DX LISTENING DIGEST 4-008, January 13, 2004 edited by Glenn Hauser, http://www.worldofradio.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 For restrixions and searchable 2004 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 1215: Wed 1030 on WWCR 9475 Mon 0430 on WSUI 910, webcast 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 1215 (high version): (stream) http://www.w4uvh.net/wor1215h.ram (download) http://www.w4uvh.net/wor1215h.rm (summary) http://www.worldofradio.com/wor1215.html WORLD OF RADIO 1215 (low version): (stream) http://www.w4uvh.net/wor1215.ram (download) http://www.w4uvh.net/wor1215.rm WORLD OF RADIO ON KSFC: Is indeed carrying WRN and as I am listening to the feed they are indeed carrying WOR (Ray T. Mahorney, WA4WGA, 1102 UT Sun Jan 11, DX LISTENING DIGEST) FIRST AIRINGS OF WORLD OF RADIO 1216: Wed 2300 on WBCQ 7415, 17495-CUSB Thu 2130 on WWCR 9475 On Demand: change 1215 to 1216 above ** ALASKA. You will find no US HFBC stations in 40/41 meters below 7300 kHz. It is only in ITU Region 2 (the Americas) that hams have 7100-7300 kHz portion of the spectrum (Dan Ferguson, IBB, swl at qth.net via DXLD) Dan and others, there is a station operating in violation of this long standing policy. KNLS Anchor Point Alaska in Chinese at 1000 on 7160 ex 7365 (Robin VK7RH Norwood, Tasmania, Australia, Jan 13, ibid.) Robin, Please be advised, your message has been copied to Riley Hollingsworth, FCC Special Counsel for disposition to the appropriate FCC personnel handling these matters. Thank you, Robin (Duane Fischer, W8DBF, ibid.) Perhaps they decided, ``close enough`` to Asian region, and not many Alaskan 40m hams would be wanting to use 7160 in the middle of the night at 1 a.m.! But the hams would surely be justified in ``jamming it to hell`` as they have `exclusive` right to it! Original version of the current schedule had the 1000 Mandarin on 5955, ever used? Current version indeed shows 7160. One might guess they had again hired airtime in the DVR, where this is legal, but this fits right into the rest of the KNLS schedule before 1000 and after 1100. Not for long, tho: next season=month schedule already posted: http://www.knls.org/English/ksched.htm January 25, 2004 to February 29, 2004 TIME BAND FREQ. LANG. 0800 25m 11765 English 0900 41m 7365 Russian 1000 31m 9615 Mandarin 1100 31m 9615 Russian 1200 31m 9905 Mandarin 1300 31m 9780 English 1400 31m 9615 Mandarin 1500 31m 9615 Mandarin 1600 31m 9615 Mandarin 1700 31m 9615 Russian KLNS sure must expect to have loyal listeners who will follow their monthly frequency changes. BTW, checking their New Russian Page http://www.knls.net I see we have been misspelling this place since 1867: Alyaska. They also have a new Chinese page http://www.smzg.org What does SMZG stand for, ``New Life Station`` in Mandarin? (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** BELGIUM [non]. Frequency change for TDP Radio in DRM 2000-2100, new 3985-DRM // the usual 7560 on Saturday (TDP website via Silvain Domen, Belgium, 13 Jan., DXLD) ** CANADA. Was websurfing and found this on CKLW's website: "AM 800 CKLW will be administering some technical maintenance where we will be off the air on Tuesday January 13th and Wednesday January 14th at 12:05 to 4:30 am [EST = 0505-0930 UT]. Please do not be alarmed, we will be back on the air for the "Morning Drive" at 5 am. We apologize for any inconvenience." (Patrick Rady, Jan 12 NRC-AM via DXLD) ** CANADA. 1570 KHZ IN LAVAL ON AGAIN The towers for this station are apparently located in the Ste-Dorothée section of the city of Laval. I will try to get a more precise location. Right now there is no firm testing schedule. They are waiting for the Hydro power to be hooked up at the transmitter site and they don't know when that will happen. Until then, they can only operate with generator power, plus they haven't got a firm time schedule from the Industry Canada inspectors either. Best to just keep checking. I did make an error in the French text of the station ID being given. It should be "Radio Nostalgie, AM quinze soixante-dix" which, in English, is Nostalgia radio, AM fifteen seventy" (Sheldon Harvey, NRC- AM via DXLD) Seems with the word towers in plural, this is going to be a directional array. Sheldon, do you know/can you inquire what the general parameters of the pattern will be? Is there only one other 1570 left in Canada to protect? (Ron Gitschier, Palm Coast, FL, ibid.) The installation is a two-tower array and is located in the Ste- Dorothée section of Laval. That is off to the southwestern end of the island of Laval. As the engineer said, the pattern is going to be designed to send most of the signal north-east across the island of Laval. Once the Industry Canada inspectors have been there and more extensive testing is done, I might be able to get hold of a pattern map from them (Sheldon Harvey, ibid.) Thanks for the update. I expected the signal to be N or NE, but 1570 as open as it is a flea powered Midwest stations are common on good nights, I would think the little bit of signal this way would make it. The beverage really cooks on the upper part of the band (Patrick Martin, Seaside OR, ibid.) CFAV IN MONTRÉAL CANADA TESTING ON 1570 KHZ The mediumwave frequency of 1570 kHz is returning on the air in Laval, a suburban city of Montréal, in Québec, Canada. The call letters will be CFAV, says secretary Margo Rivard in an interview with DXing.info. The station is hoping to be on the air with regular broadcasts by the end of January, conditions permitting. "It is currently -37 degrees (Celsius) here in Montréal," says broadcast consultant Brian Sawyer, who is setting up the technical facilities of the station. According to Sawyer, transmitter power will be 10 kW day and night. A directional antenna with the main lobe at 65 degrees should improve reception in the rest of Québec. The frequency has been off the air for years after vacated by CKLM, which was a regular catch as far as Europe. CFAV will be playing nostalgic music from the 20's to the 50's, aimed at an audience of 45 years and older. Using the slogan Radio Nostalgie, the station was first identified by Sheldon Harvey in Canada during a test transmission on January 12, as reported on NRC-AM via DXLD 4-007. Harvey heard the station tentatively already on December 23 with non-stop music. According to Sawyer, these short preliminary tests were carried out at a power of 1 kW. The address of CFAV is: Radio Nostalgie, 2040 Autoroute 440, Laval, Québec H7S2M9, Canada (DXing.info, January 12, 2004, updated on January 13 via DXLD) ** CHINA. Qinghai PBS 4750 English ID --- On 4 Jan at 1415 I tuned to 4750 just to hear what must be the last words of English ID "and (on) shortwave four-one-five-ou" by female. Then back to Chinese program. The station is (presumably) Qinghai PBS, Xining, China. Note that she said "one" instead of "seven", must be a mistake of the announcer. First time I heard English from this station. At 1500 the signal was rather weak with ute-qrm, so no luck for ID then (Jari Savolainen, Kuusankoski, Finland, DX LISTENING DIGEST) After my first logging (see above) I monitored 4750 almost daily around 1400-1430 to see if I could get this English ID again. But the conditions have been rather poor. Today 13 Jan their signal improved a bit and at 1359 UT there was again a female with English ID. It was no armchair reception, but I managed to hear what sounded like "Qinghai Broadcasting Station" then possibly list of frequencies. The one I mentioned earlier as 4150 might as well be said as 4950, but doesn't sound like 4750. Maybe someone with good reception of this one could confirm the ID. At my location there is at times severe Russian SSB traffic on the channel, blocking it totally. There is also a growling carrier on 4750, which at times I believe gives some audio, but cannot tell the language. 73 (Jari Savolainen, Kuusankoski, Finland, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** COSTA RICA. I visited Radio Nacional de Costa Rica in late May 1990 and I asked them about this [SW transmissions via REE Cariari]. As I recall, it didn't seem very important to them at the time (Don Moore, Davenport, Iowa, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CUBA [non]. AER via the internet --- Hi Glenn, I noticed that you heard the Spanish King referring to Radio Nacional de Costa Rica in his inaugural speech at the Cariari transmitter site. As you probably also noticed on the AER show, there was an unannounced item among my audio clips, a mysterious station on 15050 kHz identifying itself as Radio Libertad, La Voz Anticomunista de América. On this recording from May 19, 1963 they are mentioning an upcoming Committee for the Liberation of Cuba to operate a broadcasting station ``on the 40 meter band``. I wonder if they were referring to La Voz del CID. (Henrik Klemetz, Sweden, DX LISTENING DIGEST) I vaguely recall that station; wasn`t it thought to be from Venezuela, perhaps connected with R. Euzkadi? Comité Pro-Libertad de Cuba (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CUBA [non]. The classic "Martí" reception was not on 1700 but, in fact was on 1710. This was the artifact believed to be a receiver problem. I heard it myself on several occasions. The symptom was RHC Habana, Cuba (6000 kHz) appearing on 1700, and Martí (6030 kHz) appearing on 1710. Adding to this was signals from 5970 appearing on 1690 and 5940 appearing weakly on 1680. I heard all of these on a RatShack DX-375. In addition, this receiver gave me good although slightly off-tune sounding reception once of Deutsche Welle from Germany, appearing on 1683 one night when using the same receiver, while in Ireland. This was in 1997, the year I bought the receiver, for use in Ireland in fact. Back then the x-band was vacant, allowing these signals to appear. This effect seemed limited to the extreme top end of the tuning range and is probably related to pass/stop-band rejection properties of a lowpass filter in the receiver, which does not quite respond up to the 1700 area. In addition the receiver needs a 450 (not 455) kHz IF for this to work, as the DX-375 indeed has. I haven't seen a 1710 reception posted in a long time. There's most of the math, Charlie. It was always late at night whenever I heard this effect. Anyone willing to take the time to set up a pair of signal generators and duplicate this effort could win the Nobull Prize of DXing, and get his or her name in at least 2 of not more DX newsletters. Again, the 1700 and 1710 situations appear to me to have no relationship whatever. 73, (Bob Foxworth, FL, IRCA via DXLD) Patrick, I confess to not paying a lot of attention to this e-mail discussion until today. You mentioned that DX'ers in the South might be able to help clear up the mystery and I'd certainly be willing to help. I've never logged Radio Martí, so let me know how I can help. What time of day to listen, programming, etc. I have several loops and am familar with direction plotting, can certainly do that and compare to WJCC (which is audible here virtually round the clock). Also I could use Argo to "fingerprint" the characteristics of the transmitter and compare it --- once I know what to listen for. Let me know if I can help (Les Rayburn, N1LF, Central Alabama, IRCA via DXLD) I am over 3000 miles from either Habana or Miami. So an R8 receiver image is very unlikely. I don't even get images from our 3 one KW locals. If it is an image generated by a SW transmitter, then the image would have to have several hundred watts or more to have the signal I have heard. Remember, there are other stations on 1700. Brownsville TX is fairly strong most nights. I think they don't always drop power or have a very good site. Radio Martí can be on top of the others. Not a local by a long shot, but still strong enough to hear the IDs. What I would like to know "if" the Radio Martí programming is coming from So FL, if possible WJCC. I have never heard WJCC and Radio Martí at the same time. If anyone in the South has ideas to pinpoint this, they would be appreciated. Whatever anyone can come up with. Thanks. 