DX LISTENING DIGEST 3-148, August 16, 2003
        edited by Glenn Hauser, ghauser@hotmail.com

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CONTINENT OF MEDIA 03-05 Nominal schedule on RFPI, 7445: Thu 2000, Fri 
0200, 0830, 1430, Sat 2130, Sun 0330, 0930, 1530

NEXT AIRINGS OF WORLD OF RADIO 1195:
RFPI: Sat 0800, 1400, 1730, 2330, Sun 0530, 1130, 1830, Mon 0030, 
      0630, 1230, Tue 1900, Wed 0100, 0730, 1330 on 7445
      [nominal times subject to delay or pre-emption]
WRN:  Rest of world Sat 0800, Europe only Sun 0430, N America Sun 1400
WWCR: Sat 1030, Sun 0230 5070, 0630 3210, Wed 0930 9475
WRMI: Sat & Sun 1800+ on 15725
WINB: Sun 0031 on 12160
WJIE: Sun 1630 on 7490, 13595 (maybe)
WBCQ: Mon 0415 on 7415

WRN ONDEMAND:
http://new.wrn.org/listeners/stations/station.php?StationID=24 
OUR ONDEMAND AUDIO [also for CONTINENT OF MEDIA, MUNDO RADIAL]:
Check http://www.worldofradio.com/audiomid.html
[Low]  (Download) http://www.k4cc.net/wor1195.rm
       (Stream)   http://www.k4cc.net/wor1195.ram
[High] (Download) http://www.k4cc.net/wor1195h.rm
       (Stream)   http://www.k4cc.net/wor1195h.ram
       (Summary)  http://www.worldofradio.com/wor1195.html

** ALGERIA. Het lijk er op dat RTA Algiers definitief gestopt is met 
KG-uitzendingen. Op hun website is geen enkele KG-frequentie meer te 
vinden en ik kan ze ook nergens horen. Ik heb een mail aan hun 
technische dienst gezonden met een vraag om wat meet uitleg. 73 (Guido 
Schotmans, Antwerp, Belgium, Aug 12, BDXC via DXLD)

** AUSTRALIA. RA Previews: FEEDBACK* - listener letters, features and 
news about RA. This weekend we have some good advice for those who may 
be interested in setting up their own radio station. Don't whatever 
you do mention the word short-wave. If, like the Aboriginal Resource & 
Development Services in Australia's Arnhem Land, you decide to set-up 
a short-wave service to offer education, information and cultural 
reinforcement for the people of the region be prepared for a long hard 
slog. But, as we'll hear, the three years of hard work has paid off 
and the Community Development Radio Service is now broadcasting on 
short-wave, 24 hours a day, seven days a week. And they said that 
short-wave was dead! [T;%] (via John Figliozzi, swprograms via DXLD)

I caught the tail end of the UT Fri 2105 broadcast, beautiful signal 
on 21740; but it always conflicts with the first and best chance to 
hear DXing with Cumbre, which spends a good many minutes wrapping up 
the show with no news; and I also had to be sure Mundo Radial, with 
which it also conflicts, was correctly airing on WWCR 15825 at 2115 
(well, 2114). Other airings of Feedback are 0605 UT Sat and 0305 UT 
Sun.

At the Feedback site, http://www.abc.net.au/ra/feedback/default.htm 
the `latest program` was still ``Aug 10`` when I checked at 0105 UT 
Aug 16, but it did have audio available; is the latest show, somewhat 
delayed, always available now for only a week? If that doesn`t work 
out, as was pointed out here a while ago, the WRN archive on Sundays 
includes Feedback for a week (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

** BRAZIL. For those put off by all the Portuguese in previous issues 
(and you should not be --- it`s a lot like English, especially when 
slurred), altho I mentioned the gist briefly in English on WORLD OF 
RADIO, the two important stories were that R. Nacional do Brasil has 
resumed an external service, but only to Africa in Portuguese, on 
existing Amazonian service frequencies; and on 3235, R. Clube de 
Marília which recently reactivated, has been taken over by R. Guarujá 
(Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

** BRAZIL [and non]. Over-reaction to Bandeirantes being reported 
slightly off-frequency continued:

Prezado Sarmento, e demais amigos. Não se deseja polemizar. O dexista 
que enviou a noticia com certeza é gente boa, e que defende bem o nome 
do dexismo na Rep. Checa. O nosso amigo Glenn Hauser cumpre uma tarefa 
de reproduzir noticias que chegam até ele de todas as partes do mundo, 
tanto é que já publicou muitas mensagens oriundas daqui do Brasil, 
sobre o que acontece por aqui. O que se coloca em questão é a 
relevancia de discutir ou não mundialmente pouco mais de meio 
quiloHertz numa emissão quando deveriamos (mundialmente) nos aperceber 
de novas escutas, novas emissoras, a mudança da tendencia mundial nas 
ondas curtas (o impacto das 'grandes' abrindo espaço no dial ao sairem 
de algumas frequencias, proporcionando a recepção de muitas 
'menores'), enfim, desejamos muito, mas muito mesmo que a Radio 
Bandeirantes, por ser uma das mais serias emissoras de rádio do mundo 
(juntando-se a outras de tantos países que seguem uma linha de ação 
que lhe dão a devida credibilidade), que se diga que ela foi bem 
recebida na Espanha, na Indonésia, no Egito, na Rep. Checa, na Nova 
Zelandia, enfim, em todos os quadrantes do mundo. 

Levantar mundialmente diferenças de menos de 1 kHz no padrão 
irradiante de uma emissora qualquer do mundo (ondas curtas, em 
especial), é algo que não leva a nada. Sarmento, voce não tem problema 
algum nisto. Voce apenas sem querer levantou um fato que já é notório 
em alguns lugares do mundo, onde se discute a cor da camisa de quem 
discursou e não o discurso propriamente dito. Um abraço a todos, e de 
minha parte dou por encerrada essa discussão que no fim pode acabando 
em nada (Rudolf Grimm, São Bernardo, SP/B, radioescutas via DXLD) 

Prezados da lista, Circulou por aqui uma interessante discução sobre o 
pequeno desvio de frequência da Rádiio Bandeirantes e não vou entrar 
nessa área técnica embora conheça um pouquinho tem experts por aqui. O 
que chamou atenção foi encontro do Sarmento com alguém da área técnica 
da emissora onde o mesmo define que as ONDAS CURTAS, são mantidas pela 
empresa como ''extratégica da empresa''fazendo supor que realmente são 
deficitárias. Devemos levar em conta que as emissoras que operam 
nessas faixas trabalham com transmissores valvulados de manutenção 
bastante cara, assim como os de ondas médias, apesar de já existir os 
estado sólido há bem tempo. Muitas emissoras sumiram, aliás qualquer 
dia quero consultar os mais veteranos dessa lista se sabem alguma 
coisa sobres elas. Devo louvar as emissoras RÁDIO BANDEIRANTES, RÁDIO 
APARECIDA, pois deste criança que ligo o rádio nunca deixei de captar 
uma só vez em uma de suas frequências essas emissoras.Outras de vez em 
quando somem voltam boas,algumas meio capengas e outras nunca mais. 
Abraços e boas escutas, (José Maria de Morais, Manhuaçu, MG. SONY SW 
ICF11, SONY SW ICF7600GR, ibid.)

Estimado colega Grimm, yo tampoco quiero polemizar, pero cuando usted 
dice

``Levantar mundialmente diferenças de menos de 1 kHz no padrão 
irradiante de uma emissora qualquer do mundo (ondas curtas, em 
especial), é algo que não leva a nada.``

Estoy seguro, muy seguro de que la mayoria de los DXistas escandinavos 
no estariamos de acuerdo con usted.

Permítame recordarle un caso que ocupo mucho espacio en los foros 
internacionales últimamente y es la frecuencia de 6010A ("A" debe 
interpretarse aquí como "aproximadamente", es una abreviatura caida 
en desuso en este país donde resido, pero en la época de los 
receptores convencionales de tubos sí se usaba). Aquí en los 
alrededores operan varias emisoras latinoamericanas, a saber de 
México, Chile, Uruguay, Brasil, Colombia. También operan allí 
algunas emisoras de países no latinamericanos, pero de ellos no me 
pienso ocupar ahora, porque no son DX.

La mexicana Radio Mil viene utilizando la frecuencia desde hace unos 
20 años y cuando surgió el otro año la colombiana La Voz de tu 
Conciencia en una frecuencia contigua, causó interferencia a la 
anterior si se escuchaba en el modo AM, pero al mismo tiempo pudo 
escucharse en todo el mundo para los que usaban el modo SSB. 

Entonces a través de un colaborador de la radio mexicana, también 
DXista, formularon una queja a la emisora colombiana, que por otra 
parte sólo habia acatado lo ordenado de Ministerio de Comunicaciones 
de dejar las frecuencias de 6060 y 6065 en donde antes había 
transmitido.

Vino una fase de reajuste de frecuencias, porque la colombiana 
quería complacer el deseo de Radio Mil, y mientras tanto los DXistas 
tuvieron mucho tino a la hora de sintonizar la frecuencia para ver 
si era Parinacota, CX42 o alguna de las otras. En las listas 
internacionales salieron entonces las frecuencias de estas emisoras 
con 1 y hasta 2 décimos. Era información útil en ese momento. 

Para muchos escuchas en esta parte del mundo la medición de 
frecuencia se ha vuelto incluso más importante en algunos casos que 
la propia identificación de la emisora.

Eso es absurdo, pero con los receptores que los colegas usan, NRD525, 
535, Drake R8, Icom R71 y otros, la frecuencia viene indicada con 
décimos, y por influencia de la escucha en onda media, la moda de 
medir las frecuencias se ha establecido también en la onda corta.

Te cuento como algunos de mis colegas DXistas de onda media trabajan, 
cuando están en casa o en una expedición. Se sientan enfrente de 2 ó 3 
receptores que contínuamente cambian de frecuencia, pasando de una 
memoria a otra, o en pasos rápidos, de 10 en 10 kHz. Pocos utilizan el 
modo AM, sino USB o SSB (o ECSS) y por eso, al pasar de 10 en 10, es 
lógico que la frecuencia sea xxxx.00. Si fuera distinta la frecuencia, 
no se captaría sino heterodinos.

Para volver a la onda corta, resulta que allí también se puede grabar 
la frecuencia en la memoria del receptor, y de ahí el interés en 
registrar que una emisora haya variado de frecuencia, aunque tan sólo 
fuera por un décimo o dos. 

Si tengo grabado una emisora en 5677.24 USB y unos días más tarde 
resulta que se mudó a 5676.88 (variables o no), y entre las dos 
frecuencias hay una señal de teletipo muy fuerte, pues entonces le 
aseguro que no se va a captar si la señal por otro lado es débil.

Para oirla debería haberla grabado en 5676.88 LSB.

No deseo polemizar más, pero quería dejar constancia de la utilidad 
que puede tener el registro fraccionado de una frecuencia. 

En el caso de Radio Bandeirantes concuerdo que resulta exagerado 
indicar que su frecuencia de 31 metros estaba 30 Hz por debajo de la 
exacta. Esa información no conduce a nada. En cuanto a las demás 
frecuencias de la RB pienso que tiene validez, porque un desfase 
de .4 o .5 kHz sí se nota inmediatamente a la hora de rastrear las 
bandas valiéndose del modo USB, SSB o ECSS.

