DX LISTENING DIGEST 3-165, September 14, 2003 edited by Glenn Hauser Items from DXLD may be reproduced and re-reproduced only if full credit be maintained at all stages and we be provided exchange copies. DXLD may not be reposted in its entirety without permission. Materials taken from Arctic or originating from Olle Alm and not having a commercial copyright are exempt from all restrictions of noncommercial, noncopyrighted reusage except for full credits HTML version of this issue will be posted later at http://www.worldofradio.com/dxldtd3i.html For restrixions and searchable 2003 contents archive see http://www.worldofradio.com/dxldmid.html NOTE: If you are a regular reader of DXLD, and a source of DX news but have not been sending it directly to us, please consider yourself obligated to do so. Thanks, Glenn NEXT AIRINGS OF WORLD OF RADIO EXTRA 44: WRMI: Sun 1800+ 15725 (via IBC Radio) RFPI: Mon 0030, 0630, 1230, Wed 0100, 0730, 1330 on 7445 [nominal times often delayed] WBCQ: Mon 0415 7415, maybe 5105 WWCR: Wed 0930 9475 WINB: Thu 0130 9320 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 Audio stored at k4cc.net has been moved to a new site funxioning by 0400 UT Sept. 13. Many thanks to DAVE WHITE for providing this, with expanded bandwidth so older files will not have to be deleted for a while to accommodate new ones. Links on OUR CURRENT AUDIO page have been updated; older links including k4cc will no longer work. WORLD OF RADIO EXTRA 44 (high version only): (stream) http://www.w4uvh.net/worx44h.ram (download) http://www.w4uvh.net/worx44h.rm (summary) http://www.worldofradio.com/worx44.html ** ALASKA [non]. DID A SECRET MILITARY EXPERIMENT CAUSE THE 2003 BLACKOUT? --- By Anonymous, Unknown et al Regretfully, because I am a research scientist, and because I face the possibility of certain repercussions in my field of work for revealing this information to the public, I cannot reveal my true identity. I believe the facts I have presented herein are sufficient to speak for themselves and should convince the public that oversight is needed when experimenting with aspects of the atmosphere that are not well known. Abstract. On August 14, 2003, just a few minutes after the stock market closed for the day, a nine-minute 'event' had brought the entire Northeastern power grid down. It is believed that over fifty million people lost power that afternoon. Since this unprecedented event, blame games have flown back and forth, but no real answers have been provided. It is believed that the event originated in an area in the power grid where there is a bottleneck of power transmission between the eastern U.S. and the Midwest. But what has caused this mess? Outdated equipment, irresponsible power companies, and politicians have all been blamed without any solid evidence to support the accusations. What hasn't been suggested is the possibility that this was a secret government test that served the purpose of fulfilling requirements for sophisticated warfare and security response mechanisms. The Facts Here are the facts. The power grid that was affected was the northeast grid. Not the vulnerable California grid, or the southeastern grid that Washington DC relies upon, and not that strangely isolated Texas oil grid. It was the grid that the northeast U.S. and southeast Canada rely on. A region that a large scale outage would not have a really devastating effect on the economy or military control centers. The event conveniently began a few minutes after the closing bell on Wall Street as to not effect the days trading, but while power usage in the northeast on that hot day was still at peak. The event began in a bottleneck region where only a few percent increase in power flow could cause such a critical failure of the entire grid. The physical cause of the event such as the classic squirrel shorting out a transformer, has not been found; there were no indications of any lightning being present; nor was there any significant solar activity to cause an unexpected surge in the grid. Finally, the HAARP (High Frequency Active Auroral Research Project) was turned on just after 4:00 PM EST on that fateful day. The question is 'Could a secret HAARP experiment have caused the blackout?' Interesting ionospheric effects occurred on 8/14/2003 that would have made the conditions for such a secret military test ideal, including a widespread, highly reflective ionospheric layer being expected (and was likely created by the electron event seen in figure 1), which would allow ideal conditions for signal propagation over long distances. Unfortunately, the ionosonde data that would help show where the effects of HAARP were directed by providing a picture of the ionosphere were not posted on the day of the blackout. The Gakona Ionosonde data is frequently not posted when classified HAARP experiments take place. What we do know is that HAARP was turned on at or just after 4:00 pm EST; it would take a few minutes for the target area to respond (say around 4:05 pm) which would allow a nine minute event to knock the power out at 4:14 pm EST. HAARP, Ionospheric Warfare, and Potential Applications Those of us who work in ionospheric research, and who are concerned with environment risks associated with ionospheric warfare are familiar with HAARP. The basic concept that HAARP relies upon is based on work by N. Tesla when he was attempting to devise a method for the wireless transmission of electrical power, and subsequently picked up in the early 20th century for the purpose of finding a way to modify the weather. It is thought that this technology was used by world leaders such as Stalin, whom during important outdoor events may have used such technology to prevent unwanted rain or fog. These claims were often associated with widespread reports of people feeling mysteriously ill. One of the leading researchers in this field is Dr. Bernard Eastlund, whom to this day accepts money from organizations such the European Space Agency to research potential weather modification applications including the possibility of stopping tornadoes with this type of technology. HAARP is a phased-array ionospheric heater that is capable of focusing large quantities of electromagnetic energy into very localized regions that are very far away from the source. It is entirely possible that the HAARP heaters were directed at the power grid's bottleneck while the grid was operating near peak capacity. The sudden presence of electromagnetic energy could easily force an unexpected increase in the power flow which could in-turn cause a critical failure such as the one seen on August 14, 2003. Despite the claims of HAARP advocates, ionospheric heaters can use the ionosphere to reflect their energy at distances several thousand miles away by using the ionosphere as a 'mirror' much the same way as AM radio signals travel over vast distances. Unlike an AM radio, HAARP can use phase interference to focus its energy on a localized area (such as the weak point on the power grid). The only requirement to achieve geographic precision is that geomagnetic activity be minimal such as it was on the day of the blackout. Also, there was a short duration test about' 20 minutes before the hour. Such a test would serve the purpose of showing the researchers exactly where the beam would focus itself given the current conditions, and would be a necessary step before executing such an experiment. So why would the government do this to us? Well, first of. all, HAARP is sponsored primarily by the Air Force Weather Agency and 'other agencies', and is known to be used as an ionospheric warfare tool. This would be an ideal way to test possible military applications of the instrument. It would be of great military value if :we could cause an entire region to lose electricity almost instantly without dropping a single bomb. Of course, this would need to be tested in a controlled environment where the effects could be thoroughly analyzed (such as on our own soil). It would be done in an area that could most easily handle such a large-scale power outage (such as the northeast US). Also, being in a new age of terrorism, this was an excellent homeland security response test. By having a blackout that covered one quarter of the country we can now see how people would respond, what the strengths and weaknesses of our emergency response systems are, and how quickly we could restore our systems to operating capacity. If this was a military experiment it would certainly have served multiple purposes. I also believe it would have been a strong temptation for anyone with the power to conduct such an experiment to do so. Conspiracy Theories and Reality The blame games that have gone on since the blackout have no hard evidence to back them up. Although it may sound like an episode of the X-files, the facts are clear; HAARP is an ionospheric warfare tool, it is capable of focusing its electromagnetic energy at long distances, it was turned on right at the time the event began, and such a scenario would serve multiple national security interests simultaneously with minimal economic impact. So we must ask ourselves, is considering HAARP as a potential source of the blackout a ridiculous conspiracy theory, or is it the most reasonable explanation given the facts? I am a concerned ionospheric physicist whom has worked with HAARP. I am concerned with the unknown environmental and military implications of this device, and the potential abuses thereof. I am not a conspiracy nut, and I do believe that HAARP is a useful tool that needs to be put into responsible hands where it is not abused and where the public has full access to it's experimental capabilities and data. It is an instrument that is paid for by tax-payers dollars and is currently not in the hands of people who have earned or deserve our confidence and trust. So what really happened on August 14? I'm really not sure, but we must ask ourselves what the most likely scenario's are without ruling out any possibilities; even those that sound like they have no place other than the sci-fi channel. "The Truth is out There", so I leave it for you to decide. The data that is presented was accessed from the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration website at http://www.sec.noaa.gov and from the HAARP homepage at www.haarp.alaska.edu Figure 1. Satellite environment shows that an enhanced flux of high energy electrons which would create preferable reflection conditions for HAARP were present at the time of the event, and geomagnetic activity that could cause problems with the power-grid were non- existent. (at the bottom of the linked page above, select AUG 14, 2003 for Figure 2.) Figure 2. The waterfall chart indicates HAARP was turned on just after 4:00 pm EST on 8/14/2003. The chart shows that frequencies of 5, 10, 15, and 29 Megahertz are present for nearly an hour. The 5 MHz broad- cast frequency is the strongest, and the others are likely to be resulting harmonics (Editor: for archived HAARP waterfall charts and more info about them see http://www.haarp.alaska.edu/mm/wf.html HAARP Fluxgate Magnetometer [for this and other hotlinks see:] http://www.sierratimes.com/03/09/10/article_blackout.htm (via Jilly Dybka, DXLD) Sierra Times is based at: Pahrump, NV! So presumably linked to Art Bell. Repeated references to 4 pm `EST` surely mean `EDT`, i.e. 2000+ UT when the blackout hit. BTW, Friday night Pax repeated Encounters with the Unexplained segment about HAARP, lots of nice shots of the antennas, alarming but unsubstantiated charges. Post hoc, ergo propter hoc (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** AUSTRALIA. Received an email from Dale Chesson at ARDS requesting further reports on their 5050 outlet. Previously, he had indicated that there were plans to increase the TX power sometime in September. I asked him if this was still planned for this month, and the reply came back as: "Not yet. We are trying to determine where the main beam is going because it ain't north-east Arnhem Land!" Hmmmm. Seems to indicate they are not yet happy with reception in the target area when compared with the rest of OZ! Perhaps issues with antenna directivity, gain etc. Please assist Dale by sending regular reports to: dale@ards.com.au (Rob Wagner (VK3BVW), Sept 14, EDXP via DXLD) ** BOLIVIA. I decided to head up to the State Game Lands for an evening LA micro-DXpedition. Laid out a 300' Beverage at 170 degrees. Was out from 2245-0230. Conditions were OK. Brazil was good, Bolivia was above average, and Peru was about as it`s been lately. 