DX LISTENING DIGEST 4-034, February 25, 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 1220: Mon 0430 on WSUI 910, webcast http://wsui.uiowa.edu FIRST AIRINGS OF WORLD OF RADIO 1221: Wed 2300 on WBCQ, 7415, 17495-CUSB Thu 2130 on WWCR, 9475 WRN ONDEMAND [from Fri]: http://new.wrn.org/listeners/stations/station.php?StationID=24 OUR ONDEMAND AUDIO [also for CONTINENT OF MEDIA, MUNDO RADIAL]: Check http://www.worldofradio.com/audiomid.html WORLD OF RADIO 1221 (high version): (stream) http://www.w4uvh.net/wor1221h.ram (download) http://www.w4uvh.net/wor1221h.rm (summary) http://www.worldofradio.com/wor1221.html [from Thu] WORLD OF RADIO 1221 (low version): (stream) http://www.w4uvh.net/wor1221.ram (download) http://www.w4uvh.net/wor1221.rm WORLD OF RADIO, CONTINENT OF MEDIA AND MUNDO RADIAL ON SIUE WEB RADIO SIUE's Web Radio schedule for your programs are as follows: WORLD OF RADIO: Monday 10:00 p.m. (Tuesday 0400 UT) CONTINENT OF MEDIA: Alternating Monday 10:30 p.m. MUNDO RADIAL: Alternating Monday 10:30 p.m. (both Tuesday 0430 UT) During the Spring Break (the week of March 8), World of Radio, Continent of Media and Mundo Radial will be in rotation on the station's automation setup. The format during Spring Break will be adjusted to a '70s and '80s format from it's regular diverse music format. The station has also changed its weekend format from diverse music to an Adult Contemporary format (E. B. Stevenson, SIUE Web Radio, Feb 23, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ARGENTINA. RAE IS OFF THE AIR ON SW Ciao! No signals today at 1900-2000 UT on 15344.8 kHz has been noted in my QTH in Milano, north Italy, only signal from RTM Morocco, in Arabic. Guess if RAE is OFF the air or just bad propagation ? May be our Argentinian friends may tell us? http://www.radionacional.gov.ar/filiales.asp Their WEB doesn't say nothing about the fire problems at the transmitter site. Dario Monferini Stasera nessuna traccia di RAE su 15344,8 kHz alle 1900-2000 UTC in Italiano, solo i soliti "rompiballe" Marocchini in arabo.... http://www.radionacional.gov.ar/filiales.asp Nella WEB di Radio Nacional non ci sono notizie sull'incendio che pare abbia fatto danni alla PLANTA TRANSMISORA fuori Buenos Aires, notizia ricevuta dagli amici di Conexion Digital. Que pasa amigos ??? esperamos noticias al respecto (Dario Monferini, Play DX, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Shortly later:: Ciao! Our correspondent Nestor Rubio, from Argentina informs us, in this moment 2100 UT 24 February, Radio Nacional LRA is operating only on MW 890 kHz with a second hand transmitter, and is off the air on SW 15345, 11710, 9690, 6060 kHz. So the fire has seriously damaged the General Pacheco transmitting place! Dario Monferini, PLAYDX ITALY Ciao! Il nostro amico corrispondente Nestor Rubio dall'Argentina ci segnala in tempo reale, che Radio Nacional da Buenos Aires è attiva con un TX di emergenza solo su 890 kHz, mentre è spenta sulle onde corte 6060, 9690, 11710, 15345 kHz. Purtroppo i danni al centro emittente sono ingenti. Dario Monferini Nestor Rubio, G.A.MA-DX, Grupo de Actividades Mar del Plata DX WEB: http://groups.msn.com/gamadx (via Dario Monferini, DXLD) LRA`s usual frequency is 870, and one would expect the backup also to be on 870, but maybe not (gh, DXLD) ** AUSTRALIA. Glenn: 5050.0 heard again at 1030Z on 02-24-04, with two programs simultaneously, one being clearly Guangxi Foreign B. S., // weakly on 9820, with a female voice; the other program being a male voice, rather high-pitched, in an indeterminate language; very weak with high background noise. This tends to corroborate my belief that I may have indeed picked up ARDS Darwin, as that station and Guangxi are the only two on the air simultaneously at 5050 at present, according to my ILGRadio database log, if accurate. Both programs heard with 350 ft dipole; switching to 175 ft wire, only one program heard: female in Oriental language, // 9820. Rx: R75, San José, CA. Best, (Steve Waldee, - retired radio station CE, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** AUSTRALIA. ARDXC list of Australian x-Band stations, 25 Nov 2003: http://www.ardxc.fl.net.au/Xband.html (via gh, DXLD) ** BELARUS. A piece of new info from Kalodziczy: Regional studios' broadcasts are relayed for audience in Russia on 7255 kHz week-days at 1600-1640 (some days till 1700): Mo: Homiel Tu: Viciebsk We: Mahilou Th: Brest Fr: Hrodna Power is 250 kW (open_dx - Sergey Alekseychik, Hrodna, Belarus via Signal Feb 24 via DXLD) ** BURKINA FASO. R. Burkina, Ouagadougou, 5030, 2235-2345 Feb 15. Always tough at my QTH, but got it this time. Fair to good signal, Af pop music mostly, but also some nice instrumental music with presumed local musicians. French speaking OM announcer, telephone interview once, not a formal ID but numerous mentions of Burkina and Ouagadougou. Eventually obliterated by R. Rebelde around 2345 (Jeffrey S. Heller, Naperville, IL, Drake R8B, Time Wave ANC 4, 67' coil loaded sloper, 41' dipole, 42' ParZ long wire with binocular balun (mounted as a sloper) Cumbredx mailing list via DXLD) ** CANADA. RCI Mailbag read my message --- Hi, Glenn! Re my message to RCI's Mailbag, cc'd to you and included in DXLD 4-030: Ian addressed the "repositioning" issue with an interview with other RCI staff and management, and read most of my e-mail, on this past week's issue of the Mailbag. I get the impression that the end result may not be too bad from my position as a listener, with an increased relay of CBC programming in the transmissions to the Americas and different RCI-produced programming directed to Europe, which we here in the US can hear quite well in our local afternoons. (I'm only addressing the English programming here.) The one particular paragraph they did NOT address was my suggestion or plea that RCI add some later-evening transmissions in the 0400-0600 UT timeframe, including specifically directing such broadcasts to the Western US, and that RCI itself get the better transmitters and frequencies, with the relayed time-swap foreign broadcasters getting the poorer ones that don't propagate as well. By the way, is there some propagational reason that transmissions from Sackville tend to come in poorly in the US evenings/nights as compared with the ones we hear in the mornings or mid-afternoons? Could this be remedied with lower-frequency choices? If so, do the antennas at Sackville not work at such lower frequencies? I'm thinking of how great WWCR on 3210 comes in all night, and wishing that I could hear RCI that well -- is that a realistic hope, or am I comparing apples & oranges? 73, (Will Martin, MO, Feb 25, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Sackville has never been known to operate below 5.9 MHz, so it`s doubtful they have antennas and transmitters capable of this. Of course, modifications could be made. Unfortunately, WWCR is very much in the minority among international SWBC stations in taking advantage of ``tropical`` frequencies as low as 2390 kHz. In winter nights the MUF over paths such as Sackville to St Louis may fall below 5.9 MHz, and this is exacerbated in low-sunspot years, approaching; and when there are propagation disturbances, affecting sub-auroral zone sites such as Sackville much more than southerly ones. RCI has never really dealt with this issue of covering its neighboring country adequately. As a result, in many locations and situations we get as good or better reception off the back of their daytime beams toward Europe and Africa, because the frequencies are more suitable (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CANADA. RCI TEAM IN CITY From The Daily Star, Whitehorse, Yukon, Canada February 23, 2004 http://www.whitehorsestar.com/storyDetail.lasso?r=48505 Yukon College is hosting a team of broadcast journalists from Radio Canada International (RCI) this week who will broadcast radio programs from the college around the world in Spanish and Russian. "We want to broadcast some of the festivities of Rendezvous and Heritage Day," Rufo Valencia, a producer with the team, said in a statement last Wednesday. "Our goal is to let our audiences know more about Whitehorse and this part of the world." Radio Canada International is the voice of Canada in much of the world. It has been broadcasting since 1945. Today, it broadcasts via shortwave, satellite and the Internet. RCI's mandate is to increase the awareness of Canada and the Canadian identity worldwide. "Yukon College is pleased to welcome the RCI broadcast team," said college president Sally Webber. "It is an opportunity for our students to gain an understanding of Canada's place in the world and it's a chance to share northern perspectives with the rest of the world." The crew consists of two Spanish-speaking announcers, two Russian- speaking announcers, a couple of technicians and a management supervisor. They will convert one of the college lounges into a broadcast studio with their equipment. They also plan on spending a day in Dawson City. "We want people to come and watch our broadcasts, and participate too," said Valencia. "We would like to talk to anyone who speaks Spanish or Russian and get their views on living in the Yukon." The broadcasts will take place in room 1404 of the college from Wednesday to Friday. The Russian programs will begin at 8 a.m. local time and the Spanish broadcasts will be in the late afternoons, beginning at 3:30 p.m. local time (via Mike Terry, DXLD) ** CANADA. CKUT INTERNATIONAL RADIO REPORT DIRECT AUDIO LINX Ricky, I think what Paul David wants is a link such as:- http://www.vif.com/users/rleong/radioreport-040222.rm that leads directly to the audio. The link which you publish requires some navigation to finally get to the audio file and there are quite a number of pieces of "pop up" junk to be got rid of before the audio plays. I guess that next week the required link might be:- http://www.vif.com/users/rleong/radioreport-040229.rm (Mark Hawkins, swprograms via DXLD) When I had an older, better, RealPlayer version with an accessible address toolbar, I favoritised one IRR, and then simply changed the date from week to week, and the new edition would start playing almost immediately. Better yet, since there is no archive any more, but only the latest show, what`s the point of having a different date in the URL for each one instead of a constant URL? (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CHINA [non]. QSLs: CANADA/CUBA: China Radio Int'l via Sackville and Havana, 9700, 9580, Nice package containing f/d "Jinggan Mountains, Jiangxi, Dawn at Ciping" card, stickers, colorful paper pennant and personal note on a "CRI, China's Endangered Rare Animals" card depicting the Slow Loris in 22 days for 1 IRC. Not the first package from CRI but definitely the most attractive (Scott R. Barbour, Jr., Intervale, NH, R75, MLB-1, RS longwire with RBA balun, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 9700? Not aware of such a frequency; your typo or theirs for 9790? (gh, DXLD) ** COLOMBIA. 6010.2, L.V. de tu Conciencia. Lomalinda. Feb. 24 2210- 2220 Relay Marfil Estereo 88.3 con el programa Atardecer en el llano. 6139.2, Radio Melodía, Bogotá, Feb 24 2220-2230. Nuevamente al aire, a ver cuánto dura! Como siempre en // con los 730 kHz (Rafael Rodríguez, Colombia, Conexión Digital via DXLD) ** COLOMBIA. Glenn: 6139.79 exactly: Radio Melodía, Bogotá. Supposedly only 1 kw (ILGRadio) or 5 kw (WRTH), it is usually hard to receive here in San José, CA; tonight at 0730-0745 it was putting in a superb signal, playing sentimental-sounding Spanish female vocal ballads -- with "program listening" quality and excellent audio -- for a while only one notch below local bay area MW stations! -- measuring at its highest peaks only about 15 dB lower in RF level than the new powerhouse R. Rebelde at 5025. However, LSB had to be used to escape fully the sideband splatter from 300 kw R. Japan at 6145. Gradually, by 0750, it receded into the mush and resumed its usual character as a barely-endurable, hard to copy DX catch. The influence of Jupiter? HAARP? Mass human consciousness? Or merely a bad pot-sticker with my Chinese chicken salad? Best, (Steve Waldee - retired broadcast station engineer, UT Feb 24, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** COSTA RICA. 6105, R. Universidad, classical music programming when heard, but irregular schedule. Sign on has been 1200, 1300 or just off of the air, such as today Feb 25. Heard till 1430 fade and coming back in about 2115 when on (Hans Johnson, Naples, FL, Cumbre DX via DXLD) ** CUBA. Try picking up our 9655 and 9550 kHz frequencies this evening, in parallel with 9820 at this moment, and also testing 100 kW on 11760 from 05 to 07 UT (Arnie Coro, RHC, UT Feb 24, swl at qth.net via DXLD) Dear Daniel: I see that your information about our English language schedule is not correct. 