Onley/John Wright MWOZ via NZ DX Times via DXLD) Radiowise have put together an email list of Australian stations at: http://www.radiowise.com.au/radio_stations.htm Also DMG have a list of their stations at: http://www.dmgradio.com.au/map.html (David Onley MWOZ via Dec NZ DX Times via DXLD) ** AUSTRALIA. AUSTRALIAN RADIO SCENE - BOB PADULA O. A. M. In recent weeks there have been many significant developments in the domestic radio scene across Australia. You should also note that the websites of the Australian Broadcasting Authority at http://aba.gov.au and the Australian Communications Authority http://aca.gov.au contain extensive information with the latest frequency lists of most AM, FM and TV stations throughout the continent. However, these websites do not contain listings of the FM tourist stations nor the new limited power X-band stations. New X-band stations have been noted on 1674 kHz and reported in the eastern states at various times. It appears that there may be more than one station using this channel, with locations suggested as New South Wales and Queensland. The FM tourist stations operate with low power in the frequency range 87.5 - 88.0. Applications have been invited for five open narrowcasting radio services in outback areas, at Alice Springs, Katherine, Tennant Creek and Yulara in the Northern Territory, and at Woomera in South Australia. As reported recently, the guy wires supporting the main tower for the commercial radio station 4BH in Brisbane were deliberately cut by an unknown assailant. Manager Spurway states that automatic equipment shut down the main transmitter and switched the programming over to the standby transmitter and the second tower. Shortly afterwards the second tower was felled and the station went off the air. It was a deliberate and well orchestrated act of vandalism, states the station manager. The station received 3,652 calls in 8 hours to their main switchboard from people trying to find out what happened, and about the same number called in to their studio phone line. Soon after the untoward event, station 4BH returned to the air with 1 kW from another site, the location of which is kept secret to avoid a further act of vandalism. More recently, a new 2.5 kW transmitter was installed at the temporary emergency site. And that completes our feature on the Australian Radio Scene, sponsored by the Electronic DX Press for which QSL cards can be obtained from Bob Padula at his address in Melbourne (Bob Padula, AWR Wavescan Dec 15 via DXLD) ** BOLIVIA. 6134.80, Radio Santa Cruz, CP32. Full data PPC's, signed and stamped, plus verie/information letter, with decals and stickers in 14 months, 3 months after sending a postal follow-up, previous to that an e-mail inquiry in which no response came back. v/s Ma Yolanda Marco Excobar, Secretaria de Dirección (Edward Kusalik, Alberta, Cumbredx mailing list Dec 12 via DXLD) ** BRAZIL. 2380, R. Educadora, Limeira SP, 0130-0305 UT Dec 12. Weak signal with sport, religious, news and (after 0300) musical programming. Finally got an audible ID at 0300 UTC, when the station switched to the night program. SIO 133. The reception was done in Curitiba PR, Brasil, using an Icom R75 and a home-brew T2FD. The distance to Limeira is maybe 500 to 600 km and the weak signal strength is almost certainly due to the facts that R. Educadora transmits with only 250 watts and my T2FD being only 4 meters above the ground (Rik van Riel, Cumbre DX via DXLD) ** BRAZIL. 4836.6, R. Dif. Roraima, 0945-1001 13 Dec, Live remote w/ talk by M in Portuguese with mentions of São Paulo, Brasil, companhia, and possibly Natal. 0958 lively ZY Pop song, 1000 program promo, then full canned ID by M with MW and SW frequenciess and whistling at beginning and end. Decent strength but way off frequency and very distorted. Couldn't really hone in on a carrier. Seemed variable too. (Dave Valko, PA, Cumbre DX via DXLD) ** CANADA. MINISTER COPPS CITES NATIONAL HISTORIC SIGNIFICANCE OF MARCONI, EARLIEST "WIZARD OF WIRELESS" --- Anniversary radio signaling events at National Historic Sites of Canada OTTAWA, Dec. 11 /CNW/ - The Honourable Sheila Copps, Minister of Canadian Heritage, today reminded Canadians of the national historic significance of the earliest "wizard of the wireless" in Canada, Guglielmo Marconi. December 15, 2002 will mark the 100th Anniversary of Marconi's first complete trans-Atlantic message from Table Head, Glace Bay to Poldhu, England. As well, December 12 marks the 101st Anniversary of Marconi's receipt of the first wireless signal from Poldhu to Signal Hill, St. John's. "National Historic Sites of Canada tell of our past - the events, the places, and the people, like Guglielmo Marconi, that helped shape Canada," said Minister Copps. "Marconi's experiments at Signal Hill and at Table Head, and beyond, were a new beginning for global telecommunications." "Marconi had a keen sense of scientific enquiry, enlightened by a spark of genius and, to top it off, a finely-tuned business sense," she added. "The Government of Canada is pleased to join Canadians in celebrating his achievements." The events taking place at both Signal Hill National Historic Site of Canada in St. John's Newfoundland on December 12 and Marconi National Historic Site of Canada in Glace Bay, Nova Scotia on December 15 will recreate Marconi's first wireless signals and messages using Morse Code. Amateur radio operators at both sites will share signals with other amateur radio operators around the world. As well, on December 16 at Bridgeport School, Glace Bay, Parks Canada will launch a new Marconi interactive website offering an animated three dimensional model of Marconi's station at Table Head, circa 1902. The site features an historic image gallery of Marconi's experiences in Cape Breton at the turn of the century, and an explanation of the scientific principles which Marconi used to send his signals across the ocean. Parks Canada wishes to thank the community partners and heritage supporters who have made this week's Marconi celebrations possible including: the Sydney Amateur Radio Society, the Glace Bay Historical Society, the University College of Cape Breton- Information Technology Innovation Centre, the Society of Newfoundland Radio Amateurs and local representatives of the Italian community. There are over 800 national historic sites across Canada, in every province and territory. Parks Canada administers 145 of these sites. This initiative connects the roots of our past to the promises of our future and Canadians to each other. For further information: Kerry Edmonds, Director of Communications, Office of the Minister of Canadian Heritage, (819) 997-7788; Dave Taylor, Parks Canada - Eastern Newfoundland, (709) 772-0285; Mark Sajatovitch, Parks Canada - Cape Breton, (902) 733-3545, (Available on the Internet at: http://www.parkscanada.gc.ca under What's New.) (from Canada Newswire Dec 11 via Wade Smith, NB and Eric Flodén, BC, DXLD) Somewhere I remember reading someplace that the ham radio club in Glace Bay could not muster enough interest in this event to man up the demonstration ham station. Maybe things have changed. I visited the Glace Bay site while on vacation on Cape Breton Island a few years ago. The park service has a nice building with good displays and, at least on the day I was there, a knowledgeable docent to explain things. He told an interesting story about why Marconi moved his communications facilities from St. John's Newfoundland to Glace Bay. The ham radio station was pretty impressive with a nice tower, multiband rotary beam for HF and another beam that could be pointed to amateur satellites. They let you wander around the grounds. I found several concrete footings which once supported the towers. I recommend this place as a nice place to visit for anyone with an interest in radio. Since I was there, the big coal mine that provided employment to many in the Glace Bay/Sydney Nova Scotia area has closed. Last I heard unemployment was really high. Maybe the reason there are few hams around to operate the station is that they have all had to move to find work elsewhere. With that nice antenna farm located right on the north coast of Cape Breton, it could be an interesting SWL DX-pedition site for those who don't want to deal with the ferry to Newfoundland. Anybody interested? You can learn more at: http://www.gb4imd.co.uk/glacebay.htm ~*-.,_,.-*~'^'~*-.,_,.-*~'^'~*-., (Joe Buch, DE, swprograms via DXLD) -*~'^'~*-.,_,.-*~'^'~*-.,_,.-*~'^ ** CANADA. CRTC okays CBC increase in power to LPRT station in B.C. Improvement in AM infrastructure. What a novel thought! (Ricky Leong, QC, DX LISTENING DIGEST) CRTC web page: http://www.crtc.gc.ca/archive/ENG/Decisions/2002/db2002-432.htm The Commission approves the application by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation to amend the broadcasting licence for the radio programming undertaking CBU Vancouver in order to change the frequency of its transmitter, CBRU Squamish, from 1260 kHz (Class LP) to 1270 kHz (Class C), and to increase its transmitter power from 40 watts day and night to 400 watts daytime and 200 watts night-time. The changes will significantly improve both daytime and night-time coverage in Squamish and the surrounding communities (via Ricky Leong, DXLD) ** CHILE. Adolfo Jankelevich Garfunkel, pioneer in Chilean radio and television died Wednesday November 13 at the age of 87 years. Though dentist as profession he started his career in broadcasting in 1932 at R. La Nación. Later he worked also with R. Universo, R La Americana and R. Agricultura. There, in 1941, he was the first announcer in the famous news program ``El Repórter Esso``. Later he was Director of R Cooperativa Vitalicia till 1956. Later on he had a career also in television. All according to an article in El Mercurio November 14. (Gabriel Iván Barrera via Lista ConDig via Thord Knutsson, ARC Info Desk via Tore Larsson via DXLD) ** CHILE. 6010, Radio Cooperativa, (via Parinacota), 0807-0820, December 12. Spanish transmission. Bulletin news. Ann. & ID: "...por Cooperativa". Weather report: "15 grados es la temperatura en la capital". After, romantic music in Spanish. A female present the songs. Interview to local singer. 32432 (Arnaldo Slaen, Argentine, hard-core-dx via DXLD) ** COLOMBIA. 5958.21, Caracol Colombia (assumed Villavicencio), 1016- Dec 13. Just caught end of ID by M "...Caracol, mas compañía", then into a jazzy LA version of "The Little Drummer Boy", W and M announcers at 1018 with world news. Ad at 1023, another news story ending with timecheck, another ad, more local HJ news with actualities by men IDing as Caracol (QTH). Very nice strong clear signal!! (Dave Valko, PA, Cumbre DX via DXLD) ** CZECH REPUBLIC [non]. I`ve heard WRMI 15725 several more times relaying R. Prague in English at 1400, but not Dec 13, when Xmas music was playing. Website schedule is still dated Oct 28 and has never admitted to carrying Prague at 1400. From one who may update his MONITORING REMINDERS calendar several times a day with no problem, it is hard to understand why SW stations don`t keep their own program schedule absolutely up to date (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ECUADOR. HCJB is having some problems reaching Europe in the evening, in English, Russian, Spanish and German. There is a very narrow window for such propagation. Sunspot numbers have been lower than expected and there have been flares causing more absorption than expected, necessitating higher frequencies than are in use. Reception reports are needed, along with suggestions about clear frequencies (Doug Weaver, HCJB frequency manager, on DX Partyline Dec 7, notes by gh for DX LISTENING DIGEST) No specifics of which frequencies need to be replaced. See also AUSTRALIA ** EGYPT. 