DX LISTENING DIGEST 3-217, December 5, 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 1210: WWCR: Sat 1130 5070, Sun 0330 5070, Sun 0730 3210, Wed 1030 9475 WRMI: Sat 1900+, Sun 1600+ via IBC Radio 15725 WBCQ: Mon 0515 7415 WRN ONDEMAND: http://new.wrn.org/listeners/stations/station.php?StationID=24 OUR ONDEMAND AUDIO [also for CONTINENT OF MEDIA, MUNDO RADIAL]: Check http://www.worldofradio.com/audiomid.html WORLD OF RADIO 1210 (high version): (stream) http://www.w4uvh.net/wor1210h.ram (download) http://www.w4uvh.net/wor1210h.rm (summary) http://www.worldofradio.com/wor1210.html WORLD OF RADIO 1210 (low version): (stream) http://www.w4uvh.net/wor1210.ram (download) http://www.w4uvh.net/wor1210.rm UNSOLICITED TESTIMONIAL I just wanted to tell you what a fine job you do every week with your DX DIGEST. I look forward to it --- you are truly MR DX to me. Hope your Holiday season is a good one --- and that the reception is all S-9 for you !!!!! (Tom Messer, River Falls, WI) ** AUSTRALIA. Here`s a frequency that works in CNAm for R. Australia at the late hour of 1700 UT: 11880, Dec 4 at 1703 fair with news in English, 1705 into Australia Talks Back from Radio National; but gone by 1800 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** AZERBAIJAN/ARMENIA. [NAGORNO-KARABAKH] 9677.7, Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Rep., Stepanakert. 0600-0635 on Weds/Fris, 1500-1535 Tues/Thurs in Azeri? Nothing heard here in Germany, when checked all scheduled times (Wolfgang Büschel, Germany, Dec 4, BC-DX via DXLD) ** BANGLADESH. Re DXLD 3-215: About closing with 'Bangladesh Wunderbad?', it is actually "Bangladesh Zindabad" which means something like "Long live Bangladesh". Similar slogan is also used at end of transmissions by Radio Pakistan. They say "Pakistan Zindabad" of course. Some days back I sent you mail about "Aap ki dunya" translation but you did not come across it, it seems (Jose Jacob, India, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Yes, I did, in 3-213 under USA. BTW, my reply direct to you bounced as ``your envelope sender is in my badmailfrom list`` (gh, DXLD) I believe the actual sign-off announcement of transmissions from Bangladesh is "Bangladesh Zindabad" (meaning "Long Live Bangladesh") rather than "Bangladesh Wunderbad", although Bangladesh may well be a "wunderbad" country! (Roger Tidy, UK, Dec 4, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CANADA. CFVP, 6030, Calgary: Dec 3 after 1430 I was hearing some Canadian-accented talk occasionally fading up with readable words, culminating at 1448 by ``here in Calgary`` and discussing the Canadian dollar. Slightly stronger than another station on frequency, with subaudible het of about 5 Hz. That one appeared to be in Chinese, so from Asia, likely 100 kW CPBS Beijing. Whatever became of Chinese format on CKMX? Can anyone exceed my distance of some 2 megameters southeastward from Calgary in the daytime? (Glenn Hauser, OK, WORLD OF RADIO 1210, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CANADA. Dear Glenn! Regarding your question about CHU reception anywhere. I heard the station Nov. 30 at 0454 UT with English and French ID. 33433 on 3330 kHz. Using 180m Beverage towards 300 terminated and Icom IC-R70. Greetings (Hans Pammer, Loosdorf / Austria, Dec 3, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Glenn, I strung up a more permanent long wire over the Thanksgiving weekend. No sign of CHU on 3 or 7 MHz, day or night. 7 MHz usually good here in Georgia 24 hours a day, and reception of 3330, in the day, is a sure sign that winter residual sky wave is here, but both missing at random checks around the clock since Nov. 27 (Brock Whaley, GA, Dec 3, DX LISTENING DIGEST) I checked for CHU on 7335 this morning at 1223 UT. Nothing heard. At the same time, CFRX on 6070 was loud and clear so I know a path existed to Ontario at this time (Joe Buch, DE, Dec 3, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Glenn, I'm hearing CHU on 7335 kc and 3330 kc but not on 14670 kc at 2309. 73, (Thomas F. Giella, KN4LF, Plant City, FL, USA, Dec 3, DX LISTENING DIGEST) CHU Canada: I checked at the following times. 0055 UT Wed. Dec. 3: 3330 and 14670 were both transmitting but 7335 was not. 2055 UT Wed. Dec. 3 and 0438 UT Thurs. Dec.4: 3330 and 7335 were transmitting but 14670 was not. I will keep checking for the next few days and will let you know (Bernie O'Shea, Ottawa, Ontario, DX LISTENING DIGEST) [Later:] CHU Canada. 14670 is still not transmitting today, Thursday, 4 December. I spoke on the phone with Dr. Rob Douglas at CHU today and he said a technician was working on the transmitter. The transmitters are getting old he said; they are about 35 years old. Since 2100UT I have been hearing occasional periods of poorly modulated time pips on 14670 with no voice. They are probably testing (Bernie O'Shea, Ottawa, Ontario, ibid.) Glenn, Since sending the e-mail last night I noticed something that may be of interest re CHU. Since I live not too far from the transmitter site I do tend to get images on my 20 year old Kenwood R- 1000. I have two long wire aerials; one is outdoors north-south-about 30m long and another in the attic east-west but shorter. Today when checking 14670 using the outdoor aerial there is nothing. When I switch to the indoor aerial CHU is there with a strong signal. It is eliminated when I switch on my old Yaesu FRT-7700 tuner. Conclusion? I am picking up the 2nd harmonic of 7335 (i.e. 14670 = 2 x 7335). So if you or listeners down your way hear a weak signal on 14670 it could be 2 x 7335. I also get the 2nd harmonic of 3330 on 6660. I also picked up the 2nd harmonic of the Voice of Russia in English from 0500 to 0600 on 14360 (2 x 7180) when using the short aerial but not there with the longer outdoor aerial (Bernie O'Shea, ibid.) Hearing CHU quite well at 0020Z 4 Dec on both 7335 and 3330 kHz. Nothing heard on 14670. Best regards (Ben Loveless, WB9FJO, Michigan, DX LISTENING DIGEST) CHU Canada. Checked at 1900 UT Friday 5 December and heard CHU back on 14670. All three transmitters appear to be working now (Bernie O'Shea Ottawa, Ontario, ibid.) CHU had some down time at the August blackout, covered in DXLD 3-149 thru 3-152; there is nothing about current outages at http://inms-ienm.nrc-cnrc.gc.ca/time_services/shortwave_broadcasts_e.html (Glenn Hauser, OK, Dec 3, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CANADA. Quirks & Quarks December 8, 2003 Hello, This Week on Quirks & Quarks we devote our entire show to: ``Flight into the Future.`` Join us as we celebrate the 100th anniversary of powered flight, and explore how new technology will take us to new heights in the second century of flight. We'll look at the remarkable innovations that allowed the Wright brothers to fly the first airplane back in 1903. Then we'll see how the right stuff will take us farther and faster than ever before, using hypersonic engines, morphing wings, beamed power and crash-proof computer-piloted airplanes. Fasten your seatbelts, and put your chair backs and tables in an upright position - it'll be quite a ride. That's Quirks & Quarks, Saturday right after the noon news, on Radio One (Bob McDonald, Host, Quirks & Quarks, CBC Radio One, Saturdays at 12:06 online at http://cbc.ca/quirks Q&Q mailing list via DXLD) ** CHILE. PIRATE, 11430U, Radio Cochiguaz. I heard them last weekend and send them an email report. They replied within a day and said they ran about 80 watts when on 11430 and 120 watts when on 6950 (From Hans Johnson, Naples, FL, Dec 3, Cumbredx mailing list via DXLD) ** CHINA. TUNE IN, CHINESE ARE DOING JUSTICE TO TAMIL From: http://www.newindpress.com/Newsitems.asp?ID=IET20031202110705&Title=Southern+News+-+Tamil+Nadu&Topic=0 PONDICHERRY: Tune in. Here is Tamil from China. And if you thought it was some kind of a hybrid between the Chinese language and our very own, banish the thought. Listen to the Tamil service in China Radio International. Probably, you would end up being embarrassed the way you speak Tamil. The voices that crackle in the short wave 25m or 31m at 7.30 pm Indian time every day are not an Indian export to Beijing. They belong to Zhu Juan Hua and Zhao Jiang, the enterprising Chinese ladies who have mastered the language just the way a puritan down here would prescribe. On a visit to Pondicherry, the two women stumped the scholars by their clarity over and fluency in the language. Their control over words and pronunciation surprised all, including the Pulavars. The only thing out of sync was the jeans and tops they were dressed in. ``We cater to people from Tamil Nadu and Sri Lanka who work in China as professionals,'' says Zhu Juan Hua in fluent Tamil. She has been the backbone of Tamil broadcast ever since she took over charge of the Tamil division of the state owned Radio in 1975. She is the president of the Tamil Division of the Chinese Radio International. There are 20,000 registered subscribers for the programme. Zhu Juan Hua and Zhao Jiang have changed their names and become popular among the listeners as Kalaiarasi and Kalaimagal respectively as their Chinese names ``do not gel well with the Tamil phonetics.'' Refusing to speak in English, which she studied at the university, Zhu Juan Hua said, ``I learnt the basics of the language from a Sri Lankan Tamil family who were my neighbours in the 70s but never thought that I would have to use it full-time as part of my job in broadcasting.'' ``Later, a Tamil publisher in China taught me the language fully and as I acquired fluency, I agreed to join the Tamil division of the service when our director told me about the proposal to start broadcasting in Tamil.'' Soon Zhu Juan Hua fell in love with the language and rose to become the head of Tamil broadcasting which currently employ nine Chinese who are well versed in the language. ``I was told by the company to learn Tamil from India following which I joined the Tanjavur Tamil University and studied masters in Tamil in 1995,'' she said adding that the university considered her as a special student and allowed her to complete the course in just one year. ``I also got a chance to read several of Tamil works, including literature like Bharathiyar's poems while doing the course,'' she says. Most of the programmes on the radio are interactive programmes, mostly phone-ins and others titled Ungal Kural, Nerukku Ner and Neyar Viruppam. Seithigal is the most popular programme aired, she adds. She says, ``Tamil is a beautiful language and the alphabets look like `oviyam'. Students at Beijing are more fortunate these days as they do not have to strain much to learn Tamil because the language is now taught as a paper in Beijing Broadcast College. Zhao Jiang, learned Tamil from the Broadcast College and works as news reader and announcer. ``News are subject to scrutiny as all items could not be broadcast. Sensitive news should get clearance from the government before relaying on air,'' she says. On a visit to Pondicherry by invitation from Pondicherry Cheena Vanoli Tamil Neyar Mandram, which regularly sends programme cassettes by air mail to Beijing, Zhu Juan Hua answered questions on Chinese economy, politics and society in Tamil at a function organised at the Tamil Sangam. Zhu Juan Hua and Zhao Jiang would return to Beijing on December 4 after a whirlwind tour covering Villupuram, Erode, Namakkal and Madurai (via Kim Elliott; and via Ulis Fleming, Cumbredx mailing list via DXLD) ** CHINA [non]. Yet another CRI relay via Canada I ran across: Dec 4 at 1600-1659* on 17735 in Chinese; RCI ID just before cut off (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CHINA [non]. "Real Time Beijing" from CRI is now heard in NAm. Great signal at 1100 UT via Sackville on 5960 kHz! Hour-long show. A nice addition to the increasing CRI frequency list via Sackville, including more English times such as 0400 and 0500 on 6190 which is regular reception here (Joe Hanlon, NJ, Dec 3, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** COLOMBIA. 