DX LISTENING DIGEST 3-072, April 24, 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 later at http://www.worldofradio.com/dxldtd3d.html HTML version of late March issues: http://www.worldofradio.com/dxldtd3c.html For restrixions and searchable 2003 contents archive see http://www.worldofradio.com/dxldmid.html NOTE: If you are a regular reader of DXLD, and a source of DX news but have not been sending it directly to us, please consider yourself obligated to do so. Thanks, Glenn NEXT AIRINGS OF WORLD OF RADIO 1179: WWCR: Thu 2030 15825, Sat 0600, Sun 0230 5070, 0730 3210 WJIE: Fri 0730, Sat 0930, Sun 0200, 1030, 1630 on WJIE 7490 and/or 13595 [maybe] RFPI: Sat 0130, 0730 or 0800, 2330, Sun 0530, Mon 0030, 0630 or 0700 on 7445 WRN ONDEMAND from Fri http://new.wrn.org/listeners/stations/station.php?StationID=24 OUR ONDEMAND AUDIO: Check http://www.worldofradio.com/audiomid.html [Low] (Download) http://www.k4cc.net/wor1179.rm (Stream) http://www.k4cc.net/wor1179.ram [High] (Download) http://www.k4cc.net/wor1179h.rm (Stream) http://www.k4cc.net/wor1179h.ram (Summary) http://www.worldofradio.com/wor1179.html SOLICITED TESTIMONIALS You may bemoan the lack of activity on this list, but there is plenty of news about SW (and other media), piling up to 100K worth every day or two as I notify you when each new issue of DX Listening Digest is posted. I can give you the info, but I can`t make you read it. Or even skim it. No one ever reacts to anything in DXLD on this list. Feel free to discuss anything in DXLD as if the entire issues or individual stories had been posted here, which would be impractical (Glenn Hauser, swl list at qth.net) I'll bite. I don't read DXLD anymore, Glenn. I would, if you wrote strictly of shortwave and media, but you've turned DXLD into a forum for your personal religious and political beliefs. I'm sure I'm not the only reader who feels this way. I decided to browse your most recent DXLD - No. 3071, wherein you referred to "the illegitimate Bush regime." How disappointing. You do a wonderful job of promoting DXLD, and you do much to inform and educate SWLs, but I equate your behavior to that of Rush Limbaugh (though perhaps you reside on an end of the personality spectrum directly opposite the aforementioned Rush, not bombastic, but perhaps as pompous). You've lead me to water, metaphorically speaking, but it's just not to my taste. 73, (Steve Lawrence, Burnsville, MN, ibid.) It`s your loss, and their loss. I am amazed that people will sift thru 2000 lines of material, find a line or two they disagree with and as a result dump the whole thing. I am not about to muzzle myself. Of course the Bush regime is illegitimate: it was chosen by the Supreme Court, not the electorate. Is this even debatable? DXLD has not been `turned into` this --- it`s always been that way, surprise (Glenn Hauser) ** ARGENTINA [non]. 9665, Radio Intl Argentina, Apr 20, 0320 Spanish, 323 OM with Radio International Argentina ID then vocal music. QRM via V of Russia in English (Stewart MacKenzie, CA, Japan Premium via DXLD) It`s unheard of for RAE to have a new frequency. What you actually heard was Radio Internacional de China, Brasil relay. ``De China`` could be mistaken for ``Argentina`` but that station`s name is Radiodifusión Argentina al Exterior. These logs appear on multiple lists and I`ll be surprised if a correxion is ever posted (gh, DXLD) ** AUSTRALIA. Am currently hearing a new Aussie X Bander testing on 1674 kHz. This maybe the station at Emu Plains, Sydney that was testing last year. Heard 1050 UT 23/4 with a mix of dance, techno, Latin, rock & c&w. Back to back with no IDs as yet (David Onley, Myrtleford Victoria - N.S.W Border, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** BOLIVIA. Unknown religious station #1 now ID-ed! 4864.95, Centenario La Nueva, Santa Cruz. April 21 2003, 2330 UT. The religious station I have reported in a "BM preview" turned out to be Centenario. After some ads at 2327 UT finally the ID came: "Siga escuchando Centenario La Nueva" followed by the same religious program as earlier (Björn Malm, Quito, Ecuador, April 21, SW Bulletin, translated by SWB editor Thomas Nilsson) ** CANADA. TWISTS AND TURNS Top execs at CBC Radio have a tough puzzle to solve: how to freshen up the lineup without antagonizing loyal listeners. The result so far: more wrong turns than right. By Sarah Lysecki It's lonely in here," says Anna Maria Tremonti, host of the new flagship CBC Radio program, The Current, over the intercom from the studio to the control room during the 8 a.m. newsbreak. Tremonti sits at a round table surrounded by abandoned chairs, microphones, and earphones. When the World Report newscast ends, Willy Barth, morning senior producer, counts down aloud, "Five, four, three, two," cueing studio technician Carole Ito to play the show's theme music. Barth bursts into a dance, shaking his body spasmodically. Ito lowers the volume. Barth pivots clockwise 90 degrees to face Tremonti, points both fingers at her and says, "And go." Tremonti and everyone involved in the CBC's most ambitious renewal project in decades are feeling lonely as they take flak from critics and listeners who miss what was a remarkably successful format. Morningside, the intimate and folksy three-hour morning show made famous by the late Peter Gzowski and the mainstay flagship program of CBC Radio for decades, has been broken up into two programs--part of phase one in a plan to overhaul the network's entire schedule. For national listeners, CBC Radio's day now begins with the hard-hitting and edgy The Current, followed by the fluffier Sounds Like Canada. After months of listener protests and complaints to management from Sounds Like Canada's host, Shelagh Rogers, management announced that the show would undergo a "fundamental redesign," set to relaunch from Vancouver in the fall. . . [long article] Copyright (c) 2002 Ryerson Review of Journalism http://www.ryerson.ca/rrj/content/print/2003/Summer/lyseckiCBC.html (via Mike Cooper, DXLD) AMBUSH ON THE AIRWAVES --- National Post Tuesday, April 22, 2003 Thanks to an adolescent act of on-air activism by reporter Anna Maria Tremonti and the producers at CBC Radio, it seems unlikely Henry Kissinger, one of the most important living statesmen of our time, will give anyone at our national broadcaster an interview ever again. Last week, Dr. Kissinger published an op-ed in The Washington Post in which he opined that the rift over the war in Iraq had caused serious damage to the transAtlantic alliance. CBC journalists asked Dr. Kissinger to appear on The Current to speak about the issue, and he complied. The prerecorded interview aired Monday. It began well enough, but soon went downhill. Ms. Tremonti, having lured her subject on, segued awkwardly to a discussion of an unrelated subject, the International Criminal Court. She then asked Dr. Kissinger if he might be liable for war crimes before the ICC. Dr. Kissinger coolly corrected Ms. Tremonti on both her manners and her facts -- "That's one of those questions on which one ends the interview" and "If you read the provisions of the International Criminal Court, it does not have retrospective jurisdiction" -- and then walked away. In her prepared monologue following Dr. Kissinger's departure, Ms. Tremonti made clear she has little interest in any of the substantive topics she waded through en route to her ambush. Her short speech had nothing to do with Iraq or multilateralism or anything else, but rather focused on Dr. Kissinger's alleged crimes in Southeast Asia and Chile. Just to make sure no one was confused about the point of the segment, the introducing narrator sneeringly smeared Dr. Kissinger as a fan of "good old-fashioned carpet bombing" and helping the occasional "fascist dictator" stay in power. Dr. Kissinger helped guide U.S. foreign policy during from 1969 until 1977 -- a tumultuous period in the West's long, painful struggle against international communism. Ms. Tremonti is correct to note that, as she vaguely puts it, "some prominent writers and activists" think Dr. Kissinger should be tried for war crimes. Though this newspaper rejects such claims -- just as we do the equally spurious allegations made against George W. Bush, Tony Blair, Ariel Sharon and just about every other current and former Western leader one could name – we recognize it as a legitimate subject for debate. What we do not recognize is the validity of luring a former statesman on to our national network and then subjecting him to an activist stunt. Indeed, the segment broadcast on Monday was not only unfair, it was childish -- the sort of thing a student journalist might conceive to embarrass her dean or a multinational corporate recruiter on campus. Canadian taxpayers subsidize CBC journalists to the tune of about $795-million every year. If this sort of teenage journalism is what we get in return, maybe Ottawa should cut their allowance. (c) Copyright 2003 National Post (via Mike Cooper, DXLD) ** CHILE. 6009.71, R. Parinacota, 0653-0748 Apr 23. Nice selection of ranchera and ballad music until 0725 when a M began a long dialog. Several IDs in the top half hour, but nothing after 0735. Getting quite strong, but requires LSB with good filters as Mil is on 6010.01 and another unID LA on 6010.21 (likely Inconfidência but no ID). (Don Nelson, OR, April 23, WORLD OF RADIO 1179, DX LISTENING DIGEST) I also heard this station today (23rd) around 0633, and managed to determine the frequency was around 6009.7. LSB is difficult here due splash from Berlin 6005, and there was the usual "howl" from others on the USB. I didn`t hear any IDs but the music was what I have heard many times via LV de tu Conciencia, Colombia. This station dominates here at this time, and has been operating near to 6009.9 recently, but seemed slightly lower today. Mil has only tentatively been heard since Conciencia moved to this frequency, but Brazil usually appears occasionally at around 6010.2 (Noel R. Green, [Blackpool, UK], Cumbre DX via DXLD) ** CHINA. With great pleasure I'd like tell you the first Chinese DX program will hold on this Saturday at 0730-0830 UT, 6185 kHz by the China Huayi Broadcasting Company, the program named "Sky of BCL". BCL means Broadcasting listener, same as SWL/DXer. They prepared many gifts include new designed memorial QSL card, station pennant and stickers. They are doing great preparing job, including call-in interviews to Chinese and foreign listeners. If you interested in this station, please call them at 0086 591 3791539 or email them: chrisyuanjia@sohu.com (Qiao Xiaoli (DXSWL) from SuZhou China, 2883752@163.com 2003.4.23 dxing.info via DXLD) ** CHINA. Last night I discovered an interesting CRI-produced newsmagazine that isn't available via shortwave: "Real Time Beijing", airing at 0000 UTC (8 AM Beijing Time) as the morning drive news programming on CRI's English-language FM station in Beijing on 91.5 FM. It was a slickly-produced program, targeting the foreign national and English speaking community in Beijing, with quite a bit of emphasis on SARS and the new "glasnost" evidenced since the weekend. The program came across as less pompous then CRI's normal shortwave programming. The program is also archived for on demand listening. Links: Live webcast: http://live.cri.com.cn/fm915.ram or mms://218.244.243.30/fm91.5 On demand: http://www.crienglish.com/news/program/realbeijing.htm (Richard Cuff / Allentown, PA USA, swprograms via DXLD) We publicized this long ago in connection with Keith Perron`s ``Wavelength`` media program which was at 0040 UT Fridays, but not confirmed lately. Is that still going? (gh, DXLD) ** COSTA RICA [non]. I could hear a numbers station behind RFPI (7445) at 0115 (9:15 EDT) during World of Radio Tuesday 4/22 night. It was very weak maybe only 5% there. Sounded like an American female. I am located in the Atlanta, GA. area using a DX-380 (Lou Johnson, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CUBA. Confirming the announcement reported in DXLD 3070, Radio Havana Cuba heard tonight with their English broadcast to Europe at 2030-2130 UT on new 11760 kHz (replacing 11670). Difficult reception, very weak signal here - I would estimate that they are running less than 10 kW (Dave Kenny, England, April 22, WORLD OF RADIO 1179, DX LISTENING DIGEST) And/or 10% modulation. 