DX LISTENING DIGEST 3-095, May 31, 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/dxldtd3e.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 1184: RFPI: Sat 1730, 2330, Sun 0530, 1130, 1830, Mon 0030, 0630, 1230, Tue 1900, Wed 0100, 0730, 1330 7445 15039 WWCR: Sun 0230 5070, 0630 3210, Wed 0930 9475 WJIE: Sun 1030, 1630 7490 13595 (maybe) WBCQ: Mon 0445 7415 WRN ONDEMAND: 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/wor1184.rm (Stream) http://www.k4cc.net/wor1184.ram [High] (Download) http://www.k4cc.net/wor1184h.rm (Stream) http://www.k4cc.net/wor1184h.ram (Summary) http://www.worldofradio.com/wor1184.html CONTINENT OF MEDIA 03-03! New edition is now available, on RFPI 7445, 15039: Sat 2130, Sun 0330, 0930; Thu 2000, Fri 0200, 0830 Also via DXing.com: {Stream) http://www.dxing.com/com/com0303.ram (Download) http://www.dxing.com/com/com0303.rm And via our site: (Stream) http://www.k4cc.net/com0303.ram (Download) http://www.k4cc.net/com0303.rm (Summary) http://www.worldofradio.com/com0303.html WORLD OF RADIO, CONTINENT OF MEDIA, MUNDO RADIAL BROADCAST SCHEDULE EFFECTIVE JUNE 1, 2003 It always pays to check all RFPI frequencies beyond their scheduled hours. Schedule shown is nominal, but it is not unusual for one transmitter to be down, and for programming to run up to an hour late. 15039 resumed in early May so its hours and those of 7445 may be adjusted. For now, we show them both at all times. For logistical reasons except weekends, RFPI repeats after 0600 appear about half an hour later than +12 or +18 hours. WJIE: Operation is irregular; both frequencies are shown altho one or both may be missing. Not all times are confirmed, and often not latest show. For latest updates see our Anomaly Alert page: http://www.worldofradio.com/anomaly.html Days and times here are strictly UT. Wed 2200 WOR WBCQ 7415 17495-CUSB [first airing of each edition] Thu 2000 COM RFPI 7445 15039 Thu 2030 WOR WWCR 15825 Fri 0200 COM RFPI 7445 15039 Fri 0800 COM RFPI 7445 15039 v to 0830 Fri 1400 COM RFPI 7445 15039 v to 1430 Fri 1930 WOR RFPI 7445 15039 Fri 2115 MR WWCR 15825 [or as early as 2110] Fri 2300 WOR Studio X, Momigno, Italy 1584 1566 87.35 96.55 105.55 Sat 0130 WOR RFPI 7445 15039 Sat 0600 WOR WWCR 5070 Sat 0730 WOR RFPI 7445 15039 v to 0800 Sat 0800 WOR WRN1 to Eu, Au, NZ, WorldSpace AfriStar, AsiaStar, Telstar 12 SAm Sat 0855 WOR WNQM Nashville TN 1300 Sat 0930 WOR WJIE 7490 13595 Sat 1330 WOR RFPI 7445 15039 v to 1400 Sat 1530 WOR WMQM Memphis TN 1600 [week delay] Sat 1730 WOR WINB 13570 [NEW from June 7] Sat 1730 WOR RFPI 7445 15039 Sat 1828 WOR WPKN Bridgeport CT 89.5 [week delay] Sat 2130 COM RFPI 7445 15039 Sat 2330 WOR RFPI 7445 15039 Sun 0230 WOR WWCR 5070 Sun 0330 COM RFPI 7445 15039 Sun 0430 WOR WRN to Europe only; webcast via http://www.nyhedsradioen24-7.dk/ Sun 0530 WOR RFPI 7445 15039 Sun 0630 WOR WWCR 3210 Sun 0930 COM RFPI 7445 15039 Sun 1030 WOR WJIE 7490 13595 Sun 1130 WOR RFPI 7445 15039 Sun 1400 WOR WRN to North America, also WLIO-TV Lima OH SAP Sun 1530 COM RFPI 7445 15039 Sun 1630 WOR WJIE 7490 13595 [often early from 1625] Sun 1830 WOR RFPI 7445 15039 Sun 1930 WOR Studio X, Momigno, Italy 1584 1566 87.35 96.55 105.55 Mon 0030 WOR RFPI 7445 15039 Mon 0330 WOR WSUI Iowa City IA 910 [week delay] Mon 0445 WOR WBCQ 7415 Mon 0630 WOR RFPI 7445 15039 v to 0700 Mon 1230 WOR RFPI 7445 15039 v to 1300 Mon 1830 WOR SIUE WEBRADIO http://www.siue.edu/WEBRADIO/ Tue 1900 WOR RFPI 7445 15039 Wed 0100 WOR RFPI 7445 15039 Wed 0700 WOR RFPI 7445 15039 v to 0730 Wed 0930 WOR WWCR 9475 Wed 1300 WOR RFPI 7445 15039 v to 1330 Wed 1830 COM SIUE WEBRADIO http://www.siue.edu/WEBRADIO/ Wed 2100 MR WWCR 15825 Latest edition of this schedule version is at: http://www.worldofradio.com/radioskd.html An expanded schedule also showing local times: http://www.worldofradio.com/wormast.html Internet on demand: see Our Current Audio page for availability: http://www.worldofradio.com/audiomid.html Webcasts at times shown are available from all stations except WWCR, WNQM, WMQM, Studio X. WRN: http://live.wrn.org:8080/ramgen/live/wrnengnaeu.smi or http://live.wrn.org:8080/ramgen/live/wrnengnaus.smi RFPI via SW feed: http://www.boinklabs.com/ifpi.html RFPI direct webcast: http://195.210.0.134:8004/listen.pls [suspended] WJIE: http://www.wjiesw.com WPKN: http://www.wpkn.org WSUI: http://wsui.uiowa.edu ** AFGHANISTAN [non]. Now that R. Afghanistan has the US-supplied 400 kW MW transmitter on 1107, will the sporadic relays via NORWAY on 18940 continue, or the morning service via UAE, which I have lost track of? Please check (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) & see IRAN ** ARGENTINA. 11710, RAE, Buenos Aires, from 0137 with YL in Portuguese with light pop and EZL. SINPO 33333. At 0157, ID in Portuguese, chime interval signal, followed by multi-lingual ID (Spanish, French, English, German, and 3-4 others) and into English program at 0200. By 0200 signal was fading fast at SINPO 22222. May 30. Drake SW8 with whip antenna (Roger Chambers, Utica, NY, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ARGENTINA. 6215, 0034-0050, R. Baluarte, May 22. Tentative logging. I have heard a het on the frequency for some time now and finally above noise floor in rather clear audio. Two males in Spanish with long talks. Audio suddenly dropped down and unable to copy at 0045.Still at S 5 level but no audio (Bob Montgomery, Levittown, PA, NRD 535db, DxPro T2FD antennas, Cumbre DX via DXLD) ** AUSTRALIA. 13685, 1058-, CHRISTIAN VISION INT. May 26. Excellent reception at 1100 and better by 1130. Continuous pop tunes with news at top of hour with ID by female announcer in English. Web address several times. Slight fades but fairly nice signal at S9 to S10 levels. Female with world weather reports at 1135. Male and female in happy prorgram with both adding to the program. Voice talk back program. Dell advert at 1137. Insurance ad at 1138. Format similar to that of the 60's type US medium wave stations. Nice name 'The Planet' http://www.voice.com.au (Bob Montgomery, Levittown, PA, NRD 535db, DxPro T2FD antennas, Cumbre DX via DXLD) What, no evangelism? Stealthy! ``The Planet`` is already taken by a programme on R. Australia, and by a station in Maine (gh, DXLD) ** AUSTRALIA. Have just spent half an hour listening to HCJB Australia starting at 0930 on Saturday May 31st which is the usual time slot for The DX Partyline. All I heard was the same classical music over and over again. I presume this has been done purposely so that Australian DXers could log the DX Partyline from the final English broadcasts of HCJB Ecuador, that means that the program details sent to HCJB Ecuador would have to be genuinely heard FROM Ecuador and that listeners could not cheat by listening to HCJB Australia (which is very easy to do) and write down the DX Partyline details and then send in a report pretending or claiming to have heard HCJB Ecuador. Very clever trick HCJB and congratulations on good thinking! I was lucky to have been able to log Ecuador at 0600 on 9860 [Ecuador to Europe] and even though reception was poor, I managed with some hard listening to log the DX Partyline program details, so, hopefully, I will receive a QSL for my efforts of logging this genuine broadcast. I only hope a lot of other Australian listeners will be able to do the same! Best wishes to you all and I would like to hear if you managed to log HCJB Ecuador and which broadcast you were successful with! (Michael Stevenson, Port Macquarie, N.S.W., Australia, EDXP HF Forum via DXLD) Somehow, I doubt the absence of DXPL was intentional. So what did they say about the future of the show via US SW stations??!! Since the show is not ending, why would there be anything special about QSLing it now?? (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** BENIN. ORTB, 7210.25, May 25 2210-2300* French, vernacular talk, variety of US and French pops, ballads, Afro pops. Sign-off with NA. Weak but in the clear (Brian Alexander, Mechanicsburg PA, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** BOLIVIA. 6585.4, Radio Nueva Esperanza, El Alto, 1010+, May 25. Spanish and Aymara transmission. Religious program - Gospel music. Ann. & ID: "Esperanza con los niños", 25442 (Arnaldo Slaen, Cascomus DX camp, Argentina, hard-core-dx via DXLD) ** BOPUTHATSWANA. RSA: MINISTER CONFIRMS PLANS TO CLOSE BOP BROADCASTING | Text of report by South African news agency SAPA web site Johannesburg, 30 May: The SA [South African] Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) confirmed on Friday [30 May] Communications Minister Ivy Matsepe-Casaburri's recent announcement in parliament that Bop Broadcasting would be closed. SABC said it had already started communicating with the staff at Bop and that the corporation's CEO, Peter Matlare, was due to go to Mmabatho to ensure the process was handled with care. "I believe the SABC has acted responsibly and at all times went out of its way to ensure the best possible outcome for Bop and its staff. There has been ongoing communication with the Bop staff, and we know that the closure of Bop is a very difficult matter for all concerned," Matlare told the staff at SABC on Friday. In her announcement on Thursday [29 May], Matsepe-Casaburri said: "The Broadcasting Amendment Act provides for the launch of regional television stations in two regions of the country. To this end, it has been decided to close the Bop Broadcasting operation and replace it with a service to deliver indigenous languages of the Northern Region." In 1997, the State Reorganization Act sought to integrate the broadcasting assets and services of the former homelands into SABC. Once this decision was taken, the treasury allocated money to meet the funding requirements of Bop, while SABC played a caretaker role. In November 2001 when the subsidy ended, SABC had to fund the operations of Bop from its own coffers. It has spent over 120m rands to date but expects to recover these funds in full from government. Source: SAPA news agency web site, Johannesburg, in English 1624 gmt 30 May 03 (via BBCM via DXLD) ** BOTSWANA. RADIO BOTSWANA TO BROADCAST FOR 24-HOUR FROM 1 JUNE | Text of report by Radio Botswana on 30 May Radio Botswana will start operating for 24-hours with effect from Sunday [1 June]. The station has been operating only up to midnight. The chief broadcasting officer, Mrs Banyana Tshegoe, says the introduction of the 24-hour service is a response to the needs to Radio Botswana listeners. In an audience survey commissioned by the Department of Information and Broadcasting, listeners overwhelmingly indicated that they want a 24-hour service. Source: Radio Botswana, Gaborone, in English 1110 gmt 30 May 03 (via BBCM via DXLD) Oh, no! This could mean the end of the `dawn chorus warmup` of barnyard sounds; check 4820 (gh) ** CANADA. Attn Ontario / Western NY DXers: CN Tower maintenance Monday morning. I have word of a planned shut-down for maintenance purposes of all the FMs at the CN Tower in Toronto from roughly 03:45 to 04:45 [EDT == 0745-0845 UT] this coming Monday morning. The times may vary slightly, and I will be at my Snowball DX site north of Toronto around midnight or 1 am just in case they go down early. They are performing their yearly antenna sweep. Stations affected include 90.3, 91.1, 94.1, 97.3, 98.1, 99.9, 100.7, 102.1, 104.5, 107.1. Some may use auxiliary transmitters, though these can be less powerful. (Saul Chernos, ON, AMFMTVDX at qth.net via DXLD) ** CANADA. Four stories about CBC`s strategy for 2003-2004 TV season: http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/ArticleNews/TPPrint/LAC/20030530/RVDOYL_4/TPEntertainment/ http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/ArticleNews/TPPrint/LAC/20030530/RVCBCC/TPEntertainment/ http://www.canada.com/search/story.aspx?id=f20e7bbf-7046-4bd1-92b8-bf5c7c0dea3d