Me permito agregar de http://www.sover.net/~hackmohr/ la lista de Mark 
Mohrmann los datos actuales de las emisoras latinas que se oyen en los 
alrededores de los 6010 kHz:

6009.78 COLOMBIA LVdt Conciencia,Pto Lleras [0009-1120](9.78-11.06) 
Jul 03 C (fpl)To 5910 (r)AM1530 R Alcarván ex6060/6065

6009.79 MEXICO * XEOI Nucleo R Mil, Mexcio City [0032-1318](09.9-10.2) 
Jul 03 P (r)AM1000

6010.07 CHILE R Parinacota, Putre [2308-1059](09.7-10.07) Jul 03 X 
*0800->1053 FM94.5 (r)R Cooperativa 0400-0800

6010.2 URUGUAY Em Ciudad d Montevideo [1300-1900/0030-0240](.02-.71) 
Jul 03 X ex9650 (r)CX42-AM1370 0030*

6010.24 BRAZIL * R Inconfidencia, Belo Horizonte [2049-1135](.10-.2) 
Jul 03 X
 
Los guarismos entre paréntesis indican registros en frecuencias 
diferentes a la indicada. Así, Radio Mil, en 6009.79, ha sido 
captada en otras oportunidades en frecuencias que han variado entre 
6009.9 y 6010.2.

En Europa, la única emisora realmente difícil de las mencionadas, es 
la uruguaya. La emisora que se capte, depende un poco de la hora y 
la propagación del momento. Entonces, una indicación relativamente 
precisa de la frecuencia viene a ser una herramienta útil a la hora 
de tratar de "pescar" la identificación. Hay que recordar que muchos 
DXistas europeos, aunque saben distinguir entre el portugués hablado 
en el Brasil y el castellano, no logran distinguir el castellano que 
se hable en Chile del que se hable en Colombia o en México. 
Cordialmente, (Henrik Klemetz, Suecia, ibid.)

** CANADA. CIRB, 93.9, at the Confederation Bridge [connecting PEI to 
the mainland], heard at 1900 UT July 3, a TIS with info on bridge and 
events in surrounding areas (Nigel Pimblett, visiting PEI, CIDX 
Messenger via DXLD) This one qualifies for the latest FM Atlas: 
location: Borden, stereo, 70 meters high, 37 watts (Glenn Hauser, DX 
LISTENING DIGEST)

** CANADA. DIGITAL DEPENDENCY EXPOSED 
   By JACK KAPICA, Globe and Mail Update 
http://www.globeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20030815.gtkapicapower0815/BNStory/Technology/
 
Cracks in the dream of a high-technology future appeared when the
massive blackout, which covered the northeastern United States and 
most of Ontario, knocked tens of millions of people back to the pre-
digital age.

For many people, it took lot of phone calls using landlines before it
they discovered that the power outage was more than a local phenomenon 
- in fact, it covered some 15 million square kilometres.

For people using cellphones, it wasn't that easy - most cellphone 
relay towers, which use electricity, were knocked out, leaving owners 
with perfectly usable handsets that couldn't connect anywhere. A few 
towers had backup power, but not all.

Those whose cellphones remained operational suddenly found themselves 
in demand. On a Toronto street, a woman who identified herself only as
"Tz-zik," was offering the use of her cellphone for $2 per call.

"Look, power went out, we gotta make a hustle," said the 18-year-old.
"It's awesome, we make fun out of every situation." She and her group 
of five friends proudly flashed the eight dollars they had made in the
first five minutes of their campaign.

Internet sites

Worse, the Internet - which has been touted as a medium of last resort
during a disaster - was rendered next to useless; though the Internet
stayed up for the most part, many people couldn't even turn on their
computers to get to it.

The only ones who could connect were those using battery-powered 
laptops with built-in modems and a dial-up connection to the Internet. 
And even then, when some areas got their power back, people still 
couldn't connect to the Net as random power surges knocked local nodes 
off-line.

Fortunately, most of the telephone system continued to work - often,
however, without the extra features, such as caller display, which
require an additional power source.

At Bell Canada, spokesman Andrew Cole said both telephone and Internet
services remained uninterrupted. Bell's networks remain functional, he
said, but as a result of the increased traffic, he said the company
requested that customers not use their cellphones and landlines to and
from affected areas except for essential purposes, and not to call the
operator or 911 for information on the current situation.

Even those people who could connect to the Internet couldn't reach 
some Web sites. Globeandmail.com remained functional on reserve power, 
as did CBC.ca, the Toronto Stock Exchange, Google.ca and Canada.com. 
Several other news sites - Eye.net, Thestar.ca, Thespec.com - all were 
down when checked early Friday morning.

Radios led way

People found themselves forced to get their news in old-fashioned 
ways. Commuters who were sitting in gridlocked downtown traffic could 
at least listen to their car radios - but only certain stations.

In Toronto, for instance, the all-news station 680News was knocked off
the air for a while before its owner, Rogers Radio, a division of
cable-TV and Internet giant Rogers Communications, struggled to kick 
in emergency power. All the company's other radio stations - CHFI-FM, 
AM590 and Jack-FM - also experienced "brief outages," reported Chick 
McCoy, vice-president and general manager of Rogers Radio.

Like other AM-band radio stations, 680News had to rely on its own 
power to broadcast. FM-band stations, all of which broadcast from the 
CN Tower, required only enough power to get their signals to the
transmitter - the tower's emergency power system ensured that all
stations that could summon a signal could broadcast it.

The CBC TV News operation was forced into silence briefly Thursday as
technicians scrambled with kick in emergency power and to find other
ways to get its television signals across the country. Eventually, CBC
Newsworld had to continue broadcasting through its Calgary bureau.

CBC-1 radio (99.1 FM) experienced an extended silence, during which
reporters moved to CBC-2 (94.1 FM), from which the company managed to
provide continuous coverage of the blackout.

The all-talk radio station CFRB, one of the authoritative voices of 
the Toronto radio scene, stayed on the air with its coverage of the 
event.  [but not CFRX as previously noted]

Digital systems

Many industries that have switched to digital systems were affected -
especially those doing business on-line. Even if they had emergency
back-up power, customers without power couldn't reach their services.

A number of airline flights were cancelled or delayed because of the
blackout, leaving travellers to spend the night sleeping in waiting
lounges or checking into hotels. About 1,000 people found themselves
unexpectedly stranded in Winnipeg, which was not affected by the
blackout, when six Toronto-bound flights were diverted to the Winnipeg
International Airport.

As well, no planes took off for Toronto, Hamilton and Ottawa Thursday
afternoon.

Disgruntled but orderly passengers stood in enormous lineups to
reschedule flights or started working the phones to find a hotel room.

The blackout also emphasized the digital revolution's dependence on
electricity, and how that dependence is putting an extra strain on the
power system's ability to provide it.

In many stores without reserve power, sophisticated cash registers 
with stock-tracking barcode readers gave way to handheld calculators 
as clerks struggled to complete sales. In smaller grocery stores, 
which did not have backup power, owners were even more anxious to sell 
their produce before the lack of refrigeration spoiled it.

In Toronto, one darkened convenience store lit only by two candles was
doing a brisk business. Shoppers queued for groceries while clerks
calculated prices on a solar-powered calculator held under a 
flashlight.

There were no reports of major corporate failures.

Corporations

Large companies housed in corporate towers in Toronto went on 
emergency power almost immediately, and provided a few points of light 
on the city skyline after sundown. Aside from some loss of data on 
computers that had not been saved at the moment the power failed, 
central systems continued working. But with other systems down, most 
companies found it impossible to continue doing business and sent 
their employees home, ordering them not to come in today unless their 
work was critical.

The blackout also brought out business opportunists. The insurance
industry is taking the opportunity to sell "cyber-risk" packages to
companies whose insurance policies have not evolved along with their
computer systems.

"Unfortunately, most companies are operating in a 21st-century threat
environment with 20th-century insurance coverage," said John 
Spagnuolo, with the New-York-based Insurance Information Institute. 
"The dynamics of risk management have changed with technology."

Regardless of its product line or service, Mr. Spagnuolo said,
"virtually all major businesses today rely on computer networks to
function. But they need to recognize that network security risks are
fundamentally different than traditional physical risks like fire.

"If a hacker or virus shuts down a network or destroys computer 
software or data, most businesses today have either limited or no 
coverage. Insurers have excluded these risks from standard commercial 
policies and are now offering standalone coverage. Whether your 
company conducts business over the Internet, stores customer data on 
servers or simply uses e-mail, it is at risk."

The sudden reliance on older technology has verified what a number of
experts have been saying about our power system - that our networks 
are vulnerable.

A report published in 1996 by the U.S. Pentagon, concentrating on the
prospect of a terrorist attack (which was quickly ruled out in
Thursday's blackout) said that increasing deregulation and competition
in the communications industry has created "an increased reliance on
information systems to operate, maintain, and monitor critical
infrastructures. This ... creates a tunnel of vulnerability previously
unrealized in the history of conflict."

"The energy infrastructure is vulnerable to physical and cyber
disruption that could threaten its integrity and safety," warned the
U.S. National Energy Policy Development Group, under the chairmanship 
of Vice-President Dick Cheney, warned two years ago. "Disruptions 
could come from natural events, like geomagnetic storms and 
earthquakes, or could come from accidents, equipment failures, or 
deliberate sabotage."

The interdependence of many systems - including things as diverse as
electric power, transportation, communications, water supply and 
banking - are also becoming more interdependent, raising the fear that 
they could shut down too, like Thursday's cascading power failures
(via Kim Elliott, DC, DXLD)

** CANADA. TRANSISTOR RADIO THE MEDIUM OF CHOICE AS BLACKOUT AFFECTS 
   COMMUNICATION
   http://cnews.canoe.ca/CNEWS/MediaNews/2003/08/14/160962-cp.html

TORONTO (CP) - Old-style radio made a comeback Thursday as Ontario
residents - at least those without their own generators - tuned in to 
radio broadcasts to find out about the great blackout of 2003.

Without electricity, desktop computers were kaput and television 
screens faded to black - even if they could broadcast a signal. And it 
was touch-and-go at some newspaper offices, where editors and 
reporters scrambled to put out Friday editions without the benefit of 
electricity at deadline crunch time.

With the power out, residents of Ontario hit by the massive outage 
shortly after 4 p.m. ET got their news about the blackout - albeit 
sketchy in the early going - from transistor radios, Internet sites 
via battery-powered laptop and through telephone calls to friends and 
relatives.

The major television networks were on the air, but for the most part, 
those in affected areas were unable to tune in.

Music play lists and regular programming were ditched at many radio
stations, which provided live reports of the unfolding drama during 
the rush hour and throughout the evening.

Radio reports advised commuters to treat traffic light intersections 
as four-way stops, to be cautious at railway crossings and noted that 
some people were abandoning vehicles because they couldn't fill up at
electricity-powered gas pumps.

Listeners were also warned to turn off electrical appliances and to be
careful when using candles.

And as the electricity was slowly restored to some communities, 
newscasters relayed the warnings of officials not to overdo it.

"Hydro officials are asking you to keep everything off except for 
maybe one light," said a report on 680 News in Toronto. "As far as 
electronic appliances go, definitely air conditioners (off) because 
they don't want to overload the system when they try to restore 
power."

Using emergency backup power, Broadcast News continued its national
newscasts from its Toronto newsroom, and fed wire and audio reports to 
radio stations across the country.

The Toronto Sun and the Toronto Star were among the big-city dailies 
trying to put out a newspaper without the benefit of electricity. The 
Globe and Mail had backup power in its newsroom, as did the national 
newsroom of The Canadian Press.

