DX LISTENING DIGEST 3-209, November 20, 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 1208: WWCR: Sat 1130, Sun 0330 5070, 0730 3210, Wed 1030 9475 WRMI: Sat 1900 15725 WBCQ: Mon 0515 7415 WRN: Rest of world Sat 0900, Europe Sun 0530, North America Sun 1500 WRN ONDEMAND [from Fri]: http://new.wrn.org/listeners/stations/station.php?StationID=24 OUR ONDEMAND AUDIO [also for CONTINENT OF MEDIA, MUNDO RADIAL]: Check http://www.worldofradio.com/audiomid.html WORLD OF RADIO 1208 (high version): (stream) http://www.w4uvh.net/wor1208h.ram (download) http://www.w4uvh.net/wor1208h.rm (summary) http://www.worldofradio.com/wor1208.html [soon] WORLD OF RADIO 1208 (low version): (stream) http://www.w4uvh.net/wor1208.ram (download) http://www.w4uvh.net/wor1208.rm MUNDO RADIAL, noviembre-diciembre 2003: en WWCR, 9475, a partir del 21 de noviembre, viernes 2215, martes 2230, miércoles 2200. Además en segmentos por Radio Enlace, los viernes-sábados y domingos-lunes en Radio Nederland, esquema: http://www.worldofradio.com/wormast.html y:: (bajable): http://www.w4uvh.net/mr0311.rm (corriente): http://www.w4uvh.net/mr0311.ram (guión): http://www.worldofradio.com/mr0311.html [pronto] ** ANTARCTICA. 15476.1, LRA36 R Nacional Arcángel Sán Gabriel at Base Esperanza is active after all (Cf. DX-Window no. 232); I managed to log it at 1920-2048, Nov 11, music and a news bulletin; 15431 with reception only possible via a 7 m vertical (Carlos Gonçalves, Portugal, DSWCI DX Window Nov 19 via DXLD) ** AUSTRALIA. VL8A, Alice Springs, 2310 kHz at 1105-1120 on 18 Nov with Aussie music. Fair S5-S7 signal, about as good as it gets here and // weaker Tennant Creek 2325 and weaker yet Katherine 2485 in the order normally observed (John Cobb, Roswell, GA, R75 and 80-foot Windom with L-C tuner, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** AUSTRALIA. Radio Australia is back on 9580 this morning 1330Z. Good signal. The green eye on my receiver is closing all the way, even overlapping a bit on the peaks. Now there's a sophisticated logging for you. Later: They did it again! At 1358Z they hopped up to 9590. (Roger K7DDG Kofler, swl at qth.net via DXLD) Yep. And at 1600 they shut that off too! They must have cut back on their service as I used to listen to them on 9580 WELL past 1600 when the signal would gradually fade out. Guess I'll have to see what I can find out on the 6 and 11 MHz bands as they often had // broadcasts there (or at least used to). 73 from the "Beaconeers Lair". (Phil, KO6BB, Atchely, CA, ibid.) G'day Glen[n], Perhaps I can shed a little light on the 9580/9580 KHz Radio Australia confusion. According to the latest I have from RA: 9580:- 0800-1400 and 1800-2100 from Shepparton with a bearing of 70 9590:- 0800-1600 from Shepparton with a bearing of 30 Degrees. Locations in N. America will find the best frequency according to location. It may be interesting to try 7240 KHz 1400-1800 with a bearing of 50 degrees from Shepparton. I have heard both 9580 & 9590 around 1830 here in Oz. Hope this helps a bit. 73 (Ian Johnson, Australian Radio DX Club, Nov 19, WORLD OF RADIO 1208, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Doubt 7240 will be of much use beyond the west coast, and not as late as 1800, and always subject to ham QRM. If you have the full RA schedule, please send it along (gh) Glenn, The attached TXT file is my transcription from an RA band chart. I seems to cover only the English frequencies with other languages only there because they share the frequencies. Should at least be of interest to English listeners (most of whom seem to be in "unwanted" target areas). Also, I am not sure if this is an interim schedule with more changes to come. We'll cobble it all together eventually. 73 (Ian Johnson, Australian Radio DX Club, http://ardxc.fl.net.au Nov 20, DX LISTENING DIGEST) RADIO AUSTRALIA B-03 VER.1.0 EFFECTIVE 0000 UT MONDAY 17 NOVEMBER 2003 Freq (Tx/Azi) 5995 (B/010) 0800-0900 EE; 0900-1100 TP; 1100-1400 EE. 5995 (S/030) 1400-1800 EE. 6020 (S/030) 0900-1100 TP; 1100-1400 EE. 6035 (S/005) 1100-1400 EE. 6080 (S/334) 1400-1800 EE. 6080 (S/005) 1800-2100 EE; 2000-2100 TP Mon-Fri. 7240 (S/050) 1400-1800 EE. 7240 (S/030) 1600-2000 EE; 2000-2100 TP Mon-Fri. 9475 (S/329) 1100-1300 EE; 1300-1430 CC; 1430-1900 EE. 9500 (S/329) 1900-2130 EE. 9580 (S/070) 0800-1400 EE; 1800-2100 EE. 9590 (S/030) 0800-1600 EE. 9660 (B/010) 0000-0800 EE (Sport 0110-0700UT Sat/Sun); 2100-2200 EE; 2200-2300 BBC; 2300-2400 EE. 9710 (S/353) 0800-0900 EE; 0900-1100 TP. 9710 (S/030) 1700-2000 EE. 11650 (S/030) 2000-2200 EE. 11660 (S/329) 1300-1430 CC. 11695 (S/329) 2130-2330 II; 2330-2400 EE. 11750 (D/???) 1400-1600 EE (Target Central & W. Indonesia) 11880 (S/355) 0600-0800 EE. 11880 (S/329) 0900-1300 EE. 11880 (S/050) 1700-2300 EE. 12080 (B/080) 0000-0900 EE; 0900-1100 TP; 2000-2200EE; 2200-2300 BBC; 2300-2400 EE. 13620 (D/317) 2200-2400 EE. 13630 (S/353) 2300-0600 EE. 13630 (S/050) 0700-0900 EE. 13630 (S/030) 2100-2300 EE. 15160 (S/065) 0500-0800 EE. 15230 (S/030) 2200-2400 EE. 15240 (S/030) 0000-0800 EE (Sport 0110-0700UT Sat/Sun). 15240 (D/???) 0800-1130 EE. 15415 (S/329) 0000-0030 II; 0030-0400 EE; 0400-0430 II; 0430-0500 EE; 0500-0530 II; 0800-0830 II(Mon-Fri); 0830-0900 EE; 0900-0930 II(Mon-Fri); 0930-1100 EE; 2130-2330 II. 15515 (S/050) 0200-0700 EE. 17750 (S/329) 2330-0900 EE (Sport 0110-0700UT Sat/Sun). 17775 (D/???) 0000-0130 EE. 17795 (S/050) 2300-0200 EE. 21725 (S/355) 0000-0300 EE. 21725 (S/329) 0300-0500 EE. 21740 (S/070) 2100-2400 EE. EE=English; II=Indonesian; TP=Tok Pisin; CC=Mandarin Chinese. Vietnamese & Khmer are not shown. Nor are the reported II relays from Tinian on 21615/21780 at 0000-0030/0400/0430. S=Shepparton 100 KW; B=Brandon 10 KW; D=Darwin 250 KW. (via Ian Johnson, ARDXC, DX LISTENING DIGEST) This agrees with some of my observations Nov 20: At 1325 in The Planet, both 9580 and 9590, with the latter slightly weaker, but nothing in between, so it seemed like a very broad RA signal. Before 1400 I checked the 49m band, and found RA on 6020, stronger than 6035, both off at 1359. Another pair after 1400, 5995, stronger than 6080 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** AUSTRIA. BIG RADIO IN AUSTRIA The huge antenna systems at the large international shortwave station operated by ORF-ROI at Moosbrunn near Vienna in Austria can be seen at a distance as you are driving by car into the area. There are several clusters of various types of antennas positioned around the main transmitter building, though the massive rotatable antenna is the most impressive. This entire antenna unit runs on rails and it can be oriented in any desired direction in just a few short minutes. The Moosbrunn property was procured in 1959 and the first shortwave transmitters were installed in a temporary wooden building. Actually these first original transmitters were taken from a submarine and they were linked together to provide a total output of 100 kW. When the new and permanent transmitter building was completed, four Telefunken units at 100 kW were installed progressively. At the same time, a multitude of antennas were erected for coverage into various areas of the world. Currently, ORF-ROI maintains a complement of six shortwave transmitters at Moosbrunn, four at 100 kW and two at 500 kW. Two of the 100 kW units are in regular usage and two are maintained for back-up usage. The two units rated at 500 kW are on the air usually at 300 kW due to antenna constraints. Adventist World Radio is on the air from the two high powered transmitters, one for coverage into Europe and the other for wide area international coverage. The relay of programming from Adventist World Radio over the facilities at ORF-ROI Moosbrunn began at the end of April 2001. Another huge and historic radio station is located towards the northern edge of Vienna at Bisamberg, and again, the tall antenna tower can be seen from quite a distance away. This historic radio station traces its earliest origins back to the very early days of mediumwave broadcasting. Interestingly, half a century ago when international broadcasting was again being revived in Austria, a shortwave transmitter was installed at Bisamberg. This transmitter was a communication unit that was pressed into temporary broadcast usage. When Moosbrunn was inaugurated a few years later, the usage of Bisamberg on shortwave was terminated. These days, the historic radio station at Bisamberg contains several mediumwave transmitters that are in various stages of on-air capability. Bisamberg can be heard on 1476 kHz with 60 kW, though usually not with ORF programming. These days, Austria is covered all over with several networks of high quality FM stations (Adrian Michael Peterson, AWR Wavescan Nov 23 via John Norfolk, DXLD) ** AZERBAIJAN. 9677.7, Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Rep. (Stepanakert), the Armenian populated enclave in Azerbaijan, 0600-0630, Nov 10, could still be traced here with the same awful modulation, leaving no chance to get any info (like language of program, exact ID, etc). They still sound like ``FM``. Cuts of Russian heard, most likely in interviews (i.e. not main program language, which must be Armenian, I guess, yet not sure). Time and days are the same: Wednesday + Saturday only, 0600-0630v (-0633-0635-0638, varies) UTC; Minus 1 hour in summer. QRM R Liberty in Russian on 9680. I`ve just recalled they had 30 min in the local evening too (seemingly on the evenings of morning transmission). Hard to say from here if active, QRMs in summer, poor propagational conditions in winter (Vlad Titarev, Ukraine, DSWCI DX Window Nov 19 via DXLD) DSWCI filed as CLANDESTINE When checked in Denmark 0610-0630, We Nov 12, I did not even hear a carrier between Sa`udi Arabia HS2 on 9675 (// 11855) and R Liberty 9680 (Anker Petersen, DSWCI DX Window Nov 19 via DXLD) ** BAHAMAS. Chris Dunne's ZNS-13 photos --- Florida DXer Christopher S. Dunne sent me a few shots of ZNS-13's IDs from 1992 and 2000. The URL is below: http://members.tripod.com/~nladxer/TMTVDXPindex.html Mexico TV ID tips: http://www.geocities.com/doglethorpe/ (Danny (Shreveport, LA) Oglethorpe, WTFDA via DXLD) ** BANGLADESH. 7185, R Bangladesh, 1745, Nov 08, English; Opening melody, ID ``The Voice of Islam``, schedule, opening melody, ID ``Good evening, this is the External Service of Bangladesh Betar and programme announcement, 44433 (Jaroslav Bohac, Ustii nad Laben, the Czech Republic, DSWCI DX Window Nov 19 via DXLD) ** BANGLADESH. I did get Bangladesh the other morning "armchair" copy around 1300 UT on 9660 --- and that's right next to India, but afternoons when the Greyline comes to us here is a lot more workable (Tom Messer, River Falls WI, swl at qth.net via DXLD) News to me if Bangladesh is on 9660; asked him for more details; no reply (gh, DXLD) ** BHUTAN. Re BBS increased airtime: The times mentioned are in UTC: Mo-Fr 0100-1500, Sa-Su 0100-1300. Until now the schedule on 6035 has been: MF 0100-1230 with no broadcasts on Sa and Su. Thus a better chance for DX-ers to catch them! (Anker Petersen, DSWCI DX Window Nov 19 via DXLD) ** BOLIVIA. R. San Miguel, tentative, 4902.6, 0225-0248* Nov 16, Spanish announcements, LA pops. No ID heard. Abrupt sign-off after short announcement; good (Brian Alexander, Mechanicsburg PA, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 4902.46, R San Miguel, Riberalta, Beni, heard with a very nice signal when opening at 0910-0930, Nov 12, two minute introductory oration by woman, incl. ID, then greeting and light pop vocals, many UT -4 TCs, ID 0930 mentioning onda corta. On Sun Nov 09 it opened at *0958. This is apparently the same station that used to be on 3310 in the mid 80s. Unusually strong reception from Andean stations this morning (Jerry Berg, MA, DSWCI DX Window Nov 19 via DXLD) ** CENTRAL AFRICAN REPUBLIC [non]. 