73s, (Patrick Martin, Seaside OR, ibid.) Les, I don't know about WJCC without looking it up. I gather it's in Hialeah if it's co-sited with Martí. That sounds like a very good explanation. Can someone please see if the 1700 thing runs current programming or if it's merely a replay of something run during the week. 73 de (Charlie Taylor, NC, ibid.) Does there seem to be any pattern to when the Radio Martí signal appears on 1700 kHz? Is it mostly on weekends, or in some day part. WJCC runs Spanish programming, and comes in clearly here nearly 24 hours a day. It should be very easy to tell if it's on the air during the Radio Martí programming. 73, (Les Rayburn, Birmingham, AL, ibid.) I hear it generally after Midnight PST on mornings like Mondays. I don't know what mornings I have heard it without checking back. But I am looking for the 1700 FL call change. If I hear SS, I stop and listen. Everything is Radio Martí though when I do hear SS (Patrick Martin, Seaside OR, ibid.) Patrick`s last logging was Dec 5 at 0700 UT, which was a Friday, NOT during a RM silent period, as the more recent one was. How can I persuade those logging this to CHECK THE SHORTWAVE PARALLELS? (gh, ibid.) ** CYPRUS. Re 990, DXLD Jan 4: It's not clearly expressed if the US engineers re-arranged the former RMC antenna towers towards new 140 degree target, cross the coast line at Sidon, Lebanon point towards Syria/Jordan border area between Damascus and Amman. And is the IBB transmitter in use a new one, or is this unit originally the RMC reserve unit? Both built up by Thales (former Thomson-CSF)? TWR Middle East mentioned always a 600 kW mediumwave unit on 1233 kHz at 205 degrees, which main lobe seems propagate rather towards Port Said-Cairo in Egypt than Near East target. (wb) Bernd, hast Du Korrespondenz mit Hatfield & Dawson gehabt? Welches sind nun die Sawa Masten?? Ich glaube die vier eng zusammenstehenden links sind neu und Sawa zugehoerig, die rechten, die alte RMCM Konstruktion von 1233 kHz? Oder wurden nur die RMC reserve Masten in eine andere Zielrichtung umgesetzt? (Wolfgang Büschel, BC-DX Jan 12 via DXLD) ** GERMANY. Photos of some HF antennas at http://www.frequencymanager.de/Pics/broadcast_stations.htm Although in the German language, a good site on German (and other) broadcasting worth poking around is Dr. Hansjoerg Biener's site http://www.asamnet.de/~bienerhj/ Note especially http://www.asamnet.de/~bienerhj/de-jul-2.html#Sendeplaene covering the DTK religious broadcasts. Also much useful info under http://www.asamnet.de/~bienerhj/rundfunk-es.html (Jerry Berg, MA, DXplorer Jan 11 via BC-DX via DXLD) ** GERMANY. From Jan. 1 AWR cancelled the following transmissions via DTK T-systems: 0600-0630 9840 JUL 100 kW / 200 deg Daily to NoAf Arabic 0630-0700 9840 JUL 100 kW / 200 deg Mon-Wed to NoAf English 0630-0700 9840 JUL 100 kW / 200 deg Thu/Sun to NoAf Kabyle 0630-0700 9840 JUL 100 kW / 200 deg Fri/Sat to NoAf Tachelhit 0700-0730 9840 JUL 100 kW / 200 deg Daily to NoAf French 1730-1800 5945 JUL 100 kW / 115 deg Daily to EaEu Romanian 1800-1900 9510 JUL 100 kW / 115 deg Daily to EaEu Bulgarian From Jan. 1 AWR's transmission in Italian is on air: 1000-1100 11730 JUL 100 kW / 145 deg Sun only to SoEu (ex Sat/Sun) (Observer, Bulgaria, Jan 13 via DXLD) ** GUAM. KSDA revised schedule 1 Jan. - 28 Mar. 2004 from pdf file http://www.awr.org 1330-1400 15660 Assamese (Sun/Wed) 1300-1330 15660 Bengali 0000-0030 17635 Burmese 1400-1430 11940 Burmese 1330-1400 11850 Cambodian 0000-0200 17880 Chinese 0100-0200 17635 Chinese 1000-1100 15260 Chinese 1000-1100 15430 Chinese 1100-1200 11900 Chinese 1100-1300 11660 Chinese 1100-1500 15725 Chinese 1200-1300 15225 Chinese 1400-1500 11800 Chinese 2100-2200 11795 Chinese 2100-2200 11845 Chinese 2200-2300 11685 Chinese 2200-2400 17880 Chinese 2300-2400 11700 Chinese 2300-2400 11850 Chinese 1430-1500 11940 Chin (Burmese) 1000-1030 11705 English 1000-1030 11900 English 1030-1100 11900 English (Not Sun/Wed) 1330-1400 15660 English (Not Sun/Wed/Fri) 1600-1700 15495 English 1630-1700 11980 English 2130-2200 11980 English 2130-2200 12010 English 1730-1800 11560 English 1530-1600 15245 Hindi 1700-1730 11675 Hindi 1100-1130 15260 Indonesian 2200-2230 11850 Indonesian 2200-2230 15320 Indonesian 1300-1330 11755 Japanese 1300-1330 11980 Japanese 2100-2130 11980 Japanese 2100-2130 12010 Japanese 1130-1200 15260 Javanese 2230-2300 11850 Javanese 2230-2300 15320 Javanese 1200-1300 9780 Korean 2000-2100 6045 Korean 2000-2100 6195 Korean 1530-1600 17265 Kannada [sic, probably 15265 as Telugu below] 0030-0100 17635 Karen 1430-1500 15660 Karen 1530-1600 11985 Malayalam 1530-1600 11675 Marathi 1500-1530 11675 Mizo 1030-1100 11900 Mongolian (Sun/Wed) 1500-1530 15245 Punjabi 1400-1430 15660 Sinhala 1030-1100 11705 Tagalog 1700-1730 11560 Tagalog 1500-1530 15265 Telugu 1500-1530 11985 Tamil 1730-1800 11675 Tamil 1600-1630 11980 Urdu 2300-0000 15320 Vietnamese (Silvain Domen, Belgium, 13 Jan., DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** HAWAII. OF SPECIAL INTEREST --- 1370, (KJPN), Pearl City-Honolulu noted off the air since 12/31, as its programming moved to KORL-650. Under calls KJPN and KMDR, had been on 1370 since Nov. 2002, only about 13 months. However, there are rumors the station may return with a Filipino or other ethnic format (5P-HI) (Dale Park, IRCA Soft DX Monitor via DXLD) ** INDIA. Re my logging of AIR Delhi on 3335 on 11 Jan. Next day, 12 Jan, they were back on 3365, so this move was temporary, for whatever reason (Jari Savolainen, Kuusankoski, Finland, Jan 13, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** INDIA. DD, AIR DGS APPOINTED, DD TAKES REPORTERS FROM OTHER CHANNELS Senior Indian Administrative Service Officers Naveen Kumar and Brajeshwar Singh are to take over as Director-Generals of Doordarshan and All India Radio respectively. While both belong to the 1975 batch, Mr Kumar belongs to Bihar and Mr Singh is from the Tamil Nadu cadre. Mr Singh was at one time radio jockey before joining the IAS, according to Prasar Bharati Chief Executive Officer K S Sarma. Addressing the media about decisions taken in the meeting of the Prasar Bharati Board this morning, Mr Sarma said that eighteen persons including Ms Saleja Wasim formerly in NDTV and ten persons who were in Aajtak had also been appointed as anchors or correspondents. Ms Wasim would be Senior Correspondent-cum-Style anchorperson and get a consolidated sum of Rs 70,000 per month while the others will get between Rs 20,000 to Rs 30,000. The appointments will be for a period for one year. Meanwhile, Mr Sarma said that advertisements would also be placed in newspapers for recruiting more correspondents in the near future. 73, (Source? via Swopan Chakroborty, Kolkata, India, Jan 9, DXLD) ** INDIA. DD NEWS, LANGUAGE CHANNELS TO BECOME GLOBAL SOON DD News and five Doordarshan language channels may soon begin beaming to 146 countries including North America and the United Kingdom along with DD India which is already being shown in most parts of the United States and Canada. Prasar Bharati Chief Executive Officer K. S. Sarma told a news conference after the Board meeting today that the channels which have been digitalised will be beamed through PAS Nine and Ten. He said while Globecast owned by non-resident Indian Vishwanath, settled in New Jersey, was already airing DD India all over the United States on a payment of 80,000 dollars per year, a Doordarshan team will shortly be visiting the United Kingdom to negotiate with the Rupert Murdoch-owned BSkyB. The language DD channels that will be aired overseas are Gujarati, Punjabi, Tamil, Telugu and Tamil on the basis of surveys carried out by Doordarshan about their need. He said DD Malayalam may also be added to this list if technologically possible. He said DD already had the infrastructure to reach its channels to these countries. Global tenders would be floated soon to find takers for these channels in various parts of the world except the United Kingdom where the DD team will finalise the details. Meanwhile, he confirmed that some language channels of All India Radio's External Services which had virtually no listenership were being stopped and he had already discussed the matter with Information and Broadcasting Secretary Pavan Chopra. 73 (Source? Via Swopan Chakroborty, Kolkata, India, DXLD) ** INTERNATIONAL. TOURING RADIO STATIONS AROUND THE WORLD Wouldn't it be great to not only receive mail from some of the distant radio stations that you have heard? Get ready for a true DXer's vacation. Join Jim Solatie on his tour visiting stations on three continents, with stops in the Philippines, Italy, Eritrea and Norway. http://www.dxing.info/articles/touring_radio_stations.dx (via DXLD) ** INTERNATIONAL VACUUM [non]. BREAKING NEWS FROM MARS! This came from the Lowell Observatory in Flagstaff, Arizona from a friend who works there on their telescope optic systems, truthfully. Now as to the validity of what follows, use your own discretion! MARTIAN AIR FORCE DENIES UFO CRASH Gusev Crater (MPI) - A spokesthing for Mars Air Force denounced as false rumors that an alien space craft crashed in the desert, outside of Ares Vallis on Saturday. Appearing at a press conference today, General Rgrmrmy The Lesser stated that "the object was, in fact, a harmless high-altitude weather balloon, not an alien spacecraft". The story broke late Saturday night when a major stationed at nearby Ares Vallis Air Force Base contacted the Gusev Crater Daily Record with a story about a strange, balloon-shaped object which allegedly came down in the nearby desert, "bouncing" several times before coming to a stop, and "deflating in a sudden explosion of alien gases." Minutes later, General Rgrmrmy The Lesser contacted the Daily Record telepathically to contradict the earlier report. General Rgrmrmy The Lesser stated that hysterical stories of a detachable vehicle roaming across the Martian desert were blatant fiction, provoked by incidences involving swamp gas. But the general public has been slow to accept the Air Force's explanation of recent events, preferring to speculate on the "other-worldly" nature of the crash debris. Conspiracy theorists have condemned Rgrmrmy's statements as evidence of "an obvious government cover-up," pointing out that Mars has no swamps. They point to the release of secret government memos detailing attempts to discredit reports of the landings by alien space craft. The memos discuss strategies to avoid troubles similar to those caused by the War of the Worlds radio program of years ago. The program, which featured a sensational story of gigantic oxygen breathing two- eyed invaders from Earth, sparked planet wide panic. Local residents like Driv Rhodo, who lives in the area of the alleged landings, are even more skeptical. "I seen it with my own 5 eyes" claimed Rhodo last week. "I've lived here over 300 years, most of my adult life-form. Them things used to be few and far between but lately they come in every few years or so. The government wants to bury the truth but I can tell you what's real. The Earthlings are going to invade and the government is spending our hard earned tax dollars on press releases and denials instead of preparing for the battle to come." A spokesthing denied any government involvement in the disappearance of Rhodo, who has not been seen since shortly after the interview, claiming "Any sentient being knows that a planet with the concentrations of water