DX LISTENING DIGEST 2-200, December 20, 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 1161: WWCR: Sat 0700, Sun 0330 5070, Sun 0630 3210, Wed 1030 9475 RFPI: Sat 0730, 1330, 1800, Sun 0000, 0600, 1200, 1830, Mon 0030, 0630, 1230, Tue 1900, Wed 0100, 0700, 1300 on 7445 and/or 15039 WJIE: M-F 1300, daily 0400; Sun 0630, Mon 0700, Tue 0630 on 7490 WBCQ: Mon 0545 on 7415 WRN: Rest of world Sat 0900, Eu Sun 0530, NAm Sun 1500 ONDEMAND http://www.wrn.org/ondemand/worldofradio.html [High] (Download) http://www.k4cc.net/wor1161h.rm (Stream) http://www.k4cc.net/wor1161h.ram [Low] (Download) http://www.k4cc.net/wor1161.rm (Stream) http://www.k4cc.net/wor1161.ram (Summary) http://www.worldofradio.com/wor1161.html UNSOLICITED TESTIMONIAL Thanks again for your fine efforts throughout this year and years past, and Happy Holidays, as Groucho Marx used to say, to you and whoever you are shacking up with! (Tom Roche) See Also FRANCE ** ABKHAZIA. 9489.4, R. Abkhazia, 1454 Dec 17 with Russian opera, talks by OM in Russian, ID at 1457 "...Abkhaz R" by YL followed by slow music "I will always love you'. Vacant carrier for about 1 min, then sign off. Signal ^-7 with carrier on 9490.0 (Zacharias Liangas, Thessaloniki, Greece, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** AFGHANISTAN. RADIO TRANSMITTER INSTALLED IN AFGHAN GHOWR PROVINCE - IRAN RADIO | Text of report by Iranian radio from Mashhad on 20 December An FM radio transmitter has been installed in the [Afghan central] province of Ghowr. According to the [Iranian] Central News Unit from Kabul, Dr Sayd Makhdom Rahin, the Afghan minister of information and culture, said that one of the most important programmes of the Ministry of Information and Culture was to install radio transmitters in all provinces of Afghanistan. Among them, some deprived provinces like Ghowr, Nimroz, Farah, Khost, Bamian, Urozgan and Badakhshan were at the top of the ministry's priority list. It [Ghowr] is the first deprived province of Afghanistan where a radio transmitter has been installed. The Afghan minister of information and culture had promised Herat, Farah and Nimroz provinces this [that they would have a transmitter installed]. The slow pace of reconstruction and non-realization of international assistance have prevented most provinces from getting even one radio transmitter. Source: Voice of the Islamic Republic of Iran, Mashhad, in Dari 0330 gmt 20 Dec 02 (via BBCM via DXLD) ** AUSTRALIA. 12/19/02. As per message received from Mr Ian Williams, start up date for HCJB-Australia broadcasts to India has been delayed till January 7, 2003. Frequencies also currently being reviewed and not finalised yet (Alokesh Gupta, New Delhi, India, EDXP via DXLD) ** CANADA. CBC/RADIO-CANADA MAKES ARCHIVAL COLLECTION AVAILABLE FREE OF CHARGE ON THE INTERNET http://cbc.ca/archives http://radio-canada.ca/archives MONTREAL, Dec. 19 /CNW Telbec/ - What images are conjured up when you hear the words "Henderson has scored for Canada" or "This afternoon in St. John's, Newfoundland, a young man named Terry Fox started running and he says that he won't stop until he reaches British Columbia."? Internet users now have access to the bilingual CBC Radio & Television Archives Web Site [as above], making these Canadian memories available online through audio and video clips, with support from Canadian Heritage's "Canadian Culture Online funding program." According to Lucie Lalumière, Executive Director, New Media, more than 1,000 news and current affairs radio and television clips and 1,000 original pages of information are available online, enhanced with texts exploring the historical context surrounding significant events. Says François Boulet, Archives Website Director: "The CBC/Radio-Canada Archives site will double the original content in the coming year, offering all Canadians, especially teachers and students, a unique journey through time to learn about events and rediscover outstanding figures throughout Canadian history." The Archives project has confirmed financial support from Heritage's "Canadian Culture Online" funding program in the amount of $4.6 million, accounting for 75 per cent of the resources required to digitize and operate the site. As a result of this support, the CBC Archives site are now the largest digitized collection in the country. "This is one of the best gifts we could give our fellow Canadians," said Sylvain Lafrance, Vice-President, CBC French Radio and New Media. "The archives of English and French Radio and Television are our collective memory. The project ensures that the historic programming CBC/Radio-Canada has produced over the last 50 years will endure and continue to be enjoyed by the public, who may now access it on the Internet." The "For Teachers" section includes numerous educational class projects that are linked to themes such as war and conflict, politics and economy and disasters and tragedies. These materials are intended to complement the most recent school curricula from all Canadian schools. Educational activities are provided for each topic, organized by grade level, all at no charge. This section was designed by and for late-elementary and secondary teachers, with the objective of providing them with a research and learning tool to help their students discover the people and events that have marked our society. CBC/Radio-Canada has partnered with the National Film Board to promote awareness of Canadian culture and history. Both are recipients of funding from the "Canadian Culture Online" program. They have combined their resources to offer surfers mutual links and complementary references to key events in Canadian history. "The Government of Canada is committed to encourage learning about our history and to provide Internet access to innovative Canadian content that is both interesting and pertinent, in both official languages," said Minister of Canadian Heritage Sheila Copps. "The Canadian Culture Online program and CBC/Radio-Canada help breathe life into archives that echo the voices of Canada's previous generations." The CBC/Radio-Canada Archives has been made possible by the Department of Canadian Heritage's "Canadian Culture Online" funding programs. These programs exist to foster a deeper understanding of Canada and its rich diversity by stimulating the development of, and ensuring access to, quality digital Canadian cultural content in both official languages. For further information about the "Canadian Culture Online" funding programs, visit the Web site http://www.canadianheritage.ca/ccop-pcce -30- For further information: Barbara Nyke, CBC New Media Communications, (416) 205-8519, barbara_nyke@cbc.ca or Sonya-Kim St-Julien, Press Secretary, Office of the Minister of Canadian Heritage, (819) 997-7788 ==== (via Eleanor Brown, writer-editor- researcher, Montreal, Canada CAJ-list via Ricky Leong, DXLD) ** CANADA. Sorry for the late reply. We are all really busy as you can probably imagine. We are getting swamped with emails and telephone calls every day now. I'll do my best to answer most of questions. Our transmitter site is on the 75th floor at First Canadian Place in Downtown Toronto. We have been approved to use 250 watts. However, in a few more months, we will be increasing our power to 2500 watts and using flat panel antenna to increase our footprint in the South East area near Oakville. Our present signal footprint covers most of downtown Toronto with little interference. We have tested the signal as for North as King City. To the east, our signal is interfered with if you are close to the lake. WYRK out of Buffalo still has some Toronto air space. The same goes with in the west. Our official call sign is CFIE. As mentioned with our power increase, we also have applied in Kitchener, Edmonton, and Montreal. We have been given licenses in Calgary, Vancouver, and Ottawa. Our satellite channel is available 12 hours per day from 9-9. You will require a custom modified receiver and LNB from our Broadcast Partner. MediaNet Communications. We plan to have a channel on a Direct to Home satellite provider soon. (Star Choice or Bell ExpressVu). I hope this email serves you well and thanks for your interest. I knocked off to birds with one stone today as parts of this email our going to the website and an "auto-responder" email next. Once again, thanks. Chris Spence Technical Producer/Director Aboriginal Voices Radio Inc. 366 Adelaide St. E., Suite 342 Toronto, Ontario, M5A 3X9, Canada Ph: 416-703-1287 Fx: 416-703-4328 http://www.aboriginalradio.com *** Broadcasting in Downtown Toronto on 106.5 FM CFIE *** (via John Grimley, ODXA via DXLD) ** CHINA. CRI in Russian was 9+10dB on 7255 at 1005, and I could hear additionally the frequency 7245, which I see is registered as only 50 kW. It was not as strong as the other 41m outlets --- including HUH 7110. I think it was TWN audible on top of all else on 7415 around 1020 very strong, but 7105 is a dreadful mess of noise and voice jamming (Noel Green, England, Dec 19, via Olle Alm, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Urumqi went off at 0800; before that 7230 was at fair level. Maintenance at Urumqi thus seems to be Tuesday and Thursday at 0800- 1100. 11975 used for Kyrgyz during the summer has been replaced by 7120. Despite that the Mongolian channel has a break when Kyrgyz is aired, these services use different shortwave transmitters. There is a 5 to 10 minutes overlap between the respective frequencies. The reason seems to be that Kyrgyz is directional, Mongolian nondirectional. NRG, note that 7245 CRI in Russian is listed as 120 kW, 50 deg, not 50 kW. At my location this channel is much weaker than 7255, etc. (Olle Alm, Sweden, Dec 19, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CHINA. Hi Glenn, I noted the following situation on 9530 today at 1100 to 1200 UT. This is a followup to my 6160 kHz observation of a few days ago. I heard VOA broadcasting in Chinese on 9530 kHz between 1100 to 1300 UT according to PWBR. I also heard a broadcast from China's Central People's BS which is parallel on 5880 kHz which is listed out of Shijiazhuang, China. This station isn't listed on 9530, however. The other day I ran into the same situation exactly on 6160 kHz. The only difference was the frequency, 6160 vice 9530. I wonder if this broadcast from China is intended to block VOA? (Chuck Bolland, Clewiston Florida, Dec 19, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Sure, why not; they try to block VOA as much as possible; Shijiazhuang is just one of many transmitter sites carrying the same program ** CHINA. CHINA'S EXTENSIVE, SOPHISTICATED BLOCKING OF WEB SITES DOCUMENTED - REPORT China is successfully preventing the public from accessing a wide range of Internet sites, Harvard-based researchers have found. About 12 per cent of sampled sites were blocked in some form during the test period. The series of tests, carried out from May to November 2002, found that over 19,000 web sites were inaccessible through Chinese internet servers. The results are available in a report titled "Empirical analysis of internet filtering in China". Authors Jonathan Zittrain and Benjamin Edelman of Harvard Law School, found at least four independently operable filtering systems in operation. They believe that the systems which block web sites are becoming more refined. Many news, dissident, health, educational, religious, Taiwanese