DX LISTENING DIGEST 3-210, November 22, 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: Sun 0730 3210, Wed 1030 9475 WBCQ: Mon 0515 7415 [should be fixed up from the Wednesday version] WRN: North America Sun 1500 WRN ONDEMAND: http://new.wrn.org/listeners/stations/station.php?StationID=24 OUR ONDEMAND AUDIO [also for CONTINENT OF MEDIA, MUNDO RADIAL]: Check http://www.worldofradio.com/audiomid.html WORLD OF RADIO 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 ** ALASKA. KNLS November 30, 2003 to December 28, 2003 0800 9795 English 0900 7365 Russian 1000 7365 Mandarin 1100 7365 Russian 1200 7365 Mandarin 1300 9780 English 1400 7355 Mandarin 1500 7355 Mandarin 1600 7355 Mandarin 1700 7355 Russian (http://www.knls.org/English/ksched.htm, via Dan Sampson, Prime Time Shortwave, 11/22, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Believe both the English frequencies are new, not used before, or at least not lately. Surprised they are not going down to 7 MHz for English like for all other languages in mid-winter. What`s the rationale for that? Supposedly same target area in East Asia (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ARGENTINA. 6215, presumed, R. Baluarte, 0040-0051, Nov. 19, Spanish?/Portuguese? Very presumed logging as I seem to recall reading a while back of this being off the air. Just audible music at tune-in followed by talks. Ballad followed by more talk at 0048 when [non] "ham" QRM joins in. I gave up at 0051. Weak, poor under QRM (Scott R. Barbour, Jr., Intervale, NH, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ARGENTINA [and non]. Band Scan MW Nov 15 - 19, 2003 Latest Report Dear Friends: Here is the latest bandscan of MW stations heard at Villa Lynch; all these IDs (Argentine radios) will be posted at http://www.dxing.info/audio/index_argentina.dx [I defer to the link below because the original is full of tabs I would have to spend a lot of time removing --- gh] (Nicolás Eramo, Argentina, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Evidently the first bandscan and the second one referred to above are combined in this post: http://www.dxing.info/community/viewtopic.php?t=1253 (via gh, DXLD) ** AUSTRALIA. FINAL EDITION OF "RADIO AUSTRALIA'S MEDIA AND LISTENER CONTACT PROGRAMME" The following was copied from the Radio Australia website. Thought it might be of interest here. It will be aired Saturday, the 22 Nov 2003 (Australia time). IF I figured out the time schedule at the bottom it appears that it will be on 2105 UT Friday, 0605 UT Saturday and 0305 UT Sunday. 73 from the "Beaconeers Lair". (Phil, KO6BB, swl at qth.net via DXLD) Yes, times are correct, as long listed in our DX Programs schedule; however, you might not hear it on the same frequencies as in previous weeks. Viz.: ********************************************************** If you feel like a trip down memory lane then join Roger Broadbent for the final edition of Radio Australia's media and listener contact programme. There's a look back at some of the events which, in recent years, have dramatically changed both the domestic and international broadcasting environments. Since last century, when Roger first began presenting the programme (yes he's that old!), Feedback has reported on digital radio, digital TV, the role of international broadcasting, the myriad uses for the Internet, satellite radio, community radio and followed closely developments here at the ABC and of course Radio Australia. Then there`ve been your all important comments, questions and criticisms which used to be the raison d`être for the programme. In fact there'll be more of those this week as you react to the end of one of RA's longest running programmes. What can you expect to hear in its place? Will there still be a Feedback style programme? Roger Broadbent invites you to find out on Feedback this weekend. 0805 1705 AEDT; 0905 1805 Fiji; 0505 1405 Hong Kong; 2105(FRI) 0605 UT. Repeated Sunday 1405 AEST; 1505 Fiji; 1105 Hong Kong; 0305 UT (via Phil Atchley, swl at qth.net via DXLD) I caught the final airing at 0305 UT Nov 23 via webcast, as 15515 was not making it, and we can`t depend on their audio-archiving it. Besides reminiscing about previous topics, Roger Broadbent remarked that the problem was not so much that too much response was coming from off-target listeners, as Richard Cuff lamented, but that too little was coming from on-target. In the last five minutes, John Westland, executive director appeared. Said FB had developed into two programs in one, not just a mailbag as its name originally implied, so now the split is being formalized. Some kind of replacement program will appear early in the new year, with a different format and timeslot. It won`t sound like Feedback, but will still maintain links with the audience. Roger Broadbent is on hiatus from air work as he is working on a project to vastly increase RA`s audience in China through partner radio stations, but he will be back to do the new show. Nothing was said about what would replace the `other` Feedback, i.e. dealing with media developments! (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** AUSTRALIA. 15390, HCJB Kunnunura, 1250-1302, Nov. 19, English, Contemporary religious pop ballads with YL announcer. "HCJB, Voice of the Great Southland" ID at 1300 followed by a program sounding very much like TWR`s "Rendezvous". Poor, splatter from 15385 AWR, Abu Dhabi, big drop in audio level at 1300 (Scott R. Barbour, Jr., Intervale, NH, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** BANGLADESH. Bangladesh Betar sked as available from them. Bangladesh Betar External Service winter schedule 1230 - 1300 7185 9550 English 1315 - 1345 7185 9550 Nepali 1400 - 1430 7185 9550 Urdu 1515 - 1545 7185 9550 Hindi 1600 - 1630 7185 9550 Arabic 1630 - 1730 7185 9550 Bangla 1745 - 1815 7185 15520 Voice of Islam (English) 1815 - 1900 7185 9550 15520 GOS (English) 1915 - 2000 7185 9550 15520 Bangla (Swopan Chakroborty, Kolkata, INDIA, Nov 22, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Thinking back, I suppose the previous report of 9660 was likely just a typo for 9550, tho the reporter never corrected it even tho I questioned it. Altho this one was not submitted directly to me, we all need to be reminded always to proofread our reports, especially the numbers! (gh, DXLD) ** BOLIVIA. 4716.7, Radio Yura, Yura, returned frequency noted 21 November at 2310 - 0000, fair signal, have not heard this emisora is several weeks (Bob Wilkner, Icom R-75 ~ NRD 535D ~ Drake R 7, Pompano Beach, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** BRAZIL. Re: Pres. Lula`s new radio addresses: Times in DXLD 3-207 and on WOR 1208 were mis-converted! UT should be 0800, 0900, 1030, 1300 (World of Radio 1208 summary via DXLD) Fortnightly on Mondays; next one, Dec 1 (gh) ** BURKINA FASO. 5030, R. Burkina plays anthem at sign-off 0000-0002* Oct 13. The style of anthem is of a more classical nature now rather than the high tech electronic version they used to play when this frequency was first used a couple of years ago (Mark Coady, ON, Nov ODXA Listening In via DXLD) ** CANADA. I was rather disappointed with RCI. Once a bigger player in the world of international broadcasting, I wondered, on the rare occasions that the transmission was convenient to my schedule, what they were trying to do. If they were trying to reflect Canada to the world, they failed. The news and commentary were taken up with discussions of what was going on in Washington and the rest of the world, in fact anywhere but Canada. Clearly they are not servicing Canadians abroad, but then they didn`t seem to be doing much justice to the rest of their audience, either. In fairness, I only caught two broadcasts so this may very well be a non-representative sample. Still, compared to what I heard during a European trip in 1984 and even a previous trip to England in 1991, the programming was quite disappointing. Ian, where`s that station you helped make great?! (Ori Siegel, Ont., from What I Did On My Summer Vacation [visiting England], Nov ODXA Listening In via DXLD) Some newscasts are from CBC and others from RCI, presumably with different priorities? (gh) ** CANADA. CBC`s ``Vinyl Café`` has become a must-hear on Saturday mornings here following ``Cubanola`` on R. Martí [see below]. This week`s show is capped by a side-splitting story about corn on the cob, false teeth, and a wine press, told as always (and written?) by host Stuart McLean, 1505-1600 UT on RCI 17820, 13655, 9515 from CBC Radio Two ET zone feed which is also webcast; it`s also on CBC Radio One, Sunday mornings. The middle frequency is generally best here, but I was horrified to discover that the CODAR surface-wave radar sweeper, which normally bothers only WJCR on 13595, had shifted upward to range between roughly 13605 and 13655. Hope this isn`t permanent; why can`t it stay below 13595, anyway? (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CANADA [and non]. CANADIAN PUBLIC BROADCASTER PLANS TO CLOSE ITS MEXICAN BUREAU MEXICO CITY (AP) -- The Canadian Broadcasting Corp. plans to close its television news bureau in Mexico City after more than nine years in operation, officials at the public broadcaster said Monday. The Mexico City office is the hub for French-language television coverage of Latin America, with occasional news in English, by the Canadian Broadcasting Corp., or CBC, according to Jean-Michel Leprince, a CBC television magazine reporter who helped open the bureau in 1994. Leprince said closing the office, which opened shortly after the North American Free Trade Agreement went into effect, would leave the CBC with no permanent television facilities in Latin America. The CBC still has a radio broadcast operation in Brazil, he said. Plans to close the Mexico City bureau were confirmed by Andre Coupal, a manager of resources management for the CBC. Reached by phone in Mexico City late Monday, Coupal referred further questions to a CBC official in Montreal who did not return messages. The CBC bureau in Mexico's capital employed four people, including a producer and a correspondent, at full staff, although only three people work there currently. The move by the CBC comes at a time when Canadian news outlets with full-time correspondents in Latin America already have dwindled, Leprince said. "It's very sad," he said. "We've been underestimating the interest, from Canada and among (French speakers) in Canada, in Latin American news." Former CBC Mexico City correspondents Paule Robitaille and Bernard Drainville joined Leprince in signing a letter protesting the closing of the Mexico City office. The closure "means the (Canadian) public will be deprived of its principal source of information about the rest of the American continent, our continent," the letter stated (APws 11/17 2308 via Mike Cooper, DXLD) ** CHINA. CNR-2 on 11855, 13615, 13765 with commercials and English ID before sign-off at 1100. All frequencies where VOA's Chinese is scheduled (Silvain Domen, Belgium, Nov 22, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** COLOMBIA. Quito 22/Nov/2003 10:12 hora local, Amigos DXistas! 