http://www.canada.com/search/story.aspx?id=43c8e860-9f05-4ef9-88fe-500c724eab17 (via Mike Cooper, DXLD) ** CAYMAN ISLANDS. For those of you on 6m, I will be operating as ZF2PB in a couple of days. Wimpy signal -- 5 watts into a folded dipole. Peter, Memphis. (Peter Baskind, J.D., LL.M./AG4KI, Germantown, TN/EM55, May 30, WTFDA via DXLD) See previous story in greater detail ** COLOMBIA [and non]. I heard Radio Melodía last night (29 MAY, 2315 UT) on 6139.8 kHz. In fact heard no ID, but Colombia mentioned several times + time announcement "6:20 en Colombia" at 2320 UT. Then --- suddenly --- switched off at 2321! Nice reception here in the middle of Europe. In fact I was alerted since last evening when I saw K-index jumping on 8, so I expected improved (auroral) conditions along southern paths on low frequencies. [cf. PERU, a different Melodía] Especially Brazil was coming in with nice signals in the 60- and 49 meters. Not so often heard stations like R. Guarujá 5980 kHz, R. Difusora, Taubaté on 4925 kHz... Angola on 4950 kHz was just in Hi-Fi quality. I have been watching the bands between 2200-0110 UT (29/30 MAY). Then I had to go to bed because it was 3:10am local time and a normal working day before me... GOOD DX, (Karel Honzik the Czech Republic (Czechia), AOR AR-7030 30 m Long Wire, hard-core-dx via DXLD) ** CONGO. R. Congo, 5985, May 25 2155-2300* Surprisingly good, strong signal and in the clear. No one else on frequency for a change. Very nice signal. But started to get some co-channel QRM at 2230. French talk, many ``R. Congo`` IDs. Local African pops, hi-life music, abruptly off at 2300 (Brian Alexander, Mechanicsburg PA, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CONGO DR. ETHNIC MILITIA BROADCASTS HATE MESSAGES ON CONGOLESE RADIO --- Echoes of 1994 genocide: French troops likely to deploy as West again keeps the peace Steven Edwards, National Post, Friday, May 30, 2003 UNITED NATIONS - In a chilling reminder of how Rwandans were incited to commit genocide in 1994, an ethnic militia group in the northeastern Democratic Republic of Congo began broadcasting hate messages yesterday. Candip Radio said Hema militia will use force to dislodge civilians seeking refuge in the UN mission in the regional centre of Bunia, where fighting between Hema and Lendu ethnic groups has left hundreds dead and driven thousands from their homes. The broadcast recalled how Hutu extremists in Rwanda used Radio Mille Collines to urge the slaughter of the country's minority Tutsis, resulting in 800,000 mainly Tutsi deaths. Violence erupted in Bunia after the withdrawal several weeks ago of Ugandan troops, who had been under international pressure to end their occupation of the area. Hema and Lendu forces are each seeking control of the town, which is a centre for gold in the resource-rich but desperately poor country. The UN Security Council is expected to pass a resolution today sending a French-led international force to Bunia after the 700-member UN force proved incapable of quelling the violence. About 1,000 troops under French command are expected to begin deployment within a few days. . . http://www.nationalpost.com/world/story.html?id=01613871-C2E1-43F3-9A27-72E679CFAB04 (via Bill Westenhaver, DXLD) ** CROATIA [and non]. The 0600-0603 English newscast is on shortwave, noted here May 28th on 9470 9925 and 13820 [via Germany]. Not carried on 6165 and 13830 [Croatia]. (Mike Barraclough, June World DX Club Contact via DXLD) ** ECUADOR. Audio files of the last 3 DX Partylines have finally been uploaded at http://www.hcjb.org/english/dxpl/dxplaudio.php -- That is, May 10, 17 and 24. For most of May, the latest show was May 3. The rest of DXPL and most other HCJB pages are badly outdated, not updated in months. Checking the various programs` pages, I see nothing about their imminent demise? Too demoralized or too busy packing up to say anything? (Glenn Hauser, OK, May 30, DX LISTENING DIGEST) See also AUSTRALIA ** EQUATORIAL GUINEA. R. Nacional, Malabo, 6250.33, May 25 2230-2302* Spanish talk, Spanish pops, ballads, rap! ``R. Malabo`` ID. Sign-off with NA. Poor-fair with QRM and QRN (Brian Alexander, Mechanicsburg PA, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ETHIOPIA. 6940, 0259-0330, R. Fana, May 26. Best copy of R. Fana ever. Interval signal, crystal clear then to female announcer in Arabic [?] and then sudden off at 0301 till 0302. Male announcer with some brief comments, then short tune and female announcer back with more music. at 0304. S8 to S9 signal level with a bit of a bounce and some fades. But over all, best I have ever heard (Bob Montgomery, Levittown, PA, NRD 535db, DxPro T2FD antennas, Cumbre DX via DXLD) ** FRANCE. Special event to mark Concorde's last commercial flight: Special event station TM5SC will mark the final commercial flight of the supersonic Concorde jetliner from Paris to New York. TM5SC will be on the air until June 8, 80 through 10 meters plus satellites. Look for TM5SC on 3777, 7077, 14,140 (the 40 and 20-meter frequencies are outside the US phone band), 18,140, 21,240, 24,940 and 28,440 kHz SSB and 29330 FM. QSL via F5ASD and enclose US$1 for a direct reply (ARRL May 29 via John Norfolk, OKCOK, DXLD) ** FRANCE. According to a CSA member interviewed by the French newspaper Libération, some of the 9 new AM stations could be authorized this summer. In other words it means that these stations should start their broadcasts before September. Stay tuned (Pascal Perriot, Tours, France, May 31, hard-core-dx via DXLD) ** GUATEMALA. 3300, 0416-0430, R. Cultural, May 28. English broadcast of religious program. English program ended at 0428 and then back to Spanish with ID by male announcer at 0428. Preacher invited the listeners back for another English broadcast from 9 to 1030. S 5 signal level, nice clear audio (Bob Montgomery, Levittown, PA, NRD 535db, DxPro T2FD antennas, Cumbre DX via DXLD) ** GUINEA. RTV Guinéène, 7125, May 25 2240-0001* May 26. French talk, variety of French, US, Afro pops. Sign-off with NA; good (Brian Alexander, Mechanicsburg PA, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** GUYANA. GBC? 3291.25, May 26 0300- and 0800-: still hearing a very weak signal here, just too weak to ID; 0840 Hindi vocals (Brian Alexander, Mechanicsburg PA, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** HUNGARY. LABOR MINISTRY FUNDS ROMANY RADIO Labor Minister Sandor Burany and Radio C Editor in Chief György Kerenyi signed an agreement on 22 May whereby the ministry will grant 4 million forints ($19,000) to the cash-strapped Romany radio station and expects it to broadcast information concerning job opportunities, Hungarian television reported. Kerenyi said he plans to re-launch the station on 1 June. The station stopped its broadcasting on 7 April due to a lack of funds (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 8 April 2003). ("RFE/RL Newsline," 23 May via RFE/RL Media Matters May 30 via DXLD) ** ICELAND. As of 30th May AFN 13855 has been off for a week or more (Mike Barraclough, UK, June World DX Club Contact via DXLD) ** INTERNATIONAL VACUUM. XM SKYFI SATELLITE RADIOS NOW AVAILABLE AT WAL-MART STORES NATIONWIDE Delphi SKYFi XM Radios Arrive at More than 2,800 Wal-Mart Stores WASHINGTON, May 28 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- XM Satellite Radio (Nasdaq: XMSR), America's number-one satellite radio service, today announced that Wal-Mart Stores, Inc., is now selling the critically- acclaimed Delphi XM SKYFi Radio in stores nationwide. (Logo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20000724/XMSATLOGO ) Wal-Mart is merchandising the popular SKYFi XM Receiver and vehicle adaptor in an "all-in-one" kit in the automotive department of every store. Plus, 2,100 of the 2,800 Wal-Mart locations will carry the SKYFi Receiver, home and vehicle kits, and boom box in the home electronics section. "XM is thrilled to have the top-selling satellite radio available at America's biggest retailer," said XM President and CEO Hugh Panero. "This rollout represents another critical step in XM's march to one million subscribers this year." The SKYFi Receiver is an affordable next-generation XM radio retailing for $129.99 (MSRP). It offers the most advanced user features of any satellite radio on the market today: portability, a large display, direct channel entry, the ability to preview and channel search by artists and song titles, and 20 channel presets. The accompanying home and vehicle adaptor kits retail for $69.99 (MSRP) each. Also available at Wal-Mart is the SKYFi Audio System, a self-contained "boom box" containing a pair of high quality speakers with an integrated high gain antenna and a port for the SKYFi receiver, retailing for $99.95 (MSRP). It can be powered by an A/C adaptor to create a high quality countertop/bookshelf system for the home or office, or used with six "D" batteries to experience XM Radio virtually anywhere, from the beach to the campground to a backyard barbeque (via Mike Cooper, DXLD) ** INTERNATIONAL WATERS. The Pacific Inter Island Net has been running on 14.315 MHz at 0800z each and every day, for over 60 years. Net is a Health and Welfare net as well as a checkin net for Maritime stations, also a Net for the Pacific Island stations to make contacts and where legal, pass messages etc. Those on the www can check out a yahoogroup, http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Pacific_Inter_Island_net/ The Pacific Inter Island net also conducts QNEWS Sunday at 0700 UTC. (Chris Wright vk2uw, Wireless Institute of Australia Queensland Q- News June 1 via John Norfolk, OKCOK, DXLD) ** IRAN. AFGHAN PAPER ATTACKS "LIES", "PROPAGANDA" OF IRANIAN RADIO STATION | Text of editorial by Afghan newspaper Anis on 29 May The years of fighting the Soviet Union have passed, the years of fighting the communists have finished, the years of instability after the collapse of Dr Najibollah's administration [in 1992] went by and finally the years of rule by the stereotyped Taleban are over. A partial stability and an administration were established in Afghanistan with the collaboration of the international community and those who had made sincere efforts for independence and territorial integrity. This administration was afterwards confirmed by the people in the Emergency Loya Jerga [grand assembly], and for the first time the representatives of the people were able to determine their country's destiny in a traditional gathering. The roles of neighbouring countries, particularly those of Pakistan and Iran, have been of high importance for Afghanistan. Afghanistan has constantly emphasized having good relations with neighbours. This has been responded to positively by neighbouring states, which have even expressed their interest in enhancing those relations. But these policies have not been able to overlay all aspects. One of the media from the Islamic Republic of Iran that has not been able to conform itself to its country's new policies towards Afghanistan is Radio Dari in Mashhad [provincial Iranian radio that broadcasts to Afghanistan]. When one listens to the news from this station, it seems as if their staff are not obeying the Islamic Republic of Iran, but they are obeying Al-Qa'idah, and they are launching propaganda for Bin-Ladin. Radio Dari from Mashhad not only broadcasts unclarified reports, quotes from sources that do not want to reveal their names and disseminates untrue remarks, but it has also got some special "experts in Afghan affairs" of its own and is constantly interviewing them. The discussion is about the desperate situation in Afghanistan (according to the radio). In addition to the "experts in Afghan affairs" from Radio Mashhad broadcasting perverse images of the international security forces in Afghanistan, the presence of the