11785, R Ndeke Luka, Bangui, via Dhabayya, UAE (scheduled in HFCC B03 with 250 kW, 245 degrees, replacing 15545 via Ascension which was better heard), *1900-1959*, Nov 06 and 07, Relays of 100.8 FM in French and Sango alternating every 10-15 minute, national and international news, information and Afropop. 25333 (Jerry Berg, MA and Anker Petersen, Denmark, DSWCI DX Window Nov 19 via DXLD) All previous reports had 15545 as UK, not Ascension (gh, DXLD) ** CHINA [non?]. It seems CRI relays via Sackville are doubling up, two frequencies at once. Such as 6190 and 9560 at 0400-0600, 6040 and 13??? At 2300; and now at 1430 UT Nov 19 I notice new 13675 as well as 9755 are exactly in sync so likely from the same site. Then on Nov 20, at 1325, hi-latitude paths from EAs were non-existent on 31m, but CRI was still good on 9755, tho somewhat attenuated, matching the situation with RCI Sackville on 9515; only a trace of something on 13675 at this time, but when rechecked at 1535 it was very good in Chinese, another RCI relay? (Glenn Hauser, OK, WORLD OF RADIO 1208, DX LISTENING DIGEST) See also MALI ** COSTA RICA. Another site pulling together stories about RFPI is http://www.schema-root.org/people/political/activist/peace/radio_for_peace_international/ (via Franklin Seiberling, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CUBA [and non]. Glenn: The interference signal at 9820 changed considerably last night; so I uploaded an addendum to my analysis page. It was more of a wobbling birdie than a total hash-with-tones sound, much more like conventional wideband STL receiver interference. I also added a counter to the page to see if I get any significant hits on it; feel free to give the link in your next DXLD. http://home.earthlink.net/~srw-swling/RHC/index.html I have decided to leave this page up permanently (at least for the time being) and also to add a few other commentaries related to SWL'ing at the main URL: http://home.earthlink.net/~srw-swling/ At the moment I merely have some joke pictures there, but more will come. [Later:] Glenn: Just clarified my 3D plot graphic by making a comparison between speech on R Japan and on RHC; and also included a comparative sound clip of the RJ announcer, and the RHC transmission. This should help the reader understand the significance of the "problem". Best, (Steve Waldee, Nov 19, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Fascinating! ** CUBA. KUBER --- Radio Cadena Habana, 1100 kHz: Massive, hyper-fast synth-oid/pulse-oid warbling tonight, apparently what some of you were reporting previously? Really nasty. [0220+ 19 November GMT]. Visit my "Florida Low Power Radio Stations" at: http://home.earthlink.net/~tocobagadx/flortis.html (Terry L Krueger, Clearwater, Florida, USA, 27.55.83 N, 82.46.08 W, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CYPRUS TURKISH. 6150: See IRAN ** DENMARK. The Director of Broadcasting, Mr Leif Lönsmann, summoned Stig Hartvig Nielsen and myself to two meetings in June-July to discuss future possibilities for Radio Denmark on shortwave. We advised that their present number of broadcasts (23 times 25 minutes each 24 hours!) could be reduced, that the number of transmitters (p.t. 1-4 per broadcast) also reduced and that they ask for offers of airtime from other transmitters than Norway. We even were asked to draft two letters for this purpose. But the Director obviously did not want to follow our advice for a cheaper solution (130,000 - 400,000 Euros per year), so he did not even mention this in his recommendation to our Minister of Culture when he asked for permission to close the Shortwave Service! He mentions that meetings have taken place with our two DX-Clubs and that we were against a closure, but nothing more. So now we feel that we have been taken as a kind of hostages even though our DX-Clubs do not represent the many daily listeners to Radio Denmark! Thus two letters of protest from the DSWCI to the Minister and two meetings at the office of Mr. Loensmann and letters of protests from several other listeners were all in vain! Radio Denmark is still broadcasting on SW until Dec 31 and verifies correct reception reports with a QSL-card. This is probably your last chance for a QSL from this station! (Anker Petersen, Denmark, DSWCI DX Window Nov 19 via DXLD) ** DENMARK. Re World Music Radio maybe starting in Dec: Listen for tests on 5815 and 15810 (Anker Petersen, Denmark, DSWCI DX Window Nov 19 via DXLD) ** DOMINICAN REPUBLIC. (presumed) 3749.74 (3 x 1250), HIBC, La Voz del Progreso, San Francisco de Macorís, Nov 18/19, 0954-1113, LA pop vocals before 1000, 1000 to 1100 continuous preaching, fair to good signal with occasional very good (S9) peaks (Mark Mohrmann, VT, harmonics yahoogroup via DXLD) ** DOMINICAN REPUBLIC. R. Cima, Santo Domingo, 4959.87, 0415-0500+ Nov 16, lively LA music, some Spanish rap. Many canned ``Cima`` IDs; strong (Brian Alexander, Mechanicsburg PA, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** EL SALVADOR. R. Imperial, Sonsonate, 17834.96, 2045-2140+ Nov 15, Spanish religious programming with yelling, shouting preacher. Occasional Spanish religious music. Several IDs at 2105, 2136. Irregular, but heard quite regularly lately. Poor-fair-good with deep fades but occasional fades up to good level (Brian Alexander, Mechanicsburg PA, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ERITREA. 13690, Voice of Eritrean People, (via Kvitsøy ??), 1752- 1800*, Su Nov 16, Tigrinya political talk, 1756 music from the Horn of Africa, 1758 ann mentioning Eritrea, more music and talk, ex 9990. 25333. This program was repeated Nov 16 *1800-1830* on 7130, 44444 (Anker Petersen, Denmark, DSWCI DX Window Nov 19 via DXLD) ** FAROE ISLANDS? LOCATION TBD [to be determined?]: A new hit music station has now begun tests on 531 kHz. "531 THE FORCE" is the new hit music station for Europe. From international waters it will be free from UK and European legislation. Playing Europe's new music first to a young audience, "531 THE FORCE" is Europe's new radio station. There is speculation in a follow up message that it is transmitting from the Faroes (Paul Bowery, mwc via IRCA DX Monitor Nov 22 via DXLD) Well, that`s Útvarp Føroya; would they turn over their main national frequency to this? That`s hardly I.W. (gh, DXLD) ** GOA. INDIA (GOA), 9820 kHz, All India Radio, from 1337 to 1410 UT, male talking with many mentions of India, into sub-continental pop beat music, female vocal, lots of bass, at 1355 man with commentary, many sentences beginning with India, brief fanfare at 1400. Then program them music, mixed with electronic keyboard, ID in possibly Nepali, lady talking with many mentions of Iraq, into brief music, the man talking, fade out about 1410. SINPO 32322. November 20th. Site Panaji per Passport 2004 (Drake SW 8 with 50 foot sloper, Roger Chambers, Utica, New York, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** HAWAII. Dr. Richard Wood of Kailua, HI. Sends along the following: KIPA-620 Hilo, HI. Was oldies, is now silent (DRW-HI, IRCA Soft DX Monitor Nov 22 via DXLD) I imagine most will be more interested in the contributor than the news, wondering whatever became of Richard Wood; he surfaces again (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** HONDURAS. 3340, HRMI lasted only a few days, gone again (Hans Johnson Naples, FL, Nov 19, Cumbredx mailing list via DXLD) ** HONDURAS. R. Litoral, La Ceiba, 4830.06, 0430-0457* Nov 16, tune-in to English ``Searchlight`` religious program, 0443 back to Spanish with religious music, 0456 ID and lite music to sign-off. Weak; I did not notice these guys on the air when R. Táchira [q.v.] signed off 4830 at 0402 (Brian Alexander, Mechanicsburg PA, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Quito 19/Nov/2003 19:17 José y Arnaldo, Hola! R. Litoral, La Ceiba está a veces en 4832 (normalmente buena señal) y a veces en 4830 kHz (normalmente bastante débil). Como recuerdo está algunos Hz arriba 4830 - 4830.07 por allí. Radio Litoral fue "encontrado" 1992/93 de un DXista en Antígua, Guatemala. Por casualidad estuve yo en Antigua, Guatemala 1992/93..... 73s (Björn Malm, Quito, Ecuador, SWB América Latina, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** INDONESIA. V. of Indonesia, 15150.03, 2000-2100 Nov 15, English news, commentary, local music, US pops, poor-weak in noisy conditions (Brian Alexander, Mechanicsburg PA, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** IRAN. Re DXLD3-206: I listened out for Voice of Justice for their announced English broadcast at 0130-0230, and indeed found. However, they were on 6010 & 6120 kHz, not the announced 6135 & 9835 kHz (Dave Kernick, UK, Nov 19, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** IRAN. 6150, VOIRI, Tehran, *0027-0330*, Nov 06, 10 and 12, interval signal, ID and announcement in Azeri (?), followed by Ramadan program with Qur`an recitations, local music --- and long breaks up to 15 minutes with open carrier! Bad modulation. It is scheduled here from Zahedan with 500 kW beamed 289 degrees during the Ramadan period only until Nov 27! 44444. QRM Dr. Gene Scott co-channel // 5029 [Costas Ricas]. So this is NOT R Bayrak, Northern Cyprus! (Anker Petersen, Denmark, DSWCI DX Window Nov 19 via DXLD) ** IRAN. IRIB Tehran in Italian at 0630 back on 15084 kHz. Also heard on other morning channels in langs like Bosnian, Albanian, Spanish, French, Hausa, IRIB on 15235, 15320, 17590, 17605, 17680, 17810, 21810. But Kamalabad 15084 kHz transmission had a strange effect. Italian program audio broadcast twice, repeated same audio by 1.5 seconds delay. That was not an propagation echo! And looked like Chinese psychological' jamming. \\ 17605 from Sirjan broadcast a single correct audio. 73 wb (Wolfgang Büschel, Germany, Nov 19, harmonics yahoogroup via DXLD) ** IRAN [non]. 4640, Voice of Mojahed, 0428, Nov 17, a Jammer dominating the frequency but in the back ground I could hear a Kurdish song as well --- but suddenly went off the air, maybe to avoid Jamming?? The jammer still on, the station moved to 4630. The Jammer followed, jumped to 4650. Another mystery is how did that transmitter survived the war as well?? And why was it silent during the war, and reactivated after it`s over???? How??? (Tarek Zeidan, Egypt, DSWCI DX Window Nov 19 via DXLD) This month I heard the Voice of Mojahed and/or jamming around 4650, 5350, 5650, 6450, 8250, 8550 and 9250 morning and afternoon (Anker Petersen, Denmark, ibid.) ** IRAN [non]. 