1559.97 kHz, HJXZ Santa Maria de la Paz Radio, Medellín, November [sic] 2003, 2350 UT. Seems to be new owner and new name for listed "Emisoras El Poblado", Medellín. Said they have been on air three months. On the recording the station is asking for financial support. Listen to the station at SWB within 24 horas: http://homepage.sverige.net/~a-0901/ Anyone have information about "Santa Maria de La Paz Radio"? 73s (Björn Malm, Quito, Ecuador, SWB América Latina, Dec 4, DX LISTENING DIGEST) More info found at http://www.santamariadelapaz.org/espanol.htm (Henrik Klemetz, hard-core-dx via DXLD) ** COSTA RICA. James Latham of RFPI is currently visiting San Francisco, looking for progressive support to rebuild the station. One appearance we heard was on KPFA`s Morning Show around 1520 UT Dec 5. He also told us that the new RFPI might be organized differently, as there are interested groups in different parts of Costa Rica who would like to produce part of the programming, with RFPI bringing `local` radio to their towns. The mountain location where the transmitter is to be placed is at 10,000 feet elevation, and too remote for studio operations, but would have good coverage of much of the country on FM; it`s not far from existing broadcast and repeater antennas, but two or three miles off the grid, thus requiring hydro power development. A sad note: RFPI`s mascot, Paz The Cat, disappeared about the time RFPI staff had to evacuate their building. So far searching for her has been to no avail; hope is that the cat found a new home, tho guards at UPaz have been known to shoot dogs in the area (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** COSTA RICA [non]. STRONG WINS U.S. PRIZE --- FIRST CANADIAN TO GET PRESTIGIOUS SCIENCE AWARD MEDAL TO HONOUR ROLE IN ORGANIZING GLOBAL CONFERENCES TIM HARPER, WASHINGTON BUREAU WASHINGTON --- Maurice Strong, a Canadian environmentalist and diplomat, has become the first non-American to win the highest science honour in the United States. The National Academy of Sciences is to announce today that Strong, 74, has won its Public Welfare Medal, a prestigious award that's gone to an American each year for 89 years. "He is an idealist who can translate vision into action and is truly a citizen of the world," said academy president Bruce Alberts. . . http://tinyurl.com/xyf3 (Toronto Star via Carlos Coimbra, Ont., WORLD OF RADIO 1210, DXLD) Grrrrr ** CUBA. Those excellent propagation beacons in the form of jammer harmonics! Dec 4 at 1725 found the bubble jammer on 23860 which is 2 x 11930; no sign of R. Martí itself on the harmonic. Also checked 27640 = 2 x 13820 and 30660 = 2 x 15330, but not audible there (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CUBA. R. Rebelde quite strong on mid-day channel 11655, Dec 4 at 1701 with sports news, \\ weaker 15570. Recheck at 1803, 11655 was still on but badly marring R. Netherlands English news via Madagascar. Fortunately, Cuba cut off at 1804*, and thence not found on 15570 either, which would have had heavy adjacent interference (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** DEUTSCHES REICH. There seems to be a surge of interest in the wartime Nazi propagandist "Lord Haw-Haw" (William Joyce). Yet another biography on him has just been published. It's by the well-known Irish journalist Mary Kenny and is entitled, appropriately enough, "Germany Calling". I haven't managed to get a copy yet, but for anyone else interested it is published by New Island Press (ISBN 1-902602-78-1) and costs £25 in the UK (Roger Tidy, UK, Dec 4, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ECUADOR. Quito 4/Dic/2003 6:36, Amigos DXistas! 4772.86 kHz Radio Centinela del Sur, Loja, 4/Dic/2003 - 1055 UT. Reactivated! I have not noted the station for a long time. 3-4 years ago the station was coming in with good signal. Thereafter I have had the station just one week or so with very poor reception in April 2002. Centinela before this day always have been on exactly 4770.07 kHz. This morning on 4772.86 kHz with very good strength. Ads and local news from the Loja region. Very positive news indeed! NRD 535 – HF 150. MFJ 616 – MFJ 1025. Ant. 1: "Horizontal Sloped Inverted L" 18 meters Ant. 2: "Horizontal Sloped Inverted L" 36 meters + Magnetic Longwire Balun You can listen to a recording within 24 hours at SWB: http://homepage.sverige.net/~a-0901/ (Björn Malm, Quito, Ecuador, SWB América Latina, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Or maybe not; there seem to be long delays in getting your audio up on the SWB page, and some you mentioned days ago hasn`t shown up (gh) Quito 4/Dic/2003 15:35 Amigos DXistas! 1600.15 kHz, Ilusión AM, Quito, 4th of December 2003 - 2000 UT. New station! This station has been listed in WRTH but has never been on the air. 1600.15 kHz is a good split-frequency for Swedish DXers! Mostly Ecuadorian music with some boleros in between. ID by OM "están escuchando Ilusión" or just "Ilusión". First I thought it was "Ondas de Caluma" (Ecuador), has always been on 1600.27 kHz, but too strong so I kept on listening. By the way, Ondas de Caluma is often heard on its 2nd harmonic 3200.54 kHz (Björn Malm, Quito, Ecuador, SWB América Latina, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** EL SALVADOR. Where are the rebels now? --- The concluding part of a Media Network special featuring first-hand accounts of clandestine broadcasting in El Salvador during the 1980's (04-12-03) [illustrated] http://www.rnw.nl/realradio/features/html/rv031204.html (Media Network via DXLD) ** ERITREA [non]. 1730-1800, 9990, V of Eritrean People, Kvitsøy? Heard Oct 12th but not since. Moved frequency? (David Martin, Australia, DXplorer Dec 3, via BC-DX via DXLD) Tentatively: 1730-1800 13690 V. Of The Eritrean People, Tigrigna (Sun) - MNO broker Skelton 300 kW 125 degrees GB 1800-1830 7130 V. Of The Eritrean People, Tigrigna (Sun) - MNO broker Skelton 300 kW 110 degrees GB (Wolfgang Büschel, BC-DX Dec 3via DXLD) ** FINLAND. SWR'S INDEPENDENCE DAY TRANSMISSION As scheduled programmes of Scandinavian Weekend Radio will start today Friday 5th 22 hours UT. Check time and frequency schedule from our web pages: http://www.swradio.net Celebrate 86th Independence Day of Finland with us! You can also call or send SMS-messages during transmission to our hotline +358 400 995 559. And do not forget to send your reception reports (with 2 EURO) to our address: SWR, P.O.Box 35, 40321 JKL, FINLAND. We shall make some installations to our 48 mb aerial. So, please, report all observations of yours to us. Stay tuned! Alpo Heinonen, Scandinavian Weekend Radio SKANDINAVIAN VIIKONLOPPURADIO linkoaa (=lähettää) Itsenäisyyspäivän ajan ohjelmiaan Suomen Virroilta. Joten jo perjantain viimeisen tunnin viime minuuteilla kannattaa virittää sinkonne (=radio) valmiiksi taajuuksille. Itsenäisyyspäin juhlapuheiden laadusta, määrästä tai esittäjistä kannattaa käydä vilkuilemassa tiedot osoitteesta: http://www.swradio.net (seuraava lähetys sivu siellä). Musiikkipuoli tulee ainakin olemaan monipuolista, esimerkkinä mainitsen yleisesti päivän kuluessa tulevat Tricky Trevin musiikkikavalkaadit... Vierailevina tähtina keskipäivän molemmin puolin ovat puikoissa Hannes ja Patrik. Kuuluvuusolojen testaamiseksi 48:n bandilla tehdään päivän kuluessa antennitestejä, joiden onnistumiseksi toivomme paljon kuuluvuustietoja koko päivän ajalta. Ja kerätkää toki kokoelmiinne SWR-taidetta - lähettäkää raportteja osoitteeseen: SWR Raportit, PL 35, 40321 JYVÄSKYLÄ. (Alpo Heinonen, Scandinavian Weekend Radio, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** FRANCE. STRIKING RADIO FRANCE TECHNICIANS BACK AT WORK The Paris-based technicians at Radio France, who had been in strike for one week, have returned to work after securing a pay increase backdated to 1 October 2003. They had originally asked for the pay rise to be backdated to January 1, 2003, with a further increase in the 1st quarter of 2004 within the framework of a standardisation of salaries amongst all the categories of technicians at Radio France. The strike had disrupted certain programmes of France Inter, France Culture, France Music and FIP. # posted by Andy @ 11:34 UT Dec 5 (Media Network blog via DXLD) ** GERMANY. Re AFN reported on 1386 and "How big?": Very good question. I haven't heard it at all so far, but it is said that the signal appears to be too weak for being the 5 kW once used by Megaradio. So I assume that it could be the 300 watts of AFN Würzburg, i.e. a simple move from 1143 to 1386. An interesting assertion in this context is that AFN Würzburg no longer operates its own transmitters in the Leighton Barracks in favour of the Frankenwarte site where both Bayerischer Rundfunk and T-Systems operate their Würzburg transmitters. But this is merely speculation, and first some further monitoring observations would be necessary to make sure that AFN continues on 1386, because it also could have been just a transmitter test for whatever purpose. A picture of the Würzburg Frankenwarte site with the facilities of both operators: http://kailudwig.bei.t-online.de/frankenwarte.jpg This photo was made from a train before disappearing in one of the numerous tunnels of the high speed line to Fulda http://kailudwig.bei.t-online.de/wur_tun.jpg and finally leaving this line on an impressive loop across the Main river, still too fast for me to capture the river together with the high speed line towards Fulda although the train has to slow down on this loop from 200 to 110 kph before entering the old line through the Main valley to Frankfurt: http://kailudwig.bei.t-online.de/wur_main.jpg (Kai Ludwig, Germany, Dec 4, DX LISTENING DIGEST) New 1386 kHz on air again, estimated 5 kW?: AFN Wuerzburg transmitter (provided by DTK T-systems technicians) broadcast program "AFN Bavaria" from Vilseck. 1386 kHz transmitter formerly used by [now bankrupt] MEGARADIO Munich. According to Horst Rauch of Wuerzburg, the [Telekom T-systems] Würzburg transmitter on 1386 kHz is active again, this time with a special program of AFN Bavaria, Vilseck. The power seems to be lower than nominal 5 kW (1 kW only?). (Phone call 27 Nov, 2003) (Karel Honzik, Czechia, MWDX via BDXC-UK, Nov 28 via BC-DX via DXLD) Registered 5 kW, 7 dB/kW max. radiation. Seemingly a one day operation for maintenance only, never heard again!!! See http://www.itu.int/ITU-R/publications/brific-ter/files/ge75/2002/ge75_109.pdf (Wolfgang Büschel, Nov 27/28, BC-DX via DXLD) ** GERMANY. The new winter frequency schedule of the Deutsche Welle (or rather DW Radio as they identify themselves during English broadcasts) confirms what has been reported earlier here. The English service to Europe on 6140, which was previously on the air continuously from 0600 to 1900, is now broadcast at 0600-1000 and 1300-1600 only. This is a pity, as this was the only all-day service in English to Europe in addition to the World Service of the BBC. The good novelty in the DW-Radio new season is that five minutes of the latest news are now broadcast on the hour around the clock. Some other interesting programmes to be heard on 6140 kHz: 0605 Mon Mailbag; 0605 Sun Inside Europe; 0705 M-F NewsLink (also 0805, 0905); 0705 Sat Inside Europe (repeated 0905, 1405); 0730 Tue A World of Music (rptd. 0930, 1430); 0730 Sun Hits in Germany or Melody Time (rptd 0930, 1430); 0805 Sun Mailbag; 0830 Sat Network Europe (rptd 1530); 1305 M-F NewsLink (also 1405, 1505); 1305 Sat Concert Hour; 1430 Fri Cool; 1505 Sun Concert Hour (Stefano Valianti, Southern European Report, Dec BDXC-UK Communication via DXLD) ** GUINEA. I heard an unidentified French station from 0830 to 0920 fadeout Dec. 2 on 7125. Male and female with talk, sounded like a children`s program. Only ID heard sounded like Radio France or Radio Branz by female, repeated. Continued with steel drums at 0905. At 0915 African type music. Faded out completely at 0920. Signal was good but diminished by 0920. Guinea not sched at this time according to my records (Ron Trotto, IL, hard-core-dx via DXLD) It is but only on Sundays and Holidays. No holiday scheduled, but on December 21 there are presidential elections, and as the current president evidently is "eager" to stay in office, maybe there is a more intense media activity during the election campaign. (Cf. http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=38179&SelectRegion=West_Africa&SelectCountry=GUINEA for a report on this). At least, that would nicely fit to your description. 