"We're still planning to publish," Don McCurdy, managing editor of the
Record of Kitchener, Cambridge and Waterloo, said at about 7:30 p.m.,
although the newspaper's offices were without power and only a few 
computers had hooked to backup power at the time.

"All our reporters are out gathering information, they're coming back 
in now with stuff and they're itching to write."

But even if the newsrooms were able to function, many papers were 
scrambling to figure out how to make it into print without working 
presses.

At the Brockville Expositor, Doug Coward said they were looking for a
generator. "We went through this in 1998," he said, noting that during 
the ice storm that year the paper didn't publish for three days. But, 
he added, it was better to be without power in the summer than the 
winter (via Mike Terry, DXLD)

** CANADA. DIGITAL RADIO IN CARS: THE TECHNOLOGY THAT NEVER MADE IT TO 
THE DASHBOARD
    Patrick Langston, The Ottawa Citizen Friday, August 08, 2003
http://www.canada.com/search/story.aspx?id=cc939688-8633-424a-991d-
7cb631f50dd6

It promised to be the brave new world of automobile radio listening.
Pristine sound. Static and interference abolished. Video screens 
displaying the name of the song and artist, weather and sports 
updates, traffic bulletins.

It all sounded great when, back in 2001, GM announced plans for 
Digital Audio Broadcasting (DAB) receivers as standard or optional 
equipment for 2003 Chevrolet Impalas and Monte Carlos sold in Canada, 
with 24 other models soon to follow suit. In Europe, Asia and the 
United States, DAB was already old hat, but we were to be the first 
country in the world to enjoy manufacturer-supplied DAB systems in our 
cars.

In fact, not a single DAB-equipped vehicle has left the factory. And 
don't look for one any time soon.

"We were advised that this was a technology that had great demand in 
the marketplace," says Richard James, manager of product 
communications for GM Canada. "But once we had it in a sense out 
there, we found there really wasn't enough demand for this particular 
feature to drive the kind of costs that would have been involved."

A quick check with Ottawa dealerships confirms James's explanation. 
"Never had anyone ask for it," say most local car sales reps. Nissan's 
Maxima and Murano do come with DAB buttons on the dash but no 
receivers, meaning a trip to a car radio shop for your unit.

That trip will cost you. Figure $700-plus for the bargain basement 
variety. And you'd be one-of-a-kind: Ottawa's car radio shops also 
report zero demand for DAB receivers, even though some of next year's 
models will include such goodies as a built-in hard drive for 
recording broadcasts selected in advance.

Then again, even if you had a receiver, your listening choices, at 
least in Ottawa, would be limited. Fifteen area radio stations 
received DAB licenses from the Canadian Radio-television and 
Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) last fall, but so far only CBC is 
broadcasting digitally (nationally, there are about 65 DAB stations, 
most of them in Toronto, Montreal and Vancouver).

Blame costs, federal regulations and technological warfare, says Mark 
Maheu, vice-president and general manager of CHUM Radio, which 
operates CFRA, BOB-FM, Majic 100 and The Team 1200 in Ottawa.

CHUM stations have been broadcasting digitally in Toronto for years, 
but startup costs are huge, says Mr. Maheu. "For our four Ottawa 
stations, it's just under a million bucks. And then you've got ongoing 
costs because we need to rent tower space or roof space because it's 
not one single antenna. It's similar to a cell phone network. You're 
going to need transmitters in certain areas to cover certain pockets."

What's more, CRTC regulations dictate that digital broadcasts be 
simulcast on either FM or AM. That minimizes a DAB station's ability 
to target niche audiences for ethnic or other specialty programming 
because most mainstream listeners would hit the dial the minute they 
heard such limited-interest broadcasts. 

A Toronto station was recently granted a DAB-only licence, but it 
remains the exception.

The spectre of satellite radio is also scaring off DAB investment, 
says Mr. Maheu. In the U.S., radio listeners can, for about 12 bucks a 
month and the cost of a receiver, subscribe to either the XM or Sirius 
satellite services.

That brings in well over 100 specialty, commercial-free channels, 
everything from comedy to Christian talk shows to old-style R&B. To 
date, no Canadian radio stations have been granted satellite licences 
and Canadian law forbids us from tuning in to the U.S. satellite 
networks, but the threat of a competing technology is one more 
impediment to broadcasters embracing DAB, says Mr. Maheu.

So what does the future -- one that could include integrated DAB/ 
cellphone/handheld computer systems -- hold for DAB-hungry Canadian 
motorists?

At GM, says Mr. James, "We are going to watch the rollout of digital
broadcasting across Canada. If we start seeing demand, we'll take 
another look at offering it on vehicles."

Meanwhile, noting the chicken-and-egg quality of his answer, Mr. Maheu 
says, "The car is the key. That's how FM radio took off. When it 
became a relatively reasonably expensed option in cars, people started 
ordering it. The same thing will happen with DAB and over the course 
of half a generation, maybe 10 years, the majority of the cars on the 
road will be DAB-equipped." © Copyright 2003 The Ottawa Citizen
(via Harry van Vugt, Windsor, Ontario, Canada, DXLD)

** CANADA. CRTC decision, full text of decision at:
http://www.crtc.gc.ca/archive/ENG/Decisions/2003/db2003-399.htm

Broadcasting Decision CRTC 2003-399
     Ottawa, 14 August 2003
     Radio Chalom Montréal, Quebec 
     Application 2002-0246-6
Public Hearing in Montréal, Quebec 3 February 2003
     
Commercial AM (ethnic and religious radio) station in Montréal

The Commission hereby denies the application by Radio Chalom for a
broadcasting licence to carry on a commercial AM (ethnic and religious
radio) station in Montréal at 1650 kHz. The proposed station was 
primarily to serve Montréal¹s Jewish community, and would have 
replaced the service that the applicant currently provides through the 
subsidiary communications multiplex operation (SCMO) facilities of 
CIRA-FM Montréal (via Harry van Vugt, Windsor, Ontario, Canada, DXLD)

** CANADA [and non]. GUY BANVILLE, CHRONIQUEUR SUR RADIOACTU.CA
   Communiqué de presse --- Pour diffusion immédiate 
   Montréal, le 15 août 2003

A partir du 18 août prochain, Guy Banville proposera une chronique 
hebdomadaire sur RadioActu http://www.radioactu.ca le premier site 
francophone d'information sur la radio. Fort de ses 30 années de 
carrière au Canada et en France, Guy Banville livrera au travers de 
cette chronique son regard parfois impertinent et sa réflexion sur le 
monde de la radio, ses évolutions, ses défauts, ses qualités. Il 
mettra à profit son expérience professionnelle et son sens aigu de 
l'observation dans cette chronique intitulée "Radio Ville". Cette 
chronique sera publiée sur RadioActu France et RadioActu Canada et 
sera un trait d'union entre les cultures radiophoniques de ces deux 
pays, tout en ouvrant un espace de réflexion et de dialogue entre 
professionnels de la radio canadiens et français. 

Selon Daniel Robichaud responsable de Radioactu.ca et Directeur des 
nouveaux médias pour Corus la venue de Guy Banville "amènera davantage 
de réflexions sur le merveilleux monde de la radio qui est en grande 
transition actuellement au Québec.  Le site Radioactu.ca offrait 
beaucoup d'informations mais encore peu d'opinions l'arrivée de 
monsieur Banville devrait combler se vide."

Pour Nicolas Chagny, PDG de MédiasActu SA, société éditrice de 
RadioActu, l'arrivée de Guy Banville "marque davantage le 
positionnement incontournable de RadioActu dans le monde de la radio. 
Le parcours professionnel exceptionnel de Guy Banville à la fois en 
France et au Canada et son activité de consultant radio viendront 
enrichir et renforcer la ligne éditoriale qui a fait le succès de 
RadioActu depuis bientôt 6 ans". Nicolas Chagny s'est également dit 
très heureux d'accueillir Guy Banville au sein de RadioActu.

"Je suis ravi de pouvoir m'exprimer sur RadioActu qui pour moi 
représente le meilleur site Web destiné aux gens de la radio" a 
expliqué Guy Banville. "Je suis fortement motivé parce son équipe 
m'encourage à communiquer ce que j'entends à la radio mais aussi ce 
que j'y vois ! Regarder la radio, c'est essayer de la comprendre..."

CONTACT PRESSE : Daniel Robichaud dan@radioactu.ca
PRESS KIT : Photo Guy Banville & Nicolas Chagny : 
http://mediasactu.fr/presse/banvillechagny.jpg
Autres logos et photos : http://presskit.mediasactu.fr/ 
---
A propos de Guy Banville
Guy Banville fait ses débuts en 1974 à CKAC73 Montréal, la plus 
importante radio généraliste au Québec. Après avoir co-fondé une 
entreprise de production audio-visuelle avec Pierre Robert 
Audiomultivision ancêtre de Pram (Surprise sur prise) il retourne à la 
radio en 1982 sur CKMF 94 Montréal. En 1990, Télémédia, le plus 
important radiodiffuseur au Québec lui confie la direction des 
programmes de CITE FM et des 6 radios de son réseau. Créateur du mot 
et du concept ROCK-DÉTENTE Guy Banville innove un nouveau format basé 
sur les attentes du groupe-cible agé entre 25 et 49 ans. Recruté par 
Europe 2, il arrive à Paris en mai 1993 à titre de directeur des 
programmes et des communications. Guy Banville innove avec son équipe 
de nombreux concepts tels la série des concerts acoustiques, le train 
de Noel, les duos virtuels, Eurosonique. En juillet 1997 Europe 
obtient son record historique à 5,9 avec la matinale d'Arthur comme 
première émission 25-34 ans en France, toutes radios confondues. En 
1998, Europe atteint 6,1 d'audience cumulée. Résultat que la radio 
mettra 4 ans à retrouver (avril 2002) après son départ. Guy Banville 
décide de retourner au Canada pour retrouver Télémédia Radio à titre 
de Vice-président créativité et développement au bureau chef. À l'été 
2001, Guy Banville choisit de devenir consultant radio et fonde 
Banville Média Inc. Grâce à son expérience bi-culturelle, il est 
devenu une ressource externe pour diverses radios tant à Montréal qu'à 
Paris. Il est par ailleurs directeur artistique de la City Radio à 
Paris (réseau France Bleu) depuis octobre 2002.
http://www.banvillemedia.com

A propos de MédiasActu SA
Créée en juin 2000, MédiasActu SA est spécialisée dans la création de 
contenu et est l'éditeur de RadioActu.com et MusicActu.com.  
RadioActu.com, site B2B, est aujourd'hui le premier service on-line 
indépendant d'information sur les radios françaises, canadiennes, 
suisses et belges et propose quotidiennement un fil d'actualité sur 
les radios ainsi que de nombreux services professionnels dont le Guide 
Pro. MusicActu.com, site B2C, est spécialisé dans l'actualité 
musicale.  Outre son activité d'éditeur de sites Internet, MédiasActu 
est également une agence de contenu : marque blanche, contenu sur-
mesure, rewriting, externalisation de rédaction, dans tous les 
domaines (médias, culture, sport, information générale, communication 
d'entreprise). MédiasActu compte notamment parmi ses clients SFR, Tv-
Radio.com/Comfm, Bouygues Télécom, France Télécom, Mediaplazza, ASCO-
TP. Membre du GESTE (Groupement des éditeurs de services en ligne), 
MédiasActu est une société du groupe Les Argonautes. 
http://www.mediasactu.fr/ (via Bill Westenhaver, QC, DXLD)

Glenn, I don't know if you've ever seen this RadioActu Canada 
newsletter. I believe they're based in France, but it seems that you 
can find radio info from both francophone Europe and Québec, though 
I've never devoted much time to exploring the site. 73 (Bill 
Westenhaver, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

** CHINA. CHINA CONDEMNS FALUN GONG INTERFERENCE IN TV SATELLITE 
SIGNALS | Text of report in English by official Chinese news agency 
Xinhua (New China News Agency) 

Beijing, 15 August: China Friday [15 August] condemned the Falun Gong 
cult for hijacking again the satellite signals of government-run Sino 
Satellite, which violated the basic principles of relevant civilian 
communications. 

