DX LISTENING DIGEST 3-200, November 6, 2003 edited by Glenn Hauser IMPORTANT NOTE: our hotmail accounts are being phased out. Please do not use them any further, but instead woradio at yahoo.com or wghauser at yahoo.com Items from DXLD may be reproduced and re-reproduced only if full credit be maintained at all stages and we be provided exchange copies. DXLD may not be reposted in its entirety without permission. Materials taken from Arctic or originating from Olle Alm and not having a commercial copyright are exempt from all restrictions of noncommercial, noncopyrighted reusage except for full credits HTML version of this issue will be posted later at http://www.w4uvh.net/dxldtd3k.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 1206: WWCR: Sat 1130 5070, Sun 0330 5070, 0730 3210, Wed 1030 9475 WRMI: Sat 1900+ 15725 WBCQ: Mon 0515 7415 WRN: Rest of world Sat 0900; Europe Sun 0530; North America Sun 1500 WRN ONDEMAND [from Fri]: 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 WORLD OF RADIO 1206 (high version is in two parts): Part I: (stream) http://www.w4uvh.net/wor1206h.ram (download) http://www.w4uvh.net/wor1206h.rm Part II: (stream) http://www.w4uvh.net/wor1206i.ram (download) http://www.w4uvh.net/wor1206i.rm (summary) http://www.worldofradio.com/wor1206.html [pending] WORLD OF RADIO 1206 (low version): (stream) http://www.w4uvh.net/wor1206.ram (download) http://www.w4uvh.net/wor1206.rm ** ANDAMAN & NICOBAR ISLANDS. 4760/7115. AIR Port Blair, celebrated its 40th anniversary on June 2nd. Shortwave was introduced in 1989. Last April one of the two exciters in the NEC transmitter broke down and since then the SW transmitter has only been running at 5 kW. As NEC no longer produces any spare parts, the AIR Research & Development Dept. has been asked to design and produce a replacement exciter, but this could take a while yet. SW is only intended for the most Northern and Southern islands in the long island chain. This is especially so since last May a new 100 kW Thales MW transmitter came on the air on 684 kHz to replace the old 20 kW transmitter which now serves as a standby unit. The SW and MW transmitters are located at Brookshabad, 8 km (as the crow flies) South of Port Blair, and a dipole array ensures North-South SW coverage. The station is on the air as follows: 2330-0300 on 4760, 0310- 0340(/0500 Sunday) on 7115, 0730-0930(/1000 Sunday) on 7115, 1030- 1700(/1900 on Sat and Sun.) on 4760. The station`s main broadcasting language is Hindi and only one or two programmes in English are produced locally. There is a short daily programme in Sanskrit at 0125-0130. Other languages are Malayalam 0700-0730 (daily except Sunday), Bengali 1200-1230 daily and 0930-1000 Sunday, Nicobari 1030- 1100, Telugu 1100-1130 & Tamil 1130-1200, all daily. The correct address of the station is: AIR, Delanipur, Haddo Post, Port Blair – 744102 (Maarten Van Delft, visiting Port Blair, DSWCI DX Window Nov 5 via DXLD) ** ANTARCTICA. 15476.1, R Nacional Arcángel, Sán Gabriel (LRA36), Base Esperanza, 2036-2058*, Oct 21, songs, talks, IDs and programme announcement; 35433. I've been unsuccessfully trying this since then, even at the scheduled s/on time. Is it off or what? (Carlos Gonçalves, Portugal, DSWCI DX Window Nov 5 via DXLD) Nicolás Eramo says they are back on (Hans Johnson, Nov 5, Cumbredx mailing list via DXLD) ** AUSTRALIA. Last Fri Oct. 24th I heard Voice International, Darwin on 11680 kHz at 1810 UT. No reception this Friday at all. I checked their web-site, nominal frequency is 11685 kHz. In English 14-18 UTC on 13635 kHz. 18-21 UTC scheduled on 11685,kHz, but heard on 11680 kHz. 73´s (Jouko Huuskonen, Turku, FINLAND, received Nov 5, delayed in transit via hotmail, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** BHUTAN. Lhotsam is listed in the WRTH as a BBS program language. This is incorrect. The word means ``Southern people``, denoting the Nepali speakers living in Southern Bhutan. A correct listing of programme languages is: Dzongkha, Sharchopkha, Nepali and English. As 68% of the population relies on BBS radio as their only source of news and information, a second radio programme is being planned. This which will be on the air 12 hours a day in Dzongkha only. A new studio for this purpose has already been constructed and a 50 kW SW transmitter will be ordered from Thales (Thomcast) after final approval of the plans. The old 50 kW Brown Boveri unit will continue on 6035. The transmitting station is located on Sangay Hill overlooking Thimphu. A folded dipole array beams the signal East-West for maximum nationwide coverage. Meanwhile, the FM network is being expanded, largely financed by Denmark. Danish Telecom supplies the antennas and (Italian-made) transmitters. The network is now comprised as follows: 88.1Thimphu (beamed to the Western Region), 92.0 Phuentsholing & Paro (S.W. Region), 93.0 Bumthang (Central Region), 96.0 Thimphu city, 98.0 Takti (Southern Region) and 100.0 Yonphula (Eastern Region). Together with the introduction of the internet, a BBS TV service was inaugurated on 2 June 1999 to commemorate the silver jubilee of the coronation of the king. The station operates on channel 5 (Band III) in Thimphu only, but can also be watched a day later in other towns through cable TV networks which receive the programmes on cassette for insertion in their networks. In very remote areas of the country video cassettes are received several days after the programmes were broadcast in Thimphu. In such areas groups of people watch the cassettes in community centres. BBS TV is on the air daily at 1500-1700 when BBS radio is not on the air. The TV sound is then broadcast on the FM network for those who cannot afford a TV set (Maarten Van Delft, visiting Bhutan, DSWCI DX Window Nov 5 via DXLD) The WRTH information is apparently derived from the official BBS website http://www.bbs.com.bt/Inside.htm --- ``Apart from giving the daily news bulletin in four languages (Dzongkha, Sharchop, Lhotsam and English) in radio and in Dzongkha and English on television, BBS devotes 75% of its programming on development issues such as new farming methods, health and hygiene, environment preservation, distance education, rural development, women and child care.`` A Google seach reveals that "Lhotsam" is commonly used as a synonym for the Nepali language spoken in Bhutan: http://reference.allrefer.com/country-guide-study/bhutan/bhutan32.html ``Languages [...] The other languages include Sharchopkha, or Tsangla, a Mon language spoken in eastern districts; Bumthangkha, an aboriginal Khen language spoken in central Bhutan; and Nepali, or Lhotsam, predominantly spoken in the south. Seven other Khen and Mon languages also are spoken in Bhutan.`` However, indeed, a comprehensive source like The Ethnologue.com does not mention "Lhotsam" as one of the alternative names for the Nepali language spoken in Bhutan: http://www.ethnologue.com/show_country.asp?name=Bhutan SPOKEN LIVING LANGUAGES IN BHUTAN NEPALI [NEP] 156,000 in Bhutan (1993 Van Driem). In the foothills the entire length of Bhutan, especially south central. Alternate names: NEPALESE, GORKHALI, GURKHALI, KHASKURA, PARBATIYA, EASTERN PAHARI. Classification: Indo-European, Indo-Iranian, Indo-Aryan, Northern zone, Eastern Pahari (Bernd Trutenau, Lithuania, Cumbredx mailing list via DXLD) ** BOTSWANA. Recent QSL: Radio Botswana, 4835, f/d "Basket Market Day" postcard in 142 days for English report, $2 US, and local postcard. Ted Makgekgenene, Chief Engineer, v/s (John Beattie, Southern California, Nov 5, DX LISTENING DIGEST) How long ago heard? Quite a while since they were on that frequency (gh) ** BURKINA FASO. Radio Burkina, partial data letter in 5 weeks for French report and $1.00. V/s Tahere Ouedraogo (Greg Myers, Largo, FL, hard-core-dx via DXLD) ** BURMA [non]. Re: 9875, Voice of Burma, via Almaty, Kazakhstan (200 kW, 132 degrees), scheduled Mo-Fr 1200-1300. (Bueschel, Oct 29, DSWCI DX Window Nov 5 via DXLD) Merlin test in English and Vernacular noted from CIS site on Oct 27 and 28 (Barbour and Berg in Dxplorer, DSWCI DX Window Nov 5 via DXLD) This might be the station mentioned in WRTH 2003 p. 518. On http://iodins.com/vob.htm they are still publishing their weekly printed magazine. Address: 903, Tama Ii Biru, Itabashi 1-47-9, Itabashi-ku, 173-0004 Tokyo, Japan. Telephone and Fax : (81)-3- 3579-3772. E-mail: voburma@gol.com (Bernd Trutenau, Lithuania, DSWCI DX Window Nov 5 via DXLD) ** CAMBODIA. 11940, National R, Phnom Penh, 0000-0030 and 1200-1230, Oct 28, regular in the last few days, but no announcements, only Khmer songs. Some distortion in the audio (Victor Goonetilleke, Sri Lanka, DSWCI DX Window Nov 5 via DXLD) ** CANADA. Here we are a dekaday into the new season, and still nothing has been done about the 0400 collision on 9755 between Sackville and French Guiana, carrying resp. Monte Carlo and Beijing; as just checked a 0420 UT Nov 6, the RCI IS audible at closing under CRI (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CANADA. ALL-COMEDY RADIO HITS SAINT JOHN CBC News Online with files from Phlis McGregor, The Arts Report SAINT JOHN - A life-long comedy fan has fulfilled his dream of starting what may be Canada's first ever all-comedy radio station in Saint John, N.B. Tom Gamblin's CFHA FM has been on the air for about a month, featuring comedy programming 24 hours a day, seven days a week. "Listening to comedy radio is a guilty little pleasure," Gamblin said, "like playing blind man's bluff at a nudist colony." Gamblin has been a comedy fan since the age of five, when he began watching Ed Sullivan with his parents. A couple of years later, he purchased his first comedy record and, eventually, searching for comedy albums at second-hand stores and yard sales became a lifelong hobby. "I was about six or seven years old, it was around 1963 or 1964," he recalled. "I picked up an old 78. It was an old Abbott and Costello routine, a famous routine called Who's on first? It still cracks me up... It's still hilarious today. You never get tired of it." A low-powered station broadcasting to the Greater Saint John area, CFHA's programming is based almost exclusively on Gamblin's extensive comedy collection. "We have all aspects of comedy: stand-up, sketch comedy, music, bloopers, heavy on British comedy, comedy quickies, commercial parodies, crank phone calls, highbrow humour, TV moments and juvenile material as well," Gamblin said. The month-old station currently has four full-time staff, including on-air personalities and a sales department. And while it's too early for Gamblin to gauge the size of his audience, he's already planning for the future. Gamblin intends to boost the station's power to gain the ability to broadcast to a larger Maritime audience and to deliver his programming to other stations via satellite. He is also planning a website to stream his comedy station online. "People are very, very surprised that no one's ever thought of this before," Gamblin said in 2002, when he was initially applying to the CRTC for a license. "They can't believe that nobody tried this in Toronto or Vancouver." For more arts news, listen to The Arts Report weekdays at 7:12 a.m., 8:12 a.m. and 5:55 p.m. on CBC Radio Two. Copyright 2003 Canadian Broadcasting Corporation - All Rights Reserved (via Bill Westenhaver, DXLD) ** CATALUNYA [non]. CHEQUIA/ESTUDIANTES DE CATALAN EN PRAGA LANZAN RADIO POR INTERNET ¿Por qué no hacer también radio en internet?, se han preguntado los estudiantes de catalán de Praga. Transcurrieron unos meses y la idea se materializó. La primera emisión de Ràdio Ep ha aparecido en la red. Queríamos hacer un programa más bien divertido, nos explicó uno de los autores, Vit Kloucek. "Le pusimos muchas canciones y algo de lo que grabamos en las clases de catalán en el lectorado con los estudiantes, con Andreu, el lector de catalán, y otra gente que viene aquí y habla catalán. Hemos puesto una entrevista con Miquel Calçada i Olivella, que es el famoso "Mikimoto", un periodista de gran renombre en Cataluña, que vino a visitarnos aquí a Praga y a rodar un programa de televisión en el que salen catalanes que viven fuera de Cataluña. Básicamente la idea del programa era que fuesa divertido". Canten y bailen con nosotros, invitan a los oyentes los autores de las emisiones en catalán desde Praga. La programación de Ràdio Ep es de aproximadamente media hora de duración y se actualizará cada mes. "Somos estudiantes, somos un grupo de cuatro personas, dos que son técnicos de ordenadores que hacen toda la cuestión técnica de la página, y dos que hacemos el programa". ¿De dónde viene el nombre de la radio - Ràdio Ep?, preguntamos a Vit Kloucek. "El nombre de la radio viene del nombre de la página web del lectorado de catalán de Praga. Y el nombre de la página, o sea EP, es un saludo en catalán, de Mallorca creo. Bueno, así se saluda la gente: ´Ep, ep...