73, (Eike Bierwirth, 04317 Leipzig, DL, ibid.) ** HONDURAS. Reactivated Radio M.I. on December 1st. Captured at 0229 UT, on 3339.98 kHz. Transmitting religious music (Greetings from Catia La Mar, VENEZUELA, Adán González, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** INDONESIA. 3325, RRI Palangkaraya, 1410-1445 Dec 3. "Radio Republik Indonesia Palangkaraya degan acara bulayana... sampaikan informasi anda...," which was an introduction to a local news or information program on unknown subject hosted by M; "Palangkaraya" mentioned many times; several telephone numbers were announced at beginning of program. Ended at 1425 and was followed by segued lagu-lagu melayu with no announcements; tuned out at 1445 UT. VG signal (John Wilkins, Wheat Ridge, Colorado, Drake R-8, 100-ft RW, Cumbre DX via DXLD) ** INTERNATIONAL VACUUM. WorldSpace: the two Egyptian channels (Voice of the Arabs and Holy Kor`an Radio) have now disappeared, as has Kenya`s Kiss 100 (which used to be on the South beam). And Kenya`s East FM is now coded. A new channel, labelled EVENTS, has appeared on the South beam. It appears to be an Islamic station based in South Africa. I note that Virgin is still in the clear, and Killamus is still going (coded). (Chris Greenway, Nairobi, 24 Nov, UK News, Dec BDXC-UK Communication via DXLD) ** IRAN. 9580, Dec 4 0103-, Finally some decent reception noted. VOIRI with ID by YL at 0105 in English. Initially tuned in at about 0045 with SIO of 4-5-4. Unfortunately, CRI via Havana which was cochannel after 0100, initially at low level, completely overwhelmed Tehran by 0110. Also in English, with its own CRI ID in English at 0113 (Volodya Salmaniw, Victoria, BC, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** IRAN [non]. WASHINGTON TUNES IN TO IRANIAN RADIO By Rachel Clarke, BBC News Online in Washington A conservative American think tank has joined up with an opposition Iranian radio station to broadcast into and out of Iran. Callers said President Mohammed Khatami had made little difference Usually, the American Enterprise Institute hosts forums with politicians, officials and analysts from the "inside the beltway" Washington community. But for a one-off event, it invited ordinary Iranians to air their views to listeners in Washington and across their country through KRSI Radio Sedaye Iran - which broadcasts from Los Angeles on short wave and on the internet. The station said there could be reprisals against people phoning in, so KRSI would call those who had previously got in touch - though they said they had not selected activists with any particular viewpoint. The full names and other details were also withheld for security reasons according to the AEI, which is close to the Republican Party and Bush administration. KRSI is one of a number of broadcasters which circumvent jamming by the Iranian authorities and transmit radio and television programmes into the Islamic Republic calling for change. 'Reforms dead' All of those interviewed from Iran said they opposed both the mullahs and those portrayed as reformers, such as President Mohammad Khatami... http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/3289337.stm (via Kim Elliott, DXLD) ** IRAQ [and non]. Re Washington Post Editorial DXLD 3-216 : Referring to the US military in Iraq shutting down al-Arabiya, the Post editorial said, "...Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld charged at a press conference that al-Arabiya works in league with the Iraqi resistance, which, he claimed, summons it to cover attacks. But he offered no evidence to back this sensational charge. The channel, like other media outlets, covers the aftermath of attacks, but those who monitor it say it has not broadcast them as they occur." The comment by Rumsfeld was apparently referring to a video tape where the launch of a shoulder-fired missile against a cargo aircraft showed the entire event from prelaunch preparation to a hit on one wing which caused a fire and the aircraft to make an emergency landing. The DoD Secretary apparently assumed that because the camera crew was present during the pre-launch activity, the al-Arabiya station must have had advance notice of the attack and therefore was cooperating with the insurgents. Mr. Rumsfeld apparently ignored the possibility that the event may have been taped by the attackers and the tape provided to the station after the event. This is just another example of how the DoD twists the analysis of what they see to suit their own agenda. ~*-.,_,.-*~'^'~*-.,_,.-*~'^'~*-., (Joe Buch, DE, Dec 3, DX LISTENING DIGEST) -*~'^'~*-.,_,.-*~'^'~*-.,_,.-*~'^ ** IRELAND. On November 30th, on 6200.44, at 0822 UT, I captured Radio Ozone International, with male announcer. Playing rock n' roll from the 60's. Off the air at 0833 UT. SINPO 24322 (Greetings from Catia La Mar, VENEZUELA, Adán González, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 6200 at 0825, Ozone International, rock, WORLD OF RADIO, 26 Oct, 2, 9 and 16 Nov (Charles Scott, Glasgow; David Gascoyne, Kent; Robert Petraitis, Klaipeda, Lithuania; Paul Watson, Wiltshire; Stuart Dobson, Staffordshire; Alternative Airwaves, Dec BDXC-UK Communication via DXLD) Always on Sunday; I assume the actual time for WOR varies (gh) ** IRELAND. ABC International, Dublin, 6940, relaunch of old Dublin station, Nov 9 at 1155 (Paul Watson, Swindon, Wiltshire, ``unidentified``, Alternative Airwaves, Dec BDXC-UK Communication via DXLD) ** JAPAN. A few days ago I mentioned hearing about the one radio station that was used in World war 2 that sent that ill fated message to attack Pearl Harbor. I had the chance to view this and it was quite an impressive site. It`s about 42 km from Nagasaki, and in order to view it really good you have to go to Saikai Bridge to see it. There is a bus that is located near the train station in Sasebo and leaves only 4 times a day and if you miss the last one be prepared to pay a lot for the taxi coming back. I was told it`s around 80 dollars one-way. The bus travels through some really spectacular hills and along a nice river area until you get up into the mountains where the bridge crosses the river. From here the driver lets you off and you can walk across to the other side (hold on to your hat) and it`s a very pretty location. On the way up to the site it comes to a spot that shows the antenna farm and appears to be still in good condition and from what I was told is still in use today (Larry Fields, n6hpx/du1, swl at qth.net via DXLD) WTFK? What`s the callsign? (gh) ** KENYA. On 2 Dec at 1830 on 4915 noted KBC Nairobi in local language and Afro music, fading at times well over Ghana. Sign-off at 1905 after National Anthem (Jari Savolainen, Kuusankoski, Finland, WORLD OF RADIO 1210, DX LISTENING DIGEST) This is the first log of KBC I've seen in ages on any frequency. It should be worth checking to catch a sign-on. Per my 2002 WRTVH, sign- on is 0230 Wednesdays and 0700 Sundays. It may also be worth keeping an ear on 4885, 4935, 6075, 6150 & 7140 whenever the Africans are in. 4915 usually has Ghana around sunset in Michigan, and then Brasil after Ghana goes off (Harold Frodge, MARE via DXLD) ** KENYA. CRACKDOWN ON ILLEGAL RADIO TRANSMISSIONS, NEW EQUIPMENT ACQUIRED | Excerpt from report by Kenyan newspaper Daily Nation web site on 3 December The government has acquired an upgraded radio frequencies monitoring equipment to boost the crackdown on illegal transmissions. The six million US dollar Radio Spectrum Management and Monitoring System [RSMS] gives the Communications Commission of Kenya [CCK] the capacity to monitor all radio transmissions in any part of the country. With a capacity to detect transmissions of up to 40 gigahertz (GHz), the Israeli-made RSMS enables CCK technicians to detect all transmissions from its offices in Nairobi. According to CCK Director General Sammy Kirui, the authority's existing equipment could only detect transmissions of 1 GHz , far below capacity of some hi-tech gear illegally brought into country. The highest range being used in the country at the moment is 28 GHz, Mr Kirui said. "With this new equipment, we can detect transmissions which are in violation of CCK regulations in any part of the country from our offices here in Nairobi," he said. The new equipment, built and supplied by Israel's Tadiran Electronic Systems, can also be upgraded to monitor transmission on higher frequencies, Mr Kirui added. Further, the equipment's control centre in Nairobi is linked by remote control to five other outposts in Kahawa, Mazeras, Mombasa, Kitale and Garissa, from which it can access information on the nature of radio transmissions in the locality. Mr Kirui was speaking during the launch of the equipment at CCK's yet to be occupied headquarters at Kabete, Nairobi, presided over by Transport and Communications minister John Michuki. Also launched were two mobile frequency monitor and locator. Mr Michuki described the acquisition of the gear as a milestone in Kenya's communications industry, adding that it would enhance CCK's capacity to track down illegal operators. Israeli ambassador Emanuel Seri, said the system was among the most advanced in the world and its installation was evidence of Kenya's drive to technological advancement. [Passage omitted] Source: Daily Nation web site, Nairobi, in English 3 Dec 03 (via BBCM via DXLD) ** KOREA SOUTH. Korean numbers station, allegedly from here, 6205, had by far the strongest signal from Asia/Pacific on 49m, overshadowing BBC Singapore 6195, and a firedrake further down, Dec 3 at 1502, woman with rhythmic reading – hey, one could exercise to this! Stopped at 1507 and carrier remained on another minute, providing BFO for some Spanish 2-way (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** LAOS. 6130, Lao National Radio, 1136-1200 Dec 2. Nice to have them back. Soft female vocals at tune-in, followed by talk by two different males. Later on more vocals, then the familiar signature tune at 1158, with the gongs at 1159. Then presumed ID by a man and possible anthem. News items presented by a female at 1200. SINPO 33333 when I tuned out (George Maroti, NY, Cumbre DX via DXLD) ** LITHUANIA. Swiss Pro-Life Radio on medium wave 1386 kHz. Life Radio is pleased to announce a test transmission on Sunday 7th Dec. The programme will be aired on 1386 kHz between 2000 and 2030 UT with a high-powered transmitter of Radio Baltic Waves International at Sitkunai site, in Lithuania. Life Radio is the radio voice for life to protect and defend human life from the moment of conception until natural death. Life Radio is a lay organization dedicated to spreading the knowledge, love and practice of the Roman Catholic Faith by means of radio. The programme features a lecture on the Immaculate Conception hosted by the National Director of Priests for Life, Father Frank Pavone. Reception reports and comments are very welcome and will contribute to the final decision to either use or not to use 1386 kHz for further broadcasts in the year 2004. Mailing address: Life Radio, P. O. Box 3329, CH-6303 Zug, Switzerland. Fax no. +41 41 710 28 39 (Michael Bethge, Germany, WWDXC Nov 27 via BC-DX via