The TV satellite, belonging to the Sino-Satellite Communications Co 
Ltd, was taken over by illegal TV signals transmitted by Falun Gong 
cult followers twice, once at 9.05 p.m. Tuesday and once at 8.23 p.m. 
Wednesday [local times 12 and 13 August], according to the Ministry of 
Information Industry. 

The illegal signals hindered the Chinese audience from watching 
routine programmes of China Central Television, China Education TV 
Station and 10 provincial TV stations. 

"Falun Gong's law-breaking activity is information terrorism and 
banditry in the high-tech era," said a company executive. "It 
infringes on the rights and interests of our company, and its 
reputation as well. We retain the right to investigate the legal 
responsibility of the cult." 

A senior official of the State Administration of Radio, Film and 
Television said the TV hijacking once again indicates the cult's goal 
to cause damage to the country and the people. 

Those who back up and connive with the banned cult should be held 
responsible for the illegal act and will eventually eat their own 
bitter fruits, the official said. 

The public who were disrupted from receiving the country's radio and 
television programmes also angrily condemned the Falun Gong cult's 
evil act. They urged the cult be severely punished to safeguard the 
interests of the people. 

This week's hijackings were not the first time Falun Gong cult 
activists had broadcast illegal TV signals to cut into transmission 
using Sino Satellite. 

The satellite was taken over on 21 September last year, during the 
Middle Autumn Festival when people should have been enjoying 
entertainment programmes on TV with their families. 

Their attacks in late June last year also disrupted people in many 
remote villages in China from being able to watch the World Cup 
finals. 

Sino Satellite, launched in 1998, serves dozens of clients including 
those of prime importance to the daily lives of Chinese, such as the 
State Administration of Radio, Film and Television, the Chinese 
Offshore Petrol Corporation, the National Meteorological Bureau and 
China Unicom. 

Through this satellite, TV programmes are able to reach rural 
residents in remote villages in most landlocked areas in the country, 
and China Education TV Station broadcasts education programmes to 
students nationwide. Source: Xinhua news agency, Beijing, in English 
0932 gmt 15 Aug 03 (via BBCM via DXLD)

** FRANCE. Three full months have passed with no interesting 
identifiable signal, at [25+ MHz] frequencies normally covered in this 
column, reaching my antenna at times when I`d been listening. 
Throughout that period, there were only three days when I didn`t make 
serious efforts to hear things. It seems that the transatlantic path 
for 11 metre signals pegged out, on schedule, in April. If we`re 
lucky, this propagation shut-down wil only last for the duration of 
the northern summer. We`ll have to wait until fall to discover whether 
the sunspot count will be high enough to sustain a further winter of 
long distance reception on 26 MHz via the F-layer. Oddly, all the 
April entries in my logsheet, five of them, are for signals from 
France. The RFI transmission on 25.820 MHz accounts for four of these 
but only the most recent one is mentioned:

25.820 AM RFI Issoudun, France, 19 Apr at 1240 UT

For at least two years, the regional tourist office in the town of La 
Rochelle, on the west coast of France, has been using a number of low 
power transmitters, in the eleven metre band, to provide info about 
local attractions. I got to hear snippets of the one on 25.928 MHz on 
three occasions between February and April. Programme content was a 
historical audio docu-drama on how various wars affected economic 
development along the Charante River. Such intellectual tourists, the 
French:

25.928 nFM, Dépt de Tourisme, La Rochelle, France, 7 April at 1555, in 
French, repeating recording for tourists, poor signal 
(Alan Roberts, St. Lambert, QC, Aug CIDX Messenger via DXLD)

** INDIA. INDIAN NEWSREADER SCALES TV TOWER IN PROTEST OVER LOW PAY
Luke Harding in New Delhi, Thursday August 14 2003, The Guardian
http://www.guardian.co.uk/india/story/0,12559,1019259,00.html 

Disgruntled office workers have often taken drastic action to demand 
better pay. They have gone on strike, staged walkouts or organised 
pickets. 

But yesterday Bhaskar Vohra, an angry newsreader for India's state-run 
radio channel All India Radio, went one better when he scaled a 100 
metre television tower in central New Delhi and threatened to set 
himself on fire.  

Hundreds of people gathered in the Indian capital to watch Mr Vohra, 
who reads the news in Assamese. "I am not a terrorist, I am a 
translator-cum-newsreader," the 24-year-old, who was armed with only a 
backpack, said in a statement hurled down from the tower.   

"If my demands are not met by August 15 I will burn the national flag 
and immolate myself."  

Police spent most of the morning talking to the newsreader on his 
mobile phone. They eventually persuaded him to scramble back down 
after three-and-a-half hours. Yesterday a defiant Mr Vohra told the 
Guardian that he had taken the "drastic step" of climbing the tower to 
try to draw attention to the abysmal pay of freelance Indian 
newsreaders, who earn as little as 225 rupees (£3.10) for each shift.  

He said he had spent a year and a half trying to meet India's 
information and broadcasting minister, Ravi Shankar Prasad, so he 
could press the issue, but had failed to get an   appointment and 
officials had fobbed him off. "That's why I had to take this drastic 
step this morning," he explained. "I didn't hurt myself but I'm tired. 
I feel exhausted. It was quite high up there."  

Mr Vohra said that freelance newsreaders often had to wait four to 
five months to get paid, could only work 12 shifts a month and 
scarcely made ends meet. They wanted a pay rise of 500 rupees a shift, 
he said.  

Astonishingly, after climbing down from the tower, the newsreader was 
swept off to India's information and broadcasting ministry where he 
met the minister. Mr Prasad apparently told him he would do what he 
could, and would raise his grievance with All India Radio's director 
general.   

"I told the minister the quality of newsreading in this country has 
gone down because of low pay," Mr Vohra said.  

Last night detectives said it was too early to say whether Mr Vohra, a 
student at Delhi University, would be charged with any crime. "This is 
a vital installation. He should not have gone up there," said the 
deputy commissioner of police, Manoj Kumar Lal. "We will be 
interrogating him to find out why he did it. It's a strange case."  

Thousands of police are on duty across the capital, with security 
tight ahead of celebrations of India's independence day today.    

Copyright Guardian Newspapers Limited (via Bill Westenhaver, Jill 
Dybka, DXLD)

AIR EMPLOYEE THREATENS TO JUMP FROM TOWER, PERSUADED TO CLIMB DOWN
Onkar Singh in New Delhi/PTI | August 14, 2003 11:52 IST
Last Updated: August 14, 2003 14:06 IST

Police on Thursday noon managed to persuade an aggrieved All India 
Radio employee, who had threatened to jump off a tower in the 
Akashwani Bhavan premises in Delhi, to climb down. He has been taken 
to the Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital for a medical checkup, DCP Manoj Lal 
told rediff.com.

Lal said that an employee of a television channel, who is a friend of 
Borah, played a crucial role in ending the episode.

Earlier in the morning, the busy Parliament Street became even busier 
when Bhaskar Borah (22), an AIR newsreader and a casual employee, 
threatened to jump to his death if his demands were not met. Borah is 
the general secretary of the Association of Casual Newsreaders and 
Translators. He threw some pamphlets from the tower, which listed his 
demands. They included a meeting with the Information and Broadcasting 
minister and the Prasar Bharti CEO.

His other demands are increase in the payment to newsreaders of 
regional languages from Rs 250/shift to Rs 500/shift, regularisation 
of all casual employees and providing I-cards to newsreaders. He also 
complained about payments being delayed up to 10 months.

Traffic on the busy street was thrown out of gear and a posse of 
policemen began regulating the movement of vehicles. A huge snorkel 
has been pressed into service has been kept on standby. Employees from 
the nearby offices, including that of the Reserve Bank of India and 
the Planning Commission, came out and were watching the proceedings. 
(Rediff.com via Bill Westenhaver, DXLD)

** INTERNATIONAL VACUUM. XM & SIRIUS SATELLITE UPDATE 

XM had close to 700,000 subscribers as of July while Sirius recently 
passed the 100,000 mark (per Radio World). However, the solar cells 
aboard the XM satellites have been degrading at an accelerated pace 
due to a manufacturing defect, and this will cause XM to spend 
significant capital to construct and launch replacement satellites in 
the not too distant future. 

While the URL below discusses the launch of just one XM replacement 
satellite, it is our understanding that both XM birds (nicknamed 
"Rock" and "Roll") are affected by the sub-standard solar cell 
problem, so the report may understate the gravity of the situation. 
http://www.rwonline.com/dailynews/one.php?id=3724 
(via Fred Vobbe, NRC FMTV via DXLD) 

XM ADDS ANOTHER $25 MILLION TO $475 MILLION FUNDING PACKAGE
St. Louis - Aug 11, 2003 
http://www.spacedaily.com/news/xm-radio-03c.html 

Boeing will build and deliver a fourth Boeing 702 satellite for XM 
Satellite Radio, Inc., the Washington, D.C.-based provider of the 
nation's leading satellite radio service. The satellite, designated 
XM-4, will be delivered in late 2005 for future launch to XM's orbital 
slot at 115 degrees west longitude in support of XM's on-going service 
requirements. "This order demonstrates a valued customer's continued 
confidence in the Boeing 702 product line," said Dave Ryan, vice 
president and general manager of Boeing Satellite Systems. "XM 
initiated commercial service with two Boeing 702 satellites plus a 
ground spare in 2001, and we are grateful for this new opportunity to 
support their continued success. This award also makes clear that 
Boeing is fully committed to providing reliable technology and 
superior long-term service to its customers in the commercial and 
government marketplaces." 

As in the first three XM spacecraft, Alcatel Espace of Toulouse, 
France will provide the S-band Digital Audio Radio Service (DARS) 
payload for XM-4. XM-4 will also feature a number of upgrades 
including a bi-propellant back up to its Xenon Ion Propulsion System 
(XIPS). Equipped with advanced triple junction solar cells, the 
satellite is designed to generate 18 kilowatts of power at start of 
service and 15.5 kilowatts at the end of its 15-year design life. XM 
is America's #1 satellite radio service. With over 692,000 subscribers 
as of June 30th, XM is on pace to have more than one million 
subscribers later this year. XM is available on a wide variety of GM, 
Honda, Toyota, Infiniti, Nissan and Audi models. GM recently announced 
that it has manufactured more than 500,000 XM-equipped vehicles and 
that it will exceed the 1 million mark by March 31, 2004. XM radios, 
including the critically acclaimed Delphi XM SKYFi radio are available 
at Best Buy, Circuit City, Wal-Mart and other major retailers 
nationwide (via Mike Terry, UK, DXLD)

** INTERNATIONAL VACUUM. XM-EH? XM Satellite Radio is working with a 
major Canadian broadcast group, with the goal of providing service to 
the great North Woods. Their satellite footprint already covers much 
of the Canadian population…the great majority of which lives within 
200 miles of U.S. territory. Meanwhile, comes this from ``The 
Washington Post``: ``XM gave investors a jolt when it revealed that 
its insurers rejected its $400 million claim on the two orbiting 
satellites its service depends on. The satellites, launched in 2001, 
were supposed to work for about 17 years, but defects related to their 
solar panels mean they will only be useful until 2008. Moreover, the 
malfunctions are forcing the company to take on $320 million in 
expenses early because XM must now launch its spare satellite next 
year and pay for a fourth, spare satellite in 2005. 
 
