DX LISTENING DIGEST 3-006, January 10, 2003 edited by Glenn Hauser, ghauser@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/dxldta03.html For restrixions and searchable 2003 contents archive see http://www.worldofradio.com/dxldmid.html For restrixions and searchable 2002 contents archive see http://www.worldofradio.com/dxldmid2.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 1164: WWCR: Fri 0700, Sat 0330 5070, 0730 3210, Wed 0930 9475 RFPI: Sat 0130, 0730, 1330, 1800, Sun 0000, 0600, 1200, 1830, Mon 0030, 0630, 1230, Tue 1900, Wed 0100, 0700, 1300 on 7445 and/or 15039 WJIE: M-F 1300, daily 0400 -- maybe; Sun 0630, Mon 0700, Tue 0630 7490 WBCQ: Mon 0545 on 7415, first airing having been Wed 2300 7415 17495-U WRN: Rest of world Sat 0900; Eu only Sun 0530; NAm Sun 1500 WRN ONDEMAND: http://www.wrn.org/ondemand/worldofradio.html [Low] (Download) http://www.k4cc.net/wor1164.rm (Stream) http://www.k4cc.net/wor1164.ram [High] (Download) http://www.k4cc.net/wor1164h.rm (Stream) http://www.k4cc.net/wor1164h.ram (Summary) http://www.worldofradio.com/wor1164.html ** AUSTRALIA. HCJB AUSTRALIA BROADCAST TO INDIA REVISED START UP DATE Dear Mr Gupta, I am just writing to let you know the start up date for HCJB Australia's broadcast to India has been delayed till the 19th January. I will advise you of any change to this. I will be away till the 17th Jan and will be unable to check emails. We will appreciate very much your help with reports from New Delhi. In my spare time I operate on the 14mHz amateur band under my amateur call sign of VK3MO. Recently I have made quite a few contacts with stations in India with good signals. Best wishes (Ian Williams, Frequency Manager, HCJB Australia, via Alokesh Gupta, India, DXLD) Out of curiosity I have checked the reception of the replacement transmission for Ecuador of the new HCJB Australia to the S Pacific on 11755 kHz beginning at 0700 UT. The call themselves on air "HCJB Australia, The Voice of the Great South Land." Since it was announced that Australia would replace Ecuador for this transmission, I have wondered about the wisdom of replacing the Pifo transmission which comes from the east of N.Z. with one that comes from the west at that time, as historically the darkness path from the east has provided good signals whereas from the west stations such as BBC Kranji, Singapore, don't really do well until close to 0900 UT as most of the transmission path is in daylight until then. On both of the last two days (6 & 7 January) the Kununurra transmission as received in Auckland has been totally unusable until about 0900 UTC for two reasons, poor signal strength and co-channel interference from Finland which is very strong and totally dominant. Even after that time the interference from Finland is still quite obvious, more so than it used to be when the HCJB transmission came from Ecuador although Finland could always be heard under it. So it seems to prove the old maxim: "If it ain't broke, don't fix it"! Even if reception was good, I wonder who would listen to the station. The programs sound to be of a more fundamentalist nature than those from Ecuador although to be fair, I never spent any time listening to them. I usually heard them in passing while tuning up or down the dial. One program I heard on 6 January was attacking the theory of evolution and promoting creationism. Amazing that some people still believe that in the 21st century. Only the truly brainwashed could listen to this stuff, it sounds like the American SW bible hucksters with Australian accents! Is the world really waiting to hear this? (Barry Hartley, New Zealand, BC-DX Jan 8 via DXLD) HCJB Ecuador has been pushing creationism for ages; I don`t think this is any different. David MainDonald, head of HCJB in Australia, is the main guest on this week`s Feedback on R. Australia; catch it if you can at 0605 UT Sat, 0305 UT Sun. Tho in Melbourne too, it was a phone interview with Roger Broadbent. Among many other things, he said that HCJB eventually hope to have four transmitters and many high-gain antennas at Kununurra (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** AUSTRALIA [non]. As anticipated, the time signal station VNG closed down on December 31. It operated on several frequencies, including the 60 metre band channel of 5000. That channel is now clear of the previous high-intensity wide-band radiation output from VNG, which spread from 4985 to 5015. Interestingly, the Venezuelan time signal station at Caracas on 5000 is now audible via short path propagation in the local Melbourne evenings around 0800, co-channel with WWV (Colorado) and WWVH (Hawaii), and also via long path propagation around 2100 (Bob Padula, Victoria, EDXP Jan 9 via DXLD) ** AUSTRALIA [and non]. The tentative frequency plan for Voice International, from March 30, shows the continuing use of the new relay at Tashkent, Uzbekistan. This is listed for 11850, 0100-0400 to India. The station is also scheduled for the 22 metre band, with these frequencies registered for Darwin: 13620 2200-0000, Radio Australia relay, English 13635 1100-1400, VI, Hindi 13660 1300-1800, VI, Indonesian 13685 0900-1300, VI, English 13690 1300-1700, VI, English (Bob Padula, EDXP Jan 9 via DXLD) ** BIAFRA [non]. QSL Clandestina: 12120 khz, LV de Biafra Internacional, recibida una QSL preparada con todos los datos, por su primer día de transmisión, directamente desde las oficinas de la emisora, en 466 dias firmada por C. Osondu, quien dice que ellos luchan por liberar a su pueblo del régimen criminal nigeriano y que no tienen presupuesto para imprimir QSLs. Su QTH es: Radio Biafra Int.; 733 15th St NW Suite 700; Washington DC 20005; USA. 73's GIB (Gabriel Iván Barrera, Jan 10, Conexión Digital via DXLD) ** BRAZIL. Folks, I hope some of you are up and DX'ing because this is a rare opportunity to hear Brazil with WTAM off. R. Globo São Paulo is fading in and out with talk and promos. Amazing! Time is 0625z, location in upstate New York. Kaz, are you getting any of this? (Jim Renfrew, Byron NY, Jan 9, amfmtvdx via DXLD) Right now, at 01:30 EST, 1100 WTAM in Cleveland, Ohio, is off the air. I am not getting anything except adjacent channel interference from 1090 and 1110. Good DX! (Michael Procop, Bedford, Ohio, ibid.) For those of you who want to ease your ID... http://www.radios.com.br/cgibin/search.cgi?query=globo (Rick Shaftan, ibid.) Web cast very nice - maybe some delay, but they opened with the wolf whistle I heard at 0600, and now the man and woman are speaking that I was hearing on the last fade up. I heard a definite Radio Globo ID at 0630. First time Brazil heard here. [Later:] After careful listening, I'd have to say that the webcast is not the same as the signal I'm hearing. The webcast is a talk program, and the signal is full of promos, DJ raving, ads, etc. I have two 1000' wires to play with, and no WBAL. At 0751 WTAM has begun turning an open carrier on and off. Although at 0803 it is off again. Even so, I heard a Globo ID through the OC. This one may be more possible than we would normally think (Jim Renfrew, ibid.) And summing up for DXLD: ** BRAZIL. R. Globo, 1100 kHz, Sao Paulo, Jan 9 0600-0730+.- Neil Kazaross' tip that WTAM was off sent me right to the radio, where I heard a "wolf whistle" at 0600, Portuguese talk first suspected at 0606, mention of "Brazil" and definite Portuguese at 0615, then an ID at 0630, ID's subsequently heard at 0719 (with wolf whistle accompanying) and 0720. Long fades, but fairly good signal at peaks. Rich Shaftan send me a web cast address which allowed me to select Radio Globo 1100, but I finally had to conclude that the programs were different, not just delayed on the web. Although I have some long wires, I have nothing really aimed at Brazil, not even off the back end. Medium Wave country #56. 4997 miles from western New York, my furthest MW reception to the south, just barely past the Tropic of Capricorn. And thank you Kaz! (Jim Renfrew, NY, Drake R8, beverages and Quantum Phaser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) I gather WTAM was off again the next night, but nobody heard Brazil (gh, DXLD) ** BRAZIL. Bom dia! Rádio Nacional da Amazônia heard using 9665 at 0830 in // 11780 with usual phone in programme and, at 0900, "Jornal Nacional". 9665 seems to replace 6180 which has not been heard for a few days. No trace of signals from Marumby 9665. Radio Senado on 5990 heard opening at 0756 and giving clear Senado IDs and frequency. A very strong clear signal until VRT via JUL exploded onto 5985 c0758. 73 (Noel R. Green, Blackpool-NW England, Jan 9, Cumbre DX via DXLD) ** BRAZIL. Amigos, já há alguns dias vemos em 9585 o retorno da Radio Globo SP 1100 nas ondas curtas. Até pouco tempo atrás este canal de frequencia era ocupado pela CBN-SP 780, depois, um tempo de silencio, e agora verificamos a Radio Globo SP retornando aos 31 metros. 73s, (Rudolf W. Grimm, São Bernardo, SP - Brazil, Jan 9, radioescutas via DXLD) ** CANADA. Hi Glenn, You asked: So does the current occupant of 940 do that? (gh, DXLD) No, because CINW's towers are about 10 km away from my house -- CBC's towers are about 1 km away (Yes, they are still there!). (Ricky Leong, QC, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CHINA. When I visited China Radio International in October they were saying, in the English department, that their target audience was English speakers (students and foreigners from other countries whose second language might be English) inside China. They've reduced their letters department to a few and seem to be expanding their web work, dreadful as it is (Daniel Say, BC, Jan 10, swprograms via DXLD) ** CUBA. I wrote Arnie Coro of RHC that they should move their 49 meter frequency of 6005 [sic] down to around 5 MHz or at least out of the high traffic area of 49m, to provide better reception on the dark cold damp nites of the Pacific N'West, but it sounds like from his response that the antenna work required is out of the question for now (Hue Miller, Jan 10, swprograms via DXLD) ** ERITREA [non]. Hi Mathias, seit 1. Dez wird eine weitere Tigre txion erwartet, aber bisher nur tests mit Fanfarenmusik gehört. Siehe Texte unten. 73 de wolfgang [Re Chris Greenway`s inquiry]: NORWAY [to ERI-ETH and EUR] Voice of the Eritrean People not heard on air yet. {see also similar schedule as Voice of Democratic Eritrea under T-systems Juelich Germany, ed.] Merlin test series via Kvitsøy, Norway facility occurred. Chris asked for this service recently, somewhere on 15735? kHz, but couldn't trace any monitor log yet. But found test outlets on 9990 instead, seemingly for VOE - Voice of the Eritrean People in Tigre language towards ERI/ETH, to be 1630-1700 or 1700-1730 UT Suns only? On Sats there is another test registered on 5925 (I guess to EUR audience in Tigre?), at about 1500-1600 UT. Checked the test on 9990 kHz Jan 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, *1658-1715* UT. 1658 UT sign-on. But from the neighbour [9996] channel you will hear the time signal pips, at the minute/hour. 1659 UT time pips. 1700 UT time pips. UNDERNEATH, you can hear the Norwegian domestic service relay program with female and male announcer, and even a piece of speech (from UN?) in English. \\ channels 7490[powerhouse], 13800, and 18950 at this time, all were monitored here with fine level. No signal on 9980. Maybe 18950 kHz service is coming from Sveio site then? 1701:40 UT classic orchestra music played over and over again til 1714 UT stop of music, again some pieces of Norway program underneath could be traced again. 