DX LISTENING DIGEST 3-214, November 29, 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 1209: WWCR: Sun 0330 5070, 0730 3210, Wed 1030 9475 WBCQ: Mon 0515 7415 WRN: Europe Sun 0530, 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 1209 (high version): (stream) http://www.w4uvh.net/wor1209h.ram (download) http://www.w4uvh.net/wor1209h.rm (summary) http://www.worldofradio.com/wor1209.html WORLD OF RADIO 1209 (low version): (stream) http://www.w4uvh.net/wor1209.ram (download) http://www.w4uvh.net/wor1209.rm WORLD OF RADIO OVER WINB Glenn --- WINB is starting some new programs and I no longer have a spot for WOR. I appreciate you giving us the opportunity to carry WOR over WINB the last several months (Hans Johnson, FL, WINB, Nov 28, DX LISTENING DIGEST) WORLD OF RADIO ON IBC RADIO, WRMI Checked webstream and 15725 a few minutes after 1900 UT Sat Nov 29, and instead of WORLD OF RADIO, heard R. Japan news originally aired at 1700 UT; this is on the IBC schedule for 1930 UT, when IBC promotions ran instead. So was WOR on at some other time?? ** AFGHANISTAN. COALITION TO DISTRIBUTE SHORTWAVE RADIOS In a news briefing today at Bagram Air Base, the US military in Afghanistan announced that the coalition plans to distribute more than 200,000 shortwave radios to people across Afghanistan. "Truth is one of the most effective weapons against the terrorists and anti- coalition forces that are attempting to reinfect Afghanistan," said spokesman Maj. Bryan Hilferty. The radios will be wind-up ones, as many Afghans do not have electricity or batteries. Maj. Hilferty did not disclose any details of when or how the radios will be distributed. # posted by Andy @ 11:40 UT Nov 29 (Media Network blog via DXLD) AP Article From: http://www.billingsgazette.com/index.php?id=1&display=rednews/2003/11/29/build/world/w-60-radios.inc U.S.-LED COALITION TO DISTRIBUTE 200,000 RADIOS IN AFGHANISTAN Associated Press BAGRAM, Afghanistan ­ The U.S.-led coalition will distribute more than 200,000 shortwave radios to people across Afghanistan, the U.S. military said Saturday. "Truth is one of the most effective weapons against the terrorists and anti-coalition forces that are attempting to reinfect Afghanistan," spokesman Maj. Bryan Hilferty told a news briefing at the coalition headquarters at Bagram Air Base. The radios would be given to Afghans for free to allow them "unfettered access to many sources of news," he said. Most of Afghanistan lacks a regular supply of electricity. Hilferty gave no further details about the cost of the radios or their distribution. The radios are powered by a crank. The announcement comes as the former ruling Taliban regime and its allies appear to be trying to undermine the U.S.-backed Afghan government and efforts to rebuild the war-battered country. The Taliban, ousted in a U.S.-led military operation in late 2001, has stepped up attacks in the south and east of the country in recent months. Statements purportedly from the Taliban have also warned Afghans against taking part in next month’s tribal council to ratify a new constitution, and general elections slated for June 2004. Some 11,600 U.S.-led forces are hunting Taliban and al-Qaida followers in Afghanistan (via Mike Terry; and via Ulis Fleming, Cumbredx mailing list via DXLD) ** ALASKA. Apropos of Dr. Peterson's item about the foundation problem at the KICY transmitter building, I thought you might like this photograph showing the "shims" that have been installed to keep the building level as the foundation sinks in the permafrost. This photo was taken by Stephen Lockwood of our firm who was in Nome a few weeks ago. http://www.ydunritz.com/photoKICY.htm (Ben Dawson (25/11-2003), Ydun`s MW News via DXLD) ** ANDAMAN & NICOBAR ISLANDS. 4750 instead of 4760: See INDIA ** AZERBAIJAN. Re Nagorno-Karabakh, 9677.7: Some additional information: this is de facto a "break-away republic" (rather than an "autonomous republic") which in 1991 declared (unrecognized) independence from Azerbaijan. The region's official viewpoint can be found on the website of the republic's Ministry of Foreign Affairs: http://www.nkr.am/eng/ The region is outside of Azerbaijani control, administered by Armenian separatists, maintaining close links with Armenia. The main local language is Armenian; in Armenian the region is called "Artsakh", in Azeri "Qarabag". The term "Nagorno-Karabakh" came into English from Russian (which now is a minority language in the region) and means "Mountainous Karabakh". Linguistically it is a rather curious form because the word Karabakh which is Azeri (in proper Azeri spelling: Qarabag) means "Highlands", so "Nagorno-Karabakh" means "Mountainous Highlands". Under the given circumstances, the term "Artsakh" would perhaps be the most suitable name (analogue to "Pridnestrovye" in Moldova), the region's state broadcaster has the name "Artsakhteleradio" (see WRTH under "Azerbaijan"). However, the SW broadcasts from Stepanakert used to be conducted by a private programme producer (and perhaps still are). (Bernd Trutenau. Lithuania, DXplorer Nov 23 via BC-DX via DXLD) ** BELARUS. Re 3-213, So in Belarussian language, not Russian? (gh) Belarusian (please note the modern spelling: not "Belarussian", cf. the station's English website) is the sole state language in Belarus and Belarusian State Radio is broadcasting primarily in Belarusian. But there is a "liberal attitude" towards Russian speakers, which means that if a radio or TV journalist is a Russian speaker, he would present his report in Russian, after that the newsreader would continue in Belarusian. I listened to Radyus FM on FM a couple of times during the summer and heard them only in Belarusian, but I would expect that they are indeed bilingual. As for the language: Belarusian is sometimes misunderstood as a "Russian dialect" in other parts of the world, but it is a Slavic language of its own, as much different (or similar) to Russian as Ukrainian or Bulgarian. A considerable part of the Belarusian vocabulary has common roots with Baltic languages (esp. Lithuanian) and Polish (Bernd Trutenau, Lithuania, Nov 29, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CANADA. Radio Japan heard in English at 0506 on 12220, 2 x 6110. Signal was fair. Heard ID by female into news. At 0508 rapid fading, then the band went out (Ron Trotto, Waggoner IL, WDX4KWI, Cumbre DX via DXLD) ** CANADA. Re 3-213, It costs the equivalent of $2.37 to mail a first- class letter to Canada from Great Britain --- In fact the cost of sending an orginary 10g airmail letter from the UK to Canada is 47 pence which works out at only around $1.05 Canadian dollars! A 20g letter is 68 pence which is approx $1.52. Most ordinary letters would fall within those two weight steps, so goodness knows where they got the $2.37 from! 73s (Dave Kenny, UK, Nov 28, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Canada Post is being misleading here. Costs of an airmail letter to Canada from Great Britain are 47p for up to 10 grams, 68p for up to 20 grams, £1.05 for up to 40 grams which in Canadian dollars at todays exchange rate is $1.01, $1.46 and $2.26 respectively. With an airmail envelope my letters always come in less than 20 and often less than 10 grams with appropriate stationary (Mike Barraclough, Letchworth, UK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CANADA [and non]. RADIO STRETCHES THE 12 DAYS OF CHRISTMAS 'Feel-good music': Stations adopt format of continuous carols Mary Vallis National Post Friday, November 28, 2003 So much for the silent night. In a trend that could be the last straw for grinches everywhere, a growing number of radio stations are adopting all-Christmas, all the time formats in the weeks leading to the big day, pleasing many listeners but driving others to the brink of despair. They claim it is what we want. . . http://www.nationalpost.com/home/story.html?id=530A0970-A4B5-4E26-9C65-E3640ABC9ED0 (via Art Blair, Folsom CA, Gerald T. Pollard, and via Harry van Vugt, Windsor, Ontario, Canada, DXLD) ** CHINA. TAIWAN. I've just checked the NDXC site, and found this [below]. I assume these services have again resumed SW broadcasting via some transmitters which they have found "spare". It looks like 5 are in use, and interesting to see that old 15880, 9170 & 7620 outside the bands have been chosen. TWN-1 0055-0615 15710, 11935, 11620 0955-0005 9380, 7620, 5925 TWN-2 15880 0355-1230 9170 2055-0105, 1230-1805 11905 0355-1200, 2330-0105 6165 2055-2330 6140 1200-1805 11905, 6140 & 6165 are all HFCC registered as 50 kW 170 deg. 9170 & 15880 are not registered. 15710 is 50 kW 162 deg as are 5925 11620 & 11935. 9380 & 7620 not registered - and all via BEI. I assume via one of the "old" sites and maybe had been used for jamming till the new Continentals were put into service for Firedrake duties? (Noel R. Green, UK, BC-DX Nov 23 via DXLD) This was under TAIWAN in BC-DX, but this refers to the service to Taiwan, from the mainland (gh) ** COLOMBIA. Regarding the blobmitter(s) above 10 MHz, again on Nov 28 I checked between 2242 and 2334 UT. The stronger one covered about 10325 to 10340 peaking around 10332, and a weaker one proved to be in parallel at 10445 give or take. This time mostly music was playing, not including the Colombian NA at 2300 when there was no break. Occasional announcements in Spanish were extremely difficult to copy; I noticed `negative modulation peaks`, i.e. the S-meter dipped when the audio peaked. The best ID I could get was what sounded like ``RCN``, especially at 2323 and 2334. That would be the Colombian network Radio Cadena Nacional. Blues music filled one segment, and for a few minutes I was hearing WWV on-the-minute beeps mixed in. There was no sign of any matching audio, weak or strong, on the 9 MHz band, nor as usual, any sign of XERMX on 9705 or 11770, the previous, and no doubt future suspect. Yesterday, I suspected it was La Voz del Llano, Colombia, when the blob centered around 10315 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** COSTA RICA. TIDGS seems to become more active on 9725; Nov 28 at 2247 it was booming in, as it was around 0600. I can think of another Costa Rican station which could make much better use of such a transmitter (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CUBA. Re 13630: Hi Glenn, The irony of the Cubans jamming CRI is overwhelming. Hahahahahaha. Thanks, I didn't think of checking the A- 03 schedule [of R. Martí]. As always, your knowledge is awesome (Mark Taylor, WI, Nov 28, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CUBA. Hi Glenn, Reception of Radio Habana Cuba is poor these days here in SW of Finland. Of course their transmitters from the 70´s (?) are aging just like their automobiles from the 50´s. Three "best" channels to hear RHC here in my QTH seem to be: if you´re insomniac, your choice is 6000 kHz 01 UT when RHC starts their English broadcast to North America. RHC also noted in English 9820 kHz until 07 UT in English. After that they turn to Spanish. The third frequency is 11760 kHz with Arnie Coro´s "DXers Unlimited" program heard last Tuesday till 2130 UT. After Arnie, program in French. Reception in all these three cases is unfortunately very poor. To log Radio Habana Cuba is real DX-ing in this part of the world. 