4799.72 kHz Radio Super, Cali(Colombia) 22/Nov/2003 - 1045 UT The station was on 4 frequencies at the same time with Mexican music: 1199.93 mediumwave 2399.86 harmonic x 2 3599.79 harmonic x 3 4799.72 harmonic x 4 I could not trace the 5th harmonic. NRD 535 – HF 150. MFJ 616 – MFJ 1025. Ant. 1: "Horizontal Sloped Inverted L" 18 meters Ant. 2: "Horizontal Sloped Inverted L" 36 meters + Magnetic Longwire Balun (Björn Malm, Quito, Ecuador, SWB América Latina, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** COLOMBIA. (Presumed) 2200.08 (2 x 1100), HJMK Emisora Ideal, Planeta Rica, Nov 19, 1040, Spanish talk, UT -5 time check, weak signal (Mark Mohrmann, VT, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** COSTA RICA. Open Letter to the University for Peace Governing Council from James Latham: RADIO FOR PEACE INTERNATIONAL Global Community Radio 20 November 2003 University for Peace Council Dear Council Members, On several occasions, we have appealed to your good judgment and conscience regarding the aggressive actions of the current management of the University for Peace against Radio for Peace International. Hostile actions taken by the University for Peace's management, such as cutting off water, electricity, telephone lines and limiting access to our facilities have forced us to relocate under extreme duress from our buildings that have been paid for by our listeners. We have not received any remuneration for our losses, which amount to hundreds of thousands of dollars. The Board of Directors of Radio for Peace International in no way agrees with this aggression and views it as a violation of our human rights and in particular, our right to freedom of speech, guaranteed under article 19 of the UN Universal Declaration of Human Rights. In accordance with the philosophy of both organizations, RFPI has tried to reach a peaceful resolution, including contacting the Costa Rican Government who agreed to provide mediation. However, the University for Peace management refused this generous offer. Once again, we appeal to you to intercede on our behalf to appoint an official mediator who can determine fair compensation for our organization's losses, which include building, infrastructure and income earned by our programs. We wish you success in your peaceful endeavors. Sincerely, James Latham, Cofounder and CEO, Radio for Peace International (Nov 21, saverfpi.org via DXLD) ** CUBA [non]. This Saturday I finally got in on R. Martí`s nostalgic music show ``Cubanola`` near the start, 1407-1500 UT, with the best s/n ratio against commie jamming on 15330, also on 13820, 11930, 7405. Featured this week was Belisario López, playing 78s from 1937 to 1948. He formed his own danzón orchestra at the age of 15 in 1928, and was soon heard on CMQ and RHC. Held for another program is the latter part of his career, in New York from 1960. Really enjoyable music. Then tune over to RCI [see above] (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CUBA. There's a bubble jammer on 18090 near the bottom end of the 17 meter amateur band. Can't hear any modulation underneath it. Can be heard most evenings till at least 0500. Pretty strong here in SE USA. Doesn't appear to be a second harmonic. Most likely Cuba. Problem is I can't figure out who they're trying to jam. Cuba continues to jam 7385 WRMI at night even though it`s religious programming (Christian Media Network) in English. Do you think they know what they're doing down there? (LOU KF4EON Johnson, Nov 20, DX LISTENING DIGEST) No, of course not, but better safe than sorry, they no doubt feel about potential threats. I do know why it`s on 18090, as mentioned a few times in DXLD: 3 x 6030 against R. Martí. I hadn`t noticed jamming on 7385: WRMI makes some effort to keep the exile programming off 7385, 15725, and only on 9955, jammed into oblivion (Glenn, DXLD) ** CUBA. Sometimes the squealing transmitter is on 9790 with CRI relay in Chinese, during the 0400 hour, instead of on RHC 9820. This was the case UT Nov 22, and 9820 was much weaker than usual. Seems they swap the transmitters around at whim, or is there some method? (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CUBA. Glenn, Tonight was the first time I've been able to hear Cuba at 2300 in almost two weeks. At least for tonight, Sat Nov 22, they were on 9550 and ran from 2300 to 0000. Arnie Coro's DXers Unlimited started at 2332 today. I have noticed over the last week or so that the release to Europe at 2030 has been on either 11760 or 9505. Sometimes it'll start out on 11760, disappear and pop up on 9505, sometimes in the middle of a sentence. A few days it's been 11760 only and other days 9505. Guess you just toss the dice to see what frequency. I've tried to copy Cuba at 2300 ever since you asked for confirmation of the schedule and tonight was the first time I could hear them at all at that time. Thanks so much for confirming the jammer on 9560 at 0200. At least I know I'm not crazy (John H. Carver Jr., Mid-North Indiana, Nov 22, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CUBA. A Rádio Havana é legal, mesmo. Não esquecem de seus ouvintes. Pequenos gestos de amabilidade sempre merecem destaque. Hoje minha colheita dxista no correio foi abundante. Colhi também um simpático cartão de 'Feliz Natal' e 'Feliz Ano Novo' da Rádio Havana. Com simplicidade e carinho, alguém da redação em português se lembrou de mim, e mandou um cartão-postal de 'boas festas' personalizado. Datilografado e assinado por LOURDES LÓPEZ. Imagino o trabalhão que eles devem ter datilografando 'um a um' cartões de boas festas aos ouvintes... Como não se deixar impressionar e comover com os cubanos, hein? Gente boa. 73s (Ricardo ---, Atibaia, SP, Nov 21, radioescutas via DXLD) ** DENMARK. On Nov 09, the DSWCI sent another letter of protest to the Minister of Culture, and argued that the alternatives proposed by Danmarks Radio (telephone calls to a news service in Denmark, real audio of the domestic news broadcasts on the internet, TV and Radio broadcasts via satellite, CD recordings sent out to seamen) are not usable in our cases, unless you want to spend a fortune on the telephone bill from abroad. We know that several other Danish listeners have sent similar protests. Stig Hartvig Nielsen is updating this situation on a daily basis in Danish on his website http://www.radionyt.com The reaction by the Minister of Culture was not known at the deadline for this Short Wave News, but if he supports the recommendation by Danmarks Radio, Denmark will be amongst those few developed countries in the world which no longer serve even its own paying listeners abroad via shortwave (Anker Petersen, Denmark, Nov/Dec DSWCI SW News 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, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ECUADOR. 3279.54, La Voz del Napo, Nov 21, 0947, with a usually elusive Spanish ID and some nice Argentinian folk music; canned Spanish announcement over Andean instrumental, into live announcer with ID in passing "...La Voz del Napo...", then played a live version of León Gieco's "Solo le Pido a Dios", very good signal (Mark Mohrmann, VT, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** EGYPT. RÁDIO CAIRO - FINALMENTE ENCONTREI A 'HOME PAGE' DA RÁDIO CAIRO !!!!!!!!! Quando eu digo que a Rádio Cairo é o maior enigma DXista, não estou brincando, não... ;-) Depois de ficar tentando pegar a RC por mais de vinte anos (três vezes no período...), em maio deste ano consegui fazer um IR e recebi um adorável e valioso QSL da bendita emissora. Além do QSL em questão (sintomáticamente com uma foto da Esfinge...); depois deste meu primeiro IR venho recebendo e-mails regulares da rádio, só que do 'serviço espanhol'... Mas não é só... O 'serviço português' da RC é extremamente gentil e pessoal comigo. Já recebi cartas manuscritas pessoais em papel de carta decorado. Já ganhei um caderninho de anotações com motivos 'faraônicos' (muito bonito), cartões-postais, etc. Pois bem, muito para minha surpresa (agradável), hoje ao abrir minha caixa postal encontrei um outro envelope da Rádio Cairo ('serviço português'). Dentro havia um outro QSL (?) referente àquela minha primeira escuta ocorrida em maio passado. Ou seja, eles confirmaram a mesma escuta duas vezes (com uma distância de meses entre um QSL e outro)! Legal. Gostei... ;-) Mandaram um cartão-postal com um mapa do Rio Nilo (bárbaro!) e no verso do cartão, um longo e amável texto manuscrito em português assinado por "Amál El-Disuki". Agora, a GRANDE NOVIDADE: no novo 'schedule' do 'serviço português' constava que o endereço do portal da Rádio Cairo seria http://www.egyptradio.tv !!!!!!! Este URL era completamente desconhecido para mim... Experimentei entrar nele. O 'site' é muito bonito. Destaco a introdução, muito movimentada, variada, colorida e de bom gosto. Deixe o som ligado por causa da música de fundo. Quando vi o logotipo da Rádio Cairo na tela do computador, logo percebi que - FINALMENTE ! - estava no caminho certo... Bom... Quase... Para começar, o 'site' é bilíngüe: ÁRABE e INGLÊS. E não é só da Rádio Cairo, mas também da TV egípcia (muito bom o 'site' em termos de informação, por sinal). Só que botão exclusivo para a Rádio Cairo que é bom, nada... Dá a entender que o 'site' ainda não está plenamente funcional. Alguns botões não estão operacionais. Seja como for, não custa nada visitar o http://www.egyptradio.tv regularmente (de tempos em tempos). Minha intuição diz que logo veremos (FINALMENTE!...) a Rádio Cairo na internet. A esfinge continua a mesma... ;-))))))) 73s (Ricardo ---, Atibaia, SP, Nov 21, radioescutas via DXLD) ** ETHIOPIA [non]. Re: The TDP entry "Radio Vilce of Oromo Liberation" Well, seemingly this is a typo which TDP received from the programme producer and didn't correct. Looking at the positioning of "i,o,l" on a keyboard, mistyping of "Vilce" for "Voice" can happen rather easily. 73s, (Bernd Trutenau, Lithuania, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Not so easily, I thought, as it involved both transposition and hitting the wrong row, but no doubt it is a typo. The remarkable thing is that it was not caught, twice, or actually believed by someone. Minutiae! (gh, DXLD) ** FINLAND. Thanks to John Carson for sending along YLE`s nicely printed 16-page program booklet for B-03, ``Missä Liikutkin``. Unfortunately it`s mostly in Finnish, but that befits the station which is also mostly in Finnish. There`s a bit of Russian and Swedish, and some portions presented in English, notably the YLE Capital FM schedule, which doesn`t do us a lot of good overseas on SW. SPECIAL FINNISH is described in English: ``broadcasts in simplified Finnish delivered at a slower speed than standard broadcast Finnish``. Wow, that will increase my comprehension 0%. . . 1655 UT on 13665, 1845 on 7135, 1955 on 11755, 6120, 963; 2045 on 558; 0345 on 558, 0945 on 17660, 558. 7 days a week? NUNTII LATINI, strangely enough, is also explained in English, not Latin, Finnish, Swedish or Russian: ``Bulletins in classical Latin air domestically on YLE Radio`` and worldwide on YLE Radio Finland. Nuntii Latini is also available on the internet at http://www.yle.fi Sun 1655 NAm on 13665; 1845 EEu 7135; 1955 Eu 11755, 6120, 963; 2045 NEu 558; Mon 0345 NEu 558; 0945 As/Au 17660, NEu 558. Inquiries should be sent to Nuntii Latini, YLE Radio 1, Box 60, 00024 Yleisradio, Finland; or nuntii.latini@yle.fi On the same page as Latin, MAAKUNNAT, a schedule of relays of various regional domestic radio services, on YLE SW and MW. The station relayed depends not the day of the week, mostly M-F only, u.o.s. Altho this section doesn`t specify times, I assume they are local UT+2 and here subtract two hours: 0530-0550 Eu 6120 963, ME/EAf 11865 9745; 0800-0900 M-Sa Eu 11755, 6120 963; 0900-1000 Eu 11755, 6120, 963; 1100-1200 Eu 11755, 6120, 963; 1415-1500 Eu 11755, 6120, 963 and from or to 1630, on 9600; 1415-1500 Swedish language stations, Eu 9630. You`ll need to see the booklet (or probably on the website) for details of which station on which day at which time. I`ve omitted satellite scheduling info here, which is also given (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** GERMANY. 