DX LISTENING DIGEST 3-205, November 14, 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 1207: WWCR: Sat 1130, Sun 0330 5070, 0730 3210, Wed 1030 9475 WRMI: Sat 1900+ 15725 (via IBC Radio) WBCQ: Mon 0515 7415 WRN ONDEMAND: http://new.wrn.org/listeners/stations/station.php?StationID=24 OUR ONDEMAND AUDIO [also for CONTINENT OF MEDIA, MUNDO RADIAL]: Check http://www.worldofradio.com/audiomid.html WORLD OF RADIO 1207 (high version is in two parts): Part I: (stream) http://www.w4uvh.net/wor1207h.ram (download) http://www.w4uvh.net/wor1207h.rm Part II: (stream) http://www.w4uvh.net/wor1207i.ram (download) http://www.w4uvh.net/wor1207i.rm (summary) http://www.worldofradio.com/wor1207.html WORLD OF RADIO 1207 (low version): (stream) http://www.w4uvh.net/wor1207.ram (download) http://www.w4uvh.net/wor1207.rm UNSOLICITED TESTIMONIAL As always, I`ve enjoyed your program since the old WUOT/WRNO days. Thanks, and "Take it Easy!" 73's, Braindude (Noble West, TN, Nov 12) ** ALASKA. A new 50 kW mediumwave transmitter was installed recently for station KICY at Nome in Alaska and it was soon discovered that the transmitter building was sinking into the frozen tundra. A quick investigation, states Radio World, revealed that heat from the new large transmitter was melting the permafrost and the building was slowly sinking into the slush. A bulletin from station KJNP at North Pole in Alaska shows the photo of a man mowing the lawn on the sod roof on top of the main building (Adrian Peterson, IN, AWR Wavescan Nov 16 via John Norfolk, DXLD) ** ANDAMAN & NICOBAR ISLANDS. INDIA, 4760, AIR Port Blair regular here around 1130 Nov 9-13. Mostly music but does ID at 1130 (Hans Johnson, Naples FL, Cumbre DX via DXLD) ** AUSTRALIA. Surprise surprise. In Australia, "FM radio outperforms AM rivals." (Guess they call it AM, not medium wave, there.) http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2003/11/14/1068674383924.html (Kim Elliott, DC, Nov 14, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** BENIN. 7210.3, R. Benin (presumed), 0607 Nov 12, African pop music with female announcer speaking French. News read in French by male until 0626. Mix of traditional West African folk and popular music after the news. Checked again around 0700, and the signal had improved. After 0700 there was a switch to a regional dialect. Fair reception with good peaks. I did not catch a station ID (David Hodgson, TN, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** BHUTAN. BROADCASTING SERVICE INCREASES RADIO AIRTIME | Text of report in English by Bhutan Broadcasting Service text web site on 12 November The Bhutan Broadcasting Service increased its radio airtime to 12 hours daily coinciding with the 48th birth anniversary of His Majesty the King Jigme Singye Wangchuck. BBS will now be broadcasting 94 hours in a week with a news bulletin at every hour. The BBS radio can now be heard from seven in the morning to nine in the evening on weekdays. On weekends, the radio broadcast will begin at seven in the morning and end at seven in the evening. BBS radio today broadcasts on short wave and FM. Work is under way to expand the FM service to reach other parts of the kingdom. Source: Bhutan Broadcasting Service text web site, Thimphu, in English 0000 gmt 12 Nov 03 ** BRAZIL [and non]. Glenn: Re 4875: I too had tentatively logged a station on this frequency as possibly being Rdif Roraima. My log indicates reception of 4874.91 +/- 0.02 on 11/06/03 at 0212; yet on 10/29/03, at 0909, I heard a different station at that approx. frequency: 4874.8, which did not sound Portuguese, albeit being very faint. I concluded without any clear confirmation that I had heard RRI Sorong on 10/29, which I've logged earlier, with clearer reception, at that and lower frequencies during better reception conditions (Steve Waldee, San José, CA, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CANADA. This week Nov 15 on Quirks & Quarks our feature item is: "Sex on the Brain". It's been more than a decade since we first heard that men are from Mars, and women from Venus --- in other words, they think differently. And while this idea has become pervasive in pop culture, until recently it hasn't had a great deal of scientific support. But that's now changing. We'll talk to a scientist who's found differences in male and female brains that are hard-wired, right into our genes. And we'll talk with a Cambridge psychologist who says men's brains are programmed to fix a broken leg, while women's brains are programmed to fix a broken heart. Plus --- how female wolf spiders distinguish their lovers from their lunch. All this and more on Quirks & Quarks, Saturday right after the noon news on Radio One (Bob McDonald, Host, Quirks & Quarks, CBC Radio One, Saturdays at 12:06 online at http://cbc.ca/quirks Science mailing list via DXLD) ** CANADA. Good news for canoeists, hikers Broadcasting Decision CRTC 2003-556 Ottawa, 13 November 2003 Canadian Broadcasting Corporation Algonquin Park, Ontario Application 2003-0340-5 Public Hearing in the National Capital Region 29 September 2003 NEW ENGLISH- AND FRENCH-LANGUAGE FM RADIO STATION IN ALGONQUIN PARK 1. The Commission approves the application by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC), on behalf of Environment Canada, for an English- and French-language FM radio programming undertaking to provide a weather and environmental information service in Algonquin Park, Ontario. 2. The station will broadcast, on a year-round basis, identical English-and French-language programming that will consist of pre- recorded messages informing campers, canoeists and hikers of weather conditions in this popular tourist destination. 3. The station will operate at 103.7 MHz (channel 279A1) with an effective radiated power of 115 watts (via Harry van Vugt, Ont., DXLD) ** CHINA [non]. I`ve found CRI English at 2300 on 6040 --- great signal! Using Sackville relay (Bob Thomas, CT, Nov 10, DX LISTENING DIGEST) More and more such relays keep turning up; or this one may have moved down from 13 MHz? It would be nice if we could get a complete schedule, either from CRI or RCI (gh, DXLD) ** CHINA. CHINA SETS 2015 AS ANALOGUE TV SWITCH-OFF DATE | Text of report in English by official Chinese news agency Xinhua (New China News Agency) Beijing, 11 November: Roughly all cable TV broadcasting in China will be in the digital mode by 2010, while existing analogue broadcasts will be terminated by 2015, according to government sources. An official with the State Administration of Radio, Film and Television said China initiated a large-scale promotion of digital cable TV this year. So far, 25 cities have been operating digital cable TV broadcasting on a trial basis, 19 of which have started digital pay-TV channels. The official predicted that most regions in China would complete the transition from analogue TV broadcasting to digital TV broadcasting by 2008. Traditional analogue television uses radio wave signals, but digital TV uses the language of computers, allowing for sharper pictures and sound and much bigger volume for programmes. The official said once digital TV broadcasting is made universal, television will become a multimedia information platform that provides exceedingly abundant resources with much higher quality. Source: Xinhua news agency, Beijing, in English 0020 gmt 11 Nov 03 (via BBCM via DXLD) ** COLOMBIA. 6139.78, Radio Melodía, Nov 10, 1045, ads, announcements, ID "La cadena Melodía está informando las últimas noticias; siga en la frecuencia 730, canal preferencial.", into international news. Excellent signal (Mark Mohrmann, Coventry, VT, NRD 535D, V-Beam 140m @180 deg., DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** COSTA RICA. RFPI UPDATE 11/13/2003 12:30 AM CST - The Copy Exchange The transfer of equipment and furniture to the donated farm land, located in the mountains across a wide valley near the existing RFPI studio, should be completed this coming Sunday, James Latham told The Copy Exchange via cell phone around midnight. Only the towers will be left - those to be dismantled by workers for transport next week. The farm land was donated by Ruddy Seeley, a long-time RFPI listener and supporter. According to Frances Chavarria, an RFPI Advisory Board member, Ruddy's assistance has been essential to the survival of the station. "When he heard the station was in trouble [with UPaz] he and his family went to RFPI and have been loyal helpers ever since," she said. The move from RFPI's existing site began Friday of last week, after University for Peace guards were prevailed upon to open the station gate to allow clearing of the station. Two truck-loads daily have made the long trip to the farm in the mountains since then. Latham stated that he would be out of Costa Rica for about a month, looking for parts to upgrade the farm's existing hydroelectric plant. "With even a small upgrade we could fire up the 10 kW transmitter," said Latham. "It's not that we can pay for them, mind you," he said, "but we at least have to know where to find the parts." These power upgrades will have to be implemented through future listener support. The San José office is shaping up slowly under interim coordinator, Celina Garcia, and Internet live streaming will not be possible for over a month, Latham stated. Right now the office contains only two computers and a working Internet cable connection. A studio-to- transmitter link from the office across the valley and up to the mountain transmitter site should theoretically be possible, though it has not been tested. Meanwhile, Costa Rica's highest court is still deliberating RFPI's case against The University for Peace. That is actually a good sign, said Latham. Cases considered frivolous are dismissed in short order, he said (-- Franklin Seiberling, Iowa City, Nov 13, http://copyexchange.com/_wsn/page3.html via DXLD) Dear Secretary: Please be advised that urgency on your part is needed in the raging conflict between UPEACE and RFPI, the two organizations that are at war with each other since the last of October. I urge you to send a mediator to Costa Rica to end hostilities to the two parties and offer a peaceful resolution to the situation. The staff at the soon to be vacant property had their phone, water, and power supplies stopped by Mr. Strong, a UPAZ official. Please let everyone in the council know of this impasse and work to end it. Thanks! (Noble West, TN, letter to Kofi Annan, Nov 10, cc to DXLD) As Mr Strong is Mr Annan`s deputy at the UN, I suspect they are more likely to side with each other on this; there seems to have been absolutely no response from the Secretary General to all the mail; has anyone even received a pro-forma acknowledgment? (gh, DXLD) BIZARRE CONFLICT IN COSTA RICA by Andy Sennitt, 13 November 2003 The Constitutional Chamber of the Supreme Court in Costa Rica is set to get embroiled in a bitter dispute between two international institutions ostensibly dedicated to peace, human rights and nonviolent conflict resolution. The story would be funny if it were not so sad... http://www.rnw.nl/realradio/features/html/rfpi031113.html (via Artie Bigley, DXLD) CONTACT INFO FOR UPAZ GOVERNING COUNCIL I'm Franklin from The Copy Exchange. What follows is a list of current members of the UPaz Governing Council, which reportedly may meet as early as next week. This list was forwarded to me by Emily who is on the RFPI board of directors. When contacting these people please emphasize UPaz violations of the UN Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and the need for RFPI monetary compensation. (Please don't request that UPaz stand down and allow RFPI to stay on UPaz land. The move is a done deal.) UPAZ COUNCIL MEMBERS - NOVEMBER 2003... http://www.saverfpi.org/article.php?story=20031113173619930 (Franklin Seiberling, Nov 13, saverfpi.org via DXLD) RFPI`s own website http://www.rfpi.org was not updated until Nov 13: Newest Developments: The University for Peace has shut down RFPI by cutting its water, electricity and telephone services. There are plans to relocate and rebuild as soon as possible. Much will depend on the financial resources available as Upeace has thus far refused to pay a dime of compensation for the facilities constructed and maintained by you, our listeners. If you can possibly help with your financial contribution, please click here. http://www.rfpi.org/#Support_the_rebuilding_of_RFPI New developments on reconstruction efforts as well as efforts to rectify the injustice by Upeace against RFPI and its listeners can be found at the http://www.saverfpi.org website RFPI extends its deepest gratitude to the thousands who have supported the station over the years and will continue to do so as we rebuild the dream. Thank you (via gh, DXLD) Last week`s Tico Times top story is now in their archive at: http://www.ticotimes.net/archive/11_07_03_ts.htm (via gh, DXLD) ** COSTA RICA. 5054.4, Faro del Caribe active, but in the evenings only. Not sure of their exact sign on, but it seems to be late, perhaps 2300 or 0000 (Hans Johnson, FL, Nov, Cumbre DX via DXLD) ** COSTA RICA. Tetsuya Hirahara, Radio Nuevo Mundo, visited San José July 28 to August 2, 2003. Below are some of his MW observations: 610 TIRSU Z-FM, San José, silent 730 TIHB Radio 730, San José, ex Radio Reloj. This station aims at Nicaraguans living in Costa Rica. The station has a program for Nicaraguans at 1800-2000 and a link with Nueva Radio Ya (600 kHz) in Managua at 1930. The station still belongs to "Grupo Reloj". 