11520, R. Voice of Iran, via Issoudun, France, 1650- 1700, Nov 17, Farsi phone-in program about Iraq, ex 15750, 35343 (Anker Petersen, Denmark, DSWCI DX Window Nov 19 via DXLD) ** IRAN [non]. VOA-TV GAINS LARGE AUDIENCE IN IRAN Washington, D.C., November 19, 2003 -- Voice of America's (VOA) Persian television programs, including a daily show that focuses on sought-after news and information, are reaching a remarkable 12 percent of Iranians over the age of 18, a new survey shows. . . http://www.bbg.gov/_bbg_news.cfm?articleID=97&mode=general (BBG via DXLD) ** IRAQ [non]. RADIO SAWA IS NUMBER ONE IN IRAQ, NEW SURVEY SHOWS Washington, D.C., November 18, 2003 -- Radio Sawa, the U.S. Government-funded, Arabic-language station, is the most popular international radio in Iraq's three largest cities, with nearly half the residents tuning in on a weekly basis, a new survey shows. The survey, conducted by D3 Systems Inc., of Vienna, Va., in Baghdad, Mosul and Basra said Radio Sawa has an average weekly listenership of 48.9 percent, making it the number one international broadcaster surveyed... http://www.bbg.gov/_bbg_news.cfm?articleID=96&mode=general (BBG press release via DXLD) ** IRAQ. ANALYSIS: COALITION-BACKED IRAQI MEDIA NETWORK STRUGGLING, SIX MONTHS ON | Text of editorial analysis by Peter Feuilherade of BBC Monitoring Media Services on 19 November 2003 The Iraqi Media Network (IMN) was established in May 2003 by the Coalition Provisional Authority to replace the defunct Iraqi Information Ministry. It currently includes a TV channel, two radio stations and the newspaper Al-Sabah, and continues to dominate domestic broadcasting in Iraq. IMN TV has recently been renamed Al- Iraqiyah TV. The Pentagon has received bids in recent weeks from international broadcasters and private companies for a 100m-dollar contract intended, among other things, to expand the IMN into a network which would include two terrestrial TV channels, one of which would be an all-news channel, and two radio stations, one all-news. The news channels would be available via satellite too. The contract also involves completely rebuilding Iraq's broadcasting infrastructure, 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. With bids due in by the end of November, five serious contenders have reportedly emerged. They are the BBC, which through the World Service Trust has already been training Iraqi broadcasters; London-based Independent Television News; the Rendon Group, which has worked on previous US "public diplomacy" efforts; the Harris Group; and the Lebanese Broadcasting Corporation. The IMN is currently operated by Science Applications International Corporation (SAIC), a major US Defence Department contractor. Some US sources speculate that the Pentagon may stick with SAIC to continue to run the IMN. How Iraqis regard IMN A survey carried out in mid-October by the US State Department found that most urban Iraqis have access only to local television broadcasts, though a third overall have satellite access. Among Iraqis with no satellite access, 59 per cent of them watched IMN TV, compared with 13 per cent who watched Najaf TV and 7 per cent who favoured Iran-based Al-Alam TV. However, viewing of IMN clearly differs according to satellite access, the survey found. Among satellite dish owners in Iraq, the viewing figures were: MBC's Al- Arabiyah TV - 37 per cent; Qatari Al-Jazeera TV - 26 per cent; and IMN TV - 12 per cent. "Given this current situation, the IMN has wide reach and a significant following, but findings suggest that its influence will likely be rivalled as satellite dishes become more widespread," the US-run survey predicted. But anecdotal evidence, for example from Iraqi web logs, paints a different picture, suggesting that Iraqis appreciate the IMN more as a source of entertainment than for its news content. For example, "Zeyad", writing in the "Healing Iraq" blog (http://healingiraq.blogspot.com), comments: "... Iraqis use it mainly for entertainment, to follow football matches, Egyptian serials, Arabic music video clips, and late night movies but NEVER for their daily news. They prefer Al-Jazeera or Al-Arabiyah for that, largely due to the apparent professional style of these stations." The London-based Institute of War and Peace Reporting (IWPR) country director for Iraq, Maggy Zanger, recently commented from Arbil: "The CPA's media outlet, the Iraqi Media Network, renamed Al-Iraqiyah, is present and as irrelevant to Kurds as it is to other Iraqis." Iraqi Shi'is demonstrate Iraqis from the Shi'i holy cities of Najaf and Karbala held a demonstration in Baghdad on 19 November to protest against what they called "immodest images" being screened on Al-Iraqiyah TV. About 200 demonstrators gathered outside the Coalition headquarters in the capital to accuse the channel of screening "immodest images without taking into account the sanctity of the month of Ramadan and incompatibility with Iraqi culture", the Iranian news agency IRNA reported. They called on officials running Al-Iraqiyah TV to take into account the religious sensitivities of the Iraqi people. A US view - "psyops on steroids" In parts of the Pentagon, the IMN has recently been dubbed "psyops on steroids", said the Washington Post on 29 October. "They need psyops to get their message across and at the same time allegedly want to create an indigenous, independent media ... goals that are counterintuitive," the paper quoted a senior congressional aide as saying. And according to the latest edition of the US weekly The Village Voice, the IMN continues to lose senior staff with a background in professional journalism. The original news director, Ahmad al-Rikabi, resigned in August, citing poor funding and a lack of editorial independence. His successor, George Mansur, is said to have been removed in early November and replaced by a former CNN executive editor, Ted Iliff, the weekly reported. Some NGOs with experience setting up independent media centres in countries such as Bosnia, Afghanistan and East Timor feel alienated by what they regard as the IMN's "propagandistic tone", The Village Voice added. It quoted one source as saying that some NGOs now see the IMN as "too close to the US government and too akin to public diplomacy, rather than independent media." Iraqis continue to associate a centralized media network with the Saddam Husayn regime, under which dissenting journalists were often imprisoned or killed. Iraqis had looked forward to getting fair and balanced news from the US, but now view the IMN with "the same distrustful eye they regarded it with during the Husayn era - same TV, different autocratic rulers," The Village Voice concluded. The National Journal, another US publication, summed up the IMN dilemma as follows: "Until US officials fundamentally decide whether the IMN is to be a public relations organ of the provisional authority, or a US-funded but independent and objective Iraqi media voice, experts warn, it is destined to founder as a hybrid that performs neither mission very well." The case for the defence Although many Iraqis see the IMN not as a vehicle for free speech but as the mouthpiece of the CPA, managers at the IMN defend their programming against charges of propaganda. They add that after 30 years under Saddam Husayn, Iraqis must start to lose their scepticism of official state television. In a feature article on 6 November on Radio Free Europe-Radio Liberty's web site (www.rferl.org), IMN journalist Shamin Rassam was reported as saying she was certain the network's audience would grow, although the spread of satellite dishes had made competition inevitable. Ms Rassam, who worked as a broadcaster for the Iraqi Information Ministry before going into exile in 1990, said that in addition to giving average Iraqis an accessible source of news and information, the IMN acted as a counterbalance to what she described as "extreme anti-American bias on Arabic satellite news channels". Pentagon to beam 24-hour news channel from Baghdad Meanwhile the CPA, dissatisfied with American network news coverage of the conflict in Iraq, is to set up its own 24-hour satellite TV channel from Baghdad funded by the Pentagon, in the hope that local US stations will use its footage to present "a more comprehensive picture" of events in Iraq, the New York Observer reported on 12 November. This will give the CPA "the capacity to create its own version of the news, live from Iraq, 24 hours a day," the paper said. It commented that the decision had left US network news executives and journalists "pretty shocked by the concept of a taxpayer-supported news broadcast purposefully created to bypass the editorial decisions of American television. The Bush Administration made a decision not to depend on them as middlemen." The channel will offer uncut images of government briefings and military ceremonies, and local stations in the US will be notified when an event or interview occurs that is relevant to their geographic area, the Washington Post reported. "It's certainly an attempt to influence the debate," the New York Observer quoted Paul Slavin, senior vice-president of ABC News, as saying. Source: BBC Monitoring research 19 Nov 03 (via DXLD) ** IRAQ. IRAQIS PROTEST AGAINST COALITION-RUN DOMESTIC TV Iraqis from the Shi'i holy cities of Najaf and Karbala held a demonstration in Baghdad today to protest against what they called "immodest images" being screened on Iraq's national Al-Iraqiyah TV network, run by the US-led Coalition. About 200 demonstrators gathered outside the Coalition headquarters in the capital to accuse Al-Iraqiyah TV (formerly called Iraqi Media Network TV) of screening "immodest images without taking into account the sanctity of the month of Ramadan and incompatibility with Iraqi culture", the Iranian news agency IRNA reported. They called on officials running Al-Iraqiyah TV - currently the only domestic TV channel to broadcast nationwide - to take into account the religious sensitivities of the Iraqi people. A Coalition mouthpiece? The Iraqi Media Network (IMN), established in May 2003 by the Coalition Provisional Authority, currently includes a TV channel, two radio stations and the newspaper Al-Sabah, and continues to dominate domestic broadcasting in Iraq. A survey carried out in mid-October by the US State Department found that among Iraqis with no satellite access, 59 per cent of them watched IMN TV, compared with 13 per cent who watched Najaf TV and 7 per cent who favoured Iran-based Al-Alam TV. However, among satellite dish owners, MBC's Al-Arabiyah TV was the most popular (37%), followed by Qatar's Al-Jazeera TV (26%), with IMN TV watched by only 12%. Media analysts in Iraq say Iraqis appreciate the IMN more as a source of entertainment than for its news content. Although many Iraqis see the IMN not as a vehicle for free speech but as the mouthpiece of the CPA, managers at the IMN defend their programming against charges of propaganda. They add that after 30 years under Saddam Husayn, Iraqis must start to lose their scepticism of official state television. The National Journal, a US publication, recently summed up the IMN dilemma as follows: "Until US officials fundamentally decide whether the IMN is to be a public relations organ of the provisional authority, or a US-funded but independent and objective Iraqi media voice, experts warn, it is destined to founder as a hybrid that performs neither mission very well." Sources: IRNA news agency, Tehran, in Persian 1305 gmt 19 Nov 03 BBC Monitoring analysis 19 Nov 03 (via DXLD) ** ITALY. IRRS, 5775.13, 2140-2235* Sat Nov 15; very weak mixing with RTTY station, English programming. Just too weak to hear any details. But did catch an ID and address at 2234 followed by chorus and off (Brian Alexander, Mechanicsburg PA, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** KURDISTAN. 3880.6, Voice of Iranian Revolution, *0330-0340, Nov 13, 15 and 17, Kurdish ID: ``Dangi shurashi Iranya Kurdistana``, mentioned Komala and their website which we checked: http://www.komala.org/radio/rindex.htm Except for the heading ``Revolutionary organization of Toilers of Iranian Kurdistan``, the site is in Farsi or Kurdish only. Then followed music and a woman reading a piece of news. This station is not // 3928 which is another station run by Komala, 3928.3, Voice of Komala, *0326-0410, Nov 16 and 17, Overture to an Opera, two ID`s in Kurdish by woman: ``Eira dengi Komala``, 0330 full ID by man: ``Eira dengi Komala, dengi azadi e socializmu`` 35444, but a jammer started 0339. It was heard // also jammed 4600.0 (34444) Ex 4615. Distorted modulation (Anker Petersen, Denmark and Tarek Zeidan, Egypt, DSWCI DX Window Nov 19 via DXLD) Also heard 1714-1825, Nov 15, being jammed (Carlos Gonçalves, Portugal, DSWCI DX Window Nov 19 via DXLD) 3970.0, Voice of Iranian Kurdistan, 0330, Nov 17, an ID ...Dehngi kurdistana Irana - by a man followed by a patriotic anthem in Kurdish, a woman with an echoed voice giving out frequencies and times of transmission and music ID ``Eira Dengi Kurdistana Irana``. Qur`an recitation . The signal is very good SIO 333. I wonder if this one still is coming from Al-Sulaymaniyah, Northern Iraq ?? How did it survive the war ??! (Tarek Zeidan, Egypt, DSWCI DX Window Nov 19 via DXLD) Heard until Mar 27, 2003 on 3975. (Ed). Also heard *1437-1540, Nov 17, long talks in Kurdish about Iran and Kurdistan, 1530 fanfare, Farsi program. 