and oxygen found on Earth is a deadly and inhospitable environment for the formation of life, much less intelligent life. The fear and consternation caused by the unfounded and wild speculations of citizens like Rhodo are a traitorous disservice to the citizens of Mars." (via Duane Fischer, swl at qth.net via DXLD) Did Duane write this? ** IRAQ. ANALYSIS: US FIRM HARRIS WINS CONTRACT TO RUN MEDIA IN IRAQ | Text of editorial analysis by BBC Monitoring's Media Services on 13 January The US communications equipment company Harris Corporation said on 8 January that it had won a 100m-dollar contract from the Pentagon to run Iraq's domestic broadcasting infrastructure for the next 12 months. Florida-based Harris will operate the Iraqi Media Network (IMN), comprising two TV stations, one for 24-hour news and the other for entertainment, and two FM radio stations, with one focusing on news. The contract also requires Harris to transform the national newspaper Al-Sabah, sponsored by the US-led Coalition Provisional Authority (CPA), "to a significantly higher level of quality" and increase its readership. "This is a tremendous, historic opportunity for us to be part of something that really helps the Iraqi people. It will replace their antiquated system with a world-class network," said Youssef Sleiman, managing director of the Iraq Initiative for Harris, in remarks quoted by Reuters news agency. However, according to Radio Netherlands, Iraqi Communications Minister Haydar al-Abadi told reporters he might not honour the contract "because he was not consulted about the award beforehand. He fears giving too much control to the American government and media." Lebanese, Kuwaiti partners The IMN was established in May 2003 by the Coalition Provisional Authority (CPA) to replace the defunct Iraqi Information Ministry. It currently includes a TV channel, two radio stations and the newspaper Al-Sabah, and continues to dominate domestic broadcasting in Iraq. IMN TV was renamed Al-Iraqiyah TV in November 2003. "We have one year to get the network up and running and the programmes in good shape and Iraqi employees trained," Sleiman said. He added that his company had teamed up with the Lebanese Broadcasting Corporation (LBC), which would help train Iraqi broadcasters, as well as Al-Fawares, an Iraqi-Kuwaiti company that was part of a winning consortium for an Iraqi mobile phone licence signed in December 2003. Sleiman pledged that Harris would work hard not to be a propaganda machine for anyone, "a charge levelled against the network [IMN] both under Saddam's rule and since the US-led CPA took it over," Reuters added. "We will try to serve two masters - one the CPA and the other the Iraqi people. We don't want to be a puppet of the CPA or an extremist network. We want to take the middle road," the agency quoted Sleiman as saying. Governing Council member rules out censorship Up to now the IMN has been run by California-based Science Applications International Corporation (SAIC), a US government contractor known primarily for providing military and technological equipment. An article in the Washington Post on 16 December 2003 quoted an unnamed senior BBC official who had followed the negotiations over the media contract as saying: "There is talk already of the desires of the people on the [Iraqi Governing] Council to take it [the IMN] over and run it as their mouthpiece. In certain ways it has been run up to now as a mouthpiece for the CPA [and] has not broken the [Saddam Husayn] mould in Iraqi eyes." At a meeting for potential bidders for the contract held in November in Amman, CPA officials said they recognized that an Iraq government might want to exert control of news content, the Washington Post article added. But according to Samir al-Sumayda'i, member of the Interim Governing Council (IGC) and chairman of its information committee, the IGC does not intend to re-establish an information ministry. It plans instead to set up an independent body to be called the "National Media Authority". Sumayda'i told the London-based newspaper Al-Sharq al-Awsat on 8 January that the proposed body would issue licences to newspapers, radio and TV stations. He insisted, however, that the IGC or the next government "would not use the censor's scissors against any Iraqi media". The next few months could prove a turning point for the future of media freedom in Iraq. As the CPA prepares to hand over sovereignty to a new Iraqi government as early as the end of June, it will have to decide whether the Iraqi Media Network becomes state-run, remains controlled by the Pentagon or even - as some US politicians have advocated - comes under the supervision of the US State Department. Source: BBC Monitoring research 13 Jan 04 (via DXLD) ** ISRAEL. Israel Radio - A few days ago, someone mentioned that the 531 kHz transmitter is located at 360 on the map located at: http://www.lib.utexas.edu/maps/middle_east_and_asia/gaza_tpc92.jpg Yavne is not at 360 --- that`s too far south, it's at 830 (720). (Doni Rosenzweig, Jan 12, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Re the IBA Hillel site - when I used to monitor for the IBA back in the 70's the 11585 transmitter was referred to as being an old 100 kW unit and a sort of miracle that it was operating as well as it was. It always gave very good results at my location. Whether this was one of the two 100 kW Thomson from 1959 I don't know - it seems hardly likely as it would only be 20 years old maximum then. There were several low power [5-20 kW] units in use back then which were mainly to use up the USSR jamming resources. These were withdrawn from service when jamming ceased. I remember one of them being used on a frequency in the 29 MHz range and it was usually clearly heard (Noel R. Green, UK, BC-DX Jan 11 via DXLD) ** ITALY. What might have been: AWR still has this `breaking news` about their big plans for the now abandoned Argenta SW transmitter site project: http://www.adventistreview.org/2000-1538/awr.html (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) And the Schwarzenburg transmitters moved to new AWR Italian site North of Forlì too. If I remember correctly, AWR bought out two 'used' 250 kW units from the ex-Swiss Telecom/SRI Schwarzenburg site, when that site was closed a few years ago. Similar action with the North Koreans, when they dismantled two 250 kW BBC-Asea-made units from famous Beromuenster SW site (WB, Jul 12, 2000) see SWITZERLAND non ** LATVIA. EMR THIS SUNDAY 18th OF FEBRUARY ON 9290 KHZ. MORE DATES FOR 2004: TO THE WORLD 7th of February at 2100 to 2300 UT on 9290 Saturday Night TO EUROPE 22nd of February to Europe 21st of March to Europe All times to Europe are 1400 to 1600 UT on 9290 Sunday afternoon 73s (TOM AND STAFF, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** LIBERIA. Re V. of Liberty: It is putting out 5k watts on 11515 (Morgan Freeman, WJIE, Jan 13, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** LIBYA. A week ago I asked Tarek Zeidan SU1TZ in Cairo Egypt, to check the Voice of Iraq program from Libya on 11890 kHz at 1200[- 1230?] UT, due to disturbed reception here in Europe, coming from adjacent R Liberty in Russian 11885 LAM and 11895 BIB (wb) Re the unID at 1200 on 11890. I confirm it's the special program from Libya to Iraq. Checking the times and dates they announce they never mention anything about 11890 kHz, the announced frequencie are as follows: 11660 kHz, 7245 kHz two main transmissions at 2200-2300 P.M and 0100- 0200 AM Iraq Time. Then they added that frequency 9745 kHz, repeat 1600-1700 P.M Iraq Time! which is really confusing! (Tarek Zeidan-EGY, BC-DX Jan 9 via DXLD) (later:) Well as I recall I was the first one to report about that station around May 2003 as I was checking stations targeting Iraq apart from V of Mujahideen which was on 720 from Iran, so I checked the files I got from May 2003 with the latest files I got from Mauno Ritola and they are the same. The ID from the station was not Voice of Iraq but it's "A message to the Land of two rivers" which means Iraq - we refer to Iraq in Arabic as the land of two rivers (ARD AL RAFEDAYEN) or (WADI AL RAFEDAYEN). Remember that station on 1566 from Kuwait in English, those who don't speak Arabic named it (the Twin Rivers Radio) but the ID in Arabic was (Idha`at Wadi Al Rafedayen) which means the valley of the two rivers (in short, Iraq). Anyway the times and frequencies are identical to my May files; they haven't mentioned 11890 kHz by all means. Checking the contacts they are as follows. Address: The General Center for Overseas Stations, P. O. Box 4677, Tripoli. The Great Jamahirya (that's Libya in common words) Fax: ++218 21 44 46 875 (corrected) they have two phone numbers: ++ 218 21 44 49 106; ++ 218 21 44 49 872 Times of the broadcast: twice a day the first one 1000-1100 P.M Baghdad time (1800-1900 UT) second at 0100-0200 A.M Baghdad time (2100-2200 UT). A repeat of the transmission again from 0400-0500 P.M Baghdad time (1200-1300 UT) I think the transmitter is in Libya as it's not as strong as the ones they use from France to transmit their other networks. And somehow I think I'm in the skip zone of the transmitter; that's why I can't get it as clear as it should be (Tarek Zeidan, Cairo, Egypt, BC-DX Jan 9 via DXLD) Re. unid 11890: I assume - in the past - the program from Sabrata-Libya site, called VOICE of IRAQ (from Libya soil!). Could you hear the title of the program similar like this??? The latest available schedule was 1800-1900 UT 7245, 9745, 11660. 2100-2200 UT 7245, 9745, 11660. The schedule announcemens you explained hearing from the station now on 11890, is very confusing. I assume, this Libyan outlet coming again direct from Sabrata-Libya towards Iraq, and that angle of approx. 100 degrees is NOT the favourable one in my direction. But all other Libyan broadcasts via Issoudun, France relay are much stronger at my location here in Southern Germany (wb, Jan 9) I think the announcement is the very first version and not updated; they also announce incorrect time. I have heard it as follows: 11890AM/U 1200-1300 11890AM/U 1800-1900 7425 11890 AM/U 2100-2200 With AM/U I mean AM with suppressed LSB. There surely are other frequencies in use, but WTF(s)K!? This can't be a 500 kW transmitter; it is too weak through many checks. What about the Benghazi 100 kW listed earlier? Has anyone asked them? (Mauno Ritola, Finland, BC-DX Jan 9 via DXLD) Has there been a confirmation for the location Sabrata for these transmissions? Or can they be from any site in Libya that has utility transmitters? The TDP website http://www.tdp.info/lby.html lists 9 x 500 kW transmitters at Sabrata (ABB, BBC, Thomson). It is not common that such high power transmitters are used for SSB. Usually, SSB mode points at smaller transmitters, preferably types for utility use. The TDP website also lists another, older, unknown location with SW transmitters, mainly RIZ, from 10 to 100 kW which perhaps more would fit to the SSB operation. Though I would think that any specified site would be a speculation until a confirmation is received (Bernd Trutenau, Lithuania, BC-DX Jan 9 via DXLD) As TDP told the world in their transmitter list under LIBYA, RIZ Zagreb, Croatia delivered a few transmitters 10 up-to 100 kW and erected on unknown site in Libya, and these outlets are coming via the Croatian-made transmitters. About two months ago in November 2003, I heard the [800-1000 Hz] test whistle tone underneath Austria 6155 kHz again, in about 0750-0830 UT time span. This special test outlet from LIBYA! occurred in about 1991-1998, using 3 txs daily in \\ , and was reported many times in DX press like DSWCI and on ORF SW Panorama program from Vienna. In 1995 Sabha [Sebha G.C. 14E50 25N52 in WRTH 1996] local Radio relay noted