DXLD) Additional info: The power will be 500kW ND. Produced by the Swiss branch of Human Life International (USA). Website: http://www.human-life.ch (Switzerland), http://www.hli.org (USA) (Bernd Trutenau-LTU, A-DX Nov 27 via BC-DX via DXLD) ** MADAGASCAR. Re my logging of jammer-like signal around 5015. On 2 Dec at 1800 Madagascar was back on 5010 with nice signal strength and good audio. And there was no "jammer" anymore. So, that's it (Jari Savolainen, Kuusankoski, Finland, WORLD OF RADIO 1210, DX LISTENING DIGEST) The 5015 "jammer" was audible in western Florida on 1 Dec around 0300, well past sunrise in Madagascar. It faded out shortly after Turkmenistan. Who'd bother to jam Turkmenistan? (Gerry Bishop, Niceville, FL, Cumbre DX via DXLD) Once more about this "jammer". I checked my archives and found one e- mail I sent to Cumbre in May 2002 about the similar jammer-like station (see below). I was then referring to Dave Valko's logging in Cumbre-DX. I did some quick search at Cumbre website but didn't find the original Dave's message about this archived. (By the way, that time RTM was doing long hours, maybe 24hrs/day?) Yep, the sunrise in Madagascar now is around 0200 UT I guess. I don't know if the about-one-hour-after-sunrise reception of Madagascar at your QTH is impossible. But I still think it was MDG, based on signal strength, s-off time, pieces of audio and seemingly their transmitter has a habit to do this kind of thing :). Any new info about this is mostly appreciated. Best 73 (Jari Savolainen, Kuusankoski, Finland, ibid.) ------- In May 2002 I wrote: "Re Valko's report of UNID/jammer on 5010 22 May (Cumbre DX 400). I have nothing written down of my 22 May logging on 5010 but this is what I remember; 22 May around 2100/2200 I heard a jammer-like signal centered around 5011. Below that was heard bits of music and talk, but no stable carrier traced. So I switched to AM and the bcst was (distorted) RTM Malagasy. I kept listening and my opinion is that RTM had tx problem, the carrier was off frequency and rapidly pulsating up and down and produced a sound just like a jammer if listened on SSB. The time was too early for me to get signal from possible HRMI, the situation is of course different at Valko's qth. Next day RTM was again OK on 5010. (Jari Savolainen, Kuusankoski, Finland)" (Cumbre DX via DXLD) ** MALI. 11960, presumed, good signal and no QRM, but somewhat undermodulated in French, Dec 4 at 1706; 1711 into oud music; recheck 1800 it was gone but now something in French on 11955, RFI? (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** MEXICO [non]. RADIO FREE CASCADIE INTERNATIONAL - 15045 khz Recibida hoy una confirmacion por e-mail de mi reporte a Radio Free Cascadie [sic] International, confirmando mi reporte de fecha 14 Septiembre 2003 a 0010-0053 horas, y prometiendo tarjeta QSL para principios del año proximo. Mencionan además que están realizando un mapa de todos los lugares en donde les han escuchado. Recibida en 78 dias. 73's GIB (Gabriel Iván Barrera, Argentina, Conexión Digital via DXLD) ** MOLDOVA (Pridnestrovye). Radio Pridnestrovya (R. PMR) has now its own webpages, located at the webserver of the president of the Dniester-Moldavian Republic: http://www.president-pmr.org/radio The pages are in Russian and parts of the menu are difficult to read on PCs using non-Russian code pages. The set includes a page that gives all times and frequencies for the broadcasts of Radio Pridnestrovya: http://www.president-pmr.org/radio/radio_grafic.htm both those for domestic coverage and for broadcasts to other countries. (Thanks to a tip from Konstantin Gusev-RUS in MIDXB #348) (Bernd Trutenau, Lithuania, Dec 4, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** MONGOLIA. Koji Yamada visited Mongolia recently and obtained important information on Mongolian radio. According to his report and our government announcement, Mongolian domestic SW system was completed this summer with full financial support of US$10 million by the Japanese government. The broadcast time is 2200-1600 UT and the programs are weather, news and Mongolian music which are essential to nomadic people who change their residential location almost every week. All operations of this domestic radio network are done by Mongolian National Radio and TV, which is the same as Voice of Mongolia. There are three stations: (1) Ulaanbaatar, opened Sep 8, 2003. One 50 kW transmitter servicing E. Mongolia and metropolitan area on 7260, with alternate frequencies 4850 and 9590. (2) Altai, opened Aug 8, 2003. Two 10 kW transmitters servicing SW Mongolia on 4830, alternates 6170 & 9530. (3) Murun, opened Jul 26, 2003. Two 10 kW transmitters servicing NW Mongolia on 4895, alternates 6190 & 9560. According to Mr. Yamada, Ulaanbaatar-7260 is heard at his residence in Tokyo from 0900, and under good conditions at 1055-1240, ID at 1100 and 1200. Severe interferences from RN and VoR at other times (JSWC via DX-plorer via DXLD) ** NAMIBIA. A very nice signal was heard from NBC on Dec. 2 on 6060 from tune in at 1912 until a co-channel station appeared around 2200. Transmission was in English - a magazine programme of various topical items. News at 2000 and then music. 6175 was cluttered and NBC could not be IDed on there (Noel R. Green & Ray Browell dxing from Blackpool, UK, Cumbredx mailing list via WORLD OF RADIO 1210, DXLD) ** NETHERLANDS. On November 30th, at 0344 UT on 6264.86, I captured Alfa Lima International with a male announcer. Playing techno music. Corona's "I don't want to be a star"/ Apollo 440's "Ain't talking 'bout dub"/ DJ Carlos' "Silmarilia"/ Announcing the web page address / SINPO 24322 (Greetings from Catia La Mar, VENEZUELA, Adán González, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** NETHERLANDS [and non]. Wanted to report a problem on Nov. 27, '03 on the SAsian service from Madagascar, heard here well on 12080 and 15595 kHz. The Thursday lineup of programs was OK at 1430 UT with Dutch Horizons, then Research File started as scheduled at 1500 UT. However, after only a few words, it was faded out and Dutch Horizons was re-started. Then both transmitters went off-air about 1503 UT. !5595 came back on at 1507 UT still in the midst of the incorrect Dutch Horizons; 12080 came back with the same about 1508 UT. That program continuted to the end. There was no comment from the apparently-live announcer about this programming mix-up at 1530, and the news and Newsline began then as scheduled. This Madagascar transmission comes in well here in the central US. I think you should claim it as a North American service in addition to the stated SAsian target area in order to protect the frequencies from interference, for whatever good that would do. That shouldn't cost you anything; just an entry in the international frequency- registration database (Will Martin, Saint Louis, Missouri USA, to RN, cc to DXLD) ** NETHERLANDS ANTILLES. Hi Glenn, long time since I last posted anything. Propagation on HF has depressed me a lot during this autumn and I have not even opened my receiver very often. I started a ham course and wish to be "QSO-ready" myself before the next solar "conditions" on VHF/UHF. However, here is one catch: Radio Netherlands on 6165 kHz came in today (Dec 4) at 0420 UT with a report on apartheid in Dutch language, parallel on 31 metre band. Propagation conditions became suddenly much worse after 0430 (Matti Ponkamo, Naantali, South-West of Finland, Drake R4-C with 20 metres of random wire & Sony 2001D, central heating system as grounding, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** NEW ZEALAND. RNZI is planning to replace the 6095 and 11675 kHz channels soon (Wolfgang Büschel, Dec 4, BC-DX via DXLD) ** PAKISTAN [non]. TAJIKISTAN I'd like to keep you informed about the following frequency changes of Radio Deutsche Welle via Dushanbe transmitters: old: 1900-1915 UTC, Dari 972 kHz, 1000 kW, ND 1915-1930 UTC, Pashtu 972 kHz, 1000 kW, ND new (valid 01.12.2003) 1900-1915 UTC, Dari 801 kHz, 1000 kW, ND 1915-1930 UTC, Pashtu 801 kHz, 1000 kW, ND I thought this was to be the new 24/7 freq for the IBB to broadcast to Pakistan? (Herman Boel, Belgium, A-DX Dec 2 via BC-DX via DXLD) V. USA ** PERU. Re R. Huarmaca, 5384.23: Hi Björn, Have them here, 5384.2 with fair signal at 0130-0139. 73 (Bob Wilkner, FL, UT Dec 3, Cumbre DX via WORLD OF RADIO 1210, DXLD) ** PERU. Radio Macedonia, Arequipa 4890. Received an English verification letter from Chris Gardner, for a English report and CD of the recording sent to their Arequipa address. The form VL has a computer-generated logo and watermark. Chris says they don't have souvenirs yet because they still don't have the budget. The sentence reads a little cryptically though it looks like they intend generating revenue through advertising. A QSL card and "souvenirs" will be sent when they're available. Although a form letter, there is some customisation as Chris refers to the CD. Cheers, (Paul Ormandy, ZL4PW, Host of The South Pacific DX Report, http://radiodx.com Dec 4, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ROMANIA. Glenn, Following R. Romania Int. info received via email December 3, 2003. "As of October the 26th, when we pass from daylight saving [sic] time to standard time, the programmes of Radio Romania International feature a series of significant changes. These include different broadcasting times for many of our programmes, different broadcasting frequencies and a different format, with some of our broadcasts shortening from 56 to 26 minutes. These changes are imposed by the technical difficulties we are confronted with and, why not, there should be a "zero hour" for any change. The truth is that many of our ground transmitters are obsolete and you were the first to notice that. The National Radio Communications Society has recently started upgrading the transmitters used by the National Public Radio, RRI included, thanks to a significant state-guaranteed credit. Until this upgrading is completed, our radio station is trying to rationalize its financial resources and channel them towards the acquisition of more modern broadcasting equipment. For the time being we use the transmitters allotted to us under the general strategy of the Romanian Radio Broadcasting Corporation in a number which will be practically equal to the upgraded ones available in the hopefully near future. At the same time, in an effort to adjust ourselves to the changes around us, we will channel more financial resources to broadcasting our programmes via the Internet and satellite. Therefore, as of October the 26th, listeners in Western Europe can tune in to RRI broadcasts as follows: 0700 - 0726 on 11775 / 15105 1300 - 1356 on 15105 / 17745 1730 - 1756 on 9570 / 11940 2200 - 2256 on 5975 / 7250 Listeners on the eastern coast of North America: 2200 - 2256 on 9550 / 11830 0100 - 0156 on 9510 / 11740 Listeners on the western coast of North America: 0100 - 0156 on 6040 / 9530 0300 - 0356 on 6040 / 9515 Listeners in Australia: 2300 - 2356 on 11840 / 11940 / 15145 / 15370 You can also listen to our programmes on the Internet, in real Audio, at http://www.rri.ro or via satellite HOT BIRD 5, vertical polarization, azimuth 130 EAST. We hope you will not find it too difficult to pick up our programmes for all the changed times and frequencies. Anyway, if there are any corrections you would like to suggest and it's in our power to make them good, please do not hesitate and let us know!" Following R. Romania International info also received via email on December 4, 2003. "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" RRI email address is engl@rri.ro 73, (via Kraig Krist, Annandale, VA, DXLD) ** RWANDA. Radio Rwanda was clear channel at 1912 Dec 2 on 6055 in a vernacular until close down at 2100. Slovakia has left 6055 between 1630 and 2100 according to Observer, Bulgaria (Noel R. Green & Ray