33222 (Anker Petersen, Denmark, ibid.) 4023.6, Voice of the People of Kurdistan, Al-Sulaymaniyah, Northern Iraq, 1710-1924v*, Nov 08 and 10, fast speaking man in Arabic mentioning Iraq (often), Saudi Arabia, Allah, Al Qa`ida, Kurdistan and Kurdistani Iraq; 1854 full ID, 1859 talks in Turkmen, 1918 Kurdish ID: ``Aira dangi Gelli Kurdistana`` with music in background, closing ann. - U.S. supported R Liberation is no longer heard. 33333. On Nov 08 heard on 4026.87 (Anker Petersen, Denmark and Bjarke Vestesen, Radby, Blommenslyst, Denmark, DSWCI DX Window Nov 19 via DXLD) 4025.8, Voice of the People of Kurdistan, Al-Sulaymaniyah, Northern Iraq, 0345-0410, Nov 16, Arabic talk, martial songs, call to prayer, 0400 Kurdish talk, poor modulation, drifted down to 4025.3; disappeared in noise. 25232. 4159.5, Voice of the Conservative Party of Kurdistan, Northern Iraq, 1615-1725*, Nov 15, Kurdish speech about Kurdistan, mostly talks, closed late with martial song; drifting down to 4158.5, 33343. 4161.9, Voice of the Conservative Party of Kurdistan, Northern Iraq, 0335-0410*, Nov 16, Kurdish, songs and local music; drifting down to 4160.4, distorted audio and occasional CWQRM, 34333 (Anker Petersen, Denmark, DSWCI DX Window Nov 19 via DXLD) 4235.4, Voice of Kurdistan Toilers, 0315-0410, Nov 15, 16 and 17; 0315 Arabic talk about the history of an Iraqi city of Karkouk [Kirkuk?], followed by an Iraqi song, 0325 Kurdish talks about Kurdistan, 0338 ID: ``Aira Dengi Zahmatkeshan-e Kurdistana``, martial songs, 0345 Arabic ID: ``Huna Sawt-o Khark-i Kurdistan``, news mentioning Kirkuk and Kurdistan, 35444 (Anker Petersen, Denmark and Tarek Zeidan, Egypt, DSWCI DX Window Nov 19 via DXLD) 4250.8, Voice of Strugglers of Iranian Kurdistan, 0308-0357*, Nov 16, Symphonic music, Kurdish ID: ``Aira dangi Khabati Kurdistani Irana``, political talk about Iran, 0320 short symphonic music again and short ID: ``Dangi Khabati Kurdistan``, talk about Kurdistan, 0343 Farsi ID and talk, 45444 (Anker Petersen, Denmark, DSWCI DX Window Nov 19 via DXLD) ** LAOS. 6130 kHz, Lao National Radio, Vientiane, from 1150 to 1215 UT, light Asian music, 1158 ``dreamy`` Asian flutes and strings, several ``gongs`` similar to BBC hour chimes, all the same tone, brief presumed ID, then orchestral / flutes anthem, then lady and man alternating about a minute each with news in presumed Lao. Overall poor, though fair peak during the anthem. Nov. 20th (Drake SW 8 with 50 foot sloper, Roger Chambers, Utica, New York, DX LISTENING DIGEST) The gongs remind me of Laos, too, but I`d want to be sure it`s not Tibet, also scheduled at this time with 150 kW, per SW Guide; it has lots of parallels which could facilitate ruling it out. Laos 6130 was reported active last month by Roland Schulze, Philippines (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** LIBYA. ``Voice of the Greater Arab Homeland`` was closed some time ago and replaced with ``Voice of Africa``. Voice of Africa is usually carried on the SW relays via France as well as on MW 648, 711 and 1251. The SW frequencies are on air from 1000-2130, but I`m not sure if the MW channels continue with Voice of Africa after 2130; they used to continue with Voice of Africa until approx 0330, including English and French news bulletins at approx 2230, 2330, 0020, 0120, 0215 and 0310. This was when Libya was transmitting its own SW services on 15435 etc. (Dave Kenny, UK, DSWCI DX Window Nov 19 via DXLD) ** MALI. Re DXLD 3-207, it would be nice to know the langs, CRI Relays According to B-02 schedule! in 2002 they were [with updated frequencies annotated by wb] 0830-0857 Hausa 7170M 1300-1357 French 17880M 13685M 1400-1457 English-Af 15125M 13685M 1500-1557 English-As Af 15125M 13685M [also `NA` -- surely not meaning N America? gh] 1600-1657 Arabic 17880M 13685M 1700-1727 Swahili 15125M 13685M 1730-1757 Hausa 15550M[-now 11640M] 13685M 1800-1827 Hausa 15550M[-now 11640M] 13685M 1830-1927 Arabic 15550M[-now 11640M] 13685M 1930-1957 Portuguese 15500M 11735M[-now 11640M 13630M] 2000-2057 English-Af 15125M 13640M[-now 11640M 13630M] 2100-2127 English-Af 13640M 15125M[-now 11640M 13630M] 2130-2227 French 15500M[-13630M] 11975M 2230-2257 Chinese 15500M[-15505M, but still ?15500M?] 11975M 2300-2357 Chinese 11975M 7170M 73 (Wolfgang Büschel, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** MALTA. Dear Glenn, The Secretary General of the European DX Council (EDXC) this evening informed me that the Managing Director of the Voice of the Mediterranean (VOM) in Malta, Mr. Richard Muscat, just had informed him that Libya no longer can support the VOM financially. There was no mention of this in the English broadcast tonight at 2000-2100 on 7445 kHz. But I copied the following information from the website of the EDXC, http://www.edxc.org for you. I have added the converted prices of Maltese Lire to U.S. Dollars as of today's exchange rates. I had a report on the recent "Forum of Multilinguism and International Broadcasting", very successfully organized by VOM, in DX-Window no. 232, and my personal photos from that event can be seen at : http://dswci.org/bilder/malta2003/photos.html Best 73, (Anker Petersen, Denmark, Nov 19, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Viz.: EDXC website updated 19 November 2003 by Luigi Cobisi: VOM SUDDENLY CLOSING DOWN Voice of the Mediterranean (VOM), the shortwave radio station set up 20 years ago, is to close down on December 31 after the Libyan government informed Malta that "it no longer sees a function for this kind of station". The station is a joint venture between the Maltese and Libyan governments who each contribute Lm180,000 a year (about 500,000 USD. (AP)) to keep it running. The Libyan government has informed the Ministry of Foreign Affairs that it is no longer interested in giving any further contributions to VOM, a spokesman for the ministry said. The Libyan government's payments have not been regular for the past six years and it still owes Lm980,699 (about 2,758,700 USD (AP)), an issue which is being discussed by the ministry. The Libyan Ambassador to Malta was unavailable for comment. The Union Haddiema Maghqudin is in talks with the government to safeguard the interests of employees - VOM has 12 full-timers, two part-timers and four Libyan representatives. UHM general secretary Gejtu Vella said they were seeking placements for the Maltese employees in public entities or parastatal companies. EDXC expressed its deep concern and regret about the decision taken shortly after the successful Forum held in Malta last month (via Anker Petersen, DXLD) Malta really need a better partner for this (gh, DXLD) ** MEXICO [and non]. GRUPO RADIO FÓRMULA QUIERE AFILIAR 100 RADIOS HISPANAS EN EEUU --- domingo 16 de noviembre, 02:50 PM Monterrey (México), 16 nov (EFE).- Grupo Radio Fórmula, subsidiaria del grupo mexicano Televisa, tiene como meta afiliar a cien emisoras de habla hispana en Estados Unidos, informó a EFE un directivo de la empresa Grupo Radio Fórmula, dirigida por Rogerio Azcárraga, actualmente tiene un centenar de estaciones afiliadas en México y 14 en Estados Unidos, todas especializadas en programas de contenido "Esta semana iniciamos trasmisiones en Las Vegas (Nevada) y en enero en San Antonio (Texas)", comentó Pedro Calderón Bretón, vicepresidente comercial del grupo El directivo de la empresa fue entrevistado después de la celebración del décimo aniversario de sus estaciones en Monterrey (Nuevo León, frontera con EEUU) Calderón indicó que los acuerdos se concretarán "tan pronto como sea posible" para alcanzar la meta "Estamos buscando alianzas en Texas, Illinois, California, Nuevo México y Florida", afirmó el directivo Con 100 radios afiliadas en México, Radio Fórmula es uno de los grupos radiofónicos más importantes del país, "pero en Estados Unidos hablar de 100 estaciones no es nada", aseguró el directivo "Lo más importante no es tener cierta cantidad de estaciones, sino que nos interesa cubrir el mercado de habla hispana", explicó Detalló que para el grupo, cubrir el mercado hispano le permitiría "incrementar las tarifas comerciales hasta en 100 por ciento" Además, comentó que entre los clientes potenciales de publicidad figuran "bancos y empresas especializadas en la trasferencia de remesas, interesadas en llegar a ese mercado" Abundó que el convenio con las empresas radiofónicas que quiere afiliar en EEUU consiste en intercambiar tiempos de trasmisión por espacios de publicidad "Nosotros les ponemos a disposición nuestra programación a cambio de un espacio comercial", concluyó. EFE jac/mm/mls/hma (via HBG Nov 17, Condig) ** MONGOLIA. VOM new website: URL is http://www.owc.org.mn/mtv/ Obviously this page has been created by someone without sufficient experience. Big Flash animation, slow loading, when clicking on "schedule" you'll find no frequencies but a comments page... Regards, (Willi Passmann, Nov 19, Cumbre DX via DXLD) All the links at the top of the page, except HOME, lead to MAIL! (gh) Hi Willi, this website was created in 2002 by/for Mongolian National TV. It was run as a separate website in addition to the radio website http://mongol.net/vom 73s, (Bernd Trutenau, ibid.) ** NAMIBIA. 6060, NBC, Windhoek, 1845-2009, Nov 07, match report in Vernacular till 1900 when programming in English began with news, songs, phone-ins, till 2000, news in English, ID (finally!) 33442 (Carlos Gonçalves, Portugal, DSWCI DX Window Nov 19 via DXLD) 6175, NBC Windhoek, 0444, Nov 12, Afrikaans female ann, Billy Joel ``River of Dreams``, blocked by co-channel RFI Moyabi 0458, 6060 too messy to be able to make out anything definite, 23332 (Martien Groot, Netherlands, ibid.) ** NEW ZEALAND. RNZI, 6095, Nov 20 at 1340, good except for heavy flutter --- a sign of really disturbed conditions when a trans- equatorial signal does this. Lengthy interview with a correspondent in American Sámoa, about the current news there, such as malpractice in medicine, and BP selling gasoline for two years without the additives required by the US EPA (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** NEW ZEALAND. 3935, ZLXA R Reading Service, Levín, 0930-1000, Oct 15 and 17, 0955 ann: ``This is the National News . . . Reading``. The signal was very weak, but improved a bit. S 3 at best (Roland Schulze, Philippines, DSWCI DX Window Nov 19 via DXLD) ** NEW ZEALAND. PIONEER DX BROADCASTER CLEVEDON G. COSTELLO of Wellington passed away on 10 October. Cleve was the host of what we believe was the first programme on Radio New Zealand`s shortwave service dedicated to SWLs and DXers. ``This Radio Age`` was first broadcast on 15 August 1950, and in a booklet published in 1954, the feature was described as ``The Biggest Little Programme in International Broadcasting.`` I can recall the programme was still running in the 1960s. An early contributor was the late ARTHUR CUSHEN and, after Cleve stepped back from the role, the programme was renamed ``Arthur Cushen’s DX World``. RAY CRAWFORD has a copy of a 30 page page booklet ``Time Zones of the World`` compiled by Cleve and published in 1952 for the princely sum of 2/6 a copy. On the back cover is a full page advert for ``This Radio Age`` on Radio New Zealand on first Tuesday of the month at 0915 GMT. In 1955 the Postmaster General agreed to the DX League`s nomination of Cleve to participate in the Radio Interference Committee, representing all listener organisations. In her letter to the League advising of Cleve`s death, Mrs Margaret Costello wrote that ``as soon as the magazine arrived, no matter what, he would sit down and read it cover to cover. He was always interested in what was going on in the DX world.