11760 is also in use again for English after 0500 \\ 9820 noted April 24, switching from Spanish before 0500, better but still deficient modulation level this time. STILL FAR out of date the schedule on website http://www.radiohc.cu/ingles/frecuencia.htm Arnie Coro`s penultimate script is already up, however, for April 19- 20, and previous are archived via http://www.radiohc.cu/ingles/dxers1.htm Mes amis, if you find Arnie`s style as tiresome as I do, and his constant reiteration of a handful of topics (such as the T2FD antenna), skimming these is a good way to save a quarter hour, in case he does say something new and interesting (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ECUADOR. HCJB WORLD RADIO REFOCUSES LATIN AMERICAN RADIO OUTREACH HCJB World Radio, the world's first missionary broadcast organization, is refocusing its radio ministries in Latin America for greater impact in the region and as part of a strategic global media mix. The mission's purpose -- through its core ministries of mass media, healthcare and education -- remains unchanged: To communicate the gospel of Jesus Christ to all nations so that people are transformed and become active, vital parts of the body of Christ. From its founding in Ecuador in 1931, HCJB World Radio's shortwave ministry grew until 80 percent of the world's populated landmass was under its signal. As the world's job seekers began migrating from rural areas into the cities where choices of media are greater, their radio preferences also migrated from shortwave to available local AM and FM. HCJB World Radio responded by developing regional offices in Euro-Asia, North Africa/Middle East, Sub-Saharan Africa and Asia/Pacific, and by partnering with other ministries to plant local Christian radio stations around the world. Today the mission and its partners are working in more than 100 countries, and more than 200 local stations are on the air broadcasting in nearly 120 languages and dialects. HCJB World Radio President David Johnson says the ministry's "growth around the world now allows the Latin America regional office to shift its attention from reaching the world to better reaching its neighbors with the gospel. We are adjusting how we use our resources, so we can have greater regional impact." International ministries operating from Ecuador are being resized and reshaped for a strategic media mix. Regional broadcasts will continue in Spanish, Portuguese, Quichua, Waorani, Cofán, German and Plautdietsch, but releases to North America, Europe and Africa will be phased out in 2003. North American shortwave listeners have a growing number of Christian stations available, and the ministry is working to move European and African broadcasts to facilities in those areas. South Pacific and Asia broadcasts have already been moved to the new shortwave facility in Kununurra, Australia. Depending on listener response, an abbreviated morning shortwave release in English targeting missionaries serving in Latin America is under consideration. The HCJB World Radio English Language Service will transition from a broadcast-focused ministry to a production focus, providing quality English programming to air in all regions around the globe. Using the model that has been so successful worldwide, HCJB World Radio is looking to move from owning and operating local AM and FM stations in Latin America to finding self-supporting national partner ministries to manage the outlets, while the mission provides ongoing training and technical support. This will allow the mission's regional staff to focus on facilitating, training and equipping national partners to plant new stations in the many cities of Latin America that do not yet have a local Christian radio station. HCJB World Radio also is working to expand from a large, single base for regional operations in Quito, Ecuador, to multiple smaller bases throughout Latin America to increase effectiveness and relevancy within each cultural and geographic context. "We want to focus more and more on equipping national leaders to reach their neighbors with the gospel through mass media, healthcare and education," Johnson said. "These strategic changes in Latin America will allow us to move from a single regional base to a number of flexible, mobile teams that can be quickly deployed as God continues to open doors for ministry." (HCJB Daily, April 22, 2003 via Mike Terry, DXLD) Who Wrote That HCJB Message? After having read the message Ken posted from HCJB five or six times, I have come to the conclusion that it is one of the poorest pieces of public relations work I have seen in recent years. It has numerous contradictions, many areas of gray that leave interpretation wide open to the readers` imagination, a downright slap in the face to listeners in North America and confusion as to what 'Christian' means. This is one of the poorest written releases I have ever read. Maybe the thin air in the Andes got to the writer - I sent HCJB a critique of that piece of trite ill-conceived jargon and have vague hopes that somebody there takes a hard squint at the release. It needs to be cleaned up, clarified and redone. Besides a few apologies issued, publicly to NA listeners who have supported them financially, faithfully, fellowship wise and emotionally for the past seventy-two years. Sounds like somebody there got their daily inspiration from the letters that floated up in the alphabet soup! (Duane W8DBF Fischer, swl via DXLD) ** ECUADOR. HCJB FORUM LAUNCHED Please be advised that a special public-access "HCJB FORUM" has been set up at: http://hcjb.edxp.org This Forum has been established as an EDXP project to solicit responsible comments, views, and suggestions from members (and others), concerning HCJB's recent announcement to severely limit its English language broadcasting from May 31. HCJB has also announced that the long-running "DX Partyline" program will also end on May 31. All messages posted to the HCJB FORUM will be read by HCJB managers in Quito. If you have already contributed views into the EDXP E-NET, it would be appreciated if you could resubmit your message(s) into the new FORUM. You may also respond to comments posted in the FORUM, either privately to the author(s), or publicly. If you are receiving this as a representative of a DX Club or any other organisation, you are invited to distribute it widely within your own community of interest. Thank you! (Bob Padula, EDXP ADMIN, Melbourne, Australia, WORLD OF RADIO 1179, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Spinning your wheels; why bother? They made it absolutely clear it`s a done deal; let it die a dignified death (gh, DXLD) ** ECUADOR [and non]. EDITORIAL The most disappointing event recently has been the announcement by HCJB to abandon most of its English programming from the end of May, and for the long-running "DX Partyline" feature to terminate. On reflection, it is clear that HCJB has provided a strong and continuing focus for shortwave listening globally for a great many years. Here in Eastern Australia, HCJB was always reliably heard during its South Pacific release at 0700 on 9745, and many of us grew up with HCJB, not only as our spiritual mentor, but also as our introduction to shortwave radio listening. I am sure that many of you developed your interest in SW radio from HCJB, "The "Call of the Andes from Quito, Ecuador, South America". My log-book shows my earliest record of reception on 3 March 1954, on 11915 at 0800 UTC, as a 12 year old boy with a 5-valve dual wave receiver. My first QSL from HCJB was for 11755 on March 1, 1965. And I recall that I first started writing DX features for HCJB back in 1979 - that's a lot of continuous writing for one station! Good things never last for ever, and it seems that HCJB World Radio, like many other international broadcasters, no longer views the HF medium as the optimum platform to deliver messages across the English speaking world. The DX Partyline has been an excellent forum for covering news of world broadcasting and "DXing" developments every week, and at one time, twice a week. Recently, DXPL duration was reduced, and it has been traditional for the technical news to be integrated with inspirational messages. However, it should be kept in mind that broadcasters don't exist solely to broadcast such technical information, and it is well known that a large segment of world listeners tune into these specialised programs, and to no other. I also suggest that international broadcasters do not exist only for DX hobbyists: their desired audience is much broader, and some broadcasters have stated that the majority of listener feedback comes from DX specialists. Many "DX" programs have closed down and more will follow. International broadcasting is highly competitive, and many broadcasters believe that their own interests are compromised by their release of news and information about how their competitors may be heard. Indeed, they want themselves to be heard! This was the main factor for the abandonment by Radio Australia's English Section of all programming where information about OTHER broadcasters was being released. I wrote "DXers Calling" for many years from the 1960s, and I was under specific instructions to exclude any references to such stations as Radio Pyongyang, Radio Peking, Radio Moscow, and Radio Tirana. Whilst that may be regarded as extreme, these days broadcasters have become unwilling to devote scarce financial studio transmission and other resources into production of material which does not capture and retain listeners in the broad sense. They do not regard listening diligently only to technical DX tips to be what they would like their audiences to be doing. I also suggest that many listeners believe that international radio is free, but it is not so! Religious broadcasters in particular rely on voluntary grants from their listening and associated communities for their survival. I wonder how many people have supported the HCJB world ministry with substantial financial contributions, either as a single substantial pledge or ongoing? Personally, I feel sad about HCJB's decision, mainly because of my very long continued association with the station, both as a listener, technical monitor, and producer of news features over DXPL. Regrettably, emotion and feelings do not determine the existence or guarantee the survival of any broadcaster, whether it be publicly or privately operated. HF radio, unlike most forms of domestic radio, does not generate an income stream, and private SW broadcasters, without domestic or local coverage on FM or AM, have found this out the hard way. Here in Australia, HCJB-Australia is moving ahead at Kununurra, and I am privy to future plans which cannot be made public at this stage. HCJB has already switched off its direct English services to the South Pacific and India, and I would hope with all sincerity that dedicated English-speaking listeners in our region will accept the new arrangements and provide suitable encouragement in whatever way they consider appropriate, in the same way that they have supported HCJB in Ecuador in the past (Bob Padula, World Broadcast Magazine April 23, used by permission, http://edxp.org via DXLD) ** EL SALVADOR. 