Browell dxing from Blackpool, UK, Cumbredx mailing list via WORLD OF RADIO 1210, DXLD) ** RWANDA. Two Rwandan journalists have been sentenced to life in prison for their part in the country's 1994 genocide. A third man was given a 35 year jail term after a private radio told ethnic Hutus to kill members of the Tutsi minority saying "exterminate the cockroaches." The station --- Radio Television des Milles Collines --- also broadcast lists of people to be killed and revealed where they could be found. About 800,000 Tutsis and moderate Hutus were slaughtered in just 100 days (BBC Teletext, 3rd December via Mike Barraclough, Letchworth, UK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Glenn, This from the New York Times of Dec. 4 on the role of media in the Rwandan genocide, and how the international tribunal for Rwanda has convicted media executives for their role. COURT FINDS RWANDA MEDIA EXECUTIVES GUILTY OF GENOCIDE By SHARON LaFRANIERE RUSHA, Tanzania Dec. 3 ? In the first verdict of its kind since the Nuremberg trials, an international court today convicted three Rwandan news media executives of genocide for helping to incite a killing spree by machete-wielding gangs who slaughtered about 800,000 Tutsis in neighboring Rwanda in early 1994. A three judge panel found that the three defendants used a radio station and a twice-monthly newspaper to inflame ethnic hatred that eventually led to massacres at churches, schools, hospitals and roadblocks. The radio station, dubbed Radio Machete in Rwanda, guided killers to specific victims, broadcasting the names, license plate numbers and hiding places of Tutsis. The Rwanda genocide is considered the worst ethnic killing since the Holocaust. In 100 days, an estimated 10 percent of the Tutsis in Rwanda were wiped out, along with many moderates among the Hutus, who make up the majority of the population. The efficiency of the killers, who chased down the Tutsis at roadblocks and in the streets with sharpened sticks, nail-studded clubs and grenades, surpassed even that of the Nazis, some historians contend. The United Nations, which failed to intervene during the genocide, set up the tribunal three months afterward to bring those who led the massacres to account. Today's verdict was the first conviction of news media executives for crimes of genocide since 1946, when the famous Nuremberg tribunal sentenced the Nazi publisher Julius Streicher to hang for his vitriolic campaign against the Jews. The Arusha judges sentenced two defendants to life in prison and the third to 27 years, reducing it from the life term they said he deserved because his rights were violated early in the case. "The power of the media to create and destroy human values comes with great responsibility," the court said in a 29-page summary of its judgment. "Those who control the media are accountable for its consequences." Elated prosecutors heralded the decision as a significant victory. "This is really a ground-breaking decision," said Stephen Rapp, the prosecutor in the case. "This is going to change things," said another prosecutor, Simone Monasebian. John Floyd, who defended one of the executives, a newspaper editor named Hassan Ngeze, denounced the verdict as a major setback for free speech and an invitation to dictators to close down any media outlet that is out of favor. "This is a terrible, terrible decision, the worst decision in the history of international justice," Mr. Floyd said. "This is very, very dangerous. This case would have been laughed out of an American court." Two of the defendants, Ferdinand Nahimana and Jean-Bosco Barayagwiza, were founders of RTLM radio station, which prosecutors said had a huge influence in a country where people primarily rely on the radio for news. The case against the two turned on the question of whether they intended to create a frenzy of violence, or simply failed to control the station. The judges found that both men, as well as Ngeze, the newspaper editor, had to know that the broadcasts and articles would unleash violence given the political climate in Rwanda at the time. They cited the words of one witness who testified: "What RTLM did was almost to pour petrol, to spread petrol throughout the country little by little, so that one day it would be able to set fire to the whole country." Nahimana's attorney, Jean-Marie Biju-Duval, said the judges disregarded a raft of witnesses who testified that his client had only a slender connection to RTLM. "He was convicted as a symbolic scapegoat," he said. Besides drawing a legal boundary between protected speech and criminal incitement to mass murder, the tribunal's judges and prosecutors said the case vindicated the court's painfully slow and hugely expensive approach to delivering justice in a region where impunity of the powerful has long been the rule. The international court, one of three or four ad-hoc United Nations tribunals, has struggled in recent years to justify itself in the face of intense criticism of its handling of genocide cases. In nine years of adjudication, it has produced only 17 convictions despite having a staff of 872 and an annual budget of $88 million. By contrast, the criminal court at the Hague, set up to investigate alleged war crimes by the former Yugoslav leader Slobodan Milosevic and others during the Balkans war of the last decade, has achieved more than 30 convictions and guilty pleas in a decade of work. Officials here say the Arusha court has suffered from a shortage of judges, lack of leadership in the prosecutor's office and periodic resistance from the Rwandan government. The tribunal hit a low point in 2002, when two organizations of genocide survivors in Rwanda urged people who had witnessed acts of genocide to withhold their testimony in the trials. The groups complained the court was too slow, that it failed to pursue rape charges and that it had hired defense investigators who had themselves participated in the killings. But the tribunal officials said today's verdict, the second in a week, was a sign that the tribunal has overcome most of its troubles. The pace of trials has clearly picked up: in the past month, two new cases have begun against eight ministers of the interim Hutu regime that ruled during the course of the genocide. Four more verdicts are expected later this year. Since August, the United Nations has given the court more judges and appointed a new lead prosecutor, Hassan Jallow, to replace Carla del Ponte, who was splitting her time between the Yugoslavia and Rwanda cases. Mr. Jallow has at least temporarily patched up relations with the Rwandan government and the survivor groups and is reviewing all the ongoing investigations in hope of meeting the United Nations' 2008 deadline for the tribunal to finish. Still unresolved, however, is the contentious issue of what legal authority will pursue charges that members of Rwanda's current Tutsi-controlled government engineered the revenge killings of thousands of Hutus after they overthrew the Hutu's regime in the summer of 1994. Rwandan officials say they want to handle that inquiry themselves. Should the tribunal relinquish that investigation, some critics say, it will undermine trust that it delivers even-handed justice. Moreover, one intrinsic flaw in the tribunal was underscored in the process. Today's proceeding, like all the others, took place at an international conference center in Arusha, one nation and 1,200 miles from the capital of Rwanda. The tribunal set up shop here because the United Nations considered post-conflict Rwanda to be too unsafe and too traumatized to host an international court. But as a result, few Rwandans feel like they are a part of the process, except for the witnesses who are flown back and forth in the United Nations's twin-engine Beechcraft airplane. What today's verdict will do, according to Rapp, the prosecutor, is make clear that the media directors are responsible for broadcasts and articles that incite violence, even if they are not in day-to-day control of their news outlets. In closing arguments, he argued that the defendants each caused more deaths than any single, machete-toting Hutu because they whip up a mass hysteria which fostered thousands of killers. "The media was every bit as important as the weapons of war," he said in an interview (via Matt Francis, Washington DC, DXLD) SENTENCES PASSED IN RWANDA HATE RADIO TRIAL Two people who played a major role in the Rwandan hate radio station Radio Television Libres des Mille Collines have been sentenced after a trial lasting three years. The International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda found them guilty of genocide, incitement to commit genocide and crimes against humanity. RTLM Director Ferdinand Nahimana was sentenced to live imprisonment, and Jean-Bosco Barayagwiza to 35 years, reduced to 27 years because of the time he has already spent in jail. There will be a full update to this story in our Hate Radio dossier next week. Today's edition of the conservative-leaning Washington Times, owned by the Rev. Sun Myung Moon, has an interesting piece on the verdict. http://washingtontimes.com/world/20031203-113817-3449r.htm [same story was in Straits Times via Gerald Pollard; attributed to Moony source??] One has to wonder whether the legal precedent set by this case, that men armed only with words can commit genocide, will have repercussions for certain shortwave broadcasts within and from the United States, and indeed elsewhere. That's something we will be looking at in greater detail in Media Network. More on this story: HATE MEDIA CHIEFS FOUND GUILTY (Radio Netherlands news report and analysis)[with audio] http://www.rnw.nl/hotspots/html/rwa031204.html # posted by Andy @ 10:39 UT Dec 4 (Media Network blog via DXLD) Won't happen, WWCR and the like are protected under the First Amendment. The US government would not allow the UN to have jurisdiction in anything that happened via US based sites (Lou Josephs, ibid.) ** SOLOMON ISLANDS. No problems with passing on the Solomon Islands stories to Glenn. I should have added that I was working on restoring SIBC's 9545 kHz daytime channel which, like 5020 kHz will actually run 24H so it should get across the Pacific from time to time. It will be 10 kW into a simple, low dipole at first then I'll build --- literally --- a slightly more advanced four element collinear to optimise the azimuth and elevation patterns for the Solomon Islands. I thought you'd like to know that I was working in the area of the big WWII battles on Guadalcanal - SIBC's h.f. and m.f. site is on an old airstrip about half a mile from Bloody Ridge. Kind regards (Nigel Holmes, Radio Australia, via George Poppin, WORLD OF RADIO 1210, DXLD) ** SOUTH CAROLINA [non]. Deutschland / USA: Der US-amerikanische Endzeitprediger R.G. Stair hat laut Telekom-Liste den Sendeplan auf 6110 und 13810 kHz umgebaut bzw. Frequenzwechsel vorgenommen 04.00-06.00 (MEZ 05.00) Uhr 9770 kHz (100 kW, 240 ) 13.00-15.59 (MEZ 14.00) Uhr 13810 kHz (100 kW, 115 WAs) 11.00-12.00 (MEZ 12.00) Uhr 6110 kHz (100 kW, nd) 2. So des Monat 13.00-14.00 (MEZ 14.00) Uhr 6110 kHz (100 kW, nd) ab 10.11.2003 14.00-16.00 (MEZ 15.00) Uhr 6110 kHz (250 kW, nd) ab 10.11.2003 14.00-16.00 (MEZ 15.00) Uhr 21590 kHz (100 kW, 260 ) 20.00-21.00 (MEZ 21.00) 9755 (ex 9595) kHz kW, 160 ) ab 10.11.2003 R.G. Stair sendet in den USA rund um die Uhr auf dem Kurzwellensender WWCR-4 Nashville und stundenweise auf anderen US-amerikanischen Kurzwellensendern. Ab 4. August 1997 nutzte Stair Jülich zur Abrundung der Versorgung Nordamerikas. Als im Frühjahr 1998 die Satellitenverbindung stand, wurde die Sendezeit aus Jülich erheblich ausgebaut, doch wechselt der Sendeplan nach Finanzlage (Dr. Hj. Biener, ntt aktuell Dec 4 via DXLD) Overcomer website still does not mention Sweden 1179, as we heard B.S. talking about on air as if it were a done