6015 via DTK Wertachtal, 125 kW, non-dir, Sat/Sun only 1130-1159 UT. We kindly would like to ask your special attention to the new program of EMG, Evangelische Missionsgemeinden. Target: W Europe. Any reception report is highly appreciated!!! (DTK Juelich, via Rudolf Krumm, Nov 20, via Wolfgang Büschel, DXLD) ** GREECE. It seems in North America we have lost both the weekly hour-long English programs from V. of Greece to stupid ballgames. Sat Nov 16 at 1725 check, 17705 was play-by-playing something in Greek, rather than Hellenes Around the World. John Babbis` monitoring previous weeks shows HATW, however, so perhaps this is on an irregular pre-emptive basis. We can only hope for an early end to the soccer season --- or does it ever end in Greece? He also says sports has displaced the other show ``It`s All Greek to Me``, playing music announced in English, which would have been Sundays at 1900 after the time change: (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) The Sunday ``All Greek to Me`` program in English has been shifted from 1800-1900 to 1105-1200 UT [only on 15630, 11645 direct], which puts it on at a time just before VOA-Delano comes on with the VOG service to NAm. This came about because it interfered with the Greek version of soccer (podospheros) at 1505-2000 UT. The Saturday ``Hellenes Around the World`` in English shifted from 1600-1700 to 1700-1800 UT. Also notice that their evening North America Service which was previously on at 0000-0400 has now been reduced by one hour to 0000-0300 (John Babbis, Maryland, Nov 18, DX LISTENING DIGEST) John also sends along his translations of the program titles for the entire service in Greek, which he has condensed from twelve pages to two. As I have to retype it, I am condensing further to minimize repetition: Daily u.o.s.; if a day of week entry is missing at a particular time, it means the previous entry for that day of week continues: 0000 News in Greek 0005 Communications 0100 News in Greek 0105 Communications 0200 News in Greek 0205 Popular Watch 0300 News in Greek 0305 Your Health, Patriots 0400 News in Greek 0405 Sat/Sun Athletic Panorama, Mon Joining with NET, Tue-Fri Network without Frontier 0415 Sat Money & Investment, Sun Folklore Evidence 0430 Sun New Circulations 0445 Sat Past Fine Years 0500 Sun Greek Aromas 0515 Sat Unknown Greeks 0530 Sat Songs You Love, Sun The Good Word 0600 Sat Join with ERA2, Sun Holy Liturgy, M-F Radionewspaper 0700 M-F Journey Taken; Left [sic] 0800 Sat Sweet Land Cyprus, M-F From Where; Why [except Tue SILENT 0800-1200] 0805 M-F Joining with ERA2 0815 Sun Join with NET 105.8 0900 News in Greek 0905 Sat Greek Letters, Sun-Fri Athletic Panorama 0915 Sun Ecological Papers, M-F Songs of the Sea 0930 News Bulletin in English 1000 SILENT 1100 News in Greek 1105 Sat Rebetika, Smyrnika, Sun Greek To Me (in English), Mon 2004 Civ. Eulogy, Wed Profits & Losses, Thu Traveling with Skill, Fri Yellow Pages 1200 Radionewspaper 1300 Sat Songs of the Week, Sun Seagoing Hellenes, M-F The Postman 1330 Sun The Third Bell, Mon/Thu/Fri Songs of the Party, Tue Grecian Accents, Wed New Circulation 1400 Sat/Sun News in Greek, M-F Sound of Money 1405 Sat/Sun Join with ERA Sports 1430 M-F From Where; Why 1435 M-F Newspaper Deck 1500 News in Greek 1505 Sat/Sun Join with ERA Sports, M-F Your Health Patriots 1600 M-F Little Greeces 1700 Sat World Hellenes (in English – maybe), M-F Radionewspaper 1800 Sat/Sun Nightly Radiopaper followed by ERA Sports, M-F Network without Frontier 2000 News in Greek 2005 Sun Live Line, Mon-Sat Athletic Panorama 2015 Sat, Mon-Thu Live Line; Fri Rebetika, Smyrnika 2100 Sat, Mon-Thu Live Line; Sun Good Luck, Fri The Half Year 2200 Sat-Thu News in Greek, Fri Live Line 2205 Sun Join with ERA2, Mon-Thu The Half Year, Fri/Sat Live Line 2300 Sat-Thu News in Greek, Fri Live Line 2305 Sat-Thu Communications, Fri Live Line John accompanies with various versions of the frequency schedule, which we already published some weeks ago. But he adds: ``I have found several problems with their schedule that I thought might be straightened out in the Greek version, but they are both alike. I think that VOG still has two transmitters in Avlis, two in Kavala, and the use of one in Delano. Did they sneak in a third transmitter in Avlis with 9420, 12105, 15630 at 0600-1000; Kavala seems to be using 17520, 21530 at 0600-0800 and silent at 0800-1000? The African service is on 12105 at 0500-1000, so either 9420 or 15630 is a mistake on their schedule at that time. Not only that, but what has happened to the second transmitter in Avlis --- they show only 15630 from 1500 to 1800; 9420 is the Kavala transmitter?`` (via Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** HONDURAS. 3340, HRMI/R. Misiones Int., Very nice signal around 0010 on the 40 degree Beverage. W religious talk and mentions of la palabra. LA religious music later. Still going nicely well past 0200, 22 Nov (Dave Valko, PA, Cumbre DX via DXLD) 4830/4832: see VENEZUELA HRMI, 3340, 11/23, 0030 with hymns, SP program. EG ID, announcing 3340 and 5010 (latter not heard) at 0328 UT. Requested reports to CA address. Yep, they're back again, after being off for a few days (Gerry Bishop, Niceville, FL, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** HUNGARY. Winter B-03 schedule for RFE/RL via JBR 250 kW: 0300-0500 Russian on 9520 / 065 deg 1700-1900 Arabic on 11835 / 108 deg (Observer, Bulgaria, Nov 21 via DXLD) ** INDIA. Frequency change for All India Radio: 1615-1730 Persian; 1730-1945 Arabic and 1945-2030 French NF 9905, ex 9910 (Observer, Bulgaria, Nov 21 via DXLD) ** IRAN. Re DXLD 3-209: CORRECTION: I heard Voice of Justice on 6120 and 9580 (not 6010) kHz. The subsequent 0230-0300 Voice of David broadcast in Hebrew was on 6010 & 6120 kHz. Regards, (Dave Kernick, UK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) The Voice of Justice from Tehran in English is heard loud and clear in Moscow, Russia daily 0130-0229 UT on 9580 kHz. The announced frequencies of 9835 and 6035 are not heard here. ID: "This is the Voice of Justice broadcast from the Islamic Republic of Iran." It's a surrogate service of Iranian Radio targeted to US listeners. Most reports deal with US-related news (e.g., human rights abuses in the US, situation in Iraq and Afghanistan, Bush's visit to the UK, etc.). The VoJ also carries interviews with US citizens. Music heard between the features is similar to that of VOIRI. Also, every broadcast starts with readings of Kor`an, just like VOIRI's regular services (Sergei Sosedkin, Moscow, Russia, Nov 22, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Payback for R. Farda? They have certainly bumbled into it, with no publicity (and no doubt virtually no listenership in the US) (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** IRAN [non]. UZBEKISTAN. Voice of Iran in Farsi now via TAC 100 kW / 256 deg, ex via ISS [FRANCE]: 1630-1830 on 11520 (55555) and spurs +/- 46v/92v/138v kHz (Observer, Bulgaria, Nov 21 via DXLD) ** IRAQ. Hi Glenn, checking the IMN TV on Eutelsat W1, 10 degrees East, yesterday; I found that the IMN station changed its name to be Al Iraqiyah (the Iraqi network). A new TV Freq: 10989 H s/r 3100. I checked them out around 0930 UT and they were having the candid camera an Arabic - Egyptian production - followed by an interview with an Iraqi lady asking her about "how will Iraq rebuild itself?" and "what would you say to the coalition troops?" Followed by almost more than 30 minutes with nothing but the logo of the station with music in the background! (Tarek Zeidan, Cairo, Egypt, Nov 20, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ITALY. RADIO SIX TO DEBUT ON SHORTWAVE Life is full of surprises. I just received the following E-mail this morning. Yes, it is true that once upon a time I made a programme for them. Only one, you'll notice :-) Nice to know that despite it, Radio Six has survived. What Tony doesn't know is that the jingles he made for me were adapted and used on the student radio station where I also had a Sunday show in the early 70's. I still have the jingles! Greetings! It's now around 31 years since your SUNDAY SHOW aired on Radio Six, broadcasting to nowhere from my bedroom in Ardrossan. Much has happened since then, but glossing over thirty odd years we leap into 2003 with the news that the success of Radio Six as an Internet station playing unpublished bands and musicians to listeners in 55 countries so far has led us to dip a toe into HF waters. (Probably a daft time to do it given current space weather conditions, but nobody ever accused us of being sensible.) Our second annual RECORD OF THE YEAR show - with the top 20 songs from the past 52 weeks of playlists, voted for by our listeners - will not only air on our webstreams (mp3 and Ogg-Vorbis) but also on 13840 kHz via the Nexus 20 kW rig in Milan. Transmission dates: Saturday 27th and Sunday 28th December 2003 Times: 0930 - 1030 GMT (UTC) Tune in if you can; spread the word in any way you see fit and send us a reception report - there will be pretty commemorative QSLs to celebrate Radio Six International finally making it on to the airwaves after 40 years in existence! TONY CURRIE, Programme Director, radio six international # posted by Andy @ 12:45 UT Nov 16 (Media Network blog via DXLD) ** KURDISTAN [non]. Hi Glenn, Denge Mesopotamia, 11/20/03, 11530 kHz. SINPO 34333 Kurdish (presumed). 1411-1501 UT. 1411 UTC; 2 men talking, one at length. (probably an interview). Several mentions of ``Komala`` during discussion. 1430 Kurdish music, 1438 Talk by earlier interviewer, 1450 music, 1451 ID, Female announcer over musical track (? ID sequence). 1453 chant, 1500 Talk by female rapidly fading out by 1502 signal was unreadable (Mark Taylor, Madison, WI, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Often heard fairly well here, but quite variable from day to day. Some sources put site in Moldova, others at Samara, Russia (gh, DXLD) ** KURDISTAN [non]. UZBEKISTAN: Frequency change of Denge Mezopotamya in Kurdish via TAC 100 kW / 256 deg 0500-0900 NF 11530* (55555) over WYFR Ar/En/It, ex 15675 via KVI 250 kW / 110 deg * spurs +/- 46v/92v/138v kHz (Observer, Bulgaria, Nov 21 via DXLD) ** KURDISTAN [and non]. TURKEY PAVES WAY FOR BROADCASTING IN KURDISH ANKARA, Nov 18 (Reuters) - Turkey bolstered its case for beginning accession talks with the European Union on Tuesday when its media regulator said it would permit limited television and radio broadcasts in Kurdish, reversing an 80-year ban. Brussels has praised Ankara for passing a swathe of rights reforms in recent months, but says the EU candidate must implement the measures before it can begin membership talks. Private radio stations may apply to broadcast in Kurdish for five hours a week and TV channels for four hours weekly once the Supreme Board of Radio and Television's (RTUK) decision is published in the official gazette, RTUK head Fatih Karaca said. "The board decided that these kind of broadcasts will be carried out by private and public radio and television," he told reporters. RTUK has handed its decision to the prime ministry for approval, he added. Ankara has not allowed broadcasting in Kurdish and other minority languages since the Turkish republic was formed in 1923 because of fears expanded language rights might provoke division and discord among Turkey's population of some 70 million. Initially only nationwide TV and radio stations will be allowed to broadcast in Kurdish. The EU and international human rights organisations have criticised Turkey for its treatment of its 12 million-strong Kurdish minority. Ankara has also pledged to allow private education in Kurdish but courses have yet to start. Turkey hopes the EU will approve its application to begin accession talks at a summit in December 2004. Ankara must also stamp out torture and push for a solution on the divided island of Cyprus before negotiations can begin with the European bloc. Turkey has fought a decades-long war against Kurdish militants at the cost of over 30,000 lives, most of them Kurds, but the fighting has largely subsided since the 1999 capture and imprisonment of rebel leader Abdullah Ocalan (RTw 11/18 0914 via Mike Cooper, DXLD) ** KYRGYZSTAN. KYRGYZ TV AND RADIO LAUNCHES WEB SITE The Kyrgyz National TV and Radio Broadcasting Corporation now has its own web site, Kyrgyz TV has reported. It did not give the address of the site. Source: Kyrgyz Television first channel, Bishkek, in Kyrgyz 1500 gmt 21 Nov 03 (via BBCM via DXLD) Sure know how to publicize; who can find it? First one to do so gets free access to DXLD (gh) ** LATVIA [non non]. Hi Glenn, this item ``LATVIA [non] RADIO SEAGULL SECURES MEDIUM WAVE LICENCE`` was listed under a wrong place; its right place is "NETHERLANDS", not "LATVIA [non]". Radio Seagull is a legal Dutch station (Internet & now MW - in the Netherlands), without any connection with Latvia. It just happens to use also every weekend the SW air time relay service of the British Euronet Radio via Latvia 9290 kHz. 73s, (Bernd Trutenau, Lithuania, DX LISTENING DIGEST) I was aware of this, but since previous references had been under Latvia as the SW relay transmitter site for Euronet clients, I put it there one more time; yet another `non` nuance (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** MALAYSIA. 