and some other foreign government web sites were blocked, they found. The report added that the BBC web site was consistently unavailable and that CNN, Time and some American newspapers were often blocked too. Blocking was not always consistent the report said, but the blocking policy did appear to be updated regularly. It concluded that Chinese internet filtering appears to be an important instrument of state policy and one to which considerable human and technical resources are apportioned. The report is available at http://cyber.law.harvard.edu/filtering/china Source: BBC Monitoring research 19 Dec 02 (via DXLD) ** CUBA. RSF PUBLISHES REPORT ON REPRESSION OF INDEPENDENT MEDIA | Text of press release by Paris-based organization Reporters Sans Frontières (RSF) on 17 December As the European Parliament today awarded the Sakharov Prize for human rights to Cuban dissident Osvaldo Paya, Reporters without Borders published a report condemning the complete absence of press freedom in Cuba. It called on the European Union (EU) to make Cuban membership in the Cotonou Agreement conditional on the Cuban government ending its media monopoly, legalising independent news agencies and releasing four journalists from prison. It also called on the EU "to give effective support" to independent Cuban journalists. The report - "Cuba, where news is the exclusive reserve of the state" - describes prison conditions for the four journalists: bad food, harassment, humiliating treatment and filthy conditions. The longest- held prisoner, Bernardo Arevalo Padron, was arrested in 1997 and has just been diagnosed with leptospirosis, which is spread by rats. He should have been freed on parole in October 2000, but the government refuses to release him "because he has not co-operated in his re- education programme." The Cuban constitution decrees that the government has a monopoly of the media. Like Arevalo Padron, about 100 independent journalists, grouped in 20 or so agencies that the authorities refuse to recognise, try to exercise their right to inform the public. Because they are censored in their own country, they publish their articles in the foreign press or on the Internet, which are not readily available in Cuba. The report details the constant harassment the journalists are subjected to, including arrests, police summonses, pressure on their families and visits to their homes. They are closely watched by the regime's police. One was even called in for questioning after a neighbour told the authorities she heard him shouting criticism of the government inside his house. About 50 journalists have gone into exile since 1995. "Despite this intimidation, independent journalists say their activities are fairly tolerated these days," the report says, but concludes that in reality this is not so. It says the government's repression has achieved its goal of keeping independent journalists this side of the "red line," which puts out unauthorised news to the general population. President Fidel Castro said on 8 December that Cuba will apply to join the Cotonou Agreement, which allows 77 African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) countries to receive economic aid and better trade terms from member-states of the European Union. Source: Reporters Sans Frontières press release, Paris, in English 17 Dec 02 (via BBCM via DXLD) ** CYPRUS TURKISH. 1098, Radio Bayrak 1st programme in Turkish was heard with distorted audio at 2110-2203 giving ID: "Burasi Lefkosa, Radio Bayrak". QRM Slovak Radio 1098 kHz and Radio Rossii. 6150.04, Bayrak International was heard at 1520-1730 giving "Bayrak International" identifications, playing international pop music. News in English around 1630 and a feature program in English on Northern Cyprus matters at 1700. QRM Radio Singapore International. A Chinese station started at 1730 UT and blocked the reception totally. Both stations were monitored in the beginning of December (Jari Korhonen FIN-82500 Kitee, Dec 18, dxing.info via DXLD) ** FINLAND. CHRISTMAS TRANSMISSION OF SWR - OFFICIAL STATION OF SANTA Howdy how dear listeners, Scandinavian Weekend Radio Christmas Day transmission on 25th December 2002 includes following programme items... Or, of course, if we are exact this transmission began already on Christmas Eve at 22 hours UT... UT Programme 22 Lahjattomat 23 Lasol Hot Hits 24 Lasol Hot Hits 01 SWR Crew 02 SWR Crew 03 SWR Crew 04 Radio Marabu - Dark Beat 05 Suomirokkia kantoaallolla höystettynä by Esa 06 Progressive rock and other strange things by Esa 07 Free Radio News by Esa 08 Letterbox 09 SWR Jouluparaati 10 Radiolehtikatsaus 11 Radiolehtikatsaus 12 Area 48. Paljastuksia Joulupukista.... 13 World Radio Roulette 14 SWR Crew 15 Lasol Hot Hits 16 Radio Marabu - Marabu Christmas 17 SWR Crew 18 Radio Marabu - Marabu Flashback Weihnachtstipps 19 Progressive rock and other strange things by Esa 20 SWR Crew 21 Joulusaunan lämmitys You can find us on 5980, 5990 or 6170 and 11690 or 11720 kHz on 48 and 25 mb SW-dial. More (updated?) details of programmes and frequency- table can be found from our web-pages: http://www.swradio.net NOTE: Because this is a little bit Special transmission day it might be possible that we had to change our frequencies without preforehand notice. IF YOU COULD NOT FIND US ON OUR TABLED FREQUENCY, PLEASE TRY OTHER ONES! We LIKE you to take LIVE-contacts to us during this Christmas transmission. So, do not hesitate to call or send SMS-messages. Our phonenumber is +358 400 995 559. Reminder: Send your reception reports now (November and December transmissions) There will be prizes for most distant listeners for example interesting FM AM-Roulette-CD including station identifications all over the World. Send your reporst with return postage of 2 IRC's/ 2 US-$/ 2 EURO to: SWR, P.O.Box 35, FIN-40321 JYVÄSKYLÄ, FINLAND. Regards, Alpo, Scandinavian Weekend Radio (also via Mike Terry, DXLD) ** FRANCE. Hi, I am sorry that I misprinted a frequency in last week's Short Wave Bulletin. As Glenn pointed out I heard TDF-CCETT, France on 25775 kHz and no other frequency. It seems like I`m growing older, not only in the visible parts of me, but also in my brains. Well, it also gave me a good reason to wish you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year and a big "Thank you" for all your efforts during 2002! 73 from (Björn Fransson, the island of Gotland, Sweden, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** FRANCE. Re 1557 kHz: ``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)... (ARC Info Desk)`` Quite interesting, because Fontbonne is in fact the site where the shortwave transmitters used by Trans World Radio are located. However, the headline of http://perso.wanadoo.fr/tvignaud/galerie/am/06fontbonne.htm suggests that TDF constructs an own mediumwave transmitter there while the existing facilities remained in RMC ownership. Otherwhise indeed TDF now transmits Trans World Radio, no longer RMC. Pictures of the doomed Antibes Plateaux Fleuris site: http://perso.wanadoo.fr/tvignaud/galerie/am/06nice.htm (Kai Ludwig, Germany, Dec 19, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** GERMANY. Remarks on AFN Germany: Relays of US networks are a great part of the AFN programming. Any breaks for commercials within the network programming are filled by AFN with own stuff of the described kind, indeed also by the local AFN outlets, not only the Frankfurt headquarter. Hence these opt-outs are so numerous. Such automated insertions into network programming are also a common practice amongst commercial stations in Germany. With the exception of Aachen all commercial FM stations in Nordrhein-Westfalen have only a few hours of own programming a day. Otherwise they relay Radio NRW, produced at Oberhausen. But you will never hear any "Radio NRW" ID, it is an anonymous network, and local ID's as well as commercials are inserted into the programming by means of remote control. Radio NRW homepage: http://www.radionrw.de/main.php3?id=1000 ----- (Kai Ludwig, Germany, Dec 19, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** GERMANY. Latest news from the DAB (Eureka-147) disaster in Germany: At Berlin four commercial broadcasters just returned their authorizations for DAB transmissions, stating that a continuation of the service would be justifiable only if the media authority MABB pays all transmission costs. MABB already declared itself as unable to do this, so seven programs will disappear from the DAB bouqets at Berlin. Word is that also the two major commercial networks in Thuringia cancelled their DAB transmissions after the media authority there ceased to sponsor them (I write "word is" because I have no confirmation for an actual removal of these networks from the DAB bouqet so far). A broadcast engineer just told me that he expects a complete DAB shut-down in Saxony and Thuringia for 2004 or 2005. Best regards, Kai Ludwig, Germany, Dec 19, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** GERMANY. The DW on 25740 was providing a "spectacular" signal around 1040 --- I could detect at least three echo's --- which didn`t do much for audibility, though. There was even an echo on RFI 25820 too (Noel Green, England, Dec 19, via Olle Alm, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Solar flux was predicted at 200 that day (SEC via gh, DXLD) ** GUAM. RESCUE RADIO: SUPER-TYPHOON HITS GUAM; HAMS SAFE AND OPERATING Reports over a popular ham radio website that the territory of Guam was hit by a "Super Typhoon" on Sunday December 8th. And while no stations from Guam have been heard here in the United States, reports over the Internet say that everyone is O-K. We have more in this report: -- Duncan Campbell, KF6ILA portable KH2 lives on Guam. He says over the QRZ website that the typhoon packed sustained winds of 160 miles per hour with gusts topping 190 miles per hour. News reports pick up from there. They say that the storm damaged much of the island's infrastructure including electrical power and knocked out wired and cellular telephone service. And Campbell's posting adds that along with the loss of electricity and water, the port of Guam was the scene of a major fire that destroyed the reserve tanks of fuel used across the island. The blaze started during the storm and the island is now low on gasoline. He says that the sale of the remaining fuel is restricted to emergency vehicles only. With the clean up now underway the good news is that all the Amateur radio operators on Guam are believed to be safe. Campbell says that several hams are known to have lost their antenna systems and the islands only repeater was also blown off the air. This, the result of the collapse of a nearby cellular telephone tower striking it as it fell. KF6ILA says that some hams are already back on the air handling post storm related communications. All operation is on the high frequency bands centered near 14.310, 21.375 and 28.520 MHz. Another frequency - - 7.085 MHz is supposed to be used for emergencies but so far no stations have been heard. By Sunday December 15th, Andersen Air Force Base and part of hotel row in the town of Tumon had power restored. But news reports say that other parts of Guam could remain blacked out for a fairly long time. And even though its almost two weeks since the storm hit, if you hear ongoing emergency or storm