1. We are not broadcasting using SSB at this moment 2. We are not using 11705 khz in English SSB or AM 3. We are now using 9655 to North America from 05 to 07 UT, but this may soon change to 6180 kHz 4. We are using 9550 kHz in English to the Caribbean from 05 to 07 UT with a broad beam that is also heard in North America 5. We are using now 250 kW to the Pacific Coast of North America from 05 to 07 UT, beaming 315 degrees azimuth with 20 dB antenna gain on 9820 kHz We are now testing FOUR new 100 kW transmitters that you can pick up during our morning local time 1100 to 1500 UTC Spanish language program ""Despertar con Cuba"" 9550 kHz to the Caribbean 11760 kHz North, Central and South America 11800 kHz South America 12000 kHz Eastern North America Hope this will help you update the service you provide to Dxers and short wave listeners. Yours truly, Prof. Arnaldo Coro Antich Advisor to the Director General, Radio Havana Cuba (via Dan Sampson, WI, 2/24, Prime Time Shortwave, http://www.primetimeshortwave.com DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CUBA. Glenn, Years of casual listening to the Cuban Rebelde outlet(s) on 1180 kHz have convinced me that there is more than one transmitter on this frequency. I often hear a "flanging" sound that is some times very hollow on the frequency. This is much like the sound one hears on selective sideband fading of a skywave signal, but in the case of 1180, it is a steady out of phase sound as opposed to the rise and fall one hears with a selective fade. This is just a hunch, but I believe there are at least two transmitters operating, with high power on 1180 in different geographical locations, but their audio feed is not in sync. Thus the constant "flange" effect. I have heard all degrees of flange distortion from a steady hollow ring, to a fast, almost vibrato effect, but it does not vary with the signal strength like a skywave fade. I have heard this in Honolulu, here in Georgia, and on groundwave during several trips to Florida. The groundwave convinced me. The new Rebelde transmitter on 5025 is good to very good on peaks at 9:30 AM local [1430 UT], two hours after sunrise here and Habana. Very clean audio with no hum (Brock Whaley, Lilburn GA, Feb 24-25, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 5025, R. Rebelde, strong S9+ signal all day now // 1180. Sounded like they were celebrating their anniversary on the 24th, playing an old recording of the station many times (Hans Johnson, Naples Fl, Cumbredx mailing list via DXLD) ** DJIBOUTI. Parts of the DX world (including me) have been confused lately by the designation "MRN6" that appeared in the IBB online schedule for the Radio Sawa stream carried by the new IBB relay transmitter in Djibouti on 1431 kHz. "MRN6" (MRN standing for Middle East Radio Network alias Radio Sawa) suggests that Radio Sawa now has 6 different streams. An official statement by BBG (Broadcasting Board of Governors) which produces Radio Sawa says that Radio Sawa currently has five streams: Egypt-Levant, The Gulf, Iraq, Morocco, and Jordan/West Bank. The 6th stream, Radio Sawa Sudan, is not yet online, it is expected later this year. This statement stresses that the operation of the Djibouti transmitter (which is going to carry the Radio Sawa Sudan stream) is still experimental (Bernd Trutenau, Lithuania, Cumbredx mailing list via DXLD) ** ECUADOR. What Station Is On 9745 Right Now? There was a discussion about Polio in English until 0328 UT Feb 24, then it switched to español with a female, a male in a different language, no station ID. Very strong here in MI. My listings did not show any English on this frequency, but the tones between news items sound familiar. What is it? (Duane Fischer, swl at qth.net via DXLD) HCJB Spanish in English, secret schedule --- HCJB Spanish service has a 15-minute program in English, which is actually considered a language lesson. Finding out the times it is scheduled is quite a task. In the past, I have looked all over the HCJB website, quite extensive in Spanish, without finding a simple program schedule. I used to hear it at 2345 (Sunday?) on 15140 (Glenn, ibid.) Thanks Glenn. This was at 0300-0328 UT and was devoted to the topic of polio and vaccinations of children. There was an interview with a male victim of polio who was severely handicapped because of it. They mentioned the English speaking people were from the UK and USA, which I found interesting in itself. That one accent was the most unusual UK one I have heard! (Duane W8DBF, ibid.) ** ECUADOR. To answer your question under "Ecuador" in DXLD 4-032, Yes, the DXPL edition aired direct from HCJB and the relay via WWCR were both the old repeat fill-in version, with the intro about the satellite problem (Will Martin, MO, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** EL SALVADOR. Checked 17835v again Feb 24 around 2200 and found a carrier peaking at 15 over 9, but barely modulated. Why bother, Radio Imperial? (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** EQUATORIAL GUINEA [non]. Hans Johnson was recently wondering whether the `Radio Africa` gospel SW outlets are still on the air. We have not heard them for years, nor seen any reports of anyone else hearing them. Yet, the broker responsible for selling time on them, still promotes them on its website, http://www.radiopanam.com/Outreaches/africa.htm --- ``PAN AMERICAN BROADCASTING "Worldwide Hope Through International Broadcasting" West Africa w Radio Africa Our most popular station! Strategically located in the west central African country of Equatorial Guinea, this 50,000 watt shortwave station reaches over 300 million people including 140 million English speaking people in Nigeria, Ghana and Liberia. Rates are $69 and $129 for your 15 and 30 minute weekly programs. (Prime time add $10/broadcast). "Radio Africa - Reaching The People of Africa" is a 22 minute video available for loan or purchase. Southern Africa w Radio Africa #2 Radio Africa #2, following in the footsteps of its highly successful sister station, Radio Africa, broadcasts 50,000 watts of shortwave power reaching over 80 million people in southern and South Africa. With literacy as low as 25%, radio is absolutely necessary in this part of the world. Rates are $69 and $129 for your 15 and 30 minute weekly programs. East Africa w Radio East Africa The English speaking countries of East Africa: Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Zambia and Malawi are home to over 75 million souls. This area of the vast African continent has not been well served by radio. Radio East Africa's 50,000 watts of power insures that the Good News will be heard. Rates are $69 and $129 for your 15 and 30 minute weekly programs. (Sunday add $10/broadcast).`` Other pages have even more out of date information, such as V. of Hope in Southern Lebanon, which has been off the air for years, and as all DXers know, the transmitter moved to Liberia where it is sporadically active on 11514v. So what happens when a client tries to buy time on one of these stations? WRTH 2004 agrees that R. Africa, etc., are inactive (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ERITREA [non]. Re. V. of Liberty, 15675, Sun 0400-0500, ``There is no official site info available, but the most likely site is Grigoriopol (Maiac) in Moldova.`` I would like to correct myself: an even more likely site is Tbilisskaya in Russia (near Krasnodar), one of the two sites in European Russia that TDP is using (the other one is Samara). Tbilisskaya is more suitable for reaching the Horn of Africa than Grigoriopol. 73s, (Bernd Trutenau, Lithuania, Feb 24, Cumbredx mailing list via DXLD) ** GERMANY. infoRADIO/Rundfunk-Berlin Brandenburg via Sudwestrundfunk, 7265, p/d (date & frequency) "rbb" logo card with station stamp and blank "Sender Freies Berlin" studios card in 18 days. V/S, Illegible (Scott R. Barbour, Jr., Intervale, NH, R75, MLB-1, RS longwire with RBA balun, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** GUATEMALA. 3300, R. Cultural (presumed), Feb. 23, 1046-1053, Spanish, Music noted under excessive static and QRN, short talk then back to music at 1053. Very por, noisy(Scott R. Barbour, Jr., Intervale, NH, R75, MLB-1, RS longwire with RBA balun, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Not the Colombian 3rd harmonic? Can anyone get a definite ID on this, or on 5955? TGN+ had supposedly quit SW completely a few months ago (gh, DXLD) ** GUATEMALA. Glenn: 3324.80: Radio Maya, Barillas, Guatemala. First time heard here to my recollection, 2-24-02 from 1000 to 1010Z, with 'morning' show consisting of tuneful Spanish songs with male, female, and duos plus accordion, guitar, and other small instrumental groups. And -- surprise! -- a male host who spoke casually, in conversational tone, with *no* echo chamber, *no* hype and hysteria or overheated manner, not what I remember so well from my 13 years as chief engineer of a Spanish language station in San Mateo, California and many years assisting Latino format stations on the west coast with their engineering tasks. Disconcerting; like a trip back to south-of-the- border radio, c. 1939. Heard much better with my 175 foot n-s wire than by my 340-ft dipole; Rx: R75, from San Jose, CA. Best, (Steve Waldee, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** HAITI. Now that Cap-Haïtien has fallen to rebels, we may wonder what becomes of 4VEH, the onetime SW station, and still operating on MW 840 and FM 94.7. Here`s their website: http://www.radio4veh.org/ opening page, nothing there until you go to http://www.radio4veh.org/links/ Don`t expect any up-to-date news there. My impression is that 4VEH has always tried to stay out of local politix (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) See also USA -- SATERN ** HAWAII. 1170, KJPN, Honolulu, 1/30 heard Christian contemporary music weakly, then slogan "95.5 FM The Fish." Station was // to KAIM- FM. A local radio website mentioned 1170 & 1370 switched calls. Called Salem on Monday to confirm, but they denied The Fish was now on AM. But, see 1370 below (5P-HI) 1370, KENT, Honolulu, 2/6 2247 EST, back on the air after a month, with relay of KAIM-FM, using slogan "95.5 FM The Fish" and airing Christian contemporary music. However, the station ID mentioned "KJPN AM 11-70." So KAIM-FM is being heard on two MW channels, neither of them being KAIM-870. Called station owner Salem Communications but they referred questions to the GM, who was out of town (5P-HI) (Dale Park, HI, IRCA Soft DX Monitor via DXLD) ** INDIA. ALL INDIA RADIO READY TO LAUNCH 24-HOUR RADIO NEWS CHANNEL 2 APRIL National public service broadcaster All India Radio (AIR) is awaiting government permission to launch a 24-hour bilingual English/Hindi news and current affairs channel on 2 April, the New Delhi newspaper The Pioneer reported on 24 February. Initially the service will only be available on shortwave, attaining nationwide coverage by using three powerful transmitters formerly used for AIR's external service broadcasts. Although there are concerns at All India Radio about the audio quality of daytime shortwave transmissions, the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting has the view that using shortwave is the most cost- effective method of transmission in the current political circumstances (where government spending on pre-election projects is under public scrutiny). Source: BBC Monitoring research 24 Feb 04 (via DXLD) ** INDIA. 