15035, Radio Cairo, 5 Dec, 1255-1325*, SIO 232, in Farsi. Horrible modulation. By the way, this frequency is not in WRTH; probably it could be a combination from 15160 kHz, which went in parallel. SIO on 15160 kHz was low, too: 322 (Alexei Kulinchenko, Kazan, Russia, Signal Dec 10 via DXLD) ** ETHIOPIA. 6209.9, R. FANA, 0334 Dec 13. Heard several male voices in an Arabic like language (Amharic or Oromo?) with occasional utility interference to weak signal. Stronger parallel on 6940. However 6940 had a strong RTTY utility cochannel 6940.9, R. FANA 0340 Dec 13. Heard several male voices in an Arabic like language (Amharic or Oromo?) with strong RTTY interference. A much weaker parallel on 6209.9. However 6209.9 had just an occasional utility noise cochannel (Pete Costello NJ, Cumbredx mailing list via DXLD) ** FRANCE. 1557: The TdF transmitter at Antibes Plateaux Fleuris (a.k.a. the Nice site), currently carrying France Info on 1557 kHz, is to be taken out of service within a few weeks. As soon as the new aerial is erected near Fontbonne (a site that TdF took over two years ago from the now defunct Radio Monte Carlo), Antibes will cease transmissions and will be dismantled after 67 years of service. Antibes Plateaux Fleuris started broadcasting in 1935, carrying Radio Méditerranée. During WW2 it was leased to Radio Monte Carlo until that station had completed a transmitter of its own at Fontbonne, on the slopes of Mont Agel (Rémy Friess via MWC e-mail news 27.11.2002) This sounds interesting and would make 1560 a little bit easier hi! (Barry Davies via MWC e-mail news 28.11.2002) No, it won't. Fontbonne will take over from Antibes on 1557 kHz as soon as the new mast is operational. There won't be any disruption (Remy Friess via MWC e-mail news 28.11.2002) (all via Olle Alm, ARC Info Desk via DXLD) ** FRANCE. The CSA, the French radio regulatory body, has announced that it is soon to release information about the upcoming MW stations in this country. The stations concerned have already been informed that they will be awarded a license. This was not to be made public but some information has leaked already: - There will be 30 licenses issued, six of them for the Paris area, two in Marseille, two in Strasbourg, two in Montpellier and two in Toulouse. Other cities will receive a single license. There is no mention yet of stations getting access to the air in more than one area (Ciel AM and RMC Info, among others, have asked for several outlets). - Among the new licenses will be some high power stations (the powers mentioned are radiated power, not transmitter power): Nice will receive a 2.6 MWatt station. A station in Marseille and another in Strasbourg will be allowed 1 MWatt. The stations in Paris will get 5 kW, but the CSA is looking into the possibility of granting 10 kW. - Frequencies were not mentioned but my guess is that the Paris frequencies will be 585, 963, 1062, 1080, 1404 and 1494 kHz. The Marseille stations will be 585 and 675 kHz (with the high power outlet on the latter channel) and the stations in Strasbourg should be 1161 and 1350 kHz, with the high power station on 1161. The Nice outlet can only be 1467 kHz (Rémy Friess, France, Medium Wave Circle email list via Mike Barraclough, DXLD) ** GEORGIA. Radio Georgia notified me that their schedule will not change in the near future. In the summer season all broadcasts, except those directed to Armenia, will shift an hour earlier. Direction to Oslo: 11805 kHz 0600-0630 Russian 0630-0700 English 0700-0730 German 11760 kHz 1930-2000 English 2000-2030 German 2030-2100 Russian Direction to Munich: 11910 kHz 0800-0830 French 0830-0900 English 1800-1830 German 1830-1900 English Direction to Tel Aviv: 11910 kHz 0930-1000 English 1000-1030 Georgian 6180 kHz 1630-1700 English 1700-1730 Georgian Direction to Iran: 6080 kHz 0500-0600 Georgian (Tu,Th) 1600-1700 Georgian (Sa,Su) Direction to Turkey: 6080 kHz 0630-0800 Georgian (Tu,Th) 1730-1900 Georgian (Sa,Su) Direction to Armenia: 4540 kHz 1515-1545 Armenian 1600-1630 Azeri (Vasily Gulyaev, Astrakhan, Russia, Signal Dec 10 via DXLD) ** GERMANY [and non]. Some frequency changes for Deutsche Welle effective from December 15: 0100-0150 Bengali del 9720 WER 500 kW / 090 deg 0200-0245 English del 7285 WER 500 kW / 090 deg 0900-0945 English NF 11965 KIG 250 kW / non-dir, ex 11785 0900-0945 English del 17800 KIG 250 kW / 295 deg 1000-1050 Swahili NF 11965 KIG 250 kW / non-dir, ex 11785 1430-1515 Urdu NF 13810 NAU 500 kW / 090 deg, ex 13605 1500-1900 Russian del 5945 IRK 100 kW / 263 deg 1515-1600 Hindi NF 13810 NAU 500 kW / 090 deg, ex 13605 1600-1645 English del 13605 NAU 500 kW / 090 deg 2200-2400 German NF 15455 P.K 250 kW / 147 deg, ex 15250 (Ivo and Angel! Observer, Bulgaria, Dec 12 via DXLD) ** GERMANY [and non]. AFN: In the recent past, AFN always made it a bit harder to contact them by not publishing phone numbers or having a decent presence on the internet. That seems to be changing as different AFN affiliates now have their own web sites and local e-mail addresses; clearly styled & updated by local webmasters.(see below) I also sense that the affiliates are making more use of local IDs & inserts probably because they now might have computerised studio facilities. With out too much difficulty I've heard local PSAs & IDs from AFN. 873 http://www.afneurope.army.mil/frankfurt/About%20Us.htm Web site has names, phone numbers, e-mail addresses for staff. FAX 329-4403. ID = AFN Hessen. Local shows: Monday to Friday 6-9 AM; 3- 6pm. 1107 http://www.afneurope.army.mil/Kaiserslautern/index.htm - afn.kaiserslautern@ramstein.af.mil 1107 Kaiserslautern (2340 UT) on 6 & 7th Nov and AFN Bavaria with IDs and local news at 2147 & 2151 (We rock, Big Gun AFN Bavaria") on 8/11. 1107 and 1485 AM 1107 (Graf, Vilseck, Amberg); 1143 and 1485 AM: http://www.afneurope.army.mil/wuerzburg/index.htm 1143 http://www.afneurope.army.mil/heidelberg/index.htm - afn@afn.heidelberg.army.mil 1485 Hohefels, Regensburg http://www.afneurope.army.mil/bavaria/index.htm Here's how you can contact us at AFN Bavaria: DSN: 476-3172. Comm: 09662-83-3172. Fax: 476-3171. E-mail: requests@afn.bavaria.army.mil Local shows: Mon-Fri 0600-0900; 1100-1300;1500-1800 local time (Steve Whitt via MWC e-mail news 8.11.2002) Followup to Steve: You`re are right about the websites, but the details given on the sites vary, and I have tried to investigate this further, and many of the published e-mails are not active! (Mails are returned.) But what is clear, besides the announced broadcasts (most seem to have a few hours local at morning and afternoon) there are numerous options for the Networked shows to "fire" local jingles, IDs, PSAs etc. I believe there are options of up to a dozen or so within one hour, and at most hours, and as far as I have been able to find out there is really no definite times that are used all days. So it's just a matter of spending some "quality time" on a channel. This is also the case for many other stations, e.g. in Spain, and probably the same with networked British stations as well. The computer systems are so sophisticated that it's no longer a problem for the network studio to have full control of everything. I've had good results listening with two receivers on parallel frequencies, with a pair of headphones connected with one ear on each receiver. Then you will immediately notice when split programming occurs! (Bernt Erfjord via MWC e-mail news 8.11.2002) (all via Olle Alm, ARC Info Desk via DXLD) ** GUAM. Initially it was thought that KSDA suffered minor damage compared to KTWR (see USA - WJIE), but apparently not so (gh): Note: Due to a typhoon on Guam on Sunday, December 8, our Guam transmitters will be off the air until further notice. Our apologies for any inconvenience. For further details and progress reports please click here [see below]. We will resume normal service as soon as possible. In the meantime please try an alternative transmitter site or listen to Wavescan via the links below... (AWR Wavescan website Dec 14 via DXLD) LATEST NEWS FROM GUAM On Sunday, December 8, Guam suffered the forces of Super Typhoon Pongsona as 250 kph (155 mph) winds and torrential rains pounded the island. By late afternoon, wind gusts reached 300 kph (185 mph), according to the Joint Typhoon Warning Center on the island. The island suffered extensive damage to its electrical distribution system, especially in the southern part of the island where the Adventist World Radio shortwave radio station is located. Many power poles carrying electricity snapped, leaving most island residents without power, including the radio station. During the initial storm front on Sunday, the station was able to broadcast most of its morning programs, but for safety reasons, transmissions were suspended by early afternoon. Repair work to the antennas began on Monday morning and by Tuesday evening the station was back on the air with one antenna and with the help of an emergency generator. Government officials predict it could take more than a month to restore power to the island. Another tragedy stuck on Thursday morning, December 12, when the emergency generator experienced non-repairable mechanical failure, knocking the station back off the air. Every effort is now being made to locate emergency power generators to get the station back on the air. Please remember the needs of the AWR station as the engineers work to restore regular scheduled broadcasts. AWR apologizes for any inconvenience that these interruptions in broadcast may cause. For up-to-date information on what is happening with restoration work on Guam, visit the Guam Pacific Daily News at http://www.guampdn.com (from http://www.awr.org/guamnews.html Dec 13 via DXLD) ** GUAM. TWR GUAM TYPHOON --- TRANS WORLD RADIO STAFF ON GUAM WORKING TO RESTORE MINISTRY TO ASIA AFTER TYPHOON HITS CARY, N.C., Dec. 10 /PRNewswire/ -- As local residents on the Pacific island of Guam begin piecing their homes and lives together after a devastating typhoon struck this past Sunday, Trans World Radio's recovery is also in full-swing. The international Christian broadcaster has been airing evangelistic and Bible teaching programs to Asia from Guam via powerful shortwave transmitters for 25 years. KTWR, Trans World Radio's shortwave operation, is currently off the air but staff are tirelessly working to resume limited broadcasts this week, possibly as early as Wednesday or Thursday. TWR has nine missionary families serving there -- eight were on the island when the typhoon came ashore, with the other family back in the United States on furlough. All are safe and report no appreciable damage to their staff homes. Typhoon Pongsona hit Guam -- an unincorporated U.S. territory approximately 1,800 miles southeast of Hong Kong -- with sustained