4903v, R. San Miguel, 2312-0132 13 Sept., M hosting program of campo music. Long periods of talk often. What sounded like a mention of Peru, and definitely ment of "musica Peruana" drew me into thinking this might be a Peruvian. So I ended up spending a lot of time listening to this!! At 0004, went into presumed political program with M host and airing actualities. Mentioned Politica often. Long ad block at 0030-0036, and program possibly called "Su Frontera" hosted by M and W. At 0103 outro with program name given many times and just about every S.A. country. Came back later and caught ID by M at 0132. Nice signal but radar QRM. Gradually drifting downward slowly from 4903.13 to 4903.01 by 0130. Heard the next morning down on 4902.77. Should make it down below 4900 by about Tuesday!!! (Dave Valko, PA, Cumbredx mailing list via DXLD) see also BRAZIL, HONDURAS, UNIDENTIFIED ** BRAZIL. 6105.01, R. Filadelfia, 2303-0020, Interesting religious program with M talk in PT mentioning Paraguay, Argentinos, palabra, etc. Had a concert with some rough garage-like (presumed) religious music (M and electric guitar only). Sounded like a pirate!! Halleluia's between songs. 2356 at least a minute of time ticks (every 1/2 second!! with a slightly longer minute tick), then ID at 2358 followed by a full ID at 2359. Pretty nice signal. There was another very weak ZY underneath very slowly strengthening during the period. Still going at 0020. 12-13 Sept. (Dave Valko, PA, Cumbredx mailing list via DXLD) ** CANADA. DXing aboard the sternwheeler MV "Empress of the North", ICF-2010, Kiwa Loop, Kiwa Pocket Loop. All dates/times mentioned in my reports are Eastern Local Time for US/Canadian stations and GMT for all others. 1690, CKWX, BC Vancouver - 9/1 2153 EDT - As others have noted, there is quite a spur of CKWX-1130 (actually a mixing product with CFUN- 1410?) on 1690. Noted with good signals as we sailed west out of Vancouver. Image was still there 25-30 miles outside of town, even with the antenna tuned all the way up to 1700 kHz. (TRH-BC) This was a really funky cruise. The ship was brand new, the first sternwheeler to sail from Seattle to Juneau in about 100 years. This was only its 3rd sailing, so there were some bugs to work out. Conditions were mediocre on half of the nights, but very good on the other half. The best place for DXing was the casual eating area on the top deck, which was sheltered on 3 sides by canvas "walls" with plastic windows. One night while DXing, I was invaded by a flock of Yellow Warblers which had accidentally flown into the ship in the middle of a storm. Some of them continued to fly around me for 3 hours as I continued DXing. In terms of programming, it was really refreshing to hear various forms of music on AM in WA, BC, and AK. There were hardly any stations that were mindlessly running the same pathetic talk shows all night, like we get all over the dial down here. Many stations were free format, running different kinds of music throughout the day. 73, (Tim Hall, Chula Vista, CA, IRCA via DXLD) Tim`s travel logs in full are always fascinating reading. This one not yet on his website http://www.inetworld.net/halls/dx/index.html (gh, DXLD) ** COSTA RICA. RFPI BACK UP TO POWER http://copyexchange.com.futuresite.register.com/_wsn/page3.html 09/11/2003 - The Copy Exchange - If you have noticed that RFPI's signal on 7445 is better recently, there's a reason. The station's General Manager, James Latham, was able to increase the transmitter power from 15 kilowatts to 30 kilowatts, starting at 0300 UT Thursday this week. The problem was the lack of a capacitor connected between the transmitter and the antenna, which could block 8 kilovolts of Direct Current applied to the final transmitter tube from reaching the antenna, while allowing the Radio Frequency signal to pass through. The appropriate industrial-strength capacitor had to be ordered in the US and brought to Costa Rica by courier, a process that took several weeks. The blocking capacitor that had been in use for a year, allowing full power operation, burned out in the third week of August. Various temporary measures were attempted. One capacitor that was tried "melted like a marshmallow," according to Latham. Finally, a capacitor was located that would allow RFPI to broadcast at the 15 kilowatt level, and that had been in place since the first week in September. Now listeners can enjoy the strong RFPI signal that the station has produced in the past, and they can rest assured the same problem will not occur again soon - RFPI now has a spare capacitor (via Franklin Seiberling, IA, DXLD) Note URL change; temporary? ** HAWAII. I don't stay up all night these days. I prefer an hour before LSR. Marshall Is is off before that. I have not even logged KAIM since they moved back into Honolulu. They don't get out. KGU does quite well. The best Hawaiians are KMVI-550, KQNG-570, KSSK-590, KPUA- 670, KUAI-720, KGU-760, KNUI-900. KIPA is off and on, operating with low power much of the time. KHLO-850 is better, but nothing like they used to be at the old site. 900 KNUI gets out very well. They are at least S9+ most mornings dominant even with Victoria on the air at 160 air miles away (10 kW). KNUI's 5 kW does well and their Hawaiian pops are unmistakable. They get out better now than KMVI-550 who used to be the strongest Hawaiian, but their signal is not what is used to be. KMVI used to be good on a shirt pocket radio in the 70s. 73s, (Patrick Martin, Seaside OR, NRC-AM via DXLD) See also MARSHALL ISLANDS ** HONDURAS. 3340, HRMI R. Misiones Internacionales, Not there before 0000 13 Sept., but did find it on at 0015 with M hosting music program of soft (religious?) vocals and one or two Ranchera songs. 0100 ID intro for religious programm "La Palabra de Dios para ?? ". Nice signal by 0115 (Dave Valko, PA, Cumbredx mailing list via DXLD) ** INDONESIA. 4870.93, RRI Sorong, 1058* 13 Sept., After music, went into their usual 1100 ToH routine, but pulled the plug during the IS. 4869.96, RRI Wamena, 1123 ID by M during anmnt between songs. W at 1159, music briefly, SCI, then M announcer. Good but faded by 1200 13 Sept. (Dave Valko, PA, Cumbredx mailing list via DXLD) ** JORDAN. This appeared to be back on 11.690 MHz, this afternoon. Looks as though yesterday`s 11.960 was a punch up error. I believe this is unfortunate for listeners in North America, as 11.690 is affected by utility interference there. I can`t trace this here, in the North of England (Ken Fletcher, 2155 UT September 13th 2003, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** LESOTHO. 4800, R.L., 14 Sept. 0255-0500, Afro Hi-life mx to 0258, instru. NA, 0300 into pgm of rel. mx w/deep-voiced M hosting in Sesotho w/short anmnts. 0359-0403 short newscast by dif. M w/ments of Lesotho and president. Back to rel. mx pgm. Decent signal and gradually fading. Nearly gone at 0500 (Dave Valko, PA, Cumbredx mailing list via DXLD) ** MARSHALL ISLANDS [and non]. Here's a Grayland view of things... Marshall Islands, 1098 kHz, definitely signs off before 1200. They do leave their empty carrier on every night. I haven't listened to them at s/off for quite some time, but Bruce Portzer's Asian Pacific Log says they are off at 1030. I couldn't say whether daylight savings time changes that. Their signal is possibly the best of the Pacific island stations. Tahiti-738 might be #1 now that I think of it, but 1098 is pretty close. There's not too much interference with the Beverages, so slop isn't terrible from Grayland. Overall, they don't have an amazing signal. They can't touch stuff like Japan 594 - 747 - 774 or S. Korea 1566. I'm pleasantly surprised you guys can catch traces of Tahiti and Marshall from the midwest and northeast (Chuck Hutton, WA, Sept 12, NRC-AM via DXLD) Tahiti-738 and Tonga-1017 are the best, other than Hawaii in signal. Fiji-558 would be next then Marshall Is 1098, followed by New Caledonia-666. Kiribati-846 used to be strong, but with a local on 840, they have to be strong to hear them now, which I do on rare occasions. 73s, (Patrick Martin, Seaside OR, ibid.) see also HAWAII WRTH lists Marshall s/off at 1000 but we all know how much that is worth. I find no reference anywhere about Marshall using DST and wouldn't expect them to have a reason to do so. Checking a few of Ray Moore's logs of 1098 I find that he's mentioned hearing them with mx after 1100 and also mentioned noticing an open carrier sometimes. Perhaps they stay on a bit later sometimes. WRTH says Marshalls is 25 kW. I recall they used to be 10 kW? When did they upgrade? I'm surprised to notice even a trace of them, but conditions are very good this week and Ray Moore stated that they were his most consistent signal last season (he checks every morning). I will be checking many mornings now since I can be up and out by sunrise this time of year without causing me or my wife to miss much sleep and still easily make it to work on time. The secret to trying to raise audio from TP splits here is to not have interfering adjacent domestic QRM. Yesterday WTAM 1100 was pretty strong at 1055z but there was clearly a decent het. By 1115 WTAM has faded way down and basically is only weak groundwave/residual skywave and can be phased to nothing. Nothing on 1100 towards my west throws any power my way. I did manage to ID KNZZ during a break in their talk and it had some QRM from a religious station (TX or needed CA?) but both are very weak and not much stronger than 1098 was when it peaked at 1116:30 (a day prior it was strongest at 1120 when I stumbled upon it) I noted a weak carrier on 1017 around 1058, (I've seen Tonga to be reported s/off around 1107z) but there's more QRM on 1020 even with KDKA phased. (I've had stronger 1017 carriers before) As for 738 I'd had carriers there in checks during prior years, but nothing that could produce audio. Again on 740 CHWO has faded down to weak groundwave and is easily 100% gone with phasing and KRMG is the dominant on 740 and it isn't very strong at night so there's minimal QRM on 740, especially using LSB. I suspect other midwestern DXers who are not near Toronto or Tulsa can have a decent shot at Tahiti. I've had decent carriers from 846 [Tarawa, Kiribati] in prior years. Being 4 kHz away from strong KOA shouldn't be a terrible problem, but my local WAIT comes on at 1100z with full power so I need to check earlier. A few October's ago, when I had audio from the Aussies on 1638, 1665, and 1683 (the best) and several more X-band carriers, the only X-band stations were in NJ or CA. I couldn't dream of pulling audio thru the mess the X-band has now become unless one of those Aussies raised power greatly. Anyhow, I do feel that I probably have left some TP's on the table, due to not checking for them much more commonly over the years. I'll be more diligent this year. 73 KAZ (Neil Kazaross, IL, ibid.) Kaz: You got it right - Marshall Islands never s/off at 1000 as best I know. They have been heard many times after 1100 from Grayland, but I do not recall them being heard from 1200 on. I'd guess they s/off at 1130 or 1200. I've never, ever heard them cut the carrier - it's always on until sunrise takes them out a few hours later. 