17835.2v, R. Imperial, 1845-2300 April 19. After many many attempts at this, was very surprised to find it with readable signal all late afternoon and early evening. Heard a mix of nonstop LA Pops, Rap, Dance, and Ballads. First ID noted was at 1905 by M with mention of onda corta and ending with R. Imperial ID. This was followed by another canned announcement by different M. After more nonstop music, heard a M announcer give the station address about 1920. Around 2000, heard program of enjoyable easy local ranchera music with live M host mentioning esperanza, Cristo, and cristiano. Also mentioned people`s names often (Antonio Vargas, etc). After this program, went into more nonstop Spanish religious songs with 2 different canned IDs played; one by M over (familiar) steel drum jazz song as "-- de Dios -- en la palabra de Dios escucha en R. Imperial", and the other an ID for the AM side as "Sintoniza señal 810 AM donde la palabra de Dios ? vida". Around 2100, went into a live evangelistic program with preacher and audience. Can't believe it was coming in this well (still is as I type this at 2300). Even had it on the newly bought (old) Sony ICF-5900W w/just its whip!! However there was a lot of deep fading. The signal was drifting around between 17835.2 - .3 (Dave Valko, PA, Cumbre DX via DXLD) 17835, R. Imperial (presumed) 2336-0045 April 19. Religious music in Spanish. Short selections by a children's choir. Occasional change to adult singers, but then back to the children. A couple of short announcements by a man, but no ID heard. Best reception here ever, SINPO 34333, fading badly after 0030. Lost at 0045 (Evans, TN, Cumbre DX via DXLD) 17835.23, "R. Imperial 810 AM" with religious and latino pop music, ID at 2320 April 22, tuned back to noticieros at 2345, some fading, but at times very strong. I haven't had a hint of this before. Frequency down to 17835.18 by tune-out (Jim Renfrew, Byron NY Drake R8, longwires, Quantum Phaser, Cumbredx mailing list via DXLD) 17835.3v R. Imperial 2225-2340+ 4/22. Upbeat religious songs, including ludicrous rap rhythms with religious lyrics; no anmts until 2331, when there was an ID and mention of 810 kHz only. Pgm "Avance" followed, consisting of religious talk. Tuned out at 2340. VG signal, with some long deep fades; signal varied slightly from 17835.28 to 17835.33. Also heard next morning (23 Apr) around 1300 UT on 17835.24 with music, generally poor (John Wilkins, Wheat Ridge, Colorado. Drake R-8, 100-foot RW, Cumbre DX via DXLD) 17833.9, YSDA, 0000-0030+, Apr. 20, program of music, little talk. Good, nice audio (Joe Talbot, at Don Moman`s, Lamont, Alberta, Canada. Antennas: 4-30 MHz rotatable Log Periodic at 94', rotatable 4 Element 80m Yagi at 140' and various Beverages from hub, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Received a faxed QSL letter from Radio Imperial, in English. The writer, Nubia Ericka García (Director) says she will send me a "banner" when they print them. This for a CR and report in Spanish along with US$1.00 Cheers, (Paul Ormandy, ZL4TFX, April 24, DX LISTENING DIGEST) What`s a CR? ** FRANCE. France to start international TV channel? Perhaps as a result of the diplomatic fracas around the UN before hostilities started, with France taking an isolated position, French president Jacques Chirac ordered officials to create a French-owned version of CNN, so as to get the country's stance on world affairs broadcast from its perspective. The idea is not new, but Chirac has now invited both state and privately owned broadcasters to submit proposals for the service. One company that will bid is Radio France International. Its president Jean-Paul Cluzel said: "A country like France with its own view of the world must have an international news channel." (AIB Newsletter via DXLD) ** GERMANY. T-Systems DTK updated as of 16 April: the following sections were highlighted in the pdf, presumably indicating they had changed since last issue. frq start stop ciraf ant azi type day from to loc pow broad 6045 0858 1000 27,28 401 ND 926 1 300303 261003 JUL 100 EVR 6015 1730 1759 27,28 401 ND 926 3456 300303 060403 JUL 100 EVR 6015 1730 1759 27,28 401 ND 926 23456 070403 261003 JUL 100 EVR 6015 1730 1759 27,28 401 ND 926 23456 5985 0900 0959 27,28 104 115 206 1 300303 261003 JUL 100 CHW 6015 1630 1659 27,28 401 ND 926 345 300303 261003 JUL 100 UNL [all the RTB items were included:] 9490 0257 0459 47,48,52,53 306 160 216 23456 300303 261003 JUL 100 9490 0427 0459 47,48,52,53 306 160 216 17 300303 261003 JUL 100 17580 0500 0712 47,48,52,53 303 160 216 23456 300303 261003 JUL 100 17580 0500 0959 47,48,52,53 303 160 216 7 300303 261003 JUL 100 17580 0500 0806 47,48,52,53 303 160 216 1 300303 261003 JUL 100 21565 0957 1206 47,48,52,53 301 160 216 23456 300303 261003 JUL 100 21565 1000 1117 47,48,52,53 301 160 216 7 300303 261003 JUL 100 21565 1057 1117 47,48,52,53 301 160 216 1 300303 261003 JUL 100 17570 1457 1716 47,48,52,53 301 160 216 123456 300303 261003 JUL 100 17570 1557 1716 47,48,52,53 301 160 216 7 300303 261003 JUL 100 5975 0700 0815 27,28 406 290 106 17 300303 261003 JUL 100 BVB 5975 0700 0745 27,28 406 290 106 23456 300303 300403 JUL 100 VOH 5975 0700 0750 27,28 406 290 106 23456 010503 261003 JUL 100 VOH 5970 1800 1845 28,29 404 60 141 23456 300303 060903 JUL 100 VOH 6010 1800 1845 28,29 404 60 141 23456 100903 261003 JUL 100 VOH {and all the HRT – Croatian entries included:] 9925 2300 0059 11 - 16 202 230 218 1234567 300303 261003 JUL 100 9925 0100 0400 11 - 16 202 230 218 1234567 010503 261003 JUL 100 9925 2300 0100 6 - 10 112 300 216 1234567 010503 261003 JUL 100 9925 0100 0259 6 - 10 112 300 216 1234567 300303 261003 JUL 100 9925 0300 0459 2 - 10 119 325 216 1234567 300303 261003 JUL 100 9925 0500 0700 2 - 10 119 325 216 1234567 010503 261003 JUL 100 9470 0400 0500 55,59,60 202 230 218 1234567 010503 261003 JUL 100 9470 0500 0659 55,59,60 202 230 218 1234567 300303 261003 JUL 100 13820 0600 0700 58,59,60 208 270 218 1234567 010503 261003 JUL 100 13820 0700 0859 58,59,60 208 270 218 1234567 300303 261003 JUL 100 13820 0900 1000 58,59,60 208 270 218 1234567 010503 261003 JUL 100 7125 0400 0500 28E 104 115 206 1234567 300303 261003 JUL 100 AWR (via Alokesh Gupta, India, DXLD) see also RUSSIA non ** GREECE. Greek pirate A1 Ioannina - 350 km western from Thessaloniki, 4852 as 3 x 1614 was heard much better than its fundamental (22332). Upon my tel call he was impressed on how I have heard him in this freq. In 4852 the signal was 34433 (Zacharias Liangas, Greece, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** HONG KONG. 3940, RTVHK-San Fernando Yacht Race, 1003+ Apr. 19-21, no trace of broadcast using 4 element 80m yagi at 140' aimed towards SE Asia. Anyone in North America hear this? (Joe Talbot, at Don Moman`s, Lamont, Alberta, Canada, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Well, he did get ZLXA, q.v. This explains the alternative courses once San Fernando was cancelled; nothing mentioned about the broadcasts. Looking over the RHKYC website in general, it appears to be a fine vestige of British colonialism, alive and well in People`s China. Starting with the very name, ``Royal. . .`` http://www.rhkyc.org.hk/sailing/downloads/sanfernandorace/lnotice1.doc (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 3940, Radio TV Hong Kong, Apr 19 at *1003-1010. SINPO 25332. Started with IS and ID was heard at 1004 as "This is Radio Television Hong Kong......race 2003.". Weather forecast in English followed (Nagatani, Japan Premium via DXLD) 3940, RTV Hong Kong, Apr 19 *1003-1010, 24332 English. Special program for sailboat race. Opening music, ID, and weather report (TOKUSA Hiroshi, Kanagawa, JAPAN Premium via DXLD) ** INTERNATIONAL VACUUM. I'm surprised, I'd have bet that satellite radio would never make it (Don Thornton, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Viz.: SATELLITE RADIO GAINS GROUND WITH RIGHT MIX OF PARTNERS April 21, 2003 By BARNABY J. FEDER Hugh Panero built a reputation in cable and pay-per-view television as a manager who could turn new entertainment technologies into successful businesses. For nearly five years now, he has been putting that reputation to a test as the president and chief executive of XM Satellite Radio, one of two start-up companies trying to develop a market for nationwide radio shows beamed to subscribers in their cars and homes. In recent months, growing numbers of investors and analysts have concluded he just might succeed. . . http://www.nytimes.com/2003/04/21/technology/21RADI.html?ex=1051961314&ei=1&en=a041b820120fe50a Copyright 2003 The New York Times Company (via Don Thornton, DXLD) ** IRAN. VOIRI AMENDED SCHEDULE ** THIS STORY IS A PROFESSIONAL RESTRICTED DISTRIBUTION RESEARCH PROJECT AND MAY NOT BE FURTHER REPRODUCED OR QUOTED ** Here's the latest schedule for English broadcasts to all regions, and transmissions in Mandarin, Japanese, and Malay, effective April 20: (Bob Padula, EDXP World Broadcast Magazine April 23 via DXLD) Incentive to join EDXP ** IRAN [non]. Voice of Southern Ayerbaijan: Not heard anymore since late March, however homepage still lists 9375 and same timings as before and updates audiofiles throughout the week. Any idea or news on this one? (W. von Pöllnitz, Poland, Apr 13, 2003 for CRW via DXLD) ** IRAQ [non]. Radio Sumer on 1584 kHz: Picking up that station today 22/4/03 around 2030 UT with news briefs about Iraq, ID, a report about arresting al Zubaidy yesterday in Baghdad. Let's listen to this program, a man shouting "THE CRIMINALS" - the criminals who destroyed Iraq with sad music in the background, then a report about the history of Alzubaidy. He started as a worker in a hospital in Baghdad and then joined Al Ba'ath Party. He divorced his wife and married a political marriage according to Saddam's orders leaving his ex wife and children with no means of support... etc. he killed so many young men and finally he was arrested in Baghdad yesterday. 2045 ID followed by the news read by IBRAHIM NASER [I'm REALLY happy to get the name of this guy...why? Coz he's the man whom I said works for Both Information Radio and R. Tikrit. So far he's the ONLY announcer I could hear on R. Sumer. He's doing almost everything starting from the ID, Reading the news --- almost everything! He must be a big guy ;)] 100000 shi'ites gather in Karbala, the arrest of another Iraqi official the 8th in the 55 list, Jay Garner meets the Kurdish officials in Kurdistan and the students of the Sulaiminya UNI, ID, Sa`udi Arabia helping in getting some Iraqis to have medical care in Sa`udi Arabia using the Airport of Baghdad, Richard Myers declares that they found weapons hidden in Kirkuk, Blair says "Iraq will be ruled only by the Iraqis". Music, Dear listeners from R. Sumer we wish you a pleasant night, good night and alsalam alykom --- Peace be upon you --- end of transmission 2100 UT. Well, nothing special, the same stuff almost but no messages to the Iraqi people or the Iraqi troops this time, mainly news and programs about the ex officials of the Ba'ath party. Waiting to see if Radio Almustaqbal is still on 2130 tonight or not. [Later:] Almostaqbal [sic], 1575, signed on 2130 UT as usual with the same ID. Nothing has changed. Seems they changed only R. Tikrit! All the best, guys (TAREK Zeidan, Cairo, Egypt, April 22, WORLD OF RADIO 1179, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** IRAQ [non]. PSYOP: SADDAM'S BAD RAP --- NO ONE WANTS TO TAKE CREDIT FOR A RAP-SONG PARODY LAMPOONING SADDAM HUSSEIN By Suzanne Smalley and Mark Hosenball, Newsweek Magazine April 28, 2003 Issue http://www.msnbc.com/news/902674.asp April 28 - British and American intelligence agencies are falling over themselves to avoid taking credit for a rap-song parody lampooning Saddam Hussein that has been broadcast into Iraq by a clandestine radio station. A Saddam Impersonator rhymes out a message in both English and Arabic to the tune of Coolio's "Gangsta's Paradise." "If you don't like me, I kill you/I am Saddam," he raps. "Smoking weed and getting high/I know the devil is by my side... My days are finished and I will die/ All I need is chili fries." The rap has apparently been broadcast since early April. It was overheard and translated by the BBC, which reported the CIA was behind the spoof. But officials familiar with U.S. intelligence operations told Newsweek the CIA was not involved. Some U.S. sources suggested the broadcast was perhaps the work of Britain's secret-intelligence service, M.I.6, which is renowned for psychological warfare. A British government spokeswoman said, "We don't talk about intelligence matters." U.S. officials note that during a referendum campaign last year the Iraqi dictator used Whitney Houston's "I Will Always Love You" as his theme song: "If I should stay/I would only be in your way/So I'll go... We both know I'm not what you need." (MSNBC Apr 20, 2003 via N. Grace-USA for CRW via DXLD) ** IRAQ [non]. 