9750, V. of Malaysia/V. of Islam, 1138-1203, Nov. 21, Indonesian?, OM with talks and Arabic-style music, long talk until 1159 then brief Arabic style instrumental, YL with tentative "Saura Islam' ID followed by pop-like instrumental and more YL talks, definite mentions of "Malaysia" ballad at 1203. Fair (Scott R. Barbour, Jr., Intervale, NH, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** MEXICO. STATION PROFILE --- R. UNIVERSIDAD, XEXQ, 6045 Located in San Luís Potosí, a town with the same name as the state, XEXQ is a ``cultural`` station as befits the history of the place. It is the site of one of 26 universities in Mexico and was for a time of about three years, the ``effective`` government HQ of President Benito Juárez. Many people forget that in its long history, Mexico was dominated (ruled) by France, under the auspices of Emperor Maximilian. In its struggle to achieve independence, Juárez` army fought battles against the French army, administered by Napoleon III. These troops included a light infantry section whose soldiers were known as the ``zouaves``, originating in Algeria in 1831 --- the beginning of the French Foreign Legion! Much fighting centred around Puebla and when the Mexican army was driven out of there, Juárez moved his administration to SLP for three years, until the French were driven out of Puebla. XEXQ transmits on 1460 kHz in the BCB and 6045 in the 49m SW band. The stated power is 250 watts on MW! I do not know the SW power, but it is NOT a high power station. To put it mildly, if you can ID this one in central or eastern north America, you can chalk up a good catch. My only verie came from a holiday logging in Mexico City! To get a clear ID in the congested 49m band is made more difficult by the programming, which is heavily orientated toward classical music with few announcements. I have heard such music on the channel recently but could not hear any speech to help ID the station. I had a letter verie from them in 1985, and they continued to send a monthly bulletin of the programmes for about two years. A very friendly station at that time, they can be reached at Apt. 456, San Luís Potosí 78001, México. Recent reports indicate a sign-on time of 1200 which might be your best shot from here. Good luck! (Tom Williamson, Nov ODXA Listening In via DXLD) Yes, I was on the program guide mailing list too (gh, DXLD) 6045, R. Universidad, 2210-2257* Nov 19, (presumed) classical music, strong signal, fair amount of QRM, pulled the plug in mid-song, no announcements (Hans Johnson, Naples FL, Cumbre DX via DXLD) ** MEXICO. 6010, R. Mil, 1159-1233, Nov. 22, Spanish, Ballads and pop music with quick "Radio Mil" IDs between songs, Full ID at 1224 with rough copy. Fading out by 1230. This is the first I have logged Radio Mil in quite some time; I get LV de tu Conciencia quite regularly since they moved to 6010 last year (Scott R. Barbour, Jr., Intervale, NH, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** MEXICO. 2390, R. Huayacocotla, 2330-0030+ ranchera music, 2358 YL "Radio Huayac... 2390 kilohertz onda corta ...postal", into long periods of rather repetitive music, gone at final 0040 recheck, 21/22 November. Best wishes from South Florida (Bob Wilkner, Icom R-75 ~ NRD 535D ~ Drake R 7, Pompano Beach, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** MEXICO. Re: USA. There have been reports of something on 550 heard in the Los Ángeles area Glenn: What I heard around 0440 PLT this AM is obviously totally unrelated: the tail end of a "....Baja California, México" ID folo'ed by nonstop Norteña/Mariachi, completely burying KUZZ, even in the San Fernando Valley. I have no ID as of yet, but sounds like it may be from Tecate or Mexicali; either one would short-space to a first adjacent frequency: 540 in Tijuana, or 560 in Yuma. Hmmm...(GREG HARDISON, CA, Nov 21, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 550 mystery station = XEKTT ex-1600?! They just ID'd -- I'm 99% sure the announcer said "550, XEKTT, Tecate, BC." I'm not totally sure about the 4th letter. Tecate's stations are XEKT-1390 and XEKTT-1600. The 1390 station appears to still be there, 1600 is hard to tell at night since they run low power and there are so many other Spanish stations on. The music is more of a mixed bag -- just heard some Norteña, now more of an AC-type ballad. 73, (Tim Hall, Chula Vista, CA, amfmtvdx at qth.net via DXLD) Wow, Tecate would be the perfect place for calls XETKT; why not? (gh, DXLD) Re XEKTT-550 Tecate (ex-1600): I'm guessing the transmitter is significantly SW of Tecate. At my home (extreme east end of Chula Vista), XEKTT-550 loops almost N/S (Tecate is E of me) and it slops XESURF-540 a bit. As I drive NNW, both signals are very good and there is virtually no slop. Audio quality is generally good on both, though the XEKTT ID tape is a little mushy. Today they're playing a variety of Mexican music - banda/mariachi, some AC, a little ranchera, etc., and IDing about every 5th or 6th song. The most consistent time to catch an ID seems to be between :10 and :20. Back in the 70s, there was a listing for XEHA-560 in Tecate (as far as I know, that station was never on the air). That frequency would make a bit more sense. Nearest QRM would be Yuma, and that station doesn't get out much anymore. Mt. Wilson FM Broadcasters (who have the 10-year lease on XESURF) are no stranger to this problem. Their former station on 540 in Hesperia was clobbered when then-XETIN-540 came on. They eventually shut down the Hesperia station (after one or two city-of-license changes) and took the long term lease on XESURF. Moving from 1600 makes some sense (to escape interference from KMNY)... but why a small, remote, and very poverty-stricken town like Tecate needs a blowtorch like this is beyond me. (There's also an X- band allocation for Tecate on 1700). [Later:] XEKTT operating on 550 and 1600 I was finally home at midday today, and was able to confirm the following -- XEKTT is still running the same handful of songs and pre- recorded IDs on 550, but they have not vacated 1600 yet. The two stations are not parallel, nor do they appear to be coming from the same place (the 1600 station loops more toward Tecate, but the 550 loops well SW of Tecate). The 550 station IDs as "X-E-K-T-T, 550, Tecate, Baja California, Mexico" with echo on "Mexico". The 1600 station continues to run as "La Tremenda" and IDs as "X-E-K-doble-T, 1600 kHz, Tecate." They do run a few ads from time to time on 1600. (Club editors, feel free to use this info if you like). http://www.inetworld.net/halls/dx/index.html 73, (Tim Hall, Chula Vista, CA, Nov 22, Corazón DX via DXLD) FCC action: XEKTT 550 Tecate Permit to deliver programming to Mexican radio stations XEDD, 920 kHz, and XESS, 780 kHz, both Ensenada, Mexico and XEKTT, 550 kHz, Tecate, Mexico: http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/DOC-236622A1.pdf 73's (Steven Wiseblood, AB5GP, Nov 21, 2003 14:39 PST, ibid.) ** NETHERLANDS. HANS VAN DEN BROEK LAUNCHES STOUT DEFENCE OF RADIO NETHERLANDS Hans van den Broek, Chairman of the Board of Governors of Radio Netherlands, and a former Dutch Foreign Minister, has today strongly defended the Dutch international broadcaster ahead of next Monday’s debate in parliament on proposed budget cuts. In a statement to the press, Mr van den Broek points out that Radio Netherlands ranks in fifth place in standing and importance amongst the world`s 120 international broadcasters, but in terms of budget it ranks somewhere around 20th. Mr van den Broek believes that the Ministry of Education, Culture and Science, which is responsible for funding Radio Netherlands, does not fully appreciate the special role of the international broadcaster, and is treating it as just another branch of the domestic media. That, says Mr van den Broek, is short term thinking and will lead to an irreplaceable loss. Radio Netherlands is quite prepared to implement any policies that will improve efficiency. But simply rebroadcasting the domestic network Radio 1 around the world is not the solution. For example, nobody in Australia is interested in detailed reports of traffic jams in the Netherlands. Those who can only listen for an hour or two a day need specially produced programmes which, of the various Dutch public broadcasters, only Radio Netherlands can provide. # posted by Andy @ 15:12 UT Nov 21 (Media Network blog via DXLD) RNW DIRECTOR GENERAL SAYS STATION WILL RESIST GOVERNMENT CUTS Radio Netherlands Director General Lodewijk Bouwens says that the organisation will do everything in its power to prevent the Dutch international service being destroyed by State Secretary Medy van der Laan. The Dutch parliament is due to discuss the State Secretary's proposed budget cuts for public broadcasters on Monday. Speaking to the newspaper NRC Handeslblad, Mr Bouwens said that accepting the State Secretary's proposals on reducing and changing the programming produced by Radio Netherlands would mean the state having more influence over its output. The comments by Mr Bouwens follow a strong public defence of Radio Netherlands by Hans van den Broek, the former Dutch Foreign Minister who is now chairman of its Board of Governors. # posted by Andy @ 17:20 UT Nov 22 (Media Network blog via DXLD) ** NEWFOUNDLAND & LABRADOR. THE TRUE NAME OF THE SONG Dear Glenn, I thought you might be interested to know that the true name of the song which a listener called "We Love Thee," played on CBN/CKNZ at sign-on is "Ode to Newfoundland." In 1975, I visited SJ NFLD with a sighted friend. At that time, CBC TV was not 24 hours, and, each day, when they signed on, they played a really nice coral version of "Ode to Newfoundland" while showing scenes of the province. Also, at that time, I bought a really nice album of NFLD folk songs (wish I still had it) and "Ode" was on there. I guess it is sort of a semi-anthem, kind of like the provincial anthems you sometimes hear on Latin American stations, or "Hawaii "Pono'i" sometimes played when Hawaiian stations sign off or on, if any of them still do. By the way, I think at least one verse of "Our Labrador" is sung in Inuktatut, or whatever the Labrador version of that language is called (Tim Hendel, AL, Nov 21, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** NEW ZEALAND. 