DX LISTENING DIGEST 3-115, June 28, 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/dxldtd3f.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 1188: RFPI: Sat 2330, Sun 0530, 1130, 1830, Mon 0030, 0630, 1230, Tue 1900, Wed 0100, 0730, 1330 7445, 15039 WINB: Sun 0030 12160 [we hope] WWCR: Sun 0230 5070, Sun 0630 3210, Wed 1030 9475 WBCQ: Mon 0445 7415 WRN: Rest of world Sat 0800, Europe Sun 0430, North America Sun 1400 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/wor1188.rm (Stream) http://www.k4cc.net/wor1188.ram [High] (Download) http://www.k4cc.net/wor1188h.rm (Stream) http://www.k4cc.net/wor1188h.ram (Summary) http://www.worldofradio.com/wor1188.html ** ALASKA. FCC CUTS RADIO Web posted Thursday, June 26, 2003 By HAL SPENCE, [Kenai] Peninsula Clarion A Federal Communications Commission administrative law judge has revoked two FM full-power radio station licenses held by Peninsula Communications Inc., ruling that the stations' operator had willfully disobeyed for more than a year an FCC order to terminate operation of a network of seven translators whose signals were fed by the full- power stations. Those low-power translators ceased operations in August 2002, but the termination order had been issued in May 2001. Under the "initial decision" released June 19, Peninsula Communications Pres-ident David Becker loses the licenses for Homer station KWVV-FM, often called "K- Wave," and Soldotna station KPEN-FM, stations that had fed the network of translators. Their loss represents only part of the punishment meted out by the FCC. Peninsula Communications also faces a $140,000 fine, a separate issue currently in litigation. The judge's decision takes effect 50 days after its release --- Aug. 8 --- if exceptions are not filed within 30 days, or unless the FCC decides to review the case on it own motion. Becker, of Homer, said Wednesday he fully intends to file exceptions. "Obviously, we think the judge reached the wrong conclusions," Becker said. Becker did not forfeit his remaining licenses. Station licenses for KGTL-AM in Homer and KXBA-FM in Nikiski remain in effect, as do licenses covering FM translators K292ED in Kachemak City, K285DU in Homer, and K285EG and K272DG serving Seward. Revocation of KPEN's license could have an impact on the Kenai Peninsula Borough, which contracts with Peninsula Communica-tions to broadcast borough assembly meetings across the peninsula. Borough Clerk Linda Murphy said the borough is talking with KBBI Public Radio in Homer about possibly taking over those broadcasts, if necessary, but KBBI is in the process of hiring a new general manager and has yet to make a decision. Becker said the appeals process could take some time, considering it's already been under consideration and in and out of courts for seven years. Meanwhile KWVV and KPEN are continuing to broadcast, he said, and likely would through the appeal process. According to Administrative Law Judge Richard L. Sippel, Becker willfully continued broadcasting over seven unauthorized translators after being ordered on May 19, 2001, to cease operations. Without justification, PCI committed a clear breach of duty to obey the "unambiguous termination order," Sippel said. Becker defended his action by arguing he had "an absolute right" to continue while the termination order was appealed. That defense was rejected. Becker also argued that tougher regulations regarding translators adopted by the FCC in 1990 were never intended to apply in Alaska. Becker continued broadcasting over the seven translators until Aug. 28, 2002, when, facing an October 2001 injunction issued by the U.S. District Court for Alaska that was affirmed later by the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, PCI finally stopped operating the translators. The network of translators had served the communities of Kenai, Soldotna, Anchor Point, Kachemak City, Homer and Kodiak. Some locations were served by more than one translator. Already facing the prospect of paying the $140,000 fine, Becker called the additional punishment of losing the licenses excessive and senseless. "I'm qualified to be a licensee," he said, adding that was made clear when the ruling did not strip him of all his broadcast licenses. "Either I'm qualified or I'm not. If I am, that should be the end of it. I don't think the additional penalties he is trying to apply on top of what already has been assessed is reasonable or fair." Sippel's ruling said Becker actions were motivated by profit. "Through a carefully crafted 'network'' PCI captured revenues that otherwise would have gone to competing full-service licensees operating properly within their assigned service areas," the ruling said. "Through the seven offending translators, PCI placed its own economic interests ahead of the commission's regulatory scheme and the public interest in having honest competition." The issues that eventually led to the decision have a long history. Becker formed PCI in 1978 and began broadcasting in September 1979 over KGTL-FM (now KWVV-FM). The station became Homer's first commercial FM venture. PCI added KPEN-FM in 1984, providing Soldotna with full-service radio. By the 1980s, PCI had built its network of FM translators enabling the broadcast corporation to reach customers in competition with full- power stations operating without supplemental translators. In other words, advertisers would find advantage in buying airtime on the PCI's network, which was able to reach more listeners on the Kenai Peninsula and Kodiak Island than could Anchorage stations. "Therefore, there was a clear economic incentive for PCI to keep its low-cost translator 'network' operating for as long as possible," Sippel said. "PCI's income was almost 40 percent derived from ad sales in Anchorage which was outside PCI's primary FM coverage areas," he said. In 1990, the FCC strengthened the rules governing ownership and financial conditions for translators. The stricter standards were meant to protect existing FM stations from the "adverse, anticompetitive effects of translators." Waivers could be granted for translators broadcasting into areas not covered by primary stations. That was the FCC's practice for Alaska where so-called "white areas" receiving no radio signals were common because of terrain. Stations that had operated prior to March 1, 1991, were permitted to continue through March 1, 1994, including translators owned by full-service stations that had signals reaching beyond authorized zones. After March 1994, however, the new rules applied to all broadcasters. PCI, which actually lacked formal waivers for its network prior to June 1991, continued operating without them, according to the FCC. In November 1995, the company filed renewal applications for its translators. Through that year and into 1996, PCI thought it had the necessary waivers to operate its translators, believing the FCC's earlier approval of initial construction permits and licenses for translators sufficed. "At the time, there did not appear to be any rigid application or strict observance of the waiver rules," Sippel said. In March 1996, PCI was informed by letter that it might be in violation of the commission's 1990 FM translator rules and likely would have to demonstrate that its translators served only areas unable to get other radio signals. Meanwhile, competitors filed petitions to deny PCI's renewal applications, arguing that the translators were rebroadcasting KPEN's and KWVV's signals "beyond their respective authorized contours." On Sept. 11, 1996, an FCC division chief notified Becker he had no valid waivers for the translators. PCI was, however, given the benefit of the doubt. FCC staffers concluded, Sippel said, that PCI "could have reasonably, but mistakenly, believed staff had implicitly waived" the rules. PCI was granted 60 days to file applications to assign the nine licenses then in question to unaffiliated parties. License renewal was made contingent on those assignments. An attempt was made to assign the translators to Coastal Broadcasting Communications Inc., owned by David and Judy Buchanan, Becker's long- time acquaintances. That deal included a number of relationships between the two companies, including financing to be provided by Becker, a condition that ultimately doomed the transaction. The FCC ruled such financing left a connection to primary stations owned by PCI. In 1997, the two companies re-filed their application without the financing aspect. There followed a couple of years during which PCI continued to utilize the translators under license renewals and temporary waivers granted because of the prospect of eventual assignment. But the deal was never consummated and by March 1, 2000, the assignment was dead. Complicating matters for Becker was the fact that the translators were losing value. Four translators had become worthless after Kodiak translators had been denied satellite waivers and could not receive primary station signals. Seward translators would lose value whenever a full-service station went on the air covering the same area. With the assignment option dead, PCI unsuccessfully sought stays from the commission and from the Washing-ton, D.C., Circuit Court. On Feb. 14, 2000, the commission dismissed PCI's petition for reconsideration and a motion for stay. In March 2000, in what Sippel called "a last ditch effort," PCI filed a pleading rejecting conditional renewals it was granted in 1997 and 1998, theorizing that such a rejection would require the FCC to set the translator renewal applications for a hearing. A little over a year later, on May 18, 2001, the commission dismissed PCI's rejection argument as untimely and rescinded the company's conditional renewals and assignment grants. The commission deleted the call signs for translators serving Kenai, Kenai-Soldotna, Anchor Point, Homer, Kachemak City and the two translators on Kodiak and order PCI to cease operations. PCI appealed, seeking a stay from the D.C. Circuit Court. That appeal was denied. Nevertheless, PCI would continue to operate unlawfully for 15 months, the FCC said, prompting the U.S. Attorney for Alaska to seek a court order in July 2001 to enforce the termination order. A few weeks later, the commission threatened PCI's licenses if it continued using the translators. A U.S. District Court (Alaska) ruling against Becker and PCI followed in October, backed up by the Ninth Circuit's affirmation in April 2002. On Feb. 6, 2002, the commission issued a forfeiture order, finding PCI had "willfully and repeatedly" failed to comply. A fine of $140,000 was handed down. On July 3, 2002, the Ninth Circuit denied a PCI petition for rehearing, and on Aug. 13, 2002, the D.C. Circuit Court denied PCI's last request for a stay of the termination order. On Aug. 28, 2002, PCI finally shut down the seven FM translators, announcing that it was a temporary move while the legality of the termination order was decided by the D.C. court. The court upheld the order. While Becker had bucked the FCC at nearly every turn, he had used the process legally, the judge said. He also had not demonstrated any intention to defraud. Those factors led the judge to rule that while he must forfeit the two full-service stations that had fed the translator network, Becker could keep licenses not associated with that network. The commission has a general policy to revoke only offending licenses. The company had already paid "a heavy price" with the loss of the seven translators, Sippel said, and likely would pay still more when and if the fine was upheld. "PCI's conduct was seriously misguided, bordered on contemptuous, and was deserving of those sanctions, in addition to revocation of two full-service FM stations that were use to operate the network," he