`` Farewell, Cleve --- another link with the glory days of our hobby has ended. (Thanks to Ray and JACK FOX for providing background information for this report. Ed) (Nov NZ DX Times via DXLD) ** OKLAHOMA. Nothing further to report on KMMZ[?] 1640. Chugs along 24\7 with All Comedy Radio, no IDs at hourtop, as of 1900 UT Nov 20. Only thing mildly unusual were a few EAS tones after 1900, but not the full test. Where are all the DX reports? I am rather surprised that some DX sites which quoted my first report about the format being Unforgettable Fav`rites have not followed up with the format change to comedy, several days afterwards. Oh oh, at 0228-0400+ UT check Nov 21, off the air, the first time noted missing this week (Glenn Hauser, Enid, DX LISTENING DIGEST) I first heard KMMZ 1640 in Enid testing last Saturday, after seeing it was on the air from 100Kwatts. I have listened and heard 1) oldies, no ID on the hour, except once, when I realized they simulcasted KMKZ 95.7 --- was this their testing phase??? 2) Last Monday, they are broadcasting COMEDY radio out of Los Angeles, but no ID on the hour, only "Comedy radio". Signal into Okla City was pretty good day, but late afternoon, I clearly could hear the Biloxi, Miss. 1640 station under their signal. After both stations went from 10 KW day to 1 KW night, I could still hear a fair nighttime signal into Okla City. Are there many stations carrying a comedy format?? I only thing I ever remember was some of the old comedy slots that WRR 1310 in Dallas did in the 60's (I am older than dirt, you know!) (stevjz, Nov 20, Oklahoma Radio Message Board via DXLD) 95.7 has not been KMKZ for a long time; now it`s KXLS, and while I did not check this for a simulcast earlier, I seriously doubt it was simulcast on 1640 (gh) ** OMAN. 6085, R Sultanate of Oman, Seeb, 0225-0300, Nov 14, Arabic; Qur`an, ID ``Idha`atu saltanat Oman``, radioplay, Arab music, program announcements with music, chimes, at 0259 chimes + ID, 44433 (Jaroslav Bohac, Ustii nad Laben, the Czech Republic, DSWCI DX Window Nov 19 via DXLD) ** PAKISTAN. 17520, R Pakistan verified a follow up report in 32 days with a full data Naran Mountain Range card and a fill in the blanks form letter from verie signer H. Malik, Senior Broadcast Engineer. The form letter was mutilated as I tried to gently remove it from the envelope as the glue from the flap attached itself to the letter (Rich D`Angelo, PA, DSWCI DX Window Nov 19 via DXLD) ** PAPUA NEW GUINEA. 9675, Karai National R, the Voice of the Nation, Port Moresby, 0458-0615, Oct 15 and 17, English and Tok Pisin, musical request program and news, ad about ``The Bible``! 23432 (Roland Schulze, Philippines, DSWCI DX Window Nov 19 via DXLD) ** PERU. R. Melodía, Arequipa, 5906.44, 0810-0900* Nov 16. LA pop music, very few announcments except for several canned IDs. Fair; tnx to WOR tip (Brian Alexander, Mechanicsburg PA, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 5906.26, R Melodía, Arequipa, 2300-2307, Nov 12, heard with unusual strong signal for the first time here in North Greece. IDs ``Radio Melodía`` and ``Melodía en los Andes`` with announcement and typical LA songs. After 2307 much static noise disturbed very hard, so I couldn`t listen very clearly. At 2312 the signal disappeared completely. 33333 (Kyriakos Dritsas, Greece, DSWCI DX Window Nov 19 via DXLD) ** PHILIPPINES. 12015, R. Pilipinas, Overseas Service, Tinang, *0200- 0330*, Oct 28, new frequency replacing 11885 for English broadcast // 15120 and 15270. The other Pilipino Service was announced to be at *1730-1930* on 11720, 11885 and 15190 (Roland Schulze, Philippines, DSWCI DX Window Nov 19 via DXLD) ** PHILIPPINES. 9830, FEBC with bell melody IS, and ID "You are listening to FEBC Radio International transmitting from Manila, Philippines" in English, then into unidentified Asian language, likely tonal, though not sure. SINPO 32212, November 17th. All heard with Drake SW 8 and 50 ft. sloper (Roger Chambers, Utica, NY, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** RUSSIA. 13690 RVI Moscow relay spurs --- RVI Brussels via Moscow- RUS relay on 13690 kHz at 0600-0900 UT produced four spurious signals. RVI in Flemish had two strong spursignals 47 kHz away. 13643 [covered Radio Oman {tentat?} 13640 totally] and 13737 kHz, also two weaker signals on 13620 and 13760 kHz [latter covered RFA Tinian in Mandarin totally]. 73 wb (Wolfgang Büschel, Germany, Nov 19, harmonics yahoogroup via DXLD) ** SERBIA AND MONTENEGRO [non]. 6100, R Yugoslavia, *1830, Nov 05, Italian announcement, news. Very good signal but some problem with the transmitter because the modulation is not perfect; the signal was better in USB but seemed non present in LSB. So the AM carrier seemed not well modulated. The announcement was: ``State ascoltando (you are listening to) Radio Yugoslavia, la radio internazionale di Serbia e Montenegro``. (Giampiero Bernardini, Milano, Italy, DSWCI DX Window Nov 19 via DXLD) ** SEYCHELLES [non]. CYPRUS, 9465, FEBA R `Spotlight` program verified with QSL card. They say this card posted from FEBA`s Cyprus office: P. O. Box 57000, Limassol, Cyprus. E-mail: se@feba.org.cy. Web: http://www.specialized.english.net/bxplans (Please do not attempt to use the old Seychelles address). FEBA Radio closed its Seychelles transmitter site March 29, 2003, and now uses transmitter space leased on other broadcasters` facilities (Masato Ishii, Japan, DSWCI DX Window Nov 19 via DXLD) ** SOMALIA. Glenn, Radio Gaalkackyo has shifted back to its former frequency 6980 from 7335 which it had been using recently. A nice signal here in Nairobi, more-or-less on-channel and operating in DSB mode (Chris Greenway, Kenya, Nov 19, WORLD OF RADIO 1208, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** SOUTH CAROLINA [non]. UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. On Nov 10 I received a letter from Pan European Radio confirming my Sep 26, 27 and 28 reception on 1179 from Sweden with 600 and 300 kW. I sent a reception report for only one date and timeperiod. So, this must be a standard letter for all transmission dates. Address: P. O. Box 16913, Beverly Hills, CA 90209, USA. V/s Bert VanSchaik, MD (Max Van Arnhem, DSWCI DX Window Nov 19 via DXLD) Presumably the broker about to put Brother Scare on 1179 (gh) ** SUDAN [non]. 15530, Sudan R Service, via Woofferton, *1500-1700*, Nov 06, opening and closing ann and ID in six languages, address in Nairobi, news: 1515 in English, 1522 in Sudanese Arabic, 1527 in Arabic and 1534 in an East African Vernacular; songs; 1547 Vernacular conversation and laughing; songs. 1600 multilingual ID and address. News 1615 in English, 1622 in Sudanese Arabic, 1627 in Arabic and 1634 in Vernacular; songs and conversation. The 1600-1700 may be a repeat of the 1500-1600 program. 35444 (Anker Petersen, Denmark, DSWCI DX Window Nov 19 via DXLD) ** SWEDEN. RADIO SWEDEN -- Coming up on Radio Sweden: Thursday: In "HeartBeat" doctors prescribe sit-ups instead of pills Friday: Our weekly review Saturday: "Studio 49" Sunday: In "Sounds Nordic" Kids in the future and September (repeat) (SCDX/MediaScan Nov 19 via DXLD) ** TATARSTAN. The program ``Tatarstan Dulkynynda`` (``Na volne Tatarstana``), formerly Voice of Tatarstan, has switched to its traditional winter schedule: 0500-0600 and 0700-0800 on 15105, 0900- 1000 on 11915. Considerable QRM at 0700-0730 from co-channel Romania in English (Dmitri Mezin, Kazan, DSWCI DX Window Nov 19 via DXLD) ** TIBET. 7385, Xizang People`s Broadcasting Station, Lhasa (Tibet), 2244-2300 Nov 4, presumed the one with Chinese music selections and talk in listed Tibetan. Poor signal but in the clear until top of the hour music was drowned out by an ARO conversation (Rich D`Angelo, French Creek State Park PA, DXpedition, DSWCI DX Window Nov 19 via DXLD) ?? No hams above 7300. Surely this was MARS or some other paramilitary net (gh, DXLD) 7385, Xizang PBS, Lhasa, Tibet, 1630-1730*, Nov 05, English/Tibetan talks, extended schedule, 43433, heard // 4905 4920 6110 5240 (Anker Petersen, Denmark, DSWCI DX Window Nov 19 via DXLD) Schedule already reported to have extended to 1730*, but was there any English after 1700? (gh, DXLD) See also LAOS ** TURKEY. TURKISH MEDIA BOARD: REGULATIONS FOR LANGUAGE BROADCASTS "GIVEN FINAL SHAPE" | Text of report in English by Turkish news agency Anatolia Ankara, 18 November: Supreme Board of Radio and Television (RTUK) Chairman Fatih Karaca has said: "The regulations for broadcast in languages and dialects which are traditionally used by citizens in their daily life, has been given its final shape. The regulations will be submitted to the Prime Ministry Office later in the day." Following the meeting of the RTUK on Tuesday [18 November], Karaca told reporters: "The authority of broadcast in traditional language and dialects has been given to public and private national radio and TV channels till profile of audience and watchers are determined. Radio channels will be able to broadcast in traditional language and dialects five hours in a week. They will not exceed one our in a day. Meanwhile, TV channels will be able to broadcast in traditional language and dialects four hours in a week by not exceeding 45 minutes in a day." "After profile of audience and watchers are determined, local and regional radio and TV channels will be given permission to broadcast in such traditional languages and dialects," he said. Karaca added that private and public radio and TV channels could apply to the RTUK after the regulations was published in the Official Gazette. Source: Anatolia news agency, Ankara, in English 1342 gmt 18 Nov 03 (via BBCM via DXLD) I suppose the ones they are really concerned about are Armenian, Kurdish (gh, DXLD) ** UGANDA [non]. 17870, R Rhino International - Africa, via Juelich, Germany, 1505-1557*, Sa/Su Nov 15 and 16, English interview about the political system in Uganda, priest talking and offering T-Shirts, ID`s, shouting man being translated to English, new frequency ex 17555. 35444 (Anker Petersen, Denmark, DSWCI DX Window Nov 19 via DXLD) ** U A E. Hi Glenn, Re Dubai has been missing from 21605 for some weeks now, DXLD 3-208: I just got them on with a very weak signal bearing in mind the QRM from REE on 21610 and another station in French probably Sa`udi Arabia on 21600 --- like sitting between 2 fires, HI. Anyway it's 0915 UT and they are on with an interview with a Lady Professor in UAE university over the phone. All the best (Tarek Zeidan, Cairo, Egypt, Nov 19, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U K [non]. Happy birthday to Alistair Cooke, who is 95 today! (Clara Listensprechen, Nov 20, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. Why has nobody pick up issue with World Harvest Radio over their promises on air to issue QSL cards for correct reception reports, but they never do. I have never seen any one reporting getting QSL from them. Why? I believe Cumbre DX is affiliated in some way with them. Someone has to talk to them (Emmanuel Ezeani, Sokoto, Nigeria, Nov 19, Cumbre DX via DXLD) ** U S A. 9930/9320: WINB took a hit during an electrical storm this PM. Station is off the air for now, but should be back in a day or two (Hans Johnson, Nov 20, Cumbredx mailing list via DXLD) This actually refers to Nov 19. That explains why there was no trace of a signal on 9320, UT Thu at 0230 when WORLD OF RADIO was supposed to air. When my alarm went off at 0228 UT Nov 21, I checked again, and some signal is back on 9320, but conditions are bad: (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. No problem with the Delano spurs on 16m Nov 20: checked around 1900, VOG-17705 was actually only fair strength and fadey; two hours later found the same, and on 17670, R. Martí was actually inaudible below the Cuban commie jammer! Recovered a bit by 2200, but this and most other US signals on the higher bands, including WWCR 15825, had moderate flutter on them. It takes quite a disturbance to accomplish that (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Auroral Hash --- At 4:15 PM EST a severe geomagnetic storm is in progress. I'm observing very strong auroral hash on the low VHF TV and FM band with the antennas pointed north (Girard Westerberg, Lexington KY, Nov 20, 2003 13:17 PST, WTFDA via DXLD) This afternoon is about as depressed FM conditions as I can recall. The majority of my DX frequencies are nothing but hiss or sideband splatter where there usually is little. Further many of the +/- 100 miles out stations are similarly diminished to all or mostly hiss. (Russ Edmunds, Blue Bell, PA ( 360' ASL ) [15 mi NNW of Philadelphia], Nov 20, 2003 14:11 PST, ibid.) ** U S A. I believe in my previous report of Broadway Consumer, the AZ National Guard net on 7450, I didn`t note whether it was USB or LSB, since the receivers I was using don`t make it easy to tell which is which. So Nov 18 at 1517 check I confirmed on the SW-07 it is LSB, as 59-N was QRZ, tho he doesn`t use that term (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. NRC member Pete Dernbach of St. Louis Missouri sent an e- mail to WGN's Director of Engineering to ask about the WGN silent period. Below is the e-mail and the WGN reply verbatim (as posted on the NRC list). 