related communications please give it priority over any other use you might have for the frequency. For the Amateur Radio Newsline, I'm Graham Kemp, VK4BB, of Q-News Australia. – A little more information comes from the Guam Pacific Daily News. It says that that the Red Cross and Salvation Army are on Guam providing post typhoon relief. Also, that the Red Cross service center has already processed over 200 requests for disaster assistance. Meantime, another poster to QRZed says that he arrived in port at Guam on December 14th. N6HPX says that the repeater is back up and operating on 146.91 MHz, but there is nobody on the air using it (QRZ, Q-News, others, all via Amateur Radio Newsline Dec 20 via DXLD) ** GUAM [non]. GUAM EMERGENCY BROADCAST SCHEDULE The following emergency broadcast schedule will be into effect until further notice. We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause. Area Language UTC Time Frequency MB Station E. China Mandarin 1000-1100 15260 19 UAE E. China Mandarin 1100-1400 7180 41 Taiwan E. China Mandarin 2100-2200 11720 25 Taiwan E. China Mandarin 2200-2400 11655 25 Taiwan Indonesia Indonesian 2200-2300 11850 25 Taiwan Cambodia Khmer 1330-1400 11850 25 Taiwan Korea Korean 1200-1300 9780 31 Taiwan Korea Korean 2000-2100 11700 25 Taiwan Japan Japanese 1300-1330 11980 25 Taiwan Updated: 20 December 2002 (from http://www.awr.org/guamsched.html via Glenn Hauser, DXLD) Are they still IDing as ``KSDA`` ??? ** INDONESIA. Glenn, 11785, Voice of Indonesia 2000-2026 12/18. English service with ID and mention of frequencies 9525, 15150, 11785. Regional news; commentary on Singapore & Indonesian relations. Tourism program, "Getting to know Indonesia", local music. Checked // frequencies, 9525 a mess of QRM splatter (5 kHz both sides). 15150 was silent; off air? (Scott R Barbour Jr NH, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** IRAN [non]. 11575, Radio Sedaye Iran, 1635-1640 Dec 17, continuous slow talks in Farsi by OM about Mojahed, Azadi, Talebans, Hamenei, Rafgsanjani. At 1659 with ID 'Azadi Radio Sedaye Iran'. Program continues and after 1700 clear signal with S9+10 db (Zacharias Liangas, Thessaloniki, Greece, DX LISTENING DIGEST) See also unID 7070 ** IRAN [non]. R. Barabari, [7470??], 1705 Dec 17, YL reading a statement in Farsi, 1717 a discussion /interview with topics on Iran and Islam. Jammer at 1720 completely wiping out Barabari. Not sure if Barabari used another transmitter on 7460 at 1730 as a low level signal (S3 or 24242) has been heard with a YL with talks in Farsi speaking on Balucchistan and a possible ID with Azadi has been heard. At 1740 this frequency has been jammed with the same jammer (7470 is now clear) (Zacharias Liangas, Thessaloniki, Greece, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** IRAN [non]. 7460, R. Payam E Doost [news from friend/of friendship] 1759 Dec 17 with music, and YL IDing "sedaye Payam E Dost' then talks by same YL 1803 with pop song interrupted by YL and nice slow music in between talks. At1823 with a Rajasatani pop. Talks about and with doctor Inholi /Tirondol. Programming seemed of a religious type. Also web page (bahairadio.net) coincides with my opinion as a religious radio station. Poor signal 22432 suffered by 7490 (Zacharias Liangas, Thessaloniki, Greece, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** IRAQ [non]. Information Radio, 9715, 1921 Man seems to ID the station with talks by ?? At 1929 the Titanic is heard. An ID at 1933 then with Arabic song, 1939 with ID? by OM and talks by YL then into Arabic song at 1942 with western pop. At 1951 with clear ID "Idaat al ma'lumat" and talks by YL then with Ghazali song, possibly Arabic. After this station is heavily QRMed by the dominant of this freq QRM: R Mayak with German songs, or DW in Russian. Signal levels: Maximum level found S9+10 (mostly the Russian station) SINPO 32432 till 1951 then 114-1. On 11292 there was a carrier from 1520 of maximum S2 but audio level is very low with just S1 with 10 db preamplification at best (Zacharias Liangas, Thessaloniki, Greece, Dec 19, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Dec 18 around 1930 the reception on 9715 was real good. Most of the time until their sign-off at 2002 overriding totally DW Russian program. Best on USB. The lower sideband was real weak, allowing DW to be heard there. A short tuning signal of 1kHz was audible when the audio went off at 2002. On Dec 19 at 1930 DW was dominant on 9715, Information Radio peaking up at times. This time both sidebands were equal. On 11292 I have managed to hear only a weak carrier (Jari Savolainen, Kuusankoski, Finland, Dec 20, dxing.info via DXLD) ** IRELAND. BROADCASTER FOUND GUILTY OF ABUSE 18/12/2002 - 01:02:57 The founder and owner of Radio Dublin, the longest-running pirate radio station in Ireland, has been found guilty in the Central Criminal Court of sexually assaulting four girls in his home. Eamonn "Captain" Cooke (66), with addresses at Heatherview Avenue, Tallaght and Wheatfields Court, Clondalkin, will be sentenced later by Mr Justice John Quirke who said he "hadn't the slightest doubt that the verdicts brought in are the correct verdicts".... http://breakingnews.iol.ie/news/story.asp?j=57402036&p=574xz74z&n=57402796 (via Ulis Fleming, DXLD) WARNING: Graphic content. As I recall, R. Dublin used to be on 6900. Little did we know what was going on there behind the scenes, like KTBN (gh) ** ITALY. RAI is on strike again. Today (Dec. 20), instead of its regular news bulletins, the External Service carries translated announcements about the strike in its usual languages and Italian songs. Live RialAudio channel: rtsp://live.media.rai.it/encoder/international.rm It's a national strike that includes all Italian journalists, not only those from RAI. They want better social conditions. According to a RIAN report in Russian, RAI journalists has also demanded from the parliament to appoint new leaders for the corporation (Sergei Sosedkin, IL, Dec 20, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** KAZAKHSTAN [non]. 9925, R. Dat, 1615 Dec 17. OM with news in Russian. Mentions of a professor, problems of Kazakhstan, Nazerbayev. ID as ``Govorit Radio Dat, svobodna radio dlya svobodna Kazakhstana, shlyushate radio Dat`` giving frequencies at 1630 and web address http://www.datradio.com and later with reference to Yeltsin. Signal about S5. On 18.12 with S9+10 and 33433 (Zacharias Liangas, Thessaloniki, Greece, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** KOREA NORTH. Pyongyang is having problems with the 6100/6070 transmitter. Most days the Japanese service (0900-1250) is on 6071.4v instead of 6070. When on 6100, the transmitter does not show this problem, but the audio level on both frequencies is often shallow to very shallow with absolutely no processing. I believe this transmitter is located near Pyongyang rather than at Kanggye. Last Sunday Kanggye was off for two hours (scheduled blackout?) on 3960, 6398 and 11680, while 6100 stayed on. The kind of problems 6100/6070 is having is also more typical for Pyongyang than for Kanggye or Kujang. Pyongyang 6250/6010 is also having a frequency stability problem of the jitterbug type, sometimes jumping around wildly. On Wednesday the 6015 noise jammer at Kujang was off for many hours. A bubble jammer on the low side was the only countermeasure left. I don't understand why they bother to jam services from abroad as the number of North Korean listeners having equipment to receive those transmissions must be extremely small (Olle Alm, Sweden, Dec 19, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** KYRGYZSTAN. The believed Bishkek transmitter on 4050 often has the same 1 kHz pips before their 0230 s/on as 4010 has before the 0000 s/on. I have heard 4050 announcing for each two or three songs played "(something very short) shortwave" by a male voice followed by "(something a little longer) shortwave" by a female voice. The "something" could be two to four letters (Olle Alm, Sweden, Dec 19, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** LEBANON [non]. 11515, Sawt Al Huriah, 1612 Dec 17 with ID ``Sawt Al Huriah'- Idaatu Lebanon Radio Tayyar``, then with songs. Full ID again at 1631 with email address radio@tayyar.org (Zacharias Liangas, Thessaloniki, Greece, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** LIBERIA. Our FM station is in operation, and the shortwave equipment has been delivered. Hope to have that on the air by Jan or Feb, as Voice of Hope, Africa. After that to be upgraded also to serve the Middle East. Working on getting programming on other African stations by mid-03. Some Nigerians are training in Louisville. Seeing all the homeless children in the wake of civil war when we visited a few months ago broke our hearts, so we are also building an orphanage in Monrovia (Doc Burkhart, Dec WJIE Update, monitored Dec 20 at 1330, notes by gh for DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** MARSHALL ISLANDS. Agreement has been reached with our partner 25 kW MW station here to help in constructing their tower (the rest of the station is already built), in returning for allowing us to build a shortwave statino, in one of the best areas we`ve seen (Doc Burkhart, Dec WJIE Update, monitored Dec 20 at 1330, notes by gh for DX LISTENING DIGEST) Station name, location, frequency??? ** OKLAHOMA. RESCUE RADIO: NEW SALVATION ARMY STATION The Salvation Army, and the Oklahoma City Autopatch Association hosted the grand opening of the Salvation Army Emergency Communication Center. It took place in Oklahoma on Saturday, December 14th. The new center is located at the Salvation Army Citadel on SE 44th Street in Oklahoma City. Frank McCollum, N5FM, the station trustee, held the first net from the new facility at 9 am. McCollum helped to establish the first station in 1986, at The Salvation Army's Arkansas Oklahoma and Divisional Headquarters where it remained until two years ago. The new station features very modern gear. It is designed to allow multiple High Frequency, VHF and UHF stations to provide ongoing communications services at the same time (WA6LBU, Amateur Radio Newsline Dec 20 via DXLD) ** RUSSIA. I think today was maintenance day at Yakutsk as I couldn`t trace any of their 41m transmissions around 0800. Instead, CNR-2 was coming in on 7200 at S5 // 17700. However, I think I could hear YAK later in the morning back on air. A new Rossii frequency was noted at 0750 on 7295 --- I haven`t heard this one before. It was either from northern European Russia or from somewhere in the Siberian region. Signal strength was about 3 to 5 with flutter --- and the flutter got worse as the morning progressed. Except for Yakutsk, the only other Russian frequency normally heard, but not accounted for, was Irkutsk 7440. I wonder if their engineers had forgotten to change frequency? I must remember to check again tomorrow (Noel Green, England, Dec 19, via Olle Alm, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Yakutsk was off at 0830, apparently on all four frequencies. I also believe R Rossii 7295 was a problem at Irkutsk since the normally heard 7440 was missing around 0800 here too (Olle Alm, Sweden, Dec 19, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** RUSSIA. Here's a follow-up to a report on Putin's call-in broadcast (see DXLD 2-196): Sociologists say that more than 70 percent of TV-viewers turned on their boxes Thursday to watch President Putin answer people's questions. The Komkon-media sociological service says, for example, that 72 percent of the audiences of the first and second channels of national television sat glued to TV sets. Three leading radio stations – Mayak, Radio Russia and Voice Of Russia - also broadcast Putin's live Q and A session (Voice of Russia News, 12/20/2002 via Sergei Sosedkin, IL, DXLD) ** SAUDI ARABIA [non]. 