1200 TIAM Radio Cucú, San José is a pioneer of program for Nicaraguans. Program "Nicaragua Actual" is now on the air at 0000- 0100, having a link with Radio La Primerísima (680 kHz) in Managua. 1300 TILC La Fuente Musical, Cartago, ex La Paz del Dial. (That means the station is back to its former name -ed) 1360 TICA Radio Celestial, San José, ex Radio Tica. E-mail: radiocelestial @ costarricense.cr (Tetsuya Hirahara via Tore Larsson, ARC CA News Desk, Nov via DXLD) ** CUBA. 910, Cadena Agramonte alternative address: Calle Cisneros N 310, entre Ignacio Agramonte y General Gómez, Camagüey 70100 (Tore Larsson, ARC CA News Desk, Nov via DXLD) ** CUBA. 2059.98 (harmonic 2 x 1030), Radio Musical Nacional, Villa Clara, Nov 11, 0148-0300, amazing signal out of the blue, never even a trace of a carrier here before, classical music selections with announcer on the half-hours, 0259 ID "...Radio Musical Nacional..." followed by harp/vibraphone tune into "Teatro de la Ópera" program. Signal strength was only fair with good peaks, but the modulation level was excellent. I'm not much of a classical music aficionado but at one point I pulled the headphones out and listened to Jascha Heifetz violin selections through the speakers at armchair levels. Just like listening to the old WQXR New York in days gone by (Mark Mohrmann, Coventry, VT, NRD 535D, V-Beam 140m @180 deg., DX LISTENING DIGEST) Fine catch, Radio Musical Nacional, Villa Clara (Cuban harmonic). You said some weeks ago that it seems that harmonics from Radio Rebelde are gone but this morning I heard Rebelde on 3600.02 kHz. 73s from (Björn Malm, Quito, Ecuador, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Perhaps the 710 transmitter has been deharmonicized, but not the 600 kHz (gh, DXLD) ** CUBA [and non]. Re Whistling Transmitters: Well, I retired from being a chief engineer at high-powered (10 to 50 kW) MW stations in Oct. 1989, so I'm out of touch with possible later developments, though I am familiar with PDM transmitters up to that date. My impression of the Cuban "whistling" transmissions -- which also have an apparent low modulation level (though I've checked to see if they were operating in single sideband or reduced-carrier mode, and determined that they surely weren't) -- is that the problem might arguably have been from a very bad microwave STL program feed pickup. In addition to steady background noise consisting of what appears to be a series of discrete tones, I can hear varying noise modulation effects rising and falling on the modulation envelope, which sound very much like nonlinearities and IM distortions exacerbated by companding processes. Could a very bad audio link, on a companded system, picked up by either a drifty receiver or suffering from baseband noise, be responsible for the problem? What George describes as "holes" in the complex audio envelope due to dead modulator modules would, I think, cause the fuzzy effects and even the apparent noise modulation, but what about the discrete, constant tones? They are there even during silences between syllables or words. I have noticed this especially on what appears to be local Habana programming in English on 9820; even though the RF is extremely steady and strong -- sometimes registering 40 dB over S9 here in San José, CA. -- the modulation level is at least 6 to 8 dB lower than if the carrier were modulated fully with modern processing and low distortion. Certainly, none of the 50 kW Dougherty, Pulse-Width- Modulator, or Ampliphase type transmitters I'm familiar with can produce these exact effects under "normal" conditions of deficiency, detuning, misadjustment, or component damage. One other point might be added: what *appears* to the ear to be low modulation might NOT be measured that way at the transmitter, if spurious transient signals of low *average* energy level but high peak value were superimposed on the audio, forcing the operator to keep the average program modulation quite low. For instance, a whistling noise at the very top extreme of the audio passband in the program source might be turned into a nasty square wave by the final audio processor's clipping stage; this could cause an overload condition of the modulator, necessitating a lower than optimal modulation level; or it could be phase-shifted into a very "peaky" triangular shaped waveform. The transmitter operator would have a hard time keeping this signal within linear modulation range, and the "intelligence" of the audio program material might seem to be very faint even though the actual peak-to-peak electrical value of the modulated signal was extremely high. So, we could have a noise signal superimposed on the program feed that causes havoc with the proper modulation of the high- powered transmitter. A clever technician might be able to insert the proper lowpass filter and control the spurious signal; but are we to suppose that all the RHC operators are "clever"? (Steve Waldee, retired radio engineer, San Jose, CA, Nov 13, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Later: Further info about Cuban TX's/modulation artifacts Glenn: I was pleased to discover on the webpage http://www.transmitter.be/bbc-sk51.html that the RCH [sic] transmitter that I am likely hearing, during those programs with bad modulation (which I have often noted recently during English broadcasts in the evening on 9820) is surely a venerable Brown Boveri SK-51. Arnie Coro notes in your "Global Forum --- Shortwave Broadcasting" column in the 11/03 issue of MONITORING TIMES that "the more than forty year old Brown Boveris" are being replaced; presumably we are hearing the old one used at 9820 since the new pulse modulation units are being employed at other frequencies (and sounded excellent during the test transmissions I heard on 9550 a few months ago.) Therefore, if the SK-51 is indeed the transmitter responsible for the distorted broadcasts, it is not using digital pulse techniques but rather a conventional high level class B modulator utilizing power valves and modulation transformer, of extreme simplicity and well understood by any transmitter technician. It is unlikely that THIS is the source of the very complex spurious tone/noise modulation artifacts -- unless an extremely bizarre internal modulator/final stage spurious oscillation, or RF feedback problem, are occurring (I'd say unlikely, for at 100 kW output, and with such high voltages and currents present, such an episode might likely result in severe component stress and possible destruction!) My original impression that the noise/squeaky whistle signature was in the audio chain is quite likely, therefore. Surely it must be the result of a bad studio link, picking up interfering signals, severely mistuned, or suffering RF feedback interference problems, possibly from the main transmitter output signal getting into an STL receiver and destabilizing it. I have even heard strange audio distortions of this type when a power supply stage goes out of regulation, or when a regulator starts oscillating (as happened once during one of my own air shifts at an FM radio station back in the 1970's, causing a very weird series of peculiar noises in the transmission; the solution was as trivial as turning a current-adjustment trimmer potentiometer a few degrees!) The article on the site noted above also indicates that "If requested, a peak clipper may be connected at the input for trapezoidal modulation." My assumption is that the transmitter was originally equipped with such a rudimentary modulation control device and that over the course of time, various RHC technicians have misadjusted it, along with the rest of the audio processing chain, causing the horrible clipping distortion that I occasionally hear in their transmissions. Perhaps during the 'halcyon' period of a couple of years ago, when I could actually *enjoy* their programming, one particular golden-eared tech was taking good care to properly tweak this equipment, but now some butter-fingered, tin-ear incompetent is clumsily misadjusting the audio. Or, as is also very likely, the power amp and modulator valves in the rig are very old and tired... At any rate, tonight at about 0200 I happened to tune by 9820 and heard an English language newscast and found that it was not one of the "whistly" ones, but fairly clean -- if not particularly loud or intelligible. Yours, (Steve Waldee - retired radio transmitter engineer and audio processing specialist, San Jose, CA, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Further discussion under RADIO EQUIPMENT FORUM! ** DENMARK [non]. Dear Glenn, We pay for air time up to midnight Norwegian time on Dec. 31 (23 UT), so I see no reason to stop before! Probably there'll be a special 'goodbye-program'. Kind Regards, (Erik Køie, DK-2840 Holte, Denmark, Nov 14, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** EGYPT. Cairo on 11780 at 0200 – no good. R. Bras there in Portuguese. Also, heavy jamming on 11775 [against Martí] (Bob Thomas, CT, Nov 10, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** FRANCE. I can confirm RFI English at 1200 on 17815; it`s very, very faint. At 1400, 17620 makes it through. At 1600, 11615, 15160, 15605 and 17850 very, very faint. And all depends on favorable propagation of course; none intended for NAm (Bob Thomas, CT, Nov 10, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** GERMANY. Dear Sirs, I found some informations about our coastal radio station on Your website. Some additional informations: 1. We are now using Pactor-III with free signal mode1. 2. We do have some roaming partners Find the complete frequency list on our website [not given here] 3. We are very happy to receive QSL's --- This is a great help to get informations about the capability of our station. We are answering every QSL request. Kind regards (Martin Reincke, tempel @ kielradio.de Kiel Radio, Nov 10, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** GUATEMALA. 3360, LV de Nahualá untraced and presumed off. 3370, R. Tezulutlán untraced at my receiver for years, although it is still listed in PWBR 2004 here and on 4835. Anyone hearing them? 3380, R. Chortís untraced and presumed off. 4698, R. Amistad no sign of this one yet. 4824.9, R. Mam, ditto. 