The company says it has enough money to launch the third satellite, 
but not enough to pay for a new spare unless the insurance settlement 
comes through or it can find alternative financing. 

The insurance dispute comes when XM is still vulnerable as a start-up. 
The company`s revenues have grown quickly in the past year, but it is 
still losing money as it attempts to lure new customers with cheeky 
advertising and $9.99 monthly prices. 

XM reported it lost $164.3 million ($1.38 per share) in the quarter 
ended June 30, compared with a loss of $122.4 million ($1.38) a year 
earlier. XM lost money despite a jump in revenue, due almost entirely 
to an increase in the number of subscribers. Revenue climbed to $18.3 
million, from $3.8 million a year ago. The company added 210,000 
customers during the quarter, bringing its subscriber count to nearly 
700,000. 

But depreciation expenses related to the falling value of its 
satellites ballooned to $39.8 million from $24.5 million a year ago.`` 
– Just thought you`d wanna know, but don`t tell the Romulans about the 
Insurance thing! (Greg Hardison, Broadcast Band Update Aug 15 via 
DXLD) more under USA

** ISRAEL. I am 95% sure that I heard Israel Radio announce that from 
this coming Sunday, Aug 17, DST would end and English broadcasts would 
shift one UT hour later (Chris Hambly, Vic., Aug 15, DX LISTENING 
DIGEST)

Maybe; the Israelis are always litigating over this matter, and some 
years the change has been made already in August, but 
http://www.timeanddate.com/time/dst2003b.html
shows the change date is Oct 2, or Oct 3 on the unofficial site
http://www.israelradio.org/summer03.htm
(Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) See also POWERLINE COMMUNCATIONS

** OKLAHOMA. Re KMKZ-1640 Enid: The FCC's records show their first CP 
was for a tower slightly taller than a quarter wavelength (107.4 
degrees electrical height). The newer CP for the new site shows two 
towers exactly a quarter wavelength tall (90 degrees electrical 
height). Were they initially going to diplex off somebody else's tower 
(maybe their station that KMKZ will replace; if it's still on the 
air)? (Dennis Gibson, CA, IRCA via DXLD)

Lobes? You mean as in directional? I thought all X-banders were non-
directional, or supposed to be (Paul Swearingen, Topeka, ibid.)

1660-NJ and 1670-So. CA are both directional. 
(Patrick Martin, Seaside OR, KAVT Reception Manager, ibid.) 

Yes, they were originally going to diplex off one of the Three Towers 
of KCRC-1390 on the north side of Enid. Glad they thought better of 
that. They have no plans to turn off 1390. And yes, Paul, it will be 
one of the few direxional X-banders. Hmmm, now how about stereo? Mr 
Champlin hopes IBOC will work out now... (Glenn Hauser, Enid, IRCA via 
DXLD)

** ST. PIERRE & MIQUELON. R. Atlantique, 102.1 MHz, returned my 
original reception report with written notation in French, ``This 
report is correct. What do you mean by QSL dard?`` (Gauvin, NB, Verie 
Interesting, Aug CIDX Messenger via DXLD) Yes, the term ``QSL-card`` 
probably should not be referred to when writing local AM or FM 
stations, at least not without some explanation. Most people working 
at these stations do not see too many reception rpeorts and would not 
be familiar with the Q-code (Mickey Delmage, ed., ibid.)

** TURKEY. If pirate radio sounds too risky but you`d like to get on 
the air, David Crystal from Israel has written us a great solution. 
The Voice of Turkey has a show called Turkey Live which airs every 
Tuesday from 1845 to 1920 on 9785. The concept is that they give out 
their number after the news at 1830 and when you call in you give your 
name and number and they call you back at their expense. Then you can 
talk about anything you like for 30 minutes. This is a great 
opportunity to ``play radio`` and it`s legal. David says he frequently 
calls and takes over the airwaves when he sees no one else has. He 
says it`s a great way to speak to the world over a 500 kW transmitter 
without censorship for free. We should pass this info on to our poor 
brothers and sisters in Brattleboro and the Netherlands (Steve 
Karlock, Captain`s Log, Aug CIDX Messenger via DXLD)

** U K. BBC Downfall, Continued

``the problem here goes beyond the errors of judgment made by one
reporter and the unwillingness of his higher-ups to acknowledge
responsibility. It speaks to a culture of bias that has crept into
the news reporting of what was once a very fine media organization.``

Wall Street Journal REVIEW & OUTLOOK

THE BBC`S SEXED-UP REPORT --- NO BIAS, PLEASE. WE`RE BRITISH.
Thursday, August 14, 2003

The worst thing that can be said of a serious news organization is
that it is cavalier about reporting the truth as it understands it.
Gain a reputation for political bias in reports billed as objective
and you can be sure to lose the trust -- and patronage -- of a
significant part of your audience. So only a media giant whose
shareholders are under lock and key could be as sanguine as the
British Broadcasting Corporation`s senior management has been after
this week`s embarrassing revelations.

The BBC, which is funded by a compulsory $180-a-year tax on every
British household with a television, has effectively gone to war with
the British government over its report that Prime Minister Tony
Blair`s top spokesman and adviser ``sexed up`` a dossier on Iraq`s
weapons of mass destruction. The May 29 report by Andrew Gilligan
aired on the agenda-setting BBC Radio 4 ``Today`` program. It was
then picked up by other reports and repeated in newspapers and
broadcasts around the world. David Kelly, a senior adviser to the
Defense Ministry, was the source for both Mr. Gilligan and a separate
story filed by BBC ``Newsnight`` reporter Susan Watts. Ms. Watts`s
report on the dossier never charged Downing Street and Mr. Blair`s
chief press spokesman Alastair Campbell with deliberate tampering--
and particularly with inserting a sensational but unreliable claim
that Saddam could launch a WMD attack in 45 minutes. During the
inquiry yesterday into the suicide of Dr. Kelly, Ms. Watts blew Mr.
Gilligan`s tendentious report out of the water.

Ms. Watts released a tape of her last conversation with Dr. Kelly,
who makes clear that he is not in a position to assert that Mr.
Campbell inserted anything into the intelligence report. Ms. Watts
said of her conversations with Dr. Kelly, ``He didn`t say to me that
the dossier was transformed in the last week and he certainly didn`t
say that the 45-minute claim was inserted either by Alastair Campbell
or by anyone else in government. In fact, he denied specifically that
Alastair Campbell was involved in the conversation on May 30...he was
very clear to me that the claim was in the original intelligence.``

It`s one thing for a news report to fall short. The normal course of
events is for that failing to be acknowledged and corrected. But not
only has the BBC refused to do so, it appears to have tried to bury
the error. A July 6 minute from a meeting of the BBC Board of
Governors lamented that ``careful language had not been applied by
Andrew Gilligan throughout.`` But otherwise the BBC has displayed no
regrets.

Ms. Watts testified yesterday that the BBC seemed primarily
interested in corroborating Mr. Gilligan`s account rather than in the
merits of her own reports: ``I felt under some considerable pressure
to reveal my source. I also felt the purpose of that was to help
corroborate the Andrew Gilligan allegations and not for any proper
news purpose.`` And, ``I was most concerned that there was an attempt
to mold [her reports] so that they were corroborative which I felt
was misguided and false.``

As our European editorial page deputy editor Mike Gonzalez wrote last
week, the problem here goes beyond the errors of judgment made by one
reporter and the unwillingness of his higher-ups to acknowledge
responsibility. It speaks to a culture of bias that has crept into
the news reporting of what was once a very fine media organization.
Copyright © 2003 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

Craig, WPE1HNS, Meredith, NH USA
Drake R8B/Alpha Delta DX Sloper, Sony SW-77, Sony ICF-2010, 2 x 
Phillips/Magnavox D2935, Uniden CR-2021
Knight Kit Star Roamer (permanently tuned to Turkey on 9460)
GE Superadio II/Select-A-Tenna, Delphi Ski-Fi XM/3`` Antennae
Tuning since 1963 (``King Pineapple,`` rec.radio.shortwave August 15 
via John Norfolk, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

** U S A. Roy Neal, K6DUE, SK (Aug 15, 2003) -- Retired NBC News
space correspondent, producer and executive Roy Neal, K6DUE, died
August 15 in High Point, North Carolina. He was 82. Neal underwent
major heart surgery August 12 and was reported to be recovering.
Recognized as a leading news expert in spaceflight and science, Neal
 -- born Roy N. Hinkel -- covered all of the Mercury missions for NBC 
and later reported the Gemini and Apollo missions and the space 
shuttle flights. Capitalizing on his space news experience, Neal 
became involved with the Space Amateur Radio EXperiment Working group.
SAREX -- now Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) 
-- is a joint project of ARRL, AMSAT and NASA that put Amateur Radio
aboard space shuttles and developed the first permanent ham station
in space aboard the ISS. Neal chaired the SAREX/ARISS Working Group
and moderated ARISS international team gatherings and, quite often,
school group contact teleconferences. 

Earlier this year, he was inducted into the CQ Amateur Radio Hall of 
Fame for his role in persuading NASA officials to allow Amateur Radio 
operation from space in the 1980s. Neal also was a regular visitor and 
sometime presenter at Hamvention. He hosted the 1987 ARRL video 
production, New World Of Amateur Radio, an overview of ham radio in 
space. A Pennsylvania native, Neal's broadcasting career began at WIBG 
radio in Philadelphia. He served as a combat infantry officer during 
World War II and later became a program manager for the Armed Forces 
Radio Network in Europe. After the war, he was a television pioneer at
WPTZ-TV in Philadelphia. He subsequently set up NBC's West Coast news
bureau. An ARRL member and active amateur operator all his adult life, 
Neal enjoyed DXing and frequented all HF bands. He also enjoyed VHF. 
Survivors include his wife Pat and sons David and Mark. Arrangements 
are pending (ARRL August 15 via John Norfolk, DXLD)

** U S A. HAMS A BRIGHT SPOT DURING POWER BLACKOUT

NEWINGTON, CT, Aug 15, 2003 -- When a blip on the electricity
distribution grid August 14 took out power to at least a half dozen
states in the eastern US, many Amateur Radio operators were ready and
able to provide whatever assistance they could. Hardest hit were
metropolitan areas like New York City, Detroit and Cleveland. In New
York, residents and commuters found themselves stranded in
electricity-dependent elevators and subway or rail cars while
visitors ended up stuck at airports, which were forced to shut down.
With the cellular telephone system overloaded or out altogether, the
incident turned into a test of Amateur Radio`s capabilities to
operate without commercial power.

``It was a good drill,`` said New York City-Long Island Section
Emergency Coordinator Tom Carrubba, KA2D. But, he adds, it was a
cautionary tale too. ``The lesson is that everybody gets a little
complacent,`` he said. ``Have emergency power backup and make sure
it`s working!`` Some repeaters in the blacked-out Greater New York
City area--including the primary 147.000 ``TAC 2`` machine--were
down, but several others remained on the air with emergency power.

