DX LISTENING DIGEST 3-121, July 8, 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/dxldtd3g.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 1189: RFPI: Wed 0100, 0730, 1330 on 7445 and/or 15039 WWCR: Wed 0930 9475 WRN ONDEMAND: http://new.wrn.org/listeners/stations/station.php?StationID=24 OUR ONDEMAND AUDIO [also for CONTINENT OF MEDIA]: Check http://www.worldofradio.com/audiomid.html [Low] (Download) http://www.k4cc.net/wor1189.rm (Stream) http://www.k4cc.net/wor1189.ram [High] (Download) http://www.k4cc.net/wor1189h.rm (Stream) http://www.k4cc.net/wor1189h.ram (Summary) http://www.worldofradio.com/wor1189.html FIRST AIRINGS OF WORLD OF RADIO 1190: Wed 2200 on WBCQ 7415, 17495-CUSB Thu 2030 on WWCR 15825; Sat 1030 on WWCR 5070, Sun 0230 on WWCR 5070 Fri 1930 on RFPI 15039; Sat 0130, 0800, 1400, 1730, 2330 on 7445/15039 Sun 0030 on WINB 12160 DXLD JUNE 2003 HTML ARCHIVE is complete and available as of 2000 UT July 6, including corrections, cross-references and hot links: http://www.worldofradio.com/dxldtd3f.html UNSOLICITED TESTIMONIAL Hey Glenn, I'm listening to you from Spain via the cristal clear Worldspace receiver. Gracias por tu dedicación al mundo de la onda corta. Te escucho desde hace más de doce años por las diferentes emisoras en las que estás y has estado. Cuando puedo te sintonizo por el programa Radio Enlace de RN. Gracias por todo. Hasta otra (Antonio Jesús Pérez Quirantes, from Granada, Spain, July 8) ** ANGOLA. 3375, R. Nacional, has been reported in DX media recently (e.g. RDXP WE Jun 29). No trace of it here, and has not been for some years. Possibly a mix up with the R. Nacional station in Brazil (Vashek Korinek, RSA, DXplorer via BC-DX via DXLD) 3375, UNID MIX, real mix of some Portuguese language stations at 2355 July 4. In the summer of 2001, I was lucky to hear here Angola; much much earlier Brazil was caught here. There weren't any IDs, so I really don't know what stations made that mix (Artyom Prokhorov from Moscow with my latest catches made on Sony ICF7600G and its telescopic antenna in a countryside just in some 70 km South of Moscow, Cumbre DX via DXLD) ** ARGENTINA. 11440, 0120-, Radio Cochiguaz (not) Jul 6. Fair reception with lots of atmospheric crashes with non-stop Spanish talk from 0117 when first checked. Sounds like a relay of a local station. Very professional sounding. Signal would be nice except for the static. Best by far on my T2FD antenna. Very clean audio. 0144: Checked again at 0133 with soccer play by play and mentions of Argentina. I became suspicious. Sure enough an email came shortly afterwards from Radio Cochiguaz confirming that the frequency is occupied by the Argentinian feeder. Sorry for the mixup. Reception was 4-3-4 at 0147 (Walt Salmaniw, Victoria BC, hard-core-dx July 5 via DXLD) Helping to explain items in last issue Just been listening to lsb 11440 khz, with 2 xguys with rápido SS; one could have been calling the finish of horse races he was that worked up. The other spoke much more sedately. This at 2315 UT Saturday, thru' till 2400 UT (our Sunday morning). Noise tho' made any chance of an ID impossible. Does anybody have a definite ID? Is it R. Cochiguaz. Strength was really good, tho' lots of noise to match that strength. Regards to all, (Chris Elliott, Australia? July 5, ARDXC via DXLD) I don't think this is Cochiguaz/Piraña, it seems more like the relays of mainstream Buenos Aires broadcasters often heard on 15820 etc in the past, for rebroadcast around the Argentine Antarctic. Just a coincidence they're using 11440; though note Cochiguaz is sked in USB whereas this is in LSB. Cheers, (Paul Ormandy, NZ, ibid.) ** ASIA. MAKING WAVES --- Time Asia July 14, 2003 / Vol. 161 No. 27 BY HANNAH BEECH Talk radio is enabling Asians to air their grievances—and to organize politically—like never before . . . http://www.time.com/time/asia/magazine/article/0,13673,501030714-463131,00.html (via Bill Westenhaver, DXLD) Deals mainly with Hong Kong, China, Thailand; also Indonesia, Philippines, Taiwan ** AUSTRALIA. If your connexion to the net supports at least 250 kbps, try this ABC News video feed that rotates through 7 or 8 stories at any given time. Enter this into the RealPlayer Open Location field: http://www.abc.net/au/broadbandnews/ram/news.ram (Tom Sundstrom, NJ, Net Notes, July NASWA Journal via DXLD) ** AUSTRALIA [and non]. July 7 around 2315 I was getting loud and clear reception of R. Australia on 21740, so decided to scan the 13 m broadcast band and the 14 m hamband to see what else was coming in. Aside from a few carriers (birdies?), NOTHING on either band. On the broadcast band I can believe that, as RA is aimed this way with 100 kW and there may not be anything else on the band at this hour within megameters of Shepparton. But where were all the hams? With BFO on, not a trace of a single SSB signal from anywhere? True, 1 kW or less is no match for 100, but shouldn`t there be something? The band was clearly open from Vic to OK, and in all probability between most of Australia and most of USA, at least. If I had a ticket, I`d at least have called CQ to see if anyone would answer. Apparently the VKs, not hearing any North Americans, and vice versa, decided the band was closed. When a tree falls. . . If that`s all the interest they have in 14m, it might as well be turned over to PLC = BPL (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** AUSTRIA. Re ORF programming on shortwave: See http://roi.orf.at/down/gr_programm_juli_2003.pdf Many of the one hour transmissions to overseas targets now contain a half hour of programming played twice. The first page of the PDF file is erroneous: the time for the repeat of the half hour 0100-0130 to North America (i.e. on 9870) is given two hours too late, making me wonder if Report from Austria was missed at 0145 because the continuity system was misprogrammed as well (who knows who may be responsible for this task now)? Anyway it appears that Ö1 is not even able to terminate the ROI brand after gaining responsibility for the shortwave service. They just took the existing web presence, deleted most of the pages, adopted a few ones they decided to keep and that's all. Of course there is nowhere a mention of shortwave, of a "Radio Österreich 1 International" as it was promoted by ORF management in advance, on the regulär Ö1 pages http://oe1.orf.at What a confidence trick (Kai Ludwig, Germany, July 7, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** AUSTRIA. Glenn, I'm afraid the info about Radio Afrika International in DXLD 3-119 is out of date. The station was indeed daily at 1500-1600 on 17895 earlier this year, as the article says. But this switched to 17875 for the summer period. More recently the transmissions were cut back to 1530-1600 on Saturdays only. But when I checked last Saturday at that time I heard nothing on either 17875 or 17895. I now wonder if the station is still on the air at all. Is anyone else still hearing it? Reception used to be good here in Nairobi. Regards, (Chris Greenway, Kenya, July 8, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Tsk; article also appears in July NASWA Journal ** BAHRAIN. BAHRAINI RADIO LAUNCHES A SERVICE FOR INDIAN MUSIC MANAMA, Bahrain (AP) -- To the delight and surprise of the large Indian community in Bahrain, state radio has begun broadcasting music from the subcontinent around-the-clock. The station went on air Tuesday night, playing a collection of new and old songs, mostly Indian, a Bahrain Radio official said Thursday. The service has no name yet, but it is found at 104.2 FM. "We have launched the station on a trial basis ... We want to see the reaction," said the official, speaking on condition of anonymity. In the streets of Manama, the reaction was positive Thursday. "This is a great move and I am very excited," said Dhavan Dhanak, 30, an inventory controller from Gujarat, India. "I have been listening to the service all day." The service took many by surprise. "I thought I had tuned into the service from the United Arab Emirates, or maybe it was my tape playing," said Irshad Sikandar Khan, 30, a delivery man from Gujarat, India. "I am so happy to know that it's our own radio station." "I will enjoy my driving job more now," Khan said, as he began humming in tune to a well-known song playing on the radio. The Emirates has several southeast Asian services on its radio. People from the Indian subcontinent form the bulk of Bahrain's more than 200,000 expatriates, who work mostly as manual laborers and domestic workers. Indian music and movies are extremely popular on the island. am-jbm (APws 07/03 0650 via Mike Cooper, DXLD) ** BOTSWANA. 4820, Radio Botswana, 0215-0326 July 1, apparently on early with man hosting program of local music, lively talks in Setswana and mentions of Gaborone. IDs noted at 0242 and 0253. Special occasion? Fair (Richard D`Angelo, PA, NASWA Flashsheet via DXLD) As reported recently in DXLD, has gone 24 hours, and apparently that includes the SW frequency (gh, DXLD) ** BRAZIL. Re 3-120: Glenn, Artigo interessante sobre as emissoras católicas brasileiras, apenas gostaria de fazer as seguintes correções: A Voz do Coração Imaculado 4885 kHz está inativa há alguns anos, não é uma emissora nova. Rádio Canção Nova é retransmitida pela Rádio Gazeta e não Rádio Record; esta é de propriedade da Igreja Universal do Reino De Deus, uma das maiores Igrejas Pentecostais do Brasil, aliás, tanto quanto as emissoras católicas que retransmitem seus programas por diversas emissoras em onda média, também existem as protestantes, muitas. Um abraço (Samuel Cássio Martins, São Carlos, SP, Brasil, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CAMBODIA. GOVERNMENT THREATENS TO SHUT DOWN BEEHIVE RADIO | Text of report in English by Cambodian news agency AKP web site Phnom Penh, 8 July: The Ministry of Information threatened to shut down a radio station that has begun airing news from Radio Free Asia and Voice of America, and thousands of workers attended an open debate between Funcinpec [National United Front for an Independent, Neutral, Peaceful and Cooperative Cambodia] and Sam Rainsy Party officials in Phnom Penh on Sunday [6 July], according to the Cambodia Daily. Khieu Kanharith, secretary of state for the Ministry of information, said Sunday he has warned Beehive Radio to stop airing the twice-a-day broadcasts of VOA and RFA news, which began 1 July. "I can order to shut the station down any time, but I wait to see whether the station respects the Cambodian law or the American law," he said. "If they still continue to broadcast [RFA and VOA], I will work with the Ministry of Information to strip the licence from the station," he said. Beehive airs 30-minute segments from each programme in the mornings and 90-minute segments in the evenings. Station founder Mam Sonando said he got [the] idea after he saw someone reading a local newspaper over a television news programme. Source: Agence Kampuchea Presse web site, Phnom Penh, in English 8 Jul 03 (via BBCM via DXLD) WTFK? ** CANADA. FM radio continues to be a profit center in CANADA, according to STATSTICS CANADA, with 70% of FM stations reporting a profit (average profit margin 24.3%), while AM stations are losing money, a trend in place since 1990. English station profit margins were 16.4%, and French stations reported a profit margin of 15.2%. CALGARY and OTTAWA were the most profitable large markets in 2001 and 2002; the industry as a whole showed slowing growth, with revenues up 2.7% in 2002, down from being up 4.4% in 2001 and 5.3% in 2000 (from http://www.allaccess.com via Brock Whaley, July 7, 2003, DXLD) ** CANADA [and non]. Found this in the FCC database.. NEW(AM) DA2 U 710 10 kW Day Leamington, ON 110.08 158.75 Fac ID#: 106792 Is this an error left over from the old "CHYR" days, or is someone going to put a new 710 station in Leamington? (Fred Vobbe, NRC-AM July 6 via DXLD) Neither --- it's part of the cross-border cat and