and on other days test tones only started daily at 0725 UT, and did last to latest at 0958/1100 UT on either 6155, 7120, 9600, 9655, 9705, 11770, 11815, or 11865 kHz. Is there a coherence to held the transmitter equipment and antennas in good shape? (Wolfgang Büschel, BC-DX Jan 9 via DXLD) ** MEXICO. This appeared in CGC. Looks like more problems, just like KSFO has been having with a Mexican station. TWO MORE AM STATIONS BEING BUILT IN TIJUANA: 780 & 920 KHZ CGC Communicator readers are already familiar with XEPE (formerly XEKTT), the new 560 kHz station near Tijuana that is causing massive interference to U.S. broadcast signals (see CGC #609). XEPE is authorized to run 20 kW day and 10 kW night and is non-directional, real flame thrower. Reliable sources in Mexico indicate that two more AM stations, 780 and 920 kHz, are under construction at Rosarito Beach and may be on the air as early as mid-February 2004. The stations are said to be 20 kW day/10 kW night, same as XEPE, and will also be non-directional. The transmitter site is reported to be approximately two miles north of the famous 1090 kHz array. These new stations are also expected to cause massive interference to U.S. broadcast interests (via Fred Vobbe, OH, Jan 13, NRC-AM via DXLD) To quote our dearly departed Border Blaster Jock, Wolfman Jack, "HAVE MERCY!!" How do these stations fall under existing treaties? Has Fidel Castro become a Broadcast Engineering Consultant (outside of Cuba)? Sheesh! (Ron Gitschier, Palm Coast, FL, ibid.) I am wondering if Mexico allowing 20/10 KW stations on our regionals and clears (ND) is in response to the impending IBOC QRM. Mexico and Canada are both going to have to deal with it. Is IBOC breaking any international rules in regard to QRM? Has anyone addressed this? If so, then the dial is "open season" on anything. I am surprised Mexicans are [not?] going 100 KW on those channels. This IBOC issue might be opening up a can of worms no one will like (Patrick Martin, Seaside OR, ibid.) ** MONGOLIA. Hi Glenn, Re this in DXLD 4-005: 0830-0900 12015 Japanese As 0900-0930 12015 Mongolian As 0930-1000 12015 Chinese As 1000-1030 12085 English SAs 1030-1100 12015 Mongolian SAs 1130-1200 12015 Chinese As/SAs 1200-1230 12015 Japanese As I can confirm that Japanese, Mongolian and Chinese at 0830-1000 are also now using 12085 via the listed 250 kW transmitter which is active 0830-1030. I don't hear 12085 after 1030 and suspect that the 100 kW unit in use 1030-1230 is the weak signal I hear on 12015 - as listed. 73s from (Noel Green, England, Jan 13, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** NETHERLANDS [non]. RUSSIA: Frequency change for RNW in English to FE via P.K 250 kW / 245 deg: 1000-1057 NF 7315, ex 7260 \\ 9785, 12065, 13820 (Observer, Bulgaria, Jan 13 via DXLD) ** NEW ZEALAND. AM/FM/TV List Updated URL for 2003: http://spectrumonline.med.govt.nz/other-reports.html (Todd Emslie, mwc via IRCA Soft DX Monitor via DXLD) ** PAKISTAN. Frequency changes for Radio Pakistan: 0945-1015 Tamil NF 17485, ex 17495 to avoid Voice of Russia WS En till 1000 1015-1045 Sinhala NF 17485, ex 17495 1600-1615 English NF 9395, ex 9320 1700-1900 Urdu WS NF 9395, ex 9320 1715-1800 Persian NF 5846v, ex 5840v (Observer, Bulgaria, Jan 13 via DXLD) ** PALESTINE. WEST BANK AND GAZA: WEST BANK PRIVATE RADIO STATIONS BROADCAST MOSTLY ENTERTAINMENT | A number of private, commercial Palestinian FM radio stations operate in the West Bank. Of nine stations recently surveyed, eight provide predominantly entertainment programming, with a limited amount of news reporting and overtly political broadcasts. The ninth offers apolitical Islamic programming. Bethlehem 2000 The station is located in Bethlehem and broadcasts all day on 89.6 MHz. The station has a web site at www.bethlehem2000.org but it appears not to have been updated since December 2000. When surveyed 26-30 September 2003, the radio broadcast primarily popular songs and other light entertainment and weather reports. Five two-minute news summaries were broadcast daily, along with a half-hour press review sponsored by the prominent Palestinian daily newspaper Al-Quds. On 26 September, the station carried a live 10-minute report from its correspondent in Ramallah on a planned rally in support of Palestinian National Authority (PNA) head Yasir Arafat that was disrupted by Israeli security forces. Later on the same day, the station conducted an unannounced 15-minute linkup with a newscast by the PNA's Voice of Palestine radio. The station was not observed to broadcast nationalist Palestinian songs. Hebron Radio This station is located in Hebron and broadcasts all day on 90.4 MHz. When surveyed 26-30 September, programming consisted primarily of entertainment, along with three hours of Koranic recitation during the night. The station linked up twice daily with Saudi-owned Al-Arabiya television and once daily with Qatari government-financed Al-Jazeera television for the audio portion of the stations' newscasts. Hebron Radio also broadcast its own news summaries and a daily review of the Palestinian press on an irregular schedule. On 28 September, the radio broadcast brief special programming celebrating the anniversary of the Palestinian intifadah. The programming included a segment lauding a Palestinian "martyr" said to have been killed in an attack on an Israeli settlement that killed two Israelis. The station was not observed to broadcast nationalist Palestinian songs. Freedom Radio This station is located in Hebron and broadcasts all day on 92.7 MHz. It claims to be audible throughout the West Bank and Gaza Strip. When surveyed 2-4 October 2003, programming consisted primarily of music and other entertainment along with religious programmes. The radio also broadcast a daily two-hour live discussion programme on local issues in Hebron. Apart from a daily press review, the radio did not carry its own newscasts but linked up once daily with Al-Jazeera television to carry the audio portion of Al-Jazeera's newscasts. On 4 October, the radio interrupted its regular programming briefly to report a bombing in Haifa, and then linked up briefly with Al-Arabiya television for a report on the incident. On 2 October, the radio broadcast a four and one-half minute statement by the Hebron branch of Fatah, warning Palestinians against buying "stolen" Israeli cars and denouncing such illicit trade as one of the "tricks" of the "racist Zionist government under Sharon". The station was not observed to broadcast nationalist Palestinian songs. Radio Angham This station is located in Ramallah and broadcasts all day on 92.3 MHz. When surveyed 2-4 October 2003, programming consisted of Arab and Western popular songs. Marah Radio This station is located in Hebron and appears to be associated with the Hebron television station Al-Nawras. It broadcasts all day on 100.7 MHz and claims to have the widest audience of Palestinian radios. When surveyed 30 September-1 October 2003, programming consisted largely of music and other entertainment, cultural and religious programmes. The radio linked up once daily with an Al-Jazeera television newscast. The radio did not carry its own newscasts but a daily one and one-half hour variety programme included brief reports on various current events including conflicts between Palestinians and Israelis. The radio also broadcast a daily one-hour programme devoted to Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails, including statements praising the prisoners and messages for the prisoners from their families. Both the variety and Palestinian prisoners' programmes included some nationalist music. Radio Isis This station is located in Bethlehem and broadcasts 15 hours daily on 95.9 MHz. When surveyed 30 September-1 October programming consisted entirely of Arab and Western popular music. Radio Amwaj This station is located in Ramallah and broadcasts all day on 91.5 and 99.4 MHz. When surveyed 20-27 September 2003, programming consisted entirely of popular music and other entertainment programmes. Radio Ajyal This station is located in Ramallah and broadcasts all day on 103.4 MHz. According to the station's web site at http://www.radioajyal.com Radio Ajyal was established in 1999 and is owned by the "Al-Bakri Radio Transmission Company". When surveyed 20-27 September 2003, programming consisted of popular Arab music, short religious programmes and a daily review of the Palestinian press sponsored by Al-Quds newspaper. Holy Koran Radio This station is based in Nablus and broadcasts 18 hours daily on 96.9 and 106.3 MHz "for Nablus and northern Palestine" and on 88.4 MHz "for Jerusalem and its environs as well as Jordan". The station also broadcasts in parallel on its web site at http://www.quran-radio.com According to the web site, the radio was established in 1998 and is operated by the "Al-Safa Company for Koran Transmission". The web site says that the radio is sponsored by "many companies and foundations," and the station periodically broadcasts lists and brief descriptions of some of its sponsors. When surveyed 30 September-2 October 2003, programming consisted entirely of religious broadcasts, some taken from other Arab radio and television stations, without any overt political content. Source: BBC Monitoring research 12 Jan 04 (via DXLD) ** PHILIPPINES. Frequency change for FEBC Radio International in Burmese and dialects: 1100-1430 NF 15355, ex 15095 (Observer, Bulgaria, Jan 13 via DXLD) ** PORTUGAL. From Jan 12 RDP Int Radio Portugal cancelled transmission to North America: 0600-0755 Mon-Fri on 11675 LIS 100 kW / 310 deg (Observer, Bulgaria, Jan 13 via DXLD) ** RUSSIA [non]. "Voice of Russia" relay via SW transmitters abroad 26/10/2003 - 27/03/2004 kHz UTC kW Armenia 9965 0000-0300 500 11510 1700-2000 500 Moldova 6170 1800-2100 500 7125 0100-0600 500 7180 0100-0600 500 Tajikistan 4940 1300-1500 100 4940 1600-1700 100 4965 1300-1500 100 4965 1600-1700 100 4975 1300-1500 100 4975 1600-1700 100 7510 1500-2000 200 7570 0000-0300 500 9945 0200-0300 500 11500 1200-1500 500 17495 0800-1000 500 17525 0800-1000 500 Ukraine 6155 0200-0400 500 7240 0200-0400 500 China 11500 1500-1600 120 Vatican City State [SMG site] 7350 0300-0500 250 9765 0200-0300 250 Germany [DTK T-systems Juelich] 5965 2000-2200 100 5975 2000-2200 100 5990 2100-2200 100 5995 0200-0400 100 6170 1700-2200 100 6175 2300-2400 100 9555 1500-1600 100 (Nikolai Rudnev, Belgorodskaya oblast, RUS-dx Jan 11 via BC-DX via DXLD) ** SEYCHELLES [non]. Frequency change for FEBA Radio: 0130-0200 Daily Telugu on 7365 ERV 100 kW / 125 deg, additional 0130-0200 Daily Telugu NF 9515 DHA 250 kW / 105 deg, ex 11890 DHA 1400-1415 Sun-Thu Urdu NF 9885 DHA 250 kW / 085 deg, ex 9630 DHA, re 9485 ARM 1400-1500 Fri/Sat Hindi NF 9885 DHA 250 kW / 085 deg, ex 9630 DHA, re 9485 ARM 1415-1500 Sun-Thu Hindi NF 9885 DHA 250 kW / 085 deg, ex 9630 DHA, re 9485 ARM (Observer, Bulgaria, Jan 13 via DXLD) ** SUDAN [non]. U.K. (non): New morning transmission for Sudan Radio Service Mon-Fri effective from Dec. 29: 0300-0500 NF 9625 WOF 300 kW / 140 deg, ex registered 9760 (Observer, Bulgaria, Jan 13 via DXLD) ** SWEDEN. SPECIAL SWEDISH MW EVENT ON 15 JANUARY A one day only radio station will be active from Gothenburg, Sweden, on 15 January. The transmission will start at 1700 UT. The frequency is 981 KHz. It is the radioamateurs in Gothenburg (Göteborgs Sändareamatörer - GSA) that will be on air, in remembrance of K.G. Eliasson (1884 - 1951) who on that day 80 years ago, 15 January 1924, made his first regular broadcast from the localities on Vallgatan 8 in Gothenburg. Now this old broadcast will be on the air again with the help of GSA and with the signal SMZX. The transmitter will be on the air from 1700, while the historical part starts at 1730 with a presentation, and then at 1800 the historical rebroadcast will start. GSA wants reports of reception of this historical event, and promises to answer them with a special QSL-card. More info at http://www.scandiham.com/ (in Swedish). (hcdx news desk, 13 Jan via DXLD) Very low power (gh) ** SWITZERLAND [and non]. Swiss Telecom sold some 'left over' SW transmitters to different organization in the past. In the Nineties, nine 250 kW units at Swiss telecom went out of operations: Sarnen 1 x Beromuenster 2 x Lenk 2 x Schwarzenburg 4 x Two 250 kW transmitters [of 1966] sold to N Korea [most probably from Beromuenster site]. Other 250 kW sold to AWR religious broadcaster, most probably two [of originally four] modern 250 kW units moved from Schwarzenburg to new built site Argenta on Po river delta in Northern Italy. Another 250 kW unit sold now to WMLK in the US. The previous non- directional SW sites at Beromuenster, Lenk and Sarnen closed and all SW installations there went to scrap.