4845, R. K`ekchí untraced, looks like back up transmitter gave up the ghost as well (Hans Johnson, FL, Nov, Cumbre DX via DXLD) Later: 4845, R. K`ekchí back on, noted just after 1100 this morning Nov 14 (Hans Johnson, Naples FL, Cumbredx via DXLD) ** HONDURAS. 3340, HRMI Reactivated. Heard with upbeat music at 2250 Nov 13. Nice signal and IDs at 2300. Nothing on 5010 (Hans Johnson, Naples FL, Cumbre DX via DXLD) HRMI 3340 Heard with a good signal 0045 past 0155, with hymns and songs, twice with an "ID" of "misión." Thanks to Hans Johnson tip on the Cumbre list (Gerry Bishop, FL, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** INDIA. 10330 jumps frequency: see MEXICO ** INDIA. 3 MORE AIR STATIONS IN NORTH BENGAL Siliguri. The All India Radio will soon set up three more stations in North Bengal, the AIR Stations Director of Siliguri Sripada Das said here today. Das told reporters that Prasar Bharati had sanctioned Rs 14 crore to set up three stations at Coochbehar, Malda & the headquarter of Dakshin Dinajpur district, Balurghat bordering Bangladesh. Establishment of AIR stations in those areas became essential as the people, who could not listen to the programme of Siliguri station, used to tune to Rangpur station of adjoining Bangladesh, he said. Two AIR stations, one at Kurseong in Darjeeling hills, mainly producing Nepali programme and the second here in Siliguri under the same district were functioning in North Bengal since sixties, Das added. Source: Times of India, 11/11/2003 (via Swopan Chakroborty, Kolkata, India, DXLD) WTFK? Possibly including SW? ** IRAN. Altho labeled A-03, this English schedule at the IRIB website http://www.irib.ir/worldservice/EnglishRADIO/default.htm looks more like the curtailed one currently being heard, including 15550 at 1030, missing from previously published versions, but the frequency where ``Voice of Justice`` was heard by Robin Harwood: 1030-1130 SW 19m 15480 Indian Subcontinent 13m 21470 Indian Subcontinent 19m 15550 Indian Subcontinent 702 MW Republic of Azerbaijan 765 South of Pakistan, FM 100.7 Tehran 1530-1630 SW 41m 7190 Indian Subcontinent and South East Asia 31m 9610 South East Asia and South of Indian Subcontinent 1930-2030 SW 49m 6110 Europe 41m 7320 Europe Please mail your correspondence to IRIB English service, P. O. Box No: 19395-6775, Tehran I.R of Iran E-Mail: Englishradio@irib.com (via Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) I listened to the whole broadcast yesterday (11 November) from 1030 to 1130 on 15550 kHz and it identified throughout as Voice of the Islamic Republic of Iran from Tehran. At the very end of the transmission, just prior to signoff, the announcer said "This is the Voice of Justice from Tehran" and the transmitter then went off the air at precisely 1130. 73s (Dave Kenny, UK, via Harwood) Thanks Dave and Tim for confirming that the V. of Justice and the VOIRI are one and the same (Robin VK7RH Harwood, Norwood, Tasmania, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Dear Don Rhodes, Many thanks for your interest in IRIB English Service. In the near future we are planning to cut off shortwave frequencies and you can just listen to it via internet. So we kindly ask you to refer to IRIB web site http://www.iribworld.com and inform us your opinion as well as the quality of the voice received. We would also like to know your idea in general on removing shortwave. By the way, we will send you a parcel in the coming weeks. Besr Regard (IRIB English Service via Don Rhodes, Vic., DX LISTENING DIGEST) VOIROI in English heard today Nov 10, 2000-2027* on 7320. They said they will soon be on SW with more broadcasts (Rumen Pankov, Bulgaria, BC-DX, Nov 14 via DXLD) ?!?! ** IRAQ. In DX, MW0USK reports over QRZ.com that M1DAZ, who is on active duty with the British Forces Broadcast Services in Iraq, has obtained official authority to operate with the callsign YI9DAZ. Darran will be active around the bands for the next couple of weeks using a Yaesu FT-100 and Atas aerial from the Southern part of the country. Most of his operation will be on PSK 31 so that he does not disturb his room mate who is the presenter of the early morning radio show. QSL direct to M1DAZ at his home address (qrz.com via Amateur Radio Newsline Nov 14 via John Norfolk, DXLD) ** IRAQ. BBC AMONG BIDDERS FOR IRAQI MEDIA CONTRACT Bids are due in by the end of November to take over the running of the Iraqi Media Network (IMN). With less than three weeks to go, five serious bidders have emerged. One is the BBC, which through its World Service Trust has already been training Iraqi broadcasters. However, it suspended the training a few weeks ago amid worsening security in Iraq. London-based Independent Television News is also expected to submit a bid; Others said to be interested are the Rendon Group, which has worked on previous US "public diplomacy" efforts; the Harris Group; and the Lebanese Broadcasting Company. The contract is a major one, valued at $100 million. In involves completely rebuilding the broadcasting infrastructure which was destroyed in the two Gulf Wars, as well as providing "comprehensive, accurate, fair, and balanced news," instilling a "code of ethics" in Iraqi journalists, and becoming self-supporting by the end of 2004. # posted by Andy @ 13:52 UTC Nov 12 (Media Network blog via DXLD) ** ISRAEL. NEW HOPE FOR ARUTZ 7 Olmert Working to Legislate Law to Accommodate Arutz-7 Vice Prime Minister & Minister of Industry & Trade (Likud) Ehud Olmert announced his office is working towards introducing legislation that would accommodate new nationwide radio stations, admitting his efforts are motivated by the closure of Arutz-7. Olmert commented that his feelings towards Arutz-7 and its loyal audience are well-known, and he will continue efforts towards introducing the required legislation to get the silenced radio station up and running. The minister added that while Arutz-7 is missed, the "law is the law" and there can be no special allocations made for Arutz-7 (IsraelNN.com via Mike Brand Thursday, 13 November 2003 via http://ukradio.com/news/articles/B1EA2EAB3D564A05AC04ACDE17F91921.asp via Mike Terry, DXLD) ** ITALY. IRRS SPECIAL TRANSMISSIONS --- Starting tonight, Nov 13, 2003, IRRS-Shortwave and AMIS http://www.amisnet.org will provide global coverage on Shortwave to the European Social Forum taking place in Paris from Nov. 12-15, 2003. Below you will find times and frequencies of these special one-hour broadcasts: Thursday: 13/11/2003 5,775 kHz (100 kW) 2130-2230 UTC Friday 14/11/2003 5,775 kHz (100 kW) 2130-2230 UTC Saturday 15/11/2003 13,840 kHz ( 20 kW) 0930-1030 UTC 5,775 kHz (100 kW) 2130-2230 UTC Sunday 16/11/2003 13,840 kHz ( 20 kW) 0930-1030 UTC 5,775 kHz (100 kW) 2130-2230 UTC We welcome reception reports for these broadcasts to esf@nexus.org by snail-mail to: IRRS-Shortwave, PO Box 10980, I-20110 Milano, Italy. All reports will be also forwarded to Amis for verification. These transmissions are in addition and follow our regularly scheduled broadcasts on 5,775 and 13,840 kHz. Please check : http://www.nexus.org/NEXUS-IBA/Schedules for detailed program and frequency schedules. 73s, de (Ron Norton, NEXUS via Johno Wright, ripple, Nov 14 via DXLD) ** JORDAN. R. Jordan was doing better than usual against the RTTY on 11690, Nov 14 at 1520-1600, continuous accordion/harmonica music, with tunes ranging from Parisian to Ländler. Sync on the ICF SW07 with active window antenna helped to diminish the RTTY `music` detracting from the concert, better than on the FRG-7 with longwire (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** KASHMIR. PAKISTAN: AZAD JAMMU KASHMIR TO HAVE FIRST FM RADIO STATION | Text of report by Associated Press of Pakistan (APP) news agency Mirpur, 12 November: Azad Kashmir will have its first FM Radio station in Mirpur which will start bringing on air the programmes of interest to general listeners in the near future, official sources said. "FM radio will start bringing on air its special transmissions any time during the next couple of months from the premises of Azad Kashmir Radio Mirpur station", the sources told APP here Wednesday. The sources said that FM studios are being set up at the Broadcasting House of AJK Radio Mirpur where required transmitters and other equipment is available. Brisk preparations are afoot for the completion of the FM Radio project within the stipulated time frame, a first of its kind in the public and private sector in Azad Jammu Kashmir. The 192-ft high radio tower has been installed in the premises of the Mirpur FM Radio from were programmes will be put on air. Azad Kashmir Radio Mirpur puts on air its routine transmissions from its stipulated 100 kW strength transmitter covering a vast area of the country besides the occupied Jammu Kashmir. Meanwhile, official sources told APP here Wednesday that Mirpur Radio station has launched various special attractive programmes of current affairs of interest to the general listeners including a programme for the teenagers. Another programme, Radio Press conference depicting the problems of the general pubic and their proposed solutions as well as an exclusive programme for children entitled Honahaar on each Sunday. Since its inception from 30 September last year, AJK Radio Mirpur is bringing its daily transmissions on air comprising attractive informatory and entertainment programmes in Gojri, Pahari, Kashmiri and Urdu languages including the news and current affairs programmes in an excellent manner. Source: Associated Press of Pakistan news agency, Islamabad, in English 1247 gmt 12 Nov 03 (via BBCM via DXLD) ** KOREA SOUTH [non]. Jammer continues on KBS NAm service at 0200 on 9560 [via Canada] (Bob Thomas, CT, Nov 10, DX LISTENING DIGEST) After my last report, with propagation from the isthmus recovering, I too have been noticing the mix of RKI and Cuban jamming (gh, DXLD) ** LITHUANIA. 7325, R. Vilnius, 0030-0100. Noted a program of News and features in English. Signal was good (Bolland, Chuck, UT November 15, 2003, Clewiston, Florida, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Should be immediately followed by Austria on same; compare the signals (gh, DXLD) ** LUXEMBOURG. My first LWBC of the season. Luxembourg 234 with M/F chatting in French. Occasional music sounders. Fair at times, and lower sync on the 2010 reduced beacon QRM. 0500-0525 UT Nov. 14. 120 foot longwire, passive tuner, 2010, and a good old fashioned waterpipe ground (Brock Whaley, GA, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** MADAGASCAR. The international radio ministry World Christian Broadcasting plans to construct a new shortwave station on the island of Madagascar and two senior representatives visited the island recently to make further plans for this project (Adrian Peterson, IN, AWR Wavescan Nov 16 via John Norfolk, DXLD) WCBC = KNLS Alaska (gh) ** MEXICO. Glenn, XERMX still sends out blobs. I have been monitoring All India Radio on 10330 for a friend in Austin who is a sometime shortwave and WOR listener, and a Hindi teacher at UT. Well, at about 10325, there is a great big huge blob of noise from XERMX. Sometimes it is stronger than 9705. Sounds a bit like FM, and I wondered if it was some kind of STL transmission, but my friend, who has a ham rig with NBFM checked it, and it is just noise on FM too. By the way, AIR may have been on 10245 occasionally, but, most times, including last evening, when I checked, they are, indeed, on 10330, heard about 0100 UT (Tim Hendel, AL, Nov 13, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Glenn, at 0040 UT Nov 14, I hear the blob on 10325. It is not as strong as other nights, but it is there. I can't even hear 9705, so I can't confirm that it is XERMX, but it was before when I could hear and compare 9705. I can't understand enough of the mess to get a real ID but I am pretty sure it is Spanish. BTW AIR currently not heard on either 10330 or 10245; could be propagation (Tim Hendel, Huntsville, AL, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Maybe this will teach me to range even further in tracking XERMX. In fact, Nov 13 at 1445 I found it at 10450-10475, yes, covering 25 kHz, and by 1500 they had drifted down to 10435-10460. At least India 10330 was in the clear. Then Nov 14 at 1512 check, the blob covered 10430- 10445 or so, not so strong, only trashing 15 kHz. Nothing found around 9 MHz to match on the lower side of 9705 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** MEXICO. 