´" Y nos queda por indicar lo más importante. ¿Donde se puede sintonizar la Ràdio Ep? En la pagina web que es http://www.epep.cz (via Arnaldo Slaen, Argentina, en lista ConDig, oct 29 via DXLD) [non]. That reminds me, buried in the complete REE B-03 schedule we ran a while ago we find a reduxion in airtime for ``lenguas españolas`` other than Castilian: M-F 1340-1355 Catalán, Gallego y Vasco, to Europe 15585, NAm 17595, SAm 21570. This is a symptom of REE merging various services into a single simultaneous stream, so the time is bound to be less convenient in some target areas than in others. But the Sefardí weekly program retains its individuality: Mon 1825-1855 17770 ME Tue 0115-0145 11795 SAm Tue 0415-0445 9690 NAm (via Rubén Guillermo Margenet, Oct 25, Conexión Digital via DXLD) ** CHINA. Believe I`ve found the replacement for 7405, the only direct frequency from CRI English to NAm: 9755, good before and after 1400 UT Nov 5, so used for 1300 and 1400 broadcasts, but not 1500; trouble is, it`s next to the best VOA frequency, Philippines 9760. On this date, CRI had some splash from VOA rather than vice versa. 9755 audio was running well ahead of undermodulated Cuban relay on 9570. HFCC B-03 shows this not aimed at NAm, but from the signal here, that`s hard to believe and may have been changed: 9755 1300 1600 43S XIA 100 255 1234567 261003 280304 D CHN CRI RTC (Glenn Hauser, OK, WORLD OF RADIO 1206, DX LISTENING DIGEST) [non]. 0500 UT, CRI in English on 6190 via Canada. Good Signal here on 11/6/03 (Bruce MacGibbon in Gresham, OR, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ! That would be ex-9560 where they had been both A and B seasons for several years (gh, DXLD) ** CHINA. CNR2 new transmitters --- Recently observed reactivated or new frequencies for CNR2 are listed in the new HFCC. They are all listed as Beijing 150 kW and can be assumed to be from new transmitters. The audio seems to be heavily processed with some distorsion, but this may be due to low grade feed lines. The listed schedule (below) agrees reasonably well with observations: 6065 220 deg 2100-2330, 1200-1600 (BBC + jamming also here) 6155 180 deg 2100-2300, 1400-1600 7140 270 deg 2100-2300, 1300-1600 7200 ND 2100-1600 (obviously not yet on the air) 7175 180 deg 1400-1600 (appears to sign on earlier) 9620 ND 2100-1600 9775 270 deg 2100-0100, 1130-1600 11610 270 deg 2300-1300 (=7140) 11670 220 deg 2330-1200 (=6065) 11800 180 deg 2100-1400 (=7275, actually signing off earlier) 15270 270 deg 0100-1130 (=9775, RTI + jamming also here at times) 15500 180 deg 2300-1400 (=6155, VOA + jamming also here from 1100) (six transmitters heard, one more listed) (Olle Alm, Sweden, 5 Nov 2003, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CHINA [non]. CRI 2200-2300 Eu 7170 -- This is via Taldom (Russia). (Kai Ludwig, Germany, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** COSTA RICA. 7445, RFPI providing a live update at 1340 Nov 5 and said they would be providing more info throughout the day. I wonder how long it will be till the University cuts the power off? (From Hans Johnson, Naples, FL, Drake R8 50' longwire, Cumbredx mailing list via DXLD) Not audible here by that hour with Taiwan dominating 7445, and yes, off the air at 0100 UT Nov 6 check --- (gh) RFPI has been shut down! 11/05/2003 - 6:30 PM CST (Costa Rican time) - The Copy Exchange - "Everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression; this includes the freedom to hold opinion without interference and to seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers" states the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights. But this apparently does not apply to the United Nations' mandated University for Peace, which silenced the voice of Radio for Peace international today at approximately 4:00 PM CST, by cutting power to the station. James Latham, in a cell phone conversation with this reporter just minutes ago, stated that the RFPI staff not be leaving the station any time soon. Tomorrow an attempt would be made to move station equipment out of the station and into a secure location - an action that could be blocked by the armed University for Peace guard and a large quantity of barbed wire. In an earlier conversation Latham stated that if food were prevented from being brought into the station, the staff would be forced into going on a hunger strike. RFPI volunteers have been supplying food by bringing it with them from Ciudad Colón and crawling through a hole in the fence that surrounds UPaz land. RFPI could possibly be live streaming from its San José office in two weeks. Check http://copyexchange.com/_wsn/page3.html for RFPI news updates (-- Franklin Seiberling, The Copy Exchange, Iowa City, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Dear Mr. Secretary General: I am sure you have had many letters and E-mails about the Radio for Peace International situation in Costa Rica. I am also sure that you have a great many seemingly more pressing matters on your mind.... But I beg you to devote some attention to this matter. A grave injustice is being perpetrated by the UN-sponsored University for Peace, now in the hands of Mr. Maurice Strong. The RFPI facilities, built with listener contributions including my own, are being expropriated by the UFP without due compensation. As of Wednesday, electricity had been cut off, forcing the station off the air, following cuts in phone lines and water supply on Monday. I urge you to intervene and tell Mr Strong to stop this!!! RFPI has been a faithful supporter of the UN throughout its existence, as evidenced by being the main shortwave outlet for UN Radio programs. It is also clear that RFPI upholds the ideals of the UN, not Mr Strong and the UFP, who are doing the wrong thing, and in the wrong way. Thank you for your consideration. Very sincerely, Glenn Hauser, Oklahoma, WORLD OF RADIO (via DXLD) I just received this from a free speech activist: Radio for Peace International is off the air. The progressive media has lost another important voice that spoke the truth. According to James Latham, general manager (calling me from his cell phone) at 4 PM today, Wednesday, November 5th, the University for Peace cut the electricity to Radio for Peace International. After 16 years of broadcasting progressive programming on short wave, the station is shut down. Thousands of listeners who tune in regularly from over 120 countries have lost the only progressive radio outlet, and can no longer get excellent shows like Democracy Now, Free Speech Radio News, Alternative Radio, Counterspin, Making Contact, Radio Nation, New Dimensions, etc. The staff and volunteers who remain are staying in the station to protect the equipment. Obviously they are in a very sad, emotional state, not knowing what to do, who to turn to. The University for Peace has claimed international immunity from all laws and law enforcement, since it is a United Nations project, which defeats any attempt to use legal means to stop the University for Peace's action. If you have not yet written an email to Secretary General Kofi Annan, maybe this is the time to do it, if it isn't too late: annan@un.org (via Leigh Hauter, hard-core-dx via DXLD) RFPI 7445 dead all last night. I guess that`s it for RFPI. I hope James got the crystals (LOU KF4EON Johnson, Nov 6, DX LISTENING DIGEST) The pressure tactics to save the station are clearly not sufficient to stop the UN from shutting this station down. Clearly this is a UN University and even though it may have some autonomy from the UN it is a creature of it and this could be remedied by the UN. While the letter campaign is good it isn't sufficient. In situations like this if one wants to succeed, there needs to be a multi-pronged campaign on all pressure points. The Pacifica Network was saved by a non violent direct action campaign targetting the central figures (a group of directors and managers who were mainstreaming the network), an economic boycott of the network, mass rallies and a legal strategy. This was not all coordinated by one group. There were many groups that took part, although the Pacifica Campaign played a leading role. What made this all work was that, aside from one plaintiff in a lawsuit against the network, people didn't denounce tactics that they personally weren't going to participate in. A campaign to Save RPFI would have to be constructed differently because this isn't a corporate hijacking, it is a censorious campaign by a UN official. A logical target for non-violent confrontation is Maurice Strong and higher ups at the UN. Other avenues might be an attempt to embarrass the UN by getting US elected officials to take a stand against this censorship. If US congress persons spoke out, there is always the implication that funding might be affected. No single tactic or strand may be enough to win, as the letter campaign has shown, but taken together enough pressure might be created by all the tactics to reverse the Univ for Peace's stance. As the head of the University, Maurice Strong may well come to the US on speaking engagements and could be embarrassed by a small group of well spoken people. The question is, who is willing to actually take action beyond letters to save the station? Perhaps part of it is there isn't enough of a concentrated listener base to form groups to take action. Short wave radios aren't cheap and the signal is not so powerful. I could receive PFPI's signal in NY, but only barely with a 20 foot antenna. Once that broke I was out of luck. Winning public sympathy is important to victory, yet the US media is silent on this. Even shows like Democracy Now and the Pacifica network have really done little coverage considering how long this struggle has gone on. Perhaps the reason is that too few people are organizing to save the station and Costa Rica is too far away. If there are people out there that want to start to do something, remember, a tiny group can start a powerful movement, even if based in Costa Rica. Solidarity of action is going to be important in saving this valuable station (John Riley, formerly member of Concerned Friends of WBAI, and member of the Pacifica Campaign, 1705 UT Nov 6, saverfpi via DXLD) ** CUBA. Re where have all the Rebelde harmonics gone? Mark, I have only been back in SW Florida for a few weeks, but they seem to be gone (Hans Johnson, Naples, Nov 6, Cumbre DX via DXLD) ** DEUTSCHES REICH [non]. NEO-NAZI RADIO STATION PROMPTS DENMARK TO EXAMINE RADIO FUNDING COPENHAGEN --- The Danish government is considering dropping it`s funding to a local, noncommercial neo-Nazi radio station that has been broadcasting since February 28th, 1996. The Culture Ministry is expected to revise or scrap its funding program this week to prevent Radio Oasen from using public money to spread what critics consider xenophobic views on the air. The station is run by a staff of 10 volunteers and broadcasts more than 60 hours a week of news and commentary on a local frequency (101.2 MHz) covering the southern suburbs of Copenhagen and on the Internet. Transmitting from the Danish neo-Nazi headquarters in the city suburb of Greve, the station has been airing right-wing music, texts from Nazi magazines and works such as Adolph Hitler`s ``Mein Kampf.