said. However, that misconduct was not so cavalier, he added, that Becker should lose unrelated licenses. Becker said the judge was "cutting the baby in half like Solomon" by revoking the licenses. He said the fine was the maximum permitted. "Enough is enough," he said. The judge's action can be appealed to the full FCC and from there to the Washington, D.C., Court of Appeals, Becker said. How long that might take is anybody's guess. "You can't put a time table on this stuff," he said (via Mike Terry, DXLD) ** AUSTRIA. La transmisión en español de Radio Austria Internacional emitida el pasado miércoles 25 de junio estuvo interrumpida después del boletín informativo hasta el final del programa. Cuando la locutora anunció el siguiente espacio "Noticiero de Austria" pasó un sesquiminuto sin audio; luego en idiomas alemán, inglés, francés y español se emitió la siguiente aclaración: "Aquí Radio Austria Internacional; rogamos a ustedes disculpas por la interrupción en nuestros transmisores" sin precisar las causas. Posteriormente se difundió música clásica con anuncios en alemán hasta cumplirse la media hora de programación habitual. Ayer, viernes 27 de junio, el programa salió al aire completo y sin interrupciones. Después de las noticias se escuchó por última vez la voz del locutor que dijo: "Desde los estudios de Radio Austria Internacional se despide de ustedes hasta más ver u oir en esta vida o en la próxima, Santiago Mata". Manuel Aletrino tomó el micrófono para continuar diciendo: "En nuestra última entrega de la serie 'Viena Diplomática' tenemos el agrado de hablar con el nuevo embajador de Colombia en Austria, el General Roso José Serrano" (el tema: la legalización de las drogas y el panorama de paz en Colombia). Julieta Quintana entrevistó a Manuel Romero, un guía de turismo que acompaña a los visitantes de Viena que desean conocer todo lo referente al Modernismo (conocido como Jugendstil, estilo de arte de fines del Siglo XIX) y finalmente Manuel Aletrino anunció "Radio Austria Internacional desde Viena; nuestras emisiones en español se suspenderán con fecha 30 de junio próximo, nuestra dirección es A-1136 Viena, Austria, el correo electrónico es roi.hispano@o... [truncated] y en Internet http://www.roiorf.at El último espacio fue "Charlas musicales" presentado por Fernando Montes de Oca y la emisión se cerró con estas palabras: "El próximo domingo, nuestro Buzón de la despedida, haremos un repaso a más de treinta años de informaciones dominicales entre los más veteranos de esta emisora que somos Jaime Carbonell y su servidor Manuel Aletrino" No olviden de escuchar y grabar los dos últimos programas del sábado 29 y domingo 30 de junio de 2003. Agradeciendo la difusión del presente mensaje, les saluda cordialmente: (Rubén Guillermo Margenet, Rosario, ARGENTINA, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** BELARUS`. Unfortunately, since 18 June 2003 I cannot handle reports sent to official Radio Hrodna address (ul. Gorkogo 85, Hrodna 230015, Belarus`). Station heading staff is glad to receive letters from distant listeners, but has no interest in QSLing them. If you wish to have station's verification in a reliable way, please first contact me (dxing@t...) [truncateds]. I'll have to bring reports to their office myself and convince station's officials to reply. Automatic address kdp2@a..., where you could get the current Radio Hrodna schedule, will be closed very soon (Sergei Alekseichik, Hrodna, Belarus`, Signal via DXLD) ** CANADA. More on Trans-Atlantic TV and FM DX: See PROPAGATION below ** CAYMAN ISLANDS. See CUBA [non]. R. Martí ** CONGO DR. Me and my wife spent two magnificent weeks in the southernmost municipality of the province of North Karelia, Kesalahti. It was crystal clear Lake Pyhajarvi, part of it belonging to Russia, former Finnish territory. We enjoyed a lot of peace of nature. Lake water was 14-16 degrees, air temperature 10-20 degrees, sauna every evening 100 degrees! Noise level was very low, so I did some DX-ing usually from mid-night to the three o´clock. Here´s some of my best loggings: DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF CONGO: R Okapi, Kinshasa on 6030 kHz 2215-2315 UT playing mostly Congolese music without breaks. Only one short "Okapi"-ID. Some splashes from R Budapest on 6025 kHz. My antenna was only 30 meter longwire! 73´s (Jouko Huuskonen, Turku/Kesalahti, FINLAND, June 28, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CUBA [non]. Last night, at around 0330 Z I found Radio Martí on 1020 kHz, Spanish news directed to Cuba, parallel 6030, strong, clear, slight fading. Posted this on the NRC list and a reply there from Barry McLarnon in Toronto who was hearing them weakly under KDKA. No idea how long this has been here, or if this changes anything with the 1180 operation which I was never able to hear from here (Bob Foxworth, Tampa, FL, IRCA via DXLD) As we suggested in last issue, seems likely this is the Turks & Caicos transmitter which was tested a few weeks ago. Hits Cuba from the east (gh, DXLD) ESTIMADO AMIGO GLENN HAUSER: Gracias por la información. Se habia anunciado también que se realizarían pruebas en AM desde Cayman Island. 73's (Oscar de Céspedes, FL, Conexión Digital via DXLD) Somebody should get a fix on 1020 ASAP (gh, DXLD) ** CUBA [non]. WHITE HOUSE REQUESTED COMMANDO SOLO TO TRANSMIT TO CUBA DXing.info has learned that a request to deploy Commando Solo EC-130 aircraft to broadcast to Cuba on May 20 came from the National Security Council (NSC). The NSC is the President's principal forum for considering national security and foreign policy matters with his senior national security advisors and cabinet officials. Earlier, the U.S. Department of Defense (DOD) had received inquiries from the U.S. International Broadcasting Bureau (IBB) concerning the possibility of IBB using Commando Solo to broadcast Radio and TV Martí into Cuba. IBB is the U.S. agency that manages Radio and TV Martí, the U.S. propaganda station broadcasting to Cuba 24 hours a day on mediumwave and shortwave frequencies. Eventually the NSC requested the DOD to support the IBB with Commando Solo broadcasting capability to better broadcast the President's address on the anniversary of Cuban independence on Tuesday, May 20, 2003. According to information received by DXing.info, the mission was approved and Commando Solo was able to broadcast the President's message along with approximately 2.5 hours of TV Martí programming from an orbit inside U.S. airspace starting at around 6.30 p.m. Eastern time (1430 UTC [sic!]) on May 20. The broadcast included a retransmission of President George Bush's speech carried earlier on Radio Martí. The IBB has been evaluating the coverage and effectiveness of the one-time transmission via Commando Solo, which was chosen to overcome Cuban jamming of TV Martí. The day after, Cuban daily Granma said that very few Cubans were able to hear the U.S. airborne test transmission. Cuban-American activists have long complained that the U.S. needs to improve the poor reception of Radio Martí, which is why Commando Solo was tested as a potential new transmission platform. The mission was carried out by an EC-130E plane that was earlier used to broadcast Information Radio programming to Iraq. After the plane had returned from Qatar back to its home base at the Harrisburg International airport in Pennsylvania, it was deployed to Hurlburt Field near Pensacola, Florida, for a training mission. Another sign of increased activity in making Radio Marti more accessible, on June 28 Radio Martí was logged on a new frequency of 1020 kHz mediumwave by DXer Bob Foxworth in Florida (DXing.info, June 27, 2003, updated June 28 via DXLD) ** ETHIOPIA [non]. Radio Xoriyo 15670, E-mail report with RealAudio attachment sent to ogaden@yahoo.com and staff@ogaden.com brought same day E-mail from "International Ogaden Website" ogaden@yahoo.com: "We thank you for your interest about R. Xoriyo. The information you provided is correct. Regards, Ogaden Online staff." (J. Berg, MA, Jun 22, 2003 in DXplorer-ML via CRW via DXLD) ** GERMANY. DEUTSCHE WELLE FEIERT 50 JAHRE - RAU WUERDIGT ERFOLGSGESCHICHTE Bonn (dpa) --- Mit einem Festakt im frueheren Bundestagsplenarsaal in Bonn hat die Deutsche Welle am Freitag ihr 50-jaehriges Bestehen gefeiert. Bundespraesident Johannes Rau wuerdigte die Arbeit des deutschen Auslandssenders als eine Erfolgsgeschichte. Die Deutsche Welle (DW) habe sich einen "exzellenten Ruf an Seriositaet und Glaubwuerdigkeit" erarbeitet, sagte Rau. Ihre Sendungen in zahlreichen Sprachen und in alle Welt seien eine Investition, "auf die Deutschland nicht verzichten sollte". Die DW wird aus Steuergeldern aus dem Bundeshaushalt finanziert. Neben dem Jubilaeum feierte die DW zugleich die Einweihung des neuen Funkhauses und der Zentrale in Bonn. Nach dem mit Asbest belasteten alten Funkhaus in Koeln ist der Schuermannbau im frueheren Regierungsviertel ab sofort ihr Domizil. Aus dem neuen Funkhaus senden mit modernster Technik mehr als 1000 Mitarbeiter Hoerfunksendungen in mehr als 30 Sprachen. Aus Berlin sendet die DW ihre Fernsehbeitraege. Die DW sei ein "fester Pfeiler der auswaertigen Kulturpolitik", sagte die Beauftragte der Bundesregierung fuer Kultur und Medien, Staatsministerin Christina Weiss. In vielen Laendern sei die DW auch eine wichtige Informationsquelle. Die Grundzuege der Gesetzesnovelle fuer die Zukunft des Senders seien nicht laenger strittig. Die Bundesregierung werde auch fuer die notwendige Finanzierungssicherheit Sorge tragen, sicherte Weiss zu. Eine finanzielle Planungssicherheit ueber einen Zeitraum von fuenf Jahren waere ein "starker Beitrag", die Staatsferne der DW zu dokumentieren, sagte Intendant Erik Bettermann. Der stellvertretende Vorsitzende der ARD und Intendant des Westdeutschen Rundfunks, Fritz Pleitgen, sagte, die DW sei weltweit zu einer "hoch geschaetzten Institution" geworden. Aus dem reinen Kurzwellensender sei ein multimediales Programmunternehmen geworden. "Den Vergleich mit anderen Auslandssendern braucht die Deutsche Welle nicht zu scheuen." Es sei wichtig, in aller Welt ein Bild zu verbreiten, das der Wirklichkeit Deutschlands und seiner "bunten Vielfalt" entspreche und auch eine Sympathiewerbung sei, sagte Rau. "Wir koennen guten Gewissens fuer unser Land so werben, wie es ist." Daneben sei das objektive Informationsangebot des Senders in den fremdsprachigen Programmen vor allem auch dort gefragt, wo Krieg und Buergerkriege sowie Zensur und Informationsmangel herrschten. Hier leiste die Deutsche Welle einen wesentlichen Beitrag zur Aufklaerung. Am 3. Mai 1953 war die DW erstmals auf Sendung gegangen - mit Hoerfunk in Deutsch via Kurzwelle. Schon im Jahr darauf folgten Radiosendungen in Englisch, Franzoesisch, Spanisch und Portugiesisch. Heute gestalten rund 1500 Mitarbeiter aus mehr als 60 Laendern die Programme von DW-TV und DW-RADIO sowie die Website dw-world.de. Gesetzlicher Auftrag der DW ist es, "Rundfunkteilnehmern im Ausland ein umfassendes Bild des politischen, kulturellen und wirtschaftlichen Lebens in Deutschland zu vermitteln und ihnen die deutschen Auffassungen zu wichtigen Fragen darzustellen und zu erlaeutern". Das Reformkonzept fuer die DW, das noch in diesem Jahr verabschiedet werden soll, zielt im wesentlichen darauf, das Aufgabenprofil zu modernisieren und weltoffener zu gestalten. Dabei soll sich die DW kuenftig als ein Forum darstellen, auf dem sich Deutschland sowohl als europaeische Kulturnation wie auch als demokratischer Verfassungsstaat praesentiert. (Internet: Deutsche Welle: http://www.dw-world.de) dpa ba yynwk ma (via Mike Cooper, DXLD) ** INDIA / U K. PRASAR BHARATI-BBC TALKS ON EXCHANGE OF PROGRAMMES FAIL --- Rajnish Sharma New Delhi, June 27. Talks between the Prasar Baharti Corporation and BBC on