73´s and happy "little" Christmas! "Little X-mas" is a Finnish tradition and it´s called in Finnish "pikkujoulu" (Jouko Huuskonen, Turku SUOMI-FINLAND, Nov 28, DX LISTENING DIGEST) As in Italian/Swedish? So when is it, Dec 6? ** CUBA. 15570, Radio Rebelde/Radio Habana Cuba; 1823-1829*, 28-Nov; Something new? M&W in Spanish with LAm news commentaries. Dual ID at 1828, "Radio Rebelde, Radio Habana Cuba transmitiendo...". News continued but audio off abruptly 1828:45 then pulled plug. SIO=343 (Harold Frodge, Midland MI, Cumbre DX via DXLD) Maybe said ``La Habana`` instead of ``Radio Habana`` (gh) ** CUBA. OBSERVATION ON NON-DISSEMINATION OF TEXTS OF FIDEL CASTRO'S SPEECHES Cuban broadcast and print media have not been observed to carry in complete form any speech by Fidel Castro since 28 September. While not without precedent, the apparent failure by the media in recent weeks to broadcast in their entirety or otherwise disseminate complete texts of the only two speeches known to have been delivered by Fidel Castro during that period is unusual. A mere four minutes in excerpts from Castro's 31 October speech to close a conference of the Latin American Council for the Social Sciences (Clacso) conference in Havana were televised by Cubavisión on 1 November, following a report carried that day by the newspaper Granma. Monitored coverage of Castro's 7 November address to an awards ceremony at an international trade fair consisted only of reports by Granma and the AIN news agency. Nor were full texts of these speeches posted on a Cuban government web site that specializes in texts of Castro's speeches and is currently giving his 28 September address before the Committees for the Defence of the Revolution (CDR) as its latest offering http://www.cuba.cu/gobierno/discursos/index.html Source: BBC Monitoring research 25 Nov 03 (via DXLD) So maybe he`s dead already, or indisposed, or losing total control over the media? Believe heard bits of the Sept 28 speech more than once after 1400 UT on RHC, which seems to be a regular time for Castro speeches (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ECUADOR. Quito 27/Nov/2003 21:45 6357.11 Radio Panamericána, Quero, 27th of November 2003 - 0100 UT. Señales débiles todas pero hace algunos años un Dxista en Suecia captó Panamericána en 4767 kHz! 1589.27 onda media 3178.55 x2 harmonic 4767.81 x3 harmonic 6357.11 x4 harmonic (Björn Malm, Quito, Ecuador, SWB América Latina, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ECUADOR [and non]. GERMANY/ECUADOR New nighttime program of HCJB in German. From Monday Dec 1st, 2003 HCJB will start again a nighttime service in German, now via DTK T-systems Wertachtal Germany relay site, on 5970 kHz 125 kW. 1800-1830 UTC in Lower German (Plattdeutsch) and at 1830-1900 UTC in [High] German language. This is NOT a repeat of the morning direct program, and does NOT contain the "Sendung fuer DXer" program. The latter one comes still Saturdays at 0600-0630 UTC direct from Pifo Ecuador on 9780 kHz with 100 kW (HCJB DX program in German; via Dieter Leupold-D, A-DX Nov 29 via Wolfgang Büschel, DXLD) Viz.: - - - - Subject: [A-DX] Neue Frequenz fuer HCJB Deutsch GERMANY/ECUADOR Neue Abendsendung in Deutsch via HCJB Nach einer Mitteilung von HCJB, die Sendung für DX-er gibt es eine neue Mitteilung: Ab Montag den 01.12.2003 sendet HCJB auch abend's wieder in Deutsch auf einer neuen QRG, auf 5970 kHz mit 125 kW aus Wertachtal (Deutschland). Ab 1800-1830 UTC in Plattdeutsch und ab 1830-1900 UTC in Hochdeutsch, aber leider am Samstag kein DX-Programm, da wird ein anderes Programm gesendet. Die Sendung für DX-er kommt weiterhin Samstags von 0600-0630 UTC direkt aus Pifo bei Quito in Ecuador mit 100 kW. (Dieter Leupold-D, A- DX Nov 29, ibid.) HCJB via T-Systems Dieter Leupold reports that the German section of HCJB announced today transmissions via Wertachtal, starting on December 1st: 1800-1900 on 5970 with 125 kW, first half hour Plattdeutsch, on Saturdays no DX show but other programming instead. The German schedule page at http://www.hcjb.org/deutsch/modules.php?op=modload&name=Sections&file=index&req=viewarticle&artid=24&page=1 (how I like such PHP sites, one looking like each other) was already updated. Well, not long ago a use of foreign relays for HCJB German to Europe was considered as not suitable because the actual attraction would be the circumstance that the programmes are transmit directly from Ecuador and because the Pifo transmitters are HCJB's own property, making it unnecessary to lease someone else's facilities. So the start of transmissions via the Wertachtal plant appears to mark a change in policy, and it actually speaks for itself that the Wertachtal release doesn't include the DX show. And probably the Russian HCJB test transmissions reported by Konstantin Gusev on Nov 24 with good signals in Moscow (0330-0430 on 6125 and 9765) originated from Germany, too? (Kai Ludwig, Germany, Nov 29, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Hallo Kai, habe ich auch erst gedacht. Aber - zumindest - die IBB RMS logs zeigen den HCJB direct Eintrag, nicht Wertachtal! Hat das was zu bedeuten? Die Weyl File vom 14.11. zeigt noch keinen HCJB Eintrag. Ausserdem hat HCJB früher auch die 49 und 31 mb Frequenz genutzt, der Pfad lässt das im Sonnenflecken Minimum zu. 0330-0430 UT ..TW.FS 03:41:02 S HCJ RUSS 6125 AM HCJ ....T.. 03:41:02 S HCJ RUSS 9845 AM HCJ .M..... 03:41:27 S HCJ RUSS 9765 AM HCJ die 17-18 UT Sendung zeigt aber RMP Rampisham site. S...... 17:43:07 S HCJ RUSS 11760 AM RMP 73 (Wolfgang Büschel, Germany, via DXLD) ** EL SALVADOR. Radio El Salvador 96.9 FM Acabo de visitar la página web de Radio El Salvador y me he llevado una impresión muy grata de la señal de esta radio en internet. Estuve por más de dos horas escuchándola y la señal no tuvo un sólo corte y aparte de eso se oye muy bien. Es de las emisoras con mejor señal que he escuchado en la web; aparte de eso tiene muy buenos comerciales, jingles, promociones, y música muy buena. Les invito a visitarla en la siguiente dirección: http://www.gobernacion.gob.sv/web-radio/front%20radio.htm Lo único que noto es que los links para ver todo sobre la radio, ninguno funciona; les acabo de ecribir y el correo me rebota. Pero bueno, lo que me interesa es que se oiga bien y pasar un rato agradable, y la verdad es que lo pasé chevere. Espero comentarios. Atte: (José Elías, Venezuela, Nov 25, Conexión Digital via DXLD) Doesn`t connect for me; now percentage 20 --- should that be underscore, or what? (gh, DXLD) ** EL SALVADOR. That reminds me, no signal on 17835 the past week or so, morning or evening, from R. Imperial (Glenn Hauser, OK, Nov 28, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** FRANCE [non]. U.K.: Winter B-03 schedule for RFI via Merlin Comm.: 0300-0357 French 7135 MEY 250 kW / 019 deg 0400-0457 French 7270 ASC 250 kW / 114 deg 0400-0557 French 15210 DHA 250 kW / 255 deg 0600-0657 French 11725 ASC 250 kW / 027 deg 0600-0657 French 17770 KIG 250 kW / 280 deg 0700-0757 French 15170 MEY 250 kW / 328 deg 1100-1157 French 17720 MEY 250 kW / 355 deg co-ch VOT Turkish 1200-1227 English 17815 ASC 250 kW / 027 deg 1200-1357 French 17720 MEY 250 kW / 328 deg co-ch VOT Turkish & RRI Romanian 1230-1257 French 21760 MEY 250 kW / 328 deg 1600-1627 Pashto 9565 DHA 250 kW / 045 deg 1600-1657 English 9730 MEY 250 kW / 005 deg 1600-1657 English 15160 MEY 250 kW / 328 deg 1800-1857 Persian 6015 DHA 250 kW / 340 deg 1900-1957 French 7160 MEY 250 kW / 355 deg (Observer, Bulgaria, Nov 28 via DXLD) Re 3-213, RFI via Xi`an on 7180 at 1400, French or English? ENGLISH (Swopan Chakroborty, India, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** FRANCE. SOME RADIO FRANCE TECHNICIANS ON STRIKE Paris-based technicians at Radio France have gone on strike following the failure to negotiate a new pay deal with management. There are currently disparities between the salaries paid to these staff and colleagues working for regional stations. According to Radio France general manager François Desnoyers, 35 of the 47 technicians rostered to work on Wednesday morning supported the strike, while 42 out of 59 on the afternoon shift did. These staff work mostly in the largest studios at Radio France, so their strike action is disrupting some programmes on networks such as France Inter, France Culture and FIP. # posted by Andy @ 11:32 UT Nov 28 (Media Network blog via DXLD) ** GREECE [non]. Hellenes Around the World on VOG was back this week, at 1702 UT Sat Nov 29 on 17705 via Delano; last week it was pre-empted by sports, and I thought that was happening this week, as after 1700 we were hearing `ERA Sport`, but apparently the network feed was switched in time for the sole English program on the Delano relay. In the second half interviewed some American about relations with Turkey. As usual, it`s hard for me to follow the accent of the presenter; the audio processing on the super-strong signal doesn`t help either (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** HUNGARY. Glenn, R. Budapest, 0200-0230 UT, 9835 kHz with fair reception November 29, 2003. Moderate QRM from RAI on 9840 kHz. Fair until 0213 when All India Radio ident signal begins on 9835 kHz. When AIR broadcast begins at 0215 mixing with R. Budapest makes the R. Budapest broadcast useless. 73, (Kraig Krist, Annandale, VA, DX LISTENING DIGEST) So how long are these stations going to let this continue? (gh, DXLD) ** INDIA. AIR ROBBED OF ITS VOICE --- OUR CORRESPONDENT Siliguri, Nov. 26: All India Radio programmes went off the air this morning after transmission equipment worth about Rs 1 crore were stolen late last night from the antenna-monitoring unit room of the ``heavily guarded`` Akashvani station here. The burglary has taken authorities by surprise as the Sevoke Road building is a high security zone with an armed police squad on guard round-the-clock. ``We spend around Rs 13 lakh annually on security, which includes housing, water and electricity for the squad. Besides, entry to the building, which houses technical equipment and other sophisticated gizmos, is restricted. The theft has taken us by surprise,`` said AIR Siliguri station director Sripada Das. Transmission was badly hit with only a few programmes broadcast from the 200 KW-capacity station since morning, senior Akashvani officials said. Sources said no one spotted any irregularity till 11.12 last night, when transmission was switched off for the day. It was only at five in the morning, ahead of the morning transmissions, that somebody from the station’s engineering section spotted ``abnormalities``. ``We switched on the main transmitter and found the equipment behaving rather strangely. We traced certain signals to the copper-shielded antenna monitoring unit room. When we reached the room, it was almost empty,`` said an engineer with the transmission station. An ``insider angle`` to the theft is not being ruled out. Another worry is the near halt in transmission. No one is quite sure when the programmes would again go on air. Material stolen comprise sophisticated condensers and tuning coils used in the antenna monitoring unit. The unit acts as a link between the transmitter and the radiating masts outside. ``Since it was basically networking equipment that was stolen, there is virtually no link now between the transmitter and the radiating masts that emit the signals. Transmission cannot be fully restored unless the link equipment are put in place,`` said a senior station engineer. ``The theft has been communicated to the AIR bosses, including the chief engineer at Calcutta. A team of senior AIR/Doordarshan officials is expected to arrive here tomorrow to look into the case,`` Das said. Sniffer dogs have been pressed into service by the police to trace the routes used by the raiders to enter the station (from http://www.telegraphindia.com via Alokesh Gupta, New Delhi, India, dx_india via DXLD) ** INDIA. Today 26 Nov 2003 I observed several interesting things on AIR. 1) Port Blair was noted on 4750 instead of 4760 at around 0000 onwards. Power is 5 kw. 2) Delhi not heard on 7150 at 0030-0040 3) Aligarh (?) noted on 5990 with National Channel programs signing off at 0043. (ex 9470) 4) For 0100-0200 5990 Sindhi broadcast Aligarh (?) noted (ex Panaji) 5) For 0130-0230 9810 Nepali broadcast Panaji noted (ex Aligarh) 6) 1170 kHz Hyderabad. Vividh Bharathi programs heard from sign on at 0025. At 0100-0110 there was a break for the new Raithu Vani (Farmers Voice) program. Vividh Bharathi program is still continuing as I send this message at 0525 UTC. Seems that the reactivated 1170 kHz is a mixture of Vividh Bharathi and Raithu Vani programs (Jose Jacob, VU2JOS, National Institute of Amateur Radio, Raj Bhavan Road, Hyderabad 500082, India, dx_india via DXLD) But updated next day::: Here are some more info on my recent mails: 1. AIR Port Blair was noted back on 4760 kHz. They were on 4750 on 26th Nov. 03 by some error! 