846 (Tarawa) has a poor signal these days. Just 5 or 6 years ago they were distinctly better. In fact during one Grayland trip a year or two ago I thought they were absent. Were there any kind of powerhouse on 846, they'd easily dominate 846 over the poor Tarawa signal. Twenty- five or thirty years ago they would have been my vote as the best shot at TP DX from the east coast, but now I wouldn't even put them on the list of targets (Chuck Hutton, WA, ibid.) ** MEXICO [non]. MEXICO, 15045 Radio Free Cascadia International, Cancun, Mexico, 9/12/03 0115-0140, man in English, song in English "What About Free Speech," talk about overthrow the bad people, two men in Spanish discussing tonight's program, rather fadey with QRN from local thunder storms. First time heard (Dave Tomasko, Downers Grove, IL, MARE via DXLD) CLANDESTINE. 15045, R. Free Cascadia, 12 Sept. 2000-2054, Heard again w/usual mx from around the world and speeches in EG and SP. I didn't listen to the tape closely yet, but I did get an ID around 2043 by W as: "This is R. Free Cascadia newswire from the ?? Cancun ?? AM...". Signal about the same as the day before. Did note it all evening on this freq past 0200, and nothing on the other 2 freqs (Dave Valko, PA, Cumbredx mailing list via DXLD) 15045, Radio Free Cascadia International, 1930-2115+ UT Sept 13. Had a program about genetically modified corn 1932-2002 and mentioned corn in Mexico a few times, Then mostly music 2002-2028, switched to Spanish at 2028, back to English at 2112. Positive ID by a male announcer at 2036. SINPO = 35443 (Lee Silvi in Mentor, Ohio, DX LISTENING DIGEST) CLANDESTINE from Mexico(?) to Globe 15045. (Tentative) R. Free Cascadia Intl. 1850-2135 13 Sept. Global anti-globalist, WTO, clandestine with only fair signal at tune-in, but rose over first two hours to solid 55535. Audio on reggae program and plight of maquiladoras fairly good. Very solid ID by female heard at 2133: "Radio Free Cascadia International", and announcement that "our enemies" have shut down email and web site. Gave new email address of rfci@riseup.net repeated with phonetics, but announcer did not do as well with more complicated www address. Hopefully some of you other listeners caught it. I zero- beat frequency down to right on 15045 with Drake R-8 (Rick Barton, Central Arizona, USA Drake R-8, 60' long wire, 75 foot r.w., Cumbredx mailing list via DXLD) CLANDESTINE, 15045, R. Free Cascadia, 2225-2350 Sept 13. Man with talk in Spanish. Eugene, Oregon address and web address given. Mention of Radio ... Libre. 2229 A couple of selections of LA pop music followed by an EZL selection in English and some jazz. Strong signal with a couple of deep fades. SINPO 44334 (Jim Evans, TN, Cumbredx mailing list via DXLD) Usual good signal here on 15045, until fade-down started about 0320 UT Sept 14, gone by 0330; maybe propagating elsewhere. Get them today Sept 14-UT 15 before they quit (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** PARAGUAY. El domingo pasado (el 7 de setiembre se cambio la hora oficial en Paraguay. Ahora es -3 UTC. Transcribo un articulo aparecido en el diario asunceno ABC color del sábado 6 de setiembre Saludos de (Levi P. Iversen, Sept 14, Conexión Digital via DXLD) That`s like starting DST in the Northern Hemisphere on March 7 --- a bit early! ********************************************************************** ESTA NOCHE SE ADELANTA LA HORA EN 60 MINUTOS A medianoche la hora oficial debe ser adelantada en 60 minutos en todo el territorio del país. Este régimen estará vigente hasta tanto una comisión técnica defina el sistema horario definitivo y cuyas conclusiones deberán ser entregadas al Ejecutivo en un plazo no mayor de 20 días. Así explicó ayer en el Palacio de López el secretario general de la Presidencia, Aníbal Saucedo. El adelantamiento de la hora el primer domingo de setiembre fue dispuesto por el ex presidente González Macchi en virtud del decreto Nº 16.530, del 26 de febrero de 2002. Fue en base a una presentación de la Ande, acompañando un estudio sobre la influencia del cambio de la hora oficial sobre la demanda de energía eléctrica del sistema interconectado nacional. Precisa, entre otros fundamentos, que ''es conveniente minimizar la superposición del horario de incremento del consumo residencial de energía eléctrica con la permanencia del consumo comercial, porque ello incrementa los requerimientos adicionales de transmisión y distribución de la energía eléctrica''. (via Levi P. Iversen, Conexión Digital via DXLD) ** TAIWAN. Glenn, Radio Taiwan Int'l from Taipei, Taiwan heard tonight with Spanish programming on steady 9956.113 kHz rather than scheduled 9955 kHz at 2130 UT (Graham Powell, Editor - Online DX Logbook, The most up-to-date Tropical & Shortwave loggings on the Internet are available at http://www.shortwave.org.uk Sept 13, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U K. SOMALILAND WEEKLY ACCUSES BBC SOMALI SERVICE OF BIASED REPORTING | Text of editorial entitled "The BBC Somali Service's biased reporting on Somaliland" published in English by Somali newspaper The Somaliland Times web site on 7 September Under the stewardship of Yusuf Garad, the BBC Somali service's reporting on Somaliland has become so biased it prompted the doyen of Somali studies, I.M. Lewis, to dub it the "Arta faction mouth piece." About four years ago when Yusuf Garad was named the editor of the BBC Somali Service, he became the first Somali to hold such a position. Unfortunately, since the commencement of preparations for the Arta peace conference in early 2000 and the subsequent enthroning of Abdiqasim Salad [Hasan] as president of the now-defunct TNG [Transitional National Government], the Somali Service of the BBC seems to have departed from the BBC's standard policy of fair, objective and accurate reporting. Of particular concern is a pattern of omission and distortion of developments taking place in this country and the harshly anti-Somaliland fervour consistently emanating from the Somali Service broadcasts. Here are a few of the latest sins of omission and commission perpetrated by the BBC's Somaliland Service: On 28 July, the International Crisis Group [ICG] issued one of the few serious reports ever written on Somali affairs since the downfall of Siyad Barre's dictatorship in 1991. A Somalilander living in London had informed the BBC's Somali Service as well Haatuf newspaper in Hargeysa about the ICG report. While a summary of the report was later published by Haatuf and its sister newspapers the Somaliland Times and Arabic Al-Haatef, the Somali Service with a much wider audience, has until now refrained from informing its listeners about the ICG report. The report mainly dealt with the issue of democratization in Somaliland, including a critical review of the electoral processes that the country has witnessed recently. It also contained an extensive amount of analysis and commentary on social, political and security issues of deep concern to Somaliland and Somalia. Obviously, somebody within the Somali Service must have an interest in suppressing information on the peaceful progress made by the people of Somaliland towards democracy, and the growing understanding and sympathy among the international community for Somaliland's demands for recognition. Moreover, the Somali Service still calls Abdiqasim Salad Hasan the president of the TNG as if Salad's term had not expired and the TNG did not cease to exist as of 13 August. Last Wednesday [3 September], Mr Yusuf Garad himself indulged in this habit of portraying Abdiqasim Salad Hasan as the head of a working government while he was being interviewed by the Somali Service on the occasion of his recent return from Mogadishu. By contrast, it is a taboo within the Somali Service to call Somaliland by its name without adding to it such terms as self-proclaimed or self-declared republic. There is also the deafening silence of the BBC's Somali Service about human rights violations in Djibouti, [and] the huge areas of land expropriated by Abdiqasim Salad Hasan's clan militia in southern Somalia. The BBC Somali Service has done great damage to the reputation of the BBC, and something must be done about it before it is too late. Source: The Somaliland Times web site, Hargeysa, in English 7 Sep 03 (via BBCM via DXLD) ** U S A. It seems WWCR`s usage of 9485 as a one-hour `stepup` frequency at 1200-1300 from transmitter 3 was short-lived only in August. The current schedule shows: Transmitter #3 - 100 KW - 40 Degrees FREQ TIME (CDT) TIME (UTC) DATES 12.160 7:00AM- 6:00PM 1200-2300 01 Sep 03-25 Oct 03 5.070 6:00PM- 7:00AM 2300-1200 01 Sep 03-25 Oct 03 And here is the only other transmitter worth listening to: Transmitter #1 - 100 KW - 46 Degrees FREQ TIME (CDT) TIME (UTC) DATES 9.475 4:00AM- 5:00AM 0900-1000 01 Sep 03-25 Oct 03 15.825 5:00AM- 5:00PM 1000-2200 01 Sep 03-25 Oct 03 9.475 5:00PM- 7:00PM 2200-0000 01 Sep 03-25 Oct 03 3.210 7:00PM- 4:00AM 0000-0900 01 Sep 03-25 Oct 03 (via Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Duluth, MN area on 103.7 FM: a relayer of WWCR SW Nashville TN, reportedly with a direxional antenna from north of town, aimed south along US Hwy 53. Monophonic, said to be owned by one Jerry Buchanan, who is not in the local phone book. His neighbor probably alerted him to our visit, as the next afternoon he was off the air, from a house and garage behind a gate with ADT and ``danger --- high voltage`` signs. ``I saw a wire runing across the driveway and didn`t want to approach.