7270, AIR Chennai, 1201-1222, Feb. 24, Continuous Hindi music with YL briefly on the fives; 1210, 1215 and 1220. Solid ID at 1215. // 7270 [sic] Mumbai just audible. Weak with mild ham chatter on occasion. Not as strong here as the service to Sri Lanka was but then if I am reading my DX info correctly this frequency is now targeting NW India (Scott R. Barbour, Jr., Intervale, NH, R75, MLB-1, RS longwire with RBA balun, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** INDONESIA. 9525, V. of Indonesia, 1115-1132, Feb. 24, English/ Mandarin/ Japanese, Ballads at tune-in, OM English ID and web address info, YL in Mandarin at 1129 with Jakarta postal address. Japanese service at 1130 with ID and talk over music. Fair at tune-in, deteriorating by 1130 (Scott R. Barbour, Jr., Intervale, NH, R75, MLB- 1, RS longwire with RBA balun, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** IRAQ. KULL AL-IRAQ RADIO, TV STATION TO LAUNCH IN NASIRIYAH | Text of report by Iraqi National Accord newspaper Baghdad on 24 February The Kull al-Iraq [All Of Iraq] radio station is due to begin broadcasting next month from Nasiriyah. A source at the station said that the radio will be independent and will not represent any movement, party, political or religious trend. He added that the radio will speak in the name of Iraq from north to south and will focus on cultural and social issues. The radio will broadcast on 610 kHz AM, and for the time being it will only be heard in Nasiriyah and Basra governorates. He went on to say that the coverage area will be extended later to the whole of Iraq. The source said that initially the station will broadcast using a 100- Watt transmitter that will be strengthened later to 500 Watts. Baghdad has learnt that test transmissions of the Kull al-Iraq television station will begin shortly from Nasiriyah. The station's programmes will mainly focus on spreading a spirit of harmony and tolerance, aimed at building a homeland free of violence, terrorism and crime. Source: Baghdad, in Arabic 24 Feb 04 (via BBCM via DXLD) ** IRELAND. I received an unconfirmed report from Ronald Candy of East London to indicate that RTE has been heard testing on 252 kHz LW once again for a few hours this afternoon. On reading this report just now I checked on 252, and RTE has obviously gone off. We are now only 3 weeks away from St Patrick's Day, the next likely launch date for RTE on LW (PAUL DAVID, Wembley Park, United Kingdom, Feb 24, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ISLE OF MAN. RADIO PETITION REJECTED BY COURT NEWS RELEASE EMBARGOED UNTIL 12 NOON, 24th February 2004 The Petition of Doleance challenging the Communications Commission's issue of the long wave broadcast licence was rejected by the High Court in Douglas this morning. Announcing his decision, Acting Deemster Roger Kaye QC said: "there is no conceivable ground on which this court can or should interfere with the decision reached by the Commission to grant the licence to IMIB." The sole petitioner, a Mr L.N. Cussons made various claims, suggesting that the Communications Commission had acted unlawfully when it issued a Full Broadcast Licence to Isle of Man International Broadcasting plc. He also alleged that planning permission for the studios has not been sought and that IMIB's directors were not fit and proper persons. After documents proving the existence of planning permission were presented to the court and hearing that full checks had been made by the Communications Commission prior to awarding the licence, the Deemster decided that Mr Cussons had failed to prove any of his claims and dismissed his petition. The Petitioner had told the Court that he did not object to the proposed programmes but was simply concerned that the noise of generators might keep him awake at night, despite assertions and a detailed report by experts that the noise audible on the coast will be much lower than the background noise on even the quietest night. "Our proposals have been delayed for several years, at great cost to our investors, about half of whom live on the Isle of Man," said IMIB founder Paul Rusling after the hearing. "Despite a lengthy planning inquiry and two High Court hearings, all the claims of danger, noise and nuisance have been dismissed. "With this legal obstacle cleared we can now complete our funding arrangements and plan for the launch of the radio station. The economic climate now is much more favourable than it was two years ago, so the delays caused by the objections, while very frustrating and expensive, may well have helped us. We have had a lot of interest from investors in recent months, possibly due to the large upturn in radio advertising in the UK. We can now look forward to the launch of the radio station towards the end of this year, or perhaps early next" ( E N D S ) 24th February 2004 - Further Information: Rodney Collins, Senior Press & PR Coordinator Email ric @ longwaveradio.com Tel 01 851 704495 Paul Rusling. Chief Executive Email par @ longwaveradio.com Tel 818151 (via Mike Terry, DXLD) LONG WAVE RADIO MAST WILL BE SAFE The chief executive of the company behind the long-wave radio station to be set up in the north of the Island insists there are no safety risks involved. Isle of Man International Broadcasting PLC was yesterday given the go-ahead to proceed with plans, after a petition of doleance, challenging the Communications Commission's decision to grant a substantive licence to IMIB, was dismissed. IMIB will site its radio mast four kilometres off the coast of Cranstal in Bride. Although concern has been expressed about radiation risks from the site, Paul Rusling says residents should have no fears. http://www.manxradio.com/ (via Mike Terry, DXLD) ** LATVIA. Radio Mi Amigo will be carried on the Ulbroka transmitter on 9290 on Sun 29 February from 1600 to 1800 UT (Bernd Trutenau, Lithuania, Cumbredx mailing list via DXLD) ** MALAYSIA. 9750, V. of Islam/V. of Malaysia, 1047-1103, Feb. 24, Indonesian, Ballads with YL between selections, YL singing "Suara Islam" jingle, wind and percussion instruments at 1100 into OM news. Fair/fluttery signal (Scott R. Barbour, Jr., Intervale, NH, R75, MLB- 1, RS longwire with RBA balun, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** MEXICO [and non]. 920 Interference (from CGC Communicator) AWAITING 920 --- If rumors hold, XEDD, 920 kHz, will soon join XESS, 780 kHz, by broadcasting through the new tower structure at Rosarita Beach near Tijuana. The only device apparently missing is the diplexer, the radio frequency combiner that will allow both stations to transmit into the same tower without creating a host of RF intermodulation products (spurious signals on other frequencies). The new 920 kHz station will reportedly be authorized to run 20kW day/10kW night, with a non-directional antenna. Those parameters will of course cause massive interference to U.S. stations and add to the chaos already created by XEKTT (XEPE) on 560 kHz and XESS on 780. However, it is reasonable to assume that the new 920 facility will run low power at first to avoid further outraging U.S. interests. It appears that the FCC has made a grievous error in the way it is handling the 560 and 780 kHz stations, and some prior situations with Mexico, but that is another story. The fact is, 560 and 780 grossly violate the U.S./Mexican AM Agreement and should be turned off pronto. We can only hope that the U.S. Department of State will weigh in on the matter. For the moment, tune your receivers to 920 kHz and wait for the next chapter in this saga to unfold. More than a few watts may be coming our way in the next few weeks (via Fred Vobbe, NRC-AM via DXLD) ** OKLAHOMA [and non]. Great conditions in the upper end tonight! Had Radio Disney with an echo on 1640 under All Comedy Radio from OK. Presume I was hearing Disney from both WI and OR. Not enough to ID either one. OK has actually become a pest on the frequency for me. Got a great TOH ID from KTFH on tape - a distance of 1,016 miles (Patrick Griffith, Westminster (Denver), CO, Drake R-8 and Kiwa loop, NRC-AM via DXLD) 1640, KFNY, OK, Enid, 2-23 2200 [EST?] poor in WKSH null with "This is the All Comedy Radio Network" and mention of Robin Williams. NEW after over a month of trying! (Morris Sorensen, Winnipeg MB, Grundig YB-400 with built-in antenna, amfmtvdx at qth.net via DXLD) At 1800 UT Feb 25 indeed I heard an off-mike ID as ``AM 1640, KFNY, Enid-Oklahoma City``; evidently they have committed to comedy format to the extent of changing from KMMZ to KFNY. I am still not convinced that much of it is really funny (Glenn Hauser, Enid, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** PAKISTAN. 15070, R. Pakistan, 1222-1229*, Feb. 24, Mandarin, Kor`an-like singing/chanting at tune-in, OM in Mandarin at 1225 until NA at 1228. Poor. // 11570 stronger but disrupted by intermittent air horn-like QRN blasts (Scott R. Barbour, Jr., Intervale, NH, R75, MLB- 1, RS longwire with RBA balun, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** RUSSIA. Hi Glenn: Here is the response Olga sent me this morning. Oh BTW, Ken is my husband (I got married last July 9th, not sure if I told you or not!). I still maintain Kai should have checked with VOR first before presuming the reasons for the missing internet broadcasts; it would have been a quick simple thing to check with Ol`ga first! 73 (Maryanne Kehoe, Feb 24, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Dear Maryanne, Thank you for your latest E-mail. I`ve been told by our Technical Department staff that they`re currently modernizing our web site and, as soon as they`re through with that, our Live webcasts in English and other foreign languages will be restored. I do hope the problem will be solved in the immediate future. Keep your letters coming. Best wishes to you and Ken. Yours, (Olga Troshina, VOR, via Maryanne Kehoe, DXLD) ** SINGAPORE. WHY'S ANOTHER RADIO STATION AT CLASS95.COM? by Karen Ho LAUNCH your Web browser, type http://www.class95.com hit the 'return' key and you wind up at... WKRZ 91.3 FM instead. Sounds like a ploy by WKRZ to cash in on the name of Singapore's most popular English radio station? Not so, says the station. Although it was alerted to the situation some time ago, there is nothing it can do. A third party is pulling its content and uploading this on the class95.com site. Since WKRZ does not own the site, it has no access to it and cannot do anything about it, said its promotions executive Jessica Goh. 'We have no way of tracking who registered the domain name, but we are certain it wasn't anyone from WKRZ.' Class 95's official website is at http://class95.mediacorpradio.com The Straits Times found the class95.com domain name registered by Ms Hwee Lee Lim on Aug 4, 2000. It expires on Aug 4 this year. When asked why she registered it, Ms Hwee claimed a friend had used her credit card to do so. She said she did not know what he did with the site and declined to give further details. WKRZ is owned by UnionWorks, a joint venture by SPH MediaWorks and NTUC Media. Its official website is http://www.wkrz913.com MediaCorp, which operates Class 95, says it is aware of what is going on, and is getting legal advice about it. Lawyers contacted by The Straits Times say it could be a case of cybersquatting, where one party registers a well-known Web address with the hope of cashing in later by selling the domain name. In December last year, for example, a man in Florida sold men.com for US$1.3 million (S$2.2 million) to an entertainment company. He had paid US$15,000 for it in 1997. If MediaCorp decides to pursue the matter, it will have to go overseas. It cannot look to the Singapore Network Information Centre, the national registry of .sg domain names, for help, as the domain name does not involve a .sg address. So what can MediaCorp do? Lawyers said there are two routes the company can take. It can file a complaint with the Uniform Domain Name Dispute Resolution Policy of the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers, based in the United States. The corporation, an international, non-profit organisation, is the Internet's key oversight body. If MediaCorp lodges a challenge with it, certain elements must be established first: Is the domain name identical or confusingly similar to a trademark in which the complainant has rights to? Does the domain name owner have no rights or legitimate interests in the name? Is the domain name registered and is it being used in bad faith? If any of these criteria is satisfied, the arbitration process will begin and the domain name could be cancelled or transferred to the complainant. The other course of action would be to take the case to court, which is often an expensive affair and rarely happens here. Technology lawyer Bryan Tan says: 'The person who registered it obviously did it to make MediaCorp sit up, pay attention and hopefully get some money from them. 