2. AIR Delhi was missing only on 26th Nov. at 0030-0040 on 7150 kHz. They were heard as usual today and yesterday. 3. About AIR National Channel program noted on 5990 Aligarh at around 0030, it looks like "warming up" period transmission for the broadcast starting from 0100 UT. National Channel continues from Aligarh on 9470 although they are having lot of power break downs today. 4. The transmitter sites of 5990 and 9810 have been interchanged as follows: 5990 Aligarh 250 kw 0100-0200 Sindhi (Ex Panaji) 9810 Panaji 250 kw 0130-0230 Nepali (Ex Aligarh) 5. The monitored schedule of the new broadcasts from AIR Hyderabad 1170 kHz (1 kW) is as follows in IST. 5.55 am to 6.30 am Vividh Bharathi 6.30 am to 6.40 am Raithu Vani (Farmer's Voice) 6.40 am to 12.50 pm Vividh Bharathi 12.50 pm to 1.00 pm Raithu Vani 6.25 pm to 7.05 pm Raithu Vani 6. The MW frequency of the 200 kW station at Siliguri, whose antenna matching unit etc. was stolen is 711 kHz. 7. The month long special broadcasts from Radio Kashmir, Srinagar on 4950 from around 2315-0015 ended on 25th Nov. 2003 as Ramadan was celebrated on 26th Nov. (Jose Jacob, VU2JOS, India, ibid.) ** INTERNATIONAL VACUUM. This weekend, the 29th and 30th of November, is the beginning of a month-long amateur radio special event on board the International Space Station. To commemorate Roy Neal, K6DUE, who died in August, ARISS has requested that the Space Station crew communicates with as many radio amateurs as possible. Roy Neal was the NBC news correspondent, producer and executive who had the vision to make amateur radio a permanent feature on manned space flights. The operators on the Space Station will use the callsign NA1SS on voice, and RS0ISS on packet. The downlink frequency for both modes is 145.800MHz. The uplink frequency for voice contacts in Europe is 145.200MHz, while the packet radio uplink frequency is 145.990MHz. ARISS requests that participants keep all contacts short. http://www.rsgb.org/news/gb2rs.htm (via Mike Terry, DXLD) ** INTERNATIONAL WATERS [non]. MV COMMUNICATOR PASSES SEAWORTHINESS TEST The owners of the radio ship MV Communicator say that the ship passed yesterday's seaworthiness test carried out in IJmuiden by a Dutch surveyor, and has been issued with a loadline exemption certificate. # posted by Andy @ 15:10 UT Nov 28 (Media Network blog via DXLD) Is it intended to be an off shore radio station again? (Anonymous, 11.29.03 - 12:51 pm, ibid.) That's the impression the owners like to give, but I would be very surprised if such a station is launched in 2003. Who will listen apart from a few thousand anoraks? The reason they needed a seaworthiness certificate is that they owners are British, and want to take the ship across the North Sea to be fitted out for broadcasting again (Andy, 11.29.03 - 12:55 pm, ibid.) Why bother when 1008 can't even sell its airtime. Running these rust buckets is just burying money at sea, unless they're looking for a way to launder it (Jonathan Marks, 11.29.03 - 3:42 pm, ibid.) I find it very hard to accept that (having slipped up once and allowed that boat to go out to sea and resume operation) the UK authorities would allow it happen a second time. When it arrives in the UK I think it'll be staying here. Seems to me in the 21st Century in the (so-called) Free Radio world it is more important to give the impression of doing something than actually bothering to do anything in reality. Just so long as the gullible continue to divvy up the money every month and certain individuals get to satisfy their dellusions of grandeur (Ray Woodward, 11.29.03 - 6:22 pm, ibid.) ** IRELAND. RTE'S PROPOSED SERVICE ON 252 KHZ Hi all, Below is the latest information regarding RTE's proposed service on 252 kHz (the former Atlantic 252 transmitter). I received this today after sending a reception report to them a few months ago. On behalf of RTÉ can I acknowledge your contribution to our longwave 252 tests and apologise for the delay in reporting back to you. The tests have concluded for the time being and our next objective is to bring the issue to decision. It has been fantastic to read your responses; from those with a professional or collegiate interest; from those hearing echoes from home; from those with an interest in Ireland and from those who simply liked the programmes. Sincere thanks to you all! Unfortunately, the volume of responses we have collated and mapped means that we cannot respond individually. However, below are some short answers to the most frequent questions you asked. FAQs Where is the transmitter? Summerhill, Co. Meath, Ireland What service is proposed? Transmission of RTÉ Radio 1 - a talk and music channel from Ireland's public service broadcaster that is the most popular in the country. The station is particularly strong in spoken content and public interaction. When will you make a decision/go on air? We envisage presenting a proposal to our Authority (Governing Body) by the year end and, if approved, starting the service in Spring 2004 (perhaps there may be an appropriate date in the middle of March?!). I will mail you when we have a decision. How will you decide? The basic factors are: * Desire to provide All Ireland service on one frequency - related to Good Friday agreement and exchange of cultures on our island. * Concurrent benefit of transmission to UK - to serve the Irish community there and to bring our output to a new audience. * Potential demand for the service. We know that RTÉ has a strong audience at home but the wider audience remains unknown. Your mails have been extremely instructive and encouraging in this respect. * Cost of service - the power bill alone for a LW service is considerable. * Mix of existing services. Overseas, RTÉ radio broadcasts its four services on Satellite to the UK and Ireland, Radio 1 is also available throughout Europe on satellite and segments of R1 output are on Satellite throughout the world. We have to be sure that our mix of services is as effective as possible. [not to mention shortwave!! O O, see below! gh] Thanks once again - hopefully you'll hear from us soon! John Paul Coakley, Head of Operations, RTÉ Radio For more on RTÉ Radio please see the link below http://www.rte.ie/radio/index.html Robert GI7IVX Location: 54 03.20N 06 00.03W The home of NDB dxing in Northern Ireland Receiver NRD525 Antenna Datong AD370 vertically polarised http://www.kilkeel7.freeserve.co.uk/ http://www.rconnolly.utvinternet.com/ (via Mike Terry, Nov 27, BDXC-UK via DXLD) 252 LAUNCH DELAYED AGAIN RTÉ Radio 1's launch on long wave 252 kHz faces further delay "due to unforeseen circumstances". This is the second time the relay of RTÉ's flagship channel on 252 kHz has been delayed: it had already been earmarked for an October launch, but with just weeks to the deadline RTÉ then announced that it hoped to have the service running at the start of the New Year. Tests on the massive transmitter located in Summerhill, Co. Meath, have concluded according to RTÉ and the next stage is the decision-making process. Sources have now indicated that a St Patrick's Day March 17th launch is likely. http://www.radiowaves.fm/news/index.shtml (via Mike Terry, BDXC-UK and Paul David via DXLD) ** IRELAND [non]. Hello Glenn, Hope all is well. You have probably heard this but thought I would mail you just in case. Tonight when I was trying to log RTE at 0130 on 6155, it played a continuous tape- loop asking shortwave listeners to contact them for they are "reviewing" their shortwave services. They asked that all shortwave listeners write to sw@rte.ie or their postal address and detail where shortwave listeners are listening and if they have internet or satellite radio access. Sounds like another station to leave shortwave (Chris Campbell, Columbus Ohio, UT Nov 29, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Glenn; Right now I am listening to RTE Ireland 9850 kHz, 1810 UT. They are playing a loop tape stating that RTE is currently reviewing their shortwave service and would like to hear from shortwave listeners. They want to know if one has access to the Internet, satellite, where and how one listens to RTE Radio. Comments to: sw@rte.ie or Shortwave, RTE Radio, Dublin 4, Ireland (Mick Delmage, AB, Nov 29, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Well, it has been just an automatic pickup of a certain half hour of the domestic service, not properly produced for SW (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Winter B-03 schedule for RTE Radio One via Merlin Comm.: 0130-0200 English 6155 RMP 500 kW / 270 deg 1000-1030 English 15280 SNG 250 kW / 135 deg 1800-1830 English 9850 RMP 500 kW / 105 deg 1830-1900 English 13640 SAC 250 kW / 277 deg 1830-1900 English 21640 ASC 250 kW / 085 deg (Observer, Bulgaria, Nov 28 via DXLD) ** ISLE OF MAN. The proposed service on 279 kHz from proposed station to be located just off the Isle of Man's northern cost is also delayed while waiting for a court hearing following the lodgement of an objection by a resident against the decision for this station to operate. This court hearing should have taken place in September but the legal procedure was postponed and is not likely to be heard now until sometime in January. This in turn delays their development schedule and the plans to begin broadcast test in the summer of 2004 now look to be delayed also (Robert GI7IVX, Northern Ireland, via Mike Terry, Nov 27, BDXC-UK via DXLD) ** KURDISTAN [non?]. Voice of K.O.M.A.L.A. in Persian and Kurdish is on 3928 and 4618, and on 3880 and 4380 kHz is Voice of Iranian Revolution in Kurdish (Rumen Pankov, Bulgaria, BC-DX Nov 28 via DXLD) ** KYRGYZSTAN. Re KYRGYZ TV AND RADIO LAUNCHES WEB SITE The website of Kyrgyz State Radio (KTR) is http://www.ktr.kg. This domain was in use since over a year, but only with a blank start page so far (as mentioned in DXLD earlier this year). The website is in Russian except for comprehensive schedules that are bilingually Kygrgyz/Russian. Also Kyrgyz personal names are spelled in the Kyrgyz alphabet within the Russian text. The schedules reveal a large number of radio programmes in minority languages (Azeri, German, Korean, Kurdish, Uighur, Uzbek), plus relays of foreign broadcasters like BBC, DW (a.o. in German). A multilingual news block in Kyrgyz/ Russian/ English is listed for the 1st Programme (a.o. 4010 kHz) Mon-Fri 0100- 0120 and 0300-0320. Summary of Kyrgyz State Radio, Prgr 1 schedule, week 24-30 Nov 2003, as published on http://www.ktr.kg Transmission time: 0000-1900. 