winds of 150 miles per hour and gusts to 184 mph, essentially flattening parts of the island. [what`s the point of relating it to Hong Kong??? --- gh] TWR operates five shortwave transmitters on Guam. The antenna array suffered severe damage; although, thankfully, all the towers remained erect and apparently undamaged. Three of the five antenna curtains were "shredded" according to TWR's staff there. The other two were damaged, but are hoped to be repaired and re-installed later this week. These two provide service for Northeast Asia (primarily for China), and Southeast Asia (Vietnam, Myanmar, Cambodia and southern China). Significant programming rearrangement will be made to maximize the use of the available transmitters to best serve the listeners. The long-term general outlook on Guam is not good at this point, according to news sources. Some government estimates indicate that the commercial power grid may be down for up to a month. While KTWR does have emergency diesel generators, the fuel supply for them is also a problem, as fuel storage facilities on Guam suffered severe fire damage. Much of the island's infrastructure (water, power, etc.) is totally inoperable, and emergency services severely hampered. President George W. Bush has declared Guam a federal disaster area. Further, the roads to the south end of the island, where KTWR is located, are still blocked by snapped concrete power poles, trees, and erosion damage. Two of TWR's staff members presently are isolated at the station. A similar situation took place in 1990 when Typhoon Russ, and its 145-mph winds, caused a five-day interruption of TWR's Asian broadcasts. A man in China wrote then on Christmas Day, "When we can't get these broadcasts, we're very upset because thousands of Christians depend on radio for God's Word." TWR requests continued prayers on behalf of its staff and ministry, and also for the listeners whose daily "ray of hope" will be temporarily extinguished in many places. SOURCE Trans World Radio Web Site: http://www.GuamPDN.com (via Kim Elliott, DXLD) ** GUINEA BISSAU. RSF PROTESTS BAN ON PORTUGUESE BROADCASTER Reporters Without Borders (RSF) has protested at the suspension of Radiotelevisão Portuguesa (RTP) in Guinea-Bissau. The Portuguese public broadcaster's operations in the country were suspended for an indefinite period on 1 December 2002. In a letter to Deputy Information Minister João Manuel Gomes, RSF Secretary-General Robert Ménard said "This decision is unfair and unacceptable. RTP does nothing more than fulfill its mission of informing the people of Guinea-Bissau of events that have marked their country's history." According to an official press release, the authorities in Guinea- Bissau accuse RTP of broadcasting "information that is likely to tarnish the good image of Guinea-Bissau outside the country and may stir up anger inside the country." On 30 November RTP broadcast a programme marking the second anniversary of the death of General Ansumane Mané, who led an attempted coup d'état against the country's elected president, Kumba Yala. The RTP bureau chief in Guinea-Bissau. According to RSF, two journalists were arrested and detained in June following the airing of information about the president of Guinea-Bissau. On 5 August, a radio announcer was also fined for criticising on the air the concentration of power in the hands of members of the head of state's tribe (© Radio Netherlands Media Network 13 December 2002 via DXLD) ** HAWAII. 17510, KWHR Dec 4 2305, EE, 444, YL with a newscast on Iran/Iraq. Music then ID by OM 2308. YL with comments on Hawaii and why one should visit Hawaii! (Stewart WDX6AA MacKenzie, Japan Premium via DXLD) How about that! Was not aware they did any `local` programming (gh, DXLD) ** HONDURAS. Hans Johnson's log, DXLD 2-195, led me to recheck my logbook for this one. 4930v, Radio Internacional, 2334-0002 12/11. Hoping to hear Radio Barahona, instead heard Spanish ballads and pop music with brief announcement (ID?) by female between selections. At 0000 a jingle with ringing telephone mention of "Radio Internacional" noted. Poor, choppy signal at this time (Scott R Barbour Jr, NH, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** IRAN. Saludos, colegas diexistas. Esto me llegó de La Voz de La Rep. Islámica de Iran (José Elías Dáaz Gómez, Venezuela, Dec 12, Cumbre DX via DXLD) Apreciado hermano, Unas breves líneas para informarle los cambios de nuestra tabla de frecuencias así como solicitarle que nos comunique su opinión acerca de la calidad de recepción sobre las nuevas frecuencias. Sin otra en particular, nos despedimon fraternalmente. En espera de su pronta respuesta, Atentamente... LA TABLA DE LAS FRECUENCIAS E.Mail: spanishradio@irib.com Spanish@irib.com 20:30-21:30 ESPAÑA 7130 9570 00:30-01:30 AMERICA DE SUR 9570 6015 9555 01:30-02:30 AMERICA DE SUR, CENTRO AMERICA Y EL SUR DE AMERICA DEL NORTE, AMERICA DE SUR 9555 6175 9570 02:30-03:30 CENTRO DEL AMERICA DEL SUR (NORTE DE BRASIL, PERU Y BOLIVIA) 5960 05:30-06:30 SUR DE EUROPA, EUROPA 15320 17590 (VOIRI via Díaz, Cumbre via DXLD) 9555 highlighted in turquoise as the new one ** IRAN [non]. Clandestine from Lituania to Iran: 7470, Radio Barabari via Sitkunai *1700-1735* Dec. 8. Noted with melody signature tune at s/on, with clear IDs for Radio Barabari, followed with news bulletin, political interview and commentary. Iranian string music was featured towards the end of the broadcast, closing news headlines, gave web site http://www.barabari.net and the same signature tune repeated at sign-off. Initially the signal was fair but gradually improved to a point where it was good to very good at times, and a full s5 to s6 level (Edward Kusalik, Alberta, Cumbredx mailing list Dec 12 via DXLD) ** IRAN [non]. Clandestine from ? to Iran: 7460, Radio Payam-e Doost 0242-0315* Dec. 12. Noted with Iranian string musicals, followed with interview commentary in Farsi. Rest of the broadcast featured music (violas/strings) gave an address (Virginia, USA) and schedule at the close with frequency mentioned (7460) and off with trumpet fanfare music. Signal was best in LSB ECSS detection to avoid the interference on 7465 [WWCR] with very good copy at times with signal peaking to s6+ at times (Edward Kusalik, Alberta, Cumbredx mailing list Dec 12 via DXLD) ** IRAQ. FOREIGN JOURNALISTS GET THE GRAND TOUR The Iraqi government took reporters on a tour this week of what it said was an insecticide plant at Falluja that had been wrongly stamped a weapons factory, continuing a diplomatic and public relations campaign to combat allegations it is stockpiling weapons of mass destruction, AP reported on 13 December. The United Nations has said the plant is suspect, and wants trained inspectors to have full access to any site it deems suspicious. An expert on chemical and biological weapons at the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, Jean Pascal Zanders, told AP on 11 December that Falluja was "a name that has recurred time and time again in the context of chemical weapons in Iraq." Zanders said taking journalists to alleged weapons sites was "an exercise in trying to influence world opinion, possibly to avert U.S. military action." (AP, 13 December) PENTAGON TO DEPLOY ARMY OF JOURNALISTS In a departure from policy in past military actions, the Pentagon is planning to deploy hundreds of print reporters, photographers, and television journalists with front-line U.S. units if there is a war with Iraq, the "Los Angeles Times" reported on 4 December. Faced with the round-the-clock news cycle and the prospect that President Saddam Hussein will mount an effective media campaign of his own, Pentagon officials have concluded that reporters "embedded" within military units will be more credible witnesses to history than military briefers. Pentagon spokeswoman Victoria Clarke won't say yet how often, for how long, and with what units reporters might be deployed - - although she says the Pentagon is contemplating attaching them to air as well as ground troops, and in the "first wave" of any attack. "We are absolutely convinced the more news and information that comes out of Iraq -- if there's military action -- the better off we'll all be," the "Los Angeles Times" quoted Clarke as saying. Captain T. McCreary, public affairs advisor to Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Richard B. Myers, said that Afghanistan changed many military minds about media coverage. "Afghanistan was the watershed event," he said. "We had an enemy with a strategy designed to put out false stories in the Arab media. We were always fighting to keep up. If we don't do this, we will always be losing the information game. Reacting from Washington to the enemy in theater is painful." ("Los Angeles Times," 4 December) REPORTERS' BOOT CAMP PREPARES FOR WAR COVERAGE Many U.S. news organizations are ordering staffers to attend either private, week-long boot camps or one offered by the Pentagon, "USA Today" reported on 11 December in an article titled "Boot Camp Prepares Journalists for Iraq." The courses are designed to teach people who sit at computer terminals, shoot photos, or anchor from TV studios everything from how to blend into a crowd and how to stop a wound from bleeding to recognizing different kinds of artillery and reacting to a chemical-weapons attack. CNN anchor Aaron Brown attended CNN's war camp near Atlanta this week, "USA Today" reported, among 400 staffers who have participated in a course that the cable outlet contracted through the AKE Group, a British company staffed by former commandos. Last month, the Pentagon sponsored a safety and combat- readiness course that drew 57 journalists from 31 news organizations to the Marine Corps training base in Quántico, Virginia, and then to Norfolk Naval Base. ("USA Today," 11 December; all via RFE/RL Media Matters Dec 13 via DXLD) ** IRELAND. Ireland A document just released by the ITU http://www.itu.int/ITU-R/publications/brific-ter/files/ge75/2002/ge75_109.pdf lists a few requests for coordination: 549 kHz Dundalk 70 kW, 140 m antenna height 846 kHz Galway 100 kW, 90 m antenna height The details of the longwave station on 252 kHz have been slightly modified: Location: Summerhill IN87. Coordinates: 006W40 53N27. Power: 500/100 kW. Antenna height: 295 m (ITU via Olle Alm, ARC Info Desk via DXLD) I meant to query the previous item about RTE using the 252 kHz LW mast for improving 4 domestic services. The story was pretty vague: are they talking about using its 295m height to mount FM antennas on it, or some kind of multiplexing on LW/MW, or what? (gh, DXLD) ** ITALY [non?]