mouse game of international protections. Canada's still protecting that 710 facility against US incursions (just as it does with almost any AM that goes dark up there); the US retaliates by "notifying" Canada of powerful facilities in places like northern Maine that don't and never will exist. As a general rule, the FCC database is utterly useless when it comes to accurately listing Canadian facilities. You need Industry Canada's own database for that. s (Scott Fybush, ibid.) ** CANARY ISLANDS. Hannu Uotila in Finland has logged the Tenerife outlet of RNE-5 on 88.8. The Spanish DXer Mauricio Molano, who works with RNE says that this network relays Madrid most of the day, except for a 5-minute local news slot before the top of the hour. Hannu was happy to hear a short news interview related to the Canary Islands at .57 past the hour and for almost a minute. The distance between the transmitter and the receiver is 4,700 km (Henrik Klemetz, Sweden, DX LISTENING DIGEST) BTW, it`s Teneriffa in Swedish and German ** CONGO DR. RADIO CANDIP BACK ON THE AIR IN BUNIA; REPORTS MILITIA BOSS'S MEETINGS | Excerpt from report by Congolese radio from Bunia on 7 July We have just noted the entry into the studio of the special secretary for the presidency [of the Union of Congolese Patriots for Peace and Reconciliation, UPC-RP]. Clearly he has a message. Good morning. [Official] I have come to give an (?overview) of the activities of the chairman of the UPC-RP, HE Thomas Lubanga, over the period when Radio Candip was experiencing technical problems. The reopening of Radio Candip took place at around 1000 local time [0800 gmt] on Saturday 5 July after the personal intervention of his excellency the chairman of the UPC-RP, Mr Thomas Lubanga, who did not spare any effort to procure the damaged spare parts. Efforts continue to improve the condition of the radio and TV station to serve the residents of Ituri [region in northeastern DRCongo] in particular. [Radio Candip had not been heard for a week prior to 5 July.] During this period the UPC-RP chairman, HE Thomas Lubanga, continued to work tirelessly to consolidate peace in Ituri and in Bunia in collaboration with all the organizations and forces working towards this end. For instance, the UPC-RP chairman received the political counsellor at the embassy of the Federal Republic of Germany in DRCongo, Mr Michael Genet [phonetic], at his official residence in the (?Lumumba) neighbourhood on Wednesday 2 July 2003. Mr Genet was accompanied by Maj Descuillesperes Barthes [phonetic], the Belgian liaison officer seconded to the multinational force in Bunia. Their talks centred on various issues related to the security situation in Ituri and the respective positions of the Belgian and German governments on the situation in Ituri, and on the presence of their troops in the multinational force. [Passage omitted] The UPC-RP chairman received a courtesy call from a delegation of the OCHA [UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs] led by the head of OCHA's humanitarian services in Ituri, Mr Mahmoud Hachi [phonetic], the same day. [Passage omitted] On Friday 4 July, the UPC-RP chairman, HE Thomas Lubanga, received a UPC-RP delegation which had returned from a diplomatic mission to Kampala, where it had gone to meet the president of the Republic of Uganda, HE Mr Yoweri Kaguta Museveni, with the aim of restoring relations favourable to good neighbourliness. The report of this delegation led by HE Mr Jean Kinazabo Zeremani [phonetic], the secretary-general of our movement, proved to be very positive. [Passage omitted --- by BBCM in all cases here] On the morning of the same Friday, HE the chairman of the UPC-RP also received a delegation from the Roman Catholic Church-run NGO Caritas, led by the head of this association in Bunia Diocese, Msgr Etienne Ndayikosi [phonetic]. [Passage omitted] Source: Radio Candip, Bunia, in French 0500 gmt 7 Jul 03 (via BBCM via DXLD) ** CUBA. Playing with car stereos today with an eye on CH 2 and the FM and I come in and hear elevator music on 92.9 in mono!!!! The song ends and the announcer comes on in Spanish, the it fades out 45 seconds later. My Spanish is not good enough to figure out what he is saying; sounds like "music for your home and, (maybe) in the city". I have no clue, and there may not even be an ID, but if anyone can give this a try, I can email you the file, with 4+MB for .wav or a very good 378 kb mp3 file. Also, anyone know of any Spanish targets on 92.9 in mono that play elevator music, or very lite piano music? Any guesses would be appreciated! Thanks, (Bill Nollman, Farmington, CT, July 6, WTFDA via DXLD) [Later:] the latest thoughts are the woman that is about to be interviewed is at her home in Matanzas, (Cuba ?). The woman`s name is CARILDA OLIVER LABRA (and she was born in that city from what we have found on the internet). My antenna was pointing south/southwest at the time, which is my best null to the ever increasing semi-locals. The station was DEFINITELY in MONO --- no doubt about that, as my tuner gets everything in Stereo when it is broadcasting in stereo. This was definitely mono. Also, I was receiving Miami-WPBT-2 most of the morning and Cuba is a straight shot past that. So, I'm doubting it's TA to Spain at this point and TE to Argentina seems rather unlikely; however, I have never in 20+ years of DXing, received a Cuban so I would really like to get this one ID'ed if possible. If there is a 92.9 in Cuba, I can try and contact them, I just can't find any listing for one anywhere --- not even your web page! (Bill Nollman, Farmington CT, to Humberto, WTFDA via DXLD) Yes, ¡it is Cuban! I listened the mp3. The background music is a version of "Unicornio" a classical of singer Silvio Rodríguez, from the "nueva trova cubana". The transcription: "Amigos, estoy conversando con la poeta Carilda Oliver Labra, Premio Nacional de Literatura, en su casa de la ciudad de Matanzas, donde nos ha recibido con su habitual amabilidad, queridos amigos ..." "Friends I'm talking with the poet Carilda Oliver Labra, National Literature Prize (winner), in her home, at Matanzas City, where she had received us with her habitual amiability, dear friends....." (Humberto Molina, El Salvador, ibid.) Excellent, so the $100,000 question is does anyone know of a 92.9 in Cuba? I have a 2 year old WRTH and it has a 92.1 and a 93.7 listed, which would make it extremely possible to have a 92.9 somewhere on the island, but where? Thanks for the help! (Bill Nollman, ibid.) Well, of course there`s a new Cuban on 92.9, as I mentioned recently on World of Radio based on this item in DX Listening Digest 3-112 of June 24; I do include VHF and UHF news, and invite everyone to read it; one link is http://www.worldofradio.com/dxldmid.html Regards, (Glenn Hauser, ibid.) [R. Manatí, La Voz del Faro, Victoria de las Tunas] Glenn to the rescue ! YES !!! Now, you think if I write they would send a veri??? (BN, ibid.) Who knows? But we don`t have a complete address (gh) ** ETHIOPIA [non]. CLANDESTINE: 12120, Voice of Ethiopian Medhin, 1830+, July 06. Transmission in Amharic. Sign-on. Flute sound (very nice). Very clear identification by female. Music. News or talk by male. 34443. Best reception after 1900 UT (Arnaldo Slaen, Chascomus "the Argentina's DX paradise". Near the lake, with a sample longwire (5 meters) and a Sony ICF2010, Argentina, Cumbre DX via DXLD) ** GERMANY. DTK-T systems changes, all Jülich 100 kW: Pan American Broadcasting - Waymarks Ministry: 1500-1515 15650 115 deg Sun to ME English ||||| new txion 1530-1600 15650 100 deg Sun to ME English ||||| new txion Brother Stair/TOM/: 1200-1600 6110 non-dir Daily to Eu English ||||| no change 1600-1700 6110 non-dir Sat to Eu English ||||| no change 1300-1600 13810 115 deg Daily to ME English ||||| ex til 1400 Bible Voice Broadcasting Network/BVBN/: 1515-1800 15680* 115 deg Sat/Sun to ME English ||||| no change 1530-1700 15680* 115 deg Mon/Tue to ME English ||||| ex Mon-Fri 1530-1730 15680* 115 deg Thu to ME English ||||| no change 1530-1800 15680* 115 deg Wed/Fri to ME English ||||| ex Sat/Sun 1700-1745 15680* 115 deg Tue to ME Russian ||||| new txion 1615-1730 15750# 115 deg Mon-Fri to ME Arabic ||||| new txion 1700-1800 15750# 115 deg Sat/Sun to ME English ||||| new txion * strong co-ch Radio Free Asia in Mandarin Chinese plus Chinese mx jammer # strong co-ch Voice of Iran in Persian via ISS 500 kW / 090 deg til 1730 (Ivo & Angel, Observer, Bulgaria, July 8 via DXLD) ** GUINEA. 6155, RTVG, Conakry, appears to have reactivated 6155 for weekend evening transmissions, observed in Melbourne on Jun 28 (Sat) in the period 2315-0000* carrying domestic service relay, French, film music. Not audible on other days, maybe only Saturdays at this time (Bob Padula, EDXP via DXLD) ** INDIA. Fans of Indian music should check out All India Radio on 10.330 MHz tonight. This is the best I have ever heard this 50 kW Indian regional broadcaster. The level is right up there with the best reception I have ever had on the 11.620 beam to Western Europe in the late evening UT. Been listening here since 0030 UT. Signal peaked at 50 dB above the ambient noise at 0040. Now starting to drop as the sun rises over India. The terminator went through Mumbai about 0030 providing a total grey line path to the East Coast of the USA. Program consists mostly of film music with a soft spoken announcer more suited to a late night program than a morning drive time host. But then maybe in India the morning drive guy has to be smooth and soothing so as not to scare the oxen (Joe Buch, DE, UT July 7, swprograms via DXLD) ** INDIA. AIR External Service is now noted on the additional frequency of 6165 at 1230-1600 in Sindhi (1230-1500) and Baluchi (1500-1600) beamed to Pakistan. The \\ freqs are 1071, 9620 and 11585. The Nepali Service was noted today at 0700-0745 on around 11034 kHz drifting slowly upwards. From around 0750 UT they came back to their normal freq ofuency 11850 (Jose Jacob-IND, VU2JOS, DXindia, July 6 via DXLD) WRC-03 band realignment: That means All India R and others have to vacate 7100-7200 kHz by 29 March 2009 (Jose Jacob-IND, VU2JOS, BC-DX July 8, via DXLD) ** INDIA. Prasar Bharati Eyes AIRtime For Foreign Broadcasters http://www.financialexpress.com/fe_full_story.php?content_id=37694 [by] Nivedita Mookerji New Delhi: Here's another chance for Prasar Bharati to earn quick bucks. This time from foreign broadcasters. The next board meeting of the public broadcaster, on July 11, is slated to take up the proposal. If it is approved by the board, for the first time, foreign broadcasters would be able to buy transmission time on All India Radio (AIR). For a price, of course. Foreign broadcasters would have to shell out anything from Rs 15,000- 70,000 per hour for purchasing time on AIR, depending on the power of the transmitter and time of transmission, etc. The fee has been kept on the higher side, keeping in mind the paying power of foreign broadcasters, sources said. The proposal is for AIR's medium wave and short wave frequencies. AIR, it is learnt, is already in talks with transmission companies such as TDF of France and WRN of the UK. It is an accepted norm in some countries in the West for transmission companies (the likes of TDF) to strike deals for broadcasters, sources said. Earlier, Prasar Bharati had indicated that barter deals could be worked out with foreign broadcasters, in terms of exchanging programmes on each other's platform. But, the proposal that is likely to be taken up on July 11, is just a plain vanilla "purchase of transmission time" concept. Interestingly, a few months ago, BBC had launched a weekly programme on AIR FM, on an experimental basis. Due to "internal" resistance, the programme was taken off, an AIR official admitted. Currently, certain AIR FM time slots are open for sale. The fee varies from Rs 3,000 to Rs 14,000 per half an hour, in the case of FM. Again, the rate