`` Jonni Hansen, 38, the leader of Denmark`s National Socialist Movement, said Radio Oasen broadcasts its national-socialist ideologies, but within legal boundaries. He said the station informs listeners about its critical views toward immigration, adding that critics were trying to silence the station`s views. ``I would describe the material they distribute as grossly offensive to Jews and other groups of people,`` said Niels Erik Hansen, 40, of the Documentation and Advisory Center on Radical Discrimination. He said he has read transcripts of the programs, but hasn`t listened to them. The station, which is broadcasting under the constitutional freedom of speech, receives hundreds of thousands of kroner from the Danish Culture Ministry, a common practice in the Scandinavian country of 5.3 million. Other local radio stations broadcast programming aimed toward specific groups or communities, like Somalis or Iranians. Some of the stations are religious-oriented. All of them receive similar funding. Support for noncommercial local radio stations first started in 1995. About 200 of them operate in the country but the signals typically reach only a few kilometers. Most of Radio Oasen`s annual 100,000 kroner (US$15,400) operating budget comes from government money, Jonni Hansen said. For 2004 the station is to get 78,000 kroner (US$12,000.) (via Art Blair, Folsom, CA, DXLD) Source? (gh) http://www.haaretz.com (Art) ** DOMINICAN REPUBLIC. 4959.86, R Cima, 0707, Oct 29, ID and jingles for R Cima first for 100.5 FM only, then 2d ID for the several stations in the Vargas network, incl. 4960 as "radio global," which I thought was just an informal reference to its reach. Then I checked their website (also mentioned on air) http://www.cima100fm.com and I see that 4960 is shown there as "Radio Global International" with its own distinct logo, as the others have. Fairly good signal (Jerry Berg, MA, DSWCI DX Window Nov 5 via DXLD) ** ECUADOR. 15185, HCJB, Pifo. After 6 months of waiting a nice QSL- card with photo of the Volcano Cotopaxi arrived Nov 04 with this message: ``So sorry for the delay but with all the changes, moving offices around, down-sizing, etc., we`ve fallen way behind in our correspondence! Please accept my apologies. Here are your QSLs and other information. Thanks for writing! And for waiting!!! Karen Pedersen, HCJB World Radio, English Language Service``. She kindly showed me around when I visited the HCJB compound in Quito in 1995 and has taken care of the QSL-cards for many years (Anker Petersen, Denmark, DSWCI DX Window Nov 5 via DXLD) ** FRANCE. ¤ RFI, Radio France Internationale, a cessé toutes ces émissions à l`exception d`un bref journal pendant toutes les journées qui ont suivies la mort de son correspondant en Côte d`Ivoire, Jean Hélène, et pendant toute la semaine, toutes les émissions ont fait appelle à des personnes qui ont travaillé avec lui en Afrique et sous sa direction à Paris. Pour l'information, Jean Hélène est tué par un policier pendant qu`il est devant une commissariat de police en attendant la sortie des opposants interrogés par la police Ivoirienne (Mohamed Kallel, KDXN, FRG-7700 + 20M, Tyna Sfax, Tunisia, Nov 5, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** GUATEMALA. 3300, R Cultural, Guatemala City (very tentative), 0215- 0230, Nov 4, religious talks by a man in Spanish. The noise was very high and I could barely discern the message, but the voice pitch of the announcer very much resembles that of one of R. Cultural`s presenters (Élmer Escoto, San Pedro Sula, Honduras, DSWCI DX Window Nov 5 via DXLD) What else should it be, but cf. DX-Window no. 231 (DSWCI Ed.) Had supposedly closed down SW for good (gh) ** GUYANA. Seeking to streamline its media holdings ahead of further industry liberalization, Guyana's government said October 30 it would merge operations at its radio and television companies. The government will lay off the more than 200 workers at both companies, but then rehire some after the merger, planned for early next year as the government begins passing out licenses to radio competitors, government spokesman Kellawan Lall said. Currently, Guyana Broadcasting Corp. runs the country's only radio station, though some competitors have been applying for licenses for more than 20 years. The television company, called Guyana Broadcasting and Television Co., competes with about 19 private stations. (AP) SCDX ** HAWAII. Hi Patrick, KAIM 870 is very weak during the day but you can tell they are on OK. They are shunt fed into KJPN's tower for the time being and as such the pattern is not exactly ideal. Once Salem gets its act together it will be better I have told by an engineer who does some work for them. KUAU 1570 continues occasional program, mostly religious in nature. With all the changes in Hawaii radio going on at this time it is hard to know who is in bed with who and who will pop up doing what? Most successful result of all the mergers is the KLHO 850 / KKON 790 partnership which is gaining a wide audience simulcasting the popular "Waltah" Program along with the oldies plus the gradual addition of new and local programs. Art Roberts' the "Hairy Hipster from Hamakua" is an example and his "Hipster's Choice" program Sunday afternoons from 12 Noon to 6 PM is gaining wide acceptance; it used to be on KIPA 620. Also some Filipino programming is showing up on weekends. And of course the new KHBC 1060 (Formerly KAHU) continues to run away with local ratings with its mix of Hawaii, Jazz, Country, Pop and local "Talk Story" headlined by the ever popular "Mynah Bird" Program six days a week. You can post this if you wish via me. 73s, (Chuck Boehnke, HI, Nov 4, via Patrick Martin, OR, NRC-AM via DXLD) ** IRAN. DRÁSTICO RECORTE DE EMISIONES... Hola Glenn, Saludos desde Catia La Mar, VENEZUELA. La Voz de la República Islámica de Irán ha aplicado un drástico recorte a sus emisiones en español. En reciente correo-e se me envía el siguiente esquema: Para España: 2030-2130 7130 y 9750; Para América del Sur: 0030-0130 7220, 5965 y 9555; Para Europa: 0530-0630 15230 y 17590. Como podemos apreciar, sólo resta una emisión para América Latina. Es lamentable, porque, por ejemplo yo, trabajo y estudio y sólo llego a casa hasta luego de las 0200 UT, al menos de lunes a viernes. 73's y buen DX (Adán González, Catia La Mar, VENEZUELA, Nov 6, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** IRAQ [non]. Clandestine to Iraq: have anyone noticed that the Iraqi Republic Radio from Baghdad, the Voice of the Iraqi People, is off the air?? That station started broadcasting after the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait August 1990. I picked them up with their test transmissions; they used to use 2 frequencies playing only Arabic songs without any IDs for some time. And they started using different frequencies to avoid the Iraqi Jamming. Some sources say the studios are in Jeddah KSA and the transmitters are as well in KSA. So now there's no reason for that station to remain on!? That's why it's off the air?? rumors as well -- as I remember from the early 90's --- stated that this station was funded by the CIA! Anyway, another wave Bye Bye to another Clandestine station! Which reminds me --- this is a personal favor: does anyone have an audio file of a station that I used to hear around that Desert Storm operation broadcasting from Iraq with the ID "Voice Of Peace" with messages to the American soldiers in the Gulf region? I have like 10 tapes with some great stuff of that war in 1991 but I never had a recording of that station. Hope someone can help. All the best from (Tarek Zeidan, Cairo, Egypt, Nov 5, DX LISTENING DIGEST) All the frequencies of Republic of Iraq R/Voice of Iraqi People (9563 // 9570 // 11710 // half frequency 4785) were inaudible at 1855. The last time I heard this station was on Sep 28, 2003. They were also off mid October. Best 73, (Anker Petersen, Denmark, Nov 6, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ISRAEL. ARUTZ 7 RADIO SHIP SOLD FOR SCRAP Mike Brand reports: ``Eretz HaTzvi``, the Arutz-7 ship, has been sold for scrap. By this afternoon, the ship will be on its way to Turkey to be broken up. Arutz-7 Radio was broadcast to all of Israel from the ``Eretz HaTzvi`` ship for 15 years, from outside the territorial waters of the state of Israel. However, once the Israeli courts decided that the station was operating in contravention of broadcast law, and the government decided to legally prevent advertising on stations outside the legal framework of Israeli broadcast radio, Arutz-7 radio broadcasts were ceased and the ship put up sale. Later, Mike forwarded this from the A7 daily news update : An important chapter in Arutz-7 history ends today, with the sale of the Eretz HaTzvi ship. Yoel Tzur, Arutz-7's Technical Manager, said today that the ship has been sold for scrap, and that at "4:00 this afternoon it will leave for Izmir in Turkey, where it will be taken apart and sawed down." Tzur said that there had been two other options: "To sell it for use as a ship, but since it's 35 years old - built in Hungary in 1968 - it did not attract too many buyers... The other option was simply to sink it, which we did not want to do. Every day it stands idle in the ocean it costs us money, so we chose to sell it for scrap." Asked to recount some of his memories of the Eretz HaTzvi, Tzur said, "There were very many. In the summer, we enjoyed going out to the ship, to go fishing and have a barbecue... In the winter, there were storms and difficulties getting the tapes out there, and the broadcasters and crew would complain that they wanted to get off... It was a period of a lot of tension and a lot of responsibility. But this period is over, and we're headed now for even bigger things - apparently this wasn't big enough for us..." Interviewer Ariel Kahane, who spent over a year as a broadcaster on the ship, agreed that it was a special experience. "One thing I remember is how we used to supply food to Abie Nathan's Voice of Peace crew," he said. # posted by Andy @ 09:44 UTC Nov 5 (Media Network blog via WORLD OF RADIO 1206, DXLD) Artuz 7 ship sold for scrap http://www.israelnn.com/news.php3?id=52297 (same as above, via Doni Rosenzweig, DXLD) ** IVORY COAST. See FRANCE ** JAPAN [non]. The NHK Warudo clash with RCI on 17820 continues; Nov 5 not there at 1400 sharp, so must have come up a few minutes late, as heard on recheck. Contrary to my previous idea, that this is French Guiana instead of 11840, HFCC B-03 shows it as Rampisham 115 degrees, but it certainly puts plenty of signal off the back toward us: 17820 1400 1500 39,40W RMP 500 115 1234567 261003 280304 D J NHK MER R. Japan listings in HFCC B-03 are woefully incomplete since NHK transmissions via its own Yamata site have been censored (Glenn Hauser, OK, WORLD OF RADIO 1206, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** KURDISTAN [non]. 4370.8, Voice of Iranian Revolution, 0410-0420, Nov 1, Kurdish talk about Iraq, folkmusic, 25333, // 3880.8 (23232). It was also heard on both frequencies 1545- , Tu Nov 4, but not on Tu Oct 14, Th Oct 30, Fr Oct 31 or Sa Nov 1 (Anker Petersen, Denmark, DSWCI DX Window Nov 5 via DXLD) 4600, UNID, 1800-1830, Oct 25, Farsi, Iranian music, almost impossible to hear due to heavy jamming. 21231 (Bjarke Vestesen, Radby, Blommenslyst, Denmark, DSWCI DX Window Nov 5 via DXLD) Nothing heard 1855 on Nov 3 or at 1820 on Nov 4. But the Voice of Mojahed was on 4650 at 1820-1832* with Iranian jamming on Nov 4, so probably they had a sideleap to 4600! (Anker Petersen, ibid.) ** LIBYA. During my stay in Malta I made the following observations on Oct 26-28 about the Libyan Jamahiriya Broadcasting: The Sabrata SW transmitter on 15435 and 17750 was off the air. 15435 has not been reported since Mar 2003 and 17750 not since Jun 2002. The Home Service signed on at *0530 (ex *0500) on 675, 972 and 1053 MW. In the afternoon and evening it was also heard on 792 MW. The three low powered stations on 909 and 1449 MW were never heard. The Sebha local programme was heard at 2140 on Oct 26 on 711 MW with ID sounding as ``Sawt-u Christia min Jamahiriya min Omar.