7590, Al Islah /MIRA, 1913 Dec 17; checked with Al islah satellite feed and program is totally in parallel. Man with continuous talks in Arabic. Many audio problems over the HF air as well in the satellite with HF gaining in 'fidelity' over satellite. Signal level S9+20 (Zacharias Liangas, Thessaloniki, Greece, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** SYRIA [non]. 7470 //12015 R ... YL with talks on start of the program, OM with Qur`anic verses 1610 Dec 17. Arabic song 1620 talks with references to community (serikat). Signals on 7470 at S9; \\ 12085 delayed more than 15 secs with no signal... (Zacharias Liangas, Thessaloniki, Greece, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** TATARSTAN. Glenn, FYI. A QSL and personal letter received via Voice of Tartarstan QSL manager Ildus Ibatullin, informs that as of January 1, 2003 the "Voice of Tartarstan" will be called "New Century". ID in Russian, "Nowyy Wek" and Tatar, "Yanay Gasyr". The frequencies will remain the same (Scott R Barbour Jr, NH, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** TIBET [non]. 15645, Voice of Tibet *1215-1242 12/19. Intro music and ID. Several recorded speeches, brief musical bits between items with female announcer. Good reception with NO Chinese jammer for once(!), tho CBS, Taipei was audible underneath. Began to rapidly fade at 1238, gone by 1242 (Scott R Barbour Jr NH, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U K. PROMS 2002 REPEAT BROADCASTS BBC Radio 3 90-93FM and http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio3 will be broadcasting 13 Proms between 23 December and 7 January, ranging from swing music by Wynton Marsalis to Bernard Haitink's Bruckner 4. Full details can be found on the Proms website at http://www.bbc.co.uk/proms/broadcasts/index.shtml A series of Proms repeats on BBC Four Television are also planned for some time in January - we'll send you details when the schedule is confirmed. http://www.bbc.co.uk/bbcfour ANNOUNCEMENT OF THE 2003 SEASON The Proms website will be announcing details of the 2003 season at the end of April. We'll send you an email as soon as the concert and booking information becomes available. The 2003 season will run from 18 July until 13 September. SEASON'S GREETINGS FROM ALL AT THE BBC PROMS http://www.bbc.co.uk/proms (BBC Proms mailing list via gh, DXLD) ** U K. They've been building this up all week... including a mention on "World Update" this morning. --- || THE WORLD'S TOP TEN 55 mins | Saturday 21st Steve Wright presents the results of a mega global music poll which will identify the world's favourite talent - local as well as international. BBC World Service has been asking its 150 million listeners from Azerbaijan to Zimbabwe to vote for their all-time favourite songs, creating the ultimate World's Top Ten. || West Africa | Sun 0806 rpt 2106, Mon 0206; Europe | Sat 1306 rpt Mon 0206; East and South Africa | Sun 0706 rpt 1906, Mon 0206; Middle East | Sat 1206 rpt Mon 0206; South Asia | Fri 2206 rpt Sat 0506, Sun 1206; East Asia | Sat 0306; Americas | Sun 0506 rpt Mon 0206 || PICK OF THE WORLD SERVICE 30 mins | 21st Every week Daire Brehan and the team make their selection of some of the best BBC World Service programmes. On the 21st there will be a selection of the best of the anniversary week of special 70th Birthday programmes. || West Africa | Sat 2206 rpt Sun 1006; Europe | Sat 2306 rpt Sun 0506, 1306; East and South Africa | Sun 1506; Middle East | Sat 2306 rpt Sun 0806, 2006; South Asia | Sat 0806 rpt 2106; East Asia | Sat 1206 rpt 2306, Sun 0806; Americas | Sat 2006 rpt 2306, Sun 0806 -- (BBCWS Audience Relations via Richard Cuff / Allentown, PA USA, swprograms via DXLD) ** U K. BBC Radio Holiday Listening Glenn -- From the Zapsmart mailing list here is a rundown of the best of the music and comedy programming on BBC Radios 1, 2 and 3 during the coming holiday weeks, diligently compiled by our London friend Martin Wheatley. All times given are local London time. [fortunately = UT] Since I have all the info I am going to follow the Radio Times lead and do 2 weeks at one go (besides the chances of it getting done on Boxing Day weren't too high!) Normal scheduling doesn't happen much in this period so I'll try and give an outline where it is different from normal Saturday 12/21 1PM R3 World Routes has a session from North African duo DuOud 2AM R1 Essential Mix is by Carl Cox 4AM R1 Annie Nightingale has mixes from Fluke and Flatliners [=Sun; all the midnight+ listings here are wrong UT day --- gh] Monday 12/23 8PM R1 Lamacq Live is a live from Maida Vale show with Feeder, a mix from Audio Bullys and Noel Gallagher doing an acoustic set Midnight R1 Breezeblock. This is a 4 hour show and is basically a modified repeat of the One Live in Nottingham show with Lemon Jelly. The difference is that it includes the other halves of the mixes by Jacques Lecont and Layo & Bushwacka instead of the parts previously broadcast Tuesday -- Christmas Eve 8PM R1 No Lamacq or Peel tonight. At 8 PM there is a Pete Tong's Essential Selection and at 10PM Sanctified Dance Party 8.30PM R2 A tribute to Spike Milligan Midnight R1 Rock Show is a 4 hour show containing repeats of live performances by Korn from Manchester and 100 Reasons/Amen and Raging Speedhorn from the Reading Festival Wednesday -- Christmas Day 8PM R1 No Lamacq or Peel. At 8PM there is Dance Anthems followed by the Lock Up at 10PM. Gilles Peterson is in his normal position at midnight for those wanting an early night! 8PM R2 All Roads Lead To Lonnie. And how about this - a 1 hour tribute to Lonnie Donnegan on Christmas Day! He never knew he was so important! Thursday -- Boxing Day 8PM R1 John Peel, The Festive Fifty, 5 hour show Midnight R1 One World. This is a 3 hour show and has Nightmares On Wax live and the best of the year`s sessions Friday 12/27 10PM R3 Andy Kershaw has Dorothy Masuka in session. Note the earlier starting time Saturday 12/28 1PM R3 World Routes Documentary about Vietnam 8PM R2 How Ireland Went Pop. First of a 2 part documentary about pop music in Ireland. Thin Lizzy and Van Morrison are in this one (Westlife and Samantha Mumba have to wait till next week!) 2AM R1 Essential Mix is a repeat of the Sasha/John Digweed one from earlier this year (it`s won an award!) 4AM R1 Annie Nightingale has a 1 hour mix from Groove Armada Monday 12/30 8PM R1 Lamacq Live, Best of 2002 Midnight R1 No Breezeblock but a 4 hour Lock Up instead Tuesday -- New Year's Eve 8PM R1 No Lamacq or Peel. Instead standard daytime style progs until the dance progs start 8.30PM R2 First of a 2 part documentary about Peter Cook and Dudley Moore. Not much Derek and Clive I suspect! 10PM R2 And Radio 2 are getting on the New Year's Eve bandwagon too. Boy George plays disco tracks until 12.30 11PM R1 Essential Mix with Judge Jules and Agnelli And Nelson live from Belfast 12.30AM R2 Stuart Maconie plays Northern Soul 1AM R1 Col Hamilton/Gleave Dobbin/Scott Bond. Bunch of Irish djs live from Belfast 4AM R1 Annie Nightingale has a 1 hour mix from Armand Van Helden and there is also a repeat mix from Cosmos Wednesday -- 1/1/03 12 Midday R2 Part 2 of the Peter Cook And Dudley Moore documentary 12.30 AM R3 It`s World Music Day on Radio 3 and there`s a different artist about every 25 minutes until 5PM. Full details of the schedule can be found at http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio3/world/wmdhome2003.shtml 7PM R2 A Tribute to Hank Williams 7.20PM R3 World Music Day is back again 9PM R2 A tribute to Little Richard 9.30PM R3 Andy Kershaw presents a live concert from Dingwalls with the Dhol Foundation, Manecas Costa (from Guinea Bissau) and Ellis Hooks (whose band includes Glen Matlock!) 10PM R1 Peel has a repeat session from the Datsuns Thursday 1/2/03 8PM R1 No Lamacq - the new show starts next week. Instead we get "Tips for 2003" 10PM R1 Peel has a session from James Yorkston And The Athletes Midnight R1 One World is a V Recordings special Friday 1/3/03 10.15PM R3 Andy Kershaw has a repeat of his 1999 session from Gillian Welch Phew!!! martinw (Zapsmart list via Tom Roche, DXLD) ** U K. BBC FACES LEGAL THREAT OVER THOUGHT FOR THE DAY Julia Day Monday December 16 2002 The Guardian The BBC is facing legal action over its refusal to allow secular contributors to air their opinions on Radio 4's Thought for the Day. The threat follows a period of mounting pressure on the BBC to change its policy of banning non-religious voices on the two and a half minute slot. The former president of the National Secular Society has set a deadline of Wednesday for the BBC to change its position or face court action under the Human Rights Act. "Around 30% of the population of this country does not hold to any religion, yet this large minority is denied a voice on Thought for the Day," said Barbara Smoker, the author of books on humanism and free thought. Ms Smoker's lawyers believe the ban is a breach of her human rights as a potential contributor and listener. If the corporation refuses to alter its policy, Ms Smoker intends to apply for a judicial review at the high court for breaches of the Human Rights Act. The BBC has refused to comment, saying Ms Smoker's letter of intent is private correspondence. The NSS was one of the groups behind a letter, signed by 100 public figures, urging the BBC governors to open up the two and a half minute slot to secular and atheist thinkers. The letter was signed by former Labour leader Michael Foot, playwright Harold Pinter, broadcaster Sir Ludovic Kennedy and Oxford University professor Richard Dawkins, who became the first ever atheist to deliver an alternative Thought for the Day in August. Thought for the Day has been part of the Radio 4 schedules for decades and the BBC is looking at ways of "refreshing" the slot, broadcast from Monday to Saturday during the Today programme. The BBC's head of religion and ethics Alan Bookbinder, whose appointment 17 months ago caused controversy because he is agnostic, admitted the slot needed "sharpening up". But series producer Christine Morgan insisted the review would not open Thought for the Day up to non-religious voices, saying: "If we include secular voices, we undermine the slot's very distinctiveness." Thought for the Day, which airs at 7.50am each weekday morning, is overseen by the BBC's Manchester-based religious broadcasting department rather than the news division like the rest of the Today programme. Copyright Guardian Newspapers Limited (via Bill Westenhaver, DXLD) ** U K. DTI OUTLAW PIRATE PARTY http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/tv_and_radio/2586961.stm UK nightclub owners are being warned they could face heavy fines or jail sentences if they host parties for pirate radio stations. A government Christmas crackdown is targeting clubs promoting pirate stations, telling them they face the same punishment as the pirate stations