'I'd be surprised if MediaCorp doesn't pursue the matter, not just because it's losing a lot of traffic this way, but more because it has quite a strong case.' IP Address: 152.5.128.28 (Straits Times Interactive via Gerald T. Pollard, DXLD) ** SOMALIA. Glenn, Mogadishu FM station Radio Shabeelle is now being relayed on 6961 kHz (Chris Greenway, Nairobi, Kenya, 1422 UT Feb 24, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** SOUTH CAROLINA [non]. GERMANY. TOM, Julich 5985 email confirmation in 1 hr. v/s Brother Stair. http://www.overcomerministry.com (Sergey Kolesov, Kyiv, Ukraine, Signal Feb 24 via DXLD) Cf. recent and following item that Scare refuses to QSL (gh, DXLD) Dear Mr. Glenn Hauser, Thank you for including my article on RVA Listener`s Meet in DXLD. I would like to tell you about the following -- Overcomer Radio Ministry is being noted in my residence in Kolkata, timings 14-15 hrs on 15620 kHz, txr- Jülich; 17-18 hrs on 5870 kHz txr- Radio Moscow. According to their website - http://www.overcomerministry.com these are targeted to S Asia and India respectively. On corresponding with Brother Stair for QSL & Station details, he replied, "WE HAVE NO STATION, NOR ANY QSLS". Further according to their website, these broadcasts are on air every day, but I monitored this station for the last 1 month and found out that their transmission is audible only on Saturdays and Sundays. Could you please look into this and give me further information on this? 73 & 55 (RAJDEEP DAS, KOLKATA, INDIA, Feb 25, DXLISTENING DIGEST) The simple fact is that Brother Scare is incapable of presenting his own transmission schedule accurately. Other mistakes have been pointed out here. I cannot understand why, on the other side of the world, you would possibly want to listen to his absolute nonsense. Could you explain? (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Brother Stair radio? Hi, Glenn! Does anyone out there know what model radio Brother Stair is offering for a donation (I think it's $80 minimum)? I have heard him pushing it now and then over a few weeks, just happening to hear his voice mentioning "shortwave radio" as I tune across his otherwise- unlistenable-to broadcasts. When those words grab my attention, I stop and listen to his spiel. But I've never heard him say a brand name or model number. I recall him saying that it is a digital readout type, but he also said that, if I am remembering this correctly, "it tunes *almost* all the frequencies on which my program is aired", or words to that effect. If it is really "almost all" that means that it isn't a continuous-tuning model. I'm curious as to what he is selling, and how the requested "donation" compares with the actual selling price. I'm speculating that it is a Kchibo or some such other odd-brand Chinese model, such as is listed at radios4you.com for cheap. But that is purely a guess. 73, (Will Martin, MO, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** SRI LANKA. 9770, SLBC, 1230-1243, Feb. 24, English, YL with frequency schedule at tune-in, Disney movie soundtrack music, "Can you feel the love tonight"; "A whole new world" and other children's music, "This old man (came rolling home)" and "Skip to my Loo, My Darling". Poor/weak, deteriorating by tune-out. I have heard this same type of children`s music format on SLBC earlier this winter, in addition to country/western music and Frank Sinatra/ "Big Band" era music on different days. Does SLBC feature certain musical styles for each day of the week? I will check my log book to see if the last time I heard the children`s music program was also on a Tuesday (NH local time). (Scott R. Barbour, Jr., Intervale, NH, R75, MLB-1, RS longwire with RBA balun, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** SUDAN [non]. Dear Glenn, In 4-029 there is no mention of the frequency of Sudan Radio Service. I hear them on 9625 kHz closing at 05 UT. I am not sure about the start time, but most likely a couple of hours before. I do not hear them every day. 73, (Erik Køie, Copenhagen, Denmark, Feb 24, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Yes, 0300-0500 on 9625; 1500-1700 on 15530, both M-F (gh, DXLD) ** TOGO. 5046.87, R. Togolaise, 2046-2108, Feb. 23, French, Afropop- like music and brief talks, wind instrumental at 2100 with tentative ID mentioning "Togo", more wind and drum music into talks with 2 OM. Clear but weak, slowly improving by tuneout. Thanks to Jari S. tip (Scott R. Barbour, Jr., Intervale, NH, R75, MLB-1, RS longwire with RBA balun, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** UKRAINE. Radio Dniprovska Khvylia (Zaporizhia) announces that it's on the air Sat/Sun at 0600-0800 and 0900-1130 on 11980 kHz. Power is still 100...250 W, DSB modulation with reduced carrier, antenna is a dipole beamed to North-South. Inaudible in Kyiv at present (open_dx - Alexander Yegorov, Kyiv, Ukraine via Signal Feb 24 via DXLD) ** UKRAINE. UKRAINE PRESIDENT SAYS RADIO LIBERTY CLOSURE "UNWISE" | Text of report by Interfax-Ukraine news agency Kiev, 25 February: Ukrainian President Leonid Kuchma has said that the actions which have led to the end of broadcasts of Radio Liberty Ukrainian Service in the FM band were unwise. "I have made no steps whatsoever to prevent Radio Liberty from working normally," the president said at a press conference in Kiev today. He added, however, that he "has never listened" to Radio Liberty. [Radio Liberty's Ukrainian partner, Radio Dovira, stopped rebroadcasting Radio Liberty's programmes on 17 February after Dovira's head was replaced by a supporter of President Kuchma. Dovira said the US-funded station's programming clashed with its new entertainment format. The Ukrainian opposition, Western critics and Radio Liberty itself said the move was political and aimed at stifling freedom of speech in Ukraine in the run-up to the October presidential election. Radio Liberty is now available only on short-wave in most of Ukraine.] [Please send queries to kiev.bbcm @ mon.bbc.co.uk ] Source: Interfax-Ukraine news agency, Kiev, in Russian 1214 gmt 25 Feb 04 (via BBCM via DXLD) BBG SEEKS TO ENHANCE BROADCASTING TO UKRAINE Washington, D.C., February 24, 2004-- U.S. international broadcasting officials are exploring new ways to reach listeners in the Ukraine in the wake of a crackdown on media. "We are committed to seeing that millions of Ukrainians continue to receive trusted news and information that is vital to helping them make decisions about their lives and their country," said Kenneth Y. Tomlinson, chairman of the Broadcasting Board of Governors (BBG), the federal agency that oversees all U.S. international broadcasting, including the Voice of America (VOA) and Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL). On Feb. 17, 2004, the privately-owned Ukrainian FM Radio Dovira network dropped all RFE/RL programs, a move that RFE/RL President Thomas Dine called a "deeply disturbing political development and serious setback to freedom of expression in Ukraine." RFE/RL immediately began working with other RFE/RL affiliate partners in Ukraine, who have expressed a willingness to take more programs since the Dovira decision was announced. RFE/RL, which is still available through a half-dozen affiliates, is also working with a number of potential new partners located throughout Ukraine. Ukrainians can also access RFE/RL programs by shortwave and digital audio satellite. "We want to and will be part of the Ukrainian mass media," Dine said. VOA, meantime, will continue to produce two hours of Ukrainian programming daily. The programs are carried on Ukrainian state radio, on 12 FM affiliates across the country and on shortwave. VOA-TV also produces "Window on America," a popular, weekly, 25-minute newsmagazine that is aired nationwide on the state-owned television network. "VOA's news broadcasts will be available to the Ukrainian people on every medium: radio, television and the Internet," said VOA Director David S. Jackson (BBG press Feb 24 via DXLD) BTW, I saw an interview with Oksana Baiul, the ice skater, on MSNBC`s Deborah Norville show, in which she took credit for putting Ukraine on the map; no one had heard of it before her Olympic victory, per her (gh, DXLD) ** U K. If you have the chance, I believe most here would appreciate the current edition of "Write On" -- it's all about a behind-the- scenes look at the production process for "Newshour". I never knew how different the 1800 edition was -- it tends to cover fewer topics than the 1200, 1400 or 2000 editions. Unfortunately it appears the 1800 edition is archived only until the 2000 edition begins. It's available until roughly 0345 UT Saturday. See http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/programmes/writeon.shtml (Richard Cuff / Allentown, PA USA, swprograms via DXLD) ** U K. BBC World Service Listeners --- Hi, Glenn. CIDX received this e-mail from Peter Shevlin at BBC World Service. I wonder if they would consider including the comments of people who can no longer listen to the BBC via shortwave on a regular basis here in North America! (Sheldon Harvey, QC, Feb 24, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Would you like to be the star of a new radio programme featuring BBC World Service listeners? Do you have a great story to tell about where and how you listen to BBC World Service? Are you enthusiastic about the programmes you listen to? If you have something to say about the BBC please email me and answer the questions below: 1. How often do you listen to BBC World Service? 2. How do you listen to BBC World Service? (Internet, Satellite TV, FM Re-broadcaster, Short Wave) 3. How does the BBC World Service fit into your everyday life? 4. Do you listen to the BBC with anybody else? 5. Where do you listen? 