`` Maybe a relay of the ``Voice of Africa``? This transmitter was off at 1515. The Voice of the Great Homeland programme was never heard on 648, 711, 828, 1125 or 1251 MW! The Holy Qur`an programme was never heard on 1404 or 1485 MW! (Anker Petersen, DSWCI DX Window Nov 5 via DXLD) ** MALI. Obviously Mali [ex?]changed 4835 and 4783: The latter is much better now. At daytime I have heard nothing on 9635 recently, but nothing also on 11960 which seemed to be the 4783-tx daytime freq. But that may be because of QRM from both 11955 and 11965 (Thorsten Hallmann, Muenster, Germany, Nov 5, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** MEXICO. 1319.90v, XECPN Piedras Negras, COAH, NOV 4, 0200 UT - drifted more or less constantly, so I had to keep retuning (listening in LSB mode). Coming out of some daily program on "cadena Radiorama", into full ID "Ésta es La Rockola, X-E-C-P-N, 1,320 kHz..." mention of "mega-Coahuila", and "una emisora de (?indistinct)..." into "Radiorama" jingle by YL chorus. Putting a nasty low het on 1320. New log (Randy Stewart, MO, NRC-AM via DXLD) ** MONACO [non]. Quote from the RMC-MO website: http://www.rmc-mo.com ``Based in Paris, on the 8th floor of the Maison de la Radio, it broadcasts all its programmes in Arabic throughout the Middle East, the Gulf States and, since early July 1999, the Maghreb countries.`` I should add that "Maison de la Radio" is the Radio France/RFI bulding at 116 Av. du Président Kennedy. 73s, (Bernd Trutenau, Lithuania, DX LISTENING DIGEST) See CANADA ** NETHERLANDS. CULTURE COUNCIL CALLS FOR MORE CHANGES AT RADIO NETHERLANDS The Dutch Council for Cultural Affairs has called for a review of Radio Netherlands' operations. The advisory body believes the station's Dutch language service could consist entirely of programmes made by domestic broadcasters. It also suggests that the international broadcaster's foreign language transmissions, including those in English, should be limited to countries where the programmes have a measurable impact. The council's recommendations have been passed to Deputy Media Minister Medy van der Laan. (RN News Update: Hilversum, Wednesday 05 November 2003 21:30 UTC via Tom McNiff, DXLD) When will it end? (Tom McNiff, Burke, VA, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Radio Netherlands Director General Lodewijk Bouwens says these are simply old arguments resurrected. In the meantime, detailed studies have already demonstrated that the Dutch international service performs an important function. In a message to employees, Mr Bouwens pointed out that the State Secretary will receive recommendations from a range of bodies, including Radio Netherlands itself, in order to help her formulate a proposal to bring before parliament concerning the future position and budget of Radio Netherlands. In the meantime, the station will continue on the editorial and budgetary course set out in the four year plan for 2004-2008. # posted by Andy @ 08:23 UTC Nov 6 (Media Network blog via DXLD) ** NETHERLANDS. Relays via Flevo: Beware, 9815 is DRM, carrying a variety of programming. So the only current non-RNW AM transmission from Flevo is RCI on 11725 for Africa (rather than Europe). (Kai Ludwig, Germany, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** NIGERIA. VON reduced schedule! There seems to be only one transmitter in use at the moment: 0500-0800 English 17800, 0800-1700 ????, 1700-2000 English 15120, 2000-2300 English to Europe announced but no frequency given. The signal this morning was relatively weak but much better modulated than usual. New jingles also (Thorsten Hallmann, Muenster, Germany, Nov 5, WORLD OF RADIO 1206, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** PERU. Re the station recently reported on 6108v: It was in Oct 2001 that I visited R International del Peru both the studio in San Pablo and the central office in Lima. Until I realized my personal visit at the broadcasting facilities in San Pablo, I presumed that the SW outlet was also installed there. However, I learned that R International del Peru in San Pablo broadcasts on 1600 MW, but it never operated on SW, according to the station owner. The station was licensed to operated on the following three frequencies: OCY2D 1600 kHz with 1 KW on MW, OAZ2G 4965 kHz in the 60-meter band with 0.5 kW on SW and OCW2P 100.7 MHz with 0.5 kW on FM. The SW outlet was formerly assigned on 3270, but it was changed to 4965 by the request from the station. The studio is located at Avenida Bolognesi 532, San Pablo, Provincia de San Pablo, Departamento de Cajamarca. As of Oct 2001, the station was only on the air on 1600 kHz and did not have transmitters for transmissions on SW and FM. As I should get more information about its shortwave outlet, which was also noted on 3397.4 in Japan, I went to the office in Lima. It was near the park of plain in the District of Rimac. By my visit, it was confirmed that R International del Perú, which had been observed on 3402.6 in Dec of 1992 and afterward on 3397.4 in 1993, was broadcasting from the studio located at Urbanización La Alborada in the District of Comas, Lima. R International del Perú in Lima is authorized to broadcast on a frequency of 3395 kHz with 1 kW output power with the callsign OAU4L. The SW transmissions were beamed to the listeners living in Cajamarca and other northern regions, and also the immigrants from the Province of San Pablo living in Lima. The SW transmissions in Lima were suspended in 1996 due to economical reason (Takayuki Inoue Nozaki, Japan, Nov 4, DSWCI DX Window Nov 5 via DXLD) ** POLAND [non]. R. Maryja: Shortwave: The station is also heard on shortwave on leased German transmitters, on frequencies that change according to season. Currently, they are 12060 kHz from 7 am to 9:15 am Mondays through Saturdays, and 7400 kHz from 5 pm to midnight 7 days a week, and on Sundays from 8 am to 10 am. These frequencies are subject to change seasonally (Catholic & Orthodox Radio in Europe, Fourth Edition November 3, 2003 via Michael Dorner, ed., DXLD) If I`m not mistaken, aside from VATICAN [q.v., which does not go into any detail about SW broadcasts], this is the ONLY entry in the directory concerning SW --- and AFAIK, the info is wrong, with Russian rather than German transmitters being used, unless there has been a recent change. Times are presumably local, currently UT +1 (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) See PUBLICATIONS, pending ** SAUDI ARABIA. À l'occasion du mois saint de Ramadan, Radio Koren Karim (le saint Cor`an) de l'Arabie Saoudite KSA diffuse la prière de la nuit (tarawih) en direct sur les ondes; elle est audible vers 1730 UT jusqu'à 1900 sur les fréquences 15230, SINPO#33333, et sur 11915, SINPO#54444. Avec la prière une émission de question des auditeurs vers un Mufti (théologien spécialiste en Islam) répond aux questions (Mohamed Kallel, KDXN, FRG-7700 + 20M, Tyna Sfax, Tunisia, Nov 5, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** SIKKIM. 3390, AIR Gangtok, Sikkim, heard at 0100-0400 and 1030-1600 on 3390 and 1404 MW. The station mainly broadcasts in Nepali, but has daily programmes in Hindi 1030-1100, Lepcha 1100-1130, Limboo 1130- 1200 and Sikkimese 1200-1230. There are programmes in Hindi every Friday at 1430 and in English every Saturday at 1430. It no longer broadcasts on 6085 at 0700-0930 (Maarten Van Delft, visiting Sikkim, DSWCI DX Window Nov 5 via DXLD) UT here; original version was IST ** SINGAPORE. 6150, the daily schedule for the domestic relays of Mediacorp Radio, Singapore (ex Radio Corp. of Singapore) seems to be: 2300-0200 NewsRadio 93.8 FM 0200-0300 Gold 90.5 / Perfect 10, 98.7 FM 0300-0400 Gold 90.5 0400-0600 NewsRadio 93.8 FM / FM92.4 0600-0800 Gold 90.5 0800-1000 Class 95, 95.0 FM / Gold 90.5 1000-1100 NewsRadio 93.8 FM / Passion 1400-1600 Perfect 10, 98.7 FM / NewsRadio 93.8 FM External service is at 1100-1400. All programmes are in English (Dave Kenny and Anker Petersen, DSWCI DX Window Nov 5 via DXLD) This contradicts recent report that only News Radio would be carried; which is more recent and correct? (gh, DXLD) ** SPAIN. Lenguas españolas: see CATALUNYA [non] ** SUDAN [non non]. Omdurman has re-registered frequencies, admittedly two years, old, but it`s been a lot longer than that since any but 7200 have been heard, in HFCC B-03, pending repairs, I think applying to more than the frequencies specified. These are all the entries found by searching on `SDN`. All are supposedly 1234567 261003 280304: 4995 0000 1330 38S,47,48 ALF 20 0 D SDN SBC SBC 2 OLD-B01 6150 1200 2400 38S,47,48 ALF 20 0 D SDN SBC SBC 2 OLD-B01 7200 0300 0830 38S,46E,47,48 ALF 100 0 D SDN SBC SBC 2 OLD-B01 7200 1100 2200 38S,46E,47,48 ALF 100 0 D SDN SBC SBC 2 OLD-B01 9505 0300 0830 38S,39,48 ALF 100 90 D SDN SBC SBC 2 OLD-B01 9505 1100 1700 38S,39,48 ALF 100 90 D SDN SBC SBC 2 OLD-B01 9505 1700 1800 27,37NE,38W ALF 100 320 D SDN SBC SBC 2 OLD-B01 9505 1800 1900 27,37NE,38W ALF 100 270 D SDN SBC SBC 2 OLD-B01 9505 1900 2300 38,39,48 ALF 100 90 D SDN SBC SBC 2 OLD-B01 11835 0500 2400 38,47,48,52N,53N ALF 120 180 D under repa SDN SBC SBC 2 OLD-B01 15170 0500 2400 38E,39SE ALF 300 90 D under repa SDN SBC SBC 2 OLD-B01 Even tho there is no `F` in it, ALF site stands for Al Aitahab SDN at 15N30 032E28 (Glenn Hauser, Nov 5, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** SWEDEN. RADIO SWEDEN -- Coming up on Radio Sweden: Thursday: "Nordic Lights" Friday: Our weekly review Saturday: "Sweden Today" Sunday: "In "Sounds Nordic" -- hot export bands and chart climbers, and Los Fancy Free (repeat) (SCDX/MediaScan Nov 5 via DXLD) ** TATARSTAN [non]. RUSSIA. 11915, Novy Vek (New century), via Samara, 0915-1000*, Oct 30, Tatar news by man and woman mentioning Russia, Moscow and Vladivostok, 0926 interview where Tatar often was mentioned, songs in between, 0958 News summary and weather in Russian before silent close. 35434 (Anker Petersen, Denmark, DSWCI DX Window Nov 5 via DXLD) ** THAILAND. Follow up to John Wilkins` Logging of Radio Thailand 9560 on 11/4/03. They signed off at 1429* in mid sentence. The program I was listening to started at 1417 with a man talking to a nutritionist. It was a program in coop with Radio Australia. Take care, (Bruce MacGibbon in Gresham, OR, DX LISTENING DIGEST) SOP closing for them ** TIBET. 3910, China Tibet People`s Broadcast Company, Lhasa heard with American English language lessons at 1400-1430 // 4820, 5935, 6050, 7170 and 7240. 