[?] ed. (BC-DX 27 Oct 2000) Interesting information on the Swiss shortwave transmitters, about where the transmitters went to. Korea D.P.R. and AWR Argenta Italy purchased the used material. New is, one of the 250 kW txs is seemingly forwarded later to WMLK [International Shortwave of the Assemblies of Yahweh]. About a year ago the station was looking for a 100 kW SW transmitter. Here is the answer from SRI/SwissCom technical management. station number product kW power opening closing disassembly fate Sarnen 1 BBC 250 1972 1995 1995 demolition Beromuenster 1 BBC 250 1965 1993 1995 Korea D.P.R. 1 BBC 250 1965 1995 1995 Korea D.P.R. Schwarz'burg 1 BBC 250 1966 1993 1993 Korea D.P.R. 1 BBC 250 1966 1994 1995 Korea D.P.R. 1 BBC 250 1976 1998 1998 AWR Italy 1 ABB 250 1993 1998 1998 AWR Italy 1 ABB 100 1986 1998 1998 AWR Italy 1 Marconi 250 1978 1998 1998 demolition Lenk 1 BBC 250 1974 1998 1999 demolition 1 BBC 250 1974 1998 1999 demolition Sottens 1 ABB 500 1990 still in service (Ulrich Wegmueller, SRI, Switzerland, BC-DX Nov 2, 2000 via BC-DX Jan 12, 2004 via DXLD) ** TIBET [non]. UZBEKISTAN 7485 / 7270 1430-1515 UT. Frequency change for V of Tibet in Tibetan/Chinese via TAC 200 kW / 131 deg: 1430-1517 NF 7525 or 7465[see BELOW] [ex12025 or ex11975]. (R BUL Observer, Ivo Ivanov and Angel Datzinov, via BC-DX Jan 9) Noel asks me to check what is being used on 7270. (wb) I heard music there around 1430 Saturday and today it was loud enough to be IDed as Firedrake. I was looking for RTM Kuching-MLA !! I could occasionally hear a few "Chinese" sounding words come up into the jamming, but not sufficient to tell what it might be. Observer reports that V of Tibet has moved down to 7 MHz at 1430-1515 from 12/11 MHz, and the frequencies listed are 7525 and 7465. Firedrake was heard on 7525 in sync with 7270. Nothing on 7465, but the jamming heard on 7470. Both 7525 & 7270 stopped at c1516 UT but 7470 continued. Checking RFA and IBB skeds I find that Tibetan via RFA is probably the one on 7470. I don't think Cantonese, Vietnamese and Korean [also on air at this time] attract Firedrake - do they? The IBB has VOA Mandarin on air, but it is not listed for 7270 - or wasn`t on Jan 7th. I don't see any other services that attract Firedrake at this time. So, Voice of Tibet seems the most likely one - maybe the alternative frequency to 7525 has been changed to 7270 [to avoid RFA 7470] and Firedrake is jamming both? It's not easy to check the bands today due awful propagation (Noel R. Green, UK, BC-DX Jan 11, via DXLD) Voice of Tibet on 7485 and 7270 today ? 1430-1515 (and UNID co-channel to 1530 UT). On Jan 12th heard two FireDragon music stations on 7485 and 7270 kHz. 7485 kHz the Chinese music station was very strong, so nothing different could be heard underneath. Chinese music ended at 1515 UT. 7270 was a mess of at least three stations, a stronger and a lower level FireDragon stations, and an Asian language station like Chinese language or similar dialect. Fourth station on co-channel. At 1458:20 UT Radio Tirana Shijak in Albanian language came on the channel too, but on off frequency 7270.30, wandered down to 7270.15 kHz during the broadcast, and ended around 1515 UT on 7270.11 kHz. The stronger FireDragon station ended at 1515 UT, but the lower level station remained, and also the Chinese? language station remained on air. Ghost spectacle disappeared on 1530 UT, and further check at 1540 UT showed a single R Tirana still on channel 7270 (Wolfgang Büschel, Stuttgart, Germany, Jan 12, BC-DX via DXLD) ** TURKEY. Frequency changes for Voice of Turkey effective from Dec. 16 and Dec. 24: 1300-1655 Turkish NF 9625, ex 9705 to avoid VOA Cantonese 1400-1500 & BVBN 1530-1615 1930-2020 English NF 6055, ex 5980 to avoid Deutsche Welle in Russian 2030-2125 French NF 7155, ex 5980 to avoid Deutsche Welle in Russian till 2100 (Observer, Bulgaria, Jan 13 via DXLD) ** UGANDA. RADIO UGANDA LOSES PART OF [SHORTWAVE] TRANSMISSION SITE IN PROPERTY DEAL | Text of report by Ugandan newspaper The New Vision web site on 12 January The department of information has lost another prime piece of land in Bugolobi to a private developer in a mysterious deal reportedly sanctioned by the former state minister for information, the late Basoga Nsadhu. The land on Plot 4 and 5 Faraday Road was meant to be left open as a security measure for the Radio Uganda Short Wave transmitters in the Middle East [sic], but has been given to an unidentified developer who is already erecting a perimeter fence. Sources said the Uganda Land Commission (ULC) defied a directive from the President's Office to place caveats on all empty government pieces of land to stop encroachment. "Sometime back, the secretary in the President's Office (Techla Kinalwa), wrote a letter to ULC objecting to continued allocation of information land in Naguru and Bugolobi, but ULS has continued to allocate the land we don't know how," said a senior ministry official. However, ULC secretary Cyril Acuku said the allocation of information land in Naguru and Bugolobi was authorised by the department of information. "We do not act without express permission from the user ministry," he said. "The general policy is that the user ministry writes to us saying they no longer need a particular piece of land. That is when it can be allocated. We are the custodians of government land and can only act in respect of the position of the user ministry," he said and refused to discuss individual allocatees. Acuku also said there was no way government could place a caveat against itself. "If you own a property and there is no dispute, how do you put a caveat against yourself? There is no big deal with a caveat. The real deal is for the commission to protect government property and not to give it away without express permission," Acuku said. Kinalwa's April 2003 protest letter to ULC followed the allocation of a huge chunk of land in the same area where three buildings were simultaneously put up. Authorities have kept the identities of the developers a secret. The land originally measuring 23 acres also had huge swathes fenced off from the southern end approachable from Bazarabusa Drive. At some spots, the fences are as close as 20 metres from the transmitters. Efforts to talk to Kinalwa or the under secretary, Vincent Rubarema, were fruitless. But an official in the department told The New Vision ULS asked them to involve the Attorney General in applying for the caveat. "But we were also told that even if the AG is involved, it would not be a guarantee that a caveat would be placed. They also warned that in case a caveat was placed on land already developed, the Government would pay dearly in compensation," added the source who preferred anonymity. Information minister Nsaba Buturo said his predecessor erred by giving out the ministry's land in Bugolobi. Buturo warned that the area was dangerous for human habitation because of the radiation from the installations. "I am writing a letter warning those people about the risks. It has never been done anywhere in the world that people settle close to such installations. The radiation from the equipment poses a big health risk," he said. The Bugolobi mast hosts antennae for Short Wave transmitters to the east, west and northern parts as well as for Kenya, Tanzania, Rwanda, Burundi, Zambia and Zimbabwe, a ministry official said. [4976, 5026?] The official said they gave all the technical and strategic reasons for their land in Naguru and Bugolobi to be reserved, but the advice was not heeded. "For instance, the installations on Naguru hill are very sensitive and need good aeration. But the area is now surrounded by high wall fenced buildings and our equipment are not getting good ventilation which is likely to affect its lifespan," the official said. Source: The New Vision web site, Kampala, in English 12 Jan 04 (via BBCM via DXLD) Same: http://allafrica.com/stories/200401120589.html (via Kim Elliott, Artie Bigley, Jilly Dybka, DXLD) Glenn; I take it that this is the site of the international servce?? They had broadcasts to the US and Canada about 25 years ago (Artie Bigley, OH, DX LISTENING DIGEST) That was known as Soroti, so apparently not (gh, DXLD) ** U S A. New schedule of "DX-ing With Cumbre" effective Jan.3, 2004: Fri 2200 17650 Angel#5 Sat 2030 9495 Angel#1 Sat 0600 5745 Angel#2 Sun 0130 7315 Angel#1 7315 Angel#1 0330 7580 Angel#5 17780 Angel#3 0430 17780 Angel#3 0730 5745 Angel#2 0730 5745 Angel#2 0800 11565 Angel#4 1200 11565 Angel#4 0830 5745 Angel#2 1530 17560 Angel#5 7315 Angel#1 1600 9930 Angel#3 1000 11565 Angel#4 1630 15105 Angel#1 1330 15105 Angel#1 2200 5745 Angel#2 1600 13760 Angel#2 Mon 0430 7315 Angel#1 (Observer, Bulgaria, Jan 13 via DXLD) 3 and 4 = KWHR Hawai`i. Is this from the highly imaginative website, or actual monitoring? (gh, DXLD) ** U S A. Frequency changes for Voice of America: 0100-0200 Urdu NF 11730, ex 6170 0500-0600 Ukrainian NF 3985, ex 6170 1300-1400 Korean NF 15250, ex 11900 1330-1430 Khmer NF 11965, ex 11865 1600-1700 Bangla NF 15185, ex 15170 to avoid VOA/R. Sawa in Arabic 1900-2000 Persian NF 9980, ex 9680 2100-2130 Ukrainian NF 3980, ex 7190 to avoid RTTunisia in Arabic 2300-2400 English NF 15150, ex 15110 (Observer, Bulgaria, Jan 13 via DXLD) ** U S A. Checked out KTNN 660 UT Jan 13: 0350 alternating Navajo chants with non-Navajo tunes, IDs in English, 0400 CNN News with a very unusual accent, but I guess that was coming out of Atlanta even tho he had an AZ story. More music mix afterwards. Was waiting for signal to drop off with very late change to night pattern, but this apparently did not happen until 0500 or so, as I then noticed the signal was down in the mud mixing with various other stuff, while it had been dominant earlier (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. Re KCBS 740 San Francisco IBOC: YES indeed, until sunset KCBS with the worst signal in years. I'm only 3 miles from their normally very clean transmitter. I Emailed the station and told them their signal was all over the band and it sounds like crap! The poor folks in Bahia housing area won't be able to to hear any other station. Major league AH,s at KCBS (KF6GNI, Jan 12, IRCA via DXLD) It is 5:30 [0130 UT?] and it is totally dark in the NW. No sign of the IBOC noise. I am getting some noise from my neighbor`s light dimmer, but when I phase it I am just getting a weak station on 730 and KXL S9+20 DB on 750 here. I cannot tell that KCBS is using IBOC. At least now. On any of my antennas (Patrick Martin Jan 12, ibid.) ** U S A. AT PBS, A 'MASTERPIECE' WITHOUT A PATRON By Lisa de Moraes Sunday, January 11, 2004; Page D01 http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn/A6887-2004Jan10?language=printer HOLLYWOOD, Jan. 10 PBS still does not have a new sponsor for its crown jewel, "Masterpiece