55 YEARS OF RADIO NEW ZEALAND INTERNATIONAL On September 27, 1948 the ex American military 7.5 kW shortwave transmitters of Radio New Zealand began their soft voice of the Pacific broadcasts from studios in Wellington. They were not the first SW broadcasts by any means, with tests running through the 1940`s, and earlier broadcasts from a variety of private SW stations in places as varied as Dunedin and Christchurch. But they were the first dedicated SW broadcasts to project a New Zealand viewpoint for a Pacific wide audience. The SW service emerged from the 1970`s, battered and bruised. Powerful 250 kW transmitters from around the world targeted the Pacific, and its 7.5 kW transmitters could barely be heard any more. Pacific radio stations began to drop rebroadcasts of news and other programs because reception was unreliable. Then came the 1980`s, when the SW service almost went down for the count, as budget cutting bureaucrats and incompetent politicians zeroed in on what they perceived as a waste of taxpayers` money in a world driven by single bottom line accounting. In 1990, a new RNZI emerged with a single 100 kW transmitter, a new antenna system, and funding from what is now the Ministry of Culture and Heritage. Amazing what a coup or two in Fiji can do. New programs, new initiatives, and a new audience ranging across the Pacific to take in North America and Europe. With broadcasts to peacekeepers in Timor, Bougainville and the Solomon Islands, RNZI has been able to support attempts to bring about peaceful change in a tension filled region. Now 55 years old, RNZI has become a heritage SW broadcaster with a stronger voice. On-line audio streaming, programs in French, rebroadcasts via satellite to Europe and North America (WRN), many island stations taking larger program chunks, stabilized resources and a second (digital) transmitter scheduled on air give hope for the original vision of a broadcaster from the Pacific, telling the stories of the Pacific, for the Pacific. How did RNZI celebrate its 55th birthday? As usual, with a difference. Lightening knocked out the transmitter and part of the antenna system, and programs had to be rebroadcast via satellite from a 100 kW Radio Australia transmitter at Shepparton in northern Victoria. Depending on one transmitter has always been risky, but these days, it`s possible to be a SW broadcaster without using your own transmitter. RNZI was lucky again and continued to broadcast its soft voice of the Pacific. And, perhaps that`s the real nature of RNZI. It`s a lucky broadcaster. Born under a lucky star back in 1948 and exhibiting the Libra character of equal parts of kindness, gentleness, fairness, plain cussed argumentativeness, stubborn refusal to capitulate, philosophical logic and indecision. Happy birthday Radio New Zealand International (David Ricquish, Wellington, Nov NZ DX Times via DXLD) I tried to monitor both webcast and SW at 2005 UT Sat Nov 22, to confirm whether Media Watch was on then, but as scheduled the webcast was running silent (tho supposedly so only for stupid ballgames due to rights), and 15265 was inaudible (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** NIGERIA. VON has obviously turned back to their old program schedule of the English service. But now 15120 is used again in the morning. Today I caught it at 0930 to 1130+ No more antenna/frequency change at 1100. No signal on 7255 or 11770 heard in the evenings this week (Thorsten Hallmann, Muenster, germoney - my African SW list at http://africa.coolfreepage.com/africalist is back after some weeks of absence! DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** OKLAHOMA. KMMZ[?] 1640, remained off the air Friday Nov 21, so I decided this would be a good time to visit the transmitter site without concern about being fried by RF, altho it would also have been interesting to explore its coverage area. The site is 8 miles east of Hennessey OK immediately adjacent to state highway 51, on the south side. Can`t miss two towers, roughly WSW to ENE, producing the bi- direxional pattern toward Enid NNW and OKC SSE. The brand-new towers are steel, unpainted (yet?). Each has three little spikes on the top - -- for lightning arrest, or is this what now diminishes skywave? Or were they lights? I did not see any obvious tower lights, but this was at high noon. Perhaps the reason for being off the air is that a grader and a gravel truck were busy surfacing the short road off the highway into the site in a pasture, complete with cowpies. And/or awaiting FCC go-ahead after testing. And/or a new callsign since none has ever been announced, to our knowledge?? It appears this will be an Enid station in name (and city of license) only, as the only STL dish, on the east tower, is aimed at OKC, not Enid! I expect it will be LMA`d by Citadel like Chisholm Trail`s 96.9 station, which also turned out to be an OKC rimshotter. There are no signs identifying that this is the 1640 radio station, no FCC facility number, like we saw on the gate to the KOSU tower further east on Highway 51 (the nearest Thai café to Enid is the Thai Café in Stillwater). A sign on the building mentioned some company we`d never heard of, and the sign by the road says: `` Weaver Energy Corp. / Blakley No. 1-20 / SW NE Sec. 20-19N-5W / Kingfisher County``. The transmitter building between the towers has a propane tank beside it, as well as an electrical junxion box. I assume a standy generator will be found inside; it was all locked up with no one from station on the site, just the road surfacing people. There are little fences around the guy wire tiedowns, but hardly enough to keep anyone out. Since the towers don`t need to be very high at this frequency, the guys are relatively lightweight compared to what we have seen at much taller FM and TV towers. After we left, realized that we hadn`t noticed any fresh trenches for radials, but I guess they must be down there. We took a few digital shots which will be up as soon as we can get to that on a new page along with a résumé of reports on this station, and later perhaps anything else concerning Enid radio to be at http://www.worldofradio.com/enid.html 1640 remained off the air Nov 22, into 0500 UT Nov 23, and probably the rest of the weekend (Glenn Hauser, Enid, Nov 22, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 1640, KMMZ tentative, OK Enid 11-15 2006 EST, P under WTNI, NOS, NEW! Good DX! (Michael Procop, Bedford, Ohio (near Cleveland), amfmtvdx at qth.net via DXLD) ** OKLAHOMA. This week`s NOW WITH BILL MOYERS, on PBS-TV, was pre- empted on OETA in Oklahoma for an awards show. Here`s what we missed; coincidence? http://tvbarn.com/2003/2003nov21moyers.html (via Current, via DXLD) ** PAKISTAN. Frequency changes for Radio Pakistan: 1630-1700 Turkish NF 11540v, ex 11530v to avoid Denge Mezopotamya Kurdish \\ 7550v 1815-1900 Arabic NF 6220v, ex 6225v \\ 7550v (Observer, Bulgaria, Nov 21 via DXLD) ** PALESTINE [non]. Arabic speaking station heard 0410 UT on 9505 with close down at 0428. It was like Passport suggested, Voice of the Palestinian Islamic Revolution from transmitter site in Iran. Program is anti-Arafat. Strong and good reception. Scheduled 0330-0430. 73´s (Jouko Huuskonen, Turku FINLAND, Nov 22, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** PARAGUAY. Adán Mur tells me ZP20 Radio América received authorization to increase QRP on mediumwave frequency (1480 kHz): 5 kW. Future plans: the acquisition a new transmitter mark ADEMA, in Buenos Aires, for installation in Villeta plant, with a 5/8 tower, for 40 kW ERP. Adán thinks in a short time Radio América is going to receive authorization for the same QRP in 31 meters!!!! (Arnaldo Slaen, Argentina, Cumbredx mailing list, Nov 21, Cumbre DX via DXLD) QRP means reduced or low power; is that what you mean? (gh, DXLD) ** PERU. 6479.71, Radio Altura, Huarmaca, 0017+, November 20. Spanish. Music program conduced in Spanish by male: tecnocumbias, romantic songs, etc. Local ads. ID as: "Radio Altura....", 33422 (Arnaldo Slaen, Argentina, Cumbre DX via DXLD) 6480.44, R. Altura, 2321-0153, Programm of Camp Huayno harp music with M host after nearly every song with song announcements, PSAs and comunicados. Mentions of Huancabamba, "...sintonía la radio", Provincia de Huancabamba, Amor, Huamachuco, amigos. Nice IDs at 2333 and 2347. Believe one of the songs was called "Amor de Octubre"!! Had a weird deep fade for about 3 minutes at 2348. Still going at 0153 which is very unusual. Doesn't often stay on past 0030, Nov 21-22 Even though the solar indices were rather high, I decided to take a drive up to one of my local remote micro-DXpeditioning sites for an evening of LA DXing. It was a beautiful evening for late November with a clear starry sky and a temp of 50-37 F. RX: NRD-535D ANT: Beverages of 500' at 170 degrees, and 300' at 40 QTH: Dunlo "Dip" reclaimed stripmine Solar Indices: At 0300, SF: 177, A: 32, K: 3. Space weather for the past 24 hours has been moderate. Geomagnetic storms reaching the G2 level occurred (Dave Valko, PA, Cumbre DX via DXLD) ** PHILIPPINES. Frequency change for Radio Veritas Asia effective from Nov. 16: 1430-1455 Telugu NF 9520 (45544), ex 11880 to avoid RAI Int in Arabic 1430-1455 Urdu NF 11720 (55555), ex 11795 to avoid RFE/RL in Azeri (Observer, Bulgaria, Nov 21 via DXLD) ** POLAND. Re: Had said on DX program that contract expired at yearend (gh) Well yes, but the contract is being renewed. 73s, (Bernd Trutenau, Lithuania) That`s what I thought you were saying (gh) ** RUSSIA. What`s New on VOR: FOLK BOX --- You will be correct in saying that folklore, in general, is a very ancient phenomenon. The authors of the upcoming edition of FOLK BOX invite you to travel back in time to remote antiquity by listening to some of the most ancient melodies of different peoples. The program will go on the air on Monday, November 24, at 1530 UT. It will be repeated on Tuesday, November 25, at 0230 and 0830, on Thursday, November 27, at 0530, 0930, and 1630, on Friday, November 28, at 1830, and on Saturday, November 29, at 0730 UT. Copyright © 2003 The Voice of Russia (via Maryanne Kehoe, swprograms via DXLD) ** RUSSIA. Additional SW frequency for Voice of Russia in Russian Commonwealth: 1000-1200 on 11770 (55444) via SAM 100 kW / 165 degrees (Observer, Bulgaria, Nov 21 via DXLD) ** THAILAND. 9810, R. Thailand, *1230-1300*, Nov. 21, English, Music and ID, "Good Evening and welcome to Radio Thailand, Friday November 21, and now the news". Mostly fiscal news regarding budgets, sustainable development, etc., Commentary on affordable healthcare. After ID and sign-off announcements, OM with promo for Thailand Export Mart and "This has been a Radio Thailand public service announcement", instrumental music til 1300* (Scott R. Barbour, Jr., Intervale, NH, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Whee, they managed not to have talk cut off at end ** U A E. UAE Radio Dubai in Arabic and English noted on Nov. 15/16: 0600-2100 on 15435*, instead of registered 15395 *co-ch 1100-1400 RFA in Tibetan and 1500-1800 BSKSA Main program in Arabic (Observer, Bulgaria, Nov 21 via DXLD) ** U K. PROTESTS AS BBC DISMISSES VETERAN FT.com By Christopher Condon Published: November 21 2003 4:00 Once a beacon of light to millions during the darkest years of communist oppression, the Romanian broadcast of the BBC's World Service has suffered significant blows in recent months to its reputation and its ability to reach Romanian listeners. The latest wound may be self-inflicted, with the dismissal from the Romanian section of the World Service of Traian Ungureanu, a respected veteran journalist who served at the BBC for 14 years in London. The BBC insist the move is part of a restructuring programme that will eliminate jobs in London and create posts in Bucharest, the Romanian capital. But the dismissal has provoked a storm of protest in parts of Romania's domestic media and prompted six Bucharest-based colleagues of Mr Ungureanu to resign in protest. Gelu Trandafir, a desk editor with the World Service in Bucharest and the first to quit, said the dismissal of Mr Ungureanu was related, at least indirectly, to efforts by the Romanian government to silence its critics in the media. Over the past three years, the BBC has lost several broadcasting partners in Romania, causing its audience to drop by 25 per cent. For part of this year it was not possible to hear the World Service in Bucharest except by short wave. This is the result, according to government critics such as Cornel Nistorescu, general manager of the Bucharest daily Evenimentul Zilei, of bullying tactics by the ruling Social Democratic party. Mr Nistorescu said senior politicians used the advertising spend of government agencies and tax authorities to reward or penalise media outlets as they saw fit. Other critics also see the dismissal of Mr Ungureanu, known for his critical tone when