1715 UT transmitter s-off. At 1720 [and 1727 the other day] UT I checked again the NOR/DEN channel 9980 towards East Russia/Siberia, and the program could be heard then, (til 1755)... so I guess 9990 was replaced by 9980 speedy after the test (wb, Jan 5-9) (Wolfgang Bueschel, Stuttgart, Germany, DX LISTENING DIGEST) MNO Kvitsøy tests. I checked 9990 today Jan 9 at 1650-1820 and it was the same pattern as yesterday, except that the MNO I/S (what I call Afghan music) began today sharp at 1700 and lasted till 1715*. The carrier signed off at 1716 and was back on 9980 at 1727 for the programs of NRK and RD. I noted that it returned on 9980 at *1727 with relay of the last minutes of NRK, and then ready for the R. Denmark broadcast at 1730- 1755 (which R Denmark pays for !!) (Anker Petersen, Denmark, BC-DX Jan 8-9 via DXLD) via Juelich: Voice of Democratic Eritrea: 1500-1600 5925 JUL 100 / non-dir Sat Eu Tigrina 1700-1800 15670 JUL 100 / 130 Mon,Thu EAf Tigrina (Wolfgang Bueschel, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** GERMANY. Deutsche Welle has confirmed that all English services to Australia, New Zealand, and the Americas will cease from March 30. At present, DW has 18 hours of German, and 90 minutes of English programming intended specifically to Australian and Oceania. The English output from March 31 will be: 0000-0100 India 0400-0500 Af 0500-0600 Af 0600-0700 Af 0600-1900 Eu (single frequency of 6140 - special service) 1100-1200 As 1600-1700 India As 1900-2000 Af 2000-2100 Af 2100-2200 Eu Af 2200-2300 As 2300-0000 As This major reduction in output represents several hundred frequency- hours per week (Bob Padula, EDXP Jan 9 via DXLD) ** GERMANY. New updated schedule of Deutsche Telekom (DTK) as of Jan. 10, 2003: Hrvatska Radio/Voice of Croatia: 0000-0200 9925 JUL 100 kW / 230 Daily SAm Croatian 0200-0400 7285 JUL 100 kW / 300 Daily NAmE Croatian Dec.20* 0400-0600 7285 JUL 100 kW / 325 Daily NAmW Croatian Dec.20* 0600-0800 9470 JUL 100 kW / 230 Daily AUS Croatian 0800-1000 13820 JUL 100 kW / 270 Daily NZ Croatian [also English, Spanish] Athmee Yatra He/Gospel For Asia (GFA): 0030-0130 9490 WER 250 kW / 090 Daily SEAs Asian languages 1430-1530 15680 WER 250 kW / 075 Daily SEAs Asian languages 1530-1630 15425 WER 250 kW / 090 Daily SEAs Asian languages 2330-0030 9765 WER 250 kW / 075 Daily SEAs Asian languages Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty: 0230-0330 6010 WER 500 kW / 090 Daily ME Pashto 0330-0430 6010 WER 500 kW / 090 Daily ME Dari 0630-0730 21690 WER 500 kW / 090 Daily ME Pashto 0730-0830 21690 WER 500 kW / 090 Daily ME Dari 0830-0930 21690 WER 500 kW / 090 Daily ME Pashto 0930-1030 21690 WER 500 kW / 090 Daily ME Dari 1230-1330 21690 WER 500 kW / 090 Daily ME Pashto 1330-1430 21690 WER 500 kW / 090 Daily ME Dari 1500-1600 6055 JUL 100 kW / 075 Daily CAs Kazakh 1600-1700 6180 JUL 100 kW / 070 Daily CAs Tatar Bashkir 1600-1700 7105 JUL 100 kW / 070 Daily CAs Kazakh 1630-1730 12140 WER 500 kW / 090 Daily ME Pashto 1730-1830 12140 WER 500 kW / 090 Daily ME Dari 1800-1900 9785 JUL 100 kW / 100 Daily ME Arabic 2230-2330 12140 WER 500 kW / 090 Daily ME Pashto 2330-0030 12140 WER 500 kW / 090 Daily ME Dari Voice of America: 0400-0600 11875 JUL 100 kW / 115 Daily ME Arabic 1230-1300 17555 JUL 100 kW / 080 Daily CAs Uzbek 1700-2000 12110 JUL 100 kW / 100 Daily ME Persian United Methodist Church/Radio Africa International: 0400-0600 9815 JUL 100 kW / 160 Daily NAf French 0600-0800 11690 JUL 100 kW / 190 Daily NAf French 1700-1900 11735 JUL 100 kW / 160 Daily NAf English 1700-1900 13820 JUL 100 kW / 145 Daily EAf English IBRA Radio: 0500-0530 9710 JUL 100 kW / 115 Daily ME Arabic 1645-1700 5840 JUL 100 kW / 075 Daily ME Pashto 1700-1715 5840 JUL 100 kW / 075 Daily ME Dari 1730-1745 15120 JUL 100 kW / 130 Daily EAf Somali 1900-2000 13840 JUL 100 kW / 200 Daily NWAf Hausa 1930-2000 13840 JUL 100 kW / 200 Daily NWAf Hausa Jan.01* 2000-2100 9470 JUL 100 kW / 175 Daily NAf Arabic Swiss Radio International: 0600-0800 9885 JUL 100 kW / 160 Daily NEAf Fr/Ge/It/En 0600-0800 13790 JUL 100 kW / 200 Daily NEAf En/It/Ge/Fr 1630-1815 9755 JUL 100 kW / 115 Daily NEAf It/Ar/En/Fr 1630-1815 13790 JUL 100 kW / 115 Daily NEAf It/Ar/En/Fr 1830-2130 13660 JUL 100 kW / 165 Daily NEAf It/Ar/En/Ge/Fr 1830-2130 15485 JUL 100 kW / 145 Daily NEAf It/Ar/En/Ge/Fr Deutsche Welle: 0600-1900 6140 JUL 100 kW / 175 Daily Eu English Radio Netherland Wereldomroep: 1130-1325 6045 JUL 100 kW / non-dir Daily Eu English 1130-1325 9860 WER 125 kW / 300 Daily Eu English Digital Radio Mundiale(DRM): 1305-1455 5975 JUL 040 kW / 060 Daily Eu Digital test WYFR/Family Radio: 1700-1800 13720 JUL 100 kW / 165 Daily NAf Arabic 2000-2100 9595 JUL 100 kW / 115 Daily ME Arabic Salama Radio 1830-1915 13855 JUL 100 kW / 175 Daily C&SAf Hausa 1915-2000 13855 JUL 100 kW / 175 Daily C&SAf English Democratic Voice of Burma: 2330-0030 9435 JUL 100 kW / 080 Daily SEAs Burmese Bible Voice Broadcasting Network/BVBN/: 0030-0100 7315 NAU 250 kW / 095 Mon-Sat SAs Bengali Dec.02* 0800-0915 5975 JUL 100 kW / 290 Sat/Sun WEu English Dec.07* 0900-1000 21590 JUL 100 kW / 145 Fri EAf/ME Arabic Dec.13* 1600-1700 13810 JUL 100 kW / 130 Tue EAf Amharic Dec.24* 1630-1700 13810 JUL 100 kW / 130 Thu-Mon EAf Amharic Dec.26* 1700-1730 13810 JUL 100 kW / 130 Wed EAf Amharic Jan.08* 1900-1930 9470 WER 250 kW / 120 Thu ME English Jan.02* 1900-1930 9470 WER 250 kW / 120 Fri ME English Jan.03* 1900-2000 9470 WER 250 kW / 120 Sat ME English Dec.07* Universal Life/Universelles Leben: 0100-0130 9435 JUL 100 kW / 090 Sun SAs English 1600-1630 15275 JUL 100 kW / 175 Sun NAf French 1730-1800 6015 JUL 100 kW / N-D Tue,Wed,Thu Eu German 1800-1830 11840 JUL 100 kW / 155 Sun EAf English 1900-1930 9470 JUL 100 kW / 115 Sun ME English RTBF: 0400-0600 9490 JUL 100 kW / 160 Mon-Fri Af French 0530-0600 9490 JUL 100 kW / 160 Sun Af French 0530-0700 9490 JUL 100 kW / 160 Sat Af French 0600-0810 17580 JUL 100 kW / 160 Mon-Fri Af French 0600-0905 17580 JUL 100 kW / 160 Sun Af French 0700-1100 17580 JUL 100 kW / 160 Sat Af French 1100-1215 21565 JUL 100 kW / 160 Mon-Sat Af French 1200-1315 21565 JUL 100 kW / 160 Sun Af French 1600-1815 17570 JUL 100 kW / 160 Sun-Fri Af French 1700-1815 17570 JUL 100 kW / 160 Sat Af French AWR/Adventist World Radio: 0500-0600 9885 JUL 100 kW / 115 Daily EEu Bulgarian 0600-0700 9840 JUL 100 kW / 200 Daily NAf Arabic 0700-0730 9840 JUL 100 kW / 200 Daily NAf French 1000-1100 15195 JUL 100 kW / 145 Sat,Sun Eu Italian 1730-1800 5840 JUL 100 kW / 110 Daily EEu Romanian 1800-1900 12015 JUL 100 kW / 115 Daily EEu Bulgarian 1900-2000 11845 JUL 100 kW / 200 Daily NAf Arabic 2000-2030 11845 JUL 100 kW / 200 Daily NAf French VRT/Radio Vlaanderen Internationaal: 0600-0755 13685 JUL 100 kW / 115 Daily ME Dutch 0800-0825 5985 JUL 100 kW / non-dir Daily Eu English 1830-1855 13650 JUL 100 kW / 115 Daily ME English 1900-1955 13650 JUL 100 kW / 115 Daily ME Dutch 1900-2055 5910 JUL 100 kW / non-dir Sat Eu Dutch Voice of Democratic Path of Ethiopian Unity: 0700-0800 21550 JUL 100 kW / 145 Sun EAf Amharic 1830-1930 11840 JUL 100 kW / 140 Wed EAf Amharic Radio Rainbow/Kestedamena Radio: 0900-1000 6180 JUL 100 kW / non-dir Sat Eu Amharic 1900-2000 11840 JUL 100 kW / 145 Fri EAf Amharic WSHB/Christian Science Monitor: 1000-1100 5985 JUL 100 kW / 115 Sun Eu German Evangeliumsradio Hamburg: 1000-1125 6045 JUL 100 kW / non-dir Sun CEu German 1830-1900 6015 JUL 100 kW / 200 Tue WEu Spanish Jan.07* 1830-1900 6015 WER 125 kW / non-dir Wed CEu German 1830-1900 6015 WER 125 kW / non-dir Thu Eu German Jan.09* TWR/Trans World Radio: 1130-1200 7340 JUL 100 kW / 105 Sat Eu Slovak 1330-1345 5945 JUL 100 kW / 130 Mon-Wed,Fri,Sat Eu Croatian 1330-1345 5945 JUL 100 kW / 130 Thu,Sun Eu Slovenian 1700-1745 5850 JUL 100 kW / 115 Sat EEu Romanian 1700-1745 7180 JUL 100 kW / 125 Sat EEu Romanian Brother Stair/TOM: 1300-1400 13810 JUL 100 kW / 115 Daily ME English 1500-1600 6110 JUL 100 kW / 290 Mon-Sat WEu English Dec.16* 1500-1600 6110 JUL 100 kW / non-dir Sun WEu English Dec.15* 1600-1800 6110 JUL 100 kW / non-dir Sat WEu English Dec.14* Voice of Hope/High Adventure Ministries: 0700-0745 5975 JUL 100 kW / 290 Mon-Fri WEu English Jan.01* 1330-1430 15715 JUL 100 kW / 070 Daily Vietnam Vietnamese 1530-1630 15775 JUL 100 kW / 090 Daily SEAs En/Urdu Jan.02* 1530-1615 9860 JUL 100 kW / 115 Fri ME English 1530-1630 9860 JUL 100 kW / 115 Mon-Thu ME English 1530-1700 9860 JUL 100 kW / 115 Sat,Sun ME English 1615-1630 9860 JUL 100 kW / 115 Fri ME Arabic 1630-1700 9860 JUL 100 kW / 115 Mon-Fri ME Persian 1700-1730 9860 JUL 100 kW / 115 Daily ME Arabic 1900-1945 5910 JUL 100 kW / 060 Mon-Fri EEu English Jan.01* Voice of Democratic Eritrea: 1500-1600 5925 JUL 100 kW / non-dir Sat Eu Tigrina 1700-1800 15670 JUL 100 kW / 130 Mon,Thu EAf Tigrina Tigrean International Solidarity for Justice and Democracy: 1600-1630 15275 JUL 100 kW / 145 Wed,Sat EAf Tigrina Radio Huriyo: 1630-1700 15670 JUL 100 kW / 130 Tue,Fri EAf Somali Voice of Ethiopian Salvation: 1600-1700 15670 JUL 100 kW / 145 Thu,Sun EAf Amharic Voice of Oromo Liberation (Sagalee Bilisummaa Oromoo): 1700-1730 15670 JUL 100 kW / 145 Tue,Wed,Fri,Sun EAf Oromo 1730-1800 15670 JUL 100 kW / 145 Tue,Wed,Fri,Sun EAf Amharic Radio Reveil Paroles de Vie: 1830-1900 11840 JUL 100 kW / 155 Thu Af French JUL=Juelich NAU=Nauen WER=Wertachtal *=changes from... [number after kW / is the azimuth; N-D = non-direxional] 73 from (Ivo and Angel! Observer, Bulgaria, Jan 10 via DXLD) ** GUAM [and non]. KSDA and the MARC group: For some of you who have wondered about the Guam amateur radio club, I attended one of their meetings last night an we met in a very unusual spot, the lobby of the studios of KSDA. From what I was told, the station is not running as good as it once was. And can be heard very weak on parts of the island. There were about 15 hams in all. Including the club President KF6ILA\KH2, along with the engineer of KTWR NH2CW, and a few more. Unfortunately the old timer KH2JU Dany wasn't present. The club was going through a post conference on what happened and how badly the club got torn up during the typhoon problem. Duncan, KF6ILA mentioned about the damaged antenna to the repeater, an interesting comment about how had taken the new antenna up 4 flights of stairs. He noted how the bolts of the cell tower antenna were ripped out of place and had crashed onto the club`s repeater antenna. One key note here was when he looked into the parking lot of cars below. The cars were parked 3 high on top of each other. Plans are in the makings to install a new system, and the system will be a Packet unit, which will be linked to the Saipan repeater, so there is a planned digitpeater involved. And the present repeater is also going to be moved so it can be linked with the Saipan island group. I did listen to Saipan on mediumwave and the signals were very strong, they were on 1080 kHz and heard another one on 1494. The lights along the highways are still down, an if your an interested star gazer this would be a great spot but the roads are hard to see. There are some lights that seem to have a mind of there own. As there hanging upside down an those ones are actually lite up. The Red cross is here but their communications system is also down and they need work on their antennas. I was told by a friend of mine, Rachell Lewellen, who was a member of my local ham radio club from home, who flew here personally for the relief. She and I were a member of the East Bay amateur radio club in Richmond, Calif., (W6CUS). As it may take a while. The big question here and is everyday. GOT WATER YET!? One place turned it on only to turn it off due to water quality and pump pressures. 