themselves. The campaign claimed its first victory after a club in Manchester cancelled a party for local pirate station Buzz FM, after receiving a warning from the Radiocommunications Agency (RA). One thousand operations were carried out against pirates in 2002 Between 80 and 100 illegal stations are on air in the UK at any one time, according to the RA, who said pirates put lives at risk by interfering with air traffic control and emergency service frequencies. "Pirate broadcasters can cause problems for everybody," Radio and Telecoms Minister Stephen Timms said. "Those who support them, by supplying premises or advertising with them, are just as bad. "We need to make sure that we protect the public from these risks, and cracking down on clubs that help the pirates is a vital part of this." Most pirate stations broadcast dance music to relatively small areas from illegal transmitters, often hidden in tower blocks in and around London. Pirate prosecutions The RA has carried out more than 1,000 "operations" against such broadcasters this year - mostly seizing transmitters - which have resulted in 39 successful prosecutions. Pirate broadcasters and nightclubs promoting them face an unlimited fine or up to two years in prison if convicted. In 2001, prosecutions resulted in an average fine of £430. The RA is part of the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI), which said pirate stations interfere with vital frequencies - mostly air traffic control - on about 12 to 15 known instances per year (via Andy Cadier, Dec 18, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Another version: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/tv_and_radio/2586961.stm (via Artie Bigley, DXLD) ** U S A. I was chatting with WDIY-FM's program director earlier today, and he mentioned that NPR was eliminating the World Radio Network ("WRN") from NPR overnight news service as of January 31st 2003. We were discussing various options; the BBCWS is not an option for the station since it isn't a member of PRI and doesn't have the $$ in the budget to become one right now. One option is the WRN1 North American feed; it's free to relay, but they'll need a new dish to pick it up. Another option is Deutsche Welle's satellite-delivered service. Anybody have other ideas? The PD had an interesting take on the role of international broadcasters serving the US market: "It's great to hear about world affairs from a non-domestic perspective, but I don't necessarily want to hear stock market quotes for the Stockholm exchange." Thanks and regards, (Richard Cuff, Allentown, PA, USA, swprograms via DXLD) ** U S A. LUBAVITCHER RADIO [1710 kHz]: F/D unsolicited, but greatly appreciated, Chabad-Lubavitch info sheet for posting somewhere. Said from a National Radio Club DX News log; HA!. Address 770 Eastern Pkwy, Brooklyn NY 11212 (Harold Frodge, MI, Free Radio Weekly Dec 20 via DXLD) ** U S A. FREEDOM ON IRAN'S AIRWAVES washingtonpost.com Friday, December 20, 2002; Page A42 The U.S. decision to kill Radio Freedom broadcasts to Iran in favor of pop music programs might seem merely silly were it not a slap in the face to the youths demonstrating for reform in the streets of Tehran ["Casey Kasem or Freedom?" op-ed, Dec. 16]. The Broadcasting Board of Governors said it made the decision in the name of ratings. It cited its Radio Sawa, another pop music station that replaced the Voice of America's Arabic service, as being listened to by 41 percent of a youth sample in Amman, Jordan, as opposed to 10 percent who listened to the British Broadcasting Corp. The board should ask itself which group is more important to the Arab future -- those who tune in to hear Eminem and Britney Spears or the smaller number who seek out the news and thoughtful commentaries of the BBC. The board dismisses the broadcasts of Radio Free Europe and Radio Liberty during the Cold War as "propaganda." In fact, they were not propaganda, because they reflected reform ideas emanating from the audience, not U.S. government positions. Why not offer the same service to people in the Middle East? JAMES CRITCHLOW, Newburyport, Mass. The writer served with Radio Liberty, the U.S. Information Agency and the Board for International Broadcasting. Contrary to what Jackson Diehl says in his op-ed article, dissident Iranian students remain in close and useful contact with the broadcast efforts the United States is aiming at Iran's young people. As we complete the transition to greatly increased programming aimed at Iran's under-30 audience, the voices of student protesters who use their cell phones to reach us are being heard daily on our broadcasts beamed into Iran. We are giving these brave young people what their own government denies them: a way to speak to their fellow citizens. Our new service will also increase news and current affairs programming by 135 minutes, to 315 minutes each day. Mr. Diehl also did not tell The Post's readers that as of Dec. 18 our broadcasts aimed at Iran's young population -- based on Radio Sawa's success in using popular music to attract a huge audience in the Middle East -- will increase by more than three times and that our signal will become available on AM in addition to shortwave. At the same time, the Voice of America will continue its radio and television broadcasts aimed at Iran's older audiences. The new broadcasts and the programming already in place for the older generation will give the United States round-the-clock audiovisual coverage in a nation that is stirring in dissatisfaction over harsh clerical rule. KENNETH Y. TOMLINSON, Chairman, Broadcasting Board of Governors, Washington (© 2002 The Washington Post Company Dec 20 via Mike Cooper, DXLD) ** U S A [non]. You may be wondering about the sites for the now 24h MW frequencies of R. Farda, to Iran: 1539 0000 2400 FRD FRD FA DHA B 010 [UAE] 1593 0000 2400 FRD FRD FA KWT C 005 [Kuwait] While we`re at it, let`s pull out all the Farda listings in the IBB SW schedule as of Dec 20: FA FRD FRD 0000 2400 KWT C 1593 005 FA FRD FRD 0000 2400 DHA B 1539 010 FA FRD FRD 0030 0600 LAM 01 9795 104 FA FRD FRD 0030 0600 BIB 04 9795 105 FA FRD FRD 0030 0400 MOR 01 9585 075 FA FRD FRD 0030 0400 BIB 03 9515 085 FA FRD FRD 0400 0830 KAV 04 15290 095 FA FRD FRD 0400 0600 KAV 02 12015 112 FA FRD FRD 0400 0830 LAM 06 9585 096 FA FRD FRD 0600 0730 KAV 02 17675 100 FA FRD FRD 0730 0830 MOR 01 17675 075 FA FRD FRD 0800 1400 IRA 06 21475 299 FA FRD FRD 0800 1400 KAV 01 13680 100 FA FRD FRD 1400 1700 WOF 04 15410 105 FA FRD FRD 1400 1700 LAM 03 13680 108 FA FRD FRD 1700 1800 IRA 01 11845 315 FA FRD FRD 1700 1900 LAM 02 11705 108 FA FRD FRD 1800 1900 IRA 01 11845 324 FA FRD FRD 1900 2130 LAM 09 11985 104 FA FRD FRD 1900 2130 BIB 06 11985 105 FA FRD FRD 1900 2000 KAV 08 11960 095 FA FRD FRD 1900 2000 DB 07 6140 264 FA FRD FRD 2000 2130 UDO 07 11960 300 FA FRD FRD 2000 2130 UDO 03 9785 300 FA RFE RL12 0000 0430 BIB 04 9795 105 FA RFE RL12 0000 0400 MOR 01 9585 075 FA RFE RL12 0000 0400 BIB 03 9515 085 FA RFE RL12 0400 0430 LAM 06 9585 096 FA RFE RL12 0430 0600 BIB 04 9795 105 FA RFE RL12 0600 1400 BIB 04 15130 105 FA RFE RL12 0800 1400 IRA 06 21475 299 FA RFE RL12 0800 1400 KAV 01 13680 100 FA RFE RL12 1700 1900 IRA 01 11845 324 FA RFE RL12 1700 1900 LAM 02 11705 108 FA RFE RL12 2100 2400 KAV 08 11970 100 FA RFE RL12 2100 2400 IRA 04 11765 324 FARS VOA M1 0300 0400 IRA 04 17855 315 FARS VOA M1 0300 0400 KAV 01 9435 095 FARS VOA M1 0300 0400 KAV 10 7200 105 FARS VOA M1 1700 1900 JUL 03 12110 100 FARS VOA M1 1700 1900 KAV 08 9680 095 FARS VOA M1 1700 1900 KAV 06 6160 105 FARS VOA M1 1800 1900 DB A 972 230 FARS VOA M1 1900 2000 JUL 03 12110 100 FARS VOA M1 1900 2000 IRA 05 9680 316 FARS VOA M1 1900 2000 BIB 02 6160 105 And be on the lookout for jamming, or `frequency conflicts`. Key: BIB = Biblis, Germany; IRA = Iranawila, Sri Lanka; JUL = Jülich, Germany; DB = Dushanbe, Tajikistan; KAV = Kavala, Greece; LAM = Lampertheim, Germany; MOR = Briech?, Morocco; UDO = Udorn, Thailand; WOF = Woofferton, England (via Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. WJIE update: as transition to digital radio proceeds in the US, WJIE hopes to acquire some discarded analog AM transmitters to put back into service overseas. Lots of new programs are being added to schedule; hope to have WJIE-2 13595 on the air in next few weeks from mid- to end of Dec. Our World Prayer Broadcasting Network includes FM stations in Louisville KY, New Washington IN; AM stations in Evansville IN, Norfolk VA, Jacksonville FL. Objective is to bathe every square inch of the world with prayer (Doc Burkhart, Dec WJIE Update, monitored Dec 20 at 1330, notes by gh for DX LISTENING DIGEST) More under LIBERIA; MARSHALL ISLANDS Merry Christmas and New Updates World Prayer Broadcasting Network Dec 20, 2002 We here at the World Prayer Broadcasting Network want to wish you and your loved ones a very Merry Christmas and a blessed New Year! We wanted to let you know that we are now STREAMING our signal over the internet. Now you don't even need a shortwave radio to listen to your favorite programs! Just go our home page http://www.wjiesw.com and click Listen Now! We are still offering churches and ministries the opportunity to broadcast on shortwave radio (and now the INTERNET) with no up-front cost. You will never receive a bill or invoice...we just ask that you support us with a monthly love offering of any amount to help us cover the costs of this international outreach. For more information call 502-968-1220 and ask for Morgan or Doc. Our schedule is also online as well...please check it out! Coming up in January...21 DAYS OF FASTING AND PRAYER! Please continue to pray for our ministry.... God bless you, and thank you, Doc Burkhart World Prayer Broadcasting Network---- **WJIE International Shortwave 1 & 2 **KVOH International Shortwave 1 & 2 **Voice of Liberty 102.3FM Monrovia, Liberia **Voice of Hope Africa Shortwave 1 & 2 **Voice of Hope Nigeria (Christian FM Network) **Liberia Children's Project (orphanage and clinic-Liberia) ****and the future! (WJIE mailing list via DXLD) At 1754 UT Dec 20, I found the embedded wm player now runs, but nothing audible, much like 7490 most of the time. You have to click on a crawler to get to it. Schedule at http://www.wjiesw.com/schedule.htm is still a Page that Cannot Be Displayed (gh, DXLD) ** U S A. Picking up some of NRC-AM thread on IBOC from a week ago: WOR'S IBOC EXPERIENCE --- I don't think this has been posted....... http://www.rwonline.com/reference- room/iboc/01_rw_wor_iboc_install_2.shtml gives Tom Ray of WOR's IBOC summary. Skipping past the installation section, you'll see their attitude is: "We have had a few complaints. One was from a gentleman who was restoring a 1930s vintage Atwater Kent radio, and wanted to let us know he heard hiss when he tuned across WOR on either side of us. Negative comments also have come from a group of AM stereo fanatics in New Jersey. These people live for the day AM stereo makes a comeback. They are not listening on typical AM radios. They have verbally and personally attacked both Kerry and me, as well as the radio station and Ibiquity. This group thinks that AM radio is a high-fidelity medium. They also started a rumor that WOR was operating illegally. The NRSC mask allows emissions to -25dBc from 10 kHz to 20 kHz. IBOC operation puts the IBOC carriers from 5kHz