exchange of radio programmes have ended in a deadlock. Sources in the Prasar Bharati said BBC was not keen on giving a time slot to All India Radio for airing its entertainment, art and cultural programmes. The BBC, on the other hand, wanted slots on AIR's FM channel for news and current affairs programmes. Prasar Bharati CEO, K. S. Sarma met top BBC officials in London earlier this week. But the talks failed following BBC's reluctance. Officials said though Sarma discussed several issues with BBC officials, there was no agreement on exchange of programmes. "The possibility of BBC coming on the AIR platform may not happen in the near future." a senior Prasar Bharati official said (Hindustan Times, June 28, 2003 via Alokesh Gupta, New Delhi, India, DXLD) ** INDONESIA. A minor correction to my item unid RRI 4790. I estimated the frequency being 4789.95, not 4789.5 (Jari Savolainen, Kuusankoski, Finland, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Jari, I had probable loggings of RRI Fak Fak back on June 1st and June 2nd. The frequency was 4789.1. Reception was poor, but the program was parallel to Makassar (4753.4) and Pontianak (3976). best DX, (Guy Atkins, Puyallup, WA, modified AR7030 & R-75 receivers, Western Beverage antenna @ 270 deg., hard-core-dx via DXLD) ** IRAN. SATELLITE TVS AT WAR OF FREQUENCIES Tehran fighting Persian-language satellite TVs with microwave noise frequencies putting Iranians' health at risk. By Fereshteh Modarresi, Middle East Online June 13, 2003 http://www.middle-east-online.com/english/?id=5957 (Middle East Online Jun 13, 2003 via N.Grace-USA for CRW via DXLD) ** IRAN [non]. IS PRESIDENT BUSH INSTIGATING PROTESTS IN IRAN? FoxNews "Special Report with Brit Hume" Transcript http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,89877,00.html (Fox News Jun 16, 2003 via N.Grace-USA for CRW via DXLD) ** IRAN [non]. WHEN IRANIAN AMERICAN MEDIA SHOUT, IRAN LISTENS By Sandip Roy, Pacific News Service June 19, 2003 Editor's Note: Members of Iranian American media, accused of fomenting recent unrest in Iran, say they're no stooges of the U.S. government. But most agree that, with the help of technology like the Internet, the Iranian community in America is affecting policy in its home country. Hossein Hedjazi, host of Radio Iran in Los Angeles, risked being called "un-American" for criticizing the government after it detained hundreds of Iranian immigrants as they registered with U.S. authorities last December. But Iranian American media like his are now being called a tool of the same American government, because of the way they are covering the student protests rocking Iran. "We've always been called the agent of the Islamic republic -- now they are calling us agents of the CIA," says Hedjazi. Even if that charge is overblown, the community may now actually be shaping events back in Iran instead of just covering them. . . http://news.pacificnews.org/news/view_article.html?article_id=2489442d259 71dd311e3937731cd2c7a (Pacific News Service Jun 19, 2003 via N.Grace-USA for CRW via DXLD) ** IRAN [non]. VALLEY IS VENUE FOR LIBERATE-IRAN TV CAMPAIGN By Lisa Mascaro, L.A. DailyNews.com June 20, 2003 http://www.dailynews.com/Stories/0,1413,200~20954~1468347,00.html (DailyNews.com Jun 20, 2003 via N.Grace-USA for CRW via DXLD) ** IRAN [non]. NORTH AMERICAN MEDIA HELP IRAN PROTESTS GROW By Jonathan Curiel, San Francisco Chronicle, page A-12 June 20, 2003 Some experts call it a "media movement" or a "satellite revolution." But whatever the label, one thing is clear: A growing network of Iranian American media outlets -- from television to radio to Web sites -- is helping spark the student-led protests erupting in that Islamic nation. . . http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2003/06 /20/MN293330.DTL (San Francisco Chronicle Jun 20, 2003 via N.Grace-USA for CRW via DXLD) ** IRAN [non]. DISPLACED IRANIANS SPEAK OUT AGAINST TYRANNY IN TEHRAN By Jacqui Goddard, South China Morning Post June 20, 2003 http://www.asiamedia.ucla.edu/Weekly2003/06.17.2003/World5.htm (South China Morning Post Jun 20, 2003 via N.Grace-USA for CRW via DXLD) ** IRAN {non]. IRANIAN-AMERICANS DEMONSTRATE IN SUPPORT OF REPRESSED STUDENTS IN IRAN By Tom Harrigan, Associated Press June 21, 2003 http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/news/archive/2003/06/21/stat e2038EDT0115.DTL (Associated Press Jun 21, 2003 via N.Grace-USA for CRW via DXLD) ** IRAN [non]. SATELLITE CHANNEL HAS GRAND VISION By David Rennie, London Telegraph June 21 2003 Los Angeles - It is noon in North Hollywood and Zia Atabay, a retired Iranian pop star they once called the Tom Jones of Tehran, is alone on his tiny sound stage in a former porn studio at the wrong end of town. Sitting in front of a crudely painted backdrop, Mr Atabay addresses the armed forces of Iran, a country he last saw 23 years ago. . . http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2003/06/20/1055828496817.html (London Telegraph Jun 21, 2003 via N.Grace-USA for CRW via DXLD) ** IRAN [non]. AREA MEDIA GOAD IRAN --- Broadcasts in 'Tehrangeles,' with largest Iranian bloc outside Iran, make waves. By John Gittelsohn, The Orange County Register June 22, 2003 http://www2.ocregister.com/ocrweb/ocr/article.do?id=44834§ion=NEWS&su bsection=FOCUS_IN_DEPTH&year=2003&month=6&day=22 (Orange County Register Jun 22, 2003 via N.Grace-USA for CRW via DXLD) ** IRAN [non]. IRANIAN DISSIDENT SAID ABDUCTED IN BAGHDAD [what radio station would this be? Andy.] An Iranian man who runs a Baghdad-based radio station opposed to the Tehran regime was abducted by four gunmen in front of his home in the Iraqi capital Thursday, his Iraqi wife told AFP. Nader Mohsen al- Barki, 49, operated the opposition station here since 1988, Nada Abdul Karim said. The four armed men "forced him into their car and sped away," she said. Abdul Karim charged that the Iranian regime was behind the kidnapping, saying her husband had "no enemies in Iraq." (AFP via A. Sennitt, Holland, Jun 20, 2003 for CRW via DXLD) ** IRAN [non]. Voice of Mojahed, 9280, 20/6 1730-sign off 1733 with sign off tune. ID in Farsi before off. Jammer found the frequency for a few seconds, then left before ID (F. Krone, Denmark, Jun 20, 2003 in DX-plorer-ML) 9280 - This frequency has hot been used before as far as I know. Until the recent Iraq war it was believed that the programmes were produced and transmitted from Iraq. They stopped when an Iraqi broadcast facility near Baghdad was bombed [no, Basra --- gh], but from where are they now broadcast and by whom? (A. Petersen, Denmark, Jun 24, 2003 for DXW/CRW via DXLD) ** IRAQ [non]. THE ROLE OF BROADCAST MEDIA IN INFLUENCE OPERATIONS IN IRAQ Perhaps this isn't anything new, but I was struck by the following sentence: "The Iraqi National Accord, a grouping of former-Ba'athists, continues to run three radio stations -- Radio Sumer (formerly Radio Tikrit), Two Rivers Radio, and The Future (al-Mustaqbal) -- in cooperation with the CIA and Jordanian intelligence." I don't recall Jordanian intelligence being mentioned previously in connection with Sumer/Tikrit. But then, I don't recall lots of things... http://www.washingtoninstitute.org/watch/Policywatch/policywatch2003/758.htm (washingtoninstitute.org via A. Sennitt, HOL Jun 24, 2003 for CRW via DXLD) ** IVORY COAST. COTE D'IVOIRE: SURVEY OF THE COUNTRY'S MEDIA ENVIRONMENT [gh has not put in all the accents, but some of them] Overview Côte d'Ivoire, a model of stability and relative prosperity in post- colonial Africa during the authoritarian rule (1960-93) of President Felix Houphouet-Boigny, suffered a protracted political crisis after his death which culminated in a coup in December 1999. This was followed by continued instability leading to the outbreak of a military insurgency in September 2002. Following the start of the 2002 rebellion, observers have noted the emergence of what is sometimes called "hate speech" in some sections of the Ivorian media. The principal news media of Cote d'Ivoire consist of two state-owned radio stations, two state-owned television stations, and several daily newspapers, most of which are privately owned and some of which are affiliated to political parties. Ivorians also have access to major international radio broadcasters such as the BBC and Radio France Internationale (RFI), as well as to some local, noncommercial radio stations, many of which are church-run. Internet access is available in some locations, but relatively few Ivorians can take advantage of it. Cote d'Ivoire also has a state-owned news agency. Ivorian media broadcast and publish primarily in French, the official national language. An English-language news web site - http://www.express7.com - carries reports from news agencies as well as its own articles and editorials. The principal media are based almost exclusively in Abidjan, the country's economic capital. Radio is the most popular medium, partly because it is the least expensive and partly because the country's low adult literacy rate restricts access to newspapers. Media freedom The Ivorian government either controls or strongly influences the country's media, primarily through its ownership of the major radio and television stations. The government exercises less direct control over print media, but security officers still occasionally harass, assault or otherwise attempt to intimidate journalists. Observers such as the US State Department, which reports on press freedom in its annual Human Rights Report, and the US-based NGO Freedom House had noted, however, that incidents of such intimidation had been decreasing through 2001 and the first nine months of 2002. These organizations said that during that time print journalists were willing to criticize the government and did not practise self- censorship, and both agreed that the situation was improving. Nevertheless, Freedom House, in both its 2002 and 2003 surveys of press freedom around the world, rated Cote d'Ivoire as "not free". Situation deteriorates after September 2002; emergence of hate speech Pressure on the media increased following the military rebellion that began on 19 September 2002. Media organizations such as the International Journalist's Network (IJNET) and Reporters Without Borders (RSF) documented a number of attacks on the press. The local FM relays of the BBC and RFI were shut down for several months. The movement of foreign journalists was restricted and attacks on local journalists increased. An RSF report criticized the government's response to the attacks, contending that when the then-Ivorian Minister of Communication Sery Bailly said "the safest thing for journalists to do is report the news in a proper manner", he acted as if the issue was biased reporting and not the safety of journalists and freedom of _expression. RSF believed that this statement was intended to suggest that, although the media were officially still "free", journalists needed to exercise self- censorship in order to avoid attacks. The government is not the only party hostile to the media; rebel groups have been known to inflict damage as well. A 28 October 2002 RSF report added that the media were being "attacked by both the armed forces and police and by the rebels. No media currently feel safe." At the same time, the government has claimed that journalists are not mere victims in the conflict and has accused the media of contributing to the conflict with calls for war. According to the RSF's 2002 annual report, former Prime Minister Affi N'Guessan stated that the journalists caused "75 per cent of the fear" of a coup. Some Ivorian journalists have made similar charges, particularly against state- owned and pro-government media. An IJNET report identified Le National, Notre Voie and L'Oeil du Peuple as newspapers