6. Do you have anything else to add regarding an interesting time when you listened to the BBC World Service? Hope you can help, Peter (via Sheldon Harvey, DXLD) ** U S A. AL HURRA JOINS BATTLE FOR NEWS, HEARTS, AND MINDS Byline: Faye Bowers Staff writer of The Christian Science Monitor Date: 02/24/2004 http://www.csmonitor.com/2004/0224/p01s04-usfp.html (WASHINGTON) Samar Haddad watches her reflection in a TV monitor as she remolds her black hair into a pert flip. Beside her, Talal al-Sada whispers into his mike to check the decibel level. The two sit ready to deliver the evening news in a state-of-the-art studio just across the Potomac from Washington. But the banks of black-framed lights, cameras, and speakers don't belong to yet another American cable news channel. This is Al Hurra, a US-government- sponsored satellite channel that's now broadcasting to 22 countries in the Arab world. Its purpose is to offer a more balanced, alternative view to what is currently presented in the region - news that has deepened distrust of US policies. "We have a huge leap forward in people responding negatively about American foreign policy as a result of the things that are shown on TV and in the way they are reported and visually enhanced," says Andrew Hess, a Middle East expert at Tufts University's Fletcher School in Medford, Mass. "Now that Al Jazeera and other channels have come online, surveys indicate there is a massive dislike of American foreign policies, especially in these Middle East hot spots." No one thinks most Arabs' visceral dislike of US foreign policy is purely a result of watching television. But it is, experts say, a combination of policies themselves, the somewhat sensationalist way they are presented, and the emphasis on the two thorniest problems in the Middle East - Iraq and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. That's where Al Hurra - which means "the free one" - comes in. It is building on the success of its sister program, Radio Sawa. Set up two years ago to target Arab youth - the most disaffected and largest proportion of the population - Radio Sawa now attracts as many listeners as mainstream Arab stations. "Al Hurra will have the look of a CNN, a FOX, or an MSNBC," says Norman Pattiz, a member of the Broadcasting Board of Governors (BBG), which oversees this start-up. "It will also have the look of Arabic satellite TV stations. But in terms of production value, it will raise the bar." This week, Al Hurra ramps up to 19 hours per day, and will go to 24/7 around March 1. It's the latest brainchild of the BBG, which was set up by the US Congress to deliver - depending on your view - balanced news coverage or the US party line. Unlike the Pentagon-sponsored broadcasts and the State Department's effort to win hearts and minds through an advertising campaign, Al Hurra was set up outside government to stay as independent as possible. Though federally funded with $62 million from Congress, eight of its nine board members come from outside government - four Democrats and four Republicans who oversee US broadcast activities, including Voice of America and Radio Free Europe. The secretary of State serves ex officio, with a vote. Al Hurra's newsroom bustles with some 75 staffers, most of them handpicked by Pattiz and his news director, Mouafac Harb. Most are experienced anchors, writers, and producers from Middle Eastern television stations. Ms. Haddad, for example, is from Lebanon; Mr. Sada is from Qatar; and Mr. Harb, also from Lebanon, has worked in both print (the Saudi-owned Al Hayat newspaper) and television (ABC News). Imad Mousa, a senior producer, is an American of Palestinian origin and came to Al Hurra from Al Jazeera. These staffers say they want to bring a more moderate approach to covering world news for the Middle East. They say Arabs are deeply humiliated by the repression of Muslims in Iraq and the Palestinian terroritories, and the television emphasis on those issues only exacerbates the problem. Harb and others say they cover all the news, including the negative and dismal. But they also want to offer a platform for moderate and alternative views, including more in-depth historical perspectives. Most of all, they say, they want to build a relationship with their audience and cultivate a mutual respect. "When you tell the truth, it's a signal of great respect.... Friendly relationships should be based on respect," Harb says. "We're aiming to get their respect, then you can go on toward changing attitudes." Besides the straightforward newscasts, they say, they are running "connectors." In these 15-, 20-, and 30-second spots, anchors explain how they came to Al Hurra - an attempt to build connections. They have an array of programs ready - including top-of-the-hour news broadcasts and talk-show formats. Free Hour is patterned after Nightline and Larry King Live: Last week, for example, one program examined the US-Libyan relationship and what caused Col. Mohammar Qaddafi to dismantle his weapons program; another looked into whether Al Qaeda has spread into Iraq. Weekend talk shows run on Fridays (the Arab equivalent of American Sundays) and are patterned after NBC's Meet the Press and CBS's Face the Nation. So far, reactions from Middle Eastern viewers - mainly journalists - are fair to critical. But even the negative publicity is helpful, Pattiz says. "It gets people looking at us for themselves." Al Hurra won't shy away from any important news, he continues, and he believes viewers will recognize that. "There will be times when some governments [in the Middle East] get their noses out of joint with us," he says. " And there will be times when some members of Congress or members of the administration might get a bit of heartburn from what we do. But that's the price of credibility and a free press." (c) Copyright 2004 The Christian Science Monitor. All rights reserved (via Jim Moats, DXLD) ** U S A. WRMI Schedule Oddity --- Hi, Glenn! Here's an oddity about the WRMI schedule: Their on-line schedule on the wrmi.net website is dated as of Dec. 28, 2003. It has long listed that the "Herald of Truth" broadcast is carried for 15 minutes at 0500 UT Tue-Sat in the midst of a longer block of Christian Media Network programming on 7385 kHz. But it hasn't been on for some weeks; the CMN programs continued uninterrupted instead. So I wrote WRMI asking if the on-line schedule should be updated, since it seemed to be wrong. Just last night, I happened to have that frequency on at 0500 UT, and heard, for the first time, an announcement, in the middle of the CMN promos and ads for their strange tapes & publications, from WRMI itself, saying that they haven't been able to broadcast "Herald of Truth" programs due to "technical" reasons, and implying that the program would resume at that time in the future. But I also got the enclosed e-mail from WRMI in response to my query that says something I gather to mean just the opposite! The on-line schedule is still the same, with the Dec. 28 date, so I am now thoroughly confused. (A not-uncommon state these days... :-) --------- Forwarded Message --------- DATE: Thu, 19 Feb 2004 16:09:37 From: Radiomiami9 @ cs.com Herald of Truth has indeed been moved. It is now part of American Voice Radio. For current info, please contact: info @ theamericanvoice.com --------- End Forwarded Message --------- That program does still continue under the original name on WWRB once a week following American Dissident Voices; at least it has been there recently. (I realize that many people despise these programs; I just find them weird enough that hearing them is interesting.) 73, (Will Martin, MO, Feb 25, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. SATERN H&W Net Activation - Haiti Crisis The SATERN Net has activated to assist with Health and Welfare Traffic for the Island of Haiti. The net will be on or near the frequency of 14.265 MHz on the 20 meter amateur radio band. SATERN members are encouraged to monitor the net frequency and assist with relay as needed. Http://Satern.org may be accessed for the Health and Welfare link, for those wishing to seek loved ones who may be affected by the crisis in Haiti. ("Macman", rec.radio.shortwave via John Norfolk, DXLD) That`s Salvation Army, always with a hidden agenda (gh, DXLD) ** U S A. WXHL DX test - update! An update to my earlier message about the WXHL test... DXer Les Rayburn has volunteered to help with responding to QSL reports for the test (MANY, MANY THANKS!!) *AND* he got a .wav file of WXHL's Morse ID to the engineer, so there will be code used in the test! So, to repeat: Monday, March 29, 2004 - WXHL-1550, Elkton, MD will conduct a DX test at 12:01 - 1 am EST [0501-0600 UT]. The test will consist of numerous voice IDs, code IDs, and forgotten/rare 70's and 80's Top 40 music and a few test tones. Currently, the engineer is uncertain of just what power the test will be run at; the station is normally 1000/1 w U3. The station prefers that reception reports be e-mailed; send them to: d_oetting @ hotmail.com The engineer (Dan Oetting) says he will respond to reception reports via e-mail but not via snail mail. However, in your e-mail, please CC: Les Rayburn at les @ highnoonfilm.com. Les will respond to snail-mail reception reports with a special QSL card, printed just for the test. You can send your reports to Les at: Les Rayburn High Noon Film 100 Centerview Drive Suite 111 Birmingham, AL 35216 Also, if you include your postal mailing address with your e-mail to Les, he will send you a card as well. PLEASE don't forget to include return postage!! And remember, whether you hear the test or not, if you try for the test, please drop the station a note thanking them for running the test - and let me know about your results, too! Thanks! (Lynn Hollerman, IRCA, amfmtvdx at qth.net via DXLD) ** U S A. MARK 'DOC' ANDREWS, GROSSE POINTE PARK: SPORTSCASTER WAS LONGTIME DICK PURTAN SHOW REGULAR By Gene Schabath / The Detroit News / Monday, February 23, 2004 Mark ``Doc`` Andrews was small in physical stature, but a giant in Detroit radio and sportscasting. Mr. Andrews, 51, was only 4 feet 7 inches tall but that didn`t stop him from making a big niche in sportscasting. . . http://www.detnews.com/2004/obituaries/0402/23/d02-71436.htm (Via Harry van Vugt, Windsor, Ontario, Canada) ** U S A. REPORT: STATION FIRES BUBBA By BRADY DENNIS Published February 24, 2004 http://www.sptimes.com/2004/02/24/Tampabay/Report__Station_fires.shtml TAMPA - Controversial talk show host Bubba the Love Sponge was fired Monday, less than a month after his station racked up the highest fine ever for indecency broadcasts. Clear Channel Communications and WXTB-FM "severed ties" with Bubba the Love Sponge Clem, reported WFLA-AM, a Clear Channel station that shares offices with WXTB. WXTB promised a news release on the matter from Texas-based Clear Channel today. Clem could not be reached for comment late Monday, and calls to Clear Channel were not returned. Clem's name and picture had been removed from the station's Web site Monday night, and his personal Web site had been dismantled. The Federal Communications Commission proposed a $755,000 fine against Clear Channel Communications last month for segments of Clem's show that aired on four Florida radio stations between 6:30 a.m. and 9 a.m. The segments - which aired in Callahan, Clearwater, Port Charlotte and West Palm Beach - included graphic discussions about sex and drugs that were "designed to pander to, titillate and shock listeners," the FCC said. One segment featured the cartoon characters Alvin the chipmunk, George Jetson and Scooby Doo discussing sexual activities. The segments ran 26 times and the commission proposed fining Clear Channel $27,500 for each airing, or $715,000. Clem's firing on Monday brought joy to Doug Vanderlaan, a Jacksonville man who has crusaded against Clem for several years. His efforts led to the FCC complaint, which culminated in last month's fine. "We're certainly gratified," Vanderlaan said from his home Monday night. "We've been trying to get Clear Channel to be responsible public citizens and safer for kids. If Bubba being off the air contributes to that, then that's great. In 1998, Clem was fined $23,000 by the FCC for airing indecent material that included describing a member of his radio entourage receiving an enema. Clem was acquitted in 2002 of animal cruelty charges stemming from the on-air slaughter of a feral pig. The animal was castrated and slaughtered during a show in February 2000. In Tampa Bay, Clem's program ranks first in its time slot among listeners 18 to 54. Clem is from Warsaw, Ind., the son of a school bus driver and a factory worker. He has said in interviews that he grew up wanting to be a dentist. After playing football for Indiana State University, he dropped out after his sophomore year and began working at WPFR in Terre Haute. He legally changed his name from Todd Alan Clem to Bubba the Love Sponge Clem in October 1998. It isn't Clem's first brush with the chopping block. His first radio job was in Grand