2390, R. Huayacocotla had been signing on at 1200 during the summer, but has probably gone back to *1300 as untraced at 1200 (Hans Johnson, FL, Nov, Cumbre DX via DXLD) ** MEXICO. "Does anyone know what power XERF 1570 Ciudad Acuña Coah. uses?" Glenn: -- I've heard this puppy is running 30 kW ND; still heard nightly here in SoCal, despite the presence of KCVR/Lodi and KTGE/Salinas. 73z (GREG HARDISON, Nov 13, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** MEXICO. 680 XEFO Energía 6-80, Chihuahua, ex La Romántica 730 XEPQ La 73/La Sabrosita, Cd Múzquiz, 5 kW ex 1 kW 800 XEMMM ESPN Radio 800, Tijuana will soon change call to XESPN 810 XESB Radio Mexicana, Sta Bárbara, ex 820 kHz 830 XEVQ La Superestación/La Grande de Sinaloa, Culiacán, ex La Bonita 890 XEPOR La Explosiva, Putla de Guerrero, 1/0,5 kW 900 XEOK Radio ACIR, Monterrey, ex La Bonita 900 XEW W Radio, México has new web-address: http://www.wradio.com.mx 900 XEDT La Reina, Cd Cuahtémoc, ex 1080 kHz, ex La Divertida 930 XERLA address: Av. de Las Flores 1, Sta Rosalía 940 XEQ Bésame 9-40, México ex Grandes Recuerdos 950 XEPB Radio Amor, Hermosillo, ex La Grande 1130 XETOL Radio Lobo, Toluca. D.F. address: Calle Tetitla N 23, Col. Toriella Guerra, Delegación Tialpán, 14050 México, D.F. (NRC DX-News 15.9 - 20.10.2003 via Tore Larsson, ARC CA News Desk, Nov via DXLD) ** NETHERLANDS. RADIO NETHERLANDS FACES THREAT OF FURTHER MAJOR CUTS The Dutch Cabinet has backed proposals by State Secretary for Education, Culture and Science Medy van der Laan designed to save tens of millions of euros extra on public broadcasting over the next few years. In the period up to 2007, the domestic public broadcasters must save a further 24 million euros on top of the 40 million euros which have already been identified. The State Secretary believes that some of the money can be saved by working more efficiently. A further cut of 6.5 million euros is proposed for Radio Netherlands. The State Secretary says that Radio Netherlands must work more effectively with the domestic broadcasters, though what she actually means in concrete terms isn't clear. Radio Netherlands Director General Lodewijk Bouwens said that the board of governors and management want to study carefully all the details of the Cabinet's proposals before giving a public reaction. However, on the face of it, such a saving could only be achieved by further substantial cutbacks in the activities of Radio Netherlands. The Dutch lower house is due to debate the proposals later this month. # posted by Andy @ 16:37 UTC Nov 14 (Media Network blog via DXLD) Just a few days ago this was being downplayed; but, better not (gh) ** NETHERLANDS. Hallo SW Friends, Next Sunday November 16th FRS- Holland will be back on the wireless celebrating 23 years of SW Free Radio broadcasts. You will find us within the 48 mb. Trms commence at 08.52 UTC. But: we are already earlier on air with non-stop 80s & 90s classics from the FRS era. Tune in --- We will issue the first of a series of 4 different QSL-cards called "The Studio Series". We are hoping to receive your reception report at our mailbox in Herten. Instant reception reports via E-mail are appreciated as well but won't be verified with our QSL. Hope to communicate with you next Sunday. 73's, Peter V. on behalf of the FRS staff (via Johno Wright, ripple via DXLD) WTFK??!! ** NEWFOUNDLAND & LABRADOR. 6160 CKZN: Seems to have different local S-on announcement and time on weekends. Weekdays it's around 4:52 am ET [0952 UT], with vocal O Canada, "Our Labrador", and station of origin is CFGB Happy Valley/Goose Bay. Labrador Morning show gives time checks matching Atlantic time, with added "half an hour later on parts of the south coast". Weekend announcement is around 4:24 am ET [0924 UT], orchestra O Canada, and song "We Love Thee ----" Station of origin sounded like CBN-am St. Johns 640, 1000 Watts, with a list of relay stations. Morning show gives time checks for Newfie time, then Atlantic time "in most of Labrador". Perhaps Newfie/Labrador CBC stations merge on weekends? Checked hours 2-4 of CBC Overnight weekend schedule, and no bottom of hour CBC newscasts. 11/9 (Larry Russell, MI, MARE via DXLD) ** OKLAHOMA. The world`s newest X-band station is on the air --- and will no doubt be heard worldwide (except by Bellabarba), from right here in Enid. Nov 14 at 1539 UT I made a periodic check of 1640, and there was a super 10 kW signal, more than Enid has experienced locally, with only two 1 kW MW stations ever existing in this city of 45K. Those who anticipated a talk format appear to have guessed wrong, as it`s ``Unforgettable Favorites``, no doubt some satellite-fed service with a DJ on TGIF calling himself Vic (or Dick?) Thomas, artists such as Johnny Mathis, TOAD, Carly Simon, Beatles, Tommy James & the Shonells. Surely this is program test authority, but there were still national and local commercials in a block at 1541, with a brief talk feature at 1545; another ad block at 1640 UT. Several pregnant pauses of up to three minutes, as if the automation isn`t totally up to speed yet, including at hourtops 1600 and 1700, when there was NO legal ID, or any ID, but the calls are presumably still KMKZ, and no news, just more music. The ``Unforgettable Favorites`` format, as identified in a jingle at 1605, closely resembles what they were running on 96.9 FM for a while as ``Memories``. I can say goodbye to WVNI and other 1640 stations which used to be regulars here at night. Since the other Enid stations put out second and third harmonics, I may also have to say goodbye to 3280. In case KMKZ runs 10 kW at night during the initial test phase, don`t delay in trying for it, as all X- banders are supposed to cut to only 1 kW at night in normal operations. Remember this one is also direxional, roughly NNW/SSE, so it lobes toward both Enid and OKC from the site east of Hennessey. That should make it easier in South America and East Asia, and more difficult in Europe and the Pacific. The official SR/SS times in UT for Enid (if not Hennessey): Nov: 1315/2330, Dec: 1330/2315, Jan: 1345/2345 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Does it have a mailing address? (Bob Combs, New Mexico, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Try its parent station KCRC, P O Box 952, Enid, OK 73702-0952. Not clear about their QSL policy, but I understand KCRC-1390 doesn`t get many DX reports. I have tried to prepare 1640 for an onslaught of DX reports. Same format continued all day Friday and into UT Saturday, including the long periods of dead air, no legal IDs. The network has a website http://www.unforgettablefavorites.com As I was driving around downtown Enid at LSS, there were a lot of dead spots where the noise level came up, perhaps having a tough time against our skyscrapers if powered down to 1 kW. During a long pause at 0129 UT Nov 15, without even having nulled it on the ICF-5900W, I heard some other 1640 station giving a phone number in area code 709 -- or so I thought, but that`s Newfoundland. And aimed at same direxion as KMKZ, during another long pause at 0243, what must have been WVNI Mississippi was clearly audible thru the OC (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Good conditions tonight. Heard Bayard NM on 950 (1st time in ever) and Enid on 1640 with heavy QRM from Spanish station. Will send out a few reports this weekend! (Bob Combs, NM, 0123 UT Nov 15, ibid.) It took an hour, but I think I heard a jingle ID at 5 past the hour. I agree with you, a lot of pauses (one 3 minutes), I do however like the music (my era) so if nothing else I can name the songs! Will try a letter and see what happens (Bob Combs, New Mexico, 0207 UT Nov 15, ibid.) The jingle ID, heard again at 0305 UT, is just ``Unforgettable Fav`rites`` --- never any callsign mention or legal ID heard yet. Go for the ad block at :40 past the hours which include some local ads and/or PSAs (gh, DXLD) ** OKLAHOMA. ENFORCEMENT: IRLP HARASSMENT --- A pair of mid-West hams are being asked to explain their actions their on the air activities. The FCC`s Daryl Duckworth, NN0W, tells us who and why: Duckworth: ``Two Oklahoma amateurs; Johnny Adams, KD5QJG, of Dell [sic] City and Jack Stokes, KE5KR, of Oklahoma City have been queried regarding complaints of deliberate interference and harassment of repeater users on W5QO, 144.650 and 145.250 MHz.`` The FCC says that at the time the incident occurred, the W5QO repeater was functioning as an IRLP node. Adams and Stokes were given 20 days from the day that they received the FCC`s letter to answer the charges. They were also warned that failure to respond could result in the revocation of Amateur station license and suspension of operator privileges (FCC, RAIN, via Amateur Radio Newsline Nov 14 via John Norfolk, OKCOK, DXLD) ** PERU. 3234.87, Radio Luz y Sonido, Nov 13, 1025, Andean vocals, announcer with talk and ID "...estás escuchando... a las 105.7 es Radio Luz y Sonido...en la onda corta..." Fair to good signal. 6188.03, Radio Oriente, Nov 8, 1045, canned "...Oriente..." IDs, announcer with saludos and ID in passing, splatter from BBC on 6195, fair signal (Mark Mohrmann, Coventry, VT, NRD 535D, V-Beam 140m @180 deg., DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** SERBIA & MONTENEGRO [non]. Int`l Radio S&M, née R. Yugoslavia, 0200 English repeat to WNAm, fairly good on 7130, splash from 7125 Russia (Bob Thomas, CT, Nov 10, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** SRI LANKA. SLBC Hindi Service noted today around 0215 UT on 7343 instead of 7300. At around 0250 they were back on 7302.5 kHz. The English Service on 9770 meanwhile around that time is heard on lot of spurious frequencies of 9650, 9690, 9730, 9810, 9890, 9935, 9975, etc. The Sri Lanka International Radio using Trans World Radio transmitter is now heard in B-2003 period on 882 kHz (ex 873) between 0135-1120 UT in Tamil. Earlier Trans World Radio use to operate on 882 kHz and the same transmitter was used at other times on 873. (Jose Jacob, India, Nov 14, Cumbre DX via DXLD) ** TAJIKISTAN. 