73 Niel Wolfish ------------------ "I sent an email to Jim Carollo, Director of Engineering at WGN, about the silent period and this is the very quick reply he sent me. ====================== It will be Sunday morning, November 30, 1:05 AM until 5. However, between 1:05 and 3 I may have a carrier on with test tone. The carrier is most likely to be off from 3 until 4:30 AM [0900-1030 UT]. That's your best chance. Jim ======================= I then sent an email to the engineer at KOTZ, Alaska to see if they could do a DX test during the silent period. If I recall correctly they did a test about a year ago. I'm waiting on a reply. Pete Dernbach, St. Louis, Mo" (all via Niel Wolfish, ODXA via DXLD) ** U S A. There have been reports of something on 550 heard in the Los Ángeles area; we pick up on that here: Subject: LA 550 mystery http://www.kmaxam.com http://www.nbsradioandtv.com The latter links to three FM stations none of which appear in the FCC database. One claims to be a commercial station on 89.7 - something that *would not* be licensed. Looks to me like a Miami-style "megapirate" operation... (Doug Smith W9WI, Pleasant View (Nashville), TN EM66, http://www.w9wi.com Nov 18, NRC-AM via DXLD) This is a fascinating thing. It has KMAX-550AM plastered all over the site, but has absolutely no information about any actual over-the-air operation. They do give an address in Hollywood though. I'm listening to the live stream now, and it's nothing like what I was hearing last week. This is a well-produced, commercial sounding operation, with AT&T commercials and all. Maybe they were just testing last week, and I'll start hearing something soon. Actually, I did hear what sounded like an open carrier last night on my way home - KUZZ was coming through somewhat, but the static that usually accompanies their signal seemed covered up by an O/C. I really should start carrying the DX-398 around with me... (Brian Leyton, Valley Village, CA, DX-398 / 18" Box Loop / RS Loop, NRC-AM via DXLD) ** U S A. 1690, WRLL, Chicago, 1952 Nov 19, Noted autumn daytime sky wave propagation on the AM broadcast band, including this one from Chicago logged at 1:52 PM CST (about 3 hours before sunset). Oldies format with male DJ who mentioned "Real Oldies 1690 in Chicago". Full ID at the top of the hour. Nice reception with good signal strength on the peaks and no interference. Great selection of music (David Hodgson, TN, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. 1670, Radio Communautaire de Brockton, Brockton MA presumed with Caribbean music, no talk heard when faded up, and it faded up to nice strengths a few times. Also weak music of a similar sort, though not parallel, on 1690 (the latter is a relog, didn't pay as much attention to it). At 1810 [EST] (Saul Chernos, From Burnt River ON, Nov 17, amfmtvdx at qth.net via DXLD) 1620 Solid ID on Radio Energie for my third Boston-area Haitian pirate. Also heard 1670 and 1690 last night (Saul Chernos, Nov 19, NRC-AM via DXLD) ** U S A. 1650, WPNP867 Logan Int'l Airport, East Boston MA. Whole long list of airlines, began with Air Canada Jazz, leading me to momentarily conclude the Ottawa airport had moved here from 1630. But heard a clear reference to Logan (Barry McLaarnon tells me the Ottawa 1630 has been silent of late, BTW). At 1835 [EST]. NEW - and I have never seen this reported anywhere... It was at times stronger than the Disney in VA (Saul Chernos, From Burnt River ON, Nov 17, amfmtvdx at qth.net via DXLD) See also UNIDENTIFIED ** U S A [and non]. U.S. X-BAND AT A GLANCE NOVEMBER 2003 COMPILED BY TONY KING, GREYTOWN, NEW ZEALAND call change or new station: *** 1610 CJWI Montreal QUE FF Caribbean music. 1620 WBUB Atmore AL Yet to be heard in US WDND South Bend IN ESPN Radio 1620 KOZN Bellevue NE ESPN Sport.``The Zone`` WTAW College Station TX ``Newstalk 16-20 WTAW`` Takes ``USA Radio News`` KBLI Blackfoot ID SS ``Radio Fiesta`` KYIZ Renton WA Urban/R & B; hip hop KSMH West Sacramento, CA Rel. ``Catholic Radio KSMH`` KFHX Fountain Hills AZ Variety. Pre 70``s Music. ``KFHX Fountain Hills, Arizona.`` [unlicensed] WDHP Frederikstad, US Virgins BBC WS to 0900. ID at :59 1630 KCJJ Iowa City IA Hot AC / Classic Rock KKWY Fox Farm WY C&W AP news `` K-W-Y`` KNAX Ft Worth/Dallas TX SS. Radio Vida / Radio Dos Mil Dos. EE ID :58 WRDW Augusta GA ``Newstalk 1630 ex WTEL (call swap with 1480) *** 1640 WKSH Sussex WI Disney KDZR Lake Oswego OR Disney KDIA Vallejo CA Talk/religious/life issues WTNI Biloxi MS ``Talk Radio 1640 WTNI Biloxi`` ABC News on hr. ID :05 KMMZ Enid OK Not reported as on air yet. Chisholm Trail Broadcasting. ex KMKZ *** [on since Nov 14 --- gh] KBJA Sandy UT SS/Radio Única EE ID on hour 1650 WHKT Portsmouth VA ``AM 1650 WHKT Portsmouth, Radio Disney`` KDNZ Cedar Falls IA Talk / Sport ``The Talk Station`` //KCNZ KWHN Fort Smith AR ``Newstalk 1650 KWHN`` [transmitter in OK --- gh] KBJD Denver CO Talk. ``KNUS-2`` KFOX Torrance CA Korean / EE ID on hour 1660 KTIQ Merced CA Sporting News Network ``The Ticket`` WWRU Elizabeth NJ PP & SS Radio Única / R. Portugal. 10 kW WCNZ Marco Is FL ``Newsradio 1660`` AP news WQSN Kalamazoo MI Sports/talk ESPN KRZX Waco TX ``Newstalk KRZX`` (off 0600 UT) KQWB West Fargo ND Standards ``Star 1660 is KQWB AM`` CNN news KXOL Brigham City UT ``Oldies Radio`` (60``s rock) KXTR Kansas City KS ``Classical 1660`` WGIT Canóvanas PR SS oldies ``El Gigante`` 1670 WRNC Warner Robins GA Urban Gospel ``1670 The Light`` WTDY Madison WI Sports/Talk. ``Talk Radio 1670`` KHPY Moreno Valley, CA Radio Católica SS (nites) s/off 0800 UT. EE [after??] s/off. 9 kW KNRO Redding CA ``Redding``s ESPN Radio 1670 KNRO`` 1680 WTTM Princeton NJ Ethnic – South Asian WLAA Winter Garden FL SS Regional Mexican WDSS Ada MI Disney ex WJNZ KAVT Fresno CA Disney/SS KTFH Seattle WA ``The Bridge, AM 16-80 KTFH Seattle.`` Ethnic off 0700 [sic, should now be 0800, switching between Asian & Spanish] KRJO Monroe LA Gospel. ``Rejoice 1680`` 1690 KDDZ Arvada CO Disney KFSG Roseville CA SS religion and Asian. EE ID on hr WRLL Berwyn/Chicago IL ``Real Oldies 1690`` 1 kW nites NEW *** WSKW Adel, GA Currently carries ``Wild Adventure Radio`` NEW WSWK? *** WPTX Lexington Park ``Newstalk 1690 WPTX`` CNN News 1700 WJCC Miami Springs FL SS/Religion ``Radio Luz`` WEUV Huntsville AL Black Gospel. 1 kW KTBK Sherman TX Sporting News Radio ``Sports Radio 1310 KTCK.`` KBGG Des Moines IA ``The new AM 1700 KBGG``. CNN KQXX Brownsville TX ``Oldies Radio 1700 AM`` 880 watts (via Nov NZ DX Times, as annotated by gh; not sure why he shows some powers as 10 or 1 kW, as those are the standard day/night powers with a few exceptions) ** U S A [non!!]. I know this is old news on this comment about AFN not being heard by its troops in the field on SSB shortwave but it made me think the past few days since I saw this. I have been working for the Navy for over 26 years [as a civilian] now and in that time a lot has changed to the overseas facilities. In the old days they had lots of book stores, but within the past 10 [years] those places are gone now. No place to buy anything on any shortwave type related products like Popcomm, MT and any other ham type magazines. The book stores on the bases closed down years ago due to complaints of certain pornographic magazines. If you`re really into that sort of item you can always go outside the gates to find `em, higher in price and still fill the need. The yen is now at 105 to 1 American dollar. And if you buy a CQ magazine you`re paying 6 dollars for it. If you go outside the base to the local book stores and know how to read Kanji you can pick up CQ and a Monitoring magazine on the radio subject. I was in the Persian Gulf during the Operation Iraqi Freedom war and in my time at the different ports there I tried to locate bookstore magazines on the hobby, but except for one store in Dubai (City Centre Mall), there were none. That store had about 4 or 5 copies of Popcomm and when you opened it up to the Utility sections they had torn those pages out. They did sell BBC outside but had to really look for em. In Bahrain at the only Naval Base there they had access to the internet for the troops but you had 40 computers and a waiting list of 1000 to get on line. And there was a time limit on these computers of 20 minutes. I could imagine the guys and gals were more busy reading letters from home than worried about the future conflicts. I found a few shops that carried shortwave radios and picked up the new Sony 7600 model. It`s a nice radio and enjoy it when I can get a nice place to listen to it. My fellow shipmates are more interested in the latest sports news than about Bush's future conflict on the war. And whenever I was tuned to VOA, or BBC or some other groups, I was constantly questioned about it. I was able to find other units like Sangean, Grundigs and smaller pocket size model radios. But many of the locals use these to listen to Arabic stuff especially at prayer times. There is only one place in my travels that sells a large amount of magazines or books on shortwave and its not even in the Persian Gulf. It`s in Singapore. It makes me wonder how the troops in the field know where to look for AFN news on those SSB bands, when they can hardly find a place to find the magazines or books. PS: listened to AFN 1525 kHz here in Sasebo; called em self Thunder Radio. 73's from Japan and have fun chasing DX (Larry Fields, n6hpx/du1, swl at qth.net via DXLD) I wonder why the utility pages were torn out and by whom? Censorship, book bandits or? How do the prices on general coverage radios compare to stateside prices, Larry? More, less about the same? (Duane B. Fischer, ibid.) On the new Sony 7600 model I paid 150 dollars and that was in the duty free shop. Some other models like Sangean and Grundig you can bargain to with reason, like 50 dollars in differences, but never argue. I think it was censored on the magazines but the BBCF one's weren't. They listed the usual articles and what ever frequencies might have been there. I left here for a few moments during this post and they have a mini market on base and mini amount of magazines but no shortwave stuff. Never try to look for any basic electronic stuff as they are not available either. The Japanese shortwave magazine is partially English, 6 pages and it`s just enough to list a few band scan stuff (Larry Fields, n6hpx/du1, Sasebo, Japan, ibid.) ** VENEZUELA. R. Táchira, San Cristóbal, 4830, 0250-0402* UT Sun Nov 16, non-stop LA music with few announcements. Spanish ID at 0315. Sign-off with NA followed by presumed state anthem. Strong (Brian Alexander, Mechanicsburg PA, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** VIETNAM. 