By and large, Carrubba said, the system worked according to plan, and
ARES members did what they were trained to do. ``It`s going to show 
the worth of Amateur Radio,`` he said of the blackout response. 
``There were people on the air immediately.``

Diane Ortiz, K2DO, the Public Information Coordinator for NYC-Long
Island was one of them. When power went down in her Suffolk County
community, she started up an informal net on the Long Island Mobile
Amateur Radio Club`s 146.85 repeater. Over the next 20 hours or so,
the net passed approximately 500 pieces of what Ortiz described as
largely ``health-and-welfare traffic.`` A lot of it was on behalf of
individuals stuck in the city and needing to contact family members.

``People are getting on and helping,`` she said. In addition to
handling messages, amateurs also relayed useful information, such as
which stores or filling stations were open and operating. Many radio
and TV stations went dark as a result of the power failure, and hams
were able to help fill the information void, Ortiz said.

In the Big Apple itself, ARES New York City-Long Island District
Emergency Coordinator Charles Hargrove, N2NOV, remained at the city`s
Red Cross Headquarters in Manhattan, where power was restored around
5 AM.

``There are some power fluctuations going on, and that is the main
concern right now--that power may go off again,`` Hargrove told ARRL.

ARES support of Red Cross operations, which began yesterday,
continues. ARES teams are providing communication for the Red Cross
Emergency Response Vehicles (ERVs) set up at main transportation
centers in Manhattan--Grand Central Station, Penn Station and at the
Port Authority Terminal. ARES members also accompanied ERVs called
into action to follow New York Fire Department personnel on more than
two dozen fire calls.

``After a long night of operations, some ARES members went home to
get some rest around 6 AM,`` Hargrove said.

RACES organizations activated in most Greater New York City area
counties after a state of emergency was declared. Some ARES teams -- 
including a few across the Hudson River in New Jersey -- activated or
remained on standby to help if called upon. In New Jersey, a net set
up on a back-up repeater established communication with the Red Cross
lead chapter`s N2ARC in Princeton -- staffed by members of Mercer
County ARES/RACES -- and other New Jersey ARC chapters.

The state of emergency included five counties in northern new Jersey,
said SEC Steve Ostrove, K2SO. He spent about four hours at the EOC in
Elizabeth after the blackout began. ``The Elizabeth Police were
impressed with the information I was able to provide,`` he said. The
net stood down at about 10 PM after telephone communication among the
Red Cross chapters had been reestablished and power began to be
restored.

In upstate New York, Fred Stevens, K2FRD, says the situation reminded
him of the 1964 power blackout in the eastern US. ``This is an
emergency communicator`s wildest fantasy: a major power outage in
which we can demonstrate our preparedness,`` he said.

In his county, Chenango, ARES has been activated and the local EOC is
staffed by Amateur Radio operators and the Chenango Amateur Radio
Emergency Service net is up and running with stations on battery
power and standing by. ``We are ready for whatever might happen,``
Stevens said.

Comments posted on the HamsEF reflector by Ken Davis, KB2KFV, who`s
president of the Rensselaer, New York, County ARES/RACES Club
reflected that attitude.

``It seems that the amateurs were better prepared than the government
sector,`` he said. ``Amateurs in this area were up and on the air
before there was any response from local government.`` Davis said
Rensselaer County EC and Chief RACES Officer Jim Noble, K2ZP,
activated ARES and mustered a net on the Troy Radio Club RACES
repeater, requesting stations to standby and monitor the frequency
for updates.

Michigan and Ohio

Michigan Section Manager Dale Williams, WA8EFK, reports scattered
ARES activations in his state. Williams, who lives in Dundee south of
Detroit, was without power this morning and relying on his emergency
generator. ``It could be another 48 hours before power is restored,``
he said. Some ARES teams in Michigan were providing assistance to
emergency operations centers and to the Red Cross, because the relief
agency`s telephone system relies on commercial power. Nets have been
brought up on both HF and VHF frequencies.

In Ohio, Section Emergency Coordinator Larry Rain, WD8IHP, reports
that all ARES organizations in northern Ohio were activated after the
power grid went down. Still going strong are ARES teams in Cleveland
and Akron -- both still without power. ``ARES is handling 
communication support for Ohio Emergency Management in the affected 
cities and communities,`` Rain said. Power has been restored in 
Toledo, however.

Rain reports a power surge that occurred when the electricity came
back on disrupted the Richland County Hospital`s telephone system.
``Amateur Radio was there to provide back-up communication until 4:30
this morning,`` he said. Ohio VHF and UHF nets and the Ohio SSB net
on HF have been handling blackout-related traffic.

Nancy Hall, KC4IYD -- who lives 20 miles west of Cleveland -- said 
she`s glad of two things: That she had taken the ARRL Emergency
Communications Level I class, and that she and her husband have an
emergency generator. ``We used it to run the fridge for about two
hours and then used it to run the 2-meter rig and HF rig to listen to
the ARES nets,`` she said.

She said she just received a follow-up survey on the emergency
communications class that asked if she had used any of the
information she learned.

``I can now say, `yes,``` said Hall, who noted that she`s now signed
up for the Level II class. ``I will again highly recommend them to 
anyone who wants to learn more about emergency communication.``
She and her husband also made use of their BayGen windup radio to
listen to local broadcasts. ``We also own a hand-crank flashlight,``
she added.

She said the family put aside drinking water early in the blackout -- 
which turned out to be a good thing, because their community`s
emergency generator was only good for about two hours to run the
water supply`s pumps.

``I have to say that being a ham and knowing about emergency
preparedness did make life easier for me and my family,`` Hall said.

New England

New England states were far less affected by the blackout since most
operate on an altogether different power grid than the one that
failed. New England area ARES/RACES operators were in standby mode
after the blackout rippled through the system to the south and west.
Only Connecticut and sections of Western Massachusetts reported
significant outages, and ARES nets activated in both states.

ARRL Eastern Massachusetts PIC Jim Duarte, N1IV, reports the
ARES/RACES response in the Bay State was ``quick and organized,
showing that our recent drills and training sessions have proved
beneficial.``

Western Massachusetts SM Bill Voedisch, W1UD, reports the Leominster
EOC was activated on a standby basis. Although he is equipped with a
diesel-powered generator to supply his house and ham shack, his part
of Massachusetts suffered no power losses.

Parts of Berkshire County in extreme western Massachusetts suffered
from the blackout, although power was restored fairly promptly there.
Bill Sexton, N1IN/AAR1FP, an Army MARS member, said his emergency
power capability permitted him to run his station and maintain e-mail
contact.

``We had the Northeast SHARES (National Communications System HF
Shared Resources Program) up and running cross-country on a Condition
Two readiness alert,`` Sexton said. He reports that when he called in
on the SHARES channel, a MARS station in Nebraska responded to say he
was ready to handle any relays.

``The experience proved once gain the great strength of ham radio in
an emergency,`` Sexton said. ``It is self-starting, and it is
everywhere.`` Copyright © 2003, American Radio Relay League, Inc. All 
Rights Reserved (via John Norfolk, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

** U S A. HAM RADIO VERSUS CELL PHONES

Dear cell phone warriors, as evidenced by the unfortunate 
circumstances afflicting NY, Detroit, Cleveland, Erie, etc, one can
now see why HAM radio is a necessity.

As these areas have lost power, the cell phone networks have failed.

Some of you that post to this group have suggested that Amateur Radio
is a thing of the past, with world wide communication available to
anyone in the terms of cell phones.

This is why Amateur radio is a must, that the operators should be
praised for their continuing engagement in a hobby that has great
potential for the benefit of our society. Disaster communications is
a specialty of HAMs, maybe not in this circumstance (maybe so), but
throughout the history of Amateur radio this certainly has been true.
Hurricanes, tornados, earthquakes, anything sufficiently destructive
to damage or destroy common modes of communications, such as that
used by the cell phone networks, and even the established
communication systems used by the police, fire, etc. Our police
communication system in Pittsburgh is commonly knocked out by
lightning. HAMS have the versatility to create impromptu
communication systems second to none. No one else has the tremendous
supply and distribution of radio systems.

I urge people to pursue the hobby of Amateur radio, to become
proficient in it, and to be respectful of it. Besides, it's fun.

Regards to all those in afflicted areas, though you might not be able
to read this at this time. Never say never. Nothing is absolute.
(``The Dawn Soliloquy,`` rec. radio.shortwave August 14 via John
Norfolk, DXLD)

Subject: Re: NY and Ontario power failure
rnewell@vcn.bc.ca wrote in message
``good time to do some dxing while the interference level is low...``

Here's a report on how radio kept broadcasting during the 1965
blackout: http://members.aol.com/jeff570/blkout65.html

This is from Jeff Miller's fascinating History of American
Broadcasting page: http://members.aol.com/jeff560/jeff.html

Frank Dresser (rec.radio.shortwave August 14 via John Norfolk,
DXLD) More under CANADA!

** U S A. IN THURSDAY'S CRISIS, RADIO WAS KING AGAIN 
Friday, August 15, 2003 BY JOHN SMYNTEK FREE PRESS STAFF WRITER 
http://www.freep.com/news/latestnews/blackout/pm4123_20030815.htm 

Radio, the first mass broadcast medium, reassumed its dominance 
Thursday when power failed in the Detroit metro area. Within minutes 
of the power failure shortly after 4 p.m., the area's two major radio 
news providers, all-news WWJ-AM (950) and news/talk WJR-AM (760), 
abandoned most regular programming and quickly became the best means 
of finding out what happened. 

Television, dominant during most other news breaks, was largely 
crippled by its own power problems and the inability of many people 
affected to see TV. Most of the region's cable and dish systems were 
out, and battery or generator-powered TVs were far outnumbered by 
battery and car radios. TVs that worked had to use over-the-air 
signals that reportedly were snowy or hard to watch. 

According to officials at both WWJ and WJR, their emergency equipment 
and procedures worked as designed. However, several area FM stations 
were unable to operate. WDIV-TV (Channel 4) news director Deborah 
Collura said it allowed several Clear Channel-owned FM music stations 
to simulcast its news coverage, making its reportage available on 
radio. 

At WWJ, vice president and general manager Rich Homberg said the 
station went into noncommercial mode and broadcast phone reports from 
its street reporters and traffic copter all afternoon. "When it was 
apparent that no terrorism was involved,'' Homberg said, "it was kind 
of like coverage of a major snowstorm. It's been mostly service, 
service, service.'' 

Even people who aren't normally frontline reporters like traffic 
reporter Terry T. Brown helped out with reports from a downtown Coney 
Island, the Checker Bar and the MGM Grand casino. 

Homberg and WJR operations chief Steve Stewart praised local 
government and public safety officials for their accessibility and 
calm under fire. 

"They were in pretty good shape,'' said Homberg, "and there was very 
little sense of panic.'' At WJR, veteran news and sportscaster Frank 
Beckmann, working for the vacationing Mitch Albom, anchored WJR's 
coverage. Stewart said some commercials were run later in the evening, 
in part to provide on-air staff with a break. Homberg declined to 
estimate the cost of going commercial-free. 

"It's the cost of doing business, of being of service,'' he said. 
Both Channel 4 and WJBK-TV (Channel 2) officials scrambled to get 
seldom-used power units functioning in the hot weather. WJBK assistant 
news director Gavin Maliska said the station had to move outside with 
Murray Feldman's anchor reports when an inside power unit failed. It 
used equipment on a satellite truck until the internal generator was 
back online. 