73 to all from (Larry Fields, N6HPX/DU1, Jan 8, swl via DXLD) While I was driving around this morning the local radio station KUAM FM mentioned that it`s going to take another 30 days or more before power is restored here on Guam. As they are waiting for more of those Buck type trucks they use to install the wires. Still very dark on parts of the island. Heard KTWR last night in the parking lot of a nearby park. 15330 at 0900 UT. 73's from Guam (Larry Fields, N6HPX/DU1, Jan 9, swl via DXLD) ** INDIA. AIR GOS in English continues to be best heard here on the other side of the planet on 11620. Jan 9 at 1930 top-of-the hour news in English, 1935 some nice Indian music, ending English after frequency announcements at 1945, carrier stayed on and at 1946 opening in Hindi. Good with only lite flutter, tho the great-circle path between Bangalore in south India and Enid almost grazes the geographic pole, peaking at 85 degrees north on the Atlantic side --- now if they would clean up the muddy microphone audio and speak with an American accent, at least some of the time, we could get something out of the talk. Then found another Bangalore frequency, not so strong, 13605, which was not \\ any longer, listed French to Africa, tho playing music when I checked (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** INDONESIA. 15150v, Voice of Indonesia; 2003-2021 Jan.8, English service with news of East Timor and UN peacekeepers, Indonesia to be certified by W.H.O. ,as polio-free, in 2005. Commentary, tourism feature and native music. ID as "General Overseas Service, Voice of Indonesia". Fair. 11785 was inactive, seem to flip-flop between the two frequencies at random (Scott R Barbour Jr, Intervale,NH,DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** INTERNATIONAL VACUUM. Gay Radio Network Announced by Matt Johns, 365Gay.com Newscenter On Assignment In Las Vegas http://365gay.com/NewsContent/010903gayRadio.htm (Las Vegas, Nevada) One of the biggest radio station chains in the US is going after the gay market. Sirius Satellite Radio announced Wednesday that it is developing a channel featuring news and talk explicitly directed at the nation's gays and lesbians. The company said it expects to have the station up and running in about 90 days. The announcement was made at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. No name has been determined for the gay channel. So far, the only host aboard is John McMullen a founder of the now defunct online radio station GAYBC. Sirius charges $12.95 per month for 100 radio channels beamed to car stereos via satellite. "This is a big idea. Nobody has done this," said Larry Rebich, vp programming and marketing development at Sirius. "It's estimated that there's 20 million gay people in the United States, and they're not served well on radio." Rebich said famous gays and lesbians from film, TV and music are expected to participate. "We'll be talking to a broad range of celebrities," he said. "Those who don't end up as hosts, I'm sure will be guests." (©365Gay.com Ltd® 2003 Jan 9 via Bill Westenhaver, DXLD) ** INTERNATIONAL VACUUM. SIRIUS yesterday announced the addition of two new talk streams addressing political opinions in the USA. Folks on the left of center, like AL Gore, have recently publicly lamented the lack of programming to balance the right wing opinions rampant on US talk radio. Previous attempts by representatives of the left wing have failed to attract significant audiences and have gone off the air. Mario Cuomo and ex-mayor Koch of New York City are among those who have unsuccessfully attempted such shows in the past. This channel will likely do better since customers cannot opt out of paying to support the opposition views. SIRIUS Right will focus on conservative leaning issues with debate and perspective offered from a hard-hitting lineup led by such prominent voices as Oliver North and Bob Dornan. SIRIUS listeners can tune in for strong opinions on national and international issues from well- known names and up and comers on shows including Common Sense Radio with Oliver North, Dateline Washington, anchored by Greg Corombos, and The Jason Jarvis Show. On the other end of the political spectrum, SIRIUS Left launches its new talk lineup reflecting all degrees of liberal ideology. With a focus on progressive issues and commentary, SIRIUS Left provides listeners with opinions, analysis and perspective, including commentary on political and social issues from personalities such as Peter Werbe, Ernie Brown, Mike Malloy, consumer advocate Davide Horowitz and SIRIUS' own John McMullen. Listeners can tune in to hear the John McMullen Show, Battle Line with Alan Nathan, and FIGHT BACK with David Horowitz. "One of the exciting things about creating new content for SIRIUS is being able to offer listeners their choice of diverse programming that covers many different viewpoints," said Larry Rebich, Vice President, Programming & Market Development. "We offer both ends of the spectrum of alternative talk and progressive talk programming. So, if you have a more conservative viewpoint, you can listen to SIRIUS Right all day long, but listeners also have the chance to hear another point of view by tuning over to SIRIUS Left." [among other channel lineup changes] ~*-.,_,.-*~'^'~*-.,_,.-*~'^'~*-., (Sirius press release? Via Joe Buch, Jan 9, swprograms via DXLD) -*~'^'~*-.,_,.-*~'^'~*-.,_,.-*~'^ ** IRAN [non]. Re new clandestine V. of Southern Azerbaijan, 9570, Wed & Thu 1630-xxxx which so far has failed to appear: Israeli squabble with Iran? Former clandestine Southern Azerbaijan Radio, heard in the Nineties did originate from Yavne transmitter site in Israel (Wolfgang Bueschel, Germany, BC-DX Jan 10 via DXLD) Ahá --- its no show could be explained by the unexpected storm damage to Yavne antennas, also messing up Israel`s own transmissions (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ISLE OF MAN. MAST OBJECTORS LOSE COURT BATTLE From http://www.longwaveradio.com/News.html ISLE OF MAN - re licence awarded to Isle Of Man International Broadcasting plc to operate station on 279 kHz longwave: News release from http://www.longwaveradio.com/ The High Court has dismissed the Petition of Doleance being brought by the Bride Commissioners against the Department of Transport objecting to its award of a Siting Licence for the long wave transmission facility in Ramsey Bay. Bride Commissioners had raised seven objections to the licence, most of which were dramatically withdrawn halfway through the court hearing. They claimed that they ought to have been consulted as the platform will be only four kilometres from their coastline. In court however, it was pointed out that an extensive Environmental Impact Assessment showed that there would be no effect on the parish other than minor distant views of the installation. Suggestions of a risk from pollution had been proven unfounded by a study conducted by leading oil industry experts. The Commissioners had sought a quashing order however, the Acting Deemster, Jeremy Storey QC, had agreed that such an action was not a matter for the Court - it could only decide whether the process of licensing was right and, if appropriate, order the Department to reconsider the award. Finding that the Commissioners` legal rights had not been improperly infringed or impaired and that they could not satisfy an important legal test of being a *party aggrieved*, the Acting Deemster dismissed the Petition. "It is good news for Ramsey and excellent news for the Isle of Man," said Paul Rusling, the project's founder. "We can at last get on with building the facility and get the radio station on the air, hopefully during the Summer. Its coverage of the entire British Isles, and beyond, will put the Island firmly on the map and enhance its international profile." 9 January 2003 (radiocaroline mailing list via Mike Terry, and Alan Pennington, DXLD) ** ITALY. Radio Roma has reduced the number of frequencies used for its daily English transmission to Asia, the Far East, and Japan. This may now be heard from 2200 to 2225 on the single outlet of 11895. The Italian broadcast to Australia and Oceania is from 1000 until 1100 using 11920 from the relay at Kranji, Singapore. On Sundays, Radio Roma transmits special sporting programming in Italian from 1350 until 1730, using 21520 to North America, 21535 to South America, 9670 to Europe, and 21710 to Central Africa. The station is also using these three new frequencies in the extended bands: 11670 to Europe from 1335 until 1455 in Albanian, Slovenian, German and Croatian; 12030 and 9840 to the Americas from 2240 until 0335 in Italian, Spanish, and Portuguese (Bob Padula, EDXP Jan 9 via DXLD) Rai to NAm at 0055, 9675 and 11800 --- sometimes no show one or the other or both for English (Bob Thomas, CT, Jan 3, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** JAPAN. Death of Prof. Friedrich Greil, the very first presenter of Radio Tokyo's German service from 1937-1993. Reader of the Japanese Capitulation announcement of Emperator Hirohito in August 1945 via Radio Tokyo's shortwaves dies on January 3rd, 2003. Today I heard sad news. Some Japanese newspaper said Prof. Friedrich Greil is dead. He was 100...and one month... Newspaper also said what he died in Japan (Gaku Iwata, Japan, Japan Premium Jan 6...) Die entsprechende Nachricht kann auch heute auf dem Webserver von Radio Japans deutschem Programm http://cgi2.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/german/body.shtml in den Nachrichten (9. Minute) gehoert werden. Er ist am 3. Januar gestorben (Thorsten Koch, Germany, A-DX Jan 6...) Frau Kodaira schrieb mir vor etwa fuenf Stunden: "Ja, das stimmt leider, am 3. Januar 2003 ist Friedrich Greil friedlich fuer immer eingeschlafen. Er war sich "seines Abgangs" bewusst gewesen. In den Tagen zuvor hat er mehrmals gesagt, dass es nun genuege und hat sich bei allen um ihn herum immer wieder fuer ihre Pflege, Muehe und Hilfsbereitschaft bedankt. Am kommenden Sonntag [Jan 12] wird das Japanorama ihm gewidmet sein. Ein vollendetes Leben, welch ein Glueck fuer ihn. Liebe Gruesse, Uta Kodaira, Japan, NHK World R Japan German service." (via Thomas Kubaczewski-D, BC-DX Jan 8...) Zu dem gebuertigen Halberstaedter Prof. Friedrich Greil - genannt "Die deutsche Stimme aus Japan" - hatte ich in den letzten Tagen recherchiert und haenge diese Biografie der Email an alle Listenteilnehmer mit an. Beste Gruesse aus dem Ostharz, Walter Grube Die deutsche Stimme von R Tokyo. Halberstaedter Friedrich Greil feierte in JPN seinen 100. Geburtstag. 1902 als Sohn eines Reichsbahnbeamten geboren, zog er mit seiner Familie nach Quedlinburg, weil der Vater an der dortigen Bank seinen Dienst aufnahm. Der Junge entdeckte, dass er das Alphabet gelernt hatte, sehr frueh seine Liebe zu Buechern, die sein Leben lang nicht nachliess. Als Zehnjaehriger kannte er bereits alle Buchhandlungen und auch die Leihbibliothek Gebecke in Halberstadts Nachbarstadt. Als 13jaehriger hatte er nicht nur Karl Mays gesamte Werke gelesen, sondern auch das 20baendige wissenschaftliche Werk "Koenig der Germanen" des damals beliebten schriftstellernden Historikers Fritz Dahn. Schon bald widmete er sich den Klassikern, las Goethe und Schillers Werke mit Begeisterung. Bilder gemalt. Nach der Mittelschule nahm Friedrich Greil erst Unterricht an der Quedlinburger Handelsschule, dann nahm er eine Stellung bei Beck & Co. an. In seiner Freizeit besuchte er viele Theatervorstellungen in Berlin. Ausserdem erlernte er nebenbei Sprechtechnik beim beruehmten Mentor Ferdinand Gregori. Weiterhin nahm er Verbindungen zur Kunstakademie und Kunstgewerbeschule in Dresden auf, versuchte sich in Oelmalerei und Grafik, wandte sich dann letzterer ganz zu und schuf vor allem Bildnisse bekannter Persoenlichkeiten. Theaterfreund. Weitere Theaterbesuche brachten dem jungen Mann Verbindungen mit Schauspielern und Autoren wie Alfred Bassermann, dem erfolgreichen Buehnenbildner dieser Zeit, sowie zu den Dichtern Wilhelm von Scholz und Klabund. Japan-Reise. 