5034.87, Voice of Vietnam, Hanoi, 2245-2252, Nov 11, Vietnamese folk songs with announcements in Vietnamese. Not bad but through strong static. Probably Hanoi (DBS-5 says *2330-) (Vlad Titarev, Ukraine) Their new morning schedule for the H`Mong service is *2200-2300* and *2325-2400*. I heard it myself in October, but do not understand the 25 minutes break (Anker Petersen, Denmark, DSWCI DX Window Nov 19 via DXLD) ** VIETNAM [non]. 9585, R New Horizon, via Juelich, Germany, *1330- 1429*, Nov 16, Vietnamese, 1330 and 1428 ID: ``Dai là daì phat thank Châu Tròi Mói``, Vietnamese music, news and talk about Vietnam and Hanoi, 1429 English ID. Splatter from R Denmark via Sveio 9590. 33443 (Anker Petersen, Denmark, DSWCI DX Window Nov 19 via DXLD) ** WESTERN SAHARA [non]. ALGERIA (?), 7460 kHz, Radio Nacional de la República Árabe Saharaui Democrática, 0710 to 0730 UT, in Arabic with probable news, man talking, weak music at 0720, drums, a voice over ``harangue`` speech; 0728 with African traditional Sahel string music, and female vocal, then more of a country-western style music. No intelligible ID heard, fade out just past 0730 UT, overall SINPO 23212, Nov. 20th. I am not sure what country this would be considered, but Passport says transmitter is in Algeria (Drake SW 8 with 50 foot sloper, Roger Chambers, Utica, New York, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Your logging of Western Sahara is actually in Western Sahara. Apparently, Algeria is announced so the station won't be found and bombed out by Morocco (Mark Coady, Ont., ODXA via DXLD) How do you know this? Source? I am not even certain that they ``announce`` Algeria or anywhere else as their location (gh, DXLD) ** ZIMBABWE. I note that the ZBC is now on 6045, apparently a move from 5975. Rather a weak signal, not nearly as good as nearby (geographically and frequency-wise) Zambia on 6165 (Chris Greenway, Nairobi, Kenya, Nov 19, WORLD OF RADIO 1208, DX LISTENING DIGEST) UNIDENTIFIED. 1630 kHz, Woman, I suspect African-American, preaching her heart out, definitely Christian, English-language, lots of hallelujahs. Sure ain't Augusta or Iowa. Nice signal. At 1833 [EST]. I have never seen this reported anywhere (Saul Chernos, From Burnt River ON, Nov 17, amfmtvdx at qth.net via DXLD) UNIDENTIFIED. 7220, *1400-1428*, Nov 15, carrier on 1357, into Chinese 1400 to 1428 carrier off, same speaker throughout, not one single note of music, believe I could hear occasional mention of Jesus?, seems Sat only, as I had also heard this on Nov 01 and 08, clear frequency, fairly strong, 25332 (Martien Groot, Holland, DSWCI DX Window Nov 19 via DXLD) UNIDENTIFIED. Re 9890 or 9885: - - - UNID broadcaster service. 9885, 1600-1800 MNO Test from Rampisham to NE/ME (exc Wed/Thur) Heard CRI Russian on this channel instead, when checked on Nov 13. 73 wb (Wolfgang Büschel, Germany, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ LANGUAGE LESSONS ++++++++++++++++ NON Dear Glenn, Could you put a note in your invaluable DX Digest explaining what the [non] after many Country names e.g. BIAFRA [non]. means? Many thanks. – (Alan Elsworth, Nov 19) Basically it means the item is about that country, but the transmissions do not actually radiate from that country. This has a variety of applications, including: Clandestines, generally from outside a country (with a few exceptions, such as COLOMBIA, FARC); Relay broadcasts: the originating country is shown, but the transmissions actually come from somewhere else, usually specified. I avoid the reverse, altho some other editors do not. [and non]: Items concerning more than one country: filed under the primary country but also has significant content concerning other countries. Some [non] entries are traditional, e.g. SEYCHELLES [non]: FEBA no longer transmits from here, and may not even have a studio here, but it was originally associated with this country; items about this station, now transmitted from a number of other sites (with even more studio locations), are grouped under SEYCHELLES [non] for convenience. Non may also become a bit convoluted, but why not have a little fun and keep our brains working? INTERNATIONAL VACUUM [non] would concern terrestrial communications associated with space; INTERNATIONAL WATERS [non] about shore-based operations associated with former pirates, etc. Occasionally there is a double-non, alluding to something which is no longer non, but back in the country of origin (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) LANG. ABBRS. While you have a valid point re. language abbreviations (we pilots have similar problems in NWS aero weather forecasts but orders of magnitude worse), the fact is people still use them. And if they're going to do so, they might as well use some that are somewhat descriptive and standardized. It isn't a big deal for "free text" compilations such as yours, but rather the utility of either the SIL or ISO abbreviation set is in automated applications where languages need to be specified unambiguously. This isn't a problem for "Spanish" but when you're talking about what's spoken in the bayou, as an example, if you spell it out in English it can be "Cajun French" or "Acadian French" or "Louisiana French" or maybe even mislabeled as "Louisiana Creole." "FRC" gives you a quickly-searched, nonvariant specification for a language known by several names, and you can look it up in a database without having to search for all the name variants. If you would like to change SP or SS or SPN back to "Spanish" for DXLD, that's entirely up to you as editor. Your mental jump from abbreviation use to cultural genocide is a bit of a reach and sounds more venomous than logical. By the same logic, you could argue that the ISO abbreviations are similarly tainted, since they were created by an organization whose roots reach back into European governments who were previously responsible for colonizing the third world. Therefore, to use ISO abbreviations is to promote colonialism (David E. Crawford, Titusville, Florida, DX LISTENING DIGEST) I forget who it was but a day or so ago someone mentioned using more bandwith so to speak in reporting station loggings. I totally agree and am going to continue use plain English in all of my reports. It's 2003, not 1963, so we don't need to abbreviate everything in order to squeeze it all onto a 3 page mimeographed bulletin. I'm sure some traditionalists and purists may object but those are probably the same people with no computer in the radio shack and no digital readout on their receiver. To each his own and no judgments are being made. 73, (Thomas F. Giella, KN4LF, Plant City, FL, USA, EL87WX, Nov 20, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Now let`s work on eliminating UTC after every time and kHz after every frequency (gh) PUBLICATIONS ++++++++++++ PWBR ACCURACY With negative comments on the new Passport, they have been remarkably accurate with listed frequencies of jammers of RFA and VOA, usually Chinese services. Many, many of these channels in 31, 25, and 19 meters are jammed as listed in Blue Pages (Roger Chambers, Utica, NY, Nov 19, DX LISTENING DIGEST) MUSEA +++++ RADIO GIANTS HEADED TO CHICAGO FOR HALL OF FAME CHICAGO, Nov. 5 /PRNewswire/ -- Paul Harvey, Don Imus, Mancow and country music legend Charley Pride will headline the 2003 Radio Hall of Fame induction broadcast live from Chicago on radio stations around the country and streamed live on the Radio Hall of Fame website, http://www.radiohof.org on Saturday, November 8 at 9 PM (CT). Larry King of CNN and Westwood One will emcee the one-hour national radio broadcast from the Chicago Cultural Center, 78 E. Washington, home to the Radio Hall of Fame. The sold-out benefit gala will include the induction of the late Gene Autry, Westwood Radio network talk show host Jim Bohannon, Los Angeles talk radio icon Michael Jackson, legendary Viacom CEO Mel Karmazin and veteran farm broadcaster Orion Samuelson of WGN/Chicago. The evening begins at 6 p.m. with a reception, followed by dinner and the live broadcast. "This is radio's biggest night of the year and we are pleased to welcome the Radio Hall of Fame class of 2003," said Bruce DuMont, President of America's only Radio Hall of Fame. "It's great to have past RHOF inductees Paul Harvey, Don Imus and Larry King taking part in this year's show and we're very happy to welcome Country Music Hall of Famer Charlie Pride to our all- star cast," DuMont added. Charlie Cook of Westwood One will produce the broadcast. Chicago radio veteran Fred Winston of Oldies 104.3 (Chicago) will be the announcer. Here is additional information on the Radio Hall of Fame Class of 2003: Gene Autry (deceased). Originally a yodeling cowboy on KVOO/Tulsa in 1930, Autry moved to the WLS National Barn Dance in the early '30s and reached radio stardom in 1940 as the host of Melody Ranch on CBS Radio and eventually show biz icon status. Jim Bohannon, veteran Westwood One talk show host, whose strong interviewing skills have made him a favorite of radio listeners for more than 20 years. He also hosts America in the Morning. Michael Jackson, the highly respected Los Angeles talk show host for more than 30 years, formerly heard on KABC and KRLA, is known for his articulate and incisive commentary and strong interviewing skills. Mel Karmazin, the President and Chief Operating Officer of Viacom, Inc. Karmazin built his reputation as the dynamic leader of Infinity Broadcasting and has demonstrated a boundless belief in the future of the medium. Orion Samuelson, WGN/Chicago's "voice of agriculture" since 1960. Samuelson is one of the country's most prolific broadcasters, whose coverage and concern for the American farm community is unparalleled. Radio executives, broadcast historians and members of The Radio Hall of Fame from coast to coast selected the inductees through a national balloting process. Ballots were tabulated and certified by the firm of Altschuler, Melvoin and Glasser LLP/American Express Tax and Business Services. Travel and promotional considerations are being provided by American Airlines, the official airline of The Radio Hall of Fame. The Radio Hall of Fame was acquired in 1991 and became part of the Museum of Broadcast Communications, one of only three broadcast museums in America. The MBC opened to the public on June 13, 1987. Chicago broadcaster Bruce DuMont is President of each institution. Hailed by Leonard Maltin of "Entertainment Tonight" as "truly a world- class institution," the MBC will move from its current home in the Chicago Cultural Center into its new home at State & Kinzie in downtown Chicago in 2005. The new 50,000 square foot home will include expanded archives and exhibit galleries, increased seminars and public events, a radio and television studio, a gift shop, a cafe and indoor parking. America's only Radio Hall of Fame and the Museum of Broadcast Communications currently are located in the Chicago Cultural Center, 78 E. Washington. The phone number is 312/629-6000. The web site for the Radio Hall of Fame is http://radiohof.org The following radio stations are carrying the induction broadcast live: CHICAGO - WGN AM and WLS AM; NEW YORK - WOR AM; BOSTON - WTKK FM; DALLAS - WBAP AM; HOUSTON - KTRH AM; ORLANDO - WDBO AM; ST.LOUIS - KMOX AM; MILWAUKEE/RACINE - WRJN AM; WICHITA, KS - KNSS AM; LEBANON, MO - KCLQ AM; SAGINAW, MI - WSGW AM; YOUNGSTOWN, OH - WKBN AM; HUNTSVILLE, AL - WBCF AM; PAINTSVILLE, KY - WKYH AM. The following radio stations are broadcasting the induction on delay: LOS ANGELES - KNX AM (11/8 @@ midnight PT); WASHINGTON, D.C. - WJFK FM (11/9 @@ 7 pm); MINNEAPOLIS - WCCO AM (11/8 @@10 pm CT); PHOENIX - KTAR AM (11/9 @@ 7 pm); PORTLAND, OR - KXL