`` (Bruce Elving, Sept FMedia! via DXLD) WWCR-1, WWCR-2, WWCR-3 or WWCR-4?? ** U S A. Re 3-164: Just a quick note, KAAY is running about 13 kW at present on its old 50 kw RCA from the 50's. The engineering department used a massive effort to bring the ole girl back to life. The mod transformer went out on the main box (Harris?). Until they get a new or rebuilt one the plan is to put in a 5 or 10 kw Harris MW box for the interim. The 2nd harmonic has got to be a byproduct of wacky output tuning on the old rig (Jerry Kiefer, Daytona Beach, FL, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A [and non]. Notice a new far out-of-band channel coming, 6855 (gh) The following is the Final 26 October 2003 to 28 March 2004 High Frequency Schedule for Family Stations, Inc., WYFR. Freq (kHz) Time (UTC) Az(Degrees) Zone(s) Power 5810 0500-0800 44 27,39 100 5810 0800-1200 160 14 100 5810 2000-2300 44 27,28 100 5950 0300-0800 285 10 100 5950 0945-1300 355 4,5,9 100 5950 2100-0300 355 4,5,9 100 5985 0445-0700 315 2 100 5985 2145-0445 181 11 50 6065 0100-0445 355 4,5,9 100 6085 0945-1400 181 11 100 6085 2245-0100 355 4,5,9 100 6105 0800-1100 142 15 100 6855 0300-0600 355 4,5,9 100 7355 0300-0745 44 27,28 100 7355 1045-1345 315 2 100 7520 0100-0200 142 13 100 7520 0245-0500 44 27,28 100 7520 0500-0800 44 27,28 100 7570 0045-0300 160 15 100 7580 1945-2245 44 27,28 100 9355 0400-0800 44 27,28 100 9355 1845-2300 44 27,28 100 9505 0000-0445 315 2 100 9525 0100-0400 285 10 50 9555 0800-1200 160 16 100 9575 0900-1200 160 15 100 9575 1200-1245 285 10 50 9605 0800-1100 142 13 100 9605 1100-1245 222 12 100 9680 0145-0700 315 2 100 9680 0845-1045 140 13 100 9690 2245-0045 142 13 100 9715 2345-0100 285 10 50 9715 0400-0600 285 10 50 9985 0100-0500 151 15 100 9985 0500-0900 87 37,46 100 11530 0500-0800 44 27,28 100 11565 2000-2145 44 27,28 100 11580 0345-0900 87 47,52,57 100 11665 1945-2300 44 27,28 100 11720 2245-0145 142 13 100 11725 1100-1400 222 11 100 11740 0145-0600 222 11 100 11740 0945-1300 151 15 100 11740 1300-1500 355 4,5,9 100 11740 2145-2345 315 2 100 11825 0045-0300 160 14 100 11830 1045-1700 315 2 100 11855 2145-0500 222 11 100 11865 1345-1700 315 2 100 11885 2300-0145 140 13 100 11970 1145-1345 285 10 100 13695 1045-1500 355 4,5,9 100 15115 1700-1945 87 47 100 15130 1245-1500 285 10 50 15130 1945-2100 355 4,5,9 100 15130 2145-2245 142 13 100 15170 2245-0045 160 15 100 15215 2300-0400 160 16 100 15355 1245-1400 222 12 100 15400 2300-0100 151 15 100 15440 2145-0300 285 10 100 15565 1800-1945 44 27,28 100 15565 2000-2245 87 37,46 100 15665 1600-1700 44 27,28 100 17575 1945-2245 140 13 100 17690 1700-1945 87 37,46 100 17760 1345-1700 285 10 100 17760 1700-2000 44 27,28 100 17790 1545-1700 87 47 100 17845 2300-0045 160 14 100 18930 1545-1845 44 27,28 100 18980 1545-1945 44 27,28 100 21455 1545-2000 44 28 100 21525 1945-2245 87 47,52,57 100 21745 1545-1745 44 28,29 100 The following will be the shortwave schedule for Family Stations, Inc. aired from Taiwan 26 October 2003 to 28 March 2004. Language Time (UTC) Freq(kHz) Target English 0100-0200 15060 S. Asia 1300-1500 11560 S. Asia 1500-1700 6280 S. Asia Hindi 0000-0100 15060 S. Asia 1500-1600 11560 S. Asia Mandarin 1102-1602 6300 E. Asia 1102-1602 9280 E. Asia 2100-0000 6300 E. Asia 2100-0000 9280 E. Asia Russian 1500-1700 9955 Eu/Sib (Evelyn Marcy, WYFR, Sept 11, DX LISTENING DIGEST) WYFR BROADCAST SCHEDULE 26 OCT 2003 to 28 MAR 2004 Note: Schedule information showing languages for transmissions carried by WYFR for other broadcasters will have to be obtained directly from the other broadcasters. FREQUENCY SORT FREQ (KHZ)TIME (UTC) LANG AZ ZONE PWR 5810 0504-0600 RUSS 44 27,28,100 5810 0600-0700 FREN 44 27,28,100 5810 0700-0745 SPAN 44 27,28,100 5810 0800-1200 SPAN 160 14 100 5810 2000-2200 ENGL 44 27,28 100 5810 2200-2245 ARAB 44 27,28 100 5950 1000-1245 ENGL 355 4,5,9 100 5985 0000-0200 SPAN 181 11 50 5985 0200-0300 ENGL 181 11 50 5985 0300-0445 SPAN 181 11 50 5985 0500-0600 MAND 315 2 100 5985 0600-0700 CANT 315 2 100 5985 2200-2300 SPAN 181 11 50 5985 2300-0000 ENGL 181 11 50 6065 0100-0445 ENGL 355 4,5,9 100 6085 0000-0100 ENGL 355 4,5,9 100 6085 1000-1400 SPAN 181 11 100 6085 2300-0000 FREN 355 4,5,9 100 6105 0800-1045 PORT 142 13 100 6855 0304-0500 SPAN 355 4,5,9 100 6855 0500-0600 ENGL 355 4,5,9 100 7355 0304-0400 RUSS 44 27,28,100 7355 0400-0500 ENGL 44 27,28,100 7355 0500-0600 GERM 44 27,28,100 7355 0600-0745 ENGL 44 27,28,100 7355 1100-1300 MAND 315 2 100 7355 1300-1345 SPAN 315 2 100 7520 0100-0200 PORT 142 15 100 7520 0300-0400 GERM 44 27,28,100 7520 0400-0500 ARAB 44 27,28,100 7520 0500-0600 ENGL 44 27,28,100 7520 0600-0700 ITAL 44 27,28,100 7520 0700-0745 PORT 44 27,28,100 7570 0100-0200 SPAN 160 15 100 7570 0200-0300 PORT 160 15 100 7580 2000-2245 ENGL 44 27,28 100 9355 0404-0500 GERM 44 27,28,100 9355 0500-0600 SPAN 44 27,28,100 9505 0000-0445 ENGL 315 2 100 9555 0804-1100 SPAN 160 16 100 9555 1100-1200 ENGL 160 16 100 9575 0900-1100 PORT 160 15 100 9575 1100-1200 SPAN 160 15 100 9575 1200-1245 SPAN 285 10 50 9605 0800-1045 PORT 142 15 100 9605 1100-1245 SPAN 222 11 100 9680 0900-1000 PORT 140 13 100 9680 1000-1045 FREN 140 13 100 9690 0000-0045 PORT 142 15 100 9715 0000-0045 SPAN 285 10 50 9715 0404-0500 ENGL 285 10 50 9715 0500-0600 SPAN 285 10 50 9985 0100-0200 SPAN 151 15 100 9985 0200-0300 ENGL 151 15 100 9985 0300-0445 SPAN 151 15 100 9985 0500-0600 ARAB 87 37,46 100 9985 0600-0700 FREN 87 37,46 100 9985 0700-0900 ENGL 87 37,46 100 11530 0500-0600 ARAB 44 27,28,100 11530 0600-0700 ENGL 44 27,28,100 11530 0700-0800 ITAL 44 27,28,100 11565 2000-2100 ARAB 44 27,28,100 11565 2100-2145 GERM 44 27,28,100 11580 0400-0500 PORT 87 47,52,100 11580 0500-0600 FREN 87 47,52,100 11580 0600-0700 ENGL 87 47,52,100 11580 0700-0800 ARAB 160 15 100 11580 0800-0845 FREN 160 15 100 11665 2000-2100 GERM 44 27,28 100 11665 2100-2200 SPAN 44 27,28 100 11720 0000-0100 ENGL 142 15 100 11720 0100-0145 PORT 142 15 100 11725 1100-1200 ENGL 222 12 100 11725 1200-1400 SPAN 222 12 100 11740 0200-0300 SPAN 222 12 100 11740 0300-0400 ENGL 222 12 100 11740 1000-1100 FREN 151 15 100 11740 1100-1300 SPAN 151 15 100 11740 1300-1500 ENGL 355 4,5,9 100 11740 2200-2345 ENGL 315 2 100 11830 1100-1700 ENGL 315 2 100 11855 0000-0200 SPAN 222 11 100 11855 0200-0300 ENGL 222 11 100 11855 0300-0445 SPAN 222 11 100 11855 2200-2300 SPAN 222 11 100 11855 2300-0000 ENGL 222 11 100 11865 1400-1500 SPAN 315 2 100 11865 1500-1600 MAND 315 2 100 11865 1600-1700 ENGL 315 2 100 11885 2300-0145 PORT 140 13 100 11970 1200-1345 ENGL 285 10 100 13695 1100-1200 FREN 355 4,5,9 100 13695 1200-1300 ENGL 355 4,5,9 100 13695 1300-1500 MAND 355 4,5,9 100 15115 1700-1800 FREN 87 4,5,9 100 15115 1800-1900 PORT 87 37,46 100 15115 1900-1945 ENGL 87 37,46 100 15130 1300-1500 SPAN 285 10 50 15130 2200-2245 PORT 142 13 100 15170 0000-0045 PORT 160 15 100 15170 2300-0000 ENGL 160 15 100 15215 2300-0100 SPAN 160 16 100 15355 1300-1400 SPAN 222 11 100 15400 0000-0045 FREN 151 15 100 15400 2304-0000 ENGL 151 15 100 15565 1800-1845 SPAN 44 27,28 100 15565 1900-1945 ENGL 44 27,28 100 15565 2000-2200 ENGL 87 37,46 100 15565 2200-2245 ARAB 87 37,46 100 15665 1600-1645 ARAB 44 27,28 100 17575 2000-2200 ENGL 140 13 100 17575 2200-2245 PORT 140 13 100 17690 1700-1800 PORT 87 47,52,100 17690 1800-1945 FREN 87 47,52,100 17760 1400-1700 ENGL 285 10 100 17760 1700-1800 GERM 44 27,28 100 17760 1800-1900 ITAL 44 27,28 100 17760 1900-1945 PORT 44 27,28 100 17790 1600-1645 ENGL 87 4,5,9 100 17845 2304-0045 SPAN 160 14 100 18930 1600-1800 RUSS 44 27,28 100 18930 1800-1845 FREN 44 27,28 100 18980 1600-1945 ENGL 44 27,28,100 21455 1600-1800 ENGL 44 27,28,100 21455 1800-1900 GERM 44 27,28,100 21455 1900-1945 FREN 44 27,28,100 21525 2000-2100 ARAB 87 47,52,100 21525 2100-2200 PORT 87 47,52,100 21525 2200-2245 ENGL 87 47,52,100 21745 1600-1700 ITAL 44 27,28 100 21745 1700-1745 SPAN 44 27,28 100 WYFR BROADCAST SCHEDULE 26 OCT 2003 to 28 MAR 2004 Note: Schedule information showing languages for transmissions carried by WYFR for other broadcasters will have to be obtained directly from the other broadcasters. TIME SORT TIME (UTC) LANG FREQ (KHZ) AZ ZONE PWR 0000-0045 FREN 15400 151 15 100 0000-0045 PORT 9690 142 15 100 0000-0045 PORT 15170 160 15 100 0000-0045 SPAN 9715 285 10 50 0000-0100 ENGL 11720 142 15 100 0000-0100 ENGL 6085 355 4,5,9 100 0000-0200 SPAN 5985 181 11 50 0000-0200 SPAN 11855 222 11 100 0000-0445 ENGL 9505 315 2 100 0100-0145 PORT 11720 142 15 100 0100-0200 PORT 7520 142 15 100 0100-0200 SPAN 9985 151 15 100 0100-0200 SPAN 7570 160 15 100 0100-0445 ENGL 6065 355 4,5,9 100 0200-0300 ENGL 5985 181 11 50 0200-0300 ENGL 9985 151 15 100 0200-0300 ENGL 11855 222 11 100 0200-0300 PORT 7570 160 15 100 0200-0300 SPAN 11740 222 12 100 0300-0400 ENGL 11740 222 12 100 0300-0400 GERM 7520 44 27,28,100 0300-0445 SPAN 5985 181 11 50 0300-0445 SPAN 9985 151 15 100 0300-0445 SPAN 11855 222 11 100 0304-0400 RUSS 7355 44 27,28,100 0304-0500 SPAN 6855 355 4,5,9 100 0400-0500 ARAB 7520 44 27,28,100 0400-0500 ENGL 7355 44 27,28,100 0400-0500 PORT 11580 87 47,52,100 0404-0500 ENGL 9715 285 10 50 0404-0500 GERM 9355 44 27,28,100 0500-0600 ARAB 9985 87 37,46 100 0500-0600 ARAB 11530 44 27,28,100 0500-0600 ENGL 7520 44 27,28,100 0500-0600 ENGL 6855 355 4,5,9 100 0500-0600 FREN 11580 87 47,52,100 0500-0600 GERM 7355 44 27,28,100 0500-0600 MAND 5985 315 2 100 0500-0600 SPAN 9355 44 27,28,100 0500-0600 SPAN 9715 285 10 50 0504-0600 RUSS 5810 44 27,28,100 0600-0700 CANT 5985 315 2 100 0600-0700 ENGL 11530 44 27,28,100 0600-0700 ENGL 11580 87 47,52,100 0600-0700 FREN 5810 44 27,28,100 0600-0700 FREN 9985 87 37,46 100 0600-0700 ITAL 7520 44 27,28,100 0600-0745 ENGL 7355 44 27,28,100 0700-0745 PORT 7520 44 27,28,100 0700-0745 SPAN 5810 44 27,28,100 0700-0800 ARAB 11580 160 15 100 0700-0800 ITAL 11530 44 27,28,100 0700-0900 ENGL 9985 87 37,46 100 0800-0845 FREN 11580 160 15 100 0800-1045 PORT 9605 142 15 100 0800-1045 PORT 6105 142 13 100 0800-1200 SPAN 5810 160 14 100 0804-1100 SPAN 9555 160 16 100 0900-1000 PORT 9680 140 13 100 0900-1100 PORT 9575 160 15 100 1000-1045 FREN 9680 140 13 100 1000-1100 FREN 11740 151 15 100 1000-1245 ENGL 5950 355 4,5,9 100 1000-1400 SPAN 6085 181 11 100 1100-1200 ENGL 11725 222 12 100 1100-1200 ENGL 9555 160 16 100 1100-1200 FREN 13695 355 4,5,9 100 1100-1200 SPAN 9575 160 15 100 1100-1245 SPAN 9605 222 11 100 1100-1300 MAND 7355 315 2 100 1100-1300 SPAN 11740 151 15 100 1100-1700 ENGL 11830 315 2 100 1200-1245 SPAN 9575 285 10 50 1200-1300 ENGL 13695 355 4,5,9 100 1200-1345 ENGL 11970 285 10 100 1200-1400 SPAN 11725 222 12 100 1300-1345 SPAN 7355 315 2 100 1300-1400 SPAN 15355 222 11 100 1300-1500 ENGL 11740 355 4,5,9 100 1300-1500 MAND 13695 355 4,5,9 100 1300-1500 SPAN 15130 285 10 50 1400-1500 SPAN 11865 315 2 100 1400-1700 ENGL 17760 285 10 100 1500-1600 MAND 11865 315 2 100 1600-1645 ARAB 15665 44 27,28 100 1600-1645 ENGL 17790 87 4,5,9 100 1600-1700 ENGL 11865 315 2 100 1600-1700 ITAL 21745 44 27,28 100 1600-1800 ENGL 21455 44 27,28,100 1600-1800 RUSS 18930 44 27,28 100 1600-1945 ENGL 18980 44 27,28,100 1700-1745 SPAN 21745 44 27,28 100 1700-1800 FREN 15115 87 4,5,9 100 1700-1800 GERM 17760 44 27,28 100 1700-1800 PORT 17690 87 47,52,100 1800-1845 FREN 18930 44 27,28 100 1800-1845 SPAN 15565 44 27,28 100 1800-1900 GERM 21455 