4010 kHz listed for SW, might still be // 4795. Main programme languages are Kyrgyz and Russian. Broadcasts in other languages: 0100-0120 (Mon-Fri) Kyrgyz/Russian/English*; 0300-0320 (Mon-Fri) Kyrgyz/Russian/English*; 0600-0615 (Mon-Fri) Kyrgyz/Uzbek*; 1400-1420 (Mon-Fri) Kyrgyz/German*; 1420-1500 (Mon) Uighur, 1420-1500 (Wed) Dungan; 1510-1525 (Mon) Azeri; 1510-1530 (Thu) Kurdish; 1530-1550 (Fri) Tatar; 1535-1550 (Wed) Korean. (* multilingual news block, duration of each language sequence not specified) Relays of foreign broadcasters: daily 0200-0230 & 1600-1630 BBC (presumably in Russian), daily 1700-1730 DW in German; plus selective other relays, presumably in Russian (like Radio Canada Int'l on Mon 1525-1550). (Bernd Trutenau, Lithuania, Nov 28, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** LAOS. 7145, Radio National Lao, Vientiane, is again on the air with test programms in Laotian. Very good modulation! Heard from presumed sign-on 2330 until 0830* UT, also with other languages from SE Asia, but not English and French was heard up to now. 1330 UT French-Laotian lessons ! til 1400 UTC, National Anthem. ID, IS+ID's was noted few times ! Best 35543 to 25332 (Roland Schulze, Philippines, Nov 11, BC-DX Nov 28 via DXLD) Yes, Laos is back with the International Service with 1130 Thai, 1200 Vietnamese, 1230 Khmer, French 1300-1330 and English 1330-1400. Modulation is okay but a little weaker that last year. Seems regular. Heard Nov 22nd, 23rd and as I write 24th! (Victor Gonnetillike, Sri Lanka, 4S7VK, DXplorer Nov 25 via BC-DX via DXLD) ** LATVIA. Good Listening: EMR on 9290 kHz this Sunday at 1400 UT (Thomas Taylor, EMR, Nov 29, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** MALTA [non]. A Nov 28 report at http://www.dxing.info/news/index.dx#vom assumes that VOM has closed down SW, not just internet. So is it still on the *air* for another month, or not? Europeans, please check out scheduled transmissions (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Voici la réponse de la Voix de la Méditerranée concernant un problème dans le flux audio le 16 novembre (réponse envoyée le 26 novembre ) : " ...Malheureusement, nos émissions sur Internet vont se terminer le vendredi 28 novembre pour des raisons indépendantes de notre volonté. Néanmoins, les informations sur le site et les émissions en ondes courtes se poursuivront, du moins pour le moment... " (Voix de la Méditerranée - courrier électronique du 26 novembre 2003, informations issues de http://perso.wanadoo.fr/jm.aubier via DXLD) VOICE OF THE MEDITERRANEAN CLOSES DOWN IN CONTROVERSIAL CIRCUMSTANCES Maltese-based international broadcaster Voice of the Mediterranean (VOM) closed down last night amid allegations of wrongdoing at the station, which have been denied by its management. The station was supposedly jointly financed by the Maltese and Libyan governments, but according to Maltese government sources the Libyans have not made any payments since 1998. Despite that, the station moved into new purpose- built accommodation earlier this year. It also launched its fourth Web site in a relatively short space of time. The contract to run the Web site was awarded to a Maltese Internet company that employs the son of VOM station manager Richard Muscat. Government officials say the station's books have been audited, and nothing untoward has been found. According to the Maltese government, Libya has now informed it that it no longer wishes to finance the station, so the government decided to close it down. The opposition believe that such a decision should not have been taken unliaterally by the government without a debate in parliament. The Labour Party’s spokesperson for foreign affairs and IT, Leo Brincat, has called for an independent enquiry into circumstances surrounding the station, which has cost the taxpayer 1.5 million Maltese pounds over the past three years. # posted by Andy @ 12:33 UT Nov 29 (Media Network blog via DXLD) Website is still up at http://www.vomradio.com/ and the radio link is running continuous music. The only clue to its demise is a pop-up which appeared after a few minutes. I don't think you can reprimand them on keeping their website in tune with changes. It is certainly the best website in Southern Europe (Jonathan Marks, 11.29.03 - 3:40 pm, ibid.) V of Mediterranean on 6185 (via Rome) signed on as usual today (Sat 29 Nov) in Italian at 1700 UT. The website pop-up says VOMi closing - refers to their internet station only?? 73s (Alan Pennington, Caversham, UK, 11.29.03 - 6:21 pm, ibid.) That's interesting, though the programme you heard could be an old one repeated. It's the whole station that is closing, according to reports in three different Maltese newspapers which I consulted to piece together what's happening. You guess there could have been a last- minute reprieve, but I haven't seen any reports of that (Andy Sennitt, 11.29.03 - 7:06 pm, ibid.) "Due to circumstances beyond our control, we regret to inform our listeners that VOM will cease broadcasting on Friday November 28 2003." (via Mike Terry, DXLD) http://www.vomradio.com/ It appears to be VOMi - the VOM internet radio station - which closes today, rather than the SW services. I've just logged onto the VOM web site and a popup has appeared which carries the announcement as above except that it says "VOMi will cease broadcasting on Friday November 28 2003". 73s (Dave Kenny, Nov 29, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** MEXICO [and non]. Tijuana/San Diego has a classical music station on 90.7 which also streams, tnx to a tip from publicradiofan.com The first ID heard was in French! ``Excellence, Numéro Un`` --- wow, it must be classy to speak French in TSD! Then in Spanish, ``...90.7, Excelencia Número Uno``. Strangely enough, the music was not identified! You have to look it up at http://www.xlnc1.org/daily.html Website says ``The Top 400 Hits of the Past 400 Years`` as if that were something to brag about. What a limited playlist they must have! The 90.7 signal blocks KPFK, the Pacífica station from Los Ángeles, which I remember being able to hear years ago on a visit to San Diego; this is how they deal with that issue: http://www.xlnc1.org/interference.html The About Us page does not give a clue as to who owns it, but the physical address is in Chula Vista, CA. Listeners are apparently supposed to think XLNC1 is a Mexican callsign, but prf has it correctly as XHLNC. Illegal ID at 1900 UT in Spanish was ``XLNC``, definitely NOT XHLNC. While every frequency and internet stream presenting classical music is to be treasured, this one leave me with an unpleasant taste in my mouth (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** MONGOLIA. It's been ages since anybody has reported hearing Mongolia from here on the North Coast. Here's the latest sked I could find on the web. Polish up on your Tibetan and report! Mongolian transmitter time and frequency schedule: ---UTC--- 0830-0900 VoM Japanese 12015 250 126 0900-0930 VoM Mongolian 12015 250 126 0930-1000 VoM Chinese 12015 250 126 1000-1030 VoM English 12015 250 178 1030-1100 VoM Mongolian 12015 100 178 1130-1200 VoM Chinese 12015 100 178 1100-1200 RFA Tibetan 7470 250 1200-1230 VoM Japanese 12015 100 126 1200-1400 RFA Tibetan 7470 250 1330-1400 VoM Russian 9720 50 315 MWFSu 1400-1500 RFA Korean 7380 250 1500-1530 VoM English 9720 50 315 1500-1600 RFA Tibetan 7470 250 2000-2030 VoM English 9720 50 315 2200-2300 RFA Korean 7460 250 2300-2400 RFA Tibetan 7470 250 2330-0030 RFA Vietnamese 11580 0100-0300 RFA Tibetan 17730 250 0600-0700 RFA Tibetan 17720 250 (Presume "VoM" is Voice of Mongolia & "RFA" is Radio Free Asia) Mongolian Radio: 2nd pro. 2200-1600, 4830 (10 kW) Altai, 4895 (10 kW) Murun, 7260 (50 kW) Ulaanbaatar: 1st pro. 2200-1500, 4865v, 882, 227, 209, 164 Last updated: November 11, 2003 on http://www2.starcat.ne.jp/~ndxc/mon.htm (MARE Nov 27 via DXLD) ** NEW ZEALAND. An updated Radio New Zealand Program Schedule is now available on the RNZI website dated Thursday, November 27, 2003 (Bernie O`Shea, Ottawa, Ontario, Nov 28, DX LISTENING DIGEST) That`s at http://www.rnzi.com/pages/schedules.htm --- finally got the 13h difference right, but there have been further changes in the meantime, and the Media Watch show is NOT on at either previous time, or when it is on the domestic service. Mailbox fortnightly still shows Mon 0830, 1130, 1330, 1530, Tue 0330 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Hi Glenn -- A small surprise. Here in NY, I am hearing RNZI in the late afternoon today (local time -- 1520 on Sat. 29 Nov.) on 15265 with the "Sportsworld" program. SINPO=25232. Don't ever recall hearing RNZI this early in the day [2020 UT] here in eastern NAm. As to the whereabouts of "Mediawatch", it does appear that it is no longer on the RNZI schedule (John Figliozzi, Halfmoon, NY (near Albany), Lowe HF-150 "stack", A/D DX Sloper oriented west to east, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** NIGERIA. VON no longer heard on 17800 in the 2200-2300 hour, but there is some heavy interference to RHC on 15120, presumably VON. Not even sure it is still in English then (Glenn Hauser, OK, Nov 26-28, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 15120, Voice of Nigeria; 1929-1935+, 28-Nov; English ID and GMT TC at 1929 then "Nigerian Popular Music", W English host. SIO=4+44-/in USB to avoid WYFR in English on 15115 (Harold Frodge, Midland MI, Cumbre DX via DXLD) ** OKLAHOMA. Received verification (with nice note) from KMMZ-AM 1640 kHz, Enid, Oklahoma in 2 weeks for AM report and SASE. Engineer states that the testing portion is nearly completed and they will be on the air 24/7 in a few weeks (Bob Combs, New Mexico, USA, Nov 28 hard-core- dx via DXLD) I see this page has finally been updated Nov 28 to include KMMZ: http://www.dxing.info/lists/x_na.dx But it only mentions ``Unforgettable Favorites`` format, which as I reported was in use for only the first couple of days Nov 14-15, and has been off the air since Nov 21! Also, Ydun`s MW News updated Nov 27 includes most of our previous reports, but not the latest mentioning our webpage about it http://www.worlofradio.com/enid.html Yes, KMMZ is still off at 2145 UT check Nov 29 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** PANAMA. PARTNER RADIO MINISTRY HOXO IN PANAMA DEDICATES NEW STUDIOS The dedication of a new studio complex at Radio Station HOXO, HCJB World Radio`s partner ministry in Panama City, Panamá, Saturday, Nov. 8, demonstrated how God can revitalize a ministry that most had left for dead 11 years earlier. The once-dilapidated station, on the verge of shutting down in 1992 due to runaway debts and equipment failures, again has a vibrant ministry in this strategic country. Today HOXO is a healthy outreach, on the air 24 hours daily, reaching across Panamá, the ``crossroads of the world,`` with programs in Spanish, English and Cantonese... http://www.hcjb.org/displayarticle1150.html (Posted by: newsdesk on Friday, November 21, 2003 - 12:25 PM, HCJB press via DXLD) This long article, replete with Bible references, never gets around to mentioning the slogan nor the frequency!! I was thinking it`s 760, and WRTH 2003 shows La Voz del Istmo, HOX, not HOXO, both under Panamá and in the Central American MW frequency list, but I think that must be it (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** PERU. Quito 29/Nov/2003 12:22. Amigo DXista Arnaldo Slaen on the mailinglist "Conexión Digital"! We have been talking about listening to harmonics on the mailinglist "Conexión