. EUROPEAN MUSIC RADIO -TO THE--DX CLUBS Dear sir, I am sending you some information about EMR which I hope you will find of interest. EMR transmits via the Italian Radio Relay Service, on 13840 kHz to Europe and the world. EMR will only transmit between October to March due to better propergation conditions in the winter months. The next EMR transmission is on the 14th and 15th of December from 0930 until 1030 UT. Please could you mention this information in your DX news. Thank you and good listening 73s (Tom Taylor via Rudolf W. Grimm, radioescutas via DXLD) ** KIRIBATI. KIRIBATI FINALLY GETS PRIVATE RADIO STATION Kiribati's founding president, Ieremia Tabai, is celebrating the award of a licence for his own private FM radio station. Mr Tabai has been trying to get a licence for four years, and the government has persistently refused to grant him one. What probably swung it was when Mr Tabai started legal proceedings against the government. The case was due to be heard within the next few weeks, but instead of being in court, Mr Tabai will be getting his station ready for its launch, which he says will probably be on 1 January 2003. The station will offer news bulletins, talkback shows and music. Mr Tabai told Radio New Zealand "what we are trying to do is offer the people, the public, the listening public, an option as to what they can listen to. And we will be a better service than what's been provided by the government and you know we have a competitor ....but in my view it is going to be an exciting period, because it is the first time in our history that a private radio station has been on the air." (© Radio Netherlands Media Network 11 December 2002 via DXLD) ** KUWAIT. 17885, R. Pinoy via R. Kuwait, Dec 7 *1000-1008 35333 English and Tagalog, 1000 s/on and ID. National anthem. Full ID and SJ [??]. Talk (Kouji Hashimoto, Japan Premium via DXLD) ** LATVIA. Due to a time conversion error in the original source, the schedule for tomorrow's test transmissions (published earlier on this mailing list [and in DXLD 2-193]) has to be amended one more time. Radio Gold 945AM will be on the air on Riga 945 kHz (20 kW) on Saturday 14 December from 0700 to 1900 UT. The amended test schedule will be as follows: 0700-1000 - German schlager 1000-1300 - Old Good World (songs from 60's) 1300-1500 - Prime Time Radio (Saga's national digital radio station) 1500-1600 - Tourist Radio Riga (Laser 558 memories from Steve Master) 1600-1900 - Henry Choice (classic rock) Radio Gold 945AM will start regular transmissions in 2003 (Bernd Trutenau, Lithuania, Dec 13, MW-DX via DXLD) ** LEBANON [non]. VOICE OF FREEDOM OFFICIAL BROADCAST NEXT WEEK The clandestine Voice of Freedom is to launch its official broadcast from France targeting Lebanon and the Middle East next week, said the station manager Mr. Simon Abby Rmya [sic] to some source recently in Paris. Voice of Liberty, as they prefer to call their station, has been test transmitting since Nov. 22 daily at 1600 on 11515 for one hour. The station was not heard last Sunday; I got instead voice of France international in Persian *1600-1630*. Lately I noticed a minor ID change "Sawat al-Horria, Izaa't Lobnan al-mowahed al-Mostaquel, wa Saout al-Moqawama al-Lobnanyh". Developing... (Mahmud Fathi, Germany, Dec. 12, Cumbre DX via DXLD) CLANDESTINE from SITE to LEBANON. 11515 Voice of Free Lebanon (tentative), 1631 Dec 12, Arabic music, but heavy jamming and a weak signal left no chance for an ID (Hans Johnson, Javaradio Sweden, Cumbre DX via DXLD) ** LIBYA [non]. FRANCE/LIBYA: New frequency schedule for LJB via Issoudun effective from Dec. 11: 9415 1800-1900 17695 1100-1230 ||||| extended, ex 1100-1130 11635* 1800-1900 17695 1500-1600 ||||| deleted 11635 1900-2130 17880 1700-1800 11715 1800-2030 21485 1100-1230 ||||| new freq 15220 1600-1800 21640 1100-1130 ||||| deleted 15615 1600-1900 21640 1500-1600 ||||| deleted 15660 1700-1800 21675 1100-1500 15660** 1800-1900 21695 1000-1400 * till March 1, 2003; ** from March 2, 2003 (Ivo and Angel! Observer, Bulgaria, Dec 12 via DXLD) ** MEXICO. LLEGARÁ A MÉXICO RADIODIFUSORA DE DISNEY miércoles 11 de diciembre, 10:03 PM (CNI en Línea) Walt Disney parece no tener límites en América Latina, primero lanzó su negocio a través de la televisión, luego en la Internet y ahora en la radio, con nuevos planes de expansión. La empresa de entretenimiento, que el año pasado lanzó Radio Disney en Argentina y este año en Paraguay, anunció que planea iniciar operaciones en México y Brasil, los dos mayores mercados de América Latina. "México y Brasil son prioritarios porque son mercados masivos y la radio es la mejor forma de llegar al público masivo", dijo a Notimex el vicepresidente de Walt Disney Company-Latin America (TWDC-LA), Luis Pérez. El ejecutivo señaló que en el caso de México, Disney está en el proceso de identificar un socio local, y sólo adelantó que es "un grupo ejecutivo muy involucrado en el negocio de la radio". "Tenemos la esperanza de iniciar transmisiones en México en un plazo de 12 a 18 meses", afirmó Pérez, cuya oficina se encuentra en Miami, en el estado de Florida, Estados Unidos. Para México y Brasil, Radio Disney operará en FM y su formato estará dirigido a captar un público mediano entre 16 y 18 años de edad, a diferencia de Estados Unidos, donde está dirigido a un público infantil. La programación de 24 horas incluirá talento local, música pop, bandas sonoras del cine y televisión, así como entrevistas con personalidades del momento, invitados especiales, concursos y nuevos formatos de entretenimiento interactivo. En la estación también se programará música producida por Walt Disney Records (el brazo discográfico de la firma) como el tema "Estrellas que me dan vida", creada por el grupo chileno La Ley. (MPG-Con información de Notimex via Héctor García Borjorge, DF, Conexión Digital via DXLD) Note that unlike in the US where R. Disney is predominantly on AM, for children, in Brasil and México it`s on FM (WTFK???), for an older demographic, 16-18 (gh, DXLD) ** NETHERLANDS. Una vez más les recordamos que el viernes 13 de diciembre es el último Radio Enlace del 2002. En nuestra programación especial de Fin de Año, Radio Enlace regresará con un reportaje especial desde el Fin del mundo, la Patagonia argentina que se transmitirá el martes 24 de diciembre con repetición el viernes 27 (RN Radio Enlace via DXLD) ** NEWFOUNDLAND. The Society of Newfoundland Radio Amateurs will be operating for a 24 hour period December 12, 2002 marking the 101st anniversary of the reception of the first trans-Atlantic signal at Signal Hill in St. John's. A special QSL card has been available for contacts with VO1AA during the past year and including the December 12th operation. QSL via VO1HE with an SASE (from http://www.sonra.ca/ via Wade Smith, NB, VE9WGS, UT Dec 13 0100 via DXLD) see also CANADA ** NEW ZEALAND. The USAF is building a HF transmitter facility here in New Zealand, one which, according to the Minister of Defence, can be heard by SW enthusiasts using receivers costing as low as NZ$30. It`s part of a Combined Communications Electronic Board network designed, so it`s claimed, to fill in world-wide gaps in military radio coverage, in this case between Hawaii and Antarctica. The NZ Defence Forces are said to have complete access to the gear, which will be located in Auckland, central North Island or Christchurch. This CCEB includes NZ, USA, Canada, UK and Australia. Shades of ECHELON perhaps. I wonder if the transmitter will be digital and capable of sending other data streams which will need more than a NZ$30 receiver. It`s nice of the Minister to acknowledge that the utility bands are a happy hunting ground for DXers, but we doubt a $30 receiver would suffice. Whenuapai is considered most unlikely by Barry Hartley in view of proposals to close the base, and with the main Radio New Zealand medium wave transmitter site only 5 km away. Weedons is more likely with existing HF facilities there, but Barry`s pick is Waiouru in the centre of the North Island. The main NZ Army training base is there along with the associated main HF communications for the NZ Defence Forces. The transmitting facility is located right alongside State Highway 1, the main route throughout the country running from north to south. [Log Periodic, Rhombic and Log periodic and rhombic antennas just north of Waiouru. September 2001 Photo credit. Bryan Clark] Other antennas are clearly visible as you drive past. The Royal New Zealand Navy`s receiving station called ``HMNZS Irirangi`` is also clearly visible about 1 km off State Highway One. Barry suspects it is the primary receiving station for the other armed services as well. As these facilities already exist, he thinks Waiouru is the likely site, unless communications with the Antarctic are the main objective, which would make Christchurch a strong contender (Dec NZ DX Times via DXLD) ** PERU. 1415.5, OAU2R, R. Cajamarca, ex OAX2D ex 1346.4, heard by TIN when visiting Cajamarca in September 2001. The station was on November 28, 2000 newly licensed by the Ministry of Transport and Communications to broadcast on 1420 kHz. The station broadcasts on medium wave Mon-Fri 0800-0200, Sat, Sun 0800-0300. New address: Jr. Revilla Pérez 194, Cajamarca. The station now also broadcasts on FM 105.1 MHz (Takayuki Inoue Nozaki, in Relámpago DX via RNM via ARC Info Desk via DXLD) A bit stale, but LA splits are always of interest, increasingly rare. Where are they now? (gh) ** PHILIPPINES. PHILIPPINES: FM RADIO INDUSTRY TO BE OPENED UP TO DRAW IN INVESTMENTS | Text of report by Mary Ann Ll. Reyes entitled "Government to allow more FM radio stations" published in English by Philippine newspaper The Philippine Star web site on 12 December The National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) is set to open the country's FM radio industry to more players in a bid to fully optimize the use of limited radio frequencies and draw in investments. A draft memorandum circular has already been prepared to amend the existing rule on FM technical standards. The FM radio sector is presently governed by a regulation that sets a frequency separation of 800 kHz between stations. The regulation was issued based on guidelines submitted by the Kapisanan ng mga Brodkasters ng Pilipinas [Association of Philippine Broadcasters] (KBP) to prevent transmission interference between stations. Right now, there are at least 26 FM stations separated by 800 kHz. For instance, the station 88.3 is followed by 89.1, then by 89.9, 90.7, 91.5, 92.3, 93.1, to name a few. The commission's plan is to reduce the frequency separation to 400 kHz, which means that the current number of FM stations can easily double. The NTC noted that new technology now allows a closer frequency separation without interference. "Due to the advances in technology, digital or hybrid sound broadcasting systems of high quality have been made available permitting greater spectrum efficiency than conventional FM sound broadcasting," the NTC said. The NTC is amenable to allowing a frequency separation of 400 kHz on the FM spectrum for broadcasting stations using digital or hybrid technology. "FM broadcast stations using digital and/or hybrid technology shall be allowed to operate in the same city or nearby cities with a frequency separation of not less than 400 kHz," the NTC said in the draft circular. Should the new standard be approved and adopted, the NTC may start allocating FM frequencies again. This is expected to boost investments in the radio industry as more stations are expected to open. FM stations in the country currently transmit on analogue technology. Digital or hybrid technology allows a simultaneous transmission with analogue wherein the digital signal is placed within the analogue signal. This means stations transmitting through digital technology can still use the existing broadcast infrastructure that is based on analogue technology. The NTC's move comes on the heels of the adoption of the US Federal Communications Commission (FCC) of the use of hybrid technology last October. Countries like Singapore and Thailand have already adopted a shorter frequency separation standard between 400 and 500 kHz. Source: The Philippine Star web site, Manila, in English 12 Dec 02 (via BBCM via DXLD) !! They`ve got it backwards. Analog maybe could accommodate reduced separation [in a single market, they should point out] to 400 kHz, but IBOC, if that`s what they mean by digital, spreads out more than analog. Now is *not* the time to reduce spacing, if that be in the offing (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** POLAND. 