Theatre," but is committed to the series for the next two years regardless, PBS President and CEO Pat Mitchell told critics Saturday. ExxonMobil, which has doled out $300 million over the past 35 years, will end its sponsorship of the weekly program, best known for its crunchy gravel miniseries, this coming April. And though Mitchell said that PBS has secured 11 new major underwriting commitments in the past year, no one has stepped up to finance "Masterpiece Theatre." Mitchell called it "completely confusing and perplexing." "We are all concerned and unhappy about it," she said at a Q&A session during PBS's day at Winter TV Press Tour 2004. Perhaps it's the show's "pretty high price tag," she speculated, calling "Masterpiece Theatre" one of PBS's most expensive programs. Once again most of the questions directed at Mitchell had to do with the "creeping commercialism" on PBS. Mostly, she denied it was true, at least at the PBS level. PBS, she assured critics, has very strict guidelines about such things -- even more stringent than the Federal Communications Commission's own rules and regs as to what PBS can and cannot do with regard to sponsorship announcements, programming deals, etc. "From my perspective it doesn't happen," she said. The problem, Mitchell said, is at the station level, over which PBS does not have control because, Mitchell reminded critics "we are not a network." "We have member stations -- they own us," she said. Asked later what was the point of having those strict rules if they cannot be enforced at the station level, Mitchell replied that it was important to have guidelines. One critic suggested that since the subject comes up every time she attends the press tour, PBS should drag out some of its station suits to answer the questions. Mitchell said she had tried that in the past but that station execs have steadfastly declined. And on the subject of creeping commercialism, Mitchell stressed that PBS has to decrease its dependence on station pledge drives for funding; public contributions now account for 80 percent of PBS's funding. She noted NPR's landing of $200 million from late McDonald's heiress Joan Kroc as something for PBS to aspire to. But she insisted that the self-improvement programs like Suze Orman and "The Wrinkle Cure" account for only 10 percent of pledge drive programming on PBS. Afterward she clarified that number, saying that if you aggregate all of the programming that airs on all PBS stations over every day, sign-on-to-sign-off during pledge drives, such programs account for 10 percent of the total. Some stations, she acknowledged, cram their prime-time lineups with the Suze/Wrinkle slop during pledge periods. Mitchell also noted that the total amount of any kind of message of sponsorship, show promo, etc., on PBS does not exceed more than five minutes per hour. (c) 2004 The Washington Post Company (via Mike Cooper, DXLD) ** U S A. RADIO PERSONALITY DIES AT 73 BY DAVID HINCKLEY New York Daily News http://www.aberdeennews.com/mld/aberdeennews/news/nation/7675906.htm?template=contentModules/printstory.jsp NEW YORK - (KRT) - John A. Gambling, who woke up New York for more than three decades as the morning man on WOR (710 AM), died Thursday of heart failure at a hospital in Venice, Fla. He was 73. Gambling took over the legendary "Rambling with Gambling" show from his father, John B. Gambling, in 1959 and passed the program on to his son, John R. Gambling in 1991. But Gambling's listeners considered him less a legend than a friend, someone they first got to know when they tuned in WOR as children to hear his school closing announcements. "He was completely in tune with his audience," said Joan Hamburg, the WOR host who worked with Gambling for years. "He loved them, and they loved him back." "When I was a kid and people would make a big deal about my Dad, I didn't see it," John R. Gambling said Friday. "To me, he was just my Dad, just a guy on the radio. It was only later that I came to realize he was so much more than that - in both regards." "He was a Pied Piper," said Hamburg. "He found joy in everything. He could be eating at Le Cirque or we could be sharing cold Chinese noodles in the studio at 3 a.m. and he'd say, `Isn't this delicious?' There was a sheer joy about him that was infectious. You felt it when you were around him, you felt it when he was on the radio." An avid boatsman, he moved to Florida after he retired from WOR in 1991. He had remained in good health until he was hospitalized with an infection shortly before Christmas. Like his father, John B. Gambling, who pioneered the morning show on WOR in 1925, John A. Gambling was known for a pleasant, genteel, upbeat style that often made his job sound easier than it was. "He was the quintessential old-style, all-purpose radio man," said Michael Harrison of the trade magazine Talkers. "He was an icon in New York, and deservedly so." To radio historians, John A. Gambling was part of the greatest family dynasty of all time. Indeed, before John R. left for WABC in 2000, he marked 75 years of Gamblings in the morning at WOR. "I can't begin to tell you the odds against that," Harrison said. "It's the most remarkable achievement in radio history. It also speaks to an incredible level of broadcasting ability." Hamburg and WOR veteran George Meade reminisced about Gambling Friday on the air with listeners, and John R. Gambling said he and the family have been "overwhelmed by the outpouring of respect and love, which shows what he obviously meant to so many people." John A. Gambling also is survived by his wife, Sally, a sister and two daughters. The funeral will be Monday in Florida. --- (c) 2004, New York Daily News (via Mike Cooper, DXLD) ** U S A. LYNDALE RESIDENT TAKES OVER NON-RIGHT-WING TALK SHOW Lyndale resident Wendy Perrine (a.k.a. "Wendy Wilde") does a radio talk show that isn't conservative. By Bob Gilbert http://www.swjournal.com/display/inn_news/news04.txt Wendy Wilde is offering an alternative to radio trash talk. The Lyndale resident is the new host of "The High Ground," broadcast from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. on WMNN-AM 1330. The program discusses Minnesota news, with guests and audience callers. "We are trying to take a fresh look at the issues," said Wilde, whose off-air name is Wendy Perrine. "Radio is so right-sided in its approach these days. We want to examine the issues without the right-wing rhetoric of Rush Limbaugh, Savage Nation and others." Wilde expressed concern that many independent mom and pop radio stations have fallen into the hands of corporate giants who favor syndicated radio shows. "Radio stations are being bought up like convenience stores," said Wilde, who has broadcast on WCCO-AM for the past six years. "Some person in some office far away is making decisions about what gets on the air, while local people with issues can't discuss them. I was running a station in Faribault and there was a weather emergency, and we couldn't even get it on the radio because there was no one in the building who could put the information on the air." "The High Ground" got off to a low start when comedian Jeff Gerbino, its original host, quit after two days over creative differences with creator Janet Robert. Robert, an attorney and DFLer who ran against Republican Congressman Mark Kennedy in 2002, is planning a rematch against the incumbent this fall. She found the investors and bought the radio time from WMNN. Robert said she chose Wilde as Gerbino's replacement because Wilde is an experienced pro who came highly recommended. Robert denied that her intent was to put a more liberal spin on the issues. Instead, she said, she is seeking more oratory and less rhetoric. "There is really no talk radio out there that is in the center," Robert said. "Everything is being produced and promoted for a very far right extremist agenda that does not reflect Minnesota values." Wilde said she does not consider herself a liberal. "I think independently and for myself," she said. Certainly, Lyndale Neighborhood Association leaders didn't consider Wilde a liberal when they removed her from their executive board for questioning their financial practices after less than two years. The mother of three is also a founder of The Twin Cities Underground, an urban recreation center for 12-to-21-year olds at 405 W. Lake St. The center has a strict no-drugs, no-smoking, no-alcohol policy that the kids enforce; it is not unusual to have a dozen parents there as well. Wilde said she scours the news each day for the stories that nobody else is going to talk about and then searches for a knowledgeable guest to discuss them. Every on-air hour requires two hours of preparation. For background, she utilizes the Internet. She said she also relies on friends who communicate with her during the show through her computer's instant messenger window. The mayors of Woodbury and St. Cloud were recent guests. Topics include the proposed Central American Free Trade Agreement, which may have a major impact on Minnesota's sugar beet industry, unemployment and the appointment of Dave Anderson, the Minnesotan now heading the Bureau of Indian Affairs. "Radio is such a casual thing," said Wilde. "People listen to it at work, while driving a car and they don't realize what has happened to it. Radio cannot be free when it is only in the hands of a few owners who control its content, and that's what has happened. We are trying to get out both sides of the story to challenge our listeners, ask them hard questions and have some fun, too." (Southwest [Minneapolis] Journal Online, via Mike Cooper, DXLD) ** URUGUAY 770 & 11735, Radio Oriental, Montevideo. Their website is: http://www.oriental.com.uy/ It includes online audio and also several E-mail addresses to specific programs. According to U.S. DXer Rich D'Angelo, an E-mail verification has been received via the following E-mail address: secretaria @ oriental.com.uy in 13 days and v/s was Dr. Pbro Jorge Techera (station's director) The station has been recently acquired from Radio Montecarlo by the Uruguayan Catholic Church, but maintains general programming, included newscasts produced by CX20, Radio Montecarlo, their former sister. Their postal address is: Calle Cerrito 475, 11000 Montevideo, Uruguay, (studios are located in the "Club Católico", in the second floor, and the place allows an auditorium -"fonoplatea"- for 231 seats). It's interesting to note that according to an interview in the local press, Dr. Techera said that when they started to search the Montevideo stations in order to purchase one station, they received 17 offers! This reflects the critical status of the Uruguayan media scene, particularly in the capital city. Also have to say that to my own surprise, a young girl --- cousin's daughter of mine --- has started working there, in the public relations office and also as speaker; her name is Vicky Piñeiro! Small world (Horacio Nigro, Uruguay, Jan 13, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ZIMBABWE [non]. CLANDESTINE (Zimbabwe). 7120, Voice of The People, friendly E-mail verie and stn profile in 5 wks., V/S John Masuku, Director. Rpt was sent to voxpopzim@yahoo.co.uk but the response came from jjwpmasuku@telco.co.zw However, my subsequent E-mail to the latter address was returned as undeliverable. John's mobile/cell tel No. is +263 (0) 91913560 (Vaclav Korinek, RSA, DXplorer) After seeing Vashek's report I tried a follow-up to a two-year-old postal report to jjwpmasuku @ telco.co.zw and also voxpopzim @ yahoo.co.uk along with a RealAudio clip of their sign-on, and the next day received this E-mail reply from jjwpmasuku @ telco.co.zw - "Thanks Jerry. Indeed you listened to Radio Voice of the People (VOP). We got your letter, but since we were once bombed everything went into flames. Herewith some useful information. J. Masuku, Director, Radio VOP." Attached was a Word format station info sheet. Tnx to Vashek for the info (Jerry Berg, MA, DXplorer) Verified an E-mail follow-up report in about 6 hours from V/S John Masuku, Director. Tnx to Vashek Korinek for the E-mail addresses and V/S. I sent the rpt to both voxpopzim @ yahoo.co.uk and jjwpmasuku @ telco.co.zw with the reply coming from the latter, although he copied the voxpopzim address in his reply. In response to my comment that they are no longer heard in NAm, he said, "We hope to resume morning transmission soon." (Rich D`Angelo, PA, DXplorer, all via BC-DX via DXLD) UNIDENTIFIED. 