A partial check of the dial indicated WVMV-FM (98.7), WYCD-FM, (99.5), 
WRIF-FM (101.1), WOMC-FM (104.3) and WKQI-FM (95.5) managed to 
continue broadcasting during the blackout (via Jilly Dybka, DXLD)

** U S A. BLACKOUT --- JUST A THOUGHT: This has nothing to do with 
Broadcasting --- but, am I the only one who thinks this past week`s 
Great Computer Worm may have had something to do with Thursday`s Great 
East Coast Power Outage of 2003? On a more relevant angle, ``Radio and 
Records`` reveals that WFAN/660 was knocked off the air in the Big 
Apple, as were WINS/1010 (all News…ouch!), and FMers WBLS/107.5, WPAT-
93.1 and WNEW/102.7. Apparently, Radio Disney outlet WQEW/1560 was off 
the air longer than any other NYC station…which may say something 
positive about Blackouts. (`QEW`s transmitter site sits by itself in 
Queens; all other AMs are across the Hudson in Jersey, except for the 
shared site of WCBS & WFAN, on City Island.) Meanwhile, the Clear 
Channel NYers got together for a simulcast of audio from WNBC-TV; 
other stations were knocked off the air in the Hudson River Valley, 
and two biggies in Cleveland were bit by the bug, WGAR/99.5 and 
heritage Rocker WMMS/100.7. The CBC was affected in Canada, as well, 
with several networks having to hook together for various simulcasts. 
Might be a good week for auxiliary generator salespeople in the 
Northeast, no?? 
 
JUSTICE FOR RIGHTEOUS TALKERS: Congrats to Michael Benner for landing 
a daytime gig, Friday afternoons at 1 PM on KPFK/90.7. I had the 
privilege of working with Michael during his short-term KABC Friday 
Night show, for a few months back around 1985 or so. Liberal Michael 
and Conservative/Pragmatist Ray Briem were by far the two best hosts, 
in terms of dealing with opposing views. The problem is, not too many 
folks had the brains or other essential body parts to go head-to-head 
with Michael; instead he prompted several small minds to threaten 
sponsors, and to commit similar distasteful acts. These days, 
Talkradio is much more subjective…usually to the Right. 

Michael`s views are vital to a balanced public discourse on the air. 
Pacifica Foundation would be wise to A) schedule his program one hour 
earlier, to catch the L.A.-area lunchers, and B) syndicate his show to 
the other four Pacifica markets. Pacifica needs to abandon its own 
internal politics long enough to seize this, their best opportunity 
for actual growth in many years. 

L.A.`s own Michael Jackson is up for honors in Chicago on November 8, 
as he is inducted into the Radio Hall Of Fame. He joins a 
distinguished list, including another great talk-show pilot, Jim 
Bohannon, a rare voice of reason who started as Larry King`s weekend 
fill-in on the old Mutual network in the late `70s. Other honorees 
include ex-KMPC owner Gene Autry, Infinity top-cat Mel Karmazin, and 
33-year WGN Farm Director Orien Samuelson, who was syndicated for many 
years as host of the ``National Farm Report``. 

This all takes place on November 8, to be covered in a live broadcast 
with host Larry King. The event is being produced and syndicated by 
Westwood One, and is slated to air on both major Chicago big-gun 
signals, Tribune`s WGN/720 and Disney`s WLS/890. I wonder who cut THAT 
deal? (No word on where, or if, we`ll hear this on the Left Coast, but 
at last check, WGN was streaming at http://wgnradio.com 

FYI, the latest Chi-town book shows perennial leader WGN on top, with 
a 6.7 earned through its full service/news-talk format. Westwood 
One/Infinity stalwart WBBM/780 (all-News) languishes with a 5.1, under 
the ``leadership`` of Program Director Drew (``Screw``) Hayes; and 
such programming could only help WLS, bringing up the rear of the big-
AM-News/Talk pack with a 4.7. Infinity`s Hayes is also in charge of 
the other big-traditional Chicago signal, WSCR (formerly WMAQ)/670. 
I`m awaiting the delivery of an electron-microscope here at the 
Publishing Center, to examine `SCR`s Arbitron figures. 

Anyway, congrats to Michael – and also to Rollye James, formerly 
overnights on the old KMPC/710 and a future Hall Of Fame member 
(hopefully). Rollye has spent the past couple of years doing Midnight-
2 AM at Infinity`s WPHT/1210 in Philadelphia, and has won many fans 
and followers via the huge 1210 signal which bathes the East Coast and 
Midwest. More are on the way, as Rollye`s very different program is 
slated for nationwide syndication by Jones Satellite Networks. 
Rollye`s not just one of the best females on the air, but one of the 
best living-breathing talkers period, in my humble opinion…and 
certainly not without a history of controversy. (You may recall, she 
earned a visit from the Secret Service in 1996, after implying on the 
air that the Clintons should be shot. No charges were filed from her 
comments, aired on KLBJ/590 in Austin…yes, THAT ``LBJ``. She was 
fired, and later won a cash award due to disparaging comments made 
about her by a honcho at LBJ Broadcasting. Rollye has known few dull 
moments.) 

While we`re in the `hood, a tally conducted by Austin-based Benchmark 
reveals 61% of Talkradio listeners surveyed prefer local hosts, to 
syndicated fare such as Limbaugh, Schlessinger, Imus and Stern. As 
well as the Biz is run these days, I`m sure this will lead to a new 
plethora of Syndicated programming --- rest assured, though, many of 
those same surveyees made it clear that Talkradio was, in their views, 
Entertainment, NOT News! 

COULDN`T HELP IT: Maybe it`s my own warped perceptions, but I had to 
chuckle at this, from the http://dailyfreeman.com describing a 
lightning-hit at Christian radio station WFGB in Kingston, NY.

``Spokeswoman Connie VanKleeck said there were no injuries when the 
Christian radio network`s facility on Tuytenbridge Road studio was hit 
6 p.m. Sunday. ``We`re saying we`ll be off two to three days, but it 
could be more,`` she said. ``We had smoke coming out of the control 
board,`` VanKleeck said. ``There was a change of shifts at the time. 
No one was hurt, but all the computer and broadcast electronics were 
just fried.`` 

While telephone service was restored quickly, officials said the 
status of other equipment was still being assessed and updates about 
operations will be posted on the network Web site at 
http://www.soundoflife.org as repairs to the studio are made. ``Our 
engineer is estimating there was probably more than $30,000 (in 
damage), but we`re not sure,`` VanKleeck said. 

The station began broadcasting in 1986, with a combination of local 
and national programming, and has grown to include relaying its signal 
on 12 frequencies covering parts of six states. 

VanKleeck said there is a slight sense of irony in having an act of 
God knock a religious broadcasting network off the air. ``We live in a 
world that is not perfect,`` she said. ``Bad things happen to all 
kinds of people, including (at) Christian radio stations.`` 

JUST ANOTHER THOUGHT: ``The New York Post`` reveals that the Catholic 
Diocese of Brooklyn is renting out parochial-school roof space to 
Cellular Telephone service providers, and some of little Johnny`s 
parental units are prepped to raise those roofs, in protest. Seems the 
Diocese is having cash-flow problems (criminal lawyers ARE expensive 
these days, after all!), and Those Concerned With Our Collective Well 
Being are a`feared of electromagnetic emissions and subsequent 
mutations from these cell-towers. The scientific jury is still out on 
such matters; my own opinion leans toward the controversy being much 
ado over nothing. Whether I`m right or wrong, I do see a growing 
number of L.A.-area Apartment houses, with those very same cell-phone 
sticks all over them, akin to cheap suits. It may or may not be 
``safe`` to attend classes under the Cellular umbrella…what about 
LIVING under one?? Has the 15-plus year old Cellular Lobby put the 
investigative kibbosh on the EPA?? Is anyone at Underwriters` Labs 
listening?? Until the next, Peace and Prosperity (Greg Hardison, 
Broadcast Band Update Aug 15 via DXLD) more under INTERNATIONAL VACUUM

** U S A. GEOGRAPHIC COORDINATE ERROR COSTS BROADCASTER $3,000 

The FCC has discovered that the actual location of the WUFF AM&FM 
tower in Georgia differed from the authorized coordinates by over 1/3 
mile.  The tower owner was initially fined $4,000 for the oversight, 
but the forfeiture was reduced to $3,000 on reconsideration, based on 
the stations' otherwise excellent record of rule compliance. 
http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/DA-03-2616A1.doc 

$10,000 FINE AGAINST THE REV. YVON LOUIS AFFIRMED 

This FCC case involves a series of unauthorized FM broadcasts from 
Calvary Tabernacle in Brooklyn, New York.  Over the course of several 
months, the Rev. Yvon Louis reportedly transmitted on 93.7 MHz, then 
switched to 88.1 MHz after getting caught, then used 90.1 MHz after 
getting caught again, then reverted to 88.1 MHz.  Amazing. 
http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/DA-03-2589A1.doc 
(via Fred Vobbe, NRC FMTV via DXLD)

** U S A. Dear Glenn: The following press release reports on the 
latest - and possibly the last - step in the Rambus v. Infineon saga, 
one of the most closely-watched high tech court cases in years, with 
over a billion dollars in royalties at stake. Either the Supreme Court 
takes the case, or Infineon -- and everyone else who sets standards, 
builds to standards, or uses technology -- comes out a loser. 
(Priscilla McMullen, Director of Marketing, Lucash, Gesmer & 
Updegrove, gh at Monitoring Times via DXLD)
 
BOSTON LAW FIRM, INDUSTRY GROUPS FILE BRIEF WITH SUPREME COURT IN CASE 
THAT COULD UNDERCUT TECHNOLOGY AND OTHER INDUSTRIES 
Brief is filed in Rambus v. Infineon on behalf of Standard Setting 
Organizations representing over 8,600 member entities

BOSTON, August 13, 2003 - Boston-based law firm Lucash, Gesmer & 
Updegrove LLP today announced that it had filed a "friend of the 
court" brief with the United States Supreme Court in Rambus v. 
Infineon, one of the most closely watched cases in the technology 
industry. Ten major standard setting bodies, as well as several 
leading financial industry corporations and a standard setting joint 
venture, are parties to the brief. The combined membership of the 
standard setting bodies exceeds 8,600, including most major U.S. 
technology companies, as well as many government agencies, 
universities, and other entities.

The brief was filed on behalf of the parties on a "pro bono" -- or 
fee-free -- basis by Lucash, Gesmer & Updegrove. "Rambus v. Infineon 
goes to the very heart of the integrity of the standard setting 
process," said Andrew Updegrove, a partner at Lucash, Gesmer & 
Updegrove and the author of the brief. "As we are a national leader in 
forming and representing the organizations which set standards, we 
felt that it was our duty to acquaint the Supreme Court with the 
importance of the issues involved. This is hardly the right time for 
the courts to be undercutting processes that are crucial to American 
technology, Homeland Security and national competitiveness."

The case is so significant that additional briefs were filed by the 
Attorneys General of 15 States and Puerto Rico, by the standard 
setting body whose process was involved, and by five semiconductor 
companies.

The case history of Rambus v. Infineon has been a roller coaster, with 
first one side, and then the other, gaining the advantage. Moreover, 
estimates of the industry-wide royalties at stake run as high as a 
billion dollars. But the impact of the case goes far beyond just the 
memory industry. If the Supreme Court does not take the case, the 
process that sets the more than 100,000 standards that affect nearly 
every aspect of daily life in this country will be undermined.
As noted in the brief:

  Voluntary standards, especially technology standards, are vital to 
the national interest, affecting almost all areas of modern life, 
safety and commerce.