deal (Glenn Hauser, Dec 5, DXLD) ** SRI LANKA. Hi everyone: 12-1-03 Monday night I picked up some guy on 9770 at 0106. He was in English with a British accent and sounded sort of crazy like a typical pirate lunatic. He was playing music and doing some kind of "Name that Tune Show" with medleys of rock (Gotta Travel On, some Xmas music, etc.) and a mention of the time as "just after six". I thought I heard mention of Sri Lanka. Then at 0130 I believe went into some religious program. Signal was good. Any ideas? (The dxer can only log what the seat can endure, 73s, Pioneer 10, hard-core-dx via DXLD) Why not SLBC exactly as scheduled? (gh, DXLD) ** SRI LANKA [non]. World Radio Network 7460 --- Dear Glenn, Today December 4, 2003 on 7460 I heard Radio Australia in English from tune in around 0005 UT. At 0030 there was World Radio Network ID and News Headlines followed by English program of China Radio International. At around 0100 there was again News Headlines followed by announcement for Public Radio International but the transmitter went off around 0100. The WRN ID was for South Africa FM. It seems like a switching error as normally English program of IBC for Sri Lanka is broadcast then. Must check up tomorrow (Jose Jacob, VU2JOS, ATOJ, National Institute of Amateur Radio, Hyderabad, India, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** SWEDEN. Christian, SM6VPU in Sweden, constantly updates his website on old Swedish long wave and medium wave transmitters. Now there are more pictures on Sölvesborg (1179 kHz, 600 kW) and some unique photos from Östersund before it was demolished in 1982. He is also working on an article about the Hörby SW transmitters from 1952. Although currently in Swedish, Christian hopes to make a mirror site in English http://hem.passagen.se/longwave/?noframe/ (EMWG via Chris Brand, Communication Webwatch, Dec BDXC-UK Communication via DXLD) ** SWEDEN [non]. IBRA Radio schedule lists just one broadcast in English on SW in the B-03 period: 1830-1845 daily to East Africa on 9520 via Jülich (IBRA Radio web site via Dave Kenny, DX News, Dec BDXC-UK Communication via DXLD) ** SWITZERLAND. Every time I open the envelope from ``swisswinfo`` I feel a bit sad, remembering what a great station Swiss Radio International was. (And this is especially true to an Italian listener: for Italians in the five continents, Radio Svizzera Internazionale has always been the real international radio in Italian, considering that Rai International has always suffered reception problems). Now this twice-a-year letter and leaflets, mainly promoting their website swissinfo.org seem like casualty bulletins to me. Shortwave broadcasts, we are informed, will end for good in less than one year from now. But even satellite broadcasts are not in good shape, and SwissMix, which is on Eutelsat HB3 for Europe and Worldspace for Asia, will disappear next March 31 (Stefano Valianti, Southern European Report, Dec BDXC-UK Communication via DXLD) JOB CUTS PLANNED AT SWISSINFO/SRI Swissinfo/Swiss Radio International is expected to lose 35 out of a total of 147 full time jobs when the government reduces its annual financial subsidy from the current 18 million Swiss francs to just 5 million in 2005. From 2006 the subsidy is due to be removed completely. The media employees' union SSM has asked the government to cancel the subsidy cuts. It says the loss of 35 jobs will affect the quality of the output. Swissinfo says it's not yet known when the dismissals are to take place and who will be affected: details are due to be announced next April. However, sources have indicated that the German, French, Italian and English services will be the worst hit, with little or no impact on other languages. SSM believes the planned cuts will damage the image of Switzerland. # posted by Andy @ 20:29 UT Dec 3 (Media Network blog via DXLD) ** SWITZERLAND [non]. Catholic pro-Life station: see LITHUANIA ** U K. British subs listening to Radio 4 --- Glenn, The press story in DXLD 3-215 gets it no more than half-right. The question of Britain's nuclear deterrent submarines listening to the Today programme on Radio 4 was first revealed, I believe, in the book The Secret State by respected academic Peter Hennessy, published in 2002. But the book makes it clear that it's not a question of the submarine commanders listening to the Today programme every day, and immediately starting the launch countdown if they can't hear it. Rather, there are two hypothetical scenarios. First, how would a submarine commander know that the UK had been, in effect, destroyed by a nuclear attack (and therefore that there was no-one to give him any valid orders though the usual channels)? Second, if the commander could assure himself that this was indeed the situation, what should he do next? There must be various ways in which the first question could be settled. Hennessy says that ONE OF THE VERY LAST TESTS (which would be conducted over several days) would be to establish that the Today programme had been silenced. (As he says, "a pleasing last touch of national identity".) If all the tests confirm the worst, the commander opens the handwritten note from the prime minister, who (from beyond the grave) instructs him what to do. Incidentally, of Britain's four Trident submarines, only one is normally on patrol and designated to conduct a nuclear strike if required. The others are being refitted or preparing to go to sea. And they do not patrol "in secret locations around the world and cut off from base". They patrol in the Norwegian Sea or the Barents Sea, in range of VLF (and possibly also Radio 4 longwave) signals from the UK. Hennessy's fascinating and soberly written book also includes a declassified 1967 British intelligence assessment of where it was expected that Soviet nuclear strikes on the UK would be made. This includes the suggestion that each of the three VLF naval stations (Rugby, Criggion and Anthorn) would be hit by the USSR with three 500- kiloton nuclear weapons. It also lists for presumed Soviet destruction the town of Reading (home of BBC Monitoring). I can recommend the book. It is published by Penguin. ISBN 0-14-100835-0 (Chris Greenway, Kenya, Dec 3, DX LISTENING DIGEST) SECOND POWER CUT KNOCKS OUT BBC THE BBC's flagship news services have been knocked off-air by the second power cut in less than a week - prompting concern among insiders about the state of the corporation's infrastructure. Full article: http://www.thescotsman.co.uk/index.cfm?id=1334702003 (via Gerald Pollard, DXLD) MORE TRANSMISSION BREAKS IN BBC RADIO For the second time in five days, some BBC radio transmissions were affected by a break in transmission this evening. Just after 2000 UTC, BBC Radio 5 Live went silent, and the same problem appeared to have affected the news on BBC Radio 4, which was heard apologising for the break. Radio 5 Live resumed broadcasts on mediumwave at approximately 2008 UTC, but audio did not reappear on the Astra satellite for another 5 minutes after that. # posted by Andy @ 20:15 UT Dec 3 (Media Network blog via DXLD) It would appear that TV was also affected, http://forum.digitalspy.co.uk/board/t/100936/60a86a2bf9f786325889d58ca8cc981cds.html Though I was watching NASN at the time so was blissfully unaware (Ray Woodward, UK, 12.04.03 - 9:26 am, ibid.) World service was also affected (at least on 'Freeview' - being replaced by a looped announcement by a very annoyed sounding woman: "There is a fault!" [pause] "Normal service will be resumed as soon as possible!" (Ray Woodward, UK, 12.04.03 - 9:33 am, ibid.) As suspected, it was another power failure at the West London News Centre. The consequences are ongoing: Matthew Bannister presented his 2200-0100 show from an "unfamiliar studio" last night. This is outrageous, when you think of all the money the BBC spends on non-core activities, but is apparently negligent in ensuring basic things like adequate power supplies and failsafe backups. Heads should roll over this (Andy Sennitt, 12.04.03 - 12:13 pm, ibid.) No mention made of either Sports Extra or DAB signals in article about second BBC interruption (Paul David, 12.05.03 - 3:06 am, ibid.) I believe Sports Extra dropped from a live football commentary back to its playout promo barker for a while (Ray Woodward, UK, 12.05.03 - 8:52 am, ibid.) ** U K. Heard an entertaining and interesting show on BBC Radio 4 online today called 'A World in your ear' which is billed as a 'showcase for the best English language radio on the planet'. It was the opening of the show, with various international broadcaster IDs that first caught my ear, and the show included pieces from New Zealand (a radio news report on the problem of road sign theft) and Australia (the infamous interview between Melbourne's FOX FM and Russell Crowe). The show is on air on Fridays at 1330, and Sundays at 2000. This show seems to be on Radio 4 only and not on World Service (Matt Francis, Australian Embassy, Washington DC, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Yes, I`ve often listened to it; takes turns with Feedback at those times (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U K [non]. Somewhat surprised to find BBC WS on a frequency new to me, 9510, Dec 4 at 1710 with World Today. Current printed frequency folder says this is Singapore to South Asia, switching to Thailand relay at 1800 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. I received in the post last night a survey form from the Voice of America, similar to the one I received prior to the BBC cuts a few years back. Am I reading too much into this? More cuts to come? Comments welcomed! In the upcoming QSL column in CIDX Messenger, two different DXers report receiving several VoA QSL's and other goodies including mouse pads in recent weeks. They (VoA) seem to get behind, and then all at once reply to a backlog of reports. I have noted this trend in the last 2-3 years. I have had ZERO luck sending e-mail reports to the likes of VoA and even Radio Netherlands, who are probably overwhelmed with e-mails from listeners regarding other questions besides a QSL request. I suspect e-mail requests are moved to a file that is rarely looked at. Not that these stations are purposely ignoring e-reports, it is just easier to forget about electronic files. As they say, ``out of sight, out of mind``. A stack of paper letters is harder to forget about. Just my opinion. 73 (Mick Delmage, AB, hard-core-dx via DXLD) We [VOA] do still QSL. I send them out from the Delano transmitter site as time permits. 