that "openly call for war and violence". The report quotes a former editor of an unidentified "xenophobic daily" as saying: "We Ivorian journalists have set the scene for this war. We must take responsibility for that. Our diatribes and hate-filled language have filled Ivorian heads with war." Guillaume Soro, the minister of communication in the national unity government which first met in April 2003, acknowledged the problem. In a statement on 16 April he urged to press to exercise greater "professionalism" and to recognize its role in rebuilding Cote d'Ivoire. Soro, who is a member of the political arm of the rebel movement, attacked the press for "injecting venom" into the Ivorian population and warned them against "perpetuating lies or radical ideas". Media observers note, however, that the use of inflammatory language has not abated significantly in spite of this warning. Lack of journalistic professionalism In the early 1990s the advent of multiparty politics led to the creation of many newspapers. Newspaper owners hired many "journalists" who did not have proper training or qualifications. Consequently, the quality of reporting and writing was low. To improve the level of professionalism, the Ministry of Communication decided to issue professional ID cards to journalists and to require at least a bachelor's degree (in any field of study) of anyone seeking an ID. There is no full-fledged journalism school in Cote d'Ivoire, but several training institutes offer communications studies. These include: \ \ The Centre for Communication Studies. \ \ The Department of Communication Studies of the National University of Cote d'Ivoire, which trains students in all areas of communication. \ The Institute of Science and Technologies of Communication, which runs a continuing education programme and has a partnership with the University of Bordeaux in France. Radio Radio is the main media source in the Cote d'Ivoire because of the high cost of newspapers and television and low adult literacy rates. According to "African Broadcast Cultures: Radio in Transition" (Oxford: 2000), 68 per cent of the population owned a radio and listened to it at least once a week in 1992. According to the same source, 96 per cent of the population of Abidjan owned a radio set in 1996. The two main radio stations, Radio Côte d'Ivoire and Frequence 2, are owned by Radiodiffusion Télévision Ivorienne (RTI), the state-owned broadcasting company. Radio Cote d'Ivoire is heard nationwide through a system of FM relays from 0500 to midnight daily. Its news programming includes broadcasts in French throughout the day, as well as news bulletins in the country's indigenous languages at 1700 on weekdays. Its news programming clearly promotes government activities and viewpoints. Frequence 2, which is heard only in Abidjan and its environs, is primarily a music station and broadcasts 24 hours a day. Frequence 2 generally relays Radio Cote d'Ivoire from 0500 to 0800, 1200 to 1230, and 1900 to 1930. There are also approximately 30 local, non-commercial, low-power radio stations scattered throughout the country. Many of these community radio stations are managed by religious groups, including the Catholic stations Radio Espoir, Radio Paix Sanwi, Radio Notre Dame and Radio Dix-Huit Montagnes. In addition to these local stations, the Catholic Church also started a nationwide station in February 2002, at the same time the Protestant Radio Vie began broadcasting. All of these stations broadcast religious services, discussions and sacred music. Al Bayane, an Islamic radio station, opened in November 1999 and serves all the Muslim groups in the country. These local radio stations are not allowed to "broadcast programmes... of a political nature", according to the RSF Annual Report. Stations that fail to comply with this restriction can lose their licences, as did Radio Yopougon, for example, when it carried a live report of ex-President Bedie's return from his Paris exile in 2001. The station was not allowed back on the air until eight days later. Furthermore, the Ministry of Communication and New Information Technologies, the government licensing authority for radio stations, has also been known to deny licences to prospective stations that are affiliated with a political party (State Department Human Rights Report). In addition, four major international radio stations are relayed locally on FM: the BBC, RFI, the Gabon-based pan-African station Africa Number One and Radio Nostalgie. All of these transmit via FM in Abidjan only, except for RFI, which also broadcasts via relays in the north and centre of the country. According to experienced media observers, RFI is by far the most popular and trusted news source across the country; Ivorians consider it to be much more reliable than Radio Cote d'Ivoire. BBC broadcasts in French are also popular. The local relay of Africa Number One is 51 per cent owned by Ivorian investors. It broadcasts Ivorian-produced material for six hours a day with the remainder of its programming coming from its HQ in Libreville, Gabon. Its sports broadcasts are particularly popular in Cote d'Ivoire. Radio Nostalgie is 51 per cent owned by Radio Nostalgie France. Media observers note that the government monitors Nostalgie's broadcasts more closely than those of BBC, RFI or Africa Number One because its major domestic shareholders are closely associated with Alassane Ouattara, the president of the opposition Rally of Republicans, RDR. The station's general manager is Ahmed Bakayoko, an RDR loyalist and close adviser to Ouattara, who was recently appointed to the unity government as minister of news information technology. In the past, Radio Nostalgie's licence was suspended several times for airing political commentaries, and following the military rebellion in September 2002, pro-government mobs attacked the station and destroyed its broadcasting equipment because of its perceived connection to the rebels. Rebel radio Shortly after the military rebellion in 2002, Patriotic Movement of Cote d'Ivoire (PDCI) rebels began using RTI facilities in Bouake (in the centre of the country) to broadcast their own message. The rebel radio can be heard in towns and villages around Bouake and, according to some reports, even in the country's political capital, Yamoussoukro. In the western part of the country, rebels of the Movement for Justice and Peace are also said to be broadcasting on a local radio station heard around the town of Man. Television Although Cote d'Ivoire has one of the most developed television systems in Francophone Africa, TV is still a relatively limited means of communication, especially in the more rural areas. ("Mass Media in Sub-Saharan Africa" by Louis M. Bourgault) According to Bourgault, 78 per cent of the population had access to television in 1987. That access, however, was concentrated in urban areas, as only 22 per cent of the village population had television access. As with radio, the government owns the major television stations, which promote only government policy and activities. The state broadcaster RTI runs the stations Chaîne Une and Chaîne Deux. The former operates nationwide, while the latter can only be viewed in and around Abidjan. Chaine Une's programming includes news and current affairs shows, while Chaine Deux offers primarily sports and music programming. Though both are government-funded stations, commercials are part of the programming and a regular source of income. The French-owned Canal Horizon provides a satellite subscription service, which makes French, US and other foreign television stations available to Ivorians. RTI clearly serves the government's interests. According to George Benson, an Ivorian newscaster quoted in "Mass Media in Sub-Saharan Africa", the RTI stations unabashedly broadcast the "directives and orders" of the ruling party and the government. "Mass Media" notes that during the time of President Houphouet-Boigny and his immediate successors, in RTI's newscasts, "editorials, always supporting the government's point of view, were freely intermixed with the news and were rarely identified as opinion". When President Gbagbo came to power in 2000, he asked journalists not to devote extensive time to his activities but instead to report on developmental activities; he even asked government agencies to not post his photos in the offices. Media observers report, however, that government-controlled electronic media have continued to dedicate a lot of time to reporting on the president's and the first lady's activities. Moreover, following the 19 September 2002 coup attempt, state media, especially the radio, became openly pro-regime. RTI's entertainment programming, according to "Mass Media", aims at providing Ivorians with a "window on the modern world". To do this it relies heavily on documentaries made available by Canal France Internationale, CFI, and other Western sources such as Time-Life, Lorimar Productions, Viacom and CBS. Brazilian soap operas and sitcoms also make up a high proportion of the broadcast day. Rebel TV The PDCI rebels that have controlled the northern half of the country since September 2002 took over an RTI transmitter in the central city of Bouake and began television broadcasts on 21 October 2002. According to the RSF 2003 annual report, the rebel station, Tele-Notre Patrie, carries nothing but "official rebel propaganda", including the speeches and activities of the leaders of the rebels' political arm. Print media In contrast to the broadcast media, many newspapers are privately owned. Private publications include approximately 20 dailies, 30 weeklies, five semi-weeklies and 10 monthlies. The smaller publications often fold quickly because of the highly competitive market and limited funding, according to the International Journalists Network profile of Ivorian media http://www.ijnet.org The majority of the country's newspapers are published and printed in Abidjan and transported to major cities across the country. Many of the papers have Internet versions, which are probably intended principally for a foreign and diaspora audience, since few Ivorians use the Internet regularly. Print media does not reach as wide an audience as broadcast media. According to the CIA World Factbook, only 48.5 per cent of the Ivorian population was literate in 2002. Moreover, "African Broadcast Cultures: Radio in Transition" (Oxford: 2000) reports that in 1992, the last year for which data are available, only 27 per cent of the population read a newspaper at least once a week. The leading daily (Fraternité Matin) is stated owned. The private press is a mixture of truly independent papers, which frequently criticize the government, and other daily papers that openly espouse the cause of a particular political party. \ \ Cote d'Ivoire's largest-circulation and most respected daily newspaper is the state-owned Fraternite Matin, which claims an average print-run of 32,000 papers daily and regularly publishes papers of 26- 30 pages, while other newspapers in the country are generally about 12 pages long. Media observers note that the paper is read by people across the political spectrum and is by far the most professional newspaper in the country. Fraternite Matin is the most respected Ivorian newspaper, and, according to long-time observers, has generally been known for balanced reporting. Since the beginning of the military rebellion in 2002, however, observers have noticed the paper taking a more overtly pro-government stance. \ \ Notre Voie is a daily owned by the ruling party, the Ivorian Popular Front (FPI) and, like other papers associated with political parties, is highly partisan in its reporting and editorializing. Since September 2002 its reporting and commentary have been