Digital", among other things about the harmonic 2550v kHz Radio Uno, Chiclayo. For the moment Radio Uno is the best going harmonic here in Quito. From nowhere to quite good signal both morning- and nighttime. It´s an harmonic from mediumwave 1280 kHz. You can listen to a recording of Radio Uno on SWB within 24 hours: http://homepage.sverige.net/~a-0901/ On the mailinglist of "Conexión Digital" you find very good information about radiostations in América Latina. If you want to be a member of the list visit this address: Subscribe /Subscribir: condiglist-subscribe@yahoogroups.com Or send a email to Arnaldo Slaen (Argentina): arnaldo_slaen @ yahoo.com 73s (Björn Malm, Quito, Ecuador, SWB América Latina, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ROMANIA. RRI new year celebration. Dear listener, We would like to celebrate the arrival of the New Year together with you. So drop us a line and say what wishes you are making for 2004. You can also send us your New Year messages for the other listeners of RRI. And if you happen to have a favourite Romanian song or singer, let us know and we'll try to answer your requests. Please write your message by December the 15th. We are looking forward to hearing from you. The English Service, R Romania Int. ******************* Regards (via Swopan Chakroborty, Kolkata, India, Nov 28, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** RUSSIA. First time since Oct 26 heard Radio Rossii on short waves 1500-1800 on 7310 (Rumen Pankov, Bulgaria, BC-DX Nov 28 via DXLD) ** RUSSIA. Additional freq for Voice of Russia WS in English: 0600-0800 on 9860 (45444) via MSK 250 kW / 310 deg (Observer, Bulgaria, Nov 28 via DXLD) ** SCOTLAND [non]. Glenn - Further to the report you currently have from Andy Sennitt of our launch on 13,840 in December, we're planning a test transmission today (Friday 28th November 2003) and would be very grateful for Reception reports. The RANDOM PLAY programme will be aired between 2100 and 2130 UT on 5775 kHz with 100 kW from a transmitter in Milan. We'll issue a special commemorative QSL card for any Reception reports, mailed to RADIO SIX INTERNATIONAL, PO BOX 600, GLASGOW G41 5SH, SCOTLAND Or by email to: reception@radiosix.com Radio Six International is a private, noncommercial, nongovernment radio station. Any replies should be made to me at tony@radiosix.com Regards (TONY CURRIE, Programme Director, Radio six international, Nov 28, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Unfortunately, this news was too late for the previous issue, and this issue is too late for this news, but also publicized on some reflectors (gh, DXLD) 5775, ITALY, IRRS, 2045-2110, Nov. 28, English, Religious program "Reform Bible Church", web address and POB for Huntington Beach, CA. Jazz music at 2059 and tentative "Radio Six" ID with test broadcast, pop music. Weak with QRN, complete mess at tune-out. Thanx George Maroti for the Radio Six audio clip (Scott Barbour, NH, DX LISTENING DIGEST) BTW Tony recently contacted me for the first time in 31 YEARS! So if you're waiting for that rare QSL that still hasn't arrived, don't give up hope :-) (Andy Sennitt, hard-core-dx via DXLD) ** SEYCHELLES [non]. FEBA RADIO - BROADCAST SCHEDULE 26 October 2003 to 28 March 2004 (B03) Tx Site Codes - ARM Armavir Russia ASC Ascension Island IRK Irkutsk Russia DHA Dhabayya MSK Moskva Russia ERV Yerevan Armenia NVS Novosibirsk Russia KIG Kigali Rwanda SAM Samara Russia MEY Meyerton South Africa TAC Tashkent Uzbekistan FLE Flevo Holland Day 1 = Sunday (ITU Convention) NORTH INDIA, NEPAL, TIBET Days Frequency Metre Site Time UTC 1234567 Languages kHz band code ------------------------------------------------------------------- 0030-0115 s...... HINDI 7265 41 TAC 0030-0045 .mtwt.. BANGLA 7265 41 TAC 0030-0045 .....fs BHOJPURI 7265 41 TAC 0045-0115 .m.wtfs HINDI 7265 41 TAC 0045-0100 ..t..... CHATTISGARHI 7265 41 TAC 0100-0115 ..t.... HINDI 7265 41 TAC 0100-0115 smtwtfs HINDI 7110 41 NVS 0115-0130 smtwt.. MARATHI 7110 41 NVS 0115-0130 .....f. URDU 7110 41 NVS 0115-0130 ......s PUNJABI India 7110 41 NVS 1200-1230 smtwtfs TIBETAN 15170 19 DHA 1300-1330 ....t.. KUMAUNI 11695 25 SAM 1300-1330 ......s PUNJABI India 11695 25 SAM 1300-1315 .mtw.f. PUNJABI India 11695 25 SAM 1300-1315 s...... KANGRI 11695 25 SAM 1315-1330 .m..... BHILI 11695 25 SAM 1315-1330 ...w... MARWARI 11695 25 SAM 1315-1330 ..t.... BRIJ 11695 25 SAM 1315-1345 s....f. GUJARATI 11695 25 SAM 1330-1345 .mtwt.s GUJARATI 11695 25 SAM 1300-1330 s...... NEPALI 9485 31 TAC 1300-1330 .....f. BHOJPURI 9485 31 TAC 1300-1330 ......s. CHATTISGARHI 9485 31 TAC 1300-1315 .m.w... MUNDARI 9485 31 TAC 1300-1315 ..t.... NEPALI 9485 31 TAC 1300-1315 ....t... CHATTISGARHI 9485 31 TAC 1315-1330 .m.wt.. ORIYA 9485 31 TAC 1315-1330 ..t.... MAGHI 9485 31 TAC 1330-1345 smtwtfs BANGLA 9485 31 TAC 1400-1415 smtwt.. URDU India 9485 31 ARM 1400-1500 .....fs HINDI 9485 31 ARM 1415-1500 smtwt.. HINDI 9485 31 ARM 1400-1415 smtwt.. URDU India 9630 31 DHA 1400-1500 .....fs HINDI 9630 31 DHA 1415-1500 smtwt.. HINDI 9630 31 DHA SOUTH INDIA, MALDIVES, SRI LANKA Days Frequency Metre Site Time UTC 1234567 Languages kHz band code ------------------------------------------------------------------- 0030-0100 s...... TAMIL 7365 41 ERV 0100-0130 s...... KANNADA 7365 41 ERV 0030-0115 ..tw... TAMIL 7365 41 ERV 0030-0130 .m..t.. TAMIL 7365 41 ERV 0030-0100 .....fs TAMIL 7365 41 ERV 0115-0130 .....fs KANNADA 7365 41 ERV 0115-0130 ..t.... TULU 7365 41 ERV 0115-0130 ...w... KONKANI 7365 41 ERV 0100-0115 ..t..fs BADAGA 7365 41 ERV 0130-0200 smtwtfs TELUGU 11890 25 DHA 1400-1430 .mtw... MALAYALAM 7340 41 IRK 1400-1445 s...tfs MALAYALAM 7340 41 IRK 1445-1500 s...tfs TELUGU 7340 41 IRK 1430-1500 .mtw... TELUGU 7340 41 IRK 1500-1515 smtwtfs ENGLISH Slow 7340 41 IRK 1515-1600 smtwtfs ENGLISH 7340 41 IRK 1600-1615 smt.... SINHALA 7340 41 IRK 1600-1615 ....tfs DHIVEHI 7340 41 IRK 1600-1615 ...w... MALAY 7340 41 IRK PAKISTAN, AFGHANISTAN, IRAN Days Frequency Metre Site Time UTC 1234567 Languages kHz band code ------------------------------------------------------------------- 0200-0215 .m...fs URDU Pakistan 9450 31 NVS 0215-0230 .m...fs PUNJABI Pakistan 9450 31 NVS 0200-0230 s.t.... PUNJABI Pakistan 9450 31 NVS 0200-0230 ...wt.. URDU Pakistan 9450 31 NVS 0230-0245 s...... URDU Pakistan 9450 31 NVS 0230-0245 ....t.. POTHWARI 9450 31 NVS 0230-0245 .mtw.fs HINDKO 9450 31 NVS 0200-0215 s.....s SINDHI 6145 49 DHA 0200-0215 .mtwtf. SIRAIKI 6145 49 DHA 0215-0230 s..wtfs BALUCHI 6145 49 DHA 0215-0230 .mt.... BRAHUI 6145 49 DHA 0200-0215 smtwtfs PASHTO 11995 25 DHA 0215-0245 smtwtfs DARI 11995 25 DHA 0245-0300 smtwtfs HAZARAGI 11995 25 DHA 0630-0800 .....f. PERSIAN 9660 31 DHA 1630-1730 smtwtfs PERSIAN 9875 31 MSK 1730-1745 s.....s BALUCHI 9875 31 MSK 1730-1745 .mtw... TURKMEN 9875 31 MSK 1730-1745 ....t.. AZERI 9875 31 MSK 1730-1745 .....f. LURI 9875 31 MSK 1400-1415 smtwtfs English Slow 9445 31 NVS 1415-1500 sm..tf. URDU Pakistan 9445 31 NVS 1415-1515 ..tw..s URDU Pakistan 9445 31 NVS 1500-1515 sm..tf. BALTI 9445 31 NVS 1530-1600 smtwtfs PASHTO 9415 31 ARM 1600-1630 smtwtfs DARI 9415 31 ARM 1630-1645 smtwtfs HAZARAGI 9415 31 ARM 1645-1700 smtwtfs UZBEK 9415 31 ARM MIDDLE EAST Days Frequency Metre Site Time UTC 1234567 Languages kHz band code ------------------------------------------------------------------- 0400-0530 smtwtfs ARABIC 15525 19 SAM 0500-0530 .....f. SINHALA 6125 49 DHA 0530-0630 .....f. MALAYALAM 6125 49 DHA 1903-1957 smtwtfs ARABIC 9605 31 KIG AFRICA, ETHIOPIA, SUDAN Days Frequency Metre Site Time UTC 1234567 Languages kHz band code ------------------------------------------------------------------- 1515-1530 smtwtfs NUER 11885 25 MEY 1530-1545 smtwtfs DINKA 11885 25 MEY 1545-1600 smtwtfs MAKONDE 11885 25 MEY 1600-1630 s...tfs AMHARIC 11885 25 MEY 1600-1630 .mtw... GURAGENA 11885 25 MEY 1630-1700 smtwtfs AMHARIC 11885 25 MEY 1700-1730 smtwtfs OROMO 6180 49 DHA 1700-1730 smtwtfs SOMALI 11690 25 KIG 1730-1800 smtwtfs TIGRINYA 11690 25 KIG 1830-1900 smtwtfs FRENCH (West+Cent Af) 15125 19 ASC WESTERN EUROPE in DRM Digital Shortwave Days Frequency Metre Site Time UTC 1234567 Languages kHz band code ------------------------------------------------------------------- 0945-1000 smtwtfs ENGLISH Slow 9850 31 FLE ------------------------------------------------------------------- Schedule Engineer, FEBA Radio, Ivy Arch Road, WORTHING BN14 8BX, UK. WEBSITE: www.feba.org.uk/schedule B03bs03 dated 14.11.03 rww (via Alokesh Gupta, Nov 28, DXLD) Anything new besides Flevo DRM?? ** SOUTH AFRICA [non]. CBC/BBC AIDS CONCERT 46664 NELSON MANDELA AIDS CONCERT: 8 PM LOCAL TIME [2 HRS] ON CBC R1 Saturday night, CBC Radio One is proud to present the 46664 Nelson Mandela AIDS concert, a star-studded event designed to raise awareness of HIV/AIDS. (46664, by the way, was Nelson Mandela prison number in the notorious Robben Island prison.) With an astounding 25% of the South African population affected by the HIV/AIDS virus, 46664 will benefit the Nelson Mandela Foundation's work in the country and raise awareness of the Global AIDS Fund's work throughout the world. In addition, 46664's aim is to raise awareness of the pandemic sweeping across the continent and to call governments into action. Artists include Bono, Ladysmith Black Mambazo, Beyonce, Eurythmics, The Corrs, Angelique Kidjo, Queen, Youssou N'Dour, and many more. Tune in to the Nelson Mandela AIDS concert, Saturday night at 8 (8:30 NT) on CBC Radio One (via Adam Roy Cohoon, Toronto, shortcut to my page: http://surf.to/adamc/ DX LISTENING DIGEST) I was listening to the second hour of this on BBCWS Europe after 2000 UT Sat, but the 16 kbps stream could not do justice to the music. Announcer kept pronouncing it `four double six six four`! Why not `four triple six four` or `four six double six four`?? Seems THERE IS no escaping Oprah Winfrey. Contrary to schedule, this continued past 2100 all the way to 2200. Did Channel Africa carry this, live or at all? If so, had no publicity about that (gh, DXLD) ** SOUTH AMERICA. Pirate activities from RB SAm Dear Friends: After more than 2 years of silence, for different reasons, we return to the scene of the radio stations Pirates of South America. Radio Blandengue from some place in South America will be on the air this weekend performing his pirate activities on 14569v KHz LSB, with the following transmission sked: ALL TIMES AND DATE ARE UTC Nov 29, 2003 on 14569 KHz LSB 0500 – 0600 Radio Blandengue 2100 – 2200 Radio Blandengue Nov 30, 2003 0000 – 0100 Radio Blandengue Only verify the correct reports received by snail mail QSL guaranteed, and don’t forget to include 2 IRC. Addresses for reports: ------------------------------------------------------- Radio Blandengue, Casilla 159, Santiago 14, CHILE or Radio Blandengue, Box 293, Merlin Ontario NOP 1WO, CANADA e-mails: rblandengue@yahoo.com (via DXLD) ** SOUTH AMERICA. SOUTH AMERICAN PIRATES RADIO COCHIGUAZ will be active hoisting the pirate flag, on 11430U kHz & 6950L kHz, in this opportunity, relaying to Radio Outaspace, a pirate station from Dresden - Germany, broadcasting on 100.9 mHz with a power of 10-40 watts. Times UTC Sat, 29 November 2003 - 11430U kHz 2200-2246 Radio Outaspace - German language only. 2246-2300 Radio Cochiguaz Sun, 30 November 2003 - 6950L kHz 0100-0146 Radio Outaspace - German language only. 0146-0200 Radio Cochiguaz For reports write to: (Pls add return postage) Norbert Baasner, Leutewitzer Ring 28, D-01169 Dresden, GERMANY. Email: vy73baasi@t-online.de Radio Cochiguaz, Box 159, Santiago 14, CHILE. FFFR, ;-) Cachito, Radio