international coalition against terrorists in the country and the new government of Afghanistan, this station also follows another cause and that is to give a different picture of the relative stability and security in Afghanistan. This radio, in continuing its broadcasting of lies, recently broadcast a report that the US embassy had been closed, which is quite far from reality. This station, intending to show the situation as one of conflict, said that because of new threats and clashes the US embassy has been closed. In addition, the broadcasts of Radio Dari from Mashhad have always been in favour of the enemies of Afghanistan and the said radio has proved this. Such lies, public deception and misrepresentation of the Afghan situation which are broadcast by Mashhad Dari radio are definitely not the policy of the Islamic Republic of Iran, but Iranian friends should tell the radio: dear experts in Afghan affairs, dear journalists, experts of Radio Mashhad! Please don't try to destroy the new Afghan administration, which is trying to refurbish itself after many years of conflict, wars, destruction and disaster. Do not lie to people, quoting sources that do not want their names to be disclosed and do not upset the relative stability in Afghanistan irresponsibly with your lies. After all, be honest to the principle that Afghans are honest to and that is the pledge for good-neighbourliness. Good- neighbourliness is the guarantor of our future. Source: Anis, Kabul, in Dari 29 May 03 (via BBCM via DXLD) Evidently R. Mashhad has scoops about media developments in Afghanistan, as it has often been quoted by BBCM (gh) ** IRAQ. I have found out important new information about the Voice of Iraqi Liberation, the clandestine radio operation first monitored by and reported on DXing.info - see http://www.dxing.info/about/press_release_2003_03_11.dx and http://www.dxing.info/news/2003_03.dx#liberation for more on how it all started. It has now been officially confirmed by the PUK leader that the station was a U.S.-sponsored operation in which the CIA was involved, and that it was broadcasting from the PUK-controlled part of Iraqi Kurdistan. I'm currently in Atlanta attending the CNN World Report Conference representing the Finnish Broadcasting Company YLE. A few hours ago I had a chance to interview via satellite Jalal Talabani, Founder and Secretary General of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK), aired live on CNN at 10.23 a.m. EDT, and this is what he had to say when I asked about the station: Question: Mika Makelainen, Finnish Television. Mr. Talabani, from March to April a radio station called the Voice of Iraqi Liberation was transmitting over the mouthpiece of the PUK, your radio station, Voice of the People of Kurdistan. Now that all this is over, can you say who was behind this clandestine radio operation? Answer: As I told you, the National Assembly of Kurdistan unanimously decided that the Kurds are partner of the United States of America in fighting against tyranny, terrorism and for freedom and democratic Iraq. This station was yes in the area controlled by the PUK, it was the administration was joined from the PUK people and from certain American friends, representing different parts of American State Department, the special forces and some others. Follow-up question: Can you specify what do you mean by American friends more precisely? Answer: Well, American friends I mean the American friends. I mean the people, diplomats from State Department, people from Pentagon, people from CIA, I mean the White House, those people, all those people are American friends (Mike Mäkeläinen, Finland, May 29, dxing.info via DXLD) ** IRAQ. Salam Pax revealed - at last! Thanks to Lou Josephs for drawing my attention to a long piece in today's edition of The Guardian: "The most gripping account of the Iraq conflict came from a web diarist known as the Baghdad Blogger. But no one knew his identity - or even if he existed. Rory McCarthy finally tracked him down, and found a quietly spoken, 29-year-old architect. From next week he will write fortnightly in G2." For those not familiar with it, G2 is the second (tabloid) section of The Guardian, which unfortunately isn't included with the special European version. Thank goodness for their Web site! BTW I hope that the Canadian journalist who a few months ago claimed Salam Pax was actually a Baath Party activist feels suitably chastened, and will issue a public apology both to Salam and to those of us who never doubted for one moment his sincerity and authenticity! Or will he now claim The Guardian is making it all up too? (Andy Sennitt, Media Network blog May 30 via DXLD) ** IRAQ. ONCE-OUTLAWED SATELLITE DISHES SPROUTING LIKE MUSHROOMS ON BAGHDAD'S ROOFTOPS --- By Valentinas Mite Satellite television dishes are sprouting like mushrooms on rooftops in post-Saddam Hussein Baghdad. The trade in TV gear is flourishing, and enterprising Iraqi entrepreneurs see bright prospects for this business, which was banned during the rule of Saddam Hussein. Abu Mehdi is one of the owners of the Hyder shop in the Iraqi capital, Baghdad. The shop imports satellite dishes, receivers, and decoders from neighboring Jordan. Mehdi said Iraqis are hungry for news from outside the country. "The news, the news. Al-Jazeera, yes. MBC [an Arabic-language channel]. Lubnan. Lubnan, very good Lubnan [a Lebanese channel]," he said. Mehdi said people are buying satellite equipment for two reasons. The first one is that satellite television was illegal in Iraq under Saddam Hussein's rule and people now want to "taste a forbidden fruit." The other reason is that Iraqi state TV is off the air and people want access to news and entertainment of any kind. Following Hussein's ouster last month, houses in Baghdad began to sprout satellite dishes. No one wants to depend on their neighbor to see foreign broadcasts. Everyone wants their own remote controls. And while Iraqis often complain about a lack of money, many somehow find the cash for satellite television setups. A European-made satellite dish with all the necessary equipment costs about $250. Satellite gear from China costs around $150. The most popular television sets, Egyptian-made Toshibas, cost nearly $200 each. Mehdi said he usually sells five to six pieces of satellite equipment each day and makes a profit of $20 per unit. His shop also sells all kinds of electrical equipment -- from light bulbs to air conditioners. He said the former authorities in Iraq used to confiscate satellite dishes and fine their owners $200. Such fines also attracted the attention of Hussein's omnipresent secret services. Firas is an owner of the Al-Ajraas shop, which is just several meters from Abu Medhi's store. His shop has three employees and sells only satellite gear. Firas said he sells about 20 units in his shop each day. He said people in Baghdad mainly watch Arabic channels. They like these channels, he said, but notes they have few alternatives. While they can watch BBC television, they can't tune in to CNN or Fox News from the U.S. without buying an expensive decoder. "No. It's coded, and it doesn't work on our system," he said. "If you want to see it, you should pay money for a card. We don't have them here. Until now, we do not have cards." Firas said a decoder card, or "smart card," costs more than $100 each, and that few people want to pay the extra money. Muhaned, a man in his 30s, came to Firas's shop to buy a satellite TV setup. He said he wants to watch the news, not just entertainment programs. "I want the news and the events which are happening in Iraq. I would like to watch Al-Jazeera, Abu Dhabi [television], CNN. However, [CNN] is coded," he said. Abas Marhun has a slightly different business. He has been making and assembling satellite equipment in his garage in Baghdad since 1991. He is continuing to work with his teenage son and said he manages to compete with the satellite shops selling all-imported equipment. He said he built a good reputation over the past decade and that people know his work. Marhun said he operated under difficult conditions when Hussein was in power. "Yes, I made [satellite gear] but closed the door [when I worked]. I made it inside here, in the garage, and no one see it. After midnight, I put the dish into the car -- a pickup or a lorry -- and sent it to a client," he said. He said a friend once warned him that the police were interested in his business. He said he managed to hide all of his equipment and evade arrest. Valentinas Mite is an RFE/RL correspondent (RFE/RL Media Matters May 30 via DXLD) ** ISRAEL. I didn't see any followup regarding the IBA budget. I've been told, though, that there hasn't been any siginificant news to report regarding SW cutbacks --- The official word still remains that they're still cutting shortwave as of the end of the year (Doni Rosenzweig, NY, May 30, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** LATVIA. Test transmissions from the Latvian shortwave site used by Laser Radio have been heard last month on 9520. No date is set so far for the stations return to shortwave (Nick Sharpe, Staines, UK, June World DX Club Contact via DXLD) ** LIBERIA. Just received some e-mails from WJIE/SW. The station in Liberia on SW (Voice of Liberty) is currently off the air on 11515. They are waiting for a sparepart to arrive. They are working on a station in Uganda "you should be able to hear well", so assume the ex- FEBA transmitter from Seychelles will operate from Uganda (as predicted in DXLD lately). More about this and some photos of Voice of Liberty/Liberia will follow soon here at DXing.info (Jari Savolainen, Finland, May 30, dxing.info via DXLD) ** LIBYA [non]. V. of Africa, 15315, May 25 1923-1926 ID, English news, 1927 French news. 1928 one-minute English announcement asking for letters. Gave address, fax and phone numbers; \\ 15025, both fair. Also on 11635, May 25 *2000-2130*; 2041-2045 and 2123-2127 English news. Also heard 1-minute English announcements at 2051 and 2129 asking for letters as above. No parallels heard; fair. Abruptly off at 2130 (Brian Alexander, Mechanicsburg PA, DX LISTENING DIGEST) presumably via France ** MADAGASCAR. R. Malagasy, 5010.03, May 26 *0255-0330+; sign-on with drums IS, 0256 local news, 0300 choral anthem, 0301 ID and vernacular talk; reggae music. Good (Brian Alexander, Mechanicsburg PA, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** MARSHALL ISLANDS. MARSHALL ISLANDS ON THE AIR SHORTWAVE Play music from Marshall Islands website http://janeresture.com The Marshall Islands are a small group of islands that form a part of Micronesia in the central Pacific, about half way between Hawaii and Australia. The Marshalls are made up of 34 coral atolls with a total area of just 70 square miles and a total coastline of just 75 miles. These islands run in two parallel chains about 130 miles apart and they extend for 650 miles. The capital island is Majuro and the total population is around 75,000. The Marshall Islands were first populated by Micronesians who migrated into the area approximately 3,000 years ago. The first Europeans to sight the islands were from Spain, the islands were named by the British, and Germany bought them from Spain in 1885. The Japanese were granted a mandate over the islands from the League of Nations in 1920, and the Americans were granted a mandate from the United Nations in 1946. The Marshall Islands gained independence in 1986. Three island atolls in the Marshalls have achieved world wide fame. Kwajelein and Eniwetok were the location of two fierce battles during the Pacific War, and Bikini and Eniwetok were the locations for the American atomic tests in the Pacific a few years later. Radiowise, the first transmitter in the Marshall Islands was established under the