'PSYOPS' THOUGHT TO HAVE SAVED LIVES DURING WAR http://www.newsobserver.com/iraq/latest_front/story/2476298p-2302493c.html (via A. Sennitt, Holland, Apr 21, 2003 for CRW via DXLD) ** IRAQ. MEDIA BEHAVIOUR ROUND-UP 1600 GMT 23 APR 03 [excerpt] The following is a round-up of BBC Monitoring's media observations on Iraq and related reports for the 24-hour period up to 1600 gmt on 23 April: Voice of the Liberation of Iraq continues to be heard by BBC Monitoring on 1206 and 4025 kHz (broadcasts are scheduled for 1730- 1930 gmt). (A station identifying itself as Voice of the Liberation of Iraq, Voice of the International Coalition for the Liberation of Iraq, was monitored in northern Iraq between 0400 and 1500 gmt on 23 April on 657 kHz mediumwave - in Arbil - and 88.8 MHz FM - in Kirkuk.) (BBCM via DXLD) ** IRAQ. MEDIA BEHAVIOUR ROUND-UP 1600 GMT 24 APR 03 [excerpts] The following is a round-up of BBC Monitoring's media observations on Iraq and related reports for the 24-hour period up to 1600 gmt on 24 April: MEDIA TARGETING IRAQ Iraq Media Network The radio station identifying itself as the "Iraq Media Network" continues to be observed broadcasting in Arabic on 1170 kHz. According to earlier reports, the USA is sponsoring a new radio station in Iraq called the "Voice of the New Iraq", as part of a US- funded "Iraq Media Network", which will also include a TV station and a newspaper. US-run Information Radio was observed at various times during the reporting period on 756 and 9715 kHz. Voice of the Liberation of Iraq was monitored from 0400-1300 gmt on 24 April on 657 kHz mediumwave. Ashur Radio (scheduled 0800-1200 gmt and 1700-1900 gmt) was observed on 9155 kHz in Arabic and Assyrian. This station, which reportedly commenced broadcasting in April 2000, is operated by the Assyrian Democratic Movement (Zowaa) - an opposition party in northern Iraq. It is said to broadcast in Assyrian and Arabic, possibly via a hired shortwave transmitter in Azerbaijan. IRAQI STATE MEDIA Iraqi state media have not been observed to resume transmissions. Some frequencies which were used by Republic of Iraq Television and Republic of Iraq Radio Main Service are being used by US forces' broadcasting stations for Towards Freedom and Information Radio services. Iraqi Satellite Channel Television has not been observed. Iraqi internet sites are all inactive. Source: BBC Monitoring research 24 Apr 03 (via DXLD) ** KOREA NORTH [non]. IMPERIALISTS' IDEOLOGICAL AND CULTURAL POISONING UNDER FIRE http://www.kcna.co.jp/item/2003/200304/news04/21.htm#4 (I suppose they mean R. Free Asia -A. Niederdeppe, Germany, CRW via DXLD) ** KOREA SOUTH. JUNG YUN-JOO ELECTED NEW BROADCASTING SERVICE PRESIDENT | Text of report in English by South Korean news agency Yonhap Seoul, 23 April: The board of directors of KBS [Korean Broadcasting Service] decided Wednesday [23 April] to recommend Jung Yun-joo, former chief editorial writer of the liberal daily Hangyore as the next president of the state-run broadcasting firm. "We cast ballots six times and Jung finally got support from the majority of the directors," said Chi Myong-kwan, chairman of the board of directors, noting the board closely examined the qualifications of 60 candidates before making a final decision to recommend Jung to President Roh Moo-hyun. Jung began his journalism career as a reporter of the Tong-A Ilbo in 1970 and moved to Hangyore in 1989 to serve as the Washington correspondent. "I will try to reform the organization and programmes of KBS so it can lead the era of reform," Jung said. Kim Young-sam, the president of the KBS trade union, commented that the trade union will respect the decision of the board of directors. KBS President Seo Dong-koo tendered his resignation just weeks after he was appointed in late March, after the trade union and some civic groups strongly opposed his appointment. They feared Seo, who served as an aide to then-candidate Roh during the presidential election late last year, would not be able to maintain neutrality. Source: Yonhap news agency, Seoul, in English 1135 gmt 23 Apr 03 (via BBCM via DXLD) ** LIBERIA. 5470, Radio Veritas. 0600-0700 Apr 20. 33333. The Easter morning programme began with the recital of the canticles followed by gospel /religious music. The first two of the music were in Twi, a language in Ghana, by artiste from Ghana. The music was interspersed with talking from the host/presenter. In one of his speeches he thanked all the OB crew, technicians, security and everyone for the help they offered in the night during the night shift (Charles Wompiah, PO BOX 750, Obuasi. Ashanti Region, Ghana. Tel No: +233-582- 40494 ext 1541, Cumbre DX via DXLD) ** MEXICO. Xalapa, Ver., 22 de abril de 2003 Estimados amigos de Radio México Internacional: Me gusta mucho su programación, tanto hablada como musical. Pero me preocupa que ya hace como dos meses o más el sonido de la emisora es muy deficiente. Antes sólo se escuchaba defectuosa la señal en los 11770 kHz, pero ahora se oyen igualmente mal las dos frecuencias, parece que la falla está en el enlace. Digo que me preocupa mucho esta situación porque es la presencia de nuestro país hacia el mundo, y debería estar tan cuidada como lo están las emisoras de onda media y FM del IMER en el Distrito Federal, por ejemplo. Además he sabido que van a estar o ya están en Internet, y no me parece justo que por querer que la señal salga muy bien por Internet descuiden la onda corta, como lo está haciendo un gran número de emisoras en el mundo, y en México la XERTA, Radio Transcontinental de América, que ya para nada sale en la onda corta. Deseo que pronto puedan corregir estas deficiencias que se vienen escuchando, y les deseo mucho éxito en su labor de difundir nuestra cultura y nuestra música al mundo. Atentamente, su servidor, (Pepe González to XERMX, cc to Conexión Digital via DXLD) ** MOLDOVA. The weekly English programme from Radio PMR, the external service of the self-proclaimed Dniestr Republic, was very strong in Hilversum this evening. Caught them signing off at 1630, and made a nice recording. Unfortunately our stream server is playing up so I couldn't upload it to the Media Network site. Will try again in the morning. Schedule is Wed 1600-1630 on 5960 kHz. I'd seen some reports that our transmitter at Flevo was causing splatter, but although Flevo is strong in Hilversum on groundwave, there was no interference whatsoever in USB mode. They announced an E-mail address, but it was a bit garbled (Andy Sennitt, Holland, April 23, hard-core-dx via DXLD) As Dave Kenny said in DXLD 3-057: I have seen DMR (Dnestr Moldavian Republic) given as "PMR" in some reports, although their web site confirms the name is Radio DMR - see http://www.olvia.idknet.com/newweben.htm (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** NEW ZEALAND. 3935, ZLXA, 1135-1150+, Apr. 20, yl with interview type program, weather report for "north island", signal lost in ARO QRM. Fair (Joe Talbot, at Don Moman`s, Lamont, Alberta, Canada. Antennas: 4-30 MHz rotatable Log Periodic at 94', rotatable 4 Element 80m Yagi at 140' and various Beverages from hub, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** NIGERIA. VON must have jumbled their previous language schedule. Until recently we could depend on hearing them in English from 0500 on 7255, and sometimes also 15120; but April 24, 7255 only was audible, tho 11770 was also announced, as they opened in French after national anthem. The posted schedule http://www.voiceofnigeria.org/french.html does not show any French before 1357. The English programme grid at http://www.voiceofnigeria.org/english.html expired December 31, 2002. VON must also have a very hazy idea of basic SW propagation, claiming that from 1000 to 1900 UT 7255 is not only for West Africa, but also USA and South America. Looks like VON is trying to outdo Habana in keeping their website out of date (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** PERU. Quito, Monday evening April 21 2200 local time. Now we all hope this really is a NEW station and not only a simple change of their name. New Peruvian radio station or just a "new old one"? 6895.34, La Nueva Radio Superior, San Miguel de El Faique, la provincia de Huancabamba, el departamento de Piura. April 21 2003 - 2345 UT. With nice and strong signal. The male DJ announced that the premiere transmission just had started and the equipment was tested, "Nuestra primera transmisión de prueba.....". Close down 2356 UT and intended to come back the next day with a transmission between 1500 to 2000 local time. [so until 0100* UT] "Radio R.S.", "Radio la Superior", "La Super Radio" plus some more jingle variants. It is quite clear that the transmitter is from the old "Radio San Miguel" which earlier has been logged on the frequency 6895.41 kHz. Regarding the situation just now please give information directly to me or Thomas. Info from "Ventanaperú": Provincia de Huancabamba, cuya capital es Chanchaque. Sus distritos son: El Carmen de la Frontera, Huancabamba, Huarmaca, Lalaquiz, San miguel de El Faique, Sóndor, Sondorillo; con una población total de 125,458 hab. Unknown religious station #2 now ID-ed! 5895 - 5928v, Radio Chasqui, Cusco. In last issue of SWB, 1509, I had an unID religious with distorted audio and transmitter problems. It turned out to be Radio Chasqui, earlier logged on 5979.71 (see SWB 1484) where it was very hard to hear even if an interference tone from the carrier was audible. Info from "Ventanaperú": Provincia de Cusco, cuya capital es Cusco. Sus distritos son: Ccorca, Cusco, Huánchac, Poroy, San Jerónimo, san Sebastián, Santiago, Saila; con una població total de 271,905 hab. 73 from BM in Quito! (Björn Malm, Quito, Ecuador, April 21, SW Bulletin, translated by SWB editor Thomas Nilsson, WORLD OF RADIO 1179, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** RUSSIA? 15024 USB, R Centr, English religious program 'Back to God' at 1500-1600 Apr 23. At 1600-1700 a program Nove Milne? 