Cochiguaz op. http://www.geocities.com/rcochiguaz (via Hans Johnson, Cumbre DX via DXLD) ** SWEDEN [and non]. RADIO SWEDEN--Coming up on Radio Sweden: Thursday: The Aurora Borealis in "The S-Files" Friday: Our weekly review Saturday: Daddy Leave special Sunday: In "SoNo" -- Jump4Joy We're happy to report that Vietnam has stopped jamming our Swedish broadcast to Asia at 1300 UT on 9920 kHz. According to reports, while Vietnam continues to jam FEBC on that channel, the intentional interference ends when we take over the frequency (SCDX/MediaScan Nov 26 via DXLD) ** TAIWAN. My Favorite Programs of 2003 Dear listeners, The English department of RTI wants you to choose your favorite programs of 2003! Please click the programs listed below and fill out the attached form. RTI would like to know your opinions about our English programs. In addition to a beautiful card prepared for each and every participant, we have also prepared many prizes for a lucky-draw. You will automatically be entered to win if you respond by Dec. 31, 2003! Prizes include: Year of the Monkey Commemorative gold coins, digital shortwave radios, designer watches, Madame Chiang Kai- shek commemorative stamps, and RTI ball point pens. Good luck! (RTI web site via Swopan Chakroborty, Kolkata, India, Nov 30, DXLD) ** TAIWAN [non]. U.K.: Winter B-03 schedule for Radio Taiwan International via Merlin Comm.: 0700-0800 Korean 9535 SKN 300 kW / 110 deg 1700-1800 Russian 7155 WOF 300 kW / 075 deg effective Nov.10 1800-1900 English 3955 SKN 250 kW / 175 deg 1900-2000 French 3955 SKN 250 kW / 175 deg 1900-2000 German 6170 SKN 300 kW / 110 deg 2100-2200 Spanish 3955 SKN 250 kW / 175 deg (Observer, Bulgaria, Nov 28 via DXLD) ** U K [and non]. Winter B-03 schedule for BVBN via Merlin Comm.: 0030-0100 English 7105 DHA 250 kW / 085 deg Mon-Fri 0030-0100 Bengali 7105 DHA 250 kW / 085 deg Sat/Sun 0200-0230 Hindi 9610 DHA 250 kW / 090 deg Daily 0230-0300 Bengali 11805 DHA 250 kW / 075 deg Sat/Sun 1700-1715 Arabic 17860 RMP 500 kW / 115 deg Mon-Fri (Observer, Bulgaria, Nov 28 via DXLD) /Germany: Bible Voice BC since Nov 16th is with big cuts in times of programs in English, mainly and some in Russian, Arabic, etc. (Rumen Pankov, Bulgaria, BC-DX Nov 28 via DXLD) ** U K [and non]. I would have to agree TOTALLY with his [Greg Dyke, BBC] comments about overall U.S. coverage of 'the war' in Iraq. At work I have CNN on in the background for a large part of the day [yes, it's a wonder I can think at all!]. I've been 'exposed to' MSNBC and Fox a bit too. I have never seen such 'cheerleading' and totally favorable coverage of events in my life as I have during the 'war in Iraq.' If Walter Cronkite did this kind of 'reporting' 30+ years ago, we'd STILL be in Vietnam! I found particularly interesting this quote: "Telling people what they want to hear is not doing them any favours. It may not be comfortable to challenge governments or even popular opinion, but it's what we are here to do." Can you imagine ANY person in ANY management position in ANY U.S. cable or broadcast network making a statement like this? No, I thought not. What's amazing to me is that while we have SO VERY MANY media choices in this country, we are, generally, SO VERY ignorant of news events other than sports scores and weather than the rest of the world where most broadcasting is still tightly under State control! It would appear that MORE media doesn't necessarily lead to BETTER media (Bill Whitacre, DC, swprograms, via DXLD) Whether you agree with Dyke's views about US coverage of the war or not, I'm not sure this is a smart strategy on his part -- if indeed there is any strategic thinking going on here. The US public/audience is already quite polarized on the Iraq war and associated issues. All the polls I've seen seem to indicate that listeners/viewers have settled into media coverage that more or less supports their own stance. An attack of this kind is only -- at best - - going to reinforce that divide, and only marginally at that. It will not gain one side or the other additional viewers/listeners. Furthermore, it seems to say that the BBC is in some sort of competition with the networks he's criticizing and this alone -- at least in my mind -- devalues Dyke's argument. (And what would the point be? It's not as if the BBC --- unlike those networks --- will be able to sell more soap for its sponsors.) It looks petty and self- serving in a sort of "all of the pigs are in the muck, including us" manner. If the intent is to bolster or even increase the BBC's stature in this realm, this approach doesn't do that. It would be far, far better for others to be making this case, instead of Dyke or any other BBC executive. Dyke doing it makes the BBC look like just another player here, rather than the standard on which all others will be judged (which is the level of esteem with which the BBC used to be held). Then again, this is the way this lot have been (inadvertently) devaluing the BBC (at least in my mind) for some time now (John Figliozzi, ibid.) Is it possible that you're WAY over-analyzing something that might've been said as an honest, non-strategic, belief by Mr. Dyke? Not as some words written on paper as some our own very highly placed speech-givers read --- saying the same things over and over and over? Whatever the Beeb's problems at the present time with Government officials, I know for a fact that they are still very much 'the standard' other international broadcasters measure themselves by --- and if the audience research numbers I hear quoted in IBB program review meetings are any measure, so does the rest of the WORLD (Bill Whitacre, ibid.) Bill: I suppose some of us here do seem a bit harsh when it comes to Greg Dyke and Mark Byford and their handling of the BBC. To us, the BBC has become less than it should be and less than it was -- even though it remains better than most if not all. That's a point of view you'll detect in my comments, at least. I did not say the following in my previous post because my point was about management strategy, not the views about news coverage presented. However, like you, I agree with Dyke's assessment of U.S. news coverage in the main. While I did not see a complete text of his remarks, the latter seem to be confined to the commercial networks. I don't think his analysis holds for NPR and PBS coverage here. But, in the remarks I see, he doesn't make that distinction clear. So -- for me -- the larger issue is to what extent commercial considerations distort news coverage. By the evidence at hand, I would say "a lot". There will be a strong incentive to just show or tell people what they want to see or hear -- and that's just what we have. It's not so much a question of their being poodles for the administration in power (although we can argue that point as well), as it is of their licking their index fingers and pointing them in the air to determine which way the wind is blowing. This is the most damning criticism of commercial control of news operations -- and, you will recall, this was not always the case. At one time, the network news operations were intentionally exempted from the necessity to make a profit. (Murrow of CBS insisted on this and Paley -- for most of his tenure -- agreed.) The news operations were considered part of a licensee's civic responsibility in the public interest. That attitude has since been trashed -- which is an apt description for much of what passes for news these days on the commercial networks, their o&o stations and their affiliates. (In a way, the commercial pull on news coverage on the networks has parallels with the bureaucratic pull on news coverage experienced by the VOA and described in detail by Alan Heil in his recent book. In both cases, professional journalists (at least most) strive to maintain an integrity in their reporting that ultimately clashes with the "other cultures" of their respective workplaces.) If Dyke were to have made his comments in that vein (rather than the "we're better than they are" mode), his words would have carried more weight, been less self-serving, and – consequently -- more credible. And the BBC would have been better served by them. At least that's the way I see it (John Figliozzi, ibid.) Sure, it's possible I've "WAY over-analyzed" this! In fact, it's even probably likely. :-) I just like to take every opportunity to warn that the marquee is sliding -- even though it's still at the top. I'm not too sure about their numbers, though. I'm also not sure that whatever millions they say have heard the letters "BBC" once for five minutes in a given week during a short newscast on their NPR affiliate at three in the morning when they're fighting sleep -- how these can be considered valued and committed listeners in the same manner as those using the service daily for hours on end. But what the hell do I know, eh? The kind of hype used by commercial entities has never impressed me. To me, these are values no public service broadcaster should honor or emulate. And this is the direction I fear the BBC is (and has been) tilting toward -- however ambiguously. In the end, it's only an opinion (mine) -- and judging from the response it usually gets, a decidedly minority one at that. Thanks for sharing, Bill. :-) Happy Thanksgiving (John Figliozzi, ibid.) The impression I got is that the BBC somehow think they're *better* than American broadcasters, and that the proof of this is that they have a different view on Iraq than what they claim most US viewers see. But to be honest, my impression of state broadcasters is that they're no less biased than commercial broadcasters; they may just have different biases. The local commercial stations in Albany seem to have no qualms about engaging in lazy journalism by simply giving an open mike to folks like Blair Horner, Alice Green, and Eliot Spitzer (I'm sure you recognize the names, John, simply from their ubiquity on the Albany news); there are similar cases on the national level are people like Joan Claybrook and Michael Jacobsen; and the BBC seem to report not only as news, but asgospel truth, any press release from the Worldwide Fund for Nature or Greenpeace. It's part of the reason why programs like Michelle Ernsting's "War of Words" for RN last year, or the BBC's "Oil Politics" bug me so much -- the reporters talk in a smarmy tone about how awful it is that certain news outlets are basically hoodwinked by propaganda into cheerleading for the government when it comes to war (and by implication, how they're somehow more virtuous for painting a different picture). Yet if you make any suggestion that news outlets are often cheerleaders for government intervention in the economy, the same journalists will have an apoplectic fit. I don't think I mentioned it on SW Programs, but as an example, the BBC badly sexed up their reporting of the August blackout here in the northeast US and Ontario. Thanks to my battery-powered DX-375, I was able to listen to CBC North Quebec and the NYC MW stations, and both gave the same picture: when the power first went out, nobody knew what to do at first, so there was some natural confusion. But everybody fairly quickly handled it with aplomb. That's not how the BBCWS's "The World Today" reported it later that evening. They consistently used the word "chaos" to try to describe what was happening in New York, including the line "many people were taking the chaos in stride". (At that point, I was literally yelling at my radio, "If they're taking it in stride, it's not chaos!") After they talked