characterized by a militantly patriotic tone in support of the government and against the rebels. At times, Notre Voie has appeared more hard-line than the government, criticizing President Gbagbo if he appeared willing to negotiate with the rebels or with France. Notre Voie claims a circulation of 20,000, but like the other party-linked papers, its audience is confined primarily to party activists. \ \ Le Patriote, which claims a circulation of 40,000, is a daily that serves as the mouthpiece of the opposition RDR, a party that is particularly strong among northerners and the country's Muslim population. Other newspapers that generally support the RDR include Le Liberal, which claims a circulation of 15,000, and Le Populaire. \ \ The privately owned daily Le Nouveau Reveil is close to the Democratic Party of Cote d'Ivoire (PDCI) and claims a circulation of 17,000. \ \ Traditionally independent dailies include Le Jour (circulation 15,000), which often favours opposition parties, Soir Info (22,000), and L'Inter (18,000), a daily that emphasizes international news and reprints stories from newspapers around the world. Immediately following the military rebellion in September 2002, these papers, all of which had expressed relatively balanced and independent viewpoints in the past, appeared to adapt a more pro-government tone. Media observers note, however, that as President Gbagbo and his administration continue to struggle through the crisis, the independent papers have become more willing to criticize the government. Xenophobia in the press; "hate speech" The September 2002 rebellion sparked a flurry of extremist rhetoric in some newspapers. According to media observers, the most inflammatory of these was Le National, a paper which its managing director claims to have founded solely to oppose RDR leader Alassane Ouattara. Le National, which claims a circulation of 20,000, stirred up fervent pro-government patriotism and open xenophobia with its attacks on foreigners living in the country; foreign countries, including France and Burkina Faso; the foreign press; and, of course, Ouattara himself (who his opponents say is not a true Ivorian but of Burkina Faso origin). The paper rejected political solutions to the rebellion and constantly urged military action against the rebels. It openly celebrated and encouraged the "young patriots" involved in sometimes violent demonstrations against France, the rebels and foreigners living in the country. The privately-owned daily L'Oeil du Peuple (circulation 10,000) engaged in similar rhetoric, often attacking the RDR. Some Ivorians see a link between L'Oeil and the shadowy death squads, claiming that people criticized in the paper were soon afterwards found murdered. As already noted in this survey, in addition to the xenophobic Le National and L'Oeil du Peuple, media observers have expressed concern that some other Ivorian newspapers have been involved in publishing what is sometimes termed "hate speech". Other papers that have been mentioned in this connection include Notre Voie, Le Patriote and L'Inter. Internet Internet access remains limited in Cote d'Ivoire. According to the CIA World Factbook, Cote d'Ivoire had only 10,000 Internet users and five Internet service providers in 2001. The largest of the providers were AfricaOnline and Globe Access. A service provider called Centre Syfed offers free access to not-for-profit organizations and to the students, lecturers and researchers at the university in Abidjan, who use the Internet cafe on campus, which is funded by the Francophonie Organization. Most of the country's Internet users are college and high school students and a few professionals. Most of them use the public Internet cafes to access the web. Several major political parties have web sites, including the FPI, PDCI, RDR and the Ivorian Workers Party, as does the National Presidency. The web sites serve mainly to promote party propaganda and often contain official statements from party leaders and government officials, news reports from press agencies and Ivorian papers, and political cartoons. News agency Agence Ivorienne Presse (Ivorian Press Agency or AIP) is a state-owned news agency founded in 1961. It has 14 regional sub-branches (in Abengourour, Agboville, Bondoukou, Bouafle, Bouake, Daloa, Dimbrokro, Divo, Gagnoa, Karhogo, Man, Odienne, San-Pedro and Yamoussoukro) from which more than 50 freelance writers gather and report news. AIP has no international offices. AIP distributes local news, as well as international news by agreement with other press agencies, including the French Press Agency (AFP), the Chinese news agency Xinhua and the Pan-African News Agency (PANA). On its web site, AIP claims to be based on two fundamentals: complete objectivity and reporting events according to their importance. Observers note that, even during the latest military rebellion, AIP reporting has indeed appeared unbiased. Source: (Chris Greenway, BBC Monitoring research Jun 03 via DXLD) ** JAPAN [non]. Iva Tells Her Tale: She was pardoned by a president for a crime she never committed. Yet Iva Toguri's name remains synonymous with the treachery of 'Tokyo Rose.' Now she's hoping a film will set the record straight By Erling Hoh/CHICAGO, Far Eastern Economic Review, June 26, 2003 http://www.feer.com/articles/2003/0306_26/p054current.html George Stephanopoulos: Remember, even Tokyo Rose only got six years. Cokie Roberts: Well, and . . . George Stephanopoulos: I don't think he [John Walker Lindh] is going to get the death penalty. Cokie Roberts: . . . George brought up Ezra Pound. Ezra Pound pleaded insanity and ended up serving more time than Tokyo Rose and all the rest of them combined . . . --This Week, ABC Television, December 9, 2001. THE ORIENTAL GIFTSHOP sits on West Belmont Avenue in northern Chicago. A cavernous store, it's filled with Japanese records, lacquer Kleenex boxes, futons, Japanese wrapping paper and Fukagawa porcelain. A faint trace of incense lingers in the musty air. Young people from the neighborhood browse among books on Zen Buddhism and buy belts for their taekwondo classes. Few of these shoppers probably realize that the store belongs to the family of Iva Toguri, the woman dubbed "Tokyo Rose," who in 1949 was convicted of treason against the United States during World War II and sentenced to 10 years in jail. Fewer still understand that her story represents probably one of the most remarkable miscarriages of justice in American legal history. "She doesn't come into the store any more," says Joanne Toguri of her Aunt Iva. "She is very private." Aged 86, Iva Toguri lives quietly by herself in Andersonville, the city's old Swedish enclave. "She doesn't say anything, and we don't ask anything," adds her oldest nephew, William. Her family and friends all guard her privacy with the same care. Yet for more than a decade, the Hollywood producer Barbara Trembley has been fighting to bring Iva's story to the silver screen. And late last week, the director Frank Darabont, with movies such as The Green Mile and The Shawshank Redemption to his name, announced that he will be doing precisely that. "This is a stunning true-life story," said Darabont, who is in talks about a screenplay with Christopher Hampton (Dangerous Liaisons, The Quiet American). "It's about enormous personal courage and integrity in the face of rabid public sentiment, media villainy, cultural and racial hatred, and startling judicial injustice." A Hollywood movie could be Toguri's last chance to set the record straight. "I don't want what happened to me to happen to anybody else," she said in a statement. "When this production comes to pass, it will clear the air resulting from the weight of the myth and name 'Tokyo Rose'." Perhaps, but despite an unconditional presidential pardon from President Gerald Ford in 1977, Toguri's link to the mythical Tokyo Rose lives on in the minds of many. When National Geographic marked the 20th anniversary of the end of the Vietnam War, it sought out Trinh Thi Ngo, alias "Hanoi Hannah," and compared her treasonous broadcasts with those supposedly made by Tokyo Rose. Even respected TV commentators regularly group Tokyo Rose with some of America's most infamous traitors. "Myths die hard," says Ron Yates, the Chicago Tribune's correspondent in Tokyo from 1974-77, and one of the few journalists to interview Toguri. "People always want to believe fiction before fact. Others simply cannot believe that the U.S. government could have been so cruel and calculating as to rig a trial with witnesses who were forced to lie." Those witnesses were George Mitsushio and Kenkichi Oki, two Japanese- Americans who collaborated with the Japanese during the war and renounced their U.S. citizenships. In interviews with Yates in the mid-1970s, they confessed that they had been coerced into lying about Toguri by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and the Justice Department. Yates's articles were instrumental in bringing about Toguri's 1977 presidential pardon. "Of all the stories I have done, this has to be the most satisfying," says Yates today. "Because it was journalists who got her into trouble in the first place." One of the top stories on every reporter's list after Allied forces landed in Japan in August 1945 was an interview with Tokyo Rose, the siren of the Pacific who, according to legend, had taunted American Gis with her sultry, seductive voice. The only problem was that Tokyo Rose didn't exist. Whereas Mildred Gillars, alias Axis Sally, was a real person whose virulently anti-Semitic broadcasts from Berlin were amply documented, Tokyo Rose was a myth -- a composite fantasy assembled out of the several women who had broadcast for the Japanese during the war. One of them was Iva Toguri, a Japanese-American born in California who had become stranded in Japan after travelling there to visit a sick aunt just before the December 1941 Pearl Harbour attack. At the time, many Japanese-Americans in Japan renounced their U.S. citizenships, but Iva refused. To make ends meet, she worked as a typist at the Danish embassy, a piano teacher, and later as a typist at Radio Tokyo. It was there that she was ordered by the Japanese to work as a radio announcer on the programme Zero Hour. The show was produced by Maj. Charles Cousens, an Australian prisoner-of-war who, after threats, had consented to broadcast for the Japanese, but was surreptitiously trying to sabotage the country's propaganda effort. He had selected Iva for two reasons: she stood on the Allies' side, and, in Cousens' words, had a "gin fog" voice. The content of her broadcasts, which Iva presented under the name "Orphan Ann," were innocuous, and none of the accusations levelled against her -- including the claim that she notoriously referred to U.S. troops as "orphans of the Pacific" -- were ever substantiated by the Americans' own monitoring of her broadcasts. Furthermore, there were several Japanese-American women broadcasting for Radio Tokyo at the time, all of whom had renounced their American citizenships. One of the many cruel twists in Iva's story was that, by remaining loyal to her country, she opened herself to the accusation of treason against it. Several more bad decisions and tragic turns were to follow. Even before the Japanese surrender in 1945, the U.S. Office of War Information had stated that "there is no Tokyo Rose; the name is strictly a GI invention . . ." But for the press pack the hunt was on: At Radio Tokyo, the reporters Clark Lee and Harry Brundidge were pointed in Iva's direction. When they met her at the Imperial Hotel in Tokyo on September 1, 1945, they offered her a contract for an exclusive interview with Cosmopolitan magazine worth $2,000, and asked her to sign a document