1700 was an ID as R Centr in music. Freq is still in use this time. 1819 Signal is S9+ max for this time. 44434. If anyone knows more on this frequency, please let me know (Zacharias Liangas, Thessaloniki, Greece, DX LISTENING DIGEST) This looks like the 10th harmonic of their transmitter in Moscow on 1503 kHz. 73s, (Bernd Trutenau, Lithuania, EDXP via DXLD) So that`s really on 1502.4 USB? (gh, DXLD) ** RUSSIA [non]. VOR via Germany made time changes April 20: 6170 2000 2100 39,40 111 105 216 1234567 300303 190403 JUL 100 VOR 7260 2000 2100 39,40 111 105 216 1234567 200403 261003 JUL 100 VOR 6170 2200 2300 39,40 105 100 216 1234567 300303 190403 JUL 100 VOR 7120 2200 2300 39,40 105 100 216 1234567 200403 261003 JUL 100 VOR (DTK update April 16 via Alokesh Gupta, DXLD) ** SERBIA & MONTENEGRO. STATE MEDIA DROPS LIVE PARLIAMENT BROADCASTS | 15:25 | B92 BELGRADE -- Wednesday - Despite the lifting of emergency media restrictions, state broadcaster Radio Television Serbia is not providing live coverage of today's debate on the Telecommunications Bill in the Serbian Parliament. . . http://www.b92.net/english/news/index.php?lang=english&version=standard&my_categories_class='News'&nav_category=&nav_id=22509&order=priority&style=headlines (via Jilly Dybka, TN, DXLD) ** SPAIN. THE STORY ABOUT THE IBB STATION AT PALS It is well known that the IBB's relay station at Pals, Spain closed down on May 25, 2001. I was fortunate to be part of a group which visited the facility late in 2000, as an excursion with the European DX Council meeting in Barcelona. An interesting illustrated account of the history and development of the station, as compiled by a former staff member, may be found at http://perso.wanadoo.es/effect2000 Thanks to Antoni Bernabe, Palafrugell, Girona, Spain, for passing along these details (Bob Padula, EDXP World Broadcast Magazine April 23 used by permission http://edxp.org via DXLD) ** SWEDEN. RADIO SWEDEN--Coming up on Radio Sweden: Thursday: The "S-Files" probes Walpurgis Eve and saving the sunken warship "Wasa" Friday: Our weekly review Saturday: In "Studio 49" political concerns among the young, and the new Arab Culture Center Sunday: Another chance to hear the "Sounds Nordic" hiphop special (SCDX/MediaScan Apr 24 via DXLD) ** TANZANIA. 7280, R. Tanzania 0945+ UT. ID with "Tanzania" clearly heard at 0948, in language. Light pop music, some African style music, with female announcer talk over music. Fair overall. Nil on listed // 7165. April 19 (Jeffrey Heller, Katy, TX, Drake R8B, 67 foot sloper style passive loaded antenna, Cumbre DX via DXLD) High noon in Dar-es-Salaam? This would be extremely unusual propagation. He also reports V. of the Strait, China, 7280, next day at 1134 (gh, DXLD) ** TURKMENISTAN. 4930 with weather report in English!! at 2049 April 23 (Zacharias Liangas, Thessaloniki, Greece, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** UKRAINE. RUI, Kiev, has been coming on late at 0100 and 0300 on 12040. At 0300, 12040 is really pounded by 12045 Deutsche Welle in African language, very strong. S = 4.5 (Bob Thomas, CT, April 10?, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Thus missing the 0000 English? Perhaps something to do with the other QRM problem Kraig desribed (gh, DXLD) ** U K. IF YOU CAN REMEMBER THE SIXTIES ... YOU GET A SESQUIMEGA£ From The Sunday Times April 20, 2003 John Peel, who has just signed a lucrative book deal, gives Jasper Gerard a foretaste of the laid-back life and exotic escapades of a DJ who has seen it all Even Martin Amis would flash one of his expensive smiles if he were offered £1.5m to write a book. That's how much John Peel has just busked for his autobiography - not bad for a first-time author. "I thought my literary agent was taking the piss," says the DJ. This, though, was serious business: Transworld, which signed him, even placed a newspaper advertisement begging him not to choose HarperCollins. "I'm not paid vast sums like Chris Tarrant and Chris Evans - you have to be called Chris to get that money." As he gave first breaks to some of the wealthiest wazzocks in rock, perhaps his windfall is overdue compensation to the most tortured eardrums outside an Iraqi prison cell. He admits to drooling at a TVR showroom, but he will spend only a tiny fraction (he is, improbably, a fanatical collector of ancient coins). The bulk, sombrely, he will put aside for the anticipated widowhood of his wife Sheila. But will his publisher recoup its investment? One who dropped out at £1.1m suggests Transworld paid too much. But if another literary leviathan, Sir Alex "I'm not going to talk about that" Ferguson, is worth £1.2m, what price national treasure John Peel? True, he's 63, been happily, boringly, married for nearly 30 years, his biggest showbiz chum is the "fantastically uncool" Delia Smith and he admits to "looking like a minicab driver". He's a self-styled "D-list celebrity". In truth, though, you need to be pretty A-list to be that self-deprecating. His Radio 1 show attracts the most young listeners, while his Radio 4 slot Home Truths endears him to their parents. Nick Hornby and Tony Parsons prove you can sell loads of books, mainly to people who don't like reading very much, if you wax romantic in a suitably laddish way about the poetry of pop. So who could make a more popular pensmith than the man who discovered Roxy Music, the Sex Pistols and Pulp? A lot of top bands need to have passed his old grey beard test - so many that he is comfortable to admit that he rejected demo tapes from U2 and Bruce Springsteen "because I thought they were crap and still do". There is also a sadder, seamier side to Peel that should provide obligatory scandal for the book promo. As a 26-year-old DJ in Texas, underage girls apparently queued outside his studio to offer him oral sex. One, Shirley Anne, became the first Mrs Peel at the age of 15 (Peel says she lied about her age) and later attempted suicide. This episode in his life may raise uncomfortable questions. "Well of course I didn't ask for ID," he says casually. "The interesting thing, seeing as you ask, was most were into heavy petting, and penetration was a rarity. But heavy petting was okay with me. Some, I don't know what age they were. A lot of 14-year-old girls in Dallas were getting married." So have we grown too fixated with the concept of old men preying on young girls? Peel is clearly not insensitive to the political correctness of today. "I was just having a glass of red wine in a pub the other day, reading Private Eye, and there were kids playing. I thought, 'Oh, that's really nice - summer's day, kids bowling around' - and then I thought, 'I'd better not look'. You know, 'old bloke looking at children'." Mention of Shirley Anne makes him sombre. "I don't like talking about it because she has children who are still alive, and I feel desperately sorry for them, though I don't know them. I've not put it behind me because that would be selfish. "You know what 15-year-olds are like, the horrors of puberty. It was unfair on her; unfair on me. She had a lot of changing to do. It was destined not to work." One might think that he, being older, bore more responsibility. "It wasn't a happy time for me, it was infinitely less happy for her. I don't think it would be fair on these children to slag off their mother." They divorced in the early 1970s. What became of her? "Her life spiralled out of control. Desperately unhappy, her life ended tragically early." Raking over conquests might also upset Germaine Greer - who retaliated after his claim that she virtually forced him to have sex by insisting he almost gave her gonorrhoea. "Actually, it was nonspecific urethritis which can, once you've got it, be triggered by a bad cold or even a hot curry," he says. Quite innocent, then. "Well it wasn't initially, but once you've got it, it's a bugger to get rid of." It's hardly surprising that Greer got the hump. "I was rather proud of my liaison with her, but I assume as I deteriorated and got less easy on the eye, she felt this was a slur, so asked me not to mention it publicly again, which I agreed to - so this is me not mentioning it." His book might even reveal that this patron saint of blokes was a bit, well, sensitive at public school. Richard Ingrams remembers a "very pretty" boy. "I was certainly very cute when I was 13" is all Peel will say. In more recent years he has resisted all temptation. "Like Groucho Marx not wanting to be a member of a club that would have him, I wouldn't trust anyone prepared to have a relationship with me. I gave up a shag for the sake of a shag years ago." So young weathergirls at parties hold no allure? "What young girls? I'm overweight, bald, with terrible teeth." How about glam friends? "I'd like to hang out at famous people's houses but when they swap phone numbers they don't ask for mine. Sheila and I have met a lot of famous people once, which I quite like: I can go back to the village and say, 'Guess who we met?'" It's tempting to call Peel a frustrated rock star; rather, he is an incurable fan. "I'm not really a showbiz bloke; I'm a bloke who buys records." Endearingly, there is a hint of the kid with his nose pressed at the sweet shop window. I ask if he ever indulged in rock's sartorial extravagances and he says: "I never had the figure, but I used to have drainpipe trousers and luminous green socks in the cupboard. I never dared wear them in public. My father would have been furious. Just having them was enough." He denies he is deliberately contrary, only liking bands before they are successful, insisting he still loves White Stripes, (number one with an album he compares to Sgt Pepper; the American band is so grateful for Peel discovering them they played at his Suffolk farm). But he declares Japan is ahead of us musically, and you can't get much more contrary than that. And asked who he is most proud of discovering, he says: "None really." The worst crime of bands? Going commercial, which "emasculates the music". Yet he is equally sceptical of the Sex Pistols and Paul Weller ("not a jolly boy") who made fortunes denouncing capitalism. He's old Labour, but can spot pop political posturing: "I used to have a friend who was Britain's only White Panther. He claimed property was theft. So I said, 'Well I'll relieve you of these Gene Vincent EPs'. It turned out property was theft except for his Gene Vincent EPs." The worst period for pop, he reckons, was just before punk. "Anyone who wonders why punk came along should hear this album by Yes. It's called something like Tales of Topographic Oceans. It was a double LP of such bollocks. And I went to see Rick Wakeman, nice fella, but his music then was such pretentious s---e." Harsh judgments sound odd in the familiar (fake) Scouse drawl, the feelgood voice of Home Truths, which he admits: "My own brother described as slightly soft-centred." Is it? "Well that's kind of inevitable if you're dealing with families with real crises." Pop psychologists have sought to say his own childhood was a crisis from which he never recovered: sent to boarding school by a father he didn't know returning from the war; could this, they wonder, be why he rebelled and went Scouse? "No, I think I'm quite a well- adjusted bloke. There are things I regret, mainly that I never got to know what a nice bloke he was." So papa wasn't austere? "Bear in mind the era," he reflects. "It's a key moment when you stop feel-ing sorry for yourself and start to feel sorry for your parents." But did he make a conscious decision to be closer to his own children? "I don't think you can do that. There isn't such a thing as a good dad; there's just a less bad dad. I was affected by not seeing my dad until I was six, but a lot of my generation never saw their dads at all. He was affected by not seeing his son." Just as Peel talks about his sprogs on air (much to their chagrin) his father, he discovered, talked about him in Liverpool's Old Hall club. "He'd say, 'You'll never guess what that damn fool boy of mine has done now'. If he were really ashamed he wouldn't have told them. So I think that reflects a certain pride." A poignant story from a charming chap. How much of this will be articulated in the book is unclear: it sounds fun but decidedly quirky. "The first sentence will be, 'The junior officers exchanged glances. Mrs Bradshaw was on board again'." Who is Mrs Bradshaw? "I've no idea, I just thought it was very catchy." The chapter chronicling his childhood years will be called The Hegemony of the Baltic, a heading in a history book at school. "I didn't know then and I don't know now what it is, but it seemed to have a certain poetry." His national treasure status is no coincidence: he is deeply English. He shows me a 1,000-year-old coin he has just bought: "Imagine a soldier slapping that on the bar and saying, 'The beers are on me'." Lately Peel has been shown