4095+ et al.: Pirate / Experimental Beacon Page update I've added some recent loggings of these mystery beacons to the page. If anyone else manages to log any of these or similar mystery beacons, feel free to send me an email with your loggings and I'll add them to the page: http://www.spynumbers.com/USSWbeacon.html (Chris Smolinski, Black Cat Systems, http://www.blackcatsystems.com Jan ACE Pirate Radio topica group via DXLD) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ LANGUAGE LESSON +++++++++++++++ The text you published in DXLD 4007 has been edited. I hope the new version is easier to read: It may not be "so unusual" to hear "doble" + a call letter, but the standard rule where Spanish is spoken is to pronounce call letters individually. Influenced by English usage though, many stations in Mexico and the USA tend to use "doble" or "triple" + a call letter. No collateral damage is likely to occur in calls with three identical call letters, "triple" + a call letter, but the rules are lax, and so you are welcome to find out for example how "www." is being pronounced in the different parts of the Spanish speaking world. (I have heard the combination of these three letters pronounced in many different ways). [I have been known to say ``doble ve, dobleú, uve doble`` to cover all the bases --- gh] The main problem for a DXer seems to be limited to calls including "doble", when followed by a letter that might be mistaken for a "u" or a "ve"/"be", which would sound like "dobleú" or "doblevé"/"doblebé", meaning W. In Spain, where local stations hardly ever use their call signs, this is not an issue, but if a Spanish DXer would have to mention a Latin American call sign he would probably follow his own standard usage, which is to throw in the actual letter first, viz. "a doble" for AA, instead of "dobleá" as in Mexico. I could give you any number of actual examples where twin letters in call signs are pronounced individually, BB in Panamá, CC in Colombia, JJ in Venezuela, SS, or even SSS, in San Salvador etc. Sometimes, however, "doble" is called for, out of sheer necessity, as it were, as in the case with Colombian HJKK (840). This station has no name, or slogan, if you wish, only its call sign to rely upon. What do they do? Well, in order not to make fools out of themselves they will have to say "doble ca", because the standard usage, "ca ca", pronounced identically whether written in one word or two, would be interpreted as "shit"! On a Spanish language internet list a couple of years ago a survey was undertaken to find out how W was pronounced in the different Spanish speaking countries. The topic created much "division of opinion". Imbedded in words, B and V tend to be pronounced identically, and for spelling purposes, although not for mentioning call signs, a Latin American, but not a Spaniard, has to recur to additions such as "chica", little, or "larga", big, "be" (or "ve") chica" for V; "be" (or "ve") larga" for B. For the spelling out of a call sign no one ever seems to care, and so "ye-ese-be-be" could be any of the following: YSBB, YSVV, YSVB, YSBV. The letter W is alien to Spanish and pronounced in the Americas as "dobleú" and "doblevé" (or "doblebé", if you wish), and might therefore be confused with UU, BB or VV, whereas in Spain there is less risk of confusion as W is pronounced as "uve doble", and that is because the Spaniards pronounce the letter V as "uve" and B is as "be" (or "ve"). We thought, both Martin and I, that we were hearing a "dobleú" on his clip, followed by a consonant, either lateral or bilabial. It turned out to be "doble ele", which, if pronounced according to the book, will sound like "doblele". When I come to think of it, this would be a rather good starting point for another discussion to determine and delimitate another usage, quite as important as the way Z is being pronounced in the various English speaking countries, and that is in which countries the letter Y in Spanish is being pronounced as I GRIEGA and in which others it´s pronounced YE. Last edited by Henrik Klemetz on Sun Jan 11, 2004 0914 U; edited 1 time in total (DX LISTENING DIGEST) POWERLINE COMMUNICATIONS ++++++++++++++++++++++++ NEED HELP AND SOME GOOD ADVICE PLEASE Broadband has come to my small town of Waggoner, Illinois, in the form of wireless broadband. The main line is on top of the water tower two blocks from my QTH. 14 people have it on my block. Now I`m stuck with dial up at 30.00 bucks a month. A 10 dollar month connection suits me, lol. But now I am limited to listening to MW only. If I bury my 200 foot antenna in the ground which I have the edger to do it, I use insulated wire would this work better in the long run, and would I have to ground it, or would lightning no longer be a main concern. I use the Grundig Sat 800. An indoor antenna is no good as there is metal siding on the house. I am open for suggestions. 35 years of DXing --- I can`t see throwing away. There has to be a solution. Ron Trotto (RON TROTTO-WDX-4KWI-PONTIAC Jan 12, swl at qth.net via DXLD) Ron, You need to get in contact with your Congress person and Senator and raise heck! Rally the Hams in your state. All the Hams and radio hobbyists have been warned and attempts made to rally them for over a year. Way too many sat idle. I do not know if you were one who remained silent or not. This is what happens when enough voices are not raised. Pay attention people! Because once it is in your neighborhood, as it is now in Ron's you can forget DX'ing! There is no effective cure. Except to move. The only real solution is to stop it before it starts! Ron, get with the local Hams, rally the troops, force the provider to clean it up. Move, every day is not in your favor! Good luck! P.S. Write or call Riley Hollingsworth! (Duane Fischer, W8DBF, ibid.) RADIO EQUIPMENT FORUM +++++++++++++++++++++ I AM DONATING THIS DX-375 Hi All, Because of my on going health issues, (colon cancer) and big question mark for a future, I have decided to donate a like new Radio Shack DX-375 multi-band portable receiver with manual to one lucky builder of a short-wave crystal set. All who participate will have their names put into my magical top hat, the rabbit is already removed and in storage, and on the first day of Spring 2004 my grandson Brandon will reach into said hat and draw out one name. He/she will be the new owner of the DX-375. Winner to pay packing/shipping. There will be more prizes announced over the next several weeks! So get started building your crystal short-wave set troops and logging and verifying countries. Remember, a free HCI Short-Wave Monitor Achievement certificate will be presented to every person who logs and verifies five or more countries on their crystal short-wave set by the first day of Summer 2004! You can see it in low resolution, (the real one is beautiful and highly detailed, as those who have one will attest to!), on the HCI web site: http://www.w9wze.org The rules shown there 'do NOT' apply to this adventure! The prizes will be awarded mostly for participation to give all listeners a fair chance to win. Those who are experienced DX hounds like Bruce, Chuck, Phil and others will compete in a most countries confirmed group for a surprise receiver to be announced! There will be numerous prizes for simply participating, all given on a random basis, and no person may win twice. Unless it is in a competitive classification, of course. Glenn? Would you be willing to help us by promoting this on your radio program, the World Of Radio? If any of you have contacts at USA based short-wave stations and can contact them to get some prizes to be donated, it would be fantastic! Naturally, I will see to it that all radio stations contributing prizes are recognized here, on the air and on the HCI web site. I am not sure how practical it would be to send prizes abroad, as all winners are responsible for packing and shipping charges. However, anyone is welcome to participate and I am confident we can find some cost effective way to get a prize sent overseas. Now in the case of small lightweight prizes that can go in an insulated/cushioned envelope by air mail, that will not be any problem. It is the larger ones that concern me. If anyone has experience with overseas shipping I would appreciate hearing your thoughts and recommendations. The highly detailed plans with many images and photos for the one short-wave crystal set, for those who have already requested them, will be leaving town for your QTH this week. Others who desire them may contact me direct and request a copy. However, you may use any design you desire. These plans are for those who are not able to design their own set or choose not to. If any of you happen to have a radio related item of interest sitting around you are tired of dusting off and would like to find it a new QTH, contact me, please. It will be given away at random to participants. This is fun, trust me here! I am having a blast! You have not heard the World Of Radio until it comes to you via a Galena xtalset! Kind of fun tickling Glenn Hauser with a 'Cat Whisker'! Join us and let's make 2004 the year of the crystal powered short-wave set revisited, just as it was some sixty to eighty years ago. Hear it the way it 'REALLY' was! I can assure you, that you will truly be amazed just how well simplicity does work! (Duane Fischer, W8DBF, Jan 12, swl at qth.net via DXLD) A SHOCKING PHENOMENON --- WHEN DISCHARGING STATIC ELECTRICITY, WE ALSO ARE EMITTING RADIO WAVES --- By DOUGLAS HULLANDER, December 22, 2003 Broadcasting your own radio signals is a lot easier than you might think, especially this time of year. All you have to do is force a few trillion electrical charges (electrons) to accelerate, and - presto! - you're "on the air." ... http://www.knoxnews.com/kns/science/article/0,1406,KNS_9116_2522592,00.html (Knoxville News Sentinel via Jill Dybka, DXLD) CONVENTIONS & CONFERENCES +++++++++++++++++++++++++ MEXICAN DX MEETING 2004 JULY 29-AUGUST 1 The "Sociedad De Ingenieros Radioescuchas" Of Veracruz Invites Clubs, Dxers, Radio Listeners And Broadcasters, Radio Amateurs And All Persons Interested In Short Wave And Radio Communications To The Tenth Annual Meeting Of Mexican Dxers And Shortwave Listeners July 30, 31 And August 1st / 2004 Celebrating 10 Years Of Dx Meetings CONTACT: SOCIEDAD DE INGENIEROS RADIOESCUCHAS ingenierosdx @ yahoo.com.mx ING. CESAR FERNANDEZ DE LARA GARCIA fedela @ yahoo.com.mx 229-9374618 (HOME) ING. RAFAEL G. GRAJEDA ROSADO rggr681121 @ hotmail.com 2291-249082 (MOBILE) JEFF WHITE / RADIO MIAMI INTERNACIONAL COORDINATOR OF FOREIGN GUESTS radiomiami9 @ cs.com Miami Tel. +1-305-559-9764 The Tenth Annual Meeting of Mexican DXers and Shortwave Listeners will take place at the Veracruz Cultural Institute (IVEC) in downtown Veracruz, on the Gulf Coast of Mexico, to the east of Mexico City. The dates for the meeting are Friday-Sunday, July 30-August 1, 2004. You would be advised to arrive on Thursday, July 29, as there will be informal activities in the afternoon and evening. The official inauguration of the event will be at 10:00 a.m. [UT -5] on Friday. Seminars will be held from approximately 10:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. on Friday and Saturday, and also on Sunday morning. Most people depart by around noon or so on Sunday, although some will stay around to see some of the many tourist sites in Veracruz and the surrounding area. Participants coming from abroad can fly into Mexico City and then take a short connecting flight to Veracruz. Alternatively, you can take a luxury bus ride from Mexico City to Veracruz (about 4 or 5 hours). Specific agenda items are presently being developed. They will include a seminar on the history of shortwave radio in Mexico, a keynote speech by a well-known Mexican radio personality, and a tribute to the tenth anniversary of the Mexican national DX meetings. There is no registration fee to attend the meeting. Each participant pays his own travel, accommodation and meal expenses. Following is a list of hotels in the downtown area of Veracruz located close to the cultural center where the meeting will take place. Later we will send an additional list with more hotels and more details. We recommend making reservations at least two months before the meeting date, because it`s a vacation time in Nexico and hotels fill up quickly. Please note that prices are for your reference and are subject to change. Prices are in Mexican pesos. The current exchange rate is approx. 