identifying herself as "the one and only 'Tokyo Rose'." Iva, lured by the large sum and unaware that Tokyo Rose would become the symbol for everything hateful the Japanese had done during the war, signed the contract and gave the interview. She never received the $2,000: Cosmopolitan told the reporters that they would not pay a traitor. In October, 1945, she was imprisoned for one year at the Sugamo Prison in Tokyo, before the U.S. Attorney General's office finally concluded that "the identification of Toguri as 'Tokyo Rose' is erroneous." In 1948, the newborn child of Iva and her husband Filipe d'Aquino died and, later that year, Iva was arrested again and sent back to the U.S. to stand trial. D'Aquino was allowed to enter the country to serve as a witness for his wife's defence, but had to post a bond guaranteeing his return to Japan. The two remained married until 1980, but never saw each other again. For the trial, which began in July 1949, FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover effectively wrote a blank cheque to have Toguri convicted. At a total cost then of $750,000, the trial was the most expensive to date in U.S. history. Scores of witnesses were flown in by the prosecution to testify against Toguri. She was defended on a shoestring by Wayne Mortimer Collins, a San Francisco lawyer who had made his name fighting for the underdog. "My father did not believe that whispering in the ears of power or accommodating belief to the needs of popular opposition movements were true guarantors of civil liberty or human dignity," says Collins' son, Wayne Merrill, who after his father's death continued the fight that led to Toguri's presidential pardon. "It was this that allowed him to stand against the current with the beginning of the war, when patriotism ran rampant and Japanese internment, citizenship denaturalization proceedings against German-Americans and prosecution of religious conscientious objectors became the order of the day." When, after 13 weeks, the jurors announced they couldn't reach a decision, Judge Michael Roche did not rule it a hung jury, but instead reminded the jurors of the length, expense and importance of the case, and urged them to reach a verdict. Finally, based on Oki and Mitsushio's perjury, Iva Toguri was declared guilty on one of the eight counts of treason. She was fined $10,000, and sentenced to 10 years in prison. Upon her release on parole in 1956, she was served with a deportation notice for being an undesirable alien, despite the fact that the establishment of her citizenship had been crucial to her conviction. Collins successfully challenged the deportation order. Given her first fateful meeting with journalists, it's hardly surprising that Iva Toguri has since maintained a Greta Garbo-like silence. In the past 40 years, she has granted only a handful of interviews. "She comes out of an era when there was an enormous hatred towards the Japanese," says Ron Yates, who interviewed Toguri in 1991. "She doesn't want publicity, but she wants her story told." "The story Iva wants to tell is the story of the heroism of the people who stood up for the truth," adds Dafydd Neal Dyar, a retired U.S. Air Force technical sergeant in Seattle who has proposed a monument in Iva's honour with this dedication: "To the loyalty and courage of Iva Ikuko Toguri. She never changed her stripes." (via N. Grace-USA for CRW via DXLD) ** PERU. 6042.72, Radio Melodia, Arequipa, 0920+, June 25. Spanish. News. Ann. & ID: "Melodía en la Noticia" and TC: "cuatro veinticuatro", 33433 (Arnaldo Slaen, Argentina, hard-core-dx via DXLD) ** RUSSIA [non]. FRANCE/KAZAKHSTAN. Voice of Orthodoxy: 9355 (13 June, 1530), SINPO=54544, ID: "V efire Golos Pravoslaviya", program "Our Church and our children" in Russian. Relayed via Kazakhstan (Andrey Seregin, Ryazan oblast, Russia, Signal via DXLD) ** SAUDI ARABIA [non]. Voice of Reform: Radio Alislah with a new frequency, it is 15700 kHz, I listened to it 10/06 and 04/06 SINPO *54555, no broadcast on 12025 kHz. Radio Alislah à une nouvelle fréquence, c'est 15700 kHz, je l'ai écouté le 10/06 et le 04/06 SINPO#54555, pas d’émission sur 12025 kHz (M. Kallel, Tunisia, Jun 10, 2003 for CRW via DXLD) Elsewhere reported as 15705; do you have accurate frequency readout? (gh) SAUDI DISSIDENT STABBED IN LONDON There's a clandestine TV connection in this story. http://onenews.nzoom.com/onenews_detail/0,1227,200203-1-9,00.html (onenews via A. Sennitt, HOL Jun 23, 2003 for CRW via DXLD) Messengers' from Saudi government assault opposition figure in London LONDON (AFP) - Saad Faqih, the spokesman for a London-based Saudi opposition movement, was wounded at his London home late Sunday by two men who claimed to have a "message from the Saudi government," a source close to him said. Faqih himself later told AFP by mobile phone from Saint Mary's Hospital that the men had said it was "a message from the Saudi government". Saad Faqih is the spokesman for the Islamic Movement for Reform in Arabia (IMRA). A spokesman for the hospital in north London said Faqih had apparently been knifed but that his wounds were "not very serious" and he was expected to be able to leave the hospital shortly. Faqih said he had been struck with a metal object on the face, the legs and the body. His aggressors were white, "apparently British" and spoke English. To get him to open the door the two men had pretended to be plumbers answering an emergency call, Faqih said. IMRA was set up in 1996. Saad Faqih has since December 2002 run an Arabic-language radio station, Voice of al-Islah, broadcasting programmes highly critical of the Saudi government out of London (AFP via A. Sennitt, HOL Jun 24, 2003 for CRW via DXLD) also at http://www.brunei-online.com/bb/tue/jun24w18.htm (brunei-online.com Jun 24, 2003 via J. Dybka, USA for CRW via DXLD) ** TOGO [non]. Radio Free Togo "RTL" is a Togolese station which emits since the foreigner towards Togo, it is created has presidential cause of the elections which takes place on 01/07/2003. It uses two frequencies 12125 kHz and 21760 kHz de 1300 UTC in 1500 UTC [sic, was -1400 --- gh]; I get only 21760 kHz with a SINPO 44223. The station speaks one half French one half local language which I can [not -CRW] identify. And all the subjects are in the tour of the elections http://www.diastode.org Radio Togo Libre "RTL" est une station Togolaise qui émet depuis l'étranger vers le Togo, elle est créé a cause des élections présidentielle qui se déroule le 01/07/2003. Elle utilise deux fréquences 12125 kHz et 21760 kHz de 1300 UTC à 1500 UTC; moi je ne capte que la 21760 kHz avec un SINPO 44223. La station parle moitié français moitié langue locale que je ne peux identifié. Et tous les sujets sont au tour des élections. http://www.diastode.org (M. Kallel, Tunisia, Jun 20, 2003 for CRW via DXLD) ** UGANDA. 4976, 0303-0313 June 27, R. Uganda. Carrier noted at 0230 till top of hour. Short IS and to female announcer in English with ID at 0301, then to a male announcer at 0303 and a rooster crow heard and some birds in the background as he gave program details. Difficult copy with noise or het on same freq. Then to music program. S 3 signal level. I am uncertain when the IS started as checked other frequency at that time. Carrier appeared stronger before sign on, however (Bob Montgomery, Levittown PA, Cumbre DX via DXLD) ** U K. From The RSGB Sunday 29 June, 2003 [advance dated] Some 40 years ago the Royal Air Force Amateur Radio Society used to broadcast news to its members on 5105 kHz from callsign MRM located at RAF Locking in Somerset. Older listeners may remember that this could be heard over much of the UK. Thanks to the Ministry of Defence and the Radiocommunications Agency, several hundred UK radio amateurs are now able to investigate Near Vertical Incidence Skywave propagation at 5MHz or 60 metres. As part of these investigations, the RA has given permission for the RSGB to broadcast GB2RS News on 5405 kHz - repeat 5405 kHz - starting today and thereafter every Sunday, at 12.30 pm local time. Each bulletin will last about 20 to 25 minutes, after which the newsreading station will be seeking reception reports in the SINPO code, plus QTH locators, from NoV-holders on 5 MHz. Furthermore, at 1300BST GB5RS - repeat GB5RS - will also call on or near 3645 and 7045 kHz for similar reports on the 5 MHz transmission from non-NoV holders. Short Wave Listeners are invited to send written SINPO reports, preferably including their QTH locators, direct to G3LEQ, whose address is correct in the RSGB Yearbook. This operation is aimed at gaining more information about propagation conditions on 5MHz during the period of peak absorption in the D- region of the ionosphere. Further information can be obtained from Gordon Adams, G3LEQ, on 01 565 652 652 or by e-mail from gb2rs@boltblue.com (via Mike Terry, DXLD) ** U S A [non?]. Here in Lima, at this moment, Sat. Jun 28th, 0737 UT, a radio station on 7506.9 USB is active with music, radio announcements, and talk program. Signal, though not that strong, it's solid and comes clear thru the cochannel interference in 7505. Presumably it's AFRTS, but no positive ID has been heard so far. (I got into the freq. just a couple of minutes ago). Thanxs to those South Pacific DXers (for the tip) and to my terrible insomnia for this interesting catch!! Greetings from Peru, (Moisés Corilloclla, Perú, Receiver: Sony ICF-SW77. Antenna: copper wired inverted L antenna with MFJ1020C active antenna, hard-core-dx via DXLD) 2000-2100, 12133.5, US Armed Forces Network (pissibly via FL or PR); EE, Jun (Harold Frodge, MI) 2100-2200, 12133.5, US Armed Forces Network (pissibly via FL or PR); EE, Jun (HF) (MARE SWBC Summary via DXLD) ** U S A. MW station info: go to http://www.geocities.com/amlogbook/main.htm Towards the bottom of the page is a link to a site you can search from. This site uses our database as the basis for their site. We also have a complete list by frequency, call sign, state and city. Best of all, IT'S FREE --- and shall remain so. With the changes coming to 100000watts.com, we are lOoking real hard at some changes and additions to our site. fresh (Lee Freshwater, IRCA via DXLD) ** U S A. Re DXLD 3-114: Having grown up in Western NY, I remember when WEBR was sold and became an all-news (except for evening jazz) public radio AM station. Good to see them get some publicity! In many ways I wish more commercial MW stations would consider selling to a public radio entity as an option if they can no longer be profitable as commercial stations. The Buffalo Broadcast Pioneers website is also very entertaining to someone (like myself) who grew up on Buffalo / Niagara / Toronto AM radio in the 1950s and 1960s. I still remember most of the theme tunes Clint Buehlman used to open each quarter-hour on WBEN in the mornings (Richard Cuff / Allentown, PA USA, DX LISTENING DIGEST) There have been several instances of public radio buying ex-commercial AM stations, e.g. Denver, Nashville, Pensacola (gh, DXLD) ** U S A. FCC SHUTS DOWN RADIO FREE BRATTLEBORO [VERMONT] From http://www.reformer.com/Stories/0,1413,102~8860~1478256,00.html Article Published: Thursday, June 26, 2003 - 2:28:56 AM EST By DANIEL BARLOW, Reformer Staff BRATTLEBORO -- The Federal Communications Commission shut down radio free brattleboro [sic, always in lower case] on Tuesday because the organization lacks a broadcasting license. The independent radio station, which broadcasts out of an apartment in downtown Brattleboro, was forced to cease transmission Tuesday afternoon when two officials from the FCC went to the station. "It was a very civil interaction, but they made it very clear that we were in violation of the law," said Ian Kiehle, the host of Ian's Bookshelf, a weekly show at the station, who