more reverence than the Pope, and nobody finds that more embarrassing than Peel himself. It is no criticism to say he has always been a chancer. Right when he landed his first job as a DJ - having failed as an insurance salesman in west Texas as customers asked him endlessly to repeat his patter because they liked his posh accent "and never bought any bloody insurance" - he made out he was a Beatles expert. "Just being from the Liverpool area was enough. I knew nothing about the Beatles and so people would phone in and ask what colour eyes Paul McCartney had. I'd say, 'I'll answer that after the next record', and quickly look at a picture." Such desperation only makes him easier for the average Joe to identify with. He had gone to Texas seeking adventure but became "an office boy with every prospect of remaining one". Only the tenuous Beatles connections got him his first slot. He was fired in Oklahoma but got on better in San Bernardino. Back in London in 1967 he met a senior sort at Radio London, his mother's next-door neighbour. "I said I'd come back from California which they thought was so cool they put me straight on air without an audition, which was just as well." And from here his career took off, with those of the bands he discovered, notably when Bryan Ferry sent him a hazy recording of what would become Roxy Music's first single Virginia Plain. (more on website) (via Mike Terry, DXLD) ** U K. SUDDENLY, THE BBC IS A WORLD-BEATER From BusinessWeek APRIL 28, 2003 The U.S. may have won the war in Iraq, but when it comes to the battle of the airwaves, victory belongs to the British Broadcasting Corp. "The Beeb" is gaining viewers from around the globe with its sober, authoritative coverage of the war. Even in the U.S., the world's most competitive media market, the BBC is making inroads against other 24-hour international news channels such as CNN and Fox News. Viewers who feel as if coverage has been too unrelentingly pro- U.S. have been flocking to the Beeb. "I cannot trust any of the other stations to be truthful," says Aletha Carlton, 68, a retired art therapist in Norwalk, Conn. "They appear to omit what could be seen as critical of the U.S. The BBC doesn't leave things out." It's also true that the Beeb has come in for plenty of criticism. From the right, the BBC is dubbed the Baghdad Broadcasting Corp., while the left complains that it's more like the Blair-Bush Corp. But in journalistic terms, BBC brass figures, they must be doing something right when the barbs come from both sides. Indeed, for a growing number of viewers like Carlton, the BBC stands for better, balanced coverage. Tune into the BBC during the recent conflict, and you'd have gotten the usual reports from embedded journalists and the Pentagon. But viewers have also noted the detailed interviews with locals in Iraq and reports from the rest of the Arab world with less visual clutter and flag-waving. The Beeb's wartime popularity has even allowed it to shake off some stodginess: The New York Post recently nicknamed the BBC's Baghdad correspondent, Rageh Omaar, the Scud Stud of this Iraq war. In other words, what the first Gulf War did for CNN internationally, the Iraq conflict is doing for the Beeb. People all over the world are watching BBC World, tuning into the BBC World Service radio broadcasts, or logging onto the BBC's Web site. "Frankly, we're stunned at the reaction," says Terrel Cass, president of WLIW-TV on Long Island, which distributes BBC World to public-TV stations. Audiences outside Britain tune into BBC World, the broadcaster's commercially funded 24-hour news channel. In the U.S., news shows from the nine-year-old BBC World are shown on 221 public stations and via cable-and-satellite channel BBC America, which is supported by advertising unlike its ad-free service at home. Since the start of the war, ratings in the U.S. are up 28%, with 662,000 homes tuning in, according to Nielsen Media Research. But even before, BBC World was increasing market share. In the past year, BBC World's global audience has increased by 27%, to 254 million. "BBC doesn't just have a British view. It has a world view for the world," says Mark Byford, director of the BBC's World Service and Global News. Its new momentum could allow the once-sleepy BBC to start poaching some advertising from its hard-driving rivals CNN and Fox. "Eventually the afterglow effect dissipates, like it did with CNN after the Gulf War in 1991," says Larry Gerbrandt, chief content officer at consultancy Kagan World Media. "But the smaller services this time around could have more success," because they're distinctive. Welcome news back in London, to be sure, where BBC World posted losses of $24 million for the year ended Mar. 31, 2002, due largely to declines in ad revenue. Add to that the $1.6 million a week the BBC has been spending on war coverage. Until the war, most Americans knew the BBC more for its high-quality dramas and comedies, like East Enders and Absolutely Fabulous, which gained a cult following. BBC Worldwide, the corporation's commercial arm, sold more than 40,000 hours of programming last year, contributing to revenue gains of 12% to more than $1 billion. BBC Worldwide even managed to give back $167 million to the publicly funded news service in Britain last year. Watch out, CNN and Fox -- the Brits are back. By Kerry Capell in London with Tom Lowry in New York (via Mike Terry, Apr 21, DXLD) Gee, I`ve heard of the ``BBC`` before, in connection with some radio thing (gh, DXLD) ** U S A. I was in New Orleans over the Easter weekend and took a drive out the WRNO transmitter site. At no time did I hear the station on during my three day visit. It was noted a number of weeks ago using 7354v in the evenings. Some folks have confused the transmitter site with the old studio site in the town of Metairie. The transmitter site is on what is referred to locally as the West Bank (of the Mississippi River) near the town of Marrero on Barataria Blvd. The area is changing rapidly and new housing construction is taking place close by and it looks like one housing development is adjacent to the site. When the station was built, much of this area was simply used for fishing and hunting. There is a bit more graffiti sprayed on the brick transmitter building now and some small trees and brush appear to have grown up into the lower reaches of the antenna where it comes close to the ground. Other than that, the site looks the same as when I saw it about two years ago (Hans Johnson, LA, Apr 22, Cumbredx mailing list via WORLD OF RADIO 1179, DXLD) ** U S A [non]. Voice of America frequency changes (A-03 vs A-02): 0500-0530 Albanian NF 11805, 11825 and 13615, ex 6130, 7180, 9585 1600-1630 Albanian NF 9575 and 17725, ex 11905 and 15245 1800-1900 Amh/Oro/Tigr NF 13670, ex 15525 1500-1530 Armenian NF 11680, ex 15410 1730-1800 Azeri NF 9740, ex 9435 || effective from April 10 1600-1700 Bangla NF 9740, ex 9590 1300-1500 Cantonese NF 9575, 11865, 15500, ex 6090, 9355, 15160 1630-1700 Creole NF 21555, ex 21540 2100-2130 Creole NF 13725 and 21555, ex 13745 and 21540 0430-0500 Croatian NF 11855, ex 7185 0130-0230 Dari NF 15730, ex 15690 0530-0630 Dari on 17710 and 21550 || additional txion 0530-0630 French NF 6095, 9885, 13695, ex 7265, 9480, 13705 1830-2130 French NF 9830 and 15730, ex 7340 and 9605 2100-2130 French NF 17750, ex 17755 and DEL 5985 0500-0530 Hausa NF 6095, ex 7105 and DEL 9480 1500-1600 Hausa NF 9710 and 13695, ex 7135 and 9540 2030-2100 Hausa NF 9830 and 15730, ex 7340 and 9605 1600-1700 Hindi NF 11705, 12115, 15290, ex 11695, 11905, 15125 1430-1500 Indonesian on 9510, 9585 and 15105 || additional txion 2200-2230 Khmer NF 13725, ex 13735 0330-0430 Kinyarwanda NF 6095 and 13725, ex 9895 and 11825 1200-1300 Korean on 7215 and 7235 || additional txion 1300-1400 Korean NF 7215, ex 7260 and DEL 12010 0400-0500 Kurdish on 9705, 11690 and 15130 || additional txion 1300-1400 Kurdish on 9695, 9825 and 15170 || additional txion 1600-1700 Kurdish NF 15235, ex 15450 1800-1900 Kurdish on 11905 and 15545 || additional txion 0700-1000 Mandarin NF 13720 || additional freq 0030-0230 Pashto NF 15730, ex 15690 1830-1930 Pashto on 801 || additional txion 1700-1900 Persian NF 7280 and 15585, ex 12030 and 15145 1900-2000 Persian on 9780, 11815 and 12030 || additional txion 0430-0500 Portuguese NF 6095, 7340, 9885, 13725, ex 7370, 7415, 9480, 9675 1700-1830 Portuguese NF 9830, ex 13600 1730-1830 Portuguese NF 15730, ex 7375 1300-1400 Russian NF 17730, ex 11895 0530-0600 Serbian NF 11805, 11825, 13615, ex 6130, 7180, 9585 1700-1730 Serbian NF 11665, ex 7115 1930-2000 Serbian NF 11910, ex 11875 1630-1730 Swahili NF 9815 and 15730, ex 12080 and 15555 0400-0500 Ukrainian NF 11805 and 11895, ex 9710 and 11865 2000-2030 Ukrainian NF 3975 and 11910, ex 9565 and 11885 1500-1530 Uzbek NF 7260, 17665, 17685, ex 7265, 15580, 17785 2230-2330 Vietnamese NF 13725, ex 13735 73 from (Ivo and Angel! Observer, Bulgaria, April 21 via DXLD) I`m not sure of the usefulness of such comparisons, but it must have been a lot of trouble to compile this! (gh, DXLD) ** U S A. ARAB WORLD NOW FACES INVASION BY AMERICAN TV Oliver Burkeman in Washington, Thursday April 24, 2003, The Guardian Washington's battle to win public support in the Arab world has begun in earnest with the first broadcasts of what officials say will become a 24-hour satellite television network aimed at changing minds throughout the region by American-style morning chat-shows, sports, news and children's programmes. . . http://www.guardian.co.uk/Iraq/Story/0,2763,942356,00.html (via Jilly Dybka, TN, DXLD) ** U S A. TBN DENIED PERMISSION FOR OUTDOOR PROGRAMMES Los Angeles City Council has rejected an application from Trinity Broadcasting Network (TBN), the world's largest Christian television ministry, from holding religious services outdoors. The council unanimously voted to reverse an earlier decision by the Planning Commission to grant a conditional use permit to record outdoor services from broadcasting. The permit was conditional on TBN spending nine months adhering to 24 restrictions, including limiting the hours of its light display and getting tour buses out of surrounding neighbourhoods. The station appealed those restrictions to the City Council. TBN lawyers say they believe TBN has a legal right to hold services outdoors, and they will pursue the issue. (© Radio Netherlands Media Network 24 April 2003 via DXLD) A public nuisance, for sure, even when not outdoors (gh) ** U S A. STORM HITS US AIRWAVES OVER RADIO CONTROL --- Media giant Clear Channel is accused of censorship and a pro-Bush agenda, reports Edward Helmore, Sunday April 20, 2003, The Observer In the shadow war on Iraq - that of propaganda and media spin - no US media giant has been more supportive than Texas-based Clear Channel Communications. Last week, the company, which owns some 1,200 commercial radio stations and counts more than 100 million listeners a week, came under intense criticism for organising pro-war rallies, muzzling anti-war protests and blocking anti-war music from its broadcasts. Although the company insists it has no political agenda, its background as a beneficiary of Republican-sponsored media deregulation and close ties to many of the businessmen that backed George Bush's business and political career, has left it vulnerable to the accusation. Clear Channel, which is owned by the Mays family of San Antonio, is not only by far the largest owner of radio stations in the US. It also owns the largest concert promotions business and the greatest number of billboards, including most of those in Times Square. It has grown from a handful of radio stations to a concentration in many of the biggest markets, including New York and Los Angeles, that dwarfs competitors. It is the subject of congressional hearings into allegations that it has used its market