Japanese mandate on the southern island of Jaluit (ja-LOO-it) somewhere around the mid-1920's. This was a communication station under the callsign JRX. In 1944, American forces established two stations in the Marshall Islands; WXLG with 1 kW on Kwajelein and WXLE with just 50 watts on Eniwetok. Two years later, radio played another important role during the American atomic tests on Bikini and Eniwetok. The radio transmitters on several ships relayed a live broadcast from a nearby location, giving a running commentary of the events associated with the atomic explosions. The mediumwave station WSZO began with just 200 watts on 1500 kHz somewhere around the year 1960. This station was established by the local government and it was supplementary to the two AFRS stations on the air in this island group in the central Pacific. In 1980, on March 4 to be exact, a new 1 kW transmitter at station WSZO made its first appearance on the shortwave bands. Two channels were in use, 6070 and 4940 kHz, though the tropical band channel gave the widest coverage. A few months later, the station stated that they were swamped with reception reports from all over the world, though mainly from Australia, New Zealand and North America. The transmitter was a Japanese NEC 10 kW unit and the antenna was beamed north west. Two years after its inauguration, the shortwave service came to an abrupt end when the antenna balun (BAL-un) failed. This service for the outer islands was never revived and gone was the possibility for distant listeners to hear this exotic radio station in the central Pacific. However, there is good news. Several recent news reports state that the Kentucky shortwave station WJIE, with its offices in Louisville and transmitters at Upton, indicate that they have bought the three shortwave transmitters from FEBA Seychelles. They are apparently planning to install one in Liberia, another in the United States, and the third in the Marshall Islands. The government radio station in the Marshall Islands began its on air service under the callsign WSZO and this was changed to V7AD after independence. What will be the callsign for this new Gospel shortwave station in the Marshall Islands? (Adrian Michael Peterson, AWR Wavescan June 1 via DXLD) ** NETHERLANDS. The article HIGH PROFILE CASUALTIES IN DUTCH COMMERCIAL RADIO that appeared in DXLD 3-094 is copyright Radio Netherlands. Its inclusion verbatim in DXLD was an oversight. The original article appears at http://www.rnw.nl/realradio/features/html/ned030528.html Take a look! (gh, DXLD) ** OKLAHOMA [non]. News Central story under USA mentions OKC as one of the victims of local news and weather that is not local. That would be KOKH-25, e.g.: Besides, he says, there's still plenty of flexibility in News Central's structure. When tornadoes cut a path through Oklahoma City earlier this month, News Central's Chuck Bell -- a onetime Oklahoma City weathercaster -- went live on KOKH with updates on the twisters' path from Hunt Valley. "We still have the same responsibility to be as accurate as possible," says Bell, "even if it's an illusion that we're experiencing the same weather as our viewers." http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A60149-2003May30.html 73, (-.. Kraig Krist, KG4LAC, DXLD) ** OKLAHOMA [non]. HAM-PIANIST CLOSING IN ON HALFWAY POINT IN RUN Concert pianist Martin Berkofsky, KC3RE, is closing in on the halfway point in his CelebrateLifeRun http://www.celebrateliferun.com from Tulsa to Chicago. A cancer survivor and an ARRL member from Northern Virginia, Berkofsky set out April 9 -- his 60th birthday -- on an 860- mile jog to celebrate his recovery from cancer and to raise money for research into the disease. Berkofsky -- who has ham gear, including APRS, along with him -- was 380 miles into his journey and some 20 miles south of Hermann, Missouri, as of mid-week. Berkofsky reports he's made many new ham radio friends in his travels, and he's hoping for an invitation to operate Field Day with an Illinois ham club group. "So far he has found local folks -- sometimes Amateur radio enthusiasts, sometimes cancer survivors--to put him up for the evening or drive him to his next base camp," said Joni Shulman, assistant research director of the Cancer Treatment Research Foundation in Tulsa. "Thanks to the generosity of total strangers, Martin has spent only two or three nights in motels." The CTRF will benefit from money raised during Berkofsky's run. Berkofsky has scheduled some benefit concerts along his route, including Rolla, Missouri, May 30; June 2 in Hermann, Missouri; and June 12 in St Louis (at Webster University). "St Louis will mark halfway through the run with my target arrival in Chicago 11 August," Berkofsky told ARRL. "I have managed to always keep a few days ahead and to run a few extra miles most days, weather allowing." Follow his progress via the Internet http://www.celebrateliferun.com/route.cfm (ARRL Letter May 30 via John Norfolk, DXLD) ** PAKISTAN. 21465 at 0838 May 26 was with signal 24132. For prior days did not find any signal on this freq. The supposed 15095 for same time was not used. New problem on radio reception. From 9th of this month powerline noise (PLN) from the nearby 10kV electricity towers affect again my reception , with a S9 to S9+10 level over all the bands. Noise seems quasi ignition or spark type since only in short parts of the band the new bhi NES 10-2 external noise blanker can eliminate it. In other cases my MFJ1025 double antenna noise canceller can beat the noise but not 100% and requires very fine adjustments. The PLN is quite strong around and outside the house I made a call to the national Electricity company DEI for this noise problem. The officer in charge insisted that I was the first claiming about it, and supposes it is a local transformer problem or due to possible overload from electrical appliances (but still exists though we are in cold weather and rain for today ). It is expected powerline communications to start in late end this year by DEI’s daughter company Tellas (Zacharias Liangas, Thessaloniki, Greece, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** PERU. Radio Melodía probably is on 6042.55 kHz but the signal is weak and it`s difficult to get an 100% ID (Björn ``Somebody`` Malm, Quito, Ecuador, May 30, hard-core-dx via DXLD) 6042.5, 0335 30/May R. Melodía, Arequipa, Spanish, "...amigos oyentes de Radio Melodía...", " ...aquí en la ciudad de Arequipa...", "...mucha violencia en Arequipa y otras partes del Perú por el paro de los Maestros (Profesores), hay muertos...", music La Barca, 44444 73 (Rogildo Fontenelle Aragão, Cochabamba - Bolivia, Lowe HF-225E - Sony 2001D - LW 50m, ibid.) See also COLOMBIA ** PERU. Radio Del Pacífico (Lima); 5-31-03; 4975 kHz; 0614-0641 UT; Spanish; long sermons alternating with prayer, then rock music after ID; lots of noise; loud echoey ID "Radio Del Pacífico" at 0641; SINPO 33132; Icom R71A with folded dipole for 60 meters (John Sandin, Merriam, KS, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** RUSSIA. VOR WHAT`s NEW --- THIS IS RUSSIA St. Petersburg, the northern Russian capital, is now celebrating its 300th anniversary. Thousands of guests have come to attend the jubilee festivities. Our next edition of THIS IS RUSSIA will be wholly devoted to the magnificent city on the Neva. We will speak about what was probably the most dramatic episode of World War Two – the siege of Leningrad, the Soviet-time name of the city of St. Petersburg; we will tell you about a long-standing tradition in St. Petersburg – gun salutes at Sts. Peter and Paul Fortress and also about the popular composer Andrei Petrov. The program will go on air on Monday, June 2nd at 0230 and 1530, on Tuesday at 1930, on Wednesday at 0830, on Thursday 0730, on Friday at 0530, on Saturday at 0630 and 1830 and Sunday at 1930, all times UT. MOSCOW YESTERDAY AND TODAY In the first edition of Moscow Yesterday and Today in June – on the air on June 2 and the week following – we'll tell you about Russian literary genius Alexander Pushkin and about the time he spent in Moscow, which the poet himself described as the happiest in his life. The next three Moscow Yesterday and Today programs will focus on the history of Russia's ancient capital. We'll be speaking about Arbat, one of Moscow's oldest streets, which is over 500 years now. We invite you to tune in to the three consecutive editions of Moscow Yesterday and Today, beginning Monday, June 9. The program goes on the air on Monday at 0830 and 1930 UT and is repeated throughout the week. Our program guide can be found at: http://www.vor.ru/ep.html (VOR via Maryanne Kehoe, May 29, swprograms via DXLD) ** SINGAPORE. Singapore Volmet, 6676 kHz, QSL letter (v/s: Chua Guat Mui, Director), Pamphlet and calling card in 29 days for EG report & 1$. Reply from National Environment Agency, Meteorological Service Division, P. O. Box 8, Changi Airport Post Office, Singapore 918141, Singapore (Kenji Hashimoto, Japan Premium via DXLD) ** SVALBARD. Do you want to take part in a DXpedition to the Arctic this summer? Well, LA3OHA is organizing a second DXpedition to Prins Karls Forland, which is part of the Spitsbergen Archipelago, and is looking for more operators. LA3OHA`s group put on a very successful DXpedition to the island in 2001, when they operated as JW0PK. This summer`s operation is scheduled to take place between the 11th and 25th of July. Contact LA3OHA direct if this trip interests you (GB2RS via Amateur Radio Newsline May 30 via John Norfolk, DXLD) ** UKRAINE. AMBASSADORS WARN UKRAINE AGAINST CRACKDOWN ON WESTERN BROADCASTERS The UK, US and German ambassadors to Kiev have warned Ukraine against restricting the rebroadcasting of the BBC, the Voice of America and Deutsche Welle in Ukraine. Amendments to the law on TV and radio broadcasting to be passed by the Ukrainian parliament in September should not be directed against Western broadcasters and their Ukrainian partners, the ambassadors said in a front-page article in the leading independent Ukrainian weekly Zerkalo Nedeli on 31 May. Free flow of information is one of the pillars of democracy, and the new law should be in line with European practice and the commitments Ukraine undertook in the Council of Europe, the ambassadors said. Fears have been voiced that some of the proposed amendments would ban Western radio stations from Ukraine. That would put the country in the company of Iran and Cuba, the ambassadors said. The independent Ukrainian radio station Kontynent, which rebroadcasts the BBC, the Voice of America and Deutsche Welle, has repeatedly complained of government pressure, which the station says is linked to its independent reporting. Source: Zerkalo Nedeli, Kiev, in Russian 31 May 03, p 1 (via BBCM via DXLD) ** U S A. Don't you believe New York VOLMET is "missing." I'm listening to it on 10051. There are times when I'm unable to receive New York VOLMET, but I've always assumed that this is due to poor propagation. (Mike Cooper, May 30, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Well, I guess it was when the column was written about a sesquimonth ago (gh) ** U S A. NEW STATION TO BROADCAST WAVESCAN Beginning next Sunday, we will welcome another radio station into the worldwide network of shortwave stations that regularly broadcast the AWR DX program, "Wavescan". This new shortwave station that will begin the relay of "Wavescan" next Sunday is station WINB in Red Lion, Pennsylvania, and in reality it is not a new station but an old friend in the international radio world. The schedule for the new broadcast of Wavescan over WINB on Sundays will be 10:30-11:00 am Eastern Time, which will remain the same all year round. Currently this timing corresponds to 1430-1500 UT on Sundays. All reception reports for the first day