1925 und 1926 unternahm Greil Reisen durch zahlreiche europaeische Laender und beschaeftigte sich mit deren Kunst, Kultur und Architektur. 1927 blieb er in Quedlinburg und betrieb literarische Studien. Zu dieser Zeit wurde er zu einem Besuch Japans angeregt und wandte sich an das Deutsch-Japanische Kulturinstitut. Er bekam ein Empfehlungsschreiben, mit dem er sich ins ferne Asien begab. Dort begann fuer ihn, der eigentlich nur fuer "ein paar Monate" in das asiatische Inselreich wollte, um dort Literatur und Kunst zu studieren, ein neuer Lebensabschnitt, von dem er damals nicht ahnen konnte, dass er viel mehr als ein halbes Jahrhundert andauern wuerde. Seit er im Oktober 1928 im Hafen von Shiminoseki in Sued-JPN das Land betreten hat, ist er dort geblieben. Bei Radio Tokyo. Friedrich Greil arbeitete fortan als Lehrer fuer deutsche Sprache an der medizinischen Hochschule Tokio. Dort lernte er die Studentin Masako Sasaki kennen, die mit dem Kaiserhaus verwandt ist und spaeter Aerztin wurde. Er heiratete sie. Mit seinem Freund Hideichiro Yamakawa gruendete er 1937 die erste deutsche Abteilung der japanischen Rundfunkgesellschaft R Japan - NHK World. Am ersten Juni 1935 hatte Radio Tokyo mit einer Sendezeit von einer Stunde taeglich den Ueberseedienst nach Nordamerika und Hawaii in Englisch und Japanisch aufgenommen. Nach Probesendungen im April und Mai wurden um den 20. Juni 1937 Sendungen in deutscher Sprache dreimal woechentlich und noch im gleichen Jahr taeglich ausgestrahlt. Greil war von der Stunde Null an dabei und wurde einer der bekanntesten deutschen Kurzwellensprecher der Welt. Seine deutsch gesprochenen Nachrichten konnten ueber das Kurzwellenprogramm auch in Europa empfangen werden. Nach dem Krieg. Nach der japanischen Niederlage im Zweiten Weltkrieg im August 1945 verstummte der Auslandsrundfunk. Friedrich Greil verlas auf Verlangen der Amerikaner die japanische Kapitulationserklaerung bei Radio Tokyo auch in deutscher Sprache. Im Februar 1952 wurde der Auslandsdienst unter dem Namen Radio Japan wieder aufgenommen. Regelmaessige deutschsprachige Sendungen begannen zwei Jahre spaeter. Anfangs bestanden sie aus einer bunten Mischung fernoestlicher Exotik mit Hochtechnologieinformationen garniert. Es war fuer die Kurzwellenhoerer eine echte [technische] Herausforderung, die Stimme aus Japan zu hoeren. Bis 1993 im Dienst. Seit der ersten Sendung bis in die 80er Jahre war Professor Greil Ansager und Moderator des "Tokyo Scherzo", ein Kaleidoskop aus dem Alltag in Japan. Es wurde mehr als tausend Mal gesendet. Und als er 1993 aus dem Dienst vom Radio ausschied, blieb Greil, weiter in Japan lebend, der Hoererschaft und der Redaktion freundschaftlich verbunden. Prof. Greil schrieb auch eine 50teilige Sendereihe "Deutschland und Japan" und verfasste das Buch "Die Begegnung - 25 Jahre Deutschland und 50 Jahre Japan", seine biografischen Memoiren. Von ihm stammen auch die Buecher "Bildnisse 1928" mit eigenen Grafiken sowie "Traum und Wirklichkeit" mit Aufsaetzen japanischer Studenten. Hoch dekoriert. Er hatte von 1950 bis 1978 einen Lehrstuhl an der Hitotsubashi- und an der Chiba-Universitaet. Fuer seine Verdienste bekam der gebuertige Halberstaedter im Kaiserpalast von Kaiser Hiroito mehrere Orden und Ehrenzeichen. Ende der 80er Jahre wurde ihm vom damaligen Bundespraesidenten Richard von Weizsaecker das Bundesverdienstkreuz ueberreicht. Mehrmals besuchte Greil Europa, wo er Vortraege hielt. Er pflegte engen Kontakt nach Deutschland, liess sich von seiner Schwester in Bremen ueber das Geschehen in Deutschland informieren, insbesondere Neuigkeiten aus seiner Geburtsstadt Halberstadt und aus Quedlinburg. Am 8. Dezember 2002 feierte Prof. Greil im fernen JPN seinen 100. Geburtstag. Am 3. Januar 2003 ist Prof. Greil in JPN verstorben. Walter Grube, Klusstrasse 5, 38820 Halberstadt (ADDX Jan 8 – all via BC-DX Jan 10 via DXLD) ** KOREA NORTH. North Korean defectors explain how limited radio listening is in North Korea and urge Bush administration to flood the country with free radios. More- http://www.nytimes.com/2003/01/09/international/asia/09KORE.html (via Hans Johnson, Jan 9, Cumbredx mailing list via DXLD) ** KURDISTAN. On Jan 5, heard a male announcer with mid-east language on 4402.2 kHz at 0333 tune-in. Heard a clear mention of Kurdistan around 0400. Then tonight (Jan 6 UT) at 0440, I checked 4402 but nothing there. However, it sounds like the same announcer is now on 4413.2 as I type this (John Sgrulletta, NY, DXplorer Jan 5 via BC-DX via DXLD) For a few weeks now, the Voice of the People of Kurdistan in Al- Sulaymaniyah, NE Iraq has replaced 6995 with 4400v. However, yesterday it had drifted to 4413.4, and right now, Jan 07 at 0330, I hear it on 4415.2. It can always be heard \\ their other channel on 4025 (Anker Petersen, Denmark, DXplorer Jan 7 via BC-DX via DXLD) ** LESOTHO. The Lesotho National Broadcasting Service at Maseru has resumed SW operations after an absence of many months. It uses 4800, with good signals in Melbourne around 1800, until sign-off at 2000, in local languages. Close-down time varies; when operating later than 2000, there is strong interference from China National Radio's Network 1, opening at 1958, also using 4800. Prior to 1745, the channel is also used by All India Radio, Hyderabad, which provides a hefty signal across Australia (Bob Padula, EDXP Jan 9 via DXLD) ** MALI. 11960, Radio Mali 0830 Jan 5, half-hour call and response song, very good (Jilly Dybka, TN, Cumbre DX via DXLD) ** MEXICO. Mexico's government has given two TV stations an ultimatum to resolve an ugly fight over control of a contested channel, saying officials would take over the frequency if the broadcasters cannot resolve the dispute. On December 27, workers from major Mexican broadcaster TV Azteca took over the transmission tower of CNI Channel 40, one of Mexico's few independent TV stations, and replaced CNI's signal with Azteca's. The two stations have been embroiled in a long- running legal battle. The government did nothing for 11 days as a public debate raged over the domination of Mexico's leading broadcasters and the power of big business, which often takes the law into its own hands. The government finally stepped in, telling the two sides to resolve their differences or the government would take over the Channel 40 broadcasting frequency. The Interior Ministry gave the stations three days to negotiate a compromise. Although CNI Channel 40 is a low power, money-losing station, the takeover reminded Mexicans how few television options they have outside of the two huge companies that control nearly all the stations. Azteca and rival Grupo Televisa dominate the television market, absorbing well over 90 percent of the audience. Struggling financially, CNI Channel 40 entered into a partnership with Azteca in 1998, accepting $25 million from Azteca in exchange for running Azteca programming and splitting advertising revenues, but the deal fell apart two years ago and led to the protracted legal battle. Azteca said an international dispute arbitration panel had ruled in its favor because Channel 40 had backed out of the deal without repaying the $25 million, giving Azteca the right to take over Channel 40's transmission facility. Legal experts said whether or not Azteca is in the right, a private company cannot take over another company's facilities under Mexican law (Reuters via SCDX MediaScan Jan 8 via DXLD) ** PAKISTAN. ANALYSIS: INDEPENDENT RADIO AND TV STATIONS COMING TO PAKISTAN | Text of editorial analysis by Peter Feuilherade of BBC Monitoring's Foreign Media Unit President Pervez Musharraf's military rule in Pakistan, now in its fourth year, has been marked by increased freedom for the print media. Now the government is liberalizing its policy on broadcasting and allowing the formation of private radio and television stations. The former monopoly of the state over the airwaves has been eroded, with several private companies receiving licences to set up FM radio stations. Entrepreneurs hoping to run private TV channels have also been promised licences in the coming months. In the words of a BBC correspondent in Islamabad, "Pakistan is doing what India did several years ago - to open up the airwaves to independent broadcasters. After more than five decades of complete control on the electronic media, a highly liberal approach is being adopted to allow private companies to set up their own FM radio stations. And the response has stunned many people in the government." In the first phase, nearly 100 people applied for independent radio licences. After assessments of their financial status, 22 companies received permission to set up FM radio stations. Initially, these private radio stations will only be allowed to broadcast music and entertainment programmes, but a senior official said they might be given permission to broadcast news at a later stage. The TV market is still dominated by state broadcaster Pakistan Television Corporation, which runs two channels, PTV1 and PTV2 and a cable channel PTV World. In addition there is Shalimar Television Network (STN), part state and part privately owned and available in 12 cities, with about 40 per cent national coverage. There is also a pay cable service called Shaheen Pay TV (SPTV) with around 10,000 subscribers. SPTV is owned by the Shaheen Foundation, the commercial arm of the Pakistan Air Force. Several illegal cable companies also operate. The Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (PEMRA) also plans to issue licences for Multichannel Multipoint Distribution Service (MMDS) and Local Multipoint Distribution Service (LMDS) in the country. Approval has also been given for four new digital TV channels intended exclusively for educational purposes. Under one-fifth of homes have satellite TV access. Indian channels such as Zee TV and Star TV are growing in popularity amongst those who can receive them. Media analysts say much of their popularity stems from the fact that they circumvent censorship in Pakistan that is far more restrictive than in India. Though the government's policy also allows the setting up of private TV channels, a more cautious approach is being adopted in this area. Although the government has said it may soon give permission to seven new TV stations, it is not clear whether private companies intending to set up independent news channels will also get licences. "The government's media managers are seriously worried about the popularity of a couple of Pakistani satellite TV channels that are broadcasting news from Dubai and the UK, and are reluctant to given them uplinking facility from within the country. But pressure is growing, and media experts say the competition coming from across the border in India may eventually compel the government to make the domestic electronic media completely free," a BBC correspondent noted. Source: BBC Monitoring research 3 Jan 03 (via DXLD) ** PERU. Hola Glenn, Saludos desde Venezuela. El día 06/01 al fin pude identificar a la emisora en 6536 kHz. Se trata de Radiodifusora Hua[n]cabamba, transmitiendo también por los 820 kHz y los 100.1 MHz de la FM. Con música andina y comentarios, hasta cierre a la 0100 UT, el 06/01. Bastante desvanecimiento de la señal (Adán González Catia La Mar, VENEZUELA, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** PHILIPPINES. 