3995, China Tibet People`s Broadcast Company, Lhasa heard in English at 0700-0730, 1100-1130 and 1630-1700 with ``Holy Tibet``, a propaganda-style `cultural` program to justify China`s annexation of Tibet. Other frequencies noted: 4905, 4920, 6110, 6130, 6200, 7385, 9490 & 9580. Though announced as ``Monday to Saturday``, the programme is also broadcast on Sunday. Comments and suggestions requested to: CTPBC, 41 Central Beijing Road, Lhasa 850000, Tibet Autonomous Region, China (This address differs from that given in the WRTH). (Maarten Van Delft, visiting Sikkim and/or Bhutan, DSWCI DX Window Nov 5 via DXLD) ** U K. I am closely associated with a project that is keen to revitalise SW (and MW) radio listening in markets worldwide (more of which for a later issue) and had the opportunity of attending a DRM (Digital Radio Mondial) transmitter launch at the VT Merlin Communications Orfordness Transmitting Station. What really grabbed my attention was the site tour that included the inside of the large building that previously housed the top secret System 441A, known as `Cobra Mist`, an over the horizon backscatter radar operated from the late 1960s until closure on 30th June, 1973. The project was set up to detect and track aircraft, missile launches, general intelligence requirements and to provide a research and development testbed. Throughout its lifetime it was plagued by a severe `noise` problem which inhibited its detection capability and eventually led to closure. In an attempt to keep out extraneous RF many of the rooms had been shielded by double screen copper edged doors. The airlock was some seven feet deep!!!! It REALLY is impressive. On to more modern matters, and the reason for my visit: a small part of the building now houses the transmitters for the BBC World Service. These have been upgraded by a Nautel DRM compatible NA200, 200 kW AM broadcast transmitter. The official ceremony was hosted by Simon Tarrant, Managing Director of Support Service (VT Group) and Benny Anmar, Head of Go Digital (BBC World Service). It was commissioned prior to the WRC in Geneva, and was on the air with a digital signal at 1296 kHz bearing 96 degrees towards Geneva for the inaugural DRM broadcast. The transmitter`s coverage includes Holland, Belgium, Luxembourg during the day and also Germany at night. The transmitter has been configured for dual mode operation to allow for both DRM and conventional MW AM broadcasting. Currently it broadcasts DRM during the evenings from 1600 to 2400 with a short break for the AM analogue service at 1900 (MILES HARVEY, Mailbox, Nov BDXC-UK Communication via DXLD) ** U K. HITCHHIKER'S GUIDE- NEW RADIO PROJECT ANNOUNCED Life, the Universe and Everything back on radio next year. http://www.thealienonline.net/ao_030.asp?tid=1&scid=1&iid=2019 Less than a month after the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy movie was finally greenlit, another long-in-development version of Guide has been confirmed - 'The Tertiary Phase'! A radio adaptation of Life, the Universe and Everything, the first of the Hitchhiker novels not based on the original radio series, came very close to production in the mid-1990s but fell apart at the last moment due to contractual politics. Now the project is back on again, to be recorded this month and broadcast from February 17 2004. Following less than accurate leaks in a couple of the national papers, the full details were finally disclosed on MJ Simpson's website Magrathea on Saturday. All the surviving regular cast are on-board, with William Franklyn (The Satanic Rites of Dracula, Quatermass II) replacing the late Peter Jones as the Voice of the Book and Richard Griffiths (Harry Potter, Withnail and I) replacing the late Richard Vernon as Slartibartfast. Douglas Adams always wanted to play Agrajag himself and this will be achieved by using his reading of the character's dialogue from the unabridged talking book. The scripts are being adapted and directed by Dirk Maggs, whose numerous previous radio SF productions include Batman, Spider-Man, Judge Dredd, Independence Day UK and The Gemini Apes. The series is being produced by Above the Line for BBC Radio 4. No details of a CD release are yet available. After the 'Tertiary Phase', So Long, and Thanks for All the Fish and Mostly Harmless will be adapted into the 'Quadrenary' and 'Quintessential' Phases - four episodes each - which will be broadcast as a single block from September 14 2004. For more information, keep a watch on Magrathea. Source: MJ Simpson (via Mike Terry via Paul David, DXLD) ** U K. GB2RS Broadcast Schedule Update We now have an update on GB2RS HF transmissions offering national coverage. With immediate effect the 80-metre broadcast at 1800 on 3650 kHz is discontinued. HF transmissions giving national coverage can be heard at 0900 on 3650 and 3640 kHz, 1000 on 7048 kHz, 1230 on 5405 kHz and 2130 on 1990 kHz. An additional transmission goes out on 7048 kHz at 2000 if the newsreader considers that band conditions are suitable. All times are UK local and currently UTC. Licensed radio amateurs and short wave listeners, both in the UK and Northern Europe, are invited to submit detailed reception reports comparing any, or all, of these national transmissions with the experimental one on the 5 MHz band. However, to be of use, such comparative reports must be in the SINPO code and drawn up on `The Fivemegs Experiment` log sheets, which may be obtained via the RSGB website. To obtain the necessary guidance, click on OPERATING and then select the LF/HF applet. All is then revealed by clicking on OPERATING PROCEDURES and following the instructions. Dedicated Sunday listening, over a period of several months, to newsreaders more than 50 miles away, will produce an interesting record which the listener should be able to analyse by averaging the individual SINPO columns. Those without access to the Internet are welcome to call the GB2RS News Manager on 01 565 652 652 for further guidance, whilst copies of the GB2RS Broadcast Schedule can be obtained direct from RSGB HQ. (Radio Society of Great Britain GB2RS News script for November 9, posted on uk.radio.amateur November 5 by G4RGA via John Norfolk, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. At the Forum on Malta on ``Multilinguism and International Broadcasting`` [see CONVENTIONS & CONFERENCES, pending], the Manager of Production Support, Mr. Andrew ``A. J.`` Janitschek, of R Free Asia confirmed that RFA still issues its first QSL-card with a photo of Dalai Lama, but it is planned to be succeeded by a new QSL-card from February 2004 (Anker Petersen, DSWCI DX Window Nov 5 via DXLD) ** U S A. A DIFFERENT KIND OF OLDIES SHOW UPDATE = 10/6/03 With the passing of Bobby Hatfield we will be devoting the on air hour as a tribute to the Righteous Brothers this week. We unearthed some rather obscure tracks including some that Hatfield did with a reformed Righteous Brothers in the 70's with Jim Walker, the former drummer of the Knickerbockers. Postponed to next week is what was supposed to be an all west coast 60's rock thing. Instead it will be more focused as a look at San Francisco rock of the late 60's. We'll be featuring the Jefferson Airplane, CCR, Sly & The Family Stone, Grateful Dead and others. Expect some heavy tracks, Johnny Lightning is co-producing this segment. Yup, I'm gonna grab my waterpipe and dayglow posters down from the closet, put blacklights in all my lamps and ceiling fixtures and call all those free loving women I used to know, (who didn't OD or become Nuns), and Turn On, Tune In and Drop Out this weekend. |^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^| | "Big Steve" Coletti | | A Different Kind Of Oldies Show on WBCQ, 7415 kHz Shortwave | | Saturday Evenings at 8:00 ET, 0000 UTC-Sunday | | E-mail: bigstevecole @ email.com - Web: http://www.dkosmedia.com | | US Mail: P.O. Box 396, New York, NY 10002 | ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ (via DXLD) Make that 0100 UT Sunday now! (gh) ** U S A. Pirate QSL: KIPM, 6950, f/d "Magician tempting blindfolded rabbit" card in 86 days for written report and 4 US postage stamps to Elkhorn, NE drop. Alan Maxwell v/s (John Beattie, Southern California, Nov 5, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. NPR GIVEN RECORD DONATION By Paul Farhi and Reilly Capps National Public Radio will announce today the largest donation in its history, a cash bequest from the will of the late philanthropist Joan Kroc of about $200 million. The bequest from the widow of the founder of the McDonald's fast-food chain both shocked and delighted people at NPR's headquarters in Washington yesterday. It amounts to almost twice NPR's annual operating budget. "No one saw this coming," said one person. The nonprofit organization, which will disclose details of the bequest at a news conference this afternoon, called the donation the "largest monetary gift ever received by an American cultural institution" in a brief announcement to its staff yesterday. The gift was such a surprise to NPR officials that they were uncertain what the money would be used for. The organization's board is expected to meet in the next few weeks to decide what to do with the windfall. An NPR spokesperson declined to comment yesterday. NPR, best known for its daily news programs "Morning Edition" and "All Things Considered," cut back on some of its music and cultural programs earlier this year, and there was speculation yesterday that Kroc's money could be used to restore those offerings. It could also be used to expand NPR's news programs, which are heard by about 22 million people weekly. Speaking generally, Michele Norris, a co-host of "All Things Considered," said any cash infusion is welcome at an organization that is perpetually on tight budgets. "What we do every day is a miracle on the order of loaves and fishes with such a small and dedicated staff," Norris said. Kroc, 75, died of brain cancer on Oct. 12 in San Diego. She had been a longtime listener of NPR's local affiliate, KPBS, but had no formal association with NPR or history of funding it. People at NPR said yesterday that she had expressed admiration for NPR's coverage of the events leading up to the war in Iraq and its reporting of the war itself. Her gift to NPR is one of several that flowed from her estate. Last week the University of San Diego and the University of Notre Dame announced they each had been given $50 million by Kroc's estate. The donations are the largest either university has ever received. In 1998 she gave $25 million to USD for the establishment of the Joan B. Kroc Institute for Peace & Justice. Notre Dame hosts a similar institution, the Joan B. Kroc Institute for International Peace Studies, which was established in 1986. With a long history of philanthropy, Kroc has donated to individual public radio stations in the past. In 2001 she gave $3 million to KPBS to help the station build a new studio. KPBS spokeswoman Nancy Worlie said that her station also would announce a gift today. She would not confirm that the gift came from Kroc, who lived much of her life in Rancho Santa Fe, near San Diego. Forbes magazine estimated Kroc's worth at $1.7 billion and ranked her No. 121 on its list of the nation's wealthiest people. Joan Beverly Mansfield was born in 1928, the daughter of a railroad man who was often out of work during the Depression. Still, he made sure his daughter received piano lessons, and eventually she became a piano layer in a St. Paul restaurant. She met Ray Kroc in 1957 when he was dining, on business, and caught her eye. In his autobiography he called her a "blonde beauty." Though she was 25 years younger, the two fell in love and eventually married. The couple had a daughter, Linda Kliber, who could not be reached for comment yesterday. When Ray Kroc died in 1984, she took control of the San Diego Padres, which her husband had purchased 10 years earlier. And though Ray Kroc had been committed to philanthropy, opening the Kroc Foundation in Chicago to support medical research, his wife took giving even more seriously. She gave more than $90 million to the Salvation Army, the largest donation that organization had ever received, to build a 12-acre community center that opened in June 2002. She also helped build the St. Vincent de Paul Joan Kroc Center for the homeless, a palliative care center, and the Kroc-Copley Animal Shelter, all in or near San Diego. She was also a major benefactor of the Carter Center of Emory University in Atlanta, and in 1987 she gave $1 million to the Democratic National Committee, at the time believed to be the largest single contribution to a political party in U.S. history. During its most recent fiscal year, which ended in September, NPR had an operating budget of $103 million and broke even despite the cost of covering the war in Iraq. Despite gains in listeners, its income has grown slowly over the past three years. In fiscal 2001, NPR lost about $4 million. About half of NPR's revenue comes from public radio stations that pay annual dues based on the size of their audience. The balance comes