depends on the city and time of transmission etc. Of late, Prasar Bharati has been on a revenue-generating spree. First, it was the AIR tower-sharing project with private FM companies in Delhi, Chennai and Kolkata. Then, it was the community radio project, making use of old short wave transmitters. Now, over to the board meeting for a likely venture with foreign broadcasters (via Kim Elliott, DXLD) ** INDONESIA. De mooiste lokale ID ven een RRI station hoorde ik in 1998 van Jambi. Je kan hem horen op http://www.dxa.be/dxsounds/RRIJambi.rm 73, (Guido Schotmans, Belgium, July 6, BDXC via DXLD) ** INTERNATIONAL. Updated schedule for Christian Voice: 1500-2200 4965 LUS 100 kW / non-dir English to Ce&SoAf 0400-0600 6065 LUS 100 kW / non-dir English to Ce&SoAf 2200-1200 6070 SGO 100 kW / 030 deg Spanish to SoAmSo 1300-1800 7180 DRW 250 kW / 290 deg Indonesian to Indonesia 1200-2200 9635 SGO 100 kW / 030 deg Spanish to SoAmSo 0600-1500 9865 LUS 100 kW / non-dir English to Ce&SoAf 1300-1700 9880 DRW 250 kW / 340 deg English to China 1700-2100 11680 DRW 250 kW / 303 deg English India/Indonesia 2100-1100 11745 SGO 100 kW / 060 deg Portuguese to Brasil 0100-0400 11850 TAC 100 kW / 153 deg Hindi to India 1100-1300 11935 SGO 100 kW / 340 deg Spanish to CeAm 2330-2400 11935 DRW 250 kW / 290 deg Indonesian to Indonesia 0500-0800 13630 TAC 100 kW / 153 deg Hindi to India 1100-1700 13635 DRW 250 kW / 303 deg Hindi to India 1500-1700 13665 DRW 250 kW / 303 deg English India/Indonesia 0900-1300 13685 DRW 250 kW / 340 deg English to China 1300-1500 13685 DRW 250 kW / 303 deg English India/Indonesia 0900-1400 13770 DRW 250 kW / 340 deg Mandarin Ch to China 2200-0200 15165 DRW 250 kW / 340 deg Mandarin Ch to China 0900-1300 15365 DRW 250 kW / 290 deg Indonesian to Indonesia 2000-2300 15365 SGO 100 kW / 105 deg Portuguese to SoAf 0000-1200 15375 SGO 100 kW / non-dir Spanish to SoAmNo 2100-0100 15475 SGO 100 kW / 045 deg Portuguese to Brasil 1400-1800 17560 DRW 250 kW / 340 deg Mandarin Ch to China 1200-2400 17680 SGO 100 kW / non-dir Spanish to SoAmNo 0800-0900 17715 DRW 250 kW / 340 deg Mandarin Ch to China 0600-0900 17820 DRW 250 kW / 290 deg Indonesian to Indonesia 1100-2100 21500 SGO 100 kW / 060 deg Portuguese to Brasil 1300-1400 21550 SGO 100 kW / 340 deg Spanish to CeAm 0030-0100 21680 DRW 250 kW / 290 deg Indonesian to Indonesia 0430-0500 21680 DRW 250 kW / 290 deg Indonesian to Indonesia 0530-0600 21680 DRW 250 kW / 290 deg Indonesian to Indonesia [Lusaka, Santiago, Darwin, Tashkent] (Ivo & Angel, Observer, Bulgaria, July 8 via DXLD) ** INTERNATIONAL VACUUM. BBCR4`s In Business had a show about American and British satellite and digital radio last week July 3: http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/news/inbusiness.shtml Audio available until the next show July 10 at: http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/news/inbusiness/ram/inbusiness_20030703.ram (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** INTERNATIONAL VACUUM. USA/IRAN: US-BASED TV CHANNELS FOR IRAN SUFFER SATELLITE INTERFERENCE US-based Iranian TV channels are suffering from the presence of an unidentified signal which is causing disruption and interference. The affected stations are in a multiplex of channels targetted mainly at Iran, BBC Monitoring observed on 7 July at 1305 gmt. The rogue signal, observed on the Telstar 12 satellite at 15 degrees west, on a downlink frequency of 12608.5 MHz, causes video and audio to become pixellated or freeze throughout transponder 10, which is centred on 12595 MHz horizontal. The channels potentially affected, according to a listing on the Lyngsat satellite information web site, are CTI TV; Da Ai TV; MAC TV; NITV-National Iranian TV; Iran TV Network; Tapesh TV; VOA TV Persian service (colour bars at times - the TV service started on 6 July); Channel One; Azadi TV; Jaam-e-jam International (US-based independent channel carrying the same name as an Iranian state external TV service). Radio: AFN Farsi Net, Radio Farda (RFE/RL), VOA Persian radio, Radio Sedaye Iran and KIRN 670. Other stations occupying different transponders, including an alternative VOA TV Persian service signal on the same satellite, are not affected. The interference was still being observed at 1600 gmt on 7 July and observations are continuing. Source: BBC Monitoring research in 7 Jul 03 (via BBCM via DXLD) Well, that answers my question about whether any satellite operator would be party to jamming from satellites (gh, DXLD) ** IRAN. Sunday evening at 2100 reception of R. Farda on 1170 was good for a while with excellent audio, but now there is also jamming, a strong and somewhat buzzy carrier on 1168.0 with a bubble jammer in the background of this carrier. No jamming heard on 1170 (Olle Alm, Sweden, July 6, DX LISTENING DIGEST) See also INTERNATIONAL VACUUM above ** IRAN [non]. FRANCE(non): Frequency change for Voice of Iran in Persian via ISS 500 kW / 090 deg: 1530-1730 NF 15750*, ex 17525 * strong co-ch Bible Voice Broadcasting Network /BVBN/ via JUL 100 kW / 115 deg: 1615-1730 Mon-Fri in Arabic; 1700-1730 Sat/Sun in English (Ivo & Angel, Observer, Bulgaria, July 8 via DXLD) ** IRAN [non]. NORWAY(non): New time and frequency for R. Sedoye Yaran in Persian via KVI 250 095 degrees: 1630-1830 Mon-Sat NF 15790 (55544), ex 1800-2000 on 7525 Unidentified station in Persian via KVI/SVE: 1700-1800 Mon-Sat on 15650 (45544) (Ivo & Angel, Observer, Bulgaria, July 8 via DXLD) ** IRAQ. Re 3-119: I just want to comment on something. I think there is NO station time being in Baghdad with the ID Radio Baghdad ...on 1026 there's the IMN (Iraq Media network) but I heard them once IDing the station with "Shabakat ale'laam aliraqi - Idhaat Baghdad``, in English "Iraqi Media network --- Radio Baghdad" but I heard that ID only once. I think I have a file somewhere with that ID. I'll dig more to find it :) all the best, Glenn (Tarek Zeidan, Cairo, Egypt, DX LISTENING DIGEST) American print media are notorious for imprecision in naming broadcast stations (gh, DXLD) ** IRELAND. Glenn, pertaining recent reference to Irish LW transmitter on 252 kHz, DXLD 3-118 4th July, mail from me to RTE in recent times has elicited two similar responses: 1. "The recent test transmissions carried out by RTE on 252 kHz longwave were for engineering purposes in order to evaluate the equipment and aerial system at Summerhill. A firm decision has yet to be made as to the long term use of this frequency allocation." 2. "The broadcast heard on 252 kHz recently was a test for RTÉ Radio 1. I have checked with our technology department and they tell me there are no plans to broadcast regularly on this wavelength in the immediate future." (Finbarr O'Driscoll.....Ireland, July 6, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** IVORY COAST. IVORY COAST POLICE CLASH WITH YOUTHS AT TV STATION ABIDJAN, July 7 (Reuters) --- Police fired tear gas on Monday to drive back hundreds of stone-throwing youths loyal to Ivory Coast's president as they tried to smash into the television station in the main city, Abidjan. Violent clashes at the state broadcaster raised new worries about the peace deal for the world's top cocoa grower, which has stopped the fighting but failed to calm the West African country's burning ethnic and political hatreds. President Laurent Gbagbo's supporters demand the reinstatement of the television station's director, who was suspended last week by the communications minister -- the top rebel official in the power-sharing government. The suspended director, Georges Aboke, was a Gbagbo appointee and loyalist from the largely Christian south of the country. The replacement appointed by Minister Guillaume Soro is from his own mostly Muslim north. "We are ready to die for Aboke," shouted the youths as they scattered from into side streets to escape the tear gas. Some set up barricades in the streets near the station, where they also clashed with police on Saturday. Worried by growing tension in the former French colony, the army and rebel forces officially declared the end of their war on Friday -- two months after a ceasefire brought fighting to a stop. But anger remains among Gbagbo's most militant supporters, many of whom would like to see a return to conflict. Ivory Coast tumbled into war after a failed coup. Thousands of people were killed and more than a million were driven from their homes during the fighting. (07/07/03 07:17 ET AOL Canada news via Fred Waterer, DXLD) ** MADAGASCAR [and non]. Re R. Feon'ny Filazantsara at 1630-1655 on 3215 kHz: Similar looking program name via TWR Swaziland at http://www.twraro.org.za/Programmes-2/swaziland-8.asp (Jari Savolainen, Finland, July 3, BC-DX via DXLD) i.e. Feon'ny Filazantsara in Malagasy language, daily 1525-1555 on 9585 (gh, DXLD) ** MALTA [non]. New 6185, 1730-1800, MLT, 02-07, Voice of the Mediterranean, English talks, ID, 33443 CWQRM, ex 9605 ex 9850 (Anker Petersen, Skovlunde, Dinamarca, receptor AOR 7030, longwires 40 metros, @tividade DX via DXLD) via ITALY, should we not always point out? (gh). ** NETHERLANDS. Message from Chris van Gelder On behalf of the family I would like to thank everybody for all the wonderful and heart warming response to the passing away of my father Harry van Gelder. It is great to notice that even after so many years since his retirement he has not been forgotten. Fortunately Dad went just as he wanted, at home in his own surroundings and stayed mentally fit till the very last day. We are grateful for the fact that he was given the time to prepare everything and to say farewell to all his beloved ones. Dad first took me to Radio Netherlands when I was about ten years old and he has always been proud that I have kept the name `van Gelder` very much alive here at the station ever since I joined in 1979. It will never be the same without him (Chris van Gelder, Media Network blog July 6 via DXLD) ** NIGERIA. And the following seems to be a new VON outlet, after many years; it was once used for S/C/E Africa: 9690 first noted on Jul 02 at 1116-1240 with talks and interviews + nx 1200, never \\ to 15120. 35444. DW in German via Antigua s-off 1000. RAI's east European & Balkan service sign-on 1330, but Ikorodu noted briefly 1500, 35423 in English \\ to 15120 this time, only that was short-lived as they reverted to Vernacular 1505-s/off 1559 with some sudden (?) power increase, so 54444. RAI experienced some transmitter trouble at 1500 allowing VoN to be in the clear for some time, but was more or less dominant till mentioned s/off time of 1559. I visited the V of Nigeria website the other day, and only 15120 and 7255 are mentioned in the schedule (Carlos Gonçalves, Portugal, BC-DX June 23 via DXLD) ?? Dates contradictory here; 9690 was briefly heard early this year as VON were experimenting (gh, DXLD) ** PAKISTAN. Note reference to 250-kW shortwave transmitter in this item: http://www.pakistanlink.com/headlines/july03/08/02.html BRACE UP FOR CHALLENGES EMANATING AT GLOBAL LEVEL, RASHID SUGGESTS [TO] RADIO PAKISTAN ISLAMABAD: Minister for Information and Broadcasting, Sheikh Rashid Ahmad Monday urged Radio Pakistan to brace up for the challenges emanating from new geo-political realities. He was inaugurating two-day Station Directors Conference of the Pakistan Broadcasting Corporation in Islamabad. The minister pointed out that despite rapid developments in electronic media, Radio is still the strongest medium in the world. ``Pakistan Radio will have to make sustained efforts to improve quality of its programmes to expand its listening in the intense competitive environment.