9581.68, Philippine Broadcasting Service (presumed). Jan. 2 at 2323-0003. SINPO 33332. Male talk in Filipino and pop songs were heard. News from 0000, but ID was not heard clearly (NAGATANI Iwao, Kobe, JAPAN, Japan Premium Jan 10 via DXLD) ** ROMANIA. Finally! RRI Bucharest is announcing English to North America as follows: 0200 and 0400 9550 11830 2300 9510 11940; also to WEu 7195, 9570 1200 17790 to Eu At 2300, 9510 is good, but 11940 is taken out be REE Spanish 11945 At 0200, 9550 is good, 11830 – sometimes no show on both At 0400, 9550 usually nil, ditto 11830. Either just not making it through or not on (Bob Thomas, CT, Jan 3, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** RUSSIA/CIS. Advance 60 metre band frequency registrations for the A03 period for Russia and the former CIS show a continuing decline in operational requirements. Here's the tentative frequency listings, effective from March 30: 4010 Kyrgyzstan, Bishek, 2300-1800, DS 4635 Tajikistan, Dushanbe, 1400-1100, DS 4795 Russia, Irkutsk, 2100-1700, DS 4810 Armenia, Yerevan, 0200-1415, DS and FS 4810 Armenia, Yerevan, 1600-2015, DS and FS 4825 Russia, Yakutsk, 1900-1500, DS 4930 Turkmenistan, Ashgabat, 0100-2100, DS 4940 Tajikstan, Dushanbe, 1200-1600, Voice of Russia 4965 Tajikstan, Dushanbe, 1200-1400, 1500-1600, Voice of Russia 4975 Tajikistan, Dushanbe, 1200-1600, Voice of Russia 5015 Turkmenistan, Ashgabat, 2100-1900, DS 5025 Uzbekistan, Tashkent, 0230-0330, 1545-1630, 1730-1830, 1930-2200, DS and FS 5035 Uzbekistan, Tashkent, 1930-2030, Voice of Russia 5040 Uzbekistan, Tashkent, 1330-1500 DS 5060 Uzbekistan, Tashkent, 1330-1500 (Bob Padula, EDXP Jan 9 via DXLD) ** RUSSIA. 6990 spur signal. Muy buenas, auf der Suche nach Harald's Spanier auf 6990 stiess ich auf dieser Frequenz auf die V of Russia. Von 1900-2000 empfange ich da ein Programm auf englisch. Das Signal ist reichlich duenn, aber die ID war eindeutig. Offenbar wird nur waehrend der Woche gesendet (Enzio Gehrig, Spain, A-DX Jan 5...) Muy buenas noches, ich habe zwar die Original-Mail nicht (mehr). Das koennen nur Spurious Signal (Intermodulationen an der Sendestation) sein. Hier in Stuttgart heute nichts zu hoeren. Aber ein, zweimal wurde diesen Winter schon ueber Spurs aus dem 41 mb von den Sendern in der Umgebung Moskaus berichtet, vor allem die alten 60/120/240 kW Einheiten, wie Olle Alm in Schweden berichtete. Hier die von mir heute beobachteten English Aussendungen im 41 mb, und die passenden Kalkulationen. Bei 7440 wuerde sogar die spaetere Spanischsendung sprechen. Meine Theorie: Spanish - Spain 2030-2100 9480, 7440 Um 1950 UT waren 7215 und 7440 die staerksten einfallenden Russische- Stationen. Moegliche Ausloeserfrequenzen: freq-1 freq-2 kHz kHz distanz/halbe distanz English 7440 German 7215 450 225 = 6990 kHz English 7360 7175 370 185 English 7340 7165 350 175 English 7335 7162.5 345 172.5 scheidet aus. English 7290 7140 300 150 Ein anderer Ausloeser von Spurs in diesem 6990 Bereich war auch schon Amman Jordanien 7155 in den vergangenen Jahren (Wolfgang Bueschel, Germany, Jan 5, BC-DX via DXLD) ** SAIPAN. Radio KFBS, Saipan B'02 updated schedule Radio KFBS, Saipan, FEBC Radio International Program Schedule Effective date: December, 2002 0855-1059 11.650 Russian 1100-1129 11.650 Mongolian (Chi, Halh) 1130-1359 11.650 Russian 1400-1459 9.465 Russian 1500-1529 9.465 Russian 1530-1544 9.465 Udmurt (Su,Tu), Tatar(M), Mari(W), Uzbek(Th), Kirghiz(F), Chuvash(Sa), 1545-1559 9.465 Udmurt(Su), Tatar(M,Tu), Germ(W), Ossetic(Th), Kazakh(F,Sa) 1600-1629 9.465 Russian(Su-F), Ukrainian(Sa) 1630-1829 9.465 Russian 1830-1845 9.465 Russian (Su,Tu,Th,Sa), Ukrainian (M,W,F) 1845-1900 9.465 Russian (Su,Th,Sa), Ukrainian (M,Tu,W,), German (F) 0955-1600 11.580 Mandarin (Chinese) 1600-1615 11.580 Uighur (Minority Chinese) 1615-1630 9.855 Uzbek (Su,Sa), Ossetic (M), Kazakh (Tu,W), Kirghiz (Th,Fri) 1630-1645 9.855 Udmurt(Su,Th,F), Mari(M), Ukrainian(Tu), Chuvash(W), Tartar(Sa) 1645-1700 9.855 Udmurt(Su,F), Tartar(M,Sa), German(Tu,W,Th) 0800-0829 15.380 Banjarese 0830-0859 15.380 Gorontalo 0900-0929 15.380 Makassarese 0925-0959 15.380 Bugisnese 1000-1029 15.380 Sundanese 1030-1059 15.380 Javanese 1100-1229 15.380 Indonesian 1230-1259 15.380 Baku 1300-1359 12.120 Vietnamese 1400-1430 12.120 Vietnamese(M,Tu,Th,T.Sa) Koho (Su), Hmong (W) 2230-2330 12.090 Vietnamese Note: Saipan local time is 10 hours ahead of Universal Time Co- ordinate [sic] (UTC). Robert Springer, Director Phone: (670) 322-3841 Far East Broadcasting Co. Fax: (670) 322-3060 P.O. Box 500209 E-mail: saipan@febc.org Saipan, MP 96950 USA http://www.febc.org (via Alokesh Gupta, New Delhi, India, Jan 9, DX LISTENING DIGEST) GUAM ** SAMOA AMERICAN. KJAL, 580 kHz, 5 kW, confirmation email letter in 8 days for email report from Vickie Haleck, Station Manager. Says station has been on air now for 7 months and they're very happy with progress. First known QSL from either WDJD (original callsign) or KJAL. Pacific QSL #90 (excluding A/NZ) and American Samoa #3 (David Ricquish, Wellington, New Zealand http://www.radiodx.com Jan 10, hard- core-dx via DXLD) ** SWEDEN. RADIO SWEDEN--Coming up on Radio Sweden: Thursday: "GreenScan" Friday: Our weekly review Saturday: "Sweden Today" Sunday: In "Sounds Nordic" another chance to hear the best of 2002, music and interviews Because of interference from All India Radio on 9445 kHz during our English broadcast to Asia at 2030-2100, for the next few days we're testing a parallel transmission on 9400, during the second quarter hour, that is 2045-2100. We very much welcome reports from listeners (George Wood, SCDX/MediaScan Jan 8 via DXLD) Re truncated address of the frequency manager of Teracom: it`s magnus.wiberg@teracom.se (Olle Alm, Sweden, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** THAILAND. 6765U, Bangkok Meteorological Radio, Dec. 29 1555-1625, 33333, Weather information in English and unknown language (ISHIZAKI Kyoshiro, Mie, JAPAN, Japan Premium Jan 10 via DXLD) How about Thai? ** TOGO. Radio Togo, Lomé. 5047, f/d "Logo over globe" card (white and yellow striped card, silhouette of Togo on left-hand border) in French. Full schedule included with details. v/s Fransai Auglais, Langues Nationales. Nice "Répubique Togolaise" postage stamp of woman in head-dress. This in 47 days for 1 IRC and an English report. Very pleased! (Scott R. Barbour Jr, Intervale, NH, hard-core-dx via DXLD) That v/s must be pulling your leg, or perhaps misinterpreted. Slightly misspelt, it means `French and English, national languages` (gh, DXLD) I was afraid of that. This morning I checked Martin Schoech's QIP pages and saw a Togo QSL from years back that featured the same mistake, though the card indicated a minority language. I used the services of freetranslation.com, entering all the info except for what I assumed was the verification signer. See what happens when one assumes! (Scott R. Barbour, Jr., DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** TURKMENISTAN. Turkmen Radio, Ashkabad, 279 kHz observed at 2316- 2329 Dec 28 providing an outstanding signal of 45444, program consisting of talks and traditional tunes. \\ 5015 was also audible, but very poor underneath Brazil. 279 also heard the following days at very good level and at earlier times in the evening (Carlos Gonçalves, Portugal, BC-DX Dec 28 via DXLD) ** UKRAINE. DNIEPER'S WAVE FROM UKRAINE WITH LOW POWER ON 11980 KHZ Broadcasting company Alex from Zaporizhzhya, Ukraine, is transmitting on shortwave using the name Dniprovska Hvylya (in Ukrainian) and Dneprovskaya Volna (in Russian). According to Alexander Yegorov in WWDXC, this "Dnieper's Wave" is broadcasting on Saturdays and Sundays from 1000 to 1300 UTC (presumed UTC instead of local time) on 11980 kHz shortwave. The transmitter power is only 100 watts and the modulation is AM with a reduced carrier. A dipole antenna directed to the south and north is used for the transmission. Yegorov says that most of the time the station relays Ukrainian national channel UR-1, and that schedule may be revised because of interference caused by CRI from 1200 hours. The station can be contacted at Alex TV & Radio Broadcasting Company; 48, 8th Bereznya St, Zaporizhzhya, 330068 Ukraine (DXing.info, January 10, 2003 via DXLD) ** U A E. 1575 may be an ECNA possibility; someone here reported 1575 activity recently. Incidentally ra's al-khaimah can translate as "tent point", possibly a reference to its historic early past. And it's certainly close enough to Kuwait to think there would not also be activity there on 1575 as well. The use of Malayalam, spoken in Kerala state, reflects the huge number of south Indian laborers now working in the UAE etc. (Bob Foxworth, FL, Jan 8, NRC-AM via DXLD) ** U K [non]. LATVIA Subject: Airtime Change Commencing Sunday 12 January we will be On-Air from 1500 until 2100 UT on our usual frequency of 5935. Ulbroka temperatures dived to Minus 33 C last Sunday evening causing very severe icing on feeder cables and our main antenna system; as a result our signal was badly affected after 1930 UT. We have therefore decided to REPEAT last Sunday's programmes on Sunday 12th January. Programmes for Sunday 12.1.2003: 1500: Relay Service (World Bible Radio Network); 1600: Geoff Rogers; 18h00: Stewart Ross; 2000: Media Show Repeat with Julian Clover (From laserradio group at Yahoo! Groups, via Sergei Sosedkin, IL, Jan 9, DXLD) ** U S A. VOA'S CANTONESE LAUNCHES ALL-NEWS FORMAT Washington, D.C., Jan. 7, 2003 - The Voice of America's (VOA) Cantonese Service launched a new all-news format this week specially designed for audiences in the bustling region of southern China. The new format features regional and local news reports alternating with world news every 15 minutes during the daily two-hour broadcast. The program debuted Jan. 6. VOA Director David Jackson remarked, "This new fast-paced, all-news format shows VOA's agility and flexibility. Our Cantonese audience wants up-to-the-minute news about the world, so we’ve created this to meet that need." The newscasts open with headlines every quarter hour, with short news briefs of world, regional and local events, followed by correspondent reports on U.S. policy issues and China news as well as short features including English language lessons. The all-news format was designed in response to listener feedback that VOA's accurate, comprehensive and balanced news was listeners' most liked programming element. "We’re already getting calls on our Cantonese hotline saying they love the new format," said Jackson. "Several callers describe it as ‘very dynamic.’" The new, quick-paced format will reach audiences in China from 9:00 p.m. to 11:00 p.m. locally via shortwave [1300-1500 UT, frequency and time change already reported in DXLD], medium wave (AM) and the Internet at http://www.voanews.com/chinese VOA broadcasts twelve hours a day in Mandarin and two in Cantonese, including daily one-hour radio/ TV simulcasts to China. VOA also broadcasts to China in Tibetan, English, and Special English (VOA press release Jan 7 via DXLD) ** U S A [and non]. culturebox Listen Up CAN POP MUSIC MAKE THE ARAB WORLD LOVE US? By Lee Smith, SLATE, Posted Thursday, January 9, 2003, at 10:18 AM PT Imagine it were possible to stem the rising tide of anti-Americanism in the Arab world. (I like to think this is the kind of speculative, optimistic sentence tossed around all the time at the State Department.) You would want to target an audience of middle-class and working-class men between the ages of 18 to 30 --- the demographic most likely to attack Americans and American property. To that end, the State Department recently announced that it is exporting an anthology of American writers, in the hopes that this will persuade Arabs that the American experience is more varied, and less evil, than the state-controlled Arab media say it is. Regardless of whether you buy into this kind of cultural marketing, it's clear that the State Department chose the wrong medium. American book publishers can tell you that American men between 18 and 30 don't read a lot of books. The Arab street reads even fewer --- just one book, mostly: the Qur`an. The United States should have followed the lead of Arab governments, which know that music is the region's most powerful form of expression. That's why they use it for propaganda --- and also why they ban so much of it. The classic example of this is Umm Kulthoum, the voice of Egypt, the diva of the Arab world. In 1975, her funeral, legend has it, drew an even larger crowd than Egyptian President Gamal Abdel Nasser's in 1970. Nasser's rise to power coincided with a golden age of Egyptian music, and in Umm Kulthoum he found a willing participant in his campaign to promote the image of a charismatic nation on the rise. She recorded several nationalistic songs, like "Watani Habibi Watani el Akbar" ("My Beloved Nation, the Greatest Nation") (scroll to the bottom of the page, and listen to the second clip), which are still widely known in Egypt --- as are a host of singer Abdel Halim Hafez's patriotic numbers, like "Ya Gamal, Ya Habib El Malayeen" ("Gamal, Beloved of Millions") and "Ehna El Shaaab" ("We Are the People"). Of course, few Arab leaders have enjoyed as loyal a supporting chorus as Nasser did. Many have had to check the efforts of musicians not in sympathy with their policies. Sayyid Darwish is more or less the founder of the engaged, or oppositional --- the sense is like the French intellectuals' sense of "engagé --- school of Arab music. His "Quom Ya Masry" ("O Egyptian Arise") is one of the earliest examples of music used to wage cultural war against an unpopular government; it served as one of the forces driving the 1919 revolution. The song was banned at the time, but today every Egyptian knows it by heart. Marcel Khalife, a Lebanese musician, is the contemporary leader of the engaged school. His albums are officially unavailable in Egypt; many of his songs are powerful and subtle odes on the Palestinian issue, which the government fears will further flame resentment against Israel. Khalife's very beautiful "Ana Yussef Ya Abi" ("Oh Father, I Am Joseph"), from a poem by the Palestinian writer Mahmoud Darwish, takes the biblical --- and Quranic --- story of Joseph's treatment at the hands of his brothers as a metaphor for Palestinian suffering. Curiously, while the Egyptian censors banned Khalife's quiet songs of protest, they more or less ignored Egyptian singer's Shaaban Abdel Rahim's recent hit, "Bakrah Israel" ("I Hate Israel"). The censors probably aren't making any genuine aesthetic discrimination here; they tend to distinguish simply between what's merely embarrassing and what is truly threatening to the Egyptian government. Hence Rahim's latest song, in praise of Osama Bin Laden (with its catchy chorus, "Bin Bin Bin Bin Bin Bin Laden"), was removed from the airwaves. After all, Bin Laden and other hard-core Islamists haven't targeted only America but also Arab regimes that cooperate with America. Evidently, the Mubarak regime acted so quickly and forcefully that Rahim, a commercially and politically savvy buffoon, denies that he ever made any song about Bin Laden. This has got to constitute one of the more compelling chapters in the psycho-biography of the Arab street. It's a testament to the power of a police state that the song now remains only in the memory of the masses --- but the fact that it remains suggests that the memory of the masses may be yet more powerful. This only makes the goal of reaching the Arab world's frustrated unemployed (and underemployed) young men all the more important. Unfortunately, this is where the State Department miscalculated again. The people most likely to read a book about America are the Arab world's well-educated professional and intellectual elite, who --- unlike the underclasses --- already have extensive experience of America and the rest of the West. Not only are they the least likely to change their minds, they're the ones, like members of the Arab media, who have been most active in fanning the flames of anti- Americanism. What the State Department ought to have done to reach those underemployed young men, then, is call Miles Copeland, a music producer who specializes in world music (like that of Cheb Mami, a French-Algerian singer, and the Egyptian singer Hakim). Copeland became interested in Arab culture while he and his brother Stewart, the former drummer for the Police, were growing up in the Middle East, where their father worked for the CIA. Maybe Copeland can start turning out Arab-American fusion hits for another federal agency, the Broadcasting Board of Governors, which oversees Voice of America and its latest initiative, Radio Sawa, an Arabic-language news and entertainment station with frequencies throughout the Middle East. In any case, the State Department needs to recognize that Arab culture is predominantly an aural one. This is largely due to the Qur`an itself, which institutionalized the sovereignty of the spoken word. From the outset, God's word to the Arabs came to its audience --- including the Prophet Muhammad --- primarily as a heard text, not a written one. Arab Muslims still mostly experience the Qur`an that way and listen to it all day long, in taxis, coffee shops, stores. Qur`anic reciters are something like pop stars. (One of the major figures from the heyday of the Egyptian school of recitation, Sheikh Abdel Baset, can be heard here.) Long before the Qur`an, classical poetry in Arabic issued from an oral tradition; it wasn't written down until well after the text of the Qur`an was established. The Arabic language itself, its rich vocabulary, argues for the overwhelming pleasure of sound in a culture that was not very visually interesting. There are, I believe, nine different words for "desert" in classical Arabic --- which reminds you that 1,500 years ago most Arabs were looking at desert most of the time. Even today, as one Egyptian pointed out to me, Arab cityscapes are all of a piece. In Cairo, the sands and sun have worn art-deco apartment buildings down to the same dulled gold as the pyramids. So, she said, we stay at home and listen to the music of singers like Umm Kulthoum, marveling at her perfect diction, piecing out the phrasing, the repetitions, the variations. The battle for the hearts and minds of the Arab world, then, should go through CD players, cassette decks, and radios, not libraries. Lee Smith, who lives in Brooklyn and Cairo, is writing a book on Arabic culture. Photograph of Shaaban Abdel Rahim by Marwan Naamani/AFP. [caption] (Slate via Bill Westenhaver, DXLD) ** U S A. This must be the paranormal show I heard mentioned on Stock Talk Live, on WRMI; it`s from the same IBC Radio network. It looks as if WRMI could also be the station to carry this show, but nothing more than `shortwave` claimed on the show website; no details of other affiliates either at the appropriate links. Trouble is, at 0400-0600, WRMI is already fully booked, including the English halfhour of Prague until 0430. And WRMI can`t exactly claim to cover Europe except by accident. Doesn`t Art Bell already have a successor on his own network? (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) INTERNATIONAL BROADCASTING CORPORATION ANNOUNCES CONTINUED SPONSORSHIP OF 'THE LOU GENTILE SHOW' AND EXPANSION TO SHORT-WAVE RADIO AS ART BELL RETIRES Story Filed: Tuesday, December 31, 2002 8:00 AM EST SANTA MARIA, Calif., Dec 31, 2002 /PRNewswire-FirstCall via COMTEX/ -- International Broadcasting Corporation (OTC Bulletin Board: IBCS) announced today that it would continue to sponsor the paranormal radio talk show "The Lou Gentile Show." The Company also says that the show will expand to short-wave radio starting January 2002. Lou Gentile is a paranormal investigator who has personally experienced ghosts and violent hauntings for over 20 years. He was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and grew up in 2 haunted houses. "The Lou Gentile Show" explores such topics as angels, ghosts, demons, devils, exorcism and possession, religious mysteries, cults and the occult, lost civilizations, UFOs and alien abductions, government cover-ups, hauntings, and the like. "The Lou Gentile Show" will be broadcast five evenings per week from 11 PM to 1 AM (EST) on short-wave radio. "The Lou Gentile Show" starts at 10 PM and will now end at 1:00 AM (EST). "I added an extra hour to the show for my listeners as well as our sponsor. It is important to expand the show now since it has been long overdue," says Lou Gentile, Host of The Lou Gentile Show. He continues, "Our website http://www.lougentile.com offers so many FREE perks for our listeners like Archives of Shows, 2600+ Paranormal Media Files, Daily Paranormal News, 7 Independent LIVE Net Streams, 2 Independent LIVE Video/Audio Streams of the studio, Interactive CHAT, Message Board, Toll Free Call in numbers and for the first time we introduced a system where internet listeners may also call into the show using their computer and a microphone, etc. This is the future of Paranormal Talk Radio." The short-wave broadcast will be on a station (More Info on his website listed above) that has a powerful signal reaching the midwest, the entire eastern United States, Europe and beyond. A collateral effect of short-wave broadcasting is that the signals actually reach all over the world as they bounce off of the ionosphere. Traditional AM and FM signals do not work like this. IBCS has been airing "The Lou Gentile Show" on its Internet radio station, IBC Radio, since May of 2002 and backed the show in its National Radio debut on ABC STARGUIDE III in October of 2002 to affiliates across the United States. IBCS owns approximately 15 minutes of airtime per show (3hr Show). IBCS will fill this airtime with commercial spots for its clients as well as the different services offered by the Company. "This sponsorship is important so that the International Broadcasting Corporation name and our content continues to reach out to the masses," says Daryn P. Fleming, President and CEO of IBCS. He continues, "The commercials that we have been running have brought huge exposure to our Company and stock. With PREMIERE Radio Network's paranormal talk show host Art Bell leaving the airwaves we believe 'The Lou Gentile Show' will acquire much of this 'night owl' audience." International Broadcasting Corporation is a developmental stage company that endeavors to develop successful publishing, media, and broadcasting related businesses and ventures. The Company is focused on developing and providing online information and entertainment content through three units -- OTCBB News Network, IBC Radio, and IBC Entertainment Group. IBCS recently acquired an on-demand, streaming online movie website called Cultmoviesonline.com [Standard `forward- looking` stock disclaimer] (via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. Hi Glenn, Speech/press release by Sen. Russell Feingold (D- Wisc) about concentration in U.S. radio industry. He might introduce legislation dealing with this issue. 