reporting on the government, as the culmination of a growing effort by the management of the World Service's Romanian section to soften just that sort of criticism. It comes, they add, just as the BBC is fighting to retain broadcasters and win a licence for its own frequency from government regulators. However, the suggestion that the BBC is somehow bowing to pressure from Bucharest is dismissed out of hand by the broadcaster. "Our editorial policy has not changed one jot, and we continue to make programmes as we always do, looking to be fair and impartial," said Sue Faulkner, a spokeswoman for the World Service. Even if the BBC's accusers are engaging in the conspiracy theories that are so popular in the Balkans, the perception of events in Bucharest among people who once adored the World Service is damaging. Cosmin Prelipceanu, deputy director of Bucharest's Radio Total, said: "This is a big disappointment to many people. Their reputation has been damaged beyond repair." http://news.ft.com/servlet/ContentServer?pagename=FT.com/StoryFT/FullStory&c=StoryFT&cid=1069132045905 (Financial Times via Kim Elliott, DXLD) ** U K. SECOND SIGHT Victor Keegan, Thursday November 20, 2003, The Guardian What should happen to the BBC's internet services? The closing date for submissions to the government's inquiry (run by Philip Graf) was earlier this week - and it looks as though he will have to contend with an unusual argument about a public service: the BBC's online services are simply too good and should be cut down to size. Chris Goodall, of the research firm Enders Analysis, said in the Financial Times this week: "The corporation should acknowledge the possibility that its activities are so overwhelming that the aspirations of other companies are being thwarted. Perhaps the review should conclude that BBC services are simply too good and too well funded for the health of the UK's internet sector." I had better take this slowly as I am not used to things being dismantled because they are too good. Usually, the problem is that we have too many organisations performing below average. What a wonderful place Britain would be if the privately run health or education sectors were able to complain bitterly that state education and health providers were too good. The BBC's competitors are arguing that its website - which costs nearly £100m (this works out at just under 1p a day for every working person) is so comprehensive that it is depriving them of revenues they would get if the BBC website did not exist. Indeed, the future scale of the corporation's online service could be decided by how much it may or may not take away from the private sector in revenues. This is the wrong premise. The internet model for the BBC is no different to what has proved so successful for television: straight competition between a licence fee system and an advertising one. It has proved highly successful for maintaining standards while also producing mutual benefits from fierce competition. When the TV advertising revenue cycle is locked into a downward trend, as it has been recently, TV companies cry foul - but when it is in an upswing and becomes a licence for them to print money, they keep quiet. The internet is no different. It has been slow to generate money from advertising simply because of unfamiliarity with a new medium. Remember, the world wide web is still less than 10 years old as a mass phenomenon. But that is starting to change - and the web will become a major revenue earner in proportion to the users it attracts. As a Guardian employee, I may wish the BBC's site was closed as it would make it easier for our excellent site to make money. But as a consumer, I am fortunate to have the choice, and have no doubt that newspaper sites will earn handsome incomes once they find the right formula. The suggestion that it should be scaled down to make it easier for others would be regarded as barmy if it were not happening before our eyes. This is not to say the BBC's website could not be more efficient. But to cut it back because it is what it is - a world centre of excellence providing everything from news to education on one site - is something that could only happen in a country obsessed with ownership rather than success. Guardian Unlimited © Guardian Newspapers Limited 2003 (via Dan Say, DXLD) ** U S A. REDIRECTING THE VOICE OF AMERICA Thursday, November 20, 2003; Page A40 The Nov. 10 op-ed column by former Voice of America director Sanford Ungar ["The Voice of America, Muffled"] implied that America's voice was being muzzled because VOA has shifted limited resources from the 24-hours-a-day English language stream into other areas. In fact, we have reduced our English-language broadcasts by only five hours a day to shift resources to the critical languages of Persian (to Iran), Urdu (to Pakistan) and Indonesian. Of course, we would have been happier to have the resources to do everything we're doing now and more. But good stewardship of public funds means that we constantly examine how we can most effectively reach our audience. When VOA was launched in 1942, its first broadcasts were in German. When World War II ended and the Cold War began, VOA shifted its resources to reach the peoples of Eastern Europe and the Soviet Union. In the wake of Sept. 11, 2001, VOA has shifted resources again, focusing on countries that are important in the war against terrorism. I wish we had the resources to continue nonstop English broadcasting around the world, as Mr. Ungar urged. But if we have to choose between that and reaching audiences that Congress and the administration indicate are central to U.S. policy concerns, then VOA is doing the right thing -- and America's voice is being heard precisely where it needs to be. DAVID S. JACKSON, Director, Voice of America, Washington (c) 2003 The Washington Post Company (via Mike Cooper, DXLD) ** U S A [and non]. QUESTION MARK OVER RFE, VOA --- Staff reporter http://www.sofiaecho.com/art.php?id=8448&catid=5 THE future of Radio Free Europe and Voice of America broadcasts in several Eastern European languages, including Bulgarian, hangs on a decision by the US congress on budget cuts that will shut down these services, and cost jobs. A decision was expected last week, but was delayed by a filibuster on the floor of the house of representatives. Services to Eastern Europe are being cut back because the emphasis of broadcasting funded by the American federal government is being shifted to Arab countries. In the White House budget submitted to congress in February, a proposal was made to shut down RFE broadcasts in Bulgarian, Romanian, Slovak, Croatian, Latvian, Lithuanian and Estonian. RFE is to continue to broadcast to other countries of the former Yugoslavia, Serbia - including in Albanian for Kosovar - Bosnia, Macedonia, and also to Moldova, Belarus, Ukraine and Russia. The $8.8 million budget cut will affect 46 staff positions at RFE, and 36 positions at the Voice of America, which is to cease its broadcasts in Bulgarian, Czech, Estonian, Hungarian, Latvian, Lithuanian, Polish, Slovene, Slovak, and Romanian. RFE stopped its Czech-language broadcasts in September last year. In a statement released at the time the budget cuts were announced in February, Kenneth Tomlinson, chairman of the Broadcasting Board of Governors which controls RFE, VOA, and other US broadcasters, said it was clear that US president Bush's budget put the war against terrorism as top priority. "The closing of these services, whose employees have so gallantly served the cause of freedom, will bring a moment of sadness to many of us who saw victory in the Cold War as a direct result of these radios," Tomlinson said. "But we should remember at the same time that the goal these services struggled and sacrificed for has been achieved, and they should take great pride in the role they played in this historic mission," he said Tomlinson said the loss of the 82 RFE and VOA positions would be accomplished, where possible, by retirements, reassignments, and abolishing vacant positions. "Unfortunately, it appears we also will face reduction-in-force to achieve these budget goals," he said. Sonia Winter, director of media affairs for RFE, last week told The Sofia Echo that since the budget was tabled in February, the US congress had said broadcasting should continue, but had not yet passed legislation or approved funding for continuing the broadcasting (The Sofia Echo, via Kim Elliott, DXLD) ** U S A. Tuned in WRMI to check for WORLD OF RADIO, Sat Nov 22 on 15725 at 1900 UT: long-form (is there any other kind?) WRMI ID was running, interrupting Dan Roberts` Shortwave Report, 1901 back to segment of Radio Havana Cuba!! Via WRMI!!! RHC is often featured on that show, which this week ended at 1904, then IBC Radio commercial selling a SW radio, at 1905 WOR #1208, but rather distorted. I wonder if they are accessing the high version. Hey John, we better add Shortwave Report to the DX program schedule, nominal time 1830 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. Weird propagation perhaps due to magnetic storm? WBCQ 7415 is still audible here, with very good reception to boot (Ricky Leong, Montreal area, 0432 UT Nov 20, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Boy hasn't the propagation been really weird the last couple of weeks. So many nights there was almost nothing on. Never thought that listening to WBCQ would be like trying to tune in a thousand watt African! (John H. Carver Jr., Mid-North Indiana, Nov 22, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A [non], Updated B-03 schedule for AWR's "Wavescan" on Sundays: 0200-0230 7230 MOS to SoAs ||| cancelled 0500-0530 5960 MEY to SoWeNoAf 6015 MEY to EaSoEaAf 0600-0630 15345 MEY to SoWeNoAf 0830-0900 9660 MOS to NoCeEu 17820 MOS to NoWeAf 1000-1030 11705 SDA to SoEaAs 11900 SDA to NoEaAs 1200-1230 15135 DHA to SoAs 1300-1330 9860 MEY to CeAs ||| cancelled 1330-1400 11755 SDA to NoEaAs 15235 DHA to SoAs ||| cancelled 1530-1600 15225 DHA to SoAs ||| cancelled 1600-1630 15495 SDA to SoAs 1630-1700 11980 SDA to SoAs 1700-1730 11560 SDA to EaME ||| cancelled 1730-1800 9385 SDA to EaME 1800-1830 5960 MEY to SoWeNoAf 7265 MEY to EaNoEaAf 1830-1900 11985 MEY to EaNoEaAf 2030-2100 15295 MEY to SoWeNoAf 2130-2200 9660 MOS to NoWeAf 11980 SDA to NoEaAs 12010 SDA to NoEaAs ||| additional (Observer, Bulgaria, Nov 21 via DXLD) ** U S A. 2130.00, (3 x 710), WOR, New York, NY, Nov 16, 0241, // 710 with New Jersey Nets (Mark Mohrmann, VT, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. SOME RADIO NEWS FROM THE ST. LOUIS REGION: KFUO (850 kHz) Clayton, MO began testing IBOC-DAB over the summer. The results: close to their transmitter site on the Concordia Seminary campus, the IBOC sidebands take up 70 kHz of spectrum space; the IBOC sidebands were heard from 820 to 890 kHz, giving WCBW (880 kHz) Highland, IL some interference in the form of "white noise". It also has blocked out reception in the St. Louis area of KOTC (830 kHz) Kennett, MO. WEW (770 kHz) St. Louis, MO is rumored to be switching from Adult Standards and Ethnic programming to conservative talk. The station was sold recently by Metropolitan Radio Group, based in Springfield, MO, to a conservative talk group. With KMOX, KTRS and KFTK programming conservative talk, I don't think St. Louis can support a fourth conservative talk station. WSIE (88.7 MHz) Edwardsville, IL has been phasing in more satellite programming; they've picked up the "Jazz Works" satellite package. They've already eliminated the student-hosted weekday evening shows (that happened August 1), cancelled "Jazz Tracks", a program that spotlighted new album releases, after the broadcast of July 31. Weekday airings of "Standards In Jazz", hosted by Ross Gentile (pronounced "Gentilly") and their morning show, "Rhythm and News", are still on the schedule for now. Live programs and syndicated programming from NPR on the weekends, as well as coverage of the