dominance to skirt laws against pay-for-play, the practice once known as payola. Critics accuse it of engineering cultural homogenisation by programming music and news radio (the company syndicates right-wing fixtures Rush Limbaugh and Dr Laura Schlessinger) to the extent that there is no longer any differentiation between what is broadcast in markets thousands of miles apart. Clear Channel is accused of drumming up support for the war in Iraq, while muzzling those who oppose it. When Natalie Maines, singer of the Texas band The Dixie Chicks, commented that she was ashamed of the president, Clear Channel country radio stations were the first to drop the band from playlists. Others who critics say have been blacklisted include Lenny Kravitz, Michael Stipe of REM and Ani DiFranco. DiFranco claims she was pressured by Clear Channel concert promoters to bar anti-war groups from speaking at one of her concerts. Clear Channel dismisses the claims as 'laughable'. The company, says radio division president John Hogan, is 'in the business of having the largest possible audience, not the most politically unified audience'. Of course, the same argument is made against other media organisations. Rupert Murdoch's Fox News network has been accused of having the most unapologetically patriotic tone throughout the build- up to and execution of combat in Iraq. CNN, too, has found itself under attack for beating a pro-war drum. Bill Kovach, chairman of the Committee of Concerned Journalists, says Fox News 'has the most visibly ideological and politicised coverage you'll find on cable TV news'. Whether real or perceived, pro-war bias has paid off. Fox has enjoyed a daily average audience of 5.6 million, while CNN has averaged just 4.4 million. Polls have found that 57 per cent of viewers who favoured the war thought the media coverage 'excellent', while 38 per cent of those opposed agreed. As the war winds down, the pro-war media has launched a fierce counter-attack against critics, such as the New York Times, who warned of a military quagmire in Iraq. 'On the whole, the media has been uncritically accepting of the administration's point of view,' says Michael Wolff, media critic for New York Magazine. 'The administration has entire control of the news cycle right now.' But even Fox, the most actively pro-government TV network, has not gone as far as Clear Channel in pursuing an active pro-government agenda beyond broadcasting. Two weeks ago, it was found that the radio giant had co-sponsored and promoted a dozen or so pro-war rallies across America. Rival radio executives say the rallies run counter to the government charter that regulates licensing the airwaves. 'It flies right in the face of the fact that the government has always said that radio stations should have a balanced view of what is going on, serve the public interest and not take sides,' said one. Clear Channel is extremely vulnerable to accusations of bias because of its close ties to the administration. Charles James, a senior official in the antitrust division at the Department of Justice, was formerly with a Washington law firm that represented Clear Channel when the company sought approval of its 2000 purchase of AMFM Inc, creating a national radio chain, and also when it purchased the giant concert promoter, SFX. Thomas O Hicks, chairman of Dallas-based investment firm Hicks, Muse, Tate & Furst and former co-owner of AMFM, who now sits on the board at Clear Channel, helped Bush become a millionaire when he facilitated the purchase of the Texas Rangers in 1999. In addition, Hicks steered a controversial scheme to use the University of Texas' $13 billion endowment for private investment. Among the beneficiaries were the Carlyle Group, the arms investment firm tied to both George Bush Snr and the bin Laden family, and George W Bush's controversial Harken Oil drilling project in Bahrain. The firm also stands accused of playing a role in the current desperation of the music industry. A convoluted and shadowy system by which record companies pay radio promoters who hold contracts with Clear Channel stations to get their music on air is nothing less than corporate payola, critics charge. The system, they say, costs the industry more than half a billion dollars a year and has contributed to bland and repetitive music on radio, which has in turn contributed to the precipitous drop in sales of record music. Clear Channel dismisses such claims and, with some justification, says it is widely feared and vilified simply because it is so vast. Charges of political bias are notoriously difficult to prove, but the controversy has been interpreted by many as further evidence that the Bush administration views government and business as one. As New York Times columnist Paul Krugman noted: 'We should have realised this is a two-way street. If politicians are doing favours for businesses that support them, why shouldn't we expect businesses to reciprocate by doing favours for those politicians?' (via Mike Terry, DXLD) ** U S A. Datacasting is one of those best-kept secrets in the U.S.," said Jay Trager, chief operating officer of National Datacast (NDI), a subsidiary of the Public Broadcasting Service that has offered datacasting services since 1988 to Microsoft, TV Guide owner Gemstar- TV Guide International and other customers. . . http://zdnet.com.com/2100-1103-997979.html (via Jilly Dybka, TN, DXLD) ** U S A. Has anyone noticed that IBOC is running 24/7 on WSAI, 1530? Is it causing interference to adjacents in your area? It's an experimental license, so that night operation is permitted. WOR also runs at night sometimes (Randy Michaels, Clear Channel, Apr 22, radiotech mailing list via Mark Durenberger, NRC-AM via DXLD) Is it causing interference to adjacents? Only that the adjacents are now useless for the digital noise on the sidebands. I suppose that constitutes interference. Gerry Bishop Noisyville, FL ** U S A. FCC Approved for IBOC The following is a list of AM and FM stations that have been approved by the FCC for hybrid IBOC operation, compiled from the FCC CDBS, April 22. Note that 710 WOR is not listed despite its long-standing supporting role in IBOC testing. Call Location Freq. WJLD Fairfield, AL 1400 KNX Los Angeles, CA 1070 KCBS San Francisco, CA 740 WRHB Kendall, FL 1020 WKAT North Miami, FL 1360 WWNN Pompano Beach, FL 1470 WJNA Royal Palm Beach, FL 640 WBZ Boston, MA 1030 WWJ Detroit, MI 950 WTWZ Clinton, MS 1120 KXNT North Las Vegas, NV 840 WWTR Bridgewater, NJ 1170 WMTR Morristown, NJ 1250 WCTC New Brunswick, NJ 1450 WOLF Syracuse, NY 1490 WRMR Cleveland, OH 1420 WPEN Philadelphia, PA 950 KOAL Price, UT 750 WTMJ Milwaukee, WI 620 KKBT Los Angeles, CA 100.3 KROQ-FM Pasadena, CA 106.7 KKDV San Francisco, CA 95.7 KOIT-FM San Francisco, CA 96.5 KDFC-FM San Francisco, CA 102.1 WKIS Boca Raton, FL 99.9 WRMA Fort Lauderdale, FL 106.7 WUSF Tampa, FL 89.7 WBEZ Chicago, IL 91.5 WDRV Chicago, IL 97.1 WUSN Chicago, IL 99.5 WTMX Skokie, IL 101.9 KZIA Cedar Rapis, IA 102.9 WASE Radcliff, KY 103.5 WTKK Boston, MA 96.9 WBOS Brookline, MA 92.9 WROR-FM Framingham, MA 105.7 WQSX Lawrence, MA 93.7 WKLB-FM Lowell, MA 99.5 WAAF Worcester, MA 107.3 WCSX Birmingham, MI 94.7 WMGC-FM Detroit, MI 105.1 WMGQ New Brunswick, NJ 98.3 WNEW New York, NY 102.7 WNWV Elyria, OH 107.3 WYGY Lebanon, OH 96.5 WMWX Philadelphia, PA 95.7 WMGK Philadelphia, PA 102.9 WIVA-FM Aguadilla, PR 100.3 WZAR Ponce, PR 101.9 WFID Rio Piedras, PR 95.7 WPRM-FM San Juan, PR 98.5 KBKS Tacoma, WA 106.1 WKWS Charleston, WV 96.1 WVAQ Morgantown, WV 101.9 (Bruce Conti - Nashua NH http://members.aol.com/baconti/bamlog.htm 22 Apr 2003 15:40:43 EDT, NRC-AM via DXLD) Radio One previously stated they were going to be among the first to embrace the technology starting at their Boston (actually Brockton) FM outlet. Yet WBOT 97.7 is not on that list either. Strange (Allan Dunn, K1UCY, ibid.) The early ones are probably operating with a STA (Paul Smith, W4KNX, Sarasota, FL, ibid.) And where is Detroit 1200? WLW 700? WSB 750? I think I'll take the FCC list with the usual half grain of salt (Chuck Hutton, ibid.) The HD Radio Scorecard in the current edition of Radio World lists 35 AM and 73 FM stations. They term this as a partial list. They included STAs, stations confirmed on the air, experimental authorizations, stations that have ordered HD equipment, and stations that have made a commitment to HD. WOR is on that list. And I was very surprised to see KNRC`s new 1150 outlet on the list as Colorado's first HD-R station. That explains why they have been off the air to "install a new transmitter and upgrade the transmitter plant" the past couple of months. BTW they expect to return to the air // to 1510 this week or next. They have already been on with OC for several days. Also I posted some photos of the 1150 transmitter site that I took this past weekend on my web site at http://community.webtv.net/n0nnk/ (Patrick Griffith, CBT, Westminster, CO, USA, ibid.) ** U S A. INVENTOR OF CANNED LAUGHTER DIES Wed, Apr 23, 2003 03:24 PM PDT LOS ANGELES (Zap2it.com) - The inventor of the machine that provides canned laughter for television shows, boon to some producers and bane to some viewers, has died. . . http://tv.zap2it.com/news/tvnewsdaily.html?31198 (via Jilly Dybka, TN, DXLD) Anyone notice how in the past year, the canned laughter level has been jacked up on shows even with a live studio audience, such as Leno and Letterman? I can barely stand to listen to them anymore, since the laughers go absolutely wild every few seconds at the mildest hint of humour. We`re supposed to believe this is real? (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** VENEZUELA. El colega Ricardo Leonel García me informa de una nueva emisora venezolana en la red; se trata de FM Noticias 97.3 desde la Isla de Margarita. Su dirección es la siguiente: http://www.fmnoticias.com (José Elías Díaz Gómez, Cumbre DX via DXLD) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ RECEIVER NEWS +++++++++++++ CAN GRUNDIG BE SAVED? STILL HOPE FOR THE FLAGGING COMPANY Munich (pte, Apr 22, 2003 10:15) - The German electronics manufacturer Grundig http://www.grundig.de which filed for insolvency last week, might still have a chance to redeem its financial losses. The Turkish electronic company Beko, which had made a bid several weeks ago, has been made an offer to takeover the Nuremberg firm without its previously incurred debts, reports the newspaper Welt am Sonntag http://www.welt.de If this happens, about 150 Meuros of Grunidg`s accumulated debts will remain in the creditor banks, and the Cologne Pension Security Association will take responsibility for 200m euros worth of pension-cost debts. The takeover will only come into effect if Grundig finally declares insolvency. According to the newspaper, June is the deadline for the takeover bid, if Grundig refrains from taking out more loans for its out-standing debts. Until then, the two companies must have an official and clean business agreement. Beko withdrew its bid for potential ownership of Grundig in early April after a considerable negotiation period. The first company interested in making a bid in March was the Taiwanese company Sampo Electronics. Sampo withdrew its bid for Grundig after two months of negotiations because it couldn`t secure loans from European banks. (end) (from http://www.pressetext.com/pte.mc?pte=030422012 via Bill Westenhaver, Apr 22, DXLD) POWERLINE COMMUNICATIONS Update: FCC SEEKS COMMENT ON POWER LINE BROADBAND -- STEP HAS POTENTIAL TO SPAWN GREATER COMPETITION FOR DSL, CABLE MODEM By Grant Gross April 23, 2003 WASHINGTON -- Hailing the step as a "monumental moment," the U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC) voted Wednesday to solicit public comment on broadband Internet service delivered over ordinary electric power lines, a step that could create widespread