73 everyone, (John Vodenik, Delano Transmitting station, 11015 Melcher Road, Delano, CA 93215, U.S.A., Dec 4, hard- core-dx via DXLD) ** U S A [non]. PHILIPPINES --- 6110 VOA relay 1438-1456 Tue Dec 2. Interview with President of Romanian Radio Broadcasting Corp., which is celebrating its 75th anniversary this month. This was part of pgm "Press Conference USA". (John Wilkins, Wheat Ridge, Colorado, Drake R- 8, 100-ft RW, Cumbre DX via DXLD) Still no archive audio??? (gh) ** U S A. [US propaganda organization branch off the VoA Urdu service to so-called] "Aap Ki Duniya" has already started in its 3rd transmission at 1700-1800 on 15130 13680 and 11975 kHz. Aap Ki Duniya means "It's your world" (Alok Dasgupta, India, BC-DX Nov 28 via BC-DX via DXLD URDU VOA present transmissions 0100-0200 UDO 04 9705 300 0100-0200 KAV 08 7175 105 0100-0200 KAV 06 6170 105 1330-1430 KAV 04 15540 051 1330-1430 KAV 06 11715 095 1330-1430 UDO 05 9510 300 1700-1800 UDO 05 15130 308 1700-1800 IRA 05 13680 356 1700-1800 UDO 03 11975 300 (IBB, Nov 28 via BC-DX via DXLD) It accuses VOA of s h e d d i n g its universally known and recognised brand name. Like US IBB with its branches RFE/RL, RFA, R Martí, Farda, Sawa, the IRIB-Iran's English service just started same brainwashing proceeding, called their program "Voice of Justice" recently (Wolfgang Büschel, BC-DX via DXLD) Interessant ist, dass die Amerikaner ihr Markenzeichen "Voice of America" nicht mehr verwenden und den arabischen Dienst als "Radio Sawa" und den Farsi-Dienst als "Radio Farda" firmieren lassen. Muss ja wohl einen Grund haben, vermutlich ist die Bezeichnung VoA in der Bevoelkerung gruendlich diskreditiert. Und die neueste ""Station"" mit einem Pseudo-Verschleierungsnamen folgt auf dem Fusse. Und die Perser von IRIB Tehran folgen mit gleicher Praktik nach (Wolfgang B:uschel, A-DX Dec 1 via BC-DX via DXLD) See also PAKISTAN [non] ** U S A. Hate radio: see RWANDA ** U S A. KTBN is often super-strong here; Dec 4 at 1719, found 15590 accompanied by high-pitched buzz extending plus and minus 20 kHz. Fortunately, not a problem for VOA 15580 after 1800. Also Dec 5 around 2230 the same was happening (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. KVOH was really pushing out its plus and minus 147 kHz spurs on Dec 5 around 2230. First noted on 17628, with Spanish talk \\ 17775. The spur carrier was somewhat intermittent, dropping out most at modulation peaks. An equally strong matching one was found on 17922. Then a pair of weaker but still easily identifiable ones at 2 x 147 separation, on 17481 and 18069. Why not check another 147 kHz out? Barely detectable on 18216 but not 17334 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. 4847 (spur), WBCQ, 2155-2205 Dec 2. Intrigued by Scott Barbour's unID log on FRN.net, I tuned slightly above Mauritania on 4845, and found a carrier here. Program at the time was "The Voice of Reason". ID at ToH as "WBCQ, Monticello, Maine". This was in parallel with 5105, not 7415. About an S7 in signal strength (George Maroti, NY, Cumbredx mailing list via WORLD OF RADIO 1210, DXLD) 5105.22, Dec 4 0330-, WBCQ, Strange Christian programming, the 'Apocalypse Chronicles' in USB mode, off nominal 5105. Strong signal. Parallel to stronger 9329.63 LSB, but not to 7415 (Volodya Salmaniw, Victoria, BC, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. 5919.98, Dec 4 0332-, Presumed WBOH here with lively preacher, with a ?Lusaka, Georgia address given at 0344. I note that ILG lists 5770 for them. Fair to good reception, but best on LSB. USB seems to suffer from some noise. LSB nicely in the clear. I didn't wait around for an ID (Volodya Salmaniw, Victoria, BC, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. Since WINB has cancelled WORLD OF RADIO`s airtime, let`s try to remember to check whether the other two DX programs are still on, Sat 1800-1900 on 9930, Wavescan and DX Partyline. The WINB online schedule has not been updated (Glenn Hauser, Dec 5, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. Undercover Radio was heard on December 1st, on 6925, at 0032 UT. LSB. Dr Benway comments. Programs "Time to destroy Commander Bunny" and "Sick Man". Billy Idol's "Heroin" and Kraftwerk's "Radioactivity". Out at 0224 UT (Greetings from Catia La Mar, VENEZUELA, Adán González, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A [and non?]. Found four CODAR surface wave radar swishers going at the same time, Dec 4 around 1730: 26150-26250, 24600-24750, 13600-13655, 12100-12200 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. Hi Glenn: The 550 mystery continues: look at all the related links of this weird outfit: http://www.nbsradioandtv.com/ 73 (Matt, DX LISTENING DIGEST) That`s about ``KMAX 550 AM`` --- offers press credentials, and up to $10K for stories; address on Sunset (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. Infinity pulled the plug on WGIV 1600 Charlotte Sunday November 30. Long time R&B station was Black Gospel the last few years. Station signed on as ``We're G.I. Veterans`` in 1947. Station is now silent. No plans to return to the air under Infinity (Brock Whaley, GA, Dec 3, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. Heard WBHE 1660, 12/02 2200 EST with legal ID, then into sporting news radio. Checked 12/03 0730 + EST, local sports talk, including talk about the new signal on 1660, running simulcast with 610 5 to 9, and 3 to 7. Mention of possibly airing UNC-Charlotte basketball games on 1660, if response was good, hinges on how well the new 1660 night signal covers where the 610 night signal does not. Both receptions the signal was strong (Ed Mitkus, Johnson City TN, WORLD OF RADIO 1210, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. I phoned KBIV-1650-El Paso TX today after I got an e mail regarding hearing C&W on 1650. They are indeed testing and will be fulltime soon according to the secretary. 73s, (Patrick Martin, Seaside OR, KAVT Reception Manager, Dec 5, hard-core-dx via DXLD) Thanks Patrick. I heard about it indirectly so I was hesitant to "broadcast" it without something a little more substantial. The license apparently calls for 8.5/.85 for power whch is less than most expanded band stations. But they appear to be using a longer than normal antenna which may make it up in ERP. The antenna coordinates appear to be VERY close to the US/Mexico border. I'm surprised they are not Spanish speaking. I will have no chance of hearing them here with KBJD 3 miles south of me. Too bad they weren't on a couple months ago when I visited El Paso! (Patrick Griffith, NØNNK, Westminster, CO, Dec 4, NRC-AM via DXLD) New X-band station: KBIV from El Paso Texas on 1650 kHz A country music station from Texas has begun testing on 1650 kHz. KBIV in El Paso is expected to go on the air fulltime soon, this according to Patrick Martin who has called the station. According to El Paso Inc, KBIV will feature classic country music from the 70s and 80s, including artists like Garth Brooks, Johnny Cash, Waylon Jennings, Reba McEntire and Willie Nelson. The station will target an adult audience in a market where the only other country station is KHEY-FM (96.3 MHz) owned by Clear Channel Communications. KBIV is owned by Entravision Communications Corporation. In the El Paso market Entravision also operates KOFX-FM (92.3 MHz), KINT-FM (93.9 MHz), KHRO-FM (94.7 MHz) and KSVE-AM (1150 kHz). KBIV can be contacted by writing to KBIV, 5426 North Mesa, El Paso, TX 79912, U.S.A. The telephone number is +1-915-581-1126 and telefax +1-915-585-4613 (DXing.info, December 4, 2003 via DXLD) ** U S A. DXAS member Paul Burkhardt said tonight that WBZ-1030 is now testing IBOC. Said that the audio on their frequency is very "thin", almost like computer audio, and that the sidebands from 1010 to 1020 and 1040 to 1050 are all white noise (Fred Vobbe, OH, Dec 4, NRC-AM via DXLD) Wonder why 1030 WBZ would be testing IBOC at night rather than daytime? As of 0830 EST, no IBOC noted. I listen to WBZ almost every night and have noticed that the signal has been weaker than normal in the car, but didn't think to check adjacents for IBOC. I wonder if the weaker signal has something to do with narrowing bandwidth in preparation for IBOC? It could be a good opportunity to DX 1030 and adjacent frequencies if the analog isn't as strong (Bruce Conti, Nashua NH, ibid.) I haven't noticed any noise or anything like that on the adjacents (either last night or this morning). I have noticed less slop this morning on 1020 and 1040. This allowed me to log KDKA around 8:30 am (a relog but never heard during the day). I also netted a new one on 1040 WZSK with "Newstalk 1050 WZSK" then local wx and school closings at 8:39 am EST this morning (Keith McGinnis, Winthrop MA, Drake R8A with Quantum Pro Loop and Kiwa Loop, Dec 5, ibid.) ** U S A. National Radio Emergency Network debuts: The National Radio Emergency Network ``NREN`` commenced operation December 1. A cooperative effort of several US CW net managers, NREN hopes to provide an alternative public service network geared to low-power, portable and mobile stations. ``Because CW provides significantly more reliability for stations operating at low power levels (QRP) or with compromise antennas, this will be a CW-based program,`` said an announcement from Chuck Mabbott, AA8VS. NREN will work on the ``radio watch`` principle, and member stations will maintain a watch on one or more of three selected frequencies in the 40, 30, and 20-meter bands. A detailed description of NREN, along standard operating procedures is available on the NREN Web page http://www.aa8vs.org/nren/ (ARRL December 3 via John Norfolk, DXLD) ** U S A. W4B to commemorate 100th anniversary of Wright Brothers` first flight: The North Carolina Special Events Group http://www.ncseg.org/ is operating special event station W4B December 12-17 (UTC) to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the Wright Brothers first flight at Kitty Hawk, North Carolina. Approximate frequencies will be 3.860, 7.260, 14.260, 21.330 and 28.460 MHz on SSB and 3.550, 7.050, 14.050, 21.050 and 28.050 on CW. One station will be on 14.260 MHz continuously as propagation permits, while a second station will alternate between SSB and CW --- depending on operator availability. The event begins December 12 at 1700 UTC and ends December 17 at 2000 UTC. For more information, contact Robert Hamrick, WA4RH wa4rh@ncseg.org The North Carolina Special Events group is a nonprofit organization that promotes historical and other events via Amateur Radio to increase public awareness of ham radio. Orville Wright was at the controls for the first successful flight December 17, 1903. The 120-foot flight lasted just 12 seconds. (ARRL December 3 via John Norfolk, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. METROPOLITAN OPERA broadcasts will again air on SATURDAY afternoons next season under a $3.5 million grant from the ANNENBERG FOUNDATION, according to the NEW YORK TIMES http://www.nytimes.com/2003/12/04/arts/music/04MET.html The long-running broadcasts had been endangered when CHEVRONTEXACO decided to end its 63 year sponsorship of the broadcasts after this winter's season (from http://www.allaccess.com via Brock Whaley, DXLD) Meanwhile, this year`s season is about to begin (gh, DXLD) ** URUGUAY. Here's some info about some management changes CX12 Radio Oriental, Montevideo (MW 770 with shortwave CXA12, 11735, very irregular, monitored lately on occasion of a couple of soccer matches) has a new owner: The Uruguayan Catholic Church. Until now it had been owned by the family clan of the Romay Salvos (Daniel & Hugo Romay Salvo, the latter passed away a couple of weeks ago) along with Radio Montecarlo and TV channels both air and cable. It will inaugurate on next Dec 8, with no major changes, since name remains; main programs and presenters will be preserved, also the news will be from CX 20 Radio Montecarlo and from the technical point of view, transmitters both SW and MW remain the same, in the current site (the one of Montecarlo). But here are the changes... New address: Calle Cerrito 475, 11000 Montevideo (in the Old City quarter, think it is beneath the venerable Cathedral or "Iglesia Matriz, de Montevideo) New Station director: Presbítero Jorge Techera (note: Presbítero = presbyter) Tel Nrs: Main +916 11 30 (enables extensions, fax included) Studios: +915 08 98 y +915 40 05 A slogan like this has been already heard on the air "La Nueva Radio Oriental, La Radio Católica del Uruguay" I will try to speak with Mr. Velázquez who seems to be the person to query about their SW plans (there was an idea under the former management to convert the AM multi frequency transmitter into SSB...) also WWW and email address info pending. Horacio A. Nigro (you can call me HAN) Montevideo, Uruguay, Dec 2 (via hard-core-dx via Johno Wright, ripple via DXLD) ** VIETNAM 6165 \\ 5034.70 Voice of Vietnam (Hmong Service): 1155-1217 UT Nov 29. Mostly a cappella SEAs vocals, with talk by OM and YL in presumed Hmong. Pips at TOH, and brief news segment. 60 mb freq gone shortly after TOH, and 6165 held on. Fair signal on 6165 with much nearby splatter (Comeau, MA, DXplorer Nov 29 via BC-DX via DXLD) ** ZANZIBAR. What about 6015? Good point. 