to 15kHz at -30dBc, perfectly legal. The other complaint was from a person who was trying to get WLW(AM). This person lives not all that far from our transmitter. Unfortunately, the IBOC carriers occupy space in the NRSC mask around 700 kHz, and the listener was not able to DX in the near field of the WOR antenna. But because WOR is operating legally, there is not much that can be done for this person. The spectrum on the WOR signal basically was textbook-perfect. The entire signal fits nicely under the NRSC mask and is completely legal. Even with all the detuning aspects of WOR's antenna, the IBOC carriers are symmetrical." So, summing it up, they say IBOC is no problem as it meets the FCC spectral requirements. It's your tough luck when it causes noise problems. It makes me mad when they try and paint this as a problem only for antique radio owners, fanatics and 1 other person. SPIN DOCTORS! Mark my words - since it is "legal" (spectrally) the FCC will approve nighttime IBOC without a thought for interference. It would have already been done except their concern was whether IBOC would function well via skywave (Chuck Hutton, Dec 13, NRC-AM via DXLD) Oh me..now the same rehash of garbage has made it to rwonline! ...Gee, can`t someone there come up with anything new and fresh? Seems like they have their lines written out on toliet paper and it`s kept safe to had out to anyone that wants to print this nonsense. I got the papers Friday as well, and I'm not happy or impressed. They clearly state and admit that there are interference issues in the first adjacent either side of a station running IBOC. To me and others, this is unacceptable. As proven with the latest night time test on 700 and 710, it was a fuzz/hash war. Is this what we want, folks? I don`t think it is. I urge each and every one here on this forum to post comments with the FCC when that time comes available. Don`t look at this from a DXing point --- which is the point of the club and the internet group --- as those type of comments will be dissed as nuts and out of touch with today`s technology. The comments need to be well thought out and consider what it would do to your ability to listen to a local station with a class "B" signal, which a great number of people rely on when it comes to AM reception. Not everyone lives close enough to an AM station to get clear blanketing reception. State examples of the recent night time test. Real world facts with real world everyday common radios is where it is at. How can you compare test results with, as I've seen it put, a piece of test equipment. There are no real digital receivers yet. Reception is with a piece of test equipment, which everyone does not use to listen to everyday radio. I've been in an electronics lab before as part of earning a degree in electronics. You can pretty much do *-almost-* anything and get the results you want in a lab. Mote: I said *-almost-* meaning not everything is possible. I find it hard to believe that the interference issues are as moot as they are. There are claims that test were done with every make and model radio ever made. I've asked for the results of this data in two different forums, question being directed to the individual that made this statement, getting no answers in either forum. My question was right out ignored. Like it wasn`t even posted in one forum --- and the individual unsubscribing a very short time after my posting of the question in another forum! Yes, it really gets me ready to go smash something --- it ticks me off that much. For someone to do something of this nature certainly is NOT a professional. Folks, I in general do not have any problem with digital radio. It is the interference I have the problem with --- even if it is legal to generate such noise on either side of your operating frequency. I think the issues need to be grabbed by the horns and those involved need to get straight with the general radio public and sensibly work on these issues if they want digital radio to have any sort of success (Bob Carter, Operations/Engineering--Max Media Radio Group, ibid.) And now I am doubly sad that I was out of the country when the initial comments were called for, because I love corporate lawyerese. I'll have to do this the old-fashioned, analog way, along with copies to my Senators (my congressman, sadly, is incapable of understanding anything about technology, but apparently thinks anything "new" is automatically "good." He also thinks the RIAA should be allowed to snoop around in anyone's computers for mp3s. He'll be gone in 2004, not a doubt.) IBOC at night? Good or bad for US broadcasters, I think the interference will be a serious cross-border problem. Not that anyone besides the US matters, of course. Just ask anyone in DC these days. (And a lot of Americans don't matter, either, apparently.) Hoping the Pentagon and NSA got this email clearly (Gerry Bishop, NicedayforJefferson'scalendarville, FL, ibid.) To all that will be commenting, just be sure you learn a lesson from the LPFM notices. A flaming letter, name calling, or otherwise disparaging remarks of character will only work negatively against you. The IBOC folks will just paint you as a discontented crank. Remain calm, and when a statement such as "No interference was noted in monitoring tests", you counter professionally such as .... GCA states, "No interference was noted in monitoring tests". I beg to differ on this statement. On 11/21/02 at 9:10PM I noted the tests from WOR-710, and studied the effects on WLW-700. As a listener to WLW, I found the amount of noise objectionable, and distracting. IBOC noise contributed to 50%, or more, of the total modulation heard with programming of WLW. When WOR did not transmit IBOC, the transmissions of WLW were perfect, with less than 2% of noise being attributed to skywave fade. As an LP-1 station for a large region of Ohio, Michigan, and Indiana, as well as a source of news and information that I use, I feel that ANY use of IBOC would be a disservice to the public. The old news director at our TV station, a charming Irish man named Dunster, always talked about being able to write with Irish Diplomacy. That is defined as being able to tell someone to go to hell, and make them look forward to the trip! Please, when commenting, state facts and be nice. Use key words such as "public service", "emergency information", etc. The slightest amount of negative mud-slinging will only render your comments moot. Remember, many that read this stuff are not DXers or serious radio listeners, so you need to make sure you keep it simple. Anything highly technical should be backed up with facts. Oh, and you guys in Canada also have a stake in commenting as well. However, a friend in Ottawa suggested that you also send a copy of your comments, with a copy of the notice, to the CRTC. If they get concerned, there could be one heck of a battle between radio authorities. And you guys in California and Texas should copy Mexico as well. The CRTC is responsible for content regulation - they don't really get involved with stuff like interference and cross-border coordination. Comments should go to the Spectrum Engineering Branch of Industry Canada (Barry McLarnon, Ont., ibid.) I'm sorry, but I cannot get out my head a terrible what-if? What if WOR had been on IBOC several weeks ago, hashing WLW's signal? Would an observant trucker on I-70 in Maryland have been trying to listen to WLW still, or would he have gone to another station (or tapes)? Would he have missed the description of the car that police were looking for, the car with the DC snipers? Would the snipers have struck again, maybe several more times, because the opportunity was missed? Assume that radio description of the car would have reached the snipers, too, and they'd have ditched the car within hours. I can't help but think that somebody's grandmother or kid might have taken a bullet thanks to conscientiously generated sideband interference. Lucky breaks happen because people are paying attention. No one's going to pay attention to digital hash (Gerry Bishop, Niceville, FL, ibid.) Those are excellent points to make. Intentional radio interference interferes with the publics ability to react when stations send this information, as well as weather, Amber Alerts, or attacks on our homeland security (Fred Vobbe, OH, ibid.) This is an excellent point, and one getting lost in the IBOC discussion. My mother still lives in northern SC and lost her power in last week's ice storms, from about 4:00 am Thursday until shortly before noon last Sunday. Her only line of communication with the outside world was a GE Superradio I bought for her years ago --- and I'm glad I put in fresh batteries last month when I visited her! WBT-1110 did a fantastic job of serving both Carolinas (her locals WAVO-1150, WBZK-980, and WRHI-1340 were either off the air or continued their satellite-downloaded programming). Thanks to WBT, she knew about emergency shelters, which numbers to call if she needed emergency assistance, progress being made on restoring power, etc. I've seen some remarks in this IBOC discussion to the effect that broadcasters really don't care about listeners outside their primary service area. That might be true, but let's don't lose sight of the fact that broadcasters are using something that belongs to the people of the United States --- the radio spectrum --- for their profit- seeking activities. And if they're using "public property," then they have an obligation to take the public interest into account as well as their business goals. (I wonder how many in broadcasting today have ever heard of "PICON"?) While there are many different opinions as to what constitutes "serving the public interest," I think most of us would agree that providing communications to the public in an emergency qualifies. And in most natural disasters --- ice storms, earthquakes, hurricanes, tornados, etc. --- the electric power goes, taking TV sets, PCs (and the internet), many telephones, etc., out. In such cases, the battery-powered radio, AM or FM, is the only way most people in the affected area have to get the information they need. Perhaps someone could please explain how increasing the noise levels on both AM and FM (but especially AM), reducing the effective coverage areas of stations, and rendering all existing AM/FM receivers functionally obsolete will help broadcasters improve their ability to serve the public in an emergency (Harry Helms, AK6C, Ridgecrest, CA DM15, ibid.) The truth is out there on IBOC Remember Leonard Kahn? I can see lawsuits in the future. I can see lots of lawsuits. The interference issues will bring lots of lawsuits. It will be a fiasco infinitely worse than AM stereo ever was. The lawyers are gonna make out big time. Let me give some quotes from page 20 of the propaganda the lawyers sent... They want to fast track this.... "...to compress the timeframe for finalizing the rules and policies that will affect the ultimate success of this service." Then comes the disingenuousness... They think there`s not going to be many harmed. "Precluding the use of IBOC by all AM stations at night because of the circumstances of a few, easily identifiable stations is unnecessary." The disingenuity is repeated again.... "Many AM stations presently operate with facilities which would not cause significant interference to distant stations if permitted to operate with IBOC facilities during night time hours. " Listen to this on page 3 and compare it to the items quoted from page 20.... "Regrettably, both computer models and field tests have shown that night time use of the AM IBOC system can in certain instances, lead to intolerable levels of interference to the ongoing operation of legacy analog broadcasting for first-adjacent channel stations. So what is it? Is it interfering or not a problem. I know the secret, I am sure you can figure it out as well. Just tune in the sidebands and you will know for sure (Kevin Redding, AZ, ibid.) "Its going to get a lot worse before it gets worse" - Lily Tomlin [Kevin`s tagline] Kevin, right you are! How many ways can you spell lawsuit? Now if we were talking about a few stations that would be getting interference, it would not be an issue. How many AM stations do we have in the US, 4800? Something around there. Okey, let`s say 500 or 1000 stations go IBOC. What are the rest suppose to do with the QRM. Remember we are hurting a businessman from making a living. I can see a class action suit covering hundreds or thousands of radio stations. I really doubt the courts will ignore that. In this day, suits are everywhere and the lawyers are also there to pick up $$$$$$$. 