44 27,28,100 1800-1900 ITAL 17760 44 27,28 100 1800-1900 PORT 15115 87 37,46 100 1800-1945 FREN 17690 87 47,52,100 1900-1945 ENGL 15115 87 37,46 100 1900-1945 ENGL 15565 44 27,28 100 1900-1945 FREN 21455 44 27,28,100 1900-1945 PORT 17760 44 27,28 100 2000-2100 ARAB 11565 44 27,28,100 2000-2100 ARAB 21525 87 47,52,100 2000-2100 GERM 11665 44 27,28 100 2000-2200 ENGL 5810 44 27,28 100 2000-2200 ENGL 15565 87 37,46 100 2000-2200 ENGL 17575 140 13 100 2000-2245 ENGL 7580 44 27,28 100 2100-2145 GERM 11565 44 27,28,100 2100-2200 PORT 21525 87 47,52,100 2100-2200 SPAN 11665 44 27,28 100 2200-2245 ARAB 5810 44 27,28 100 2200-2245 ARAB 15565 87 37,46 100 2200-2245 ENGL 21525 87 47,52,100 2200-2245 PORT 15130 142 13 100 2200-2245 PORT 17575 140 13 100 2200-2300 SPAN 5985 181 11 50 2200-2300 SPAN 11855 222 11 100 2200-2345 ENGL 11740 315 2 100 2300-0000 ENGL 5985 181 11 50 2300-0000 ENGL 15170 160 15 100 2300-0000 ENGL 11855 222 11 100 2300-0000 FREN 6085 355 4,5,9 100 2300-0100 SPAN 15215 160 16 100 2300-0145 PORT 11885 140 13 100 2304-0000 ENGL 15400 151 15 100 2304-0045 SPAN 17845 160 14 100 WYFR BROADCAST SCHEDULE 26 OCT 2003 to 28 MAR 2004 Note: Schedule information showing languages for transmissions carried by WYFR for other broadcasters will have to be obtained directly from the other broadcasters. LANGUAGE SORT LANG TIME (UTC) FREQ (KHZ) AZ ZONE PWR ARAB 0400-0500 7520 44 27,28,100 ARAB 0500-0600 9985 87 37,46 100 ARAB 0500-0600 11530 44 27,28,100 ARAB 0700-0800 11580 160 15 100 ARAB 1600-1645 15665 44 27,28 100 ARAB 2000-2100 11565 44 27,28,100 ARAB 2000-2100 21525 87 47,52,100 ARAB 2200-2245 5810 44 27,28 100 ARAB 2200-2245 15565 87 37,46 100 CANT 0600-0700 5985 315 2 100 ENGL 0000-0100 11720 142 15 100 ENGL 0000-0100 6085 355 4,5,9 100 ENGL 0000-0445 9505 315 2 100 ENGL 0100-0445 6065 355 4,5,9 100 ENGL 0200-0300 5985 181 11 50 ENGL 0200-0300 9985 151 15 100 ENGL 0200-0300 11855 222 11 100 ENGL 0300-0400 11740 222 12 100 ENGL 0400-0500 7355 44 27,28,100 ENGL 0404-0500 9715 285 10 50 ENGL 0500-0600 7520 44 27,28,100 ENGL 0500-0600 6855 355 4,5,9 100 ENGL 0600-0700 11530 44 27,28,100 ENGL 0600-0700 11580 87 47,52,100 ENGL 0600-0745 7355 44 27,28,100 ENGL 0700-0900 9985 87 37,46 100 ENGL 1000-1245 5950 355 4,5,9 100 ENGL 1100-1200 11725 222 12 100 ENGL 1100-1200 9555 160 16 100 ENGL 1100-1700 11830 315 2 100 ENGL 1200-1300 13695 355 4,5,9 100 ENGL 1200-1345 11970 285 10 100 ENGL 1300-1500 11740 355 4,5,9 100 ENGL 1400-1700 17760 285 10 100 ENGL 1600-1645 17790 87 4,5,9 100 ENGL 1600-1700 11865 315 2 100 ENGL 1600-1800 21455 44 27,28,100 ENGL 1600-1945 18980 44 27,28,100 ENGL 1900-1945 15115 87 37,46 100 ENGL 1900-1945 15565 44 27,28 100 ENGL 2000-2200 5810 44 27,28 100 ENGL 2000-2200 15565 87 37,46 100 ENGL 2000-2200 17575 140 13 100 ENGL 2000-2245 7580 44 27,28 100 ENGL 2200-2245 21525 87 47,52,100 ENGL 2200-2345 11740 315 2 100 ENGL 2300-0000 5985 181 11 50 ENGL 2300-0000 15170 160 15 100 ENGL 2300-0000 11855 222 11 100 ENGL 2304-0000 15400 151 15 100 FREN 0000-0045 15400 151 15 100 FREN 0500-0600 11580 87 47,52,100 FREN 0600-0700 5810 44 27,28,100 FREN 0600-0700 9985 87 37,46 100 FREN 0800-0845 11580 160 15 100 FREN 1000-1045 9680 140 13 100 FREN 1000-1100 11740 151 15 100 FREN 1100-1200 13695 355 4,5,9 100 FREN 1700-1800 15115 87 4,5,9 100 FREN 1800-1845 18930 44 27,28 100 FREN 1800-1945 17690 87 47,52,100 FREN 1900-1945 21455 44 27,28,100 FREN 2300-0000 6085 355 4,5,9 100 GERM 0300-0400 7520 44 27,28,100 GERM 0404-0500 9355 44 27,28,100 GERM 0500-0600 7355 44 27,28,100 GERM 1700-1800 17760 44 27,28 100 GERM 1800-1900 21455 44 27,28,100 GERM 2000-2100 11665 44 27,28 100 GERM 2100-2145 11565 44 27,28,100 ITAL 0600-0700 7520 44 27,28,100 ITAL 0700-0800 11530 44 27,28,100 ITAL 1600-1700 21745 44 27,28 100 ITAL 1800-1900 17760 44 27,28 100 MAND 0500-0600 5985 315 2 100 MAND 1100-1300 7355 315 2 100 MAND 1300-1500 13695 355 4,5,9 100 MAND 1500-1600 11865 315 2 100 PORT 0000-0045 9690 142 15 100 PORT 0000-0045 15170 160 15 100 PORT 0100-0145 11720 142 15 100 PORT 0100-0200 7520 142 15 100 PORT 0200-0300 7570 160 15 100 PORT 0400-0500 11580 87 47,52,100 PORT 0700-0745 7520 44 27,28,100 PORT 0800-1045 9605 142 15 100 PORT 0800-1045 6105 142 13 100 PORT 0900-1000 9680 140 13 100 PORT 0900-1100 9575 160 15 100 PORT 1700-1800 17690 87 47,52,100 PORT 1800-1900 15115 87 37,46 100 PORT 1900-1945 17760 44 27,28 100 PORT 2100-2200 21525 87 47,52,100 PORT 2200-2245 15130 142 13 100 PORT 2200-2245 17575 140 13 100 PORT 2300-0145 11885 140 13 100 RUSS 0304-0400 7355 44 27,28,100 RUSS 0504-0600 5810 44 27,28,100 RUSS 1600-1800 18930 44 27,28 100 SPAN 0000-0045 9715 285 10 50 SPAN 0000-0200 5985 181 11 50 SPAN 0000-0200 11855 222 11 100 SPAN 0100-0200 9985 151 15 100 SPAN 0100-0200 7570 160 15 100 SPAN 0200-0300 11740 222 12 100 SPAN 0300-0445 5985 181 11 50 SPAN 0300-0445 9985 151 15 100 SPAN 0300-0445 11855 222 11 100 SPAN 0304-0500 6855 355 4,5,9 100 SPAN 0500-0600 9355 44 27,28,100 SPAN 0500-0600 9715 285 10 50 SPAN 0700-0745 5810 44 27,28,100 SPAN 0800-1200 5810 160 14 100 SPAN 0804-1100 9555 160 16 100 SPAN 1000-1400 6085 181 11 100 SPAN 1100-1200 9575 160 15 100 SPAN 1100-1245 9605 222 11 100 SPAN 1100-1300 11740 151 15 100 SPAN 1200-1245 9575 285 10 50 SPAN 1200-1400 11725 222 12 100 SPAN 1300-1345 7355 315 2 100 SPAN 1300-1400 15355 222 11 100 SPAN 1300-1500 15130 285 10 50 SPAN 1400-1500 11865 315 2 100 SPAN 1700-1745 21745 44 27,28 100 SPAN 1800-1845 15565 44 27,28 100 SPAN 2100-2200 11665 44 27,28 100 SPAN 2200-2300 5985 181 11 50 SPAN 2200-2300 11855 222 11 100 SPAN 2300-0100 15215 160 16 100 SPAN 2304-0045 17845 160 14 100 (via Evelyn Marcy, WYFR, Sept 12, DXLD) ** U S A. Radio talk personality Rollye James is apparently heard on a small, but growing network of stations, including WLAC, 1510, Nashville, where I heard the last hour of her 3-hour program this past Thursday and Friday nights. It airs from 10:00 to 1:00 EDT, or 9 to midnight Central. Her flagship is in Philadelphia, perhaps WPHT, 1210, where I'd heard her a few months ago during a good skip. One of her liners claims she's on the edge of the lunatic fringe. From what I heard, I'd say her views might be populist, or something on that order, though some might say she gets into conspiracy theory content. Friday nights are devoted to trivia games. She's got an incredible knowledge of obscure oldies. In the past I'd heard Ms. James on KOA, Denver, and on rare occasions she subbed for Art Bell on Coast to Coast. She's quite a character. Keep up the good work (John Wesley Smith, KC0HSB, Hallsville, MO, Sept 13, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. On September 6, around 2000 EDT, it seemed that WSAI had managed, somehow, to QRM itself. There was noise, consistent with that on 1520 and 1540, present on 1530. Not at the same level, but the same white hash noise was there nonetheless. Now, is some other operation running IBOC on 1520 or 1540, or did the IBOC system develop a flaw that was not found in the black box testing? Whatever the cause, the audio was degraded slightly at that time due to the white noise. Similar noise was not audible on 1510 or 1550, which does imply that this did not originate on 1520 or 1540, though sufficient data is lacking to establish that (Gerry Bishop, Niceandmuggyville, FL, NRC-AM via DXLD) When running IBOC digital, the analog bandwidth is narrowed to 5 kHz. You must've been listening on a wideband receiver, thus hearing stuff on either side of the 5 kHz analog signal. Thus the fatal flaw in AM IBOC. The idea was that present analog equipment wouldn't become obsolete. The reality is that most analog AM receivers have a bandwidth much greater than 5 kHz and will receive interference from the digital signal when tuned to the analog center frequency (Bruce Conti - Nashua NH, ibid.) Actually, I had it on 6, 4, and 2.3 settings on the R8, and on the Wide and Narrow settings on 2010. Used both receivers so I could be sure it wasn't just something in the receiver. But nonetheless, an excellent thought that it might have been just too wide a setting. But in this case, that wasn't the problem (Gerry Bishop, ibid.) Then you should contact WSAI. If you were on frequency with the 2.3 kHz IF engaged, then there shouldn't have been any interference from the digital sides (Bruce Conti - Nashua NH, ibid.) Oh, I sent them a letter about it last week. I know they're gathering data about the IBOC system (GB, ibid.) To those who have local stations which are interfered with by the IBOC carrier, I would encourage you to make a tape or MP3 file of it and send it to Paul Jellison. I sent an MP3 demo of IBOC interfering with 1520 and 1540 in Memphis, but we have no local stations. I think samples of local stations being buried or severely disrupted by IBOC would be very good to have on record. It's obvious that what Mr. Jellison is trying to do is collect as much real-world data on the interference caused by IBOC. I've heard the IBOC carrier being turned on and off several times before. For example, last night, it was going on and off every minute. When it was off, I could hear KOMA running a football game and another station also running a football game. I could also hear what sounded like a het! Yes, a het in Memphis. I don't know whether it was the IBOC carrier being still on with no digital noise, or a very weak foreign signal somehow making it this far, but there was a noticeable het on 1520 last night. When the IBOC was on, I could just make out one of the football games. That with 1530 being beat up by a Spanish station (Adam Myrow, TN, ibid.) Probably Sa`udi Arabia 2 megawatts on 1521 ** U S A. Hello G.H., Forgive me if you're already aware of this, but thought I'd share it for what it's worth. I haven't yet heard this week's program. This past Wednesday afternoon, Sept. 10th, 61 Country, WDAF, 610 in Kansas City went away and is now an all sports talker. I think they made the switch around 2:00, though I wasn't listening at that moment. The call may change to KCSP. They're calling it 61 Sports and are airing some blocks of local talk in the daytime and airing Sporting News Radio evenings and overnight apparently. I don't know how long WDAF had been on the air, but they played standards in the first half of the '70's when I became acquainted with them while living in southeast Nebraska. On Valentine's Day 1977 they became 61 Country, featuring such personalities as Jim Tyler, who later worked in Dallas & Chicago, and Dale Summers, now best known as the Truckin' Bozo. 61 Country was a class act. Music was like that of the Real Country format. Their personalities and newscasters generally stayed around quite a long time. Professionalism was top notch. They began simulcasting on the latter half of August on 106.5 FM, Liberty (N. Kansas City), MO, and proclaimed 61 country was on FM as Country 106.5. They claimed to have supersized, going from 5,000 Watts on AM to 100,000 Watts in digital stereo on FM. The AM station reaches well into Nebraska and Iowa as well as Missouri and Kansas, obviously a larger coverage area than any full power FM. Losing 61 Country is a real shame in my opinion. As 61 Country, WDAF