Rapids, Mich., and he bounced around stations in San Antonio, Texas; Chicago; Philadelphia; Milwaukee and Orlando, getting fired, by his count, at least six times along the way. In a 1995 interview with the Times, he said of his past experiences: "They just didn't appreciate me." - Information from the Associated Press was used in this report. © Copyright 2002-2004, St. Petersburg Times (via Jim Moats, DXLD) ** U S A. The oldest radio station in the world? From what I've read, the first radio station in America at least to broadcast on a regular schedule was Charles Herrold's transmitter in San José, California-the station that eventually became KCBS. This was in 1909 IIRC, before any licensing requirements of any kind existed. Herrold ID'ed by announcing the address of his small, private engineering college and the location of the transmitter. If you want the first voice transmission of any kind, that was done in Massachusetts in I think 1906, and was directed to ships at sea. It was a one time only event, and although it was repeated several more times the MA station never broadcasted on a regular schedule. Before that all radio transmissions were in Morse code because radio was thought of as a "wireless telegraph". Before the law that legalized commercial broadcasting, all radio stations were licensed as amateurs. The callsigns didn't look like they do today --- they had a zone number followed by two letters. (For example, Herrold was licensed as 6FI or 6FN (I can't remember exactly) 6 being the zone number for California and FI being his station.) KDKA was licensed as an extension of the laws for ship radios --- KDKA simply got the spot between KDJZ and KDKB, although I can't remember the ship names. When a ship sank its call would be assigned to a land station-superstitious sailors didn't want the "jinxed" calls (source? Rec.radio.shortwave via Mike Terry, DXLD) Hmmm... I've heard of a lot of stations (KDKA, WHA, KCBS, WWJ, CFCF, various European stations) claiming to be first, but this is the first time I've heard KUOA stake that claim. It depends on what you consider to be a "radio station". From context, one can generally assume people mean "first broadcasting station" - that the early spark-gap experiments of Heinrich Hertz don't count. A number of stations experimented with broadcasting in the years before 1920. Some of the earliest operated before radio licenses were required (predecessors of KCBS). Others operated under amateur or experimental licenses (WHA and WWJ IIRC). Evidence strongly suggests KDKA was the first station to take out a license for the express purpose of broadcasting. Even then, KDKA's license wasn't a broadcasting license - it was a "limited commercial" license. It seems that "broadcasting" licenses weren't issued until some time in 1922. -- (Doug Smith W9WI, Pleasant View (Nashville), TN EM66, http://www.w9wi.com rec.radio.shortwave via Mike Terry, DXLD) ** U S A. 2329 EST, WWVA 1170 is running a religious program right now. It's on tape and the tape speed is going crazy...slowing down to a crawl one second and normal the other. I wonder if anyone besides Keith and I are noticing it. I wonder if anyone is even listening to it. Funny as he** ! (Mike Bugaj, Enfield, CT, Feb 22, WTFDA-AM via DXLD) ** U S A. Lubavitch Radio - 1710 kHz (Tent) --- I've been checking 1710 for some time, after noting a log of a "pirate" station there. 2/22 at 2029-2100 EST noted unID vocal music, and then to a male in English. Only bits and pieces, with mentions of "Rabbi," "God said," "union voters," and something about a meeting "Saturday" and either "at 8" or "the 8th." Loops N/NE from my location in Jacksonville, NC. Checked GOOGLE + Glenn Hauser's site, and a bit of information found, including a link to a FCC document on the "NOTICE OF APPARENT LIABILITY FOR FORFEITURE": http://www.fcc.gov/eb/FieldNotices/2003/DOC-237849A1.html Wonder what power they're using? (Mike Hardester, NC, IRCA via DXLD) Don`t recall hearing about this now year-old NAL before. I wonder if this is really a separate station, since the entire document never mentions Lubavitcher, altho the individual held responsible, seems to have a Jewishish name; Hip Hop certainly an unexpected connexion unless it`s a front or a cover: ``Eliyahu Ezagui, residing at 1227 President Street, was the responsible party for the building at 1236-1244 Atlantic Avenue, Brooklyn, NY 11216.`` The NAL begins: 1. In this Notice of Apparent Liability for Forfeiture ("NAL"), we find that Hip Hop City Corp. (``Hip Hop'') has apparently violated Section 301 of the Communications Act of 1934 (``Act'') 1, as amended, by operating an unlicensed radio transmitter on the frequency 1710 kHz. We conclude that Hip Hop is apparently liable for a forfeiture in the amount of ten thousand dollars ($10,000). . . (via Glenn Hauser, DXLD) If I had to take an educated guess, I'd say 50 watts. The station mentioned in the FCC O&R is not the Jewish station but another of several other pirates in Brooklyn. By the way, there is a Christian church-based pirate on 1630 with transmitters in Yonkers and Harlem that has been on for months and months 24/7 without challenge. Not only do they sell ads, they give an on-air phone number frequently to reach their sales staff. These stations wouldn't continue in the days of Al Zimny and Dave Popkin! (old-time FCC inspectors that used to chase pirates like Al Weiner). (Karl N2KZ Zuk, IRCA via DXLD) ** U S A. RECEIVES LISTENER REPORTS WHILE TESTING RF TECHNOLOGY IN THE PHILADELPHIA RADIO MARKET SANTA MARIA, Calif. -- (BUSINESS WIRE) -- Feb. 23, 2004 -- In a follow-up to an earlier press release about an alternative energy powered transmitter, International Broadcasting Corporation (OTCBB:IBCS) announced today that the testing of its new prototype has intermittently begun in the Philadelphia Radio Market. IBC Radio Network, a division of IBCS, has begun to beta test the technology in a top 5 radio market and has already received many listener reports. This technology is 100% legal and part of the FCC NON-Licensed part of the Communications Act. The final ALPHA prototype and testing will begin within the next 90 days. IBCS believes successful implementation will yield a wide coverage area in Philadelphia. This project is only one of the planned initiatives regarding AM radio this year. Another AM-related project is being planned and will be announced in a future press release (IBC press release via DXLD) What in the world are they talking about? If legal, and non-licensed, it is therefore very low power. Frequency? Call? Power? Alternative to what? Not solar? Let us see the listener reports (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. Re: My NWR List updated (but unimproved) As in any complicated system, flubs do happen from time to time. Here is a link to a newsletter containing information about an accidental EAN activation in 1997: http://www.sbe24.org/archive/c24may97.html It's a little ways down the page, but you'll find it easily enough. BTW, the policy of making NWS tower locations secret hasn't filtered down to the NWS office for Central Illinois. The NWS station in Champaign broadcasts the tower location every few minutes (Curtis Sadowski, Feb 22, WTFDA via DXLD) So does the Mpls/St.Paul station. "Broadcasting from the KSTP tower in St. Paul." Comment: The whole idea of deleting xmtr sites, to me, is dumb! (John Ebeling /Bloomington MN, ibid.) ** U S A. FM IBOC STILL ONLY TESTING Here's an interesting observation... Looking at three major group owners in the Chicago market: Infinity IBOC-FM stations: WUSN 99.5 Infinity non-IBOC stations: WBBM 96.3, WCKG 105.9, WJMK 104.3, WXRT 93.1 Bonneville IBOC-FM: WDRV 97.1, WTMX 101.9 Bonneville non-IBOC: WLUP 97.9, WNND 100.3, WWDV 96.9 AMFM IBOC-FM: WVAZ 102.7, WNUA 95.5 AMFM non-IBOC: WGCI 107.5, WKSC 103.5, WLIT 93.9 "IBOC" means the station has filed notification with the FCC of installing the digital equipment (and is so marked in the FCC database); "non-IBOC" means they haven't. In NYC, it appears WNEW is the ONLY FM station that's filed IBOC notification. (unless one of the Jersey-licensed stations has) If the broadcasters believe IBOC is a done deal, why are they equipping only *some* of their stations? All of these Chicago stations are on either the Sears Tower or John Hancock Center - it's not a matter of only equipping one transmitter site. (I find no correlation between which building a station is on and whether it's IBOC) IMHO... IBOC is still very much in "test mode", whether the broadcasters wish to admit it or not. (publicly admitting they're just testing will discourage receiver purchases, which in turn will make it difficult to tell whether it actually works) There have been some expensive new technologies introduced to considerable fanfare in the past, only to fade into the woodwork. AM stereo, FM quad, teletext, pay-TV, oh, does anyone remember "FMX"? (Doug Smith W9WI, Pleasant View (Nashville), TN EM66, WTFDA via DXLD) WNYC-93.9 is running it as of weeks ago. WOR-710, as noted a long time ago, has IBOC hash running from about 685 kHz up to about 745 kHz and this is noted on both the car radio and a SRII and this is at a distance of 23 miles from the transmitter and with WOR running at less than full IBOC power (-6 db per Tom Ray). When they ran full IBOC power, add about 10 kHz on both sides to the hash. When WPAT-930 ran it (they only ran it for a short period), the IBOC hash was plus/minus 10 kHz but their signal is poor down here. When you got within 10 miles of the transmitter, it was plus/minus 20 kHz. I remember being in Newark and I couldn't even tell WRKL-910 existed. I don't know where the idea that AM IBOC only takes out the adjacent came from, but so far it just ain't so. In thinking about Eric's comments on FM IBOC, my observations are based on relatively low power (10 kw?) stations at 20 miles. I wonder what a 100 kW flame-thrower's IBOC will take out, particularly if you are relatively close to the transmitter (Joe Fela, NJ, ibid.) There has been minimal general press coverage of this; the vast majority of listeners don't have a clue there's anything going on. The broadcasters who jumped in haven't given it much press either, perhaps because the receivers haven't been there. So there's no market for any of the 'extra channels' either. This is beginning to have the look of a continuous loop where the only people aware of IBOC are the broadcasters ( and the DX'ers of course ). ===== (Russ Edmunds, Blue Bell, PA ( 360' ASL ), ibid.) ** U S A. New station on 87.9! Well, that was interesting... The FCC has granted K201DR (a KAWZ translator in Sun Valley, Nevada) permission to move to 87.9, and new call letters K200AA. My printed copy of the regulations is a few years old, but it says that only FM channels 201-300 (88.1-107.9) are allowed for translators. Either that's been amended, the FCC waived that regulation for this station, or someone in Washington screwed up. Sun Valley is near Reno; the nearest TV-6 station is in Sacramento, California and I suspect it's shielded from Sun Valley by terrain. If the change is consummated, K200AA will become only the second regularly-licensed station (i.e., not experimental or pirate!) to operate on 87.9. -- (Doug Smith W9WI, Pleasant View (Nashville), TN EM66, WTFDA via DXLD) Here's Calvary Chapel's explanation: http://svartifoss2.fcc.gov/prod/cdbs/forms/prod/getattachment_exh.cgi?exhibit_id=197822 In a nutshell, they're being pushed off 88.1 by the arrival of a new K-Love outlet on 88.3, and there's a freeze on major change requests, so the only channels they can move to under a minor change are 88.3, 88.5, 88.7, 98.7 or 98.9, none of which can be used for a translator in Sun Valley. So they maintain that the best way to continue their, er, "service" to the public is to move to 87.9. They claim it's allowable under 47 CFR 73.512(a)(3), the portion of Part 73 that allowed class D noncommercial stations to apply for channel 200 when they were bumped out of