of broadcast of Wavescan next Sunday over station WINB may receive two QSL cards. One QSL card will be a specially endorsed QSL card from Adventist World Radio honoring this new event. After processing the reports in Indianapolis, we will forward them on to station WINB for their QSL card also. Reception reports for this first day only should be addressed to: Wavescan, Box 29235, Indianapolis, Indiana 46229, USA. We would like to acknowledge with appreciation the noted North American DXer and international radio monitor, Hans Johnson, for initiating these arrangements with station WINB. In our program two weeks from now, we will present a Station Profile on station WINB in Red Lion, Pennsylvania (Adrian Michael Peterson, AWR Wavescan June 1 via DXLD) ** U S A. NASB News from Jeff White NASB ELECTS NEW OFFICERS AT ANNUAL MEETING May 30, 2003 (Washington) - The National Association of Shortwave Broadcasters (NASB) -- the organization of privately-owned shortwave stations in the United States -- has elected Jeff White of Radio Miami International (WRMI) as its new President, and Paul Hunter of Word Broadcasting (WJIE and KVOH) as its new Vice President. The election took place at the 2003 Annual Meeting of NASB in Washington, DC on May 2. In addition, two new members of the NASB Board of Directors were elected: Charles Caudill of KNLS and Doug Garlinger of LeSEA Broadcasting (WHRI, WHRA and KWHR). They join White and Hunter, plus two other members of the Board: Elder Jacob Meyer of WMLK and Ted Haney of the Far East Broadcasting Company (which owns KFBS). NASB rules state that Board members must rotate off the Board for at least one year after two consecutive three-year terms. Board members Ed Evans of WSHB (former President) and Dan Elyea of WYFR (Secretary/Treasurer) completed their second consecutive terms, so they left the Board. However, Dan Elyea remains the NASB Secretary/Treasurer and Ed Evans has been appointed head of a new NASB PLC (Power Line Carrier) Committee. At this time, 18 of the 25 FCC (Federal Communications Commission)- licensed shortwave stations in the United States are members of NASB. The Association also has nine associate members, which include transmitter and antenna manufacturers, frequency consultants, etc. At the annual meeting, Tom Lucey of the FCC's International Bureau brought the good news that FCC frequency coordination fees are effectively being cut in half as of the B03 season, since the Commission will only be charging for two frequency seasons per year instead of four. This will save the privately-owned U.S. shortwave stations thousands of dollars a year, and this is a goal that the NASB had been working on for a number of years. Mr. Lucey also explained the new optional electronic format for submitting seasonal frequency schedules to the FCC. Don Messer of the International Broadcasting Bureau (IBB) spoke about the upcoming World Radio Conference in Geneva and the shortwave- related issues that will be dealt with at that meeting. Mr. Messer is also Chairman of the DRM (Digital Radio Mondiale) Technical Committee, and he gave an update on the DRM coalition and its plans to begin regular DRM broadcasts in June. Also at the NASB Annual Meeting, Ron Wilenski of associate member TCI/Dielectric gave a presentation about his company's shortwave antenna business. TCI is based in the United States, but over 80% of the company's sales are overseas. Mr. Wilenski explained that all of the antennas presently used by shortwave broadcasters will be compatible with DRM transmissions, and his company hopes DRM will revitalize shortwave broadcasting. Doug Garlinger of LeSEA Broadcasting and Jeff White of WRMI presented a slide show about their representation of NASB at the two most recent High Frequency Coordinating Committee (HFCC) conferences in Bangkok, Thailand and Johannesburg, South Africa. Several representatives of the U.S. International Broadcasting Bureau (IBB) took part in the NASB's annual meeting, and they gave an update on IBB's leasing of private facilities to accommodate special broadcasts to Afghanistan and Iraq, as well as other news about IBB developments in frequency management and monitoring services. Dr. Kim Elliott of the IBB's Audience Research department talked about the different forms of media used by international broadcasters in today's world, and he revealed the results of a very recent worldwide listener survey conducted by the Voice of America. Among other things, 59% of survey respondents indicated they were listening to VOA on shortwave, 16% to rebroadcasts of VOA on local AM and FM stations, 15% to VOA mediumwave outlets, 9% to VOA Internet audio, 0.4% to direct- to-home VOA satellite transmissions, and 0.2% to VOA on cable radio. At the business portion of the NASB's annual meeting, a proposal was discussed to initiate joint NASB broadcasts in the DRM format in the near future, using an existing DRM facility. No decision was reached at the meeting. An NASB Power Line Carrier (PLC) Committee was created to lobby the FCC against proposed use of power lines by broadband services which would cause harmful interference to HF transmissions. Next year's NASB Annual Meeting will be Friday, May 7, 2004 at the Crowne Plaza Hotel in Arlington, Virginia -- just north of Washington, DC's Reagan National Airport. More information is available at the NASB's website: http://www.shortwave.org (via Dan Elyea, WYFR, NASB, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Re audience survey above: Thus, nearly 75% of VOA listeners tune in to the VOA's OWN transmitters (both MW and SW), and those highly-touted local-station rebroadcasts are pretty negligible in their reach by comparison --- ditto internet/satellite/cable radio, only more so. I don't know --- perhaps VOA is the exception... life goes on, rah-rah- rah for new media etc. But I would love to see comparable audience figures for some of those international broadcasters who have chosen to curtail and/or eliminate their various shortwave services in favor of "more efficient" delivery means like rebroadcasts/satellite/Web audio etc. To me, it's a bit like Chevron/Texaco dropping its Met- broadcast sponsorship after next season because the bean-counters apparently couldn't justify the $7,000,000 budget line-item (which amounts to something like ONE PERCENT of their total budget!). 73, (Randy Stewart, Springfield MO, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. MONOPOLY OR DEMOCRACY? By Ted Turner, Friday, May 30, 2003; Page A23 On Monday the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is expected to adopt dramatic rule changes that will extend the market dominance of the five media corporations that control most of what Americans read, see and hear. I am a major shareholder in the largest of those five corporations, yet -- speaking only for myself, and not for AOL Time Warner -- I oppose these rules. They will stifle debate, inhibit new ideas and shut out smaller businesses trying to compete. If these rules had been in place in 1970, it would have been virtually impossible for me to start Turner Broadcasting or, 10 years later, to launch CNN. The FCC will vote on several proposals, including raising the cap on how many TV stations can be owned by one corporation and allowing single corporations to own TV stations and newspapers in the same market. If a young media entrepreneur were trying to get started today under these proposed rules, he or she wouldn't be able to buy a UHF station, as I did. They're all bought up. But even if someone did manage to buy a TV station, that wouldn't be enough. To compete, you have to have good programming and good distribution. Today both are owned by conglomerates that keep the best for themselves and leave the worst for you -- if they sell anything to you at all. It's hard to compete when your suppliers are owned by your competitors. We bought MGM, and we later sold Turner Broadcasting to Time Warner, because we had little choice. The big were getting bigger. The small were disappearing. We had to gain access to programming to survive. Many other independent media companies were swallowed up for the same reason -- because they didn't have everything they needed under their own roof, and their competitors did. The climate after Monday's expected FCC decision will encourage even more consolidation and be even more inhospitable to smaller businesses. Why should the country care? When you lose small businesses, you lose big ideas. People who own their own businesses are their own bosses. They are independent thinkers. They know they can't compete by imitating the big guys; they have to innovate. So they are less obsessed with earnings than they are with ideas. They're willing to take risks. When, on my initiative, Turner Communications (now Turner Broadcasting) bought its first TV station, which at the time was losing $50,000 a month, my board strongly objected. When TBS bought its second station, which was in even worse shape than the first, our accountant quit in protest. Large media corporations are far more profit-focused and risk-averse. They sometimes confuse short-term profits and long-term value. They kill local programming because it's expensive, and they push national programming because it's cheap -- even if it runs counter to local interests and community values. For a corporation to launch a new idea, you have to get the backing of executives who are obsessed with quarterly earnings and afraid of being fired for an idea that fails. They often prefer to sit on the sidelines waiting to buy the businesses or imitate the models of the risk-takers who succeed. (Two large media corporations turned down my invitation to invest in the launch of CNN.) That's an understandable approach for a corporation -- but for a society, it's like overfishing the oceans. When the smaller businesses are gone, where will the new ideas come from? Nor does this trend bode well for new ideas in our democracy -- ideas that come only from diverse news and vigorous reporting. Under the new rules, there will be more consolidation and more news sharing. That means laying off reporters or, in other words, downsizing the workforce that helps us see our problems and makes us think about solutions. Even more troubling are the warning signs that large media corporations -- with massive market power -- could abuse that power by slanting news coverage in ways that serve their political or financial interests. There is always the danger that news organizations can push positive stories to gain friends in government, or unleash negative stories on artists, activists or politicians who cross them, or tell their audiences only the news that confirms entrenched views. But the danger is greater when there are no competitors to air the side of the story the corporation wants to ignore. Naturally, corporations say they would never suppress speech. That may be true. But it's not their intentions that matter. It's their capabilities. The new FCC rules would give them more power to cut important ideas out of the public debate, and it's precisely that power that the rules should prevent. Some news organizations have tried to marginalize opponents of the war in Iraq, dismissing them as a fringe element. Pope John Paul II also opposed the war in Iraq. How narrow-minded have we made our public discussion if the opinion of the pope is considered outside the bounds of legitimate debate? Our democracy needs a broader dialogue. As Justice Hugo Black wrote in a 1945 opinion: "The First Amendment rests on the assumption that the widest possible dissemination of information from diverse and antagonistic sources is essential to the welfare of the public." Safeguarding the welfare of the public cannot be the first concern of large publicly traded media