`` He said improvement in the contents of the programme, stress on facts and figures and their presentation in true perspective could attract the listener more. The Minister directed Radio Pakistan to focus special attention on programmes in regional languages of the country. He said such programmes contributed a lot in the popularity of Radio and they can revive interest of the listeners. He said beside discussion programmes, Radio should also cater to the entertainment requirements of the people keeping in mind the latest trends. Sheikh Rashid Ahmad was particularly appreciative of morning and evening bulletins of Radio Pakistan and popularity of the FM programmes. He issued directions for separation of programme and development wings and improvement in the working of Radio transmitters. Secretary Information, Syed Anwar Mahmood thanked the Minister for taking keen interest in improvement of Radio programmes. He also referred to the developments in the backdrop of which the conference was being held. Director-General, PBC, Tarique Imam, in his address of welcome, presented a review of major activities of Radio Pakistan. He also gave a resume of programmes broadcast by Radio Pakistan to counter anti-Pakistan propaganda, and to keep the listeners abreast of development priorities of the Government and regional and international situation. The D G informed the participants of the meeting that a programme has been launched for expanding FM transmission network and modernisation of studios of Radio Pakistan. He said fifteen studios have already been modernized while work on 15 others is expected to be completed this year. He said Equipment Production Unit of PBC has been re-activated and it has now initiated local production of FM transmitters to save precious foreign exchange. He said a 250-KW short wave transmitter is to be set up to cater to the needs of the External and World Services broadcast. On this occasion, the participants of the Station Directors conference briefed the Minister about professional matters (via Kim Elliott, DXLD) ** PAPUA NEW GUINEA. PAPUA NEW GUINEA NEW IRELAND PROVINCIAL RADIO OFF AIR | Text of report by Papua New Guinea newspaper The National web site on 8 July The New Ireland provincial radio station, one of the 19 provincial radio stations of the National Broadcasting Corporation, has been off air for the past six months. It needs money to get spare parts including a vital transmitter. A promised second-hand transmitter from East New Britain has not arrived in the province and there is no help in sight despite several requests to the New Ireland government for help. A senior management staff member said the radio station needed between 300,000 to 500,000 kina [approx 87,000-145,000 US dollars] to get it back on air. This included the cost of repairing the broken down transmitter and operational costs. The staff member said various requests for help to the provincial government have gone unheeded. Source: The National web site, Port Moresby, in English 8 Jul 03 (via BBCM via DXLD) WTFK? That`s the one in Kavieng on 3905, per WRTH 2003 (gh, DXLD) ** ROMANIA. R Romania contest --- Radio Romania International has launched a new prize winning competition: Bucovina's Treasures. As usual, you will have to answer several questions which will be regularly aired in RRI programmes. The competition will run until December the 31st, 2003, the mail date. The prizes offered by the Bucovina Association for Tourism are more than tempting. The grand prize consists of a 10-day trip for two around Bucovina with accommodation in boarding houses, in the summer of 2004 (not inclusive of visa fees and travel expenses outside Romania). And here are the questions: What is the name of the most important city in Bucovina, the one-time princely seat of the Moldavian rulers? Name at least 3 of Bucovina's painted monasteries, included on UNESCO heritage list. Name some of Bucovina's main tourist attractions. Please also write what has prompted you to participate in this new competition run by Radio Romania International and mention what other sources you have used in addition to RRI programmes to answer the questions, such as atlases, books, or the Internet. The winners will be announced in February 2004. Good-luck! (RRI web site via Swopan Chakroborty, Kolkata, India, July 9, DXLD) ** RUSSIA. VOR is surveying listeners about DRM. Perhaps the questionnaire is available on website (via Swopan Chakroborty, DXLD) ** RUSSIA. Interesting site about broadcasting in Moscow: http://porokhov.guzei.com/ The pictures focus on FM/TV facilities, but some of them are AM, too: http://porokhov.guzei.com/oktod.html Oktyabrskoye Polye with numerous 5 kW shortwave transmitters, once used for jamming and early in the nineties operated as a single 60 kW on 4055 (Radio-1). Also various modest power mediumwave transmitters there. http://porokhov.guzei.com/balash.html Balashikha, numerous 20 kW shortwave transmitters, formerly jammers, later used to transmit programmes from other USSR/CIS stations for Moscow (groundwave coverage). The second picture shows behind the FM tower the line of shortwave antenna towers the Balashikha site is famous for. http://porokhov.guzei.com/kurk.html Kurkino. I understand that this site was once involved in shortwave broadcasting but withdrawn still in the USSR days, leaving only mediumwave there. But at least one curtain is still there and one of it's two towers carry now the antenna for the 91.2 outlet of the famous Ekho Moskvy The detailed FM list on this site reveals that Radio Rossii is transmitted from the Ostankino tower in stereo (so far it was understood that Radio Rossii is already produced in mono only) and that horizontal and vertical antenna polarization are more or less equally in use. (Note: In Russia usually transmitter output powers are given also for UKW [UKV in English transcription]; ERP would be a couple of times the figures given in the table.) (Kai Ludwig, Germany, July 5, DX LISTENING DIGEST) See also TANNU TUVA ** SERBIA AND MONTENEGRO. Summer A-03 schedule of International Radio of Serbia and Montenegro (ex Radio Yugoslavia) via BEO [sic; really Bijeljina, B&H] 250 kW: 1430-1458 D a i l y 11800 130 deg Arabic to ME 1500-1528 D a i l y 11800 040 deg Russian to RUS || but announced 11870! 1530-1543 D a i l y 6100 non-dir Hungarian to Eu 1545-1558 D a i l y 6100 130 deg Greek to SoEaEu 1600-1628 D a i l y 9620 310 deg French to WeEu 1630-1658 D a i l y 9620 310 deg German to WeEu 1700-1713 D a i l y 6100 180 deg Albanian to SoEaEu 1715-1728 D a i l y 6100 130 deg Bulgarian to SoEaEu 1730-1758 D a i l y 9620 310 deg Italian to WeEu 1800-1828 D a i l y 6100 040 deg Russian to RUS 1830-1858 D a i l y 6100 310 deg English to WeEu 1900-1928 D a i l y 7200 250 deg Spanish to SoEu 1930-1958 Sun - Fri 6100 310 deg Serbian to WeEu 1930-2028 Sat only 6100 310 deg Serbian to WeEu 2000-2028 Sun - Fri 6100 310 deg German to WeEu 2030-2058 D a i l y 6100 310 deg French to WeEu 2100-2128 D a i l y 6100 310 deg Englidh to WeEu 2130-2158 Sun - Fri 7230 100 deg Serbian to AUS 2130-2228 Sat only 7230 100 deg Serbian to AUS 2200-2228 Sun - Fri 7230 100 deg English to AUS 2230-2258 D a i l y 9580 055 deg Chinese to SoEaAs 2300-2328 D a i l y 9680 265 deg Spanish to SoAmWe 2330-2358 Mon - Sat 9580 310 deg Serbian to NoAmEa 2330-0028 Sun only 9580 310 deg Serbian to NoAmEa 0000-0028 Mon - Sat 9580 310 deg English to NoAmEa 0030-0058 D a i l y 9580 310 deg Serbian to NoAmEa 0430-0458 D a i l y 9580 325 deg English to NoAmWe (Ivo & Angel, Observer, Bulgaria, July 8 via DXLD) ** SOMALIA. RADIO GALKAYO/SOMALIA CALLING THE WORLD MEDIA by Sam Voron, VK2BVS in Galkayo, North East Somalia, Jun 18, 2003 Greetings from Somalia, Radio Galkayo is going fine. It is broadcasting at 800 Watts AM and all equipment is working. The 70 foot antenna tower is up and a 10 metre extension will be added to the top. Then I will make the new aerial. Listeners are reporting excellent quality. [WTFK???] SOMALIA CALLING THE WORLD MEDIA PRESS RELEASE. Please pass this to those working in the public media. Radio Galkayo has today broadcast this news in Somali and I have been asked to pass the English version through the Internet. There are few brave voices in the Islamic world for obvious reasons. Here is one who has gone public and asked that his message be spread worldwide. On June 17, 2003 in a broadcast to the Somali people over Radio Galkayo, Sheik Bulbul said: "As the head of the Islamic religious leaders in Galkayo, Puntland, North East Somalia I Sheik Bulbul hereby declare that the suicide bombers are not Muslim and will not go to paradise. Islam means peace and does not allow such suicide behavior that endangers human life and destroys property. Islam does not allow children, women and innocent people to be harmed. Suicide action is not allowed by Islamic Share 'a Law. All religions whether Islam, Christian or Jewish don't allow this suicide behavior so I urge all people to fight against terrorism. Profit Mohammed, peace and blessing be upon him, used to say Allah protect us from those who endanger the peace. Therefore anyone who is going to defend the peace is doing action allowed by Allah. The entire world should fight against terrorism. Terrorism is an enemy of peace and harms the name of Islam". Sheik Bulbul headed a debate over whether suicide bombing is allowed by Islam. The above was the result of that debate. Sheik Bulbul has been a daily religious presenter on Radio Galkayo, Somalia since it started broadcasting in 1993. He has requested a portable cassette recorder to help him improve his 10 years of volunteer work at the station. People like Sheik Bulbul are key community people who given a little help are able to greatly help their local people. Let the media know what Sheik Bulbul in Somalia has said. Contact me on Email svoron@h... [truncated] if you can help Sheik Bulbul. Two days ago Radio Galkayo had a visit from a Police officer who commended Radio Galkayo's interview of a Police commander about abuse seen and broadcast by radio station staff during their visit in the Police station. The commander denied the abuse reports but the radio broadcast fact which all the town now know. The Policeman came to thank the radio for bringing the matter to the knowledge of all the people. Another 10 year staff member of the Radio Galkayo Mohammad Isak Yasin has been investigating these reports that no one else is willing to handle and has asked for a camera to help him document and educate the people in the area of their human rights. Anyone who knows someone who can help Mohammed with a camera or to connect him to a worldwide human rights group can contact me on Email svoron@h... [truncated] (Sam Voron, Somalia, via M. Watts, Australia for CRW via DXLD) ** TAIWAN. RTI changes. What's your opinion? In order to improve program quality, the English Service is considering making the following changes to the program schedule, and we would like to know what you think: ---------------------------------------------------------------------- We would like to combine hours one and two into one complete hour of programs which would be broadcast to ALL of our listeners (rather than separating hours one and two by frequency and area). Rather than spending extra time on hour two programs, we would focus all our time and resources on one solid hour of programs each day, thereby improving the quality of the hour one programs. We would keep all of your favorite programs in this hour of programming, but would cut the number of ``Let`s Learn Chinese`` broadcasts. These changes are not set in stone, so we would like to know what you think before acting! email: prog@cbs.org.tw postal address: RTI English Service, PO BOX 24-38, Taipei, Taiwan ROC Thank you in advance for your assistance! (RTI web site via Swopan Chakroborty, Kolkata, India, July 9, DXLD) Since we easily get both hours here, e.g. at 0200 and 0300 via WYFR 5950 and 9680, this would result in a net loss in programming. And I don`t know that we can really expect what remains to be twice as good (gh, DXLD) ** TANNU TUVA. Radiostation "Mayak" in SW! Tyva. Kyzyl. From the 1st of July on 6100 kHz (~ 10 - 15 kW) - radiostation "Mayak". (Igor Jaremenko, Novosibirsk // open_dx via Rus-DX via Cumbredx