NHL's St. Louis Blues, continue. WSIE is the only non-commercial educational radio station (as well as the only member station of NPR) to carry the broadcasts of a major league professional sports team (WSIE does it by special arrangement with KTRS 550 kHz St. Louis, MO, whose 5,000-watt night pattern doesn't sufficiently cover the Illinois suburbs). WSIE's Internet-based sister station, Web Radio, in addition to adding WOR and COM over the summer, has been tinkering with their automated format. The station has basically adopted a contemporary/rock sound for their automation, eliminating the remaining country tunes from their playlist. More changes could be coming for the station, which reaches its first anniversary on January 13, 2004. KIRL (1460 kHz) St. Charles, MO is now back to daytime operation only; they've been doing it for the past couple of years now. Their four- tower nighttime site at Hazelwood, MO (north of the intersection of Earth City Expressway and State Road 370) is now overgrown with weeds; they're only using the three-tower daytime site on State Road 94 in Boschertown, north of St. Charles. The station is broadcasting an Urban Gospel format; the signal barely reaches St. Louis. KCFV (89.5 MHz) Ferguson, MO is now broadcasting drastically reduced hours. The station is primarily on the air from 8:00 p.m. to 12:00 midnight local (0200-0600 UT) Monday through Friday, as well as 12:00 noon to 4:00 p.m. (1800-2200 UT) Monday and Tuesday (or is it Wednesday, I'll double check), and 6:30-8:00 a.m. (1230-1400 UT) Friday. The station is also on the air from 8:00 a.m. to 12:00 midnight (1400-0600 UT) on Saturday and Sunday. This, according to DJ Paul Wydra, is "due to the lack of advertising on campus". KCFV has been on the air since 1972, and is one of the few FM stations not broadcasting 24 hours a day. A far cry from the 6:00 a.m. to Midnight broadcast days of the 1980s and early 1990s (E. B. Stevenson, PSA Director, WSIE/Web Radio, Edwardsville, IL, Nov 22, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. DEMOCRATIC ACTIVIST BUYS LIBERAL-RADIO FIRM By John Cook, Tribune staff reporter, November 19, 2003 The Highland Park entrepreneurs who planned to launch a liberal talk- radio network have sold the fledgling company to a Democratic activist. Sheldon and Anita Drobny sold the majority of their shares of AnShell Media LLC to a group of investors headed by Mark Walsh, a former America Online executive and chief technology adviser to the Democratic National Committee. While they retain what Walsh described as a "minimal" investment in AnShell, the couple will play no role in the company's management. Walsh expects to begin broadcasting early next year. "We're excited about the opportunity," he said Tuesday. The deal was finalized last week. The Drobnys, longtime Democratic donors and fundraisers, received an avalanche of attention in February when they announced plans for the liberal radio network. They planned to build a nationwide network of radio stations to air talk shows hosted by entertainers with a liberal bent to combat popular conservative radio personalities like Rush Limbaugh. "I feel like there's a monologue out there," Anita Drobny told The New York Times in February. "I just had this tremendous feeling with great passion that we had to make sure we're heard and make sure we are having a dialogue in this country of ours." Walsh, who once worked for the Democratic National Committee, appears to have a less partisan vision for the radio network than the Drobnys. He described the planned programming as primarily "centrist, with a hint of liberalism." Though the Drobnys initially said they planned to be operational by the fourth quarter of 2003, AnShell has yet to take any significant steps toward getting on the air. The company has not hired any talent, purchased any stations or signed any contracts for distributing any programs. The delays prompted some to wonder whether Sheldon Drobny, who made his money as an accountant and venture capitalist but has no radio experience, was capable of launching a new network. "I've never seen anything that doesn't exist get so much press," said Michael Harrison, editor of Talkers, an industry trade magazine. Indeed, it remains unclear precisely what AnShell Media is. "It's pretty much intangible," Sheldon Drobny said. "We got a lot of media attention and a lot of goodwill. We got a lot of people to believe liberal radio was possible. We had relationships and contractual discussions with people like Al Franken--those are the assets. That's what they bought from us." Insiders expect that the deal will bring a liberal talk-radio network closer to reality. "These guys seem to be charging forward and making progress," said Franken, the liberal humorist who is in what he described as "deep level talks" with Walsh to develop a radio show. Walsh did not disclose the purchase price but did say New York venture capitalist Evan Cohen was among the new investors. Drobny, who initially said he would spend $10 million of his own money to start the network, confirmed that he spent less than that and profited from the sale. Walsh will replace Atlanta-based radio executive Jon Sinton as chief executive of AnShell. Sinton, who was hired by the Drobnys, will continue as president of the company, and former Chicago radio executive Dave Logan will join the company as head of programming. Copyright (c) 2003, Chicago Tribune (via Jim Moats, DXLD) ** U S A. MAKING A MOCKERY OF MEDIA CONCENTRATION RULES November 21, 2003 FLOYD NORRIS In Washington, they argue about whether more media concentration should be allowed. In places like Wichita Falls, Tex., they are living with concentration that already goes far beyond what the rules seem to allow. The Federal Communications Commission adopted rules earlier this year to make it easier for one company to own multiple television stations in a single market, but the changes were blocked by a federal appeals court. Those F.C.C. rules were meant to allow a company to own two stations in medium-size markets and three in only the largest markets. A Congressional move now under way would not affect the local ownership rules, only national ones. [Page C4.] Under the new rules or the old ones, Wichita Falls is classified as a small market, where dual ownership is barred and would remain prohibited. But the reality is that three of the five television stations there are run by the same company. How can that be? It all depends on how you define "own,'' and how you count stations. One of the Wichita Falls stations is a low-power station, which the F.C.C. does not count, even though it carries the UPN network. Mission Broadcasting owns that station, as well as the local Fox station. The NBC affiliate is owned by Nexstar Broadcasting, which also runs both Mission stations. The F.C.C. treats Mission and Nexstar as separate companies, but they operate as one. Multiple stations, Nexstar says, "enable us to enhance our revenue share and achieve operating efficiencies." The strategy works. Paul Tigrett, the general manager of Patterson Auto Center in Wichita Falls, which sells everything from Mercedes-Benzes to Toyotas, says the stations get more of his ads together than they would separately. The prospectus for Nexstar's pending stock offering explains that Nexstar guarantees Mission's debt, has the right to buy its stations at below-market prices and gets "substantially all of the available cash'' that Mission stations produce. The F.C.C. rules, some of them set by case law, seem to have created a maze that media lawyers know how to get through. Give a company nominal control over programming, even if it does not exercise it, and two TV stations can be deemed independent even though they are operated jointly. That allows Nexstar to run two stations in 11 different markets, and three stations in two - the other being Amarillo, Tex. The F.C.C. may not be doing a very good job of enforcing even the porous rules it has. An F.C.C. official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said that after the Securities and Exchange Commission asked the F.C.C. to look at the Nexstar prospectus, the communications agency forced changes in some of the agreements between Mission and Nexstar. The official declined to provide details. Nexstar officials would not comment. Nexstar was scheduled to go public last night, but Bloomberg News reported the offering was delayed to await S.E.C. approval. The F.C.C. is thinking about tightening its rules to require that television stations with joint ad sales staffs be viewed as jointly controlled. That could make it hard to duplicate Nexstar's strategy, but might not hurt Nexstar, which told investors its contracts with Mission had terms of up to 99 years. The strategy does not promote competition, in advertising or news, but it is convenient. "They will group the stations together at hugely discounted rates,'' said Craig Draper, president of the DesignWorks Group, a Wichita Falls ad agency. "It's a lot easier from my standpoint, where I don't have to have three meetings.'' Copyright 2003 The New York Times Company (via Mike Cooper, DXLD) ** VENEZUELA [and non]. Quito 21/Nov/2003 19:42 Amigo DXista José Elías en Conexión Digital! Recientemente tuviste un problemita en 4830 kHz. Radio Táchira desapareció y cerca debajo escuchaste otra señal, una señal mucho más débil y no identificada. A lo mejor venga la explicación(??) aquí: 4829.98: Esta noche hace 60 minutos aproximadamente terminé escuchar el programa religioso "Caminos a salvación" desde San Cristóbal, es decir de Radio Táchira. Nunca he notado Táchira debajo de 4830.00 kHz. Parece que tenga algún problema porque la señal era menos fuerte que antes. 4830.01: Desde aquí ha transmitido Radio Táchira durante largo tiempo. 4830.06: Radio Litoral estuvo aquí hace algunos días. 4832.00: Esta noche noté Radio Litoral en esta frecuencia. 73s (Björn Malm, Quito, Ecuador, SWB América Latina, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** VENEZUELA. Parece que cierrra La Emisora Cultural de Caracas 97.7 FM --- La siguiente información apareció en el diario El Universal el 20 de Nov del 2003. Estaba buscando la noticia sobre una nueva radio cultural venezolana de nombre Ateneo 100.7 FM y me consigo con que la emisora pionera en frecuencia modulada en Venezuela la Emisora Cultural 97.7 FM, parece que cierra sus puertas en Diciembre. Atte: (José Elías Díaz Gómez, radioescutas via DXLD) Viz.: FALTA DE RECURSOS PRODUCIRÁ SU CIERRE A FINAL DE AÑO CARACAS PIERDE SU EMISORA CULTURAL BLANCA SANTOS, EL UNIVERSAL La falta de recursos económicos para mantener la operatividad de la estación y la desidia hacia la cultura son, a juicio de Humberto Peñaloza, fundador y presidente, las principales causas para el cese de las labores de la emisora Cultural de Caracas 97.7 FM el próximo 31 de diciembre a las doce de la noche. Aunque durante 28 años ininterrumpidos la estación marcó diferencia en la radiodifusión venezolana con una programación que brindó espacios de entretenimiento para todas las edades así como el rescate del acervo cultural a través de la difusión de la música académica, las artes y el espectáculo, la falta de apoyo financiero del Consejo Nacional de la Cultura hacia las labores emprendidas por ésta, ha obligado a sus fundadores a traspasar sus activos y pasivos al Circuito Unión Radio. Aseguró Peñaloza que a pesar de tratar de mantener la señal viva a través de patrocinio, el cierre es inminente, pues sostener una empresa de este tipo "cuesta entre 300 millones y 400 millones de bolívares al año. Cuando iniciamos transmisiones en 1975 lo hicimos con la campaña sostenida de 1 bolívar por día a fin de que los oyentes, profesionales y a empresarios colaboraran con la emisora. Sin embargo, fueron pocos los benefactores que apoyaron nuestro trabajo. Es triste, pero en nuestro propio país no hay solidaridad". Advirtió con preocupación que en los últimos años la cultura ha venido descendiendo "en una forma muy evidente bajo la mirada indiferente del Conac" y el cierre de esta emisora es una muestra de "cuán maltratada está la elevación espiritual de nuestra gente". Por los momentos desconoce si en el año 2004 la emisora Cultural de Caracas retomará sus transmisiones amparada por el conocido circuito radial, no obstante, refirió que éste tiene una fundación cultural "que tratará de darle mayor prioridad a la cultura y sería maravilloso que mantuviera la señal al aire". (via JEDG, ibid.) ** VIETNAM [non]. RUSSIA: Frequency change for Voice of Khmer Kampuchea-Krom in Khmer: 1400-1500 Tue NF 11550 VLD 250 kW / 230 , ex 11560 to avoid WYFR En via TWN (Observer, Bulgaria, Nov 21 via DXLD) ** VIETNAM [non]. [Let`s see, this would be Degar Voice, right?] 