primarily from private donations and corporate contributions. The organization receives less than 1 percent of its funding directly from federal tax dollars. The federal Corporation for Public Broadcasting supplies about 15 percent of the budgets of NPR's member stations, however, which then pay some of that money to NPR. Staff writer Roxanne Roberts contributed to this report. © 2003 The Washington Post Company (via Bill Westenhaver, Jim Moats, Mike Cooper, DXLD) ** U S A. WTAN SAYS POWER LINE FIRE RUINED EQUIPMENT --- The Clearwater AM radio station says a power problem downtown roasted about $25,000 worth of its electronics. By KELLY VIRELLA Published November 6, 2003 CLEARWATER - The downtown Clearwater radio station that Peter Treiber operates during the graveyard shift was broadcasting CNN news when he heard the boom that triggered Monday's power failure. It was about 4 a.m., and he was washing his hands in the bathroom. He ran to the rear of WTAN-AM 1340's Cleveland Street building to see what had happened. Thick plumes of gray and brown smoke were rising from the alley manhole cover about 30 feet from the back door. Treiber rushed back in and called 911. Within five minutes, the electronic equipment in the radio station went berserk. "Light bulbs were breaking, glass was flying. The whole control room was going crazy," he said. "The board was flashing on and off. The computers were just shutting down. It was like a movie." . . . http://www.sptimes.com/2003/11/06/Northpinellas/WTAN_says_power_line_. shtml (via Terry L. Krueger, Largo FL, DXLD) ** VATICAN. HVJ Radio Vaticano (Vatican Radio) 585 AM (5,000 watts), 1530 AM (150,000 watts day, 100,000 watts night; directional), & 1611 AM (100,000 watts) and via 1467 AM Montecarlo (1,000,000 watts); and 93.3 FM, 96.3 FM, 103.8 FM, & 105.0 FM (all 10,000 watts), and multiple shortwave frequencies from a fleet of transmitters at Santa Maria Galeria: five transmitters at 500,000 watts, four at 100,000 watts, one at 80,000 watts, and one at 10,000 watts. Vatican Radio broadcasts in 40 languages to all six inhabited continents on a daily schedule. The station was a gift to the Vatican from Marconi, the inventor of radio, and began operation February 12, 1931. Owner: The Holy See. I-00120 Vatican City. Phone: +39 (6) 6988 3551 or +39 (6) 6988 3945. Fax: +39 (6) 6988 3237. E-mail: Schedules: e-mail at promo@vatiradio.va; English programming: Englishpr@vatiradio.va For other e-mail addresses see the website. Operated by the Jesuit Fathers for the Holy See. Father Roberto Tucci SJ, president of the Committee of Radio Vaticana; Father Pasquale Borgomeo, director general; Signora Solange de Maillardoz, international relations; Father Lech Rynkiewicz, Office of Promotion and Support; News Service, Ing. Mauro Milita; Father Federico Lombard, program director. Websites: http://www.radiovaticana.org, or through the World Radio Network, http://www.wrn.org/vatican-radio/ (Catholic & Orthodox Radio in Europe, Fourth Edition November 3, 2003 via Michael Dorner, ed., DXLD) ** ZANZIBAR. 11733.50, TANZANIA, V. of Tanzania-Zanzibar, 2014-2100*, Nov. 5, Swahili, OM with format of talks, each lasting several minutes with news and mentions of neighboring countries; Uganda, Congo and Zanzibar, between musical selections, these too lasting several minutes. Numerous mentions "Dar-Es-Salaam". Different OM with prayer/ Kor`an, NA at sign-off. Fair signal with inconsistent audio levels, best at listed frequency, any higher resulted in a nasty het (Scott R Barbour, Jr., Intervale, NH, R75, MLB-1, RS longwire w/ RBA balun, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Zanzibar is typically on 11734.1; did they shift frequency, or is your readout incorrect? (Steve Lare, Holland, MI, hard-core-dx via DXLD) ** ZIMBABWE [non]. Not only was the name of SW Radio Africa wrong in the item quoted in 3-199, but also the frequency! 4880, not 4800 (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) UNIDENTIFIED. 4835, 1005-1047, Oct 10 and 12, English VOA with news. No idea which station this is. 44444 (Max Van Arnhem, Curaçao, DSWCI DX Window via DXLD) In Denmark and Buenos Aires it is impossible hear this station on this frequency at this hour (Petersen and Slaen, ibid.) UNIDENTIFIED [non]. AMOROUS RAM BLAMED FOR MYSTERIOUS SIGNALS LONDON - A mysterious transmission that baffled British intelligence analysts for days was caused by a ram rubbing up against an aerial mast, a government agency said Tuesday. Scientists at Government Communications Headquarters in Cheltenham, western England, an intelligence-gathering station, were baffled by strange high-frequency noises coming from Scarborough signal station in Yorkshire, northeastern England. GCHQ's in-house paper, the Daily Observer, said the noises were unlike anything staff had encountered before and an investigating team initially thought they were coming from spies or aliens. Their investigation found the signal only happened in the day time, went across all the high-frequency bands and only Scarborough aerials could pick it up. Eventually, investigators discovered that a ram was rubbing its horns against the aerial masts "in between servicing some local ewes," the paper said. "It's possible the ram was attracted to the mast which may have given off some kind of tingling sensation, but it was probably just a post to rub against," said GCHQ spokesman Bob McNally. [AP News] (via Fred Vobbe, NRC-AM via DXLD) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ COMMENTARY ++++++++++ INTERNATIONAL BROADCASTING IN TRANSITION Commentary by Andy Sennitt, 6 November 2003 http://www.rnw.nl/realradio/features/html/cr031106.html (Media Network via DXLD) CONVENTIONS & CONFERENCES +++++++++++++++++++++++++ NATIONAL CONFERENCE ON MEDIA REFORM All of these issues - and how to fix them - will be addressed at the biggest event in the history of media reform in America -- the National Conference on Media Reform in Madison, Wisconsin, this Friday through Sunday, November 7-9. Over 1300 media reform activists, community leaders, journalists, lawmakers, academics, and concerned citizens will gather to help advance media reform with specific policy initiatives, organizing strategies, and networks of civic organizations plugged into the cause. See http://www.mediareform.net/conference.php for more information. If you can't make it to Madison, see the http://www.mediareform.net website soon after the conference for a full report and audio recordings (Freepress_E_Activist mailing list via E. B. Stevenson, MO, DXLD) More above under USA HFCC TROMSØ, NORWAY Going after the B-03 HFCC file, I noticed that the last meeting in Norway has a lot of documents, and photos available, many of them of a non-technical nature: http://www.hfcc.org/tromso.html There are also links to previous conferences (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) PUBLICATIONS ++++++++++++ BEWARE! OF PASSPORT TO WORLDBAND [sic] RADIO 2004 [sic] I had not noticed this until after I had posted my previous note about Passport: My copy of PWBR '04 was defective in that a chunk of the "blue pages" was missing and the following pages were duplicated. I've already called Grove and they are sending a replacement and say they would check their stock for other problem copies. Of course, over 500 pre- publication orders (like mine) already were sent out, so no idea how common this (or a similar) error happened in production. Mine was missing pages 481-512 and duplicated 513-544. That omitted the frequency range 9600-11720 kHz. Suggest anyone buying a copy in person check the book first for such defects and, if buying mail-order, be sure to ask the seller to check their copy before it is packed. I also e-mailed Passport to let them know. I hope this was a rare error and the vast majority of copies are OK. Regards, (Will Martin, MO, swprograms via DXLD) They switched printers. It had been printed in Ontario for several years, but for the 2004 issue it was printed in the U.S.A. The main reason for the switch is the Canadian dollar is now much stronger against the U.S. $, so it isn`t as financially attractive to print in Canada at present (Harold Sellers, ibid.) RADIO EQUIPMENT FORUM +++++++++++++++++++++ CHINESE PORTABLES Regarding the new Chinese-made portables, I was in Columbus the other day visiting a friend and making my quarterly pilgrimage to Ohio State when I stopped by Universal Radio, so I got a chance to look at some of these new radios. I surprised myself at how impressed I was with some of them. Their build quality is above average (better than my Yacht Boy 400PE), are small enough to put in a briefcase for travel or to bring to work, and they get good reception and have good audio. The Degen DE1101, which Universal has for about $70, is a great deal, and, if I didn't already have a couple of small portables, I'd probably have gotten one. Now, the Kaitos and Degens are nowhere near the build quality of the Japanese-made Sonys or the Taiwanese-made Sangeans, but they're pretty darned close. So, to answer Will's question, Magne is right; they do appear to be a good value for the money. Oh, and, John, in the "Coming Up" section of Passport '04, they say that Degen and Kchibo (another Chinese manufacturer) have some "flagship" portables on their way out. I don't know if that means to suggest that these will be comparable to the Sony 2010 or not, but I'll be interested to see what their offerings are. 73, (Deron Lundy, K8OSU, swprograms via DXLD) BRAIN FILTERS Re 3-199: Ain't this the truth?! I can't count the number of times when I was quite happily listening to a shortwave broadcast, when non- SWL friends present asked how I could be listening to all that noise. On a more specific "filter": Back in my ham radio days, as a teenager, I was particularly proficient as a CW operator (can you say "think in Morse?"). At the annual outdoor Field Day, I remember waking from sleep on a cot in the radio shack and hearing some less-experienced operators complaining about there being just one or two strong stations on a particular frequency. I suggested they listen more carefully, as there were several weaker ones just off-frequency quite readable by me, even in my half-sleep state. Best, (Saul Broudy, W3WHK, Philadelphia, PA USA, DX LISTENING DIGEST) PROPAGATION +++++++++++ Propagation outlook from Ottawa, issued Oct. 27: geomagnetic activity expected to peak on Nov 11 (gh, interpreting histogram for DXLD) LAST LARGE GEOMAGNETIC STORM?! The partially geoeffective (Earth Facing) Coronal Mass Ejection (CME) expelled from the huge X8.3 solar flare that occurred on Sunday 03/11/02 impacted Earth's magnetic field beginning at approximately 0600 UTC on Tuesday 03/11/04. The CME created an approximate 6 hour geomagnetic storm that peaked at a strong Kp-7 G3 level at mid latitudes. My forecast was: mid latitudes strong K-7 G3 to severe K-8 G4 storming. The Bz only went negative for a short period of time limiting the strength and impact of the storm. Turns out that a full halo Coronal Mass Ejection was expelled from the X class super flare yesterday. It's barely geoeffective but is moving incredibly fast at 2380 km/s. Because of its size it will probably trigger a brief minor Kp-5 to moderate Kp-6 geomagnetic storm on UT Thursday 03/11/05 [sic]. Yesterday I estimated the super solar flare at an X30-40 level looking at its duration, brightness and 11-15 minute saturation of instruments. It's not an easy thing to forecast its intensity in an accurate manner. I saw the following guestimates today floating around on the Internet. SIDC Belgium X50 STD Canada X30-40 DXLC X25+ NOAA X20+ We should see a return to some semblance of space weather normalcy after the latest pending geomagnetic storm. Hopefully this will be the last special post and I can return to my 72 hour HF/MF radio propagation outlook. 