companies. Their job is to seek profits. But if the government writes the rules in a certain way, companies will seek profits in a way that serves the public interest. If, on Monday, the FCC decides to go the other way, that should not be the end of it. Powerful public groups across the political spectrum oppose these new rules and are angry about their lack of input in the process. People who can't make their voices heard in one arena often find ways to make them heard in others. Congress has the power to amend the rule changes. Members from both parties oppose the new rules. This isn't over. The writer is founder of CNN and chairman of Turner Enterprises Inc. (c) 2003 The Washington Post Company (via Mike Cooper, DXLD) ** U S A. ARE BIGGER VOICES BETTER VOICES? With FCC expected to relax ownership rules Monday, the media industry faces static from a public wary of consolidation. By Kim Campbell | Staff writer of The Christian Science Monitor (On- Line Edition May 30th) Depending on whom you ask, next week could mark the end of consumer choice in the media, or usher in a new era of quality and resources. Or neither. On Monday, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is expected to relax long-standing media-ownership rules, and furor is filling op/ed pages and spurring ad campaigns nationwide. The debate is one of the sharpest over media policy in years, as corporate interests, keen on modifying "outdated" regulations, confront a public increasingly uncomfortable with consolidation. If, as many observers expect, the rules are loosened to allow for ownership of multiple media outlets in a single market, the industry could be transformed - though the extent of that revolution remains unclear. "This is not the final battle. This is the first battle," says Robert McChesney, head of Free Press, a group that advocates media diversity. "There will be recourse on a number of different levels," he says. "There's no doubt that members of Congress will come back with media- ownership legislation in the next session." Driving public concern is the fear that most media outlets could fall into the hands of a few players, limiting diversity of voices and local coverage. In print and TV ads this week, a coalition of groups portrayed an industry in which a few media moguls - like Rupert Murdoch, the man behind the Fox News Channel and the New York Post - reign supreme. Already, about three-quarters of what Americans see, hear, and read in the media is controlled by a handful of large companies. That, argue critics, is not desirable in a democracy, where independent voices are essential. Congress and the FCC have received hundreds of thousands of e-mails and letters on the topic. Though the public debate is less than fever pitch, grass-roots meetings attended by various of the FCC's five commissioners have drawn crowds from a few dozen to nearly 1,000. The plan is opposed by both conservative and liberal groups, from the National Rifle Association to the National Organization for Women. The two Democratic commissioners on the FCC's decision-making board, and members of Congress from both parties, have tried unsuccessfully to persuade Republican FCC chairman Michael Powell, son of Secretary of State Colin Powell, to delay the vote and allow more time to consider the rules. But the meeting is expected to go ahead, as planned, on Monday. Even some experts who say deregulation will help the media environment aren't convinced that now is the right time, since not all Americans have access to the full range of media options. "Short term, I'm uncomfortable about it, because we haven't yet gotten to the point where I think it is the most appropriate remedy," says Everette Dennis, professor of media management at New York's Fordham University. On the docket for Monday are several rules, including those that cover bans on ownership of a television station and a newspaper in the same market, owning more than one of the top four TV stations in a market, and a single company owning local stations that reach more than 35 percent of US TV households. Those in favor of loosening the rules, including Chairman Powell, argue the current restrictions are outdated, having been created in the 1960s and '70s. The way they see it, the rules were meant for an environment with just three broadcast networks, a world in which Web surfing was for Spiderman. Now, their argument goes, people have many options for news and entertainment - diminishing the need to protect a few players. With more competition, and with the rising production costs, comes the need for large, prosperous companies that can afford to keep up, supporters say. "If you want to preserve and strengthen free, over-the-air, local television, then you need to extend some modest deregulation in terms of duopolies [single owners owning more than one outlet]," says Dennis Wharton, a spokesman for the National Association of Broadcasters. Those in favor of the changes argue that if a struggling local news station can use the resources of a cross-owned newspaper, the community benefits. But critics insist that synergy deprives the market of one more independent voice - and deprives outlets of competitive drive. Public response, albeit limited, is larger than that generated in 1996, say observers, when Congress passed the Federal Communications Act. Among its changes, that law deregulated the radio industry, allowing single owners to buy many stations. Clear Channel Communications, for instance, went from owning fewer than 50 stations to more than 1,200. Protests were planned at Clear Channel stations in major US cities Thursday to object to the current FCC action. The perceived homogenization of radio is fueling concerns about relaxing ownership rules for TV. Though broadcasters argue that there are now more radio formats to choose from, critics complain of similar content, increased commercialism, and a loss of local flavor. Since 1996, the number of radio-station owners has dropped by roughly a third. That, opponents say, is a harbinger of the weakening of local media if regulations are relaxed. How quickly and to what extent the landscape will change remains unclear. Because cross-ownership of newspapers and TV stations is already permitted in some markets, many consumers are used to seeing the same reporters on several channels, or plugs on the nightly news for a commonly owned newspaper. Though analysts say media companies will likely be eager to take advantage of looser rules, the sagging economy - and the available outlets - may keep them from moving too fast. Some media watchers are less troubled that the potential moves represent a doomsday scenario for diversity and democracy. "The FCC is going to move incrementally ... such that you won't see a significant change in the landscape," says Rob Frieden, a telecommunications professor at Pennsylvania State University. He's not opposed to deregulation, arguing that media is no different from other industries forced to do more with less. "Media industries are not exempt from having to economize, streamline, become more productive," Professor Frieden says. "To a certain extent, a large, deep-pocketed media conglomerate is better able to produce or acquire the high-quality content we expect." If the rules are relaxed, Dennis sees an opportunity for more accountability and public involvement. "Media can be very responsive to criticism.... We've had a weak tradition of media criticism in the United States, so maybe this will bolster that." (via Roger Chambers, Utica, NY, DXLD) Heard on R. Australia Feedback that one R. Chambers won something but he was in OO-ti-ca (gh, DXLD) As the vote on proposed FCC changes looms on June 2, the Washington Post has a resource page with numerous links to information about this topic. There is also a poll, and a quiz to test your knowledge on this subject. The URL is: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/technology/techpolicy/fcc/?nav=hptoc_ (Roger Chambers, Utica, NY, May 3, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. BROADCAST RADIO: INDUSTRY SURVEY SAYS LISTENERS ARE HAPPY WITH CONSOLIDATION Still with regulatory news, a recent listener survey has given credence to a claim by major radio chains that industry consolidation has provided more local flavor and diversity in programming. The report by Arbitron Inc. found that most listeners were very pleased with the programming choices available to them. In fact, about 79 percent said they get more or the same amount of programming choices from consolidated radio than they did five years ago. Skeptics say the report is biased as it comes from a company whose business is perpetuated by the growth of big radio company profits. (Via e-mail) (Amateur Radio Newsline May 30 via John Norfolk, DXLD) ** U S A. The Friday edition of Marketplace has a 4-minute segment on the FCC vote, starting 7 minutes into the show. I think the current show is only available for a limited time: http://www.marketplace.org/current.ram (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. TV'S NEWS CENTRAL: ONE SOURCE FITS ALL MD. STUDIO FEEDS LOCAL SHOWS NATIONALLY --- By Paul Farhi, Washington Post Staff Writer, Saturday, May 31, 2003, Page A01 HUNT VALLEY, Md. -- With a cheerful "Scott, how's it shaping up?" WSMH anchorman Jim Kiertzner cues forecaster Scott Padgett for the local weather forecast. Padgett, bright and sunny himself, tells viewers of the Flint, Mich., station to expect a high of 63 and more rain. He backs up the prediction with radar images showing a storm spreading like spilled ink toward Flint, Saginaw and Bay City. It's such a smooth performance that you'd never guess that Padgett, WSMH's "local" weatherman, isn't in Flint. Or that he's never even visited the city. Moments before WSMH's 10 p.m. news, Padgett recorded his forecast in a studio located here, some 600 miles away, and shipped it to the station via its computer network. . . http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A60149-2003May30.html 73, (-.. Kraig Krist, KG4LAC, DXLD) see also OKLAHOMA ** U S A. KWKH PLAYING COUNTRY MUSIC AGAIN Hello Glenn, A couple nights ago I noticed country music on 1130 AM, but didn't give it much thought, since any number of things can come in on 1130 here in central Missouri, given conditions, etc. Thursday night I heard it again between 9 and 10 PM CDT (0200-0300 UT) and confirmed it's KWKH, Shreveport, LA, playing only classic country, liners, and commercials. I didn't hear any live announcers. Liners say they're playing country legends. One mentioned sports and country legends, so they're apparently still doing some sports programming. I didn't think KWKH was supposed to be audible up this way, but for the past several months, I've heard them with a very loud signal quite often. You might have had other reports on this, or maybe noticed it yourself, but thought I'd add my two cents (John Wesley Smith, KC0HSB, Hallsville, MO, May 31, DX LISTENING DIGEST) One frequently suspects their direxional pattern be out of whack or not employed properly at nite (gh, DXLD) KWKH-1130 LOUISIANA HAYRIDE CDS If any of you have Cracker Barrel restaurants near you, they seem to be as common on interstates as clover leaf intersections, look in their CD display for the KWKH Louisiana Hayride CDs. These are compilations of classic live performances from the 50s. So far I've seen 3 different CDs and tapes; a CD of classic country performances, one of classic gospel performances, and one of an Elvis Presley performance made just before his explosion on to the music scene. These are nice historical pieces and I wish other stations would follow this lead. It's good to hear they are going back to classic country. I remember listening to KWKH as a young teenager when I discovered DXing. They are just a