4635, Radio of Tadjikistan, 11/11/2003, 0127-0155, Presumed; Middle Eastern style music with alternating female and male announcers. Mention of Tajik and Dushanbe at 0130, but never got a clear ID. Station was lost in the noise at around 0150. Poor to Fair on fade-ups (John Beattie, CA, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U K. In my previous post I gave the incorrect email address for Easy Radio London, for which I apologise. The correct address for anyone who fancies working there is:- jobs @ easy1035.com In later announcements, I heard "A new and exciting format has been agreed with the Radio Authority for this station ...". Time alone will tell (PAUL DAVID, Wembley Park, England, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. WMLK 9465, 13 Nov at 1930 with Jacob O. Yahweh. Excellent signal, which is pretty rare (Liz Cameron, MI, MARE via DXLD) Could it be, could it be – finally running the new 250 kW, even at 125? Always masked under B.S. from 9475 here, which is superstrong (gh, Enid, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. WWRB TESTING DIGITAL BROADCASTING Shortwave Radio station WWRB is now testing on various frequencies and times full Digital broadcasting. WWRB is working with listeners located in various parts of the world that have Digital Decoder Modems (DDM'S) to decode and evaluate the effectiveness of the WWRB digital signal. WWRB is the FIRST private shortwave station in the USA that will test broadcast a fully digital encoded broadcast signal! WWRB's transmitters have the ability to send digital voice communications with the theoretical signal qualities that approach near ' FM ' quality. Decoders such as the AOR ARD 9800 are available on the market for $ 500.00 or less that can decode the WWRB digital signal. Ham radio operators and SWL's are now purchasing this type of equipment as part of their general radio hobby. WWRB is working with and seeking individuals / manufacturers to develop an outboard decoder that is 'plug and play' requiring head phone audio to decode with no modifications to existing shortwave radios or feeding the digital signal to a computer sound card for processing. Outboard decoders can automatically select between analog mode or digital receive mode upon receipt of the pilot signal from the WWRB transmitters. The AOR 9800 currently has this feature. WWRB is testing using full carrier AM also, SSB. The Upper side band will be analog with the Lower side band digital. WWRB is seeking individuals to help evaluate this mode of operation. Please contact WWRB via our web page E mail button (Dave Frantz, WWRB, Nov 13, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Dave, Is this DRM, or something else? If it is, why did you not say so? I guess not, if LSB only. 73, (Glenn to Dave, via DXLD) ** U S A. 1830.00 (spur?), WBBR, New York, Nov 11, 0133. I'd really like to call this a harmonic but I'm still leaning towards a WBBR spur, heard // 1130 with New York Rangers hockey game. Needs more work (Mark Mohrmann, Coventry, VT, NRD 535D, V-Beam 140m @180 deg., DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. 4369 USB, WLO, Mobile Alabama, 11/12/02, 04:05, marine weather conditions throughout western hemisphere. While researching this logging, discovered they have a website http://www.wloradio.com/ and a new affiliated transmitter KLB in Seattle, Washington. SIO=344 (Joe Miller, Troy MI, MARE via DXLD) ** U S A. Article about Scituate, MA, real estate development mentions... "From 1927-1976 the site was used by several short-wave radio stations..." http://www.townonline.com/scituate/news/local_regional/sci_newsmoceansidevillage11132003.htm (Kim Elliott, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. VOA MUSIC OFFICIAL EUGENE DREYER DIES Saturday, November 8, 2003; Page B06 Eugene Dreyer, 82, a violinist and former deputy music director at Voice of America, who for many years hired contract musicians for performances at the Kennedy Center, Wolf Trap, National Gallery of Art and other venues, died Nov. 5 at the home of his daughter in Chestnut Hill, Mass. He had a neurological ailment and dementia. Mr. Dreyer worked in musical programming at VOA from 1949 to 1978. By day, he wrote scripts for the broadcasting agency, produced shows for overseas distribution and programmed music for news broadcasts. For much of his life, he had a second full-time occupation as a contractor and professional musician, playing in the Opera House Orchestra, Washington Chamber Symphony and other musical organizations. He handled the complicated bookings of local musical productions needing players, including those of the Opera House, Washington Chamber Symphony, National Gallery Orchestra, Washington Performing Arts Society, Paul Hill Chorale Orchestra, Wolf Trap Farm Park Orchestra and others. For several decades, Mr. Dreyer selected the musicians, prepared payrolls, acted as personnel manager and orchestra manager and dealt with production-related emergencies and a variety of stars, conductors and musicians. He retired as a member of the Opera House Orchestra in 1995. Mr. Dreyer was a native of Brooklyn, N.Y., where he taught music, and was a graduate of City College of New York. He received a master's degree in music from Columbia University and did additional music study at the Juilliard School. He served in the Army in Okinawa during World War II. He lived for many years in the Bannockburn neighborhood of Bethesda and moved from Chevy Chase to Massachusetts after the death in June of his wife, Luba Dreyer. Survivors include three children, Jon Dreyer of Lexington, Mass., Gabriela Romanow of Chestnut Hill and Dena Fleisher of Herndon; a brother; and six grandchildren. 2003 The Washington Post Company (via Mike Cooper, DXLD) ** U S A. Comment --- GOD BLESS AMERICA - FOR THREE REASONS AT LEAST Linda Colley Wednesday October 22, 2003 The Guardian Coming back to the United States after five years in London, I am struck by how much has changed since I last worked here. I am struck, too, by how much about America - including a great deal that is good - barely gets reported in Britain. To begin with, it seems a markedly more cosmopolitan place. The plurality of television channels means that the world is now beamed into ordinary American households to an unprecedented degree. Of course, Fox News allows Murdoch to extend his influence over what people see and think. And, of course, wealthy lobbies take their cut. You can tune in every week, for instance, to a show devoted to raising money for shipping Russian Jews to Israel. This is less humanitarianism pure and simple than the activism of America's religious right. The idea, as is made clear, is that deserving individuals from the former communist evil empire will serve to boost Israel's Jewish population, thereby keeping the Palestinians firmly in their place and enhancing the ties between Christian and Jewish fundamentalists that the likes of the evangelist Jerry Falwell now consider indispensable. Yet these kind of programmes are only one part of the story. More significant is that there is an astonishing plurality of voices. Viewers where I am, in New Jersey, can watch BBC World News three times a day; they can also watch news broadcasts by German, Spanish and Irish stations. Moreover, the televisions that are sold in their millions in American supermarkets now feature these foreign channels as part of their built-in package. You don't have to pay extra for cable TV in order to access them. [what in the world is she talking about?? -- gh] This is radically different from how it was in the States even in the 1990s. Then, in order to get a different take on global events, I had to lean over my radio trying to make sense of the BBC's World Service in between the static. Now, the world is on the TV screen; just as the world's press is on the computer screen. The importance of all this for the growing debate in America on the Iraq war and Bush's presidency cannot be underestimated. The extent of this debate was the second striking thing. For me, this was exemplified by an event at Princeton University's Woodrow Wilson School. A New York lawyer called Larry Kramer came to talk about what he saw as the supreme court's current and excessive role in America's political system. A ritualised academic event developed into a much wider discussion of the health (and otherwise) of democracy in the US that went on all evening. Nor should one dismiss this as just the chattering classes at work in one of America's most liberal universities. The local newspapers here are full of letters from blue- collar workers complaining about the economy, and from elderly residents attacking the war (Bush's ratings with the over-65s are dropping fast at present). On TV, and in the mainstream broadsheets, too, there are arguments virtually every day not just for and against the war, but about what it says about America's politics, identity and global status. For a foreigner, there are both attractive and unattractive aspects to this non-stop analysis. Many of the debates are characterised by what a Canadian writing in the New York Times recently styled blatant Americanism. The message that the US is not only easily the most powerful state in today's world, but also the best governed and most benign power in all of recorded history comes over loud, clear and often. But while this can grate, such patriotic self-congratulation has its up side. Most people here still believe that things can get better - and that things should get better. These great expectations on the part of the people below mean that American politicians who don't deliver or who appear to be doing wrong can get a very rough ride. If Iraq continues to be controversial, and if the Democrats find a leader with an ounce of charisma, the next presidential election is wide open. [more, not about media:] http://www.guardian.co.uk/g2/story/0,3604,1067929,00.html (via Kim Elliott, DXLD) Comments re foreign TV on US stations .... http://www.tvbarn.com/tvbarn2/msg05234.shtml (Kim Elliott, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. NEWS UPDATES ADDED TO PBS SCHEDULE --- PBS will beef up its news offerings with a series of hourly news briefs, starting with a test next month. Former NBC News correspondent Beverly Kirk and former ABC News correspondent Sheilah Kast will anchor the 30-second updates, set to roll out nationally in January. The news briefs are being produced in conjunction with National Public Radio and will be fed from NPR's Washington, D.C., headquarters. The spots will be titled "PBS/NPR Newsbrief." The anchors and the segments will "add important topical news and relevance to the unparalleled quality of television journalism on PBS," said John Wilson, senior vice president of programming (Richard Huff - NY Daily News via Brock Whaley DXLD Nov. 13, 2003) That`s nice, but 30 seconds? Why bother? Unless a lot of tuners are stuck on PBS -- oh, to get them to tune in NPR for 5 minutes (gh) ** U S A. AS MANY US CITIES LOSE CLASSICAL MUSIC RADIO, LAS VEGAS GAINS IT http://www.andante.com/article/article.cfm?id=22572 Las Vegas Review-Journal / andante - 12 November 2003 U.S. classical radio listeners who lament the steady shrinkage of airtime devoted to music probably wouldn't expect to look to Las Vegas for comfort. But they can find it there: Nevada Public Radio has launched a new station in the city devoted entirely to classical music — KCNV, 89.7 FM. The Las Vegas Review-Journal reports that KNPR, the public radio affiliate in the area, had been uneasily split for years between news/public affairs and music programming, serving two overlapping but distinct audiences and not quite satisfying either. The station recognized this problem and applied to the Federal Communications Commission for a second frequency back in 1996. Due to delays at the agency and another broadcaster who wanted the same frequency, approval didn't come through until last year. Following a necessary relocation of radio transmitters as well as staffing and other changes, the existing KNPR (formerly 89.5 FM) divided into two stations as of 31 October: the new KNPR at 88.9 FM is devoted entirely to news and public affairs, while KCNV is all-classical. KNPR station manager Lamar Marchese told the Review-Journal that the launch of the new station would cost about $2.2 million, and that operating and programming costs for two stations would naturally be higher than for one. But he anticipates that the split may increase, not decrease, total listenership as well as membership and sponsorship revenue. "There are people who tell us, 'I really love the classical music, but I hate all the talk' or vice versa," Marchese said. "They say they'd become members if we just got rid of the music, or just got rid of the talk. Now they'll have no excuse not to give anymore." KNPR board member Louis Castle told the newspaper, ""The message coming from the stations will be no longer one mixed message but two clear and targeted ones to two clear and targeted audiences. It's a much cleaner way to market." --- Matthew Westphal © andante Corp. November 2003. All rights reserved. [see website above for links to other related articles – KDB, WKAT, WRR] (via Kim