mailing list via DXLD) ** U K. Some BBCWS previews for July, with Am stream times only: WHOSE JUSTICE --- Mons from July 7 at 1406, Tues 0006 -- new 3-part, 25-minute documentary examining various models of justice and reconciliation on the eve of the first case of the International Criminal Court. Jon Silverman visits Chile, ex-Jugoslavia and Sierra Leone. HERITAGE --- Weds from July 16 at 1406, Thurs 0006. Malcolm Billings visits Roman aqueducts and baths in search of ancient water technology. Also the site of prehistoric paintings in Lascaux, France and the architectural heritage of Nicosia, Cyprus (via Richard Cuff, Easy Listening, July NASWA Journal via DXLD) ** U K. Glenn, An interesting opinion on the BBC: http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,482-737333,00.html IMO, this piece is dead-on, especially the last 8 paragraphs. I've been listening to the BBC WS more since I added a XM satellite radio to my toy collection, and I'm stunned at the rather naked anti- semitism I often hear. The auto-reflexive, uncritical praise the BBC gets from so many in the international broadcasting community seems to reflect what the BBC once was instead of what it is now (Harry Helms W7HLH, Las Vegas, NV DM26, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Viz.: ** U K. GREG DYKE. FROM INSIDE THE BELTWAY. IN TROUBLE Tim Hames, TIMES ONLINE OPINION JULY 7 The BBC boss will be making a big mistake if he comes out fighting today Are Alastair Campbell and the American rap star Eminem related? The charges and counter-charges between the BBC and Downing Street must for most people boil down to the following: a confusing story about a man who you have vaguely heard of, radio, ``sex`` of a strange sort, weapons and verbal abuse. Much like rap music, really. In the United States, political institutions, media outlets and pressure groups are clustered in and around Washington DC, which is itself encompassed by an orbital motorway commonly called the ``Beltway``. A controversy that ignites immense excitement within that community but not outside it is known as ``inside the Beltway`` material. Here, the geography works differently. A line can be drawn, starting at the BBC in White City, through Westminster and Whitehall, to Wapping, finishing at Canary Wharf. Not a ``beltway``, more an outstretched belt across London. Nevertheless, the evidence suggests that the dispute over who said what to whom, and whether or not to put it on the airwaves, is a classic ``inside the belt`` argument. If so, this is significant. That view helps Downing Street and hurts the BBC. The polls indicate that, though most voters think ministers did overstate the case for war, they are, perhaps pragmatically, indifferent about this. It is not, after all, as if the allies intend, if they search for biological and chemical arsenals in Iraq for two years, fail to find any, and then conclude there were none, to say ``Oops, sorry`` and invite Saddam Hussein back to reoccupy one of his presidential palaces. In that sense, this saga is one for historians tomorrow, not hysteria today. The BBC`s future, however, rests squarely on its position ``inside the belt``. Which is why what happens this morning is more important for its executives than for Tony Blair or even Mr Campbell. If, as expected, the Commons Foreign Affairs Select Committee clears No 10 of ``sexing up`` the case for going to war, then the corporation has two realistic options. It could be defiant, offer no expression of regret and hint heavily that the MPs have been duped. Or, instead, it could defend its journalism but acknowledge that its source could have been mistaken. The decision largely rests with Greg Dyke, the Director- General. Mr Dyke`s instinct may be to concede nothing to Mr Campbell. By temperament, he is a man who would cross the streets of Monaco during the Grand Prix to join in a fight. The BBC`s governors may choose to encourage him. This would be a mistake. It would be better to eat a small slice of humble pie now than initiate a war of attrition. The BBC would be being perfectly consistent if it insisted that the seniority of the source meant it was right to publicise his claim, while conceding that any implication that intelligence was fabricated appears unfounded. For this affair has left the BBC dangerously exposed. It has served as a catalyst, allowing diverse complaints about its news coverage to resurface simultaneously. The Beeb has been accused of, among other matters, fanatical suspicion of the motives of those in power and unrelenting hostility towards the Conservative Party. It has been attacked for a wholesale scepticism about capitalism, combined with a weakness for quack environmentalism and health-scare speculation over hard science. Reporting the Middle East, it sometimes seems so remorselessly anti- Israeli that Mr Dyke might as well be open about it and allow his reporters to appear speaking Arabic, riding a camel, stopping occasionally to suck from a long pipe in a crowded souk. Put bluntly, the BBC, a public sector bureaucracy funded by a poll tax, with a privileged status that looks starkly anomalous in an age of hundreds of television channels and thousands of radio stations, needs more friends. It is already detested by other broadcasters, derided by the print press for squandering its vast resources and damned by publishing houses for its increasingly aggressive marketing activities in their domain. If the BBC wants to retain its privileged position when its charter is due for renewal in 2006, then it must construct a coalition of supporters broader than the Liberal Democrats, Friends of the Earth, Friends of Yassir Arafat, the sort of people who believe that taking an aspirin will inevitably result in limbs falling off and its own staff. It requires mainstream allies as well. This is not to say that the BBC should be biased in favour of any particular body or party — far from it. It does, though, need to avoid prompting the impression that it is itself actively prejudiced. Many of the protests aimed at the BBC are spurious and reflect the private agendas of those pressing the protest. There is, nonetheless, enough smoke to allow a credible suggestion of fire. The BBC`s unique position, and unusual vulnerability, means that it must be seen to be painfully objective, hyperactively judicious, better balanced than the average spirit level. That is what the BBC must keep in mind when it responds to the select committee. The old consensus that Auntie should be preserved and protected is fraying; the contention that ``something must be done`` about the corporation is acquiring serious credibility. Simon Jenkins wrote about the BBC on this page recently, teasingly comparing its excesses to Cardinal Wolsey`s but vigorously defending its ``right to be wrong``. This was once the stance of virtually all reasonable and respectable people (plus Simon); it is no longer. The ``right to be wrong`` is not the same as the liberty to be a law unto oneself. The better historical comparison, perhaps, now comes from a century after Wolsey. The BBC risks being viewed by too many people as the equivalent of the Duke of Buckingham, a pampered favourite so vain, wasteful and threatening to the interests of others that, alas, assassination may be necessary (Times via Harry Helms, DXLD) ** U K. MARK BYFORD, MANAGER OF BBCWS, IS NUMBER 39 IN THE MEDIAGUARDIAN 100 (top 100 British media professionals per the Guardian newspaper) http://media.guardian.co.uk/top100_2003/story/0,13483,988782,00.html Number 100 is "the ghost of Lord Reith." http://media.guardian.co.uk/top100_2003/story/0,13483,989575,00.html 73 (Kim Elliott, July 7, DX LISTENING DIGEST) To check out the other 98, including Americans such as Bill Gates, Steve Jobs, in various sorts: http://media.guardian.co.uk/top100 (gh, DXLD) ** U K. BBC TV News on the web has changed address. RP Location field: http://www.bbc.co.uk/newsa/n5ctrl/tvseq/news_ost.ram and the video headlines are updated at 12, 17 and 21 UT (Tom Sundstrom, NJ, Net Notes, July NASWA Journal via DXLD) ** U S A. RFE/RL language services websites Most of RFE/RL language services have own websites meanwhile, below a current list in language order. Albanian: Radio Europa e Lire http://www.europaelire.org Armenian: Radio Azatutyan http://www.armenianliberty.org Azeri: Azadliq Radiosu http://www.azadses.org Belarusian: Radyjo Svaboda http://www.svaboda.org Bulgarian: Radio Svobodna Evropa http://www.svobodnaevropa.org Estonian: Radio Vaba Euroopa http://www.vabaeuroopa.org Georgian: Radio Tavisupleba http://www.tavisupleba.org Kazakh: Azattyq Radiosy http://www.azattyq.org Kyrgyz: Azattyk Unalgysy http://www.azattyk.org Latvian: Radio Briva Eiropa http://www.brivaeiropa.org Macedonian: Radio Svobodna Evropa http://www.makdenes.org Farsi: Radio Farda http://www.radiofarda.com Romanian/Moldovan: Radio Europa Libera http://www.europalibera.org Slovak: Radio Slobodná Europa http://www.slobodka.org Tatar/Bashkir: Azatliq Radiosi http://www.azatliq.org Tajik: Radioi Ozodi http://www.ozodi.org Russian: Radio Svoboda http://www.svoboda.org Ukrainian: Radio Svoboda http://www.radiosvoboda.org Uzbek: Ozodlik Radiosi http://www.ozodlik.org ******* AFGHANISTAN (Dari/Pashto): R. Free Afghanistan http://www.azadiradio.org IRAQ (Arabic) Radio Free Iraq http://www.iraqhurr.org BOSNIA-HERCEGOVINA/CROATIA/SERBIA&MONTENEGRO incl. KOSOVO (South Slavic Service: Bosnian/Croatian/Serbian/Albanian) http://www.danas.org (Bernd Trutenau, Lithuania, Cumbre DX via DXLD) ** U S A. 17495, WBCQ, 24 June, 1440-1537, several IDs during this time. Voice of Burma interfered much until 1515 (322); during the next check at 1537 it has been already off (increased to 343). Best reception in USB. Are carrier/LSB suppressed in WBCQ signal??? (Alexei Kulinchenko, Kazan, Russia, Signal via DXLD) Yes ** U S A. FLORIDA, 2630 kHz, WYFR, 2330Z, Spanish program, very weak level thru lighter-than-usual QRN. Mixing product at transmitter site from 17845 minus 15215, both weak and // here. Been hearing this off and on for years but didn't know the origin; the lights finally came on, I guess (David E. Crawford, Titusville, FL, 28.51N 80.83W, 7 July, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. NEW X-BANDER IN BOSTON AREA? I was in Somerville, Massachusetts (just north of Boston) on July 5th and did my usual X-Band scan from my car. I found a new station on 1630 kHz. Station (with weak signal strength) played music with guy talking over it. It had bad splash/QRM from 1620 kHz (strong) station. Finally, around 6:51pm local (2251 UTC), in the middle of a song, I heard a male voice pre-recorded jingle-ID(?) say very loudly "New-New- Newstar". So I'll take a leap and say the station is called "Newstar" or "New Star". Heard jingle-ID(?) again at 7:00pm local (2300 UTC). Language of announcer was still French/Haitian-Creole. have fun, (Paul McDonough, July 6, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. FCC AGENTS VISIT SAN FRANCISCO LIBERATION RADIO by SFLR Saturday July 05, 2003 at 09:44 AM sflr 'at' mail.com 415-648-9222 Twin Peaks http://la.indymedia.org/news/2003/07/70254.php In what may portend a US Marshal-backed raid and seizure, San Francisco Liberation Radio received a courtesy call by FCC agents, who requested permission to inspect the premises and see a broadcast permit, on 7/2. Unlike its East Bay microradio cousins, San Francisco Liberation Radio (93.7 FM) has filed several FCC license applications, which may provide the legal clout to mount a vigorous 1st-amendment defense. More importantly, SFLR will be relying on the support of its community, including local politicos, as it wages a campaign to safeguard our right to community microradio. SFLR was given a letter warning against unauthorized broadcasting and threatened with jailtime and $17,000 in fines... PRESS CONFERENCE MONDAY EVENING AT 5PM! COME TO THE BOARD OF SUPERVISORS MEETING