73 (Kim Elliott, DX LISTENING DIGEST) U.S. SENATOR RUSS FEINGOLD AT THE FUTURE OF MUSIC COALITION POLICY SUMMIT [excellent, long piece] http://feingold.senate.gov/~feingold/speeches/2003/01/2003107828.html (via Kim Elliott, DXLD) ** U S A. THE FIGHT FOR THE FUTURE OF MUSIC from THE NATION 01/06/2003 @ 4:14pm America stands on the cusp of a sweeping set of shifts in federal media ownership rules that could dramatically alter the nature of what we see, hear and read, warns Federal Communications Commission member Jonathan S. Adelstein. Dialogue and debate about these proposed changes must be ramped up quickly if the public interest in to be protected. But first, how about a harmonica solo? Before delivering his first major policy address at the annual conference of the Future of Music Coalition, Adelstein wowed a crowd of several hundred there by playing a mean harmonica during a performance by Lester Chambers of the groundbreaking 1960s group The Chambers Brothers. Adelstein, a Democrat whose appointment to the five-member FCC was recently approved, could not have chosen a better way to introduce himself to the musicians, journalists and advocates who crowded an ancient hall on Washington's Georgetown University campus. Appearing on a stage that had been occupied during this year's Future of Music Coalition conference by rock stars like Patti Smith and Living Color's Vernon Reid, jazz players such as Alfonzo Blackwell, producers like the legendary Sandy Pearlman and media personalities such as Ira Glass, host of the This American Life radio show, Adelstein knew he had to perform. And he got high marks for his able riffs during Chambers' performance of "People Get Ready." But he got higher marks for his eyes-wide-open report on the devastating impact of the Telecommunications Act of 1996 on radio diversity. Before an audience filled with people who worry that the Congress or the FCC just don't get it, Adelstein came across as a commissioner who understands what is at stake when regulators allow media corporations to dominate whole communications systems. "The 1996 Act entirely eliminated a cap on the number of radio stations a single company can own nationwide. It also relaxed local ownership limits, permitting a single owner to control up to eight stations in the nations' largest markets. As one might have predicted, the relaxation of these rules led inevitably to more stations in fewer hands," Adelstein said. "According to one FCC report, in the six years since the adoption of the 1996 Act, the number of radio station owners in the United States declined by 34 percent, even though the number of commercial radio stations increased by 5.4 percent. The FCC found that the decline is primarily due to mergers between existing owners." To illustrate the dramatic nature of the changes that have taken place, Adelstein noted that, "In 1996, the two largest radio group owners consisted of fewer than 65 radio stations. Six years later, the largest radio group owns about 1,200 radio stations. The second largest group owns about 250 stations. Their influence is even larger than their numbers suggest, because they are concentrated in the largest markets in the country." Adelstein hailed a Future of Music Coalition report that showed how more and more programming on local radio stations is being done at the national level by media conglomerates rather than at the local level by hometown disc jockeys. "We must consider how consolidation affects all of you as artists," Adelstein told the crowd of several hundred recording artists and music industry players who attended the conference Monday. "Years ago, as a new artist, you might have gotten your first airplay on your local station - in a town where the DJ heard you at a local club the night before and wanted everyone in town to hear you, as well. As national groups buy out more local stations, that town may no longer have a local DJ at all." "Consolidation," Adelstein warned, "often leads to the homogenization of programming. We must ask ourselves: At what point does consolidation come at the cost of the local expression that makes radio so unique and so special in this country? At what point does allowing consolidation undermine the public interest - and the quality of what we hear on the radio?" The answer, according to many of the artists attending the conference, is that the point of impact has already been passed. "Because of radio consolidation and the emphasis of strict formats and constant cost cutting by media companies, musicians and fans of music are losing out," says musician Jenny Toomey, who serves as executive director of the Future of Music Coalition. "Consolidation has led to less diversity." One member of Congress, US Senator Russ Feingold, has sought to address the negative impacts of the Telecommunications Act with legislation. The Wisconsin Democrat's Competition in Radio and Concert Industries Act seeks to address concerns about media monopolies, the loss of diversity and the return of old-fashioned payola scandals. But before Feingold's legislation even gets a hearing in Congress, the FCC could take steps that will lead to greater consolidation and conglomeration within media industries. At issue in coming months are proposals to ease rules that prevent a single television network from controlling stations that reach more than 35 percent of the national audience, as well as rules regarding the number of television and radio stations that one company could own in a single region. Another proposed rule change could allow one company to own a major daily newspaper and the major television and radio station in the same community. FCC chair Michael Powell and at least two other FCC commissioners are believed to be sympathetic to demands by media corporations for further relaxation of ownership rules. But Adelstein continues to argue for caution, and he suggested that activism by musicians and music fans could yet change the character and the direction of the debate. "Congress's relaxation of the rules on radio consolidation has been the canary in the mine, testing whether it is safe to go in before miners dare enter," Adelstein explained. "The miners in this case are all the consumers affected by FCC rules that govern the ownership of television, radio, cable and newspapers," he said. "The FCC better carefully consider the health of that canary before we proceed further, because changes to the FCC's media ownership rules potentially could alter the media landscape as much or more than the 1996 actions by Congress changed the radio industry." Recalling a line from "People Get Ready" the song he played harmonica on a few minutes earlier Adelstein said: "Lester Chambers got it right: There's a big train a coming." And if musicians and music fans don't want the train to roll over them, Adelstein suggested, it's time to get active. "In order to insure that there continues to be a range of voices heard over the airwaves and through all of the media, we need to continue to hear you voices loud and clear before the FCC and throughout the government," Adelstein said. "So turn it up!" (via Kirk Bjornsgaard, Jan 8, OK Greens via DXLD) ** U S A. Arbitron website checked tonight indicates it will do away with programming information in its Station Information Profiles. Getting to the nugget of the story as far as usefulness to DX'ers is concerned, Arbitron says, "Stations no longer need to submit program/personality/sports information to Arbitron." In the FAQ (or maybe FEQ . frequently expected questions), Arbitron says, "Since Arbitron will no longer be collecting programming information, there will be no programming information to post on the Web." No further comment (John Callarman, Krum TX, Jan 8, NRC-AM via DXLD) ** U S A. Is David Letterman's radio deal over already? Letterman himself suggested just that on Monday night when he joked about the recently launched simulcast of his nightly TV show on a number of Infinity radio stations across the country. Infinity spokesperson Dana McClintock declined to comment, citing the company's long-standing policy of not commenting or responding to rumors. http://www.radioandrecords.com/Subscribers/TodaysNews/homepage.htm (via Brock Whaley for DXLD) ** U S A [and non]. En la banda extendida de onda media, en esta época del año pueden oirse varias estaciones caribeñas y estadounidenses en Catia La Mar. El 5 de enero a partir de las 0230 UT se oyeron las siguientes: Radio Disney en 1650; en 1660, La Gigante de Puerto Rico, con el programa "La Noche", a las 0240; Information Radio Network desde Orlando, en 1680, a las 0253; y finalmente en 1690, News Talk 1690, desde Maryland, a las 0300, con retransmisión de CNN HEADLINE NEWS. Buen DX y 73's (Adán González, Catia La Mar, VENEZUELA, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. I heard from the CE at WCHB, who confirmed that they have authorization to run IBOC tests at night, and in fact are currently running IBOC most nights. With a local 1200, it's a bit difficult for me to tell what WCHB is doing, but I think they probably have it on tonight. I'm getting quite a bit of noise on 1190 (especially on LSB) and 1210 (especially on USB). If you're within earshot of Detroit, check it out. Another IBOC station is WJLD-1400 in Birmingham AL, presumably daytime only. I don't expect to hear this one anytime soon, but if you happen to be nearby (Les?), you may want to have a listen (Barry McLarnon, Ont., Jan 9, NRC-AM via DXLD) ** VENEZUELA. 4830, Radio Táchira, 1042 Jan 9. Noted a man giving ID and frequency, followed by a lengthy song about Radio Táchira. After a couple of minutes, programming turns to regular Venezuelan music. Signal was good (Chuck Bolland, Clewiston, Florida, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Comes and goes ** VENEZUELA. Radio online desde Venezuela: http://www.unionradio.com.ve/audio/ Estoy escuchando excelente audio desde esta emisora venezolana. ya que la Onda Corta es bastante inaplicable para este pais, puede resultar util conocer este enlace, como una de las tantas fuentes de informacion a tener en cuenta. Se puede escuchar tanto con el Media Player o el RealPlayer (Horacio Nigro, Uruguay, Jan 10, Conexión Digital via DXLD) ** VENEZUELA [and non]. The AP has evidently appointed Roy Chaderton, whoever the hell that is, to the position of Venezuelan Foreign Minister.... (David Crawford, FL, DX LISTNEING DIGEST) VENEZUELA WON'T PRESS CHARGES 'FOR NOW' AGAINST MIAMI DJS The Associated Press Jan 8, 2003 CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) - Venezuela's government won't press charges "for now" against two Miami radio hosts who called President Hugo Chávez and used recordings of Fidel Castro to get him to believe he was talking to the Cuban leader, the foreign minister said Wednesday. Roy Chaderton said WXDJ-FM disc jockeys Joe Ferrero and Enrique Santos "committed two crimes according to Florida law" when they taped a telephone conversation without authorization, a felony, and abused someone being interviewed, a misdemeanor. Asked if the government planned to take legal action, Chaderton said, "We're not considering that for the moment." Ferrero and Santos did not immediately return calls for comment. On Monday, they convinced aides at the Miraflores Presidential Palace in Caracas to put Chávez on the line by playing disjointed snippets of a private conversation between Castro and Mexican President Vicente Fox, which the Cuban leader released last year. Venezuelan Information Minister Nora Uribe confirmed the call occurred. She said Chávez "caught on and hung up." But a recording provided by the Cuban-American radio announcers has Chávez talking for about two minutes. He happily answered what he thought would be a friendly call Monday morning from Castro, one of his closest allies. On the other end of the line were Ferrero and Santos, who ended the conversation by calling Chávez "terrorist" and "animal," along with a few expletives. Chávez is struggling to end a month-old opposition strike intended to topple him. AP-ES-01-08-03 1615EST This story can be found at: http://ap.tbo.com/ap/florida/MGA9PNXRPAD.html (via David E. Crawford, Titusville, Florida, Jan 9, DXLD) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ FREQUENCY MANAGEMENT [non] ++++++++++++++++++++++++++ INTERNATIONAL BROADCASTING PLANNING The first meeting for 2003 of the High Frequency Coordination Conference (HFCC) is set down for Sandton, South Africa, from 3-7 February. This is a joint meeting with the Arab States