Elliot, DXLD) ** U S A. MATTHEWS CHARGED WITH CHILD INDECENCY --- OUTSPOKEN [CONSERVATIVE] TALK SHOW [KSEV-700] HOST ARRESTED IN FORT BEND COUNTY, FREED ON BOND By ERIC HANSON Copyright 2003 Houston Chronicle Nov. 13, 2003, 12:28PM [caption:] Melissa Phillip / Chronicle --- Fort Bend sheriff's Cpl. Taylor holds the door as radio talk show host Jon Matthews leaves the county jail after being booked on a charge of indecency with a child Wednesday. RICHMOND -- Radio talk show host Jon Matthews, who has been a fixture of the Houston broadcast scene for more than a decade, was indicted by a Fort Bend County grand jury on a charge of indecency with a child... http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/ssistory.mpl/metropolitan/2219014 (via Artie Bigley, ex-TX, DXLD) ** U S A. SCHOOL'S RADIO SIGNAL PICKS UP BIG FANS IN N.Y. By Nguyen Huy Vu, Seattle Times staff reporter The Internet has changed the way music is delivered to the masses. Radio can be streamed anywhere in the world. Knowing that, students at Nathan Hale High School's KNHC-FM (89.5) radio station were surprised to hear theirs was named best high-school radio station in New York by the Village Voice in its Best of New York issue last month. According to Josh Goldfein of the Village Voice: "A station that broadcasts hi-NRG disco all day, punctuated by the occasional goth specialty show is automatically the best in New York, especially if it webcasts." . . Full story: http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2001790217_knhc12m0.html (via Guy Atkins, Puyallup, WA, DXLD) ** U S A. WIBW-TV REACHES 50 YEARS OF BROADCASTING By Pete Goering, The Capital-Journal The names read like a Who's Who of Broadcasting: Gary Bender, Gordon Jump, Bill Kurtis, Fred White, Ann Rubenstein, Win Elliot, Al Austin, Mike Jerrick, Steve Physioc. Those people have at least two things in common -- they started their careers at WIBW-TV, and they worked with Elmer Gunderson. OK, so that's redundant. Almost everyone who has worked at WIBW has worked with Gunderson, the long-time engineer for the station that will observe its 50th anniversary on Saturday. . . http://www.cjonline.com/stories/111303/col_goering.shtml (Topeka Capital Journal via Brock Whaley, GA, DXLD) ** U S A. SOME ENLIST GOVERNMENTS IN BATTLE WITH FCC by Naina Narayana Chernoff WASHINGTON --- Some pirate broadcasters resisting FCC efforts to shut them down are enlisting support of local elected leaders to keep their unlicensed stations on the air. Radio activists say resolutions passed by local governing boards are unlikely to change national policy but highlight a growing feeling of powerlessness that they feel communities have over the inability to hear local voices on the radio. "It's logical that people in local communities don't understand why the (federal) government won't give them licenses for stations," said Michael Bracy, executive director of the Low Power Radio Coalition. Although such resolutions do not seem to constitute a trend, pirate broadcasters have, in some cases, succeeded in winning the backing of local leaders, said Pete Tridish, a community radio activist, former Philadelphia pirate and a staffer of the pro-LPFM Prometheus Radio Project. Licensed radio broadcasters say pirates are breaking the law and interfering with licensed (extract - long article on web site) . . . http://www.rwonline.com/reference-room/special-report/01_rw_pirateer_4.shtml (via Mike Terry, DXLD) ** U S A. New Hampshire 1700 pirate? It's still on the air, received again a couple of days ago playing the Janet Jackson "Rhythm Nation" CD over and over. The location is definitely Manchester NH where it's strongest in the car. I can tell it's still on today, but conditions aren't favorable in that direction as a Spanish religious station from the Lowell/Lawrence area is dominant right now. Only noise remains in a phase null (Bruce Conti - Nashua NH, Nov 14, NRC-AM via DXLD) ** VIRGIN ISLANDS US. A nice QSL letter was received yesterday from WVWI AM 1000, v/s Sean Williams. Although I sent my report to the address in WRTH, the address on the return envelope was slightly different: P.O. Box 305678, St Thomas 00803-5678, US Virgin Islands. The address on the enclosed letter differed slightly, with Charlotte Amalie being substituted for St Thomas, but all other details the same (Martin A Hall via MWC e-mail news 29.10.2003, via Tore Larsson, ARC CA News Desk, Nov via DXLD) Since Charlotte Amalie is the only(?) city on that island, pretty much interchangeable (gh) UNIDENTIFIED. That strange noise on 1100 that I first noticed back in September has returned. I suspect that it is indeed some sort of jammer. Anyway, it sounds exactly like before with the almost randomly varying whistle as though a transmitter were rapidly changing frequency while transmitting (Adam Myrow, Memphis TN, Nov 13, NRC-AM via DXLD) UNIDENTIFIED. Re 4552.74: Dear Björn: Also near this frequency in 2001 was Radiodifusora Trópico, Beni, Bolivia previous to move to 49 metre band. 73s (Nicolás Eramo, Argentina, DX LISTENING DIGEST) UNIDENTIFIED. Glenn, Concerning my unidentified stations on approx 4780, I heard TWO distinctive Male voices with a third one deeper into the noisy areas. All were in Spanish, I presume as most of it was not clear enough to grasp it all. I moved forward one kc at a time and backwards 1 kc at a time but could not make any better a distinction as to whom I was listening to. `Tis one big challenge for me to find out who is who!!! (Stewart H. MacKenzie, WDX6AA, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Still not clear to me whether all these voices were coming from one station or not, and maybe not to you either. Anyhow, as already pointed out, Coatán, Guatemala most likely (gh, DXLD) UNIDENTIFIED. 0414 UT, Spanish speaking lady talking the numbers, 9323.00 to 9322.95 lsb, just a bit above the WWRB broadcast. A few Latin words interspersed with the five digit code (Delta, Phillip). Check it out (the obligated Paul Crowley, KC8NWF, Sparta MI, UT Nov 14, DX LISTENING DIGEST) A prime area for numbers, I`ve noticed ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ LANGUAGE LESSON +++++++++++++++ Hi Glenn, this information may be already known to you, but, feel free to print or use it if you think it might be of interest to others. Regarding the program in Judeo-Español from Spain: I got my M.A. degree in Romance Philology from Columbia University. The subject of my thesis was Judeo-Español. I will tell you something about this language. We all know that, in 1492 Columbus sailed the blue! But, in that same year, Ferdinand and Isabel, the so-called "catholic Monarchs" (reyes Católicos) expelled all the Jews. Those Jews, of course, spoke Spanish, just like their neighbors, late 15th century Spanish, of course. As they traveled to places such as Morocco, Turkey and Syria, Greece and Bulgaria, they kept their Spanish. Isolated from Spain, this archaic form of Spanish was not influenced by changes in the main body of Spanish speakers. As they went along, they borrowed words from languages such as Arabic, Turkish and Greek. They also incorporated religious words from Hebrew. The rabbis wrote their language with the Hebrew alphabet, just as those in Central Europe wrote their Germanic dialect, which came to be called Yiddish with Hebrew script. In fact, the relationship between Judeo-Español and standard modern Spanish is somewhat similar to that of Yiddish to standard German. If you listen to the program, some pronunciation differences will be audible. Most notable is the "J" which is pronounced, at the beginning of a word, as the "J" in English "john." Thus, "Judeo." In the middle of a word, it is pronounced more like the French "J" of "je." Thus "mujer." You will notice a single "R", not the "RR" of Spanish "perro." You will notice the "ll" much more of a gentle "y" sound, as when an English speaker attempts to say "ella" without the correct Spanish pronunciation. There are also some oddities which don't have an easy explanation. For example, the "N" often becomes "M" before a "U". Thus "nuevo" becomes "muevo" and "Nuestro" becomes "muestro." This is referred to in linguistics as assimilation, and is seen in many linguistic forms. You find inversion of consonants, so that "perder" becomes "pedrer." This is an adjustment from a less common to a more common consonant cluster, and is the same phenomenon which occurs when English "ask" becomes "aks". The careful listener will also notice vocabulary borrowings from French, Turkish and Hebrew. This language is also called "Ladino," undoubtedly from the word "Latin." There are also historical records of its being called "judezmo" which is the same kind of translation that gives us the word "Yiddish." Kol Israel's program was heard well on shortwave for a few years, but not any more. I hope this was of interest (Tim Hendel, AL, Nov 13, DX LISTENING DIGEST) MUSEA +++++ VIENNA QSL COLLECTION It is indeed a once-in-a-lifetime experience to visit the massive QSL collection that is housed in the city of Vienna in Austria. This splendid work, to preserve and protect and catalog early radio history, is a remarkable endeavour on the part of Professor Wolf Harranth, ORF in Vienna, and many other co-operating personnel and organizations. The Vienna Collection is known in English as ``The International Foundation QSL Collection``. However, this assemblage is broader than just QSLs alone and it encompasses all forms of tangible radio history, including printed materials such as schedules and advertising, and sound archives containing historic recordings from stations large and small. This massive QSL collection contains an estimated four million QSLs dating back to the very earliest years, and almost daily large cartons of QSL cards are received, mainly from Europe, but also from other countries overseas as well. Most of the QSL cards that are housed in the Vienna collection are from amateur radio stations, though this collection also contains unnumbered thousands of QSLs from broadcasting stations as well. All QSL cards that have been entered into the computer listings are filed according to country and according to era and according to station. Thus it is that cards from any particular station in any country at any era can be located very quickly, in just a matter of seconds. This entire collection has been housed for some years in a large and historic building just opposite the main headquarters of ORF-ROI in Vienna. However, the entire depository is currently being transferred to another location where the work will be re-commenced in cataloging these vast archives. Professor Harranth states that the earliest cards are dated in the year 1920 and that most from this era are handwritten though a few are printed. The general condition of all of these cards is particularly good, though some are quite fragile due to deterioration from the effects of age and light. Even though multi-thousands of these QSL cards are not yet entered into the computer listings, it is an interesting radio adventure to choose some exotic country or some early radio era. In doing so, you wiil find many old QSL cards you have never seen before, and many new items of interesting radio information will come to light. The Vienna QSL collection Is indeed a magnificent project in preserving important radio history. It is also gratifying to note that a similar work is being accomplished in North America and in the South Pacific as well. Jerry Berg in Boston is working with the CPRV collection and Paul Ormandy and David Ricquish are working with Pacific Radio Heritage in New Zealand (Adrian Michael Peterson, AWR Wavescan Nov 16 via John Norfolk, DXLD) CONVENTIONS & CONFERENCES +++++++++++++++++++++++++ RADIO LISTENING COURSE CANCELLED AGAIN Hi all, Just a short note to let you know that for the third time I have had to cancel a scheduled "Explore the World With Your Radio" workshop here in Winnipeg because of insufficient interest. Only two registrations were received for the adult evening session scheduled Nov. 13 at West Kildonan Collegiate. This was my third and final attempt and I do thank the ODXA, NRC, local amateur radio organizations, local and international broadcast stations and individual DXers who helped with publicity, materials and suggestions. The publicity was good, but even in this city of nearly 700,000 there does not seem to be enough interest to warrant any further time or effort on my part. Some of the handouts I was given have been distributed to potentially interested parties and the rest will be. Once again, I thank all those who helped (Morris Sorensen, Winnipeg MB, Nov 12, amfmtvdx at qth.net via DXLD) Tnx for trying: how many of us can say we have even done that locally to promote SWL? (gh, DXLD) POWERLINE COMMUNICATIONS ++++++++++++++++++++++++ FCC COMMISSIONER`S OFFICE CLARIFIES ``BROADBAND NIRVANA`` REMARKS http://www2.arrl.org/news/stories/2003/11/13/1/?nc=1 NEWINGTON, CT, Nov 13, 2003 --- The office of FCC Commissioner Kathleen Q. Abernathy has expressed regrets that her remarks in a September speech may have failed to make Abernathy`s concerns sufficiently clear about potential interference from Broadband over Power Line (BPL). ``We regret that the Commissioner`s remarks may have been interpreted as suggesting an absence of concern over harmful interference,`` said Abernathy Senior Legal Adviser Matthew A. Brill, responding to complaints from the ARRL and individual amateurs. From a policy perspective, Brill said, Abernathy is ``keenly interested`` in seeing multiple broadband platforms develop, but that she didn`t intend to suggest that BPL ``necessarily will emerge as a viable platform or that it does not present interference issues.`` In her speech, Abernathy expressed unabashed enthusiasm for BPL and suggested it was a step along the pathway to ``Broadband Nirvana.`` Brill noted, however, that near the end of her remarks, Abernathy --- referring to the FCC`s approach to PCS regulation --- said the Commission was ``right to adopt strict interference rules to prevent competitors from externalizing their costs. The same principle will apply to BPL.`` Brill assured the ARRL that ``ensuring that BPL and all new technologies avoid causing harmful interference to licensed RF users is a bedrock position for Commissioner Abernathy.`` He issued similar responses on Abernathy`s behalf to several amateurs who had complained following her address to the United Powerline Council`s annual conference September 22 --- see ``ARRL Rebukes FCC Commissioner`s BPL- Related ``Broadband Nirvana`` Remarks`` http://www2.arrl.org/news/stories/2003/09/25/100/ ARRL Chief Executive Officer David Sumner, K1ZZ, expressed delight at Abernathy`s recent clarification. ``Commissioner Abernathy`s affirmation of this important principle as a `bedrock position` is most welcome and reassuring news,`` he said. From the outset of the FCC`s BPL Notice of Inquiry in ET Docket No. 03-104 last April, Sumner said, the League`s goal has been to hold the FCC to its statement in the NOI that ``each of these authorized services in the spectrum [including the Amateur and Amateur-Satellite services] must be protected from harmful interference.`` ``Since that time the presence of harmful interference at BPL test sites has been thoroughly documented,`` Sumner noted, ``confirming that our original concerns were well founded.`` Following her ``Broadband Nirvana`` remarks, Sumner had faxed Abernathy on the League`s behalf to point out that technical showings submitted by the ARRL and others in response to the NOI ``clearly establish that BPL is a significant source of radio spectrum pollution`` and that BPL ``cannot be implemented without causing harmful interference to over-the-air radio services.`` ARRL`s extensive comments, reply comments and technical exhibits are available on the ARRL web site. There are additional information and video clips on the ARRL ``Power Line Communications (PLC) and Amateur Radio`` page. More than 5000 comments --- many from the Amateur Radio community --- have been filed in response to the FCC`s BPL NOI and are available for viewing via the FCC`s Electronic Comment Filing System (ECFS). Copyright © 2003, American Radio Relay League, Inc. All Rights Reserved (via John Norfolk, DX LISTENING DIGEST) RADIO EQUIPMENT FORUM +++++++++++++++++++++ UPDATE TO THE GRUNDIG S350 RECEIVER Re DXLD #03-118, Receiver news; Grundig S350: Hi Glenn, Some Chinese resellers on Ebay have been selling the quasi-clone of the S350 as the Tecsun BCL-2000. This version is available in red and black has the words "Enjoy broadcasting" and has apparently been running on the same assembly line in Dongguan, China that many of the other Grundig products hail from. I have seen them sell for less than a hektobuck frequently, while the Grundig S350 is a steady $100. Some differences in these radios are the loss of the MW X-band coverage, but the frequency drift has improved and now has defeatable sleep timer, includes an onboard 220V power supply/detachable cord. Some come with a 110V adapter and PAL FM connector. I have noted less hum and improved audio range. I still note some overloading and images 910 kHz below fundamental, with or without a longwire, on some powerhouse stations. The wide filter is barn door wide, and the RF gain is only operational to 3 on a 10 scale, but this is still a fun radio and will pick up MW superbly and Short-Wave DX well. Kiwa filters is already offering an audio fidelity mod and improved filter kits so it is sure to be a silent hit (Dave McCormick, Nov 11, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ENFORCEMENT: ALLEGED TOWER UNBOLTER CAUGHT A follow-up to a story we aired two weeks ago about a man trying to unbolt power transmission towers in three western states. He has now been captured. According to news reports, the suspect is identified as Michael Poulin. He claims that his actions illustrate how vulnerable the power grid might be to acts of terrorism. At airtime, charges against him are pending (Published news reports via Amateur Radio Newsline Nov 14 via John Norfolk, OKCOK, DXLD) TOWER HEIGHT SPECIFICATIONS There are some good sources of technical information pertaining to US AM broadcast stations available on the web, http://www.fccinfo.com being one of my favorites. In addition to the generally expected information, this site also provides plots of directional antenna signal patterns that are quite informative. The site does, however, specify tower heights in degrees, not in meters or feet. Could one our WOR readers having broadcast engineering experience please explain how one can relate heights specified in degrees to the more usual units of measurement such as meters or feet? What's the formula? Thanks very much (Richard Howard, Burnsville, North Carolina, DX LISTENING DIGEST) TUTORIAL: STREAMING INTERNET RADIO ON YOUR POCKET PC http://palmtops.about.com/library/weekly/aa031103at3.htm This could make internet radio more radio-like [later:] Better internet radio pocket PC URL http://palmtops.about.com/library/weekly/aa031103at1.htm (Kim Elliott, DC, DX LISTENING DIGEST) REGARDING "WHISTLY" TRANSMISSIONS Dear Glenn: I am trying to research this issue of module failure in high powered transmitters supposedly causing "whistly" transmission, according to George of WWCR. I am sure that he is quite well informed so I wouldn't presume to disagree with what he says; I am merely trying to fill in my own lack of specific knowledge on this point. I was under the impression that all of the various schemes for a pulse type of efficient modulator were fairly similar: the transmitters generate a carrier-frequency pulse whose amplitude or width -- or both -- are varied in relation to the applied audio modulation; this acts as a switch for the carrier level of the final amplifier, and high order harmonics are removed by a substantial output lowpass filter. The transmitters I am familiar with either use a high power tube to act as the switch (replacing the former analogue high level modulator stage), or a series of multiplexed low power modules which share the "load". The latter is what George says his 100kw transmitters use; I was unable to find out what brand WWCR uses from their website, but I might assume Harris. There is a website discussing WABC's transmitter that explains this in detail: http://hawkins.pair.com/wabcnow.shtml In an article written by James P. Hawkins the "48 modules" referred to by George of WWCR are mentioned, but the context of their operation is closer to what I recalled than what George asserts: "The digital audio output of the A/D converter is fed to the "integrator" board, which contains logic which uses the digital input information to turn on (and off) the appropriate RF modules. There are four module step sizes: 100 Watt, 300 Watt, 500 Watt and 1000 Watt. The integrator module logic figures out which modules to switch on or off during the course of modulation. For example, as the audio waveform value goes up, a 100 watt module turns on. Then it is turned off and replaced by a 300 watt module, then a 500 watt module, then finally a 1000 watt module. As the audio waveform value continues on the upward slope, the 100 watt module turns back on, but this time, leaving the 1000 watt module turned on. Then the low power switching sequence continues as before, but this time, adding to the first 1000 watt module. As the audio signal value continues to climb, 1000 watt modules are added together and the smaller modules are swapped to handle the smaller steps. So, the output power step sequence might be 100, 300, 500, 1000, 1100, 1300, 1500, 2000, 2100, 2300, 2500, 3000 and so on, until it reaches the positive peak of the modulation signal. As an additional bonus, if half of an output module fails, the integrator detects it and switches to a working module. So, a single module failure results in no reduction of power. In fact, ten modules could fail without it being noticed until the engineer actually goes to the transmitter and notices the failure lights turned on." Therefore, failure of a certain number of the modules -- up to ten according to Hawkins -- results in no actual audible reduction of power or perceptible change of sound. Certainly no "whistles". My own experience with solid state AM transmitters is restricted to models in the 1 to 5 kW level, being Harris and Nautel units, and none of those would degrade under partial failure to a mode that would produce spurious whistles and noise-modulation effects as we both can hear in the strange, distorted Radio Habana broadcasts. I haven't gone further to check all possible brands of high power transmitters and pulse modulation schemes so maybe WWCR is using something unrelated; and I don't know what specific transmitters RHC is utilizing during the "whistly" programming. I can say that their English language programming heard at various times on 9820 is not *always* "whistly" but lately it has been that way more often than not. Unless I am missing some very important basic facts, it would seem to me that the pulse-type modulation system for high powered RF finals is immune to this specific sonic artifact by design. Once the pulse is generated, in the Harris system at least, it is "translated" into various power levels and the resulting stream is a digital "form" of the analogue audio waveform. Defeating certain modules would change the power handling capability of the modulation switch, not entirely alter the "intelligence" by introducing modulation frequencies that were completely uncorrelated with the overall shaping of the envelop. After lowpass filtering, you would get a signal that still substantially resembles the original audio modulation as translated into an amplitude-modulated