AM (11/8 @@ 11 pm PT) The induction ceremony also will be streamed live on the Radio Hall of Fame website – http://www.radiohof.org [oops, missed it --- but there is also a video! stream of the event available on demand, embedded player, small and jerky – is it one, or two hours long?] SOURCE Museum of Broadcast Communications -0- 11/05/2003 (via Mike Cooper, Nov 17, DXLD) RADIO EQUIPMENT FORUM +++++++++++++++++++++ TUNING BY EAR Re the recent comments about measuring carrier frequencies: today's high-end digital display receivers are certainly capable of resolving frequencies to one and perhaps two decimal places (10 Hz). The problem in zero-beating a carrier lies in the fact that when you tune to within 20 Hz or so, the roll-off of the receiver audio and your own hearing makes it impossible to find the true zero beat. You are left to listen for the natural timbre of voice and music content, which is difficult and imprecise. I use a simple, indirect method. The receiver must have an adjustable CW pitch offset. My R75 is set to produce a 440 Hz tone in CW mode. I use a musical tuning fork of 440 Hz. These can be had for a few bucks at a music store. The fork is struck to make a tone and the receiver tuning control is adjusted until the CW note beats with the tuning fork. You don't need to have been born with perfect pitch to sense when the tones are off by more than a few Hertz. The display now indicates the carrier frequency. However, you must remember that the readout is only as accurate as the receiver's master oscillator. My R75 has an error which is multiplied with increasing frequency, and is off by about 30 Hz at 10 MHz. This error can be determined by comparing the beat note of the standard carrier frequencies transmitted by WWV. * * * 73 de (John Cobb, Roswell, GA, Nov 18, DX LISTENING DIGEST) IBOC IBOC limits audio band width to 5 kHz, actually 6.5 on WSAI [1530] as we are pushing it a little. and the system is working just fine. And there is really nothing gained by going to a wider band operation at night, especially at night. If Iboc were to operate day mode only and was adopted by a large number of stations it might actually clean up a lot of splatter on the AM band at night from adjacent channel stations if they kept the band width settings narrow. I can tell no difference on my 2003 Durango, 99 jeep, 1995 neon or 1988 Chevy van if the carriers are off or on. Most radios are so band limited anything beyond 5 or 6 kHz is wasted power for 99% of the public. Also the new IBOC codec software is very impressive. It is a major improvement over the older one. It sounds better and also operates to a much lower RF level before losing digital sync (Paul Jellison, Clear Channel, Cincinnati, NRC-AM via DXLD) DRM +++ WHAT DOES DRM COST? Glenn: Re some recent discussions, I believe the fee for full DRM membership is or was $10,000 per year. Associate membership is free, if you qualify. The NASB has been an associate member for years, and we pay nothing. Furthermore, DRM is non-proprietary and there are no license fees as far as I am aware (Jeff White, WRMI, Nov 19, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Since you are promoting DRM so much, how much longer before we can expect to hear it actually transmitted from WRMI or some other NASB member? (Glenn to Jeff) Glenn: There are three or four NASB members (including WRMI) that are actually interested in the possibility of transmitting in DRM from their own facilities, and we are working with the International Bureau of the FCC to establish some technical standards and administrative procedures. I think one of the big drawbacks at this point is the cost of the few DRM exciters that are available at the moment commercially to convert analog transmitters. But there could be more competition in the near future and perhaps lower costs, and some stations might even be able to build their own. The next couple of years could be very interesting in this regard (Jeff White, WRMI/NASB, DX LISTENING DIGEST) PROPAGATION +++++++++++ GEOMAGNETIC INDICES Phil Bytheway - Seattle WA - phil_tekno@yahoo.com Geomagnetic Summary October 1 2003 through October 28 2003 Tabulated from daily email status Date Flux A K SA Forecast GM Forecast Aurora Index 10/ 1 133 4 1 no storms no storms 7 2 137 11 4 minor no storms 10 3 125 8 3 no storms no storms 6 4 120 16 2 minor no storms 6 5 119 8 1 minor no storms 4 6 110 7 4 no storms no storms 9 7 112 11 5 no storms no storms 9 8 112 17 2 no storms no storms 8 9 113 8 2 no storms no storms 7 10 111 10 3 no storms no storms 5 11 112 4 1 no storms no storms 4 12 106 4 2 no storms no storms 3 13 98 5 1 no storms no storms 5 14 94 17 4 no storms no storms 8 15 92 40 6 moderate moderate 8 16 96 33 5 strong minor 7 17 95 26 4 minor no storms 6 18 99 29 5 minor no storms 8 19 109 24 3 minor no storms 7 20 120 30 4 strong minor 9 21 135 26 5 minor moderate 10 22 152 36 3 minor moderate 9 23 154 28 2 moderate minor 6 24 183 10 2 strong strong 3 25 191 36 5 strong moderate 7 26 222 14 2 minor minor 8 27 x x x x x x 10/28 257 18 1 moderate moderate 4 (IRCA Soft DX Monitor Nov 22 via DXLD) SOLAR FLARES Right now the reception conditions are good and quiet (One day Solar flux was 98 and A-index 14), because the enormous sunspots have rotated to the back side of the sun. They began to reappear again yesterday, but hopefully not with the same force. In DX-Window no. 232 was mentioned an extraordinary solar flare on Oct 28-29 classified as X17+. Our member Erik Køie explains the three categories of solar flares: Category C is causing only few disturbances here on the Earth whereas Category M may cause short interruptions of shortwave transmissions. Category X is causing severe interruptions of longer duration. Each category is divided into nine groups, i.e. C1 to C9, M1 to M9 and in principle X1 to X9. But when the extraordinary eruptions occur, the value even exceeds X9. On Nov 04 the biggest solar flare ever recorded was noted at the eastern limb of the Sun. It was classified X28, but because of its position on the Sun, radiocommunications on Earth were only slightly disturbed (Anker Petersen, DSWCI DX Window Nov 19 via DXLD) SOLAR REGION 486 COMING YOUR WAY Check this out gang: Solar Region 486 is now sitting right on the limb of our tantrum throwing sun. This is a great time to see what's causing all the havoc. This view at the address below is quite breath taking! http://umbra.nascom.nasa.gov/images/latest.html The dxer can only log what the seat can endure 73s (Pioneer 10, Nov 18, hard-core-dx via DXLD) RENEWED SEVERE GEOMAGNETIC STORMING Will it ever end? Yes, in another year or so. As all radio enthusiasts know band conditions from LF, MF to HF have been fair at best and very poor at worst for many days, thanks to recurrent Coronal Hole #066. #066 has been a prolific pain in the ionosphere between 11/08/03 and 11/19/03, that's 12 miserable days of geomagnetic storming with a peak in the Kp of 6 and an Ap of 095. Actually this is the third pass around the Sun that this particular Coronal Hole has wreaked havoc. As #063 in October 2003 it produced a Kp of 6 and Ap of 106, as #059 in September 2003 it produced a Kp of 5 and Ap of 54. Now that #066 has lost its grip on Earth's magnetic field all should be quiet, WRONG. The monster record breaking sunspot group regions # 10484, 10486 and 10488 are back in view again, this time as #'s 10501, 10507 and 10508. As follows are their current location and magnetic complexity. 10501 2003.11.13 22 20 N03W05 0380 DKO beta-gamma-delta 10507 2003.11.18 11 22 N10E62 0890 EKI beta-gamma-delta 10508 2003.11.19 5 19 S17E75 0700 EKO beta-gamma Last month I said that I had a real bad feeling (unscientific) about #'s 10484, 10486 and 10488 before all heck broke loose. I don't think we will see identical solar space and geomagnetic weather as last time around; it could still be very bad again. All three sunspot groups are capable of very large M class solar flares, with #'s 10507 and 10508 capable of huge X class flares and associated Coronal Mass Ejections, day side radio blackouts, severe geomagnetic storming, visible mid latitude Aurora and polar cap and mid latitude absorption due to elevated energetic protons storms greater than 10 MeV (10+o). Oh yeah, and if you have a lot of fillings in your mouth they may heat up due to induced currents. Actually the sunspot groups are already wreaking havoc having produced seven very large M class solar flares in the past three days, one of which was just short of X class size at M9.6 beginning at 0747 UT today. One associated Coronal Mass Ejection has already begun impacting Earth's magnetic field this morning with a Kp-6-7 (strong to major geomagnetic storming) and an elevated energetic proton event. Also there are three or four more Coronal mass Ejections headed for Earth as I write. As the horizontal (Bz) part of our magnetic field is very negative at approximately -50, our current geomagnetic storm may peak at a Kp of 9 which is a G5 extreme level storm. For those disinterested in all the physics discussed above, in simple layman terms, expect long periods of poor to very poor propagation conditions on high and mid latitude paths, on night time LF and MF bands and day and night time on the HF band. Even low latitude paths will be impacted in a negative manner at times. Due to the current geomagnetic storming, I was not able to make scheduled BPSK31 contacts on 80 and 160 meters in the past 12 hours with large antennas and 100 watts. A sign of things to come. Daily Solar Space Weather & Geomagnetic Data Archive: http://www.kn4lf.com/kn4lf5.htm HF/MF Radio Propagation Theory Notes: http://www.kn4lf.com/kn4lf8.htm Florida Space & Atmospheric Weather Institute: http://www.kn4lf.com/fsawi.htm Yaesu FT-840 & PSK31 Digital Mode E Group: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/yaesu_ft840 160 Meter Amateur Radio Resources & More: http://www.kn4lf.com/kn4lf.htm Friend Website Design: http://www.kn4lf.com 73, (Thomas F. Giella, KN4LF, Plant City, FL, USA, EL87WX, 1646 UT Nov 20, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Later: I saw visible Aurora to my NNW between 2325 11/20/03 and 0040 UT 11/21/03. I'm located in west central Florida in Plant City, latitude 27 58 31.44N, 82 09 51.98 W. The visible Aurora had a pinkish red color and was best visible to my NNW. Earlier the Kp index had reached a 9 which is a severe geomagnetic storm. Tuning around the MF AM broadcast band this evening it's very auroral with few signals coming into the north and big signals from Central and South America as well as from the Caribbean. 73, (Thomas F. Giella, KN4LF, Plant City, FL, USA, shortwaves yahoogroup via DXLD) NW7US AURORA ALERT AND GEOMAGNETIC STORM ALERT - 20-XI-2003 A severe geomagnetic storm (G4) is in progress due to the arrival of coronal hole mass ejections related to the returning sunspot group 484, now numbered 501. Some reporting stations show a K index of 9. The current planetary K index (Kp) is 8 and the Aurora index is 10. This is expected to possibly increase to a Kp of 9, a geomagnetic storm level G5, through the day. HF conditions are poor. MW conditions are poor. Visual Aurora is possible today at low-latitudes. Aurora-mode propagation (Au and Au-Es) is possible and is already reported. Visual Aurora is occurring now in night regions, and is possible to occur tonight during darkness in the Western Hemisphere (e.g., North America). More information as events warrent will be posted in follow-up bulletins. Live information is on-going at http://prop.hfradio.org/ and a discussion is at http://hfradio.org/forums/ (Tomas, NW7US (AAR0JA/AAM0EWA), 1901 UT Nov 20, hard-core-dx via DXLD) Lots more up-to-date propagation info here: SOLAR TERRESTRIAL ACTIVITY REPORT http://www.dxlc.com/solar/ (DX Listeners Club Norway via DXLD) ###