Broadcasting Union. The output of the meeting will be in the form of a Master Schedule, setting down actual operational requirements for the A-03 Transmission season, which runs from 30 March until 26 October. The most recent meeting was in Bangkok, Thailand, in August 2002, which was augmented by the attendance of delegates from the Asia Pacific Broadcasting Union (ABU-HFC), which produced the schedule for the B-02 season, which concludes on 29 March 2003. Some 130 frequency managers, from 57 broadcasters, physically participated in that meeting. The South African meeting is being hosted jointly by the HFCC Secretariat and the Sentech organisation, and will be held at the Hilton Hotel, with attendance now open to anyone. The registration fee is US$75 per delegate, and participants had been invited to complete their registrations in November 2002. This meeting is somewhat of a "hard-sell" for both South African tourism and the Sentech company. The keynote address will be delivered by Zandile Mbele, Sentech's General Manager, Corporate Affairs, and delegates have been invited to take full advantage of pre- and post-meeting tourist activities. The output of the meeting will be compiled into a Master Schedule, and a truncated version of that file will be made available at the HFCC's website http://www.hfcc.org in due course, for anyone who is interested. The HFCC is an approved body within the ITU. Regrettably, there has been increasing concerns across the industry at professional level that much of its output is subject to frequent and ongoing alteration during the transmission season. This has been caused by hopelessly flawed initial frequency assignments, with many allocations being made with little regard to actual channel occupancy in the primary target areas. Whilst is it acknowledged that there is a need to modify schedules part way through a season extending for several months, the amount of amendments made during the B02 season (barely 8 weeks old!) has been massive, with major change b sing made by some broadcasters almost on a weekly, basis. From the viewpoint of the customer (meaning listener), trying desperately to discover the actual operating frequency for some broadcasters is virtually impossible, not helped by the tendency by many stations to conceal their schedules from the global listening community! Tentative requirements are submitted to the HFCC several months in advance of the start of the season, and the frequency management process is supported by a computerised management information system, which calculates Optimum Working Frequencies for particular propagation routes, using predicted solar data. which are then used at the meeting to analyse "frequency collisions". Changes are then made on an iterative, manual basis at the meeting. Unfortunately, there is no major physical representation either from the ABU-HFC or several large broadcasters at the A03 meeting, and from an engineering planning perspective, it seems inconceivable that major decisions on operational requirements can be driven without such direct input. The effectiveness of the process is further constrained due to the very high dependence on theoretical considerations, with little regard being given to transmitters on the same frequencies, located around the world. With high power of 500 kW now commonplace, propagation worldwide is now normal, irrespective of the theoretical "intended" area of reception! The current absurdity of HCJB Australia using 11755 at 0700-1100 simultaneously with Radio Finland is an example of rickety frequency selection, where the Finnish station is well heard across Australia, even though it is "intended" tor Europe. Pori actually has an azimuth of 220 degrees, 500 kW, which puts out lots of energy into Australia via the long-path across the South Pacific. This has not been recognised by HCJB Australia. Propagation reciprocity also applies: HCJB Australia would also disturb the Finnish transmitter! Another example is the use of 7285 by the Voice of Vietnam and the Voice of America (Thailand) at 1100, for the same target area! Shortwave radio is on shaky ground, and these unsound frequency planning processes don't help. Bringing together 130 "frequency managers" as a Committee in some swanky hotel, twice a year, for a week, at huge expense to their employers, to develop highly questionable engineering solutions, does not seem to me to be the way to go. It seems to me that the entire thing has gone off the rails: a committee of 130 people seems overkill, acknowledging that many of these people have little or no technical qualifications or engineering planning expertise. The money could be better spent in upgrading transmitter infrastructure and distribution, and in developing and strengthening improved communication to the customers - the listeners. No, I will not be going to South Africa! (Bob Padula, EDXP Jan 9 via DXLD) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ RECEIVER NEWS +++++++++++++ SAMPO TAKES OVER GRUNDIG - NEW START IN NEW MARKETS - 8. January 2003 Nuremberg/Taipei, 08th January 2003. The future of the entertainment electronics company Grundig is secure. The previous main shareholder Prof. Dr. Anton Kathrein and Felix Chen, Chairman of the Board of the Taiwanese Sampo company, signed the corresponding contracts for take- over the majority of shares of the Nuremberg-based company on the 8th of January 2003. This agreement was preceded by extremely intensive discussions during the past weeks between the board of Grundig and representatives from Sampo. Under the terms of the contract, Sampo will become the majority shareholder and therefore take over the direction of Grundig AG. This especially applies to the areas of Home Intermedia systems, Car Intermedia systems, office communications, professional SAT systems and hotel communications. Another important part of this is the area of research and development – over 400 engineers and developers are employed in this sector by Grundig in Nuremberg. The parties have agreed to remain silent on the issue of the purchase price. "I am pleased to have found in Sampo a partner for Grundig that is not a purely financial investor but a partner whose product range and market understanding will fit in well with the company tradition" said Prof. Dr. Anton Kathrein at the signing on the contracts. "This agreement will give the company the necessary room for manoeuvre to implement new ideas and innovations in our products and in our positioning in the market. I am especially glad that I have been able to fulfil my promise to guide Grundig to a secure future." Prof. Dr Anton Kathrein spoke about the complicated search for a partner and the contract negotiations: "We took our time when looking for a partner to ensure we found the most suitable one. This was not always the easiest path to choose which is why at this point I would like to thank the banks and credit institutes who supported us throughout this time and who, like ourselves, never lost sight of our ultimate aim. Both they and the pension guarantee association played a major part in saving the company." Prof. Dr. Anton Kathrein especially thanked the Bavarian State Minister for the Economy, Transport and Technology Dr. Otto Wiesheu, MdL, who actively campaigned to keep Grundig going and secure the jobs of its staff and under the protection of the regulatory principles of the Free State of Bavaria suggested and advocated highly constructive solutions. H.C. Ho, President and CEO of the Board of the Sampo group, spoke of his confidence in Grundig's future: "We can already see today that the measures taken by the Grundig management are reducing costs and are improving profit margins. The Grundig brand and sales network with 30,000 partners throughout Europe will give us a direct route into the important European market of the future. By joining with Grundig we will attain many synergies which will greatly support us on our way to becoming a leading brand world-wide. We will be able to market our products in Europe and establish 'classic' Grundig products in the Asian market. H.C. Ho added that in addition the "excellent research and development work of the renowned German company" will be closely linked with its counterpart at Sampo in Taiwan. The new main shareholder did not make any comments about the reorganisation of the company. The Sampo company, which was founded in 1936, employs a staff of around 5400 today and has an excellent position in Asia, USA and especially in its domestic market in Taiwan in its core businesses of household electronics and multimedia (TV, LCD and DVD players and PDP). Sampo is also one of the leading manufacturers of electronic components (OEM) world-wide. Its products are sold mostly in the USA, Australia, Hong Kong and China. Sampo has an annual group turnover of US$ 1.4 billion and is listed on the stock exchange of Taiwan (via John Figliozzi, Jan 10, swprograms via DXLD) Further evidence that an era is ending.... (John Figliozzi, ibid.) This might have nothing to do with the Grundig-branded shortwave radios distributed by Lextronix of California -- except that Sampo might now be getting the licensing-agreement fee for those Grundig radios. (...Kim Elliott, ibid.) DAB RADIO ON DISPLAY AT MONTREAL RADIO SHACK I stopped at Radio Shack on my way to work for some window shopping and spotted two tiny FM/DAB radios (only about 3 x 4 inches). In my rush, I forgot to note the manufacturer/brand. The thinner one of the two sells for CAD$299; the thicker one can play MP3s as well and sells for CAD$399. Both require headphones for listening. I got the salesman to show me the smaller one; I didn't have time to "test" it properly though. Each radio is equipped with a telescopic whip antenna that can extend to several inches long; it is about 1 to 2 inches completely retracted and fits neatly and unobtrusively along the side. I did not have time to tune around FM with the device; it was locked to CKOI 96.9 FM, a 308,000 watt-grandfathered over-power station. Reception was fine. I tried in vain to receive a DAB station, but I couldn't find one. (Besides, I didn't know how the thing really worked anyway.) But I surmised at the time that the radio was scanning through the available frequencies and, like all good digital receiving devices, the audio was muted until something got found. It seems as though being in the second basement of downtown Montreal's largest shopping mall was an impairment to DAB reception -- bad news for city cores, because FM reception for mid- to high-powered stations is OK down there on a regular walkman-type radio. Perhaps I'll return on an off day and fiddle around with it again. That's all for now. Cheers, (Ricky Leong, QC, Jan 8, DX LISTENING DIGEST) COMMENTARY ++++++++++ Response to James Tedford: James' comments are on the mark, but emphasize the learning curve requirements for shortwave and neglect the portability and serendipity factor of shortwave, long touted here as an advantage of shortwave. Another area James could have highlighted was that both shortwave and local rebroadcasting of international broadcasting require the user to pay attention to occasionally inconvenient broadcaster schedules, and on-demand programming doesn't carry this disadvantage. However, that spin doesn't discount the fact that this was very thoughtfully written (Richard Cuff / Allentown, PA, swprograms via DXLD) PUBLICATIONS ++++++++++++ If you are interested in beacons quite a bit, we have the NDB mail list on the Beaconworld domain. As it is our own domain you receive no SPAM from this list. Go to the following for more info. http://www.beaconworld.co.uk/ Ndblist-request@beaconworld.co.uk 73 de (Phil KO6BB Atchley, swl via DXLD) ###