was often the highest rated station in Kansas City. It wouldn't surprise me to see the FM station water down the personality of the station to the point where it will lose popularity, then eventually be done away with in the midst of more mergers, consolidations, etc. (John Wesley Smith, KC0HSB, Hallsville, MO, Sept 13, DX LISTENING DIGEST) I did a Google search and found an August 31 Kansas City "Star" article-- http://www.kansascity.com/mld/kansascity/2003/08/31/living/6614922.htm with typically fatuous, anti-AM comments from "WDAF honcho Bob Zuroweste." The article notes that moving the old "61 Country" format to FM "will reduce the rural reach of the country music powerhouse. WDAF has already begun to weed out ag elements and ramp up its music to appeal to a more urban audience." Zuroweste claims the "key elements of 61 Country have all been kept --- but people listen to FM radio more for music than anything else". So they're moving some of their talk programming out of prime time etc. "Let's face it, when WDAF put on the Kansas City Royals, (rival country station) KFKF popped champagne bottles," Zuroweste says. "Because people who want to hear country music want to hear country music. Not baseball. So we want to play country music when they want to hear it --- we eliminated farm reports. Farm reports appealed to people who live in farming communities. Well, WDAF on AM reached people who live in farming communities. WDAF on FM doesn't reach farming communities --- music radio stations on AM are really kind of extinct. WDAF-AM was probably one of the only top-three AM music stations in America. And a lot of the people we polled said they wouldn't listen to WDAF because it was on AM." They did move Paul Harvey to the FM. Zuroweste at first thought "Paul Harvey's not going to make it on the new station," but research proved him wrong, apparently. "I was blown away by his popularity." Well, duh. The WDAF-FM website makes note of the changes by simply saying "FM is for music, AM is for talk." (Randy Stewart/Springfield MO, NRC-AM via DXLD) It's people like this Bob Z character who are ruining what little good is left on AM. From everything that I heard, WDAF had no problems maintaining its share, even despite overwhelming odds posed by FM stations. I especially love the part about: "WDAF-AM was probably one of the only top-three AM music stations in America." Success breeds the need for change, evidently. "If it works, fix it." Evidently running a station that appeals to a regional audience from a cosmopolitan center ("everything's up-to-date in Kansas City") is also a no-no. Rural audiences be damned-- they're just a bunch of damn dumb farmers anyway. When WSM 650 finally does become all-sports, all- right-wing, or whatever other plans the bigwigs have for it (and who cares what its countless loyal listeners all across the country think), a true slice of Americana will be forever buried. That will be a sad day. 73 (Bill Dvorak, Madison WI, ibid.) The same thing has happened with so many stations. 620 Portland is a good example. When they were KGW, they were highly rated. But in the 80s they threw away their history and changed to KINK. It has been one format and call change after another. Now they have taken the old historic KPOJ (1330) calls. I wonder how long they will have those? One of the sad ones was 1400-Berkeley, CA. In the early 80s the FCC was allowing stations to get their 3 call letter calls back. KPAT got their KRE calls back. I QSL'd them, but soon they threw them away, never to have them returned now. Their should be a law against that. But so many have thrown away the history. I talk to quite a few stations and most don't have a clue that they were even on the air a year ago let alone 50 years or more ago. All they care about is $$$$. Nothing else matters anymore. 73s, (Patrick Martin, Seaside OR, ibid.) WDAF had great 12+ numbers, but nearly all the listeners were over 65 as is typical of an AM music station. They were not even in the top 15 in any of the prime sales buying demos, between 18 and 54. So the owners moved the music format to FM, and did one of AM's prime and successful formats, sports and guy talk. WDAF had no history in any audience group that could be sold to advertisers. In fact, while the market is up in revenue by 60% in the last 7 years, WDAF was down nearly half. And it was not the owner. Entercom has wildly successful AM talk and music stations in KC, but they could not sell a format that time buyers did not want. Heritage in radio may be a decade or two. After that, your listeners have moved out of your demo target and forget about you. Looking at something that happened 30 years ago gets you into WGN syndrome: the audience grows older with its listeners, to the point where, eventually, time buyers no longer can justify it. And it, rightfully, dies. And, hopefully, is reincarnated into something better and more relevant. WDAF "looked" good in 12+ overall ratings, but was, in fact, dead and rotting in the ages advertisers will buy: 18-34, 25-54, etc. In no sales demo was the station even in the top 15. It had lost half its billing in the last 7 years, and at the same time, the market grew by half. Sick station. Very sick. If the station was top 3 in 12+, it was because it was #1 65+ and owned that demo. Unfortunately, there are few ad buys for that age group... Old demos are shunned by advertisers. It has been a long time since the WDAF rural audience even existed. The KC metro is a few (9) counties around the core city. WDAF only showed up outside that metro in the Pittsburg and Topeka markets, with tiny numbers in each (and mostly in the ZIP codes that are actually closer to KC). Its role as a rural station was replaced decades ago by local AMs and FMs in every town and crossroads, giving true local service; farmers long ago started getting farm news by internet and weather news by pagers and other new technology. WDAF was fixed because it was not working. In fact, one has to admire the owner for trying for years and years to make it work, losing revenue each year (David Gleason, CA, ibid.) I have no problem with a station making a living and changing with the times that includes changing formats. However if a station was granted a historic call sign from back in the 20s, they should keep those call letters. You only have to ID every hour, so just use slogans like the Latins do. Change your sound, image, or whatever. You can do all of that and still keep the historic call letters (Patrick Martin, Seaside OR, ibid.) They move the calls with the format to the FM. I'm guessing, but I believe they felt leaving the old calls on the AM with a new format would be detrimental as many people would think of the station as an old folks station still even if they reformatted. The FM is doing traditional country, too... Maybe the FM part will help them get a good 35-54 increase, enough to sustain the format. Call letters are not historic if nobody you want to talk to cares. They may be dangerous (Gleason, ibid.) I really feel that radio buys for older demos will change as the boomer generation is almost there. The beginning of the bulge moving thru time is approaching 60 now. They need retirement homes, senior citizens specials, Depends, Denture creme, Doctors, Viagra and a host of all kinds of things that can be marketed both nationally and locally (Paul Smith, W4KNX, Sarasota, FL, ibid.) When NBC got out of radio, they sold WNBC in NY to Emmis. Emmis could have done a WNBC sound-alike (WMBC, etc) if they thought the calls were of positive value. They did not. They thought the calls carried all kinds of negative baggage. They used WFAN, and became the country's highest billing station, while at the same time inventing one of the two most viable AM formats, sports. Anyone who knows a station has more than 30 years history is in their 50's, and not in a particularly savory demo. As to young people, stations are generally in terror of even reminding those listeners that the station is having an anniversary, as it positions the station as old, not fresh. I remember doing a 25th anniversary concert for a station, only to find that the younger listeners (half the listeners were under 35) thought of the station as being old, not for them, for other people, as a result. Last time we did an anniversary celebration! A friend is working on changing the calls of a station that has had the same current ones for 81 years; guess what... Everyone thinks the station is "for their parents." (David Gleason, CA, ibid.) That is indeed the attitude of the marketing folks toward the 55+ demographic: they're brand-loyal for the most part, don't tend to try out new brands, or switch to different brands, like the younger folks do, so what's the point of trying to advertise to that age group? They went through all that years ago and have MADE their choices. Though as Paul suggests, that attitude not only ignores an entire (and ever- larger) segment of the population, it ignores the fact that there IS a whole range of COMPETING products out there targeted AT that age- group. Does this mean the broadcast media isn't an appropriate outlet for advertising those products? (Randy Stewart/Springfield MO, ibid.) 610 will probably be a major success. Sports formats tap into a wealth of sports marketing dollars that only go to sports environments that "regular" formats don't have a chance at. And they deliver prime demo adult males efficiently with little spillage. Even in non-Sports towns like LA, where KXTA gets, maybe, a half-share of listening, they bill like they were top 15. My estimate is that 610 will rival co-owned KMBR-980 in revenue... and KMBR is #2 biller in KC. The combo of a news/talk and a sorts station has been proven to be a winner. Remember, WFAN, often the highest biller in the entire USA, never rises above 14th in the 12+ ratings. But the people they have are choice demos and desirable. Radio has always been about making money, right back to when stores started stations to sell their wares in the 20's. The difference today is that there are sooooo many more stations in every market area that we see more format shifts and lots more segmentation to create distinctive offerings. If you go back in ratings history, you will find plenty of stations that have been in-format and in relatively the same position for over two decades, even without counting ones like the big WCCO and KMOX type of talkers. And having more stations generally makes it harder to make a profit in the smaller markets, but gives the benefit of providing specialty programming like ethnic offerings, Spanish, Christian music and such that did not exist in many places in the 60's and 70's. A lot of us try to get calls that are phonetic equivalents of the name. KOMR for "Amor" in Phoenix being an example. Since, unfortunately, we have to use calls, we look for calls that don't confuse the listener. The coverage is about the same if you consider that next to no one outside the KC metro was listening to WDAF, as they had far better local signals to choose from. And in the current man made noise