1080, During the late evening hours on 4 December, test transmissions have been conducted via the Koszecin mediumwave transmitter in southern Poland, owned by Polish Telecom (Telekomunikacja Polska). According to observations by Ronny Forslund in Sweden, the programme that was aired identified as "Pan European Radio" with address P. O. Box 10386, Beverly Hills, CA 90213, USA and email address paneuropeanradio@hotmail.com The transmitter site has confirmed this test broadcast which it classified as coverage test, the power was 350 kW (Bernd Trutenau, Lithuania, ARC Info Desk via Olle Alm, DXLD) Previously an unID here ** POLAND. CONTROVERSIAL CATHOLIC RADIO STATION APPLIES FOR POLISH TV LICENSE. Ultra-Catholic Radio Maryja, headed by Father Tadeusz Rydzyk, has applied to the Polish National Radio and Television Broadcasting Council (KRRiTV) for a license to launch a satellite-television channel called Trwam ("I abide" in Polish), PAP reported on 9 December. The application specifies that Trwam is to be a commercial station and, in contrast to Radio Maryja, will air advertisements. KRRiTV spokeswoman Joanna Stepien said a decision on the application should be expected no sooner than in two to three months. ("RFE/RL Newsline," 10 December via RFE/RL Media Matters via DXLD) ** POLAND [non]. RUSSIA: Winter B-02 schedule for Radio Mariya via Samara 0600-0815 Mon-Sat; 0700-0900 Sun on 12060; 1600-2300 Daily on 7400 (Ivo and Angel! Observer, Bulgaria, Dec 12 via DXLD) ** QATAR. BROADCASTING THE OTHER OPINION --- December 13 2002 To most Westerners who have heard of it, the Arabic news network al Jazeera is a mouthpiece for Islamic extremists, the station Osama bin Laden contacts when he wants to threaten the West. But as far as the Arab world is concerned, al Jazeera is nobody's tool. Since its launch six years ago, the Qatar-based satellite station has earned a formidable reputation among the world's 250 million Arabic speakers as the first Arab news outlet to report on the region objectively, critically and - perhaps most importantly - entertainingly. Instead of screening interminable news reports about what the emir/president did that day, al Jazeera has broken new ground by airing pieces that are openly critical of regional governments, by interviewing Israeli politicians and civilians and by dealing with taboo subjects such as sexuality, polygamy and corruption in the Arab world... http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2002/12/12/1039656168718.html (Melbourne The Age via John Figliozzi, swprograms via DXLD) ** ROMANIA. PRESIDENT RETURNS LAW ON ROMANIAN LANGUAGE TO PARLIAMENT President Ion Iliescu returned the recently adopted Law on the Defense of Romanian Language to parliament for further debate, Mediafax reported on 10 December. The controversial law, nicknamed the "Pruteanu law," after its main proponent, Senator George Pruteanu, stipulates that foreign words displayed in public places must be accompanied by translation into Romanian. Presidential Councilor Serban Nicolae on 10 December said Iliescu asked parliament to remove from the bill the levying of fines for the incorrect use of Romanian language in advertisements, and to add to the exceptions to the law the use of foreign words in sports-related texts, as many of these words cannot be translated. ("RFE/RL Newsline," 11 December via RFE/RL Media Matters via DXLD)) ** RUSSIA. PRESIDENT PUTIN TO APPEAR IN A LIVE CALL-IN ON DEC. 19 MOSCOW, December 11, 2002. /From RIA Novosti correspondent/ --- On Thursday, December 19, Russian President Vladimir Putin will appear live on Russia's First [TV] Channel and Rossia [TV] Channel, where he will answer questions from all over the country, reported the president's press service. The call-in will also be aired live on Mayak and Radio Rossii radio stations. According to the press service, the hot line will be set up with the help of mobile TV stations working in regional centers, towns and villages all across Russia. First Channel and Rossia Channel will be collecting the questions and selecting the most interesting ones, which will then be posed to the president during the live call-in, said the press service. Source: http://www.rian.ru (via Sosedkin) Note: according to RIAN report in Russian, Putin's call-in show will be on the air Dec. 19, starting from noon MSK (0900 UT). Most likely it will last for an hour. The usual SW frequencies for Radio Russia during that time are 4485, 6085, 5930, 6125, 6150, 6160, 7200, 7220, 7250,7440, 9720, 11990, 12005 (from 0930 UT), 13705, 15355, 17600 kHz. Possible Radio Mayak/Radio Russia relays from Belorussia: 4246, 4541, 4982, 5134, 5256 kHz (Sergei Sosedkin, IL, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** RUSSIA. 9972 and 10020, RWM (Russian time signal spurs), 1125 Dec 13. This morning I observed symmetrical spurs 24 kHz above and below the fundamental frequency of 9996. Fundamental strong, spurs were fair to weak (David Hodgson, TN, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Moscow ** SAUDI ARABIA [non]. RUSSIA/LITHUANIA: Excellent signal in Bulgaria for new clandestine V of Reform in Arabic: 1900-2100 on 7590 (55555) tentatively via ARM 100 kW / 285 deg or SIT 100 kW / 259 deg (Ivo and Angel! Observer, Bulgaria, Dec 12 via DXLD) oh yeah? See below 7590, V. of Reform, Dec 10 *1858-1936 24432 Arabic, Talk by man. ID at 1935. 1936 Jamming (Kouji Hashimoto, Japan Premium, via DXLD) The new 7590 station started today with sudden audio cut-in inmidst sentence at 1858. All I heard so far was a presenter receiving listener calls, no music bridges, no jingles, just talk over and over. The whole thing sounds quite amateurish, and this applies also to the audio quality. The reported breaks sounds very similar to transmitter breaks but are disruptions on the program audio; the transmitter itself works perfectly. Here in eastern Germany 7590, booms in with an enormous signal. Obviously this is a single-hop signal and I am within the main lobe of the antenna. So this is definitely no German site; it is also evident that this is no CIS site. Sitkunai and Issoudun are very unlikely either. It could be England, but my suspicion is that the name of the site includes an ø. Enclosed two characteristic cuts: One of the telephone audio disruptions, sounding like a carrier break but not being one, and the presenter taking over from a caller. So that's what the BBC report describes as ``by using an internet phone service - known as Paltalk - listeners can take part in the programme and say what they like``. And, by the way, there is something we have to ask Kenneth: ``The station started a 24-hour broadcast Saturday via satellite.`` On Eutelsat Hotbird, probably within the WRN bouquet, or elsewhere? Best regards, (Kai Ludwig, Germany, Dec 12, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 7590 had a weak and very fluttery signal here at 1900. 99% chance that this is Norway as other CIS and continental stations did not behave like this (Olle Alm, Sweden, Dec 12, DX LISTENING DIGEST) When will TDP --- and for that matter, legitimate broadcasters like NRK, go too far in handling clandestine broadcasts, which are really terrorist? Sounds like this one comes close, endorsing Bin-laden (gh, DXLD) I have been hearing the clandestine Radio Alisalah, (Sawt-al-Islah) around 1915-1945 on 7590khz. Reception has been quite good and programming in Arabic. I sent them an e-mail report and received a very prompt verification but with no transmitter site details as I had requested. E-mail address for this one is info@islah.org (Ian Cattermole, New Zealand, Dec 13, Cumbre DX via DXLD) ** SOUTH CAROLINA. I know nothing more about Brother Stair and haven`t had the time or energy to check. He`s still on 5070 and other frequencies, but I don`t know if he`s cut back or not. There is no indication whatsoever on the show itself that anything is amiss. (He, by the way, gets ornery when anyone calls his show a show. he has no ``show,`` he says. He merely preaches the word of god on the radio. It`s not a show.) (Robert Arthur, Dec 9, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** SRI LANKA. OPPOSITION CRITICISES GOVERNMENT FOR SUPPORTING VOT The Sri Lankan opposition has strongly criticised the government for its decision to permit an upgrade of Voice of Tigers (VoT), operated by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE). The opposition says that the government should re-start its own service to the region, Wanni Sevaya, which was closed down on 31 March 2002 following a ceasefire between the government and the LTTE. Wanni Sevaya carried personal messages from the families of police and security forces deployed in the region. It also informed the civilian population of government policies on key issues. President Chandrika Kumaratunga is said to be 'deeply concerned' at the government's decision permit the LTTE to upgrade its radio station while closing down Wanni Sevaya. (© Radio Netherlands Media Network 13 December 2002 via DXLD) ** SRI LANKA [non]. Tamil Radio & Television (TRT) The service will be known as Tamil Radio & Television (TRT). The licensee will provide information and music for the Tamil community in Europe. It will be transmitted for 24 hrs/7 days/week. --- ORIGINAL AIR DATE 11/07/01 /LICENCE EXPIRY DATE: 10/07/06. 5/7 Rue Emile Zola, 93120 La Courneuve, FRANCE. Tel: 0033 153 208 745. Fax: 0033 153 204 180. e-mail: hamedegnato@dtss.fr Director Sireetharan SELLATHURAI --- (Sakthi Vel, India, Japan Premium Dec 12 via DXLD) WTFK??? Satellite only? ** SYRIA [non]. 7470, Arab R., Dec 7 *1600-1610, 35433, Arabic, 1600 s/on and ID. Opening music and opening announce. Talk (Kouji Hashimoto, Japan Premium via DXLD) ** TAIWAN. 