frog hair from my hometown powerhouse WBT and were easy to find on my All American 5 RCA radio. Now if we could just convince the other 10 million "Sports Talk" stations to change programming (Rick Robinson, who's about sports talked, news talked and preached out, Hendersonville, NC, May 29, NRC- AM via DXLD) ** U S A. THAYRONE HAS A NEW JOB YPSILANTI, Mich. (AP) --- A disc jockey who was fired by Eastern Michigan University's public radio station has a new gig with a station in Ann Arbor. Terry Hughes, known on his radio program as "Thayrone," will host a show on Sunday nights on WQKL-FM. WEMU-FM station manager Art Timko fired Hughes early last month for giving on- air opinions about the war in Iraq and refusing to air National Public Radio news during his show. Timko said WEMU-FM policy doesn't allow announcers to express opinions on matters of a controversial nature. Hughes had hosted "The Bone Conduction Show" for about 20 years, Timko said. Because Hughes spoke favorably about President Bush and his handling of the war in Iraq, his dismissal became a hot topic among conservative radio and television pundits. Ray Nelson, general manager for Clear Channel's Ann Arbor stations, is giving Hughes complete creative control of his new show. Starting this weekend, the show will air each Sunday from 7 p.m. to 11 p.m. "The show's success is in its host and the creative juices that flow with it," Nelson told The Detroit News for a Friday story. "I don't want to stymie that. Thayrone, I trust, will use the good judgment that any other broadcaster would in complying with our rules and regulations." (Relayed by Harry van Vugt, Windsor, Ontario, Canada, DXLD) ** U S A. LOS ANGELES PUBLIC RADIO STATION KUSC 91.5 FM GOES DIGITAL WITH HD RADIO(TM) TECHNOLOGY Southern California's Public Radio Network is Poised to Broadcast Digitally on Additional Stations KCPB-Thousand Oaks, KFAC-Santa Barbara, And KPSC-Palm Springs COLUMBIA, Md., and WARREN, N.J., May 28 /PRNewswire/ -- iBiquity Digital Corporation, the sole developer and licenser of HD Radio (TM) technology, and KUSC 91.5 FM, licensed to the University of Southern California, announced today that KUSC 91.5 FM in Los Angeles is the area's first noncommercial licensee of HD Radio technology. KUSC is part of a Los Angeles area public radio network providing classical music and arts programming to the nation's second largest radio market. KUSC is the largest noncommercial classical station in the country. Other stations in the same Southern California network licensed for HD Radio technology include KCPB-Thousand Oaks, KFAC- Santa Barbara, and KPSC-Palm Springs. "HD Radio technology opens the door for public broadcasters, such as KUSC, to offer digital quality and superior services to their loyal listeners," said Bob Struble, president and CEO, iBiquity Digital Corporation. "Public radio offers the potential for listeners to get the local news and information they value, as well as the option for new and exciting secondary services – all offered on the same frequency." Brenda Barnes, president and general manager, KUSC 91.5 FM said, "Classical music deserves and demands the highest quality transmission possible. HD Radio technology offers us the chance to improve the technical quality of the programming we provide as well as the consistency and reliability of our service. As a noncommercial station governed by a mission, improving service to our listeners is always the primary goal." For more information on how to license HD Radio technology please contact Stephen Wallace at 410-872-1554, wallace@@ibiquity.com or Scott Stull at 410-872-1578, stull@@ibiquity.com About KUSC 91.5 FM KUSC, the radio station of the University of Southern California started 55 years ago as a small student-run radio station on the USC campus and grew into the largest noncommercial classical station in the country, serving the entire Southern California region. According to recent Arbitron ratings, KUSC's classical format is the most popular music format on public radio, accounting for 30% of all programming. For more information on KUSC please visit: http://www.kusc.org (via Mike Cooper, DXLD) ** U S A. The current edition of the Society of Broadcast Engineers chapter 48 on-line newsletter has a very interesting story about the IBOC situation by Cris Alexander, Director of Engineering for Crawford Broadcasting. There is also a very informative article about the recent upgrade of KNRC/1150 (ex-KCUV) here in the Denver area. And yes, before you start poking fun, there is a big old picture of my ugly face next to a local TV personality in the very first story in the newsletter. My apologies for that! The newsletter is at http://www.smpte-sbe48.org/news.asp (Patrick Griffith Westminster, CO, USA, NRC-AM via DXLD) Viz.: RANDOM RADIO THOUGHTS Cris Alexander, CSRE, Crawford Broadcasting Company Back in April at the NAB convention, there was a lot of hubbub about the rollout of HD Radio, Radio's version of a digital transmission medium. A number of FM stations in the nation's top six markets are already on the air with the FM version; there are a couple of AM stations transmitting in digital as well. One thing I noted while at NAB was that the AM HD over-the-air demos sounded rough. To my ear, they sounded like a fair quality Internet stream. There were artifacts present, particularly on high-frequency components. Much of the source material was high-density, however, which made it hard to discern the artifacts. Crawford Broadcasting Company and several other broadcast groups recently made decisions to wait on AM HD implementation. I based my decision almost entirely on the quality issue, although the unresolved nighttime questions also played a part. My opinion was that AM HD Radio was not ready for prime time. The PAC algorithm for AM needs a lot of work. On May 14, the NRSC DAB subcommittee announced a suspension of activity in the in-band-on-channel (IBOC) standards-setting process. The reason cited was "...growing concerns over the audio quality of iBiquity's low bit-rate codec..." It was the very demonstrations that I heard at NAB 2003 in Las Vegas plus similar demonstrations at a private NPR event in Washington that led the NRSC to pull the plug for the time being on IBOC standards setting. It was interesting to note that many NRSC members found that earlier demonstrations at 36 kbps sounded much better and were "...suitable for broadcast." Whatever changes iBiquity has recently made to the AM PAC algorithm, they were in the wrong direction. It will be interesting to see what happens in coming months by way of PAC improvements. I think it is very unfortunate that AM, which stands to gain the most from a digital transmission medium, has been back- burnered once again. Maybe we should take Leonard Kahn's new AM proposal a little more seriously after all. (SBE/Denver May via DXLD) ** U S A. As of 1034 [EDT] today [May 29] I do not note the IBOC effect on either side of WOR. Stations on both 700 and 720 are coming in clearly (Ben Dangerfield, Wallingford, PA, NRC-AM via DXLD) Thanks Ben! That is good news! Let's hope it's permanent. I enjoy listening to CHTN-720 on my drive home through Plymouth, Mass. It's virtually impossible when IBOC is turned on (Marc DeLorenzo, Marstons Mills, Mass., ibid.) As mentioned on the list earlier, IBOC is on hold while problems with the codec are addressed. Personally I find it hard to believe that such a screw-up made it this far. An in-band digital solution has been in the works for some ten years now, and they still don't have it right? Now's the opportunity for Kahn and DRM to step forward (Bruce Conti - Nashua NH, ibid.) It's the standardization efforts in the radio industry's NRSC group that's on hold, not the usage of IBOC by stations. If IBOC is gone from WOR, I'd guess WOR finally woke up and decided there's no reason to play around with IBOC for a good while at least (Chuck Hutton, ibid.) Well no, NRSC said that the PAC used on the MW IBOC was unacceptable at the low data rates, and they needed to fix it or go back to AAC. And the night use of IBOC has not even been addressed by them yet. I expect they are awaiting another round of software upgrades. And since NO one has any IBOC radios for now.... (Powell E. Way, ibid.) ** U S A. Re Sweeper: Thanks to Walter and to other people who replied to my message about the sweeper. Frederik, the sweeper I am talking about is a kind of device called Long Range Sea Sonde. Please find more information below I got from George Maroti a long time ago. The text was written by Andy Wallace and Paul McDonough. THE SMOOCHER ("SWISHER"). I think I read somewhere that this was possibly a "sea state" evaluator for close-in waters. It bounces the HF signal off the ionosphere (way below MUF) and gets weak reflections that have a doppler spread on it. The doppler frequency spread is directly related to the speed of the ocean waves. That way they know how fast the waves are moving, hence sea state. If it were some type of over-the-horizon radar (OTHR) it would change frequency as the ionosphere changed during the day (higher frequencies for farther range during daylight/higher MUF, else the signal would be absorbed by the D layer). Since this doesn't change frequency range, it's probably not an OTHR. But an experimental station that could only get a license for a particular band sounds more probable. Sea state sounds like one possibility. Any way to check for experimental FCC licenses in the 4 MHz band? (Paul McDonough, Boston Area DXers) Went to the FCC database and found that the University of Maine has a license for some CODAR ocean HF radio units. See CODAR's website http://www.codaros.com/products/LongRangeSpecs.htm for specifications. In brief, output power 80 watts peak, 40 watts average; operating frequency range, 4.5-5.5 MHz; transmitter, SSTX 100. They say the frequency sweeps up and then returns. The signals we are hearing seem to sweep downwards. Per the FCC experimental licensing database, a licensee is University of Maine, School of Marine Science, station location Heron Neck Light House, Vinalhaven, ME, North 44 1 30, West 68 51 50. Rutgers has also installed a bunch in NJ. I think these must be the sweepers. I bet if we search carefully when propagation allows we will find that they sweep less than 100 kHz and we are actually hearing more than one. The Maine installation also explains why we heard it at Chamberlain, but I haven't looked to see how close that is to Heron Neck. Paul McDonough wins the prize for pointing me in the right direction! (Andy Wallace, BADX) It's about 37 miles as the crow flies. This would certainly explain why 4.8-5.0 MHz was overwhelmed by smoocher QRM during our DXpedition this past weekend. (JB) (all via Marcelo Toníolo, NZ, Cumbredx mailing list via DXLD) ** WESTERN SAHARA [non]. What may have been the National R. of the Saharan Arab Dem. Rep. was heard for only a short time on 7460 at 0640 until fade around 0650 on May 31st. Signal strength was poor, but Arabic music and speech was heard. 