73s, (Patrick Martin, Seaside, OR, KAVT Reception Manager, ibid.) This would be an excellent story to tell. After all, if your mother could not hear WBT due to WTAM IBOC, would that not be a threat to safety and security. Then again, KMOX would be a double whammie. I don't think that many broadcasters are concerned about PICON, but more for how much they can take out of the community no matter what the consequences. The ones that DO care are clearly in the minority. In my meetings with stations involved in EAS and emergency communication, there is clearly a majority of broadcasters that could really care less if anyone lives or dies as long as they can do a 50 minute commercial free music marathon, then 10 minutes of spots. I would REALLY like to see stations have to report their public service to the FCC and have license renewals based on what they do in the community. IMHO, if stations don't want to participate and go the whole way, let's give the license to someone else and let them run with it. As demonstrated in the tornados in Van Wert back on 11/10, the locally owned and operated stations were clearly in the lead with distribution of emergency information. The ones that were voice tracked and highly automated were sometimes as much as 8 minutes behind the leaders. In fact, one of our stellar chain stations, on a previous series of storms, unplugged their EAS because it "bothered" them (Fred Vobbe, OH, ibid.) ||What is "PICON"? "the public interest, convenience, and neccessity." I think it's from the Communications Act of 1934. It's what every U.S. station was expected to operate in, readers. * *didn't want to end a sentence with a preposition! (Steve Francis, Alcoa, Tennessee, ibid.) || This group thinks that AM radio is a high-fidelity medium. Well, I guess Mr. Ray never listened to AM on a good radio. I have a Zenith C845L that will change his mind. || So, summing it up, they say IBOC is no problem as it meets the FCC spectral requirements. It's your tough luck when it causes noise problems. That`s what it looks like to me. Sounds like BS though when I read it. || It makes me mad when they try and paint this as a problem only for antique radio owners, fanatics and 1 other person. SPIN DOCTORS! I wrote Tom Ray and Paul Jellison both about hearing the artifact and also wrote the FCC. || Mark my words - since it is "legal" (spectrally) the FCC will approve nighttime IBOC without a thought for inteference. It would have already been done except their concern was whether IBOC would function well via skywave. Well, the lawyers seem to think so but I can see LOTS of lawsuits before this is over (Kevin Redding, AZ, ibid.) In claiming IBOC is "legal", they are basically taking advantage of a loophole. Yes, the IBOC signal nominally fits under the FCC mask, but of course the people who originally defined the mask never conceived that it might be (ab)used in this way. The mask was designed to limit the levels of transient modulation peaks in the region beyond +/- 10 kHz from the carrier. Nobody thought about the possibility of dropping a relatively high power, constant level signal using a completely different modulation scheme in there. If the regs simply stated that only A3E emissions were allowed in the AM band, then IBOC would be illegal. But what they really should have done in addition is put some reasonable limits on the occupied bandwidth of the signal. Occupied bandwidth is usually defined as the bandwidth containing 99% of the long-term average power transmitted. I'm not sure what the occupied bandwidth of a typical AM broadcast signal is, but I'll bet that it's less than 10 kHz. It would depend quite a bit on the program format, audio processing, etc. When the IBOC digital carriers are added, however, the occupied bandwidth increases to about (back of the envelope calculation) 28 kHz. So, by my reckoning, going IBOC increases a station's occupied bandwidth by roughly a factor of three. Is it any wonder that it causes increased interference? There oughta be a law! I wouldn't be surprised if a careful reading of the FCC rules might turn up something that would challenge the legality of IBOC, but at this point, it probably wouldn't matter - they'd just change the rules to keep the loophole open (Barry McLarnon, Ont., ibid.) This is an excerpt from Tom Ray's comments on IBOC. I'm the person mentioned at the end of the document, trying to get WLW; I suspect this is from my email two-three weeks ago. His response is: "But because WOR is operating legally, there is not much that can be done for this person." If I won't be able to get WLW, it's game over. Anyone still optimistic? (Dave Hochfelder, New Brunswick, NJ, Sony-ICF2010 with Quantum Loop, ibid.) Subject: [NRC-am] The Glen Clark IBOC Petition I finally had some time to read and digest (urp) the Clark petition. Here's my take on it. The case he makes is pretty simple. It boils down to this: 1. By allowing daytime AM IBOC operation, the FCC is affirming that the current daytime protection rules afford adequate protection against interference from stations running IBOC. 2. On a case by case basis, the nighttime operation of stations can be studied to see if they comply with the daytime protection rules. If they do, then it should be okay for them to go ahead and run IBOC at night. Some background: Most AM allotments provide 0 dB D/U (desired-to-undesired ratio) protection in daytime operation to other stations on 1st adjacent channels (i.e., they can put no more than 0.5 mV/m on the 0.5 mV/m protected contour of the other station). For new allotments since 1991, the protection level has been increased to 6 dB (no more than 0.25 mV/m on protected contours of other stations), and this applies to nighttime operation as well as daytime. According to Clark, standard propagation prediction software can be used to determine whether a given station provides 6 dB D/U protection to all stations on the lower 1st adjacent at night. If it does, then that station can run IBOC at full power on its lower sideband. If it doesn't provide 6 dB protection to all lower 1st adjacent stations, but does provide 0 dB protection, then it can run IBOC on the lower sideband, but at reduced power (6 dB lower). If it can't provide 0 dB protection, then there should be no IBOC transmitted on that sideband. The same argument applies to the upper 1st adjacent. There are then five different possibilities for IBOC operation: 1. Full power on both sidebands 2. Full power on one sideband, reduced power on the other sideband 3. Reduced power on both sidebands 4. Full power on one sideband, no power on the other sideband 5. Reduced power on one sideband, no power on the other sideband Let's consider the last two possibilities first. There are no one-sided modes like this in the AM IBOC specifications, and iBiquity has not submitted any test data for such a mode. The FCC Report & Order on IBOC definitely does not permit one-sided IBOC operation. Moreover, it is highly unlikely that iBiquity would want to see any operation like this, since a one-sided IBOC would be very unrobust and would place IBOC in general in a bad light. As for the other possibilities, we have to go back to the initial premise: is the FCC saying that the current rules are adequate for protection against IBOC interference? I don't think so - the jury is still out. The Report & Order appears to anticipate that there will be interference problems in daytime IBOC operation, and it sets out some procedures to deal with them (power reductions, and possibly turning off IBOC if other solutions can't be found). Furthermore, the evidence provided by iBiquity and the NRSC that IBOC won't cause serious interference problems is less than compelling. Interference tests were done on only four different analog receivers (despite that nonsense from Tom Ray about iBiquity testing all available receivers), which is a ridiculously small sample base to draw any conclusions from. And while it is true that all four receivers performed poorly with 1st adjacent interference at 0 dB D/U with or without IBOC, we don't know how they behaved at 6 dB D/U, since there is no test data for that condition. There were tests at 15 dB D/U, though, that showed significant impact from IBOC on most of the receivers, so that's a good indication that IBOC will cause some major problems in the 0-15 dB range. Another thing that bothers me about the Clark petition is that it ignores 2nd adjacent interference completely, dismissing it with a footnote: "2nd adjacent channel stations are not considered, as 2nd adjacent channel IBOC transmission will not affect receivers with a bandwidth of less than 5 kHz". They claim that most AM receivers fit this description, which is probably true in a sense, but it's a red herring. The fact that a receiver's audio response rolls off below 5 kHz doesn't make it immune to 2nd adjacent channel interference! FCC rules for 2nd adjacents allow 0 dB D/U on a station's 5 mV/m contour. In the lab test results from iBiquity, three out of the four receivers had problems with 2nd adjacent IBOC at 0 dB D/U. So, the potential for 2nd adjacent interference from IBOC can't be ignored. To wind this up, I think the Clark petition is half-baked and should be put aside. The IBOC interference issue is still very much an open question, and much more experience is needed with daytime operation before they open up the nighttime floodgates (Barry McLarnon, Ont., NRC-AM via DXLD) Glen Clark says the existing rules for protecting an analog station from another analog station serve perfectly to evaluate the case of protecting an analog station from another hybrid IBOC station. I can't see how in the world they could say that with a straight face. The power level 10 KHz from the carrier transmitted by an analog interferer and the power level 10 KHz from the carrier transmitted by an IBOC interferer are totally different things in both the amplitude and time domains. Puzzled Chuck in Seattle (Chuck Hutton, ibid.) Does this petition exist on the internet? Can someone provide a link? Thanks (Gerry Bishop, ibid.) Sure.... Go to http://gullfoss2.fcc.gov/prod/ecfs/comsrch_v2.cgi (the search page for comments) and type "99-325" in box #1 (labelled Proceeding), then hit "Retrieve Document List". When you do that, you'll get all the documents related to 99-325 (the AM IBOC proceeding). They're in chronological order so go down a bit to the stuff from Dec. 12 and there it will be. Now go to bed...... (Chuck Hutton, ibid.) ** U S A. Presumed 1670 Frederick MD on today with only white noise, not an impressive signal given the distance. First noticed at 9:30am, on again at next check, 4 pm. No WTOP or WWZZ (Z104) audio as previously reported. No buzzing noted on 1660 or 1680. However, the buzz is back on 1250 and 1270, straddling WWRC. Does anyone know if WWRC-1260 is indeed an IBOC station? If so, I want a digital receiver asap, so I can get that Suze Orman's stock tips in the finest quality possible! ;) (Blake Lawrence, Washington DC, NRC-AM via DXLD) ** U S A. Just got a nice phone call from Bob Janney, CE of WBBR-1130, who wants to let DXers know that there is off-time scheduled for his station and for WEVD-1050-NY - and also, possibly, for WWDJ-970-NJ. The stations will be off: Saturday Dec. 28 1:00-4:00 AM [0600-0900 UT] Sunday Dec. 29 1:00-4:00 AM Again, this definitely affects WBBR 1130 and WEVD 1050, and may affect WWDJ 970 as well. New York-area DXers should note that WWDJ is diplexed with WWRV-1330, so there may be downtime on 1330 as well, as an extra added bonus. More details as I get them; in the meantime, many thanks to Bob Janney for thinking of the DX community and passing this along to us.