was present when the FCC arrived on Tuesday. Radio free brattleboro has been broadcasting under 10 watts in the area for more than five years and could primarily only be heard within the Brattleboro town limits. The station has between 60 and 70 disk jockeys, all of whom pay dues to fund the cost of the station. Billed as an educational and creative opportunity for area residents to learn about radio, the station was "part of the national movement to resist homogeneous corporate influence and return the airwaves to the hands and voices of the citizens, as it was intended," according to a publicity pamphlet. George Dillon, an engineer advisor to the enforcement bureau chief of the FCC in Washington, said he was not familiar with the situation, but said it was FCC policy not to comment on ongoing investigations. He referenced the law prohibiting unlicensed radio broadcast and its penalties, which are located at the FCC's Web site http://www.fcc.gov/ Section 301 of the Communications Act of 1934 prohibits the "use of operation of any apparatus for the transmission of energy or communications or signals by radio" without a license issued by the FCC, according to the site. Penalties for running an unlicensed station include fines of up to $11,000 per violation, seizure by court order of all equipment and possibly criminal charges and imprisonment. Between 2000 and 2001, the FCC shut down over 300 unlicensed stations, according to the Web site. An amateur video of Tuesday's shutdown supplied to the Reformer shows two field agents of the FCC ordering one of the station's DJs to turn off the mixing board and end the station's transmission. The agents were accompanied by an officer from the Brattleboro Police Department. The agents, who were not identified in the video but stated they were from an FCC field office in Quincy, Mass., said two complaints against radio free brattleboro were lodged with the FCC this year. One was from WFCR, a Massachusetts-based public radio station, and the other was from a resident of Guilford. The agents said both parties complained that radio free brattleboro's broadcasts occasionally bled into other station's broadcasts. "Your station is illegal," said one of the agents. "You need a license to operate a station on an FM band." Radio free brattleboro had recently switched its frequency from 88.1 FM to 88.9 FM to make room for an upcoming classical music station from National Public Radio. One of the agents requested the names and addresses of all the members of radio free brattleboro. He appeared slightly frustrated when the DJ said he would not hand them over. "I want to know who the members of this so-called group are," the agent said. Kiehle, who said he was speaking out as a DJ and not as a representative of the station, said radio free brattleboro did not operate with a controlling board. All the DJs were equal members of the group and "everything was done by consensus," he said. One of the agents warned the DJ that if the station went back on the air, U.S. Marshals would seize the equipment as proof "and put it in jail." "The key thing is that if we have to come back if you are on the air, it will get rougher," he said. The agents said the shutdown could be challenged legally in court, or the station could apply for an FCC license. Kiehle, who had been doing a show at the station since February, said the openness and diversity offered by radio free brattleboro was its appeal to listeners and DJs. "Everyone gets to do their own thing," he said. "The appeal was that the station could be almost anything you want it to be." Members of radio free brattleboro were expected to meet last night to discuss the shutdown. A call to Rep. Bernard Sanders, I-Vt., who has been highly critical of corporate media and the FCC's recent ruling to lighten rules on cross-media ownership, was not returned Wednesday (via Mike Terry, DXLD) ** U S A. LOCAL PIRATE RADIO STATION OUTSMARTS FCC http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ibsys/20030628/lo_kgtv/1677182 [Radio Free San Diego, 96.9] (via Curtis Sadowski, June 28, WTFDA via DXLD) ** U S A. "Filth" By DEE-ANN DURBIN, Associated Press Writer WASHINGTON (AP) --- A bill that would increase fines for indecent radio broadcasts passed a Senate committee Thursday, spurred by a Detroit radio broadcast that one senator described as "filth." Sen. Fritz Hollings, D-S.C., sponsored the amendment to a bill that authorizes spending for the Federal Communications Commission, which oversees broadcasters. The amendment passed the Senate Commerce Committee and now moves to the full Senate. Hollings said it would be in the public's best interest to revoke the license of Detroit radio station WKRK-FM for a show that aired in January 2002. On the show, two hosts took calls from nine listeners who described sexual positions in explicit detail. Several callers also joked about acts of violence against women. "I wouldn't publicly repeat that language, indecency and filth myself," Hollings said. "They ought to just ream this fellow and he ought never to have a license again." Hollings' bill would expand indecency laws so that separate fines could be levied against each person who utters obscene speech on a radio show. Right now, the FCC charges one fine no matter how many people are speaking. The bill also calls for license revocation hearings for any station that violates obscenity or indecency laws. The FCC can now hold such hearings, but generally won't unless a station has aired lewd broadcasts more than once. "I'm just trying to wake up the FCC," said Hollings, who said he is frustrated that stations are escaping with minimal fines. Several senators were unconvinced of the need for the bill. Sen. Conrad Burns, R-Mont., said Detroit residents should act if they don't like what the station is airing. "Broadcasters already fall under some fines now," he said. "The public has to do something to get this smut off the air." Sen. Trent Lott, R-Miss., said Hollings' bill isn't specific enough, and needs to say how many violations a station could have before the FCC holds a license revocation hearing. But committee Chairman John McCain, R-Ariz., urged fellow members to pass the amendment and make changes when it reaches the full Senate. The FCC levied a $27,500 fine against WKRK-FM's parent company, New York-based Infinity Broadcasting, in April. Right now, $27,500 is the maximum fine the FCC can levy against a station for broadcasting indecent material between 6 a.m. and 10 p.m. Infinity had 30 days to pay the fine or file a response with the FCC. The FCC said Thursday Infinity has filed a response and the FCC is considering it. Dana McClintock, a spokesman for Infinity, said Thursday the company believes the FCC violated the law when it fined the company, but he wouldn't elaborate (From Harry van Vugt, Windsor, Ontario, Canada via DXLD) ** ZAMBIA. 4910, 0253-0320 Jun 27, R. Zambia 1. IS, Fish Eagle started at 0249, then NA at 0250. 0252 drums heard, then a female announcer with mentions of Radio Zambia. Program announcements in local language by male announcer. 0255 to some very good African music. Excellent copy at S 5 level and little fading. More talks about programs during the music at 0256. Male announcer fast talker. Phone number given at 0253. Checked 6265 and nothing heard. Possible frequency change. Thanks for the tip from David Ross. Conditions poor this evening but have to think this frequency is an improvement over the 6265 as had become difficult reception of late (Bob Montgomery, Levittown PA, Cumbre DX via DXLD) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ CONTESTS & COMPETITIONS +++++++++++++++++++++++ VACATION BCL CONTEST 2003 WILL START TUESDAY 1 JULY You can read the rules of the contest on the web site http://swlcontest.homestead.com Thank you and 73 from (F-14368 Frank Parisot, France, DX LISTENING DIGEST) CONVENTIONS & CONFERENCES +++++++++++++++++++++++++ ASWLC MEETING SATURDAY JULY 5, 2003 12:00 PM - 2:00 PM [PDT] This is for those folks who live in Southern California and would like to attend a monthly shortwave radio listeners group. Please drop by for a visit and have a great day with the gang of swlers. Coffee and Donuts will be on hand for all to enjoy. Bring a Friend plus your comments and questions about our great hobby. See YOU there!! This event repeats on the first Saturday of every month. The next reminder for this event will be sent in 6 days, 4 minutes. Event Location: At the home of Stewart MacKenzie WDX6AA Street: 16182 Ballad Lane City, State, Zip: Huntington Beach, CA 92649 Phone: 714-846-1685 "World Friendship Through Shortwave Radio Where Culture and Language Meet" ASWLC - http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ASWLC/ SCADS - http://groups.yahoo.com/group/SCADS/ (Stewart H. MacKenzie, WDX6AA, June 28, DX LISTENING DIGEST) PROPAGATION +++++++++++ THE K7RA SOLAR UPDATE SEATTLE, WA, Jun 27, 2003 -- This week had somewhat quieter geomagnetic conditions compared to the previous week, but average daily solar flux was down a bit and average daily sunspot numbers remained about the same. Recent projections anticipate no truly quiet periods ahead. ARRL Field Day is this weekend, and I wish the geomagnetic conditions could be better. The predicted planetary A index for Friday through Monday is 20, 25, 20 and 20. Although an A index of 25 for Saturday doesn't look very promising, this prediction is made several days prior, and like weather forecasts, the real conditions could be different. In addition, a planetary A index of 20 or 25 doesn't guarantee a radio blackout on the high frequencies. Just to run some numbers for this weekend, using W6ELprop http://www.qsl.net/w6elprop/ for Saturday with a path from California to Ohio, a solar flux of 125 and K index of 4, we see 20-meters opening on Saturday morning before the start of Field Day and continuing a good path through the day. Around 2330z the path may be unreliable, then it comes back a lot stronger at 0100z. This is just as 40-meters is starting to open. Both bands stay strong through the night until local sunrise in California. 80-meters opens after sunset in California, and fades after sunrise in Ohio. The path opens on 20-meters around 1430z. David Moore of Morro Bay, California wrote in with a tip about an interesting article that details some new findings regarding the mechanics of the solar cycle http://www.spaceref.com/news/viewpr.html?pid=11874 The article reports research suggesting slowly moving circulating currents of compressed gasses 125,000 miles into the sun's interior influence the production of sunspots. The article also says that the speed of these circulating currents of gasses varies from cycle to cycle, and the fast circulation in the last cycle suggests the next cycle should be strong, peaking around 7 or 8 years from now. Still more reports arrived about the VHF openings around June 17. Jake Groenhof, N0LX http://hometown.aol.com/n0lx/vhf.html wrote to say he was on Mount Evans in Colorado and using one half watt on 2-meter SSB when he worked a station 850 miles away in California. He went up to 5 watts and worked five more Californians. Ward Silver, N0AX wrote to say that the description in last week's bulletin of the A index being linear was incorrect. The related K index is logarithmic, but the A index is a larger scale, and not linear. Sunspot numbers for June 19 through 25 were 108, 121, 118, 94, 104, 131, and 115, with a mean of 113. 