the 88.1-91.9 band back in the eighties. But I don't think that section ever intended to include translators as class D stations, even if that's how the FCC now classifies them. Wonder how many more of these we'll see now that this very bad precedent has been set? And furthermore...the most recent version of 47 CFR 74.1202 still contains this language: --- Sec. 74.1202 Frequency assignment. (a) An applicant for a new FM broadcast translator station or for changes in the facilities of an authorized translator station shall endeavor to select a channel on which its operation is not likely to cause interference to the reception of other stations. The application must be specific with regard to the frequency requested. Only one output channel will be assigned to each translator station. (b) Subject to compliance with all the requirements of this subpart, FM broadcast translators may be authorized to operate on the following FM channels, regardless of whether they are assigned for local use in the FM Table of Allotments (Sec. 73.202(b) of this chapter): (1) Commercial FM translators: Channels 221-300 as identified in Sec. 73.201 of this chapter. (2) Noncommercial FM translators: Channels 201-300 as identified in Sec. 73.201 of this chapter. Use of reserved channels 201-220 is subject to the restrictions specified in Sec. 73.501 of this chapter. (3) In Alaska, FM translators operating on Channels 201-260 (88.1- 99.9 MHz) shall not cause harmful interference to and must accept interference from non-Government fixed operations authorized prior to January 1, 1982. --- So I would agree with Doug that somebody screwed up... (One more observation: both licensed 87.9s now have the same channel 6 facility to protect - KVIE, Sacramento!) (s Fybush, ibid.) Well, that's certainly an interesting link. I don't see anywhere in the rules where the FCC regards a translator as a Class D station. The only place I see that equivalence is in the Engineering Database. Seems to me 74.1202 and 73.512 are both pretty clear that translators are *not* allowed on 87.9. It's definitely a new precedent. That said, as long as it meets protection requirements vs. full license stations and TV-6, is there really anything *wrong* with allowing translators on 87.9? (just that one would hope it would be done through normal channels...) -- (Doug Smith W9WI, Pleasant View (Nashville), TN EM66, ibid.) ** U S A. THE AMATEUR RADIO NEWSLINE (A Federal 501(c)(3) Non Profit Corporation) Editorial Office - 28197 Robin Avenue Santa Clarita California Tel/Fax: (661) 296-7180 E-Mail: newsline @ arnewsline.org on the web at: http://www.arnewsline.org Press Release - February 22, 2004 ARNEWSLINE(TM) PRODUCER NEW AUTHOR OF ``THE OTHER SIDE OF THE CONTROL ROOM GLASS`` ON HALEISNER.COM Amateur Radio Newsline, Inc. is proud to announce that its President and Producer, Bill Pasternak, WA6ITF, is now the author of a new column dealing with ham radio operators working in the broadcasting profession appearing on the famed HalEisner.Com website http://www.haleisner.com Bill`s new column titled ``The Other Side of the Control Room Glass`` tells the stories of famous and no-so- famous people in the broadcast profession who share a common interest in the Amateur Radio service and the way in which being a ham has affected their careers. The column began on Sunday, February 22nd with the first of a 4-part tribute to the late Roy Neal, K6DUE, that will include a retrospective on his efforts to put a manned Amateur Radio station into space. Part 1 explains how Roy and Bill met and how that friendship lead to a professional relationship that lasted over two decades. The remainder of the series will document the birth of the SAREX (Shuttle Amateur Radio Experiment) and ARISS (Amateur Radio on the International Space Station) programs which Neal created and the video record of manned Amateur Radio space activities that he produced. Writer Bill Pasternak, WA6ITF, is an oddity in the broadcast profession: an engineer who can write outside of the realm of technical publications. He works as a Broadcast Engineer with KTTV Fox 11 / UPN 13 Television in Los Angeles and as a private Broadcast Consultant specializing in the design of video post production facilities. He is the co-founder and Managing Editor of the all- volunteer Amateur Radio Newsline(tm) bulletin service and Creator/ Administrator of the annual ``ARNewsline(tm) Young Ham of the Year Award`` program. Bill is the author of three books, production staff member to numerous educational films and videos including Co-Producer of the award winning ``Amateur Radio Today.`` He authored the ``Looking West`` column for 73 Amateur Radio Today Magazine for 26 years, currently writes the monthly ``VHF, FM and Repeater`` column for Worldradio Magazine, is a contributing writer to several broadcast trade publications and is a frequent contributor to CQ Magazine. He is a member of the ARRL, Radio Club of America and Quarter Century Wireless Association as well as a founding member of the Hollywood Hills QRP Contest Club. Bill is the only person ever chosen to be recipient of both the prestigious Dayton Amateur Radio Association`s ``Specific Achievement`` (1981) and ``Radio Amateur of the Year`` (1989) awards. He also was presented the ARRL National Certificate of Merit (1995) in recognition of his contributions to the ``furtherance of the goals of the Amateur Radio Service.`` Bill and his wife Sharon (KD6EPW) reside in Santa Clarita California with their two ``puppy people`` and can be reached by e-mail to billwa6itf @ aol.com or wa6itf @ arnewsline.org Haleisner.com is a website created by noted Los Angeles newsman Hal Eisner to bring varying perspectives to those in the profession of broadcast journalism. Eisner has been reporting news for Los Angeles television stations since 1981, bringing some 36 years experience in radio and television broadcasting to his website. He is a central member of the KCOP Channel 13 news team. Before joining the staff of KCOP as a general assignment reporter, Eisner worked for such broadcast outlets as KTTV, KTLA and CNN. He also served as the West Coast Bureau Chief for Tribune Broadcasting`s syndicated newscast, USA Tonight. Prior to making his switch to television, Eisner spent almost 15 years in radio. Besides his day job, Eisner is very involved in local television industry organizations. He is currently on the Board of Directors of two organizations, the Southern California Radio and Television News Association and the Associated Press Television and Radio Association. He can be reached by e-mail to hal @ haleisner.com -30- (via John Norfolk, DXLD) I feel uneasy reading press releases extolling someone, altho in the third person, in all probability written by that very same individual. There was another one recently in DXLD (gh) ** U S A. BROADBAND AUDIO - A DIFFERENT KIND OF OLDIES SHOW Effective this Saturday, February 28th, Radio Newyork International will be carrying all 3 hours of the live show. It will continue to rerun only the first hour during the week. Also effective this weekend the live show's 64 kbs broadband audio will only be available on RNI, http://www.radionewyorkinternational.com We are reverting our Live365.com service back to 32kbs mp3Pro. We made this decision not only because of the expanded time at RNI, but also because Live365.com had a few problems this weekend which caused our listeners to be disconnected twice during the first fifteen minutes of the show. They were able to get stable connections after we cut back to 32 kbs. We have been considering this roll back for a while because we see that the live365 server has been under utilized during the live show. We believe this to be because of two reasons. Our overseas listeners in Australia and Japan do not get reliable high speed streams at their distance from the servers, cutting back will help them maintain a connection with little or no buffering. Another reason is that there are still a few people on the internet who use browsers that do not support Java scripting, have pop up stopper programs that overdo it, or are not configured properly to have their MP3 player automatically start up from their browser. This means that neither the listen command at our website nor the pull down menu at the RNI website work properly, but the live365 pages do for some reason. While they can get through with Live365 and/or use Real Player, many do not have broadband connections and 64 kbs is useless to them. Rather than continuing to cut them off from the live presentation, or forcing the listeners to use the lower quality Real Audio stream from the Doo Wop Cafe for the 2nd and 3rd hours, we will be rolling back our live bitrate to the same as our repeat stream to make it easier for them to listen. We suggest that our Doo Wop Cafe listeners try to receive and compare the reception of and quality of the mp3 audio streams that Live365, RNI and other mp3 streaming internet radio stations provide. The Cafe is currently planning to change over to this format and you can work out any bugs you may find ahead of the change over assuring you of uninterrupted listening to the cafe radio station (Big Steve Cole, Feb 23, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** VENEZUELA. The antenna of R. Mundial Zulia has been knocked down on Tuesday afternoon. Blamed for this were members of the Red del Pueblo, which had been making anti-Chávez broadcasts (gh`s summary of a one- minute difficult to understand sound bite, source unknown, via José Elías Díaz Gómez, Venezuela, Feb 25, for DX LISTENING DIGEST) I guess that`s YVMA, 1070, 10 kW, 24h, Maracaibo per WRTH 2004 (gh) ** ZIMBABWE. 3306, ZBC/R. Zimbabwe, 2146-2203*?, Feb. 23, Vernacular/ English, Reggae music in English, including a version of "Whiter shade of grey", OM talkover in Vernacular. Choral like music at 2159 abruptly engulfed in noise at 2203. No ID noted. Unsure if sign-off or just excessive noise but nothing else noted after listening for several minutes. Fair signal hampered by excessive static. 3306, ZBC/R. Zimbabwe, Feb. 24, Vernacular, Continuous instrumental Afropop music with OM talkover at each songs end. Singing OM with choral accompaniment at 0132 and 0200, possibly a "jingle" ID tho no mention of Zimbabwe. Fair signal with much less static and fading as my prior 2146-2203 log (Scott R. Barbour, Jr., Intervale, NH, R75, MLB-1, RS longwire with RBA balun, DX LISTENING DIGEST) UNIDENTIFIED. CLOSE ENCOUNTERS --- A mysterious signal has been reported at weekends on an unusual frequency of 6826.5 kHz. Listening in AM mode one hears non-stop pop music with no announcements, and there is nothing strange about that. Switching to CW or any mode which introduces a BFO, things become much more intriguing. The carrier can be heard to be stepping and dancing up and down in a strange rhythmic way, producing a dramatic and almost mesmerising musical heterodyne. It reminded me of the little tune the space aliens used in order to try to communicate with us earthlings in `Close Encounters of the Third Kind`. I don`t know if it is something intentional or accidental, or indeed if the station is aware of it. Perhaps a voltage regulator supplying someone`s oscillator circuit is doing strange things, or maybe we are hearing some form of secret coded subliminal message from someone (or something!). Then again, some of the music was in French, so perhaps it is them! (Oscar, Off the Record, Feb Short Wave Magazine via DXLD) Time??? ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ CONVENTIONS & CONFERENCES +++++++++++++++++++++++++ SEATTLE GET-TOGETHER 2004 SAT FEB 28 Here's the news on my annual DX Get-together. As usual, this is for anyone interested in shortwave, medium wave, VHF/UHF etc DX listening to sit around and talk about radio stuff. This year it will be on the afternoon of Saturday, February 28 at 2 p.m. at my house (6546 19th Avenue NE, Seattle). Feel free to bring radio stuff like radios, QSL cards, accessories, etc to show off. Also bring along potluck snacks (solid or liquid). At dinner time, we'll pass the hat around and order some pizzas. Hope you can make it. If you have questions, need directions, or want to RSVP, my phone number is 206-522-2521. See you there (Bruce Portzer, IRCA Soft DX Monitor via DXLD) WINTER SWL FEST, NEAR PHILADELPHIA PA, MARCH 11-13 People can still register for the Fest on-site at the hotel (Best Western Inn at Towamencin [pronounced TOE - uh MEN-sin]) the Friday and Saturday (March 12th & 13th) of the Fest (Rich Cuff, coörganizer, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Full details at http://www.swlfest.com Deadline for early registration is March 1; after that prices go up (gh, DXLD) RADIO STAMPS ++++++++++++ QSL STAMPS Quite recently, the New Zealand DX Times contained an announcement stating that they would like to receive articles from listeners who are holding QSL cards and QSL letters on which EKKO stamps are attached. You will remember that back in the 1920s and 1930s, it was the custom in the United States to verify a reception report with a QSL card or letter, and an EKKO QSL stamp as well. In response to their request, we decided to check just what QSLs we are holding with QSL stamps attached. This is what we found. In our QSL collection, we are holding a dozen of more of these verifications with QSL stamps of various designs attached. These cards and letters are spread out over the years from 1932-1973 and they are all mediumwave stations. As far as is known, not one of the American shortwave stations in that era issued a QSL stamp. It is possible though, that mediumwave stations KGU & KGMB in Honolulu issued QSL stamps to verify the relay of their program, ``Hawaii Calls``, from the RCA shortwave station at Kahuku. Two of these QSLs are printed on standard postcards from the American Post Office and they are verified with the eagle design QSL stamps, one in green and one in red. These stations are KLS in Oakland California and KDYL in Salt Lake City Utah. On a subsequent occasion, the same station in Utah, KDYL, attached a QSL stamp in a different design to their QSL card in the year 1937. This stamp is yellow and the design shows a globe, although it is not the same globe as in the QSL stamp known as the ``Bryant Stamp``. Station KID in Idaho Falls Idaho and KFPY in Spokane Washington printed their own specific QSL cards and the QSL stamps attached to these cards are again in the eagle design and both are in green. The twin stations in Los Angeles, KFI & KECA, printed their QSL on a Post Office Card with a lined space specifically for the QSL stamp. We are holding three of these cards. Station KHJ in Los Angeles printed their QSL card with a logo design that looks like a QSL stamp. The Hawaiian station KGU in Honolulu regularly attached a trade promotional stamp to their QSL card and this card did acknowledge the shortwave broadcasts of the program, ``Hawaii Calls``. We are holding three of these KGU cards and each one contains a different and quite colourful trade promotional stamp. The most unusual card of this nature is an EKKO ``Proof of Reception`` card made out for station KWWG in Brownsville Texas. The original date in the 1930s is not given. However, a green QSL stamp for WWJ in Detroit is attached, as is also a 6c postage stamp honoring progress in electronics and the card is postmarked as the First Day of Issue in New York City in 1973. We are also holding two QSL letters with QSL stamps attached. One is from station KQW in San Jose California with 500 watts on 1010 kHz in 1940. Their QSL stamp is in the eagle design and it is dark green in color. The other QSL letter is from station KMOX in St Louis Missouri and the QSL stamp attached to this letter, issued in the year 1940, is actually a small copper plate in the design of a QSL stamp. The design on this copper plate is now badly oxidised and it shows the KMOX logo with a microphone and the slogan, ``KMOX, The Voice of St Louis``. Host 1 And if you have a special EKKO stamp that we don`t know about --- be sure that we`d love to hear from you (Adrian Michael Peterson, AWR Wavescan Feb 29 via John Norfolk, DXLD) POWERLINE COMMUNICATIONS ++++++++++++++++++++++++ ANOTHER TEST SITE FOR POWERLINE BROADBAND? --- COLORADO MULLS OPTIONS The Denver Post describes how small towns in Colorado may be ideal candidates for layering broadband signals over power lines (BPL). "We have high-end homes and lone eagles" says a manager for a local electric company. "A lot of our customers have a phone line and dial- up and thats the best they have". The article also lists communities that already have pilot programs of this technology in place, from Atlanta to Ossining, NY. High-speed Internet may be in your power --- Colorado's rural areas are seen as a potential test site for a new means of online speed electrical lines By Marsha Austin Denver Post Business Writer Article Published: Monday, February 23, 2004 Rural Colorado and small towns in the mountain West may become prime proving ground for emerging technology that would deliver high-speed Internet over electric power lines. The technology to allow customers to plug their modems into a wall socket - just like they do a lamp or a blender - would add a competitor to the marketplace and could provide Internet access for millions of consumers still living on the dark side of the digital divide. . . http://www.denverpost.com/Stories/0,1413,36~33~1972967,00.html (via Mark Durenburger, Grand Junxion, NRC-AM via DXLD) FLASH - FCC ISSUES PROPOSED BPL RULES The FCC has posted the promised Notice of Proposed Rule Making (NPRM) for Broadband over Power Line (BPL) on their web site. We will have 45 days to comment after the clock begins ticking with the publication of the NPRM in the Federal Register. You can download the 38 page document in MS Word format at: http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/FCC-04-29A1.doc The document contains instructions for filing comments both electronically and via the US postal service. Even the paper submissions must be accompanied by the same information in MS Word or a compatible format on a 3.5 inch floppy disk. The FCC is not proposing to relax the Part 15 limits as many BPL proponents requested. That's the good news. The bad news is the FCC admits BPL will interfere with HF communications and expects persons encountering interference to be able to identify it as BPL interference and places the burden on the party being interfered with to bring it to the attention of the BPL operator and be able to convince them that their system is causing the interference. That is a bit much to expect of non-technical people who only know how to tune their radios to a predetermined frequency and adjust the volume. I submit this description applies to the large majority of short-wave listeners although possibly not a majority of NASWA members. NASWA will likely file comments on behalf of those of us who choose to listen to foreign broadcasts for our news and cultural information about other countries. NASWA's comments will likely address the basic problems associated with non-technical people correctly being able to identify BPL interference when they hear it. Comments will also address the fact that many who use short-wave radio to keep up with news from their home country are often not fluent in the English language and would in many cases not be capable of communicating with BPL operators when interference is encountered. Comments from individuals are needed to let the FCC understand there still are lots of folks out there who choose to listen to HF broadcasts. The FCC is under the impression that only hams are raisng hell about BPL. There were over 5000 inputs from hams to the initial inquiry. You can't do better than to write that letter (thanks to Joe A. for that phrase). ~*-.,_,.-*~'^'~*-.,_,.-*~'^'~*-., (Joe Buch, DE, swprograms Feb 23 via DXLD) -*~'^'~*-.,_,.-*~'^'~*-.,_,.-*~'^ PROPAGATION +++++++++++ Date: Mon, 23 Feb 2004 22:36:17 GMT From: Solar Influences Data analysis Center Subject: SIDC Weekly Bulletin :Issued: 2004 Feb 23 2232 UTC :Product: documentation at http://sidc.oma.be/products/bul #--------------------------------------------------------------------# # SIDC Weekly bulletin on Solar and Geomagnetic activity # #--------------------------------------------------------------------# WEEK 164 from 2004 Feb 16 SOLAR ACTIVITY: --------------- Solar activity has been very low this week. The X-ray background was mostly even below B-level. On Feb. 16, a single C-flare was still recorded, but after that most sunspot groups either decayed or rotated out of sight. Only a few small spots remained on Feb 17. Correspondingly, the sun became very quiet and showed only small B- class flaring activity for the following days. At the end of the week, Catania sunspot group 67 (NOAA 0564) started a rapid development into a medium-sized group with complex magnetic fields, and produced a number of small C-class solar flares on Feb. 22. GEOMAGNETISM: ------------- Geomagnetic conditions have been quiet throughout the week. The influence of the coronal hole, responsible for geomagnetic pertubations last week, came to an end on Feb. 16. The solar wind speed was mostly between 400 and 500 km/s, while the interplanetary magnetic field had no strong component either north or south. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- DAILY INDICES DATE RC 10CM Ak BKG M X 2004 Feb 16 /// 99 008 A9.0 0 0 2004 Feb 17 024 102 004 A9.2 0 0 2004 Feb 18 036 98 011 A9.4 0 0 2004 Feb 19 045 96 010 B1.0 0 0 2004 Feb 20 046 95 004 A8.3 0 0 2004 Feb 21 /// 98 010 A8.9 0 0 2004 Feb 22 /// 104 010 B1.6 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 NONE #--------------------------------------------------------------------# # Solar Influences Data analysis Center - RWC Belgium # # Royal Observatory of Belgium # # Fax : 32 (0) 2 373 0 224 # # Tel.: 32 (0) 2 373 0 491 # # For more information, see http://sidc.oma.be (via Jim Moats, DXLD) The geomagnetic field ranged from quiet to unsettled during the period. Quiet levels were observed on 17 and 20 February. Isolated minor storm levels occurred at high latitudes on 21 February, and isolated major storm levels were observed at high latitudes on 22 February. FORECAST OF SOLAR AND GEOMAGNETIC ACTIVITY 25 FEBRUARY - 22 MARCH 2004 Solar activity is expected to range from very low to low levels. Predominantly very low to low activity levels are expected from late February through early March. Mostly low level activity may return by mid March due to the return Region 564. No greater than 10 MeV proton events are expected during the period. The greater than 2 MeV electron flux at geosynchronous orbit is expected to reach high levels on 02 – 05 March and again on 11 – 15 March, due to recurrent coronal holes. Geomagnetic activity is expected to range from quiet to minor storm levels. A small coronal hole is expected to rotate into a geoeffective position on 01-04 March and may produce periods of minor storm activity. A second coronal hole high speed stream is due to return on 09 – 14 March and is expected to produce active to minor storm conditions. :Product: 27-day Space Weather Outlook Table 27DO.txt :Issued: 2004 Feb 24 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 Feb 24 # # UTC Radio Flux Planetary Largest # Date 10.7 cm A Index Kp Index 2004 Feb 25 105 12 3 2004 Feb 26 110 15 3 2004 Feb 27 110 12 3 2004 Feb 28 115 12 3 2004 Feb 29 105 15 3 2004 Mar 01 105 20 4 2004 Mar 02 105 20 4 2004 Mar 03 105 15 3 2004 Mar 04 105 20 4 2004 Mar 05 110 12 3 2004 Mar 06 115 10 3 2004 Mar 07 120 10 3 2004 Mar 08 120 10 3 2004 Mar 09 115 25 5 2004 Mar 10 110 25 5 2004 Mar 11 110 20 4 2004 Mar 12 105 20 4 2004 Mar 13 100 15 3 2004 Mar 14 100 10 3 2004 Mar 15 100 8 3 2004 Mar 16 100 8 3 2004 Mar 17 95 5 2 2004 Mar 18 95 5 2 2004 Mar 19 100 8 3 2004 Mar 20 100 8 3 2004 Mar 21 105 10 3 2004 Mar 22 105 12 3 (http://www.sec.noaa.gov/radio via WORLD OF RADIO 1221, DXLD) ###