1359, Unofficial station Feng Lin Tientai off the air from September 13, reactivated from October 9. As of October 28, unofficial stations are heard on 1026, 1233, 1242, 1359, 1368, 1440 and 1503 (T. Gima, ABI October, November issues via Y. Kato, via ARC Info Desk via Olle Alm, DXLD) ** TIBET [non]. Frequency changes for Voice of Tibet in Tibetan and Mandarin Chinese: 1213-1300 NF 21635 TAC 100 or 200 kW / 131 or 132 deg, ex 21525 1430-1517 NF 12025 TAC 100 or 200 kW / 131 or 132 deg, ex 11550, re-ex 11975 (Ivo and Angel! Observer, Bulgaria, Dec 12 via DXLD) ** TRINIDAD. GOVERNMENT TO RESTRUCTURE STATE-OWNED BROADCASTER | Text of report by Caribbean Media Corporation (CMC) news agency on 12 December Port of Spain, Trinidad: The Trinidad and Tobago government is seeking to divest the state-owned National Broadcasting Network (NBN), which is said to be in debt by 22m TT [Trinidad and Tobago] dollars (3.65m US dollars). Public Administration Minister Dr Lenny Saith told reporters the state enterprise is also operating at a loss of 1.5m TT dollars (250,000 US dollars) per month. He said bankers were not willing to provide the network with any credit, unless government provided a letter of comfort. As a result, the minister said government plans to restructure the company and is moving to construct a seven-storey building in Port of Spain to house a new Government Information Service. However, Dr Saith said that NBN's properties in the city would be retained by the state. The minister said government would know in three months time what the precise divestment process would be. The NBN operates a television station and at least three radio stations here. Source: Caribbean Media Corporation news agency, Bridgetown, in English 2348 gmt 12 Dec 02 (via BBCM via DXLD) ** U A E. UAE Radio, Dubai, 21598v, English at 1330 normally ends about 1348, but Dec 12 tuned in at 1354 to find yet another episode in the endless series, ``Saladin, Hero of Islam`` in progress. Someone must have missed stopping the tape/switching back to Arabic service, because at 1404 yet another episode started, but it was cut for Arabic by 1408. Next day Dec 13 back to normal (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U A E. 11695, Gospel for Asia/Athmeya Yathra (Spiritual Journey) via Al Dhabayya. Full data PPC's, signed plus a information/response letter indicating that my report will be forwarded to the India address for their response and interest. Used my SASE via the Stoney Creek address in Ontario. v/s Wendell Leythem (Edward Kusalik, Alberta, Cumbredx mailing list Dec 12 via DXLD) ** U K [non]. LaserRadio.net launches its regular Sunday broadcast on December 22nd from Ulbroka, Latvia at 1800-2300 UT on 5935. Programmes will feature items of interest for SWLs and Radio Hams blended with good music. Also to be heard on 5935 from 1700 UT each Sunday is Religious broadcaster World Bible Radio Network. Listen to Laser Radio at http://www.laserradio.net (Andrew Yeates, Laser Radio Dec 11, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. AP World Politics U.S. GOVERNMENT RADIO FACES STATIC OF MISTRUST IN APPEALING TO ARAB LISTENERS Tue Dec 10, 7:36 PM ET --- By ALAA SHAHINE, Associated Press Writer DUBAI, United Arab Emirates - An editorial read out the other day to Arab listeners was laced with criticism of the latest American-backed Security Council resolution on Iraq -- hardly the expected fare for a U.S. government radio station. "It's enough to know that America has submitted the resolution and Britain has supported it to consider it a biased, bad and prejudiced resolution," said the commentary from Al-Thawra, the newspaper of Iraq's ruling Baath Party. Clearly that opinion doesn't jibe with U.S. policy. But it is in line with Radio Sawa's pledge to present more than just canned American views along with the hip music it broadcasts in hopes of luring a young Arab audience. Still, the new station will have to fight to be heard above the static of mistrust aired about the United States in the Arab media. The challenge is especially daunting as President George W. Bush (news - web sites) threatens Iraq with war. Arab media regularly point to the U.S.-led war on terrorism and American animosity toward Iraqi President Saddam Hussein (news - web sites) as evidence of an anti-Arab stance. This only adds to long- standing distrust of the United States for backing Israel. But Joan Mower, spokeswoman for the Broadcasting Board of Governors that oversees U.S. international broadcasts, says that eight months after its launch, Radio Sawa is gaining respect. A survey in Amman, Jordan, said that among 17- to 28-year-olds, 39 percent identify Radio Sawa as "their most accurate and trustworthy news source," compared with 21 percent who named state-run Amman FM, she said. "We pride ourselves on being balanced and accurate," Mower told The Associated Press in a telephone interview from Washington. Radio Sawa sometimes provides news ignored by state-run Arab media. It reported the Iraqi Parliament's vote urging rejection of the tough new U.N. resolution on Iraqi weapons inspections. Iraq's official media omitted that news, and eventually the Iraqi government accepted the U.N. resolution. Radio Sawa -- Arabic for "Radio Together" -- was born out of a realization in Washington that following the Sept. 11 attacks and the America-hatred it exposed in the Arab world, the U.S. viewpoint wasn't being promoted aggressively enough. One of the station's guiding principles, says its Web site, "is that the long-range interests of the United States are served by communicating directly in Arabic with the peoples of the Middle East by radio. Radio Sawa seeks to win the attention and respect of listeners. In reporting the news, Radio Sawa is committed to being accurate, objective, and comprehensive." But Hazim Ghorab, an Arab media expert, said any success Sawa enjoys now will fizzle once "the United States takes its next aggressive step in the Middle East." "The U.S. government has a legacy of anti-Arab policies. ... Media won't change people's attitude toward an issue like this, but a change in policies would," he said. Radio Sawa began broadcasting from Washington via relay stations in Kuwait, Jordan and the United Arab Emirates in March and plans to expand operations. The station has entered a region where the airwaves were once ruled by official broadcasters delivering an official line. Things began changing when the Arabic satellite station Al-Jazeera, initially financed by the Qatari government but claiming editorial independence, went on the air six years ago with its mix of Western-style news and lively and popular public affairs programs. These often feature guests railing against the United States, but also air differing viewpoints -- in itself a big change that has won Al-Jazeera a large following. Satellite services remain out of reach for many Arabs, either because they are banned or are too expensive. When it comes to news on the radio, Sawa gets stiff competition from more established voices like the BBC and Radio Monte Carlo, to which many in the region have long turned for uncensored information. Ibrahim Helal, Al-Jazeera's editor in chief, said he has never listened to Radio Sawa, but formed a negative opinion of it after U.S. officials who recently visited Qatar described the station's mission to him. "I find it offensive to compare us and a station that has a political agenda," Helal told AP from Doha, Qatar. "If they (Sawa) imitate Al-Jazeera's style in covering Arab stories to achieve political goals rather than journalistic ones, then they are opportunistic people." Norman Pattiz, a member the U.S. broadcasting board and the chief inspiration behind Radio Sawa, believes the station is popular even among Iraqis. "We are unable to conduct surveys to measure our success in Iraq ... but we can tell we are popular because the Iraqi government sometimes jams our transmission," he said. E-mails from anonymous Arab listeners provided to AP by Sawa praise the stations' news coverage. "Some people are blinded by the lies other channels spread say that your station sides with the United States," wrote one listener in the United Arab Emirates. But Sawa also has its detractors. "I sometimes listen to Radio Sawa at night, although I don't trust what they say. They always give priority to anti-Iraq statements by Western officials," Ahmed Khalil, a 20-year-old student, told AP in Baghdad, Iraq's capital. Louay Sayyaf, a 24-year-old Syrian doctor in the United Arab Emirates, said Radio Sawa pays little attention to such issues as the hardships U.N. economic sanctions impose on Iraqis. "Radio Sawa broadcasts what the U.S. government wants us to know about Iraq and other issues, or else why would they launch a station that airs popular hits without even commercials?" Sayyaf said. Radio Sawa's formula does emphasize music, a mix of Western and Arab hits meant to draw listeners 30 and under -- 60 percent of the Arab world's 280 million people. The music ranges from Egypt's Amr Diab, Iraq's Kazim al-Sahir and Lebanon's Nawal al-Zoughby to Western singers Bryan Adams and Jennifer López. Each hour, the station broadcasts two newscasts totaling about 15 minutes. In its Iraq coverage, the station presents both countries' views, as well as a daily roundup of Iraq-related news, including editorials from the American and other foreign press. Radio Sawa even has correspondent Fadel Mashaal in Baghdad, an Iraqi accredited by Iraq's government, who has been reporting in recent days on the arrival of U.N. weapons inspectors. "We are not a platform for U.S. policy makers," said Mower, the U.S. spokeswoman. Khalil Fadel, an Egyptian psychiatrist, said Arab views of Radio Sawa may have more to do with listeners' "pre-assumed impression" of America -- and the station's choice of words -- than with what news stories it chooses to broadcast. "When, for example, Sawa or CNN describes Palestinian attackers as 'suicide bombers' and not as 'martyrs,' this triggers automatic rejection from people to all that the station airs," Fadel said. ___ EDITOR'S NOTE: Associated Press writer Sameer N. Yacoub in Iraq contributed to this report. On the Net: Radio Sawa: http://www.radiosawa.com (via Kim Elliott, DXLD) ** U S A [non]. 9535//11730//15410, Radio Farda 1540-1615 Dec.8. Noted with lively pop variety music ranging from gothic type to hip hop at times. Noted with IDs for Radiyo Far-da (echoed) and gave a web site information at 1606 as http://www.radiofarda.com Of the three frequencies heard, 15410 (Woofferton) was the best heard, with 9435 (Kavala) being the poorest, and 11730 (Lampertheim) being fair to good (Edward Kusalik, Alberta, Cumbredx mailing list Dec 12 via DXLD) ** U S A. VOA LAUNCHES NEW PROGRAM FOR INDONESIAN YOUTH Washington, D.C., Dec. 12, 2002 -- The Voice of America's Indonesian Service will launch a new, fast-paced program for Indonesia tomorrow called VOA Direct Connection (VOA DC). Aimed at the 60 percent of Indonesia’s population under the age of 30, the new show will feature popular music as well as news and information on the latest developments in pop culture around the world. In announcing the new program, VOA Director David Jackson stressed that VOA DC is part of Voice of America’s broader effort to reach out to younger audiences around the world. In many places where the U.S. has strategic interests, he said, "young people form the majority of the population, and we need to do more to attract them." The new program builds on VOA's highly successful Indonesian broadcasts, which include 25 hours of radio broadcasting and 1.5 hours of television programming in that language every week. VOA DC will be launched on December 13 at 9:30 p.m. local time in Jakarta [1430 UT] and will be hosted by two young VOA disc jockeys with extensive experience in Indonesia. More than 80 satellite affiliates will receive the program for local rebroadcast, and audiences can also listen to VOA DC via shortwave (VOA press release Dec 12 via DXLD) ** U S A. Hello friends, I will be host of VOA's Talk To America on New Year's Day, January 1, 2003, 1700-1800 UT. The program will