  The Federal government is dependent on such standards: Congress has 
mandated the use of voluntary consensus standards by the Federal 
agencies whenever possible.

  The failure by the courts to protect the standard setting process 
would undercut the American economy and impair our international 
competitiveness.

Lucash, Gesmer & Updegrove LLP, a Boston-based technology law firm, 
gathered the impressive group of participants within the 30-day period 
allowed by court rules. The decision whether to take the case may be 
made by the Supreme Court as early as October of this year.

ABOUT RAMBUS V. INFINEON
The underlying facts are as follows: Rambus Inc., which develops 
semiconductor memory technology, participated in the standard setting 
process of the Joint Electron Devices Engineering Council (JEDEC) in 
the early 90's. During the design process, Rambus did not disclose 
that it held patents and patent applications on designs included in 
the standards. When companies, including Infineon, implemented those 
standards, Rambus sued for patent infringement. Infineon 
counterclaimed, citing fraud, and a trial court found Rambus guilty. 
To the astonishment of almost all, the fraud verdict was overturned by 
a Federal District Appellate Court in January of this year. In the 
meantime, the Federal Trade Commission had brought claims against 
Rambus as well. A trial based upon those claims is currently taking 
place before an administrative law judge. In July, Infineon took the 
last defensive step available to it, and petitioned the Supreme Court 
to intervene.

ABOUT LUCASH, GESMER & UPDEGROVE LLP
Lucash, Gesmer & Updegrove, a Boston, Massachusetts-based technology 
law firm, is the leading US law firm representing standard setting 
consortia. It has helped form and represents some of the largest and 
most influential standard setting organizations in the world. Andrew 
Updegrove, who leads the consortium practice group, has written and 
spoken extensively on the topics of standard setting, intellectual 
property rights and consortium formation, and has testified on those 
subjects before joint hearings of the Department of Justice and the 
Federal Trade Commission. The firm created and hosts 
http://www.consortiuminfo.org, the most detailed and comprehensive 
site on the Internet on the topics of standard setting and consortia, 
and publishes a monthly eJournal on the same topics: the Consortium 
Standards Bulletin http://www.consortiuminfo.org/bulletins/

To view the brief as filed, see: 
http://www.consortiuminfo.org/news/Rambus_Amicus_Brief.pdf
For more information about the Rambus v. Infineon case, see: Rambus - 
Hard Cases Make Bad Laws 
http://www.consortiuminfo.org/bulletins/feb03.php - editorial 
What Does Rambus Mean to You? 
http://www.consortiuminfo.org/bulletins/feb03.php - featured
For more information about Lucash, Gesmer & Updegrove and its 
consortium clients, see: 
http://www.lgu.com/practice_areas/consortium.shtml
(via DXLD)

** U S A [and non]. FREE RADIO WEEKLY #396 for 2003-AUG-16
=====================================================================
                       -MAIL DROPS-

*Basel: Box 510, CH-4010 Basel, SWITZERLAND 
*Belfast: Box 1, Belfast, NY 14711 
*BRS: Box 109, Blue Ridge Summit, PA 17214 
*Elkhorn: Box 69, Elkhorn, NE 68022 
*Herten:  PO Box 2702, 6049ZG Herten, The Netherlands
*Hoogeveen: PO Box 663, 7900AR Hoogeveen, The Netherlands
*Huntsville: Box 11522, Huntsville, AL 35814 
*Merlin: Box 293, Merlin, Ontario NOP 1W0, CANADA 
*Providence: Box 28413, Providence, RI 02908
*Wuppertal: Box 220342, D-42373, Wuppertal, GERMANY
*Ytterby: C/o SRS News, Ostra Porten 29, S-442 54 Ytterby, SWEDEN 
=====================================================================
               -E-MAIL ADDRESSES FOR STATIONS-
*Big Thunder Radio: bigthunderradio@hotmail.com 
*Blind Faith Radio: blindfaithradio@yahoo.com 
*Buckwheat Radio: buckwheatradio@hotmail.com 
*Captain Ron SW: captainronswr@yahoo.com 
*Ground Zero Radio: gzrsw@yahoo.com 
*Ironman Radio: ironmanradio@hotmail.com 
*Jolly Roger Radio Int'l: JR_Radio@hotmail.com 
*KIPM: kipm_outerlimits@hotmail.com 
*KMUD: vlfradio@triax.com 
*KRMI Radio Michigan Int'l: KRMI6955@yahoo.com 
*Laser Hot Hits: hothits@radiolink.net 
*Radio Alfa-Lima: info@alfalima.net
*Radio Borderhunter: borderhunter@hotmail.com 
*Radio Omroep Zuid Roz.am@iae.nl 
*Ragnar Radio: ragnarradio@yahoo.com
*Seattle Free Radio: seattle4166@yahoo.com 
*Shadow Radio: the_shadow6950@hotmail.com 
*Sunshine Radio: sunshineradios@hotmail.com 
*United Patriot Militia BINGO: yahwehradio6925@yahoo.com 
*Undercover Radio:  undercoverradio@mail.com
*Voodoo Radio:  vudu11@hotmail.com 
*Voice of the Angry Bastard: pigmeat_voab@yahoo.com 
*Voice of Capt. Ron: captainronswr@yahoo.com,  
 captainron6955@hotmail.com
*WHYP: whyp6925@yahoo.com 
*WMOE: wmoe6955@yahoo.com 
*WPAT: brewmaster66@hotmail.com 
*WPN World Parody Network: wpn_sw@yahoo.com 
*Z100: bigz100fm@yahoo.com 
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(via DXLD)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

COMMENTARY
++++++++++

RADIO STATIONS, SUPERMARKETS [gh`s title]

I had put a ``hold-mail`` for two weeks [vacation]. When I collected 
the post on arrival, it was just like Christmas. Magazines (Monitoring 
Times and Messenger, of course), books, catalogues, and goodies from 
SW stations in various parts of the globe. Not only QSLs, but 
interesting ``gifts``. Just one of the perks of DXing!

I`ve been in contact with some fellow DXers over the years and it`s 
interesting to find out what people have collected. I`d like readers 
to share stories about what they’ve received from stations since they 
took up their interest. Some of the print materials and souvenirs are 
pretty neat; one guy from New Zealand told me that after be became a 
monitor for Deutsche Welle, he received a ``weather station`` (I`m not 
sure what that includes; I assume a barometer and thermostat [sic]). 
After I took up the monitoring job myself, DW sent a few goodies my 
way, including a briefcase, portable CD player, a copy of WRTH 2003 
and DW bath towels (I guess they think I needed new ones!)

When I came back from holidays, the letter carrier handed over a big 
pile of mail which included a cassette tape of Uzbek music courtesy of 
Radio Tashkent (who had sent me a tourism guide earlier to 
Uzbekistan); QSLs and a newspaper form Radio Havana, a two-colour pen 
from Radio Taipei as well as a CBS facecloth (like DW, perhaps the 
Taiwan station thinks I`m in need of a bath?), and a QSL and postcards 
(the veri signer said I needed Lisbon sun, though given the brutally 
hot weather here I don`t think we needed it) from Radio Portugal.

Perhaps one of the nicest gifts I received one time was from the Voice 
of Russia, a tape of their ``Folk Box`` program, which dealt with 
Russian songs and customs celebrating the birth of a baby. What was 
really touching was the introduction to the programme, which said this 
was for their ``listener in Canada, Sue Hickey, who was expecting her 
first child.`` Now when Brigid gets older, I`ll be able to play the 
tape for her and tell her how much that people overseas were thinking 
about her before she was born.

At any rate, though, while the perks are great, the important thing is 
to keep in touch with SW stations around the world --- with financial 
cuts they really need to prove they have strong and loyal listeners 
(Sue Hickey, Grand Falls-Windsor, NF, CIDX Forum, Aug Messenger via 
DXLD)

POWERLINE COMMUNICATIONS
++++++++++++++++++++++++

Mr. G., have a look at this...

PowerLine Communication Home Network Technology eLibrary -
Powerline Networking - Power Line PLC Powerline Network
http://www.plugtek.com/index.shtml

Israel is about to begin BPL test trials, offering  the experimental 
service free of charge. Maybe the massive power outage will persuade 
the utility industry to concentrate on PPL (POWER over powerlines) 
instead of meddling in unrelated ventures such as internet service.
73. (Bill Smith, W5USM, TX, Aug 15, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

PROPAGATION
+++++++++++

25 MHz openings: see FRANCE above

THE K7RA SOLAR UPDATE

SEATTLE, WA, Aug 15, 2003 -- The average daily sunspot numbers for the
week was about the same this week as last, and daily solar flux was
only slightly higher. Solar flux is expected to peak over the next
few days -- such as it is in this declining phase of the solar cycle.
Expect solar flux values around 135 for Saturday, August 16. Solar
flux is expected to gradually decline to below 100 around August 24.
Geomagnetic indicators should be unsettled to active Friday, August
15, but should quiet down over the next week. Predicted planetary A
index for August 15-18 is 20, 15, 10 and 10.

Currently there is just one sunspot group facing Earth, and it seems
to be growing fast as it moves into optimum position for Earth-
directed radiation. This presents a wild card for conditions over the
next couple of days, since it could be the source of increasing solar
wind.

Some editions of last week`s bulletin contained a claim that in
57,617 BC Mars was only 34.62 miles from Earth, which of course was
not the case. This calls for a visit to a news item on the Bad
Astronomy Web site. Phil Plait of Sonoma State University in
California runs the Bad Astronomy site to help dissuade and debunk
some misconceptions that creep into films, television, popular
culture and even science textbooks. [See]
http://www.badastronomy.com/bad/news/index.html

In an August 13 item he talks about the excitement over Mars being
close to earth, and points out that it will be only about 1 percent
closer than it was in 1971.

Bruce Irving of Eagle, Idaho, was K7ISM many years ago, and he wrote
this week asking about some ghosting he saw on his television set
after 0200 UTC on Sunday, August 10. He wasn`t able to ID the
station, but noted that the image of a musical group performing
wasn`t on any of his other local channels in the Boise area. He asked
if this could be skip from a channel 2 station outside his area. I
believe his hunch is correct. He noted that channel 2 is just about
the same frequency as the 6-meter ham band, and--being the lowest-
frequency TV channel--it is the one most likely to experience long
distance propagation. In this case, it was probably some summertime
E-layer propagation.

For more information on propagation and an explanation of the numbers
used in this bulletin see the Propagation page on the ARRL Web site
[at] http://www2.arrl.org/tis/info/propagation.html

Sunspot numbers for August 7 through 13 were 121, 111, 107, 112, 118,
114 and 112, with a mean of 113.6. The 10.7-cm flux was 137, 132.9,
130, 131.1, 129.2, 123.3 and 130.8, with a mean of 130.6. Estimated
planetary A indices were 15, 32, 15, 12, 11, 25 and 17, with a mean
of 18.1.

Amateur solar observer Tad Cook, K7RA, Seattle, Washington, provides
this weekly report on solar conditions and propagation. This report
also is available via W1AW every Friday and an abbreviated version
also appears in The ARRL Letter. Readers may contact the author via
k7ra@arrl.net Copyright © 2003, American Radio Relay League, Inc. All 
Rights Reserved (via John Norfolk, DXLD) ###