9585 1330 1430 49,50 202 70 218 1234567 261003 280304 JUL 100 NHS (DTK T-Systems schedule revised Nov 14, via Alokesh Gupta, DXLD) ** WESTERN SAHARA [non]. Re not non? I've listened a fair bit to this one. Never heard mention of Algeria as a location; or indeed any other transmitter location. Rumour has always said it operated from Tindouf area of Algeria. Their web site includes a photo of the transmitter and a map (shows where S0RASD [ham station] operated from.) Click on "R Nacional" or "W Sahara Map" http://web.jet.es/rasd/ Oddly the photo looks like an FM array on the top of the mast presumably fed by the sat dishes at the bottom. Website still lists old 7470 kHz frequency. 73s (Steve Whitt, UK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ZAMBIA. 4910, R. Zambia/ZNBC, *0240-0256, Nov. 21, English, NA followed by Fish Eagle IS, native music at 0250 followed by drum beat and OM with ID, "This is Radio Zambia.." Unintelligible, though up- beat, talks followed, sounded like announcer shouting a list of names, drum beat again and more talk. Good music audio, muddy vocals though (Scott R. Barbour, Jr., Intervale, NH, DX LISTENING DIGEST) UNIDENTIFIED. 5392, Horribly distorted signal. Couldn't even get a het [carrier?], but M talk sounded like preaching in Spanish. Nothing // in 60 meters. Spur from somewhere else?? (Dave Valko, PA, 22 Nov., Cumbre DX via DXLD) No time Interesting! I have heard the same station the last days with religious program and very distorted signal. 73s from (Björn Malm, Quito, Ecuador, ibid.) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ RADIO EQUIPMENT FORUM +++++++++++++++++++++ ROYALS TUNE IN TO A RETRO REVOLUTION By Richard Alleyne, London Telegraph (Filed: 20/11/2003) Amid the grandeur of Buckingham Palace, it speaks volumes about the lifestyle of the Royal Family. Sitting on the - almost certainly antique - breakfast table and surrounded by silver service and fine china is a modern transistor radio. According to the Mirror's undercover reporter, Prince Philip gave his Roberts radio pride of place so that he could listen to the news as he read the morning papers. But not for him the 1950s retro-style of the company's best-selling Revival range, costing £100. He prefers the far more practical and, at £30, cheaper Worldband model, offering good reception of the BBC World Service. Roberts supplies radios by royal appointment to the Queen and the Prince of Wales, and has been making them since 1932 at its South Yorkshire factory. Paul Burrell, the former butler to Diana, Princess of Wales, had said the Queen carries one around to listen to Terry Wogan. A decade ago, the company was struggling, with a product shunned by the young and trendy. Then came a piece of good fortune - a red version of their retro model appeared on a television advert for Martini. The company said its telephones went crazy. It now produces radios in a range of colours. Chris Evans has a green one, Zoe Ball a pink one, while Paul Merton sports a black Revival. Prince William and Prince Harry are also said to own Roberts radios. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2003/11/20/nque220.xml&sSheet=/news/2003/11/20/ixnewstop.html (via Kim Elliott, DXLD) PROPAGATION +++++++++++ QST DE W1AW PROPAGATION FORECAST BULLETIN 47 ARLP047 From Tad Cook, K7RA Seattle, WA November 21, 2003 To all radio amateurs The three sunspots that raised so much havoc at the end of October are back after journeying across the sun`s far side. Thursday, November 20 had a planetary A index of 117, indicating a very strong geomagnetic storm. The mid-latitude A index was 67, and Alaska`s College A index was 161. Average daily sunspot numbers for the week rose to 63 from 32.6 last week. Average daily solar flux rose from 94.8 to 117.7, and the average daily planetary A index went from 23.4 to 31.7. Over last weekend, a solar wind disturbed the earth`s magnetic field. Conditions were disturbed until November 19, when the planetary and mid-latitude A indices were in a normal range. The day before, Tuesday, November 18, sunspot 486 pushed a coronal mass toward the earth. This was the event that caused all the upset two days later on Thursday, November 20. Ken Brown, N4SO, on the USNS Bowditch, a surveying ship in the Military Sealift Command reports from somewhere around the South China Sea that he copied the W1AW AMTOR FEC signal on 14.095 MHz at 2315z on November 18. Equipment was a Global Marine Distress and Safety System receiver and a whip antenna. The path is over 8,000 miles. A projection with the W6ELprop software for that day shows 2300-0000z may be the end of a short opening probably beginning around 2130z. Rough conditions should subside over the weekend. Current projection shows the planetary A index from Friday to Monday, November 21-24 at 45, 35, 20 and 20. Predicted solar flux values over the same period are 180, 190, 200 and 210. High sunspot and solar flux levels are expected to remain through Thanksgiving Day, November 27. Diane Leveque, NH6HE, suggested a web site at Lockheed Martin Solar and Astrophysics Laboratory that shows dramatic photos and measurements of solar events. Check it out at http://www.lmsal.com/solarsoft/latest_events/ John Huffman, NA8M wrote ``Conditions here in the northern latitudes of Michigan are much different than for those folks in Florida and Texas. Which propagation indicators should I look for to see if the north, in particular, is going to have lousy conditions?`` John should check the mid-latitude K index transmitted by WWV at 18 minutes after each hour. It is updated every three hours, and when it goes above 3, conditions will get rough, and the higher latitudes feel it more than the lower. Every K index point represents a significant change, and at the end of the day, the K indices are used to calculate the A index for that date. A full day of K indices at 3 would yield an A index at 15. A full day of K equal to 4 would be A equal to 27, and with K equal to 5 the A would be 48. On Thursday, November 20, the mid-latitude A index was 67. Starting early in the UTC day (Wednesday evening in North America) the K index was only 1, then it rose to 3, 5, 6, 5, 7, 7 and then 6. Likewise, when the K index goes lower, the geomagnetic field is more stable and HF paths should become more reliable. It can go all the way down to zero. In addition to receiving WWV for the K index, you can check the WWV message on line at http://sec.noaa.gov/ftpdir/latest/wwv.txt You can also check recent A and K indices for mid-latitude, planetary and high latitude values at http://www.sec.noaa.gov/ftpdir/indices/DGD.txt Another option is to call 303-497-3235. This isn`t the number for the live WWV audio, but a recording of the latest WWV message. Live WWV audio is at 303-499-7111. Next week`s Propagation Bulletin number ARLP048 will come early because of the Thanksgiving holiday. Look for it on Wednesday, November 26. For more information about propagation and an explanation of the numbers used in this bulletin see the Propagation page on the ARRL Web site at http://www.arrl.org/tis/info/propagation.html Sunspot numbers for November 13 through 19 were 25, 34, 52, 54, 72, 90 and 114 with a mean of 63. 10.7 cm flux was 102.1, 98.9, 97.8, 104.4, 121, 144.3 and 155.1, with a mean of 117.7. Estimated planetary A indices were 42, 37, 40, 35, 34, 20 and 14, with a mean of 31.7. Copyright © 2003, American Radio Relay League, Inc. All Rights Reserved (via John Norfolk, DX LISTENING DIGEST) NW7US PROPAGATION UPDATE: 22-XI-2003 Howdy, The high geomagnetic activity that occurred during the passage of the coronal hole mass ejection (CME) from 18-XI-2003 has decreased, and remained at low levels for the last few reporting periods. At the same time, the 10.7-cm flux is greater than 170. Solar wind speed at the time of this writing is just over 550 km per second, with a slightly negative interplanetary magnetic field horizontal component orientation (the Bz is -2.8 nT). This has led to fair HF signal propagation, with normal propagation conditions over low-latitude paths, fair propagation over mid-latitude paths, and fair to poor propagation over high-latitude paths. The coronal mass ejection observed in association with the M9-class flare of 20-XI-2003 is likely to glance the Earth's magnetosphere during the later half of 22-XI-2003 UTC. This CME should combine with an anticipated high coronal hole solar wind stream to produce further minor storm activity. The expected elevated solar wind speed is a result of a coronal hole that is now in a position where it is spewing plasma directly into the Earth's direction. The combination of the higher solar wind speed and the glancing of the arriving CME will lead to active to minor storm levels from late 22-XI-2003 UTC and into 23-XI-2003 UTC. There is a slight chance of the geomagnetic field to reach major storm levels at some latitudes during this weekend. The 10.7-cm flux levels are expected to continue to rise slightly to a maximum of about 200 over the next day or so. The greater than 10MeV proton flux levels have been remaining moderate. According to the POSE observations at the time of writing this bulletin, however, there is a very little polar cap proton presence. When very energetic protons (greater than 10 MeV) produced by processes at the sun and interplanetary space arrive at Earth and enter the atmosphere over the polar regions, ionization is greatly enhanced at altitudes below 100 km. Ionization at these low altitudes is particularly effective in absorbing HF radio signals and can render HF communications impossible throughout the polar regions. Since we are not seeing significant wide-spread proton activity right now over the poles, E-layer ionization is mostly normal at these high latitudes. The big sunspot groups from late October and early November, now numbered 501, 507, and 508, are quite a bit smaller this time around. However, they do have enough magnetic complexity to produce M-class flares. There is a sixty percent chance of an M-class flare, and a fifteen percent chance of an X-class flare. Most of the flares expected will be in the C-class range. This will mostly impact the lower frequencies on the sunlit side of the Earth. HF propagation conditions will continue to be fair to normal for most of today (22-XI-2003 UTC), but will slightly degrade late in the day and into Sunday. Late Sunday, conditions may improve slightly, and then by Monday should again be mostly normal over all latitudes except for some degradation over the poles. VHF propagation is expected to be quiet with very slight chance of any Auroral. However, there might be a slight chance of some F-layer openings, and of transequatorial propagation during the afternoon and evening hours local time. There have been some reports of Sporadic-E, but openings are expected to be rare. More information as events warrant 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/ 73 de Tomas, NW7US (AAR0JA/AAM0EWA) -- : Propagation Editor, CQ/CQ VHF/Popular Communications Magazines : : http://hfradio.org/ -- http://prop.hfradio.org/ -- Brinnon, WA : (via Cumbre DX via DXLD) See also USA --- WBCQ ###