73s (Noel R. Green [Blackpool, UK], Cumbredx mailing list via DXLD) Recently filed by mistake under SAHARA WESTERN (gh) UNIDENTIFIED. This morning I heard an LA station on 5067 kHz. I did not get an ID but probably it is listed Ondas del Suroriente. Best Wishes! (Björn Malm, Quito, Ecuador, May 30, hard-core-dx via DXLD) UNIDENTIFIED. There are some UNID stations heard by Serguei Nikishin in Moscow with his Sony Pro80 right in urban part of the city: 6037.4 UNID in Spanish between 0000-0100 May 28. If anyone could help, it will be too much appreciated 73 and DX, (Serguei Nikishin via Artyom Prokhorov (Moscow, Russia) Cumbredx mailing list via DXLD) UNIDENTIFIED. I have heard recently an AM carrier on 6350.0 SSB [sic] for most of the day; no station seems to own it as no station is heard. This is blocking AFN from the horrible high pitched noise the carrier makes when in SSB mode. Can someone investigate- if nothing better to do, and see what this mystery carrier is doing. -? NOTE: This was heard in Tasmania, Australia, and other overseas listeners may not find this problem, but why not see. -Carrier heard continuously from when I heard it at around 0000 UT to 1000 -approx only. I don't believe that the 'Voice of Hope' is doing something there on that frequency. All keep well! --- Kind regards, (Robert Wise, Hobart, Australia, May 30, Cumbredx mailing list via DXLD) UNIDENTIFIED. This month`s featured station is both a numbers station and a pirate. While there have been a few parody numbers stations in the past, they have usually been short lived, with just one or two transmissions. For almost a year now, we`ve been hearing coded messages from the ``Rodent revolution``, a.k.a. WBNY. These are supposedly transmitted form the revolution`s leader, Commander Bunny, to his shock troops in the field. These transmissions were first noted on August 7, 2002 on 6950 kHz. They have mostly been heard on this frequency, altho 6955 and 6925 have also been reported. Both AM and SSB have been heard. Signal strength and technical quality is usually quite poor, leading one to suspect a connexion to the Cuban Atención stations. Most transmissions have used he same encryption method, a simple substitution cipher, one of the most basic methods of encoding a message. Each letter of the alphabet is encoded using a number from 1 to 26. No spaces are sent; it is up to the recipient to place spaces in the correct locations after decrypting the message. Derek Glidden came up with the solution using letter frequency information. The decryption table is: 1 M 8 E 15 P 22 ? 2 L 9 D 16 ? 23 Y 3 J? 10 C 17 R 24 J? 4 I 11 B 18 S 25 ? 5 H 12 A 19 T 26 ? 6 G 13 N 20 U 7 F 14 O 21 W J has been reported to use both 3 and 24; this may be due to encryption errors --- 3 fits the obvious pattern better. 16 can be inferred to be Q. K, V, X and Z are unknown at present. Further transmissions may identify them. The most recent message heard was on May 19, 2003 at 2328 UT on 6950 AM, and decrypted to: ``COMMANDER BUNNY IS GO`` That`s it for this month. I need to go outside and check my tire pressure. 73, (Chris Smolinski, Covert Comms, The Monthly A*C*E, June via DXLD) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ PROPAGATION +++++++++++ [CUMBRE DX] PROPAGATION REPORT Geomagnetic storm conditions prevail at the moment with the solar wind speed elevated at 685 km/sec, with a highly unusual +24 nT bias. Since May 27 a number of M and X class flares have been noted with associated fadeouts, and coronal mass ejections. Coronal hole activity was prevalent early in the week keeping the geomagnetic field active for a few days as well. Magnetically complex and compact solar region 365 located in the south-west solar quadrant, produced the two X class flares. These events were associated with Type II radio sweeps and mass ejections. At least one of the X class flares produced protons with 10MeV solar proton flux levels currently just below event threshold at time of issue of this report. Two shocks are expected to arrive on 30/31 May. Background solar wind speed are currently elevated at 650km/sec, due to a coronal hole now located in the western solar hemisphere. A much larger coronal hole is visible in the Sun's eastern hemisphere and is expected to produce an extended period of elevated wind speed from 02 Jun. More CMEs are expected to impact on May 31 and Jun 2, with possible major storm conditions from Jun 1. Needless to say propagation conditions are forecast to be mostly poor at least for the first half of the week. Produced using data from http://www.ips.gov.au (Richard Jary, SA, May 30, Cumbredx mailing list via DXLD) AURORAL AUDIO CLIPS Does anyone have any audio clips of AU receptions on their sites? (Mike Hawk, WTFDA via DXLD) Yes, I have a couple at http://fmdx.usclargo.com/ra.html (Mike Bugaj, Enfield, CT, http://pages.cthome.net/fmdx ibid.) Mike, enjoy! WOMC 104.3 Detroit, MI - 5:50PM [EDT May 29] This one was almost a pain it was in for so long and so clear! http://mpickar.home.attbi.com/WOMC-104.3-AU-05-29-2003.mp3 (Bill Nollman, WTFDA via DXLD) FIRST DTV ES RECEPTION IN HISTORY? This Morning at 8:22 AM EDT I successfully got the PSIP ID from KOTA- DT (Channel 2), Rapid City, SD from 1,062 miles. It locked only long enough to snag the PSIP, and no video frame or sound was decoded. Picture of the PSIP ID is available at my website http://www.DXFM.com The first picture may yet come today. I still have have "Prairie Public TV" KGFE, Grand Rapids, ND up on channel 2 with DTV snow. That's the way things were just before the ID came in for KOTA-DT. To answer some questions... The setup for the reception is as follows: Hauppauge WinTV-D card Delhi / Jerrold VIP-307SR Antenna @ 45 feet Channel Master CM-7777 preamp I started seeing a coherent but intermittent DTV signal on channel 2 last night at around 6:00 PM when the auroral activity was seemingly at its peak. I was getting a steady carrier offset frequency reading of 2.5 kHz, and intermittent EQ locks. I had no sync locks last night. By 7:00 PM no hint of the DTV signal remained on channel 2. I got up and started DXing shortly after 2:00 AM and noticed that the coherent carrier offset frequency reading and intermittent EQ locks were back. I parked the antenna on the beam heading for KOTA-DT (299 degrees) and I didn't move it after that. At about 8:15 AM I started seeing intermittent sync locks. Finally at 8:22 AM EDT, I got full sync lock, the frame error rate went to zero, and the PSIP ID was captured. The frame error rate only stayed at zero for perhaps 5 seconds. Even so, it wasn't enough time apparently to decode a video frame. I suppose I better go to work now :-) (Girard Westerberg, Lexington, KY, May 30, WTFDA via DXLD) CONGRATS! This is a huge milestone for the TVDX hobby. I think most of us knew it would happen some day - now it has. Hopefully it will be the first of many. – (Doug Smith W9WI, Pleasant View (Nashville), TN, ibid.) SOLAR UPDATE Sun watcher Tad "I See the Light" Cook, K7RA, Seattle, Washington, reports: While this bulletin is being written Friday, May 30 at around 0600 UTC, a severe geomagnetic storm rages. For the past three reporting periods (three hours each), the planetary K index has been 8, indicating extremely active conditions. A late forecast at 0359 UTC on May 30 shows the projected planetary A index for May 30 through June 2 as 60, 40, 25 and 20, followed by an A of 30 for June 3-5, 35 for June 6, and 30 again on June 7. On May 29 Earth was hit by coronal mass ejections at 1215 UTC and 1900 UTC. A third coronal mass ejection may hit Earth May 30. Rather than working HF, now seems a good time for 6-meter operations and observing aurora. Solar flux over the next few days (May 30 through June 2) is predicted at 145, 140, 135 and 125. Sunspot numbers for May 22 through 28 were 110, 87, 84, 51, 65, 116 and 116, with a mean of 89.9. The 10.7-cm flux was 118.4, 117.9, 116.8, 121.1, 125.1, 128.8 and 130.2, with a mean of 122.6. Estimated planetary A indices were 25, 21, 22, 22, 18, 26 and 36, with a mean of 24.3. (ARRL Letter May 30 via John Norfolk, DXLD) ================================================================= This Is SKY & TELESCOPE's AstroAlert for Sun-Earth Interactions ================================================================= A s t r o A l e r t Sun-Earth Alert Solar Terrestrial Dispatch http://www.spacew.com Supporting Imagery and Movies are available at: http://www.spacew.com/astroalert.html 30 May 2003 BAD LUCK FOR NORTH AMERICAN AURORA OBSERVERS Sometimes (lots of times) things don't go quite according to plan when you're hunting for the elusive "Northern Lights." The fact that the occurrence of auroral activity is predictable at all is a testament to our scientific knowledge and expertise of the Sun and the processes that couple solar disturbances with the Earth's magnetosphere. As most North American aurora observers can attest, the anticipated display of the northern lights on 29 and 30 May were foiled by circumstances beyond anyones control. Just as the Sun began setting over the eastern fringes of North America, the disturbance that had been broiling furiously began to decay. By the time it was dark enough to observe anything, very few people were able to spot the northern lights. Some travelled great distances to see the phenomena, only to be disappointed. Dedicated observers in eastern Canada were treated to a few relatively brief periods of moderately strong activity during the evening hours last night, but such luck didn't hold out for most. Unfortunately, this is one of the quirks of hunting aurorae. They can be frustratingly elusive at times. Prospects were much rosier for Europeans. Numerous reports of moderate to strong auroral activity were received from the United Kingdom, the Netherlands and even Germany. Had the solar disturbance arrived 6 to 9 hours later than it did, observers across North America and down to the central United States might have been privileged to observe activity as well. The last coronal mass ejection to impact the Earth arrived around 12:25 pm EDT (16:25 UTC) on 30 May and did not contain sufficient "punch" to rejuvinate auroral storming. Although there remains a chance some middle latitude regions may spot periods of low to moderately strong auroral substorming over the next 12 to 18 hours as the magnetosphere stabilizes, the chances for observing activity from most middle latitude regions have vanished. Active sunspot complex Region 10365, which was responsible for the flurry of recent space storm activity, is still capable of producing energetic major solar flare activity. However, it has rotated into a less favorable position for throwing coronal mass ejections Earthward. Ironically, although it is in a less favorable position for ejecting mass Earthward, it IS in almost an ideal position (at least, statistically speaking) for accelerating high energy protons toward the Earth should a major proton flare occur. As a result, operators of satellites and other vulnerable technology in space are as concerned now as they were several days ago. Energetic proton bombardments can permanently decrease the ability of solar arrays to generate electricity - thereby shortening spacecraft lifetimes. Energetic protons can also produce occasional anomalies such as phantom commands or single event upsets (SEUs). As far as the satellite industry is concerned, we are not yet out of the woods. ** End of the AstroAlert Bulletin ** (via Jilly Dybka, DXLD) NEWFOUNDLAND CLUB PROMOTING INTEREST IN LF WORK The Marconi Radio Club of Newfoundland is promoting interest in low- frequency (LF) work on 136 kHz The club reports it's breaking new ground on the long waves by conducting experiments aimed at assisting Radio Amateurs of Canada (RAC) http://www.rac.ca to acquire a 136-kHz amateur allocation and promoting interest in LF work. The RAC has endorsed and Industry Canada has approved an experimental license proposal drafted by club member Joe Craig, VO1NA. Since then, an LF transmitting station--the first in the Newfoundland-Labrador Section- -has been on the air at 135.830 kHz as MRCN members conduct various experiments including crossband contacts. Signals from the station have been copied by W1TAG near Boston and by G3NYK in England. The FCC recently decided against granting the 136-kHz allocation for US amateurs that ARRL had requested and the FCC had proposed granting in 2002. Visit the MRCN Web site http://www.ucs.mun.ca/~jcraig/mrcn.html for further information (ARRL Letter May 30 via John Norfolk, DXLD)###