[*] -s (Scott Fybush, NY, Dec 20, NRC-AM via DXLD) In addition to WEVD and WBBR, 970-WWDJ will be off for at least an hour sometime between 2 and 5am on Saturday morning (Fri night). Bob says there are a lot of people lined up to be there for these tests, so this downtime has high probability of happening as scheduled (Rick Kenneally, CT, ibid.) ** U S A. WSAI, 50 kW on 1530 has a scheduled outage this Sunday morning 3AM as needed or till 5AM at the latest [0800-1000 UT]. They will be doing some measurements on their antenna system. So the outage will start a 3A and end when they are done measuring (Paul Jellison, Clear Channel, NRC-AM via DXLD) ** U S A. The National Radio Club is proud to announce that Ronald Musco will take the position of C.P.C. Chairman effective immediately. Ron is a member of the National Radio Club's Board of Directors. Ron has been an active member of the club since the early 1960s, and has chaired the position of Membership Chairman since 1976. The C.P.C., or "Courtesy Program Committee", arranges tests of AM radio stations for broadcast band DXers. These tests may be of rare stations that hardly anyone has heard, or stations with facilities that cause the signal to not propagate over a large area where DXers live. These tests are mostly conducted at night, between the hours of midnight and 6AM, when the FCC allows stations to operate in test modes. These test modes can allow a station with a day power of 5,000 watts non-directional and night power of 500 watts highly directional in a certain area, to operate non-directional with 5,000 watt. This allows the station to have a better chance of being heard. Additionally, CW IDs of the station's call letters, siren sound effects, and marching band music is used to stick out of the noise of other stations and static. Since the National Radio Club is a non-profit radio club, Ron is asking for donations of stamps, or funds to buy postage. National Radio Club members may also wish to suggest stations that they feel will be agreeable to conducting C.P.C. tests. Suggested stations could be stations in your own community that you feel might get out well, or stations that you would personally like to hear. Donations of stamps or funds, and suggested stations, can be sent to Ron Musco, P.O. Box 118, Poquonock CT 06064-0118. Ron can also be contacted at ronaldj.musco@hs.utc.com if you have any specific questions about the National Radio Club's C.P.C. program. For information about broadcast band DXing, and the National Radio Club, visit the club's web site at http://www.nrcdxas.org (NRC via DXLD) ** U S A. 1440, KPUR TX Amarillo -- 12/19/02, 2302 Eastern - I've noted this one a good 200 Hz low, putting a NASTY het on the frequency, for several days, maybe longer. Running Amarillo Gorillas hockey last night; no legal ID, just "Amarillo's 1440, The Score." Occasionally atop frequency; otherwise, best recovery of audio in LSB (Randy Stewart/Battlefield (Springfield) MO, using a bedside Sony 7600D & internal antenna, NRC-AM via DXLD) Thank you for the post, Randy. John Wilkins also mentioned this in DXN a few weeks back, measuring KPUR's signal at 1439.7 (v.70 No.7 p.4). Up here in Madison WI I have been hearing a het on 1440 most of the Fall (Bill Dvorak, Madison WI, ibid.) ** U S A. Driven to succeed THE HIGHWAY RADIO GROUP TARGETS A UNIQUE AUDIENCE: TRAVELERS ON THE ROADS INTO SIN CITY --- By Susan Carpenter, Times Staff Writer Aside from brush and billboards, there isn't a whole lot to see on the 270-mile drive from L.A. to Las Vegas. There's even less to listen to, at least on the FM dial. It's as much of a wasteland as the desert once you're out on the I-15 heading into Sin City. Listeners can press their scan button as often as they like, but it will only stop on a handful of stations. Chances are those stations are run by Highway Radio. Thanks to a complex system of transmitters, repeater signals and remote-uplink arrays, the tiny Las Vegas radio group broadcasts most of the consistent FM signals between Nevada's gambling paradise and the Cajon Pass -- the adult contemporary Highway Stations on 98.1, 98.9 and 99.7 FM, Highway Country on 100.1, 101.5 and 107.3 FM and, starting Friday, 94.9 and 96.9 FM the Drive, a rock station targeting the growing market of 25- to 34-year-olds now traveling to Vegas. That's a lot of frequencies, but Highway Radio has a lot of space to cover.... The complete article can be viewed at: http://www.calendarlive.com/cl-wk-alt19dec19,0,6319472.story (via Harry Helms, NV, DXLD) ** UZBEKISTAN. Uzbekistan radio - 40 Years of Foreign Broadcasting The Uzbekistan Radio is having department of foreign broadcast and everyday the station is broadcasting the program in twelve foreign languages including English, German, Persian, Turkish etc. Today the Hindi section of Radio Tashkent jointly with the Embassy of India is celebrating 40th year of regular broadcast which began in the year 1962. Radio Tashkent program listeners are not only in Asia but in Europe also which continues to receive several letters from its ardent listeners. etc. Pravda.ru 19 Dec 2002 (via Kim Elliott, DXLD) ** YUGOSLAVIA/CHINA. EXTERNAL BROADCASTERS DISCUSS COOPERATION | Text of report in English by Yugoslav state news agency Tanjug Belgrade, 19 December: A delegation of China's state International Radio [China Radio International] headed by Deputy General Director Chen Minji conferred Thursday in Belgrade with Radio Yugoslavia Director Milena Jokic and editorial staff on expanding cooperation. The Chinese radio is interested in having its Serbian language programme carried by Radio Yugoslavia. China's state radio broadcasts daily 270 hours of programmes in 43 languages. Radio Yugoslavia hopes that China will take part in reconstruction of its transmitters and in providing new equipment, and the Chinese delegation said they would convey this wish to the broadcasting authorities. A new memorandum on cooperation between the two media is expected to be signed at the end of the talks Thursday, and the Chinese delegation will be received Friday by Yugoslav Information Secretary Slobodan Orlich. Source: Tanjug news agency, Belgrade, in English 1806 gmt 19 Dec 02 (via BBCM via DXLD) UNIDENTIFIED. Yesterday I've heard an UNID Chinese speaking station on 1557 kHz from tune-in 1850 till s/off at 2000 UT. Powerhouse signal, wiping out co-channel Nice in southern France. Audible even on a very cheap three-band tranny with built-in ferrite antenna! I doubt that this was Family Radio from Taiwan. According to their sked they have Chinese until 1800, then English for an hour and s/off at 1900. This station had a programming sounding like an info-magazine, not like a religious programme. Also the incredible signal-strength is very unlikely for a 300 kW outlet from Taiwan. Station had a rather strong audio-compression. But if it wasn't Family Radio, the question is, what was it then? No ID at s/off. Can anybody confirm the Family Radio schedule? Thanks for any help! Greetings, (Martin Elbe, Germany, Dec 20, dxing.info via DXLD) Tonight Martin Elbe alerted me on something booming in on 1557. The programming was in Chinese, at 2000 the audio was cut inmidst sentence and one minute and ten seconds later the carrier was switched off. Here is a record, if you can handle a file size of 428 kB: http://kailudwig.bei.t-online.de/1557_19.mp3 The file includes an excerpt recorded around 1954, the audio cut-off at 2000 and the carrier cut at 2001. Note how co-channel Nice is barely audible in the local noise here to get an impression how strong the signal was. And what you hear in the final two seconds is how I switched on the TFT monitor to stop the record... So, what's this? Something new from Europe (ethnic service somewhere) - or really Taiwan? (Kai Ludwig, Germany, Dec 19, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Things are cleared up. It was a test of the Sitkunai station in Lithuania, using 150 kW ND and carrying Chinese programming by CRI from 18-20 UTC according to Bernd Trutenau in the Yahoogroup MWDX. That explains the strong signal. That I have no clue, why they carry Chinese programming is another story. 73 (Martin Elbe, later, ibid.) UNIDENTIFIED. I am daily hearing a very strong clandestine broadcast on 7070 at 2000. It is not a low-powered operation and generator hum is present on the carrier. Slogans and plenty of martial music are heard in this Farsi (Persian) programme which CRW says is the V of the Iranian Mujaheedin. I think it is more likely to be from the Middle East instead of Central Asia. A news broadcast heard one day at 2030 with music bridge between items. CRW says it is Iraq broadcasting to Iran but I am not sure. It is too strong (Robin L. HARWOOD, Norwood, Tasmania, Dec 19, DX LISTENING DIGEST) [IRAN] 7070, V. of Mujahed, Dec 15? 1732, YL with talks in Farsi about Sharia, Bush and Islam etc. Signal level S9 though full of QRM //5650v -5670v (Zacharias Liangas, Thessaloniki, Greece, DX LISTENING DIGEST) +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ RADIO PHILATELY +++++++++++++++ RADIO REMEMBERS: STAMP COLLECTING OPERATORS The Radio Stamp Operators Group reminds us that a year ago, on November 15, 2001, the Japanese Postal Service released an 80-yen postage stamp honoring the 50th anniversary of commercial radio and TV in that country. The stamps depict the images of the microphone used when commercial radio broadcasting began, the first monochrome television camera used for commercial television broadcasting, and at television set up for street viewing. More information on radio stamp collecting is on yahoogroups at radiostamps@yahoogroups.com (RSG via Amateur Radio Newsline Dec 20 via DXLD) ###