73, (Thomas F. Giella, KN4LF, Plant City, FL, USA, EL87WX, 1848 UT Nov 5, DX LISTENING DIGEST) THE WORD ON THE SUPER X-CLASS FLARE... I have just finished a talk with Christopher Balch from the Space Environment Center, NOAA, regarding the super flare from 1955Z, 4-XI- 2003. This flare saturated the instruments on the observing satellites for about 13 minutes, during the peak of the flare. This has made an accurate measurement of the flare's intensity difficult. The instruments stopped at X17.4. The scientists and engineers who designed the original sensor equipment back in the 1970's had events that caused saturations at much lower levels. They redesigned things to handle X17-class events, thinking that it would be enough. This time, it was not. Since we do not have any accurate record of flare intensity prior to the 1970's, our perspective of this latest series of flares is somewhat limited. Certainly, X-class flares of this magnitude are not regular events. But, they certainly are not unheard of. To pull out a rough estimate, but with very little confidence on this number, on how often we might see such activity, we think this is something we could see every 20 to 40 years. Currently, as I write this, the Space Environment Center, who is the official "last word" on what a flare's classification becomes, is finalizing their analysis on this super flare. Chris has obtained two likely candidates: Using a standard log-normal fit analysis, the flare was X25. Using a result from an individual from the University of Colorado, Boulder, who analyzed HESSI data on the event http://hessi.ssl.berkeley.edu/ the flare was an X28. The SEC has a procedure that Chris is finalizing, and validating. He will announce the final reading later today. Most likely, this flare will be somewhere between the X25 and X30 levels. Certainly, the geomagnetic storming of the last few weeks is one of the highest in many years. It is officially number six on the scale of intensity in the last 30 years. The two major sunspot groups, the number of flares, and the CME activity makes this period the most active and intense of this solar cycle. We have witnessed a truly spectacular historical moment. What's coming down the line? I usually base my forecasts on a 27-day solar rotation period. What happens today in terms of geomagnetic activity is possibly what will occur 27 days from now. Of course, sunspot and coronal hole activity might decline during that rotation period. The outlook is that in about 5 to 10 days, a sunspot group that had a lot of activity is going to rotate back around and start to influence space weather. But the big question is: Will these huge sunspot groups that just left us retain enough energy to last the 27-day rotation, to deliver another period of extreme solar weather? NASA is planning to launch in November 2005 the "Stereo Mission" http://stereo.jhuapl.edu/mission/overview/overview.html which will place an observing space craft leading the Earth's orbit, and another space craft trailing the Earth, such that they will be able to see around the sun at what is coming and what has gone. This certainly will become a major tool in our forecasting of space weather, and propagation. I will post my propagation forecast on http://prop.hfradio.org/ late today. 73 de (Tomas, NW7US (AAR0JA/AAM0EWA) Hood, 2004 UT Nov 5, swl at qth.net via DXLD) The Coronal Mass Ejection (CME) from the X25+ flare of 4-XI-2003 should arrive anytime, today. It will be a glancing blow, yet there is an expectation that it will be strong enough to trigger a major geomagnetic storm. Then, tomorrow or Saturday the Earth may be exposed to a fast solar wind stream from a small low-latitude coronal hole, now rotating in geoeffective position. This can maintain active to minor storm conditions for one or two days. The Polar Cap Absorption (PCA) event is still active, but decreasing, possibly ending by the end of 6-XI-2003. However, if shock-accelerated protons increase the greater than 10MeV proton flux due to the arrival of a CME later today, the PCA could be extended for another one to two days. This will shut down over-the-pole and high-latitude propagation paths. Solar activity has dropped over the last day, and the background X-ray levels are finally down in the B range. This is making it better for the lower bands. The 10.7-cm flux is decreasing, as well, so the highest HF bands are less likely to propagate. 73 de (Tomas, NW7US (AAR0JA/AAM0EWA) 1507 UT Nov 6, hard-core-dx via DXLD) RSGB PROPAGATION NEWS Solar data for the period from the 27th of October to the 2nd of November, compiled by Neil Clarke, G0CAS. http://www.g0cas.demon.co.uk/main.htm Yet another spectacular week. The high levels of solar activity reported last week continued. Solar activity was moderate to very high. In total 16 M-class and 3 X-class solar flares took place. The largest solar flare of the period was a X18/4B. This was the third strongest flare ever recorded, the two stronger ones were both rated at X20 and took place in April 2001 and August 1989. Solar flux levels increased from 257 units on the 27th to 279 by the 29th. This figure is only four units below the highest daily figure for this solar cycle which occurred in September 2001. Levels declined rapidly as one of the large groups rotated out of sight and by the 2nd was down to 190 units. The 90-day solar flux average on the 2nd was 131, that`s ten units up on last week. X-ray flux levels varied little day to day and averaged C2.6 units. Sunspot region 486 was the largest sunspot group of this solar cycle. It is big! It now covers a surface area of over 7.8 billion square kilometres (or slightly over 3 billion square miles)! Although this is difficult to place into perspective, it may help to understand that you could map the entire surfaces of the four inner planets, Mercury, Venus, Earth and Mars, together with the giant gas planet Neptune, all within the area encompassed by sunspot complex 486 - with room to spare. A number of intense sudden ionospheric disturbances and coronal mass ejections occurred. Geomagnetic activity was slightly unsettled till the morning of the 29th when the first large CME arrived at the Earth`s environment. This was in response to the X18 solar flare the day before. In fact the CME was travelling at 5 million miles per hour and took approximately 19 hours to arrive here, which proved to be the fastest CME on record. By midday on the 30th the storm was showing signs of abating when a second CME arrived. This CME was travelling just as fast and was in response to the X10 solar flare of the 29th. The three-hourly K index was reported at K9, which is as strong as it gets, several times. The Ap index for the 29th and 30th was 189 and 162 units respectively. The average for the period was Ap 74, by far the highest weekly average on record. Both the large solar flares were also proton flares and unfortunately this corrupted the solar wind speed equipment on board the ACE spacecraft. When the data returned early on the 31st, the wind speed was 1280 kilometres per second but by the 2nd it was down to 520. Particle densities increased to 80 particles per cubic centimetre on the 29th but declined to single figures thereafter. Bz was mainly southward (or negative) for most of the main phase on the storms on the 29th and 30th with fluctuations to minus 50 nanoTeslas. By the 1st Bz had returned to varying between minus and plus 5 nanoTeslas. What effect did all this have on propagation? Well for one reason or the other the HF band conditions were poor and at times unusable, with MUFs below 14 MHz. However, the VHF fraternity have had a great time with at least a couple of widespread auroras that covered most of Europe. Unfortunately at the peak of the magnetic storms in the UK it was cloudy with only a few visual reports received. On report from Plymouth was of an outstanding visual and radio aurora. Reports of aurora taking place on bands from 28 MHz to 430 MHz were also received. On 28 MHz, the CS3B beacon on Madeira, located at 33 degrees north of the equator, was reported to have been heard auroral. Once again on 28 MHz, around midnight on the 29th the band was open from the UK to the east coast of North America. Several satellites suffered serious damage and one Japanese satellite was destroyed all together. Power blackouts took place in Canada, but not to the extent of the great storm of March 1989. And finally the solar forecast. This week the quiet side of the sun will be rotating out of sight. The first of the two very active regions should rotate into view around Thursday with the second at the start of next week. Therefore, solar activity should be low at first but from Thursday solar activity has the potential to increase to moderate to high levels. Solar flux is expected to increase and be around the 130s by next weekend. Geomagnetic activity could be rather disturbed for most of the week due to a recurring coronal hole. MUFs during daylight hours at equal latitudes should be around 27 MHz for the south and 24 MHz for the north. Paths this week to South Africa should have a maximum usable frequency, with a 50 per cent success rate, of about 33 MHz. The optimum working frequency, with a 90 per cent success rate, should be around 24 MHz. The best time to try this path should be between 0900 and 1600 UTC. Just a remainder that an explanation of all the terms used in this report can be found in the 2004 RSGB Yearbook, starting on page 126. The RSGB propagation news is also available in a Saturday update, posted every Saturday evening and for more on propagation generally, see http://www.rsgb.org/society/psc.htm (Radio Society of Great Britain GB2RS News script for November 9, posted on uk.radio.amateur November 5 by G4RGA via John Norfolk, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Official Space Weather Advisory issued by NOAA Space Environment Center, Boulder, Colorado, USA SPACE WEATHER ADVISORY BULLETIN #03- 5 2003 November 04 at 05:25 p.m. MST (2003 November 05 0025 UTC) **** EXTREME SOLAR FLARE **** Powerful Active Region 486 has produced one of the most intense solar flares ever measured. The event began at 12:29 P.M. MST (1929 UTC) on November 4th and rose quickly to exceed X17 on the GOES-12 X-ray sensor. By 12:44 P.M. MST (1944 UTC), the GOES sensor was saturated and remained that way until 12:56 P.M. (1956 UTC), suggesting this event extended well in to the very highest flare category, the X20 plus range. This massive flare produced a category R5 (extreme) radio blackout. All short-wave communications through the sunlit hemisphere of the Earth experienced complete blackout conditions. An associated solar radiation storm is underway. The current storm is at category S1 (minor) levels, and rising. The radiation storm is expected to reach category S2 (moderate) levels, and there is a small chance for a category S3 (strong) radiation storm. High latitude aviation interests are advised to closely monitor radiation levels over the next 24 hours. High latitude short-wave communications will likely experience considerable degradation for the next 24 to 48 hours. All agencies with space interests should also carefully monitor radiation levels. A powerful, and extremely fast (over 5 million miles per hour) mass ejection occurred from this flare site, but is mostly directed away from Earth. As a result, only category G1 (minor) to G2 (moderate) geomagnetic storm levels are likely on November 6th. This solar flare was the largest in a series of very large flares that have occurred in Active Region 486 over the past two weeks. At its peak, this sunspot cluster was approximately 15 times larger than Earth. This active region will rotate to the backside of the sun over the next 24 hours. Another large flare is still possible from this region, but large flare activity will become much less likely after the next 24 to 48 hours. Data used to provide space weather services are contributed by NOAA, USAF, NASA, NSF, USGS, the International Space Environment Services and other