6015 is also unheard (Chris Greenway, Nairobi, Kenya, Dec 3, WORLD OF RADIO 1210, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ZIMBABWE [non]. 6045 was checked from around 1900 Dec 2. Heard were AIR in Urdu until 1930 then a weak station in unknown language. At 2000 KTWR opened in Korean until 2100 and then the frequency seemed empty. 73 from (Noel R. Green & Ray Browell dxing from Blackpool, UK, Cumbredx mailing list via WORLD OF RADIO 1210, DXLD) UNIDENTIFIED. As I tuned around 49m, Dec 3 before 1500, noticed DRM noise on 6015; continued past 1500, when I found more of same on 6145. Neither appears on the supposedly current DRM schedule at http://www.rnw.nl/realradio/html/drm_schedule.html Are we at the point where there is so much DRM that no one can keep track of it? I don`t think it was jamming (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) UNIDENTIFIED. 11890, unID Arabic clandestine at 1845 9 Nov; many mentions of Iraq, Libya, Syria, ID sounded like ``sawt al shabia al jamhiriyha``; off after frequency announcement at 1859; SIO 344 (Dave Kenny, UK, Dec BDXC-UK Communication via DXLD) UNIDENTIFIED. 15045, very weak, low bassy modulation, intonation sounds like an Eastern European language, keyboard music, 1505-1530* Nov 16, SIO 141 (Tony Edge, Blackpool, UK, Dec BDXC-UK Communication via DXLD) How about Turkmenistan times three? UNIDENTIFIED. unID transmitter site testing --- Hi Everyone, Again in the 1130- ... now 1259 continuing time, an unknown transmission site is testing - seemingly new equipment, transmitter or/and antenna arrays. Who knows? Heard on previous days on either 21730 or 21460 kHz. According to the propagation characteristics today, the unID station is from (west) European soil, compared to the MNO-BBC and RFI units. Audio is much better than RUS or BUL transmitter units. Heard when checked from 1130 UT onwards on 17480, then at 1150 UT discovered same program on 11640 kHz, and at 1200 UT discovered 9410, but latter with fair signal level only [six diodes shining on Sony set], so seemingly put out towards another angle. Program consisted of Viennese Waltz music, and others like Austrian- Hungarian classical music, like played at New Year Concert from Vienna State Opera. At 1210 heard the theme of Radio Portugal's IS 30 years ago. do-do-dddooooooooooooo. At 1217 UT noted the "SABRE dance" by Khachaturian. Signals on 17480 and 11640 were 10 dB less than Skelton Cumbria outlets, like S = 9 +40-50 dB. Today's test transmission is undoubtedly NOT from China. Noel, I just read your mail about 13570 kHz test channel of yesterday. I guess, TDF or MNO Merlin is to exchange some elder units for new equipment. 73 wb (Wolfgang Büschel, BC-DX Dec 3, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Noel R. Green told me some further details: And re ``I'm puzzled at present, there is an UNIDentified station with continuous classical music on air, heard yesterday on 21730 1230-1320, today heard on 21460 instead. Looks like a very new station is testing its equipment. (Dec 1/2) `` Before continuing - a mystery station was heard Tuesday on 13570 at tune in 1408 until sudden off at 1411 playing 'Ode to Joy'. As I type this, I found a carrier on 17480 at 0955 which suddenly began a nice programme of light classical music beginning with the "1812 Overture" at 0957. The signal is peaking S9 and of nice quality. No announcements so far. I wonder who this is. (Dec 2) I guess this is what I'm hearing on 17480 - and what I heard yesterday on 13570. They are playing the 1812 Overture as I type this at 1103, so I assume they are using a tape loop or similar, taking about 1 hour and 10 minutes to complete. Yes, and now a follow on with what I heard around 1000. And I have only just received a 'phone call from a DSWCI member living in the south of the UK saying that he is hearing this on 11640 and 9410 - 11 is equally as strong as 17 here [equal to Skelton 17585/12095 S = 9 +40-50 dB, wb.], but 9 is only about S3 to 5 [yes only five diodes shining on my Sony set, wb.]. I don't hear anything of it on 21. So, three transmitters are on air, and I would guess could be under test - or are testing frequencies. 9410 is, as we know, a BBC channel, but they are not on in daytime. Let us hope this is to be a new station - not religious!" (Dec 3) (Noel R. Green-UK, BC-DX Dec 3 via Wolfgang Büschel, BDXC-UK via DXLD) Mystery transmitter test observed on 11640 kHz (strong) in parallel with 9410 kHz (weak) from tune-in at 1340 UT with continuous classical music pieces, e.g. Nutcracker Suite. 73s (Dave Kenny, Caversham, Dec 3, BDXC-UK via DXLD) [Mentioned in general on WORLD OF RADIO 1210] Nothing heard here now, at 1220, on either 9410, 11640, 13570, 17480, 21460 or 21730. What a pity, I would have really liked to listen for the audio/modulation characteristics. How many frequencies were on air simultaneously? My first suspect would be the Ukraine. At least at Krasne operational instructions are in force anyway to power up the currently unused shortwave transmitters at least once per month, and it should be safe to assume that this is the case at Kopani, too (Kai Ludwig, Germany, Dec 4, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Test action of continues classical mx txions from an UNID site occurred December Mon 1st, Tue 2nd, and Wed 3rd, 2003. I couldn`t hear any test transmissions today [Thur Dec 4th] yet. Our man at a European monitoring station used direction finding equipment and told us his observation news, measured the signal to the nearest angle of 74 degrees out from Western Europe. 74 degrees, the Polish Telecom bought new equipment ??? - really a joke ??? (wb) Looked into GEOCLOCK maps, and on the 74 degree path line from Germany towards East, I see cities like Warsaw, Brest, Bransk, Micurinsk, Orel/Orol, Saratov, Uralsk, Orenburg. I had a look into the DX Atlas and GEOCLOCK distance finding feature; here are the bearings. Warsaw 52.04N 20.52E 79 degr 894 km Lviv Krasne 49.50N 24.00E 90 degr 1237 km Minsk 53.53N 27.31E 69 degr 1420 km Kiev 50.27N 30.13E 83 degr 1646 km Bolshakovo 54.42N 20.30E 60 degr 950 km Moscow 55.45N 37.18E 64 degr 2050 km Mykolaiv Kopani 44.56N 34.06E 95 degr 1876 km Samara Zighulevsk 53.20N 50.10E 68 degr 2881 km Urumchi, China 43.35N 87.30E 65 degr 5800 km I remember that this season B-03 Ukraine moved all external services to Kharkov (and the Kopani 1000 kW site at night). So it could be, that the Kiev tx center will be fully refurbished in autumn months, and is now testing the equipment again. Who knows? And Noel from Blackpool noted: New transmitters in Poland --- must be a joke! I don't think signals were strong enough for 1000 kW from Ukraine. And do Belarus` and Ukraine have the money to pay for something new? Romania is supposed to be buying some new equipment? Though the bearing isn`t right for Romania. But perhaps Russia is still the most likely location? Propagation --- particularly on 9410 - -- seemed to indicate an eastern location, but not western Europe (NG) The most probable transmitter site on or near this path line is Samara Zighulevsk in Russia, acc to ITU list at G.C. 53N20 050E10 Samara Zighulevsk 53.20N 50.10E 68 degr 2881 km which is well known for their poor audio quality, so refurbishing action to point would seem necessary. When I left the monitoring post on Wed at 1445 UT, the 17480 signal strength was weakened around 1415 UT and disappeared around 1425-1430 UT when the channel suffered from DW Arabic super power outlet Nauen 500 kW on 17485. The signal on 11640 kHz was strong as like over the whole test time period, and was still on air with good signal level, when I left the post at 1445 UT. 9410 had DRM Rampisham outlet on air instead, aimed with 33 [sic] kW at 62 degrees from 1400 UT, so no unID music program could be heard on co-channel anymore. - - - At present [Thursday] are very, very excellent reception conditions today. Heard some Asian stations like locals, and some with 2-3 echos in background. These test transmissions are undoubtedly NOT from China (wb df5sx, BC-DX Dec 4 via DXLD) The music station is still playing. 17480 has severe splash from DW 17485 since 1300. There is a co-channel Chinese on 11640, and 9410 was "blown off the air" at 1300 by the BBC in DRM. Is it coincidence that most of the music being played is by Russian composers? There is a tune which sounds like German folk music followed by a Strauss like waltz, then follows the March of the Toy Soldiers and then more from the ballet! Signals heard here would be compatible with what I would expect to hear from Russia. Both 9410 and 11640 have come up in strength since first heard this morning. 17480 is off as at 1425 check Dec 3 (Noel R. Green, UK, BC-DX Dec 3 via DXLD) How much frequencies were on air simultaneously? Three channels in \\ on Wed, at least two on Tue (Wolfgang Büschel, ibid.) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ INTRUDER WATCH ++++++++++++++ What`s the `bonker` doing in the middle of the 25m SWBC band??? Centered about 11740 with V signal and data bursts, Dec 4 checked at 1657, 1733 and still at 1803 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) I can't see why it should be necessary for Russia/CIS to schedule frequencies between 7105-7295 which they might say are meant for Iceland but actually are meant to be heard in the Americas. They use many between 7300 and 7450 so why not schedule one of those --- or go even higher? But maybe that's a too simple thing to do! And re the use of the spectrum by military facilities. These should stay out of the ham and BC bands --- there is lot's of space elsewhere for them to operate clearly. I continue to hear some strange signals within the BC bands --- one has appeared on 7200, and seems to be using USB only. It's neither dits nor digital, but covers Yakutsk. And there was something like FSK on about 9588 this morning QRMing Norway 9590 around 0745, and that's a strong signal. I note that the French continue to persist with the Dakar transmission on about 17550 and there's a regular ute on about 15750, which seems to deter users from occupying that channel. I was surprised at the quick response by the V of Turkey and V of Vietnam in moving off 7100. I wonder if it would be "legal" if TUR had used one of their USB transmitters on 7100 --- I note hams use 7100 LSB. (Noel R. Green, UK, BC-DX Dec 3 via DXLD) SHORTWAVE AS MUSIC ++++++++++++++++++ (Hannah Marcus') strange pieces of straightforward poetry and pleasantly lazy melodies come to life with the slow-building, heavily- reverbed ambience of things like fiddle, shortwave radio, or harmonium. That unhurried, hypnotic element creates an atmosphere of expectancy and otherworldliness. http://valleyadvocate.com/gbase/Music/content?oid=oid:45297 73 (Kim Elliott, DC, DX LISTENING DIGEST) PUBLICATIONS ++++++++++++ RADIODX.COM Have just loaded a large number of new articles (mostly dealing with historic matters) onto radiodx.com View at: http://radiodx.com/spdxr/Articles.htm Note articles on the Netherlands Indies Broadcasting Company, POW monitoring in NZ (Passion With A Purpose), a comparison between DX as we know it and ham DX and more... Additionally, the November issue of the DX Times magazine is available for free download at: http://radiodx.com/spdxr/edxt.htm Cheers, (Paul Ormandy, ZL4PW, Host of The South Pacific DX Report http://radiodx.com DX LISTENING DIGEST) PROPAGATION +++++++++++ CRACKS IN EARTH'S MAGNETIC SHIELD California-sized cracks in our planet's magnetic field can remain open for hours, allowing the solar wind to gush through and power stormy space weather -- this according to new observations from Earth- orbiting satellites. FULL STORY at http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2003/03dec_magneticcracks.htm?list458954 (NASA Science News December 3, via Russ Edmunds, NRC-AM via DXLD) ###