10.7 cm flux was 122.9, 116.9, 115, 110.2, 113.5, 114.5, and 116.3, with a mean of 115.6. Estimated planetary A indices were 18, 12, 23, 16, 20, 31, and 19, with a mean of 19.9. Amateur solar observer Tad Cook, K7RA, Seattle, Washington, provides this weekly report on solar conditions and propagation. This report also is available via W1AW every Friday and an abbreviated version also appears in The ARRL Letter. Readers may contact the author via k7ra@arrl.net (ARRL June 27 via John Norfolk, OKCOK, DXLD) TRANS-ATLANTIC MULTIPLE HOP SPORADIC E TV DX [more] Hi All, OK, here is the story of a very remarkable Thursday 26 June 2003. Times given are UTC, local time is UTC + 2 hours. Before I start one note: I have been confusing myself and others by first stating that I received A2 through A6 during the TA opening, and later stating it was A2 through A5. The final word is that is was A2 through A6, the details are given below. In the morning of the 26th there was many hours with nice sporadic E into the Iberian peninsula and North Africa. The MUF was well into the FM broadcasting band, although the FM conditions were by far not as good as in the UK. This has been repeatedly the case this season. Although not very far apart, the UK is getting much better conditions than The Netherlands. But no complaints, Northern Europe is getting almost nothing! In the early afternoon I decided to go to work because the FM conditions had almost gone away. When I came home late in the afternoon Band I was almost empty, except for some weak video carriers from Portugal and Spain on E2. I checked the band again at 1700 UT and noted that at that very moment video carriers were fast getting much stronger at all Band I channels simultaneously. It was quite amazing to see this, also because the carriers were coming in from many different directions. I quickly identified Romania, Moldova and Ukraine on R1 through R3, Italy on A and B, Spain on E2 through E4, and Portugal on E2 and E3. The MUF stayed at R3 and therefore I decided to have a quick dinner, hoping for better things to come in the evening. And sometimes dreams come true --- I got back in the shack at 1745 UT and started checking the Band I video carrier frequencies from R5 downwards. When I arrived at 55.275 MHz I noted two carriers, which is very rare. One of the two had to be Izana on the Canary Islands! I decided to check the 6 meter Ham band to see if I could find any EA8’s. Very soon, with the antenna pointing south-southwest I heard a strong signal of VE1YX from Canada. Then I immediately new: this is going to be a BIG night. The TA opening lasted from 1745 UT (of a little bit earlier, I may have missed the start) until 2125. What I did in this timeframe is checking the A2 through A6 video and audio frequencies as well as the FM broadcasting band. I did not check for any watchable video on the TV set. This would have been impossible because the DX was coming in from all of Europe and there were too many strong ‘local’ carriers all over the place. Here is what I heard, with video frequency measuring by means of the BFO method: A2 video: 55.2401 55.2402 55.24025 55.2497 55.2498 55.2500 55.2501 55.2600 55.26005 55.2601 A2 audio: [as corrected by gh --- had read 55.xx] 59.74 – at 20.35 UTC some sort of soap series, English language, a man saying ``Antonio`s wife, giving the fine back``. Fair signal at times, lots of fading. 59.75 – at 1815 UT the Oprah Winfrey show! One of her female guests saying ``all the bones in my face were broken. I was in a coma for 30 days``. (I am sorry for this subject, but this is what I heard). Strong signal at times, slow fading. 59.75 – at 2010 UT a French language program, seemed to be a sort of a contest, maybe a dance contest with country & western music in the background. Male and female giving a life report on the event. Fair signal, slow fading. 59.76 – at 2020 UT a French language documentary or report on an unknown subject. Weak signal, slow fading. A3 video: 61.24005 61.2404 61.2500 61.2501 61.2503 61.2507 61.2589 61.2604 61.26075 A3 audio: 65.75, too weak for any details. A4 video: 67.2401 67.2402 67.2499 67.2500 67.2501 67.25015 67.2502 67.2600 67.2601 A5 video: 77.2501 77.2600 77.2602 A6 video: 83.2401 83.2500 83.2601 83.26015 Except for channel A2 all video carriers were at BFO level. I did not spend much time checking the 6 meter Ham band. I heard Hams from FN76, FN74, FN41, FN46, FN31, FN34 and FN25. I had my FM tuner continuously on 88.3 MHz, which is pretty much empty, but heard nothing. At times when the video carriers on A6 had some elevated strength I also checked 87.75 MHz but again nothing. This is not surprising because I have a lot of hash on 87.75 MHz from the adjacent frequencies. Reading the fantastic reports from the UK DX-ers I think I should have checked more frequencies. But I do not think that I would have heard anything. The signals on A4, A5 and A6 were too weak for that. What really makes me wonder after having experienced this all is what causes this kind of ‘super mode’. Not only because of the Canada / USA reception, but more the conditions in general. The reception area was extremely large. A large part of Eastern Canada, North Eastern USA, but at the same time also 6 meter hams / beacons from Iceland, Greenland, the Azores and from really all parts of Europe, including a lot of short skip. It seemed that a blanket of ionisation existed over the daylight part of the Northern hemisphere. Are any articles known that describe this kind propagation? A big congratulations to the guys in the UK that managed the TA FM broadcasting DX. It proves that this is possible and it makes me confident that I can continue dreaming that one day I will be as lucky as you were on the 26th. Best regards, (Janpeter van Dijk, Zoetermeer, The Netherlands, ICDX June 28 via Curtis Sadowski, WTFDA via DXLD). Our friend in the Netherlands was definitely picking up Radio-Canada (SRC) on ch. 2 (now go figure which one!!). What is described here is a broadcast of the Acadian Games (Jeux de l'Acadie), a sporting and cultural event for the French speaking youth of the Maritimes. SRC was showing a special on its National network on June 26 between 16:00- 17:00 Eastern (17:00-18:00 Atlantic). Still amazed at this transatlantic stuff! (Charles Gauthier, St-Lambert, PQ Canada, ibid.) Hi and I hope you don`t mind me sending you this email. Just to let you know on the 26 June 2003 I did receive CBTB FM in Baie Verte, Newfoundland, Canada on 97.1 and also ch A2 video. Could you do me a big favour can you take a look at my ch A2 video picture and see if you can ID the logo for me. Some are saying it is WGBH in Boston but I don`t know. You can also hear the TA reception as well in my web page. The CBTB audio is in the audio section and the ch A2 video pic is in the TV DX pictures. Also could you please pass my picture around to see if anyone can ID the logo. Many regards (David Hamilton, Cumnock, Ayrshire, Scotland UK; my website http://www.geocities.com/tvdxrools/index.htm WTFDA via DXLD) I can tell you that it is NOT WGBH-2 Boston. I have never seen WGBH have their logo in the upper right hand corner. Do you have a date/time on this picture? That would help (Adam Rivers, MA, ibid.) Here's a link to Ryan Grabow's site with US logos http://www.egrabow.com/dx/ I don't think it's WGBH either (noting that the pic could have rolled up and caused a lower right logo to appear as upper right. Actually your pic does appear as if it has a line going thru it about 20% from the top of the screen so perhaps it was rolled. I hope Canadian members take a good look at this or provide you with links to websites of likely targets. 73 KAZ (Neil Kazaross, IL, ibid.) I have looked every which way at his image. I do realize that logo is in the bottom right. I'm pretty sure it's not WGBH, still. Only because they usually use a transparent, circular GBH 2 logo, and not something that would make the screen darker like that Adam Ribers, ibid.) This is interesting, as have been the UK posts, HOWEVER... As more of an FM DX'er than TV, and not being really up on European bands, I don't have a clue about all of these band designations with alphanumerics. Further, as only a casual TV DX'er, I don't pay a lot of attention to the audio or video frequencies of the various channels. And I'm sure I'm not alone on this list. I could no more be of help in ID'ing anything posted from Europe this way than the man in the moon because I have no idea what North American channels are being discussed. Could someone provide a reference (preferably not overly technical nor complex) for those of us who might want to learn more about this? ===== (Russ Edmunds, Blue Bell, PA ( 360' ASL, WTFDA via DXLD) ?? The above post even specified which American channels go with which audio and video frequencies specified. Every(?) edition of the WRTH has a page showing the video/audio frequencies of the different TV systems, e.g. page 650 in the 2003y edition (gh, DXLD) Hi Russ, It isn't as hard as you think, OK, here's a brief explanation. The channels mentioned in the Dutch posting are the various Band I (otherwise known as VHF-Low) channels for the three main systems in use internationally. The A channels are our own American NTSC system ones, A2 is just our old Es stomping ground, channel 2 (video at 55.25+/- MHz, audio at 59.75+/- MHz). The E channels are the European PAL system ones, E2 video is at 48.25 MHz, (which is frequently be used as a propagation indicator by our ham radio operators for European openings on six meters), E3 video is on the same frequency as our A2. The spacing between the audio and video signals in the European (and Russian) system is different than ours, but the two systems are remarkably compatible with ours (the 625 line video in Europe and Russia was heavily derived from our 525 line NTSC) a European set can receive American video (though not filling out the screen), and an American NTSC set can receive European video (with the picture not showing fully in our screens). The color signals between NTSC and PAL are incompatible, so the image you would see would be a stunning black and white one, unless you have a multi standard set. The R channels are the Russian standard ones (which is now a PAL system) and are in use throughout Eastern Europe, the former Soviet Union, Mongolia, and China. Channel R2 has its video at 49.75 MHz, this one is, like channel E2, low enough down to be commonly reflected via the F-2 layer. Doug Smith has on his magnificent technical site, a full listing of all the frequencies in use worldwide. The very exact frequencies noted in the European reports reflect a DX trend there that you seldom find here. Every television transmitter has a frequency that it usually sits at, varying by only a small bit throughout fairly long periods of time. DX'ers internationally use frequency measurements to identify which station they've received, many times without even resolvable video. DX'ers on the East Coast with the ability to accurately measure the frequencies of their local Band I stations would be able to fully identify which stations had in fact been received by our European brethren. Todd Emslie is the expert in this sort of thing; take a look at his site for details in how to do this. I hope this brief explanation helped some. I've spent the last couple of years hanging out in the ICDX group (Inter-Continental DX) which is centered in Australia (with DX'ers scattered elsewhere) which specializes in long haul F-2 reception, and our more familiar forms prevalent here, so I've been able to pick up a bit of their lingo and tradecraft (Curtis Sadowski, Paxton IL, WTFDA via DXLD) I am very familiar with the concept (one which is heresy to many long-time AM DX'ers --- a hobby I've also enjoyed for many years) of "identifying" stations via a specific frequency signature. That technique, along with monitoring subaudible heterodynes, has been in use by some of the more high-tech AM DX'ers since the early 1970's. (Russ Edmunds, Blue Bell, PA ( 360' ASL ), ibid.) ###