observatories, universities, and institutions. For more information, including email services, see SEC's Space Weather Advisories Web site http://sec.noaa.gov/advisories or (303) 497-5127. The NOAA Public Affairs contact is Barbara McGehan at Barbara.McGehan@noaa.gov or (303) 497-6288 (via Fred Vobbe, NRC-AM via DXLD) Official Space Weather Advisory issued by NOAA Space Environment Center, Boulder, Colorado, USA SPACE WEATHER ADVISORY OUTLOOK #03- 44 2003 November 04 at 05:31 p.m. MST (2003 November 05 0031 UTC) **** SPACE WEATHER OUTLOOK **** Summary For October 27-November 4 Space weather during the past week reached extreme levels. The dynamic solar region, NOAA Active Region 486, continues to produce high levels of solar activity. Region 486 produced a category R4 (severe) radio blackout on October 28th at 4:10 a.m.. MST (1110 UTC). Associated with the this large solar flare was a category S4 (severe) solar radiation storm at 5:25 p.m. MST on October 28th (29th at 0025 UTC). This large flare also produced a cloud of energized particle known as a coronal mass ejection or CME, which was directed straight at Earth. When the CME reached earth it produced a category G5 (extreme) geomagnetic storm starting at 11:13 p.m. MST on October 28th (the 29th at 0613 UTC). This geomagnetic storm produced category G3 (strong) through category G5 (extreme) conditions over the next twenty-four hours. NOAA Active Region 486 continued to produce solar activity with yet another major solar flare at 1:39 p.m. MST on October 29th (2049 UTC) resulting in a category R4 (severe) radio blackout. A CME was associated with this second solar flare also. This CME, moving at over five million miles per hour impacted Earth’s magnetic field at 9:20 a.m. MST on October 30th (1620 UTC) and produced another category G5 (extreme) geomagnetic storm. This geomagnetic storm produced category G1 (minor) through category G5 (extreme) conditions over the next twenty-four hours. During the past week, NOAA Active Region 486 grew to become the largest sunspot region observed during this solar cycle. The activity produced by this active region also ranked up there with the largest activity recorded. For a list of adverse system effects related to space weather storms, please refer to the NOAA Space Weather Scales. Outlook For November 5-11 Space weather for the next week is expected to reach moderate levels. A category G2 (moderate) geomagnetic storm is expected on day two or day three of the forecast period. Activity is expected to decrease after November 6th when NOAA Active Region 486 rotates well beyond the west limb. For current space weather conditions please refer to: http://www.sec.noaa.gov/SWN/ http://www.sec.noaa.gov/alerts/ (via Fred Vobbe, NRC-AM via DXLD) Product: Weekly Highlights and Forecasts :Issued: 2003 Nov 05 2100 UTC # Prepared by the US Dept. of Commerce, NOAA, Space Environment Center # Product description and SEC contact on the Web # http://www.sec.noaa.gov/weekly.html # # Weekly Highlights and Forecasts # Highlights of Solar and Geomagnetic Activity 04 November - 27 October 2003 Solar Activity ranged from moderate to high levels. Activity on 27 – 29 October was at high levels with most of the activity originating in Region 486 (S16, L=285, class/area Fkc/2610 on 29 October) and Region 488 (N08, L=289 class/area Fkc/1750 on 30 October). An M6/Sf occurred on 27 October from Region 486. On 28 October, Region 486 produced one of the largest flares of this solar cycle, an X17/4B proton flare peaking at 1110 UTC on the 28th. This flare had intense radio bursts including a 245 MhZ burst near 500,000 sfu, a Tenflare of 13,000 sfu and Type II (1250 km/s) and Type IV radio sweeps. An extremely fast (near 2000 km/s), earthward directed halo CME was observed on SOHO/LASCO imagery. On the 29th, Region 486 produced another major flare, an X10 at 29/2049Z. Once again, intense radio emissions accompanied this flare, including a 360,000 sfu burst at 245 MHz, a 2500 sfu Tenflare, and strong Type II/IV radio sweeps. A very fast (over 1900 km/s) earth-directed full halo CME was observed on LASCO imagery. Throughout the period Region 486 maintained its tremendous size and magnetic complexity, with strong delta configurations. On 29 October, the sunspot area of Region 486 grew to 2610 millionths making it the largest spot group observed to date in this solar cycle. Moderate level activity was observed on 30 October – 01 November due to minor M-class flares from Regions 486 and 488. Region 484 (N04, L=354, class/area Ekc/1750 on 22 October) rotated beyond the west limb on 30 October. Region 488 developed very rapidly near center disk on 27 October and exhibited rapid growth over the next three days, reaching 1750 millionths in size. Despite its impressive size activity from Region 488 consisted of mainly minor M-class events. At the end of the period Region 486 produced another major event, an X8/2b flare at 1725 UTC on 02 November. This flare was associated with a Tenflare of 7,700 sfu, a 245 MHz radio burst of 24,000 sfu, and Type II (1691 km/s) and Type IV (70 min.) radio sweeps. LASCO imagery also indicates and halo CME associated with the X8. At the time of this report issue (04 November) Regions 486 and 488 produced a couple of X-class event on 03-04 November; an X3/2b from Region 486 on the 3rd, an X2/2f from Region 488 on the 3rd, and an X17-plus at 1956 UTC (saturation ended, exact peak not known) on the 4th. The X17-plus flare saturated the GOES X-ray instrument for 11 minutes. Further detail will be provided in next week’s summary. Solar wind data were partially available from the NASA Advanced Composition Explorer (ACE) spacecraft during the summary period. The large proton events mentioned below contaminated the SWEPAM and EPAM instruments on board ACE making the data unreliable on 28 – 30 October and again on 02- 03 November. Solar wind events during the period were closely associated with geomagnetic activity and are summarized below with the geomagnetic activity. A number of proton events occurred this period. First, the proton event that began last summary period on 26 October, and ended at 27/1910 UTC. Second, the X17 flare from the 28th produced a greater than 10 MeV and greater than 100 MeV proton event. The greater than 100 MeV event began at 18/1150 UTC, reached a peak value of 186 pfu at 29/0015 UTC, and ended at 31/0145 UTC. The greater than 10 MeV event began at 28/1240 UTC, max value of 29,500 pfu at 29/0615 UTC, and ended at 01/1310 UTC. This 10 MeV proton event is the second largest, to date in this solar cycle. A secondary enhancement of greater than 10 MeV and 100 MeV protons was observed late on 29 October due to the X10 flare. The greater than 10 MeV flux increased to a secondary maximum of 3300 pfu at 30/1935 UTC and the greater than 100 MeV flux increased to 110 pfu at 29/2310 UTC. Third, a greater than 10 MeV proton flux exceeded event threshold at 02/1105 UTC due to the M3 flare from Region 486 and reached a peak value of 30 pfu at 1415 UTC. Before this proton event ended the X8 flare at 1725 on the 2nd increased the greater than 10 MeV proton flux to new maximums. Greater than 10 MeV flux reached 1570 pfu at 03/0815 UTC and the event is still in progress as of the time of this report (04 November). The greater than 100 MeV proton flux due to the X8 event began at 02/1740 UTC, reached a peak value 49 pfu at 02/1905 UTC, and ended at 03/1720 UTC. The greater than 2 MeV electron flux at geosynchronous orbit reached high levels on 01 – 02 November. From 28 – 31 October the 2 MeV data from GOES-11 and GOES-10 were unreliable due to solar radiation contamination if the instrument. Geomagnetic activity ranged from quiet to severe storm levels. Activity was at quiet to active levels from 27 – 28 October. A shock and CME associated with the X1 flare on the 26th passed the ACE spacecraft at around 0130 UTC on 28 October. Solar wind speed rose to near 800 km/s, but Bz stayed northward and the geomagnetic field was at active levels. The powerful shock and CME from the X17/4b flare on the 28th, passed ACE at 0559 UTC, and impacted Earth's magnetic field at 0613 UTC on 29 October with a very strong sudden impulse. The sudden impulse measured 140 nT on the Boulder magnetometer. The transit time for this CME was around 19 hours, making it one of the fastest on record. Strong southward IMF Bz initiated severe (K9) storming at middle and high latitudes. Mostly northward Bz occurred following the initial shock, however major to severe storming persisted (K7). A sharp southward turn in the Bz occurred at around 1800 UTC on the 29th ending the day with severe storming (K8-9). The intense geomagnetic storming continued through the first half 30 October. Severe (K8-9) levels were observed during the 00 – 06 UTC period. A short-lived "lull" (K5-6) in activity preceded the onset of another severe geomagnetic storm. The very fast CME from the X10 flare at 29/2049 UTC impacted the magnetic field at around 1600 UTC on 30 October – another fast 19-hour transit from Sun to Earth. GOES-10, 11, and 12 geosynchronous satellites experienced magnetopause crossings lasting over three hours in duration. Sustained southward IMF Bz in the -15 to –30 nT and a total IMF measurement near 40 nT as measured at ACE produced severe storming after 1600 UTC on 30 October. Bz rotated northward early on 31 October and by midday on 31 October geomagnetic activity had declined to active levels. Activity on 01 – 02 November was predominantly at unsettled to active levels due to the declining but still elevated solar wind speed (600 – 1000 km/s). FORECAST OF SOLAR AND GEOMAGNETIC ACTIVITY 05 November - 01 December 2003 Solar activity is expected to range from low to high levels. Regions 486 and 488 have the potential for M and X-class activity until they rotate beyond the west limb on 04 – 05 November. Regions 484, 486, and 488 are due to return to the visible disk on 12, 17, and 18 November, respectively. Activity after the 12th is expected to range from low to high levels. Currently a greater than 10 MeV proton event is in progress and enhanced due to the X17-plus flare, and is expected to end early on 07 November. Additional proton producing flares are possible until Regions 486 and 488 are well beyond the west limb, after 06 November. Proton events are possible once Region 484 returns to the visible disk on 12 November. The greater than 2 MeV electron flux at geosynchronous orbit is expected to reach high on 12 – 19 November due to a large returning coronal hole The geomagnetic field is expected to range from quiet to major storm levels during the period. A CME form the X17-plus event is expected to arrive on day two or three of the period with major storm levels possible. A large coronal hole is due to return on 09 – 18 November and is expected to produce major storm levels. Major flare activity from returning Region 484, 486, and 488 may produce severe storm levels during the second half of the period. :Product: 27-day Space Weather Outlook Table 27DO.txt :Issued: 2003 Nov 05 2211 UTC # Prepared by the US Dept. of Commerce, NOAA, Space Environment Center # Product description and SEC contact on the Web # http://www.sec.noaa.gov/wwire.html # # 27-day Space Weather Outlook Table # Issued 2003 Nov 04 # # UTC Radio Flux Planetary Largest # Date 10.7 cm A Index Kp Index 2003 Nov 05 140 30 5 2003 Nov 06 130 30 5 2003 Nov 07 125 20 4 2003 Nov 08 120 12 3 2003 Nov 09 115 20 4 2003 Nov 10 110 40 6 2003 Nov 11 110 35 6 2003 Nov 12 120 30 5 2003 Nov 13 125 30 5 2003 Nov 14 125 20 4 2003 Nov 15 125 20 4 2003 Nov 16 130 20 4 2003 Nov 17 140 30 5 2003 Nov 18 150 30 5 2003 Nov 19 160 10 3 2003 Nov 20 170 15 3 2003 Nov 21 180 15 3 2003 Nov 22 180 12 3 2003 Nov 23 190 12 3 2003 Nov 24 190 12 3 2003 Nov 25 190 15 3 2003 Nov 26 180 15 3 2003 Nov 27 175 15 3 2003 Nov 28 175 15 3 2003 Nov 29 170 15 3 2003 Nov 30 160 10 3 2003 Dec 01 150 15 3 (from http://www.sec.noaa.gov/radio via DXLD) ###