environment, in populated areas the FM probably does better (David Gleason, CA, ibid.) Let me pose a probably-provacative question to the list, especially those of us who, like David, work for stations: Are call letters obsolete? - Most other countries don't even assign call letters. - Most countries that do don't require stations to give them on the air. - The FCC no longer enforces regulations at a distance - before issuing a NOV, engineers are dispatched to inspect the station. These engineers have no problem identifying which station is in violation without hearing a legal ID. - Stations have "facility IDs" in the FCC Database. These ID numbers survive call changes, ownership changes, even frequency changes. The Commission has even begun using them to refer to stations in public notices. - Many stations are "ashamed" of their call letters - de-emphasize them, run their legal IDs as quietly/quickly as possible, use "fake calls" except at the top-of-hour, etc.. - RDS for FM and XDS and PSIP for TV make it possible to continuously transmit call letters or some other government-assigned identification. Surely some kind of scheme could be developed for automatic ID of AM stations - maybe slow-speed frequency-shift keying of the carrier with Morse Code? (like an intentional version of what KFI is reportedly doing by mistake?) Maybe the time has come to stop worrying about call letters, at least on the air? (Doug Smith, W9WI, NRC-AM via DXLD) Definitely they are obsolete. Arbitron, in the process of studying the start up of the ratings in Mexico (they measure a number of markets there now), determined that the number of stations names a person could remember is nearly double the number of call letter combinations. So for radio, making one's identity clear is enhanced by using names. Calls are arcane, unintuitive and useless (David Gleason) Except for a minority on list here and any other DX-related list, they already have become obsolete de facto. If a station is promoting its identity by means of a slogan as opposed to call letters, as a DX'er, that's good enough for me to identify them or to record them. If one wants to continue to rely on call letters for those purposes, one can, but I have no interest in sitting around for an hour (or more if they slide the calls through during a static crash or a burst of adjacent- channel splatter) listening to a station waiting for the calls if I am already pretty much certain of who they are. While I generally agree with the idea that calls are obsolete, I'd have to take issue with the names being any more meaningful or intuitive because the level of similarity and/or duplication ( not to mention the frequency of their change ) is large. Rather what has happened, I think, is that over time the industry has created this self-fulfilling prophecy by its behavior. This is not making any value judgement on the issue of calls vs. slogans or names. It is proven that people remember best through repetition, so if a station repeats its slogan over and over and hides, obscures or otherwise de-emphasizes its calls, the resultant impact on listeners' memories is predictable. The same was true in the reverse case many years ago. I'm certain that most of us who are of a certain age can remember having no difficulty remembering the details of station call letters in our respective home markets back before there were slogans (Russ Edmunds, PA, ibid.) Well, I wasn't originally going to get into this debate, but I changed my mind. I don't think call signs are outdated. I think they are necessary now more than ever simply because there are so many stations. Let me put it this way. If you are listening to a station in Venezuela, and they ID as "Radio Carúpano," you know exactly who they are because there is only one Radio Carúpano. On the other hand, if you are listening to a station in the United States, and they ID as "magic," that tells you nothing. There are so many stations giving an ID like "magic," or "winner," or "the fan," that it's hard to tell them apart. Even England and Antigua have radio stations calling themselves "magic." For the last few nights, I've been hearing an ESPN station on 860 AM. Once again, that tells me nothing. How many ESPN stations are on 860? If they said something like "this is KMVP Phoenix," I'd know exactly who it is. Even a local commercial would be nice, but I have yet to hear anything but promotions for ESPN. The closest I've heard to a local ad was a bit of a commercial for the renaissance Festival just as they were fading out. We have so many stations in the US and most are carrying network programming, that I don't think it would be possible to have a unique slogan or saying for each. Even foreign countries have that problem. How many times do we see loggings of France Bleu on a certain frequency. We only know what country it is, not what city especially if they operate a syncro transmitter or 2. Another case in favor of call signs was the oldies station on 640 AM I heard for a few nights under WCRV here in Memphis. They would fade in and out and I was able to copy them solid for a few minutes one night. In that time, they gave the ID "oldies 640, KTIB." That was all I needed to look up KTIB on the Internet and determine that I was hearing Thibodeaux, Louisiana. If they had just said "oldies 650," I would have had a much harder time of it since there could be plenty of oldies stations. One last example, on July 22, with WJCE 680 off the air due to a powerful thunderstorm, I heard a very weak station playing country music. Eventually, they gave their call letters as KFEQ. That, of course, is in St. Joseph Missouri. If you check the web, they are still listed as a talk format, so without any mention of KFEQ or St Joseph, I would have never guessed what it was. So, I think call letters are very helpful in searching for a station's location when you hear them pop up for only a short time. It's certainly true about people remembering call letters. When I told my Grandmother that I had received KOA in Denver and KFEQ in St. Joseph, she knew exactly what stations I meant and recalled listening to them years ago. In fact, I didn't even have to say KFEQ. I just said "St. Joseph," and she asked "KFEQ?" And I looked at the FCC database and the "new" WDAF-FM isn't even a full C. It's a feeble C1 with only a 300 foot tower and with the transmitter site substantially SE of KC, I'd would expect rather spotty coverage in city proper. And what does it sound like? The Nashville TN FM's are just beyond horrid. A friend of mine who engineers a non com there says the average modulation is 135+% and the 3 country FM sounded absolutely horrid when I went through during the late spring of 2002 heading out west to storm chase. They were so bad, I went back to WSM for relief! But the VERY worst FM I have ever heard. The FM did not gain ANY share when Journal killed KVOO. The listeners went away. The other country FM, I'm sure was thrilled as they were getting a run for the money. And I expect the sports on AM to be a dismal failure. KC as I said, is 2 small to support two sports stations. It ISN'T NYC! (Powell E. Way, SC, ibid.) You're looking at a backup facility. WDAF-FM has two, one is 19.5 kW/129 m (about 360') and the other 68kw/101m. (about 300') Their main facility is 100 kW/299 m, about 980'. It's (very) roughly 3 miles north and 12 miles east of the 19.5kw backup. (the 68kw backup is on the same tower as the main) (Doug Smith, ibid.) Given the size of the market, the C1 would do it OK. Remember, it is a crippled format, belonging on a niche signal, not a competitive format. As to the sports format, the non-DA signal of 610 is much better than the highly directional night signal of WHB, the competitor. Since nights are critical to sports (scores, pbp, etc), the night advantage and Entercom's experience in AM should put them over the top. Already they took most of the good staff of WHB, so, in essence, they came on the winner. In any case, there are plenty of markets with two sports stations making money. Ratings are not particularly relevant in that format, as much of the revenue comes through sports marketing budgets. I would die for a C1 equivalent for the Recuerdo format I do in LA; it is on two horrible A's and, arrrrrrgh, an AM. And it beats a bunch of full B's in 25-54, too. Folks who want the programming seek it out... but if I had a better signal, it would be a top 10 LA station, billing $35 million (David Gleason, CA, ibid.) I don't see any benefit to the audience at all. An example: a few weeks ago, to do a contract, I had to get the call letters of the Buenos Aires station I program because the American contract had to have it. I don't know the calls. I called the station. No one knew the calls, even the CE. They finally called the government, and had someone look them up... and that took a day or two. Yet the station, which went on the air with its current name and programming in very late April, 2000, was identified well enough to be #1 in the May ratings in the world's 4th or 5th largest city... with no outside advertising. Calls are irrelevant. The rest of the world knows that (David Gleason, ibid.) Dave, not everyone is like us and has digital tuning radios. Not everyone is as savvy as us in knowing that "Classic County 107" is Delphos OH, or that "940 Jams" is Lima OH. When the "common man" dials around and hears the frequency and the city of license, you clearly state where the station is on the dial you tell them where they are at on the band and what community they are listening to. As an emergency responder working with the EAS, Homeland Security, and other organizations, I see the reports and witness that confusion that arises in radio communications. *Some* broadcasters are making it a challenge for people to listen to them. When we had the tornado a few weeks ago, several people reported that they never got a warning about the storm. Reason? The station that they were listening to were in other communities, yet mentioned Lima. (The best Rock for Lima). They were not obligated to say anything about the storm. Therefore, people *thought* they were listening to a Lima station. Oh, and this is legal under present FCC law. When we had the blackout, people could not always depend on their local station because either it was off the air, or it was relaying some content from another broadcaster that sounded like it had no relevance. People in Ohio could give a rat`s ass about people walking in lower Manhattan because the power is out. They want to know why the power is out in Ohio, and what to do. There were stations on the air with information they could use, but the public had a problem in finding the station among all the signals. I know it's hard to believe that such minutia is so important in the overall scope of slogans and names, but I've sat in on a large number of discussions where federal officials are dumbfounded that the public has these problems today, that were not an issue 40 years ago. Perhaps we've ignored history, and placed our priories elsewhere? The fact is, radio has never been so confusing in its history! Good