to the correspondent in New York, they talked with a correspondent in Toronto, and the BBCWS tried to paint a picture that the Canadians handled the blackout *completely* differently (with a strong implication of "better") than New Yorkers. What was most depressing is that when the New York correspondent was being interviewed by the flunkie in Bush House, it was the person back in Bush House who seemed to be trying hardest to portray the situation in New York as "chaos". (Ted Schuerzinger, ibid.) ** U K. RIVALS ATTACK BBC WEB SERVICES Julia Day, Thursday November 27, 2003, The Guardian The BBC has "broken a catalogue of promises", spending £100m a year on its internet services instead of an agreed £21m budget, the government has been told. Major commercial rivals including News International, the Telegraph, the Mail group and the Guardian have called on the government to make 12 key changes to the BBC's internet operations, protesting that the corporation's internet service is out of regulatory control. They say the BBC is spending "at least £75m per year plus £25m in overheads", runs websites with no educational value such as Celebdaq and Fightbox and has "completely undermined" commercial companies' ability to compete in the marketplace. The call for change comes through umbrella group the British Internet Providers Association, and was drawn up after a BBC-commissioned report by KPMG argued the corporation was not damaging its rivals' internet services. BIPA's submission to the government's BBC Online review, headed by former Trinity Mirror chief executive Philip Graf, said the corporation has ignored all of its undertakings - an annual budget of £21m, a focus on education and no competitive effect on the marketplace. Hugo Drayton, the former Telegraph internet boss who heads the group said: "BIPA has exposed a catalogue of broken promises by the BBC and has provided the Graf review with detailed evidence to show how far the BBC has strayed from its own public service remit, and how it has damaged the delivery of consumer choice." BIPA's 12-point plan includes setting stringent public service boundaries for its web services and making media regulator Ofcom responsible for its regulation. The group also suggests the BBC should link to its commercial rivals' services instead of trying to replicate them, and the corporation should list all of its online activities separately in its annual report and accounts. In a separate development, ITN has also submitted its response to the Graf review, calling for a more precise remit for BBC Online and greater transparency. ITN's chief executive, Mark Wood, said: "This valuable report is about future-proofing the online market to ensure that there is scope for a diverse range of content providers to exist. "That's not about shutting down everything the BBC does, but being much clearer about where licence fee funds can be spent and where content can be distributed." Mr Graf is expected to report his findings to the government in the spring. MediaGuardian.co.uk © Guardian Newspapers Limited 2003 (via Daniel Say, DXLD) Any connexion with next story??? ** UNITED KINGDOM. BBC TO SELL TECHNOLOGY SUBSIDIARY \ Text of BBC press release on 27 November The BBC is to sell its wholly-owned commercial subsidiary BBC Technology Ltd. The move follows a strategic review of the BBC's technology requirements for the next decade. The review identified potential annual savings for the BBC of between 20-30 million pounds if its technology services were outsourced. The review concluded that the BBC should conduct an EU procurement process in which the winner would buy BBC Technology and, as part of that process, take on about 1,400 staff currently employed by BBC Technology Ltd. Combining the procurement process with the sale of BBC Technology Ltd as a whole means the BBC can leverage maximum value and, as a result, invest more money in its programmes and services. The sale is subject to the approval of the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport. The move offers growth opportunities for the staff at BBC Technology as the company will undoubtedly attract bids from major technology businesses with scale and expertise. There are 1,400 people likely to transfer with BBC Technology to the successful bidder after the EU procurement process, which is due to be completed by Autumn next year. BBC Technology was created in 2001 to deliver significant savings to the BBC through its contract for technology services, including desktop support, and to generate third party revenues. The company has won important contracts in the UK and abroad with companies such as Hutchison 3G, ESPN (US sports channel), DIRECTV and National Public Radio. Last year, BBC Technology delivered 19 million pounds in profits and price reductions back to the BBC. An internal review carried out by BBC Technology concluded that for the subsidiary to be competitive further rationalisation would be needed, which would have resulted in substantial job losses. BBC Director-General Greg Dyke said today: "By taking our technical support contract to the market and selling BBC Technology we can achieve significant savings over a sustained period of time. "We would also expect to receive a significant sum of cash for the business. "While some BBC Technology staff will inevitably feel worried about the prospect of change we've reached the conclusion that this is a win/win situation for the BBC and the staff. "This way the staff will continue working on BBC business but at the same time BBC Technology, which has been very successful at winning outside contracts, will get the capital injection it needs to expand further albeit in someone else's ownership. "When we were given our current funding agreement in the year 2000 by Chris Smith, the then Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, he made it a condition that we raised an additional one billion pounds over the next seven years. "He suggested one way of contributing to that was to sell a BBC asset. This is what is now planned. "A major factor in this process will be ensuring that we make employment terms a priority and future pension arrangements will be an important issue for the BBC during the commercial negotiations. "Obviously, we will be consulting fully with staff and BECTU [Broadcasting, Entertainment, Cinematograph and Theatre Union]. "We have no plans to sell any other of our commercial subsidiaries." Roger Flynn, Chief Executive Officer, BBC Ventures Group, commented: "BBC Technology has delivered great value to the BBC and this deal will ensure that we are adding even greater value. "The dedication and commitment of the staff has resulted in an impressive performance over the last two years in a difficult market." Ann Wilson, Managing Director, BBC Technology Ltd, commented: "BBC Technology is, by any standards, a success story. "Since its creation, we have moved into profit within three years and, through the dedication of our staff, have improved the contribution that technology is making to the BBC. "We welcome the opportunity that the procurement and sale will bring, as it will allow us to grow our products and services in a dynamic technology environment." The BBC's Governors today approved the proposal for sale and procurement, subject to DCMS [Department of Culture, Media and Sport] approval. It is anticipated that the new contract will begin by the end of 2004. Source: BBC press release, London, in English 27 Nov 03 (via BBCM via DXLD) ** U S A. KSL, Salt Lake City, Utah is putting in a good FM signal here this afternoon at 2030 on 26190. 29 Nov 03 (Steve Lare, Holland, MI, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Special programming, or remote? (gh) ** U S A. Worker unrest at the Voice of America --- not just cutting English by 5 hours, but irradiating food, size of cubicles, etc.: http://www.afge1812.org/ (via Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A [non]. PRAGUE-BASED RADIO FREE EUROPE CUTS BROADCASTS IN EUROPEAN LANGUAGES | Excerpt from report in English by Czech news agency CTK Prague, 28 November: Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL) will stop broadcasts in seven east and central European languages by the end of the year, its spokeswoman Sonia Winterova told CTK today. The station will stop broadcasting for Slovakia, Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, Romania, Bulgaria and Croatia. The reason is the shift of the station's priorities to other, crisis world region. RFE/RL, financed by the USA, will therefore dismiss in Prague between 40 and 50 people and together with editorial offices in the countries concerned this will be a combined 100 abolished jobs. [passage omitted] The RFE/RL activities in Eurasia and southeastern Asia have been considerably expanded in the past six years. Now time has come to fully concentrate on these problematic areas, RFE president Thomas Dine said. [passage omitted] Without further financial sources there is not other way but to stop these services, also in view of the priorities in other world regions, Dine said, adding that the station would seek to help the dismissed employees in a maximum way. [passage omitted] In Europe, RFE will continue broadcasting to Serbia, Kosovo, Montenegro, Bosnia, Macedonia, Moldova and Ukraine. [passage omitted] Source: CTK news agency, Prague, in English 1912 gmt 28 Nov 03 (via BBCM via DXLD) RFE/RL's Sonja Winterova today stated that the Bulgarian, Croatian, Estonian, Latvian, Lithuanian, Romanian and Slovak broadcasts will be discontinued by the end of this year: AP-183 4 vm 150 APD3284 Tschechien/USA/Medien Radio Free Europe stellt Sendung in sieben Staaten ein = Prag (AP) Der Radiosender Radio Free Europe stellt zum Jahresende seine Sendungen in sieben postkommunistischen Staaten ein. Wie eine Sprecherin am Samstag erklärte, will sich der Sender auf Regionen im Nahen Osten und in Asien konzentrieren. Die Entscheidung gehe auf eine Anordnung der US-Regierung und des Managements des von den USA finanzierten Senders zurück, sagte Sprecherin Sonia Winter. Laut Winter hatte US-Präsident George W. Bush im Februar vorgeschlagen, ab 2004 Sendungen in Ländern einzustellen, die der Nato oder der EU beitreten wollten. In Bulgarien, Kroatien, Estland, Lettland, Litauen, Rumänien und der Slowakei wird Radio Free Europe im kommenden Jahr nicht mehr zu hören sein. Radio Free Europe, das derzeit in 34 Sprachen sendet, wurde 1949 gegründet, um in der Zeit des Kalten Krieges in den Ostblockstaaten westliche Nachrichten zu verbreiten. 1995 zog die Zentrale des Senders von München nach Prag um. Seit 1998 sendete Radio Free Europe in Iran und Irak, seit vergangenem Herbst auch in Afghanistan. Ende AP/249/ah/to 292018 nov 03 +++ Jörg Wagner, radioEINS-Medienmagazin (ORB+SFB=RBB) http://www.radioeins.de/sendungen/medienmagazin (via Kai Ludwig, DXLD) ** U S A [non]. CZECH REP.