carrier. At least that's what I seem to think... I would imagine that it is conceivable that at a certain point of module failure, harmonic distortion would increase along with a reduction in carrier level. But not noise modulation of extraneous, unrelated whistles. It would be helpful to have precise information from George about the WWCR transmitter and to compare their design with whatever RHC is using. But I wonder if we can really *trust* whatever claims RHC would make about their machinery? It is quite obvious that many SW broadcasters are touting completely spurious claims of high power that they never -- or rarely -- use; furthermore, given the political situation in Cuba, complete transparency is obviously not going to be likely. What is screwy about all of this is the variability in their transmissions at various frequencies and times. When Arnie Coro announced the testing of a new transmitter around 9550 (I can't remember the exact frequency) I happened to hear one of the tests and the sound quality was excellent, though they were obviously playing only a repeated cart or loop. Yet at other times what I hear is the noisy, whistly transmission quality that you describe, with an extreme overlay of heavy harmonic and intermodulation distortion but yet very low modulation density (what *sounds* by ear to be about 20% modulation, perhaps; not the full amplitude modulation I was used to hearing on RHC as early as a couple of years ago. Back then, the programming heard in English on 9820 in the evening was surprisingly good sounding, with exceptional bass response and clarity; very little audible distortion; clean music and voices; and no background noise. In fact, when they played recent Cuban music -- from CDs, I presume -- the fidelity was staggering! I have an old cabinet radio -- a 1947 Magnavox with a push-pull 6L6 output stage and 12" speaker -- that tunes the 31 M band; and on that radio the audio fidelity of RHC was more satisfying than even the BBC, or Radio Nederland (though not as "bright" on the high end.) With RHC's excellent RF to carry the well- modulated signal, their programming was entertaining (when one could look beyond the agit-prop); now they seem to have eschewed almost all music programming and "positive" views of Cuban life to focus on harping about United States policies to the exclusion of almost everything else. So, the whistly, weak sound is not too much of a detriment to ME, at least, since I was interested only in hearing the music, and about the culture and general population and activities of Cuba, not the negative attack-propaganda of the Communist Party. I will keep investigating this and perhaps might even be able to get a sound sample and analyze it in digital form with a Fast Fourier Transform process to isolate the spurious frequencies involved. Of course this would be very loose "scientifically" since the phase shifting of shortwave propagation variations, and the characteristics of the bandpass response of my radios, would alter the character of their signal to a great extent. But something keeps nagging at me, based on what I've perceived aurally, that the trouble is in the AUDIO chain, perhaps up to and including the final modulation process, if -- as I wrote to you earlier -- the spurious tones and wavery distortion products are causing overloads or holding down the level of the average program content. I'd hate to invoke my favorite "Law" -- that no two engineers agree on anything -- but that too could be in play here! (Steve Waldee, San José CA, DX LISTENING DIGEST) More above under CUBA! DRM +++ SPECIAL RNW DRM TRANSMISSIONS FOR INDIA [Re 3-204] But who will check the reception???? Is anybody there having a DRM receiver here in India ???? (Swopan Chakroborty, Kolkata, India, DX LISTENING DIGEST) These special DRM transmissions are in connection with a professional symposium organised in Delhi by the Asia-Pacific Broadcasting Union. Other broadcasters such as Deutsche Welle will also be making special transmissions. The DRM representatives who attend such conferences go equipped with laptop computers and plug-in cards. It is not necessary to use consumer receivers for these particular events. 73, (Andy Sennitt, RN, DX LISTENING DIGEST) PROPAGATION +++++++++++ Geomagnetic activity ranged from quiet to severe storm levels. The period began with unsettled to isolated active conditions on 03 November. A shock passage occurred at the NASA/ACE satellite at approximately 0600 UTC on 04 November due to the arrival of a CME from the X8 flare on 02 November. A sudden impulse of 72 nT was observed on the Boulder magnetometer at 04/0627 UTC. The shock produced minor storm levels during the 06-09 UTC period. A brief period of southward Bz after the shock resulted in one period of severe storm levels from 09-12 UTC. Bz then turned northward and remained north though most of the day (04 November) producing only unsettled to active conditions. Quiet to unsettled activity was observed on 05 November and for most of 06 November. Late on 06 November, a shock from the X28 flare from 04 November arrived at 1937 UTC, producing a 31nT sudden impulse on the Boulder magnetometer. Activity from this CME consisted of one isolated period of minor storm levels followed by one period of active levels. Activity was at quiet to unsettled levels on 07 – 08 November. The period ended on 09 November with active to major storm levels due to a co-rotating interaction region marking the onset of a coronal hole high speed stream. FORECAST OF SOLAR AND GEOMAGNETIC ACTIVITY 12 NOVEMBER - 08 DECEMBER Solar activity is expected to range from low to high levels. Activity is expected to be low to moderate until Region 484 returns to visible disk on 12 November. Isolated high level activity is possible after that. On 17 – 18 November, Regions 486 and 488 are due to return to the visible disk with continued isolated high level activity possible. Proton producing flares 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 – 20 November due to a large returning coronal hole. The geomagnetic field is expected to range from quiet to major storm levels. A large coronal hole is due to return to a geoeffective position on 12-20 November and is expected to produce minor to major storm levels. After 15 November, with the return of old Region 484, geomagnetic activity may increase in association major flare and CMEs. :Product: 27-day Space Weather Outlook Table 27DO.txt :Issued: 2003 Nov 12 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 11 # # UTC Radio Flux Planetary Largest # Date 10.7 cm A Index Kp Index 2003 Nov 12 120 30 5 2003 Nov 13 125 30 5 2003 Nov 14 125 25 5 2003 Nov 15 125 25 5 2003 Nov 16 130 30 5 2003 Nov 17 140 35 6 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 2003 Dec 02 120 10 3 2003 Dec 03 100 12 3 2003 Dec 04 95 10 3 2003 Dec 05 95 10 3 2003 Dec 06 95 25 5 2003 Dec 07 95 30 5 2003 Dec 08 100 30 5 (http://www.sec.noaa.gov/radio via DXLD) RENEWED SOLAR FLARING EXPECTED After the previous record active two week period of solar, space and geomagnetic weather I took the opportunity to ignore it all while all was relatively quiet during the past week plus. The minor Kp-5 to occasionally moderate Kp-6 geomagnetic storming of the past few days has been related to geoeffective Coronal Hole #66. This particular Coronal Hole created major havoc with Earth's magnetic field in it's earlier carnations as #063 Kp-7 Ap-106 and #059 Kp-7 Ap-129. It's unfortunate but Coronal Hole producing geomagnetic storms are far more common on the downside of a solar cycle and more promise to delay consistently good propagation conditions. That was the good news. The bad is that Sunspot group #10484, one of the big three to create major havoc 1-2 weeks ago will rotate around the east limb of our Sun today, followed thereafter by #10486. It's doubtful that we will see an exact repeat of numerous X class solar flares, Kp's of 9 and Ap's of 400. However the groups have been very active while out of view http://soi.stanford.edu/data/farside/gifs_2/2003.11.11_12h:00m:00s.gif and more large solar flares, energetic elevated proton events, coronal mass ejections (CME's) and geomagnetic storming are probable. By the way it's not well known but high solar activity does impact sensible tropospheric weather by raising thickness heights in mid and low latitudes. End result is a displacement of semi permanent pressure systems and warmer winter weather and summer drought. Just one of the many shorter term patterns that gives the false appearance of global warming. 73, (Thomas F. Giella, KN4LF, Plant City, FL, USA, Nov 13, Cumbre DX via DXLD) QST DE W1AW PROPAGATION FORECAST BULLETIN 46 ARLP046 From Tad Cook, K7RA Seattle, WA November 14, 2003 To all radio amateurs With big sunspots rotating from view, sunspot numbers and solar flux values plummeted. The daily sunspot number was 330 on October 29, and a little over a week later it was 12 and 11. The average daily sunspot number for two weeks ago was 201.4, followed by 171 the next week and 32.6 last week. Similarly, average daily solar flux for the same three weeks was 249, 195.7 and 94.8. Some readers have written, wondering if this solar cycle would have three peaks. But the graphs of solar activity that we see showing the peaks several years after the event are based on smoothed sunspot numbers graphed with a moving average. For instance, if you go back 90 days and average the sunspot numbers from the previous 90 days with the numbers from the subsequent 90 days, you have a 180 day average centered on that date. The next day do the same average calculation, but with the oldest day dropping off and a new day averaged in, 90 days in the future. When graphing this moving average, a smoothed representation of the sunspot cycle emerges in which it is much easier to see where the peak was, but only well after the date, when enough data has emerged to get a smoothed number. So if we assume the recent huge sunspots will gradually fade away as they rotate back facing earth over the next couple of solar rotations, the recent jump in the numbers will show up as a wiggle on the graph. The size of that wiggle is dependent on how smooth a running average one chooses to observe. A little over a week ago on November 6, sunspot 495 was still visible, and it disappeared by November 7, leaving a spotless disk. The sunspot number that day was 11. In the following days some tiny sunspots emerged, 498, 499 and 500. Sunspot 498 was disappearing from view by November 13. Now on November 14 sunspot 484 is re-emerging from its trip around the other side of the sun. It was very active when last visible, but is now smaller. Sunspots 486 and 488 should follow it, and we should see a rise in solar activity. Based on the previous solar rotation solar flux and sunspot numbers should peak again around November 23-25. This weekend is the ARRL November Phone Sweepstakes. Right now, the interplanetary magnetic field points south, leaving earth vulnerable to flares and solar wind. A solar wind stream is currently affecting earth, and this weekend should have unsettled to active geomagnetic conditions with a slowly rising solar flux. The predicted planetary A index for Friday through Monday is 30, 30, 25 and 25. Solar flux values for those same days are expected to be 105, 110, 115 and 120. For more information about propagation and an explanation of the numbers used in this bulletin see the Propagation page on the ARRL Web site at http://www.arrl.org/tis/info/propagation.html Sunspot numbers for November 6 through 12 were 12, 11, 29, 47, 47, 43 and 39, with a mean of 32.6. 10.7 cm flux was 97.8, 91, 92.7, 93, 94.6, 95.6 and 98.7, with a mean of 94.8. Estimated planetary A indices were 14, 8, 10, 25, 30, 51 and 26, with a mean of 23.4. Copyright © 2003, American Radio Relay League, Inc. All Rights Reserved (via John Norfolk, DXLD) ###