competition for cable modem and DSL (Digital Subscriber Line) services. . . http://www.infoworld.com/article/03/04/23/HNfccseeks_1.html (via Jilly Dybka, TN, DXLD) DRM +++ Radio Netherlands will broadcast 37 program hours per week in English and Dutch to Australia, New Zealand and target regions in Europe. From the 5th of July until the 27th of July 2003, Radio Netherlands will broadcast `Radio Tour de France` for 4 hours per day. 37 Program Hours for 37 listeners (MAYBE?). As stations cut budgets, cut programming quality and to broadcast to no one, what are they thinking? What good does broadcasting in DRM do? You can not even buy a DRM radio (yes, I know, Ph.D`s in electronical engineering can buy the parts and convert an expensive radio). Where's the 'killer application?' Give me a break, a radio with the audio quality of FM mono is not a killer app. Not even a top radio station spin doctor can sell this one. In some very rural third and fourth world countries, DRM will be a killer app, but if takes five years` salary to buy a radio, I do not think people are going to give up eating to listen to Radio Netherlands. A bottom of the range PVR (Personal Video Recorder) costs ($299 for the Echo Star 508) which I'm guessing will be the cost a DRM new equipped portable radio, is a killer app. Those of us who own a PVR think it is a killer application AND they are not flying off the shelves. In all the reports on DRM I have never heard any results of testing against jamming. Based on its all-or-nothing audio, I assume it will a jammer`s best friend. Where is shortwave radio most needed? In areas that have little or no democracy, where they will make 95% of DRM radios. If this place allows the sale, they will also know DRM's secrets! --- how to effectively jam. Do you really think an $8 a week laborer, if they can afford one of these radios, will be able to listen to the BBC, VOA, or RFA in FM mono quality? Dream on (Larry Nebron, CA, DX LISTENING DIGEST) MUSEA +++++ SITE OF GE'S EARLIEST TV EXPERIMENTS SET FOR DEMOLITION SCHENECTADY, N.Y. (AP) -- A General Electric building where researchers conducted some of the country's earliest experiments with television is set for demolition, disappointing historic preservationists. GE obtained a city permit Tuesday to take down the six-story structure, known as Building 36 -- one of the oldest remaining at the Power System complex in this city 10 miles northwest of Albany. "It's no longer adequate to house employees safely or prudently," said company spokeswoman Jan Smith. Renovating the building, constructed in 1921, would cost $14 million, she said. Demolition should be completed within a few weeks, she said. Preservationists had urged GE to leave the building intact and possibly donate it to Schenectady County or Union College. "GE should have more civic responsibility," said Barbara Blanchard, chairwoman of the Schenectady Heritage Foundation. But Smith claimed the structure was "in no condition to turn over to anybody." The company's ties to Schenectady date back to the late 1800s. But for years, GE has phased out its operations locally and torn down buildings as it sought to reduce property taxes. GE has demolished 57 buildings at the complex since 1985. About 35 buildings remain on the tax roll (via Mike Cooper, April 24, DXLD) COMMENTARY ++++++++++ QSLing BELLABARBA The comments in DXLD resulted in a mail from me to Dario Monferini: Thomas Nilsson: Is it really true that you support this guy and publish his fake "qsl:s" in Play DX?? Please give me an honest answer to this. Regards (Thomas Nilsson, SW Bulletin) --------------------------- Dario Monferini: I don't edit the "confirmations" of Bellabarba in PLAYDX... if you look at the past year bulletins... you will find a special section called "BELLABARBA COLLECTION" this is a basic documentation to know the radio stations who has replied to Bellabarba, this is very important, cause these radio stations cleary do not control the reports they receive. Bellabarba send to me the photocopies so I have the real documentation... and sometimes there are also NEGATIVE replies I naturally WRITE in the column if the reply is NEGATIVE. Bellabarba is not interested if the reply is negative or positive...he just want a reply...possibly with good seal of the station....... Naturally I don't know which stations has not replied to Bellabarba... also this list should be useful. In the elencation usually I don't list FM stations based outside Europe, this is cause such informations are of no real utilisation. I don't see nothing of terrible to make these informations known, but I find quite strange Mr. Martin Schoech in Germany in his QSL section put these replies together replies of many famous Dxers.. but no one is reacting.... WHY !!!??? Ask to Mr Schoech to cancel all the fake QSL of Bellabarba he has put in list.... Surely Mr. Schoech will reply.... these are informations usefuls.... He has also done a page devoted to Mr.Bellabarba.... but NO ONE has ever protested or done something to stop the Bellabarba activity..... I guess if I edit the list of the collection of Bellabarba replies under separate section in PLAYDX I am doing the same "service" Mr. Schoech is doing... or may be only him is allowed to do this "service" ? Thanks for your message. Best regards Dario ---------------------------- Thomas Nilsson: I don't agree at all that it is important to list fake QSL´s. It is the responsibility to all editors to reject such items in their bulletins. I hope you will in the future make all efforts you can to condemn this type of QSL collecting. It is a sick man who send reception reports for stations he has not heard. It is even harder to understand that you or somebody else bothers to make any type of records of such material. Please stop this silly game. Regards. -------------------------- Dario Monferini: I think we live in a planet where everyone is free to have his opinion, even if a majority is against that opinion. However I don't understand why no one is blaming the Martin Schoech attitude to put the Bellabarba informations in his good column... question is why many are only acting against PLAYDX ... ??? I send the informations by file to Martin ... and he says every time THANKS ... To stop Bellabarba attitude...is not so easy ... you mind ... just don't tell to anyone... well but this will not solve the problem... I think Bellabarba is buying every year the European FM Handbook to Finland ... and they are happy to sell a copy to Bellabarba and to get the money of Bellabarba... that money is naturally welcome... even if Bellabarba will utilize that book to send thousands of fake reports... so Thomas.. why you don't write to Finnish friends asking STOP TO SELL THE BOOK to Mr. Bellabarba ??? (paradoxally is JIM SOLATIE one of the compiler of the book....) Another argument: I may find in the replies collected by Bellabarba , some items usefuls for get replies from stations, well if I edit them without his name as source are they okay ?? and if I edit as coming from his source .. they are bad...??? I edit one time per year the info coming from Bellabarba ... ONE TIME !! not every issue... and I edit cleary stating they are COLLECTION OF BELLABARBA.... The matter is if this show cleary ,many times the replies coming from some Latin American stations are done quite automatically ... this make also the other replies of no value ?... so this and only this is the point... this hurt the mayority of the listeners... (a minority is sending very very poor reports....) Our hobby is becomed very different from the beginning... now everyone try to BUY the confirmations.... TIN is visiting Peru and Bolivia getting QSLs from people who has given to him ... original reports and..... people is able to do travels just to visit stations and try in all ways a reply to the unreplied reports.... people is sending 30 follow ups ... people is just doing everything to get a verification.... I remember in the 1980's Bellabarba was member of UMEA DX KLUB... and they used to edit all his fakes replies, but after I reacted and said stop cause they are all fakes... they put out Bellabarba... and I do the same from PLAYDX for 12 years... well in 1992 I discovered in one of my travels to south america... many fakes reports from Bellabarba... even some stations I visited in Argentina...and Venezuela and Colombia...supposed I was Mr. Bellabarba.... this hurted me very much... and so I realized the isolation of Bellabarba was of no real result... he was going on.... So I contacted him and requested to get photocopies of the replies... and he sent MANY.... Only an international reaction with hundreds of messages to him may have a result... But as far as I may see... everyone is just preferring to make silent this story... better to put a stone... or close the door.. and dream everything in our hobby is pure and clean.... Regards, Dario [sic] ----------------------------- This resulted in a mail sent to the Martin Schoech website: I had a mail discussion with Dario Monferini asking him to stop listing QSL´s from Bellabarba. He says in a letter that you have such QSL's in your listings. I hope this is not true. I can understand you have a site with only Bellabarba stuff warning others to do so, but I can't understand why such QSL´s will end up in any decent listings. Please give me a note if this statement from Dario Monferini is true. Regards, Thomas Nilsson, editor of SWB (No reaction yet has been heard. /ed) (all: SW Bulletin Apr 20 via DXLD) PROPAGATION +++++++++++ FORECAST OF SOLAR AND GEOMAGNETIC ACTIVITY 23 APRIL - 19 MAY 2003 Solar activity is expected to range from very low to moderate levels. With a number of new regions returning to the visible disk, C-class activity is expected with a chance of isolated M-class events. New Regions 337, 338 (S19, L=280, class/area Dso/40 on 20 April), and 339 are all quite active and exhibit some magnetic complexity. No greater than 10 MeV proton events are expected during the forecast period. The greater than 2 MeV electron flux may reach high levels on 27 – 28 April, 02 – 03 May, 08 – 10 May, and again on 15 – 19 May. These high flux levels are all due to returning coronal holes. The geomagnetic field is expected to range from quiet to major storm levels. Activity early in the period is expected to be unsettled to isolated major storm levels due to a combination of a returning coronal hole on 23 April and a weak CME shock. Unsettled to active conditions with the possibility of isolated minor storming is expected to continue through 27 April. Two weaker coronal holes are due to return to a geo-effective position on 29 April – 02 May and 06 – 08 May with unsettled to active conditions expected. On 12 May, a large southern coronal hole is due to return and may result in unsettled to isolated major storm levels from 12 – 18 May. :Product: 27-day Space Weather Outlook Table 27DO.txt :Issued: 2003 Apr 22 2211 UTC # Prepared by the US Dept. of Commerce, NOAA, Space Environment Center # Product description and SEC contact on the Web # http://www.sec.noaa.gov/wwire.html # # 27-day Space Weather Outlook Table # Issued 2003 Apr 22 # # UTC Radio Flux Planetary Largest # Date 10.7 cm A Index Kp Index 2003 Apr 23 140 20 4 2003 Apr 24 145 20 4 2003 Apr 25 145 15 3 2003 Apr 26 145 20 4 2003 Apr 27 150 20 4 2003 Apr 28 145 15 3 2003 Apr 29 145 15 3 2003 Apr 30 145 15 3 2003 May 01 140 20 4 2003 May 02 135 20 4 2003 May 03 130 10 3 2003 May 04 120 10 3 2003 May 05 115 10 3 2003 May 06 110 20 4 2003 May 07 105 20 4 2003 May 08 105 20 4 2003 May 09 105 10 3 2003 May 10 100 12 3 2003 May 11 100 15 3 2003 May 12 100 20 4 2003 May 13 100 25 5 2003 May 14 100 25 5 2003 May 15 110 20 4 2003 May 16 115 20 4 2003 May 17 120 15 3 2003 May 18 125 15 3 2003 May 19 130 10 3 (from http://www.sec.noaa.gov/radio April 22 via WORLD OF RADIO 1179, DXLD) ###