AND THEN THE STEPS OF CITY HALL (Polk St. Side) TO PRESSURE THE SUPES TO SUPPORT SAN FRANCISCO LIBERATION READIO 93.7FM! San Francisco Liberation Radio 93.7 FM has been broadcasting for ten years now. Basing our authority to broadcast on the right to freely speak and the rights of individuals to have access to a free and diverse media, we have defied the FCC and brought the people of San Francisco a resource that is truly available to those who wish to use it. The station moved across town one year ago last May Day and since then we have received no word from the FCC, until now. Last Wednesday at about 5pm federal agents came and delivered a "notice of illegal broadcasting". They were denied entry although they threatened up to a $17,000 fine and time in jail. We have ten days to show them either a permit or "authority" to broadcast. We have been trying to get the San Francisco Board of Supervisors to pass a resolution in support of SFLR and Bay View Hunter's Point Radio 103.3, but have made limited headway. We hope that this latest visit will be the impetus needed for them to pass a resolution in support of freedom in media. Especially now, with the new (de)regulations having just been passed in the Federal Communications Commission and the media becoming more and more homogenous, we need to show the FCC that this is an issue worth fighting for. A free and diverse media is not a thing of theoretical importance; it is an absolute necessity for a healthy democracy! Call your Supervisor! Tell them that this is an issue you care about and they should support a resolution backing San Francisco Liberation Radio 93.7FM and Bay View Hunter's Point Radio 103.3FM against an overbearing FCC with only the health and wealth of Corporate Media at heart! (From http://www.infoshop.org/inews/stories.php?story=03/07/06/4206095 via Mike Cooper, DXLD) ** U S A. SPIKE LEE, VIACOM SETTLE LAWSUIT By Samuel Maull, Associated Press, Tuesday, July 8, 2003; Page C07 http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A24038-2003Jul7.html NEW YORK, July 7 -- Filmmaker Shelton Jackson "Spike" Lee and Viacom have settled a lawsuit Lee filed to keep the media giant from changing the name of its TNN cable television network to Spike TV. Lee had obtained a temporary injunction against the name switch last month, but today state Supreme Court Justice Walter Tolub lifted the order. Details of the settlement were not disclosed. [Reuters reported that the parties were to meet with Tolub on Tuesday and that the specifics of the settlement might be made public then.] "We have settled the case with Viacom," Lee's attorney Terry Gross said. "It's obviously good when parties settle." Viacom officials didn't immediately return telephone calls seeking comment on the judge's order. The ruling means Viacom, which also owns CBS and MTV, can proceed immediately with plans to rebrand TNN as Spike TV, the "first television network for men." Lee, director of "Malcolm X" and "Do the Right Thing," claimed that the name change was a deliberate attempt to hijack his name, image and reputation. The judge initially ordered Lee to post a $500,000 bond on June 13 after he issued a temporary injunction against Viacom's plan to rename TNN. But after a hearing two weeks ago, the judge raised the bond to $2.5 million. During the hearing, TNN Vice President Kevin Kay said the network had lost millions of dollars since the injunction. The additional $2 million was never posted, and the judge vacated the injunction after both sides reached the agreement, Gross said. While the case was pending, Lee was in Los Angeles filming "Sucker- Free City" for Showtime, a cable network owned by Viacom. © 2003 The Washington Post Company (Via Kraig Krist, DXLD) Well, July 8 at 2028 UT check the bug still says TNN, alternating with FIRST/network/for men; why not get with it? (gh, DXLD) ** U S A. Michael Savage talks himself off of MSNBC -- and will try to explain himself on his radio show. The Saturday MSNBC gig lasted 3 months, and was protested by gay activist groups soon after it was announced. GLAAD has archived the MSNBC segment at Glaad.org. GLAAD Applauds MSNBC's Cancellation of Savage Nation http://www.glaad.org/media/release_detail.php?id=3448&PHPSESSID=3087de58e16d8f356d7c9eaf15f2922d More, with video links to Savage attacking gays: http://www.glaad.org/ (via Inside Radio via DXLD) ** U S A. In NEW YORK, we can now report that WKCR (89.9) is getting a happy ending to its long-running signal problems. The Columbia University station lost its antenna on 1 World Trade Center on September 11, and since then it's been making do with a weak signal from a Columbia dorm. Soon, though (as soon as its transmitter and combiner can be delivered, in fact), WKCR will move to 4 Times Square, becoming the only FM station operating full-time from that location. Speaking of 4 Times Square (as we so often do), here's the latest on the tower rebuild up there: John Lyons sent along that photo above showing the ironworkers (Local 40 ironworkers working for Delro, we should note!) getting ready to put the steel in place that will support the new tower. The rest of the steel for the tower is due in New York this week, with transmission line arriving next week and tower erection getting underway the week of July 21. We'll keep you posted! (Scott Fybush, NE Radio Watch July 7 via DXLD) ** U S A. FIRE AT THE ANTENNAS IN TUCSON http://www.tucsoncitizen.com/gallery/aspen_fire/fire3/bigelowjpg.html This is how close the fire is to the antennas on Mt. Bigelow in Tucson (Kevin Redding, Mesa, July 8, WTFDA via DXLD) ** U S A. While perusing the KOTA (Rapid City) web site after catching one of their four-station network IDs on the hour at 8 PM CDT...I ran across this item. This hasn't been a very good week for midwestern TV stations. Tom Bryant / Nashville, TN --------------------------------------------------------------- KHSD-TV OFF THE AIR DUE TO EQUIPMENT FAILURE [ch 11 Lead; DTV 10] 7/7/2003 12:57:13 PM KOTA Territory News KHSD-TV, with its transmitter located on Terry Peak, remains off the air after a critical equipment failure last week. Because the failure involves specialized broadcast transmitter equipment, parts are not available locally. Parts have been ordered and may have to be manufactured. There is no way to know for sure when repairs will be completed. The cause of the failure is not known at this time. Viewers watching Midcontinent Cable or Black Hills Fibercom are not affected because the KHSD programming is distributed via fiber optic cable to the cable companies. The equipment that failed is a solid-state exciter, which generates a low-power signal. That signal is then fed into the high-power unit of the transmitter to broadcast to KHSD viewers in the northern Black Hills, the plains of northwest South Dakota, parts of northeast Wyoming, and southeastern Montana (via Tom Bryant, TN, July 7, WTFDA via DXLD) ** U S A. KETV OFFICIALS NOT SURE WHY TOWER COLLAPSED BY TOM SHAW, WORLD-HERALD STAFF WRITER KETV engineers began Saturday investigating why the station's 1,360- foot tower in north-central Omaha came crashing down late Friday night. Station engineers were inspecting the twisted metal and snapped guy wires of the massive transmitter tower, said Warren Behrens, chief engineer for KETV, Channel 7. No one was at the transmitter near 72nd Street and Crown Point Avenue when the tower fell, and there were no injuries. Behrens said a 129-foot antenna at the top of the tower was removed about a week ago. While the antenna was off, three temporary guy wires were attached to the top part of the tower, he said. It's too early to tell whether that had anything to do with the tower's demise, Behrens said. "They'll be looking at everything," he said of the engineers. Crews had been planning to put up a new antenna this weekend, allowing the station to broadcast a signal for high- definition television along with its standard signal. Joel Vilmenay, president and general manager for KETV, said a firm that specializes in towers will help the station in its review. "At this point we're waiting for our consultant to come in and help us ascertain the damage," Vilmenay said. Behrens said investigators with the federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration probably would visit as well. The University of Nebraska at Omaha radio station KVNO used the tower for transmitting and was searching Saturday for a way to resume broadcasting, Vilmenay said. Also Saturday, crews were assessing the damage to a single-story concrete transmitter building at the base of the tower. Part of the tower fell onto the building's roof, buckling a section of the ceiling. A large forklift in front of the building also was partially crushed. The tower is one of four on the southwest corner of 72nd and Crown Point. The transmitting tower used by WOWT, Channel 6, will be inspected. Behrens said that it appeared Saturday that one of the guy wires holding up the WOWT tower was frayed when the other tower fell. Behrens said it will take at least nine months to a year for KETV to get another tower. Right now, the station is transmitting from a much shorter tower at 26th and Douglas Streets. This is the fourth tower accident in Nebraska in the past 14 months. In June, a worker fell to his death from a television tower southeast of Goehner, Neb. In April 2002, a man working on a tower near Bassett, Neb., was killed by falling debris. In September 2002, two workers died when a television tower north of Alliance collapsed. KETV's tower collapsed just after 11 p.m. Friday. The wind was about 9 mph, Behrens said, but the structure, built in 1966, was rated to withstand much stronger winds (via Blaine Thompson via Fred Vobbe, NRC FMTV via DXLD) ** U S A. WIFR tower down --- The 731 foot tower of CBS affiliate WIFR channel 23 in my home town Rockford IL came down in 80 MPH winds this weekend. Here's the story from the WIFR web site. WIFR-TV23 OFF THE AIR --- Rockford, Andy Gannon A devasting storm leveled the transmission tower at WIFR-TV23, knocking the CBS affiliate off the air. WIFR Chief Meteorologist Mark Strehl says straight line winds with speeds around 80 miles an hour blew through around 4:30 Saturday morning. The winds leveled the 731 foot tower located at WIFR-TV23. WIFR-TV Chief Engineer Mark Olson is working with Insight Communications in Rockford attempting to establish a signal with Rockford Insight cable subscribers within the next 48 hours. Olson says it will be at least a week before a signal can be reestablished to other cable providers or over the air viewers. 23WIFR asks for your patience as we work diligently to get our local news and CBS programming back on the air as soon as possible. We also ask that people not come out to look at the downed tower. There are power lines, cables and tree limbs that make the current situation dangerous. (via Patrick Griffith, N0NNK, Westminster, CO, NRC FM-TV via DXLD) ** U S A. RADIO STATION DID RIGHT THING IN EMERGENCY COLUMN: Chuck Sweeny http://cf.rrstar.com/sendalink2/story.cfm?storyid=2697 My wife and I enjoyed the fireworks immensely. It`s the one event of the year that brings the city together. But in a few hours, another event brought us together, too. And the grand finale was just as spectacular as Joe Marino`s. But not as much fun. ``A big storm`s coming later,`` my wife said as we walked to our car from watching the fireworks. ``It`s a starry night. Look at the moon,`` I said. ``I`m telling you, a big storm`s coming,`` she said. I hate it when she`s right. At about 4 a.m., as a huge thunderboomer began to mow through our subdivision, the kids woke up. The power went out. We looked out the dining room window and watched as the willow tree bent in the wind. The windows were closed, but still we could hear a mighty, sustained roar, different from what I`d heard in previous storms. They had featured only gusts of wind. AS WILLOW LIMBS came crashing down, I thought ``Tornado!