10 pesos per US dollar. Hotel Meson del Mar Price for double room (2 persons) => 500.00 pesos (~50 us$) Price for room for 4 persons => 750.00 pesos (~75 us$) Telephone: +52-229-932-50-43 and +52-229-932-50-92 http://www.mesondelmar.com.mx reservaciones @ mesondelmar.com.mx Note: This is the closest hotel to the meeting location (1 block) and is highly recommended. Rooms have safe deposit box, color TV, Internet connections, telephone and air conditioning. The hotel is a colonial- style building dating from the 17th Century, recently remodeled but retaining its historical charm. Hotel Baluarte Price for single room (1 person) => 400.00 pesos (~40 us$) Price for double room (2 persons) => 550.00 pesos (~55 us$) Telephone: +52-229-932-52-22 and +52-229-932-42-92 http://www.hotelbaluarte.com.mx info @ hotelbaluarte.com.mx Note: This hotel is located directly in front of the historical Santiago Fortress. Rooms have color cable TV, telephone and air conditioning. Hotel El Faro: Price for double room (2 persons) => 250.00 pesos (~25 us$) Price for room for 4 persons => 450.00 pesos (~45 us$) Telephone: +52-229-931-65-38 Hotel Amparo: Price for double room (2 persons) => 175.00 pesos (~17.50 us$) Price for room for 4 persons => 300.00 pesos (~30 us$) Telephone: +52-229-932-27-38 (via Jeff White, DX LISTENING DIGEST) IRCA CONVENTION 2004 JULY 23-25 Bruce Bacon and Frank Aden will be hosting the 2004 IRCA Convention at the Rodeway INN, 1115 North Curtis Rd, Boise ID 83706 from July 23-25 2004. Room rates are $59.95 plus 12% tax which comes to $67.14. This rate is the same for a single, two people one bed or two people two beds. Extra person charge is $5.00, with tax, $5.60 and with a roll a way bed is additional $8.00, $8.96 with tax. This includes a continental breakfast. Reservations can be made at 1-800-272-5003. Deadline is July 12, 2004. Convention fee is $25.00. Instead of having a set menu for a banquet we will have a dinner Saturday night, July 24, in the hotel restaurant where attendees can select off the regular menu. Tentative schedule will include station studio/transmitter tours, auction, 40th Anniversary Quiz and a visit to Bonneville Point on the Oregon Trail where there have been several Beverage DXpeditions. More details are to follow. Any items to be donated for the auction can be sent to Frank Aden, 4096 Marcia Pl., Boise ID 83704. E-mail inquires can be sent to: IRCA2004 @ aol.com (IRCA Soft DX Monitor via DXLD) PROPAGATION +++++++++++ Date: Mon, 12 Jan 2004 09:17:16 GMT From: Solar Influences Data analysis Center Subject: SIDC Weekly Bulletin :Issued: 2004 Jan 12 0914 UTC :Product: documentation at http://sidc.oma.be/products/bul #--------------------------------------------------------------------# # SIDC WEEKLY BULLETIN ON SOLAR AND GEOMAGNETIC ACTIVITY # #--------------------------------------------------------------------# WEEK 158 from 2004 Jan 05 SOLAR ACTIVITY: --------------- Solar activity was at M-level for the first half and at C and B level for the second half of last week. The dominant sunspot group was Catania 33 (NOAA 0537) which appeared at the west limb on Jan 6. It produced several high M flares of which three were CME related. The two sunspot groups Catania 30 and 33 (NOAA 0536 and 0537) remain flare capable next week. GEOMAGNETISM: During the whole week, the earth underwent active to minor storm conditions. The first half of the week, the Earth was under the influence of a high speed coronal hole, resulting in active to minor storm conditions. Superimposed on that, a small shock was recorded late on Jan 6. This was probably the arrival of the partial halo CME connected to the long duration M-flare (Catania 30, NOAA 0536) of Jan 5 early UT. The solar wind speed reached values of 800 km/s and the IMF pointed predominantly southward (-10nT) resulting in minor storm conditions (Kp=5) late on Jan 6. The rest of the week, a Kp=5 was reached on every day except on Jan 8. These short periods of minor storms were all due to the passage or the arrival of different CMEs. The solar wind speed oscillated between 500 km/s and 800 km/s. The two large temperature drops in the ACE data late on 8/1 and on 10/1, are clear signatures of CME arrivals. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- DAILY INDICES DATE RC 10CM Ak BKG M X 2004 Jan 05 106 123 034 C1.4 1 0 2004 Jan 06 077 117 023 B3.9 1 0 2004 Jan 07 072 119 029 B3.5 2 0 2004 Jan 08 068 120 010 B2.4 1 0 2004 Jan 09 /// 118 025 B2.3 2 0 2004 Jan 10 041 119 026 B2.6 0 0 2004 Jan 11 030 119 /// B3.7 0 0 # RC : Sunspot index from Catania Observatory (Italy) # 10cm: 10.7 cm radioflux (DRAO, Canada) # Ak : Ak Index Wingst (Germany) # BKG : Background GOES X-ray level (NOAA, USA) # M,X : Number of X-ray flares in M and X class, see below (NOAA, USA) ---------------------------------------------------------------------- NOTICEABLE EVENTS DAY BEGIN MAX END LOC XRAY OP 10CM TYPE Cat NOAA NOTE 5 0250 0345 0520 S10E36 M6.9 400 IV/2,III/2 30 0536 SXI derived loc, CME 6 0610 0629 0650 N04E81 M5.8 340 V/2 33 0537 SXI derived loc, halo 7 0343 0404 0421 N02E76 M4.5 2N V/2,II/1 33 0537 SXI derived loc 7 1016 1027 1033 N06E71 M8.3 SF 510 V/2,II/1 33 0537 SXI derived loc, partial halo 8 0453 0507 0521 N01E64 M1.3 1N 73 III/1 33 0537 9 0113 0122 0127 N03E49 M1.1 33 0537 9 0114 0144 0158 N02E47 M3.2 33 0537 SXI derived loc #--------------------------------------------------------------------# # Solar Influences Data analysis Center - RWC Belgium # # Royal Observatory of Belgium # # Fax : 32 (0) 2 373 0 224 # # Tel.: 32 (0) 2 373 0 276 # # For more information, see http://sidc.oma.be. Please do not reply # # directly to this message, but send comments and suggestions to # # 'sidctech @ oma.be'. If you are unable to use that address, use # # 'PCugnon @ spd.aas.org' instead. # #--------------------------------------------------------------------# (via Jim Moats, DXLD) LATEST LW RECEPTION FROM ALBERTA This past weekend I was up in Lamont (near Edmonton), DXing with Don Moman, Joe Talbot, and Mickey Delmage. Most of our success was on shortwave, but we also enjoyed an opening on longwave. The LW highlight of the weekend was likely my first reception of a European longwave station in our local morning hours, when Norway on 153 kHz was very clear on first tuning in at 1330 UTC on 11 Jan, gradually weakening to fade out around 1500. Given their northern location, I've considered such reception quite feasible during mid-winter, and have indeed noted very weak signals, but haven't detected enough of a signal previously to confirm it was Norway. Also logged a number of Europeans at the more conventional time the previous evening between 0400 and 0800 UTC, January 11: 153 - Norway, and at times with a second, much weaker, signal in the background. (Germany??) 162 - France, with incredible signal strength at times 171 - Morocco (Medi Un), fading in and out with Russia's Radio Rossii 177 - Germany 183 - Germany 189 - Iceland 198 - United Kingdom 207 - Iceland (parallel with 189 but much weaker) 234 - traces of audio at 0712 UT amidst the beacons, likely from Luxembourg. Regrettably, the DX opening didn't extend up into MW, as not a trace of a European signal was heard there. 73, (Nigel Pimblett, Medicine Hat, Alberta, Canada, Jan 12, IRCA via DXLD) The geomagnetic field ranged from quiet to minor storm levels. The period began with unsettled to active conditions on 05 January. Late on 06 January, and into 07 January activity increased to minor storm levels due to increased wind speed and extended periods of southward Bz. Activity decreased to quiet to unsettled levels on 08 January and a second coronal hole produced isolated periods of minor storm level on 09 – 10 January. The period ended on 11 January with quiet to active levels. FORECAST OF SOLAR AND GEOMAGNETIC ACTIVITY 14 JANUARY - 09 FEBRUARY Solar activity is expected to be at low to moderate levels with a chance of major flare activity. Region 537 is expected to produce C- class flares and possibly an isolated M-class event through 19 January. SOHO/EIT imagery and enhanced activity on the east limb suggest several regions will be rotating around the east limb early in the period. This range of active longitudes is likely to produce low level activity with isolated M-class activity possible. Activity during the second half of the period is expected to be at low levels until Region 537 returns to the visible disk on 01 February. There is a slight chance for a greater than 10 MeV proton event from Region 537, and perhaps from the active longitudes currently rotating onto the disk. The greater than 2 MeV electron flux at geosynchronous orbit is expected to reach high levels on 17 – 19 January, 28 – 29 January and again on 31 January – 09 February due to recurrent coronal holes. Geomagnetic activity is expected to range from quiet to minor storm levels. Unsettled to minor storm levels are possible early in period due to a coronal hole driven high speed stream on 16 – 17 January. A second recurrent coronal hole is expected to return on 27 – 28 January resulting in active to minor storm levels. The large transequatorial coronal hole of the last few rotations has broken up into several smaller coronal holes. This series of recurrent coronal hole is due to return on 30 January – 07 February and is expected to produce minor storm level activity. :Product: 27-day Space Weather Outlook Table 27DO.txt :Issued: 2004 Jan 13 2211 UTC # Prepared by the US Dept. of Commerce, NOAA, Space Environment Center # Product description and SEC contact on the Web # http://www.sec.noaa.gov/wwire.html # # 27-day Space Weather Outlook Table # Issued 2004 Jan 13 # # UTC Radio Flux Planetary Largest # Date 10.7 cm A Index Kp Index 2004 Jan 14 130 10 3 2004 Jan 15 135 12 3 2004 Jan 16 140 15 3 2004 Jan 17 140 20 4 2004 Jan 18 135 15 3 2004 Jan 19 130 10 3 2004 Jan 20 125 10 3 2004 Jan 21 125 5 2 2004 Jan 22 125 10 3 2004 Jan 23 125 10 3 2004 Jan 24 115 10 3 2004 Jan 25 110 5 2 2004 Jan 26 105 10 3 2004 Jan 27 105 15 3 2004 Jan 28 110 25 5 2004 Jan 29 115 15 3 2004 Jan 30 115 25 5 2004 Jan 31 120 25 5 2004 Feb 01 125 20 4 2004 Feb 02 125 20 4 2004 Feb 03 125 30 5 2004 Feb 04 125 10 3 2004 Feb 05 125 20 4 2004 Feb 06 130 25 5 2004 Feb 07 135 15 3 2004 Feb 08 135 10 3 2004 Feb 09 130 10 3 (http://www.sec.noaa.gov/radio via WORLD OF RADIO 1216, DXLD) ###