be repeated at 2200-2300. I'll be taking calls from friends in the shortwave listening/DXing community around the world. Another VOA News Now slot is available at 1400-1500 UT, if I can think of something to do with it. Suggestions welcome. I could feature New Year's Eve listening excerpts, but I doubt I'll do enough successful listening on my own to fill the hour. All the best, (Kim Andrew Elliott, Producer and Presenter of the former Communications World, Dec 12, swprograms via DXLD) It is a day to celebrate Auld Lang Syne. Assuming the VOA vault has still got some tapes from 50 years ago, an interesting show could be made from programs, signature tunes, and ID's of that era. As I remember, the VOA still used leased transmission facilities from places like Schenectady, NY; Bound Brook, NJ; and Bethany, OH. Or maybe you could involve the audience by running a VOA call-in trivia contest. See if anyone can remember the name of the signature tune whose acronym is CTGOTO. It later was switched to IAYDD if I remember correctly. See how many listeners can identify the companies that owned the leased transmitter facilities? Who was president of the USA on January 1, 1952? Even better, who was Vice President? What job did CBS's London war correspondent, Ed Murrow, have later at VOA? Who was amateur radio operator Bill Leonard, W2SKE, and what was his connection to VOA? What were the call letters assigned by the FCC for those leased transmitter facilities? I can hear it now, "We'll take the third caller on 1-202-VOA-NEWS." How about a finger-dexterity contest for listeners? You name a country and the first listener to call in from that country would win a prize. Prizes could be simple like autographed pictures of the host. Or, if that is too scary, how about fast-track student visa application forms from the State Department? You could instantly find out if anybody in important VOA target areas was listening. You could use the contests as a way to do some audience research. As folks call in, you could engage them in conversation and maybe learn something about who is listening out there. I would find that interesting but then I'm not supposed to listen to VOA. ~*-.,_,.-*~'^'~*-.,_,.-*~'^'~*-., (Joe Buch, DE, swprograms via DXLD) -*~'^'~*-.,_,.-*~'^'~*-.,_,.-*~'^ ** U S A. WRNO New Orleans, LA, 7355, 0146-0208 12/12. Continuous religious talk by the "Good News World". Announcement, "End of this side, please flip tape to side 2" and GNW contact info with Texas, USA QTH, followed by ID at 0207; "WRNO World Wide, New Orleans, Louisiana, USA". Religious program continued. Fair with QRM chatter. First log on any listed frequency since last winter (Scott R Barbour Jr, NH, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 7354.6, WRNO, 0238 Dec 12 [UT Thu] fair with religious program in English. Gone at 0252 recheck. Same pattern as before, station signing off for night rather than switching to listed 7395 at 0300. Irregular operation, thanks Matthews' tip (Hans Johnson, Rio Hondo TX, Cumbre DX via DXLD) Looked for it Dec 13 around 0250 but nothing; maybe too late (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. 9465, WMLK had problems with the storm yesterday, but back on today. 1715 OK signal but quite muddy modulation. WINB is still without power (Hans Johnson, Ralabs Radio NY, Dec 12, Cumbredx mailing list via DXLD) ** U S A. WJIE finally has a new Update on the air, Dec 13 at 1330 on 7490; I know it is no longer the Oct 23 production since Doc Burkhart refers to the Guam typhoon, which was just last Sunday Dec 8, putting KTWR off the air. He says KSDA Guam and KHBN Palau suffered minor damage. Also mentioned WINB being down. And the Brother Stair situation still unresolved, but could have impact on a number of SW stations. Still expecting WJIE-2 to reactivate 13595 soon; keep monitoring for it. New programs have been added and a new schedule will soon be posted at http://www.wjiesw.com I tuned in a few minutes late, so if he said anything about Liberia or other projects, I missed it. No doubt this will be repeated indefinitely M-F at 1330 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. On Dec 7 I talked to Lori Wallace after her show. During the phone call she mentioned that Preacher Otwell is no longer on right after her, and this happened because she ``prayed for`` it. Feigning ignorance, I asked why. And she said because he has been blasting me for months. But the Lord is with me, she said. So then I asked her if she would be expanding into the next half hour. And she said WWCR won`t let her! I asked if she`s willing and able to pay for the time, and she said yes, but WWCR won`t let her. Part of the next half hour on Dec. 7 included the show ``Ask WWCR``. [Lori Wallace: Keep Standing for the Truth, UT Sun 0230-0300 on 5070; Ask WWCR at 0315] [Richard Wiles: American Freedom News, M-F 1400-1500 on 12160; Tue-Sat 0200-0300 on 5070] --- WWCR posted schedule On Thanksgiving and the next day, Rick Wiles played pre-recorded broadcasts so that he could have 4 days off. In both of them he allowed falsehoods to be aired. On Thursday he read a proclamation from Governor Bradford, dated 1623, ordering the Pilgrims to attend Thanksgiving services on ``Thursday, November 29, 1623.`` This document has been known since the 1920s to be a fraud. For one thing, November 29 of 1623 was not a Thursday on either the Julian calendar (which the Pilgrims used at the time, being rather anti-Catholic) or the Gregorian. Also, it refers to the folks as ``Pilgrims,`` a term which was not used for them until the 1880s. There`s other internal evidence of fraud. Anyway, that`s not the part that angers me `cause everyone makes mistakes. What angers me is that when I sent Rick an e- mail telling of his error, he totally ignored it, and never corrected his mistake the following week. He normally responds to my e-mails, you should know. Then on Friday, he had a guest on. As is often the case, they were pushing conspiracy theories. And the guest suggested that Paul Wellstone`s plane going down during the election was too convenient to have been an accident or coincidence. Then the guest said that Wellstone was the only Member of Congress to vote no on the fascist and un-American ``USA Patriot Act``. So I sent Rick Wiles a message telling him that Paul Wellstone voted YES on that act, and that 39 members of Congress voted no, of whom 3 were Republicans. Again, the guy totally ignored my e-mail, thought it can be researched in the Congressional Record (which is now on-line so one doesn`t need to go to the library like in the olden days). And he never bothered to correct his error. That guy`s credibility is quite low as far as I`m concerned. He`s really an arrogant don`t-bother-me-with-the-facts kind of guy. He has not lately mentioned the status of the lawsuit between himself and the radio people. Last I heard (about a month or more ago), is that his listeners have coughed up all the money needed for the legal bills, but that he still needs more money for the accountants he needs to concoct the proof he needs. Dunno more than that (Robert Arthur, Dec 9 0741 UT, J.D. 2,452,617.82066, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. FCC RAIDS BERKELEY LIBERATION RADIO by major minus • Wednesday December 11, 2002 at 04:14 PM Oakland, Calif.: A volunteer at Berkeley Liberation Radio reports that FCC agents came to the studio this morning and took away all their equipment. BLR is an unlicensed community radio station serving the East Bay at 104.1 FM. Needless to say the station is off the air. More information as it becomes available (via Mike Terry, UK, DXLD) More comments at: http://sf.indymedia.org/news/2002/12/1549744.php by facts on BLR by Joe Monday -- Wednesday December 11, 2002 at 10:21 PM There is no "frequent candidate for mayor bottom-lining the station." DJs pay $20 a month dues, which is over 90% of our income--the rest is listener donations, fundraisers. Missing equipment: transmitter, mixing board, 2 CD players, 2 cassette players, 2 turntables, fader for turntables, computer, monitor, 2 radio receivers, etc. We are having a community meeting Thursday, Dec. 12 at 7 p.m. at the Long Haul on Shattuck, 2 blocks south of Ashby, across st. from La Pena. We need to get the word out to the media. We would like to get the TV stations to take footage of the effects of the raid, cover the story. Our current run of troubles started 4 days after 9/11 at our last studio. Now this, as the government readies its (further) attack on Iraq. We cannot help but feel that at the very least a low-level gov. operative decided this move on us would jibe with the "war on terrorism." Proposals for action in response to the FCC raid on Berkeley Liberation Radio --- by Gerald Smith of Slave Revolt Radio • Thursday December 12, 2002 at 06:54 AM gersmith@jps.net The attack on BLR should be for what it is: A vicious assault on the Freedom of Speech. In this context we have the potential to win over allies and build unity in our struggle to EXIST as a community radio station. We having an emergency meeting 7PM Thursday, 12-12-02, at the Long Hall/InfoShop (across the street form La Peña) all who support BLR are welcome. The question for us at BLR is: TO BE OR NOT TO BE. If we offer no resistance to this tyranny it will make it easier for the FCC to attack hundreds of other Micro Radio Stations across the country. WHAT YOU DO MATTERS! I am offering the following motions for you consideration: 1. BLR supporters will reoccupy our studio in its present location and go back on the air as soon as humanly possible. 2. BLR supporters will organize a demonstration/rally at the Federal Building in downtown Oakland no later than next Wednesday (via sf.indymedia via DXLD) ** U S A. Sunday, December 15, 2002 - WILM-1450, Wilmington, DE will conduct a test from 1:00-2:30am EST [0600-0730 UT]. The test will include special music, Morse code, and special effects noises during WILM's regular programming. Reception reports may be sent to: Mr. Allan Loudell, Program Director WILM Radio 1215 French St. Wilmington, DE 19801 A few phone calls may be taken during the test: (prepaid only) 302-656- 9800. (Arranged by Allan Loudell for the NRC CPC-thanks Paul Swearingen, IRCA Soft DX Monitor via DXLD) Programming content will include identification in Morse Code, the sound of a siren, animal sounds, easily identifiable songs, and unusual sounds. Reception reports are invited and all that is necessary is to identify some strange sound. Return postage is requested. Station WILM is printing a special QSL card for the event which also honors their 80th anniversary. WILM 1450 kHz 1 kW Sunday morning (USA) December 15 1:00 am - 2:30 am Eastern Time, 0600-0730 UT. Mr Allan Loudell, Radio WILM, 1215 N French St, Wilmington, Delaware 19801-3213 USA. Phone 302 656 9800 (Dr Adrian M. Peterson, DX Editor - Wavescan, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. KSCO-1080 Santa Cruz silent periods Dale Park in the current DXN's DDXD-W mentioned this, so I checked KSCO's website. Sure enough, their daily program schedule has "off the air" for midnight to 6 on Sunday, as well as midnight to 5 on Monday. If any other 24-hour AM station still has a weekly (biweekly?, hi) silent period, I'm not aware of it. When KDWN-720 dropped their Monday SP last winter, I thought there were none left, so this is encouraging news. Sorta doubt it'll catch on elsewhere, but a man can dream ... (Steve Francis, Alcoa, Tennessee, Dec 7, NRC-AM via DXLD) ** U S A. WMQM "On-Air" Date Delayed For Immediate Release - 6 December 2002 POC: George McClintock (615) 255-1300 The "On-Air" date for WMQM, 1600-AM, Memphis, Tennessee's newest Christian Radio station has been delayed. Due to an unforeseen accident the tower man could not meet the original projected on-air date of October 1, 2002. The power is on and a new projected "On-Air" date is December 14th. WMQM expects to bring the 2.5 kW transmitter up by 12-Noon on the 14th and the 50 kW transmitter by 3:30PM the same day. A back-hoe operator crushed the transmission line that goes from the transmitter to the tower. This prevented us from turning on either transmitter on the 5th. New transmission line will be shipped from the factory on Mon, Dec 9th, to arrive at the transmitter site on Tuesday, Dec 10th. We expect the transmission line to be buried in the ground within several days, thus permitting us to turn on the transmitter on the 14th. WMQM, 1600-AM, 50,000 Watts in Memphis, is the sister station to WWCR. World Wide Christian Radio serves Europe, Middle East and Africa on Shortwave from Nashville, Tennessee (WWCR website Dec 13 via DXLD) ** U S A [and non]. X BAND AT A GLANCE - December 2002 1610 CJWI Montreal QUE FF Caribbean music. 