`` Instead it was horizontal rain and a fierce wind coming straight out of the west. More like a mini-hurricane. In half an hour, the storm came to a halt. We went back to bed. When we got up at 7 a.m., the power still was off. I got in the car to determine the extent of the damage. I drove east and turned on the car radio in search of local news. Stations were playing music or syndicated talk shows. WZOK (97.5 FM) had sketchy storm reports between the rock `n` roll. Thin gruel. Then I punched 1330 AM and found WNTA. Program Director Chuck Diamond and talk show host Chris Bowman were on the air, fielding calls from residents and community leaders alike. They were there because the host of the early morning gospel music show phoned to say that callers wanted to talk about the storm. Diamond and Bowman, who had both slept through the storm, raced to the studio and manned the microphones. Rockford Mayor Doug Scott called to report on what city crews were doing. He urged people not to go out sightseeing. Paul Callighan from the electric company warned that 60,000 customers were without power, and it would take awhile, maybe days, before the juice would be back on. THE FIRE CHIEFS of Rockford and Loves Park urged people to stay away from power lines. The Winnebago County emergency services director phoned. Pete MacKay, the Rockford Township highway commissioner, called to tell folks where to report downed trees and lines. Callers reported blocked streets and which gas stations, restaurants and stores were open. Andy Gannon of WIFR-23 (Insight 5) said the station`s antenna was down. ``Lefty`` Jury reported more than 250 trees down at Ingersoll Golf Course. In the afternoon, talk show hosts Venita Hervey, the Rev. Steve Bland and News Director Ken DeCoster kept up the coverage. We were told a few years ago that deregulation of radio and TV would give us more choices. Yeah. More choices of canned tuna. Thankfully, one local station still knows instinctively what radio is supposed to do in an emergency: trash the schedule, turn on the mikes and inform the public (Rockford Register Star July 6 via Bill Westenhaver, DXLD) ** U S A. HAM RADIO INCREASES ROLE IN NATIONAL SECURITY By Will Oremus, LAS VEGAS SUN John Bigley, president of the Nellis Amateur Radio Club, recalls a time long before cell phones or the Internet, when ham radio was all the rage for technically inclined kids like him. "We were the original chat room," he said. But amateur radio, which allows licensed citizens to communicate locally and globally via personal radio stations, has become more than just a frivolous hobby. . . http://www.lasvegassun.com/sunbin/stories/archives/2003/jun/30/515282279.html?Taste+for+ham+radio (via Harry van Vugt, Windsor, Ontario, Canada, DXLD) ** U S A. JJ Sutherland, creator of NPR's upcoming midday newsmag Day to Day, discusses the show's development at Transom.org: http://talk.transom.org/WebX?14@47.ecGgaFc8fU2.0@.eeaf812/0 (via Current July 7 via DXLD) J J seems to be proud to be a smoker ** U S A. KUSC-FM in Los Angeles has outsourced its underwriting sales to media behemoth Clear Channel, reports the Los Angeles Times. KUSC SEES NO EVIL IN ALLIANCE By Steve Carney, Special to The Times, July 7 2003 In a move skeptics might call a deal with the devil, but those involved see as a match made in heaven, public radio station KUSC today is announcing a partnership with the nation's largest radio company, Clear Channel Communications. KUSC-FM (91.5) relies on underwriting --- those on-air blurbs saying, "this program is being brought to you by" so-and-so — for 18% of its income, with the rest coming from member donations and grants (the station gets about $400,000 of its $5-million annual budget from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting). But station general manager Brenda Barnes said her marketing staff is too small and has too much turnover to drum up those sponsorships effectively. So she has outsourced the job to Clear Channel, which owns eight commercial stations in the Los Angeles area and about 1,200 nationwide. "It's not a huge effort for them, but it makes a big difference for KUSC," she said. "The bottom line is: Nothing changes for the listener." She said the volume of announcements will remain capped at a minute and a half per hour. Currently, only about half of those are underwriting messages, while the rest are various placeholders. Clear Channel will get commissions for every sponsor it signs, with the percentage increasing if it's a new client. . . http://www.calendarlive.com/templates/misc/printstory.jsp?slug=cl-et-carney7jul07§ion=%2Ftv (via Current July 7 via DXLD) ** U S A. There have been lots of sporadic-E openings lately into the FM band, and on July 7-UT 8 I decided to pay some attention to what was skipping in, UT, using only DX-398 and whip: 2330 97.5 ``97-Country, WPCV`` ID. That`s Winter Haven FL, not ``The Possum`` as in latest FM Atlas; same slogan heard again a few minutes later. 2337 92.1 ``WRLX`` ID quickly; that`s West Palm Beach FL 2352 92.9 ``Q-92.9``, Tums and other local ads. That would be (the REAL) WMFQ in Ocala FL 2353 92.9 Seven Stars Super-Buffet ad --- no hits on Google; could also be WMFQ, anyway; King`s Super Buffet in Palm Beach has 7 buffet tables, however [hoping for Cuba to poke thru, q.v.] 0024 96.5 various Latino ads, in Hialeah: (WPOW Miami) 0035 99.1 ``Continuous Country WQIK``, also RDS: WQIK (Jacksonville) [none of the other stations logged showed any RDS activity] 0059 90.7 classical, WMFE weather (Orlando) NBC-6 Miami was in and out most of the time too; WEDU-3 with PBS (Glenn Hauser, Enid, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. LAKE WORTH RADIO STATION MAKES HISPANICS 'FEEL A LITTLE CLOSER TO HOME' --- By Sandra Hernández, Staff Writer, July 7, 2003 When Robbie Castellanos and his partner first approached legendary producer Sam Phillips about taking over the small Lake Worth radio station known for keeping Elvis' memory alive, most of their friends thought they were crazy. But nearly a decade later, no one is laughing at Castellanos' business acumen, and Elvis has left the station. Now Castellanos and his partner are considered pioneers for switching the station's call letters from WLVS to WWRF, dropping the Elvis songs and changing the format to Mexican regional music. Known as Radio Fiesta, the station is part of a group of AM stations targeting South Florida's growing Mexican and Central American immigrant community. "We did a study and found the Mexican community was the most underserved group, so that's what we decided to do," says Castellanos, 54, who admits to not speaking Spanish. The station reflects the demographic changes that have swept Florida and other parts of the country. Mexicans are now the largest Hispanic group in Palm Beach County, according to the 2000 Census. And they rank among the top five Hispanic populations in Broward and Miami-Dade counties. But until recently, they were largely ignored by South Florida's Spanish language stations, which opted for tropical or pop music formats aimed at attracting South American immigrants and U.S.-born Hispanics. Radio Fiesta and its sister stations, WAFC 590 and WAFZ 1490, are well known in areas such as Lake Worth, Immokalee and Homestead, where Mexican and Central American immigrants who work the fields and construction sites tune in for the sounds of the life they left behind. "I listen because when I hear the songs it makes me feel a little closer to home," says Santos Carbaya, a construction worker who moved from El Salvador to Lake Worth six years ago. "It's the only station that plays the music I like, so I pretty much only listen to them." The station is the only one of its kind to break into Arbitron's 2003 ratings book, a measure of listenership among local radio stations. The ratings show the station even managed to outperform some of the Miami-based FM Spanish language stations that have signals reaching to West Palm Beach. But that comes as no surprise to Castellanos and James Johnson, his business partner, who stepped into the Spanish-language radio market shortly after they bought their first English-language FM station in 1980. By 1983 the pair had formed Glades Media Co. and applied for a second license to operate an AM station. But the two were looking for a new market that would attract more listeners and new advertisers. "We were just desperate. We needed a second revenue stream, and there was no point doing another English-language station," Castellanos said. Hoping Mexican regional music was the answer, the two began hiring a small team of disc jockeys and programmers who put together a play list and offered the right dialect. Soon the pair was buying other stations, including one in Immokalee. In 1994 they persuaded Phillips, owner of the renowned Sun Records in Memphis, to sell them 1380 AM in Lake Worth. The gamble paid off. The stations are now moneymakers. In the first six months of this year, WWRF's revenues grew by 17.6 percent, according to Castellanos. He declined to say how much Glades earned last year -- "Let's just say we are doing fine." While local businesses are still their strongest customers, the stations have also caught Corporate America's attention. McDonald's, Nationwide Insurance and Pollo Tropical are among the national advertisers who are turning to WWRF in the hopes of reaching the much sought-after Hispanic consumer. Their signal is so strong in the Mexican and Central American community that activists and local leaders consider them a link to even the most marginalized groups such as undocumented farm workers, whose itinerant lives make them nearly invisible. "When we need to get the word out to the community we turn to them because people listen to them," says Greg Schell, an attorney with the Migrant Farmworkers Justice Project in Lake Worth. The group has turned to them "when we've had class-action suits and we want to let the workers know about it, or even if we need to find someone we know we can get the word out through them." Copyright (c) 2003, South Florida Sun-Sentinel (via Mike Cooper, DXLD) ** U S A. ROBERT M. BATSCHA, WHO ARCHIVED TELEVISION AND RADIO, DIES AT 58 --- July 7, 2003 By MICHAEL COOPER Robert M. Batscha, who worked to preserve, archive, study and permanently exhibit two of the more ephemeral modes of mass communication as the longtime president of the Museum of Television and Radio, died Friday in Manhattan. He was 58. The cause was cancer, said Diane Reed, the director of public relations for the museum. In his more than two decades as president of the museum, Dr. Batscha vastly expanded its collection, moved it to Midtown Manhattan, opened a branch in Beverly Hills and brought together industry leaders, stars and academics at seminars. Museum visitors can listen to Franklin D. Roosevelt's fireside chats or Orson Welles's "War of the Worlds." They can watch tapes of the lunar landing, the Nixon-Kennedy debates, "Beverly Hills, 90210" or "The Sopranos." And they can rerun famous commercials. Dr. Batscha long argued that television was worthy of study and that old programs, those that recorded history and those that highlighted the frivolous aspects of popular culture, were museum pieces. "Criticizing TV is second only to watching TV as an American pastime," he said in 1992. "Now, we want to give TV its day in the sun. It's a medium that has got to be recognized." The museum was founded in 1975 by William S. Paley, the television pioneer and former chairman of CBS. It was originally the Museum of Broadcasting; the name was changed to the Museum of Television and Radio in 1991 so it could include programs transmitted by other means, including cable and satellite. Dr. Batscha, a political scientist by training, became the museum's president in 1981. Born in Rochester, N.Y., and raised in New York City, he graduated