(non): Freq changes for Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty: 0300-0400 Armenian NF 7255, ex 7120 0300-0400 Russian NF 7220, ex 7255 1600-1700 Georgian NF 7105, ex 11895 1600-1700 Russian NF 12040, ex 11885 (Observer, Bulgaria, Nov 28 via DXLD) ** U S A [non]. WSHB cancelled transmissions via Merlin Comm. effective from Dec. 14: 1000-1100 English 11780 TAI 100 kW / 350 deg to NoCHN 1200-1300 English 9585 K/A 250 kW / 213 deg to AUS/NZ 1300-1400 English 7340 IRK 250 kW / 224 deg to IND 73! (Observer, Bulgaria, Nov 28 via DXLD) ** U S A [non]. U.K.: Winter B-03 schedule for WYFR via Merlin Comm.: 0500-0600 German 3955 SKN 250 kW / 106 deg 1400-1500 Hindi 15520 DHA 250 kW / 085 deg 1500-1700 English 15520 DHA 250 kW / 085 deg 1700-1800 English 21680 ASC 250 kW / 085 deg 1700-1900 Russian 9810 WOF 300 kW / 075 deg 1800-1900 Arabic 13720 SKN 300 kW / 140 deg 1900-2000 Arabic 9850 RMP 500 kW / 105 deg 1900-2100 English 3230 MEY 100 kW / non-dir 2000-2100 English 15195 ASC 250 kW / 065 deg (Observer, Bulgaria, Nov 28 via DXLD) ** U S A. WWCR has a new two-hour program in Tamil, ``Ragam``, on the schedule Sun 1300-1500 on 12160. This is not only on the printed schedule effective 01 Dec, but already at the website http://www.wwcr.com/wwcr_program/wwcr_pgmguide_text.html No program link to Ragam yet, so we have no idea if this is Christian evangelism, political, or cultural; and it may not start until Dec 7 if the effective date is strict (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. 15385, KJES Vado NM; 1906-1915+, 28-Nov; English chanting and preaching Robo-folks; 3 separate bunches going at the same time! Who's the intended target for this stuff, besides DXers looking for a little amusement? S20 sig (Harold Frodge, Midland MI, Cumbre DX via DXLD) God? ** U S A. Find US government ute stations on: http://www.navcen.uscg.gov/marcomms/cgcomms/call.htm (Joe Miller, MARE Nov 27 via DXLD) ** U S A. Please join us aboard the USS Hornet on 06DEC03 and 07DEC03 as we honor the Heroes of Pearl Harbor! We will begin operations at 0900 PST on 08NOV03 and we will be on the air until 1700 PST on 09NOV03. [Surely they mean December --- Norfolk] SSB Frequencies will be 3857, 7260, 14260, 21360 and 28460. (Please note the change in some frequencies from our previous events.) CW Frequencies will be 3530, 7030, 14030, 21030 and 28030. RTTY Frequencies will be announced on the SSB frequencies. For IRLP you may find us on the Western Reflector Subchannel 1. Or 9251. We look forward to working you. Our call is NB6GC. QSL info is good at QRZ.com. The Pearl Harbor Day event is the only time during the year that the USS Hornet issues our special Pearl Harbor QSL card. You must contact the ship to obtain one. All QSL Packages for this event will contain this special QSL card (NB6GC posted on qrz.com November 26 via John Norfolk, DX LISTENING DIGEST) So where is it, actually in HAWAII? ** U S A. Reminder that the WGN 720 Chicago silent period is almost upon us, UT Sun Nov 30 from 0700 or later; see previous item (gh) ** U S A. COMMUNICATIONS LAW: HOUSE PASSES ANTI-SPAM LAW ...Congress has moved closer to passing the first-ever federal protections against unwanted commercial e-mails. This, with the House passing a bill on Saturday, November 22nd that would impose new limits on sending direct advertising offers --- commonly called spam mail. Approved on a 392 to 5 vote, the measure would prohibit senders of unsolicited commercial e-mail from disguising their identity by using a false return address or misleading subject line. It would also prohibit bulk mailers from harvesting addresses off websites and require such e-mails to include a mechanism so recipients can indicate they do not want future mass mailings. Penalties for failure to comply could be up to five years in prison in some circumstances. The House bill largely mirrors ant-Spam legislation the Senate approved last month. Supporters hope that slight differences between the two measures can be resolved before Congress adjourns for the year. The Bush administration says that it supports the anti-spam efforts. (Published news reports via Amateur Radio Newsline November 28 via John Norfolk, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. RADIO LAW: THE FCC ON PRIVACY OF INFORMATION The FCC has put in place a temporary policy that will keep the public from knowing who is facing enforcement action by that agency. Amateur Radio Newsline`s Bruce Tennant, K6PZW, picks up the story: Don`t look for names and call signs of alleged regulatory violators to be released by the FCC anymore. At least not for a while. This is because the agency has revised the format in which it`s supplying the media and the public with information regarding alleged regulatory scofflaws, including those in the Amateur Radio service. The revised temporary policy is based on privacy concerns within the FCC. Until further notice, the agency says that it will only provide the location where a violator lives along with a very brief synopsis of the action taken. Following a policy review now taking place the FCC says it will announce a new privacy policy for all future information releases. For the Amateur Radio Newsline, I`m Bruce Tennant, K6PZW, reporting. No timetable has been announced for the privacy policy review to be completed (FCC via Amateur Radio Newsline November 28 via John Norfolk, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. RADIO LAW FOLLOW-UP: THE NEVADA HIGHWAY PATROL VS THE FCC Some enforcement news of a different kind by way of the Reno Gazzette Journal and the CGC Communicator. Both bring word that the Nevada Highway Patrol has turned over a 255 page investigative report and 2,500 pages of supporting documentation to that states Attorney General`s office. The Attorney General will now consider the possibility of criminal charges will be determined in connection with the police agency`s use of a radio system on frequencies for which it holds no licenses. As previously reported, the highway patrol launched the investigation earlier this year when it was discovered that it didn`t have the proper licenses to operate the $14 million communications system built for it in 2000. The FCC has threatened to fine Nevada and block the states future license requests if the Nevada Highway Patrol does not quickly abandon use of the unauthorized frequencies. (CGC via Amateur Radio Newsline November 28 via John Norfolk, DXLD) ** U S A. SILVERMAN ON FOXNEWS "HEARTLAND THIS SATURDAY, NOV. 29 Dave Silverman, Communications Director for American Atheists, will be the guest this Saturday, Nov. 29, 2003 on the popular FoxNews Channel program "Heartland" hosted by John Kasich. Mr. Silverman will be discussing the issue of religious displays and celebrations in public schools during the "Christmas" holiday. The program airs beginning at 8:00 PM ET. Check local listings, or visit http://www.foxnews.com/heartland WHO & WHAT: Dave Silverman, Communications Director for American Atheists on the FoxNews Channel program "Heartland" with John Kasich. WHEN: This Saturday, November 29, 2003, 8:00 PM MORE INFO: Check local listings or visit http://www.foxnews.com/heartland (American Atheists Newsletter Nov 28 via DXLD) ** ZANZIBAR. TANZANIA, 11734.6. Checked Zanzibar tonight twice, but no trace of Zanzibar again. Normally a daily guest here with - at least - fair signal (Wolfgang Büschel, Stuttgart, Germany, Nov 27, BC-DX via DXLD) Anyone hearing Zanzibar on 11734.x? No signal noted in a couple of recent checks around 1900-2000 when they are usually audible (Jerry Berg, MA, DXplorer Nov 25 via BC-DX via DXLD) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ CONVENTIONS & CONFERENCES +++++++++++++++++++++++++ BELL TOLLS FOR THE EUROPEAN DX COUNCIL The European DX Council should have elected a new Secretary General this year. But with no candidates at all, the EDXC may have come to its end. In an almost desperate plea to save the DX lobby organization, the two auditors suggest that the remaining EDXC member clubs should accept any solution, no matter what is stated in the statutes. "Is there a need for the EDXC," ask auditors Anker Petersen and Kaj Bredahl Jørgensen, adding: "If the answer is no, then the present EDXC should be dissolved as of 31 December 2003." (hcdx news desk, 29 November 2003 via DXLD) PUBLICATIONS ++++++++++++ PASSPORT EXPLANATION RECEIVED To follow up on my earlier discussion about the incorrect BBC WS info in the PWBR '04: I received a very nice mailed letter from the Passport people, signed by Larry Magne and including a separate note from the sub-editor responsible for the "What's On Tonight?" section. They accepted responsibility for the mess-up in BBC data (the repetition of the PWBR '03 info unchanged). It was at least partially as I had suspected -- a computerized-editing glitch that resulted in similarly-named files getting confused and the wrong ones deleted when the section was compiled. (I still believe that 3 X 5 cards and manual typewriters are the best way to go! :-) There was a complication due to a series of deaths; one of the staff died and the others all had family members die during the production period. This interfered with the smooth flow of production and resulted in last-minute updates that did not get the correct data included. Some sections (like the North-American-prime-time BBC data) were edited separately and that's why some info was corrected but other old items slipped through. Nonetheless, they clearly stated "Mea Culpa" and apologized for the errors. They promise to do better next year. No comment from them about my suggestion that they post the corrected info on their website. I guess this settles this, at least for me (Will Martin, MO, Nov 26, swprograms via DXLD) CLUELESS IN CYBERSPACE Yet another nomination for this year's coveted "Clue-ie" goes to Amazon.com, which has destroyed an otherwise great website by adding a feature called "Inside the Book". Now whenever you try to search for a book on Amazon, the system doesn't just search among book titles and authors, it searches through every word in every book in the system! Where finding a book used to be easy, now you get thousands of useless search hits, often making it impossible to find what you are looking for. One would have thought Amazon wanted customers to find and order books, rather than give up in frustration. It's undoubtedly a powerful tool, and should be useful for some. But the idiotic thing is that you can't turn it off. There's no reason why users shouldn't be able to select in their account options whether they want to use the thing, or why it can't be an "advanced search" option. But Amazon has made it impossible to not search through every word in every book in its database. So far Amazon.co.uk has not implemented this "feature" (which more resembles a bug), so users still have some chance of finding what they are looking for there. Barnes and Noble must be laughing their heads off (SCDX/MediaScan Nov 26 via DXLD) RADIO EQUIPMENT FORUM +++++++++++++++++++++ SANGEAN SONG Take a listen to "Listening to the Sangean 909 (RS DX-398)" song. Co-written by NRC member. Also posted are two other radio/tech songs...and if you like those there are several more "regular songs" posted as well. http://www.radiointel.com/hindsight.htm Enjoy, (Russ K3Pi, NRC-AM via DXLD) PROPAGATION +++++++++++ PROPAGATION TECHNOLOGY: NEW SOLAR FLARE THEORY The recent series of solar storms to hit Earth may be caused by the sun`s iron-rich interior. So says one solar researcher who theorizes that the sun`s core is made of iron rather than hydrogen. Dr. Oliver Manuel is a professor of nuclear chemistry. He believes that iron, not hydrogen, is the sun`s most abundant element. And, in a paper accepted for publication in the Journal of Fusion Energy, Manuel asserts that the standard solar model which assumes that the sun`s core is made of hydrogen has led to misunderstandings of how such solar flares occur. As ever ham knows, these flares can play havoc with high frequency communications while turning some VHF frequencies into world-wide DX bands. (ANS and Space Daily via Amateur Radio Newsline November 28 via John Norfolk, DXLD) ###