1620 WPHG Atmore AL Rel/Gos. (but silent) possible resurrection as WPNS WDND South Bend IN ESPN Radio 1620 KOZN Bellevue NE ESPN Sport .``The Zone`` WTAW College Station TX `Newstalk 16-20 WTAW` CBS Nx KBLI Blackfoot ID SS ``Radio Fiesta`` KYIZ Renton WA Urban/Contemporary Soul KSMH West Sacramento, CA Rel. EWTN Global Catholic radio WDHP Frederikstad, VI Variety. ``The Reef`` //WRRA 1290 & WAXJ 1630 KCJJ Iowa City IA Hot AC /Classic Rock KKWY Fox Farm WY C&W AP nx KNAX Ft Worth/Dallas TX SS. Radio Vida/ Radio Dos Mil Dos. WTEL Augusta GA `Newstalk 1630 WTEL` x WRDW 1640 WKSH Sussex WI Disney KPBC Lake Oswego OR Black Gospel//KKSL. (soon to Disney) KDIA Vallejo CA Talk/ `Business Radio 1640` KBJA Sandy UT SS/Radio Unica EE ID on hour 1650 WHKT Portsmouth VA Disney KDNZ Cedar Falls IA Talk/ Sport ``The Talk Station``//KCNZ KWHN Fort Smith AR `Newstalk 1650 KWHN` KBJD Denver CO Contemp Christian. ``The Beat` KFOX Torrance CA Korean/ EE ID on hour 1660 KTIQ Merced CA Sports/Sp News `The Ticket`` WWRU Elizabeth NJ PP & SS Radio Unica/R. Portugal WCNZ Marco Is FL `Newsradio 1660` AP nx. WQSN Kalamazoo MI Sports/talk ESPN// WKLZ 1470. KRZX Waco TX ``Newstalk KRZX`` (off 6.p.m.-12 NZST) KQWB West Fargo ND Standards ``Star 1660 is KQWB AM` CNN KXOL Brigham City UT ``Oldies radio`` (60`s rock) KXTR Kansas City KS `Classical 1660` WGIT Canovanas PRico SS oldies ``El Gigante`` 1670 WRNC Warner Robins GA Urban Gospel ``1670 The Light`` WTDY Madison WI Sports/Talk. ``1670 WTDY`` ``The Team`` KHPY Moreno Valley, CA Rock/AC ``KHPY Moreno Valley 1670`` KNRO Redding CA ``Redding`s ESPN Radio 1670 KNRO` 1680 WTTM Princeton NJ Ethnic - Hindu WTIR Winter Garden FL ``Travel Information Radio`` WJNZ Ada MI Urban/AC KAVT Fresno CA Disney/SS KRJO Monroe LA Gospel. ``Gospel 1680`` 1690 KDDZ Arvada CO Disney KSXX Roseville CA SS rel. /Radio Tricolour/ & Asian. EE ID on hour. WPTX Lexington Park Sporting News Network. 1700 WJCC Miami Springs FL SS/Rel/``Radio Luz`` WEUV Huntsville AL Black Gospel. ``Music of your Life.//1600 WEUC 1kw KTBK Sherman TX Sporting News Radio KBGG Des Moines IA `The new AM 1700 KBGG``. CNN KQXX Brownsville TX Oldies (880 watts night) (Dec NZ DX Times via DXLD) ** U S A. I'm frustrated with stations that don't power down or s/off when they should. But there are two sides to this issue. On the one hand, nearby stations that do this block DX from emerging. On the other, distant stations that do this create great DX opportunities for those of us who live some distance away. So I'm trying to remain tolerant, thinking the good offsets the bad. But I made an exception with daytimer KKGR-680 in Helena, in my back yard. I phoned the CE of KNBR twice and he phoned KKGR to request they stop running at night. This cleared up the problem for several weeks. But in mid-November, KKGR again began to broadcast illegally. So I phoned the manager and told him if I hear it once more after dark interfering with KNBR, I'll notify the FCC, adding that I've made tape recordings to back up my complaint. I also called KMTX in Helena and advised the manager of KKGR's illegal operation, pointing out that businesses advertising on it after dark are taking away revenues from the legitimate operators. Hopefully this will solve the problem (Larry Godwin, Missoula, Montana, IRCA Soft DX Monitor via DXLD) ** ZIMBABWE [non]. CLANDESTINE from MADAGASCAR to ZIMBABWE. 7120, Voice of the People (Presumed) 0332 Dec 12 with talk in language and mentions of Zimbabwe. UNID co-channel making things tough; was much easier last summer on 7310 (Hans Johnson, TX, Cumbre DX via DXLD) ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ PUBLICATIONS ++++++++++++ EUROPEAN MEDIUM WAVE GUIDE, online Dear all, I am happy and also proud to announce the activation of the full on-line version of the European Medium Wave Guide. Until today you could already consult the LW, Addresses, DRM and link section of the EMWG. Now the MW section can also be consulted. This on-line version will be kept up-to-date and should therefore reflect the current situation on this band in Europe, North Africa and the Middle East. The PDF version will not be neglected, and will be put up-to- date every few months. As usual I am counting on you, not only to spread the news about this on-line EMWG, but also to send me any corrections/additional information you may have. From now on, you will have a reliable source of information as far as long and medium wave is concerned. Make www.emwg.info you start page and don't miss anything of the current MW situation. 73 Herman. To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: emwg-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com (via Mike Terry, DXLD) RECEIVER NEWS +++++++++++++ BELL+HOWELL 9-BAND RADIO --- plays AM/FM, TV & 7-band SW Broadcasts #94654, Our price $9.99 [unID ad] Glenn, in case you see other ads for this little radio --- I bought one to give it a try. It is really ridiculous, Works OK on MW and FM but SW sucks. No vestige of accuracy in dial calibration, and it only picks up a few SW signals. I got a few RCI and some US religious junk signals, but at random spots on the various SW bands. The TV audio coverage is only a few channels at the low end of the FM band, and the dial calibration is just plan wrong, showing ``CH 5`` BETWEEN ``88`` and ``96`` MHz! Also shows ``CH4``, ``CH3`` and ``CH2`` between ``76`` and ``88`` MHz! I hear channel 5 audio when the needle is between ``CH4`` and ``CH 3``; that is clear. Channel 4 audio is barely detectable among images of other stations, and video-carrier hum. Channel 2 audio is also tune-in-able, but poor quality. FM signals actually sound OK, and it does have a stereo-headphone jack. (Mono audio only). MW only goes up to 1060 kHz on the dial --- not much range beyond that when tuning. All I get is the local 1600 kHz signal, no X-banders. I`m tuning SW as I write this around 0245 UT and I actually am hearing the BBC, probably 5975 kHz, and it is around the right place on the dial! First time that happened! Taiwan on 5960 via WYFR, and a few other SW signals amidst a sea of MW-station images and various noise. This might work OK (to a degree) outside an urban area, but most people will find it not even worth the $10 price. I`ve had other cheap analog SW radios that are *far* better performers (Will Martin, St. Louis MO, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Squinting at the illustration, it looks like the SW dial calibrations are really odd: you would want to read them horizontally, but actually each of the 7 bands reads vertically, with these nominal limits: 5.90- 6.90, 6.90-8.10, 9.30-10.30, 11.60-13.50, 13.00-15.00, 14.80-16.50, 17.10-19.10. I`m not at all sure of the first digit after the decimals (gh, DXLD) RADIO PHILATELY +++++++++++++++ Quite a number of readers also enjoy collecting radio related stamps and covers, and an interesting website is that of Bart Lee, San Francisco CA http://www.antiqueradios.com which includes an article on Radio Stamps. The United Fruit Company had one of the earliest radio networks to connect its Latin American operations and in 1910 they began issuing their own wireless franks, or kind of stamp. As radio became popular in the early 1920’s, the EKKO Stamp Company started up business. They sold a postage like stamp featuring an eagle in the design, plus call letters to many hundreds of new US radio stations, and a similar stamp with a beaver for Canadian Some stations used their own designs, and WHAS Louisville KY wrote: It gives us great pleasure to send you our Verification Stamp No.1. Incidentally, we have five such stamps, respectively, for each successive report. There is, of course, no charge for these. We shall be most interested to see you collect the entire series, and wish you luck. [captions:] EKKO Stamp 1934 WCKY `The Voice of Cincinnati`, Eric Shackle Collection, NZRDXL Archives © WHAS Verification Stamp No.1, 1934. Eric Shackle Collection, NZRDXL Archives © The eagle design was also used in Cuba. EKKO also issued its own stamp albums and collectors kits, and today these stamps are regarded as `cinderella` items by stamp collectors and are highly sought after as collectibles. We`ve also come across a similar stamp used by the Tokyo Central Broadcasting Station in mid-1933 as part of a QSL card issued for JOAK. In fact, Japanese radio stations were prolific QSLers in the 1930`’s, issuing well designed cards (in English) which made attractive additions to any DX collection of the era. If you`re interested in art and design, you’ll also know that `radio art` has closely followed the trends of the time, with many Art Deco logo designs (and studio buildings for that matter too) in the 1930s, moving into the `streamlined` look of the late 1940s and early 1950s, and the psychedelic designs of the late 1960s and early 1970s for example. These are reflected in bumper stickers, posters, Top 40 charts, QSL cards, letterheads and station promotional materials. Some of these can be seen in `The Art of Radio` © in the Radio Heritage Collection © at http://www.radiodx.com where you`ll also find a growing number of other interesting radio articles (Dec NZ DX Times via DXLD) PROPAGATION +++++++++++ Solar activity was fairly low for most of the week; however, the geomagnetic field was quite disturbed due to coronal hole activity around December 7. MUFs were enhanced slightly until this period when they became depressed on Dec 8 when things returned positive again. MUFs should be near normal apart from 0 depressed on Dec 17. A flare producing region was due to return Dec 12 which may cause elevated geomagnetic activity from Dec 14-15 with a coronal hole possibly becoming geoeffective at this time. Produced using data from http://www.ips.gov.au (Richard Jary, Dec 14, cumbredx via DXLD) ###