magna cum laude from Queens College and received a Ph.D. in political science from Columbia University. Before going to work at the museum, he was a senior consultant at the Organization of Economic Cooperation and Development in Paris. When he arrived at the museum, it occupied two floors in a converted office building and its catalog included about 5,000 titles. It now has 120,000 titles. Dr. Batscha became a prodigious fund-raiser, and he oversaw the museum's expansion on two coasts. In 1991, the museum moved into a tower at 25 West 52nd Street. In 1996, it copied its entire collection and opened a branch in Beverly Hills. The museum is financed by the radio and television industries, corporations, foundations, individuals and government agencies. The chairman of the museum's board of trustees, Frank A. Bennack Jr., said Dr. Batscha had expanded not only the museum's collection and display space, but also its mission. "When you put it together, he was the architect of something that very faithfully carried out the mission envisioned by Mr. Paley, but clearly expanded on it," he said. Dr. Batscha is survived by a son, Eric, 21, of Manhattan, and by a former wife, Francine Sommer, also of Manhattan. Copyright 2003 The New York Times Company (via Mike Cooper, DXLD) ** UZBEKISTAN. UZPAK is an Uzbek ISP, not the domain of Uzbek Radio. So if you write "info@u..." [truncated] you reach the UZPAK ISP, not Radio Tashkent. ino@u... [truncated] is the correct address for Radio Tashkent International, "ino" stands for "inoveshchaniye" (Russian for "foreign service"). (Bernd Trutenau, Lithuania, BC-DX June 28, via DXLD) ** WESTERN SAHARA [non]. ALGERIA(?) The POLISARIO Front outlet, presumably from Tindouf, Algeria, does seem silent via its very strong 1550 kHz at 2200 today July 4 though active on \\ 7460 kHz, which typically puts a weaker signal over here. The Moroccan jammer (noise background with bubble-type sounding signal) is nevertheless audible and periodically slightly shifting QRG around 1550 kHz. It may be effective down there, but I can usually attenuate it via detuning or via the K9AY aerial; the bubble signal is switched off for a few seconds at times as if to monitor POLISARIO's signal. Audio quality: typically weaker on 7460 while usually very good on MW. Langs. used: Arabic, Castillian and I'd bet Berbere too (Carlos Gonçalves, Portugal, BC-DX July 5 via DXLD) National Radio of the Saharan Arab Democratic Republic heard yesterday evening 6 July on 7459.7 kHz, thanks to a tip from Noel Green. A carrier was detectable from tune-in around 2000 UT. It peaked to a reasonable signal by 2150 with typical Saharan music, followed by Arabic talk just before the hour with several mentions of Saharawiya. News in Arabic from 2201. There was a faint carrier on the MW channel 1550 kHz at the same time, but it was too weak to hear any audio so not possible to confirm if MW was in parallel with 7460. Noel also reports hearing 7460 kHz in the morning from s/on at 0600, but very weak at this time (Dave Kenny, Caversham, AOR 7030+, 25m long wire, July 7, BDXC-UK via DXLD) Clandestine Radio Station RASD is still from the Saharan refugee camps at Rabuni location near Tindouf, Algeria, Radio Nacional de la República Árabe Saharaui Democrática. Al-Wataniyah as-Sarahwi ad-Dimuqratyah. Arabic: ``al-idha'at al- wataniyah li al-jumhuriyah al-arabiyah al-sahrawiyah al- dimuqratiyah`` (Wolfgang Bueschel, BC-DX July 8 via DXLD)) Aquí, en el Rio de la Plata, se escuchaba con muy buena recepción sobre las 2200 UT y de allí en adelante. Estuvo fuera del aire prácticamente por dos años ¿¿¿no??? (Arnaldo Slaen, Argentina, Conexión Digital via DXLD) Sí, aproximadamente ese tiempo, y recuerdo que se la escuchaba hasta alrededor de las 2330 aprox. Se distingue por su típica música del pueblo saharaui que difunden en la emisora, que es un poco diferente a la música árabe que todos nosotros conocemos. Veremos de intentar su escucha. 73's GIB (Gabriel Iván Barrera, ibid.) ** ZANZIBAR. Hi Glenn, Had a chance today to monitor Radio Tanzania Zanzibar on 11734.1 at 1800. There was indeed English news at that time. It was preceded by the interval signal which I reported before as drumbeats, but as I checked the WRTH it may indeed be a xylophone or a pikisphone (sp). At any rate, the man announcer started off by stating that it was 9 o'clock East African Time, followed by news headlines, then news in full. The news bulletin ended at 1810 with the news headlines again, then back into presumed Swahili. Thanks to Chris Greenway for alerting us to this English transmission. July 6, 2003 (Steve Lare, Holland, MI, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ PUBLICATIONS ++++++++++++ RADIO HERITAGE COLLECTION A heap of new articles added to radiodx.com's Radio Heritage Collection http://radiodx.com/spdxr/Articles.htm And a new section bringing all the Off-Shore Radio articles together at http://radiodx.com/spdxr/rhc_off_shore_radio_index.htm Enjoy! Cheers, (Paul Ormandy, ZL4TFX, EchoLink Node 87378, Host of The South Pacific DX Report http://radiodx.com DX LISTENING DIGEST) Looks like most of the new articles are AWR Wavescan scripts, some of which have appeared here (gh) CONVENTIONS & CONFERENCES +++++++++++++++++++++++++ IARU WRC-03 Final Report from Geneva is available at: http://www.iaru.org/rel030703.html (Jose Jacob-IND, VU2JOS, BC-DX July 8 via DXLD) WRC-03 EASES RESTRICTIONS ON INTERNATIONAL CONTACTS While the decisions regarding 40 meters and Morse code as an international licensing requirement (see previous messages) were the major actions affecting amateur radio at the 2003 World Radiocommunication Conference (WRC-03) which ended last Friday in Geneva, Switzerland, there were also several minor changes that will impact our hobby/service in the future. According to the International Amateur Radio Union (IARU), some of these included a modernization and clarification of what modes of communication are permissible, what types of content are permissible, a loosening of restrictions on international third-party communications, and encouragement for international cooperation in emergency communications. The only negative for amateur radio, it appears, is the approval of satellite-based synthetic aperture radar (SAR) as a secondary allocation on 432-438 MHz. Old rules requiring that all international amateur communication be in "plain language" and which had raised questions in some countries about the legality of using certain digital modes for DX contacts, was replaced by a statement that, except for satellite control stations, international contacts "may not be encoded for the purpose of obscuring their meaning." In addition, the same rule had limited the content of international contacts to "messages of a technical nature relating to tests and to remarks of a personal character for which, by reason of their unimportance, recourse to the public telecommunications service is not justified." This has been replaced by the less restrictive "(t)ransmissions between amateur stations of different countries shall be limited to communications incidental to the purposes of the amateur service ... and to remarks of a personal character." The previous absolute ban on international third-party communication in the absence of a specific agreement between the countries involved was replaced by blanket authorization for international third-party traffic in cases of emergency or disaster relief. Routine communications remain banned; however, it is now up to each country to "determine the applicability of this provision to amateur stations under its jurisdiction." So any country may now decide that the rule will not apply to its amateurs, freeing them to conduct third-party contacts with stations in any other country that has made the same decision. This eliminates the need for individual, country-by-country, agreements. In addition, there is now a new provision in the international rules stating that "Administrations are encouraged to take the necessary steps to allow amateur stations to prepare for and meet communication needs in support of disaster relief." There were several other changes, all of which are described fully in an explanation of the new rules, titled "New Regulations for the Amateur Services," by Michael Owen, VK3KI, which is available on the IARU website at http://www.iaru.org/rel030703att3.html (From the CQ Newsroom via Bob Chandler, ODXA via DXLD) DRM +++ DIGITAL RADIO MONDIAL: Updated schedule for DRM tests as of July 6, 2003: 0300-0400 11955 SAC 070 kW / 285 deg BBC WS 0430-0530# 15400 BON 010 kW / 230 deg RNW English 0600-0800 15110 KBD 050 kW / 100 deg Radio Kuwait English 0700-1000 11865 SAC 070 kW / 060 deg RCI English till July 25 0800-1100 15110 KBD 050 kW / 100 deg Radio Kuwait Arabic 0800-1600@ 6095 JUN 035 kW / non-dir RTL Music 0900-1300 15440 SIN 080 kW / 040 deg DW English 1000-1100 6140 JUL 040 kW / 120 deg DW English 1000-1100* 9760 RMP 030 kW / 105 deg Christian Voice English 1000-1400 9615 FLE 040 kW / 187 deg RNW Dutch from July 28 1000-1500 7320 RMP 030 kW / 105 deg BBC WS 1100-1200 6140 JUL 040 kW / 120 deg DW German 1100-1300 9410 RMP 030 kW / 115 deg BBC WS 1200-1300 6140 JUL 040 kW / 120 deg DW English 1200-1400 9655 WER 500 kW / 270 deg DW English from August 1 1200-1400 15430 MOR 010 kW / 037 deg VOA Arabic 1300-1600 9615 FLE 040 kW / 187 deg RNW Dutch till July 27 1300-1700 15780 MSK 080 kW / 270 deg VOR WS En 1305-1455 5975 JUL 040 kW / 290 deg DTK T-Systems 1400-1600 6180 WER 500 kW / non-dir DW German from August 1 1400-1600 13605 MOR 010 kW / 037 deg VOA Arabic 1600-1700 6140 JUL 040 kW / non-dir DW English 1600-1800 7125 WER 500 kW / 040 deg DW English from August 1 1600-1800 11790 MOR 010 kW / 037 deg VOA Arabic 1700-1800 6140 JUL 040 kW / non-dir DW German 1800-1900 6140 JUL 040 kW / non-dir DW English 1800-1900 15215 RMP 030 kW / 062 deg BBC Russian 1800-2000 9855 MOR 010 kW / 037 deg VOA Arabic 2000-2030 9795 SAC 070 kW / 268 deg Vatican Radio English 2030-2100 9795 SAC 070 kW / 268 deg RNW English 2100-2200 9795 SAC 070 kW / 268 deg RCI English/French 2200-2230 9795 SAC 070 kW / 268 deg DW German 2230-2300 9795 SAC 070 kW / 268 deg Radio Sweden English 2300-2400 9795 SAC 070 kW / 268 deg BBC WS 2330-0030 15525 BON 010 kW / 350 deg RNW English # Sat/Sun @ Mon-Fri * Monday (Ivo & Angel, Observer, Bulgaria, July 8 via DXLD) see also RUSSIA PROPAGATION +++++++++++ SKIP GOES LONG Just a "reminder" in the midst of a bumper crop Es summer that right around now the Es distances begin to "go long" for the balance of July and into August. The logical explanation is the Es reflective/ refraction layer becomes more elevated, thus producing longer skip distances. If you study the distances now being reported, there is an increase in those 1300-1500 miles which indicates what I am saying (Cuba [q.v.] into New England for example). This "trend" goes way back into the 50s, and what you will notice is that as distances become longer there are TYPICALLY fewer stations coming through in a given opening but the average distances are greater. As the season winds into later July and early August, "long Es single" typically has a depressed MUF (such as channel 2 or 2/3 only) and the distances back in the 50s often reached 1700 miles with no suggestion it was EE (double hop Es). With so much CCI now it would be difficult to ascertain this. I believe the important thing here is that as the MUF average drops, and the skip goes longer, this presents a window of opportunity for the 1450-1700 milers to sneak through often with very little CCI but at the same time seldom at more than modest strength (i.e. not for folks with rabbit ears). The more northern east-west paths (siuch as across southern Canada from Ontario to Alberta for example) will see this first and it will gradually drop south through the end of July and into early August (Bob Cooper in New Zealand, July 7, WTFDA via DXLD) ###