identification solves the problem for those that don't share our hobby. My prediction, when the next power outage happens, you'll see this same confusion again because folks; a) don't have a majority of local radio, and b) there is not a clear identification of what station serves what area (Fred Vobbe, OH, ibid.) High School Football: My point, if I recall, was that very few stations do a lot of local live sports. And my point that a 2.5 hour Friday night FB game does not constitute "a lot." HSFB is a sales device, not an audience device nor is it a format. Some stations make money on it directly, but fewer than you would think. More stations do it as the advertiser's kids are in the school than for the revenue or the ratings (most HSFB is done in non-rated markets, anyway). Which still does not explain why they leave the day power or pattern on! (David Gleason, ibid.) David is right about what he says regarding HSFB. As an owner of a local graveyard station here back in the 80's. HSFB was a no brainer high dollar sale. We always were sold out and had a waiting list. The rates were the highest of any day part, and the best of it was that it was during throwaway time when normally there were few listeners. And yes, we operated under the STFA rules and kicked the CCA transmitter up from 250 watts to a flamethrowing 1 KW during the games (Names changed to protect the guilty). HSFB is a classic example of the kind of service a small local station can provide to its coverage area. It's also what a LPFM can do and make money on with the proper "underwriting" (Commercials by another name. Just don`t mention price).... HSFB probably would not work on the big stations. But that`s why we have the larger and smaller stations. It's also why it was a shame that so many class A FM's were allowed to upgrade to some form of C class and become rimshots, ignoring their city of license (Paul Smith, W4KNX, Located in Sunny Sarasota Florida, http://www.amtower.com ibid.) The name is pretty important. In younger demos (under 45) name is most frequently written next to frequency in ratings (which is a good test of how people identify stations). Mix indicates "a combination of music" and is a very effective name, per perceptual research. Magic is not a favorite, but it works well on female listeners 25-54, and I am neither. A lot depends on how the station defines mix or Magic or "Froggy" on the air. To me, "Froggy" sounds warmer and more fun than "KFRG." And that is the idea, to make the station more real. Calls and frequency do not do that. However, with such a huge percentage of stations today licensed to suburbs and communities in the "market area" the COL [city of license] is not going to be real helpful. I looked at the Traverse City radio market, to pick on isolated area without proximity to big city stations. There are 24 different COL's for the market, ranging from Beaulah to the 7 in TC itself. To further complicate, many are C's with the site pushed into the fringe of the metro, or FM/FM simulcasts to cover the whole metro from rimshots. The LA metro, two counties, has 39 different COLs. All are LA stations as there is no way to break this market into discreet parts... it is one non-stop city. There is a big difference today, where even small markets have multiple options even in remote places in Wyoming (I got 7 clear signals driving a year or so ago around Jackson Hole, WY). Your Delphos station is acting like a Lima station, considers itself home to Lima and sells as Lima. I don't know how you would differentiate without confusing listeners. Z-100 in NY is licensed to Newark. They act like a NYC station, and, for all purposes, are. I do lots of perceptual research. The number of choices are such that many people don't know what they listen to, and dial around for a favorite song. I don't see dial position as a big deal, as most people _do_ know the frequency, but not much else. They see it on the digital dial, and if near 80% of diary mentions include this data, it means that most listening is on digital dial radios. This will only increase. None of the Lima stations is obligated to mention storms unless EAS is activated. That certain stations would establish a news reputation would seem to be logical as a marketing and magnet position; if they don't, 80-90 probably made the market so unprofitable that no one can afford to do it now. I have seen full service AMs go silent when the FCC dropped 5 FMs into a small, isolated market --- example being KYOR, a fine AM in Blythe, CA in the 60's and 70's that died because the market has not enough revenue to support a bunch of FMs and an expensive community station. I believe that, eventually, consolidation will bring one station in each of the bigger clusters that goes after info images. But the whole process is too new in the US to have played out. In other countries with consolidation in place for many, many decades, nearly every operator has determined that they can do one service station out of a group and it will make money and do a good job. Originally, stations saw names showing up better in Arbitron. Everyone wanted to get on the bus. "Mix" may mean many things to a DXer, but not to a local resident where a stations positions that way. To the local person, "mix" defines the blend of the station using the name. No confusion. "Froggy" as part of an on-air image, describes a fun, light hearted country station in many places. The name enhances the image and perception. It means fun in context. It's alright to have fun on the radio; too many stations are sterile. Froggy's that I have heard are usually entertaining. And a big cartoon frog on a billboard is a lot more attention getting than some dumb logo (Gleason, ibid.) 1030 WBZ is the only AM station in Boston that doesn't have nighttime signal issues. Boston's two sports stations 850 WEEI and 1510 WWZN are probably more easily received across the Atlantic than in western Massachusetts. Okay, maybe I'm being a little sarcastic, but suburban sprawl has always been a problem for Boston AM stations, most of which beam east at night to protect stations to the west. La Mega now simulcasts on 890, 1150, and 1400 to attempt to cover suburbia, yet still doesn't have coverage comparable to most FMs (Bruce Conti - Nashua NH http://members.aol.com/baconti/bamlog.htm ibid.) And, for the trivial aspect of this debate, I no longer collect any coffee mugs that don't include call letters or at least something identifiable as one station. Secondly, I just did a Google search for "Magic" and received 24,500,000 hits. Not a one of them on the first page of hits were radio stations. I note also that WDAF dropped the early-morning, 5 am-6 am talk shows, which received high ratings, I believe. They included a gardening show or ask-a-lawyer or ask-a-tax preparer on Fridays, a Wednesday home- repair show (dubbed "The Stupid Show" by host David Lawrence, who's been with WDAF since the early '70's), a trading post call-in, an auto repair show, etc. Good stuff. I miss them. And I can barely hear the rim-shot replacement station on 106.5 here in Topeka. Bad choice - 99.7 would have been a better one, or even my old employer, KUDL-98.1. And as far as farm programming goes, WIBW puts a good signal out east past the KC area, but I imagine the rest of Missouri is going to have to depend on local stations for farm reports; KFRM-550 blankets the western 3/4 of Kansas and much of Nebraska and Oklahoma with excellent programming, so all is not lost for the farmers. I like David's comments. He's right on. Nevertheless, what's missing is the local programming that WDAF provided - I mentioned the early- morning talk shows, for example. I listened to a half-hour of the sports talk show the first day on WDAF, and it was the typical mindless mush heard on all sports talk stations (go ahead, FLAME me!) I've had to listen to whilst DX'ing. Game programming is one thing; trashing players, players' girlfriends, etc. on the air is quite another, and I DON'T CARE to listen to some moron who is able to push seven numerical buttons in order on the air. Having said that, I quite understand why WFAN is now, according to David, the highest-grossing AM around. Pandering to the lowest element has always been profitable, from the "first profession" to ... ahem ... talk radio today. I also miss being able to listen to KNX-1070, a real class operation when I was in LA in the mid '80's, at least. Perhaps KCSP will flop and Entercom will emulate KNX and WBBM et al and give mid-America a real quality station to listen to. (And unless Entercom management is terminally stupid, they'll put in a viable bid for Chiefs' broadcast rights and wrest them away from classic rocker KCFX-101.1, and also transfer Royals' flagship status from KMBZ-980 to 610, which has a much larger listenable night pattern.) -pls. The only prediction I want to make, in case this move to 106.5 is the first step in WDAF's demise, is that jock David Lawrence will survive no matter what. He made the transition from WDAF's chicken rock format of the '70's to "61 Country" in '78 (I believe) seamlessly - while all the other jocks had to leave town overnight, practically. What a guy - no "mindless mush" from him. And I've heard more about his family, on the air, than anyone else I've ever listened to. You get the picture - pls. (Paul Swearingen, Topeka KS, ibid.) UNIDENTIFIED. 4899.97, probably a spur. First noted at 2205 with bits of music. Was going off and on, and was off for several minutes around 2215. Heard again the next morning at 1105 with pop and soul music. Again, went off a couple times. Heard announcements by M at 1131 and W at 1136 but couldn't copy as it was distorted. Went over ToH without any announcements. Couldn't find a // in 49 meters or to any of our local MW stations. Checked after 1300 and didn't hear it. Have no idea who this would be. Anyone else hearing it?? 12, 13 Sept. (Dave Valko, Dunlo PA, Cumbredx mailing list via DXLD) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ RECEIVER NEWS +++++++++++++ CELESTRON POWER TANK Recently purchased a Celestron "Power Tank" rechargeable portable 12V "power station". Has a spotlight (says 800,000 candle power) and smaller light w/red cap to save your night vision, 2 cigarette plug outputs, outputs for 3, 6, and 9 volts, 2 and 10 Amp fuses, an on/off/charge switch, a storage compartment, and terminals to jump start a car. You'd think it would be heavy, but its only 8.4 lbs. After the initial charge, it takes about 8 hours to charge after. Price is typically about $75 US, but I got mine from Adorama through Amazon for $60 (they zap you for $16 S&H though!!). Coming from Celestron, its obviously built to power telescopes, but those of you who like to operate your equipment on battery power in the field should find it very handy (Dave Valko, PA, Cumbredx mailing list via DXLD) PUBLICATIONS ++++++++++++ A SUCCESS STORY MADE IN THE USA Larry Magne Prepares to Publish His 20th Edition of 'Passport' http://www.rwonline.com/reference-room/special-report/04_rwf_passport_1-09.10.03.shtml (via Joe Buch, swprograms via DXLD) ###